Chapter 3

Wayne Manor; September 1st, 21:49 EST

Bruce stared at the ceiling as he relished the feeling of holding Diana in his arms, her perfect form still entangled with his. He continually ran his fingers through her silky hair, his thoughts a thousand miles away from her despite having shared his body with her just moments ago.

He needed to get out on patrol with the others, to pour this furious energy that was continually thrumming through him like a live wire into the criminal element in Gotham. Diana had done her best to help him burn off a measure of that energy tonight, but it was still there, simmering beneath the surface.

He was terrified of losing this…losing her. It was something that he refused to accept. He would do whatever it took to save her, no length that he wouldn't go for her. Not even Mount Olympus was off-limits to him. The gods would have to answer to him if she died.

Diana felt his body grow tense beneath her, his heart beating harder and faster beneath her ear. "Don't, Bruce," she softly chided him, her hand moving from his side to stroke his chest in an effort to calm him.

"What?" he innocently questioned her, pretending not to know what she was talking about.

"You're thinking too much," she astutely replied, tilting her head to press her lips against his chest. She could feel him begin to relax slightly beneath her. "We need to focus on our family and Gotham right now. My situation is secondary. It might not even happen. For all we know, Phillipus's interruption disrupted the spell."

"Then again, it might not have. I need to focus on you," he corrected her. "The sooner I can find Zatanna the sooner we can try to prevent the development of this curse or magic or whatever you want to call it."

Diana sighed as she lifted her head to rest her chin on his chest so she could look at him. "Did I tell you that Nicholas wants to give the baby away?" she asked, purposefully changing the subject. "He thinks our family is fine just the way it is. He wants to discuss it with you."

Bruce couldn't help but chuckle in response to the unexpected news. "I'm afraid he's going to have to get used to the notion that he's going to be a big brother to another sister."

"I broke the news to him that we weren't going to be giving the baby away," she revealed. "He still wants to talk to you about it."

"Change has always been difficult for him," he thoughtfully said aloud. "He had a tough time when Tim moved out, but he eventually adjusted. He'll adapt to the new baby too."

"I wish you could stay here tonight, but Gotham needs you," she replied. "You need to go."

"You need me too," he reminded her with a playful smirk.

Diana smiled as she crawled the rest of the way up his body, pressing her lips to his as her legs moved to straddle either side of his body. "Always, my Dark Knight. Nothing could ever change that."

His arms slipped around her body, pulling her down and keeping her pinned against him. He returned her affection, parting his lips and deepening the kiss as the temptation to stay grew stronger. He really did want to stay here tonight with her, but a strong sense of duty to his beloved city continued to tug at his conscious despite knowing Gotham was well cared for by the others.

Diana could feel his body beginning to respond to her, reawakening her own desire for him. "Go," she breathlessly murmured, reluctantly moving off of him. "We can continue later when you get home."

Bruce rubbed his face with his hands, trying to ward off the powerful urge to just take her now. There were things in Gotham that he wanted to look into, an idea that had begun to form in his mind earlier this afternoon. If Zatanna couldn't be found, then maybe there was another way.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed, sitting forward to rub his face with his hands once more. "You make it very difficult to leave, you know."

"I know," she told him, moving to sit behind him. She pressed her lips to his shoulder. "Be safe out there. Call me if you need me."

"Like that'll ever happen," he muttered.

He turned and kissed her with a passion felt deep in his bones. Finding his boxers on the floor, he slid into them before searching for his shorts and shirt. "Get some sleep," he replied. "Tomorrow, we need to work through your list of enemies and start eliminating people."

"Sounds like so much fun," she teased, stifling a yawn as she fell back against the bed.

He pressed his hands into the mattress, bending down to kiss her once more. "It will be," he promised her with a chuckle.

"Wake me when you get home," she sleepily murmured.

She was asleep before he could respond. He stood there for a moment just watching her as she slept, a faint glow from the moonlight entering through a nearby window highlighting her exotic beauty. He knew this was going to prove to be the most important mission of his entire life.

Saving Diana.

