Summary: (BM/WW Wedding-fic) When Batman finally gathers the courage to ask Wonder Woman to marry him, the Dark Knight gets more than he bargained for when the entire League decided to pitch in and help plan their impending nuptials – contains fluff, random humour, a temperamental Amazon princess, drunken bachelor-party escapades, and various attempts on Superman's life!

A/N: Wow, it's the tenth chapter already, I feel this should be important somehow. Sorry for the wait – on the plus side, first semester of university, done! I've got a month off now, so yay! Thanks for bearing with me, everybody :)

R-Dude's Note: It is 6 in the morning, I just returned from my two week camping trip, and I am shamelessly advertising my two Justice League fics. Go read them.

Also, someone tell Goddess that July is a time of Summer, not Winter, kthxbye.

Goddess's response: Do as the man says, oh, but, please, if you review any of his stories, tell him to pick up a science book while he's at it (he might just learn something) – for those who do not know, it's winter from June to the end of August in the southern hemisphere.

Me: Holy deplorable disclaimers, Batman!
BM: … … … That isn't funny.
Me: … Not even a little?
BM: No.
Me: Okaaaay, whatever – just tell them I don't own you or the Justice League!
BM: *Stares in a Batman-like fashion*
Me: Uhh… on second thought, I'll do it. I don't own any of these guys, DC Comics does!

Bridezillas & Kryptonite

07.2
~Chapter Seven~
Part Two
Thorns & Irrational Fears

The Neo Eden was a research centre which cultivated rare, exotic but more often dangerous plants from all over the world and was used in experiments which ranged from curing diseases to bio-genetics. The entire facility had been shut down some twenty years prior when the funding dried up due to a lack of results, the buildings and greenhouses has been abandoned since then, or had been, anyway.

It was like stepping into a jungle – there was green everywhere, thick vines and roots covered every visible inch of the interior as Batman walked thought the front doors, the plants even seemed to be giving off their own greenish glow.

He barely made it to the middle of the entrance room when he heard a rustling noise behind him and when he turned around, he saw the doors to be completely sealed off by unnaturally large roots.

Batman stared at this for a full minute before turning back in front of him. He wasn't too worried, he'd have to deal with getting out later, but for now…

Without hesitating, he walked down the nearest hallway.

Meanwhile…

Exactly two things went through Robin's mind at that exact moment. The first was pretty obvious; duck, run and get away from the super-being who was about to inflict him severe bodily harm, and second (and this was only after it truly registered that it was in fact Diana who had just attempted to squish him); he was in trouble.

"Oh crap."

Seriously. He was a teenager – yes, albeit a highly trailed one, but a teenager nonetheless – going up against Wonder Woman. Simply saying that his situation looked 'bad' was a freaking understatement.

Once he managed to put some distance between the Diana and himself, he got his staff and switched to the defensive.

"Diana!" he said, his voice, amazingly enough, not betraying his panic and bewilderment.

Of course, it was no use trying to talk to her. When she turned around, Diana's chest was heaving, her shoulders were squared and her back arched, her hands were balled and her eyes were disturbingly glassy.

But what really struck him was her expression as she looked scared out of her mind. The irony of the situation wasn't lost on him, and were things different (and his life not potentially in danger), he would have found it kind of funny.

She came at him again and she wasn't holding back. She dealt blow after blow while Robin barely kept up to match her pace and deflect the onslaught with his staff – unlike her usual style, Diana kept throwing punches at random but, although rather sloppy, it meant they were so much more unpredictable and all the more dangerous for him.

"Snap out of it!"

Still no response.

Robin then saw Diana's fist heading straight at him. He pressed a small button at the base of his staff which instantly fanned out into a shield he normally used to deflect bullets, and held it up in front of his face.

There was a loud clunk and when Robin looked again, there was a rather large, fist-shaped dip in his staff.

He didn't have time to think about this, as Diana caught him by surprise and spun around, kicking him. Luckily for him, his staff took the brunt of the blow, but, the kick itself was still powerful enough to send him practically flying backwards.

He grunted when his back hit a brick wall. He let his staff, now beyond repair anyway, drop to his side – Robin wasn't exactly sure how long he stood there hunched over and dazed, but if there was one thing he was certain about, he was definitely going to feel that in the morning.

