"You…and him…this whole time?"
Batman, Diana, and Superman were all in her room as Superman forced himself to talk. Diana was sitting on her bed. Superman was in a chair by her little table. Batman was leaned against the wall beside her door with a smirk on his face.
Diana looked at him still feeling guilty. "I wanted to tell you but, I kept saying I would. It just didn't happen."
He looked at Batman. "What about you? Were you ever going to tell me?"
Batman remained leaning on the wall. "Why would I? This is between Diana and I. Not you, myself, and Diana. This is none of your business."
Superman only sighed in frustration. Completely forgetting that Diana was there, Superman got up from his seat and got right into Batman's personal space. "You are going to hurt her! I don't want her to be hurt, she doesn't deserve it. There can be nothing good from this. I'm warning you Bruce, stay away from her."
Batman moved away from the wall. His expression obviously showed he was pissed off. However, his voice was in check, barely. "I would never hurt her."
Diana saw Superman suck in a deep breath to respond so she quickly made her way in between the two men. "Enough!" Her voice was strong and held royal authority. "That is far enough. I thought you two were grown men, not boys. I made my own choice and I plan to stick with it."
Her hands were on each of the hero's chests, her eyes glared from one to the other. Slowly the two calmed and stepped away from each other. Batman spoke to Diana, but he left his eyes on Superman.
"Like I said, the ball is a week from today. If you'd like, you can stop by the mansion, Alfred will take you shopping if you want." He looked at her and cracked the slightest smile. "I'm sure he'd be ecstatic if you did." Now, he left his eyes on her. "We are all invited officially, Batman will not be attending. Coming as Wonder Woman confirms of the rumors between Bruce Wayne and Wonder Woman, if you choose to, I could always make a new identity."
Diana smiled. "I'll go as Wonder Woman, that's who I am. I'll look in my own wardrobe first then if I don't find anything worthy enough; I'll run right to Alfred."
Batman let his smile grow less than an inch. Then, he took off his mask. He tilted her chin up with the tip of his finger. "Then I'll be the luckiest man alive. To have a Goddess on my arm for the night," His smile continued to grow. " I'll probably be murdered by all the men filled with envy." He kissed her softly. Even though their lips hardly touched, Diana felt her senses into overdrive.
Too soon, Batman out his mask back on and Bruce disappeared. "Tell the other Founding Members that the ball is Saturday night, 7 pm. Tell Flash 6, I don't want him to be late and make the League look bad." He hesitated, but only Diana saw. "Tell John to keep his cool. Anything that goes wrong doesn't only affect him. It affects the League and myself."
Superman nodded.
"I'll see you at the ball."
With one last look at Diana and swoosh of his cape, Batman left the room.
One suitcase filled a few more to go. Also, one phone call had to be made. How else would she be able to go to Fate's? Shayera looked around in her emptying room. Over the last 6, almost 7 months, Shayera felt like a completely different person. No longer had she been Thanagarian Lieutenant Shayera Hol, no longer had she been Hawkgirl, here, she had been another mask.
Maybe this was a bad idea, to come here and try to blend in. It wasn't who she was. Shayera was a fighter, she always had been. Domestic life wasn't for her. She didn't know what she wanted. She didn't know who she was. She had spent so much of her life either pretending to be someone or lying to everyone around her. Since childhood, she was drilled to lie. No hesitation, no tells. Lying was her first language, swinging a mace her first hobby.
Shayera sat down on her plain bed. Her fingers trailed across the smooth satin. The color was a deep green. It almost matched her eyes, but in her mind, she knew exactly why she chose this color. It was his color. The color matched with the black of his outfit, the emerald green of his ring's power. It was even his favorite color. It was the only thing that had color in her room. The walls were bare, the floor white carpet. It wasn't that she lacked creativity, it was just that…well, this wasn't home.
Would Fate be able to help her? Would he even help? She thought of Grundy, then Aquaman. Of course he would help her. All she needed to do was start the call to her destiny.
"Bruce, I need you to call Fate."
He was surprised when he got the call. Surprise is something that isn't common with Bruce Wayne. The stock Market crashed? He already knew it would. The Joker would get caught by Batman while attempting to rob a bank? He wouldn't be surprised? Wayne Enterprises is once again one of the most successful companies? He made sure it would in memory of his parents.
"Why do you need me to call Fate?"
He heard her soft sigh. "I want to leave. I think he's the only one who can help me find my way."
"Running away isn't the answer Shayera."
She growled, he smiled. "I'm not running away!"
