Previously: "May we follow them?" she requested politely. "I do not wish to abandon them."
A flicker of sadness crossed Andromache's features, but she nodded. "Of course, there is much you should see with them as well." Andromache held out her hand. "Please, lead the way."
Fine Lines
Diana had to hurry to catch up with the rest of the League. A voice inside her mind that sounded eerily like her mother chided her for her rudeness to Andromache for making the woman jog to keep up with her, but Diana could not bring herself to care. All of this was overwhelming, and as great an honor as it would be to speak with Andromache, Diana wanted things back to normal, where her friends were not mourning her death, of all things.
By the time she made it to the infirmary, Bruce was carefully laying her body on one of the beds. J'onn stood on the other side of the bed, one of his diagnosis machines already set up next to him.
Relief swept through Diana. "J'onn," she called, slipping past Clark, Shayera, John, Vixen, and Green Arrow. "J'onn, thank Hera you're here!"
When the Martian didn't react to her words, something tightened in Diana's stomach. "J'onn!" Diana repeated, more loudly this time. J'onn's attention remained on her body as he hooked it up to the diagnosis machine.
"I performed CPR for nearly ten minutes," Bruce said out loud, his voice rigid and unemotional. "She never regained consciousness."
Silence permeated the infirmary for several minutes. Then J'onn said quietly, "Time of death is determined to be at seventeen hundred hours thirty-one minutes. Let it reflect in the records."
Frustration filled Diana. She had placed her hopes on J'onn sensing her presence, but it didn't seem to be working. She moved over to stand next to the Martian, and shouted his name again, right in his ear.
J'onn didn't even flinch.
Diana swore under her breath.
A chuckle caught her attention and she turned around. Andromache stood next to an unaware Shayera, her lips twitching in amusement. "My apologies," she said, "but I think such language would invite comment from the more conservative of our sisters. At least, in my time it certainly would have."
Diana stared at her for several moments, and eventually decided not to comment. "I don't understand," she said instead. "I thought that if anyone here could sense me, it would have been J'onn…"
Andromache's entertained expression faded then, and was replaced by one far more solemn. She opened her mouth, but was cut off when Diana's attention was caught by Clark, who had begun speaking.
"We… we'll need to make arrangements," he said, running his hand shakily through his black hair. He turned to Shayera. "Shayera, can you take a Javelin to Themyscira? Queen Hippolyta and the Amazons need to be made aware of… what's happened. It should come from one of the Founders, and you're probably the only one they won't try to kill on sight."
Not true, Diana thought. Batman, Superman, J'onn, and the Flash are heroes of Themyscira and would be given leave to walk on Amazon soil. Still, Clark was right. It was probably best that the news come from another woman, and Shayera was the only female Founder aside from Diana herself.
Shayera's eyes were brighter than normal as she looked over at Diana's body, but she nodded. She did not move at once, but when John put a cautious hand on her shoulder, Shayera reacted as though she had been stung and she quickly left the infirmary, not looking at him or anyone else.
Clark ignored the tense exchange between the two as well as the pained expression on Vixen's face and turned to Green Arrow. "We should hold some kind of memorial service," he said. "The League will need closure."
Oliver Queen nodded. "Then we should probably do it within the next few days. The Amazons are likely going to want to… lay Diana to rest on Themyscira, so it should happen before then."
"Agreed," Clark replied. Diana watched him look over at Bruce hesitantly, perhaps waiting for him to add something, but Bruce remained silent. Shaking his head slightly, Clark and Oliver left the infirmary, John and Vixen following close behind.
J'onn removed the diagnosis machine and returned it to its proper place. He too moved to leave, but as he walked past Bruce, the Martian stopped and looked at him solemnly. Neither said anything, and Diana quickly deduced that the two were speaking within their minds. She found herself yearning to know what words J'onn had for Bruce, but the moment was over as quickly as it began, and J'onn walked out of the infirmary.
Bruce had not moved from the bedside since he'd entered the infirmary. Diana had watched him stare down at her body in silence, his expression betraying nothing of what he was feeling. His arms hung limply at his sides, his cape draped around him almost protectively.
Several moments passed, and then he too left, leaving Diana alone with her body and Andromache. Diana's shoulders slumped. She honestly did not know what to do next. Her friends were accepting her demise, and she had nothing she could do to inform them that she was still very much there.
A hand on her shoulder caught Diana's attention. She looked up to see Andromache had moved to stand next to her. "I am sorry, Diana," she said softly. "I know you were hoping that your friend would be able to help you out of this."
"I…" Diana paused and took a deep breath. "I don't understand why he didn't hear me. He sensed Flash…"
"What happened to him was different," Andromache stated. "The speed he had driven his body to pushed him into a different plane, or more like a bridge to a different plane. He had not crossed over, which was why your alien friend was able to feel his presence."
