Chapter 10

Diana's Mind; September 5th, 06:10 EST

Bruce instinctively turned over in his sleep, automatically reaching out for his wife. The problem was that she wasn't there. His brow furrowed as his lips curved into a frown of disappointment and curiosity, his fingers groping the darkness for someone who was not there.

With a sigh, he opened his eyes to find Diana standing before one of the bedroom windows dressed in her negligee. Her arms were folded against her chest, a far-off look adorning her face. He flipped the covers back before silently padding his way toward her.

"Diana, what's wrong?" he murmured, his muscular arms slipping around her waist from behind before gently pulling her against his body in a protective embrace. "Are you all right?"

"Yes…no…I don't know," she lamely replied, her confusion more than evident as she searched for answers that were more than elusive.

"What do you mean?" he asked, leaning down to press his warm lips to her bare shoulder.

"Something is wrong, Bruce, and I don't know what it is," she softly said, her voice trembling with emotion.

"How so?" he questioned her, kissing behind her ear.

"It feels like it was just yesterday that I was pregnant with Grayson, and now she's leaving for college next week."

"I know what you mean," he commiserated with her. "One day we're changing diapers and baby-proofing the manor. The next it seems like they're all leaving the nest."

Diana shook her head with a bitter-edged tone in her voice as she spoke. "No, Bruce, it's not like that," she insisted. "This is different. Something is very wrong."

"Diana, you haven't been yourself for months now."

She drew a shuddering breath, releasing it slowly as she struggled to explain what she was feeling. A tear trickled from the corner of her eye, slipping down her cheek. "Not months…years," she tried to tell him. "Time feels…off somehow. I feel like I'm living snippets of my life at a time. There are huge leaps in time that don't make any sense."

"How so?"

Diana turned to face him with a small gasp at the sight of her handsome husband, his jet-black hair peppered with more gray. "You…you're getting older, Bruce."

He chuckled softly as he took her hand in his, bringing it to his lips to kiss. "Diana, I can't help but age," he reminded her. "Just because I'm handing over the mantel of Batman to Dick doesn't mean that I'm going to die tomorrow. I'm still going to be a part of keeping this city safe."

"But you aren't supposed to age," she replied.

"Diana, we both knew going into this relationship that I was going to die someday," he gently reminded her, brushing a curl behind her ear. "It was something that we both agreed was worth the chance of having a life together for as long as we possibly could despite the risks."

"No, Bruce," she insisted, desperation rising inside of her and filling her chest. "My mother gave up her immortality. She transferred it to you."

Bruce frowned as he studied his wife, fear clouding his blue eyes. "Maybe I should take you to the Metro Tower to see J'onn."

Diana reached out her fingers, gently stroking the graying hair at his temples. "When did you start getting so much gray hair? I swear you didn't have it yesterday."

Bruce's brow creased with concern as he placed a hand on her forehead. "Diana, my hair has been graying for months now," he replied. "Maybe someone put a spell on you or something."

"Don't you think I would have remembered something like that?" she nearly cried as fear began to take over. Someone was messing with her or her family. Either way, she was going to get to the bottom of it.

"I don't know," he said. "It could depend on what someone did to you."

"Something is not right here," she snapped, tears beginning to stream down her face. "I'm not going crazy, Bruce. I don't know what it is or what to do about it, but my life is slipping away from me somehow."

"Don't cry, princess," he murmured, kissing away her tears with his lips. "I promise we'll get to the bottom of it one way or another. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

His mouth made its way from her cheek to her lips, kissing her deeply with a love that only seemed to grow stronger over time. She couldn't help but return his kiss, knowing that she'd never love another man in her life no matter what the future held.

He leaned down and picked her up, carrying her back to their bed. He laid her down, climbing on top of her. "I may be getting older, but I can still blow your mind," he softly teased with a smirk.

Diana softly gasped as he removed her negligee, his mouth finding her breast and earning a sharp intake of air from her. Her fingers threaded through his hair, holding him against her chest as she began to lose herself in the flame that he always stirred deep inside of her for him.

