A/N: First and foremost, Angel Queen is a genius. And she's lovely. So round of applause for her. And thank you for everyone who reviewed. Here's the next (penultimate) chapter, so enjoy!
Chapter Eighteen - The Birth
Doctor Elizabeth Jarvis had left medical school at the age of twenty-four, and had worked her way up to become a consultant obstetrician at one of the most prestigious hospitals in London. Then another opportunity came up – she could retrain in emergency medicine and become chief (civilian) physician onboard the Watchtower. The salary was a lot less, the hours were a lot longer, the facilities were less sophisticated and her work environment was thousands of miles above home.
Despite the less-than-ideal parts of the job, Doctor Jarvis didn't care. Because how many doctors could claim they patched up superheroes for a living? It was dangerous, exciting, and difficult. Exactly the kind of challenge Jarvis relished in.
Still, she still thanked God she remembered most of her training in obstetrics when Wonder Woman came in, Hawkgirl supporting her. Jarvis had, of course, been briefed on the Amazon's condition by J'onn, and knew there was a fair chance she would be assisting in the delivery of the two babies.
What she had not counted on was the fact that Wonder Woman had a pain threshold of ridiculous proportions. Whereas most women at this stage of labour would have been screaming for hours, Diana had only recognised the pain meant something was happening within the last half an hour or so. Well, Jarvis was fairly certain that in about an hour, the princess would be screaming anyway, since she'd left it too late to safely administer an epidural.
After all, pethodene would really only go so far.
She got Wonder Woman changed into a gown and settled onto a bed. "How far apart are the contractions?" she asked.
"About once every five minutes," Diana said calmly.
"Alright." She turned to Shayera. "Hawkgirl, could you please contact J'onn and ask him to come up here? I'll need his assistance."
The Thanagarian nodded, heading toward the exit. "I won't be long, Diana."
She never quite made it to the doors.
Jarvis had worked for the Justice League long enough to know that Batman was not just an urban myth. It didn't mean he didn't scare the hell out of her, but the man was most definitely real. However, just because he was real, didn't mean everything they said about him was. Like the fact that he allowed kids to help him with the crime-fighting. That was just ridiculous – no adult in their right mind would allow children to engage in such violence. Though granted, one of the kids apparently wasn't a kid anymore, but had grown up to be a young vigilante who led the same kind of crazy life Batman did. As far as Jarvis knew, Nightwing had never been up to the Watchtower. At least, he hadn't while she was on duty.
Just before Hawkgirl got to the doors of the med-bay, they opened, and said young vigilante came through, carrying the aforementioned mentor unconscious in a fireman's carry.
Shayera's eyes bugged out of her head. "You have got to be kidding me!" she exclaimed. "Of all the times to get knocked out!"
Nightwing frowned. "It's not like he meant to, Hawkgirl, and what's so important about now that–" He spotted Wonder Woman on the bed, dressed in a hospital gown, her expression aghast and staring at Batman. "Holy shit."
"Yeah, you think?"
"Of all the times he had to get himself knocked out!"
"Now Junior gets it," Shayera muttered, rolling her eyes.
"Nightwing, put him over here," Jarvis interrupted, not missing the way Diana's gaze followed Batman, though she seemed to be speechless with shock. "Hawkgirl, I still need J'onn up here."
"Gotcha," she said, rushing out.
Nightwing approached Diana. "Labour then?"
The Amazon regained her ability to talk. "He can't miss this!" she exclaimed. "Wake him up!"
"I've tried hitting him," Dick explained. "So did Robin before he called me – nothing. He's really out for the count. We thought there might actually be something seriously wrong, so I brought him up here." He turned to Jarvis. "Doctor, can you do a CT scan or something?"
"Not by myself," she said, "not when I have two patients to look after - one of whom is in the advanced stages of labour."
"Advanced stages?" Wonder Woman whispered.
"I can do an external examination on Batman," Jarvis said. "But not through his cowl. It'll have to come off."
Diana and Nightwing exchanged a disconcerted look. "Isn't there another way?"
"No. It's too thick for me to ascertain if there's been any damage to the skull."
"Shit."
"Wait," Diana said. "I have an–" She stopped, her face creasing in pain for several seconds. Once it was gone, she breathed deeply for a few moments. "Okay, the pain's getting worse." She cleared her throat. "Nightwing, cut a section of his cape off, cover his face with it. Then Doctor Jarvis can examine him without compromising his identity."
"Good idea."
