So...this isn't tomorrow. Obviously. Apologies; some stuff...came up.

But here it is; Part 2 of 3 in this brief saga of...characters doing stuff!

Wooooeee!

*I'm going to warn everyone right now though; the thoughts and expressions in this story are not necessarily that of the authors. Really. All I did was think "ok, for the themes of this story, in this situation, what would this character think/say?" and then just put it down on paper.

It's not a political manifesto; it's my attempt at making a story with a little bit of depth to the thinking beyond "oh my I do hope they dumb uglies at some point!"

Which is why this ended up being two parts; I had to nail all this down, but didn't want to wait for the entire story to be completed because I like whoring out for reviews/favorites.*

So yeah...

Oh and you're probably saying "wait, part 2 of 3? But I thought this was only a two parter?"

Well...this part got a lot longer than I thought it would, so I figured "meh; cut it off here. What's the harm?"

Sorry about that...


Part 2

JLA Watchtower: Wonder Woman's Orbital Residence

30 Minutes before deployment:

Compared to the glare of the Watchtower's lighting, Wonder Woman's armoury seemed strikingly dark to Batman—no small statement considering his natural predisposition. The room was small (relative to her primary armoury in the bowels of the Themysciran Embassy in New York) but functional. The weapons Batman catalogued in his mind as he passed (heading towards a thin sliver of light near the rear of the room) ranged from defensive shields to a battle axe with enough heft to crush a normal person.

He'd have to ask her what kind of trouble would warrant a weapon of that size, followed by an extensive researching session disseminating whether it actually existed or not. And if rockets might hurt it.

Diana was packing light, he saw, but being as prepared as an Amazonian warrior ought to be, she had slipped a recent invention of hers (a spring-loaded blade tipped with an acute poison—not deadly but rather a fast paralytic agent) into a sheath on her thigh. Diana of all people would likely know how quickly plans could change on a recon mission, so this wasn't unexpected. Deep down, Bruce had been hoping she might bring more along with her though. Maybe the axe.

She heard his footsteps enter her little enclave near the back, and looking up from her boots she flashed Batman a smile.

"Just that and the lasso?" he said.

"Shouldn't need much more, unless you know something I don't," she said.

Batman glanced around the room. "I don't know much about this mission period, unfortunately."

Rising to her full height, she crossed over to Batman and gave him a quirked-brow stare. "Bruce, are you really going to make me say it?"

"You mean: I worry too much?"

"Well, are you?"

"I just said it for you…"

Chuckling, she placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. "No sass mister, just truth. Are you?"

Batman paused for only a second, and responded with a lowered voice. "I'm always worried. It's in my nature."

"You don't want us involved?"

"Do you?"

Diana's turn to pause—and she did so for far longer, rolling the question around in her mind as though it was a rare jewel. That was something Bruce very much admired about Diana—that when arrows or bullets or missiles weren't flying by her head, she'd take her time to think things through before answering.

No wonder the other diplomats couldn't stand her…

"I don't think we have a choice," she finally said. "Not with Tuzik. Loathe as I am to admit it, Steel has a point. A poorly presented point, but a point none-the-less." She crossed her arms. "Does the rest of the League know?"

Batman shook his head. "Not much choice there either. The League's spread halfway to kingdom come with one mission or another, and Clark thought he sniffed out some trouble in the Main Belt. All things considered, Steel's probably happy that it's just the two of us."

"That's always been more than enough," Wonder Woman said with a smile.

"I don't know—there has to be some reason why we keep Clark around."

Diana's smile grew slightly larger. "Harsh. Hopefully Kal can't hear you from Mars." Uncrossing her arms, she extended out her right elbow, inviting Batman to lock his arm in between hers. "Walk me to the hanger?"

"Be happy too," he said, and with a smirk noticeable from the Earth's surface, Batman took her arm in his, as their matching booted echoes followed them into the Watchtower Proper.

It was empty, Batman noticed—far emptier than normal. And the air was stale, hanging like fine dust over them. He thought he was exaggerating when he told Diana where the rest of the League was, but evidently he was more on the money than he realized. They truly were the only two people on the moon at the moment.

The passed out of the windowless quadrant of the Watchtower and into one of the long stretches of hallway that afforded a starlit view of the Earth, just now peaking over the lunar craters like a perfect painting. Diana (like always) turned to give the view an approving smile, while Batman's eyes focused on the patch of white that engulfed the Horn of Africa. Still stormy, and shadows had begun to creep towards the swirling clouds as the pale blue dot spun. Batman let out a silent sigh—for once the elements might be in their favor.

