I get out of the Batmobile after a long night of patrolling. I sigh loudly with a smirk as I take off my cowl. I hear someone bounding for the stairwell and I smile. I knew she would hear. I can see her silhouette in the dim light of the cave.
"I heard you sigh." Diana said, walking up to me. She wraps her arms around my neck and I smile. "Long night?"
"Mmm very long." I say, leaning into her. I pressed a kiss to her lips. I can feel her smile. She pulls away.
"I hope you're not tired enough to spend some time with me." She said with a mischevious look. I let go of her and started to take off my suit, finding the hidden fasteners.
"Fine, but you're doing the work this time." I said.
After our spar and a long shower, we went to bed. I was too exhausted to eat, much less have the energy to even bring up a fork to my mouth. I groaned in relief when I plopped onto the bed, sighing as my head sunk into the pillow. I looked at Diana, who had propped up her head with her hand. She smiled.
She crawled on top of me and pressed her lips to mine. I tried to respond, but every time I closed my eyes I found myself drifting off. I gently pushed her away. She frowned.
"Just tonight Bruce." She whined.
"I just got this new bed frame Diana; I'm not trying to break it like you did yesterday." I say sleepily. She gasps and swats my chest. I give a low chuckle.
"I did not break it." She retorted. I scoff.
"I felt the mattress sink into the floor." I laughed. She giggled.
"Please?" She asked. I mouthed no. She pouted and reluctantly got off of me. I looked at her as she gave me a puppy face.
"Don't give me that face, you'll make me feel guilty." I say. She smiles with triumph. Her smile quickly fades away, and it turns into sadness.
"What?" I ask. I turn onto my side.
"I'm just worried." She said. I raise an eyebrow. "You leave every night to protect Gotham and I'm worried I'm never going to see you again."
"I'm not going to die Princess." I said. She wasn't convinced. "Nothing is going to happen, I promise." I reassure.
"You don't know that Bruce."
"Yes I do. I'm Batman, I know everything." I joke. She rolls her eyes at me. I brush her hair out of her eyes. "Besides," I say. "I have you in case I need saving." My spirits lift when she couldn't resist a smirk. I kiss her forehead and fall asleep soundly.
I wake up to the sunlight hitting my eyes. I groan quietly, covering my head with the blanket. With a pout, I throw the blanket off of me and rub my eyes. I turn and look at the clock. I looked at Diana, who was still asleep, and smiled. I wrap an arm around her stomach and pull her close to me.
"Wake up Princess." I whisper in her ear. She makes a face and groans. I nuzzle her. "You know what today is?"
She turns over and opens her eyes. "It is definitely not your birthday. What's so special about May?" I frown.
"You really don't know?" She smiles tiredly.
"No. Why don't you tell me?" She says sarcastically. I prop myself up on my arm.
"Today is our three year anniversary." I tell her. She runs a hand through my hair and hums delightfully. I lean into her. "Happy anniversary Princess."
"Happy anniversary my knight." I kiss her.
"I love you." I murmur.
"I love you too." She mumbled. Our kisses grow more intense, until I get on top of her. She pushes me back.
"So it's okay for you to get on top but it wasn't okay last night?" I chuckle.
"I know right? I'm such a pain in the ass." I joke. She laughs and I kiss her once more. Once I have her begging for more, I pull back. "Okay, I'm going to work." I say, getting off of her.
"What!" She whines. "It's our anniversary and you just leave me like that?" I give her a quick peck.
"I have to go. And don't you have that peace thing to go to?" She groans.
"Now I really want to stay." I smirk. I kiss her once more before grabbing her hand and dragging her sleepy self to the bathroom with me.
She kisses me quickly as she heads out the door. I go back to buttoning my dress shirt and I start to tie my tie. I hear a knock and look to see Alfred standing in the doorway through the reflection of the mirror.
"Sir," He starts as he grabs my suit jacket. "When do you think it's time to go the next level with Miss Diana?" My head shot up quickly. I turned around just as quick.
"I'm sorry what?" I asked. Alfred gave me a look.
