Disclaimer: I don't own the Justice League or the episode Starcrossed or the characters therein.
Thank you to all of you who have reviewed somewhere along the line! I never thought that I'd have this many reviews already! MWAH! I really appreciate it, so THANKS and KEEP IT UP! I got 15 reviews so far this chapter, my most EVER! THANK YOU!
Chapter 10, Kiss, by Prince
"U don't have 2 be rich/2 be my girl/U don't have 2 be cool/2 rule my world/Ain't no particular sign I'm more compatible with/I just want your extra time and your – Kiss"
"We're about thirty miles from Gotham City," Bruce said, taking control of the situation as he so often did. "We can regroup at my house there. But try and keep a low profile." And with those words, he walked off into the hawk infested streets, Diana close on his heels, her ponytail swinging with every step.
Side by side, only inches separating their bodies, they began to walk through the streets, their eyes alighting on the hawk soldiers in their masks, spears in hand as they roamed the city, looking for those who were going against their martial law and for the six members of the Justice League on the lam. And knowing that fact, they kept their eyes averted, able to feel the warmth of the other as their arms brushed and taking comfort in that fact as they continued through the darkness, every move bringing about the possibility of their discovery.
In the air, soldiers littered the skies, and they could hear the constant hum of the Thanagarian tanks that were hovering in the air, using their spotlight to point out areas of problem and chaos, searching every nook and cranny in their hunt for troubles and escaped League members.
Walking down the sidewalk, they passed civilian after civilian, on their faces expressions of worry and fear, as if they knew that the Thanagarians could, at any moment, enact retribution for the slightest of offenses. People hovered in the shadows, clinging to the walls, avoiding eye contact with others and clutching the tiny hands of their children, hoping to avoid interrogation and any sort of trouble.
Passing a storefront, they could hear a severe and quiet voice emanating from a series of television sets, "We are here to serve the people of Earth," said a wide-eyed hawk solider with full lips and a patch of hair dotting either side of his lengthy chin. "We serve the people of Earth by making sure that what you do is in your best interest. What is in your best interest is to do as we say. Only by obeying us can we serve you."
The words seemed to mock them cruelly as they passed the store in the darkness, knowing that the hawk soldiers were lying to the people of Earth, that they had no intention of doing what was best for the world, only what was best for the Thanagarians. If only they knew what was being planned. But once they regrouped, the six of them would be able to rationally discuss and figure out what the people of Thanagar had planned for Earth, why they had arrived and tried to pass themselves off as the saviors of the world. But now was not a time for discovery, it was a time for blending in, for mixing among the civilians in order to ensure their survival.
Bruce and Diana slowed as they noticed a group of hawk soldiers ahead of them harassing a young couple, rudely demanding for identification before grabbing the female and jerking her purse out her arms, causing her to take a reflex step back and gasp. "Hey! Leave her alone!" the male with her commanded and for his efforts, one of the hawks pushed him backwards. Stumbling, he fell to the ground, fear overriding the anger that had been in his voice.
Bruce looked on the scene with anger, but kept his emotions firmly in control, knowing that right now, their lives depended on their ability to blend in with the crowd, to pass themselves off as ordinary citizens out for a stroll, a young couple enjoying each other's company as they wandered through the darkness side by side.
Diana, on the other hand, began to grow livid as she witnessed the spectacle of the couple in front of her being harassed by the Thanagarians as they barked out orders and pushed people around simply because of their newfound power on the planet. But once the Justice League regrouped, they would find a way to overthrow the hawks and send them back to Thanagar, to defeat them utterly and stop this brutal reign of tyranny.
As the young man fell to the ground, Diana took an unconscious step forward. Bruce quickly reached out and grabbed her, wrapping his hand around her upper arm. "Diana, no." He pulled her back to him, looking stoic, and stared into her incensed face, just inches between their lips as her eyes blazed furiously at him, feeling the grip around her arm and wishing that she could intervene, that she could just do something, anything to right this situation, to have things back the way that they had been only days ago, with Shayera in their midst and happiness in all their hearts, without the lies, without the anger and the sorrow. And with those thoughts, her helplessness and therefore, her fury rose, and she glared at Bruce. "You would stand here and do nothing?" she asked, her underlying tone one of heat and determination.
He watched as she pursed her lips and he pulled her closer, telling her softly, "We can't risk a confrontation," meeting her blue gaze with one that stated his understanding and insistence.
"Hey, birdheads!"
They both immediately turned to the source of the voice, gazing up at two young men on the roof of the building above the couple, clutching rocks in their hands as the looked down on the Thanagarian soldiers and the young couple. "Go back where you came from! Get off our planet!" shouted the men as they hurled the rocks down towards the hawk soldiers, the granite chunks bouncing harmlessly on the ground.
