Disclaimer: Here's where I say I wish I owned the JLA characters, especially Batman, but if wishes were horses, I'd have a ranch and go riding every day.

First Love by chrryfiona

Chapter 4: Betrayed

"It's been over an hour," Vixen muttered worriedly.

She was standing outside the Infirmary with Superman, looking through the glass wall at Diana's unconscious body. The Amazon Princess' face was covered by a plastic oxygen mask. Attached to her right arm was an IV feeding her saline fluid. The room's tense silence was broken by a steady intermittent beep as a nurse connected a heart monitor to Diana. Ever since J'onn had left to places unknown, the Justice League had suffered the loss of his skills as both a strategist and a health care provider. With the help of Batman, Superman was able to hire some of the top doctors and nurses in the country but at times like this, the Man of Steel felt keenly the inadequacy of normal humans. He could have used the Martian Manhunter's psychic ability to awaken Diana.

Satisfied that Wonder Woman's vitals were stable, the doctor finally came out of the room. His name was Jake Isaac. He was 38, young and ambitious. Having graduated in the top 5 of his class, Jake had his choice of positions at the major hospitals in America though they all paled in comparison to his current job. As Batman had said when he recruited Jake, how many doctors could say they rubbed shoulders with the Justice League or that they worked in a huge self-sufficient satellite floating in space?

"She seems to be okay for now." Jake reported. "Her blood tests have come back. Aside from a slightly elevated alcohol level, her CBC and BMP are completely normal which rules out an electrolyte abnormality as being the cause of the seizure. It's almost ridiculous to even contemplate Wonder Woman having epilepsy. She doesn't have an alien genetic makeup like you, Superman. In fact, she is more similar to the average human though her body is enhanced – almost perfectly so because it has the capability of fighting against any foreign body and thus can heal at a much faster rate than the normal person. Her cells can regenerate countless times without showing any of the damages from genetic mutations or the regular wear-and-tear. She doesn't have a fever and the ESR which would be elevated in cases of inflammation is bafflingly normal. If we eliminate genetics and infections, the only other possibility is drugs."

"That's ridiculous!" exclaimed Vixen. In her anger, she grabbed the shorter doctor by the tie, leaving him to dangle on his toes. "Are you accusing me of giving Wonder Woman drugs?" She shook him and Jake's red face began to turn purple.

Superman put a calming hand on her shoulder. "Of course you would not and Dr. Isaac knows that. Let the man go, Vixen."

Vixen released her prisoner from a death of asphyxiation and returned to her original spot behind the glass wall. An aura of fury emanated from her body but immediately dissipated at Jake's gasping words.

"GBS …" Cough, cough. "…common thing…" Cough. "…women in bars…"

"Are you trying to say maybe someone slipped something in Diana's drink?"

Jake nodded, still silent. His eyes were tearing from the effort of trying to gulp air into his oxygen-deprived lungs. Maybe he should look into finding another job. He could always go back to Johns Hopkins. They were offering him that research position. It had sounded dull at the time but at least no one would be trying to kill him there. Massaging his Adam's apple, Jake finally felt able to speak without collapsing. "I'll do a more extensive tox screen on Wonder Woman. I just can't imagine a common street drug would have such an effect on her body but anything is …"

Whatever the doctor was going to say was interrupted by the sudden commotion in the Infirmary. Diana's body began jerking spasmodically, her arms flailing so wildly that the IV needle was ripped out. She pulled the mask off her face just in time to cough up more blood. Jake rushed to her side, a needle of benzodiazepine in his hand. For the second time in five minutes, the doctor found his neck clutched tightly by a woman with superhuman strength.

"Batman. Get. Him." Diana struggled to get the words out. "He will …" Her hand around Jake's neck loosened as she slumped back onto the bed. The heart monitor in the room impassively changed from a steady intermittent beep to a shrill uninterrupted one.

"I never really got over you, you know." Rachel smiled sadly, her hand cupping her former lover's face below his mask. "Carl knew it, of course. Whenever we argued, he would always bring your name up. He was always bitter because how could he compete against the billionaire Bruce Wayne? I think one of the reasons why he was so driven to run for governor of Gotham was because he wanted to rule the city whose economy you controlled. Wayne Corp does employ more than half of the citizens here."

"You could have told him it was over between us." Bruce's deep voice reasoned.

"Is that what you think, Bruce? Is it really over?"

He shrugged. "You were the one to walk away, if I recall correctly."

"So I did." She inhaled raggedly. "I got so tired of his insinuations and after one especially trying shouting match, I finally told him there could never be a future for you and me because of who you really were."

Bruce froze. He took a step toward his childhood sweetheart. "You did what?" He asked, his tone all the more menacing for its softness.

"Batman!" A frantic voice called out, cutting through the silence in the room. Without looking away from the woman in front of him, Batman snapped out a terse "I'm busy" and disconnected the communicator device on his belt.

Rachel backed away, unable to meet his accusing eyes. "I didn't plan to, Bruce. I regretted it as soon as I said it and I begged Carl not to reveal your secret to anybody." The words rushed out of her mouth like water from a broken dam as she tried to justify her actions. "Things got better between us after that. Two weeks ago, I discovered the name Malka al Ghul on the guest list to one of our parties. I confronted Carl about this and he told me she was one of his biggest contributors. I tried to …"

"So first you betrayed me to your husband and then you compounded your mistake by revealing my past history with Ra's al Ghul." Batman filled in.

Rachel shook her head desperately. "Bruce, I thought that if I…"

"The problem was you didn't think at all."

She gasped. "How can you say that? Who are you? The Bruce Wayne I know would never have spoken so cruelly to me."

"I'm sure you never spared a thought about my safety but surely you should have anticipated how such knowledge would only put your husband and yourself more at risk to my enemies."

"No matter what you believe, I would never intentionally do anything to hurt you. And my husband may not be the great Batman, but I know he's not without honor. I believe he died because he was trying to protect your identity."

An eyebrow lifted sarcastically but silently. Rachel straightened herself in response. "When Carl was shot, the last words he said was 'Tell him.' I knew he could only mean you and I'm afraid he was murdered by someone of the al Ghul bloodline."

"You say I'm cruel? Think, Mrs. Finch. You were a former Assistant DA. Why would you kill someone who had information you needed?"

Rachel paled. She covered her face with her hands in horror. "Because you've already obtained the information you needed from that person. Bruce, what have I done? What have I done?" She lifted her eyes but she was speaking to an empty room because he was gone.

Many, many thanks to everyone who's been following this story and leaving reviews. Whenever I'm stuck, I always go back to read your comments because they give me the motivation to continue writing. I have the next chapter pretty much planned out so hopefully, if the real world doesn't intrude, I should post it soon. In the meantime, please tell me what you think of the story so far.