Author's Note:
It took me a long time to think for a plot for this. There was suppose to be an action scene but I got lazy. Oh.. well... not my best work but I hope you guys still enjoyed it. I'll edit the errors later.
EDIT: Sorry I keep editing this. So many errors, ugh!
Diana heard the shutter sound from across the table after having a first spoon of her mocha ice cream. She raised her eyebrows for something very peculiar with her lunch mate. The cafeteria was almost full but the princess and a certain magician managed to get the most private table in corner.
Zatanna held her cellphone and faced the side with the small camera lense to the fruit salad on the table. Her thumb pushed on the screen and swiped it couple of times. The corners of her lips went down.
"It's not pretty enough" the magician whined.
She grabbed her wand and hovered it above the fruit salad.
"Edargpu!" she commanded.
As soon as the last syllable was uttered, the fruit salad began changing shape. The berries piled into a perfect spiral and the cream poofed into a bigger version. The kiwi chunks made a neat pattern before the cherry rose on top for the finish. The fruit salad was now a perfect bowl of art.
Pleased, Zatanna quickly grabbed her phone and took a second picture.
"And I thought selfies were the end of it" the princess commented after devouring a large piece of her dessert.
Diana understood why narcissistic photos were popular, but she wasn't so sure why people would take time to take a perfect picture of their meal. Was it to give respect to the chef? To have some pretty picture to print out later and hang on the wall? Or maybe it was just to have a remembrance of the great meal they had?
Flash had once showed her some glimpses of the photo obsessions in Facebook. People didn't stop with food or themselves; they took pictures of everything. Literally everything.
She had even witnessed the speedster take a photo of his sock and captioned it as 'Batman's dirty sock' on the social website.
Now she's witnessing Zatanna do the same things but not as ridiculous.
"It's fun" the magician said, "but I don't do it all the time unlike some people around here. What about you?"
Her lunch mate's gloved hand had finally acquired the spoon and dug it into the salad.
"I don't do those things" the princess muttered as she shoveled another spoon full.
"Oh really? not even a a selfie?"
Diana made a short giggle.
"Well... once"
Her mind automatically brought her back to that silly picture. It was obviously childish for him but somehow, he had let her keep it.
Zatanna leaned closer and squinted slightly.
"By that look on your face, I say that picture is interesting"
The Amazon princess mentally scoffed at the very idea. A random picture can't be really that interesting. But then... it wasn't a random picture, was it? Diana swallowed another large piece of ice cream before uttering her next words.
"It's just a random selfie..."
"mhmm?"
"With him... in it" the princess admitted.
The closed grin showed teeth for the first time and a gloved hand opened up in front of her.
"Let me see"
It shouldn't be strange for Zatanna to ask anything about Diana's relationship with Bruce. The 'good friend' of the Batman just so happens to have helped the princess with a certain 'swine' issue and kept it under wraps even to this day. As far as the princess knew, she was the only one who knows about the relationship. The only one that Diana and Bruce trusted.
Diana grabbed her phone from her sword holster and placed it to Zatanna's hands. Immediately, the magician's thumbs push and swiped rapidly onto the screen. When she stopped, she stared at it like she saw something she cherished.
"This is adorable!" she pointed out, "And I'm surprised you got him in the pic"
"I don't take 'no' for an answer" Diana chuckled.
"Of course. Most of us can't say 'no' to you anyway" Zatanna concluded, "You'll get a lot of likes in Facebook for this"
"And why would I like a 'like'?"
"It's rewarding" the lunchmate explained casually, "It's very superficial but the number of 'thumbs ups' will make you feel very special. Just ask Flash if you wanna know more. He's been trying to earn some likes lately"
"I know... Saw him post a picture of his sock"
"Actually, he's been holding contests on the League's group"
"A contest?"
And there's a Facebook group for the Justice League?
Zatanna held up her phone that showed a miniature version of the website. The one that's called 'Scarlet Speedster' posted on the 'The Fun Side of the JLA' group.
