11. The 'Trinity'
Summary: Now who could this be?
'Knew he's come.' Dressed in the traditional Kryptonian robes, his trademark red, yellow and blue still there, Superman looked towards the horizon. The sound of an approaching jet engine and to him, the clearly visible bat-shaped object, told him that his hunch, his belief in his friend and teammate had been correct.
He had told…promised Hippolyta that Batman would be there for Diana's memorial and he had just been proven right, although he would give anything to not be in this position, to have his best friend, teammate and love of the man coming towards him, here, alive and with them.
----
"He is in denial," Hippolyta sighed as she got ready to part company with Clark Kent, her guards standing at attention at the front steps of stately Wayne Manor.
"You Majesty," Clark had had the same thought, one more than one occasion. However, he did not want to admit it to the mother who had just lost her only daughter. He wasn't going to admit it. "Your Majesty, Bruce…Batman, he is different from the rest of us. The life he has had to lead had made him this way. He is not in denial; he is just not ready to accept it."
"There is a difference between the two?" The Amazon Queen looked up at the demigod, the man she had once hoped would be the man her daughter would choose…that is, if she chose a man in the first place. However, even though she accepted her daughter's choice and now respected it as the better one; she was still not clear with what the alien man had just said.
"Yes there is," Clark set on to explain what he knew about the Batman. "Batman is first and foremost a detective, the best detective in the world. We, all of us saw Diana…disappear, and while we accepted it as her passing away, Batman not until he finds the evidence to prove it or disprove it."
"But what if, he's never able to do so?" Hippolyta questioned as they reached the Amazonian contingent. "What then?"
"He will keep on trying," that answer came out easily. "And knowing him, I am certain that he will. He always does."
"Your confidence in him," tears appeared in Hippolyta's eyes. "It is the same confidence that Diana had."
"It is not so much confidence as it is trust," Clark glanced towards the Manor and then back at Hippolyta. "A trust not borne by mere words, but by deeds…..and it is with the power of that trust that I can assure you, Batman will be there tomorrow."
"He…will?" Hippolyta echoed in surprise, getting only a silent nod from the man standing before her. Cracking a quivering smile, she too nodded silently.
----
On Themiscyra, Hippolyta's eyes turned towards the horizon, where a black object, a metallic bat…HIS bat, had just come into visible range. From the periphery of her vision, she could see Superman seeing the same direction as her.
'He was right,' she thought as she turned to the raven-haired woman standing next to her, Lois Lane.
Allowed to step on the island, something that Clark wasn't, Lois was representing both herself and him. It had been Clark who had requested her presence. She had been a friend to both Bruce and Diana, and while Hippolyta had offered to bend the rules for Batman, Clark knew that the same offer wouldn't stand for Superman. Hence Lois's presence on the island, while he positioned himself a hundred yards away from mainland Themiscyra, hovering in the air and currently awaiting his approaching teammate.
----
For Bruce, the decision had already been made the second Hippolyta informed him that there would be a memorial ceremony for Diana, and although he refused to set foot on the women-only Themiscyra, he was going to attend it.
With Dick, Tim, Cassandra and Barbara taking over for him, he boarded his long distance travel Batwing and left Gotham at dawn, reaching Themiscyra a few hours later. Even before he was able to see him, the 'wing's sensors told him about Superman's presence.
Nearing the hovering Superman, he slowed down, finally stopping midair and putting the batwing into silent mode. Popping the top, he jumped out and stood on the shiny surface of his steed, his eyes stuck at the marble statue of his beloved. Exactly like the one in Metropolis, this statue, just like its twin, had been carved out of a solid piece of marble, not by the Amazons but by men, two men, both of whom were of this planet, not by birth but by love, Superman and J'onn Jonzz, the Martian Manhunter. They had made two statues, one of which was installed in Metropolis, while the other was graciously accepted by the Amazonian Queen and her subjects.
----
"Look, he's here," Batman's arrival created quite a flutter among the Amazons, many of whom knew about this man, both by his previous presence on Themiscyra, but more importantly as his status as Princess Diana's escort.
"Is that him?" Someone who hadn't seen the Caped Crusader before asked with surprise, awe and distrust. Even in the full light of the day, the shadows were clearly swirling around the dark form perched on the large metallic bat, the twin points of his cowl clearly proclaiming who he was….even if the gently billowing cape covered and hid the Bat-symbol on his chest.
"Yes," the first woman answered in a whisper. "I have seen him earlier. That is the man, the Princess's man."
"I thought it was the other one," a third Amazon cut in. "The majestic one….the one in those red and blue robes."
"No, no, it's the other one," her sister was confident of her knowledge. "The dark one. The Bat."
"Oh, I know him," someone else entered the conversation. "He is called the Batman. But he is just a mere human male. There is nothing special about him."
"Well, the Princess chose him to be hers, so there must be something special about him," another one was quick to answer. "See how he stands shoulder to shoulder with the Superman, and how Superman regarded him when he arrived…."