When the pain subsided, he happed to look up and saw Diana clutching at her head, gripping at her hair and groaning. "Just… go away… leave me alone…" he heard her say.

He had to come up with something, anything. Okay, think, Drake, think. He thought to himself – he needed to find a way to get her under control in some way – whatever was affecting Diana was making her think he was the enemy.

She couldn't be reasoned with so that option was out, and fighting clearly wasn't getting him anywhere – tiring her out might have worked if he didn't run the risk of getting the living daylights pummelled out of him, and at the rate she was going she was going to end up hurting herself along with anything that got in her way.

The only real chance he had if he could somehow knock her out long enough to figure out what was wrong with her.

Reaching for his utility belt, he pulled a slim canister of knock-out gas he kept per Batman's insistence in case of emergencies or tricky situations – the gas was Mr Fox's design, compact but effective and according to him, it could knock out a fully grown rhinoceros. Who knew, maybe it worked on Amazons too.

Weighting the pros and cons of what he was about to do in his head, Robin put his right hand behind his back while the other hovered over his belt.

"Hey!" he said, loudly enough to get her attention.

As Diana drew closer, Robin counted her steps until she was right in front of him before pulling out the pin that released the gas and threw it at her feet.

In a matter of seconds, everything went white.

A grapnel then shot up out of the opaque mist that had settled over the entire area and latched onto the fire escape overhead. Pulling himself up, Robin grabbed the railing and clambered over it, half-falling on his face and gasped, releasing the breath he didn't remember he was holding.

Hitching himself up on his elbows, Robin worked on calming his erratic heartbeat before slowly getting up on his knees. Standing up a little shakily, he cautiously peered down over the edge – he heard Diana coughing but couldn't see a thing.

So far, so good. Much to his relief she didn't try to come up after him yet, and all he had to do now was wait.

Neo Eden

He caught something moving in the hallway up ahead.

Drawing a batarang, he kept close to the wall as he moved forward towards whatever caught his eye, careful as he tread over more roots. He'd been walking around for a good five minutes already. So far there had been no signs of life other than the ridiculous overabundance of plant life, but oddly, with every step he took, the more paranoid side of his brain kept telling him he was being watched.

When he got to the corner, he peered around it – nothing. The hallway was empty.

Suppressing a annoyed grunt, Batman straightening up and lowered his weapon.

However, right as he was about to step away from the wall, something was stopping him – at first his body froze in response. He looked down and saw vines creeping over and ensnaring around his arms and legs. He barely had time to struggled against it before more broke through the floor and entangled Batman even more.

Everything constricted around him tighter and tighter still, there was the abrupt feeling of being yanked down into the dark – the next thing he knew, everything came to a halt and he heard a sultry, yet bored voice speaking. "Welcome to Paradise."

Adjusting to his current situation, Batman saw that he was in a large hall that better resembled a underground cavern. Once more, the amount of plants were staggering, more foliage was against the walls as flowers and grass covered the floor, but what stood out was the green, nearly naked woman with fiery red hair that sat on top of a throne.

He glared. "Ivy."

The Alleyway

Five minutes. He'd been waiting exactly five minutes – it was uncomfortable, cold, and the weather took a turn for the worse, but as determined as Robin was to wait it out, it was easier said than done.

Sighing, Robin rested his head in his hand. He sat cross-legged in the middle of the fire escape, shivering when a chilly wind passed over him – the gas didn't have the instant effect that he was hoping for, it did seem to be working as Diana seemed to get quieter as time went on.

His concentration was broken momentarily when he felt something drip on the back of his neck. Rubbing off the moister from his neck, he looked up right as another raindrop hit him right on the cheek and a peal of thunder rumbled somewhere in the distance.

Holding his cape over his head when the rain started to come down harder, he saw the haze starting to dissipate, the coughing stopped all together as well.

He wasn't exactly sure whether that was good or not, but decided to finally go down. Picking the lock that released the ladder to the ground, Robin climbed down. He didn't have to worry about being effected by the gas himself as the rain seemed to have cleared the air.

The alley was still somewhat hazy. He looked around as was instantly on edge again when there was no sign of Diana anywhere.

Then, almost out of nowhere, he felt a presence behind him.

