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Chapter Seven: This Modern Love

"This modern love breaks me, this modern love wastes me..." - Bloc Party


Diana made it back to the Watchtower emotionally confused. Men roused inside of her emotions that she had never experienced before, or perhaps, emotions she had felt before, but not on such great of a scale.

She only nodded greetings to the Watchtower inhabitants that passed her by. No matter what, Diana stayed tight-lipped about her day.

Her day was interesting, indeed. She had started it and spent it with King Faraday, but she had ended it with a riveting embrace from Batman. Quite the opposite of what she had intended. It had left her flustered and slightly perplexed. It was as if she were playing games with herself.

Bruce made it obvious that he didn't need her. King made her feel special. But Bruce now treated her like they were meant to be together, and it only took a mere three seconds before she was putty in his arms.

Diana urgently needed to speak with someone about it, but she wasn't sure who.

Passing the training room while roaming a lone hallway, Diana distantly overheard a famous and distinct warrior's cry.

Smiling to herself, Diana entered the room and her suspicions had been correct; Shayera was obliterating drones at a rapid pace.

The Thanagarian was so engrossed with her undertaking, that she hadn't notice Diana slip in quietly, hovering over the scene.

After a few minutes, the drones' numbers had decreased drastically. All while Shayera appeared almost out of breath with the brief, yet vigorous stint.

"Sha..--" Diana said finally. She paused to duck easily when a drone head flew at her. She started again and lowered to the ground. "Shayera?"

Just then Hawkgirl figured she wasn't alone. Acting on instinct, Shayera threw a punch in Diana's direction, and Diana sidestepped it gracefully.

"Diana? Whoa, ... sorry about that," Shayera commented sheepishly, while elbowing a drone in the chest and whacking it in the torso with her mace.

Diana finished up the job by dodging and crushing the one last drone who was sneaking up behind her.

Shayera smiled and wiped sweat from her brow. She caught her breath while grabbing for her water bottle that sat near the sidelines.

"That was a great workout," she added breathlessly, after taking a large swallow of water.

Diana eyed the fallen drones and wondered silently how much Bruce's bill rounded out to, when factoring in the large amount of robots Hawkgirl destroyed on a daily basis.

"I can see that, " Diana whispered under her breath. She then looked Shayera directly in the eye. "Seems like a bit much, blowing off steam?"

Her friend looked guilty somewhat. "Oh, I guess so." She took a seat on the gym floor and heaved a defeated sigh. "John and Mari are having a fabulous date this evening." She shook her head defiantly. "It shouldn't bother me. But it does."

Promptly, Diana felt bad after hearing that. All she wanted to do was discuss her own problems, but she hadn't realized that her friends would have their own as well.

"Green Lantern came back from his mission with Superman already?"

Shayera's face became disheartened slightly. "As soon as he returned, he was off leaving again with Vixen..."

"Want to talk about it?" Diana asked quietly.

The sadness around Shayera's eyes dispersed, and she merely shrugged it off. "Nah, I'm good." She stood up and stretched and continued talking while playing 'golf' with her mace and a drone head. "How about you? You had a date today, right?"

Diana bit her lower lip to think it over before answering.

"Yes," she started, "I had a good time..."

Shayera whacked a head and it flew across the room. "Oooh, I'm getting better." She moved her focus back to Diana, "And? What? I hear a 'but' coming on."

Wonder Woman nodded grimly. "But..."

Shayera gave a self-satisfied smirk, while Diana finished her sentence.

"... I helped Batman out in Gotham... and..."

"And you made out afterward like you were on fire?" Shayera asked quickly. Diana searched her face and noticed she wasn't kidding around; Shayera was quite serious.

"No! We hugged."

Shayera raised a brow. "Hugged?" She walked over and took a seat, and Diana followed. "You mean, you wished you could have stayed..."

Shayera had caught on.

Diana nodded slowly. "Yes."

Her friend grinned widely. "You also wished you made out."

Diana rolled her eyes. "Oh, be serious. We aren't a couple."

"Diana, you need to realize something quite obvious, you love Bruce. And despite how he avoids you and ignores you, he loves you too. That's the final verdict. However... you could learn to love King, but it won't be the same. Aaaaaand... I think you just figured that out."

"I-... uh, I mean, I do like King, there is no doubt about it..." Diana stammered. Shayera was absolutely correct, but she didn't want her to know it. But there wasn't any use, since the Thanagarian's detective skills were on par with some of the best, which irked Diana.

And before she knew it, she caved. "OK! I love Bruce. And yes, I wish it hadn't happened this way. Arrgh! I don't care what this world says about women, men are highly more confusing and complex. I hate them."

Shayera chuckled a bit. "You just made a breakthrough. Men were meant to be hated. Though, they were meant to be loved. Of course. Which makes us hate them more."

Diana simply stared at her as if she were filled with wisdom invested from the gods.

Shayera caught on. "I'm not saying anything groundbreaking, my oh-so naive friend, but it's all true." She patted her comrade on the shoulder gently. "You've made him jealous, at least."

"I think you're right," Diana stated slowly, realizing it all then and there. "But it won't provide enough motivation. He's too frightened with the idea of sharing his life with anyone. Besides, I like King. And you're right, I could learn to love him. If not," she squared her shoulders slightly. "I'm an Amazon, I don't need a man."

"They really are accessories, like little dogs in sweaters."

