Things are really going to be heating up here soon and not necessarily in a good way! Thanks for the feedback so far. Keep it coming and enjoy! :)

Chapter 7

"The green grass grew tall in my backyard."

"Excuse me?" Diana asked in confusion as she abruptly straightened up from her fighting stance. She tucked a loose curl back into her ponytail as she gave him an incredulous glare. "What are you tttalking about?"

"The green grass grew tall in my backyard," Bruce repeated before performing a complicated ju jitsu maneuver with skilled precision, his leg slicing through the air just as his fist came right at her head.

Diana swiftly ducked just in time to avoid taking a direct hit to her temple. She immediately fired back with a flurry of kicks and punches, just missing connecting with her opponent. He dogged her strikes, swiftly grabbing her by the wrist and flipping her over his shoulder. She growled in frustration as she leapt to her feet and backed away for a moment to regroup.

"Come on, Princess," he encouraged her, wiping the sweat from his brow with the sleeve of his shirt. "Focus."

"I am focused," she snapped as she positioned herself again.

Bruce suddenly straightened, walking over to the wall and taking a couple of Bo staffs down before tossing one to her. "Repeat after me. The green grass grew tall in my backyard."

"Why?" she demanded to know, agitation written all over her face.

"I'm integrating your speech therapy into sparring. I'm hoping the distraction of the movements will help," he told her as he deftly spun his Bo staff in his hand.

"This isn't going to wwwork you know," she said with a sudden smirk.

"Why is that?"

"Because the last tttime you tried to be creative with my speech therapy, we ended up making love for the nnnext hour," she reminded him.

It was Bruce's turn to scowl as he shifted into his fighting position. "That was not my fault," he flatly maintained. "You seduced me."

"You had us playing ssstrip speech th…therapy," she said with a laugh. "How was that not going to end up with us having sssex?"

"Well, I was hoping that being in the library instead of in our bedroom while we practiced would help you hold out for a little longer," he revealed as he slowly began to circle his prey.

"Me?" Diana rolled her blue eyes with his absurd thought process. "Yah, that worked out really well."

"Hey, it was worth a shot," he said with a shrug. "Lesson learned. Now, we try something different."

"I th…think we learned that lesson a little too well," she told him. "We nearly dddestroyed that couch."

"It needed to be replaced anyway," he decided. "Now, come on. We've got work to do. Focus, Princess."

"Oh, Hera," she muttered in a very unenthusiastic tone. "This is gggoing to be fun. We should just take our clothes off now because you kn…know where this will lead to."

"Not this time," he confidently stated. "I'm in complete control. You won't be able to seduce me."

A perfectly shaped raven eyebrow arched with the challenge. "Oh, really?"

Bruce swallowed hard, knowing he was in trouble now. "The green grass grew tall in my backyard," he repeated, changing the subject back to the topic at hand.

He quickly brought up his Bo staff to block Diana's strike coming straight down for his head. She swiftly compensated, bringing her staff up towards his crotch. He immediately brought his staff down to block her move with precision and skill.

"Come on, Princess. Are you scared you can't do it?" he taunted her, grunting as he twisted and turned to block her fierce onslaught.

Diana growled furiously with his insult, knowing that he was just trying to goad her into doing what he wanted her to do. Her blue eyes flashed dangerously with righteous indignation as she nearly took his head off with her staff, a self-satisfied smirk on her lips as he was forced to take a step backwards with her move.

With his step backwards, Bruce moved his Bo staff into a vertical position to counter her next move. He had definitely pissed her off which was what he had been going for, knowing that she struggled most with her speech when she was worked up. Now, he just needed to make sure that he didn't lose his life in this match. It was ten days till their wedding he wanted to be able to walk under his own power.

"The gggreen gggrass gr…grew tall in my bbbackyard," she managed to ground out through clenched teeth.

"That could use a little more work, Diana," he told her. "Do it again."

Bruce began spinning his staff, turning it end over end as he started backing her up towards one of the corners of the training room in the Batcave. He suddenly brought the staff up, aiming it at her head. The Amazon quickly countered, bringing hers up to block him at the last second.

