Chapter 21
Wayne Manor (MU)
Diana rolled onto her side with a sleepy groan, the warmth of the sunlight streaming in through the window alerting her to the fact that it was time to wake up. She knew she needed to get up, but she really didn't want to. She had greatly missed the expensive Egyptian cotton sheets that Bruce favored. Nothing in the royal palace on Themyscira came close to the luxuriousness of these sheets. They had become a secret obsession of hers.
Yawning sleepily, she finally opened her eyes to find a single rose in a vase sitting on her bedside table. The corners of her lips curled with the surprise, recognizing the fragrant rose as the Sunset Rose hybrid that was her favorite from Martha's garden.
She reached out to gently run the tip of her finger along the silky petal. She knew that Bruce had to be the one who had left it for her. He was the only one that she had told about how much she loved that particular rose. It warmed her heart to think that he had been thinking of her this morning, wanting to have something here waiting for her when she woke up to put a smile on her face.
After taking care of Grodd and his group, they had returned to the Batcave. Bruce had updated her on what she had missed out on over the last three months that she had been gone. John and Shayera were back together again though they were keeping things lowkey for the time being out of respect for Vixen.
Wally had met a reporter by the name of Linda. It seemed as though he was pretty head-over-heels for her, but Bruce wasn't holding his breath. Wally had been head-over-heels about every girl that he'd ever gone out with only to break up a short time later.
Lois and Clark were still going strong while J'onn had met a woman that he seemed to enjoy spending time with. He was spending far less time on the Watchtower, making Diana more than happy for her friend. It made her almost sad that she had missed out on so much of her friends' lives, but she also knew that leaving for Themyscira for a period of time had been the best decision that she could have made.
She had shared with Bruce some of what she had experienced on Themyscira—her intense training with Phillipus, the time she had spent with her mother, her walks along the beach, and hunting in the forest with her sisters. She had yet to tell him anything about her conversation with Aphrodite. She was saving that for another time.
She had been somewhat concerned about how she would handle returning to her duties as Wonder Woman, but it had been as natural to her as breathing. When she had seen Bruce outnumbered and on the verge of being killed or transported to another universe, she had immediately leaped into action without a second thought, doing what came instinctively to her.
She had to admit it felt amazing being back in action once more. She hadn't realized just how much she had missed being Wonder Woman until last night. She had felt incomplete without her powers in the other universe, like a piece of her was always missing. She'd greatly missed helping others, being out there in the heat of battle.
Now, she felt whole again and ready to do what she had been trained her whole life to do.
Diana brought the rose to her nose, inhaling deeply and savoring the sweet yet spicy scent. This was a side of Bruce that she'd never seen before. She'd always known that he possessed a sweet and thoughtful side, but he always worked so hard to keep it hidden, never wanting to draw attention to himself or truly reveal what was in his heart.
It seemed as though Bruce was willing to try now, and she couldn't be happier about it. She still had her lingering fears and doubts, but she wasn't going to back down from this opportunity to have a life with the man who had captured first her attention and then her heart. She had taken care of herself, putting herself first the last three months, and now she was ready for whatever lay ahead of her with Bruce whether it be love or only friendship.
Setting the rose back in its vase, Diana got up to get a shower, anxious to see him. She had a lot that she needed to do now that she was back. First and foremost, she needed to return to the Watchtower. She had missed her teammates and friends greatly, knowing that they had been worried about her. She wanted to put their minds at ease, proving that she was back for good.
Diana frowned as she got into the shower, knowing that returning to the League meant a psychological evaluation by J'onn. It wasn't something that she was looking forward to, but she knew that she needed to endure it if she wanted to be cleared to return to her duties.
She was in a much better place now than she had been a few months ago. That didn't mean the ache that consumed her heart was no longer there, but she was learning to accept it as a part of her now instead of letting it control her. She needed to use that heartache and channel it into helping others.
Drying off, she began thinking about starting an organization to help others who had gone through the loss of a child. It was something that she was anxious to talk to Bruce about. If there was anyone who knew about starting a charitable organization, it was definitely Bruce Wayne.