Yo Peep! Here's a second one for ya'll. Same as before, take a selfie, post it here and whoever gets the most likes will get a week's supply of Nutella. BUT 1 requirement: take it with one of the big 7
Diana made an uncomfortable face.
"He posted it an hour ago" said the magician.
"How long has this been going on?
"Two weeks tops. It's gonna be over very soon if someone pulls a suprise selfie on Batman"
"That is if someone is brave enough"
Zatanna nodded in agreement.
As if it was his cue to enter, Batman passed through the cafeteria like it was just another designated room for business. He was serious and broody as usual, but with an extra tinge of irritation. All of who were on his way, moved away to give him passage. The fear that he instilled into criminals was abundant in his aura.
For a split second, he glanced at Diana with no visible emotion. She gave him a quick smile for greeting. And then he moved on like a fleeting shadow.
"It looks like someone attempted it" Zatanna commented, as she ate the cherry on the top of her salad.
Later that day, Diana waited for action in the Monitor Womb. The uneventful hours wasn't making the ever impatient Amazon comfortable, so she moved her waiting to the Javelin Bay where the League's air vehicles parked neatly. Her invisible jet, the one on the only empty space, was waiting for her. She reached out in front to touch the nose of the jet as if her eyes can see it clearly. She hovered over it and relied on her touch to open the door for the cockpit. And there she found what she was hoping to see. A book titled 'Jane Eyre'.
The book sat on the pilot's seat and was picked up by the princess's hand before she sealed the cockpit. Diana couldn't remember who suggested the book to her but that didn't matter. She was bored and hopefully the book can provide entertainment. She leaned her back on the lower part of the jet and began reading.
She was about to finish the first paragraph when someone tapped her shoulder.
A young lady stood before her. Instead of her Cosmic Staff, she held a phone.
"Sorry to bother you Wonder Woman" Stargirl said with bravery "Could you, um, take a selfie with me?"
Diana have predicted it the moment she saw the phone.
"Sure"
Diana leaned closer while Stargirl stretched the phone away from them. But before the a finger can ever touch a button, Ralph, better known as the Elongated Man, hollered behind them.
"Hey! She was suppose to be in my selfie!"
Both female superheroes turned to the man. Diana's expression was friendlier compared to the adolescent lady.
"I got here first" said Stargirl before putting her tongue out.
Wow. These two wanted those jars of Nutella so bad, She thought
"Get your own founding member" the flexible man demanded.
"No way!" Stargirl retorted.
Ralph looked more annoyed but Stargirl was furious. Diana was getting a bit irritated and stepped in between them. She was calm but she was tempted to crush both of their phone with her bare hands.
"Kids" she emphasized, "It's just a selfie contest. I suggest you stop fighting over this childish nonsense"
Stargirl gasped. For a second, Diana thought the young lady saw a ghost but when she turned around, she saw the silent watcher.
A dark figure with white eyes stood a few feet away. There's no telling how long the dark knight has been standing there.
"Oh good! Bats is here" said Ralph.
He stretched his legs in an abnormal length and slithered through until he was at Batman's side. He moved closer to the senior leaguer and faced the cellphone's camera to them.
"Smile!" he uttered.
Stargirl made an I-won't-do-it-if-I-were-you face. Diana was waiting for Batman's reaction.
Suddenly, Ralph's phone lost its lights. It seemed dead... Much dead.
"What the-!"
The stretchy man started knocking the side of the phone with his palm, but it was clear to Diana that Batman used some sort EMP device.
"Anybody else wants to take my picture?" the dark knight dared with a very serious expression.
Stargirl shook her head briskly. Fearing that his phone might be dead for good, the Elogated Man muttered how expensive it was. Both left the Javelin Bay without question.
When the coast was clear, Diana moved closer to Batman. She looked at him with an abundance of interest.
"You'd risk using an EMP device on the Watchtower just to keep anyone from taking a selfie with you?"