With a careless glance, one of the soldiers aimed his gun towards the two young men, shooting a laser upwards. It hit and the ledge of the roof began to crumble, disintegrating and raining down heavy pieces of debris that fell towards the young couple on the ground in front of the soldiers.
Diana immediately moved forward to rescue the young couple, scooping them up and flying them to safety, giving away her identity with her flight. Bruce groaned under his breath, but realized that the damage had been done and now was the time to avert further complications, to save their asses, and quickly. He looked over at the hawk soldiers and realized that they were staring at Diana, their minds taking seconds to grasp the connection between this woman rescuing the couple and Wonder Woman, the former Princess of Themyscira. He rushed forward, kicking one of the shoulders and launching him into the other. They fell to the ground, groaning, and Diana put the couple down safely further down the sidewalk.
"Over there! It's the Justice League" shouted voices and they looked over to see hawk soldiers rushing out of a nearby alley, shooting their laser guns, the beams raining down around Bruce and Diana. Looking swiftly at one another, they took off running, Bruce saying amidst the storm of lasers, "So much for blending it!"
As they neared a corner, Bruce turned down it, feet moving rapidly to outdistance the hawk soldiers following them, weapons at the ready and guns sounding. Diana, spying a light post at the corner, reached down and grasped it towards the bottom, wrenching it from its concrete stays and swinging it behind her at the upcoming hawk soldiers, smashing them into the building wall. They fell to the sidewalk and she stopped for a second, staring at them, until Bruce came up, grabbing her by the arm and yanking her down the street, searching for anything that remotely resembled safety.
"In here!" yelled an Indian man from a doorway. He was garbed in a brown tunic and pants, a red turban wrapped around his head, gesturing to the restaurant behind him, his face shadowed by the darkness and his goatee. "Please hurry!" he demanded as they stopped in the doorway to look back, seeing the skies empty for the moment, but aware that at any moment the Thanagarians could emerge and capture them, even kill them right there on the spot. Without further ado, Bruce and Diana ducked into the restaurant, followed by the Indian owner as a trio of hawk soldiers flew around the corner.
"We can't stay here," Bruce told the restaurant owner quietly. "If they find you helping us…" He paused by a table, noticing the patrons looking at them with gentle understanding and a tiny hint of a fear showing in their faces. The owner, however, paid no mind to Bruce's words, putting a hand on each of their backs and pushing them towards the back of the restaurant, towards a small table for two by a window. Taking them each by the hand, he gestured rapidly to the table, saying "Here, sit here," and they sat, deciding that the owner had made his own choice; they could do no less than honor it.
The owner's wife quickly rushed over to the table, glancing behind her in worry, but intent on reaching Diana as fast as her feet could carry her. She pulled out a light blue silk scarf, wrapping it around Diana's head and covering the majority of her hair, blocking the view of the ebony strands that could so easily place her as Wonder Woman.
Moments later, hawk soldiers burst into the restaurant, slamming the door against the wall and looking around, weapons in hand and suspicion written on their faces as they eyed the patrons warily. Bruce glanced in their direction, trying to determine their number and what weapons they carried, but seconds later, felt the warmth of a hand that he knew to be Diana's sliding around his nape, pulling him in for a kiss, momentarily distracting him as he lost himself in the lips of the woman that he loved. Her lips were cool and he could almost taste the worry riding her mind as she tried to blend in, tried to make it seem as if they were nothing more than lovers, enjoying the touch and taste of one another as they dined together. He put his hand low on her shoulder and pulled her closer, enjoying both the moment and the fact that he believed the ruse would work, that the Thanagarians wouldn't suspect them to be Batman and Wonder Woman but ordinary people lost in one another and their love.
And he was. There had been so few moments since the Thanagarians had arrived to even enjoy each other's company, much less the touch and feel of the woman who was coming to capture a larger piece of his heart with every word, every encounter that lay between them. This kiss would serve as a distraction, but also as a calming device because that's what they did to one another, soothed, comforted. There was a trust between them that had been steadily growing since the inception of their relationship, allowing them to relax in one another's company. Even now, in public, he was aware of that the jangling nerves inside him were subsiding. And their secretive relationship served to provide greater proof to the hawk soldiers that they were nothing more than lovers, exactly what they were in this moment, just Bruce and Diana in love.
"We're looking for a dark haired man and woman," one of the soldiers said to the restaurant owner, his voice booming in the quiet of the room, allowing Bruce to hear it clearly. If that was the only description that they could provide, then he and Diana should be in the clear. In civilian clothes, neither of them had any distinguishing features, as so many people could qualify as dark haired.
"If, perhaps, you could be more specific," the owner stated, gesturing to the room. The entire restaurant population is made up with nothing but men and women with dark hair, some balding, some darker skinned, but all of them fitting those basic qualifications.
"Has anyone entered here recently?"
