Echoes of the Past

Rated: T

Summary: It's sister talk again between Diana and Donna! Donna was very excited when Diana received a new batcostume from Bruce. But then they also talked of a current friend, whose name suddenly revealed a story from the past...a story that Diana didn't expect to hear, let alone exist. In continuity with 'The Return of My Sister' (still only chapter one...). Screw DC's Infinite Crisis! All characters belong to the DC Comics, and trust me, I make no money out of this. Special thanks to Athena Phoenix for the great beta.

Chapter 2. Hunter of the Knight

Still holding my newly arrived costume, I turned to my sister.

"Your what? You're gonna go patrol with him?" Donna's eyes widened in disbelief. "But no one –"

"No metahuman is allowed to be in Gotham. With the exception of a meta dressed in black." I grinned, enjoying her surprise.

"With the exception of a lover dressed in black, who also happens to be a meta," Donna corrected. "So, you are gonna patrol Gotham with him? That's why he sent you this costume."

I weighed the costume in my hand, then rustled through the box to look for anything else. There was a golden utility belt (of course!), with the hybrid of bat and WW as the insignia. I found a pair of black gloves, as well as a cute bat (or eagle?) mask. At the bottom of the box was a black cape. All the materials were light and wouldn't impede my movement.

Donna was also busy pulling on the ribbon of the other box. "May I?" she asked, out of courtesy, though actually she was just about to lift the lid. I shrugged, and she opened the other box.

"Ooohhh... boots! Cool boots!"

I looked at the boots. "It's... well... black."

"Yeah. But look at the design. It's thigh-high, but very flexible, and...your favorite: no heels. Well, not stilettos, at least."

"Rubber heels," I took one boot from the box, examining it. It was indeed light, and – more importantly – seemed feet-friendly. That's my first condition for my boots: comfortable. After al, I don't want to kick villains with stilettos that will hurt my feet by the end of the day. That was why I had kept my red boots for years: they were so comfy, they felt like my own skin.

Donna grabbed the whole costume and thrust it to me. "Go on, try it!"

I looked at my coat, blouse and trousers (I didn't wear my costume to the meetings). "I haven't taken a bath."

"What's that gotta do with trying on a costume?"

"Because..." I suddenly blushed. " – well, I stink, and the costume was from Bruce..."

"Oh, for Rhea's sake!" Donna rolled her eyes. "He wouldn't notice that! Besides, your natural pheromone will just stick with the costume, and that's good!" She pushed me to the dressing room. "I'm waiting!"

It took me almost ten minutes to put the costume on and figure out how to attach the cape. You see, Bruce and I had discussed whether it would be better for me to wear full body-covering costume like his and Nightwing's, or the Huntress (though Helena Bertinelli used to alter her costume for a while, exposing her waist lines and a part of her midriff, eventually she returned to full coverage), or...er...Catwoman, for that matter. But when I donned my other warrior armor (the one with blue plated metal skirt, plus a red cape) before we departed to Mynosyss, he then realized that perhaps a Greek warrior skirt suited me better. Then he muttered on something like changing my bat-costume, so I had to wait for a while. Obviously he had modified the original costume, and just finished it recently.

I went back to my bedroom where Donna was starring at the ceiling and biting her nails. She turned as I entered, then exclaimed,

"Now that's a cool costume!"

"What, are you implying that my current costume is not cool?"

"Aw... c'mon, Sissy. You know what people say? Only Diana can wear that skimpy costume, and still look poised and elegant. If somebody else wore it, they might think of ... er... well, let's say, that I don't even want to wear it," Donna scratched her head. "With all respect to Diana Trevor, of course."

"Well, yes..." Well, that's true. My original costume was just too 'extraordinary' for Man's World. But, I liked it. It's a tribute to Diana Trevor. And speaking of skimpiness, look at what Starfire wore.

"So, you think this is cool?" When talking about fashion, Donna is my consultant. "I don't look like Xena?"

"Unless you change your lasso and start carrying her giant ring."

My costume was indeed based on Greek elements, i.e. short leather skirt, leather bustier, plus leather boots, all black. But Bruce had colored it with lots of bat elements. He maintained a golden WW insignia as my breastplate, but altering it a little to resemble bat ears. The skirt's and cape's hems mirrored the Batcape's scalloped hem. The utility belt, as I said before, was a hybrid of bat and WW, with a hook to attach my lasso. And though the costume came with arm-length gloves, the gloves were so light that I could easily put on my silver vambraces. The long cape – well, this one was a bit tricky. Bruce designed it the way he designed his cape, so I had to pull it over my neck to don it, and then it would drape over my shoulders and create a bat image mirroring the Batman's. That was a good idea, actually, as my bustier was strapless, and there was nowhere to attach the cape. The black boots felt comfortable, thank Hera. And there was this neat mask that resembled the Huntress' mask, but with an eagle's beak and long ears.

All and all, it was a good costume. But could I move with this new cape and boots?

"Can you move?" Donna seemed to read my mind (not surprisingly, being my twin soul sister). Suddenly she grabbed a boken (Japanese wooden sword) that I had brought from Japan a while ago, and attacked me.

