THE QUEEN´S DAUGHTER

CHAPTER V: I´M STILL IN LOVE WITH JUDAS, BABY.

Sophie realized he was still reluctant to talk. The man loved her mother and he lost her, it was likely a hard story to tell. She doubted for a moment, but she grabbed his hand. She wouldn´t have another chance like this one to get closer to the truth.

"Please, it´s very important for me. I traveled a long way, I ran away from my home. Anything will help. I want to know."

He placed a strand of her hair behind her ear. For some reason, he felt deeply bounded with the girl. It was senseless, but it was so. Was it just because he still adored the mother? Her charming smile and her tender innocence melted his resistance and subjugated his sorrow. Even though the resemblance was beyond heartbreaking.

"Did anyone ever tell you how much you look like her?"

"A lot. All the time."

"Okay, I'll do it, because once... she changed my life in a way I thought no one ever would."

"Thank you. From the bottom of my heart."

"You won´t be thanking me when I´m done."

She shook her head in disapproval. "I asked for it, I´ll take whatever comes."

It's hard for me to explain what happened the day I met her. She was new at everything... A complete rookie. There was an alien invasion and the seven of us, therefore the Justice League, gathered together once the threat was gone. I knew your father way before that. I never admitted it, but we worked well together. He was the one who introduced her to me. Diana turned my world upside down since then. She smiled and right then I was certain of two things: That I finally met a woman who impressed me enough to shatter the idea that I didn't need a woman in my life and that I would never get her. You mother was ethereal; she was gleeful daylight, innocence and breathtaking beauty. She was sunshine… and I was the dark knight.

"A perfect match." The princess smiled, enchanted by the story. Bruce only shook his head slowly.

Your father was the right man for her and she knew it. They spent a lot of time together and it wasn't long before rumor has it there was something going on between them. For some reason I told myself it wasn't truth, he had a girlfriend and she never admitted it... and we actually spent a lot of time together too, sometimes working and sometimes in the social events where our duties summoned us to perform. I tried very hard to get someone else, if only for the sake of getting her out of my mind. But it didn´t work. I started to think she was a sorcerer, that your gods gave her some sort of magical powers. All the other women eventually left. And I was back to her.

"Isn´t it all terribly stupid? I used to think I was smart. Clearly, I wasn´t as clever as she was."

"No, it´s not. I think it´s very cute."

"I let her set me up."

"Keep going."

Reality slapped me across the face one night.

They were both on call duty on the Watchtower and I decided to go get the utility belt I had left there earlier. I have to admit I was jealous. Sick with jealousy. I wanted to show up and find out they were all wrong... But I discovered something completely different. The ugly truth.

Lights were on, but everything was silent. It had been a quiet day and it promised to be an even calmer night. I grabbed the belt and walked out of the control room, no signs of them. I heard her voice then... And she was moaning. The pain stuck on my chest for a while before I was able to move, hearing it once and again. I followed the sound. The door of his room was half open, they were alone after all and unaware of my arrival. I saw them naked and tangled together and I saw her climax in his arms. I ran away, probably making more noise that I should have. I didn´t know the security measures we didn´t often use would be on and I unwillingly shut them on. Then, I convinced myself again that I didn't need her. I don't have a woman or a family now and it allows me to focus on what I have to do, protect my city.

"Great Hera, it must have been heartbreaking. So you quit the League and you never saw her again? You remained here."

"Not exactly."

I tried to avoid her therefore, but we keep bumping into each other not only in the Watchtower, but in other social events too. I was forced to still face her, and too often for my liking. Things changed a month later, in a very unexpected way. We were protecting a princess, Audrey, and Diana had been all night out partying with her. I found about some weapons being stolen and I needed to warn her, so I had to swallow my pride in a spoonful and my pain like a pill. It was duty. I waited at her apartment until she arrived. That morning I heard your father was back with her old girlfriend and, for the first time, I didn´t feel… so blue about seeing her again. I let my guard down and my hopes up. I made my first mistake. That´s what being human is about, right? So, after my patrol was finished that night, I went to her. She didn´t take long. I watched her walk in and remove her shoes in a very appreciative silence. Diana was wrapped in a ravishing red dress.

"Hello, Diana."