She abruptly took her staff, jabbing him in the ribs and forcing him back. "The gr…green gggrass grew tall in the backyard."

"Better, but do it again," he encouraged her as he rubbed his side before resuming his fighting stance.

Diana swiftly ducked as his staff whizzed past her head, barely missing her. On her way up, she attempted to use her own weapon to trip him up, but Bruce was already leaping back out of the way with amazing skill that never ceased to astound her. Every time she thought she had him, he almost always managed to maneuver his way out of it.

"The gggreen grass gr…grew tall in the bbbackyard," she angrily stuttered, her frustration bubbling over.

"You need to learn to control your emotions," he told her. "Do it again."

Diana slammed her Bo staff down on the ground, her chest heaving as she glared hotly at him. Sweat trickled down her neck, disappearing beneath her fitted tank top. "This is rrriduculous, Bruce," she spat out. "It's nnnever gggoing to get bbbetter no mmmatter what I do."

Bruce straightened up, his azure eyes narrowing as he stared at her. "So you're just going to give up," he stated, clenching his staff in his hand. "What would your mother say, Diana? Your Amazon Sisters? What would they think if they knew their Princess was just giving up?"

Furious, Diana swiftly closed the distance between them, her hands balled tightly as her fingernails dug into the palms of her hands. "I don't gggive up," she hissed with barely restrained anger.

"Yes, you are," he angrily snapped as he tossed his staff aside as well, taking a step closer to her until they were practically nose to nose. Both were breathing heavily, fury pounding through her veins, heated frustration through his. "You are not a quitter and yet you're so ready to just let this beat you."

"Some th…things just cccan't be fffixed," she shot back, her body nearly trembling.

"You're not even willing to try anymore, Diana," he heatedly pointed out. "I hired the best speech therapist in order to help you and you won't even try."

"Sorry, I guess I'm jjjust a wwwaste your mmmoney and tttime," she snapped, folding her arms defiantly against her chest.

"You are not a waste of my money and time," he told her, angrily grabbing her by her upper arms. "I can't keep fighting for you if you're not willing to fight too."

"Admit it, Bruce," she stated, knowing she needed to do this once and for all for his sake. "You kkkeep tttaking me to all these doctors and th…therapists in order to fix mmme because Bruce Wayne can't have a wwwife who st…stutters and st…stumbles like a fo…fool when she tttalks."

Bruce was beyond stunned, his mind reeling and his stomach lurching with sudden dread. "You really think that?" he asked her, her words like a knife to his gut. "You really think I've been doing all of this for the last several months just for myself?"

The bewilderment in his voice and the heartache in his eyes were like a dreadful blow to her heart. "Come on, Bruce," she said, pulling out of his hold on her and turning her back to him. "You th…think I don't kkknow how everyone tttalks about us be…behind my back at all the sssocial galas and benefits? Bruce Wayne dddeserves mmmore. Bruce Wayne nnneeds a bbbetter wife than her. Marrying her wwwill dddestroy Bruce Wayne's image. Why wwwould Bruce want hhher nnnow?"

His chest clenched painfully with her every word, his hands immediately following. He was crushed that she actually thought that he would do something like that, but even more so that she thought he cared more about his reputation than he did about her.

He was also fuming with the things being said about them. He had feared that she would begin to believe all the malicious gossip that circulated around them, following them everywhere they went and planting seeds of doubt in her mind.

"If you honestly don't know why I have been doing everything I can to help you then I guess there's no reason for us to get married is there?"

Diana instantly grew rigid, his question digging far deeper and hurting more than she had ever dreamed it would. She knew that this was what she had wanted him to face all along. Turning around, her eyes fell on him. She had never seen him look like that before, so utterly defeated and destroyed in that moment and it was all because of her. She didn't know now if she could go through with it.

"I wwwill understand if yyyou don't wwwant to mmmarry me," she softly uttered.