I ducked to avoid the boken, then swept my foot towards hers. She rolled forward, turned around, and swung the sword again to my chest. I lifted my arms and felt the silver-amazonium alloy clanking against the sword. Donna pulled the sword to strike again, but I managed to grab her wrist first and twisted it until she was down on the floor.

"Aawww! Okay, okay! I give up!"

I smirked. Being an ex-member of the Titans of Myth, Donna had bested me with her new moon power (well, I never could produce any starbolts, moonburst or sunburst anyway). But my martial arts still surpassed hers. Not that it mattered, anyway. But, suddenly with the batcostume I wore, I wanted to show her up a little bit. So I somersaulted twice and perched myself on top of my wardrobe cabinet, lurking like a bat.

"Show off..." Donna muttered, massaging her wrist.

"Sorry. Bat habit. You'll have to ask Richard to teach you that." I still perched without moving.

"Or Roy, for that matter." She put the boken back and threw herself again on the bed, as if nothing had happened. "Come down. Am not gonna attack you again."

I went down – jumping, not flying.

"So, you won't use your power of flight in Gotham? What's the deal?"

Now perching in my bed, I pulled out my mask, swinging it with my finger. "I help the Batman, that's the deal."

Donna took the mask from my hand. "With the mask? So, you're not going to be Wonder Woman in Gotham? You're not gonna wear your tiara?"

I opened a compartment in my new utility belt, pulling out a golden batarang (er – bat and WW hybrid batarang – whatever its name was). I shook my head. "No, I have this batarang already."

Donna knew that my tiara also functioned as a boomerang, the way Bruce used his batarangs. But that was not what she meant, and we both knew that.

"No, Diana. I mean, are you going to abandon your Wonder Woman identity for him?"

"Rephrasing your question: am I giving up my ideals and methods for the love of a man?"

"Er... yeah... not that blunt. But, well, in the end... assuming you guys are gonna go through with it... and I do sincerely hope so... will you? Let go of Wonder Woman for him?"

Examining my batarang, I smiled. "It looks like it, doesn't it? Because I don a different costume, I stop becoming Wonder Woman?"

Donna shifted her position several times, clearly becoming uncomfortable. "Well...yeah... no. I mean...I'm sorry, Sis. I didn't mean to hurt you. But I've never seen you this..."

"Compromising?"

"Well... no... in love. And willing to do everything for that. Not that it makes me sad, or whatever. Just...weird."

I looked up to the ceiling, studying its antique Greek elements.

"Me neither. I never thought I would fall in love this way, I mean. But I don't think it's a compromise at all."

I turned to Donna, who was listening carefully.

"You see, Sister, Bruce has given up his foremost rule about Gotham: no metahuman assistance allowed. Not to mention accepting my warrior way; that is, I don't hesitate to end my enemy's life – but only if that is the only way out. Because of his love for me, he opened up the gate, and is letting me in," I took off my boots, leaned on one of the bed's four pillars and hugged my knees.

"Bruce is risking his own life," I continued, "because anyone who notices Bruce Wayne and Diana of Themyscira together frequently will soon also know that Bruce is the Batman. And that means he's putting not only his life, but more importantly, the lives of his friends in danger; Alfred Pennyworth and Leslie Thompkins especially. Because of that, I accept the fact that, at least for the moment, it's almost impossible for Bruce and me to be seen together. Not as Bruce Wayne and Diana. But as Batman and Wonder Woman –"

"- your chance to spend time together will be greater this way," Donna nodded. "But why change the costume?"

"Because Gotham's criminals fear the Bat. At least, the Bat has already become an icon there. If a metahuman like me is consistently assisting in Gotham, then it will diminish other non-meta heroes, at least in the eyes of the villains. Then, if one day I don't operate in Gotham anymore, for any reason, the villains will feel free to damage the city again, because there will be no Wonder Woman there anymore deflecting bullets and tossing the Lasso of Truth. Then they will no longer fear the Batman, and it will be hard to make them scared again. Not to mention other heroes, like the Huntress, Black Canary, Nightwing, Robin... though Lady Artemis knows how good and talented they are."

Donna frowned. "I understand. But your argument is still weak."

"Because I still carry my lasso and wear my vambraces?"

"People will still identify you as Wonder Woman, with that weaponry. Not to mention your bat insignia, that looks very much like your WW symbol, to me."

I smiled. "That answers your previous question. Who said that I would give up on being Wonder Woman in Gotham?"

"Explain."

"Well, put it this way. My lasso and vambraces are very useful in battle, so Bruce just can't see why I shouldn't use them. He offered me the mask and bat cape just for the shadow effect – to maintain fear in the heart of the villains. Over time, villains might realize that Wonder Woman has come to help Gotham. But there will be no proof, as I will mainly stay behind the scenes. Bruce won't call me 'Wonder Woman' in Gotham of course, except when I had to go there outside my patrol hours. I will still become an Amazon in Gotham. But not an Amazon warrior. An Amazon huntress like my namesake, dressed as a bat."

"So...what's your code name? The Huntress is used already. I presume you won't double Artemis, though she's named after the Goddess of the Hunt."

