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Diana and the Unicorn By Josephine Disclaimer: All characters owned by DC Comics,
and I am making no money from this piece of fiction, and even if I did, it
would go straight to DC Comics in the form of my comic purchases. I'm
addicted. (In any case, I'm NOT making any money with this.) Several lines
and the unicorn inspired by "The Last Unicorn" by Peter S. Beagle (and
this bastardized unicorn does no justice to his amazing book). The continuity of this story is all screwed up.
Don't even try to make sense of it. Rating: R. Read only if you are an adult, please.
DIANA AND THE UNICORN The unicorn lived alone. Not that the unicorn minded his own company, or
wanted companionship; indeed, he preferred the safety of privacy. He did not
hide from the other animals, but neither did he seek them out, for the other
creatures of the forest would shy away when they saw him, sensing perhaps his
age, or his power. When men passed through the forest, he watched them from a
distance, neither trusting them nor desiring their presence, but curious
about them. And when the women entered his forest, he
trembled in fear. For it was the women for whom he would lay down,
for whom he would let their hands roam over him, petting, touching. Women who
cried when the unicorn allowed them to see him, women who dried their eyes
and looked at him in lust, envy and greed. Women who tried to call for help
to hold the unicorn down, and tie him, and keep him for their own. The women
who could not resist the desire to own the unicorn's immortal beauty, quick
grace and effortless power. And the unicorn could not resist the women. Their
odor was the sweetest perfume, their perspiration the finest nectar, their
laugh a beautiful melody. The unicorn loved their fingers, their eyes, the
backs of their knees. He loved the way they moved, breathed. And he loved one woman above all others. The unicorn had first seen her in the skies above
his forest. The unicorn had not seen a woman in many years, had managed to
avoid them--until he saw the raven-haired figure silhouetted against the
azure sky, poised and ready to fight a dragon. The unicorn had known of the dragon, had felt its
presence from where it slept in the underground caverns, and had known when
it awakened. The unicorn would have slain the dragon himself, eventually, or
been killed by the monster; it always came to that. The dragon destroyed, the
unicorn preserved -- they could not exist together for long. Instead, the woman in red, gold and blue
attempted to slay the dragon, was driven back, and tried again. The unicorn
leapt over rocks and fallen trees as he followed the fight, and the speed of
the two combatants in the sky could not compete with the unicorn's fleetness
over the ground. The unicorn watched as the woman became corrupted with the
dragon's dark magic, watched as the woman somehow gathered the strength to
shatter the dragon's heart, watched as she fell out of the sky. The unicorn had stepped forward, prepared to save
the woman himself, when the men arrived. He bounded back into the trees,
observed the man in blue pound on the woman's chest and bring her back to
life, saw how the other men sighed in relief when she breathed and stood. And he heard the woman's name. Diana. He whispered the name himself. Diana. It was the first word he had spoken in eight
hundred years, and it rolled off his tongue like a heartbeat. ----------------------- Time, which had always seemed to the unicorn as
air, began to feel like a sodden weight. He wondered about the woman, whom he
had not seen since that day. The unicorn could feel the magic in the woman,
but he could also feel the woman's age, and knew that soon, in a flick of the
unicorn's eyelash, a breath, the woman would grow old and die. It was as with
all things around the unicorn, and he could not regret their passing; but
now, he wanted to know the woman, wanted to know what made other beings regret. And the unicorn was afraid. The woman was powerful; she had killed a dragon.
If the unicorn sought her, lay down before her, the woman could subdue him,
capture him. And then all would be lost. The unicorn lifted his head, felt and listened to
the world outside the forest, and realized how loud and dirty it was, and how
far from him the woman lived, and began running. The forest animals stilled
as the unicorn passed them, their nostrils filled with the golden scent of
him, their eyes unable to see him, but wishing and afraid that they would.
The unicorn wheeled and turned suddenly, ran further, and took a deep breath
of his forest air before he plunged into the outside world; it tasted like
spring to him. Outside, it tasted of smoke and ruin. And it held the faint taste of Diana. The unicorn ran faster. ----------------------- "Stop, Diana," Batman commanded. Diana kept walking. He caught her arm, and she shook him off like a
gnat. He stepped in front of her, and she considered pushing him aside again,
but she couldn't bring herself to treat him so callously, even if speed was
of the essence. "You will not go this alone." "And you can not go, Batman. Nor can the
others. Step aside." "Then Canary, Troia,
or Powergirl can assist you." "I will not endanger other women needlessly.
It will only take one of us to fix this." She tried to step past him; he
moved with her. "And it only takes one demon to kill
you." Batman widened his stance, trying to create a more formidable
block in her path, physically and mentally. Diana's lips drew back in a snarl at his attempt.
"I am no thoughtless rookie to get myself killed, Batman." She
moved forward, forced him to step back. "And I will not be cowed by you.
Try your parlor trick on your criminals in "I agree with him, Diana," Superman
said from behind her. "Get backup." She clenched her jaw at his voice, but didn't
turn away from Batman, and held his stony gaze with hers. "I do not need
backup for every little confrontation. I am a warrior; I can handle this
alone." "Like you handled the dragon?" Batman
asked. Her eyes flashed blue fire at him, and her voice
was icy. "Do not think that I will ever believe that I made the
wrong decision there, Batman, nor is it a decision I regret." "If the rest of their comrades are unable to
fight, they do. Men can not enter the temple, and even if they could, there
would be no reason for any of the JLA to go, besides me." She looked at "If there is a possibility of endangering a
backup, then there is the possibility that you yourself would be in
danger," Batman pointed out. "A danger which I am more than capable
handling by myself! You do not require backup for every criminal who operates
in "The call came through to the JLA, Diana.
The JLA, not just you." "Intended for me, though, since I am the
only one capable of going. And I am wasting time here, arguing with
you." She shrugged off "Diana--" Superman began. Batman cut him off. "I will have Powergirl and Black Canary meet you at the portal,
Diana." "Fine," she replied, entering the
transporter coordinates into the computer. She turned away from the console,
faced the two men. "But I will be done before they arrive," she
said, stepped into the transporter, and disappeared in a flash of blue light. The growl that emanated from Batman’s
throat was probably inaudible to normal ears, but Superman heard it. He
imagined that Diana, recently transported across the soundless, buffering
vacuum of space, from the moon to the Temple of Enna,
probably heard it, too. ----------------------- "So what was this place?" Dinah nodded
toward the temple while she wrapped Diana’s arm. "Batman just gave
me a quick rundown before he transported me here." "It’s a sanctuary for women built in
honor of, and protected by, the goddess Enna."
Diana tried not to wince as the bindings pulled at the eight inch gash down
her tricep. "Only women can enter through the
temple’s doors, which are really a magic portal." "And they needed you because of some
demon?" Dinah tied off the bandage, grinned at her handiwork.
"That’s a great job, if I do say so myself." Diana tested her range of motion, nodded.
