Chapter 5: The Hunters and the Hunted

"Diana!" Menalippe cried, watching her niece fly off in pursuit of the stag. "Should we follow?" She hissed the question to Bruce, who had jerked as if to give chase.

Bruce paused, considering. He and Menalippe would be hard-pressed to keep up with Diana in this setting. Sure, he could grapple and leap around the trees, but to what end? This particular task didn't seem dangerous. Hermes, who had been appalled to see Diana injured, was now floating in the air, kicked back and appearing to lounge in an invisible chaise, looking bored.

Artemis settled on the ground, barking a Greek word at her hounds so they all settled down to wait for her command. Some sat, some flopped on their sides. "You need not fear, Menalippe," Artemis said, once they were settled. "I mean Diana no harm; she will not likely struggle with the physical aspects of my challenge; that is not the test."

Despite sparing little trust for the Greek deities before him, Bruce too decided not to give chase. Diana could handle this one on her own.

"If the physical hunt is not the test, then... what is, my lady?" Menalippe wondered.

Bruce considered his previous lessons in Greek mythology, studying the goddess of the wild as she cooed to her dogs. But as he watched, he realized that it wasn't the sort of mindless chatter people offered their pets. There were pauses, where Artemis was quiet and then the dog in question would bark or chuff back at her. They were communicating, he realized.

He took a seat on tree stump, stretching out his legs and debating removing his cowl to let his face breath a bit. "I imagine the test has more to do with the actual animal than the hunting of it," he ventured.

Artemis smiled, stroking the head of dog who sighed in bliss. "You are wise, Batman," she said. "I will loose my hounds in a few moments, but I do not doubt Diana will be faster."

Menalippe, who eyed the floating Hermes with distrust, settled on the ground, cross-legged. "Diana is an excellent hunter," she said with pride. Menalippe recalled teaching Diana those very skills alongside Antiope. Even from a young age, hunting was not Diana's favorite past time, but practical child that she was, she saw the need for it. Of course, not every Amazon was a vegetarian, though Diana herself chose to be so early in her life, bemusing some of her sisters. Menalippe loved lamb and fish and declared her niece to be missing the gods' greatest gifts; Antiope had laughed at her. Menalippe closed her eyes against the pang of grief deep in her belly.

Nearby, Artemis leaned back on her elbows, studying the Amazon with a piercing blue gaze. "Of course she is, with my blessing. But you, Menalippe- you are not hunting but running."

Menalippe startled back into the present. After a few long seconds, she looked away from the goddess and did not answer. Bruce watched the treeline, feeling antsy.

"You are both Diana's patrons," he said.

Hermes's eyes popped open, curious. He floated down to Bruce's eye level, and Artemis turned her annoyed gaze on the Dark Night. "Yes," they both said.

"And you want what is best for her." Despite his bland tone, all of the Bat's skepticism seethed beneath the words.

Artemis's ice blue eyes blinked, her expression impassive. "I mean my sister no harm," she said, sounding offended. "I am a protector of women."

Bruce nodded, as if her answer was the one he expected. He glanced at Hermes. "And you?"

Hermes tossed his hair and crossed his arms. "I have been waiting to meet Diana for centuries," he declared. "I have dreamed of flying with her; I have celebrated her triumphs. I'm her guide. She is safe with me."

Menalippe studied Bruce, spinning her spear in a lazy circle at her side and above her head from her seated position. "What is on your mind, moral?" she wondered.

Bruce considered his words carefully, and tip-toped. "You'll have to correct me if the storytellers got it wrong, but from what I remember, the Pantheon is not always a... benevolent group. I seem to recall you all being very... competitive with each other. Manipulative, one might say. At least, that's how some of the myths go."

He cocked an eyebrow at the two deities, as if daring them to deny it. But Hermes and Artemis exchanged eye contact and shrugged.

"Your storytellers are not so far off," Hermes agreed with a wry grin. Still reclining, he floated up, stretching his legs out leisurely. "We can be right bastards. Even Artemis here can be a vindictive virginal bitch, can't you honey?"

