Chapter 21
J'onn and Clark were in the Founders Hall on the Watchtower at 9:45 a.m. talking quietly with each other as Batman and Shayera set up their tactical slides and handouts in preparation for the Founders' meeting at ten when Vixen stormed in. Alone.
"Vixen," J'onn said, raising his eyebrow. "Were you unable to rouse the Green Lantern?"
"He's in the commissary getting coffee," she said briskly as she strode over to Batman and Shayera. "We need to have a word," she said coldly to the two heroes. It was Shayera's turn to raise a silent eyebrow.
"So have a word," Batman said back, equally cold but also impassive behind his cowl.
"You really want to do this here?" Vixen said, motioning her arm to Clark and J'onn, who were looking uncomfortably curious.
"Do what?" Shayera said impatiently. "If you have something to say to us, just say it, Mari."
"Thanks for being an asshole?" Vixen said sarcastically. "Ring any bells?" Shayera made the unfortunate mistake of snorting in amusement and Batman's lips twitched in matching mirth.
"Oh, you think that's funny?" Vixen said, stepping closer to them and beginning to crowd their personal space. "You think it's funny to attack the most loyal, dedicated, hard-working member of this League? John would sacrifice anything for either one of you!" she snapped.
The Flash's jaw dropped as he stepped through the doorway and heard Vixen's words. He glanced at Clark and J'onn in a panic before silently backing out of the room, turning and running off in a blur as soon as he was clear of the door.
"John would do anything for this League, no matter how you all treat him, because he has principles," Vixen was continuing in a low, angry voice. "You would never see John stabbing his friends in the back like this," she said with vicious accusation. "No matter how angry he was at you, John would never stoop this low. He didn't even vote you out of the League, Shayera!" Vixen said angrily.
"No," Shayera said coldly, "he just told Batman that he shouldn't be dating me because John might want me for himself one day if things between you two don't work out." Vixen laughed in disbelief.
"You're going to hold what the man said when he was angry and hurt against him?" she said. "And do something so childish and petty to wound him?"
"He was being an asshole," Batman said calmly.
"We said 'thank you,'" Shayera grinned.
"John was being the asshole?" Vixen said sarcastically. "You think John was the asshole? You're his war buddy!" she said to Batman accusingly. "Or as good as. And you didn't even talk to him about dating his ex!" Batman huffed.
"It just happened," he glowered at her. "And last time I checked, who I date is none of his business. What, was I supposed to call and ask his permission first in between making out with Shy and fucking her?" Shayera snickered and the corner of Batman's lips quirked up in response.
"You were supposed to respect the fact that he's your friend," Vixen said seriously, putting her hands on her hips. "And that he trusted you, Batman. You had every opportunity to call him and tell him privately the next day. And instead, he had to hear it from someone else. In public!"
"It's just sad," she said with disgust, "that he matters so little to you that you couldn't be his brother when he needed you to be," she said. "Because John thinks the world of you and he would never have treated you like this."
"He told me not to date Shy!" Batman said in frustration. "And he was treating her like shit. Maybe he should have had more respect for her if he didn't want to get an asshole card."
Vixen shook her head slowly at him.
"When has John ever disrespected Shayera?" she said. "Really, when? Tell me. What he said to you privately after you embarrassed and hurt him doesn't count and you know it." She looked at Shayera. "And you know it, too," she said in a tone that didn't brook disagreement.
Shayera's green eyes flashed with guilt and she dropped them to the floor, crossing her arms over her chest uncomfortably. Batman grunted. Reluctantly.
"It was just that he went off on Batman like that," Shayera said quietly after a long pause.
"And he was attacking Shy," Batman mumbled.
"I swear to God, you two are children," Vixen muttered under her breath, pressing an elegant hand to her head.
"Now you know how we feel," Clark said dryly from behind her, his super-hearing not missing her quiet comment.
"Indeed," J'onn rumbled. "The parenting support group meets tonight at seven," he said. "We'll save you a seat."
Vixen began to quietly chuckle before turning her head to regard Clark and J'onn with a twinkle in her dark eyes.
"You poor dears," she said to them sympathetically as Batman huffed. Her eyes shot back to him, cold and hard again.
"Grow. Up." she said sharply to him and Shayera. "John is a good man and you hurt him."
"I'll… apologize," Batman grumbled out with perhaps a hint of shame in his voice.
"Me, too," Shayera said quietly, with more regret apparent. Vixen held their gaze for another few disquieting seconds before firmly nodding her head and spinning on her heel to walk away. But she tenderly hugged Clark and then J'onn before making her exit, rolling her eyes up to heaven as they embraced and getting knowing looks in return.
