The rain beat harshly against my face and skin, sheets of cold draping over me. A numb feeling settling over my body with the drop in temperature.
Or maybe it wasn't the cold...maybe it was just me.
This numbness was certainly a welcome sensation in comparison to the pain Hera knows has seemingly sunk into the marrow of my bones since....since I found him three days ago.
A mass was in my throat, and I found it difficult to breathe before I ruthlessly pushed it down with a shake of my head.
I peered down to the city below, a bubbling rage rising from my stomach and spreading through my chest like the flames of the accursed Hades.
This was the city he had protected. The city that meant so much to him. The city that had killed him...
The rain poured harder now, the deafening hiss drowning out all other sounds, so that nothing else could reach me. And the great god Zeus's fury lit up the night sky like a flare of blinding white.
Thunder rumbled through my chest, and shook my beating heart and lungs with such force it felt as if Zeus's terrible wrath would soon be brought down upon this entire city with the full, unbridled force I knew the great god to be capable of.
Part of me wanted such an event.
As terrible and horrifying as I knew the anger of the gods to be upon the just and unjust alike, I didn't care.
I wanted some kind of absolution. Something better and more meaningful than this horrid mockery we had made of his death.
I wanted justice.
Hiding who he was, what he was from everyone. From his allies, from the public. Perhaps even to ourselves, if only to shy away from our own shame and guilt...it was sickening.
Bruce Wayne, foolish little playboy killed in a mountain hiking bear attack.
The thought alone made me want to scream in fury, to march up to Kal and the others that had thought up this scheme and hurt them.
I wanted them to hurt. To feel as much pain as I felt whenever I brought my thoughts back to him.
In Themischyra, we honored our sisters when they died.
Either by the sword in great battles of old, such as the legendary Troy. Or whatever few had chosen to forsake the gift of immortality given to us by the gods due to either world weariness or more personal reasons we honored them equally, regardless of circumstance.
And when the ceremonies of passing were given those sisters lives were spoken of with pride in our voice, reiterating their accomplishments, talents and the personal influence they had over our lives for all to know.
Because those things were a part of who those sisters of ours were. And should be remembered as such.
But here...
I felt as if I would retch at the very thought of what we'd done here by comparison...
My anger spread through my chest again, rising up like a cauldron of heated steam, burning my insides and blurring my vision.
How dare they...
"That communicator of yours is meant to be kept on at all times Princess."
My breath hitched, eyes widening with a loud gasp and stiffening of my spine.
That voice...
I spun around and brought my gaze heavenward.
And there I found it. That familiar shadow of sheer black, looming like a monolith of pure obsidian over my head, long, dark cape caught in the high winds as two unnervingly white lenses peered into my eyes with the fierceness of the night predator he was named after.
His name came to the forefront of my mind, rushing to the head of any other thought or sentence I could scarcely begin to define in my lack of coherence. "Bru-"
But then I saw him, his true face. In a flash of white that tore through the night sky, that stung my eyes I saw the man that stood over me, clogging the words in my voice box with such force it was as if Zeus himself had robbed me of my ability to speak, in penance for the mistaken identity.
I could tell, even in the sudden absence of light, that those eyes were narrowed behind the shield that was the cowl.
No...Not Bruce...Richard. Richard Grayson.
I looked away, unable to meet that mask anymore, the fury that had ensnared me within its grip only moments ago having seemingly fled my body in all haste upon....this one's arrival.
I sighed, turning away from him, exposing my back, something that I had been taught never to do; By my fellow amazons, my experiences, even by Bruce himself.
But I didn't care. Couldn't bring myself too. Everything just seemed to take on a shade of gray. A dull lifeless hue that saturated the very air I seemed to breathe these days.
I sighed, blinking the rainwater away from my eyes before I slumped against the wall, head bowed to the heavily falling rain, feeling the repeated pats to the back of my head as the little droplets struck and trailed down to the tips of my hair.
"What do you want here?" I asked hoping against hope that this conversation would be quick.
He leaped over the edge, a flare of his cape as the electric current within his gloves made the sheen of black into rigid curves that caught the wind and slowed his descent.
He landed to my right, his back to me as he did before he turned with a fluid about face, allowing me to see him fully.
Allowing me to see all the differences.
He was slimmer, his body structure more lithe and athletic than Bruce's. The broad shoulders that had crowned the Dark Knight like iron pauldrons of armor to appear all the more imposing were replaced by thinner ones of a younger man. The dwarfing height was also gone, Bruce was a man whom, when standing close, I actually had to look up to slightly, being an inch or so taller than I was. This man was an inch or two shorter.
And of course...the face.
