PART II: HOPE OF BELIEF

During the few years that I have known him, Batman has made no attempt to conceal his stubborn nature. I recall countless times when helping hands and advice had been offered to him, only to be rejected most of the time. During times of crisis, his stubbornness had a tendency to shine like it never had.

These last two days, it has been no different.

We arrived here on Themiscrya two days ago as man's world was being destroyed. Batman knew that we could not act prematurely if we were to succeed. Despite heated protests from Nightwing, Batman was able to make his point that rushing off into battle would only mean a complete loss of Earth.

As Batman, Nightwing and Batgirl tended to each of their minor injuries sustained before our escape, I sought out my mother.

"Man's world is truly at its end", mother says to me. "The will of one man and two of his followers will only do so much."

I stand with my mother on a large dune overlooking the beach where Batman has set up camp. The sun is shining as bright as ever, oblivious to the atrocities taking place elsewhere on this world. The cool breeze coming off the coast brushes through my hair as I squint towards the two ships.

The warmth of this near-perfect day offers no comfort as the chill in my heart remains.

"Mother", I begin still staring down. "I apologize for abruptly arriving like this."

"You are no longer banished from Themiscrya", she says sternly. "Do not speak of such nonsense, this is your home."

I can hear it in her voice. She is sympathetic for what has happened to man's world, but she is also concerned. She must know that I will help my friends to the bitter end if I must.

"You have done all you could for them", she says to me. "You have battled along side them, fought for their ideals. You have done your part and doing so almost cost you your life countless times. You are a brave warrior Diana, but you must understand that Batman's quest is to seek a retribution that he cannot obtain."

I look even further downward, only to be stopped by my closing eyes. Mother's words have always been wise, however I have not always agreed with them.

"Mother, I cannot let him and those he cares for charge into battle without me at their side", I say with my eyes still closed. "Had he not intervened on Apokalips, I would have been killed by Superman. He also escaped from the Watchtower with my unconscious body back to his home to prepare. That is twice he has saved my life during this crisis. Now he fights for a cause he has sworn to fight for ever since he was child."

"He has lost so much in his life, Diana", mother says. "Mortals' fear of loss drives them down dark paths, most from which there is no return. He will only cause you death, Diana. The path he now travels will lead to his end."

"I won't allow it", I sternly say with a loud whisper. "His loss causes him to fight more for selfless reasons that is unlike anyone on man's world. The two down there with him believe in him. Their hope is measured in the amount of fight in their hearts, mother. They only fail if they choose to do nothing."

I can feel my mother forming more words.

"Diana, I know you care for them. Possibly in ways that I can never understand, but you must understand that their home is gone. When they return to their decimated land, they will only suffer the same fate as their friends and loved ones."

Mother is probably right. However, that does not change anything, my mind is already made up.

"If that is their fate, so will it be mine."

I continue to stare away from mother as silence overtakes us. Out of respect, I turn to meet my mother's eyes again. The look on her face strikes me as a look of mixed feelings. The sadness in her demeanor is obvious, but there is a hint that she may actually be…proud.

"Diana, you have always done for others without asking for anything in return", she says to me as she places her hand on my cheek. "Every time you had disobeyed me, it was so you were able to help those in need. During the wars I fought in, those who I have survived with were very near to me. However with immortality came the opportunity to enjoy the simple company of those I cared for any time I saw fit."

Using a reaction I learned on man's world, I raised my eyebrow in confusion.

"Mortals do not have the luxury of time on their side, Diana. Like everything else that does not last, you must cherish them. I believe I understand your feelings quite a bit more now."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

Mother turns her attention back to Batman's camp at the bottom of the dune.

"A mortal he may be", mother began. "However mortals rarely share the same qualities as he does. For a man who walks amongst mortals of great power, the Batman proves his worth over theirs on a regular basis. From the stories you tell me yourself, he may have been the most powerful amongst your Justice League."

