I’M NOT BATMAN

WANDA: Wanda was honestly overtaken with anticipation at the notion of a whole week alone with Bruce and away from Star City. She wanted to see how he would change. Would he different with the sun in his golden hair and his eyes washed brighter with the reflection of the sea. They had only had each other in the ominous stone trappings of Star City where some new drama could steal his attention at any time. She wanted to feel him breathing.

Her mouth hung open and her large amber eyes were wide as she took in the crisp and pristine marble of the foyer. “Oh Bruce,” she breathed, hand letting her suitcase fall to the floor as she did a slow turn, the motion barely picking up the scarlet chiffon of her dress’s hem. “It’s beautiful.”

BRUCE: Bruce had a spotty history when it came to taking vacations. He didn't take often. When he did, he had a habit of not actually vacationing, if such a thing were even a verb, and typically cut the time short the second he had an excuse. Promising Wanda a true vacation was substantial, but he wasn't going back on his word. This was something she deserved; at this point, he was willing to believe they both deserved it.

Her amazement made him smile. This had been the home his mother painstakingly decorated after his father purchased it for her - consequently, it was the one he visited the least, but he didn't regret his decision to stay here. It was worth it to see Wanda look so happy. Leaving their suitcases by the stairs, he gently took the back of her elbow. "My mother spent every summer here. It was her favorite place to visit. Would you like a tour?"

WANDA: Reaching out to take his hand, Wanda looked up at him. “After you show me our room,” she responded. “We need to put our things up there.”

Reaching up with her free hand, Wanda laid a gentle touch to his cheek. “Is there a view of the ocean?” She asked. “A place to watch the sun rise or set?”

BRUCE: There was only one room with a view of the ocean. It wasn't the room Bruce typically spent the night in, but he'd already phoned ahead to ensure the mansion would be ready to receive visitors. He'd specifically ask that all rooms be made ready. Originally, he'd intended to have Wanda decide, but her question made him wonder why he hadn't anticipated the answer on his own.

"Yes." He covered her hand against his face, fingertips pressing against the side of her wrist. "It's this way." Taking both bags, he led the way up the winding staircase. The bedroom was the master and the bed faced a set of large glass doors leading out to the portico. It had a perfect and unobstructed view of the ocean.

WANDA: The room was beautiful, and Wanda was spellbound yet again. The elegance of it all coupled with the wide and open beauty of the clean baroquism was enough to have her smiling.

But... a room this grand could only be the master bedroom, and the master bedroom was where his mother must have slept. His father. Her expression turned serous. Respectful. Carefully, her hand extended to rest on one of the columns of the canopy bed. She could already envision the curtains wrapped around them and shutting out the world. It was a wonderful room, but she only hoped it didn’t interrupt the sanctity of their memory. “Are you sure?” She asked him, looking over her shoulder before turning to him. Her hands came to rest on his chest. “Is it...okay?” Her eyes watched him, intent on any single tiny indication or change in his expression. He was excellent at hiding, but she was just as good at seeing.

BRUCE: There was a time when Wayne Manor had been closed up like a museum, half of it shut away from everyone but Alfred, who had earned the right long before Bruce could call it his own. That was something he thought would preserve his parents' memory.

However, the thought of the room being closed away to rot didn't feel right. He was reminded of that tug at his conscience standing in this room, a room that had known more joy than most people would have in their lifetime, and he nodded. He reached up to cover her hands again, a gesture that was instinctive in his need to reassure. "Yes, I'm sure." She knew what room this was. He didn't even wonder why she was asking. Sometimes he was half-convinced Wanda was also a telepath; she had an uncanny way of reading him that took most people several years to master. Even Clark still struggled. "This room shouldn't be left in the dark."

WANDA: The sun had already set outside by the time they arrived, and his words sent a swell through Wanda’s chest as she felt her magic stirring under her skin. Around them, warm fairy lights conjured from nothing began to twinkle, bathing the room in a golden glow. “Then we will fill it with light, Ozi,” she told him softly. She knew how special Bruce’s parents were to him. How important their memories were. For him to offer her the chance to write new ones was not a small thing.

