Yeah, I don't own anything except the plot. Starts off in Diana's POV, but stays in Bruce's for most of the one shot. For the sake of plot, let's pretend Diana doesn't have the ability to twirl and change her outfit, okay?
You know, a day off is supposed to mean I don't have to show up. At all, Diana thought exasperatedly as she was transported up to the 'Tower.
She immediately saw glances in her direction as she stepped off the platform. Voices started whispering as she left the Monitor Womb, heading for the meeting room. She noticed people staring at her. She was at the door of the meeting room when she looked down to see what the commotion was about. Do I have something on me?
Then it hit her: she wasn't in her uniform. They probably were staring at the shirt she had decided to wear on her day off.
Shrugging her shoulders as she realized there was no time to change, she entered the room with a mischievous look in her eye, excited and nervous to see what his reaction would be.
All conversion screeched to an abrupt halt. Six pairs of eyes were on her. Or, more accurately, on the shirt.
Batman walked into the meeting room with a huff. He was about to check out a lead on what Poison Ivy was up to when he got called into this stupid meeting.
He stalked towards his usual chair, and sat down. "This better be important. I have work back in Gotham," he practically growled at the Man of Steel sitting next to him.
Clark grinned at him, making Bruce want to strangle him. How can someone possibly be so damn happy all the time? "We're just waiting on Diana," came the response.
"She'd better hurry," he muttered to himself.
Unfortunately, not soft enough for the Thanagarian's ears. "Why? You got a date or something?" she teased with a smirk. "Don't worry, Bruce. I won't stalk you and your girlfriend, or run a background check on her."
He glared at Shayera as she referenced what he did on her date with Carter Hall.
John laughed. "Shayera, his girlfriend wouldn't need a background check run."
She laughed at that. "True."
Wall looked confused, always oblivious when it came to other people's love lives. Superman just shrugged at the speedster, not having any idea either.
"It means that we all know Diana, and know that she's done nothing worthy of running a background check. If anything, Batman's the one weneed to watch out for," Shayera explained.
Bruce growled and clenched his fists. "She is not my girlfriend."
John and Shayera both stared at him. "Yeah, right," they said in unison.
J'onn spoke up, having been observing the entire exchange between his friends. "He speaks the truth. He and Wonder Woman are not dating."
Batman crossed his arms as a smug smirk crossed his face.
"However, there are very strong romantic feelings between the two, and a longing to be together."
Batman's smirk slowly disappeared, instead being replace by a fierce scowl directed at J'onn. He opened his mouth, but was interrupted before he could begin.
"Wait! Diana and Bruce? How did I not know about this?" Clark questioned.
John rolled his eyes. "Like I've said before: for someone with fifty different kinds of vision, you are blind."
"Apparently one of those fifty do not include seeing the romance brewing between his friends," Shayera added with a snicker.
Batman narrowed his eyes. He opened his mouth to attempt denying again, when the door opened. All eyes turned to the door, everyone already knowing who would be standing there.
And that's when they saw her - in it.
Diana stood there, chin raised with confidence as she slowly walked to her seat next to Batman. She had her hair pulled up behind her head. She wore a t-shirt and form-fitting jeans. It was different seeing her in such casual wear. But that wasn't what they started staring at... well part of it was.
Everyone in the room had a hard time tearing their eyes away from the shirt she wore.
The first one to do so was Flash. He zipped towards her and burst out in fake tears. "Wondy! I was hoping it wasn't true! How could you break my heart like this?" he pretended to sob on her shoulder.
Diana smiled and patted him on the back. "I didn't mean to break your heart, Wally, but you know we're just friends."
He pulled away. "Yeah, I know," he muttered, feigning glumness as he returned to his seat, crossing his arms and pouting.
Everyone else was still stunned by what they saw. When she finally reached her seat, John cleared his throat. "That's, uh, that's a nice shirt, Diana."
She beamed. "Thank you! It's one of my favorites."
Shayera chortled. "I can imagine."
