Segment Note: Longer than usual, was written on a prompt, not sure how I was going to do this, but reviewer prompt gave me a direction so I went with it. So they are back, that's all I say for now, plus its get a bit more intimate with this one than others I have written before.
It had been almost three going on four years since that day. The last day she saw silver and black outline, last time she heard that masking voice, last of many things about her home reality until word had come that she is being sent back. There is a great deal of reluctance to release her or any of the others, but only one of them had shown any real danger to be let loose, she knew why they were really afraid of letting him out. The side effects of the power disruptor seem permanent, the only question was where would she go once back. Four including her are sent through a duplicate of the interdimensional gate.
The only trick was setting it for the right reality though of course figuring that was tricky even if someone heard the words Justice Lords, because who knew for sure their reality was the only one with that team name. As they watched it become clearer this particular reality must be theirs as it has no costumed team in any form to speak of. The man operating the controls was this reality's Batman of course she knew the look he briefly given her as he might been saying no hard feelings about trying to kill me or the other League members. Her hair had grown back and more, she almost did look like her old self. The coordinates are set so they step through hoping that this is the right one, which for the first time in years proved to be right because he sent them to their reality's abandoned Batcave. However the opening or entryway had long been sealed over so they had to find another way out. The cove if she remembered right would be a way out.
She leads them into the water and soon enough they come out the other side. It would always be his city to her and she wonders what went on with him after they were depowered then kept under watch for years in a high security complex in the League reality. In captivity, J'onn had come to terms with being 'stuck' in his native appearance and of course they occasionally heard news of what went on with the League especially during the incident where Luthor had become fused with Brainiac. They always watched seemingly captivated by the news. One reporter speaks of an incident involving duplicants of the Founders engaging the heroes before being knocked out, the world had barely skated away from total destruction, from Armageddon thanks to a certain speedster, but of course one news bit that struck a chord with John and Shayera was the Thanagarian Occupation. It happen a lot earlier to their reality, Shayera's allegiances were sorely tested of course, but she had not been drawn too close to her people's side. A bold thing especially for a female soldier though Diana understood how loyalties get tested as she had lost her place on Paradise Island thanks to that business with Faust and her bringing men to help her.
Kal however was the one they were resisting letting out given his malevolent intentions towards Batman, towards Bruce, he kept trying to convince her and the others that if they ever got out as well as got back, he would be among the first to die for betraying the cause as well as the team. In reality, they had not been a true team in her mind since the killing of Luthor and the murder of Flash. The fact that a Flash had been instrumental in saving the League's Earth had an impact on most of them except Kal, he couldn't believe nor did he find any rationality in the League sparring Luthor again. She knew that he would have killed Luthor without hesitation, he kept feeding his dark feelings, in one reality the two iconic figures were at most opposites with a common interest to do what they could to look after a world that held mixed views of them and in the other, in hers, they had become almost enemies until now he made the last leap to desire to kill Bruce. If Kal ever convinced this reality let him go back, he would get Bruce, powers or not, and for the first in a long while, she did not wish to do away with him herself. She had remembered why she felt so drawn to him in the first place, she only fears that he might have moved on in her absence.
"You are thinking about him aren't you?" says J'onn.
"I thought you weren't telepathic anymore," she answers.
"I'm not, but it doesn't take one to know by standing here at the shore nearest to his old house that you would be of mind for him."
"True enough, though it looks like no one has lived there in years, did he give it up or something else happen, or is he dead?"
"We'll just have to find out, and by that I mean you and John. Shayera and I have no way to disguise ourselves except maybe her covering up her wings."
"He is right, he and I will return to the cave to await your return."
The other Batman had given them some currency figuring cash doesn't change much between realities at least he hopes so and the two go shopping. They looked different enough to avoid hopefully any kind of recognition. She dresses way down for her level of physical beauty, but of course a few years without her powers, had made her age a little from the nights without much sleep and the dreams about him, somewhere she killed Bruce and others where she failed to stop Kal from doing it. Dreams weren't really dreams, just almost like nightmares. They both don inexpensive shades, John buys a casual suit, she buys a dress for the first time in years as well as high heel boots, John gives her a somewhat curious stare, but she shrugs it off saying something like anyone is going to connect that right now. It looks similar to the red dress she had worn to the club after she first met Audrey. She sighs almost curious how she could still recall the days before she went with that warrior look. John also buys a light overcoat and some different pieces of clothing that he figures is Shayera's size as well as hoping she does not throw the stuff back at him if she hates it.
She was very cranky at times as of late, Diana could suspect why, but John was a little blind in that department for a man who was that much in love with the closest thing he has to a wife. Diana smirks with a slight amount of envy because she knew though Shayera kept hesitating to admit since they had little to feel anything positive about since going to that other reality as Shayera would call it.
