Chapter 24

Diana growled in heated frustration, her raven curls falling in her face as she struggled against Superman's crushing hold on her. She could hardly draw a breath, his arms like steel snaked firmly around her body, pinning her arms against her body.

Her head suddenly fell back, a piercing cry tearing from her lips as agonizing pain raked through her skull at that moment. It felt like it was going to burst from the intense pressure building inside.

Clark could see that Diana was in serious trouble. The memories that Luthor had entrenched deep within her brain were warring with her real memories already there and creating brutal chaos in her mind. He wanted to get her out of here and away from Luthor's control, to get her to the Watchtower so they could purge the drugs from her system and find a way to remove the foreign memories from her mind.

"Diana, listen to me," Clark tried again. "We're here to help you."

"No…you're not…" she bit out, her jaw locked tightly in pain. "You hurt me…you want to hurt me again."

"I would never hurt you," he adamantly swore to her, his anger rising with the thought. "You are one of my best friends. You're…"

"Enough!" she screamed, suddenly breaking free of Superman's hold on her, taking him by surprise.

Finally free, she began pounding away at his chest with all that she had, shoving him further back with every strike of her fist. Superman let her hit him, refusing to strike back. This wasn't really her or her fault. His mind raced with the best way to get through to her without her getting hurt more than she already was.

"Diana, stop!" Clark finally yelled at her, snatching her wrists in his large hands and rapidly halting her assault on him.

She twisted and pulled, trying mightily to break free. They wrestled in the air, tumbling and turning in an effort to gain the upper hand over the other as the chaos continued to erupt on the ground below them.

Clark gritted his teeth, finally using every bit of strength that he had in order to keep her from putting him through a wall. He risked a quick glance below them, wondering if Batman was fairing any better than he was at that moment.

He caught a brief glance of the Joker trying to escape with the Batman hot on his heels, several of Joker's men already lying unconscious on the ground. Looking to the right, he caught site of Luthor standing smugly by the brain wave equipment, taking obvious pleasure in his handiwork as he watched him struggle to contain the Amazon Princess.

"Diana, whatever you think Batman and I did to you, we didn't do it," Superman tried to convince her. "It's not real. It's Luthor and the Joker. They're the ones who hurt you."

Diana's eyes seemed to glaze over at the moment, a flicker of understanding and recognition attempting to break through the madness storming through her mind.

"Superman…" she murmured, her expression softening somewhat, anguish flooding her cobalt blue eyes. "I…what is…"

Clark began to relax his hold on her somewhat, relieved to see that he was finally getting through to her. "Yes, Diana, it's me," he told her. "Come back to us. We need you."

Confusion clouded her face as she stared into his eyes, trying to fight against the wild turmoil in her mind. Tears began to rise as realization of what she was doing began to sink in. What had happened to her to cause her to fight her friend?"

She began to look around her, noticing the chaos below. She spotted Batman fighting the Joker, what was left of his henchmen coming up from behind him to attack him. Bruce. She needed to help him.

Before she could react, though, the pain took over again, her head pounding harder than Hephaestus's hammer on an anvil. She suddenly released her hold on Superman to grab her head instead, a heart-wrenching scream escaping her lips as she fought to gain the control that was quickly slipping through her fingers all over again.

Superman quickly grabbed her arms, pulling her close to hold her against him. "I need to get you to the Watchtower right away."

Diana's body went rigid in his arms as the memories Luthor implanted in her mind began to roar to the surface once more in a painful tug-o-war with her real memories. She felt waves of dizziness crash down upon her like fierce waves against a rocky shoreline, threatening to drown in her in the frothy madness.

Her heart was racing, her breathing ragged. She was losing herself again to the turmoil inside…to Lex Luthor. And there was nothing she could do to stop it now.

"Make it stop…please…" she gasped, squeezing her eyes shut against the searing pain that refused to relinquish control of her.

"Diana, hang on!" Clark ordered her, but it was already too late.

Her fist came up with a sudden flash of swiftness that took him by surprise, followed by her other fist that sent him flying backwards and hurtling through a thick concrete wall. Satisfied with her success, she immediately turned, her furious gaze narrowing as she saw the Caped Crusader's fist connect with the Joker's face.

Batman poured all of his fury and frustration into his curled up fist as it slammed hard into the Joker's face. The Joker immediately staggered back as blood poured from his now broken nose, a look of horror on his face.

"Get the Bat!" he screamed as Batman inched closer again. "Luthor! Help me!"

"There's no one to help you now," Batman growled.

The Joker looked around to find his men sprawled out all over the floor, already taken care of by the Batman. They were no match for the Dark Knight of Gotham, the formidable vigilante of justice.

