The Purple Joker's body collapsed off the roof of the squad car with a thud. Life drained from his face as his plum-skinned body hit the dirt. It was if his soul was plucked right out and placed elsewhere. With no will to be enacted on, the pheromones lost their effect on the swarm of police. One by one, they had the ability to finally lower their guns. Fear was replaced by an overwhelming sense of relief.

Commissioner Gordon looked over at the Joker's body. One of the city's worst nightmares, the plague upon all of Goth's Kitchen's free minds, snuffed out just like that. "Well, I'll be damned. It's over," he said before pulling out his lighter, and lighting up another cigarette. Death's Head had reared towards Paxton for a long time. The Joker nearly forcing him to do it himself was just at the bottom of a very long list of close calls. But seeing the clown's corpse was like taking a 50-pound weight off his shoulders.

Lorna was in stunned silence after her kill. For a moment, she felt Jack Kilgrave's soul dissipate from his mortal coil. It was an eerie feeling. Taking her first life made everything else around her seem so meaningless. It wasn't euphoria, or fear, certainly not regret, she just felt numb.

The Polar Blade then looked around to see dozens of eyes on her. She, some random drifter, had slain the Clown Puppeteer of Crime. There was some dark humor in the anticlimax of the woman who killed him had never interacted with him at all. The man who had harmed tens of thousands, orchestrated the deaths of hundreds, and was made the archnemesis of at least four different people, killed by an aloof out-of-towner whom he had never done anything to. And just like that, she became the hero of Goth's Kitchen.

Pupil had put himself between her and the crowd, planting his staff in the ground to establish some kind of boundary, "Give her some space, officers. Just get inside and deal with the people who actually need help, okay?" Tim felt comfortable ordering the cops around, and he wanted to give her the time and space to process what she'd just done. Personally, he was totally okay with her killing Joker, but was aware of the effect of what she did had on…just about everything. As he spoke, the policemen dispersed and filed inside the Asylum to check on the inmates who were thrown into their cells. Additionally, they would run an inventory of every inmate who was still inside. He turned his attention back to the woman of the hour, "Lorna, you good?"

Lorna gave her actions deep thought. This was the second mass of people she'd avenged. This was the second time she took the responsibility of providing justice for others. But this was the first time she truly took a life. Morb Death Man wasn't alive, it was an undead monster. But this, no matter how sinister, was a human man. She believed so much in having to do what others lacked the drive or will to do.

That sense of duty and commitment to a mission was instilled in her by her parents. But they taught her about how to cope with how much fully committing to said mission changes you. She could have stopped Joker any other way, but she didn't. She chose to kill him. If he lived, that was just leaving fate open for him to hurt more people. She did the right thing. It's what her father would've wanted her to do in this situation, right?

The Blind Bat was stunned as he heard the Purple Joker's heart stop beating. A man he had fought against for the better part of 20 years was gone. All the people who he had struck terror into could now sleep easy. The man who crippled Karen, enslaved Joan, murdered Jason, was dead. And he didn't have to be the one to do it. The biggest emotion he felt in the moment was catharsis.

But then the rest of it sunk in. Lorna had killed someone. He was expressly adamant that she didn't. The Bat had believed so heavily in redemption of the soul, and that no one was beyond it. Did he believe that applied to even someone as monstrous as the Purple Joker? No. But it shouldn't be anyone's call to strip away that chance. He had let off Lorna once on a technicality, but he couldn't just let this go.

He was ready to blow up at her, unleash righteous fury for breaking his one rule. He was furious that she chose to be a murderer. The Blind Bat was prepared to bring down the hammer of justice on her, but then he took one long listen to her. He could hear her heart skipping beats, smell the adrenaline pumping through her, he could feel her fear. She had presented herself as a stoic warrior, unafraid to enact her own brutal form of justice to spite the efforts of the League. But she was still just a kid who lost her father. She loved her father, and wanted to do everything she could to do right by him. He empathized with that.

Instead of acting with rage, he chose compassion, "They'll be able to go home to their families tonight. Innocent people can rest easy knowing that he won't be able to control anyone ever again." The Bat placed a hand on Lorna's cloaked shoulder. He was trying to see the bright side to Joker's death, morbid as that was.

