Connected

Author: dwparsnip

Rating: PG15

Summary: It's a BMWW ship fic. Diana feels a connection to Bruce, and he feels a connection to her. Why? Divine intervention maybe? It's my first JL fic so please be gentle...

Disclaimer: For the record, I don't own Batman, Wonder Woman or any of the characters associated with them or the Justice League. As far as I know, they all belong to DC.

Author's Note: Hey everyone. This is my first shot at a BMWW story. It's based primarily (though not exclusively) on my knowledge of the JL animated series, and takes place probably after the end of said series with the assumption that our favorite super heroes get together. A word of caution-I'm a hopeless romantic. Sorry about that. Anyway, the story focuses on a connection between Bruce and Diana. I'd love any feedback you're willing to give.

Thanks to Jenn for taking the time and energy to give me a helping hand and encouragement. Lord knowsI bugged her enough.

Diana was flying through the cloudless nighttime skies of New York, enjoying the feeling of the warm summer breeze in her face.

She wasn't in her costume. Instead she was wearing a black cocktail dress, a hot little number as Wally had described it, that was more suited for the diplomatic function she had just excused herself from, the same function that had kept her from being with Bruce that night.

She felt a smile automatically form on her lips when she thought of him. The love they shared was more than she ever thought was possible when she first started pursuing a relationship with what had to be the broodiest man in the world. Despite his initial rebuffs and the roadblocks he tried to put up to a possible romance with her, their attraction turned into more. Their camaraderie blossomed into much more. She would do anything for him and he would do anything for her, first as teammates and now as lovers. And they had both proven it over the months that they had been together.

Diana flew a wide loop de loop, her thoughts of Bruce lifting her spirits immeasurably and her body automatically following suit with playful aerial acrobatics. The loop was followed by a right bank spin followed by a forward loop. It wasn't often that she flew so…carefree…but she just couldn't help herself. The wind whipped against her bare legs and arms, and caused her long midnight black hair to flow behind her giving her a sense of total freedom that she usually felt when she flew.

She had often heard others describe what it was like to love someone, yet their descriptions paled in comparison to what her love for Bruce felt like. The only time she never thought of him was in the heat of battle when such thoughts could mean the difference between victory and defeat, life and death. He even invaded her thoughts then if he were near and in danger. She needed him as much as she needed air to breath. She wanted him as much as she had ever wanted anything. She worshipped him almost as much as she worshipped her gods. Almost…after all she couldn’t allow his massive ego to be fed any more than it already had been.

She had, in fact, come to realize that he was all that she needed or wanted.

She had also heard others describe what it was like to have someone love them, and again the descriptions were seriously inadequate. She knew that she was always on his mind and that he needed and wanted her as much as she wanted him, though gods forbid he actually tell her that. Never one to come right out and say what he was feeling, she had to learn to read between the lines and between the gestures to understand the intricacies of Bruce Wayne's heart. She never would have been able to do it without Dinah, Zatanna and especially Alfred. Alfred's insight into the mystery that was Bruce Wayne was invaluable, and no doubt without his inside assistance she would still be trying to crack the shell around Bruce.

He tried to tell her once in his own terse and enigmatic way that it was her love for him that gave him a sliver of hope in a harsh world. It had been a long and painful conversation for him, especially considering what he was trying to say was so simple.

She knew differently though. She knew that she loved him for some time and nothing changed about his sense of bleakness concerning the virtue of man. She knew it was his love for her that gave him life inside where only darkness had lived for so long. Allowing himself to love her had given him something other than the night to live for. Permitting himself to love her had opened his heart up to possibilities he hadn’t allowed himself to believe existed. Knowing all of that made his loving her that much more special, that much more intense and that much more than anything she had ever had described to her. Certainly it made it more than anything she had ever felt before.

She sighed as she realized just how much she missed him. She looked down at one of the many buildings that had as part of its décor a clock. It was still early. Diana decided with a confident nod and a small, erotically charged smirk that a quick flight to Gotham wasn't out of the question.

She had just altered her flight path accordingly when a sharp pain had her clutching at her chest. Her flight wasn't imperiled and she never lost control, but the pain felt sickeningly familiar…

She stopped in mid-flight and hovered in the night sky, remembering the last time she had felt something like that. Her eyes opened wide and tears began to burn them as she remembered the night six months earlier when she felt a similar feeling. She was on monitor duty aboard the Watchtower when it happened exactly as it just had. She had no idea what was going on with her chest until she heard his voice over the communication channel.

