A/N: Enjoy!
Chapter Ten - Sense Has No Bearing On The Situation
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring!
Most unwillingly, Rachael Grayson began a long, sleepy uphill struggle toward consciousness. "Urgh...."
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring!
She groped around on the nightstand for her cell phone, her hand meeting nothing but the empty wooden surface. "I swear to God if that's Bella..."
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring!
"Ben! Ben!"
"Mmmmm?"
"Where's the hell's my phone?"
"...jeans pocket?"
"Where the hell are my jeans?"
"...dunno..."
Rachael whapped the man beside her on the chest lightly. "Well you were the one taking them off last night!"
Ben thought for a second. "...kitchen sink."
Brrrrrrrrrrrrring! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring!
She got out of bed and sprinted through the apartment to the kitchen, then fumbled around in her jeans pocket to locate her phone. The rings sounded as though they were getting more desperate with each one.
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring! Brrrrrrrrrrrrr-
"Grayson."
"Twenty seven seconds response time? Unacceptable."
Rachael rolled her eyes. "It's the middle of the day, Bella."
"The Joker wouldn't care what time it was," Batwoman shot back.
"If it was an emergency you would have used my com-link," Rachael pointed out. "Now, any particular reason you're phoning me on my vacation at eight am?!"
"Yeah. We're going shopping."
"Shopping?"
"Ball. Tomorrow night."
"Yeah, I know when the ball is, Bella-"
"Great. You have nine minutes to get dressed."
"But-"
"It's a ball, you need a dress," Bella said as if her surrogate-daughter were stupid.
"I have a dress," Rachael replied.
"Are you passing on Versace?"
There was a pause. "Versace?"
"Didn't think so. We'll be there in seven minutes." There was the click of a dial tone.
Rachael sighed. She really didn't want Bella to be right - yeah, sometimes it was good to have an insanely rich parent, but that didn't mean she liked accepting handouts. But... She moved back into the bedroom and opened the wardrobe door. Her dress was one she'd worn before - it was short, black and fitted. It looked good, it was functional. It wasn't Versace.
"Better have a shower then..." she sighed.
Bella had trained her well; within seven point three minutes, Rachael was out of the shower, dressed and kissing Ben goodbye. Ben was doing his best to make her forget about Versace. She giggled. "Ben...I have to go..."
"Uhuh..."
"Ben..."
The front door bell rang. She gave him one last peck, and moved toward the front door, opening it. On the other side, leaning up against the doorjamb and the picture of the idle rich was Bella. She was dressed impeccably in a designer outfit that Rachael was sure cost more than she made in a year.
"Ready?"
"Yes. Come on, Diana and Shayera are in the car."
"Diana and- Oh, right, you mean Wonder Wom-" She cut off as the Batglare made an appearance. "Diana and Shayera, got it."
"How's Ben?" Bella asked as they walked down to the elevator.
"Fine. Moaning that he needs a DAB radio instead of an analogue one. Or...something like that."
Bella nodded, then smirked. "I'll see what I can do."
Ben didn't live in the worst area of Gotham, but he didn't live in the type of area to bring a Bentley into either. Of course this was Bella Wayne, so the Bentley was obligatory. As was the BW1 numberplate. The two women got into the spacious back and settled themselves in. Rachael found herself confronted with one woman who frankly looked like an angel and another who was the most beautiful woman in all creation.
"Diana, Shayera, this is Rachael Grayson - Nightwing."
They shook hands with friendly smiles. "It's wonderful to meet you, Rachael," Diana said.
She smiled. "Likewise."
"Still seems awfully early to be up," Shayera commented, sipping at a Starbucks cup.
"Well Versace had a certain appeal, even at eight am," she commented dryly.
"Uh, speaking of, Bella," Shayera began. "How...?" She flapped her wings for emphasis.
Bella opened her purse and pulled out what looked like an ordinary metal bracelet, if a little chunky. She beckoned, and fixed it around Shayera's wrist when she extended it. It glowed blue briefly and then faded. Shayera didn't feel anything. "And what was that supposed-"
"Great Hera!"
"What?!" she exclaimed, turning to Diana.
