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 11

24th December. One day until Christmas.

Batman sat infront of the batcomputer, updating his criminal files. Star Sapphire, the Shade, Solomon Grundy, Copperhead and Deadshot were back in Blackgate Prison; the Joker, the Prankster and Harley Quinn were back in Arkham Asylum.

Batman stopped as he opened Lex Luthor's file. He did not know what to put. He had almost certainly been killed in the destruction of the hideout… but Batman knew from experience that, unless there is a tangible body… never assume that a person is dead.

After a few moments thought, Batman typed, "Missing, Presumed Deceased". He saved the file and closed down the program.

Batman leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh. It had been a rough few days. His shoulder was healing nicely, but he was still in a great deal of pain if he moved it too much or too fast. It would be awhile before he would be at peak strength again.

The cave was unusually quiet. No Dick, no Barbara, no Tim, not even Alfred. Despite his cold exterior, he had come accustomed to the noise they brought to the place, the warmth they brought to his life. But they were gone. And he was alone in a big, empty mansion and a big, empty cave.

However, that was not what was at the forefront of his mind. It was only one thing. It could only be one thing. It could only be her.

Diana.

What he had dreamed of for months had happened. He had shown his feelings for her, and she had revealed that she felt the same way. It was undeniable. They were in love with eachother.

So why was he here in the Batcave, instead of at the Watchtower - with her? He sighed as he remembered his actions after the defeat of the Injustice Gang.

They had boarded the Javalin-7 and immediately taken the villains into incarceration. J'onn meanwhile, had returned to the Watchtower with Superman, to treat the kryptonite radiation residue the Man of Steel had absorbed.

The process of getting the villains all securely back into incarceration had taken the rest of the day. It was not until the evening that the Javelin returned to the Watchtower and the Leaguers could relax.

Flash had immediately returned to his comical manner, as if the previous days of torture had never occurred. Green Lantern and Hawkgirl immediately went to the gymnasium, presumably to let out any overlaying stress they had. Superman was recovering well, while J'onn was none the worse for wear.

But Batman himself had only stayed a few minutes, to see how his frie… teammates were doing. Then he did something that he now groaned at.

He left.

Diana had been near him the entire time, with an expectant aura around her. But in a moment of weakness, Batman retreated. It was stupid, it was inconsiderate, but he suddenly had a moment of trepidation, of…

Fear.

He was suddenly afraid of what being with Diana would mean. It would mean the end of his dark persona, the end of his image as a loner. And he needed that: after all these years, he did not know any other way to live.

And yet… it also had the potential for extreme happiness, for contentment. And despite his vow, despite his sacrifices, despite his continual refusal to live a normal life, that he did not need one… he wanted it more than anything.

And he could have it. With her. With Diana. With the woman he loved.

And she was a colleague, a fellow hero. He would not have to give up his crimefighting… not that he would. Nothing in the world would ever, EVER, stop him from what he vowed to do when he was only eight-years-old. But she was in the world with him - she would understand. He could have someone to share his life with, someone to care for. And it would be different from his other partners. He loved Alfred, Dick, Tim and Barbara dearly, but Diana would obviously be different. They were family. She would be a companion.

Batman stood up. He had made his decision. Only one thing stood in his way… it was Christmas Eve. Would he have enough time?

Yes, of course he would. He was Bruce Wayne, multimillionaire. He had contacts the world over and, for the right price, they could drum up anything on short notice.

He picked up the phone and dialled the first number…

/

"OK Ms. Quinzel - this way please."

The security ward pointed down the corridor and Harley looked down it. She then slowly began to walk in the direction he had directed, her mind conflicted.

On one hand, she was sad that she had betrayed the man she… loved. On the other hand, she was joyous that she was about to be with her… best friend.

She had had to do it. As much as she loved the Joker, she just did not want to be involved in his latest scheme. Not now, not at Christmas. Christmas was a time to spend with loved ones. And as much as Joker was a loved one, the situation was not.

