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Hey, it's me again. I don't own anything. My editor was essential on this one, I was so worried about it and needed that second opinion. The next chapter will probably come sooner than normal because I'm basically a shut-in right now with all this covid stuff and no school to do. I had an idea for maybe a Christmas themed one-shot, I'm not sure it would be "canon", but it might be fun. If you're interested let me know and I'll try to have it up by Christmas Eve. The next chapter will probably be up before Christmas too even if I wind up doing both. Please enjoy and leave a review. I love criticism.
*/
Wonder Woman glided slowly through the night air as she spoke into an unseen communicator. "How goes your hunt for the Penguin?" She added a mockingly dramatic tone to her pronunciation of the gaudish alter ego.
"I see you have been talking to Oracle. Not much on that front, I am having a hard time explaining Cobblepot's motivation for siccing that serial killer on Gateway." Batman responded, his voice slightly garbled by the communicator.
"Why didn't you tell me he was behind the murders? You know I want to help. I need this, I thought I had closure on our grotesque misadventure and then I find out we didn't actually catch the bad guy."
"That's exactly why I didn't tell you."
"Well, as much as I appreciate your concern for my peace, I would rather know the truth and suffer for it then live in a comfortable lie." Her voice betrayed her frustration with him, her appreciation itself a slight hostility.
"You're right." He stated matter-of-factly.
Wonder Woman cocked her head and squinted into the void surrounding the Earth. "What?"
"You're right."
There was silence for a second before Wonder Woman recovered and spat out, "Let me know if there is anything I can do to help."
"Practically two peas in a pod." Alfred said while setting down a tray of tea.
"What do you mean, Alfred?" Bruce had just hung up with Diana and silently wished it would be safe for him to revoke some of Alfred's admin privileges.
"You two are almost ideologically identical. It is why you are simultaneously repulsed and drawn to each other. It confuses people when there is someone just slightly different in their convictions. An entirely different temperament is no surprise, but too much similarity makes one wonder if maybe they are wrong and not the other. In your case it is especially dreadful because some of those small differences produce wildly different approaches."
"I'm aware."
"But you never thought it might apply to you. Well, enjoy the tea, Master Bruce. I hope I have done my duty derailing your one-track mind for the day."
"He said those words? 'You're right'?" Shayera shook her head in disbelief.
Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl sat together in the Watchtower cafeteria, conversing in hushed tones.
"Pretty much."
"I'll never understand that man...You know what?"
"Hmm?"
"If you are making such good progress with him, do you think you could get him to supply the Watchtower with some better food?" Shayera was looking disdainfully at a spoonful of rehydrated, freeze-dried peas.
Diana laughed, "I am afraid that the little progress I have made is an anomaly."
"Well let's hope so. He may have sensed your resolve to move on and be trying to reel you back in."
Diana crossed her arms and gave Shayera a disbelieving glance.
Shayera threw up her arms. "I know it seems a bit out of character for the Batman, but the guy has got to be lonely, right?" Diana gave another disbelieving look even though she knew he was lonely. "Hey. Don't look at me like that. He probably just saw the reasoning in what you were saying. After all, he would be similarly frustrated in your position."
Not wanting to talk about it anymore, Diana changed the subject. "So, why exactly have we not hung out at all recently?"
Shayera picked up on the queue and they began making plans to relax on an unreachable beach somewhere. Shayera watched as their conversation was interrupted by someone calling Diana on a communicator other than her League earpiece. Diana's eyebrows flew up adding to the mystery. Shayera cocked her head in question.
"He is inviting me to a performance at an opera house, says he already bought the tickets." Diana covered the communicator and whispered to Shayera.
"Tell him no, what the hell?"
Diana nodded in agreement and relayed the answer.
Bruce sighed through the communicator. "You misunderstand, there's a you problem in Gotham now. Could be linked."
"Oh of course, I'll be there. What time?"
Diana hung up after he had given the date and time of the event and saw that Shayera had leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed disapprovingly. "It's work, not a date."
"Whatever you say."
Diana lightly punched her arm. "It's important. I told you, he's right, neither of us should date anyone. We don't have the time or the luxury of putting others at risk."
Shayera rolled her eyes, "Whatever you say."
Diana showed up at Wayne Manor at the prescribed time dressed to the nines. Right before she knocked on the door it opened and Bruce came out followed by Alfred. Bruce gave her one look then cleared his throat and looked away.
Alfred saw this and stepped in, "It appears I must speak for Master Bruce. Ms. Diana you look ravishing. Shall we?" He gestured to the limo parked in the driveway.
