Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters depicted. All rights, ownership, and copyright belong to DC and its affiliates.
Author's Note: This story is a mix of both AU and main comic continuity. Taking the relationship aspect of the AU and combining it with comic events.
Justice League Watchtower
Founders Meeting Room
Diana's POV
There was no genuine belief that he would do such a thing. He was our ally and our teammate, our leader, but above all, he was our friend. I'm no stranger to lies of man, for the deceitful tongues of men brought heavy suffering upon my people.
But he was supposed to be different. Had we not shared a special bond forged through the fires of war? Not proven ourselves in battle, that we fight for truth and justice as much as he? Had I not? Had I not proven my love, my trustworthiness?
Yet he sits there with that blank expression that I've accepted as the face of Bat-Man, the face of the man I love, the man I thought I could trust. He sits there as if he hadn't committed the most despicable act a fellow warrior, a... lover, could commit against an ally, a loved one, Betrayal. He maintains that infuriating, empty gaze as everyone accosts him.
I resist the urge to wipe it off his face, but I know I can't control my anger and hurt. I might kill the pathetic little man. His defense? HA! That he would do it again because the world needs a safeguard against the League, LUDICROUS! If anyone needs a safeguard, it's HIM! The league has never done THIS. As my blood finally hit its boiling point, Superman speaks up as if knowing.
"Do you have anything, ANYTHING?!? ...Something to lessen this, Batman? I..." Kal sighs before continuing"...I just don't see how you can repair the damage done."
YES! There is no way to repair this act of cowardice, this act of treason against the league, against me...and against our love. "We should just vote already, Kal; He's made his choice."
"Batman, if you could step outside the room while we vote?" Superman spoke. There was no response, no reaction as he stood abruptly before leaving out of the room.
My eyes never left him until the last sight of him was his cape whisking past the door. Now I can finally feel the shock leaving me. The anger sets back in, and it burns with a righteous fury.
"All those in favor of expulsion?" Superman spoke.
The hands of three others, besides myself, go up in favor as I look around the room and see Arthur, Patrick, and Kal join me in the right decision, that Batman is a liability.
"This is MADNESS!" Kyle shouted. "Expulsion for what? If those protocols existed... maybe...JUST maybe Coast City would still be here."
"Madness?! Madness is betraying your friends and allies. Betraying your..." I trail off, unable to bring myself to finish, the tears threaten to spill from my eyes.
"Don't make this about your relationship wit—"
"ENOUGH!" Interrupted Kal. "It's decided, no arguments or fighting. It's final!" I huff, annoyed with Kyle and his...his false assertions, his lies. "Flash, could you please retrieve Batman?" Kal asked.
In a bolt of lightning, Wally was out of the room and, just as fast as he left, he returned with a panicked look appearing on his face. "He...He's gone." It was soft. You would have missed it if you weren't paying attention.
I can't help but let the surprise reach my face, my eyes widening as I turn to face the space he normally occupies, unable to pull my eyes from the chair that bears his symbol;Kal's voice is but a hum to me as he brings the meeting to a close.
Sure, I never expected to see the Batman beg, but he didn't even try, not for the League, not even for me. If...that's how that wretched man wants to be, then so be it. Who needs a selfish, paranoid oaf? Not me. I'm an Amazon, their champion and princess, and Amazon's have never needed a man.
Yet I'm frozen in place here as the others leave, thinking that...the pain in my heart is unbearable and immeasurable, for we shared intimate dances, even more intimate kisses. Embraced each other as one. He was my first. I looked into those deep ocean blues and fell overboard, drowned in them, and yet felt as if it was the first time I took a breath. To know that a man with so much pain, love, and compassion could commit such a grievous act and abandon the league, abandoning me... leaves me searching for answers in a dangerous storm.
I won't find those answers sitting here brooding like a bat. I finally get up, taking a minute to stretch my entire body before finally exiting the meeting room. If anyone were to have some answers, surely it would be the gods? I can only pray.
Gotham City
Crime Alley
1 Month Later
Rain, to Richy, that's all it ever seemed to do in Gotham, endless as he is standing out in the rain in the middle of February, unprotected from the rain, underneath a fire escape. Richy regretted his life choices. Don't owe money to Black Mask, a life lesson Richy learned too late in life. Don't buy drugs from the mobster and refuse to pay, either, that Richy believes is the far more important lesson.