J'onn smiled to himself as watched Diana glance at Batman out of the corner of her eye. He observed as Bruce shifted slightly, obviously uncomfortable, and angled his head slightly toward the table.
Superman still hadn't recovered. He sat there, his mouth practically on the floor. Shayera laughed. "Hey, Superman, you're catching flies."
He closed his mouth and shook his head. Diana... and Bruce? Do they really... have feelings for each other?
John smirked. "What do you think of Diana's shirt, Bruce?"
Batman turned towards John and glared.
This was not supposed to be happening. This was supposed to be a normal meeting. Get in, get it over with, and get back to Gotham. He was not supposed to be sitting here, trapped by everyone's stares on him... and her. She was not supposed to be wearing that. And he was not supposed to be having the kinds of thoughts he was having.
How the symbol on her chest stretched perfectly across her body. How it rested on her perfect breasts. How the entire outfit hugged her body, bringing out those perfect curves. How he couldn't tear his eyes away. How he felt the hot, searing jealousy when Flash dared to touch her. The satisfaction he got when she put him back in his place. How he was getting very uncomfortable watching the seductive sway of her hips in those tight jeans. How he wanted nothing more than to kiss her, claim her as his, and...
He needed to get out of here. Now. He couldn't stay. Not with her wearing that. He forced himself to look away, to stare at his hands as if he were holding the answer.
The shirt. With the symbol. His symbol.
The shirt with the Bat-symbol stretched across the front.
Dammit. She would've had to cross the Watchtower. That meant a lot of people would've seen that. It would've confirmed those rumors going around in their minds. They would assume they were together.
Because she was wearing a shirt with his symbol on it.
Dammit.
He couldn't help but think of how ironic this whole situation was. A few moments ago, he was just denying a relationship between him and Diana.
Him and Diana. He couldn't help the little flutter he felt in his chest at the thought.
He scowled at that. He was the Batman. He was fear itself. He was the embodiment of vengeance... and his heart was sent fluttering by a woman.
She's not just a woman, and you know it. "Wonder" doesn't even begin to describe her. She is absolute perfection.
He was torn from his thoughts when John asked him what he thought. He glared at the ex-marine.
He couldn't answer that. No way. "I'm not answering that."
Diana turned to him and crossed her legs. Her sinfully long legs that drew his eyes to them. He forced himself to look at her face. Not her legs... or her shirt. Wrong move. "Why not? You don't like it?" She put on a small pout.
Oh, how he wanted to kiss the pout off her face.
"I'm not answering that."
She smirked at him and leaned closer to him, uncrossing her legs and placing a hand on his thigh. She looked up at him through her long, dark lashes, giving him a seductive smile. "That's okay. I can ask you when we're alone," she whispered huskily.
He swallowed thickly. His mouth and throat were suddenly a desert, his tongue like sandpaper.
And it was suddenly very hot in here. He flushed, even more so when he saw Clark do the same. Yeah, he definitely heard that.
Apparently so did everyone else. Shayera couldn't help but laugh, and John joined in with a low chuckle. Wally just sat there, gaping at what he just heard. J'onn was clearly amused, but only smiled.
And Diana just sat back in her chair, legs still crossed with her arms crossing as well. She had a confident smirk playing at her lips, and an eyebrow raised in a challenging manner, daring him to refuse now.
He flushed even harder. He opened his mouth to deny her... invitation, but stopped when she slowly scraped her top teeth over her plump, rose colored, and oh-so-kissable bottom lip.
He needed to leave. He needed to be anywhere else. He told himself to get up, and walk away.
But he didn't. He was sitting there, with his mouth opening and closing like a fool, trying to think of something to say.
"Is there a problem, Bruce?" she asked, purposely stressing his real name.
If he could've gotten any redder than he probably already was, he'd make the Flash look like he dressed in pink. He swore under his breath. He didn't blush! And here he was looking like a tomato in front of all the founders. Speaking of the Flash, he felt a sense of dread as he realized that the speedster was probably never gonna let him live this down. Oh hell. Wally. Crap. He would single handedly make his life a living hell with all his teasing after this.
