Chapter Eleven: Hera

"What is the meaning of this, wife?!" Zeus boomed. More lightning strikes rained from the sky, bolstered by cracking thunder, wrought by his agitation and anger.

Hera stood, the hem of her green gown glittering as she moved. Diana didn't flinch as the queen approached; Bruce knew Diana was trying to force neutrality into her features, but he could still make out the disappointment in her eyes.

The rest of the Pantheon watched Hera warily, with nearly as much attention as they had Zeus. Zeus merely crossed his arms, glaring at his wife. Hera ignored him. She planted herself before Diana, then pivoted so that she could see both Wonder Woman and the Pantheon.

"I challenge Diana's honor," Hera said. The wind carried her quiet voice to everyone, making it loud and strong. "It is my right to test it. She has called on me since she first learned to speak."

Diana stepped forward, alarming Bruce but he stayed still, watching everything. He would be of no use to her if he made a misstep and invited one of the Olympians to kill him.

Zeus shouted out a protest, but a flash to his left distracted Bruce from hearing it.

"Peace, Bruce Wayne," came a voice in ear. "My vow to protect you still stands, even in this place. Diana is no longer a traveler. She belongs here. I cannot interfere."

Bruce didn't bother turning his head; Hermes had already flown back to his throne, leaning forward and watching Hera and Diana as if nothing had passed.

"Don't strain yourself," Bruce muttered. Hermes smirked.

"Great Hera, Queen of Heaven," Diana was saying. "I have worshipped you all my life; if I may regain your favor with honor, I will."

Zeus crossed his arms, unhappiness tugging down his eyebrows. Electricity crackled from his fingers. He opened his mouth, but Hera shot him a glare. "You will not interfere, Lord King!" she cried. "For once in this eternity, I will have my right!"

Then Hera lifted her arms and with each sweeping gesture, she bent the very clouds to her will, surrounding the dais with the grey cottony air until the stars and moon were hidden. Artemis, herself glowing with moonlight, cried out a protest, but Hera flicked her wrist and snapped Artemis's lips shut. The moon goddess glared but remain seated when Apollo put a hand on her arm. The light she emitted was enough to cast a pale and eerie glow across the dais.

Hera spread her arms wide, reveling in her power, surrounding the mountain top with a thick wall of clouds. "Your belief, child," she cried, "is sweeter than any I have felt. I am the Queen of Heaven once more." And with a dramatic gesture, she cast light onto the clouds until pictures danced on them. Images coalesced as the goddess narrated, until they looked real enough to touch.

"My dear son," Hera said, her voice echoing through the clouds and shaking the mountain top. "has fallen." Bruce watched as image of Diana, flying in the sky and crackling with electricity, crossed her arms into the familiar pose, and unleashed lightning into Ares. He turned, watching images of Ares in 360 degrees dances on the clouds- Ares stalking Diana; Ares coaxing into war; Ares wrapped up in a passionate kiss with Aphrodite as a scowling Hephaestus looked on in devastated fury. Even as they watched, the two Olympians reacted. Aphrodite cried out in grief, and Hephaestus swung his hammer and let it crash into the ground. The mountain shook enough for Bruce to swing out his arms to catch his balance.

Bruce glance at Diana; she spared minimal attention to the show, watching Hera carefully. "Good," he murmured. "Don't take your eyes off of her." He was behind her, so he couldn't see her tight smile, only her slight nod.

Hera drew the light back into herself and the clouds went blank again. "But now, it is time. A time of reckoning!" she cried, and Diana tensed. "Reckoning for all of us," she continued, and then cast the light back onto the clouds. Now, instead of Ares, moving images of Diana covered the clouds. Diana charging across No-Man's land; Diana defeating Antiope; Diana battling Doomsday; and, Bruce noted, so many images from stories she hadn't told. He saw her battling Nazis, in her uniform and in street clothes; rescuing children from fires; testing criminals with the lasso of truth.

