A Beginning By Xianpububbles

There was more than one bird scouting Gotham that night.

The city was much bigger than he had anticipated. He had been searching for hours. Katar landed on a vacant rooftop to rest. He stayed in the shadows to avoid any unwanted attention.

Katar needed a better plan. He ran his fingers through his hair as he began to pace back and forth. Katar wasn't going to let Batman escape so easily.

From the blackness, a fist rammed hard against Katar's face sending him to the ground.

Nightwing appeared shocked at the sight of an unconscious Hawkman. "What was that for?"

"I owed him one." Batman replied and with the speed of the Flash a smile appeared and disappeared on the great detective's face.

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Katar awoke to darkness. He looked around and found he was inside a damp and rather smelly cave. There was an intense soreness in his cheek and his head was reeling. Reaching up to feel his jaw, he realized his arms were chained to the ground. He growled pulling hard against the chain, but it was useless.

He heard footsteps. He laid still as he listened intently to the approaching voices.

"Is this really necessary, Batman?" a woman's voice asked in an annoyed tone.

"Until we figure out what his intentions are, yes."

"And it has nothing to do with the fact that he was able to break through your impenetrable defenses and lay one on you?" Katar could hear the woman smiling as she spoke.

Irritated that she enjoyed bringing the incident up whenever possible, Bruce didn't reply.

The two were over him as he feigned unconsciousness. Katar could feel that the woman was closer and in one quick motion captured her neck with his chains.

"Release me, Batman!" Katar growled. Batman didn't move. Does he not care about anything?

Almost immediately after her capture, Katar felt a sharp pain in his chest as the woman freed herself from his grip. Shayera appeared before him.

Batman quickly moved towards her. "I'm fine," she said while rubbing her neck.

Shayera? What was she doing here? Unless...

Katar's eyes then became wide with shock. "Shayera! You and Batma-" he was silenced with a smack on the head.

Shayera's face was flushed. "Of course not, idiot! I came to make sure you two wouldn't do anything stupid!"

She then glanced over at Bruce, "But it seems as if I'm already too late."

Ignoring Shayera's insult, Bruce approached Katar. "What are you doing in Gotham?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Shayera answered for Katar. She kneeled down beside him and began to inspect his jaw. He winced as she applied pressure on a newly formed bruise. She sighed with relief having expected the worse.

Bruce turned away at her intimate concern for Katar. What did women see in that man?

He threw the keys to the chains on the floor beside Shayera and clicked a few buttons on his computer. "I'll have J'onn teleport you back."

"No!" Katar says firmly as Shayera removes his chains.

"We have nothing more to discuss," Batman gives him an icy glare.

"Nothing more? We haven't discussed anything!" He roars back getting ready to attack.

Shayera stands between them facing Katar. "You're leaving with me."

Looking down at her, Katar argues "But Diana. He's..."

"...ensuring she doesn't suffer any longer." Shayera completed Katar's sentence while pulling him to the transport.

Before Katar could protest he was pushed onto the transfer pad and disappeared from the cave.

Bruce approached her. "Shayera..."

She turned to face him. He was struggling to speak.

She gave him a small smile. Normal people didn't have this much trouble expressing their gratitude.

She touched his cheek whispering, "You may not believe you deserve to be happy, Bruce. But I do."

She kissed him softly pulling away before he could respond and stepped into the transporter.

But J'onn had not been instructed to trigger a second transport.

In one quick motion, Bruce pulled her against him and returned her kiss with a passion she wouldn't have believed possible from the Batman.

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Shayera must have known she would be here. She had been waiting and she looked angry. An angry Amazon was not someone to mess with.

He waited to speak, choosing his words carefully. "I wanted to bring him back to you."

She was inches away from his face with the fiercest look he'd ever seen. "Do you think I'm a fool, Katar?"

"No." He shook his head confused.

She came even closer. "Do you want me or not?"

Her question stunned him. "I...um..."

She gave him a deadly glare.

"Yes."

Without another word she grabbed his arm pulling him out of the transport bay and into the hall.

They stopped in front of the training room.

Katar didn't think he could be any more confused. "Diana, what are we doing here?"

She replied with a wicked smile. "I feel like sparring."

FIN

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AN: Whew! Done, and as always reviews and critiques are welcome!