"Sir, Madam, your guests have arrived," Alfred says, knocking on the door of the master bedroom.
"Thank you, Alfred," Diana tells the polite gentleman. "Oh, and Alfred... When are you going to start calling me 'Diana'?"
"I'm trying, Madam. I should make some progress in a year or two," Alfred answers as he goes back downstairs.
"I love that man. Ready to entertain our guests, Bruce?" she asks her husband while smoothing out some of the wrinkles on the dress she's wearing.
"No," he responds rather harshly. "Why are we doing this?"
"Because we rarely all get together, because we've all finally somehow managed to get some free time and most importantly, because I said so," Diana answers his query in a commanding manner and yet still with a dazzling smile, doing the same with his suit as she did with her own outfit. "Still a bit sore, darling?" she asks, noticing his winces.
"More than a bit. Unlike you, I don't heal in an instant, Princess," he replies dryly to her teasing.
"Exactly and neither are you going to if I see you so much as thinking about any Bat-business, darling. Did I make myself clear?" she reminds him of the same thing she's been reminding him the last 5 days.
"Dictator..." he mumbles under his breath as they make their way out of the room.
At least going down the stairs is no longer as painful as it was a day ago, but that's not what's on Bruce's mind at the moment. He's been having trouble focusing lately. Being in need of being taken care of has left him in somewhat of a predicament. Diana ended up treating him most of the time and so they spent pretty much all her time with him. As a result, he ended up watching her do a lot of leaning and bending, which didn't exactly help his condition that much. After several days of that, he finds that his eyes tend instinctively lock on to the ever so lovely curves of his wife's beautiful body, whenever they enter his sight picture, for instance, right now as she descends the stairs in front of him.
"I don't think your eyes have given me so much attention in quite some time, Bruce," she teases him, both with her words and the enticing manner she whispers them.
"I'm sorry, my dear, but in my defence, I can usually do more than just look," he replies as they reach the dining room doors.
"I didn't say that I mind," she responds with a smile as she opens the doors.
As soon as they enter they are greeted by the sight of their friends, all in formal attire.
"Wondy, you look more stunning than I thought imaginable. Bats, you look... better than you did 5 days ago," Wally West starts off the conversation.
"Thank you, Wally," Diana answers with a smile as she and her husband approach the assembled Founders.
"So, Bruce, how've you been?" Clark asks the man he considers his best friend.
"Battered and bruised," he replies shortly in his baritone voice.
"Yeah, we kind of knew that part already. You healing up good?" John Stewart asks.
"Of course he is. He's been under my care and supervision," Diana states, rather proudly.
"Yours, Diana? Is Alfred sick or something?" Clark's tongue reacts to the statement before his brain, earning him a scowl.
"What's that supposed to mean, Kal?" she asks sharply.
"Where is Alfred, anyway?" Shayera steps in quickly to defuse the tension.
"He's rummaging through the cellar to find something appropriate for us," Diana answers, her expression relaxing into a small smile again.
"So why are we here? I mean, why are we having this 'party'?" J'onn asks honestly.
"You know that inadequate explanation: 'because we can'? Well, in our case it actually applies. After all, normally we are all far too busy for something like this, so when Diana and Alfred found out that we all had some free time on our hands, this little get-together was a certainty," Bruce explains.
"I see," J'onn replies.
"So, Bats! Did you make a memorial to that armoured suit yet?" Wally jumps in.
"No. It could prove useful in the future. I'm going to repair it, fix the issues I've noticed and improve some other features..." Bruce answers the young man's question.
"...Once you've recovered!" Diana interrupts him, reminding him of what she told him before.
"See, I told you they'd start before we got here," they hear Tim Drake behind him, returning from patrol with Dick and Barbara.
"They just gave us the opportunity to be fashionably late," Barbara jokes.
"You're giving them too much credit, Babs," Dick whispers into her ear.
"I heard that," Bruce points a remark at him.
"Well, at least we know that not even being blown up can change you one bit," Dick responds to the remark.
"Ah, so I see you've all gathered," Alfred comments as he enters the room carrying a bottle of red wine. "Will this do, Sir?" he asks, presenting the bottle to the master of the manor.
"Yes, it certainly will, Alfred."
"Need any help there?" Wally asks the English gentleman.
"No, thank you, Master West. I can manage, but if you could all take your glasses, please," Alfred says and before he could even inhale his next breath, Flash had handed everyone their glasses from the main table.
"Master Dick, if you could hold this for me," Alfred says as he hands his glass to Richard Grayson.
"Certainly, Alfred," he replies, taking the glass as Alfred starts pouring the red liquid into everybody's glass.
"No champagne?" Clark asks with a smile.
"It's overrated. Ice-wine on the other hand isn't. Trust me on that," Bruce replies.
"Oh my God, did we just hear Batman say the T word?" Tim Drake teases.
