thebrucewayne | Something's not quite right...

Something's not quite right...

Bruce had met Lois at an awkward time in his life, when things were just starting to make sense after a long period of turmoil and grief. She seemed willing and able, perfect and wonderful, everything he could want, everything he might need, and yet there was the one thing he couldn't bring himself to tell her.

Batman was the wake of everything that he believed was good, and yet everything that, according to the people of Gotham and the police, because Batman wanted it that way, wasn't good. Bruce couldn't bring himself to tell her who he was, what he did at night, despite what she might have seen him, past all the garbage and fame, past all the playboy antics. Was it worth dragging her down? Was it worth wondering if she might exploit him?

It only left him begging to the question to be answered: did he trust her.

And then, one day, just like that, Lois stopped returning his calls. Stopped texting, emailing, anything that was some sort of social way of them interacting, to stay together.

Confused, after a long period of silence on her part, Bruce left a message at the Daily Planet for her to return his call, or message. One or the other, they needed to talk.

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Bruce Wayne had been, amongst other things, an entirely unexpected surprise in Lois's life. She would've never seen herself linking hands with a man like him; she'd sworn off the filthy rich playboy type since Oliver, considering the trouble a little too much for even her to deal with.

But since when had she ever listened to her own better judgment? There she'd gone, stumbling her way through a relationship with a man with even more issues than Oliver had, it seemed. And she'd really, really started to believe she was falling for him.

And then came the lies. It turned out Bruce and Oliver had a lot more than common than she'd realized. It was only a matter of time before Lois discovered Bruce's better half. She'd been so excited with the discovery until she'd realized... He had no intention of sharing it with her.

Well. She'd given him plenty of opportunities to fess up. Cut the bullshit and be honest with her. And if he wasn't going to, then what was the point of continuing on? So she'd dropped him. She deserved better than a man who could so easily look her in the eye and flat out lie to her.

She'd attempted to push him from her mind, almost thought she'd gotten out of it with a clean break. And then, out of the blue, his voice popped up on her office voicemail. Her response was a short text (though it'd taken her forever to come up with) to the number she hadn't accessed in quite a while.

Got your message. Working late all week, but drop by if you want.

Drop by.

Metropolis wasn't just a hop, skip, and a jump away, it was good two or more hour flight, but Bruce was decidedly aware that he had to fix this, whatever this was that made Lois turn and recoil from him to start.

He didn't bother to text back, he had Alfred call get the jet ready, and went as he had been for the day, dark navy business suit, four piece with the vest, hair a askew, and slightly unkempt.

Arriving at the Daily Planet, Bruce made his way around the floor, a familiar place for the past few months as it had been, but his appearance looked to be a surprise for all, but he ignore those made his way directly to Lois' desk.

She'd known full well he couldn't exactly just "drop by" on his way to... well, anything, really. But she was past accommodating him at this point. If he couldn't be bothered to tell her the truth, then surely he couldn't be bothered to do much else, right? So she'd continued on with her work, pushing (or attempting to push) him from her mind and concentrate on the task at hand.

Which was why the sudden low murmuring of her officemates went entirely unnoticed until the faint image of a dark suit reached her peripheral vision.

"Not now, Smallville, I'm on a deadline," she said dismissively, her eyes never leaving her computer monitor as her fingers flew across the keyboard.

"That's too bad," he drawled, sauntering to her desk the rest of the way, hands in his pockets. He came empty-handed, but he was here to try and pry her back into his arms with gifts. Something happened, something big, and he was unaware of just how bad it truly was until now.

"I was hoping we could talk. I did fly all this way just to see you."

That familiar, soft but gruff tone was the last voice she expected to hear back in reply. She frowned, glancing up at the man she'd been dodging for the last few weeks.

Blink blink.

"Bruce." She pushed her chair away from her desk, turning to face him. "Did you... You flew here?"

"Actually I walked. And let me tell you... I am tired," he teased, softly, noting the people staring and trying to ease into their conversation to hear what it was about.

No doubt rumors had flown around when Bruce hadn't been around for a long time.

Normally, she might've found that charm of his endearing. Right now, though... It was just getting on her nerves. She pursed her lips, fighting an eyeroll and getting to her feet.

"This isn't really a good time," she frowned, circling around him to shut the door to her office. The talk would continue whether or not she closed them off, but at least she'd be able to have a private conversation.

Once the door was closed, Bruce let all his charms and guards down, having once given nearly everything over to her, she knew him better than anyone, not that it said much, but it was something.

"I won't take a lot of your time then. I just want to know what I did..." He looked at her, lost and confuse, everything etched into his perfect features, distorting his otherwise handsome features.

She could feel the facade drop as the lock clicked closed, and she watched him go from Bruce the Billionaire to the man she'd somehow started to fall for. She sighed, running a hand through her hair and trying to gather her thoughts.

"Bruce, I... I can't be part of this relationship if you're gonna spend more than half the time lying to me."

He wasn't sure exactly what she was talking about. Sure, he footed the issue a lot, pointed her in other directions when it came to things related to the vigilante known as Batman, but he had never straight out lied to her.

Did he?

Bruce was a glutton for feeling guilty, for damn near everything, it was a terrible trait, but not one he could easily push aside.

"Concerning?"

She folded her arms across her chest, watching him a moment. He had never been an easy read. Especially once she'd learned how many layers of facades he had on a daily basis. Casting a glance towards the door, she lowered her voice and made her way closer to her desk.

"I'm not an idiot. I've known enough vigilantes to be able to tell when someone's hiding a double life. So just tell me."