This thin, elfin face was not Bruce's. This man, willing and strong as he may be...was not Batman. And every moment he stood here seemed to dangle that information in front of my face with taunting innocence.
Taunting and mocking.
"What do you want?" I repeated again, turning my gaze away, hoping to avoid his sight. But every few moments I would catch sight of the edge of that cape and my heart would tighten in my chest all over again.
He didn't answer and this silence served only to increase the pressure of whatever tight coil had wrapped around my chest, seeking to suffocate me in its crushing embrace.
Bruce would usually remain silent when I asked him something. Either that or he'd-
"Why did you shut off your communicator?"
A bitter chuckle escaped my lips, a wheezing, feeble thing as I hugged my arms to gain some warmth due to the sudden chill that had creeped into my bones.
-he'd answer a question...with another question.
I looked to him then, and I could only imagine what I must have looked like for the somber look of worry to cross his features, however briefly.
"Did you not ever think that perhaps I wanted to be left alone." I said, simply, once again hoping that Gotham's new protector would, as Shayera may say, take the hint.
"Right. Alone." He growled through a withering glare. "So that someone else, like Luthor, or Grundy, could find you nice and alone."
"I can take care of myself!" I shot back; angry at the insinuation. "You're the one that needs protection!"
As soon as the words spilled from my lips I wish I could have taken them back. That familiar, sharp sting piercing my chest through and through, the armor of Hephaestus doing nothing to shield me from this internal assault on my person.
My limbs felt heavy and weak, even as I leaned against the wall.
I found myself looking up to the pitch black clouds above. What I was looking for I didn't know, and with a rumble of thunder once again vibrating through my body I felt myself sliding further and further down, feeling the grit of the granite scratch against my elbows as I slid down.
All the energy seemed to have been sapped out of me, and whatever blessings of strength and speed my gods had so graciously given me at birth was now gone, taken...
Just as he'd been taken...
"They wouldn't find me..." I answered with a sigh, not turning to face him again as I rested my head against the cold granite of the building, feeling the rain now falling against my face, the cold droplets, almost soothing despite its violent cascade.
"I found you." He answered simply.
I opened my eyes before turning to face him, finding the familiar sight of the armor and cowl. A sight that once brought a smile to my face now served only to make this man seem all the more alien, all the more out of place.
I looked away again, bringing my knees up to my chest, instead of having my feet dangling over the side. And for a moment I found myself wondering just how he did manage to accomplish that task.
As if he read my mind, just as Bruce had done so many times he answered with no need for me to voice my query. "This was...Bruce's favorite patrol spot."
I don't think Kal-El could have struck me harder even if he tried. And I felt the breath stolen from my lungs.
Hera, as the statement brewed within my mind I could almost feel it threaten to take the heart of me. And whatever lingering will I held crumbled away along with the resolve to hold back my tears, which now mingled seamlessly with the rain water that trailed down my face.
I'd never realized...whenever Bruce and I were teamed together to take on some assignment in Gotham, we would indeed, end up on the roof of this skyscraper. He'd explained, once that it offered the best signal strength in the entire city, to tune into the various listening devices he had all around Gotham all at once, even hack into several new ones while he was up here...
Was he showing me this place for more than just that though? Was it his way of...saying something more?
A strangled sob forced its way up my throat and I only barely held it back before pressing a palm to cover my eyes uncaring that this young man may see me in this moment of vulnerability. It didn't matter anymore...nothing seemed to mater anymore.
"Wonder Woman..." The young man at my side said, his low baritone barely scratching the surface of my consciousness.
I waited for him to continue, to say whatever lecture he came here to say and leave me be. To leave me to my grief at peace.
But the harsh words and scathing remarks never came. Neither did his glares or growls or signature sarcastic humor.
It was only a heavy hand, warm despite, glove that covered it, and the cold rain that drenched it. It fell onto my shoulder with a soft reassurance and gentle pressure.
Startled, I looked up, finding the familiar cowl covering the unfamiliar face. But those elfin features were soft now, holding a compassion within them. "I know..."
It was a simple statement, so soft it was nearly caught in the hiss of the rain before it reached me.
And once again, the reality of this situation slapped me across the face.
This...was not Batman...this would never be, Batman to me. As strong as he may be, as skilled and cunning, he will never become Batman...He...
He...wasn't Bruce.
I stood up, abruptly pulling myself away from the gentle grip, finding the flesh cold in its wake.
"Please..." I felt myself whisper, my voice, barely recognizable to my own ears.
It felt weak...pitiful...and neither my Amazonian pride, my royal discipline nor my concern of appearing vulnerable in front of this man came to my defense in the face of this. "Just leave..."
