"She's just going to be angry with you." Bruce said, taking the glass filled maybe an inch or so of scotch and lifting it to his lips. Sitting in the dark black large chair in the cave that Tim was sitting in no more than a couple hours ago. Narrowed eyes, fixated on the blonde man before him. It's not often he lets someone into the batcave, but when he saw this man in Gotham? Yeah, it raised a bunch of questions. Even Bruce knows that where this man goes, only darkness follows. And That's a lot to admit, coming from Bruce.

"Nah. She's right, mate. Last time I saw her she was still a tiny thing. Up to my knees, it seemed. I'm no good." He replied, the bright orange hot flame lighting up the stubble on his face. Closing his eyes as he leaned towards the small flame from his silver zippo lighter, cigarette in his teeth.

Bruce only crinkled his eyes in annoyance, it's bad enough that Jason used to smoke in here. Thankfully, that's stopped. Only probably because Jason hasn't been to the cave in over a year.

"I don't believe that, John. I look at you and I see a man trying to do the right thing." His voice in return to his questionable friends statement was a mix between truthful and convincing. As if he was just trying to convince John  Constantine that abandoning his daughter was the right thing to do. That's definitely not what Bruce is trying to say, but under the circumstances? All he's saying is that he understands why John left his family. He doesn't approve of it, what he approves of? John trying to get back into his daughter's life. Now that the cost has dwindled down a bit, but it's to a point where  he's going to need to step in.

"Of course you do. That's what I want you to see." Inhaling the burning smoke past his lips, giving Bruce a side glance with dull and grey toned blue eyes before tirelessly exhaling. As if he was scoffing at Bruce's words, and personal opinions on his view of himself. John arched his back, a couple popping sounds echoed off of the cave. And John thought him being holed up in some motel or apartment was pretty lonely, or just dark.

"I'm not easily so manipulated." Bruce retorted in a warning tone, raising a thick eyebrow over crinkled and unamused blue eyes. It's one thing for Bruce to see John Constantine, in general. But it's another to see a woman covered in religious jewelry to be literally shoving him out of the door of a bookstore with a broom.

"Uh huh," John paused in his mumbling, took a look over to the edge of the cave where Bruce's biological test-tube-ninja-baby son was walking down the large steps. He knows all about Talia, he knew about Damian before Bruce even had the slightest clue. In all honesty? John thinks Talia's just a load of bull. He didn't think she was being serious about making a child in floor to ceiling sized test tube. 'Artificial womb', she called it. Bullshit, that's blurring the lines between science and playing god. And for John? He deals with things like that.

"Yeah, tell me about how it's not so easy to manipulate you," He mumbled, dragging out the cigarette as Damian walked on closer, Robin suit handing from one of his arms. He wore a long sleeve black shirt with the collar rising a little over his collar bones. Plain black pants, John couldn't tell if he was wearing black jeans or something else. He might have been wearing slacks. He seemed to roughly exhale through his nose as the living embodiment of how easily Bruce can be manipulated.

"Hey, despite the hard time I give you? You're a hero, A real one." John started, watching as Damian eyed him as he walked on past. God, that boy really did have Bruce's glare. Even worse? He has Talia's eyes. Bruce's glare with Talia's eyes? Yeah, he wishes he could unsee that.

"Not riddled with mistakes and wrongs, and shades of grey. I know ye've probably saved the world a bunch of times. Hell, I was with you for one of those times. What a thrill, gotta do it again sometime. I know I may not be standing here if it weren't for you or any of your friends up there on that rock. You know, the one orbiting our earth that the government doesn't know about?" As if by complimenting Bruce, he has to back it up with a jabbing question that could be taken as an insult.

"The government knows." Bruce was quick to retort.

John sighed, letting his eyes dim down and let his eyes go from sharp and accusing to tired and just plain generally distressed.

"Yeah, sod it. Honesty time. I figure I owe you so I'm going to offer something most people don't get." John spoke, gripping his free hand tighter around the arm of the black chair he was sitting in. Leaning forwards and bending his knees a little, taking the cigarette out of his mouth and holding it between two fingers. Above the two men, bats squeaked and moved around in quick formation. The smoke was probably disturbing them, as the sound of wings going to the other sound of the cave made it's way to their ears. Even Damian, from his side of the cave, was trying not to look like he was listening. But he found himself leaning a little bit to be able to hear the words.

Damian had come down to the cave to make another gadget to add to his utility belt. He was going to bring you something, but he had to make it first. He figured his father had company down here, hearing the second voice. But he was shocked to see it was John Constantine, who he now knows is your father.

The ember on the end of John's cigarette visibly seemed to dwindle down to Bruce, as the suspicion started to build in the air. He's aware of how John works, he's seen it. At first he nearly decked John across the jaw the first time he saw it, because he thought it was a person. Not just something using a corpse to move around. So yeah,l when John is giving an offer that he doesn't give anybody else? He'll listen for a moment.

"The chance to walk away." Bruce shook his head and scoffed, John going back to sitting up normally in his chair, pressing his back to the curve of the chairs spine, his serious and stone cut face still remained as he brought the cigarette to his lips once again. Raising a single eyebrow, as if to ask Bruce to explain.

"I don't do that-"
"No, of course not. Everything you've heard was right, I'm not to be trusted. If you get close, I'm telling you this right now. Straight up, I will disappoint. Even worse, I'll probably end up getting someone you love hurt. Walk away, Bruce."
"I said I'm not going to do that. Whatever is going on, it's in Gotham now. I've picked up on it at the Academy. Students are dying, it's all being played off as a suicide. The only student death that wasn't a suicide was a murder connected to one of-"

"Bruce, shut up. Walk away, you're literally dealing with hell. A pocket of purgatory. Gotham's hell enough, what's coming is going to be worse. I'll deal with the school, I already dealt with St. Adams Orphanage. That was a nasty one, hunger demon. Do you hear me Bruce? This isn't what you deal with. No criminals stealing purses, actual demons from hell. The things that don't flinch back when you approach. The things that aren't even scared of you." There was a long pause, and John could just feel Damian eavesdropping.

