Justice League does not belong to me. Just Artemis & Thomas.
Big thanks to ieatcookies, mbembet, The Book FANGIRL, HirimaHige, DarkAngelx20, psyche613, and Guest for reviewing!
Sorry for taking so long. Cursed Writer's Block. And I ended up rewriting a good part of this chapter 'cause it was getting too corny.
Okay, the idea of this chapter is that the word has spread about Superman being gone. So the criminals are basically out and about 'cause they think that they have nothing to fear anymore.
Batman tried to lose himself in his exercises. He'd been in the Watchtower's gym most of the evening, trying to figure out how on earth he was going to talk with Diana about his thoughts on her mortality, and why he believed that she shouldn't have given it up. He'd avoided her most of the day.
Right when he'd finally decided to just be blunt about the whole thing, and get the chat over with as soon as possible, the door to the gym whooshed open and Artemis stalked in. Fully suited up with her mother's lasso hooked to her belt.
"Something wrong?"
"Sort of. With Superman gone, crime's spiked. Just like it did when your League took down the Lords. I'm headed to Gotham and I wanted to know if you'd like to come with me. I could use your help, since you've got nothing better to do than pout anyway." He glared and she just looked right back at him. "Call it what you want, but you're acting like an immature kid. Just because things didn't go your way doesn't mean you can just cut yourself off from everyone else. Especially Diana," Artie finished sternly.
Bruce chose to ignore the last part, even though it affected him more than she'd thought it would, "I'll come. But on one condition."
"If the condition is that I stop lecturing you on your love life, it ain't gonna happen."
He snorted, rolling his eyes, "You tell me why you picked me."
What he could see of Artie's face turned beet red as she turned away from him. "I chose you, because, well... I trust you because..." She turned to face him again, uncertainty crossing her features for just a second, "I trust you because you actually managed to get my dad, and most of the Founders, indirectly of course, to see reason. Without beating them senseless. That's why I've idolized you so much. It takes someone with a lot of conviction, and moral strength, to do something like that." She more than trusts me. She idolizes me. I didn't realize that I'd have this much affect here. "That, and you risked your very life for me." Bat's expression turned dead serious, "I have a lot to thank you for, Bruce."
He stepped forward and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "You don't need to thank me, Artie."
She hugged him fiercely, "All the same... Thank you." Diana was right. Artemis is worth saving. He felt shame spread through his limbs. I have no right to be upset about Diana's choice.
Diana watched as Iris, Jai, and Wally helped the ex-Lord Batman piece together the transporter. All of this advanced technology was way over her head, but Artemis' father had insisted that she join them. More likely to keep me from fretting about Bruce. She hadn't seen the man all day, and frankly, she'd begun to worry, again, that he'd changed his mind about her. She'd been so distracted by those thoughts that the others had had to repeat anything they said to her at least three times before she could understand them.
The sound of footsteps outside the hall drew her out of her dejected musings, but they were too light to be her Batman's. Too light to be any of the other Leaguers as well. Tommy.
She hadn't been around the boy much, but she couldn't help but think of how much he looked like Bruce. Aside from the blond hair, blue eyes, and lighter skin-tone, he looked just like the little boy in the Wayne family pictures that Alfred had once shown her. Just being around the other Batman's children made her ache for one of her own. And she wanted to share that with Bruce.
"Diana?"
She turned toward the boy, surprised that he'd actually addressed her. The entire time she'd been in this dimension, Artie's little brother had not said a single word to her. "Yes, Tommy?"
"Artie wanted me to tell you that she and Bruce are patrolling in Gotham tonight. She said that you shouldn't worry, 'cause she'll watch his back." He paused, "She also said that she's gonna talk some sense into him. Whatever that means."
Diana couldn't help a chuckle from escaping, "Thank you, Tommy. Are you okay?"
He nodded, still keeping his distance from her, "I guess. I'm glad that Dad's back, and that's he okay. And... he told me what you did for my sister. We owe you big time, huh?"
She shook her head, "No, you don't. Your sister would have done the same for me, had she been able too."
