A/N: I spent a while wondering on what time-line this story takes place in. And then I realized that I just...really didn't have an answer. So this is my own time-line. It takes place in the Justice League. Some things from the series happened, some things didn't. So...yeah. This is before Unlimited began. I hate Unlimited. It was just so...meh. Just...MEH.

()

"So," Bruce bit out, as another wave of pain slammed into his body. "What's the plan?"

One of the blurs moved, and then J'onn was suddenly right next to him, laying down close to his body. "They are going to strengthen the bond."

His pain-filled mind did a double take. Strengthen the...

Wasn't that what caused the whole problem in the first place?

As if hearing his thoughts, which he probably did being both a Martian and a God and all, L'Zoril said, "The Heat has stopped effecting your body hours ago. But the stress it put on you has caused your body to shut down. As it is right now, you are but minutes from passing away."

Bruce stared at one of the blurs where he thought the Dream-God was and snorted. "I heard that inside-out crack. So excuse me if I'm a little concerned."

A hand brushed over his cheek softly, and he closed his eyes as a soft wave of...of heaven washed into him, briefly taking away all the pain. Well, if this was how he felt being inside out...maybe it wasn't so bad...

One of the blur's snickered at him and he was going to shoot the blur a dark look, but a thwak sounded out, as if someone had smacked said blur upside the head.

Then his earlier conversation with J'onn came back to him. 'Their lives expand, their powers grow... Mating is the up most form of what you call 'love'. It is stronger; it can help two lost mates find each other again, and if injured, the bond can even heal you...that is, when Martians mate.'

So apparently their bond wasn't strong enough to heal him as it was.

So it needed to be strengthened.

"Correct." Came the answering hum, and J'onn squeezed his hand slightly.

"There's still time to back out now if you wish.

But Bruce wasn't awake anymore; his eyes had started to grow heavy and he was so tired...

"Bruce! Bruce!"

()

Bruce entered the hospital wing, covers and pillow in hand, sleepy eyes taking in the mercifully darkened room. Finally. Some where he could rest without his ears ringing, or his eyes pulsing. Oh yes. Pulsing. His body slouching from exhaustion, he walked over toward the bed he'd occupied not even an hour ago and slowly sat down on it, allowing his overly sensitive skin to get used to the roughness of the mattress. Once he was sure he could handle it, he laid down and made himself comfortable, trying hard not to think about why he was being forced to sleep in the hospital wing.

After the whole puddle fiasco, he found himself to be exhausted and had retreated back to his quarters to sleep. But that was when he realized something.

Such as, the fact that his room was very close to the monitor room. And that the computers beeped and made little mechanical noises. Very loudly. All the time. After tossing and turning for a few minutes, and getting a headache, he quickly grew agitated and started towards the hospital wing again. It was far enough from everything else that he could relax, thankful that his senses wasn't on the same level as Kal's was—yet.

The way J'onn and the others were talking...they would be. Soon.

Bruce wasn't quite sure how he felt about that. Sure, he could see the tactical advantage it would give him in his line of work; both as Bruce Wayne and The Batman. But...it was very tiring. Sound, sight, touch, smell, they were all so intense now, and it was all very overwhelming. Couldn't do anything anymore without concentrating on not getting sick from all the new things he wasn't used to feeling.

It would get better over time, he knew that. But for now...

Sleep was damn near impossible.

Maybe Clark had a point. Perhaps things would be easier if he stayed at the manor. The only people around the manor were...

His eyes started to close.

Alfred...and...bats...and...and...

Tired. So tired. He'd talk to Clark about it tomorrow. Right now he needed sleep.

Sleep. Mmm...

Maybe I should come back later...

Slowly he pried his eyes open, a disgruntled sigh escaping him. So close. He'd been so close.

Diana. Diana was hanging right outside the door. With her loud thinking and breathing and...nervousness that he could literally feel oozing from her. And while he knew she would leave if he didn't acknowledge her presence...

She was really feeling crappy about something. And it was beginning to make him feel crappy. So, he reluctantly sat up. "Come in."

So close...

The sooner he found out what her problem was; the sooner he could fix it. And the sooner he fixed it, the sooner he'd be able to go back to sleep. It was all selfishness on his part. He didn't care at all. Not one bit.

"Hi..Bruce..." She sat down on one of the chairs by the bed, her hands running through her hair. While she gathered up the nerve to speak, Bruce took in her appearance, noting that she was wearing lipstick. And...

His nose twitched. Perfume.

Very strong perfume.

Why was she so dressed up?

I...this was a bad idea...I should leave... The thought entered his head, causing the headache from earlier, which had been mercifully dying, to flare up for a split second, and he fought to strengthen his mental shields. It was difficult because he was dead tired and Diana was projecting VERY loudly...

