Stalking (DCAU)

I stay close to the shadows that surround me, allowing them to swallow me up in hopes that they'll conceal my presence, but I have a niggling feeling it is a futile endeavor as I turn another corner that takes me deeper into the murky heart of Gotham. I tuck a couple of locks of hair inside the hood of my cloak before pulling the dark material a little further over my face in hopes of concealing my identity as I take a right down a side street.

It is a well-known fact that has been drilled into all of us that the Justice League is not welcome in Gotham…well, more specifically Metas are not allowed in Batman's city which basically means all of us. It's something that has been clearly stated in no uncertain terms, growled between clenched teeth, and more often than not accompanied with swear words and yet I still find myself here consequences be damned.

The overwhelming stench coming from an alley that I pass on my right assaults me as hard as a blow from Superman, an intense wave of nausea threatening to take hold of me. I immediately tamp down on it, refusing to allow it to deter me in my mission as I pause to cautiously peer around the corner of a building.

I immediately spot my prey across the street as he talks to someone, the flickering light from a nearby street pole creating an eerie glow. The man that Batman is talking to appears as though he has lived a hard life on the streets of this grisly city.

They talk about someone named the Riddler. I learned from Flash the other day that Batman has several "rogues in his gallery" as I believe he called them. The Riddler must be one of these people that he told me about. I can only imagine what this rogue looks like.

So much of Man's World continues to be a complex mystery to me, but I'm slowly learning with the help of my teammates. There are so many things that I'm still trying to understand, but none more so than the enigma dressed in black Kevlar with a cape and cowl standing several yards down the street from me.

Since the first moment I laid eyes on the elusive Batman, I found myself intrigued by him. He is the polar opposite of my other teammates, not just in the way that he dresses but also in the way that he carries himself. His bearing is fearsome and ferocious though he has yet been able to intimidate me. It certainly hasn't been for lack of trying, though.

Despite his best efforts to frighten and intimidate me into cowering around him like Flash has been known to do at times, I simply meet his dark glare with one of my own, my chin raised in refusal to back down in the face of his foolish tactics. It has led to more than a few tense moments of pure obstinacy between us, a fierce clash of stubbornness that is only rivaled by the other's.

While his countless devices to instill fear in others may work on our teammates and those who pollute the streets of Gotham, they do not have the same effect on me. I can tell that it annoys him endlessly to find that there is someone in this world that he can't coerce into doing what he wants.

Little does he know I'm not like any other woman that he's ever crossed paths with.

Batman suddenly turns to look in my direction, causing me to quickly pull back. My heart beats a little harder as I firmly press my back against the brick wall behind me, silently praying that he didn't see me. This is my third night in a row following him and, instead of learning more about him, I find myself even more mystified than before. He's a conundrum that has arrested my attention, making me wonder if I'll be able to unravel this intriguing mystery of a man.

I kept my distance that first night, worried that he would discover that I was there. I watched in fascination as he stopped one criminal act after another with skill that was both amazing and yet so ruthless. I witnessed firsthand how he trussed up a would-be rapist like an animal, leaving him dangling from a light pole.

As a warrior, I can appreciate his methods even if they are rather shocking to behold, leaving me a little rattled if I were truly honest with myself. A warrior needs to be able to execute his mission with extreme control and precision, not allowing emotions to cloud his thoughts or distract his movements. It was somewhat startling to see it on display like this especially in a mortal man possessing absolutely no Meta abilities.

Just when I was beginning to believe that Batman lacked any empathy whatsoever or even possessed a heart, he proves me completely wrong. My eyes were opened last night as I watched him take care of a small boy that he'd rescued from a kidnapper.

He had been so compassionate with the frightened little boy, taking extra care not to scare him more than he already was as he'd picked him and held him against his chest. It had been such a contradiction to the way that Batman had dealt with the kidnapper. It'll be a miracle if the criminal ever walks again. I have to admit it took everything inside of me to keep from joining Batman and beating that kidnapper myself.

This man was a living, breathing dichotomy. Just when I think that I've finally figured out who he is and what makes him do the things that he does, he completely throws me a…what did Flash call it? A curve ball? It's like a light switch being flipped, darkness becoming a light that I never even realized existed in him.

He has proven to me that he is far more than what he appears to be, more than what he allows any of us to see. There is a deep, dark abyss that lives inside of this mortal man, far more than just an icy exterior and a growling response meant to keep anyone from getting close to him.

The brutal tactics that he has chosen to use in an effort to gain the upper hand in his city is beyond anything that I've ever witnessed before in Man's World, so different from the strategies that my other teammates typically employ. It makes me wonder what happened to him. What in his life had been so tragic, so ghastly that he would choose a life bathed in darkness and brutality?