Getting dressed, Diana pulled her hair up into a ponytail before flying down the stairs. She entered the kitchen to find Bruce, Tim, and Damian at the table eating breakfast, Alfred making crepes with strawberries. The wonderful smell made her stomach rumble in anticipation of the decadent breakfast dish.
"Diana, you're back!" Tim said, jumping to his feet and running around the table to hug her.
"I told you so," Bruce murmured before taking a sip of his coffee.
Damian stabbed another crepe with his fork before acknowledging her presence. "Father said you were back, but we didn't believe him."
Diana returned Tim's warm embrace before finally releasing him. "I'm back for good," she confirmed.
"Please, tell us you're staying here at the manor," Tim said, leading her to her usual seat at the table beside Bruce.
"Diana knows she's welcome to stay here for as long as she wants to," Bruce informed them. "No one is going to ask her to leave."
"I hope you stay here forever," Tim told her.
Diana cast a sidelong glance at Bruce as she picked up her napkin to lay across her lap. "We'll see how it goes," she enigmatically replied. "I'm not going anywhere, at least for now…if that's all right with everyone."
"Well, I am thrilled to hear that," Alfred said as he set a couple of crepes on her plate. "I hope you stay too."
"I'm sure you all want to get on with your lives now that things are back to normal," Diana ventured.
Bruce snorted as he laid his newspaper aside. "When have things ever been normal around here?"
"That's what I was going to say," Damian added. "If it's normal or quiet, it just means that something is ramping up to happen."
"That's a pessimistic view," Tim decided.
"You two had better hurry up and get ready," Alfred told them, tapping the face of his watch on his wrist. "We need to leave for school in ten minutes."
Tim stood to his feet, downing the rest of his orange juice before dashing out of the kitchen, followed closely by Damian. "Never mind the dishes," Alfred said to Bruce and Diana. "I'll take care of them when I return home."
"Thank you, Alfred," Diana replied. "Breakfast is delicious. I've really missed your cooking."
"My pleasure, Miss Diana," he beamed. "It's a pleasure to cook for someone who truly appreciates it."
"I've always appreciated your cooking, Alfred," Bruce countered.
"Yes, sir," Alfred responded with a nod as he grabbed his car keys and driving cap, "but watching you swallow your dinner whole before rushing off for patrol with a grunt of gratitude just doesn't quite bring the same enjoyment."
Diana giggled as Alfred left to bring the car around to the front, leaving Bruce and Diana alone. "Don't you have to go to work today?" Diana asked.
"No, I took today and tomorrow off so I could help you with whatever you need to do now that you're back," he revealed.
"Bruce, that's very sweet of you, but I don't want to take you away from your work," she said with a frown.
"Too late," he told her. "Lucius is already taking over for me, so I'm at your disposal, princess."
Diana smiled at him, taking a bite of her breakfast. "I really appreciate that," she replied. "There is something that I really wanted to discuss with you."
"What is it?" he asked, wondering what it could be. He wasn't sure if he should be worried or not.
"I wanted to see what you thought about the possibility of starting a clinic for pregnant women here in Gotham," she revealed, biting at her bottom lip. "I know Gotham is your city, but it's become important to me too. I want to provide free services for women who can't afford proper care as well as support and counseling for those who have lost a baby. I don't want Jacey to be forgotten. I want to honor her memory by helping others who need it."
Bruce reached over and took her hand in his, lacing his fingers with hers. "I think that is a wonderful idea, Diana," he softly said, touched by her compassion and her desire to help others. It was so Diana to want to turn a tragic loss for herself into a blessing for other people.
"You really think so?"
"I do…I love it," he confirmed. "I'd be happy to help you raise the funding for it. We'll have to look for a place for your clinic. I know Leslie would be anxious to help us get it started too."
Diana threw her arms around Bruce, overwhelmed by his generosity. "I can't begin to tell you how happy I am that you're with me on this," she murmured. "I don't know how to thank you."
