"There's something significant about this," Batman mused as he studied the computer monitor.
"What?" Wonder Woman asked. She was standing behind him and now peered over his shoulder to see what he was talking about.
"This . . .warning. This three days that Lucas has given. There's a reason.
"He said in three days he would lift the field from Egypt."
"Precisely. Why three days?"
"Why not?"
"It seems odd to me."
"It could just as well have been four or five."
"Perhaps. Then again it could be a diversion. Perhaps he needs those three days."
Wonder Woman shrugged. "Far be it from me to dispute the Worlds Greatest Detective."
That actually got a small smile out of Batman. "I'd trade that for telepathy right about now. That force field of Lucas's is intercepting all of our transmissions. We can't contact J'onn, Superman, or Flash."
"What about Lantern and Hawkgirl."
"Their communicators aren't working. A fight, perhaps." He sighed. "Right now, we are seriously disadvantaged. I can't communicate with any of our teams and Lucas seems to have the entire Earth's natural balance at his whim."
"Any idea what he wants" asked Wonder Woman, her eyes on the computer monitor."
"The same thing anyone does," responded Batman. "Power."
"Sure would be nice to have GL around," remarked Flash."
"He's more useful where he is," Superman countered, already getting tired of Flash's mouth.
"Yeah I'll bet." Flash pantomimed Lantern's deep voice: "Oooohh Hawkgirl. I'll go with you to find a hostile nation nobody's ever heard of. Not that I like you like you or anything, just-"
"Grow up," muttered Superman."
"You know its true."
"Maybe. And maybe you're just jealous."
Flash snorted. "Psycho warrior chick with an electric mace, not really my type. Besides, for all I know she's butt-ugly under that mask."
Superman rolled his eyes.
"Now Wonder Woman on the other hand," Flash continued with a grin. "She's a babe. Great skin, great hair . . .and man, I love that costume."
"Gee, I wonder why."
Flash shrugged. "Cuz its patriotic. Anything turns me on more than a beautiful chick, it's a patriotic beautiful chick." A sigh. "She doesn't know what she's missing."
Probably doesn't want to, thought Superman. He didn't voice his opinion though, still scanning the landscape for any sign of their objective."I see something," Flash announced after a few minutes. It was enough to cause both Superman and J'onn to look back at him.
"Where?" It was Superman.
"What? You want me to give you map coordinates or something? Use your supervision or something."
Superman was already scanning the horizon however, although it was hard to spot, even with his abilities. Every time he tried to zoom in on the speck in the distance, his eyes seemed to slip away from it. It was obviously a cloaking spell. Not a very strong one, but one that either extreme luck or extreme concentration to break. Flash had had the former, and now Superman used the latter.
"One and a half kilometers or so," Superman instructed as the ship raced over the barren desert.
"The ship's sensors are not picking anything up. A mirage, perhaps."
"Two people sharing the same one? And we're not dehydrated or overheated-"
"Though I could use a Coke," Flash interjected.
Superman ignored him. "I think the place has been put under a cloaking spell. If so, then the ship's sensor's wouldn't pick it up if it were right above it."
"How do you know its magic, Supes?" inquired Flash, leaning back in his chair. "Could just be radar shield."
"It feels like magic," Superman answered as they drew ever so nearer to that point at which he was sure something of importance lay, even as his eyes found it hard to focus on it for more than a few seconds.
"I hate magic," said Flash. "'Cept on a date. Magic's great on a date. Not in a fight though. Too unpredictable."
"Tell me about it." Superman still remembered his confrontation with Dr. Fate a few months earlier. The only thing that had been able to counteract the mystical forces he had used was Hawkgirl's mace."
"I sense another telepath," J'onn broke in.
Flash sat up, leaning forward. "What?"
"It appears that something here bears closer inspection," J'onn said. "Can you still see the object you could before?"
Superman looked out the window, eyes searching for it but he couldn't find it. It was like every time his eyes got close, they suddenly involuntarily skipped over what they were looking for. "No, I'm sorry," he told the Martian. "I can't. The cloaking spell is too powerful at this range."
"Then I will set us down here," J'onn announced solemnly. He keyed the correct controls, putting the ship into landing mode. "Prepare for a fight. They know we are here."
Kari checked her blaster as the ship neared, her eyes never leaving the intruding vessel. She knew that warning Olivia was pointless. The girl, with her telepathy, had probably known they were coming long before Kari.
"You must not let them in the chamber," Olivia warned. It was odd, hearing the girl's voice and not being able to see its source. Kari supposed that was just part of the magic of the chamber that Olivia was now inside.
