Chapter 5: Repercussions

"She has lost a lot of blood," J'onn looked up from his examination of Diana to meet the eyes of Superman and Batman who had been at her bedside in the medical bay of the Watchtower since their return. He met Batman's gaze with the next statement.

"She will be fine. I am going to sedate her so she will rest. In twenty-four hours, I believe her accelerated healing should replace most of the blood she lost. I would reactivate her for missions in two days."

J'onn thought he saw the Dark Knight's shoulders and jaw relax a little. He certainly felt the relief from Batman. It didn't seem to put a dent in the feelings of guilt but once again, J'onn knew that the human didn't think he was projecting the emotions so the Martian played along.

"How much blood did they get," Batman asked.

"I cannot tell you exactly but certainly more than they should have been able to get that quickly. Perhaps as much as three pints. Whoever it was knew exactly how much they could take without killing her."

"They insist on keeping her alive. I wonder why," Superman asked. "And what are they going to do with her blood?"

Batman looked at him. He had a theory but he needed to check on the location of some people before he shared it.

"I'm going to the Batcave," he said, sounding bored. "I'll call when I know something. Call me if something changes."

Superman followed Batman as he walked out of the medical bay and into the hallway towards the transporter. Batman acted as if he were unaware of the Man of Steel walking only a foot behind him.

"Batman! What is going on?" he said sharply. The Dark Knight stopped and turned around slowly.

"Remember when that petty theft from Central City suddenly got metapowers? It was Diana's DNA that gave them to her. Someone must have improved the process but needed more blood."

Superman looked stunned. "That's why they want her alive. In case they need more. But who can do that?"

"Probably more people than you think are capable of it. I need to narrow down who actually did it."

Superman looked at Batman, considering him for a moment. The whole mission seemed to have the Dark Knight unusually agitated for reasons Superman could not understand. Batman had done the most work on developing the plan for the evening at the museum, but had to be dragged into participating. He had known Bruce a long time and even for him, it was strange behavior. While Superman was curious as to the cause, he realized he didn't care enough to engage in what would be a long and probably fruitless battle with Bruce for the answer.

"You did a good job today," Superman said, nearly surprising himself as he said it. He didn't think any differently, he just knew Bruce well enough to know it was a waste of words.

"You were right earlier," Batman responded coldly. "The plan failed. Now it is a salvage mission."

Superman sighed internally as Batman walked away. He had tried.

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If he scares me this much when he is happy, what must he be like when he is angry? Kyle Weston thought as he listened to Lex Luthor praising the team for their work. Luthor was excited, asking about next steps and deadlines like a child who realized that his birthday party was after naptime.

But it was the tone that was scaring Weston. Despite the joy in his voice, there was an undertone of darkness. Luthor's brain was only enjoying the victory a little. He had already moved on to the project's completion and his new team of metapowered villains.

Although Weston didn't think that Luthor really wanted any of the three criminals any access to Wonder Woman's DNA. Weston was fairly sure that Luthor had other plans for it. Which meant eventually, Weston would be regarded as a liar to the group from Central City, which did not bode well for him.

He hasn't been this happy since I gave him Wonder Woman's hair, Weston thought again and realized that he didn't know – and he didn't want to know – what Luthor had done with it.

After a few more minutes, Luthor was done celebrating. He looked at Weston as if seeing him for the first time.

"Can this happen faster than in six months time?" he asked, sounding as if he was daring the man to disagree.

"It should. The first tests could happen as early as two weeks. It is just a matter of pulling the right proteins and mimicking them so they would work in someone else," Weston answered. He knew that Luthor understood phrases like "synthesis of the mimetic," "analogues" and "receptor binding" but he felt a strange loyalty to the three Central City villains so he simplified the language. He had been a university professor for years, it was not difficult for him to do so.

"Excellent. Well, I will leave you to it, then" Luthor said and left.

Weston winced once the door closed behind him. He realized he had just committed himself to have something in two weeks. He walked slowly to the refrigerator in the lab and got a vial of blood out of the rack. The three men from Central City said their goodbyes and left the lab.

He was not sleeping for a while.

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Batman had, after patrol, returned silently to the Watchtower and had been inches from the door of the medical bay when he clearly heard Flash's voice. Quietly, he looked through the window and found the Speedster sitting next to Diana talking to her unconscious form. Part of him wanted to march in there and demand to know what Flash was doing – he should have been out hunting but he realized Flash was there for the same reason he was. There was a lot of guilt to work through.

So, Batman decided to enter the back way and stay in the shadows while Flash did what he needed to do. He studied the monitors connected to Diana for a few moments.

J'onn was right. It looks like by this time tomorrow, she'll be back to sipping iced mochas.

He sent a quick word of thanks to her gods and then indulged in a little eavesdropping.

"I am close to catching Trickster," the Flash told the sleeping Diana. "And I will figure out what they are up to. I don't know why they are working together, but I will find out and I will break it up."

Flash paused, staring off into space for a moment.

"I just want you to know that I will fix this. These are Central City guys and I know my responsibilities to you and the city. I don't care who is helping them, this is my problem. I will make it right."

With that, Flash patted her on her hand and left. Batman stood silently for a moment, stunned at what he just witnessed.

Just when you think you have nothing in common with someone, he thought.

"Princess, you are quite popular this evening," he said lightly and kissed her gently on her forehead before sitting down. She stirred at bit, whether at his touch or his voice or both, he wasn't sure, but he found himself smiling. "I thought I would stop by and check on you before heading back to the Cave for the night."

