August 8, Wayne Manor, 10:29 AM
It was another normal day for the family as they sat at the dining table eating the breakfast that Alfred served. It was quiet and all were still adjusting to their lives without the other matriarch of the family. No one dared to utter a word and break the silence around them.
Diana hated to admit it but she enjoyed the silence. She used to enjoy the noise and chaos when the table was filled with laughter and goofiness with the others. Now, it feels like the joy got sucked out of them, leaving a table of misery and emptiness.
She occupied herself with work to keep herself occupied, mainly handling Wayne Enterprise and the Themysciran Embassy. When she's not dealing with those she visits her mother, spending a few days or even weeks with her or coming to visit her husband's grave, usually staying until dusk sets. She even donated a few million dollars to help the reconstruction of the destroyed city.
It was basically a routine for her. The pain in her heart never stopped, only getting deeper each time she thought about him. Her friends tried to contact her, but she ignored some of them. The only people she had contact with were Lois, Shayera, and sometimes Dinah. The reason was that she was either busy or intentionally avoiding them, not wanting to deal with anyone by isolating herself. She had to laugh at the thought she was starting to become like her husband.
Clark… is a different story. She wanted to talk to him, but at the same time, she didn't want to. Maybe it's because he can read her so easily or he can instantly tell that something is wrong with her the moment she says something that worries him.
Diana's tired of hearing the same old 'everything will get better' scheme and she has mentioned or shown it multiple times that she doesn't want it yet they keep on pushing or are oblivious to it. The only one who caught on was the bat family, Lois, and very few others.
Lost in her thoughts Alfred cleared his throat to get her attention. "A letter Miss. From the looks of it, Luthor has invited you and Bruce to a party." There was a little bit of edge when he said his adopted son's name, but he forced it out.
"Seriously? A party? Just after about 5 months of Gotham being blown to pieces." Tim exclaimed in disbelief as he stared at the two.
"That eager to celebrate?" Jason mocked the person who sent the invitation. Dick glowered in his direction and Cass elbowed him in the gut.
"Boys, stop arguing." Diana berated them as she opened the letter. All of them had their eyes on her as she read the paper with a frown on her face.
After reading the letter, she pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a deep sigh.
"So?" Jason asked a little impatiently, and that received him an elbow from Cass again.
"He's hosting a charity gala to help rebuild Gotham and help the family members affected." Diana summarized for them. "And he invited me and Bruce as VIPs." She choked the last sentence out.
"I'll go. That jackass needs to be pegged down or two." Jason stated before Damian intervened. "I'll join you.."
"Well, you're out of luck, birdie. Already called dibs."
He grabbed a tiny piece of pancake and rolled it into a ball, flicking it toward Damian, hitting him in the forehead. The latter stared incredulously at him before he launched an attack of his own using eggs.
Dick sighed as he witnessed the two throwing food at each other. He didn't want to deal with their pointless arguments, but it was hilarious to watch.
"Maybe Diana needs someone more… technically smarter to get the job done," Tim suggested. The bickering brothers halted their attacks on each other, glaring at him. Jason pointed a fork at him and Damian cracked his knuckles.
Tim just scoffed. "Really? That's all you two got?"
"You want to say that again?"
"You should shut your mouth while you can一"
"Boys!" Diana yelled out, causing them to stop their bickering and look at her. Dick hid a snicker behind his fist, but she sent a glare his way, making him recoil from her gaze. She turned her attention back to the three boys who looked like kicked puppies.
"I know you all hate Luthor一"
"Now that's an understatement," Jason mumbled and suddenly jumped out of his seat, clutching his hand as he felt a faint stinging pain. A dinner knife was embedded in the wooden table, barely touching the skin of his hand. He smiled nervously as he saw the glare. Cass smirked as she looked at her brother's face.
"As I was saying, all of you hate Luthor and I understand that. Everyone had a bad experience with him and I know all of you want to do physical harm, but,"
She looked at all of them as she continued. "I can't bring the three of you with me."
