Disclaimer: I don't anything.
Thanks to the magnificent KN the Third. Thanks for reading over this chapter multiple times. I'm sure it was torturous considering all the BCBW (yup, I brought it out!). :D A special thanks to Hepburn, as well, for making sure I didn't do anything criminal in this chapter.
Until Somebody Loses
Chapter XI:
In Dust and Ashes
Three days had passed since Diana's tête-à-tête with Bruce in the training room. She hadn't seen him since then, but in the interim, she had been thinking about how she would break her news to him. The inspiration had not yet struck, and Diana had fallen asleep searching for it.
She was awoken around one in the morning with an urgent message from J'onn. Pulling on her uniform as quickly as possible, she met Flash and Green Lantern in the hallway as they all rushed to reach the Transportation Room.
They were met by the Martian Manhunter, whose mouth was set in a grim line. "There has been a fire in Gotham, and the firefighters are struggling to contain it. Your job is to help put it out and evacuate the survivors." He solemnly added, "If there are any."
The three heroes nodded their heads in understanding and prepared to go to Gotham. As Diana walked toward the platform, J'onn's voice resounded in her head.
Forgive the intrusion, but the building in question was the orphanage you visited with Bruce Wayne.
Why are you telling me this, J'onn?
I know that you are aware of Batman's identity. It doesn't look as if there are any survivors.
And you want me to talk to him?
What you do with this information is up to you, but I sense his soul is in great turmoil.
Diana tried not to let J'onn see her reaction to this information, but he saw right through her.
I truly hope that you succeed in helping Bruce. More than anyone, he could use some light in his life.
Diana gave her friend a thankful and hopeful look as she joined the others on the platform.
They materialized fifty feet away from the fire, but even from there Diana could feel the heat on her skin. As they quickly took in the situation, they heard a crash and watched as a large black object fell to the ground.
Batman had burst through one of the windows, carrying something in his arms. He yelled at one of the emergency workers, who rushed over to him. She heard him say "This one's still breathing," before he handed the child over and ran back into the building.
Flash raced after him into the fiery country house. He soon returned, looking slightly singed. In a subdued tone the unhappy speedster said, "There aren't any survivors."
The people on the scene responded with sighs and shouts of anger. Losing anyone always hurt, but the fact that most of the deceased were children compounded everyone's frustration and sorrow.
John stepped forward, putting his arm on the younger man's shoulder. "Well, let's at least stop the fire. Diana, get Batman out of there."
By now, the whole bottom floor of the house was engulfed in flames, so Diana entered through a window on the second floor. It was eerily quiet, and the silence was made even more frightening by the dense black fog that enveloped her. Walking blindly through the darkness, she shouted Batman's name over and over. Her breathing quickened as she imagined Bruce trapped and helpless somewhere in the large house, but every time she pulled oxygen into her lungs, she began to choke on the decay and debris of the fire.
"Hera, help me," she pleaded.
Finally, her ears picked up on someone coughing, and she broke through the walls to reach him. She found Bruce leaning against a wall, fumbling with his oxygen mask. Diana grabbed him with two strong arms and forcibly removed him from the house.
He struggled against her, but she held on tightly. That only seemed to increase his fury. "Put me down. NOW!"
In a voice just as angry, Diana stated, "Batman, there are no survivors."
"You don't know that."
"Yes. I do. Flash went through the house. They're dead. All of them."
He still kept fighting her as she touched down very near the trees Bruce had led her to days ago. It was quite a ways away from the house, so she felt safe to let him go.
He turned two unfeeling eyes on her, and from the narrowing of the slits in his cowl, she could tell that underneath the mask, Bruce was still furious. "Why did you do that?"
"So you wouldn't die."
He didn't have a response for that, so he continued to glare at her.
Diana had better things to do then continue the staring contest. "I'm going to go back and help Flash and Green Lantern. Stay here."
He opened his mouth to argue but Diana held up her hand. "Not now." Without sparing him another glance, she flew back toward the inferno.
When Flash had seen Diana and Batman exit the building, he began to race around the large house, gaining speed with every revolution. Pretty soon, he had created a vacuum. Without oxygen to feed its flames, the fire quickly died out.
Diana returned to John just as Wally had extinguished the flames. In hollow tones, John said, "Nice work." The Green Lantern had been the one to tell Wally to snuff out the fire, and he had given the command for Diana to get Batman out of the burning building, but he didn't have the strength to issue the next order. So Flash said it for him. "We need to go in and get the bodies."
