Despite all her recent travelling using that damned device, teleporting was something Selina thought she would never be able to completely assimilate.

In one moment they were inside a dark, crowded cave in a remote Asian desert; a second later, they were in another cave: not nearly as crowded, less dark, somewhat familiar – his cave.

"Home, sweet home", she murmured. If Bruce heard that, however, he gave her no sign.

He still held her hand, a necessity to assure the portable teleporter would take them – and just them - to the same place, and in one piece. Still, as soon as they were finally there, she slipped her hand out of his grasp, something he answered merely by glancing down to his own gloved fingers.

"Are you okay?" She knew his question bore a greater meaning than merely knowing if she was physically fine.

"I need a shower", she said, like that explained anything.

He raised his hands to his mask, removing his cowl to expose his tired, cheerless eyes. Still, he answered:

"Yes, of course. You can use the shower down here, or upstairs…"

"No", she interrupted him. "I think… I need to go home."

He silently stared at her for a moment. Then:

"Don't do this", he solemnly asked.

"Do what?"

"Run. Hide. Avoid me."

"You're joking, right?" She smiled sarcastically. "I'm the one that avoids things? Me?"

He remained quiet.

"You were the one that tried to solve everything by yourself, Bruce!"

"That's unfair", he replied, frowning in anger. "I was trying to protect you, spare you…"

"Oh, okay…! Good job!"

"You were not thinking straight, Selina!" He took a step towards her, his hands closing around her arms. "You wanted to kill someone!"

"I still do, Bruce", she declared, her words spoken in cold serenity.

He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath, his hands quietly losing the grasp they had on her arms. "I know", he muttered.

"Do you?"

Again he opened his eyes, his dark-blue gaze on her emerald glare.

"I understand hate, Selina. I do. I feel it too. I have felt it… ever since I was eight." Pursing his lips, he watched her quietly, studying her features. "I almost killed Ra's al Ghul. If I had, I don't know if I would have regretted it. I really don't…"

She said nothing; she was mesmerized by his expression: the deep sadness, the pain, the confusion that tore him from inside. And as he reached for her, his hands seizing her and pulling her to him, she accepted his embrace in silence.

"But I don't want to be just a murderer in a uniform… the world already has too much of those."

"Some people… they deserve to die, Bruce."

"Not by my hand", he said, his hoarse, tired voice just a murmur by her ear. "Once you start killing, Selina… it's hard to stop. It gets easier every time."

"So, our son… whoever hurt him… you would let them live? Keep going, living their lives, while Henry…"

"It's unfair. It's not right. I know."

"And you accept it!" She pushed herself away from him, hands on his chest.

"I don't!" His denial was fervent, definitive. "I'll never accept it!"

"I don't understand, then."

"There are rules, Selina. Laws…"

"And you break them every day."

"Exactly. I do. And that's why I have to respect this… that's why I have to stick to the few things I believe in." Again he took her hand – just the tip of her fingers, a gentle hold on them. "Imagine if we, the so called heroes, decided to eliminate criminals at will, never having to respond to that?"

She chuckled heartlessly. "Then the world would be a much better place."

He looked straight into her eyes before speaking:

"No, Selina… you might not even be here today, if that was the way we acted."

"I…" She found herself speechless for a moment.

"You were a criminal once… a dangerous thief."

She sighed, her lips trembling as she spoke:

"Well, okay… if I was to be killed… but also the Joker, and Ra's al Ghul, Bane, Scarecrow… wouldn't that be worth it? The life of one redeemed criminal, compared to the elimination of half a dozen sociopaths, psychos that have killed hundreds… thousands?"

"No", he affirmed. "It wouldn't. Because you make all the difference in the world in my life. And I wouldn't trade that for the death of all those psychopaths."

"Silly", she whispered, trying to hold back a sob. "You're so silly… how could… how can you say that?"

This time, she was the one that reached for him; her face buried against his neck, her arms wrapped around him. Bruce answered as he already had moments before – holding her gently, speaking softly as he brushed his lips on the smooth skin of her cheek:

"I say that, Selina… I say it because I…"

"Don't", she asked. "Don't say it now."

"I want to say it. Why don't you wanna hear it?"

"Because", she said while pulling out from his embrace, "I'm not ready."

There she stood: under his scrutinizing gaze, arms crossed over her chest, eyes on the floor.

"I'm sorry", Bruce suddenly said.

She raised her eyes to look at him: he seemed so exhausted; for the first time since they had ever met, he looked defeated.

"What are you sorry for?"

"Everything, I guess." Now was his turn to avoid her gaze. "For not being able to protect Henry. For not being able to find the person who hurt him. And…"

He had his eyes on his gloves, which he carefully removed, in silence. There they were: his hands. Sore knuckles, dry blood, strong, slender fingers that he flexed a few times.