I follow mother's look back towards Batman and the others.

"We would have been lost without him", I say. "We would have fallen on many occasions without his wit and tactics. Everyone followed his lead despite his attempts to remain in the shadows. Mother, without him…"

"I would not be talking to my daughter right now", she finishes for me.

Mother walks in front of me, grabbing my hands with hers. She clenches them as I would imagine a mother would do to comfort her child. Mother looks up at me with a far more obvious look of pride.

"Diana, in life or in death…Themiscrya will always be your home."

She clenches my hand once more, and then releases them as she takes a step back.

"But now your place is at his side. I have always had my suspicions, but now they are clear. You two were destined to share the same fate from the beginning of your partnership within the Justice League. So many times have a mortal and an immortal shared the same fate. But now, it is my daughter who is destined to be at the side of a mortal."

Mother looks back at the camp one more time then back to me as I remain speechless.

"If I had to, I could not have chosen a mortal that is more worthy to stand at your side, Diana."

"Those are very impressive, Bruce", I say as Dick and Barbara adjust their new suits.

"Yeah, they're great…" Barbara says as she inspects her suit. "But it really doesn't leave much to the imagination."

I hear Dick snicker as Barbara runs her hands up and down the front of her suit. Bruce designed the material to adhere directly to the body of the person it was designed for, even more so than their original costumes. Dick's is just as tight-fitting as well. I can't help but notice the embarrassment on his face when I look at him.

We are all standing in the camp area as Batman makes technical adjustments to new suits he designed. He told us that he had designed a suit for himself when the time came for his physical abilities to diminish. After the Thanagarians invaded Earth, Bruce said he designed suits for Dick, Barbara and Tim.

Tim and Alfred…

I still see the pain in their eyes. Dick and Barbara try to enjoy their moments together as much as possible. I hear large amounts of laughter coming from them both. Every night when I check on them, they fall asleep in each other's arms in front of the campfire.

I even caught them crying together a few times.

Bruce had secluded himself inside the cargo plane every night, working in complete silence. When I did decide to intrude on him, he did not turn me away. One night he spoke of Tim's death, how he was patrolling the streets of Gotham by himself. Tim was killed as he saved a family from two Parademons. From what Bruce knew, Tim's abilities were rounded enough to handle the situation. However the destructive nature of the Parademons' attack forced him to protect innocents by sacrificing his own life.

Tim Drake died a hero's death.

A warrior's death.

Today we have planned our strategy against Darkseid.

"From the last few satellites we have in orbit", Batman said sitting at the portable computer console and tinkering with Barbara's utility belt. "Darkseid is currently in what used to be the center of Metropolis. Our Mother Boxes can open a boom tube directly inside his stronghold."

Bruce hands Barbara her belt as he turns to work on Dick's.

"Metropolis is patrolled by over forty-thousand Parademons that the satellite could count", Batman continued. That's not counting ground forces and any troops inside the stronghold."

"Stealth", Dick said.

"Exactly", Batman said. "The Mother Boxes can shield our whereabouts from both electronic detection and telepathy. What they can't do is make us invisible. The suits I designed have cloaking devices, but the effect doesn't last very long. We will use those sparingly and only when necessary."

"What's more necessary than hiding from thousands of Darkseid's kill-squad?" Barbara sarcastically asked.

"When we'll need to use them to get close enough to Darkseid…and kill him."

The looks on Dick and Barbara's faces showed how little they grasped of the situation. I knew that Bruce had killed a clone of Superman on the Watchtower, and I know he intends to kill again if he is to save the diminishing number of humans on Earth.

Bruce is no longer a crime fighter, he is a soldier.

"Its war, you two", Bruce says to them. "In order to save what's left of this planet, we're all going to have to go against most of our principles."

"I know, Bruce", Dick said. "It's just…I've never expected anything like that to come from your mouth."

"Right now the only expectation is to succeed", Bruce said as he tossed Dick's belt to him.

