Chapter 21: Ripping Through Time

The pain had been more than she'd ever experienced before. In fact, had it continued any longer, and she might very well have begun to plead for death. It felt like someone had been continuously exploding one nuclear warhead after another and another inside her head. There seemed to be no end to it for such a long time, and now Diana found that she could empathize with anyone that had been tortured without Meta-human capabilities. She actually reached a point of her pain threshold where she would do almost anything to make it stop, and for an Amazon to reach that point was no small feat of itself.

Although still in disbelief about it, Diana tried to focus on the memory of what she'd just witnessed. For the first time that she could recall, Bruce had done something out of pure selfish reasoning. He'd taken his own desire over accepting that the Fates had obviously chosen his parents to be taken from him. She'd been hoping by focusing on that memory, her mind would be more apt to accepting the changes in the timeline that Bruce was making, but the pain only continued to linger on.

She wondered what all Bruce was doing to the timeline to cause this much agony. Was he making numerous stops for minor changes that added up to a greater effect in the end, or was he making a few larger changes that greatly affected her in the timeline? All she knew for certain was that whatever changes he did make, the one thing that would not be in doubt was he'd go back as many times as it took to ensure that Thomas and Martha Wayne survived what ever life threatening situations came before them.

It wasn't until now that Diana understood how seriously Aphrodite's words of this mission only being able to be taken on by her might have meant. It was just hard to accept because never in her wildest dreams would she have thought Batman could ever be swayed from doing what was right because of what she'd seen from his iron will before. Now, she realized that even someone as strong in sheer will as Batman could fall to their deepest desire, and his was most certainly the chance to have a life with his parents.

Eventually, when the pain started to subside, she knew she would have to do whatever was necessary to correct the timeline. Even if that meant stopping Bruce from himself. It was then that the pain completely faded away, and the white light dimmed in her mind. She was then able to open her eyes, and she saw the man in her thoughts kneeling directly in front of her with a saddened expression covering his face. "What did you do?" She asked in a gravelly, dry throated voice.

"What I had to, Diana." Bruce answered.

She wasn't about to waste the opportunity to end this now, and made to lunge forward only to be met by excruciating pain that charged up her arms, and into her body. It was almost completely debilitating, but as soon as she stopped trying to lunge forward, the pain subsided. She looked down to find the source, and saw shackles on her arms from wrists to elbows, not entirely dissimilar from the ones she'd been locked into at the building where the Joker set her and Bruce up. The difference between those shackles were the others merely seemed to sap her powers away, and these ones did that as well as sending the pain coursing through her body.

"I'd try not to do that if I were you." Bruce advised as Diana started to move into a seated position.

"What did you do?" Diana asked again in a low and guttural growl.

"I told you already." Bruce started to answer, only to see that she wanted more details. He sighed before standing and walking over to the wall furthest from her in the metallic room that Diana couldn't recognize at all, even from the altered timeline. She knew that she wasn't in Wayne Manor, and was reasonably certain that this wasn't a Wayne Industries building either. If she had to guess, it looked a lot like a holding cell from her original timeline.

Diana glanced over to the left, and was shocked to see a white Martian through a thick glass wall in a cell similar to hers. Then she glanced to the right, and saw yet another familiar face. She turned back to Bruce, who was coming forward with a steel chair before taking a seat in front of her. He looked her right in the eyes, and had she not been extremely angry from her current predicament, she might have continued to see the look of sorrow in his eyes. "I'm sorry Diana." He solemnly said to her.

"For what?" She heatedly asked. "For your obvious part in holding me here against my will? For holding J'onn captive as well?"

"So I was right." Bruce commented. "The green one is one of your original friends just like that Kent fellow from Kansas."

"Are you going to answer my question?" Diana asked, becoming impatient.

"I suppose you have a right to know why you're here." He responded before continuing. "I knew that you'd try to stop me from saving my parents, so I had to find a way to prevent that from happening. I started off by looking into the White Martian invasion, and how their technology was so much more advanced than ours. You see, after the invasion happened originally, I declined the chance to dig into the alien weaponry because of it being weapons. Wayne Industries originally had a policy against the designing of any weapons, so I changed that policy and personally looked into the alien tech."

