DISCLAIMERS/NOTES
1. This is a fan fiction based on characters owned by DC Comics. I DO NOT OWN THEM. This is just for fun.
2. My continuity branches off after the end of Season 1. So the last episode to occur was the two-part "The Savage Time". No Season 2. No JL Unlimited.
PART 5
22nd December. Three days until Christmas.
Diana sat next to the bed, hearing the beeping of the heart monitor a few feet away. She stared blankly at the comatose man lying on the bed. His left shoulder was heavily bandaged with blood staining both the bandages and the sheets.
Diana looked at the Batman, as numerous thoughts went through her head. Thoughts of loneliness, thoughts of regret, thoughts of guilt, thoughts of anger. Her mind went back to the previous night.
After Batman had been severely injured at the LexCorp building, she had been frantic. She contacted Superman and was practically hysterical as she ordered the Man of Steel to send the Javalin-7 to their coordinates immediately. As she had waited for Superman and J'onn J'onzz to arrive, time had appeared to move frustratingly slowly. Batman was bleeding profusely, so she had torn over a third of his cape off during the wait and wrapped it around his wound, attempting to stop the bloodflow.
Eventually, the Javelin had arrived. Diana remembered snapping at Superman for taking so long; she later felt regret when she learnt that it had only taken the Kryptonian and the Martian twenty minutes to reach them. But to Diana, it had been an eternity.
An eternity of watching the man she loved with all her heart bleeding, quite possibly, to death. She remembered holding Batman, caressing his face, tears flowing down hers. She had been begging for him to wake up, to move, to speak. But he had just lied there, unmoving. It was one of – if not the – most painful experiences in Diana's life.
The thought of losing him was more than she could bear. She remembered breaking down, for the second time that night, in a fit of tears. As her crying became more intense, she had held Batman as close as she could and lowered herself to him, face buried in his chest, her hair falling onto him.
When Superman and J'onn had arrived, Diana had been too worried to hide her tears. She carried the Dark Knight into the craft and stayed with him the entire journey back to the Watchtower. Upon reaching the satellite, she had carried him to the medbay and stayed with him all through the night, not getting any sleep - just sitting there with him, time as irrelevant as his bloodstains on her body.
And she stayed with him now, as motionless as she had been all night. Morning had arrived, yet she had not noticed. Her eyes never left him, and she was praying to every Goddess she knew of that he would survive. Diana knew a shoulder injury was not THAT serious, comparatively speaking, but Batman had lost a tremendous amount of blood. The bleeding had only stopped a couple of hours ago. As strong a man as the Dark Knight was, she feared not even he would survive from such an injury.
"Diana."
She darted her head up at the sound of the voice. J'onn was standing at the doorway, his face solemn. She sighed deeply, before eventually replying. "Yes, J'onn?"
J'onn walked into the medbay. "You should get some rest. You've been here all night."
Diana shook her head. "No, I want to stay here. I want to be here if… when… he wakes up." She returned her gaze to Batman, and moved her head a few inches closer to his body.
J'onn went up to the bedside. "He lost a vast amount of blood. He'll… almost certainly survive, but it will be sometime before he is back to peak strength." He looked at Diana. "You really should rest. I will alert you the instant he wakes."
Diana looked sternly at the Martian, her eyes watering up again. "No," she simply said.
J'onn put a hand on her shoulder. "Diana… I know how much he means to you. He means alot to all of us. But we have to keep our emotions incheck. We can't afford to lose ourselves in dire moments. Believe me, I know."
She blinked a few times, trying to keep the tears back. "J'onn, please… don't try and make me go. I won't leave him."
J'onn looked directly at her. "Diana… I know how you feel about him. Please don't take offence, but your mind is so clear when it comes to Batman that I can read you, as Humans say, like a book. I understand, really I do. I know what it's like to lose loved ones." He was silent for a few moments. Eventually he continued. "Please, Diana, get some rest. I promise I'll contact you if anything happens."
Diana could not fight anymore, and the tears ran down her face. Her breathing became forced, uneven, and her nose sniffed. She let out a sob and her head fell a few inches. "J'onn… I don't know what I'll do… if he…" she trailed off, as the tears poured down her face silently.
"I know," J'onn whispered, a pained look crossing his face.
"I can't leave him…" she gasped. "I won't. Don't try and make me."
J'onn removed his hand from her shoulder and straightened up. Finally, he said, "Very well. But you should at least eat. I shall get you something from the kitchen."