She did not want to spend the Christmas holiday with a bunch of loonies hiding, getting the snot kicked out of them by a bunch of superheroes. Well, that would not have been TOO bad, had her best friend been with her. But she was not.

Harley remembered the night Lex Luthor orchestrated her and Joker's escape. During the escapade, Harley had asked to take HER with them. But Joker refused. He did not want some "plantloving, fiery babe loon" to slow them down and become a "drag".

So, all through the Injustice Gang's plan, Harley was halfhearted in the affair. Her friend was not there, and she was not even given a CHANCE to be there, and so, Harley did not want to be there.

It was not the fact that she was absent that had upset Harley so. After all, she had been on countless endeavours without her. But it was the fact that she was brushed aside with such crassness, such disregard. She was given no chance to join them.

But none of that mattered anymore. She had made her choice. She had gone with her heart. As she had said to Joker, he was just not what she wanted for Christmas.

SHE was.

Harley and the security ward reached the end of the corridor and turned a corner. She recognised the route; everytime she and Joker had been defeated and brought back to Arkham, they had always had the same cells. They were not near eachother, of course, but she knew the route to both. It was coincidental that hers was so close to her friend's, and she loved it. Every now and again she would see her, and they would have short talks. Not much, but enough to keep eachother happy.

Harley reached a cell, continuing past it. "Wait," the ward said. "This is it."

Harley stopped and turned around. She knew exactly whose cell this was. "Er… isn't mine a few doors down there?" she asked, pointing down the corridor.

The ward shook his head. "Not this time. We've had orders to put you in shared accommodation for the holiday season."

Harley's face lit up. "Really? From who?"

"Commissioner Gordon, after a recommendation from a friend of his."

Harley smiled. Guess the Bat was not heartless after all.

"You'll be staying here until after New Year's," the ward said. "After that, you'll be put back in your regular cell."

"That's fine."

The ward opened the cell door, and Harley stepped in. The door was then closed behind her and the ward left. Harley looked into the cell, seeing a figure crouching in the corner. There was various flora around the walls, as the figure tended to a rare South American plant. The figure stood up, turned around and saw Harley.

The figure walked up to her. "Hello, Harley," she said, smiling.

Harley smiled back. "Hi, Red. Merry Christmas."

She finally had her friend. She had Ivy.

She had all she wanted.

/

25th December. Christmas.

Diana stared out of the window in her room longingly. She had not had a wink of sleep the night before. She was a mixture of emotions. Part of her was happy, another part sad.

Batman had left. He had just… gone. Without saying a word. He had slipped out during a brief moment that Diana's attention was not on him. She remembered being amused by the Flash, who was walking around with a band round his head, with a straw sticking upwards on the forehead, in a vertical position. And attached to the stick was a piece of mistletoe. That way, he was always under the plant.

Diana had watched as Flash hovered around Hawkgirl, trying to get a kiss out of her. She had laughed as Hawkgirl had chased after him with her mace, while Flash hid behind J'onn.

Diana had turned to Batman, who was sitting next to her… to find him gone. Her mind was running a mile a minute; she had rushed to the hangerbay - only to find the Batwing gone.

And now, she stared out of her window, hoping to see the Batwing fly past, back towards the Watchtower. But it never came.

He had gone. He had left her. What did that mean?

She thought they had made a breakthrough. Over the past couple of days, her feelings for him had grown so much that it was no longer possible to hide them. And when she had shown her feelings, he had returned them. It was her dream come true: the man she loved with all her heart had shown that he felt the same way about her.

So… why had he left? Had he had second thoughts? Had he again retreated to his dark barriers? Was there someone else?

Hera… was he just having fun - seeing what she was like? Oh please, do not let it be that…

Her eyes watered as she let out a slight sob. But she quickly shook her head; she had to get past this. Maybe her mother was right: maybe all men were pigs.

