Chapter 0 - Hereafter

WonderBat - Hereafter


Prologue:

Kalibak’s limp body flew thru the air, propelled by the punch Superman unleashed on the alien’s chin. Superman watched the alien’s body crumple in front of the office building across the street then turned to face the red behemoth of a robot Toyman had constructed. His initial reaction was to attack however the robot’s energy discharged changed his plans. He leapt to the opposite side of the street, helping Batman clear some of the innocent bystanders out of the way from the path of the beam.

Once he moved the victims to safety, he regained altitude, hoping to distract Toyman from additional discharges against the pedestrians. “Give it up Toyman,” he yelled, “You’ll never get me with that thing!”

“Perhaps not,” Toyman said, shifting the aim of his weapon from Superman, “but what about your friends?” He centered the sights on Wonder Woman and Batman, who had come to the aid of his wounded teammate in order to get her clear of the carnage. Toyman pulled the trigger on the weapon and the resulting discharge of energy drifted towards the two Leaguers.

“No!” Superman shouted, simultaneously flying towards the blast in hopes of deflecting it. He was less than 20 meters from flying into the energy ball when a green kryptonite ray enveloped him, knocking him out of the sky. “Metallo!” he thought in resignation as the loss of his powers crashed him to the ground.

Batman was kneeling next to Diana in an att tot to free her from the rubble when the ball of energy passed over Superman’s head. He watched in rapt fascination as the green ball surrounded him and Diana, then there was nothing but darkness…


Part I - Genesis

…which lasted momentarily, only to be replaced by a purple sky and blazing red sun.

Diana was still stunned from the blows she’d taken during her battle with Kalibak when she felt the pressure of Batman’s grip on her hand. She shook her head twice to clear the cobwebs, however she was sure she’d suffered a concussion as everything in her vision was tinged red.

Batman released his hold on her hand, then he walked to the edge of the surface on which they stood. The concrete and rubble stopped only a few feet away, then a few feet below them lay a barren desert. Batman surveyed their surroundings, noting three other chunks of the neighborhood which were adjacent to their position, then whipped out a miniature computer to sample the atmosphere.

Diana watched his movements with puzzlement, which quickly turned to frustration as her foot was still caught under the rubble. She attempted to free it, however the boot was wedged in tight. She looked to Batman for assistance however he was occupied with his task. She grunted a few times as the rubble shifted slightly, exasperated as Batman was not in the least bit distracted by her ever more vocal grunts which accompanied her efforts. She finally managed to pry one of the rocks off of her boot, but was surprised when the skin on her hand glowed with small scratches of blood. ‘That had to be a really sharp rock’ she thought to herself, mystified by a vulnerability she’d never experienced before.

“This isn’t Earth, is it?” she asked Batman, slowly limping up to him.

His head whipped around as he remembered her presence. “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “the specific gravity matches Earth exactly but the sky is obviously different.” He continued to scan the objects transported with them and muttered inaudibly.

“What happened?” she asked him, her eyes narrowing in quiet anger at his propensity to leak out information only in measure amounts.

“My scanner is detecting an unusual amount of Tachyons in our area. They’re dissipating on a logarithmic scale – I doubt they’ll be around for more than another minute or two – but I don’t understand why.” He concluded, trailing off as his attention focused on another matter. Diana noticed an immediate change in his body language as he rapidly punched in another set of keystrokes.

“No. It can’t be!” he muttered to himself in disbelief.

“What is it?” she asked in hesitation, fearing that any answer raising such a reaction from the Dark Knight would likely not bode well for the two of them.

“My computer has a clock in it.” he responded quickly. “An atomic clock actually. Given our recent adventures in space travel, I thought it might prove useful to keep an accurate record of time. The clock is encased in a muon field which shields it from distortions in space-time like wormholes or hyperspace jumps.”

“Your point?” she asked sharply.

“The computer says that the year is 32508.”
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“That’s more than 30,000 years into the future,” she argued. “Your clock is wrong. It must be a mistake. More likely Toyman found a way to transport us to another planet. Like a boom tube.” She suggested helpfully.

“Boom tubes exhibit a different energy signature.” He countered evenly. “That’s not what hit us.”

“Then what did hit us?” she asked angrily, frustrated by his aloof response.

“Toyman hit us with a Tachyon beam…I don’t recognize the pulse signature of the energy wave.” He stated ominously

“Physics aren’t exactly a specialty of mine. What are Tachyons?” Diana asked.

Batman looked at her, briefly considering the conclusions his mind had reached. “Tachyons are energy particles whose velocity hypothetically exceeds the velocity of light. Theoretical physicists believe that the existence of particles with hyperluminal, that is to say, excess of lightspeed, properties are precluded by the theory of relativity. Toyman obviously found a containment wave to carry the tachyons past lightspeed. My best guess is that we’re on Earth. Only difference being its more than 30,000 years into the future.”

“Where are the people? The buildings?” She asked plaintively. “Did they all just disappear?”

Batman didn’t answer her questions, which had grown rhetorical in his view and distracted him from solving the dilemma in front of him. He changed modes on his computer to communications, and was surprised when he was rewarded with two homing signals on his screen. The first was from the central computer in the Batcave, which surprised him as that beacon was emanating from the west instead of the Northern direction from which it should have come. The signal was strong and looked to be about 600 miles away, twice as far as it should have been from Metropolis.

He turned his attention to the other signal, which was weaker and appeared to be at least 1,000 miles from their position to the south. It was a Justice League signal but he couldn’t tell if it was an open comm. link or a repeating distress call.

Diana had heard the signal on her own comm. link and looked at him quizzically. “Are you getting that same signal?” He nodded affirmatively, not telling her that he was also getting a signal from the Batcave.

“Shouldn’t we investigate it?” she suggested.

Batman nodded his head in resignation then surveyed the piles of rubble and cars in the area. “Give me a few minutes to see what I can scavenge.” He said. “You’ll never know what might come in handy.”
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Diana was flying the two of them, along with a bag full of items Batman had pilfered from the cars. They were flying in tandem, with her right arm linked around his waist while his left arm was similarly linked over hers.

She surveyed the terrain beneath them, looking for any similarities to the Earth she’d once known. The desert scape beneath them gradually gave way to savannah plains, which evidenced the first forms of life in the form of grazing herds of mutated buffalo herds, or at least what she thought of as buffalo.

Diana stole a quick glance of the man next to her however he evidenced no reaction, remaining intent on the mini-computer screen in his right hand which was aiding their search for the signal. She noted the outline of his jaw was already evidencing its first signs of a five o’clock shadow, which gave his face, or at least the parts of his face not covered by the mask, an even more masculine air, if that was possible. His body involuntarily quivered as this was really the first moment that they’d shared since their return from the Kasnia mission a few months before. He’d largely ignored her after that mission, always finding some excuse to bring along another JL member for a mission or making a hasty retreat back to Gotham, but always making sure that the two of them were never alone.

A smile briefly crossed her lips as she remembered their last conversation when they were alone together. ‘He still owes me that dance’ she thought, then dismissed the thought from her mind. They flew on in companionable silence for a few more minutes, but she noticed that her body was definitely getting used to his proximity. Her right hand had drifted from his waist down to his hip and her palm was slowly pressuring his right buttock under its own volition. ‘Great Hera…I’m copping a feel!’ she thought to herself in embarrassment, however she noted in greater amazement that her hand didn’t seem to want to move back to its original position at all but instead had settled into a comfortable position on his butt.

Diana was enjoying the sensation of this man pressed against her body when she began experiencing a growing sense of weakness. Minute by minute the sensation grew stronger, and she suddenly had to concentrate just to maintain them in flight. She regained some altitude as the landscape beneath them changed from plains to rain forest then jungle. Batman noticed the fluctuations in their altitude and looked at her with some concern. “Feeling OK?” he asked casually.

“I’m fine. How far away are we?” she replied, dismissing his concern.

“About two more minutes at this speed.” He replied, concentrating on the readouts in his handheld computer. Diana’s face was flustered from the exertion. She was growing weaker by the second but at the same time she maintained her Amazon warrior façade, not wanting to demonstrate any weakness in front of him.