Despite everything that I've witnessed so far, I'm discovering an unexpected level of admiration blossoming inside of me.

It had taken root in my heart during the first mission we'd ever shared together when he had been so willing to sacrifice himself in order to save us and the world. My interest in him had only expanded from there, transforming into a growing sense of respect and trust.

Peering around the corner again, I find my prey gone along with the man that he was talking to, a Greek curse of irritation escaping as I try to track his position once more. I race down the dimly lit street in search of him, my cloak billowing behind me like my very own cape. I know that he couldn't have gotten far. He was right here just a handful of seconds ago.

I swear I can feel his presence all around me…that penetrating gaze of his piercing straight through me at this very moment. It's as if ghostly fingernails are raking up my spine and creating a thrilling chill inside of me. It's like tiptoeing into a pool of darkness and depravity without letting it touch or change you, praying that when you finally lay your head on your pillow tonight that your soul will still be your own and wholly intact.

But I can already feel Man's World as well as Gotham beginning to change me in unexpected ways…Batman's unseen fingerprints already on my psyche. Instead of being rattled by it, I find that I want to immerse myself even more into his shadowy world, to learn everything that I can about this man and his city that is obviously so beloved to him.

The transformation that I'm noticing in myself is more of a keener awareness of the reality of the world around me. The glasses of prejudice against men…the lenses that had been rather rose-colored since coming to Man's World somehow vanishing over the last three nights as I watch Batman patrol and care for his city.

I am seeing the world in a new light, one that has been emitted by the seemingly very heart of darkness himself—the Dark Knight of Gotham.

I curse under my breath as I surreptiously wander down the vacant street, hoping that he hasn't noticed me. I've learned that Batman is far more than he has led us all to believe and I want to know so much more than he has led us all to believe. I want to know what drives this man to do the things that he does every night, what the motivation of his heart could possibly be.

While I'd love to learn his secret identity…to be able to look into his eyes and see his real face, I refuse to try to unmask him. I think it would be a great betrayal of the trust that we have already begun to establish between us. I feel when he is ready that he will reveal his true self to me.

I turn in small circles as I continue to search for him, suddenly catching a glimpse of an edge of a black cape at the top of a nearby building. I can feel my lips begin to curl as I take to the air. The Amazon warrior in me refuses to let him escape, my blood singing with the hunt. I'm not going home tonight until I've learned everything that I can about the Dark Knight.

Landing on the roof of a nearby apartment building, I begin my pursuit of Batman all over again, keeping my distance and yet keeping him in my sights. I don't want to miss a single thing that he does, my every sense on high alert as I track his movements while still remaining in the shadows.

I frown to myself as I follow him into the depths of Gotham, the scenery becoming more dilapidated and run down with every block we pass. I catch sight of him walking into a two-story house that I fear could collapse should a strong wind come along.

My frown turns into a scowl as I watch a couple of women walk out of the house dressed scantily. It's obvious they are prostitutes by the way they are dressed. I grow more sickened by the moment, stunned that that Batman would visit a brothel like this. It's not something that I would've ever guessed that he would do.

I wait outside in the darkness for nearly thirty minutes before I decide that I cannot do this any longer. I find my respect for him diminishing by the second as I try to reconcile the hero that I've been following the last three nights with the man that he could be beneath the cowl.

While I'm not against a man's need for sexual release, I cannot excuse this sort of behavior. He's condoning a lifestyle that is so degrading to these women, one that involves so much abuse and fear and disease. He should be helping them find another way to make a living, not encouraging their choices.

I begin to walk away with my head lowered, more disheartened than I had ever felt before as I try to process it all. I unexpectedly walk into something, causing my head to snap up in surprise as I stumble backwards. The hood of my cloak slips off to rest against my back as I find myself looking into the fearsome glare of the Batman himself.

If I weren't an Amazon warrior…the daughter of Queen Hippolyta and the Champion of the Gods, trained and honed for leadership and battle, I would almost be afraid of him. It's easy to see why people are so terrified of him. Fortunately, I remember my upbringing, remember who I am.

"What are you doing in my city, princess?" he growls with a grating rasp that is wraithlike, raking up my spine like razor blades.

"I…I'm sorry," I murmur, stunned by his appearance. I could've sworn he was still inside the brothel, my mind trying to discover how he got out without me knowing or seeing him. "I was just leaving."

I try to walk past him, but his vice-like grip on my upper arm stops me dead in my tracks and inflames my ire as I jerk my arm free in indignation. "You've been following me the last three nights," he reveals. "I want to know why."

"You…you knew?" I sputter in shocked disbelief.

"I knew the moment you landed on Brighton Street the first night when I began patrol," he informs me. "You kept your distance the first night, but not the second night and not tonight.

