Story: Dragons, Demons, and Other Wonders of the Heart (chapter 16)

Authors: Allaine

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Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Audrey looked around curiously. There was something about the woman who'd arrived, obviously, but Diana had not shared this particular piece of gossip. "Diana," she whispered. "Who is that, and why did everyone stop talking?"

Diana was staring at Talia in astonishment. "Uh," she said, her mind slowly coming back on-line. "She used to be involved with Batman."

"Oh," Audrey said, immediately understanding. "It is never easy seeing your ex-boyfriend with another woman at a social gathering," she added sympathetically. "Even if you've already found someone new. Still, we're all adults here, right?"

Then she separated from the crowd and began walking toward J'onn and Talia.

Diana blinked and shook her head. It was then that she realized - the daughter of Ra's al-Ghul was moments from learning that Princess Audrey of Kasnia was here as Wonder Woman's date.

Horrified, Diana's feet left the floor as she flew forward, interposing herself between Talia and Audrey. "Hello, J'onn," she said sweetly. "Could I have a minute with your friend?"

"Diana!" Audrey said, startled. She sidled her way around Diana. "Really, you must excuse my darling. She can be so selfish. Hello, J'onn."

"Princess," he said gravely.

Talia had watched all of this with trepidation mixed with confusion. Now her eyes lit up finally with comprehension. "Wait, you're the Kasnian princess, right? Princess Audrey?"

Aghast, Diana turned eyes on Talia that were way beyond hostile, and the demon's daughter involuntarily took a step back.

Diana's hand found Talia's neck, and she lifted Talia above the floor.

"Uh-oh," Superman said.

"Diana!" Audrey gasped.

"Wonder Woman!" J'onn added for good measure.

"If you breathe one word of what you've seen here tonight," Diana snarled at Talia, "I will do to you what Heracles did to the Hydra - I will cut off your head and bury it under a rock. Do we understand each other?!"

Superman came over to help J'onn attempt to free Talia from Diana's grasp. "Wonder Woman, drop her now!"

"You know, that Wonder Woman's not so bad a girl," Selina murmured.

Slowly Diana loosened her grip, allowing Talia to drop to the floor, her face red as she inhaled deeply.

"Diana!" Audrey repeated, frightened. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"That woman's father," Diana replied savagely, pointing in Talia's direction without looking at her, "is the head of one of the largest criminal organizations in the world, a man who has tried to take over the planet several times!" She turned her head to glare at Talia. "A man who would use information about my personal life for his own nefarious purposes." Then she spun on J'onn before anyone could interrupt. "What were you thinking bringing her here?!"

J'onn drew himself up stiffly as he moved so that he was between Talia and everyone else. "I was thinking that my fellow League members would not attack my guest without provocation," he said coldly.

"You KNOW what I mean."

"She gave me her word. It was enough."

"Why?!"

"Hey, can it!" Flash materialized between the two. "There are other people here, you know. How about everybody who wants to yell and scream take it to another part of the station, okay?"

Diana looked at him with narrowed eyes. "How about you be the host and retract her invitation?"

"If she is no longer welcome, neither am I," J'onn replied.

"Flash is right," Batman finally said as he came over, studiously ignoring Talia. "How about we take this someplace a little more private?"

"Besides," Flash told them, "all the negative vibes in the room are giving Raven a headache." His date did, in fact, look paler than usual.

Grudgingly J'onn and Diana nodded. Batman gestured toward the exit that would take them in the direction of the conference room, and Talia and J'onn were the first to leave, followed by Batman, Diana, Audrey, and Selina.

Superman looked at the others. "Batman and Wonder Woman are a little - emotional about this. I'll make sure we get to the bottom of this."

"Have fun," Lois said dryly.

He sighed and departed.

Flash looked around and rubbed his head. "Half the guests gone in an instant," he muttered. "Who's up for Parcheesi?"

Outside, Diana had pulled Batman to the back of the line. "You seem awfully calm about this," she hissed.

"I'm not," he growled. "But you were antagonizing J'onn before. If you'd kept it up, you would have only pushed them closer together."

"Ahem, are you coming?"

They both looked ahead at Catwoman. "I mean," she continued, "if you think I'm going to be in a room with Talia al-Ghul while the two of you are whispering in the hall like two kids who snuck out of detention, you're as crazy as the Demon himself."

Batman grunted.

"Meow."
"Do you suppose we could handle this in a calm and civil manner?" Superman asked. He looked around the room. "Okay, maybe not."

"Now that she's here," Diana said icily, while a worried Audrey watched her, "I'm not sure she should be allowed to leave."

"What's that supposed to mean?" J'onn demanded.

"My double's cell is still empty."

"All right, we're getting ahead of ourselves here," Superman said before J'onn could erupt.

