TITLE: What Lies Beneath

AUTHOR: LOTSlover

CHARACTERS: Batman / Wonder Woman

RATING: M

WARNINGS: Author Chooses Not to Use Warnings

DISCLAIMER: I love Justice League, but especially Batman and Wonder Woman. Unfortunately, I do not own the characters and, if I did, things would be much different for them.

SUMMARY: Sequel to Murder at Wayne Manor, Diana struggles to come to terms with what happened to her during her kidnapping, but how much will Bruce be able to help her when a new case surfaces in Gotham that threatens to destroy them both? Diana's POV.

*WARNING*

This fic deals with dark themes and Diana's struggle to come to terms with her abduction and assault. Do not read if you are uncomfortable with the topic of sexual assault. I understand it's a very hot topic right now and I'm addressing it with great care, not using it as a trope for my fic.

Second, Diana may seem out of character at times. This fic is focused on Diana's struggle to accept her abduction and the horrible things that were done to her. She's questioning everything that she's ever learned or believed about herself while still trying to be Wonder Woman.

If you don't want to read Diana being portrayed with real struggles and PTSD, then DO NOT READ and don't send me hate mail. This is about Diana's road to recovery from a traumatic event. We will get to our happy ending, but it's going to take time so please bear with me. It's not all sad and dark. There will be lots of sweet moments, sad moments, and steamy moments so hang with me, folks!

Ok, I really hope you stick with me because I'm super excited with how this fic turned out and I think you will be too! :)

Prologue

Batcave; April 2nd, 03:21 EST

Emma Bennett.

Another kidnapping.

Another college girl missing.

Another family spiraling in a twister of fear and desperation and an endless string of questions that might never be answered.

That makes nine girls missing in the last six months.

I feel my stomach lurch in response as nausea instantly rises in my chest. Bile burns in the back of my throat, but I force it back down. I know this sickening feeling all too well. It's a familiar one that has become a regular occurrence, plaguing me ever since being abducted.

It's an involuntary physical reaction that I can't begin to control, one that I've struggled with since I was abducted by Ian Callahan and his men six months ago. I've tried meditation, prayers and petitions to my gods and goddesses for answers or some sort of reprieve, but I'm afraid they have fallen on deaf ears. I haven't been able to stop the way my heart starts to pound or the tremble that rolls through me…the sickening dread that wells from somewhere deep inside of me.

I know that it'll take time to get past the trauma of what had been done to me, but I want it gone now. I want to be me again, not some helpless casualty of a violent crime. I refuse to be a victim and yet that's exactly what I am and I hate it. I hate it with every fiber of my being. It goes against everything that I've been trained to be and have always believed about myself.

I am Wonder Woman, Champion of the Gods. I am an immortal warrior. I risk my life every day to protect the innocent and stand strong and proud in the face of injustice, to right the wrongs and make the world safe again. I fight with everything that is in me to save others, not the other way around.

Now, everything feels upside down and inside out and I don't know which way is up anymore. What I endured at the hands of those animals has rattled me to my core, shaken my faith to its very foundation. Everything that I had believed about myself is being put to the test and questioned as if under a bright spot light since the moment I was stripped of all control and dignity.

I am the one who fights for everyone else, not the other way around. I rescue, I save, I fight, and I conquer. There was absolutely none of that this time. While it was my choice not to fight back, to play the victim in order to protect the man that I've fallen in love with, I still find myself struggling to come to terms with that decision and the unforeseen ramifications of it.

I would do it over again in a heartbeat in order to keep him safe and yet I can't deny the bitterness and anger that still swarms in my soul like a dark living thing that threatens to overtake me when I least expect it. I know I need to find a way to rid myself of these dark emotions, but it's proving to be far more difficult than I had originally believed.

I thought I would come through this like I always have with everything that I have had to face in my life, but I'm no longer the same woman I was before that night and I have no idea to get back to being me again. I feel a large piece of me is forever changed, permanently damaged somehow. The woman and the warrior fractured, never to be one again.

I was taught from a very young age to hold my head high, burying the pain no matter if physical or emotional, and to carry on as if nothing had ever happened. It is the only way that I know how to deal with this, but it's not working. Things just keep getting worse.

