A/N: Thanks for the reviews!
Chapter Three — Homesickness
The first thing Diana heard was the rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor. Then she registered the slightly itchy feeling of an IV in her hand. Then the firm softness of a bed under her body. She cracked her eyes open and squinted against the bright lights of the medical bay. Once her sight had adjusted she tried to sit up. Immediately, there was a hand on the back of her neck. "Easy."
She smiled weakly at Batman. "I'm okay."
"Diana, you've been in a coma for three days. I wouldn't call that 'okay'," he said sternly. "Rest."
"If I've been in bed for three days I've rested enough," she told him, putting her legs over the side of the bed and smiling at J'onn, also in the room. She contented herself for the moment with drinking greedily from the cup of water he passed her. "Thanks. So what happened?" she asked Batman.
"You passed out," he said. "She was generating some kind of energy shield that I couldn't penetrate, but it fell when she disappeared. We brought you back to the Watchtower. You've been unconscious ever since."
"Everything was normal," J'onn continued. "Your brain waves were steady — an occasional dream spike, but no more — and you were breathing without assistance. To all intents and purposes, it appeared as though you were merely in a deep sleep."
"Any idea what caused it?"
"No. There was no sign of the old woman, aside from a slight electrical discharge, and there were no other obvious effects to your mental or physical state. You don't remember anything?"
"A chest pain just before I blacked out," she said. "But aside from that, nothing."
He nodded thoughtfully, frowning. A thought struck her and she raised an eyebrow. "You haven't been here watching over me for three days, have you?"
"No," he replied immediately, turning away to pull the IV gently out of her hand till he could sure that he wasn't going to give himself away, and mentally kicking himself. Of course he hadn't stayed with her for three days solid. Gotham still took precedence, and for the past two nights he'd patrolled as usual – even if his thoughts had been hundreds of miles above his head. He hadn't been home in three days, that much was true. Once patrol was done, he'd come back to the Watchtower to watch over Diana, even if he was sat pretending there was a good reason for it.
Diana nodded slowly, pushing down her disappointment. "The old woman died," she said. "She stopped breathing right before she disappeared."
"Dead bodies don't just disappear. If she wasn't in the cave then we have to assume she's not dead – and that whatever she did to you-"
"Batman, there's nothing wrong with me," she protested.
"You said you experienced a chest pain," he replied. "How often has that ever happened to you before?"
"Well…never, but-"
"Never."
"But that doesn't mean-"
"Princess. You don't ever get sick, you don't ever grow old, and you don't ever get chest pains," he said flatly. "However much you might want to see a harmless old lady as a harmless old lady, I don't. It would be worse than naïve to do so."
"So I'm naïve now?" she demanded.
"About some things, yes," he said. "Your compassion is a strength in most situations, Diana, it's," One reason why I'm so attracted to you, "also a liability if someone takes advantage of it. That's exactly what she did – you see a defenceless woman in need of rescue and go without a second thought, without even considering the consequences."
"But there were no consequences," she protested. "There is nothing wrong with me."
"There were consequences. Princess, you spent three days in a coma, and we still don't know if there were any long term effects on you. For all you know, you could now be a danger to the entire League," he pressed. "Rushing off like that was thoughtless and irresponsible."
"Could you also consider the possibility that she was nothing more than she seemed? That perhaps-" She cut off with a frown, looking at J'onn. "What's so funny?"
Batman frowned and followed her gaze to the Martian – his expression was neutral, no trace of amusement or anything else on his face. J'onn smiled. "I was thinking that you sounded like – what is the expression? An old married couple?" He sobered, though, frowning. "Though I was laughing mentally, not aloud."
She blinked. "Oh."
"How did you know?" Batman asked her.
She shrugged. "I just…felt like you were laughing." Not waiting until they said anything, Diana hopped off the bed. "I have a caffeine need. I'm going to the cafeteria to get an iced mocha. Unless there's anything medically wrong with me?"
When nothing more was said, she smiled and left, shaking her head at the absurd worrying of the men around her. It was needless, really. Sweet in its way, but needless.
Bruce and J'onn were left alone, frowning worriedly at each other. "Do you think she's really alright?"
"I cannot sense anything wrong," the Martian answered, "and medically she is perfectly healthy. You obviously think differently."
"I think we don't know everything," Batman answered. "There was no sign of that woman, and no more information that I could gather from the writings in the cave. There's no record of there ever being a cave there in anything I've found. We can't know Wonder Woman's alright without knowing all the facts."
"You're worried."
Batman left with a glare.
When Diana walked into the cafeteria, she got no further than two steps before a scarlet blur stopped in front of her. "Wondy! You're okay!" Before she knew it, Flash had enveloped her in a hug. "You are okay, right? Right?"
She tried to grin, but couldn't. Despite his still slightly jocular attitude (without which he just wouldn't be Flash), Diana could feel the worry pouring off him. She hugged him back. "I'm fine, Wally. Honestly. I feel better than I ever have."