"Shayera- your wings!"
"What about them?" she asked, twisting around to look at them- They weren't there. Fighting panic, she reached over her shoulder, and relaxed when her fingers met feathers. There, but invisible. She blinked, then turned to Bella. "What did you do?"
"It's a device I created using technology from Damien's jet, to enable Hro to go out in public without being recognised as a Thangarian. There's still a lot of resentment left over from the invasion."
Shayera nodded. "Yeah. Our world too." She hardly went out in public anymore, but felt like she deserved whatever she got if she did. Still...it was a lonely way to live, cut off from the world.
"How does it work?" Diana asked. "I can't imagine letting Bruce take my plane apart."
Bella grinned. "No, it did take quite a bit of...persuasion." She sat forward and sobered. "In basic terms it generates low-level kinetic energy, enough to enable your wings to vibrate faster than the visible spectrum."
The others looked at one another. "...that was basic?"
"It's making your wings move slightly, but too fast to see. Like moving your hand in front of your face as fast as you can; temporarily it almost seems to disappear. Same principle, only the movement is faster."
"So they're still there?"
"Yes. But, like Diana's jet, they're invisible. Just be careful to choose a backless dress when we get to the store," she warned. She moved toward the front of the car and tapped the window. "Winifred, did you remember the-"
"In the cabinet next to the drinks, Mistress Bella."
"Thank you."
She opened it, and pulled out a packet of saltines. Diana raised an eyebrow. Eating dry crackers didn't really appeal to her, but then there was no accounting for taste. It apparently meant something else to Rachael, since she gasped. "Bella, are you-"
The car slowed before she could complete the question. "We're here, ladies."
They got out into the part of Gotham that definitely fitted the image of the Bentley. All the shops carried famous names, and all the cars cost in excess of fifty grand easy. The doorman of Versace opened the door with a smile and a nod. "Good to see you again, Mrs Wayne."
Bella rewarded him with a dazzling grin, then led the others inside. They were greeted by an Italian man, also grinning broadly. "Ciao, Bella!"
"Donatello!"
They embraced, air-kissing and chatting in Italian for a few moments before he pulled away. "Bella, you must introduce me to your divine companions."
"Well you and Rachael have met, but this is Diana and Shayera."
Being a fashion designer, Donatello couldn't help but look twice at Diana - in fact he basically bypassed Shayera altogether. She was a beautiful woman, but she didn't have a figure that could put every supermodel on Earth to shame. Diana didn't really mind all that much - it wasn't the same perusal of her body that a lot of men gave her. She felt more as though he pictured her as a particularly well-crafted frame on which to hang clothes.
Bella allowed him about two minutes of fawning over Diana before she interrupted. "Don't you think this colour would look fabulous on you, Diana?" she said loudly.
Grateful to her, Diana detached herself from Donatello and went over to Bella. She was smirking slightly - which probably had something to do with the vomit-orange colour of the dress. Still, it had done its job; Donatello had now switched his attention onto Shayera.
---
"So..." Flash began. "How long are they likely to be, anyway?" He still sounded disappointed about not being able to go with the girls. Though no one knew why he expected to be allowed to watch model-esque women try on various clothes.
Damien shrugged. "You know as much as I do, Flash."
"Well how long was Bella gone on her last shopping trip?"
"Three days."
"Three days?"
"We were in Paris," he said, sounding unconcerned.
"Well what are we supposed to wear?" Wally asked. "It's not like I brought a tux with me."
"I have plenty; you're borrowing."
"Diana and Shayera didn't have to borrow," Wally complained quietly. He shut up after receiving five glares.
The doorbell rang, and Flash disappeared momentarily to answer it.
A few moments later, a man wearing an echo of the blue suit that Amanda Waller always did entered with the Speedster. "Apparently I'm a little early for the party," he said.
Damien stepped closer. "Waller. What do you want?"
He looked over Damien's shoulder at the others with a raised eyebrow. "Maybe we should discuss this somewhere more private?"
"Anything you have to say to me you can say in front of them," Damien replied, folding his arms.
"Where's your wife?" Waller sneered.
Damien matched his scorn. "Shopping."