"You reverse engineered their technology and used it against them." Diana deduced.

"Yes." Bruce answered before continuing on with his story. "Once I had everything figured out, I went back and started production of that tech, and when the invasion happened, the world was more prepared to defend ourselves. It took a few handfuls of traveling back to ensure that any setbacks were wiped away from happening, but by the time I was finished, the Earth was able to repel the invasion."

Diana closed her eyes as she tried to make sense of everything. It all was still foggy in her mind, but slowly her changed memories were beginning to become clear. She could recall her original arrival in Metropolis. Only now she didn't run into a Green Lantern. This time she was shot down with some form of a charged net. She could recall being caught completely off guard, just like she'd been when she was met by the Green Lantern who introduced himself as Guy Gardner.

Now she could recall the hard landing after being snared into the netting, and when she looked up, she could see Bruce standing before her. "You were there." She announced suddenly. "What were you doing there?"

"I guessed when we bumped into each other, that you'd just made your way out for your mission." Bruce explained. "Once I found your entry point from Themyscira, I watched a few times before I made any changes. I wanted to be sure that stopping you would be assured."

Diana focused harder on these "new" memories after hearing Bruce's explanation, as she believed knowing as much as she could about what he'd changed might prove important to learning how to stop him. She managed to move past the shock of seeing Bruce involved in her capture, and could then recall the group of armed soldiers with him surrounding her before everything went black. From that moment on, her memories consisted of being in this cell and a few escape attempts, but failing each time. "Who was there with you?" She asked.

"Oh a part of supplying that technology was garnering a government contract first." Bruce offered. "Once inside, I was able to convince the government that there were alien threats. When I helped them pinpoint some of those threats, a new agency was formed, and I'm right at the head of that division."

"Who have you captured with this new found agency?" She heatedly asked.

"The green and white Martians to your sides, a winged woman, and your farm boy friend from Kansas." Bruce disclosed. "He was the one that helped me to convince everyone of the necessity of the Department of Extranormal Operations. With him able to hide in plain sight for so many years, they knew normal tracking and containment means weren't enough. I had to make sure everything was timed just right to almost coincide with the invasion as well, but as I'm sure you're aware, time isn't really an issue for me these days."

"You're doing more harm to the world than good, Bruce." Diana attempted to reason with him. "Even what the Joker did wasn't as destructive as what you're doing."

"Speaking of." Bruce interrupted with a victorious smile plastered on his face.

"You didn't?" She asked in dismay.

"Kill him?" Bruce questioned before he laughed as if to indicate he thought her concerns were completely off base. He even had to momentarily compose himself before he could continue. "No, I didn't kill him. I just made sure that the clown version of him never came to be. You see, the D.E.O. isn't the only program I've been involved with. I'm also responsible for setting up a special task force in Gotham that focuses solely on the corrupted and mob controlled areas within the city. We intervened the same night that your Kansas friend inadvertently helped create the Joker. Speaking of, you wouldn't believe the surprise on Kent's face when he saw me instead of the Red Hood in that chemical plant."

"What about the chaos theory, Bruce?" Diana asked, once again hoping to reach him using logic.

"If a butterfly flaps it's wings differently? I'm sorry Diana, but in the reality you want me to live in, my parents are going to be taken away from me." Bruce responded. "I'll take my chances here where I can ensure my family remains safe."

"Please Bruce, you have to listen to re.."

"No Diana, I don't have to listen to anything, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to keep my loved ones safe." Bruce retorted, interrupting before Diana could finish. At that point, he'd discussed all that he'd intended with her, and he stood up before returning his chair. Once it was placed back in its original location, he knocked on the cell door to indicate that he was finished talking to the prisoner, paused, and then glanced over his shoulder to Diana. "That's why you're still here and still breathing. Don't try to escape again. I can't guarantee you'll survive if you do, and I'd hate for you to have to die."

