A/N: Don't own these characters so don't sue me.

Many thanks to Lady Isis for the beta and for putting up with my annoying emails every 20 minutes. Lol. Also many thanks to DaisyJane for her insight and help also. :)

I have to say I'm pleased to see Dark Claw finally come to an end. It has been a pleasure and a pain at the same time to write. I would like to thank everyone that read and reviewed Dark Claw.

Enjoy!

Dark Claw

Chapter 21: Epilogue

Bruce and Diana were enjoying their dinner date, Alfred had returned with their desserts when he motioned with his head towards the over-sized windows. Bruce sighed out as he placed his napkin down and stood up from this chair.

"I have business to attend to, Princess," Bruce said with frustration. Diana looked out the window and saw the large bat signal high in the sky. She turned to her dinner companion and smiled brightly at him.

"Care for me to stay until you return?" she patiently asked him.

Bruce thought it over for a brief moment. He slowly shook his head as he stared at her. Jim never turned it on unless it was important and he could very well be gone all night. "No, Diana, I think it would be best if we call it a night. Don't know how long I'll be."

Diana stood up but Bruce motioned with his hand for her to return to her seat. "Stay and have dessert, Alfred would be upset if you didn't have some," Bruce said as he walked towards her. He bent down and kissed her forehead. As he stood up, Diana nodded her head in agreement.

"Alfred can keep me company while I eat," Diana said with a wink towards him. Alfred's normally stoic face brightened slightly. Bruce walked off towards the entrance of the Batcave.

"Try not to steal her away from me, Alfred," Bruce said over his shoulder.

"I will try, Master Bruce," the Englishman replied lightly.

Diana laughed. "At least you'd stay for the entire dinner," she said sarcastically.

Bruce stopped and turned around with pained expression on his face. "You're not the only one allowed to make jokes, Bruce," Diana raised her eyebrow in challenge to him.

Bruce smirked as he turned on his heels and left the two.

---

Batman slipped quietly up to the roof of GCPD, looking around for Jim Gordan. Harvey Bullock stood next to the massive light, Batman walked over to the overweight man.

"Listen, freak, your damn freak friend the Joker has Commissioner Gordan," Harvey cursed.

"How do you know?" Batman asked him.

"This." Bullock whipped out a letter sided card. It was a large Joker playing card but had red letters written on it. At first glance it looked like blood, but it was a written with red lipstick.

The writing said Oversea Gordan's fishy Death. The only building Batman could think of that had a view of the sea was the old Tempt Fishery - now called Tempt Storage, where they used to butcher whales one hundred years ago. The building was a warehouse now that was fifteen stories tall.

"If Jim dies, freak... I'm holding you personally responsible!" Harvey spat out as he turned and shut off the bat signal. Harvey rubbed his forehead, Let the damn freaks kill each other, he thought.

Batman launched himself off of GCPD and used his grapple hook to swing down to the awaiting Batmobile. He drove over to Tempt Storage and exited his vehicle. He fired off his grappling hook and rapidly ascended towards the roof.

Something didn't feel right as he landed on the rooftop. He noticed a rope tied down to an exposed pipe that its end was going over the edge. Batman slowly walked over to the edge and saw Gordan tied to the rope dangling from it.

He gripped the rope and started to pulled the unconscious body up. Once the body was close enough to him he gripped the rope that was wrapped around the body and pulled it up.

It was a fake - but there was a note attached to the body. It read: Surprise Batsy!

Batman just managed to turn and see the Joker almost on top of him. He released the dummy and turned. He was too slow, and the Joker sliced at him with a large knife. The blade cut his utility belt, it fell from his waist. Batman grabbed the Joker's wrist. They struggled against each other. He forced the Joker's arm up and then smashed it down hard on his knee, knocking the knife from his hand.

"Not a very elaborate plan, Joker," Batman said roughly to Joker as he got a better hold of him.

"It was and still is," Joker sang out as he winked at the Dark Knight.

Batman then felt a presence near his back. When he turned his head, a large wooden mallet was coming at his face. It dazed him when it connected, giving the Joker the advantage.

The Joker and Harley Quinn then started to kick and hit him. It forced Batman to back up, but being so close to the edge of the building there was nowhere else to go. He slipped and fell backwards.

"Have a nice fall!" the Joker yelled out with a laugh.

Batman instinctively went for his grappling hook, but found nothing there. His utility belt was laying down on the roof. Oh this is going to hurt!