"You notice anything different about Shayera?"
"Meaning what exactly?"
"You know what I mean."
"I don't believe I do."
"You two have been awful close especially since the trip."
"Of course we kind of settled on being married already."
"I don't mean just that."
"You don't mean?"
"Open your eyes Stewart."
"Judas.."
"No need to swear..."
"Time to pay and go before we attract the wrong kind of attention."
They work their way back to the promontory outside the abandoned Wayne Manor. It appears according to J'onn that Bruce sold off the property if the lining in the Bat cave's doorway is any indication. Someone else temporarily resided there before selling it again, something about the reputation of the previous owner, and since nobody else has been upstairs. Together the four of them bring down the grandfather clock, J'onn ends up spending the rest of night, maybe even the rest of the week trying to fix, and Diana works her way from room to room as she tries to remember the few nights she spent here. As she finds what was Bruce's old bedroom, she pulls back the cover tarp, and then lies down on the bed. She longs for him, simply put, she had lost her hatred for him, she wants for those nights where it was just them, not him risking life and limb or her taking supernatural blows and battling foes.
"I heard someone had been spotted near my old house," says a voice.
"Bruce.." she whispers.
"I see you and others came back at last."
"Yes except for Kal."
"I can imagine why they might resist letting him out."
"He is Tartarus bent on killing you."
"Right, but I don't live here anymore, I'm not in costume anymore, I'm a niner to fiver for once."
"I had begun to wonder what had happen to you after we left."
"Most of the costumes got locked away not long after the League left."
"So what happen with them... I know they came back to their reality to stop us."
"You are asking did I let them out..."
"It had crossed all our minds... Kal thought you did it on purpose."
"Their Flash faked a heart attack, which made me go down there in a panic."
"Clever...but you running to check a prisoner...well it is Wally of course."
"I wasn't prepared to let another Flash die on my watch, I don't like having people die on my watch."
"It happens..."
"Yes but I believe I can stop it more often than not."
"Yes you do that... so what happen to the others, your 'family', the other heroes?"
"They reorganized per my instructions into the Outsiders. As for 'family', we are on better terms now. I was made a godfather not long ago. Dick and Barbara had a daughter Cassandra. Talia also came back into my life."
"Ra's daughter? why did she come to you?"
"Her father has plans, naturally that's expected, he is eager to test whether or not I can stay out of costume, not go after him the way we went after Luthor. Talia is also pregnant, she claims I'm the father."
"WHAT?"
The silence is stifling until he steps into the light.
"I doubt it, but we did have... once."
"Why?"
"Like people keep telling me, I'm just human, mistakes, flaws, and all that other jazz."
"She could be lying."
"She could, but there's no way to be sure without a paternity test."
"She probably wouldn't submit to that."
"You are probably right, but they are expecting me for dinner in Bludhaven."
"I want to go with you."
"I'm not sure that's a good idea right now."
"Its been almost four years now!"
"I know, but I have to give them some kind of warning or heads up on this."
"Okay, but I miss you terribly so."
"That so?"
"Yes... stay with me tonight."
"I'll be back after dinner."
"Don't keep me waiting for long."
"You know I won't."
In usual Bat-esque disappearing act, he is gone just as she flops back to his bed, and that is when Shayera appears in the doorway with a bemused look, she barely heard the last part of that conversation as she had been looking for Diana.
"Who were you talking to?"
"Bruce..."
"I hardly heard anyone else just now except you..."
"You remember his tendency to come and go like a shadow right."
"Right... now what's this suggestion you made to John?"
"I think you are..."
"You can't be serious, they hardly let us be together in that place, we had to sneak around to do it."
"Well one of those more recent times apparently I think got you pregnant."
She giggles before starting to a cry little and then lies down next to Diana. The Amazonian tries to comfort the Thanagarian because all they had were intermittent moments in that high security complex. They were allotted some time to be together either as a full group or in pairs, but usually never for long. After awhile, Shayera goes off looking for John, to let him know how much she misses him too. As for Diana, she finds that someone had turned the utilities in the manor back on, a note was left in the master bathroom for her.
I bought back the house with savings from my new 'day' job. Enjoy the bathroom Princess.
He had virtually stopped referring to her intimate nicknames long ago, but something had obviously changed for both of them since then. Later that evening as she is still reveling in the bath, he appears in the doorway a second time, her physique had held up well in his eyes, and she grins a little noticing his gaze at her body. He hands her a robe and they stay there awhile as the room is still full of steam. There is a sound like the noise common to someone or something rubbing against glass, particularly the long mirror next to the shower stall, which is a couple feet from the master bath. She wants him to have his way with her, she just longs to be with him like this again after this long a wait, she pulls out his belt, as he kisses her like he had not done in years, and after a time she finally gets him out of his clothes then she enjoys the sound of her hips rubbing against the long mirror.
