Work Text:
Bruce was already in the cave when the sensors picked up the slight atmospheric disturbance that typically preceded teleportation so all he had to do was look up from the evidence he had been reviewing to see Diana materialise.
She looked awful.
Uncharacteristically pale, with rings under her eyes and covered in scrapes and bruises. Her left arm was swollen and approaching purple. Frost clung to the metal of her uniform and he realised what he had originally taken for glass in her hair was ice.
“Bruce...” She started towards him but stumbled and pitched into the chasm. Bruce sprang from his chair to pull her back but would have needed Superman or Flash’s speed to make it in time. Fortunately Diana managed to catch herself in a wobbly hover and through great effort positioned herself back over solid ground.
She dropped down to her hands and knees with a complete lack of finesse and then a cry of pain as her left arm buckled and nearly sent her face first into the floor. Bruce managed to catch her before she made it that far and manoeuvred her back to her feet.
She was cold even through the leather of his gloves and he could feel her trembling. Her eyes slowly regained focus as they landed on him and she seemingly became aware of her surroundings. His own eyes fell to the grizzly wound on her shoulder, three holes of torn and missing flesh copiously coated in frozen blood.
Anything that could pierce Diana’s skin was heavy duty, whatever could do that and cause the swelling and unnatural discolouration he was seeing was cause for concern.
“Devil Ray, poison” Diana managed to say.
“You should have gone to the Watchtower, J’onn...” Bruce didn’t even try to keep the anger from his voice. He kept a functional medbay stocked but anything that could do this to a Meta of Diana’s class required more than he could provide and J’onn’s expertise far outweighed his own. This was why romantic attachments were a bad idea; they put logic on the back burner when it should be front and centre and
“J’onn’s gone” Diana’s voice cut through his thoughts like a knife through butter
“Gone? Gone where?”
“He left. Help me”
Putting aside where a 7 foot alien who seemed determined to be a hermit could go and the logistical nightmare that overseeing the League would be without him, the Watchtower still had an excellent medical team. That Bruce knew Diana, like himself would do almost anything to avoid seeing.
So mindful of her unsteady limbs he led her to the caves medical alcove. A brightly lit plexiglass cube that seemed comically out of place amongst the rocks and crags.
Diana flinched at the light and it was up to him to guide her to the exam table
“I think I’m snow blind” She mumbled
“Or it’s the poison”
She nodded once keeping her gaze lowered and her lips pressed tightly together.
Bruce left her to gather the necessary supplies. Every antidote stocked on the Watchtower had a dose in his possession, along with the many more it was necessary to have close at hand in Gotham. He pulled the vial labelled for Devil Ray but didn’t feel overly confident in it. Nothing the villain had used had had this effect before even on non meta’s. Diana, not hearing him move started as he took her uninjured arm and injected the antidote.
“Right lets get that shoulder looked at”
“It was a stinger, barbed” Diana said still keeping her gaze low, to avoid the harsh lighting Bruce realised, unfortunately he needed it to work by.
“King pulled it out”
“King? Getting a little familiar with our government liaison aren’t you?”
Was that jealousy in his voice? He quickly covered it up with another question in the hopes Diana wouldn’t notice.
“What was Agent Faraday doing at a climate conference anyway?”
He also chose that moment to begin washing away the frozen blood and applying antiseptic in case his verbal misdirection wasn’t up to task. Diana hissed at the sting, the barbs she had mentioned had taken a fair amount of her shoulder away with them. It was a good thing she tended to heal quickly and well; there was absolutely no hope of closing the wounds.
“He was assigned to the VP’s security”
“A regular jack of all trades” He’d meant to sound glib but there was that jealousy again.
Diana didn’t seem to notice though; her gaze lifted and she regained her customary flawless posture as she stated
“I’m going to be sick”
Bruce managed to shove a cardboard bowl under her just as she made good on her word.
“Good to see the world assembly isn’t skimping on the h'ordeuvres” He commented dryly glancing the bowl over once she had stopped heaving. The look Diana shot him was as poisonous as her veins. And ruined only slightly by the bile dribbling down her chin.
“Here” He disposed of the bowl and handed her first a paper towel to wipe her face and then a plastic cup of water.
“Slow sips” He advised.
“What I’m not understanding” He said getting back to work on cleaning her wounds “Is how a soiree in the mountains ends up with you poisoned and the League down a Martian”
“I don’t understand it myself” Diana admitted sounding a little more steady, though her eyes remained downcast.
“They wanted the ship”
“They?”
“Giganta, Killer Frost, Devil Ray. They pulled it right out of the glacier”
“What would they want with the Viking Prince?”
“You know the legend?” Diana tilted her head to meet his gaze over her shoulder.
