A/N: This song is She Said by Take That, and I don't own this song or the characters. I hope you enjoy this - it's the first of two. I'd like to thank Daisy Jane for the beta, she's amazing.
She Said
"You know... we never did get to finish our dance."
My love
Was filled with trouble
With indecision
Therapy and pain
Our- Shit.
She knows. She's worked it out. Though when and how are going to take some investigating. The point is she knows. Just great. Not only the boyscout, but the warrior princess too. Fabulous.
Still, I can't help but feel a little admiration. Diana, at least, figured it out by herself. Wisdom of Athena indeed. I'm still not happy about it. It's not a worst-case scenario. She won't go to the papers. In fact I'm even a little proud of her. I won't tell her that, but still.
The standard response rolls off my tongue. There's still a chance she's bluffing. "I don't know what you're talking about."
You know that my love
It was going nowhere
It would have driven any normal man insane
Instead of her smirk faltering, it gets a little wider. Damn it. Not bluffing then.
"If you say so," she says teasingly.
I do say so - but I'm not convincing either one of us. She puts her arm through mine, and my hand almost comes up to take hers. I quash the urge. "But you're still taking me dancing," she warns playfully.
Oh, but then she said she wanted to dance
She said she wanted to move
She said she wanted a good time
Girl, I think I love you
I am? That'll be the day, I scoff inwardly. The Batman doing the rumba? Not a dignified image. So why do I want to? I want to go, "Okay" and whisk her off to Rio. I want to do a Bruce Wayne, though the idea of treating Diana as I treat other women... no way. Even the idea makes me disgusted with myself - more than usual.
I don't take her dancing that night. I don't take her dancing for the next week. But all the time, I'm thinking about it. I don't want to be thinking about it. I don't dance with women, women dance with me. I'm the pursued, not the pursuer, no matter how the tabloids report it. The last time I actively went after a woman was Selina - and that had ended disastrously. I haven't seen her since she left the country. She's in Beijing at the moment, plundering whatever treasures of the Forbidden City she can lay her hands on. It's not my city; it's not my problem.
My love
As bad as fast food
As low as deuces
In a gambler's hand.
But since her I've never felt more than a passing interest in any woman. With Diana I have... could it be conceivably called a crush? Whatever it is, it spells trouble. Trouble for me, but most especially for her.
This is a bad idea. I know it is, even the part of me that wants to do this knows it is a bad idea. We dance; we get closer, physically and spiritually. The closer she gets, the more she sees, and the more she sees the more dangerous it gets. In addition, it's impractical. Officially we've met once - and why would Wonder Woman let a notorious pig like me anywhere near her again?
You know that my love
Was one long hangover
Ain't got no houses or no money or no land
I've already thought of that, of course. When we met I was charming, I was smooth and intriguing. Wonder Woman is unfamiliar with this world still; no one thinks she reads National Inquirer. Naturally she'd want to know more.
And with the practicalities all worked out, there's no objection the Bat can throw up that I can't shoot down again. I'm actually taking her dancing.
There's already a suitable dress hanging in Diana's closet, with a note telling her when and where to meet me on the Earth's surface. I left a rose, as well. The color reminded me of her lips, and the petals were baby-skin soft. I mentally shake myself. I should not be imagining what Diana's lips look and would feel like.
Oh but then she said she wanted to dance
She said she wanted to move
She said she wanted a good time
Girl, I think I love you
But here I am, waiting in Buenos Aires in my hotel for the knock on the door. When it comes, my heart skips a beat. It shouldn't. I cross to the door and open it. It takes most of my willpower to stop my jaw falling open.
She's beautiful. I knew that before, but now she's looking beautiful for me. The dress looks as incredible on her as I knew it would; a deep red, coming down to her knees with a slit up one side. She's holding the rose in her hand.
"Hello," she says uncertainly.
"You look..." What's the appropriate word? I decide to go with the truth. "...stunning."
Shake it
Everybody, now shake it
Everybody, just step to the right
Jump up turn around
And shake it
She smiles, relaxing again. "Thank you."
"But I think..." I take the rose from her, break off the top two inches, "this would look better here." I tuck the flower behind her ear, the splash of scarlet against the ebony fall of her hair a perfect match.
She blushes. It's completely adorable. She recovers quickly. "Ready?"
I nod, and offer my arm.
Everybody, now boogie
Everybody, now boogie
Everybody put your hands in the air
Turn around
Let's boogie
And we go dancing.
As I expected - but had no evidence for believing - she exudes elegance even through complicated Latin dances that she's never learned the steps for. The tango, the salsa, the rumba. During the Argentine tango I have to bite my lip to restrain the urge to trail kisses all the way along her neck. I dip her, and she comes back up again with an expression half-fearful, half-aroused. I don't think she knows the arousal is there.
Oh, my life
Was filled with trouble
With indecision
Therapy and pain
You know that my life
It was going nowhere
It would have driven any normal man insane
Whatever my own face shows, it makes her uncertain. She tries to take a step back, but her leg is still tangled with mine. She stumbles, and though she probably wouldn't have fallen, it's enough to make me catch her anyway. In the middle of the dance floor we stop, both of us breathing hard, though not from exertion.
In the back of my mind, the Bat pops up again. This is why this was a bad idea...
Diana, though, far from the trepidation of a second ago, now looks at me with a mischievous gleam in her sapphire gaze. Then she laughs.
Oh, but then she said she wanted to dance
She said she wanted to move
She said she wanted a good time
Girl, I think I love you
I raise an eyebrow. "What?"
"I was just thinking," she murmurs, "what's the term? My knight in...?"
"Shining armour," I supply, the corner of my mouth curling up involuntarily.
"Shining armour," she nods vaguely. Then she smiles. "I like my knights in..." she runs the back of her hand over my jaw-line, "dark armour."
She said she wanted to dance
She said she wanted to move
She said she wanted a good time
Girl, I think I love you.
A/N: Review please!