JLU: Kaddish (2/4)
***
Kaddish (2/4)
a Justice League Unlimited story
by Merlin Missy
Copyright 2005
PG
***
Chapter One
***
Chapter Two
***
Linda had left four messages on his machine by the time Wally got home. He listened to them then deleted them and crawled into his bed.
Watch had been quiet, when he'd wanted action. He'd almost taken the overnight watch just for the off-chance of kicking villain butt, but Green Arrow had shown up for his shift after all, though he otherwise hadn't left Canary's side in the infirmary.
Truthfully, Wally couldn't wait to get out of there anyway. While Booster Gold was a fun guy most of the time, Wally couldn't stand to be around him right now, and had finally broken down and called Beetle to come distract Booster already.
The Question was just a freak, and only liked to talk about things that secret groups of people were trying to do while no one was paying attention. The first time they'd met, Wally had spent two hours awestruck, listening to the man spin complicated stories, and he'd run out of Question's quarters, sure in the knowledge that the Chocos Company had influenced the SATs so that people who answered properly on certain questions could be recruited into a secret paramilitary organization. Ten minutes later, while explaining this to Batman, Bats had given him the Look of Death, and Wally'd realized Question was full of it. So now he tried not to listen to the man at all, which meant no one else to talk to the whole watch, except Supes and the new guy.
Wally didn't want to think about the new guy right now.
He'd known that working tonight wasn't going to take his mind off of what had happened. He wasn't stupid, no matter what everyone assumed. But he'd thought it would be a little better, just a little.
Hadn't John told him once that after a Lantern fell, the best thing the other Lanterns could do to honor him was do their jobs even better? Technically, tonight he'd been doing that for Shayera, but Wally thought she wouldn't mind the principle.
Hungry. He was hungry. Wally had quit his last fast food job around the same time Shayera had rejoined the League, and he'd been drawing a small salary from the Wayne Foundation as a full-time Leaguer ever since. Better pay, better hours, but his next check wasn't due to hit for another few days, and he only had five bucks in his wallet. Barely enough for a snack.
He ran anyway, over the bridge to the hamburger joint across town that was open at this hour, pinching his pennies on the dollar menu for four burgers and a mini shake. Since he was a regular, the guy behind the counter spotted him the tax out of the "leave a penny" tray, and Wally thanked him and ran home and took his food into his bed with him.
He'd have to eat at the Tower for the next few days and put it on his tab. Back on the old Watchtower, the 'fridge and freezer were always stocked with pizza, hamburger, sodas, all the good things in life. Other stuff too, but Wally had aimed for the carbs and didn't care about vegetables or actual food groups. He guessed Bats had paid the bills for that, too, but he'd never thought about it. Everything was just simpler back then.
Turning off his brain, he wolfed three of the burgers, made himself chew the last one just to savor it, and then sipped his shake.
Food was simple. He ate. He felt better.
He needed sleep.
He hoped he was finally exhausted enough to do so without nightmares, but he didn't think he was going to be that lucky.
***
The prison was heavily guarded, and even so, Batman knew the ins and outs, could have slipped in without detection and gotten out again. He was confident of it.
Instead, he asked Jim to arrange the visit. There was no paperwork, nothing signed. He sensed the eyes of the other prisoners on him as he walked down the metal hallways. He hadn't put a single one here - all his captures were in Gotham - but they all knew him, hated him, wanted him dead. The braver ones, or perhaps just the most stupid, snickered in their cells as he passed, whispering: "Two down, five to go."
Batman ignored them.
Grodd's cell was on the interior, hundreds of feet from the nearest window. Five guards stood outside, all fitted with the best psy-blocking devices Wayne Tech had been able to design. They were taking no chances.
The guards moved aside as he came to the door. The warden punched a ten digit code into the pad by the door. Then he waited out with the guards as Batman went in alone.
Almost alone.
Half the room was barred. The ape sat in his cell, relaxing, a patient and pleased smile on his face. Where the Ultra-Humanite had been a man once, and favored a minimum of clothing, Grodd prided himself on his species and always went bare. This was a pity, as Batman would have loved to see him in orange; the psychological effects of prison garb were well-known, both on inmates and the people who saw them.
