TITLE: Guardian Bat

AUTHOR: LOTSlover

CHARACTERS: Batman / Wonder Woman

RATING: T

WARNINGS: Author Chooses Not to Use Warnings

DISCLAIMER: I love Justice League, but especially Batman and Wonder Woman. Unfortunately, I do not own the characters and, if I did, things would be much different for them.

SUMMARY: Batman notices that a certain Amazon Princess has been spending far too much time working and not enough time sleeping. BMWW Fluff.

Guardian Bat

"…and I just want to remind everyone that racing through the corridors of the Watchtower is strictly forbidden unless it's an absolute emergency," Superman stated.

All eyes turned to Wally, knowing that he was the reason behind the latest reprimand from the Man of Steel. Wally sunk a little lower in his seat, folding his arms against his chest like a petulant child as his bottom lip protruded. "Why does everyone assume it was me?"

"Fastest Man Alive ring a bell…Flash?" John sarcastically reminded him.

"Hey, it could have been anyone on the Watchtower," Flash maintained, sitting up a little straighter.

"You were caught on the security video feed," Batman snapped.

"If I was going so fast, then how could you know it was me?" he demanded to know, trying to argue his case for innocence.

"There was a red streak," Batman hissed, leaning a little further in his chair to glower at the scarlet speedster.

"There are a lot of superheroes who wear red!" he exclaimed.

"I did a frame-by-frame analysis," Batman growled.

"So?"

"I also examined the muddy footprints you left behind."

"I was framed!" Flash claimed.

"You also left behind crumbs from the bag of chips you were eating at the time," he countered. "Want to see all the evidence I've gathered?"

"No," Wally grumbled, sinking back into his seat with a pout.

"Next, it's time for the annual inventory," Superman began as Batman sat back in his seat, satisfied that Wally had gotten the message loud and clear.

The Dark Knight glanced at the Amazon princess sitting to his right, noticing how quiet she had been during the meeting this morning. She usually had far more input, offering advice and suggestions, but this morning she seemed somewhat distracted.

He knew she'd been gone since last evening, helping with evacuation efforts in Haiti, but going without sleep for a night didn't typically affect her like this. He continued to think over the last couple of weeks, trying to take inventory of what she'd been up to during that time.

He had been pretty busy himself with tracking down the Riddler in Gotham for the last two weeks, somewhat oblivious to what had been happening up here while he was away. He usually kept better track of what was going on up here on the Watchtower and especially a certain Amazon, but the Riddler had managed to occupy most of his time lately.

His eyes narrowed as he watched her try to stifle a yawn, a rare occurrence to actually bear witness to. His frown deepened as she propped her head up with her hand, her elbow resting on the table. He made a mental note to find out what she'd been up to now that he had a little more time on his hands with the Riddler safely out of the way.

"Diana, would you be able to help with inventory?" Superman asked her.

"Sure," she agreed with an almost imperceptible sigh. "I'll start on it tomorrow."

"That would be great," Superman told her. "Thanks, Di."

"Don't forget you promised to help me train the new rookies this afternoon, Di," Flash reminded her.

"And you promised to help me change the solar panels on the outside of the Watchtower tomorrow morning," John interjected.

"No, she's supposed to help me finish revising the protocol manual," Shayera snapped in irritation.

"Oh, we still need to review the last couple of weeks of mission reports, Diana," Superman reminded her. "We haven't had a chance with how busy it's been lately."

A sneer slowly formed on Batman's lips as he listened to everyone demanding Diana's time. It was no wonder she appeared so exhausted. They'd been running her ragged while he'd been absent. "Princess…" he softly growled, trying to get her attention.

"You said you'd cover some extra monitor duty shifts while the delegation team is away," J'onn reminded her.

"Just let me know when, J'onn," she replied with a weary smile.

"Wonder Woman to the transport room," Mister Terrific's voice came over the Watchtower comm system. "Unrest in Kasnia. Red Tornado and Vixen will meet you in Transport Two."