Artemis huffed, crossing her arms. "You're ridiculous," she said to her half-brother. She ignored Bruce entirely, and to Menalippe, she said, "Those of us who are Diana's patrons may occasionally want to slaughter each other, but we are in one accord regarding Diana. None of us would harm her. We want what is best for her. That said..." she stood, and let out a sharp whistle and barked out a word in Greek.

Her hounds burst into action, crashing off after Diana and the stag.

Artemis sat again, at ease. "I'm sure Diana has already caught the stag anyway."

Bruce watched the dogs disappear into the trees dispassionately, and shared a significant glance with Menalippe.

"Zeus and Hera... they aren't Diana's official patrons," he said; it wasn't a question.

The two Olympians locked eyes, and Menalippe opened her mouth to speak, but her words were lost.

XXX

Diana relished the chase; as much as she demurred about flying, there was nothing more exhilarating. She felt a brief and surprising regret, as she dodged trees, that she hadn't been able to enjoy flying with Kal-El before his death. She wished she could have known more of Clark Kent and Kal-El; she felt she'd only barely met Superman before his death. And yet... the loss ached in her heart, more than a passing acquaintance or fellow warrior should.

Improbably... the mere mortal man, the Batman, had survived when the near god-like Superman had not. And also improbably... Diana felt relief.

She zoomed through the woods, thrilling in the release, in the release of her full speed and the using of a skill she mostly hid from the world. The stag galloped ahead of her, growing larger in her sight as she gained on it. It was a stunning creature, like a mundane stag but for it's larger proportions and the soft silver glow and spinning flecks of silver trailing behind it. The animal boasted an impressive set of 12 point antlers, and speed that the Amazon appreciated. It was beautiful.

When she was finally close enough to cut the animal off, she called, "Stop, my friend! I mean you no harm. Be at peace."

And, though no one was near to witness the miracle of it all, the stag stopped. She lowered herself to the ground before it, going so far as to kneel.

"Great brother," she said. "Truly, I have never seen a creature like yourself."

The animal did not speak to Diana; such things belonged in fables. No, Diana could sense the creature in a way she could not always sense humans. She sensed in the Stag a feeling of pride, almost preening, at her compliment, for he understood the truth in her words, even if not the words itself.

"The Goddess of the Wood bade me to catch you; will you submit to return with me to her side?"

The deer scuffed a hoof, chuffed as it shook its head as if in challenge. Diana felt it's hesitance and desire to flee... but she also sensed his reverence for Artemis. Then, surprisingly, she felt the stag's trust, even affection for Diana herself. It would follow her. She need not even use the lasso as a bridle; it would follow her off a cliff. Sometimes, wild things humbled Diana with their absolute trust in her.

Remembering the command Artemis had given, to bring the stag as a sacrifice, the Amazon sagged a little under the weight of her shame. Could she truly lead this beautiful creature back to the goddess to die? Would she be expected to deliver the killing blow- shoot it, stab it, or twist its neck? Would she be expected to bring it back already dead? She shuddered.

Remarkably, the stag moved closer to her, rubbing its flank on her arm. She sensed its apathy towards death. He felt only a desire that Diana no longer be sad.

"So you understand how a hunt ends, my friend?" Diana murmured. "Surely the goddess of the wood would not want to snuff the light of such a creature, not she who runs with herds and predators."

In the distance, she heard a sharp whistle, then the baying of hounds.

"Well, I did catch you before she did that," she told the deer, who did not care. "But I shall not kill you. If Artemis expects this, she must do it herself. If I disappoint Zeus, then it is only because I respect his creatures. Such magnificence should have life. Now, great brother, will you submit to my carrying you? Just to avoid the teeth of the hounds, not to doubt your speed."

She would have been amused by the insult that radiated from the animal, but a low feminine voice interrupted.

"Daughter of Hippolyta!"

Diana turned slowly, cautious. Then she hit her knees.

XXX

A blinding light filled the clearing, sending them all, Olympian, Amazon, and mortal alike, to their feet. Through the light, a shadowed figure parted the curtains of light, and when the glare faded, Bruce found himself gazing at a tall, curvaceous woman draped in a pale silk gown like molten gold clinging to her skin, with loose waves of rich blonde hair spilling over one shoulder.

A sound of feminine disgust pierced the instant of silence.