Diana stared at the other woman. "I suppose that makes sense," she said slowly. Nonetheless, she eyed her suspiciously. "It does not explain how you know all of that. Forgive my impudence, but you have been dead for millennia."
Andromache nodded. "True. However, those who sent me to you… informed me of your dealings in Man's World. Including your battles with the one called Lex Luthor and Cadmus."
Diana considered her words, and then nodded. It made sense. "Who sent you then?" she asked. "And why?"
Sadness crossed Andromache's regal features. "The gods sent me, Diana," she told her quietly. "You died in that crash."
Diana could feel her blood draining from her face. "No," she whispered, her eyes turning back to her body. She shook her head. "It's not possible. If I had died, I would have gone to the Underworld, into the care of Persphone. I wouldn't be here…" Watching my friends suffer, she thought. Watching Bruce…
"Indeed, Diana, you shouldn't be here, watching this… distressing spectacle," Andromache assured her. "The gods are not entirely certain what happened. They believe that the unexpected nature of your… demise may have caused this."
"Explain."
Andromache began to pace in front of her. "Amazons are immortal, and gifted by the gods. They are not meant to die. You are especially so, given the circumstances of your birth," she said. "It is thought that a combination of the suddenness of your death as well as the many gifts granted to you from the gods that kept your soul from entering the Underworld."
Diana shook her head, trying to make sense of it all. It was madness, it had to be. She couldn't be dead, of all things.
"Given the unusual nature of what has happened, Persphone felt that it would be best to send someone prepare you. She felt that a fellow Amazon would be the best person to do so." Andromache smiled weakly. "That left either Penelope or I as the top candidates."
Diana thought that perhaps Andromache's words were meant to be a comfort to her, but they were not having that effect. How could they? She didn't feel dead, and certainly she would know if she was dead. This… for all that Diana could stare at her body lying just a few feet away, it just didn't feel right.
"There's still so many reasons to live," Diana said softly. She glanced at the infirmary's door. "Mother, my sisters, my friends in Man's World…" How could she abandon them? It was not in her – in any Amazon – to simply give up.
"I understand, my dear," Andromache stated, leaning against an empty bed. "I truly do, better than almost any Amazon could." She smiled sadly. "I know what it is to love someone for reasons other than the bonds of friendship and sisterhood."
Diana looked up sharply. "What do you mean?"
The other woman stared at her kindly. "I am not blind to the feelings you exhibit toward the dark one, nor am I unaware of his grief." She sighed and her eyes grew distant. "I too loved a man, something most Amazons abhor. Hector… completed me in a way that no other had ever done. I do not regret a moment of our time together, even though it was incredibly short thanks to the foolishness of Paris and the discord sewn by Eris." Andromache's voice was full of sympathy. "It is no sin to love your dark knight, Diana, no matter what the other Amazons might tell you."
Diana closed her eyes. She had never considered that her feelings for Bruce might be so transparent. It was no secret from J'onn, of course, and she was fairly certain that Clark knew of it, as did John and perhaps Shayera. Despite her seeming confidence in her attempts to convince Bruce that a relationship between them was possible, she had been assailed with apprehensions of her own, mainly in the thoughts of how her mother and sisters might react. Though she would not be the first to do so, taking a man for a lover was severely frowned upon, though there were no strict laws against it, as Andromache and Penelope's actions in ancient times indicated. Still, the opinions of Diana's mother and sisters mattered a great deal to her.
"Diana." She opened her eyes again to find Andromache standing right in front of her. The other woman took her hands. "Hector traveled to Elysium and waited for me there. Now it is your time to do the same. You can wait for your beloved to join you." She smiled. "Have no doubt that he will be admitted there one day. He is a great favorite of Nemesis, and she rewards those who toil on her behalf."
Diana didn't answer at first. "Honored Andromache," she replied after several moments, "I see the wisdom in your words, but… it is hard. I am not ready to leave. I don't want to leave." She looked around at the empty infirmary, her eyes resting on the doors.
Andromache's green eyes were full of sympathy as she squeezed her hands. "I know you do not, Diana," she said, "but you will in time. You wish to stay to watch over your friends, an understandable desire. However, you would be condemning yourself to a cold, lonely existence. No one to offer you companionship, you will be consigned to watching them move on with their lives while you remain in this… state of limbo." She sighed. "That, though, is only the emotional pain you will subject yourself to. Though your physical form has been shed, your soul can still suffer a great deal of damage if you stay too long. Please, Diana, come with me."
Diana shook her head. "No. Not yet."
The other woman's lips tightened, but she nodded. "Very well," she conceded. "We will move ahead then."
Diana cocked her head. "Move ahead? What do you mean?"