“I have to do something when I’m laid up” Bruce told her
“So you read mythology?”
“Alfred’s forbidden me from the crime network and he says I take all the joy out of quiz shows”
Diana chuckled hanging her head once more
“It was one of the last stories that made it to Themyscira before we were truly isolated. A brave warrior wandering the world seeking an honourable end” She sounded wistful
“As I recall he would never get one” Done with the antiseptic Bruce put it aside and begun gathering dressings. The antidote he noted was having some effect, the swelling of her arm had gone down and the discolouration was not nearly as dramatic.
“No the legend said he was cursed with invulnerability. Hera! You don’t think?” Diana sat up but her body clearly wasn’t up to the sudden movement as Bruce watched her eyelids flutter in profile before she started to tilt left. He put out a hand to stop her but she came to and caught herself.
“Gods my head is swimming”
“Here” Bruce pressed firmly between her shoulder blades bidding her to lean over and place her head between her knees. The upsides were it gave him a flatter surface to apply gauze to and would keep Diana from fainting, the downside was she couldn’t exactly continue her train of thought from that vantage. Bruce however had realised what she had been about to say.
Invulnerability was a useful commodity there was no doubt about that. But seeking it was not something he’d of expected from Giganta, Killer Frost and Devil Ray. Not to mention that even if the legends were true none of them would be able to take it from the Viking Prince. They simply didn’t have the know how. They could have intended to sell the body off to the highest bidder but Bruce doubted any of them were capable of orchestrating such a plan. They were talented and as Diana had found out, dangerous but they were muscle. They didn’t pull their own schemes, they carried out other’s. The only question here was who’s was it this time.
Luthor was on the scene again and he had both a use for invulnerability and the knowledge to potentially extract it. But unless Bruce had missed a spot, which he doubted, Lex had no access to any of his previous resources which meant on top of lacking equipment he had no way to pay anyone to play body snatcher. Only if he would likely only have to pay Devil Ray. Killer Frost liked to be paid in blood and wait. Giganta? Giganta only worked for....
“Bruce?” Diana queried her voice muffled by her position and he realised he’d slipped into silence.
“You’re done” He said taping down the dressings. Diana started to lift her head but he put his hand on her back.
“Slowly” He told her
“Yes Sir” Diana grumbled
“If you’d rather faint....”
“Amazon’s do not faint”
“Of course not”
Bruce busied himself putting everything back where it belonged though he kept watch on Diana from the corner of his eye. She took his advice and sat up slowly, her face scrunched as her eyes still weren’t up to the light. It was possible that she was right and was experiencing snow blindness. She had fought in snow without ever having it effect her eyes before but perhaps the conditions hadn’t proven just right as they had this time. Or the poison was effecting her ability to heal. That was troubling.
“Put these on” Bruce was back at her side a pair of sunglasses in hand. Diana was clearly growing tired of his orders but couldn’t stand the light long enough to glare at him before she had to take the glasses from his hand.
“Do I look cool?”She asked sliding them on.
“Like a movie star” Bruce purposefully kept his tone dry even though the clunky frames, meant for medical UV protection, were instantly transformed to designer label on Diana’s face.
“What do you think?” She pulled the frames halfway down her nose and peered over them “Breakfast at Tiffany’s?”
“Holly Golightly didn’t squint”
“You’re no fun” Diana pushed the glasses back up with a pout that did make her look a little more Audrey Hepburn like.
“Neither is photokeratitis, keep those glasses on”
“For how long?”
“Until we get to your room”
“My room?” Diana almost made the mistake of doing a double take but remembered what had happened the last time she moved her head too quickly.
“The medbay lighting’s too harsh and you’ll be more comfortable upstairs” Bruce explained
“More comfortable for what?”
“Observation” He held a hand out for Diana to take; she was much more lively than when she arrived but staying steady still wasn’t a skill she had full mastery of at the moment. If they were to make it upstairs she would likely be reliant on him.
“I know you think it’s cute giving enigmatic one word answers but it’s actually rather annoying” Diana said not deigning to take it
“You’ve been severely poisoned and aren’t healing at your usual rate, your recovery needs to be monitored. And I don’t think anything is cute”
“Kittens?” Diana asked taking his hand and allowing Bruce to help her to her feet.
“Immune”
“Due to over exposure I presume” There was a hint of something close to derision in Diana’s voice but before he could say anything about it she had moved on with
“Sugar gliders?”
“There’s nothing cute about the exotic pet trade”
“Those pictures they make on lattes?”
“I drink my coffee black”
With the glasses on Diana was effectively blind in the dimness of the cave but trusted him to lead her well enough to keep listing things off as they made their way up the stairs and into the library. The trip, normally nothing to a woman who could juggle tanks left her panting and Bruce had to let her sit to catch her breath. Well aware that she wouldn’t appreciate a witness to her weakness Bruce purposefully perused the shelves while she got her strength back.