Gotham; September 2nd, 01:16 EST

"I don't think he's here," Robin decided with an unmistakable grumble of frustration that was so reminiscent of his father.

"I have to agree," Red Robin responded. "There's absolutely nothing going on except patrons tonight. Penguin is somewhere else."

"Great," Robin replied. "Another hideout we're going to have to track down."

"I think we should just continue with the patrol for now," Red Robin told him from his position.

"I'm going to try to track down the Riddler to see if I can find out anything," Robin said, tucking his binoculars into his utility belt. "Hopefully, I can get some information out of him."

"Good luck with that," Tim mumbled. "Batgirl and I are going to swing by Penguin's home to see if anything is going on there before continuing patrol."

"Good idea," Nightwing abruptly chimed in. "I guess I didn't miss anything exciting."

"Not unless you're interested in watching people come and go from the Iceberg Lounge," Robin retorted.

"I'll pass," Nightwing stated.

"How's Robinson Park?" Red Robin asked him.

"Batman and I were able to restore order at least for the moment," he responded. "I have a feeling it's going to be a busy night, men…and…woman."

Cassandra smiled at Nightwing's comment. It felt great to be a part of something good like this, something that truly made a difference in a positive way. Looking to her right, she spotted something that made the hair on her arms rise. She immediately grabbed Tim's hand, pulling him to follow her.

"We have to go," Red Robin told them. "Looks like we have a situation below."

"I'm going to find the Riddler," Robin said. "Contact me if you find Penguin."

"I'll cover downtown," Nightwing added.

"Where's Batman now?" Robin asked.

"He said he had to look into something," Nightwing informed him. "I'm sure he'll let us know eventually."

"Or not at all," Robin groused, abruptly ending the communication.

XXX

Batman waited on top of a building, his senses shifting to high alert. His mind was working overtime to figure out what this whole mysterious spell on Diana could entail and stop it before it came to fruition. If there was any way to get ahead of this, he wanted to do it as soon as possible.

"What took you?" Batman asked with an impatient growl without turning around, lowering his boot from the ledge it had been resting on.

"Good to see you too," he replied, dropping his cigarette, and crushing it under his heel. "I got here as soon as I could get free. Nergal was giving me a headache again. What's the emergency?"

"Diana," Batman revealed, finally turning to face him.

Constantine's nose wrinkled in confusion as he pulled another cigarette out of his jacket pocket. "What's up with the Amazon Princess?"

"A thousand years ago after she was given life, someone showed up in her room and began to cast some sort of spell on her," Batman explained. "The spell was interrupted and not completed…at least that we know of, but we have no idea what kind of spell was used. We recently discovered that Diana is pregnant, but the pregnancy was initially shielded from us. We petitioned Diana's gods for answers. All we were told was that Aphrodite promised to protect our baby during whatever is going to happen. I have to find out what's going on. I can't get a hold of Zatanna. I have no idea where she is."

"That does not sound good," Constantine thoughtfully replied, rubbing his chin. "I'm afraid finding Zatanna is going to be the least of your worries. I can track Zee down but finding out who is behind this spell and what it could mean is a whole other story…one that could take you someplace you don't want to go."

"I don't care if it takes me to the heights of Olympus or the depths of Tartarus again," Batman growled angrily.

"I get it," he replied. "This is a biggie, and it involves your pregnant wife."

"I need your help, John," Batman softly said with an urgency that was not lost on Constantine. "I'll do whatever I have to in order to save her and our baby."

"It's okay," he reassured him. "We'll do whatever we can to get to the bottom of this."

"I appreciate that," Batman murmured.

"I'll start looking for Zatanna now," he told him. "Hopefully, she'll respond to my call."

Batman frowned as his arms folded against his chest. "What did you do now?"

Constantine waved his hand in the air as if brushing the matter off. "It's nothing…really…at least I hope it's nothing," he replied. "I mean it was just a little spat. She should be over it by now…I think."

"Is that why Zatanna can't be reached now?"

John sighed heavily as he rubbed the back of his neck. "It could be…probably…yeah."