"Most of all, Selina", he proceeded, now forcing himself to look at her, "I'm sorry for the way I treated you. Now… and before."

She took a moment before saying anything, her throat closed by a sob that struggled to escape through her lips in an uncontrollable cry. That, she couldn't allow. It was no moment for tears.

"Bruce", she spoke slowly, minding her tone and words, "You were always good to me. In one way or the other. You were… generous. Always."

"No, Selina. I was never… truthful. About the way I felt… about…"

"It doesn't matter", she said, perhaps more harshly than she ever intended. "Now, it doesn't matter." She nodded her head in sadness. "The truth is, we are not enough. We couldn't be honest with each other. We… failed each other."

"Don't say that. Mistakes were made, but…"

"Bruce, honestly…" The tears were impossible to contain, flooding her eyes and now finally running down her cheekbones. "All I want is for you to take me home for a shower, and then I want to see my son. Could you do that for me? Please?"

It was obvious that he wasn't done with that conversation, but he also seemed to understand they were done talking, at least for now. He merely agreed by waving his head:

"Sure", he finally said. "Let's go."

XXXXXXX

Her morning runs with the President were a time Amanda Waller considered truly precious.

Ever since her youth she had established a ten-mile run in her routine; if it was a really busy day, five miles. The important thing was, she never neglected her exercises – no one would be able to tell now, but she had had problems with her weight when she was a teenager. Besides, it was her favorite moment in the day, when she managed to be completely alone with her thoughts and ideas. She liked to joke about how her Ph.D dissertation had been written in her head while running, and that no other doctorate student had ever been as healthy as she was when she finally graduated.

Unfortunately, her professional life had made impossible for her to go running by herself in the park, like she used to do when in Columbia. It wasn't safe, with all the death threats and possible attacks by super-powered beings. For a while she had had to use the gym in A.R.G.U.S.' HQ, but that was dull and boring; so, it had been a good thing that, in one of her meetings with the President, he mentioned he also loved to exercise first thing in the morning. He proposed to Waller a change in their schedule, and their meetings were moved from the Oval Office to the running track in the White House gardens, where they could combine their running habits and discuss their approach to the many problems Waller had to deal with everyday.

She was usually the first to get there, which was a good thing: the President never ran more than seven miles, and Waller usually started without him, doing the first two or three miles by herself. That morning, a grey sky and a light rain to greet her, was no different.

She set her wrist monitor and began, first with a light stroll; she liked to run a lap on the track in a slower pace, always attentive to any strange signs that could denounce that the President, or herself, might be in danger. Paranoid, many had called her – it was okay; most people didn't have the slightest idea about what she had to deal with everyday. Although, yes, she admitted: that was the White House. If there was a threat inside those walls, than she wasn't doing her job well.

The first half-mile was a breeze; she actually liked the bad weather when running. The rain didn't bother her, and she would rather deal with that than with a summer morning. And she loved that smell… the smell of wet leaves, soaked dirt. It reminded her of her college days, when she had finally left the poor, old house she had lived with her grandma her entire life, and went to a nice dormitory where she had her own space, beautiful furniture, and people her own age that were actually smart and accomplished. Back then, the world seemed to make sense; she would dare say she had even been happy…

"Glad to know you once felt fulfilled and hopeful", she heard someone say close to her.

She almost fell on the ground from the shock, tripping on her own feet. He, however, held her arm and helped her avoid the impact.

"Manhunter", Waller whispered, even though she was looking at one of the President's bodyguards. Of course; J'onn could change his appearance at will, and he chose the less suspicious one in a place like the White House.

"Hello, Amanda."

"What are you doing here? This is highly irregular. In fact, it's criminal."

"I know, Amanda." His human eyes darted in anger, a very mundane expression in such a remarkable creature. "I'm not too worried about that, though. You know it's unlikely I'll ever be identified, and if I was… well, let's say there isn't much anyone here could do. You included."

Waller held her breath, being very careful even about what went through her mind. Because, yes, he was right: Martian Manhunter was one of the most dangerous beings in the world. Which was part of the reason that she had insisted he should be a member of the Justice League of America, of course. It was at least a way to monitor him.

"You underestimate me, Director. As it usually happens to me."

"Why you say that?"

"Because, right now, you're still thinking that you own me. Believing you have a way to control me." He looked straight into her eyes. "You don't, Director Waller. The only reason you stand here, alive and in perfect mental health, is because I believe everyone deserves a chance."

"A chance to what?" She frowned.

"To explain. To try to justify what is inexcusable."

She took a deep, long breath – that was it, then. The moment of truth.

"You found out."

"I read Ra's al Ghul's mind, Amanda. And then, I went to Dr. Arthur Light. I know everything."