"Grodd."
"Ah. I was wondering which of you it would be. I should have guessed they would send you, although I must admit, I was hoping to see Superman."
"Don't bother with your games. They don't work on me."
"Don't they?" Grodd stayed seated, stayed smiling. "And how is your lovely companion? As I recall, before you came along, her only interest in men was to use them as targets. But I'm sure she simply hadn't met the right one. And of course your objections to sleeping with a coworker were overcome by her logical arguments in the matter."
He wouldn't let himself be goaded. He didn't dare.
"It's a pity my last project ended so prematurely," said Grodd. "I wonder, which one do you think Mr. Stewart would have chosen, if he hadn't died twisted and screaming under twenty tons of concrete? I have to say, my money was on the fox rather than the hawk, but then, I do have my standards. A woman who can keep her knees together for five years and suddenly can't for more than five minutes, well," Grodd spread his great hands, "there's no accounting for taste." His tone and smile went more lascivious, and Batman's stomach twisted as Grodd continued, "She wasn't easy to push, but one of my better efforts, don't you agree?"
"You're lying."
"Perhaps," said Grodd. "And perhaps you're only hoping I am. Why are you here? If you were going to kill me, you'd have done so."
"I'm not here to kill you. I'm here to interrogate you." He removed a small package from beneath his cape and set it on the metal table outside the cell.
Grodd chuckled. "There are ten thousand members in the Legion of Doom. Our headquarters is located next door to yours but our cloaking technology makes you unable to see us. Our next plan is to steal Mount Rushmore."
Batman ignored him. "What did you use to bring down the building?"
"A bomb."
"No. There were no residuals." Bruce had spent two sleepless nights checking. "Try again."
"You seem to already have a theory."
"Green Lantern power rings can't be broken and are almost impossible to damage. I asked the Lantern who trained John to be sure. Nth metal objects are also nearly indestructible, and as a bonus, are impervious to magic. We didn't find his ring or her mace, and we didn't find their bodies." Three feathers, but she could have lost those during the fight. "Toyman sent Superman to the future once. Was it the same weapon?"
Grodd leaned forward in his chair, and the smile was bright on his face. "Yes It was a time-travel device. We sent them ten seconds into the future and they were crushed to death anyway."
"I can get the information from you."
"No. You can't." Grodd sat back. "Why don't you ask Toyman?" Batman stared at him. The ape's smile deepened. "Did he die in the blast or did your woman murder him?"
"You don't seem choked up."
"Collateral damage. He was mentally disturbed. I won't cry for him."
Batman turned away. "So you don't know what he was using."
"And I don't care. One of mine to three of yours, and they said Mason was unkillable. I win. Terry."
Bruce turned his head back to Grodd, confused and trying not to show it. Half of being the Bat was convincing criminals he already knew everything.
Another infuriating smile. "The boy was a lovely fountain of information."
"The boy," Bruce said.
"Pity what happened to him."
Bruce had no idea what Grodd was talking about, but felt for some reason that he should. He was suddenly and strongly reminded of the dream he'd had during a quick nap earlier that day: digging and digging through the rubble, desperately searching for John and Shayera, and instead finding Ace's broken body, and her eyes had opened, and Bruce had woken up. The only connection he could make was that John and Shayera were dead, and Ace had died recently. There had been no boy.
Batman shrugged. "As you indicated, collateral damage."
"I'm surprised. I wouldn't have expected such a cold response from you."
"I already told you: you don't know anything."
"I know your name, Terry."
Bruce allowed himself a tight smirk. He approached the bars of Grodd's cell, leaned close, and said, "My name isn't Terry. And if you think it is, then that tells me you're probably wrong on everything else, too."
He looked at the package. It flowed into the normal shape of J'onn J'onzz, and Grodd's smile faded as Bruce turned back to him. "But even if you are, we need to know. I already knew you wouldn't tell me. But you will tell him. And then you're going to forget everything that you've ever learned. It worked on a Thanagarian once, it'll work on you."
J'onn's eyes glowed red as Grodd took a step back. "You can't," said the ape. "That's cruel and unusual."