"Get her back here no matter what it takes," Batman stated, turning away from him as he pulled out his grappling gun. "Contact me as soon as you return to Gotham. I'll review all the details of the case with both of you."

"Case?" Constantine questioned him, causing Batman to stop in his tracks.

"I have to treat it like a case," Batman responded with a haunting tone that revealed his very real fear without looking back at the man. "If I don't, I won't be able…"

His voice trailed off, unable to speak anymore. He didn't need to. John understood what he meant without further explanation. Batman took off into the night, leaving him standing there all alone. This was big. It was going to take both him and Zatanna to figure this one out.

No use wasting any more time. It was time to do a little…a lot…of groveling and maybe a little more.

Outer Space; September 2nd, 07:03 EST

John glanced at his wife sitting to his right as they flew to Thanagar. He could only imagine how difficult this return trip home was going to be for her. She hadn't been home since she had initially left for Earth. This homecoming wasn't going to be a celebration of a returning soldier, nor would it be a family reunion waiting for her. It made his heart hurt for her just thinking about it.

He swore he would protect her at all cost, refusing to allow her fellow Thanagarians to bring any harm to her for choosing to betray her people during the invasion. He was beginning to think that they should use disguises so they could maneuver without interference.

"What do you think about changing your appearance, so you aren't recognized?" he asked.

"You want me to cut my hair?" she questioned him with a raised eyebrow.

"What? No way!" he exclaimed. "I'm not talking that drastic. I was thinking maybe a wig or something to hide your identity a little to make sure you aren't recognized."

She gave him a slight smirk. "Way ahead of you," she revealed. "I packed a disguise."

John shook his head with a grin. "That's my wife," he proudly said. "Do you think it was a good idea to leave the kids with Wally?"

"Linda is there," Shay pointed out. "Your mother is taking care of them during the day."

"I know, but it feels kind of like we threw poor Wally to the wolves."

Shayera gave John a surprised look, chuckling at his choice of words. "Our children are now wolves?"

"Well, you know what I mean."

"No, I don't," she replied, interested in seeing how deep of a hole he could dig himself into. "Please, explain."

"I'm just saying that our kids are rambunctious," he clarified. "They're good kids, but they tend to find themselves in not-so-good situations."

"And you think that they're going to damage Wally?"

"Yeah…no…I mean I don't know," John stammered. "I just mean that Wally and Linda are probably going to want kids someday. After spending a few days with Rex and Bella, they might permanently change their minds."

"Wally and Linda will be fine," Shayera reassured him. "Your mother will definitely be fine. She can handle anything and anyone."

"I'm not worried about my mom," he decided with a shake of his head. "I just don't want our kids to be the reason why Wally runs to get a vasectomy."

Shayera couldn't contain her laughter at that comment. "Wally is a big kid himself. It's Linda I'm worried about. She'll have three kids to take care of, not just two."

"True," he admitted, knowing Linda had her hands full. "I think she's more than capable, though."

He just hoped there was still a wedding in the future for the pair when they returned from Thanagar.

Detroit; September 2nd, 07:47 EST

Wally walked back and forth; his hands clasped behind his back as he paced. Two pairs of eyes followed his every move, confused about what he was doing. They didn't have to wait long to find out what Uncle Wally was doing as he came to a stop before them.

"Okay, I'm laying down the rules right here and now," Wally stated, hands still behind his back as he towered over the toddlers before him like a drill sergeant. "I am in charge, and I run a very tight ship."

"What does that even mean?" Rex asked, craning his neck to try to look up at the man before him.

"It means what I say goes," he explained with a frown. This wasn't going as he had pictured in his mind. "Uncle Wally is the boss. No more Mister Nice Guy or fun Wally."

Bella held up her arms to Wally, sucking furiously on her pacifier. She grunted in annoyance when he didn't immediately pick her up.

"She wants you to hold her," Rex told him.

"I know, but I'm trying to give a speech here…you know lay down the rules," he said. He sighed heavily before bending down to pick Bella up. She offered him her pacifier. "No, I'm good thanks."

"Can we have ice cream for breakfast?" Rex asked, staring up at Wally.