"Don't worry. I limit it to a specific radius. Worked perfectly fine when I tested it with Hawk and Dove's phones" he replied plainly.
So those two started his mood, she thought. Wonder Woman put one hand on her waist and leaned even closer. Her lips were only inches to his ear.
"I just wonder why you didn't use it when I took our picture in the cave"
She saw a corner of his mouth point upwards.
"It wasn't on my belt at the time"
She suppressed a laugh.
"Is that so? I think I remember you put it on the third compartment of your belt"
"Alright..." he said with a slight lightness, "You got me"
He faced her. Now their lips are in danger of closing the gap. She opened her mouth once more.
"Maybe... the Bat would let me take a selfie with him so I can win a supply of Nutella"
He stared at her eyes.
"The Bat won't" he said.
Diana showed off her puppy eyes.
"But Bruce Wayne might" he muttered.
She looked at his lips. She's itching to touch it with hers. It was safe to kiss him. There was nobody here but them.
Suddenly, the door opened. Both immediately moved apart to a friendly distance.
"... She was late for monitor duty because of that selfie thing"
Superman entered the hangar with Green Lantern. The man of steel was looking very annoyed.
"I know Kara can be a bit careless but that's pushing it" Lantern commented.
"Exactly, it's time to-"
Both heroes halted when they saw the Batman and Wonder Woman. Strangely, John looked at Bruce slyly. With all the prior emotions erased, Batman explained that he was discussing the 'selfie problem' with Diana. Eventaully, John dropped the look and continued the disussion.
It turned out that some of the junior members and staff were neglecting duties because of Flash's selfie contests. Later they had 'a talk' with Wally and issued new regulations on online conduct. Everybody was still allowed to do whatever they want online, as long as it doesn't hinder the work, compromise the safety of themselves or others and promote the League's reputation negatively. Superman made sure everybody knew the rules when he announced it with a microphone that sent his words all over the Tower.
Even though the contest was still allowed, Batman seemed to want to stop it because he gave small EMP-blasting devices to the founding members after their meeting in the Hall of Justice. As expected, he explained that it was in case of emergencies.
"Newly issued by Wayne Tech and so far it''s safe to use" he said as he placed a box full of the EMP blasters on the table
"You must be fun at parties" Shayera joked.
"This is him teaching us how to be scare the junior members" Clark commented.
"At least you can use it if the paparazzi get too close for comfort" John reasoned.
J'onn remained quiet as usual.
Whenever a mission failed or an upcoming mission is upon them, Batman would share his plans and, almost rarely, his newly developed gadgets. This time, it seemed he was inspired by the selfie problem. They were amused to the notion that a social media phenomenon would bother him so much that he made extra for them.
As soon as they were all done snickering about it, he explained the real reason. Last night, weaponized nanobots were stolen from a government research facility in New York and evidence points to a possible terrorist attack. Nolan Briggs, an employee in the research facility, disappeared two months ago. It was more likely that he stole the nano-bot canisters. Additionally, He was known to express distrust and hate on hospitals since after the doctors failed to save his son from illness
"You're saying he might use the nano-bots to attack hospitals?" Clark suggested.
"Yes. According to his colleagues' testimonies, he might be insane enough to do it. There's a good chance that he might attack one of these hospitals tomorrow..." he said as he laid pictures on the table"... Gotham General Hospital, Metropolis Medical Center and County General Hospital in Chicago. The doctors that worked on his son are now currently working in these hospitals"
"What's the plan?"
"Tomorrow, we keep watch in teams as civilians. Superman and Green Lantern should be in Metropolis. I've assigned the one in Chicago to J'onn, Flash and Hawkgirl. Wonder Woman and I will be in Gotham. We bring the EMP boxes with us. I'll provide a set of molecular detectors for the nano-bots"
As always, the plan sounded good. Each founding member started grabbing a handful of the small EMP boxes.