Unconsciously, Batman melted away, leaving Bruce in his place—a mode of being that Batman saved for only his closest friends and most trusted allies. Diana was certainly both of those—perhaps more.

"You never told me what Steel did when he found out one of his agents was on the Most Wanted List," he said.

Diana smirked. "It was a scene to behold. There's nothing more potent to the composure of a high-strung man than being in the thralls of cognitive dissonance."

"That means he liked you then," Bruce said.

"He at least didn't hate me."

"People either like you or they're Dr. Psycho—Steel probably loved you."

Diana's smirk grew wider. "Are you putting The President of Corto Maltese in the same galley as Edgar then?"

"When you put it like that, I might have to apologize to the Doctor…"

With a chuckle, Diana tightened her grip on Bruce's arm, who responded with a full and honest smile—one of few he'd ever allow himself. He held it longer than normal—less a flash of humanity and more a sustained beam—but whether from muscle memory or just the strength of the Bat germinating the closer they got to the hanger, it slowly sank back into a neutral but serious resting position. Diana noticed this, and squeezed his arm slightly harder.

"As much as you dislike the man now that he's a political animal, he's as much an idealist as I am. That I can respect."

Batman grunted. "That's what worries me."

Beside him, he could feel Diana's stare turn questioning. He didn't think he offended her (he hoped he didn't, at the very least), but her curiosity was none-the-less peaked.

"How so?"

Batman sighed. "There's a fine line between being an idealist and being an exceptionalist. The former is naïve, but the latter is downright dangerous."

He felt a tug on his arm as Wonder Woman halted their stride (just outside the hanger, he noticed). The look on her face was neither hurt nor angry, simply…curious. Maybe she was surprised he had said something like that, something he realized was as offensive as it sounded, the more and more he thought about it. He couldn't take his words back, and truth be told he didn't want to—he thought he was right, he just had to explain what he meant. Maybe she would see the truth in his words too, being the Spirit of Truth and all.

He hoped…

"I know you Diana," he said, his voice a little softer. "You and Clark see power as a means to pull good from any bad situation, and nurture it until it's a vibrant beacon for us all. And you especially have made it your mission to teach other's how to do the same, to show them that compassion and peace are inseparable from truth." His eyes dropped behind his mask, and his voice darkened to a low growl not far removed from the voice he used on criminals.

"But men like Steel and Horne see power as a means to inflict on people, to push bad situation after bad situation on whomever they deem to be evil so long as there's a personal payoff that they can dangle in front of themselves or the public." He stiffened. "I should know—that was the only way I thought I could save Gotham." Pausing again, he unhooked his arm from Diana's and spun to face the Earth as the last bit of blue shrank behind shadows.

"It's realpolitik—it's force projection on an industrial scale. And worst of all, they think it's the right thing to do. The only difference between them and Tuzik is we've all decided that it's alright so long as the flag has stars and stripes on it."

"But even you admitted that Steel is right to be nervous. He's on our side."

"This time, but that's only because we have overlapping interests. What about tomorrow? What about next week?"

Diana slowly walked towards Batman's side, and again her hand found his shoulder. She didn't say anything, though she knew exactly what she wanted to say and how to say it.

She just knew Bruce had to finish first. He did so as he turned to meet her eyes with his own cold and white stare.

"I don't know what you'll find down there Diana, but I know it can't be as bad as the fact that Tuzik isn't an aberration—he's the system personified. And right now, we're not just doing an errand for them—" he pointed at the JLA logo, specifically the large and embroiled America, "—we're practically their Black Hand. If this sparks off an international incident—and we'd have to be damn lucky if it didn't—the implications for us, and especially for you…" Batman trailed off, feeling his energy dissipate as a weariness of an aged veteran settled in its place.

He didn't know what her response would be—maybe a lecture on the inner workings of a system that she lived and breathed in, where as he merely critiqued from a dank and dark cave. If she had made a comment about criminal psychology or punishment, he'd certainly have fired back with something along those lines.

But all she did was smile, and Batman had to remind himself that maybe he didn't know Diana as well as he claimed.

"Are you sleeping better?" she asked.

"Pardon?"

"You were complaining to Kal that you'd gotten even less sleep than normal. Has that changed?"

He thought about it. "Yes, a little. Almost back to normal."

"And why's that?"

Again, a pause to think. "Less cases than normal. Gordon and the Mayor started a new task force that looks promising. And your EU talks…" He knew what she was doing, what she was getting at. His defenses and his wall of stubbornness snapped back into place, and his face hardened. "There aren't many Gordon's out there Diana. And…there certainly is no one like you."

He felt his cloak slide over his shoulders, and before she could say anything, his mouth opened to remind her of the time-window they were just barely able to squeak into—a way for him to end the debate before it got out of hand.