The glasses kept the light at a tolerable level for her so she didn’t rely on him for guidance like she had in the cave but reluctantly aware she wouldn’t be getting far on her own Diana deigned to slip her hand into the crook of Bruce’s arm and allowed him to support her up the grand staircase. They had to pause once more at the landing for her to catch her breath before continuing to the guest wing.
Alfred had no doubt been keeping an eye on what was going on in the cave as the main guest suite had been freshly made up. There was even a small posy cut from the gardens resting in a glass on the night stand because subtly was apparently dead.
“Thank you Bruce” Diana removed her hand from his arm and through what Bruce imagined was a lifetime of being trained to hold herself sat on the bed primly instead of collapsing on it. Though she did take several moments to gather herself before reaching for the robe Alfred had laid out. It took her a few more before she began removing her armour. The tiara and bracers were easily shed and she managed to undo her girdle one handedly, the motion of trying to unclasp her bustier however made her hiss in pain.
“Allow me” Bruce sat down beside her and admitting defeat Diana obligingly turned her back to him. The clasps undid easily and Diana preserving her modesty for his sake held the fabric in place.
“Do you need help with your boots?” He asked
“I don’t think so” Diana started to shake her head before she once more caught herself but not before a still damp strand of hair brushed his cheek.
“I’ll get you a towel”
In the en suite along with freshly laid out towels Bruce found a neatly folded set of civilian clothes waiting for him. Alfred was crafty. He changed and left towel in hand, Diana had likewise shed her uniform to huddle in her borrowed robe.
“Here” Bruce once more sat beside her to gather her hair up and wrap the towel around it.
“You’re looking casual” Diana noted glancing him over.
“You should see yourself” Bruce commented, she looked as though she had been dragged to a day spa and wasn’t enjoying one moment.
“No longer a movie star?”
“One hiding from the paparazzi maybe” Bruce took the pillows from the bed and arranged them so she would be propped without putting pressure on her wound.
“I suppose you’re an expert”
“On hiding from the paparazzi or movie stars?”
“Both” Diana lay back and Bruce found he was grateful for the look the glasses, robe and towel gave her. Without them she’d be far too akin to a Victorian maiden laid up on her sick bed, pale and delicate as she was. He never liked seeing her vulnerable.
“Well I wouldn’t call myself an expert” He said taking a place on the bed beside her. Diana raised an eyebrow over the rim of her glasses but said nothing at his actions. She’d obviously expected her observation to come from afar.
“No of course not” She said settling down “You’re far too modest”
“Truthfully I only date movie stars when I'm working a case and I go out of my way to be spotted by the paparazzi” Bruce told her. He wondered the moment he said it why he’d revealed that and why he felt compelled to further explain with
“They’re only in it for the publicity and don’t mind it so much when I don’t pay them attention.”
“Bruce that’s awful”
“It serves a purpose”
“But don’t you feel used?”
“You’re taking my side?” Bruce asked genuinely surprised
“Well you’re using them but they can’t know that not the way you know they’re using you” Diana explained.
“I guess I’m used to it” Bruce said eventually.
He had never truly pondered things from the perspective Diana had presented him with before. People had always used him, for his money, his name, his connections. It had always just been part and parcel of his station, ingrained in every aspect of the life he had been born into.
“I think it’s sad” Diana announced
It was a bit Bruce supposed. He did have an out though, one none of his peers did. All he had to do to slip the net and gain access to a world where his skill and knowledge were more highly valued than his name and money was dress like a bat.
Hell dressing like a bat had allowed him to find a group of people who actually preferred him that way. Even if he was surly and broody. The woman beside him in particular had never let it bother her and Bruce realised he was inordinately grateful for that.
“Thank you Diana” He said
“For what?” She asked confused by the emotion and sincerity in his tone
“For caring about me”
He could see her eyes from behind her glasses enough to tell that she hadn’t expected to hear that and didn’t know what to do with it. That was another thing he appreciated about her; the frank honesty that imbued every aspect of her being. She didn’t try play his words off and appear nonchalant, she didn’t even think to. Her face portrayed what she felt as did her voice when she said
“Of course I care about you Bruce”
Seven ordinary words arranged into an ordinary sentence that conveyed something Bruce already knew but that wasn’t what made them precious. It was the way Diana said them that warmed something, somewhere behind his ribs. She spoke as though it were fact, something solid, quantifiable and objective. Something true that couldn’t be disputed.
She made him sound worthy of care.