With that said, the thick cell door swung open and Bruce walked through. Diana watched him as her heart began to sink, the notion finally hitting home that the man she knew wasn't as resolute as she thought. Never before in her wildest imagination could she have ever believed Bruce would go so far from what she knew clearly to be the right choice. He'd always been the most immovable and incorruptible person she'd ever known, especially when it came to making the difficult choices that no one else seemed capable of. Now the choices he was making were solely driven by the obviously powerful desire to save his family.

Until now she never really knew just how much he truly missed his parents, and now she wondered if the Bruce from her timeline would also fall so easily if his parents lives were ever dangled in front of him against doing what was right. Diana knew though that she couldn't dwell on that. First she needed to escape this prison, and then stop this Bruce before the world was lost to all of the changes in time.

Bruce made his way down the holding cell corridor, and he wanted to let loose a relief providing breath. His conversation with Diana had to mean that she'd started catching up to the changes he'd been making to the timeline to ensure that not only would his parents live, but also that she would remain detained. At this point, aside from any unknown normal circumstances, Diana should represent the only real remaining threat that he wouldn't physically be able to stop, but he couldn't quite put a finger on why he was still so paranoid that there was something else out there to potentially happen to them again.

As he continued to ponder just what trouble might potentially be lurking in the near future, Bruce was soon met by a fellow D.E.O. soldier who was holding a rather large file under her arm. "What have you got there Ms. Whitmore?" He asked as the somewhat diminutive and blonde haired girl fell in step beside him.

"More sudden and unexplained disappearances." She apprised. "The chief gave the order to have you look into it, with you being the expert and all when it comes to things that can't be easily explained."

"Thank you Ms. Whitmore." Bruce acknowledged as he took the file from her. "I'll look into it as soon as I get back to my office."

He didn't wait that long, looking over the information inside file immediately as he walked in the direction of his office. Recently, he recalled hearing something over the news about how random people had been coming up missing. Some of the stories claimed there were witnesses watched as the person disappeared before their very eyes.

When Bruce reached his office, he instantly flipped the television onto a major news channel before setting the file down and taking his seat. Unsurprisingly, he found that the file contained a report on the person currently being reported on. This instance was one in which there was supposedly a credible witness, and according to the report and the interview being performed by the news source, the missing person had been walking right next to the witness when they suddenly disappeared into thin air.

As the news report continued, Bruce soon set the report down and focused more on the television. He watched intently as the witness recounted where her boyfriend had been when he disappeared. Even though the witness didn't give an exact time, he knew that he could estimate a rough idea based on her information. Then he could travel back in time to discover just who or what it was responsible for these people vanishing without a trace.

When the report came to an end, he had his location and an estimated time frame with which to investigate plotted out. Bruce then turned his desk chair around to face the wall behind the desk, and removed a portrait of his parents, revealing a highly sophisticated safe. It took a retinal scan, fingerprint scan, and a password to unlock, before gaining access to his most prized possession, the Triangle of Light. He pulled the pieces out and laid them down on his desk, assembling them before draping it around his neck. He began to visualize where he wanted to go as he pulled out a flashlight from his desk drawer, and as soon as he flipped the switch on, he disappeared in a flash of light.

Diana sat up abruptly as she felt a small pinch behind her eyes. She knew from the familiar sensation that it was highly probable Bruce had traveled back in time once again. With each jump he made, he would only increase the damage caused to the timeline. She had to get out of this prison, and she had to get out as soon as possible. So for what felt like the fiftieth time, she once again canvased her cell, looking for any form of weaknesses that would aid her in escaping.

She looked to her left and right at the walls, and wondered just how much Bruce discovered about her Martian friend. J'onn? She called out mentally, hoping against hope that his telepathy hadn't been blocked. She waited patiently for any signs that he received her reaching out to him mentally, but after a few minutes of nothing, assumed that Bruce had indeed discovered J'onn's abilities.