And finally, in dramatic grandeur, footage of Diana passing every test of her patrons. Diana strolling past the Styx without looking back; Diana coaxing the Silver Stag to her side; Diana falling to her knees before the ghost of Steve Trevor, hands gripping the glowing lasso she'd draped overself like a necklace. Diana hugging Menalippe, then watching her vanish through the chaste trees. Diana lassoing Cerberus, then leaping on his back to subdue him.

"The time is now, Olympians, for a new beginning! My son betrayed us all; it is time to replace him!" Hera shouted. "And Diana," the queen said, sweeping all the light from the clouds until they haloed the one empty throne. Ares's helmet and spear clattered to the floor with a gust of wind from Hera's hand. "Diana, the time is come for you to come home."

Diana, while focused on Hera, had still turned several times to watch the images around her, so Bruce could see the suspicion fade to confusion and the confusion melt into awe. He felt his stomach drop in dread as Hera approached Diana. A flick of her wrist, and a thick crown of chaste blooms rested in her hands, waiting. All breath on the dais paused in suspense.

"My queen," Diana murmured, touching the crown of flowers. "Have I won you over at last?"

Hera smiled. "I may have little love for Hippolyta, but I am the goddess of all women. I have great love for a daughter who would stare down the King of the Gods himself to defend her mother's honor. Now," she lifted the crown of blooms high over Diana's head, "I, Hera, Queen of the Gods, offer you this crown and my son's throne. Let us trade War for Truth. Diana, will you join us?"

When shouts, cheers, and thunder broke out around her, Hera raised her hands, and the clouds around them swirled into hurricane force winds. "Silence!" she ordered.

There was silence.

"What say you, Diana of Themyscira?""

Diana stared at the crown, her heart pounding in her ears. Then, she glanced up, let her gaze sweep over the dais, over the face of each god, each goddess. She saw faces of support- Athena, flush with pride. Demeter's supportive smile, Hestia's delicate tears and little wave; Artemis's fierce approval, Hermes's delight, and Apollo's knowing look. Even some surprises, like the satisfied expression of Poseidon and the thunderous applause of Hephaestus. Dionysus, to no one's surprise, had passed out. Only Aphrodite appeared distressed, her eyes on the skies, as if she could catch a glimpse of Ares there once more. Finally, Diana looked at Zeus. He'd been glaring at his wife, but his look softened when he caught her gaze. She felt, suddenly, aware of how much good she could do, with a seat on the Olympian dais as the goddess of truth. And she realized, suddenly and entirely, that she had a father. And a step-mother. Zeus and Hera. Another home-a new home when her beloved Themyscira was lost to her, maybe forever.

But the sound of a boot scuffing the ground pulled Diana from her awe. She looked at Batman, cowl and all, taking in his crossed arms and the impatient set of his mouth.

"Chop-chop, Princess," he said.

Diana grinned. She sucked in a deep breath, and turned back to Hera. She bowed low. When she straightened, she turned so she could see all of the Olympians.

"My lady, Hera," Diana began, and this time it was her voice that echoed across the skies. "Queen of Heaven. You do me a great honor. All of you do. But I am afraid I must decline." When several gasps erupted, she lifted her hand for quiet and continued. "My mission is not yet done. I must continue to protect Man's world, to bring peace, to fight for justice, and uphold truth, and I must do it among them. I cannot stay here with you, my ladies, my lords. I must return."

Hera's face was difficult to read in that moment, even to Bruce's practiced eye; he might have guessed pride or sadness, or a mixture of both.

"Then you have passed my test, Diana. My blessing is," and she smiled here, "and has always been yours. I am goddess of fidelity; you have proven yourself faithful."

Bruce thought it was done then.

But Hera's face screwed up in sudden rage, and the clouds around them began to swirl into a funnel. She lifted her hands high as the tornado formed and screamed, "But you! My husband, my king! You have proven yourself unfaithful time and time again! And now, you will pay!"

And with that, Hera let loose her tornado and sent it crashing into Zeus.

