Diana opened her eyes the moment she felt those fingers press against her lips, and she saw that Pamela was nearly in tears.
"I'm… I'm so sorry." The fingers began to fall away from her lips, and Diana quickly grabbed her wrist to hold them steady as she kissed her fingertips, burying the grief she felt deep inside of herself.
She knew she was asking too much of the former villainess. To come into Diana's world and offer up her heart… She had hoped to show Pamela what she could offer her; show her the happiness they could share if she said yes.
But it was too much.
"Now is not our time." Diana chooses her words carefully as she twines their fingers together and presses her forehead against Pamela's. "Your heart lies elsewhere."
Pamela winces. "I'm sorry…"
"Never be sorry for how you feel." Diana says firmly. "I know you feel stuck between your life's work and your own happiness, but you have forever to work and only years to love. Cherish her, Pamela. Cherish her and hold her close, because she doesn't have forever."
Silent tears roll down her green cheeks, and Diana pulls Pamela into a comforting hug even though her own heart was breaking.
They return to their hotel room and find a note taped to their door, but both are too drained to even think of opening it. They place it on the nightstand between their beds and catch a few hours of much needed sleep.
When they awoke the next morning, they took their time bathing and dressing themselves, a sorrowful and almost uncomfortable silence filling the rooms they shared. When they finally took up the note, Diana wasn't sure if she should feel relieved or not.
There's no place like home, right Pam?
They check out of the hotel and pick up a little something for a late breakfast before boarding the invisible Jet for hopefully the last time.
The contrast from their flight to Europe to the flight back to America was so upsetting. She had been so ready to learn about and listen to the redhead, asking her questions about her work and speaking freely about her own career as if they were new friends. Now, all Diana wanted was silence, and Pamela gave it to her without a word, sleeping all the way to Gotham.
Neither are sure what to expect as they creep through the threshold, but what they certainly aren't expecting to see is Harley and an old cyborg man in a wheelchair sharing beers in the living room. And with how they both choked on their drinks as Pamela opened the door, Diana guessed the two hadn't been expecting them either.
"Uhh…" Harley looks like a deer in headlights, but then her eyes clear for a moment and she offers the two her beer. "Drinks on me?"
There's a beat of silence, and then another… and then Pamela absolutely explodes.
"Are you fucking SEROIUS?!"
Everyone in the room recoils at her shout, even the plants shrink away from the enraged redhead.
"I fucking thought- no, I fucking couldn't believe you were that fucking stupid! How could you pull this fucking bullshit on me?!" Pamela is pacing between them, spitting insults and so angry she can barely complete a thought.
Diana entertains the idea of jumping in and stopping her, but she's pissed off too, now finally getting an inkling of what this nonsense all was about.
Pamela rages until she is out of breath, and she finally turns on Harley, still obviously seething. "You better have an amazing explanation for this!"
Harley looks like a whipped dog at this point. So frightened at her girlfriend's outburst and also oh so guilty. Diana has half a mind to call in one of her old warrants just to have her arrested right then and there.
"I- I just wanted ya ta not be so lonely, ya-know? Thought you and Wonder might make a cute match…"
Pamela freezes at the insinuation, a baffled silence fills the room. Diana wants to speak, but feels that it isn't her place.
All of the redhead's rage melts away, and her voice cracks as she says, "I don't want anyone else but you."
Pamela turns on her heel and retreats into her bedroom, and Harley stares after her, absolutely stunned. She looks between Diana and the cyborg, as if she's trying to confirm what she heard.
Diana wants to leave. She feels hot with embarrassment and anger and… she's so filled with pain. She takes the chance to speak before Harley can follow Pamela.
"Make things right, Harley," She says as she turns back towards the door. "And never contact me again."
With that, Diana retreats back to her Jet and escapes the mess the blonde had created. But even as she returned to the Watchtower, Diana knew she wouldn't escape the pain in her chest for a long time.
When she returns to her home, Diana goes through the clothes she had picked up on her trip, tossing away most of them and hiding what little she kept in the far back of her closet.
Supergirl and Creeper come to her when they hear she's back, and she apparently looks such a fright that almost all of her League friends had stopped her in the halls more than once to ask where she had been or what happened to her. Diana makes it a rule not to lie, so she only tells them that she's lost a dear friend, and they leave her alone after that.
