A/N: Hey everyone! I originally wrote this story back in December 2020 for a different site, but I'm just getting around to posting it on here now. Just think of this as a celebration of Christmas in July! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Justice League or DC Comics characters and/or material. Trust me, if I did, Wonderbat would've been a thing much sooner.

A December to Remember

Wonder Woman sat in the Monitor Womb of the Watchtower, briefly checking over each monitor before returning her attention to her iced mocha. It was her turn on monitor duty, and she was just about to finish an extremely long shift.

Although the League had expanded recently with the addition of new members, many of them were currently unavailable as they had taken time off for the Christmas season. The actual holiday was only 2 days away, and there were only a handful of leaguers that were currently active, such as J'onn, Batman, and herself. Everyone else was on standby for emergencies, but crime is usually nonexistent during this time period, so Diana assumed that she is not going to be making any calls soon.

With nothing more to do but think to herself, Diana's thoughts traveled where they have gone for the past few weeks: Christmas and a certain dark hero.

Christmas is a holiday that is sort of a mystery to Diana. Although she has been in Patriarch's World for a little over two years, it is a holiday that she has still yet to experience. Flash invited her to spend time with his family this year, and while she appreciated the gesture by Wally, she declined since she hoped that a certain Bat would ask her to spend time with him.

Bruce has grown very close to her over the past few months. He has been spending more time with her on the Watchtower, they go on more missions together, and they have even started to practice Batman's training exercises together. One day while sparring, Bruce suggested that she should undergo some of the training techniques he learned when traveling abroad.

She has enjoyed spending these moments with Bruce, as she gets to see a different side of him that very few get to see. Behind that dark shroud he hides himself in is a broken man with one of the most compassionate hearts that she has ever experienced. Although just a mortal man, he is one of the most important members of the League. She shudders to think what would happen if they never had his strategic mind and his indomitable will to lead them to victory.

Diana was hoping that Bruce might ask her to spend some time with him this holiday season, although she believed that was just wishful thinking. She knows that she has been sending clear signs that she wants something more than friendship with him, but every time she thinks she is about to crack his icy façade, they are interrupted. She swears to Aphrodite that the Fates are against her being with Bruce, but that will not stop her from trying.

Diana yearns to finally feel what it is like to be intimate with a man. Not just any man however, but the Dark Knight of Gotham himself. These feelings she has are against her Amazonian codes, but at this point she has broken so many of these it is hard to keep count.

Diana goes for a drink of her iced mocha, wondering if Bruce had any plans for the holiday or if he was just going to treat Christmas like every other holiday by bypassing it all together and going out on patrol.

Wonder Woman was so focused on her thoughts that she did not even hear the monitor womb doors open up. Batman walked towards the far end of the monitor womb with the purpose of checking out the Watchtower's atmospheric sensors. A record breaking snowstorm hit Gotham last night, and although most people would just assume it was Mother Nature taking its course, Batman believes otherwise. Mr Freeze has yet to be seen for the past month, and every lead he had ended with him coming up with no trace of Victor anywhere. He hoped that it was just his paranoia, but the sudden appearance of the storm along with Mr Freeze in hiding makes Batman think otherwise.

Working at the station, Batman makes a quick glance over at Wonder Woman, noticing how she is focused on the contents of her drink. Watching her curl her finger around one of her long, delicate raven curls makes his breath unconsciously hitch in his throat. Diana has always had this effect on him despite his constant attempts to keep her out of his mind. Every time he finally thinks that he can spend a minute with her without being affected, she gives him her million dollar smile that shines her bright spirit upon him, making him feel happy when he is in her proximity.

But the Batman being happy? Can he even allow himself the pleasure of such happiness? Batman was born in darkness, even thrives and lives in it. Not only can him being happy be a risk to destroying Batman, but it is also a concern regarding Diana's safety. He is too broken inside, his black vortex of darkness would swallow Diana up whole and leave a shell of the golden radiance she once was.

Bruce momentarily loses his focus as thoughts about why he could never pursue a relationship with Diana once again make way into his head. He has already come to reason that he loves her, but that he cannot act on his feelings. There is too much at risk for him to go after what he knows both of them truly want.

Deciding to forget his lonely life and make his presence known, Bruce sneakily walks behind Diana, moving like a wraith as he does not even make a sound. He stands right behind the monitor chair that she is currently sitting in, looking briefly at the monitors to make sure that there are no alerts. He is immediately hit with her jasmine scent, and it makes him feel lightheaded for a few seconds. Quietly shaking his head to regain focus, he slowly crouches down until his mouth is about the same level as her ear.