Waller nodded, as if he'd expected nothing less, then motioned with his head at the others. "So you found yourselves a replacement League?"
"We're on loan," Clark said, also standing up and echoing Damien's stance.
"Well you didn't hang around."
Damien raised an eyebrow. "Did you expect us to?"
"I suppose I would have been disappointed if you had."
The Amazon took a step forward. "Waller. What. Do. You. Want?"
Waller produced an A4 photograph and handed it to him. "The Hubble took this at 2:56 this morning. Look at the lower left hand corner. See anything?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary." He passed the photo to Bruce, who confirmed that there was nothing there to warrant closer inspection.
Waller pulled out another photo, an enlargement of the first. This time, one star was not as it seemed. It was emerald green.
"Lantern?" Damien questioned, looking at Waller.
He nodded. "We think so. She must have acquired a new ring from somewhere, and the League have just entered our galaxy. They're about four days away."
"We'll deal with it," Damien said, handing the photo to Bruce and then re-folding his massive arms. "There's the door."
Waller smirked, but left, Wally following to make sure that he didn't stop along the way. There was no way he could have known where the Cave was, but still, there was no point in taking chances. It was Waller, after all.
Once he was gone, Damien turned to John. "Could she have gotten another one?"
John shrugged. "It's possible. There's no way she would have gotten it legitimately, but she could have stolen it from another Green Lantern."
"So Kyra's back up to full strength..."
"No," John continued. "The rings are tailored to each wielder. If it is another Lantern's ring, then it'll work, but not well."
Damien nodded thoughtfully. "Alright. It still complicates things."
"What's the plan, anyway?" Clark asked.
"It's still evolving," Damien answered. "But since we have yet to uncover what triggered the shift in their behaviour...it's hard to know where to start."
"We need Luthor to talk," Bruce said.
"She's on the guestlist for tomorrow evening," the prince said. "So we'll see if we can get anything out of her then; if not then it's back to breaking into LexCorp and seeing what we can dig up."
Bruce nodded - it seemed like a very rough, unrefined plan, but Damien was right; there was no way they could plan how to stop the League until they knew exactly what they were dealing with. "And if worse comes to worst?"
"Then we do what we have to," Damien replied.
---
Diana hated to admit it...but this was fun. She hadn't expected it to be, but like partying with Audrey, it was surprisingly enjoyable. They'd been in Versace for two hours so far, and she'd narrowed it down to a shortlist of six gowns. Everyone else had their dresses: Shayera a pale gold dress that she was certain was going to strip the breath from John's lungs; Rachael in dark blue, Bella in a forest-green silk creation.
Diana couldn't decide. It wasn't like her - she was a very decisive woman, and here she was, unable to make a decision. But they were all so beautiful.
"Ok," Shayera said, getting up from the plush sofa and moving over to the six dresses she had. "Right: no, no, no and no."
Diana blinked. "What? Why not them?"
She held up the first one. "This one is baby pink," she pointed out. "This one looks like a meringue." That one joined the first. "This one is too similar to mine - and you'd make it look better than I would," she smirked. "And this one...frankly I think you'd be falling out of it," she finished, gesturing to Diana's chest.
Diana blinked, then looked down at her own cleavage. Shayera may have a point. "Well then that only leaves these two."
Of the two left, one was scarlet; the other a rich, deep purple. And Diana could picture herself in both of them. She could picture herself, if she was honest, being in both of them and watching with supreme satisfaction as Bruce's jaw dropped.
Rachael put her hand up. "I vote for purple."
Bella nodded. "Agreed."
Diana pursed her lips. "I'll try it on again."
A few minutes later, she drew back the curtain from the dressing room, dressed in the gown. Rachael and Shayera were both grinning widely, Bella was looking slightly pained.
"Are you sure about this?" Diana asked, twirling a bit to look at the back. "It's a little…"
"Trust me, Diana, you look beautiful," Rachel soothed. "And you-know-who will definitely love it." She obviously assumed that since Bella and Damien were together, Diana and Bruce would be too.
Diana coloured slightly, but didn't say anything to refute the idea that she had been hoping Bruce would like it. "Do you think so?"