That done, the cowl came off while Jarvis's back was turned, then she examined Batman's head thoroughly. "I don't think there's any damage to the skull," she finally said after several minutes. "Just a bad concussion. He'll be regaining consciousness soon."
Nightwing looked relieved. Diana didn't, though mainly because she was in the midst of another contraction. This time she let out a groan of pain through her clenched teeth. "They're getting... more frequent..."
"That was less than five minutes," Jarvis said, stepping away from Batman. She came back over to Diana, pulled the curtains around the bed to give her some privacy. "Would you like some pain relief?"
Diana hesitated; all through her pregnancy, she'd resolved not to have any pain relief. It seemed un-Amazonian somehow. However, that was before she'd had any of these contractions. Jarvis's expression was sympathetic. "I can't give you too much, I'm afraid," she told her, "but I can give you some Entenox."
Diana nodded, and accepted the mouthpiece from Jarvis. "Thank you."
"Now just relax, I'm going to give you an internal examination," Jarvis explained. "It may feel a little uncomfortable."
Diana nodded, and Jarvis performed the exam quickly and efficiently. "You're eight centimeters dilated. I actually have no idea how you weren't feeling more pain before now."
The Amazon shrugged, then pulled on the Entenox when another contraction hit. They were definitely getting longer and more painful. "Definitely too late for an epidural?" she asked through clenched teeth.
Jarvis felt another pang of sympathy for the heroine. "Definitely," she said gently.
"He better wake up soon," the princess ground out. "Or I'll make sure he never wakes up again!"
The contraction over, she went back to her breathing techniques. It was remarkable how similar being in labour was to being seriously injured.
Jarvis wondered for a moment who she meant, until she realised that Diana was talking about Batman – there was really no one else she could mean. Trying not to let her surprise show on her face, Jarvis snapped her latex gloves off and busied herself with getting the equipment ready. She didn't miss the princess's wide eyes when she spotted the forceps.
She relaxed quite a bit once J'onn's form phased through the curtain. "J'onn!"
"Thank you for coming so quickly," Jarvis said. She liked the big Martian; anyone around him could not fail to be aware of his compassion, or the fact that his placid façade hid a quick, brilliant mind, or – when he needed to have it – a warrior's mentality. Knowing that he'd appreciate being briefed on the situation quickly, Jarvis gave him a quick rundown.
"Contractions are less than five minutes apart now, and she's a little more than eight centimeters dilated. It shouldn't be too long before she can start pushing."
J'onn nodded. "I'll let you take the lead," he said calmly, recognising that she knew more about midwifery than he did.
She nodded. "Alright."
J'onn's eyes flashed, and he looked up at Diana. Jarvis assumed they were communicating telepathically, but whatever it was, Diana's stressed expression smoothed out, and Jarvis felt another wave of gratitude for J'onn's presence. With him present the delivery should be as normal as possible.
The doctor glanced at the curtain to her left; thinking about the man who lay beyond it. Now all they needed was for Batman to wake up.
---
Screaming.
Why was there screaming? He remembered darkness swallowing his vision while on patrol; was he still lying there? Was whoever knocked him out causing some kind of havoc?
The screaming stopped, and Bruce became aware of the fact he was lying on a bed, with an extremely sore head. He groaned softly – and the pain in his head was superseded by a fresher pain in his shoulder. "Ow!" he complained softly, cracking his eyes open slightly.
Dick's furious masked face hovered, swimming, above him. "'Ow'?" he repeated incredulously. "Shove your 'ow' up your ass! Get the hell up!"
There could be no mistaking the urgency in his tone, and it was enough to get Bruce sitting up. "Sit-rep," he demanded.
"Sit-rep?" Dick repeated, his expression incredulous. "He wants a sit-rep. Okay, here's your sit-rep." He pointed, and the second scream sounded. A scream of intense pain, not fear.
Bruce looked around. Watchtower. Infirmary. His brow furrowed. Hadn't he been in Gotham? He looked at Dick, whose expression indicated he was somehow missing the vitally important point. "Diana is in labour!" the younger man finally exploded.
Oh. That was the scream? Labour. Huh.
Wait a second.
Diana.
Labour.
"Shit."
"Finally!"
Bruce leapt off the bed and ran to the curtains surrounding Diana's bed, ripping them back. Her eyes, furiously blue, met his. "Where the hell have you been?!"
Her face was sweaty, her hands had bent the metal of the bedstead, her fingernails had shredded the mattress, and her hair was a stringy mess. "Sorry," he said blankly. "Um, unconscious."