I pursed my lips. "Diana, the Roman Goddess of the Hunt, is my namesake as well. I don't see why Bruce can't call me 'Diana' there."

Donna gave the idea a thought for a while, then beamed. "'Diana' sounds good, Diana. I definitely think that's a good code name." Rising up, she returned my mask. "Speaking of costumes, I have to get dressed. Roy's picking me up in fifteen."

"Going out again? Don't you tell me that you're moving into his place soon? I still miss you."

"No, unless you move out to Wayne Manor." She grinned, and I chuckled at this. "Lian misses me so much though, so I'd better get prepared soon."

"You're going out with Lian as well?" Lian was Roy Harper's daughter from another woman (Chessire, a very lunatic assasin, I should say), but that charming little girl loved Donna more than anyone else in this world. With the exception of Dinah Lance, the Black Canary, of course, as Dinah was Lian's godmother. Having lost her own son, Bobby, in a terrible car accident, I sincerely hoped that Donna would find her happiness in Lian and Roy together.

"Well, the plan was to have dinner together with her and Roy in a local Thai restaurant; then after putting Lian to sleep, I will go out to the movie with Roy."

"Don't tell me: Serenity?"

Donna chuckled. "I have to know what kind of director this Whedon is, as he's about to make a movie about my sister."

"Don't you believe that rumor," I giggled as well. Then, looking at my mask I held, I added absent-mindedly. "I sure hope my mask doesn't look like Helena's mask."

Donna shrugged. "It looks more of an eagle-bat, if you ask me. Besides, Helena doesn't wear a mask." Apparently she was thinking of another Helena.

"Which Helena are you referring to? I was referring to Helena Bertinelli, the Huntress." True, having too many Helenas could be confusing. In addition to the strong-headed Huntress, we knew Helena Sandsmark (Cassie's mother) and Helena Kosmatos the Fury.

"Ah, sorry... I was thinking of the Fury."

Fury had this bad tendency to explode in anger and rip out her enemy's heart; a 'courtesy' of the real Furies. "That would be scary." The thought just made me grimace.

My sister grinned and started to leave. Then she suddenly stopped, frowning.

"Di –"Donna pursed her lips. "About Helena..."

"Which one? Fury?"

"No. The Bertinelli one..." she hesitated.

"What about her?"

"Well... it's just... remember when I told you that I remembered the multiverse?"

I confirmed. "Yes. That was when Hyperion lifted your mental blocks in Mynosys." I looked at Donna with heightened curiosity. Helena Bertinelli was never a sensitive topic between us. Why suddenly now...

"Well... you see...because of that, my mind was suddenly flushed with many images of my past lives. Then as you gave me the Harbinger's orb, I also scanned for previous lives of others – just to understand, as I am to be the record keeper anyway."

"I understand. So?"

"Well... during my scanning – and this was when you already went back to Earth with Cassie, and I was still in New Cronus near the Moon, I studied Earth-2 as well. I saw some images that just went blurred, waiting to reveal their own meanings to me later on. One of them revealed itself just now."

Why, out of the blue, was my throat dry? "Yes...?"

"That... er... I think I saw another Huntress in Earth-2. Her name was also Helena. But she was not a Bertinelli. Instead, she was a Wayne."

Now, that was scary.

"Her name was...er... Helena Wayne, Diana. The daughter of Earth-2 Batman and... Catwoman..."

Uh-oh.

xxx

Author's very long note:

Of course, this is my attempt to explain several appearances of Helena Wayne in Infinite Crisis related stories. I heard that this Helena was an interesting character, the way Power Girl has been. Though I only have read about Helena Bertinelli's Huntress, I also know that Earth Two Huntress often help pre-crisis Wonder Woman in their adventures. I should find those episodes.

I got the name of 'Diana' for Diana's 'name code' when I read about Meljean Brook's Bat-WW story, 'In the Darkest Light'. A very good story, one of my favorites, I should say. I mixed the elements for Diana's batcostume from 'In the Darkest Light', a picture of Diana as the Batwoman in JLA#90 (mostly the mask), a picture I found in Batman-WW Arkham (for the hybrid of bat and W), and a Batgirl Halloween costume with black batskirt, long gloves, and long boots. So, if you see those pictures, you got what I meant.

Re: Serenity's Joss Whedon, I know it's not up to date. But I'd written this chapter quite a while ago, so don't blame me, okay. B'sides, it was a good movie.

Re: Diana's name, I remembered why I love the name of 'Diana' so much. In addition to the Roman counterpart of the Greek Goddess of the Hunt and the Moon, in Sanskrit, 'Dhyan' means 'enlightenment' or 'wisdom'. Hence, Diana can be considered an extension of Dhyan as well, the Light, as she always has been representing, and thus my persistence on using her own name in Gotham.

I'm not sure that it's a pure 'coincidence' that Diana's name bares so many meanings (i.e., a tribute to Diana Trevor, Diana the Roman Goddess of the Hunt and the Moon, and the additional enlightenment). But again, I don't believe in such a coincidence; everything is planned by Divine Mother.