In a heavily accented voice, the Indian man stated, "No."
"What about those two?" the soldier demanded, gesturing to the back of the room where Bruce and Diana were lips locked, seemingly absorbed in each other to the exclusion of all else in the restaurant, including the hawk soldiers. And to some extent, it was true. They drew back for a moment, only to have their lips quickly meet again, clinging as they tasted the softness and texture of the other, so familiar by now and yet still so new.
"Uh huh, the lovers. Been here for hours." Bruce felt a sigh of relief emanate from Diana and tightened his hand on her shoulder, giving her a gentle squeeze to communicate his return of the feeling, and his gratitude for her quick thinking in initiating the kiss, for so many reasons.
Their patience and rapture with each other paid off as the hawk soldier in charge brusquely stated, "Let's move on," and walked out of the door. Diana's eyes widened as she realized that their ruse had worked and drawing away, she looked at Bruce with an expression of apology for having used their relationship for such a means. "Sorry."
He practically leered at her in return, giving her one of the patented Bruce Wayne smiles, answering, "Don't be."
The taste of Diana lingered on his lips as he got up from the table and he caught himself reaching for her as they followed stood, following the owner as he led them to the back door, through the kitchen of the Indian restaurant. Diana reached up, pulling the scarf off her head and handing it to the owner's wife with a small smile of gratitude, her eyes stating just how thankful she was that these people had chosen to interfere and to save both herself and Bruce.
As they left by the back door, the smell of Indian food wafting into the dark alley, Bruce nodded to the restaurant owner, a showing of respect for the aid and assistance the man had given and the courage that he had shown in helping two people he had to realize were escaped members of the Justice League.
Closing the door softly behind him, he reached out and grasped Diana's hand, stealing a moment in the darkness as she turned around, pulling her closely and gently pressing his lips to hers, letting her know without words that there was nothing for her to be sorry about, that he had enjoyed her particular method of persuading the Thanagarians from seeing them as the Justice League, and distracting him from being wishing that she hadn't interfered, giving up their location and identity.
She melted into him as they stood in the shadows, their bodies melding together as they sought to erase the tint of the worry and desperation that had clung to them in the Indian restaurant, taking solace in each other. Gently drawing back, he pressed his forehead to hers, bringing his hands up to rest around her waist as her fingers crept into his hair, gently tousling the dark strands. "I'm sorry," she again whispered. "I didn't want to use our relationship like that, but I couldn't think of anything else to do."
"Diana," he said, a little harshness in his voice, "You did what had to be done.
"Besides," he added, pulling back and gently pushing her ponytail behind her shoulders, smoothing his thumb along the line of her cheekbone, "I enjoyed it."
She smiled softly at him in the darkness, the brightness of her smile enough to lighten the shadows that lay around them. And after another soft kiss, he looked up at the sky, seeing the hordes of soldiers patrolling the city by wing, the humming motors of the Thanagarian hover tanks finally reaching his ears, making him realize that they needed to go.
"Thirty miles to Gotham, Princess," he murmured, "Try to control yourself this time."
She wanted to roll her eyes at his words, but settled for giving him a look of exasperation. "It worked out in the end."
He leered at her again, winking as he added, "Time to go," giving her fingers a squeeze before striding out of the alley, head high and shoulder straight, marching straight into the streets filled with Thanagarian soldiers.
"Hera help us," she whispered before following him.
Next chapter: Redemption Day – Shayera chooses redemption in the eyes of the Justice League…May include what happened to the other pairs on their way to Wayne Manor…or should I add more to BMWW? Let me know!
Please review!
To Reviewer T – You sound like my mother. She can't stand to ever sit still. Me, I don't mind being inactive sometimes. And shopping online is also nice because the company can ship things up to my in-laws, so I don't have to go stand in line at the post office too. Although I do need some stamps…
It is nice to be reminded that you found somebody great and that you're happy. I suppose we all need that sometimes. Nobody is sweet all the time. I'm certainly not!!!
Yeah, well, her breasts are all squished together in the top and then there's the keyhole just over top of the cleavage. Boobalicious! She's like the slightly older version of Supergirl.
Batman and Catwoman is a huge no-no in my life. Along with Barbara Gordon and Batman. I will never admit that that happened. Grosses me out and I refuse to consider it. And I hate the Wondy/Supes pairing. Just can't see it happening.
No, you're definitely not the only over-obsessed fan. I'm right there with you! And I imagine a few others reading this as well.
Thanks! I enjoy writing Wally's reaction. He's so cute in that part. And I just love his red hair and the easy affection between him and Diana. Very brother and sister. Thanks for the review, I really appreciate it!
To Reviewer SSJO4 Mewtwo – Third person it is! At least for now. I enjoy writing both and maybe some stories later will call for first person. Thanks for the review!