Tell Me Lies
By Ugly_Girl
Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction that infringes upon copyrights and characters owned by DC Comics and Warner Bros. This author (nor anyone else) is making no money, nor receiving any type of compensation for this work.
This fanfic is based in the Justice League animated universe. All bastardization of characterizations is mine.
Rated PG
Part III
"I also told the world that we are sleeping together," Bruce said, his lips tilted in a rakish grin, "Does that mean that you'll want that tonight, too?"
"It would take a million more of these," Diana replied, pointing to her wine glass. She was relaxed, feeling more confident of her decision. She had had hesitations about what she was doing up to the point she had knocked open his conference room doors, but after an evening in his company she was sure she had done the right thing. "You know, you're not as awful a person as people say."
He stopped with a forkful of rice halfway to his mouth. "Oh? What do they say?"
"Well, according to what I've heard about you, I expected to be attacked in the limo within the first five minutes. But you've been the perfect gentleman: keeping your hands to yourself, letting me decide where we go and what we are doing." When he had asked, she had said that she knew that most dates consisted of either a movie, dinner or dancing. When she had told him that she wanted to do all three, he hadn't complained.
"Well, I usually only attack women after midnight." He said, then wondered aloud, "If you thought I might act like a lunatic, then why the date at all?"
Her answer surprised him. "I wanted to know what it was like to be a regular woman on Man's World. They shop, they have jobs, they talk to friends, they go on dates. I wondered what it was like."
"And why me?" He and the other leaguers probably hadn't realized the extent to which Diana felt alienated from the world -- even Clark, who was Kryptonian, had a family on Earth, co-workers who were normal, everyday people. And J'onn had his secret identities, too.
He nearly choked on his water when she said, "Because you are safe." She smiled at his reaction, then continued, "If you had attacked me in the limo, I could have hit you into the next state. But also because I don't have to worry about emotional entanglements. I will be just another girl in your long list of girls, and your interest in me is shallow and physical, so you won't get hurt or fall in love with me, and as for me--" She sighed. "--I knew that I could never fall for a man like you, whose interest in me is so superficial. And as for other men -- well, at least I know where your interests are. I'm not tricked by you."
Bruce stared at her. He was tricking her, but not in the way that she thought. And as for his interest in her -- he had to admit that it was far less shallow than she imagined. She was a fascinating woman: beautiful, funny, smart, tough yet vulnerable. He felt a sudden desire to have her closer.
"Let's dance," he said abruptly.
She nodded, and he took her hand and led her onto the dance floor. He owned the restaurant, and had known that the music would be slow, classy -- he'd had a feeling that she wouldn't be ready for one of Gotham's dance clubs -- and now he was glad that they had come to a place where the dancing would be slow. He drew her into his arms, and she stood awkwardly for a moment, and he realized that she didn't know how to dance.
"Dancing is different on Themyscira," she said, chuckling ruefully.
He smiled. "Put one hand on my shoulder, and the other on my arm, like this--" he showed her "--and just sway back and forth to the music. We won't try any fancy steps."
She watched the other couples for a moment, then finally relaxed against him, resting her head on his shoulder. He breathed deeply of her scent, enjoying the way her body brushed against his. The song ended, he thought, far too quickly.
Back at the table, he noted with pleasure that her cheeks were a little flushed, and that she didn't meet his eyes as easily as before. So she was feeling some attraction, too, he realized -- only it was so new to her that she felt uncomfortable and unsure of it. Wanting her to relax again, he started with the safest topic he could think of: her plans to try to feel like a regular woman.
"So, now that you've done the date, what's next? A job? Shopping? Talking with friends?"
"I do have some friends -- they are all league members, but they are friends, at least -- and I went shopping with Hawkgirl today for this dress." She sighed. "And I've tried to get a job, but since my schedule is so hectic that even a burger place won't hire me because they can't rely on me to be there. And I've gotten offers from movie studios and modeling firms, but--" she shuddered "--I just can't do that. And money's becoming a necessity." She blushed a little, but added honestly, "I had to use Hawkgirl's credit card just to buy this dress."