Lorna shuddered, "I did what I had to, right? I couldn't stand by and let him get away."

The Bat couldn't lie to her, "You made a choice on how to stop him. I'm not going to tell you if it was right or wrong. I'm just going to say that you'll have to live with it."

Lorna's wavering expression hardened in response to his last remark, "Do you live with how many suffered from you letting him live?" She pulled away from him in reactionary anger.

The Bat was taken aback, but responded firmly, "Yes, every day. But it's not my place to play judge, jury, and executioner."

"It's not your place, I bet your lot says that constantly," Lorna said with anger. "You turned this Asylum into a prison where you can monitor and "rehabilitate" your enemies, just for them to break out and repeat the cycles of tragedy! All of it is to feed your need for control, for Order!" Surprisingly, she was the one who did the blowing up. She also ended up mirroring the phrases that Mr. Scary said to her.

"The Asylum does a lot of good for a lot of people, they all deserve a shot at bettering themselves," the Blind Bat asserted firmly.

Lorna continued to rant. "But when you can finally end it, to finally change the world for the better, you stop because it's "not your place"! You don't care about helping the world, you and your League just care about keeping yourselves in power as our gods!"

"We aren't gods, no matter how your father painted us as such to you," the Bat dissented, "Mankind has to find its own way into the light, we're just here to keep them on the right path."

Lorna sneered at his platitude, "But they never take the right path, do they? Otherwise, your precious justice system would've executed the Purple Joker ten years ago. Injustice begets injustice one after another because you let it fester. And anytime things look like they're going to change, you quash it like the tyrants you are. You're avatars of the Status Quo! That's what Nabu turned my father into, but you all became it by yourselves." She held out her hand and called her sword back. She then promptly put it back in its sheath.

"Lorna, there is so much more to what we do that you don't understand," Pupil chimed in, trying to get her to see the light.

"I understand enough to know that I don't want anything to do with you or your Knights. My father made me think you were different than the rest, but you're the same, just smaller," Lorna concluded. She looked up to the sky and raised her steel-toed boots into the air, shooting off into the air and away from the Asylum.

Bullock walked up to the Blind Bat and Pupil, gazing up at the sky as the Polar Blade fled north. "Eh, shame she didn't stick around. I woulda bought the broad a drink for what she did. New friend of yours, Bats?" he asked callously with a sly smirk.

The Bat remained stoic in response, still processing everything Lorna had told him, "No. This was a one-time operation. Our partnership is effectively over," he answered with disappointment.

"Pupil, go back inside and take point on patient evacuation. Damages sustained to the Asylum will keep it uninhabitable for a while." The Bat instructed, then walking past Bullock to the squad car and Joker's corpse. He took slow, staggered steps. His body was left bruised and battered from the previous battles.

The Blind Bat looked down at the dead body of the Purple Joker. Mulberry-shaded blood pooled into the damp grass. He could instantly smell the stench of death coming off the body more potently than anyone else. The silence and stillness that emanated from Joker's body was almost unsettling. This was once one of his most heinous enemies, a nigh immortal beast of terror who plagued his fair city for almost half his life. Now all that remained was this.

Matthew Wayne hated this man. He took joy in the fact he could never harm another human being again. But despite this, he still felt he owed Joker his last rites. Matt bent down and flipped the body over, so that his face would face the heavens. Only in death, did he finally lose his grin. He reached into a pocket of his utility belt to grab what other than a crucifix. Matt closed the corpse's eyes with his fingers, "May He have mercy on your soul, but let his judgement be fair," he whispered into the dead man's ear as he clutched the cross in his hand. He felt as if he had a moral obligation as a man of God to do this and felt that this would bring peace to the both of them.

He then directed his attention to the jester in the police car. The Bat limped to the passenger door, opening it up to let Joan Quinzel out. He took her hand, brought her out of Joker's shadow, and into the light.