Bruce returned her embrace, holding her close. "No need to thank me, Diana," he reassured her. "I'm honored that you want me to help you with it."
"There's no one else that I'd rather have by my side," she confessed as she pulled back to gaze into his azure eyes.
Bruce fought the overwhelming urge to kiss her right there, knowing it wasn't the time. He needed to take things slow with her, allowing her time to get used to the idea of them as something more than just friends and teammates. He didn't want to push her into something that she wasn't ready for.
This was definitely the Diana that he'd known for the last four and a half years, and yet there was something more to her…something that he couldn't quite put his finger on. There was wisdom…a special kind of strength and growth that came with being forced to endure difficult life experiences.
Death definitely changed a person either for worse or for better. For him, it had been both. It had given birth to the Batman, which was for the betterment of Gotham and the world. At the same time, it had caused him to lock away his heart and his emotions out of fear of being hurt again, keeping everyone on the sideline.
For Diana, she had taken that loss and turned it into something for the better, learning from the experience and using it to help others through it. He found himself falling even more in love with her as he stared at her, his hand moving to cup her cheek.
"I'm so proud of you, princess," he told her.
Diana looked at him in surprise, his admission stunning her. "I'm afraid there isn't much to be proud of, Bruce," she decided with a frown. "I wasn't handling things very well before I left for Themyscira. I felt as if I'd let everyone down…including myself. I'd lost my way…my sense of self."
"No, Diana…never," he assured her. "Everyone deals with loss in different ways. I'm afraid I didn't deal with the loss of my parents very well. If I had, I wouldn't have been so closed off to everyone, keeping people…you…on the outside trying so hard to get in."
"It's okay, Bruce," she softly said. "I understand now why you handled their death the way that you did."
Bruce's eyebrows furrowed as he stared at her. "You do?"
She nodded her head as tears glistened in her eyes. "I wanted to close myself off to everyone too…crawl inside of myself and never come back out," she revealed. "Death of a loved one makes you not want to let anyone get close to you ever again."
Bruce swallowed hard, remembering all too well that feeling after his parents were murdered. It was after that he'd meticulously started building that wall around his heart to keep it from ever being broken again. "It was far too easy," he murmured.
"I can see that, but Aphrodite visited me before I left Themyscira for Gotham," she divulged. "She helped me understand some things, not only about what I went through but about what you've been through as well. I better understand what you endured, why you protect your heart so fiercely, and how you carry that loss with you every day."
Bruce could scarcely believe it. No one but Alfred and Dick had understood his loss, and even then, he kept most of it to himself. After what she went through, Diana did as well. He wasn't certain how he felt about it. The death of his parents was something that he'd kept locked inside, never sharing that pain with anyone else, but Diana knew that loss all too well now also.
"I'm so sorry you had to go through that," he told her. "If I had gotten there sooner, maybe I could have done something to save him and your baby."
"It's all right," she assured him. "This is the way it was supposed to be. I've learned to accept that now."
"You're stronger than any of us, Diana," he replied. "You amaze me every day with your strength and your courage. You give me faith when I have none."
Diana dipped her head as a smile formed on her face, his words giving her heart wings. "So, how do you think everyone will react when I return to the League?" she asked, abruptly changing the subject.
"Be prepared to be mauled by everyone, especially by Wally," he warned her, pausing to down the rest of his coffee. "Are you sure you're ready to return to the League already? If you want to take a little more time to get adjusted, I'm sure everyone would understand."
"No," she readily replied with a definitive shake of her head. "I've been gone long enough. It's time to return to my life."
"I'll keep Wally in line."
"It's okay, Bruce," she tried to tell him.
"Oh, it will be my pleasure," he insisted with a smirk.
"I'm just dreading my evaluation with J'onn," she confessed as she fiddled with her fork. "I'm really not looking forward to opening up fresh wounds that have just begun to heal."
"You know that J'onn will be sensitive to your situation," he reminded her. "He's not going to make you relive it all. He wants to make sure that you're stable enough to return to duty."
