Title: Batman and The Little Piggy

Fandom: Justice League & Justice League Unlimited

Synopsis: Circe's penchant for animal transformation has resulted in a terrible curse cast upon Diana. Batman isn't faring much better at the outcome, either.

Notes: set in Timmverse; takes place during s03e05: This Little Piggy; Canon Compliant

Pairing: Diana/Bruce Wayne | Wonder Woman/Batman

Posted: March 24, 2022


A genuine look of dread flashes across Batman's cowled face at the sight before him. He hastily rises to his feet and rushes toward the illumination out of instinct to intervene, pointedly disregarding the bits of asphalt that stick to his suit.

Alas, such heroics turn out in vain when he simply isn't fast enough. Circe finishes casting her spell by the time he makes it halfway. She moves back as the light peters out, and the outcome is brought into full fruition.

The gigantic hand of stone releases its captive as it recedes into the wall. He forgets about Circe for now and tends to the animal curiously glancing around, the piglet now lacking her typical armor of blue, gold and red. A star-spangled Amazon no more.

Diana...

"N'aww, look at this little piggy," Circe gushes, her voice loudest in mockery and mute in affection despite the words meant to be endearing. "Less hideous than I imagined. I dare say this turned out to be an improvement for Diana, not one she deserves but oh well."

With silent ire governing his movements, Batman briskly turns his head to face the sorceress. His eyes narrow into slits. The glare he shoots her easily rivals the imperishable infernos from an unspeakable realm, able to piercingly reach one's soul and ignite within them the kind of horror that burns to no end.

He watches as Circe waves a dismissive hand while she circles him, his death stare far from novel in the eyes of the once condemned.

Her eerie gaze, cyan and cold as ice, tracks him similar to how wolves of the winter stalk their prey. When she dramatically tosses her lengthy hair, it's like watching purple flames ride the wind for a moment.

"Do as you wish with the swine. My suggestion? Ditch her," she sneers.

His fists clench and pearly whites gnash.

The wicked grin on Circe's face broadens, defining her dimples. "Fine, be that way. Don't take my advice. You best watch over Diana if you're so dead set on keeping her, though. From what I hear... bacon is quite popular around these parts."

Before he can so much as absorb the implication behind that statement, Circe raises her hands and conjures a small dome of smoke. Magenta and green dance around her, the gusts that follow their rise run wild like tempests.

Echoing cackles soar into Gotham's bleeding skies. Her feminine voice, so loud it surpasses the howling winds, grows more and more canine the longer it persists.

Then the small dome bursts with an evanescent flash of light and crash of thunder.

Batman regains his senses, in time to perceive Circe's absence. He can see smoke sinking below the concrete in a dying ring, and nothing else left behind at the center of it. Not even a single footprint made from the asphalt previously disturbed by heeled boots have remained.

A low snarl scratches at his throat as it rumbles. No Circe, no chance forcing her to reverse Diana's curse...

The fearful squeals and scamper of hooves interrupt his contemplation, denying him the time to blame himself. He stares down to find Diana, a flustered mess circling him in panic. Sympathy dwarfs his frustration.

He tries to catch his teammate. It's like a switch being flipped when he manages to wrap his arms around her; she settles down and stops panicking almost instantly upon contact. He pulls Diana close to his chest while standing up, and gets a good look at her face.

Sorrow stabs his heart. Eyes black like obsidian, he observes. Nothing close to the blue flames which once mesmerized him and had blazed with the passion to do good.

But what hurts him most from seeing this is the profound ignorance she harbors, replacing the knowledge of everything she's come to acquaint herself with in her life. Including himself. He can tell. Diana stares at him the same way a curious child would, wanting to learn more about what she cannot recognize, with the biggest difference being she won't ever be able to.

The piglet before him is no more than a travesty of the angel he can remember vividly, a righteous warrior bereft of all her virtues except for the armor bracelets which solely serve to remind him of what was lost even then.

Batman frowns to himself when a gloomy realization dawns on him. He is blue, though not by color.

The Dark Knight presses a button on his utility belt, a remote control to trigger the Batmobile's autopilot. It shouldn't take long for it to get a fix on his location and arrive to pick him up.

As he shuffles out the alley, he holds Diana safely in one arm while using the other to caress her with a hand running along her upper back.

