Chapter 28: Silver Linings

They had thought that the damage had been done before. They had been wrong.

The Imperium had made their last desperate attack. They had hurt the city below, but nowhere near as much as the people from down there had managed to hurt them. They had done something the Imperium had not thought possible. They had found a way to sound the death bells for the entire energy cloud.

Moments ago the Imperium had felt despair that they might be facing an eternity trapped and alone within this cloud, without the power to do anything other than keep existing. Now they weren't even facing that. The cloud was falling apart, and when it did there was no future for them. There was no way out of this for the Imperium. Without any control, there was no hope for them. Their grave was dug as soon as that Earth weapon hit. Now all that was left to do was for them to lie down in it.

And they only had moments to do that, before the cloud forced them down.

They were dead. They knew it. There was no way around it. There was no sense in denying it. There was nothing that they could do any more to fight it. And so they accepted their fate, to such an extent that they weren't even ruing it. They didn't rue any of it, not that they had failed to defeat the Martians, to take over the Earth or find their way home.

They just took solace in one fact, one hope. It was what made death seem not quite so grim to them. It perhaps even made death their most important journey.

For they had hope that in death they may finally be reunited with their fallen leader in whatever lay beyond. And death was most certainly coming.

Although, perhaps, they had one other hope before they were gone. They could also hope that they might be taking all of those Martians with them...


Slowly M'vall began to exit her deep reverie, as all of her fellow Martians around her were similarly doing. They had done it. They had stripped the Imperium of their power. They had played their part in the plan that would see them have a chance of becoming corporeal again after so long in a purely mental realm. By all rights M'vall should have been feeling exceptionally happy right now.

And yet she was not. She wasn't happy at all. In fact, she was scared and angry, all at once. She felt betrayed. The human, the Bat Man, had promised them a way out if the Martians helped eradicate the Imperium threat. He had neglected to mention that his people out there on his planet were going to sentence them all to death while they were at it.

For that was exactly what had happened. Even in her deep meditative state M'vall had sensed it. Particularly, she had read the Imperium sensing it. She had read their fear, and their acceptance of an end. A final end. She knew before she even begun to feel the tremors rocking the entire environment that the cloud was doomed. It was dying, and it was dying fast, and all because the humans had attacked it before they were free. Worse, M'vall knew full well that when the cloud's last moment passed, all who were still inside it would be dying alongside it.

They were facing the end of all things, not just this. There were facing death, not life. Well, the Martian race had not survived near extinction and come this close to life only to be snuffed out now.

The Bat Man, the Wonder Woman, even J'onn J'onzz. They all had some explaining to do. And it had better be good, because M'vall was now definitely not ready to die.

Hope had made that far clearer to her than fear ever could.


The Imperium had ran. The Martians had clearly achieved their objective. By all means, the plan should now be in its home stretch. Yes, the last part was by no means easy, and it wasn't inherently without dangers, but with the Imperium now out of the picture both they and the cloud weren't a threat. They should now have had enough time to get the job done safely.

Only they didn't. Batman felt the entire cloud shake under his feet to such a degree he was almost sent sprawling. Maybe he would have been if Wonder Woman hadn't caught him and held him upright. Neither of them liked what had just happened. Both of them could figure out what it must mean. Something had happened in the outside world. Once before the cloud had developed quakes like the one that had just struck, when Superman and Captain Atom had been destroying it before they realised that there were people trapped inside of it. Now that the quakes had returned there could only be one reason.

The outside world was attacking again.

Both of them knew that it wouldn't be Superman assaulting the cloud this time around. He knew the plan and, unless another alien parasite had taken over his mind, there was no way that he would be taking an action that would get them killed. No, this must have been the work of the military, and for an attack by them to have gotten this far, Batman could deduce that it wouldn't be stopping any time soon either. It must have somehow made it through the Justice League, likely in the form of a missile delivery system. But that was irrelevant for now. The link to the core made it abundantly clear.

The cloud was dying. And it would be dying very soon.

"We're not going to catch a break today, are we?" Wonder Woman perfectly summed up exactly what Batman was feeling as the cloud continued to shake around them. It was pretty constant now.

"Its a good job we're not reliant on luck, Princess," Batman silently voiced his agreement. "I hope you weren't counting on taking a rest any time soon."

