DISCLAIMER: The Justice League premise and characters are all owned by people other than myself. Pity, I quite like Wonder Woman and Batman, they'd be nice additions to my room. Alas, I give credit to the ones who made them, thank you.
Wonder Woman shook silently in the cold. The entire Justice League had been trapped in a series of underground caverns deep in the Canadian Arctic Circle. Superman had gone to find a way out with J'onn, Flash was standing watch and running laps in tight circles to keep warm, & Green Lantern and Hawkgirl had been bickering again and had gone on a little stroll to ease Hawkgirl's innate clausterphobia. Batman sat crouched in the shadows, watching Wonder Woman shiver while walking in place. Wonder Woman turned to face the Dark Knight when his thick dark voice filled the space.
"Go on standing there for 2.4 more minutes and you'll contract hypothermia"
"Amazons don't get cold"
"Amazons live in the mediterranean, Princess. It's no weakness in admitting that you're not used to temperatures of - 40C"
Looking at him, Diana breathed a long, slow breath, her teeth chattering as she shuddered deep into her bones before turning away to rub her arms with the opposite hand. Hearing a rustle, Diana didn't have time to turn around before feeling Batman's warm breath on her neck, and his cape settle around her shoulders as his arm rested along her collarbone. Taking the ends and keeping them closed, she sank into his costume-insolated chest while muttering a quick thanks,
"My cape is insolated for emergencies. I'd call this an emergency"
"It also unhooks" Diana said,
"You need more body heat" he said, lacing his other arm around her torso.
"An Amazon needs nothing from men"
"You're not moving" Batman let the arm around her collarbone drop.
"Your cape is not a man"
"But I am"
"Shut up, Bruce"
Both smirked as Diana turned to face Batman,
"I suppose some men have their uses"
"I could always call for Superman"
"I wouldn't letthat boyscouttouch me"
"I'm touching you" Batman whispered, embedding the moment into Diana's mind as he let his fingers run up Diana's spine, to which she closed her eyes and shivered as her muscles loosened and she sunk into his waiting arms.
Waking up to find herself curled against Batman's body, she lifted her head off his chest to blink and see the Flash warming his hands by a newly lit fire, Superman watching the entrance, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl no where to be seen and J'onn suspended midair in meditation.
"What.."
"Sh, Diana" Batman whispered, placing a finger on her lips while leaningthem up into aseated position at the same moment as a falling icicle.
"You've been asleep for two hours, everyone has checked in and Superman found a way out, but there's a blizzard so we're not going anywhere. Lantern and Hawkgirl went to the entrance to radio back when the blizzard dissipates enough for us to find the javelin"
"Sure they are" Flash piped up, "Hungry?" he said, flashing a ration bar Wonder Woman's face. She shook her head,
"OOoo, more for me" Flash said, unwrapping the bar and downing it in two bites, taking precious seconds to lean back and enjoy the savoury taste of imitation chocolate ease his planetary metabolism. Shaking her head, Diana smirked at Batman, who gave a minute dissaproving nod she probably woudn't have noticed if she hadn't spent so much time with the League's Darkest member. Stretching her neck, she realised she wasn't feeling cold and wondered how Batman was able to knock her out.
"How...?"
"I calculated how close your body was to shutting down and sent a response down your spine to loosen your muscles and help you relax. Feel better?"
"I didn't know you could do that"
"There are a lot of things you don't know I can do" Batman countered, a slight hint of suggestion in his normally indistinct voice.
"Okay, well I'm going to go check on GL and Feathers, C'mon Supes!" Flash shouted, embarassed and a bit gleefully pulling the Last Son of Krypton along to find a nice, quiet out of the way spot where they couldn't disturb Bats and the Princess.
"If I wasn't going to be cold without your body heat, I would hit you andstomp away"
"Good thing we're in the arctic, then"
"How did you know it would work?"
"You might be an immortal Amazon, but you're still human, Princess."
"Lucky me" Diana sighed, nestling deeper into Batman's chest and body, coaxing one of her legs to lay across his.
"What are you doing?"
"I have a right to be comfortable, don't I?" she smiled to herself as she felt Batman's muscles tightening slightly under his costume.
"Whatever you say, Princess" the Dark Knight answered, letting his muscles relax as he sunk them back down to the ground, closer to the fire. After what seemed like hours of watching the fire, having Flash come in and scatter a few more logs from a stockpile of dead trees Superman and J'onn found in a cavern beside what looked to be an extinct exploration camp, Diana turned to put her head on her arm and look up at the man taking care of her.
'If mother could see me now' she thought,
'I could always send her a mental picture' J'onn's telepathic voice came in over Diana's thought waves,
'Sorry for the intrusion, Princess. You seemed like you would like to talk'
'I wish you would warn me when you venture into my thoughts'
'I appologize'
'Forgiven.'
'He is tortured'
'Batman?'
'That is who you were thinking of.'
'What is he like?'
'I do not like to delve into Batman's psyche, he gives me nightmares'
Diana studied his face, the strong set chin, the way his eyes studied the fire and were probably scanning the entire room.
'I guess the loss of his parents...'
'He fears losing you.'
Fighting from outwardly expressing her surprise, she kept her eyes on the fire as Batman looked down to the woman huddling next to him.
"Something wrong?"
"Just thinking.. about how my side is falling asleep"
"Riight" he said, disbelief coating his voice, but he didn't press her further as she let herself roll onto his other side and pulled him down to the cavern floor in one motion.
'How have I never noticed his ... fears before?'
