NIGHT AND DAY

"I'm coming with you."
"No!"
"I'm coming-"
"No-"
"Good Hera, Bruce! If I have to hang on to your Batmobile to get it into your Bathead that I'm coming, I will do it."

He wanted to go home. He also wanted to deal with his mess on his own. Diana didn't seem like she was going to budge, though. His body was aching all over...

"Fine," Bruce gritted his teeth. And not just due to the pain.

The ride home was uneventful. Bruce said little to nothing. He wore a scowl as well as he wore his bruises. That at least part of his sour mood was due to her insistence on coming along was not lost on her. But then again, it was deemed necessary. Bruce was battered enough for the day, the other Five of the Justice League were occupied, and she couldn't just leave him alone. Besides, enemies could be lurking anywhere.

Bruce's foes weren't any of those idealistic, super powered ones that Superman fought, or the simple war-mongers that she often faced. Gotham was dark. Its criminals were darker. Petty thieves. And mad men with a warped sense of life. Plenty who were waiting for a chance to break the Bat.

Of the founding members of the Justice League, he alone had no super powers. Except those which he developed on his own through sheer hard work (somehow, in a way, that only made him so much more extraordinary).He was one mortal man fighting against several, mortal and otherwise, on a regular basis. And today had not been particularly different or kind.

The batmobile slid smoothly through the hidden entrance of the cave. Not so hidden now that it was passing through. It closed in after them. After a little bit of manoeuvring, they gently came to a halt.

Wordlessly, Diana pressed the button that opened up the doors, letting them out. She tried to help him across to the chair, but he grunted and turned away. She suspected old age would never kill Bruce. He would simply outlive everyone with his stubbornness.

"You need rest, Bruce. And your wounds need to be dressed."

"I'm fine."

"You don't need to worry. Tim is a good kid."

"Who said I was worried?"

Diana sighed.

"Miss Prince is quite right, sir. You can worry tomorrow."

Alfred had arrived, balancing a tray on one hand. Bruce glared at Alfred with what he hoped was a death stare, but Alfred just continued to look back at him with his usual British indifference.

"Shall I bring some tea, sir?" Alfred continued, unperturbed.
"Thanks, Alfred, but I don't think I'm going to need it."
"Just for the lady, then." Alfred said.

"Thank you, Alfred. Tea would be nice."

"Is Tim home?" Bruce asked.

"No, sir. And I'm afraid Master Drake hasn't left a message, either," said Alfred.

Stupid kid, Bruce thought. He never had this sort of trouble with Dick or Barbara.

Alfred set the tray down on the table, and left.

Big computer screens took up space in one corner of the cave. Everywhere else it looked there were shelves and glass cases lined up against the walls. She had been to the cave many times now, but it never failed to fascinate her. Everything in the cave seemed to tell a story about Bruce's life.

And then Diana came to the case that contained the suits of the Bat family. Current and former. Dick. Cassandra. Damien? She will have to make an effort to remember all their names. It's almost funny how a single guy had so many kids. But then, perhaps, that just meant Bruce is a better father than a lover.

She could imagine the grief and pain Bruce had been through when one of the Robins was killed. After all, she, too, had buried many a kin. Even many a man...

Diana was acutely aware of Bruce watching her. He would have to suffer in silence at the intrusion, she thought, and smiled to herself.

Bruce reached for the tray, and extricated a scissor. He looked up and saw Diana go through the Robin suits. He found he didn't particularly mind. Besides, at some point or the other, every one of the Founders had been there. He gritted his teeth through the pain. Who do I have to kill for some privacy? The scissor fell out of his hands with a resounding crash. Bruce cursed.

Diana whipped around. Before he could say anything, she had come over to his side. She easily lifted the whole table with one hand and set it aside. She picked up the scissor and set it back on the tray. Sometimes, Bruce forgot that if she wanted to, she could crush him like a bug. She possessed, after all, Amazonian strength.

Strong women fascinated him. And he had met his share of them. Various types of strong. There was Selina, who had a strong moral compass, was a good woman and did not deserve having to deal with his shit. He loved her, but with Selina, he doubted it was enough. She deserved more than just a wreck.
And Talia...he loved her once. She was fierce and dark and dangerous. A true match to the danger and dark that dwelt within himself. But with it came pain, hurt and heart break. He couldn't love her without turning over to the dark side.

And then there was Diana. She reached over and squeezed his hand. He didn't resist. And he felt himself relax. For some reason, he never minded her company. Well, of course, he could name at least one reason. He would be blind not to.

"Let me help you," she said, softly. Sometimes, Bruce forgot how gentle she could be. Or their kisses. He smiled inwardly at that.

As she reached for his mask, he caught her hand. "Careful, now, Princess. Often times when the mask comes off, there is only the beast underneath," he said, smirking.

Diana raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't worry too much. After all, we have been unmasked plenty of times before."

Bruce enjoyed their many flirtations over the years. They were two very attractive people who had worked alongside each other for a long time. But it was also something more. They had a connection. Something that only grew stronger over the years. They were both warriors. He worked in the dark, away from scrutiny. She was much too embroiled in Men's affairs to ever truly return home. She was light. And they were both alone.

Diana had helped him get the suit off, and now tended to him with a medical precision as he sat on the surgical bed. He remembered one of his first ever interactions with the Amazonian. She had talked about herself, her people and, then, her birth. He had found it interesting but implausible.

