Chapter 7: Coffee

Diana walked into the monitor room for her shift and saw Batman sitting in a chair in front of the computer.

"I'm here for my shift," Diana said. No response or movement. "Batman? Batman?" She walked in front of him and saw him sleeping peacefully in the chair. She smiled before quickly heading off to her room. She grabbed a spare blanket and walked back to the monitor room. She gently placed the blanket on top of Batman and smiled. He looked so peaceful. She'd let him sleep a little longer from what she heard he needed it.

She was thirty minutes into her shift when she heard Batman moan. She turned and saw the Caped Crusader slowly start to wake up. He sat up straight and rubbed his head. He turned and saw Diana looking at him.

"How long was I asleep?" Batman asked. Diana shrugged her shoulders.

"You were asleep when I got here thirty minutes ago," Diana said. "I don't know how long ago before that."

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Batman asked.

"I figured you needed it," Diana responded. "From what I've heard you don't get as much sleep as you should." He got out of the chair and gave the blanket to her.

"Next time, wake me up," Batman said. "Please." He add the please as a second thought.

"Okay," Diana replied. He started to walk away. "But you know, if you want to stay awake the entire time. You COULD lifted the drink restriction so you could bring coffee in here." Batman was at the door and looked over at his shoulder at her. "JUST saying." She saw a smirk form on his lips.

"I'll think about it," Batman stated. "Goodbye." He walked out the door without saying another word.

Wonder Woman sat down quietly in her seat as the Javelin continued flying towards Brainiac's secret headquarters. Blue Beetle sat down next to her.

"How much farther are we?" Wonder Woman asked.

"It'll take a day or two," he informed her. "His headquarters is a few light-years away and even with the Boom Tube it's going to take a while."

"Is there a bathroom on this thing?" Green Lantern asked. Blue Beetle pointed towards the back.

"It's the last door on the right," Blue Beetle said.

"Thanks," Green Lantern responded before walking towards the bathroom.

"Have you ever wondered where it goes?" Wonder Woman said.

"I try NOT to," Blue Beetle replied. "I really don't want to know where the stuff goes once it's out. It's too gross to think about."

"Agreed but it never stopped Hal or Barry from talking about it," Wonder Woman said. She gave a sad smile. "One time we were all on the Javelin on a long space mission and they had a very loud and disgusting talk about where the stuff goes after you flush."

"Really?" Blue Beetle questioned sincerely. "I find that hard to believe."

"It was before Metropolis," Wonder Woman stated. "They were more...playful back then. Them and Ollie. They were the troublesome trio. Always pulling jokes when we weren't looking. One time they swapped out all of the caffeinated coffee for decaff." She chuckled. "Bruce was SO mad and so was Dinah since they practically LIVE on caffeine. And next thing I knew, Barry was gone and Hal and Ollie were running from Bruce and Dinah. There were SO mad." Blue Beetle laughed a bit.

"I can see why," Blue Beetle said. "How'd it work out for them?"

"Well Hal ended up having to pay for the coffee for the next several months, Barry got stuck with extra monitor duty, and Ollie was on cleaning duty for the next several months," Wonder Woman answered. "NONE of them were happy about it. Especially Ollie."

"I can see why," Blue Beetle responded. "I can't believe they got off that easily though. When me and Jason accidentally wrecked the training room, we were forced to fix it and then we were put on the hardest level there was."

"Jason?" Wonder Woman asked.

"Firestorm," Blue Beetle clarified. "Well, one half of Firestorm anyways. Firestorm is...was made up of two people. A professor named Dr. Stein and a teenage boy named Jason Rusch. They share the same brain when combined but they operate out of Jason's body. I know, it's a lot to rap your head around but..."

"Is that why he was always talking to himself?" Wonder Woman questioned. Blue Beetle nodded.

"Yeah, he and Stein usually agreed on the majority of things BUT when they did fight..." Blue Beetle started. "Well...it literally made no sense. Especially since we only knew half of the conversation. It made things MAJOR frustrating."

"I can see why," Wonder Woman said. "You said was. What happened?"

"Well...," Blue Beetle started. "Firestorm didn't exist after Dr. Stein passed away. Jason can't summon Firestorm on his own. Since then Jason's been living comfortably with his wife and family. And once this is over I'm gonna get back to mine. And so will Conner."

"You're not on the League full time?" Wonder Woman asked. Blue Beetle shook his head.

"I'm on reserve," Blue Beetle stated. "I'm too old to be doing this constantly; I'm only here because it's an emergency. So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know," Wonder Woman admitted. "I don't really have anything or anyone to go back to anymore."

"Well, the world could always use more heroes," Blue Beetle told her.

"I don't think they're gonna let me," Wonder Woman responded. "I betrayed them. Besides, I don't know if I want to."

"What do you want then?" Blue Beetle asked.

"To be honest," Wonder Woman started. "I don't know. I wish I did, but I don't."