"Is there a reason why we're completely ignoring the East End?"
Batgirl didn't answer Bruce immediately. Not until she'd jumped over the alley and onto her favorite rooftop lookout in the Narrows. Batman was deathly quiet as he landed behind her.
"Well?"
"It's Bird territory."
"I thought Nightwing operated in Bludhaven."
"He does. I meant the Birds of Prey. And, before you ask, they're a team of superheroines. Oracle, the first Batgirl, is the leader."
"Your father actually allowed other heros into Gotham? Why?" There was just a hint of incredulity in his voice as he moved to stand beside her. He's almost as good at hiding his emotions as Dad is.
"He had no other choice. I already told you that crime spiked after your Luthor took the Lords' powers away. Daddy couldn't handle all of it by himself, so he restarted the League."
"That explains why your League is still in existence. But it doesn't answer my question."
She turned her head and regarded him seriously, "With... M-mom doing jail time, Daddy was basically a single parent to a toddler. He'd been taking care of Gotham by himself for a year after the Lords fell, but at a price. I'd gotten more comfortable around Alfred than him. It had gotten so bad that I refused to let my own father hold me." She turned to look down at the street, her clenched left fist resting lightly on the top of the fire escape. "I saw so little of him that he'd practically become a stranger to me. It was Barb who offered putting a team together to take up the slack so that he could spend more time with me. I'm glad she did. My family's practically inseparable now..." Except for the fact that Mom's gone.
She knew that Bruce was very aware of what she was thinking. But, thankfully, he said nothing about it. "Barbara picked people that your father trusted then."
Artemis tried very hard to keep herself from laughing hysterically. Only a snort escaped, "Actually, no. She picked people from Gotham to soften the blow, but the first two that she chose were Catwoman and her daughter."
This time, his composure left him completely. He gasped and his hand immediately latched onto her shoulder and he turned her to face him, "Selina Kyle is nothing more than a common criminal."
She glared right back at him, "Not anymore. After the League became the Lords, she'd begun plotting a resistance movement. Barb was part of it and she told me that you and your League showed up in the nick of time. Otherwise," she pulled out of his grasp and climbed onto the fire escape, "World War III would have started. And our world would probably have been destroyed."
Bruce was quiet for several minutes as he followed her into the alleyway. But not for long. "Who else did Oracle pick?"
"The second Black Canary. Dinah and Ollie's daughter. And I help them out on occasion, but I usually just work with my dad. We Bats are kinda reclusive. But then again, you already knew that."
No answer. But that was to be expected. She'd given him a lot to think about over the past hour, so she wasn't expecting another question from him for a while.
"Why did Barb give up being Batgirl?" I guess I should have expected that one, though.
"She didn't 'give it up'. She had no other choice."
"What do you mean?"
Artemis sighed. She really didn't want to get into this right now. It was Barbara's story, not hers. But, then again, Barb would agree that Bruce would need to know. To prevent the same thing from happening to the Barbara Gordon in his dimension. "Shortly before Superman murdered Luthor, Joker figured out my parents' identities. Which meant that he also knew the rest of the BatClan's." Artie settled herself on the lowest rung of another fire escape's ladder and met Bruce's eyes. She couldn't see his expression because of the mask, but she could tell by his posture that he was completely unsettled.
But he didn't interrupt her as she continued, "His choice target would have been me, of course, since I'm Batman's baby. But Joker knew that he stood no chance of getting past either of my parents, or the rest of the League for that matter, to get to me. So, he showed up at the door to Barb's apartment. She opened the door thinking that it was just one of her neighbors and he shot her in the stomach. The bullet went straight through her spine and he left her for dead."
"She's paralyzed like Jai, then."
Batgirl nodded, "Yes. Now, she's our tech expert. Because of her affinity for hacking, she finds things out before anyone else. Which is why we call her Oracle."
"What does Catwoman's daughter call herself?"
"Huntress."
I am so psyched! I went to the midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises and I'll have to say... It was the best Batman movie ever!
Please R&R.