Chapter 18

Wayne Manor (MU)

Three weeks.

It had been over three weeks since he had found Diana and brought her home. There had been little improvement since then save for the fact she was no longer keeping herself locked away in her bedroom all the time. She was spending some time outside or in the library reading books, but very little past that.

Bruce imagined it was somewhat therapeutic spending time in the garden or reading, but still he couldn't help worrying incessantly about her. She mostly spoke when spoken to and even that never turned into any sort of in-depth conversation. She was so quiet it was almost easy to forget she was living in his home.

He was desperate to see her smile again or to hear her lilting laughter that never ceased to always stir something inside of him. He longed to banter with her like they always used to, riling her up and sitting back to watch her fiery spirit take over. He loved the way her eyes burned like blue infernos as she talked passionately about what she believed in.

Now, there was none of that. She was an empty shell of the woman she had once been, making him that much more determined to find a way to bring out the emotions that she had locked away deep inside of her. He understood all too well how she felt.

He'd not only lost his parents, but he'd also lost Jason who had been like a son to him. He knew that pain far too intimately. He also knew that locking up and burying that pain was not the answer. He'd learned that difficult lesson the hard way. Because of it, he's alienated people that he'd held dear, not only locking away the pain but his heart and himself as well. He'd missed out on so much in life because of it.

Now, he was struggling greatly to break that stubborn pattern, forcing himself to open up to the woman who had captured first his attention and respect and then his heart long ago.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Getting the training room ready," Bruce said without looking up from what he was doing.

"Looks like you're getting ready to go to war," Damian commented. "Can I train with you?"

"Not this time," he replied.

"Then, who are you…oh, wait…I get it," Damian responded with a smirk. "You're going to try to get Diana down here to spar."

"That's the plan," Bruce muttered with a frown as he inspected a couple of pairs of Escrima sticks before picking up a baton.

"You honestly can't believe that you're going to get her down here," Damian said with unmistakable disbelief.

"I do believe I can, and I will," he insisted.

"She doesn't do anything but mope around the manor," he told him.

"Damian, she's dealing with a great deal of pain," Bruce evenly stated, giving his son a piercing glare. "She needs our support and compassion right now. It's going to take time to get past the loss."

"Yah, I guess," he muttered with a shrug of a shoulder.

Bruce's expression softened a little as he turned his attention back to the training equipment. "We just need to be patient. She lost her baby and the man that she loved."

Damian snorted softly, chuckle escaping. "Doesn't it bother you at all that she was with another man in that other universe?"

Bruce ground his teeth, trying to forget that part. He was trying to focus on Diana, not the fact that she had given her heart and her body to another man. Then again, how many times had he done the same thing to her over the last four and a half years, going out with all those women while she was forced to watch.

They had never meant anything to him, but some women from his past had. Andrea, Talia, Selena. They had meant something to him on some level, had a son with Talia. How was what Diana had gone through any different from his own life?

"Yes, it does, but it doesn't make me love her any less," he found himself confessing as he stared at the nunchucks in his hand, stunning them both. "She didn't belong to me when she was taken away to that other universe. She owed me nothing."

"Still sucks," Damian mumbled.

Bruce silently agreed but was determined to turn things around for both of them no matter how long it took.

"She's in the library if you're looking for her," Damian told him as he turned to leave.

Putting the nunchucks back up on the wall, he exited the training room, hoping his plan worked. He had to do something to pull Diana out of her shell that she'd locked herself up in. He knew the dangers of locking away painful emotions and not facing them head-on. He wasn't about to let her go down the same dark path that he had traversed since losing his parents.

Jogging up the steps into the manor, he made a beeline for the library, finding Diana curled up on one of the couches with Pride and Prejudice in hand. She'd been slowly making her way through the classics since she first came to live with them during the building of the first Watchtower. It looked as though she was continuing that journey.

Diana looked up as Bruce approached, the faintest of smiles gracing her lips. "Hi," she softly said.

"Come with me," he replied, holding out his hand to her.

Her forehead creased with confusion as she sat up a little straighter. "Why?" she asked. "What are you up to?"

"You'll see," he told her. "Come with me."

She stared at him for a moment, weighing her choices. She ultimately decided to give in despite wanting nothing more than to stay where she was at. She hadn't felt like doing much in a long time. Now was no different as she closed her book with a sigh and set it on the coffee table.

She flipped the blanket off her lap before taking his hand and letting him help her to her feet. "What are you up to, Bruce?"

"You'll see," he replied with a grin as he tightened his hold on her hand, leading her out of the library and towards the grandfather clock.