"You!" Artemis scowled. "Why are you interfering? Diana is completing my challenge!"

The newcomer smiled, and Bruce got the impression of a mountain lion playing with its prey. "My dear sister," she said, in a sumptuous alto, luxuriating over each syllable. "Forgive the intrusion into your sacred forests," she said, clearly unrepentant, pulling the final two words into a double entendre. "But I am not here to interfere with you or Diana; I am here for him."

She ignored Hermes and Menalippe entirely, focusing intently on Bruce with her cat's smile.

"I am Aphrodite," she said.

XXX

Diana's heart pounded against her ribs; she hadn't yet dared to look up from where she knelt. Her voice may even have trembled as she said, this time as much a prayer as a greeting: "Great Hera." She swallowed. "You honor me. Long have I and my sisters sought to bring honor to the Queen of Heaven."

The goddess queen's voice had a musical but rough sound. "I can sense your devotion, child," she said. "Which is all the more trouble to me."

Surprised, Diana lifted her head. "Trouble, my queen?"

The goddess Hera was striking; rich green eyes and angular features, including an arresting jaw line. She wore a long green tunic with a gold belt, and a golden crown on her head, pulling half of her straight, mahogany hair. Her wide mouth was pressed straight in displeasure, a sight that stung Diana to her core. She was distantly aware of the baying hounds and the stag waiting patiently at her side.

"Trouble," the goddess confirmed, her frown deepening as Diana's distress washed over her. "I came to punish you, because unlike your mother, you are now within my reach."

Diana's mind whirled, recalling all the stories of Hera's wrath against all of Zeus's lovers and the children he fathered out of wedlock while she remained faithful. "My queen, my mother told me that she sculpted me from clay and prayed to Zeus to give me life."

"Of course she did," Hera said, and then, annoyed suddenly at the baying hounds, waved an arm and seemed to freeze everything around them. Diana swallowed again, her nerves on alert as her mind wrestled with the reality that she might actually be in danger. Silence reigned in the frozen forest.

"She told you that and every Amazon that because to lay with a man was to break the Amazon code. To know she had done that... even her sister Antiope may not have supported her continued rule. And Hippolyta is a fierce queen." Here, grudging admiration simmered under Hera's words.

Diana slowly rose to her feet, gripping the lasso in an instinctive search for the truth. "Can it be true?" she whispered, feeling an emptiness yawn open inside of her. "How could my mother have born Zeus's child, hidden a pregnancy from all of her sisters? How could she have lied to me, to all of us for so long? Can it be true?"

The lasso glowed softly under her fingers-shaking, as hands did- but Diana could not find a truth in herself when she did not know it.

While Diana attempted to search for truth in herself, Hera's face softened.

"I can't forgive my husband for you, Diana, Daughter of Hippolyta," she said, voice disturbingly loud in the silence. "Seeing you reminds me of his betrayal. But there is something about you... perhaps I will think before striking you down. Am I not the protector of all women, after all?" Her tone turned nostalgic. "I was, once upon a time. And you, you are one of the few women who continues to worship me."

Uncertainty and confusion clouded Diana's thoughts, but she still struck her salute, clicking her heels and placing a fist over her heart. "If you speak the truth, my Queen, we have both been grievously wronged."

Hera considered the Princess of the Amazons, crossing her arms and studying the woman before her. She reached out suddenly, gripping the bandage on Diana's arm with inhuman strength. Diana's sharp intake of breath through nose was the only indicator of her pain. Hera smiled, and it was cold and begrudgingly admiring. Her eyes went to the lasso on Diana's hip.

"Would you not test my word with my sister Hestia's golden perfect?"

Diana gripped it tighter, barely knowing she was doing it. Her arm throbbed, and her mind was beginning to process that the Queen of the Heavens, whom she'd worshiped her entire millenia long life, might actually hurt her. "I would not dare to challenge your word, my Queen," she said.

Hera laughed, and suddenly time broke free again, bringing with it the sounds of life and of course, the baying of Artemis's hounds. "You actually mean that," the Queen of the Heavens said, surprised and bitter. "But I am still inclined to kill you."

Diana bowed, the betrayal slowly waking into anger. "You may try, Queen Mother. But I am inclined to live."