“How’s your arm?” He asked in an attempt to hide how her words effected him
“Better” The smile on Diana’s face told him it hadn’t worked for the second
“Good you can hold this for me” Bruce handed a small metal cylinder across to her which she took with a quizzical frown
“A torch? If I didn’t know you better I’d say there’s a joke there”
“Just so you know, we all regret the day Wally explained puns to you”
“My sisters said almost the same thing last Dionysia” Diana’s eyes sparkled with unrestrained mischief behind her glasses
“I’m sure they’ve added them to the crimes of mankind” Bruce said using his phone to close the drapes and blanket the room in darkness.
“Well that’s just unnecessary” Diana told him as she slipped her glasses off
“You’d be surprised how much time and energy it saves in a house this size” Bruce explained reaching for the book he’d liberated from the library. Diana raised on an island where everything was done by hand rolled her eyes but obligingly shone the torch he had given her on to the cover.
“Folk Tales and Verse of Great Britain?”
“I told you I have to do something while I’m laid up” Bruce said flipping the cover and appraising the contents for something that might interest Diana.
She already knew the legend of King Arthur, it had been included in the mission dossiers for their run ins with Morgan Le Fay and Shining Knight was wont to wax poetic about his home every opportunity he got. The tale of St George and the Dragon might prove too close to that of Perseus and Andromeda, the Lambton Worm too contained almost nothing that could not be found in the stories of her youth right down the soothsayers and tragic irony of the ending.
“What’s ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner?’” Diana lay her head on his shoulder and squinted at the page
“It’s a poem and you’re meant to be resting your eyes”
“Read it to me then”
“You want to hear it?”
“If it means you’re reading poetry to me”
Well if that’s what the Princess wants, Bruce thought turning to the appropriate page; trying and failing to hide the grin that settled on his face at the thought of how long it would take before she realised he wouldn’t be comparing her to a summers day.
“It is an ancient Mariner
And he stoppeth one of three”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This fic started out as penance for the WonderBat discord after it's members rightfully informed me that "If I didn't ship Wonderbat I could see Diana with King Faraday" was a funny way to say 'Blasphemy'. But like most fics it had a mind of it's own and now we're here.
Story Notes
Bats, bats everywhere: The Batcave definitely has a medbay and the ONLY way I can see it remaining functional is by it remaining completely enclosed. The last thing you want bats pooping all over is medical equipment.
Blinded by the Light: Snow Blindness also known as Photokeratitis is when the eye is exposed to too much UV resulting in sunburn on the cornea.
Free Time: I personally like to imagine Bruce watching crime and police drama's when he's stuck in bed recovering. Not to try and solve anything before the big reveal but to relentlessly critique the characters. And he'd been forbidden from quiz shows because he knows the answers to everything and that's only funny the first 30 times.
Very Punny: Dionysia was a festival in ancient Greece dedicated to the God Dionysus. It was typically celebrated with theatre performances and because Dionysus was the god of wine a whole bunch of drunken revelry. As the Amazons are typically more for the Goddesses than Gods I wasn't sure they'd celebrate it but since it was one of the few times women were allowed to break free of the strict gender roles that governed ancient Greek society I thought they might have a soft spot for it.
Folksy: St George and the Dragon is a well known story added in the middle ages to the life of St George who had died several hundred years earlier and obviously never killed a dragon. It's almost identical to the myth of Perseus and Andromeda; Sea Monster/Dragon terrifying the locals, they try appeasing it with livestock but it eventually decides only virgin princesses will do, princess is tied to a rock and left to die, hero comes by and slays the beast and saves the day, hero marries princess. The Lambton worm is a little different, John Lambton skips church and goes fishing on a sunday, is told by an old stranger that's a sin, doesn't catch anything till church is over when he catches a weird worm, tosses it down a well cause who wants a worm, John grows up and goes on Crusade, worm grows up and starts leaving the well to snack on livestock and children, John comes home finds his fathers estate in ruin thanks to the worm which is now so large it can wrap around the nearby hill 10 times, nothing can kill the worm everyone's tried, old witch tells John to attach spear heads across his armour and fight the worm in a stream and once he's killed it he must kill the next living thing he sees or his family will be cursed, John gets his armour ready tells his dad to release a dog when the battles done to be killed and goes off to fight, battles done worms dead his dad forgets to release a dog rushes out to congratulate his son, John refuses to kill his dad and is cursed. Interestingly the Lambton family exists and did have a lot of bad luck with several members dying violent deaths and 'not in their beds' as the Witch warned.
Rime of the Ancient Mariner: Written in 1834 Diana quotes this poem in 'To Another Shore' as J'onn departs the League. I humbly put forward this explanation for where she first heard it.
Anyway that's all for now, I hope you enjoyed this fic! I'd love to hear your thoughts, I accept criticism of my work as long as it's constructive.
Ari Out!