Author's Note: I'm sorry if the orb's purpose was a bit confusing in Chapter 5. I edited some parts there… especially when Donna's frightful understanding urged her to act rather rashly. Y'all might understand it more if you peruse Chapter 5's Donna and Diana's brief conversation.
Just to give you guys a heads-up, my story is fabricated after Season 5 of JLU. So if you watched Ancient History, you would know what John's choice was and how Shayera acted around it.
And how can I forget but say, thank you, thank you, and a million more intangible hugs to my lovely, perceptive readers, namely Lavender Gaia, CatGirl R and S Fan, Skite, Super Chocolate Bear, trunksgirl85, and ccabello. I salute ya'll.
Enjoy!
000000000000000000000
Disregarding the need to look behind him, Batman continued his pensive reading on Greek Mythology. By the sound of her confident stride entering the ultramodern yet mind-numbing room, he already knew who yearned his quiet company.
"Hope I'm not interrupting," Shayera Hol propped her weight on the back of Bruce's swiveling chair. She took a quick glance at Bruce's book and started to wonder. "Didn't know you were interested in mythical prose written by long-dead authors."
Bruce shut the book and supported his head on his closed fist, his attention not entirely focused on the psychedelic screen in front of him. "Reading it for extensive research."
Looking down, Shayera arched her brow at his Batcowl. "I'd say you're concerned about Diana's weird makeover just now."
Bruce tilted his head to face Shayera, frowned when she smiled cockily at him. "And I'd say the reason for your current visit is to seek consolation from John's resolute cold shoulder," Bruce retorted while hiding the book under the table. If he didn't know any better, Shayera was still deeply in love with John, and the sentiment was reciprocal on the other end. And yet… even after discovering that their son's existence was suspended on their future-related decision, John chose Vixen, his reason vague and belied by false love.
"At least I'm not hiding like a spineless superhero who finds solace in night prowls and books all day." Shayera grabbed a lone chair near the door and plopped beside the Batman. "I know you're worried about Diana…all of us are. But—"
"It doesn't concern me and Diana, Shayera," Batman retorted gruffly. "I'm just… worried for a friend, that's all."
"And sometimes, there's an affectionate inception for all of it, may it be mere friendship or… really, love."
Bruce turned to Shayera, his lips pursed in a fed-up line. Shayera playfully rolled her eyes dramatically and patted Bruce's stiff hand. "But we'll not broach on that subject… for now." She crossed her leg over the other and added wistfully, "John's been… quiet lately."
"Couldn't agree more. I think he may have lost touch with reality."
"Hey," Shayera slapped Batman's arm and said, "You're usually the one who gazes into space during most part of your shifts," she leaned her head back to stare at the ceiling. "He's just like that because… because…"
"He loves you and he knows that you two have a future together, but he's afraid of letting Mari go."
Shayera blew out a croaky sigh, said, "I think… I should stop here. Raising this matter doesn't progress anything between me and John." She started to leave, but Bruce added,
"You both know that you have an ordained family to take care of… and acting strong on that fact isn't supposed to depress you if it hasn't happened just yet. The time will come for you and John… the right time when both of you are clear and certain about the future." He lightly gave her an assured smile. "It's natural for anyone like you to want to rush this sort of thing, especially when you have something special to lose."
Shayera smiled appreciatively at him. "The more I talk to you, the more I understand why Diana fell for you."
Ignoring his scowling protest, she left the room after saying, "Maybe you shouldn't let that special someone fade away like she never existed too, eh?"
Bruce idly retrieved his book from underneath the table and flipped the pages without looking at its content. "Easy for you to say, I have nothing to lose in my future."
00000000000000
"How's your noddle?" Donna teased as she brushed Diana's hair with her hand.
Diana ignored Donna's enforced cheery mood, sipped her tea consolingly. She knew that Donna was only mitigating the situation by joking around and imitating the Flash's jargon. She gave Donna a blasé glance, then focused on the brown, tasteless pool in her cup.
Donna grimaced. "Even without the orb, you're starting to act cold." She gave up and strode to the bed, where she sat down, tossed and turned with whelping squawks, and finally blew out an infuriated sigh.