Looking up at him with so much bare affection in her eyes, Wanda stepped so close that their bodies shared heat. Her hands slid out from under his hands to slide up his chest. “Can we go for a nighttime swim? I want to feel the warm air.” She wanted to see him doing something fun, but in the comfort of the shadows he had gotten so used to hiding. Baby steps.

BRUCE: Wanda's magic had a way of putting him at ease. It was normally something he would have been more mindful of, at least enough to take notice and maintain a clear head. However, it was getting easier to simply allow himself to experience it. It wasn't typical for him. In the beginning it had been uncomfortable, but he'd adapted and given in to its warmth. He found immense comfort in her presence even without it - it seemed to be innate to her, and was largely what attracted him to Wanda in the first place.

Bruce had never been the type of person who showed his feelings on his sleeve. He wasn't used to such open displays of affection, aside from when Dick was a child, and there were times he felt deficient. "Of course. The pool has been cleaned." The suitcases were in front of the ridiculously large closet. "Or did you mean the ocean?"

WANDA: Wanda didn’t need Bruce to be so tactile. She merely needed him to not hurt her. To care for her and to stay. These things, she believed more and more that Bruce would do. She didn’t need Bruce to change. Merely to relax.

“Well I had meant the pool, but is the beach private?” A sweet little half smile tinged with mischief painted her lips. “I don’t want to share you tonight, Bruce. If you’re amenable.”

BRUCE: "The beach is private." The land had its own beach access. Bruce's parents had been private, although not nearly to the same extent. When they were on vacation, rare because Bruce was not unlike his father, they didn't like to be disturbed either. "More than amenable," he said with a slow smile, his hand tightening around her own. "In fact, I insist."

WANDA: His smile made her heart flutter and her stomach tighten as she lifted his fingers to kiss his knuckles. “Let me change, then,” she told him. “I’ll meet you down by the water?”

BRUCE: He nodded. "Follow the path down. It should be lit." The grounds were sprawling, even in such a small location, and the landscape arranged in such a way that there didn't seem to be anyone around for miles. That hadn't been an accident.

WANDA: She took her time putting on her suit, braiding her long hair into a plait down her back so the sea air didn't puff it up. Doing up the lace on the front of her suit, she finally stepped into the warm night air and made her way down to the beach. As she reached it, she didn't see Bruce at first and her eyes slipped closed. For a moment, she stood on a cliff face in Wundagore, the sound of the waves upon the rocks only just louder than her family caravan a few hundred feet away.

The wind blew up the ends of her hair and she let out a sad little sigh as the sound of Marya's voice in her head had her unwilling to open her eyes so she wouldn't see something that wasn't there. "Bruce?" She called softly.

BRUCE: The beach wasn't large or ostentatious, but that had been the point. Martha had imported a special soil that felt more like sand instead of the pebbles that had been there before. He could still remember how it felt under his feet, even though it'd been years since he'd made use of the beach here. This time he knew better. He'd come prepared.

He'd been obscured by the side of a steep boulder, but was in her line of sight seconds after she called his name. "Come see." There was a rare lightness in his voice that made the lines by his eyes appear less deep. The lack of exhaustion took years off of him. "Watch your step."

WANDA: When she heard his voice close, Wanda grounded herself in it before finally opening her eyes and trusting herself to look up. There he was. And he was smiling. Lighter. So beautiful in the pale light of the moon. Reaching out, she caught his hand before holding onto it as he guided her. "What are we looking for, ozi?" She asked him.

She liked this Bruce. The one that seemed less heavy. That had memories to show her. He was a person. She loved Bruce in all iterations, but she worried about him often. Here, perhaps she could let a little of that go.

BRUCE: Bruce's exterior was hard because it had to be. He'd worn Bruce Wayne like a costume for so many years that finding a balance between the two had always been difficult. Those who knew him would say that Bruce Wayne was the mask. Those who truly knew him would disagree. He had always been both. The difference was accessibility. Wanda had managed to bypass the distance he'd strategically placed between himself and everyone else. When it came down to it, he allowed her to see him because she wanted to, and because he knew it would be the only way to know her.