The signal in their comm. links grew stronger as they approached, then they both looked at each other in astonishment as the Watchtower, or at least the remains of it, emerged from the jungle floor. Diana set them down with a gasp in front of the landing bay, then almost collapsed to the ground before Batman reached out and supported her. He guided her over to a tree stump then eased her down to a sitting position.

“Easy there. You’re fine, huh? Batman smirked.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’ve never felt so weak before in my life.” Diana panted between breaths. Batman produced a canteen from the bag he was carrying and gave her a drink of water. The liquid felt cool on her throat. The wave of dizziness passed and she put on her best face in order to return to the task at hand.

“I feel better. Let’s go.” She said, reaching for his hand. He pulled her off the tree stump then the two of them walked over to the landing bay entrance. Batman produced his landing bay door remote however the door didn’t respond to the signal from his remote opener. Batman walked over to a recessed console Diana hadn’t noticed before during their stay on the Watchtower. He pulled the panel off the console, found a microphone then said, “Batman, 91939.”

The landing door bays groaned open as the gears, in addition to their age, were working against gravity for the first time. They parted a few feet then stopped as the weight of the doors was too much for the gears, but the opening was wide enough for the two of them to pass by.

Batman and Diana made their way to the central monitoring room, which in their minds they’d left only a few hours before however 30,000 years had passed in real-time. He found a console with a working power source and entered his password. The monitor faded, lit up, faded a second time then stabilized at full power as circuits activated for the first time in thirty millennia.

“Computer - provide current date and time.” He ordered.

The verbal interface was working however there was no audio feedback from the computer. The date flashed up on the screen in front of them. November 28, 32508.

“Great Hera.” Diana said softly. “You were right.”

“I usually am.” Batman smirked. “Computer - provide last known location of Justice League members.” Batman ordered.

The monitor displayed pictures of Superman, Martin Manhunter, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, Flash, Nightwing and Supergirl with the titles: Missing. December 10, 2003.

Diana leaned into Bruce, brushing lightly up against him in order to gain access to the console. “Nightwing and Supergirl? Computer. Provide last known whereabouts of Wonder Woman and Batman.”

Their own pictures flashed onto the adjacent screen. “Dead, November 28, 2003. Killed in Metropolis by Toyman.”

Batman stared at the images of his teammates which he’d fought with only a few hours before and fought hard to quiet the rising angst in his voice. “Computer, display most recent available images of Justice League members on Console #1.”

The monitor faded again for a second then warmed up again, showing a number of still photo images of a battle in Metropolis between the League and Vandal Savage. He appeared to be armed with a disintegrator at first glance, then the images showed the League members hovering a few feet off the ground, unable to control their respective flight paths. One by one the images showed Savage guiding the League members down to his position on the ground, where they were instantly compressed into minute packets of matter, snuffing out their existence in the process.

“Vandal built a gravity weapon.” Batman reasoned. “He condensed their matter into denser forms.”

“Denser forms?” Diana seethed at his side, withdrawing from her comfortable position at his side. “Is that all you can say?” Tears streamed from her eyes as the images were replayed in front of her, forcing her to relive the deaths of their teammates one more time. “Turn it off!” she barked at him, then stormed down the passageway to the living quarters.

Batman watched the images one last time to see if he’d missed any details, then pulled up some more information from the computer. After a half an hour of downloading information into his hand-held computer, he dropped his head in resignation and followed her down the hallway.


Batman found Diana in her quarters,which were a wreck as a result of the Watchtower’s impact years before. The décor looked different though, and he looked around, trying to place the origin of the articles strewn about. Diana was sitting quietly on a chair she’d propped upright, holding her chin in her hands.

Batman opened his mouth a few times then stopped, unsure of how to verbalize what he was feeling. “I… didn’t mean to sound callous about our teammates back there. I’m… sorry…” he finished weakly.

“It’s not your fault.” She said sharply. “Savage was a madman. If we were there, he would have killed us just as easily.”

“I ran some checks on the power system.” Batman said. “The power reserves are less than 1%. That’s why it fell out of orbit. It didn’t have enough power to fight the orbital decay. I need to download as much information as possible before it drains completely.”

Batman turned and left the room. Diana watched him go then put her head in her hand and replayed the images of her now-dead teammates in her mind. ‘We need to have a wake.’ She thought suddenly, then sat up and quickly marched into what remained of the kitchen.


The power had turned completely off when Batman found Diana in the kitchen. She was sitting on a chair slightly tilted due to the pitch of the floor, angled as a result of the leaning position of the Watchtower on the jungle floor below. The cabinets were all opened. Diana had rummaged thru their contents and procured a bottle of Jack Daniels, which was sitting on the floor next to her, with a partially filled plastic cup evidencing the liquid.

“There you are!” she said with a distracted tone, then waved the bottle of Jack Daniels at him and patted the chair next to her. Batman raised his eyebrows in question and Diana answered before he could verbalize his thought. “Flash had a secret stash of alcohol in here for celebrations when you were gone. We used to drink Jack Daniels watching Monday Night Football. I thought I would raise a glass in memory of our dead friends. Care to join me?”

“I don’t drink.” Bruce countered sternly. “I should concentrate on finding us some food.”

“I’m only going to ask nicely once.” She spat, looking at him with all of the Amazon ferocity she’d ever displayed to him. “Our friends are dead. I’m guessing we’re the last two survivors of the human race and it looks like we’re going to be spending a lot of time together. As one concession to me, would you please join me in a toast to the memory of our friends?”

Batman considered her request for a few seconds, then propped up a chair next to hers at the kitchen table. She wordlessly handed him a cup, filled both of them, then raised it eye-level with him. “To the Justice League!” she intoned. “May the halls of Valhalla praise their names in eternity!”

Batman’s eyes drooped a moment in reflection as he considered the loss of his friends, then decided he couldn’t demonstrate any weakness in front of the Amazon Princess and echoed the salute, clunking her cup with his own. He poured the shot down his throat, feeling the burning sensation as the alcohol fumes fought their way back up his nostrils, then placed the cup back on the table. Diana smiled in surprise at the gusto with which he drank the shot, and was even more surprised when he reached over for the bottle and poured another shot for each of them.

“I thought you said you didn’t drink.” She said accusingly, her voice slightly slurring as the effects of the whiskey began to settle in.

“I don’t.” he countered. “But then again, I don’t normally travel 30,000 years into the future with a Goddess and find out my teammates are dead in the same day, either, so I figured I’d break a rule for once.”

She blinked in surprise at his sudden verbosity. “I’m not a Goddess.” She observed, a bemused expression appearing on her face as she’d obtained a rare glimpse into his view of her powers. “Did you find anything else in the records?”

“Nothing surprising.” Batman said evenly, then stopped. “Well a few things, actually. I confirmed Vandal used a gravity weapon on the League but it did two things he didn’t intend. The plate tectonics were disrupted by the gravity waves…the Earth has basically gone back to being Pangaea. The weapon also disrupted the orbits of the planets and initiated the death-sequence of the sun. That’s why it’s red.”

“How long before the sun goes supernova?” she asked.

“A few million years. We’re not in any danger.” He assured her, then his voice hesitated for a moment before he resumed. “Your Mother apparently brought the Amazons to Metropolis to battle Savage after he’d killed the League. Their effort was unsuccessful. He defeated the Amazons rather handily. I’m sorry.”

“I assumed something happened to them…at least they died in battle.” She said, proud of her Amazon’s sisters attempt to save humanity. “Any good news?” she asked.

“There was one surprise I guess. After we ‘died’, Nightwing and Supergirl were inducted into the League. They gave her your room – that’s where the new décor in your room came from. Anyway, the two of them apparently wasted no time in commencing a relationship. Superman was not happy!”

“I would guess he wouldn’t be!” Diana laughed. “I’m sorry I never got to meet Nightwing. His reputation as a warrior was apparently well deserved.”