"You should know by now, Bruce. I can keep playing this game every bit as long as you can." And there, despite it all, despite all the pressures and threats that were facing them, Diana showed she was still able to display the lighter side of her personality. Even at times like these, she was still able to say just a few short words that made him feel like smiling. Normally of course, he would try to hide that. He would keep his face stern. He wouldn't let anyone else catch on. His face was unmoved this time too, but of course through their link Wonder Woman could sense every one of his thoughts. She knew what her little flirt had momentarily done to even his well trained mind. That was why, more than ever, Batman knew he had to press on with the mission.

"Good, because we've still a whole host of Martians to save, not to mention Metropolis," he said to her via his thoughts. "And we've now even less time to do it in."

There was no need for Wonder Woman to think anything in return to that. She knew the plan, and she knew the stakes. And despite all of that, she was not about to run away now to protect herself. She wouldn't be the person she was if that was in her make up. Just like Batman, she was in this until the end, whatever that end was. There would be no abandoning the others now. But that wasn't the only reason that she didn't reply.

It was Wonder Woman who spotted the movement first. Batman was unsure whether it was good news or not. For the Martians were stirring. They were waking up, and they weren't looking too happy. Batman soon realised why. Having been telepathically touching it as part of cutting the Imperium off, the Martians would surely have learned from the core that the cloud was dying, exactly as he and Diana had. No doubt they too would figure that the people of Earth were behind the cloud's grim fate. No doubt that would make them feel almost like the people of Earth were trying to kill them. They were already starting to look angry. Spotting Batman and Wonder still standing in front of them only seemed to make it worse.

"You!" M'vall practically screamed at the sight of them. She was already storming up to her feet, already marching on them. Her people were quickly following suit. In no time, the horde of Martians had Batman and Wonder Woman encircled, all looking at them accusingly. The fact that they too were all struggling to stay upright as the tremors continued to rumble all around them could well be used to justify those feelings. "You told us we would be safe! That if the plan was successful then we might live again! You lied! You lied to us! You've killed us!"

"No!" It was J'onn who had yelled this time, the one Martian who hadn't initially surrounded the two Earthlings. Now he had, forcing his way through the crowd to put himself between M'vall and his two friends. He too had to fight the tremors. They were getting stronger by the moment, just as their time to act was being lessened. "We haven't deceived you. This must all be a terrible misunderstanding, an accident! Most beyond this cloud will not know of your existence, or they will not believe it. The assault on the cloud will be defensive. They were protecting themselves, not attacking you. Believe me, we have not betrayed you!"

"All evidence appears to point to the contrary, J'onn J'onzz!" M'vall turned to argue with him. She was spitting with every word, her voice was full of such anger. "We have not come this far to be denied now. You have taught us to be brave again, taught us again to fight for what's right. Do not think that we will be afraid to do exactly that right n–!"

"There's no need for any of that," Batman bluntly cut in, drawing M'vall's glare to him. He ignored it. "We can still all make it out of here alive, but we have to act fast. Fighting amongst ourselves helps nobody. So choose now. If you want to die, then keep acting exactly as you are. You'll never make it out of here if you do."

"You have to trust us," Wonder Woman joined in, using her rather more compassionate tact. "I know you doubt us right now, but if we had lied to you we wouldn't still be here. If we had deceived you, we would have fled the cloud as soon as the fatal blow was struck. But we're still here because we know we can still save you. Even if you don't believe that, though, you can sure believe this. The only chance any of you have of surviving is to trust us to get you out of here. You can't make it out of here without us."

Silence fell after that. M'vall's face was twitching, looking like she was thinking things she didn't want to think. The other Martians were keeping quiet, as they always did, what with M'vall their trusted spokeswoman, though no doubt they were telepathically giving her their opinions. Either way, this was taking too long. Batman was usually good with patience, but now even he didn't have time for it. It was time to force the issue. He did so with a single word that spoke volumes, a single word that said 'either talk or we'll leave you behind'.

"Well?"

M'vall's face twitched a little more, but Batman's word had done the trick. Faced with no alternative, at long last, she relented. She didn't sound too happy, but she had no choice. She, too, stated her point plain and simply, but she did so with a growl.

"How do we proceed?"

