DIANA POV

Diana was flying at full speed through the Gotham sunset above Wayne Tower when she heard a cry from below.

She looked down and, with her enhanced vision, saw a purse-clutching woman encircled by four men in the alley behind the Biscuits and Tea restaurants Bruce had brought her to.

On autopilot, she changed direction and headed down, tuning into the conversation below.

"No, no, no please I'm begging you," the woman cried. "I can't give you this money. I can barely support my daughter. Please!"

One of the men, wearing a red hoodie, casually flicked a pocket knife out of his pocket. "Aw, that's really too bad," he cooed as he put his other hand on the shuddering woman's shoulder. "But maybe we can make a different arrangement, eh, fellas?" His tone made Diana's skin crawl.

"I agree," Diana boomed from above. All the men looked up to see the Amazon warrior floating above them. If the slackening jaws and terrified faces were any indication, Diana's anger was quite apparent on her face.

Diana didn't leave any more room for words; she dove in with a battle cry. The men scattered. Diana grabbed the one that had touched the woman by the arm and swung him into the next one running towards her. They both fell with heavy grunts. The last one that had the courage to try to fight her was running at her from behind. Diana waited until he was almost upon her, then bent her knees and ducked, grabbing his arm and throwing him over her shoulder. He sailed across the alley for several feet before he crashed into the dumpster.

Diana looked around for the last one, and spotted him running as fast as he could from the scene. Diana was impressed; at least one of them had enough intelligence to override their testosterone and acknowledge they could not defeat her.

She had only taken a single step in that direction, unwinding her lasso as she went, when another shadow leaped out in front of the man and front-kicked him in the stomach hard enough for him to stumble and fall.

Diana squinted in the gloom in order to see who it was that had stopped the would-be mugger. The figure was clad in black leather and wore high heel boots, red painted lips, and goggles perched on her head that looked almost like ears...

"Selina Kyle," Diana mused aloud.

"Bingo," called Catwoman's sultry voice as she backhanded the man across the face when he started stirring.

Satisfied that the immediate threat was gone, Diana turned back to the victim, who hadn't moved from where she stood. "These men will be made to pay for their crimes. Go home, my sister," she gently prodded, putting a hand on the shaking woman's shoulder. "Would you like me to escort you?"

"N-no," stammered the woman, still clutching her purse in a death grip. "It's just around the corner. Thank you." She turned and tottered off.

Diana watched the woman leave; a tinkling laugh filled the void behind her, so, unable to avoid it, Diana finally turned back around.

Catwoman straightened, a saucy hand placed on her hip. "I've been watching you fight. You got moves, Wonder Woman."

Diana offhandedly began wrapping her lasso around her hand. "Call me Diana. Shouldn't you be in jail?"

Catwoman pouted. "I just saved your life. Cut me a break." She slowly approached, and Diana had to admire the easy, sensual confidence with which this woman walked. It was not a demeanor that she had seen many women in Man's World have, and she suddenly felt a certain admiration for the woman in front of her.

"That's a bit of an overstatement," Diana huffed with a small smile, "but thank you anyway. I'll let you go just this once, Sister. But if I see you again, I won't hesitate to hand you over."

Catwoman merely smiled at the warning. "You're tough as nails, Wondy." There was a touch of respect in the other woman's voice that for some reason surprised Diana. "I can see why Bruce likes you."

Diana, who had made to fly off, gave a little start at that. She racked her memory quickly. Did Catwoman know his identity?

Her question was answered at Selina Kyle's next words. "He's a bit of a softy himself; he's my friend, you know. He doesn't act like the brightest crayon in the box sometimes but he's a sweetheart. Treat him right." Her voice held a small warning. Diana could see that she cared for Bruce, but almost laughed at the words. It didn't help when Catwoman added in lighter tones, "But don't you dare go after Batman just because he's in your little league of superheroes. He's mine."

Diana couldn't keep herself from grinning. "You can keep him, if he'll have you." She didn't wait to see how Selina reacted to that before she took off.

She was several feet into the air when she heard a resounding crash from below and a yelp. Turning, Diana saw that Selina's body was slung across the dumpster on the other end of the street. She looked to be unconscious.