Diana chuckled softly as she picked up her glass of juice. "Stable?" she said. "That's going to be in question."
"Hey, if he thinks I'm stable, then you're a shoo-in," he teased.
"Bruce, you are far from unstable," she assured him. "You may be painfully stubborn and paranoid to a fault, but you are not unstable."
"Gee, thanks, princess," he muttered.
"It was a compliment," she told him, patting his thigh.
"Yeah, I'm sure it was in there somewhere if I look hard enough."
"Let's go get ready," she said, standing to her feet. "There's no sense putting this off any longer."
Bruce tended to disagree with that sentiment. He would have preferred to keep her to himself for a bit longer, but he could tell that she was fully ready to return. She'd been gone from the League for over five months, far longer than that for her in the other universe.
He just hoped that she wasn't overwhelmed by it all.
Watchtower (MU)
"Now, Wally, don't overwhelm her," Shayera told him as they waited in the transportation room for her arrival. "There will be plenty of time to catch up with her later."
"Why does everyone think that I'm going to be a problem?" Wally innocently asked as he looked at each of the gathered heroes. "How do you know that Supes here won't be the problem?"
"I'm fine," Superman said with a smile. "I'm in complete control."
"Wally, you usually are a problem," John reminded him.
"That was just hurtful," he replied, feigning heartbreak. "I can't help it that I get overly excited sometimes, and it just oozes out."
"It's more like gushes out," John muttered. "Just dig deep and try to find some measure of restraint."
"I've got it under control," he assured them as the transporter lit up. "She's here! She's here! She's here!"
"Don't make me contain you in a bubble," John threatened him.
"It seems I have a welcoming party," Diana said as she appeared on the transport pad with Batman at her side.
"Wondy!" Flash cried, racing up to the transporter pad and throwing his arms around her. "I've missed you so much!"
"Flash," Batman growled.
Diana chuckled as she returned Wally's embrace. "I've missed you too, Wally."
"Are you okay?" he asked as he released her. "I know you aren't totally okay because a part of you will always be hurt, but are you okay enough to be back? Do you need an iced mocha? What about a snack? Please don't leave us ever again."
"I'm fine…really," she attempted to pacify their worry as she looked upon her founding teammates. "I can't begin to tell you how much I've missed you. Being away from all of you…not being able to be Wonder Woman was one of the hardest things that I've ever been forced to face."
"We're just happy to have you back, rookie," John teased with a grin. "It just hasn't been the same around here without you."
"It's been too quiet around here," J'onn said with an uncharacteristic upturn of his lips. "I've had no one telling me I that needed to spend more time away from the Watchtower."
Diana smiled broadly in return, remembering all too well the conversation they'd had about his lack of socialization. "I told my friends in the other universe that I was sure you all missed my bossiness."
"It's just good to have you back to help me keep these guys in line," Shayera added, hugging the Amazon. "Donna tried, but I think they're more scared of you than her."
Diana couldn't help but chuckle. "Donna can be very fearsome in her own right," she reminded them. "I'm sure she didn't feel as though she should push it too much since she was the rookie of the group."
"I saw her temper flare a time or two on missions," Superman revealed. "I have a feeling she could be a force to be reckoned with as well."
"You have no idea," Diana agreed.
"Maybe we should continue this in the conference room," Batman interjected, his hand moving to rest against the small of Diana's back.
"Good idea!" Flash declared. "Shay and I set up a feast in there to celebrate Wondy's return."
"That was supposed to be a surprise," Shay told him, elbowing him in the ribs.
"I know, but I don't want the ice cream to melt," he reminded her.
"Let's just go already," John groused.
As they exited the transporter room, Diana fell in step with Shayera, a knowing smile on her face. "So…you and John?"
Shayera stared straight ahead, but the grin on her face told her everything. "Batman has a big mouth."
"You and John just don't know how to be discreet," Batman stated from the other side of Diana.
Shayera's head snapped to the side to glare at the Dark Knight. "Do you have the whole Watchtower bugged?"