"You're mine now, Joker," Batman hissed as he drew back his fist for another blow.

A powerful hand suddenly grabbed his arm from behind, spinning him around. He found himself staring into the enraged blue orbs of his lover, a wild feral quality to her that startled him. The sound of the Joker's cackling laughter filled his ears as Diana began a full-on attack against him.

Batman quickly raised his arms, successfully blocking and evading her every move. It was suddenly just like their sparring sessions except that this was no longer the woman that he'd fallen in love with, the woman who shared his bed filling his nights with unbridled passion and his days with sweet contentment that he'd never known before.

"Diana," he growled, his deep rasping voice filling her ears. "It's me…Batman. We're here to save you not hurt you!"

"You tried to rape me," Diana seethed as she threw her leg out to take his feet out from under him. "I'll not let you try to hurt or defile me ever again."

Batman was shocked by her words, his stomach twisting painfully with the thought that she had wrongful memories of him trying to rape her. The thought of her being hurt terrified him; the notion that he was the one to cause it made him ill to his very core.

"Diana, listen to me," he demanded, ducking low and dodging a strike to his head as she slowly began to back him around crates and into a corner. "I have never tried to hurt you or force myself on you…ever. Luthor has poisoned your mind against us."

Bruce watched as tears suddenly glistened in her eyes, a sneer on her lips as she got a lucky shot in, her foot connecting with his chest and nearly knocking all the wind from his lungs. "You said you were my friend…you said that you loved me…and then you tried to rape me," she cried, venomous anger stinging like acid in her every word. "You hurt me! How could you do that to me? I was your friend!"

Tears began to leak from her eyes as she quickened her moves, her rage fueling her every kick, every vicious swing of her powerful fist. He would pay for humiliating her like he had, for luring her in only to try to take what was not his to have.

Batman swallowed past the sudden thick knot that filled his throat, her words like a knife to his heart. He loved her more than he had ever loved anyone. Hurting her would kill him, but that's exactly what she believed he had done to her…and in the worst possible way.

He wanted more than anything in that moment to rip the cowl from his head, to allow her to see his face, the love for her that filled his eyes and his heart every time he looked upon her. He wanted to gather her into his arms and tell her he loved her, that he would never hurt her.

He wanted her to remember the love that they had made and shared, the heated passion as well as the sweet quiet moments in the early hours of dawn just holding onto one another as if no one else in the entire world existed but them.

But he couldn't do that here…now. He would have to find another way to get through to her, to make her remember him.

"I am your friend, Diana…and so much more," Batman admitted. "You have to try to remember, remember the last few weeks spent with me."

"I remember everything well enough and I will not let you hurt me again!" she seethed, backing him into a corner.

Using her meta strength, she swiftly grabbed him, pinning his arms to the wall, her chest heaving. She glared hotly at him, her cheeks still wet with tears, tears that he was desperate to erase. Even now like this, she was still breathtaking to behold.

"Diana…I love you," he whispered, taking the risk of being heard and hoping he could get through to her. "I have been in love with you for so very long. You're the best thing that has ever happened to me and I don't want to lose you."

Diana stared at him for a long moment, his words somehow managing to break through the fierce tempest of thoughts and memories, emotions and images raging through her mind. Batman loved her. Warmth began to trickle into her heart as images of passionate love made with him in his bed began to rise to the surface of her mind, renewing her tears as sorrow filled her throat.

"Batman?" she whispered as the thick cloud of rage began to clear from her eyes. "I…I'm so sorry. Please…kill me. Before I hurt you…please…"

"No!" he immediately growled, suddenly breaking free of her relaxing hold on him. He quickly grabbed hold of her arms, forcing her to look at him. "You can fight this, Diana. I know you. You're strong…the strongest woman I have ever known."

"Please…I'd rather die than hurt you," she wept, her chin falling to her chest as her knees suddenly gave out on her. "I love you."

Batman carefully lowered her to the ground, kneeling before her and taking her face in his hands. "I'm not about to lose you, Diana," he firmly stated. "Not now…not ever. You're mine now. Do you hear me?"

Diana looked up to stare into the cowled face of the fearsome Batman, the war inside of her raging beyond her control. "Help me…please…" she whispered.

"I'm going to get you out of here," he softly promised her, a gloved hand wiping her tears and desperately wishing he could kiss her at that moment.

Just then, Lex Luthor came around the corner of the crates that had kept them hidden from view. "How touching, comforting your friend in her time of need," Luthor mocked him. "I'm afraid she's mine now, Batman. She belongs to me and soon you and Superman will be under my control as well."

"Think again, Luthor."