"What?!"
"Seriously?"
"Why not?" Damian, Jason, and Tim all exclaimed at the same time. She glared at all of them, and that shut them up.
"One," She held up a finger. "The three of you will be out patrolling the city. You never know if any criminals or villains come rushing back to destroy the city again. Second, Dick is capable of keeping his emotions in check. I know all of you are good at it too, but I need someone who can control the urge to punch Luthor and swallow their pride if he decides to do something, and no, my decision is final."
"Cass," The girl sat up straighter in her chair. "I'll give you the blueprints and the layouts of the building. You'll be our eyes on the outside. Luthor always has tricks up his sleeves, so try to keep an eye on them." She nodded.
"Alfred, can you please contact Barbara? We need her as our eyes on the inside."
"I'll inform Miss Gordon straight away." Alfred walked back into the kitchen and made a call.
"Wait a minute," Tim remembered something. "Where is the party? You never mentioned it. Also, when?"
"Manhattan Center in New York. Tomorrow night."
XXX
"Looks like we've got their attention," Dick murmured in her ear as they entered the ballroom. His eyes landed on a few groups of socialites looking in their direction.
"She's here," Oracle's voice ranged throughout their earpieces. "Waller arrived twenty minutes ago along with that pilot guy: Steve Trevor. Don't worry about the guy. He's busy chatting with someone. On the other hand, Waller is hiding in a corner sipping champagne on your right."
Diana's eyes scanned the room following Oracle's words, she found the woman doing just as the former said she would. Her eyes were watching the room like a hawk and her gaze suddenly moved to look at her, but Diana quickly pulled both of them out of Waller's view.
Once her eyes moved away from their direction, Diana sighed in relief.
"That was quick." They were about to move to a better location to spy on her, but fate had other plans.
"Hello, everyone!"
Luther walked to the center with champagne in hand, gaining the attention of all. A wide grin settled on his face as he continued.
The former turned to look at Waller, but she was gone. She cursed internally before looking back, trying to hide her disdain.
"Thank you all for attending. I appreciate the time it must take you all to reschedule for coming to this gala. Before we begin, however, may we take a moment of silence for those we have lost on 'Gotham's demise'."
They stood silently for a few moments before Luthor cleared his throat and addressed the crowd.
"Helping others, especially in this time is vital. The government is doing all they can to help, but why shouldn't we lend a helping hand? Let's all rise together from this and move to a better future! Now, who's ready?!"
The crowd clapped and cheered, some more exaggerated than others, especially those who drank more champagne than necessary.
The former gave the mic to the emcee and he walked off. A waiter carrying a tray of champagne walked towards Diana and Dick. Taking a glass themselves the two thanked him and proceeded to walk off, trying to find Waller.
"Mr. Wayne!" To their annoyance Luthor suddenly appeared, a smirk set on his face as he stood in front of the Wayne couple.
"Shit."
"And, of course, the stunning Mrs. Wayne. Lovely to see you two."
He tried to kiss Diana's hand, but she moved her hand before he could raise it to his lips. A frown appeared on his lips, but it disappeared just as quickly, replacing it with a charming smile as he looked at the couple.
"Thank you for coming here. I didn't think you two would attend after what happened一"
"It's all right, Luthor." Dick cut him off, not wanting to hear his pitiful response. "It has been difficult for us, and we're still grieving. I hope you can understand we only came here to support the project." Diana agreed with the statement by giving a nod.
"Ah, yes. I can understand that. It's tragic really. Gotham was starting to become better with the criminal activities decreasing over the years when Batman married Wonder Woman. I guess the Bat won't have a city to protect anymore. At least the city will be criminal-free."
"You do realize that what you're saying is an insult, yes?" Diana started, pissed at what Luthor stated. "Batman may not have a city to protect anymore, but that doesn't mean he can't protect others. Also, innocent people died because of a psychotic lunatic who wanted to bring a person who's been trying to stop him for a decade to his knees and make him watch his city suffer and be destroyed. People lost someone on that day. Next time you say something, think about what you say before saying them out loud."