"Squealing like a brat won't change my mind about this, Donna," Diana lightly warned when Donna stopped riling on the cushiony bed.
Donna tentatively sat up, shrugged her shoulders. "Worth the futile try." She abruptly stood up when a knock thumped on the metallic door.
"Who dares knock on heaven's door?" Donna sang playfully as she neared the door, her ear pressed on the cold surface.
"Uh… Wally, the hypothetical pinhead, my divine queen," Wally played along from the other side.
"Ah… well then, my hypothetical pinhead, you may enter the sacred chamber," Donna grinned at Diana's direction, but was only met with a not-working smile from Diana.
Rebuffing Diana's feigned nonchalance, Donna opened the door, laughed when she saw Wally's hesitant smile when he spotted Diana sitting on the table with a teacup in hand.
"Don't worry, Wally, I'm not going to barrage you with insults this time," Diana chuckled at his unsure stance and walked towards Wally to show that she wasn't wearing the necklace.
Seeing that her neck was free of the atrocious doohickey, he hugged Diana in a tight embrace. Diana did the same, nearly choking Wally with her suffocating grip.
When they let go of each other, Donna said, "You better bask in it, Wally, 'cuz it ain't gonna last long." Donna almost closed the door but a hand suddenly shot through the opening and she cried back in surprise.
Wally and Diana turned to see Nightwing standing in the doorway, his relaxed, cocky shoulders leaning on the doorframe. He grinned when he saw Donna's stumbled form on the floor.
"I thought Amazons are trained to frighten the pants off me than the other way 'round," he joked as he held out his hand for Donna. But Donna overlooked it with a haughty frown and helped herself up.
"And we Amazon princesses are taught not to regress ourselves by talking to booby men such as your intellectual status." Donna stuck her tongue out.
Nightwing laughed and platonically pinched Donna's jutted chin between his gentle fingers. "You haven't changed a bit," he said, his masked eyes softening.
"And the same goes for you, ye boor!" She mischievously slapped his hand away and cocked her head to scrutinize his lean, muscled figure that had been handsomely molded over the years, his height leveled to hers.
"Dick, my man! We haven't exchanged hellos yet and you're already swapping the Crimson Speedster with the conspiring nymph here," he gave Dick a hearty slap in the arm and was quickly returned with Dick's retaliated punch in the arm.
"Men… all bravado and clouts. No wonder your masculine population is growing scarce… both physically and psychologically," Donna said as she twirled a lock of hair around her finger.
Wally and Dick exchanged glances. Wally then blurted out, "Oh c'mon… that's not true. Those… those…"
"Homosexuals? Bisexuals? Transsexuals? Lesbians," Dick filled in for Wally.
"Yeah, them!" Wally brightened but gave Dick a wary look. "They're just deprived of the right kind of love, that's why. But Dick and me… we're just exuding it… that's why we're studs!"
"And I guess it's no wonder why more men die of STD all because their dominant bludgeons are just groping for every woman they come across with," Diana said with a naughty wink in her eyes, leaving both men blushing furiously.
She left the room, Donna following in tow. When they were striding along the hallway, alone and out of earshot, Donna asked, "I thought women are more affected by those kind of diseases no matter how many times one man's bludgeon whack… well, you know…" Donna couldn't help but redden, which made her stop short.
"The effect could be highly mutual," Diana assured. "But… I was only exaggerating that men die of it only because it was fun shaking those two up a bit." Diana giggled at Donna's astonished glow. "Plus, it's curable. I'll give them a minute or so to realize their assumed blunder."
"Naughty, naughty, Sister." Donna wagged her finger in Diana's face.
Diana laughed loudly that when a few men saw her bright face instead of her former chilling gravity, they did nothing but stare, curious and confused to the bone.
00000000000000
Stepping out of the shower's steaming fragrance of newly washed skin, she unknowingly went to the adjacent bedroom and checked her messages on the answering machine.
You have no messages—Before the robotic response could aggravate her, she pressed the button to shut if off, and wheeled around to her kitchen, her silky bathrobe barely concealing her voluptuous figure. Helena didn't even know who she was expecting to call. She had no family, she barely indulged in mingling gossips, and she just put the pause switch on Vic.
