So many things to say I don't know where to begin.

All recognizable characters property of DC, as far as I know. They aren't mine and never will be.

I take a lot of liberties with this. Diana and Bruce are in a relationship, and it's based in the 'Public Enemies' and 'Apocalypse' 'verse. It happens after 'Public Enemies' and near the beginning of 'Apocalypse'. Hope that makes sense.

This is intended to be the first in a series of moments between the two that could be based on various 'worlds' (ie: cartoon, movies, etc.). We'll see what happens.

Not run through a beta so any mistakes are my responsibility. Any and all thoughts are appreciated.

Gods I need a bath, thought Diana with an inward grimace as she walked into her room. The gentle island breeze wafting through the opened windows did little to dull the stench that had been assailing her nose for the past twenty or so minutes.

Her sparring session with Artemis had been grueling to say the least with the red headed demon spawn, (and she used the term as one of utmost affection), coming at her again and again with little reprieve. Diana had almost been reminded of her sparring sessions with Batman, the big difference being, (besides their genders, of course), that Bruce never, ever gave up. Diana allowed herself a brief moment of smug satisfaction as she recalled Artemis' grudging concession of defeat after she'd all but choked the woman to death. At any rate, even in defeat Artemis had landed more than her share of blows, several of which still hurt despite the lapse of nearly half an hour.

Diana stopped in the middle of her room and winced as she gave her right arm an experimental lift. Her left hand slid across her flat stomach towards her right side and gingerly probed along the outer edge of her ribcage, and though she found none of the ribs to be broken there was definitely a fracture or two. Her injuries would heal up soon enough, but until then she was going to be…uncomfortable.

Suddenly her fingers found a tender area and she took in a sharp breath, with half the breath being drawn in through her mouth while the rest went in through her nose, reminding her of the reek radiating from her with such a force that she nearly gagged.

She let her arms fall to her sides for a moment, taking the opportunity to take in several fortifying breaths- through her mouth and not her nose- before peeling her soiled uniform from her aching body. The breastplate made no noise as she tossed it onto her bed, followed in short order by her belt, tiara and bodice. Her thumbs hooked underneath the top edge of her shorts and she just started to push them down when…

"There's a problem in Metropolis."

Diana whirled around and her body automatically went into a defensive posture even as her mind recognized that the source of the unexpected male voice was an ally. She peered into the far corner of her quarters, the only area of the room bathed in shadows during the mid afternoon hour, and after several seconds found Batman. His body was facing her, but his head was turned slightly to his left. For a moment she didn't understand why, at least she didn't until a small gust of cool and refreshing wind blew across her bare back and shoulders.

She just managed to resist smirking as she relaxed and fully faced Batman, moving her hands onto her hips and giving Bruce a show that would have made most men and many gods blush.

And it wasn't like he hadn't seen it before.

"Then you should talk to Superman," she replied after staring at him for nearly a minute. "I'm sure he would be more than willing to help you."

She maintained her pose and watched as Batman moved out into the light without making even a whisper of noise. When he finally looked at her, the white eyes of his cowl stayed firmly fixed upon her eyes, though if she were a betting woman she'd wager he'd stolen a quick glance at her chest in there somewhere.

At least she hoped he had.

"He's part of the problem," said Batman, his voice low and tinged with only a hint of frustration that very few people would have caught. She was one of them. "A week ago, a ship crashed into Gotham Harbor. I investigated and found a woman who seemed to have similar powers to Superman." There was a brief pause and he added, "And the same vulnerability."

Diana's eyes widened at the implication. "Another Kryptonian?" They had assumed that Clark had been the last.

"His cousin, apparently," said Batman in a tone of voice that told her he didn't completely buy it. "Kara Zor-El." Batman turned away from Diana and moved towards her bed. He looked down at her abandoned breastplate and said, "Clark has been teaching her English and about Earth," he turned to look at her with narrowed eyes, "but she's still dangerous." His eyes remained focused upon Diana's as his body turned to face her as well. "Clark had the advantage of growing into his powers as his body matured. The girl is fully grown and her powers already matured. She needs to be somewhere where she can learn to control those powers."

Forgetting her partial nudity, Diana folded her arms across her chest and said in a considering voice, "And where the risk to innocents would be minimal. Like Themyscira."

Batman nodded once. "Surrounded by female warriors who have had centuries to learn techniques to control their emotions and learn the limits of their physical abilities should help the girl. And it doesn't hurt that Amazons can look after themselves if she loses control."

Diana thought about it for a moment, but realized rather quickly that Bruce would have thought of every possibility and explored every angle. And he was right, not that she would tell him that.

