Chapter 20

Batman growled to himself, his hands clenched furiously at his sides as he watched Lex Luthor's filthy hand sliding down Diana's back to possessively grasp her bottom. It was all he could do not to go out there and break the madman's neck, to keep his boots firmly planted where he was hiding in the night's shadows.

His lips curled into a sneer at the way Luthor was leering at Diana, his lecherous gaze practically undressing her right out there on the dance floor. He didn't like this one bit, but there was little he could do about it now.

Racing in to her rescue could cause innocent people to get hurt and, not to mention, infuriating his Amazon lover. She would definitely kick his ass to the couch if he suddenly swooped in to save her from the miscreant. Besides, she had been right. This was their best chance at tracking down the Joker and finding out what he and Luthor were actually planning.

"Nightwing…Robin…be alert," his voice softly grated over his commlink. "Luthor's here."

"We got it," Nightwing reassured him.

"All ready here," Robin chimed in. "Hey! Di is smoking hot in that dress…and Luthor obviously agrees."

Robin smirked to himself, practically feeling the sneer on the Dark Knight's face deepen with his observation. He could hardly blame him, though. Luthor was scum and he had his hands on Bruce's woman.

"They're leaving," Batman stated, choosing to not comment on Robin's remark. "Don't lose her."

Batman moved stealthily among the shifting shadows, his every muscle and nerve alert and ready for a fight. He wasn't about to lose Diana now that she was finally his.

His mind was racing, already moving one and two steps ahead of what he thought Lex Luthor would do next or where he might go. His furious gaze was locked solely on Diana as the couple worked their way through the throngs of mingling people, Luthor's hand on the small of her back the whole time.

He hated her willingness to be bait like this, but it would help lead them to where Luthor and the Joker were hiding out and get to the bottom of what it was they were up to. He just hoped that he would be able to get her out of there before she got hurt. He'd never be able to live with himself if anything happened to her.

His scowl deepened as he watched Luthor escort Diana to a waiting limousine, opening the door for her and allowing her to slide in first. Icy dread slowly raked through him with the grin that filled Luthor's face as he quickly followed her inside.

Lex had thought he had won, but little did he know Batman wasn't about to let him get away, especially with the woman he loved. "They're leaving in a limo," Batman hissed through clenched teeth as he raced towards his waiting batcycle.

Even though he had slipped a tracer on her while he had been dancing with her, he still feared losing her, especially after the Joker had found the last tracer he had hid on the brain wave equipment. He didn't want her with them any longer than absolutely necessary.

Diana may be able to defend herself to a certain extent, but not against the likes of Luthor and the Joker. Although a skilled warrior, she wasn't ready yet to take on the both of them, but she wasn't alone. He was going to be with her every step of the way, her wraith-like guardian keeping vigilant watch over her whether she liked it or not.

They were together now and he needed her more than he had ever needed someone in his entire life. He had loathed the idea of ever needing anyone, but she had somehow managed to show him how wrong he truly was, had breathed life into his near-dormant heart and now he couldn't survive without her.

XXX

Diana waited as Lex opened the door for her, keeping her face passive as she got into the limo when all she wanted to do was beat him unconscious. She hadn't seen Batman anywhere, but really hadn't expected to though. He was only seen when he wanted to be seen and not before.

She knew he was there, an ever-present part of the darkness that surrounded her. She could practically feel his eyes on her, watching her every single move. It made her tingle all over with the thought.

The dividing window in the limo was fully raised and darkened, keeping her from seeing exactly who was driving. Settling into the seat, she adjusted her skirt, pulling it down as far as it would go. She suddenly wished now that she had worn a full length gown the way Luthor kept looking at her as if she was the main course at a full banquet.

Diana kept reminding herself that as far as Luthor and the Joker knew, she was still Wonder Woman in every way, still a powerful Meta to be reckoned with. She could use that to her advantage. She lightly ran a finger over one of her bracelets, hoping to Hera that they would still work despite her no longer having her powers.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked Luthor who had slid in beside her much too close for her liking. She could only imagine how furious Bruce was by now – furious with her for leaving with Luthor and furious with Lex for touching her like he had been.

"In due time, Wonder Woman," he smiled something sinister as his hungry eyes roamed over again. "I think you just might be fascinated by what I have managed to create. I think it's pretty ingenious."

"I doubt it," she flatly said. "You may have fooled the public into buying your straight-laced image, but the Justice League doesn't and never will. We know you and the Joker have formed a partnership and are planning something.

"I just never thought I'd see the day that you would sink so low as to need the Joker's deranged help in any endeavor that you may have concocted."

"Let's just say that he had access to some resources that I required to make sure my dream came to fruition," he smiled coolly at her, his body turned towards her. "I think when you see what I've managed to create even you will be quite impressed with me."