XXX

Diana dove away as Zeus's retaliatory lighting shot back at them, taking Bruce to the ground with her. "The prophecy!" she gasped into his ear as she shielded him from stray lightning bolts. "I will only be well if I come to Olympus, the oracle said... Apollo healed me. He was the only one that could."

"And Zeus would reckon with that which is his," Batman finished for her, pushing himself to his feet. He hunched behind her, watching the stray bolt she'd caught dance in her bracers. Somewhere, his mind was analyzing this and making notes. "But not with you."

"Because I do not belong to Zeus. I belong to myself," Diana said with conviction. "It is Hera who brings the reckoning!"

"And how," Batman said, his eyes on the battle that was breaking out in earnest before their eyes. But inside, just for a moment, a calm warmth filled him the slow spread of affection and pride.

Diana didn't reach for her shield or sword; she continued to block the stray lightning bolts with her bracers, collecting their power. Bruce, ever comfortable with his own limits and strengths, remained behind Diana and analyzed what he saw.

Zeus and Hera were the main combatants; the king, roaring his outrage, hurled bolt after bolt with his wife, but Hera was impossibly fast, flying on the winds to avoid him and harassing him with a barrage of windstorms and streams of blinding rain. Queen of the Heavens indeed.

Elsewhere on the dais, other battles broke out as rivals aired their grievances. Artemis leapt into the air and fired her lethal bow at Aphrodite, who flipped like a gymnast out of its path. Athena drew her sword with a battle cry and swung it at Poseidon, who used his trident to block her, letting loose a roar like the waves. Dionysus staggered away from the fray, laughing wildly, trailed by a fretting Hestia and Demeter. Apollo and Hephaestus stayed on their thrones, watching the battle with detached interest. Both drew coins and lay them on the arms of their throne, shouting their bets over the screams, thunder, and clanging of weapons.

And Hermes appeared beside them. "My vow stands," he announced. "Bruce Wayne, I could take you from this place in an instant should you desire it. And if you do not, I offer my protection."

Batman nodded, thankful to have that at least. Both he and Diana would be able to concentrate better knowing that Hermes was looking out for him. Normally, he might bristle at all these people wanting to protect him when he was quite used to protecting himself, thank you very much, but in enemy territory, he was not above accepting help as part of good strategy.

"I'll stick around for now," Batman said. "So thanks. Diana."

She glanced over her shoulder, still holding the lighting in her bracers, not wanting to turn around and risk hurting him.

"What do you want to do?"

She turned back to watching the gods and goddesses battle each other, considering her options. "On the one hand," she said, loudly so he could hear, "my mission here is complete. I have passed the tests of my patrons and learned the truth of my birth. I could leave them settle things themselves."

Bruce was already rolling his eyes in anticipation of her decision. "Seems reasonable," he said, meaning it. The Olympians were all but trapped behind the veil of human unbelief that kept them in their dimension, so why not let them go at each other and tire themselves out, in his humble opinion. But... "But I don't think the oracle had that in mind."

Diana, on the other hand, tossed him a knowing smirk. He sighed. "But here's how I see it. If one wants to stop a asteroid, you call Superman." They both sobered briefly, remembering him. "If one wants to solve an impossible mystery, call Batman." He mostly managed not to smirk at his epithet.

"You've certainly helped me solve the oracle and these tests," she confirmed. She caught another stray lightning bolt in her bracers. Bruce didn't flinch, but Hermes's was starting to gawk at her.

Batman waved away her praise, even though she couldn't see the gesture, even though it was true. "And if you need to end a war, call Wonder Woman," Bruce finished.

"What a name they gave me!" Diana cried. "Perhaps I shall live up to it today." Then, with a fierce scream of battle, she leapt into the air, broke the X of her arms, and sent lightning crashing into the ground before each of the combatants, including Zeus himself, startling them all. The mountain shook under the weight of her power.

"My ladies, my lords! This is not the way!"

