29. Towards Home

Summary: Well, the title is clear enough. Then again, I do have to close quite a few open plots.


"GET OUT."

The words and the sheer rage with which they were spoken still rang in the ears of everyone who, even through the metallic doors, had heard them, both those ignorant as to why they were really uttered and those who knew the dark truth behind it.

"Here." The graveled voice was enough to tell her who it was, the still form of the black cape serving in redundancy as a gloved hand held out a glass of something, most probably water for her.

'Not him. Not now.' Flinching at the mental rebuke, she accepted the offering without raising her head to meet the concerned but hidden eyes of her teammate, one time lover and more importantly her friend. 'A friend.' Her conscience chuckled disdainfully. 'How would this friend feel if he knew what you did to him? Surely his reaction wouldn't be too congenial….too friendly.'

"What happened?" The way his tone softened only served to push her further into the depth of guilt quicksand she was stuck and sinking into. Yet a small part of her was thankful that he hadn't been there when the deepest darkest sin of her past was yanked out and laid bare from the depths she had so carefully and secretively buried it in.

--

/Flashback/

"Hey guys." Appearing on the teleportation platform, dressed in her trademark fishnet stockings and top hat, the world famous magician and reserve member of the Justice League, Zatanna, was greeted by the duo of Superman and Flash, the looks on their face instantly raising her alarms. When the call came in for an emergency transport to the Watchtower, she guessed something was wrong….even if Batman's voice sounded as flat as ever. Then again, with him how could one tell. The way he was, he might as well be facing down Darkseid himself as he would be while discussing the dinner menu. 'Like that is going to happen,' she smirked as she shook her head, clearing the mental visual of Batman standing in line at a fast food place.

"Hey Zee." "Zatanna." Both Wally and Clark greeted their teammate, the third magic-wielder to arrive in the last hour.

"So, where the fire?" Even as she stepped off the platform, Zatanna noticed the tension apparent in the way Superman's shoulders were squared off, his usually friendly face showing the telltale signs of tension. A look at Flash and the way he was clenching and unclenching his fists, his entire body seemingly vibrating as if fighting against itself to be somewhere else, told her that whatever the reason for her being her now, it was something big and something that required the use of some serious magic. That last thought came up due to her sensing the presence of Dr. Fate, Jason Blood.

Walking along the corridor towards the infirmary, whatever ideas she had developing in her mind went out the window as soon as the outer doors slid open. Had it not been that one of them was as usual standing erect, aloof yet somehow completely aware and observant of his surroundings, while the other stood beside the bed, she would have rubbed her eyes...and not just shook her head as she did, trying to getting her bearings at just having seen two, TWO absolutely identical Batmen. The aura of both men cleared away any doubt as to the identity of the person inside the mask.

"Thank you for coming Zatanna." The dulcet voice and a hand at her shoulder drew her attention away from the Bat-duo and form on the bed.

"Its was..." she trailed off, her smile falling away as she became aware of yet another abnormality. Not only were there two Batmen, there were also two Wonder Women, one of whom was on the other side of the glass partition, her hand tightly...intimately grasping the gloved hand of the Batman standing next to her. As for the other Wonder Woman, she was the one who had just thanked her and was standing not two feet away from her.

"Wha-Wha..." she fumbled over her words, her bewildered eyes clearly evincing her confusion.

"Come with me." With Superman and Flash both already gone Diana led the magician away towards a nearby room where the other two magic wielders were already discussing the befuddling situation. Not only was the other Diana, although one in form, still split into three in her inner being, she had also gone from being almost four and half months to more than seven months pregnant...that is, a little more than two months, sixty days, and that too just in the span of a few hours. It was as if, spitting and then joining had made her experience thrice the time she had done on this world. Three personalities, thrice the time.

Moreover, as (comic) Diana explained to Zatanna, ever since the failed merger, her (animated) twin's behavior had become a sort of yo-yo, swinging from a stoic silence to outright anger. Right now, she seemed to be either asleep or unconscious, recovering from her physical wounds and bear the mental strain.

-

It would be more than an hour before Zatanna finally got to enter the room containing the visiting Batman and Wonder Woman. During that time, she along with her counterparts ran through several magic-simulations. Although both Jason and Fate had already taken their turns and come out unsuccessful, they were quite forthcoming with helping Zatanna in whatever way they could. It wasn't that they couldn't somehow merge the three personalities into one. That could be accomplished easily. The problem was, once merged keeping the three together. Even though the other Diana was identical to the Diana here, the hard fact was that in the end, she was from another dimension and hence it wasn't certain how she would react to this dimension's magic...or even if she would react at all. What complicated things even further was that she was pregnant. It was for this specific reason that neither of the three ran 'practical' tests. Even if (animated) Diana would survive an adverse reaction to their magic spells, her unborn children might not. On top of everything else...last but definitely not the least, they were the combination of a magical being, Diana and a non-magical, normal human, Batman.

