A Hero's Passing
A/N: Set in the future of the setting of my main story the "End of Despair", it details Bruce and his reminiscence of his relationship with Diana.
Memory wanders as shadows fall
He thought of her smile, of the way she had laughed, ever the warrior queen so fierce. Her jet-black hair, her graceful smile framed her face, smiling in the presence of friends, grim in the face of enemies. She was a beacon to him, though she knew it not.
In the beginning, he'd always kept his emotions to himself. Relationships were dangerous after all, at least in this profession. He prided himself on being a consummate professional, never letting emotions get in the way.
The few times emotions had their way had ended in disaster. Andrea Beaumont, Selina Kyle and then…Talia.
Talia al Ghul, Daughter of the Demon and mother of his son, she had been his beloved, until her betrayal. In the end, she had chosen her sons over their grandfather and the father of those sons, assassinating her father and seizing power to ensure the safety of her child and the primacy of her lineage in the structure of the League.
But slowly, as the Justice League became the Justice League Unlimited, after Darkseid and Luthor had vanished, as the world became peaceful under the watch of the Raven Queen and her allies, it had just…happened.
Back to days of happiness
He stalked quietly over to her side, watching as her head cocked to the side. She examined the orchid in his greenhouse, examining its delicate petals. Slowly, ever so slowly, he bent over and blew into her ear.
She nearly flew through the glass roof in shock, her cry of shock combined with the priceless expression of absolute shock on her face making him grin.When she caught sight of him, she flew down, landing and giving him a playful smack on his chest.
"Don't do that Bruce. I don't like it and that's not fair. Unlike some people, I don't have super hearing, and I can't see through peoples' clothes" as he pulled her closer into his embrace, giving her a peck on the lips.
"Princess, you already know what's under my clothes." The inflection in his voice left no doubt as to what had gone on; was still going on between them.
With fewer supervillains running loose, and many more rehabilitated and performing community work outside of the Sol system on behalf of the JLU, he had more time for relationships. It was public knowledge after all, that the Playboy of Gotham and the Princess of the Amazons were engaged in a romantic relationship. Diana had almost flown into a rage after seeing photos of her embracing Batman emblazoned on tabloids. It had taken a considerable amount of effort, and approaching Markov Media and its CEO, Garfield Logan, for a few favours, to resolve the entire incident.
She blushed slightly. Despite being millennia old, she'd only recently lost her virginity to him within the last year, as he'd initiated her into the universe of sexual mysteries between men and women, in those halcyon weeks after the disappearance of Darkseid and the scattering of the Society of Ahriman. As far as Bruce was concerned, she was insatiable. Not that he minded one bit. Being with her was more than enough for him, her very presence an aphrodisiac.
He cracked his rather sore back, evidence of last night's previous gymnastics. Her being on top allowed her greater control and pleasure, as well as allowing him access to her luscious neck. The scarf covering her neck now concealed the numerous love bites he'd left over the past few days. His shirt in turn concealed several long scratches, evidence of her enthusiasm with regards to him.
As far as Mr Terrific and Martian Manhunter knew, their week-long sexual marathon had been logged and reported as a case of bad viral flu, caught on Tamaran a week before, where he'd visited his adoptive granddaughter. It made him feel old, despite his 38 years. The presence of children had awakened some of Diana's maternal instincts, which had probably triggered in part the marathon, which had started the minute they entered the Javelin.
Slowly, she eased her body into his, their shapes fitting, and he pulled her towards him. His hands on her hips, they moved in a slow waltz, following the rhythm of the music as it echoed through the private garden.
Her head resting on his shoulder, she whispered into his ear a single piece of information that would change his life.
"Bruce…I think I'm pregnant…"
Wonder Woman looked on in shock as the Dark Knight of Gotham collapsed to the ground unconscious.
Days beyond recall
"Congrats Bruce. It's about time."
It was a small ceremony, with only a few close friends and family. Dick had come with Starfire and their small brood, Nightstar and Nightfire in tow. Clarke had showed up with Lois, who'd gone slightly gaga over the infant. Wally had similarly showed up, along with John, Vixen, Shayera and other assorted intimates. Even Raven had made a rare appearance, complete with her retinue of bodyguards and her daughters respectfully following their mother, levitating in a single file. Their godfather, Eko, stood in the background. Tara and her son Shek stood to the side, his grey eyes scanning the room as he hid behind her, tightly clutching her legs. His half-brothers Sorentho and Urenor looked on with distinct amusement at the entire spectacle.
