Checkmate (DCAU)

I straighten my tie before adjusting my cufflinks one last time, removing my suit jacket from the hanger. I slip my arms through the sleeves as my mind races with various thoughts, all of them competing for my attention, but I push them aside…especially one in particular that I've been avoiding all day.

I have a date tonight that I can't miss, nor do I want to. I've been looking forward to it.

Buttoning my jacket, I make my way to the full-length mirror in my bedroom, taking a lingering look at my appearance to be certain I look acceptable. I tug on my left sleeve, pulling it down slightly. Not bad, I decide before going to my dresser and reaching for my cologne.

I check my hair one last time before glancing at my watch. I'm going to be late if I don't get moving, but then again, being fashionably late is Bruce Wayne's signature style. Women don't typically understand this notion, but I can usually make them forget their irritation by the time I flash them a brilliant smile and they climb into one of my sports cars.

I exit my bedroom, trying to decide which car to take tonight—the Rolls-Royce Phantom or the Bugatti? Thinking about my date tonight, I can feel the corners of my lips curl slightly. The Bugatti. Definitely the Bugatti.

We've been out twice before, and I like her. She's not at all like most of the women I typically date. I have no idea if there's any sort of future with her yet—it's far too early to tell, but I don't think I'd mind taking my time to find out.

I whistle softly to myself as I quickly make my way downstairs, going to the kitchen to let Alfred know that I'm leaving. I find him making a cup of tea. "I'm leaving," I tell him with a cheeky grin. "Don't wait up for me."

Alfred looks up, giving me a somewhat cynical look that I try not to think too hard about the meaning behind it. "I would tell you to have a good time this evening, but you already know my feelings on the matter."

"All too well," I dismissively reply, grabbing the keys to the car and refusing to allow him to dampen my good mood.

Alfred murmurs something indecipherable under his breath. Even without knowing the exact words said, I completely understand the tone behind it. "Alfred…" I begin with an exaggerated sigh.

"No," Alfred said, raising a hand to stop me before I can even form my response. "I won't be subjected to another lengthy lecture that we both know is nothing more than absolute poppycock."

I feel my eyebrows rising with Alfred's response. "Poppycock?"

"Yes, poppycock," he states with unmistakable irritation. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be in my room reading."

With that, he turns and walks out of the kitchen with a cup of tea in hand. I've seen Alfred mad at me more times than I can count over the years, but this time seems different, almost as if he's lost faith in me somehow. It's an unsettling feeling, to say the least.

I ponder it for a moment, deciding I'll have to talk to him tomorrow once he's had some time. Hopefully, he'll be in a better mood tomorrow. Tightening my grip on my keys, I make my way down the hall to the coat closet, retrieving my overcoat.

A thought occurs to me before leaving, causing me to wander down to the entertainment room. I come to a stop in the doorway, my gaze falling on Diana. She's sitting at the table with a chessboard before her. Her head is propped up by a fist with her elbow resting on the table, her other hand holding a glass of wine.

She looks rather comfortable in leggings and one of my Gotham Knights sweatshirts that is too big on her. I have a feeling no matter how many shopping trips it takes to replace her clothing I'm never getting that particular sweatshirt back. She has claimed it as her own.

The fact that she had lost all her belongings when I crashed the Watchtower still stirs a small measure of guilt in me, but it couldn't have been helped. I had little time to come up with a better plan and it was the only thing I could think of to do at the time.

Diana is almost glaring at the chess board as if the crystal chess pieces had somehow wronged her in some odd way. I can't help but smile as I watch her tuck her right leg under her. She's been a guest in my home along with J'onn for the last two weeks while the new Watchtower is being built.

Destroying the first one and nearly getting myself killed has put somewhat of a crevasse between us, one that Diana is struggling to get past. I, on the other hand, have total peace about my decision to sacrifice myself in order to save the world from the Thanagarians. If given the options again, I'd make the same choice. No regrets.

Diana doesn't quite see it that way.

I can't help wondering who Diana will forgive first—me or Shayera. At this point, I'm beginning to think it could be Shayera.

"Going out?" she asks without looking up from the chessboard.

"Playing with the Invisible Man?"

"Funny," she states, pausing to take a sip of her wine.

"Yes, I'm going out," I tell her. "I have a date."

"Nicole, is it?"

"Yes, it's Nicole," I confirm and something in me akin to a tug on my gut takes me by surprise.

"Have a good time," she replies, finally looking up at me. "You look very nice tonight."

"Thank you," I say, glancing down at my suit.

