Chapter 14: Roadtrip

*Flashback on Diana's world, 900 years ago*

Horses screamed in the distance and fires dotted the fields. Diana stood covered in mud and blood, not hers. All around, banners were waving as rain pelted down and the last of the soldiers were being executed.

"We've been sent to reclaim these lands for God, you pagan witches!"

Diana turned as Phillipa dragged a man towards her, her eyes darkening even further, her scowl amplified just seeing this swine. The man already had a broken leg, his chain mail cut in several places, and his crusading red cross was in tatters across his tunic.

The man spit at Phillipa and writhed like a fish caught in a net…futile.

Diana stepped forward and slammed her boot down on the man's other good foot. She felt his bones shatter.

"AAAUGHH!"

Diana unsheathed her sword and brought it to the man's neck, making him stifle his scream, only a few whimpers of pain emanating from his clenched teeth. Diana addressed him with disdain, "Who are you…do you have any final words, anything even worth saying?"

The man blinked up at her in fear and anger, "I…I am Godrey of Bouillon, an' I nay fear you, you shite Godless bitch. More will come, aye, and you'll burn," He looked around at everyone, "...youse all be burnin' in Hell you mur…!"

His words were cut short as Queen Diana struck her sword above his neck, straight through this jaw, splitting his head violently. The words stopped, and the only continued sound was the quiet gurgling the man made as his life ceased to be.

Diana shook in anger, "Let them come," She turned to Phillipa, "We will not stop until they are all punished. Not until every man knows the vengeance of Hyppolyta."

Phillipa swallowed in slight fear of her Queen, but quickly recovered and saluted to her in loyalty.

Diana nodded for her dismissal. Staring at the twitching corpse of the fallen leader, she flicked the blood off her blade, staining the mud and grass below her red.

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Bruce rode like a madman. Pleione and him pushed their horses to the limit as they raced down the countryside and outran the fog, smoke, and dead armies behind them.

They were all silent, the only sound the constant thundering of the hooves and the heavy breathing of the horses themselves. It seemed like forever.

Eventually though they made it down from the mountains, past the forests, and into some open plains. It was here Bruce pulled back on the reins, his grateful horse finally able to slow down to a steady walk. Pleione had raced up ahead without realizing the change in pace, as she turned back towards them she came back and yelled at him, "What are we doing? We can't stop!"

Bruce scowled, "Calm down, we're not stopping," He patted the side of his coal-black horse, "We can't keep that pace either though, we'll kill the horses."

Pleione looked over her shoulder in distress, "But what about…?"

"We're ok, just keep moving, we've put some distance between them, they're a large army, they'll be a slow and constant force. We won't have to worry about them for some time."

Pleione seemed to ease up just a little, "O…ok." She sat back in her saddle a bit and fell in next to Bruce and his horse, "How is the Queen?"

Bruce had forgotten to check for a little while, but as he looked down he saw she was still fast asleep, the rhythm of the horses and their sounds had quickly put the injured Amazon to sleep. Bruce had to offer support to keep her upright and now she was currently laid back against him.

"She's ok." He examined her shoulder and could see that the gash was healing, but very slowly. The ride might have been too rough, her wounds had started bleeding slightly again.

As they rode through the plains Bruce quietly went into his utility belt and brought out his first aid kit, bringing out fresh bandages and antiseptic cream for infection. His work wasn't painless though and as he started, his action stirred the queen back from her slumber.

"Ughhh…ow…" Diana muttered as her eyes blinked slowly open.

"Rise and Shine," Bruce said as he focused on her shoulder where the gash started, "This might sting a bit."

Diana huffed, possibly because the sun was starting to set, a golden color falling on their party and the plains.

"I'll be fin…Unhhh…!" She couldn't help clenching her teeth as she felt a burning sting as Bruce cleaned the wound.

"...Sorry." Bruce muttered, working now to cover the wound with fresh bandages.

She didn't respond but as Bruce finished he was acutely aware of their proximity. Without the constant racing and danger of an undead army, Bruce was now much more aware of the woman in front of him. A woman who had insulted him, degraded him, and tried to kill him for weeks now.

The silence seemed to drag on forever, luckily Bruce was used to this kind of brooding silence. He was surprised when it was Diana that spoke first.

"Thank you… for the last few days."

Bruce was surprised but nodded, "You're welcome…"

Pleione had scouted ahead a little further, her anxiousness still driving her a bit faster, and so Bruce and Diana were almost completely alone as their horse walked through the plains.