Diana sat next to Bruce, while Hippolyta fawned all over her granddaughter, like any normal grandmother would. She had initially been apprehensive, given that her pregnancy was quite obvious evidence of her daughters' sexual relations with a man. Diana was after all the interlocutor between Mans' World and Thermyscira, the Ambassador to the UN and Permanent Representative of Thermyscira. She just hadn't expected her to interlocute with men that much.
She had indulged her daughter's wish to enter Man's World, but had never expected her to become so personally invested in it. Still, her daughter had made a good choice in consorts.
As her daughter was handed back to her, Diana looked over her, at the dimples and the face framed with black hair and the blue eyes that both her parents possessed. She lowered her face to her daughter and nuzzled her slowly, rubbing her nose against her own. Antiopes' hands, chubby with baby fat, reached out and grabbed her mothers' hair, twisting it in her grip.
"She's beautiful. Just like you." Bruce whispered to her. And for that moment, Bruce felt perfectly content with his life.
It was to be the last moment of peace he would experience from that moment on.
A vision comes before us
The world shattered around him, as Eko and the Bhagatur struggled together against the assembled host of Apokolips in the skies above Gotham. Kal-El himself was engaged in mortal combat with Darkseid, Geo-Force and Captain Marvel lying dead, their lives sacrificed in combat against Brainiac-Mongul, himself dead in the rubble of Central City. Further in space, stars exploded into supernovas, as a greater battle took place in a universe far away. The vast continuums of reality, of the Omniverse at all levels and planes struggled to withstand the vast power of a primal battle amongst beings who humans could barely comprehend. For the Wolf King fought his sons, in a struggle that would determine the fate of all existence to come.
On a psychic and metaphysical level, there was uproar in the heavens and a splitting in the abyss, a schism in the pits of hell itself as the Raven Queen struggled to seal the barriers between the planes of reality, caught in the gulf between.
Yet, Bruce didn't care at all, for something more personal was happening in front of him. The woman he loved…was dying.
Shim'Tar fought desperately, before Diana slashed her throat, her lifeblood flowing from wounds that couldn't close, fighting the divine power of Ares and his children. With a roar that resounded through the city, Ares himself was brought low by Tara, as she destroyed him with a single strike of her hammer, her son Shek Hak Long ripping his way through legions of Parademons and Sinestro Corps troopers, their bodies coming apart in his acidic dragon maw or rended by his claws.
Deva hefted her axe and swung it with all her strength at the young Antiope, who stood her ground, refusing to abandon her grandmother Hippolyta. With a cry, Diana threw herself in front of her daughter, taking a blow that would have killed Kal-El himself. She lunged with her dying breath at Deva, striking her in the heart, as an Assagai Warguard of the Raven Queen came to her aid too late.
With that final blow, the Princess of Thermyscira fell, and an inhuman wail, formed from all the sorrow and grief in his heart, broke from the mouth of the Dark Knight, as he saw the light of his life, the star that illuminated the darkness of his life fall, never to rise again.
So calm
Bruce silently followed the procession, as the Amazonian Honour Guard brought their honoured sister to rest in the Gardens of Athena. Hippolyta stood as still as a statue, her grief visible only in the trembling of her hand, clasping her granddaughters own.
Antiope looked at her father, then at the still body of her mother, before looking away. The Flash, Shayera Hol, John Stewart and Kal-El stood to the side, wearing black in mourning.
Finally, Hippolyta stood in front of the corpse of her beloved daughter, in preparation for the eulogy. No one commented afterward of how the proud woman had nearly broken down, clutching her granddaughter's hand tightly, seeking strength and solace in the one living reminder of her departed child.
"Much was lost, and just as much gained. So many had died and the storm has passed. The war that should never have been is over. There are many who journeyed into the howling dark and did not return, Diana among them. She made a decision that required courage beyond measure, sacrifice, and unshakable conviction that her fight; our fight, was not hopeless, where even the gods above abandoned us. She fought for Man's World just as much as for Thermyscira. She fought for the sake of others, of the innocent and the weak. She fought for the sake of life. She fought…for the sake of myself and her daughter. For the world and the people that she came to love…She ennobled all of us, and shall not be forgotten."
