3. Introspection

"Otherwise….there are many other fish in the sea."

"Diana…" Batman began, but stopped as the control panel beeped. One the hanger doors was opening. Taking in that information, he turned around to find himself alone in the large room. Diana had taken that interruption to leave….leaving him alone to think about her warning and ultimatum.

'She won't do it,' was his first thought. 'She can't. She has too much self respect for that.'

'Batman would,' the logical part of his brain reminded him. 'If she wants to achieve something she is willing to do anything to get to it. She is a warrior and she is a good learner….and she has learned from the best. YOU.'

'But she is an Amazon,' another part of the logic, the non-bat part pointed out. 'They don't mix with men. Not after what Hercules did with them. The way he got into Hipployta's heart and bed and then betrayed them….and then there is the thing with Hades.'

'Wouldn't be a bad thing,' the playboy Wayne tried out. 'Just look at those heavenly, large, rounded, full juicy melo….'

'SHUT UP,' Bruce silenced him. 'Not Diana, not her. You can think of any other women that way. Not her.'

'Why not,' the playboy snickered. 'The only woman 'we' have spared is Leslie, ant that too only because she is the closed thing we have to a mother, and even her we have pushed away and distanced from us. We didn't even spare Barbara.'

'Shut up,' Bruce fired again. 'Shut up. Shut up.'

'What happened,' the playboy pushed on. 'Oh, she is with or not with Dick now, but the first time she came out in that body hugging suit, hmmm….showing off every curve. What did we think? I'll tell you what we thought. We thought that get rid of the boy, send him home and then do a private exploration and detective work of our own, of her private person.'

'Not Diana,' Bruce whimpered now, once again losing to the unfeeling Batman and the extra-feely Billionaire Playboy Wayne. 'Not her. She is….'

'What,' the Batman interjected. 'Too pure. Too innocent. Too good. Too strong. Too open. Want me to go on?'

'She's too hot, that's what she is,' the playboy leered. 'Just look at those legs, that ass. Maybe we should suggest her to get rid of those granny star spangled panties she wears and get a nice thin stringy thong. Will make things much more clearer and interesting. We could have Wayne Enterprises open up a new subsidiary. One only making thongs for Wonder Women, and you could sell them, or gift them to her from the privacy of your office or bedroom. We could also suggest getting a bikini top, a Kevlar one for those jugs.'

'No no no,' Batman was physically shaking his head now, trying to get rid off those intrusive thoughts. He turned to the control panel to get his mind off Diana and her…'Not even going there,' he tried to convince his inner voices.

----

'Why not,' the playboy didn't let up, just as persuasive as he was in real life. 'You didn't want a relation with her; she is offering you a way out. Why not take it.'

'I didn't want too hurt her. She would, if she was with me,' Bruce tried once again.

'Yeah, well she is not with you, is she?' Even the Bat seemed to side with the playboy. 'She has given up on you. She said that she loved you. Notice the past tense….loved. Not love, or loves…loved. Now its purely physical, just what we want, just what we need, just what we have been doing for all these years. We find them, dine them, bed them, use them and then…..we leave them.'

'Yup Wham-Bam-Thank you Mam,' the playboy seemed pretty smug. 'You get what you want and she gets what she wants. With you and or with anyone else she can find and think off. Nice deal for both of you. You scratch her back, she scratches yours. Well not the back exactly. You scratch her pu….'

'SHUT UP,' Bruce thundered, Batman's head ringing at the mental boom. 'How can you think of Diana like that? There is no 'we' in this.' He pointed to the Bat. 'You were too afraid to let her in, even when I said that she will be able to handle it. You neglected me. Not good for the mission, you said. Think of the mission, you said. Think of the vow you made to your parents, you said. Your parents. You know what, I was thinking of my parents. They would have wanted me to be happy. Just like Alfred said. My happiness, me, that was the first and foremost things on their hearts and minds. That's why they went to that god forsaken theatre in the first place. Because I wanted to see that movie. I wanted to be Zorro. Well I got to be Zorro, running around in tights and a cape, fighting for the greater good, the mission. But I lost everything else. She was right. I am alone…and lonely. Very lonely.'

'Stop complaining like a eight year old kid,' The Bat turned away from him.

'You have us kiddo,' the playboy came closer to Bruce, sounding real concerned. 'Us and every bimbo we can lay our hands on. Now, how about getting off your butt and getting the rest of you up too. We have a date for tomorrow night. We want to be up and ready for that. We are dealing with a princess now, a real 'wonder' woman.'

'Get away from me,' Bruce shoved him away too. 'You….you are even worse than him.'

'What?' the playboy seemed just as lost as showed other people around him. 'What did I do? I am trying to get you the thing you want most. The thing your 'Heart' wants most,' he chuckled at the use of the word heart.

'NO,' Bruce walked up to him. 'That's not what I want.'

'What? You don't want Diana? Now don't kid me,' the playboy grinned at him. 'You are getting something that you couldn't have ever got or bought, no matter how much money you might have offered at her alter,' he continued the word play.

'I don't want her body,' Bruce blurted out, instantly sobering at the incredulous look on the playboy's face. 'I don't want ONLY her body. I want all of her. Her care. Her feelings. Her love.'

'You will be getting all of that,' the playboy chuckled. 'Just as you do with all those nameless faceless bodies you parade around. You'll be getting a lot of loving. Just as will a lot of others around you. She does have thousands of years to make up for.'

'I don't want her 'loving',' Bruce spat out. 'I want her love, and I want that to be for me, only for me. Not anyone else.'

'Sorry man, you lost your chance. That train has left the station,' Wayne threw back at him. 'And can't even bear thinking of her with anyone else, let alone in their bed, or against the door, or in an alley….'

WHAM Bruce threw a punch at playboy Wayne, connecting with his mental left jaw, knocking him to the ground.

'Don't even think those thoughts,' his voice grew menacing, the Bat filtering through. 'Don't'

'Hmph,' the playboy cradled his jaw. 'See, even now you can lose him,' he gestured towards the Bat. 'What makes you think you can lose me? We are one kiddo. Three in one. Oh, I forgot the eight year old boy hiding here somewhere, the failure of a father, the wayward son, the…..aw, leave it. There are too many to count. The main question is…' he began, the Bat's voice joining his own as they spoke as one.

'What are you going to do about it?'