But Diana knew that was not true. Batman was different. He was the best man she had ever known. There had to be another reason why he had left. There HAD to be…

She shot up at the sound of her door forcefully opening. Standing in the doorway was the Flash, still with his mistletoe apparatus on. "Hey everybody, it's Christmas Day! Present time!" He then rushed away, presumably to wake the others.

Diana looked at her clock. It was 8:01am. Guess Flash really did this Christmas thing…

She put her tiara on and walked out of her room. Closing the door behind her, she walked down the corridor towards the main room, where most of the decorations, and the Christmas tree, were.

She reached the room to find J'onn and Flash hovering around the presents under the tree. She heard noises behind her and turned to see Green Lantern and Hawkgirl walking down the corridor towards the room. They both looked decidedly rough and dishevelled. "Morning," Diana said. "How did you sleep?"

Lantern and Hawkgirl froze, their faces going cold. They stared at Diana, then at eachother. Eventually, Lantern said, "Fine." He then walked past them towards the coffee machine.

Diana was confused. That was blunt, even for Lantern. "What was that about?"

"Nothing!" Hawkgirl snapped. Diana was taken aback. Hawkgirl then followed Lantern to the coffee machine, but upon getting a drink, Diana noticed they kept a distance between eachother.

She would have taken the matter further, but she was too depressed by her own problems. She walked over to the milkshake machine, which was next to the coffee, and made herself a chocolate drink. As she began slurping the oozy liquid, she watched Flash whizzing around the tree: he was visibly excited. "Ooooooooooh, I can't wait I can't wait I can't wait! Can we open them now, huh huh?"

J'onn was unfazed. "I believe it is appropriate to wait until the entire populace of a household are present before we open the gifts."

Flash pouted. "Awwwwwww, come on!" Diana almost chuckled as Flash was acting like a little boy, and J'onn as a father.

"It's OK, Flash," Diana heard, and turned around to see Superman walk in. "I'm here, so we can begin."

"I fear this won't be a long process," J'onn said. "Myself and Diana did not purchase presents."

"That's OK," said Superman. "We'll let you off… this year." He smiled.

"How are you feeling?" asked J'onn.

"I'm doing OK," replied Superman. "There are still some lingering effects of the kryptonite, but nothing I won't get over in a couple of hours."

"Does that mean we can open the pressies?" asked Flash, hopping on the spot like an eight-year-old.

"Wait," said Diana. "What about Batman?"

Flash scoffed. "Oh come on, babe, the Bat wouldn't be caught dead within a hundred yards of a Christmas cracker. He's not gonna be here."

Diana's head sunk as J'onn looked at her with a knowing expression. Before the Martian could say anything though, Flash began picking presents from under the tree. "I'm the postman!" he said.

An hour later, all the gifts were open and the room was covered with ripped wrapping paper. Diana looked at her presents: earrings from Superman; a military combat book from Green Lantern; a dress from Hawkgirl; and from Flash, a copy of his autobiography, Life in the Fast Lane.

Diana looked around the room. Superman was talking with Lantern and J'onn, while Flash had gone to his room to sort out his presents. She looked at Hawkgirl and noticed the Thanagarian was staring at Lantern.

Diana walked upto her. "Thank you for the dress," she said. Hawkgirl did not move, continuing to stare. Diana leaned in closer. "Hawkgirl?"

Hawkgirl suddenly darted her head and blinked. "I… I'm sorry?"

"Are you alright?"

Hawkgirl looked away. "Yes, I'm fine."

"Did something happen last…"

"I said I'm fine!" Diana's eyes widened and Hawkgirl immediately froze. "I… I'm sorry. Guess I had a… rough night."

Before Diana could say anything, Flash sped in. "Hey guys, I just wanna thank you for the great pressies. I…" he suddenly stopped. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

Diana and Hawkgirl looked at him, confused. They then looked at Superman, J'onn and Lantern: they had similar expressions to Flash.

The two women turned in the direction that the men were looking… and were shocked too. They saw a figure in the doorway, holding a large suitcase.

"Sorry I'm late," said Batman. "Have I missed anything?"

TO BE CONCLUDED