I heard this song at my daughter's ballet recital and for some reason this popped into my head. Go figure. I couldn't resist. BM/WW mush. Takes place after the end of JLU…theoretically that is.
The usual pleasantries here: I don't own Batman (or Bruce Wayne), Wonder Woman (or Diana), J'onn and Alfred (though if I had a butler I'd want to have one just like him). Nor do I own anything associated with the Justice League. DC does. Oh, I don't own the song either.
'I Drove All Night', was written by Billy Steinberg, Tom Kelly and performed by Celine Dion. ©1989 Sony/ATV Tunes LLC. Lyrics italicized and enclosed in single quotes.
Thanks to Jenn who took the time and effort to look this over for me. Your thoughts, corrections and suggestions were greatly appreciated…as always.
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Batman materialized aboard the Watchtower to retrieve some files from the tower's mainframe for an investigation he was working on. He could have gotten it through a computer uplink, but Gotham was quiet and he had hoped, yes hoped, to see Diana who was on monitor duty.
As he approached the monitor womb a noise filtered through the door that sounded suspiciously like music. The song ended, and he was intrigued to hear the exact same song start up again. The door opened quietly and, when he reached it, the sight before him boggled his mind for a moment.
The music was loud, not ear damaging loud, but loud nonetheless. The monitoring screens were all ablaze with news feeds of current events from around the world, and there, in front of the multiple screens was the most beautiful woman he had ever had the honor of knowing. And she was dancing.
And singing.
He made a mental note to appropriate the womb's audio and video security data later and stood just inside the door watching and listening to Diana belt out the song. Her back was to him and she hadn't yet noticed his presence. The music was so loud that he surmised that she hadn't even heard the teleporter activation alarm. Ordinarily that would give him great cause for concern and anger, but he couldn't bring himself to be angry with the goddess dancing before him. At least not yet.
He wasn't even really listening to the words. He simply let himself get lost in her melodious voice and the vision of her dancing in her uniform, which for reasons that eluded him seemed even more tantalizingly revealing than usual. Her hips were swaying from side to side with the beat of the song, and her hair bounced all around her, slapping against her bare shoulders and back. He noticed a few beads of sweat glistening on her back, making him wonder just how long she had been doing this.
"What Flash wouldn't give to see this", thought Batman with more than a little amusement. He didn't admit even to himself that he would probably give more than Flash would. A lot more.
The song ended and Diana became still, only to resume dancing when the music for the same song started again.
Perplexed by the repetition of the song, Batman listened to the words and the more he heard, the more he understood. It was right up Diana's alley. It also pleased him that the song most probably reminded her of him. At least he hoped it did.
He watched her go through the routine again, mesmerized by the beauty, grace and skill with which she moved herself to the beat and rhythm of the music; her long toned legs, hips, torso and arms moving in provocative and rhythmic ways that he had not seen from her before. Finally the song ended, and before it could start up again Batman diplomatically cleared his throat.
Diana jumped as though her boots were suddenly set afire, and she lunged towards the computer console, trying desperately to reach the audio controls before the music restarted. She made it…just.
When she straightened up and turned to face him her cheeks were the color of ripened tomatoes and she had a nervous smile plastered onto her face at being caught. Her hands clasped together in front of her, most likely a sign of her extreme discomfort at being caught by him. She seemed to be slightly out of breath, and he couldn't be sure if it was because of the shock of his sudden appearance or her lengthy…calisthenics? It was then he noticed that she held a straw in her right hand, apparently from the empty glass on the control panel that he surmised had held a milkshake.
"Of course", he realized amusedly. "Microphone." It took every ounce of his self-control to keep a frigid scowl upon his features, though he wasn't sure how long he could hold out under the repentant gaze of her bright blue eyes and the hilarity of the situation.
"Princess", he grated through teeth that he commanded to remain clenched. He almost buckled when she flinched. It was almost imperceptible, but he was a master of observation and he had observed her very closely for years. He suspected that anyone else would have missed it. Well, the boy scout might have caught it. Maybe.
Her voice was unsteady as she tried to explain. "Bruce. I was just…" She turned away from his gaze and for a split second he let the corners of his mouth edge upward. By the time she faced him again, his mouth was a thin, flat line.
Abandoning any pretense of doing work and deciding that he would accept no explanations, Diana did the only thing she could do…she folded her arms across her chest and tried to sound like he did something wrong. Her tone was chilled when she asked, "What are you doing here so late?"
