TITLE: Tried and True
AUTHOR: LOTSlove®
CHARACTERS: Batman / Wonder Woman
RATING: R/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 my fic Mended Hearts, Bruce and Diana's relationship is put under the test when Luthor enlists the help of a fellow villain in an effort to take down the Trinity.
Chapter 1
He could feel him pacing impatiently behind him, another agitated release of breath before pausing to look over his shoulder for the hundredth time, casting an annoying shadow over his work. He had tried to ignore him, but after two hours or so of it, he'd had more than enough.
"Why don't you go outside?" he finally bit out.
"It's pouring rain," Lex scowled, glancing out the window. "Why would I want to wait out there?"
"So you can stop distracting me," Grodd growled. "Do you want this done or not?"
"Of course I want it done, but you've been working on it for days," Luthor exclaimed. "Do you really think I would've come to you unless I absolutely had no other choice left?"
"It's touching to know how much you truly care, Lex," Grodd frowned as he turned his attention back to his work.
"You know you're my favorite primate in the whole world," Luthor replied, sarcasm dripping off of every word.
Grodd sneered, mumbling something derogatory under his breath in response. He was not just some mere ape with nothing but bananas and tire swings on his mind. He was a genius, capable of far more than Luthor could ever begin to imagine.
"So were you able to make the modifications or not?" Luthor asked with growing exasperation.
"Almost…done…" Grodd muttered. "There…that should do it."
Luthor's eyes widened with anticipation, the notion that his dreams were that much closer to being realized sinking in. "You're a genius, Grodd," he clapped the hairy back of the gorilla. "I never once doubted you could do it."
Grodd looked over his shoulder at the bald haired man, skepticism written all over his face. "Right," he drawled. "Are you sure you did your part just like you say you did?"
"Yes, I did it just the way I told you that I had done it," Luthor groused, his attention focused on the work of art Grodd had just constructed for him. "Are you sure this is going to work?"
"Are you really going to question me and my intelligence after saving your tail and salvaging what was left of your feeble attempt at taking down the trinity?"
"You haven't saved my tail, Grodd, and my plan was ingenious," Luthor crossly snapped as he folded his arms against his chest. "You're just jealous you didn't think of it."
"I have plenty of my own plans to work on without your help," Grodd spat out.
Luthor ignored his comment. "How soon can we turn it on?"
Grodd hovered over his handiwork before finally responding. "All I need to do is upload the modifications I made to your original design," he informed him. "Then you should be able to divert all control to this handheld."
"You're an absolute genius," he gushed again in amazement, his eyes large with the possibilities already racing through his mind.
"I know," Grodd sighed, not the least bit impressed with Luthor's flattery because he knew it would all change in less than a heartbeat the moment Luthor's plan fell apart. "The question is will your plan work before they discover what you've done?"
"Don't worry your hairy little head, Grodd," Luthor smirked arrogantly. "My previous plan to take down the trinity is still intact. I've just had to go about it a little differently."
"By the time Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman have figured out what I've done, it'll be too late and the Justice League will be no more."
"Where have I heard that speech before?" Grodd rolled his eyes.
"It's going to work this time," Luthor insisted. "It's fool proof. There's no way they're going to be able to figure a way out of this one."
"I'll believe it when I see it," the gorilla mumbled.
"You even have to admit this plan is brilliant," he said, picking up the handheld control to study it.
"I will admit that it's one of your better plans, but nothing more until I see results."
"Forever the bright shining optimist, aren't you, Grodd?"
"I've pinned my hopes on you and your so called ingenious plans too many times in the past only to see it all blow up in our faces," Grodd reminded him. "Because of you I've seen the inside of Arkam too many times to count so forgive me for not toasting to our success just yet."
"What will it take for you to finally admit that I know what I'm doing?"
"When we have Wonder Woman standing right here under our control, the trinity on bended knee doing our bidding," he told him. "Then I might consider agreeing to your self-proclamation of greatness. Of course, you don't need me to help stroke your ego. You do a fine job of it as is."