"What? No way," he replied. "If I gave you ice cream for breakfast, your mom and dad would kill me."

"How about pizza?" Rex tried again.

"Hmmm…that does sound pretty good, doesn't it?" Wally muttered, thinking for a moment before shaking his head. "No, we can't have pizza. We have to have something nutritional."

"What does nutritional mean?"

Bella patted Wally's cheek to get his attention, rubbing her tummy. "Bella's hungry," Rex told him.

"Good," Wally said, looking at Bella. "I was worried she was going to throw up on me."

"Okay, breakfast is ready," Linda announced as she entered the living room.

"Or we can eat what Aunt Linda made," Wally told them.

Bella wiggled until Wally set her down, running to the kitchen with Rex. Linda grinned as she approached her fiancé. "What were you doing in here?"

"Laying down the law of the land…showing them who is boss," he replied.

"Me…I'm in charge," she said with a laugh, kissing him on the cheek.

"Yeah, pretty much," he agreed with a chuckle.

"We'll be fine," she reassured him. "They're good kids. John's mother will be here soon so we can go to work and John and Shayera will be back in a few days. We've got this."

"I know," he said. "I just wanted to make sure they knew it."

Linda patted Wally's chest. "Sorry, honey," she told him as she kissed his cheek. "You'll always be fun Uncle Wally to them and there's nothing wrong with that."

"Yeah, that's great and all, but I want them to see me as tough and in charge," he complained. "I mean we're going to get married and eventually have kids of our own. This is good practice for us, so we'll be prepared when we have our own."

"I don't think there is anything that can truly prepare a couple for a child," she replied, picking up her purse. "We'll be just fine. I have to go to work. Can you handle it until John's mother arrives?"

Wally folded his arms against his chest as he lifted his chin in confidence. "I can handle anything," he confidently stated as the doorbell rang. "Saved by the bell."

Shirley opened the door and entered with a bright smile. "How are my grandchildren?" she asked. "They haven't been too much trouble, have they?"

"No at all, Shirley," Linda reassured her, grabbing her purse and heading toward the door. "They're eating breakfast right now. See you tonight."

"Well, you scoot on now too," she said. "I'll handle things till you get home."

"Thanks, Grammy Shirley," Wally replied, hugging her. "Call me if you have any problems and I'll be here in a flash."

"No pun intended, right?" she responded with a chuckle. "Just behave yourself and don't get into too much trouble, Wallace."

"Who me?" Wally asked in mock surprise.

"Exactly," she stated with a smirk as he disappeared out the door.

Themyscira, September 2nd, 08:36 EST

"I'd forgotten how amazing Themyscira is," Jason said in awe as they headed toward the palace. "It's definitely paradise."

"Well, we don't have time to enjoy it right now," Artemis reminded him. "We're here for information."

"You know we never really got a honeymoon," he pointed out with a smirk. "Maybe Hippolyta would let us come back for a week. We could stay on the other side of the island where we wouldn't be disturbed…or seen."

Artemis shook her head in amazement. "I'm sure," she sarcastically replied. "We need to focus on finding out what happened to Diana."

Jason rubbed the back of his neck, releasing a low whistle. "It'll be a miracle if we can figure out what happened to her a thousand years ago."

"We're going to have to find that miracle because we don't have any other options," she told him. "I just wish we knew how much time we had or what is going to happen to her."

"We'll figure it out one way or another," he reassured her. "You know Bruce won't stop until he has the answer to save her."

"Artemis!" Hippolyta urgently called as she exited the palace. "How's Diana? Has there been any development?"

"She's fine for now," she replied. "We're here to see if there's anything else we can help uncover."

Hippolyta pursed her lips as she shook her head, dread swimming in her eyes. "I have several Amazons pouring through records from around the time that Diana was given life, but they haven't been able to find anything yet."

They watched as Hippolyta crossed her arms tightly against her chest, turning away from them to sit on a nearby stone bench. "I…I don't know what to do. I feel so helpless to save my daughter," she continued, allowing her emotions to pour out in her words. "If only I had tried harder…pushed Hera and the gods for answers when it first happened. If only I hadn't let it go."