Joan took a series of deep breaths, coping with the gravity of everything she'd gone through. She peeled the domino mask off her eyes, pulled her harlequin hood off her head, and wiped away the white makeup caked on her face. She looked into the rear-view mirror of the squad car, finally seeing her true face after who knows how long. Quinzel broke down into tears, overwhelmed knowing she was finally free. The Blind Bat said nothing, all he did was comfort her with a hug.


About an hour later, the remaining emergency services arrived to handle the rest of the wreckage of the Asylum. Caged Tiger and Dragon Fist received their payment for their help and went on their way. Nightfog was revived and quickly fled the scene to return to the necessary casework he was supposed to be doing in Matt's stead. Pupil had also left at this point as well. At his age, he had college classes to attend. Blind Bat was the only remaining hero at the Asylum, now propped up against Pupil's staff.

When the Bat had learned Mr. Scary had fled the scene, he was frustrated. He didn't want any of his enemies to escape and potentially wreak havoc. But despite that, if him getting away meant the Purple Joker not, it was a tad easier to accept. Scary could be handled. He was hardly within his Top 10 greatest threats to Goth's Kitchen. But as of today, his #1 was dead, #2 was depowered, and #6 and #8 were reformed. All things considered; things could've been a lot worse than his #9 escaping to work for his #10.

As for the inmates, most of them were brought to other hospitals for observation and simple treatment. Those with powers were observed under much higher security. To the Bat's dismay, SHIELD had showed up to contain many of the super-abled patients. The Bat did not appreciate the technology used in the power dampening collars, understanding them to induce a non-negligible level of pain in their wearers. While he understood their use in the hardened prisoners at Bell Raft, they were not befitting of the psychologically damaged patients of Rykers.

Wilson Bane and Victor Bullseye were transported to Black Sea Penitentiary, a prison for those of less than super caliber. With Bane fully purged of his dependency on venom, that was all he was. The Purple Joker's corpse and the dissolved, yet alive remains of Claymeleon were kept in a SHIELD facility for proper containment. Quinzel and Isely were the only remaining patients who required special transport. The terms of which the Bat was working with Agent Phil Faraday on.

"They'll be well taken care of Mister... uh...Bat. The circumstances surrounding them are much different, and will not be treated as hostile," Faraday promised with a kind smile on his face. Despite SHIELD's failures with Belle Raft, Phil was intent on doing the right thing now.

"Forgive me for not giving you my utmost confidence, but I care a great deal for every patient you've taken under your care. If I gain any inkling that they are being mistreated, I will bring the full force of the law upon you," the Bat promised, almost slipping into his Matthew Wayne voice.

"Ah yes, the League's retainer at Wayne, Grayson, and Gordon. I'd hate to incur his wrath. I saw what their guys did to the Osborn Consortium. That Wayne's got the devil in him," Phil replied with a nervous chuckle.

The Bat smirked, "Yes. He does." He moved past Faraday to check on both Joan and Ivy in an armored SHIELD truck. Unlike the rest of the Ryker's inmates, they were neither restrained nor depowered, "I'm trusting you both to cooperate with them. If you play things right, and you'll be able to get out this living normal lives, like you deserve."

"That's the hope," Ivy was the first to respond, "But, I think we have a long road to recovery ahead of us. But Bats, thanks for always staying in our corner." After tangling with Purple Joker, Ivy had to reexamine her relationship with her host alter. She was created within Maria's mind to protect her, but she was made as an angry, violent person with a hatred for humanity in favor of plants instead. But through Maria's healing, the relationship they had now, was that of which Ivy would eventually no longer need to exist. The fear of disappearing is what made her lash out in the Asylum. Nobody fully understood this besides Ivy and Maria themselves, but they knew that they had to properly establish the relationship between the two of them before they could properly rejoin society.

Meanwhile, Joan was still mainly still mentally reeling from all the trauma she had faced under Joker's control. While she would be cleared of any of the crimes she committed under his control, it would be a very long time before she could truly come back to the world. "Yeah…thanks a lot Bats," she said in a very monotone, sullen voice. Her feelings towards the Blind Bat were very complicated. While he was always sympathetic to her plight, and it seemed like he tried a lot to help, the fact he had consistently spared her tormentor left a sour taste in her mouth. Her demeanor became very sour and sullen overall, given how much the world around her seemingly perpetuated what had happened to her. But perhaps over time, she could eventually heal.

