Chapter 2-His Return
(A/N: Originally I had intended Honor Thy Love to be a one-shot, but after the praise I got for it, I thought what the hell I'll top it off with one more chapter, and give it a good ending. ENJOY!)
Diana was in her room in the Watchtower happy, happier then she thought she could ever be, and with how things turned out with his return it was no surprise. When she first saw Superman come out of the smoke, after stopping the missile, and saving Batman from harm Diana wanted nothing more then to kiss him on the lips. However, due to the people there, and the media shortly after broadcasting his return, the kiss could only be real in her mind.
Diana couldn't help, but laugh slightly at remembering how his clothes were not what he had when he was presumed dead, and how he had a rugged look to him that showed how he had overcome great hardships to get back to them. To her. Oh Hera! If only he knew how much she loved to see him with that beard on his face, which in her mind gave him a look of wisdom, and character to his face after he explained what happened in the future.
Her smile left her at that moment when she realized that Kal had suffered through much more then she originally thought, as he had seen the aftermath of destruction done to the world by the only survivor, and seemingly ageless villain that ironically helped him. The knowledge that everyone on the planet had died without him being there to possibly save them must have put a serious scar on his heart and soul. Diana thought she had seen it on the Man of Steel's face when they talked when he looked over at the planet, and saw a form of sorrow in his eyes when she remembered him telling them every detail.
Unlike there suffering they felt at his 'death', they were the ones, who had actually died, and Diana knew deep down that there was just a hint of a scar along his inner being.
She knew he would bury it, deny it, and even lie even if it was just to himself most of the time if he ever looked in the mirror remembering that horrible event. J'onn had looked into his mind with the Man of Steel's permission to see what he had seen and all the green Martian hero could say when it came to describing it was simply..."another Mars".
That in itself spoke volumes to Diana.
There was also the fact that she never told Superman about how she felt about him, how she nearly killed Toyman, how she sculpted his face on Themyscira to honor him. Diana found herself in a predicament that she was unused to, but at the same time knew what she had to do, and was going to do it right now!
Exiting her room, Diana walked silently towards his, knowing that he was very tired from the ordeal, and if he was asleep to let him slumber his well deserved rest. Upon reaching his door, she put a hand on it wondering if she should do this, as she was intruding on time that was not hers to take from him, but when would she get another chance like this, and/or tell him how she felt? Diana focused her hearing and pressed her ear to the door to hear if the Man of Steel was sleeping since her senses were like his much more powerful then most humans on the planet. When Diana heard a slight rustling sound of bed sheets she assumed he was asleep and turned to go. However, as she was about the remove her ear from the door she heard what sounded like a painful gasp, which followed by another, and more shifting of the sheets that covered his form.
Frowning, Diana looked around to see if anyone was watching her, and entered his room quietly before shutting the door so the intruding light in the hall would not awaken the slumbering man from his bed. Well...if you could call it slumbering. The man, who was asleep shirtless, was tossing, and turning like he was in some kind of nightmare. She had noticed his hands were alternating between clenching into fists, then to unclenching, and his handsome face turning into a painfully frustrated scowl.
'He's dreaming about what he saw after what Savage did to the world,' thought Diana, as she looked down at his pain filled face knowing that she would probably feel the same way if she saw what he did.
It was then she remembered her Mother's words about mental scars when she was still a child trying to decipher the difference between that and physical ones.
"Listen to me my child. There are two type of pain in the world. One's that affect your body while the other affects your mind. Be careful when it comes to the later Diana, for the scarring of the mind can be far worse, then that of the body, and may change how you perceive things in life. While many of your sisters' have kept their minds from feeling the pain of such things, there will come a time where the past plagues one's mind at night, and will make one feel pain in such dreams turned into nightmares," said the echoing voice of Hippolyta in Diana's mind, who at the time of the conversation was in her loving Mother's lap, and learning all that she could to make her proud.
"Even steel can be scarred if a sharp enough blade runs across it," said Diana in a whisper before setting a chair in front of the bed and sitting in front of Superman's bed watching him fight this hellish nightmare.
His breathing was now quickening and sweat was beginning to fall down his face before Diana became worried about what he was feeling. Putting a hand on his, Diana felt his grip on her hand tighten almost painfully, as if he was clinging to something, and that he needed it to survive this ordeal. Shortly, after grabbing Diana's hand, his breathing had become steady once more, and the sweat that was quickly covering his body seemed to slow down in progression. Giving his hand a gentle squeeze, Diana wished that the man would wake up, or else she would have to do it for him leading to an awkward situation for the both of them.