"Maybe you don't take being blown up as good as we thought, old man" Dick joins him.
"Don't push it, boys. I am going to heal up eventually," Bruce replies to their teasing with a smirk, just as Alfred finishes filling the wine glasses.
"So we gonna toast to something or can I start drinking?" Shayera asks.
"We probably should. How's this?" Clark replies as he raises his glass. "Here's to all the times we've been through hell and back... Some of us more literally than others."
"Good one, Clark. Except I never got that far," Bruce responds with a slighter smirk than before.
"Close enough. Cheers!" Dick steps in so they can all toast. They all do and drink, savouring the taste of the sweet wine that filled their glasses just moments before.
Somehow during all of the happenings, Bruce has separated himself from the other heroes. He observes them all interacting with one another. His family and friends, the two things he never expected he'd ever have until they happened to him. All of that brings a slight smile to his face.
"More wine, sir?" he hears Alfred's polite question.
"Please," he accepts, offering his glass.
"I don't believe I've seen you like this very often, Sir," the English gentleman comments.
"Well, this is probably one of my worst on duty injuries."
"Without a doubt, but I wasn't talking about that, Master Bruce. You seem kind of satisfied, not troubled as you usually do. Dare I say it, even happy," Alfred asks, teasing his ward as he usually does.
"Hmm... I guess you could say I got a different outlook on life. Don't get used to it, tough," Bruce answers.
"I won't, Sir. I've known you long enough now. I recon you'll go back to your regular cranky self in about 11 days," the old butler lands a snarky comment on his ward.
Bruce notices something flapping in the lower right corner of the terrace doors. His smile fades into his usual angry neutral expression. Taking his glass with him he makes his way towards the doors, inconspicuous to anyone but Alfred.
"Still hanging around?" Bruce asks as he exits onto the terrace, holding his wine in his right hand and placing his left one in his pocket.
"I am," Death replies from his corner right next to the terrace doors.
"Any particular reason why you're still around?" Bruce asks, not turning around to face his collocutor.
"You are an intriguing specimen. Not many have escaped my grasp and only one other than you has done so twice. Your unfaltering determination, your sheer strength of will and your unstoppable instinct and ability to survive and live are very impressive and quite curious to me. I've rarely met a mortal such as you. You will make for a most interesting observation," the Grim Reaper explains his motives.
"Think you'll have the time for that little scientific observation of yours? I was kind of under the impression that you were very busy, guiding souls and all that," Bruce keeps on searching for answers, as he observes the first blue glimmers of the dawn sky appear on the horizon.
"Unlike you humans, I do not exist in just a single place at any one time," the dark figure replies.
"Handy," Bruce replies, appearing unimpressed and uninterested at what he is told. "So what exactly are you so keen on observing?"
"I am curious to see what kind of life you will lead from here on out. It will be interesting to see what life throws at you, whether you embrace it or not, how you handle the hurdles that come your way, whether those assembled in this room will remain the only people you allow to get close to you," Death motions towards the room behind him. "I am no less curious as to how long it will be before we meet again."
"Don't take this personally, but I hope that doesn't happen anytime soon," Bruce replies, not hiding that he didn't really mean the first part of his sentence.
"Take this personally, human, I hope the same," Death responds as he starts vanishing. "You will not be seeing me again until that day comes."
Bruce doesn't react to any of that, merely taking another sip from his glass, watching more and more of the sky turn blue as the dawn rolls in.
Suddenly he hears the handle on the door behind him turn.
"Grabbing some fresh air, Mr. Wayne?" Diana asks with a teasing smile as she opens the balcony doors.
"Something like that, Mrs. Wayne," he answers her question with much the same expression.
"How are you feeling?" she continues, taking a sip of her wine.
"Hurt," Bruce answers laconically.
"Want me to kiss it and make it better?" Diana keeps on with the teasing, with a slightly more devilish smile on her face, soliciting a slight chuckle from her husband.
"I'd rather you just kissed me, my dear," he replies with a smirk.
She comes closer to him and leans on the terrace and on him, his arm hugging her from behind. They share a quick, yet no less loving kiss as the Sun's rays cross the horizon.
"I love you, Bruce," Diana tells her husband, losing the teasing smile and tone and getting serious for a moment.
"I love you too, Diana," he answers with the same seriousness. For a moment, all they do is look into the affection in each others' eyes. Diana is the first to break the locked gaze, putting on a dazzling, yet slightly fiendish smile.
"You know, all of this kind of gave me a new perspective on the whole mortality thing," she tells him.
"Is that so? Something on your mind, Princess?" he answers, wondering what she means by that and taking a sip from his glass.
"Oh, nothing much. I'm just wondering. Tell me, Bruce, how do you feel about having children?" Diana asks nonchalantly provoking and unexpected reaction from her husband.
Bruce sprays his last sip of wine from his mouth in shock and surprise.
A/N: And that, as they say, is that.