Diana buries herself in work after that, taking back to back missions until she feels like she's going to fall over her own feet from exhaustion. She takes a couple day's to rest when she reaches that state, and then restarts the process, wearing herself down, resting, and on and on again until nearly two months pass by.
On a day where Diana can finally trust herself to feel again, she takes a few days off to be human. And somehow, in that time, Harley Quinn finds her while visiting a new exhibit in a Metropolis museum.
"What do you want?" Diana can't stop her voice from sounding so poisonous, and she hates that she feels satisfaction at how Harley flinches at her tone.
"Just- justa clear some things up fer ya. Pammie says I owe ya at least that much." Harley bows her head like a regretful child.
And Diana curses herself as she allows Harley to lead them to a small bench in a secluded part of the hall.
"I don't know how much talkin you two did, but… Pammie and I are- well, were, in an open relationship, but I was getting the feeling she wasn't takin' full advantage of it."
"The basis for an open relationship is rarely just another excuse to have more sex." Diana warns.
"Yeah, I get that now." Harley looks a little sheepish. "I just thought… Yer an Amazon. You can like live forever and what not… I just thought Pammie might like havin' someone like you…"
"Because of her immortality?" Diana confirms, and Harley nods.
"I knew she loved me a lot, and I though having anotha lady friend that could live forever with her might… be nice."
"That wasn't your decision to make."
"I know, I just couldn't think of anotha way to put you two in each otha's paths. And Cy needed some help testin' his new experimental robots, so I thought it might be a win-win. I help him test his bots, and he helps me put you two in situations that'd bring ya closer togetha."
"You know those robots killed her, right? She might not have come back.
Harley winces at that, and tears gather in the corner of her eyes. "I know. I pulled tha plug on the robots after he told me about that. We as gonna send ya to Germany again to finish off Sal's trip..."
Diana grits her teeth. She had taken a look at a map and plotted out the countries they had visited a few days after she had gotten back, and had they returned to Germany their trip would have made a heart on the map. How poetic was it that they hadn't gone back to Germany, and left her with an incomplete and aching heart?
"How'd you get Cheetah in on this?" Diana asked.
Harley scratched at her head with a nervous laugh. "Oh, that? Pure coincidence at first. We heard she was doin' some petty thievery in the area and had one of Cy's robots whisper in her ear."
Diana hates that Barbara had been pulled into this. She hated that she, herself, had been chosen for this game. She hated everything about this. But above all, she hated that Harley's plan had worked-for the most part. There was just one variable Harley wasn't privy to that made it all fall apart in one moment.
Diana let an uncomfortable silence fill the space around them, and she mercilessly allowed herself to enjoy watching Harley squirm under her gaze. Finally, she chose her words, and spoke.
"I understand your intentions were good and you were just trying to be helpful, but you had no right to attempt to force a relationship between us. Pamela and I had never met in a casual setting before, you had no idea if we would even work well together. Hell, I can't imagine how things would have gone had we not gotten along. You placed us both in multiple uncomfortable and dangerous situations and I cannot forgive that."
"I understand completely." Harley says that with a straight face while looking directly into her eyes. "Pamela asked me to give somethin' to ya, by the way."
Diana tilted her head as Harley dug in her pocket and produced the golden chain with the three charms she had bought for Pamela in Athens. Seeing it again, without its intended owner, stirred something painful in Diana's chest.
"Said she didn't get anythin' for ya in return, so she didn't think it was fair." Harley explained as she placed it on the table between them.
Diana willed herself to hold firm as she took the necklace and slipped it into her bag without a word. She stood to leave, but Harley stopped her again.
"Wonder, I know I ain't deserving of anythin' after all this, but can ya promise me something?"
Diana hates that she stops herself, but she can't help but turn and incline her head to listen.
"Can ya give her another chance? In like a hundred years or so? I'm planin' on bein' the oldest lady on planet earth when I go, so I don't think a hundred's too long to ask fer you immortals to wait."
Diana feels her façade begin to crack, and she can't bring herself to deny such a request.
She does manage to make stipulations. "Only if she stays on the right path."
"I'll keep her new record squeaky clean for ya!" It's astounding how fast she can bounce between moods.
Diana shakes her head with a sigh. "Goodbye, Harley."
Harley calms herself for a moment. "Thanks Wonder. Fer everything."
As Diana leaves the blonde at the little table, she feels tears threaten. She vows to never look upon Harley Quinn's face again.