Andromache did not reply, but Diana got her answer nonetheless. The scene around her had changed. No longer were they in the infirmary, but in the main atrium of the Metro Tower.
"What just happened?" Diana demanded, looking around sharply. "How did we get here?"
Andromache did not appear concerned. "In the state we are in, time does not necessarily have to pass in the same fashion as on the mortal plane. We've merely jumped ahead a few days."
Diana examined her surroundings. The atrium had clearly been decorated for a ceremony of some kind. Rows and rows of chairs had been set up, all facing a small altar where a capsule had been placed. A lectern had been positioned to the capsule's left. She looked at the banners that had been hung up throughout the atrium. Black ones with the symbol of the Justice League, silver ones with the golden badges of Themyscira, as well as others representing individual nations, such as the United States and Kasnia, were all hanging down from the high ceiling. Something churned inside her stomach as she walked down the central aisle, not even bothering to see if Andromache followed her.
The capsule was actually a casket, Diana discovered as she moved closer to it, and an open one at that. Her body was inside, no longer wearing the armor of Athena, but the formal white attire that she wore as a princess and warrior of Themyscira. Her winged coronet had also been added to the golden tiara that went with her normal apparel. Her eyes were closed and her hands were folded neatly over her stomach.
Diana shuddered and clenched her fists. This wasn't right. This shouldn't be happening. She clung to those feelings as tightly as she could.
Footsteps brought her out of her revere and Diana looked behind her. It was Bruce. Clad in his uniform and the cape folded over his shoulders, he looked much the same since she had last seen him, completely shrouded and shielded from the world around him. He approached the casket, right where Diana was standing and she instinctively stepped out of his way.
Bruce stared down at her still form for several seconds, not moving. Suddenly, one of his hands left the cover of his cape and smoothed over her hair. Diana found her breath hitching in her throat. Were the recent events catching up to her, she wondered? Perhaps witnessing Bruce's actions were driving everything home for her. To most, what he was doing meant very little, was maybe even trite, but this was Bruce. That he was doing anything spoke volumes of his pain.
It must have been so. When he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead, whispering brokenly, "Diana…"
Diana's hand flew to her mouth, stifling a small cry.
What was wrong with her? She remained steadfast in her determination to remain with her friends, to do what she could for them, and yet, seeing Bruce's pain and the grief of her friends, it was torture, just as Andromache had warned her. Something in her yearned to run as fast as she could to get away from it, to escape it.
The sound of voices approaching broke the moment, much to Diana's relief. Bruce backed away from the casket and moved into the shadows cast by the many banners. Seconds later, the doors opened and the members of the League began to file in. The five remaining Founders led the way in and they began to take the seats in the front row. Following them were various other people that Diana knew, those not in the League. Audrey was there, draped in black with a thin veil coming down over her black hat. Nicodemus was next to her, and following him was Steve Trevor, of all people, accompanied by his daughter, Jenny, whose arm he used to help keep his balance as he walked. The rest of the League began to fill up the rows behind them, Diana even spotting Huntress sitting next to Question in about the fifth row. No one said a word about the empty seat between Clark and John, though it was highly noticeable.
Bruce stayed in the shadows. She wasn't sure if anyone other than her even noticed his presence.
Once everyone was seated and settled, J'onn stood up and walked over to the lectern, turning to face the substantial audience.
"Today we gather here to honor the person and soul of Diana, daughter of Hippolyta, and Princess of the Amazon Nation. It is distressing that we gather together like this only in times of great sorrow," he said, "but it is fitting nonetheless that we come together to share our memories of Diana. Through us, she may live on as we continue the battles she fought to preserve this world."
After those few simple words, J'onn backed away from the lectern and returned to his seat. He was replaced by John, his face as solemn and severe as Diana had ever seen it.
"I met Diana during the invasion of the Imperium," John began. A faint smile passed over his lips briefly. "I believe my first words when I saw her were: "Who's the rookie in the tiara?"" A few people in the crowd chuckled softly. "Yes, I'm sure you can imagine how she would have reacted to that kind of thing." His expression regained its seriousness and he continued.
"I'm pretty sure we grated on each other's nerves after that for a while. As far as I was concerned, she was the newbie with some serious impulse-control problems. We clashed over it more than once at the time. It wasn't until things were at their worst that I realized I'd been wrong. Sure, at the time she lacked experience in the 'saving the world' business, but she brought experiences and skills of her own to the table, and those helped save our lives." John glanced at the casket. "You were no rookie, Diana," he said quietly. "You were – are – one of the best of us. I'm just sorry I never really told you that."