All Bruce said that night over the channel was her name. His voice, and she shuddered as she remembered it, was filled with agony and she could tell that it took all of his strength just to say it. She knew then and there that the terrible pain she felt was the pain he was experiencing. She didn’t know how it was happening, but she knew why. It was because they loved each other so much. She traced his signal and went to get him, leaving teammates in her path mystified by the determined look upon her face and the abruptness of her departure. She nearly took J'onn's head off when he told her she had to wait to use the teleporter. Looking back on it, if she had held her anxiety and temper in check and calmly explained why she needed the teleporter, the whole episode would have been a lot better for everyone.

She shook her head to clear the memory and realized with a start that the ache in her chest was still present, a realization that sent shockwaves into her stomach. She was just about to contact the Watchtower when J'onn's voice came through.

"Diana…"

"He's been hurt", she interrupted. It took a tremendous effort on her part to keep her voice from cracking with emotion. "J'onn, can you…"

"Standby." She could hear the question in his voice. How could she have possibly known? "I'm sending you to his last known location. I have not been able to contact him." There was a hesitation in the Martian's voice. "Diana, be prepared."

She heard him close the channel and his words caused her temper to flare like a small nova. 'Be prepared'. Even if she could ever prepare herself for what J'onn was implying, and she doubted very much that she could, now wasn't that time. She knew it wasn't.

A moment later the Watchtower's teleporter took her from the peaceful skies of New York and deposited her in front of what could only be described as utter chaos. She was in the skies of Gotham and an enormous fire in the warehouse district was lighting up the dark night skies. Firemen were shouting, sirens were blaring and red lights from the trucks flashed over and over again in her eyes. In her mind echoed the only coherent thought she could form at that moment: 'Bruce!'

As she got closer to the fire she could see several Justice League members helping to battle the fire, which by now had engulfed nearly half of the massive warehouses in the area. She saw Superman standing with Flash near a group of Gotham City fire trucks. They were talking to the fire chief when she landed next to them. She knew the situation was dire when Flash only nodded at her, his usual carefree smile replaced by a grim expression.

Her attention turned to the roaring fire in front of them, and it took no time for her to become mesmerized by the dancing orange, yellow and red flames. Only tiny morsels of the conversation between Superman, Flash and the fire chief got through to her mind. 'Explosion', 'arson' and 'devastating'. Then something was said, she couldn't tell by who, that brought her attention back to them with a crash. 'No chance of survivors.'

The Chief went off directing his men, and Superman took a step towards the fire without acknowledging her presence, which only added to her fury and anxiety.

She stepped up quickly and took him by the shoulder, vaguely aware of Flash gently tiptoeing away from them as he would move away from a ticking nuclear bomb, and turned him so that she could see his eyes. What she saw angered her even further. He had given up on Bruce.

"He's not dead", she stated calmly. She could see the surprise in Superman's eyes, though she wasn't sure if it was because of her confident tone or because of what it was she was saying.

He put his hands on her shoulders, his touch feeling like ice against her skin despite their close proximity to a blazing inferno and the warmth she usually felt from him. "Diana", he began softly, "he was in the middle of that. Not even Bruce…"

"He's not dead", she stated firmly between clenched teeth. Superman closed his mouth and regarded her with a look that she could only optimistically describe as doubtful. She looked to Flash, and though his eyes were hidden under his mask she could tell from his posture that he thought the same way as Superman.

She turned back to her very good friend, one of the closest friends she had ever had in her life. "He's not dead. I would know it, Kal. I would feel it." She felt the sting of a flush of annoyance invade her cheeks. "He's hurt, but he's alive." She blinked and a single tear spilled out onto her cheek. "I can feel it…I can feel him", she added desperately trying to make him see that she knew what she was talking about. She looked to Flash and back to Superman. "We have to help him."

She wanted so badly for him to understand her and to believe what she was saying, but one more look into his eyes told her that he didn’t.

She shook from his grasp and took a step towards the intense blaze.

Flash was in front of her literally in the blink of an eye blocking her path. He had a look of concern in his eyes and she knew that the look was genuine. Keeping her from what she wanted to do at this time, however, was not something that his look would smooth over no matter how much he meant it and she showed it. Despite her intense glower he didn’t back down though his body was tense and he had to gulp down the lump in his throat.

