Psalms of the Wonderbat
A/N: Thank you to everyone who has read and/or reviewed the first Psalm on the BMWW Playlist! I am so grateful for the positive feedback! Here comes the next Psalm – Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Batman, Wonder Woman or any other recognizable characters (DC Comics does), nor do I own any of songs from which I have drawn inspiration from for these song fics; all lyrics will be credited to their respective performers as such and are used for reference purposes only.
This entry references the Justice League Unlimited two-part story "The Once and Future Thing".
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Psalm: Function: noun. Etymology: Old English psealm "psalm," from Latin psalmus (same meaning), from Greek psalmos "psalm," literally, "twanging of a harp," from psallein "to pluck, play a stringed musical instrument." 1: a sacred song or poem.
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"I was broken from a young age
Taking my sulking to the masses
Writing my poems for the few
That look at me, took to me, shook to me, feeling me
Singing from heartache from the pain
Taking my message from the veins
Speaking my lesson from the brain
Seeing the beauty through the...
Pain!
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Pain!
You break me down, you build me up, believer, believer
Pain!
Oh let the bullets fly, oh let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from...
Pain!
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer"
~ "Believer" by Imagine Dragons ~
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Believer
Gotham City, April 20th, 18:23 EST, 50 Years in the Future...
Pain. It's always been a part of my life. Physically, emotionally or psychologically; pain is an unavoidable part of who I am. It's what drives me to be better and to do what I do night after night. It's why I shut everyone out. It's not enough for me to suffer, anyone who enters my life is somehow tainted and scarred by the pain. But not her.
I tried lying to myself for years, saying she would end up another casualty of the dark, icy tendrils that ensnare my heart and soul. I couldn't allow her to be suffocated by the thick, black clouds that snuff out any morsel of happiness that enter my life.
She's tried to convince me on multiple occasions that she is different; that she won't be consumed by the darkness. I pushed away time and time again, only to have her come back tenfold. Everyone keeps telling me I'm crazy and that I'm missing out on the best thing that could ever happen to me. I tell myself it's to protect her when I know it's more to protect the scared eight-year-old boy inside me.
I know I'd never be able to survive if she ever left me; by choice or otherwise. To taste sweet ambrosia for a moment and to have it swiftly taken away would be the death of me. I would become the empty, hardened shell everyone assumes me to already be.
Meeting my possible older self today and watching Diana disappear before my eyes made me realize a pain greater than I had anticipated: regret. The moment Diana vanished, all the things I never said or did rushed through my mind full force and hit me in the gut like a ton of bricks. I couldn't breathe, save for the panicked cry of her name that pushed passed my lips.
Evolution; change. Another universal constant.
Rage. It's what pain always evolves into. It's one of the many emotions that I channel into the mission. I am filled with the hottest, most blinding white rage I have every felt in my life as I stock away to end the madness today had wrought. Not only for me, but for John and what this experience has do to him. Finding out about a potential future son with Shayera while he's with Vixen will have him in a tailspin for sure. What did I say about dating within the team always leading to disaster?
Once we were through interrogating Ghoul, my elder doppelganger pulled me aside to break a constant I had lived my whole life by: our rules.
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Flashback
Gotham City, April 20th, 20:42 EST, 50 Years in the Future...
"I know how we feel about gaining knowledge of the future and how it could damage things but, I don't wish my future on any version of myself," Future Bruce said. "I don't care what you think or how many times you debate the issue, you need to sack up and grow a pair."
"I don't know…" Batman begins, shocked at his older self's no-nonsense statement, only to be abruptly cut off.
"Are you really going to try that? Did you forget who you're talking to?" Future Bruce smirked and asked with a cocked eyebrow in mild amusement.
"Fine."
"We have never loved another as much as we love Diana. We will never find anyone who even comes close. If I could do all over again, I would let her love me and I, her. If we can fix this, the next time you see her, you make her yours and never let her go," he whispered, emotions strangling the words in his throat. "Worship her for the Goddess she is and allow yourself some happiness with the short time you have on this planet. Her love will save your soul. The alternative is Hell on Earth every day for the rest of your life. Trust me, I know."
End Flashback
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Watchtower, April 20th, 12:06 EST, The Present
"You don't remember going on a mission with us today, do you?" I ask Diana, already knowing the answer by her earlier statement regarding the cut on John's head.