She leads him back towards the tub before pushing into the bubbly water though he pulls her down with him.
"I don't think I'll ever dry out."
"Not if we stay in this tub you won't."
"No jokes please."
"I was being serious."
"Sorry my love."
"All forgiven, even if we never forget what happen in the past."
She kisses him deeply as their bodies connect beneath the bubbly and soapy bath water. It is steamy in here for a different cause now.
The lights are lowered with a remote he had used in this master bathroom for years.
In the darkness she is all I see
Come and rest your bones with me
I'm driving slow on Sunday morning
And I never want to leave
Somehow as she takes the remote away from him she triggers the stereo system he kept in here too and a song she never heard before plays. The lyrics were so simply yet so intimate. She hums them a little as she lies against his chest in the tub and he strokes her long flowing hair, how he had missed that before. He felt like they could come out of the cloud that had hung over them for so long, the only questions were more about who might be going after them now, if someone is still after those sporadic missions that the Outsiders undertook from time to time.
However for now, he had her back in his arms, that was enough for him tonight. The song switches over to one he had started to associate with her after he heard stories about a dark haired woman spotted near his recently bought back ancestral manor.
Lift me on my honor
Take me over this spell
Get this weight off my shoulder
I've carried it well
Her deep blue clear eyes stare into his light blue eyes.
Lose these shackles of pressure
Shake me out of these chains
Lead me not into temptation
Hold my hand harder
She bites her lower lip as she wants them to become like one.
Ease my mind
Roll down the smokescreen
And open the sky
She audibly moans as she roughly kisses him.
Let me fly then I need a release
From these troubles of mine
Fix my feet when they're snowing
And well, you know it hurts sometimes
You know it's gonna bleed sometimes
She sighs pushing him on his back against the tub wall.
Dig me out of this thorn tree
Help me bury my shame
Keep my eyes from the fire
They can't handle the flame
It felt better than he remembered to kiss her. The closeness, the heat, of course he felt guilty on some level for giving into Talia, she had sprung on him, but it did not mean much to him. He went into meaningless flings for years, of course it was different with some women, but somehow he begins to believe Diana is not the first or the last, just the only one. It is one of those moments where a man realizes once you meet, you kiss, you love just one like he did and does with Diana, there can never be another quite the same ever.
Another song starts and in that moment they both seem to tear just a little.
I do believe in its not over tonight...
As it continues, she smiles at him and he smiles back
Just give me one more change to make it right...
She kisses him as they just get closer again after that intense physical embrace.
I won't go home without you...
"You ever think you are going to have to explain yourself to your mother?"
"Someday yes, but for right now, I just want to stay here with you."
"One step at a time, yes, that is your call."
"It is and so is..."
She pins him again once they are out of the tub on the way towards the bed. What it made so quick for her to eventually settle into her tough girl facade was mostly her feelings towards what was happening with Bruce as he kept putting all kinds of distance between them. She was ready to fight him for it this time, and of course she won because he wants her to do so for a change. The near of the end world used to be a regular for them, but for now, maybe it could just be them together like this. She looks so enchanting with the way her hair falls over her wet skin, and of course she is enjoying the way he is exploring a body he had almost forgotten in recent years.
Her hair pressed against her face
Her eyes were red with anger
Enraged by things unsaid
They didn't mind the next song so much because they had already been down that road because it also rounds out with a more sympathetic gesture of the loved ones mending the hurt.
I cannot carry the weight of a heavy world
So much to love, so much to learn
She eventually falls asleep in his arms and it almost feels like coming home to him... a slice of happiness.
A/N 1: I have four of them returned depowered, there is of course hesitation to let Superman or rather Kal to return given his known plans for Batman/Bruce among others. As for certain, italicized lines, song lyrics again, mostly Maroon 5 songs and a bit from Sweet Talk, a song from The Killers.
A/N 2: As Diana has not been seen for several segments, she is obviously somewhat different from that ice queen that I interpreted her as being from the segment Warrior. At the end of that one, I had left something a suggestive thought that she was capable of turning away from the lifestyle or behavior she took up following her costume and personality shift. If to put in a Greek context, its like Athens and Sparta.
A/N 3: a de-powered J'onn is 'stuck' in his actual appearance without being able to shapeshift. Likewise, I hinted or almost confirmed that Shayera is pregnant. How's that for another curve, I thought it was a good twist aside from the predictable potential with what happen between Bruce and Talia. As for the developments with Talia, the exact circumstances that 'got' her getting pregnant are suspect.