John shook his head in confirmation.
With heavy hearts, the three heroes trudged into the scorched abode.
The three-story mansion had two wings. John took the bottom floor, while Diana went to the upper floors of the East Wing and Flash walked to the West.
As Diana grimly climbed up the stairs, she couldn't help but think of what this house had looked like and signified just days before. Everything now was lost and broken.
She entered the first room and observed the children lying in their beds. It was as if they were still asleep. She moved methodically and as quickly as possible from room to room, gathering the small bodies and walking all the way back to the outside of the house to deposit them on the lawn. All the while, she petitioned her gods to bring peace to the departed and those left to deal with their deaths. In spite of her prayers, waves of anger and sadness washed over her as she stared at their faces, some of which she had seen laughing and smiling just days before.
She forced herself to swallow her tears as she trekked down the barren halls. That was until she entered a room whose walls were painted purple. Unbidden sobs fought for release as she lifted a young girl's body from her bed. As Wonder Woman held Lisa in her arms, her eyes fell upon the crown of flowers she and Bruce had given the girl only days ago. But there were still so many bodies to move. With her heart breaking, Diana wiped her eyes and moved Lisa outside and searched for her brother's body. When she found Scott, she laid them next to each other.
Then she had to go back into the building.
When their horrific work was finished, Flash and Diana stood on the lawn, looking down on the fallen, waiting for Lantern.
After receiving the all-clear from the fire investigators, John brought out two bodies charred past recognition—one large, the other small. He used his ring to carry them out, and the green glow that surrounded them made the grotesque picture even eerier. As all the living rooms were on the second and third floors, they were the only dead on the first floor, where the fire had broken out. He walked quickly out into the open, wanting to escape the scent of burnt flesh, but it clung to his clothes.
In all, the bodies of fifty-eight men, women, and children were laid out across the front lawn, shrouded with plain white sheets.
As Diana stood looking at the makeshift graveyard, she heard snatches of conversation around her. It soon became apparent that the flames had been an act of arson.
She sought out one of the investigators and found out that a woman had earlier visited the orphanage and had a run in with the workers there concerning one of the children. It suspected that this woman was the larger body that John had found. The second body with her was much smaller, and they believed it was the child in question.
As they were no longer needed, Lantern moved his hand to his com-link to contact J'onn.
Diana spoke before John could ask to be retrieved. "I think I'm going to stay behind for a while."
John turned two thoughtful eyes on her. "Sure, Diana. We'll see you later."
"Bye, Wondy." The usually irrepressible Flash gave her a wan smile as the two men disappeared before her.
Diana returned to the place where she had left Bruce. Unsurprisingly, he was no longer there. She sank down to the ground and sat there staring blankly ahead. She tried to recall the names of the children she had met before, sought to mourn for them, since they had no one to care for them, but all her sorrow had turned to numbness. As she stared at the now empty house, Diana suddenly felt very sick of this world.
So she took to the skies, leaving the death and ugliness below. Flying higher and higher, till the atmosphere became so thin, she had difficulty breathing. At the top of her flight, she looked down on the city below her. From far away, she could no longer see the house; she could barely see anything. As she slowly descended, the lights of the city came into focus, twinkling underneath. Ribbons of red and white wrapped around Gotham, as the people drove home, unaware of the tragedy she had just walked through. Diana closed her eyes, wishing that she could be just as blissful, just as ignorant.
Her reverie was broken by the sound of her com-link going off. She had asked the authorities to update her with any new information they discovered concerning the fire. Unable to escape any longer, she accepted the transmission, then went searching for Batman.
It wasn't long before she found him.
He was on top of Wayne Tower brooding over Gotham when she touched down next to him. She had a feeling that he wanted to speak to her or just wanted her company. Otherwise, she would never have found him.
He didn't turn to look at her.
Diana didn't know what to do. She was still upset and didn't want to fight with him. So she talked about the one thing that she knew he would be interested in: the case.
"I spoke with the detectives on the scene. They say it was the work of a woman named Amy Martins."
No response.
"She had a prior record for arson, and they think she was the mother of one of the children in the home. One of the workers remembered her trying to take the child, and a struggle ensued. She was shown off the premises, but it appears she returned drunk and..." Diana didn't want to finish the rest.
He finally spoke. "I already know."
Having just exhausted the one topic she thought he felt up to discussing, Diana wracked her brain for something else to say. She didn't want to leave.