If Luthor was shocked then he was pretty good at hiding it. Dick had a stoic face, but there was a little grin, barely seen.
"I'm sorry if my statement insulted you in any way, Mrs. Wayne." The former cleared his throat.
"I only meant to speak the truth. I mean, villains like the Joker have been wandering all over the streets, killing and torturing any innocent within his sights. If the government nor the Justice League can handle these types of people, then what hope do we have?"
"President Adams has only been doing damage control about the incident that they hid from the public. Shouldn't the public also know about this as well?"
Diana was itching to punch Luthor's smug look yet she knew if she did then she was risking not only themselves but the plan entirely.
"Funny. And I thought we were invited for a charity not for you to take the spotlight and elect yourself as president in the upcoming elections."
Dick declared, turning both of their attention to him. He squeezed Diana's hand with his other as he felt her hands tightening around his bicep.
"Excuse me?"
"Well, for one, these past few months have been difficult and tonight should at least be a good day for everyone to let their tension out, yet you decided to bring up a topic that people still have a hard time discussing. We all know the situation has been tense these past few months and their doing all they can to help us but was this your plan all along? To have us consider you as a perfect candidate to change this country?"
Luthor chuckled. "You think I'd use this as an opportunity? Well," He leaned in and whispered. "Bravo, mister Wayne you caught me red-handed. It seems you're smarter than people claim you to be. Let's see if you can convince them about my scheme."
With that, he left them alone to mingle with other guests. Diana grounded her teeth to keep her mouth shut and mentally reminded herself that she was doing this to find out what Luthor and Amanda were planning. If what they were planning was as terrible as eliminating the entire league, then she needed to stop them from making it happen.
During the night, they mingled with other guests and donated money for the project. Even after many years of attending these events, Diana still hated it. Most of the people here are either obnoxious, arrogant, or 'rich-pompous spineless bastards' in Jason's words. She was already cursing through her mind as another socialite approached them to talk about a possible deal.
Thankfully, when it comes to an extravagant gala there will always be drama, scandals, and gossip. Two businessmen caused a lot of attention when their heated argument turned into a physical one. The two took this opportunity to escape, the last thing Dick saw was security guards trying to pull them apart.
"Oracle, where are they?" Dick asked as Diana checked the halls.
"They're on the west side of the building, very far away from the ballroom, but that's all I can gather. There aren't any cameras placed around that area so you two are gonna have to split up. Cass is already on her way. Stay on your guard, they brought some extra muscle."
Dick stole a glance at Diana and he was having conflicting feelings. On one hand, it would be unfair if he didn't want her to find out because it can break her. Or worse, doing something she will regret.
"Let's get moving." Diana interrupted him and began to walk ahead, the former hoped and prayed that things wouldn't go down south real bad.
XXX
"Luthor." Amanda sat on the opposite side, her face devoid of any emotion as Luthor sent her a smirk.
"Waller. To be honest, I didn't think you'd even accept my offer, but here you are. Is Adams keeping a short leash on you? Or are you this desperate for information in taking the Justice League down?"
"And if I were you I'd keep hold of your tongue, lest you want this information to go public." She warned him. His smug smirk turned into a grimace.
"You'd dare to ruin your reputation? Everything you've built, you'll throw it all away?"
"They're already collecting evidence on the both of us plotting against government orders. I don't really care if I go behind bars, but If I go down, you're going down with me."
He leaned back in his chair, his face unreadable. To her surprise, however, he laughed out loud. "You got guts, Waller. I'll give you that," Then he leaned in, his eyes holding a dangerous gaze. "I'll play your little game, but first, what are you willing to give me to obtain the information I hold?"