She emits soft grunts and snuggles closer to his chest, basking in his gesture of affection. He can only mourn all the more.

"Don't worry. I'll get you back. I refuse to lose you," he tells Diana when they step out onto the sidewalk.

Diana simply rubs her head against him, and he responds with a light scratch behind her ear. The lack of a mane for raven hair bothers him, the pink flesh he rubs without any of his fingers tangling up in silky strands illustrating this. Still, Diana enjoys the attention he gives. Still, he broods over her condition.

Scrreee!

Batman abruptly darts his gaze at the road upon the screech of rubber. Evincing years of vigilance from having lived his life on the edge for so long, he takes in all the details in a split second.

Purple van, Joker... and a nervous smile on the clown's face? No, more like the face of someone who has seen things they wish could unsee. He notices Joker staring back at him, his blood-red eyes hard to read and lips like wine mouthing several words.

Straining his ears, he hears "Off his rocker!" and "I can't top that!" before Joker disappears into the distance. [1]

His mind now alert, the apprehension that overtakes him grows more and more the longer his eyes chase the yonder. He can almost see red flags waving in front of him.

A loud shrill unexpectedly reaches his ears. With a recoil, he glances down. Diana seems none too pleased, he observes. Although it's hard to tell on the surface, he imagines an upset expression on that face.

The call of a troubled friend prevails over him. Diana relaxes when he scratches the back of her ear a second time, easily being brought back to bliss. Too easily.

His unease skyrockets tenfold, except this time Joker isn't the cause. Not even the distinctive shape of the Batmobile finally drawing near is able to quell it.


The drive through Gotham proves long and stressful. At the moment, his plan is to seek out his old friend, Zatanna. Only magic can undo magic after all, and who better than someone well-versed in it?

Getting the magician's location and driving there has been far from an issue. Time consuming, but manageable. Driving there while taking care of Diana, on the other hand, is an entirely different story.

"Squeee!" wails the piglet beside him for the thousandth time.

It's become routine in a way. For every time his eyes leave her, she'd demand he resume pampering her. For every time his eyes return to her, she'd flash him with a semblance of the most endearing smile he's ever witnessed. Rinse, repeat. Loud, quiet, then loud again. His head hurts trying to think with this lack of respite.

He has long since ceased the caresses. Truthfully, he doesn't know why he bothered in the first place. It leaves him with an awful feeling of regret every time, and all because of the heart-rending reminders.

The last conversation he had with Diana before they encountered Circe, Diana's attempts at reaching out to him, and that underlying truth of them having something together even when he dismissed it many times before over The Mission. Most unbearable of all are Diana's delighted reactions to the empty comfort he brings; it tells him much about his failure to make a difference in the moment Circe cast her spell, how it cost Diana dearly, and how she can't even realize it.

"Squeeeee!" Diana screams yet again, now dangerously close to a volume capable of rupturing eardrums.

"Diana," he gently placates, "You know I'm here for you."

A pacific hush falls over both passengers. The continuous vroom of the Batmobile outside barely reaches him from the thickness of it.

When it's safe to look away from the road, and Batman checks on Diana, he finds the former Amazon with her head tilted slightly. Her obsidian eyes blink at him curiously.

His hand reaches out to Diana out of instinct, but then he stops.

"...Trust me," he says to her after a hesitating pause, retracting his hand. Then, he turns on the radio.

The orchestra plays with his heartstrings in such a way it's as if the music itself has become a part of him, a palpable sadness swelling for every precious second passed. Before long, he becomes a servant of the singer. A genius like no other, that Ray Charles.

His passionate voice, something he's working hard to conceal in closed lips, pursues the melody just as the other does. Together, the both of them strive desperately to soar, and in turn, the weight of woe pushes down on them harder. Still, however, they persist.

As he hums to the song, his ears pick up soft, short grunts right next to him, and through every occasional glance he's always greeted by the sight of Diana lying cozily in her seat. Her innocent eyes never leave him.

It isn't until he's finally found his destination when Batman switches off the radio and falls silent, taking a sharp turn toward the side to enter a familiar alley.

He parks his vehicle near the stage door. Desperate impatience propels him to spring out of his seat, barely a second after the top finishes sliding open.