His hand slid down her leg to caress her thigh, drawing her knee up and opening her up even more for him. Leaving her breast, he kissed along her throat to her ear, nipping at the lobe before sucking on it. He entered her with a slow, gentle thrust that had her toes curling in anticipation of what was to come.

"I'm never going to let anything happen to you," he murmured in her ear. "I won't lose you, Diana. I love you."

Diana arched her neck as he began to move deep within her, a long, drawn-out moan escaping her lips before responding with a breathless gasp of, "I love you too".

Bruce moved with slow, deliberate strokes, drawing out their mutual pleasure. The passion that burned inside for each other began to grow hotter, smoldering and spreading through their bodies. It was an all-consuming love, something surprisingly tender and gentle.

It was a side of Bruce that he kept hidden from most people, but she had been more than thrilled to discover it soon after starting a relationship with him. It only served to confirm what she had suspected about him all along.

He was an incredible man capable of immeasurable love.

"Bruce…" Diana throatily moaned his name as she began to fall apart at the seams beneath him. "You feel…so good. Don't stop."

Bruce wasn't faring much better than his wife at that point, the ability to even form words was completely lost at that moment. All he could muster was a drawn-out growl in response, his fingers pressing deeper into her moist flesh as he made love to his wife.

She dug her heels into his back as they found blissful satisfaction in each other. She ran her fingers back through his hair, savoring the warm glow that encompassed her whole body flushed with pleasure. She loved this intimate connection that they shared.

His hands slid up her body as he leaned down to kiss her once more, fully pressing his body against the length of hers. "I don't know how…but I swear I'm more in love with you now…than when we first married," he murmured in between kisses along her jaw and neck.

"I know…I feel the same way," she confessed as she gazed up into his eyes, the fine lines around his eyes seemingly more pronounced than ever before.

She swore that she was going to get to the bottom of this one way or another. No one was going to take away from her what she treasured most in her life. No one was going to steal her husband or her family from her. She was going to fight for her life no matter what it took her.

Batcave; September 5th, 07:13 EST

"Come on, Diana," he said to his wife. "You need to fight this. I'm fighting for you, but you must fight too. I can't do this without you."

Bruce paused, his chin falling to his chest as he waited for some sort of response. He looked down at her hand in his, wondering if she could even hear him. J'onn had been here a short time ago to check on her, letting him know that nothing had changed.

The baby was still safe, growing as if nothing had happened to her mother. She was safe in the magical cocoon Aphrodite had created around their baby girl. Bruce had to admit that he was at least thankful for that. It was the tiny bright spot amid this nightmare.

"Diana, you're the strongest person I have ever known, and not just in physical strength," he continued to talk to her, desperate for some sort of sign that she even knew he was there with her. "You can break free from this curse. Don't let whoever did this to you win."

"Any change?" Zatanna softly asked.

Bruce didn't look away from his wife, his attention solely on her. "No…nothing," he murmured. "I have information for you."

"We heard," Constantine replied. "You heard from Hermes himself?"

"Yes," Bruce confirmed with a faint smirk. "He seems to show up when you least expect him."

"What did he say?" Zatanna questioned him, anxious for a new lead. "We could use some direction here."

"Anything that might be helpful would be appreciated," Constantine agreed. "Everyone just seems to point fingers at everyone else."

"I believe this has something to do with Cronus creating Devastation," Bruce revealed, finally turning to face them but never letting go of her hand.

"Cronus…as in the leader of the Titans?" Zatanna asked with a frown, already not liking where this was going.

"Yes," Bruce confirmed. "He created Devastation to be the direct opposite of Diana, and to kill her."

"Do you think he's behind the curse that was put on Diana?" Constantine inquired.

"I don't know," Bruce replied. "Hermes couldn't or wouldn't tell me. Anyway, we must find out how much Cronus could be involved in this curse."

Constantine rubbed his chin as he considered their options. "Any ideas on where we start?"

"I'm going to Olympus to find out who is behind this," Bruce stated, clearly determined to end this.