So much so that the next thought broke through his mental shields as if they were paper.

Bad..stupid idea...what was I thinking?

His eye twitched. "Diana, whatever it is just say it al—mpfff..." No longer twitching, his eye was now open. Wide open. Along with the other one.

Diana was kissing him.

Her lips were nice, moist, plump. She was a very attractive woman and they had some serious chemistry. He couldn't really feel anyone close by. Most likely they could...do this...without being interrupted.

And get away with it.

Though he was tempted, his conscious quickly tapped his shoulder and waved at him, keeping him frozen in place, until another tense moment passed, and he found himself able to pull away. Felt the confusion rolling from her and winced. This whole feeling thing...

Was quickly growing old and fast. He missed the good old days where he could be an ass and not feel the effect his words had on people. Knowing was one thing. Feeling was another.

"Diana..."

"Bruce...we..." Her eyes shifted to the quiet machines that were laying next to his bed, finding them less intimidating than the stare he was giving her. It had all of Batman's personality powered behind it, and it made her feel like she'd done something really horrible. And she knew that she had just betrayed J'onn in a huge way...but... "We...what about...us?" And there had been an 'us'. Though they never really got around to making it official, there...there had still been this...spark between them.

Memories. They had quite a few of them together, and it wasn't easy for her to just forget about them. Even if Bruce was now...mated...

To J'onn.

The cold look softened slightly, enough to make her feel comfortable enough to look at his face. Not his eyes though. "Diana, you are..truly, one of the most beautiful women I have ever laid eyes on."

Her face flushed, her heart starting to flutter.

"Be that as it may," Bruce continued on, and the fluttering quickly started turning to sinking. "J'onn is my mate now."

And despite the past between them, he wasn't so much of a tool as to betray J'onn like that. Not when he had been lying in the hospital twelve hours ago; had been on the brink of death, his mind reeling with emotions that he hadn't felt for so long...

Not when he had remembered the choices he'd made. The choice to lean over and smell J'onn. To lose control. And he had made another one. When the Martian Gods had stepped in with their offer, and he had taken it, and became J'onn's mate. Completely.

J'onn had been his choice.

And he was going to honor it.

One day, Diana knew, that she was going to find someone. Be it man, woman, she didn't really know nor care. But she did know one thing, as she gazed into those blue eyes...and saw the conviction lying in them...

That person wasn't going to be Bruce Wayne.

With a mental sigh, she slowly stood up and headed out of the room.

"Diana--"

Looked over her shoulder and saw the slight sag of his shoulders, telling her just how plain tired he was, and gave a small smile. "We're okay, Bruce. I had a feeling how this would turn out when I started looking for you. But..." He was actually having to fight to stay awake. It wasn't that she was boring him, she could tell it wasn't her. The entire day had been very straining on his body and...

After what he'd been through, he deserved to rest. "But I had to try," she whispered, watching those blue eyes of his close.

()

Aphrodite stood across from Bruce's bed, watching the human sleep.

She just didn't get it.

Diana was a beautiful woman. Apparently one of the most beautiful women Bruce had ever laid his eyes on. But he still decided to remain faithful to that green thing? It didn't make any sense.

They weren't in love. Love was her jurisdiction. If they were in love then she'd be able to feel it. Maybe that was her problem. Maybe that was why she couldn't accept this...

Mate thing that was between them.

Love was a beautiful thing. Everyone deserved to be a part of it. Sometimes they couldn't though; sometimes the past covered them up with so many scars, that it hurt too much to love, because to love was the most dangerous thing you could do. So instead they buried themselves in their anger, in their hatred until they were numb and they didn't have room to love anyone. And if there was no room, you couldn't notice the emptiness.

Which was probably why Batman was one of Ares' favorites. He constantly teetered on the fine line between sanity and insanity, choosing to do things his way, rather than go strictly by the book. Maybe that wasn't a smart thing to do, to try and balance on that very thin line. But any time someone brought it up, Ares would just say that it apparently worked for Batman, because he was still there.

And she couldn't argue with him. Yet at the same time, she couldn't help but wonder...

What about Bruce?

What about the man behind the Bat?

Maybe Batman didn't feel the emptiness, but surely Bruce had too.

So she had steadily worked with him and Diana, determined to fill the emptiness. To make them work. And for a while, things had gone smoothly.

Until they'd decided to give them that stupid break.

And that stupid 'God' H'ronimer or WHATEVER had decided to butt in. And what did he have to say for himself for ruining all her hard work?! 'Uh...oops?'

Oops?! OOPS?!

All her hard work DOWN.THE.DRAIN.

Where it would apparently stay, Aphrodite thought moodily, as she took in what had just happened. Bruce had been tempted, she could see it in his eyes. But he refused to stray from J'onn.

