Summary: (WonderBat AU) The princess of Thanagar falls in-love with the last person she should. Soon before long however, the lovers are drawn into a dangerous political game that threaten not only them, but their entire world.

A/N: Right... the summary's crap - damn this site's word limit on these types of things!

This is the lovechild between George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones and the Justice League episodes, Starcrossed... and maybe even Star Wars, I guess (though, that would be strange and amazing considering I haven't watched any of the movies yet...). As well as an incredible pic on DeviantArt that shows Bruce and Diana with bat and eagle wings respectively.

Long story short, I couldn't get the story out of my head - I'm taking a few creative liberties and switching up a few things, but since this is me we're talking about, I had to take a crack at it.

Anyhow, before we proceed, here is what you need to know about my AU world:

There are two main societies on Thanagar - the day-dwelling Thanagarians, or the Bird people, who's military is lead by a council of elders and overseen by general Hro Talak, and ruled over by a Queen, and then the 'foreign' nocturnal Vespertili (the Latin name for bat - singular: Vespertilio), the Bat people who are, currently, without a ruler. The tension between the two races is near breaking-point with meetings between the two usually ending with bloodshed, and are not aided by a lack of diplomacy and frequent rebel raids on Thanagarian villages - the only thing that keeps the Thanagarians from openly attacking the Vespertili is the fact that the rebels count themselves apart from the main kingdom.

Basically, if I'm allowed to speak Videogame for a moment - think EA's Dragon Age merged with Mass Effect, but with DC's superheroes... who also happen to have wings... yeah...

Weird? Well, that's what you get if you have a whole lot of time on your hand with nothing to do but binge-watching GoT and Justice League all night long (all-nighters are amazing, but the naps/mini-comas afterwards are even more so...).

This is my first attempt at writing anything political (maybe? I think?), so please, be kind, but most of all, please enjoy ;)

Disclaimer: Don't I wish. But no - I know you know who owns what.

Under One Sky

-One-

"Between the crucifix and the Hollywood sign, we decided to get hurt.
Now there's a few things we have to burn/Set our hearts ablaze...
And every city was a gift/And every skyline was like a kiss upon the lips -
And I was making you a wish/In every skyline."
- Florence + the Machine, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful Lyrics

White hot pain wracked the Princess's body as she laid, sprawled out and broken in the heart of the crater where her ship had fallen from the sky. Heat from the surrounding crash brushed against cold, bruised skin as blue eyes flickered open and Diana, dazed but miraculously still conscious, turned her head and tried to make sense of where she was and what had happened.

Despite her best efforts, whatever strength she thought she had seeped out of her arms and legs with every shallow breath, and her dark wings remained fanned out and unresponsive underneath her, broken.

Nearby, the partially destroyed crest of her kingdom against the side of the ship's broken hull caught her eye, and a whimper escaped her before she could stop herself when she turned her face up, up to the star-strewn sky.

Her vision blurred around the edges, but just as it started dimming, she heard the sound of beating wings before she saw a black shape against the dark.

Her mind started drifting, and the last thing she thought about before succumbing to unconsciousness was the exact shade of red of her best friend's hair and the look on her face before she stepped onto that ship and flew away...

-12 Hours Earlier-

Steel met steel in series of loud clangs and flashes of the light glinting off of the blades.

She deflected the incoming blow with a flick of her wrist and just barely avoided the kick aimed at her knee. Diana looked up, and the green eyes staring back at her was bright with laughter as white teeth flashed in a grin.

"You're getting sloppy, Princess." Shayera teased. "What's the matter? They don't let you practice in that big palace of yours?"

Diana narrowed her eyes playfully, readying herself. "If only, but I'm afraid I find myself lacking a capable sparring partner more often than not."

The Lieutenant tutted at her before she shook her head and lunged. "And here I thought only the best was good enough. Shameful."

She parried the blow, glossy wings rustling behind her as she stepped back. "How can I have the best since you're so insistent on leaving?"

Something almost sombre flitted across her friend's face and she faltered for a moment. "You know I'd take you with me in a heartbeat, but-"

Diana rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know - 'The frontline is not the place for the Crown Princess - you have a duty to your people'." She said ruefully.

"Good, good, but you're not getting the voice quite right." Shayera said matter-of-factly. "When your mother speaks, the room falls silent and all present hang on her every word and breath - try to put more oomph into it next time."

The Princess let out an unladylike snort but couldn't stop herself from smiling. "I'll remember that." She said and paused, lowering her sword. "...I'm going to miss you."

"I know." She said softly, staying her sword. "And likewise."

"...We've talked about this before, but are you sure you have to go?"

