A Link to Justice

By Minstara

"…" – talking

'Hello' – thoughts

8—

Disclaimer: Justice League and other DC characters don't belong to me. The original characters such as Anyssa and the plot do belong to me so please ask before using.

Special Thanks to Morgomir, Dancing Leopard, Gothic-Fire-Wolf, Frozen Amarillis, and twinbuster2 for reviewing! Also thanks to everyone who read, but don't review!

8—

Last time on A Link to Justice

"You're not supposed to be here," the child said, voice just as cold and emotionless as his face. The way he spoke, so devoid of emotion after such a traumatic event surprised Anyssa and his words confused her even more.

"What?" The child before her vanished, not answering her question. Then a voice, deeper, repeated, "You're not supposed to be here," from behind her. Startled, she turned and jumped back, not sure who she would find at her back. At first she didn't see him, but on second glance to her left, hidden in the shadow of the alley, was the Batman.

"What happened to you after your parents died? Did you go live at an orphanage or with a relative?"

"No. A family friend was able to take over my care," he said, his grave voice giving a hint of curiosity at her question.

"Was that person good to you?"

"Yes."

Anyssa hesitated for a moment because she knew that was she was about to say next wasn't going to be received well. 'But J'onn said to be honest with him so...' "Then, I'm glad they're dead," she declared.

The next thing she felt was her back slamming against the wall and the hands squeezing her throat.

"Why are you glad my parents are dead?"

She took a deep breath, gathering herself as if she'd been waiting for that question. "If they hadn't died, I wouldn't be here."

"Now, do you understand? Without you as you are, I would have died that night," she stated, matter-of-factly. He remained silent at that. He understood what she meant and didn't fault her for it, but sometimes... He looked back toward that alley. Sometimes, he wondered... His musings were disrupted when he felt a light pressure on his left shoulder. He turned back to his companion, as she quickly took her hand back, to see a sad smile gracing her once expressionless face.

"I'm sure that they are very proud of the man you've become," she said, stepping closer. She held her head up, gazing directly into his eyes as if the cowl wasn't even there. "Gotham and the world need Batman." She moved closer still, until her chest was close to touching his. Then to his surprise, her arms went around his waist, holding him in a tight embrace. Slowly, she tiptoed until he could feel slightest touch from her cheek next to his and her warm breath blowing close to his ear. "And when I needed him most the Batman was there. I have waited a long time to say this to you. Thank you,"

The strangest thing was the sign on the gate.

It read 'Arkham Asylum.'

"Where the hell are we?"

8—

Chapter 7: The Beginning Is the End, Pt. 2

"Where the hell are we?" Anyssa asked as she took in her surroundings. The clean path with the rose bushes alongside it. The neatly manicured lawn and fountain in front of the white painted building. All of this wouldn't have been strange at all if the words on the gate hadn't been 'Arkham Asylum.' Obviously they were in another dreamscape, but this was a strange, rare occasion.

Normally, a person had only one dreamscape in one instance to deal with an issue that was impacting them the most. It was truly a unique case for someone to have more than one in a single occurrence.

She turned back to her companion and asked again, "Where the hell are we 'cause this sure isn't Gotham."

The costumed man was silent for a moment, and then said, "It's Gotham."

"But that's—"

"Just not the Gotham we know," he said, cutting her off. Anyssa knew the expression on her face must have been one of total astonishment and confusion. A Gotham she didn't know? If what he said was true and this was a different Gotham, then it was certainly a better one than the one she or he had grown up in. She could feel the smile going across her face. If Arkham, the darkest shadow of Gotham City, could change into such a peaceful place, then the rest of the city had to be better. Her happiness at the change in her birthplace was close to taking flight until she saw her companion's expression.

There was no happiness, no glimpse of the man beneath the mask that she'd seen earlier. He had closed himself off emotionally once more, leaving only the Batman. So, she did the only thing she could think of to snap him out of it.

She punched him in the shoulder.

In the real world, she doubted that punch would've even caught his attention; however, here in a dreamscape there was a little more behind it. Maybe it wasn't enough to knock him off his feet, but it was enough to make him stagger. When he looked at her for an explanation, she simply said, "Stop it." She could almost see the eyebrow lift beneath the cowl.

"Stop what?" he asked. Her own brow lifted at that. If she didn't know better, she would have said that the man sounded downright amused by her command. "You're closing off again. Whatever this place is has you shutting down emotionally," she turned to him, hand on her hip, and continued, "Why is that?"