"Even Queen Hippolyta went to meet him," this answer came from an Amazon whose sister-lover was a member of the Queen's private guard. "He is supposed to be a prince or something."
"Oh," was all the others could respond with before the starting ceremony silenced everyone.
----
On the other side of things,
"Clark…Clark," Lois Lane-Kent frowned at the lost look in her husband's eyes. "HEY Smallville!"
"Uh, huh," Clark Kent shook him out of his musings and looked up, catching the arms crossed in front of her chest, investigative reporter look his wife was giving him. "Yes dear."
"Don't you yes dear me mister," Lois narrowed her eyes at him. "Where were you?"
"Where was I?" Superman knew what Lois was talking about. "What do you mean? I was-I mean, I am here. Have been the whole time."
"Yeah well, physically you were…are here, but your mind was somewhere else," Clark mentally flinched at being caught and at what was coming next. "Not thinking about her again, are you?"
'She doesn't even say her name,' Clark knew that he held some of the blame for that. He shouldn't be thinking so much about her, about Diana and was happening…or could happen at Wayne Manor. After all whatever thing was going on between Bruce and Diana seemed to have ended sometime ago. Even J'onn hadn't mentioned it again.
--
"Anything happen between Bruce and Diana yet?" J'onn had asked him, his throwing Superman for a loop.
"Bruce and Diana who?" He had to ask to confirm whether what he had thought was what the Martian had meant.
"You're kidding right?" J'on grinned up at him, laughter bubbling up his chest. "You haven't noticed the tension between them?"
"You mean….? THEY….?" Words left him. "Oh, God, NO…."
--
J'onn ensuing laughter still rang in his mind.
He knew about the threat Lois felt from Diana, a threat if he was true to himself, wasn't so baseless after all. Although he would never betray Lois whether with Diana or any other woman, he knew that he needed her nevertheless. At one time, before him and Lois got together, Diana and him, they could have become a couple. He had loved her…..he still loved her, and she him.
However, he also knew that just as Diana loved him, she also loved Bruce, who in some ways was his twin, while in others….many others, his opposite. They were both orphans, the last of their lines, just that in his case, he was the last of his people, his race, his planet, while Bruce was just the last of the Waynes. Both had devoted their lives to justice and fighting crime…..and from there the differences started to come up. While Superman symbolized the light, the good and was a legend, the Batman was the dark, the vengeance, and was an urban legend, a sort of boogeyman for the criminal world. While Clark Kent's simple reporter job only served to disguise his immense physical strength, Bruce Wayne's billions worth industrial empire provided him with the perfect disguise while giving him the financial power, the money to forge the tools needed by the Batman to wage his war against crime...to bring fruition to a vow made by an eight year old boy.
The list of the differences went on and on. It had been like that for years, just as had been the centerline, the link joining them….Diana.
She had always been there for both of them, more so for Superman, something he admitted himself. However, a Bruce-Diana couple would mean the end of that. It would mean Diana stepping over to one side….the other side. Even if neither she nor Bruce would make a conscious effort towards it, their league of three, the 'Trinity' would be broken, and even though Clark wanted the best for both his friends, that thought sent a chill down his spine.
These last few days, ever since the arrival of the other Diana, such thoughts had risen up once again, gaining strength with each passing day. The thought that in another world, Batman and Wonder Woman were a couple and already on their way towards starting a family, unnerved him. Not just because they were together, but because on that world, it seemed that Superman wasn't even a factor in their decision.
He had seen alternate realities, even bizarre ones as the one of the CSA, the Crime Syndicate of Amerika, where even though Ultraman and Superwoman were a couple, a married couple, Superwoman still had a thing, an affair going on with Owlman, and even though the Superwoman on that world was Lois Lane and not Diana, Superwoman was Wonder Woman's anti-matter reflection. And even if she was dipping her 'feet' in…on two men, the Trinity, however twisted it might be, was still there.
---
'Diana is on a mission,' that was what he had told Lois, thanking the gods when she didn't question any further. It had been after the first time she had caught him zoning off. He had told her that he was worried, as although the mission was pretty straight forward, there was a chance things could go wrong. At that time he had meant a situation in which the other Diana wasn't who she said she was or if she turned rogue on them and attacked the others around her, namely Bruce, Diana and Alfred.
Now…now he wasn't so sure.
Was he afraid of what affect this other soon to be Mrs. Bruce Wayne aka Mrs. Batman, Diana would have on the Diana here and her relationship with the Batman here? Or was he worried how it would affect his relationship with her and with Bruce?
How it would affect the Trinity? Whether it would break the 'Trinity'?
Whether it would break him and her?
----
Meanwhile, on the same world, just a few hundred miles away, Wayne Manor,
"Holy double vision Batman."
Note: Hope you liked it and will submit your REVIEWS to let me know the same.
Next, we start on the Bruce an' Diana story….JLU side.
Spoilers: JLA #84