She sighed heavily as she stood to her feet. "I'll try to be back in time to help you with the training, Flash."

"I'm counting on you, Wondy," he said with a grin. "Don't let me down."

Batman sneered at Wally before turning to watch Diana's retreating form, wishing he could talk to her. "Well, I guess that's it for this week," Superman announced as Diana exited the room. "If you—"

Before Superman could fully get his next words out, Batman was up and out of his seat in record time, exiting through the doors Diana had just passed through a few seconds ago. He swiftly stalked through the corridors, determined to catch up to her and hopefully put a stop to this nonsense.

Everyone was taking advantage of her and he didn't like it one bit. Just because she was an immortal meta didn't mean that everyone could just use her as they pleased nor did it mean that she was immune to exhaustion. Even she had her limits and he was beginning to see signs of it.

The problem was that Diana was too kind-hearted. Ever ready to help whenever needed, she could never tell anyone no. It was high time that she learned before she dropped from exhaustion or, worse yet, she was injured in a fight because of fatigue.

Gritting his teeth, Batman turned the corner to find her heading for the doors to Transport Two. "Diana," he barked her name, causing her to stop in her tracks.

A look of confusion formed on her face as she turned to face him, her brow furrowing. "Batman?"

"We need to talk," he stated, broking no room for argument.

"I can't," she replied, shaking her head as she turned to look over her shoulder at the doors to the transport room. "I have to go to Kasnia."

He sighed heavily, knowing deep down that she was right. "Fine, but we need to talk the minute you get back from Kasnia."

"Is everything okay?" she asked with concern as she quickly looked him up and down to make sure he was all right.

"No, but it can wait until you return," he told her.

She frowned as he stared at her, hiding his emotions behind that infernal cowl of his. She wished she knew what was bothering him. It would make her feel better if she knew before heading out into a potentially dangerous situation. She had barely seen him over the last couple of weeks and was anxious talk to him.

They were still dancing around the attraction they so obviously shared, each wanting the other, but neither quite sure what to do about it. She had greatly missed him during his absence and was hoping to spend a little time with him. She still hadn't given up hope on the possibility of them yet.

"If you're sure," she finally replied. "It might have to wait until after I help Flash with the training exercises. Will you be around that long?"

He didn't miss the hopefulness that laced her voice or shined like diamonds in her blue eyes. "Are you sure you can pencil me into your schedule?" he grumbled.

"What?" she asked with a furrowed brow, confusion etched in her face.

"Never mind," he muttered. "Yes, I will be here."

Her lips curled, more than pleased with his response despite her weariness. "Maybe we can have dinner tonight," she suggested, a sense of sadness filling her voice as she continued, her hand coming to rest on his forearm. "I feel like it's been ages since we've really had a chance to talk."

"I'm not going anywhere," he gently promised her. "See you later…and be careful, Princess."

"Always," she said with a smile despite the fatigue lining her eyes as she turned to leave.

Batman stood there for a couple of moments, deciding he needed to have a meeting with the Man of Steel to discuss the situation involving the princess.

XXX

Entering the Monitor Womb, Batman found Clark checking the various computer screens, watching for any disasters or crimes. He stalked towards him, coming to stand beside him with arms crossing against his chest and a scowl already firmly in place.

Superman turned to look at the Dark Knight, cocking an eyebrow as he noticed the intimidating stance his best friend had taken. "Hello, Batman," he greeted him with a smile. "What can I do for you?"

"We need to talk," Batman stated.

"Okay," Superman replied. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Diana," he snapped.

Clark's smile instantly fell away, his forehead creasing with worry about what could possibly be wrong with her. "Why? What's going on?" he asked. "Is she okay? Did something happen to her?"

"She's exhausted," he told him.

"Exhausted?"

"Haven't you noticed?" Batman questioned him, amazed that no one else had observed it.