Athena stopped immediately, stepping away from Poseidon. "Later, Uncle," she promised, a warrior's gleam in her eyes. "Watch my champion work." Poseidon bared his teeth at her in an answering grin, and they turned to watch.

Zeus and Hera's battle had only paused; their fight raged on above the mountain, high in the swirling clouds, bursting with lightning bolts. Diana dropped to the ground before Artemis and Aphrodite, bending her knees to ease the impact. She reached for both of their hands.

"Sisters!" Diana cried. "Please. Peace." She took the lasso from her hip, held out to each of them. "Please. touch the golden perfect."

Artemis hissed at Aphrodite, a last wild snarl, then grabbed the lasso without hesitation. As it glowed, the virgin goddess of the hunt closed her eyes.

Aphrodite looked at Diana, suspicion in her eyes. Her hands stayed at her side. "I will not rescind my blessing, but I don't know if I can forgive you for Ares," she told Diana.

Diana nodded, eyes solemn. "That is your choice and your right, my lady. But perhaps there may be understanding between us. Please."

Aphrodite stared for a long moment, then curled her long fingers around the lasso. Golden light blinded the dais.

The lasso revealed the truth, and Diana guided its power. She showed Aphrodite the truth of her regret over Ares's fate and pulled forward Aphrodite's deeply buried guilt over betraying her husband Hephaestus again and again. And beneath the anger and the hurt, Diana revealed Aphrodite's well of pride and affection for Diana's beauty and divine love.

Diana then directed the lasso's power toward the goddesses, revealing the truth of their animosity. Artemis, though steadfast in her quest for chastity and her devotion to the wild, deeply envied Aphrodite's beauty and grace; Aphrodite, meanwhile, hid how deeply she longed for Artemis's independence, as she felt shackled to Hephaestus and even Ares, to an extent. She wondered, deep within the vulnerable places of herself, if she was nothing more than a body to be owned and coveted by men. Diana gently revealed it all, showing them the truth. And when the light faded, the two women stared at each other before dropping the lasso to embrace and wipe away each other's tears.

"Wow," Hermes breathed next to Batman. "It's been an age since I've seen them at peace."

Hephaestus, looking stunned, tossed Apollo some of the his coins.

"Sucker bet," Batman said. "He's the god of foresight, after all."

"And here I thought you'd say that because of your steadfast faith in Diana," Hermes drawled.

"She doesn't need my- shit."

"What?" Hermes turned to follow Batman's gaze; his jaw dropped.

Diana, lasso swinging, shot into the air and vanished into the swirling maelstrom above them.

"Shit," Hermes said.

"Get us up there!" Batman ordered.

"Bats do fly, you know," Hermes mused and placed his winged helm on top of Batman's head and buckled it. He floated up on his winged sandals, gesturing to Batman to follow him. When nothing happened, Hermes flew back down. "Well, come on!"

Batman stared at him. "How?!" he demanded. God, he hated magic. Give him the Javelin or the Batwing, even a jetpack, but a magic helmet...

Hermes stared back, then answered in the tone one would use with a small, confused child. "What else, Bruce Wayne? Belief!"

"What kind of Peter Pan bullshit..."

But Hermes turned and darted off into the skies after Diana, leaving Batman fuming on the ground.

"Fucking magic," he muttered, touching the helmet. Then, he heard Diana scream and found himself zooming into the air after Hermes, cursing the entire way.

Beneath them, Apollo grumbled and tossed a handful of coins to Hephaestus. Artemis, like any proper sister, laughed.

XXX

Diana rolled in the air, wincing as she grabbed her shield. Since Hera's swirl of thick clouds and blinding rain rendered her mostly blind, a stray lightning bolt had caught her on the left shoulder. The searing pain had shocked her enough to scream. Zeus's thunderbolt had left behind a strangely beautiful burn that sent needles of fire to her brain as she hefted her shield. Nothing for it, she decided; that was her shield arm, and she needed the right free for her sword or lasso. She curled her body and tucked herself behind the shield, floating.