-

Finally,

As she stepped into the room, (comic-JLA) Diana alongside her, Zatanna couldn't help but notice the way the other Batman had positioned himself. Even though he was still keeping track of everything going around him, he was standing almost completely facing the bedridden Diana, both to keep an eye on her and to mask his face and emotions from the Leaguers. Even without his 'continental sized' paranoia and averseness to trust, anyone would be wary with the current situation. Not only was he not on his world, not only was he surrounded by possible hostiles, not only was there a portal open to his world...an opening for anyone to get through and attack...all these things he could take care off, with his eyes closed. What he couldn't solve, couldn't handle, couldn't bear was his inability to do anything to help the woman he loved...the one he had chosen to spend his life with. She was literally a goddess, one who had not only deigned to love a mere mortal like him, but had also given up so much, made so many sacrifices, all for the same love...for him. And now that she needed help herself, he was as helpful…as useful as a beef steak to a vegetarian.

"Batman, Diana." Hearing the familiar voice but from the wrong lips only added to the feeling of sheer helplessness and pain...and regret. All the blaming, all the self loathing that he had lathed on himself for not having saved Diana from that blast of energy, for not having stopped her from going on that mission in the first place...all of it seemed like nothing compared to what he was experiencing now.

"Bruce..." This time he did react but only because of the barely audible whisper came from the (JLU) Diana on the bed, her soft, silk on steel hand gently squeezing his.

"What is it?" He growled at the other Diana, his eye-slits narrowing at the shorter woman standing beside him. Zatanna. Yet another familiar yet strange face. Another magician...and he still hated magic.

"This is..." starting to introduce Zatanna, Diana stopped short as she realized that although this Zatanna was new to the couple, both of them must already know the Zatanna on their earth. "Zatanna is here to help."

Her attention focused on the couple, it took Zatanna a couple of seconds to realize that her presence had not only unnerved the other Diana but within the span of those few seconds, caused her to become agitated.

-

"What is she doing here?" Her eyes blazing with rising anger, Diana shot up from her prone position, her free hand automatically covering midsection...protecting her children, her other hand tightening its grip on Batman's hand. However, the next instant, she did a complete flip. "I'm sorry," she apologized for her outburst, her inner being still at war itself.

"Its alright," offering an uneasy smile, Zatanna started towards the bed, her steps halting at (animated) Diana's next words. Seeing a Diana acting this way was something she wasn't used too.

"You were supposed to be his friends."

"What?" Trying to look upon the visage of the other Diana, Zatanna suddenly found herself unable to do so, the cold pit of fear and shame that had just opened up within her, growing even larger when she attempted to. Unable to understand the cause for it, Diana's next words and actions answered that question for her.

"Bruce. Get back."

Yet another pull and Batman found himself yanked back, his back flat against the metallic walls as Diana continued her voicing her thoughts...her visions...whatever it was she was experiencing.

"You should tell him the truth."

'The truth?' Her gaze focused at the wall behind the bedridden Wonder Woman, Zatanna tried her best to both understand and break free from the hold that the other Diana had over her. 'What is she...?'

As if able to look into her very soul and read her thoughts, the now serene Diana answered her unspoken question.

"What you did to him...all of you? And not only him, but to others too."

With those last few words, it was as if a ton of bricks hit the increasingly unnerved, Zatanna, understanding dawning on her as the memory of that fateful night from all those years ago when she along with six others had betrayed not only the camaraderie but also the friendship and trust of the man who had once been her love…..her first love.

"Get out."

Diana turned her eyes away from both her twin and more specifically from Zatanna. In her current state, the 'spirit of truth and peace' inside her saw what this Zatanna had done to the Batman of this world, the 'woman' inside her wanting to protect the Batman beside her, the man she loved as also her progeny, while the warrior inside her strained to avenge the wrongdoing and punish the wrongdoers. With each passing second it was getting more and more difficult for her to contain herself.

"Diana..." Her (JLA) twin turned to the other Batman hoping to get some support, (but given Batman's own distrust towards them and his infallible trust in his Diana) getting none. As for (JLU) Diana herself.

"GET OUT."

