Chapter 12: Darkness in the Distance

*Flashback on Themyscira, 1000 years ago*

Diana stood facing two people, one was Willaim Trevon, a man she thought she could trust. The other was her mother, tied up in the golden lasso of Hestia, with a knife at her throat.

"Will, what are you doing?" Diana said with a soft voice, "Please, please don't hurt my mother."

The man had a wild look in his eyes. Diana knew she was blessed by the gods, but she had never felt this helpless, the mosaic tiles between them seemed farther than they ever had before. One wrong move, and it would be over.

"WHERE IS THE KEY!"

Diana was confused, "I….I don't know what you mean."

Her answer only seemed to enrage Will. He pulled at Hippolyta's hair and increased the pressure of his knife.

"You're lying, I know it's here. I'm not leaving without it!

"It's been broken and separated, you won't find it here!" The queen said through gritted teeth.

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"No... It's not true. It has to be here!"

Diana tried taking a few steps forward but even her slightest movement caused Will to tense and tighten his grip. Sweat was clearly running down his head. He was becoming desperate.

The Queen still struggled against her bonds, "More Amazon's will just keep arriving. You will gain nothing."

Diana tried again, "Please Will, I thought you had a kind face, I thought I saw into your soul...you're the first man I've ever even seen but I did not believe you could do this. The, the way you smiled at me. Please don't hurt us now."

Will seemed to pause at her words as she continued, "We'll let you leave, just let my mother go and we'll take no retribution towards you. I Pr...promise, as princess of the Amazon's, on my honor."

Will seemed to relax just slightly, Diana thought everything might be ok, but then, the other phalanxes of Amazons arrived, spilling in every door, trapping everyone inside. Bows, arrows, spears, and swords at the ready. Held back only by the thin piece of cold metal currently held to the throat of the queen they had served since their creation.

If before, Will was on edge... now he was dangling off the cliff.

"Get back, all of you!"

An anger that couldn't be contained? A sweaty hand? A slip? Who knows, it doesn't matter, from the ranks of Amazon's an arrow flew from the darkness. A silent room that was punctuated by the low whistle of the arrow shaft splitting the air.

Diana saw the arrow, but even with her godly gifts, she couldn't get there fast enough. She saw as the arrow struck Will in the chest.

"NO!" Diana yelled.

"AGHHH! She Dies!"

Amazons started to move. Swords were drawn. More arrows released. Three more stuck Will, it wasn't enough to stop the thin blade slide through the queen's neck like warm butter.

Hippolyta's eyes widened and a wet gasp escaped her throat as she saw her daughter running towards her.

"MOTHER!"

Diana saw red as she dove towards the pair, the first one to reach them. She remembered her hands connecting with Will's clothes, saw the first few punches connect to his skull as he screamed and groaned in pain. Tears mingled with blood and eventually Diana could no longer recognize the twitching mass below her that was once a living man.

She punched and struck until she was starting to feel the marble floor start to crack where Will's face had once been.

A hand fell on her shoulder. Both a sympathetic gesture, and a command to stop. Diana looked through the fog of her brain and saw Phillipus looking down on her, tears of her own in her eyes as well.

Diana hadn't said a word, only crawling over the granite. Broken sobs racked her body as she got back to her mother's body, blood was flowing freely from her lacerated neck, it was moving along the edges of the tiles like a red labyrinth flood. It was so dark. So Red.

The once innocent princess took her mother's body in her lap and sat, cried, and cursed her own stupidity.

"It's my fault, I did this to you." She whispered to herself and her mother's body, Hippolyta's eyes still opened and lifelessly gazing up towards the painted ceilings. It seemed like ages passed, and when Diana looked up-the princess was gone. Sadness no longer filled her eyes. The Amazons had a new queen, and hate had filled the windows to her soul.

"Ready the ships…."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Bruce was staring at the makeshift campfire, they had found a cave in the hills that was shielded from view, with trees all around, and a deep enough hole to be dry and safe. After making sure a bear or something wasn't already taking up residence in the abode, the party had gone to work setting up a temporary stay.

Currently, their group consisted of himself, Queen Diana, Pleione, John the slave, a guard who had helped them escape, Thea, and the owner of the stables where they had successfully found horses to leave the city. They had started off with 20 amazons helping from the Coliseum, Hades' armies proved formidable though, now they were all that were left.

Oh and of course the two random children they had recovered from one of the ruined buildings. They were both around 12/13, a boy and a girl. The girl was refusing to speak yet but the boy claimed to be a slave for the girl's family, he said his name was Chase, and her name was Alra, but his number was 12077-B. Bruce chose to call him Chase.

Everyone was asleep now though. Except himself and Pleione, she was at the mouth of the cave on watch for enemies, while he watched over the group inside.

It had been two days since they had left the city. Two days since Diana had woken up, everyone had been watching over her with concern as she moaned, raged with fever, went cold and clammy, and repeated the cycle. He had to admit, even he was taken aback seeing her like that. He guessed the wounds from an immortal greek Deity's weapons would do that to you though.

Bruce internally chastised himself, what was he thinking? He could have escaped on his own, he didn't owe these people anything, he didn't need to save her. Now he was stuck with this merry band of misfits. Great.

His face looked dark in the firelight as he came to the same conclusion for the millionth time, he remembered the look on her face when she almost killed him, the confusion. The hurt. He knew the look from hundreds of broken Gotham victims and even from himself. It had shattered his heart and he knew he couldn't leave her behind.

He was so lost in thought, he didn't even realize the (former)Amazon queen looking at him through freshly opened eyes.

He heard the soft voice speak though, "Bruce…?"