Bruce nodded. He couldn't survive as Batman without his Bruce Wayne persona owning Wayne Enterprises -- it was simply too expensive to be Batman -- but he'd never thought of the impact of not being able to do anything else. His money was to let him be Batman -- but Diana wanted to work just to feel like she was carrying her own weight, and not dependent upon anyone.
An idea struck him. "I might be able to help you, Diana."
Her eyes flashed. "I don't want charity, Bruce."
"No," he said quickly, "You'd work for this." He pulled a business card from his pocket, wrote a name on the back. "This is the name of the head editor of Wayne Publishing. If you wrote a book about growing up on Themyscira, they'd buy it in an instant. Interest in that island is very high, and no one knows anything about it but you."
Her face grew sad, and she shook her head. "I couldn't do that. It would be like betraying them -- selling them."
He thought of the book she had been reading the night before. "Then what if you wrote your perspective of certain works of literature, like The Iliad and The Odyssey, and stories from Greek mythology? To the general public, they are just myths, but to you, they are history, and the gods are real people. You probably have an entirely different interpretation than most scholars do. With your additional knowledge, there wouldn't be a liberal arts professor in the world who wouldn't buy that book, and others would buy it just because you wrote it."
Diana smiled. "My mother actually knew Homer while he was writing the Iliad. She had a lot of stories about him. She also knew Hercules, Achilles -- and I know a million stories from the rest of the Amazons."
"Stories that Wayne Publishing would pay you a great deal of money for," Bruce said, and grinned. "And they'd make even more money for."
Diana hesitated. "I'll definitely think about it." She checked the time, and said, "The movie will be starting in a couple of minutes. Should we go?"
Bruce nearly groaned. He hated the movies, but two hours in the dark with Diana didn't seem so awful. "Let's go -- but do we have to see "Daredevil?"'
She grinned. "The idea reminds me of someone I know," she said. "And I want to be able to tease him about it later."
Bruce realized she was talking about him -- Batman -- and nearly groaned again. Not only would he have to endure a movie, but he'd have to endure her teasing him about it later, all the while pretending that he hadn't been the one watching it with her, that he hadn't been the one who had held her close while dancing.
He decided to kiss her at the end of the date, just to make up for all of the teasing he would have to go through.
********
"I saw a movie last night that I think was based on you, Batman," Diana said as she wrestled the robot to the ground.
Batman grunted a reply, throwing a batarang at another robot's head. It exploded in a shower of sparks.
"Of course, they had to embellish a lot of the details, since nobody knows anything about you," Diana said, "but it was definitely based on you." She finished off the last robot, and scooped Batman up, flying them back to the Javelin. "They made him blind. Like a bat, get it? And they made him a lawyer."
"I'm not a lawyer." Batman grated the words out.
Diana smiled to herself. She loved getting under his skin. "Although I'm not sure how, just because his other senses were enhanced, he could jump so far. Even you have to use a rope. Bruce said--"
"Bruce Wayne?" Batman interrupted. His tone was disapproving.
"Yes. Bruce said that it was the dumbest movie he'd ever seen, and that Daredevil should have been hunted down by the police for the letting all those people die, even if they were bad guys, and that from what he knew of you, that you didn't let people die."
"Bruce Wayne doesn't know what he's talking about."
"Oh, then you do let people die?"
"Of course not."
"Then apparently Bruce does know what he's talking about," Diana said, trying not to laugh.
"Does your sudden adoration of what Bruce Wayne thinks mean that you will be in Gotham more often?" Batman shifted in her grip, and she had to move her arms, holding him closer to her.
She had held Bruce close like this the night before, first when they had danced, and later when he had kissed her. The kiss had been wonderful, soft and searching. She had liked the entire night, in fact.
But she shook her head. "I don't think so." She felt the sudden tension in his body, and realized that he wanted to ask why, but of course wouldn't ask. He was Batman. So she volunteered the information. "I had a wonderful time, but I'm not going to see him again."