"Several demons, actually. They are imprisoned within a small room in
the temple, and they broke free. I just had to fight them back into the room,
and reseal the door." She frowned suddenly. "I do not see why
Batman would disapprove of my coming here, when I was completely prepared,
but he would send you and Kara here, with the smallest amount of knowledge
regarding the threat." "Hmm." Dinah raised an eyebrow and
pretended to think it over. "Let’s see: well, you were fighting
demons, and let’s not forget that you were KILLED by a demon not long
ago, Diana. He didn’t send us here to fight, he sent us in case you
were hurt, or outmatched and needed help to get out." She looked
pointedly at the bandage. "And you were." "A scratch," Diana said, and smiled
when Dinah rolled her eyes. "In any case," Dinah said, "It
didn’t matter. You were finished by the time we got here, Powergirl was able to get right back to whatever it was
Batman dragged her away from, the demons are dead and the virgins are
safe." "They aren’t virgins," Diana said
absently, suddenly aware of a presence nearby, old and powerful. Magical. "Not virgins? They know what they are
missing and they still lock themselves up?" "Sex is not pleasant for everyone, Dinah,
and--" Diana stopped speaking, staring ahead at the edge of the forest. "And?" Dinah waited for her to finish
the sentence, realized that something had caught her attention, and turned to
look. "Oh," she said. "Pretty horse." "Horse?" Diana tore her gaze from the
unicorn to look at Dinah incredulously. "Is that what you see?" Dinah wondered at the tears that filled
Diana’s eyes, at the sadness in them that stemmed from Dinah’s
own words--a horse. She looked back at the creature standing motionless at
the forest’s edge. Its white coat shimmered in the sunlight, and in the
midst of the shimmering Dinah thought she might have seen something
more--what? but then the more was gone and she was staring at a beautiful
horse. "A horse," she confirmed. She stared, openmouthed, as Diana’s breath
caught on a sob, then as she stepped forward, shakily at first and then
faster, toward the horse. And Dinah did something she thought she’d
never do: she voluntarily called him, because Diana’s behavior
scared her more than any bad-tempered hero ever could. Not that he did.
She tapped her reserve JLA communicator, waited for the curt "Yes?"
before asking: "Batman, were any of those demons shaped
like horses?" A pause. "No. Why?" "Diana is rubbing herself all over one,
that’s why. Toodles." ----------------------- The unicorn trembled. She was here, close, coming
toward him, and it was all he could do not to fall at her feet. The smell of
women filled the air, most strongly from Diana, but also from the woman
behind her, who had her own intoxicating odor. Other, fainter, older smells
filled the clearing, but he ignored them, and focused on the woman in front
of him. She stopped a few feet from him, and he realized
that she was waiting for permission to come closer. Joy swept through him,
and some of his fear abated; if she respected him now, she might not want to
take and keep and destroy him. He said her name. Diana. A brilliant smile
lit her face, and her tears fell. He dipped his head, and his horn gleamed
like moonlight when he touched her arm, healing her injury. And he yearned
for her hand even as it came to rest on his cheek, as it stroked across his
neck. And he yearned for her voice even as she spoke.
"I was never one of those that dreamed for you, but you are here."
Her fingers traced the line of his jaw, slowly, reverently. "And you are
more beautiful than any dream I might have had." She closed her eyes,
placed her cheek against his muzzle. Her touch was bliss, and he could not speak. He
sank to his knees and she went down on hers, keeping the contact between
them. He laid down fully, legs tucked under him, his head by her shoulder.
She caressed his ears, the silky beard under his chin, then stretched along
his body to stroke his shoulders and withers, lying her head against him now
and then to smell, to feel him against her face. And the unicorn realized that she had captured
him as surely as if she had a golden bridle wrapped around his neck. And he
trembled at the thought of her letting him go. ----------------------- "You know, you could have just used a
communicator. Breaking into a former teammate's house is a little
presumptuous, don't you think?" Batman didn't try to stifle his impatience.
"Tell me." Dinah dropped down into a kitchen chair, a frown
creasing her features. "I'm not sure that I can. I can't explain it at
all." "Don't explain. Report." She drew her eyebrows together in annoyance.
"Aye, aye, sir," she quipped. "At oh fourteen hundred hours I
encountered Wonder Woman outside of the "She was injured?" Batman interrupted. "Her arm, temporarily," Dinah said,
"And I'll explain the 'temporarily' part of that in a second. And then
we were talking about virgins and Diana gets this weird look on her face,
like she's been given a billion dollars or something. And I turn to look, and
the billion dollars is just a horse." She blew a strand of hair out of
her eyes, and looked up at Batman. "Or that's what I thought at first." "Continue." "So Diana walks up to it, and stops for a
second, and then I think that I heard it say her name. Then she starts
petting it like it is a horse, and then the horse lies down, and she sits
down beside it. That's when I called you." "And cut me off almost immediately," he
said. Dinah quirked an eyebrow. "Well, yeah, since
I knew it probably wasn't a demon, I decided to go make sure everything was
okay, and you couldn't help me do that from the bottom of your cave." Batman narrowed his eyes at that. "Continue,"
he said. "I get over there, and Diana is still
petting the unicorn--" "Unicorn?" "I didn't realize it then, but when I got
there, Diana was crying. Happy tears, not sad ones, and she's laughing at the
same time. And I notice that her bandage was gone, and so was the gash on her
arm and all the blood. And she takes my hand, and she has me touch it--"
She broke off, and her eyes filled with wonder "--and it was like
touching sunshine. And I saw it. It was a unicorn." "It was hot?" Dinah shook her head. "No, like the feel of
sunshine on your face, but with a kick of something else--like an orgasm.
Warm and absolutely glorious." "What did it look like?" "I think I know," Dinah said, and she
bit her bottom lip. "It wasn't a horse with a horn; it was far more
beautiful than that. Like a deer, but more horselike,
and like an antelope, but more goatlike. It was
beautiful." She looked down at the table, her eyes sad. "But I
can't keep the image in my head. It's like I could see it, but not really,
truly see it, and my brain can't remember what I thought I saw." "A hallucination?" Dinah glanced at him. "I know what you are
thinking -- mind control, or mind altering drugs. But it was real. I touched
a unicorn today," she said, and laughed to herself. "Hhn. What did you
two do then?" "Well, we were there for a while, just
petting him, and then he stood up, and left. After he licked Diana's
neck." "Her neck?" he echoed. She nodded. "Yep, from her collarbone to her
ear. He said he wanted to taste her. It should have been gross, but it
wasn't, and they both seemed to like it." She reached up, touched her
own neck, and smiled. "I wouldn't have minded him licking mine, that's
for sure." "It can talk." "Of course," Dinah said. "I can't
remember exactly what it sounded like, but his voice was very beautiful, too.
He also told her that he would be back." She peered at Batman curiously.
"Why didn't you ask Diana this yourself?" "You were closer," Batman said, and
left. ----------------------- The sorcerer sighed. "I wish you wouldn't
ask me this, old friend." I need this. I have become disassociated with the
world. She can give it back to me. "But you will be mortal. You will have less
power, and could be hurt. And then we are all doomed." Despite his
words, the sorcerer prepared the potion. "Tell me, why now?" The unicorn moved restlessly inside the chamber.