"You're not human," Batman said. "And as J'onn can attest, our government turns a blind eye to procedures performed on intelligent non-humans."
"I want my lawyer "
Batman went to the door. "I'll make sure he brings plenty of bananas."
"No "
He left the room, shutting the door securely behind him. J'onn would slip out quietly when he was finished. Grodd had expected Clark, but Clark had an honor code that Bruce relied upon too much to allow another threat like this one. J'onn would strip the ape of his memories and leave him at the same level of intelligence as a normal gorilla. He would spend the rest of his life in a government-controlled facility, where he would be given all the fruit he could eat and all the play equipment he could swing on, and it wasn't a good end, not a clean end, but it was better than letting Superman get blood on his invulnerable hands. And J'onn agreed.
Hours later, J'onn came to the Manor. Bruce was reading in the study when Alfred ushered him into the room.
"And?"
"I have names and plans. If Luthor is in charge, he will change the plans and they'll be useless."
Bruce nodded. They would of course check what they could regardless, because Lex would know that they knew that.
"What about the weapon?"
"He knew nothing. It was Toyman's plan, and Toyman's design."
"So we don't know if they're dead or just lost."
"No."
Bruce closed his eyes. "If they could find a way back, they'd do so within a few days of their departure like Clark did."
"I believe so."
"Do you think they're really dead?"
"Grodd did. I can feel no trace of John's mind anywhere, and I have searched as far as I can reach. If they are not dead, I doubt they will come back to us, and it is the same."
Bruce nodded. "J'onn ... "
"He was lying about Diana."
"I wasn't going to ask."
"I know." J'onn's eyes flowed again. "She has just arrived. We can confer in the morning."
"Now would be better."
"You haven't slept in days. I will be at the Watchtower tomorrow. Good night." He went to the door of the study and opened it just as the doorbell chimed. Bruce watched from the study as Alfred greeted Diana pleasantly, as she and J'onn exchanged hellos, as J'onn left and Diana came into the room.
Grodd lied. He didn't push her into this. But J'onn had said nothing about pushing Bruce himself, and as he welcomed her into his arms, he wondered.
***
The candle had dribbled down its own sides, pooling and congealing in the base where she'd placed it, and now it guttered low in the puddle of melted wax at the last half-inch of stub.
Had there been someone to watch her, the dying candlelight would have glimmered in Mari's eyes as she stared at it in the darkened room, but no one was there to mark the sparkle, and no one but she watched it expire, drowned in its own making.
She didn't speak to the candle. She wanted to, had wanted to, but her voice was gone. Another thing stolen from her. Her friends, her coworkers, strangers on the street, they'd come to her and offered their condolences, and she'd only been able to nod her thanks until her head was half about to fall off.
We're sorry. We're sorry. So sorry.
The strangers, the friends from her other life, they were sorry for the loss of her fiancé; everyone called him that, and she never corrected them. The friends from the League said they were sorry too, but there were two edges to that blade. They'd heard what he'd said to Shayera right before the end, or they'd been told in whispers and gossip, and every one of them was so kind to her right now that she wanted to scream.
Except nothing would come out. Not words. Not even tears.
She'd be damned if she would cry for someone who said he loved her, and then go and show her and the whole world that there was someone else he couldn't live without. And she would be happy to tell everyone exactly that.
As soon as she remembered how to speak.
***
"We need to decide," said Bruce. Alone among the rest of the League, he didn't seem to be grieving, but Clark guessed that acting more somber would be almost impossible, considering.
"It can wait," Clark said.
"It shouldn't," Diana replied. "We have Grodd, but Luthor's still out there and he's got most of the Legion still intact, and we have no idea how much Brainiac is helping him. We need to show the world that the League is still strong, that we took a glancing blow, not a fatal one."
As he often did, Clark wondered how many of his conversations were or had been mirrored by the Justice Lords once upon a time, if it was this comment or that which separated them. They'd lost their Flash, and had shown strength by killing his murderer and taking over the planet. To avoid this, Bruce's idea - and it occasionally did worry Clark to think about how much of what they did and how was based off of something Bruce thought up - would merely be a reorganization. They'd done something similar after Shayera had left: hide the hole by restitching the entire quilt.
