Disclaimer: I don't own DC or any Superheros, especially combined!
Title: Brave as a Nemean Lion
Summary: Bumblebee takes a hit for the team. Wonder Woman is not pleased by this news.
Warning: Brief mentions of blood
...
"So," says Babs, conversationally. "Are you a 'one and done' kinda gal, or a 'take it slow, let it go' kind?"
Karen bit her lip. Her fingers were shaking as they dug into the wood of her desk. They'd decided it was best to do this in the Gordon home, seeing how the faintest trace of what was sticking out of her arm could send their friend into serious agony. "Um. Both sound terrible. But I guess I'd rather just be done with the pain."
"Mm-hmm." The redhead adjusted her grip on the shard of kryptonite sticking out of her arm blaster. "Gonna be honest with you, Bee. This went in at an angle. It cut you going in, it's probably gonna cut you coming out. Is there anything I can get you to make this less stressing?"
"A stuffy?" she asked. "Preferably not bat-shaped. Not that bats aren't cool. But you usually stuff explosives into the bat ones."
Babs deems that fair and retrieves what Karen can only assume is the least beloved teddy bear she's ever seen. It's fur is bright brown- or it would be, without the dust. This was clearly an ancient Christmas or birthday present, tossed around but never truly used, with just enough sentimentality to avoid being thrown out or donated. Karen stuffs the teddy into the crook of her elbow and squeezes. Hard.
"Are you going to count to three?" she asked.
Babs shook her head. "You'd tense on three. Flexing the muscles is a bad idea."
"Okay. Then wh-"
She tightened her grip and yanked. Hard.
Karen let out a yip and buried her face into the bear. She didn't want to imagine the disaster it'd be if the Commissioner heard.
"I got it!" Babs exclaimed, holding the rock up into the fluorescent light. "Man, I wish I could study this stuff. But I don't want to risk Kara getting sick having it close by."
"Yeah," she answered, trying not to get sick herself over the faintest bit of blood. Karen tapped a few buttons on her panel and the limbs popped off one by one, falling to the floor with a clatter. Karen yanked up her sleeve. "Oh, that's not so bad."
Babs, wetting a cotton ball, agreed with her. "Won't even need stitches. This time I'm definitely gonna count, okay?"
"Yes, please."
It doesn't take long to do the medical end of things. It was, all things considered, a surprisingly small gash. That said, getting cut with a rock was a great way to make yourself hate antiseptic. The crisp white bandage was probably a bit too much, but Babs is thorough.
The damage to her armor, however, is pretty damning. Karen felt her stomach squirm as she opened the hull, revealing ripped circuits, damaged data boards, and a couple of melted discs. Not cheap to purchase. She was going to have to run on bubblegum and duct tape for a while. (Not that that was out of the ordinary)
"Back to the drawing board?" Babs hummed, hefting a truly breathtaking toolbox out of thin air. "I'll go to the lair tomorrow and see if I can't scavenge you a few parts from first-drafts bat weapons."
"Thank you." Karen pulled out a wrench, feeling it in her hands. Her grip wasn't too affected. Good. "Back to the drawing board."
There was a clatter on the stairwell, too fast and too heavy to be Commissioner Gordon's, and there was Diana, flinging open the door in her full Wonder Woman garb. "KAREN ARE YOU-" She caught sight of Karen and seemed to lose an entire inch as she sighed with relief. "Oh, thank Zeus."
Babs let out a shriek. "Diana, did you walk to my house dressed in full uniform? What is somebody saw?"
"I did not walk; I ran. I told the your father I was doing a 'costume play'." Diana seemed to struggle to regain her poise at the sight of the bandage on Karen's arm, jaw tightening. "I was told you jumped in front of Supergirl, little Bumblebee."
Karen let out an awkward chuckle, rubbing her arm. "I think that's a bit of a stretch. Y'see, Babs and I have been prepping ourselves for cases like these, and-"
"Cases like these?" Diana echoed. Her voice was flat. "Cases like what, exactly?"