Waller turned to look at her right hand, Steve Trevor, who stepped up and slid a thick folder to him. Luthor read a few pages until he looked at Waller. "A mere person wouldn't be able to access this, even the general, yet you managed to. Do you know how much a person would pay for such information? For such power? If Adams found out you stole this under his nose, he'll do something worse than just put you in prison. Heck, I'm not even sure if he will do it."
"Adams won't suspect a thing. He's been busy playing peacemaker with other countries ever since he released the statement of Joker's passing. Brigham too. With both of them occupied, it was an easy snatch."
Waller smugly proclaimed and leaned onto the table, her hands interlaced. "Now that you've gotten what some people would give their life on, it's time for you to give your end of the bargain."
Luthor set the papers aside and considered them for a second before shaking his head. Waller frowned, not liking his actions. "This is nice and all, but I need something more. The thing I'm trading off is one of the most valuable things you will ever come across."
"Then what else do you want?"
"Connections. You see, next year's elections are coming, and I plan on joining the ranks. There's a fifty percent chance I might even win at all so I need leverage."
"I'm still in disbelief that so many people still believe in you," She snorted. "Especially after having enough evidence of you getting involved with shady dealings and associating with crooks like Joker."
"People can be blinded if you give them something good enough to forget about it. Besides, if I become president, then you'll get a pardon and have access to any devices you want to do with that project of yours."
"Fine," She said after mulling over the stakes of this deal. "You'll get what you've asked. A little blackmail here and there as well as pulling a few strings. You're going to get your endorsements and everything you need to win."
"You better. Now, for my part…"
He crouched down on his chair and grabbed a black briefcase right beside his feet. Scanning his fingerprint onto the scanner, the case opened with a pop as smoke came out. He grabbed a vial and admired it before placing it on the table between them.
Waller stared at the object for a minute, and she looked at Luthor with a deadpanned glance. "And what the hell am I supposed to do with this?"
"Oh, Amanda, dear. This vial contains the DNA of the dark knight himself. If I remember correctly, weren't you trying to create a soldier you can easily control if the bat dies?"
Amanda stiffened as he said those words. How could he know about that? Suspicion crept into her mind as she squinted her eyes.
"...What makes you think that?"
"One, this world will never cease of crooks and villains rampaging throughout the streets. The other leaguers are useful and powerful, yes but you needed someone who could outsmart even the most intelligent person out there within your grasp to do your bidding. That's why you needed Batman's DNA."
He leaned back into his chair and dug out another vial inside the case. "I must admit your plan of yours is… questionable but with Batman's DNA alone he or she could become a formidable hero or soldier in your case."
"Where are you going on with this?" Waller impatiently said, already annoyed with Luthor's theatrical antiques. He merely chuckled in amusement as he revealed the big news.
"Why not add in another hero to even the odds? Let's say… Wonder Woman?"
"Your bluffing." Waller, accused as Steve lowly whistled, impressed on how the man had gone the lengths to get those.
"If you don't believe me then you can test them out yourselves. Don't question how I manage to obtain it. The important thing is you now have them within your grasp. Now, do we have a deal?"
Amanda looked at her hand and the vial sitting between her and him and the other in his hand. Gaining access to such power is already a big win, but she needs to tread lightly on this. You never know what that man has up his sleeves.
"You convinced me. You'll get your connections, but I can't promise that you'll win it, you can't change a person's mind even if they've seen the truth that easily."
"I'll see to it. Hope you enjoy your little project." He stood and fixed his suit, returning the vials, and gave the case to Steve. Before leaving he tilted his head, looking back at her with a sideways glance. "If you try to wriggle out of our deal just know that I will do everything in my power to make your life suffer. "
"I'll repay in kind if you do the same." Amanda stood and gave the case to Trevor as they walked out of the room. As the room lay bare, all are unaware of the three figures hearing their entire conversation.
"Did you get all of that?" Dick asked into his earpiece from a room nearby. Oracle confirmed it to him. "Yup. Batgirl got the entire thing with audio included. They can't lie their way out of this one."