“Dick was…” Batman started then stopped again. “a warrior,” nodding his head in agreement at her description. “I wish we parted on better terms… it was only recently that we had gotten back on speaking terms.”

Diana smiled in acknowledgment then poured them both another glass to maintain the momentum of their conversation. She didn’t want to give him a chance to retreat back into the cold exterior of the Bat he maintained so often.

“Besides dancing in Paris, do you realize that this is the most we’ve ever spoken in one sitting?” she asked him suddenly. “Why is th

Batman didn’t answer her for awhile. He sat quietly, contemplating the answers to questions he tried not to ask himself very often. “I’m not very good with people…especially friends.” Batman said unevenly, searching for the right way to deliver his thoughts.

“Is that why you still have your mask on?” she asked. “I know who you are, even if you didn’t want to admit it to me.”

“I wear the cowl and mask because I’m Batman!” he countered suddenly, leaning forward in his chair as a scowl took shape on his face.

“In case you hadn’t noticed, the reasons for Batman being Batman are no longer relevant. Wonder Woman doesn’t exist in this time either.” Diana observed quietly, slipping off her tiara. She placed it on the table then reached out and touched his face with her hand. “Bruce, we’re going to be each other’s only company for a long time so can we please start it off on the right foot?”

Batman sat back in his chair, considering her request. He took another healthy pull on the glass of whiskey in front of him then pulled his cowl off, placing it next to her tiara. “Hello, Bruce.” She said, running her fingers through his tousled hair. She looked deeply into his eyes, searching for an answer to a question that remained unasked.

“Hello, Diana” he said, pulling her face to his.

He thought it would be a quick exchange, however she surprised him as her tongue worked its way into his mouth, probing for his own. The kiss increased in intensity as their bodies moved in unison to maximize their contact. They continued with the embrace, Diana alternating between nipping at his lower lip or nibbling his ear lobes, when his hand worked the release on the back of her bodice. He released the ties and suddenly Diana was topless in front of him. Her eyes widened in shock as his hands set upon her breasts, cupping the weight of them and kneading each nipple gently between his index fingers and thumbs. Her arousal was immediate to his touch as her nipples hardened and elongated under his ministrations. She leaned back and pulled his face down to her bosom, imploring him to continue his exploration while she reached down with her free hand, caressing the outline of his tumescence beneath his uniform.

“Hmmm..” she whispered throatily, “that’s nice!”

“I’m not going to have time to find us something to eat if we keep this up.” He warned her, all the while increasing his attention on the hardened points on her chest.

She looked into his eyes again, searching for his reaction, then said, “Food can wait. Give me a minute, then come down to my room.” She stood up and walked down the hallway to the residential quarters, making no effort to conceal the topless half of her body.

Bruce watched her disappear down the hallway, enjoying the view when the realization that he had made a pass at Diana struck him with full force. ‘She makes me want to lose control’ he thought, ‘but this isn’t right. Especially not under these circumstances.’

He looked at the remaining glass of whiskey in front of him, took a hard pull on it to give him the courage he needed to face the situation, then pulled the cowl back over his face as he walked down the hallway.

Diana was waiting for him in her room. She was wearing a gown which had obviously been Supergirl’s however the difference in the physique of the two women was evident as the front of the gown didn’t meet, revealing her ample bust straining against the silk material. The room was almost dark however he could tell that she wasn’t wearing anything below her waist either as a dark tuft was visible below the hem of the gown.

He gulped as their eyes met, her expression quizzical as she noticed the cowl over his face again. She smiled weakly but seemed to grasp the message of his garment. “So its back to being Batman?”

“Yes.” He stated, expression tight-lipped despite the vision of the Goddess in front of him.

“Does that mean you’ve changed your mind?” she asked, her face tightening in anger.

“Yes.” He replied in the same stoic manner.

Diana felt a purge of anger wash thru her body, replacing her arousal with the shame of a woman – a princess no less – scorned by a lover’s rejection. “May I ask why?”

“I don’t want to take advantage of you. You’ve had a lot to drink.” He observed in a monotone, infuriating her.

“Maybe I want you to take advantage of me!” she groused defiantly as she stood up. Her sudden movements pulled the nightgown farther open, revealing the rest of her body.

His eyes darted to the luminous body in front of him, focusing on the parts he’d seen for the first time this night. “We have got to keep our focus.” He explained weakly, voice trailing off despite his best efforts to maintain the façade of the Bat. “Getting involved wouldn’t do er oer of us any good right now.”

Diana swiveled her head at his last remark, stopping her in her tracks. “You have a pretty high opinion of yourself to think I’m pursuing a relationship. I knew you were arrogant before but this reeks of overconfidence. Did you ever consider the idea that I might just want to use you for a night?”

“No.” he replied, unsure of his actions for the first time.

She strode over to his figure in the doorway and pushed him out into the hallway. “Then you’re a bigger fool than I thought!” she yelled, then slammed the door shut behind him.



Part II – The Aftermath

Diana stirred in her bed the next morning. She stared at the ceiling for a few moments, contemplating the effects of a hangover resulting from the Jack Daniels, but also thinking about the tension in her body resulting from the lack of sexual fulfillment from the night before. Her muscles were tense and there was an ache, or more like an echo, she thought wanly, of unfulfilled desire. She shook her head in exasperation as she pictured his hands running rampant on her body, shivering despite herself with excitement about the events unfolding the previous evening. Feeling the ache of desire, Diana contemplated pursuing her own gratification but the anger of Batman’s rejection of her overcame her want and she rose off the bed.

She searched thru the room for some clean clothes but only fouome ome nightshirts and workout shorts which would fit. The difference between her physique and Supergirl’s was going to be a problem, she realized. They were tight but ‘beggars can’t be choosers,’ she thought, shaking her head in resignation.

Diana found Batman in front of the computer monitor, working at a speed reminding her of Flash. He ignored her for a minute, then pointed to a canteen and stack of Flash’s energy bars from the bag he’d carried with them from the desert. “Breakfast of Champions.” He noted wryly.

He continued working for another minute before pausing a second time, then turned to her. “It may not be convenient, but I’d like to see what happened to the Batcave. I’m still getting a signal from it.”

‘He intends to pretend like last night never happened.’ She noted in amazement. She looked at him with pity as he’d completely retreated behind the mantle of the Bat again and shrugged her shoulders with indifference.

“I’m ready whenever you are,” she said. “what do you want to take from here?”

“That depends on how you’re feeling, doesn’t it?” he asked, watching for her reaction.

“I still can’t figure out why I was so weak yesterday,” Diana said. “Maybe I should test myself before we get too far ahead of ourselves.”

They walked outside thru the landing bay doors, pausing as one of the animals in the area bellowed, but it sounded relatively far away.

Diana prepared herself, then soared into the sky, managing to take flight but it was obviously a strain. She set herself back down on the ground after a few seconds, dumbstruck by her lack of power. She looked at him in alarm as they walked back into the landing bay. “I’m so weak. What’s happening to me?”

“I’m not sure you want my answer.” He said gravely.

“Any explanation you can provide is better than what I have.” She noted, trying to wear a brave face but still frustrated by her loss of power.

“Your power is derived from the Gods, more accurately from Gaea, the living spirit of the Earth, correct?” He asked. Diana nodded affirmatively, wondering where he was going with his explanation.

“Savage’s gravity weapon obviously wounded the Earth…the sun and the planets in the Terran system for that matter. Gaea was likely wounded as well. If so, your powers are decreasing commensurately with the damage to the planet.” He concluded.

Diana’s eyes widened in shock at the theory. “That would explain it!” she agreed. “But how much weaker am I going to get?”

“Let’s not waste any time trying to find out.” He said. “The Batcave is a farther flight than where we started. Do you think you can get us back to where we started yesterday? We might be a bit heavier. I’ll probably bring a few gallons of water for emergencies.”

“I’ll try.” She promised valiantly. “But I’ll make sure to fly low, just in case anything happens.”