"How could you have known?" I question him with honest curiosity. He's not a Meta. He couldn't have known I was here until possibly tonight when I lost him on that side street.

"I know everything that goes on in my city, princess," he snaps, leaning towards me in an effort to intimidate me.

It doesn't work as I lift my chin to look into his cowled faced. "You have to tell me how you knew I was here," I demand in absolute refusal to back down. "I have been trained for a thousand years and possess the skills of the goddess Artemis. Did you slip some sort of tracker on me?"

"No, I have no need to," he smugly retorts with a smirk that I want so badly to slap off his face. "I knew every single time you started following me and when you finally left to return to the Watchtower."

"That's not possible," I mutter with a scowl.

Batman leans in further, his expression hard. "Are you stalking me?"

I suddenly find it difficult to meet his penetrating glare for the first time in my life. I'm not sure if it's because I knowingly broke his rule and therefore violated his trust or the fact that I had caught him visiting a brothel. Either way, my Amazonian upbringing finally kicks in and I defiantly raise my chin again as I respond.

"No, I'm not stalking you," I bite out the words as if it were completely ludicrous to even suggest it.

"Then what are you doing here?" he demands to know, folding his arms against his chest as his glare intensifies. It's obvious he's not going to let me go without an explanation.

"I just wanted to learn more about you," I confess. "You're different from our other teammates. I want to know why…what makes you do the things you do every night…what happened to you that brought you into this life."

I watch as the white lenses of his cowl narrow as he studies me. I feel so exposed under his scrutinizing gaze. It was as if he was slowly peeling back layers of muscle and ligament to see the very depths of my soul. It causes a shiver to roll through me.

"Don't come back," he finally states after several long moments, turning his back to leave.

"Wait," I suddenly yell, grabbing hold of his wrist and stopping him from leaving. "What were you doing in that brothel?"

I find the words spilling from my lips without even realizing it, knowing it really wasn't any of my business, but I had to know that he was a good man…the man that I had come to believe that he was. I watch as he slowly looks down at my hand still gripping his wrist as if contemplating his answer or trying to break free from my hold on him.

I release him, wanting him to stay here and talk to me of his own volition, not under duress. "Please…I just need to know," I try again, my tone gentler.

Just when I think he's going to run away and disappear into the night; he turns back to face me. "This is one of the most dangerous parts of Gotham, the men who visit these girls are the scum of the earth," he admits, and I can easily detect the fury that flows through his veins just talking about it. "I try to check on these girls every couple of nights to make sure they're safe and get the medical care they need."

I'm stunned by his confession, my respect for this man growing by leaps and bounds. "That's very admirable of you, Batman," I softly say. "I'm sorry I thought ill of you."

"I don't need your praise or approval, princess," he angrily states.

"I apologize," I try again. "Man's World is still a mystery I'm trying to figure out…and you're proving to be the biggest mystery of all to me. I'm just trying to understand."

He visibly relaxes minutely as if realizing my struggle. He releases a subtle sigh, one that I almost miss if not for my Meta abilities. "This world is a perplexing puzzle that still makes no sense at times even after growing up here."

"I have to admit I've enjoyed 'stalking' you as you so eloquently put it," I lightly say, my lips quirking. "You have amazing skills, Batman. You'd make a very good Amazon…if you weren't a man that is."

I swear the corner of his lips curl slightly with my praise, but it's gone as quickly as it appeared. "I think I'll pass," he replies. "I'll stick with the psychopaths in Gotham than your Greek deities."

I stare at him in stunned disbelief, realizing he had just made a joke. I don't get a chance to respond to the rarity of the moment as he walks away. "Wait!" I yell as a thought occurs to me.

"Go home, princess," he tells me, his back still to me.

"Stop calling me princess," I utter with a frown. "You were there when I lost my title."

"You're still the Princess of the Amazons no matter what your mother says," he icily states.

"If you knew that I was following you that first night, why did you wait until tonight to confront me about it?" I ask, my brow furrowing with curiosity. "You made it quite clear you don't want us in your city and yet you let me follow you for three nights in a row."

His head turns to the side to look over his shoulder at me, but he doesn't turn around to face me. "Good night, princess."

He fires his grappling gun and disappears into the night without explanation, leaving me standing there all alone and yet I swear I can feel him watching my every move as I begin to walk down the alley. That pesky shiver returns with a vengeance, one that I'm finding only he can create within me.

This man is still an enigma to me, but my interest and respect for him has only intensified. My lips curl as I consider the Dark Knight of Gotham, deciding that Batman is definitely going to be the most enjoyable mystery to solve in Man's World.

A/N: Family Reunion coming Memorial Weekend! :)