This is what happens when I get bored at work.

Read and enjoy! (sort of...)

It All Falls Down

The cool wind caressed her bare shoulder, peeking out of her thorn shirt. The squeaking of a small rodent wandering between her legs gave her nausea. She hated rodents. She hated the cold. But her hands were tied in her back with tape and her feet cuffed to the kind of stick usually employed for more intimate actions. Except that she was not waiting for a lover to ravish her in a deserted warehouse on the pier. And her current position was her own fault.

She should have never taken this mission. The moment King had entered the debrief room followed by Amanda Waller, she should have followed her guts and told them to scam out of her office. Or just drop the file on somebody else. She hadn't realized how many mistakes she had made; how incredibly arrogant she had been to believe she had any control over the situation.

She heard the footsteps far before seeing him. Him, the reason why she was minutes away from her death. The unmistakable sound of combat boots on the wet ground brought her shivers on another scale. Fear and helplessness mingled inside her mind; because she knew exactly what was going to happen next. She tried to conceal her anxiety, but it had been three days since she'd seen the light of day, since she had been allowed to have some respite. And afterthought, he missed nothing.

Her guards caught her under her armpits and lifted her onto a chair. She bit back a grunt and focused on finding some balance in attempt to stay stable in front of him. She would not sway like many of his victims before.

"Hello Diana Trevor."

A shiver ran down her spine. She didn't dare lift her head for fear of meeting his gaze and focused on the dark armored pants ahead of her. If she did, she knew she wouldn't hold an emotional steady front.

"Or should it be FBI special agent Diana Prince?"

Her teeth clenched so hard it hurt. She closed her eyes, tried to regulate her breath; tried to regulate the fear slicing through her chest. His words, spoken with the detachment used when he became the Batman somehow found a way to freeze her. She knew his methods. It didn't make it any less intimidating, especially when on the receiving end.

If she focused hard enough, she could feel his presence so very close to hers, she could breathe his cologne and the anger underlying his cool tone. He crouched to be at her level. She felt his hand catch her jaw with surprising gentleness and lift it up.

"Open your eyes."

That voice. That voice. Soft and deep and building butterflies in her tummy. She longed to hear it whisper her name again, even if she knew it couldn't work out, she still wished…

"Open your eyes princess," the same soft voice ordered.

In spite of her instincts screaming not to, Diana obeyed. She was met with the most piercing, the most beautiful cerulean irises. Even with the cowl, even with the black full-body armor, all she could see was his eyes.

"I was hoping it was all a lie; that Selina was only jealous of you –and you and I both know she had reasons to be." He paused. She didn't look away. "You are breaking my heart, princess."

You don't have a heart , she wanted to scream, but knew it would be wrong. She had been undercover too long, had worked under his orders and watched him act both in society and amongst the people he employed. Bruce Wayne was a billionaire playboy philanthropist. He supported major causes, financed medical facilities, all the while acting like an idiot and sleeping around. The Batman was his other side, ruthless and dangerous, a man to be stopped at all costs.

The case had been simple at first; infiltrate the ranks to find irrefutable evidence against the underground mobster and take him down. Three years of hard work, of creating ties and sketching lies, and it all blew up in her face.

"I guess it's a good thing I never agreed to proper diner," she replied sarcastically. The butt of a gun slammed at the back of her head so hard she saw stars. That must have been courtesy of Richard. The young man was infallibly loyal to the Bat and had never liked her much.

" –deal with her!" she heard Bruce snap when she regained her wits.

"But sir-"

"Am I clear?" Batman repeated.

"Yes sir." The answer was reluctant but submissive.

"Leave us now."

She saw the two extra men attempt to protest, but one glare of the leader and they were off. When the metallic door slammed behind, it was only he and her in the room.

The Bat lifted his cowl and revealed the handsome face of Bruce Wayne underneath.

He stepped closer to her, cupped her cheek and his mouth was on hers in a cruel, sweet and tender kiss. Diana shut her eyes, tried to force her brain into thinking that this was wrong, this was so wrong in spite of how much she had wanted it.

She responded in spite of herself, weakened from the days of torture and mentally exhausted from all the lies she had to remember.

Bruce Wayne was Batman and Batman was a mobster, yes. He was dangerous, yes. He was a criminal who had people beaten, who had people killed, who had corrupted too many others…yes, yes and yes. But he was also profoundly, so painfully human.

The kiss deepened. She parted her lips willingly as he pushed his tongue to touch his. She moaned softly as her head lightened again, not from hunger or pain this time.

Batman was human, more human than most people she had ever met. Bruce Wayne was kind to children. He was respectful to women. He gave to charities, encouraged employment in his city. Batman forbid rape and unnecessary murders. He admired hard workers, and worked hard himself; didn't hesitate to get his hand dirty when he needed it. The Bat inspired loyalty to his men, for his loyalty to his men was absolute. The few turncoats that attempted to integrate his ranks were shot on spot; but it wasn't unheard that a very lucky few would be forgiven and allowed to work for him under very close scrutiny. Diana had seen him turn a Thanagarian girl against her own gang by playing with her affection for Lantern, a dishonorably discharged marine the Bat had hired in the early days. She had been witness to the worse and the best of men in him, both inhabiting his mind like a stable balance, a yin and yang that made him who he was. Darkness in light. Light in darkness. And it attracted the hell out of her.

He broke their kiss by pulling back. The cruel reality returned to the front and the warm blanket that had temporarily been wrapped around her mind vanished.