Luthor just scowled at the gorilla standing at his side. He knew once he had Wonder Woman back under his control again, it would only be a matter of time before the other two were as well. Where one went, the other two usually followed close behind.
With a glint of excitement in his eye, Luthor flipped the switch to on.
XXX
The air was thick with the sounds of battle, the crashing of bodies against supposedly immovable objects, cries of pain as well as explosions as superheroes fought valiantly to stem the tide. It looked like an all out war at the moment as evil collided with the fist of vigilant justice.
Batman quickly assessed the scene before him as he arrived on the scene, still uncertain about what had precipitated this battle. He had gotten an urgent call over his commlink from Diana requesting immediate back up from any available League members in the vicinity.
He had discreetly ducked out of a late afternoon business meeting, needing to make sure Diana had the backup that she obviously needed. She only backed down from a fight when they forced her to, never calling for help unless absolutely necessary so he knew that she had to be in serious trouble.
He could've allowed his fellow teammates to respond to her distress call, helping her out of whatever trouble she had found herself in, but, if truth be told, he didn't trust her safety to anyone but himself if he could help it.
By the time he had arrived, it had already been an all out war, a no holds barred free for all. Diana was fighting off three mechanical humanoid machines that were pummeling her mercilessly. She was taking quite a vicious beating that served to heat his anger as he swung into action, taking on a cyborg that was over twice the size of Superman.
Their design was sleek, edgy. Black shining metal from head to foot glistened in the last remnants of sunlight, a dark gray visor sat where eyes were supposed to be if it truly had any. It was practically seamless, no sign of rivets or bolts anywhere to be found, the metal completely fluid as if made from the most powerful liquid. He would have almost been impressed if it weren't for the fact they were tearing up the city and pounding his lover to a pulp.
Flash was tap dancing around two more, using his speed to keep them contained until more help could arrive. A blur of red and blue suddenly swept upon the scene, making his own black cape whip as Superman arrived to take on two more robots that had seemed to appear out of nowhere with Green Lantern following close behind to intercept.
He had a very bad feeling about all of this. It was not lost on him that the robots that they were fighting had been engineered by Robotrix, a secret subsidiary company of LexCorp that Bruce had been keeping tabs on. The connection was too glaring to ignore.
Lex had been missing since his attack on Diana a few weeks ago, having gone underground and into hiding like the spineless coward that he was. Bruce was more than determined to get his hands on him, to make him suffer for what he had done to Diana.
Shooting his grappling gun at the robot's legs, Batman risked a quick glance at the Amazon Princess who was shaking off a horrific blow that would have normally killed a mortal man. With a fierce look of rage dancing in her bright blue eyes, she wiped the blood from her cheek with the back of her hand and an angry as hell look on her face, getting up and throwing herself right back into the melee.
He had tried hard to remain in complete control; to only think of her as nothing more than just another teammate, but it was next to impossible since she had moved into the manor with him…shared his bed and making his nights and mornings unforgettable.
She'd never again be just another colleague or a friend. She had come to mean more to him than just a colleague over the last couple of years and had come to mean absolutely everything to him since she had very nearly died in that Akusu attack.
Batman pulled on the thick cable wrapped around the robot's legs causing it to shudder as it fought to keep its balance, dropping it to the ground with a thud that nearly caused the ground to tremble with the fierce impact.
He quickly scrambled over it, his black cape billowing behind him as he worked to find the control center inside of it. He wanted to get his hands on the microprocessor so he could analyze it, see exactly what these machines had been programmed for and why they had suddenly been released.
He managed to find a small panel hidden along the side of the robot's neck. He dug his fingers into the seam, ripping it off and tossing the scrap of metal aside. He reached inside, grabbing hold of the control system. An electrical current immediately shot like a bolt of lightning through his body causing him to fly backwards through the air just as Wonder Woman came up behind him.
Batman slammed hard into Diana, knocking them both to the ground. He softly groaned as he finally opened his eyes, finding himself pinned to the ground by his lover, her bruised face looking down at him in concern.
"Are you alright?" she breathlessly asked, her raven hair falling like a curtain around his face, shielding them from the world around them.