She scoffed at herself when she realized her missing him. She forcefully shook her head, receiving a few dizzying blows, dumped her usual TV dinner in the microwave and subsequently downed a quarter of beer from the refrigerator.
Just when the anticipated ping called her to her ready food, the phone rang. Before she caught herself, she sprinted to her room and hastily pressed the earpiece to her ear, her hello sounding brusque and loud.
"Helena?" She nearly fell to the floor with utter disappointment and irrational anger with herself. She leaned her forehead on the drawer's blunt edge, lightly thumped her head on the wood, then answered, "What's up, Di?"
She instantly fell seriously silent when she clearly heard Dinah's depressed sniffs and congested voice. "I neeeed… can you… sniffs… come meet me in the alley?"
"Not when you have the voice of a dying cow, I'm going directly to your place," Helena ended the connection before Dinah could oppose her resolve.
Walking to her wardrobe, she only scolded herself, soliloquizing angrily as she pulled on a strapless blouse.
"Like, who were you expecting to call, Helena? Vic…?" She crackled in forced laughter. "If that ever happens…" She dabbed red lipstick on her puckered lips and quickly grabbed her blue sweater from the closet.
She looked back again before closing her apartment's door.
As soon as her footsteps faded away down the dilapidated staircase, her bedroom's phone continuously rang until the voice mail kicked in.
"Sorry, but I'm currently nowhere near the phone, so don't push me. I'll call you when I feel like it. Just leave a message if you must." Beeeep…
But before the message was finished, the connection died.
00000000000000000000
"Next time you plan on an impromptu meeting, make sure you don't sound worse than usual," Helena handed Dinah another tissue from the box. "For a second there I thought you were crying your nose out because of your green boyfriend."
"I tried to tell you it wasn't necessary, but you forced yourself into this." She blew her clogged nose into the tissue, making Helena grimace.
"I think I'm going to the kitchen to make some soup." Helena moved from the room to the kitchen. She first checked the fridge for some eggs or chicken, perhaps canned soup. But to her surprise, all the icebox contained were wrapped leftovers from fancy restaurants—she saw the logos on the plastics. She then opened the freezer only to find the conventional stash she also saw in her own freezer—TV dinners.
"The girl has a fancy condo, a furious bike and attitude, but what she seriously doesn't have is some decent food," She closed the door. "At least I have some eggs and milk back home."
"I'm sorry if I'm food-deprived, but I usually order Chinese takeout… or eat breakfast up in the Watchtower." Dinah landed on the stool beside the kitchen's island.
Helena remembered seeing greenish-grey stuff on the leftover food. "And do you finish all your food?"
Through her groggy voice, Dinah nodded. "I try my best to leave my takeout boxes morsel-free." She leaned her cheek on the marble top's cool surface. "I hate this cold… it's killing me. And so is Ollie." Out of nowhere, she placed a towel over her head. "We had another argument."
"Oh…" Helena concealed her find in the moldy fridge and sat down on the vacant stools. "What'd he do?"
Dinah groaned through the towel. "It's not his fault. It's mine." She looked up. "He called earlier to see if I was okay—I'm obviously sick that's why I didn't make it to my shift this morning." She muffled her sneeze with a tissue. "I snapped at him because he just couldn't put the phone down. I was tired, sleepy, my head ached, my face was puffy—"
"And that's the weirdest cold symptom I've ever seen," Helena butted in as she gazed at Dinah's red, slightly bloated face. "You look terrible. Seriously."
"I know," Dinah frowned at Helena. Helena abruptly stood up and miraculously found a teapot in one of the cupboards, filled it with water, and set it on the stove. "Don't mind me, just continue your story. I'll try to mentally extend my luck… I might probably discover a hidden hoard of ginger or lemon somewhere in this massive kitchen."
Dinah ignored her and continued, "We both snapped at each other. He got fed up with me for being too snippy. He even forgot that I was sick in the first place and said something like me acting so selfishly and discontent…"
"Two hundred points for bull's eye!" Helena cut in as she plucked an empty container off the shelf.