Jason came to stand before her with Artemis following. "It's not your fault," he said. "You did what you could at the time. There was nothing more you could've gotten from them."

Artemis sat down beside Hippolyta, feeling a little out of her league. Showing comfort to others, especially the queen, was something that she felt ill-equipped to do, but it was apparent that she needed it at that moment. She was a warrior, at ease in the midst of a battle and in her element with a sword in her hand. This was more Donna and Diana's thing.

"It wasn't your fault," she assured her. "Someone obviously has a grudge against the Amazons or the fact that you had a daughter. Could this be someone getting revenge on you by putting a curse on Diana?"

"I hadn't thought of that," Hippolyta pensively replied. "I guess I had always assumed it was someone who wanted to eliminate Diana…saw her as a threat as the Princess of the Amazons."

"It's definitely an angle we need to check into," Jason agreed. "We can't rule anything out right now."

"Where's Phillipus?" Artemis asked. "We want to talk to her again about that night. Maybe she'll remember something that she didn't before."

"She went to check on the Amazons in the library," she informed them. "She's been wracking her brain, trying desperately to remember something…anything that could help Diana."

"We'll see if we can help her," Jason told her.

"Don't worry about Diana," Artemis said. "She's strong and she has a husband who loves her above his own life."

"And a family that cares about her," Jason added. "We won't stop until this is resolved."

"You know I always feared Diana being drawn into the ways of Man's World when she left to save Earth during the invasion…falling in love with a man never to return to Themyscira," Hippolyta divulged. "I had no idea at the time that the gods were taking her to her kindred spirit. She could not have chosen a better mate than Bruce."

"You know he will do whatever it takes to save her," Jason reminded her. "We all will."

"Thank Hera for that," she said with a soft smile, knowing that Diana couldn't be in better hands right now.

Now, if they could just discover who was behind all of this.

Astral Plane; September 2nd, 12:23 EST

"You know you're not very easy to find," Constantine ventured, his hands slipping into the pockets of his overcoat as he tentatively approached.

"I didn't want to be found," Zatanna snapped. "Now, leave."

"We need to talk."

"I'm not talking to you, remember?" Zatanna fired back. "Go talk to that barmaid you were flirting with in London."

"It was meaningless, Zee," he tried to tell her, but she obviously wasn't buying it. "She was an old girlfriend. We broke up years ago."

"You're just telling me this now?"

"I know I should've told you before, but it was a long time ago and she was the one who kissed me."

"Ok, you've explained yourself," she shot back. "Now you can leave."

"Not until I bring you back with me," he stated. "You're needed in Gotham on an urgent matter."

"They'll survive without me for a while," Zatanna ground out, glaring daggers at her former lover.

Constantine held up both hands before him, hoping she didn't incinerate him before he got out what he needed to say. "Now, don't do anything we'll both regret," he began, knowing he needed to get to the point quickly. "I'm really sorry about what happened, but Batman needs our immediate help."

Zatanna thought for a long moment, unclenching her jaw as she huffed under her breath. "Why does he need both of us?"

"Diana is in danger," he evenly replied.

Zatanna's eyebrows knitted with instant worry, momentarily forgetting her anger with him. "What's going on?"

"Someone put some sort of a spell on her and she's pregnant," Constantine told her. "There's a lot more, but Batman said he'd explain it to us when I found you and brought you back."

The magician glared at him, weighing her options. She really didn't want to have anything to do with Constantine right now, but if Bruce and Diana needed her, she had to leave right away. At the same time, the thought of working with her lover only infuriated her all the more. However, if there was a powerful being who had put a spell on Diana, it might take both of them to break it.

She couldn't jeopardize Diana's life or the life of her unborn baby because of her issues with John Constantine.

"Fine," she breathed out with a growl. "Let's go…but you're still not forgiven. I'm doing this for Bruce and Diana, not you."

"Understood," John replied, relieved and yet still concerned for his life.

Batcave; September 2nd, 13:52 EST

"Are you sure this is everyone you could think of?"