"Who is approaching?" asked Kari.
"One human. Two aliens. The members of the Justice League known as Flash, Superman, and Martian Manhunter."
"I was warned dey could come."
"I am fully confident in you ability to handle them," assured Olivia. "As I said though, you must not let them enter the chamber. Everything, I mean EVERTHING could be lost."
"I get de point." Kari was not worried. Her own physical gifts should be more than enough to handle the intruders. Two of them anyway. Superman had fairly straightforward powers. So did Flash. The Martian was a bit more complex. He was purportedly a telepath and a shapeshifter, possessing flight and super strength, although to a lesser degree than Superman. He could become intangible and she'd even heard he could dramatically increase his body's density. All of those powers meant that he wouldn't be predictable. She would definitely have to watch out for him.
"They approach," Olivia said.
"OK, there's a woman just standing there," said Flash as the trio approached. He revised his statement. "A very hot woman too, if I'm not mistaken."
"You seem to have a one track mind," commented J'onn.
"Huh?"
Instead of explaining the term to the speedster, J'onn scanned the woman telepathically, much easier to do at this range. His eyes went wide.
"She means to kill us."
"How do you know?" Flash asked. When the other two looked at him, he held up a hand. "Uh, sorry. Stupid question."
"What should we do?" asked Superman. It was a strange situation, asking for orders instead of giving them. He knew nothing about the woman though and J'onn did. For now, the Martian would be deciding their courses of action.
They were now mere yards away from the woman. Pretty, as Flash had said. She had a gun of some sort on each hip.
"You have come for Olivia," the woman said in English that was tainted with an accent none of them recognized.
"Olivia who?"
The woman merely smiled. "Turn back now, or I'll have no choice but to eliminate de three of you."
"I'm shakin' in my Spandex lady."
"You think I am joking." It was an amused observation.
"No of course not . . .crazy." Flash coughed the last word.
"Who are you?" asked Superman.
"My name is Kari." She gestured towards Flash, who was checking her out from the side. "Does he speak for de lot of you?'
"Yes." It was J'onn. "There is another presence here, one that we feel is truly responsible for the recent catastrophes the earth has faced. We will not leave until we have dealt with him."
"Her," corrected. "And I cannot let you interfere with her work." She crossed the space between herself and Superman in a heartbeat, less than that even. Superman had barely had time to register that she'd moved when her fist caught him square in the jaw, rocking him backwards and off of his feet.
J'onn's eyes glowed. Kari gripped her head momentarily in pain, then straightened, laughing softly. "Mental attacks," she said through gritted teeth. "Dey don' work to well on me."
"You move fast lady," Flash said. In a blur, he was behind her. "But then again, I invented the concept."
Kari elbowed him contemptuously in the stomach, causing him to double over in pain. She turned her gaze towards Superman who was getting up. Normally, a punch like that wouldn't have kept him down for long at all, but the magic from which some of Kari's abilities stemmed was the same magic that Superman was oh-so-vulnerable to.
She felt a flurry of punches on her back, like getting a massage from a hyperactive masseuse. She reached behind her to grab his arm, but he deftly avoided her hand, moving in front of her with blinding speed. THWAP THWAP. He slapped her twice across the face in the space of a few milliseconds, sending searing pain through her cheeks. "Bad girl," he said.
She punched out at him, angry now. No man had ever dared slap her. No living one anyway. She would ensure that this one met his demise painfully.
Superman's fist came pounding on the back of her neck, causing her punch to go wild. She pitched forward, landing face first in the sand.
"Had enough?" asked Superman as Kari slowly rose to her feet. He wondered absently why the side of her face looked so swollen.
"Yes," the woman replied through gritted teeth. There was a steely determination in her eyes. "I have." She pulled out one of her blasters in a quickdraw that Clint Eastwood would envy. She depressed the firing stud and a concentrated beam of solar energy hit Superman full in the chest. "I hear you have an intolerance for red sun energy. Dat was several hundred thousands kilowatts of it."
As if on cue, Superman dropped, the surprised expression on his face never changing even as his eyes went blank and he lost consciousness.
"Supes!" yelled Fash. He raced over to Superman's unconscious form lying in the sand. "You OK man?"
"No he isn't," Kari curtly informed him. She raised the blaster once more. "And neither are you." She fired, except that this time, a projectile instead of an energy beam shot out. Flash had no trouble dodging it.
Problem was, instead of continuing in a straight line, the bullet veered off course, once again zooming towards Flash. He sidestepped, only to have the bullet do a one-eighty and come zooming right back at him full speed.