"Well, she was up all night in Haiti, but she usually doesn't tire that easily," Superman thoughtfully replied.

"It's more than that," Batman bit out. "You have all been running her ragged."

"What do you mean?"

"Did you miss the meeting we just had?" Batman growled. "Everyone is hammering her to help them with their own duties. On top of that, she's been sent on one mission after another. When was the last time she had a day off? The last time she actually had a chance to sleep?"

Superman thoughtfully stroked his chin, trying to remember. "Now that you mention it…I'm not exactly sure," he said. "It's been pretty busy around here lately. You know Diana is always more than willing to help out wherever needed so I guess we just—"

"Take advantage of her," Batman finished for him.

"No!" Clark exclaimed in shock at the accusation.

"She needs to learn to say no," he spat out, "and you guys need to find someone else to help out around here."

"It's not my fault that Diana agreed to help everyone out," Superman said with a frown. "She's a big girl, Batman. She can make her own decisions. I think you're flirting with trouble if you try to make her take a break."

"I thought you cared about her," he snapped. "Aren't you supposed to be her best friend?"

"I am, but—"

"And as her best friend, don't you think you should step in and do something about it?"

"Well, I—"

"Or are you just going to let her work herself to death? Would that make you happy?"

"What? No!"

"I guess she doesn't mean as much to you as you claim."

"Now, wait a—"

"It's a good thing I came back when I did or she could be dead by the end of the week," he ground out. "I swear without me watching over everything the whole League would just fall apart. I'm gone for two weeks and you all run Diana to the point of exhaustion."

"Don't you think you're over—"

"Never mind," he hissed with a glower. "I'll take care of her myself."

Superman sat in stunned disbelief as Batman stalked away, wondering what in the world had just happened. He scratched his head, trying to figure out how Bruce was planning on taking care of her. Even he wasn't so blind not to notice the sparks that flew between his two best friends whenever they were around each other.

Batman's concern for Diana shouldn't really surprise him. Still, he wondered if he should step in and do something about it or just let them work it out for themselves. Bruce was obviously worried about her, but he also had a nasty tendency to overreact to things, especially when it came to her.

An alarm alerting him of a natural disaster in Argentina broke through his thoughts, capturing his attention. As he began deploying team members to handle the crisis, he decided he'd just let the two of them figure it out on their own, staying back to clean up the mess that Bruce was no doubt about to make by trying to tell Diana what to do.

He would've thought that Bruce would've learned by now not to push Diana. She was just as obstinate as he was and when the two collided…he internally shuddered at the thought. He just hoped the Watchtower remained in one piece when the dust settled.

XXX

Batman reviewed the countless mission reports that had piled up over the last two weeks, growing more agitated with every report he read. Wonder Woman had been a part of at least seventy percent of the missions. Very few of them had been minor instances and many of the missions had been back to back.

It was a true testament to her endurance and resilience, her ability to keep going for as long as she had been. He already knew that her weakness was to keep her fighting until her heart gave out. It was an outcome that he never wanted to witness or become a reality, the notion of her no longer being a part of the world too painful to even consider.

He grumbled under his breath, his irritation rising as he continued to read. She'd been injured just three days ago, receiving a broken left wrist in her efforts to take down Giganta. Of course, she returned to duty a couple of hours later after J'onn reset the break and braced her hand. He didn't know whether to be angry with her for not taking a medical leave or with J'onn for letting her return to duty.

Of course, it wasn't like anyone could make Diana stay down. They were more alike in that way than any two people in the entire League. He started in on the next report, the door swooshing open as Flash raced into the conference room.

"Hey, Bats," he greeted him. "Have you seen Wondy? She's supposed to help me with—"

"Are you incapable of doing it yourself?" he demanded to know with a knee-buckling glower.

"What?" Flash asked, confused. "No, it's just that—"

"You want her to help you because you don't want to do it yourself," he stated with a deadly glare.