She was just about to hurt the crimson speedster when the ache in her chest, or was it her heart, intensified. It wasn't much, just barely enough to notice, and notice she did. She abandoned her thought of doing damage to Flash for getting in her way and flew straight up into the sky.

She watched the inferno for a moment, turned and, ignoring Superman's calls, headed towards the one place where she could possibly find the answers she needed to find.

Superman and Flash watched as Wonder Woman flew farther and farther away.

"Where's she going?", asked Flash, the concern palpable in his voice.

"To wait for him", responded Superman in a whisper. He turned to regard the blaze that he was certain had taken his friend from them and repeated, "To wait for him."

As she flew to her destination she thought back to when Bruce was hurt months earlier. His injuries hadn’t been too serious and he was up and about a couple of days after. After she sufficiently babied him she told him about what she felt and what she thought about it. He nodded slowly and had a smug, knowing look upon his face, as though he knew exactly what she was talking about before she did.

Seeing the question in her eyes he simply gazed into her eyes and explained in his irritatingly neutral tone of voice. "Diana, why do you think I was always there lurking in the shadows? Why do you think I was always one of the first ones there when you were in danger? Why do you think it was you I let come to my city as opposed to someone else?" His right hand caressed her cheek as he added, "How was it that in your darkest times the Dark Knight would show up?" She gave him a short laugh at the nickname he used to describe himself. His eyes took on a mischievous glint. "And that doesn’t count all the times I was there and you didn’t see or hear me."

It took a few minutes of gazing into his eyes, letting her blue eyes get lost in the eyes of the man who had come to mean so much to her, to grasp what he was saying. He felt a connection to her, the same way that she felt it to him.

The moment she realized it, and that he more or less admitted that he felt the same thing, was one of the happiest moments of her life.

Diana landed gracefully on the front step of Wayne Manor, approached the front door and walked in without knocking. The Manor was more familiar to her now than anywhere else. The only nights she spent aboard the Watchtower were the ones where she had monitor duty, a meeting or an early morning mission. The only nights she spent in her apartment near the embassy were ones where she had diplomatic responsibilities to attend to such as tonight's party, or meetings like one scheduled for the morning.

"Alfred!", she called as she slammed the door shut behind her, nearly splintering it to shreds.

No response.

She moved automatically to the Grandfather clock and manipulated the appropriate area. A moment later she was flying down the steps into the Batcave.

The first thing she noticed when she landed at the bottom of the steps was that the Batmobile wasn't there. He was still out there somewhere. The second thing she noticed was a flashing notice on the Batcomputer's main screen, but before she could step forward to read it Alfred spoke to her.

"Miss Diana…thank the heavens you're here."

She turned sharply towards the butler, who was in fact so much more than a butler to Bruce, and to her too for that matter. Her stomach churned like the rocky waters around Sirenum scopuli when she saw him wearing a surgical apron and gloves.

Seeing the concern in her eyes, Alfred looked down at his garb then back to her. As an explanation he pointed to the Batcomputer. "The Batmobile is returning on automatic pilot, as it were. Estimated time of arrival, forty-five seconds."

Nothing else needed to be said. She moved to the platform and waited for the Batmobile to arrive. She wasn't sure what would happen, if the car would stop in it's usual place, or if the cover would open, or if he could even get out by himself. The only thing she knew for sure was that she would stop the car if she had to, and that she would tear open the sliding roof to get him out if she had to, and that she would carry him to the summit of Mount Olympus itself if he needed her to.

The thoughts just filtered through her mind when she heard the familiar rumble of the Batmobile's approach. She braced herself, just in case, but it was unnecessary. The Batmobile stopped as it always did when Bruce was in control of it, and when it was stopped the top hatch slid forward as it always did. She should have known Bruce would have that set up.

Diana took a deep breath, suddenly fearful of what she might find, and looked inside.

Her eyes opened wide when she saw that his costume was scorched beyond being recognizable as being Batman's costume. The cape was gone…she couldn't tell if it had been torn or burned away. His suit looked nearly melted in places and there were obvious holes in the suit caused by shrapnel propelled at what must have been ungodly velocities. There were pockmarks where debris hit the suit and kept it away from him, and there were even a couple of places where shrapnel embedded itself into the costume, but didn't penetrate it. All of that was bad enough, but what caused the fury to grow inside her chest at those who did this to him was the sight of his blood…everywhere.