"Anything I need to know about, Princess?" He quietly whispers in his deep baritone voice. He smirks when he hears her breath catch in her throat, however he does not know if it was due to surprise or because it was him who spoke to her. He hopes that it was both.

Diana knows that Bruce heard her breath catch, and she silently curses herself in Greek for allowing him to have this effect on her. She thought she heard the monitor womb doors open, but when she heard no footsteps she assumed that she was just hearing things. Now, she had the one man that was constantly on her mind standing right behind her.

Diana swivels around in her chair to look at Batman, crossing her legs in the process. Bruce tries his best to keep his focus on her face and not the long, toned legs that are being presented to him. Although, there is not a single part of Diana that is truly bad to look at.

"I don't know, Bruce. Is there anything you want to know?" Diana retorts back to him in her flirtatious tone she uses only with him.

"Well, there is one thing that I would like to know," Bruce says in his real voice while simultaneously leaning towards her slowly, relishing in the effect his close proximity has on her.

"What's that?" Diana asks with a shortness of breath.

"Any peculiar events occurring on the East Coast?" Bruce acts, now fully back to his Batman phase. Diana looks at him for a brief moment of shock before deciding that two can play his "uninterested" game.

"Nothing that I can think of. Well now that you know, you can be on your way. I'm sure that you have things that must be done, patrolling Gotham and such," she replies while turning the chair to have her back to him. She smiles to herself when he hears a small growl come from him.

"Actually I can't leave yet," Bruce quickly reveals to her. "I'm waiting for the Watchtower's atmospheric sensors to finish their scan of Gotham."

"Why do you need those readings? Do you think something's wrong?" Diana asks him, turning back around to face him.

"I'm assuming you know about the snowstorm that recently hit Gotham?" Bruce asks Diana. At the quick nod of her head, he continues. "Well I don't think that this is a true 'snowstorm' in the sense that it was created naturally. Mr Freeze escaped from Arkham about a month ago, and I haven't been able to find him at all. While a snowstorm hitting the city a few days before the holidays is not unusual for Gotham, the fact that it's a record breaking one along with the disappearance of Freeze makes me believe something else is going on," Bruce tells her.

He is not surprised at all about how he discussed almost his entire case to her. While he usually prefers to work alone, he sometimes finds himself discussing his current cases with Diana, as she usually provides a different perspective to things that he could potentially miss. It is just one of the many things he adores and respects about her.

"Something definitely seems wrong," Diana replied to Bruce. She thoroughly enjoys the rare moments when he discusses certain cases that he works on, as she knows that he never reveals much of his work to other people.

"I agree. That's why I have the Watchtower's sensors searching to see if this current storm originated somewhere in Gotham. If it did, then I will be able to track down and pinpoint the location of whoever is behind this," Bruce says.

Right before Batman was about to walk back to check on the computer, a sudden thought occurred to Diana. "How come you came up to the 'Tower in order to check the atmospheric sensors? Can't you access them from the Batcave?"

Batman froze for a split second, quickly trying to come up with a reasonable and logical excuse as to why he had to be on the Watchtower in order to access the sensors. Thankfully, an alarm sounded from the computer, alerting him that the readings were complete. He definitely would not admit anyone, especially her, that he came up to the 'Tower just to see her.

Checking through the readings, a frown appeared on Batman's face. He was correct in his assumptions, as the readings show that the storm originated directly above the old GCPD building that was shut down after the new one was built. Now that he knew where to look, he was not going to waste any time putting this person behind bars.

As Bruce was checking up on the data, he felt a slight tickle on the side of his face. Immediately after he was hit with her signature jasmine scent that made lesser men fall to their knees in worship of her. He, however, was not a lesser man. It just made him feel like he was floating, that's all.

Looking out of his peripheral vision to his left, he saw that the slight tickle he felt on the side of his face was caused by a lock of her magnificent raven hair brushing against his face. Her close proximity caused Bruce to flush with arousal, which he tried to tamp down by using breathing techniques he learned during his trips abroad. However, they never fully worked with her.

"Did you find anything interesting?" Diana asked, looking over Bruce's shoulder at the computer.

"Yes, I found the location of where our 'Jack Frost' is," Bruce replied to Diana in as steady of a voice as he could muster.

"Who is Jack Frost? Is he a new villain in Gotham?" Diana asked with a hint of worry. Bruce slightly smirked at her naivety. It was one of the things he was most attracted to about her. He appreciated her outlook on the world, and he sometimes wished that he could see things as she did.

