07. Settling In
Author: BatmanWolverine
Rating: PG15
Summary: Why even bother, the title is clear enough.
Disclaimer: I don't own Batman, Wonder Woman or any of the other character Justice League characters. All owned by DC. Any OCs are my own creation and are free for anyone to use, just give me a shout out first.
"Aahhhh!" Diana looked in the mirror and saw the reflection of her dimensional twin as she uttered a sigh of relief. She had just lowered herself in the warm bath Alfred had drawn for her. Although situated in different rooms, both Wonder Women were presently in the bathroom of the room selected by the new 'visiting' Diana.
Diana peered intently at her doppelganger, marveling at their similarities. Except for the fact that one of them had the start of the telltale bulge of pregnancy, they were exactly same. Diana felt as if she was having an out of body experience and was watching herself enjoying the scented bath.
"Tell me more about yourself." She settled down on one of the two stairs leading up to the custom designed tub.
"Hmm," the bathing Wonder Woman opened her eyes and tilted her head to face her twin sister. They had settled on using this as their front for any inquisitive eyes and ears. "What would you like to know? More about the League, its pretty much the same as yours, my life on Themiscyra, same there. Like J'onn said, our experiences that similar, the only differences being in the way we chose in a particular situation. For example, me, the first time I came to man's world, I stole….borrowed the costume…against mother's wishes. I wanted to see what lay outside the shores of Themiscyra."
"Oh," Diana smiled at the visual the story presented. She could see herself doing the same, had it not been for her winning the championship contest. "I did it slightly differently." She started telling her story, where she used a magical mask to hide her identity and it was only after she won and was to be crowned as Athena's Champion, did she reveal who she was and in keeping with the rules, her mother had no choice but to bestow the Wonder Woman title on her. "After that I was sent to patriarch's world as an Ambassador of Themiscyra and as an emissary of the Amazons, to preach and spread peace throughout the world."
"Hmm," her twin nodded her head. "That is also a part of my mission; however, the ambassadorial duties are comparatively new in my case. It is only after mother and I settled some of our past differences, that I was given that position. Although, when she came to know about my choice to be with a man, the Batman of all people, she wasn't particularly pleased. In fact, she threatened to dispatch her personal guard to punish the man who had dared to seduce and defile the purity of her daughter."
Diana felt a mixture of joy and pain at the mention of Hippolyta. The Hippolyta of this world, her mother had passed away few years ago, falling in the battle against the Imperiex. However, at the same time, she relished in being able to hear more about her mother, even if she was the Hippolyta from another dimension.
"J'onn said that you are under exile from Themiscyra," Diana recalled the Martian's words about the other Diana forbidden from setting foot on Themiscyra. "Then how did you…?"
"Meet mother," her question was completed with a smile. "I can't step on Themiscyra. There is no rule against hovering over it, or being on a ship, or for mother to visit me."
That got another smile from Diana. "So, which was it with you?"
"All of the above," came the reply, followed by the explanation. "When I given the duties, mother visited me in patriarch's world, the other times I have been the one to make the journey home, using the invisible plane and transforming it to give us some floating-privacy. Even though I still miss actually being on Themiscyra, it is some sort of comfort that I can at least meet mother and our sisters that way."
"Ingenious," was all Diana could say in return. Coming over her mental hitch, she asked the question she had wanted to ask for the past few minutes. "What about your relation with Batman? Did you reveal it to her, or did she find out by one of her eyes and ears in man's world?"
"Oh, it was a bit of both," the other Diana replied as she wiggled her toes under the slowing cooling, lukewarm water. Deciding to move to a more suitable location for the story, she pushed herself up, accepting the towel and one size too small robe offered to her by her other-world sister. "Hmm, seems the Bruce Wayne of this world still has his stash of female clothing, for or from one of his previous guests."
"Still?" Diana asked with a raised eye.
"I got all of ones on my world incinerated," came the cool, slightly humorous reply. "Bruce never knew about them being there in the first place. As far as he was concerned, they appeared out of thin air when needed, although given his nighttime duties, it was rare than any of his dates progressed even past the first appetizer. As for Alfred, he was more than happy to assist me, even firing up the furnace and gathering every piece of female clothing that wasn't mine."