He didn't answer verbally, choosing instead to walk to the computer and type in the commands to get him the data he wanted. He was very careful to avoid looking directly into her eyes as he neared her. He had learned, the hard way, that their effectiveness in breaking down his control increased exponentially as he got closer to her.
He waited for the disc to spit out of the computer, keenly aware that she had moved a step closer to him, that she still had her arms folded and that she was glaring daggers at him. Finally the disc exited the computer and he turned towards the door, taking the opportunity to really irritate the Amazon by turning away from her instead of turning towards her. He had gotten three steps away when he heard her sigh of exasperation
followed immediately by the sound of her plopping down into the chair.
He stopped and turned to look at her. She was slouched down in the chair, with her right elbow resting on the padded arm of the chair and her chin resting on top of her hand. She looked pitiful. Divine, but pitiful.
Deciding enough was enough, he silently moved towards her, and when he reached the chair he leaned in close to her and whispered in her left ear, "I didn't know you were such a good singer." He leaned closer and kissed her shoulder. "I did know you were a wonderful dancer." Paris had proved that much, though the dancing style was very different. He couldn't let her totally get away with it however, so he moved his mouth back up by her ear again and added quietly, "But don't quit your day job."
She bolted up out of the chair and turned on him with white-hot anger. He moved back a step and thanked God that his cowl hid his eyes from her. She moved towards him slowly, with closed fists and fury etched upon her face. He resisted the urge to swallow the lump that appeared in his throat when he saw her nostrils flare and her eyes narrow in anger. As beautiful as she was, the look on her face now wasn't pretty at all. It certainly didn't bode well for him.
He stayed rooted to his spot, that is until she poked him in the chest with her finger with enough force to make him step back.
"That wasn't…", she started harshly as she hit his chest again with the same amount of force as before. "You shouldn't…", another poke. "Why don't you just…", poke number four. She threw her right arm past his shoulder with her index finger outstretched towards the door. "Just go!"
She turned around with a flourish worthy of royalty, pout and clenched fists included, and sauntered purposefully back to the chair. She sat down carefully and looked up at the monitors with exaggerated attention.
"Diana", he tried warmly, but she interrupted him with a sharp, "Good night, Bruce."
His lips pressed together and he realized that perhaps he had gone too far. "My fault for trying to be funny", he thought with resignation. That being the case, his next course of action would be to leave and make it up to her later. It was always plan A, and usually plan B, C, D, etc, etc.
He turned and headed the extra couple of steps to the door, not at all surprised at how far she had been able to push him by just hitting her finger against his chest. Only for the body armor he'd probably have a nasty bruise there already. The door opened and he paused long enough to say softly, "Good night, Diana."
He stepped over the threshold and the door closed behind him, just in time to keep away from him the sound of her chair turning towards him.
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'I had to escape Could taste your sweet kisses I drove all night to get to you What in this world I drove all night to get to you Could taste your sweet kisses I drove all night to get to you I drove all night
The city was sticky and cruel
Maybe I should have called you first
But I was dying to get to you
I was dreaming while I drove
The long straight road ahead, uh, huh
Your arms open wide
This fever for you is just burning me up inside
Is that alright
I drove all night
Crept in your room
Woke you from your sleep
To make love to you
Is that alright
I drove all night
Keeps us from falling apart
No matter where I go I hear
The beating of our one heart
I think about you
When the night is cold and dark
No one can move me
The way that you do
Nothing erases this feeling between me and you
Is that alright
I drove all night
Crept in your room
Woke you from your sleep
To make love to you
Is that alright
I drove all night
Your arms open wide
This fever for you is just burning me up inside
Is that alright
I drove all night
Crept in your room
Is that alright
I drove all night to get to you
Is that alright
I drove all night
Crept in your room
Woke you from your sleep
Alright'
"I didn't know you listened to that kind of music, Master Bruce", came a voice from the stairs as the last notes of music faded into the dark recesses of the cave.
"I don't", responded Batman in his best neutral voice. It had been three hours since he'd left the Watchtower, and an extremely pissed off Diana. He managed to finish his work for the night and turned his attention to the song that Diana had been listening to. He listened to it a couple of times, committing the words to memory. He could see why she was fond of it. The city described could most certainly be Gotham, and, in an uncharacteristic display of affection, he once told her that she warmed his coldest nights and lit his darkest hours. He smiled inwardly as he remembered that he even described his desire for her as feverish.