"Jack Frost is a fictional character, Princess. He is described as creating the harsh weather conditions that occur during the winter seasons, such as snow and ice."

"Oh," Diana replied a bit sheepishly.

Bruce looked over at Diana through the lens of his cowl and he could see the slight blush that adorned her cheeks. It once again made him want to relish in her spirit, to cuddle up with her and just talk about anything. As long as she was the one he was talking to, he could talk for hours.

Batman quickly shook his head, trying to get his thoughts focused back onto the case. Diana was doing nothing at all and she was having such a large effect on him. He cannot imagine how much longer his icy walls can stand this barrage of warmth and love that she gives him.

"So now that you have his location, are we going after him?" Diana asked with a hopefulness in her voice.

"No, Princess. I am going to go after him now that we have his location, not us. Gotham is my city. Besides, you have to finish monitor duty," Bruce replied. He had to get out of here before he was helpless in denying his feelings to her. That would not be good.

Well, actually, it would be really good. But still, he could not allow himself to do that to Diana. She deserves someone so much better than the broken man he is.

As Batman turned away from the computer with the intent of catching this villain, he felt a strong, yet gentle hand clamp down onto his shoulder. Turning to look at the owner of the hand, he was met with bright blue eyes blazing with determination.

"No, Bruce. WE are going to catch this villain. I haven't been able to do anything for the past week, and I want to get into a battle. Also, my monitor duty shift is about to end right about..."

As Diana trailed off, J'onn walked into the Monitor Womb. Looking at Batman and Wonder Woman, it did not require a telepath to see the strong attraction between the two. The entire room was almost sparkling with the sexual tension that was generated by the two heroes. He briefly wondered if they knew about the bets that we placed on when the two would get together. Then again, this is Batman he was thinking about, so he must know.

"Good evening Wonder Woman, Batman. Diana, I am here to relieve you of your monitor duty shift. Is there anything going on that needs my attention?" J'onn asked, smirking at the determination shining in Diana's eyes. He knew that it was only a matter of time before she broke through Bruce's walls.

"It has been a quiet day so far, J'onn. There is a slight incident occurring in Gotham, but Batman and I are on our way to go take care of it right now. Right, Batman?" Diana replied with a devilish smile.

Batman looked at J'onn for some sort of help so he could take care of this by himself, but J'onn seemed to be ignoring Batman completely. 'Damn telepath' Bruce thought in his head.

With a short grunt, Batman quickly brisked through the monitor womb doors, missing the slight smirk forming on J'onn's lips at hearing Bruce's thought.

"Let's go, Princess," Batman called over his shoulder. He wanted to get this done as fast so he could spend as little time with Diana as possible. It's not that he did not enjoy her company. No, it is the complete opposite of that. He enjoyed her company too much. He cannot risk the chance of him actually giving into his feelings by spending so much time with her.

Back in the monitor womb, Diana looked at J'onn with a large smile. She was a bit surprised that Bruce was actually allowing her to come with him to Gotham to work on a case, but she would take every chance she gets with him.

"Thank you J'onn. We'll contact you when we catch whoever is behind these recent events," Diana said to J'onn.

"Enjoy yourself, Diana," J'onn replied with a small smirk. Diana once again gave him a large smile that gave away the extent to her happiness at the moment, and she quickly rushed out of the monitor womb in order to catch up to Batman.

X X X

Batman did a quick circle around Gotham while simultaneously using the Javelin's advanced sensors to see if he could pick up any similar readings to the ones that the Watchtower's sensors picked up in other buildings. To Diana's annoyance, he circled Gotham a few times to verify the readings. She made her displeasure known, and she swears to Hera that she saw his damn little smirk on the corner of his lips.

After completing his city-wide scan and determining that the origin of the storm was isolated to just the old Gotham City Police Department building, Batman set the Javelin into auto pilot mode and positioned it directly over the old police headquarters.

"Ok Princess, it's time to go in and end this," Batman said to her, knowing she was anxious to hit something. If this was truly Mr Freeze as he expected, however, then they might have to be more cautious.

"Finally. I swear you did a few extra loops around Gotham just to get on my nerves," Diana replied with a smirk while she stretched her arms above her head, working out the tension in her shoulders. The move did not go unnoticed by Batman, as he saw how the move presented her cleavage enticingly to him. He was once again thankful that the cowl hid his eyes or she would have caught him openly staring at her chest, those erotic thoughts once again returning with a vengeance.

