Hunter's Moon

By Serena

A/N: WOW. You guys are just completely fantastic. I can't tell you how thrilled I am at your feedback! :)

I've been struggling to figure out who would play Alkyone in this fic, but I've finally decided on Saffron Burrows. I know Alkyone is not supposed to be that pretty, but I feel like she would be a good fit. As for Diana, I'm wondering if a slightly younger Giselle Bunschden would be better.

UPDATE!: I have conceptual art of Diana's outfit on my Deviantart page OR my Facebook page. For all who want to see her Wonder Woman outfit for this fic, PLEASE go to my profile and click on my Deviantart or Facebook link. :) It'll really help to picture it.

NOTE!: If you enjoy Hunter's Moon, check out my YA sci-fi mermaid novel OCEAN OF EMPTINESS is available on: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple iBookstore for $0.99. Please see my profile for direct links to these sites.

If you would like more information, and if you'd like to read a sample chapter, please check out my homepage by going to my profile here and clicking on the link. If you would like to purchase the novel, click on the link on my profile page.

Here's a short summary of OCEAN:

What do you get when you cross a runaway rich kid, a space mermaid, and a stuck-up teen commander with a bunch of pirates in space? ABSOLUTE CHAOS. Throw in a little hint of romance, a few starship battles, and a lot of yelling, and you've got yourself an intergalactic tale. Think Star Wars meets Little Mermaid meets Treasure Planet.

Also, if you'd like to be a fan of me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter, links are on my profile as well, as well as a link to my Deviantart page if you'd like to commission me for artwork.

Five hours and an unidentified number of unconscious criminals later, Bruce and I were crouched on the rooftop, watching a police car drive up to our latest scene. When Gordon and Flass stepped out, Bruce tensed. The criminals were handcuffed, and one had just regained consciousness. Gordon stared down at the man.

"This is the fifth time this has happened tonight," we heard Gordon say slowly. "What happened to you?"

The man was shaking. "Some - some giant bat!" he stammered. "And - and this super hot, scary chick - she looked like an angel - but an angel of death! They took us all out! You gotta save us!"

Gordon raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Flass, who had taken another swig of his flask. Then, he returned his gaze to the criminal on the ground. "A giant bat and the angel of death," he repeated. "Right."

Flass broke into hoarse laughter. "What are you on, and where can I get some?" he asked, coming over to the criminal.

"I swear, I'm telling the truth!" the criminal shouted helplessly. "You gotta believe me!"

"What am I going to find on you this time, Vince?" said Gordon tiredly. "Crystal meth? Marijuana?"

"I got nothin', I swear! I'm tellin' the truth, Jimmy, I am!" Vince cried.

"That's the man who wrecked my car," muttered Bruce to me, somewhat sullenly, as he watched the somewhat amusing scene below. "The man they're interrogating."

"Oh, so it's an ego thing. Had to get your revenge," I said archly. "It's not like you can't afford another car." Oh, how I did enjoy getting on his nerves. It was just too much fun, and I was the only person that could do it, except for Alfred, and get away with it.

Bruce shot me a glare through the lenses. "Don't worry. I'm still going to sue him, too," he growled.

I grinned. "Oh, Bruce, have I ever told you how much I love you?" I said warmly, before really thinking about the words coming out of my mouth. After I said that, I froze.

Bruce stared at me for an awkward moment, which was in all reality only a second, before the corners of his mouth turned upward, and he replied in that deep voice, "Right back at you, Princess."

My grin widened. Phew. A potentially disastrous moment avoided, and everything was back to normal. I returned my gaze down below, but I didn't notice the smile had left Bruce's face, and he was staring at me most intently.

"We should talk to Gordon soon," I said. "They'll probably bring the police on us right away."

"I'm going to need your help with that," said Bruce. "I think the Commissioner has mob ties. We'll need to get into his office to prove it."

"Prove it to whom?" I said wryly. "There's no one in this town."