They all got in the car and started off. Almost immediately Bruce hit a button that darkened the windows and probably made the car surveillance proof and transformed into the Bruce he could only be behind closed doors.
"Naturally, we can't sit in the same box. The tabloids would go crazy, so you are going to have to ditch me and fly in before we get there. I have a rather snobbish date waiting for me there who I knew would want to drive herself; and by drive herself I mean get driven by her own staff." Diana snickered at this and the fact that Bruce then turned and apologized to Alfred.
"What is even going on, you still haven't told me."
"Right, Circe is performing at the Gotham Opera House."
"What?!"
He hushed her before continuing. "I was surprised too, but it is definitely her. There are two questions here-"
Diana cut him off. "You are not going in there, I refuse to allow you to be enchanted by that witch's singing."
"Don't worry, I thought of that." He handed her high-tech ear plugs. "These use an AI to block out only her voice. Well...technically they block out everything and then separate her voice from everything else and play all other audio into your ear, but it has the same result." Diana inspected the devices while he continued. "As I was saying, there are two questions we need to answer: How did Circe get a solo act at Gotham Opera House? And what is she planning to do with that solo act?"
Diana began to smile and hum "Am I Blue"; the Batman came out and glared at her. "This will not be a repeat of our last encounter."
She reveled in her ability to make him uncomfortable with just a few notes. "Of course. You'll preemptively steal the show."
Bruce's mouth twitched, then he glared, then he gestured at the sun roof. Diana sighed as the glass slid open and then flew out fast enough that no one would see her. She landed outside the Opera House and was immediately ushered by one of the staff to the red carpet, apparently everyone had already found out she would be there. She walked past, not enjoying the flashes and the constant requests for a comment or to pose for a picture.
Then she recognized an opportunity to establish her cover for being here and turned to one of the journalists begging for an interview. "Circe and I may have had conflict in the past, but if she is turning toward a more honest life, I want to be here to encourage her."
Her statement was no lie, if Circe really was on the straight and narrow, Diana wanted to be there to encourage her, maybe even help her. However, experience had taught Wonder Woman not to be optimistic about such things. So, she proceeded with hope, ignoring the remaining paparazzi. Once on the other side she looked back and caught a glance of Bruce and his date going through the same crucible she just had. His date was pretending to be above it all ignoring everyone, but Bruce was smiling, shaking people's hands, and answering people's questions here and there. Oh how it must torture him, she thought with a smile.
A blur went down the red carpet leaving everyone a little disheveled and stopped next to Diana in a tuxedo and Flash mask. "Fans, am I right?"
"Flash?! What are you doing here? And what do you mean 'fans' you ran right past everyone."
"Nooo, I gave everyone a handshake and an autograph. And while grumpy pants over there can stop me from working in Gotham, he can't stop me from attending social functions here. Plus, I know Circe hasn't been the most model citizen in the past, so I thought I'd keep an eye on her." Wally produced an apple out of nowhere, ate, and discarded it without missing a beat. "I imagine you were thinking along similar lines."
"Wa- Flash, you need to get out of here. Circe can enchant you with her singing."
"Wow, wasn't expecting you to give such high praise." He turned to go, hesitated, and turned back to Diana. "Wait, why does that mean I should leave?"
Diana rolled her eyes. "Because I mean magically enchant. She's a good singer, but not that good."
Wally turned to go again and hesitated once more. "How are you going to avoid her spell? For that matter, how is grumpy going to?"
"Well, we don't know yet if she will use magic, but if it comes to that, these." She held out the ear plugs.
Wally gave them a curious look, then looked at Bruce, then at Diana, then back at the tech in her hand. "He invited you! Well now I'm just hurt."
After Diana had reinserted the earplugs, Bruce's voice came over them. He was speaking under his breath, as he continued to smile and wave several feet away, but the plugs had apparently been programmed to amplify his voice as well as block out Circe's. "What is he doing here?"
"He was just leaving, right Flash?"
"Fine, yeah. Fair enough. You guys better invite me next time." With that he was gone.
Diana was surprised by the opulence of the opera house and equally delighted to see some Greek-esque statues on display. She was a little disappointed that they did not stick strictly to the Ancient Greek style, and that they were not painted like they should be; but she knew that the Renaissance had bastardized Greek culture and that they had no way of knowing back then that the Ancient Greeks painted their statues, so she did not dwell on it. An usher showed her the way to her seat which must have cost Bruce a pretty penny. It was positioned a few boxes back, but in the front row of the box. There were five other people seated in the same box as her and four of them maintained an air of superiority that only money could buy. The fifth was the child of one of the couples and with a child's eyes gazed in amazement at the Woman of Wonder.