"I'll run it past J'onn and Flash," he said, finally.
"I'll tell Flash," Bruce said.
"No." Bruce gave him a Look. Clark didn't waver. "You are not going to scare him into saying 'Yes.' I'm going to ask him. That's all."
Diana said, "Let me talk to J'onn."
"Diana ... "
She held up her hand. "I promise not to try to convince him. But I think he'll take the idea best from me." She was probably right. The two of them had been much closer lately. Clark had been a little relieved to see J'onn interacting with someone.
"All right. But we decide as a group. The five of us." Diana twitched, a rare response from her, but Clark knew she was remembering the last time the five of them had put something to a vote, and she and Batman had been outvoted. He was certain Wally would remember, too, and Clark absolutely didn't want Batman anywhere near Wally when he did.
He mouthed a good-bye to the two of them, no longer missing the fact that they'd arrived together and would probably leave together after Diana spoke with J'onn.
For a guy with like fifty kinds of vision ... Clark shut down the voice from his memory.
Flash was in the cafeteria, picking at something with even more calories than Clark would consider, when he finally found him.
"Can I join you?"
"Sure." Wally had worn a number of smiles over the past few days. Clark wasn't nearly stupid enough to think any of them had been real.
"Batman and Diana and I have been talking," Clark said.
Flash set down his fork. "Are you going to invite in a hundred more people to the League?"
Clark stared at him. "What?"
"When we lost Shayera. The first time, I mean," he said, making a fist. "You three talked, and the next thing I knew, we invited in fifty new people to take her place so we wouldn't have to say someone in particular was getting her job."
"That's not what happened."
"Whatever." So much pain, and Clark wanted to hug him, but this wasn't the place and he didn't think Wally would sit still long enough.
"We're not inviting in new people."
"Except the new Lantern."
Clark paused. "That's different. The Green Lantern Corps always has had someone to watch this sector."
"That doesn't automatically make him League material."
Clark thought, The only thing that made the rest of us League material was happening to hear J'onn's mental call for help at the same time. Instead of saying that, he just said, "I'll vouch for him."
"Good for you."
"Wally."
"I'll be nice to him. Are you inviting Psycho Boy in to replace Shayera?"
"That depends. Is he stepping over my dead body?" He cracked a smile, and was relieved to see one peek on Wally's mouth before he forced it away again.
"Tell me."
"We're talking about making the leadership of the League into a council. Ten people. Five permanent seats, five rotating, one year terms for the rotations. Everyone eventually gets a turn being in charge, but we still get a say in overseeing things."
Flash sat back in his chair.
"Okay."
"I mean it's ... Okay? You're sure?" Clark had prepared a speech in his mind: they weren't replacing John and Shayera, they were expanding the governance of the League to more members.
Flash nodded. "I'm sure. It's a good idea. More butts at the table mean we don't go off the deep end so fast. That's the idea, right? To keep us honest and not go all Justice Lordy after we lose people?"
"It was a thought."
"When do we start?"
"We have to vote first. Diana is talking to J'onn now."
"Why? You like it, so you'll vote for it, right?"
Clark thought for a moment before nodding. Once again, it was exactly the thing they needed to do to save themselves from each other.
"Okay, well I like it. I'm sure Bats thought it up, so he's all for it, and Diana will vote with him. That's already four to one, and J'onn is probably going to go for it just to make it unanimous." Flash reached for his drink and took a long sip. "Easy."
"I have to admit, I didn't think you'd go for it."
"Why not?"
Because you just shouted at me for letting Kyle in, for starters. "No reason."
"Go tell Bats and the Princess I'm all for it. But right now, I want to finish this before it gets cold, okay?"
"Okay." Clark stood and clapped Wally gently on the shoulder. "Why don't you come by sometime? We don't talk as often as we should."
"That'd be great!" Wally grinned widely.
You sure can be blind, said John in a child's voice in his head. Except he wasn't, not really, and Clark knew this smile wasn't any more real than the rest. He also knew what to listen for in heartbeat, breath intake and tone of voice to indicate someone he knew well was lying. He just didn't know what to do about it.
