BRUCE POV

"I've heard great things about the roller coaster," Diana suggested, after they had deposited the ridiculous Batman toy with Alfred in the car. Bruce had then told him to go home and relax, that they would find their own way home. Alfred had smiled hugely at that, and Bruce supposed he might have misinterpreted what he meant. Alfred, always with his high hopes for him, no matter how many times Bruce let him down.

"What about it?" he asked, as they got in line.

She was bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. Her excitement was adorable. "That it's exciting."

Bruce highly doubted that it would be exciting to a woman that could fly, but didn't say anything else on the subject. A silence stretched between them.

"How's Tim?" she asked finally.

"Fine," he said, a little more curtly than he had intended. In the past, he had tried his best not to expose his proteges to the presence of the heroes he partnered with. It was for their safety and his peace of mind that the less the other heroes knew of his 'family', the better. It wasn't that he hadn't trusted them... Okay, he hadn't. The less metas knew about his personal life, the better. This policy had always done him well.

But this was Diana he was talking to, and so he added, "He's moved back in."

He might have announced Christmas was coming early, Diana's smile was so big. It hurt his heart- in a good way- that she cared so much about his family. She was truly an extraordinary person.

"That's wonderful!" she exclaimed.

"Not so loud," he chastised. A few people were looking at them curiously.

Diana ignored him. "Maybe I can come and visit him sometime."

Bruce didn't answer; he saw the calculated glint in her lovely eyes. She was testing him to see what he would say to another invasion of his personal life. The frightening thing was that his instinct was to say yes; and that certainly wasn't wise.

Luckily, he was spared having to reply because they were finally ushered into the last roller coaster car. They had the rear seats to themselves.

The conductor lowered the protective bar in front of them. Diana frowned at it. "What's this?"

"It's like a seat-belt," he explained. "So you don't fall out."

She huffed, tugging at her braid. "That's ridiculous."

He couldn't help a small grin. "Maybe for people who can fly it is," he said quietly.

The coaster lurched into motion, making a few screeching sounds. The people sitting in front of them let out a simultaneous cheer. Bruce settled in for what was sure to be an interesting ride.

A minute later, he was proven right. On the first loop-de-loop, while everyone else had their hands up and were screaming at the top of their lungs, Diana still had her arms folded and looked to be daydreaming. She turned to him, and Bruce quickly wiped his smile off his face.

"How's Gotham been?" she asked, tentatively. Bruce got the sense that she had been formulating this question for quite a while, but he wasn't sure where she was going with it.

"Quiet," he muttered as the roller coaster began lugging slowly up a steep incline.

"That's good. You have more time on your hands."

"No," he disagreed. "It means something big is going to happen. The calm before the storm."

He wasn't looking at her anymore, but he heard the amusement in her voice. "You're quite the pessimist, aren't you?"

"I've had experience," he corrected her. The coaster slowed to a stop at the top of the hill, and people once again put their hands in the air.

She paused. Bruce waited. As the coaster began speeding down vertically, she spoke. "I wasn't going to tell you this tonight, but I think you'll take it better from me than from Clark-"

Ah. A sour feeling began in his stomach as he realized what this was about. "No."

She sounded annoyed. "No? No? You haven't even heard what I had to say yet." She grabbed his chin and forcibly turned his face around to look at her pretty, flushed face. "Look at me when I'm speaking to you, will you?"

Bruce decided, right then, that having an angry Amazon order him around was pretty much the sexiest thing he had ever experienced. And that was saying something. "I know what this is about. The League wants Batman back."

Diana threw up her hands. "Of course you knew. Well, why not? We need your help, Bruce."

On another loop-de-loop, his cap almost flew off, and he barely managed to grab onto it before the momento from his father was gone. "No."

"Bruce! Be reasonable. What, do we need to grovel at your feet?"

He felt an arrogant smirk curve over his lips. "That won't be necessary. This time."

He was provoking her and she knew it. She took a deep breath, and when she spoke again, her voice was earnest, her eyes beseeching. Almost too quiet to hear over the screams of the other riders. "Bruce. The Justice League needs you."