Heart leaping, Diana landed and ran towards the other woman without thinking about anything else. "Selina!" she shouted. Catwoman's forehead was bleeding; a trickle of blood fell down the slope of her pale cheek. Frantically, Diana picked up the other woman's limp hand and felt her pulse. Still there. What had just happened? Diana turned around, scanning the street, but saw too little, too late.

Wham! A strong hand came out of nowhere and backhanded her across the face. Diana's head whipped back. It was a crazy strong blow. She turned instantly to face her attacker, falling into a defensive stance.

Talia Al Ghul stood in front of her, wearing all black and hands on hips. A small smirk played on her face.

Surprise slackened Diana's stance, giving Talia another opportunity to hit her in the stomach.

Pulling herself back up, Diana blocked the next kick swung at her head. Talia was surprisingly strong. "I thought you were dead," Diana gasped.

Talia paused in her attack to smile wickedly. "Famous last words of my father's enemies." And she proceeded to lunge.

Diana was unnerved by how Talia did not seem to want to talk- although Diana did not know her very well, it seemed very unlike her to keep attacking blindly. There was something almost... unbalanced, in the other woman's eyes. Diana didn't know what it was. And how had she gotten so strong? Physically? She was nearly as strong as Diana herself. These questions flew through her mind, but she pushed them aside in favour of her battle instinct.

"Talia-" she grunted, fending off attacks. "Why are you doing this? Stop!"

Diana swung a hook punch at the other woman, but Talia caught it, and, crushing her wrist in her hand, produced a syringe with the other. Before a very shaken Diana could do more than widen her eyes, Talia had plunged it into her neck.

"Never," Talia hissed.

Diana's lids felt very, very heavy all of a sudden. Talia let go of her, a satisfied look on her face.

Perhaps she didn't anticipate Diana's strength; she grabbed Talia by the neck, startling her. "What did you do to me?" Diana seethed, even as her vision wavered and she staggered on her feet.

She got no answer. Even her grip on Talia's throat slackened, and the world went black.

SUPERMAN POV

Superman stood, arms folded, on the Daily Planet's roof with The Question madly pacing beside him. It was getting a little irritating, but Superman would never actually say that to him.

"Any news?" he said into his comm link.

"Negative," reported Shayera with a sigh. "I'm tailing this shipment truck like you said, but it really doesn't seem like anything is going down... we'll check it out though."

Superman ground his teeth together. The frustration was building in him, and the more hours passed, the less sure he was that he really and truly knew what was going on. He felt like he was being played somehow, but for the life of him couldn't figure out why.

For an odd beat of a moment, he missed Batman's uncanny instinct in times like this.

He pressed his comm to link with someone else. "And Gotham? Are you patrolling?"

"Yup. Things have been nuts," sighed Green Arrow. "But I think we've got a handle on things now. How crazy exactly did Bats get for this to happen?"

The question seemed more of a rhetorical question but Superman couldn't help the twinge of worry in his chest. He pushed it aside for now. Diana had assured him she would make sure he was okay. He could focus on this right now.

"Hawkgirl to Superman," Shayera interrupted his thoughts.

He snapped back into the present and leaned forward subconsciously. "What do you have for me, Hawkgirl?"

The frustration was evident in her voice as she said, "Absolutely nothing. This truck has nothing inside but stuffed animals and the driver doesn't seem to have any idea what we're talking about. I even threatened him with my mace and he's still not talking. This is ridiculous. Why are we chasing toys around Metropolis? Who even carries a truck full of stuffed animals?"

In the distance, Superman heard Supergirl say, "To be fair, this is a Toys R Us truck."

"Never mind that," Superman said impatiently. "Do we have any other leads?"

"Not really," Shayera admitted. "But Superman... we'll solve this. We're not going to let your city burn." Her voice took on a softer tone as she said those words.

Superman sighed. "Thanks, Hawgirl. Superman out." He tapped his comm and turned to Question, who was still lurking quietly beside him. "I don't understand. What is going on?" he wondered aloud.

Question, who hadn't said a word until now, paused in his pacing to turn his blank face in Superman's direction and quietly said, "Maybe, nothing..."

A/N: Okayy wow it took me a long time to get this up because of some stuff happening in my life at the moment, and I'm still not happy with it! Fail on my part. Next chapter will be very fun for all the characters... haha not. I'll try and make that one longer and post it faster. R & R... you are all much appreciated by me... and on that note Merry Christmas, and if you don't celebrate, happy holidays!