***
Chapter Three
Kaddish (2/4)
a Justice League Unlimited story
by Merlin Missy
Copyright 2005
PG
***
Chapter One
***
Chapter Two
***
Linda had left four messages on his machine by the time Wally got home. He listened to them then deleted them and crawled into his bed.
Watch had been quiet, when he'd wanted action. He'd almost taken the overnight watch just for the off-chance of kicking villain butt, but Green Arrow had shown up for his shift after all, though he otherwise hadn't left Canary's side in the infirmary.
Truthfully, Wally couldn't wait to get out of there anyway. While Booster Gold was a fun guy most of the time, Wally couldn't stand to be around him right now, and had finally broken down and called Beetle to come distract Booster already.
The Question was just a freak, and only liked to talk about things that secret groups of people were trying to do while no one was paying attention. The first time they'd met, Wally had spent two hours awestruck, listening to the man spin complicated stories, and he'd run out of Question's quarters, sure in the knowledge that the Chocos Company had influenced the SATs so that people who answered properly on certain questions could be recruited into a secret paramilitary organization. Ten minutes later, while explaining this to Batman, Bats had given him the Look of Death, and Wally'd realized Question was full of it. So now he tried not to listen to the man at all, which meant no one else to talk to the whole watch, except Supes and the new guy.
Wally didn't want to think about the new guy right now.
He'd known that working tonight wasn't going to take his mind off of what had happened. He wasn't stupid, no matter what everyone assumed. But he'd thought it would be a little better, just a little.
Hadn't John told him once that after a Lantern fell, the best thing the other Lanterns could do to honor him was do their jobs even better? Technically, tonight he'd been doing that for Shayera, but Wally thought she wouldn't mind the principle.
Hungry. He was hungry. Wally had quit his last fast food job around the same time Shayera had rejoined the League, and he'd been drawing a small salary from the Wayne Foundation as a full-time Leaguer ever since. Better pay, better hours, but his next check wasn't due to hit for another few days, and he only had five bucks in his wallet. Barely enough for a snack.
He ran anyway, over the bridge to the hamburger joint across town that was open at this hour, pinching his pennies on the dollar menu for four burgers and a mini shake. Since he was a regular, the guy behind the counter spotted him the tax out of the "leave a penny" tray, and Wally thanked him and ran home and took his food into his bed with him.
He'd have to eat at the Tower for the next few days and put it on his tab. Back on the old Watchtower, the 'fridge and freezer were always stocked with pizza, hamburger, sodas, all the good things in life. Other stuff too, but Wally had aimed for the carbs and didn't care about vegetables or actual food groups. He guessed Bats had paid the bills for that, too, but he'd never thought about it. Everything was just simpler back then.
Turning off his brain, he wolfed three of the burgers, made himself chew the last one just to savor it, and then sipped his shake.
Food was simple. He ate. He felt better.
He needed sleep.
He hoped he was finally exhausted enough to do so without nightmares, but he didn't think he was going to be that lucky.
***
The prison was heavily guarded, and even so, Batman knew the ins and outs, could have slipped in without detection and gotten out again. He was confident of it.
Instead, he asked Jim to arrange the visit. There was no paperwork, nothing signed. He sensed the eyes of the other prisoners on him as he walked down the metal hallways. He hadn't put a single one here - all his captures were in Gotham - but they all knew him, hated him, wanted him dead. The braver ones, or perhaps just the most stupid, snickered in their cells as he passed, whispering: "Two down, five to go."
Batman ignored them.
Grodd's cell was on the interior, hundreds of feet from the nearest window. Five guards stood outside, all fitted with the best psy-blocking devices Wayne Tech had been able to design. They were taking no chances.
The guards moved aside as he came to the door. The warden punched a ten digit code into the pad by the door. Then he waited out with the guards as Batman went in alone.
Almost alone.
Half the room was barred. The ape sat in his cell, relaxing, a patient and pleased smile on his face. Where the Ultra-Humanite had been a man once, and favored a minimum of clothing, Grodd prided himself on his species and always went bare. This was a pity, as Batman would have loved to see him in orange; the psychological effects of prison garb were well-known, both on inmates and the people who saw them.
