He's Alive!

Rated: K

A Batman/Wonder Woman one shot inspired by Blackest Night WW and Return of Bruce Wayne#3. Taken place before RoBW#4 and before WW was transported to another dimension and got her new costume. Wonder Woman must lead the JLA meeting to address Batman's portentous return, while she has her own heart to deal with. Special thanks to Hepburn for the lovely beta (sorry my dearest for my late instalment!), Aries for the scan, and Ocean-Eyed for the comments! I don't owe DC; otherwise I'd officially pair BMWW already!

-xxx-

Bruce is alive! By Gaea, that man lives! I have always denied my attraction and love for him as more than just a friend, only to break into pieces when he 'died' several months ago. I struggled to accept his death and moved on, but it just jeopardised my weak relationship with a good man who would have been an excellent lover and helpmate, but just not with me. And when my memory and love of Bruce saved me from being consumed by the darkness… I knew that I could no longer deny my heart's truth anymore, for it is he and only he that resides in my heart even after all this time.

But by Athena, why must his return bring so much doom? Why, in order to preserve my love of him, must I stop him from returning to our time? Why can't the goddesses allow me to see him again, even just to have another argument and fight over minute details?

Why?

Why must I act normally and be moderately pleased that he is returning home, instead of shedding my tears of joy? Why must I lead this meeting while all I want to do is just go home and go through all the candid photos that Donna has taken of Bruce and me?

"Diana, are you there?"

Someone's at the door, looking for me. It's Black Canary. The world is not fair, I can tell you that. Even an Amazon cannot hide and cry in the ladies' cubicle alone without being called for duty.

"Diana? We're ready for the meeting."

Not fair, but I open the door anyway.

"There you are! You have been a while in here. I hope it's not the curry that we made last night eh?" Dinah says jokingly, but she stops joking when she sees my damp eyes. Stuttering, she asked, "Uhmm…shall I leave you alone for a bit? I can take over the chair if you'd like?"

That is tempting, but I cannot run from my duty. I smile, tuck a damp curl away, and shake my head. "No, that won't be necessary. I'll be right there, I just need to wash my face."

She hesitates for a second before resigning to the fact that I won't be deterred, or that I will tell her anything. Yet. Dinah leaves me to wash my face and I arrive at the meeting room in less than four minutes later.

I inhale, clench my jaw, screen my audience, and exhale. I brief my colleagues about the fact that Batman will be returning to the present (future from his viewpoint) and he might trigger irreversible damage to Earth as he does it. I see panic creeping onto my friends' countenances, and I could not blame them. Stopping the Batman is literally a mission impossible, but not improbable. I must be strong. I must take the lead as an Amazon trained; Superman is not here yet, so they all depend on my council.

"With no news from Superman and the others since they left en route for the end of time, we're officially on Black Alert. Naturally we don't want to alarm anyone, but we all know how resourceful Batman can be."

Despite his mask, I catch a glimpse of tears welling in Red Robin's eyes. I swallow: I also want to cry. I want to sob and wail and scream 'Just let him come back home!'… But it cannot be. This is my role now. I am Wonder Woman. And I am leading this very important meeting now.

I inhale deeply and in a professional manner ask,

"So, Red Robin, what do you think?"

I will cry later, at night, when no one's around me. Promise.

-FIN?-