Fortunately, it seemed the Gods smiled on her once more, as Superman did wake up to see her face though he looked worse, then when he left the lookout spot to head to his room to sleep, and she could tell he was so tired that he was within mere moments of falling asleep again.
"D-Diana?" said Superman, as his mouth felt dry inside, and his throat felt sore from it.
"Sshhh. Kal its all right. You were having a nightmare. I overheard you and wanted to investigate," said Diana seeing his tired eyes and decided to let him rest a little longer before they talked.
"S-Sorry," said Superman feeling his voice become strained, which became apparent to Diana, and hurried to get him a glass of water before helping him drink it down.
"Its all right. We'll talk later. Just go to sleep now," said Diana running a hand through his hair and beard loving the feel of it wishing he wasn't going to remove it tomorrow morning.
At least she could love the feel of it now and who knows?! Maybe he'll grow another one down the road.
She couldn't help, but look at his physic that was open to her that wasn't covered by the bed sheet, and found his form to be quite handsome. She could see why so many women would want to be with Superman if only for one night and Diana wondered what it would be like to just touch him. Not in a perverse manner (Hera forbid and Aphrodite become ashamed for implanting such thoughts into her), but rather touch his chest to wonder what it would be like, and to see if it would feel the way she almost imagined it would be.
Shaking her head from these starting to become impure thoughts, Diana got up from her chair, and turned around to head out the door only to find her hand was still connected to Superman's. When Diana looked down, she saw his hand covering hers in a squeeze that was pleading with her to stay, and not leave him. She looked to see if he was awake and to her surprise, as well as the slight horror of disturbing his sleep again, Superman was indeed awake in the same state he was the first time.
"Don't...leave...Diana," said Superman his arm and hand trying to pull her towards him with what little strength he had that didn't even move her while Diana was too shocked to move.
'He wants me to stay? What do I do? It would be rude of me to turn it down, but at the same time I can accept since it wouldn't seem right, and yet...' thought Diana finding herself lost in those tired blue eyes that made her heart skip beats faster then Zeus could throw down a lightning bolt.
"Just for tonight. If only that," said Superman, his eyes so tired, as they still remembered the memory of what he went through, and Diana couldn't say no to him no matter how much her morals told her not to do it.
'At least this way we can talk in the morning,' thought Diana hoping she would get her chance at it before she sat on top of the covers in her Wonder Woman outfit and held onto the Man of Steel to show she was here for him for as long as he needed her.
She didn't notice a certain Dark Knight peak into the room narrowing his eye at them before shutting the door, as he planned to ask her about this later, and get some answers.
(Next Day)
Diana woke up finding herself not wanting to awaken form her slumber, but her pillow had moved on its own if only slightly, and made her grab onto its sides. She frowned, as her pillow felt like it was made of some kind of thick strange mold that was soft at the first touch, but upon pressing into it deeper, Diana felt what felt like muscles, and upon further pressing of the said "pillow" she found it let off a small male like chuckle.
'Oh by the Gods! Am I doing what I think I'm doing?' thought Diana blushing, as she wondered if she should quickly fake sleeping again, and hoped the person she was lying on was still asleep so she could make some kind of exit...eventually.
"There's no point in trying to fake it Diana. You're heartbeat has doubled in the past 30 seconds," said Superman smiling down at her finding her hands had surprisingly tickled him.
'Curse his super hearing!' thought Diana letting out a sign wishing she didn't have to look up at him given their awkward situation right now.
Well awkward for her anyway, as the Man of Steel didn't seem to mind, and she didn't know whether to punch him or smile at him. Maybe a little bit of both.
"Hi," said Superman, as if everything was fine, and his smile though still tired looking was enough to make her smile back.
If Flash saw them like this he would never let them live this down. Maybe she should? Nah!
"Hi. I'm glad you're back Kal," said Diana looking at his eyes wishing she could stare inside his eyes forever.
"Thanks Diana. When I found out how all of you died, I wanted to kill Savage so badly, I even had a rock twice the size of my head ready to slam into his face, and only my morals in the end stopped me from doing it," said Superman knowing that it wouldn't have done any good like Savage himself had said out loud when he was about to do it, but had felt the incredible urge to slam the rock right onto the repentant man's face.
