"Why?"
Hippolyta started. Glancing over her shoulder, she realized Diana had flown up to her balcony. "Diana, what are you talking—?"
"No. Don't, Mother. Don't pretend you're unaware. Why did you ruin his life?" She landed heavily on the floor, her dress swirling around her body. Her expression was irate and menacing.
Hippolyta's eyes narrowed. "You're angry because I tried to protect you from a man? Because I tried to prevent what happened to me and Themyscira millennia ago from happening to you?"
Diana seized the nearest object – a chair – and hurled it against the wall. It shattered.
"Diana—"
"No! Why can't you believe that I'll make the right decisions in life? Why can't you trust the goddesses, who gave me strength and wisdom? Why can't you trust the way you raised me?" For a moment, her voice quieted. "Why can't you trust me?"
"Diana, I do trust you. You are the most wonderful daughter I could ask for—"
"But you still don't think I can fend for myself. You think you need to meddle in my affairs."
"Diana, please, look at yourself! You have become completely irrational because of a man."
"A man that I fell in love with. A man who is courageous beyond compare, who makes me feel special, who helped make Man's World my home… a man who has suffered his whole life because of you."
Hippolyta pleaded with her daughter, willing her to recognize what she had done for her. "Diana, don't abandon us for a man. I understand what they are like! I have seen this Bruce Wayne. He is a womanizer, unworthy—"
"Mother." Diana's voice was piercing. "I will never abandon Themyscira… but you don't understand at all. You don't know Bruce," she replied, glaring at her mother.
When she spoke next, her words were gentler. She mentally apologized to Bruce before she opened her mouth.
"Bruce Wayne's parents were murdered in an alleyway by Joe Chill and he was raised by his butler Alfred Pennyworth."
"I am sorry I never confirming his death."
Diana tried to ignore that. "In his suffering, he made the promise that no child would ever have to witness the death of his parents before his very eyes ever again… that no child would have to endure as he did. He spent years training himself…"
"Your description does not correspond with the real Bruce Wayne."
"…and now he fights crime in Gotham as the Batman." I'm sorry, but I have to. And I love you still.
Shocked into silence, Hippolyta lost whatever queenly composure she had had before. "B-Batman? Bruce Wayne is Batman? Bruce Wayne… is Batman… How—"
"Yes, Bruce is Batman. Mother, this proves that Bruce isn't like Heracles. Meeting him in the Justice League has taught me that. Bruce is much worthier than you believe him to be. He took his pain and made himself stronger for it. He took the agony you inflicted upon him and became a better person. And I will never regret meeting a man like that."
Listening to Diana speak, Hippolyta's heart sank. As her daughter praised him, the queen slowly regained her poise.
"Princess." Hippolyta's expression was severe, and all compassion was gone from her face. "I raised you, and loved you, for thousands of years. I am not repentant over my actions. I only regret that you have forsaken Themyscira's values. All this happened because I wanted to shield you from harm. It has all been for you."
Absorbing her mother's words, Diana stumbled. She hadn't looked at it that way…
"I… I cannot look at you and see the mother I once admired, who wisely governed her people and was the epitome of righteousness. I despise your overbearing sense of protectiveness, and… I do not think I will return to Themyscira. I…" Diana trailed off. Wonder Woman, who always skillfully deflected the paparazzi's questions and always had a comeback for Batman's teasing, was at a loss for words.
"If you are returning to your man," Hippolyta replied coldly, "do not let me delay you."
Seeing red, Diana promptly turned on her heels and flew off the balcony.
Bruce Wayne is Batman…
He is Batman because his parents were murdered…
His parents' deaths were the result of an unsuccessful attempt to kill him… which I arranged.
I ordered his death because I love my daughter…
My daughter might not have met him…
If he wasn't Batman.
Hippolyta collapsed onto her bed and held her face in her hands.
What have I done?
My mother is a killer…
She wanted to see Bruce dead because of Apollo's prophecy…
She didn't want me to fall in love with a man…
Thomas and Martha Wayne wouldn't be dead…
If it wasn't for me.
Having reached her jet, Diana dropped into the pilot's chair and sobbed over the controls. She was strong, she was capable… but this was beyond her.
I'm sorry Bruce. It's…
Through blurred vision, Diana aimed the plane back towards Wayne Manor.
It's my fault.
Sitting idly in his office, Bruce glanced at the clock again. 3:00 pm. Diana had been gone for… a day.
I should've told her I'd miss her. He'd spent years rejecting her advances, and now he couldn't go twenty-four hours without her. Casting a fleeting look at the clock again (3:01 pm), he decided to leave work for the day. After all, Bruce Wayne had an image to maintain.
Suddenly his cell phone rang. He saw the Manor's number flashing on the screen.
"Alfred?"