Pushing those thoughts away once again today, Batman opened up the ramp to the Javelin. Barely after the ramp was opened Wonder Woman jumped out, flying straight down to the front door of the old GCPD building. With a quick smirk at her impatience, Batman quickly jumped out after her, gliding through the air and using his cape to slow down his descent.

Landing a few feet from the front door, he saw Wonder Woman leaning against it with a smile on her face.

"I didn't know you could fly now," she commented with a wide grin.

"It's not flying, it's gliding. Don't worry though, I have something I'm working on that will allow me to keep up with you in the air soon," Batman replied with his usual stock expression, but she could hear the amusement in his voice.

Opening up the door, they were immediately hit with a blast of arctic air. If the outside seemed cold, this was on a different level. If it was not for Wonder Woman's meta abilities and Batman's suit enhancements, they would have surely contracted hypothermia in under 20 minutes. The chill was still definitely noticed by both of them, however.

Following the lights that should have been out in the old building, Wonder Woman and Batman eventually find themselves in the evidence section of the building. In this part, they use to keep evidence from previous crimes in order to investigate further, along with their large forensics lab at the end of the hallway that has been out of commission. However, the light coming from the lab tells the two heroes that someone is definitely here.

Silently making their way to the lab, they walk in to see multiple tables on the level below them with different lab equipment, some Batman recognizes not originating from the lab. Towards the back of the room stood Mr Freeze with his back to the heroes in a new suit that Batman has never seen before. It is slightly bigger than his old one, with three blue canisters attached to his back. Batman assumes that is what is powering his suit.

"I should have known that a weather change this big would be caused by you, Freeze," Batman says while walking into the room, making his and Wonder Woman's presence known.

"Batman, I'm not surprised to see you here. I assumed it would only be a matter of time before you deduced that this winter storm was caused by outside means," Freeze replied, his voice sounding muffled and robotic due to the helmet he has over his face.

"What's the point of this Victor? Causing a blizzard in Gotham will do nothing to save Nora," Batman questioned Freeze, hoping to buy some more time in order to figure out what Mr Freeze is really up to.

"I have come to realize that the only way to save Nora is through the same process that caused my body to shift into the condition that I am in now. I am immune to disease, and my cells have slowed down their aging process. Once I complete my cure for Nora, I want a city in which she and I can walk freely in without being restricted to these metal suits," Freeze responded in his cold voice, still with his back facing the two heroes.

"You don't know if that will help her, Victor. Complications could arise, immediately killing her instead of healing her like you theorize it would. Your research has no backing, and it is a threat to Nora's life," Batman sternly warned Mr Freeze, worried about what Victor wanted to do to Nora.

"No, you don't understand Batman!" Mr Freeze said while slamming down the table in front of him. It immediately smashed into two, making Batman and Wonder Woman go on the defensive. Mr Freeze turned around and stared at Batman through his red goggles. "I finally have found a cure for Nora. This is what will save her!"

"We won't let you got through with that without the proper testing, especially if it means the murder of an innocent life," Wonder Woman sternly replied, her hand hovering over her lasso in case he tried to attack.

"Ah, the Amazon. You are a remarkable being that I wish I could study. Your superior healing rates could be the cure to many different sicknesses, including the one that plagues my Nora. I'm surprised she is here with you Batman. From my knowledge, you rarely let any of the Justice League into Gotham to assist you," Freeze said.

The thought of Mr Freeze using Diana as a lab rat made Batman's blood boil. He would not let anyone perform lab tests on her with every breath in his body.

"Your time is up, Freeze. I won't sit back and let you kill Nora when other processes could be discovered to heal her. Your obsession with healing her has caused you to do things that she would never condone," Batman sternly said to Mr Freeze, subtly reaching for a batarang behind his cape.

"I will not let you take her from me, Batman," Mr Freeze replied, his voice now laced with hatred. "I have been developing a new type of formula for my suit. I used a toned-down version of it to create this blizzard that has hit Gotham. From my predictions, this new Ice Gun that I have developed should be able to drop an average human's body temperature to fatal levels within a minute of being trapped within my ice. A meta even with enhanced abilities from the Justice League, such as you Wonder Woman, would reach fatal temperature levels within 5 minutes of being trapped," Freeze stated while activating his Ice Gun.

"Now Batman, Wonder Woman, I will not let you stand in my way again," Freeze said as he shot a blast from his Ice Gun. Batman and Wonder Woman quickly dodged out of the way as the blast hit the wall behind them, instantly freezing it.