"Don't you know that every single thing I have done for you is because I love you more than my own life?" he asked, his shoulders slumping. "I just don't know how many more times I need to tell you that I love you regardless of how you talk. I have always loved you, Diana…always will until my last breath.

"From the first moment I saw you, you managed to capture my heart unlike anyone else had ever been able to do, something that I hadn't been willing to accept at first. I always feared that I would destroy you, that I was never good enough for you. I guess I'm still not."

"I know you did it all be…because you lllove me," she yelled, closing the distance once more as tears burned in her eyes, her anger running in waves beneath her skin. "Bruce Wayne nnneeds sssomeone better than me…bbbetter than th…this. You only dddeserve the bbbest and I'm jjjust nnnot it. I wwwant to be th…that for you mmmore than anything in this wo…world, but I'm nnnot…I'm just…I'm nnnot what you nnneed me to be."

Bruce stared at her for a long moment before roughly grabbing her and pulling her into a passionate kiss. He suddenly understood where all of her frustration and fear and anger had been coming from for the last few months. She had feared failing him, feared hurting him and the image that he needed to maintain as Bruce Wayne in order to protect Batman.

He suddenly had her back pressed against the wall, tilting his head and escalating the kiss as his tongue tangled with hers for dominance before finally retreating for a breath. "You are not getting out of marrying me, Diana," he breathlessly told her, his lips brushing repeatedly against hers. "I don't care what other people think or say. You are mine and I refuse to give you up or let you go."

"I lllove you, Bruce," she murmured, her eyes falling closed in guilt. "I'm so sssorry for trying to hhhurt you. I was only trying…"

"I know now what you were trying to do, but it's not going to work," he interrupted her, his mouth finding hers again. "You're not going to push me away in order to protect me or my image, Princess. It won't work. I don't care about my image or what people think. I only care about you."

She crushed her lips to his again, kissing him hard as she poured her love into that moment. Unfortunately, the passionate moment was suddenly interrupted by a familiar throat clearing cough coming from the doorway.

"Yes, Alfred," Bruce ground out in annoyance at the interruption before pressing his lips to Diana's one more time.

"There is something upstairs that I think the both of you need to see," Alfred ominously informed them, his hands clasped behind his back and a knowing smile on his lips.

Bruce reluctantly released his fiancé, turning to face his surrogate father. "What is it?"

"I believe you will need to see this for yourselves," the butler said, turning on his heel and leaving them alone once more.

"I wwwonder wh…what he's up to," she thoughtfully murmured.

"There's only one way to find out," Bruce replied, taking her hand and leading her out.

XXX

Entering the main level of the manor, Bruce and Diana headed towards the kitchen, more than curious to find out what was going on. They found Alfred at the kitchen table with hundreds of envelopes piled on top of it, nearly blocking the British butler from view.

Bruce frowned as he came to a stop at the table, picking up one of the envelopes to find it addressed to Diana. "What is all of this?"

"Fan mail it would appear," Alfred happily informed them as he picked up a pink envelope and handed it to her.

"I…I dddon't understand," she muttered, confusion clouding her eyes as she stared in shock at the mass of mail on the table. She got fan mail all time on the Watchtower, but rarely here or this much all at once.

"I apologize, Miss Diana, but I opened one to find out what the meaning of all of this was," Alfred sheepishly revealed. "I feared that this was some sort of hoax to hurt you, but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by what you read."

Bruce studied Alfred, trying to discover what was going on. Opening the envelope in his hands, he pulled the letter out and began reading it. He was stunned at what he found, his eyes brightening as a smile spread across his face.

Diana opened the pink envelope, removing the letter to find a picture drawn by a six year old girl. It was a picture of Wonder Woman and a little girl with blond pigtails standing side by side holding hands. At the bottom of the picture, it read "Wonder Woman, my hero" and was signed Samantha.

Tears began to trickle down Diana's face as she read the letter that Samantha had written to her sharing her story of how she had struggled daily with a stuttering problem since she was three years old. She told her hero how she had been teased at school and had endured much embarrassment because of it, recounting all of the therapy that she'd been through in order to try to help her.