Otherwise, he will send Richy or a guy like him to sit outside your home or workplace in the freezing rain, waiting for you. Sometimes they are lucky and Richy just breaks their legs, maybe a rib or two. Not everyone is that lucky. No, tonight was an unlucky night. Dr. Leslie Thompson, kill the broad, that's all Richy knows, that's all they tell him. Whatever the poor woman has done to piss off Roman Sionis wasn't his problem to deal with. She made her bed, and now Richy is waiting at the end of the only entrance and exit to the alleyway trying his best to stay dry.
Richy reaches his right hand into his jacket pocket. The warmth that greets him doesn't last long against the icy metal of the .45 Colt revolver, Richy's preferred weapon of choice in these situations. If Richy could, he'd be in bed at home. Richy sighs, growing tired of waiting. Four hours was long enough, in his opinion.
A shadowy movement to his left draws his attention, causing Richy to grip the revolver ever so tightly. Richy takes a step forward. He wouldn't say he is paranoid, but when you have a mythical bat creature beating people up at night, it's hard not to be. A splash yanks his attention to the left. Richy tries to free his gun from his jacket pocket. Spooked, he didn't see the black tiny object fly from the shadows. If it made any noise while in flight, the rain had drowned it out. It connects flawlessly with his wrist, fracturing it. The pain instantaneous.
Like a Wraith, Batman descends on him. Giving him no time to react, Batman grabs hold of his fractured wrist, forcing Richy to bellow in pain, trying with all his might to free his injured limb from the death grip. The Bat brutally heel-kicks the back of Richy's knee.
Like a sack of potatoes, Richy plunges to a knee. Never letting go of Richy's wrist, Batman twists his hand behind Richy's back. The more Richy struggles, the higher the Bat goes up his back with his arm. Batman slams Richy's face into the brick wall of the building. A loud crunch signaled the damage to his nose. The dark maroon liquid pouring like a waterfall.
"I know all about you. Richard White." Growled the bat.
A loud gulp made its way through the pitter-patter of the rain. "I-I-I di...di...di-dn't d..d-o a...a-nything! I swear!" Pleaded Richy.
The bat didn't believe him. They all acted the same once caught by the bat, begging and pleading for mercy while ignorant of the wraith of the bat. Batman growled low and deep, "You will tell me everything."
"I-I t...t-old yo—" The sound of Richy's arm breaking echoed in the alleyway.
"Let's try that again," growled the bat.
Richy screeched out in pain, tears no longer held back. They blend with rain falling down Richy's cheeks, mixing with blood pouring from his nose. "Why are you here?! Who is your target?!" Demanded Batman.
Richy laughed. To him, it was asking to die because Batman doesn't kill, but Black Mask does. Richy liked his life. "Y...y-ou d...d-on't kill!" Spat Richy through gritted teeth. Batman understood what he meant by that for too long has he come across a coward thug that underestimated him, doubted him.
"You're right, but after I get done with you, you'll beg for death." Richy could hear the smile in his voice, and that scared Richy to his bones. Scared him more than the words themselves. "Who is your target?!" Batman repeats.
"S...s-ome o...o-ld l...l-ady!" Stutters Richy.
"Not good enough!" The bat growls. Batman reaches over with his free hand, grabbing hold of Richy's index finger.
Another snap makes its way through the sound of the rain as Richy vomits. The smell of the vomit wafting into the Bats nostrils, reeking like two week old garbage. The tears, no longer held back, blend with the rain falling down Richy's cheeks. "P...P...P-LEASE!" Richy pleads.
"ANSWER ME!" Batman yells
Richy chokes on some leftover vomit in his throat. Spitting, Richy squeals "L...l-eslie!"
"L...l-eslie T...T-hompson!"
"Who ordered the hit?!" shouted batman.
When Richy remains quiet, he grabs his middle finger and bends it backward. "W...W-ait!! P...P-lease!!" Richy begs as his cry of anguish was drowned out by the storm.
"I won't ask again," Batman said. The threat is undefined, left to raging Gotham skies.
"I-I c...c-an't. P...p-lease!" Richy begged for his life.
The bat wasn't having any of it. He drops Richy's right hand, letting it fall to his side limp. Richy sighed, believing the torture had ended. Unknown to Richy, the bat reared his right hand back and then sent it flying towards Richy's right side. A clean hook to Richy's ribs, fracturing two. Richy opened his mouth, but nothing came out except a hollow scream.