"What about Superman?" Barbara asked.

Bruce scowled as he turned back to the computer.

"From what I can tell, he's leading a large percentage of Darkseid's forces across Eastern Asia. He's sweeping westward towards Europe, then most likely back towards North America. He's already decimated Australia in less than two weeks. I give him just under two months before he's finished the entire eastern hemisphere.

"All we need is one day."

Dick's body language showed that he was not convinced by Bruce's plan.

"So how do we kill Darkseid then?" Dick asked. "He can go toe-to-toe with Superman, what chance do WE have?"

Dick saying 'we' obviously pertained to Bruce, Barbara and himself. He knew that I possessed enough strength to defeat Darkseid, however he also knows there is a chance I could fall in battle before we even reach Darkseid.

I'm glad Bruce was always thinking ahead.

"Diana…" Bruce motioned to me.

Over my shoulder, a large knapsack rested across my back. I pulled it over to present to the three of them, it containing three items Bruce hand-made himself.

"What are these?" Barbara asked as I lay down the knapsack on one of the benches.

"Our means", Bruce simply said.

Dick untied the rope keeping the knapsack together. Undoing the wrapping, he uncovered three sheathed swords made by Bruce. Dick and Barbara each selected the ones with their insignia across the sheath.

"Katanas..?" Dick asked as he inspected his sheathed sword.

"Katanas", Bruce answered.

Barbara followed Dick's lead in confusion.

"You know Bruce", Dick says as he slowly unsheathed his sword. "If YOU can easily kick my tail whether if I used this or not, what makes you think…"

As Dick spoke, his hand slowly makes its way to touching the steel of sword.

"Don't touch the blade", Bruce sternly said.

"Yeah, I get it", Dick says in a fed up tone. "It's not good Samurai karma if I do."

"It's more than you think, Dick", I say to them both. "The swords you hold have been blessed with magical powers by the Gods. They will aid us on our mission."

Dick raises his eyebrow to me as Barbara looks at her sword in confusion. I can tell Dick has taken a lot from Bruce as time has gone by, it shows in his lack of patience.

"So, Bruce of the Argonauts, how did you pull this one off?"

I can't believe I'm actually seeing Bruce smile to Dick's comment.

"Connections."

Bruce had decided that we would wait till the morning before we made our advance. I was able to visit mother one more time before I departed. During our time on the island, Dick and Barbara finished their two-week training with their new suits. Bruce seems satisfied with how well they have been able to adapt to them. Their swordsmanship was never in question as Dick and Barbara only retraced their training steps.

I chose to wait through the night with Bruce, Dick and Barbara. In front of two massive tents, a peaceful fire burned as we sat around it on blankets over the sandy beach. It had been more peaceful for the past ten minutes since Bruce made Dick put away his…'harmonica' was it?

I am in awe as Bruce has allowed himself to enjoy this peaceful moment. Normally he would bury himself in preparation and strategy. The look in his eyes tonight only suggests that his human side is dominant over his Batman persona.

Everyone is in their comfortable evening wear before they slept for the night. Earlier when we first sat down, Bruce briefly went over the plan for tomorrow. Since then, Dick had done his best to lighten the mood by telling stories when he and Bruce patrolled Gotham together. The way he spoke was like a barely-matured adult recalling his favorite childhood moments. Barbara and I found ourselves laughing out loud as Bruce even added a few chuckles himself.

However, I finally understand Bruce's reasoning for tonight.

And it saddens me.

He knows that the odds are against us. Bruce is allowing himself perhaps one final chance to enjoy a happy moment. He is here with the only family he has left. Dick and Barbara have lost their families as well, making the three of them the only family they have. I sit on an island with my mother and countless sisters, and I chose to leave them willingly.

I wonder if they think me a fool for abandoning my family, or think of me as someone who chooses to make a sacrifice.

It does not matter, however.