Diana sank into a chair as she continued to read, her tears dropping onto the paper. Samantha said that she had almost stopped talking altogether, ashamed of how she sounded, but knowing that Wonder Woman now had a speech impediment too had been the happiest moment of her life. It had made her proud that she could be just like her favorite hero.

Bruce watched his princess as she read the letter, knowing that she had needed this now more than ever. He sat down in the chair beside her, his hand finding her thigh. "Are you alright?" he softly asked her.

She slowly nodded her head as she looked up from the letter and into the face of the man that she loved more anything in this world. "I…I hhhad nnno idea."

Bruce wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. His heart melted as she clung to him, her tears wetting his shirt, but he couldn't have cared less in that moment. This had helped to open her eyes; helping her see that life…their future together was far from over because of this.

Tears shined in Alfred's eyes as he watched her, beyond thrilled with this unexpected turn of events. She had been so fearful of the backlash that would come once the public knew of her struggle, what it would do to the image of the Justice League and the Amazons but even more so to Bruce. Little did she know that she would end up inspiring even more people in a way that she never could before now.

Diana finally pulled back, wiping the tears from her eyes feeling more than ashamed. "I was ssso focused on my…myself. I…I nnnever dreamed th…that I could encourage others who have the sssame problem."

"I always knew you could, but you needed to discover it for yourself," he replied, brushing her raven hair away from her face.

"I've bbbeen so bl…blind," she angrily said, shaking her head in frustration as she stared at him. "I was only th…thinking of myself and what I was gggoing through. How cccould I hhhave been so selfish?"

"Diana, you don't have a selfish bone in your entire body," Bruce countered. "Even through all of this, you've been worried most about how it would affect me or possibly hurt my image haven't you?"

"Yes, but…"

"Miss Diana," Alfred suddenly interjected, his tone gentle and fatherly. "Master Bruce is right. You have a heart filled with more compassion than anyone I have ever known. I know you see this speech problem as a curse, but maybe it can also be used to help you in your mission of peace now."

"It doesn't mean we'll give up trying to help you get better, though," Bruce added as he reached for a large manila envelope.

"Whoa!" Tim suddenly exclaimed as he entered the kitchen with a bottle of water in hand. "What's up with all the mail?"

"It's Miss Diana's fan mail," Alfred informed him.

"You're just in time to help open it all," Bruce informed him, shoving a large pile towards him.

"I knew you got a lot of fan mail on the Watchtower, but this is insane," Tim said as he sat down at the table with them.

"Oh, Hera," Diana gasped in sudden realization. "The Watchtower."

"I better call J'onn and warn him there might be an influx of mail," Bruce replied.

Tim could barely contain his laughter as he showed them a picture of Wonder Woman drawn by a four year old boy. "This is so cute!"

"Please tell mmme that mmmy hair does not lo…look like that," Diana muttered with a groan.

"I think it looks good on you, Di," Tim decided, tilting his head as he tried to make out what was in the rest of the drawing. "It looks like you're trying to lasso a large dog. No wait, I think that might be Bruce."

"Give me that," Bruce snapped as he snatched it out of the teenager's hands. He stared at it for a moment trying to decide what the child had drawn before realization dawned on him. "No, it's not. It's Grodd."

"Oh, my mistake," Tim said with an impish laugh.

"I think this is going to take a week to get through," Alfred decided as he took another envelope.

"It depends on how much more comes tomorrow and the day after that," Tim pointed out in amusement as Diana groaned again at the thought. "I wish I could get fan mail. That would be so awesome."

"No one knows who you are and we're keeping it that way," Bruce adamantly declared as he opened the manila envelope, pulling out another picture drawn by a ten year old girl. This one put a crooked grin on his face. "Now this is a masterpiece."

Diana looked up to see a picture of Wonder Woman holding hands with a man with black hair dressed in a business suit. She had a bridal veil in her hair and a bouquet of flowers in her other hand. She giggled as she took the picture from Bruce, noticing the big red heart that the girl had drawn above their heads. At the bottom, she had written "happily ever after".