He did not like walls. I have known more humans than you could imagine in
my time, and each one has died, but I do not regret their passing. I feel
sorrow, but I do not regret. In this form, I can not. "When you are immortal, being unable to
regret is a blessing. Otherwise one would be driven mad." The sorcerer
pulled a dusty, rarely used book from a locked cabinet. It drives me mad to know there is more to feel,
yet I can not. She deserves that something immortal regret her passing, and
it is time that I feel regret. It serves us both. It is only for a short
time. The sorcerer laughed humorlessly. "A short
time? What do you know of short times?" I know that with her, eternity is too short. "Very well, my friend." The sorcerer
waved his hand, said the proper words. The unicorn screamed, and the scream sounded like
that of a man. ----------------------- Diana dreamed of him lifting her to his lips and mouth
and tasting her as he had before. Of riding him, feeling his muscles move
between her legs, his body thrusting under hers, deep inside her-- She woke, disoriented, aroused, and fumbled for
the bedside lamp. The overhead light snapped on, and she blinked, then
realized what had awakened her. "Batman," she said. "How
presumptuous of you." His mouth quirked. "You are the second
person to tell me that tonight." "I am sure that I will not be the
last." She sat up and pulled the sheets up to her neck; not to hide her
nude body, but to hide its arousal. She hoped he would think the flush she
could feel on her cheeks and neck was from sleeping. "Is there an
emergency?" "No." "Just here for a chat?" Sarcasm tinged
her voice. "No." He looked away from the bed.
"I'll be in the kitchen," he said, and turned with a swirl of cape.
Diana threw back the covers, muttered under her
breath, "Yes, the kitchen, where there are more corners to hide and
skulk in." She shoved her arms into a silky robe, and tied the sash with
a vicious jerk. He was leaning against a counter, and Diana
rested her hip against the island in the center of the embassy's kitchen.
"If this is about today, I don't want to argue about it further. You got
your way, I got mine, and everything worked out perfectly." "I talked to Black Canary. I have
concerns." "About what?" "This 'unicorn'." She looked at him disbelievingly. "You can
not be serious." She saw that he was, and she folded her arms across her
chest and said, "Okay, then, what misgivings do you have about
him?" "For one, she reported that you seemed to
have a total loss of yourself upon seeing it." He folded his arms as
well, matching her defensive stance. "You have been reckless of late. If
it returns, I question the effect it might have upon your and your teammates'
safety." "Only you would call my confidence in my
abilities 'recklessness'," she ground the words out. "You do not deny the overwhelming effect
that it had on you?" "No," Diana said. "But I was not
in combat at the time. In any case, every action that I made upon seeing him
was of my own volition." "Which brings me to my second point: Dinah
reported a disorienting effect. How can you be certain you weren't under its
influence?" Diana's shoulders began to shake with laughter.
"Because it is a unicorn, Batman. They don't influence or
disorient, they just are." Diana closed her eyes, remembering, a
wistful smile touching her mouth. "How are you certain it wasn't an
illusion?" She met his eyes again. Her voice gentled.
"Because I touched it, Bruce." She lifted her hand, rubbing her
fingers together as if some remnant of the unicorn remained between them.
"And it was amazing. Have you ever touched something so beautiful, felt
something so magical, that you knew it had to be real because there was no
way you could have imagined something so perfect?" His chest tightened painfully, and he forced
himself not to look away from her suddenly piercing gaze. "No," he
lied. She felt the lie, frowned and stepped forward.
"Bruce--" The doorbell rang, and she stopped mid-stride,
frustrated, knowing that she had not convinced him, and wishing she had
before he left. "I have to get that; I'm the only one at the embassy
tonight," she said. "You should go." She turned, and by the time
she reached the kitchen's entrance and looked back, he was gone. Probably watching, she thought with a smile, to
make sure that it wasn't the Joker with a bag of dynamite at the front door. It wasn't the Joker, but a man who fell into her
arms, exhausted and shaking. Diana caught him, knowing the moment she touched
him who and what he was, and she held him against her, carried him to her
room, and lay down beside him. She ran her hands over him, checking, making
sure he was not hurt, glorying in the feel of him. Finally, she curled around
him and watched his chest rise and fall as he slept. ----------------------- "You seem to be in good health." Diana
pushed the instrument back into place. "I said that I was," he said, smiling, and
placed one her hands between his. He couldn't stop touching her. "You did not look it last night" Diana
said, remembering. He cupped her chin, and tried to reassure her.
"The transformation was...painful. But I am recovered." "Yes." Diana looked around the
Watchtower's medical lab, and came to a decision. "I'm going to put in
for a leave of absence while you are here. How long will you stay?" A hint of sadness danced in his eyes, the irises
impossibly gold. "Only a short time," he said. "Then I will
transform back, and return to the forest." Diana didn't question why, or prod him to stay,
and he was grateful. She seemed, like him, thankful for whatever time they
had together. "Then what would you like to do first? What
would please you most? And what should I call you?" "Erik," he said, and ran his thumb
across her cheek. "And what pleases me most is to be with you. I will
follow where you lead." "Let me inform the JLA about my upcoming
absence, and then we will leave," She smiled. "Erik." ----------------------- "I've called Zatanna.
She will be here shortly to take over your monitor duties," Superman
said. Diana nodded, looking over to the other corner of the room where Erik
stood, watching the Earthrise. Batman and J'onn sat
quietly on the other side of Superman, while the others who had been there
for the impromptu meeting-- The Flash and Green Lantern -- looked knowingly
between Diana and Erik. When she rose from her seat, they did as well, and
greeted Erik with curious stares. "A unicorn? Really?" Kyle asked. He
took in the man's hair and features, including the conspicuous scar on his
forehead. Erik inclined his head in assent. "It is
true," he said. "And you are magic? Like you magically
healed Diana's wound?" Diana had given them all a full account of their
meeting, and she trusted these men, so Erik felt he could as well. Trust
them, but still not ignore the hostility that emanated from one of them--he
wouldn't give them too much information, or let them know exactly how weak he
was in this form. "Yes," he said. He appreciated their curiosity
and wonder--a unicorn was nothing, if not a little vain. The man in blue, the one that Erik sensed was
their leader, shook his hand. The gesture was alien to Erik, but he replied
in kind, squeezing hard, and saw Superman's eyes widen a little in surprise,
and then his face break into a smile. "You're strong," Superman said. Diana frowned. "Did you two just have a
testosterone match?" Superman didn't have the grace to look abashed.
"I think I did, but Erik here didn't," he said, when Erik repeated,
"Testosterone?" "The hormone of men," Wally said.
"You know, you being new into mandom and all,
maybe GL and I could show you around, let you see what the testosterone is
for." He felt Kyle's nudge, and pointed look at Diana, and quickly
added, "Oh yeah, except for the fact that unicorns only like virgins,
right? They only show up for them?" Kyle choked on a laugh. "That can't be true,
because Black Canary saw him, remember?" Erik frowned. "And Diana is not a virgin and
yet I came to her," he said, and wondered at the shock, and sudden
blushes staining the faces of the three men near him. Diana looked amused at her friends, so perhaps he
had said something funny. He raised a questioning eyebrow at her. She grinned, and pulled him aside, preparing to
leave. "They didn't know that I wasn't, and they place a lot of
importance and have an inordinate amount of modesty where virginity is
concerned," she said loudly enough for them all to hear her. Erik
realized that she wanted them to know she felt no shame for not being a
virgin. And he also realized that it was one of the men
there who had lain with her before. He let Diana pull him toward the doorway of the
huge room, then froze when a new scent hit his nostrils. Magic and woman
mixed. Diana sensed his excitement, heard the click of
heels in the hall, and quickly realized its cause. "Zatanna--of
course she'll recognize what you are." She looked back at the men near
the conference table, and pushed him forward. "Meet her in the
hall," she said quietly. "Zatanna, at
least, will appreciate everyone not seeing her reaction to you." Erik hurried out, his heart pounding. Diana turned around. Batman stood directly behind
her. He tried to pass her, but she blocked him. "Wait for a
minute," she said. They both heard Zatanna's
gasp, her small moan of ecstasy. "Let me pass, Diana," he said. It
wasn't a request. A sob from the hall. He repeated his demand. "Let me pass." She put her hand on his chest, holding him back.
