Disclaimer: Everything belongs to DC et al. Except for the pseudo-science. That stuff is alllll me.

Diana left Bruce on the dance floor and sought out her hostess and the director of the hospital to give her farewells. In no time at all, she was in a cab on her way back to her hotel. When she'd gotten the information on that night's mission, she'd booked a room near the gala. She liked her gown, and didn't particularly wish to fly in it.

As the cab sped past Gotham's bright lights, she ran her hands down the material in her lap. Bruce's reaction to the dress had been especially gratifying. She hadn't chosen it for that reason-she'd found that attempting to predict how Bruce would react to things was a futile effort-and she'd had no way of knowing if he was going to be at the gala, besides. That lovely Valentino man had designed the gown for her, and she was fond of it. She'd need to think carefully before wearing it out in Gotham again.

She only had thirty minutes before the League was meeting in Riverton, and the flight would take her 10, so she hurried up to her room. She carefully hung her gown in the closet, then pulled on her armor. Out of one uniform and into another, Diana thought. Although, it could be worse. She could be Bruce, putting on a wholly different identity with his armor. Tiara in place, she splashed a little cold water on her face and was ready to go.

She set down on the outskirts of Riverton and made her way quietly to the designated meeting spot. Superman was already there, along with Shayera, Black Canary, Flash, and Batman. Bruce must have left the party immediately after she had.

She nodded to the group at large as she stepped up next to Shayera. "No Green Lantern?"

The other woman shook her head. "J'onn got a lead on something in China. John's looking into it."

"So, where's the fire?" Flash asked.

"Warehouse. Halfway down the block." Someone spoke, and the group turned as The Question stepped out of the shadows.

"You're here, too?" Black Canary asked.

"All day. Batman thought we should have someone on the ground," Superman provided.

"They're here?" Batman asked.

Question removed his hat, which was looking crushed, quickly reshaped it, and replaced it. "In force. They're either planning something, or they're expecting an ambush."

"So, we ambush them," Shayera said.

"You think it's a trap," Batman said.

The Question cocked his head. "I'm certain of it. Does your intel contradict that?"

Batman paused, considering. "No."

"So we're careful," Superman said. "But there's no way we walk away from this, not with a possible connection to the MT Toxin."

"Is that what we're calling it now?" Batman asked.

"Yes," Diana answered. "And I agree with Superman. We go in quiet, but we go in tonight."

"I'd just like to state for the record that I think this is a bad idea," Question said.

"Noted," Batman said.

The group split up. Superman, Black Canary, and Shayera headed to the front of the warehouse, while Diana, Batman, and Flash took an alley with the aim of finding a back entrance. The Question hung back, letting the bruisers take the lead.

"I don't like this," Batman muttered as they crept along the alley. Diana was flying a few inches off the ground to avoid making any sound at all.

"Then why didn't you call a halt?" She asked.

"Because Superman's right. We need to nip this-whatever it is-in the bud."

"Going ahead," Flash said, and zipped off.

"Don't-" Batman started, but Flash was gone. "Damn it."

Diana chuckled quietly. Some things never changed.

"Shh." Batman placed his arm in front of Diana, ceasing her forward progress. He ducked behind a dumpster, and she followed. She peeked around the side, and saw Flash standing with Giganta, who looked to have just walked out the warehouse door.

"-did you come to see me?" She was asking Flash.

"Uh, yeah. I mean..." Flash was not the greatest improviser. "Yeah."

Giganta leaned in. "I've missed you," she cooed.

"You have?"

"Yes. Haven't you missed me?"

"I-" Flash glanced around in confusion. "O-of course."

A crash of sound came from the front of the warehouse. Giganta gave Flash a disappointed look. "You brought friends?"

"I thought it was a group date!" He cried, then threw a quick "Sorry, guys!" over his shoulder before sprinting around Giganta and into the warehouse.

Batman leapt over the dumpster. Diana flew upwards and made a dive towards Giganta, just as the villain began to increase her size. Diana hit her at full speed, crashing them both through the wall, which, given Giganta's size, meant that the entire back of the warehouse was gone.

Diana could barely glance of the warehouse interior before the larger woman was pulling herself up once more. Diana used her greater speed and mobility to keep her down, but she wasn't going to be able to do it indefinitely. Unlooping her lasso from her waist, she snagged Giganta's ankle, pulling it out from under her. She hit the ground hard, and concrete dust surrounded them.

