Full Circle
Tuesday, September 22nd, 10:55
Dick ambled in the half dark of the cave, large towel draped over bare shoulders, as the incoming call blinked its quiet beckoning. Cape and cowl filled the large screen as expected.
"You skipped patrol." The younger vigilante spoke first, his tone conveying a lot of things, but more than anything a request to be brought up to date.
"Close call with Flash. A cold went haywire in his metabolism." Wayne skewed the truth expertly, years of pretense serving him well.
Despite knowing there was a tone more beside the false alarm, Dick chose to address it another time. "Fearing the Lords?" He opted for an issue already resolved.
The stern face showed no change. "Among other things." Wayne omitted again. "How's Gotham?"
"I've got it covered." Dick reassured. "Take your time with the league." He spoke with care, conveying his assumptions of Wayne's reasons for absence and approval of said absence.
"Don't get too free around the manor." Wayne made a detour form the stoic persona, which only proved Dick's concerns justified.
Miles up north, in downtown Metropolis, the older vigilante fell back into the tall seat; staring at the void monitor as ventilation hummed the time away. Stiletto shoes clicked their slow approach, filling him in on Diana's exhaustion.
"You need to tell him." She paused behind him, long arms sneaking around broad shoulders.
"Told him all I know for certain." He replied curtly, obviously deluding himself.
She pulled back a bit. "That the majority of the league is sick?"
"Infected." Wayne returned, tone a notch more intense. "There's a difference. Only Wally is sick for now."
"And John?" She pushed just enough.
A tired, protesting grunt escaped, begging not to have this discussion, not now. "Exhaustion, dehydration and stomach flu. He'll be fine."
"Bruce-"
Wayne spun around and out of her arms. "You want me to play devil's advocate? Fine!" He shot up from the chair and in her face. "He's sick! This thing spreads too fast! We'll never make a cure in time. In a week there will be no league. In a month, cities will shut down because everyone will be bed ridden - no water, food, power, no nothing. In a year what little is left of humanity will riot its way back to feudalism! We'll be dead and everything we lived for will go down the drain! HAPPY!"
Too shocked for words, Diana stared wide-eyed and breathless. "I-"
"Forget it." He sighed, stomping out of their quarters passive-aggressively, quietly fuming inside. A large man's shadow fell over him.
"Bat-"
"What!?" He snarled at the man of steel.
A maintenance crewman skidded past the two heroes, panic quenching curiosity.
"It's Zatana." Clark sighed, regret all over his face.
Wayne's shoulders slouched, eyes affixed on the gray carpet. "Hit me."
"Fever, fatigue, lethargy…"
Wayne knew where this was going. "Flu?"
Seconds trickled by. The lack of response was enough to let loose the rage building inside him.
BLAM! Paint and mortar splintered from the wall, his knuckles buried an inch deep.
"Influenza." He muttered, nursing the sore hand. "She has the flu despite mandatory vaccination." He explained. And just as he did, something eased the worry lines. "How close is your physiology to ours?"
"Don't know." Clark shrugged. "What do you have in mind?"
"Vaccines are made passing a specie's pathogens through the system of a similar one." Wayne broke into a stride for the elevator, Clark at his side. "You and Shayera have been exposed. If you're similar enough you're infected too, but because this isn't made to attack you, you wouldn't succumb to it, you'd make antibodies to fight it." They walked in.
When the doors closed with a clang and left them in private, Wayne gave words to their last hope. "Your blood would cure this."
"I hope to God I'm sick." Clark whispered cautiously.
Wayne shook his head. "Trust me, you don't."
20:20
"90 members are positive for antigens." Wayne spoke to Waller's image, standing propped against the terminal desk, glad the cowl hid his exhausted features. He did not bother with masking his voice before her. "So far it's latent. The tower is under self-imposed quarantine."
She took note of his sunken posture, "I've told the governments the leaguers left because you believe the crisis is over and the missions successful. As far as the general public is concerned, Ra's plan is thwarted."
He nodded. "How long since the last quake?"
"Over eight hours." Amanda's gaze faltered momentarily, uneasy with what she was about to do. "Have you considered your options?"