Practically swirling around on his heel, he let out an embarrassing yelp when a hand suddenly grabbed the scruff of his uniform and literally lifted him up off of his feet.

Oh god, he thought as panic flooded through him, oh god, oh god. He was going to die.

Robin tried to break Diana's hold to little success. "Diana, no!"

By some miracle, she did loosen her grip… only not for the reason Robin anticipated. When she let him go, Robin was dropped on his backside when Diana stumbled back. Her eyes rolled to the back of her skull and she rather unceremoniously keeled over.

Too astonished to have done anything other than watch, Robin sat there, in the rain, staring and blinking in utter astonishment. He stayed like that for a few moments until sense returned.

He scrambled onto his feet, doing the first rational thing that came to his mind and called Alfred.

Ivy's Lair

Poison Ivy smiled mockingly. She stood up off of her throne and walked over to him, luminous green eyes looked at him with mild interest as the vines around him constricted even tighter.

"Batman… I would say it's a pleasure, but I'd be lying." She said matter-of-factly. "It's rude to show up at a girl's place uninvited, you know. You could have called first."

"I'm not here to play games, Ivy,"

"Oh? Then why are you here?" Ivy asked, walking right up to him, laying both her hands against his chest. Batman stiffened automatically – the air seemed heavier than usual all of a sudden, and a sickeningly sweet odour lingered. "Are you finally going proclaim your feelings to me? No man has ever resisted me."

He rolled his eyes behind the cowl. "Hardly." He said darkly. "I'm here to interrogate you."`

"Really?" she asked, her hand slowly trailing down. "Isn't that going to be difficult considering you current… position?"

Batman, somehow freeing his hand, caught her by the wrist before she dared doing any lower.

Ivy looked amused. "Fine," she smirked and withdrew both her hands, and instead started walking around him in a circle. "What did I do this time?"

"Does the name Noble ring a bell?"

Ivy's face darkened slightly but she kept smiling. "Should it?"

"It should, considering I found your business card in Maxwell Noble's house last night."

Ivy was nonchalant. "It could have been a coincidence."

"His daughter's dead."

"And what does that have to do with me?"

"She died of a heart-attack brought on by a panic-inducing hallucinogen – she was poisoned."

"And you automatically thought about me. I'm flattered."

"Cut the act, Isley." Batman growled. "She wasn't the first and you know it – seven people have died of the same cause over the last two months, the link between all of them was that they were all somehow involved with Noble and his company."

"There are seven billion people on this planet, Batman, who's going to miss seven? Besides, what is it what they say? Guilty by association?" Ivy sneered.

"Why?"

At this, Ivy's smile fell off of her face, all pretence lost as anger surfaced.

"Why? I'll tell you why – Noble and his partner has sinned against nature, their company has done irrevocable damage to the world, they have torn down forests and replaced them with skyscrapers and parking lots, and crushed plants underneath their bulking, filthy machines – all for profit!" she spat. "I am Mother Nature's will, her spirit – hell, I am Mother Nature! Do you honestly think I would stand and let this assault continue?"

All during Ivy's rant, Batman managed to move his other arm to his back, batarang still in hand. "You poisoned them out of revenge?"

"Not quite. The real revenge is yet to come. I paid Scarecrow a fortune for his formula before he was sent to Arkham – I needed to test it out somehow, didn't I? I need those corporate wretches to feel the fear my babies felt before they were slaughtered! Personally, I didn't care who, it's not my fault those people were at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"You're insane." He said, cutting his way through the vines.

"Maybe. But as far as that girl is concerned, she was that man only child, wasn't she? His heir? It would have been her destiny to continue the carnage – I would think I did the world a favour." She said and huffed. "And then there's Wayne."

He almost dropped the batarang.

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't do your research? Noble's latest project is building a free clinic at the edge of the city for that idiot Bruce Wayne for one of his charity cases – while Noble might have done all the dirty work, it's Wayne's money that is funding the entire operation." She smiled cruelly. "I wonder if he got the present I sent over this afternoon?"

"What did you do?" he asked slowly.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Ivy she said and returned to her throne. "I'm bored now, so I think this 'interrogation' is over. And you can stop trying to get free now, that little throwing knife of yours isn't going to help you."