"You deny magic, Batman. You would not understand what you saw."
She noticed the others, still congregated around the table, become curious as
she and Batman stood at a stalemate near the door. Batman leaned forward, pushing against her hand,
and ground out through gritted teeth, "Let. Me. Pass." Diana hesitated, then heard the delighted
feminine laughter rolling down the hall. "Very well," she said, and
removed her hand. Batman swept by her, then past the couple holding
each other, Zatanna laughing and crying at once. He
barely glanced at Erik, but he catalogued everything about him in his mind:
height, weight, coloring, age. And Diana was right, he didn't understand what he
saw. He couldn't understand how anyone, after being held by Diana throughout
the night, could look at any other woman the way that Erik was looking at Zatanna. ----------------------- "You should have seen it, they couldn't keep
their hands off of each other," Green Lantern was telling Plastic Man
over the intercom, who was sitting in for monitor duty as relief for Zatanna. Batman didn't reply. Batman continued uploading information on the
computer from the Batcave. "And in this instance, I don't think you
knew because you have a habit of knowing everything. I think you knew because
you were there personally." Batman finally looked up. "Either way, what
concern is it of yours?" "Besides her being my best friend? Besides
trying to lead a team where the relationships between the members are
interdependent and built upon trust? Besides trying to understand why you two
have snapped at each other since--" His voice trailed off. "Since she came back from the dead?"
Batman volunteered, and "I think I see now," "Do you?" "You and Diana had something going, probably
for only a short time since no one knew, then she was killed by Neron. She came back, but you probably brushed her off,
not wanting to resume a relationship, especially since she was killed and you
went through the pain of losing her." "It amazes me that you’ve won
Pulitzers with deductive reasoning that seems to have no concrete evidence as
a foundation," Batman said. Clark ignored him and continued, "And I
would bet money that you didn’t tell her the real reason that you broke
it off, since that would be tantamount to admitting a fear -- the fear of
losing someone you are close to. So you probably did it like Bruce Wayne
dumps his society girls." "I had Alfred call Diana up? Your story is
bordering on the fantastical, "No, I mean you probably said, ‘It was
fun while it lasted, but no thanks’. Probably made her feel a little used.
She probably thought what you two shared had meant something, and you told
her it was nothing at all. Just sex. That would explain why she’s been
upset with you; otherwise, Diana would have taken it in stride. She
understands fear, but she doesn’t understand cruelty." Batman clenched his fists, and his gut twisted as
he listened, but his voice was calm and even. "If your pop psychology
exercise is over, Clark looked up at the screen, saw the profiles
Batman was scanning. "You are looking Erik up, aren’t you?" A
new idea dawned on him, and he said, "It wasn’t just sex. You are
in love with her." Batman smiled grimly. "I’m a lot of
things, but I’m not that masochistic." "Masochistic? How?" Batman threw him a cursory glance. "I was in
Batman didn’t look up or answer. Clark,
finally frustrated by his silence, left. Batman continued sorting through the profiles,
and flipped the JLA intercom back on. Now Wally and Kyle were both telling
Plastic Man about the meeting today. "Yeah, did you see his face? Completely
smitten with her." "Smitten? What century do you live in?" "Shut up, GL. Anyway, it was obvious she
thought the same thing, because she couldn’t wait to get him alone, if
you know what I mean." Batman opened the intercom, growled into it,
"The intralunar communications system was not
designed to convey gossip. If you want a run down of a meeting, I suggest
reading the minutes." And he enjoyed the subsequent silence. ----------------------- "--and who is that unidentified Adonis
whom Wonder Woman has been seen with around town lately? Our sources only
know that his first name is Erik, and that things seem pretty hot and heavy
between them. If the reports are true, then this is the first official
romance that Diana has had since the first rumors sprouted about Wonder Woman
and Superman. Jennifer Aniston is sporting a new hairdo that's taking Diana sighed and turned off the television. The
news channel had entered into its entertainment segment, with, as usual, only
five percent of their information correct. "I just saw the unidentified Adonis up in
the Watchtower with Zatanna." Diana turned and smiled. Clark hovered outside,
just past the balcony. "So you thought you would use this opportunity to
quiz me," she guessed, and strolled out the French doors, and leaned her
arms against the balcony railing. He lifted a shoulder in a shrug. "I’m
not as paranoid as Batman, but even I thought there was something odd in your
behavior toward one another. And Zatanna. Right now
he is up there, and they are running their hands over each other like there
is no tomorrow." Diana nodded. "He’s amazing to
touch." "Batman worries that he may be exuding some
sexual control over you two." "Zeus forbid that Batman ever consider it to
be something purer than sex," Diana said with an edge to her voice. She
waved Diana laughed. "It’s simple, really. A
unicorn is a deposit of Earth energy, as well as magic from other sources.
Erik is pure Earth, filled with magic--almost like a battery. Immortal, powerful,
and solitary." "Why does it affect women as it does?" "Because of that intrinsic connection to the
Earth, Gaea, who is female." Diana looked up at the night sky, at the
moon and her namesake. "I think that’s also why Erik’s
connection to me is so powerful -- I was created directly from clay, and
breathed to life with magic. Like him, earth and magic together." "And when you touch him? I shook his hand,
and although I was surprised by his strength, I felt nothing orgasmic like
Dinah said, nor did I feel a desire to keep touching him." Diana tried to imagine Clark orgasmic after a
handshake, and burst into laughter. He grinned, too, and eventually she
composed herself enough to answer. "Touching him is touching pure Earth
magic. What I feel, I can’t really explain to anyone who hasn’t channelled magic, who doesn’t know the touch and
taste and feel of it. Zatanna feels that, too.
Dinah considered it sexual, because it is the closest thing in her experience
to which she can relate it." Diana nodded, and they sat in comfortable
silence, watching the moon. "I was actually going to come down here to
see if you wanted me to beat him up for trading you in for Zatanna," Her laughter pealed out again. "I was not
traded in, "And you don’t?" "In a different way." She shook her
head. "But I can’t explain the difference. If I had to, I might
say that she is new magic, and I am old. She’s the bright penny, and
I’m the rusty Roman coin. Besides, I’m no better than she
is." "No," She smiled at him, clasped his hand in hers and
looked up at the sky. "So," she wondered. "Can you see
what Plastic Man is doing?" "Going through your underwear." "The Flash?" "Eating a bowl of sugared corn flakes." "J’onn?" "Same as Wally, but with Oreos." A pause. "Batman?" "Brooding." "GL?" "Ugh...you don’t want to know." ----------------------- She dreamed of his hands, touching, soothing,
inflaming as they did before. Of the expression in his eyes as he slid into
her, the taste of him, his tongue, his lips. Of his breath as his body
clenched in need, trembling in release-- "Bruce?" she said as she sat up. The
parlor was dark, but she could see him from her position on the antique sofa.