I was brought to life by Zeus, she had said. He knew it was a lie. The Greek gods were seldom interested in bringing clay to life. Oh no, they preferred other merry activities. Unless...exactly how many men did wash up ashore on Themyscira? Surely she didn't still believe in it? She was a warrior, not some naive teenager who dreamt of knights in shining armour.

Or perhaps, Diana did like the idea of being self made. Quite literally. He never did care much for Greek mythology anyway. Well, except for the part about Amazonians, that is.

"You are pretty good at this," he remarked after some time, as Diana dressed a particularly nasty cut on his chest.

"War is not all I'm good at, you see."

"No..."

"Quite the contrary, actually. I was blessed by Aphrodite, too, you know," Diana said with a smile.

"Right." Goddess of love and beauty. Diana possessed both, and more. A moment passed. And then he thought of the mortal man who loved her.

"How's...err...Trevor?" A pause. And then-

"Dead. He's been dead for some time now."

The last he heard, Trevor was in an old age home. He had married, and had kids and grand kids. He hadn't waited, then. Bruce briefly wondered how Diana dealt with love, loss and a whole host of problems that Amazonians didn't normally have to live with. They did, after all, have a very long life span, and spent most of it confined in Themyscira. The Land of Only Women.

"Does it hurt?" Bruce asked.

Diana looked up at him. He thought he saw something like a shadow pass over her face. "Yes," she said. Another pause. She reminisced. She didn't mind. "I loved him, but we weren't, uh...I wasn't ready." She smiled at a distant memory. "He never forgot me, though. 'My guardian angel', he used to call me."

"Guardian Angel. He probably thought you fell out of the sky."

"Actually, that's exactly what he thought," Diana said. She leaned over and cupped his face, trying to look for signs of injury. Satisfied, she stepped back. Her eyes locked with his for a brief moment.

"We don't have much luck with relationships, do we?"

"I guess not." She looked curiously at him. "Are you seriously wondering why?"

"We're married to our jobs. We spend way more time together with the League than with any family or friend." Although, to be fair, Justice League was family, too. Even the occasionally annoying Wally.

There was a pause. And then Diana replied. "No. That's not it," she said. "I see Clark and how happy he is with Lois. I think it's because we're afraid. Afraid to try. Afraid to trust. Afraid to get hurt..."

"You have given it a lot of thought, then."

Over time, Diana had come to learn from the Man's world that, flawed as they are, and warlike as they are, deep down, they craved for peace, and justice. And mercy, and love - something mostly foreign to her until she first set foot in the Man's world. Mostly, because there were other ways to love. Quarrelsome as they are, they were capable of so much more. And the fact that they were mortals, and limited, made it all the more beautiful.

"There's a batcave within us. We shelter in it when the storm comes. Except, the storm just never leaves, does it?"

"No. You just had to use my cave as an analogy, didn't you?" Bruce asked. Diana laughed, the sound ricocheting through the cave. He couldn't help but smile.

Alfred was back with hot steaming tea. He helped with the remaining dressing of wounds, as Diana sipped tea.

"I see you have done a good job already, Miss Prince," said Alfred.

"Thank you, Alfred. The tea is terrific, too."

"My job, Miss." After a while, Alfred left again, perhaps to find something else to make his guest feel comfortable. That butler was always busying himself. He seemed to have intuitive knack of knowing what one needed.

Diana fetched some water. "Here," She said, handing Bruce a glass of water.

He didn't particularly like being bossed around in his own house. "That's alright-"

"Drink," She insisted, for the second time that day. If he didn't like being ordered around the first time, he definitely wouldn't like it this time. But she was ready to force it down his throat. And Bruce knew it. Surprisingly, he did drink without any further complaint, ghost of a smile playing on his lips. He drank it slowly, locking his gaze with hers.

He looked pretty darn good when he didn't look so grim all the time. She watched as he sighed and leaned back. She watched as the pill she had mixed in started to take effect. She didn't want him running out for his nightly detective duties any time soon. He needed rest. There would be a hell to pay when he wakes up tomorrow. She would deal.

As Bruce drifted off to sleep, a calmness seemed to spread across his face. Eyes drooping, he turned to her.

"...watching over me...," he murmured. "My... guardian… angel...like that…"

"You wouldn't know what you liked if it hit you in the face, Bruce," Diana said, leaning over to run a hand through his hair, and plant a kiss on his cheek. But perhaps there was hope after all. Tomorrow is, but another day. He had caught her hand in his. She slowly extracted it from his grasp.

Or night. Whichever. Night's good, too.

Diana took one last sip of tea from her cup, and then, setting it aside, made herself comfortable on the cosy sofa.

Later, Alfred came in to check on them. He had brought some blankets along. He looked at the sleeping couple. He threw one over the figure in the sofa and the other over his foster son. He then gathered up the empty glasses and quietly withdrew.

A/N -

As you can see, I strongly consider the Justice League Animated Series as canon, which also means I consider Bats & Wondy canon. It doesn't matter what sort of reboots the comics seem to be undergoing at the moment (Yes, I read comics). Though, the Injustice series seem pretty good. Not to mention there is a dream sequence in there where Bruce and Diana are married. I just loved that !

I really hope the upcoming movies (Wonder woman 2017, etc) are headed this direction, though. Fingers crossed. The trailer analyses on YouTube seem to suggest they are, so, hurrah for me.

Alright. On a more serious note, do read and let me know what you think of this story.

- Donna Vito Fruttie