"I'm so gonna use this if Kara gets to me again" Shayera muttered.
"I won't. I love taking selfies with the juniors" Flash admitted.
When each left the hall to continue their usual business, Diana received an encrypted message on her phone. It was Batman.
Lunch date at the manor after the mission?
Diana simply replied with an 'OK'.
Wonder Woman was teleported to Gotham. She materialized behind some trees and bushes just across the street from the hospital. For today's mission, she wore a simple white t-shirt and jeans. To finish her disguise, a small bag hanged on her shoulder. It stored her tiara and bracelets
Earlier that morning, Bruce sent her another encrypted message. He reminded that everyone should wear civilian clothes for stealth. He made it clear that the EMP boxes were more than capable to stop the nanobots from spreading and their primary mission was to catch the Briggs without alerting him that the League is on to him.
He also sent her a personal message, requesting the princess to bring her tiara. It was an odd request but she trusted him to have an important purpose with it.
She came out of the bushes when she saw an Austin Martin pulled up in the parking at the front of the hospital. The princess walked casually towards it.
Alone, Bruce Wayne got out of the car. He wore simple dark shirt and pants.
"Alfred's not driving you today?" she greeted.
"He's busy" he replied with his Brucie voice.
The princess made an expression.
"I couldn't keep him from watching Downton Abbey"
Together, they entered the hospital maintaining a casual demeanor. Bruce began the Wayne facade. Diana put on a simple smile.
Doctors, nurses and patients followed them with their gaze as the approached the receptionist. Of course, they recognized Bruce Wayne. However, they were intrigued by Diana's presence. They haven't recognized her yet. If they did, people would flock round her like they always did.
Bruce spoke in a voice that contrasted the Bat's.
"We would like to see Anna Temple please"
The receptionist gave a wide smile to both visitors.
"She's in Room 306"
And to the room they went.
As they walk down the corridors, he answered her unasked question with a low voice
"Anna Temple is a ten year old cancer patient, one of Wayne Foundation's recipients. When I met her I promised that she'll meet Wonder Woman on her birthday today. She's a big fan..."
Then his voice went even lower.
"... And it's a perfect alibi for Wayne to be here"
As anyone would, she found the alibi cute.
"So this means the tiara is for her"
"Yup" he said with the smug grin that he always wore on public.
"What about Briggs?"
"I've placed the EMP boxes strategically and set them on remote. The molecular detector can alert me on my phone if there are nano-bots in the air. Despite our position, security is solid"
She chuckled.
"Gotta love how easy surveillance is with your toys"
"I need them to fight crime while I do philanthropy" he smirked.
They entered the room and found a frail looking girl on the hospital bed that was decorated with birthday balloons. She wore a large bandana on her head and pink pajamas. Sitting with her feet relaxed on the bed, she was wide awake and fiddling with a tablet. It seemed she was playing with it. The nurse that checked her vitals greeted them and left the room. When Anna Temple saw the two the excitement filled her face.
"Mr. Wayne! I thought you'd never come!"
"Have I ever broken a promise?" he said with a softer smile.
Diana knew that smile. It was the same genuine smile that she saw when he looked at their picture.
Anna gladly shook her head. For some reason, she hugged her tablet. Diana realized that it was an early birthday present from him.
"As promised..." he said as he presented Diana with a hand, "I brought her here"
The princess grabbed the tiara from her bag and wore it on its usual spot. To make a heroic stance, she placed her hands to her waist.
The young girl's brown eyes sparked. Diana's heart melted when she saw how star-strucked Anna was. As Wonder Woman she approached her and gave her a hug. She felt the tears drop.
"Why are you crying?" Diana asked when she faced the the young girl.
"I'm just... so happy"
Wonder Woman looked proudly at Bruce The man just smiled at her. The Batman made sure he fulfilled his charity work. Beside his other good qualities, she loved him for that.
Anna wiped her tears and cleared her voice.
"Can I have a selfie with you?" she asked shyly.
