Chapter 10

Bruce paced back and forth across the bedroom like an enraged animal ready to pounce as Dr. Leslie examined Diana. She had spiked a high fever, one that could've taken her life if he hadn't found her when he had. The thought chilled him to the bone.

The cold wet clothes he was still wearing wasn't helping either, but it mattered little to him at that moment. He was furious with himself for not getting Dr. Leslie earlier when he noticed something was possibly wrong, but Diana had insisted she was alright.

And then she had kissed him. That kiss. He swore he could still feel her hunger against his lips, tasted her on his tongue. He had wanted her so badly in that moment.

"Bruce, stop pacing," Dr. Leslie suddenly ordered, interrupting his tormented thoughts as she finished changing Diana's dressings. "You're going to wear a hole in the carpet."

"Is she going to be alright?" he asked, coming over to see Diana for himself. He was relieved to finally see her beginning to look a little better.

"Thanks to you," she nodded. "She is one sick superhero, though. You did the right thing trying to get her fever down. You saved her life, Bruce."

"What's wrong with her?" he woodenly asked, his face set like stone despite the firestorm raging within him.

"The first problem – she's human now. Being severely injured in that attack substantially weakened her body and now she's fighting to recover from it," she explained. "It also makes her susceptible to every germ known to mankind and the perfect target for an infection. She's never been sick before and has absolutely no resistance to ward anything off now.

"The infection that Dr. Bennett initially treated when she was on the Watchtower has returned with a vengeance I'm afraid."

Bruce raked his fingers back through his short black hair, his attention completely focused on the beautiful sleeping Amazon before him. It felt as if his heart was clutched tightly in panic's death-grip and it wasn't going to release it any time soon.

Dr. Leslie suddenly moved to stand in front of him, blocking his view of Diana and forcing him to focus on her. "Bruce, look at me," she sternly said. "She'll be alright. I've drawn some blood to run some tests, but I've given her some medicine to help with the fever and started her on some strong antibiotics that should kick this in no time."

Bruce snorted in bitter amusement as he folded his arms against his chest, imagining Diana's reaction when she finally woke again. "Diana's going to have a horrible fit when she wakes up and finds herself hooked up to more IV's. She was on the verge of removing them herself as if was."

"I'll let you be the one to handle the irritated Amazon," she told him, patting his forearm. "I have a feeling that you of all people can handle her just fine."

"Well, I know that she's about the only one who can handle me," he softly admitted as Dr. Leslie turned to leave.

"Then you make the perfect pair. I'll be back in a few hours to check on her, but call me sooner if needed," she informed him. "And get some sleep, Bruce. You look like you could use it yourself."

Bruce only nodded to Dr. Leslie's instructions. He had too much on his mind right now to think about sleeping. The Joker was up to no good once more and he'd nearly lost Diana again.

Maybe getting involved with her wasn't such a good thing after all. His heart kept telling him how right this was, how perfect she was and how happy he was when he was with her. His mind, on the other hand, saw all the obstacles in their way, recognized the extreme dangers that lay ahead for her if anyone discovered he was the Batman.

Diana was no longer able to defend herself against the vile filth that lurked in the dark alleys and sewers of Gotham. Even though he had teased her about it, she truly was helpless now, defenseless.

Dropping down in the chair with an exasperated sigh, Bruce leaned forward, his elbows on his knees as he held his head in his hands. He wanted Diana so badly at times it physically hurt and yet how could he knowingly allow her into his life with all the horrible dangers surrounding them?

Lifting his head, his eyes immediately fell upon her sleeping form, the feverish flush of her cheeks finally beginning to diminish somewhat. Reaching towards her, he gently brushed her hair back from her face, his heart skipping a beat.

He knew he loved her above all else, no one coming close to shining such a brilliant light in the very dark void of his desolate world. He never wanted to think about her not being a part of his life, but what about the next time? What if he hadn't gotten back when he had or if he had chosen to stay down in the batcave for the rest of the night instead of coming upstairs?

He would never be able to live with himself if something happened to her. Taking her hand in his, he laid his head down on the edge of the bed, his eyes suddenly feeling heavy as he watched her sleep. He knew he was going to have to find a way to reconcile all of his fears in his heart if he was ever going to fully allow her to be a part of his life.

He already knew, though, that not loving her was impossible.

XXX

"Oh, Kal," Diana laughed as they entered the Watchtower cafeteria, immediately capturing Batman's attention.

Sitting all alone in the corner of the cafeteria, he had been reviewing the newest reports filed by League members over the last twenty-four hours. Sipping his coffee, he'd been able to completely ignore the numerous conversations going on around him, the low drone of voices that buzzed like a large beehive of activity.

That was until she had walked in.

He instantly sat up a little straighter despite himself, his shoulders back and his pulse suddenly quickening with her presence. Damn her for affecting me this way, he thought.

His scowl deepened as he reread the paragraph he'd been reading when she had first entered, his mind a sudden whirlwind of jealous thoughts as he pretended to ignore his friends arrival. He couldn't help the momentary glance over his tablet to see where she was at that moment, his eyes roaming…lingering far longer than he knew he should.