The girl told of her struggles with her speech and how she hoped to marry someone someday who would love her despite her speaking difficulties. It warmed Diana clear through to her toes, knowing that she had found true love in Bruce.

"I like th…this one too," she agreed. "I think we should ffframe it."

"I wholeheartedly agree," Bruce said with a smirk.

"Are you going to respond to all of these, Di?" Tim asked, scratching his head as he tried to make heads or tails of another picture drawn by a five year old boy. He turned it around several times before finally giving up and handing it off to Bruce to figure out. "It could take you forever."

"I don't kn…know how I could especially wwwith the wwwedding coming up," she replied with a frown.

"You might just have to make a public announcement thanking everyone for their support," Alfred suggested.

"If I can get th…through the aaanouncement," Diana pointed out.

"We can release a public statement through Wayne Enterprises or the Justice League thanking everyone for their support," Bruce suggested, picking out a particular envelope that caught his attention.

His brow furrowed as he held up the plain white envelope with no return address, the writing on the front a very neat block print. He felt the fine hairs on the back of his neck begin to prickle as he inconspicuously opened it as the others talked about a touching letter that had come from a mother of a little boy with a terrible stuttering problem and how Diana had given them hope.

Bruce pulled the letter out, a frown immediately forming on his face as he opened the plain white piece of paper. His heart nearly stopped as he saw the signature at the bottom. The letter was from Lex Luthor. He felt his breath catch in his chest, his pulse racing.

He quickly read the letter, his fury flaming hotter with every single word apologizing for what he had done to Diana, hoping that she would one day forgive him. He also had the audacity to request that Diana visit him at Arkham, wanting to see her in hopes of studying the aftereffects of the brain chip that he had implanted in her head.

There was no way in hell he was going to let Diana go anywhere near that madman. He quickly shoved the letter back into the envelope before stuffing it into the pocket of his workout shorts. He needed to get down to the Batcave where he could study the letter closer.

There was something more behind this letter, something that Luthor was after. It only managed to cause the trepidation that sat in the pit of his stomach to swell, nearly overwhelming him. He needed to get to the bottom of whatever it was Luthor was up to before he hurt Diana again.

"Bruce, are yyyou alright?" Diana softly asked, concern permeating her blue eyes.

"I'm fine," he brushed it off, taking another letter and hoping there weren't any more like Luthor's in the pile.

"You look a little pale," she told him, reaching out and taking his hand, mischief veiling her face. "You aren't jjjealous of all my fffan mail, are you?"

Bruce chuckled softly with her teasing and the playful little smirk on her lips. He leaned in and kissed her. "I'm more than happy that this all came for you. You deserve it, Princess," he truthfully replied. "If you'll excuse me, I need to go back down to the cave to get some work done. I'll be back up for dinner."

"Alright," she softly said, savoring his kiss before he stood up to leave. Something had suddenly changed in him, stirring his dark brooding soul. She just hoped that he'd tell her soon.

XXX

Persephone quickly and quietly made her way through the halls of the castle, the soft gauzy layers of her dress flowing behind and around her as she quickened her step. She had learned of Eris's visit to Hades too late to have figured out what was going on, but she wasn't going to miss this unexpected guest.

She had learned from Castra someone had been summoned by Hades. Persephone could only guess as to the reason why, but had a feeling it involved causing more trouble for Diana and the mortal man who had dared to fall in love with her. The closer the wedding day drew near; the more obsessed her husband was growing.

He was more than determined to prove to his daughter that this Batman was unworthy of her, putting him through these ridiculous tests that no man could ever hope to pass let alone survive.

Approaching the throne room, Persephone came to a stop before the large ornate doors, grotesque depictions of death carved into the wood. She hated those doors. She swore to herself that someday she was going to replace them whether her husband liked it or not.

Gripping the large wrought iron handle, she carefully pushed on the door, the sound of voices growing louder as she silently slipped inside, keeping to the dark shadows. She knew that her husband would eventually sense her presence. He always did when she was near.