"Oh come on, Master Wayne. It's been three years already. When are you going to grow a pair and actually get down on one knee?" He said as he helped me with my suit jacket.
"I'm not sure if she's the one yet. Mom and Dad waited for nearly a decade before they got married." I explained. He sighs as he fixes my tie.
"Yes, but your parents knew they were soulmates by their first date. And also because I'm old Bruce and I would like to see you get married before I die." I frowned at the mention of his passing.
"If Diana and I are still together in two years, I'll think about proposing okay?" I suggested, putting on my watch. He sighed, but nodded in agreement. I opened a drawer to grab a file for work. I dig around the drawer to find it, but it wasn't there.
"Lose something sir?"
"Yeah, a file for the company. I was working on it one night and now I can't find it anywhere." I answer, digging through the drawer again.
I move on to the larger bottom one, finally pulling it out from underneath a small stack of heavy books that Diana reads. I let go of the books, letting it fall back into its original place. I raise an eyebrow when I hear it fall. I look at Alfred, who also has a suspicious look. I let the file drop to the floor beside and take out the stacks of book. I hit the bottom of the drawer. It makes a hollow sound, giving me a confused look.
"You hear what I'm hearing right?" I ask, hitting it again. Alfred nods.
I go through the first drawer, grab a small pocket knife, and turn my attention back to the drawer. Alfred clears his throat. I look up at him from my spot on the floor. I roll my eyes when he motions at the knife.
"Relax, I don't use it anymore." I say, turning back to the drawer. He huffed.
I wedged the knife in between the board and the side of the drawer, moving my hand to the side to make the board lift. Underneath, was a box, but it wasn't something I had seen before. I opened it. In her handwriting, Diana had written things down in her Ancient Greek language. I knew a couple of words, like "mother" and "friend". I flipped through the pages quickly. There was almost 500 pages in it.
"Did you know about this sir?" Alfred asked, peering over my shoulder with his brow furrowed. I shake my head.
I bring the box with me to work. While everyone was doing paperwork, I was scanning every page, translating each and every word that was on the parchment paper in my office. I was thankful I had installed a software that could read Diana's language and translate it perfectly. I printed all 500 out. I read it during a presentation at one of the board meetings.
I was pissed when I came home.
Alfred raised a brow in concern as I stormed into the kitchen after slamming the front door. He sets a glass down after drying it. I placed the wooden box on top of the counter and crossed my arms with the stack of papers I printed in my hand.
"Is Diana here?" I asked, my eyes never leaving the box. Alfred nodded.
"In the den." He answered. I sighed. I set down the papers, grab the box, and leave.
I open the door to one of the dens and find Diana sitting on the couch with a book in her hand. "Hi Bruce." She says, not looking up. "Something happened at work?" I shake my head.
"No, I'm actually mad at you." She raises an eyebrow and sets her book down. I set the box down on the coffee table, watching as her eyes go wide.
"What was really your mission Diana?" I asked.
"The one I've been telling you since the beginning. I came here to show Man our ways and to promote peace." She answered. I crossed my arms.
"Aren't you the bearer of Truth?" She nodded. "Then why did you just lie to me?"
"I didn't." She defended. I opened the box, took out the first page and read it.
"You said in this that after ten years you would go back and that you would attack us. You wanted to assainate the league, including me. You wrote this eight years ago." I said, setting down the paper. She cups her hands on her lap and looks down. I cross my arms once again.
"Diana, please tell I'm wrong." I said, my voice breaking as my eyes started to burn. "Please tell me that I'm just being paranoid and suspicious over nothing, please tell me I'm wrong and that everything we have is real." I choked out. She looked up with tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry." She whispered. I bit my lip as I started to cry. I took a step back and turned around because it pained me to see her and know that she betrayed me. I hear her stand up. "Bruce I didn't tell you because I knew you would never forgive me, I'm so sorry."
I look at her. "You knew about this. You knew and you didn't say anything."
