Confessions , Courtesy of the Lasso

Bruce pulled into the parking lot next to a soccer-sorry-football field that was so far mostly empty, except for a couple of girls that were arriving for practice, and the coach. Diana Prince. Bruce didn't know Diana especially well. They hadn't met too long ago. Still, he knew that he'd never met anyone like her. She was amazing, beautiful, smart. Fearless, poised, and well, wonderful.

His reason for the visit was Official Top Secret Justice League business. He also had a meeting in Nice, France, the next day, so it only made sense to stop by Paris and check in. That's what he told himself, anyway.

He pulled the keys out of the ignition and swung open the door of his shiny green 1957 Aston Martin. He tried to look as casual as possible, walking across the soccer field toward where Diana stood, pumping up soccer balls.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, without looking up when he was a couple feet away. He shrugged.

"Hello to you, too," he said, amused. "Can't a millionaire just drop by his favorite city once in awhile to visit his favorite museum curator/soccer coach?" Diana just shrugged, and looked up to meet his eyes.

"Football," she corrected. "What do you need?" she asked.

"To discuss some Official Top Secret Justice League business." She raised one eyebrow.

"Oh," was all she said. He stood there, looking at her, waiting for her to say more. She didn't.

"Don't you want to know what it is?" he finally asked. She shrugged again.

"Well, I didn't assume you would tell me here," she said, motioning vaguely to the field where several girls were now passing soccer balls back and forth. "We should probably talk about it somewhere more secluded later," she added, tossing the last of the soccer balls out to the field and unzipping her bag. She tucked the ball pump away, but before she closed the bag Bruce caught a glimpse of her lasso. The Lasso of Truth, as she called it. He nodded his head toward it.

"Do you carry that with you everywhere?" he asked, cocking his head.

"In case of emergencies," she defended. He snorted.

"Does it even work?" Diana stared at him for a moment, confused.

"What do you mean?" she asked finally, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Does the lasso work? How can it tell if someone's lying? Does it have some kind of lie detector wire inside?" She shook her head in disbelief.

"Athena's Lasso of Truth doesn't need a lie detector wire," she spat. Bruce rolled his eyes.

"I bet if you're really good at lying, it wouldn't pick it up." Diana snorted.

"You're trying to tell me that you think you can manipulate the lasso?" she said incredulously.

"Well, I never said that I specifically could, but sure. Go ahead. Try me." He held his wrist out. Diana shook her head again.

"The lasso is not a toy."

"Come on, prove that it really works," he challenged again. Diana put her hands up in surrender and plucked the lasso from the bag. She then wrapped it several times around Bruce's wrist as inconspicuously as possible. She opened her mouth to ask him a question, but before she could get any words out, one of the girls from the team was speaking to her. Bruce wasn't fluent in French, but he followed along as best he could.

"Coach Diana, is that Bruce Wayne?" the girl whispered excitedly. Diana nodded at the girl.

"Yes, Alya, this is my friend Bruce."

"What's he doing here?" she asked, still whispering. Diana got a mischievous glint in her eye. Bruce saw it but he had no idea what she was about to say.

"He's here to help with practice," she said, turning to Bruce. "Isn't that right?" she asked, in English. Bruce just looked at her in disbelief.

"I actually-" Several more girls had gathered around Bruce and Diana and were chattering excitedly, all saying things like, "I can't believe Bruce Wayne is helping out with practice!" Bruce sighed defeatedly, and nodded. "Yeah. Sure. Why not?" The girls all whooped and cheered, and Diana smiled, satisfied.

"Okay, girls, why don't you go stretch? I'll be there in a minute." The girls trotted off obediently.

"Thanks for volunteering," Diana said, grinning coyly at Bruce. He rolled his eyes.

"I'm only doing this because I love you," he muttered, before he could really think about what he was saying. Diana raised her eyebrows in surprise. A small smile appeared on her face.

"Noted," she said, nodding once, and then turned and walked over to where the team was doing stretches, calling out instruction.

What did I just say?! Bruce couldn't think straight for a second. He then looked down at his wrist, which still had the lasso wrapped around it. And the lasso was glowing.

Great. Just great.