Thanks to everyone for their reviews: Gmusick, Veronica, Cycloptic NightBat, Nayvera, EternityZ and of course 'No Name'.
BW
11. Splitting Up
Summary: Do I even need to give a summary after the self evident title. Apologies beforehand if the chapter is a downer.
With light breaking over horizon, signaling Apollo's chariot starting on its daily run across the heavens, a pair of eyes, blue as the deepest sea, watched the solitary figure walking up the marble stairs to the ancient building, the other person's feet having none of the usual verve that the observer was wont to seeing in their movement.
'What troubles you my child?' The words did not break the morning calm, as Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons and the only Amazon to have 'birthed' in the last three millennia, watched as her daughter stepped off the last stair, and slowly…reverently covered the last few feet to cross the threshold, disappearing into temple that her sisters had built for the Goddess of Wisdom, 'The Grey Eyed One', Athena.
Positioned by the window, the inner turmoil of her 'sun and stars' washing over to her, Hippolyta sat in vigil. This was the second temple that Diana had gone to, and there would be others, before Diana would finish her prayers, expunge herself from whatever troubling thoughts that the man's world had given her….when she would come to her.
--
As for Diana, had she even spared one parting glance at Nightwing, Batgirl and Robin, she would have caught the barely disguised fear in their movements over and between Gotham's skyscrapers. However, with what Bruce has just done to her, using his subordinates to 'command' her, to show no care about her feelings…about her, she had completely shut down. Suddenly, the warm, yet rapidly cooling night air of the city…his city seemed to suffocate her, her angered warrior spirit giving into the stinging pain that the woman in her felt. She had to get away, away from here, from them….from him. She needed to get away to collect herself, to center herself, after all she was above all, first and foremost an Amazon….and she bowed, lowered herself for no man. Never. Not even now.
Then again, she could just follow the 'Way of the Amazons' and just take the man who had caught her fancy…no, not just caught her fancy, but a man who had even without conscious effort on his part, or realization on hers, had captured her heart, only to push her away, repeatedly.
What was she thinking when she had gone out with King? Who was she trying to dupe by her actions? It was true that she had enjoyed the silver haired man's company, his laid back manner putting her at ease….just as another had done not so long ago, when in an action completely in contrast with his usual nom de cur, he had rescued his damsel in distress, if only from the clutches of overtly enthusiastic fans and reporters.
'Not so long ago.' But compared to the way they were now, it seemed like ages had passed since that fairy tale night.
She would not lie to herself that the only reason she enjoyed King's company was because in a way he reminded her of Bruce. The similarities had added to the experience, but even by himself, King Faraday was quite an engaging man. The problem Diana faced, and one she realized only after their date was that in her subconscious effort to 'move on' as it was said in the patriarch's world, she had missed on one very important thing. That was, in order to her to move on, she first needed to break off, to draw away…to close any other open ends with her…previous emotional involvements.
….and for that very reason she here, back on the one place she was sure she would be able to accomplish what she needed to do…even if her heart pleaded otherwise, cried out to her not to do so.
---
As for the reason for her heartache,
BEEP BEEP BEEP…
The constant, equally spaced beep of the heart monitor was the only thing sound breaking the silence. That and the low, nearly inaudible snores of the teenager curled up on the second bed in the room, his nose twitching every few seconds as errant strands of hair tickled at his nostrils. Dressed in civilian garb, he and the other two people present with him, looked like any other normal family…if not for the heavy bandages on one of them, dried deep copper colored fluid staining the ones on the mid section, arm and shoulder, the clean sheets drawn to his waist covering another one on his right leg.
Seated a few feet from him was a man, older than him but younger than the person on the bed, his hard gaze set at the person who had defined his life, both as a child and as an adult. Even though they had had and would always have their differences, seeing him like this, Dick would give and do anything to have Bruce wake up and speak to him, even if it was with his usual grunts and cold stares.
--
"They haven't left him." A cultured, yet tired masculine voice broke the silence in the corridor outside.
"No." A second voice answered the first, responding to a question that was in truth a self evident statement. "They are taking turns in-in keeping an eye….waiting for him to wake up."