She smiled at the young girl and the girl smiled back before requesting an answer to a question she did not have to ask. "You're Wonder Woman aren't you? I told my parents this would be boring, but how can it be boring if you're watching it? My name's Sarah."
The girl's mother shushed her and her father shook his head disapprovingly.
"Well, Sarah, my friends call me Diana, so you should too."
The little girl beamed, but reigned in her excitement at the behest of her demanding parents. After a few minutes the opera house was practically full and a neatly dressed man walked out to center stage with a wireless microphone.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Gotham Opera House. You may recognize our performer tonight from Ancient Greek mythology. Powerful sorceress, princess of Colchis, and a goddess to match the Olympians, please welcome Circe; making her debut at our humble venue." He gestured to bring the audience's attention to the woman striding confidently onto the stage from behind the curtains.
Diana quietly snorted at the introduction and muttered to herself, "Goddess to match the Olympians my ass."
She was surprised to hear another snort, this time of laughter coming through the earplugs she was wearing, reminding her that Bruce could hear everything she said. Then she heard him giving a ridiculous explanation to his date as to why he had behaved so strangely, so she snickered...just audibly enough that she knew he would hear.
Once Circe began singing, Diana realized how comedic it could be to watch someone sing without being able to hear them. She could see all the body movements portraying great emotion, but they looked ridiculous with no audio to explain them. She watched as the people around her slowly became more and more invested in the performance.
"She is definitely enhancing her singing with magic from the looks of these people, but I don't think she is going so far as to make them obsessed with her like both she and the sirens have been known to do." She muttered under her breath.
She got a simple, "Noted," in reply.
Without the music to make the time pass the performance seemed to drag on forever. Just when it seemed like Circe was wrapping up, she would begin another song, and the audience ate it up. Finally, her allotted time was coming to a close, and everyone gave a standing ovation. Clearly, she had said something that made it obvious she was done. Diana removed one of the earplugs and joined in the applause.
Circe bowed a few too many times for the display to be out of humility. "Thank you, thank you. I heard that a special guest would be joining us tonight. Princess Diana of Themyscira, or as you call her, Wonder Woman, would you please come down here?"
Only mildly surprised, Diana stood up and made her way to the stage. An usher caught on to what was happening and showed her a faster way to the stage. When she got on stage Circe started a round of applause for her, so she curtsied and smiled. After Circe decided that enough attention had been given to the superheroine, she led the way backstage to her dressing room.
"Χαίρετε, Δίανα! Χαίρετε. I hope you aren't here to arrest me."
"As far as I know you haven't done anything to warrant it. Why so friendly all of a sudden?"
"Come now, I hate your mother, not you. I learned to separate my hatred of her from you the day your Batman sang to free you. I couldn't deny him after he gave up so much for me, especially with a body that would make Zeus envious. Come to think of it, I should have asked him to do something else." Circe bit her lip in thought while Diana tried to reign in the anger welling up inside her. "How is he by the way? You two never…?"
"No, Circe. And I would appreciate it if we talked about something else."
"Oooo, touchy subject, alright. Why are you here then?"
"To check up on you and to encourage you if you are headed down the right path."
Circe narrowed her eyes in suspicion before smiling broadly. "Did you enjoy the show? I imagine you have some gift from Hephaestus that protects you from my enchanting singing, so you are probably the only honest opinion I'll get."
Diana smiled inwardly at the realization that Circe was putting Bruce's craftsmanship on the same level as the God of Craftsmanship. "Something like that. You've always been an excellent singer, Circe."
"Yes, I thought it would."
"How did you get a venue like this as an undiscovered artist anyway?"
"Oh, you know, a bribe here, a favor there. If you know the right people anything is possible."
She heard Bruce's voice in her ear once again. "This isn't working. She knows your face, we need her to let her guard down. I'm coming in."
Just then a young staff member knocked on the door and opened it once Circe gave the word. "Ma'am there's a gentleman here to see you. I'm sorry, we aren't allowed to stop him, he's the opera house's single largest benefactor."
Circe looked more than a little frustrated. "Very well."
Bruce Wayne, playboy, billionaire, and philanthropist strode in like he owned the place. He probably did own a few shares in the establishment, but the confidence was unwarranted nonetheless considering the company he was in.
"Madame." He bent down and kissed Circe's hand. "Wonder Woman." He bowed slightly at Diana and then turned back to Circe.
"Hey! Boy!" Circe called out to the staff member. "In the future, let me know when they're hot. Okay?"
