Present at the memorial service for The Batman were heroes from every part of the world. From Themyscira came Queen Hippolyta herself, with a personal honor guard for her late son-in-law.

All of the people who had known and respected Batman were there.

And among those who loved him, were some who were more deeply affected by his passing, having loved him in the fullest sense.

Catwoman, hovering out of sight, watched from her perch above the heads of the crowd.

Pamela Islay who had much to regret in her own relationship with Batman was there, weeping tears from eyes that didn't seem to run dry.

Talia al Ghul, who had once loved and still loved him and had even borne him a son, stood with her ninja warriors in the front row of the mourners, her sharp eyes raking Wonder Woman mercilessly, her demeanor promising all manner of retribution.

Many of those gathered there said a word or two in memory of Batman. It fell to Wonder Woman, as his wife to make the final tribute. As she began to speak, the words came naturally to her, from the heart.

"Friends, we are gathered here to pay tribute to a man whose lives touched ours deeply. A hero has departed and we are left alone in the dark. All of us have been changed for knowing Batman, some of us have been moulded by him, still others owe their lives to him, all of us are indebted to him in many different ways.

We cannot praise him. He would not wish that to happen. Great men and women have monuments in bronze and marble set up for them, but this man would prefer to live on in our deeds.

He was perhaps a great symbol of the heroes of the past, and perhaps, may be a symbol for heroes yet to come. I stand here, with you, on this shaky point in the present, between the past and future yet to be, and I have faith that all of the ideals that Batman stood for, shall prevail. Some of us here can clearly recall the stellar role he played in the Justice League of America.

Batman is no more. He has gone, and we are left with a feeling of great loss. All of us sense that feeling, and I don't when we shall overcome it. And yet together with that feeling there is also a feeling of pride and gratitude that we have had a chance to be linked to this hero.

He would not want us to mourn him, he would not want us to cry. He would expect that we do what he always did, put the raw emotion aside and take up the work at the moment, to live the challenge of life.

Let us be worthy of him."

Diana's speech struck a chord in the hearts of each one present. When she finished and moved back to her place, Superman announced a brief moment of silence in memory of Batman and the service drew to an end.

As they filed out of the room, Diana was hugged and kissed and had to shake hands as heroes rushed to condole with her. On the opposite side of the room, Superman was going through the same agony of accepting condolences on Lois' death. Their eyes met briefly and meaningfully, extending support to each other momentarily before being distracted once again by the next mourner.

Black Canary hugged Diana, "I'll miss him, too," she said.

Then there was Green Lantern, saying, "I wish it could have been different."

And Green Arrow, "Of all of us, I never expected him to go. I thought he would go on and on and on…Bats you know."

Flash was typical in his response, "I keep expecting him to jump out of the shadows at me and scare me out of two years of growth."

Each had a kind word to say or memory to recall. Some more than others.

Catwoman was the first to say, "What did he see in you? He threw his life away over you needlessly, you should have died, not him."

Diana blanched at the blatant hatred in Selina Kyle's voice. She was about to respond in her usual gentle manner, but she was seized in tight embrace by another woman.

"Bitch! You couldn't even keep him safe!" hissed Talia in Diana's ear under the pretext of offering sympathy.

Diana drew back, torment showing in her fine features as Talia repeated what Diana said to herself every hour. But she made no response to Talia.

Talia noted the lack of response, and continued, "If I had been his wife, I would have protected him better. Made him take a dip in the last Lazarus pool of my father…Saved him from death. You didn't deserve him."

Donna, who had been watching Diana closely, saw the change in her expression and had already flown to Diana's side. Adroitly, she moved in place so that she was facing Talia and Diana was looking into the eyes of Pamela Islay.

"My condolences. His death is a loss to both of us. I loved him, too," said Pamela as she grasped Diana's hand.

Nonplussed, Diana looked deep into Pamela's eyes, sensing that there was more to this lady then she knew.

As Pamela moved on to hug Alfred, it was Nightwing who whispered into Diana's ear, "That's Poison Ivy. She had this huge crush on Batman and wanted him enough to kill him just to prevent any other woman being with Batman."

Diana's eyes widened with surprise as she looked at Pamela Islay again. That lady had been Batman's nemesis. She recalled what Bruce had told her during their short marriage about Poison Ivy.

But Bruce, being Bruce, had helped to rehabilitate and cure Poison Ivy, enabling her to lead a normal life.

Poison Ivy never knew, never guessed what it had cost the Batman.