He spent the next few hours alternating between details of his patrol, tender words of affection and promises of vengeance.

"I know you can avenge yourself," he said at one point. "And I know you will want to but I should have known that they would attract a sponsor sooner than I estimated. So, I suppose we ought to do it together. I am sure there will be enough players to go around."

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J'onn entered the medical bay just after "dawn" Watchtower time. He found Batman sleeping in a chair by Wonder Woman. His arms were folded on the bed and his head was on his arms. At some point during the night, Diana must have woken up because one hand was on the back of his head and she had curled herself around him as much as possible.

J'onn smiled. It was a tender scene and he indulged in the warmth of it for a moment. Then, remembering the parties involved, he woke up Batman.

The Dark Knight awoke with a start. Before he could say anything, J'onn spoke.

"I will be back in five minutes," he said and left the medical bay.

Batman nodded at him gratefully.

He took a moment to gain his bearings and then kissed Diana's hand.

"Princess, I will be here when the sedative wears off," he said tenderly. With that, he left the Watchtower.

As he did not stop by his mailbox, the lone package in the slot continued to go unopened.

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"This is the first time you have treated me like a fool," Amanda Waller said as a greeting as she walked into Lex Luthor's office.

Luthor was clearly unbothered by the accusation. He looked up from the paperwork on his desk and smiled at her.

"Amanda, you are early. Welcome," he said, standing and gestured to a chair in front of his desk.

Not only was Luthor's office designed to impress, but he had the money to really succeed. Amanda had lived in places with less square footage than Luthor's office. The desk was massive and antique. All the furnishings were old and there was an impressive collection of ancient weaponry on the walls. The whole place spoke of a masculine influence and a readiness for battle.

"I am not sure what bothers me more – that you didn't think I would piece it all together after the attack on Wonder Woman or that it actually took the attack for me to put it all together," Waller said as she sat down in the offered chair.

"That, I cannot help you with," Luthor answered dryly.

"At least you aren't denying that you have Weston hidden away somewhere working on Amazon DNA," Waller said with a sigh. The lack of denial took some of the urge to argue out of her.

"I never said that I didn't have Weston," Luthor answered, sitting down at last.

Waller smiled a bit at that. If her memory was serving, he was right. He never had.

"I don't envy you the headache you just adopted, but since you took him off of my hands, I will return the favor with a friendly piece of warning – you will have a higher body count than you will have any really useable results. He has tried to convince me that he has improved his process, but I do not believe him."

Luthor nodded and said nothing for a moment but then his curiosity got the better of him. "Dare I ask what you did with the bit of hair?"

"Hopefully, I have convinced an annoyance to go away," she answered cryptically.

"And what might you know about the unfortunate accident involving the photographer Don Bortz?" Luthor asked.

Waller tilted her head as if confused by the question. "Only what I read in the paper. The bonfire of negatives and photos in the living room was very odd, I thought."

Luthor looked at her like a lion evaluating possible competition within the pride. She had quoted the newspaper article exactly with the phrase "bonfire of negatives and photos in the living room."

"Indeed," he finally acknowledged.

"Why? What do you know about it?" Waller asked.

"Only that you had him on the payroll for occasional projects."

Waller smiled. "Based on the crime scene photos of his house alone, it was quite obvious that I was by far not the only one sending him checks."

Luthor had to admit to the truth of that statement. The photographs of Bortz's condo showed a man who was not hurting for money. And, since Luthor had access to Waller's books, he knew that what she paid him did not match the quality of the furniture and stereo equipment.

Luthor and Waller continued the meeting both feeling like they had won and lost separate battles.

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Bruce Wayne had just completed his work out in the Batcave when the call came in over his communicator. Dressed in a pair of grey cotton shorts and a black t-shirt, he threw a grey towel over his neck and grabbed a bottle of water from the tray left just outside the gym as he listened.

"Bats?" Flash said boldly.

"Yes, Flash?"

"I have Trickster," Flash answered.

Bruce smiled. It was the satisfied smile of a cat who realizes that the mouse it was hunting has gotten itself cornered.

"Where are you? I can come get him." Bruce answered.

"I want to be there when you talk to him."

Bruce paused long enough to take a long drink of water before responding. "No. You don't."

"Yeah, I do. I know him. I can help you get information from him."

Bruce sighed inaudibly. "No. You can't."

"Then I'll just talk to him."

Bruce growled quietly, but loud enough that Flash heard.

"I don't think you understand. I respect that Trickster operates out of your city so I let you get him. Please do not think for a moment that I will not come there and find him myself. This is bigger than a turf battle."

"Only because it isn't your turf," Flash said. "I can get a lot out of him my way."

Bruce paused, his eyes narrowing.

When did this kid get so bold? he thought. And then he knew the answer. When he watched Diana disappear with one of Central City's worst.

"All right, Flash," Bruce answered after a moment. "Let's see how good you are. Let me join you and I'll let you question him and then if there is anything we don't know, I'll take over."

Even as the words left his mouth, Bruce could hardly believe he was saying them. But the kid deserved a break. He was beating himself up over this whole thing.

"All right." Flash said and rattled off his coordinates.

"I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Okay."

"Flash, this isn't your fault. None of it is. Let's find out whose fault it is, shall we?" Bruce said. Now I'm channeling Kent? What the hell is wrong with me?

Bruce could almost hear Flash smile over the com link. "I'll see you in ten."

As he put on the Batsuit, Bruce realized it didn't really matter who started the interrogation, as long as he got to finish it.

Again, he caught himself smiling.