"Grodd."
"Ah. I was wondering which of you it would be. I should have guessed they would send you, although I must admit, I was hoping to see Superman."
"Don't bother with your games. They don't work on me."
"Don't they?" Grodd stayed seated, stayed smiling. "And how is your lovely companion? As I recall, before you came along, her only interest in men was to use them as targets. But I'm sure she simply hadn't met the right one. And of course your objections to sleeping with a coworker were overcome by her logical arguments in the matter."
He wouldn't let himself be goaded. He didn't dare.
"It's a pity my last project ended so prematurely," said Grodd. "I wonder, which one do you think Mr. Stewart would have chosen, if he hadn't died twisted and screaming under twenty tons of concrete? I have to say, my money was on the fox rather than the hawk, but then, I do have my standards. A woman who can keep her knees together for five years and suddenly can't for more than five minutes, well," Grodd spread his great hands, "there's no accounting for taste." His tone and smile went more lascivious, and Batman's stomach twisted as Grodd continued, "She wasn't easy to push, but one of my better efforts, don't you agree?"
"You're lying."
"Perhaps," said Grodd. "And perhaps you're only hoping I am. Why are you here? If you were going to kill me, you'd have done so."
"I'm not here to kill you. I'm here to interrogate you." He removed a small package from beneath his cape and set it on the metal table outside the cell.
Grodd chuckled. "There are ten thousand members in the Legion of Doom. Our headquarters is located next door to yours but our cloaking technology makes you unable to see us. Our next plan is to steal Mount Rushmore."
Batman ignored him. "What did you use to bring down the building?"
"A bomb."
"No. There were no residuals." Bruce had spent two sleepless nights checking. "Try again."
"You seem to already have a theory."
"Green Lantern power rings can't be broken and are almost impossible to damage. I asked the Lantern who trained John to be sure. Nth metal objects are also nearly indestructible, and as a bonus, are impervious to magic. We didn't find his ring or her mace, and we didn't find their bodies." Three feathers, but she could have lost those during the fight. "Toyman sent Superman to the future once. Was it the same weapon?"
Grodd leaned forward in his chair, and the smile was bright on his face. "Yes It was a time-travel device. We sent them ten seconds into the future and they were crushed to death anyway."
"I can get the information from you."
"No. You can't." Grodd sat back. "Why don't you ask Toyman?" Batman stared at him. The ape's smile deepened. "Did he die in the blast or did your woman murder him?"
"You don't seem choked up."
"Collateral damage. He was mentally disturbed. I won't cry for him."
Batman turned away. "So you don't know what he was using."
"And I don't care. One of mine to three of yours, and they said Mason was unkillable. I win. Terry."
Bruce turned his head back to Grodd, confused and trying not to show it. Half of being the Bat was convincing criminals he already knew everything.
Another infuriating smile. "The boy was a lovely fountain of information."
"The boy," Bruce said.
"Pity what happened to him."
Bruce had no idea what Grodd was talking about, but felt for some reason that he should. He was suddenly and strongly reminded of the dream he'd had during a quick nap earlier that day: digging and digging through the rubble, desperately searching for John and Shayera, and instead finding Ace's broken body, and her eyes had opened, and Bruce had woken up. The only connection he could make was that John and Shayera were dead, and Ace had died recently. There had been no boy.
Batman shrugged. "As you indicated, collateral damage."
"I'm surprised. I wouldn't have expected such a cold response from you."
"I already told you: you don't know anything."
"I know your name, Terry."
Bruce allowed himself a tight smirk. He approached the bars of Grodd's cell, leaned close, and said, "My name isn't Terry. And if you think it is, then that tells me you're probably wrong on everything else, too."
He looked at the package. It flowed into the normal shape of J'onn J'onzz, and Grodd's smile faded as Bruce turned back to him. "But even if you are, we need to know. I already knew you wouldn't tell me. But you will tell him. And then you're going to forget everything that you've ever learned. It worked on a Thanagarian once, it'll work on you."
J'onn's eyes glowed red as Grodd took a step back. "You can't," said the ape. "That's cruel and unusual."