Bella averted her gaze. "Diana, could you go change now? I'm having trouble keeping my eyes off you."
---
Once the dresses and jewellery was bought, they dropped Rachael back off at Ben's and then carried on back to the manor, laden with shopping bags. The house was apparently empty, with no sign of the men. "They must be in the Cave," Bella assumed.
"I doubt it," Shayera said, indicated the garage. Bella checked; it was almost empty of supercars.
Bella's mouth fell open. "They took my Ascari?!"
Winifred straightened, her arms full of shoe boxes. "And the Aston Martin, and the Maserati, Mistress Bella."
"I'm going to kill him," she growled. She spun around and headed back into the house, walking to the library and then entering the Cave. Smirking at each other, Shayera and Diana followed. They found Batwoman sitting at the computer, accessing the trackers she'd planted in her cars.
"So where are they?" Shayera asked.
"Freeway," Bella said. "Damien, Clark, Wally and John."
"Where's Bruce?" Diana frowned.
"Behind you," Bella said without looking around.
Diana turned around, knowing what she'd see but jumping anyway when Bruce emerged from the shadows. She shot him an annoyed look, which he returned with a smirk. "Princess." He moved past her and to the computers, handing something to Bella. "Waller turned up after you'd left."
"Waller? What did he want?"
"To give us this. The Founders have entered the Milky Way. They'll be back to Earth in four days."
She nodded. "Did John have any insights into how Kyra got another ring?"
"He assumed it was stolen."
"How will you prevent them from causing more destruction when they arrive?" Diana asked.
"Assuming Superwoman is still in charge...it shouldn't be too difficult. I have a feeling I'm going to be target number one on her list."
"Why?"
"One: I have the largest stock of Kryptonite anywhere in the Western hemisphere, possibly the world, and two: I picked at her other weak spot."
"You mean the emotional one?" Bruce asked.
She nodded. "Yeah. I've never seen her so angry."
Bruce nodded. It wasn't often he did it, but sometimes the only way to get Clark to back off was to begin reminding him of the fact that he and Lois had been together once. From the look on her face, Bella didn't like doing it anymore than he did.
"So now what?" Shayera asked.
"I had hoped to go over the plan for tonight - it's only a few hours until midnight on the island where Zatan stored Excalibur. But since certain teammates have seen fit to go on a little drag-race, it'll have to wait." She turned back to the computer with a very pissed off air.
"I take it you got your gowns?" Bruce asked Diana.
She nodded. "Yes. I never realised how much fun shopping could be." She headed over toward where the giant penny was. He followed her over. "Bruce?" she asked.
"Yes?"
"Why can't we-"
"They're back," Shayera suddenly announced, looking at one of the screens.
Whatever it was Diana was going to say would have to wait, and he saw a flicker of annoyance cross her face before she turned to go up the stairs. He could guess though. 'Bruce, why can't we make this easy?' 'Bruce, why can't we just admit to ourselves how we feel about one another?' 'Bruce, why can't we just have five minutes to talk without getting interrupted?' There were too many questions that could start with 'Bruce, why can't we-?'
A few minutes later, after a serious dressing-down from Bella on the dangers of borrowing her Ascari without permission, the eight heroes were in the drawing room again, eating the club sandwiches that Winifred had made. "Now, we only have a few hours until the portal to the pocket dimension opens, so we have to come up with a plan," Bella said. "Once we remove the sword, Le Fay should be able to sense it, and he'll come straight to us. We need to be ready."
"How?" Wally asked. "None of us are magic users. If we had Zatanna maybe, but we don't."
"True, but Diana and I are both strong against magic," Damien said. "And if worse comes to worst..."
"Magic always has a price," Bruce finished.
Bella nodded. "As long as he doesn't demand Excalibur, we should be able to negotiate."
"And if he does get the sword?" Clark asked.
"If it looks like he will, you, Damien or Diana need to destroy it."
He nodded. "Shouldn't be hard."
"Where is it anyway?" John asked.
"An uninhabited island on the Tropic of Capricorn," Bella said.
"How do you know it's stayed uninhabited?" Shayera asked.