All of the warmth in her body bled out through her skin into the cave and an Arctic chill totally encompassed her. 'Gods I wish I could see his eyes!' She nervously reached in to lift up his cowl when a voice interrupted. "Miss Diana."

Alfred's voice brought her out of her trance like state of shock and she reached in and scooped him up easily. She took him into the room off to the side of the Batcomputer that was the mini infirmary that Bruce had set up. She gently placed him on the table and held his hand. The gauntlet of the costume was still warm to the touch. Then again it could have been her…she still felt so terribly cold.

"Miss Diana?"

She looked up to see Alfred examining what appeared to be the most serious wound in his lower left abdomen. Without looking up he stated, "The costume needs to come off…now."

His voice was nearly calm, but Diana had gotten to know him well enough to hear the underlying tone of trepidation in the refined accent.

She reached over and grasped the suit as tightly as she could, and with all of the strength that the gods had blessed her with she tore it from him. It took eleven seconds to rip the costume off him, but to her it seemed like an eternity.

For a millisecond she was sorry she did. The sight of several open, bleeding wounds and what appeared to be at least a dozen very deep bruises was enough to start her blood boiling in her veins. But she stood fast with a strength she wasn't aware she had until that moment… a strength she realized that came from knowing that he needed her. She took his hand again hoping that he could feel her presence.

Apparently aware of the distress Bruce's injuries were causing her, Alfred made a suggestion. "Perhaps it would be better if you waited outside, Miss, or in the manor." He spared her a quick sympathetic glance and added, "There is no need for you to see this."

Appreciation at Alfred's concern and anger at his implied suggestion that she couldn’t handle seeing what she was seeing battled it out for supremacy in Diana's mind for the briefest of moments. In the end she knew that Alfred was only looking out for her emotional well-being and meant no disrespect. If it had been anyone else though…

"No Alfred, I have to stay. For him and for me."

Alfred nodded and began working on Bruce, and Diana was once again amazed at the talents of Alfred Pennyworth- butler extraordinaire, world-class chef and, when necessary, emergency room doctor. It had only taken Alfred a moment with the abundant equipment in the infirmary to get the bleeding under control, and in another moment he had an IV with a unit of Bruce's own blood hooked up to him. For the next hour she watched Alfred perform his own breed of magic, stitching and suturing the man she loved back together, all the while silently praying to Apollo to guide Alfred's actions.

An hour and a half after she placed him on the table, Alfred finished placing a bandage on the last of Bruce's wounds. He took off the blood stained apron and gloves, placing them in bio waste container.

Alfred looked up into the eyes of the Amazon princess. The look of concern mixed with rage required a reassuring and defusing touch. "Don't worry, Miss. He's been through worse than this. He will be sore for quite some time, but he will recover given enough time. He has a cracked rib or two, no organ damage and the bleeding wasn't as bad as it first appeared to be. He didn't take in much smoke and he had no burns. Master Bruce did put a lot of thought into the design and composition of the costume." He glanced to the mess of kevlar, leather and rubber on the floor that used to be a Batman costume. "Said costume on the other hand, is beyond saving."

Diana looked to the torn costume and instantly started to mumble an apology, only to be immediately cut off by Alfred.

"Do not apologize, Miss Diana", he said forcefully in admonition. She looked at him and his eyes became kind and when he spoke again his voice was tender. "I know I would have done the same if I had been able to. As it is your actions saved valuable time and hardship for Master Bruce."

She moved to Alfred and threw her arms around his neck in a loving hug. "Thank you, Alfred."

Alfred patted Diana's back and said quietly, "There, there, Miss. It's what I do, and I do it gladly." He moved out of her embrace and looked at his master. "Master Bruce hates waking up in this room, but I fear that I am unable to safely carry him up the stairs."

She smiled at Alfred's unspoken request. "I would be more than happy to bring him to his room."

Alfred nodded. "I thought you might. He will not regain consciousness for quite some time, Miss. Allow me half an hour to prepare his room and then you may bring him up. May I assume that you will be staying the night, Miss?"

Diana could sense the hopefulness in the butler's voice though he gave no outward appearance of anything other than simple curiosity. "The gods couldn’t drag me out of here tonight, Alfred", she said as she walked back to Bruce's side.

He didn't quite smile. "Very good, Miss."

She heard Alfred as he walked through the door and up the steps to the manor. She took Bruce's right hand in hers and kissed it gently, hoping that some of her strength would filter into him and help fight the pain she knew he had to be in. Hera knew she would give all the strength she had to see him open his eyes. She closed her eyes and whispered a short prayer to the gods asking them to help her beloved when she felt her hand being squeezed.