A twitch of a smirk appeared at the corner of his mouth, causing Diana to chuckle. "I think you better just keep whatever is going on between you and John in your quarters, Shay," Diana told her.
"Diana!"
Diana stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Black Canary and Green Arrow approaching her. She felt her stomach drop at the sight of them, remembering the Ollie and Dinah she had left behind in the other dimension. She and Bruce had just had dinner with them the night that Bruce had been killed, and she lost Jacey.
She felt tears sting her eyes as panic caused a churning in her gut, but she abruptly tamped down on the feeling as Dinah hugged her. "It's so good to have you back," she said. "It's been like a floating morgue up here without you."
"It's good to be back," Diana replied, hugging Ollie next. "I really missed you guys."
"We missed you too," Ollie told her. "Now, you can attend our wedding."
"You're engaged?" Diana asked, her chest growing tight.
Dinah raised her hand to show her large diamond engagement ring. "Just last night," she revealed.
"Congratulations," Diana murmured, trying to hold herself together.
"We'll catch up with you guys later," Ollie said. "We need to go put in our request for time off in October for the wedding."
Diana felt an icy chill wash over her as they walked past them, her breath catching in her throat. She felt Batman's hand gripping her upper arm as if steadying her. It helped to ground her as she turned to look into his cowled face, the panic beginning to settle a little.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
She nodded her head as a tear escaped against her will, quickly brushing it away in embarrassment. "I had dinner with Dinah and Ollie the night Bruce was killed," she revealed, her voice barely above a whisper. "They were planning their October wedding."
"Oh, Diana," Shayera sympathetically murmured, placing her hand on the Amazon's back.
"Do you want to leave?" he asked her.
"No," she replied, drawing a shuddering breath. "Seeing them hit me harder than I thought it would," she admitted. "It just took me by surprise."
"Diana, we definitely don't have to do this now," Shayera told her.
The Amazon princess lifted her chin and straightened her shoulders. "No, I need to do this. I can't run and hide every time something reminds me of my other life."
Shayera looked at Batman, wondering if they should make her leave, but she knew deep down that trying to make the Amazon do anything was a major undertaking that was met with little or no success. He gave her an almost imperceptible shake of his head as his lips thinned into a worried line.
"Let's go," he decided. "Everyone's waiting for us."
The three silently made their way to the conference room, Batman's worry growing with every step they took. He hated watching her struggle with painful reminders, but he also knew that it was something she was going to have to deal with whether he liked it or not. He struggled even now with little things that suddenly seemed to pop up out of nowhere, reminding him of his parents or their death. It still rattled him even after all this time.
He wanted to be able to protect Diana from those instances, but he knew how impossible that undertaking was. All he could hope to do was to be there to comfort and support her at those difficult times.
XXX
"Diana, please do not be nervous," J'onn said, leaning forward to place a hand on top of hers. "This is not meant to make you relive everything you went through. I only want to determine your state of mind to make sure that you're safe to return for duty."
"I understand," she replied with a curt nod. "I'm just ready to get this over with so I can resume my responsibilities again."
"I'm sure I'll be able to clear you after our meeting, Diana," he assured her. "How are you feeling about being back on the Watchtower?"
Diana ran her hands over the armrests of her chair before her fingers finally wrapped around each one to hold tightly. "I have to admit it's a little overwhelming…more so than I thought it would be."
"How so?"
"The support from everyone…it's been wonderful…" she tentatively replied, her voice trailing off as she shook her head.
"But?"
"I don't want to be treated any differently because of everything I've been through," she explained. "Everyone looks at me like I'm going to break at any moment. I don't want to be coddled or treated any differently."
"Diana, no one knows about what you went through except for the Founders," he stated. "We felt it was up to you to tell your story if you decide to."
The Amazon princess looked down at her hands that were now in her lap. "I'm not ashamed of anything that happened in that world," she softly said. "It was difficult, but I don't regret it."
"And yet you feel as though you failed everyone," he finished for her.