Their departure from the Watchtower was a sad affair to Diana. Bruce had seen her hesitation in leaving its familiar confines however he misinterpreted her hesitation, dismissing the significance of the moment by saying “it’s power systems are almost completely gone – it’s useless to us.”

“It’s not that, you obstinate piece of crap.” She said icily. “That was my only home I’ve known besides Themyscira. That’s where I met my friends. Shared victory celebrations after our battles. I can’t just coldly walk away from it without feeling something.”

They stared at each other for a second before he nodded. e yoe your time.” He said. “but not too long.”

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Diana was flying the two of them, along with the increasingly heavy bag of items Batman had taken from the Watchtower. He’d borrowed some extra clothes from Superman’s room as the other male teammates clothes were too small from him while Diana had scavenged some clothes from Hawkgirl and Supergirl. eforefore, they were flying in tandem, however she made sure to stay a few feet off the ground whenever possible, lest her powers suddenly give way and have them plummet to the Earth.

The jungle gave way to the savannah plains, which then changed to the desert. Diana noticed a herd of buffalo below them was being chased by a pack of wolves, which efficiently cut out the weakest animal in the herd and took the animal down with a quick bite to the neck.

Diana concentrated on keeping them in level flight. She was straining with the effort and sweat was trickling from her every pore with the effort. Batman was navigating their way as before, calling out the directional changes if she veered off course, however an hour later they touched down on the desert floor next to the pile of cars Toyman had transported with them into the future.

Batman led Diana over to the front seat of the large convertible, then strung his cape above her in an attempt to provide some relief from the hot sun. She sipped from a canteen then looked at him gravely. “I’m not sure I can fly us to the Batcave.” She said. “I feel like Superman just hit me with a left hook.”

“We’ve got some transportation right here.” He observed. “Rest. I’ll put together what we need.”


Batman realized that their first priority would be to establish some sort of shelter during their stay in the desert. He parked the cars in a rough circle then instructed her to rip out some of the rear seat cushions from some of the cars, making a bed for her on the ground. He managed to find a tarp, stringing it over the bed for protection from the sun. Diana gratefully collapsed onto the cushions and fell off into a deep sleep. She woke a few hours later as dusk settled in and found Batman, less shirt and cape, ripping out the car batteries, electrical components, computer chips, radios and antennas from the cars surrounding them. He carefully piled the most valuable components into the car trunk then resumed his task, pulling out parts which she couldn’t even identify but which seemed important to him.

He noticed her stir off the makeshift bed then seout out making a fire from the flammable parts of the wrecked cars around them. “Hun“Hungry?”

“Starving.” She responded immediately, immediately regretting her reply as she was looking at the sweat glistening on his chest when she said it.

He turned back to the fire and skewered what looked like a jackrabbit, at least a mutated jackrabbit and put it on a spit over the fire, roasting the flesh 12 inches above the fire. Diana saw a trashed SUV nearby, ripped two of the bucket seats out of the front, then plopped them down a few feet from the fire.

“Are we ever going to talk about last night?” she asked him as she settled into the seat.

“What about it?” he responded in his deepest timbre, his eyes narrowing at her.

Diana refused to be intimidated by his callous response. “We…were on the verge of being intimate. I think we should discuss the situation.” she stated firmly.

“What’s to discuss? We had too much to drink. We’re 30,000 years in the future and all of our friends are dead. It’s natural that we’d rely on each other, we just took it one step farther than we should have.” He observed flippantly.

The casual way he made the remark sounded too rehearsed to her ear but she let it go. “If you say so.” She allowed slowly. “I just don’t want to be uncomfortable around you, that’s all. After all, it looks like its just going to be the two of us for awhile.”

“We’re fine.” He stated brusquely, then carved off a strip of meat with a batarang edge and placed it into a plate in front of her. The plate was actually part of an intake for an air filter, but he’d cleaned it up for her.

“Thanks.” She said kindly. “This is the first time a man has ever cooked for me.”

He ate the rest of his meal in silence in the car seat next to hers. She caught him stealing a glance at her once but they studiously avoided eye contact for the rest of the evening. He scraped off the plates as well as he could then went back to the cars after the sunset, working under the light from a car-dome light he’d modified during the day, powered by the setup of car batteries he’d turned into his workshop during the day.

Diana watched him work for a few minutes, then settled back down on the bed and listened to the sounds of the desert around her. She stared at the unfamiliar stars for a few minutes, falling into a restless sleep for the next few hours. She stirred at one point and looked for Batman, but he was nowhere to be seen. She searched about the campsite, growing concerned about his absence when she caught the silhouette of his seated figure a hundred meters away. She watched, fascinated as she realized he was committing the Sin of Onan. She smiled in surprise that the Dark Knight had to sneek away to find an outlet for his sexual frustration, then remembered she had considered the same act that very morning. The act of watching him was arousing in itself she realized, and her body quietly ached the rest of the night as she tried to get back to sleep.

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The next three days were quiet as he scavenged the pile of cars for anything worth saving. Batman selected the convertible due to its storage capacity, then found a tool kit, jumper cables and gas can from the SVU Kalibak had damaged during the battle. He siphoned the remaining gas from the SUV then took out the gas tank a few hours later and placed it in the backseat of the convertible. He connected the new gas tank to the existing one, providing the convertible with 75 gallons of gasoline capacity. He repeated the siphoning process from the remaining cars, finally topping off the massive tank he’d constructed. In the process, he decided to borrow the SUV wheels, shocks and struts and place them on the convertible in case of difficult terrain, which meant he needed a few extra days before they attempted the next leg of their journey.

Diana assisted him when she could. Despite the loss of some of her Amazon powers, she still retained some of the enormous strength she’d originally possessed. She estimated that she was probably weaker by half or even more, but that didn’t prevent her from turning over a car chassis when Batman asked so he wouldn’t have to spend the day working underneath a car. He also taught her how to use his batarangs to kill the animals in the desert that they needed for sustenance, some of which were too quick even for her to catch on foot alone. She enjoyed the hunting and tracking oe ane animals and spent good portions of the day away from the campsite and usually returned with an animal carcass in hand.

Diana also noticed the changes in temperature for the first time in her life. While the days were hot, the nights were cool, prompting unfamiliar shivers from her skin against the cold air. Bruce had improvised a means to sew the pieces from the seat-cover materials from the cars into a set of blankets, which he promptly gave to her despite her protest that he should have one of them. She noticed that he always waited until she fell asleep then he would slip onto his own makeshift bed on the ground a few feet away from her, uncovered with the exception of his cape.

He seemed to be immune to the cold but on the fourth night of their stay at the camp she woke up in the middle of the night and found him shivering on his bed, his cape lying on the ground next to him. Diana picked up her blankets, walked over, then settled in next to him, sharing her warmth. He mumbled something in his sleep incoherently, then turned over and spooned her. She smiled to elf elf as she felt his involuntary physical reaction suddenly poking at her bottom, then shifted her body even closer to him before falling back asleep.


Diana woke with a start as she felt the cold eyes of the Bat upon her. The sun hadn’t yet crested the horizon when she looked into his face, which was already evidencing a full beard. He looked at her empty bed a few feet away then looked back at her accusingly.

“You were shivering last night.” She said in protest to his hard expression.

“Don’t. Do. That. Again.” He hissed, then turned away from her quickly as he realized the physical manifestation of his attraction to her had sprung up on its own volition. He walked away with a slight limp as a result of his condition while Diana collapsed back onto the ground in exasperation at his behavior.

Despite the cold, Diana was glad when the sun went down every night as Bruce’s obsession with building them a new all-terrain vehicle meant that he didn’t talk much during the days. The long silences during the days, and her inability to provide much value except for serving as the occasional car lift, meant that she had plenty of time to contemplate their evolving relationship.