"Expanding your tastes, sir?" It was said with more than a little amusement, and while the comedic value of the situation didn't escape him, he wasn't in the mood for Alfred's playful banter. He turned to face the older man with one of his darkest glares to tell him that that was enough.
Standing there with his hands clasped behind his back and his chin minutely elevated, Alfred was not affected by the glare… he never was. It was, in fact, Alfred that Bruce used as a model for his glares, having received many of Alfred's glowers when he was a mischievous child. Hell, Alfred still gave them to him…frequently.
"Please, Master Bruce", said Alfred coolly. "When will you learn that you can't intimidate the man who changed your diapers and told you about the birds and the bees?"
As Bruce backed down in his little stare war, Alfred let the right corner of his mouth tug upward ever so slightly. "Miss Diana called the manor a while ago", he informed his master matter of factly. At Bruce's expectant gaze Alfred added, "Her call was short and she did not leave a message. She appeared to be unsure of herself, almost timid." It was Alfred's turn to glare. "May I assume that you have done something asinine to the poor woman, as can be your annoying and inexcusable habit?"
Batman successfully repressed the urge to laugh out loud. One of only the few people that he would allow to talk to him that way, Alfred had a knack for it, no doubt about it. It didn't help that he was usually right. Of course practice helped too, and he had plenty of that.
"I'm afraid so, Alfred", said Bruce resignedly, answering Alfred's question and conceding his point at the same time. He turned back to the computer, absently tapped a few keys to clear the screen and sighed low enough for it to escape Alfred's attention.
The sigh wasn't nearly low enough to escape Alfred. "And what is the problem, Master Bruce?"
"No problem, Alfred." He leaned back in the chair, closed his eyes and let his mind wander through the extensive library of pictures of Diana that he had stored in his brain. "I'm just wondering what to do about it."
Not moving from the steps, Alfred repressed the urge to slap his charge silly. "It occurs to me, Master Bruce, that an apology would most certainly be in order for whatever you did."
Bruce opened his eyes but remained silent, signaling Alfred to continue. So far he hadn't said anything that hadn't already occurred to him.
Alfred's right eyebrow rose a quarter of an inch. "Perhaps, Master Bruce, the song may lend you hand."
Bruce's eyes narrowed as he turned to regard Alfred again. The song? Of course! She had done that on many occasions when they first started seeing each other, coming to Gotham to be with him, asking of it were okay. Perhaps the song was a wish for her…a fantasy, even a desire. He had always put Gotham first. Maybe she desired for him to put Gotham on the backburner. Not abandon it…she would never ask him or want him to do that. Protecting Gotham after all, was what he was. But just once…
And it wasn't a thought that was foreign to him. How often in moments of tired introspection had he been tempted to leave his horrid city to go to her; to jump into the Batmobile or one of the plethora of cars in the garage and drive all night to wherever she was and be with her; to board the Batjet or Wayne Enterprises jet and fly to where she was, whether it was New York or Geneva or wherever; or even just use the teleporter to go to the Watchtower and walk to her quarters? There had been many, many times when he wished it were that simple. Perhaps it could be, at least for one night.
The song. A course of action?
"A possible course of action, Master Bruce", added Alfred helpfully.
Not for the first time Bruce wondered if Alfred had some sort of mind reading ability akin to J'onn's.
Batman nodded once. "Perhaps. Thank you, Alfred."
"My pleasure to serve, as always Master Bruce." He turned and took a step up towards the manor as he said, "Good night, sir."
Bruce nearly smiled as he returned in kind to the man who had been his father figure for most of his life. "Good night, Alfred." He had just turned around to face the computer again when Alfred spoke again.
"If I may make another suggestion, Master Bruce…I would not wait too long. Miss Diana is a loving, kind and forgiving creature, but I suspect that her Amazon pride can only take so much, to say nothing about her feminine pride." Alfred resumed his journey up the stairs without another word.
Sighing again, Bruce agreed with Alfred's assessment. He punched up the channel to the Watchtower and was surprised when J'onn answered his call instead of Diana.
"J'onn", he acknowledged, barely managing to keep the surprise out of his voice. He leaned forward in his seat as anxiety began to well up inside his chest. "Where's Diana?" As his voice echoed through the cave he realized two things. One, he said it a lot louder than was necessary and than he meant to. Two, he hadn't been able to keep the concern out of his voice.
"Not to worry, Batman", came J'onn's reassuring voice. "I had some things I wanted to do that required my presence here. Since I was going to be here anyway, I offered to take the rest of Diana's shift as she seemed to be a little upset."
