Hunter's Night
By Christy
A/N: Whew, wow. Long time no update - but I've been finishing up another novel edit, and then it's back to the publishers!
K, BIG NEWS: My novel UNDER is up for reading/rating on Swoon Reads, a Macmillan publisher's website that will publish the TOP 3 Books every few months. I NEED you all to GO TO THE LINK ON MY PROFILE and RATE and Review my novel for it to be in the running! :)
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Bruce Wayne
Tommy Elliot strode into the room, medical bag in one hand and his coat in the other. He looked refreshed, clean, and his green eyes glittered intently.
"Bruce, Diana - and Alf! Been a long time," he said, shaking Alfred's hand firmly, giving him a light slap on the shoulder. "Look at you! You look better than ever, old sport. Got a special someone keeping you young and having fun?" He winked.
"Indeed," said Alfred. "And you look well, Doctor Elliot."
"I try," grinned Tommy, and glanced around the house with a keen gaze before resting on Diana and Bruce. "Bruce, old chap," he joked, shaking hands with Bruce. "Recovered from the chaos?"
"If only," said Bruce lightly. His hand still rested on Diana's back.
Tommy took Diana's hand and pressed his own over hers. Bruce noticed Diana stiffen, her eyes glinting dangerously; but she flashed Tommy a weak smile.
"You look pretty shaken up, Diana," Tommy said, concerned. "Let's take a look at you, shall we?" He patted her hand. "You want to go into another room, or do this right here?"
Diana pulled her hand away and gestured to the couch. "I think right here is fine. No bumps or bruises on me, Doctor. Honestly," she laughed slightly, "I think Bruce overreacted about my condition. I'm fine, really."
"Stronger than you look, hmm?" Tommy used his various instruments to look into her eyes, her ears, her mouth, and finally took out his stethoscope to listen to her heart. "When was the last time you had a physical, Miss Prince?"
Bruce resisted rolling his eyes. As if she would ever have a physical. Even when she'd been seriously injured by Ares, she still hated the thought of being weak, of needing any kind of help, even from a physician. No way she'd even pretend to see a doctor; she thought it was a waste of time.
"It's been a while," Diana admitted.
"Hmm. Deep breaths for me." Tommy pressed the stethoscope to her back, listened carefully multiple times, and then to her chest. After a long pause, he threw her a smile, shook his head, and pulled off the stethoscope. "Well, got some bad news for you, Miss Prince."
"Oh?" Diana tensed slightly.
"Afraid so. Looks like you won't be needing to have me hanging around," Tommy joked, flashing her another charmingly rueful smile. "You're fit as a fiddle. I've never heard a stronger heart before."
Diana and Bruce both relaxed, and Diana said, "My family doesn't have any history of heart disease. For the most part, we've been healthy. My mom..." She hesitated, glanced at Bruce. "She went through cancer, but she's been cancer free for a few years now, thank He - heavens." She caught herself. She placed a hand to her temples. "It's been a little rough, touch and go for a while, though. I wasn't sure she would make it at one point," she said quietly.
Bruce went over and pressed his hand on her shoulder; she reached up and gripped his hand with her own.
Tommy's eyes slid from Diana to Bruce to their joined hands. After a moment, he said,"Well, if there's nothing else, maybe you have a good cup of coffee somewhere?" He grinned, glancing back at the kitchen. "Is Alfred still the best coffee-maker in Gotham?"
Bruce smiled. "He used to be. I think Diana's mom took his place... but don't tell him I said that," he added wryly.
"Mum's the word. You two up for a cup?"
Diana smiled briefly and rose to her feet. "Absolutely."
They entered the kitchen to find Dick and Barbara still doing homework; both looked up when they entered.
"Hey, Bee, Dick, honey," greeted Diana. "This is Doctor Thomas Elliot. Tom, this is our son Richard and our friend Barbara Gordon."
Tommy reached out a hand and shook Dick's first and then Barbara's hand, studying her and her chair more carefully.
"Nice to meet you both," said Tommy jovially. "What you working on?"
"Pre-Algebra," Dick said glumly, while Barbara said, "Calculus."
Tommy raised an eyebrow, tuning his attention to Barbara more sharply. "Calc, huh? Not too shabby, Miss Gordon."
She beamed. "Thank you. I've been working on computer coding for a few years now, but I definitely want to join the FBI or CIA at some point."
"Aiming a bit low," joked Tommy.
Bruce rounded the island counter and handed Tommy a steaming cup of coffee. "Black okay?"
"Just how I like it." Tom took a sip and returned to the counter, lowering his voice. "I'll take a look at her chart history when I get back to my office," he told Bruce and Diana. "I'm not sure what I can do, but if there is something, I'll do what it takes. Have her dad call me to set something up." He handed them his card. "Sooner the better. There are a few experimental surgeries that I'd like to look into."