"He's afraid of this place," a voiced answered from behind them. The pair turned to see... Batman?

The man before them had the same height, weight, and even facial structure. For all intent and purposes, this person seemed to be Batman. If it wasn't for one thing, she wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between them.

That one thing was the costume. The new arrival's costume had forgone the gray bodysuit for one in basic black with light gray bracers. The cap and cowl were also light gray, with the cowl having a black area around the eyes. The chest of the outfit sported the bat insignia in silver rather than black.

Though he obviously wasn't the real Batman, she had to admit he had a sense of style. "Nice suit," she commented then turned to her companion and asked, "Okay, who is he?"

"Batman." That was the only reply she received from 'her' Batman, and as she glanced back and forth between them, she could feel her head start to pound.

8—

"Who is he?" she asked again. That question had many implications, but the simplest answer was...

"He is the Batman that was a member of the Justice Lords in an alternate dimension," he turned refusing to look at the Other. "Do you remember them?" he asked.

Anyssa, without taking her eyes off the Other, replied, "Yeah, but I don't remember seeing a Batman among them."

"You wouldn't. He was busy being out jailer in his world," he explained.

"Oh."

At that moment, the Other decided to speak. "That isn't the whole story, is it?" the Other asked, tauntingly. "There hasn't been anything to confirm that," Bruce argued.

"Hasn't there? You know what Luthor is doing. You've watched his every move. Step one has already begun." He knew what the Other meant, but still Bruce refused to acknowledge it.

"No. Luthor won't succeed. He's done too much in our world," Bruce expressed.

"He has many of the same things in our world, but he still managed to do it," the Other disputed. Apparently, their back and forth discussion had gained the curiosity of their audience. "What are you two talking about?" Anyssa interrupted. Bruce ignored her. This was League business and none of her concern, never minding that he had conceded to Anyssa about that very point earlier.

The Other continued, also ignoring her, "How can you be so sure? Are you going to kill him before he kills Flash?" His ire rose at the very suggestion that the Other made. Did he really think that he would kill just to prevent some that might happen?

The tiny gasp to his right drew Bruce's attention back to the woman beside him. Her milk-chocolate skin had paled to mocha, dark brown eyes wide with shock and disbelief at what she'd just heard. "W-what?" she stammered. "Lex Luthor's gonna kill Wally? But, how... how could you possibly know that?!" She screamed as she nearly lunged at the Other. Bruce grabbed her before she could complete her action, one arm grasping her across her chest, the other arm wrapped around her waist. His actions were based on two things. Firstly, he didn't want Anyssa to get hurt in her attack against the Other in case he decided to strike back. Lastly, he was unsure what kind of effect an attack against the Other would have on his mind.

As she struggled in his grip, demanding answers from the Other, he concluded that he was going to have to explain everything to her and he hated it. He hated that this situation was forcing him to reveal something he'd hoped to have more evidence about before presenting it to the League, but now that options were gone. "Anyssa," he said, trying to get her to stop her struggle. "Anyssa!" he called again, this time getting her attention. He turned her around to face him.

Though still somewhat pale, she was slowly getting her complexion back. Her eyes were still wide as she fought back the tears, but they reflected her to determination to listen and learn the truth. Those eyes brought him up short. They were the same kind of eyes he'd seen many times in the mirror. "Listen to me okay?" She nodded her head in the affirmative. "I have been theorizing about the incident with the Justice Lords for some time. In their world, Luthor became President and began a superpower arms race. In the course of it, Luthor executed Flash. The Lords retaliated and their Superman killed Luthor, and then proceeded to bring the world under their rule."

"But what does all that have to do with our Flash getting killed by Lex Luthor?" she questioned, still sounding somewhat angry and confused. Bruce couldn't blame her; none of these facts seemed to add up to the death of his speedy teammate. Perhaps, this next fact would shed some light it.

"Luthor is making a bid for the Presidency." She thought about it for a while, then he watched her eyes widen, obviously reaching the same conclusion he had. "Yes. The Justice Lords didn't come from an alternate dimension. They came from a possible future and with Luthor running for President that future seems more and more likely to happen."

