Chapter 16

Watchtower (MU)

"Shay!" Wally called as he jogged down the hallway.

Shayera looked over her shoulder to find Wally chasing after her. She stopped to wait for him, Flash suddenly appearing at her side in less than a blink of an eye. "What's up?"

"Have you heard from Wondy at all?" he asked.

"No," she replied with a shake of her head. "I haven't tried contacting her yet."

"You haven't?" he said. "I've tried like sixty times, but she doesn't respond."

Shayera frowned at him as she resumed walking. "We're not supposed to contact her yet," she reminded him. "Batman and Superman both agreed we needed to give her time."

Wally's shoulders sunk as he fell in step next to her. "I know, but I couldn't help it," he confessed. "She was gone for so long and I was just too anxious to talk to her. I really missed her."

"I know," she agreed. "I actually did try to contact her once, but she didn't answer me either."

"You did?"

"Yes, but if questioned, I'll deny it," she insisted.

"Oh, yah…totally," he said. "I wish we knew how she was doing. I think we at least deserve some sort of an update."

"Actually, I was going to track down Superman to see if he knew anything," she revealed.

"I'll come with you," he told her. "I hope she's okay. I can't stand the thought of her being all brokenhearted and crying."

"I know, but Diana is strong," she pointed out. "If anyone can find a way through it, it's her."

"Well, she's been back for over a week now," he replied. "I'm hoping we can at least visit her sometime soon."

"Do you honestly think Batman is going to let us into his house to visit her?"

"Probably not, but I'm sure if I bug him enough, he'll eventually cave," Flash suggested.

"Or dismember you," she quipped.

"Yah, there is that risk, isn't there?"

"Bigger than you might think," she reminded him. "You know Bats isn't going to handle seeing Diana pregnant with another man's baby very well. This could really send him over the edge."

"I don't know," Flash thoughtfully replied. "I think we're selling Bats short. He really loves her. He might just prove us all wrong."

"I hope so because if he doesn't, Diana might leave for Themyscira and never come back."

Flash grabbed her by the arm, abruptly stopping her in the hallway. "You really think Wondy might leave and never come back?"

"There's always that possibility," she told him. "She had a taste of what life could be like with Bruce. She might not be able to get over the death of the other Bruce. She might just give up on our Bruce and leave."

"No, she can't do that," he insisted with a frown. "We care about her too. She can't leave us just because Bats can't get his head out of his butt."

"Time will tell," she said as he walked past him.

"But…she can't!" he exclaimed as he caught up to her once more. "I need to talk to her right away and tell her not to leave us. She left us once and it was unbearable. I can't stand the thought of her leaving us again."

"I know, but it's not our decision to make," she reminded him. "Besides, we don't even know for sure if she will leave. I just said that she might."

"This just keeps getting worse," he groused. "First, we lost her and believed she was dead only to find out she was alive in another universe. Bats finally finds her and brings her home only for her to lose her boyfriend and her baby. Now, she might leave us for good. This is just so messed up."

"Don't worry, Wally," she told him. "We don't know anything so there's no use getting all upset about something that might never happen."

"Yah, but now you've put the possibility in my head, and I can't stop thinking about it," he grumbled as they entered the Monitor Womb.

"Let's just see if Superman knows anything," she suggested, spotting him talking to J'onn.

"Thanks, J'onn," Superman replied. "I'll check into it and let you know what I find out."

"Hey, do you have a minute?" Shayera asked the Man of Steel.

"Sure," he said. "What's up?"

"Have either of you two heard anything about Diana?" Wally jumped in before Shayera could say a word. "Please tell us she's not leaving forever."

"Leaving?" J'onn asked. "For Themyscira?"

"Yes," Wally confirmed. "Shayera thinks she's going to leave and never come back again."

"I never said that," she ground out, punching him in the shoulder. "I just said it was a possibility."

"I spoke with Batman the other day," Superman confessed. "Diana is having an extremely hard time accepting what happened, but we're hoping that she'll heal with time. She hasn't said a word about leaving or going anywhere."

