Daughters of the Moon

By Icha

Summary:

Diana and Selina talked about Bruce Wayne over coffee and cake. Who will concede? Who will win? First fanfic; I'm nervous (not my native language). Reviews are welcomed.

Disclaimer: Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Hippolyta, Wildcat, Blue Beetle, Aquaman, Batman and, Martian Manhunter belong to DC Comics. I stole Mythos Café from Lana Lang's the Tallon Café (the Smallville TV series). Spoilers including JLA#90, Catwoman#32, Hush, Identity Crisis, DC Countdown, the OMAC project, etc.

Special thanks to Athena-Phoenix for beta reading. And Djinn, for the 'Batjerk'. I wrote this before I read your fanfic, but I figured out that you (or other writers) mentioned it first, so I should acknowledge that.

The story takes place during the OMAC project of the current continuity. I have only read issue #1 so far, thus this story only includes Wonder Woman found out that Blue Beetle was missing in action.

Chapter 2. The Mythos Café

The Mythos Café was situated in a nice corner of Gotham City, with trees and plants unlikely to be found in other parts of the city. Diana understood that years ago, Bruce Wayne had helped to move Gotham's Heaven to the better part of the city, greener and safer, in an attempt to give the children a better view and sense of security. During their walk, she kept looking around, enjoying the view of the green part of Gotham, a clear contrast with the rest of the city where she and Batman fought villains. Having been blind for quite a while, she especially appreciated the beauty of the landscape.

Beside her walked Selina Kyle in her very cat-like manner. The spring wind was strong that afternoon, in spite of the bright sunlight, causing Diana to straighten her coat. She did not know Selina's motive for her sudden appearance in her talk, but she would bet it was not just to talk about wild cats. But she decided not to wonder about it, and to enjoy the afternoon instead.

Selina, on the other hand, looked uneasy about the outing. She did not say anything after their conversation in the orphanage, apparently waiting for Diana to start. Once she realized that the Ambassador seemed not to be in the mood to talk, they just then strolled in silence. Selina's attention was not on the surroundings, though; her focus was the Amazon herself.

Diana was tall, 5' 11". Her height was a constant reminder to Selina of her unique origin; her beauty was definitely telling the passerby that she was an exquisite creature. This had bothered Selina. With her emerald eyes, short but thick raven hair (she used to have long hair as Diana's), and her unique composure, Selina was of course far beyond the description of an ordinary woman. True, she was not as tall as Diana (well, Giganta and Big Barda were the only women taller than Diana!), but she was also a beautiful woman. Men usually just stuck their eyes right at her (and parts of her body) every time they saw her. Yet, this afternoon, despite of her comfort that men on the street still looked at her with admiration (and even, lust), she was annoyed that when they look at Diana, they just definitely fall in love with her. Diana was not wearing her tiara or carrying the lasso of truth; she kept both inside her bag. Instead, she wore a white blouse, a red trench coat, blue jeans, and a pair of matching black boots. But her silver bracelets were enough to show them that a Wonder Woman was walking beside her. And once again, after a very a long time, Selina felt upstaged.

They picked a cozy corner inside the Mythos Café. The newly opened café was not crowded, but the patrons seemed comfortable and relaxed. Perhaps it was the nice interior setting; bright yellow walls painted with figures of ancient deities. Diana chose a corner where a few Greek gods and goddesses met Ancient Egyptian deities. Selina was quickly interested in Bastet, the Cat Goddess of the Egyptians, which stood beside Isis, Ra and Anubis.

"I should be related to her", Selina said, pointing at Bastet. "And are those your deities?" she gestured at the paintings on opposite wall.

Diana turned to face the paintings Selina indicated. She admireds the graceful brushwork the artist used to depict her gods (Apollo, Eros and Hermes) and goddesses (Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Hestia, Hera, Selene and Persephone). She nodded in agreement.

"Bastet," she gestured at the Egyptian goddess, "is the protector of cats, women and children. She is also connected with the rising sun, moon, truth, enlightenment, sexuality, pleasure, dance and fertility." Diana's frequent discussions with the Bana-Mighdall Amazons had increased her knowledge of the believe system of Ancient Egyptians.

"I didn't know that," Selina's eyes widened in excitement. "Protector of cats, women and children -- I like the sound of that! Also sexuality, pleasure and dance. Truth and enlightenment are too much for me now. Oh, and of course, the moon. I like gazing at the moon."