"Kryptonite weapons!" Babs chirped, holding up the stone. She'd had the sense of mind to wipe it off, at least. "Just being near the stuff can weaken Kara. We didn't even want to consider what might happen if she got poked by it. So we've made work-arounds; thicker armor around our limbs, metal designed to avoid skin-contact with sharp objects, etc. The next step is if they find a way to make it into a ray gun or something, but that's mostly if it's somehow too quick for Kara to dodge, and, let's be real, that probably won't-"
"Barbara." The girl stopped instantly. "Leave me and Bumblebee alone for a moment, please. We need to talk."
Karen gulped.
Babs shot her an apologetic look, then gave the Amazonian some finger guns. "Righty-o, boss. I'll go make us some snacks." She paused at the door, looking over her shoulder. "Just gimme a ring when you're ready, alright?"
Diana jerked her head in a nod. She watched with frightening intensity as the knob clicked closed.
"Diana-"
She whirled around. "Why was I not made aware of this? You and Barbara have been plotting to- to collect shards in your limbs like cufflinks! And you never-"
"It's not our first choice!" Karen held up our hands. "It's not even our last choice, Diana. We're also making shields, and inhibiters. It's an extreme emergency, last resort thing. And we've not even fixed the bugs!"
"It was faulty and you did it anyway?" She shrunk down as Diana slammed her hands on the table. "You could have been seriously injured! Or worse!"
"Diana," she said, showing off the bandage. "I'm mortal, not a water balloon. Trust me, I would have never done this if I thought it would be lethal."
Diana, for her part, did look a bit chastised. Her shoulders fell. "I am... sorry, little Bumblebee. I did not mean to doubt your abilities. It's just- I was out of the loop for one mission, and I came home to find my strongest warrior hardly able to move as she told me you were taken elsewhere for serious wounds."
"Kara talked to you?"
"She tried. She was crying."
Karen winced. She knew Kara would hate this idea. That's why they'd been so quiet about it. "I'm sorry I worried you all, but I wasn't in any real danger."
"This time. What of next time?"
"Now that we know they're onto our weaknesses, there won't be a next time."
"There shouldn't have been a first time!" Diana got down on one knee to hold her arm with great respect. This was one of the few positions she was actually taller than the Amazonian, and it made Karen nervous. She knew how bad it felt to be small. She never wanted other people to feel that way. "Is it bad, αγάπη μου?"
And Karen, smart and strong and absolutely weak to puppy dog eyes, couldn't stop herself. "I was in front of her."
Diana sucked in a breath.
"When it went off. I was in front of Supergirl." Karen forced herself to go on. It felt horrible to say out loud. A betrayal. But she had already betrayed Kara, hadn't she? She needed to own up to it. Reassure them all that she deserved the little scratch on her arm. "I dodged. I dodged out of the way. How horrible is that, Diana?"
"Darling-"
"I dodged," she repeated, voice wobbly with unshed tears. "I knew it could kill her, and I dodged." Fingers dug into her skirt. Her own fingers. The cut burned. "I'm a terrible person."
Diana's fingers cupped her chin, bringing her gaze back to her. "No. Never. You are human, Karen. You were scared."
Karen wished it was that easy. But, to her, it wasn't. She wasn't enough. "Heroes are supposed to take risks."
"Heroes must be alive to take those risks." Diana's fingers tightened their grip- not enough to hurt, but holding her in place. "Please, αγάπη μου. No more secret extreme emergency, last resort things. We are warriors, not blockades to toss in front of each other."
"Promise," she said, and it was the easiest promise she ever made. "...Can we call Babs back in, now? I'm gonna need her help un-soldering some things."
Wonder Woman swooped up for a kiss. Karen was someone who got electrocuted a lot, but nothing so simple had even a bit of life compared to being held and loved by the strongest woman in Metropolis, especially when she smiled like that. "In a moment. Allow me some time with you alone. It's selfish, but it's... human."
Author's Note: I'm slowly immersing myself into this fandom, and enjoying every second of it! I love how literally every time there's a Diana-Karen moment it's this giant woman being like LOOK AT MY BRAVE GIRL SHE IS SO BRAVE I LOVE HER followed by her piggy-backing Bumblebee off into the distance.
-Mandaree1