Now it was Diana's turn to raise her brow. "I'm sorry?"

"Sorry. I've been reading too many magazines. But the bottom line is, go after what you want. Just don't sacrifice too much, or you'll end up hurting in the end."

"Or just get a little dog in a sweater, right?"

"Right." Shayera then gave her friend a smile, which Diana returned.

"I'm glad we can talk. I had no idea that talking about feelings and men could be so consuming."

Shayera gave out a loud laugh. "Oh, you have no idea." She then added, "Did you know that I was once engaged to be married on Thanagar?"

"Really?"

She nodded, but then rolled her eyes. "It ended poorly,... but we can talk about that later."

Diana stood up. "I have to pick out a dress... I have an event to attend to tomorrow evening."

"In New York?" Shayera now became keenly interested, and she stood up from her sitting position. "Do you realize that's going to be crawling with paparazzi?"

"Pa...? Is that an Italian word?" It then dawned on Diana. "Oh, photograghers. Just great..."

Diana thought back to Paris and Kasnia. She remembered the photog flashes in her face, including the annoying questions.

She then remembered Bruce saving her from them, back when they had shared their first dance. Diana longed to be that close to him again...

"Diana?" Shayera was giving her a look. "I lost you there."

"Huh?"

Shayera smiled while shaking her head. "Make sure you wear the right dress, otherwise you will be picked apart."

Diana turned to leave while wondering what being picked apart had anything to do with clothes.

But before she left, she gave Shayera a look. "Oh, and be sure to tell Flash this too... but, I don't want either of you to spy on me again during a date." Diana looked mock serious for a moment, and Shayera's eyes widened. "Unless you ask me first, of course." At that, Diana cracked a grin and walked away.

Shayera seemed extremely confused as to how Diana knew at all, but she came to her senses and called out to her friend before she was out of earshot, "But that defeats the purpose!"


When Diana entered her room and closed the door behind her, she felt, if at all possible, more confused.

She still didn't know what to do.

Praying to any and all goddesses that entered her mind, she hoped she was making the right decision. Diana wanted to know that Bruce wasn't for her, and she wanted to know and be absolutely positive.

Shayera had helped her, but she was vague. Diana thought it over and wondered if Shayera's mind was slightly clouded with thoughts of John and Mari.

She then resolved that it must have been the case. How could Shayera not think about it?

Either way, her friend gave her hope and she helped her come to realize many things.

Diana decided to not dwell on it further, and she again turned to something that cleared her thoughts. Her closet.

In her mind, she likened it to staring at artwork or browsing an artist's media. Every piece of clothing was perfect and each color was different and vivid. The dress Mari had given her before seemed to have been cast by the wayside in the plethora of everything around it.

Not to mention, Diana loved touching the various fabrics. Muslin, chiffon, and silk, to name a few, had wonderful texture and a rich surface and structure.

Browsing over the dresses fit for such events, Diana had a hard time making a decision. Before she could stop herself, she had already picked out the dress Bruce would have loved.

Shaking it from her thoughts, Diana shifted her concentration on King. And she had come up short. She had no idea what he liked, though she imagined he wasn't picky. Instead, Diana picked out what she loved the most, and she hoped King would too.

She also secretly chided herself for picking an outfit solely on one person. Particularly a man.

Frustrated with herself, Diana laid down on her bed and stared at the ceiling.

She speculated intently on what the next day would bring her.

Was modern love worth all of this?


King had picked up his best suit from his favorite Manhattan dry cleaners.

He, once again, thanked the government funding the majority of his possessions had come from.

The black three-piece Armani suit was saved specially for diplomatic spots and social-graces in other countries, but his new position merited him more opportunities to put his executive wardrobe to use...

It was fun.

King was more than excited for the next evening.

He wondered if Diana was looking forward to it as well.

He already missed her.


Bruce stood in his master bathroom and stared with focused eyes at his reflection in the over-sized mirror.

He had to plan this perfectly; he wouldn't be given a second chance. Or at least he wasn't entertaining the thought of a second chance.

Diana was fed up with his usual tactics; he had to take it into his own hands.

Bruce ran his hands through his wet hair and secured the towel around his waist.

The door to the bathroom was open, and he saw Alfred walk into his bedroom. "Sir?"

"Hmm?"

"Master Bruce, are you still thinking about the event tomorrow evening? I've never seen you worry so frivolously about something like this..." Alfred's voice trailed off. Of course, he knew why Bruce was acting that way, but his butler and surrogate father had to punctuate it for him.

"It needs to be just right, Alfred. I can't mess this up."

"And you better not," he heard the Englishman mutter under his breath. "Shall I find you a suit?"

He had too many to chose from and had hoped Alfred would pick him one out for him. Bruce turned around to answer him, but he was gone. He walked around to find Alfred and spotted him holding up a black suit.

The man certainly could read his mind.

"Three-piece Armani," Alfred stated.

Bruce nodded silently.

It would do.

Feeling nervous about the daunting Saturday night ahead, he hoped the evening's patrol that awaited him would ease his mind.


Thanks for reading!

E- Thanks!

brucefan- Yeah, he takes his time... lol. Thanks!

princess- King isn't too bad, but yeah... Bruce needs Diana. He just should treat her better. :) Thanks!

K2C- Who knows what he's like, I don't know him too well either. lol Thanks!