He waved his arm super fast, hoping to create enough wind resistance to slow the bullets down. It wasn't nearly enough. The homing projectiles slammed right into his chest, cracking his sternum and sending waves of hydrostatic shock reverberating through his chest. He gasped in pain, toppling over with a soundless cry of alarm right next to Superman.
"You wan' be next?" Kari asked J'onn who was standing behind to his two fallen teammates.
"You know a great deal about us, Adept," said J'onn. "You should know that we never give up."
"Or die trying?" She smirked and raised the blaster, depressing the firing stud once more and sending a hail of homing bullets. "Hopefully, you're faster than you're friend."
The bullets passed right through him, now that he was intangible. Kari watched in surprise as the nanotechnology that allowed them to alter their course and actually pursue a target short-circuited due to the simple fact that there was no longer a solid target.
The Martian Manhunter flew towards her. He threw a punch. She raised an arm to deflect.
And then the strangest thing happened. His arm twisted as if made of elastic, the fist managing to get through her cross-armed block and hit her square in the face. Kari hadn't even had time to register the pain before another blow slammed her in the solar plexus, doubling her over. John whirled and kicked her in the temple using the momentum from his spin. She saw stars.
Furious, Kari launched herself at the Martian, only to pass right through him. She lost her balance but quickly regained it, transitioning immediately into a full-blown haymaker.
Human fist connected with something was no longer Martian flesh and blood. Much denser, like stone. The bones in her right fist shattered, sending waves of pain through her arm.
Kari hopped back, putting as much distance as possible between herself and the Martian. She could hear Olivia's telepathic ranting in her head. What is happening out there?! You assured me you could handle them!
I can! Even as she sent this of course, she cradled her wounded hand. The bones were healing, thanks to her magic. That didn't mean she couldn't feel every tendon and ligament and muscle being realigned. The pain was excruciating.
You can't even handle the Martian! And the other two will have to be reckoned with soon as well! Look for yourself.
Kari did. Sure enough, Superman was rising to his feet. But where had Flash gone?
She found the answer when the Scarlet Speedster tackled her from behind. At Mach three. She hit the ground so hard she thought she might end up buried in sand.
Flash zoomed back in place, watching as she rose to her feet. "That was for shooting me."
"You don' know who you're dealing with, fool!" spat Kari. She raised her blaster and took careful aim, not even noticing that Flash didn't seem worried.
She pulled the trigger.
A beeping sound awoke Diana from her semi-peaceful nap on one of the spare chairs in the Control room. She looked over at Batman, and then back at the source of the sound, which the communications array.
"Are you going to get that?" she asked. She stood up, stretched, and walked over to the panel. "Never mind, I'll get it."
"Wait!" Batman whirled but she had already pressed the button. Oracle's voice through loud and clear.
"Bruce, are you there?"
Diana froze. Literally. Her mind rushed furiously to make the connection that was there. Had she just called him Bruce?
"Great Hera," she whispered when the realization dawned on her, her hand going to her mouth. Meanwhile, Oracle continued. "Bruce? Answer me, I have the information you needed on Lucas."
Any other time, the look on Batman's face would have been comical. He looked absolutely mortified.
He cleared his throat. "Send the information to the Watchtower Databanks. Batman out." He stressed the word Batman.
"OK, I'll call back soon." Oracle hung up.
"Bruce." Diana said the word almost experimentally. "Bruce as in . . .Bruce Wayne." It was more of a statement than a question.
Batman mentally kicked himself. And Oracle. He had told her to leave messages, not direct communications. She had just unwittingly revealed his secret. What had she been thinking?
"Answer me," Diana said firmly.
"The answer to your question is yes. I am Bruce Wayne."
Diana was silent for a moment. It was one thing to know it, quite another to hear him say it.
"You could have told me-told all of us earlier."
"Why?"
"Maybe to show you trust us."
Batman turned around, his mouth set in hard line, yet he didn't answer.
Diana studied him. The strong jawline, set mouth, facial features. "It seems so obvious now," she said.
Batman still said nothing.
"Back in Paris when we danced, and then later in Kasnia when we fought Vandal Savage, I suspected. But then when I thought about it, it made no sense. Bruce Wayne and Batman are so . . .different in personality." She stepped closer. "Why, Bruce. Why are you so frightened at the thought of your friends knowing?"
"Its not that . . .Diana." Batman found it disconcerting, the way she called him by his real name. Bruce.
"Then what is it?"
"Doesn't matter now, does it? You know my secret identity, so my trying to hide it is a nonissue."