"Yes." She answered. "I know, I lied. And Bruce I am so sorry. I wanted to tell you for the longest time but my mother threatened to kill everyone if I did. I was so scared I was going to lose you and I couldn't let that happen." I ran a hand through my hair as I started to cry more.
"When I first met you, I lied and it became this long story and over time I started to believe it myself." She explained.
"I don't want to hear this." I said. She took a step forward.
"Bruce just listen to me."
"Nothing you say can change any of this!" I shout. She jumps. I have never yelled at her before and it scared me. "I don't even know who you are." I say through my tears.
"Yes you do." She choked out as she also started to cry.
"You just wanted us dead. You wanted me dead so you can take over because you knew that no one would ever know about the attack if you killed me first. You wrote down every vulnerable thing I have said to you in the past three years including everyone else before that. You just wanted everyone's weakness." I said angrily. She shook her head.
"I would never hurt you. I would never hurt the league." She cried. "I was forced to because I was in love with someone else." I let out a shaky breath.
"What?"
"I was in love with Steve Trevor. I fought with him in the first war and then he died during battle. And I left and was angry at the world for what it did. My mother took advantage of me and convinced me that the only way to have peace was by taking over. So she sent me back and that's when I met you guys."
I turned around and wiped my eyes as I processed the entire situation. I put my hand on the mantle of the fireplace for support and I started to get dizzy. "Did you know who I was when we met?" She shut her eyes and nodded reluctantly.
"Yes. I knew who all of you were, including your identities. And that's why I became Wonder Woman again." I put my hands to my hips and took a deep breath.
"And that's what I was to you? I was research?"
"During the Thangarian invasion, when we were at the restaurant, I took advantage. I took the opportunity to see what made your heart beat fast. But I promise you, I never knew that I would actually fall in love with you." She took a step towards me. I shook my head. I turned around to her.
"Please don't say things like that." I whispered.
"Bruce I know I've lied about everything—"
"Don't Diana!" I yell. She jumps again. I turn back to the mantle. There was silence between us for a few minutes.
"Bruce," She started quietly. "I know I've lied about everything, but I have never lied to you, not once, about my feelings for you."
"When we first started dating I stopped writing. I didn't start again until my mother threatened me." She said, as if she was trying to make up for what she did.
"You used me." I said. "I'm so stupid."
"Bruce I'm sorry. I won't go back. I will lock it away somewhere and I won't ever give it to my mother, I promise." I turn to her.
"Lock it away?" I repeat. "Lock it away? Are you kidding me?!" I yell. I grab the box and hold it over the fire. "I'm going to burn this page by page if I have to."
"Bruce please don't." She begged. I shook my head.
"No. No, I'm going to let it burn because it is so important to you that it was worth destroying everything we had for the past three years." I said angrily. She held out her shaky hands and shook her head. My hand lowered into the fire.
She lunged toward me, attempting to grab the box. I let go of it before she even goes for it. I watch the box burn, seeing the parchment paper curl and crumble before going black. Diana takes a step back and I prop my elbow on the mantle, letting the nail of my thumb glide over my lips back and forth. My eyes started to blur and I found myself blinking away tears. We stayed silent before I finally broke it with two simple words:
"Get out."
Diana's head shoots up from the floor and her eyes are a dull azure with a slight sheen to it. Tears brimmed her eyes.
"What?"
"I said get out. Get out of my house, and get the hell out of my city. I don't want you here." I didn't bother to turn to her. I let the tears fall from my chin onto the rug beneath me.
"Bruce you don't mean that..." She whispered, touching my arm. I shrug away from her. She rests her hands on both sides of my face and I avoid her gaze. "You love me." She said quietly.
I gently grab her wrists and pull her away from me. I smack her hand away when she tries to touch me again. "Get the fuck out!" I shout. She bites her lip and walks away.
The sound of the front door closing is what shatters what's left of my heart. I cry quietly because I'm too afraid to have Alfred hear me. When I sense someone at the doorway to the den, I look from the fire to him. Alfred takes a few steps forward before stopping. His eyes are glossy. He raises his arms out and I'm already walking toward him. I hug him tightly and cry endlessly into his shoulder.