Zatanna immediately began shaking her head in disagreement with the notion of him going there. "No, you are not going to Mount Olympus," she snapped. "You need to be here with Diana, not up there getting yourself killed."

"She's been in this coma for three days," he ground out. "We are rapidly running out of time here. Nick and Kaia are starting to ask questions about when their mother is coming home, and I have no answers. Devastation is on the hunt for Diana and will not stop destroying everything in sight until she faces Wonder Woman."

"I know but let us go to Olympus and see what we can find out," Zatanna suggested. "If we can't get any answers, then you can go up there and get yourself killed by Zeus if he'll even entertain the idea of seeing you."

Bruce looked away from them, not liking it but knowing that she was probably right. He felt like he was giving up somehow by letting them go to Olympus instead of going himself. He couldn't stop trying everything he could to save Diana. He knew she would never give up on him. She'd proven that before by risking her life when she went to the Underworld to save him from her father.

He would do no less for her.

"Bruce," Zatanna gently said, forcing him to look at her. "Let us go. I promise we'll let you know as soon as we find out something. Diana…your children…they need you here right now."

Bruce finally nodded his head in agreement. She was right, of course, but letting go of his need to be the one to fight for her was harder said than done. He knew he also needed to be here for Donna when Devastation showed up again. He wanted to be there to back her up.

"All right," he agreed. "Just be careful."

"We will," Zee said with a grin.

"No worries," Constantine told him with a smirk. "We've got each other's back."

"Just come back in one piece," he instructed them.

"We promise," Zee replied. "We'll be back before you know it."

With that, they disappeared. Bruce stood there for a long moment before taking his seat again. He tightened his hold on Diana's hand, bringing it to his lips to kiss. "Come back to us, princess. We need you."

Bruce froze as he felt Diana's hand shift in his. His breath stuck in his chest, afraid to move or even breathe. Had he imagined that Diana had responded to him?

He watched her hand in his, needing confirmation that he hadn't just dreamed what he'd felt. "Diana?" he whispered her name.

Bruce's heart leaped into his throat as Diana's hand tightened around his.

Wayne Manor; September 5th, 07:56 EST

Nicholas ran into the kitchen with Kaia hot on his heels. Both were missing their mother, and they were determined to make sure everyone knew it. They took their seats at the kitchen table, each picking up a fork in anticipation of Alfred's blueberry pancakes. It was his special breakfast every Saturday.

"Pappoús, we want Mama to come home," Nick announced with a tight grip on his fork.

"Yeah," Kaia chimed in. "We want mama. She's been gone for too long."

"Well, good morning to both of you," Alfred greeted them with a smile as he set a plate of pancakes on the table.

"When is she coming home?" Nick asked again. "I have a karate class on Monday. She always takes me."

"Your father or I will take you to your class if your mother isn't back yet," he told him.

"And I want her to see my black eye," Kaia added. "Can you make it darker for me?"

Alfred couldn't stifle the chuckle that escaped. "Why do you want it darker?" he asked. "Don't you want it to heal?"

"No way!" she exclaimed. "The blacker the better."

"Hey, save me some pancakes, squirts," Damien said as he entered the kitchen, his arm in a sling.

"I'm not a squirt," Kaia replied with a wrinkled nose.

"Can you make Kaia's bruise darker?" Nicholas asked him.

"Why do you want it darker?" he asked. "You should want it to get better."

"I want Mama to see it," she explained, using her fork to point at her brother. "Hey, where did you get that? Can I get a sling too?"

"You don't need a sling," Damien told her. "You weren't shot."

"You were shot…like with a real gun and bullets?" Nicholas yelled, his eyes wide with shock.

Alfred gave Damien a pointed look as he set his cup of juice on the table before him. "How about we talk about something else?" he strongly suggested.

Bruce walked into the kitchen, picking up the newspaper on his way to the table. He hated leaving Diana, but his children needed him too. The fact that Diana had responded to his touch had done more than just lightened the heavy ache that had invaded his heart. It had given him hope beyond measure that she was going to pull through this.