She ran her hand through her hair, feeling its disarray, glad that this time
she had clothes on with which to hide her body’s reaction to her
dream--a short sleeping toga, but clothing nonetheless. She watched as he closed the drapes, then pushed
back his cowl. Her breath caught; his actions were exactly like the last time
he had come to her, the night before Neron. He'd
not been fast enough that night, an innocent had died, and she'd been
thrilled and terrified that he sought her for comfort. She had expected that
he would be incommunicative for days after such a--as he saw it--failure, but
he hadn't pushed her away. That had come later. She sat, waited as he walked closer, stopping two
feet from the couch. "I talked to Superman about your unicorn,
but I still have questions," he said. The tiny hope that had sprung in her died. She
sighed tiredly, closed her eyes, and leaned back against the arm of the sofa.
"Ask away," she said. "Why wasn't Superman affected by his touch?
If it is a being of pure magic, then not just women would react when they
felt it. In my experience, magic itself is non-gendered." She was surprised by his insight. "Superman
didn't feel anything because of two reasons: he's Kryptonian,
and Erik is in his current form." She felt the couch give way as Bruce sat down,
and she looked at him, but he was staring at the floor, thinking. "And
his Kryptonian physiology prohibits him from 'channeling',
as you called it, the pure Earth magic?" "Yes." She reached behind her, turned
on the dim table lamp. She didn't need it to see him by, but she wanted to
erase the intimate feel of the darkness. "I really didn't have the heart
to tell him that the Earth didn't recognize him as her own." Bruce nodded. "And Erik's current
form?" "His human form doesn't ... express his
magic like the unicorn form does. So only someone who recognizes what he is
would feel that connection. In the human form, knowledge is important. If,
for example, Arthur saw him, he'd likely have the same reaction as Zee and
myself, because he is more familiar with magic. Although it wouldn't be as
strong, because Arthur's roots are in water magic, not earth." "Dinah experienced it." "Erik was a unicorn then. Touch, in her
case, ripped through her blinders of knowledge. If she touched him now, she
would get the same sense, because she has experienced the magic before
through him. If she hadn't seen him before, though, touching him now would
have no effect." "And it would have no effect on me,
then," Bruce said. Diana smiled slightly. "Did you expect that
it would?" He looked at her, finally. "No." He
reached up, pulled his mask back over his face, and stood. She waited until he was at the balcony doors
before asking, "Aren't you going to tell me about the dragon?" He froze, turned back. "No, I wasn't." "I've been sleeping with a unicorn for the
past two weeks," she said, and wondered at his barely perceptible
flinch. "There is no way I couldn't have known. Erik dreams of it."
She got up, motioned for him to follow her to her office, where her computer
screen cast a silver light over the room. "I've been tracking its
movements for a while, trying to get an idea where it has hidden its heart.
The dragon won't deliberately give away the hiding place, but it is also too
paranoid to go long without checking on it." She glanced at him, wishing
she could see past his mask. "You knew, and you wouldn't have told
me," she stated softly. "I found out today. Fate came to visit your
unicorn, and I listened." "Eavesdropped," Diana said. "He urged Erik to transform back, since he
is more vulnerable in his present form." "The dragon will come for him," she
said. "What happens if the dragon wins?"
Bruce asked. Diana swallowed hard, staring at the screen with
its tiny lines indicating the dragon's location. "A unicorn preserves
magic. Magic that is used, unused, from spells in the past and yet to be
cast, or just pure extra magic is stored in it. If Erik dies, that magic that
he preserves and that flows through him dies with him." She sat down on
the desk, faced Bruce and his mask. "That may not seem like such a bad
thing to someone like you, but the truth is that the entire world would fall
apart. Spells that had been cast using his earth magic in the past would
unravel." "Such as?" "Me." Diana said. "I was created
by the gods using earth and magic. If Erik died, the magic that created me
would be no more." "But you are flesh and blood now,"
Bruce pointed out. "I would die," she said firmly. "Themyscira would perish. Perhaps a bit of Atlantis.
Demons trapped by earth based spells would escape into the world. Magic users
would lose an integral part of themselves. The Earth itself would lose some
of its integrity, land masses would fall apart." "Continents are not held together by
magic." "Aren't they?" Diana narrowed her eyes.
"Dinah saw a horse before she realized it was a unicorn. How do you know
there isn't more to life than what your science allows you to see,
Detective?" "I have never denied the existence of magic,
Diana." "Yet you continue to deny its
importance." "Perhaps I don't like the idea of my life
being dependent upon the whim of an irresponsible unicorn." Diana 's mouth fell open. "Irresponsible?" Bruce leaned forward. "Yes, irresponsible.
If what you say is true, then that unicorn has no business changing forms,
and making himself vulnerable, just because he wants to feel some
women." A disbelieving laugh escaped her. "He isn't here
to feel some women, Bruce. He's here to experience life. In his form as a
unicorn he can know and love people, but he can't truly care for them, or
hold them or the memory of them close to him. As a human, he can, and he'll
remember that feeling as a unicorn. He loves me, but as a unicorn he would
never really care if I died tomorrow. He wouldn't regret my passing,
even if he felt sad about it. But as a human, he does. And he touches us
because that is how he experiences us best, and we experience him best. It's
not simply some sexual sowing of his oats." She stopped, wondering why
she continued to keep trying with him. She stood abruptly, gestured to the
computer. "I'll send you the information on the dragon. Your computers
can analyze the data better than mine." She gave him a hard look.
"And do not even think of letting the JLA confront it without me." "We'll do what the team decides is
best." Bruce said, and she grabbed his arm as he turned. "I have experience, Bruce." "You were killed, Diana." He paused.
"Although I wouldn't appreciate another rock thrown at my head." She smiled at his joke. "There's no prophecy
now," she said. "And Erik will transform back into a unicorn. With
him, the JLA will be doubly powerful." "When will he transform?" Diana hesitated. "Probably in a couple of
days. Sooner if the dragon starts showing any destructive activity. Right now
it is just resting, doing nothing but moving from cave to cave." "Why not go sooner? A preemptive
attack?" Diana bit her lip, said, "I know this is
selfish, but I want just a little more time with him." Bruce's jaw clenched, and he looked away from
her. "Fine. Two days." She broke into a smile, reached up, kissed him
impulsively on the mouth. She noted his rigidity, his abruptness as he tore
away from her to leave, and felt her happiness replaced by anger and
frustration. She flew forward, stopping in front of him, placing her hands
deliberately on his shoulders to hold him in place. "For Gaea's sake,
Bruce, you can at least pretend to bear my touch. We were friends once, and
if the sex meant nothing, then nothing should have changed," she said
harshly. She reached up, yanked back his cowl so that she could see his face.
"Unless it didn't mean nothing," she finished, hating the pleading
note that entered her voice. His face was expressionless. "What do you
think it meant to me, Diana?" She searched his face for something, anything,
and found nothing. "It was just sex," she said. But she remembered,
knew it had been more. He nodded. She firmed her lips. "Fine. Do you still
desire me?" That got through to him, and his eyes widened fractionally. "I don't see--" "No, you don't." She pressed herself
against him. "Do you want me? If it is just sex, why can't we
continue?" "Diana--" She rubbed herself against him intimately.