Bruce could hear the hint in J'onn's voice and he sat back, though the anxiety refused to leave. "Is she still aboard the Watchtower, J'onn?" At J'onn's negative response Bruce concluded the conversation. "Thank you , J'onn. Batman out."
He closed the channel and five minutes later headed to the cave's teleporter. A moment later he materialized aboard the Watchtower for the second time in a few hours. He stepped over to the teleporter controls and entered the coordinates for the roof of Diana's apartment. After entering the time delay of ten seconds, he entered a code known only to him that would erase all evidence of his activity, including the destination. He stepped into the teleporter just in time to dematerialize.
Another five minutes later he stood in front of Diana as she slept in her bed. She was sleeping soundly as a matter of fact, and her surprise visitor genuinely smiled as she snorted softly in her sleep. She did that occasionally as she moved to get comfortable, he had come to learn. That, along with the fact that she hadn't so much as twitched when he opened her window meant she was in a deep and comfortable sleep.
For the first time that night his posture relaxed and his internal defensive systems powered down, so to speak. He was still vigilant, it was ingrained in every fiber of his being to be vigilant, but he deduced that there was little chance of danger here. Indeed, the only danger he could really foresee would occur if the sleeping beauty before him was awakened in the wrong way.
His analytical mind went through the options.
He could make a noise and get her to wake up, even call out to her from a safe distance. She would be startled and somewhat annoyed, but the annoyance would dissipate when she realized it was him and why he was there. Hopefully. There was a small chance that she would remain pissed and tell him where to go. That was always a very real possibility.
He could walk up to her bed and gently rouse her from her sleep, either by speaking or by gently touching her. These courses of action were problematic because of his proximity to her. If she was startled or annoyed enough she could swipe at him and easily send him crashing through the wall into the next room. He quickly surveyed the room and amended that…he would end up crashing into the next room or out onto the street. It depended on how her arm moved and how hard she hit him.
One thing that could soften her surprise, and therefore lessen any harm that may occur to him, would be to remove his cowl. Another second of thought told him that the whole costume would be better.
His eyes narrowed as he decided on his course of action, and he began to undo his costume with an easy silence that was born out of years of practice. As he removed his utility belt the thought occurred to him that only a short time ago doing something like this would have been so far out of the question, that it wouldn't have really been given a chance to see the light of day. "But she has that affect on me", he thought as he removed his cowl and let his naked eyes fall upon her perfect sleeping form. It was something he had begrudgingly come to realize, that she could affect him in such a way, and that, despite his initial thoughts, it wasn't in a negative way. He had always prided himself on being able to see all the angles, to analyze and deduce everything. But she had a way of making him see more, see something else that he might have otherwise missed. It was one of the many things he loved about her.
Finally down to his underwear, he didn't want to be too presumptuous after all, he crept to the right side of her bed and gently slipped underneath the covers. She was lying on her right side with her back to him, and she had her long raven locks pulled underneath her neck to lay in front of her on the bed, exposing to him the nape and left side of her neck. Her hands were resting on the bed just below her chin. The moonlight streamed in through her window and gave her bare arm and shoulder a shine that made her look magical. He moved closer to her, his own body position mimicking hers and they melded together.
He reached his left arm around her waist, letting his hand gently caress her flat abdomen. The silk nightdress she was wearing did nothing to lessen the feeling of heat radiating from her. She stirred and before she had a chance to react he whispered in his voice, not Batman's and not playboy Bruce's, "I'm sorry, Diana."
Diana slowly opened her eyes and smiled. She was hoping he would come and when she heard the now familiar sound of him undoing his utility belt she nearly sighed in happiness. "Are you really." It wasn't a question.
He answered it anyway as he cuddled closer to her until their bodies touched from head to toe. "Yes, I am."
"Good." Her left hand found his on her stomach and rested on top of it. "You're forgiven. And I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have been listening to the music, but I heard that song yesterday, and it…well, it reminded me of you and how I feel about you." She cleared her throat. "And I shouldn't have been so rude."
"Good. Forgiveness from all quarters." He moved his right arm underneath him and propped himself up on his elbow. He slowly leaned down and kissed her cheek and held himself there. "That song…it was my inspiration for this." He kissed her jaw and began a series of kisses along her jaw, to her ear and beyond.
As his lips found their way to the junction where her neck met her left shoulder she whispered breathlessly, "You didn't drive all night." Again, it wasn't a question.