"Did he do something wrong?" The words seemed torn from Batman.
"No," she said, biting her lip, remembering. "He was a really fantastic person. But I'm just another girl in a long list of girls; I won't mean anything to him in a year. But I have a feeling there's more to him than he shows, and there's a real danger that if I spend more time with him, find out what's beneath the surface, I just might fall in love with him. And that would be horrible," she finished, and set Batman down next to the Javelin, flying off again, leaving him staring after her.
Part IV
Seeing Bruce on the news with another woman was more painful than Diana had thought it would be, considering that they'd only had one date. She tried not to care about his answer to questions about the status of his relationship with her—after all, she was the one who had decided not to see him again—but couldn't help but listen as he told reporters, "Despite being a princess, I found that Wonder Woman had a desire to be more...common." He said the word distastefully. "And I have no desire to be with a common woman. Besides," he grinned suddenly, "who wants to be with a woman who can crush you with her bare hands?"
Diana frowned. Those comments didn't seem like the Bruce that had taken her out, danced with her, kissed her gently. She wouldn't have thought that he would be cruel when talking about her later. It made her sad to think that she had misjudged him so badly. But – maybe she had hurt him as well? Was he being cruel to hide any pain that her rejection had caused?
Her heart hurting, but curious, she searched through previous news archives, compiling references that Bruce Wayne made about the women he'd dated. No, she realized as she searched, he'd never been cruel before. He didn't stay with one woman for very long, but when he finally did leave her, he always faulted himself for the breakup, never blaming the woman. Why had he acted differently with her?
An alert screen popped up about a collapsing bridge in New York, and she quickly contacted Superman, letting him know about the alert. He could fix the problem in a minute or two by himself. She turned back to the monitor, and froze.
When the alert window had come up, it had covered only half of a picture of Bruce Wayne that had been up on the screen. The top half. The only portion of his face showing was the bottom half: his lips, his chin, his jaw.
And Bruce Wayne with the top of his face covered, Diana realized, looked a lot like Batman with his mask on.
*******
Diana was avoiding him, Batman realized. She had begun avoiding him two days ago, making sure that her monitor duty time didn't run up against his, requesting to go on assignments or in groups that he wasn't in, leaving a room quickly if he was in it. It didn't bother him that she was avoiding him, he told himself, and ignored the painful twist in his belly at the thought. The important thing was making sure that the dynamics of the team weren't skewed.
So he intended to find her, and discover why she wouldn't meet his eyes, or speak directly to him if she could help it.
He wondered briefly if it had something to do with their conversation the week before, about Bruce Wayne and her potential feelings for him. Was she now embarrassed for opening up to him about the way she felt about her date? Especially now that Wayne had so publicly dismissed her?
He grimaced. He'd been maybe too harsh with his comments, but when she'd said that she might fall for Bruce Wayne, he'd wanted to make sure that she never would go back to him again.
And, he had to admit now, that he'd been a little jealous of his alter ego. Diana had never spoken of Batman like she had Bruce Wayne, and she'd known him much, much longer.
It was ridiculous, he told himself. He had no place in his life as Batman or Bruce Wayne for her, so there was no reason to feel jealous – because nothing could ever come from his feelings about her.
What those feelings were, exactly, he wasn't ready to ask himself.
******
Diana smoothed the business suit she had borrowed from Lois Lane and had worn to Wayne Publishing, trying to control her nervousness. If she wrote this book, as Bruce had suggested, would she be bringing any honor to the Amazons? Would Man's World really be interested in what she had to say about Greek mythology, and classical texts?
And would she see Bruce here?
She shook her head. She still couldn't believe it, but she was almost positive that it was true – Bruce was Batman. Once she looked into Bruce Wayne's history, it had made perfect sense: his parents had been killed at an early age, right in front of him. Diana's heart had nearly broken when she realized what drove the Dark Knight, why he pushed himself to nearly inhuman limits every single day. She had combined the two men in her mind, and she suddenly understood new things about him, admired him more than ever...loved him more than ever.