He had once told her that it was as if a sweet warm breeze suddenly cut through the frigid chill of death that always permeated the Underworld every time she was near. She hoped that she could learn more about what he was up to before that happened.

She was only mildly surprised to see Thanatos conversing with her husband, their expressions intense and yet their eyes conveyed amusement with whatever it was they were planning. If those two were plotting something together, she knew it could not be anything remotely good.

"Eris is already cooking up more trouble for my daughter and her Bat," Hades revealed. "If this doesn't work to prove to Diana what a worthless piece of slime this mortal truly is, then you know what you need to do."

"Yes, lord Hades," Thanatos replied with a bow of his head, hoping that Eris failed so he could be allowed to join in the fun of tormenting the Amazon and the mortal. He existed for moments like this.

"How soon will Eris be striking?"

"Any time now," Hades informed him. "She's going to hit him where he lives – in his very own beloved city."

"What does Eris have planned for him?"

Hades stroked his jet black goatee as he let his mind race with the possibilities of what Eris could do to the Batman. "I told her she had the freedom to do whatever she wanted as long as my daughter and the mortal weren't killed. I want his misery to be dragged out for as long as possible."

An ominous smile slowly spread across Thanatos's face. "He'll soon learn the price for his arrogance, taking the Champion of the Gods as his own."

Hades' dark eyes practically gleamed at the thought of making Bruce Wayne suffer, to prove to his daughter once and for all that this mortal man was nothing. If he only knew the literal hell that he was about to be put through, he'd end his life right now and put a halt to the trials and tribulations that were about to befall him.

"By the time I'm through with him, Bruce Wayne will not only curse the day that he ever laid eyes on my daughter but also the day his parents conceived his insignificant little life."

Persephone's lips curved into a frown of pure displeasure with her husband. She refused to just sit back and let him wreak havoc in his own daughter's life like this, destroying the love that she had found. She'd already endured so much without taking away the man who had brought so much happiness and love to her life.

"I will be ready at a moment's notice, my lord," Thanatos promised with a slight bow.

"Make sure the others are prepared as well," Hades ordered him. "I don't want anything to go wrong with my plans. I want him completely broken by the end of this. Diana won't want to have anything to do with him by the time I'm finished with him."

Hades turned his head slightly, suddenly aware of his wife's presence in his throne room. Her existence in this dark realm was unmistakable, bringing an undeniable warmth and beauty that could never exist down here apart from her.

"Persephone," Hades called to her, a slight smirk playing at the corners of his lips. "What can I do for you, my wife?"

"I just came to see if you would be joining me for mealtime or if I would be dining alone?" she asked, hoping he believed her intrusion in his private sanctuary.

"I'll be there shortly, my love," he pleasantly replied. "Thanatos, I believe you know what needs to be done. I'm entrusting this to you because I have faith that you will not let me down."

"No, my lord," Thanatos said with a full bow. "I promise you that your faith is well placed."

"Good," Hades stated with a nod of his head as he stood to his feet. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to enjoy a meal with my beautiful bride."

Thanatos hastily made his exit, knowing that when it came to his wife, Persephone came first above all else in Hades' eyes. He nodded his acknowledgment of her just before passing through the doors leaving the god of the Underworld alone with his wife.

Hades descended his throne, his dark gaze focused on his wife as she stepped out into the torch light. "Is that the only reason you are here, wife?"

"You see right through me, my husband," she sensually purred as she closed the distance between them. "I have missed you today. I haven't seen you since I rose."

"I apologize for my absence," he murmured as he took her hand in his, lifting it to his lips and kissing it softly. "I have been busy attending to some matters that required my attention."

"So, does this mean that I get you all to myself now?" she sweetly asked, allowing her beauty as well as her proximity to distract him.

"You can have as much of me as you please," he slyly said with a grin as he began to lead her from the throne room.

"Hmmm…" she lightly hummed. "That sounds very tempting indeed. I guess I'll just have to sure that I use my time with you wisely."

Hades chuckled darkly, sending a shiver up her spine as he stared hungrily at her. "I hope you do, my wife. I truly hope you do."