TITLE: Sprang to Mind
AUTHOR: Lotsy
CHARACTERS: Batman / Wonder Woman
RATING: M
WARNINGS: Author Chooses Not to Use Warnings
DISCLAIMER: I love Justice League, but especially Batman and Wonder Woman. Unfortunately, I do not own the characters and, if I did, things would be much different for them.
SUMMARY: A conversation between good friends reveals something that Diana didn't know about Bruce. BMWW
Sprang to Mind
Diana sat in a corner of the commissary on the Watchtower, idly scrolling through the countless emails that she had accumulated over the last several weeks on her tablet. She had never been too keen on keeping up with emails, though she knew that she needed to stay up to date as a Founder of the Justice League.
She cupped her chin with her hand, her elbow resting on the table. She swore half of these emails were completely pointless and a waste of her time. Bruce had told her countless times that if she'd just check her email daily then she'd know what was going on instead of him needing to tell her.
Sighing, she subconsciously reached for her iced mocha, taking a leisurely sip. She was oblivious to everything that was going on around her as fellow Leaguers and staff members alike came and went. She hoped that Bruce would be done with his experiment soon, or whatever it was that he was secretly working on in his lab.
"Catching up on your emails?"
Diana looked up to find Zatanna standing before her. "Does everyone know I hate checking my emails?"
"Just about," the magician said with a giggle. "It's okay. I hate it too. So many of them are just so unnecessary."
"That's what I think!" Diana exclaimed. "If it's important, tell me about it. Don't send me an email."
"Exactly," she replied, her hand finding her hip. "Well, enjoy. I'm off to do a show in Vegas."
"Have a good show," Diana told her before returning to the task at hand. To say this was tedious was a profound understatement.
Several moments passed before she was interrupted again.
"Care for some company?"
Diana looked up to find John standing at her table. "Sure," she said with a warm smile.
John Stewart took the empty seat across from the Amazon, smirking as he noticed what she was doing. "You're actually checking your emails?" he questioned her. "This must be a first."
"I was sternly lectured by an irritated Batman about the importance of checking my emails and staying informed on League matters at all times," she replied, mimicking Bruce's growling tone.
John laughed as he picked up his fork before digging into his late lunch. "Sounds like something he'd say," he said with a nod. "How many do you have?"
"Three hundred thirty-six," she sheepishly revealed, glancing up at the Green Lantern through her eyelashes. "I'm a little behind."
"I'd say so," he agreed with a nod.
"My husband isn't very happy with me about it," she confessed. "It's just that I've been busy with other things like League duties, saving the world, taking care of the baby."
"He should cut you some slack," he concurred. "After all, Amari is only eight months old."
"I know," she said, leaning forward with the unexpected support she had received from her friend. "She's crawling all over and trying to pull herself up using the furniture. We've baby-proofed the whole house, but I'm afraid it's not enough. She's into everything."
"She has a curious mind just like her daddy," he replied with a grin.
"That's putting it mildly," she told him, her smile growing brighter as she talked about her daughter. "She tried to pull herself up by grabbing the electrical cord of a lamp the other day. Thank Hera was able to grab it before she took the whole thing down on herself. She about gave me and Alfred a heart attack."
"You're going to have to keep her in her playpen," he suggested.
"I'm tempted to," she agreed. "Amari said dada the other day. I don't think Bruce's feet have touched the ground since then."
John got a distant look in his eyes, memories of being sent to a future that he hadn't expected springing to mind. He felt his chest tighten with the image of his son that appeared in his mind. He had been a true warrior like his mother, possessed his strength and integrity. He didn't think he could be any prouder of the man that he hadn't anticipated meeting.
It felt like Rex forced his way to the forefront of his thoughts on an almost regular basis lately. It had been more than difficult to leave the future…leave the son that he wanted to get to know more than anything in this world. It made him long to be a part of every aspect of Rex's life starting with his very first breath.
That would mean getting back together with Shayera and he wasn't ready to do that. He knew that he might never be ready for that.
"Hey, are you okay?" she asked with a slight tilt of her head, noticing the sudden change in his demeanor.
He shook his head, trying to ward off the feelings that were threatening to take him over. "I'm fine…it's nothing," he tried to tell her. "Children grow up so fast, don't they?"
"They do and don't try to change the subject," Diana gently said. "What's on your mind, John?"
He drew a deep breath before releasing it slowly through his nostrils. "I know you don't remember being sent to the future, but did Bruce ever tell you about meeting my son?" he questioned her.
Diana's brow furrowed as she thought about it. "He told me some things, but not a lot," she replied. "He felt it wasn't his story to share, especially with how things were between you and Shayera."
John nodded his head. "It seems the more I've tried not to think about my son, the more he's on my mind. He's even following me into my dreams."
"Maybe he's trying to tell you something."
"Like what?"
"You and Vixen broke up over two months ago," Diana pointed out, pausing to take a sip of her drink.
"And?"
"And what?"
"What are you waiting for? Why not try again with Shayera?"
