A/N: Many thanks to DaisyJane for the beta and revisions to the dialogue. To call this just an amazing beta would be incredibly insufficient.
Spoilers for 'Doomsday Sanction'; minor reference to 'This Little Piggy'
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
I also don't own 'Chasing Cars' but really, really love the song.
I don't quite know
How to say
How I feel
Those three words
Are said too much
They're not enough
If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me
And just forget the world?
All that I am
All that I ever was
Is here in your perfect eyes
They're all I can see
I don't know where
Confused about how as well
Just know that these things
Will never change for us at all
If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me
And just forget the world? - Chasing Cars, Snow Patrol
MIRAGE
She sat up in bed. She felt like hitting something. Hard. Even technically unconscious, Bruce was infuriatingly frustrating.
At least he was no longer angry with her. Judging from his behavior and what he said, the blame was now directed entirely at her deities.
So, she had a few decisions to make. Would she try and 'connect' again? If he no longer resented her secrecy, could they work together again? Was she even willing to try? Could she even go back and be his colleague, let alone his friend? Could they both pretend they didn't want more?
She sighed. Of course she would try again. She never had wanted to give up on him. Let's face it, she had a stubborn heart as well. Besides, it was quite clear that this was what her goddesses wanted and so she would continue to try if that was their desire. Ignoring her deities was never a good idea even if Bruce was being an ass.
The anger she had experienced during their last dream left her wide awake from the adrenaline surge. She needed to relax, so she grabbed some fresh clothing and went for a bath.
Shortly after returning to her room, there was a knock at her door. Outside she found her breakfast waiting on a tray sitting in the hallway. As she picked it up, she felt movement behind her and quickly turned.
Athena. The Goddess of Wisdom.
She resisted what she knew was a juvenile and extremely inappropriate urge to roll her eyes. Athena would not be amused.
"Lady Athena," she said as she bowed her head.
"I find it incomprehensible that an Oan Power Ring has yet to find its way to your mortal's hand. He has a strength of will like no common man." Diana raised her head in shock and the Goddess smiled, "It has been a source of never ending frustration for Aphrodite. There are days when I am sure she is this close to smiting him down. She doesn't because she knows it will upset you."
"You will have to thank her for me," Diana said with a smile. "I can understand where he is coming from though. The gods did manipulate our connection."
"Not really," Athena sighed. "They gave you an opportunity to connect-what relationship developed was your own choosing."
At Diana confused expression she continued. "It is like a parent sending their child to a good school with the hopes the child will learn and excel. Your mortal could have ignored you."
"He was vulnerable..."
"That does not change that he needed and wanted you. He chose to connect with you and he chose the path he followed because of that connection."
"I understand but as you are saying but he willful and stubborn..."
"But Diana, you also possess this strength of will. Use it."
Diana thought to herself that her strength of will had taken as much of a beating lately as her patience. "My Lady, but to what end? I do not understand why I am to continue to endure this struggle when he clearly does not desire me to do so."
"Diana, your gift of wisdom knows the truth in him. If you break through the barriers he constructs, this bond will grow and it will not be limited to your dreams. However, as you both created it, you can also choose to grow it or to destroy it. Growing it will be of great benefit to the world you protect, but will eventually require difficult decisions to be made."
Diana's look clearly expressed her desire to know more. Before she could ask, the Goddess shook her head. "No, Diana. At this moment, it matters not. For, if the gift is rejected, no decisions will be required. The choice belongs to you and the mortal."
Then she was gone.
Sighing, Diana climbed back onto her bed. Surprisingly, with a little focus – and despite the fact that it was morning and she had just recently awakened – sleep came easily.
X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X
She saw only darkness when she opened her eyes. She felt a…warmth permeate within her. Almost as soon as this registered to her, she felt the weight of something or – someone – move on top of her. An unbidden moan escaped her lips, as she felt warm, soft lips kiss a trail from her collarbone to her breast. At the wet sensation of a tongue stroking her nipple, the lust-filled fog in her brain quickly cleared and Amazon instinct kicked in.
In a flash, she flipped on top of the 'someone' and pinned them down. Roughly.
"Diana –" a voice croaked out.
Bruce? Oh. He's dreaming about…
She sat back and straddled his thighs, while at the same time becoming highly aware of the fact that only a scrap of black lace was currently separating herself from…Bruce.
He sat up slightly and leaned over to turn on a light. They both blinked several times before locking blue gazes. Bruce fell back onto the bed and continued to look at her. If it weren't so out of character, she might have caught the slight blush that spread across his handsome features at being caught in having such a dream.
"Hello, Princess."