She hissed something in Themysciran that he was sure reflected badly on his parentage, then let out another scream when another contraction hit. Beside her, J'onn handed her the mouthpiece of the Entenox. She breathed deeply through the pain.
"How far along is she?" he asked J'onn.
"I'd estimate about another ten minutes," he told him.
"Keep pushing, Diana," Doctor Jarvis urged. "You're almost there."
Her eyes and face were screwed up in concentration. After about a minute of this, all her muscles relaxed, and she slumped against the pillows behind her, her chest rising and falling with the huge gulps of air she was taking. She shakily picked the mask off her face. "Artemis, help me!" she panted.
"We're nearly there," Jarvis assured her.
"'Nearly'... is a relative term..." she said.
Bruce marveled that she could smile at a time like this. Feeling it was safe to come forward, he moved to her side. She didn't stop him, and her hand found his, gave it a quick squeeze and let go.
"You have no idea how much I hate you right now," she said.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
She shook her head, but apparently couldn't muster the energy to berate him further. "Hera, there's another one coming!"
This time, the metal of the bed bent audibly, then came away in her fists. "Crowning!" Jarvis announced from between her legs. "I see a head! Come on, Diana, you can't stop now!"
Diana didn't stop sobbing, but still pushed as best she could. The contraction ended, and J'onn and Jarvis spoke quietly together. Jarvis looked up at Diana. "The baby's shoulders are stuck, Diana; with your next contraction I need you to push as hard as you possibly can, understand?"
Diana nodded. "Now," she groaned.
Bruce knew better than to take her hand – all that would change was that the kids would have two parents in pain rather than just the one. Still, this was horrible. The woman he loved was screaming on the bed because of something he'd done, and there was no way for him to ease or stop her pain. Nothing could be worth the agony on her face, nothing –
J'onn's voice broke in, his tone brimming with happiness. "It's a girl."
Most of Bruce's energy went on not letting his knees collapse. Diana's head hit the pillow with tears still streaming down her cheeks. He heard her whispering under her breath: a stream of thanks to every goddess. Then her eyes opened, meeting his. He smiled, brushed some hair from her forehead and pressed a kiss to her skin.
"Why isn't she –"
The new sound that split the air was still a scream, but it was sharp, and high-pitched, and incredible. They both looked up, seeing the baby in J'onn's hands. Diana's hand – he hadn't been aware of holding it – squeezed his frozen fingers. "Hold her," she whispered.
He didn't move, but suddenly J'onn was handing him his daughter, wrapped in a warm blanket. Her skin was too pink; her mouth was screaming and without teeth, and she was still covered in amniotic fluids.
She was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.
He blinked, and tears started making their way down his cheeks. Dimly, he realised he didn't have the cowl on. He didn't care.
A hand settled gently on his shoulder, and he looked into Dick's smiling face. His eldest son nodded. "Congratulations. She's gorgeous."
Bruce nodded, but couldn't have spoken if his life had depended on it. He moved to Diana, seeing her exhausted face light up. Tears were streaming down her face as well as his. She ran a crooked finger down their daughter's face gently, tracing the shape of her nose. At her mother's touch, the baby stopped crying, opening her eyes.
"Look what you did," Bruce whispered.
"What we did," she corrected softly.
Doctor Jarvis interrupted softly. "Uh, Diana? You're not done yet."
Bruce and Diana blinked at each other. Somehow they'd both forgotten they were having twins. Judging from the discomfort that crossed her face, Diana was swiftly being reminded of that fact.
There was more screaming after that, and more prayers, and more Themysciran curses. But two minutes and twenty four seconds after his sister, a little boy came into the world – every bit as beautiful as his twin.
J'onn delivered him into the arms of his mother. She blinked at him for a moment in stunned delight, surprised. "A boy..."
Momentarily, Bruce was worried she was going to be horrified at breaking tradition, and creating a male with Amazon blood. Then her face split into the brightest grin in the world. She looked up at him, eyes shining with joy. "A boy!" she repeated softly.
For about thirty seconds, two very proud parents wept over two very perfect babies.
Jarvis grinned at the picture they made. "Diana? We just have to get the placenta out, and then you can rest."
The princess nodded, and beckoned to Dick, placing his godson gently into his arms. J'onn looked at Bruce, his eyes glowing. I believe Superman and Hawkgirl are waiting outside.
Bruce smiled. Thank you, J'onn. Thank you so much.
It was my pleasure, my friend.
He turned back to Diana, and she smiled weakly, simply because she didn't have the energy to properly grin. "Go show the others," she whispered.