"No, they don't," he said strongly now, turning to look at her. No longer was he trying to goad her, but actually trying to explain what he felt. The rejection from the League had, he admitted only to himself, been devastating at first. Mostly because it was his own fault. But he had had time to think it over in the last few months. Weigh the pros and cons. And had realized that this was really a blessing in disguise. "The League has been operating relatively smoothly since Batman's departure. Others have taken on those jobs. There was some initial disruption, but the team dynamic has changed and for the better." She opened her mouth, perhaps to ask how he knew these things, but he kept going. "And Gotham gets my full attention this way."

"It doesn't sound like Gotham has been getting your full attention," she retorted, folding her arms again. "Sounds to me like you've been checking up on the League a lot. Maybe even going into the Watchtower yourself to check on things." Her tone indicated exactly what she meant.

Bruce knew exactly what she was talking about. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"If you say so," she huffed, as the coaster began to slow. "But I remember a separate occasion when you said that exact sentence to me, Bruce. And I knew then, just as I do know, that you know exactly what I was talking about."

Bruce didn't reply. Great. Now she was mad at him. This pseudo-date was taking a decidedly bad turn. But what had she expected, bringing up work like this? Maybe it was better this way, and he shouldn't try to make amends.

They got out of the car without saying a word to each other, and Bruce tugged his cap lower over his eyes. Meanwhile, the conductor spoke to Diana. "How'd you like the ride, miss? Pardon me for my nosiness, but it sounded like you're a first-timer."

"It wasn't quite what I imagined it to be, honestly," she replied, and Bruce knew that she was glaring at him even though he wasn't facing her. "It was tedious. Repetitive. Stubborn."

"Stubborn?" the conductor asked, confused. Bruce smiled to himself as Diana blundered over her own double-meaning.

"Yes," she snapped at Bruce's back. "Wouldn't yield to reason."

Their was a pause as the conductor considered, and finally it seemed to dawn on him that this wasn't about the ride, but the argument between the couple in front of him. "Ohhh. Um" he lowered his voice to a whisper he obviously assumed Bruce couldn't hear- "I'm sorry, ma'am. But for the record, I think you can do better than him anyway."

Bruce wholeheartedly agreed with the sentiment, but didn't like the way the conductor had said it. He wheeled around and grabbed her hand. "Let's go."

As they set off aimlessly, she glared at him and spat, "So this is how it's always going to be? You're only going to show affection to me when you're trying to prove a point to people?"

As she wrenched her hand out of his, he ignored the sudden loss of heat. "No."

"I deserve better, Bruce." She turned her head away. And his heart squeezed at the expression of hurt that flitted over her face.

Bruce hated feeling helpless. He had such strong feelings for her, but was woefully incompetent in showing it. But what was he doing even thinking that? Why had he even asked her out? This internal struggle was his alone to endure; he had never wanted to inflict it on her; to hurt her or lead her on, but there it was.

"This was... a bad idea," he said, and his voice sounded empty, even to him. "I'm sorry."

Her eyes burned with fire, her lips set into a thin line. "Are you?" she asked. Bruce was startled to find a touch of bitterness there. She reached up and grabbed his sunglasses right off his face, with a frustrated expression. "Stop hiding."

She was right. He was a coward- He wished he could say he had kissed her earlier only for show, but he knew that wasn't it. He loved kissing her. Her sweet smell and the way her body fell into his and her perfect, kissable lips made it hard not to enjoy, and yet he only did it when he had an excuse to.

He sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets, once again finding himself unable to communicate what he really wanted to say. All he knew was, no matter what, he wanted to keep Diana in his life in some way or another. He wasn't sure if he could stand another person he cared about being angry with him right now. "One more ride," he said. "Have you ever been on the Ferris Wheel?"

She covered her surprise well, and put her hands on her hips. "This isn't going to change anything."

Sadly, he knew it wouldn't. There was no line at the seventy-five foot high Ferris Wheel, in fact not all cars were occupied; and as they climbed into one of the cars for themselves, Bruce thought that maybe this was the end of the road for them. A symbolic closure for both. Getting in, going full circle one more time together. Still being apart. And finally seeing that this was how it was always going to be.