After their exchanges ceased, Faraday shut the back of the truck. "We'll be in touch, Mister Bat. I hope we can maintain a positive and professional relationship," he said optimistically before hopping into the front of the truck.

"As do I, Agent," the Bat responded sternly. He read Faraday as an honest man, but he still had trouble trusting the government agent. But at least he seemed like he was trying to make change for the better.


As the SHIELD trucks drove off, the Bat felt a sense of melancholy. The Asylum he spent much of his work as both the Blind Bat and Matthew Wayne to reform and improve was in shambles. As a result, he put those he spent so long fighting in the hands of a government agency he didn't fully trust, but he was left no other option. He was worried about what would happen to them, especially to Maria/Ivy and Joan. But their fates were currently out of his control, and that lack of control sickened him. In addition to sickness, he also felt a very large deal of pain from his injuries. While he maintained stoicism and strength for everyone else, he did need some medical attention. He couldn't afford for anyone from Goth's Kitchen to see him weak.

In this turbulent moment, he put his finger to his earpiece beneath his cowl, tapping into the LMI frequency. "Stark, this is Blind Bat, beam me up," he requested wearily. Just like that, his body dematerialized where he stood, and the Blind Bat no longer stood on this planet.

Seconds later, he returned to existence atop the center of the Watchtower Meeting Table. He felt a sense of peace on the Watchtower. His senses gave him a vast awareness of everything around him. He could hear so much going on around him from up to miles away. As a child it was deafening, but he learned to control it. But in space, there wasn't anything beyond the walls of the station. At least in one sense, the Bat could relax.

To the Bat's surprise, he didn't sense Cyberman helming the controls. Diana was at the monitors, intent on giving Stark some time away from the computers. She was in shock to see the Blind Bat look so battle-damaged. "Great Hera, Matt, are you alright?!" Diana quickly ran up to the table and guided him down. She sat him down in his chair and pulled back his cowl. His face was bloody and bruised. She then began trying to tend to his wounds. Diana carried bandages in her pack, so she began patching up some of the most egregious wounds visible through his suit.

Matt sank into his chair, letting out a sigh of relief that he could finally sit down. "I'm fine, Diana. Please calm down," he assured, placing his hand on her arm. He hated seeing her too stressed given how much she did already for the League. "Just call Don, and he'll fix me up. I'm stable for now, I'm just really, really tired."

Diana sighed and shook her head, "You look like you were crushed by Mt. Olympus, what happened today? Is the Asylum secure?" She was aware of the compassion Matt tried to show his villains. It was one of the things she respected the most about him, and where they shared the most moral common ground. She knew how important its security to continue reforming its inmates was to him.

"The Asylum's closed for reconstruction. Faraday's taking care of the patients. I hope we can trust him, but it was all I could do on such short notice," Matt answered regretfully. "Bane's no longer dependent on venom, so he never needs to touch a drop of the stuff ever again. Which means he can never do this to me again."

Diana listened as she sent a ping to Thunderman's card to call him to the tower as soon as she was available. She then sat down in the chair next to him and held out her hand. She called forth a water bottle from the mess hall. Hydrokinesis had its perks. Once it landed in her hand, she passed it on to Matt. "What about Quinzel and Kilgrave? I know they were the largest concerns."

Matt let out a heavy sigh before cracking open the water bottle and taking a big gulp. "Quinzel's good. She's cured, actually. I didn't think that would ever happen. Although it makes sense how the Fear Toxin reawakened her rational mind so it could experience terror, thus snapping her out of her trance," he answered, falling back on his detective insight to avoid repeating the other news. After a long pause, he continued, "As for Purple Joker…he's dead."

Diana was taken aback, "Matt, you didn't," she rashly assumed the worst at first. She knew how much his code kept him from taking a life. She didn't fully agree with it, but she knew his code made him who he was. Regardless, she was a bit relieved to know someone as dangerous as him was dead.

"No, Diana, of course not. I didn't kill him. Neither did Paxton, Tim, Luke, Richard, not even Joan after she was free. Someone else did. That's the other thing I should tell you," Matt responded, prepared to finally tell the League about Lorna.