"Ignoring you… I think I might have lost my last chance for a decent apology with Ollie." In spite of her hoarse voice, Helena could decipher almost perfectly that Dinah was remorseful with herself and… lost without Ollie beside her. She had to admit that she felt the same way with Vic. She missed the way he hugged her from behind, his warm, gentle fingers entwined around her tiny, firm waist, his lips nuzzling her nape, his deep voice whispering into her ear…
"Helena? You still in my kitchen?"
"Oh yeah." She switched off the stove, staring disappointedly into the boiling pot. "This is useless. Hot water couldn't even scratch the phlegm barrier in your too congested throat. You sound like you need something stronger."
"Chicken soup and contrived green tea from Mr. Wang's could work for me."
Helena shrugged her shoulders. "Then give me his phone number."
0000000000000000000000
"You rang?" Dick inquired through his phone while walking languidly to the cafeteria. He took a thorough peek in the room to ascertain that Donna was somewhere else. "Why can't I meet you in the room? You know, you still haven't explained to me why you need me to unearth some details with Donna. What do you—?"
"Do you want to refresh your ties with Troia or not?" Bruce snapped at Dick's ear. When Dick did nothing but frown and sauntered silently down the hall to continue his search, Bruce murmured an apology.
Bruce swiveled in his chair, his hands covering his face. "I just need to know what's wrong with… Diana."
"Diana?" Dick mulled over this for awhile. "You think she's acting weird lately?" Nightwing poked his head into a vacant gym room. "The first thing I did when I got here was to greet Donna and Wally. Then I saw Diana. She seemed friendly as usual. Nothing off if you ask me."
Bruce sat up in his chair, his eyebrows knitted together in slight bewilderment. "She didn't insult you? She didn't seem arrogantly cold to you?"
"The only one I know who fits that description is you," Nightwing said dryly. When he heard Bruce swore under his breath, he added, "But like I said, Diana's as gentle as a bunny. I don't think there's anything wrong with her."
After a moment's silence, Dick asked, "Why are you ignoring me?"
"If you're getting something out from Donna and if she sees us together, she'll become suspicious and your cover is blown." Bruce turned around to see Dr. Fate entering the room. "Talk to you later."
He ended the connection before Dick had the chance to respond. "And why didn't I see that coming?"
He tucked his phone away, whistled tunelessly while he unobtrusively watched for any sign of Donna's presence. Just then, he heard loud footsteps echoing along the hallway—and he recognized well enough to whom those steps belonged to.
He jumped into a shady corner, prayed to God that he was perfectly concealed from getting caught in the act of voyeurism. He watched quietly as Donna strode past him. But something stuck him as incredibly odd. She was frowning. Donna Troy rarely ever emitted any signs of sadness or negativity—anything that could prompt muscles to scrunch into an aged expression.
He moved very subtly so as not to apprehend his stealthy presence. When he was close enough to smell her perfumed hair, she abruptly turned around, her brows arched questioningly.
"Dick?"
"Donna…" He straightened his bent form, and grinned. "You got me."
Unconvinced, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh, I can see that. Why are you creeping up behind me?"
"Just wanted to make sure that you're not as unsuspecting as I thought you've become," Dick said as he inched closer. "You seem down lately. What's wrong?"
She only shook her head. "It's nothing. I was only thinking of something trivial." Her contemplative eyes suddenly changed into an archetype of exuberance. "So… how's Batgirl?"
Nightwing started to blush, his tongue a heavy roll of gaucherie. "I… well… uh… you know… she's really great!"
Donna laughed, pulled Nightwing down the hall in the direction of the canteen. "Not good enough, Dick. You gotta give the girl more than just 'great'! I need details."
"But there's nothing much to say…" Dick groaned sheepishly.
Still dragging him, Donna commented, "Stop being such a kid, Dick, and grow up."
"You wouldn't believe how tempting it is to tell you that," he muttered, was appreciative when Donna didn't hear him.
When they arrived in the barely occupied room, Donna sat Nightwing down in a corner table and told him she would return with some food—and God knows how long that would take her to decide how many edibles she has planned to gobble down mercilessly.
After long minutes of waiting, Donna came back with a plate heaped of donuts, bread, eggs, bacon, salad, soup, and two Styrofoam cups of hot coffee. She pushed the cup into Dick's outstretched hand, careful not to spill its contents.
