9610/Knightfall: Sign of Life

Knightfall: Sign of Life
Date of Scene:	16 October 2019
Location:	Batcave - Wayne Manor
Synopsis:	Diana pays a visit to the Batcave and a comatose Bruce Wayne.
Cast of Characters:	Batman, Wonder Woman
Tinyplot:	Knightfall

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Batman has posed:
The Batcave beneath Crest Hill was one of the best kept secrets in the world. An impenetrable bunker with cutting edge security measures, absent from every land survey and cartographical document in existence. It does not exist, yet here it lies - a monument to the crusade Bruce Wayne begun many years ago and which continues now even in his death.

Well, his reported death. Stories on that front have been conflicted at best.

In truth, he lies on a state of the art guerney hooked up to all manner of advanced medical equipment. Both legs appear to be in traction, his torso is heavily bandaged, and his face is beaten and swollen. He has all the seeming of a man on the very edge of death.

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana had used her alien tech powered 'jet' to arrive at the hidden bunker beneath the ground, the secret headquarters of Gotham's infamous Bat.

Once the 'jet' entered the cave, it shifted states from being entirely invisible to very much visible and in the shade of a gray storm cloud. The jet hovered there silently in the air inside of the cave, like a huge javelin suspended in time and space, not making a sound...

Diana, dressed in a black leather jacket, a black turtleneck slim-fit sweater that hugs her form, a pair of dark gray jeans and black knee-high boots, settles into a chair beside Bruce's bed. With her dark brown hair tied back, her eyes focus upon his face. A somber look upon her own, she stares at the man and close friend and colleague. She releases a gentle sigh.

"It has been a tough few days." She tells him, as if he could hear her. Her voice is husky, sultry even, but calm... her Greek-flavored accent adding some measure of caring presence to her words. "Superman's ceremony went well. As well as something such as that could at least. I spent time with Arthur and Mera afterward. We spoke of you both, for a very long time."

Diana's eyes raise and she looks away to another part of the cavernous chamber.

Batman has posed:
The Batcave is quiet. It's no real surprise. If he were awake, Bruce would not let them gather at his bedside and fret - Gotham was a devouring monster that never slept, so too must its guardians be. The advanced computer that is at the hub of the cavern keeps track of them, playing aloud their chatter over the communications net and keeping tabs on their locators upon a great and detailed map of the city. Batgirl is on the move in Red Hook. Kestrel at work in China Basin. The new Batman, Barbara Gordon, somewhere in Nantwich. Robin is ... somewhere in the Tri-State Area. His movements erratic at best. All of them going about their appointed rounds. Even Alfred is away.

Bruce remains. He doesn't shift or move when Diana speaks. There's no sudden spark of life within him. For one so strong willed and alert, it may be unusual to see him completely oblivious. The breathing tube fitted to his face hisses as it pumps oxygen into his lungs, a nearby monitor beeps rhythmically in time with his heart.

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana's eyes linger on Bruce's still injured visage. Her words lingered heavy in the air after she'd spoken them, not expecting an answer from him of course. After several silent moments of just watching him, she moves and reaches her right hand into her jacket's interior pocket. She pulls an item out from within it, wrapped in a white clothing she unfurls it and sets the item down on the table beside his bed. It is a Greek artifact, it is the symbol of Aceso, Goddess of the Healing Process, in the form of a golden coin.

Diana's fingers linger on the coin a bit, willing Aceso's presence here within this cave, to be here within Bruce. She slides them away and leaves the coin to remain there as she stands up and turns around away from the bed to walk to the computers that are displaying the status of all the Bat-family members who are out on patrol.

She'd ordered Justice League monitoring systems to focus more heavily on Gotham. Thor had even volunteered to attempt to reach out and establish a patrol pattern within the city as well.. though she's unsure if he's accomplished it yet.

A light breath is drawn in between her red painted lips. She's burdened by all of this, but maintaining her strength as Bruce would expect as much from her.

Batman has posed:
"It's nice to see you here," comes a thin voice from the top of a flight of stairs hewn into the rocky wall that leads to the manor above, "I know it would do him good to hear your voice."

Alfred moves down the stairs towards, a silver tray in his hands set with teapot, cups, saucers, and other fixtures. Batman may always be prepared, but the fact that the elderly butler was able to have tea ready in preparation for Diana's unannounced visit was something of a marvel.

As he dismounts the stairs, the wear on him is clear. His clothes are very slightly rumpled - an imperfection he would never abide under normal circumstances - and his jacket has been discarded. Both the sleeves of his shirt have been rolled up, bearing thin but wiry forearms. As he nears the computer, he settles the tray down on the desk and smiles wanly at the Amazon.

"Tea, your highness? It's Rize - not Greek, I'm afraid, but the Black Sea."

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana turns around to face Alfred when he speaks and announces himself. She has a reserved smile spread over her red hued lips at his words for her and once he's a little closer she steps toward him as well. "Thank you." She says to him, her eyes glance to the tea. "I would never turn down a cup of tea from you, Alfred." She tells him with a wealth of affection on her voice for the aging man... even if he's still much much younger than she.

A second later and she looks to Bruce again where he lays near by. "I must say, I wish he was with us though. Perhaps at the Hall in Metropolis or even the Watchtower above us all." Her eyes return to Alfred then. "Not that I believe you are anything but the best of caretakers... just that... this cave..."

Diana spares a look around the interior of it all, all around them. "It does not strike me as the most restorative of environments for the type of injuries he has sustained." She drops her stare back to Alfred and gives him a pensive smile.

Then after a short pause she asks. "How are you holding up?" Of Alfred himself.