Before he could begin, the Watchtower teleporter whirred, and with a flash of light, Thunderman appeared. "Diana, I got the alert. Sorry for the wait, I was dealing with-Od-El's Beard!" His attention was diverted to see the Bat covered in bandages and a much redder costume. "Matt, how much of that is yours?" Thor asked, referring to the blood.

Matt simply shrugged, "I can't really say for sure, Don," he answered waving his hand in front of his own eyes. He called Thunderman by his human name, that's how he preferred to see him.

"Thor, can you use your magic and heal him? We're talking about something important," Diana requested. She referred to Thunderman by his Asgardian name, as she preferred to see him as a god like her.

"Yes, of course. This looks like a job for Thunderman," he said jovially as he stepped off the teleportation pad. He referred to himself by his hero name, as that was how he preferred to see himself, at least in costume.

Thunderman stepped in between Matt and Diana and raised his hammer to the Bat's chest, "Now, my friend, you're going to feel a little shock," he said with a hearty chuckle.

"Just do it, Donald," Matt ordered dryly. This was not a situation he was unfamiliar with, that, alongside the faux warning he'd give every time.

"Fine, fine. Clear," Thunderman then sent a burst of magic lightning through the Blind Bat's badly broken body. Thor-El of Asgard was born to be the God of Tomorrow, meant to bring a new age of prosperity and light to the universe. His powers in turn, alongside everything else he could do, could then bring tomorrow to others. In this context, this meant he accelerated Matt's healing to an extremely fast rate.

His body turned into what he would have been a week from now, recovered from today's injuries. The lightning itself also cleaned and mended the Bat's costume, as the Bat would have done so within the week anyway. This was an ability that Dr. Donald Kent would use sometimes in his medical practice to expedite some processes, but otherwise he was still a very competent doctor without his powers, and he operated thusly.

Matt coughed a little after he was magically fried back to health, "Thank you, Donald."

"You're welcome, Matthew. Though I should ask to determine whether this gets added towards your life debts. What are we on for you now, 39?" Thunderman had known the Blind Bat a few years longer than the rest of the League and had worked together far more often in the past. This led to Thor having to save Matt's life far more often.

Matt rolled his eyes in response, "If we're counting this, I'm counting me taking Mannheim's crowbar," he negotiated with a light smirk. Thunderman was always the one to ease the tension between the harder parts of the job. But they had to get back to business. Matt had to reveal his failed pet project to his teammates.

Diana placed a hand on Thor's shoulder, "There are other matters we must discuss, Thor. Anyway, if you didn't do it, who did kill the Purple Joker?" she asked sternly to Matt.

Thor's expression turned shocked, "What? That bastard's finally dead? That's great!"

"It has come to my attention that the Fatal Compass had a third daughter. Her name is Lorna Toru, she's Japanese. I had encountered her once before last night, starting a week ago. She was the attempted robber of the Helm of Iscariot. In hopes of keeping an eye on her, I brought her along to help guard the Asylum. In turn, she was the one who killed Jack Kilgrave," Matt explained with a clinical monotone.

Thor almost seemed betrayed at this reveal. He knew the Bat kept a lot of secrets, but for how long they'd known each other, to keep something as important as this was shocking. "Why didn't you tell us about this? Jessica deserves to know she still had family out there!" After his tumultuous history with his brother, disappearing family was a touchy subject for him. Regardless, he still trusted that his friend had his reasons and held his judgement for now.

"She didn't want to be a part of this life. She tried robbing the history museum because she wanted to keep her father's helm from corrupting anybody else. Lorna resents us for taking her parents from her," the Bat answered as he reaffixed his cowl to his face. "Her mother died when Erik wasn't there to protect them, and he died protecting us. I was honoring her request, hoping she would leave quietly after I took the help. Evidently, I was wrong."

Diana let out a small "Hm," as she watched Matt hide himself behind his mask again. "I understand what you were trying to do. If you truly wanted to give her a quiet exit, I would respect that. But why did you take her to the Asylum? Why did you bring her closer to our world?" She was disappointed in Matt. A lot of things had disappointed her recently. She started to resent how much this job lent to that feeling.