John left the lectern at that point, stopping by Diana's casket and resting his hand atop her own folded ones for several moments. Diana couldn't resist reaching out to him. Her hand passed through his shoulder, unsurprisingly, but she still whispered, "Thank you, John." She had always remembered their early clashes and they had piqued her pride for quite a while, but to know that his opinion of her had risen meant a great deal.
John stepped back and returned to his seat. At the same time, Shayera stood up and took his place at the lectern, her face set in solemn lines just as John's had been. However, Diana could see the Thanagarian's eyes, always expressive in their own way, and the volatile emotions rolling in them.
"It took a lot of time for Diana and me to understand each other," Shayera said. "In those early years of the Justice League, we were a lot alike – more inclined to beat the bad guys silly first and ask questions later – and with tempers like that, it was hard to really endure each other for long periods of time. Still, I like to think we became friends of a sort for a while, until… well, until I forgot what was more important than any mission – saving lives."
Shayera paused and took a deep breath. "Things were pretty bad between us for a long time, probably longer than they should have been." She gave a weak grin. "We were both really stubborn, and neither of us were inclined to apologize, but when you go to hell and back – literally – together, it helps you to remember the important things. Staying angry at each other by then served no purpose but to assuage our wounded prides. Things started to get better after that." She stopped for a moment and then added softly, "I just wish… we'd had more time."
The Thanagarian followed John's earlier example and stopped at the casket to place her hand on Diana's. In addition to that, though, Shayera whispered, "Goodbye, sister."
A few tears slipped past Diana's defenses, and she did not bother to brush them away.
And you, sister, she thought silently.
A few others came up to speech, but the ceremony ended when Wally very nearly broke down at the lectern while recounting an incident in the Watchtower kitchen involving Diana's first iced mocha. Clark and Shayera both moved to lead Wally back to his seat and J'onn offered a few concluding words. Everyone broke into groups after that, speaking quietly. Diana longed to offer some kind of comfort to Wally, who was still near to the point of tears, but she was reassured with J'onn, Clark, Shayera, and John surrounding him.
She looked into the more shadowed areas of the room again. Bruce still stood there, alone, his arms folded over his chest.
"Have you seen enough, Diana?" Andromache asked from behind her. Diana nearly jumped, having forgotten the other woman's presence. "Or do you wish to subject yourself to further suffering on your loved ones' behalf?" The former Amazon's voice was unusually harsh.
The scene changed again and Diana once again found herself looking upon a familiar sight.
Themyscira, in the forum at the center of the city.
Her sisters were gathered together, forming up a large honor guard around a landed Javelin. The ramp lowered to the ground and a group of women walked down, carrying a now familiar-looking casket. Diana recognized Shayera and Vixen at either side of the coffin's head, Black Canary and Huntress in the middle, and Dr. Light and Zatanna at the foot. The six of them took the casket forward, stopping before Diana's mother.
Diana struggled not to gasp when she saw her mother. She had never seen her look so pale, not even when she had banished Diana from Themyscira. Her eyes were surrounded by dark circles, and she simply looked… older than Diana had ever seen her.
"I thank you," Hippolyta said quietly, "for bringing my daughter home." Her eyes, however, were on Diana's body. No one said anything when she stepped in between Vixen and Black Canary to gently touch Diana's cheek. Her fingers rested there and Diana could see her mother's eyes fill with tears. Taking a deep breath, likely to remain calm and collected, Hippolyta stepped back and silently, six of Diana's sisters moved forward, gently taking the casket in hand. They began moving toward the Temple of Athena.
"Rest assured," Hippolyta told female heroes, "Diana will be laid to rest with full honors, beside Penelope, Andromache, and her other fallen sisters." She then swept after the others.
The heroes slowly began to make their way back toward the Javelin, but Diana watched Shayera stop and look back toward Athena's temple. A breeze caught her auburn hair, blowing several strands across her face. Her green eyes were awash with tears. Then she too left.
Diana could restrain her own grief no longer. She knelt on the ground of Themyscira, her face buried in her hands as she wept in silence. This hurt… so much, watching her friends mourn, seeing and almost feeling their agony. Bruce enduring his pain in cold silence, refusing any kind of comfort, Wally's distress, Shayera's tears, and all the rest… it was too much.
Comforting hands came to rest on her shoulders and Diana could feel Andromache kneeling beside her. "Diana, child," she said, "please, stop torturing yourself. Please, come with me to Elysium and find the peace you so richly deserve. Your friends, your family, they would not wish you to put yourself through such pain, not on their behalf."
Diana forced herself to look up, wiping the tears from her face. Andromache's face was full of compassion and understanding, but what caught her attention was the light that had appeared behind the other woman. It was so calm, so inviting…
"It's time to go, Diana," Andromache whispered.
Her shoulders dropped slightly and Diana finally surrendered. "What must I do?" she asked.