Diana nodded as she sat back in her chair, a pencil still gripped tightly in her hand. "That's all I could come up with."

A scowl slowly began to form on his face as he studied the list. The list was long and detailed, some of the names unknown to him, but many of them were very well known to him. It could literally be any number of these people who had been behind the curse on Diana.

Reading through the various names she had written down caused his blood to run cold, concerned about the number of enemies Diana truly had. He had to admit that his list of rogues was probably at least this long if not longer.

This was going to be a huge undertaking, but one that had to be done. They were going to have to divide up the list among the family in order to cover everyone. He just hoped that they would be able to find their suspect before the curse manifested itself.

Diana rubbed her forehead as she watched Bruce, finding herself growing fatigued. She wasn't sure if it was because of being pregnant or something else, but she couldn't worry about that now. They had a fight on their hands, and she wasn't about to lose the battle.

"If you had to choose who could be behind this, what would your gut tell you?" he asked her, looking up to notice the fatigue lining her eyes.

"it's one of the gods," she replied, leaning forward to rest her forearms on the table. "It has to be. They're the most dysfunctional group, always ready to take someone out if they feel they're in the way."

"And you would definitely be in the way," Bruce thoughtfully murmured more to himself than her as he considered her theory. "You became the biggest threat to the gods themselves despite being their champion."

"Because I'm a demigoddess?" she questioned him.

"Being born the daughter of Hades and Hippolyta has given you immense power," he continued, "and being the chosen champion of the gods has no doubt ruffled some feathers among your relatives."

"My relatives have never looked fondly on being slighted," she agreed. "Backstabbing and revenge is second nature to some of them."

"And if you stand in the way of what they want to accomplish…" he began only for his voice to trail off as thoughts raced through his mind.

"It'd be a lot easier if I no longer existed," she finished for him.

"That's not going to happen as long as I'm around," Bruce firmly stated.

"I'm not going down without a fight," she added.

"Well, we do know that whatever is going to happen will be within the next nine months," he replied. "That's a long timeframe."

"It's both good and bad," she ultimately decided. "It could give us the time we need to figure this out, but it could also come at any minute."

Bruce stood to his feet with the list in hand. "I'm going to enter all of this into the computer and see what we can come up with. We'll need to divide it all up among ourselves and track down as many as possible."

"I need to leave soon to take Kaia to ballet class," she reminded him.

"No, you don't," Bruce informed her as he made his way to the platform steps. "I asked Alfred if he would mind taking her today. I need you here to help me with this list. Besides, I'm hoping that Constantine and Zatanna show up soon so we can discuss all of this with them."

"I guess you're right," she reluctantly agreed. "Was anything uncovered last night about Penguin and what he's up to?"

"No, not yet," he admitted. "I'm leaving it in the team's hands for now. I'll step in, if necessary, but right now I need to focus on you."

Diana watched as Bruce approached the steps to the platform, extreme dizziness washing over her and causing her to flush inside. She squeezed her eyes shut against the spinning sensation that consumed her, her hand snatching hold of the back of the chair to steady herself.

"We may have to go to Mount Olympus if we can't get the answers we need," Bruce told her, pausing before going up the steps to look at the papers in his hand. "I know you don't like the idea, but we may have no choice."

"Bruce," Diana whispered his name, her voice refusing to work as her legs grew boneless.

"I'm not about to let them get away with…" he began as he turned around, noticing how extremely pale his wife had become. "Diana!"

Dropping the papers in his hand, Bruce raced towards her, grabbing hold of her as she began to crumple to the ground. He gathered her up in his arms, fear clutching at his heart. "Diana? Diana!" he urgently called her name as he ran towards the medical bay, her head resting against his shoulder.

Laying her down, he cradled her face in his hands, trying desperately to get her to open her eyes. "Diana!" he yelled as he searched for a pulse, releasing a relieved breath when he found one. It was faint but it was definitely there.

Thankfully, she was still alive, but for how long?

A/N: It's begun...but what is it exactly and who is behind it?

UP NEXT: Everyone goes into panic mode with Diana's condition. Meanwhile, a new villain arrives on the scene! :)