Bruce was silent for a moment. "There might be someone. An old school friend of mine. Harvey Dent. I'll have to see what he's up to."

"All right." I rose to my feet and stretched, although I really didn't need to. "It's three in the morning. Should we call it a night? Or morning?" I added dryly.

Bruce nodded shortly. "We'll move onto bigger targets within the next week. Those are just the bottom of the chain. We'll work our way up until we get to the top. Maroni and the Russian need to go down. This city can't be run by the mob anymore." While he was in perfect physical shape, I saw the scruff on his jaw and knew he was getting tired.

"Agreed. But we have other nights for that. Let's go home, Batman," I said. "I think I hear my bed calling. It's lonely and cold."

As we headed home, Bruce muttered, "A car. I need a car."

I didn't get up until nine that morning. Bruce was still asleep when I got downstairs and found Mom and Alfred chatting over tea. When I came in, bleary-eyed and looking like a complete mess, I yawned and pushed away some stray, mussed-up locks of hair.

"How'd it go?" Mom said with a smile. To my concern, she still looked tired and pale, with dark rings around her eyes.

"Good," I said, yawning again. I plopped down beside her and thunked my head down on the table.

"Oh, come on," she said, shoving me gently. "Wake up. You're an Amazon. You've had later nights."

"Don't wanna," I mumbled.

"Young lady, you better sit up right now or I'll tell Alfred not to make his delicious chocolate chip pancakes."

Instantly, I raised my head and gave a puppy-dog eye to Alfred. "Pleeeasse?" I whined very immaturely.

Mom shoved me again. "Good grief, you're what - twenty-one?"

"Yup." Mentally urging myself awake, I got up to get myself a glass of orange juice. As I passed by the kitchen door, Bruce shuffled in.

"Morning," he greeted, unsmiling.

"Morning," I said cheerfully, and came around to him. "You did all right, partner."

A small smile crossed his face, and he pressed a warm hand to my back as he moved past me towards the table. "You, too, Di." But as he took a seat at the table, Mom gasped and gripped his arm tightly.

"Bruce, you're covered in bruises!"

"Yeah, I've told Diana to stop punching me," he said, dryly.

"Diana," Mom said, sounding displeased.

I glared at him. "You're evil."

"I do my best." Bruce rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "I need to go to work."

"I need a job, period," I said, finishing off my OJ.

Bruce looked confused. "I'll get you a job."

I sighed. "I appreciate it, but -"

"No, no, no," Bruce interrupted, pointing a finger at me. "I know what you're going to say. I'm not taking that from you, Princess - no way. Your Amazon pride isn't going to take over on this one, got it?"

I scowled at him and set my OJ glass down just a little too hard. "I don't need help getting a job. My mother will back me up on this one."

Mom just raised an eyebrow. "No offense, Diana, but I've worked my ass off for twenty years. I know what it's like out there. I get where you're coming from, but honestly... You have resources. You have connections - the best in Gotham City - in the world. Don't waste them." While I just glared at her, she looked at Bruce. "Now, Bruce. About wasting things."

"Yes?" He gave her a sideways look.

"Money, to be exact." Mom grinned. "I've had my eye on this fantastic four-diamond hotel with a very nice spa... Ahem, ahem."

Bruce and I exchanged amused glances, while I said, pretending to be shocked, "Mom! Mooching off my friend, here?"

"Well, if you know people..." Mom shrugged, laughing.

Bruce smiled and took my mom's hand. "You can have whatever and go wherever you want. I already told Diana she could splurge on whatever she wanted. And that includes you, too. Whenever and wherever you want." I saw a sudden faraway look in his eyes before they locked with Mom's; and she held his gaze, understanding. Bruce swallowed, blinked, and said, his voice rough and quiet, almost reminding me of Batman: "You're family."