"You're not human," Batman said. "And as J'onn can attest, our government turns a blind eye to procedures performed on intelligent non-humans."
"I want my lawyer "
Batman went to the door. "I'll make sure he brings plenty of bananas."
"No "
He left the room, shutting the door securely behind him. J'onn would slip out quietly when he was finished. Grodd had expected Clark, but Clark had an honor code that Bruce relied upon too much to allow another threat like this one. J'onn would strip the ape of his memories and leave him at the same level of intelligence as a normal gorilla. He would spend the rest of his life in a government-controlled facility, where he would be given all the fruit he could eat and all the play equipment he could swing on, and it wasn't a good end, not a clean end, but it was better than letting Superman get blood on his invulnerable hands. And J'onn agreed.
Hours later, J'onn came to the Manor. Bruce was reading in the study when Alfred ushered him into the room.
"And?"
"I have names and plans. If Luthor is in charge, he will change the plans and they'll be useless."
Bruce nodded. They would of course check what they could regardless, because Lex would know that they knew that.
"What about the weapon?"
"He knew nothing. It was Toyman's plan, and Toyman's design."
"So we don't know if they're dead or just lost."
"No."
Bruce closed his eyes. "If they could find a way back, they'd do so within a few days of their departure like Clark did."
"I believe so."
"Do you think they're really dead?"
"Grodd did. I can feel no trace of John's mind anywhere, and I have searched as far as I can reach. If they are not dead, I doubt they will come back to us, and it is the same."
Bruce nodded. "J'onn ... "
"He was lying about Diana."
"I wasn't going to ask."
"I know." J'onn's eyes flowed again. "She has just arrived. We can confer in the morning."
"Now would be better."
"You haven't slept in days. I will be at the Watchtower tomorrow. Good night." He went to the door of the study and opened it just as the doorbell chimed. Bruce watched from the study as Alfred greeted Diana pleasantly, as she and J'onn exchanged hellos, as J'onn left and Diana came into the room.
Grodd lied. He didn't push her into this. But J'onn had said nothing about pushing Bruce himself, and as he welcomed her into his arms, he wondered.
***
The candle had dribbled down its own sides, pooling and congealing in the base where she'd placed it, and now it guttered low in the puddle of melted wax at the last half-inch of stub.
Had there been someone to watch her, the dying candlelight would have glimmered in Mari's eyes as she stared at it in the darkened room, but no one was there to mark the sparkle, and no one but she watched it expire, drowned in its own making.
She didn't speak to the candle. She wanted to, had wanted to, but her voice was gone. Another thing stolen from her. Her friends, her coworkers, strangers on the street, they'd come to her and offered their condolences, and she'd only been able to nod her thanks until her head was half about to fall off.
We're sorry. We're sorry. So sorry.
The strangers, the friends from her other life, they were sorry for the loss of her fiancé; everyone called him that, and she never corrected them. The friends from the League said they were sorry too, but there were two edges to that blade. They'd heard what he'd said to Shayera right before the end, or they'd been told in whispers and gossip, and every one of them was so kind to her right now that she wanted to scream.
Except nothing would come out. Not words. Not even tears.
She'd be damned if she would cry for someone who said he loved her, and then go and show her and the whole world that there was someone else he couldn't live without. And she would be happy to tell everyone exactly that.
As soon as she remembered how to speak.
***
"We need to decide," said Bruce. Alone among the rest of the League, he didn't seem to be grieving, but Clark guessed that acting more somber would be almost impossible, considering.
"It can wait," Clark said.
"It shouldn't," Diana replied. "We have Grodd, but Luthor's still out there and he's got most of the Legion still intact, and we have no idea how much Brainiac is helping him. We need to show the world that the League is still strong, that we took a glancing blow, not a fatal one."
As he often did, Clark wondered how many of his conversations were or had been mirrored by the Justice Lords once upon a time, if it was this comment or that which separated them. They'd lost their Flash, and had shown strength by killing his murderer and taking over the planet. To avoid this, Bruce's idea - and it occasionally did worry Clark to think about how much of what they did and how was based off of something Bruce thought up - would merely be a reorganization. They'd done something similar after Shayera had left: hide the hole by restitching the entire quilt.