"Walk. Away."

"No."

John scoffed, smirking and leaning back in the chair once again.

"I understand people a bit better than you do. You're bloody great at what you do, don't get me wrong. But one of the reasons you're so good at this is because you lack empathy." John exclaimed, not loudly. But he said it quickly and curt. Smirking, and extending a hand out in a gesture to show a point.

"I don't lack empathy." Bruce said, straight faced while lifting the glass to his lips for a moment, letting John continue speaking.

"Of course you do. You can't see the things you see, fight the evil that you fight. And then proceed to feel for the victims and the criminals the same. You can't put yourself in the shoes of some of the psychopaths you have to stop. You don't want to understand why they do what they do. You'll see too much of yourself in them, making it harder to punch them in the face." John leaned forwards, grabbing Bruce by the collar of his grey shirt and yanking him forwards.

"I do it everyday. And you know what I don't fight? Everyday criminals. People worse than Joker, people that aren't even people. And why do I do this? It's because I see myself in them. I kill what's already dead, I've made a prison in hell. I've mad a court in purgatory. I've sentenced many things to have the rest of their eternity spent down there. No salvation, no time to fix their millions of wrongs. Some of those things have lived longer than mankind itself. And you want to know why I've come to Gotham? Why I didn't just suddenly show up to be apart of my daughters life? I'm no dad of the year, I'm right behind Talia getting her mother of the year trophy." Bruce gripped John's hands, tearing them off of the collar of his shirt. Leaning back, and waiting for John to answer.

"I came back because someone broke out of hell's prison. I followed it here, and I found out who it was. He's going to hurt everybody close to me or anybody working with me. It's already happened, too. My Ex-wife was attacked, nearly lost her baby. I'm not allowed to go see her, legally? She has a restraining order against me. I couldn't have seen my daughter even if I wanted too." John said, shrugging his shoulders. Instantly feeling the guilt of saying that out loud, but his actions and face didn't show it.

You were better off without him in your life, he'd constantly tell himself this.

"Nick the Necro. Taught me most of everything I know, and he's pissed. Bloody fucking pissed. He's not going to stop at killing everybody around me, he'll torture them. Hell, he'd probably kill my ex wife and daughter by torturing them, bring them back, and start from scratch. That's how much he hates me." Bruce wasn't surprised, John Constantine makes more enemies than friends. For every one friend he's got, he probably has five people that want his heart and lungs on a platter.

"Can you keep them safe in the Tower of Fate with Zatanna? I'm aware the two of you are close-"

"Zee wouldn't want any part in that. Nick would also go look there first. I know the tower exists out of time and all reality, I went there. I wanted to see what my daughter's life was going to be since I knew I was stepping in. There were two alternatives, none of them were pretty. I came to you because I'm going to fix that, make sure she lives a good life. But to do that, I need to make sure Nick doesn't do anything to her. He's working with the cold flame, and this is why I may actually need your help. It may be a little personal, too." John said, narrowing his eyes.

"Nick's in league with the Cold Flame. They're extremists, occult based. All they want is the end of the world. Or just complete chaos. They have mages, assassins, witches, everything. And they plan on unlocking hell and bringing everything from there to here." John started, watching for any change in Bruce's facial features to show anything at all.

"Why would this be personal?" Bruce asked, sitting up in his seat.

"Because Talia's one of hell's most popular residents." John's way of saying that Nick wasn't the only one planning on breaking out of hell.

When Bruce didn't answer directly, and shifted his eyes somewhere else, John knew this is when Bruce took everything to another level on terms of danger. Talia? Back? Nope. She's buried in the Wayne Cemetery in the field next to the manor. Along with his parents, and Damian's smashed and destroyed headstone.

"(Y/n) isn't safe in her house if her mother was targeted in the bookstore. She needs a place to stay, hidden in plain sight. I thought about putting her in St. Adens Orphanage, but then Zed told me that'd only make her resent me further. It also wasn't a right idea, and the demon that needed exorcising there was only proof that place isn't a good place for her. I thought about Non Est Asylum, but even Arkham's a brighter place than that. I even went as far as to think about placing her with Chaz in Newcasltle. None of it's working, Bruce. She just needs a place to stay until Nick's back in hell. I'd have better luck asking Trigon to look after her." John's sarcasm is completely evident, but doesn't go over Bruce's head.

"Stop beating around the bush, John. Are you asking me to let her stay in the manor?"
"Only if something happens to her at her home. I already had the place cleansed, asked Xanadue to enchant the place. There's hex bags in every room of the house, and there's painted insignias that'll let me know personally whenever something comes in under the rug. On the walls, under the carpets. I used something that wouldn't show to the naked eye on the walls. But if anything broke any of those seals? Moving (Y/n) to a different place would be the best thing."

"Let's hope nothing goes wrong." Because Bruce knows that if you have to stay here, it also means that you have to know about the Batman secret identity. And if you're anything like your father?

Let's just say Bruce hopes that John's measures in your protection hold up.

All the while, Damian is taking his suit back up to his room, ready to put it back on and take off to go deliver his newest edition to his belt to you. Because not only did he make one for yourself, but he made one for him.

And as much as he over heard? It's gonna be hell keeping it all in. But he's going to see you, and with something to help protect yourself just a little bit more than you already had to begin with.