"I don't have a choice. I'm a soldier, Di - General's orders."

"I can always talk to Hro-" Diana offered.

"You could, but I don't want you to. Besides, the man may be promised to me, but I doubt even you could change his mind about this." She said, and a little more seriously. "We all have our responsibilities, Diana. This is mine. Yours is back to the Capital and learning at the feet of the master... And getting better with that sword. Just so you know, when I get back I'm expecting a workout from you."

She laughed under her breath. "I'll try not to disappoint, Lieutenant Hol."

Shayera nodded her approval. "Damn right you won't. But what do you say, Princess? One more round before I go?"

"I'd like that... but, now that I think about it, this part I won't miss." She said, and Shayera's laughter rang out over the clash of steel.

The two of them walked in silence together until they reached the open platform and ramp that lead up to the ship that would take Shayera away. After they'd done sparing, they'd changed - Shayera into her armour with her mace at her hip and her helmet under her arm, and Diana into her white dress, the silver bracelets on her wrists gleaming in the lowlight.

The guards that escorted them both turned away to give the women their privacy.

"So, this is it," Shayera said, turning towards the Princess.

"This is it..." She said quietly. "I hate saying goodbye."

"Hey, it's only for a few months."

"I know, it still doesn't make this any easier, but I do." She said and the two of them embraced. "Just be careful."

"I always am." Shayera promised and stepped back, not letting go of her hand. "But all I have to worry about out there is Gordanians. I'd take getting shot at over smiling through my teeth all day and surrounding myself with snakes."

Both women turned their heads when they heard footsteps and saw Kragger, the General's subordinate, coming down the ramp and flanked by two soldiers.

"And speaking of snakes..." Shayera whispered before stepping back and both of them straightened up.

"Your Majesty," Kragger said with a sweeping bow. "To what do we owe this honour? I did not expect to see you here today."

Diana smiled blandly, acknowledging the man with a slight inclination of her head. "Well, I had to see my oldest friend off for myself, didn't I?" She said casually. "I did not expect to see you either, however - are you joining Lieutenant Hol on the frontlines?"

Something glittered in the man's beady eyes as his mouth tugged into a thin-lipped smile and he nodded. "I am. I have orders from General Talak - I'm to oversee our interests on his behalf and... delegate where needed."

Shayera snorted as she raised a brow. "Meaning, of course, you won't actually be doing any fighting."

Despite the smile on his face, the man's eyes narrowed into slits. "I'll leave the dirty work to those born to it, Lieutenant." He said almost pleasantly.

The redhead glared at him. "Naturally - what good is there being born into a high position if you can't just sit on your ass all day and watch the lowly soldiers die for you?" she said angrily.

Diana frowned. "Shayera..." she said softly before her friend could say more.

Shayera breathed sharply through her nose, but when she turned back to the princess and saw the look on her face, she gritted her teeth and stood down.

"Will the General be joining you?" Diana asked, changing the subject.

"Eventually, your Majesty." Kragger said smoothly. "But for the time being, however, the High Council thought it would be best if he stayed with the remainder of our troops here."

Diana looked at Shayera questioningly. "He isn't going to say goodbye?"

"We already did, Di. Don't worry about it." She said quietly, her eyes suddenly sad. "...I have to go."

Something constricted in Diana's throat and she forced a smile on her face. "Then I'll see you again in a little while?"

Shayera's face softened and she hugged her one last time. "You can count on it." She promised.

Kragger watched them with interest and a barely concealed sneer before he gave the Princess another sweeping bow and left.

With a final nod and a sad smile of her own, Shayera eventually stepped back and pulled on her helmet. Diana watched as she then turned away and followed the Overseer up the ramp into the ship. When she reached the top, her friend hung back for a moment and looked over her shoulder just as the metal doors slid shut and the rumble of the ship's engines filled the air.

The Princess stood there for a long while even once the ship became an ever-shrinking speck against the darkening sky. She didn't move until she caught a soldier wearing the General's personal crest walk up to her.

"Your Highness." The solider said, bowing respectfully. "Please excuse the interruption, but I was sent with a message for you."

She turned to face him. "What is it?"

"It's from General Talak - he wants to see you before you go back to the Capital."

"It's very formal of him to sent a messenger. I would have gone to see him in any case." Diana said, surprised. "Did he just want to say goodbye, or was there something else he wanted to talk about?"

"I'm afraid he didn't say, Princess. But with your permission, I'm supposed to take you to him whenever you're ready."

She nodded. "I'm ready. Take me to him."