"I can feel you. You can't hide that from me." Diana felt him
giving in, felt his body shift and react to hers, and she wanted to feel his
hands, his mouth. "Touch me, Bruce." His arms stiffened. "Like he
would?" Diana raised her head, wondering whom he was
talking about, when she realized what he meant. She pushed herself away from
him. "You stupid caveman. You think that I'm throwing myself at you
because Erik is with Zatanna and I need a sexual
fix?" She laughed hoarsely, her chest feeling as if he had hit her with
a boulder. She lifted her chin and looked at him down her nose, eyes
flashing. She quickly untied the fastening of her wrap, and the white fabric
fell from her in a puddle at her feet, leaving her nude. She spread her arms.
"Look at me, Bruce. Look! It's me and it is
mine. And I do not settle for anything less than exactly what I want. Erik
has touched me all over, but it's not the same as when you do. It's two
different sensations, two different things. And if I wanted his magic I
wouldn't be crawling all over you just to feel a little bit of what we had
when--" She broke off, closed her eyes. "Just go. Please." She heard him leave, and kicked at her toga
furiously, glad that when the fabric hit the wall, it wouldn't break through
it. She went to bed, and tried to convince herself of a single thought: If it had been just sex, he would have stayed. ----------------------- He was probably the caveman she accused him of
being. He felt a primitive urge to erase the memory of every other person's
touch on her, sexual or not. He didn’t mind that he had not been the
only man she had touched--the caveman part of him just wanted her to think
only of him. Bruce looked up and around himself, at the Batcave, and tried to find some humor in literally being
a caveman. But he didn't smile. He leaned back and thought about that morning on
Crime Alley, when he had walked there with his two roses, had placed them on
the sidewalk, and eventually walked on. He was lost in thought and wouldn't
have seen her if he hadn't looked back when a man screamed at a taxi driver
for giving him the wrong change. He had been at the other end of the block,
had seen the woman with dark hair and glasses stop at his roses, and say a
few words to the ground. And he had chased her down before she could fly
away, pulled her off the sidewalk into an alley where they wouldn't be seen
together. "I wish you hadn't seen me," she'd
said. "What are you doing?" His voice had
been hard, his heart thumping madly. "Since I found out who you were, your story,
I've done this on the anniversary," she'd said, her eyes impossibly blue
in the gray, early light. "Why?" She had frowned. "Because someone besides
you should. Someone besides you should tell them what a person, a hero,
you've turned out to be. I would venture that you apologize and make promises
to them. I tell them how many people you've saved, what a difference you've
made. I would have done it at the cemetery and headstones, but I didn't think
you'd want Wonder Woman and your parents linked in any way, and risk your
identity." He should have been angry, should have told her
that Alfred took care of telling his parents how he was doing, should have
told her that stopping at that spot in such a flimsy disguise might have
risked his identity anyway, but instead he found himself burying his hands in
her hair and kissing her desperately, and she had clung to him, responding
with a sweet desperation of her own. For eleven days he had lived and breathed
her, and on the twelfth she was in the hospital, dying. The computer beeped an alert, and he switched to
another screen, which tracked the dragon's movements. It was headed toward "Too early," he muttered, and opened a
link to the JLA. ----------------------- Diana hit the dragon as hard as she could, felt a
grim satisfaction as it shot backwards into the water. "Here it comes again," Superman said. "Where's Erik?" She screamed over the
roar of the waves and dragon's bellow of rage. "He's with Fate and Batman. They are headed
for the heart," Superman yelled back. Diana breathed a sigh of relief when Kyle
transported in, catching the dragon in a huge, green bird cage. "Close up those holes, GL," she said.
"It can breathe fire, and--" The flame spurted outward, hitting Superman
straight on, knocking him back into Kyle. Diana flew, caught Kyle as he fell,
unconscious. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the dragon turn around,
head back over the water. She gave Kyle to Superman, who was sporting burns
over the right side of his body. He had, Diana knew, almost no resistance to
magic. "Take him back to the Watchtower. I'll go on." "Not alone again, Diana." "I won't be," she said. "I think
it is going back to get Erik, and its heart. Batman and Fate will be
there." Superman nodded, wincing as the movement pulled
at his burned skin. "All right. Be careful, Diana." "Always," she promised, and flew after
the dragon. ----------------------- Bruce watched as the man became a horse. It lay
shivering on the ground, its legs tucked underneath it, head down. "What's the matter?" Transforming is difficult. I will be at full
strength soon. Diana's voice came over his headset.
"Batman, the dragon is on its way toward you." "Acknowledged. The others?" "GL and Superman had to go back. How's
Erik?" "Transformed but weak." He heard the fear in her voice. "I'm not far
behind it, but I think it will reach you before I do. Stay out of its way,
Batman. It breathes fire, and it is powerful, dark magic. If the unicorn
isn't strong enough to fight it, and Fate doesn't feel that he can
successfully, then run." The unicorn got to its feet. Batman watched it,
looking for some sign of great power. It looked like a regular, gray-white
horse to him. He trusted Fate, but the unicorn was an unknown to him, and he
hated working with and trusting unknowns. The heart is beyond these rocks. I can feel it. The cavern they were in thundered under an
impact, and small rivulets of gravel fell from the ceiling. Diana and the dragon are here. He heard a roar, and then several other, smaller
impacts. Fate climbed up a rock, gestured to Batman to
follow him. "We've got to get to the heart. The unicorn will hold the
dragon off until we find it." A spell illuminated the small space, and Batman
saw the large crystal. "That’s the heart? How do we destroy
it?" Fate lifted his arms, said a few words, then
swore. "My magics have no effect on it." Behind them, the unicorn issued a trumpeting
challenge, and heavy thuds announced the dragon’s entrance into the
cavern. "Diana must have fallen," Fate said. Batman tapped into her communicator. "Diana?
What happened?" Her voiced was laced with pain. "Just got my
leg torn up. I’ll be down as soon as I can. Did you find the
heart?" "Stay there. We found it." "You need to destroy it. I shattered it by
flying through it." Fate picked it up with visible effort, slammed it
against the rock wall. The dragon bellowed, and Batman turned to see it and
the unicorn facing off. The unicorn moved gracefully, like no horse Batman
had ever seen, and suddenly it charged at the dragon, head down. Physically fighting, he realized. "Diana said the unicorn is powerful and
magic. Why doesn’t it use it against the dragon?" Fate put the crystal down, kicked it. "We
need someone of Superman’s class of strength to break it." He
turned to Batman. "Magic can’t be used against it. It absorbs it
and corrupts it. So the unicorn is forced to use its horn to weaken the
dragon, until it can get to the heart and destroy it." Batman pulled a packet out of his belt.
"Will plastic explosives work?" Fate nodded. "What good is the
magic if it can’t destroy a single dragon?" Fate pointed behind him. "That’s what
heroes are for." Batman turned, saw Diana enter the fight, her
right leg covered in blood, then kneeled down and quickly laid out his tools.