"I just got here," she replies. I don't know if I am happy or not about that revelation. John and I are the only two people who knows what happened today. I agree with his sentiment that this could indeed complicate things.
I'm jolted out of my deep thoughts by John standing up to go, leaving me alone with Diana. I acknowledge his leaving and settle back into an uncomfortable silence that I know she can feel. My head and my heart still warring over what is best for the future. Do I listen to my older self and never look back? I can feel her eyes on me, concern and love shining in them.
"Batman? Are you alright?" she asks as she brings me back out of my thoughts with her melodious voice and the caring touch of her hand on mine.
A few more moments pass before I turn to her and answer: "No, I'm not," I am shocked to find myself confessing, my response surprising her, too. Still struggling with what to do or say, I take a deep breath and exhale slowly to try and calm the nervousness that has enveloped me. "I have to get back to Gotham soon. Come to the Manor at 8 o'clock for dinner tonight, Princess. Please," I say, her surprise turning into full out shock at my invitation.
Once over her shock, she brightly smiles at me and accepts my invitation: "It's a date."
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Batcave, April 20th, 19:52 EST
Diana will be here any minute. I close the case file I was working on and make my way to the staircase that leads to the Manor from the Batcave. Dressed in a pair of black shoes and pants and a white button up shirt, the sleeves rolled up to my elbows and the top few shirt buttons undone, I make my way through the study to await her arrival.
"Is everything ready, Alfred?" I ask my surrogate Father, who I know is more than pleased with the direction of this evening.
"Yes, Master Bruce," Alfred chipperly clips, as a knock on the front door is suddenly heard.
"I'll get it, Alfred," I state, running a shaky hand through my hair. Here goes nothing.
"Very good, Sir. I shall be putting the finishing touches on dinner if you or Miss Diana require anything."
"Thank you, Alfred."
The sight that greets me on the other side steals my breath. Diana was standing in the doorway, dressed in the red dress she had acquired while out on the town in Paris with the then Princess, now Queen, of Kasnia, Audrey. The image of her in that dress from that night was seared into my brain like a hot branding iron to skin. The dreams I've had of pressing her up against her hotel room wall as I kiss her senseless come rushing to the forefront of my mind. Hot arousal growing in my loins. She smiled sweetly at me, her eyes twinkling in the moonlight.
"Good evening, Bruce," she says.
"Hello, Princess," I huskily greet her. "Please, come in," I say as I guide her through the threshold. "I'm glad you came."
"Well, I must admit, I am a little curious as to the nature of your request," she confesses, as I lead her to the couch in front of the fireplace in the main room. We sit, bodies turned towards each other, knees touching. I take her strong hands in mine as my eyes lock with her sapphire ones. God, I love her eyes. I breathe in and take a long, shuddering breath out to try and steady myself.
"I've come to the conclusion that I can't keep doing this anymore. I can't keep stringing you along, dragging your heart around because I'm scared of the 'what ifs'," I inform her, willing myself to continue before I lose my nerve. "I was going to wait until after dinner to have this conversation with you but, I've already wasted enough time."
"Bruce?" trepidation lacing her voice, afraid of what I'm going to say. Afraid that I'm going to push her way for good tonight. I gently put a finger to her lips to silence her.
"Please, Diana, I need to tell you… I need to tell you… I need to… I…" fear gripping my throat, the words I so desperately need to come out stalling as I look away, trying to hold my raging emotions at bay. A gentle hand comes to rest on my cheek as she turns me to look at her once more. Blue eyes meet blue eyes once more. Patience, understanding and love swirl brightly in her cerulean depths. I finally find my voice again.
"I love you, Diana," the words coming out with a confident, yet gentle, tone, shock clearly etched on her face. She probably thought I was going to push her away for good this time. Feel like such a fool for how I've treated the woman I love more than anything. "I have loved you for so very long, too afraid of you getting hurt or worse because you are with me. I see now that, by pushing you away all this time, I managed to hurt you anyway," I pause to take another breath. "I know I don't deserve you but, if you let me, I promise that I will do my best to make you feel like the luckiest woman in the world for the rest of my life."
"Bruce, I... I love you, too."
I pull her into my lap as my lips crash into hers, tongues dueling for dominance as passion takes over. The air in the room growing warmer with each passing moment of unadulterated desire. After several long moments, we break apart to catch our breath, breathing heavily. Smiling widely, I start to laugh.