Diana couldn't help, but smile at that since it was his very same morals that prevented her from killing Toyman, and even now she felt more ashamed for nearly doing that. Flash had of course told Kal about it saying she nearly went "psycho Amazon" on Toyman after what happened, but didn't in the end she stopped, and from the look in Kal's eyes, Diana knew he was happy that she did not deliver the fatal blow to the criminal.
"When I thought you died, I never felt so lost in sorrow at losing someone so close to me, or the intense anger before that moment in time. I felt as if someone had snuffed out the sun itself," said Diana letting her face rest on his stomach while tears slowly left her eyes.
Superman looked at her from his position for a moment with caring eyes before he put a hand on her luscious wavy hair, stroking the many soft locks that felt like pure silk that many women would kill just to have, and many more to make it stay like that naturally. She held onto him when he did this, as she was getting lost in the moment, only for both of them to realize they couldn't be like this forever, and decided to end this while it could still feel good.
"Thanks for staying with me last night. The dream I had seeing you and the others dying while I was powerless to do anything to stop wouldn't go away," said Kal slowly getting up from the bed wearing simple sky blue pajama pants.
"It's the least I could do Kal. You didn't deserve to experience what you did at the hands of Toyman or what was the end result of Savage's failed plans. I wanted to speak to you originally, but you were asleep when I looked in, and before I could leave you sleep I saw you were being tormented from within your own mind," said Diana walking over to the room's window looking at the stars.
"You said that you wanted to speak to me. Could you please tell me what it is you want to talk me about?" said Kal walking up to her and putting an arm on Diana's shoulder.
Diana blushed at his touch and even more at his words at wanting to know what it was that she wanted to talk to him about. How could she tell him now? How could it be more obvious then when they woke up in that situation even though Diana had agreed to it for his sake?
"Kal. The thing I wanted to talk to you about was my feelings for you. When I saw you take the attack for me, I was so angry at Toyman, and not because he took away a dear sweet friend. It's because I thought I lost the one man that...that I love," said Diana, as she turned to him looking at his shocked face with loving eyes that made his heart melt, and have him return it.
Closing the gap between them, Kal embraced Diana in a hug, which the Amazon Princess gladly returned it, as she finally was able to get this incredible weight lift off of her, and feeling her heart fill with joy. She had wanted to say that to him for some time now and after finally saying it, the release she got from it was incredible, and wanted to stay in his embrace forever one more time.
"If we do this, then no one can know about, and if they do they'll have to be sworn to silence," said Kal at last knowing that keeping secrets while dishonorable in some cases was necessary.
"I don't suppose you would let me tell my Mother or sisters?" said Diana since she had no doubt that they would see this miracle as an act of Zeus or Hera hearing their poor Princesses' prayers answered.
"I don't see a problem, as long as they don't try to leave the island in order to capture, and castrate me for seducing their Amazon Princess," said Kal getting a slap by her on his shoulder though she did find the joke slightly humorous since some of the Amazons and all of the Bana tribe would consider such a relationship to be unbecoming of an Amazon warrior much less their Princess.
"Just for that, maybe I should take you back to the island for you to tell my Mother in person, and see how long it takes before she draws her sword to try killing you with it?" said Diana with her own mischievous smile she picked up from on occasion.
"As if you would let her," said Kal smirking at Diana, who smirked back, and gave him a kiss on the lips.
"So I take it my side of the family along with our friends must never know until the time is right?" said Diana before resting her head on his shoulder as they embraced.
"Just as I can't tell my family and friends about us being together until the time is right," said Kal knowing that for this to work so much would have to be involved in this drama, which meant deceiving Lois, his parents, and every other person that expected him to be the truth telling boy scout.
"I'm so glad you're back," said Diana knowing she had to go now.
"Me too. See you later at the Fortress?" said Kal hoping the two of them could sneak away there after everything about his returned died down.
Pun not intended.
"It's a date," said Diana kissing him once more before they broke apart and she discreetly left the room with Superman looking back at her before the door shut on her figure.
"Maybe I should keep the beard," said Kal since it had brought him some pretty good luck, but then again Clark Kent had to make an appearance without one so that kind of ruined the idea.