"Clark won't willingly allow her to come, will he," she said more as a statement than a query. She knew Clark well enough to know that he would go into overprotect mode if he believed the girl to be his blood relative.

"No," Bruce replied anyway. "That's why I came to you first. We're going to have to show him that she's not in enough control to be around the people of Metropolis. We need to prove she's dangerous, even if she is innocent and simply unprepared for her powers."

"We?" asked Diana sweetly.

"As I recall," replied Batman slowly, "after the incident with Luthor you were upset that Superman and I hadn't consulted you about the situation."

"As I recall I was pissed as hell that you hadn't come to me for help," retorted Diana shortly, the memory that Bruce had undertaken what should have been another suicide mission still painfully fresh in her mind.

Bruce's voice was gentler than usual when he said, "Diana…"

But she was having none of it and she held her hand up to stop him from continuing. They'd already discussed it after she'd found out what had happened, with Bruce explaining that neither he nor Clark had wanted to involve her in their fight with the former President of the United States, and her warning Bruce to never do the likes again. The argument had been heated, profane (on her part anyway) and physical enough to keep Alfred busy for at least three hours cleaning debris out of the Batcave.

The makeup sex afterwards had been equally passionate, intense and only slightly less destructive.

When he made no further comment her right eyebrow arched upward. "And you have a plan."

Batman gave her the briefest of smirks as he replied, "Don't I always?"

Diana smiled and inclined her head in agreement.

Batman slowly took the four steps needed so that he could stand before her and sighed. "This isn't going to be easy." He paused for a moment before leaning in and gently pressing his lips to hers. Before she could respond he drew back, then turned on his heel and walked briskly towards the door. He stopped before passing over the threshold and said over his right shoulder, "Get cleaned up and meet me at the clearing so we can go over the plan." He turned and started to leave but stopped again. "Oh, and Princess?"

"Yes?" answered Diana somewhat feebly, and then she cursed herself for being so affected by something as simple as a little kiss from Bruce.

"Next time you want to try to tease me," he said in what passed for an amused voice for Batman, "you might want to make sure you don't look and smell like you've been fighting in the dirt with an Amazon."

Diana instinctively looked down to her sweat, blood and dirt covered body. Anger and embarrassment set her blood to boil and she looked back to the doorway to give Bruce a tongue lashing that he wouldn't soon forget, complete with promises of not teasing, touching or indulging him for a long time.

Of course he was gone.

Diana growled and turned with an aggravated huff to head towards the bathing chamber. It galled her that he'd noticed her sorry state even though she knew he couldn't have possibly missed it, but the arrogant bastard didn't have to bring it up.

She walked towards the bathing chamber, kicking off her boots and discarding her soiled shorts along the way with a promise to retrieve and clean them later. When she entered the bathing chamber something didn't seem right, causing her to slow down and proceed carefully until she came to a stop next to the bath. With eyes widened in surprise she took a minute to survey the sight before her. The bath was full of steaming hot water, complete with all her favorite oils and soaps. A towel and robe patiently waited for her next to the bath and there, next to the robe, rested a box that hinted as to who had done this for her.

She stepped into the water and sighed in relief and contentment as she lowered herself into it, sitting on the smooth marble floor of the bath and resting her back against the wall opposite her robe and towel. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, finally able to do so without her nose being inundated by the grotesque smell.

After a few minutes, her curiosity became too much to take and Diana opened her eyes and smiled as the box came into view directly across from her. It was a rectangular metal box, perhaps twelve inches high and eight inches wide. It was black, of course, and in the middle of the side facing her resided the same bat symbol that adorned the chest of Batman's uniform. Her smile widened as she moved through the water towards it, and when she finally picked the box up her smile wavered ever so slightly. It wasn't a typical box- that is to say it wasn't a box with a lid of any type. Instead it appeared to be two halves connected by a long hinge on the left side as she looked at it and some sort of button clasp on the right. Intrigued, she pressed the button and nearly jumped when a hissing sound came from the box as it opened an inch or so. She gently opened the box the rest of the way, and when she saw what was inside her heart swelled with love and her smile returned to her lips with full force.

The box, as it turned out, was a miniaturized cooler apparently developed by Bruce and inside was what she considered to be heaven in a glass: a perfectly chilled Starbucks Iced Peppermint Mocha, complete with straw.

Diana removed the glass from the mini fridge and brought it up to her nose to inhale the beautiful peppermint fragrance, then took the end of the straw between her anxious lips. She gently sucked on the straw and nearly moaned in ecstasy a moment later when the peppermint mocha slid deliciously past her tongue and down her throat.

Gods I love that man!