Hera's laughter echoed long after she vanished.

XXX

Bruce watched the goddess of love and sexuality study him. Years of honing an utter control over his body-either in feigning emotions or drunkenness as Bruce Wayne or maintaining brutal stoicism as Batman-helped him not to react to the ultimate vision female beauty and sensuality before him. He stared her down silently, blank as ever.

Well, perhaps penultimate, his traitorous heart whispered.

Hermes had finally roused himself to stand on the ground, taking position at Bruce's right.

"Aphrodite, this traveler is under my protection," he warned, unusually serious.

"Yes!" Artemis barked, approaching the other goddess with obvious aggression and disdain. "You are in my domain, sister." She spat the title.

Aphrodite stopped her approach and crossed her arms, pouting at her half-siblings. "What kind of welcome is this? And honestly, what threat could I possibly pose against you, Huntress, or you, Messenger?"

Bruce was put in mind, suddenly, of Poison Ivy. He remained alert.

Artemis huffed. "None, surely, though perhaps you wish it otherwise." She moved in a blur, suddenly stood in firing stance, divine arrow nocked and aimed at Aphrodite's heart. "Do not move, Sister, unless you plan to withdraw. I protect Diana, Menalippe the Amazon, and this mortal. And I do not suffer trespassers."

The sensual pout suddenly hardened, and rage twisted Aphrodite's beautiful face.

"You will regret this insult," she snarled. "Just as your pet demigoddess Diana of Themyscira"- she drew out Diana's name with hatred- "will regret sending my beloved Ares to Tartarus!"

Bruce's mind spun, cataloguing this threat against Diana against the vague memory of the Pantheon's complex web of intercourse and twisted family tree. Aphrodite had at times been lover to Ares-all's fair in love and war, Bruce thought- but not married to him.

"Does Hephaestus know you are here?" Hermes demanded. "Does he know you still mourn the brother who tortured and betrayed him? He will not stand for this disgrace. The Smith crafted Diana's armor and weapons and you are one of her patrons! Neither he nor Artemis nor I, nor the Great Father himself will suffer you to harm Diana."

Aphrodite smiled that cat smile. "Harm her? No indeed. She suffered equal punishment the moment she watched that human Steve Trevor explode. No, I intend to have my test, just as each of her patrons is due." She turned her gaze towards Bruce, licked her lips with the tip of her tongue. "And I won't harm a hair on her head." She leaned in close enough to breath in through her nose next to Batman's ear, even as Artemis stretched her bow in threat.

Bruce had palmed a batarang and knockout gas, unsure as yet what he'd be able to do to the goddess should she continue her threats. He heard hounds barking and the patter of their feet. He remained perfectly still, waiting.

"Here she comes," Aphrodite whispered. Then she vanished.

Diana zoomed in, flying alongside the Silver Stag with the hounds barking at their heels. She slowed, smoothly touching down to jog to a stop, surveying the four companions she'd left behind. Her aunt Menalippe, fingers flexing around her spear, appeared confused. Hermes looked alarmed, and Artemis, angry. Bruce, though his face was unreadable as ever behind the cowl, stood ramrod straight, weapons in both hands.

Diana looked around, feeling the tension in the air. She turned a slow circle, and seeing no one else, ventured, "I have returned the Stag as you requested, Lady Artemis. But I have brought him alive because such a creature of yours should be honored."

Artemis appeared to jerk out of her pose of frozen anger, and relaxed the bow, lowering her aim. Still, she kept the arrow nocked. "You have passed my test, Diana, in respecting my creature." She approached, let the Stag rub his flank against her side. She almost smiled.

Hermes snorted. "It's a bit anticlimactic now, isn't it?"

Artemis shrugged, then clucked her tongue and the stag bounded off in one direction, and her hounds, in the other direction. "It is done."

Diana glanced at Bruce, then Menalippe, questions in her eyes. "What has happened? Has the Queen Mother been here too?"

Hermes straightened, floating up in the sky for a moment in his anxiety. "You saw Hera?"

But Diana could not answer. She froze, the color falling from her face; her eyes focused on a spot behind Bruce.

"Steve?" she whispered.