A/N: This was my first venture into a chapter like this and I just needed it to go up already. Apologies for incoherent sentences, thoughts, and general need of extreme editing. I have yet to venture into the world of betas. I'll probably give it a day or two and go back to it, but none of the story points will change (what there is of them).

UPDATE ON 5/17 INCLUDES 2 CHAPTERS SO IF YOU'VE NOT READ 'SONG' YOU MAY WANT TO GO BACK. :-)

Chapter 9: Patience

"Patience is not passive; on the contrary, it is active; it is concentrated strength." – Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

He knew who it was almost instantly. In fact, every League member and police officer present knew immediately who it was. The Wonder Woman uniform covered very little, so the green dragon tattoo that ran up her leg and wrapped around her torso was clearly visible. Roulette.

What the hell?

With the efficiency of a computer, Bruce's brain started processing the situation, rapidly prioritizing the actions that needed to be taken.

Diana was first priority. He looked at frozen expression of horror and rage and could tell she was struggling to maintain her composure. Bruce wanted nothing more than to go and comfort her but right now her safety needed to be his primary concern. Whomever the serial killer was, they had access to some serious magic, which made Diana a lot more difficult to protect.

Since Bruce Wayne couldn't take command of the situation, he contacted J'onn telepathically. J'onn, tell Zatanna to get to Wayne Towers immediately. Have Superman to scan the buildings around the plaza for anything suspicious. He knew exactly where to drop this body and when so he has to be close by. Lantern should get down here to seal off the scene. I don't want anything natural or magical getting near it. And while you are doing that, get Diana out of here – now - and teleport her to the Watchtower. With this kind of magic in play, he could get to her almost anywhere.

The sight was almost surreal as he watched 'himself' swing down from a nearby building to pick up Diana and dematerialize in a flash of white light.

Jim Gordon barked out orders for the GCPD to seal off the block and get statements from the eyewitnesses. "Mr. Wayne." he stated, deliberately loud enough for many of the others to hear, "We're sealing off the block. Please go home. We will come to get your statement there. Could you also get in touch with Detective Grayson? We've got another crime scene to process."

Bruce nodded at him appreciatively. "Of course Commissioner. As our activities for the evening are apparently to be cancelled, my guests will need contacted. I can easily do that from the Manor."

Bruce briskly walked to Alfred in the nearby limo and climbed into the backseat. He pressed his hand to a panel behind the seat and a compartment opened to reveal the Batsuit. He quickly changed in the car and requested immediate transport to the Watchtower.

He materialized on the Watchtower to find Diana standing in front of the teleporter pad waiting for him. J'onn and Shayera were behind her, looking concerned.

"I'm coming," she said.

Saying nothing, he walked over to her and engulfed her fully in his arms, her arms to her sides. He whispered into her ear, so the others couldn't hear. "No. You're staying here, Diana. He's using magic and he's good. If we aren't careful he'll get to you when he wants to. He will want to. Let's not make it easier for him."

He could feel the tension surround her at the word "No". She stood stiffly and didn't move. Her warrior instincts were at war with her calm, logical mind. The entire situation had been somewhat removed from her until now. She had just heard about the deaths of people that she didn't know. Now she's actually seen the victim and it's someone she knows. Not a friend of course, but tonight everything more real.

Diana stepped back from him as he released her. She looked directly at him with what could only be described as an angry glare. He'd actually been on the receiving end of that look many times before. This time, however, a sudden wave of uneasiness swept over him.

Abruptly she turned on her heel and strode out of the room. Even with his face partially obscured by the cowl, his apprehension must have shown in his expression. Shayera raised an eyebrow at him and grinned. J'onn on the other hand, just gave him a sympathetic look.

Damn.

Batman transported back into the middle of the crime scene in the plaza in front of Wayne Towers. Gotham's finest was keeping the media and onlookers at bay, while Green Lantern had formed a protective dome around the crime scene. Whatever evidence existed, Bruce wanted to prevent anything from destroying it – especially magic. Green Lantern's power ring would provide as much protection as was available.