Diana spent the rest of her day testing out her limitations caused by her shackles. The first thing that she noticed was how much easier it was for her to move around now than earlier when Bruce had been inside the cell with her. She wondered if it was a limitation caused by her restraints or if perhaps it was the after effects of the immense pain she'd been in thanks to all of Bruce's timeline alterations. Regardless, once she found that she could move around the cell, the first thing she attempted was a test of her strength as she slammed her shackled fists against one of her cell walls.

Sure enough, just like in the initially altered timeline, these restraints were capable of hindering her abilities. But also soon enough, even with such little effect, her previous question regarding her restraints was then answered. She suddenly felt a debilitating shock course through her, and then she lost the use of her limbs as she crumpled to the floor. The next thing she recalled was a guard tapping on her cell door before informing her not to do that again. She couldn't help but to snort initially, as she found it funny because of her current inability to even get up off the ground.

Diana had to wait for almost an hour before she was able to pick herself up off the ground, and start walking around again. This time though, she felt a familiar sensation in her head.

Who...are you? It was the voice of J'onn inside her mind. She was so ecstatic to hear his friendly monotone once again, that she almost jumped for joy.

My name is Diana. She responded immediately after calming her excitement.

How did you know that I am a telepath? He asked.

Diana could tell that J'onn was acting somewhat apprehensively, and she assessed it was likely due to what this government division led by Bruce had subjected him to. Read my mind, J'onn. She requested. Time is of the essence and that's the only way I can think of to gain your trust and help me to escape here.

Very well. J'onn replied, and Diana focused on opening up her mind so that he'd have free reign on how much detail to go into with her memories. She could feel when he began to gently sift his way through her mind, looking at everything she'd experienced. He was being cautious and meticulous at the same time as he spent over an hour probing into whatever he determined to be necessary.

Eventually, Diana felt the sensation caused by J'onn's probing leave her mind, but he didn't respond as quickly as she'd initially hoped for. In fact, she didn't receive a single blip from him again for hours. However, eventually she felt him linking her mind to his once again. Is everything alright J'onn? She asked, wondering what more he could possibly be searching for.

My apologies. J'onn eventually responded. I'm afraid that I'm still struggling to believe how what is in your mind could possibly be true.

It is J'onn, I can assure you. Diana attempted to convince him. I need your help, please.

It is difficult to believe that Bruce Wayne could ever be an ally. J'onn responded. And I admit to being curious as to your intentions. You do have strong feelings toward this Bruce even after what he has done.

Yes, I do J'onn, but I know the man that's truly inside. Diana countered. He's been broken by the loss of his parents, and discovered a means to save them. I just didn't know how much his bond meant until he chose to save them.

I see. J'onn replied. I do have to admit, that you seem to be earnest in your responses, but you must also understand the position I have come to know of this Bruce Wayne. He and his group have held me in captivity for years now, and during that time, many attempts at understanding my capabilities have been attempted.

I know, and I understand J'onn, I really do. Diana acknowledged. But if you can still find a way to entrust what I've shared is indeed the truth, nothing of this timeline would actually happen. That includes any of these attempted tests run against you, and you wouldn't remember being in this timeline either.

Diana waited in silence, hoping that her longtime Martian friend would believe her honesty, but he became silent once again, making her wonder if this Bruce had done too much to sway him.

In a flash of light, Bruce returned to the present time inside his office. He threw his case file paperwork onto his desk in utter frustration more than anything else. He'd just spent a period of over twenty-four hours following behind the missing person he'd seen on that news report before making his time jump. He'd followed that person along with their eye witness only to conclude that for some reason, they never ended up disappearing as they should have. What was even more strange to him was to find upon returning, that his case paperwork inside the file had changed as well. No longer was the file of that person anywhere to be found.