Diana was silent. J'onn walked out of the medbay, turning back at the doorway. "He'll make it, Diana. You have to believe that." He then left the room.
Diana sat there, still, then slowly, delicately, took Batman's hand and held it in her own. Holding it firmly, she brought it to her face and gently kissed the glove material.
"I love you."
/
"DIANA!"
Batman shot up in bed - and suddenly felt an intense stab of pain in his shoulder. "Arrrrrrrrrrggggh!" His face creased as he fell back onto the bed, in agony and confusion.
He heard a voice saying his name. "Batman! Oh Hera!" The voice was laced with concern and worry. As his eyesight focused on his surroundings, he could see Diana's face above him, looking down.
He was mesmerised by her beauty; she quite literally took his breath away everytime he saw her. But as he looked at her, he saw that she had bags under her eyes, heavy and red. "Diana…" he whispered. "You've… been crying…"
Diana was silent for a moment; she seemed confused, unsure of what to say. "I…" she began.
Then Batman heard the door open, and he looked over and saw Superman and J'onn entering the room. "Batman, you're awake!" Superman said. They walked over to his bed and looked down at him. Their eyes unnerved him. "How do you feel?" asked the Man of Steel.
Batman looked around him at his teammates. They all had expectant expressions on their faces, but Diana's was the one he was concerned about. What could have happened to make her so sad? If something had made her upset enough to cry, he wanted to know about it. "What happened?" he asked.
"You were injured at LexCorp," replied Superman. "We brought you back here. You were unconscious for several hours. For a while, we didn't think you'd make it."
Batman turned to Diana. "Are you alright?" he asked her.
Diana took a moment to compose herself, then replied, "Yes, yes, I'm fine. I.. we were so worried." She cleared her throat; it hurt Batman more than any physical pain to see Diana in this state. He wanted to hold her and comfort her, but he was too weak to even sit up. He saw the blood – his blood – on her clothes and skin, and he closed his eyes. How could he have been so stupid? What could have made him agree to let her go with him? His injury was nothing compared to her emotional distress – it hurt him incredibly to see her in pain.
He decided to take his mind off of her and looked away, turning his head to Superman and J'onn. "What's the current situation?"
The Kryptonian looked at the Martian, then said, "You should get some rest, Batman. We can talk after you've recovered some more."
Batman winced. They were treating him like a child; he could not stand that. Just because he was a "normal" Human being, he did not have to be treated like an invalid everytime he got hurt. "Tell me now," he growled.
Superman sighed. "We haven't heard anything from Green Lantern or Hawkgirl since we got your last message. J'onn and I were about to go down to their last whereabouts and see what we could find."
"OK, let's go." Batman attempted to sit up, but a jolt of pain stabbed his shoulder and he groaned. He saw Diana put her arms around him, attempting to steady him. What was she doing? Was she trying to comfort him? No, that could not be it. He was just a colleague to her… nothing more.
"You should not go out in your condition," said J'onn. "You lost alot of blood; it would be unwise for you to overexert yourself needlessly."
"It's not needlessly," Batman said, "three of our teammates are missing. And besides, are you saying I'm not upto it?" He sounded angrier than he really was, but he hated being patronised.
"It's not that, Batman," said Superman. "But you took a nasty injury. You'd be no use to us in your current state."
Batman looked at his left shoulder and saw the heavy bandage around it, stained with dry blood. "I've gone out with worse," he said.
"Doesn't make it sensible," said Superman. "You're staying here."
The Dark Knight and the Man of Steel stared at eachother for a few moments. The tension in the air was palpable. "Do you really think you could stop me?" Batman growled.
Superman was about to respond, but Diana interrupted. She lowered her pained face to Batman and, with her eyes watering up, whispered, "Batman… please…"
Batman was silent for a while. As much as he hated being coddled, he hated seeing Diana in pain more. Eventually, he said, flatly, "Fine. Tell me as soon as anything happens."
Superman looked at him and simply said, "Right." He turned to leave. "Come on, J'onn - let's find out missing people."
J'onn turned to Diana. "Diana, you should get some rest too. Now that Batman is awake, I suggest you get some sleep yourself."
Batman was shocked. "You've… not had any sleep?" he asked, looking at Diana.
She looked down, seemingly embarrassed. "No… I… that is… I wanted to stay here… for you to wake up. I…" The words seemed to come difficultly. "I… felt responsible."