"It would obviously be up to her father," Diana said, "But I know he'd appreciate any second opinions. Barb, she..." She glanced over at the young girl. "She's something special." Her eyes softened.
Tommy nodded slowly. "I understand." He took another sip, looked down. "Diana... I'm not sure if Bruce told you, but my mother also struggled with cancer. She passed away several years ago."
Diana paled. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. It was a miracle she even lived as long as she did." Tommy's voice suddenly carried a small strain. He smirked at Bruce, slapped him on the back, gripping his shoulder. "I have the Wayne family to thank for my dear mother living as long as she did. When I was younger, around twelve, my parents were in a car accident. Horrible, and my dad ended up dying, despite Bruce's father's best efforts. But Bruce's old man did manage to save my mother, who lived almost ten more years after that."
Diana smiled faintly. "I never got to meet him," she said softly, "But from what I've heard, Thomas Wayne was a brilliant doctor."
"Oh, the best. Inspired me, in fact," Tommy said brightly. "You know, Brucie, that my parents idolized yours?" He chuckled. "The Wayne family was and still is the most famous in Gotham. My parents..." He chuckled again. "My parents were always over the moon when your folks invited us over."
Bruce smiled. "We had some good times."
"Yeah, especially when I kicked your sorry little ass," Tommy laughed, squeezing Bruce's arm good-naturedly. At Diana's raised eyebrow, Tommy assured her, "We were just a pair of rowdy boys."
Bruce remembered it slightly differently. Tommy had been almost twice his size and had not been afraid to use that size against him. But they'd had some good times, too. Bruce had given it back to Tommy as much as he could. Not for the first time he wished he'd met Diana earlier in his life. He wondered what she would've thought of him and Tommy as ten, eleven year old boys, rough-housing, fist-fighting. She would've trounced the both of them, he thought to himself, amused. He wished she had been able to meet his parents. They would've practically adopted her. They would've loved her.
"Aw, hell," said Tommy suddenly, checking his iPhone. "Gotta run. Emergency surgery."
"I'll show you out," Bruce said.
Tommy nodded, smiled at Diana, and pressed his hand over hers. "We'll talk more," he promised. "Call me if you need anything. And I mean it."
Diana smiled. "Thank you. Will do."
Tommy waved to the kids and followed Bruce out the front door to where his car sat in the driveway. Tommy gazed around the park, the house for a long moment, and slowly nodded. "It's been a long time," he said, his voice growing slightly distant.
"Too long," said Bruce, feeling a touch of dark and light memories play in his head. He looked down. "My dad did everything he could for your father, Tom," he added in a lower voice.
Tommy's green eyes turned hard, and his jaw tightened. "I know, Bruce."
"I'm just glad he was able to do something for your mother... At least a while longer."
Tommy grit his teeth, and he cast Bruce a wan smile. "I wish your old man were still here, Brucie. There are a few things... A few things I'd like to say to him. I never got to repay him for saving my mother's life."
Bruce frowned. "You know better than anyone that he never wanted thanks."
"Right," laughed Tommy somewhat hollowly. "I know." His glittering green eyes turned suddenly to Bruce. "But at least you're still around, Bruce. Even if your dad's not here anymore... You're still here."
Bruce smiled faintly. "You know," he said, "we never did get to finish our last chess game all those years ago."
"Oh, I don't know, Bruce," Tommy said with an almost false lightness, opening his car door. "I'm not sure we ever stopped playing." Throwing Bruce a strange smile, he got into the car and pulled out of the driveway, the iron gates shutting behind him.
Strangely unsettled, Bruce frowned and walked back into the house, his hands in his pockets.
Dinah Lance
Dinah rubbed her temples as she re-read another witness's signed statement for the fifth time. Maroni's trial was coming up in just a few weeks, and they could not afford to leave any stone unturned. If they didn't get Maroni for life this time, it would be a hell of a time trying to get him for anything else. Harvey could make no mistakes during this trial. But she had faith in him; she knew he would do whatever it took to make sure Maroni was behind bars.
Despite her best efforts, her thoughts drifted to another man who would also stop at nothing to see criminals brought to justice. Only unlike Harvey, Ollie had a sense of humor... It was one of the main reasons why she'd fallen in love with him so fast. He never failed to make her laugh, to cheer her up when her day had been difficult. Except for that day...
A light knock on the door startled her out of her reverie.
"Hey. Lost in thought?" Harvey smiled.
Dinah shook her head. "No, just... trying to keep my head straight with all this evidence."
Harvey stuck his hands in his pockets, meandering his way up to her desk. "Know how you feel. What say we take a little break, get some chow?"
Dinah hesitated at his pristine smile. She didn't want to give him the wrong impression.