Taking her hand, he helped her navigate the slippery rocks bordering the shore. On the other side, the sand faded into pebbles at the mouth of a cave. "You can't go too far. I came down here a lot when I was a kid."

WANDA: She looked into the cave with curiosity, cocking her head as she kept her fingers in Bruce's. "What's in there?" She prompted. "Untold memories of your boyhood adventures?" Wanda was playful, adapting easily to the energy he was giving off to her. It was a good sort of energy. And Bruce let her in, which she knew was immensely difficult for him. She never took it for granted and she wouldn't.

"Will you protect me in the dark?" She asked with a very Serious expression that was all gentle humor in her eyes.

BRUCE: It had taken years for Bruce to discuss his childhood with anything but heaviness and anger. Discussing it with Wanda felt natural, even though it had taken time for him to get there. Discussing his past in general wasn't something he was prone to do, let alone the subject of his parents, but Wanda was different. She'd been different before too, which was part of why the relationship ended.

"Not quite," he said, his hand dropping to rest against the small of her back. "As I said, it's been many years. But I did bring a flashlight if you're curious." He offered her to her, still with the same faint smile. "Of course, and I happen to be quite comfortable in caves." As if to illustrate the point, he pulled her close against his side, his hold strong enough to nearly lift her off the ground. Amused, he reached down to brush a piece of hair off of her forehead. "Or... we could skip an excursion and stick to the shore." He nodded down the coastline. "Then we could take that swim."

WANDA: "I want you to show me where you adventured," she bade him simply. She wanted that insight to his mind. His childhood. If that meant exploring  a cave, then that's what it meant. She wasn't afraid of the dark or anything of that nature. There were things far more frightening in this life, weren't there?

"So lead the way, Ozi." As she said it, she took the flashlight and leaned into his side, feeling the strength of him and the hard lines of his body as he kept her close. "I'm not afraid."

BRUCE: There were things Bruce knew about himself without having to be told, although he’d heard it enough from his kids, and he was aware of his tendency to control situations whenever possible. He was doing his best not to be that way with Wanda. Wanda, who - in her effervescence and compassion - was different than anyone he’d ever known. She’d endured more than most, but still managed to come back. When he looked at her he saw strength.

Nodding, he slid a strong arm around her back, allowing her to lean against him as they stepped into darkness. The cave was narrow enough that the light didn’t leave any dark corners, but it was impossible to see the end. “I liked how quiet it was,” he said, watching the light bounce up the jagged rock wall. There was a pause before he continued. “They weren’t like me. They didn’t like the house to be too still.”

WANDA: As they walked, she listened to him speak. Bruce's voice was strong and calm, but also pulled back. Like he couldn't give away too much, even just talking. It gave her all the more reason to pay attention.

"When you were a little boy, even?" She asked him. She often wondered what Bruce was like as a child. She'd never really get to know, but she would take what he told her.

BRUCE: "Even then." It made him smile that Wanda would find that surprising. Bruce had been a quiet child, serious, and had taken after his father in that respect. His mother had been softer; she didn't shy away from touch.

Their deaths had changed him, but not in the way people would expect. "We're reaching the end." The beam of light finally reached the jagged pile of rocks - a cave-in that prevented them from going any further. "It's always been closed off."

WANDA: That smile... like it was conspiratorial in a way. Like he was telling her a secret. It made her heart thump in his chest when he smiled. Always.

"It's beautiful in a way," she said. "Quiet and final. The dark isolates us from everything else in the world." Was that why Bruce liked the Night?

BRUCE: "Yes." There was chalk on the walls, tiny signs that Bruce had been there years ago, and even a dusty, corroded Rubik's cube. He captured her chin between two fingers and kissed her softly. "I do not mind being isolated with you." That was unlike how he'd been with anyone before. When Bruce withdrew, it was to be completely alone.