"She had just dispatched a supervillain who had come to Goth's Kitchen from her home. She did it without killing him or his goons. I knew she hated the kind of work we do because of how it consumed her father. I was hoping that by showing her the Asylum, she'd see the other side of our work. I wanted her to see that not all we do boils down to violence, but protection. If I could have gotten her to see the light, then I would've shown her to the League," the Bat answered honestly. He really did want to mold Lorna into a true hero. He wanted to bring her up to his standards before giving her a spot in the League.

"What can she do, how did she do it, and where is she now?" Thor had asked in succession. He was frustrated with his friend, but he realized his intentions were mostly pure. The God of Tomorrow knew how the Dark Knight Without Fear thought. He made a bad call, but it was to try and make the League stronger. He didn't like it, but after hearing his reasoning, it at least felt more in character.

"She doesn't seem to possess any mystical powers beyond her father's signature spell: Magnesis. She couples it with a katana she calls the "Polar Blade". Whether that name indicates greater magnetic potential, or other abilities, remains unknown to me," the Bat answered, regretfully beginning to play back the memory of the death. "Joker was about to escape, holding several officers at self-gunpoint. I couldn't do anything. She launched the sword at long range with her powers to impale Kilgrave. Despite the wound not seeming immediately lethal, he died near instantly. She then called it back and flew away via steel toes in her boots." The circumstances of how it happened still ate away at him. He was completely at Lorna's mercy to save those lives.

"Metal control is no small feat, having that back on the team would have been handy," Thor commented as he looked down at the metal head of his hammer.

"With someone with that kind of power, and so emotionally volatile, having her on the Watchtower would not have been smart. At least not until you knew she could be trusted," Diana added in, trying her best to rationalize his actions. She still cared a great deal about Matt, despite his flaws.

But the secretive loner charade had gotten old. "You still should have told us. Not trusting us with this information makes the team weaker. Hiding behind your part-timer status only gives you so much. And now she's who knows where, what are we supposed to do with her?" Diana asked in frustration.

"Actually, we do know where she is," the Blind Bat interjected. He pulled a small device from his utility belt. "I placed a tracker on her the night before. Sybil has her location via satellite, which I get updates on via this."

Thor let out a dry chuckle, "Of course you did. One of your oldest damn tricks."

Diana looked at the device on the table, "How do you suggest we handle her then? Since you've been so keen on doing all of this yourself."

Matt sighed, he deserved that remark, but it hit like a slap to the face. "We keep our distance, but we monitor her intently. She can't know we have tabs on her," he then listened as the device gave an updated set of coordinates to where Lorna was at the moment. He recognized the area as near the American Southeast. "I have someone in that area I can call to keep an eye on her."

"What about Jessica, we can't just keep this from her," Thor reminded. He cared a great deal about how this affected her in particular.

"Let's hold off until we get a concrete analysis of her behavior. We don't know whether having them meet will actually be good for her," Matt argued. "I would hate to think that my father was hiding a secret sister from me for 20 years, only for when we meet, she was to hate me on principle."

Matt's response made sense to Thor. He had a point, but this felt too important to keep hidden. "Look Matt, I see where you're coming from, but no. Something like this will get wind eventually, and we can't let the rest of the team be caught unaware."

Diana didn't like it; she hated the thought of lying to her. "Jessica deserves to at least know she exists. It's going to blow up in our faces if we never tell her, and she finds out we hid it. She deserves the truth above all else."

Matt grumbled at the thought, but he knew she was right. "Fine. But I'm telling her, myself." He was planning to do that on his own terms.

"No, you're not," Thor quickly shot down, "She needs someone with a bit more…tact." He then walked over to the console, "And to make sure she actually does find out, and can absorb this knowledge, I'm telling her now." He punched in some coordinates and stood onto the teleportation pad. Thor didn't have the most faith in Matt on this. He loved the guy like a brother, but Matt was a brother who made some aggravating choices.