Bruce sighed. "Fine, whatever you say. I assume you've talked with Ms. Reeves about this. I'll give him a call and let him know you're coming. I also assume that you're staying for the ball?"
"Of course." She said rather brashly. "I promised Katie I would."
"Well, Ms. Hall, I'll take this call as your resignation."
Shayera chuckled into the phone. She let her voice drop to a whisper. "Thank you Bruce. You've helped me in so many ways. I don't know how I'll ever be able to pay you back."
"Don't worry about it. Just let me know when you're coming back if you can." His voice took on a demanding tone. "Because you will be back. I'll make sure of it."
Before she could say anymore, he hung up and walked out of his study. He passed Alfred who muttered a "Master." with a slight bow and made his way to the grandfather clock when he Batcave doorway lay. While he walked, Bruce loosened his tie and quickly became the Dark Knight.
On the main monitor in the cave, Batman called Fate.
The week passed slowly and too fast at the same time. Shayera still felt that work sucked the life out of her, but then again, when work was over, she'd go home and packed. Her week was almost over. Her life as Scarlet was coming to its end. She was sad, but it was coming anyway. She couldn't stay like this forever.
Plans and last minute changes went on for the ball all week. The older guests fell ill or the rivalries between companies caused issues with the seating arrangements. Either way, constant changes had to be made. "It's like a wedding!" Katie remarked. It saddened her greatly whenever she realized that she would be leaving her friend behind, but she did promise that they would see each other again.
For Bruce, the week was just like any other before a big gala such as this one. People constantly made changes, but thankfully he had Katie and Shayera to deal with them all. His other concerns came from this particular Ball.
"Are you alright Bruce?"
He snapped out of his daze and looked to his lover. "Fi-"
"Don't say fine. We both know there's something on your mind. I know you Bruce, as much as you hate it, I do."
"It's my parents." He blurted out, surprising them both.
After her shock, her expression softened. "Oh Bruce." She left her spot where she was standing by the window and went over to him. She kicked off her shoes and sat on his lap. His arms went instantly around her, but he hesitated pulling her closer. She sighed and did it for him. One of her arms went around his shoulders and the other rested her hand on the back of his neck, her fingers caressing him. "Talk to me Bruce."
"I can't." He practically growled in his struggle to keep her out.
She kissed his forehead. "Yes you can, you infuriating man. I know everything about you, as you do me. We are soul mates Bruce. You can talk to me."
Maybe it was the sensations running down his spine from her sweet touch. Maybe it was her soft silken voice. Or maybe it was just the fact that he was no longer alone. It was something or everything that made his walls come down till there was nothing left.
"My parents were the ones who started this charity. It was a foundation for kids who were hospitalized. Some kids only went for checkups others were there permanently. They had the best technologies available for medical care. In other hospitals, that would mean that the care was expensive and that some families would be turned down. However, here, my father gave his own fortune to the hospital to help pay. But, even he had his own limits. So, the charity was created. The ball was a place where the rich could rub elbows and attempt to be the best looking one for giving the most money."
"After they died, the charity stopped. The hospital became a dump. When I came back, I made sure the hospital would never be closed and the charity would start again. I won't let my father's hard work go to waste and be forgotten."
"I miss them so much."
If Diana hadn't had her ear by his mouth, she would've never heard him. "I don't know what it's like to lose a parent, but I do know what it's like to miss them. But you're not alone."
He pushed her away and grasped one of her hands. He gave it a gentle kiss. "I know. I don't know or understand how I could be so lucky. I don't deserve you." He kissed her hand again and smiled with his lips on her hand. Bruce remembered fondly how his father had always done the same thing to his mother.
"Bruce, since coming to Man's World, I haven't found any other man who is as kind or strong as you are. They call you the Dark Knight in Gotham, but if they saw the Batman I did, they would all see that Batman is a kind soul who is dedicated to nothing but saving lives. You deserve anything and everything." She kissed his forehead again. "I'm the one who's lucky. I never thought I would ever get close with you."
A smile was present on both their faces. Feeling happier, Bruce changed the subject. "Have you found a dress for the ball? It's two days from now."
Diana laughed. "Actually, yes I did. Alfred helped me with finding some shoes to go along with it. The man is truly a gift."
Bruce laughed. "That he is. May I ask what color this dress is? I'd like to match."
"No, you can ask Alfred to recommend something for you."
"Fair enough."
As their laughter died, Bruce was captivated by his Princess's beauty. "I love you Diana."
"I love you Bruce."