"Of course"
She took away her gaze at Diana and looked at Bruce.
"Would you like to join us, Mr. Wayne?"
He smiled again.
"Sure"
With Wonder Woman on the left and Bruce Wayne on the right, Anna faced her tablet's camera to them. All of them smiled their best before the tablet made a shutter sound.
"Oh thank you! I can't wait to show this to my mom!"
The princess softly laughed. Wally would tease him nonstop if he find out about this.
Later, Anna's mom entered the room. She, too, was awestruck.
Bruce and Diana chatted with Anna and her mother for about an hour. No alarms have been set off. Later Clark called that they caught Briggs in Metropolis Medical Center and they found canisters that contained the nanobots. The mission was over right before noon.
They said goodbye and left the hospital for Wayne manor.
Alfred was there to greet them with lunch. The butler seemed to have busied himself with arranging a table for two on the garden. Diana hadn't realized she was famished until she saw the pesto pasta salad on the plate. The couple ate as they enjoyed each other's company.
"You still owe me a picture with you" she mentioned after swallowing a large portion of the pasta.
"I said I might. I didn't promised anything" he teased.
He was still stubborn to her request. She didn't really push it further. She considered that he was still pretending to hate how she forced him to be in their first picture together.
After finishing the food, the princess excused herself to the bathroom. Having been in one of Alfred's tours, she remembered where the nearest one is. She found it quickly and turned the knob to enter. But before going in, she noticed that there's a cell phone on the small table that decorated the hallway. She recognized it as Bruce's.
Seeing that there are no eyes to catch her and despite the guilty feeling, Diana quietly grabbed it (entered the password that she found out a long time ago) and checked the contents… specifically, the gallery folder.
She was hoping to find a stash of secret selfies but found only one picture file
It showed a picture of a woman that she recognized as herself. It was a candid photo that was taken in a restaurant. Her blue eyes looked out of the window as her arm supported her chin. The lighting showed all of her perfect qualities.
She remembered that day in the Indian restaurant. It was one of their first dates. She felt herself blush.
After examining the photo, she put it back on the table and went on to freshen up in the bathroom. After a few minutes, she came back to the garden.
Bruce was still sitting there, drumming his fingers on the table. He saw her come in. She walked to him without hesitation and held his face.
Then, He received a long and passionate kiss.
"What's that for?" he asked in a dazed expression after breaking off.
It might be just a reward for keeping her picture in the phone or because she admired him today... but Diana chose a different purpose.
"For this"
He turned his head and saw that her hand held a phone. She took a picture before he could react.
In the Watchtower's lounge area, Wonder Woman was day dreaming again.
She looked at the photo on her cell phone's screen.
Wonderfully, the surprise kiss worked well. He was smiling in the picture this time. It was perfect. It was very perfect. Mentally, she congratulated herself for the achievement.
Her attention was brought back to reality when she heard Wally read something aloud. She noticed that he was reading the Gotham Gazette.
"Wayne and Wonder Woman Selfie with Cancer Patient Goes Viral… The picture, taken by ten year old Anna Temple in the Gotham General Hospital was posted yesterday on Facebook and garnered two million likes overnight… Wayne's publicist reported that Wayne invited the Justice League member to show up on Anna's birthday… Some speculated that the superhero and the billionaire are dating but the publicist denied it..."
The Speedster was silent for a while and then expressed the only thing on his mind.
"I knew it…"
Diana was anticipating that Flash had realized the secret relationship... that maybe he figured it out. But instead he uttered something different.
"… The guy likes to take selfies after all"
She laughed.
"Do we win the contest with that selfie?" she asked him as she put her phone back to the holster.
"No. You guys didn't post it on the group and having two founding members on the picture doesn't count... it's like cheating!" Wally reacted with a scowl.
His selfie with Big Barda only got two hundred likes. He only got fifty when he posted it outside the JLA group.
Wonder Woman shook her head to his silliness.
The End