-----
Diana did not know how to respond to that. From what she had been hearing since the past few hours, her twin seemed quite settled with both Bruce Wayne and Batman and he with her. At the same time, the words, not progressing past the first appetizer, struck home. It had been the case with her and the Bruce here. Their efforts for a formal dinner date had always been interrupted by some kind of emergency, either League or Gotham.
"I informed Bruce about what I had done and also gave him an ultimatum that I didn't share, not with any socialites, reporters, magicians and definitely NO cats."
That got a response, "Selina," Diana inferred correctly. She knew about the history that the vivacious cat burglar shared with the Dark Knight, having witnessed their, uh familiarity a few times herself.
"Umm-hmm," the other Diana nodded, both women stepping out of the bathroom and into the opulent guest room.
--
"I hope you don't mind," she spoke her mind to their guest. "The Batman in your world seems to be quite different from the one here. Bruce would never allow anyone to take over control of such a large part of his life like the way you are describing."
"No Diana," came the reply from the dresser. "Batman won't allow, as for Bruce Wayne, anything that makes his life easier on the home front, gives him an alibi for putting on his vanishing act and keeps Alfred off his back, makes him almost happy. It gives him more time to be Batman….and that makes him happy."
"And you?" Diana had to question the status she…her counterpart held in the Dark Avenger's life. "Where do you stand in all that?"
"Oh, I am Wonder Woman to Batman, Princess of Themiscyra to his socialite friends and Diana to the rest of the bat-family."
"And love?" That question also came out on its own.
Turning around to face twin, the new Diana smiled a slightly wistful and equally mischievous smile. "We get enough of that in either facet of our lives….even as Wonder Woman and Batman."
That silenced Diana again; at a loss for words as to how seamlessly her and Batman's counterparts had modified their lives to make space for the other. That was something she hadn't seen in her Dream Chamber experience.
"About mother…." She started to ask, but stopped at an audible rap on the door.
"Come in Alfred," the other Diana answered automatically. She was thankful of being able to rest in somewhat familiar surroundings. Even though she herself did not trust her hosts completely, she had decided to play it safe by going along with them, both for a chance to get back to her world and more importantly for the wellbeing of the lives growing within her, her maternal instinct trouncing all others.
"Miss," Alfred didn't know which Diana had called out to him. It was truly a confusing situation, even for a seasoned professional as Alfred. "Dr. Thompkins is here. Master Bruce had instructed on informing you once she arrived."
"Just give a couple of minutes," the pregnant Diana replied with a smirk. She knew why Bruce had called Leslie. He wanted to confirm J'onn findings with a second…closer opinion.
"Very well madam," with a nod, the butler stepped out the door, closing it behind him.
"We'll talk later," the visiting Diana promised as she shrugged off her robe and set about dressing in the clothes she loaned from this world's Wonder Woman.
-----
Minutes before,
"Good morning Miss Leslie," Alfred's welcome voice greeted the snow haired doctor.
"Good morning Alfred," Leslie wished back, handing her suitcase to Alfred, carrying the med-bag herself. "What is this about? You weren't particularly clear on the phone. Why would Bruce want me to stay at the manor all of a sudden? Something wrong?"
"No ma'am," Alfred's voice carried a sort of familiarity that he rarely showed towards anyone, the exceptions being Bruce Wayne, his adopted son Dick Grayson, and the other three members of the bat-clan, Tim Drake, Cassandra Cain and Barbara Gordon. "I am not sure," he added almost as an afterthought.
"Leslie, how nice to see you. Thanks for coming at such a short notice," Bruce stepped out of the study to greet the woman who since his parent's death had become a surrogate mother for him. She knew about facets of Bruce Wayne's life….even the dark 'nighttime' part, and was able to catch the tension currently brimming under the playboy veneer.
"Bruce, what is the matter?" Leslie got straight to the point. Handing over the explanation to Bruce, Alfred silently slipped away to store he belongings in the guest room he had prepared for her. After that, he was supposed to inform the two Diana's about Leslie's arrival and escort them to the ballroom-turned-med bay.