Even though they weren't in love.

The Goddess of Love and Beauty stood there sulking for another second or two, before allowing a small smile to shape her lips. Well, if she thought about it, it was rather sweet.

He was willing to stay with J'onn out of loyalty.

She could do love, but loyalty was something that came from the heart. How many people did she manage to hook up, only to cry with aggravation as one person screwed it up, due to their inability to remain faithful?

Aphrodite shook her head, sighing. Alright, she could work with this. It wasn't so bad after all, she supposed. They were friends, after all.

And friendship was a form of love...

'Aphrodite, if you are done with your meddling, would you mind coming back to Olympus now?!'

She rolled her eyes before teleporting in a flash of pink light, stumbling ever so slightly as she realized that Bruce had been looking at her the entire time. And she hadn't even noticed. Walked into the main room, where the others were waiting for he. That is so creepy...

Ares looked over at her and smirked.

She huffed. Men.

()

J'onn stood there, towering over Bruce for what seemed like hours—and probably had been—his eyes gazing upon a certain area.

Bruce's lips.

More importantly, at the lipstick that was smeared on them.

He shouldn't feel this hurt. Or betrayed.

Diana and Bruce had history.

He and Bruce weren't even in love.

So if they weren't in love, then it shouldn't matter. Shouldn't matter at all that he'd just locked lips with the princess. That he evidently held no regard for their bond. Which was the last bond of it's kind.

Thousands of years of civilization, of culture. And it didn't mean anything to Bruce. Nothing at all.

It shouldn't matter.

It shouldn't hurt like this.

But it did.

()

The Green Lantern looked down at his crossword puzzle, his eyes narrowed in concentration. Something which was hard to do, considering that Hawk Girl was sitting close by.

Lately they had taken to spending a lot of time with each other. John didn't really know what the attraction was, or why they started gravitating towards each other. Most of the time they barely said two words. Perhaps it was the aura she emitted. Her strong sane presence. Hawk Girl didn't go around sleeping with Martians, setting Chocos on fire or nearly keeling over from having sex with said Martian.

No. She was the sane one in the group. Flash had always been the crazy one. Running around all those high speeds...that had to cause some serious brain damage. Wonder Woman, of course, is doomed to join them. She had gone from living in a lesbian Paradise Island to living in Hell. It would cause anyone to snap.Batman was a MAN dressed as a BAT running around chasing after clowns and psychotic penguins. (Though oddly enough there were theories that went around, saying that his name was BATMAN for a reason, and that it was a BAT dressed as a MAN...)

Superman and J'onn...they had been the sound ones. Oh yes.

Superman was the man of steel.

J'onn was the cold serious one.

But...now...J'onn was supposedly like mated to Batman...which was like marriage, but stronger. Marriage drove everyone insane. So...something stronger than marriage...and being mated to Batman of all people...at first, Green Lantern hadn't been that worried. J'onn was sane, right?

But he had slept with Batman.

The only way anyone would sleep with Batman was if they were insane. Bruce Wayne wasn't that big of an accomplishment. If his reputation was anything to go by, he'd slept with pretty much everyone. But Batman...

The only way anyone could sleep with Batman, who was about as cuddly as a rattlesnake, was if they were insane.

So it had all been just an act, to fool the rest of them.

J'onn was insane. Batman was insane.

A perfect match.

And Superman...

He was constantly muttering under his breath about perverted racists...so Green Lantern figured it to only be a matter of time for him. But Hawk Girl. Hawk Girl was nice and pretty and strong and sane. She was his life saver. Because if it was just him, he'd have no hope left. Oh no. He'd be swallowed by the waves of insanity. But since it was him and HAWK GIRL, he was fine. Destined to be sane.

Because if anything tried to turn her crazy, she'd start swinging her mace around—just ask Flash. When he had seen her swing the mace, for a split second, he had felt an ounce of fear in his heart that maybe she was gone. Maybe they had gotten to her while he wasn't looking. But then she seemed to sense the danger and slowly backed out of the room. Ran. She ran. Oh yes. Clever woman.

As if sensing his thoughts, Hawk Girl let out a low laugh, one which would have caused his heart to pound just a tad faster, had he had such feelings for her. But he didn't. So his heart stayed beating at a normal pace. Didn't skip a beat or flutter. Not at all.

And he wasn't happy when she closed her eyes and started humming softly, a song which was beautiful and eerie at the same time, causing his body to slowly relax and unwind. Didn't feel content as he looked over and saw just how beautiful she looked right then and there, with her face smooth and worry free, her lips curled up ever so slightly...

I could get used to this, He mused.

()

I hope ya like the Lantern/Hawk Girl I slipped in there. -