"With you on top of me…always," he smirked, trying to shove aside his worry over her in order to focus on the trouble at hand.
She sat back on her heels, hooking her hair behind her ear with a curious expression on her beautiful face. "What do you need?"
"I need to get the microprocessor out of that robot," he gruffly said, keeping the concern for her from reaching his voice as she got up off of him as well as the sudden arousal she had awakened within him.
"Let me," she told him, taking off again before he could stop her.
With a growl on his lips, Batman leapt to his feet to follow her, trying to shake off the pins and needles that still lingered in his muscles from being zapped. He raced towards her as Diana knelt beside the cyborg, reaching inside to remove what Bruce needed.
"No, Diana! Wait!" he shouted. "There could be more hidden tra..."
Reaching inside, Diana gritted her teeth, swallowing back a scream as the electrical current shot violently through her body. Squeezing her eyes closed against the searing pain, she seized hold of the technology that Bruce needed.
Thick smoke rolled from the robot, showers of sparks shooting up into the air all around her as she peeled back more of the steel as if it was nothing but tissue paper. She ripped out the microprocessor that Bruce needed, sinking back on her heels on the grass, breathing hard as Batman finally reached her.
He quickly wrapped a supportive arm around her shoulders as she collapsed weakly against his side. Her hand came to rest in his lap, her fingers uncurling like an offering to him, revealing the technology that he wanted.
"Diana," he gently chided her, frustrated by her stubbornness. "You shouldn't have done that."
"I'm alright," she insisted as she tried to get to her feet.
Batman helped her to stand, his arm still wrapped around her to find the others coming towards them. Pieces of the humanoid machines lay scattered all over the ground outside of the Robotrix building, the battle finally over. Something had triggered this sudden uprising and Batman had no doubt Luthor was somehow behind it.
"Are you alright?" Superman asked as they approached, noticing the beating that Diana had taken.
Batman internally cringed with Clark's concern, knowing he didn't need to be jealous and yet he found he couldn't let it go. Even though he had Diana in his home and in his bed, he would always have to share a tiny piece of her with the Man of Steel. He hoped someday he'd be able to come to terms with that.
"I'm fine," Diana said as she rubbed the back of her neck, ignoring the pain that still thrummed through her body at that moment. "Thanks for the help. Flash and I were having a hard time keeping them contained."
"How did it start?" GL asked, coming to stand beside Superman.
"Wonder Woman and I were in the vicinity putting out a massive fire that had broken out in a factory warehouse when J'onn sent us an urgent message that robots were on the loose," Flash informed them.
"Where did they come from?" Superman asked.
"Not sure," Flash shook his head. "By the time Wondy and I got here, there were half a dozen or more of them tearing through the streets and destroying everything in sight. Took everything we had to keep them occupied until the cavalry arrived to help us out."
"They're from Robotrix, a hidden secondary company of LexCorp that deals with high tech electronics," Bruce finally chimed in as he looked at the device in his hand that Diana had retrieved for him. "I'd heard rumors that they had built these cyborg machines to be used on assembly lines in factories to do the more dangerous tasks, but I hadn't actually seen any until now."
"Well, you just got to see one up close and personal, Bats," Flash replied, slapping him on the shoulder.
Batman glared at the hand resting on his shoulder before meeting the speedster's amused face, silently telling him to remove it or he would remove it for him. Flash quickly drew his hand back, a nervous laugh filling the air as he took a step away from the Dark Knight.
Superman suddenly touched a finger to his commlink, his head tilting as he listened to an incoming call. "Got it," he said to seemingly no one in particular. "John and I are on our way."
"What's up?" GL asked, turning to Clark.
"Wildfires in California," he informed him.
"Sweet! Can I come too?" Flash immediately chimed in.
"Don't you want J'onn to look at that cut on your arm?" Clark asked him, nodding at the gash that had torn through his uniform.
"Nah, hardly even feel it," Flash dismissed, flexing his muscles for them. "I'm more than ready for another challenge."
