Last chapter. Thanks for hanging in there, hope you enjoyed the ride. See you at the bottom of the page!

Happiness lies in your own hand / It took me much too long / To understand how it could be / Until you shared your secret with me - Secret - Madonna

"I'm not saying a word."

Every person watching her, including the one viewing remotely at a recorded version of the conversation, slouched at her answer. The three with Diana groaned in disappointment, not getting any juicy details on the Batman. Bruce sighed in relief. He knew his Princess wasn't one to 'kiss and tell.'

"Oh come on, Wondy! Not even one little hint? He's so 'gloom and doom' all the time. Did he even crack a smile?"

"I prefer the term 'dark and mysterious' and yes, he has a very handsome smile."

"Okay, she's gone. She's fully crossed over to the Dark Side." Flash put a hand on his chest and wiped a fake tear from his eye.

"Hopefully you got him to smile a lot. After the dressing down we got, maybe you can do something to get him to lighten up a little. You know," Shayera bumped Diana, hip to hip, "make the man happy."

"Shay!" Diana exclaimed. Bruce thought this was a very good idea.

"Alright, that's enough grilling Diana on her love life. We have another problem on our hands. We need to figure out the Monitor Duty roster. The first extra shift is in two days." John clapped his hands together. "So, who's first?"

"Oh oh!" Flash raised his hand and jumped up and down to get everyone's attention. "I nominate Shay for the first shift!"

"What? Why me?"

"Because this entire thing was your idea." Flash made air quotes with his fingers. "'We need to do something about them. They obviously want each other.'"

"'We need to perform an intervention,'" John joined in.

"I didn't know you were such a romantic, Shay," Diana quipped to her friend.

"I felt like I owed you, you know, for not being up front on some things and betraying our friendship." Bruce could see the sidelong glance Shayera gave John. "Besides, you two were driving me crazy the way you kept dancing around each other. I just wanted to lock you in a room, get you liquored up and let you get down to business!"

"It worked!" Flash exclaimed.

"But really, Shay. Body shots?" Diana asked.

"I was improvising! We were trying to figure out how to get you and Bats together. Then you come waltzing in on our conversation and we had to cover. One thing led to another, and we were talking about drinking. When John said you should ask him to drink with you, I blurted out the first thing that came into my head.

"And don't you two look at me like that." Shayera pointed to the men in the room. "You thought it was a great idea. John, you even transported to your house and brought back the Cuervo. And you, Wally, were the one who came up with the idea of making it a dare and betting her that she couldn't do it."

"I have some truly diabolical friends," Diana said.

"Don't talk, missy. You took the bet." Wally countered.

"Yes, I gambled." Diana gave a wistful smile. "And I won."

"We won, Princess," Bruce murmured to himself.

"And we lost," Wally returned. "But, damn, three months of extra monitor duty? Where did he come up with that?"

"Uh, that may have been my fault," Diana confessed.

"Oh really, how so?" Wally asked.

"Well, during my, um, 'interrogation', he asked me what I was going to do with six weeks off. I sort of mention that I wanted to spend it with him."

"And he answered that with three months." Green Lantern whistled. "Girlfriend, that man seriously has it for you."

"But did he mean three months straight, or ninety shifts in all? I'm so confused." Flash held his head in his hands. "I would like a personal life, too."

"How about this," Shayera offered. "We start with three months. If all seems well, and our dynamic duo are well on their way to their 'happily ever after', we can go back to normal and Diana can come back to us. However, if she needs a little help making our stubborn friend lighten up, we'll help her out with some extra time. What do you say, guys?"

"Works for me," Wally chimed in.

"I'm down for that," John agreed. "And you get the first shift, Shay. You're the mastermind, you can take the hit."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear you."

"Thank you, all of you. This really means a lot to me." Diana glanced at each of her friends, her hand over her heart. Bruce nodded at her sentiment. He wanted to see how they handled the duty roster, testing the extent of their friendship and teamwork. He had to admit Diana picked her friends well. They obviously cared for her.

"And you, Diana. Did you get what you wanted from Batman?"

"Mm hmm," Diana hummed. "I'm finally getting that dance he's owed me for years."

"He owed you a dance? How'd that happen?" John asked.

"I'm trying to imagine Batman dancing." Wally shuddered. "That's just weird."