She frowned as he led her down the steps and into the Batcave, flashbacks of the other Bruce's cave appearing in her mind. It made her heart momentarily clench with grief, but she was able to push it aside as they walked past the giant penny and the T-Rex. Those had definitely not been in his twin's cave.

This was nothing like the other cave. This was all Batman in every way imaginable.

"Go change," he told her, releasing her hand. "There are clothes laid out for you in the changing room."

"Bruce, I really don't feel like—"

"Go," he insisted, moving to stand behind her and giving her a gentle shove in the direction of the changing room.

"Fine," she muttered as she walked towards the indicated room.

Diana found a pair of workout leggings and a fitted tank top laying on the bench in the training room. She had a feeling she knew what he was up to, but she was reluctant to participate in his plan. She did appreciate his effort, though. It was very sweet of him to try.

"I don't know about this, Bruce," she told him as she changed into the outfit that he'd left for her.

"Trust me," he reassured her. "You're going to enjoy it."

She walked out of the changing room, her hands finding her hips. "You know I was getting to the best part of Pride and Prejudice."

"You can finish it later," he replied. "Right now, we need to get you back in shape."

"But I'm not out of shape," she insisted with a frown as he took her to the training room.

"Did you train at all in that other world?" he asked her as he made his way to the kendo sticks.

"Well, no…not exactly," she conceded. "I was too busy trying to find a way home. Still, that doesn't mean I'm not ready for a fight."

"True, but you didn't have me there to spar with you or your sisters," he pointed out as he tossed her a kendo stick.

"I'm not sure I'm up for this, Bruce," she tried to tell him as she caught the kendo stick in the air. "I'm just not ready to be Wonder Woman again yet."

"No, not today…probably not even next week," he agreed, "but you're going to need to train and practice, so you're ready when you do decide to return to the League."

She frowned as she looked at the kendo stick in her hand, knowing deep down that he was right. Still, she wasn't in the mood for this. At the same time, she knew that she needed to push herself to do what she needed to in order to be ready.

Bruce had been targeted by the Secret Society in his own city while on patrol. He could've been transported to another dimension like she had been, lost to them forever. She needed to be ready in case he was targeted again. He'd never ask for her help, but she would be there if he needed her.

He'd worked tirelessly over the five weeks that she had been missing from his world in order to bring her back, the only one believing that she was alive. For that, she'd be eternally grateful. Now, he was trying to help her be the person that she had once been. She just didn't know if she would ever be that person ever again or if she even wanted to.

Bruce watched her for several moments, witnessing the internal battle playing out inside of her and on her face. He thought for certain she was going to throw the kendo stick down and just walk out, but to his surprise and satisfaction, she instead assumed a fighting stance.

"I can't guarantee anything," she softly said, her expression far from aggressive or threatening.

"Just try, princess," he encouraged her with a grin as he brought the kendo stick to rest vertically across his body. "That's all I'm asking of you."

Knowing she wouldn't make the first move, Bruce lunged at her, the sound of his kendo stick cracking against hers echoing throughout the training room. Diana frowned as she pushed back, her effort not up to her usual level of antagonism and competitiveness.

Whatever fire that had burned inside of her before died along with Bruce and her baby, but Bruce was going to find it and force it to the surface even at the risk of his own life.

He quickly came at her again, forcing her to retaliate and defend herself against his attack. She began to move her feet as she blocked each strike, her timing slightly sluggish, but Bruce knew it would come back the more she sparred with him.

She was a fierce warrior at heart, and nothing could ever completely destroy that. It was innate in her, something deeply rooted within her that relentlessly pumped through her veins. It was a commonality that they shared. He just needed to help her remember that.

Growing a little frustrated with her lack of aggression, Bruce decided to up the ante so to speak, knowing that pushing her buttons was the only way to get the response that he wanted. He feigned an attack with his kendo stick to her left as he suddenly swept her legs out from under.

Diana fell hard on the mat on her backside, somewhat surprised to find herself lying on her back staring up at the ceiling of the training room. Her frown grew deeper as she took Bruce's outstretched hand, allowing him to help her up. She picked up her kendo stick again, wondering how she could've missed his sneak attack like that. In the past, she would've been prepared for it.

"Point," Bruce told her with a smirk. "That was far too easy. Alfred could take you down."

Diana shot him a dirty look, not appreciating his insinuation that her abilities were not up to par. It prickled her long dormant ire. "It was just a lucky shot," she tried to tell him.