Meanwhile, down in the commissary, John was filling up an extra large tumbler with black coffee when Diana walked in and noticed him.
"Oh! John," she said, slightly nervously. "Could we talk for a minute?" John sighed heavily.
"Does it have to be right now?" he asked her grumpily. "My head is killing me."
"Another time, then," Diana said quickly, turning away from him as she filled her own mug. A pang of guilt went through John's chest.
"No, I'm sorry," he said, reaching out to touch her arm. "What did you want to talk about, Princess?" he asked her, striving for at least a neutral tone.
"Well - could we sit down for a minute?" she asked him. John nodded and she followed him to a table with her mug of coffee in hand. He thoughtfully dissolved the dark glasses that he had fashioned for his face so that he could look her in the eyes, and the hint of openness in that gesture gave Diana courage.
"I know it took us some time to bond when we first formed the League," Diana said cautiously, "but I feel that we've become friends since then. And… it troubles me that my relationship with Lex is coming in between our friendship," she finished more softly. "If there's anything I can do to reassure you, John…" she trailed off. John sighed, thinking of how he'd felt last night after getting Batman and Shayera's unexpected card.
"I'm sorry I haven't been kinder to you, lately," he said heavily. "I don't agree with you dating Lex. But… I shouldn't have been so rude about it." Diana blinked and gave him a tiny smile.
"Thank you, John. That means a lot to hear you say that," she said. He nodded at her. "Is there anything I can do?" she asked him, though. "I know it will take time to trust in Lex's sincerity, but he really is changing for me." John rubbed his jaw, looking for the right words.
"Diana," he said finally. "I'm a military man. Marine through and through. You believe that people can change. I've never had that luxury. In the desert, you don't have space for hopes and wishes and pretty fairy tales. You have one job - to protect your own."
"That's all I know how to do and to be honest, that's all I want to do," John said. "If you let your guard down for one second out there, your brother could be bleeding out next to you. I don't want that for you. I don't want that for the League. I can't be who I'm not," he said.
Diana's blue eyes had filled with some tears and were softly shining at him with empathy.
"You've lost a lot of friends," she gently intuited. John tightened his jaw and nodded as he looked away for a minute.
"In my line of work," he said finally, looking back at her, "there are lines you don't cross. There are sacrifices you make. It's the nature of the mission. It's the role of the few and the proud. If it were up to me, you wouldn't be allowed to date Lex and stay in the League."
"But you let Shayera stay after the Thanagarian invasion," Diana said softly.
"I recused myself from the vote," John muttered, but they both knew that he didn't have a problem with Shayera's continuing role in the League.
"How is she different?" Diana persisted.
"She was a soldier who had a military mission," John said. "She was kept in the dark about its consequences for life on Earth. She chose to go against her own people to save us. Lex…" he paused.
"Lex is an evil genius bent on world domination who has gone up against the Justice League time and time again, of his own initiative," John said. "He's tried to murder Superman on multiple occasions. He thrives on schemes and plots and deception and he's so nefarious that his cover operations have cover operations."
"Does that mean he's incapable of changing?" John said as Diana chewed her lip. "My Nana would say that everyone is capable of being a better person today than they were yesterday. But for a League member to willingly date someone like Lex?" John shook his head. "The risks are too great and his track record is too poor." Diana sighed.
"It's not my call, though," John said, standing up as he looked at the clock. "But I'll try not to ruin our friendship over it anymore," he said as Diana stood, too. "All right?"
"Ok," Diana said with a slightly sad smile, but she moved and gave him a hug, which took John off guard. He and the Princess had never been touchy-feely types of friends. Maybe it was from being hungover, or from his distress over Bats and Shayera, or maybe it was because hugging Mari that morning had felt so nice, but John found himself actually leaning into the hug a little bit and giving the Amazon a tight squeeze.
"It's not that I want you to be unhappy," he said as they separated.
"I know," Diana said as she moved beside him to walk down to the Founders' Hall together.
"Trust me, I'd much rather Batman was dating you than Shayera," John said and Diana spluttered into laughter.
"I bet you would," she mused.
"Seriously, though, Diana," John said as they walked. "If Lex does anything out of the ordinary or something that worries you, will you come to me? I promise not to overreact," he said holding his hands up. "But I know things with you and Batman are complicated right now and you might not want to go to him with concerns about your new boyfriend. I can be a go-between," he said.
"Lex might count on you not wanting to tarnish his reputation by raising our suspicions over little things that could add up to be significant. Just in case he is trying to deceive you." Diana sighed.