Their last attempt at joy tonight proves to me that my choice is unintentionally irrelevant.

Time passes, and finally Dick makes the first move.

"Come on, Babs", he says taking a hold of Barbara's hand. "Let's call it a night. We got a busy day tomorrow."

His charm seems to make her forget the potential final time they are having together. She seems as determined as he is to make tonight mean as much as possible together.

They both rise as Bruce and I do as well. Barbara walks over to Bruce quickly, holding him in an embrace as I hear her sob in his chest. Bruce wraps his arms around her as Dick looks on with a sad look himself. Barbara continues to sob as Bruce attempts to comfort her.

"I know", he simply says. "But we still have work to do, Barbara."

Barbara looks up at him, eyes red with tears. Bruce gently looks at her with confident eyes that could encourage the direst of spirits. Barbara tries to smile as she rubs at her nose.

"They won't know what hit'em", she sobs with a smile.

She walks back to Dick, who looks at both Bruce and I with a nod, as they retire to their tent for the night. Bruce watches them enter their tent and seal it, I stand next to him looking on as well.

"Hope is what gives them strength", I say.

"That makes them the strongest people on this island", Bruce responds without looking back.

We retake our seats in front of the fire. Bruce sits in total peace as the fire gently burns, giving us warmth from the cool air. Bruce drinks from his cup of ice water as he looks up to the stars. He must be far warmer than I.

We sat in a peaceful silence for almost ten minutes until he spoke.

"When I was five, my father took me camping once."

He is telling a story from his childhood? I don't act surprised for the fact that I could potentially scare him off like a wild animal.

"What was it like?" I ask.

"My mother stayed behind, she wasn't an outdoors person", he continues. "She prepared our food for us before we left, making sure we had everything we needed. My father always teased her for doing things for us that we could easily do for ourselves, saying that she spoiled us. She was always doing things like that for us, the boys. She knew that even if we did a great job making our own food, we'd hate it. Or anything for that matter, we loved her touch on everything."

Bruce added a chuckle to his story as I hung on every word.

"We drove three hours to the private section of a campsite my father owned. The grounds were public with running water, functioning bathrooms, electricity and even a number of luxury cabins. But my father was a rugged outback type of guy, ever since his college years. He hated everything that the public grounds had, always saying 'that is not camping'.

"My father used to camp and hike in northern Utah every summer, not long before I was born. He enjoyed every one of those getaways with old college friends, even meeting my mother during one of the retreats. I think he said that was the last time she had gone that long without electricity."

I laugh as he laughs telling his story.

"We stayed for three nights", Bruce continues. "He wasn't sure I would be able to do a whole week my first time out, but he was very proud with how I held myself."

I flash Bruce a questioning smirk.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I missed the heck out of TV."

Being around Flash enough will teach you differentiate good jokes from the bad ones, and Bruce Wayne is notorious for bad jokes. Therefore I roll my eyes accordingly.

"We hiked everyday, swam and fished in the lake. Everyday we caught enough fish for our lunch and dinner. I remember almost vomiting when my father gutted the first fish in front of me without warning. It tasted good after we cooked it, though."

I add another chuckle.

"One day we rode a bike trail for six hours, that's when we got lost. I look back and figure that my father got us lost on purpose, hoping to instill some sort of discipline that I couldn't get at home. I made him proud that night as I calmly helped him find our way back. He rewarded me with a candy bar that he brought from home, but I shared it with him.

"Every night, my father let me help him make the fire. He always told me 'Bruce, if you want to enjoy the fire, you have to respect it'. It was the first time I learned to create something that I could be proud of and fear at the same time. My father always told me that fear was another form of respect, especially when it came to nature."

Bruce stands up and reaches for the stick he had been using to adjust the logs in the fire. He stands with his back to me as he works the fire and continues to speak.