"Dad!" Nicholas exclaimed. "Damien was shot!"

"Can I get a sling too?" Kaia asked.

"Damien injured his shoulder," Bruce clarified. "He'll be good as new and no, you can't have a sling."

"I miss Mama," Kaia said with a pout. "When is she coming home?"

"I miss her too," Bruce told her. "Hopefully, she'll be able to come home soon."

Damien gave him a quizzical look, wondering if something had happened that he didn't know about yet. His father seemed to be doing a little better. There was a light in his eyes that had been missing since Diana's coma and he was actually eating something. Maybe things were finally turning around.

Alfred noticed the change in Bruce as well but was unable to make any inquiries with the children present. "I'm sure Miss Diana misses all of us as well," he reminded them. "She always hates being away from home."

"Well, just so she doesn't have my baby sister while she's gone," Kaia decided.

Bruce chuckled at her response. "I can assure you that's not going to happen," he promised her. "The baby won't be here for almost nine months."

"Nine months?" Kaia cried, flopping back in her seat in dramatic exasperation. "I have to wait that long to meet her?"

Nicholas shook his head. "I think we're just fine without another sister."

"You have plenty of brothers to keep you company," Bruce pointed out. "It wouldn't hurt to have another sister for Kaia."

"She has me," Nick said. "She doesn't need a sister."

"I have both of you to look after," Damien added.

"Who do I get to look after?" Kaia wondered out loud.

"You just look after yourself until your sister arrives," Bruce told her. "You're trouble enough as it is."

"Yeah, I am kind of a handful," she agreed.

Bruce decided that truer words had never been spoken.

Underworld; September 5th, 12:52 EST

"I did not think we were going to make it," Jason said as they came over the ridge, Hades' palace coming into view in the distance. "Do you think he'll let us take a shower?"

"I doubt it," Phillipus replied with a frown. "We'll be fortunate if we get out of there alive."

"Don't be so pessimistic," Artemis told her. "He let us go when I came with Diana."

"But Diana is not with us this time," Phillipus pointed out.

"I'm pretty good at talking my way out of tight spots," Jason bragged.

"And getting us into even tighter spots," Artemis commented.

"Okay, maybe sometimes," he conceded.

"When we get there, let me do the talking," Artemis told him.

"Let's hope that Persephone is back," Phillipus said. "She has the most influence on her husband. She'll be our biggest advocate if she's there."

Jason checked his gun, making sure it was fully loaded. "And that won't do you any good with Hades," Phillipus added. "Mortal weapons are useless against him."

"Maybe, but it makes me feel better having it at my side," he replied.

"Whatever makes you feel more comfortable," Artemis told him.

Jason's eyes widened as he spotted something running straight for them. "What is that?"

"Oh no," Phillipus uttered with a groan. "I was hoping to avoid a run-in with him."

"Him who?" Jason demanded to know, tightening his grip on his gun.

"Cerberus," Artemis clarified. "Hades' hellhound."

"He helps keep mortals out of the Underworld," Phillipus added, taking up a battle stance.

"Three heads?" Jason exclaimed. "It has three heads?"

"Just be careful," Artemis warned him as she summoned the Bow of Ra.

"Right," Jason grumbled under his breath.

They hadn't come this close to seeing Hades only to be eaten alive by an enormous three-headed dog. It seemed that Artemis was thinking the same thing as she took off at full speed, running straight at Cerberus to meet the beast head-on.

Jason began to run after his wife, refusing to let her face off against the beast that was clearly upset that they had invaded its domain. Phillipus followed, sword at the ready. They were going to have to create an offensive attack if they had any hope of getting past Cerberus and into the palace to see Diana's father.

Jason couldn't look away from the animal that was intent on tearing them to shreds. It was practically foaming at the mouth, slobber dripping from its curled lip with every bounding leap it took. Its fangs were like huge daggers that seemed to glisten in anticipation of a meal. Its paws were the size of large platters, causing the ground to tremble each time they connected.