"It is the way of the Amazons, my sun and stars…"

I stare blankly at the computer screen before me as my mother's words drift through my mind once more. I try to focus my jumbled thoughts, but I find it more than difficult as I read over the names of the other girls that had been taken. Several more young lives devastated…possibly beyond repair.

Willow Stevens, Ashley Collier, Becca Mathis, Kennedy Jamison, Lydia Peters, Angelica Jensen, Ally Parker, Emily Prescott. And now Emma Bennett has been added to that horrifying list that should never have to exist in the first place.

Where are these young girls? Who has them and why were they taken? Are they even still alive?

I can't let my mind wander too far as I pause to send up another silent prayer of watch and protection over these girls despite the fact my faith in my gods has waned considerably over the last several months. If I think too much, I'll find that I'm still in that terrifying place that is so dark and overwhelming, the abyss that I'm struggling to claw my way back out of in an effort to find myself once more.

I am an Amazon warrior, honed and imbued with amazing gifts that make me the warrior that I am. Even if I wasn't the Olympians' Champion; I am still an Amazon by right, a princess by title, and a woman by birth, molded from the clay my mother had formed me from. I will not cower from this nightmare that challenges everything that I am and have ever believed in, from the memories that I've tried so hard to bury.

I wish he were here with me now despite the fact that things have been so tense between us lately. I find myself struggling to find my way once more, these missing girls hitting far too close to home. It both infuriates and scares me at the same time. These emotions feel so out of control storming inside an Amazon who prides herself on her strength and fearlessness, her ability to overcome anything.

I glance at the time at the corner of the computer once more, knowing he's out there right now trying to find these girls...his friend's daughter. As hard as all of this has been for me, I know that it has been just as grueling for him as well. He might not have endured the torture and torment that I did, but I know that it has affected him no less deeply.

I've seen the pain that reflects in his blue eyes when I catch him watching me, the way that he reaches out to touch me only to pull back at the last second as if afraid I'll shatter into a thousand pieces right before his eyes. He tries to hide how much it hurts him to see me broken; wanting to know what had been done to me. He's been trying to show me a part of himself that I hadn't seen before, attempting to open himself up just a little bit more all for me in an attempt to help me get past all of this.

I want to be out there to help him as much as he's been trying to help me. I need to be a part of this case if not for myself then for these kidnapped girls. Hera only knows what they're going through right now, although now I have an all too keen insight as to what they could be enduring. Unfortunately, Wonder Woman can't be seen in Gotham helping Batman and Bruce absolutely refuses to let me go out on patrol with him or to search for these girls.

I've been relegated to studying the cases from the "safety" of the Batcave. Even that agreement has been a tenuous one at best. I've been trying to change his mind on it, but trying to change Bruce's mind is about as easy as trying to change my own. It'll be interesting to see who come out the victor when two immovable forces collide like we eventually will.

I reminded him that I had gone out with him on patrol as Nemesis in the past, but I know he's too afraid to let me go on patrol with him now because of what happened to me, afraid that it'll only resurrect memories that I'm trying so hard to bury. His attempts to protect me only adds to my frustration and anger.

I can already see the toll that this case is taking on him, how deeply it angers and upsets him, but he refuses to talk about it with me for fear of upsetting me. It's going to take time for him as well to get past all of this, to find a way to work together so seamlessly like we used to before this living nightmare occurred.

I hear the sound of the Batmobile's engine and I instantly feel as though I can breathe again, my every muscle relaxing with the knowledge that he's finally home. I feel tears prick my eyes, but I quickly banish them. I haven't shed a single tear since waking up in the hospital after my abduction and now will be no different.

I know Bruce has been very worried about me and how I'm dealing with everything. It's been a source of discussion and more than one argument on several occasions. I know it's only because he cares so much for me, but I refuse to give it any more attention then we already have. If I do then McCaffrey and Callahan win and I will not allow that to happen. Ever.

I feel my heart beat a little harder as I hear him approach, a nervous flutter in the pit of my stomach. He awakens things inside of me that no other man has ever been able to do, his voice alone igniting a fire in my belly. I'm anxious to feel his arms around me once more, the warmth and strength that I can feel radiating from his body when he holds me close.

"What are you still doing up, Princess?"

His voice is harsh and rough like sandpaper, reprimanding in its tone. "I couldn't sleep," I reply as I turn his computer chair to face him, smiling in hopes of allaying his worry.