Rolling being a table, Batman watched as Wonder Woman quickly flew towards Freeze to punch him on his chest plate. Mr. Freeze slightly recoiled from the hit, however as she pulled back her punch, there was barely even a dent on Freeze's armor. She quickly dove behind one of the lab tables and Freeze fired his gun to where he last saw her.

"I can't punch through his suit, Whatever it's made out of is strong," Wonder Woman said to Batman through her commlink.

"Try to stay out of sight. I'm going to see if I can get a scan of Freeze's suit to determine a theory I have," Batman replied. He quickly threw a batarang to the corner of the room, distracting Freeze as he grappled to a metal beam that spanned across two of the walls of the forensic lab.

Batman did a quick scan of the lab to see what he was dealing with position wise. Mr Freeze was currently on a raise centered platform on the back of the lab where most of the heavy duty equipment was. There were three other platforms similar to the one Freeze was currently on, each one on a different wall of the lab. One of them contained the entrance in which he and Diana came in from. From the platforms, two staircases were on the edges of the platforms which led down to the center of the lab where four long tables were lined up in rows next to each other. Behind one of these tables on the opposite side of the lab that Freeze was on, Batman spotted Wonder Woman waiting for him to get his analysis done.

Moving on to Freeze himself, he was wearing a modified version of his older suit. This one looked more bulkier than the one that Batman had last seen him in, with a large glass helmet protecting him from the "warmer" air while simultaneously keeping in the freezing air that kept his body alive. The Ice Gun was different as well, as instead of it being a separate unit, it was directly attached to his suit through a hose running to his back. Speaking of his back, there were three blue canisters attached to the back plates of his armor. A quick scan of them told Batman that they were indeed the new formula that Freeze had created.

"Diana, I figured out a way to defeat Freeze. However, it's going to require some stealth," Batman said to Wonder Woman using his commlink.

"Good thing we worked on those stealth training exercises earlier this week," Diana replied. Batman could practically hear the smirk she had.

"Well, it's time to test out if you can put them to use," Batman evenly replied, although on the inside, he knew that she could easily complete this. She was one of the fastest learners that he had ever met, and she never failed to complete something when it was a do-or-die moment. It was one more reason as to why Batman has complete faith in her, something he has with a very select group of people.

"So how do we take him down?" Diana asked over the commlink, noticing how Mr Freeze was starting to make his way down from the far platform.

"On the back of his armor are three blue canisters that contain his new formula. These canisters are what Freeze is using to power his suit. We just have to simply remove all three of them in order to incapacitate him. However, the canisters are locked onto the back of his suit, meaning we can't simply grab them with my grapple gun or your lasso. We have to sneak behind him and rotate the canisters off of his back without being caught," Batman replied evenly, although truthfully he was worried.

Mr. Freeze always proved to be a formidable villain, but that was not the main item on his mind. He was more worried over Diana being struck by this new formula that Freeze had created. The thought of it hitting her and potentially killing her was enough to fuel his determination of taking Freeze down as quickly, without injury, as possible.

Diana watched as Mr Freeze slowly made his way around the first table closest to the stairs that led up to the platform that he was previously on. She was about two tables over, and she saw that Freeze was starting to head into the opposite direction as her. She quickly, but quietly, crouched-walked across the floor until she was within a few feet of Mr Freeze.

Batman watched the whole process with amazement. He knew that Diana excelled in the stealth programs that he instructed her in, but she was moving with such poise and confidence that it seemed that she was almost as skilled as a member of the Batclan. 'She could easily fit in with the Batclan' Batman thought. He quickly shook his head, refusing to give thought about how perfect Diana would operate with him.

Noticing that Diana was about to make her move in order to remove the first canister, Batman removed a batarang from his utility belt and threw it to the far side of the room in front of Freeze.

The momentary distraction caused by Batman was all Wonder Woman needed in order to quickly remove the first canister from Freeze's suit. She quickly took air and watched from a safe distance on one of the metal beams as alarms flashed in Freeze's helmet, alerting him about the breach in his suit. The place where the canister once was in Freeze's suit was sealed shut by two small metal panels, and it prevented any more leaks in his suit for the time being. It took Freeze a few moments to regain his bearings, but once he did he started to mess around with a control panel on his arm.

"So, you have discovered my suit's weakness, Batman. It seems that I will have to take you out quicker this time," Mr Freeze said in his cold voice now filled with annoyance. Batman watched as the goggles Freeze was wearing shifted to a darker red. Mr Freeze then seemed to be analysing the floor.

Suddenly it hit Batman as to what Freeze was doing. "Diana, Freeze just activated a program in his suit that allows him to see recent footprints left in the cold floor. Whenever you move, make sure you fly so as to not leave a trail behind you."