Another thing that Bruce noticed was how the file seemed to be thicker now with more missing people inside than he recalled. It concerned him because he should be the only person not detained in the present day that was aware of changes being made in the past. Yet somehow whoever it was who was responsible for these disappearances had also managed to figure out that he was coming for them and then altered their selection on who to take. Perhaps he needed to have another "discussion" with a specific D.E.O. prisoner again to ensure he was truly the only one that could time travel.

He needed to solve this missing persons case before it claimed any more people. He'd managed to stop one of the victims from disappearing, but at the expense of almost ten others according to his altered file. Even with the ability to travel through time, Bruce was still but one person when it was all said and done. So with his need for more information, he left his office and headed back in the direction of the detainment center. He had a prisoner to discuss things with again.

He's here. J'onn announced through his telepathic link with Diana.

The suddenness of J'onn's voice in Diana's head once again managed to startle her momentarily as she hadn't been expecting it. She'd gone a couple of hours once again without hearing a single word from him since she'd last tried to convince him to help her in escaping imprisonment. Collecting herself, she sat up on her cot and swung her legs over the side. Bruce is in your cell with you? She questioned.

No, he's in the detainment wing. J'onn clarified. It is strange for him to be here so quickly after his visit with you earlier. Normally he only makes a single appearance unless an escape attempt occurs.

Can you tell where he's going? She inquired, and then waited for a few seconds in silence. She figured that J'onn was attempting to reach out while simultaneously ensuring that he didn't give away his telepathy.

He's going into a cell that contains a normal human prisoner. J'onn eventually answered. To evade detection, he reached out to each of the prisoners' minds, the only exception being the White Martian. He knew better than to make that connection, as even with them both locked away, there was still the possibility of his abilities being given up to the authorities. However, by reaching out to all the other inmates, he was able to discover where Bruce headed, as he read their initial reactions upon Bruce entering their respective cell.

Why would Bruce have a normal human locked away with all the Meta's? Diana rhetorically asked.

I'll see what I can find out. J'onn announced in response to Diana's question, before focusing on the prisoner's mind.

"I have more questions." Bruce asked, disappointment laced throughout his voice.

"B...but, I've already told you everything I know." The man responded.

"If that's true then how would someone know not to attack a victim after I went back to stop it?" Bruce asked impatiently.

"Wha?" The man replied in confusion. "I don't understand."

"That's not what I want to hear Samuelson." Bruce barked. "Changes happened that I didn't make. Someone has to know something, and since you were the first one to discover this ability, you should know virtually everyone that's aware of the artifact."

"I don't know Mr. Wayne, sir." John pleaded. "Please sir, I saved your parents. You have the amulet. Why can't you just let me.."

"You know why John." Bruce interrupted. "You know too much, and the only way you're getting out of here is through the death penalty. You're just too dangerous to the world, and since you don't want to tell me who's responsible for the changes, our conversation is over."

"No! Wait!" John screamed as he watched Bruce exiting his cell, returning him to his isolation.

"Last chance." Bruce called over his shoulder. He waited for a moment, but John remained silent, either because he was telling the truth or wanted to rot away in prison for a while longer.

Once the cell door was shut, J'onn terminated his link to the prisoner, now known to him as John Samuelson. J'onn knew from his own past inside the confines this prison that this individual was most certainly a prisoner long before this Diana he'd been in communication with. This man had been visited on a few occasions by Bruce that J'onn was aware of, but until now he hadn't risked reaching out into the minds of any other inmates aside from seeing where the guards or authority figures were going.

Listening in on the interrogation with John had also just helped in corroborating Diana's story. If it was a ploy to get to him, then it was certainly well thought out, but J'onn couldn't help himself to hope there was at least some truth to the claim on time travel. This world was not one he wished to live in if there was another where he could do what he'd originally envisioned by helping protect the Earth from threats against freedom. So, with the mindset of getting out now no matter the possible consequence, he made the decision to help Diana try and escape. I believe you. He proclaimed. And if I can help you, I will do what I can.

Thank you J'onn. Diana acknowledged. To start off, tell me all that you can about this facility. There must be a weak point we can exploit.