"Yah…wait, no," Flash stuttered. "It's not like that."

"Then what is it?"

"I, uh…well, you see," Flash stammered, rubbing the back of his neck as he shuffled his feet, trying to figure out how this conversation had gone so wrong. "Wondy—"

"Can't say no," I finish for him.

"Exactly!" he exclaimed. "Wait! That's not what I meant either."

"Then, what did you mean?"

"I just meant that she's the best at—"

"Find someone else to help you," he growled. "She's busy."

"Um, yah…I think I'll do just that," Flash decided. "I'll see what Black Canary is doing."

"Good idea," he rasped.

With that, Flash took off like a streak of red lightning, wanting to get away from the Dark Knight as fast as possible. Batman stood to his feet as he gathered the reports, deciding to file them quickly before Diana returned from her mission.

This was definitely a talk that was too long in coming. He knew he was in for an uphill battle, but it was one that he was more than prepared to fight. She was the most obstinate woman he'd ever met, but so was he. She'd more than met her match in him.

"Batman to Lantern."

"This is Lantern. What can I do for you, Batman?"

"You know those solar panels that need to be replaced?"

"Yah, Diana is going to help me change them tomorrow morning," Lantern replied.

"No, she is not," he ground out. "She's busy. Find someone else to help you."

There was a long pause before Lantern finally responded to the growled command. "I guess…I can find someone…else," he managed to utter, his mind trying to catch up with whatever was going on.

"I would if I were you," he confirmed.

"Um, is everything all right with Diana?"

"It will be now that I'm finally back," he snapped. "Batman out."

Making his way to the monitor womb, he found Shayera on duty, her brow furrowed as she tracked a possible natural disaster. "Shayera," he greeted her. "How are the protocol revisions coming?"

"Good," she replied. "With Diana's help, I should have them done in no time."

"Why not ask J'onn to help you with them?"

Shayera stared at him with a confused look on her face. "Diana told me that she—"

"Diana is unavailable effective immediately," he barked. "I'm putting her on a three day leave of absence starting now."

Shayera tilted her head in annoyance, her anger rising. "Excuse me?"

"Diana is no longer available to assist anyone until I say otherwise," he ground out.

"Who died and made you her keeper?" she demanded to know, not about to back down from the scary Bat.

He ground his teeth, his jaw set like steel. "I did," he growled. "No one else seems to notice she's working herself to death or that everyone is taking advantage of her. Now that I'm back, I'm making sure she gets a break."

Shayera's anger shifted to amusement as she tried to stifle the laughter that bubbled up inside of her. "Well, it's been nice knowing you," she told him.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Diana is so going to kill you when she finds out you're trying to control her," Shayera told him.

"No she won't," he evenly stated. "She'll appreciate that a friend actually cared enough about her to step in and stop her before she kills herself."

"A friend?" Shayera repeated, her eyebrows rising in disbelief.

"Yes," he snapped. "A friend…nothing more."

Shayera snorted her disagreement, chuckling with his insistence. "You need help," she replied, turning her attention back to the monitors.

"Excuse me?"

"You're in love with her, Batman," she said. "Open your eyes. It's time you admit it not only to yourself but to her."

Batman growled low in his throat, his gauntleted hands curling into fists. "Just find someone else to help you. Diana is off duty the moment she returns from Kasnia."

With that, Batman turned on his heel, leaving Shayera to shake her head in amazement. She could hardly believe his nerve in trying to run Diana's life. It was more than apparent that he was madly in love with her, obvious to everyone but him.

Despite the fact that Diana was in love with him as well, he was going to find out the hard way that the Amazon wasn't going to appreciate his interference as much as he believed. She decided that maybe having J'onn on standby in the medical bay was a good idea.

XXX

Diana appeared on the transport pad with a weary sigh, running her fingers through her hair to find it a mass of tangles. The Kasnian conflict had been intense to say the least, leading to a few who had decided to test her and the others on her team, but they had quickly learned they had made the wrong choice.