The cavern shook with the force of the battle behind him, but he concentrated
on the wires in front of him. He finished, activated the remote, and stepped
away. "This will blow out everything in the nearest fifty yards." The unicorn screamed, and Diana flew over
Batman’s head, crashing into the wall above him. Her right side was
laid open, and she held her hand to it, gasping. Blood poured out over her
hand. "Diana--" Her eyes flew to the crystal, and she saw the
explosives, and nodded. "Get out of here, set it off." The unicorn screamed again, and Diana bolted back
out. Batman palmed the remote and followed her. The cavern sparkled and
glittered with some kind of molten gold--Batman saw the unicorn, and realized
that the gold was its blood. He gave the remote to Fate. "There’s
no way we can get across to the exit without going through them, and
that--" he pointed to the dragon. "Transport yourself out there and
set it off. I’ll get out of the way. Do it in forty five seconds." "What about you?" He looked at the staggering unicorn, and
Diana’s bloodsoaked body. "I’m
going to help, if I can." "Avoid the fire," Fate said. "The
unicorn can heal just about anything, but the fire searches out lies in you,
and eats you up from inside. That can’t be healed." He
disappeared. No sooner than he left did Batman turn to see the
dragon face Diana, and belch forth a column of fire which completely engulfed
her. He didn’t think, but threw one of his explosive batarangs, hitting the dragon under the eye. It blew up,
and the dragon’s fire ceased, the beast momentarily distracted by the batarang, and surprised that Diana hadn’t been
incinerated. Diana fell to the ground, her strength drained.
Too much blood loss, Batman realized. Batman calculated that they had thirty seconds
left. The unicorn charged forward again, taking advantage of the
dragon’s distraction, and Batman thought he saw the flash of a horn
piercing its hide as he ran to Diana’s side. She sat up even as he
reached her. "How much time?" she whispered. Her
eyes were dull. "Twenty seconds. We’ve got to get
further from the charges." Diana nodded, looked behind him and she cried
out, tried to get to her feet. Batman swung around as the dragon began
laughing, muffled by the unicorn clenched between its jaws. The unicorn stood
unmoving, sides streaked with gold, looking at them in desperation. The
dragon’s jaw muscles moved, and more rivulets of gold streamed down the
unicorn’s white coat. Diana fell to her knees, and Batman stepped
forward. "Your heart is going to explode in a few seconds, unless you
let the unicorn go." The dragon’s eyes narrowed and darted to
the side of the cavern where the crystal lay. He raised his claw, and pinned
the unicorn under it as he said, "No magic can make that heart
explode." Batman forced a calculating smile to his face.
"It’s not magic." He began counting down. "Five,
four..." The dragon darted forward toward his crystal, and
Bruce felt a scalding pain, then numbness in his chest. He heard
Diana’s bloodcurdling war cry, saw the unicorn scramble to its feet,
darting toward them with unbelievable speed. The edges of his vision blurred
then, but he felt Diana’s arms around him, the warm moisture on his
face from her blood or tears. And then the explosion, forty five seconds
after Fate had left. And then nothing. ----------------------- He opened his eyes. Diana leaned over him, eyes
shining with tears, her uniform bloodstained and torn but her wounds healed.
And next to her he saw the unicorn, its shell-like horn shimmering with its
own light. He tried to catalogue its appearance, as he did with everything he
saw, but couldn’t decide what category to put each of its features in. She smiled when she saw he was awake, and he
glanced away from the unicorn to look at her. When he looked back it was
gone. "He’s going back to his forest to take
time to heal," Diana said, and added, "What you did was incredibly
stupid." He sat up, ran his hand over his chest. "My
cape is fire-retardant. You didn’t mention its tail." "Its tail is razor sharp and used like a
whiplash as a weapon," she said, tongue in cheek. She added, "I
didn’t expect you to fight it." Bruce looked off in the distance. "Is the
unicorn coming back?" "Perhaps." She smiled wistfully.
"I hope so, someday." ----------------------- She dreamed of him. It worked, Diana. I regret. She stood on a grassy hill, a breeze blowing
through her robe, his beard. "I know it is what you wanted, but I am
sorry that it causes you pain, Erik." He looked away, shifting his weight as if
motionlessness ached within him. It is not a pain caused by sadness, but
my fond remembrance of you. That is preferable, when one must spend eternity
with the regret, that he regrets for happiness he once experienced. "Man’s world has a saying that it is
better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all," Diana
said. "But man is not immortal." Mankind first heard that sentiment from a
unicorn. Diana smiled. "I will miss you." And I you, and your friends. I could not have
done so before. You have given me that. "You have given me more." The unicorn came closer, and Diana did not reach
her hand out, sensing that her touch would make it too hard for him to
leave--and he needed to leave. I have a gift for your friend, Diana. He was not
awake when I touched him, but he woke up and saw me. The
unicorn bowed his head, touched her with his horn, and his touch was
different. Instead of the feeling the magic, she felt it flow into her, fill
her. But he did not get a chance to feel the magic. You will give this to
him. Touch him, for it is enough for several hours of contact. "He may not want it." Then it will stay in you. It can only be released
for him. "I will do what I can, Erik." And in her dream, he bounded away, his hooves
leaving diamond shaped prints in the soft grass. He reached the top of the
hill, and she forced herself not to call his name, and he didn’t look
back. ----------------------- He dreamed of her, of her lips and her laughter,
her passion as she moved with him as she had before, slick with wet and heat,
the expression on her face as he filled her, thrust within her, of how she
held him to her as her body arched, shuddering-- He came awake instantly. "Diana?" She
stood at the foot of his bed, and in the darkened room she shimmered. He
checked to make sure the drapes were drawn; it was around noon, but no light
was streaming in through the heavy fabric and landing on her. "What’s
that light?" She looked down at herself. "Erik filled me
with magic before he left. I can’t contain it very well." She came
around the side of the bed and sat down, careful not to touch him. "I
need to know if you want to feel it or not." "Feel it?" He wanted to haul her to
him, finish what his dream had started, but he just asked the simple
question. "The magic." She lifted her hand,
watching the subtle glow coming from her skin. "It is intended for you,
if you want it. You’d feel what it is like to touch the unicorn, and it
is enough to last a couple of hours." "I don’t want it," he said
harshly, instantly. She nodded. "I thought that would be your
answer." She rose, and walked to the door. "Give it to Zatanna.
She would appreciate it," he said. Her brow creased. "I can’t. It only
can go to you through touch." She turned, saw his frown, and said,
"It’s no problem. I don’t mind it in me." His mind immediately listed the consequences of
that: Diana would be filled with a magic that, as she said, she
couldn’t contain very well, he couldn’t touch her without
receiving the magic, and he knew that she would be careful never to touch
him, deliberately or impulsively, unless it was on his uniform. Never his
skin. He shouldn’t have cared about that, but he
found himself asking, "Once it is drained from you, it would be
completely gone?" "Yes." "Damn irresponsible unicorn. He
couldn’t have known that I would take it for sure, and not to leave you
the ability to get rid of it--" "Unicorns are notoriously vain, with very
high opinions of themselves. It’s one of their many charms," Diana
said easily. "Of course he never imagined that you would refuse
it." "I’ll do it," he said suddenly.
He saw the surprise on her face, and added, "It would jeopardize the
safety of the team if two of us couldn’t completely touch one another
without a transfer of magic, and there would be concerns about you containing
a magic which you don’t know how to use, and might be used against
you." A wry, sad smile touched her mouth. "Of
course." She came forward, holding out her hand. "You may think of
it as sexual energy, like Dinah did, since you are not familiar with the
feeling of magic." He gritted his teeth, preparing himself to fight
whatever feeling it gave him. Of all that he had heard, it sounded not unlike
a drug, something he would never, under any other circumstances, willingly
submit to. She touched his bare shoulder, and he heard her
gasp even as the sensation ripped through him: sexual, yes, but mixed with
tenderness and warmth and joy, magnified to an unbelievable level. It felt like those eleven days he had spent with
her. She smiled at him tremulously. "I
didn’t expect this," she whispered. "I can feel it,
too." She slid her hand from his shoulder to chest. He caught her hand, pressed it to him. "This
is what you felt when you touched him? It’s the same?" She shook her head. "It’s different.