"I promised J'onn I would not speak of anything I heard or saw here," Talia spoke up for the first time from where she stood, "but if you require my word that I specifically will not - "

"Your word?"

Batman had said only two words, but they were laced with contempt, and they more than adequately conveyed how lightly he thought of Talia's oath. His cape and cowl, combined with the barely-controlled anger that radiated from Batman's body, conjured up images of dark stormclouds preparing to burst. Catwoman lounged against one of the "windows" overlooking space, and the dark of the vacuum outside seemed to pale next to the Dark Knight. She played idly with the claws at the tips of her gloves and looked from Batman to Talia with a thoughtful expression.

Talia seemed to shrink from the implied insult, but she continued. "If I must give you my word that I will not speak of your relationship with the Kasnian woman, I will give it."

Diana took a step forward. "I don't want you even thinking about Audrey and myself, do you understand me? Or not even your corrupted father will be able to protect you."

"Diana - "

"No, J'onn, I'm sorry but your promise isn't good enough. No offense, but this is too important to me to trust to your faith, whatever that may be, in this woman," Diana interrupted. "What I need is for her to realize the eternal torture I will inflict upon her if she tells a soul about this." She brushed past J'onn and took Talia by the shoulder, leaning into the startled woman's ear. "I will toss your mangled corpse into one of your father's pits just so I can kill you again," she whispered.

Talia's eyes became round.

Diana pushed her back. "Understood?"

"Diana," J'onn tried to begin angrily.

"I would not have told my father anyway," Talia said, her voice shaky, "but yes, I understand what would happen to me if I did."

Audrey stared at Diana, alarmed, as the Amazon stalked back to stand protectively before the Kasnian princess.

"Is that settled?" Superman asked.

Diana grudgingly nodded.

"Good," Batman said. "The rest of you can go back to the party then. I'll remain here with J'onn and his guest."

"Er, I'm not sure that's a good idea," Superman pointed out.

"It's an excellent idea," Audrey said coolly. "Diana and I need to talk for a minute." She took Diana's wrist and pulled insistently in the direction of the exit. Diana submitted and allowed herself to be led out, casting a final baleful glance at Talia.

"Talia is my concern," Batman replied. "I'll keep you informed. Go back to Lois."

Superman glanced at J'onn, who nodded. "You might want to address the League at some point, J'onn," Superman told him.

"Isn't that what I did when I arrived at the party?"

Superman frowned as he left.

Batman turned to Catwoman. "Selina, I - "

Truthfully, Talia's attention had been so dominated by Batman and Wonder Woman that Catwoman really hadn't even appeared on her radar. When she saw the purple-clad burglar for the first time, she gasped.

Selina placed a finger on Batman's lips and turned to face Talia. "I guess your sources in Gotham are a little behind the times," she purred silkily.

For the first time, Talia became emotional. "Did you never mean it when you told me I had to leave my father if I wanted to be with you?" she asked Batman. "Or have you turned hypocrite, taking to bed a common thief?!"

The humor vanished from Catwoman's eyes, and her lips pressed together tightly as she looked upon Talia with contempt. "I dislike the word common," she said. "And I dislike this attitude of yours that because you think you're in love with Batman, this gives you some kind of claim on him."

J'onn pulled Talia close by one arm. "You know he meant it," he muttered. "Get a hold of yourself."

Batman narrowed his eyes at the Martian's choice of words.

Selina looked at Batman again, having apparently dismissed Talia as unworthy of her time. "You want to be alone, don't you?" she asked him.

"This is not a part of my life I want to involve you in," Batman said quietly. "Actually, it's a part of my life I wish I wasn't involved in, either."

"I realize you're not exactly experienced when it comes to relationships, but generally it's not a choice people have. When you let someone into your life, they generally want to be a part of the whole package. I think you're just looking for an excuse not to return to the party," Selina replied.

"You know that's not it."

She sighed. "And the night was going so well, too. Still, I suppose if I linger, the little mouse will say something that compels my claws to come out."

Batman nodded. "I'll tell you what happened later."

"Hey, don't worry about me. I'll be the one with all the good gossip." She brushed his cheek with her fingers and turned to go.

Before she left, however, she looked at J'onn. "Be careful of this one," Selina warned him. "I'm told she has an overdeveloped imagination."

"Thanks for the concern, Catwoman," J'onn replied calmly.

Catwoman's eyes slid over Talia like she wasn't even there. Her long black hair trailed behind her as she breezed out of the room.

"Well," J'onn said. "I knew it would come down to the three of us sooner or later."

"Bruce," Talia began.

He held up a gloved palm. "How did this happen?" he asked. "How did you let this happen, J'onn?"