Inexperienced curiosity got the better of her and she began to rapidly fire off the questions she needed answered. "Aphrodite told me that you dreamt of me. Is it something you do often? I mean, under normal circumstances?"
His eyes darted away for a brief second before returning to fix on hers. "Very often."
For a few silent moments, they continued to look intently into each other's eyes. Then to Bruce's dismay, she climbed off and stretched out on the bed beside him. She pulled up the sheet and wrapped it tightly around herself. They both stared at the ceiling.
"Bruce, does this feel different?" She searched for the right words. "Than the other dreams did?"
"Ummm…different?" Articulate Batman was noticeably absent. "I wasn't dreaming about you when you came before. You always came as an observer. "
She nodded. "I know. But now that I am not just observing, is it different now than when you have had other dreams of us like…doing…this?"
After a moment of thought, he replied, "Yes. It's not really like a dream anymore now that you are here. I guess it's more like a fantasy than a dream." He rolled over onto his side to look at her again, eyes darkening. "Just now, it was a lot like I woke up from a dream and found you in my bed."
Their eyes locked and both momentarily forgot the outside world and all of the issues they had. He gently lifted the sheet away from her as his hands resumed their earlier explorations.
Firmly gripping her generous breast, he rubbed her nipple with the pad of his thumb, causing it to harden. Leaving her breast, his hand migrated lower, across the smooth planes of her torso, pushing under the scrap of black lace.
"Bruce…" Her words began to come with short, panted breaths. "Would this… be how… it feels?"
"I've not been with you this way, Princess," he whispered. He again brought his lips down to her breast while the fingers continued their gentle stroking.
"But you've had…been with…" She shook her head a bit as if to shake her words and thoughts free. "Does this feel the same?"
He tilted his head slightly to look up at her. He knew what she was asking. "No. But I never did expect that being with you would be the same as it was with anyone else," he whispered.
"Please," She was becoming more insistent. "Tell me."
"Mmmm?" he murmured as he continued his 'work'.
"I'm sorry, Bruce." Her voice was a barely audible whisper as if the words were difficult to say. "I just want to know if this is how it would be…. If this feels real … In case it's the only way I can…with you."
Bruce's head snapped back up to look at her face. Her eyes were closed and her lips were parted as she seemed to be soaking up every detail of the experience. It suddenly felt very, very wrong. He felt very wrong. He didn't feel wrong about being here with her, like this – but wrong about only being with her here, like this.
The weight of his whole belief system – who he was and the future he was meant for – fell away. In its wake was left a sense of panic and uncertainty that he'd only felt once before in his adult life. He'd literally gone to Hell and back for her that night.
He had stilled his ministrations and moved his hand to her cheek to gently turn her face toward his. Long black lashes fluttered open to reveal bright eyes, moist with unshed tears. He swallowed. She was so beautiful.
He tucked the sheet back around her and dropped soft kisses on her shoulder and lips before lowering his head to the pillow beside hers. Wrapping both arms around her, he drew her tightly to him.
"Princess, I'm not sure I know what's real anymore. Or what's right." They lay in silence, neither wanting to face what the world had waiting for them.
X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X
A small group that included Superman, Nightwing, J'onn J'onzz and the current Wonder Woman had gathered in the infirmary at the Watchtower. They had come together to discuss Batman's condition.
"He's been unconscious around two days. However, cardiac, respiratory, and neurological activity remain stable. If anything, his heart and lungs are functioning more efficiently. What concerns me is something entirely unexpected." J'onn paused to call up some medical records on a very large, portable, touch-screen monitor that had been wheeled into the room.
"I had a series of X-Rays taken just over an hour ago. Just upper and lower extremities. The top of the screen shows the recent X-Rays." J'onn proceeded to drag several images from a folder to the bottom of the screen. "The X-Rays at the bottom are ones we took right after Batman was brought in two days ago."
Superman, having extensive knowledge of human anatomy and meta-human vision, quickly recognized what had J'onn concerned. "That's impossible. There must have been a mix-up with the films."
J'onn replied immediately, "I considered that as well, so I verified them with X-Rays taken previously, including the ones taken when he was injured diverting the missile from San Baquero. There is no mistake."
While the two were talking, Dick had been comparing the X-Rays and deciphered what had J'onn and Superman concerned. "So, what you are saying is that there is no longer evidence of any of these previous injuries on current films?"
"No," said J'onn. "And there's more."
J'onn walked over to the bed where Bruce lay sleeping. Nobody brought it up, but the oddly content look on Batman's face was disconcerting to all of them.
J'onn proceeded to unsnap the shoulder of Bruce's blue hospital-issue gown.