Lex turned around to find Superman standing behind him. "This isn't over yet," Lex sneered, slowly backing away. "My plan is not going to fail this time. Take care of them and finish this, Wonder Woman."

"She is not yours to have or control," Batman snarled as he stood to his feet.

Diana suddenly lunged forward, her fist coming up and connecting with the Batman's jaw, throwing him back into the wall before rising and spinning on her heel to take on the Man of Steel.

Luthor smirked triumphantly as he watched his powerful Amazon, anxious to get the two superheroes under his control as well. "Very good, my pet…very good indeed," he grinned before his face quickly returned to a sneer again. "Now bring me Superman."

Diana smirked something cold and evil at Clark before suddenly racing towards him with all that she had. Clark wasted no time, meeting her halfway only to duck and spin, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms firmly around her.

He cast a quick glance back over his shoulder at Batman who was already beginning to come around. He hoped that she hadn't broken his jaw as he wrestled to get control of the Amazon warrior in his arms. He swiftly moved his head in time avoid another collision as she threw her head back in an effort to break free from him.

He hoped that Bruce had some sort of idea still up his sleeve to stop her because he was too equally matched with her to keep her from fighting against him. He heard Bruce groan softly behind him, hoping that he was able to pull it together soon to help him with Diana.

Before he knew it, Diana suddenly shot up into the air, taking him with her. They continued to fight and struggled for control, each gaining the upper hand, but only momentarily as the pull for power shifted back and forth between them.

Out of the corner of his eye, Clark caught sight of Batman standing below them watching them, reaching back under his cape for something. Realization quickly sunk in as he attempted to move her back towards Bruce. She suddenly got an arm free, her elbow coming up and connecting with his jaw causing him to momentarily loosen his grip on her.

Clark quickly reached for her again, grabbing hold of her arm and immediately pulling her to him only to have her kick him squarely in the chest, knocking the wind from his lungs. Finally free from his grasp, Diana began to fly straight towards him only to find a lasso suddenly wrapped around her, binding her and stopping her short from her target.

Enraged, Diana growled as she was abruptly pulled back away from Superman. Looking down, she found Batman standing on the ground, her magical golden lasso in his hands. His lips were pursed into a thin determined line as he yanked hard on the rope, forcing her to come down to take him on.

Diana crouched low on the ground as she glowered at him, trying to determine what his next move would be. She slowly stood her feet, fighting the rope that still kept her bound, but he only tightened his hold on her as Superman landed behind him, ready to intervene if needed.

"You have to tell the truth now, Wonder Woman," Batman's deep gravelly voice reminded her as he stared at her. "You are bound by your own magical lasso."

Diana continued to fight against the pull of the rope as Batman dragged her closer to him until she was standing a few feet away him. She gritted her teeth, fighting against the powerful magical force that would compel her to speak, forcing the gray clouds of confusion from her mind.

Batman and Superman watched as she began to tremble, her mind reeling with everything that was besieging her. Nothing made sense as she tried to sort through the images and memories that teemed inside of her as the magic of the lasso worked to carve out the real memories from the false ones.

"Who are we to you, Diana?" Batman demanded with a fierce desperation that surprised even himself. "You have to tell me the truth. Please…Diana, don't fight it."

Staring at him, the sneer on her lips slowly began to fade away as the storm of confusion in her mind began to break apart like the sun splitting through the clouds. Truth and understanding were being thrust to the surface by the magic of the lasso, forcing her to face what was happening to her.

"You…you're my friends," she murmured, tears brimming in her eyes. "We're a…a team."

"Have we ever hurt you?" Batman pressed her, wanting the horrors that had been implanted in her mind banished for good, never to return. "Have I ever tried to rape you?"

"No," she whispered, shaking her head as a tear suddenly broke free, slowly sliding down her cheek. "No…never."

Superman released a relieved breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding before quickly turning to look for Luthor. He had somehow managed to make a very silent, very discreet exit in the midst of trying to get through to Diana, the Joker have also followed suit.

"And who is Lex Luthor?" Bruce continued the assault of questions, not wanting to leave anything to chance especially her perceived relationship with Luthor.

"He's my…enemy," she replied, exhaustion rapidly taking over as her body continued to fight the drugs lingering in her system as well as the effects of the mind altering device. The headache was beginning to diminish to a dull roar of pain that pulsated in her ears.

A small smile tugged at the corners of the Dark Knight's mouth as he slowly moved closer to her, winding the golden lasso up in his hand. Reaching her, he carefully released her from the rope, his heated gaze never leaving her eyes, her face.

"Batman…" she whispered as her eyelids fluttered.

He caught her just before she could hit the ground.