The soldier obliged and lead her back into the stark military base. On their way to the General's office, however, Diana noticed that there were more of Hro's men than usual - they seemed tense for some reason, but before she could dwell on it, they reached the sliding doors.

The soldier left and when she stepped inside, she found Hro standing behind a large table with a vast, working map of their territory sprawled out over it.

His mouth was set in a grim line and he was so focused on planning troop movements that he didn't notice her at first. He happened to look up when he saw her, and when he did, he straightened up immediately.

"Princess." He acknowledge with a curt nod.

"General." She greeted politely. "I was told you wanted to see me, but if I'm interrupting..."

"No, no, it's good you came." He said, dismissing her concern gruffly. "I'm... sorry I didn't meet with you earlier. I didn't think Shayera would have appreciated if I cut in on her time with you... Besides, it was important that I saw to this first, so..."

"Don't apologize for doing your duty." She said, and then, more seriously, "...How are things?"

"We have the upper hand for now. We've managed to reclaim some of our territory, but I'll be honest with you, I'll sleep better once I know for sure we've driven those bastards out of the area for good." He said, working out the crick in his neck.

"You're doing good work."

The man let out a weary sigh. "I appreciate the sentiment, your Majesty, but none of what I'm doing here will matter unless we win the war." He said before shaking his head. "But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. I received word that your escort back to the Capital has been delayed."

She frowned. "What happened?"

"Bandit raid." He said with distaste. "A few of your guard's been injured and the ship was damaged in the attack, but there were no casualties at least. I've already made necessary arrangement and we have a military envoy ready to take you back."

"That's kind of you, General, but you didn't have to go through that much trouble." Diana said.

Hro snorted. "There would have been a different kind of trouble if I didn't do it." Hro said almost wryly. "And it's no trouble, Diana."

"Then I probably shouldn't keep anyone waiting... Thank you, Hro."

He nodded curtly, but before she could turn away, he called her back.

"Diana... you should probably call your mother before you go. Let her know that you're on your way." When she raised an eyebrow, he smiled in a way that didn't quite reach his eyes. "It's going to be a long trip - you might not get another chance after you get on the ship."

The Princess looked at him for a long, hard moment but eventually nodded and felt the General's eyes on her all the way as she left.

The envoy was waiting for her outside and she was escorted on without much of a ceremony by a pair of grim-faced soldiers.

They lead her down the ship's stark corridor until they reached a door leading to an even bleaker cell she assumed was used for holding prisoners.

"We'll be outside if you need us, your Highness." One of the soldiers said before they bowed out and left her alone.

Diana looked around the small space before moving over to stand in front of the narrow window until she heard and then felt the ship take off. She stood there for several minutes and watched as the military base shrink until it disappeared behind a layer of clouds.

She sat down on the bench in the back and thought about her talk with the Queen earlier - as strange as it might have sounded when he said it, she'd done as Hro had suggested and called her mother. It wasn't a particularly long conversation, and despite the fact that she originally disapproved of her going to see Shayera off at all on her own, her mother was relieved that she was on her way back.

Things were tense enough these days as it was and the Queen had been acting more protectively than usual, but though she understood why, living under her mother's thumb was... stifling.

Diana looked out of the window - it was dark already but she could make out the outlines of a mountain range getting nearer.

The guards had been quiet up that point until she heard a loud thump and the ship shook. She was on her feet immediately and she could hear movement and voices.

When she moved to the door, one of the soldiers beat her to the punch and stepped inside.

"What's happening?" she said as another shudder wracked through the ship.

"We don't know, your Majesty, but we think there's something outside." There was shouting followed by the sound of weapons clashing and a blaster going off. The other soldier drew his sword and rushed off as the other turned back to her briefly. "Stay here!"

He ran after the other soldier and Diana was left standing in the door, every impulse shouting at her to go after them.

The shouting continued, but when that passed and it all went eerily quiet, she steeled herself for whatever was waiting for her and ran down the hallway. There was a strong wind coming from the front of the ship, and when Diana arrived, she had a sharp intake of breath when she saw the blood on the floor and a body propped up against the wall not too far from that.

Her heart constricted when she saw it was the soldier from before and she knelt down, the blood seeping through her dress, staining it as she reached over and closed his eyes.

She caught something moving out of the corner of her eye and she took the sword off of the soldier's body before she got onto her feet again.

She'd only ever heard about the Vespertili, the race of fierce men and woman with bat wings, pale skin and dark eyes that lived in the western parts of the country. From what she saw, the rebel standing in front of her fit that description almost perfectly.

"What have you done?" she demanded, raising her sword.

The rebel didn't answer and instead flashed her a savage grin that was more a show of teeth than anything else. But before anything else could happen, the power went out and there was a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach as everything else just... dropped.

