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 7

Lex Luthor heard the door to his private room opening and turned around to see the Joker at the doorway. Rolling his eyes, Luthor said, "What do you want?"

Joker danced into the room as he smelled his flower on his lapel. "Lexy, the guys and I were just wondering…" his tone immediately changed to a more sinister one. "What are we still doing here? I thought we were going to get all the Justice League. Where's the complete set?"

Luthor stood up. "This is a delicate plan," he said. "The other Leaguers will be on their toes now. They've gone into hiding. The only sightings there have been in the past two days are a Batwing flight and a Javelin flight, and even they were fleeting. What I want to know is where they've gone…"

"Oh good, for a moment I thought you didn't care."

Luthor winced, but let it go. "Don't worry, we'll get them. I have something in mind that will get all the remaining heroes in our hands. Then… my revenge will be complete."

Joker sighed. "Well, as long as you have it all under control. I mean…" Joker began mock sobbing. "Here I am… your righthand man… your buddy… and I… I'm not allowed in on the plan. BOO HOO!"

Luthor smacked his head. "Oh FINE. I have my 'secret weapon' waiting in the hallway. Come on, I'll show you…"

Joker hopped on the spot. "Ohhh Lexy, you DO care! And here I thought you didn't trust me!"

Luthor walked towards the exit and left the room, with Joker following. They soon reached another doorway and Luthor opened it. He then looked expectantly at Joker.

The Clown Prince of Crime looked into the doorway and saw the "secret weapon". He turned to Luthor as he pointed into the room. "You gotta be kiddin' me."

/

Batman stared out of his bedroom window, his thoughts a shambles. He could not believe what had just happened. He blinked, and his thoughts went back to what had occurred earlier in the gymnasium. He was amazed. He had been a fool. He had been blind for all this time. He had been…

As blind as a bat.

He shook his head, astonished that he had not seen it before. He thought he was good at reading people; he had trained since he was a boy, for God's sake. How could he not have seen how Diana felt about him?

He had been in love with her for months; almost since the moment he met her. And she had the same feelings for him. After what had happened in the gym, it did not take the world's greatest detective to see how she felt about him. But how could he have not seen it? How?

He closed his eyes. It was what he had dreamed about. He was completely in love with her; how could he not be? But… he could not allow himself to be with her. As much as he wanted to be, he could not allow himself to do so.

Every woman he ever got close to got hurt… or worse.

Batman sighed. As much as he wanted to be with Diana for the rest of his life, he could not bear the thought of her life being in evenmore danger - she was in enough already. He had countless enemies; they would undoubtedly try and get to him, through her. They would kidnap her. They would hurt her…

He could not allow that.

He had had to leave the gym. If he had stayed… he would never have been able to let her go. And he had to. For her own safety. He could never have happiness. His life was one of loneliness, of nightly torture. He did not want anyone to be hurt by his life, by his darkness. He could not risk her being hurt by being with him.

His thoughts broke as he heard a knock at his door. He quickly turned and waited a few moments. Eventually, a voice from the other side of the door said, "Batman, are you there?"

It was J'onn. Batman walked across his room and went to the door. Leaving it closed, he said, "What is it, J'onn?"

"Can I come in?"

"This isn't a good time."

"Please, Batman. It's important."

Batman sighed. "Very well."

The door opened and J'onn stood in the doorway. "What is it?" Batman gruffly asked.

J'onn hesitated for a moment, then said, "Can we talk?" From the Martian's tone, Batman knew he wanted to talk to him in private. Silently, Batman walked back into the centre of his room, and J'onn entered. The door closed behind him.

"What is it?" Batman repeated.

John was silent for a few seconds. "I want to talk to you about Diana," he eventually replied.

Batman blinked. This he did not need. He stared at J'onn for a few seconds, then slowly, said, "Why?"

"I saw her a few minutes ago in the hallway," said J'onn, "she was very upset. The last time I saw her, she had gone to find you. You weren't in the medbay. I was wondering if you knew why she was upset."

Batman glared at J'onn for a moment. "How should I know?" he eventually said.

"Batman…" the Martian said quietly, "I know how… you feel about eachother."

The Dark Knight flinched. He should have known. J'onn was a telepath; there was no telling what he knew. "I'm disappointed, J'onn. I thought you respected your friends' privacies."

J'onn was taken aback. "I didn't need telepathy. Your thoughts are so clear about eachother, they screamed out at me. I couldn't help but notice."