John stared at her for a moment. She made it sound so simple, but it was so far from that. "It's not that easy, Di," he tried to tell her as he slowly his head, an almost nervous smile appearing on his face. "I'm not going to run back to Shayera just because Vixen and I are no longer together."
"Why not?" she asked with a shrug. "What's the point in waiting for something that you already know you want? It's not going to change anything if you tell her you love her now or two years from now. It's nothing more than the wasted time you could have had with the woman you love."
"It's just…it's not...it's not that straightforward," he insisted as he tried to find the words to make his point. "I'm not about to have my life dictated by what I saw or the fact that we have a son together. I'm not going to let fate rule my choices."
"So, you'd rather miss out on true love and be miserable for the rest of your life because of your pride?"
John felt as if he'd just been slapped, her words stinging with more truth than he cared to admit. He huffed in annoyance, knowing she was right. It still didn't make it any easier to just run after Shayera. His heart had been broken the last time. He didn't think he could handle it a second time.
Shayera entered the commissary at that moment, glancing around at the occupants before getting in line. John could hardly take his eyes off her. She was the perfect combination of beauty and strength, grace and fierce intensity.
He'd known the gentleness behind her caress and the passion in her kisses. He longed for that with her again, but for some reason, he couldn't begin to bring himself to ask for a second chance at love with her. Diana was right. His pride wouldn't allow it.
"John," Diana said, making sure she had her full attention before continuing. "I was the most vocal about kicking Shayera out of the League after the Thanagarian Invasion. It was hard to let go of my anger, but Bruce helped me to see that it was unfair of me to hold it against her forever. We all make mistakes in our lives, and she did come through for us in the end. She deserves a second chance…and so do you."
"I know," he reluctantly admitted, staring at his lunch tray. He finally looked up at Diana with a small smile. "I want to see Rex grow up into the man that I met."
"What was he like?" she asked.
"He was the hero Warhawk," he revealed. "He was strong and determined…passionate about justice."
"I can't wait to meet him one day," she told him. "Who was there in the future?"
"Oh, that's right," John said after a long moment. "Bruce had chosen not to keep several of the details about our trip to the future out of the mission report. He was paranoid about it affecting the present."
"That's my husband," she agreed. "Who else did we meet?"
"Let's see…there was my son Warhawk and Static Shock," he replied. "There was Bruce as an old man and then a young Batman."
Diana's forehead creased with curiosity. "I wonder who could have taken over the mantle of Batman."
"I don't know for sure, but I think I heard old Bruce call Batman Terry."
Diana felt her heart stutter in her chest. "Terry?"
"I think that's what he said, but I could be totally wrong," he admitted. "There was a lot going on at that moment and your Bruce didn't want us to know any more about the future than we already had learned so introductions weren't really made."
"We don't know a Terry," she murmured, memories of Bruce's dreams sprang to mind.
He'd had about a week or so of dreams every night about a Terry McGinnis taking over as Batman. He'd been created thanks to Amanda Waller's interference in Bruce's life and the lives of the McGinnises…or at least that's what Bruce had seen in his dreams.
"I need to talk to Bruce," she said, standing to her feet.
"Is everything okay?" he asked.
"Yes," she assured him as she stood to her feet with her tablet in hand. "Just thought of something I need to talk to him about."
"Alright," he replied with a nod. "Thanks for the talk, Diana."
"Anytime," she said as she made a beeline for the commissary doors.
John looked down at his lunch tray before glancing over to see Shayera sitting by herself at another table several yards away. With a sigh of acceptance, he got up with tray in hand and made his way to her table, an uneasy smile forming on his face.
"Mind if I join you?" he tentatively asked.
Shayera looked up in shock, surprised to see the handsome Green Lantern standing at her table. "Not at all," she responded with a small smile, wondering what he was up to.
"I think we need to talk," he told her.
XXX
Diana quickened her pace as she grew closer to Batman's private lab, her anger and confusion growing with every step she took. She realized she had a death grip on her tablet, forcing herself to relax her hold on it a little. No sense shattering her tablet, at least not until she had more information.
She entered the secret code, sweeping into the lab to find Batman standing before several test tubes. He was in the process of conducting some sort of experiment, but she had no clue as to what it could be or for what case. At that moment, she didn't care.
"I'm not done yet, princess," he grumbled as his eyes narrowed, taking another test tube to pour its contents into a beaker. "I told you I'd call you when—"
"Why didn't you tell me you met Terry McGinnis?" she demanded to know, her tone laced with anger.
Bruce tightened his grip on the test tube, releasing a long breath before carefully setting it down. "How did you find out about it?"
"John told me," she informed him, arms crossed tightly against her chest. "Why did you hide it from me?"
"It's too dangerous for the events in the future to be known," he carefully replied, finally turning to face his wife. "It can affect decision-making and influence the choices we make."
"You had dreams about Terry McGinnis every night for a whole week," she reminded him, hurt reflecting in her sapphire eyes. "You never once told me that you had met him already in the future."