Detective Dick Grayson, still on special assigned to the Gotham PD task force that had been created to investigate this series of murders, kneeled next to the body wearing protective gloves. Next to him stood the Commissioner and Superman, who was scanning the victim and surrounding area with his enhanced vision.

The three looked at him as Batman entered the green dome. "Why isn't she still in a Bludhaven jail?"

Gordon answered this question. "I just got word from Bludhaven PD that bail was posted this morning."

"And nobody there thought that the League should be informed? LexCorp attorneys and LexCorp money." He didn't bother waiting for a response.

Batman turned next to Superman, "Anything?"

Superman shook his head. "I'm not picking up anything unusual on the victim. Well, compared to the others. No trace evidence. It looks like blunt force trauma to the head was cause of death, although I suspect another large dose of Phenobarbital will be found in her bloodstream. No, nothing unusual in any of the buildings surrounding the area. Are you sure they would have to be close by?"

"Teleporting something that large under your own power would take substantial magical ability. It's most likely that he and the victim would be close by, especially with the placement of the body so precise. But there's no guarantee…." Batman turned and scanned the area around them. "Where's Zee?"

Three blank expressions looked back at him. Shaking his head, he activated his communicator. "J'onn, did you reach Zatanna?"

"No, when I was unable reach her telepathically or by comlink, I left word with Question to bring her to the crime scene immediately. She has not yet been in contact?"

"No." He changed frequencies. "Q. Huntress. Have you found Zatanna?"

Question responded. "We found her just seconds ago. She's unconscious. No obvious injuries."

"Get her to the med bay. Have me contacted immediately when she wakes up." He turns back to his companions. "Detective, what's the story with this one?"

Dick Grayson didn't look up. "As you know, the victim Is Veronica Sinclair, aka. Roulette. Owner of Meta-Brawl, Bludhaven. Haven't discovered number "3" carved anywhere, but it might take awhile for the medical examiner to locate, if it's there. She was very badly beaten – probably COD being blunt force trauma and internal bleeding. Roulette was known to be a master martial artist, so it would go to reason that she would need to be subdued for that much physical damage to be done to her. Probably drugged like all of the other victims, but in this case she could have been magically subdued as well."

Dick paused to look around the scene and determine what else needed to be done with collecting evidence. "It looks like we just need to finish video and stills of the crime scene, then we'll be prepared to move her to the morgue."

Batman interjected. "I don't want her moved until I can get Zatanna down here to scan the scene."

Realizing that he had no idea if Zatanna was going to be available any time soon, he called out to GL. "Green Lantern, see what your ring can detect around the victim."

Green Lantern dropped the dome and began a thorough scan the area for energy signatures. "Not surprisingly, I've picked up some strong magical signatures – can't narrow it down past that yet."

Commissioner Gordon spoke up, "Ok, we can't wait for your resident sorceress to wake up." He calls over to one of the lieutenants, "Get the ME in here. It's time we rolled her over and get her to the morgue."

A few minutes later the Medical Examiner arrived. He and an assistant made quick work of preparing the body for transport, covering it with a while sheet and lifting it onto a stretcher. As they lifted off of the ground, two symbols became visible, scorched in black into the concrete: a spoked device with eight equidistant arrows radiating from a central point and a crescent moon turned to face a small five-point star.

Batman squatted next to the scorched pavement. He growled and his eyes narrowed as he recognized the symbols on the ground. "The first one is a Chaos star, the adopted symbol for Chaos Magic."

He looked up and met Superman's gaze. "The second is the Crescent Moon and Star. In the occult, formed like that, it represents the Goddess Diana and the star of Lucifer."

After the crime scene had been cleared, Batman headed back up to the Watchtower Med Bay. Zatanna was still unconscious, but her vitals indicated that she could wake up soon. He laid a gloved hand on her shoulder and shook her gently. "Zatanna."

Nothing. He shook her a little harder. "Zee."

She covered her face with one hand and rolled away with her back to him. Still groggy, "Bruce, go away. I have a headache."

He smiled. "Since when?"

"Ugh. Funny." she groaned as she started to become aware of where she was. "What happened?"

"You tell me. Q and Huntress found you unconscious on the roof of Ace Chemical in Gotham."