Batman was shocked. Were Diana's feelings for him as strong as his for her? It seemed impossible…

"I'm sorry that I made you think I had invaded your privacy, Batman," J'onn continued. "I would never do that. But like I said, your thoughts are so clear when it comes to Diana…"

Batman lowered his head. "No… I'm sorry, J'onn. I shouldn't have judged you like that." He looked away. "You're… right, of course. I… I…" The words were difficult. "I love her." The last sentence was barely a whisper.

The room was silent. Eventually, J'onn said, "You should talk to eachother. Tell eachother how you feel. You can't go on like this."

"No," Batman said sternly. "Everyone I get close to gets hurt, J'onn. I won't allow her to get put in danger by being… with me. I won't allow it."

The room was silent again, before J'onn spoke. "Batman, she is strong. She can look after…"

"Call the others."

J'onn blinked. "Why?"

"We need to get our people back. Call the others into the meeting room. I have a plan."

"OK." J'onn turned to leave, but looked back. "But just think about…"

"J'onn."

J'onn sighed. He turned to leave and opened to the door. Before he could step out though, however, Batman spoke again.

"I'll… think about it."

/

23rd December. Two days until Christmas.

The Javalin-7 soured through the morning sky towards the area of country that was Green Lantern and Hawkgirl's last known whereabouts. Batman was piloting the aircraft, Superman was sitting next to him, and J'onn and Diana were in the rear seats.

Diana stared at the back of Batman's chair. They had been away from the Watchtower for over twenty minutes… and he had not said one word to her. During the team meeting the previous evening, he had not looked at her directly as he had explained his plan. He had also avoided her the entire night, staying in his room well before she, Superman and J'onn retired for the night.

Diana closed her eyes. How could she have done what she did in the training room? She was amazed that she had been able to let go; to forget the fear; to do what she had dreamed of doing for months. She loved the Batman with all her heart - and she had finally opened up and showed her feelings.

But what she feared would happen, did. Batman left. He had withdrawn himself, retreated into his dark barriers. He had avoided contact with her since then, and she found the rejection unbearable.

She sighed. This was the lowest she had ever felt. She had admitted her feelings to the man she loved, only to be spurned. There had been a moment, a fleeting moment, of unbelievable pleasure, but he had stopped the embrace, the togetherness. She could never be with him now. She had taken the risk, and the worst scenario had happened. She knew that she could never be with him. He did not WANT to be with her. And she found that more painful than anything.

She turned her head and saw J'onn next to her. He looked at her sadly. Although no words were spoken, she could tell what he was thinking. He felt her pain; he knew what she was feeling, and he understood. He, after all, had lost his loved ones centuries ago. And the pain was still with him.

But… she sensed more in J'onn's look. Understanding, yes, but also… regret. She could not put her finger on it, but it was almost as if… the Martian knew more about the situation than she did.

He must have talked with Batman, Diana thought. He must have told J'onn how disgusted he was. How she had… thrown herself at him. How embarrassed he felt. How disappointed. How…

A tear fell down her face. She let out a barely audible sob. Superman darted his head to her… she had forgotten about his superhearing. His face was one of confusion; J'onn must not have told him anything about what was going on.

At least the Martian was respectful of her privacy…

"Diana…" Superman said, "Is something wrong?"

She froze. She did not want to bring attention to herself. She felt the Man of Steel's questioning eyes on her. She looked at Batman's chair, but he had not moved. Hera, what must he think of her…?

"Nothing," Diana eventually said. "I…" her voice trailed.

J'onn spoke up. "I think Diana is just… tired. She hasn't had much rest for these past few days." He looked at her. "Diana?"

She smiled faintly. "Y… yes. I guess I'm just… a little tired. I'll be OK."

Superman looked at her, clearly not completely satisfied at his answer. But he let it go and turned back to the front of the craft.

Soon, they reached the country. Batman landed the Javelin and lowered the exit ramp. As he stood up, Diana noticed his face flinch. Flying the craft must have been painful on his shoulder.

They exited the ship and looked around. Batman turned to J'onn. "OK, J'onn, see if you can find anything."

"I will do my best," J'onn said, and his eyes glowed. A few minutes passed in silence as he tried to telepathically locate their teammates.

Eventually, his eyes returned to normal and he said, "I've found them. They are underground. A few miles from here. The strong psychic traces in this area have made my telepathy easier in finding them. I am certain the closer we get, the stronger the 'signal' will be."

"Good work, J'onn," said Superman. "OK, let's go." They all re-entered the Javelin, and soon the craft was back in the air, flying to where J'onn directed them.

They reached an even more remote area of the country and landed. After exiting the ship, J'onn stood near a patch of earth. "Under here," he said. "They are a few hundred metres below this area of earth."