"Zatan placed an enchantment on the island; unless you know where it is, you can't find it."
"How Pirates of the Caribbean," Wally commented.
He was ignored. "We have the Batwing and my jet," Damien said, "but only six of us can fit into them."
"That's ok," Flash said. "Supes and I can follow you, right, big guy?"
Clark nodded. "I don't see why not."
"In that case we should leave in about four hours," Bella said. "The portal will open at sunset. I need to do a quick systems check of both planes before we leave." She looked at Bruce and raised an eyebrow in question. He nodded.
Apparently taking that as the end of the briefing, Shayera took a leaf out of Diana's book - she stood up and looked at John. "We need to talk."
He looked surprised. "Wh-"
The Thanagarian didn't wait for his response, and only grabbed his hand and dragged him from the room. Bruce found himself silently wishing Lantern luck. He left the room a few seconds later with Bella, heading down to the Cave. Wally and Damien left soon after.
Still in the drawing room, Diana sighed, resting her face in her palms. "Hey," Clark said gently, putting his hand on her back. "You ok?"
Her voice was muffled through her hands. "No."
His arms encircled her shoulders, and his expression was unsmiling, though kind, when she looked at him. "It's Bruce, isn't it?"
She nodded, then relaxed as her best friend hugged her. "Wally once told me that women are viewed as complicated in Man's World. I have never met a woman who is half as complicated as Bruce is."
He chuckled. "That's probably true." They were quiet for a bit, but after a moment he spoke again. "Diana...it's probably none of my business, but...has anything...you know?"
"Happened between us?" she asked. "...that's not an easy question to answer. In the conventional sense, no. We've never been on a date, we've only ever kissed once-"
"What?" he exclaimed. "When was this?"
"During the Thanagarian invasion, it was a ruse to stop us being arrested," she said vaguely. "It wasn't real. But he has told me that he doesn't want me."
"He said that?"
"Well...no, but yes at the same time."
"That doesn't make sense," he commented.
"It's Bruce," she said simply. "Sense has no bearing on the situation. The point is, with his words he denies that he has feelings for me, but with his deeds...there are times when he looks at me, and I feel like he could love me. Like he does."
Clark smiled and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "I've known Bruce for a long time. And he does."
"Really?"
"Really. He might not know it himself yet. But he does."
She felt a wave of gratitude towards Clark, and embraced him tightly, in a hug that could have broken ribs with anyone else. "Thank you."
She made to stand up, but he kept hold of her hand for a moment. "That said, Diana, don't lighten up. He needs to know how close he is to losing you."
She nodded. "Maybe."
"Definitely."
---
The systems check didn't take long; only about half an hour running various diagnostic scans and moving through a few simulations before both jets were ready. Bella was checking Damien's jet, since she was more familiar with the technology than he was. Still, the checks on the Batwing didn't take long, and he watched her work for a while, marvelling at the level of sophistication in the jet. When they got back to their world, he'd have to take a closer look at Diana's plane.
"Right," she finally said. "It's done." She looked at the clock. "We have another three hours before we have to leave."
He nodded and headed toward the stairs. "Bruce," Bella called from behind him. He turned, and she gestured with her head to the other end of the Cave. "Spar?"
---
Five minutes later, a scarlet blur flashed into the Cave as Wally looked around for the two Bats. He stopped at the exercise equipment, and stared, bug-eyed through the window into the training room.
Less than three seconds later, he was back in the drawing room, where Diana and Shayera were at opposite ends of the room to Clark, John and Damien. "Batman's fighting Batwoman!" he blurted.
There was silence and stillness for about half a second, and then there was a scramble for the door. It was a good job Diana could fly, since otherwise she would have broken a leg falling off the stairs when Shayera accidentally shoved her off them. She didn't waste time being annoyed - the opportunity was too good to waste. A few moments later, they were all standing by the observation window of the training room.
There was silence for ten seconds as they all watched the mesmerising dance of two combat masters in action. Then John spoke.
"Twenty bucks says Batwoman kicks Batman's ass."
Diana and Shayera exchanged a smirk. "Fifty."
---
A/N: Sorry this took me so long! Review please!