They are both fools.
That is what I tell myself when I observe the two of them. It is my nature, the methodical and calculating way that I go about. You can call it paranoia if you want, I simply call it prudent planning.
Being prepared is the age-old motto of the Scouts. They call Clark the Boy Scout, but when has that oaf ever been prepared? When has ever thought about it before he threw himself headlong into something, jumping in front of a bullet or picking up a space shuttle from the sky? It is his nature to put himself in harm's way and to face danger without moving. Some people say he does it because he can, that he does it because he's invulnerable...but I have watched him take on foes armed to the teeth with kryptonite weapons without hesitating, and I have seen him go the distance with a monster who beat him to death, but not before he managed to save Metropolis one more time.
This woman is going to be trouble. That is what I first thought when I saw Diana. How does one go about comprehending an Amazon Princess, born by the will of the Ancient Greek Olympian Pantheon, and raised by a society of man-hating female zealots? She is as strong as Clark is, and once again, not afraid to throw herself in front of harm to protect others. I remember that when I first met her, naive of the world's ways, and watched her dumbfounded as she encountered Flash and his attempts to constantly court her. I smile to myself and recall the first time where Diana had learned just enough to understand a rather crude comment by Wally. Neither Wally, Clark nor myself could move fast enough to stop her from slapping him right through a nearby door.
Although that memory brings a rare smile to my face, it is also the reason why I have always been troubled by her. Despite all she has learned, she is still a warrior at heart and will fight with the sword when necessary. I think back to the situation with Maxwell Lord and I once again try to convince myself that she had a choice, that she did not have to kill him. So many variables, so many strategies, so many calculations, so much hindsight, all leading to...nothing. She always had that ability on most of the men she encountered. Who knew that the Goddess of Truth could be so confusing?
At one point I may have had feelings for her, but that was a long time ago, before Selina decided it was time that the Bat commit to one woman. I find it interesting that the master strategist who has outwitted nearly everyone who he has faced was brought to his knees by a burglar in a cat costume. "That's love for you" I say to no one in particular. In the safety of the cave, my cowl is down as my fingers dance across the keyboard, updating the extensive profiles of the two individuals that are up on the multi-screen in front of me. Superman and Wonder Woman. Clark Kent and Diana Prince.
Earlier I chastised both of them for rushing headlong into constant battle without a strategy, for acting brashly and without a moment to plan. And yet, here we are, the two strongest powerhouses of the Justice League, acting like nine-year olds with crushes. They think I cannot see, they think no one can see. Hell, they can't even see it in eachother. If you asked either of them, they would claim to know the other like no one else, and yet if you followed that up with any kind of romantic suggestion, they would sputter and fall slightly off-balance.
I always enjoyed the humour of watching a man who could take a grenade to the face without blinking, stumble backwards the moment you asked him if he liked a specific girl or not. It reminds me that despite his alien heritage, Clark is at his heart all to human, and every bit the naive Kansas farmboy, even now after everything we have been seen and been through together.
Now Diana on the other hand...I rub my jaw, still remembering the one moment I decided to push it a bit too far, to see if I could make the Amazon admit to her feelings...
"Come on Princess, who do you think you are fooling" I commented, watching her follow Clark out of the room with her eyes, not blinking or losing focus on the light breeze of his cape as he exited the Justice League conference room. "What was that Bruce?" She turned to face me as if I had asked her about the weather outside, eventhough we were in space, she even missed that I had called her 'Princess'. She hated when anyone called her that, even Clark, so when I said it, I was expecting a hook to the jaw, but it never came. "You love him don't you?" I moved closer to her, narrowing my eyes under the cowl, watching her micro-expressions. Despite being a diplomat and a battle-hardened warrior who had trained her whole life to control her expressions, I saw the look flash through her eyes, the look of longing, the look that had launched a thousand ships, the look...of love. It was the look Selina gave me when I asked her to marry me last month. It lasted all of a second before her expression blanked and you may as well have switched on her diplomatic political correctness as she, in a completely neutral tone, replied "Clark is a good ally in battle and a good friend", and then she began to walk away.
I had sighed like a journalist who was not getting a politician to be forthcoming, so I decided to risk it by pushing for a more aggressive reaction. "Yeah, you're right, how could you ever be with a wimpy, indecisive, and poor reporter from Kansas? Not enough jewels for the pretty Princess?" I gruffly responded, deliberately dropping my synthesized Batman-voice for a moment, and falling into the playboy facade of Bruce Wayne, making sure every word held that upper-crust distain that I wanted it to. I wanted to be an ass, and I wanted to be unpredictable. If I had added just a bit more decency to my response it wouldn't have worked...but it did. I watched her freeze, and I watched her back tense up, and the next thing I knew, I was on my back, my jaw slightly dislocated, and a very angry Amazon above me. But she didn't react any more than that. The moment she hit me, she knew I had goaded her. She leaned down to me, pulled back my cowl slowly, and looked me in the eye, and spoke with ice in her voice, "I know why you did that Bruce, I could have hit you much harder or I could have allowed you to just get away with that, but I decided to hit you this time, because next time you stick your nose into mine or Kal's personal life like that, I will remove the jaw", and with that she grabbed my jaw and painfully put it back into place, and then walked away.
I actually find myself laughing out loud as I remember that, the first and only moment that I have ever truly been cold-clocked by anyone. Not even I thought she would react like that, once again proving the point of how unpredictable their situation is.
But it has been years and I am getting tired of this. I could not give a damn if they ever got together if they managed to keep it in, but at a micro-level it is beginning to affect their work and the mission. The mission is the most important thing, and I cannot have two of the League's most powerful members losing focus. I know in my head that if they were both pointing the same way and were completely focused, then they would be nearly impossible to stop and we could actually get more done, and then maybe they would just leave me alone in Gotham and let me do my god-damned job. I never was big on the team angle, but that is the way it is. Two of my best friends, actual friends of mine are in trouble and they do not even know it.
This time the mission does not require the Batman to vanquish a stronger foe, or to outwit a master strategist, or overpower a deadly toxin. This time the mission is Superman and Wonder Woman. It is time for the Dark Knight to risk his jaw again.
This is going to be harder than anytime I had to stop the Joker.
A/N: Now that I have their perspectives, I will be leaving the first-person narrative and moving into third-person to get into the broader story. For those of you wondering what happens next, it's time to leave our heroes' minds and enter into their world and get this story underway. Evil awakens, alliances made, world at stake, you know the drill, let's get moving!