Batman was dumbfounded. How on Earth could she feel responsible for his injury? He would not allow that. "Wonder Woman, you have no reason to feel responsible. I knew what I was doing. It comes with the job."
Diana let out a sob. Batman did not know what to say. Had his injury really upset her that much? The idea seemed unfathomable. Batman knew that if SHE had been injured, it would have been unbearable for him, but he was in love with her. She was not in love with him…
Silence fell over the room for a minute, before Diana eventually said, "I'll… go get something from the kitchen. Batman… what would you like?"
He just stared at her. "Anything. I'm not fussed."
Diana took one last longing look at him, then slowly left the room.
J'onn watched her go, almost as if he was making sure she left. He then looked at Batman. "Superman and I will keep you abreast of our findings," he said.
"Thank you, J'onn."
J'onn turned and left the room.
Alone, Batman held his head and closed his eyes. His thoughts were a mess, but he had to sort them. He had a job to do. He had to get past his injury and help save his colleagues.
He had to forget the look on Diana's face…
It was going to take some time.
/
Batman's thoughts were running a mile a minute. He had several things to ponder, from Lex Luthor and company's methodical kidnapping of the Justice Leaguers, one by one, to his injured left shoulder, to his loneliness during the Christmas holiday… to his feelings for Diana.
He had to concentrate on the most urgent situation: the missing Leaguers. He was certain Luthor was behind the scheme, that he had reformed the Injustice Gang. The day before, he had contacted Blackgate Prison and tried to see if the Ultra-Humanite had any information. But the founding Gang member knew nothing.
Batman wondered who else could be involved with the plot. He was sure Luthor was involved, and based on eyewitness reports it was pretty much given that the Prankster, Solomon Grundy and Star Sapphire were embroiled too. He remembered hearing that the "hostage" who was involved in the Flash's capture actually helped defeat him. Whoever she was, she must be with the Gang as well.
He remembered the last time they faced the Injustice Gang. His brashness had almost cost him, and his teammates' lives. But he had outwitted the villains; played them against eachother, until they were ready to be defeated. If it were not for his injury, he would consider letting himself be captured and trying the same trick again. But he could not. As much as he hated to admit it, he was bedridden for the timebeing.
His thoughts again went to Diana. Why had she stayed with him? Why had she insisted on going with him? He loved being with her – he wanted to always be with her – but he had found the situation on the rooftop difficult. He gave Diana warmth and compassion, but it had been immensely hard to do so. That was why, for the remainder of the night, he had withdrawn into his dark barriers; he did not want to feel again. He did not want to allow her to get too close to him. People who did ended up hurt… or worse.
"How are you feeling?"
Batman looked up and saw Superman walking into the medbay. He sighed; the boyscout could not keep his nose out of things. "I'm fine," the Dark Knight gruffly answered. "I don't need to be here. I should be out there, helping. Keeping me here is ridiculous."
"You always were stubborn," Superman said, smiling. Batman glared at him, and the smile fell. "You need to let other people help you, Bruce."
"I don't want any help," Batman snapped. He clenched his teeth and calmed his breathing. He hated being treated like a child.
Superman sighed. He walked towards a window and stared out at Earth below. Eventually he said, "So, how are things? What are you plans for the holiday?"
Batman looked blankly at him. Was that a joke? "Same as always. Dick and Barbara have gone away together. Alfred has taken Tim to England to visit some old friends of his. How about you, Clark?"
Superman darted his head and looked at him sternly. "Don't call me 'Clark'," he said forcefully.
Batman was taken aback. He did not expect that. He raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong? Want to talk about it?"
Superman was silent.
"You like talking about things… Clark."
Superman looked at him before grumbling. "For crying out loud Bruce, why do you have to push people away? We're a family! Stop being so stubborn and talk to us like you're a member of the team for a change!"
"A family?" Batman asked. "You're not exactly in a position to talk about family anymore."
Superman gave him a look rivalled Batman's own threatening glares. "What's… THAT supposed to mean?"
"Don't play dumb with me, Clark," said Batman. "You've abandoned your family and friends ever since Darkseid. You've turned your back on everyone you cared about."
"Shut up."
"You think giving up being Clark Kent, mildmannered Human being, will make you a more effective Superman? You're a fool. It was your Humanity that defined you, Clark."
"You'd know all about that," spat out Superman.
Batman had never seen Superman like that, but he knew he was right. "I've had Lois call me a couple of times, wanting to know where you were. She's worried, Clark. She had no idea where her roving reporter partner has gone."