Better somehow. Maybe because I’m the giver of magic this time." Bruce reached up with his free hand, touched her
cheek. "So this is better than when he touched you here?" She gave a shuddery sigh. "Yes," she
breathed. He ran his thumb across her bottom lip. "And
here?" He felt the magic flow into him where he touched her, arousing,
warm, soothing. She nodded, and moved against him, letting her
leg touch his, increasing their contact. "There’s more this time.
It’s like before." "Like before? When?" He asked urgently. She didn’t answer, but let her head fall
back as he traced his fingers down her throat. That primitive urge to erase
her memory of other touches rose in him again, and this time he gave into it,
moved his hand from her neck to her breast, moving aside her uniform, cupping
its weight. "And here? Better than when he touched you?" She arched into his hand. "Yes." He touched her arms, her back. "Here? And
here?" He saw the knowing look on her face; she knew
what he was doing. And she was letting him. "Yes. And yes," she
said, voice breathless. He leaned forward, covered her mouth with his,
letting his hands roam over her, questioning, listening as she answered
always, "Yes." And he tasted her skin, across her nipples, down her
stomach, always asking, breathing the question against her. His hands found
her, slick with need, wet and hot with arousal, and he slipped two fingers
inside her. "Here?" he asked, his voice hoarse, body tense. He met her eyes, waiting for her reply. "He
never touched me there," she said. A brief, ironic expression crossed
her face, mixing with the heat of her gaze. "With him, it was just
magic." The primitive in him shouted in triumph, and he
bent his head and touched her, tasted her as the unicorn never had, trying to
brand himself on her. She clawed at the bed, overwhelmed by the physical and
magical sensations combined into one, and when she began shuddering he rose
up and sheathed himself in her, lost himself within her, and the feeling was
more than magic, and more than sex. As it had been before. ----------------------- They both felt the magic go, saw the light
emanating from her skin fade, leaving them in complete darkness. They didn’t move from where they lay still,
their bodies touching each other over every inch possible. "We should make sure that it really is all
gone," she said. He nodded in agreement, tightening his arms
around her. "Fifteen minutes more. Or thirty," he said. But Alfred knocked quietly on the door, stepped
inside, and said apologetically, "I’m sorry to disturb you, sir,
but there is an emergency downtown." Bruce sat up immediately. "I’ll be
down in a minute. Please prepare the car, Alfred." "Very good, sir." Alfred turned, closed
the door behind him. Bruce swung his legs over the side of the bed,
hastily pulled on his shorts. Diana had found her clothes, was putting them
on. "Will you need assistance?" "No." "Be careful," she said. His chest tightened at the tender note in her
voice. It was what she would tell him when he would have to leave before,
during those eleven days. He searched for something to say that would make
the memories between them, and her words now, less important.
"I’ll just find a unicorn to patch me up again, if anything
happens," he tried to joke as he opened the door. He turned to look at her, saw her eyebrows draw
together, as if she had just realized that he didn’t know something.
And she spoke. "Bruce...he didn’t patch you up. He brought you
back to life." Pain swam across her face. "You died in that
cavern." He stared at her for a moment, then shook
himself. "I have to go," he said, and left. ----------------------- "This is worse than before," Superman
said. "Then, you just argued with each other. Now, you barely look at
each other, avoid being in the same room, and hardly speak. Not that he used
to talk all that much, anyway." Diana rubbed her forehead tiredly.
"It’s hard to be around him," she said. "It hurts,
actually." Clark picked up her other hand, held it, his face
concerned. "Would you liked another leave of absence?’ She shook her head. "No. I can’t run
from this. I suppose in a way I am, by avoiding him--but right now, avoiding
him is easiest." ----------------------- The cave’s sensors didn’t go off, so
Bruce had no idea the unicorn had arrived until he became aware of a soft
glow, and the tap of its hooves. He spun the chair around. God, it was beautiful. But he did his best to resist the urge to go to
it, to touch it. "How did you get in here?" Your cave is within the earth, the
unicorn said, as if that was answer enough. Do not be alarmed, I will not
enter uninvited again. Bruce nodded. "You should have given Diana
an option with that magic. I would not have taken it, had there been another
choice." The unicorn laughed, not unkindly. You took
nothing that you did not create yourself. Nothing that was not already yours. "Explain." Usually one receives pure Earth magic from me,
but the magic that I gave to Diana for you was the magic that the two of you
had released when you gave yourself to each other. It was the magic that is
created when love between two people is given, without reservation or
hesitation. That magic was already yours, and hers. I simply stored it. "Why are you here?" Bruce wondered, his
voice hoarse. To tell you that regret is a unicorn’s
consolation during life, not a man’s. We regret because there is
nothing else for us to have; you have the possibility for much more. "I’ve always known that," Bruce
said. "I chose this life." Very well. The unicorn moved, so quickly Bruce
could not track it. It suddenly stood in front of him, crowding him into the
chair, his horn at Bruce’s throat. I loved Diana, it said, and
pressed forward, the horn glowing, shimmering. And I’ll do this for
her. The horn touched him, and Bruce gasped, fighting
the tears that gathered in his eyes. The unicorn pulled away, and he fell forward, his
elbows on his knees, his chest heaving. That was just a tiny bit of the magic I have
stored over the years from Thomas and Martha Wayne, for each other, and for
their son. The glow began fading from the cave, and the unicorn’s
last words came at him from a distance. And I received it from them after
they died. ----------------------- He almost missed her, would have overlooked the
blonde woman if her movements, her grace hadn’t been Diana’s. A part
of him had doubted that she would show up, but he should have known. She
stood for a long time, talking at the roses, and the people on Crime Alley
were used to such odd behavior and didn’t spare her a glance. Two petty
thieves with whom Bruce was familiar eyed her expensive clothing, but moved
on without bothering her. Diana turned and looked directly at him, and he
knew her hunter’s eyes had not overlooked him, that she had known he
was there from the beginning. She walked away, and he caught her again, pulled
her into the same alley as before. They stared at each other, until Diana smiled
shyly, raised her hand to the wig. "An old one of Dinah’s. I
thought it would be a better disguise than sunglasses." "It is," he said, not caring about the
wig. "I lied," he said. Her eyes searched his face. "About
what?" "About last year." He took a deep
breath. "It was more than sex." "I know," she said. A pause. "What
now?" He shook his head. "I don’t
know." "I know where to start, at least," she
said, and kissed him. He broke away after a minute. "This is where
it started last time, and it ended badly." She smiled, touched his cheek. "Have you
learned nothing? It never ended. I died, you died, yet here we are now, and
nothing has ended. The happy ending can not come in the middle of a
story." "Do happy endings come?" he wondered,
thinking of his parents, his life. "No," she said. "Because nothing
ends. Only begins." That’s why unicorns are in the world, she
thought, but didn’t say it aloud. She couldn’t, really, since Bruce was
kissing her again. (This story has an ending, though, and this is
it. Toodles.) |