Bruce turned suddenly, looking down at Diana, a rush of relief going through him. She was finally awake. He put a finger to his lips as he gestured to the others sleeping, the proceeding to whisper to her.

"Hey, Princess, how are you feeling?"

It took her a few moments to form thoughts, "Body hurts…..mouth, dry…"

Without a word, Bruce pulled out a waterskin and slowly gave her a little drink.

"Thanks *cough*...what happened, where, where are we?"

"Some cave on the outskirts of the foothills. We couldn't go far with your condition."

Diana's eyebrows furrowed in disdain, "I'm fine you stupid man."

Bruce rolled his eyes, yeah she was gonna be alright. He tightened his lips in a thin line though, "Diana….you were out for two days."

The queen's eyes shot open wide, the memories of her injuries and the events at the coliseum truly hitting her again, "WHAT? I….I...I need to go back, I need to help them. They need me!"

The queen tried to move but could barely sit up without pain surging through her body.

"Whoa, whoa princess…" Bruce put his hands on her shoulders steadying her as she sat up, "You're in no condition to do anything but recover."

"It doesn't matter, my people need me," She had a desperate look in her eyes, "I can't leave them!"

"Diana, the city is gone, it was razed. Anyone who got out has already done so, anyone else ..." Bruce stopped talking, his silence a clear indicator of what it meant.

Diana shook her head in denial, "No it can't be…" As she tried to stand she fell again, straight onto her back."

Bruce swore, "Dammit, stop moving," he helped her sit back up and pointed towards the mouth of the cave, "See that orange glow in the night sky? That's the city...it's been burning since before we even got out."

As the queen looked, reality seemed to hit her and Bruce thought she looked very small, like she was pulling her soul deep into her, an action he had taken before.

"No, no, no nononononono." tears simmered at the edges of her eyes.

They had both been quiet, trying not to wake anyone up, and this quiet crisis seemed to affect Bruce much deeper than any anger and yelling ever could.

On impulse, he pulled the broken queen into a hug. Diana responded, her body not even caring who it was as she received a shoulder to cry on for the first time in what felt like a millenia. She cried quietly, the emotions of the last few weeks taking over, finally needing release.

Eventually, she cried herself back to sleep, her strength already completely spent. Bruce was grateful, he had a feeling that if her thoughts cleared up more, he would have been back on the receiving end of insults for daring to comfort her. He was even surprised by the amount of emotion he had just seen, but he knew she wasn't herself, injuries, confusion. Bruce figured the next time she woke up she'd be a bit less open. Funny, he was used to being the closed off one.

As he looked at the people around the fire now though he realized, he was the one without anything to lose here, just his life. No Alfred, robins, friends, rogues. In a way it was freeing.

Another hour passed before we woke up John to take over his spot by the fire, then he trudged to the front of the cave to take over for Pleione.

The Amazon was the first to speak.

"I heard the queen wake…"

"Yeah?"

"A few weeks ago I'm sure you'd be dead for talking to her as you just did."

"A few weeks ago I'm sure she would have been the one to do it."

Bruce grimaced as he looked out at the burning city in the distance, "A lot has changed these last few days, for her and every Amazon."

Pleione raised an eyebrow, "And for you?"

Bruce shrugged his shoulders, "I've been surviving since I arrived here, I guess that hasn't really changed, though I never figured I'd end up in a place like this."

Silence fell between them for a few moments. It was comfortable, but Bruce could tell the Amazon had something on her mind.

Finally, she spoke, "Why did you save her, what is she to you?"

Bruce had been thinking of these very questions, but to hear them verbalised in air from an outside source still surprised him, he tightened his jaw, glancing back over his shoulder and seeing the queen's outline drenched in firelight that flickered and danced.

"I….I don't know. I'm sure you've guessed that I knew a version of her from my world."

Pleione nodded, "how else would you have known her name and family history directly after your capture."

Bruce nodded, "She was...a teammate. A friend. From the moment she arrived, she was pure."

Pleione raised an eyebrow, remembering the countless battles and bloodlust she had seen in her queen.

Bruce must've guessed her thoughts because he chuckled, "Don't worry though she was definitely a warrior. Strength and speed to match the most powerful heroes and villains, but a heart of gold that could put a smile back on a child who had just lost their family."

Bruce sighed, a small smile, a ghost on his lips, "...She showed me, her and other heroes, that justice didn't have to come from the dark, and it wasn't a path I had to walk alone."

Pleione couldn't help herself, "Are you sure she was just a friend?" A suggestive look on her face, she paused though, "You know that Diana and this one are two different people though, right?"

Bruce shook his head, a sad smile on his face, "Definitely different, but...I've seen a bit behind the mask...glimpses of the same person I knew before. Can we really change who we are in our souls?"

Pleione just shrugged, no answer available.

Bruce laughed, "I sound like the old men I used to train under…Get some rest Pleione, only a few hours till daybreak. We'll need your strength."

The amazon gave a small nod and put a hand on Bruce's shoulder. A simple show of respect and thanks.

"Hey," she said as she started to get up, "For what it's worth, I think she's just as confused about you as you are about her. In all my years...I've never seen her spare an enemy. Not until you."

Bruce stayed quiet, only offering a small nod as he kept his lookout towards the orange sky.

The night resumed it's quiet, and neither Bruce, nor Pleione, noticed that although the Amazon queen was too weak to move or talk, she was conscious, and every word of their conversation hung in the front of her mind as sleep took her once more into the dark.

End of Chapter 12. This story is already my longest one and a big thanks to everyone who reads, reviews, and keeps it alive. I hope you enjoy this break from the action, and a look at more of both Diana's and Bruce's internal turmoil. Thanks!