"Copy that Batman, but what will you do about hiding your footprints?" Wonder Woman asked Batman, worried about how he was going to get by without being detached by Freeze. However, she knew that if there was one person she could trust to come up with a way to get past this, it would be Batman.

"Don't worry about me, Princess. I'm actually going to use this to our advantage," Batman replied. Diana was wondering what he meant by his answer, but she did not have to wait long in order to figure out what he meant.

She saw Batman drop down from his position and land on one of the platforms. Wonder Woman saw him make a quick trip down the stairs before quickly returning to the platform and walking in a few circles. Batman then grappled back up to the metal beam he was sitting on before, and he seemed to be waiting for sometime to occur. She was confused as to why he did those strange movements, until she saw that Freeze picked up on Batman's footprints.

Mr Freeze followed Batman's footprints up the stairs and onto the platform, and he was confused as to why there were a large number of footprints in a specific area of the platform. He did not have any time to ponder this, however, as he was immediately hit on the back of his helmet by a large object. The force of the hit forced him onto one knee, and before he could even recover, alarms started going off inside his helmet alerting him that another canister had been removed from his suit. He quickly activated his suit's sealant mechanisms and plugged the hole that would leak the cooled air he has in his suit into the open air.

Diana was amazed at how flawlessly Batman took on Mr Freeze. The plan of using his footsteps to lure Freeze into a location was extremely dangerous, but then again when does Batman not have some type of plan. She quickly realized the intelligence of using his own trail as a trap, and within a matter of moments he jumped down onto Freeze and quickly removed the canister from his back. The respect and amazement Diana had for this man seemed to continue to grow any time she spent time with him. He was the only person that fully earned her trust, respect, and eventually her admiration.

Batman quickly grappled to the other side of the room in order to put some distance between Freeze and himself. Once at a safe distance on the other side of the lab, he turned back to watch Mr Freeze make some adjustments on his wrist panel once again. Suddenly, a small drone took off from a table close to Freeze. It seemed to be scanning the room for what seemed to be the two heroes.

"I've had enough of this Batman. This needless chasing has wasted precious time that could have been devoted to perfecting my cure for Nora. Now, I shall take extreme measures to locate and end you once and for all," Freeze said, his voice now laced with anger.

The drone that was hovering by Freeze suddenly emitted a bright laser that started to scan the room. Batman immediately knew that the drone was scanning for lifeforms in the lab. Since the room was so cold, the only lifeforms in the room were Freeze, Wonder Woman, and himself. He knew that his suit should mask his readings, but Diana would not be as lucky.

Quickly scanning the room, Batman saw Diana crouched behind a lab table on the platform to the right of the one Freeze was currently on. He knew that she had no idea what the drone was doing, and he watched helplessly as the drone picked up on her position. Mr. Freeze turned to face where Wonder Woman was hiding.

"Now, Amazon. It is time for you to perish," Freeze said. Shocked that he was able to locate her, Diana jumped up and assumed a defensive position, ready to take him on. She would rather take him head-to-head than for Bruce to be hit by Freeze's Ice Gun.

Batman watched with fear as Mr Freeze aimed his Ice Gun straight at Diana. Without thinking, Batman fired his grapple gun to a beam above Wonder Woman and swung towards her.

"Diana, no!" Batman shouted as he grappled through the lab.

Mr. Freeze fired his Ice Gun at Wonder Woman. She put her bracers up in front of her hoping that they could take the hit, but she did not feel anything hit her. Opening her eyes, she was shocked to see Batman standing in front of her, everything but his head encased in a block of ice.

"Batman!" Wonder Woman shouted, fearful of his condition.

"So, Batman decided to sacrifice himself in order to save you. It's a shame that his nobility will be worth nothing," Freeze said in his emotionless robotic tone. The sight of Batman frozen in ice fueled Diana's rage, as she bursted off towards Freeze and landed a massive blow to his helmet that created a large crack on his glass dome. The power of the blow completely knocked Mr Freeze off his feet, spinning him around and causing him to land on his chest.

Wonder Woman did not give Freeze a chance to recover. She quickly followed her attack by jumping onto Freeze's back forcefully and ripping out the last canister of Freeze's formula, effectively shutting down his suit. Spinning him around, she quickly smashed open the glass of Freeze's helmet and knocked him out. Knowing that Freeze was now not a threat, she quickly rushed over to Batman in order to see if he was alright.

"D-d-Diana?" Batman said, his teeth chattering rapidly.

