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: I originally had this epic fighting scene planned with lots of explosions and ninjas and the like… but, since my computer with my original draft and all my planning went and crashed on me, I present you the following…
Oh and there will be one or two random ninja attack coming out from and disappearing into… well, nowhere… so, it would be best not to question the logic behind how and where and why too much… Now onwards! The feedback, as always, has been truly epic. Thank you very much!
Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.
Bridezillas & Kryptonite
~Chapter Ten~
Part Two
Assassin Queens & Sonograms
A familiar sterile chill ran down Diana's spine when she felt the clear gel being rubbed over her bare stomach while, sitting next to her, Shayera's hand clasped firmly around her own supportively, the Thanagarian looking like she was torn between whether she should smile or not.
Both heroes had now dressed casually while they were at the hospital – Shayera hiding her wings underneath a large trench coat.
"I remember the feeling…" the redhead admitted, her nose cringing slightly. "Couldn't they have at least warmed that stuff up or something?"
On the other side of the room, Dr Leslie then brought over the sonogram machine she used the previous time. "I'm afraid not, however, the initial discomfort is usually worth the result, wouldn't you say?"
Shayera's face smoothed over at this almost instantaneously. "You have a point there, doc…"
The good lady doctor laughed lightly before looking at Diana. "Now, Miss Prince, before we begin, do you have any questions, or concerns or such?"
"A few," Diana admitted, "but, I suppose the most important is, is whether the baby's healthy."
"Well, I suppose we'll just have to take a look and see for ourselves, won't we?" Leslie said, pressing the device against the Amazon's stomach, a few moments passed while the image on the screen came into focus.
Next to her, Diana heard Shayera's intake of breath. "Wow…"
Diana smiled softly, nodding in agreement but not taking her eyes off the strange and wonderful shape on the screen. "Wow indeed…"
Shayera's green eyes twinkled as before she grinned broadly. "It looks like a jellybean."
"It's just about the size of one too." Leslie added matter-of-factly but smiling as well.
Diana reluctantly tore her eyes away from her baby. "But, it… it won't stay that small forever, will it?"
Both Leslie and Shayera laughed.
"If only…" Shayera said, amused. "Relax, Di… it'll be the size of a watermelon in about eight months."
Diana's eyes widened in shock. "What?" she said, alarmed.
"What your friend is trying to say, Miss Prince, is that the fetus will continue growing gradually over time – for example, do you see those two nubs there?" Leslie asked, pointing at the monitor. "Those are where its arms will grow."
Having calmed down, Diana refocused her attention back onto the monitor. "It is?"
Leslie nodded and pointed down. "Here is where its legs are going to be. And that dark spot on the side of its head? That's an eye. It should also be able to notice the difference between light and dark by now." She said, pointing up again. "And its heart should be beating too."
"I think Bruce mentioned something like that as well."
Leslie beamed. "Ah, so it seems he did do his homework after all."
"What do you mean?" Diana asked.
"The last time you were here, I asked him to do some research, it was an assignment if you will – didn't he tell you?"
Diana shook her head, stunned, but pleasantly so. "No… he didn't."
Shayera blinked, surprised herself. "Research?"
"So… that's what he had been doing…" Diana said mostly to herself.
"Wait, are you telling me that's what you two had a misunderstanding about?" Shayera said incredulously. "Huh… looks like I misjudged him…"
"Does that mean you'll apologize for hitting him?"
Shayera's eyes narrowed a little. "Not a chance – it was still a pretty stupid thing he did not telling you where he was."
"What's this?" Leslie asked sharply.
Diana smiled weakly at the doctor. "It's a long story."
Leslie, however, wasn't convinced and sighed exasperatedly. "Really now, I told that boy no stress! I might just have to have a talk with him again." She said sternly before looking at Shayera approvingly. "I don't know the whole story, but from what I can surmise from your conversation, you did good knocking some sense into him, my dear."
Diana was stunned that Leslie would talk about Bruce like that, while Shayera however turned to the Amazon princess and was grinning again. "I don't know about you, but I could learn to like this woman."
Meanwhile…
At the Heathcliff
Bruce was sitting at the bar, elbow on the counter with his chin resting in the palm of his hand, watching the flatscreen in the corner of the room with disinterest and flatly ignoring the dirty looks the bartended kept throwing at him for not ordering anything.
But, right now, he didn't give a damn. He was brooding.
Clark knew – even before he did, hell, probably before Diana did either.
A part of Bruce, the really pissed part, knew he should have chewed Clark's head off for not having said a thing - he should have kept grilling him until he told him everything what had happened, and, for the love of God, he shouldn't have agreed to come with him to this ridiculous hotel…!
