Fifteen years from now…
Chapter 1
"…meeting adjourned."
With no small amount of relief, Diana rapped the gavel on the table. It had been a long, arduous week: two alien invasions, one interdimensional rupture, plus the usual natural disasters; floods, tornadoes, earthquakes. A mining factory in the asteroid belt had had to be evacuated as well. Diana knew that the League had been through worse, but she was still exhausted. It was tough, being a leader.
Nodding to Aquaman and Green Lantern, she headed out the door for the teleportation tubes. A hot bath, perhaps…
"Diana." A low growl.
Because she was an Amazon and a warrior, she did not shriek. The only indication that she had been startled was a barely perceptible tremor across her shoulders. She turned calmly to face the Batman.
"Dick," she said, steel behind the thin veil of sweetness in her tone. "Don't you ever get tired of doing that?"
A small quirk at the corner of Dick's mouth told her: No. It also told her he had seen the miniscule indication of her start and it amused him.
"Mind if I walk with you?" Dick asked, the menace and gloom gone from his voice. For the umpteenth time Diana reflected at the difference between this Batman and his predecessor, the original. Dick used the Batman persona to great effect, but it wasn't the sole basis of his own.
"Not at all." They walked together in silence for a while. "What's bothering you?"
"Him."
She knew who he meant of course. These days there was only one 'him' said in those tones.
"What about him?"
"Where was he tonight?"
She shrugged. "I don't know."
"He hasn't been to the last two meetings."
"I know."
More silence for a time. "And that doesn't bother you?"
"It bothers me a great deal," she answered. "But what can I do? We cannot breach his privacy, even if we wanted to. We cannot force him to come if he doesn't want to."
"It scares me. He's found a way around Bruce's protocols. There's nothing we can do to stop him, should he decide to…"
Diana shook her head. "He won't. He wouldn't."
"We thought that about…"
"Dick." Her voice was cold and hard. "Don't."
"I have to, Princess," he said, his voice equally hard all of a sudden. She realized suddenly that nobody had called her 'princess' in that tone of voice since Bruce. "It's my job."
"So what do you suggest we do?"
"I suggest you find him."
"Me? Why…?" she turned to confront him, but in characteristic Batman style, he was gone.
"Why me?" she wondered.
Of course, she knew why it had to be her.
Floating in her bath in the Wonderdome, Diana closed her eyes and reflected back on that night a month ago.
It had hurt. It had been excruciating.
She was going to die.
It had been moments before a meeting of the Justice League. They were nearly all there; herself, Kyle, Garth, Wally, Dick, Eel and J'onn. They were only waiting for Him, when the walls blew out, taking the air and heat with them.
Somehow, Prometheus had assembled weapons, powerful weapons of fantastic mystical might, mind-bending technological sophistication and incomprehensible destructive force. He had incorporated them into his new costume and had attacked the Watchtower directly.
Green Lantern had been badly injured by a yellow power ring while making sure Batman, Flash, Plastic Man and Aquaman were moved to a safe place when the walls were breached, exposing them to the vacuum of space. While Flash and Aquaman struggled into spacesuits, Batman had hauled GL to the monitor room, there to direct the combat.
It was brutal. Flash was back in the fray by then, but Prometheus was ready. He had some sort of vibrational field around him that countered Flash's aura of invulnerability. Flash had attacked, then was gone, fleeing the imminent rupture of his suit. Aquaman was still struggling into the confines of a suit, and J'onn had just been driven back by Zauriel's flaming sword. It was up to her.
She wrenched Mjollnir from the villain's hand and was pulling back her fists to pummel him when he impaled her on the Spear of Destiny.
It felt cold. She watched her blood form a crystalline cloud in front of her, glinting in the light. And beyond, Prometheus' smug grin.
As she fell, she caught sight of the pentagram S-shield on a chair around the table and wondered if Kal could save her this time.
And then He was there, standing in the breach of the wall, scowling. It was only for a moment, though; in a flash he had Prometheus by the throat.
Either her perceptions had sped up or time slowed or…it didn't matter. She saw Him cock his head as though listening, then jab Prometheus' armor in a single spot. Sparks flew and she saw Prometheus' mouth open in a shriek of rage or fear. She couldn't tell which and was beyond caring.
He threw Prometheus out of the hole in the wall. His mouth still forming unheard words, the villain floated rapidly over the horizon.
She felt strong arms lift her up and the sensation of movement. Then it all went dark.
When she awoke, it was in the Watchtower's infirmary. He was there, standing over her.
"You'll be fine," he intoned, his voice dark and rich.
"Prometheus," she whispered. "What…?"
"Blackgate. After I fixed the wall I retrieved him from orbit. He's going away again."
"You saved my life."
His hand was warm on her cheek, his smile bright. "Of course," he said, mildly flip. "It's part of what I do; save damsels in distress."
She managed a weak smile and clasped his hand. "I am unaccustomed to being a damsel in distress," she remarked dryly.
He leaned down. "Well, everybody gets caught by surprise once in a while. That's why you have friends. To back you up."
"Thank you."
And then it happened. She reached up and placed her hands on his cheeks, drawing her to him. He was smiling nervously, unsure. She kissed him.