It had a long tail that seemed to snap like a whip. It wasn't until it got closer to them that Jason realized that it had a serpent's tail. "This just keeps getting better," he mumbled to himself as sweat broke out across his brow.

Cerberus bounded to a stop before Artemis who stood her ground with a dark glare, her arrow aimed straight at the second head. Clouds of dust formed around the beast as it glared back, breathing heavily as it assessed its foe.

"Don't do it," Artemis icily bit out each word punctuated with authority. "I don't want to hurt you."

Cerberus seemed to tilt one of its three heads in curiosity as if considering its options as well as her words, another head shaking violently as if unwilling to obey the given command. The third threw its head back and howled a deafening sound that caused a shiver to race up Jason's spine. He'd never heard anything so mournful and eerie in his whole life.

They were not going to survive this.

The hellhound coiled as if about to pounce on Artemis, fear raking its claws across Jason's heart. He couldn't let her die. He swiftly leaped in front of her, doing his best to protect her as best he could. "Come on, big boy," he taunted it. "Just you and me."

"Jason!" Artemis yelled at him, unable to get a clear shot with her arrow with him in front of her.

"Cerberus!"

The beast appeared as if it was about to lunge at Jason when the unexpected voice cut through the tension that permeated the air. "CERBERUS!"

Cerberus whimpered as it lay down on the ground, revealing a beautiful woman standing behind it. "Persephone!" Artemis cried in relief.

The goddess of Spring stood before them in all her beauty, a stark contrast to the dark environment they found themselves in. It was obvious she didn't belong here, the Underworld not her true home, but fate had seen differently.

"Artemis," Persephone greeted her with a warm smile. "It's not often we get guests. What may I do for you?"

"We desperately need your help," Artemis told her.

Phillipus took a step forward as she sheathed her sword. "It's Princess Diana," she clarified. "She's in dire trouble."

"Please, come with me," she replied. "I'll do whatever it is that I can to assist you."

Jason holstered his weapons, glancing at the docile canine before him. It looked like a whipped puppy now compared to the raging beast that it had just been a moment before. He drew a deep breath, relieved that Persephone had intervened when she had.

Artemis looked at him, noticing the troubled look in his eyes. They had just faced certain deaths and survived. She briefly took his hand in hers, squeezing it and giving him a small smile before letting go. They could talk later about how he had stepped in to protect her…how he'd been willing to die for her, but, for now, they needed to find some answers for Diana.

They had to face the next obstacle in their quest—Hades.

Thanagar; September 5th, 17:35 EST

"Why would Samara have a picture of this place?" John asked, nose wrinkling in perplexity.

"Do you know if she's ever been here?" Shayera asked Erick as she studied the picture in her hand only to look up at the very same image laid out before her.

"She could have but not with me…at least not that I remember," Erick replied, scratching his head in bewilderment as he surveyed the scenery before him. "You know Samara. She was never the outdoorsy type of person."

"Not into hiking or camping outside?" John questioned him.

"Not Samara," Shayera confirmed with a snort of amusement. "She preferred a good party over communing with mosquitoes and nature."

Shayera studied the picture in her hand, trying to will Samara into talking to her beyond the grave. "This picture appears to have been taken not that long ago."

John drew closer, coming to stand beside her. "What makes you say that?"

"See those flowers over there beside the pond?" Shayera pointed out. "They're in this picture here. Also, that fallen tree to the left is in this picture as well."

"That tree hasn't been down for more than a few months," Erick commented. "See how the grass has grown up around it now compared to the picture?"

"Okay, so back to my original question," John said. "Why would Samara have a picture of this place?"

"There's something significant here…something that she wanted to remember," Shayera decided.

"Could she have been saving it for someone else?" John proposed.

Shayera gave him a curious look. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, she's not someone who would be out here herself, making this picture important to her or someone else," John pointed out. "Besides, she hid it in the back of the drawer for a reason. She was keeping it safe for a reason."

"She didn't want someone to find this picture," Erick said more to himself than the others as he considered the puzzling clue.

John stared out over the large pond. "You don't think there's a body in that pond, do you?"