No longer supported, Richy collapses to the ground, lying in a pool of water and blood. The sound of the rain falling and collecting around him keeps Richy in this world. The flight finally kicks into the forefront of his mind, forcing him to get up using his left arm, the only working arm. Too weak from the brutal assault, Richy falls back down. A whimper escapes Richy's lips as sweat mixes into his open wounds.
Batman watches Richy drag himself across the ground as the anger inside of him reached its climax. Batman marches over to Richy, grabbing him by his dark brown locks. "Who?!" One word with the weight of the world behind it.
"B...b-lack... B...b-lack m...m-ask," Richy said.
"Why?!" Batman demanded.
"I-I d...d-on't k...k-now. I-I-I s...s-wear." Richy pleaded. The bat growled.
"Please!" He begged.
"How does Black Mask contact you?"
Gotham City
On Top of GCPD headquarters
The signal peaks through the storm, illuminating hope within the citizens of Gotham, calling forth its protector to do its job once more. Jim hated the rain because something bad always happens while it's raining in Gotham.
Jim sighs as he takes a drag of his cigarette, Marble Reds. He tried the menthol kind before, but he could never bring himself to like them.
"I thought you quit," came a voice from the shadows.
Jim jumps before he let out another sigh. "Picked them back up 2 weeks ago." Jim turned to face the voice. He couldn't see him, but Jim knew he was there.
"Richard White is tied up in crime alley. His target was Dr. Leslie Thompson. He needs a hospital," Spoke Batman.
"We have been trying to catch him for years now;I'll send Bullock and Reyna to pick him up along with EMS," Jim says through his exhale of smoke.
"It was too easy, Jim. Be careful. Something is telling me Sionis wanted him to get caught." Said Batman.
"Sionis? A trap, you think?" Jim asks.
"I don't think so. He is bait for me. I'm not sure why. I don't see what Black Mask is planning in this." Jim took a long puff of his cigarette. Slowly exhaling, he asks the obvious question that has been lingering in the air for some time now. "You ok? I mean, after everything with the Justice League..."
The lack of a response making it clear he will never be up to discussing this topic, not now or ever. Not that Batman was much of a chatterbox before.
"The False Face Society is using the dry cleaner on Fifth Street as a front," Batman states, cutting back to the point of the meeting. Jim's eyebrows shot up as his eyes widen. The surprise on his face making it clear this was unheard-of news to the commissioner. He puts that information in the back of his head for later use because as of right now he had other problems.
Taking an extra long drag, Jim cuts to why he called on the bat. "Murder, gun, three shots. He was executed in his hotel room. Dr. Brian Donaldson. Wor—"
"—Works for LexCorp. What is he doing here in Gotham?" Interrupts Batman. Jim had long come to accept that Batman knew just about everything. It's been years since Jim was last surprised by it. Jim turns back around to shut off the signal.
Flipping the switch, Jim says, "That's why I called you. It's the dingy motel off of Saint Oak and Fifth Street in the East End. Do you think it is conn—" He turns back around to find himself alone. "I'll never get used to that," He grumbles.
Gotham City
East End
Gotham Nights Motel
The room is no bigger than the average-sized living room. Batman could see the sink in the back center of the room as he entered, the blood yet to be cleaned. No body, however, the GCPD left a tape outline as a gift for the bat. Half of the tape is on the carpet, the other half is on the tile.
He now knew how the LexCorp employee was killed. Between the reports he read on the way over, what Jim told him, and the crime scene itself, it became obvious how. While walking out of the bathroom, he was shot three times, two to the chest and one to the head.
Someone with marine training, or someone with knowledge of marine training, was the shooter. The gun used was a .9mm and Batman, if he were a betting man, would bet the entire Wayne inheritance that it was a standard-issued Berreta, the sidearm of choice by the US Marine Corps.
The only questions left now were who and why. The bat takes the room in once again, searching for anything he could've possibly missed. He comes up empty. The GCPD, nor he, could find any evidence leading to a suspect.
To the bat, nothing was adding up and his gut was telling him that this death was not a coincidence. That somehow this murder is connected to the attempted murder of Dr. Leslie Thompson and Batman knew that somehow Sionis was behind this.
Batman walks over to the bathroom, taking extra care to not pervert the crime scene. As he reaches for the bathroom handle, he notices the closet door across from the bathroom was slightly ajar.