He seriously didn't have time for this, he did have other things to do on his day off – how did Clark even convince him to come with him in the first place?
Bruce then grimaced at the memory of the Kryptonian's pleading face but quickly banished the thought.
He shouldn't have done any of that, true…and yet… he did…
Dammit… He mused, fuming a little, he must really have gone soft.
Scowling to himself, he turned his head away from the television and focused his glares onto his hands.
Then, much like clockwork, his phone rang. Speak of the devil.
When he checked the caller-ID, he rolled his eyes.
"Done already, Clark?" he asked when he answered.
"Not exactly," the Kryptonian said on the other line. "But we do have a problem."
"Do tell." Bruce said with disinterest.
"There's a man in front of Luthor's room."
"Let me guess, he won't let you two in?"
"He's dead."
This caught Bruce's attention instantly. "What?"
"He was stabbed and positioned in front of Luthor's door – I took a quick look in the hotel suit, there's blood, but no bodies, and Luthor himself didn't look like he had a scratch on him. Mercy, on the other hand, looked like she had a rough time."
"Where is Luthor now?" Bruce said lowly, quietly.
"He's probably trying to get out of the hotel, I think something's after him. I'm going to keep an eye over him just in case. Lois is with him too."
"You do that. I'm coming up there now to investigate the scene for myself."
"Be careful, Bruce."
With Lois…
When she caught up with Luthor and Vicki, Lois found them at the doors leading to the stairwell, Mercy already down one flight of stairs, probably scouting the way forward.
"Where's your boyfriend, Lane?" Vicki asked.
"He's trying to get help."
Luthor shook his head at this. "I doubt the police will be much help in this situation."
"Speaking of 'this situation'," Lois added. "Would you mind explaining what the heck all that back there was about?"
"Let's just say there are some people's company I would rather not find myself in. As you can imagine, I am not too well-liked outside of Metropolis."
Or in it either, Lois added mentally. "So this company you talked about, old friends of yours?"
Luthor's mouth twitched. "I think your question speaks for itself, Miss Lane."
Before Lois could drill him for any more answers, Mercy came back and gave what must have been an 'all's-clear' nod.
"Why don't we save this interrogation for later?" Luthor said, promptly stepping through the door and into the stairwell.
"Why aren't we using the elevator?" Vicki asked as they started their way down.
"And you would be…?" Luthor asked, causing Vicki to glare and Lois to smirk.
"Vicki Vale. From the Gotham Gazette." She grinded through her teeth.
"Ah, another reporter. Well, quite simply, Miss Vale, this way is far less conspicuous and far safer."
"Yeah, but a whole lot slower." Lois commented.
"A small price to pay, I assure you."
And yet, even with that said, it was no surprise that Lois was still sceptical.
But, right then–
"Lois!" she heard behind her. When she looked up, she was relieved when she saw Clark there.
"Glad you could join us, Mister Kent." Luthor said dryly, his patience apparently running thin. "Now, if there are no more stragglers, can we please get a move on?"
Clark smiled apologetically, putting on what Lois recognized as his happy-go-lucky farm-boy-reporter's face. "Sure thing, Mister Luth-" he never quite got to finish his sentence as all of a sudden, we he got close enough, he looked vaguely sick.
"Smallville?" Lois asked, instantly concerned.
"Oh, what now?" Luthor complained, annoyed.
"I'm okay," Clark said, forcing another smile. "I guess the excitement just got to me."
Luthor just carried on while it was Vicki's turn to smirk. "That's some man you got there, Lane." She said snidely.
When they were at the bottom of the first set of stairs, whatever spell that effected Clark was lifted and he stood up straight again.
"What just happened? For a minute there, I thought you were going to feint on me." Lois said quietly.
"For a minute there, so did I," Clark said and frowned. "And unfortunately, I know the feeling too well."
With Bruce…
The hallway on the twenty-fourth floor was completely deserted by the time his elevator opened. It wasn't hard guessing which room was Luthor's and thanks to the great gaping whole in the wall, Bruce didn't have to go through the trouble of picking the lock first.
Stepping in through the hole, he was instantly on guard – the suite looked like a small, very violent tornado had gone through it, paintings were ripped, furniture was overturned and slashed while patches of the carpets and walls had large burn marks on it.
Just like Clark had said, Bruce found blood in what was left of the living-room.
Crouching down on his heels to examine the stain briefly, he noticed a trail of red droplets leading off into one of the rooms.
He stood up and followed the trail, it thinned out and lessened until it completely stopped once he entered the master bedroom.
As he looked around, Bruce almost didn't pick up on the light thud of feet touching the floor just behind him.
Almost.