She walked over to him and looked down on his city with him.
It seemed like an age before she spoke. "What happened was terrible, but it can be rebuilt."
His voice dripped with derision as he said, "Is that supposed to make me feel better? Wayne could build fifty new orphanages; it won't bring them back."
"You are not responsible for this."
"I know that. I didn't start the fire."
"That doesn't mean you don't feel guilty."
"Stop trying to analyze me."
"I'm not."
"Why are you still here?"
"Did it ever occur to you that I might be hurting too?"
"If you are looking for sympathy, you came to the wrong person. Besides, I'm sure you'll be fine in the morning."
Diana's eyes narrowed as she turned on her would-be comforter. "Just because I don't grieve in the same way as you, just because I don't close myself off and pretend that I am unaffected by everything and everyone around me, doesn't mean that I feel any less than you do."
"And what is that you feel, Princess?" His pet name for her held none of the familiarity and teasing that it normally did.
"Anger. Hate. Disappointment. Sorrow. Weariness." She sighed as she fought for control. "I want things to be different, but it seems like nothing changes, no one changes."
"Some people are beyond helping."
Even though she had basically said that very thing, it sounded false coming from him. She had come to him looking for answers, but she felt he was feeding her lies. "You cannot possibly believe that. Otherwise, you would not work so hard night after night."
"It doesn't seem to be making much of a difference."
She whispered, "I know what you mean."
Diana gazed at the stoic man standing beside her and remembered that she had arrived in Gotham with the intention of giving him comfort. At the back of her mind, she knew he couldn't verbally return the favor; at least, not yet. But as she asked herself why she thought he could give her help, she was able to come up with many reasons, and each one brought the solace she had so hoped for. She doubted the goodness of Man's World, but Bruce's valor and honor were never in question.
She reached for his hand, wrapping her fingers around his, and as she spoke, she gazed up at the stars, which were barely visible due to Gotham's city lights. "It is difficult to see the impact you make when you surround yourself in darkness. You don't get to see all the good you do, because you are so busy dealing with all the criminals who want to destroy your city, your work. You've walked in darkness so long, you have forgotten that there is light."
He didn't say anything to her, but she could see he was thinking over what he had said. His fingers tightened around hers, but he removed his hand from hers when he realized what he was doing.
Diana floated in front of him, standing on air with the streets of Gotham below her. "Not everything is dark."
He finally looked up at her.
Her skin was ashy, her face was spotted with black grime, and her hair was matted and tangled. But her eyes stood in stark contrast to her otherwise forlorn and muted appearance. They were glowing.
She floated closer to him and touched down mere inches from him. He began to stare her down, but she answered his coldness with a fierce hug. As Bruce held onto his light, he closed his eyes, trying to focus on her voice.
"I know you are too courageous to give up, but I also know how depressing it must be for you sometimes. I feel that same way, when I get called on mission after mission. They all start to blend together, so that I cannot tell them apart from each other. And just when I think it couldn't possibly get worse, it always does. Sometimes it seems as if it will never end. But you have to keep fighting, because you give people hope."
He drew away from her and gave her a dubious look. "Most people don't even know that I exist."
She looked into the emotionless white lenses of his cowl and moved her hands to his face. "But I do, and you give me hope." Seeing the pained expression that crossed his face when she said that, she quickly dropped her hands.
She doubted that he would say anything in response to her statement, so when he said, "Thank you," she was more than surprised. Two small words, and yet she felt repaid ten times over for all the effort she had just expended on his behalf.
From behind his cowl, he could see the earnestness and honesty in her eyes. "It's the truth. I just…" Diana trailed off.
He moved his hand to her face, bringing his gauntlet covered fingers to rest in her hair. "What is it?"
Her eyes squinted as if she were having some internal debate. Finally, she spoke her thoughts, "I just want you to be happy."
This elicited a smirk from the Dark Knight as he sarcastically, though not unkindly, replied, "Keep dreaming, Princess."
"I will if you will."
And then he did something she would never have expected. Batman leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. Diana moved her fingers up to the place his lips had been before she became aware of what she was doing. Her hand fell to her side, and her cheeks grew warm. Thankfully, it was dark.
But not dark enough. "How often do Amazons blush?"
"About as often as you make jokes. But, in my defense, it isn't very often that a man kisses an Amazon."
"You make a valid point. Though if your performance in the hotel room was any indication, Amazons kiss men a lot more often than men kiss them."