He kissed her forehead again, and nodded before walking out. Dick followed close behind.
It took a lot to make the Man of Steel cry, but somehow Bruce wasn't surprised that Clark did.
It did shock him that Shayera cried. Denying that she was doing any such thing, she handed him back his daughter. "You and Diana do good work, Bruce," she sniffed.
He grinned, looked down at his daughter. Dark blue eyes looked back. "We do, don't we?"
Clark patted him on the shoulder – he'd have bruises the next day. They were worth it, though. The Kryptonian grinned at his best friend. "They're both beautiful–"
He was cut off by the doors to the infirmary opened, and J'onn came out. There was blood on his hands.
Bruce felt his heart begin to pound. "Who– Whose blood is that?" he asked sharply.
J'onn's face was as sombre as he'd ever seen it. "Diana's. She's hemorrhaging badly."
It took all his strength not to tighten his grip painfully on the baby. "How badly?"
"She's lost almost three litres," the Martian said. "Anymore and..."
"And she could die," he finished, dread stripping his voice of emotion. "Why isn't her healing factor working?"
"I don't know – for whatever reason, she's not fighting to heal herself."
Bruce swallowed hard, nodded shortly. His friend turned to go back in, and he couldn't prevent the words bursting from his mouth. "J'onn - save her. Please, I... I need you to save her."
J'onn nodded. "You know I'll do my best."
Bruce didn't say anything as he walked back into the med-bay: doing his best didn't mean anything. Bruce needed him to say, 'I will'. He needed to be told that she'd be okay, that losing that amount of blood wasn't all that dangerous.
A hand descended gently onto his shoulder, and he looked into Clark's face. He was totally failing at reassurance. "She'll be alright, Bruce," he said.
She better be. He looked at the still-shut infirmary doors, and the trail of J'onn's bloody footprints. Suddenly his finger was seized in the grip of his daughter, her tiny fist not even reaching all the way around. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice reminded him that newborns couldn't see more than a very blurry image, that she wasn't thinking anything further than sleep-food-poop, but he chose not to listen. Instead, father and daughter regarded each other seriously.
They both needed Diana to pull through. He stroked the pad of his thumb over her fist as he looked at Dick and his son. He couldn't let his children grow up without their mother. When he turned back to her, the baby girl was fast asleep.
No one spoke; it was far too tense for that. For the first time in thirty years, Bruce closed his eyes and did what he swore he'd never do again.
He prayed.
---
J'onn knew that the average human had just over four and a half litres of blood. He knew that pregnant women had slightly more than that. He knew that if a human lost more than three of those litres then death would not be far behind.
None of the medical facts running through his brain helped at this moment in time.
Because he was paddling in visceral fluid. The crimson liquid was everywhere, every cubic inch of the metal floor covered in scarlet. J'onn was a warrior. He hadn't been for a long time before he came to this planet, but the things he had done here changed him. Perhaps those changes were not for the worse - his friends were warriors, and they were good people. But when he came to this planet, began to fight, he saw violence. He saw bloodshed.
But not like this. Because this blood did not come from a nameless human he did not know, or love. This was the blood, the life, of Diana.
And unless J'onn did something to help her, his best friend was going to die.
He'd tried contacting her telepathically, but it was getting harder. Doctor Jarvis looked at him. "See if you can contact her again. She needs to keep fighting."
He nodded and put a hand to Diana's increasingly pale forehead. Diana. Can you hear me? Diana!
He couldn't see her, which in itself was bad. Her total fatigue and blood-loss had clouded her mind. It was like standing in thick fog. The voice that answered him was terrifyingly weak. He'd heard her that weak before, and then it was when she'd fought to the point of exhaustion. J'onn...?
Diana, you have to keep fighting!
Tired... He sensed her rally slightly, alarm fuelling it. Are the children-?
They're both fine, Diana, he reassured. Healthy and beautiful. Bruce is here too; they all need you to-
Good...Bruce will...look after them...He loves them, doesn't he, J'onn?
He loves them, he told her. But he loves you too, Diana.
I...I know...J'onn, I...I'm so tired, I...
Her mental voice failed completely then, fading into nothingness. J'onn called to her again. Diana! Diana!
J'onn questioned for a moment if he should have lied, if he should have told her that Bruce felt nothing for the babies and was refusing to take care of them. Diana, answer me!
Nothing.
He could sense her - she was alive, holding on, but barely...and she was still fading.
Diana!
---
A/N: I'd imagine a lot of people don't like me right now... Review please!