Narrowly avoiding getting skewered by a sword, Bruce side-stepped just in time before using his elbow and thrust it into his would-be attacker's chest, knocking the air out of his lungs.
As the attacker was caught off-guard, Bruce then grabbed the sword by it's hilt and raised it up, kneeing him in the stomach, hard, making him double back.
However, he didn't have time to think about it, as yet another assailant seemed to drop out of nowhere, again from behind, and started throwing punches and dealing out kicks.
He had actually managed to land several blows to Bruce's side, back and to the back of his knee.
Stumbling for a moment, Bruce recovered his momentum and turned the tables on his second attacker, parrying the blows and dealing several of his own until, eventually, he managed to back him up against the wall, grabbing him by the scruff of his black outfit and yanked down the mask that had covered half of his face.
"I'm going to count to ten, and by the time I get there, I want a name of your boss."
"Never." The man spat.
Bruce was unimpressed as he cocked an eyebrow. "Never is a long time. Still, you've got to ten to change your mind before I break something and make you tell me. One, two…"
But, before he even got to three, something hit him over the head, and the next thing Bruce knew, he was counting stars instead.
With Clark and Lois…
Clark made sure to keep at a reasonable from the rest of the group as he trailed behind them, insisting that he was just tired from walking down so many flights of stairs whenever Luthor or Vicki asked while Lois occasionally rolled her eyes and whispered that he was pushing his act.
He had to agree with her on that, but until Clark found out for sure if his suspicion was right and that Luthor had some kryptonite on him, he would stay where he was and help when or if anything happened from the short distance.
They were between floors seventeen and sixteen when Vicki finally broke the strange, tense silence that had enveloped over them.
"Mr Luthor, may I ask a question?" she asked abruptly, looking ruffled as she attempted to keep up with him on the stairs.
Luthor barely looked at her, and his answer was vague to say the least. "You may, of course, whether I may or may not answer is a completely different story. I tend to distrust most reporters – no offence meant to any of you."
Again, his reply wasn't exactly what Vicki was expecting, and Clark couldn't help but notice the satisfied smirk on Lois's face.
"This is more out of personal curiosity than professional inquiry," Vicki said with a slight sniff. "Is it true what they say? About your grudge against Superman?"
Clark stiffened a little at her question while Lois visibly perked up.
Luthor, on the other hand, didn't seem the least bit effected and shrugged. After all, he'd been asked similar things for years now, and, as always, his answer was pretty much the same as it had always been.
"In response to your question, Miss Vale, simply put, I trust Superman less than I do reporters." He said before taking out what looked like a pendant around his neck and held it up, it was a silver chain with a large, marquis-cut piece of kryptonite attached to it.
Lois's eyes widened as Clark kept his face impassive. At least his hunch was right.
"In any case," Luthor said casually, tucking the chain back into his suit, "I always come prepared."
"Do you hate him?" Vicki asked.
His answer surprised all of them. "Not exactly, or at lease, not in the way you think. However, I do strongly believe that a being with his kind of raw power, his kind of strength, shouldn't be allowed to go where and do as he pleases."
"But what about all the good he does?"
"'Good' or not, are you telling me that you're perfectly comfortable with someone like that around?"
Vicki stayed quiet for a second as Clark tried to ignore the look Lois gave him.
"Okay, sure, you got a point there, but why go through all the trouble? It's not exactly a secret that you've tried offing him a few times."
"I'm not even going to dignify that with an response, though I might have to remind you, Miss Vale, that my direct involvement in any of those so-called attempts on Superman's life has ever been proven in a court of law." He said matter-of-factly. "But, you can read all about that in the Daily Planet, Miss Lane here does make a point of highlighting these kinds of things – don't you, Miss Lane?"
Lois smiled over-exaggerated sweetness. "It's a hobby."
"Well, why else would you be here? In Gotham City of all places."
"I was going to ask the same thing about you."
Luthor just shrugged before noticing that Clark had stopped walking and appeared to be listening to something.
Annoyance flickered over his face once more. "Mister Kent, if you don't mind, can we get a move on?" he called back.
"I thought I heard something," Clark said, eyes narrowed behind his glasses as he listened more intensely, breaking away from his clumsy reporter façade enough even to alarm Luthor.
Automatically, Mercy held up her hand in a signal that they all stay back before she stalked off ahead, her weapon held at the ready as she went on ahead.
It was eerily quiet for a while as she disappeared down the stairs, until, quite abruptly, shots rang out in rapid succession.
"What the-?" Vicki blurted out, eyes wide.
"This way!" Clark said, waving them over to him. But, when he turned around, he was unpleasantly surprised when a man all dressed all in black like a ninja suddenly appeared in a puff of thick, grey smoke.