"Batman!" Diana cried, knowing he wasn't far away.

"Get down," he said, and Diana ducked obediently. Something whizzed over her head, and shortly a BZZZT sounded, as Giganta was hit with thousands of volts of electricity. A loud thump indicated that she'd gone down before the lingering dust cleared enough for Diana to make her out.

Batman quickly bound her wrists with high tensile wire, but Diana had already moved into the next room, surveying the battle her teammates were facing. Black Canary was dodging Killer Frost's ice and getting in hits where she could while Superman and Atomic Skull traded shots. Flash and Cheetah were going head-to-head, and Shayera was using her mace to deflect the flames Heatwave was shooting at her.

Diana flew at Killer Frost, realizing that if the villain caught Dinah in one of her ice blasts, the Canary would be at the greatest disadvantage. Frost was quick, but Diana and Dinah combined were quicker. They managed to corner her, which is when Frost hit Diana with an ice blast, square in the chest. Diana had been diving at her, so the blast drove her upwards, into the roof. She hit it and fell back down, catching herself in the air as half the roof rained down around her.

She felt a flash of heat, as flames narrowly missed her face. Shayera appeared next to her, dodging the flames.

"Feel like trading fire for ice?" Diana asked Shayera as they both dove out of the way of the next blast of flames.

"Absolutely," Shayera said.

"Go for it. I'll take care of our friend's toy," Diana said. Heatwave was prepared for her to fly at him directly, so she grabbed up some of the roof debris around her and tossed the pieces quickly in his direction. While he dealt with those, she zipped around behind him and grabbed for his gun. It was hot, but not unbearably so. Diana crushed it quickly in her palm, then knocked him into a wall before he could go for whatever he had as a back-up. He slid down the wall, unconscious. It would do for now.

She heard Shayera's distinctive war cry from the other side of the room and smiled grimly. Her view of the rest of her team was blocked by the pile of debris. She rose in the air to return to the battle, when Black Canary and Atomic Skull came into view. As Diana watched, Atomic Skull hit Black Canary with a blast of radiation, sending her through an open door and into the room beyond.

Diana was across the room in an instant, knocking Atomic Skull aside with a right hook. She turned and flew into the doorway of the room where Black Canary had landed, concerned that the radiation blast might have injured her friend. The room was dark, and when Diana set herself down, she realized the floor was wet.

"Dinah?" She heard a soft moan ahead of her, and walked toward it, being as careful as she could in the darkness. Dinah's moans quieted and then disappeared, and Diana quickened her pace. From somewhere behind her, she heard Batman call out her name. She touched her earpiece. "I think Dinah's injured," she said.

"Where are you?" Batman answered.

"I'm not sure. The room's dark. Dinah got knocked in here." She nudged against something in the dark, and felt for it. A table.

"No, she-" Superman's response was drowned out as a click sounded loudly in the dark. Diana spun towards the sound, and abruptly realized she couldn't breathe.

She gasped for breath, trying to speak a warning. Her knees hit the ground and she fell forward, grabbing for her throat. The ground was dry. That was odd, wrong, but she couldn't seem to remember why. She couldn't...

She tried to pull herself forward, but her limbs felt as heavy as...something. Heavier than anything she'd ever lifted.

And then her mind went quiet.

The first indication that something was wrong was when all of their opponents suddenly stopped fighting and started escaping. Batman took scope of the wreckage, then sprinted around the giant pile of debris that used to be the warehouse roof. He spotted Heatwave's crushed flame-thrower, but the man himself was gone. He could see Giganta still tied in the room beyond. That was good, they could question her.

She was struggling against the wire he'd used to restrain her, a wild-eyed look on her face. In fact, she looked terrified. Dread filled him, and he headed back to the others.

He reached Flash first. "Have you seen Diana?"

"I thought she was over there."

"Diana!" Batman called out.

A short moment later, her voice sounded in his ear. "I think Dinah's injured."

Batman swallowed a sigh of relief. "Where are you?"

"I'm not sure. The room's dark. Dinah got knocked in here."

Bruce felt everyone in the room still. He looked up and his gaze clashed with Black Canary's. She shrugged, looking mystified.