Much to Batman's surprise, the vines retracted themselves around him. At the same time, large pod-like plants all over the room started to open and bloom like flowers – within them, there were people, a handful of men all under Ivy's control.

"Oh boys," Ivy said in a low, seductive voice, "be dears and kill the Batman for me?"

The men obeyed her command and started to surround him. But when they started attacking him, Batman's communicator went off.

Countering one man's punch aimed at his face by catching his fist in his hand, he reached up and answered it. "What is it, Robin?" he bit out, twisting the man's arm and flipped him onto his back.

"Batman, I need you to listen," Robin said, sounding anxious, "it's about Diana – I don't know what happened, but I think we might have a problem."

Batman narrowly avoided getting punched again, ducking in time and slammed his elbow into his would-be attacker's side, hard. "What happened?"

"Everything's under control now, but it was like she was possessed or something, she started attacking me for no reason."

"When?" He had a very bad feeling.

"A couple of minutes ago?" Robin said exasperatedly.

"And where is she now?"

"With me. We're in some alleyway in the warehouse district in Gotham West."

"Do you have her sedated?"

"Y-yeah, and I called Alfred. He's on his way, but-"

"Keep her like that." he said abruptly, cutting him off midsentence. He distracted another attacker with his cape before punching him. "I'm finishing up here, we'll talk later. Batman out."

"Problems, Batman?" Ivy asked, smiling smugly as she sat back against her seat, idly toying with a vine.

He took down the last of Ivy's zombies and turned his attention on her.

When Ivy saw him approach her, she was thrown by the fierce look on the Dark Knight's face.

"Who is it?" she asked. "Wayne? That old butler of his? I take it that's you were contacted about."

He grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up out of her seat.

"What did you do?" he repeated slowly, menacingly.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you that's not how you treat a lady?" Ivy snapped, driving her knee into his stomach.

He actually stumbled back by the force of the blow. "I didn't consider you one."

Gotham West Road

Tim yanked his domino mask of his face as soon as Alfred started the car. Diana was lying on the backseat. Mercifully, the knock-out gas seemed to be doing its job and the Amazon was still out for the count – Tim didn't want to think what would happen if she were to wake up.

He shuddered again involuntarily. He noted that he seemed to doing that a lot this night. Alfred, who up to that point had remained quiet, noticed this and adjusted the temperature in the car.

Tim smiled at the butler appreciatively. "Thanks," he said quietly, taking off his soaked cape and set it down at his feet.

"How are you feeling?" Alfred asked.

"Shaken, but I'll get over it. Just get us to the Cave fast, Alfred."

Alfred nodded. "That I will," he paused and gave him a sideway glance, "You know, it'll all be alright, lad. You'll see."

"You sure about that?" Tim asked.

Alfred didn't look at him. "We can only hope, Master Tim."

Tim sunk against his seat and looked sideways out of the window – it was absolutely drizzling outside. "Right…"

He then felt Alfred's hand on his shoulder, giving it a brief, gentle squeeze. It was a welcome gesture, but when both of them heard Diana groan in the back, Tim paled. The two of them shared a look, the message clear and the car steadily accelerated.

Neo Eden Lobby

He came out with a dozen or more cuts and bruises, but other than that was unharmed – the same couldn't be said for Ivy however as she was at that moment slung over his shoulder when he walked into the entrance hall again, unconscious.

When he remembered that the front door was blocked, he reached for his belt and got out a small round controller. Pressing it, Batman then reached for his communicator again.

"Robin,"

"I'm here," Robin answered almost instantly.

"How is she?"

"At the moment, she's still unconscious, but, Bruce, I don't know how long she's going to stay that way."

"Are you with Alfred now?"

"He's next to me."

"How far are you from the Cave?" From the outside, he could hear an engine roaring.

"Not far, we're up the road from the Manor – what about you?"

"On the opposite side of the city. I'm taking Poison Ivy to Arkham." The engine seemed to get louder.

"Ivy? What did she- oh, never mind. What should we do when we get back to base?"

"Wait for me. Take her to the infirmary and keep her sedated until I get back."

"Okay – but what if she wakes up?"

The engine was almost deafening at that point. "I won't be long enough for that to happen."

