Having expected this reaction, Bruce stood quietly and let Lori vent. He knew she'd be angry, and he honestly felt guilty for having tricked her, so he didn't mind the beating or the names. At least, until her fist landed on one of his broken ribs, at which point he collapsed to his knees.

Cal flinched. "I knew this would happen." He said, looking away.

April covered her eyes. "Why's he just sitting there? That has to hurt..."

"because if he retaliated it would be a whole lot worse." Martha grimaced a little. "he's fine...I hope."

Finally Lori ran out of energy and stood over him panting. "WHAT WHERE YOU THINK!?" she throttled him. "You blow up are house, die and then come back. Did you think about what that would mean for us? I'm a widow know! With no home and even Alfred is dead. I'll have to find a new home and not the Penthouse because there's not enough room for me and Martha." she was glaring holes into his head.

Bruce didn't answer right away, as he had to get his breath back. "I'm sorry, Lori. You know if there had been any other way I would have found it." He said, looking up at her sadly. He hadn't been told about Alfred yet, and that clearly shook him. "I never meant to hurt anyone. I certainly never thought that Alfred..." He paused, shook his head. "This was the only way they would ever have left you alone. I'm sorry."

Lori twitched a very dangerous twitch then took a deep breath. "I...can't even." She rounded on Cal. Martha slid in front of him worried Lori might murder him. "It's alright mom...I mean its not alright and he should have just let it go but he was trying to do it for the best." "So he wanted to get Bruce or Damien killed? Either one of them would have found the mutant and either one could actually be dead thanks to the presidents lap dog? There where a thousand other options." Lori shook her head. "Come on Martha." She pulled the girl away. "Let your dad be who he is and I'm to frustrated to handle Cal."

April stepped forward. "Lori that's not fair." She said angrily. "No one is giving Cal any credit. He's not stupid, he had everything planned out. He literally planned for everything. Did you know what he wanted to do when he realized Bruce was going to fight?"

"April, don't..."

"He wanted me to hypnotize Bruce and let him fight in his place. He was absolutely prepared to die to make sure nothing went wrong. Can't anyone at least give him credit for trying? He's always trying to do the right thing, but everyone gets mad because he doesn't do it the right way. He's just trying to be good. He's bad at it but at least he's trying! I don't appreciate you treating my brother like some common criminal!"

"April, that wasn't necessary. Lori's right, I should have done things differently." He said, not wanting them to fight.

"That's enough, all of you." Bruce said, finally standing back up. "April, let Lori go. She needs time. Cal, don't be mad at your sister, she's just trying to protect you. And Lori, try not to be so judgmental. At least he didn't go about things his father's way." He said reasonably. "Now, if you're still going to fight, please leave."

Lori took a breath. "I know what it's like to be bad but trying to be good. Look I don't really blame Cal. I don't think I could ever really get made at you kids. This is just to much. "I'm married to a guy who's legally dead but here he is standing there acting like everything will be fine." She shook her head. "Nothings going to be the same. He's better off staying down here." She looked at Martha. "I'll be at the penthouse looking for a place to live." She walked off.

"Mom...well that didn't go like I imagined it would." Martha sighed. "Don't worry Cal like she said she's not actually mad at you. She's just...frustrated."

Cal shoved his hands in his pockets and stared at the ground. "It's fine. I don't blame her." He said. "I'm going to go home. Mom's probably killing herself cleaning right now." He added, leaving.

Bruce frowned and shook his head. He didn't know how to make things right. Instead of thinking about it then, he turned and went back to directing the mutants.

April sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Nothing happened the way it should have. Martha, what do we do? Should we even try to make things right, or would that just make everything worse?" She asked her friend. She hated seeing everyone separated like that.

"Mom's upset, Cal's upset, Dad's upset." Martha groaned. "You have your mom talk to Cal. Mom's usually know what to say." She marched over to her father. "You come with me." She grabbed his arm and pulled. "No arguing."

April nodded. "Right." She said, and started out towards home. She had to get back before Cal did, so she went quickly.

"Ow." Bruce trailed after his daughter, going quickly so that her pulling didn't hurt him too much. "Where are we going?"

"You and mom are going to make up and if I know you two well I'm not sticking around." Martha lead them to the penthouse. "Now go in there and make each other feel better." She ordered.

Bruce paused. "Are you sure? I don't think she wants to see me." He said. He wanted to give Lori whatever time she needed.

Martha glared at him and pushed him into the building into the elevator then into shoved him into the penthouse and locked the two of them in sealing every exit.

Lori looked over as the door closed then scowled and turned her head away going back to folding the few pieces of clothes she had.

Bruce tried to protest, but Martha was just as strong and just as stubborn as her mother. He found himself staring at Lori with an intense feeling of guilt and nothing to say. It was just like when he'd first tried dating her, awkward to the point of pain. "Um...Martha brought me here. N-not that I wouldn't have come myself, I just figured I'd give you some space...I mean if that's what you wanted I didn't really know but she kind of dragged me before I could figure it out...not that I didn't want to see you! I just...am still as bad at this as I was when we first started." He said with a sigh.

"Why did you let Clark kill you or whatever happened?" Lori chucked her shoe and him tears racing down her cheeks. "You could have beat him. You could have done anything else and know your legally dead so I can't even be with you!"

Bruce's shoulders slumped. He hated seeing her cry, but he thought she might not want him near her right now. "I went over a lot of other possibilities." He said finally. "In every other scenario, it came back to the same thing. The government would never just let it go if I beat up their golden boy and lived. They would have sent others, we would have had to go through the same thing over and over again...they might have threatened you. In the end, making them think I was dead was the safest plan for everyone. This way Damian can take over as Batman permanently, I'll never have to put on the suit again, no government will get in the way...you'll be safe. That's all I wanted."

"I thought you had died. I thought I had lost you." Lori collapsed against Bruce gripping his shirt as she sobbed into his shirt. "I don't want to lose you." she squeezed him tightly.

Bruce felt a sense of relief as he held his wife close. He had missed holding her. "I told you I wasn't going anywhere. I meant it." He said. "I'm not about to leave you behind, I promise."

Lori finally finished crying and looked up at him. "Next time you die I'm going to pull a Romeo and Juliet." she was half kidding as she stayed tucked in his arms wondering if this was all a dream and she would wake up to find out he was still dead.

"Next time I die it will be because you died first and I'm grieving." Bruce teased back. "You know I love you, right Lori? More than anything or anyone else in the world."

"I know love and I love you more then anything as well." Lori kissed him gentle then pinched his bruised skin. "But never do anything like that again."

Bruce flinched. "Ow. Okay, I won't. I promise." He said. He was silent for a moment. "I know it's not my place, but I tend to worry about Cal. He keeps trying to do the right thing, but he does it the wrong way. I think he's getting frustrated, and with Martha getting mad at him whenever he screws up..." He couldn't blame Martha for getting mad, but he also knew how it felt to have your best friend in the world mad at you.

"Martha usually ignores what Cal does but this last thing well...can you blame her forgetting upset?" Lori sighed. "You use to get mad at me when I stole...there so cute together." she giggled softly.

Bruce chuckled. "No, you're right, I can't blame her at all." He said. "They kind of remind me of...us, back when we first started out. I can't help but wonder if they'll end up like us."

"I think so only reversed." Lori snuggled against his chest. "I'm not going to wake up and find out this was a dream am I?"

"No, you're not. You'll wake up and find me here sleeping next to you." Bruce promised.