20. The Watchers

Summary: Eh, a summary….sorry, just read it. It'll become clear, if it already isn't.


Surface of the moon,

Justice League Headquarters,

Of the eight people present in the room, he is one. The youngest of all, he has spent more than half his life in the superhero business. His mind works just as fast as his feet, and most of the times, so does his tongue….but not tonight. Tonight, here, in the conference room of the Justice League Headquarters, he, just like the others, stands at attention, silently watching one of the most touching and one of the, if not most, rarest occurrences of his life. He sees two people; their love so strong that even with only one of them actually present, physically, in the room, the other's presence is just as strong.

One part of him wants to freeze this moment in time, save it for eternity, while the other, an equally big part urges him to run as far as he can, break through the barriers of dimensions and unite the two.

It was he, who received the message. Sitting in for the usual monitor duty, it did not strike him as odd, after all, the Batman was a member of the league and it was common for him to communicate back and forth with the league computer banks. What finally got his attention was the sheer size of the message. Even after two minutes, the data inflow was just as strong as at the beginning. Accessing the records, he found that although the message from the Batman, there were two things were odd about it. One, the source was visible, which given Batman's paranoid security system, the league computers never knew off, and two, there was a specific target for the message, or targets rather, Batman, or in case he was dead or just didn't exist, then Superman or Wonder Woman.

'Batman, dead? Not existing?' It took him a second, a lot of time for him, to guess, correctly, the origin and the possible identity of the person who had send the message.

That was almost two hours ago. Two hours in which, the Atom and J'onn had run every test they could think of to check for any hidden danger in the message. Finding none, they contacted the man who the message was for, and that was an hour and a half ago. Then he came and ran his own list of tests, double-checking what the others had found and then some…even running some of the ones that the Oracle used, only this time he did it without contacting her.

Once everything worked out to this satisfaction, he gave the signal to contact the others…

…and here they were now.

----

Standing next to his scarlet and gold costumed teammate, he too is silent just like him. He, the wielder of the single most powerful weapon in the universe, is but an artist at heart. How he wishes to capture this moment on canvas, but dares not, for he fears that he will cheapen it somehow, take something away from its appeal….he is but a simple artist.

He is one of the four executive body members who were present on the watchtower at the time the message came in. Having recently spanned half the universe on a mission for his corps, he only returned yesterday and somehow the matter of the second Wonder Woman, which had been on his mind, just slipped out of it. Today is his first day back on duty with the league and already he been to both Japan and America….surprisingly, both times due to a 'water' problem. In Japan, it was a tsunami, a common occurrence in the land of the rising sun and earthquakes, while in America, Florida to be more specific, it was yet another hurricane, Philippe they named it this time. Somehow, the concept of naming every single one of the damn things never quite became clear to him….not that he cares about them at this moment. Now, here, in this room, it is just him, the watcher, and the couple in front of him. She, with her hand lifted to the screen, almost as if actually able to touch her lover, feel his emotions through his all hiding mask, has silent tears flowing down his cheeks. Him, even though he is god knows how many millions of miles and dimensions away, almost appears as if, even now is standing there….waiting for her.

Seeing them like this, he takes a silent vow…

…to get them together, as soon as possible.

---

A few feet from them, standing in silence is the third male and second alien of the group. Shrouded in silence, his demeanor is not fear inducing as is that of one of his teammates, rather, he exudes an aura of calm, one that induces and bolsters the same calm in others.

He is the last of his kind, the last of his world….the last of his family. M'yri'ah, his wife, K'ymm, his daughter, both are gone as is the rest of his family. He is alone, and sometimes even lonely, even with the billions of people of his new 'adopted' home. Unlike his Kryptonian teammate, he does not identity the earth as 'his', but only as the one where he has chosen to live. Maybe that is because of their difference in ages when coming to this planet. While Kal'El came to this green-blue sphere of life as an infant and grew up with seeing its people and customs as his own, he did not. He had a full life on his own home, his first home.

Yet, here he is, with the others, watching and more importantly feeling the intensity of the moment. He does not need to force himself to see the thoughts of any of his teammates, such great is their projection. Even the most controlled one of them, the man whose face or rather whose doppelganger's face is at this moment on the screen…even his thoughts seem to be seeping out from inside his carefully and usually unbreakable mental and emotional barriers.

From his scarlet and green-blue clad teammates, he senses a sense of joy and camaraderie, almost as strong as their need to do something to help…..not just as heroes, but also as fellow human….living beings. Both of them are in love, one of them is married, and can first hand testify what it is like to lose or even be away from such a loved one, something that even his red, blue and yellow clad Kryptonian teammate can attest too. After all, he is also married to the love of his life.

However, with him there is something different from the other two. His thoughts bring up what many, if not all of the League's male members have felt at least once.

It was Blue Beetle's thoughts that spelled it out clearly. 'We all love her…even Batman.' It was as simple as that.

--

'It's the way she says your name, like she knows you, knows everything about you, the best and the worst.'