After chatting with Queen Audrey for a while, she had transported back to the Watchtower later than the rest of the team. She was more than anxious to get a shower before meeting up with Bruce for dinner. The thought caused her lips to quirk with excitement, wondering what in the name of Hera had led Bruce to ask her to eat dinner with him.

Usually after a founders' meeting, Batman was the first one out the door in order to get back to Gotham. The fact that he was actually going to hang around and wait for her told her that there was something obviously going on in that head of his.

There was no telling what he was up to now, their conversation outside of the transporter room before she left leaving her more than a little curious about what was going on. She couldn't help the flicker of hope that sparked in her heart, hope that he might actually be willing to consider something more with her.

They had danced around their mutual attraction for too long. She had grown resigned to the idea that things were never going to progress, but she couldn't help holding out a little hope. Her feelings for him had definitely not changed over time. In fact, they had only grown stronger.

Exiting the transporter room, she came to an abrupt halt at the unexpected sight of Batman standing directly across the hall. He was leaning with his back against the wall, his arms crossed against his chest and a dark scowl on his face.

"Where have you been?" he demanded.

"Pardon me?"

"Your team returned over an hour ago," he ground out. "You did not. Where have you been?"

"I was talking to Audrey as if it's any of your business," she replied, her anger flaring.

"We need to talk," he stated.

She glared at him, her hands finding her hips. "Can I at least take a shower first?"

"Fine," he spat out. "I'll meet you in the commissary in twenty minutes."

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he claimed, abruptly turning on his heel.

Diana stared at him as he disappeared around the corner, her mind a whirlwind of confusion and irritation. She couldn't understand what had gotten into him. She was beginning to wonder if he had finally lost his mind, the Riddler causing him to crack once and for all.

Deciding there was only one way to find out, she made her way to her quarters to get a quick shower. Slipping into a simple sheath dress and sandals, she took one last look at herself in the mirror, noticing the fatigue that lined her eyes, the dark shadows that had formed beneath them. She frowned at the sight of herself looking so exhausted but there was little she could do about it now.

Leaving her quarters, she nearly collided with Flash who was coming around the corner. "Oh, sorry, Wondy."

"Sorry I didn't make it back in time to help with—"

"Oh, no worries," he reassured her. "Canary helped me with it."

"I'd be happy to help with next week's classes," she offered.

Flash took a couple of steps back, holding his hands up in front of him. "No…really," he responded, looking more than a little scared. "I'm good. Canary said she'd help me next week too."

Diana frowned in confusion. "All right…if you're sure," she murmured, continuing on her way.

Passing by the monitor womb, she spotted Lantern leaving. "What time do you want to change out the solar panels tomorrow?"

"Oh…about that," he replied, rubbing the back of his head. "Superman is going to help me with that. You just take some time off."

"But I'm more than happy to—"

"You can help me next time, Di," he reassured her, making a quick getaway.

Diana stood there for a moment, her brow creased in confusion. Superman came around the corner, his eyes widening at the sight of her. "Oh, hey, Di," he greeted her. "Don't worry about reviewing those reports. Batman did them for us."

"What?" she asked.

"Batman got the reports caught up while you were gone," he repeated.

"Okay, what in Hades is going on around here?"

"Maybe you should talk to Batman, Di," he suggested. "I gotta run."

She couldn't figure out what in Hera was going on. Batman was going crazy and her friends were running away from her like she had some deadly plague. Her anger grew along with her confusion, wondering what Bruce had done this time.

Entering the commissary, Diana spotted Batman sitting all alone in the far corner of the somewhat crowded cafeteria. Retrieving a tray, she made her way through the line, stopping to get a much-needed iced mocha.

"Hey, Di," Shayera said as she came up behind her.

"When did you want to finish the protocol revisions?"

"J'onn is going to help me get them done," she replied.