Despite Bruce's insistence that I get a job from him, I couldn't think of anything I would rather not be doing than being stuck in a stuffy office - even one as nice as his. And although I knew more than most people did, I still didn't have an official college degree, which limited my abilities. After musing for a while, I realized that I didn't have many options, and Bruce's offer was looking better by the minute.

However, there was one area I was willing to look into. After Bruce had left for work (to really get and create more bat-gadgets), I swept the internet for local farm jobs. Thankfully, Bruce's mansion was much closer to any farms than the city was, and I found three nearby farms. However, only one was looking for a job opening, and the farm was actually a boarding stable for prized, champion-racing horses. The stables were owned by a very rich Gotham social elite.

I just wanted to work with the horses.

After bidding Mom and Alfred good-bye, I changed into a pair of slim-leg cargo pants, a shirt and light sweater, and took one of Bruce's less-expensive cars to the stables. It was a nice drive, giving me time to just sit back and think. Our first night on patrol had gone well, I thought. Bruce and I worked off each other perfectly - we both knew exactly what the other was thinking. We backed each other up, and we played off each other's strengths and weaknesses. We were a perfect team, and I knew it was only the beginning. We would move up the chain of the mafia until Maroni and the Russian were taken down.

As I drove up to the estate with the stables, I had to be allowed in through a guard, who opened the huge iron gate for my car. After parking the car, I entered the stable office and cleared my throat to alert my presence to the man at the desk. When he looked up, he did a double take and stared at me, rising to his feet, his eyes glazing over. Lovely.

"Hi, I'm Diana Prince," I said. "I'm here to apply for the stablehand position, if it's still open?"

"What?" he said distantly.

"Stablehand position?" I repeated.

"Oh, um, right. Position." He blinked, reddening, and took a seat. "Please, have a seat. I'm Daniel Hiddleston." I took the seat across from him, and he adjusted his glasses. "So, um, do you have a resume?"

"No, but I've spent the last few years around horses," I said. "I know my way around them - they're usually pretty good with me. I could go out and show you what I know - that might be easier."

"If you like..."

Thankfully, Hiddleston didn't seem to mind that I hadn't made an appointment, nor did I have a resume. I hadn't really thought about it... but if I didn't get the job, then Bruce was my back-up plan. However, once I entered the stables, I was able to show him that I knew my way around horses - obviously leaving out the fact that I could communicate with them - and could do hard work without complaint. After I easily shoveled muck into one of the stalls, Hiddleston scratched his head and grinned at me.

"Well, honestly, the job is yours. I'll just need some more info, but you should be good to go. You can start next week if you want."

"Sounds good," I said, feeling oddly satisfied.

"Sorry," he said, hesitating, "But I guess I'm just confused."

"Oh?"

"Shouldn't you be a model or something?" He reddened.

I grinned. "No, no, I'm fine." Although, now that he mentioned it... If I kept to the shadows of Gotham as Wonder Woman, and just changed my hair color, I could easily be a supermodel - not to be arrogant or anything. It probably would pay better than this, too. But one thing at a time. "So next week, then?"

"It's a deal. Eight AM."

"Thank you, Mr. Hiddleston." We shook hands, causing his cheeks to flush even further.

"I have a job!" I sang, bursting into the living room half an hour later.

Mom looked up from her computer, amused. "Oh? Do tell."

"Yes, please do," said Bruce, sounding irked as he came up behind me, pulling at the first button of his shirt collar. He dumped his jacket onto the sofa armrest, he loosened the sleeves and rolled them up, revealing his toned arms. However, his sulky attitude overshadowed his very sexy appearance. Not that I noticed.

"I'm working as a stablehand," I told him, folding my arms over my chest. "For some guy's champion race-horses in an estate about twenty minutes away."

"A stablehand?" He raised an eyebrow and pulled out his iPhone.

"Yes, Mr. Fancypants, a stablehand. I like working with horses. Gives me someone decent to talk to for once. Some of those horses have seen a lot, and I like hearing their stories."

He snorted. "You're insane, woman."