Erick and Shay both looked at him, taken aback by his question. "What makes you think that?" Shay asked.

John shrugged. "I don't know," he replied. "It just seems like a good place to hide a body, doesn't it?"

All three stared at the pond, trying to see beyond its murky depths to what lay at the bottom. "Well, I don't know about you, but I can't make water disappear," Erick told them. "Do either of you have any ideas?"

Shayera turned to look at her husband, a smile forming on her face. John sighed, knowing what his job was going to entail. "I got it," he responded with a frown. "Just make it quick."

"What's he going to do?"

"Just take the right and I'll take the left," Shayera told him.

John stepped closer to the bank of the pond, raising his arm. His eyes glowed green as the energy from the ring shot straight towards the water. Green energy immediately took control of the water, turning it into a towering funnel that hovered above the pond bed.

Erick grinned with a fresh wave of hope as he flew to the right, Shayera taking the bed of the pond on the left. Soaring over the muddy bottom of the pond, they quickly scanned the area for any signs of a body or anything else that could be tied to Samara's death.

The bed of the pond had surprisingly little litter, making it easier to pick out anything that shouldn't be there. They carefully scoured the area for several minutes, afraid of missing anything that might prove to be important later.

"Arm is getting a little tired here," John called out, using his other hand to support his outstretched limb.

Shayera huffed under her breath with growing frustration, knowing that something had to be here that they just weren't finding. Samara wouldn't have had a picture of this place stuffed in the back of the draw for absolutely no reason at all. She knew her sister. She was hiding it for some purpose.

Just as they were about to give up, Erick spotted something glinting in the light. "I've got something," he yelled as he swooped down, landing on the muddy pond bed.

Shayera landed next to him, anxious to see what he had found. He bent down, picking a gold ring out of the mud. "Is that a ring?" she asked him.

"It's a gold ring with jewels in it," he said, trying to wipe away the mud for a better view of it.

"I wonder if it means something or if someone just lost it here," she speculated out loud.

"Losing feeling in my arm!" John yelled, his limb beginning to tremble from fatigue.

"What's that?" Shayera asked, pointing at something by the toe of Erick's boot.

Kneeling, she picked up a gold bracelet, holding it up for inspection. "Do you think the two belong together?" Erick questioned her.

"Could be," she murmured in thought.

"You two might want to look at it over here!" John exclaimed. "You're about to get soaked!"

"Let's go so he stops complaining," Shayera told Erick, both laughing as they flew out of the pond bed.

"What did you find?" John asked as they landed beside him, the water being released from its hold and crashing back down where it belonged.

"A gold ring and bracelet," Erick replied, holding up the ring as Shayera carefully examined the bracelet.

"Have either of you seen them before?" John questioned them. "Could they have belonged to Samara?"

Shayera shook her head, her lips curling into a frown. "I've never seen them before," she told them. "If Samara had them, I never saw them."

"She never had anything like this that I know of," Erick added. "This is very expensive…for more than what Samara could afford."

"She wouldn't have stolen it from someone, would she?" John ventured.

"Samara did a lot of things, but she was not a thief," Erick stated. "She was always trying to help others even when she was doing drugs."

"I have to agree with Erick," Shay said. "Samara had a kind heart. She'd give everything she owns away before taking something from someone else."

"That never changed even after you left, Shay," Erick confirmed.

"Let's take these back to our hotel room so we can research these items," Shayera suggested. "Maybe we can discover who these belonged too."

"Sounds good to me," John agreed, "and pick up some food on the way. I'm hungry. I worked up an appetite holding that water for you."

"You're my hero," Shay replied with a grin, leaning in, and kissing his cheek.

Turning around, the trio was greeted by an unexpected and unwanted site, causing them to freeze where they stood.

"Good to see you again, Shayera," Kantar stated with a lop-sided smile and cold eyes, his weapon drawn and pointed directly at them. "It's been far too long."

A/N: WOW. Things are getting intense!

UP NEXT: Wally and Linda have their hands full, Gotham's villains continue to plot, and Devastation makes another appearance. :)