"See?" Flash said with a scowl as he rubbed his shoulder. "I told you."

"Don't make me get my mace out," she threatened him with a glare, turning her attention back to Superman. "Do you know when we can see her?"

Clark shook his head with a sigh. "I'm sorry but I don't," he admitted. "She won't answer any of my calls."

"You've been trying to call her too?" Flash asked, everyone turning to look at him. "I mean I thought we weren't supposed to contact her?"

"I know, but I just had to hear her voice…to know that she was at least okay," Superman confessed. "Batman told me she hasn't left her bedroom since he brought her home, but that was a couple of days ago. Things might have changed since then."

"I think all of us should just go to the manor and demand to see her," Flash said, pounding his fist into the palm of his other hand. "He can't stop all of us from getting inside to see her."

"Really?" Shayera asked, a single eyebrow rising in question. "We're talking about Batman here. The whole manor is probably booby trapped in order to keep everyone out."

"You think so?" Flash questioned her.

"You really want to try it and find out the hard way?" she said.

"I know that we all are anxious to see her, but we need to consider what is best for her right now," J'onn commented. "She needs some time and privacy and that is what we need to give her. When she is ready, she will come to us. Until then, we need to be patient with her. She's been through a very traumatic event."

"You're right, J'onn," Shay reluctantly decided.

"Yah, I guess so," Flash grudgingly agreed. "I'll stop trying to contact her."

Superman put his hand on Wally's shoulder. "She knows that we all love her and are here for her," he reminded him. "We just need to give her a little time."

"It's just not fair that Bats gets to see her, and we can't," Wally grumbled.

"I know, but it's what she needs right now," J'onn replied. "In a way, it's comforting for her to be around him. It's as if her Bruce isn't totally gone. There is a part of him living on even though it's not truly the man she lost. I felt it in her when Bruce came to the infirmary to take her to the manor. Despite her intense anguish, there was an underlying peace when he was near her."

"That makes sense," Shayera said.

"This is just so messed up," Wally huffed. "Poor Wondy."

"I know, but we'll help her through it," Clark reassured him. "She just needs some time to work through it."

"I hope that's all," Wally muttered, turning to walk away. "I'll be heartbroken if she leaves us for good."

Wayne Manor (MU)

Bruce gritted his teeth as he lifted the heavy barbell a couple more times despite the fatigue that he could feel building in his muscles. Sweat trickled over the muscular curves of his body as he dropped the barbell with a resounding clank. Despite the intense workout, his mind was intently focused on Diana.

He had no idea what to do to help her. After getting her cleaned up and downstairs for dinner with him, she had retreated back to her bedroom. She'd ventured outside of it a couple of times since then, wandering around the manor only to return to her room.

Despite how difficult it was for him, he wanted her to open up to him, to talk to him about what she had gone through. He needed to know what happened in that other universe both for the Justice League but also for him. It would also help her to talk about it. So far, she'd been uncharacteristically quiet, barely making conversation.

Bruce picked up a hand towel, wiping the sweat from his brow. He made his way to the showers, needing to get cleaned up before going upstairs to see her. With any luck, she would be willing to talk to him now especially since Donna had visited her again.

Donna had expressed worry about her sister. She'd never seen like this before, causing her to be concerned about how she was dealing with it all. She'd opened up a little bit to her, but even that had been limited. She'd spent the majority of her time just sitting with Diana holding her hand.

After showering, Bruce quickly dressed, wondering how he should approach this with her. He knew someone…anyone but him was better equipped to talk to her. He should just let Clark or J'onn handle it…maybe even Alfred or Donna. Anyone but him.

Unfortunately, it was him that she needed right now and deep down he knew that he needed her too. There was only way they were going to get through this and that was together. Healing would come through talking, through comforting one another. Hopefully, in the end, it would draw them closer once more.

Entering the manor, he made his way upstairs to find Diana wasn't in her room. He felt a flash of panic with not finding her there. He saw her clothes were no longer in boxes, causing his panic to rise. Had she left without saying a word? Returning to Themyscira never to come back?