Zatanna sat up and blinked her eyes as if the movements were painful. "I don't know. I was observing some of Gotham's 'thugs in training' from above the street, then there was a blinding pain in my head before everything went black."

"When?"

"Not sure. The last thing I remember was getting a communication that Wonder Woman was on her way to Wayne Towers. Then with the blinding headache and unconsciousness. The only thing that I can compare it to – and this was in no way as painful – is when Diana and Shayera went to Tartarus to restore Hades to the throne. The balance of good and evil disrupted, blah, blah, blah. Any ideas?"

Batman stood. "Maybe. Get some rest."

He left Zatanna's room and made his way to the room Diana kept on the Watchtower. He punched in her code and entered to find it empty. He didn't bother contacting the control room to ascertain her position. Instead he walked the short distance to the next likely place she would be.

Batman walked into the training room to find it completely destroyed. He went to the computer terminal and pulled up the last person who had logged in, not at all surprised when he received his answer. She had apparently gone through every single training simulation and destroyed each adversary that was sent out to her. They lay in piles of rubble around the room. Wonderful.

He made his way back to the control room. Shayera was still there. Wally was with her. Perfect.

As he entered, they stopped talking and watched him in silence. He walked over the computer terminal to call up her location on the supercomputer. After a second, he discovered that she was in New York. With growing irritation he turned to look at the two superheroes currently watching him in silence.

"She's in New York. Is Donna back?"

Shayera responded, "No, they aren't scheduled to return for at least three more days."

Now the irritation was approaching anger as he alternated glares between them. "And you let her leave the Watchtower alone? Shayera, did you not understand that I had requested she remain here?"

Shayera snorted. "Let her? Did you see the training room? It apparently wasn't enough to release her frustration, because when she finished the simulations, she started looking for someone to spar with. Not surprisingly, there were no takers."

Flash chimed in, "Yeah, Captain Marvel was so scared he went all Billy Batson right here on the Watchtower so she wouldn't make him fight her."

The uneasiness was back, but nonetheless he walked to the transporter pad and punched in the coordinates.

Batman was not one to charge into battle without a little reconnaissance first. He looked at this situation the same way.

So, instead of transporting into the middle of Diana's home, he opted for the roof of the building and cautiously made his way to the penthouse apartment below. He dropped to the balcony outside her living room and entered silently through the glass doors.

It was dark inside the apartment, but with the night vision lenses, he had no difficulty scanning the room. The subtle, yet familiar Valentino jasmine, tuberose, and orange blossom scented body wash he had once given her as a gift wafted over his senses.

Diana had been ready for him. She had waited, hovering above while he silently entered the room. As soon as the door closed behind him she took him by surprise and deftly removed his cowl like only someone who knew its defensive mechanisms could.

He could see nothing as the blackness enveloped him.

"Umph." He felt himself roughly being slammed hard up against the glass door. Hard, but not quite hard enough to send him flying through the glass.

He felt her press up against him as she whispered into his ear, "Bruce, we still need to talk."

Alarms went off in his mind as involuntary responses erupted through his body. He willed his hands to remain at his side. For now. He hated magic and right now his paranoia was running rampant. Was Diana fully in control, or had someone or something else gotten to her and inspired this….behavior?

As often was the case, she seemed to know the reason for his silence. She stepped back two feet away from him as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Meeting his gaze with what could only be described as a predatory smile, she said, "It's me, Bruce. There is only me in here."

As she laid her right hand on her chest over her heart to emphasize her point, he had the opportunity to take in the sight of her. Her perfect form was dressed in a sheer black embroidered baby doll that he recognized as La Perla. Nothing was left to the imagination. The fact that she had taken the time to procure such an – ensemble – made objective quite clear.

Diana stayed at arm's length however, and her expression became more serious. As she spoke, she slowly brought one hand up to lift his chin and direct his gaze to hers. "Now that I have your attention, I have a few questions."

"Of course," he rasped, forcing himself to focus exclusively on her beautiful face and listen to her words.

