"Excuse me for a moment," Diana asked apologetically as the Bluetooth headset in her ear picked up on an incoming frequency. The museum fundraiser was settling down but hadn't quite reached its conclusion yet. Nevertheless, if there was a call coming from the Justice League Headquarters, she had to risk offending the other attendees and answer.

Her assistant waved her hand gently and offered an understanding grin. "No problem, I'll follow up with the Gotham Museum director before the end of the night, and I'll email you with the details by tomorrow morning. Merry Christmas, Diana."

"Merry Christmas, Dee," She was beaming, eternally grateful for the wonderful woman she had for her assistant. The two of them waved at one another as they turned to walk off in different directions and once she had exited the gallery, her Wonder Woman persona slipped into place. "Wonder Woman here."

"You're needed somewhere." Was the blunt way in which Bruce decided to inform her of her next mission.

Unimpressed with his lack of manners, she planted her hands on her hips while she made her way down a long corridor that would lead her to the museum's parking garage. "Says the man who skipped out on one of the biggest fundraisers of the year in his own city."

"Don't you think that I'd be there if there wasn't something more pressing going on?" There was some bite to his words. It was the subtle way he tried to give her some attitude without pushing her buttons too seriously. After working together for two years and playful toying with the idea of dating for a handful of months, she'd started to unravel the thought process of Bruce Wayne despite his preference of hiding his authentic self behind that cowl of his.

Arching a brow as if he could see it, she retorted, "I don't know, you've been keeping yourself rather busy these past few days. This is the first time I'm speaking to you directly since I landed in Gotham."

"Right. And there's—"

"At least it's given me a chance to bond with Alfred whenever I called to speak with you."

"—a reason for my silence. If you would let me tell you what that is…" He let the comment hang in the air just in case she interrupted him again, she knew.

Diana skipped down a set of steps as she entered the museum's lobby. "Tell me, then."

"There's a new crime syndicate that's opened up shop in Gotham. I've had a few members of my team hunting down possible bases of operations around the city while I've been tracking their movements from the Batcave. The problem is, I think they're onto us. I need someone who isn't Gotham-based to sneak around and locate their central hideout." Explained the calm and collected Batman.

Diana pushed the down arrow button in the hallway of elevators. While she waited for it to arrive, she questioned, "You're asking me to help you with a city-related issue?"

"I've already emailed the coordinates I need you to start at." How sharp his tone was! Diana could hear the words he was thinking while he answered her via the deadpan way he spoke: what do you think?

The elevator dinged, indicating that the doors were opening. She cleared her throat as she hopped inside so that he wouldn't hear her snicker at his irritation. Over the course of their many missions together, Diana had learned the valuable lesson of finding humor in the simple moments in order to maintain her tolerance of him when he was at his crankiest. Winding him up when she wasn't in his presence was one of the ways she managed that.

Just before she clicked off the call, at the same moment that the elevator doors began to close, Diana made sure to add one last sassy remark. "It's a true Christmas miracle."

A heavy sigh crackled through the other side of the line just as she tapped the earpiece which gave her a great deal of satisfaction.

This is a WonderBat Secret Santa gift for the amazing artist Dee_stroyer on Twitter!

She is such a phenomenal person let alone a huge contributor to the WonderBat community, and I was so excited to get her name for this event!

The story is belated because the idea just kept expanding until it kinda got out of control...but I hope you still enjoy it, Dee!