Maybe next time he'll keep the beard.
(With Diana)
Diana made her way to her room glad that no one had seen her with Kal and when she got to her room she let out a sigh of relief at making it to her quarters. It was actually kind of thrilling to be in a secret relationship that no one knew about or if they did they were being respectful and not saying anything.
"Diana," said Batman from the shadows of her room making Diana turn quickly to face him in a quick combat stance.
"Batman. What are you doing here?" said Diana narrowing her eyes at him finding his intrusion into her private quarters to be quite offensive.
"I know about you and Superman," said Batman seeing her eyes widen slightly before narrowing with a fierce scowl that told the Dark Knight to be careful with his next choice of words when he spoke next.
"You have no right to pry into our lives like that much less peak into the room like some perverted old man," said Diana, as her words carried a good deal of venom in them, and it made Batman narrow his eyes too.
"If you're concerned I'll say something, then don't worry I have no intention of telling anyone, and I only came here to be careful," said Batman form never leaving the shadows of her room.
"Be careful? Of what? Kal would never try to hurt me. He'd rather die then betray me or anyone else close to him. You know that!" said Diana her body tensing with a very strong desire to attack him, as he the man didn't even have the curtsey to even sit with the others to properly pay his respect at the funeral or even help carry the casket to the memorial spot that was made for the last son of Krypton.
"I know Diana, I was one of the people he saved before Toyman sent him into the future, and when we all thought he had died. I'm telling you to be careful in terms of making this relationship work and if both of you want, I can help make sure the illusion of you two being 'just friends' is exactly what everyone will see," said Batman seeing Diana's face have a look of suspicion on it now.
"Why would you even consider doing this? Certainly not out of the bottom of your cold pessimistic heart!" Diana wondering what plot the Dark Knight was thinking to drive her and Kal away from each other.
"I just want you two to be happy Diana. Normally, I would disapprove of teammates in a dating relationship. It creates a conflict of interest, possibly a form of jealousy if either is seen with another member of the opposite gender, and possible dividing of friendship among the other members of the team. However, you are doing this in secret until the time is right to reveal it to everyone, which may be a Month away or possibly a few years from now, and the League evolves into something more. Who knows? The point is, I'm helping you because I want to see you happy Diana, and in order for you to have that happiness with Superman it requires someone in the shadows that can manipulate it so everyone sees what they see in front of them without raising suspicion. A skill I have in spades if you will," said Batman since his whole life has been a charade as Bruce Wayne being your everyday billionaire bachelor.
"Perhaps. Or perhaps you are trying to set us up for a fall so were as miserable as you," said Diana having heard the clean cut version of how Batman became Batman.
"You and Superman can't do this alone. The others are too perceptive for that. In order for you to fool everyone around you both friend and/or foe that you come across you need a third person walking among them to distract them from seeing the truth," said Batman knowing that while Diana's side of the family was easy to handle it was the rest of the world and Clark's side of life that was the bigger issue in keeping the wool cape over their eyes.
"Very well, but you must talk to Kal after this so he knows, and agrees to this," said Diana reluctantly seeing Batman's point of view in keeping her secret romance with Superman from everyone, and with the help of a third party to help keep it a secret.
"Later. He knows how to keep this a secret almost as good as I do considering his alter ego he uses to live among the populous like my own. You do not have one so you do not know how to handle this since you have never done this before," said Batman, as he knew Diana was very out spoken about being truthful, and had always showed if she was lying or not since she hated to lie to someone she card about.
Neither did Clark, but if it was necessary he could, and that was why the two opposites of the same gender would have to have a talk later at a more convenient time.
"Teach me," said Diana, as she wanted to learn to hide her real feelings, and would do so to be with Kal.
The Man of Steel was back in her life again and she was not going to lose him to anyone or anything that the Universe threw at them.
And by Zeus, Hera, and every other God in Mount Olympus that had blessed her with her given powers, Diana swore that she would never see her love fall in battle so long as she was there to fight by his side.
(A/N: YAY! My gift to you all. I hope you liked it. I hope it wasn't too over the top, but I felt that Batman's knowing of the two getting together, and hiding it with his help made sense. I mean, who else could help them keep the relationship a secret, then the man that makes keeping secrets second nature to him, and make sure no one see past the illusion. I hope it was believable since I tried to make it seem like it. Until next time...PEACE!!)