She should have expected it; most moles were busted weeks after their arrival. She had been naïve to think herself lucky for so long.

"You almost had me, you know." His face was so close, his breath mingled with hers and his body emitted so much warmth she had to steel herself not to shift closer. "You didn't fear me. You would call me on my mistakes, rile me up and tiptoe around the line of respect and insolence. You understood me." He brought his mouth to her forehead, dropped another poisonous kiss on her forehead. "Or was it all fake?"

It wasn't. Diana truly understood his despair and his pain, the kindness he was forced to hide deep beneath the surface when he put on the cowl. All of this because of the murder of his parents. He could not stop the vermin to crawl in the streets of Gotham; but from the top, he could control it. He imposed his law in this city he claimed to love, and she believed him. Worse, she had come to believe in him.

She remembered far too clearly that moment of weakness, after the devastating news of the bombing of her mother's quarters. She had disobeyed direct orders from her superiors to sneak out for the burial. It was a risk that she'd be recognized, that it would ruin everything –and perhaps it had, perhaps her cover had been blown far before…at the time Diana hadn't cared. Hippolyta Prince had adored her and given her a proper education without outside help; Diana needed to be there as the casket was lowered to the ground, even if she couldn't stand to the front.

Bruce had been expecting her at her return. He had held her as she shattered, consoled her as she wet his suit with her tears. And then he'd kissed her.

She had been so desperate for comfort, to feel something else but pain and loneliness that she had given in and let herself become one of the many women he took to bed. He made her forget everything but his name, connected with her in a way no other lover had. And when she had woken up the next morning, curled against his warm chest, watching him sleep with a peaceful expression on his face, she had realized that she loved him. Who he was didn't matter. She loved him because he cared, because he protected his own people, because he gave everything to build a clean empire and keep a strong hold upon it.

And she had foolishly assumed she could compartmentalize when the time came to make the final move.

But when she had recognized the tell, when she had spotted King and the others ready to pounce and put a bullet through the infamous Bat's skull…she had pushed him out of the way, saved his skin, helped him run from the trap Waller had so carefully led for him. And now, she was paying the price of her treason.

Bruce caressed her face again and again. She closed her eyes to enjoy his touch. Her heart fluttered again and in spite of her bruised body, the familiar arch ran through her body. He had caught her heart, made it his, turned it against her own principles, and she had fallen for it.

"It is such a shame Diana," he whispered. "I really did like you, you know?" she shivered again. "I suppose it is my fault. Gorgeous girl, difficult past, headstrong and strong…you were too good to be true. I kept you around, I had you watched very carefully. I knew you were a spy, but I couldn't admit it." He pressed his mouth to the crown of her head. "I blinded myself like a fool, and I don't like to be made a fool of, Diana."

He stood so suddenly she lost balance from the chair and fell heavily on her side. She grunted as her skin came in harsh contact with the concrete. Her vision was filled with his armored boots. He didn't touch her though, didn't strike her as she went down like he so often did with his enemies.

"You put me in a difficult position, Diana," he said. "You have been spying on me for the past three years. And yet, you saved my life along with my men's. According to my own rules, I should shoot you on spot and throw your body in the river. You know the procedure, you've seen me do it before. But according to those same rules, I should grant you a reward." She saw him crouch above her, his cape falling around him like dark wings. "Had you not been with us for so long, your reward would have been your life. But now, it's too late."

Her legs were awkwardly parted because of the device holding them apart. Her left side was in pain and her head pounded. She tried a halfhearted attempt to pull at her bindings. The tape kept her wrists firmly tied together.

"Then why don't you just kill me and be done with it?" she growled at him.

The Batman stared down at her in silence. After a few measured moments, he knelt on one knee pushed a strand of her hair away from her face. When he spoke next, his voice was softer, kinder:

"Tell me Diana, do you love me?"

She said nothing. He touched her face again, a caress and a warning at once.

"You know that I do," she hissed back in shame and in anger. Another humiliation to admit it, but she was done. If she was to join her mother and her aunt, her last words would not be lies. "Did you?"

There was a brief smile on his face.

"I did. You were one of the rare women I could have spent the rest of my life with. I considered marrying you, you know. Making up a new identity for you, having you by my side, bearing my children…I might have strayed from time to time, but I would have made you happy."

Diana shut her eyes closed, tried not to add pictures to his words. He was a criminal, someone she swore to catch and turn to justice. And yet when nighttime came, when her unconsciousness took over, she too dreamed of dark-haired toddlers with bright blue eyes and his charming smile. She could never let him know.

"As a reward for saving us, I will grant you your place and means of death."

Diana didn't want to die. She really didn't want to die. But what future did she have? The FBI would throw her under the bus without a second glance, Waller would crucify her and she had no-one waiting for her at home. So she steeled herself and met the nuzzle of his gun:

"Here and now. I want to die standing. And make it quick."

She didn't want to suffer any more than she already had to. The Batman nodded.

"As you wish."

He helped her to her feet, steadied her with one gloved hand on her arm. Diana could have used the opportunity to head-butt him, attempt to disarm him and run. It would have been useless attempt to prolong her last moments; she wasn't stupid enough to believe he would have granted her to be executed in front of her mother's grave or someplace elsewhere, and one wrong move from her part, he would be capable of killing her slowly.

His mouth was suddenly on hers, soft and demanding and loving all at once. Diana closed her eyes and responded, just as gently. One last indulgence -and a beautiful lie; the iron edge of the gun brushed her temple as his warm lips retreated.

"Goodbye Diana."

He pulled the trigger.