Chapter 4
"Two Dianas," Audrey mused. "What fun that would be!"
Diana frowned. "Don't even joke about it," she told the princess.
"I'm sorry. And you're right, there could only be one of you," Audrey teased her.
"You don't understand, Audrey," Diana tried to explain as she pulled her legs up onto the couch and faced Audrey. She hesitated. "What I'm about to tell you can't ever be repeated, okay?"
"Diana!" Audrey said in a tone of mock offense. "I suppose next you will accuse me of telling people about the night you and I - "
"Don't say it," Diana interrupted, chuckling. Her tension eased. She'd only needed to warn the other woman. She knew Audrey would remain silent if asked. "The other Diana was from an alternate universe, Audrey. So were all the others."
Audrey creased her brow. "Alternate universe?" she asked. "Like - another dimension?"
"Exactly," Diana said gratefully. "And in their world, the Justice League - or the Justice Lords, as they called themselves - used a brand of lethal justice that we don't believe in."
Her friend's eyes widened. "You mean they killed people?"
Diana nodded gravely. "And their idea of mercy wasn't that great, either. You remember the other day when that Doomsday character landed in Metropolis? And Superman - the other Superman - used his heat ray to lobotomize him?" Audrey nodded. "Well, that was apparently common practice in their world. The word 'rehabilitation' didn't seem to be in their vocabulary."
"Not you too?!"
"Me too," Diana whispered.
Audrey shuddered. "Then I am glad she is gone." She stopped. "I wonder if we were friends in that world too. I wonder what kind of person _I_ was like?"
Diana didn't reply. She just looked away.
"Diana?" Audrey asked. "What is it? Was I - a bad person too?"
"I don't know," Diana said truthfully. "But I doubt we were friends."
"Why?"
"While we were trapped in their dimension, Batman was able to download a great deal of information regarding events that happened there. We took it," Diana explained, "so we could learn from the mistakes they made. You and I don't appear to have known each other."
"Oh," Audrey said. She looked intently at Diana. "Then why did you have that look on your face?"
"Because . . ." Diana finally answered reluctantly, "in their world Vandal Savage tried his mad plan, and it failed. But when the meteor was redirected toward Kasnia, there were no survivors. Including you."
Audrey blinked. "Well," she said after a moment, "I'm glad that was another time and place."
Diana nodded. "It's made me think about a lot, though."
"About what?"
"Well, Superman was evidently the first to cross the line in their world," Diana said candidly, "but the others all followed after him. It made me wonder how I could be corrupted so easily. It especially made me wonder if I have such darkness in my body as well."
"Diana," Audrey said reproachfully. "You don't have a mean bone in your body."
"I'm not that perfect, Audrey, even if some people think so," Diana replied.
"I didn't say you were perfect, Diana," Audrey pointed out naughtily. But then she reached over and took Diana's hand. "You come closer to perfect than anyone else I know, though."
Diana blushed. "Yes, well, that led me to think about other things. Wondering about what might have been made me think of you, too."
Audrey looked surprised. "Me?"
"What if I'd never gone to that party?" Diana asked. "And we'd never met? Obviously the alternate Diana had forgotten what 'fun' was about, but if I hadn't been in a party mood that night - any number of things could have worked out worse than they did."
"But they didn't," Audrey reminded her. "Just like you didn't turn out like the other Diana. So why dwell on these negatives that could have been, instead of the positives that happened?"
Diana thought about what she said and smiled. "I guess you're right. Still, it's weird seeing my face behind bars."
"You didn't send them back where they came from?"
"No, they're still here. We just took their powers away, but if we sent them back, they might find a way to regain their powers and cause more mischief, either in their world or in ours," Diana told her. "Except Batman, who never left their world, but he doesn't have super powers anyway, so he won't be able to dominate that world on his own."
"Then why do you have them in prison?" Audrey asked.
"Because they're still us," Diana said. "What if the other Superman decides to reveal our Superman's secret identity? Or the Flash's, or anyone else? We can't allow their knowledge to be used against us or anyone else."
"I see," Audrey replied. She stood up. "You know, it's a good thing the Kasnian royal family has had this manor house for centuries, so I didn't have to take up permanent residence in a hotel. But it's even colder than the palace! I'm going to put more wood on the fire." She walked over to the fireplace, her hips swaying suggestively without her even trying to. "I know we both agreed that we should continue to meet in secret, but it's so bothersome to have to do everything myself," she added, grinning as she looked over her shoulder.
Diana didn't feel cold as she watched Audrey. She mocked herself internally, however. How could she talk about lessons learned regarding missed chances and opportunities when she remained steadfastly afraid of exploring the way Audrey made her feel? Diana had always known that, like most other Amazons, she was attracted to women instead of men, but she'd never shared this information with the League.
Even to Audrey she'd only referred to it very vaguely, and in such a way as to be interpreted as a joke. Diana knew that Audrey had cultivated the impression of being a libertine, but the princess struck the Amazon as being in no way debauched. In fact, she had a streak of innocence that Diana adored. Not to mention that elfin face and petite figure . . .
