A/N—Donna gets some revenge with surprising results. Thanks to my wonderful beta Hepburn whose fingers are all over this chapter. Please read and enjoy.

Spoilers—Batman Beyond—Return of the Joker.

Disclaimer—I don't own Justice League or any characters in the DC Universe and I don't own the lyrics to "So Cruel" and I am making no money from this story


We crossed the line

Who pushed who over

It doesn't matter to you

It matters to me

We're cut adrift

We're still floating

I'm only hanging on

To watch you go down—So Cruel by U2

Chapter 12—So Cruel

Donna laughed gleefully to herself as she hit the send key on an email that she was sending to everyone in the League with the exception of the founders. Flash already had a hard copy and was laughing in a corner of Donna's studio in the Themyscirian embassy.

"Donna you did good. Nightwing will never live this down. Remind me never to get on your bad side." Wally said happily.

"He really should remember that he is dealing with an Amazon. We are women and warriors. That means we can outsmart you as well as kick your ass." She smirked.

She had plans to kick his ass next. She had never trained so hard in her life. She even spent part of her evenings in the embassy gym practicing the new techniques she had learned and developing strategies to best use them. The warrior instincts she had received from Diana were finally being honed. Diana had even sparred with her a couple of times and had seemed impressed. Donna ignored the fact Nightwing was making her a better fighter; she still had a grudge.

She was going to give him a little taste of the humiliation he had given her on a daily basis. She smiled as she thought about how helpful Tim and Alfred had been. Alfred had eyed her suspiciously when Tim brought her into the house. He had softened a little when she said she was Diana's sister.

Then Tim had started talking and Donna could see Alfred's shock before he quickly schooled his features into passivity.

"Alfred, where is that box of old pictures you keep? I want to show one to Donna." Tim said giving Alfred a big smile.

"On the top shelf of the closet in the library, Master Tim."

"Great, I'll be right back Donna." He said before leaving the room.

Alfred gave Donna a stern look as soon as Tim left the room. "What did you do to him?" he asked in a soft voice.

Donna felt her face go red. The look he had given her had scared her more than anything ever had. She then quickly confessed everything, from her illicit reason for coming here to her conversation with Tim and the use of the lasso. When she had finished she stared at her Converse sneakers in shame. Nobody was able to do that to her not even her mother, though she had come closer than anybody else.

Alfred raised her chin and looked her in the eye, "While I am not happy about your barging in here without an invitation, I can forgive the intrusion after seeing Tim genuinely smile for the first time in over a year. Well done Miss Troy!" He gave her the barest of smiles and Donna felt relief shoot through her body.

The rest of the afternoon had gone well and Alfred was only too happy to help her to prank Nightwing. She and Tim had sat in the kitchen going through old photos while Alfred served them chocolate chip cookies and milk. They were the best cookies she had ever eaten and Tim had given her just what she needed to get even.

"Time to go to the Watchtower. I have pilot training with Green Arrow at ten o'clock."

Donna smiled, by the time she and Ollie were finished her plan would be in full swing.


Dick Grayson, a.k.a. Nightwing, was walking toward his quarters in the Watchtower. Heroes seemed to stop talking as he approached or were giving him funny looks. Booster Gold and Red Arrow both gave him smirks and he thought he heard Roy cough what sounded like "short pants" as he walked pass them.

Dick had been raised by Batman to be paranoid and all the alarms were going off in his head. Something was definitely up and it involved him. He keyed in his code to his room and sat down at his computer. He wanted to input some new evidence that he had acquired on the drug case he was working on. First, though he checked his email as he always did.

Most were the standard Watchtower update memos sent by Superman, but there was an anonymous email with an attachment. He quickly ran an anti-virus program before opening it. He didn't want to crash the system because some fool decided it would be funny to load a virus into the Justice League systems.

When the email came out clean he opened it and clicked on the attachment. A picture of which he thought he had burned all the copies of popped up. It was him in his original Robin costume, the one in which he looked ridiculous because of the green short shorts he wore. At the bottom was a caption that read, "Most of you know me as Nightwing, but you may now call me by my nickname Short Pants."

Dick quickly scanned through who was sent the email and cringed. Almost everyone in the League had been sent a copy. He put his head in his hands and groaned. He would never live this down. Somebody was going to pay. He started doing a search of where the email had originated. After half an hour of following several misleading piggybacks he finally had the location of were the email came, the Themysicrian Embassy.

"That spoiled little brat!" he grumbled as he did a search of her location on the Watchtower. He got up and stalked towards the cafeteria. He saw her at a table with Courtney Whitmore, a.k.a. Stargirl. Both were laughing and Donna started laughing harder as he marched toward her.

"Wonder Girl, I need to speak to you in private." He hissed. Donna gave him an innocent "who me" look and stood up to follow him. Dick caught the mischievous look in her eyes and gritted his teeth.

As they were leaving a red blur stopped in front of Nightwing. Flash smiled a huge grin and asked, "How are you doing, Short Pants?" The entire cafeteria burst into laughter at his words and Dick turned bright red. He grabbed Donna's arm and continued out of the cafeteria. He could hear Donna giggling behind him.

At his quarters he keyed in his code then pushed Donna through the door. She sauntered over to his desk chair, seated herself, crossed her legs and leaned back. She looked like the cat that swallowed the canary.

"What can I do for you Nightwing?" she said smiling up at him.

"Cut the crap, Donna, I know you sent the email!" Dick raged.

"So?" she said lightly. Dick's face reddened in his fury.

"You have humiliated me in front of the League!" He roared at her.

She raised an elegantly shaped eyebrow at him. Again she said, "So?"

"You royal pain in the ass! You are nothing but a spoiled brat!" He yelled.