Before he could react, the ninja attempted to slash his stomach… but, instead, all he did was make a large tear across Clark's shirt.
Quickly looking over his shoulders to see the other's reactions, or if they saw what happened, Clark grabbed the man's wrist.
"I'm really sorry about this." He apologized quietly before punching him – minding his strength so that he didn't bash his head clean off of his shoulders – knocking him out instantly.
Apparently not have seen the whole occurrence, Lex seemed impressed. "Not bad, for a farm-boy." He said before gesturing for them to follow him through the nearest door out.
"What about your bodyguard?" Lois asked absurdly when they went into the twelve floor.
"She will find us later on. Don't stop moving, there's another staircase down the hall."
"What if we get attacked again?" Vicki asked.
"I wouldn't be too worried, I can handle myself in these kinds of situations."
"You mean getting attacked by ninjas is a regular thing for you?" Lois asked sarcastically.
"…More often than I care to admit, really…" Luthor said quietly.
With Bruce…
When Bruce finally came back too again, he had a throbbing headache. But, when he tried to move his arms, his eyes flew open when he felt his wrists and ankles were bound tightly.
Ignoring the stab of pain in the back of his head, Bruce sat up straighter, but when he did, he felt something cold and distinctively sharp being pressed against the skin of his throat.
"Remain as you are," came an cold, unfamiliar voice.
Keeping perfectly still as instructed, the man then moved his sword and made Bruce tilt his head up. He, like the other two men he had fought, was also dressed completely in black, and even had his head covered so that only his eyes were visible.
Bruce then realized that he was in one of the hotel rooms, tied to a chair – there were several other men in the room as well, all wearing a similar outfit.
"You are fortunate my mistress has ordered for you to live," the man snarled, he spoke with a mild accent, presumably middle-eastern. "If she had not, I would have slit your throat myself."
Bruce glared back at him defiantly until an all-too familiar spoke up from behind the man. "And if I wanted to, I would do the same to you if you do not step away from that man this moment."
Bruce could recognize the voice from anywhere, and his fists clenched with apprehension.
The man lowered his sword and straightened up, turning around and stepping aside almost instantly.
"Mistress," he tried.
The woman merely held up her hand and effectively silenced him. "I will deal with you later," she said in a quiet, dangerous kind of voice. "You are excused."
The man nodded once and went to stand next to the others. Bruce, for his part, only narrowed his eyes when they fell on the woman – tall, voluptuous and with an exotic beauty to her due to her naturally tanned skin and intense, dark eyes.
"Talia," he said through clenched teeth.
"Bruce Wayne," Talia al Ghul said, smiling radiantly, "It has been too long."
"Not long enough."
Talia laughed a tinkling kind of laugh as she began walking around him, trailing her fingers along his shoulders as she did. "I must say, I was surprised when my men told me you were in the building. And once more, I am surprised to see you… like this." She said, her eyes roaming over his t-shirt.
"What are you doing here, Talia?" Bruce said, his entire body rigid when she then lightly trailed her fingers down his bare arm.
"But I can't, beloved. You must know that."
"Don't call me that." He said darkly.
Talia's eyebrow arched but the smile on her face remained. "Ah, yes… now I remember – that privilege must belong to that Amazon of yours, surely. I must admit, I am impressed, she is quite beautiful."
Bruce's jaw clenched further but didn't respond.
"Beautiful, heroic… and she's rumoured to be incredibly naïve – you must be bored out of your mind." She said with a slight sneer. "I would assume correctly that it is nothing like what you and I had."
"You're damn right about the last part," he growled lowly, "what you and I 'had' was a sham."
Something flashed in Talia's dark eyes. "That is a lie." She hissed. "We could have been together, commanded the entire League of Assassins just as my father had intended us to, if your warped sense of honour didn't stand in the way."
"Actually, I was referring to the fact that you can't make up your mind about who you want to be with… And that you've stabbed me in the back so much over the years I've lost count."
"My priority has always been and will always be with the League – it is my birthright. You are a fool if you think that will ever change." She said angrily, her calm façade slipping.
"I might be a fool, but I'm guessing you're still not in-charge of much of anything yet, are you?"
In response to that, Talia stepped in front of him and slapped him across the face with an audible smack.
It was the second time in a week that he'd been slapped by a female, and while it wasn't nearly as bad as the one he got from Shayera, it was enough to make his cheek sting and make his head snap to the side.
"Why are you really here, Talia?" he asked again, calmly, turning his head back. "I know Lex Luthor is in the building, and that he was attacked not too long ago. That was your doing, wasn't it?"
"Bravo, Detective," Talia said spitefully. "You can probably figure the rest out on your own now."