Bruce snorted in amusement as he began to circle her, cockily spinning his kendo stick in his hand, knowing it would only irk her. "If you say so, princess," he retorted. "So far, I must say I'm not overly impressed, though. I wonder if I found the right Diana to bring back home. Maybe I had the wrong universe…or the wrong Diana."

"What is that supposed to mean?" she demanded to know.

"You have yet to show me any of the fire or the skill that I've come to know and greatly respected in you," he explained, suddenly coming at her again and taking her down once more in the blink of an eye. He moved to stand over her, the end of his stick pointed straight at her throat. "Point."

She swatted his kendo stick out of her face with a huff, annoyance beginning to bubble up inside of her. "I admit I'm not myself yet," she confessed as she took his hand to get to her feet. "Just give me some time and I'll—"

Bruce swept her legs out from under her once again, his kendo stick in her face once more. "Point."

"Would you stop that?" she snapped, pushing his stick away as well as his extended hand this time. Getting to her feet by herself, she picked up her kendo stick and squared her shoulders. "I just need—"

Bruce didn't let her finish, coming at her hot and hard with his kendo stick. He forced her to react with hard, sharp movements, knowing that the warrior within her was struggling mightily to break free from the prison she'd locked it away in along with all of her emotions. He was going to break through that wall whether she was ready or not. He loved her too much to sit back and let her go on like this.

The sharp snaps of the kendo stick connecting reverberated through the room, their breathing growing a little more exerted with every contact. Bruce could see a slight spark begin to ignite in her eyes the more he pushed her, her strikes becoming a little more forceful.

She narrowly missed Bruce's kendo stick connecting with her head, jerking back at the last possible second. She growled to herself, her annoyance turning to anger with herself for nearly allowing Bruce to win yet another point against her. She was far better than this, far more skilled than she was exhibiting now. It made her that much more frustrated with herself and what she was going through.

Diana gritted her teeth as Bruce began to push his attack, backing her further and further into the corner. "I guess I'll have to find…someone else to spar with," he challenged her. "I need someone…who will be…a real challenge."

"Give me a chance," she bit out. "I'm a little rusty, okay?"

"At least you can admit it," he said. "I wonder what Hippolyta would say…if she saw you now."

"Don't bring my mother into this," she warned him, doing her best to defend herself.

"Why not?" he pushed. "Would she be disappointed…with how you've handled everything?"

Diana sneered at him as sweat began to trickle down the side of her face. "Don't go there, Bruce," she hissed, knowing he was backing her into the corner in more ways than one.

"Go where?" he innocently asked, grunting with the force of her counterstrike. "I just can't help but wonder. What happened to the Amazon warrior I knew…the one who captured my attention and respect…almost from the moment I met her?"

"I'm not…that person…anymore," she ground out, the heel of her foot brushing against the wall behind her. "She lost too much…endured too much."

"Get over it, princess," he coldly retorted. "We've all lost loved ones. How does this make you any different from the rest of us?"

Fury erupted like a volcano inside of her as she felt her back hit the wall behind her. Her sapphire eyes became twin orbs of blazing fire as a deadly battle cry tore from her throat. "You don't know my pain!" she screamed, hitting his kendo stick with her own.

"You don't know what it feels like to lose a baby that was never meant to live in the first place…never be able to hold her or see her!" she yelled as she pushed her attack.

"You don't know what it's like to lose someone you were never meant to love!"

"You don't what it's like to be torn from your home only to find yourself in a different world with no hope of returning to the people you love!"

Another crack of the kendo sticks, each contact growing fiercer than the last one. "You don't know what it's like to love someone, but they refuse to love you back!"

Bruce nearly stumbled with the force her attack, quickly righting himself in time to defend himself. This was what he had wanted, but now that he had it, he was a little worried he wouldn't be able to survive the onslaught. Still, he'd do whatever it took to save her from her demons.

"What did Selena have that I don't?" she yelled

Crack.

"What did Lois have that you don't see in me?"

Smack.

"What about Talia?"

Thwack.

"Why am I not enough for you?" she screamed as tears began to stream down her face. "Why didn't you want me?"

Bruce felt his heart breaking for her as she poured out her heart to him, each strike of her kendo stick pushing him that much further across the training mat. He wanted nothing more than to stop, to take her into his arms and never let her go, but she needed to get this out. After that, he'd be there to hold her and help her put the pieces of her heart back together again…if she didn't hate him after this.

"I loved you and you just pushed me away!" she cried. "What's wrong with me?"

"Diana—"

"You didn't want me!" she screamed. "I finally found someone who did, and he died. I couldn't save him…I couldn't save my baby. I couldn't protect them. Why couldn't I have just died with them?"