Oh.

Well then.

"I didn't tell you because you knowing means you're connected to all of it." He lower his voice, "Batman isn't exactly in terms with the law right now."

Not that he ever was, but taking the fall for Dent's murders had made the night time activities less and less as the years went on. He barely got out these days, and every time he did, it was more dangerous than the last.

"Maybe that's lying to you, but I could never live with myself if you got hurt or put in jail because of me."

"Trust me, I'm fully aware of the hole he's dug himself into," she replied, the stack of research on her desk a testament to the scandal and intrigue that was building around The Batman. It was one of the reasons she'd discovered his secret in the first place.

"That's not really your decision to make, Bruce." She pulled a stack of old newspapers from a pile on the floor, laying them out on her desk for him. Headlines on Superman's rise to the spotlight in Metropolis, Oliver Queen's outing as the Green Arrow, even a few articles on a Woman of Wonder in Washington.

"I'm surrounded by this stuff as it is. Hell, if I'm not dangling off a skyscraper because of it once a month, something's gone wrong. So if that's your excuse for cutting us short, you'll have to come up with a new one."

"I didn't cut us short. You did. Admittedly, because I didn't tell you. But that's my right to tell you or not. Just as it is your's to stay with me or not if you knew."

He sighed, there wasn't an easy way about this, there never was. When he decided to tell Rachel, or clue her in, he had no idea the danger and disaster her life would end in, and swore he would never bring another soul into that.

"I'm too... afraid of losing you to something worse because of my life style. So if this is how we need to be..."

But, god, he missed her, it was hard to stand there and look at her, knowing she was angry with him, and not comfort her in some way.

"It's out now though. I guess there's not much I can do to keep it from you."

"You should've told me, Bruce. How the hell did you expect us to get anywhere while you're sitting on something this huge?"

She rubbed her temple, glancing back at the stack of paperwork she still had to get through tonight. Migraine ahead. She shut her eyes a moment, then returned her gaze back to him.

"Look, I care about you. I really do. And I want this to work, but you have to be honest with me. I'm a big girl, I can fend for myself. I have fended for myself when it comes to things like this. So just... have a little faith in me, okay?"

"It's not you I don't have faith in. It's the rest of the world."

Bruce had issues with trust, and he had placed so much in her, but was far too afraid that someone or something else would destroy that for him. Had before, why not now? Why not again?

He spread his hands, looking at her. "I am sorry I didn't tell you. I should have."

She took a step towards him, reaching out to graze a hand against his cheek.

"You gonna let that keep us apart, Dreamy?" she said, a hint of teasing back in her voice now.

"I didn't think it was until you stopped talking to me," he replied, quietly, looking back from his hands to her. He really hadn't accounted for it, and knew if he wanted to keep her, this was how it had to be, and he had to do something to get her back.

She offered him a small smile, stroking her thumb over his cheekbone.

"So what's the plan? Think you can handle me digging around in your Batcave every now and then?"

"S'long as it stays between us," he mentioned, knowing she would, seeing as the other heroes she already knew. Oliver outed himself, but there was still Superman.

"My lips are sealed," she confirmed, slipping her arms around his neck and nudging the tip of his nose with hers. "No more secrets?"

"That's it," he promised, smiling down at her, reassuringly. There was nothing else, his heart was out on his sleeve now, his soul cut open for her.

That was it.

She grinned up at him, leaning in to press a soft kiss to his lips.

"Good. 'Cause I think the Batman thing's pretty sexy, Mr. Wayne."

"All kevlar? I couldn't imagine," he drawled out softly, whispering against her lips.

It had been far too long since he held her, let alone kissed her, and if he wanted to be honest with himself,it felt like a piece had gone missing from his heart when she was absent.

She chuckled on his lips, slipping a hand down to grasp his.

"I just have to wrap up a few things and I can get out of here, okay?"

She toyed her fingers between his, giving his hand a squeeze. Now that their cards were on the table, now that he'd promised he could trust her, things would be better.

She hoped.

"Take your time," he insisted, squeezing her hand back and then letting go so that she could finish what work she needed to complete.

"I'll go make the rounds and meet you-" he glanced at his watch briefly and then back up at her, "in an hour downstairs?"

She nodded, pressing a kiss to his cheekbone and glancing back towards her desk.

"Be down in a bit! Don't give Chief too much grief," she chuckled, plopping down in her seat and glancing over her email.

About an hour and fifteen minutes later Lois came rushing down the stairs with an armful of folders, begging herself not to trip.

"Sorrysorrysorry-"

Fortunately, Bruce knew Lois well enough that her being a little late was normal, if not usually warranted. On her arrival down the stairs, he met her at the bottom and took the folders from her, his free hand out to help her down the last few steps.

"If you were on time, I'd've worried."

She laughed, grinning when he took the files and taking a second to adjust her purse and get herself together. Phew.

"Think you've got me pinned, don't you, Mr. Wayne?" she smirked, taking his hand and tugging him towards the Planet's revolving doors.

"Maybe a little," he replied, squinting his eyes a little as he grinned down at her, as if to emphasize what he meant.

Moving through the doors together, somehow, Bruce descended down the steps, hand in hand and feeling, for once in the last few months, like everything might just start going his way again.

Or to start.

"Only a little," she confirmed with a smirk, nudging him playfully and tugging him along. Once they were on the street and safe from her stumbling onto her face, she wrapped an arm around him and grinned.

"So. How long are you in Metropolis for? Just long enough to get me back, or are you gonna stick around for more?"

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Something's not quite right...

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