He studied her as the full impact of what he'd said hit her. Her head bowed, he continued to watch as the tears slid silently down her cheeks. For a few moments, she continued to cry, and then she nodded, coming to a decision about something and wiped the tears from her face and eyes. Having gotten herself together, she looked back up at him and said firmly, "We're not gonna let it happen." That sharpness of her eyes, the set line of her jaw told him something, something unbelievable. She wasn't going to lose in this. 'Did she really care about Wally, about them all so deeply, so soon?' he wondered. An unknown weight seemed to lift from him, and he realized something.

Her reaction to this was important to him. He needed to see if she was strong enough to be a part of them, to be willing to fight. He felt himself grinning. Her declaration was reminiscent of Clark's 'good will prevail' attitude, but he knew that wasn't all there was to her. She had willingness to fight came from a place that he knew very well: in the cruel truth that the innocent weren't always saved.

"How do you propose 'we' stop it?" he asked.

She shrugged and said, "I don't know. Does the rest of the League know about this?" Bruce shook his head in the negative. "Then we tell them and go from there. After all, it doesn't make sense for you to handle this alone when it involves the entire League."

He had to agree with her point, besides it's possible that the others would have some ideas.

"Nice to see that there's a plan," the Other decided to speak. She looked at him for a moment then back to me. She tilted her head a little to the left as if something puzzled her. Curious, Bruce asked, "What?"

Shaking her head, she said, "Nothing." Knowing that wasn't the case, he tried again. "Miss Jordan—"

"Anyssa," she corrected.

Bruce sighed; he hated being interrupted. "Anyssa, what is it?"

She bit her bottom lip, obviously unsure how welcomed her question would be received and given there previous experience, he couldn't blame her. "It's just... why him?" she nodded toward the Other, who just smirked as if he held more secrets than him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if it was just the Justice Lords that was bothering you, why aren't they all here?"

She had a valid question. Yes, he hated the Justice Lords or rather he hated their methods. They had let the death of a teammate skew their sense of morality beyond recognition. With their morality mangled, their methods of enforcing 'justice' became the stuff of nightmares. More to the point, Anyssa was right. Why was this particular Justice Lord here to greet them? As soon as he asked himself the question he knew the answer.

Hate.

There were a lot of things about this 'clean' Gotham he hated: The spineless president, the compliant people, the Justice Lords. All of them had a hand in this, but most of all...

"He hates me the most. Don't you, Bruce?" the Other said, finished his thought.

"What? Why?" That revelation seemed to surprise Anyssa, as it clearly not the answer she was expecting.

The Other looked at Bruce, its earlier smirk becoming a cocky grin. The bastard was enjoying laying all his secrets out for her to see. "Do you want to answer or should I?" the Other asked, voice heavy with amusement. At the moment if he had thought it would shut the Other up, Bruce may have risked the damage and knocked that grin off its face.

8—

'If the look Batman gave the other Batman could kill, there would be a smoking crater where the new masked man stood,' Anyssa thought as she gazed back and forth between the two. The other Batman, which she decided to call B2, continued to grin, waiting for an answer. An answer Anyssa doubted was coming, especially given Batman's previous secrecy. In spite of everything that point to it, Batman hasn't told other League members his speculation, which concerned them all. It was highly doubtful he would explain something as personal as his own demons. 'This could prove more difficult,' she thought as a frown crossed her lips.

She glanced at B2. He just stood there, rarely interacting with them, observing them, and waiting for the appropriate time to act. Then, a thought struck her. 'Maybe that was why he was here, to say the truths that Batman refuses to,' she concluded. After all, Batman's concerns were ones that shouldn't be handled alone, despite his best efforts, but this hatred was something more personal, kept close to the vest and never shared. Perhaps B2's presence could shed a little light on the Batman, but Anyssa had a feeling that much more would still be shrouded in darkness.

"Why do you hate him, Batman?" she asked again, hoping he would answer this time. The silence following made Anyssa think nothing was forthcoming, then...

"He betrayed the mission."

'Mission?' "What mission?" she asked, unsure of what he meant.

"The mission to bring the criminals to justice, so that another child won't have their parents taken from them. The mission to not enforce his own justice on the guilty. He betrayed that," Batman explained. Anyssa was caught off-guard by the sheer passion in that decree. Before she could ask more about it, B2 decided to share his opinion.

"Tsk, tsk," B2 said, shaking his head. "So close, so close," he began walking closer to them.