Bruce was a man full of surprises she thought. His engineering skills were a marvel to her and she enjoyed watching him work, especially when he removed his shirt and his muscles were rippling with sweat. Like the rest of the League members, Diana had quickly come to rely on his brilliant mind to provide critical intelligence for their missions. Despite his brilliance, he was aloof, sometimes arrogant and largely dismissive of his fellow Leag. Gi. Given his pride, he seemed to wear the burden of his lack of special powers on his sleeve. He had saved them all many times over, especially Diana, but she wondered if she really knew the real man hiding behind the Bat. Batman was a creation of his mind to rid Gotham of criminals and his mission had extended beyond Gotham when the League was formed, but now that the world had moved on she wondered if he could move on as well.

Diana felt a restless energy from him for which she could provide no outlet. The lack of available entertainment, coupled with his propensity to minimize their conversations, quickly resulted in a sense of loneliness, despite his proximity. She decided to attempt to engage him in conversation that night, no matter how brusque he acted towards her.

She borrowed one of his batarangs and had set out to find sustenance for them. Today’s result was a rattlesnake, which was surprisingly tasty. Diana had finished cooking it over the spit for their dinner when he appeared at the campfire, no longer able to work as the remaining sunlight had faded to black. He’d decided to save the power from the batteries as they were no longer in a rush to start the next leg of their journey.

“Hungry?” she asked.

He mumbled an affirmative, then waited patiently as she dropped some of the meat onto the makeshift plates he’d made. She then turned a spout on an evaporator that he’d made from an air conditioning unit from one of the cars. It collected the condensation from the evaporated water in the air into a container, providing them with over two gallons of water per day. She filled the cup then passed it over to Bruce, who nodded gratefully and continued munching on his meal.

“You look funny dressed in Clark’s clothes.” She said, giggling at the superman shirt he was wearing with a pair of boxer he’d also found in Clark’s bedroom.

“I’m glad the Boy Scout was built like he was or I’d be wearing a buffalo hide about now.” He agreed.

“Bruce, tell me about your parents.” She said suddenly.

He grimaced at the mention of his parents and looked at her coldly. “Why do you ask?”

“I… just want to know something more about you, I guess.” She said meekly. “We’ve been co-workers for awhile but I don’t know much about you.”

“They were killed by a street punk when I was eight.” He said.

“I know they were.” She said, exasperated at his minimalist reply. “I’m asking what they were like before they were killed. What were they like? What did they enjoy? Did they go dancing on Saturday nights? Anything?”

“Does it really matter anymore?” he asked, looking into the fire and avoiding her glance. “They’ve been gone for 30,000 years.”

“Of course it matters, you stupid man!” she said, rising to her feet in frustration. “Great Hera, why have you punished me so?” she yelled, looking to the sky. “I’m stranded for eternity with a man who won’t even talk to me. I’m filthy and I need a shower and to shave my legs!”

Bruce was stunned by her sudden outburst of emotion. While she had been known to have a temper by the League members, he was surprised that it had manifested itself this way. “Diana…” he began, then stopped, unsure of himself. “They were…everything to me. The last day I was happy was the day before they died. When they died, I died.”

He paused again, measuring his words to her. “Since that day, every ounce of my being went to perfecting myself in every way I could think. Martial Arts, Engineering, Languages, Methods of Escape, Evasion, You name it, I studied it. Even acting, so I could learn how to act the part of Gotham playboy to ensure no one learned of my identity. I’ve spent the last 25 years becoming Batman,” he said, “and now we’re 30,000 years into the future and Batman doesn’t exist anymore.”

Diana’s eyes widened in surprise as he admitted the inner conflict she’d sensed from him.
“Batman isn’t who you are, Bruce, it’s what you do.” She said softly.

“Do you think I just have a switch that I turn on when I put on the cowl and say ‘Now I’m Batman?’” he asked in surprise. “I’m Batman all the time. Bruce Wayne is the act. If I drop my guard for one second, somebody will die because of it.”

“My point is: you don’t have to be the Dark Knight with me. Here. Now. Look at me, I was Diana, Princess of Themyscira. Now I’m just Diana and some of my powers have deserted me. Look at what you’ve done with all of this equipment. I feel useless next to you. As an Amazon, it’s not easy to swallow my pride and defer to your judgment on these matters. What I’ve learned though is that I can rely on you despite your best efforts to make things difficult between us.”

“I’m sorry if this has been hard on you.” He said impassiv

“It can be as hard or as easy as we want to make it.” she lectured. “Just promise me you’ll talk to me more than the occasional grunt during dinner and things will be much better, I promise.”

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Two days later they packed their new belongings onto the convertible and fired up the engine. “Ready to go?” he asked.

“Yes, but I was getting attached to this place, you really can’t beat the view.” Diana said, winkat hat him.

He put his mini-computer on the dashboard in front of them, then eased the ATV forward, listening for any signs of transmission problems as he’d basically turned the convertible into a monster truck. He detected a slight groan of protest from the universal joint, then engaged a torque converter to help dissipate the strain on the transmission. The car rolled for a few seconds as he picked up speed, then settled on a comfortable pace of 30 miles an hour to make their way to the Batcave.
 



Part III – The Dance

It was the morning of their fourth day of driving when they had their first contact with a mutant predator. They had driven until dusk then Bruce parked the car 50 yards from a stream which during rainy season looked like it turned into a sizable river.

Diana had awoken with the morning sun however Bruce was still sleeping, which surprised her as he didn’t usually manage to catch more than three h a n a night. Diana wandered over to the stream and dipped her toes into it, testing the temperature. It was cold but it looked too refreshing to pass up, especially as gamey as she was starting to feel without a shower for than a week. She stripped off the nightshirt she was wearing, (which she stolstolen from Bruce as she’d already adopted most of his clothes) and plunged into the water. The shock of the cold enveloped her body but she stifled a yelp as she surfaced. She did her best to wipe the grime off her body with some shampoo and a bar of soap she’d retrieved from Supergirl’s room, then couldn’t take the cold anymore and made her way back to the shore.

She’d set the shirt on a tree branch overhanging the stream when the water suddenly churned underneath the s. A. A huge crocodile snatched the shirt between its jaws then turned its attention on her. She was standing in thigh high water and couldn’t get to shore without crossing the path of the reptile. Diana crouched to fly her way out of the potential trouble when the water next to her churned and her leg was seized in the grip of a second crocodile. She seized its jaws between her hands and started pulling the crocodile off her leg when the second one moved in for attack. Diana grimaced in pain as the other crocodile settled on her left thigh and clamped down, intending to roll her with its weight.

“Hera, give me strength!” she yelled andughtught both of her fists together on top of the first reptile’s head, caving in its skull. Diana was gathering her strength for an attack on the second crocodile when Bruce was suddenly at her side, plunging a knife-edged batarang into the top of the crocodile’s skull, then twisting the blade to libotomize the animal. Diana pulled its now-dead jaws from her leg, then loudly yelled “Fuck!” as she examined the wounds to her legs. Bruce splashed water into the wounds to clear out any likely infections, then picked her up and carried her back to the car.

“I’m fine! Put me down!” she ordered in her most authoritative princess voice, however he ignored her and ripped up two of his remaining shirts. He bandaged her legs quickly, only pausing to cover her naked figure with his cape. She was suddenly aware of her nakedness in front of him and attempted to cover up her private parts. “I’ve seen some of it before,” he noted with a smirk as she blushed.

“I’m sorry. I’m not used to parading around in front of you in my birthday.” She admitted wryly. She looked at him tenderly and smiled as she put her hand to his cheek. “You’re always going to be there for me when I’m in trouble, huh?”

“I couldn’t let them eat you alive,” he said, then walked away. She looked at him retreat to the stream and as he walked away she thought she heard him mutter, “that should be my job.”


Diana was restin the the car when Bruce returned from the stream. He’d stocked up as much water as they could carry, which was pretty sizable as he’d used the two remaining gas tanks from the other cars to carry water, then skinned the carcasses and packed away the crocodile meat as best he could.

“That smells awful.” She said, wrinkling her nose.

“What choice do we have?” he countered. “We don’t know when or where our next meal might come from.”

While the wounds to Diana’s legs proved relatively superficial, they decided to make camp in the same place for a second night. They’d just finished their crocodile steaks for dinner after sunset when Bruce sat up from his chair. “I have a surprise for you.” He said, disappearing into the dark towards the car.

