Disclaimer: Not mine. Sadly

Chapter One: Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

"...Now I was sitting waiting wishing, that you believed in superstitions then maybe you'd see the signs..." -Jack Johnson.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"I've ignored your reasoning before," Diana said defiantly as she placed her balled-fists on her hips. "What is going to stop us this time, Batman? Your rogues? Like they could hurt me. Your issues? Your alter-ego? What could it possibly be?" She was glad the room was conveniently empty for both of them, more so because she could feel her blood pressure rising as he refused to turn around and look at her.

Hera, how the man infuriated her and yet she loved him, regardless of what he reduced her to. She felt like a pathetic female dealing with a hard-headed crush. Which in all actuality, wasn't too far from the truth.

The Monitor Womb never seemed so quiet, the air in the room felt dry and hollow. Much like Diana's heart. After a few long grueling seconds of silence, he finally cut through the quiet. "It was over before it began." He sounded like he was rehearsing lines he had written, he didn't mean them, but for some stupid reason, he was compelled to say them.

She felt her heart sink and her face fall. Instead of throwing a snarky comment back at him, she chose to swallow the pain and frustration that was welling up inside of her. Diana was a tried and true hero, a warrior in every sense of the word. And yet, just a few words from him could make or break her. Thus why she hated him and loved him all the same.

He finally turned around and faced her. Batman looked as nonchalant and stoic as ever, which was annoying to no end. But she could feel the hesitation he was fighting.

"As much as I want...," he stopped for a moment and looked away, as if searching for the correct thing to say. Batman was never at a loss for words, until Diana had entered his life.

The Amazonian's patience was granted to her by the gods and yet it always ran out when she had to deal with him. "Don't tell me that you don't love me. Or have feelings for me." It wasn't something Diana made up, for if she had, she wouldn't be in this predicament.

Somewhat surprised by this, Batman shook his head. "I never said that, and I never will. Just leave it at that."

He looked at her intently for a few passing seconds; to Diana it felt like an eternity. He turned around, and once again his back was to her. It created that imaginary barrier between them; it was too easy for him to turn away. It was burgeoning on unhealthy.

Utterly dismayed by his words and actions, Diana let out a sigh and lowered her head. The Watchtower floor never looked so inviting. It'd be so easy to just lie down and curl up into the fetal position.

That's what he reduced her to. And yet, she still loved him. The most frustrating thing about it was knowing she probably always would.

Without another word, Diana left Bruce in the Monitor Womb and contemplated her next step. She wondered if it would be futile to try and win him over. Again.

She knew deep down it would efforts wasted. All that would come of it is another conversation about his reasons why it wouldn't work and Diana hating herself for looking vulnerable in front of a man.

Love was so aggravating. More than once she wished she had been granted the ability to never have feelings for another being. It was too taxing on her psyche to be worth it. Half the time she didnt know whether to get angry and sucker punch something or cry into oblivion.

After ambling in her sorrow long enough to fight the feeling, Diana decided that treating herself to an iced mocha with extra whipped cream was the best idea yet.

As she walked somberly down the bright, metallic hall towards the commissary, a blur of red past her left field of vision.

Flash stopped right next to her and gave her a genuinely large smile. "Hey, Diana. How are ya?"

"I could be better," she stated truthfully as she crossed her arms in front of her. Humoring Wally wasn't really on her to-do list. But the Speedster was so darn enigmatic at times, she couldn't help it.

Wally gave her a little nudge. "Nothing an iced mocha couldn't fix."

"Make that a few dozen iced mochas."

He really didn't seem surprised by her comment. "Relationship trouble? No offense, but Bats is basically a jerk."

Diana opened her mouth to automatically defend him, but she paused and gave a nod instead. "You may be right about that." She wasn't sure why she felt like confiding in Wally of all people. Suddenly it dawned on her.

"You didn't eavesdrop, did you?" She asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Um... no," he stammered. From the look Diana was giving him, it didn't take long for him to crack. "Ok, yes."

Her blue eyes became furious as she clenched her jaw.

Wally backed up. "What? Alright, I'm sorry... I couldn't help it. I know it's wrong. But you do realize that Batman is, like, the craziest guy on the planet? I'm mean... come on, you're Wonder Woman! More than half the guys on this station would give their left arm to even have a chance to date you. And the other half wouldn't because they are already married and even that might not stop them. Yougottaadmitthat'sprettyoddsyougotgoingthere..."

"Wally..., " she interjected calmly, trying to get him to stop rambling.

"And even I would love to have that chance..."

"Wally..."

"Because yeah, you're hot. What can I say?"

"Wally!" She said quite firmly enough to jerk his mind from his thought process.

"Oh, ...sorry."

"I appreciate that you are trying to make me feel better." She forced a smile and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "But I have a lot weighing on my mind."