"What's so funny?"
"I can't believe what I fool I've been all this time," I tell her as our foreheads come together. "I'm so sorry if I hurt you, Princess. I will live every day trying to make up for any pain that I have caused you by being so damn stubborn. I can't promise that every day will be a walk in the park with me but, I will love you until my last breath like no one else can."
Diana's smile grows to the biggest I've ever seen it with my declaration of love and commitment.
"What changed, Bruce?" she asks, stroking the side of my face with the backs of her fingers before coming to rest her palm on my chest.
I tell her about the mission we went on today, of which she has no memory. How it felt like my heart was ripped from my chest and the air sucked from my lungs as I helplessly watched her disappear right in front of me, not a thing I could do to stop it.
"It was in that moment that all of my reasons for us to not be together were rendered inconsequential. Whether we were together or not, the pain of losing you still hit me harder than I could have ever imagined," I say, the last few words tapering off into a strangled whisper, my chin falling to my chest. I squeeze my eyes tightly closed as I try to banish the image from my mind. Even with her sitting right next to me, alive and well, I still can't believe it.
"I'm right here, Bruce," she says as she gently lifts my chin, forcing me to look at her once more. "You righted the wrongs Chronos did, and you saved me. I'm here with you now, my Dark Knight," love glistening in her beautiful eyes as she smiles brightly at me.
What did I ever do to deserve this Goddess in my arms? Every moment with her, every word that comes out of her luscious lips seems to only intensify my feelings of love for her.
"What say you start making it up to me by giving me a tour of the master suite, Mister Wayne?" she flirtatiously asks, as her eyes darken with lust and love.
My lips are against hers in an instant as I scoop her up into my arms, carrying her up the stairs to my bedroom. Once inside, I kick the door shut and lay her down on the bed, our lips separating as we both pant for air.
"Are you sure about this, Diana?" I breathlessly ask her.
"I've wait far too long for this moment, Mister Wayne, I don't think I can wait any longer."
Any bit of control I had left snapped at that moment, as our lips find each other's once again. Clothes are removed and carelessly discarded on the floor. The dinner Alfred has prepared, forgotten like our discarded garments.
"You are so beautiful," I say, taking in her nude form. My hands move in opposite directions, as one moves to caress her breasts and the other blazes a hot trail over her abdomen, on the way to her core. She gasps in surprised pleasure as I begin to stimulate her body. Her moans of pleasure are erotic symphonies to my ears, stoking the fire inside of me that is already threatening to engulf me. Does she have any idea how damn sexy she is by just existing? Does she know how arousing she is whenever she is near me? Wearing that red dress here makes me think she knows exactly what she does to me or how to have me wrapped around her little finger. My not so naïve Princess.
My lips descend on hers again, silencing her heated moans of pleasure. Her hands move along my scarred back, her nails digging into me as she writhes in ecstasy beneath me. I release her mouth, trailing searing kisses along her jaw and throat. I increase the pace of ministrations my hands are inflicting on her body as my mouth latches on to her neck. Her body arches off the bed, as she edges closer to release. She moves her hands to mimic mine on my chest and hardened arousal. A gasp escapes my lips as I am forced to release my mouth from her neck as she tentatively begins to stroke me. My eyes press tightly shut at the wonderful feeling of her touch, panting heavily with my forehead buried in the cruck of her neck.
"Princess…" I manage to moan out, not wanting her to stop but, knowing I had to before I couldn't. "Not yet," I tell her as I grab her hands and pin them above her head with mine. "You first."
I swiftly cover her mouth with mine, her protest lost in her throat as I work my way down her body with my mouth, worshipping every last glorious inch of her. She nearly jumps off the bed once my mouth finds her hot, wet center. She comes undone quickly. Her body arching and her head thrown back against the pillows as she screams my name in her release, as I savour the taste of her climax. I move up her body to plant kisses on her mouth and face as she struggles to even her breathing and calm her spasming body and senses.
"Please, Bruce," she breathlessly begs, "I want you, now."
I kiss her once more as I move over her to position myself, "Are you sure about this, about me, Princess?" Eyes locking as I ask her consent, secretly praying she doesn't turn me away.