"Almost everything", she corrected him. "Or you wouldn't be here."

He nodded in agreement.

"You know about the child", Waller stated.

"Yes." His features were taken by a vague look, as he brought to mind a knowledge that had once belonged to another. "The man you hired… the League of Assassins rogue agent… he was still faithful to Ra's al Ghul, even if he had been expelled from the League."

"Damn it", Waller cursed.

"Your only mistake, probably."

"He told Ra's about what we had done."

"He wrote Ra's a coded message before you had him killed."

Waller bit her lower lip. "That man… he was a bad man, Manhunter. He was a hired assassin, responsible for some gruesome deaths…"

"I don't care", J'onn unemotionally declared. "I care about what you did to Selina's child."

She frowned. "It's complicated."

"Complicated how? It seemed pretty simple: you had LexCorp invaded and you stole the bio-weapon. Then, you made Arthur Light modify it and got the boy inoculated. That's not complicated, Amanda – it's mean."

"I understand, but…"

"But? There's no but." He approached her, seizing her arm violently and forcing her to stare into his eyes. "Do you have any idea how much that child suffered? How much he suffers still?! That gentle, young soul is trapped inside a barely functional body, and any conscious moment that little boy has is accompanied by revolting, agonizing pain! If you, or any adult experimented that, that person would be driven into madness and would wish nothing but death! That's what you did, Amanda!"

For the first time in many, many years, Amanda Waller found herself without words.

"Do you know", he kept going, his voice now a soft, paced sound, "why that boy clings to life?"

"N-no…"

"Because he loves his mother, Amanda. He loves her deeply, he loves her too much, and he can feel her presence. He can't phantom an existence without her, and he keeps picturing the safety and comfort of her arms around him." He pulled her close to him, speaking in an angry whisper by her ear. "That's what you did, Amanda."

Waller felt her hands shaking, her own body trembling under the feeling she hadn't experienced in so long: fear.

"Tell me why, Amanda. Tell me why you tortured a child and his parents in such a cruel way."

She reunited all the courage she managed to find in her to speak:

"Because we need Selina to see, Manhunter."

"See?"

"That Batman is dangerous. That he cannot be trusted." She held her breath for a moment, waiting for J'onn's reaction; as he said nothing, she proceeded. "He's the most brilliant man in the world, Manhunter. He's the only one that could save us if things ever go wrong… really wrong. If Superman and the entire League goes insane and decide to rule over this world, Batman is the only one that could help us."

"And killing his son would help things how?"

"It wouldn't. But the boy is not dead, and Batman is our enemy – the most dangerous, resourceful, smart person in the world is our enemy. And this child… and Selina… are our only hope to have some control over him."

"You want to manipulate him. Using Selina. And his son."

She nodded. "Precisely."

"You are insane, Waller."

"Maybe", she agreed. "But I'm the best chance this world has if the Justice League turns against us."

"I see." He let go of her arm, allowing her to step back. "I suppose that's also your excuse for what you did to Superman and Wonder Woman."

"How do you…?"

"Dr. Light supervised the mission, remember?"

Waller closed her eyes. "Oh, God…"

"Yes. You should pray. Ask for your God's forgiveness."

"You have to understand, J'onn. A child from the union between Superman and Wonder Woman would be the most dangerous creature on this Earth… and who would be able to tell what they would do to protect that child?"

"You had it killed, Waller. In the womb of her mother."

"No. That's not what we did."

"Dr. Light knew the child would die if the mother wasn't exposed to high doses of sunlight. Not any amount of sunlight that could be naturally processed… you knew she would have to be submitted to a treatment…"

"And we told Dr. Hammond that. He chose to omit the information from his patient."

"After you intimidated and scared him."

"With the thuth! Showing him the implications of a creature like that being born in our planet! You know it, Manhunter, you know that alien civilizations would cross the universe for a child that powerful… and Earth? It would be just an obstacle, a tiny obstacle across their way…"

"You have no faith, Waller. You allow fear to dominate your life."

"I'm paid to be afraid, Manhunter. My job is to be afraid for mankind, and act in ways to prevent my fears from becoming our reality."

She turned her back on the alien, watching the grey clouds grew in the sky.

"Are you going to kill me, Manhunter?"

"If I wanted you dead, Amanda, I wouldn't have kept quiet when I read Ra's al Ghul's mind in that cave."

She looked over her shoulder:

"Indeed. Why didn't you tell the others? Why didn't you tell Selina."

"My silence has a price, Waller. Now, listen carefully, because here it is."

XXXXX

Author's Note: Yeah, all of you that said Waller was responsible… there you have it! You were right! Thanks for the reviews and PMs, by the way. You guys are the best.