And she also understood why Bruce wouldn't let himself be with her, even if she hadn't already decided not to date him again. He must have been walking a tight line between Bruce Wayne and Batman for years – and it must have been nearly impossible to keep his identity a secret, never letting anyone get too close to him. Dating Wonder Woman would only open up his life to more speculation, and possibly make him a target of attack by supervillains, potentially revealing his identity.
So, she would let him do as he needed – she wouldn't get in his way, or try to make him love her back. To do so would be too dangerous for him.
But her love for him was real, and so she had done her best to keep as far away from him as possible, at least until she was used to this new feeling. She was afraid that if she was around him for any length of time, her love would show on her face – and then he would feel responsible. She didn't want to hurt him like that, and she didn't want to hurt, either – so she simply kept away from him. And she would keep away, as much as possible, until she could see him without her heart aching.
But she couldn't help but hope that she would see him, even by accident, here at Wayne Publishing.
"Miss Wonder Woman? Mr. Wayne and Mr. Lee will see you now."
Mr. Wayne? Diana's eyes widened, then she quickly schooled her expression to reveal nothing, so that he wouldn't know how pleased she was to see him without his mask again, and so he wouldn't see how she felt about him. She wondered why he had bothered to meet with her – after all, Daniel Lee was the head editor at Wayne Publishing, and could make any decision about buying her book by himself, without Bruce's approval.
Bruce was standing by a window, looking out over the city, his back to her when Diana entered the room. He didn't turn around, even when Mr. Lee began making introductions. Mr. Lee looked uncomfortable because of Bruce's rudeness, but Diana quickly smiled, indicating that she wasn't bothered by it, and took a seat in front of his desk. Bruce remained by the window, looking at neither of them.
Lee smiled. "Wonder Woman, I've spoken with Mr. Wayne about the possible direction of your project, and let me just say how pleased we are that you are considering Wayne Publishing for this endeavor. I am positive that we will both be satisfied – financially, academically, and professionally."
Diana shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She hoped that he – or anyone else – didn't think she was doing this purely for financial reasons, or to suddenly be rich. It wasn't the money itself she cared about, but the ability to support herself, not to have to borrow from or rely on her teammates for everything in Man's World that required cash. But she couldn't tell Mr. Lee that without sounding self-righteous, so she simply nodded.
"Have you thought about what your book will contain?" Lee inquired.
"I don't want to go into details about Amazon society, or Themyscira," Diana said, "but I would like to chronicle our version of history, as opposed to what has been recorded by figures such as Herodatus, Homer, Plato, and others. There are significant differences in the Amazon version of the history of the war on Troy, for instance, than what is mentioned in the Iliad. I thought I would intersperse these notes on history with songs and poems from the Amazons, rounding out the book." Bruce still stood by the window, and Diana forced herself not to look at him, or wonder why he was there if he was just going to ignore them.
"And anecdotes about the historical figures?"
"Yes," Diana said. She thought of Hippolyta, and had to fight a wave of sadness. "My mother and the other Amazons knew several personally. I have heard many stories."
Lee clapped his hands together in delight. "Wonderful! Between having your name on the cover, and the content, there won't be a person in the world who won't want to buy this book." He leaned forward. "I would be pleased to make you an initial offer, Diana. What do you think, Bruce? Two? Three?"
"Five," Bruce said, finally turning around, fixing Diana with a cold blue stare. Was he angry with her? she wondered. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mr. Lee's jaw drop.
"But, Bruce, we've never paid that kind of money for a book," Lee sputtered.
"But, as you pointed out, everyone will be reading it. I'm sure we will recoup our money." Bruce kept staring at Diana as he spoke. "And, of course, that price will include all promotional appearances, including broadcast specials should we decide to televise parts of the book."
"For five?" Diana said. Hundred? Or thousand? If it was the latter, it was more than she had ever had before, more than enough to cover all of her needs for years. She added hesitantly, hoping she didn't seem greedy, "Five thousand?"