'Havn't you?' the Martian waited a few seconds as visions of Batman trying to dig her out of the missle crater in Gorilla City, Bruce Wayne taking her out of the reporters' onslaught in Paris, taking care of her as she woke up in a farm house somewhere in Europe, the care he took in rescuing her, taking care of all her material needs, the way he always knew how to handle her and how securely they trusted each other in battle, even at this moment.
'As you said earlier, if he was any other man... he needs you, Diana. More than he will allow himself to believe.'
'Why won't he say it?'
'This is Batman, he believes he is saving you by not getting too close'
'As close as we are now?'
'He believes the burdens he carries would break your spirit, and he would not hurt you for anything'
'The kiss in that restaurant must have killed him'
'On the contrary,'
'Thank you, J'onn'
'You're welcome. . . he is fond of soft caresses of his jawline and ears in case you need to know'
Slightly flustered, Diana opened and closed her mouth, sending over a quick thank you as she felt J'onn's presence leave and Superman's voice drifted over the Martian's comm link,
"J'onn, we need you can you come to the north-eastern cavern, please?"
"Certainly Superman, I am on my way"
Alone, both occupants of the cave took a deep breath,
"We've been set up" Batman's voice coaxed the Princess of the Amazons to look up,
"Why do you?... nevermind. So what do we do about it?"
"It gives us the advantage of being alone"
"Wrong answer" Diana smirked, rising to straddle the armoured man,
"Talk, Bruce."
"About?" Batman asked, running his fingers down her sides before planting them firmly on her hips.
"Us"
"Sorry, nothing to say" he countered, rolling them over to put himself on top, careful not to get too close.
"Why don't you tell me what this is about?"
Leaning up, Diana snaked her hand onto Batman's neck and wrenched his mouth onto hers. Letting go to lay back down onto the security of Batman's cape on the cavern floor.
"I'm not going to appologize for that" she said, watching Batman's eyes flutter open beneath the white lenses he hid them under.
"What now?" his voice came out shakier than she expected, Diana lifted them up to sit and crouch as she waited for him to continue. He did:
"I want to love you, Diana but both of us know that is not going to happen. All I can give you is a promise that I will always help you when you need it, and someone to fall back on"
"I can give you more" Diana whispered, taking his gloved hand and placing it on the space between her breasts.
"You're too good for that" Batman whispered, taking his hand off from where it sat on her breast, letting it trace up to find the space between her neck and skull, massaging the stem of her spine with two fingers as his other hand found her shoulder and found distance between them while he still held his cape over her.
"If I had wanted sex, you would have been in my bed by now"
"Why are you afraid?"
"I could destroy you"
"Yes, you could."
"Then why?"
"I could have been destroyed a lot. You saved me more times than I can count. I would say I'm unafraid, but that would be a lie." grasping between his wrists and elbows, Diana equalized Batman's gaze.
"I can't promise I can fix anything, but I can promise I will try. If you are hurting and I fail to assist you, it is a crime against myself as well. That is the warrior bond."
She watched as Batman's brow sunk, and his eyes fell to the ice around them, when he did answer, his voice carried none of the barriers of Batman or Billionaire Bruce Wayne, but sounded more like a broken Oddyseus seeking home,
"I'd crush you"
"Try me, I am strong, and if I crumble, then we'll both deal with it" Princess Diana ordered, her voice the powerful timbre of Royalty. Nodding, Batman raised his eyes, leaning up to caress the hair out of Wonder Woman's face, deflating with a heaving sigh, letting his cowled forehead touch her cheek. Reaching around her, Batman let himself be held as he secured his arms around Diana's waist. Curling down by the make-shift fire, both the Princess and the Bat fell into another sleep.
After enough time had passed, Flash came zooming back into the room to find Wonder Woman cradling Batman's sleeping form,
"Woa! And the one time I forget a camera"
"Shh. Is the Javelin ready?"
"Yep. GL managed to get it unthawed well, Supes really got it de-thawed, but GL got it going. J'onn sent me to get you two. How'd it go?"
"Better than expected." Diana leant down to trace Batman's jawline with her fingers,
"Time to go"
Batman opened his eyes and immediately helped Wonder Woman up as he saw Flash leaning on the cave wall grinning. Giving the red-clad speeder a look that would shrivel Hades,
"Okay then, follow me" Flash said, leading them back to the awaiting Javelin. Batman unclasped his cape and set it fully over Wonder Woman's shoulders as the rest of the Justice League came to view and Diana smiled to herself as she set on the presence of a queen gently daring a challenge.
Once on the watchtower, Batman got off shift to stand beside where J'onn stood looking out into space. Spending several moments in silence, Batman finally spoke out,
"I give you nightmares?"
"I hate bats" the Martian said, looking to his human companion with a small smile to which Batman gave a small nod.
"How is Diana?"
"Sleeping, I'll wake her before I leave"
"Back to Gotham?"
"Bruce Wayne has an electronics merger to table"
"Everyone thinks you two..."
"As long as they think we did, they'll back off when we're together. They're none the wiser."
"You are an intelligent man, Bruce Wayne"
"You're a good telepath, even I thought those sounds were realistic"
"Thank you"
"The CDs and sterio are already installed in your room, I made certain the whale songs were the best quality"
"Thank you again, Batman. I will enjoy listening to them, I miss music and the bands Flash plays are a threat to my intelligence"
"Don't I know it. I suggest Beethoven's 9th for tuning out Flash's Britney Spears"
"I appreciate it"
Batman walked away to Wonder Woman's quarters as the Martian Manhunter phased through the flooring. Passing the hall, he thought he could hear the sound of Tibetan meditation chants coming from J'onn's room. With everything gone according to plan, Batman went to attempt the next challenge: waking Wonder Woman.