Her words were like a knife slamming into his chest as her kendo stick connected with his, shattering both of them with the sheer force of the blow. Bruce fell backwards, a large piece of the stick hitting him in the face. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as he struggled to catch his breath. The thought of Diana wanting to die nearly broke him in two.

Seeing what she had just done, Diana dropped to her knees with body-wracking sobs that stole her breath. Bruce used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe away the blood from his lip before crawling over to Diana. He knelt before her, gently pulling her into his arms.

She drew back, punching him in the chest hard enough to steal his breath but not nearly hard enough to crush his sternum. "How could you do that to me?" she demanded to know, drawing a shuddering breath.

He grabbed her wrist before she could hit him again, knowing she could break his arm if she really wanted to. "I had to," he adamantly stated, taking her tear-streaked face in his hands. "You locked all of your pain inside of you. You refused to let it out or deal with it. I'm not about to standby, and watch you become anything like me. I refuse to let you do that.

"Diana, you are everything that is good and pure and light in this world. You are everything that I wish that I could be, but I'm not and that's because I let the pain eat away at my soul. It left a dark void in me that will never heal but knowing you has come as close to filling that void as anything I've ever known in my entire life."

"I made such a mess of everything," she confessed as her eyes fell closed, tears wetting her trembling lips.

"No, it just feels like it," he insisted as his thumb attempted to erase the tracks of her tears.

She pulled out of his embrace before getting to her feet. "I…I think I've had enough for one day," she told him as she slowly walked towards the door.

"I'm sorry, Diana," he said as he watched her walk away. "I'm sorry I had to push you like that. I was trying to save you from yourself."

She paused, her hand coming to rest against the doorframe. She turned to look at him over her shoulder, anguish permeating her blue eyes as tears began to fall again. She simply nodded her head before walking away, leaving him standing there all alone.

Bruce rubbed his face with his hands before raking his fingers back through his hair. It had been one of the hardest things that he'd ever had to do, but it had gone better than he'd hoped. She hadn't killed him and as far as he could tell, she didn't seem to hate him for it. It gave him hope that he still had a chance with her.

XXX

Diana sat on the floor of her shower with her legs drawn up and her arms wrapped around her knees, hot water pounding down on her. She felt so lost, wrestling with the overwhelming emotions that had broken free inside of her. They churned and roiled like a stormy sea that refused to calmed. Now that they had been released, she was finding it more than difficult to lock them away again.

She knew that she needed to face them, but she was struggling to find a way how to. She knew in her heart that Bruce was right. She was an Amazon warrior. She had somehow forgotten that while she had been in the other universe with no gifts, no enemies to fight, no Wonder Woman to save the day.

She had been a normal woman in that world, one who had been allowed to live a regular life with no League duties and no Amazons to remind her of her heritage. There was no mission of peace, no fight for justice. No one recognized her when she went out.

She had somehow lost a part of herself those eight months that she had lived another life, loving a man she was never meant to have a happily-ever-after with. She was home now, though. She needed to remember who she was and where she had come from. She needed to remember her mission.

Coming to a sudden decision, Diana stood to her feet and finished her shower, drying off before getting dressed. She had a plan in mind, a new direction in her life. She knew that Bruce wasn't going to like it, but she had to do this. It was the only way that she could find herself again after losing so much.

Diana flew down the stairs to find Bruce getting a bottle of juice out of the refrigerator. "Do you want something to drink?" he lamely offered, uncertain of what to say after what happened in the training room.

"I'm going back to Themyscira," she bluntly announced, studying Bruce for his reaction.

His cobalt eyes hardened like steel, his jaw growing rigid as he opened his bottle of juice. She could tell he wasn't happy with her decision, but she needed to do this not only for herself but for him as well. He deserved far more than she was able to give him right now or anyone for that matter.

"Are you sure you want to leave now?" Bruce questioned her.

"I need to see my mother and sisters," she explained. "You and Alfred have been wonderful, but I need to remember my heritage and the reasons I became Wonder Woman. I lost a part of myself in that other world and…then I lost them. I need to find myself…find my way again. Please understand that I have to do this."

"I know…a part of me has always known," Bruce softly replied, not meeting her gaze. "How long will you be gone?"

"I'm honestly not certain," she confessed as she closed the distance between them, her hand moving to cover his resting on the countertop. "I promise you, Bruce, it's not forever. I won't do that to you."

He silently nodded his head in understanding, fighting back the thick knot of emotions stuck in his throat. He lost her when he'd told her he didn't want to have anything to do with her. Then, he lost her when Grodd transported her to another dimension. Now, he was losing her all over again.