Diana opened her eyes to see Bruce looking at her through half opened eyes. She could tell that the combination of pain and Alfred's medicines had him in another world. Through all of it however, his eyes found hers and he smiled. Well, the corner of his mouth turned up a quarter of an inch, but to her it was the same thing as a full-fledged smile given the circumstances.

His mouth moved and he whispered something. She leaned down, turning so that her ear was closer to his mouth and carefully holding her long raven hair away from his face.

"I love you." His voice was raspy, weak and she could hear the pain in his voice, but those words sounded as sweet as anything she had ever heard.

Diana turned her head so that they were face to face…lips to lips. She let her lips brush gently against his once, then twice and finally a third time. She smiled, and through the tears that refused to stop coming to her eyes she whispered back to him, "I love you too. Rest now."

He closed his eyes and she was sure she heard a contented sigh escape his lips. Diana noticed with interest and more than a little joy that his grip on her hand didn't weaken, not even after he fell back to sleep. She relaxed ever so slightly and she could finally feel a little warmth return to her body.

When Alfred's half an hour had passed she released Bruce's hand and, with the utmost care, she picked him up in her powerful arms and began the journey up to his room. When Diana reached Bruce's bedroom she found Alfred waiting and she carefully placed Bruce on his bed. Alfred inspected the bandages, looking for evidence of torn stitches and resumed bleeding, but he found none.

Diana pulled a blanket up over Bruce and stepped back to where Alfred stood.

"He will be fine, Miss", Alfred reassured her quietly.

She nodded and smiled. "I know, Alfred." She turned to face Alfred and whispered, "Will you stay with him for a moment? I must go to the cave and inform the League that he's here and…and I don't want him to be alone."

Alfred nodded. "Of course, Miss."

She smiled and headed back to the Batcave. She made her way to the communications panel and thought about what she was going to say. Kal and Wally knew Batman and knew him well. They knew what he was capable of and some of the difficulties he had gone through. They both saw Batman snap victory from the jaws of defeat and survive against overwhelming odds. Yet neither could summon the faith in their friend tonight to believe that he had once again triumphed. It saddened and enraged her at the same time. Missing being near Bruce, she sighed and finally called the Watchtower.

To her surprise, Superman answered her call instead of J'onn.

Without preamble she stated all that she was willing to tell her friend. "Batman is home and he will need time to recuperate. I'm staying with him. Wonder Woman out."

She closed the channel before he could say anything, leaning on the communication panel with both hands flattened against it. She didn't want to be distracted by the anger and disappointment she felt towards Superman for not believing in her and not believing in Bruce. While she had been tempted to ask if they had discovered anything about the identity of those responsible for the explosion that hurt Bruce, she couldn't bring herself to ask him. The more she knew the more angry she would become and that would affect her ability to help Bruce when he needed her most.

No. She would pray to Nemesis for assistance in her quest for vengeance against whoever had hurt Bruce when the time was right, when Bruce was healed sufficiently to permit her to pursue those responsible.

She bowed her head and closed her eyes, taking several deep breaths in an effort to calm herself down. It didn't work. When she opened her eyes a couple of minutes later the top panels of the console were crumpled up like pieces of aluminum foil in her hands. She released the panels and stood up quickly. "Hera! Something else to apologize to Alfred for!", she thought contritely.

Diana straightened her dress down over her body and took another deep breath. She flew back up to Bruce's bedroom, and when she entered Alfred stood up from the chair he had placed next to Bruce's bed and approached her.

"I will check in on him periodically, Miss. I have placed fresh towels and a pair of your pajamas in Master Bruce's bathroom. Might I suggest that you clean up and get some rest yourself?"

She looked down and her heart skipped a beat at the sight of his dried blood on her dress and hands "Thank you, Alfred."

"Is there anything else you need, Miss?" He gave her an appraising look. "Some fruit perhaps, or some tea?"

"No thank you, Alfred", she said softly as she shook her head and tried to hold back the tears. "I just…I just need to be with him."

Alfred smiled, apparently immeasurably pleased with that answer. "Then I shall leave you to it. Good night, Miss Diana."

"Good night, Alfred", she replied as he shut the door.

Diana checked on Bruce and then went into his bathroom to clean up and change into the pajamas that Alfred had placed there. She did so quickly, not wanting to be away from him any longer than was absolutely necessary.