Just as he closed the comm. link, there was a mighty crash followed by plant material, rubble and glass scattering everywhere. When he looked again, the Batmobile was standing there in all its fierce glory with barely a scratch on it.

He threw Ivy in the trunk and climbed in, wasting no time as he sped out and towards the city.

Wayne Manor

Alfred helped Tim carry Diana inside when they got back to the Manor. When they got to the study, Alfred supported her as Tim opened the entrance behind the grandfather clock that led into the Batcave.

"Careful, Master Tim." Alfred advised when they reached the infirmary at the other side of the Cave and lifted Diana onto the examination table in the middle of the room. "When precisely did Master Bruce say he would be returning?"

"He didn't, we just have to make sure Diana stays like that until he does." Tim said, leaning against one of the countertops.

"Should I sedate her again?"

"I think so. I don't want a repeat performance of tonight."

Alfred walked over to a tall cabinet where he kept most of his medical supplies. "If I may, young sir, what exactly did happen tonight?"

Before Tim could answer, he heard Diana groan again, but when he looked, he saw her sitting up.

"Alfred…!"

Alfred turned around, looking at him questioningly first before turning to Diana, surprised when she got off of the table. She must have still been hallucinating, because the next thing she did was pick up the metal tray next to the table.

Tim, already seeing where this was going, ran over and grabbed Alfred around the wrist, pulling the butler with him just as Diana threw the tray at their heads.

The two of them then rushed to the mechanical sliding doors and couldn't close it fast enough – just in time too as something heavy slammed into it mere moments later. Tim then entered the security code on the console next to it, locking it behind them.

"To more or less answer your question earlier, Alfred," Tim answered, slightly breathless, "that's what happened."

The trip to Arkham was all a blur. He remembered contacting Gordon halfway to tell him briefly that he found the culprit behind the poisonings and about the men who had fallen under Ivy's control who were still in her lair. He also remembered practically dumping Ivy on Arkham's doorstep – he was in a foul mood then, so much so that the terrified guards that happened to be there had no choice but to follow the orders he growled at them without much of an explanation as to why.

In comparison, the journey back to the Batcave seemed far too long for Bruce's liking.

His mind was reeling – he had no way of telling exactly when Diana had come in contact with Ivy's poison and therefor no idea how long it had been in her system. According to what Tim's brief description, she seemed to have reacted the same way as all the other victims had – the toxin was messing with her head, making her see things and working her up in a very, very bad way.

Tim just needed to keep her clam enough until he got there, even an Amazon's heart could give out if it was put under enough strain.

After a painfully long drive, he finally arrived back at the Cave.

Swiftly getting out of the Batmobile, he marched to the sickbay where he found Tim and Alfred standing outside. Behind the steel door, he heard something getting smashed… repeatedly.

"Master Bruce!" Alfred exclaimed. "Thank heavens."

"What happened." Bruce demanded as he looked at Tim.

The teenager seemed lost for words. "I… we tried doing like you told us to. Diana, she just-"

But, right before he could finish talking, the noise stopped abruptly. Then a loud, ominous thump.

Tim and Alfred looked at each other with fear, Bruce didn't hesitate and went inside. He paused for a moment when he saw the sickbay in utter ruin. However, but didn't linger on it for too long when he saw Diana on the floor.

Bruce immediately went over and picked her up.

She seemed to be in pain, frightfully pale now, her body was stiff and she kept jerking her head around. "No… no…" Diana whimpered.

With the examination table now crushed, Bruce scanned the room before going over to the metal desk in the corner of the room that was bolted to the floor and cleared if of whatever was on top with a sweep of the arm and laid her down.

He pulled off his gloves and checked her pulse first and then her eyes before reaching for his utility belt and took out the vial Fox gave him and a syringe, filling it with the clear liquid.

When he injected it into her arm, it took several nerve-wracking minutes, but eventually, Diana's body relaxed and her breathing became regular and even again.

Pulling off his cowl, Bruce finally breathed out the breath he'd been holding and pinched the bridge of his nose. When he lowered his hand, Diana stirred.

She turned her head towards him, her blue eyes fluttered open, unfocused but clear.

"Bruce…?"

"I'm here."

"Hi…" she said quietly.

Bruce almost smiled. Almost. "How are you feeling?"