Her raven hair fell down her back in loose curls, his fingers itching to bury themselves in her luscious mane. The beautiful smile dancing on her lips matched the enchanting sparkle of her sapphire eyes that never ceased to mesmerize him. He was certain kissing her could cause him to forget his own name.

With a curling snarl of his lips, he forced himself to focus on the reports, his mind still swarming with lustful thoughts he knew he should never have for his Amazon colleague, but ones which plagued him day and night.

The dreams were coming almost every night now, growing more heated every time and leaving him so frustrated and yearning for reality that he thought at times he'd go mad. Cold showers were quickly becoming a regular occurrence for him.

Her lilting laughter tickled his ears and warmed his long ago damaged heart, but only earned an audible low growl on the outside. Glancing up again, he clenched his jaw as Superman placed his hand against Diana's low back, guiding her to a nearby table, close enough for him to still hear, but definitely not close enough for his liking.

His nostrils flared hotly as he ground his teeth, his eyes locked on his tablet, his mind fixated solely on her. Even though his closest two friends in the League, he hated the comfortable familiarity Diana and Clark shared with each other, the ease with which they talked and interacted.

He so desperately wanted that with her, the thought alone quickening his breathing. He longed to experience that closeness with her, that relaxed intimacy as well as so very much more. He wanted her for himself, in his bed and in his life, but it could never be. Never with her.

Batman listened as they discussed a recent mission that had obviously not gone as planned, Diana narrowly dodging a possibly deadly accident. He felt his entire body tense with the news, his fingers curled so tightly around the edges of his tablet they were beginning to stiffen.

She was laughing about it, dismissing it as nothing, but it wasn't 'nothing'. She could have been seriously injured or worse. The thought tightened his throat, suddenly sucking all the air out of the room. He couldn't bear the thought of her never being in this world anymore, not when he wanted her in his world.

But she didn't belong in his world. Ever.

His world was dark and hideous, she bright and beautiful. His world was tainted and desperately vile, she everything pure and good. She was the opposite of him and yet they were similar in so many ways it stunned him at times.

On top of that, she was the only one who could stand up to him, who wasn't afraid of his bark or his bite. She was unruffled and undaunted in the face of his dark stormy moods, his ranting and raging, his obstinacy that ran a mile wide and deep. She fearlessly stood toe-to-toe with him, not the least bit intimidated by him. She got under his cowl and under his skin like no one else and managed to find her way right into his heart.

"Batman…"

He suddenly looked up, stunned to find the breathtaking Amazon goddess standing before him. She was leaning forward with her hands on the table, an amused smile on her beautiful lips…that mouth that he so desperately wanted to…

"What do you want?" he snapped. How had she been able to sneak up on him like that? Damn.

"I said are we still on for our sparring match this afternoon?" she asked, her long eyelashes softly brushing against her perfect cheekbones as she smirked at him. She obviously enjoyed the fact she had been able to steal so close to him like that.

"Yes and come prepared to be schooled, Princess," he coolly replied, his fingers gripping his tablet even harder. "I'm not going easy on you this time."

Diana's smile widened with the challenge, an eyebrow arching perfectly. "Oh you think so, do you?"

"I know so," he confidently fired back, forcing his eyes to leave her breasts and focus on the reports.

"You know, Batman," she softly said as she leaned in even closer, his heart suddenly hammering as her intoxicating scent filled his nostrils and forced him to meet her penetrating gaze. "I'm a good student, but I'm an even better teacher. Be prepared to have that ego of yours handed to you on a silver platter along with your ass."

His breath hitched with her words, his eyes narrowing as she stared at him for a long incredibly sultry moment rendering him speechless. Before he could form a coherent thought or retort, she was suddenly turning on her heel and leaving him tongue-tied and painfully aroused. He watched as she crossed the room, a soft gasp escaping his lips as he drank in the seductive sway of her hips as she exited.

He growled to himself. Another cold shower was definitely in his imminent future…

Bruce sighed softly at the feel of fingers repeatedly running through his hair, the memory from a few months ago haunting his dreams and leaving him aroused once again. It never ceased to amaze him how she could so easily affect him.

Opening his eyes, he found beautiful blue depths staring back at him. Although still listless from the fever, he readily decided that he wanted to wake up every morning to those stunning eyes.

Diana was lying on her side, her casted arm resting on her hip, her fingers gently stroking his hair. "Morning," she softly greeted him, her voice weak and raspy again.

Bruce quickly sat up, rubbing his face as memories of last night crashed down on him. "Morning," he sleepily replied, trying to banish the fatigue from his mind and the stiffness from his body from having fallen asleep half-leaning on Diana's bed. He had been more exhausted than he had thought. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Alright," she said. "What happened?"

"You scared the life out of me last night that's what happened," he told her, a definite edge to his voice.

Despite his every instinct, the defenses that were like second nature to him, he couldn't hide the fear of almost losing her from reaching his eyes, the ache in his heart from reaching his voice. He didn't want to hide from her anymore. He didn't want to waste another minute of his life wanting and not having.

"I'm sorry," she sighed, momentarily closing her eyes. "I don't remember much after you left to meet Dick and Tim."