"Fast. Exactly as planned, only now on a much shorter timetable," Batman was quick to answer. He wanted this part of the episode done as quickly as possible. They all needed that. "With the Imperium out of the way, Wonder Woman and I shall use our link to the core to recreate your bodies from the what physical element this cloud still contains, before transferring your consciousnesses into them. To speed that along, you should all return to a meditative, telepathic state. It will make it easier to move your consciousnesses over. Other than that you just have to wait for us to do our part, and to avoid fighting what we're doing."

He made no mention of the Imperium's fate as part of the plan. Truth be told, that was already sealed. There just wouldn't be enough physical matter in the cloud to save them as well, even if they wanted to. Batman being Batman, he probably would have done too. But things as they were, he knew who was most deserving of survival.

"And don't worry, either," Wonder Woman added as soon as Batman finished. "We won't let you down."

Batman knew what she was thinking, even without their connection this time. She was trying to keep the Martians calm. They would all need to keep a cool head throughout this. Still, it made his eyes tighten towards his trademark glare. This also wasn't the time to be downplaying the situation. There was every chance that none of them would make it through this. M'vall was clearly thinking along the same lines.

"I wish I could believe that, but we have no option but to follow your plan, do we?" she commented, still sounding unhappy but no longer aggressive. "We will do as you say. If we survive this, then you will have our eternal gratitude, and an apology for our accusation. If."

That was enough of a signal for the rest of the Martians. They all began to drop back, halting their circling of Batman and Diana and falling back to were they had been knelt before. One by one they began to meditate, to send their minds outwards telepathically to nowhere in particular. Last of all of them, M'vall fell back to the others and matched their actions. She said nothing more verbally as she went, but the look that she cast back towards them was clear enough. It spoke volumes of just how unhappy she was to be leaving the fate of her entire race in their hands. Regardless, she was now following the plan. That was all that Batman needed. He didn't need her to like it.

But there was still one Martian left. J'onn hadn't joined his fellows. Of course, he didn't need a new body creating. His situation was different to rest. However, the most important part was still the same. J'onn still needed to get out of here alive.

"You too, J'onn," Batman instructed him. Just like the other Martians, J'onn's mind would need shifting out of here. Just like the others, him being in a meditative state would help that process. He was soon nodding his acceptance, but unlike M'vall he didn't depart without a few closing words.

"Thank you. Thank you both for doing this. Despite what M'vall has claimed, you are both heroes of the Martian race already. I know this task will be dangerous for you. I can only wish you luck."

Wonder Woman took a moment to give J'onn a quick hug. J'onn's words were both encouraging and meaningful to her and she wanted to express that. Truth be told Batman was glad to hear them too, but his focused mind meant that he would never react to it as Diana did.

"See you on the other side, J'onn," she said as she soon released him, smiling as she did so.

J'onn smiled too, though Batman could see it was slightly forced. J'onn was worried. He knew that what they had planned would require a lot of effort. He knew there was every chance that he might not see Batman and Wonder Woman alive again. That was probably why he lingered a moment before he, too, took up a meditating posture beside his fellow Martians.

"You could play a little nicer, Bruce," Diana commented through her thoughts as soon as J'onn made the move. "They need the hope."

"And we need the time," Batman countered. As if to sure up his point, the quakes got suddenly even more vibrant. They really didn't have long. Regardless, since he had got her into this, Batman felt that Wonder Woman deserved to know the risks, even if he knew they wouldn't matter to her. "Reverse engineering the Martians' bodies from the solid part of the cloud will not be easy. Throw in both transferring their minds and moving the dying cloud away from Metropolis and we have quite a task on our hands. It'll take a lot of energy, and a lot of concentration. With time we may have been able to compensate for that. Without it, our job just gets a whole lot more dangerous. We're going to be de-constructing the same core that our minds are linked to, and we'll be doing so in a hurry. No one can know for sure what will happen, but the possibilities can't be ignored. What we have to do may prove too much. It's possible that this may kill us, either outright or by trapping us here as the cloud dies. Even if it doesn't, our minds might not make it out in one piece."