He sat beside her, and the small distance was nothing- he could easily lean over it- and yet, it was everything, a whole world of miscommunications and frustration to travel over. Diana had her head turned away from him, eyes closed. In her clenched hand was his sunglasses, or at least what remained of them once she had finished crushing them. She looked... like she was about to cry.

His heart seized. This was never what he wanted. He had only seen Diana in tears once before- when they had thought Superman had died. And when he had seen that, this shining beacon of hope and love and compassion, crying, he had found himself hoping he'd never have to see that again.

The ferris wheel slowly began moving. Diana watched over the side rail, leaning on one elbow, but with a detached gaze. Bruce couldn't stand it- whatever his own ineptitude, she deserved at least an answer, an explanation, from him.

He drummed his fingers against the rail for a moment and looked up at the cloudy evening sky with resignation. Screw it, he was going to tell her. "I was engaged to be married twice," he said, out of the blue.

"Really?" Shock replaced anger in Diana's voice, although he couldn't see her face because it was turned away. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

He had gone about it the wrong way, as usual. He sighed and ran a hand over his face. "No... that's not the point-"

At this point, their car reached the highest point of the ferris wheel's arc, the sun lowering over the horizon clearly visible from the height. Diana opened her mouth to say something just as the wheel came to a jarring stop.

Bruce peered down. The other occupied carriages were also confused; Bruce's keen eyes spotted the operator hurriedly speaking to a mechanic on the ground. "We're broken down," he said. "This might be a while." How lucky for him, stuck at the top of a ferris wheel with an angry Amazon.

It took him a second to realize he wasn't even thinking this sarcastically.

There was a pause; Bruce idly watched the view of Gotham's lights from their prime vantage point. Then, Diana spoke. "You were saying?"

He studied her for a moment, gauging her mood. She was still mad, but despite that, her curiosity had gotten the better of her. "Both times I was engaged," he continued, "I seriously considered giving up my... other life. For good. And I was going to do it."

Her ocean blue eyes were wide ovals.

He kept going. "If I do something, I put all my attention on it. That's what I'm afraid of; Gotham needs Batman; and whenever I've gotten into a serious relationship, Gotham has taken the back seat. I can't allow that ever again."

Diana was silent for a moment. "Bruce, I know. You've always lived on extremes. But it doesn't have to be that way. I am able to balance."

He stared into his hands. "I can't let go of Batman. You realize that, right? You realize that's who I really am?"

"I know what you believe," she said firmly. "I know you think this" she reached forward to touch his jaw, briefly, "is a mask for that. But even that... is a mask. For the man you really are. You are more than just the sum of your masks, Bruce Wayne. When will you realize that?"

He didn't move from his pained position looking at his hands. Her words washed over him and he wanted to believe them but wasn't sure if he could.

"I fell in love with all of you," she continued. "Batman, Bruce Wayne, and everything in between. I will never make you give up Batman. I would never allow you let go of a part of yourself for me. So please." She took his unreadable face into her hands. "Let. Me. In."

He finally met her eyes. They were honest and open, just as always. Just as always, willing to accept him just the way he was. How did such an incredible woman come into his life? He leaned into her touch and thought to himself, Give this a try. Give us a try.

This was no feeling of recklessness. It was a careful thought, one that had been culminating for weeks, months, maybe years and finally ready to make it's presence known at this very moment. Tonight, his inner voices had quieted and left only the one, saying Try. It had never worked out before with a woman, but that didn't mean anything, he realized. It was ingrained in his very DNA to never give up, no matter how many times he got beat down. Why not in love, too?

The ice in his blue eyes met hers and melted in the face of the sun. A tension in his muscles flooded away. "What did I do to deserve you?" he wondered raspily.

She snorted. "Love doesn't look for worthiness. Love looks for a kindred spirit."

He smiled to himself. At least she was honest.

Diana continued, leaning in herself. "I am going to kiss you now. You can't stop me." His heart jumped.

"One step ahead of you, princess," he murmured. He caught her around the waist, leaned in, and branded her lips with his own.

There was no excuse to fall behind later and he knew it and he didn't care.

A/N: R & R! next ch is last installment of the date :( then we move on!