"Obviously Luthor must have done something stupid to upset Ra's. Why else send his own daughter to take care of him?"
"The details are irrelevant." She said. "But the point is, Lex Luthor has gone on, living the way he does, for far too long. The world would be a better place without men like him"
"Perhaps," Bruce allowed. "But he will pay for what he's done, some day."
"How? Your so-called 'justice' has failed you time and time again. With all his wealth, all his influence, and all his cunning, he will never see the inside of a cell for as long as he lives." She said bitterly. "That is why he needs to be eliminated."
"That's not up to you to decide."
"I have a mission, and whether it is my decision or not, I will not fail. And right now, you are without your armour, unable to move, I have you at my mercy – I can end your life on a whim. I can't see how you can stop me."
Bruce raised an eyebrow. "So you'll just strike me down, without giving me the chance to defend myself?" he challenged.
It was a long shot, but he knew that unlike most assassins, at least Talia had some sort of moral code… not that there was anything too moral about it, of course.
They glared at each other for a full minute before Talia then approached him, and, pulling out a knife, she cut through his bonds.
When Bruce was finally free, she stepped back and watched him like a hawk as he rubbed his wrists. "If you were any other man, I wouldn't have hesitated ending you…" She said quietly. She said, putting back the dagger and then taking out a sword. "…But… since you are not…" she examined the sword before tossing it at him.
Naturally, Bruce caught it in one hand.
Talia then unsheathed a second sword and lowered it in front of her. "…Defend yourself."
"If I do this," Bruce began, carefully seizing her up, "and I win, I want you out of Gotham."
Talia regained some of her previous composure and smirked. "Very well. But if we're adding a wager to this, if I win…" she trailed-off. "Well…" she said, smiling vindictively, "we shall just have to see about that… won't we, beloved?"
With Lois and Clark…
By the time they got to the lobby, the front desk was swarming with nearly hysterical guests demanding an explanation for the chaos or attempting to check out. The manager at the desk tried to assure that the police were on their way, but it did little to lift to put anyone's mind at ease.
At the same time, the crowd surrounding the elevator parted like the sea when it opened up and a very mussed up Mercy stepped out of it, holding a sword in the one hand while some of her wiring by her side was exposed and sparking.
"No problems, I assume?" Luthor asked nonchalantly as he approached her, ignoring the staggered looks he received from everyone around him.
Mercy merely nodded and presented him with the sword in her hand – Luthor took it and held it up to inspect briefly.
"Huh… interesting." He mused before giving it back to her. "I think I have overstayed my welcome in Gotham long enough. Mercy, call a car to take me to the airport, arrange that my jet be ready to take me back to Metropolis as soon as I get there."
She nodded again and walked off.
Luthor then turned to the three reporters. "This is where we part ways."
"What about the appointment I had with you?" Vicki asked incredulously.
"Oh, right, there was an reporter I had to meet with before all of this happened." Luthor said carelessly. "I can give you a quote, just say… I was exploring my options while I was in Gotham and that I was side-tracked by more pressing matters."
Vicki looked like she was force-fed a lemon, much to Lois's delight.
"That's it?"
"If you were a good reporter, I'm sure you'd be able to give an interesting recount of what happened today. I'm actually quite looking forward to reading what Miss Lane might say about it in tomorrows' Daily Planet."
"An attempt on your life isn't exactly groundbreaking news, but I guess Parry will be pretty happy." Lois said matter-of-factly.
"Lois…" Clark said sternly.
Luthor smirked. "I'm sure he'll be heartbroken I walked away unscathed from this whole episode." He said before spotting Mercy again. "Until next time, Miss Lane, Mister Kent… oh, and you too, Miss Vale." He said, acknowledging them briefly and striding towards his bodyguard.
"Unbelievable!" Vicki fumed. "I nearly get sliced up and all I got was one frickin' quote."
"Hey, if you can't take a few barbs aimed at you, maybe you should really consider getting another job." Lois said happily, smiling in satisfaction at the nasty glare Vicki shot at her before stalking off.
"You've been waiting for the right time to use that line back against her, haven't you?" Clark asked, amused.
Lois looked at her boyfriend with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "Maybe…" she said and paused. "Where's Bruce? I don't know about you, but I want to leave this place before anything else crazy happens."
Clark nodded in agreement and began scanning the room for any sign of the billionaire – frowning when he found no trace of Bruce, he then turned his gaze upwards, using his X-Ray vision to peer though the floors.
When he caught what looked like a sword fight on one of the upper most levels.
"I need to check something out real quick." He said, his eyes turning back to normal when he looked at Lois again.
Lois nodded.