It hurt like hell.

"Bruce, I'm not doing this to hurt you," she told him. "I'm doing this for me…and hopefully for us someday."

He suddenly turned and pulled her into a fierce embrace, holding onto her with everything he had. He didn't want to let her go, but he knew that he had to. It was best for her and that was all that mattered right now. Hopefully, some day when she returned, he'd be able to tell her just how much he truly loved her.

"When will you leave?" he asked as he forced himself to release her.

"Now," she replied. "The sooner I leave the sooner I can come back."

"I hope you find what you're looking for," he told her, the tips of his fingers tracing the curve of her face.

"Me too," she murmured as she took his hand, squeezing it before turning and walking out.

Little did she know she was taking his heart with her.

Watchtower (MU)

"This is bogus, man!" Wally spouted, his arms crossing against his chest like a petulant child.

"Wally, Diana is doing what she feels she needs to do right now," Superman reminded him. "I personally think it's the best thing for her."

"Yah, but we just got her back and now she's gone again?" Wally groused. "We didn't even get a chance to see her or talk to her."

"She wasn't anywhere near ready," Clark pointed out. "Even when I saw her, she just wasn't herself at all. She wasn't the Diana that we've all come to know and love."

Shayera didn't appear to be any happier than Wally at that point. "How do we even know that she's really going to come back?"

"Diana said she would come back, and she does not lie," Batman evenly stated.

"She could change her mind, though," Wally pressed. "This really sucks."

"Look, I understand it's not the outcome that we had all hoped for, but I have a feeling Diana will come back better than before and ready to rejoin the League," Superman tried to reassure them.

"While we all miss her, I believe returning to Themyscira is the best medicine for Diana," J'onn agreed, glancing at Batman.

Despite Batman's typical iron control over his heart and mind, J'onn couldn't help but feel the wave of worry and loneliness that the Dark Knight was struggling with. Diana's absence was weighing heavily on him though he was doing an admirable job of hiding it from everyone else.

"So, do we have Donna Troy join us until Diana returns?" John asked. "I think that we need to do something especially since they targeted Batman in his own city."

"Donna is ready to step in," Clark revealed. "I held off on giving her the green light because Bruce found Diana, but I agree that we need to do something now. It's becoming too dangerous."

"Bring her in," Batman stated. "We need her strength and skills especially when the Secret Society strikes again."

"Don't you mean 'if'?" Wally asked.

"No…when," Batman insisted. "They won't stop until we put a stop to them."

"So, how do we stop them when we don't know when or where they're going to strike next?" Flash posed the question everyone was thinking.

"We need to draw them out," Shayera told them. "It's the only way."

"And how do we do that?" John asked.

"We give them Bats," Flash suggested, everyone turning to look at him in disbelief. "What? That's who they went after this last time. We should use him as bait."

"That's not a bad idea," Superman thoughtfully replied.

"I'll handle the Secret Society myself," Batman rasped.

"You can't do that!" Flash cried, sitting up straighter in his chair. "They'll do to you what they did to Wondy except you won't be here to rescue yourself."

"I already took down three of them myself," Batman pointed out. "I'll take the rest of them down myself if I have to."

"You can't do it by yourself," Superman said. "It's too dangerous."

"Then, when you come up with a viable plan, contact me," Batman snapped as he stood to his feet and stalked out of the conference room.

"Is it me or is Bats extra cranky today?" Flash asked.

"Listen, we need to come up with a plan to find the Secret Society before they can strike again," Superman told them. "We can't just sit back and wait for them to come after us. We need to be proactive on this."

"I'm going to interrogate the three that Batman captured in Gotham," Shayera volunteered.

"If Bats couldn't get anything out of them, what makes you think you can?" Flash demanded to know.

"This," Shayera replied, laying her mace on the conference table.

"You're not allowed to use violence to get information," John reminded her."

"I know," she claimed, "but there's nothing that says I can't threaten them with it."

"I'll go with you," John decided. "Might not hurt to have some backup."

"See what you two can find out, Shayera," Superman said. "I'll get Donna Troy up to speed and have her here for our next meeting. In the meantime, everyone needs to be hypervigilant. The Secret Society can show up at any time."

"I thought things would get better once we got Wondy back," Wally grumbled as he stood to his feet. "Boy, was I ever wrong about that."

A/N: Awww, Diana left, but I promise it won't be too long.

UP NEXT: Bruce struggles with Diana's absence while Diana has a heart-to-heart with Phillipus. :)