It was a blur as the entire ship plummeted - the cabin floor tilted down and Diana grabbed onto the first thing she could to adjust herself before she swept past the rebel. She narrowly avoided getting stabbed when he lunged at her and deflected the blow with her sword, shoving him away as she then rushed to the front.

If she got to the controls, if she could find someone to get everything upright and running - if she could just see what was going on...

She passed more bodies, more blood - some of them soldiers, some of them rebels - weapons were scattered on the ground or still clutched in bloody fingers as some of the holes in the wall were still smoking, still warm.

She reached the cockpit but when she pried the malfunctioning doors opened, she let out a dismayed sound when she found the controls destroyed.

In the window she could see the ground came closer and closer, and when the impact came, she shut her eyes and braced herself.

She didn't feel it when the ship hit the ground as everything went black - it might have been minutes or hours, she didn't know, but when her eyes flew open, her vision was tinged with different shades of red.

There was a ringing in her ears, and somewhere, she could smell something burning. Every part of her hurt, her body, her limbs, her head, her wings-

With a strength she didn't know where she found, she pulled herself up and dragged herself out of the wreckage, every step agony. She didn't get very far, but when she collapsed, she managed to turn over onto her side and then onto her back, gasping when she fell on her wings wrong.

She eventually succumbed to the pain, but not before she felt a different kind of shadow fell over her and a pair of arms pick her up off the ground.

Diana turned her head... and everything faded back into black...

She slipped in and out of consciousness - sometimes she thought she heard strangers' voices, sometimes she felt a dull ache or a sharp pang wracking through her body.

There were flashes of colour and light sometimes, and sometimes she woke up either feeling cold to the touch or like she'd been set on fire.

Sometimes she'd mistake dreams for the real thing and she'd hear her mother's voice, or Shayera's or even her little sister's, just talking to her - sometimes she'd see their faces.

However, after a while... something changed - her wings still ached, and her head was still clouded up and confused but... it started hurting less and less with every brief interval she found herself awake.

Then, quite suddenly, her eyes opened.

Diana woke up stiff but she woke up properly for the first time in what felt like a very long while.

When she curled her fingers, she gripped a sheet draped over her body... but little else that separated bare skin from the cool metal medical table she was on.

Something vaguely resembling outrage gnawed at her thoughts as she sat up and clutched the sheet to her chest. She looked down at her arms, wincing when she saw a dozen or so discoloured bruises in the middle of healing there. Her legs didn't seem to be better off, and there were several stitches on her torso, stomach and back.

Her wings were mercifully still intact, but when she tried to move them, she was met with a sensation similar to having shards of broken glass cut into her skin.

It was tempting to go back to sleep until the feeling passed, but gritted her teeth and breathed out heavily through her nose.

She turned her body, letting her feet hang off over the side of the table and fought back the sudden light-headedness she felt.

Diana stubbornly ignored this as she slipped off and tried to stand on her feet. Her knees buckles and she had to grip the edge of the table to keep herself from falling down.

It was then when Diana realized where she was, and when she looked around, she saw that she was in a dimly lit cavern that doubled as a medical room with a dozen computer screens flashing against the walls.

She took a deep breath and gathered her strength before she straightened up. She took a step forward and then another, but when she let go to take a third, her legs stopped working all together.

She didn't hear him move, she didn't even know he was in the same room until she felt a large hand wrap itself around her arm and caught her before she fell.

Diana's head snapped up and for a moment, her mind went blank when she looked into the face of one of the most beautiful men she'd ever seen.

-TO BE CONTINUED-

End Notes: I hope my Thanagar and Thanagarians and everything else isn't too different or too strange that any of you reading this are rolling your eyes at me right now. I know it all pretty bare right now, but I'll get to the fine details of the society and 'proper' social interactions in the next few chapters, I promise.

But! In the next chapter... Enter our favourite Bat :) I've got to be honest... this story's got me excited for this pairing again, so it can't be all bad, can it?

Right, so I need your help, dear readers - I want names of movies with a conspiracy of sorts. The key word is 'subterfuge', people. Please? I already have most of the plot figured out (mostly), but now I just need to fine-tune it before I can get to writing it. Also, out of interest... if you had to make Diana's name more... well, Thanagarian, how would you spell it without making it sound different when you originally pronounce it?

Give me all your love! And by love, I don't mean virtual hugs (though, those are nice too) - I mean, of course, reviews.
If you just want to ask a question, PM's are always welcome.
If you're just gonna flame... mm, no. I'll delete those since there's an option for that on this site now...

Until next time,
GoddessofDawn out.