"I'll be back soon." He reassure, kissing her briefly on the cheek before slipping past the frenzied guests and went straight back to the stairs, disappearing in a blur when no one was looking.
With Bruce…
He had his hands full blocking and evading Talia's attacks and she came at him at a furious speed – the only sound in the room the loud pangs of metal meeting, blow for blow, and the occasional grunt. All the while, the other men in the room stood stone still and watched, not daring to interfere.
Backing away from his opponent, Bruce watched as she then circled him with her sword raised.
"I've been thinking," she said quite abruptly, "Once I win, that, as my prize, I could ask that you do something for me – sort of like a favour, if you will."
Bruce snorted. "You haven't won anything yet, Talia."
"You never know. But I was wondering that, if I did win, exactly what should I ask for? We all know you are a very capable man, I could ask of you to do virtually anything." she said and came at him, her sword coming down over his head.
"Don't count on it," he gritted through his teeth, blocking the attack with the broad side of his own sword.
"Aren't you just the least bit interested in what I would ask of you?" she asked, withdrawing quickly and just went on slashing at him.
Bruce's eyes narrowed. "Not interested. Besides, I have a pretty good idea of what that could be, and I'll respond to that by saying never in a million years." He said, swinging at her.
Talia easily parried the blow before laughing again. "But, I haven't told you what it was yet."
"And I'll repeat myself, I'm still not interested." He said and came at her again.
With their swords locked, their faces were now just a few inches from each other. Talia's dark eyes glinted. "Never is a long time. Things change." She said slyly.
"It wouldn't matter if they did," he said, breaking away from her. "I'm not going to lose."
"Getting arrogant, aren't we, Bruce?" she taunted, "Then again, it was always one of your flaws, so, I would be careful if I were you, just in case you… slip up."
The words had barely out of her mouth when, quicker than what Bruce was prepared for, she managed to knock the sword out of his hand and held it to his throat.
"Just. Like. That." she said, pronouncing the words with care as she moved closer to him once again. "Now… about my request."
Bruce's fists clenched as he lowered them to his side. "What do you want?"
"Nothing much, I thought I should keep it simple. I have been meaning to ask this of you for a while, but there is something of great importance to me – it's not quite ready yet, but when the time comes, I want you to take care of it." She said silkily. "That is all."
"I have a hard time believing you that it's that simple."
Talia pressed the sword closer to his neck so that it grazed his skin. "You don't really have a choice."
But, luckily, right before anybody could do or say anything else, the door to the hotel room suddenly burst open with a sudden rush of air. The men in the room could barely react when, one for one, they all were thrown back against the wall with enough force to make them black-out on contact.
Probably sensing that she would be next when the last of her men were my, Talia lowered her sword before reaching for something in her pockets and threw down a fistful of black pellets onto the ground, filling the entire room with thick smoke.
Blinded and confused, before Bruce could comprehend it, he felt a pair of lips on his for a brief few seconds – the brush of soft skin was all-too familiar, but his entire body stiffened in response. There was none of the passion that was there before, none at all… at least, not on his side.
Soon enough, the lips pulled away, and eventually, the smoke cleared. When it did, Bruce found himself standing in the middle of the room on his own, Talia nowhere to be seen.
When he didn't move for some time, behind him, he heard Clark speaking up finally. "Bruce, are you alright?"
Bruce turned his head to look over his shoulder at the worried Kryptonian. "Never mind me," he said, surveying the room – all the men were subdued, slumped against the walls, unconscious.
"Was that Talia al Ghul? Where did she go?" Clark asked.
Internally, Bruce breathed out a sigh of relief – apparently, he hadn't seen what Talia did before she left, that was good as that would only have lead to more unnecessary questions and even more pointless answers.
"Don't bother asking," Bruce muttered darkly, "She's probably too far gone anyway." In more ways than one, he added mentally.
Clark frowned. "So, she's responsible for attacking Luthor?"
"Pretty much."
"That kind of explains a few things. Anyway, the police are on their way, I think it's time we go. Lois is waiting for us in the lobby."
Bruce nodded and followed the Kryptonian out into the hallway.
Later…
Wayne Manor
It was just getting dark when Diana finally came back to the Manor via the teleporter in the Batcave. After her appointment with Leslie earlier, she and Shayera had to return to the Watchtower to report what had happened on their mission in the Caribbean (and making sure to leave out one or two details…).
After they did that, Shayera then dragged her off and took it onto herself to drill the 'basics of motherhood' into her. It was a little frightening really, Shayera made it sound as if the worst was still to come; cravings, swollen feet, back aches, and an ever-present bad-temper.
Still… even after she said all those things, Shayera assured her that whatever happened, it was all worth it in the end.