But she refused to walk down that road. She believed Audrey was straight, and it could do Diana no good to explore her feelings if Audrey would never reciprocate them. In fact it might only damage their friendship, and that was something too precious to lose. She'd told Audrey things she'd never even told Hawkgirl, her closest friend in the League.
Better to remain best friends than risk all, Diana concluded with a noticeable lack of the courage Wonder Woman was noted for.
Still, as Audrey bent over and stoked the fire, Diana couldn't look away as she felt a stirring inside of her.
Audrey stood up. "What?" she asked, noticing the odd look on Diana's face.
"Nothing," Diana said, coughing. "Just thinking about something."
"Hmm," Audrey replied, a salacious expression on her face. "I bet it was very naughty."
"You have no idea," Diana told her in all honesty.
________________________
"Hey, Supes," the Flash said as Superman entered the room. "How about this for a slogan? Luthor for U.S. Representative - Putting the 'Con' back in Congress?"
The first couple times he'd used a mock slogan for Lex Luthor's promised foray into politics, Superman had wanted to hit the Flash. By now, however, he had to admit it was funny.
"You want to hear something really funny?" Superman replied. "Actually, let me ask you this. Have either of you noticed anything different about Wonder Woman lately?"
"Diana? Why?"
Superman looked to his left. The Flash had been enough of a distraction that he hadn't immediately noticed the Martian Manhunter.
"She's been in a better mood," Flash said.
Superman turned back to him. "In what way?"
"Well, I mean, she's been a little standoffish ever since we first met her, but after the incident on Themiscyra with her mother and Hades, she got worse. Or was that just me?"
"You do have that effect on women, Flash," Superman murmured, earning him a dirty look, but he considered what he had said. It was true that Wonder Woman, for obvious reasons, had been very upset by her banishment from her homeland. Which had been a remarkable bit of insanity, in his opinion. How exactly did you punish a woman for bringing men to Themiscyra, when you'd just finished lauding those same men as heroes and saviors of the Amazon race?
If there was a hard lesson he'd learned recently, it was that compromise could be unavoidable. Much to Diana's sorrow, the Amazons hadn't learned that one yet.
"She has been coming out of her shell lately," J'onn agreed. "There was that night a few weeks ago in Paris."
"The Kasnian princess," Superman remembered. "The paparazzi got a lot of photographs of them at different nightspots."
"Plus that helicopter full of kidnappers she dismantled," Flash added.
"She hasn't been around much," the Martian mentioned. "When she hasn't been fulfilling her duties with the League, she's been off on her own. But she hasn't told me where."
"Maybe she found a guy," Flash suggested.
They looked at him.
"What? Okay, so she's an Amazon, but it's not like the Amazons are all immaculate conceptions, if you know what I mean."
"Anyway," Superman said, "I hadn't really thought about it until Metropolis this morning."
"What happened in Metropolis?"
"A couple of Batman's old enemies, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, were in town. We got a tip that they were going to hit one of the banks this afternoon. I was able to take care of them without much of a problem."
"I fail to see the humor in that," the Manhunter pointed out.
Flash shuddered theatrically. "It certainly wasn't funny when I ran into Ivy in that freaky dimension. She creeped me out. And everyone may say she's a total sexpot, but that lobotomy must have fried her looks too." He looked at Superman. "Sorry," he added.
Superman shrugged. His alternate self had come up with a use for heat ray vision that he'd never even considered, and after seeing the results, he knew he'd never consider it in the future either. "What was funny was that Poison Ivy had a message for Diana."
The Manhunter and Flash looked at each other. "I wasn't aware they knew each other," J'onn said.
"Tell Wonder Woman I said thanks. That was the message," Superman replied. He scratched his head. "I wonder it's about."
J'onn cleared his throat. "You know," he told them, "two weeks ago Wonder Woman approached me with some seeds she had. Since I stay here more than anyone else does, she asked me if I knew the best place for them to grow. Then yesterday she decided they'd grown enough, and she took the plants away."
"What kind of plants were they?" Flash asked.
"I checked. They were very rare. In fact, I couldn't find any known quantities of this plant on Earth. It's used to produce a special kind of poison, as well as the antidote," J'onn said.
Superman frowned. "So Wonder Woman was growing a plant so exotic that most people think it's extinct," he said, "and Poison Ivy, a woman known for her genius in botany, sends Wonder Woman her thanks. What are we missing here?"
"When did she come to you with those seeds exactly?"
Everyone turned around and saw Batman standing in the doorway. "Hey Bats . . ." Flash said.
"Later," he interrupted.
"It was two weeks - no, fifteen days ago," the Martian Manhunter said. "Why?"
Batman nodded. "Gotham police got an anonymous tip that Quinn and Ivy were holed up at a certain location fifteen days ago. When they arrived, it was obviously one of Poison Ivy's hideouts, but it looked like they left in a big hurry. That was the last we'd seen of them in Gotham until I saw the arrest report in Metropolis."
"What are you saying?" Superman asked.
"I'm saying it's possible Wonder Woman told Poison Ivy that the police were coming, and in exchange Ivy gave her the plants you were talking about before. She may have even called the police herself," Batman suggested.