Diana spoke up again, "I can't stop thinking of what my people are going through. Did I do this? Did I bring all this ruin to them?"

"Maybe…" Bruce pondered.

Diana elbowed him slightly at his words, "That's not helping."

Bruce could feel her stiffening up, she was on edge and tense. He sighed and continued though, "You did what you thought was right. That's all we can do, you never planned this. I know I've definitely made mistakes."

The pause that followed was palpable, and the next words Diana spoke continued to surprise him, "What if…? What if I knew it wasn't right, what if I didn't care?"

Bruce didn't have an answer to her question but somehow words came forth, "I have, had, children, no that's not right, my wards….but my sons as well. I'll never forgive myself for Jason."

Diana's head had perked to the side, pulled into his words, "Jason?"

"A boy I thought I could help, could train. Train to be better than me. I refuse to kill, you know that, but…one of my enemies, a man who calls himself The Joker he…"

Bruce chuckled darkly, "He wouldn't be an issue for long here, he'd be executed without a second thought." his voice dropped to a whisper, "I've wanted to execute him…I've thought of every way I'd kill him, and then I think of another way."

Diana was listening intently, "And Jason…?"

Bruce was silent, but he knew he was the tense one now, memories playing through his mind and body. He didn't like this, he didn't open up, "He… the Joker took him, and…and beat him, and then…killed him." Bruce swallowed, "I still blame myself, was it right to take him on, to train him, would he have been better off without me? But that didn't stop me from training Tim, or Damian…or Dick."

"Then why did you?"

"Because…I think as much as I wanted to give them a better life, I needed them as well. Because I wasn't strong enough to do all this alone."

Diana was silent for a while, they continued on until they came to a large outcropping of boulders, the sun had almost set, and they needed shelter.

"Pleione," Bruce called, "Lets camp here for the night."

Pleione nodded, "It'll be good to protect our backs."

She immediately went to work starting a fire and shelter, "Bruce, you tend to the Queen, I can handle the campsite."

Bruce nodded, getting off the horse and offering a hand to Diana. She took his hand and looked at him with a thoughtful expression, "I'm sorry about Jason, I'm sure he didn't blame you."

Bruce couldn't help but scoff, which in turn made Diana frown at him, he clarified quickly though, "I appreciate the sentiment, but he did, he still does…"

"But you said he was kill.."

"Yeah, but he was brought back, a man named Ra's Al Ghul, and his Lazarus pit."

"Ra's al Ghul?"

"A man who believed in saving the world by tearing it down," Bruce was working on setting up the sleeping areas while he talked, "He used this pit to stay young, he used it for 600 years. Not like you Amazons though, this pit could revive even the dead, but there were consequences, you could lose your mind, have it chip away at you each time you used it."

"Sounds like a blessing and a curse."

"Definitely a curse Princess, Ra's chose me to replace him as the 'head of the demon' and cleanse the world."

Diana cocked her head as she looked at him, "And I take it you declined?"

Bruce chuckled, "Much to his chagrin, I would have led his armies, been with his daughter Talia, and by the end, things might have been similar to your world, but I don't kill, and so I had to fight him, over and over, but in a moment of regret he brought back my son, and then my son came back to haunt me for a while after that at as well."

Bruce couldn't remember the last time he'd talked to someone this openly, not even Alfred had gotten this much out of him in recent years. As the wind blew through the grass and the coolness of night settled, he realized how comfortable he was. There was no Gotham here, no secret identity, and no danger of anyone finding out his secrets. Who could they hurt and exploit in this world to get to him? As he pondered this though, and he looked at the Amazon in front of him, he realized there still might be one or two people he could care for in this world.

He realized he was staring at her a little longer than he'd like, he broke the gaze but it seemed Diana was spacing out as well, barely noticing as she stared right back, "You are unlike any man I've ever met." She turned to look into the fire, it was just them, Pleione had gone off to get more brush and wood, "You reject power, and yet you hold so much, I can see it. You're a mortal in every definition and yet you've pushed those boundaries to the brink, to protect people and save those who may not even deserve saving."

"I have to try Diana."

"Why?"

"I have to believe they can be saved, because then maybe I can be saved too."

Those words were too much now, these were things Bruce didn't talk about, period. Diana must've felt his shift because she asked no other questions, and she could see a mental wall had been put back up. Bruce felt like he'd caught himself walking off a cliff

This is no time to be doing this, he thought to himself. There's an undead army at our heels and temples of so-called gods in front of us.