"It hardly seems like it was just hours ago, but I need for us to continue our earlier conversation. As I recall it, we covered how I feel, Bruce – which in all honestly shouldn't have come as a surprise to you. Aside from your comments to Dylan, you've yet had very little to say."

She continued, as if she expected that he wouldn't be able to express himself. "Regardless of the fact that you have on multiple occasions felt the need to remind me to have patience, I believe that where are you are concerned Bruce Wayne, I have shown remarkable restraint and self-control. That restraint has now been exhausted. It ends now. In the last month, I've learned much about myself. I have decided that even for an immortal Amazon princess, time is precious and should not be wasted. I do not want to waste another moment that I could spend being happy. So, to facilitate a crystal-clear resolution to our current conflict, I will try and simply this for you as much as possible."

His gaze had moved from her blue eyes to her full cherry-red lips as she was speaking.

"Bruce?" His ice-blue eyes again met her cerulean ones. "Do you love me?"

He stared at her. "Of course I do." His voice was soft, rough, unsure. "God knows I've tried not to. I just don't have the strength to keep denying it anymore. I don't know what it will mean to my mission, the league, and for you. But I do love you."

Diana smiled. "Then I'm not asking for guarantees, but will you promise to try? To try and let me in? To share what's inside? To help me understand those issues you speak of? I want so much for you to be happy, Bruce. I just don't think you can do that shutting everyone out. Be happy. Let someone in – even if it isn't me."

Then came a whisper, barely perceptible to mortal ears, but one he knew she would hear loud and clear.

"It's you, Princess. It's always been you. It will always be you."

Time stood still for several moments as they stood frozen in place, frozen in time, looking into each other's eyes. There were no more words spoken.

They crashed into each other. The floodgates opened and all of the long-restrained emotion, passion, desire, and devotion crashed around them.

He pulled her to him, his lips pushed against hers, and his tongue sought entrance to engage it's partner in a sensual dance. Still pressed against the windows, Bruce rolled them until she was pressed up against the glass. He quickly stripped off his gloves and both hands skimmed their way up her curves to her full breasts. Both hands reached inside the flimsy fabric and freed them of their constraints, cupping one in each hand and rubbing the pads of his thumbs across her nipples which had now become tight, pink buds.

A moan escaped her as his mouth left hers and traced their way along her collarbone to capture one between his lips, drawing one and then the other roughly into his mouth until Diana arched against him, tangling her fingers in his black hair and pushing herself further into him.

Bruce pulled away momentarily to allow her to help pull the Kevlar armor over his head. She pulled her head away with a smile as he reached forward to capture her lips in another kiss. Suddenly she reversed their position again and pushed his back against the cool glass. Her hands moved slowly down his torso and she lowered herself to her knees as she pushed down his Kevlar pants and freed his now throbbing erection.

His body stilled in confusion as he felt the touch of her lips and tongue caressing his length in a very deliberate and adept manner. "Diana," he croaked out, "I thought you hadn't…."

She sat back on her heals and looked up at him with a wicked grin. She responded the only way he wanted to hear. "I haven't, Bruce. Aphrodite has bestowed many blessings."

With a growl that rumbled deep in his chest, he pulled her to her feet and lifted her up against him. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he carried her off to the bedroom.

He gently laid her on the bed and continued his ministrations with his lips and tongue, eventually sinking into her and joining them together. They moved together in the most primitive of rituals. He watched her face intently as the waves of bliss washed over her and she cried out his name.

He stilled briefly as they remained locked together, gazing deeply into each other's eyes. The relief that reflected in his blue eyes caught Diana by surprise.

Easily picking up on her concern, he blushed adorably, but nevertheless explained. "Princess, you are insensitive to pain and insensitive to cold…I have been concerned that you wouldn't be …. compatible….. in this way with a mere mortal."

As she began to move against him in response and encouraged him to his own release, she smiled again and whispered back, "Blessings of Aphrodite, Bruce."

They continued for hours to try make up for all of the time they had lost, finally collapsing in exhaustion as the sun began to rise over the Atlantic. As Diana drifted off to sleep, sated, contented, and in love, Bruce whispered gently into her ear. "Princess, I know I have much to tell you and much work to do, but I meant what I said. I promise to try."