"Then we got what we came for, let's go." Dick turned around only to stop dead center. Just in front of him was a series of unconscious guards. He quickly hurried to check one of their pulses, sighing in relief when he heard it but it was faint.
"Oracle, call 911. We have a situation." He tapped his communicator, already dreading on what could possibly happen.
"Already on it. What's happening Dick?"
"I think Diana knows."
"Oracle, do you copy?" Dick pressed into his earpiece after a few minutes of sneaking through the halls, his gaze glancing every now and then.
"Copy. What do you need?"
"Do you mind if we cut off Diana's earpiece? Just when we find Waller and Luthor."
Oracle was silent for a few minutes before she answered him with suspicion. "... Why?"
"It's just, I'm just worried that whatever she hears in their conversation might be too much for her. After everything, she doesn't need to hear this." He looked towards the window to find Batgirl swinging around the rooftops before losing sight of her in the shadows.
"You know Diana's gonna be pissed at you right?
"I'm fine with her being mad at me but I can't risk her doing something rash."
"Even so, she can hear anything within a thirty-mile radius. Don't forget Dick, Diana's a metahuman who can rival Superman."
"I know. I just hope the directions you sent her are enough to miss the whole thing."
'Please don't do something rash, Di.' He pleaded in his mind.
The Amazon princess had every right to be outright angry. He is too. They're planning on making a super baby with her and Bruce's DNA and using that child as a weapon to society. She needs to know but it's for the best that she doesn't hear this, it's too risky.
He heard Oracle cursing as soon as he got the words out. "Oracle, can you manage to track Diana?" He hurriedly asked as he ran out of the room. His footsteps echoed off the halls as he moved deftly.
"No, I've lost signal with her tracking device nor found her in any security cameras around the place. I'm finding her on the radar right now."
"Okay you two, what's going on? Is this about Diana?" Cass joined in on the conversation, her voice anxious and impatient. "I can see you panicking and running out of the room from the window Dick. You either tell me or I break your precious eskrima sticks."
Do I look like I give a damn about those sticks right now? "It's Diana. We can't find her."
"Have you at least tried contacting her?"
Oracle responded. "I already did. She's not responding."
CRASHHHHHH
"What was that!?"
Shit
XXX
Dick dodged the crowd running out the door, eager to avoid the chaos happening in the room. He coughed and covered his nose as a series of smoke covered his vision, nearly making it impossible to see anything in the thick fog. He looked up to barely see the ceiling having a hole in the center. Debris was everywhere and he could hear some groaning in pain.
He helped two people from getting out of the mess by lifting up a piece of the broken ceiling that was on top of them. He guided them to the nearest exit and they thanked him as they rushed out. Dick coughed a few times as the smoke was starting to affect him.
"Bruce!" He turned to see Batgirl running towards him. He was confused for a moment on why she called him that until he realized he was still in 'camouflage'.
"How long have you been inside?"
"Not long. Managed to help five people escape this mess, but there are some few left." She gave him a gas mask and he quickly put it on, breathing in a few deep breaths. "How about Diana?"
She shook her head. Batgirl hadn't seen any movement or sign of her anywhere as she jumped down the broken ceiling.
"... Help…" She heard a faint voice calling for help and she looked around the smoky area until she saw faint silhouettes being crushed by a giant rubble of cement. She nudged him and quickly dashed off to help them, him running after her.
The former stopped short as she saw their faces as she got near. You've got to be kidding me…
"Hey, why'd you stop- oh, come on." Right before them is Luthor himself, trapped and groaning in pain. Blood was slowly dripping down his temple as he slowly regained consciousness and spotted the two standing a few meters away. In his vision, he blurrily sees two figures standing a few centimeters away from him and he begrudgingly raised his hand in his attempt to call for help. "Pl…eas..e.."
"Do we have to help him?" Dick looked at the man before them with a tired look.
"Yes. Although this can be a convincing way to get rid of someone so well known, we're not that kind of people." Batgirl reluctantly replied. Both of them started removing the heavy rubble off him but had to stop short as they heard him cry in crucial pain.