"Think, Diana, think," she murmured to herself. Screaming for them was almost pointless in the midst of these deafening winds, and she'd tried; now she couldn't even hear their shouts anymore. And she couldn't see them to wrap them in the lasso. Diana wasn't entirely sure if it would hold up against an unwilling Olympian, but until she could see, she couldn't even try.

"Diana!"

Still huddled behind her shield, she peaked over her shoulder to see Hermes flying towards her, missing his helmet.

"Hermes!" she cried. "But where is Batman?! You were to protect him!"

Hermes shamelessly huddled behind her, keeping an eye out for divine thunderbolts. "Don't worry," he shouted into her ear. "He is right-"

"Diana!"

"-behind me. Hah!"

And Diana could only gawk as the Dark Knight, wearing Hermes's winged helm on top of his cowl, flew up to float beside them. She adjusted in the air so that she was blocking them both with her shield and body, mouth agape.

"Bruce! You're flying!"

"Yeah, so don't jinx it!" he growled, glaring at her. "Now what's the plan?!"

With supreme effort, Diana managed not to laugh. "I can't see Zeus or Hera to use the lasso and they can't hear me, or else are ignoring me!"

Bruce's gaze zeroed in on the dramatic web of blisters on Diana's left shoulder; he recognized the Lichtenberg figure- a lightning burn. "It must have just grazed you," he breathed. "Not enough to cause cardiac arrest, which seems highly possibly considering it's divine lightning."

"Bruce!"

"Right. No visibility. I can help." He tapped the side of his cowl, and the lenses turned white, blinking as data crossed the tiny screens. He pointed with both hands, each in a different direction. His fingers moved as he traced Zeus and Hera's movements. Suddenly, he screamed, "Duck!"

Diana raised her shield, grunting as she it took the impact of another bolt of lightning. Defying every law of physics and much to Bruce's annoyance, it bounced off her shield in the opposite direction. A masculine roar sounded from the clouds.

"Merciful Athena," Diana swore. "I need to see. Cover me," she said. Batman palmed his explosive batarangs, monitoring their surroundings and watching her replace her sword on her back and lock her bracers in an X formation. He could feel the sheer power and energy gathering her in her arms, felt it rushing into her. More and more and more, until she began to tremble. Then, with her war cry piercing through storm, she broke the X and released a wave of magical and physical energy that cleared the sky, neutralizing clouds and repelling lightning bolts alike. Bruce might have cursed the sheer illogicality of it all if Diana hadn't paled in exertion.

Besides, there in the clear night sky, were Zeus and Hera.

"Father!" Diana panted, "Great Father, forgive me." And with a blurred swing of her arm, she snapped the lasso, trapping Zeus's arms against his sides, and yanked tight. Blinded by his rage, the king of the gods howled, grabbing the lasso with one hand and sending lighting through it. Diana screamed as the scent of burning flesh filled the air, but she did not let go. "Peace, Father!" she screamed. And the lasso's compulsion, even what little affected him, weakened the electricity shooting into her hands just enough for her to think.

"Queen Mother!" Diana cried, looking for Hera.

The queen watched as if frozen, eyes wide. She blinked, then focused on Diana.

"Grab the other end!" Diana shouted, and she threw the other end of the lasso toward Hera, who caught it. After a moment's hesitation, the queen looped the golden perfect around her own wrist.

With a hoarse, guttural noise from deep in her chest, Diana sent her power, everything that she had, into the lasso and poured it all into the King and Queen of the Gods, pulling them both towards the truth with all her strength. The lasso glowed until the skies over Olympus were bright as day.

A sudden darkness bled into Diana's eyes.

Silence.

XXX

***Credit to the immeasurable Gail Simone for the quote about when you call Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Gail Simone's volume of Wonder Woman comics call "The Circle" were the first place I fell in love with Diana of Themyscira. If you've never read them, DO THAT.

***One more chapter to go, friends, and my first multi-chapter Wonderbat story will be complete. Please leave comments!

-rosa