In between kisses his unnecessary response was slightly tinged with amusement. "No…", kiss, "…I used…", kiss, "…the tele…", kiss, "…porter."
She smiled at that and then tensed every muscle in her body as be gently nibbled on her shoulder with his lips. "That's not keeping within…the song", she managed as his lips continued their assault on her neck and shoulder.
She could feel his lips smile slightly as he responded. "The teleporter was more practical…and it was keeping within the spirit of the song." He gently sucked on her shoulder for a second, ignoring her hand's playful tap on his arm. "Besides, if I drove all night I wouldn't get here until morning and it would be time for me to go home."
She smiled again, admitting to herself that he was right, and also admitting to herself that she didn't really care how he got there. He could have sprouted wings and flew for all she cared. He was there and that was all that mattered. But still…
She closed her eyes as his lips ventured along her triceps and his hand moved up to caress her forearm. She concentrated enough to pose the mischievous question. "What about…not using the teleporter for…personal use?"
He sighed against her skin, absently noting that it caused every muscle in her body to tighten, realizing his own rule and words were being used against him. His hand continued it's caress of her arm as he moved his lips back up to her shoulder. He let his lips brush against her skin there as he responded calmly. "Kent uses the teleporter to go to the Fortress. Lantern uses it to go to football games, of all things. Flash uses it to…" He looked up, and when she turned her head enough to see him he gave her a very small grin. "You don't want to know where Flash goes." She laughed as she turned away and he leaned in closer, again noting the tensing of her lean muscles as his chest rubbed against her back, and kissed her ear. "And you, Princess, keep using it to go to a cave to see a certain someone."
"You wouldn't…deprive poor Alfred…of my company would you?", she asked between pants.
Bruce let his tongue travel along the outer edge of her ear, eliciting a heartfelt moan from her and answered with, "I guess I wouldn't, no."
Suddenly he stopped and pulled away from her. Even his hand withdrew from her to rest against his own stomach. It took a second for her to reign in her breathing. When she finally did, she rolled over onto her back to see him looking at her, his eyes dark with desire, love and…a question?
The way he broke off his intimate contact with her felt like ice being poured down along her spine. That and her own desires, heightened as they were and interfering with her normal higher brain functions, limited her to blurting out hoarsely, "What?"
He never moved a muscle, staying perfectly still and away from her. She was beginning to get angry and afraid at the same time when he asked evenly, "Is it?"
She narrowed her eyes in confusion, letting the scowl on her face tell him that this wasn't funny. Of course being the master of the scowl, hers had no affect on him whatsoever. "Bruce…"
He leaned down and kissed her gently on her lips, his hand moving back to her side just above her right hip, and for a second she thought he was continuing on from where he left off after a moment of torture. Not so much. He pulled away again just as she started to deepen the kiss.
Her frustration found an outlet in her cry of, "Bruce!"
His face was neutral, yet she could still see the question being asked with his dark eyes. "Is it alright?", he asked slowly, as if to make her think about the question.
It took another moment for her clouded mind to realize what it was that he was asking. The words of the song sang out in her head. 'I drove all night to get to you. Is that alright? I drove all night, crept in your room. Woke you from your sleep, to make love to you. Is that alright?'
She looked into his eyes and her right hand made it's way up to lovingly cup his cheek. When her hand touched his cheek he turned his head and planted a soft kiss in her palm, then moved to look back at her with eyes that were sparkling. Her breathing faltered for a moment. His eyes sparkled. It was something she had never seen from him, not in their years as teammates and friends, not in their months as lovers. Never. It was a big step for him, bordering on monumental, and her heart swelled at the thought that she had been able to help him make it.
Diana let her hand move to rest behind his head, and as she slowly pulled him towards her she answered in a loving whisper, "More than alright."
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The next morning, Alfred descended into the Batcave, keenly aware that his master had not slept in his own bed. His steps were hurried, alarm about his master's well-being adding an energy to his trek that he felt far too often for his own good.
When he reached the bottom step Bruce's voice rang out into the cave from the Batcomputer, causing Alfred to stop and listen intently.
'Alfred. Please cancel all of my appointments for today and have the Wayne Enterprises jet flown to New York to collect me this evening…no, on second thought make that tomorrow morning. I've left instructions for…'
"Well done, Master Bruce", Alfred said proudly. A rustling sound followed by a single squeal up in the darkened ceiling told Alfred that the bats approved as well. His smile was enormous as he went to the chair and listened to the rest of the message that Bruce had prepared.
Fin