Disclaimer: I do not own any part or characters associated with DC comics.

Once again huge thanks to MGD for betaing this for me

Enjoy!

Chapter Three: Arriving at the Party

"Do you really expect me to wear this?" Diana's voice questioned in disbelief as she appraised herself in the mirror.

"Unless you plan on attending the party in the nude," Shayera countered with a hint of a smile.

"But the men aren't wearing anything remotely close to this. I don't see why we have to wear them," Diana argued skeptically.

For God's sake, the Princess, who normally wore a toga that barely covered her backside, was complaining about a dress that was only a hair on the revealing side. Shayera couldn't hold in a sigh while wondering how Diana could have spent so much time in Man's world without once watching TV. Compared to what the celebrities wore, Diana's dress looked like a habit. Finally, getting tired with Diana's complaining, she decided to make the decision for her.

"Fine! You want to bring them into this. Let's ask them what they think," Shayera said while pulling Diana by the arm to find the men of the League.

************************************************

Superman, who had overheard the argument, quickly commented to the other waiting men, "Oh, no! They're coming. Scatter!" Looking for any escape route, he tried to get out of being put into an incredibly awkward situation. But it was too late, the moment that the words left Superman's mouth the door to the hanger bay opened with a frustrated Shayera dragging a whiny Princess by the arm.

"What do you guys think of her dress?" Shayera asked while pushing Diana into their line of sight.

In one movement, as if they had practiced it, almost all of the men's (with the exclusion of J'onn, of course) jaws dropped opened in awe at what they saw before them. Diana, Princess of the immortal warrior race of the Amazons, stood before them in a beautiful black dress that hugged her every curve while hinting at her bosom in a way that drives men crazy. A slit cut halfway up the side showing a generous amount of leg while at the same time allowing her the freedom of movement. The men wouldn't have recognized her at first since she was dressed in such an uncharacteristic fashion for an Amazon. The only sign that confirmed her identity were her trademark bracelets.

Eventually, J'onn broke the silence, "I think you look very lovely Diana, and by the expressions of the other males in the room I believe that they wholeheartedly agree."

"I still think this outfit is unfit to wear and offers no practicality. I look like a piece of meat on display, and my mobility is severely limited. Why doesn't Superman have to wear a tuxedo?" Diana huffed in irritation while feeling uncomfortable at the attention she was receiving.

Finally, Superman snapped out of his daze and said, "Well, I would wear a tuxedo, but I don't want to take the risk of anyone recognizing my secret identity since I dress in formalwear often. Besides, John doesn't really hide his face at all, and Flash can keep his mask on with his tux."

"I do find this earthling sense of clothing very unusual but still quite enjoyable myself." J'onn stated while standing in a tuxedo like Lantern and Flash.

"Trust us, Diana. This is what people wear to these events in man's world. It's just the fashion. Besides, with you wearing that, I wouldn't be surprised if one of the men just admits to being Batman. You may even grow to enjoy it!" Shayera stated with a smirk.

"Fine, if it will help the mission, then I will bear it. But I still think these dresses are completely impractical," Diana consented with a huff, "Let's go and get this over with."

With that, the Justice League went to the hanger bay to take a Javelin down to Gotham for the ball.

************************************************

They were coming to his city. No doubt to try and discover his identity, even though, they were going to use the party as an excuse to be here. He had seen the two women multiple times over the past few weeks searching for him and trying to catch a glimpse of him in action. Thankfully, they had not seen him. Yet, he knew that they were getting closer each night. He knew that they wanted him to join the League. He could even see the reasoning behind it, but he did not appreciate them trying to discover his identity.

He also knew about the others nosing around during the day trying to find out what the people of Gotham knew. Clark Kent, or Superman, was not overly careful and almost blundering in his investigation. Clark was constantly waving around the fact that he was from the Daily Planet in Metropolis running down information on the Batman for an article. He found it so laughable that he would not be surprised if some journalists didn't figure out that Clark was Superman. Wally West was much more discrete requiring actual surveillance to follow his movements since he only talked to the younger groups. Still money with that crowd could buy anything, and he had no shortage of that. The Martian, J'onn, was the only one that he couldn't find, probably due to his shape changing ability. He still assumed that he was acting during the day since he hadn't seen him at night.

Tapping a few keys on his computer, he brought up a detailed file on each of the six members reviewing their powers and perceived weaknesses. While they didn't know is that all the while they were trying to find out information on him, he was doing his homework on them. He had very detailed notes about what their strengths and weaknesses are. Enlarging the picture of the Amazon Princess, Diana, he could not help but appreciate her ethereal beauty. She claimed that she was given the beauty of Aphrodite, and he honestly could not agree with her more. Unfortunately, he had the least amount of knowledge about her, and planned on using tonight to see what he could discover who she was. He couldn't help it when his mind strayed to thoughts of getting a chance to dance with her tonight and how she would feel in his arms. His musings were interrupted by a loud cough from behind him.

*Cough* "Master Bruce, I believe that you should not be looking at pictures of other women when your date is upstairs waiting for you to attend tonight's party, even if she is quite remarkable looking," Alfred stated with a hint of amusement.

"Just doing research, Alfred," Bruce stated while getting up and moving to join his friend upstairs.

"But, of course, sir," Alfred stated in that tone of voice that basically meant 'nice try but I'm not buying it'.

As they both ascended the stairs, Bruce couldn't help but take one last glance back at the picture of the Princess on the monitor.

************************************************

"Wonder Woman! Wonder Woman, over here!" hordes of reports shouted as she walked down the aisle being blinded on all sides by the flashes of camera.

Hera give me strength, Dianathought as she walked down the red carpet towards the entrance praying with every step that she could keep her fake smile plastered on her face while imagining satisfying thoughts of crushing all of their flashing cameras. Diana's impatience was only compounded by the dress she was wearing; she could not understand how women could wear these garments and still have an ounce of self respect. Admittedly, she realized that the togas on Themyscira were more revealing, but those were not meant to be worn in the presence of males. Originally, she thought that Shayera was lying playing a joke on her by making her wear the dress. However, once she arrived at the ball, she realized that all of the women were wearing similar gowns and some were MORE revealing then hers. In fact, some were so bad that the women were practically naked. Finally, she reached the front doors and with a deep breath. With a mental reminder that she was on a mission here, Diana walked into the ballroom to confront Gotham's elite.

************************************************

Bruce saw her the moment that she entered the room. It would have been impossible to miss her with the way she looked. It felt almost as if someone had turned on a light in a very dark room. He had no other way to describe it; she made everything brighter. While he along with every other male gawked at her in amazement, his mind formulated a plan to speak and find out more about her. Then, his date Sasha or Sophia or something that started with an 'S' commented with disdain, "Hmmph! I wonder where she got her work done because there is no way that body is natural."

Bruce gave her a reassuring smile while at the same time wondering what it would be like to actually have a date that was intelligent for a change. He knew that he could not act too fast for fear of being too obvious in approaching her and decided to wait an a few hours or so before introducing himself. After all, he had to at least make it look like he was drinking before he approached her. Bruce assumed that if anyone in the League had some intelligence that he would be on their list of suspects. He had to undeniably make it seem like he was incapable of being Batman. He had to appear to be too intoxicated and too busy with his date later tonight to be able to operate in any manner that required coordination. Brushing his hands on his pockets to make sure he had his mouth spray that would give him that alcoholic breath and steeling his nerves to put on his inevitable playboy act, he settled down to wait for the right moment.