"Okay," Diana snapped. "What in Hera is going on around here?"

"You better ask your guardian Bat over there," Shayera told her with an amused grin.

"My guardian Bat?"

Grabbing her tray, Diana made her way over to the far corner where Bruce waited for her. His food was untouched as he sipped on his cup of coffee, a scowl still evident despite the cowl. Setting her tray down, she slipped into her chair, a dark glare settling on her dinner companion.

"What did you do, Bruce?" she softly hissed, her arms crossing against her chest.

"I stepped in to save you from yourself," he countered as he set his coffee cup down.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded, her anger simmering just beneath the surface and ready to explode.

"You have been running yourself ragged for the last two weeks and I'm putting a stop to it," he flat out told her. "You're on leave for the next three days."

"Why you arrogant, infuriating man!" she cried. "You have no right to interfere in my life like this."

"I was gone for two weeks dealing with the Riddler in Gotham. When I come back, I find that you're barely able to stand," he shot back. "You can't say no to anyone. You're exhausted, Princess. I'm putting a stop to it."

"That is my business, Bruce," she spat out. "I'm not going to stop helping my friends just because I'm tired."

"You're going to get yourself killed," he ground out. "I reviewed the last two week's reports and you were part of seventy percent of the missions. You can't keep going like this. Even you need to sleep."

"Why do you care?" she snapped. "You weren't even here for the last two weeks. Someone had to help make-up the difference so you could be gone taking care of Gotham."

"What?"

"I did it for you, Bruce," she revealed. "I took on all the extra responsibilities so you wouldn't have to worry about the League and you could just focus on Gotham. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to my quarters to get some sleep."

Bruce watched in stunned disbelief as she stormed out of the commissary, leaving her food untouched. He sat there for a moment, stunned by her admission. He'd had no idea that she had been working so hard just for him.

He glanced over at the thick stack of work that he and Diana still needed to do, all the monitor shift scheduling they needed to work on for the next two months along with vacation requests. He drew a deep breath, knowing that he needed to make it up to her.

XXX

Diana entered her quarters, her anger coursing hotly through her veins. She could hardly believe Bruce's audacity in trying to rearrange her life like that. Her hands were curled into tight fists as she tried to contain her fury, but it was most difficult when she wanted to strangle the man she was in love with.

She stood in the middle of her quarters for a long time, trying to regain some semblance of control over her anger. If she wasn't so exhausted, she'd go to the training room and run an assimilation to blow off some steam. Right now, though, the only thing that sounded remotely decent was getting her pajamas on and crawling into bed despite the fact that she was really hungry.

She began to make her way to her dresser when a knock at her door caused her to stop. "Who is it?" she snapped.

"It's me," Batman softly answered.

"Go away, Bruce," she ground out.

"Can I please come in, Princess?" he asked.

The fact he said please on top of the fact that he hadn't just overridden her security code and stormed in like he had in the past spoke volumes to her. "Fine," she stated.

The door slid open revealing Batman standing at her door with a pizza box with two iced mochas balanced on top. "You didn't eat dinner so I brought dinner to you."

She released a slow breath, her anger diminishing with the smell of the pizza in his hands. "Come in," she said, backing up and allowing him entrance.

Bruce entered, setting their dinner down on the table near the window that afforded them a breathtaking view of Earth. Turning, he pulled his cowl and gauntlets off, tossing them on top of her bed. His eyes were full of remorse, piercing her heart.

"I'm sorry, Princess," he softly said. "I didn't realize you had taken on all that extra work because of me."

"It's okay, Bruce," she told him with a sigh. "I was just trying to help you out. I didn't want you to be buried in work when you came back."

"And I was worried about you working yourself to death," he replied. A sheepish smile tugged at his lips as he gazed at her, once again taken with her beauty. "I guess we were only thinking of each other…weren't we?"

Her lips quirked into a smile, her blue eyes sparkling with affection. "I guess so," she agreed with a nod.