Matt was visibly annoyed at this responsibility being usurped. Thor responded to this with a playful slap on the back, "Chin up, my friend. You need not carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. That's why we're here," he assured him with a smile. "You screwed up, but you yielded before things got too bad. Just let us play to our strengths, you play to yours, and everything will turn out fine."

"Probably for the best, be careful, Thor," Diana warned. "She's fragile."

"You think so little of me, Lady Di," Thor said with a smile as he was awash with the light of the teleporter, "In comparison to everything I've dealt with my family, this will be a cakewalk to untangle," And just like that, Thunderman was gone.


Silence persisted in the Watchtower for a minute or so. The Blind Bat sat quietly as he stewed in the chewing out, he'd just received. He did what he thought was the honorable thing at the time, but Diana was right. He wanted to make the LMI stronger, but his constant desire to keep everything on himself made the team weaker. "I'm sorry."

Diana let out an exasperated sigh. She put a hand to her forehead, clasping her golden tiara. "I'm tired, Matt." She let it out as if she'd been holding in that truth for over a thousand years.

Matt slouched in his chair, "Look, I know I made a bad call, but I really did want to do good for everyone," he was quick to defend himself. In a split moment, he was afraid of how Diana was going to react. He was afraid of a god's wrath.

"Not with you, just…this. This job, this life, it's draining." Diana's was worn. The years of fighting in man's world had aged her more than the five millennia she spent growing up on Themyscrattilan. The guilt of failing Kamala was just the straw that finally broke her. "We dedicated ourselves to the mission of ensuring justice and peace for the good people of this world. The LMI has to be the guiding symbol to inspire that within them. But to be that, all the time, for them is so much pressure. We have to be these perfect paragons of virtue, and it eats away at you."

Matt gave a sympathetic look, "I know the weight of that burden all too well."

Diana laughed in spite of herself, "'Steban told me something about a week ago. He said that he didn't think he had control over his life. Do you think any of us do?" She asked, sounding like she was about to crack.

"We don't walk this path by choice, it calls us to do what we do. We fight for those who can't, whatever it takes, no matter the cost," Matt replied sagely. His mission had all but consumed his life. Today made him realize that his best days were behind him. The Blind Bat was starting to slow down as he felt the sands of time crash down around him.

"It's not the same for me," Diana explained, "You, Thor, Sarge, Stark, all of you have a life outside of being a hero. You have people to go back to when your day is done. I don't, my life is far too complicated for that. All I do, every day is clean up messes caused by criminals, deal with SHIELD's crap against my sisterhood, and clean up their messes. I can't go home because anytime I do, there's just another catastrophe I'll just have to deal with because my family is full of Gods!" She gripped the base of her skull, pulling at her hair.

"Diana, you're one of the strongest people I know," the Bat praised. "You have given so much to this world. You're a god, with your power, you could have done anything. But you stand by the realm of men as a guardian. I am honored to fight alongside you." He had trouble sometimes seeing past her status, leading to tangents like that.

The Inhuman Amazon sighed; she didn't love being worshipped like Thor did. "That's the thing, though. Despite my time in man's world, I have hardly learned to understand what it means to be human. I came to America to help with the war. Agent Trevor showed me why they were worth fighting for, but all I did was fight."

Diana thought back to her first years in man's world. War was hell for most, but her and the Marvelous Society of America eased the burden by handling the threats the Allied forces could not. Her eyes displayed horror at the things she saw during her time in Europe. "I was there when we found Erik. We were in awe when we saw that hellish place was liberated by a child. Gods of the universe far beyond my own had chosen him to enact divine Order, but they robbed him of living a normal life. I should have stuck around after the war, to keep an eye on him. He probably wouldn't have been so consumed by the Helm's power if he had another god in his corner," she explained with deep regret.

She'd told stories about the war before, but she never opened up about the darkness she faced there. As for Fate, she regretted essentially abandoning him when he likely would've needed her help most. The rest of the MSA were there to guide Erik, but Diana believed she could have done more.