Her shoulders tensed up almost imperceptibly. I noticed how her body became alert before and after she recognized my voice. For a long, excruciating moment, she stood still and quiet, as if she was considering what to do. I dreaded she was going to kick me out. And I definitely didn´t foresee what she decided to do. I remember her gaze fixed on the newspaper over her night table, but I never understood what was in there that helped her make out her mind. The thing is, she did it. As soon as I stood and took a step towards her, she unzipped her dress and turned around. My gaze followed the red silk pooling at her feet and crept back up through her flawless body, until my eyes met hers. And I didn´t saw fear or shyness. I saw confidence beneath her shivering skin.

"Hello, Bruce." She smiled, but she wasn´t playing the seductress, it was a nice, friendly smile. It was meant to make me confident. I didn´t know before that she was aware of my identity, and I couldn´t put a claim on it. I watched her take a step closer. "Do you need me?"

No need to say, my blood pressure was out of control. I could only think that if your father was trying to get back with Lois and she was trying to seduce me, their relationship was definitely over. She was mine if I decided to take her.

"Yes, I do."

As her smile widened, she took a step further. Her body was nearly pressed against mine, and, God, she really knew how to move her curves. All she did was removing my mask, but the slight brush of her fingers against my face was sizzling..

"You don´t need to wear it in here. It makes this too… impersonal."

Her voice remained smooth and nonchalant. She was sexy, but she wasn´t aware of it. She used her body to get my attention, but she obviously wanted more from me that just to take it. And I had been too blind to see it before. That´s what I thought, anyway.

"Meaning?" I asked, running my finger along the hem of her black, lacy underwear.

"Meaning I want to get close and personal with you. What did you need me for?"

"Do you want me to explain it, beautiful?"

Her lips pressed against mine in a solitary kiss, too short and too light for my liking. The touch burned against my skin, my lips ached for more of hers.

"I will prefer it if you… show me."

My lips crashed against hers and my arms wrapped possessively around her slim waist. She smiled and moaned, satisfied and responsive. We plunged onto the soft cotton covers over her mattress. I didn´t question her about the previous loss of her virginity –something I would obviously find out during what we did-, she didn´t question about my love past either. It was a tacit agreement we respected through all the time we were together. It was a chilly night, the window was open and the wind made the curtains quiver. She snuggled against me and we pulled the duvet over our bodies. Her bed was small and there wasn´t any other way to fit in together. Not even my wildest dreams had been as good as that night.

"You have no rush to leave, right?"

She was asking me to acknowledge it wasn´t a one night stand, and I did it.

"I´m staying right here."

"Good night, Bruce." She yawned.

"Sleep tight, Diana."

"I love you." She whispered, drifting off to sleep.

I was so surprised it took me a long time to fall asleep too. But when she woke, she found me looking at her and smiled, rubbing her eyes.

"Where you watching me sleep?"

"No, I wasn´t."

"Liar. Are you hungry?"

Diana smiled. She was happy, and something in her gleeful joy was outrageously contagious. I was happy too, more than I have ever been before.

"As a matter of fact, yes."

She sat up and put on a shirt she grabbed from a nearly chair.

"Scrambled eggs or toasts?"

"None."

She looked down embarrassed. "I´m sorry, that´s all I can cook for you right now. I´m not Alfred."

I pulled her down again and kissed her.

"That is until I have you first. And I am so glad you are not him."

For the next two months, we spent together every available night. I was a part-time member at the League, so she had to cover more shifts than I did. Neither of us mentioned our relationship openly to the other members. It was ours. She was smart, funny, naïve, beautiful. She was perfect. Love usually does that to people, you only see that you want to see. What we had was so intense and fulfilling, we understood each other so well -she never claimed lack of attention when she had to wait for me to finish my patrols and I never complained because she was doing most of her shifts with your father -, that I became stupidly confident. I never suspected that what we had wouldn´t be enough for her. I was in love and I rushed. There is no logical explanation for what I did. I guess I was just afraid I could lose her. It was an unforgivable mistake.

"So… two months. What happened then?"

"I got her a ring."

"You asked her to marry you? What did she say?"