"Good afternoon, Master Bruce. I would just like to inform you that we have a guest waiting for your return right now. Her name is Philippus, and she claims she is an acquaintance of Miss Diana." Bruce heard a little scuffle in the background. "She is rather insistent. It would be beneficial for you to return as soon as you can."
Bruce darted out of his office. His secretary grumbled. Who does he think he is, disappearing like that…? Batman?
Landing the jet a decent distance away, Diana changed into civilian clothing and walked briskly towards Wayne Manor. It was already evening, and she wanted to catch Bruce before he left for patrol. The last time she'd been here, everything had been so different. Last time, her mother was still kind and understanding, Joe Chill had independently been the one to kill the Waynes, and she herself wasn't responsible for their deaths.
Nothing was the same this time.
Ringing the doorbell, she waited. Alfred opened the door belatedly, and to her surprise, he looked a tad flustered. "Good evening, Miss Diana. Master Bruce is in the cave right now…"
"Should I come back later?"
"No, of course not, my dear. Actually, I do believe Master Bruce would welcome your presence right now. We have a little predicament in the cave."
Raising an eyebrow, Diana headed towards the clock in Bruce's office and adjusted the hands. She began hearing a faint voice… No… it can't be her.
"Let me out of this contraption and f-fight me. According to history, that is what men do. Fight. Ceaselessly."
Philippus.
Diana flew over the steps and was surprised at the scene before her. Philippus was handcuffed to a steel board on the wall of the cave, and her feet were strapped in too. Bruce, dressed in normal clothing, was pacing in front of her.
"Bruce…?"
He turned his head so swiftly his neck cracked. "Princess."
Without a warning, Diana threw herself into his arms. She simultaneously glared over his shoulder at Philippus, whose mouth was shocked into an 'O'. She felt his arms go around her waist, and he gave her a brief kiss behind her ear before releasing her. He quickly whispered, "I missed you," and turned back towards the chained up Amazon.
Pitching his voice lower, he addressed Diana. "She hasn't disclosed why she's here to kill me, but I assume you have some information since you returned nine days in advance."
Diana cleared her throat nervously. She couldn't lie to him… Bruce was the last person she would even attempt to deceive. She was aware that she was potentially throwing away their relationship, and her happiness, but she knew she would be consumed by guilt if she didn't tell the truth.
"When I was in Themyscira, I learned something…" She gazed up into his handsome face, his blue eyes searching.
"Philippus is the captain of the guard. She works directly under order from my mother, the queen." Bruce's expression was unreadable. Diana couldn't see a hint of the man who had given her a kiss just moments before.
"My mother…" Diana choked. "My mother… a long time ago, she had a dream that I would fall in love with you." I can't do this; I can't tell him I ruined his life… Diana panicked. For once in her life, she had no control over what was happening.
Bruce waited, as only Batman was able.
"She didn't want me to go against Themysciran morals, so she sent Philippus to…"
"…have you killed," Philippus finished. "I was the one who found Joe Chill and told him to kill you. He failed. He killed your parents instead."
Diana wanted to strangle Philippus for her deadpan delivery of the fateful words. She glanced at Bruce. He was staring into the crevices of the cave, avoiding both Philippus and Diana. This time, he couldn't hide his emotions. His eyes were wide with disbelief.
Without looking at Diana, he asked, strained, "Is this true?"
Seeing Diana so uneasy gave Philippus the boost of courage needed to speak up. "You should not blame her, Bruce Wayne. She may have forsaken Themyscira's values, but she played no part in this. I came here on Queen Hippolyta's orders, to kill you."
"I'm sorry, Bruce. It's my fault, my mother wanted to protect me." Diana shook. She was so unlike Wonder Woman right now… but then again, she had never been in such a position, where she had hurt someone she loved in so terrible a manner.
"G-get out." He couldn't handle seeing her face right now.
Her heart sank, but she wasn't surprised. Diana nodded, and placing her com-link piece in her ear, asked J'onn to teleport her up. "I'm sorry. I understand if you never forgive—"
"I won't. Get out." His face finally looked to her, pleadingly. "Please."
She watched him turn towards Philippus. The moment before she was teleported up, she whispered, almost inaudibly…
"I'll fix this for you, Bruce… no matter the cost."
A/N:
PrincessJazzy23: God I know, the new WW outfit practically gave me a heart attack.
Chaosmob: Thanks for the correction, I went back and fixed it!
I feel like people might dislike how Diana feels guilty for what Hippolyta did when it's obviously not her fault, and I just wanted to address that really quickly. In my opinion, Diana would be completely angry, but at the same time I wanted to allow Diana the opportunity to rationally think things through. She's so emotionally vested in this that she can't simply just be mad. Everyone she loves is involved, and going around beating people up (I really can't see her beating up her mother) really wouldn't help her solve the problem. I think the feeling of being partly responsible for the current predicament is what can really drive Diana to act and change things.
Anyway, thanks for reading, and please REVIEW.
Every review puts a nice little smile on my face(: