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Hello again! Here is another part to this story, and once this entire story ends, I hope you are excited for the slew of stories I have been drafting and making to continue on the legacy of this Young Justice Universe!

Episode XI: Wondering Woman, Part I

Being an Amazon means many things to Princess Diana of Themyscira, and being a great comrade is the highest priority. Although the Justice League is more of a collection of like-minded individuals than an army, the premise remains the same. Diana has to rely on the heroes around her and likewise they must rely on her, so it only makes sense to place maximum effort in creating an environment where trust and comradery flourishes.

When they founded the League, that comradery helped shape both the members invited into the League and the structure around them. The new members had to have one quality above all to join the Justice League.

Trustworthy.

Ironic, the characteristic every member needs to have is the exact one a particular member of the founding seven doesn't possess. To be trustworthy means to place faith in someone's ability to have your back, and Batman places that trust in no-one.

Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern - Batman only has trust for his apprentice and even then, not enough to divulge every detail of his secrets apart from when necessary. And necessary for Batman is whenever he deems it fit, which does nothing for Robin and his curiosities.

The Boy Wonder cannot improve and grow as a hero when he doesn't know whether his own mentor trusts him enough or not. Perhaps this is the deciding factor Robin relied upon when embarking on this crusade with Young Justice, but perhaps he is simply doing what he believes is best for the people around him without consulting them, in which case he's more alike to Batman than Wonder Woman would like.

The team should've been founded on the same principles as the League but in the process of creating Batman's own covert strike squad, the League turned a blind eye to the blatant disregard for the children on the team. Where there is a situation where the Justice League cannot intervene in a situation, no intervention should have occurred, but Batman found his way around this rule through the team, using them as his weapons of justice and deception at every chance he got.

Smart yet cold, Wonder Woman should have expected as much from the Dark Knight but was too distracted by the notion of the development and learning provided by the missions to questions why Batman believes it to be necessary to send teenagers into circumstances most Leaguers would've struggled with.

"It wasn't that serious."

Turning to Green Arrow, her eyes narrow as she focuses on the blonde idiot. "What?" she questions, preparing to send him through the airlock if he says the wrong thing. If Diana had a bad book, he would be in the sequel at the moment.

"The kiss, I mean," Green Arrow smirks, putting his hands up in surrender when Diana makes a movement towards him. "I was just joking - you look deep in though about something."

"Observant as ever," Diana sighs, turning towards her door as her ragtag group enters suspiciously. "Perhaps it would be best to avoid looking as though you just stole someone's pet? Then again, we are already exposed," she shakes her head at Billy as he lowers his towards the floor.

"It's not your fault Billy," the Flash places a hand on Shazam's shoulder, reassuring the young hero. "Batman would have broke most of us."

"Really?" Shazam's entire energy shifts within an instant and he immediately begins to smile again. It really doesn't take much to bring Shazam back to his usual self, even after being quasi-interrogated by Batman, which is normally as intense as it sounds.

"Focus please, we need to move and fast. We know Batman has his plans and now it's our turn to strike back," Wonder Woman begins his briefing, showing the group to a hologram on her table. "This is Khandaq, home of Black Adam, and since we know Adam is a member of the Light, we can help the team and ourselves by taking him out the picture for now."

"Oh... okay," Shazam raises his hand, and when Diana gives him the go-ahead he continues, "I dislike Black Adam as much as the next guy in here, but there's no way we are getting in Khandaq, it's got too much magical protection, even for me to get through. We'd need some serious firepower to break through, and I don't know about you but I'm not going anywhere near Doctor Fate."

Diana points to a section of the hologram and responds, "Here is our answer Billy. Just like everyone else, Black Adam has a weakness which can be exploited, and for him it's his long-lost wife Isis. Every year in order to mark the anniversary of her death, he draws power from Khandaq to try and resurrect her - every year he has failed, but nevertheless he persists."

"Enough power to weaken the defences?" Green Arrow inputs, to which Diana slyly nods. "Love is a bitter pill to swallow."

"The moment he begins his ritual is the moment we strike. The goal is simple: take down the magical defences through Shazam and Aquaman and once inside, we capture Adam right at his front doorstep. Now, knowing Adam and his pride, this will undoubtedly make his furious, and this will also be his downfall."

"Taking out Adam in Khandaq is a risky move, and one which could have geo-political consquences. No-one has much love for Khandaq, so without Adam to protect it, who's to say the human nations won't just walk it and take it for themselves," Hawkwoman raises a valid point, though a negligible one in the short run.

"Isn't that what the United Nations is for?" the Flash answers for Diana, "I say we take the fight to the Light again, and ease some pressure off the team. I'm willing to bet a large amount the team needs that right now."

Once again, the great Superman decides for today to be the only day he actually performs monitor duty. For him, monitor duty is flying around the world and listening for anything suspicious to drag his attention. Every so often, he decides to sit around the Watchtower and act as though he is an ordinary Leaguer.

It's weird now that he's thinking about it, but the only Justice Leaguers who can veto themselves out of monitor duty is the founding seven. If Green Arrow wants to stay off duty and take his lovely girlfriend out on a date, he's added to the list twice to make a point, but when the fastest man alive wants to run around Central City all night, he isn't even questioned.

Some are more equal than others.

Still, the responsibility of distracting Superman long enough for Shazam and Hawkwoman to ensure Black Adam is still in Khandaq falls upon Wonder Woman and Green Arrow, which is a monumental feat in itself. Superman may be gullible and has the heart of a child, but he's a lot smarter than most of the League would like to admit. Something about having a superfast brain, but Green Arrow always falls asleep when it's brought up in conversation.

"Superman," Green Arrow greets the greatest hero on Earth with a cheesy smile, "fancy seeing you up here. Thought you'd be out saving the world and cats in trees, as usual."

"Those are just stories Green Arrow," Superman grins back, "I have never saved a cat out of a tree. Or, at least went out of my way to save one."

"We need to talk Clark," Wonder Woman interrupts the polite conversation with a stern expression on her face. Superman looks from the Amazon to the archer with both confusion and curiosity, examining them as though the idea of them being in the same conversation was foreign. "I think we need to discuss Batman."

"Oh," the Kryptonian says, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm guessing you found out that Batman has been having you tailed."

"And you knew?" Green Arrow questions, though with more pride than disappointment. "The Big Blue trying his hand at deception. I must say, you surprise me and I though the most surprising thing about you was that a bulletproof man can't use gel to keep that one hair on your head."

"Honesty is supposed to be your strong suit Clark, but I guess you have spending a lot of time with Batman. It's bound to rub off on you sooner or later," Wonder Woman folds her arms across her chest, shooting the Kryptonian a look which probably hurts as bad as his own heat vision.

"Let's make one thing clear Diana: I am do not support Batman's actions recently, just like I do not support yours."

Attempting to turn round, Green Arrow sees Shazam and Hawkwoman stealthily approach the computer and he grabs Clark by the shoulder, turning him right back around to face the two heroes.

"I know we haven't always got along, but hear us out on this. Batman needs to be held accountable for what he does, and the only way he'll ever back down is by all of us making him responsible," Green Arrow implores the Man of Steel, locking eyes with the Kryptonian. "The team didn't deserve to be placed under his care, and to be quite frank, no-one should ever be ordered around by someone who sees the world like Batman does."

"The team are his pawns, Clark, and you know this. Ever since the team was formed, he has sent them on dangerous missions which we should have never dreamt of placing teenagers into, but we turned our eyes away," Wonder Woman inputs her piece, "you know that we have to stop Batman from.. whatever he is planning. If not for the sake of the team, but for the entire Justice League. He's using the children as a trial run."

"Batman is many things Diana - cold, harsh, and relentless - but we have to trust that Batman understands what he is doing," Superman responds with his signature optimism.

"That's just the thing Superman, we no longer trust Batman," Green Arrow states, making sure Shazam and Hawkwoman are doing their part of the job with the computer. Shazam turns around and gives the two a thumbs up but is swiftly halted as Hawkwoman digs an elbow into his rib. "And I'm surprised you still do."

"I can admit there have been moments where my faith in Batman was shaken, but he has never let me down when I needed him yet, so I have no reason to suspect this time will be anything different," Superman answers, looking at the two with added curiosity. "Unless you have credible evidence Batman is doing these things you accuse him of, there's nothing I or any other Leaguer can do."

"Are you seriously suggesting that you could stroll up to Batman right now and ask him what he is planning? Any answer he gives you will be either a white lie or not the whole truth. The man's seriously capable, yet horribly incapable at telling the straight truth."

"I have never had a straight answer from Batman in the whole time I have known him," Superman returns, giving Green Arrow a knowing smile. "He keeps us all on our toes, for better or worse."

"Then let's hope we never find the day Batman shows us which one out of the two," Green Arrow shakes his head at the Kryptonian. Stubborn as usual, the Man of Steel is set in his ways when it comes to expecting the best out of everyone and it generally serves him well when dealing with honest individuals.

Batman is probably the furthest away from an honest individual a superhero can be without being a villain.

Idiots.

Watching from the shadows, Batman examines the group in front of him as Wonder Woman and Green Arrow attempt to distract the Kryptonian from his duties. Working exactly as planned, Superman is in fact keeping Diana and Oliver from noticing Batman's presence as the Dark Knight watches what Shazam and Hawkwoman are doing with the computer.

Surprisingly, he believed they would try and find the team through the computer, but it seems they are running a worldwide scan for Black Adam, which undoubtedly ties into the groups obsession with keeping the team away from danger at every chance they get.

Keeping those teenagers away from danger usually ends up with them searching for it anyway, which is the entire reason why he gave the team a platform to sate their appetite for heroism and still help the Justice League at the same time.

By attempting to rip the team away from what they believe is right, they are doing no favours for the Justice League or the young heroes themselves. They have proven to be incredibly capable even without League supervision, which is more than he can say for the majority of heroes the League has been inducting recently.

The Justice League was not meant to a union of heroes, but a select group who are tasked with the complete protection of the entire world. Over time, any hero who patrols a single city can be inducted into the League as long as they demonstrate 'heroic' characteristics, which definitely goes against everything the League originally stood for.

Superman keeps the group occupied as Batman makes his way closer to Shazam and Hawkwoman, aiming to get a much better angle on the computer screen without alerting Hawkwoman's sensitive hearing to his presence.

Successfully doing so, he's further surprised as he sees Shazam obtain the layout of Khandaq's royal palace and search it for magical weakpoints. Batman originally though installing those capabilities into the computer was only a precaution if they needed to disturb Adam from his self-imposed rule, but they clearly have no care to the consequences of invading Adam's solace.

The last time a member of the League was sent to Khandaq to bring a message to Adam, the villain went on a destructive rampage across the Middle-East which took most of the founding seven to stop.

Still, perhaps allowing them to attempt to capture Adam is both to his benefit and that of the team. By taking Adam out of the picture, the Light may become desperate and cornered, which makes it easier for them to be baited into the open. The more the team would press into their operations, the more likely it is they would organise a showdown between the team and the Light.

And then, Batman could finally bring an end to the threat of the Light. They will threaten the proteges no longer if Batman had his way with them.

Impressed by the way the team has handled their exile over the past few days and weeks, Batman makes a mental note to lecture Robin on not confiding in him what the Boy Wonder's plans were. This whole thing would've gone down smoother if his apprentice had informed him of their plans to take the Light out on their own, but he couldn't let them deal with this threat on their own.

Its the reason why he lets them stay in one of his safehouses.

Robin is smart, and disabled all the cameras he knew about, but he was never told about the other cameras Batman had installed for these exact purposes.

Batman can't tell Robin all his secrets - the boy would have nothing to learn from him.

Nevertheless, Dick has grown into a pre-eminent leader, taking this small team of inexperienced heroes and assaulting the Light's operations wherever it hurt them the most, and quite frankly, Batman is impressed as to how they figured out the Light would target Atlantis and Themyscira before he found out.

Maybe Bruce has something to learn from them as well.

Internally smiling at the thought, the Dark Knight brings up his gauntlet's computer and hacks into Hawkwoman's personal device, planting a bug which will keep him updated on whatever they are doing. Birds are creatures of habit, and this particular bird never leaves the Watchtower without leaving a personal note in the event she doesn't return.

Conveniently, they always tell the person reading where she is going and why, which leaves little room for any more investigation.

Adam might escape, Batman ponders on their plan before sending a message to the members of his own little group. I need to make sure the other Leaguers are prepared in case Adam decides to take some revenge.

Nodding at Batman out of the corner of his eye, Superman ends his conversation with the two and floats back towards the computer.

"What are you two doing?" the Kryptonian asks Shazam and Hawkwoman, making his voice loud and booming.

"Just checking whether the new episode of Booster Gold is out for Billy," Hawkwoman sighs, nodding at Shazam. The boy cheesily smiles and gives Superman a thumbs up, to which Clark returns.

"Remind Billy not to check for his favourite TV shows on League computers, please," Superman grins, taking a seat in front of the computer.

Waiting for the entire group of heroes to leave Superman and Batman to their individual thoughts, Batman emerges from his observations and walks to Superman's side. "I trust you managed to keep them adequately occupied."

"They were so busy trying to stop me from turning around they wouldn't have noticed you," Clark responds.

"You need to be right about that for this to work."

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There you go folks, thank you for reading and I hope you have a good week!