He lowered his head as he pulled his cowl off, allowing it to lay against his back. "Diana," he began as he removed his gauntlets and laid them on the counter. "It's like you said. It's just one possible future."
"But it is possible, Bruce," she pointed out. "How do we know that Amanda Waller hasn't already created this…this son of Bruce Wayne?"
He closed the distance between them, his hands moving to grip her upper arms. "We don't know anything yet. Besides, I warned Waller about interfering in our lives."
Diana pulled out of his hold on her as she began to pace before him. "You know that Waller does whatever Waller wants to do regardless of what you say. The thought of her manipulating the lives of these people, not to mention ours, is inexcusable not to mention infuriating."
"I agree," he stated, knowing she had every right to be furious. "I will check in on Waller again and make sure that she's keeping her nose clean."
He closed the distance between them, wrapping his arms around her and drawing her close to him. She was rigid in his embrace, unwilling to give up her anger. "You should have told me, Bruce," she murmured against his shoulder. "You need to trust me."
"Diana, I trust you with my life," he assured her. "We had agreed that it was a possible future that I saw in those dreams. The future that we went to was also a possible future that will hopefully never happen. I can't bear the thought of losing you like that."
"I just…I don't want to share you with anyone else like that," she softly confessed. "It feels like such a violation of our lives to steal your DNA to create a son that I didn't give you."
"I completely agree," he replied. "If Waller attempts anything like that, I'll make sure she pays for it."
"What if she decides she wants Amari's DNA?" she questioned him, feeling him stiffen in her arms. "What if she wants our daughter?"
"She will never get her hands on our daughter," he promised her.
"I swear to you I will crush her throat with my bare hands if she touches Amari."
"It'll be alright," he swore to her, leaning down to kiss her.
She returned his warm kisses, losing herself in the reassurance of his touch. Her fingers caressed his jaw before sliding up into his jet-black hair. She tightened her grip on the strands as his hands grasped hold of her waist.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," he softly said against her lips, pausing to kiss her again. "I should've told you."
"Yes, you should have," she agreed, "but I forgive you. Now, make it up to me."
The corners of Bruce's lips curled with her words, his lips meeting hers in a heated response to her demand. His fingers deftly removed her golden belt, letting it drop to the floor before he began to push her uniform down her body. He didn't want anything to be in his way, free to fully satisfy his princess.
Diana groaned as he began to tease her with his hands and mouth, pausing here and there to suck gently on her skin. His reward was a throaty moan that only served to spur him on. The feeling of her removing his utility belt heightened his anticipation of what was about to come. He'd never had her in his Watchtower lab before. It added an air of exhilaration to the moment.
She pushed his uniform pants down past his hips, releasing him from its tight confines. He growled with the feel of her hand caressing him, knowing he wasn't going to last long if she kept it up. He needed to have her now before he completely lost it.
He picked her up, Diana wrapping her legs around his waist as she fully enveloped his entire length. He gasped as his heart pounded in his chest. He suddenly turned to set her down on the edge of the countertop, finding it to be the perfect height to take her.
Diana placed the palm of her hand behind her on the countertop to support herself. Her head fell back as Bruce began to pound into her, giving her everything he had. Her other hand slipped around the back of his neck, her fingertips pressing into the skin as if holding on for dear life.
Bruce's hand settled on the small of her back, keeping her right where he wanted her. The moment was so sexually charged that it made him lightheaded with an overwhelming need for her, making it difficult to keep a steady rhythm as he gasped for air. This was not at all how he had anticipated his afternoon going, but he'd discovered long ago that those unplanned moments turn out to be the most erotic.
This was proving no different.
"Bruce…" she moaned his name with a throaty, breathless tone that only urged him on even further.
She pulled him in for a hot kiss, her teeth raking over his bottom lip with a playful nip. A growl escaped his throat as her heels dug deeper into his low back. They were locked together in a sensual dance that felt like it could go on forever.
Bruce's entire body grew rigid as he emptied himself deep within her, Diana crying out his name as her arm slipped further around his neck. He kissed the hollow of her throat, his lips trailing along her collarbone to her ear.
"Am I…forgiven?" he asked, struggling to catch his breath.
Diana hummed as she tightened her legs around his waist, not yet willing to release him from her core. "Hmmm…I don't know," she languidly responded with a kiss. "It was a very good start."
"A good start?" he chuckled against her throat, placing a tender kiss there. "What exactly did you have in mind?"
"We can continue this in our quarters."
"As my princess wishes," he agreed, reaching over to tap a couple of buttons on his gauntlet.
The entwined couple disappeared from the lab only to suddenly reappear in their quarters. "Now, I think I need you to apologize to me again. I need a little more reassurance."
"I love you, Diana," he murmured, his lips brushing against hers as he gripped her bottom. "And I'll never keep anything from you like this again."
"I love you too," she replied as Bruce laid her down on the bed, pausing to remove his uniform before joining her.
He decided tonight was a good night to check up on Amanda Waller as he climbed over his wife.