"He won't be in uniform, dummy. This is Bruce Wayne we're talking about. He'll probably be the best dressed man there, and he's got style in spades." Bruce raised an eyebrow at Shayera's assessment. So she's been following his civilian life. Interesting. "By the way, where are you going?"

"I don't know. Just as long as there are no more tequila shots, I'm open for anything." Bruce had an idea for their first official date. He needed to make a few arrangements, and call in one special favor, but he believed it would be an eye opening evening for the both of them. He was surprised that he was really looking forward to it.

"Well, that sounds like a 'Mission Accomplished' to me. Who's ready to celebrate? We got drinks!" Wally gestured towards the tequila bottle in John's hand.

"Oh, no. None for me thank you very much. I can't take anymore..."

"Wait, I thought Batman took the shot. When did you drink some?" Before Diana could answer, Bruce saw her tilt her head to the side, as if hearing something. Her eyes widened and she jumped to attention.

"Quick, hide that! I can hear someone coming." She cleared the napkins, lime segments, and salt in one swipe, dropping them in a trashcan by the table. Shayera grabbed the shot glass and tucked it into her belt behind her wings. Floundering for a hiding place, John simply set the bottle on the table and stood in front of it. Wally rushed to his side, using his body as an extra shield to hide the evidence.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON HERE!" Superman bellowed as he stormed through the lab doors. The hatch didn't open fast enough, and the Kryptonian left a dent as he pushed them out of the way. Bruce made a mental note to fortify the 'Tower's hatches a little stronger. Again.

"Hey Supes! You're just now getting back?" Flash tried to sound nonchalant, but he seemed disturbed by the damage the Man of Steel left in the door.

"I wouldn't have returned until tomorrow if I hadn't realized Batman accidentally aimed the Javelin towards Pluto. His propulsion unit works too well. I was just passing by Saturn before I saw how far out I was. It ran out of juice and I had to hoof it back on regular engines."

"Ah, that's cool." Flash's face reddened at Supes stare. "So, whatsup? Where's the fire?"

"That's what I want to know! I was trying to dock the Javelin when I nearly hit an object floating outside the Watchtower. Imagine my surprise when I find out that it was a containment unit from this lab, and it was marked as a biohazard. What happened to the security protocols? Why is it just floating willy-nilly outside the port windows? And why does it smell like lemons in here?"

Bruce covered his mouth with his hand. He had forgotten about the containment unit. Damn distracting Amazon! He wondered what they told for their cover story. The fact that he hadn't been contacted by now said they found a way to explain. He couldn't wait to hear this.

"Kal, you actually got back just in time. Batman was performing an experiment on a substance he found at a crime scene. It showed some unexpected properties and it started to burn through the containment unit. He jettisoned it out of the lab before it could contaminate the 'Tower." So far Bruce was impressed. Diana used the truth so far to cover their tracks.

"Well, that explains what the unit is doing orbiting the 'Tower. But why didn't it read on the security alarm? Wouldn't something like that alert you what's going on?"

"Actually, Batman was running some tests on the security system earlier this morning. He put in some protocols that may have cancelled out the alarm by accident. He's going to check on those later." Damn, now he had to give a report on why the security system didn't work. Time to hide those 'special protocols' he added. But Diana was still able to use the facts to evade the truth. She'd been paying attention...

"Oh, well, if Batman is looking into it, then it'll get fixed." Superman glanced at the group in the room. "What are the rest of you doing here?"

"I don't know. He called us here after jettisoning the unit out of the lab, but he stormed out before he could tell us what we should do about it. Figured we'd look into what happened here while he did whatever he needed to do in his cave." Shayera delivered her explanation so well, even Bruce believed her. He admired her 'I don't give a shit' attitude. He'd have to use that later.

"Good, good." Kal looked around the lab. "Well, it seems like you all have this under control. GL, can you help me get that unit settled somewhere? I'm not sure where we can put it without contaminating the area."

"Uh, sure thing, Supes. Let me just finish looking around here. I want to make sure we hadn't missed anything that might be a problem later."

"Good idea. And whatever cleaning agent you're using, I like it! Lemony, very refreshing." Flash suddenly got a cough that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

"Oh, and Diana. You might want to go to the med bay. It looks like whatever contamination was here might have gotten to you. You got some kind of nasty rash on your neck."