She pursed her lips as she nodded her head, hooking a raven lock behind her ear as she tried to put her feelings into words. "I do," she confessed. "I wasn't able to be Wonder Woman, to spread the message of the Amazons or represent the Justice League. I wasn't able to protect Bruce or our baby…I wasn't able to explain what happened that night to Alfred or Dick. I left all of them without even saying goodbye or telling them how sorry I am that I couldn't save Bruce. That has been one of the hardest things for me to accept."
"That had to be very difficult to deal with, but you can't carry the blame for something that wasn't your fault," he replied. "You couldn't have done anything to save Bruce, Diana. You were losing your baby. Your body was in a state of shock, and you didn't have your powers."
"I understand, but I feel as though I brought nothing but pain to their family," she admitted. "If I had left soon after waking, Bruce would still be alive…and none of this would've happened."
"That may be, but there is so much you would have missed out on," J'onn pointed out. "Didn't you tell me how much life I was missing out on by spending all of my time up here on the Watchtower? We cannot stop living our lives or avoid certain situations out of fear of what may or may not happen, Diana."
"That's what Aphrodite said," she relented. "It's still hard knowing that people were hurt because of me."
"Have you thought about looking at it a different way?" J'onn asked.
Diana's brow furrowed as she stared at the Martian Manhunter. "What do you mean?"
"What if you had left right after waking," he ventured. "No one knows what sort of encounters you may have had…which people you would have met or the dangers that you avoided by staying at Wayne Manor."
"You mean I could've run into darker, more dangerous situations than what I experienced," she said.
J'onn nodded in response. "As tragic as the outcome turned out to be, Bruce's and Jacey's death may have been the lesser of two evils."
"I didn't think about other possibilities," she murmured more to herself than her friend. "I was too consumed with guilt to think about any other possible situations."
"I'm not trying to minimize what you went through, Diana," he explained. "I am merely trying to point out that by not leaving the manor, you may have avoided an even worse tragedy."
"I can't imagine anything much worse than losing a baby," she softly said.
"I know what you're going through," he just as softly replied. "The worst moment of my life was when I lost my wife and children."
"I'm sorry, J'onn," she apologized, reaching across to touch his hand. "I don't think I ever fully understood the pain that you, Bruce, and Kal have experienced by losing your families until now. I had a taste of it when I was exiled, but nothing comes close to comparing to this ache that is a permanent part of me now."
"You have grown so much through this, my friend," he praised her. "I sense a new maturity and strength within you as well as even deeper compassion. I'm proud of how you have come through this stronger than before."
"That's what Bruce said," she admitted.
A slight smile formed on J'onn's face. "I sense you still have strong feelings for him."
"They never went away," she confessed. "I think they may be stronger than ever before now."
"Give him a chance, Diana," he encouraged her.
"I want to," she replied. "There is still a lingering fear about having a relationship with him. I know it's irrational, but I'm afraid I'm going to lose him too."
"If there is one thing that I have learned about Batman, it's that we should never count him out," he reminded her. "There are many times that he should have been killed but managed to escape. He's a warrior like you, Diana. Someone like that is difficult to eliminate."
"I know," she agreed with a nod of her head. "I can't help thinking…what if he doesn't make it through the next time."
"That's what he's feared about you," he revealed. "I cannot divulge things that I've picked up from him, but I can tell you that he shares some of your very same fears."
"I feel like I better understand him now after everything I endured."
"It's time to go out there and be Wonder Woman again."
"You're clearing me?"
"I am," he said with a nod as he stood to his feet. "I have no reservations about immediately releasing you to full duty."
Diana stood up, hugging J'onn. "I missed you."
"I missed you too," he responded, returning her embrace.
"You know I'm going to want to meet this woman to see if I approve," she teased him as she released her hold on him.
"I have no doubt," he said with a small smirk. "Welcome home, Wonder Woman."
A/N: So happy things are getting back to normal!
UP NEXT: Bruce surprises Diana...who later go out on a date that leads to a very heated encounter. :)
Started writing Family Crisis! You guys are going to flip when you see what I have planned!