Silently, the flames lit up on her pyre, Antiope circling it 3 times before bowing one final time and withdrawing to her father's side. Through it all, Bruce silently cried, bleeding where none could see, for she had been his light, and now, she was irrevocably…gone.
So dear
So sweet
Of her lips now silent
Bruce entered the cave, letting his hand flow over the cool marble of the statue, sculpted in secret over a decade by his own hands, when he'd been younger. He heard Terry call for him, but ignored his calls for now. He had to escape the incessant attention of his grandchildren, their mother Dana constantly chasing them around the mansion. He was glad that Terry's life had turned out better than his own.
It was in the most private section of the Batcave, so near the surface, yet hidden by concrete and lead. Within lay a paradise, of gurgling fountains and misted ferns, her favourite orchids, purple and yellow, with blue roses growing in the ornamental pond.
He felt his age, all 95 years of it, and sat down, his brittle bones scraping against the aged tendons and ligaments. Slowly, his thoughts turned to another time, when the world had been young, when he had been young. It was a lifetime ago.
"Diana…I miss you. Everyday, I think about you. Antiope has grown up so much, and she looks so much like you. Behaves like you too. She's…a stubborn piece of work like Terry. Guess where she gotthat from. I know I'm going to join you soon. I can feel it in my bones. I…always loved you and my one regret was not expressing that to you enough. You deserved better than me."
Suddenly, he felt the pain in his chest. He reached for his bottle, felt the medicines. He gasped as he struggled to open them, but they kept slipping from his grasp. Then, the pain began to burn through every cell in his body, a visceral pain, neuropathic pain, as he gasped for air.
"FATHER!" Antiope's cry shattered the silence as she rushed to his aid. She entered into his most private abode, and for a moment was taken aback, stunned to see the statue of her mother, lifelike and perfect in every detail. At its foot lay her father, struggling in pain, as he reached for its outstretched hands.
Instinctively, she knew it was too late, as her bethrothed, Shek, rushed in after her, but maintained his distance, unsure of how to react at seeing his fiancée's father in such distress.
Terry burst in a few seconds later, followed by Dana. He rushed to Bruce's side, cradling the old man's head in his lap, Dana and Antiope by his side.
"Come on old man, don't die on me. Come on Bruce…dad. Don't die on me you old bastard!" came the frantic voice, of a man who'd lost one father, only to gain another, yet facing the prospect of losing him.
He saw her from the corner of his eye, an angel waiting for him, her eyes shining with joy. "It's ok Bruce. I'm here. I've been waiting. I always have. John and the rest are already on the other side. So's Clarke. So are your parents. Just let yourself be. It's ok."
Antiope took her brother by his shoulders and let Dana take him, as he suppressed angry tears of grief. For so long, her father had been listless and without purpose, without a companion to love, without a reason to rise up the next day. When he'd been physically able, he had still helped solve cases, working through the night; or advice his sons by Talia, Damian Wayne also known as Ibn al Xuffasch, and Tallant on the running of Wayne Enterprises. Yet, over the years, he'd deteriorated, as mortals did, and it broke her heart, knowing that she would outlive all her siblings, all except Azrael Faykan Mendes, her only immortal half-brother.
She lifted him up and flew through the stairs, heading for Gotham General, already knowing that despite their efforts, it was her father's time. Shek had told her so.
Later…
The slow beeping of the heart monitor told of his slowing heartbeat. His frail body was hooked up to several different monitoring devices. In his last lucid moments, he had expressed a wish for no life support, much to the distress of Terry.
He'd left the room, unable to face the prospect, unwilling to let go. Dana was with him, counselling him, as he cried on her shoulder.
Shek stood behind her, holding her shoulders, while she stroked her father's forehead, held his hand, feeling the rasp of leathery skin, the slowing flow of blood.
Later…
"Di..ana…"
They were his final words, as he departed for the next world, watched over by his daughter and son.
And whose eyes are closed in sleep…
As he embraced her, brought her to him, Bruce said what he'd desired to say to her, for countless years.
"I love you…"
FIN