DISCLAIMERS/NOTES

1. This is a fan fiction based on characters owned by DC Comics. I DO NOT OWN THEM. This is just for fun.

2. As always, I'll point out this was written over a decade ago. Here in the UK, Season 2 of the JL cartoon had yet to air, so Hawkgirl had not been revealed as a spy. And the massive, every-hero-in-the-DCU roster of Unlimited wasn't a factor. My timeline picks up after the Season 1 finale, The Savage Time. All my Wayback Wednesday stories are numbered chronologically, if you get stuck.

3. Things get pretty crazy in this story. There are massive timejumps - often within a chapter - and the final act is the very definition of contrivance. That said, enjoy!

4. Again, sorry about my depiction of Diana. I really treat her like a teenager. Ugh.

5. As noted above, it's at this point things get pretty bloody contrived. Argh - what was I thinking?! You have time, Bruce!


PART 8

"IS HE HERE YET?"

J'onn looked up. Diana was breathing heavily, sweat pouring down her. She looked at him, her face pained and desperate. "I'm sorry," J'onn said. "I called again, but…"

"JUST TELL ME!" Diana interrupted.

J'onn sunk his shoulders. "Superman answered the call. Batman's… not coming."

Diana was flabbergasted. "What? How can he… he… eeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGH!"

Shayera closed her eyes as Diana screamed in agony. "J'onn, how can he not be coming?"

"I don't know," said J'onn. "He didn't give a reason, but he sounded angry."

"He should be!" Shayera shouted. "How can Batman do this?"

"I'm sure he has a good reason…" said J'onn.

"WHAT POSSIBLE REASON COULD HE HAVE FOR NOT BEING HERE?" Shayera yelled. "I tell you, if he doesn't get his butt back here, I'm gonna stick my mace…!"

Shayera was interrupted as Diana let out another loud scream, as her contractions continued. "J'onn… I can't do this…"

"How much longer?" asked Shayera.

J'onn shook his head. "We have a long way to go," he said.

Diana's body shook. Tears were running down her face. "I can't do this without him…" she wept. "I need him…. J'onn… please… call him again… I need him here… I… I… oh no, here comes another one…" She leaned forward, and winced. "EeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGH!"

Diana's screams echoed off the walls. As the pain increased, she clenched her hands hard.

The one Shayera was holding wrapped itself around her own hand. Her eye's widened. "Ow ow ow ow Diana my hand my hand my hand my hand my hand my hand my hand my hand my hand…" Her fingers began to crack.

The contracted faded, and Diana relaxed. Shayera pulled her hand free and held it. "I think it's broken…" she said.

"Let me look," J'onn said. He took Shayera's hand and inspected it. "Yes, it's broken. I'll get you an Instant Cast."

Diana looked over. She was about to apologise, when another contraction began. The pain was unbearable, magnified by the man she loved not being there.

She prayed he would change his mind and be to her side, where she needed him…

/

It had been hours since J'onn had called. But to Batman, it might as well have been minutes.

He stood at the top of a sandy hill, looking at the sky. How could this have happened? Diana was still two months away from the due date. Was the breeding of Human and Amazon DNA that different to cause such a premature labour?

He sighed. He wondered why he was there, in the desert, instead of by his wife's side, where he was needed, and where he desperately wanted to be. But he was needed here: without him, defeating Ra's Al Ghul would be more difficult for the other heroes. No one knew Ra's as well as him. And he was the best one to figure out Ra's technology, and discover how he was causing the earthquakes that were happening worldwide.

He had spent the last couple of hours going over strategy with the rest of the heroes. He had remained professional and unemotional, but inside he was anything but. All he could think about was Diana. The thought of her in pain, and he not being able to help her through it, was unbearable. But Lantern was right. He was needed here. This was more important.

He looked down at the communicator in his hand. He stared at it, unsure whether to turn it on or not. Knowing Diana's progress might only make him feel worse. He would not be able to do anything. He had to remain here. He had to lead the army when they attacked Ra's' forces. He HAD to.