WANDA: Could he feel the way her breath picked up whenever he got close to her? She had to imagine he could. He noticed everything. Still, her lips were pliant for his and her arms wrapped around his neck to push herself closer. "Then stay isolated with me," she breathed in the space between their lips. "Just for now."

BRUCE: As she moved, he adjusted with her and wrapped his arm around the small of her back. Even in this moments he was never unaware of her power, but all thoughts were pushed aside in favor of this moment - a kiss that started off soft, reassuring, and then inevitably deepened.

WANDA: Wanda could lose herself in moments like this. Even alone in the dark of a beach cave, she felt safe. Like he wouldn't hurt her or leave her alone. Bruce had accepted her into his heart, even if he was still trying to fully open it. And she had seen the kinds of things he could survive. The things she hadn't seen, she had heard of. Maybe Bruce Wayne was the man who was strong enough to love her. To stay. Not like Vision, who hadn't loved her and hadn't stayed. Not like Simon, who had loved her but couldn't stay. Maybe Bruce would do both. If he did, she'd give him everything. Anything she could manage.

Pulling back from their kiss, Wanda rested her head against the thump of his heart and let her eyes slip closed so she could feel it against her cheek and focus on nothing else. "I love you, Bruce." They had only said it once or twice now. But Wanda wanted to tell him always. He deserved to hear it over and over until it lived in his head.

BRUCE: Although they were alone - and on vacation, no less - there would always be a part of Bruce that maintained a hyper-vigilance to what was going on around him. He had difficulty fully relaxing in any moment, but he still came close with Wanda. The ability to quiet his thoughts and singular purpose was something he'd never been able to do, not even for his own children, and he knew it was one of many reasons for their resentment. He didn't want his relationship with Wanda to have that same bitterness. It was why he'd brought her here: to show her that he could and would turn away from the world even for a few minutes.

The slight weight of her head on his chest made him exhale softly. His hand found the back of her head, fingers threading through her thick hair. "I love you, too." The words came without hesitation, instinctively, as if they'd been saying them for years.

WANDA: It made her shiver to hear him say it back, just like it had the first time. Looking up at him, she smiled gently. She couldn't keep the affection from her face even if she tried, which she didn't. Instead, she let their hearts beat together before reaching down to tangle her fingers with his. "Do you want to stay in the cave?" She asked him, turning away to run her fingers over one of the faded chalk drawings. "Or should we see the moon next, Ozi?"

BRUCE: "I think we've had enough of the dark." They'd come out here to swim and this had been a brief detour. Bruce guided her gently away from the doodling on the walls and back in the direction of the cave's entrance. It was minutes later that they stood on the beach again, the waves lapping the shore. "Do you still want to swim?" He'd dressed for it. The moon was large and the sky was clear, the air cool but not unbearably so.

WANDA: The sand was soft beneath her feet as she let the sea breeze dance over her skin again. "This reminds me of back home. Just a little bit. The smell. Wundagore isn't beachy. But there was a cliff face there. We traveled all over the country, but that cliff face was so beautiful. It looked out on the sea and when it stormed the wind whipped so hard." As she spoke, the wind picked up around them and her scarf fell from her hair to lay at their feet so the thick black locks picked up in the new gusts.

Her voice was even and steady. Gentle and soothing. "The ocean was grey then, which white caps. If you stood right at the end of it, near the ledge enough, the wind and the waves combined would blot out all sound and all you could feel was earth.'

Her fingers stayed curled with his as she brought him there. Not really. Just changed how it looked around them. Altered their private bubble in the world around them just so he could feel it with her. Inside his mind, she murmured, "That was my alone. It was the first time I felt the threads of reality and was are of how I could pull them."

BRUCE: As he listened to her speak, Bruce was able to picture what she described clearly. It was easy to imagine Wanda there because of the natural way she merged with the image in front of him. The dark waves and the salt in the hair set the scene, and the wind that picked up her scarf and started its tumble down the beach was at home in her hair.