It seemed both of them were weighed down heavily from the words they'd spoken, Bruce could tell Diana's injury was still severe, so he looked at her wounds one more time and told her to sleep, he'd keep first watch.

This trend continued the next few days. They rode at a steady pace until the sun set, stopping only to hunt a few rabbits and make lunch for themselves. The talking stayed minimal though, Bruce wanted to talk more but was nervous about what he may say. It seemed Diana felt the same way.

As a result Pleione joined in with much of the conversation, keeping it light and helping take their minds off the monotonous pace they kept.

Diana was healing more every day. It seemed each day brought them a bit closer as well, even if they skirted around deeper topics of the first night.

Bruce learned more of the history of how the Amazon's conquered the world, and Diana learned the basic story of how Bruce trained to become the Batman, traveling the world and learning under various masters.

He was also acutely aware of the looks Pleione would sometimes give him; in a short time, she'd become a good friend and ally to him. Sometimes, when Diana would fall back asleep on the horse and would lean back against him for support, Pleione would give a smirk and raise her eyebrows at him.

They were riding through a small clearing of trees one day when Pleione decided to talk to him more about it. Diana had been passed out for a while when she spoke up, "You know, you two seem good together."

Bruce sighed, "I can't think about that right now."

Pleione rolled her eyes, "What else is there to think about, we've traveled leagues, and we still have more to go and I've seen the conversation change between you two. You can't tell me you haven't thought about it."

Bruce paused, looking down at the mess of raven colored hair below him, Pleione continued, with a serious tone, "I've…never seen the Queen like this. As long as I, as long as most Amazons have known her, she's only ever been strong and poised. Regarded like the other gods almost."

"She's still just as strong."

"Ha of course she is, I didn't mean like that, and maybe it's just because I was part of the guard and only saw her in certain situations, but now, she seems a bit more…human. Vulnerable."

Bruce clenched his jaw, on one hand, he liked hearing of this change, on the other, it brought implications he wasn't ready for, "Pleione, how many of these talks are you going to force on me?"

The Amazon guard seemed a bit offended, "My apologies great man," she said with some sarcasm, "Just offering my counsel, what else is there to do now." She paused and her expression softened, "Think about it though Bruce, what could you lose? You both are only in a position to gain something from where I'm sitting."

She didn't wait for an answer, spurring her horse a bit farther up ahead, leaving Bruce with his thoughts.

A little while later, Diana woke up. She seemed excited, as she squinted her eyes before exclaiming in joy, "There! It's there, we've almost arrived."

Bruce squinted but couldn't tell what she was seeing, "Where Princess?"

Diana pointed in the distance where a mountain was rising slightly off the horizon, "Mt. Olympus, we should reach it in the next day or two."

Bruce could see it, the top was covered in clouds and they were on a straight shot line to the base of the mountain.

As the excitement of seeing their destination settled down, Bruce contemplated Pleione's words. What could he lose?

The image of Diana with a sword through her body and blood covering the ground flashed in his mind.

What could he lose? As he looked at the back of the Queen's head he knew the answer. Everything.

But he'd already lost everything once. Did it hurt any less because he'd kept distance?

He could hear Alfred's voice already in his head, nagging him, "Master Bruce, the point of life is to find meaning and happiness. I know Batman has brought meaning, but will you ever be happy?"

Bruce sat in contemplation all the way up till their campsite was set up and he found himself staring at the fire.

Pleione had already gone to sleep, and he'd assumed Diana had as well. He was surprised when a voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Bruce?"

He turned his head to the voice, he'd barely noticed that Diana had come and sat next to him by the fire. She was staring at him intensely, and the light from the fire danced and moved its way around the edges of her hair and face. There was no denying it, she was the most beautiful woman Bruce had ever seen, the same face he'd seen all those years ago on his he could tell this woman had endured so much more, a small scar on her shoulder, a weight that showed through her eyes, strong but tired. Sad, but bright.

She was still staring at him and he realized he hadn't answered, he nodded his head and gave a small grunt of acknowledgement.

Diana continued, "Are you alright?"

Bruce could feel his teeth clenching as his jaw tightened and he thought of her question. It was hard even meeting her eyes right now, "Diana…can I ask you a question?"

The Queen seemed hesitant but after a minute she silently nodded.

"What happened, to make you do all this? Leave paradise island, take the world? What happened to you?"

Diana seemed taken aback, Bruce could see a bit of anger in her face, she turned away and started to get up, "It's been a long day, I should rest."