Diana sat on her makeshift chair for a moment, waiting for him to come back, when the sound of music reached her ears. The volume increased then Bruce reappeared in the firelight.

“I forgot one of the cars was full of CD’s. I took some for our trip but I …forgot about them. He reached down with his hand and smiled, a warm smile Diana hadn’t seen from him before which melted her heart. “May I have this dance?” he asked, still holding out his hand. She cocked her head in uncertainty but grabbed his hand and stepped into his embrace. Her body responded to his touch as he pulled her tight to his body, linking her hands around his neck and placing his own hands on the top of her butt. They slowly swayed to the sounds drifting over them, which was perfect under the moon above them.

“What music is this?” she asked.

“Band called Journey. Used to slow-dance to this song with a girl named Nancy Wallace in eighth grade. She was my first kiss.” He noted.

Diana listened to the lyrics and was moved by his choice. She buried her head into his shoulder

Lying beside you, here in the dark
Feeling your heart beat with mine
Softly you whisper, you're so sincere
How could our love be so blind
We sailed on together
We drifted apart
And here you are by my side

So now I come to you, with open arms
Nothing to hide, believe what I say
So here I am with open arms
Hoping you'll see what your love means to me
Open arms

Living without you, living alone
This empty house seems so cold
Wanting to hold you, wanting you near
How much I wanted you home

But now that you've come back
Turned night into day
I need you to stay.

Bruce pulled back from her far enough to see her face as they danced. “When I was first training to be Batman, I’d hear songs like this and always think that they were meant for other people.”

“Could it be meant for us?” she challenged.

He considered her question for a moment, then nodded however he wasn’t satisfied with the answer. “I can’t help but thinking we never would have kissed back at the Watchtower if not for Toyman’s robot.” He observed with a look of concern on his face.

“That night was just a result of something that had been building a long time, at least it was from my perspective.” She said, searching his eyes for a response.

“I’m not sure what you mean.” He said uncertainly.

“Denial is a river in Egypt.” She replied.

“Now I really don’t know what that means.” He said warily.

“It means that there has been an undercurrent of attraction between us for a long time. When I danced with you in Paris and realized Batman and Bruce Wayne were the same person, I was confused. The fact that you avoided me after that was somewhat annoying but I realized that since we’ve been in the League, you’ve been always been watching out for me. Rushing to save me from the tachyon beam is just the latest example I can think of. There’s been plenty. I always thought it was kind of cute but then I realized it was your way of showing me that you cared for me.”

Bruce considered her statement for a moment nar narrowed his eyes at her. “You knew that I cared for you? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I thought it was the Man’s job to take care of these things.” She smiled back at him sweetly. “Besides, I asked you out on a date, but you never accepted my offer.”

“When was this?” he asked.

“Kasnia ring a bell?” she asked. “I offered to let you take me dancing but the phone never rang. I thought you were png hng hard to get.” She observed with a coy grin.

“Question is: Where do we go from here?” he asked.

“I don’t think the world needs to be saved anytime soon.” She said, grimacing once as the memory of her lost teammates invaded her thoughts. She cleared her head of the images and looked over to him. “It’s up to us to see how we make a life for ourselves in this world.”

“No promises. A warning though: Be patient with me.” He said to Diana. “I tend to wear people out pretty quickly. Alfred was the only one who knew how to handle me.”

“Besides killing crocodiles and rabbits, it doesn’t appear that I have anything else to work on right now, do I?” she said laughing at him. They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment and Diana could literally feel the weight of the Bat had been lifted from his shoulders and Bruce had returned. Diana’s eyes watered as she realized she’d achieved the breakthrough she’d been looking for with him for weeks. “Welcome back, Bruce.”

He stepped further into her embrace, then buried his face into her hair, inhaling the essence of her and reveling in the grace of her femininity. She reached her right hand behind his neck, then pulled his face down to hers as she initiated a long kiss. She surprised him even more as her tongue probed for his own, her mouth hungrily devouring his in a swirl of passion. The kiss lasted another minute before she moved into him, causing her breasts to settle against his chest. He brought his hand under the t-shirt she was wearing to cup them, then he settled on her right breast, kneading the nipple gently between his index finger and thumb. It responded immediately to his touch, tightening from its original diameter, then hardening from her arousal.

“Hera...” she moaned with pleasure, “that feels good!”

He manipulated her back into her chair next to the fire, then knelt on the ground to maintain their eye level. She opened her legs, pulling him even closer to her to increase the intensity of their contact then wrapped her legs around his back. His right hand continued caressing the hardened points on her chest as he nuzzled her neck and ears, which elicited an immediate response from her as she groaned with pleasure. She reached down inside his trousers in response, feeling his length and murmuring in appreciation, then guided his free hand to the warmth between her own legs, pulling aside the shorts she was wearing.

Bruce moved his face back from her face a few inches and they enjoyed each other’s touch. Diana’s eyes grew heavy with desire and her sex grew slick with need as he concentrated on the nub of nerves under her hood. Her body began rhythmically shifting in the chair, reveling in the tension his hand was creating. She closed her eyes and rocked back as his pace increased, then couldn’t stand it anymore and ripped off the shorts she was wearing and guided him into her, thrusting her hips onto his manhood as he took her.

‘She feels like liquid velvet,’ he thought, rocking his hips back and forth as she gasped in pleasure at his thrusts. He quickened his pace for a few minutes then felt her body spasm. Diana arched her back and let out a guttural moan as she came, then she bore down on him, willing for him to come with her. “Now!” she commanded. “Now!” Bruce stifled a gasp as his body spasmed, then he let out his own groan as his body wracked with convulsionsen aen achieved his final release.

The tension slowly drained from their bodies, however she clung to him, wrapping her legs tighter around his back to ensure that he did not leave her body. “Stay there.” She whispered, kissing him gently on the cheek, “I want to feel you inside me for a little while yet.” He hesitated, then relented as there was no way he could overwhelm her Amazon strength anyway, regardless of how much it had diminished since their arrival. His manhood was losing its tumescence, however Diana continued to work at it with her muscles, massaging it and drawing the last drops of the release out of his body.

“I’m gonna need a bath.” He observed, inhaling the mingled smell of their joined sex.

“I think I’ll join you.” She noted with a smile, then gasped as he picked her up, legs still wrapped around his back, his manhood still inside of her. “Ooooh, Mr. Wayne…” she cooed, mimicking the Gotham socialites she’d seen him with. “You’re so strong!”


Diana stirred in her bed the next morning and felt the hot breath of her sleeping companion on her neck. After they’d bathed in the creek, the two of them had plunged onto her bed and made a nest. They lay spooned together, naked, under the makeshift blankets. Diana peeked under the blanket and found his right hand cupping her left breast, the nipple cradled between his fingers.

Diana shifted her body slightly, wriggling even closer to him and she felt his body respond in kind. His nether region stirred on its own as Diana stroked it gently to command its full attention, then she backed onto it, raising a leg and shifting her position again to accept its length into her body, which was wet with desire again. She brought her leg down slowly, savoring the feel of him inside her, then slowly moved her hips in a circular motion, grinding her pelvis against his and stifled a gasp as her desire swelled from within. She noticed a quickening of the breath against her neck and craned her head back to look at his face, which was now awake with wide-eyed won “G “Good morning.” She whispered throatily, kissing him hard while pressing his hand against her nipples, which had perked up on their own and responded to his touch. His face still registered the surprise of waking up in such an intimate position, however he quickly turned the focus of his attention back to her body, rocking his own hips slowly, in synchronized movements with hers to provide the strongest pleasure he could provide for her. He reached around her hip and found her pleasure center, then she seized his hand to make sure he didn’t withdraw it as the pleasure was so strong. Both of them had a desire to increase the pace, however the sensations were too great to rush to the moment. She looked back to him, staring into his eyes as the intimacy of the moment solidified their feelings for each other.

