Bruce x Diana
Ben: Now, Number 15.. at this point, I don't know what the universe is gonna throw at us.
The picture flashes, but to our bewilderment, it's none of us. Not the Transformers, anyone from my (Ben's) group, Claire and Owen or James Bond's group. Oh, and James's group had to leave for now because missions and stuff, I guess.
"Batman.. and Wonder Woman?" I ask, perplexed.
"I mean, it's a pretty popular ship," Kevin said. "Not everyday you see a billionaire paired up with a literal Goddess."
"Billionaire?" Tony asked. "I thought I'm the only rich guy here."
"Wait, hold on," I say. I do some flashy stuff on my Ultimatrix, pressing buttons and sending a homing signal. "Yeah, that should do it."
"What did you do?" Owen asked curiously.
"Oh, I just sent a homing signal. Batman's gonna track it, and no doubt gonna get the rest of the team along. I sent a voice transmission of some random thugs discussing something to pique their interest."
"Okay... how long?"
"Knowing Batman, not very."
And it was only 15 minutes later, spent in other conversation - and Optimus and Elita discussing more things about how they had been doing over such an insanely long amount of time - that a sound was heard from the roof. My eyes travel to a vent, knowing that Batman would emerge from there. I turn off the screen, ready to show the picture at a perfect time.
And yep, sure enough, there he was. Batman rushed in, grappled up and landed on his feet, looking around to see the Transformers, the Avengers, my group and Claire and Owen. It was all very confusing.
Diana flew in with Cyborg and Superman soon after. The Flash sped in, but as the five of them prepared themselves for a fight, they didn't find one.
"What's going on here?" Superman asked.
"Oh, nice to meet you guys," I say warmly. "Relax, we just wanted to meet up with you."
"What is this about?" Batman asked in his dark, low voice.
"Um.. so, we all gathered here because we're doing some.. reactions," Kevin explained. Batman just listened. Diana then spoke, "Reactions to what?"
Then Optimus gave a proper introduction. "My name is Optimus Prime. We're autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron. These are our allies here on Earth."
"Whoa, are you Superman?" Tony asked. "Like, the Superman?"
"Certainly am. Nice to meet you Mr. Stark."
The Avengers and Justice League acquainted themselves, while I and Kevin tried to think of how we would show them that absolutely awesome picture. Thor and Superman got along, Batman just made some formal greetings to maintain his cover, Diana and Barry were rather enthusiastic, and Victor was just as formal.
"Now.. the reason why we have two suited billionaires in this base-"
"Again, what do you mean two?" Tony asked, this time determined to get an answer. Some slight surprise was seen on the face of the Justice League members, but they suppressed it.
"Isn't it obvious?" I asked. "I mean, name one person, who has enough money to get a goddamn tank-like vehicle, every single gadget in the world, and buy the bank that owns Superman's house?"
At this revelation, the Justice League looked up at me in even more surprise. I tried not to notice them, before I sighed and told Batman, "Relax wingman, I know you're Bruce Wayne. Hey, Clark! How's that newest piece on sports coming along? Diana, I hope the Louvre doesn't mind you taking a vacay."
Shock passed over everyone. Everyone was in disbelief, while the Transformers were simply intrigued. Whispers spread like wildfire.
"Nice to meet you too Victor. Hey, by the way, does your dad work in STAR Labs?"
Already stunned, Victor just replied shakily, "Yeah."
"Oh, I'd been to the Bellwood branch one night," I say, before turning to Julie with a knowing smirk. "Remember that?"
"Oh God, don't remind me," Julie said. We shook our heads at that incident, which had turned into a meeting with a returning Elena - went about as well as you'd think, with additions of attempted sexual assault, Julie saving my life, and then me almost killing Elena some days later outside Julie's house at night - before we turned back to the JL.
"So, basically, what we were doing, was reacting to.. relationship ideas.. like ships, between people," Kevin said.
"Uh-huh," Superman noted.
"And so... Kevin, just show the damn picture." I knew I wasn't gonna be holding my laugh in for much longer. And yep, the picture showed of Bruce and Diana, and every single member of the JL burst out laughing - everyone except Bruce and Diana. And soon enough, every Avenger and some of the Transformers joined in at how hilarious their reaction was.
I simply shook my head while trying my damn hardest not to laugh, Julie did likewise, Gwen sighed, Kevin laughed, and Claire and Owen simply watched with a head shake similar to me and Julie's. As for the shipped couple, well, Diana was flustered in mild terms. Bruce Wayne was embarassed. Just then he got a call on his comms.
"Master Wayne, what is it?"
