Been a long time. *sighs*
No beta so they're my mistakes. Justice League, Batman and Wonder Woman owned by DC.
Artemis, goddess of the hunt, paced the great hall lost in thought about what she could do. She had been considering for some time the idea of adopting a guise and going into the mortal world as some of the others had done. It was forbidden to interfere directly with the affairs of the mortals, especially by using their powers, yet others had found ways to spend time in the mortal world and be happy.
Besides, she was bored.
She just didn't know what to do. For example, what use was there in the mortal world nowadays for a huntress such as her? As goddess of childbirth she could become a doctor, yet medicine was the realm of her brother and she had no interest in it.
"It is a good thing the floor is made of marble, sister," said a mirthful voice from behind her. She turned around to find Apollo watching her with a smile on his flawless face. "Otherwise you would have worn a path in it by now."
Artemis ignored her twin and continued her pacing and introspection.
"You know, sister," continued Apollo, his voice light with amusement, "there are many things in the mortal realm that you could do."
She whirled around, her dark locks flying around as though they were the snakes upon Medusa's head, and glared at her brother. How did he know?
Apollo laughed as he moved over to sit upon an arrangement of cushions upon the floor. Once settled he looked to his sister and smiled. "I know you better than most, sister." He leaned back and settled into a more comfortable position and said, "I have seen the restlessness in you for some time now."
Artemis continued to look angrily at her brother, but after a few moments her face softened. He was right, and arguing with her twin when he was right was just a way for her to get a headache.
Apollo smiled in victory, but then sighed and stared sympathetically at her. "There are many things that you could do in the mortal world, Artemis. In fact…" He paused in thought, nodded after a moment and looked at her wide-eyed and with a smile to match. "I have it, sister," he exclaimed. "Gotham!" He sat up straighter upon his cushy throne and repeated, "Gotham. Go to Gotham and you will find that which you seek." He nodded again, this time with the confidence in knowing he'd had a brilliant idea and had pointed his sister in the right direction. He leaned back and closed his eyes, then said, "Trust me."
Artemis opened her mouth to speak, but held her tongue knowing that Apollo knew more about the mortal world than she did. And she did trust him. She nodded, though her nod held none of the confidence of her twin bother's from a moment ago and disappeared from the great hall…
… and reappeared upon a rooftop in Gotham. The sun had just dipped below the horizon, the dusk sky adding to the city's natural gloominess. Distant sirens immediately assailed her divine ears causing her to tense and reach to her hip to retrieve her bow which had magically appeared. She moved to the edge of the building and began to take stock of the area, but she barely had enough time to register her dreary surroundings when a sharp metal pronged device flew by within a hair's breadth of her head and drove itself deep into the concrete of the next building. For a brief moment she thought she had been noticed and was under assault. However, a moment later the Knight of Gotham sailed through the early night sky within inches of her, sparing her only the most cursory of glances. She watched with furrowed brow as the Knight dropped from the sky into the empty space between the building upon whose rooftop she stood and the next building. He landed upon the ground as a feather would have, without making a sound, behind a man bigger than Heracles himself. She watched as the Knight surprised and attacked the brute who, despite his enormous size, she hadn't even noticed was there below her. He landed blow after blow until the man fell, and she was surprised that the Knight had received not even a glancing blow in return. Batman put some sort of restraints on the man that kept his massive arms immobilized behind him, and then stepped a few paces farther into the passageway. He was out of sight for a few moments, but then she heard something that set her blood to boil in anger even as her heart spasmed in compassion: the whimper of a young girl.
Without a thought she disappeared from the roof top and materialized in the alley not far from the Knight. There he was, knelt down upon one knee with his left hand upon the right shoulder of a little girl. Tears streamed downward from the child's eyes, dull blue eyes that Artemis could tell were usually bright and full of life. The child could not have been more than ten or eleven mortal years old, with shoulder length blond hair and a slender build. One of the child's shoes was missing and the left sleeve her white Gotham Knights hockey jersey had nearly been torn from the child's arm at her shoulder. The child was staring at her unconscious, would-be attacker and shivering, her breathing so shallow it surprised Artemis that she hadn't yet passed out from taking in so little air.
"It's okay," said a soft voice, a voice so gentle and reassuring that Artemis looked around to see where it was coming from. It wasn't until it was followed by, "He's not going to hurt you, I promise," that she realized the words were being spoken by the Knight himself.