Their orders arrived. Diana delightfully sipped a large caramel latte (she had swayed between mocha or caramel, but then decided to try the caramel for a change). Selina inhaled her hot chococino, dusted with real chocolate powder.

"The moon..." Diana pondered. "Artemis, one of my patrons, is not only the goddess of huntresses, but also of the Moon. She rules the Moon while her sibling, Apollo, rules the Sun."

"Similar to Bastet, then." Selina replied absent-mindedly. The hot chococino was what she needed on a spring afternoon.

"Yes, similar to..." Diana stirred her latte, and then suddenly stops. "... Selene."

"Uh, it's Selina, though you know the other name too." Selina decided to acknowledge the fact that Diana knew that she was the Catwoman.

"No, I mean, for my people, the moon is always related to Selene. She was the daughter of Theia of the Old Titans. Her aunt, Phoebe, also a Titan, was the first Moon Goddess. Lady Phoebe was also the grandmother of Lady Artemis, the present Moon Goddess. Selene is still a Goddess of the Moon, but her role is considered less than her niece, Artemis." Diana explained, then added slowly, "Diana is the Roman name for Artemis."

Selina stopped drinking her chococino.

"Bastet... Moon... Selene... Selina... Artemis...Diana..." she mused and then grimaced. "I suppose we have more things in common than just the Moon."

"I'm sure we do." Diana drinks her latte, solemnly as always when drinking coffee, tea and chocolate. She decided to discern Selina's real intentions for meeting her.

"You did not come to give comments about wild cats. Or the moon." She put her cup down.

"No. Unless you want to talk about Ted Grant." Selina smiled, recalling certain memories. "But then, maybe you don't know him. Too old for you, huh?"

"Not really, no. But my mother knew him well." Mother...

Selina studied Diana again. As Catwoman, she had rarely encountered Wonder Woman. Only in several occasion, Titans Island and an unlikely event in JLA (when she ended up helping the Justice League!) among others, in which both of them were too busy to have casual chats.

Many heroes and heroines admired Wonder Woman, for her kindness, brain and beauty. Selina didn't. She knew Diana's origin, and did not wonder that such a blessed woman would live a nice happy life, loved by many people. It would be easy to live like her, blessed by an army of Greek Gods. Not like me. Have to fight by myself, every single day of my life.

And so the grudge she held against Diana grew. She didn't despise her; she didn't have any reason to hate the Amazon. It was more uneasiness, discomfort. And, she had to admit, jealousy. She felt that life had cheated her, that to allow such a blessed woman to live happily, while another woman had to suffer a drunken father and a troubled mother. Not to mention the horrible madhouse she had to live in as a teenage. And the streets. And everything else.

And then the rumors started. Wonder Woman appeared in Gotham now and then, apparently helping Batman. The Batman! Who so rarely accepts the help of any metahuman! Every hero knows that. Even a semi-hero like her knows that. It is one thing for Batman to establish a Bat clan, full of masked heroes ready to defend Gotham. It is even acceptable to have her, the Catwoman helping Batman during the Hush hours in Gotham, and even Metropolis. It is also acceptable for Batman to cooperate with metahumans, mostly for Justice League business. But it is entirely unacceptable for to her for the Batman inviting Wonder Woman to Gotham to help him out.

And so, her already edgy feeling toward the Amazon grew into a dislike. Almost hate. And the feeling had not subsided, even though the rumors then ceased to spread. Even after her own long night date with Bruce Wayne. And now, when both of them, Bruce and Selina, had reached the agreement of a status quo friendship, the grudge against Diana was still there.

She wondered sometimes, how far have Diana and Bruce gone? Had they achieved things that she and Bruce had not? Had they maintained their friendship and camaraderies, while she and Bruce were at the moment... well... distant?

She decided to end the mystery now.

"Does he know that you're in town?"

"Huh? Ted? No." Diana looks confused. "Why should he know? He doesn't live here."

"No. Not Ted Grant." Selina adjusted her seat. "Bruce."

Diana didn't answer. Instead, she lifted up her cups and drank her remaining latte. Then, after a few seconds, she put her cup down again, and leaned toward Selina.

"If we are talking about Bruce Wayne –," Selina nodded, "– yes, he knows. I told him last night. It's his city, and his orphanage, sort of. I wanted to inform him, just as a courtesy."