As she offered Dick some food, which he declined, she started chattering some things related to Themyscyra. As always, Dick listened intently to what his friend had anything to say. Even if it wasn't related to Diana's so-called unusual behavior, Dick was too engrossed to digress from Donna's exciting tales of her homeland's fights and adventure.
When she was finished, Donna stared at Dick expectantly. Confused, he rebuffed her stare with a simple 'what'.
Putting down her fork, she asked, "Is it true that you're proposing to Babs?"
He was sipping his coffee when she asked him that question. Expectantly that caught him by surprise, thus, he started to cough relentlessly with coffee choking him. Donna stood up to pat his back, which did help him breathe normally again as he ignored the pain that vibrated his hammered back.
"Thanks," he whizzed as Donna gave him a glass of cool water. When he was calm enough, he asked, "Who told you that?"
"I'll tell you if you affirm that whatever you are about to say is the truth." Diana looked at him naughtily.
Dick rolled his eyes and leaned back, his face taking a serious front. "No, that's a complete lie." He squinted his eyes at her. "I'm guessing Wally lied to you."
"Why blame Wally when I have so many sources?"
"That's because Wally is the only one who has closer connections with you… and he can twist the truth sometimes."
"Oh, but they say rumors are half-truths."
"Those are jokes. Not rumors. An alien landing in my backyard is a rumor around the neighborhood. Wally crushing on you is a joke." Seeing Donna's gawked reaction made Dick chuckle.
"You didn't know he had a crush on you one time?"
"Not really, no." Donna lifted her forkful of donut to her mouth. "I always thought he liked Raven."
"You're acquisition of gossips is so warped that I don't think I want to know how you got them." Dick gulped down the remaining contents of coffee and put the empty cup on the table with a satisfied sigh. "So… how's Diana?"
"What do you mean?" she asked quite suspiciously.
Dick feigned puzzlement, asked, "Uh… did I say something wrong?"
Blinking several times while looking at Dick narrowly, she asked, "Why don't you ask the Batman? After all, you're his son."
Dick squinted his eyes at her. "We've lost touch since he sent me to Bludhaven. Are you hiding something from me, Donna?"
Maybe Bruce was right all along. Something was definitely up with Donna… or Diana. Donna was never wary about disclosing information… so long as it wasn't dead serious. In addition, what was Donna doing in the Watchtower? Didn't she mention earlier that Themyscyra needed her nowadays?
"I have nothing to hide, mind you. It's just that… why do you suddenly care? How do I know that the Batman didn't call you unexpectedly to check up on me?"
Forgetting that Bruce called him for a sociable mission, Dick retorted, "Is there something wrong with me asking about your sister's welfare. She is your sister, and you're my friend. It's just proper for me to be concerned. And to answer your latter question, what does Bruce have anything on this? You never reacted this way before whenever his name or anything or anyone related to him suddenly popped up in front of you." He touched Donna's hand. "Donna, are you sure you're okay?"
She didn't know why she was so edgy when he broached on that subject. It must be because of his close relations with the Batman that had caused her to act rather rashly. She was just afraid that she might betray her sister indirectly if the Batman ever discovered Diana's implicitly vengeful intentions. But Dick wasn't the Batman. And like he said, he lost touch with his foster father. She looked into his masked eyes… was he telling her the truth? Was he joking? Lying could be easily executed these days.
But Dick was her good friend. She knew she could trust him, just as how she trusted the Flash not too long ago.
"I might not be fine, Dick," She looked into his covered eyes once more. "Do you swear under our friendship that this would not go anywhere but between us?"
Without hesitation Dick nodded his head.
And so, Donna slowly told him everything. From the instance when she felt initially excited about the orb prospect to the unsettling moment when she suddenly felt worried for her sister's sanity now.
A true friend since joining the Titans, she knew Dick could be trusted not to blurt this out to the one man who shouldn't know until he tasted hurt million times over and over again…
00000000000000000000
To be continued…Author's note: So sorry for taking long to update. I was pretty busy these past few days. Hope you guys understand. XD
You know you want to… don't be shy… just lead your arrow to the 'Go' button below this and send me a review eh! I very much appreciate any comments, suggestions… anything!