"I came back to find you burning up with a high fever. The infection Dr. Bennett treated you for at the Watchtower returned," he informed her, a smug grin suddenly finding his lips. "You missed it. We bathed together."

Diana's eyebrows rose in surprise before her lips curled into a sultry smile. "Did I enjoy it?"

"You couldn't stop moaning and saying my name," he told her.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to show me what I missed out on then."

Bruce gave her a half-hearted smile, his hand finding hers and lacing their fingers. "You have to get better first, Princess."

Diana released a ragged, frustrated breath. "I'm not sure that's going to happen any time soon at this rate," she grumbled. She was never going to get to be with him the way that she so desperately wanted to be.

"You are going to get better if I have anything to say about it," he firmly said. "I'm not going to let you give up, Diana."

"What am I going to do if I never get my powers back?" she asked, her eyes locked on their joined hands and avoiding his intense gaze.

Would he still want her if she was no longer Wonder Woman? If she was no longer the woman she once was? She didn't know if she knew who she was if she wasn't Wonder Woman any more.

"We'll cross that bridge if we have to," he told her. "I'm not giving up on getting you your powers back just yet."

"But what if there is no way?" she pressed. "Some things just can't be undone, Bruce. This might be one of them."

"You don't know that, Diana," he bit out, frustration rising along this his own sense of failure. "Your powers might still come back in time or I might yet be able to find a way to reverse what they did to you. I'm not giving up and I'm sure as hell not going to let you."

Diana pulled her hand free from his, feeling more lost than she had since she'd first woken and learned that she no longer had her powers. This set back had shaken her hope, stealing her faith that she was going to get her life back someday.

"But I don't know who I am if I'm not Wonder Woman," she bitterly said. "I was bestowed with all of these incredible gifts by gods and goddesses and now…now I…I'm…nothing."

Bruce could feel his anger rising – anger with himself for not being able to help her, anger with the Akusu for stealing what was so precious to her. "Diana, you are not 'nothing'," he snapped. "You are still Princess Diana of Themyscira and I'm not about to let you forget that."

Diana slowly nodded, pretending to agree for the moment. She could see she was upsetting him and needed to talk about something else. "Were you able to stop the Joker last night?"

Bruce was taken aback by the sudden change in subject. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she wasn't going to believe him no matter what he said to her. Her quick surrender worried him. It was not like her to give up an argument with him so quickly. They were famous for their heated arguments.

He decided to let it go for now, hoping that it was just because she was sick. He wouldn't be so easy on her the next time. He wasn't about to let her just give up on her life like this.

"Not entirely," he shook his head as he drew a deep breath to quell the anger heating his veins. "The dock was just a ploy to throw us off, but Dick and I were able to get to Wayne Pharmaceuticals in time to keep the Joker's men from stealing several cases of a new experimental drug that's being tested there. As it was, they only made off with a couple of cases."

"What's the drug for?"

"To help cure memory problems in Alzheimer's patients," he told her.

"Do you know why the Joker would be interested in a drug like that?"

"Not any that I have been able to uncover so far," he sighed. "It's just not making any sense. There has to be something bigger going on besides this drug that he wants."

"Maybe he's found another use for it, one that your lab hasn't discovered yet."

Bruce thought for a moment, his lips pursed into a thin line. He didn't like the thought of that, but it was a definite possibility. "Could be," he admitted. "I have some more information I need to track down first before I'll know more."

"Don't worry about me, Bruce," she softly told him. "You just worry about stopping the Joker right now. I'll be fine."

"I'm afraid it's not that easy, Princess," he replied, his heated gaze causing her to suddenly flush.

"Why?"

"You're not someone I can forget or stop worrying about," he said. "I've tried for the last two years or more. It doesn't work."

"You have?" she whispered, her pulse beginning to race.

Bruce nodded his head, his expression nearly unreadable as he stared into her blue eyes. "I can't stop thinking about you," he confessed, his voice revealing his desire. "You're always right there in the outskirts of my mind, waiting to invade my every thought at any given moment."

Diana couldn't break away from his intense gaze even if she wanted to. She felt as though her heart was going to pound right out of her chest at any moment now. She could barely believe what she was hearing from him, what he was admitting to her.

"Really?" she softly said. "Because I'm always thinking about you too."

Leaning in, Bruce brushed his lips softly against her cheekbone. "Well, I guess we're going to have to do something about this, aren't we?"

Diana shivered despite herself, the feel of his lips against her skin, his confession were all awakening her need for him. She wanted him so desperately, but feared it would never happen now with all that had happened to her.

"Get some sleep, Princess," he murmured, knowing they would have to wait for now as his lips against hers. "I need you to get better."

Diana's eyes fell closed as he pulled away, disappointment filling her heart. "Where are you going?"

"Get a shower before heading downstairs to the batcave," he told her as he stood to his feet. "I need to analyze some new information we uncovered last night. I promise to be back to check on you later."

Diana choked back the tears that suddenly welled in her throat as Bruce left. She cursed under her breath, angry that she was in the shape she was in, how her body had betrayed her once more. It was just one more thing that stood in the way of her and Bruce being together.