Diana covered her neck with her hand like it hurt. Flash's cough became more pronounced. John patted him on the back a little too firmly. Shayera fluffed her wings, as if shaking off a comment.

Bruce's shoulders shook with his restrained laughter.

"Um, of course, Kal. I'll do that. I'm sure J'onn can give me something to take care of it. It does...itch a little."

"You do that. Let me know if it gets worse. We'll have to tell Batman if there was any residual contamination in the area."

"Sure, Kal. I will."

Bruce watched as Superman turned to exit the lab. He stopped at the damaged hatch, then tried to fix the dent he had made. This made the dent worse. Superman flung his hands up in the air and gave up.

"Bruce is going to kill me. This is the second one this month!" With that, the League leader quickly strode down the corridor.

Bruce could see Flash open his mouth to comment but Diana held up her hand for them to keep quiet. She tilted her head to listen to the retreating footsteps. Once she was satisfied, her body sagged in relief and she let go of the breath in a relieved hiss.

"Great Hera that was close!"

Flash rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know what would have been worse, being chewed out by Batman or getting a long-drawn out lecture by Superman."

"It's a toss up." John handed the liquor bottle to Shayera. "Get that out of here, would you? I have to meet Supes to get that containment unit secured somewhere. Is it really that dangerous, Di?"

"It must have been. Bruce was seriously concerned that it burned through the unit in the first place."

"And what were you guys doing that it would happen at all, hmmm?" Flash asked.

"Nunya," Diana crossed her arms and threw her friend a sassy look.

"Just one word, okay? We won't ask again, but we worked hard for this result!" Diana scoffed at Shayera's statement. "Describe what it was like being with Batman in one word."

Diana seemed to withdraw into herself at the request. A soft smile formed on her lips, and she stretched her neck in a luxurious movement. She licked her lips and took a breath.

"Intense."

The trio whistled and made wolf calls at her choice of words. Bruce liked her assessment.

"Nice. It'll make sitting by myself this Friday worth it. Now, to figure out the rest of the roster..."

"Hey guys, not to change the subject, but what is this button flashing for?" The group gathered to the computer console to see what Flash was looking at. When they discovered it was for the recording system, they jumped up and looked at all the cameras in the lab.

"What the..."

"Oh shit, was that recording the whole time?!"

"BRUCE YOU SNEAK! I'M SO GOING TO GET YOU FOR THIS!"

"Turn it off! Turn it off! See if we can catch the stream before it..."

The rare sound of Bruce's booming laughter rang through the cave. The roosting bats, startled out of their rest, flew out of the cave away from the unaccustomed noise.

And that, my friends, is how you can make a story about body shots more than a story about body shots; my personal writing challenge. My other challenge; how to write Diana pursuing Bruce, but from his point of view. How'd I do? Also, go put together the playlist I posted on my profile. I've listened to that over and over while writing this story, and I'm still not tired of it!

By this time (10-18-2012), I've written three follow up stories. I have a fourth coming down the pipe, at least one more after that. Various one shots will follow as I'm inspired! I've made edits to let the prose flow a bit better, but didn't change any of the dialogue. Let me know what you think! I love your reviews. – D. Nox

Dedications:

To the FF authors who inspired me to write; the-lady-isis, DaisyJane, Geeky BMWW Fan, Grendle1853, Serena Kenobi, alittlesummerwine...and all those who I forgot to add to my favorite list, thank you for sharing your craft. To let you know, I saved your stories on my iPad and enjoy them on the train ride to work. Made the commute so much better!

To Heyyodude: Thank you for telling me that my writing inspired you to continue your story, "All This and Heaven Too." As I reviewed, you hooked me within the first three paragraphs. Can't wait to see where you're going with it!

To my new friend AndreggvilJamer, or just "A" since its easier to type, I enjoyed our PM conversations! Especially the discussion on the difference between writing "seduction" and "sex". As you create your next sensual literary delivery, may it contain something sweet and salty, tart and tangy, and all together magical. Talk to ya later, hon!

And to those who took the time to read, review, favorite, and follow this story - thank you. Your energetic reactions have inspired me to continue writing, through fan fiction and my own original stories. (I have lots of them, might share one day!)