Wonder Woman looked him straight in the eyes of his cowl as he was thinking the words. It was almost as if she could see beyond them. For years Batman had lived his life of guilt, of fears he had fought for a long time to battle through. They were the kind of fears that could have been paralysing if he had let them be. They were the fears of what his actions might mean for his allies, that he might get them killed. His last eight months of training had helped him to bury them away more than ever, but burying things didn't completely eradicate them. He hadn't knowingly thought about it, but that fear was there now. That was why he had to explain things to her. He was scared that he was about to get Diana killed. And while he didn't recognise it himself straight away, Diana clearly did. She placed her hands on either side of his face, as if to stress the bond that had grown between them. When she responded she even spoke aloud again, despite communicating via thoughts having immediately become second nature following their linking in the core of the cloud.

"Bruce, I know that this isn't going to be easy, but I also know that we have to do this. Together. Back when you first told me the plan, you said that you were glad that I was here to do this with you, to be at your side when you faced these risks. Well I don't want to be anywhere else. I want to be right here, at your side, sharing the risk. Bruce, after all we've been through, after all its taken to get us this far, this is only apt. Right now, we'll share our fate."

"Princess–" Batman began to say something, but Wonder Woman was clearly on a roll that she wasn't ready to stop. Despite the ongoing shockwaves threatening to tear the entire cloud apart, she pressed on, acting almost like none of that was even happening.

"No, Bruce, listen to me. I know we'll have our issues. I know that despite our feelings there's still plenty to figure out. An Amazon warrior and a rich kid with issues are hardly going to live the fairy tale. But before we do this I want you to know, just in case we don't make it out in one piece. I want you to know that I don't regret anything, except for the fact that it took us both so long to get this far. If we die here today, I will be contempt in the fact that I at least got to learn of what might have been. I admit that when I first left Themyscira I had many preconceptions about you men. In a lot of cases they have held true, but certainly not for you, not in the large part anyway. Along with others, you've shown me the true goodness of men. Its a message I have begun to pass on to my Amazon sisters, a message which I hope will one day lead to a greater harmony between all. But really its been a message about you. About how even in the darkest corners of Man's World there lies goodness, compassion, love. And a desire to fight to hold onto such things. You've shown that to me today more than ever. Bruce, I'm so glad that you came back when you did. If this is to be our last stand, I'm so glad that we get to do it together. In spite of what you sometimes tell yourself, you truly are a wonderful man. And you're very deserving of this Amazon's love."

And she meant every word of it too. She really did. To say that Batman felt honoured was an understatement, especially to be praised in terms of Themysciran values. More than that though, he couldn't stop love filling his own heart again. Damn it, how did she manage to always do that to him? He had given up on such things long ago. Or he had thought he had, before Wonder Woman had left her Paradise. From day one things there had begun to change. He had immediately become fascinated with her and as time passed that fascination had only grown into something far stronger. And now here they were today, possibly facing the end. But they were doing so together. Even if they hadn't had the chance to live that life, she had already done so much for him. She had brought so much light to his life, even more purpose. In short, the words "I love you too" simply wouldn't cut it. Besides, as the old adage says, actions speak louder than words. Especially when Diana could already read all of the thoughts that had run through his head.

And so he acted. He wrapped his arms around her, moving in for the most meaningful kiss of his life...

Only for Diana to push him away. At first Batman didn't understand. At first his paranoia was kicking in. Then he saw her smile.

"Despite everything I just said Bruce, no one manhandles me."

And barely had she said the words than she was pulling him in close. Before he knew it, she was kissing him, deeply, full of passion. It only took him a second to return it.

Unfortunately a second was all they head. The ongoing quakes of the cloud falling apart were the signal of that. They still had a job to do, a job that could save their lives as well as those of so many others. They had a city and an entire race to save. And with time against them, they had to get to work.

And so that was exactly what they did. Using their minds, both Batman and Wonder Woman utilised the core. The accessed the control central, began to issue the commands to fight Death himself.

And yet, all the while, they never broke apart. If this was the end, then being in each others embrace was exactly how they both wanted to go.


A/N:

Originally planned this as only the halfway stage of the Chapter, but it got longer and more important content wise so I decided to stick it in as a beast in its own right. Every proper BatWondy moment deserves its place in the foreground after all! Don't worry, though. The resolution is coming...

As usual, review/favourite/follow! Especially the first one. Please?

And for anyone interested, the note at the end of the last chapter is still valid...