Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League or Justice League Unlimited. I merely write this for my own entertainment and the entertainment of others.


A to Z, an Anthology
Laconic


One of the things that truly surprised Diana when she came to Man's World was various individuals' propensity to talk, a lot. Flash, she quickly found, was hardly ever silent, constantly making strange, light-hearted statements that Diana felt had some meaning that escaped her.

Superman was not quite so bad, in fact in comparison to Flash, he was actually quite polite. In some ways, really, he reminded her of the stories her fellow Amazons had told her, the stories of Hector, Priam, and many of the other Trojans. Theirs was a noble spirit, and Diana felt that Superman shared in that. Not to mention, he had the habit of making grand speeches.

Hawkgirl and Green Lantern were not quite as talkative as Flash, though they were hardly quiet. The winged hero was actually boisterous in a manner that was quite similar to some of her sisters. Confrontational, headstrong. Green Lantern, despite that he could be rather patronizing sometimes, behaved like the warrior he had trained to be much of his life, and kept his mouth shut unless he had something he felt was worth saying. It wasn't his fault that Diana disagreed with some of the opinions that he stated out loud.

J'onn J'onzz was quite different from the others, though Diana felt closer to him because of that. He too was a stranger to the culture of Man's World, and though he did not say so to her, Diana thought that he was just as bewildered by its eccentricities as she was at times.

J'onn spoke little in those early months, it was true, but the last of their makeshift group – the one who was only there 'part time' – who was the one who spoke the least. In the weekly meetings that ensued after the League formed, he hardly ever said anything, except perhaps to update them on the construction of their headquarters. The designing of the watch rotation was left to Green Lantern, the compilation of files on various villains throughout the world was left to Hawkgirl and Superman. J'onn assisted them in the file concerning the Imperium, but nothing else as he knew nothing of Earth's less desirable elements. Flash promised to stock the kitchen.

There was nothing for Diana to do. Even after the Watchtower was complete and the League moved in, she had little understanding of technology. Green Lantern had the schedule under control, and she, like J'onn, could not contribute to the information that Superman and Hawkgirl were compiling.

Diana was not used to feeling useless. On Themyscira, there was always something she could do, duties she was expected to perform like any other Amazon. Whether it was maintaining the weapons in the armories, or standing guard in one of the temples, or helping to groom the horses, inactivity did not occur very often on the island.

Just as she was indulging in her moment of reflection – she refused to even consider calling it self-pity – her door suddenly swung open. Diana jumped to her feet, alarmed, but relaxed when Batman came through the doorway, carrying two cases of some kind.

He did not say a word, just walked over to the empty desk and set the cases down on it, one on top of the other. He opened the case and Diana peered in. She blinked. The case was full of books. Books written in Greek, or rather, what the people of this world called Ancient Greek – her people had never stopped using the dialect.

She looked up at him. "What's all of this?"

"Books."

Diana raised an eyebrow. "I can see that. They're books on…" she peered at some of the titles, and then continued, "Greek mythology." She straightened and crossed her arms. "I know my own history, thank you."

He stared at her impassively from behind his mask. "We need to know how much is real."

Diana frowned. "I thought you held my gods in contempt."

"So they're not real?"

"Of course they are!" she exclaimed angrily. "How dare you –"

The infuriating man actually interrupted her. "Then we need to know more," he repeated, as if explaining something to an exceptionally stupid child. He indicated the books. "Record which myths are true, and how accurate. Then determine which…" he took a deep breath through his nostrils, as if gathering strength for the word, "monsters are likely to have any motive to attack this world."

She gestured at the computer on the desk. She hadn't yet dared to turn it on. "And how do you suggest I –"

"There's a pen and notebook in the other case with several more books. I assume you know how to use them."

He was out of the room before Diana could give in to the urge to punch him through the wall. She glared after him.

Ultimately, she did as he asked. Some of the books were fairly accurate, while others were borderline ridiculous. She recorded everything she knew, elaborating on creatures such as Medusa, or the Minotaur. She even said what she could about each of the gods, so as to allow her new teammates to be at least semi-familiar with them should they somehow meet. When she finished, she sent the notebooks – she'd filled up three of them – off to Batman.

He came looking for her a day later, the notebooks in hand.

Diana had been sitting in the cafeteria, attempting to eat something Flash called pizza – it was rather messy, but surprisingly tasty – when the notebooks were tossed down on the table. She looked up.

Batman stood just across from her, his arms folded. "What is that?" he demanded, nodding toward the notebooks.

Diana raised an eyebrow. "Just what you asked. I wrote down everything I could possibly think of concerning the various creatures." She eyed him skeptically. "I even wrote out information on the gods so the rest of you do not inadvertently insult them out of ignorance," she added.

Even with the mask, she keenly felt his glare. "It's written in Greek. Ancient Greek."

Diana's lips twitched and she struggled not to grin at him. "It's written in the language I've used my entire life," she corrected, leaning back in her seat. She stared at him. "Surely any educated person knows how to read it?"

A strangled sound came from his mouth, sounding faintly like a growl and Diana's body shuddered from concealed laughter. She had no idea it could be so entertaining to bait Batman.

"Let's go," he said suddenly. "You need to learn how to use the computer here, as well as how to read and write English. Then you can put the information into the files yourself, because I don't have months to spare translating for Superman and the others."

He turned on his heel and started toward the doors. Diana didn't move, just stared after him. Just before he reached the doors he stopped. Realizing that she hadn't followed him, Batman whirled around and stared at her. "Princess," he snapped. "I don't have all day."

Diana sighed. "I hadn't finished lunch, you know," she told him. Nonetheless, she stood up. Picking up the notebooks, she also took the plate that had her half-eaten pizza and her water bottle as well.

They walked down the hallways, making their way to the monitor room. In the elevator, they stood in silence. While taking a bite of her food, she glanced at him. "Would you like a piece?" she asked, holding the plate out to him. "Flash says that it's from a place called Pizza Crossroad, in Central City."

He didn't answer verbally, just shook his head.

Diana shrugged. Batman didn't seem to want to say much, unless it was to complain or issue orders. Still, she found him interesting. She'd keep an eye on him. Maybe he'd get more talkative as time went by.


Laconic: adj. using very few words.

Author's Note: Many, many thanks to TheLadyIsis for her assistance on this chapter. You're a godsend, hon. *hugs*