"No, she didn't." Superman said.

Bruce heard a faint hissing sound. Clark must also have heard it, because they turned towards it at once.

"Where is she," Bruce demanded.

Clark scanned the far side of the warehouse quickly. He pointed at one of the darkened doorways and started forward. "There!"

"No!" Bruce reached out a hand to hold his friend back. He knew it was only Clark's surprise that had him stopping. "Look."

Tendrils of purple fog were creeping out of the doorway.

Clark's expression hardened. "She's down in there, Batman."

"I know. I'll go in. Get the others out."

"You'll go in?" Clark asked, incredulous.

"If it took down Wonder Woman, there's no guarantee it won't do the same to Superman." Shayera spoke up.

"Exactly." Bruce fitted the gas mask he'd brought along over his face. "I'll get her out, you figure out how to keep that gas from spreading." Without waiting for Clark to act, Bruce ran into the room.

He found her quickly. She was sprawled out on her side, one hand at her throat, the other stretched out in front of her. He felt his heart seize in his chest, and thought briefly that the toxin was affecting him, even through the mask.

But no, it was only sheer terror.

He lifted her and ran for the door, desperate to clear the building. "Teleport us now," he barked when he reached the rest of the team.

They materialized in the Watchtower, and he was moving before anyone around them had time to react. He was halfway down the corridor leading to the infirmary when Clark appeared in front of him.

"Give her to me," he ordered. He almost objected, but Clark could get her there inhumanly fast, and she needed inhuman help. Clark lifted her from Bruce's arms and was gone in the blink of an eye.

Bruce kept running. He and Dinah reached the infirmary at the same time. They'd put Diana in a clean room, and there was already a small crowd gathered at the observation window. Green Arrow turned from the window as they walked in. When he saw Dinah, he stretched out his arm and she went directly to him. He bent his head and they spoke softly.

Bruce could see Diana through the window, stretched out prone on the bed. J'onn and Clark stood by her side. They already had her hooked up to a handful of machines, and when Bruce saw her heartbeat up on one of the monitors, he released the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

"You can probably take the mask off now," John spoke from behind him.

Right. Bruce removed the gas mask. "When'd you get in?"

"Not long ago. Good thing, too. J'onn was still on the station when your message came through."

"How did you deal with the gas?"

"Teleported the whole room into space."

"Effective."

"J'onn's idea."

"How is she?" John and Bruce turned as Shayera appeared in the doorway. She hurried to the window. "She's breathing again, right?"

"Yeah, she's breathing." John rested his hand on Shayera's back. "She's okay."

"She's not okay," Bruce growled. "We have no idea what that toxin is doing to her. We don't even know how it did what it did. She was dead down there."

Bruce realized the rest of the room had gone silent and Clark was looking at him through the window with something like worry. Or sympathy. Damn it. Bruce turned and stalked to the door.

"Where are you going?" Shayera asked.

"To figure out what the hell this thing is."

He was nearly to the teleport pad when Clark caught up with him, grabbing his arm to stop him. Deja vu, Bruce thought.

"You're leaving?"

"Is there anything I can do here?"

"You could be there for her. When she wakes up."

"Do you know when that's gonna be?" When Clark stayed silent, Bruce forged on. "Exactly. What I need to do is figure this the hell out."

There was a pause. "The Question's still down there, investigating."

"Good." They walked over to the transporter. "Put me down in Riverton," he told the teleporter tech.

"Yes, sir."

"We're doing everything we can, Batman." Clark said.

"I know."

I will alert you when she wakes up, J'onn spoke in his mind.

Bruce kept his thoughts deliberately neutral, but knew that the Martian could sense his fear.

Don't let her die, he thought.

I will do everything in my power.

Then the teleporter lit, and he was back in Riverton. On the hunt.

A/N: Fight choreography is not my forte (I prefer the talky talky stuff), so hopefully this chapter made some sense.

I appreciate the reviews and comments I've received on this, so much! The main concern so far seems to be that I won't finish. While I doubt that any writer sets out to leave a story unfinished, that is especially not the case here. I have a nice buffer of chapters already written, and the plan is to post them weekly to give myself time to write more.

So thanks for reading (and reviewing!), and a Happy Free Comic Book Day to us all!