Diana's head titled to the side, and her cheeks grew even warmer. "No, just me…and just you."
"So no more Bruce Wayne, then?"
Diana shook her head ruefully. The desire to tell him she knew his secret was always there, but in this moment it nearly overpowered her. Good sense, however, won out in the end. "I didn't say that."
"I wonder how people would react if they found out that Wonder Woman, the beacon of truth and light to the world, is a two-timer."
"What is that?"
"A person who dates two different people at the same time, without letting them know."
Diana realized that Bruce had just admitted he considered Batman and her as good as dating, but she kept her delight to herself. "I would hardly call what I am doing two-timing, seeing as I have been honest about my feelings from the beginning. And you two aren't that different from each other. In essentials, you have more in common than you think."
"Care to enlighten me?"
"You are very intelligent; leaders of men and organizations; you are always helping others, and you pretend to be something that you are not."
"Looks like you have us both figured out."
She raised her chin and grinned confidently at him. "I do."
He drew her forcefully to himself and suddenly she didn't look quite so smug. Her eyes widened and her lips parted, but Diana refused to recant. In an assured, though breathless voice, she said, "I do," again.
Bruce roughly brought his mouth to hers. Unlike the time behind the trees, he didn't wait for Diana to grow accustomed to his advances. He just needed to feel something other than emptiness and grief. He needed to feel her. Clinging to her strength, grabbing at her arms, then shoulders, now her back, he threw everything he had at her, hoping that she could see inside of him, hoping that she could handle it.
Diana was ready, easily matching his intensity and fervor. For the first time, she felt confident enough to let her hands rove over his neck and back, finally bringing them to rest on the back of his head, holding him to her.
At some point, their mouths broke apart, both of them needing oxygen. No sooner had his lips left hers, they were on her neck. Still trying to catch his breath, he inhaled and exhaled rapidly against her skin, causing shivers to course down her spine. Thinking that she was cold, he managed to envelop her in his cape, all without breaking contact.
Completely lost in the moment, Diana spoke the name of his nighttime identity, and this broke through his haze. He looked up at her, and Diana's eyes telegraphed her surprise at his abrupt withdrawal, but he mistook it for fear. Realizing how carried away he had become, she watched as he mentally began to retreat. But before he could draw away completely, Diana whispered, "No. Don't leave. Not yet." She didn't wait to see if he was going to comply before she brought her mouth to his again.
This time their hands remained still, hers on his face, his at the base of her back. Slow and soft kisses were exchanged between the pair, both of them wanting to thank the other for helping them through this night, if only for a few minutes. And when this had stopped, they just stood there, holding each other.
As Bruce rested his forehead against hers, Diana closed her eyes, listening to the steady, even breathing of the man supporting her, accompanied by the occasional sound from the streets below. The events of the day finally catching up to her, Diana let out a small yawn and moved her face far enough away from his so she could look into his eyes. Her lips formed a contented smile, and she quietly reminded him, "I still do."
Releasing her, he took a step back and drank in the sight of the woman before him. Giving her a devilish grin, he moved his lips till they were almost touching hers. She closed her eyes as she waited for him to kiss her again.
"No. You don't."
When she didn't feel what had, over the course of the last week, become a very familiar pressure on her mouth, her eyes snapped open, but he had already disappeared.
She looked up at the moon and began to laugh.
Activating her com-link, she said, "J'onn, I'm ready to come back."
When she materialized before the Martian Manhunter, he took in her appearance. After receiving Flash and the Green Lantern, he had expected to see her in a foul or sorrowful mood. Outwardly, she looked terrible, as she was covered with filth from her earlier escapades. But it didn't take a telepath to realize that she was ecstatic. Her face was nearly split in two with a very happy smile.
Mr. J'onzz dryly noted, "I see your conversation with Batman went well."
"Better than even I expected."
"I'm glad to hear that. For the both of you."
"I should go and get cleaned up." And with that the Princess floated to her quarters.
To Be Continued
To my reviewers- Thanks for the encouragement. : D.
For my undercover reviewers.
ly- Thank you for the review. I'm glad that you like it and I appreciate that you took the time to tell me. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
LJP-Thanks for the review. If you think the last chapter was intense, wait until the next one. It will probably fall flat, LOL, but I'm trying to "bring it" in chapter 12. Fingers crossed and all that.
Hope you enjoyed. Please review. Thanks.