"I'll run it past J'onn and Flash," he said, finally.
"I'll tell Flash," Bruce said.
"No." Bruce gave him a Look. Clark didn't waver. "You are not going to scare him into saying 'Yes.' I'm going to ask him. That's all."
Diana said, "Let me talk to J'onn."
"Diana ... "
She held up her hand. "I promise not to try to convince him. But I think he'll take the idea best from me." She was probably right. The two of them had been much closer lately. Clark had been a little relieved to see J'onn interacting with someone.
"All right. But we decide as a group. The five of us." Diana twitched, a rare response from her, but Clark knew she was remembering the last time the five of them had put something to a vote, and she and Batman had been outvoted. He was certain Wally would remember, too, and Clark absolutely didn't want Batman anywhere near Wally when he did.
He mouthed a good-bye to the two of them, no longer missing the fact that they'd arrived together and would probably leave together after Diana spoke with J'onn.
For a guy with like fifty kinds of vision ... Clark shut down the voice from his memory.
Flash was in the cafeteria, picking at something with even more calories than Clark would consider, when he finally found him.
"Can I join you?"
"Sure." Wally had worn a number of smiles over the past few days. Clark wasn't nearly stupid enough to think any of them had been real.
"Batman and Diana and I have been talking," Clark said.
Flash set down his fork. "Are you going to invite in a hundred more people to the League?"
Clark stared at him. "What?"
"When we lost Shayera. The first time, I mean," he said, making a fist. "You three talked, and the next thing I knew, we invited in fifty new people to take her place so we wouldn't have to say someone in particular was getting her job."
"That's not what happened."
"Whatever." So much pain, and Clark wanted to hug him, but this wasn't the place and he didn't think Wally would sit still long enough.
"We're not inviting in new people."
"Except the new Lantern."
Clark paused. "That's different. The Green Lantern Corps always has had someone to watch this sector."
"That doesn't automatically make him League material."
Clark thought, The only thing that made the rest of us League material was happening to hear J'onn's mental call for help at the same time. Instead of saying that, he just said, "I'll vouch for him."
"Good for you."
"Wally."
"I'll be nice to him. Are you inviting Psycho Boy in to replace Shayera?"
"That depends. Is he stepping over my dead body?" He cracked a smile, and was relieved to see one peek on Wally's mouth before he forced it away again.
"Tell me."
"We're talking about making the leadership of the League into a council. Ten people. Five permanent seats, five rotating, one year terms for the rotations. Everyone eventually gets a turn being in charge, but we still get a say in overseeing things."
Flash sat back in his chair.
"Okay."
"I mean it's ... Okay? You're sure?" Clark had prepared a speech in his mind: they weren't replacing John and Shayera, they were expanding the governance of the League to more members.
Flash nodded. "I'm sure. It's a good idea. More butts at the table mean we don't go off the deep end so fast. That's the idea, right? To keep us honest and not go all Justice Lordy after we lose people?"
"It was a thought."
"When do we start?"
"We have to vote first. Diana is talking to J'onn now."
"Why? You like it, so you'll vote for it, right?"
Clark thought for a moment before nodding. Once again, it was exactly the thing they needed to do to save themselves from each other.
"Okay, well I like it. I'm sure Bats thought it up, so he's all for it, and Diana will vote with him. That's already four to one, and J'onn is probably going to go for it just to make it unanimous." Flash reached for his drink and took a long sip. "Easy."
"I have to admit, I didn't think you'd go for it."
"Why not?"
Because you just shouted at me for letting Kyle in, for starters. "No reason."
"Go tell Bats and the Princess I'm all for it. But right now, I want to finish this before it gets cold, okay?"
"Okay." Clark stood and clapped Wally gently on the shoulder. "Why don't you come by sometime? We don't talk as often as we should."
"That'd be great!" Wally grinned widely.
You sure can be blind, said John in a child's voice in his head. Except he wasn't, not really, and Clark knew this smile wasn't any more real than the rest. He also knew what to listen for in heartbeat, breath intake and tone of voice to indicate someone he knew well was lying. He just didn't know what to do about it.
***
Chapter Three