A hand came to rest on the slim shoulders of the woman standing at the observation window, her own hand instinctively rising up to cover it. Standing together, one in front of the other, the two people who, if not closest, were definitely the most 'privy' to the three people within the room. Alfred Pennyworth, the Wayne's family butler, and for all purposes, the elder of the Bat-Wayne family, and Dr. Leslie Thompkins, family friend to the Wayne, and the only woman who came close to approaching but never replacing Martha Wayne in the eyes of her son, Bruce, had both seen their share of blood from the man whom both had grown to regard as their son. However, even after…repairing more wounds and injuries that either of them wanted to count, the pain and fear that they felt for him, it was as raw and intense as the first time that either of them had dressed the wounds that Bruce…that Batman received in his war against crime.
"He will recover." Alfred's words, uttered with a quite determination and hope, were voiced not only for himself, not only for Leslie, but for the criminals of Gotham…of the world.
"I know." Leslie's nod supported him. "I know." The whispered repeat did not.
Even though she knew that Bruce was out of life threatening danger, even though her heart felt elated for it, Leslie could not push down the fear and the sadness that came from Alfred's and her confirmation to them. That Bruce would recover was a source a joy for not only her but for everyone who associated themselves with him. Apart from Alfred and her, there were Dick and Tim, who, for all purposes were Bruce Wayne's sons, both in his and their hearts. Even Tim, the street smart thirteen year old, even he had grown to think of that man who had taken him in and after the death of his birth-father…his first father, had adopted him as his son and younger brother to his first son, Richard 'Dick' Grayson. It did not matter that they did not have the same last name, what mattered what was what inside, both in their civilian and their costumed lives….and this feeling, this sense of belonging, although it was heartening to Leslie, she, even without factoring in her lifelong held ideal of pacifism, could not push down her fears of what would if some day, either one or all of them would not be able to get help in time or be hurt so bad that no amount of effort would be able to….
Not being able to complete the thought, a sob escaped her lips, her hand balling at her mouth to muffle it, but not before Alfred, as though able to sense her thoughts, drew her closer to him, their aging spirits supporting strengthening each other.
---
Back on Themiscyra,
"Mother?" Diana's eyes spoke everything, asked every question that her lips couldn't. "This...?" She lifted a finger to gestured towards the object a few feet away.
Of all the possible explanations that Hippolyta could give, she chose the simplest one, the one that cause Diana to fling herself at her. "I-I missed you."
"Mother." Diana's whispered, her throat too choked to say anything else. Even though her relations with her mother had been improving steadily ever since Hippolyta 'cancelled' the exile banning her from stepping foot on Themiscyra, this was the first time she had actually come out and in clear, succinct words opened up….allowed the mother and not the queen to speak, to act…to hold her daughter.
It seemed like hours…it seemed like an infinitesimal instant, neither of them knew or cared, but when they finally broke their embrace, not only were their eyes shimmering with tears, but their smiles also mirrored each others. For Hippolyta, it was as if, she had finally got her daughter back. Even she lived in man's world now….she had come back to her homeland, to their sisters, to her. It was this same joy that stopped her from inquiring about Diana's impromptu visit, and the sadness she could see in her daughter's eyes. Diana's previous two visits, one when the exile order was rescinded and the second to report about the work that she had started as Themiscyra's ambassador to the patriarch's world, none of them had allowed them the time and opportunity to experience the warmth they were sharing now…..the pain that either of them felt for the other's actions not yet gone, had stood as a barrier between them.
Not anymore.
Turning back towards the direction she had pointed in, Diana gazed at the dull brown statue., an uncanny facsimile of her form, albeit one from a younger time in her life, a simpler time, a time when the only knowledge she had of man's world was the one she had drawn out of the tales from her sisters, and from once in a while washed on shore, objects from that world that lay across the vast, seemingly never ending expanses of water surrounding her mystically hidden island home. It was time without any thoughts or first hand experience of greed, poverty, suffering, death, a time before any of the countless villains that never seemed to give up and the heroes who were just as diligent in their efforts to stop them. A time before all that.
'A time before him….princess.'
The flinch that passed over her daughter's face did not go unnoticed by Hippolyta. Even though she couldn't hear the sudden piping up of Diana's inner 'wild' side.