She felt a low humming in her throat as the tension in her body started to build. There was a quick flash of pain as he penetrated even deeper, however it was only a mild ache compared to the previous evening when he had deflowered her. She met the tension, eased her body for a moment, then redoubled her efforts as her climax built even higher. Her hips started to buck against him and she screamed with pleasure as her body climaxed. She reached back for him, trying to wring the built up tension out of his body and into hers, however he held off, savorine moe moment of her climax, then his face contorted with pleasure as his own release was achieved.

The two of them lay spent, sweating in the humidity of the stagnant air around them, but neither of them spoke. Diana was enjoying the moment, but dreaded the ‘morning after’ conversation she knew was coming. She smiled at him one more time however he didn’t return the gesture, looking at her with confusion and probably some residual lust. Perceiving the conflict of emotions in his face, Diana asked, “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that I’m a lout for taking advantage of you last night.” He said sheepishly.

“Well then, we’re even, because I took advantage of you this morning.” She said haughtily.

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They resumed their journey that day, fjording the stream in its shallowest point then following the track he she signal from the Batcave. They made good progress that day as the terrain was favorable, however their progress was slowed for awhile as Diana insisted on orally pleasuring him while he was driving. She initially started playing with him inside of the shorts he was wearing, then pulled the shorts down and took him in her mouth, freeing her breasts from her shirt and placing his non-driving hand on her breasts. He gasped in surprise and brought the car to a halt but resumed driving when she stopped her ministration on his cock and said, “I’ll only do this while you’re driving.” He tried to maintain his focus on the terrain in front of them but kept looking down at her mouth working on his erection. His eyes closed for a second then opened to swerve around a large boulder before the spasms of orgasm occurred, spraying his ejaculation into her awaiting mouth.

He looked at her in amazement as she managed trk ork out the last of his prodigious expulsion then she pulled his shorts back over his waist and happily resumed her position next to him in the car. “May I ask where you learned to do that?” he asked in disbelief.

She turned to him, slowly teasing him by pulling the t-shirt back down over her breasts. “I read about it in one of Shayera’s Cosmopolitan magazines – the Agony section I think it’s called.”

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They made camp again that night, dancing under the moonlight and making love under the stars, then fell asleep in each other’s arms. Diana woke up the next morning and found a box next to her in bed with a makeshift bow around it. Bruce had his back to her and was tending the campfire when he heard the question. “What is this?”

“Open it and see.” He grinned.

Diana removed the bow from the box and found a crocodile skin bra and skirt he’d made from the reptile skins. “Thought you might want to go native at some point,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “Merry Christmas.” She squealed with delight at the gift, but more with the realization that he’d stayed up all night making it by hand. She pulled the outfit on and proudly pranced over to him to display the outfit. “It’s beautiful.” She said. “How did you know how to make it?”

“If you see the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue a few times then any red-blooded man would figure it out, although that outfit was probably more inspired by the movie 1 million years B.C. You and Raquel Welch have the same figure so I thought it would work…” he grinned.

Diana’s happiness was quickly replaced by concern. “I didn’t get you anything.” She said sadly. She thought for a moment to remember the characters from the movie Flash had watched with her one night on HBO, then pulled him to her, removing his pajama bottoms to free his suddenly erect member. “Me Jane. You Tarzan.” She smiled, then took him into her mouth.

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Part IV – The Encounter

Three days later their journey was complete as the monitor on top of the dashboard indicated that they were directly above the Batcave. There was no sign of the Manor, or even of Gotham, only some crumbling foundations reflected any signs of man-made civilization was ever there. The geology of the hillside on which the Manor had sat before was largely unchanged.

They walked, then climbed down the side of the cliff when the terrain demand and Bruce located the landing bay doors to the Batcave. He found a recessed console and used a pocketknife from his utility belt to open the access panelruceruce found a short in the wiring, which reflected 30,000 years of neglect, however he managed to splice the wires back to the power source, actuating the opening of the door as a result. Diana looked at him in surprise that the power was still active when the electrical current activated the door. “I built a nuclear reactor to power the Cave.” He noted wryly.

The two of them jumped into the opening and Bruce quickly switched on a small flashlight he’d retrieved from his belt. The air was cooler as they walked deeper into the landing bay, then he inhaled the familiar smells of the damp air to which he’d grown accustomed for so many years.

The cave was was undamaged however Bruce noticed that the piles of guano were inordinately large. He raised the flashlight to the part of the cave ceiling previously home to the largest population of bats in the cave. The present-day creatures there were larger however they didn’t appear to be large enough to make an attack on either of them. The bat-creatures tittered in alarm as the light swept over them, then went silent after he moved the beam back to their path.

Bruce moved down the corridor, Diana tucked right behind him. Besides the fact that the landing lights on the runway weren’t working, there were no other signs of differences in the Cave. They finally reached the expanse serving as the effective headquarters of the Cave, containing the Master Computer, monitors, suits and Batmobile. The car was gone however the Batplane was still there, wheels deflated from lack of use but otherwise it seemed unharmed.

Bruce sat down in front of the Master Computer and overhead monitor and wiped off the accumulations of dust. He ran his fingers over the keyboard, activating the power from its standby mode to full power, then ducked his head as some of the lights exploded from the shock of the unfamiliar electrical current. “Whoops.” He murmured to Diana, who was leaning on the chair back, looking over his shoulder at the flickering images on the monitor.

Bruce typed a few more commands as the computer booted up for the first time in 30,000 years. He heard the internal grind of circuits reactivating in protest after being dormant but the equipment fought its way back to life, resulting in a distant hum as the monitor awaited a command from the keyboard.

“Here goes.” He breathed out with a sigh, entering a series of system commands.

The monitor changed from its computer interface to digital images. Alfred’s face appeared on the monitors, looking almost the same age as when Bruce had seen him a few weeks before in his own timeline. “This is the last entry I will make,” Alfred’s voice rasped into the camera. “All is lost. That dreadful Savage defeated Master Dick and the Justice League. Master Tim and Miss Barbara and the Titans did their best in Gotham but they were no match for his weapon. The earth seems to be dying a slow death. There is plenty of food and water in the Batcave but there is no reason to continue living. Civilization as we know it is over. Scientists have stated that the population will be wiped out by the loss of ozone and all of the men will be sterile anyway from the radiation. Should anyone find this message, please have the decency to bury my body. It will be in the trophy room. Farewell.”

The screen faded to black as Diana put her hand to her mouth. “Poor man.” She said. Bruce rose out of the chair and sprinted down the cave as fast as his legs would take him, forgetting that he was trying to prevent a death which occurred 30,000 years before. He arrived in the trophy room and found Alfred’s remains on the floor, a .38 caliber pistol in hand and the resulting wound to the temple of the skull.

“Noooo! Alfred!” Bruce yelled in anguish, kneeling next to the body.

Diana stepped behind Bruce, caressing his head in her hands. “Bruce – I’m so sorry!”

“I should have been there.” Bruce lamented. “I could have done something…”

“You couldn’t have done anng, ng, Batman.” A deep voice intoned behind them. “I wasn’t going to let the Justice League stop me.”


Bruce and Diana stared in amazement at the figure of Vandal Savage in front of them. He was nattily attired in his preferred matching Nehru jacket and slacks and looked the same as he did during their most recent encounter in Kasnia.

“Savage.” Batman hissed. “What are you doing here?”

“Trying to find you two, actually.” Savage said with a leer as he inspected the cutoff shirt and shorts Diana was wearing. He drank in the visage of her beauty for a moment then winked at Bruce. “The two of you seem to have grown quite close during your journey.”

“How would you know that?” Diana interjected.

“I traced the energy signature at your arrival point - it’s pretty hard to miss an energy discharge that big - then tracked you to the Watchtower. I didn’t expect you to double back on me so quickly. I returned to your starting point a few days later and found the remains of your campsite. There were two beds there. I followed the tracks of your car after that, pretty hard to miss given the terrain. Anyway, a few days ago I realized there weren’t two beds anymore. Congratulations. I had always assumed that you two were an item but it seems you needed the change of circumstance to bring you together. I applaud your choice by the way.” Savage said, raising his fingers in salute to Bruce.