Her brows furrowed together. "I'm not sure yet." She muttered. "My head hurts…"

"Do you need anything?"

"Just don't leave." There was an edge of fear in her voice he didn't like.

There was more to the simple request but he would find out about it later. "Okay."

The corner of her lips picked up slightly, apparently either satisfied or grateful with his answer.

Soon, however, her eyes started drooping until they closed and her body slacked as she passed out again.

Bruce watched her for a bit until he straightened up and looked over his shoulder. Tim and Alfred were both standing at the door, looking at him anxiously.

"Bruce?" Tim asked.

"I'm taking her upstairs," Bruce said, taking Diana up in his arms again.

"Will Miss Diana…?" Alfred began.

"She should be fine now."

The butler nodded, and he and Tim watched as Bruce walked past them and made his way out of the cave and towards the stairs leading up.

Diana's dreams were all just one blurry, shadow-ridden montage after the next – she saw the faces of her mother, her sisters, her friends, Bruce's… old memories and nightmares were indistinguishable from each other and voices repeatedly echoed through her mind.

It came as a relief of sorts when she finally drifted towards consciousness.

It happened gradually – her body felt stiff and sore all over. A low groan worked its way out her throat and she grip at whatever was under her hands. Sheets?

She opened her eyes.

Everything was unclear at first, but eventually she realized she was in her bed, and also she wasn't wearing her uniform anymore but instead her favorite t-shirt and a pair of night shorts she normally slept in.

She sat up. Looking out at the window, she saw that the sun was up.

Confused, she didn't give it much thought as the nausea reared its ugly head again. It actually hurt.

When Diana realized wouldn't be able to hold it back any longer, she yanked the covers off of her and all by flew to the bathroom.

Diana had been unconscious for over twelve hours. he stayed and kept watch over her since the previous night - he only left her on Alfred's insistence that he ate, showered and had his injuries looked at and tended to.

Bruce was just outside in the hall when he heard a door slam.

Hurrying into the bedroom, he found the bed empty and the door to the bathroom shut.

"Diana?" he said.

"Go away…" she said weakly. "Don't-" She stopped short.

Just as Bruce was about to ask if she was okay, he heard retching. He didn't think twice before going inside.

Diana was on her knees, hunched over the toilet, effectively emptying half of her stomach's contents within.

Stunned at first, Bruce went over and crouched next to her, holding her hair of our the way and gently patted her back.

Wiping her mouth first with the back of her hand, Diana shot him a grateful look before turning back and proceeded to empty the rest of her stomach's content into the porcelain bowl.

When it finally stopped, Bruce stroke he back in what he could only hope was a reassuring way.

Diana closed her eyes and took a shaky breath. Without saying a word, he wrapped his arms her and hugged her closer to his chest – she was trembling.

They stayed like that for several minutes until she was breathing normally again. He then helped her up.

"I think I should go to the doctor." She said in a hoarse whisper.

"Do you want to go now?"

Diana nodded and pulled away from. She looked shaky on her legs, but stood on her own. "Let me clean myself up first."

He frowned, not convinced but stepped away. "I'll wait downstairs."

Later…
Gotham General Hospital

Bruce rubbed his temples as he sat waiting outside Dr Leslie Thompkins' office – the good lady doctor promptly ushered Diana inside the moment they arrived and, with a single stern look pointed in his direction, insisted that he not follow.

Despite the fact that he wasn't even sitting there for half an hour, the waiting didn't do him any good as time seemed to stretch on. Bruce was usually a very patient man by nature, but suspense was killing him.

Finally, the door opened and Leslie's head popped out from behind it. Bruce stood up immediately.

"You can come in, Bruce."

He eagerly followed her inside and was relieved to see that Diana, although still pale, was fine and sitting in front of Leslie's desk. She smiled at him when he came in.

Bruce took the seat next to hers before reaching over and took her hand in his. Neither of them spoke as Dr Leslie sat down behind her desk.

"As far as I can see, Miss Prince," the doctor began, "you're in the clear. I've run a few tests, and physically, you're fine. I've also taken a blood sample to be analyzed later, but as of now, whatever antitoxin you were injected with will prevent you from experiencing any further side-effects. But, there is something I need to talk to you both about."

"Is there something wrong?" Diana asked.

