Hey y'all! This is Tigress2929 checking in, and I am back with another chapter for RFD. Soooo sorry for the long wait. It was just a matter of finding the time to write it all down. I hope you guys can forgive me. :)
Thank you so much Midnight1906, Koko, NiCastle, Skillgannon The Damned, and Wonderwomanbatmanfan for reviewing. Thanks, you guys are awesome, and I really appreciate that all of you take the time to comment. More A/N at the end of the chapter! Enjoy!
It is silent for a mere moment. Nothing stirs within the mansion. Not a single creak, or moan echoes throughout the vast halls. She waits, expecting for Alfred to come bustling out of the kitchen with a lamp, in order to provide light. Yet, he doesn't. In fact there does not seem to be any sound emitting from the cook room. She frowns in slight puzzlement.
A flurry of light slips through the cracks of the curtains, but that to is silent. There is no sound of thunder to accompany it. All around there is... nothing, but a mere silence. It is as if the world has stopped in order to emphasize this very moment. As if it is the beginning act of an opening play. A play, whose story is riddled with that of passion, and loss. A mysterious masterpiece filled with the sense of what is already lost, and what one longs for.
Her eyes momentarily lock with that of Bruce, and she can feel that alien emotion stir within her once again. No, not alien. Perhaps once upon a time it would have been rightly classified as foreign, but not now. Now she can recognize what these feelings truly are. They are something that has driven her crazy for the past months. Crazy in the sense that it would maker her experience, that burning need, the aching want, to be closer to him. To drown herself in the deep depths of his gaze. To... Touch... Grow closer... Lean in... Embrace... Kiss...
She blinks hard in an attempt to jolt herself out of her daydream. Shaking her head slightly, and taking a deep breath she wills her heartbeat to return back to normal. She glances at him quickly, and almost gasps at what she sees. The intensity, the longing. It has pooled deep within his eyes, but in the next second it is all gone. Perhaps it was just her imagination?
The brief moment of peace, and quite has escaped both of them. The sound of thunder finally reaches their ears, and shakes the very foundation of the mansion. The man before her is back to being what he has always been... Bruce Wayne, aka Batman.
The lights in the mansion flicker on… then back off again. It continues to repeat this very dance for less than a minute, before completely dying once more.
"Bruce…" She voices out loud, leaving the rest unsaid, already knowing that he catches her unasked question.
"Follow me." He replies gruffly, lightly brushing past her in order to make his way to the cave. A slight shiver races through her body at his touch. Sucking in a low, quick breathe, she steels herself. The irritation and anger returns. Pushing back all the emotions that had just recently been stirring within her, she scowls at his retreating back.
"I swear to you Bruce, if you're just trying to lock me up in this mansion, I will tear through these walls, and leave. Storm… or no storm." She growls out, before begrudgingly following him.
Batcave:
The area is dark and dank. The thick smell of underground water and metallic scents are all mixed into one, creating an unusual, yet unique scent. The sound of falling water rushes to her ears, pounding against them with their persistent, and demanding rhythm. The very nature of this cave is unique and even... Soothing to her, to say in the least.
The man before her seemingly blends into the darkness of this sanctuary. The sound of his breathing is the only indication of him being here at all. This is a man who holds the upper hand when dwelling in this kind of environment, by thriving in the darkness of the shadows. It is his strength, and power. This is where his mortality fades into the background, making one forget that he is still only a man beneath the mask, despite his brilliant set of skills, and choice of tactics. A man such as this can be found dangerous, lethal, and terrifyingly... alluring.
Still... That does not mean an Amazon of her stature could not beat him. Especially if that particular Amazon would rather enjoy doing so. She smirks to herself amusingly. Oh yes, a sparring session between them never failed to entertain the Princess.
Finally they both reach the foot of the stairs, and Diana continues to follow Bruce's lead. She watches him closely from behind, now that her vision has adjusted to the limited lighting. She can't help but study his form, and movements. All of which are already so familiar to her. His build, his posture, his fluid strides, the broad shoulders, and muscled forearms. She frowns, while biting down on her bottom lip in anger, and in an attempt to drag her line of sight away from him. She can't keep torturing herself over him like she was. But above all, she cannot allow for him to catch her doing so, for then she would never here the last of it from his end.
After making his way deeper into the cavern of his cave, he slows to a stop, and begins to inspect a line of giant generators. Frowning, he approaches a detached monitor and proceeds to press a series of buttons, in an attempt to reboot the machinery. Yet, all that he succeeds in doing, is in having them give off a desperate, groaning sound in protest, before they die back down to a quite silence.
"Impossible. The generators in no way should be dead like this. The seller guaranteed that." Bruce irritatingly mutters under his breath.