Her jaw slackened to hang slightly ajar in astonishment as the little one finally tore her gaze from the monster lying motionless on the ground and looked to the face of Batman. It shook her out of her stupor and without warning she flung herself at the Knight, throwing her young arms around his neck in a tight embrace. The Knight wrapped his arms around her in return and continued to whisper words of comfort as the child finally broke down and cried. For long minutes the child let loose the terrible fright and pain of the experience into the shoulder and neck of the mortal. Yet he never flinched, nor eased his hold of her, nor faltered in verbally reassuring the child that the danger had passed.
Artemis watched the scene before her and marveled at the Knight. One moment he was a relentless warrior fearlessly attacking a man larger than him, yet the next moment he was a compassionate man consoling an innocent that needed comfort.
Sirens approached, getting louder and louder as they came nearer to the mouth the alley. Artemis looked back and could see red and blue lights flickering off the far building. She turned back to find that Batman had lifted the little girl up into his arms and had begun walking towards her. He was careful to keep the unconscious monster that still lay upon the dirty pavement out of the child's sight as they moved by him. He paused only briefly as he walked past her, giving her a narrow eyed glare that sent a shiver down her back, a feeling she'd not felt in a very long time.
She took a deep breath and vanished from the alley, taking up position upon the roof top that she'd been upon when she'd arrived in Gotham. She moved towards the edge of the roof, replacing her bow upon her hip as she walked. When she reached the edge she leaned down to place her flawless hands upon the raised ledge and watched the scene below. Batman spoke to mortal men in blue uniforms who then rushed into the alley, reappearing moments later dragging the groggy brute to one of their metal chariots. Once again, Batman turned so that the little one he still held protectively in his arms could not see or could not be seen by the man. As the chariot carrying the monster left another one, this one without lights and markings different than the other chariots, came. It stopped next to the Knight and a woman got out of the chariot. Words were exchanged between her and the Knight, after which the Knight spoke to the little girl. The girl nodded, and then the Knight passed the child over to the woman. The woman smiled at the child and spoke to her, and whatever the woman had said worked as the child smiled in return and hugged the woman.
Batman nodded to the woman, then reached beneath his cape. When his arm reappeared a few heartbeats later, a device was in his hand and he pointed it upward. A soft thud and short whine later and the Knight was flying into the darkening skies.
Artemis had followed the Knight's path into the sky, but now even her godly eyes could not find a trace of him so she turned her attention back to the ground. The woman who had taken the child had put the girl into the back of her chariot and was talking to one of the uniformed mortals. After a few moments, she got into her chariot and left the area.
Artemis straightened up and thought about what to do next. She had so many questions, yet she had no one to ask them to. Or did she?
A smile formed upon her perfect lips as she waved her flawless right hand in front of her, causing a flash of light and the appearance of the one she trusted to help her most in this particular situation.
Diana crouched into a defensive stance as she realized she'd been abducted from her training session, but once she realized who it was that had summoned her and now stood before her, she slowly dropped to one knee and bowed her head in respect.
"Rise, Diana of Themyscira," said Artemis with a smile. As Diana stood up Artemis stepped towards her and said, "I'm sorry for taking you away from your training, but I have a question."
Keeping her confusion in check, Diana cleared her throat and gave her goddess a smile. "Of course, my lady," she replied with another bow of her head.
Artemis explained the situation to Diana exactly as it had unfolded, and she didn't need to be a goddess to see the emotions of anger, pride and love that had passed upon the Amazon's face as she'd listened to the Knight's actions. After she finished telling the story, Artemis paused and her head tilted in curiosity. "Who is that woman?"
Diana nodded and replied with, "She is a social worker, my lady."
Artemis breathed deeply, and repeated in a satisfied voice, "Social worker."
Batman and Wonder Woman stood by as the social worker that had arrived approached three girls. The girls, ranging in age from eight to twelve, had just been rescued from a child slavery ring by the two Leaguers. The social worker, a tall woman with dark, curly hair, glasses and a beauty that could have been that of a goddess, smiled at the children and spoke to them in the softest of voices. The children nodded, and moments later they were all seated safely in the back seat of the social worker's car. The social worker opened her door and put her right leg in and then paused. She looked to where Batman and Wonder Woman stood and gave them a fleeting smile and a quick nod before getting the rest of the way into the car.
As the car backed up and then started moving forward down the road, Diana turned to give Batman a smile. "She's doing a pretty good job, isn't she?"
Batman looked to Diana then turned his gaze to follow the car as it drove out of sight. His right arm move upward to point his grapple gun into the sky. "Not bad, Princess," he said before firing the grapple. He repeated a little more softly, "Not bad," before activating the grapple and flying upward.
Diana laughed, and with a smile upon her face rose up into the sky to follow the man she loved home.