The boy bowed and left, closing the dressing room door behind him.
"Straight to the point, madame? All the better." Bruce gave Circe that disgusting smile that Diana saw pasted onto the face of every celebrity magazine. She hated that smile.
"Please call me Circe. And who might you be?" Both Diana and Bruce were pretty certain she knew exactly who he was.
"Why I'm Bruce Wayne, richest and most eligible bachelor of Gotham. I was hoping I could discuss the future of your career with you in private."
Before Circe could say anything Diana turned to leave the room. "I was just leaving. Mr. Wayne. Circe."
In the brief moment that Bruce could see her face, but Circe could not, he received the most terrifying glare he had ever seen in his life. He stopped himself from gulping and continued to smile.
"Goodbye, Diana. I'll catch up with you later, hopefully you will still be in town."
"Yes, goodbye Wonder Woman."
After she had exited the room, her voice hissed in his ear: "You try anything with that woman and I will personally see to it that no woman will want to go near you again, no matter how much money you have."
Bruce would have commented on how he felt like this warning was unnecessary, but he knew his reputation with women and he doubted Diana took kindly to it on any level. Plus, Circe would hear him. Circe came onto him almost immediately.
She stood up, placed a hand on his chest, and spoke to him in a sultry tone. "I hope the privacy was for more than just business."
This is going to be easier than I thought. "Well, in that case, I don't think this is the right place for our meeting. Drinks at my place?"
"Hmm, I would prefer my place, but I'm kind of curious to see just how rich you are."
"Good, I have a date to lose, my butler should be out front with the car, I'll let him know to expect you."
"No need, I'll find my own way there."
"Very well. I'll see you there."
He left the dressing room and made his way outside to the limo. Alfred opened the door for him to get in and when he sat down he was not at all surprised to see Diana sitting there glowering at him with her arms crossed.
"I was making progress, I could have gotten that information without you having to whore yourself."
"Diana, she would never have opened up to you. She was half-expecting you to knock her out right then and there, I could hear it in the way she was responding to you."
"You could have at least given me some warning that you were going to try to seduce her if she wasn't being forthcoming. I would have brought the lasso."
"Then she would know that you were up to something. And don't worry, I'll do the same with her that I've done with every other woman that enters Wayne Manor with that idea in their head."
Diana punched him, very hard. "You know, this conversation has been a long time coming, I can't believe I haven't told you this sooner. How DARE you treat women the way you do? I don't care if they want it or not, I won't stand for it! I would have thought that the great Batman, moral compass of the Justice League, would know better! But no, you sit on your throne of superiority passing down judgement on what is just and unjust while you take advantage of women for no other reason than to maintain your cover. You hurl retribution on those who might break your code, but fail to have even a shred of decency when it comes to your sexual conquests! I want to believe you are different, Bruce. I need men that I can point to whenever my mother's voice tells me that mankind is corrupt and evil, and you aren't helping."
What Bruce did next caused all of her fury to evaporate, he looked at her with pain in his eyes; real pain, real emotion. "I hate Bruce Wayne, Diana. I hate him with every fiber of my being, and I hate that I managed to fool you too. I don't sleep with them, Diana. I can't. I can't risk waking them up because I need to help Gotham, I can't risk them seeing my scars and asking too many questions, but most of all, I can't risk becoming too attached. That's why I always choose airheads who don't know left from right."
Too many emotions rushed through Diana at once for her to make any sense of them. She was confused, relieved, curious, betrayed, and surprised all at the same time. She never expected him to open up like that, but clearly she had hit a very sore spot.
She looked at him, not knowing what to say, so she resolved to just ask the question on her mind. "I'm confused. You say you don't sleep with them, but probably hundreds, if not thousands, of women claim to have slept with you."
Any emotion was long gone from his face now, he had already recomposed himself. "A ruse. I get them drinking. I drink from a fake bottle to keep my wits about me and then drug them and leave them in a state that makes them think we had sex. It's still awful, but I like to think it isn't as bad."
Diana shook her head in disbelief and relief. "Anything that could get in the way of the mission."
Bruce said nothing. Diana chuckled as the tension of the situation left her body.
"What are you laughing about?" Bruce raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing. It's just that, a few minutes ago, I thought you were a living contradiction."
"What do you mean?"
"I thought you were simultaneously the most dedicated and caring person I've ever known and a terrible human being that should never be let near another woman again."
Bruce chuckled too, "I guess that is funny."
Alfred had listened to the whole exchange while he was driving. He dared not say a word, she was making progress, however slow. There was hope for him yet.