'Like she knows, and she loves you anyway.'

--

It is as true as it is simple, just as true as the feelings between the Kryptonian and the Amazon. In another world, in another time, they might have been together….but….

Almost as he loved her, he loved another as much if not more, and she was new, expected too much while understanding too little. Maybe if they had both waited, tried or…well, its all a thing of the past…a past long gone. In his life there have always been women he is attracted to or who are attracted to even….even if it's just to take care of him. Maybe it's the light he symbolizes or maybe it's just him…..his mother, his first love, his true love who became his wife, the regal Amazon Princess, all care about him in their own way.

Whatever there could have been between the two is just that, 'could have', in the now, in the present, there are two of the closest friends either one of them has. Yet, while there is hope and happiness in his mind for the dimensional twin of his Amazonian teammate and friend, there is also something else. Not quite fear, not quite jealousy, not even regret, the emotions rolling off his are a curious mixture of all of them and more. Its almost like a child, who on seeing the twin of his best friend playing with or befriending another, makes up a situation….a possibility at that, of what would happen if his best friend were to befriend the twin of that stranger….a twin both of them know.

That brings him to the other three people in the room, the loner and the two princesses. While of those three is oblivious to the others, her heart and mind filled with memories and feelings of her home, the other two are curiously, or not so curiously, depending on how you see it…..somewhat unnerved.

It is the same for both of them, a final piece to complete the proof puzzle that their guest has been building. Just as both the Amazons are same down to their molecular makeup, so it seems are the Knights, the Bats. Yet, on one world, the two of them are together, while on the other….while on the other…..they aren't.

Standing here, at this moment, a question, the same question, rises up in both of them. A question whose answer they want to have….just as much as they do not.

Would it be the same between us if were to…?

---

A similar question rises up in the mind of the fourth of the group.

Can the both of them be like this…if they…?

He does not complete that thought, whether consciously or subconsciously…he just does not.

He knows of the attraction between them, not by his own finding but by the revelation from his green-skinned friend.

--

"Anything happen between Bruce and Diana yet?"

"Bruce and Diana who?"

"You're kidding right? You haven't noticed the tension between the two of them?"

--

'The tension between the two of them.' He did notice it, but only being told about it first.

He noticed that how the two of them used to gravitate towards each other, their usual silences not so…usual, almost as if filled with a need to say something…for either of them. How she used steal glances at him when she thought no one was looking….and how he used to do the same for her.

Glances that at one time used to be for him and him alone, were now for another man…a man who by his mere presences makes the others around him raise their game, as if to be his equal….not that any of them ever succeed. Even he, the most powerful man on earth, has felt that 'inferior' sensation and still does sometime. He knows that his 'shadow' clad teammate has had the same feelings towards him…..maybe towards every meta-powered hero, but unlike all the others, he is nothing if not the best at hiding emotions, his thoughts, his weaknesses….himself.

Seeing the dimensional twin of one of his closest, if not closest, friends, and the visual and vocal representation of the other, a question rises in his mind (question mentioned before). A simple one, it both troubles and relaxes him. It troubles him because the selfish, the insecure part of him does not want to share of even lose the intimacy, the closeness he shares with…her. Just as strong as that feeling is, the relaxing part is also just as strong. Seeing the other two, the couple, he thinks if it could be the same between the two here….

.just as what Lois and I have.

----

From the remaining three, one is such that, except for the faint tickle at the back of her mind, she does not even know if there is anything or anyone else there with her. All she sees is the masked photo stilled on the screen….and the fatigue lines marring the freshly shaved face. 'Alfred,' she instinctively realizes and thanks the kind old man.

Asleep for just over an hour, she was jarred awake with the news to get to the watchtower as soon as possible. Hastily changing into a 'non' Wonder Woman clothes, she and her twin both teleported up to the surface of the moon.

The thumping in her heart and the looks on the others faces, told her that there had been a breakthrough….just what she did not know. When Superman came forward, greeted her and apologized for Plasticman's inability to attend the meeting, saying the he was currently indisposed in a FBI investigation, she just nodded in response. Her eyes instinctively turned to the dark figure busy working on the computer. Even though, first taken to a separate room, away from the other 'not-in-the-know' League members, she could see the Atom, the Martian and him, all three of them working together.

'Maybe they've found out a way to get me home,' was the logical thought.

'No, its something else. Maybe its….' She hesitated from completing what her heart called out.

Yet, here she is, thinking that same thought, the one from her heart…except now there is not hesitation.

'It IS him…..'

---

The video starts, just one word from the masked speaker and everyone present in the room completely falls away from her conscience….just one word.

"Diana."

-

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Note:
Sorry guys, no message yet. However, there is a start…!

Also, did not include either Batman or (this world's) Wonder Woman, as their thoughts have been presented earlier….and will come back later….again.

Spoilers: JLA #84, Countdown to Infinite Crisis #1

So, get tapping with your reviews!