"Only when Hades has frozen over," she bit out, her arms folded against her chest. "You know I'm only going willingly with you so I can stop you."

"Yes…and how are you feeling now that you're back?" he asked, feigning concern as his hand came to rest on her thigh, his fingers softly caressing her skin. "I heard you were injured rather badly in an alien attack several weeks ago."

"Those were just rumors," she told him with a confident glare as she picked up his wrist and tossed his hand off her leg. "I was off world on a diplomatic mission."

She watched as his gaze narrowed as he studied her, a curious expression flitting across his face as if he had just noticed something about her that he hadn't seen before. He continued to consider her for a moment longer before turning playful once more.

"You're a very beautiful woman," he seductively said, leaning in close to her, his lips suddenly very close to her ear. "I would love to have you by my side…in my world…in every way imaginable."

"You world reeks of evil," she sneered, turning to look him directly in the eye. "I'd sooner die than join you."

To her surprise, Lex laughed at her words. "You say that now, but in several hours, I promise that you'll be singing a much different tune…one that will be the sweetest music to my ears."

Diana immediately frowned, her blue eyed gaze narrowing with sudden dread. "What are you planning, Lex?" she demanded.

"Only the single most brilliant plan to bring down the Justice League…beginning with you," he grinned. "Once Batman and Superman find out I have you…what I've going to do to you…they'll come to your rescue, only to be taken down too.

"Once we destroy the trinity, the rest of the League will crumble and your dreams of a peaceful future along with it."

"You'll never be able to stop all three of us," she smirked at his obvious insanity. Once Superman and Batman get their hands on him and the Joker, there wouldn't be much left of either of them.

"Not after we're done with you, my dear Amazon," he replied with a haughty expression that she wanted to wipe off his face.

Her anger blazed with the thought of being used to draw her friends in just so they could destroy them. She couldn't let that happen, couldn't allow them to get hurt, especially because of her.

Her fingers slowly began inching closer to the door handle, hoping to escape before they could capture Bruce and Clark. She could feel the limo beginning to slow a little, giving her the chance that she needed without having to reveal her powerless state.

She quickly grabbed the door handle, pulling hard on it only to find it wouldn't budge. She looked back at Luthor who had that overconfident smug expression on his face that made her skin crawl. She suddenly knew she was in bigger trouble than she could've possibly imagined.

"You aren't going anywhere, my beautiful Wonder Woman," he told her, his fingers wrapping around her forearm. "And I somehow suspect there is nothing you can do about it now, is there?"

Just then the dividing window slid down, a hair-raising cackle splitting the air and causing the fine hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. Diana looked to find the Joker driving the limo, a wild look of insanity in his eyes as he stared back at her.

"Welcome, Wonder Babe," he laughed hysterically. "Glad you could join our party. It's going to be a real…gas!"

Just then, a thick cloud of green smoke began to fill the limousine. She began to fight Luthor's firm hold on her, stunned to suddenly see a breathing mask covering his face, protecting him from the green gas that permeated the car.

Diana began to cough as a wave of dizziness made her head spin. She slammed her fist against Luthor's chest, kicking and scratching him to get free. Her vision started to blur as Luthor began to reach for her just before everything went black.

XXX

Batman felt as though his heart was going to pound out of his chest as he slipped between cars in an effort to keep the limo that held Diana in his sights. Every minute that she was trapped in that car with Luthor made him that much more desperate to get to her.

With the way he had been leering at her, Luthor could be doing God knows what to her right now, each image that formed in his mind more horrifying than the last. Every muscle coiled that much tighter with an overwhelming need to get her as far away from him as possible.

Whatever Luthor and the Joker were planning, he had a sick feeling that Diana had been chosen as their test subject.

He zipped through traffic, his black cape whipping menacingly in the wind as they headed for the freeway, wanting to reach her as soon as they got to wherever they were hiding out. He couldn't wait until this was all over and he could just spend some uninterrupted time with her.

He was anxious to take her away for a few days, maybe to his cabin in the mountains or maybe to his beach house with the ocean view that reminded him so much of her beautiful blue eyes. But he had to get her out of this first if he wanted to have a future with her.

And because of her, he finally had a future, one that he actually looked forward to spending with her.

"Batman, come in," Superman's voice suddenly cut through his thoughts. "Any sign of Luthor yet?"

"Yes, he's got Diana right now," he snapped, agitated that Clark was checking up on him, though, in reality he knew it was Diana he was actually checking on. "I'm following her right now."

"Do you need me to come help you?" Clark asked, his voice betraying him and revealing his obvious concern for his friend.

"No, I got it," he tightly stated, leaving no room for argument. "I slipped a tracer on her earlier. I'll keep you posted."