He let go and grimaced slightly because of his now-bruised ribs. "That's great!" Another blur, and then another, and Diana found herself being presented with a much-needed iced mocha that earned Flash another hug that bruised his ribs on the other side of his chest. "Come sit?"
"Sure," she said, following him to the nearest empty table.
She didn't get very far before she was again assaulted by another hug. Only this one came with red hair and feathers. "Diana!" Shayera pulled back and punched her on the shoulder. "What the hell happened to you? You just swan off to South America and get yourself knocked out, then you're in a coma for three days?! What is up with that?"
Diana blinked at her friend and was extremely surprised to see tears brimming in her eyes. "Shayera, are you…crying?"
"No! I'm just…leaking. It's the damn hormones," the Thanagarian complained.
"But you were worried about me," Wonder Woman replied assuredly, with a rush of guilt. Apparently it wasn't just the men who had been worrying needlessly – and like knowing J'onn was amused by she and Batman bickering – Diana knew that Shayera was concerned. "I'm sorry about that."
"I wasn't worried," she insisted, "I was just…"
"You were worried," Diana grinned, then laughed at the same time Wally did, causing them both to stop and stare at each other.
"How'd you know I was gonna…" he started.
She shook her head. "I don't know, I-" She cut off when Black Canary moved toward them. She strode through past them quickly – but then Dinah always walked with purpose, and nothing outwardly seemed wrong, but Diana felt her rage like a punch to the chest. It was palpable, and Diana wasn't aware of crumpling the cup in her hand until Dinah had walked past and cold liquid was spilling over her fingers.
"Whoa, you look hacked off," Flash remarked, looking at the crumpled remnants of the cup in her hands. "What did the cup do?"
"It's not me, I'm fine, it's Black Canary," she answered. "She's really angry."
The three of them looked over at the blonde. She was currently laughing about something Zatanna had said. "She doesn't look it," Shayera commented.
"Oh she is, I can-" Again, she cut herself off, realisation dawning. Or at least a horrible suspicion that Batman was right. Though she really shouldn't be surprised by that. The insufferable man was always right. "Hmm. I'll see you guys later. Have to check something…" Without another word, Diana got up and hurried from the cafeteria.
As soon as she was out in the hallway, she started to walk to the Arboretum. As she expected, she found Kal watching the Earthrise, his hands behind his back in very Superman-like pose and his expression pensive. "Hey, Diana. You feeling better?"
"Yes," she smiled. "Though Batman is not convinced."
"Is he ever?" he smiled wanly.
It faded quickly though, and Diana frowned in tandem, suddenly feeling a bone-deep weariness suffuse into her bones. All she wanted was to see her mother and sisters and to lie on the beaches of Themyscira in peace. Home. She wanted home. "You miss it," she said suddenly.
"What?" he asked.
"Krypton," she whispered without thinking, following his gaze to the blue curve of Earth. "It's beautiful, and you love it, and your family…but it will never truly be home."
When the silence stretched out, she glanced at her friend to see him staring at her, mouth slightly agape, his eyes searching her face. "Diana…" he finally forced out. "How can you know that?"
She smiled sadly. "It's on your face."
"But you just…what you just say, it was…exactly how I feel."
She took a step forward and pressed her forehead against the cool glass, her palms spread as if she'd reach out and cup Earth if she could. "What was it like?" she murmured. "Do you know? What if the way you imagine it is wrong?"
Superman folded his arms and frowned, focusing on a point on the metal floor. "To be honest…I know that it was a fantasy, but the Black Mercy gave me Krypton back. God, Diana…it was beautiful. It was…everything I ever wanted…" He trailed off, unable to continue and swallowing hard and blinking hard to force the tears back.
Diana couldn't. Hera, her heart was being ripped out – it was her exile all over again; the grief, the loss, the anger, the utter devastation of knowing the absolute and irrevocable nature of her mother's order. And it was so much worse for Kal…at least Themyscira was still alive, her sisters were all healthy and her mother would continue to rule over a prosperous society that had been for thousands of years, that always would be. Krypton was gone…oh goddesses it was gone forever…A sob escaped her as the tears came thick and fast, rolling one after another down her cheeks.
She pushed back from the window with a sharp gasp and wiped the tears roughly away. "Sorry. I-I don't know what that was."
"Are you alright?" he asked frowning. "Maybe you should go back to the medical bay…you don't look so well."
She shook her head. "I'm fine, Kal. I just…need to rest, I think," she said, ignoring the fact she'd done nothing but rest for the last three days. "I'll see you later."
She felt confusion fade a little as she left the Arboretum. She ran to the Medical Bay. J'onn was in there, just coming out, and she ran into him. He caught her by the arms. "Diana, is everything alright?"
She nodded, then shook her head immediately after as she felt intense concern – and judging from the look on his face, J'onn was as worried as she was. "Um, is Batman still here, J'onn?"
"No, he was called to Gotham," he answered. "Apparently-"
Flash's voice went off in her ear. "Diana, you free? Bats needs some help in Gotham. Something about the Royal Flush Gang. Zatanna's already on her way-"
"So am I," she said, running to the transporters.
A/N: Review please!