"That's wise," she said diplomatically. "I'll keep you in the loop, John," she said. "I promise. I do take our League security very seriously," she said. "But Lex hasn't done anything so far except carry through on his promises to reform."
"Just in case," John said and Diana nodded.
"Aquaman worried me last night, though," Diana said. "I was going to bring it up at the Founders' Meeting." John raised an eyebrow.
"What happened?" he said.
"Lex and I went down to the docks together to give him the nuclear codes," Diana said. "And Aquaman asked me and Lex to work with him to steal more nukes that he could squirrel away underwater for safekeeping."
"Seriously?" John said in surprise.
"Yes," Diana said, frowning more. "And he suggested that we do it without the Justice League's knowledge."
"That's somewhat alarming," John said. "Lex wasn't on board with it?"
"Oh, no, not at all," Diana laughed. "And Aquaman didn't want them for an arsenal. He wanted them so he could protect the planet from the threat of nuclear weapons ever being used. The radiation from the fallout would destroy the oceans."
"But he wanted you to steal them," John clarified.
"He likes to do things his own way," Diana said dryly. John grunted.
"Talk about someone who's difficult," he muttered and Diana laughed in agreement.
Just as they rounded the corner, they met Vixen who was on her way out of Founders' Hall. John chuckled.
"Did they cower in fear before my strong, supportive woman?" he asked her, pulling her into a kiss as Diana looked on curiously. Mari smirked.
"You know it," she said proudly. "I got your back, babe," she said, and John's eyes looked truly happy for once as he smiled at her.
"Thank you," he said quietly. She gave him one more quick kiss.
"Let me know if they don't grovel enough," she called over her shoulder as she proudly strutted away with a little wave to Diana.
"What was that about?" Diana asked him as the Flash came down the hallway and sped to a stop behind them.
"Is it safe to go in yet?" Wally asked them, nervously hiding behind Diana and John's shoulders and forcing them ahead of him into Founders' Hall.
"What?" Diana said, even more confused. But John chuckled.
"Mari just left," he told Wally, who breathed a sigh of relief.
"I can't take this stress anymore," Wally moaned, slinging his arms over both of their shoulders so he could walk in between them. "Thank goodness you two are talking again," he said cheerfully. "Everything's better between you?"
"Well, everything's respectfully friendly," Diana said, glancing at John, who nodded his agreement with a little smile.
"Good," Wally sighed.
"Oh, Wally," Clark called out to him as they entered the room. He picked up a large box from the conference table and handed it to him. "I brought you a triple chocolate cake from that fancy bakery by the Daily Planet."
"Gee, thanks, big guy!" Wally said with pleasure. "Just for me?" he asked him curiously.
"Just for you," Clark said firmly. J'onn smiled.
"It is from both of us," the Martian Manhunter said. "Because you are our favorite child," he said loudly, looking around the room at the other four founding members, who had the good grace to look somewhat abashed.
"Aww, Dads," Wally said. "Come here," he said, giving them both hugs and sloppy kisses on the cheeks.
Diana giggled and moved to sit down at the table as Batman and Shayera slowly walked over to John.
"John," Shayera started out guiltily. "I'm sorry," she said, meeting his eyes with regret before letting them fall back to the floor in shame. Batman sighed heavily. John looked at him, his facial expression not giving anything away. Because he and Shayera had history, and had hurt and hurt alike many times over, and her lashing out hadn't cut so deep.
But Batman? John didn't want to give away how deeply the Dark Knight had pained him. Especially if the man couldn't even bring himself to give a decent apology. But Batman rallied himself, let out something between a growl and a groan and - holy shit, wrapped his arms around John and hugged him tight.
"I'm sorry I suck at relationships," Bats muttered in his ear. "You deserve a better friend."
"Not gonna argue with that," John choked out sarcastically against Batman's kevlar-covered shoulder as he blinked hard to keep his tears at bay. The Bat sighed but kept holding him for a minute longer.
"I'll do better," he said gruffly.
"Ok," John said thickly, meeting his eyes as Bats released him. Bruce hesitated.
"I might not always know what better is," he said.
"Well," John said, clearing his throat as they moved to sit at the table, "I know Mari will be more than happy to explain it to you. As needed."
Was that a shiver that passed through the Bat? John couldn't help but laugh a little bit as the rest of the Founders seated themselves to begin the meeting. He pulled his phone out to send a quick text to Mari.
Thanks, baby, he wrote, adding a little heart afterwards. Which was not like him. But he was feeling it this morning.
Anytime, boo, Mari wrote back.