"Over a rare plant?" Flash said. "I don't get it."
"She certainly could not have needed a poison," J'onn pointed out, "so therefore she needed the antidote. Does anyone know anything about it?"
"There was a recent high-profile poisoning that affected most of us, especially Wonder Woman," Batman reminded them.
"Who?" Superman asked.
"King Gustav of Kasnia."
"The Savage incident," Superman remembered. "I was sorry I missed that one. I still can't believe he's the same man we faced in the 1940s."
"And there's that word again - Kasnia," J'onn said. "Was that how Savage poisoned Gustav?"
"I don't believe we ever learned what poison was used," Batman said. "But Gustav has been completely paralyzed ever since, thanks to Savage's attempt to usurp the throne. Maybe Wonder Woman is trying to fix that."
"How about we just ask her?" Flash asked.
"Flash is right," J'onn said. "If we're a team, then we should come out to each other up front, instead of making guesses behind each other's backs." He turned to the computers. "Wonder Woman, could you come in please?"
"Maybe Wonder Woman gave a heads up to Poison Ivy," Superman murmured as he went over to Batman, "but maybe she also tipped the police off today."
"I did a trace, if you don't mind," Batman told him, "of the phone line used to make the call."
Superman glared at him. Batman would have certainly minded if someone from the League did that in Gotham. "And?"
"Pay phone, less than a block from where Ivy and Quinn stashed their loot," Batman said. "Someone probably spotted them and called it in."
"Wonder Woman here, J'onn," her voice said. "What's the problem?"
"What are you doing right now?" J'onn asked.
"Cleaning up a hostage situation in Miami. I can be there in two minutes if it's urgent."
"It's not urgent, Diana," Superman said as he leaned over the Manhunter's shoulder. "But we'd like to ask you about a couple things."
There was a pause. "Okay," she finally answered curiously. "I'll be there."
She disconnected, leaving the room silent.
"So anyway . . ." Flash began to say.
"When a room goes quiet, expect him to fill the void," Superman thought.
________________________
Diana stood at the door and looked around, feeling uneasy. Superman, Batman, the Flash, and the Martian Manhunter all looked bored. Evidently they were bored because they'd been waiting for her. "Is there a problem?"
"Thank you," Superman said.
"For what?"
"No, it's a message I was supposed to give you. Poison Ivy says thank you."
Diana stiffened. "How did this happen?"
"I found her and Harley Quinn committing a crime in Metropolis," he said. "She volunteered it."
"Metropolis?" Diana repeated. She did recall suggesting to Ivy that she take Harley far from Gotham. The two cities weren't exactly poles apart, but maybe . . . she couldn't help smiling.
"What is it?" Batman asked neutrally.
"Nothing," she said. "I just thought of something."
"What's your connection to her?" Batman pressed.
She shrugged. "I made a deal with her recently. I prolonged their inevitable capture, and she gave me something I couldn't find elsewhere."
"A rare plant, perhaps?" Superman asked.
"I assume J'onn told you."
"What was it for?"
She began to speak, but she felt oddly reluctant. "Why does it matter?" she asked.
"Because when someone from the League comes to _my_ city and hands wanted criminals a get out of jail free pass," Batman told her sternly, "I want to know how and why."
The "how" was Oracle, Diana thought, but since she'd asked Oracle not to tell anyone about the request, she had to return the favor and leave Oracle out of it. "The queen of Kasnia told me about it."
More than one person nodded, and she wondered how much else they'd guessed at. "When?" J'onn asked.
"A few days after Savage hijacked the space station," she explained, "the governments of Kasnia and the United States made a mutual request that I be present to give my view of events in the wake of the attack on American ships. I later accompanied Savage back to America where he was taken into custody. Prior to that, Queen Audrey revealed that Savage had given them the name of the poison, but that she hadn't found it anywhere on Earth."
"That was very generous of you," Batman observed.
She glared at him. "You were there, I believe, when she released me from that Kasnian cell. I felt like I owed her. And I've been told that King Gustav has shown the first, meager signs that he may recover after the antidote was given."
"None of us," Superman told her, shooting Batman a look, "are suggesting you did anything wrong. It was a great gesture on your part, really. We just didn't understand why you kept it from us."
"Because I knew Batman would get territorial about it," she said. That was a half-truth, and maybe not even half. True, there was the question of a Justice Leaguer developing such close ties to a single nation, especially one that had committed warlike acts on the world recently. But it was mainly because her friendship with Audrey felt intensely personal, private. She didn't feel like sharing it with the others.
"Is there anything else?" Diana asked, showing by her body language that she was getting tired of being interrogated.
"No, nothing," Superman eventually responded when Batman said nothing.
"Fine. I'm going to take care of a couple things," she said, not even bothering to wave as she walked out.
"Gee, that could have been warmer," Flash observed.
Batman's eyes narrowed. He too stormed out with saying anything else.
The remaining three Leaguers stood there. "How about 'Luthor for Vice President - Make the World Safe - From Luthor'?" Flash finally asked.
To be continued . . .
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