Managing to land on the concrete safely, he bypasses the Batmobile and hustles toward the door. Right as he grasps the knob to turn, his ears perk up at a strange noise occurring moments before his vehicle closes up, of hooves hitting the ground behind him.

Diana, his mind figures out faster than his eyes. Sure enough, when he looks past his shoulder, he finds her standing on all fours. With how she's glancing around, the resemblance between her and a child having stepped into a novel place is uncanny.

The thought of Diana wandering off to explore instantaneously crosses his mind. His worries heighten, and he quickly reaches for the remote control in his utility belt.

As the Batmobile opens up again, he approaches Diana and scoops her up in his arms.

"Wait inside until I return with help," he advises while helping Diana sit in the passenger seat. It's better this way. Better than her going astray, whether in the building or out the alleyway. Or someplace else worse beyond imagination.

Too bad Diana doesn't share the sentiment. She leaps off her seat just after he takes a step back to close the roof.

With finely honed instincts, he catches the airborne piglet by quickly wrapping his arms around her. He pulls her to his chest shortly after. Diana doesn't struggle or so much as squeal strangely enough. At best, he feels a slight shift in his hold and hears her grunting softly.

"Please, Diana," he gently sets her down in the Batmobile.

It's as if Batman is reliving the moment when Diana catapults herself out and he catches the little pig the same way again. He's met with a similar reception from her as before, at least until he tries getting her to sit. That's when the differences start to show.

Vigorously, Diana presses herself against his chest while persistently kicking the air. She squeals harshly and puts up a stronger resistance the closer he brings her to her seat, desperate at maintaining as much distance from it as possible.

Batman ultimately gives up, his endeavors having turned out as useless as defying the repulsion of magnetic poles that simply aren't meant to be. With a frustrated frown, he pulls Diana away and observes her.

He softens at the face before him. Diana matches his stare with one as watchful, sporting a smile so sweet he wonders which between her teeth and his own shall rot first. She captivates him with eyes ever radiant despite the darkness of ignorance tainting them, her eager longing for his affection being all she comprehends most in what little memory she has currently.

And he teeters on what to do, comply or cast aside. Diana deserves far better than him, the regretful side of him argues. At present there is no one else she can turn to but him, the thoughtful side of him argues back.

In this struggle for a solution, he begins to learn how it feels to be the rope pulled left and right by two parties opposing each other; the tension is tearing him apart from inside, and he's doing his damnedest to keep himself together.

When he's finally had enough, he brings her to his heart as if wanting her to listen and decide for him.

Despite himself, he finds himself relaxing at the moment she contently surrenders to his protective cuddle. Diana closes her eyes and presses her ear closer against his chest, just below the bat emblem emblazoned on his costume. She listens to his heart pulse, steady like soft music playing in seemingly infinite duration to soothe even the most savage of storms, and proceeds to doze.

Batman remains still all the while, daring not to disturb the lull. He carries on cradling her, and basks in the moment more warming than the floodlights flowing over them like graceful waterfalls.

For a period of time, he senses the weight of the world lift off his shoulders, the pang of remorse being dispelled, and a budding serenity so foreign he believes it supernatural taking its place.

Alas, all good things must come to an end. At some point, the call for duty blares in his mind too loudly to be ignored, and he has no choice but to fulfill it.

He slowly pulls a sleeping Diana off him, cautious in his movements so as not to wake her. After gently laying her down on the seat, he takes a step back before pushing a button on the remote.

Following the roof of the Batmobile fully closing up, a forlorn squeal from inside shakes him worse than how it shakes the vehicle itself.

Turning away, Batman opens the door and enters the building. He's back to feeling blue now more than ever with the ache in his heart.

Zatanna can bring Diana back, he thinks to himself. And Diana won't be lost forever. Everything is going to work out somehow; everything will work out. It... will...

He gets farther away from Diana, closer to reaching Zatanna's dressing room. The lament of the piglet torments him still, even if her cries had already gone silent when he immediately shut the door behind him upon walking in.


[1] There was originally going to be a scene with Joker in This Little Piggy, where Joker was about to start a heist (as well as having a few surprises in store for Batman), only to instantly and comedically give up on the scheme when he saw Batman comforting Piggy!Diana in his arms nearby. I wrote this small bit as a nod to that.