"This from the man who dresses up in a batsuit."

Bruce glared up at me.

"Did you get your car?" I questioned, changing the subject. "You know, the one you were complaining about last night."

Bruce's eyes narrowed. I was goading him, but he could take it. "Yes, I did," he said testily. "But now that you're giving me a hard time, I might not let you drive it."

"Might not have a choice. Did you bring it home?"

He nodded. "It's in the batcave." A smirk crept across his face. "It's nice."

"Ooh... now I have to see it. Now." And I dashed off towards the entrance to the cave. It was the most glorious feeling in the world as I heard Mom laughing as Bruce jumped to his feet and rushed after me. As we raced down to the cave, I felt as though we were kids again, and the past few years were but a fading memory. But when I saw Bruce's smile flash in the dark, a strange jolt of longing sparked through me.

We were hardly children anymore.

And what I was feeling for him as he showed me the Tumbler, showed me every little detail and poured over the mechanics, entirely engrossed and impatient to get the vehicle out in the field... Watching him as his dark hair fell into his eyes, as his forearm muscles rippled in dim cave light... What I was feeling for him was anything but innocent.

The wind was rough and fast throughout the next few days of patrol. While the next few nights mainly consisted of taking down the smaller criminals, by the end of the weekend, Bruce and I had gotten enough info and had done enough research to discover that Maroni was laundering millions of dollars worth of money and pumping it into the Gotham justice system, no less, along with several of the top Gotham police detectives.

And Bruce and I were beginning to think that even the Commissioner, Commissioner Loeb, unfortunately, was involved in the massive corruption. So far, the only man who seemed to be decent was the Detective Gordon. But we would need hard proof that Loeb was involved; and if we had it, we had to make sure that Gordon would be willing to rat out his own boss.

And then we'd have to find an attorney and judge willing to prosecute. Oh, the list kept getting more fun by the second...

But we needed to bring down the corrupt police before we moved onto Maroni and the Russian. On Sunday night, Bruce and I flew over to the Gotham Police headquarters and looked down from the rooftop below. While I could see perfectly into the windows of the Commissioner's office, Bruce stubbornly took out his own high-tech binoculars and scanned the premises.

"Window shouldn't be hard to get open," he muttered.

"What about the alarm?" I asked.

"Don't worry about it. I have an idea." His binoculars moved slightly down to where Detectives Gordon and Flass were escorting in three women - likely prostitutes. They were all shaky on their legs, but one of them, a woman with short, dark hair and heavily lidded green eyes, spat at Flass. He moved as if to strike her, but Gordon snapped something at him.

I glanced at Bruce. "Distraction."

"Distraction," he rumbled, and took off the rooftop. I flew along after him, watching as the women were just about to enter the building. Bruce dropped down from the roof and started to sneak the window open. The moment Flass and the green-eyed woman stepped inside, she knocked her head into his nose, cursing at him. It couldn't have been planned better - for us, at least. The alarm blared off, and Bruce shoved the window open and slipped inside Loeb's office.

I followed him, satisfied as Flass cursed his head off, holding his bleeding nose. The green-eyed prostitute grinned, and even Gordon looked a little amused. Flass's colleagues were also laughing at him. As I slipped into Loeb's office, I found Bruce already rifling through Loeb's filing cabinet. He'd already put a flash-drive on Loeb's computer, which was downloading all of the information on the hard drive. I looked around and saw a large painting - a good place for a safe. I walked up to the painting, shifted it to one side, and found myself staring at a huge, heavily locked safe.

No problem. I tilted my head towards the safe and started trying the combinations.

"He's gotten a lot of criminals off," muttered Bruce. "Armed robbery, double-homicide... serial killers..."

I closed my eyes and listened for that click, trying to focus.

"Do you even know how to do that?" said Bruce dubiously. "Have you ever done it before?"

"No," I replied, eyes still closed.

He shook his head. "Right. Wonder Woman," he said dryly.