"I don't know... I should really catch up on these reports..."
"Aw, come on," Harvey urged. "You look like you need a break, Dinah. There's this great wok place just up the street. I'll buy?"
Dinah's heart sank. "Split the check, like always," she said, but found herself rising to her feet. She internally sighed. She had to move on. But it just wouldn't be with Harvey, no matter how much she liked him. She happened to catch his disappointed frown as she passed him to grab her light sweater off the hook. But he quickly covered it up with another one of his perfect smiles and escorted her out of the office.
It was good to get out, Dinah had to admit as she and Harvey sat at a small table at the wok restaurant. The noodles were hot and delicious, the tea was calming and warm, and Harvey did know how to cheer her up, even if he didn't have Ollie's sense of humor.
"I'm telling you, I did," Harvey laughed, slurping up a few noodles.
Dinah shook her head in disbelief. "You and Bruce Wayne really went at it?"
"What can I say, I was an ass back then," Harvey chuckled. "Too bad Bruce never seemed to really grow out of it." He shook his head, shrugged. "I thought his guardian might make a better impression on him... But I guess it was too late."
Dinah felt an odd twinge. She'd never been friends with Bruce Wayne, but she did like Diana. "His fiancee is wonderful, though," she was quick to add.
"Oh, absolutely. I can't figure out why she's even with him," Harvey mused. "Maybe she's a golddigger, or just plain naive. I can't see any sensible woman actually marrying Bruce Wayne for his sparkling personality. The guy's a man-whore, sorry to say."
Dinah's eyes flashed. "She's not a golddigger," she argued flatly. "She's known him since they were children. Maybe his reputation isn't as true as he'd like Gotham to believe."
Harvey raised an eyebrow. "You're ferocious."
"Diana's one of the best people I've met here," Dinah said. "She's open, honest, and kind. Qualities that are in severely short supply here in Gotham. Or anywhere, for that matter."
Harvey smiled. "All right. I can't claim to know her like you do." His smile turned towards a grin. "I like you when you're a spitfire, Dinah. Makes me think we might actually win this trial."
Dinah fell silent. She tried to shrug, nonchalant. "Just my personality." She looked down, stirring her soup, and glanced upward, and froze. On the TV hanging on the wall, facing her, was a familiar figure she never thought she would see again. Underneath the figure was the headline "QUEEN TO DISCUSS TECH MERGER WITH WAYNE ENTERPRISES."
Shit. Ollie was coming here. To Gotham.
Oh, hell. She couldn't help it. She started to panic.
"Dinah? What is it?" Harvey asked, swallowing his noodles.
Dinah's hands trembled around her teacup, her gaze locked on the TV in front of her.
Harvey turned his head to follow her gaze; frowning, he glanced back at her with a wary eye. Dinah quickly averted her gaze and started to aimlessly twirl her noodles around her chopsticks.
"Something you want to tell me?" Harvey's voice was still friendly, but she knew him well enough to catch the strained tone. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
He knew, he had to.
But she couldn't.
"It's nothing," Dinah lied. "Just... thought I saw something. But I didn't." She tapped her chopsticks on the table. Tensing as Harvey's hand covered her own, her eyes flew up to meet his.
"If we're going to work together... to bring down Gotham's most wanted," Harvey said in a low voice, "We need to be able to trust each other."
"I do," Dinah said weakly. "I do trust you."
Harvey held her gaze but didn't remove his hand. "Do you?" His tone grew strange, almost wistful. "Dinah..." His thumb slowly started to stroke the back of her hand, ever so lightly. "You know I trust you completely. I just want you to know that you can trust me. With anything... no matter what it is. You have to know how much I care about you..."
Dinah shuddered under his touch as unwanted memories flew up to the forefront of her mind. She jerked back, nearly slamming her hand on the table, and ignored Harvey's expression turning from hurt, bewilderment, to a sullen frown. She needed to get out of here, she needed to... She sucked in deep breaths as Harvey demanded to know what was wrong.
"I have to leave," she blurted out. "I'm sorry, Harvey. I really am." She snatched her bag, threw a ten on the table. "I have to go." She bolted for the door, ignoring Harvey's calls after her.
"Dinah, wait!" Harvey shouted.
Dinah didn't stop running for at least a block. She sank against a building wall, shaking, hyperventilating. Why the hell couldn't Ollie stay away?
Why the hell was he coming to Gotham?
Her head sank back. He could never know. He could never find her. If he found out what she'd done, what she was...
She couldn't bear to his face again. She knew, that if she saw him, even one more time... there would be no going back. He would never trust her again. And why should he?