He managed to suppress a groan at the thought, knowing it would be taken the wrong way, and that would be disastrous. Instead, he shifted uncomfortably, closed his mouth, and shook his head.
She looked him over, taking a bit longer than necessary, then turned back towards the center of the table. "I expect an answer to the question later," she said, still talking to Batman even though she was not facing him anymore.
He shook his head again, this time trying to clear it. "What question?" It came out much higher than he would've liked, and dammit whose been messing with the temperature controls?!
That didn't go unnoticed. It sparked another chorus of laughter from around the room, everyone participating this time. Everyone except him, that is. He hated being the butt of jokes.
He bit back a groan again, instead burying his face in his palms.
Finally, Clark cleared his throat, and the laughing quieted down. "Um, can we start the meeting now?"
A resounding "no" was the answer, with one "yes".
They started anyway, much to Batman's relief.
Unfortunately, that relief was short lived. Despite Clark's best efforts, chuckles and snickers filled the room throughout the meeting. It worsened whenever someone glanced at Wonder Woman or Batman, mainly Batman, much to his dismay. It didn't help that he could feel Diana's eyes on him, practically burning a hole in his head. He was suddenly extremely thankful she didn't share Clark's ability of heat vision.
"Anyone want to add anything?" Superman asked at last.
No response save the occasional chortle.
"Well, I guess if no one has anything-"
Before he could even finish, Bruce was heading to the door of the meeting room. He didn't plan on showing up again for at least a month, maybe more.
He was followed by the echoing laughter coming from the conference room as he made a beeline for the transporter room. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.
Leaguers who saw him coming made sure to stay out of his path. He didn't notice. He just needed to get out of here.
He managed to get to the transporters before anyone stopped him. He only paused to enter the coordinates of the Batcave, then stepped onto the platform. Next thing he knew, he was standing in the 'cave. He made his way to the supercomputer in the center, ready to block incoming guests to ensure he wasn't followed.
Too late. Before Bruce could even reach the computer, he heard the transporters activating, alerting him that he had a visitor.
He froze, mentally preparing for the confrontation he knew was going to come. He was not about to talk about what happened just now.
Then he felt a hand on his shoulder. Small. Strong. Feminine. He smelled jasmine.
Crap. He did not want to talk to her about this.
He didn't do... this. He couldn't do this. He was too broken, his heart already shattered in too many pieces to be put back together no matter how hard he tried. And what of their working relationship? Would they favor each other over other teammates in times of crisis? Would they make irrational decisions leading everyone to being in danger? No. Too much was at stake to be messing around with a teammate's heart.
But you wouldn't be messing around. You love her. Love her too much to simply lead her on. You know that.
He did, and that's what scared him. He knew that if they were to start a relationship, he wouldn't be able to let her go. He couldn't afford it. He thought back to those reasons he gave on the rooftop about a year ago. The more he thought about them, the more foolish they seemed.
The owner of the hand came into view, breaking him out of his thoughts. Diana was looking intently at him, her stare piercing through his cowl and into his soul. His breath hitched with how open her gaze was, how open and exposed she made him feel.
"Bruce," she whispered, almost as if she was scared he would run away. He wasn't sure he could make his legs work enough to run away. She was keeping him here. She was staying, and he wasn't sure he wanted her to leave.
"Diana," he whispered back. She looked as if she were snapped out of a trance, quickly taking her hand off his shoulder. He found he missed it.
"I'm sorry," she said nervously, wringing her hands, something he hadn't seen her do before. "I shouldn't have followed you down here, especially after the embarrassment I just put you through in front of the others." She started to move past him to head back to the transporters.
He grabbed her wrist before she could go. What are you doing? the Bat asked. He didn't know. He just... didn't want her to leave. He was tired of her leaving because he pushed her away. Tired of pushing her away. Tired of fighting these feelings he had for her. Tired of not having. Tired of it all. He might not know what he was doing, but he knew he was tired.
She turned back to him hesitantly. "Bruce?"
