Batman crouched on a rain-soaked rooftop across the street from the now-closed Iceberg Lounge. His deep black cloak was wrapped around his body, enveloping him in darkness. The rain stopped, making him realize how long he'd been up there waiting. He thought about gliding farther down the street to find a better view until he heard footsteps behind him.
Batman instinctively dropped his hand to the smoke bombs in his utility belt and spun around, still wrapped in his cloak.
"It's just me, Bruce." The tall Amazonian superhero had her hands up, her black hair falling down her exposed shoulders.
"What are you doing here, Diana? I'm working." Batman lowered his guard.
"Well it's nice to see you too." Wonder Woman grabbed his arm and gave it a friendly squeeze. She knew Bruce wasn't into hugs or really anything aside from brooding.
"I'm here because we haven't heard from you in the last seventy-two hours. Clark asked me to look for you." She explained.
"Diana, I've been gone longer than that before and none of you worried about me because you knew I was working. You or Clark would have contacted J'onn," Batman said. "Why are you really here?"
Diana sighed and sat in the same spot overlooking the Iceberg Lounge.
"Can't get anything past you." She muttered under her breath.
"You're right. You can't." Batman crouched next to her.
"I'm here because I was worried about you, Bruce." She turned to look into his eyes; even through the cowl and black-eye makeup, she could tell he was dead tired.
"How long have you been awake?" She asked.
"Seventy-two hours."
"Why?"
"I promised Jim I'd stop The Penguin's weapons caches from coming into the city tonight. I tracked down a white van full of his guns and explosives that will be coming here tonight. I'll take down the entire operation at once." Batman explained.
"Bruce, you need to sleep. You're just a human being. How are you supposed to take down an entire room of armed guards and make sure Penguin doesn't hobble out of there?"
"I've taken on worse."
"Of course you have..." Diana squeezed her eyes with her fingers in frustration. "Look what if I help?"
Batman mumbled. He didn't know if his ego was getting in the way or his fear of Diana getting hurt. She wasn't going to get hurt. She'd taken explosions to the face without a scratch and even tanked punches from Darkseid. A room full of goons with guns wouldn't hurt her. He wouldn't let them.
"Fine." He answered.
"Great!" Diana flashed her perfect smile.
"Now we wait." Batman returned to his crouched position.
After about ten minutes, Diana wondered how her gothic team member could hold that pose every night for so long. Sometimes she wondered if Batman was even human. He could've been lying the entire time and actually ended up being a vampire who stole the identity of one of the wealthiest men in the world as a cover-up.
She thought about starting their conversation back up and maybe even asking if he was a vampire until a white van made a sharp left turn, its tires skidding against the rain-soaked streets. Diana grabbed the hilt of her sword as Batman stood up.
"So are we going in or-" She stopped talking after Batman raised his hand.
"I need to see more."
The van stopped in front of two large rusted doors. The goon in the passenger seat got out, knocked twice on the door, and returned to the car. Two large men opened the doors, letting the van in.
"Diana, I'll go in from the roof. I've scouted out the location already, I'll enter the vents and surprise them." Batman explained.
"What will I do?" She asked.
"You wait up here and if anyone tries to run, stop them."
"Really? It doesn't seem like I'll be helping if I hear gunshots and just wait for someone to exit the building." Diana crossed her arms over her chest.
"It'll be fine." Batman then shot his grapple gun onto the roof, zipping away.
"Wow." Diana sat down once again in boredom.
Batman shimmed his way through the building, quietly and carefully as usual. He heard the usual goon babbling as he slid carefully down and across the vents.
"I heard The Bat's out of town tonight." One of them said,
"It's a shame," The other guy sounded like his jaw was wired shut. "One of his little helpers mashed me up bad. I think it was a girl. I'd like to return the favor by fillin' him and the rest of them up with bullets."
The first goon laughed at that statement.
"There's no freaking way. Y'know The Bat is unstoppable right? I've heard from some of the guys stationed in Bludhaven that he's a vampire, but I don't know. The only reason we even made it here is because he's gone tonight."
Batman was right above the mouthy criminals as they continued to rattle off the many myths about him. They both had M-16s in their hands and combat knives in their boots.
"Oi! You two! Stop prattling about Batman," Penguin hobbled down the hallway. "Get ready to kill em'! Watch the vents too; he likes to hide in em'."
If Batman had a dollar for every time he'd been told he would die, he'd be more prosperous than he already was. He took two deep breaths before kicking the vent door open with full force, knocking it into both men's shoulders. He came down quick enough so they couldn't react in time and grabbed their heads, slamming them together with enough force to knock them both out cold.
Batman knew how to pull his punches regarding head strikes, especially involving headbutts. He looked at the assault rifles and knew they couldn't pierce his suit. At least anything aside from his chin. He walked down the hallway towards the main door, where he saw The Penguin giving a grand speech with his broad back facing the door.
"Men, we'll be rich by the end of the night!" The crowd of goons erupted into cheers.
There were at least thirty guys, twelve armed with knives, machetes, baseball bats, and guns. The ones who weren't armed were sitting atop or standing by crates full of explosives. Explosives would go off instantly if one of the goons couldn't handle the assault rifle they were given or if they were just suicidal. Batman had to think.
The room was spacious enough to move the men away from the crates, but Penguin had to be taken in. Cobblepot couldn't get away like he'd done when he assigned Batgirl to stop him a few weeks before while he was out of town with the Justice League. She'd gotten hurt because, apparently, Two-Face was quicker with a switchblade than he was with a submachine gun. He still had no idea how Barbara convinced Jim that the cuts on her arms were from a car accident.
Batman finally thought of a plan despite his worrying about Barbara. He would kick the door open and use Penguin as a human shield. The chances of Penguin's men shooting their own boss were low but not impossible, so he had to keep his eyes on the men with rifles. Then he'd use his three remaining freeze grenades to take care of the explosives with his one free arm. Like he told Wonder Woman, he'd taken on worse.