The possibilities caused his heart to quicken as he raced down the steps of the manor, determined to find her. "Alfred!" he yelled as he poked his head into the library to find it empty. "Alfred!"

"Master Bruce, what is it?" Alfred anxiously asked as he hurried down the hallway with a dishtowel in his hands. "What's wrong?"

"Where's Diana?" he demanded to know. "I can't find her. She's not in her room."

"She's outside in the garden," he informed him. "Is that okay?"

A palpable wave of relief washed over him as his shoulders sank. "Yes, of course," he murmured, rubbing his forehead.

"Well, I didn't think she was a prisoner in our home," he quipped. "She came down earlier for a sandwich for lunch and asked if she could eat it in the garden. I told her that was a wonderful idea. She's been there ever since."

"Have you checked on her?"

"Of course, I have," he stated with obvious indignation. "Don't think for one moment I'd leave that poor creature out there for hours on end without checking on her."

"Yes, you're right…I'm sorry," Bruce said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I was just worried when I couldn't find her in her bedroom. All her clothes were gone, and the boxes were empty. I was afraid she had left without saying anything."

The slight playful twitch on Alfred's lips went unnoticed by his surrogate son who was staring out the window as if trying to find her. "I believe she put them in the dresser and closet."

"Good…good," he muttered, surprised by the unexpected turn of events. "Did she seem to be doing better?"

"A little," Alfred confessed. "It was great progress that she came out of her bedroom and got something to eat. She still seems locked inside her grief. It's as if she's afraid to let go of it for fear of letting go of him and the baby."

"It's understandable," he agreed. "She's been through so much."

"It might help to have a friendly ear right about now," Alfred suggested. "It's also a beautiful day for a walk."

"Maybe," he murmured as he began to head down the hallway. "Make sure there's a place for her at the dinner table tonight."

"I always do," Alfred admitted as he followed him. "She's only taken us up on it that one time. Let's hope tonight will be different."

"I'd do my best but don't hold your breath," Bruce groused as he went out through the French doors that led him outside.

He drew a fortifying breath as he made his way to the gardens, more than a little relieved that Diana had finally come out of her room. It gave him a spark of hope that maybe she was beginning to get past a measure of the pain, but then again, it had only been a week ago that he'd found her. He knew from experience it was going to take a lot longer than that for her to recover and heal…if she did at all.

He still carried the scars of his past on his heart and on his body through keeping the promise that he'd made to his parents. He still wasn't over their deaths, their murders plaguing him in his sleep and rising up like a viper out of nowhere when he least expected it. He just hoped he could keep them at bay for Diana's sake. This was about her right now, not him and the demons that continued to haunt him.

His heart skipped a beat when he spotted her raven hair as he drew closer. He couldn't deny how happy he was that she was still here. The thought of her leaving nearly buckled his knees. He couldn't go through that again…not again.

He silently approached, not wanting to startle her or have his presence known just yet. He wanted to be able to watch her for a moment, savoring the fact that she was truly back where she belonged. She was sitting curled up on a bench, her legs tucked under her and a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. The cool autumn air caused the ends of her hair to lift, creating an ethereal image for him to behold.

"Hi, Bruce," she softly said without turning around.

The corners of Bruce's lips quirked slightly. He should have known she'd know that he was there. "You're almost as good at that as I am."

"Almost?"

"I'm still better," he told her as he drew closer. "Care for some company?"

"I'd love some," she admitted.

Her voice sounded detached…passive, her blue eyes swimming with anguish. It was as if all the life and light had been drained from her soul, leaving an empty shell behind. It was disconcerting to witness, hardening his resolve to help her find that fire inside of her once more. It was as if she was teetering on the edge of giving up on life. He was intimately aware of that feeling. He'd struggled with it himself at times even now.

He silently moved to sit on the bench beside her, noticing the tray that Alfred had set out for her on the small table before her. A silver tray held a pitcher of iced tea, a couple of glasses, and various sweets that he'd made, knowing she had a hard time passing them up. It looked like a couple of them were missing. He took that as a good sign.