His paranoid mind cannot let it go, forcing him to take back his outstretched hand. The bat turns towards the closet and opens it. The closet wasn't big by any means. Enough space to just stand inside and shut the door. The bat looks down at the carpet. The imprints of four small wheels are left behind in the carpet, greeting Batman like he was eight years old and he just woke up on Christmas morning.
None of the reports mentioned anything about a suitcase. A man in a motel on the east end without a suitcase wasn't out of the normal. Prostitution is rampant in the east end. The imprints say the suitcase was here at the time of the murder.
That answers the question of why, yet leaves the bat asking who and what was so important about the suitcase to kill a man over it. Black Mask's involvement seems less and less likely as Batman investigates, yet that gut feeling persists like a never ending waterfall pooling in him.
The bat shuts the door to the closet, taking another moment to look over the room before heading to the bathroom. Once inside, he takes a glance over everything. No matter how many times he looks, he will watch the footage from his cowl to confirm he didn't miss vital details.
The report mentioned that the bathroom was clean. Not that he doubted the GCPD, he just needed to verify for himself. Once satisfied, the bat takes his leave from the motel room.
His thoughts locked onto black mask and his front just up the road. If he was involved in the murder, Batman hoped the dry cleaner would yield some evidence.
In a single leap, the bat cleared over the railing of the second story. With timing and precision from years of experience, the bat shoots his grappling hook on a street lamp. He uses his momentum to launch himself into a swing. At the peak of his arch, the bat releases the line.
With the grace of a ballerina, the bat lands on the rooftop across the street. Never letting the momentum die, the bat runs across the rooftop. He jumps from roof to roof, making his way down Fifth Street.
Once on top of the dry cleaner's roof, Batman takes a minute to gather his surroundings, checking all around the building from the roof. Once he verifies he is alone in the area, he goes to work on unlocking the rooftop door.
He uses the skills he picked up on a trip he took to Brazil before he became Batman. The soft sound of the door unlocking signaled success.
Suddenly, an explosion rocks the entire building. It sends the building into flames. The blast took out all windows and doors leading to the outside. Destroying almost everything inside. It launches the bat from his kneeling position, leaving him dazed and unconscious as the bat falls into the dark abyss of an alleyway behind the now destroyed and on fire dry cleaner.
Gotham City
Unknown
"Mr. Sionis, the bat took the bait," spoke a long blonde haired man dressed in an Armani 3-piece suit. Laughter erupted from in front of him where a business desk made from the finest oak wood sat. The desk oozed wealth and behind that desk, a chair facing away, was the source of the laughter.
"Hahaha ha, the dumb bastard." The smile is in his voice. The chair spun around, bringing the blonde-haired man face to face with Roman Sionis, or as he is known to the world, Black Mask. "My men already took care of our other problem involving that pest from LexCorp.," Sionis spoke.
"I take it they were successful in their...retrieval." The blonde-haired man spoke, causing Sionis's eyes to twitch.
"Do you doubt my abilities? My contribution to this...partnership?" Spat Sionis. The blonde-haired man kept Sionis' gaze as he spoke. "No."
"Good, Luthor better not get on my ass. This is where your boss steps up," Sionis said as he reached down and picked up a set of keys off of the oak desk, tossing the keys to the blonde-haired man. "You'll find the truck outside. It has what you want."
"Thank you, Mr. Sionis. My employer appreciates your continued contribution to this...deal."
Sionis ignored the blonde-haired man, instead choosing to focus on the far future. "I love it when a plan comes together, just perfect. Once the bat is out of the picture, Gotham will belong to Black Mask. Not Joker, Penguin, Dent, or any two bit criminal will operate without my say!"
"Just as long as you remember the deal, Mr. Sionis." Sionis stared at the man once again as his patience dwindled like a lit fuse. "What part do you even play besides messenger, Mr. Samuel?" Sionis spat.
"We all have our part to play in this deal, Mr. Sionis. My part will come soon enough, Mr. Sionis. Thank you for your time." Mr. Samuel said before leaving through the large dark oak wood double doors, leaving Roman Sionis to his own devices.
A/N: That's the first chapter. Please bear with me on the next chapter. I hope to have it done within a week. If it is later, I will make sure to update the A/N on this chapter to let y'all know.
Thanks- DCSpeedster