As for Diana, even though her inner doppelganger had only verbally announced herself now, Diana had been detecting her continuous presence ever since her feet had touched Themiscyra. The truth was, over the past few days, this once in a while voice had grown more frequent, more pronounced….more independent, to almost when Diana sometimes felt as if there were two different individuals living inside of her.
"Diana. Is something wrong?" Diana caught the concern in her mother's voice and cursed herself for not being able to mask her emotions better. That thought gained a chuckle from her inner twin, and yet another reminder of a person, a man she had come here to cleanse her thoughts and her heart of. "You seem…distracted."
"I am fine mother," 'physically' she added silently not wanting to lie to her mother.
Even though her heart pushed to delve further, the tight set jaw of her daughter caused Hippolyta to do otherwise, to remain silent. There was something wrong, that much she was certain of. Once she would have forced her point, ordered Diana to tell her what was troubling her. However, that time was long gone. The woman who stood before her wasn't the same bubbly child that had played in her arms, nor the same innocent, wide eyed, yet wary young woman who had ventured away from the shores of their homeland, drawn away from an invisible voice and her own enthusiastic curiosity. This was a battle hardened warrior, one who was rapidly developing into a competent…an excellent diplomat, a source of pride for her fellow Amazons, in short everything a mother could ask for in a daughter.
"Very well." Acceding to the privacy that she realized Diana wanted for now, the Queen mother placed a hand at her back and started to lead her inside.
"You know…" She slowed down momentarily, just before they entered through the doors. "You could try talking to Troia," she gestured towards the directions they had come from. "She is a very good listener."
"Troia?" This was a name that Diana had never heard from her mother's lips, or from any of their Amazonian sisters. "Who…."
"Her." Hippolyta pointed towards the silent figure standing against the wall in Hippolyta's private garden, the dull brown a sharp contrast to the smoothness of the marble flooring and wall.
"Her?" It took Diana a couple of seconds to realize who…to what her mother had gestured towards. "That." Her eyes widened at the realization that her mother had named the statue that bore an eerie resemblance to her. "You named tha…her."
"I told you…" Hippolyta's voice dropped to a whisper. "…I missed you, missed my daughter."
Not wanting to bring up the memories of a time that both she and her mother wanted to forget, Diana, in spite of her inner turmoil, adopted a light tone.
"You missed your daughter….So you created a replacement."
"Diana!" Hippolyta's reaction was out before Diana completed her comment. However, just as quickly as the pain had risen up, seeing the amused quirking of Diana's lips, it all faded away...just as easily. "No. Not a replacement. Never that." She held and squeezed Diana's hand for emphasis. "A shadow, a mirror…a…."
"I understand mother." Diana drew her close for a hard embrace. "I understand. I missed you too." Fresh tears trailed down her cheeks, flowing along the path set by the already dried ones.
"And you know what." She spoke as they finally drew back. "Maybe I will take your advice. I could use a patient ear to talk to."
'You can talk to me.' Once again Hippolyta stopped the words threatening to escape from her lips. If and when Diana wanted to talk to her, she would do so.
"Good. Now come. Lets go for dinner."
--
A few hours later,
"Gaea!" Diana gasped as she sat up in her bed, the sheet covering her falling to her waist. "Wh-wha…" trying to speak, she found her throat too dry to do so. 'What was that?'
Tossing off the cotton sheets, she moved until her legs hung over the side of the bed, one hand reaching for the water decanter.
She had barely taken a couple of gulps when, her feet reaching down to rest over the cool marble surface, Diana felt body moving into a standing position. One foot rose and came back to ground a foot away, the second one mirroring its motion until, as if acting free of conscious control, Diana found herself moving along the familiar hallways of the royal palace.
A cold shudder ran down her back as she emerged into the cool night. Moments later, a second shudder went down the way of the first…although not for the same reason, as she came to a stop at her destination, in front of a certain wall in a specific section of the royal garden.
Her eyes already widened at the sight before her, Diana could not contain her yelp at what happened next, as a voice, a tone that until only a few hours ago Diana had only heard from one other….and that person was her inner twin.
"Hey Di. How's it hanging."
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Note: Well, we know who this new person is….after all, I even gave out her name. Just wanted to introduce Troia (Donna) into the JLU (DCAU) Universe. Had a couple of plans to do so…one of them is this. Hope you liked the twist.
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