"Batman, are you alright?" Diana asked, not hiding her worry at all.

"N-n-need y-you t-t-t-o br-r-reak ice-e-e," Batman said through chattering teeth. Wonder Woman quickly shattered the block of ice Batman was trapped in by punching it, and he would have fallen to the ground if he was not caught by Diana.

"Hang on, I'm going to bring you back to the cave," Diana said, her worry over Bruce's health increasing by the minute. He felt ice cold to the touch, and she was sure that without his suit enhancements, he would have been dead already.

Pushing those thoughts out of her head, Wonder Woman secured Freeze with lighting speed. She then picked up Batman and flew out of the old GCPD building while simultaneously contacting the Watchtower to alert the GCPD of Freeze's condition and to remotely pilot the Javelin back.

Flying through the air, Diana focused on getting to the cave as fast as possible and not on the fact that Batman was shivering in her arms uncontrollably. She was so used to him bottling his emotions up, as he thought that they were a sign of weakness. For him to show how bad the cold was affecting him told her that he needed to be warmed up immediately.

Quickly flying through the secret tunnel entrance of the Batman, Diana landed to find Alfred dusting the Batcomputer's desk.

"Ah, Master Bruce. I did not expect you to return this early— Miss Diana? What are you doing— oh, oh my! Quickly, bring him over here," Alfred said to Wonder Woman, sprinting over to a special room in the back of the infirmary.

"Master Bruce is known to prepare for any eventuality. In case he contracted a severe case of hypothermia, he had this room built that would gradually raise his body temperature at a safe level in order to restore it back to it's normal temperature," Alfred explained as he prepared the room. Diana quickly walked in and placed Bruce down on the bed inside of the room. Alfred quickly shut the door and hit a button that started the room up.

"Now Miss Diana, this process takes a couple of hours to perform, as any immediate changes to his body temperature can prove to be fatal. Would you care for a cup of tea in the study while you wait for him to recover?" Alfred asked. His calm demeanor relaxed Diana a little, as she was still rattled from the whole experience.

"Thank you, Alfred. That would be lovely," Diana said with a slight smile. Alfred could still see the worry in her eyes, and he was thankful that this amazing woman was looking out for someone who puts everyone ahead of himself.

Leading her towards the stairs of the cave, Alfred decided that he should bring Diana's hopes up. "Miss Diana, Master Bruce should make a full recovery within the next couple of hours. You bringing him here certainly saved his life."

"It was no issue at all Alfred. I was just so worried about Bruce's safety that this was the first place I decided to go," Diana said, relief coursing through her now knowing that Bruce was going to be alright.

"I must thank you, Miss Diana. Your quick thinking and excellent skills are the reason why we should see Master Bruce return in a couple of hours looking completely fine. As you are quite familiar with, nothing keeps Master Bruce down for long, and I've heard many similar stories about your 'stubbornness' as well. With how similar both of you are, it's no wonder why you two are attracted to each other," Alfred replied with a smirk.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a slight blush on Diana's cheeks. "It's fairly obvious that I am attracted to him, Alfred. However, I don't think that he shares that same attraction. I mean, he's never made it known if he even cares for me in that way," Diana replied while sheepishly turning a raven lock behind her ear.

She was surprised to hear a snort come from the prestigious butler, and she quickly looked up to see him chuckling. "Oh Miss Diana, sometimes Master Bruce makes his emotions so clear that almost everyone can see them. Now, if you don't mind waiting here while I prepare your tea," Alfred replied with a slight chuckle at the end. He quickly opened up the secret door that led into the study.

"What do you mean by that, Alfred?" Diana asked, but when she turned to look where the British butler once was, she realized that she was alone in the study. 'The men in this household and their sneaking around,' Diana thought in her head with a slight chuckle.

She went over to a bookshelf that was next to the fireplace and grabbed a book that she started to read the last time she was at the Manor. She visited the Manor in order to find out if Bruce had made any headway into an investigation that the League was performing a few months ago. She remembers being surprised not only about how much information he was able to uncover about this mysterious figure they were tracking, but also the fact that he was sharing all this information with her. Superman told her that he tried three times in the previous week to get information out of him, and he did not even acknowledge him. Diana wonders if he was just in a talkative mood that day, or if she actually did have some type of affect on him like Alfred claimed.

Settling down onto the couch in front of the fireplace, Diana curled her legs underneath her and began reading her book. The book had something to do with a family stranded on an island, and while it was one that she actually enjoyed, she soon became very tired.