"And you Short Pants are nothing but an insufferable jerk who takes pleasure in belittling me everyday. Well payback's a bitch and she's looking right at you!" She said, coldly glaring at him.

"You are never going to get into the League, I'll see to that! Just wait until I speak to Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman about this!"

Donna laughed, "You honestly think they are going to care about a harmless practical joke?! You really do have an over inflated opinion of yourself." With that statement Donna got up from her chair and walked towards the door. "If that is all, I'll see you in the training room in an hour for our next session… Short Pants." She smirked as she left.

Dick was enraged by her attitude but decided that yelling at her was useless. He would just have to get even and while he was at it he would get Wally too. The speedster had to have helped her.

As he started plotting how he was going to get his revenge his cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his gauntlet and looked at the ID. Tim! Somebody must be using Tim's phone. Tim hadn't called him in more than a year.

"Who are you and what are you doing with Tim Drake's phone?" he said harshly into his phone.

"Jeez, Dick take it down a notch you sound more uptight than Bruce. Have you been drinking too much coffee again?"

It sounded like Tim but not the Tim of the past year. It sounded like Tim before the Joker had tortured him. How was it possible? He wouldn't even speak the last time Dick saw him.

"Tim?" Dick said.

"Who else would be using my phone? So did you get the email yet, Short Pants?" Tim laughed. It sounded like Tim's old laugh, a sound Dick thought he would never hear again. Dick felt like he was in the Twilight Zone for a second until Tim's words penetrated his thoughts. How did he know about Donna's prank?

"How do you know about the email?" Dick asked. Today was just getting weirder and somehow he knew a bratty Amazon princess was behind it all.

"Who do you think gave Donna the picture? You don't keep copies of it in your Watchtower room do you?" Tim asked.

"Hell no, I thought I had destroyed all those pictures. Why Bruce ever let me dress like that I will never know?" Dick groaned. Then he realized what Tim had just said and was again furious. "How could you give that little pain that picture, what kind of brother are you?"

"One who had been through training with Nightwing, who knows that you can be a complete tool." Tim stated. Dick could sense the smile on Tim's face.

"Donna was slacking and need someone to train her with a firm hand." Dick said piously.

"There is being tough and then there is acting like a complete Richard, if you know what I mean Dick."

Dick knew exactly. Tim would often say to him you are acting like a Richard, Dick meaning he was acting like a dick.

"Don't be too hard on Donna, she doesn't deserve it. Besides she is the reason I was able to sleep last night with no nightmares. That hasn't happened in over a year."

"What did she do?" Dick asked. Tim then told him about her listening to him and using the lasso. Dick was amazed and even willing to forgo punishing Donna. After all she had given him his brother back, he could stand a little embarrassment. Though he was still going to get Flash. Dick didn't owe him anything.

"Wow, that's great Tim! What did Leslie say?" Dick asked, as a feeling of well being spread through him.


Donna was practicing on the heavy bag when Dick arrived. She was ready for the next phase of her plan, kicking Dick's ass. It would be harder since she had pissed him off with the prank email but she new she could do it.

Nightwing opened his mouth to say something, but Wonder Girl had already launched her attack. She quickly spun a back round house kick into his chest expecting him to block it. She had planned to use the block against him and kick under his chin with her other foot and then back flip away. Instead he went flying into the wall with a thud as he missed the block.

Donna started laughing. "What's the matter Short Pants, you going to let a little girl beat you up?" She taunted.

Dick looked stunned and then his eyes narrowed. "Bring it on brat," he said as he stood up and started circling her. They fought from stalemate to stalemate. Donna was determined to win without using her powers. Finally she found an opening and knocked him to the ground. She quickly planted her foot on his chest, applying just enough pressure to keep him pinned. She smiled down at him relishing her victory. She was surprised when he smiled back.

"Good job, brat!" He said. She couldn't help but start to laugh as she put her hand out to help him up.

"Donna, we would like to speak with you." Donna turned to see Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman standing just inside the doorway.

"Yes," She replied politely.

Superman held up a copy of the "Short Pants" email she had sent to the League. She flushed at the stern look on his face.

"Did you send this?" He asked. She looked guiltily at Diana who gave her a disappointed stare.

"Yes," she said quietly. She was totally busted and now she would pay the price. Dick was probably smiling with glee behind her.

"What's the big deal, Superman, it was just a joke among friends." Dick said. Donna couldn't believe her ears.

"You're not upset? She made a joke out of you to the entire League." Diana questioned her eyes narrowing.

"I'm a big boy, I've been through worse," Dick stated. "Besides, Wally helped her and as a senior member of the League he should know better."

Donna opened her mouth to defend Wally when Dick pinched her in the lower back. She gave a strangled yelp and shut her mouth. Diana again narrowed her eyes at them.

"I told you this was a waste of time. Flash is always doing this sort of thing and now he is recruiting Wonder Girl. Let's just give them an extra monitor shift and be done with it." Batman said impatiently.

"Fine, Donna you have monitor duty tonight and Flash will have the shift after you. Don't ever use the Watchtower email system for something so frivolous again. Am I clear?"

"Yes sir." Donna replied. Inwardly she sighed with relief. The Big Three nodded to Dick and left.

Donna turned and looked at Dick in surprise.

"Why did you cover for me? You were ready to kill me earlier." Donna asked.

"Tim called me. I figured I owed you. Besides they let Wally get away with this stuff all the time, you shouldn't be singled out."

"I still think you are an insufferable jerk." She smiled at him.

"And I still think you're a spoiled brat." He smiled back.

"Best two out of three," she said as she started to circle him again.

"Sure and then I'll start teaching you how to pick locks." He replied as he looked for an opening.

"Whatever."


A/N—And another friendship begins. Sorry for the lack of BMWW but we will get back to them in the next chapter.