Diana wasn't quite sure how she should have felt about the prospect of swollen feet and having the 'urge to snap at anyone in a two feet radius' (Shayera's own words), but she was curious. She wondered what it would be like to hold her baby for the first time – what would it look like?
She had so many questions, and her curiosity was getting the better of her – would it be a boy or a girl? If it was a girl, would she look like herself or more like Bruce, a mix of the both of them? If it was a boy, what would he be like when he's older? No doubt he would inherit his father's stubbornness, or, if not, would he be mild-mannered or temperamental?
In her mind, she imagined silken black curls and big blue eyes, and smiled dreamily at the idea until she finally stepped out from behind the grandfather clock in Bruce's study.
She met Alfred, who was looking very casual in a polo shirt and black slacks, just as she walked out into the hall.
"Ah, you're back," the butler said, smiling.
"I am. How was your day off, Alfred?" she asked pleasantly.
"Quiet. It was a pleasant change, of course, but it does get rather boring after the second and third hour."
Diana laughed. "I'm sure it does. Where's everybody else?"
"Well, Master Tim isn't quite back yet from his own mission, but as for Master Bruce, he and Mister Clark are in the East Wing."
"Kal's here?" Diana asked.
"And Miss Lois. I can take you to them, if you want." He offered.
Diana nodded. "Thank you, Alfred."
"You're in for quite the surprise." He added, smiling knowingly.
"I am?"
"I won't say anything more, but it is quite the sight." He assured.
Sure enough, as Diana followed him to the East Wing, she started hearing voices echoing from down the hall, Alfred leading her to the door at the farthest right side, just opposed to the master bedroom.
When she walked in, she was surprised when she saw the unusual sight of Clark holding up a ladder as Bruce held a bucket and was busy painting the walls a fine, powdery blue – like the colour of the sky on a sunny day.
"Bruce, are you sure you don't want my help?" Clark asked, his sleeves were rolled up and his shirt covered in paint splatters. "You know, I can probably have this whole room finished in a couple of minutes."
Bruce practically growled down at the Kryptonian when the ladder wobbled slightly. "It's my baby, Clark – if anybody is going to get this room done, I'll be damned if it's not going to be me. Now keep that ladder still!"
Sitting in the middle of the room with her legs crossed and a computer on her lap, Lois was busy typing something, completely oblivious to the males' bantering.
"Hey, guys? How many-"
"Use the spell-checker, woman!" Bruce barked over his shoulder, resuming his painting.
Lois huffed, pausing for a moment to roll her eyes. "…Fine." She said before continuing.
Finally, Diana decided to speak up. "Bruce?" she said, blinking in amazement.
Bruce looked over his shoulder as Clark's head snapped in her direction. However, he accidentally bumped into the ladder, making it shake – Bruce, bucket and brush and all, clung on until Clark eventually steadied it.
Bruce shot him a dirty look while the Kryptonian had the common decency to grin at him sheepishly.
Diana stared at them both. "What's going on here?"
"It would seem, Master Bruce has taken it upon himself to start a nursery early." Alfred said with a smile.
She was stunned. "When did you start?"
"Right after you left this afternoon." Bruce said, climbing down the ladder and setting aside the bucket and brush.
"And he's pretty stubborn about getting it done on his own." Clark added. "I'm lucky he'll even let me hold the ladder."
"Not that you're doing a very good job at that…" Bruce said dryly.
"You both know?" Diana asked.
"Sure do," Lois said, looking away from her laptop and then grinned and winked at the Amazon. "Congratulations, by the way."
"…And, I hope you don't mind, but I told him what happened that day in Metropolis…" Clark said, smiling apologetically.
Diana sighed. "That's alright, Kal… the truth would have gotten out eventually, right?"
"And at least we know why now…"
She smiled and looked down at her stomach. "Yes we do." She said softly.
"So, spill it already." Lois said. "Bruce didn't exactly go overboard with the details – when did you guys find out?"
"Lois, she just got back." Clark laughed.
Lois pouted. "Oh, fine, but we'll have coffee or something next week and you'll tell me everything."
"That would be nice, Lois."
"And don't worry, your secret's safe with us. Good reporters know when to keep their mouths shut when it counts."
"Thank you." She said, relieved.
"You know, it's getting pretty late," Clark said. "We should go."
Lois gathered all her things together and stood up. "And just in time too. I'm done with my article. Luthor's little trip to Gotham might get, oh, I don't know, the third page of the Planet tomorrow?"
"Luthor?" Diana repeated, looking at Bruce questioningly.
"I'll tell you about it later," he said.
"I'll walk the both of you out," Alfred said to Lois and Clark.