"I don't like your tone, Batman."

I heard him continue to shuffle through the files. "Make it quick, Princess. Loeb's on his way back."

I held my breath and pressed my ear to the safe, slowing the lock turn. After another few seconds, I finally heard the satisfying click, and the safe door swung open. I grinned, grabbed all of the folders and files I saw, and saw in the far back a huge stash of money. I decided to leave most of it there, but took one pile for testing and evidence.

Footsteps thumped up to the closed office door, and shadows appeared through the thick, fogged glass. I glanced at Bruce, but he had already disappeared through the window. I flew out after him, seconds before Loeb burst into his office, yelling at one of the officers. Crouching safely on a rooftop beside Bruce, we watched as Loeb sank into his seat, then glanced at the opened safe, started, and jumped to his feet. He peered into the safe and went pale. Then, he started swearing. Repeatedly. He ran over to the window, looked down, up, and around. But we were too far away, and it was too dark.

I glanced over at a grim Batman. After a moment, he leaped down stories below into a dark alley. I heard a car's engine roar; and the tumbler burst to life. I couldn't resist, of course, and let myself drop into the seat beside him. I dropped the files on the back seat and leaned back as we raced away into the night.

Several hours later, we watched as Lieutenant Gordon drove up to his dingy apartment, shut off his car, and made his way up the creaky front steps. He rubbed his brow, sighed, and was about to open the front door, when Bruce made his presence known.

"Long night," he rumbled, staring down from his perch a couple stories above Gordon.

Gordon started, reaching instinctively for his handgun at his belt, and stared up at us. Bruce's black cape whipped in the brisk wind; and I had to admit he looked incredibly intimidating. I floated beside him gravely, my hair billowing in the harsh wind. Gordon's wary eyes flickered to Batman, then to me. Then back to Batman.

"Vince wasn't lying," he said finally. "A Batman and a wonder woman." I saw him shake his head, his expression dry. "The one time he wasn't lying."

"We're not here to fight you," I told him. "We're on your side, Lieutenant."

"Really. Commissioner Loeb's set up a task force to capture the two of you," Gordon said grimly.

"Go for it," I muttered.

"Loeb is involved with the mob," growled Batman. "Watch your back, Lieutenant."

"Why should I trust you? He thinks you two are dangerous," Gordon returned.

"And what do you think?" Batman demanded.

Gordon cast me a quick glance before returning his gaze to Batman. "I don't know. We'll see. So far, it looks like you're just trying to help. But no one does the things you do for no reason. I don't know what your game is, but if people start getting hurt -"

"People have already been hurt," snarled Bruce dangerously. "This city needs a wake-up call."

"And I suppose you are the call?"

"If we have to be," replied Bruce, his voice harsh but quiet.

"The law doesn't protect vigilantes," said Gordon sharply. "That's what the cops are for."

I snorted, and Gordon shot me a dark look. "Don't be stupid, Lieutenant," I said, grim. "Because you're not. But look around you. You're the only good cop left in the force. Everyone else is corrupt - half of them are in the mafia. You have to be realistic, here. We just took out more criminals in one night than your force has in weeks, probably months."

Gordon glared up at me sullenly for a moment before looking away with a heavy sigh. Nodding, he muttered, "I know."

He looked up again at us, but we had already disappeared into the shadows. I saw him shake his head again and cast a quick look around before he returned inside, locking the door behind him. Batman and I exchanged looks.

"What do you think?" I asked him.

"I think... we've got a long way to go."

Thoughts? :)

OK, so I know most of you, if not all, are waiting for Bruce/Di romance. But let's be honest - we know Bruce is no expert at divulging his feelings. And there's that fear that if he goes beyond the line of friendship, it might permanently damage their relationship. But don't worry - it's coming very soon! :) Very, very soon. Just having a lot of fun with their banter.

PS: Not to spoil anything, but the main villain will appear in my next chapter. Actually... maybe a couple...

- Serena