"Call me," Clark firmly said before signing out.

There was more behind those words, but no more explanation was needed.

Reaching the freeway, Batman pulled back a little as the traffic began to lessen, wanting to put a little distance between them. He didn't want to give his presence away too soon despite his need to get to her. He didn't want to further endanger Diana's life any more than what she already was.

All of the sudden, black limousines began racing in from all over, all identical in make and model. They quickly began to surround the limo that Diana was in. Luthor knew he was there following them, had been prepared for his arrival.

"Damn," Batman growled as he watched the limos begin to switch lanes, rapidly shifting positions in an effort to throw him off Wonder Woman's trail.

"Nightwing!" Batman hissed. "Where are you?"

"Coming up hot behind you."

"We can't lose her," Batman seethed. "Robin! Where are…"

"Here!" he exclaimed as his cycle raced off of an on-ramp to join the chaotic scene playing out on the freeway. "Whoa! Which one is Di in?"

"Middle left!" Batman rasped, his anger flaring hotter with every hammering beat of his heart. How had Luthor figured out he was following them?

"Right front!" Batman growled as Diana's car switched positions again in a dizzying display of confusion as all six cars continued to move back and forth, side to side.

Just then green exhaust began to fill the air from the three limos in the rear holding the three superheroes back, creating a thick cloud that quickly blocked the limos from view.

Bruce swore under his breath as he lost sight of Diana's car, forcing him to slow down as the green smoke screen swallowed him whole along with Robin and Nightwing. "Nightwing…Robin…can either of you get a visual on the cars?"

"No, it's thick as pea soup!" Robin heatedly replied.

"I'm going after her," Batman ground out as he suddenly sped up, shooting deeper into the impenetrable green cloud.

He pushed through the green fog despite the risk of running into something, needing to get to Diana. The thick smoke suddenly began to dissipate the further he went, finally allowing him to see ahead to find there was only one limo again.

He charged ahead with a sneer on his lips, ready to put a stop to this game once and for all. He raced towards it, throwing a couple of batarangs at two of the tires. It caused the car to veer off to the right, pulling off to the side of the road, dust curling around it as it skidded to a final stop. He quickly ran to the limo, opening the driver's door and pulling one of the Joker's henchmen out.

He swiftly threw him to Nightwing before running to the back to get to Diana. Opening the door, his heart nearly stopped beating altogether when he found nothing but the white dress that she had been wearing that night, his bat tracer still attached to it.

Batman slammed his fists down on the roof of the car, fear for her threatening to choke the life out of him. Nightwing and Robin stood stone still behind him, almost afraid to speak at that moment. He looked as if he could rip the limo apart with his bare hands at that moment.

He suddenly reached up to tap his commlink. "Superman," he growled. "They got her. Meet me in the batcave right away."

"Don't worry, Batman," Nightwing finally said. "We'll get her back."

"You need to worry about Luthor and the Joker once I get my hands on them," he heatedly ground out as he swiftly stormed past them towards his batcycle.

XXX

"It's not your fault, Bruce," Superman told him. "Diana was determined to go no matter what. She knew the risks and chose to go anyway."

"I never should have let her go," Batman spat out as he began to pace furiously.

As upset as Clark was about what had happened to Diana, he knew that taking it out on Bruce wasn't going to help matters any. He was already filled with guilt and rage about it, worry threatening to eat him alive. He'd never seen him quite like this before. He was like a rabid animal about to claw his way out of his cage.

"You know as well as I do that no one would've been able to stop her from going tonight," Clark heatedly reminded him. "Besides, we both know that you would've done the exact same thing if it had been you instead of her."

"I should've known that they would pull some sort of a stunt like this," he snapped, pausing long enough to yank his cowl off and throw it down.

"Not even the great Batman can predict every single move someone is going to make," Clark countered with a deep frown. "Let's just focus on finding her and getting her back now."

Batman pulled the tracer he'd put on Diana's dress from his utility belt before sitting down at his computer. "The tracer I put on her also has a mini-recorder in it," he told Superman. "Maybe we can pick up something."

Sitting down at his computer, Bruce fast forwarded it to the part where Luthor asked Diana to dance, his hot simmering fury pounding through his veins with the way Lex was talking to Diana. He could practically feel the lust in the lowlife's voice.

Clark was growing angrier by the second as he listened intently, wishing that he could get his hands on Luthor himself. "So they're using her to get to you and me."

"Sounds like it," Batman scowled. "They're going to use her to try whatever experiment it is that they've come up with now."

"And by the sounds of it, they'll be coming after us soon enough," Clark pointed out.

"I agree," Batman snorted, "but what are they are going to do to Diana in the meantime?"