The sound of something creaking down and to her left made her turn her head. The creaking was the sound of gloved fingers balling into a tight fist. Anyssa looked to his face to see the emotionless mask back in place, the previous fury hidden. 'Well, mostly,' she thought glancing back towards the fisted glove. Though she couldn't see what he was feeling, she could certainly feel a lot of emotions coming from him. Most were emotions she expected: anger, frustration, annoyance, with hate being at the top, but something smaller hid underneath them. She dug a little deeper and what she found confused her most.

Shame. Shame linked directly to hate.

As B2 stopped less than an arm's length from Batman's position, Anyssa continued to hear those creaks. Anyssa quickly grasped his tight fist in her left hand, hoping to convey some support to her companion. B2, still grinning, spoke then, "He hates that I betrayed the mission, but he hates it even more that he was tempted." Anyssa only felt his body shift a second before Batman's left fist punched B2 in the jaw. B2 backed up, still grinning, touching his jaw to rub the soreness away.

Batman tried to go after him again, but Anyssa's tighten grip on his fist and her yell to "Stop!" brought him up short. Still, Batman said nothing. Now, it was Anyssa's turn.

She decided it time they got to the heart of this. "Is what he said the truth?" Batman looked at her as if saying 'How dare you ask that?!' She met his gaze with one of her own. Her brow lifted as if to ask, 'Is it?' He must have seen that she wasn't going to let it go because he just nodded and averted his eyes.

She knew that it took a lot out of him to admit that, but she wasn't going to stop there. "What did he tempt you with?" she asked, feeling that they were at last close to the issue. Again, he remained silent, eyes intent on B2. "Batman!" she shouted to bring his attention back to her. "Please... you need to tell me."

"Why? What could be so significant about it that you have to know about it?" His narrowed eyes once again back to the other Batman.

"I don't know, but holding on to it seems to be what got us here in the first place," she explained. She moved in front of him, blocking his view of B2, and reached for his left hand while raising the right. Bringing both hands close to her, she whispered, "I know that it's hard to reveal something so personal, but I swear that whatever secrets you want to keep will never leave my lips as long as I live. Please... trust me."

She didn't know why she wanted him to trust her. She didn't know why she wanted it so much. Maybe it was the bond making itself known or something else, but as his silence persisted despair started to creep into her. She jumped as he suddenly snatched his hands from her grasped turning his back to her. That one action invoked a sense of disappointment in her. 'Did he really distrust me that much? Is this what it will be like linked to this man?' she thought to herself while hoping against hope that this wouldn't be the case. 'What in the world could be so important?' she wondered. Little did she know that her question was soon to be answered.

"I wasn't tempted by anything. I was tempted to let them finish what they'd started in our world. I was tempted to let him win!" Batman finally said; his voice a deep growl of frustration and guilt. That admission was accompanied by a faint "Finally" that Anyssa heard coming from behind her.

She turned to see B2 standing to his full height and watched his costume change, becoming the splitting image of her Batman. It was finally all starting to make sense. The shame and hatred she'd sensed earlier weren't toward the Justice Lord, but rather at himself. All of this was a rather extreme case of self-loathing. The first dreamscape fed off of his sense of betrayal in his mission; making him relive the reason behind it. The current dreamscape they were residing in brought the subject and cause of the self-loathing to the light. 'It was truly amazing,' she thought. 'All of this spawned from one moment of weakness.'

All she could do was shake her head in astonishment. She reached out with her right hand and touched his left shoulder in a move to get his attention and convey, what she hoped was, some comfort. "You need to stop hating yourself for this."

8—

"How can you say that?" Bruce said, his mind working its way through what she'd said.

She shrugged and said, "Easy." She pointed at the Other. "Look at who your opponent was. Batman. This wasn't the everyday Gotham freaks. This was you." Bruce didn't like the comparison, but decided not to comment on it. Besides, he was curious to see how her mind worked.

His silence must have signified some disbelief because she elaborated. "The Justice Lord knew you; heck if your theory is right, a few years ago he was you. How would you beat an opponent you find yourself to be evenly or unevenly matched against?"

Bruce understood where she was going with this. After all, he had done similar things against adversaries such as Amazo, Clayface, and the Royal Flush Gang. "Simple. Discover your opponent's weakness and use it your advantage," he answered.

She nodded. "And when he found that he couldn't beat you he went for your vulnerabilities. I'm sure it wasn't hard; he knew where to strike."