"Well Bruce, it looks like you were ripped off, because clearly, those machines are not going to start working unless you have someone tinker with them." She remarks with a quirked brow.
"Tinker?" He asks her amusingly. She scowls at him. "Yes, tinker. Have you never heard of the word before?" She asks, while loosely clenching her fists.
"Yes, I've heard a certain speedster mention it on occasion, but I never thought that I'd hear that word come out of your sophisticated mouth. In fact, there are a few words that you have said today which have, frankly, surprised me." He gives her sidelong glance.
She smirks at him. "Oh really, a word such as 'balls' you mean?" He opens his mouth to respond in some way, before thinking better of it, and just leaving it be. He, instead continues to inspect the machines, looking for any possible signs of damage.
She watches on, hoping that Bruce may be able to fix them in a few minutes time. Oh how she wishes that she could just walk right into the training room on the Watchtower at this very moment, and just... Hit something. Just so that she could relieve some of her pent up energy, and stress.
She closes her eyes, and leans back against the wall of the cave, unaware of the fact that two green eyes can't help but continue to flicker in her direction.
Suddenly an alarm goes off, and both of their attentions are diverted to the large monitor screen located in the heart of the cave. Snapping her eyes open, her gaze immediately locks unto that of Bruce's moving form. He leaps up over a stack of some wooden boxes filled with materials, and strides on over to his computer station. Diana of course, is not too far behind.
Typing in a few commands, and entering some pass codes, Bruce gains immediate access to his security system. Curiously, Diana watches on, as a little green dot, being shown on the digital map of the Wayne Manor's property, inches closer.
"Bruce..." She says lowly, but before she can finish, he is already responding to the situation. Once more, he quickly types on the keyboard, and successfully switches the footage from being seen in negative format, to that of a security footage.
"Bruce, what is this?" She finally asks.
"My alarm system. Which only goes off whenever someone enters the Wayne property, whether by foot or air." He remarks automatically. Standing to her full height, she crosses her arms across her chest, and frowns.
"So, whenever there is a visitor, you know ahead of time? Typical, your trust issues are far more extreme than I had previously imagined. Friends can't even stop by without being x-rayed by you."
"I'm the Batman Princess. It's what I do." He answers back shortly. Then adds in a more level tone of voice. "Look it up in the dictionary."
"A joke, how presumptuous of you." She remarks rather dryly. She watches on as a list of information appears on the right hand side of the screen, such as estimated height, weight, and gender.
"Yes, well, while you sit here, and examine this man, whose out there in this storm, I'm going to go and invite him in for a warm cup of tea. And I do believe Alfred would agree."
He whirls around, and glares at her. "No, I won't allow that. Not until I know for sure that he isn't some criminal whose using this storm as an opportunity to ransack this mansion."
"If he is, then we'll take care of him, but I'm not leaving that person out there in this weather. If he gets terribly sick then what?"
He sets his jaw but doesn't answer her. It amazes he how these conversations can go. They can start out talking politely, then argue over some conflict until it seems as if the issue has been resolved, and then start arguing again. An amused remark here and there in between, but it never fails to heat up again. Oh how it can frustrate her at times.
"Why dont you just trust me on this Bruce? Who knows, maybe all he really is, is a nice guy?"
His expression softens somewhat, but the sterness is still present. "It's not that I don't trust you Princess, it's that I don't trust him. What if that man turns out to be some high end criminal, who managed to figure out my identity? What if this here is a trap? That man out there could be one of the many maniacs that roam this city, posing as a civilian in order to try and destroy me. How do you think I would feel if you got hurt, becuase I didn't take the proper precautions?"
She narrows her eyes at him, and gives a slight shake of her head. "No Bruce, I'm not really sure if you do trust me, becuase if you did then you would trust my judgment, and trust my capabilities in handling myself." With that said, she begins to walk away.
Why is it that these conversations always seen to end up with her walking away? He asks himself mentally.
As she pauses at the foot of the stairs, she turns to him one last time.
"You know Bruce, even the fiercest of creatures and warriors need to have trust. Whether it is in themselves, or their group. Do you think that creatures of their nature do not rely on something? Despite being a vigilante Bruce, you are a human, and I think that its time you figured that out." With those last words, she flies off, leaving him alone, just like he always assumed he should be. But what if... Just what if... That could change?
Not very long, I know. Hopefully this coming week I can post the next chapter. :) Now, I know that some of you were expecting the appearance of the stranger, well let me just say that it will definitely happen in this upcoming chapter. Thanks for you holiday, birthday and new year wishes! :D Reviews are always welcomed! Thanks Koko for what you did! :) It made my day. Bye bye for now, but don't worry, I'm coming back, and with more updates.