It was supposed to be a friend's kiss, a token of gratitude and affection, nothing more. She was surprised, then, when she found herself prolonging it. And even more so when her mouth opened to his.
He broke the kiss suddenly and stood. They stared at each other, consternation and shock on both their faces.
"I—I'm sorry," he stammered.
"No, no…you don't have anything to be sorry for. I…"
She trailed off and they resumed their standoff, neither knowing what to say. Or what they felt.
Wally ended it for them by entering in his usual whirlwind style. "Hey, Princess, Big Guy…"
He was gone, a rush of wind and color. Wally stared after him then turned back to Diana.
"Was it something I said?"
Opening her eyes, Diana rose from the bath and toweled herself off. Dick was right, she would have to go after him, talk to him.
She found, once again to her surprise, that she was looking forward to it.
Diana chased him all over the world.
His power had grown in the past years. Where once it was argued who was the faster, the stronger, now there was no question. It was Him, and he was busy at the moment.
She arrived in Kansas thirty-five seconds after he saved a small town from a force four twister. He was already in Tokyo.
She reached Tokyo mere moments after he had defeated a platoon of neo-Amazos, unleashed by a terrorist organization. On top of the stacked pile of android parts was a note for Batman to look into the terrorists. He was already deep in the Atlantic.
She made it to the ocean floor in time to see a stream of bubbles leading to the surface and a disgruntled Orin floating in the murky water.
"What happened?" she asked the King of Atlantis.
"Him. We were looking at an undersea volcanic eruption. He stopped it."
"I've been trying to catch up to him."
"Good luck," Orin growled. "He wasn't here for more than ten seconds. I barely saw him."
"Right. Thanks." Wonder Woman headed for the surface and was going to fly off when Orin's voice stopped her. He'd followed her up.
"How's the League?"
His tone told her that he wasn't just being friendly. He obviously had some clue that something was happening. 'How's the League?' really meant 'What's going on?'
Royal duty had finally managed to teach the gruff former-Aquaman diplomacy.
"Fine," she said dismissively, anxious to keep going.
Orin laughed, a derisive grunt. "Sure. That's why you're chasing after Him like a shark after a tuna."
"I see nothing shark-like in my manner," she replied haughtily.
"Princess…Diana…" he said, his voice softening on her name. "What's going on?"
So she told him about the attack, the kiss. When she finished she was flustered.
Orin nodded sagely. "That explains a lot."
"Like what?"
Orin pointed to the sky. "He's been tearing around like a madman. Work, work, work. Doesn't seem to stop. I hear reports all the time. And now I think I know why."
"Why?"
Orin stared out at the rising and falling waves. "You're a very intense woman, Diana. Easy to fall in love with."
She closed her eyes. "Orin," she began, but he cut her off.
"But not so easy to love. And he knows that."
"So he's avoiding me?"
"In a sense. I think he's scared."
She almost laughed. "Him? Scared?"
Orin regarded her gravely. "Yes. Believe me…I know."
She reached out and touched him, her fingers dripping water into his already wet beard. "I'm so sorry."
He waved her off. "It's for the best. I have my kingdom to rule; you have Man's kingdom to save. It wouldn't have worked."
She came closer and kissed his forehead, truly a friend's kiss this time. And then she flew off.
With a small sigh for what might have been, Orin dove under the waves to tend to his domain.
Bruce heard the click and hiss of the intercom and had his finger on the button to respond almost as soon as Alfred had begun talking.
"Excuse me, sir, but you have a visitor."
"I'm busy." Which wasn't technically true. He was only tinkering around with a few gadgets for Dick's utility belt while he kept an eye on his robotic patrols. But he was an old man now, and had earned the right to be gruff and surly.
A voice in the back of his head asked what he had done to earn all those years prior of being gruff and surly. His answer was that that was *how* he'd earned it in his old age.
It was also during that time, he reminded himself, that he'd earned painful degradation of his ligaments and cartilage, and occasionally near-crippling arthritis.
Alfred made no reply, but Bruce could feel the old butler's disapproval emanating from the speaker. He was being rude.
"Okay, fine. Send them down."
He continued to work, hearing the grandfather clock creak open at the top of the stairs and the soft footsteps down. Mentally, he tried to identify the 'visitor' by the footstep. Tall, fairly heavy. Not Dick, but the tone that Alfred had used…respectful, almost deferential…had told Bruce that it was one of the super community, probably League. He went through a list of League members and came up with who he thought was most probable.
When the footsteps reached the bottom of the stairs, he knew who it was.
"Hello, J'onn…" he said turning, then stopped dead. It wasn't J'onn.
"Hello, Bruce."
Bruce never gave any indication that he had mis-guessed. There was no outward sign of his embarrassment, though inside he was fuming.
Must be going senile, he thought.
"What can I do for you?" he asked instead.
"I…need to talk. About Diana."
Suppressing a groan, Bruce gestured to a more comfortable area with two chairs. At the top of the steps he heard Alfred opening the clock and the rattle of a coffee pot and mugs on a silver tray.
"I had hoped this day wouldn't come," Bruce said. "Have a seat, Billy."