"Not now Alfred," he quickly replied. Alfred, alone in the Batcave, wondered what was going on.
After everyone had regained their senses, I turned to the JL. "So.. thing is, now look, you're like the 15th couple, okay? We've already done some crazy pairings. I got shipped with my cous, my girlfriend got shipped with my bestie, when he's actually my cousin's boyfriend. Ratchet and Wheeljack.." I let my voice trail off so that the disgust on their faces was made clear, "and then.. well, some of us had to vomit."
"What a surprise," Bruce sarcastically said.
"Now comes the part, where I ask you to give your opinions on this.. so.. it's just regular procedure."
"I ship it," Arthur said with a smirk and without wasting a second.
"I'm in," Victor said with an expression just as cocky. Bruce simply glared at the two of them.
"I think Lois would approve," Clark spoke. "And honestly.. she gets you to open up, she makes you feel comfortable. You trust her in a way you would probably not trust anyone else."
Bruce took off his cowl, and tried his best not to glare, blush or give any major reaction. But Clark's words made more than some sense. Bruce only hated this because it was the truth. Diana noticed his expression, and yep, she was more than capable of understanding.
"Since the big guy ships it, I'm in too," Barry said. "I do think they, uh.. get along well."
"Unanimous approval," I said with a smirk. "Now comes the tricky bit. Bruce, Diana, you'll have to give your opinions on this ship."
Diana's flustered expression grew, while Bruce was incredulous. "You want me.. to talk about this?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said, as if it was no big deal.
"I hate this," Bruce muttered. Diana decided to speak up first, knowing Bruce was nowhere ready for this. Prep time had abandoned the Batman when he needed it the most.
"Okay, um.. I won't deny any of this. Bruce is a selfless man. He constantly puts his own life at risk for others, he does something he probably has no need to. He doesn't have powers but in spite of that, he's the most powerful member of our team. He is a leader, someone who's extremely smart, and has enormous willpower we can only dream of having.
And.. he is the man who makes me believe that the world can be a better place. He's the reason I've become Wonder Woman again instead of deciding to remain in the shadows like I have for more than the past century," she said, while noting the lack of surprise at that time detail, mostly because everyone was gripped by her words, "and he is.. genuinely an amazing person who makes me feel special. But I wish he didn't think he was expendable. I wish he would realise there are people who care about him and love him. And.. this is a pretty big thing to say, but.. I can't lie anymore and say that I'm not one of those people. I never thought this would happen. But, it did."
Bruce was stunned to the core. A silence prevailed over the whole place. Some were expectant of what would happen next, most were just as stunned as Bruce. Some, including Clark, Optimus, Claire and Owen, smiled at the scene. Meanwhile, I silently congratulated myself. It looks like Clawen, Benlie and Gwevin aren't gonna be the only human power couples here.
"Diana.." he started, unable to believe her confession. Diana regained her breath, before stepping back. She wordlessly asked Bruce to speak.
"Um.. everyone knows, atleast I think everyone knows, that I didn't have the best childhood. Being a billionaire doesn't hide that. Even my list of exes is rather crazy and all over the place.. and I've never been great at feelings. I've lost many I cared about. I know she's a literal Amazon goddess. I know she can more than take care of herself. But.. this fear persists. Fear that one day I might screw things up the way I have before.
My willpower isn't as enormous as Diana may say it is. But it's true what Clark said. I trust her the way I never trusted anybody. I've never looked at someone the way I've looked at her. The only reason I don't show Diana my true feelings, and there's no perhaps about that, is because... because I don't want to lose her."
If the silence was strong then, it was deafening now. Diana was now the stunned person, even if other reactions remained the same. A lot more concern now showed on people's faces, because it wasn't very Bruce Wayne to admit that he was scared of loving someone, a literal Goddess no less, because he was scared of losing her.
"Bruce.." Diana uttered his name, but didn't - couldn't - continue. Bruce simply shrugged with a sad smile.
"I think that tells us everything," Kevin noted to make up for my awe-induced silence.
"Well, we got a whole summary today," Arthur said. "Good job on telling the truth rich boy."
Bruce regained his annoyed glare and shot it at Arthur with precision that Deadshot would beg to have.
"A good job indeed, Master Wayne."
The voice over his comms made everyone freeze.
"Alfred?" Bruce asked, scared to the core.
"I'm afraid your comms channel was still open Sir. I'm very sorry that I listened, but.. well, it was hard not to."
Bruce sighed and rubbed his forehead with closed eyes.
"So, I assume I should prepare for Ms. Prince's arrival on February the 14th?"
"ALFRED-"