I can tell by the look in her eyes and the expression on her face that she means it. Diana has always been forthright and honest almost to a fault. I don't think there's an ounce of deceit in this woman. Despite her simmering anger with me, she truly wishes me a good evening with Nicole.

Whether Diana knows it or not, she belongs to a very select group of people that I explicitly trust with my life. The circle is quite small, but she is definitely part of it.

I walk over to the table she's sitting at and look down at the chess pieces. She has the pieces arranged just as they had been when I beat her at chess three days ago. "Waiting for a rematch?"

"I'm trying to figure out how I could've avoided losing," she confesses. "I was positive I had you right where I wanted you."

Her words cause a flutter in the pit of my stomach. "Diana, I just taught you how to play a week ago," I remind her. "It can take a long time to master the game."

"I just want to make sure I'm prepared to beat you next time."

I smile in response, unsurprised by her competitiveness. She is an Amazon Warrior after all. "I've been playing for years," I reveal. "Alfred taught me when I was a boy. You're going to have to be pretty good to beat me."

"I plan on it," she tells me only to shoo me away with her hand and a frown on her face. "Now, go. You're going to be late for your date with Nicole. You don't want to keep her waiting. It's not a good way to impress her."

"I think I've already impressed her if she agreed to a third date."

"You're going to want a fourth one, so you better try harder."

I chuckle as I slip on my overcoat. "Are you trying to get rid of me?" I ask, relieved by the interaction with her. Maybe she has finally forgiven me for nearly dying.

"No, but you're interrupting me," she says. "I'm creating a game plan for our next match."

"Enjoy your evening," I tell her, unexpectedly finding it difficult to leave now.

"You too," she replies, hooking a loose curl behind her ear as she picks up a rook.

I force my legs to move though I'm quite slow in doing so. Why am I finding it so hard to leave for my date with Nicole? I'd been looking forward to it all day while I was at work, but now, for some reason, I'm not so sure I want to go.

XXX

I return home, enter through the front door and remove my coat. I don't bother hanging it up, choosing instead to toss it onto a nearby chair. I loosen my tie as I wander towards the entertainment room to find Diana sitting on the couch reading.

Her legs are curled up under her as she reads one of the books from my library. A sense of warmth takes me by surprise knowing that Diana feels so at home here. At the same time, I know that it won't last…it can't last for too many countless reasons.

"You're home early," Diana says without looking up from her book. "Didn't your date go well?"

"Yes," I murmur, walking over to the table with the chessboard waiting on it. I pause to remove my suit jacket, tossing it aside. "I just decided to cut the evening short."

I can feel Diana's gaze following me as I sit down. "Did something happen between you and Nicole?"

"No," I reply, not really wanting to talk about it. "Come on…let's play."

I sense Diana's scrutinizing gaze narrowing with curiosity, wondering what had become of Nicole tonight. She only waits a handful of moments before finally setting her book aside on the end table. She gets up and joins me at the table, taking the seat opposite me as I begin to arrange the pieces on my side of the board.

Thankfully, she doesn't probe any deeper into the events of my evening, silently putting her pieces into position to take me on in another match. I allow her to go first. She bites at her bottom lip as she considers her first move, carefully moving her pawn before looking up at me with overt confidence.

I smile to myself as I relax a little bit. I further loosen my tie, unbuttoning the top button of my dress shirt. I make my next move before standing to my feet and going to the bar. I pour myself a glass of bourbon before returning to my seat.

I take a long sip as I watch Diana contemplating her retaliation. I sit back in my chair, stretching out my long legs as I watch her. She's taking her time to make sure she doesn't make a mistake, wrinkles in her forehead appearing with her concentration.

"Where did you eat?" she asks, her focus still fixed on the game board.

I look down at the dark liquid in my glass. "Francesco's."

"Never heard of it."

"You've never heard of Francesco's?" I ask, surprised. "I thought everyone knew about Francesco's. It's famous across the country."

She shrugs her shoulder, her fingers laced before her and resting on the table. "I guess I'm not everyone."

"You're definitely not," I murmur, my lips brushing the edge of my glass before I take a long pull of the alcohol.

She looks up at me through her long eyelashes, a small smirk playing on her lips. Her attention returns to the game board, beginning to make her next move only to change her mind. "What did you eat?"

"I had the Chicken Florentine," I reveal. "Nicole had the Vitello Tonnato."

She hums as she finally moves her chess piece, causing me to be a little taken aback by her decision to move her piece where she did. Had she learned something that I didn't know yet? No, it couldn't be I decide as I study the board once more.