J'onn frowned. "It wasn't exactly planned, Bruce. And neither of us wanted the League to find out this way. Hawkgirl had me in a position where I could not refuse without revealing the secret anyway."

Batman did not appear moved. "Then how did you meet?"

Both Talia and the Martian looked uncomfortable.

"Well?"

"We don't have to tell you anything," Talia said.

"If you want to convince me that this is something innocent, and not an amateurish plan to make me jealous," Batman replied flatly, "you do."

"Do you really think I would stoop so - "

"Talia," J'onn said. "He deserves to know anyway. It was all because of him, after all."

"I'm not surprised," Batman said, casting a look Talia's way. "How did she get you?"

J'onn glared at Batman. "Actually, she got you."

"Pardon?"
"What has gotten into you?!" Audrey asked when she was alone with Diana. "All this talk of killing and eternal torture and - "

"I thought you understood by now," Diana said, exasperated. "You heard me say who she was."

"No, I heard you say who her father was. If my father was a killer and a criminal, would you refuse to be in the same room with me?"

"That's not the same thing, and anyway, if your father was a killer, he would have raised you to be a different person than you are now," Diana told her. "She's not an innocent bystander here. She works for DEMON, her father's organization. You must have heard of them." She paused. "They were involved in those black market arms deals that resulted in the arms embargo against your country," she added awkwardly.

Audrey crossed her arms. "I remember," she said coldly.

"Audrey, please, can we just go back to the party?"

"No, I need to know, Diana! Would you really hurt this woman just because she knows our secret?"

"No, but I would hurt her if she threatened to use it against us."

"Would you kill her?"

Diana hesitated. "If I had no other choice, yes," she finally said.

Audrey sighed and took her hand. "You've never killed another human being, Diana, and I don't want someone's death on your conscience. It would be on mine as well if you did it for me."

"I can't allow you to become a target for every villain and hired gun in the world, Audrey," Diana reminded her. "I won't allow us to live the rest of our lives in fear of losing each other."

Audrey smiled sadly. "Diana, I saw you on the television. What makes you think I don't already live with that fear daily?"

Diana looked down. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "But I can't stop being Wonder Woman. It's the one thing I can't do for you."

"And I'm not asking you to, just like you're not asking me to stop being Princess of Kasnia," Audrey replied. "Not like it would matter, right? Danger will always be a part of our life together, will it not?"

Diana nodded. "Probably. If it looks hard enough, it will find us."

"Then perhaps you should learn to deal with it a little better?" Audrey suggested. "Instead of threatening death and destruction to every new person who discovers the truth?"

"If she talks, she pays," Diana swore.

Audrey sighed. "I suppose you're right. But for this night, at least, I would prefer to focus on the positive. All right, Diana?"

Diana pulled the smaller woman into her arms. "How about a dance, then?"

"But there's no music in this room."

"And your point is?"

Audrey smiled and, closing her eyes, nestled into Diana's embrace as they slowly turned in circles.
When Catwoman entered the party, alone, nearly everyone seemed to be holding their breath. "Batman says we should wait thirty minutes after the explosions have stopped. Any survivors should be brought to the medlab immediately."

"Excuse me?" Superman asked, surprised.

"Just kidding. You are an easy mark, aren't you?"

Superman rubbed the back of his head. "You're not going to drop that incident in the elevator, are you?" he muttered.

"Where are the others?" Green Lantern asked.

"Well, I left Batman alone with the Martian Manhunter and the Demon's Barbie doll. Who knows how long that will take?" she asked, shrugging.

"What about Diana and Audrey?"

Catwoman looked around. "They were already gone when I left." Then she grinned. "Of course, Wonder Woman's blood was certainly pumping before. Maybe they - "

"Never mind," Hawkgirl interrupted.

Flash brought Raven a drink. "Feeling better?" he asked.

She nodded gratefully. "Thank you, Flash," she said. "It was very unpleasant in here for a moment earlier. Too much anger, too much hatred."

"From who?"

"Hard to say," she admitted. "It came from more than one direction. If you're asking me how this Talia person was feeling, I cannot say. It was like trying to peer through a haze."

"Flash."

"Hold on a sec, Raven. Yeah, Bats," Flash said, putting a finger to the communicator in his ear.

"You thought it would be a good idea to send J'onn to my city, disguised as me, so he could have sex with the woman who's been harassing me for years?"

Batman's tone was deceptively light, and Flash broke into a sweat. "Yeah, well, uh, you see - "

"We'll talk more about this later. Batman out."

"Flash? Flash?" Raven asked, worried. "Is something wrong?"

He looked at her. "Why, what does my aura tell you?"

"The same thing your eyes and your brow tell me, that something has scared you."

Flash laughed nervously. "Glad I decided to include a wet bar."

To be continued . . .

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