Diana laid back down on her cot as J'onn described everything he was aware of with concern to the facility. She came to the realization that he'd actually been imprisoned there for quite some time already. In fact, he'd been in the building almost from the very beginning of it's construction. He went into detail about some of the instances where attempts to escape had been made and epically failed. Most of the failures were greeted by the direct involvement of Bruce Wayne. Diana assumed that was likely because he'd gone back however many times it took to ensure the inmates attempts at escape failed, and it was likely in anticipation of her eventual incarceration.

After J'onn finished detailing all that he knew, Diana wasn't encouraged because of the overall efficiency that Bruce had managed to add to the facility's functionality. If she were to really think about it, she shouldn't have been surprised. A Bruce with unlimited do overs to design and plan was an incredibly dangerous asset for anyone to have at their disposal. Still, there had to be a way. If we can get past the cell doors when he's not here, then even without my powers, I believe we could still reach the control room and remove the shackles. She relayed to J'onn. Once our powers return, we'll have to move quickly to stop Bruce before he can go back and fix what we've done to escape. We also need to ensure that if by chance he's able to access the Triangle of Light and go back, he can't be permitted to deduce how we were able to escape.

In the event that he does manage to get back, he wouldn't be able to alter anything to hinder our eventual success. J'onn surmised. I have an idea how we can get our cell doors opened without him discovering what we've done.

Do what you can. Diana requested. I have faith that you will come through victorious.

Bruce walked into Wayne Manor after another long day with the D.E.O. He was exhausted and frustrated. He'd made little to no progress on any of the disappearances, and it seemed like the overall number of them was only increasing as time moved forward. By the time he'd left the office, the reports of new disappearing people had increased to two every few hours. And that was only the ones who had been reported. In all likelihood, there were many more who didn't have a witness with them when they disappeared.

It was all very frustrating for him to deal with, especially when he knew coming home would only result in more discussions about his choices in his life. Bruce's parents believed that he was wasting his life away with his work. They weren't exactly silent about their displeasure either, especially ever since he'd managed to incarcerate Diana. Ever since she'd been there, he'd started spending more nights sleeping in his office than at home, and that apparently was the last straw for his mother and father.

Ever since Diana's last attempt at escaping two weeks ago, Bruce had made it a point to come home more often with the hope of appeasing his parents. He didn't want to argue with them, but he also couldn't tell them that if he stopped what he was doing, there was a greater chance of their lives being taken from him. He'd already had to go back in time on multiple occasions to save them.

First it was taking the Triangle of Light just after John Samuelson had saved his family from Joe Chill's desperate and violent act. Then there were two more occasions where he was forced to intervene again. Without the Joker, the mob ended up taking a virtual stranglehold over Gotham. Thomas had eventually ruffled the wrong feathers in a buy out attempt, and they were successful in killing him on two occasions, while also once taking Martha's life as well.

At that point Bruce knew he had to act toward quelling the mob activity, or at the very least greatly hindering their influence. That brought on the creation of the special task force for Gotham, and only took a handful of attempts before it became rather successful. Once that structure was complete, he then had to act again when the White Martian invasion occurred. Some shift in time apparently caused his parents to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

During the invasion, Bruce also knew that Diana's arrival would be coming shortly after it's conclusion, and that was where he had to begin jumping back multiple times until everything was prepared for her arrival. Now, he'd been hoping that with Diana almost dying from her latest escape attempt, things might finally calm down enough to enjoy his life with his family. For now though, he had to focus on...

"Master Bruce." Alfred called out, interrupting Bruce's train of thought. "I'm afraid there is a telephone call for you."

"Who is it, Alfred?" Bruce asked.

"It's Mr. Wilson sir." Alfred conveyed as he handed the younger man the phone.

"Slade?" Bruce questioned before putting the phone up to his ear. "Hello sir. What do you need?"

"Two inmates have attempted to escape Wayne." Wilson explained. "We need you to return immediately."

"On my way." Bruce responded before tossing the phone back to Alfred and heading toward the front entrance.