A few minutes after entering the bathroom she exited and smiled as she looked at her self in the full-length mirror in his bedroom. Alfred was a sly fox. Her frequent and often impromptu overnight visits to the manor in the initial stages of her relationship with Bruce had prompted Alfred to obtain some nightclothes for her. Even after she brought her own things to keep there on a semi-permanent basis Alfred added what he had acquired to her own belongings. Tonight he picked out one of the outfits he had acquired for her- a pair of sapphire silk pajamas that Bruce adored. The color he whispered to her one night as they held each other by the fireplace, accentuated the glow that he always saw in her eyes. He didn't say any more, but the loving glow in his eyes and the way he tightened his embrace as he spoke told her that he meant so much more.

She wondered how Alfred could have known about Bruce's affection for those particular pajamas, but the answer was swift in coming to her. Alfred was after all, the person most instrumental in shaping Bruce Wayne into the man he had become, the man she loved so much. Alfred knew Bruce better than Bruce knew himself.

Immensely satisfied and grateful for Alfred's selection, Diana walked over to the bed and lid down beside Bruce, being extremely careful not to jostle him too much. She lid on her right side, her head resting on the pillow mere inches from him, and her left hand reached over and held his. Once again she felt his hand tighten around hers, and as his hold strengthened tears of joy slipped from her eyes and traveled silently down her cheek and onto her pillow.

Just as he felt her pain, she felt his strength. Just as she felt his pain, he felt her strength. She marveled at the thought. They had become so connected that it scared her and delighted her at the same time; connected in a way that she had never experienced with anyone else before, not her mother, not her Amazon sisters, not Kal…no one.

And as she fell asleep to the rhythm of his steady breathing, she understood that she would never again want it any other way.

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Aphrodite looked into the crystal she used to watch those in whom she had a special interest and smiled contentedly for the first time in what could have been an eternity. The picture of Diana next to a man that she clearly loved warmed the goddess' heart. Diana was after all very special, and she deserved that which had eluded her for so very long.

Diana had felt love before of course, but never to the point where Aphrodite could sense that it was a life's love, a love to be experienced as well as felt for eternity. There was a time, a short time in the grand scheme of things, when Aphrodite thought that perhaps what Diana felt for the one known as Superman was her life's love, but it was not meant to be. In fact, what Diana felt for Superman paled in comparison to what she was experiencing with this…Batman.

Aphrodite waved her hand over the crystal and the image of a very content Diana disappeared. Still gazing at the now void crystal, the goddess of love spoke to her companion.

"You have made their bond a very strong one, my son."

Eros smiled widely and bowed his head reverently in her direction. His mother's tone left no doubt that she was pleased with what he had done. "As was your wish, Mother."

Aphrodite leaned back in her comfortable throne and regarded her son. "You did exactly as I told you?" She had to ask. Eros was prone to doing whatever he felt like doing sometimes, and ignoring her altogether on other occasions. Even she could never anticipate how Eros would proceed with any given task.

Eros sighed. "Yes, Mother. I did not create anything that wasn't already there to begin with. The love they feel for each other is of their own volition and it is very deep, as deep as any love that I have ever encountered. I merely intensified their actual connection giving them the ability to feel each other's pain. In time, it will grow as their love grows to include the ability to feel each other's wants and desires."

Aphrodite held out her hand to her son. When he stepped forward and took it in his own she said proudly, "You have done well, Eros."

Eros squeezed his mother's hand and then released it. "Thank you, Mother. You do realize Mother, that their love is so strong that their bond would have strengthened on it's own?"

When Aphrodite simply nodded in response Eros shrugged his shoulders and shuffled his feet. He knew well enough that his mother had reasons for doing what she did, and that she very seldom shared those reasons with anyone, even those she used to do her bidding. "What now, Mother?"

Aphrodite thought for a moment. "Let's see if there's something we can do for", she waved her hand over the crystal once more to bring forth the image of Medusa alone in her cell in the underworld, "her."

Eros leaned forward to look into the crystal. His eyes opened wide in surprise and he stood up straight to regard his mother. "You can't be serious, Mother."

Aphrodite raised an eyebrow at her son and smiled. "You never know unless you try, Eros. Everyone deserves someone to love."

Eros was far from convinced. "I know Mother, but really!"

Aphrodite laughed softly at her son's behavior. "But really, Eros…"

THE END.