An audible gasp was heard from Dick. "What the hell is going on? I helped Alfred stitch-up half of those scars that are no longer there."
He turned to Donna who looked back at him with wide eyes. "Maybe you should tell them what you told me?"
X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X
Diana opened her eyes and found herself looking up at a blue sky. She was outside. She heard the sound of ocean waves crashing nearby. She smelled saltwater in the air and felt the ocean breeze on her bare skin. In between the sound of the crashing waves, she heard a soft chuckle in Bruce's soft baritone and seconds later – a giggle?"
As she sat up on the blanket she'd been lying on, the sight before her quite literally took her breath away. Bruce was on his knees building an extraordinarily complex-looking sandcastle, clad in nothing but a pair of pale blue board shorts slung low on his hips. As heart-stopping as that vision was, it was not what caught her attention. He was kneeling next to a small girl, approximately two years of age. She wore a navy and white gingham one-piece swimsuit with ruffles and halter ties at the neck. The little girl had jet-black curls and looked over at Diana with ice-blue eyes that shined with affection.
Diana's heart nearly stopped. She quickly rose to watch the scene with rapt attention.
"B—Bruce?"
He looked up at her with a start and then looked back at the child for a instant before turning back to her. The momentary look of confusion was quickly replaced with recognition. Vague images of a normal dream apparently were replaced with extraordinary clarity when Diana joined it.
Bruce jumped up and walked over to where Diana stood frozen, staring at the little girl. He took her hand.
"Bruce," she said again, her eyes not leaving the girl on the beach. "Is this your dream or mine?"
"Mine," he replied. He was uncomfortable. "I've had it before."
She whipped her head to the side to look at him before almost immediately turning back to the raven-haired child on the beach who had continued to play in the sand. Mesmerized, she watched as the toddler created a dinosaur 'fossils' using individual sand molds of dinosaur bones.
Diana spoke slowly. "So… she's… ours?"
"Yes," he whispered.
"And…you've had this dream before."
"Yes."
"What's her name?"
"Alexandra."
Then Diana closed her eyes. He squeezed her hand. Her heart again ached within her chest. "Bruce, I don't know if I can take much more of this."
She hadn't opened her eyes, but she knew the scene around her shifted again. The sound of the ocean waves and warmth of the sun was replaced by the sound and feel of a crackling fire.
Her eyes remained closed. "No, Bruce. I wasn't ready to go yet."
"Princess, I'm not in control of what I dream about."
She sighed. "Where are we now?"
"Back at the manor."
Diana slowly opened her eyes, staring straight ahead. They were standing as they had been, her hand in his. As she sensed, they stood before a crackling fire. After a moment, she tilted her head up slightly to look at the familiar portrait that hung above the fireplace.
Bruce's grasp tightened slightly as he pulled her back toward one of the large overstuffed chairs. He sat and pulled her into his lap. She turned to reach her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder.
"I want to wake up now."
His arms tightened around her. She knew exactly what he was thinking. Earlier in his bedroom, on the beach, and in this very moment, he could have exactly what he wanted without any of his emotional baggage. He wasn't ready to let go of the dream yet.
Diana pushed back from him slightly to search his eyes, twirling her fingertips in the black hair at the nape of his neck.
"Bruce, I was told me that this – whatever this is – was created by the two of us all of those years ago. It is something we chose to create. We can choose to embrace it and let it grow or to allow it to wither and die. I assume if I stay on Themyscira it will cease to be. No details were given, but it was foretold that growing it would mean a connection beyond that we've experienced in our dreams. Both of our missions would benefit from the connection, but we would eventually have to make difficult decisions. Athena did not say what those would be. We both know that there are often unexpected costs for such things."
He didn't speak. He couldn't. He just gazed back into her eyes, as if searching for answers within their blue depths.
"So, Bruce, you've had me in your dreams. It's time for some hard and real decisions."
Still he said nothing. Knowing she was about to go, he did the only thing he could at that moment. He kissed her.
X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X
He blinked several times as his eyes adjusted to the harsh artificial light. As he adjusted, his eyes swept clockwise across each person standing around his bed, five in all.
Bruce's gaze fixed on the very last person, standing immediately to his right. Looking directly at Dick and without missing a beat, he said, "Get. My. Clothes."
Chapter End Notes: I don't know if anyone has contact with Adrian Tullberg and he probably has other things to do, but his short fic 'Evolution' really needs to be a epic-length fic. Stubborn and strong-willed? Where else would a Power Ring in search of a new Green Lantern go than Gotham? Obviously, I love the idea.
Oh, and the reviews have slowed down – I'm going to definitely need some feedback to continue. One or two more chapters left.