Batman has posed:
"He would want to be here," Alfred admits, though the sigh in his voice suggests he doesn't disagree with Diana's appraisal, "And I'm afraid the children wouldn't trust anyone else with him. Even Master Jason was here last night - I had not expected to see him set foot in this place again except under sufferance."

Alfred sets about pouring the tea, carefully filling Diana's cup and leaving not a droplet of the substance out of place. Once he has, he opens the sugar bowl to reveal a small pile of dark crystalline lumps and asks, "Beet sugar, ma'am?"

As he prepares the tea, he sighs and continues to speak, "But Doctor Thompkins has known Mister Wayne for his entire life. She was his first physician after his father passed. Hers are capable hands, and Mister Wayne would not want her far from her clinic. She has other patients."

He tries to sound chipper, but it fails. As he tips some of the crystals into his own tea cup he drops the delicate silver spoon, a clatter rising through the cavernous space as he lowers his head and his shoulders slump.

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana doesn't turn down the sugar, she has a sweet tooth after all. She nods and smiles to the offer and lets him add to it as he sees fit, then she'll accept her cup and thank him very softly before she takes a sip. Nobody makes a cup of tea quite as good as Alfred, this is something she's learned over the years that she's been in Bruce's trusted circle to be this deep into his secrets.

"I know." Diana relents then as she steps back to the bedside and once more takes a seat beside Bruce at the medical bed. "I know far too well how stubborn he would be about the things that all have to be perfectly aligned as he sees them." She looks between Bruce and Alfred, showing a light smile. "I do my best not to push on such matters unless I have simply no other choice."

Her eyes drift back to Bruce, she takes another sip of the tea, and she stares upon him. She's never been in a medical condition like this. She has been hurt before, but not like this. "I fear for him, even if he does wake up, he may not be the... same able bodied person he was before. I am not sure how he would handle such a reality, even if the rest of us simply want him back in any form that we can have him..." These words are said from the Princess with a somber adoration for the man on the bed beside her.

Batman has posed:
"I know," Alfred's voice betrays that he has entertained similar concern, "Some years ago, he broke his leg after an altercation. I don't quite recall the gory details, suffice it to say that he was forced to make a jump from several stories up without the benefit of his equipment. I remember the diagnosis quite clearly, though - fractured tibia. Several weeks bed rest. Stay off it as much as possible."

The old butler moves to join Diana at the bedside, looking down at the man - formerly so strong and in control now relying on machines to keep himself alive.

"He did none of that. That leg remained partly broken for six months because he kept getting up and walking on it. He even built a brace especially for it and incorporated it into one of his suits. He ... "

A sigh, and Alfred sags into one of the chairs at the bedside.

"If what you say comes to pass. I - I worry he won't be able to accept it."

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana's attention sweeps between Bruce and Bruce's oldest and dearest of friends telling her of this story that relates to her own concerns. After it is said, she drops her eyes to the tea held between her hands in front of her where she just softly breathes for a moment before her eyes go up and her left hand reaches over to grasp Alfred's forearm to softly squeeze it.

"This is why it is better than ever that he has the strong family around him that he does now. I have been lucky enough to meet some of them recently. They even recovered some very... wonderful relics of my people's past, and offered them back to my people for no personal gain. But sadly, those items have been destroyed by a terrible person." She glances away again, draws in another breath and just tilts her head to slowly shake it side to side.

"But, he has family now. A good one at that. They will take care of him, show him what has to be done." She looks back to Alfred. "We all will help him. I will be here as much as I can be..."

Batman has posed:
It is as Diana speaks that something altogether strange happens. Bruce's eyes open - it's no trick of the light, nor some imagined dream. They open, staring up at the ceiling. He doesn't move at first, unable to shift his head for the brace that has been fitted around his neck. His eyes turn as far as they can in their sockets, locking with Diana's own. They then shift to Alfred, some sound trying to emanate from his chest but only coming across as a gasping, gurgle.

His hands immediately reach for the tube at his mouth, tugging at it. Alfred is on his feet like a shot, kicking the chair over behind him as he leans over and tries to keep everything in place. His hand wraps around the tube for a moment, but there seems to be no strength in it. It falls immediately to the side, hanging over the edge of the bed on Diana's side.

"Doctor!" Alfred calls, turning his head to shout over his shoulder before realization strikes, "She's at the clinic! Ma'am - ma'am, please, stay with him."

He doesn't stay to mince words, rising quickly to his feet and rushing across the room.

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana rises up just the same as Alfred does, they look as though they're standing in synchronized unison in fact!

She rushes to his side and with immense concern strewn across her face she searches him over, seeing his hand laying down just in front of her, she takes it up in one while she still has tea held in her other. "Bruce." Diana softly says to him, to try to get him to look at her, look into her eyes. "Bruce." She softly repeats. "You are here with us, you are safe." She tells him, her voice surprisingly calm now.

"Do not move, you need to lay still. We are taking care of you... everything will be all right. I swear it..." Diana softly shakes her head right to left then, keeping her eyes trained on his own while her hand holding his strokes his palm and fingers gently, then gives them a reassuring and caring squeeze.

Batman has posed:
Bruce clasps Diana's hand, although there is no strength in it, and he can barely keep his arm elevated. As Alfred tends to him, his eyes remain locked on those the Themysciran Princess. He cannot speak, he cannot do much more than look at her judging by the way he simply lays there. But they stare at each other for that brief moment until finally Bruce slowly sinks back into the pillows, eyes closing and once more he is still and silent. Whatever had released him for those brief moments regaining its hold on him.

Doctor Thompkins arrives shortly after, looks over the readings from his machines and assures the pair of them that this is normal. Coma recovery is not a light switch. It may take days or weeks for him to awaken completely. But it's a good sign. A very good sign.

But it doesn't help the sight of him there, comatose and still. The haunting thought of what is yet to come.