Evening drew upon Wayne Manor quickly. To clear my head, I wandered out onto the fields in nothing but a light dress, barefooted. I inhaled the crisp spring air, felt the warmth trickling slowly into the wind. Back at the manor, Dick, Barbara, and Cass were playing board games with Myrto and Charis, and Bruce had left after Tommy had gone to take care of some business down at the office. Twilight was upon me, as the stars began to shine in the heavens. Here, alone on the rolling fields, I felt a strange peace come over me. I felt the cool earth beneath my feet, felt the grass between my toes. The wind surrounded me, and the sky looked down on me from above.
Here, in the wilderness, I was an Amazon. Born of the earth, I was connected to it in a way I was not in the dark street alleys, or even on the rooftops of Gotham. As I wandered the hills, I came across the tree that Bruce and I had met under almost ten years ago. Smiling to myself, I climbed its branches and finally settled on the ground against its trunk. Alone with my thoughts and the wind for company, I could find a little peace.
"Sometimes I forget," Bruce's quiet, low voice interrupted the stillness of the evening. "I forget what you are. Where you came from." He slowly made his way towards me, coming to stand in front of me. "And then I see you," he said, his eyes dark. "And you take my breath away. I wonder how someone so perfect can exist in my world."
I smiled up at him. "It's my world, too."
He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. He sank to the ground beside me, resting his hands on his knees, his eyes scanning the surrounding wild sharply. Ever the watchful guardian.
"I am so tired of fighting, Bruce," I said suddenly.
A pause.
"No, you're not," he said.
My eyes widened; and I smirked a little. "No, I'm not. But with you? Yes." My fingers curled his hair behind his ears. He reached up, pressed my hands to his lips, and kissed my fingers, then my palms. My breath hitched; the air grew infinitely closer and more intimate. He pressed another heated kiss to my palms, then my wrists, and then pulled my hands to his chest, covering them with his own.
"We'll get through this," he told me. "We always have."
"I know."
A pause, then, "Diana. What will it take to get Athena off your back?"
I heaved a sigh against his shoulder.
"I hope not what it took to bring down Ares," I admitted.
He pulled back slightly, cradled the back of my head in his hand. "You think it'll go that far?"
"I hope not. But with the Olympians, who knows? Athena's the goddess of war, too. It only makes sense that she'd want revenge not only for Hippolyta, but for her brother's death."
"Diana. Do you think that she would ever -"
"No," I cut in. "No, she wouldn't. If she did, she'd be breaking her own laws. That's what made her send Ares after me in the first place. No, she couldn't. Otherwise she'd be banished herself."
Bruce frowned. "But if I know you, and I do - it's that you won't let things go. If you're anything like her, which I suspect you are, even if you won't admit it, she won't let you go, either. Athena could be trying to draw you back to Themyscira on the Queen's behalf."
"Nothing could draw me back to that place," I said flatly. "It sickens me."
This drew a raised eyebrow from Bruce. "Sickened you?"
I nodded and leaned back against him, folding his arms around me. "Mmm-hmm. Don't get me wrong - it's a paradise. But it's a sick paradise. Hippolyta accused me of being 'corrupted' by Man's World. That I needed a cleansing from this place. She refused to let the other Amazons have children, but she herself called upon the gods to give her a child. How warped is that?"
"I don't claim to understand her choices in life," Bruce said, his voice vibrating against my back. "But whatever gods allowed Alkyone to bring you here... I will at least thank them."
I squeezed his hands that rested on my stomach. "Me, too."
His hands caressed my stomach, and as I leaned back against him, he pressed a warm kiss to my bare neck. I stifled a gasp.
"The air feels... very close," I breathed, turning my head towards him.
"Not close enough," he growled, and took my lips in his for a hot kiss that completely melted my body into his. I turned to face him as my arms wrapped around his neck as we feverishly pressed our lips together, soon tilting our heads to deepen the kiss - and then I was lost. The raw fire and intense passion he poured into the kiss made me forget that even time and space existed around us. We needed to be closer - I needed to be closer -
His lips moved down to my neck, my collar bone; I gripped his t-shirt tightly, wanting to feel more skin - The next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground with him over me. As if sensing my surprise, he pulled back slightly. We couldn't go any further. Not until we were married.
"I love you," I breathed, touching his unshaven jaw.
He took my mouth again with another heated kiss and pulled back only slightly.
"I love you." His voice vibrated around me, warming me to the core.
A pause, and he kissed me again.
"We should get back," I said after a deliciously long silence.
"Mmm - another minute," he murmured against my lips.
I was not about to argue with him. The earth did give me some peace... But not anywhere near as much comfort that I got from being with Bruce.
Thoughts?
Well, about time I gave Bruce and Diana some alone time. Goodness.
Also, I will say that the BIG DAY is coming up pretty soon! :) After which we're going to skip ahead a couple years. But don't worry, it's all connected. You'll see!
- Christy