He realized the world was shifting around them, cross-fading into the image that'd been in his head. Silent, he took in the white foam and the glistening rocks on the cliff-side. She'd done this in the privacy of the manor before, altered their reality so they would have a place to call their own, but this was different. This belonged to Wanda and she'd allowed him in.

"It's beautiful." Bruce spoke aloud. Habit, perhaps, but his mind was also the most guarded thing about him. It had to be.

WANDA: "I don't think we go in tonight, Ozi," she told him simply, turning to look at him with a shy little smile. "I want to just sit with you on the balcony." She could make the wind blow as she rested up against him on the chaise there, warmed by his heat and a thick blanket over their lap. Talking. Sharing kisses.

"I hope that's okay," she said lightly. "You don't have to talk any more than you're comfortable with. But anything you do have to say, I'll hear." She would enjoy Bruce in any and all capacity that he may be there with her.

BRUCE: The last time he'd been swimming was in Gotham, a country club he'd only visited for the purpose of gathering information, and Bruce wouldn't have remembered the swim suit at all had Alfred not reminded him. As it was, he didn't mind putting it off for the evening. They would be here for an entire week. There would be plenty of time to swim.

"Of course." Tightening his hand over Wanda's, he took his time to lead her back up to the house. He'd left the sliding door open; the house was cool and the air no longer felt stuffy or stale. The futon only had pillows, but he brought a large blanket from the closet for her. It was warm during the day, but the ocean breeze at night could be chilly. January 29, 2021

WANDA: It was just where she wanted to be, pressed up against his side and leaning into his shoulder before letting out a slow breath. Her fingers tangled with Bruce's and she let her eyes slip closed for a minute, simply enjoying the closeness.

"I'm glad I managed to convince you to come," she told him with a little smile, looking up at him before reaching up to run the back of her hand over the curve of his cheek.

BRUCE: "It did not take much convincing." It wasn't just the timing. Wanda deserved this peace and tranquility; she'd had so little of it in her life. If he had the ability to give it to her, then he would without question.

Settling her against his shoulder, he was amusingly informal on the futon, one knee bent as his fingers trailed a delicate pattern on her knee. "You look like you belong here."

WANDA: "Do I?" She asked him playfully. "Do I strike you as an Island girl, Bruce?" The idea made her grin. She supposed she could look the part. Beach frizzed curls and sunkissed brown skin. She could assimilate here.

Bruce, for his part, looked out of place. For all that he was relaxed with her right now, his blonde hair and the permanently etched furrow in his brow spoke to belonging elsewhere. And she knew where it was. Still, to pretend with him was... perfect. "Do I match the moonlight on the sand, Ozi?"

BRUCE: "Yes," Bruce said simply, but his tone conveyed seriousness rather than matching Wanda's playful demeanor. "You move like the tide. Steady. Loyal. Underneath..." Bending his head, he kissed her directly below her ear. "You are powerful, wild, and intriguing. I don't think an entire lifetime will grant me the ability to know you."

It was the most he'd ever talked like that, the uncharacteristic softness even lingering in the gentle brush of his fingers through her curls.

WANDA: He made her sound mysterious. Something beautiful and good, but also something to watch. But it was so much better than being made out to be dangerous. She was, she supposed, but people had treated her like that for ages. Bruce just... didn't. He wouldn't. It mattered to her that he saw her like a woman and not like a, well, mutant who could harm him. Or who had harmed him.

"I'd give you the lifetime I have left," she told him softly, looking away as a thick shyness settled over her. "If you promise not to leave." She couldn't... she couldn't lose another love. Her heart couldn't take it. And comparing her others to Bruce... it was different. Markedly. Like he saw her and didn't shrink away. And he wasn't some wish fulfilment or a way to hide from the pain. He kept her on the ground, and she reminded him to float sometimes.

BRUCE: It went against Bruce's nature to disregard potential dangers. He knew Wanda, but what's more, he sincerely believed in her capacity to heal herself.  Her resilience was what made him believe she would overcome the reputation that still lingered. Perhaps it always would, but its role in her life would change.