They both hugged Diana before they left, Clark being the last. "So, we'll talk tomorrow?" he asked hopefully.
Diana nodded. "Of course."
With one last parting smile at both her and Bruce, the Kryptonian left.
When they were finally alone, Diana turned to Bruce.
"Hi…"
His mouth twitched upwards. "Hi."
"…You started on a nursery?"
Bruce shrugged, coming closer. "Why wait? It's going to take me a while anyway." He said, walking up to her, taking her hand in his.
"I suppose." She said, squeezing his hand. "Why did you decide on this room?"
"It was mine when I was a kid." Bruce said, smiling slightly. "It needs a lot of work, but it's the closest to ours, and the windows face east, so you can see the sun rising in the morning."
"That's… very thoughtful of you." She said before her smile faltered. "Bruce… I'm sorry I didn't tell you about that day in Metropolis."
"We all have days like that, Princess." Bruce said quietly, keeping his face impassive. "The sort that we don't want to tell anybody about. But, it's fine, really."
Diana put her arms around his neck. "Then, that's a relief." She said and kissed him.
For a moment, Bruce was still, until Diana felt his arms snake around her waist and her responded passionately. When he deepened the kiss, she felt like she could melt in his arms, her legs turned to jelly and when he finally broke it off, she had a hard time thinking straight.
"…What… was that for?" she asked breathlessly. She noticed that he was looking at her like he was thinking deeply about something.
"I was just testing something out."
"And… did that pass your test?" she asked, amused.
He smirked. "Definitely. But I am probably going to have to test it out again just to make sure."
Diana, on her part, was all too willing for a repeat performance. "Then by all means."
"When the final result is expected to be a compromise, it is often prudent to start from an extreme position."
― John Maynard Keynes,
"Wish cast into the sky – I'm moving on,
Sweet beginnings do arise – She knows I was wrong.
The notes are old – They bend, they fold,
And so do I to a new love."
"(Swing) Swing, Swing from the tangles of,
My heart is crushed by a former love –
Can you help me find a way,
To carry on again?"
- All-American Rejects, 'Swing, Swing' lyrics
A/N: Thank the Lord Almighty that I finished this… I'm not too happy with this chapter, but it's done and now I can get on with things. Note, that from now on, things are going to get a lot more wedding-centered, so don't expect too much action in the following chapter.
If there are any typos in here… ah, screw it, there will be typos, but I'll deal with those later.
And, before any of you get on my case about Luthor maybe acting a little OOC, I actually really like Lex (the dude's my third favorite villain before Joker and Deathstroke, in that order), and the impression I always get when I see him in the animated movies and cartoons and comics is that he's a very sophisticated, aloof, very brilliant kind of dude that is bent on world domination (mwhaha).
In Response with the previous chapter's reviews:
Guest: Well… admittedly, Bruce is a little bit of a jerk sometimes in the comics and otherwise, but give the guy a break, he's Batman – if he's all happy-clappy and deals out hugs left right and centre, you know something is seriously wrong with this picture.
yob3: …You were right about half of this, and as for the idea of a drunk Bruce… I'd rather not deal with the adamant fan-boys who would be on my case about this… I'm saving all my wit for when I write the bachelor's party.
The Goddamn Dark Knight: And I thank you, and everyone who has helped get this story to that amazing number.
jwill21: Well, like I said in the first chapter, this story isn't set in any specific time in the DC universe so certain things may not have happened to certain characters, but I am glad you are enjoying this.
ZabuzasGirl: Lol, I'm sorry this took so long.
Maculedes: I'm flattered, thank you very much, my friend :)
mbembet: And, as always, my head gets just a little bit bigger whenever I read one of your reviews :) I'll do my best, thank you so much for reviewing.
Cajun Strong Man 2: As much as I love the Joker, I'm afraid he's not going to be in this fic, but good guess anyway.
Wonderwomanbatmanfan: I'm not sure if this chapter lived up to your expectations, but thank you for reading.
Lloyd RPGFan: What can I say, I like Lex… but you do have a valid point, and I'm afraid I'm guilty as well since I do use him a lot in my other stories as well.
LOTSloverCSS: And I shall try not to keep you waiting for the next chapter.
JericaMMADfan: I figured Bruce would be into rock and roll – and thank you, friend :)
Derek Metaltron: I can only hope I lived up to your expectations with Talia – I'm not exactly a big fan of hers, but I did try and keep her in character as much as I could.
Right-o! I'm going to start with the next chapter right away! Since it'll be a little more light-hearted than this one, I shall attempt to finish it soon before long. If you have any questions, requests or responses, feel free to leave a review or PM me.
Until next time,
GoddessofDawn out.