“You’re insane.” Bruce said thru clenched teeth.

“True, but I still make good company.” He said.

“Savage, we saw the pictures from the Watchtower. You killed our teammates.” Diana said in scathing tone.

“A burden I’ve been carrying for over 30,000 years, I can assure you.” Savage stated gravely.

“Why did you do it?” Diana asked.

“I thought I was born to rule the world.” Savage admitted. “I just didn’t expect that the world I would rule would be void of the human race. The cockroaches are the dominant ses nes now.”

“We haven’t seen any of them.” Bruce said in surprise, “just mutated crocodiles, rabbits, snakes, wolves and buffalo.”

“Nature abhors a vacuum.” Savage observed flippantly. “The Earth is trying to rebalance the life equation yet one more time.”

“are are you here?” Batman asked in suspicion. “What do you want from us?”

“I’d like your companionship, if possible.” Savage observed, “but moreover I might have use of Wonder Woman’s powers. She might be able to retrieve a device from the roaches would could benefit us all.” He explained.

“Myers ers have decreased substantially thanks to your gravity weapon.” Diana said, explaining her problems with control of flight and loss of strength.

Savage considered the news with a grave expression, then his face lighted up with an alternate idea. “Well then maybe I could use some of Batman’s engineering prowess. I estimate it might take me 50 years to build a replacement by myself but together we could probably do it much more quickly.”


The next few weeks settled into a somewhat regular routine as the three of them settled into the residential quarters of the Batcave. Bruce and Savage spent at least 18 hours a day reviewing the schematics and designs of the Zero Point Generator which Savage had used to power his devices. He’d informed them that he’d built a time machine thousands of years before but had no use for it given its design and more importantly, no source of power for it as the roaches had stolen his Generator to heat their nest.

Diana was initially resistant to cooperate with Savage and she used the opportunity of pillow talk to voice her concerns to Bruce. “He’s a madman.” She whispered. “He’s probably thinking of a new way to destroy the world with that generator of his.”

“You may be right, but what choice do we have?” Bruce returned unenthusiastically. “I don’t like it anymore than you but it’s a necessary evil I’m willing to tolerate to get us back to our world.”

“How long will it take to build the generator?” she asked hopefully.

“Probably two or three years.” Bruce surmised. “I have a lot of equipment here for machining the parts we need, plus we can borrow some of the plutonium from my reactor to power the device. He didn’t have access to this kind of technology at his laboratory but I’ll try to do it quicker than that.”

Diana contemplated the information then furrowed her brow and said, “I’m not sure I can wait that long. Shouldn’t I try to go get the original from the roaches?”

“I don’t want you to risk it.” Bruce countered. “It would make sense if it was our only hope but Savage and I can build a replacement in a reasonable amount of time.”

“How can you be sure that the Time Machine will work?” she asked.

“I can’t but you’re more familiar with his time travel devices than I.” Bruce said evenly, reminding her of the League’s travels back to World War II. “Again, what choice do we have?”

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The weeks stretched into months as Savage and Bruce worked in the laboratory, fashioning the parts for the Generator. Diana listened to their discussions about quantum mechanics as they worked, drinking in a lot of the information, but she was amazed at her lover’s knowledge of the issues at hand. Savage was even more vocal in his admiration than Diana, noting that it took Bruce only a few weeks to process the information Savage had accumulated over 30,000 years about the topic.

Diana did her best to minimize her interruptions so that they could work at the maximum speed, stockpiling the available supplies from the Batcave then going out on hunting expeditions during the day. While she’d grown accustomed to using the Batarangs for smaller prey, it was easier to bring down some of the mutated buffalo with an Amazon spear she’d built in the Cave’s machine shop.

Despite the independence of the hunt, which reminded her of her Amazonian upbringing, Diana looked forward to the brief interludes at night when Bruce would come to their bedroom. They’d grown accustomed to each other’s bodies and Diana realized that she’d gotten addicted to the earth-shaking orgasms they reached every night. Savage had actually moved his bedroom further down the hall in protest over the noise coming from their bedroom. Given the amount of sexual activity they maintained, she was amazed that she hadn’t gotten pregnant as birth control wasn’t available, then remembered that Alfred had mentioned that the red sun had resulted in male sterility. Diana was shocked at her own disappointment that she wouldn’t be able to bear his children but realized that it wasn’t a complication she necessarily wanted at this point in their lives.


As Bruce had predicted, it took two years and a few months to build the generator. As the two men were putting the final touches on the device, Diana busied herself preparing the Batplane for their journey to Savage’s lair near the remains of Metropolis. She was intimately familiar with the Batplane’s technology given its similarity to the Javelin-7 and quickly restored the machine to its working condition. The fuel tanks represented the only problem as the tanks were internally corroded, however Bruce directed her to the replacement parts a few levels below the main chamber.

Diana finished the repairs to the Batplane then modified the back seat to fit two people, ripping out some of the electronics consoles and widening the seat. Her recent experience with flying had shown her she was capable of traveling the distance under her own power, but Bruce had convinced her that it made more sense to keep her strength in reserve lest they comeoss oss any of the roaches.


The departure from the Batcave was a relatively low-key affair. While Diana felt a small pang of regret as they boarded the plane, she cracked a small smile as she realized Bruce didn’t even reflect for a moment. ‘The man is obsessed’ she thought sternly, then realized his obsession had resulted in the quick construction of the Generator. Diana was wedged into the back seat next to Savage, which two years before probably would have resulted in a crushing blow to his head, however her viewpoint on him had softened during their time together as he had repeatedly expressed remorse over his actions.

Bruce set the plane down next to the spaceship Savage had built next to his vegetable fields. While Diana and Bruce were anxious to initiate the time travel, they nodded their heads in quiet assent when Savage asked them if they wanted a tour of his lair. It was an impressive sight and Diana was inwardly thankful that Savage had elected to imprison himself on the Earth rather than take flight to the stars or the result would be that she and Bruce would be trapped on the planet alone for the rest of their lives.

They finally made their way to the laboratory and Savage removed the Generator from the bag over his shoulder and locked it into position above the time machine. “Remember to retrieve the device from Dr. Ray Palmer so I can’t built my gravity weapon.” He reminded them, then extended his hand to them both. “It’s been a pleasure working with you. If you don’t mind me saying, you two really make a lovely couple.” Bruce pulled on his cowl and fastened his cape then pulled Diana’s tiara out of the bag he was carrying. “You need to put this on.” He said sternly.

Diana fastened the tiara on her head and grabbed his hand then thought twice about it and pulled Bruce’s head to hers, initiating a long kiss. Their lips finally parted, they gave Savage one more wave farewell, then the two of them jumped into the time stream, holding hands as they plunged into the vortex.

Epilogue:

Supergirl and Nightwing were lying in her bedroom on the Watchtower when a persistent knocking started at her door. They’d only been members of the League for a week however they’d been sleeping together for five days. Kara pulled the sheet over her body as Dick hid behind the bed, then she opened the door with a gasp as Diana and Batman nudged her out of the way.

“Where’s Dick?” Batman asked loudly, then spotted his former apprentice hiding behind the bed.

“Bru…Batman. You’re alive.” Dick said incredulously. “What happened?”

“It’s a long story. We’ll tell it sometime but for right now, get out.”

“What are you talking about?” Dick asked as Batman picked him off the floor and started escorting him out.

“This is Diana’s room, rookie. You and your little friend are going to have to find a new shack pad.”

“If its Diana’s room, then what are you doing here?” Dick countered, finally pulling on his pants as Diana helped Kara throw her belongings into a bag.

“Breaking it in. Now get out.” Batman said as he hurried the new Leaguers out of the room. Dick looked at Kara with a helpless shrug but the two of them lingered at the door long enough to see Diana and Bruce laughing before they started a long kiss.

“When did that happen?” Dick asked Kara in amazement.

“I’ve heard its been coming for a long time now.” She said, “I guess they’re getting it out of their system.

The End.