Bruce knew he wouldn't be able to broach this subject again, as she moved to leave he reached out and took her hand. Diana froze, Bruce expected her to yell or maybe even slap him, but she paused, seemingly fighting with herself as well. Bruce needed to push a little, "Diana…please…"

A few seconds seemed like eternity but eventually she sat back down. She glared at his hand on hers, prompting Bruce to remove the unsolicited contact. Her face softened though and she turned to the fire, her face taking on a sad and angry look as she almost whispered her words for him.

"A man…washed up on Themyscira, he needed help…"

Bruce could see Diana clenching the ground beneath her.

"He needed help, that's what I thought," Diana scoffed at herself, "I'd been taught that men could not be trusted, that man's world was cruel, and full of hate."

Diana's voice cracked as she talked, "...But I didn't believe it, I thought, not all of them. And this man, Will, he was nice…and he was kind."

Bruce sat in silence, every part of him focused on listening as she spoke.

"But it wasn't real, he was there to steal, there to trick. He…he took my mother. And when he couldn't find what he was after, he killed her." Diana covered her mouth as silent sobs threatened to break out, her sadness quickly turned to anger though, "He killed her! It was all my fault. Then I killed him, and I wanted to kill more."

At this she got up and started pacing around the fire, "I wanted to find out if every man was as vile as he was, and so I went out and found more. Men with armies, men with power, and men with control. They were all the same. So I killed them. I freed people, and more men came into power. So then I killed them….Everywhere I went I found the same kind of people, and I wanted revenge, I took them all and decided I could do it better than any of them."

She turned to look at Bruce, staring him down, the angry expression still on her face, but not for him, "I tested them, and every man I ever met failed. They were greedy, selfish, and only cared about their own miserable lives," She laughed in exasperation, "And maybe you're onto something because it never made me happier, I got angrier and angrier, but my assessment of men was right…at least I was right."

Then she turned away from him, "...Until you showed up…until those stupid games and those stupid fights. You fought honorably, you respected your opponents, your teammates. Even me. When I sought out nothing but your humiliation and demise, you stood proud and showed more character than any other."

Bruce could only sit and listen, her whole story was so much information, it explained so much to Bruce. He realized how similar they might be right now, but he couldn't articulate it, "Diana I…"

His words brought her out of her thoughts though, she turned around and stormed over to him, kneeling in front of him, she grabbed him by his shirt, "Now it's your turn," Bruce could see a few tears had made it out of her eyes, "I answered your question now you answer mine. Why? Why are you Batman, why are you a warrior who still clings to ancient expectations of honor and respect? You could be free to do anything else…Why?!"

Their faces were a few inches apart, Bruce waited a few seconds but nodded. Reaching up, he clasped his hand over the hand that was grabbing his shirt, "I lost my mother too."

Diana's face, full of anger and emotion, went slack at his words, and he continued, "I lost my father, and my mother, when I was eight years old. It was my fault too. A man wanted my father's money, and he wanted my mother's pearls."

Now it was Bruce's turn to push down the emotions swelling to the surface, "He killed them, and I sat in a cold, dark alley for hours, hoping my parents' eyes would wake up, and we could go home. I was found in a puddle of my parents' own blood….All the money and power my family had didn't protect them from that."

Neither of them had moved, their eyes locked as Bruce spoke, "I made a promise that night, that I would save my city, and make sure no other eight year olds had to go through what I did. So far, I've kept that promise."

It seemed like the space between them was so close, but yet so far, Bruce thought they might stay that way forever until Diana stood up, taking her hand from him.

"I…I need to get some rest….I'll, um, see you in the morning, Bruce."

As she walked over to the other side of the campfire she paused, "And Bruce?"

"Hmm?" He replied.

"I'm um, sorry about the games, you beat me honorably and I responded poorly, and…and thank you for saving my life afterwards."

Bruce nodded, "You're welcome Princess, thank you for not killing me that day."

Diana paused and for the first time, offered him a true small smile, before turning in for the night.

As the fire wavered in the cool night air, Bruce stared at the looming shadow of the mountain and sighed, he might have just complicated things drastically for them. But he had no regrets from their conversation. For the first time, he felt he had all the puzzle pieces to understand the woman he'd been with, and he may have offered her the same things for himself.

Just in time, for them to meet the gods.

Hope you like the chapter, please remember to write and review. All comments are welcome. This is by far my most popular story and I really appreciate all the support I've received on its continuation.