Wally nodded and without another word, Diana walked right past him and went off to the commissary.

After a few minutes of waiting silently in line behind some of her Watchtower compatriots, Diana took two iced mochas and started to walk out. The plan so far was to have a nice quiet day in her quarters to feel sorry for herself. As she walked towards the exit, once again, Wally rushed up to greet her. And to stop her from leaving.

"I was hoping we could hang out for a few minutes. You know, talk... catch up...," he said rather cheerily. He took a few sips of his own caffeinated beverage, waiting for her response.

Diana sighed and tried not to get angry. "Look, Wally, I'm not in the mood. Thanks anyway."

"Aww, please? I saved us a spot next to a window. It'll be fun. Just like old times," Wally said as he exaggeratedly pointed to a lone area in the commissary. The portal window above the table displayed a lovely shot of earth's atmosphere as the Watchtower currently hovered over Eastern Europe.

Diana, now feeling like she was defeated by Flash's overly excited disposition, gave in to his proposal. To be honest, it sounded better than locking herself up in her room and her misery.

As she followed Flash, she noticed that Shayera was walking over too.

"Oh, yeah, it's going to be the three of us. Hope that's ok."

"Uh, sure..."

As Diana took a seat, Shayera gave her a smile that didn't seem the least bit fake but somehow it still seemed a bit foreign. Diana was grateful that she and Shayera mended their friendship after their trip to Tartarus. They didn't hang out on a regular basis like they used to, that is, before the invasion, but she and Diana had now come to an understanding of one another.

"Diana, Flash tells me that you are having relationship problems."

Diana felt her anger rise once again and she turned to glare at him. "Wally..."

He gave an uneasy smile and turned to look at Shayera, probably hoping that she could help defend him if Diana went all angry Amazon on him.

"It's ok Diana, we're here to be a support group," The Thanagarian countered.

She rolled her eyes, which seemed unfitting of the Princess. "Why? It's not like I haven't dealt with Batman's idiosyncrasies before..."

Shayera nodded. "We just want you to come to the realization that Batman isn't the only man on Planet Earth."

"Have you come to the realization that GL isn't the only one either?"

"Hey! We're not talking about that...ok? We're here to talk about you," Shayera added, trying to veer the conversation off of her own love life.

"How convenient..."

Flashed perked up. "Hey, how about Orion? You guys would be perfect together. I'm sure he as the hots for you."

Shayera shook her head and spoke up before Diana had the chance to. "He's too weird."

"Why not give Supes a chance? He's already in love with you. Or at least he acts like it..." Wally added.

Diana made a face. "Now that would be weird. Like dating my brother."

"Besides, doesn't he like some reporter woman?" Shayera asked almost rhetorically. Diana nodded.

Wally thought for a moment. "Booster Gold?"

"No," both Diana and Shayera chorused together.

"Hmm..."

Diana was now more at ease with her current situation, and she sat back and sipped one of her mochas. She was rather enjoying the banter between Shayera and Wally.

"Aztek?"

"Maybe..."

"Vigilante?"

"Doesn't he already like someone?"

"Red Tornado?"

"He's a robot."

"Well that's rude."

"No, he really is. Can't you tell by the way he talks?"

"No...Robots need love too."

Shayera sighed and shook her head. "Look, Diana... what I've been meaning to say is that you could make Batman jealous. He may think that he can just write you off, but I know that he cares for you too deeply. If you started to see someone else or even if you considered recreational dating, it could ignite that spark he's suppressing."

"Does that happen a lot with men? They get jealous over one woman?" Diana asked, her interest growing. Both Shayera and Wally nodded emphatically. "Though I'd hate to date others under the guise of just wanting to make him jealous."

Shayera shrugged. "It's just an idea. Besides, who knows... maybe you can both move on and you'll find someone you like better. There are more fish in the sea."

Diana narrowed her eyes and focused on poking some of her whipped cream with a straw. "But I don't want just some fish, I want my fish!" She looked up at her two friends. "Maybe I should just come to the conclusion that men aren't worth wasting any time on."

Wally looked offended, as he should be since he fell under the 'man' category. "That's not fair. There are plenty of men out their worth wasting time on! Err... yeah."

"Diana, whatever you choose to do is up to you, of course. Just think it over, you may actually enjoy it," Shayera said, blatantly disregarding Wally's rambling.

"I don't know... I-" Suddenly she was interrupted by her league comm.

"Wonder Woman? It's Batman." It was her stupid fish.

For the first time in Diana's existence, she felt like saying, "Duh!" but she held back for prosperity's sake.

"Wonder Woman here."

"There is a press conference being held in New York for the vice-president, but it's under attack by Giganta and Bizarro. I'm sending you, Shayera and Flash. All other available leaguers are busy or unavailable."

"Ok, we'll be ready to teleport in less that a minute."