There was nothing for several moments. Nothing but the deafening hiss of the rain, drowning out the city beneath us.
It was the heavy flutter of that dark cape that alerted me to the young man's compliance with my request.
I breathed heavily swallowing down my sobs before I hugged myself, still feeling the chill of the rain seeping into my body with unrelenting tenacity.
"Damn you Bruce." I choked out, my throat feeling as though my heart had lodged into my esophagus while my entire body shook with forces brought on from something other than the cold.
My eyes burned behind tightly closed lids, and the tears that leaked from them was warm in comparison to the perpetual cold.
My legs shook, they felt weak again. I felt weak again. And before I could stop myself I simply collapsed, falling onto my knees with a heavy, bruising thud.
I clenched my fists tightly, feeling the sting of my fingernails piercing the skin of my palms scarlet liquid weeping through the crevices of tightly closed fists
Everything felt as though it was coming down around my ears with the full force of this thunderstorm, and I was powerless to stop it.
Just as I was powerless to stop him from dying...
It was too much, far too much, and I could do nothing more than scream.
I screamed and screamed and screamed. I screamed until my throat felt raw, until my voice failed me altogether and even until the bitter taste of blood stung the back of my throat and when I was done, I simply collapsed. Falling still along this buildings edge.
Was this pain now, merely a fraction of what I would have felt? Would it be worse if we had become something? Was he right all along? Was he right to protect me as he had?
Why did I come here? Why did I ever leave the idyllic shores of my home for this place? This place where pain could be found in every corner with such unbelievable ease.
I found myself longing for those warm sands and crystal blue waters, for armored honor guards and musics from the harps as the artisans continued to perfect their chosen craft among the gardens near the rooms of Poseidon's fountains.
I wanted to go back...I wanted to go back and escape from...all of this...to just leave
But I cant even do that can I?
Hera...it hurt....it hurt so much, easier it would be to face the abyss of Tartarus for a thousand lifetimes than to endure this pain for one more second.
As I lay there, feeling the rain continuing to pound mercilessly against my exposed flesh, as I continued to doubt and wonder...I felt tired...drained, unable to move...unwilling to move.
I simply wanted to lay there and let the world swallow me whole. To have the long years of my life utterly spent in this solitude if it never meant having to experience this again.
And suddenly I felt everything stop, and the cold that had dug its talons deep into my flesh seemed to vanish, pushed back by some unknown force.
The cold did not reach me, the rain felt distant as though a protective layer of clothing was drawn over me and new strength returned to my limbs, allowing me to lift myself onto my knees.
The shadow of the city curled in around me, a sudden blackness enveloping me until I felt myself shrouded in its embrace. A void where no light could reach me.
My eyes were wide, glistening with tears as I slowly, tentatively glanced around me, searching for the man I knew would never again be there.
"Bruce..."
The question was soft, hesitant, and I was only greeted by deafening silence.
But the presence around me became stronger, the warmth spreading through my limbs and gathering in my chest.
And suddenly...suddenly I remembered...His words and voice coming back to me with that same strength he carried with him in every action he'd ever done in his life.
"Stop that."
My heart leapt into my throat with sudden fright as the clipped, growling voice slashed into my ears with force that jarred my body into rigidity.
The practice machine in front of me shut down with a loud beep, its single red eye dimming from bright ruby to rusted brown as its arms fell still at its side.
Around me, the artificial creature's brethren lay strewn and broken in various forms of dismemberment, gears and twisted metal spilling from their shattered husks.
I spun around finding the familiar pillar of black standing at the doorway, single outstretched hand pressing down on the shut off button on the practice machines.
"Batman." I greeted, breathing heavily from the recent exertion before I straightened, leveling my eyes onto him. "What do you-"
"This equipment isn't cheap princess." He interrupted, narrowed eyes hidden by the lenses of his cowl. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't use them to uselessly pound away until you feel better about being banished from your home."
I felt my fury rise and could almost feel it seeping into my eyes; molding and changing my expressions as it did.
To have this most recent of wounds torn open and agitated by this, the most presumptuous and physically weak man, in the league. My alliance be damned!
"Unless you wish to find yourself on the receiving end of my 'useless pounding' rather than these machines. I suggest you leave and do not pretend to speak of things you know nothing of; you who hide so contentedly in the shadows like a true coward."
The man said nothing, did nothing, only answered with a nauseating crack of his neck. "Please." He scoffed. "Spare me your words from your high horse and see if you can really lay a finger on me...Princess..."
The title was mocking and I could see the lilt of amusement dancing within his expression and he did nothing to hide it.
I found myself flying across the room before I could even comprehend my feet had left the metal floor.
