Thank you in advance to those who read this!!
GeekyBMWW Fan- Thank you for your bat awesomeness and for the beta as well. :D You are bat duper! Thanks friend! How about a SFHFCR?
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies. I don't own these characters (i.e. BMWW). I just bend them to my will.
Under The Weather-
Why is it so cold in here?
Bruce was first to the League conference room. Not even Clark the 'squire of weekly meetings' was present yet.
He shivered. And that concerned him. His suit regulated his body temperature, but, for some reason, the room had been left as inviting as the Fortress of Solitude.
He walked over to the digital gauge on the wall.
It read a cozy seventy degrees. Now he was really concerned. Either the Watchtower's thermometer was fraudulent, or he wasn't feeling right.
Damn it.
Just then, the remaining League members filed in. Clark was the last to arrive. Everyone took their seats.
"Hey, everyone! So...this is the first original League members meeting... in like forever." Wally had an unrecognized talent for stating the obvious.
"Sorry I'm late," Clark said with a sly grin. "Duty called."
In the recesses of Bruce's mind, he usually looked for double meanings in the boy scout's quips. (Instead, Wally snickered as to whatever Clark meant.) Today he hadn't felt like it. He hadn't even acknowledged Diana's presence, which was alarming since he generally followed her movement if ever their bodies inhabited the same room. He usually kept his eye on someone if he suspected something; for her... the reasons were very different.
"Why I wanted to meet today...," Superman started jovially. Bruce wanted to fall asleep. He already tuned him out.
His head was heavy and his body was starting to ache. This was bad.
And then he sneezed. Twice. Batman sneezing was a sight to be seen.
Diana stole a glance at him, while he suppressed a shiver. It was convenient that their chairs were side-by-side. Little did she know, that was something he had concocted for himself.
"Is your nose running?" she whispered. He could barely hear her, although he understood.
"No." A lie. Followed by swift wipe with his leather gauntlet.
Snot. DAMMIT.
This was not happening.
Illness was a maddening reminder of one's own frail humanity.
If at all possible, that little factor made Bruce's head worsen. Increasingly. And Mr. Krypton himself was rambling on about increasing rise in League socialism. Or some crap. Bruce, instead, was noticing minute details of anything irrelevant while his head started swimming.
Kent has a big head. Not just figuratively, but... what a melon.
If he hadn't felt so horrible, he could have almost smiled about that while the other League members tentatively followed along. Especially John. The Lantern is such a lapdog...
But not Diana. Bruce looked over at her. She was staring at Clark, but he knew she was highly attuned to his body movement. Which meant she knew he was staring.
A severe chill rippled through his aching body while his forehead perspired.
He felt a sneeze forming. He fought it.
Enough was enough.
He stood up.
Clark stopped and looked up at him.
"Batman?"
"I'm busy."
And that was that. Thankfully, no one ever really questioned him. Somehow his tunnel vision got him to the door.
"Diana? You're leaving too?" He heard Clark ask.
Oh great...
"I, uh... I'm busy too."
Diana couldn't sell a decent lie to save her life.
Surprisingly, no one questioned her either. But the two of them just started a sea of rumors; he knew it. At that moment, though, he hardly cared.
Wayne Enterprises was about to buy sizable stockholder's share of DayQuil.
Once Bruce was in the empty corridor, he started to make his way to a javelin or whatever could get him out of the Watchtower fast enough.
She wasn't too far behind.
"Bruce. Wait."
He stumbled to a halt but his vision blurred a bit. And his head now throbbed.
He craned his neck to look at her. "What?" He stayed quiet, but he hadn't masked his irritation.
And she was a pro that sidestepped the acidity in his voice with ease.
"You're ill."
"I'll get over it."
And then he started to walk away.
Sometimes, she was too fast. Before he realized it, she was blocking him while she placed her hands on his chest. "Go rest." She gently planted a cool, soft palm on the exposed area of his face, which he felt like melting into. "You're burning up. Tell Alfred to..."
It took much willpower for him to pull her hand off, but he did it anyway.
"Alfred is out of the country. And besides, I'm fine." He was too busy emphasizing the latter part of his words, that he hadn't realized that he said the wrong thing. Until it was too late.
Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong...
"Alfred's gone?"
Now he did it. There was no way to rid her just yet.
"In England. Visiting family. I'll sneeze on you." It hurt to talk. He needed to lie down... just a little bit... Even the floor looked a bit inviting.
"Bruce...?"
He strained to look at her. "Hm?"
"I'm taking you home." Those words, coming from her mouth, were every man's dream. But it only made Bruce angry and guarded.
"I can take care of myself."
She was already dragging him to the transportation bay. And his energy and strength had failed him miserably.
They were beamed to the cave without question. And Diana helped him up the stairs, to his bedroom. She had also helped him out of his suit.
His body was a temple. A picture of health and an example of peak physical condition. But he wasn't immune. And he had to reluctantly acknowledge that even the mighty Dark Knight had to yield to infirmities.
He remembered watching Diana tuck him in...
Bruce awoke and shot up into a sitting position. And... looked straight into the face of the one and only Wonder Woman. "You didn't watch me sleep, did you?" Please say yes.
"No." She held up two glasses. "Orange juice. And water. You need fluids. You have viral nasopharyngitis."
"I have a cold. I know." He took both glasses and then sipped the water slowly. "Been reading, I see."
"Well, you've been asleep for four hours."
"Four hours?" Bruce turned to look at his alarm clock. Sure enough. "Well, I feel fine." Another blatant lie.
"You're contagious and need rest. I've already called Dick. He's doing your patrol for the next two nights."
"You...what?" Now he was mad.
"If you get out of bed, I'm calling to inform Dick you'll be out longer." She paused as he narrowed his eyes at her. "I've ordered you chicken soup from an eatery in downtown Gotham; it's being delivered."
"Um..." He set both glasses of liquid on his nightstand. "Look..."
She wasn't about to be interrupted. "You're to be taking vitamin c, echinacea, garlic... ginger. And whatever else Alfred keeps stored."
"Garlic? I'm now warding off vampirism?"
"A genius would know it fights infection."
"What's stopping me from getting up and ignoring your requests?"
Diana smiled. It looked quite evil. "Me. And we both know you are lacking strength to try anything."
Bruce looked defeated. "Fine." He stared at her for a moment. She wouldn't budge. "You can't get sick can you?"
"I highly doubt it," she laughed.
Bruce gave her a boyish grin. "Let's put that theory to the test, shall we?"
To his surprise, she leaned in close, right up to his face. "Open."
Not knowing what was next, he slowly opened his mouth anticipating anything.
A thermometer miraculously appeared out of nowhere ...and she popped it into his mouth. She grinned triumphantly.
Bruce let out a sigh. The next two days were going to be interesting.
Let me know what y'all think. Thanks for reading!