"I love it here," she commented. "It's so peaceful and serene. I could stay right here forever."

Bruce smiled softly in response to her confession as he reached for a cookie. "It was my mother's favorite spot," he divulged, pausing to take a bite. "She designed and planted many of these bushes and flowers. The roses were her specialty, though. She did a lot of experimenting with cross-breeding."

"Really?" she said, surprised. "Which ones are those?"

"Well, let's see," he replied as he stood to his feet. He walked across the brick path to a large blooming bush filled with pale yellow roses, the tips of the petals tinted a beautiful shade of bright pink. "This is one of them. She named it Sunset Rose because the yellow and pink colors reminded her of a sunset."

Bruce glanced at Diana to see a wistful smile touch her lips. "It's absolutely beautiful," she told him. "I decided a long time that they were my favorite of all the roses in the garden."

"You spent a lot of time out here when you lived at the manor before?" he asked as he took his seat once more.

She nodded thoughtfully, glancing over at the hydrangea bush next to her. The colors were beginning to change with the cooler weather. "Quite a bit in fact," she revealed. "You were usually at work when I would come out here in the afternoons to read or meditate."

"It's a special spot to me too," he told her. "My mother would bring me out here to help her care for her roses when I was a boy. It wasn't my favorite thing to do back then, but I enjoyed the time I spent with my mother."

"You two were very close," she said, more of a statement than a question.

Bruce bit at his bottom lip at he nodded his head, lost in nostalgia as he was taken back twenty-seven years in time. It caused a painful lump to fill his throat. He swallowed it back, not wanting to go there despite the fact Diana was finally talking.

"How are you doing?" he asked as he reached for the pitcher of iced tea to pour her a glass before pouring one for himself.

"A little better I guess," she responded, her brow furrowing as she focused on the tassels of the blanket draped around her shoulders. She meticulously began to smooth it out as she drew a ragged breath. "It's…difficult…you know?"

"Far better than most I suppose," he answered her, taking a drink as he sat down next to her once more.

"I'm sorry, Bruce," she replied with a scowl on her face. "That was foolish of me. I'm guess I'm just not thinking straight right now."

"Diana, it's all right," he reassured her. He reached out and covered her hand, stopping her from smoothing out the tassel any further. He laced his fingers with hers. "Everyone loves you and wants to see you, but they understand it's going to take time."

She pursed her lips, remembering the countless phone calls from her friends that she had ignored. "I know," she admitted. "I feel really guilty I haven't answered their phone calls, but I just can't bring myself to answer my cell phone. I don't feel like pretending I'm all right when I'm not. I know they're desperate for me to be, but I'm just not there yet."

"It's all right, princess," he told her. "I told them not to contact you until I told them you were ready, but they obviously didn't listen to me. I'm assuming Wally is the biggest offender."

She smiled to herself with the disgruntled tone his voice took on. "I can neither confirm nor deny," she quipped, not wanting to get the speedster in trouble. "I know it's only because they care."

"Do you feel like talking about it yet?"

She nodded her head, knowing she needed to talk about it. It might help to get it all out once and for all. "After Grodd fired that weapon at me, I woke up in a completely different place," she began. "I didn't recognize it, but I immediately knew that something was wrong. I felt…off. I realized I didn't have my gifts anymore. I knew the first thing I needed to do was to get to Gotham and find you.

"It took me a week, but I finally made it to Gotham. I was walking down the road towards the manor when Alfred pulled off the road and Bruce jumped out. He asked me if I needed help and then everything went black. I passed out or something."

A million questions began to buzz around in his mind, begging to be answered, but he tamped down on them. He needed to allow her the opportunity to just tell her story without interrupting her or hammering with hundreds of questions.

Diana glanced at him, knowing he had questions. "Bruce was physically identical to you in every way except for the scars you carry from being Batman," she continued, a blush rising to her cheeks as she dipped her head to hook a raven curl behind her ear. "Well, I mean as far as I know."

Bruce bit back a chuckle, finding her embarrassment endearing. At the same time, he couldn't deny the jealousy that suddenly flared hotly in his core. "I get it," he assured her. "We were twins except for the scars."