"He doesn't mind, huh? Having an Amazonian environmentalist must be an interesting promotion for his charities."

"No, he doesn't mind. In fact, he warned me not to feed the kids too much candy." Diana grinned, then leaned back in her chair.

"You did not come to the talk just for the cats. Or the moon." There was a certainty and a rising awareness in Diana's voice. "Or, the chococino." She added, looking at Selina's almost empty cup.

"No. I decided to have the iced-mocha next time," mocked Selina, drinking her remaining chocolate.

"You came for him – Bruce Wayne, I mean." Diana paused, and then continued. "More precisely: to see me, in relation to Bruce."

Azure eyes meet emerald eyes.

"Correct. I was afraid that you wouldn't get the message." Selina's expression looked like a teacher satisfied with her student's increasing knowledge.

"And you have the conclusion."

"Almost there. But it doesn't change my previous hypothesis."

"Oh?" Diana sounded surprised. "A hypothesis about me. What is it?"

"That you are a lucky Amazonian chick, blessed by the whole battalion of Greek gods, and thus feel entitled to lecture all of humankind on the benefits of compassion." Selina dropped her mask. "And I don't buy it. Not all people will buy it. Not when you were raised in a troubled family, or grew up in a whorehouse, or have to steal to satisfy your hunger." Her pitch rose a bit, but Selina maintained it in a normal conversational volume spectrum. However hard her life has been, she could still maintain her image. Especially in front of an ex-Princess.

"Your utopia doesn't work here, Madam Ambassador. And you know it." She finished her sentence bitterly but firmly, and then leaned back into the comfy sofa, stroking her hair and massaging her neck.

"That's hardly news to me." Diana replied. "You can't imagine how many people have said that to me, directly or indirectly." The images of riots in front of the Embassy flashed in her mind. "I have learned years ago that to make an effect, I have to be real, that my actions should be real, grass-rooted. And that's why I like visiting schools and orphanages, discussing various topics with them. Also establishing the Foundation to introduce our farming systems and other means of battling hunger."

"Yeah, I heard of it. Easy for those with gold to do it, I suppose." Selina retorted.

"My original funds came from the Themiscyran supplies, I do not deny. But then our foundation found ways to generate our own funding source, including selling organic farm products. Also taking part in the New York Stock Exchange." Bruce has helped me a lot with that...

"You go to Wall Street?" Selina raiseds her eyebrow in disbelief. "I don't see you as a gambler."

"No, not merely to gamble my money. To sustain our funding, we have to go through traditional ways of banking and deposits, as well as investing in the stock market. It's not easy, but it works." Again, thanks to Bruce.

Selina seemed to think about him as well.

"I take it that he helped you with that?" A pang of jealousy emerged from her voice. Maybe she should think about doing those things also for her mission in the East End.

"Yes. Bruce has helped me a lot." Diana also decided to be honest with the emerald-eyes in front of her. Whatever info she wants from me, I'd rather give it freely. "He is indeed a good friend."

"A bit hard to deny," Selina mused again. "Though not the easiest one to have."

Azure eyes sparkled. "No, not at all."

"So, you also have hard times with him, huh?"

"Why, he is Bruce Wayne. Not the easiest bachelor to approach in this country." Diana smiled. After a minute she continued. "And his second self is never easy to approach."

So she knows both side of him. And she knows that I also know both of him. Selina curses herself. Why surprised, Sel? She's a core member of the JLA. Of course she knows him! D-uh!

"So you do know him, and you know that I know him. Both of his sides." She still had to be sure.

"Well, we've been core members of the League for a long time. How could I not notice?" Diana looks at her empty cup. "Shall we order some more? I wouldn't mind having a mocha this time. And a slice of the chocolate mud cake."

"Not afraid of your weight, huh?" Selina stole a jealous look over Diana's body. Nothing to be jealous of, really. Her own body is also curvaceous, and her night patrols had really shaped her figure into a sleek panther-like body. Still, she prefers to watch her food intake, and seemingly, that's not the case with Diana.

"Well, latte and cakes are to enjoy anyway," Diana gave a 'who cares' shrug, and called for the waiter. She asked for a mocha latte and mud cake, and then turned to Selina. "Not interested?"

"Nope. No can do." But after a thought, "...I'll do a slice of mango pie. And a cup of...err..." studying the menu,"...double espresso." She needed an alert mind to continue to steer the conversation in the direction she wants.