The Joker and Harley watched from above as Batman hit the ground, hard. He laid there not moving. They raced down the stairs and stopped on a floor that had Jim Gordan bound to a chair. They ran by him smiling.

"Ding dong the Batsy is dead," Joker sang out as he ran past Gordon.

Jim watched the manic pair run by and felt his blood run cold. Have they finally succeed? he thought. Jim prayed they had not.

The Joker and Harley burst out the front doors of the old building and ran in search of the spot Batman had fallen to his death.

"Where's his body?" the Joker cried out as they ran around the building.

"Don't know, puddin," Harley replied back as they searched for him.

The Joker stopped - so did Harley.

"It's impossible. His body should be right here," the Joker said as he tapped his chin with his finger. Harley scratched her head as she thought about it also.

The Joker's eyes widened as he saw the large bloodstain on the dark ground. He pointed at the spot but no words would come out. Harley stared at the spot to, and her face contorted into fear.

"Where is he, Mister J?" Harley asked with a bit of fear and confusion in her voice.

The Joker simply grabbed two handfuls of hair on his head and pulled. "He has to be here. Look for a blood trail!" he said as he jumped around.

Just as Harley was about to, the Joker stopped jumping around and let out a kind of choking noise. Harley turned and saw the Batman lift her puddin' up by the neck.

The Joker's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. He should be dead, kept repeating, over and over in his head. Batman threw him to the ground and kicked him in the ribs, forcing Joker to roll over onto his stomach. Batman then grabbed both of his arms and tied his wrists together.

Harley stood there watching as if it wasn't real. She had seen the Batman die - but he wasn't dead. She remained frozen in fear, and Batman was able to grab her also without a fight.

After hitting the ground he had blacked out for a few moments. When he pulled himself back up he felt great pain but it slowly subsided. Once back on his feet he ran to the Batmobile and retrieved his spare utility belt. When he came back Joker and Harley were running around looking for his dead body.

Batman secured them in the batmobile and went in search of Gordan. He found him on the ninth floor, tied and gaged. After releasing him, Jim smiled and hugged him.

Batman stood completely still, raising a questioning eyebrow. "What was that for?"

"I thought they finally got you. They acted like they had," Jim said.

Batman smirked. "What they saw and what happened were two totally different events," he said as they left the rundown building.

The GCPD came picked up the Joker and Harley. They were both so confused at what had happened they didn't taunt or act stupid. Jim was looked over by some paramedics as Batman left the scene, hoping Diana was still at the manor.

Three months later

Batman was driving the Batmobile back to the Cave after a night of patrolling. In the past three months since his merger with Logan, his crime-fighting lifestyle had gotten so much easier. Sure he still had to look for clues and figure out how or why a person was committing a crime - but now he didn't have to worry about dying in some dank, dark alleyway from some punk with a lucky bullet.

Diana and his relationship with her was still being kept a secret from the rest of the League, which was harder now that they had expanded it to over fifty members.

Their battle against the Sentinels showed them that seven wasn't enough to protect the entire Earth. The battle also showed that they could work in a larger group than the seven of them.

Diana had been pestering him for the past month or so to allow her to come on a patrol with him, to see what Gotham was like through his eyes. He finally relented and would allow her to come only if she would wear a disguise and not show off her super powers. Alfred, with his normal precognitive abilities, had created a Batwoman-type costume for Diana.

That had been last night, and he actually enjoyed her company. At first he thought she would distract him but she was professional all during the patrol. But when they returned to the manor, it was a totally different story. He sighed as he parked the Batmobile in the cave. Last night's lovemaking was different, more physical then it had even been before. Was it because of the patrol or something else?

He shook his head and hopped out of the batmobile. He inhaled deeply and frowned as he picked up a scent he hadn't smelled in a while.

Batman stealthily moved around the cave and saw a puff of smoke come from his occupied computer chair.

"What are you doing here?" Batman growled out.

The chair swung around and faced him. "We need your help, bub," Logan said with a serious expression on his face.

The End.

A/N: Betcha didn't see that coming! Do not know if I will do a sequel at this time, if you have a good idea why Logan came back I would love to hear it. I truly don't know what I would do for a sequel at this time. Well I do have a few ideas, but they are sort of lame. So PM me or leave a review stating what would be a good idea for Logan needing Bruce's help for.