A fond smile touched her lips as she thought about his doppelgänger. "You two were so alike in many ways and yet very different at the same time," she revealed. "He had a tenderness to him that you don't allow anyone to see. He's very compassionate like you, but he doesn't try to hide it like you do. He's open and honest about his feelings. He was anxious to love and be loved in return…to have a family of his own."

Bruce felt his gut clench as she talked about the man she fell in love with. The other Bruce was everything that he could not be for her—open and honest with his feelings, willing to give her what he had refused her, no demons and doubts that threatened to steal his sanity. It was no wonder she fell in love with him.

He had been so ready to give her all that he had, all the love in his heart that he felt for her, but now he feared that it would never be near enough compared to what she had experienced.

"Anyway, I woke up in a bed in one of the guest rooms three days later," she explained. "I tried everything I could think of to return home, researching every avenue and even asking the Justice Association for help, but they didn't have the technology advancements that our universe has. I was forced to accept that I wasn't going to go home."

"Wasn't Bruce able to help you?"

"He tried but it was beyond his abilities," she replied. "He never tried to box me in or force me to stay with him. He was constantly trying to help me find a way home, but it was comforting being in the manor with him, Alfred, and Dick. It felt like being back here again. I didn't feel quite so lonely and lost."

"Was there no Diana in that universe? No Themyscira?"

"No, not that I know of," she said, shaking her head. "There was no Wonder Woman, no Amazons in that universe that I ever found. I don't know if I never left Themyscira or if the Amazons didn't exist in that world, but I could never find them."

"I'm sorry, Diana," he told her, blown away by what he was learning from her. It had to have been disheartening to be trapped in a world that was not her own. "That had to be so difficult being separated from your mother and sisters.…your friends…the League."

"I was terribly lonely," she admitted. "I missed all of you so much. There wasn't a day that went by that I didn't think of all of you…especially you, Bruce. I was wondered if you were looking for me or if everyone thought that I was dead. I finally had to accept that I needed to start making a life for myself.

"Then, I discovered I was pregnant. That was an unexpected surprise. By the time you found me, I was still trying to come to terms with being pregnant. It wasn't something that had been planned by any means. It seemed to really complicate things."

"You mean you weren't trying to—"

"No," she quickly set his mind at ease. "It was a complete shock to the both of us, but not necessarily unwelcome. The circumstances could have definitely been better, though. It probably wasn't the best situation to bring a baby into the world. I guess it was all for the best with how it all turned out."

"Diana, losing a baby is never for the best no matter the situation," he adamantly stated. "It had to be devastating for you."

She tightened her hold on his hand as if hanging on to him for dear life. "No, I'm sorry…I didn't mean it that way," she corrected herself with a shake of her head. "It's just…J'onn told me that my DNA and Bruce's was incompatible because of the time stream differential. My daughter might have ended up having terrible physical ailments because of it…ones that she might never have been able to overcome. I wouldn't have wanted her to go through that…to suffer or be in pain because of me."

"I heard Bruce call her Jacey," he gently said, watching her expression. He didn't want to press her more than she could handle, but he was desperate to find out everything he possibly could.

She smiled sadly at him, dipping her head to wipe away a stray tear. "Jacey…short for Jacinda," she revealed. "That was the name of Bruce's cousin that he had been close to before losing her in a car accident. He wanted to name our daughter after her."

Bruce stared at her in disbelief, anxious to find out more about the life of this Bruce Wayne that was so much different than his own. "He had cousins?"

Diana nodded her head as she thought back on her experience in her other world…her other life that had been like a sweet dream at times. "Dick was Bruce's younger brother," she revealed. "They argued just like you and Dick here."

Bruce's mouth fell open, startled by the revelations that continued to come. "I can't believe it," he murmured as he stared out over the garden landscape. "Was there anything else different?"

"Bruce and Dick's parents had been killed in a tragic car accident when they were teenagers," she informed him. "I think Bruce was able to get past the loss of his parents because he felt he needed to focus on Dick, making sure that he was all right.