I had the diamond ring saved into my night table´s drawer. She insisted she wanted to get on a real date, somewhere out, and I finally gave in to her wishes. Her happiness seemed so genuine… The other women were trophies for the playboy to show off, but she was different and I wanted things to be different. I wanted her to stay around. I got a thank you kiss and she tip-toed into the bathroom. If I was doing it, it had to be properly. Going out on a dinner with her gave me the perfect chance to put my proposal, and I knew the perfect place. It had to be the next day, she said she was busy for the rest of the night. My phone was on my trousers' pocket, and they were discarded all the way across the room. Too lazy to pick it up, I stretched my arm and grabbed hers from the night table at the other side of the bed. I started to dial the restaurant´s number when a message popped in and it accidentally opened. I didn´t intend to read it, but I was glad I did. It was your father. The glass shattered and I finally saw the truth.

"Are you coming, pumpkin? Please hurry. I really need you tonight. I´m waiting."

So I had been wrong, she was still banging him. That was what she had been busy with. It wasn´t about her shifts at the Watchtower and most of them were with him anyway. She had been laughing at me and I was making a complete fool. I redressed and waited for her to come out. She raced to me with a carefree smile and tried to kiss me. I pushed her away and put an end to our fake relationship. Diana turned around and I hit the wall.

"Great Hera, what did she do?"

"She left. She gulped, bit her lower lip and left. Without a single word. She didn´t cry, she didn´t demand an explanation. That´s how eager about seeing him she really was."

"You didn´t ask her for an explanation either?"

"I tried to, two days later, but I couldn´t find her. They told me she was gone with your father. No one knew where."

Sophie gasped and looked down, ashamed of her mother´s actions. The confusion she felt was worse than a mixer messing up with her brain cells. The princess could take her mother´s lies when she thought she was lying to protect her, but it wasn´t so. Diana had been lying to protect herself and prevent her shameful actions to be known. Outrageous. She always thought her mother was the most perfect, loving woman on earth. A bit bossy, possessive and impulsive, maybe, but tender and caring above all. For her daughter, Diana was only a step below Hera herself. And now, she found out her mother was a man-eater and a cheating slut. It was simply… unbelievable. She needed to find her father to tell her all she heard wasn´t true. She needed Diana to tell her it wasn´t true. She needed to perceive something to ensure her Bruce Wayne was lying. But he wasn´t. The pain in his voice was real. She discreetly wiped a tear and looked up.

"That´s enough. Thank you for the help."

"I told you it wouldn´t be nice."

"You have no idea what this mean to me." She hissed, and for the first time her tone was bitter.

"I´m sorry…"

"I´m sorry too. I shouldn´t have asked if I wasn´t ready for the answer." She stood up. "I think I need to go now."

"I think you do. If you need any help, Sophia, you can count on me. You can come back."

She nodded, taking deep breaths to try masking her quiet sobs.

"I appreciate it." She took the brown back and handed him the diamond necklace. "Do you have any idea where can I sell this?"

Surprise enlightened his features.

"Where did you get it?"

"I stole it from my mother." She blushed. "I´m sorry, I needed the money and I didn´t know what to do."

"I will buy it."

"But you don´t have to, I just…"

"I want it. How much do you want?"

"I have no idea how much it´s worth…"

He walked away from her and sat behind his desk, looking down pensively. He saved the necklace in the first drawer and took his wallet out from his pocket. He handed her double the money than any other buyer would have given her for the necklace.

The amazon saved the cash with a relieved sigh. Bruce Wayne just saved her life. He just revealed a lot of hurtful things, but Sophia couldn´t help to deeply like him. "Thank you, this means so much. I will never forget what you did for me."

The young princess jumped forward and hugged him tightly. Hadn´t she done so, she would have broken down crying. He hugged her back. There had been years since the last time he was so close to the verge of tears. It had been when Diana left. When her breathing became steadier, she broke apart, embarrassed of what she did.

"Do you think… there´s any way you can help me find him?"

"Go to the Daily Planet and ask for Mr. Kent. That´s all I can do for you. But remember, if you need anything, you can come back."

"After what you told me, Bruce, I would be sincerely ashamed of doing so. I am not my mother, but I´m still her daughter."

"That doesn´t mean you have to pay for her mistakes."

"No, but I still have to carry them."

A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews :D I love them and long reviews just enlighten my day ^^ It took me a great deal of thinking to plan this plot and there is a lot on the way still, so please don´t quit on me :P. Also, I am sorry for the mistakes because this hasn´t been beta read, so feel free to point them out; every comment and critic will be very welcome and mostly appreciated. Already thanks to Cheryl, who offered to help me now on. Please review and all will be revealed soon…