When Alfred returned to bring Diana her tea not even ten minutes later, he found her fast asleep on the couch. He smiled to himself, wondering why his ward would not let a beautiful and caring woman like her into his life. Alfred knew that the previous women in Bruce's life could not even hold a candle to Diana, so he knew that those pathetic reasons Bruce had were invalid to her. Grabbing a blanket, he quietly laid it out over her, wishing that the master of the house would finally open his heart to a happiness that Alfred knew she could provide.

X X X

Bruce awoke in the special room, still feeling a slight chill. However, he did not feel as if he was going to freeze to death, so he assumed that he was successfully brought back to the cave by Diana. Checking his vitals, his heart rate was normal, and his body temperature had returned to 96°F which was good enough for him.

Exiting the room, he noticed that the cave was very quiet. He saw that the batcycle was gone, meaning that Tim already went out on patrol. Bruce knew that Robin probably contacted Nightwing to help cover patrol for Bruce while he recovered, so it seemed that he had the night off.

Bruce was slightly disappointed that there was no sign of Diana anywhere in the cave. It was not a strange feeling to Bruce of wanting to come home and see Diana waiting for him. He has been wanting this for too long. Seeing how well she was able to not only handle one of his villains but also save him in the process once again reminded Bruce of how strong of a woman she is.

Deciding to get something warm to drink, Bruce made his way up the stairs that would lead to the grandfather clock entrance in the study. Opening the secret door, Bruce saw Diana curled up with a blanket asleep on the couch. The sight of her in such a peaceful and content state waiting for him in his study was the final blow to Bruce's walls around his heart. He silently made his way over to her and adjusted the blanket on her, making sure that it covered her body.

Diana slowly opened her eyes at the feel of someone adjusting a blanket over her. She does not remember falling asleep or grabbing a blanket, but the warm cocoon she was currently in muddled her thoughts. Once the tiredness left her eyes, she was greeted with the handsome face of Bruce Wayne crouched down to her level, a slight smile on his face. She hopes that if this is a dream, she never wants to wake up from it.

"Bruce?" Diana asked, the tiredness making her voice barely above a whisper. The way that she said his name made Bruce's heart practically inflamed with love. He imagined waking up every morning to her beautiful face, and hearing his name whispered from her lips when she wakes up. Now, he has a chance to make his dreams a reality.

"Hello, Princess," Bruce quietly said with a smile. "I was coming up to get something warm to drink when I saw you asleep on the couch."

"I'm sorry, Bruce. I didn't mean to fall asleep, but I've been on so many long monitor duty shifts this week and I've had such little time to—," Diana started to say before she was interrupted by Bruce taking her chin in his hands, lifting her head slightly to look him straight in his blue eyes that were darkened with adoration.

"You don't have to apologize for anything, Diana. In fact, I enjoyed seeing you in such a peaceful state. It actually makes me want to see if more often," Bruce says as he slightly leans in towards her.

"You do?" Diana asked breathlessly. She sincerely hoped that Bruce was actually giving them a chance.

"I do," Bruce quietly said, fully bringing his head down and slowly meeting his lips to hers. The kiss they shared was slow and passionate, conveying each other's emotions without the need of words.

Pulling away, Diana was almost afraid to open her eyes and find out that this was all just a wonderful dream by Morpheus. The feel of a hand stroking her cheek caused her to open her eyes and look into the face of the man that had seemingly done the impossible: steal the heart of an Amazon Princess.

"I know I haven't been very forthcoming in my feelings, Princess. But if there is anything that I am certain of, it's that I love you, Diana," Bruce said with an ease that almost surprised him. The way his heart lit up in warmth by finally saying those three words to her, along with the smile that adorned her face made Bruce feel like he was in heaven.

"I love you too, Bruce," Diana said before pulling him back into another passionate kiss, this one proclaiming the love they had for each other. The two melded together as they put everything they had into the kiss, emotions long suppressed finally arising to the surface to be acknowledged and shared.

Reluctantly ending the kiss, Bruce pulled back to take Diana's hands into his. "I haven't had any sort of holiday celebration since I was a kid. But... I wanted to ask if you would like to spend Christmas this year at the Manor with me," Bruce asked Diana, still slightly afraid that she would reject him although she said her love to him.

Fortunately for Bruce, it seemed that Diana's smile only got bigger. She quickly pulled him onto the couch, throwing the blanket over the two of them as she embraced him.

"I would love to, Bruce," Diana said, leaning her head to rest upon his chest. This was everything she had ever dreamed about, and her dreams coming true this holiday season will definitely make this a December to remember.

The End