"That wasn't your fault, Diana. Erik had others watching over him, too. He wasn't your sole responsibility," Matt consoled, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"After losing Ororo, Alan, and then Sarge, I couldn't handle witnessing more friends die. So, before I could actually live and appreciate the world I swore to protect, I went home. I wasted almost 70 years there before I came back. The I.A. Royal Family wasn't the healthiest dynamic," she added with a weary chuckle. "Then the Four found me, and they convinced me to come back to take of a boom of new Amazons, and everything changed. I worked with SHIELD, helped form the League, and went back to doing what I always did: fight."

She glanced at her reflection in her bracelets. It was warped as she gazed upon herself through her armaments. "I've always envied the tranquility humans received from what we did. To know we're watching over them must be very reassuring," she mused with a sad smile, "I've gotten tastes of peace, but never enough to truly enjoy it."

"You've been back for around six years. You couldn't have spent all your time here just as a warrior and an ambassador," Matt assumed.

"It's not like I haven't tried to give myself a life outside of it. Minerva was my brief, but wonderful reprieve from everything else," Diana grieved, "But she got sucked into this life to try and keep up with me. She lost herself to her own god, like father, like daughter. I turned one of the first people I fell in love with since the 40s into my worst enemy. This is a very lonely existence."

Matt then remembered what sparked this discussion: the Fatal Compass's daughter, "Lorna said she hated us because we perpetuate the cycle of violence. We don't solve the problems with the world. We only clean up the messes so they can be made all over again by someone else. Avatars of the Status Quo, she called us."

"Do you think she's right? I certainly feel like we're in a rut," Diana asked, looking past Matt through the windows to see the Earth below them. "Does anything we do really matter?"

"It's not our job to force the world into changing. All we can do is keep it on course so humanity can find its own way," Matt answered honestly. While it was constantly tested, he still had faith they'd turn out right eventually.

"How do you trust that it'll all be worth it in the end?" Diana asked again.

"You have your gods, I have mine," Matt answered with a solemn smile.

Letting all of this out at once was very cathartic for Diana. The merits of their job meant she didn't have ample opportunity to let her feelings out. She looked across the table at the Matthew Wayne. As the Blind Bat, he was strong, commanding, and he carried himself with the weight of the world on his shoulders. But beneath the cape and cowl, Diana saw a man blessed with a deep compassion, respect, and honor for all life. He was a man who she'd spent years growing to respect and admire. The two of them understood each other in a way the others didn't. The Sergeant had joked in the past how the two looked at each other, but that's all they were: jokes. But maybe the soldier had more insight than that.

Diana reached her hand to Matt's across the table, "Have you ever wanted to go back to being one of them, even just for a little bit?"

"All the time," Matt answered as he was conflicted on what to do next. God knows he wanted to take her hand. She was compassionate, wise, and beautiful beyond compare. Although the latter didn't quite mean as much to him. But the Blind Bat didn't think that a relationship would work out for people like them. Letting raw emotions get in the way of protecting the world could lead to disastrous impacts.

But maybe Diana was right. Maybe they both needed to have something outside of their work which they could retreat to. For now, Goth's Kitchen was free of all the viruses which plagued it. He had one less burden to bear, and this could be his reward for all his hard work. If he could be there for Diana, to show her how to be human, maybe he could stop himself from seeing her as a god and stop subtly fearing her.

Matt took Diana's hand, giving it an affectionate squeeze, but then, he let go. "But there's a lot going on right now. Luthorson is planning something big, SHIELD is becoming ever more invasive, and Lorna is a bit of a wild card. I'm not saying no, I do want this, but not now. The world's not ready for us yet."

Diana put her hand back in her lap. She was disappointed for sure, but she put on a smile despite it. It was the same manufactured grin she'd wear for the people she saved so they'd believe everything was going to be okay. "I understand, our time will come eventually," she said through gritted teeth. Matt could even hear the strain in her facial expression.

"That said, if you ever need someone to talk to, you'll have someone who'll listen," the Bat had added, reaching a half-measure for now. He didn't believe he could handle a relationship, nor did he feel he deserved one with someone like Diana. This was something he could control. He could still accomplish what he wanted with her this way, while also giving her what she wanted. That was how he saw it at least, cold and calculating as it was.

Diana was disappointed. She felt that time wouldn't be anytime soon. Regardless, she was hopeful that she'd one day see…

The Calm After the Storm