Superman looked solemn, keeping his gaze on the floor. Finally, after a minute, he slowly said, "You have no idea what I went through, Bruce. Darkseid destroyed my reputation, the world's trust in me. I have to regain it. That's more important than anything. I was… willing to make any sacrifice. My duty demands it. I have to do whatever it takes to regain what I lost. You wouldn't understand. You've never cared what people thought of you." He looked directly at Batman. "But it defines my job, Bruce, to have TRUST. To have trust in people, and have people trust in me. Nothing is more important than that." He looked down again, closing his eyes. "Nothing."
Batman stared at him. As much as the Kryptonian annoyed him, he hated seeing him like this. Broken down. He had defeated Darkseid, yes, but in the end, the New God had won. He had destroyed Superman's will. He hurt him where it hurt the most: not with his loved ones, as would be Batman's own vulnerable spot, but in Humanity's belief in him. He had destroyed the Man of Steel, perhaps beyond repair.
No. There was still one avenue that Batman could reach. He looked at Superman, then, flatly, said, "What about your parents?"
Superman darted his head to him and stared for a moment. Eventually, he said "Don't go there, Bruce."
"Don't tell me you don't want to see them, Clark. I'm sure they miss you terribly."
"You don't know what you're talking about." Superman began walking out of the medbay, but stopped at the exit as Batman spoke again.
"I know EXACTLY what I'm talking about."
Superman turned back. "I'm… sorry Bruce. I didn't mean…"
Batman calmed his voice, speaking in a more soft, compassionate tone. It was not a concerted effort: it came automatically. "Clark… don't forget your parents. Whatever you do… just… don't."
Superman stood still at the doorway, then quietly said, "I'll… think about it." He then left the room.
Batman looked at the doorway. He really hoped the Man of Steel took his advice.
Someone deserved a happy Christmas.
/
Diana sat in the kitchen looking at her milkshake. She had prepared it over half-an-hour ago, yet she had still to take a single sip. All she could think about was Batman and his condition.
She had been away from his bedside for nearly an hour, and every moment had been almost unbearable. She hated being away from him at the best of times; but now, in his vulnerable state, she wanted to be with him more than ever. She felt like she was so close to losing him, she would have done anything to save him.
She closed her eyes and sighed. At one point, she had actually said, out loud, how she felt about him. She had said that she loved him. She wondered if she could have said that had he been conscious at the time. Probably not.
But what was she so afraid of? Would it really be that bad if he knew how she felt about him? If he knew that she was completely in love with him, he might open up more, let her into his life. And she wanted that more than anything. She had only known him for about a year, but she already knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.
But of course, if she told him how she felt, he could very easily withdraw evenmore. He could distance himself from her, from the entire League. He could even end his association with the team. From what Diana had heard, Batman was distant with his closest allies anyway. He had never once mentioned his partners to any of the Leaguers in his time with the team. Superman knew him better than anyone, yet even he did not know that much.
She rested her head in her hands. It was a hopeless situation. She wanted to tell him how she felt, but she feared she would lose him completely. Besides, there was no way he felt the same way about her. He thought of her as a colleague, nothing more.
Diana looked up and saw J'onn standing in the doorway. "How is he?" she asked.
J'onn walked upto the table and sat down. "He is recovering swiftly. According to Superman, his… temperament is normal. He should be fine in a couple of weeks. How are you feeling?"
Diana was silent for a moment, then eventually said, "I don't know, J'onn. I'm so confused. I don't know what to do. I…" she stopped herself. She could not find the words. "I… don't know if I can continue like this."
"What do you mean?" asked J'onn.
"I love him, J'onn," replied Diana sternly. "You know that. I love him… with… all my heart. But I'm too… afraid. I could ruin what I already have with him." She closed her eyes, trying to compose herself.
J'onn was quiet for a moment, then finally said, "Diana, if I may be frank… you can't go on like this. You need to resolve this situation, one way or another. It pains me to see you like this."
She stared blankly at her milkshake. "But what can I do? I could lose everything. I've already lost so much…"
The Martian smiled warmly. "I'm sure you will think of something," he said. "You are strong, Diana. Whatever happens, you'll survive." He stood up. "Just think about what's important to you… and go from there."
Diana gave a faint smile. "Thank you J'onn… I will." J'onn nodded, then turned and left.
Diana looked back down at her milkshake, and quickly drank it. She then stood up and left the kitchen, towards the medbay.
She knew what she had to do.
TO BE CONTINUED