Bruce revelled in the feel of her skin against him. Their bodies pressed tightly together, separated only by the thin sheen of sweat over each of them. Her body was muscular, athletic and very feminine. Perfect coke bottle curves, voluptuous firm breasts and amazingly toned and defined legs that seemed to go on forever and demanded his full attention. She was truly a goddess and he would enjoy worshiping every millimetre of her with his eyes, his hands and his mouth. To call her beautiful was an insult. It pained him that there was not a word capable of describing her accurately.

When she moaned his name it sent a rush through his body like none he'd ever felt. Her eyes were glazed over with pleasure as she bit her lower lip. Bruce's own pleasure was so intense he had to fight to keep his eyes open. He didn't want to miss a moment of being with her.

As he drew his hand slowly up the naked skin of her body and she shivered with desire for him, he moved his face close to hers. His eyes locked on her luscious ruby lips, wanting nothing more than to taste them. As her hands fisted in his hair to pull him down to those lips, he took in the exotic smell of her. The sweet scent of his princess, the mouth-watering scent of… bacon?

His eyes shot open and quickly darted around the room, taking in his surroundings. He was on the couch of the small townhouse they had rented for the night. It had been nothing more than a dream. He could feel the sorrow and disappointment of not having been with her warring with the relief of knowing he hadn't given in to his desires and risked hurting her.

As Bruce sat up he could see Diana making breakfast - the bacon smell that had woken him. If he hadn't already been aroused from his dream, the sight of her would have done it. She was wearing just his tee-shirt as a night gown and it hung barely low enough to cover her as she danced to the radio. He watched her, in part from lust, but mostly in wonder. How could someone so perfect, someone who could be with anyone they choose, want to be with him? Why did she still put up with him?

He could feel the logic of the Batman losing its war with the needs of Bruce the man. The need to hold her, to see her smile, to hear her laugh. The need to do anything to make her happy. Was he in love with her? He tried not to analyze that question. He was afraid he knew the answer. But would giving in be so bad?

Like an answer to his question a new song began to play on the radio, its lyrics slamming him back to the reality of his situation.

'I think you can do much better than me,

'after all the lies I made you believe.'

All of his reasons came crashing back to the forefront of his mind and he gave himself a mental shake.

He remembered all of the lies he had told her whenever she was getting too close and pushing through his defenses. He remembered all the reasons he wasn't good for her, and he if he was honest with himself, he remembered how he feared what happiness would do to the Batman and his mission.

Diana noticed him watching her and smiled, "Good morning, sleepy head."

"It certainly is," Bruce said half to himself, still enjoying the view.

Diana looked a little confused, "Feeling better, then?"

Bruce forced himself to keep his eyes on her face, "Yes, thanks for dragging me to the couch last night."

Diana laughed, "I tried to drag you to the bed, but you refused."

"Bruce Wayne might have an image as a playboy but Alfred would kill me if I didn't have the manners to let the lady have the bed."

"Alfred is a classic gentleman," Diana said with a smile. "Come have a seat, your breakfast is ready. It won't live up to Alfred's standards though."

"Well I'm sure it beats anything I'd make," Bruce said, taking a seat at the small kitchen table. "Alfred has banned me from the kitchen."

As they sat and enjoyed breakfast, they made casual small talk. It was nice to feel almost like normal people for a little while. When they finished, Diana opened the laptop on the kitchen table.

"I called Barbra this morning," Diana informed him. "She setup satellite surveillance on the Cadmus installation, but we don't know where Talia is or when she'll strike."

"I have an idea," Bruce said, taking the laptop and logging into the bat-cave computers.

Bruce accessed his latest satellite project and used it to connect to the many seabed listening devices the US and European Union had installed in the Atlantic. He cross referenced it with ship and sub reports as well as satellite tracking.

Diana watched him work intently before asking, "What is 'Brother Eye'?"

"It's a satellite project I've been working on for a few years," Bruce explained. "I only launched it recently."

"Bruce, you just pulled up DoD, CIA, NASA and European systems with a few key strokes," Diana said in a very regal voice. "The League doesn't even have that kind of access and I very much doubt they know you have access."

"It's just an information tool," Bruce defended. There was no need for Diana to know its exact purpose. "But to the point, I think I've found Talia's sub. She doesn't appear to be taking a direct route here."

Diana gave him a look that let him know the discussion wasn't over, then looked to the screen that had Talia's path mapped out. "It looks like she's holding outside Atlantic City. That seems a bad place to sneak into the country."

"With the money Talia and her father throw around, they won't need to sneak in. They'll just buy their way in."

"So what's our move?" Diana asked. "Cadmus won't exactly be helpful if we just call to let them know there's about to be an attack on their secret installation that we not only know about, but know its location and what's stored there."

"Even if we put them on high alert, they wouldn't stand a chance against Talia and her people," Bruce replied. "We need to get ourselves inside."

"We could call in the League," Diana suggested. "Right now I don't think it would matter if there is a leak. Talia will already be expecting us."

"No, if we bring the League down around a government installation, even for its protection, elements of the media would construe it as us taking control. It wouldn't be long before whether or not we're an army on to ourselves would become a front burner issue again, and that's something we can't afford."

"So it's just you and me again," Diana said with a devious grin. "I'm beginning to think you just like having me all to yourself."

Bruce began to worry that she was right. He did like having her to himself, but worse than that, he trusted her. He trusted her too much. Anyone else would call in Superman. Anyone else would know that there are a dozens of more powerful heroes that could do a lot more to stop meta-humans out to bring genocide to the world then a simple man in a cape. But Bruce wasn't someone else. He trusted the others, the Justice League… but only to a point.

When it was all on the line, when it was win or die… the Batman trusted only the Batman. The League, the Bat-clan; he trusted them with his life. But when it came to everyone's lives it was only in the Batman he trusted. Suddenly he was starting to trust Diana.

Diana must have picked up on his hesitation. She could read him like no one else.

"Well don't worry Bruce," she told him. "I make a pretty good partner, if I do say so myself."

Bruce glanced to where her armour was hanging and grinned, "Do you have anything in black?"