But again he was taken aback, as Diana merely leaned towards him and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Pulling away, her lips passed his ear, and in a light voice—completely devoid of any mocking or anger or scorn, she said, "Then you really are as blind as a bat, Bruce."

She turned on her heel and started for the hanger. Craning her neck, she called back to Batman, who was statue still and trying desperately to hide his shock. "I'll establish contact when I'm on the ground," she said. "Better get to your station then, right Bruce?"

The doors slid shut, leaving Batman alone with the shadow-covered Earth, and it's millions of Tuzik's…

...

...

...

JLA Watchtower:

One Day Later:

Clark let Bruce smash the glass four times before he stepped in, grabbing a hold of his arm with just enough give that he didn't wretch Bruce's shoulder out of its socket on the follow through. Bruce was panting, his face twisted with pain, and yet again swallowing his own feelings and emotions, Clark released the arm and enveloped Bruce with his own.

Bruce didn't fight back.

"Is this the part where you say it wasn't my fault?" Batman said, almost like a challenge.

Clark remained quiet. Truth be told, he wasn't sure what to say—what he could say—but he knew that Bruce had a backlog of pent-up aggression he needed to let out. Clark would just have to try and weather the storm.

"Is it?" Bruce's voice had fully given way to that of the Bat's, the voice saved for the prowlers and the murderers. Clark didn't budge.

"I gave you my word! And you were dumb enough to trust me!"

Spinning off of Bruce, Clark grabbed onto his shoulders and hoisted the man into to his feet. Taking care to keep his voice and his face from showing any anger (and yet still remaining forceful), he pushed Batman up against the cracked glass of the viewing window, and stared at him.

"That's enough Bruce."

Batman wasn't done, however. "You and I both stared her in the face while we let her march off to her death and of all the people who could have done anything—"

"That's enough!" Clark's emotional strength gave out, and with a snarl and a barely controlled muscle reflex, his fist collided with the glass just beside Bruce's head, splintering it like a flash of lightning as the glass groaned in protest. Batman stared at the seething Superman, and slowly his own red-hot anger drained as his head began to hang.

"—was me," Bruce finished, defeated.

Both heroes stayed silent, stuck in their positions like bugs in amber, until Superman sighed and pushed off from the window, allowing Batman to pass. He did, slowly, and walked to the central table, where just a day ago the three of them had fought with Steel, eventually acquiescing to demands that no one felt comfortable agreeing to. Batman slumped in his chair as Superman ran a hand through his hair.

"I get it," Clark said. "I get that you're mad and that you're beating yourself up over it. But goddammit Bruce—" Clark never swore—that got Bruce's attention, "—she was my friend too. And I was stuck a thousand miles in between Mars and Jupiter while she was dying. This is killing me too."

"I know," Bruce said quietly. "I'm sorry." His eyes dropped to the floor.

Clark sighed again and leaned against the cracking window. The Sun was just peeking up from behind the Earth, and its light looked warped and unnatural through the criss-crossing cracks and chips.

"First thing I did when I got back was go to Lois," Clark said. "That's…that's just my natural move I guess. She's my rock, and I needed one. And you know what she said?"

Batman didn't look up.

"She said that if we started blaming ourselves, we'd dishonor her memory more than any propaganda piece or tabloid hack-job could even hope to. She was the glue that held us together—we need to show everyone how much that meant to us."

"She's wrong," Bruce said, still looking at the ground. Superman, his emotions already frayed, gritted his teeth.

"No, she isn't Bruce. If we start fighting now we spit in the face of everything Diana set out to accomplish."

Like a snapping spring, Bruce's eyes shot up to meet the Man of Steel's, and even behind the cold white of the cowl, Clark could feel nothing but disgust seeping through. "They've already done that!" he said, pointing at the fragmented visage of the Earth. "They've already pissed on her grave and had drinks over her ashes! And you know what they'll do when we finally go public with this? Do you Clark?"

Clark was too taken aback to say anything.

"They'll laugh at us Clark. They'll laugh because we were too stupid to not see this coming."

"What the hell are you talking about Bruce?" Clark said, starting towards the table. "What the hell happened?"

Bruce stood from his chair, roughly pushing it over in the process. With a finger nearly jamming into Superman's eye, he snarled and spat and let loose with all the fury he could must. "You want to know what happened Clark? What happened was, I was right!"

End Part 2


So yeah, Part 3 will be coming 'round the mountain soon. Just got a little more stuff to iron out, and then this nice little mini-series can be completed.

Didn't think it'd be this lengthy when I started, but serves me right for thinking ahead. Hope you guys stay tuned for the next bit! It's the finale, I swear!