"Penny for your thoughts."

Batman turned his head to see Nightwing standing a few feet away. "What is it?" he asked. Despite his best efforts, his tone was uneven.

"What are you doing here?" Nightwing asked.

Batman remained silent.

Nightwing walked upto him. "Look Bruce, you know you shouldn't be here. I know you shouldn't be here. We all know you shouldn't be here. So why are you here?"

Batman looked away. "You should get some rest. It'll be dawn in a couple of hours."

Nightwing sighed. "Barbara was right. We can do this without you. I've had experience with Ra's. You've told me all about him. And it's not exactly like we have a bunch of amateurs with us. You don't need to be here."

"I can't put my own personal feelings before the good of the world," Batman said. "I never have, and I shouldn't start now."

"You never had a reason to before," said Nightwing. "But things change. You have a wife now. You're going to have children. You have new responsibilities. Like it or not, you have other things in your life now apart from Batman. And it's time you proved that. Go to your wife. She needs you. We don't."

Batman kept his gaze at the sky. "Get some rest. We strike first thing."

Nightwing was silent, then sighed, shaking his head. He then walked away and rejoined the others.

Batman looked at the communicator again. He silently turned it on and held it infront of him. There was a light as the link was made. "J'onn, it's Batman."

Batman could immediately hear Diana screaming in the background. J'onn's voice failed to cover it. "Batman, I…"

"We're engaging at dawn," Batman interrupted. "I'll keep you updated on our progress."

There was silence, before J'onn eventually spoke. "Fine," he said simply.

Batman's head sunk. "J'onn… how… ?" His voice trailed.

"It is as I feared," said J'onn. "Things aren't going well. She's been in labour for five hours, but has only progressed to six inches. She's taking a dangerously long time. All the painkillers I've given her have been inadequate. She's in agony. And there's nothing I can do. We just have to wait."

Diana's voice screamed from the background. "BRUCE, PLEASE, I NEED YOU! PLEASE! I CAN'T… CAN'T… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGH!"

Batman tried to speak, but his vocal cords refused to work. Instead, he quickly turned off the communicator and put it down.

He stared at the sky.

He then did something he had never done before.

Unable to support his weight, his legs buckled, and he fell to his knees.

He stared at the ground.

He was going to lose her…

/

Ra's Al Ghul sat in the chair, watching the sun rise. He loved that. The natural beauty of the world; the simple, everyday things that the Earth did. He loved everything about the planet. The sun. The air. The plants. The serenity of the natural order.

And it was being destroyed by Man.

That was why he was causing earthquakes the world over. He was purifying the planet, ridding it of the decease that was Mankind. Mankind was killing the earth, so he would kill Mankind before it could finish the job.

Once enough quakes had destroyed enough of the civilised world, he would be the only person capable of saving it. He would rise in power, slowly set his own laws and his own way. He would give the Earth a second chance.

He heard a chime as someone rang the bell to his room. He turned around and faced the door. "Enter," he said.

The door slowly opened, and one of his servants entered cautiously. "My Master," he said. "I have some distressing news."

Ra's tilted his head. "What?"

"We are under attack, Master," the servant said. "An army is moving across the desert. It has already taken out first two lines of defence."

"I see." Ra's went over to a desk where several monitors were above on the wall. He pressed a few buttons and all the monitors came on. He looked at the ones directed at the desert, and saw the army. He instantly recognised all of them. They were the so-called world's greatest heroes.

But he immediately noticed that the Detective was not with them. There was no way they could have made it to his headquarters without him. This attack was just a diversion. The Detective was elsewhere, doing the real damage.

"Get every one of our soldiers to hold off those people as long as possible," he said. "Prepare my toxin, and have every camera in the underground levels turned off."

The servant looked surprised. "Turned off, Master… ?"

"Yes," Ra's said. "Now leave."

The servant bowed. "Yes, Master." He then left the room.

Ra's turned back to the window. He knew this time would come.

It was time for he and the Detective to have their last duel…

TO BE CONTINUED