Her words may have explained it, but they did nothing assuage his feelings on the matter. He said just as much to her. "I know that, but the fact still remains that we both betrayed the mission. That is something I'll have to live with."

"But you're not living with it, you're letting this eat at you and I don't know why. Temptation is a part of being human. The true test is whether you give into it. You didn't submit, so why are you torturing yourself?" She sounded genuinely concerned and curious about it. Perhaps it was his turn to educate her.

"Have you ever done something that you regret?" he asked, looking her squarely in the eyes. She nodded and said, "Of course."

"How did you feel about it afterward?" Her eyes became distant as if focusing on some long-forgotten memory. "I hated myself for doing it, apologetic, but as time went on those feelings faded. At least until something or someone reminds me of it."

"Exactly."

"Huh?" Anyssa said, confused.

"Every night I put on this costume I am reminded of what I did," Bruce explained to the confused woman.

That seemed to clarify his meaning for her because she fired back with "I understand that. There are things that I regret doing, but I don't hate myself for them, at least not anymore." Her dark eyes narrowed in evenly dark suspicion. "You're not letting the hate fade. Why?"

Bruce didn't know why he was revealing so much of himself to her, but he felt that he had to make her understand, to make her understand him, so he explained. "I have to remember, to hold on to it in order to keep it all fresh in my memory. The old adage says, 'Forget the past, be doomed to repeat it' and I refuse to become him." He had to admit to himself that his voice sounded as wary of all of this as he felt. So, it is no surprise that the touch of soft fingertips on his exposed cheek startled him.

'When had she moved?' he wondered. He looked into the face of his companion. The slight lift of her lips told of her wariness also, but her eyes shone so bright with hope, hope for him.

"You will never have to worry about that," she said softly, removing her hand. Intrigued, Bruce motioned for her to continue. "You got something that is truly rare; a glimpse into your own future. You didn't like what you saw, but the best thing about it is you have time to change it. Heck, just by knowing the future you're changing it for yourself."

"And for the others?" he asked.

She gave a sheepish smile and said, "Um, well, that's probably gonna take something on a slightly larger scale." She spaced her forefinger and thumb about a centimeter apart.

He could only stare at her as he listened. Her explanation and innocent gestures made Bruce do something he'd rarely done as Batman.

8—

Anyssa really couldn't believe her eyes or her ears. In fact, what she was witnessing was slightly creepy even if it was a good sign.

The Dark Knight of Gotham was laughing.

It wasn't the type of laughter used to scare or intimidate, but a regular honest-to-goodness laugh. Anyssa didn't know what to make of it. 'Was he laughing at her or something else,' she wondered. She crossed her arms, waiting for him to finish. When he finally did he took a good look at her face. Anyssa realized she must have looked annoyed because he reached out to her left shoulder and said, "You're right."

That caught her off guard. He'd fought her in everything else, why not this? "This is something for a larger scale," he said. Her frown deepened. 'Was that all he got from this?' she thought as she looked into those masked eyes. "And I promise to reflect on what you've said about this rest," he said just as sincerely as he'd said anything to her.

Slowly, the hand lying on her shoulder moved to her cheek. She leaned into the caress, and smiled as the tell-tale click resounded through her mind. 'Time to go, but just one last question...' she mused.

"Before I go, do you mind answering one thing? Just who is the man behind the Bat?" she asked, as she began to feel herself fade from the dreamscape. That enigmatic smile appeared on his face.

"You really want to know who the man is?" At her nod, he continued, "Then you'll have to wake up to meet him."

With that parting shot, all she could do before she vanished was stick her tongue out at him.

Her departure left the men alone.

The Other as Bruce had referred to him changed forms once again. This time he changed into the debonair form of businessman Bruce Wayne. He adjusted his tie, as he got more comfortable in his new and true form. "I think that went well," the Other said, wearing a carefree smile.

Bruce wasn't smiling. "That was a dangerous game to play. What if I hadn't found her to be trustworthy?"

"It was fun. Besides, the only way she'd have found out is if you wanted her to, right, Bruce?" Bruce only stared at the Other, refusing to dignify that question with a response; however as he faded from the dreamscape he couldn't shake the sense of satisfaction.

Now alone, the Other finally said what they really thought. "I like her. I think we're in for some interesting times," he said, smirking as he put his hands in his pockets and walked down the hill away from a fading Arkham.

8—

End of Chapter 7!

Only one chapter left and it's the epilogue! I hope to have it out soon!

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