"When we came home that weekend, I couldn't wait to go back", Bruce says. "My father was so happy that I enjoyed myself as much as I did. He was afraid that the life I lived on a daily basis would make me adopt the same view my mother had. But I think deep down he knew that I was made for the outdoors. My father set up for us to go camping again after an overseas meeting with one of the major companies interested with merging Wayne Enterprises in Scotland.

"But he had to cancel when the business began to really blossom. It was almost three years later when we finally made plans again for another camping trip. I was eight years old that summer."

Bruce goes quiet as I fold my legs, holding them together against my body.

"That was the summer my parents were killed", Bruce says as his voice slightly cracks. "Just a couple of weeks before our camping trip…"

Bruce stabs at the fire a few times intently then retakes his spot on the blanket.

"I remember the day I learned about your parents", I say to him. "It was during the time I stood behind on the Watchtower when everyone was tracking the Joker in Las Vegas. I was looking up information on the Joker, his history, criminal background, and anything else I could find on him. I must have lost myself while researching because I found myself looking up your name."

I look over to see Bruce looking at me, although still obviously lost in his own thoughts.

"I can honestly say I never knew what had happened to you", I continue. "I did not know what made you become the Batman. The theory I had was that you were just a concerned citizen with the proper resources to make a difference. I knew that you were not a thrill seeker, Hera help me had I ever questioned you with such."

I hear an amused huff come from him.

"Knowing all of this forced me to understand the fierce approach you took with us. You were a man without powers who was among the powerful. Yet, you did not allow that to make you any less important. In fact, you have proven yourself to be the most important member of us all."

I look at the fire as I continue to grasp my legs.

"Every time you came off as harsh to anyone, I would defend you", I continue. "Anytime your methods were questioned, I would remind them we would not be this far without you. My belief in you was worn for everyone to see, even now I still believe in you."

I turn to him and shift my body so that I am resting on my knees. My eyes are level to him as he still sits on the same blanket as I.

"When we accomplish our goals tomorrow, and the countless days after, I will always believe in you and I…"

I understand what my mother was saying to me, my heart truly desires this.

"…and I will always love you."

I wake up as the dawning sun makes its first glow onto the morning sky. The sheets cover my bare body as the cool breeze comes in from the screened window that was opened before I was awake. Then I realize that the space where he slept next to me was empty. It takes me seconds to remember what had happened the night before, and I smile with every ounce of pride I can muster. Never in my life could I imagine the gratification of physically expressing my feelings in such a way.

I want to raise my arms and shout to the heavens.

Instead, I stretch with my smile never weighing. I know what is to come today, however I allow myself to enjoy this moment for as long as I possibly can. I

I sit up ready to face the day, only to find my outfit at the foot of the bed. I am used to walking around nude in private, and I'm sure anyone daring to look inside this tent knowing I'm in here has already seen me nude. I stand up with my bare body exposed as I walk towards the armor.

Obviously Bruce decided to lay out my attire for me as he performed his morning rituals. I smile more as I find a rose resting across the blade of my sword. I almost laugh as I realize that he had this flower with him the whole time, with the intent of using it somehow.

It takes me no more than a minute to apply my armor, along with one the Mother Boxes Bruce obtained for us. I wrap the belt that attaches my sword to myself last as I whisper silent prayers. My smile is gone now, replaced with the face that I have used before every major battle.

I exit the tent to see Dick, Barbara and Bruce waiting for me. They are all in full uniform with their swords worn on their backs. The looks of pain and despair show no signs of ever being on their face before. In Barbara's eyes, I see an angered focus on what is to be done. Dick has this face as well.

But Bruce, it amazes me how different the transition is from Bruce to Batman. To some, the persona of Batman is frightening to the very core. His mere presence at this moment proves those points of view to be very true.

"It's time", Batman says.

A boom tube opens behind them on the shore of the beach. Nightwing and Batgirl turn to face it as Batman approaches me.

"Do you still believe?" he says stopping in front of me.

My smile returns thinking of our night together.

"More than ever."