I lashed out with all my strength, pouring myself into this game of cat and mouse as he continued to dance around my attacks, dodging and weaving with ease that only added to my fury.
All my Amazonian fighting techniques, all my weapons training and experience, all my anger and shame and sorrow. I poured everything into this fight, and I though I could see the flaws this rush of emotion brought to my technique, I didn't care, and merely continued as I was with reckless abandon.
He slithered between my strikes like a living shadow, ethereal and abstract.
Until finally, my hand struck true.
My fingers curled around the base of his neck, lifting him bodily off the ground and slamming him against the cold metal walls of the practice room.
I felt my chest heaving with every breath, sweat trickling down my cheek as I glared up into the lenses of his cowl, only to find that damnable smirk still present over his face, even in the wake of his defeat.
"Feel better now?"
I blinked, my anger evaporating like water in the blistering heat of a desert as I stared up into those white lenses, flabbergasted. "Wha-"
He slipped free of my grip, trailing down the wall before he straightened his cowl and armor back into place from where I'd moved it. The smirk was gone, but the feel of...contentment, still emanated from him.
I opened my mouth, hoping to find a more eloquent vocabulary with which to vocalize my question this time around, before he spoke again, interrupting me before I could even begin.
"You're stronger than this." He said, voice once again firm and controlled.
"What do you-"
He stepped up close, staring at me from behind that cowl before he made to brush past me, pausing as his right shoulder touched my left.
"Nothing lasts forever princess. Just as impossible as it may have seemed a month ago for you to find yourself exiled...you may see it impossible for this exile to be lifted today...you will see your home again...after all...time is something you have in abundance"
I looked to him, mouth and eyes wide in comprehension as I craned my neck to look at him, even as he kept his gaze firmly forward.
"Ba-batman...I..."
He said nothing more. Neither did he allow me to finish, marching past me and leaving the room, as silently as he had come.
And I found myself smiling...a sudden gratitude swelling through my chest as I looked to the last spot I'd seen the Dark Knight.
As the memory reached out to me...so did I reach out around me, hoping to grasp onto this darkness as one would grasp a winter coat, hoping to pull it closer to me.
But my fingers only grasped air, and my burning eyes could only begin to see the shadows that shifted, so I could only just see the edge of that cape once again, wrapped around me like a protective blanket against the harsh world. But every time I tried to look at it, to bring it into focus, the shadows vanished, melding into the background of the city's lights and bubbling chorus of sounds.
Is it you...are you truly here?
I felt myself being lifted, and I stood to my full height, hands falling to my side as I no longer needed them to warm my shivering arms...They weren't shivering anymore.
The shadowed veil tightened around me, and I could almost feel its caress over my skin, and the familiar feel of that gaze boring into the back of my head, the thin, almost invisible hairs along my arms standing on end with the sensation.
I closed my eyes, once again staring upwards into the pitch black sky. And as the presence began to recede, to retreat into whatever abyss it had come from I felt myself smile, a languid upturn of my lips as I pressed my hand over my heart.
Looking down into the city again, I felt the shadowed presence retreat completely, only a lingering sensation, like a caress to my cheek remaining to mark that it had ever been there.
I rose up, levitating higher and higher, watching the distant lights become specks, and the specs become glimmers, and the glimmers become tiny little dots, fading into nothingness as I rose above the clouds, parting the masses of moisture in my passing, finding the bright, massive face of the full moon hanging over my head, as I finally broke through undimmed by the world beneath me now..
I pressed a hand over my heart again, feeling the lingering warmth there as I did.
Bruce....
"You are stronger than this..."
I took a deep breath, feeling as though I'd just woken up from a dream, stumbled out of a thick fog and could now see clearly once again...
I wasn't sure...if this would last...or if what I'd felt back there...was even real...but...if it was...then...
Then just as impossible as it seemed for you to die a month ago...
I may see it as impossible for you to come back to me today.
Nothing lasts forever
Those...those had been your words...weren't they?
I breathed in the crisp night air around me, taking new life into my lungs as I did. Feeling more and more of my strength return with each breath.
"Alright Bruce...alright..." I whispered to the frigid darkness around him, feeling the wind catch my hair. Smiling, I pressed my hand over my heart once again.
If...if you will come back to me....then I will wait...as long as it takes...
I will wait...
After all...time is something I have in abundance.
I will wait for you...
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Diana's chapter was by far the hardest I've had to write to date. Its a chapter one doesnt want to overplay nor underplay either. Not to mention that she, more than any other league member was feeling grief. The others, even Clark to an extent were still more or less in shock.
So yea. She was very hard, and I hope I was able to give her some justice. Read and Review please