"Dick is dating Barbara who is studying to be a lawyer at the University of Gotham," she continued. "Alfred was the same as Alfred here. You saw that Joker was the hero of Gotham. Bruce's best friend was Oliver Queen who is engaged to Dinah. I don't know if they were Green Arrow and Black Canary in that universe. I never got the chance to find out."

"I'm glad that you had people around you that obviously cared about you very much," he confessed. "I was so worried you were in constant danger, having to fight for survival or just to stay alive. At least you were safe at the manor."

"I was very fortunate, but it was difficult at times," she admitted. "They treated me as if I were a part of the family which was wonderful, but at the same time, it felt like was living in a dream world. It was surreal at times like I was supposed to be there and yet I knew I wasn't. It really messed with my head sometimes. It felt as though I was being torn between two worlds."

"I'm sure it didn't help that time was moving at a faster pace than here," he added.

"I'm sure that had something to do with it too."

They sat in silence for several minutes just enjoying the solitude and tranquility that the garden provided when Bruce finally spoke again. "I'm really sorry about the things I said to you before that mission," he apologized, his voice choked with regret. "I took my anger and frustration from a bad night on patrol out on you. I said some horrible things to you that you didn't deserve. I'll never forgive myself for hurting you like that or thinking that my last words to you were said in anger."

"It's all right, Bruce," she softly replied.

"No…no, it's not," he insisted, his brow knitting with anger with himself that was nearly palpable. "None of it was true, Diana. You mean a lot to me…far more than you know."

Diana glanced at him, wondering if he was saying what she thought he was saying. Her heart began to race with the thought, uncertain of what to say or do. She didn't know if she could handle it at that moment. Her heart was still hurting so much after losing Bruce. She didn't think she could handle this Bruce loving her only to lose him too.

"Bruce—"

He held up a hand to silence her. "Don't, Diana…please…not yet," he interrupted her, glancing down at their joined hands. "I'm not going to say anymore now, and I don't want you to respond. Just let me be your friend for now. We'll take things slow and see where it leads us."

She slowly nodded her head in response, tears rising behind her eyes. She'd wanted this with him for so long and now it was an actual possibility. Unfortunately, her heart wasn't ready for something like that. At the moment, it didn't feel like it ever would be ready. Hopefully, time would prove her wrong.

Despite what had happened in the other universe, she still loved this man beside her with every ounce of her being. Unfortunately, she had loved his twin too. He was no longer with her, but this Bruce was. He was alive and here and hinting at a possible future with her. Was it because it was what he really wanted with her or out of pity?

"Enough talking for now," he decided. "Let's take a walk before dinner."

"All right," she agreed, allowing him to pull her to her feet.

He didn't relinquish his hold on her hand as they leisurely made their way through the garden, Bruce pausing to point out some of his mother's hybrid roses. He found himself telling her stories from his childhood, finding it easier than he'd thought to open himself up to her just a little bit.

"I should tell you something," he ventured. "Clark wants us to come over for dinner if you're up to it. Lois and Clark are dying to see you. If you don't want to go, I'm more than happy to tell them no."

Diana thought about it for a moment before answering. "Let me think about it," she ultimately decided. "I know I can't hide here forever. I'm going to have to see people sooner or later."

"I can tell Clark you're not ready yet," he insisted.

"Let me think about it for a couple of days."

"You can think about it for as long as you want, princess," he told her. "If you do decide you want to go, I promise I'll keep Lois from barraging you with questions. I know how tenacious she can be."

"Thank you, Bruce," she replied. "I couldn't have gotten through this without you."

"Anything for you, Diana," he assured her. "I'm not going anywhere."

Diana sincerely wished she could believe that, but after watching Bruce die in her arms, she found it more than difficult to trust that he would always be here with her.

A/N: I love my Wonderbat couple. They're just so perfect together. :)

UP NEXT: Batman gets attacked in Gotham. Bruce and Diana go to Metropolis to have dinner with Clark and Lois. How will Diana handle finding out Bruce used to date Lois?