A prolonged silence follows as I contemplate my options. I gently swirl the bourbon in my glass, thinking through various moves. "What did you do tonight after studying the chessboard?"

"I got a piece of Alfred's chocolate truffle cake and a cup of tea," she tells me. "I explored your library and picked out a book to read. Nothing exciting."

I run through several moves, always thinking two and three moves ahead. I slide my piece into position, glancing up to find Diana's confidence hadn't faltered in the least since we started this game. It makes me a little nervous, wondering if Alfred had given her some tips while I was out.

I'm beginning to feel a conspiracy in the air.

"Is there any more cake left?" I ask.

"At least half," she replies with a chuckle. "Did you think I ate all of it?"

"I thought maybe the boys had finished it off," I tell her. "I'm going to get a piece. Do you want anything?"

"Another cup of tea if you don't mind?"

I stand to my feet and begin to leave only to pause and turn around. "No cheating."

A single eyebrow arches before she glares daggers at me. "Do you honestly believe that I would cheat?"

"Well, no, but…just behave yourself. I'll be right back."

She says something in Ancient Greek that I'm certain isn't flattering, but I head to the kitchen, nonetheless. I make her tea before getting a piece of cake for myself. Heading back to the entertainment room, I find Diana right where I left her.

Sitting down, I'm surprised to find that she has made a rather impressive move with her chess piece. "Nice move."

"Thank you," she replies as she takes her tea.

"Alfred teaching you behind my back?"

"No," she insists as she eyes me over the rim of her teacup.

I take a bite of my cake before deciding on my next move. The long bouts of silence that take place between us are comfortable…relaxed, blanketing me in a sense of tranquility that I'd never been able to find before. It's both tantalizing and terrifying at the same time.

"Am I forgiven for crashing the Watchtower yet?"

I hear a subtle sigh before she replies. "I'm not angry at you for crashing the Watchtower," she reveals, causing me to look up at her in stunned disbelief. "I'm angry that you're so willing to die. It feels like everyone's life is valuable to you but your own."

I'm taken aback by her confession, our eyes locking at that moment in an attempt to reveal each other's buried secrets that we'd each locked away. It's me who finally breaks the connection with her, afraid of what she might find hidden deep inside my darkened soul.

"I'm…insignificant…in the scheme of things," I softly confess.

A hand reaches across the table, across the chess board to settle on top of mine. "I never want to hear those words from you ever again," she sternly states, leaving no room for argument. "You are irreplaceable to many people who care about…and to me."

I look up to meet her penetrating stare, feeling as though I want to shrink back from the intensity I find in her eyes. "So…am I forgiven?"

"This time," she decides, giving my hand a gentle squeeze before releasing her hold on me. "Next time you try a stunt like that, I'll kill you myself."

I find myself chuckling in response to her deadly threat. "What makes you think there's going to be a next time?"

"Because I know you, Bruce," she says with the utmost sincerity. "You'll always risk your life to save another. It's who you are—a hero, a noble knight."

I can only nod slightly in response, her words touching my heart in ways others have been unable to do. I force myself to focus on the game and not the way that Diana makes me feel. This is just a temporary situation. In a few weeks, she'll be moving back up to the new Watchtower and all of this will be long forgotten.

Life will go back to normal…whatever that is.

She sips her tea as she ponders her next move, allowing me time to finish my cake. "Didn't get any dessert tonight?" she asks.

"Didn't exactly stay long enough for dessert," I reluctantly admit.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Several moments pass by without a response from me, I'm certain leaving her to wonder if I would ever reveal the events of the night. I let her question hang in the air for a long time, trading moves and doing our best to outwit each other.

"We decided that we were better off as friends," I suddenly volunteer.

Diana doesn't look up at me, instead studying the chess board as she cradles her teacup with both hands. It's almost as if she hasn't heard me and I begin to wonder if I need to repeat myself when she finally speaks.

"She decided...or you decided?"

I rake my fingers back through my hair with a sigh, picking up my glass of bourbon once more to down the last of it. It's…complicated.

"I decided."

"You liked her."

"I did like her."

"She seemed like she might be the one."

"She did."

"Now, she's not?"

"No, she's not."

"I'm sorry."

"You are?"

"No, not really," she says with a grin, her bright blue eyes shining with a predatory gleam that sends a shiver up my spine. "There's no escape now."

I look at her in wonder. "What?"

"Checkmate. I win."

A/N: This has been in my head for months now and I finally got it out. Hope you enjoyed it! :)