"Did you think I-we would look down on you?" Diana asked. "Knowing your identity?"
"No. I simply . . ."
"Simply what?"
Batman's eyes narrowed but he continued. "My dual identities and their complete separateness is the a very important advantage in my work. I don't freely distribute that information."
"Even to your teammates?"
"Even to you."
Diana knew he meant the word 'you' in the broad sense, referring to all the Leaguers but she couldn't shake the awful feeling that he was talking specifically of her. "You're reasoning makes no sense to me Bruce," she confessed, moving back away from him. His bluntness had rather ruined the moment.
"I can't help that Diana. Now if you'll excuse me, there's something I need to do." He strode purposefully toward the exit, turning only when he reached the door. "Diana . . ."
"Yes," she said, perhaps hopefully.
"You will tell no one what you know. Do you understand."
Diana frowned. "I won't tell you're secret, but as for if I understand . . ."
He closed the door behind him.
"I don't."
"You don' know who you're dealing with, fool!" spat Kari. She raised her blaster and took careful aim, not even noticing that Flash didn't seem worried.
She pulled the trigger.
And the gun literally exploded in her hand. She stared shocked as chunks of her own flesh went flying, fingers sliced right off by the resulting shrapnel. Her hand was, in effect, ruined. This of course to say nothing of the pain. She had been conditioned to handle pain, to resist torture, to block it out. The raw agony that assaulted her made her eyes water.
And all the while, Flash was smirking at her. "Wow," he said with a pinch of sarcasm in his voice. "I guess they just don't make ultra-destructive blasters like they used to."
"What have you done?!" screeched Kari.
He shrugged, then flashed a cherubic smile. "Oh, nothin'. Or . . .actually, come to think of it, I did disassemble your blaster and then reassembled it . . .the wrong way. You didn't notice? I guess maybe that's cuz I did it in a third of a second right before I tackled you."
Kari looked furious, something Flash wasn't sure he liked. J'onn's expression was impossible to read. Superman's wasn't. He looked scared to death of Kari.
But for now, the madwoman was concentrating on Flash. "You have no idea de exten' of my power, do you?" she taunted.
Don't came Olivia's mental warning. Kari ignored her. It was the second time in one day that hand had been injured and that was starting to tick her off. It might not even heal properly the second time around.
"What you've seen," she continued, "is only a fraction of my power."
"Yeah, sure."
"You dink I jest, do you."
"No, I think you have a funny accent. Very unsexy. Ruins the whole super-babe vibe."
Kari chuckeled. "Actions speak louder den words, no?" She raised her mutilated hand. "Watch closely."
And sure enough, it healed right before their very eyes.
"What kind of stunt were you trying to pull, Barbara?" Batman demanded in his quarters. He held his comm. link in one gauntleted hand.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." He could almost see her smile on the other end. "those words familiar, Bruce?"
"You knew perfectly well that Diana was there, and you revealed my identity! I want to know why?"
"Do you?"
"Yes!"
Oracle sighed. "Honestly, I was getting sick and tired of you trying to beat this woman off with a stick, Bruce. And your identity is one major part of your life you've never been wise enough to let Diana be a part of."
"Please don't tell me you were trying to play Matchmaker."
"I just thought that with your identity out in the open, maybe you two could make some progress. Maybe you haven't noticed this, but trust is important to Amazons. Do you see Diana walking around with a secret identity after all."
"I don't believe this," Batman muttered. He cleared his throat. "You had no right, Barbara. And for the last thing, there is nothing between Diana and I. There never has been and there never will be."
"You're making a mistake, Bruce. But hey, what do I know? I'm just an Oracle. Listen, just take a look at the files I sent, OK. Hopefully, you're better at facing mysteries than your own silly insecurities. Oracle out."
"And for the last time, there is nothing between Diana and I. There never has been and there never will be."
Diana was breathing hard. Calm down, she told herself. Don't . . .too late. The first tear formed and after that, there was no stopping them. They streamed down her face like raindrops down a windshield, threatening to turn into a full-blown sob.
She had come to check on Bruce. Perhaps apologize, even though she hadn't been sure what to apologize for.
Men! She found herself angry. Even more surprising, she didn't care. It was better than being heartbroken.
And so she flew, angrily, if that's possible, back to her own quarters, Bruce's words playing over and over in her head.
AN/: FYI, this takes place before Starcrossed, OK. This is back when Diana didn't have any definitive knowledge of Batman's identity and Hawkgirl and Lantern hadn't become an item yet.
Anyway, reviews are always appreciated and believe it or not, they do make me write faster.