Chapter 35: War Princess

Clark's weight was heavy on her should, but she landed and rushed through the entrance way to the medical bay where she gently placed Clark down on one of the beds. Gideon started getting to work. Bruce appeared then and asked her.

"What happened?"

"We got to where Roy said Harley Quinn was, and she and Clark spoke and just when we were about to leave with her, a gas descended upon us and knocked me and Clark out. When I came to Quinn was out and Clark was like this." Diana said.

"Gideon, report!" Bruce barked.

"Mr Kent's vitals are stable, Sir, but the gas he inhaled was filled with some minor form of kryptonite, enough to knock him out but not enough to do lasting harm. He will be out for a day or two." Gideon said.

"Kryptonite gas, like what the Joker used at the docks?" Diana asked turning to look at Bruce.

"It seems so. But the question is how did this happen?" Bruce murmured to himself.

"Let's go and find out." Diana said, a cloud of red rage descending over her. She turned and walked out of the medical bay and found Roy looking at something on the computer screens, he turned around at her approach and was about to say something when she picked him up by his front and threw him against the wall.

"What the fuck?!" Roy demanded.

Diana stalked over to him and lifted him and pinned him to the wall. "Did you know?"

"Did I know what?" Roy asked, his breathing sounded ragged.

"Did you know that what you sent us to was a trap? Did you know Quinn would escape?" Diana demanded.

"What? No, of course not. I thought she was going to be there and so I did the thing I thought was best." Roy said.

"After allowing her to be around since she fled the scene in Metropolis." Diana snapped. She stepped back and drew her lasso. "You cannot lie to the lasso of truth." She twirled it and then hooked him into it. It glowed a golden sheen.

Bruce appeared then, standing to the side, his expression blank. "How did you know that Harley Quinn was going to be where she was?"

"I'd been tracking her movements for a few weeks, ever since I got a tip off from an anonymous source that she was somewhere nearby. When I saw that she was close to the Hall of Justice, I knew I had to come and tell you guys." Roy said, he sounded like he was in pain and for a moment Diana was tempted to say he was lying, but then she noticed the gash on his throat.

"Why did you come and tell us?" Diana asked.

"Because it was the right thing to do. Quinn is a criminal." Roy said.

"Did Oliver and Dinah know where Quinn was before this?" Diana asked a sudden thought coming to her then.

"No, they only knew once I told them. And they encouraged me to go to Superman." Roy responded.

"Why didn't they come with you?" Diana asked.

"They said they were busy with something else. They were considering something else." Roy said.

Something about the way Roy had said that didn't sit well with her, but the lasso meant that a person could only speak the truth or they would suffer the consequences, so it seemed Harper was telling the truth.

"And did you know that it was a trap? That the moment Superman and I got to where Quinn was we'd be attacked by a gas filled with kryptonite?" Diana asked.

"No!" Roy said. "I didn't know that would happen."

Diana relaxed then, Roy hadn't suffered any other injuries since she'd put the lasso on him, so clearly he was telling the truth. She removed the lasso from his person and stalked off into the medical area, where she stood watch over Clark's form. She couldn't believe that they'd not thought something like this would happen. It had seemed too good to be true. Quinn would never come that easily, and the voice that had played out as the gas had descended had sounded like the Joker's but that was impossible, the man was dead. Clark had killed him.

She heard footsteps approaching and so she turned slightly, Bruce was standing in the doorway a querying look on his face. "Where were Barry and Hal?" He asked. "They went out with you, but didn't come back."

Diana frowned. "I don't know. They were there when we got to Quinn, but then they weren't there when I woke up."

"So, someone made them disappear." Bruce said thoughtfully.

"But who?" Diana asked.

"There are any number of people who could want that. Sinestro is one, but he's not left his prison since this all started. The Reverse Flash was still in his cell per Barry, so he's out." Bruce said.

A thought came to Diana then and she cautiously said. "It might not be someone we'd associate traditionally with villainy."

"What?" Bruce asked, though she could see that he was already thinking the same thing. "You think someone on our side, did it?"

"Yes. Think about it, if they have Quinn and they're using the same gas as the Joker they're clearly trying to create tension in the ranks." Diana said. "There's only two people we know capable of doing that."

Before Bruce could reply, there was a blur of red and gold and then Barry was standing before them. "You would not believe where we've just come from."

Hal was covered in blood and mud and as he landed he said. "I'm going to be having a very stern conversation with Constantine when this is all done."

"Constantine did this?" Diana exclaimed.

"Yes. It seems he's not very happy with Clark." Hal said.

"How did you escape?" Diana asked.

"I ran as fast as I could and pictured the Hall." Barry said.

"So, Constantine has joined the resistance then." Bruce murmured to himself.