"Shit," Dick exclaimed as he crouched down and showed a light on his phone to scan any possible thing that was hurting Luthor. Batgirl impatiently asked him as time was running short and he answered. "A metal pole speared through his leg."
"Then let's get this concrete off of as quickly as we can."
"He's gonna die from blood loss if we don't act quickly."
"Well, do you have any better ideas?" As she said this, the rubble that was crushing Luthor was lifted off by Wonder Woman herself with a sneer on her face. Luthor screamed as the pole was out of his leg. The Amazon threw the rubble away and it broke into pieces as it made contact with the ground. She lifts Luthor up by the scruff of his damaged suit and threw him to a wall, creating a few new cracks as he made an impact.
Batgirl and Dick stared in shock at what was happening but Dick was the first to lose trance and stepped in front of Diana to stop her in her tracks. "Di, stop. This一ths isn't what you want, ok? Killing is not the answer."
"Stand aside, Dick." She shoved him away from her path but he grabbed onto her wrist as she did so. "I'm not letting you kill him out of vengeance Diana."
When she turned to stare him down Dick had to hold in a flinch as he met her gaze. Her eyes filled with vengeance and agony as she stared into his own. She wrenched her hand free from his grip and continued to move towards the broken body of Lex. Dick just stood and watched as she walked away until Batgirl held his arm and looked at him in concern.
The Amazon princess picked up Lex by his throat and slammed him through the wall again, making him grunt out his pain. "You deserve to go to Tartarus for all the things you have done." She snarled in front of his face, clenching his windpipe tighter. He weakly clawed at her wrist but it proved useless as she punched him hard, breaking his nose in the process.
"In fact…" She grabbed a metal pole near them and speared it through his left shoulder. "Why don't I just do it right now? We can have one less evil to deal with on earth."
She continued to assault him. Each blow delivers a satisfying noise of bones breaking. She unsheathed her dagger hidden within her suit and slowly dragged it from his cheekbone to near his lip, creating a deep gash. Satisfied by the blood seeping out of the wound she raised it again and this time, aimed it at his eye, planning to induce permanent injury to him. Every single bruise she gave him was making her feel numb. She didn't care about her reputation anymore. Not since she had accidentally killed her husband. All she wanted was to make her tormentors feel her pain. She already did it to the Joker, who's to say she can stop with him?
But before it barely pierced his eye as she forced his right eye to be opened a voice called out to her.
"Di…" Batgirl warily approached them, her gauntlet arms raised to show that she was not armed. "Please stop this. I know you want to inflict every possible pain on him, but we have to go. The police are coming and they can't find you murdering the man right in front of their eyes."
Any normal person wouldn't hear it but if you're a meta you can hear anything a few miles away. Diana focused on her surroundings and soon enough she heard the distant wails of sirens coming towards the broken building. And from the sounds of it, Clark will be visiting as well.
Diana looked at Batgirl and relented. Although annoyed that she didn't get the chance to do what she wanted she didn't want Clark to find this. With a nod, Batgirl typed in a coordinate from her gauntlet, and soon a green glow emitted within the room.
Clark arrived the second they disappeared and found quite a scene. He dashed toward the injured Luthor who was still pinned by the metal pole. He used his super hearing and breathed a sigh of relief as he heard a very faint heartbeat in the injured man's body.
"Watchtower, come in," He quickly contacted the martian as he slowly looked around to find any more people who might be injured or trapped using his x-ray vision to find none.
"What do you need, Superman?"
"Contact any available medic within the area."
"Copy that."
Clark thought about contacting the president over this. This may be too much but someone tried to kill Luthor, not caring if they hurt innocent people for it. Whoever inflicted this much damage on a well-known infamous man may be personal. Maybe this was the same one who killed Joker that night. " He raised his arm and turned his commlink on. "And J'onn… let President Adams know of the situation. We need to talk about this as soon as we can."