Batman cracked a small, tragic smile. "We'll keep working on a cure. Nothing beats a vaccine but it's a little late for that. I've ordered stasis pods from WayneTech for worst case scenarios. It might buy Jonn time to figure out a cure…" He didn't speak of the slim chances.
"Contact Dr Hamilton, I'll make sure the government agencies assists you, secret ones included." She offered another unexpected gesture.
"Why the sudden care?"
"Call it insurance." Amanda crubbed any hint of care out of her delivery.
Wayne was not insulted. "All right. We'll brief you in an hour."
"You mean you will." She cut the link off.
"The results are back." Previously absent knowledge appeared at Wayne's disposal. "They don't carry a cure. We can still use Clark to develop a vaccine. It might be too late for us but the rest of the world would be out of danger."
But we can't use Shayera. Wayne sighed. Not in her condition.
The undertone turned surprised. "You've picked up on the rhythm too?"
That big oscillations between sensitive and pissed are hard not to.
"And the pissed-off mood vanished." Jonn conveyed amusement and later confirmation. "She is."
I'll tell her. Wayne decided, and could almost feel the Martian nod.
21:00
Batman found Hawkgirl in John's quarantine cell. Wondering how to approach them, he missed a slow, steady fall in the speedster's vitals. The repetitive beep-beep-beep of monitors warned of impending danger as a minimal pulse and blood pressure thresholds were crossed.
Three heads snapped to attention on the young man's still form.
"Wally?" Stewart was tense.
T raced in just as Jonn materialized though a bulkhead.
"Epi!" T shouted, hand outstretched and ready.
Holl snatched the largest syringe and plunged it deep into Wally's chest, under the ribcage up to his heart. A staggering amount of fluid emptied into his body before Jonn could wrestle her away.
The flash arched in a gasping spasm. Shuddered breath and quivers grew to what looked like a full blown seizure, the heart monitor going insanely fast till it flatlined with a wailing keen. Jerking turned to vibrations, blurring Wally's form.
Half a dozen hands reached for him a split second too late. The Flash vanished into thin air.
"Shayera...?" John stared at her baffled and disappointed.
The founders watched speechless as she stormed out of the room, eyes bright with first tears. Batman, observing the whole thing from the far corner, followed her out.
21:05
Elevator doors rumbled open at the center of the observation deck. The large glass dome opened up to star-scattered sky blending with city lights below. Even for one as hard as the dark knight the view was near spiritual in its breathtaking beauty.
Seated on the ground off to his left was Shayera, staring into space. "How did you know?" she whispered.
"Most people would take the chapel." Wayne walked up silently, cowl off. "Not us." He looked down at Shayera, her arms wrapped around legs and chin on knees.
Seating himself beside her, elbows on knees and hands hanging limp before him, Wayne looked at her with non-judgmental patience.
"I pulled him back by force." Shayera whispered without facing him. "After he destroyed Braniac." She explained. "He kept giving me this weird 'I forgive you' look for weeks. He wanted to stay there."
Wayne looked forward also, his own mind playing images similar to hers. "I know."
"He told you?" She turned to him.
"Couldn't tell anyone else, feared he'd end up ungrateful, uncaring. Figured I wouldn't be chatting about it any time soon."
Her eyes widened a little. "Smarter than he lead us to believe."
Wayne grinned a little. "Used to be a forensic."
"Wally?" She shot him a surprised look.
"Hard to believe." He stared at dull gray carpet.
Shayera blinked, her surprise fading. "Actually, not so hard."
He looked at her intently. "You did right. Better that he's out there than gone. We won't be seeing him any time soon anyway." It was the biggest understatement she ever heard.
In a sleight of hand he pulled a paper out of one glove. "Here."
Unfolding the document, Shayera scanned through it, pausing mid way through. A long silence stretched. "Will it be all right?"
"Your body will protect it from the virus." He reassured. "And the disease will burn away quickly, all the dangerous ones do. When it arrives, there will be no danger."
Shayera bit her lip. "Do your names have meanings?"
"King." He replied. "It's Latin for king."
"John told me his role model was called King. Said that was the reason he was chosen for a lantern."
Wayne had a good guess as to who the man in question was. "I'm not surprised."
"Would you mind…?"
Wayne stood up without a sound of protest, his hand squeezing her shoulder in a gesture of comfort before he made his way out.