"You know the plan," Batman said. "Let's get them out of there."

Diana watched as Batman again avoided eyecontact. She sighed; even when they were about to go into action, he could not look at her. She must have really embarrassed him.

But they had a job to do. She had to put her feelings aside.

She had to forget about him, just as he had apparently easily forgotten about her…

/

Luthor walked into the lounge of his and the Injustice Gang's underground hideout. He had had the complex built during his time at LexCorp, a few years ago. It was a nuclear fallout shelter; it made the perfect secret base.

He looked around at his Gang. Joker was holding yesterday's paper, doodling hair on a picture of Snapper Carr. Copperhead, Star Sapphire and the Shade were playing poker. Luthor noticed that Sapphire was winning by some margin. The Prankster was showing magic tricks to Solomon Grundy, who appeared unmoved by any of them. Harley Quinn was in a corner, looking at a framed picture that she kept in her bag; the picture was of an attractive redhead.

Luthor smiled as he thought about his "secret weapon". The Justice League would never expect it; even if they came charging in right now, Luthor was confident that his weapon would take them out. Part of it would be surprise, of course; they would underestimate it, not suspecting the threat it really was. Luthor laughed inwardly - he could hardly wait to see the expressions on the 'heroes'' faces when they saw his "secret weapon".

Suddenly, a loud rumbling noise filled the area. Luthor turned around as the other Gang members stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of the sound. The earth above them began to shake, dirt falling onto the floor. Luthor smiled. This was it. He braced himself.

The rumbling sound grew louder and soon turned into a grinding noise. Luthor looked at his Gang members. "OK," he said, "be ready for anything."

The noise grew louder and louder and closer and closer, the dirt falling at a greater rate. After a pile of dirt and mud had been formed on the floor, a form descended from the earth above. It was a red-and-blue form. A person. The form reached the ground and stopped spinning.

Superman stood before the Injustice Gang.

"Please come in," Luthor said.

"End of the line, Luthor!" Superman said. "Where are my friends?"

"Would you like a drink?"

Superman strode towards the group. "No jokes, Luthor! Where are they?"

Luthor raised an eyebrow. "Well, before I tell you… let me show you THIS." He suddenly thrust out his arm, and in his hand was a chunk of kryptonite.

Superman recoiled in pain. "Arrrrrrrrrrrgh!" He fell to his knees, in pain. He began breathing heavily, and collapsed on the floor.

Joker went upto Luthor's side. "Er, Lexy, I don't remember this being part of the plan."

"What do you mean?" Luthor asked.

"I mean…"

The sound of Superman's voice interrupted the Joker. "You mean you hoped the kryptonite would work on me?"

Luthor, Joker and the rest of the Gang looked at the Man of Steel, who was standing upright, hands on hips. The kryptonite now apparently had no effect on him.

Joker's face fell in horror. Luthor's, however, remained calm.

"I had a feeling this might happen," Luthor said.

"No more tricks, Lex," Superman said. "Give up. It's over."

"Indeed it is, 'Superman'," said Luthor, smiling at him.

Suddenly a discharge of energy attacked Superman from behind. "ARRRRRRRRRRRRGH!" The Man of Steel fell to his knees, and his features began changing…

Unable to keep his teammate's shape, J'onn morphed back into his normal form.

The Gang looked on in surprise. All except Luthor, who smiled knowingly. "Compliments of my 'secret weapon'," he said.

Joker looked at him. "How did…?"

"They pulled the same trick once before," Luthor said calmly. "I figured they thought I'd be stupid enough to fall for it again. Idiots."

Joker smacked his head. "Oooooooooh Lexy, you clever boy! HA! You're just full of surprises!" His face fell. "But er… now that we have him… what do we do?"

Luthor rolled his eyes. "Shackle him and put him in the pit with the others. Be sure to increase the gas output."

Joker clicked his fingers and Solomon Grundy ambled upto them. "Grundy, do the honours," Joker said.

"Grundy not know what 'honours' means…" the giant grumbled.

Joker rolled his eyes. "Oh… just… pick greeny up and take him to his buddies."

"Grundy like green…" The behemoth picked the limp J'onn up and heaved him over his shoulder. He then walked off towards the pit.

Luthor turned to the others. "OK, now that they know where we are, we must be ready. They could arrive at anytime. We mustn't be stupid. There are only three of them left. As long as we keep our heads and stick to the plan, victory will be certain."

"Lexy boy," Joker said, "no wonder you're bald. Your brain is just SOOOOO big. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha… HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

TO BE CONTINUED