"Fine, you can tag along," Green Lantern shrugged, using his ring to encompass the Flash before lifting off into the sky.
"Catch up with you two later," Superman said before taking off as well, knowing that Diana was in good hands with Bruce.
Batman turned to look at Diana, thankful to finally be alone with her. "I need to get you back to the Watchtower for medical treatment," he evenly stated, his gauntleted hand reaching up to wipe the blood that still oozed from the cut on her cheek.
"Stop worrying…I fine," she shook her head. "Besides, you know the cuts and bruises will be gone by morning."
"Still, you took quite a beating," he frowned, unconvinced. "It wouldn't hurt to let J'onn have a look at you just to make sure."
"What do you think this is all about?" she asked, nodding to the equipment in Bruce's hand before looking back at the destruction behind her.
"I'm not sure, but I'm going to find out," he told her. "And don't change the subject, Princess. You're going back to the Watchtower…now."
"All I want is…you and me…and a hot shower right now," she seductively purred, her darkening gaze momentarily falling to his lips.
No one would've ever noticed that her words had had any effect on him if it weren't for the tiny little twitch at the corner of his mouth letting Diana know that she had definitely swayed him with her very enticing offer.
"I guess I could tend to your injuries in the Batcave," he finally muttered after a long moment of consideration, her suggestion becoming more than tempting.
"I was hoping you'd see it my way," she smiled sweetly in that way that subconsciously told him he would never win an argument when it came to her. "Do we need to gather any more evidence before we leave?"
"No, I've got what I need right here," he replied, looking at the technology he held in his hand. "I know Luthor is behind this somehow. I just don't know what he's up to now."
"I wonder why he would suddenly decide to come out of hiding now," she thoughtfully murmured more to herself than to him.
"I don't know, but I'm going to get to the bottom of it," he swore to her. "I'm going to find him and he's going to pay for what he did to you, Diana."
She couldn't help but shiver suddenly with the reminder of that horrifying event. It wasn't so much what Luthor and the Joker had done to her that made her shudder, but what she had nearly done to Kal and Bruce that made her knees suddenly weak.
She had come so close to truly hurting the two men that she loved, possibly even killing them if they hadn't been able to stop her when they had. It still gave her nightmares at times.
Seeing her discomfort, Bruce tilted his head to meet her gaze that had suddenly grown so distant, attempting to pull her attention back to him and away from the haunting memories. "Hey, it's in the past," he said, his voice suddenly gentle. "I'm not going to let Luthor hurt you again."
Diana shook her head, rubbing her arms as if to ward off a sudden chill that wasn't there. "It's not what he did," she softly replied, meeting his intent gaze. "It's what I almost did to Kal…to you. I could've killed you both. I…I never…could live with myself it…"
"But you didn't," he reminded her, doing his best to keep a respectable distance between them in public when all he wanted to do was pull her into his arms and kiss her at that moment. "You fought against it, Diana."
She suddenly winced, her eyes falling closed as she rubbed her forehead. Her head was throbbing relentlessly now. She must have hit her head harder than she thought when that cyborg threw her through that cement wall.
"Are you alright?" Batman frowned, his concern rising.
"Just a headache," she dismissed. "Nothing I'm sure you can't fix."
Batman frowned as he studied her, still unconvinced they shouldn't return to the Watchtower instead. He guessed he could always have her transported to the Watchtower from the Batcave if her injuries proved to be more severe.
"Come on, let's go home," he told her. "I think you've had more than enough for one afternoon. After all, it's just your third full day back on active duty with the League."
"I thought you'd never let them reinstate me," she frowned.
"Just wanted to make sure you were fully healed and ready for active duty," he smirked. "I finally persuaded you to take a chance on us. Can't afford to lose you now, Princess."
Diana could barely fight back the chuckle that rose in her throat with his response. "Whatever you wish to believe, Dark Knight," she sighed.
Turning to leave, Batman cast a glance over his shoulder at the destruction that was already beginning to be cleaned up. He couldn't help but feel that far more was going on than they could imagine. It suddenly made his blood run cold.