Diana and her two counterparts rushed to the teleporter. Really, Wally didn't rush but he waited patiently for the other two.

Within seconds they were beamed down and they found themselves in the midst of a battle right on what seemed to be Park Avenue adjoining Central Park. Quite a few soldiers and armed guards were blasting the two villains with guns but to no avail. Nothing seemed to be working on the brutes. A few scattered police officers ran over to the leaguers.

"Thank god you're here! We need all the help we can get."

"This should be over in no time," Shayera said, sounding as cocky as ever, swinging her mace in anticipation.

Neither Diana nor Shayera figured Giganta or Bizarro to be all too bright. In fact, it was common knowledge that they were a few weapons short of an armory.

Wonder Woman flew up to Giganta and saw the surprised look on the huge woman's face. Without a word she threw a swift punch and sent the woman falling to the ground, leaving quite a mark on the asphalt.

Shayera flew over to Bizarro and swung her mace towards his chest. "Arrgggh!"

He held his hands up to take the brunt of the blow but was still sent careening towards the ground like a rag doll.

Wally meanwhile had found something most intriguing hidden behind some bushes: two small metal objects. They were round and silver, and almost pearlescent on the inside.

"Hey, guys! What's this?" He asked, poking one.

Shayera had knocked Bizarro into a solid steel statute, giving her a free moment. She flew over to where Wally was standing and without hesitation hit one of the discs, making the thing sputter with electricity. Not one moment more, Giganta flickered and disappeared. Diana looked around, aghast that her opponent was suddenly gone.

Shayera hit the other one with her mace, harder than before. Bizarro was gone without a trace.

"Holograms?" Wally asked.

Diana flew over and studied the odd contraptions. "They were so real, they did a sizable amount of damage. Could a hologram project something that life-like?"

"Looks like that's the case. Smells like Grodd's doing. Maybe even Luthor," Shayera said, frowning.

Wally shook his head. "Weird, right?"

Diana thought about it for a moment. It was a strange scenario, but Grodd almost seemed limitless in his resources. But then again, so did Luthor. Or it could be anyone else, for that matter.

Diana took a moment alone to check the area around them. She saw that the vice-president had already been taken to safety and various armed guards and police were moving out. Many were checking out the damage on the ground and buildings, while others were treating anyone injured in the fray.

"Well, well, well... I'm shouldn't really be surprised to see you," a male voice said from behind her.

Diana swiveled around and saw King Faraday standing there. He grinned, his blue eyes sparkling.

He then chuckled. "But it's always nice when I do. Long time no see."

She raised a brow. "You're not going to shoot me are you?"

"Nah, the Veep is halfway to Washington by now. I'll let you off easy," he added with a wink. "So, any ideas on what the hell just happened? One minute we have a twenty foot woman in a dress that doesn't fit stomping around and then next minute she's gone."

"I know, it is strange. We seem to have found a hologram projector. Two of them, actually. My teammates and I think it might be Grodd's handiwork."

"Could very well be. Or whoever did it wants you to think it's Grodd."

Diana thought that over for a second. "True. It's a nice diversion. What makes you think that?"

He shrugged. "I don't know... it sounded like something I could say that would impress you."

She laughed. "Well, it worked."

This made King smile broadly. "Glad to hear it. So are you off to go do some more superhero work or do you actually have a life besides that?"

She wasn't quite sure why he was asking but she answered truthfully. "I'm a warrior. I don't usually do anything other than this...why do you ask?"

"Well, I was wondering if you'd be free tonight for dinner. I know a great place just south of here in Soho. That is, if you aren't too busy."

Diana took a second to let his words sink it. Did King Faraday just ask her on a date?

"I, um...," she wasn't quite sure what to say. Her first fleeting thought went to Bruce but just today he tried to end whatever it was they had in a relationship. And now was her chance to try something new. Besides, ever since she met King she had taken a liking to him. Sure, he wasn't a billionaire playboy with a smile that could make ice melt, but he was definitely interesting. King Faraday had a spark that Diana liked, and didn't come across like many pathetic men did, vying for her attention.

"Ok, yes. That sounds like a great idea."

"Er, wow. Really? I was going out on a limb with just asking. Hell, I would have thought you were already busy with someone other guy."

"What time?"

He seemed to be in a daze, a grin plastered on his face. "Oh, um. How about seven?"

Diana smiled and nodded. "How about I meet you at seven, at this exact location?"

"Sounds like a date."

"Detective Faraday! We need to you to speak to the press," a police officer interrupted, waving him over to a large group of reporters behind a barrier.

He turned once more to look at her and gave a wink. "See you later."

Diana smiled and looked at Shayera and Wally, who had been keeping a sizable distance from her, but were now walking over.

"Wow, that was fast," Shayera said slyly. "He's kind of charming."

Wally shook his head in disbelief. "What is it with you and guys with no powers?"