/End Flashback/

--

Now,

"What happened Zatanna?" Batman asked again, his own alarms rising at the way Zatanna seemed to shy away from him, her eyes not quite meeting his. Although he wasn't quite sure with what had gone down in that room, the surveillance cameras having been disabled by his own dimensional twin, Zatanna's behavior was raising all sorts of suspicions.

"Nothing Bruce," steeling herself Zatanna looked up at him, her eyes stinging at the guilt gnawing at her. "Just...tired."

Had it been any other time and possibly even anyone else, Batman would have apply more persuasive measures to get the information. But this was Zataana, he knew her, maybe once possibly even had loved her...and now counted her among his...and Bruce Wayne's friends. Besides with Jason Blood and Dr. Fate working on a temporary binding spell and his twin checking on the portal generator, he had more important things on hand.

"Get some rest."

With that and a nod he straightened to his full height and headed towards the door and towards the conference room, where Superman was having a mirror conversation of his own.

-----

On the other side of the dimensional divide,

"Thank you. Let us know if we can do anything to help." With those words, the red, blue and yellow clad figure turned away from the screen to face the group of five to his right. Ignoring Batgirl's suspicious stare he spoke to the family heads, Alfred for the Wayne family and Nightwing for the Bats'.

"They are preparing to move her." Clark deliberately kept his voice calm and even. He knew he had intruded on what Batman meant to be a private affair, coming straight to the front door...dressed not as Clark Kent but as Superman. But it was only so long that he could keep away, and with Bruce gone too, there was no way that he was going to leave both this situation and whatever help he could give to his friends and their family.

"How long?" Dressed in his Nightwing costume, Dick walked up to the Man of Steel. Although he wasn't thrilled at Superman's being her, he was nevertheless respectful of him and even a bit thankful for his support. In fact, even Bruce, before he left had told him that in case things went even further south, he was to contact Superman and with his assistance, do the needful...even if it meant destroying the portal generator. But that option was only to be exercised if or when something 'fatal' happened to both Diana and him.

"About ten more." This time Clark spoke to everyone else too, hoping that his words would bring them respite, especially to Alfred, who just within the last few hours seemed to have aged years. For him, not only was it a question of the life of just his surrogate son but also of his wife-to-be, the future Mrs. Diana 'Bruce' Wayne and their children, the next generation of the family he had served and been a member of for more than half of his life. "They are working on the spell. They...Bruce has also theorized that going through the portal might help Diana's recovery, seeing that it was the portal's energy that…that pulled her apart in the first place. In any case, I've requested our own magicians and sorcerers to be on stand by, in case we require their assistance."

--

Soon,

Standing alongside his twin with the other Leaguers, the main seven, Dr. Fate and Jason Blood around them, (JLU) Batman tapped away on the keyboard resending the coordinates and also the instructions for his world's Superman and Nightwing to power-up the portal generator. Zatanna was conspicuous by her absence, having left soon after the spell was prepared and Dr. Fate cast it, with Jason taking a back seat, not wanting the darkness of the demon inside him affect the spell and possibly harm the already weak Diana.

Seconds after he finished, the familiar silvery rectangle started to form in empty space, growing until it was larger enough for two people to pass.

"Diana." He bent down to (animated) Diana's level, as she lay on the emergency stretcher. Although her physical wounds had healed almost completely, her near continuous mental tug-of-war had weakened her considerably. "Ready?"

"Huhn." It took a few seconds for the Amazonian Princess to respond. "Ready?" Her brow furrowed as she tried to comprehend what was happening and what Bruce had asked of her. "Oh...hmm. Yes."

Unlike the first time, only (JLA) Diana came forward to wish her twin farewell.

"Farewell sister." She leaned down and kissed her twin's forehead, blinking away the tears that threatened to well up and escape from her eyes.

"Farewell." The weakened Diana returned, along with something else. "Don't lose your trust. You will need it. All of you."

-

With that (animated) Batman extended his arms under and around Diana, lifting her off the stretcher and into the embrace of his strong arms, her own limp arms resting against his chest, one hand over his thumping heart. Even in this state, Diana was still able to convey to him, her hope, support...and more importantly her love and trust in him.

A single cursory nod to everyone present and he stepped into the portal...towards home.


Note: Well, with the previous chapter finally completed, I was able to get this one ready quickly. Don't know what happens next, but let me just say that the story of this 'family' (guess which one) isn't over yet. Let me know if I've missed something i.e. some sub-plots still open. I've tried to get them all...well, quite a few of them.

Also, while starting this fic I had no idea what to do with the comic side of things i.e. the JLA. Hopefully this chapter answered the question about the direction in which they are headed.

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