He reached out to caress her cheek, his walls unexpectedly falling down in her wake of her compassion and unselfishness. She had pushed herself to her limits all because of him. It touched his heart unlike anyone else had ever been able to do.

His fingers slid into her hair, coming to rest on the back of her head before drawing her close. His lips softly caressed hers slowly…tentatively at first only to grow more certain, more demanding. Her arms slipped around his neck as she parted her lips, bidding him entrance.

He eagerly complied as he held her head where he wanted her, his other hand moving to her low back to pull her hips firmly against his. He swallowed the moan that rose up in her throat, unable to stifle his own groan of pleasure.

Breaking the kiss, he pressed his forehead against hers. "We should eat," he softly said. "Pizza is getting cold."

She smiled softly, slowly dragging her tongue across her lips as she fought to catch her breath. "So you're staying?"

"Well, you haven't thrown me out yet so I'm going to take that as a good sign that I can stay and eat with you," he teased, releasing his hold on her.

She followed him to the table, sitting down and opening the box. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, the delicious smell making her stomach rumble. "How in the world did you get a pizza like this from the commissary so fast?" she asked.

"I'm Batman," he told her. "I can get whatever I want."

Diana just shook her head, an adoring smile on her lips as she took a slice of pizza from the box. "I guess being dark and scary does have its advantages," she decided before taking a bite.

"How's the wrist?" he asked as he took a slice.

She gave him a sheepish look as she took a sip of her drink. "It's fine," she murmured.

"If it's fine, then why are you favoring it?"

"J'onn just told me to be careful with it," she replied, refusing to make eye contact with him.

"You broke it, Princess," he pointed out. "You should have been taken off duty immediately."

"And how many times have you been injured and returned to duty?"

"We're not talking about me. We're talking about you," he countered.

"Maybe we should be talking about us instead?" she flirted as they continued to eat.

A smirk formed on his lips, his desire for her steadily building, but now was not the time. It was clear she was having a hard time staying awake at that moment. "After you get some sleep."

She looked down at the almost finished pizza, wondering if he would just pretend later that nothing had just happened between them. He had done it before. "All right," she softly replied.

Firm fingers beneath her chin forced her to look up at him. "I promise, Diana," he told her. "Come to the manor tomorrow night for dinner. We'll talk about us."

Her smile returned as she stood to her feet. "I'm holding you to it."

He stood to his feet as well, kissing her sweetly on the lips. "Sleep well, Princess."

"What about you?" she asked with a frown. "I'm sure you're tired after chasing down the Riddler."

"I'm fine," he reassured her. "Besides, I've got some work I need to do."

Unable to argue any longer, Diana crawled into her bed. Bruce adjusted the covers over her, kissing her once more on the forehead. "See you tomorrow night."

She drowsily murmured something in coherent as sleep quickly took hold of her. Bruce stood there for a moment just watching her sleep. She was so incredibly beautiful with a heart that equally matched her outward appearance.

Putting his cowl and gauntlets back on, he quietly grabbed the chair he'd just vacated, taking it and his stack of work outside. Turning around, he punched in the code that locked her door before settling into his chair right outside her quarters.

Batman began to work on the monitor shift roster and vacation requests, his mind already consumed with thoughts of his date tomorrow night with Diana. He felt an unexpected sense of relief now that he had finally admitted his feelings for her. Although he hadn't exactly expressed it in words, his actions had spoken volumes.

"What are you doing?"

Batman looked up to find Clark coming down the hallway. "Working," he bluntly stated.

A goofy grin spread across the Kryptonian's face. "You're working sitting directly outside of Diana's quarters," he clarified. "Are you Diana's personal guardian angel now?"

Bruce thought for a long moment, the corner of his mouth twitching ever so slightly. "Something like that."

Superman chuckled as he entered his quarters, thinking it was about time something had finally happened between those two. He just hadn't expected it to come about quite like this.

THE END