"I need your opinion on something, your medical opinion," Bruce seemed hesitant to reveal the details. At the inquisitive look in Leslie's eyes, he sighed and gestured to the door. "You'd better see this for yourself."
----
Entering the ballroom, both Diana's saw Bruce Wayne in deep conversation with a familiar looking woman. Although talking in whispers, both Wonder Women caught the gist of it, at least what Bruce said, as it was him who was doing most of the talking. The room was littered with packaging boxes and newly installed medical equipment. Within a short time, the ballroom had been changed into a veritable state of the art medical center.
Catching sight of them, Bruce waited until they drew nearer to turn Leslie's attention to the twins. Even he was having trouble telling them apart….and they weren't in their uniforms.
"Oh, hi…." The words vanished from Leslie's mouth as she gasped in surprise.
"Good morning Leslie," the pregnant Diana greeted first, followed by her non-pregnant twin. "Nice to see you again."
"Uhn…huh," Leslie's eyes flitted first between the two Dianas now standing before her and then to the seemingly amused Bruce. Even Alfred had temporarily left the clean up and was observing the show going on before him. His initial reaction to seeing double had been similar to Leslie's, except that in his case, he was able to camouflage his astonishment…to a certain level.
"I need you to do a detailed examination." Bruce looked at the twin Dianas, his expression asking the pregnant one to step forward. Recognizing the look from the one her Bruce had, the new Diana stepped to the raised examination table.
"Ok," Leslie glanced at her patient and turned back to Bruce. "Anything specific you want checked out, or you want a full body examination."
"Full body examination," Bruce grunted out, before adding one small point. "Specific….just one thing. She claims she is pregnant…."
"I am," the Diana on the bed interrupted. This was another thing that the Bruce/Batman of this world had in common with her Batman…he could be infuriatingly blunt sometimes, quite many times. Usually she took it in her stride, but the double whammy of getting transported into an alternate dimension and the accursed morning sickness which in her case, came over at the oddest times of the whole day, were robbing her of her usually unlimited supply of special-exclusively-Batman-only patience.
"She is," he counterpart supported her, getting a smile for her vote of confidence.
"She is?" That was Alfred.
"She is?" Leslie.
"She says she is," amended Bruce. "I want you to confirm it."
"Don't you trust J'onn?" The Diana from this dimension placed her hands at her hips, adopting her all-business pose. "He did run the tests and confirmed it."
"I know that," the return growl was all Batman. "I want it re-confirmed a second opinion."
--
"Who is the father?" Leslie had in the mean time turned to her patient and was familiarizing herself with the Diana look-alike.
"Bruce," Diana answered truthfully, realizing a moment too late about the effect of her answer.
"Bruce!" Leslie blanched, her gasp accompanied by a, my stars from the equally, maybe even more stunned Alfred.
"Not me," Bruce Wayne gritted out, the bursting giggles from both Dianas not helping with his growing frustration at the situation.
"No, not him," the new Diana corrected herself. "I am not from around here. I am from a different dimension," she recited the simplified version of her story. "From where I come, the Bruce Wayne there….he is the father of my children."
"Children?" Another round of gasps, giggles and grunts were spread across the room.
"You mean, in your…world," Leslie asked in confirmation of the seemingly far-fetched story. "You, who I take from your bracelets, Wonder Woman and Bruce Wayne, who I am pretty sure is romping about in his tights, cape and pointed ears there too, are…"
"Engaged to be married," that got a silent gasp from Bruce too, let alone the others.
"Engaged?" Diana got a nod from her twin, who by now had sat up on the be and was waiting for her examination to begin. "You didn't mention that earlier."
"You didn't ask," the new Diana stated with a shrug of her shoulders. Turning to Bruce, she lifted her hand. "And I guessed you must have noticed the ring. It is your mother's."
Any arguments that the Bat was building up as possible explanations for the existence of this pregnant Diana were blown away by this latest revelation.
Getting ready to walk away, he managed to grit out a parting comment.
"Just do the damn tests."
Note: Was planning on getting the Hippolyta-Diana confrontation in this chapter, but that is growing longer than expected. Look out for it in the next one….and more from the other side of things. Hippolyta and Batman or Hippolyta and Bruce Wayne? Or both?
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