"No, no, of course not, my dear, I just thought it would be better if you both were together when I tell you the good news." Leslie said, smiling at her pleasantly.

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "What news?"

"Why, about the baby, of course."

Everything went deathly quiet after that.

While Bruce stared at Leslie like she had grown an extra head, Diana looked taken back.

"What are you talking about? What baby?"

Leslie seemed surprised.

"Yours. Miss Prince, you're pregnant."

"This might be a little cold," the doctor warned as squirted a type of clear gel over Diana's stomach. As she did, Diana shivered as the unfamiliar, sterile cool touched and spread over that area.

All the while, Bruce seemed to be in a trance-like state as he stood next to her, watching Leslie as she brought the sonographer out but didn't say a word – he hadn't since the doctor's announcement.

When Leslie brought over the sonographer, Diana's death-grip on Bruce's hand tightened. Pressing it against her stomach, Leslie applied a gentle, but firm pressure and started moving the apparatus around.

After a few moments, a blip showed up on the monitor.

One little blip.

Diana's breath caught in her throat. Bruce just kept staring.

Leslie smiled again. "Ah… there we are."

"Is- is that…?" Diana asked, too stunned to continue.

"It is. Congratulations – you're going to be parents."

"I'm not losing my love.
I've know what I dream of –
It's part that I can exchange,
I'm playing hard but I'm not in a game.
'Cause I've seen how it kills to give up.
And I know what I'm capable of.
I see what I can obtain and I'm not going any other way."

"Definitely, I feel it in my heart that you're the one for me right now.
I'm not about to leave.
Hold my hand tight and let this moment be right now."
- Toya Delazy feat. Ross Jack, 'Losing my Love' lyrics

"Romantic love is mental illness. But it is a pleasurable one."
- Fran Lebowitz

A/N: I say nothing. Up next chapter, stick around folks, cuz I promise there will be some drama, Alfred awesomeness and more Flash and Hawkgirl (I love those two).

Goodness gracious… this chapter took a month and a bit… yikes. Okay, there are a number of reason for that, but like I said before, I was busy and my mojo was a little thrown off due to… well, a number of things.

In regards to Ivy, she's a right piece of work, isn't she?! I might not have portrayed her correctly, but in general, by the show of virtual hands, who agrees that's she's kind of loco?

Anyway, I was inspired by a number of things in this chapter – mostly, I've been playing Batman: Arkham Asylum & City respectively (hence Tim's bo-staff doubling as a bullet-shield). And, then, I've watched several older Batman flicks from the 80's and 90's, most prominently, Batman & Robin (thanks yob3 for suggesting this!).

In response to the previous chapter's reviews:
The Goddamn Dark Knight: Yep… wait a second – hey!
mbembet: No need in thanking me, really, I feel guilty for taking so long! Thank you very much for reviewing :)
yob3: You were right about the movie – it's cheesy as hell! I kept shouting in dismay 'Why, George, why?!' at the TV – my family still thinks I'm a little crazy. Can you spot the quote I used?
Guest: :D
LSZero: Thanks – but I am on break now, so my writing has taken its rightful spot as on top of my to-do list, so I'm going to try and update as much as possible!
Wonderwomanbatmanfan: Spot on… hehe.
Lloyd RPGFan: It was a little obvious, wasn't it? I guess it wasn't really that much of the surprise you were hoping for… but, of course, I'm not even halfway finished with this story… things can still happen ;)
1Superman4Me: I actually finished reading it, and, surprisingly, I got inspiration for a story I'd like to write in real life some day! Funny how stuff like that can jump up on a person, huh? And, many thanks for still sticking with this story!
pk8673: *takes a bow* My apologies for the wait – but a little suspense adds a little flavour, don't you agree? …Although I'm not sure if I nailed it in this chapter. Anyways, thanks for reviewing!
R-dude: Awwww, you're so cute if you think that'll be able to work on me – now stop messing with my notes, dammit!
maculedes: Damn, I knew I should have taken Spanish over French – I got this over the translating app on my phone, so here goes: Lo haré, muchas gracias por revisar. Did I get that right?

Well, I'll be off now doing… things – feel free to leave a review, it's always appreciated! Peace out!

Until next time,
GoddessofDawn out