Disclaimer

The characters used in this story are owned by DC Comics and Warner Bros. I have used them in the story which is entirely a product of my own imagination

Chap 32

Prison

Diana took her chair at the interrogation table. It wasn't anything like the one at Themyscira. She wondered if they really had one at Themyscira, for there really was no point in having one. The trials were smooth, and most of the time the time unilateral, as no one took the side of the convict. But here, it was different. People seemed to take her side too, may be as a legal obligation. She was assigned a defence attorney with whom she had regular chats, or talks, and who was her only friend for the time and point of contact with the outside world.

Although she called him a friend, she wasn't sure if she liked him very much. In the five meetings they had, that spanned two days, he had only expressed his vehement disapproval of her act of publicly confessing that she had committed the crime. When she defended her act as her moral obligation and duty towards the society which accepted her as a part of it, he laughed and remarked slyly, "Your case would've been a snap, given your popularity as a Super hero, if it wasn't for your super stupid confession. Now all we can do is to hope that the judge goes easy on you." She would be bewildered by his attitude and keep quiet, for that would be the best thing for her to do, apart from breaking his bones. The meeting would always end on a sour note, and she would wonder why she had to put up with him.

Hence she wasn't looking forward to the meeting that day. But she could not do away when the warden walked into her cell with her stone cold glare and said the only line she ever had the opportunity to listen from her – "He's here! I'm instructed to get you."

That day, unlike the other days, he did not start speaking as soon as he saw her. In fact he was sitting in one of the darker corners of the room and his face was barely visible. Diana looked at the silhouette briefly, and took her place, her face being washed from the light emanated by the bulb hanging above the table. The figure did not move or talk for a while. Diana did not venture to start the conversation, and hence, her attention fell on how peculiar the room itself looked.

Finally, the figured stirred slightly before it rose from the chair. Diana missed that movement, and hence when she saw the man walking towards her, her eyes widened involuntarily. The man slowly moved to the other chair across her and took the seat.

Diana was dumfounded. She had wished to see him again, but did not expect that to happen. But still here he was, right before her eyes. His eyes were piercing into hers, a stare uncharacteristic of him. He leaned on the table placing her right arm for support, and the table protested momentarily at the impulse.

"S…Superman!" Diana stuttered.

He did not answer. Despite the stern look on his face, Diana could sense his emotional conflict. The situation did not allow casual exchange of pleasantries.

Awkward silence prevailed for a while, as Superman seemed to know nothing more than the stare he had so practiced. He realized that its intensity was wearing off by minute and he had to speak something.

"How much time have you been allotted?" Diana asked. That was a welcome conversation starter.

"I chose 30 minutes," he said, trying to sound as cold as possible.

"Ah, I see!" Diana nodded and her finger traced small circles on the table. Superman tried hard not to look the table, but he couldn't. In fact he needed to buy some time too, to think of his next action.

5 minutes had passed thus. Diana did not seem to be interested in taking the lead this time, and Superman was still desperately looking for a starter. How does Batman do it?

He turned his attention from the table to the large wall clock behind Diana. She raised her eyes to meet his', but her eyes were not at the focus this time. She refrained from turning around to look at what had attracted his attention, and resumed tracing circles.

The seconds hand of the clock crossed the 12 once more, indicating that 2 more minutes had passed. Superman grew restless and finally spoke.
"Why did you bring this onto yourself, Diana?"

Diana stared at him, his face was coming back to his usual. He could not wear the mask of coldness and indifference for long. She let out a sharp breath and began, "I have explained what needs to be explained, Superman!"

"Do you want me to believe that you…you of all could be so capricious as to kill a man?" he sounded more desperate than authoritative as he intended to be.

Diana bent her head slightly, her eyes facing down, avoiding his'
"I thought you already believed that!" she said softly.

Superman felt a pang in his heart. He despised his making statement that the league disowned her.

"Do you believe that I cannot commit this crime?" Diana asked, her eyes still facing downwards.

"I don't know what to believe. But…I am not Batman, and I do the thinking with my heart, most of the times!" Superman said.

Diana gave a quick short laugh, which puzzled him. "Batman! Well, now I understand why he asks you not to think with your muscles. He means - the heart!"

"Diana this is not the time for jokes!" Superman cried, standing up, "Do you understand what you are getting yourself into? The world is not easy on the Super heroes committing crimes. Your confession is going to cause you no good either. Believe me, I've been through it."

"What is it that you want from me, Superman?" Diana cried, "Do you feel that I shouldn't have confessed? I mean…you…of all! I did what has to be done and I don't regret it. So, if you have nothing else to talk about, then you might as well not waste your time with me. If the prison authorities come to know of what you were talking about, it might hurt your reputation!"

Superman sat back into his chair, and the chair creaked. For a moment, he did not say anything. Diana's words echoed in his ears and she did not seem to be willing to take them back.

"All right, Diana! Have it your way then!" he sighed, "I despise my actions and I really want to help you. But you don't seem to be ready to take my help." He raised again, this time slowly. His feet lost contact with the floor and he glided past her, to the door. As he passed her, he muttered "I am sorry!" Diana clenched her fists and closed her eyes, supressing her tears. But Superman did not miss the visible contortion in her face as she did that.

As he reached to door, he landed again and knocked thrice, as a signal to indicate that he was done. He could hear the clicking the keypad as the guard punched in the security code. He turned back to look at Diana, who did not turn around. He could swear that she was crying, although he did not dare to use his super hearing, lest he might be wrong. He cleared his throat and spoke –
"Bruce asked me to give this to you." He took out a neatly folded piece of paper from his pocket and thrust it towards her. It flew over her head and landed on the table. "I don't know what this contains; I didn't bother to look into it. But when I said that I was going to meet you, he simply handed it to me and said - If you fail, give this to her. I didn't understand what he meant by If I fail, but I guess this qualifies." He waited for her to take the note, but she did not move. By the time, the door was opened and the guard saluted to him promptly. Superman sighed and walked out of the room.

"The warden will be here to take you!" the guard said, as he closed the door again. No sooner had the lock clicked than Diana jumped to the table. She took the note into her trembling hands and opened it cautiously. It was a short message, which read-

"The killer will strike again. And when that happens, only you will be able to stop the killer from conferring the same fate upon ME. I am counting on you." Signed - Bruce Wayne