He didn't reply. He just stared down at her wrist, sliding down his hand until he was holding her hand.
"Bruce, what-" She was cut off by the movement of his other hand flying up to pull his cowl off his head.
He dragged his hand through his hair, trying to smooth it back down. He took a deep breath, and finally met her gaze again. He saw the flitting of various emotions behind her bright blues eyes. He easily picked out her confusion.
"Diana," he stopped himself. What am I going to tell her? How much I lo- care about her? Will she even believe me anymore? After all the times I've pushed her away in the past, would she even care?
Diana sighed. "Let me guess: 'That stunt you pulled was highly inappropriate for teammates, which is what we are going to remain as.' Am I right?" She removed her hand from his, instead crossing her arms, and glared at him. Her lips were pursed, her brow furrowed.
Bruce was unsurprised that that was her response, yet he felt guilty. It was his own fault she assumed that. After all, he was the one making up excuses for them not to be together, constantly letting her get close before pushing her away again.
When he didn't answer, she pressed on. "Why? What is the actual reason you won't let me in? And don't give me one of those garbage answers you fed to me that night on the rooftop! Why do you push me away? Are you afraid I might actually make you happy? Or-" She cut off and looked down at the ground. When she spoke in a whisper. "Am I not good enough?"
It hurt his heart to hear those words spill out of her lips, her tone of voice sounding so tired, broken, and insecure, as if she really believed she wasn't good enough, which did not fit the strong, exuberant, and determined Amazon he grew to... love.
I love her. The realization brought a flutter to the pit of his stomach. At the same time, it felt as though a weight was literally lifted off of his shoulders.
Once again she broke him out of his thoughts by moving, only this time it was away from him. "You know what, Bruce? If you don't want to be with me, fine. I'm done waiting for you." She sound sad, yet also angry.
Before she could go far, he grabbed her wrist for the second time, spinning her around to face him.
She let out an agitated huff. "Bruce-"
Her warning was cut off by his lips pressing softly against hers, almost tentatively, as if he was afraid she'd pull back.
It took her only a moment to respond, wrapping her arms around his neck, twisting her fingers in the thick, black hair at the nape of his neck. His hand let go of her wrist to move to the small of her back, pulling her closer to him. His other slid up her arm, shoulder, neck, until it rested at her cheek, cradling it gently.
Surprisingly, Diana pulled away first. "Bruce, please don't push me away again. I can't do this back and forth game with you." Her Voice was breathy from the kiss, but there was a pleading note to it.
He shook his head. "No, I'm not. I'm tired of it, too."
He swore he would do anything to make the smile that appeared on her face stay there. It was so full of light and happiness, he couldn't help but smile back.
"You should smile more. It looks good on you." She smirked. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone the terrifying Batman actually knows how to smile," she teased with a mischievous glimmer in her eye.
He chuckled softly before turning serious. "Diana, I'm not good at this sort of thing."
She smiled. "Well, neither am I, since I've never actually been in a relationship before, so I guess this will be new territory for both of us."
He took both of her hands in his, looking down at them as he spoke. "I just don't want you to get hurt. I can be harsh, cold, and unfeeling. Sometimes the Bat takes over. Sometimes I have a really horrible day. In those moments, I prey on whoever I might come across, purposely trying to hurt them. Sometimes I come close to the edge, and only just manage to pull myself back. I don't want you to fall victim to the darkness inside of me."
She removed one of her hands from his grasp, resting it on his cheek as she brought his head up to meet her gaze once more. "I know. I'm prepared to deal with it. I want every part of you. I'm in this for the long haul." She smiled at him. "I'm not going to go anywhere, no matter how hard you might try to push me away."
He smiled and leaned down to capture her lips again. Pulling away, he smirked at her with a predatory gleam in his eye. "To answer your question, Princess, I like that shirt very much," he huskily commented.
She smirked in response. "I'm sure you'd like it off of me better."
Her answer was a bruising kiss as he took her by the hand, and led her up the stairs, both of them giddy with happiness at what was just beginning.