Lee gave a sudden snort of laughter, and she managed to surprise even Bruce, she realized, by the way his eyes suddenly widened and then narrowed.
"Five million, Diana," he said. He sounded angry suddenly, and she wondered what she had done.
"Oh," she said. "That is a lot. I don't need that much. Five thousand will do."
She saw the way his muscles tensed, and realized he was getting angrier by the second.
"Daniel," Bruce said calmly, hiding from his voice the fury she could see in his body, "may I have a minute alone with Diana?"
"Of course, Bruce," Mr. Lee said quickly, and exited the office.
The second the door closed, Bruce stalked to her chair and leaned over her, placing his hands on the arms of the chair, effectively trapping her there, his face inches from hers. When he spoke, it was through gritted teeth. "What the hell are you doing, Diana?"
His tone sparked her own temper. "I'm doing what you suggested, selling a book." She leaned forward, pushed him away from her easily.
"Selling it? Giving it away, more likely." He turned, ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "For God's sake, Diana, are you this stupid?"
She leapt to her feet, shaking with her fury. Stupid? How dare he? "I may not have been in Man's World long, Mr. Wayne, but I am not stupid." Stupid for loving you, maybe, she added silently.
"Naïve, then," Bruce bit out. "Any other company would be taking advantage of your innocence right now, giving you a tiny amount for what they would make millions and millions for. How could you be so stupid, and not research what a book like yours would be worth?"
She frowned, some of her anger fading. He was mad at her, but because he was worried for her, that in her newness to Man's World she would be taken advantage of. "Because it doesn't matter to me. I just need enough to buy clothes and food now and then."
"And you'll be able to do that, and more, if you accept the five million we offer you." His anger had started to die as well, she could tell. "You'll be able to do more with it -- take classes if you want, give to charities, support women's shelters."
"Oh," Diana said. "I didn't think of that."
"You need a keeper," he muttered.
She bristled at that. "I can take care of myself."
"Physically, yes, but you have no idea what kind of depths people would sink to once they realized how truly innocent you are of how things work off Themyscira."
"I've been managing fine on my own," Diana said coldly, trying to ignore the sudden pain in her heart. She felt under personal attack, that Bruce had looked at her and found something missing, that she wasn't smart enough, good enough to survive in Man's World.
"Only because of your friends in the Justice League, and because you rarely venture into the real world," he said.
Was this how he saw her as a teammate, too? Did he think that she wasn't capable of holding her own without people around her, guiding her, telling her how to interpret and act?
Her chest hurt from the storm of emotions within her, and she realized that if she didn't leave, she would end up sobbing like a baby. She hid her pain, though, and walked slowly to the door.
"Where are you going, Diana?" Bruce said behind her, and in his voice she heard, for the first time, the gravelly, commanding tones of Batman. How had she never noticed before? she wondered. Behind her stood the man she loved, and right now she was so angry, so hurt by him – she didn't know what to think, she only knew she had to get away.
"I'm going to write a book," she said, voice cool only through a massive effort on her part. "Send me the contract, I'll sign it. And from now on, I only want to deal with Mr. Lee," she added, and closed the door quietly behind her.
*******
Bruce slammed his fist into the wall. He had handled that completely wrong. He had been so frustrated for the last couple of days because she had successfully continued to avoid him – Batman – that when he had realized she had made an appointment with Wayne Publishing he had demanded to be present at the meeting, even though there was no way, of course, that he could talk to her about his and her roles in the Justice League –and why she was avoiding Batman -- as he had wanted.
He had just wanted to see her. And he had driven her away.
No, he corrected himself, Bruce Wayne had. She didn't know he was Batman, so any conversation he had with her as Batman wouldn't be tainted by the mess he had created here.
He could fix things with her – at least get her to stop avoiding him – by being Batman. He needed to fix things – he didn't think he could bear another day of her evading him.
He would never be able to be with her as he was starting to realize that he wanted to be with her, but at least he would see her, know she was alright, he told himself. It would be enough.
It would have to be enough.
To Be Continued