"I love you Bruce. You are the only man I have ever loved or will ever love," her confessions of love warm my cold, broken heart. Her eyes filled with so many emotions: love, compassion, lust, fear. "I cannot deny the nervousness I feel in this moment but, I trust no one more that you to be my first, and my last."
The warmth that spreads from my heart throughout my entire body from her admissions is overwhelming. I don't deserve her. I am but a mere mortal man; she a radiant beacon of love and purity.
"I love you, Diana," I say as I ease into her, never breaking eye contact. I want to remember every detail of this experience with her. I kiss her hard to help take away the pain of her first time as I pierce her. I kiss all over her face and neck as I whisper apologies and love to her as I hold myself deep inside her, willing my body to not move while she becomes accustomed to the intrusion. Once her breathing has steadied, she opens her tear-filled eyes. Seeing my love for her and the fear in my eyes that I hurt her, she cups my cheek with her hand and draws me to her intoxicating lips. She wraps her legs around my waist, urging me to make love to her. The world around us fades away, the focus only on she and I, and the sounds of our passionate love-making.
I can feel her nearing the edge once more as she is overcome with pleasure, my climax not far behind.
"Oh, Hera, Bruce!" She pleads to me in rapture. "Yes, Bruce! More!" I oblige her as I quicken the pace and intensity of our erotic dance.
"Come for me, Princess," I pant out as her body explodes with ecstasy below me.
"BRUUUUUCE!" She cries out in her release, pushing me over the edge with her.
"DIANA!" I scream out a guttural cry of her name in reply.
Our bodies, slick with sweat from our intimate embrace and my sex still sheathed inside her, I kiss her softly, pouring all my love for her into it.
"I love you so much, Diana." I whisper earnestly to her. "I am so sorry it took me so long to finally allow us to be together," self loathing starting to creep up.
"Shhh," she says, silencing me with a quick kiss. "It doesn't matter anymore. I have you now, Bruce Wayne, and I am never letting you go. I love you now and forever, my Dark Knight."
I think back in this moment to early that day and the unwavering resolve and certainty of my future self's beliefs that letting Diana in the next chance I got was the only thing that mattered. It mattered more than the mission or taking my next breath.
A genuine smile spreads across my face as I kiss her senseless. I have never felt so whole in my life. Being here, with her, I can finally feel the broken pieces of my heart beginning to mend after all these years. I could have never imagined after all this time that the happiness and peace I feel in this moment with her could ever have happened. Her unwavering dedication and love for the many facets of me and my broken soul healing me. I've never felt so alive.
As we begin to fall asleep in each other's arms, my last conscious thoughts are of her and her love for me. She has made me a believer.
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"Believer" by Imagine Dragons
First things first
I'mma say all the words inside my head
I'm fired up and tired of the way that things have been, oh ooh
The way that things have been, oh ooh
Second things second
Don't you tell me what you think that I could be
I'm the one at the sail, I'm the master of my sea, oh ooh
The master of my sea, oh ooh
I was broken from a young age
Taking my sulking to the masses
Writing my poems for the few
That look at me, took to me, shook to me, feeling me
Singing from heartache from the pain
Taking my message from the veins
Speaking my lesson from the brain
Seeing the beauty through the...
Pain!
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Pain!
You break me down, you build me up, believer, believer
Pain!
Oh let the bullets fly, oh let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from...
Pain!
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Third things third
Send a prayer to the ones up above
All the hate that you've heard has turned your spirit to a dove, oh ooh
Your spirit up above, oh ooh
I was choking in the crowd
Building my rain up in the cloud
Falling like ashes to the ground
Hoping my feelings, they would drown
But they never did, ever lived, ebbing and flowing
Inhibited, limited
Till it broke open and rained down
And rained down, like...
Pain!
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Pain!
You break me down, you build me up, believer, believer
Pain!
Oh let the bullets fly, oh let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from...
Pain!
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Last things last
By the grace of the fire and the flames
You're the face of the future, the blood in my veins, oh ooh
The blood in my veins, oh ooh
But they never did, ever lived, ebbing and flowing
Inhibited, limited
Till it broke open and rained down
And rained down, like...
Pain!
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Pain!
You break me down, you build me up, believer, believer
Pain!
Oh let the bullets fly, oh let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from...
Pain!
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
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A/N: Happy Wonderbat Weekend! Hope you enjoyed the lasted entry! I will try to have the next entry up within the next two weeks, if time permits.
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