"What?" Diana laughed despite herself, while thinking very fast. She had to get out of this. Think, she scolded herself. Think like Batman. Use your brain... instead of your braun...
Talia regarded her seriously. "You laugh, but I think it is because you're afraid I'm right." She drew herself up to full height. "Amazon... I am no fool. Batman loves you. I saw it myself. I saw the way he looked at you. And I knew."
Diana was at a loss. "You... what?"
Talia examined her fingernails.
It suddenly made sense; Bruce had seen Talia at the fair. It was the only explanation that made sense. It clicked into place. "You were... there?" Diana said incredulously more to herself, "Just how long have you been in Gotham?"
But Talia was in the mood to talk, not answer questions. "And now he will have to make a choice. Between you, and his city. The two things he loves most." A smile tugged at Talia's lips. "And when he does, we will be ready. He has already lost. But he will try. Oh, he does always try," her voice became fond, as she reached behind her back and pulled out a small dagger. "You are most vulnerable to piercing weapons, yes?..."
No. No. Diana could not let this happen. It would destroy him. Truly, surely, forever destroy him. She couldn't let this happen. She wouldn't. Her hands, tied tightly to the pillar began to twitch and shimmy among her restraints. An idea had sprung in her mind.
But she needed a second to wiggle her hands... not out of her restraints, but around this pillar she was tied to...Diana spoke strongly. "You would do this to your beloved?"
Talia's voice wavered from its manic certainty and she stopped her menacing walk towards Diana. "My... Beloved?"
"Yes," Diana coaxed, feeling slightly like vomitting in her mouth as her hands slid slowly, painfully around the pillar. "Isn't that what you call him?"
"I did," Talia said thoughtfully, twirling her knife expertly in her fingers. Diana let out a small sigh of relief at this reprieve but it was quickly taken away when, with a sudden motion, Talia lunged forward and stabbed Diana in the thigh.
The pain was immediate and intense, and Diana forgot her mission for a moment as she couldn't help but grit her teeth at the agonizing pain. She groaned, throwing her magnificent head back and squeezing her eyes shut.
"But he didn't think of me the same way, did he?" Talia snarled. "Stop trying to change my mind. This isn't about me. This is about revenge." As Diana panted, Talia took a step closer. "Do you know how my father and I could have saved this planet? It's too late for it to be saved now. Are you all happy?" she hissed in Diana's face.
"Not... at the moment," Diana managed to gasp.
Talia, with a casual smile on her face, stabbed Diana in the side. After watching Diana huff for a few seconds she sighed. "You know, this is less interesting than I thought it would be." She shook her head. "Perhaps it's best just to kill you now. I'm sure even you can't withstand being beheaded." Talia drew her knife back.
Diana squeezed her eyes shut tightly. Her hands were now planted on opposite sides of the beam she was tied to. As the knife came flashing down, she squeezed with all her might.
Hera, give me strength!
The pillar she was tied to exploded beneath the sheer power of her Amazonian strength. With nothing left to tie her to, her lasso restraint essentially became useless, and fell loosely down Diana's body until it hit the ground. She stopped the dagger just as it grazed her throat.
Looking up through her mussed hair, Diana saw Talia's eyes widen.
Still holding the dagger's hilt, Diana pushed back on it, causing the other woman to be thrown back several feet. The Amazonian stood shakily on two legs, ignoring the blood coursing steadily from her wounds down her side and dripping onto the tiled floor. All she saw was a haze of red anyway.
She stepped out of her lasso and flew out at Talia, who was currently in the process of getting up.
Talia made an "oomph" sound as Diana's head collided with her stomach and she flew her into the wall. Snarling in rage, Diana held her in place by the shoulder and elbowed her brutally in the gut.
Despite all this, Talia raised her head and laughed. "You're pathetic, Amazon. You think killing me will stop this?" Talia swung her leg around and hooked it behind Diana's head, kicking her entire body down. Diana fell to the floor, her reflexes weakened by her injuries.
"A minute ago you made it sound like killing me was the only way 'this' would happen," Diana growled. She swept her foot out, intending to trip up the other woman, but Talia was ready for it, and easily hopped over Diana's leg. Diana earned a stiff foot to her gut- dangerously close to her wound- for her trouble.
Before the pain had a chance to explode and make her see stars she grabbed Talia's offending foot and swung her down into the floor with her strength. Talia grunted, having made a dent in the floor. Any normal human would be in need of critical care at this point, but Diana knew Talia could take it. And a small savage part of her was glad. Talia dared? Talia dared try to harm the people she cared about? Her pain dulled into the background.
Diana hauled Talia up by her shirt until the two were face to face. Her righteous fury easily made Talia's face falter.
And suddenly Diana was struck by a long note of sympathy at the woman's brown eyes so close to hers. They told a story of desperation, madness, loneliness that she could never utter aloud. And Diana understood; suddenly, she understood.
"I," the Amazon whispered into Talia's face, "am sorry I have to do this." And with one, solid headbutt, the daughter of Al Ghul was unconscious, her head rolling on her shoulders.
Diana stood in the darkness of the warehouse for a few beats, finally feeling sympathy for this woman. Used, abused, cast aside all her life even though she showed nothing but adoration and devotion to those she loved. And all though she knew Batman hadn't meant to perpetuate that, perhaps that was how Talia saw it now. Talia was a strong woman who placed her faith in people, and then followed them to the ends of the earth and beyond.
And now here she was, brought to insanity and broken in Diana's arms because of her honorable traits. A strong woman like Talia should never have had to suffer, and most especially not at the hands of men.
Diana sighed and gently set Talia's body down to the floor. "Find peace, sister," she murmured.
At that moment, there was a creaking sound, that telltale of a door being opened, and a light flooded into the dark room. Diana turned to see an astonished looking Batgirl in full costume at the entrance. The two women stared at each other, the younger one taking in the scene with wide blue eyes.
"Wow... Am I ever late to the party..." Batgirl said finally.
A/N: I love Barbara! And I love Diana. I don't like how New52 portrays her, more often than not, as this war machine who just likes to punch stuff. In my opinion Diana's strongest asset is her compassion, not her fists, and I tried to show that here. You may not agree with Diana's sympathy for Talia. I'm not even sure I do. But I think, as an optimist, she tries to see the best in people before beating the crap out of them- or, in this case, after :P
Oh and one more thing- school has started again, but I've decided to keep going with the story. I lost my groove when I stopped writing this story for three months last year, and I don't want that happening again so I'm going to forge ahead and finish this off soon. Reviews are very appreciated! Thanks for reading!