STEVE: Steve was anxious. The kind of anxious which came from knowing they should be moving. Mobilizing. He knew it was important to include the X-Men in this process, but this wasn't the kind of thing they had time for chatting about. He had already contacted his people on the emergency line and they were ready. They would need to not waste time. Who knew when NOVA was planning to do this.

He was leaned over the table with Bruce, planning what they were going to do, who they were sending where, when the door opened to Scott. "Scott," he greeted, cutting to the chase as he finished with, "Bruce has brought up some information that has made it clear that NOVA needs to be dealt with. We're finishing this today."

SCOTT: Scott was, as always, prompt. Once he’d got word that Bruce and Steve needed to meet, not something that would be done without likely drastic reason, he dropped what he was doing and joined them. To say he’d been preoccupied recently was an understatement, but there were certain obligations that had to be prioritized.

“Then tell me.” He’d save his questions for afterward. Ever ready to move, with a laundry list of scenarios already planned and prepared for, he needed only to know what he was engaging with.

BRUCE: In the beginning, it was habit to use code names. It was a difficult habit to break, even with their identities public, but Bruce had finally started to let go of that ingrained habit around Steve and Scott. Not on purpose, however - in fact, he was hardly aware of doing it at all.

He'd already done significant pre-planning with Steve. Even though they were bringing Scott the information, he wanted them to be prepared to move immediately. There was no time to waste. "Tim - Red Robin - discovered blueprints for a nuclear weapon. Dr. Banner mentioned spikes in gamma radiation detected in the underwater facility. That information has led us to believe that NOVA is making a bomb. Perhaps they stored it there for a time, but it was moved after we shut down the power inhibitor grid." He looked up at Scott, frowning. "I don't think we need to tell you where they would position that bomb that would do the most damage."

STEVE: Steve nodded as Bruce spoke. "My front team is already prepped and ready to go," he said. "Bruce and I have talked about who to send, but we both agree that it's time to take the fight to NOVA itself. No more covert ops. We figured it was only appropriate to tell you and the other X-Men. How quickly can you get your people ready?"

SCOTT: “If you’re sure,” and he had absolutely no reason to doubt that they had gathered accurate information to say so, “then we need to do more than mobilize to fight. There’s a chance of failure there, and if  you’re taking the fight to NOVA, that means you won’t be the ones dealing with the fallout. Other people will.” There were times where Scott had needed to push ahead, and hard, for the sake of other people, but in this case...in this case it felt like the opposite was true. “The X-Men are prepared to engage at a moment’s notice, but I can’t send my entire team with you for this. I’d love to put an end to NOVA, but if we swing and miss, it’s more important to me to make sure the people waiting here are safe.”

BRUCE: “If we are unable to stop the explosion, we will need people here who are capable of shielding the city and the citizens,” Bruce agreed. It was one of the reasons he knew it was imperative to involve Scott and the X-Men, who might have enough combined power to facilitate something on that scale. “Send who you can spare and no more. We have already put together a team willing and capable of handling NOVA. Red Robin is already in the process of providing intel on the agency blueprints. I predict we will be ready to move tomorrow.”

STEVE: Steve nodded. He would be leaving the Avengers not on his drop team in the city as well. "We don't need all of them," he agreed. "But whichever of them wants to be involved, let us know. We'll send you everything we have." They could see the connections and the files for themselves and judge the situation.

He considered asking if Scott might consider evacuating parts of District X. He worried that, if NOVA had any outposts set up they might retaliate against the city, maybe direct some aggression at the District itself. "Keep your people safe," he said with a soft nod.

SCOTT: “I can handle both. If the two of you mean to confront NOVA, I’ll send some of my people with you. I suspect I couldn’t stop one of them if I wanted to.” If there was going to be a true fight, one with firepower instead of stealth, he wouldn’t keep Erik from it. Not that Magneto was his to command either way. It was easier when they gave him ground instead of making him take it, though, which he’d learned years earlier. “Rogue and Magneto will join your team.” The choice was quick on his end. He’d need much of his team present in the city, just in case, and Anna could temper Erik better than anyone else.