He pushes his cowl back with a sigh before pulling his gauntlets off and tossing them on the desk. He turns a deep frown on me, folding his arms against his chest. He's not buying it for one moment. "Another nightmare?"

"Were you able to find Emma Bennett?" I ask instead, turning back to the computer so I don't have to see the heartache that flashes through his eyes. It only makes me feel worse knowing that it's hurting him so much to see me still affected like this despite my best efforts to mask it from everyone around me.

He releases a weary sigh as he pulls up a chair to sit down beside me. "Diana," he utters my name and I internally cringe with the sharp tone. "We need to talk."

I shake my head and stubbornly purse my lips, refusing to make eye contact. "There's nothing to talk about, Bruce," I evenly tell him. "Talking about it isn't going to make it any of this better."

I can feel the heat of his eyes burning straight through me, trying desperately to erase the memories that cling to me, the anger that refuses to subside. He reaches over and turns off the computer screen much to my mounting frustration. "I don't want you working on this case anymore," he curtly states.

My fingers instantly curl into furious fists, the press of my fingernails into my palms creating a string that helps me keep my focus. "Bruce, I need to do this," I angrily bite out the words with a sense of dread welling up inside of me. "I have to help find these girls."

"It's making things worse," he obstinately replies with a determination that I already know is going to result in a futile battle of wills. "I refuse to sit by any longer and watch as it beats you down all over again. I won't do it."

"I told you that I'm fine," I repeat.

The words have become my personal anthem, a mantra that I've repeated so many times that they sound broken and trite even to me now. They lack the conviction and sincerity that they had held months ago. Of course, even back then, he never really believed me when I said it. He knows me too well.

He releases an angry huff as he stands to his feet, abruptly grabs my arm and taking me by surprise. He roughly shoves my sleeve up past my elbow, revealing deep scratches and bruises. Some are a little older, some are new, but they are hideous to look at and an ugly reminder that things aren't right.

"This is not fine, Diana!" he yells at me, forcing me to look at the self-inflicted wounds. He releases his hold on me, his arms folding against his chest once more as if trying to hold himself together instead of portraying the fearsome Dark Knight that he is. "No more argument. You're off the case."

"You can't tell me what to do, Bruce," I angrily hiss as I leap to my feet, standing toe-to-toe with him and refusing to back down.

"I love you, Diana," he tells me for the first time since we've started dating and it makes my heart soar to finally hear those words. The anguish that fills his voice, though, splits my heart wide open. This isn't how I wanted to hear those sacred words being spoken by him. He roughly grabs me by my upper arms and holds me tight. "I won't sit back and watch you self-destruct without trying to save you. You either start talking to me or J'onn or I'll have you put on leave from the League until you start dealing with this."

I jerk free from his hold on me, a dark glower veiling my face. I'm stunned speechless as he turns abruptly on his heel and begins to stalk away from me. My chest starts to burn with the fury that tears through me like liquid fire, my fists trembling as I try to catch the breath he's just stolen.

"That's pretty hypocritical coming from you, Bruce!" I yell as he approaches the steps of the platform.

He stops at the top of the platform steps, tilting his head slightly to look back over his shoulder at me. "Why do you think I'm telling you to stop?" he replies in a low voice.

It feels like I've just been punched in the gut, my world spiraling even further out of control as I turn to fly up the stairs and into the manor. While I've been doing my best to keep up a strong front, I'm afraid that what lies beneath…what consumes my soul now is escaping against my will.

How do I even begin to stop it?

A/N: WHOA! What a way to start, huh? This will all be totally from Diana's POV and will follow the same format at Murder as Wayne Manor with the past coming first and the present which is six months later. I'll try to update as often as possible, but it might not be every week.

I'm working away on Family Ties. Starting Chp 4, but I need to go back and do some editing on the first three chapters. I'll start posting it as soon as I get further ahead in it. Also working on a Suspicious Minds Series update so be looking for that in the next couple of weeks.

UP NEXT: Past portion will focus on Diana's trauma and Bruce and Diana's growing relationship. It is set one week after the end of Murder at Wayne Manor. The present part is set six months after the end of Murder of Wayne Manor. Hope you enjoy. :)