"I don't like this," Diana said as the last of the DEMON guards put his weapon aside and assumed a kneeling position, having been commanded to do so by a man's voice over the loudspeakers "as wished by the Demon's Head". "Why would Ra's tell his men to stand down?"
"Maybe he got what he wanted from Savage and now he's preparing to use it against us," GL said dourly. He glanced at Batman. "Any idea whose voice that was? You're the League expert on DEMON."
"Probably the new Ubu," Batman replied. "The last one died in Sofia recently, and I haven't fought this one yet.”had occasion to encounter his replacement."
"I thought Ubu was his name," Flash said. Clearly he wanted to race down to the Pit, but Superman hadn't returned yet. He'd gone ahead, having no doubt that the remainder of the League could deal with the soldiers while he went to find Savage. Diana suddenly wondered if Ra's told his men to stop fighting because he had Superman in some sort of trap, and he was about to unveil his new hostage.
"Ubu IS his name. It's always the name of his Ra’s’ personal bodyguard."
Impatiently Diana tried Superman again on the communicator. "Superman, is there a problem?"
"Not the expected kind of problem, but yes," he finally responded. "Maybe if you and Batman came down while the others remained topside? And John - Savage is here, but he's not exactly accessible."
Diana blinked. "Uh-huh," she said dubiously. She looked at the others. "He says Batman, Green Lantern and I should come down. The rest of you, do something with these men so they can be taken into custody by the proper authorities later."
"Like this?" Hawkgirl asked. She took her mace and, without energizing it, tapped a DEMON soldier lightly on the head. He slumped and fell over.
"Unless you have a fresh supply of batcuffs," Diana said to Batman.
Batman didn't reply. He'd already begun heading for the entrance to the Pit.
Diana shrugged and flew after him, but she stopped when Catwoman followed as well. "Superman said - "
"You must have me confused with someone else. I'm not a member of the League, so I don’t heel when Superman calls. Besides," she added with the naughty grin that was almost one of her trademarks, "I just love going places where I'm told I'm not supposed to go. Especially when it's a superhero doing the telling."
"Hear that, Batman?" Green Lantern called after Batman. "All those times she got away, and all you had to do was order her not to go to jail."
The look on Catwoman's face suggested she had a dozen responses to this remark, but chose not to bother.
Diana frowned as she brought up the rear. Lately it felt like she didn't know WHAT to think. At times the only certainty she felt came from striking down yet another minion of Ra's al-Ghul - a man bound for Tartarus if there ever was one. Catwoman was a more recent example of this phenomenon. Their first encounter had been on the Watchtower during Christmas, since a Gotham thief had always been a matter for Batman rather than Wonder Woman, and it had not been pleasant. She'd also been dismayed by Ms. Kyle's discovery of her relationship with Audrey.
At the Valentine's party, however, Selina had been gracious. More recently, Diana had found a common ground with the burglar - they both disliked Talia immensely. Although perhaps Catwoman's animosity didn't extend as far as the wish to inflict severe bodily harm.
And today, Catwoman had been a surprise addition to their party - almost as surprising as Batman's announcement that he knew where Ra's al-Ghul was, although his failure to divulge how he'd come by this information was no surprise at all. From the way she had fought, it was clear to Diana that even though she earned her living through stealth and invisibility, she did not slink through the shadows because of cowardice or lack of fighting ability.
Of course, Talia was the main reason why she'd been off her game lately. The harlot had seduced J'onn! Used his membership in the League to gain vital information, and then use it to steal Savage from the Kasnians - and after she'd warned the Demon's Daughter!
Diana could have blissfully approached the Lazarus Pit that day with thoughts of putting Talia in the hospital if it wasn't for one thing - ironically, the one thing that had started this mess in the first place. Audrey had told Diana of the message left for her at the Kasnian Embassy PRIOR to the Savage abduction, a message that was evidently from Talia. Diana had swiftly concluded that Talia had left this clue as a backup, a means of defending herself if the scheme went sour. "But no, you see, I tried to warn you!" Audrey had remained unconvinced. She just remembered the woman she met at a party.
The more she thought about it, though, the more she wondered if Talia had REALLY been involved. Everyone in the League knew that Ra's was obsessed with his own mortality, and it had become public knowledge that Savage was undying after Audrey exposed him as the Nazi war criminal that he was. Certainly that would have piqued Ra's' interest no matter what. And if he really wanted to use Diana's relationship with Audrey to his advantage, why not threaten Audrey with global exposure unless she handed Savage over to him? Perhaps he couldn't prove they were romantically linked, but more than a few villains would try to hurt her through Audrey on the off-chance it was true.
She had not considered this before because she'd been flying around half-cocked, behaving nothing like an Amazon princess by leaping to conclusions and smashing things first, asking questions later. No offense meant, but she'd been acting more like the impulsive Hawkgirl! Lately Diana had developed a positively murderous temper when it came to actual or perceived threats to Audrey, and she'd seen at the Watchtower party how much it bothered her lover. Her need to protect Audrey was creating a wall between them, not around them.
Sometimes she wished for just a few weeks where she could be a normal woman, and share a normal life with Audrey!
Still, this didn't change the fact that Talia wasn't at all right for J'onn . . .
Even though Savage was allegedly in custody, Diana was brooding almost as much as the Bat when she entered the cavern in which the Lazarus Pit was. "Where is - he?" Diana asked, the last to arrive. She looked around and noticed several things that were unexpected.
Talia and J'onn were there - together.
But was that Clayface, who she recognized from his days with the secret society? He didn't appear to be a threat - it appeared Superman had used his heat ray vision to turn Clayface's trunk-like legs into immobile blocks of ceramic - but his presence was baffling. And Harley Quinn?
And where in Hera's name was Savage!
She glared at Superman, because he hadn't exactly said anything about this earlier. "I said - " she began.
"In there," he told her, sounding a little harassed as he gestured over his shoulder with his thumb. "In the Pit, with Poison Ivy."
Diana noticed that neither Batman nor Catwoman appeared unduly surprised by this, and she nodded. Of course he would have a better idea of what was going on than her, or Green Lantern, who looked as confused as she felt.
"I want them out of there," Superman continued, "so I wanted GL down here so he could use his ring to lift them out. It's too dangerous for humans to enter, and I don't know how the Pit's contents might interact with Kryptonian anatomy."
"Are they dead or alive?" John Stewart asked doubtfully.
"Hard to say," Superman said, looking at Talia. She returned the look calmly.
"Oh-kay," Green Lantern replied, shaking his head. He went over to the edge of the Pit and looked down.
He then jerked back in surprise.
Five slimy fingers slapped down on the edge of the Pit, as someone tried to pull themselves out. Green Lantern bent over to offer a hand.
"Don't touch them!" Batman warned him.
"I know," GL said irritably as he used his ring to surround himself in a protective green light before grabbing onto the hand and pulling back.
"Not because of the liquid," Batman said quickly. "When people emerge from there, they can be a little dangerous."
"Vandal Savage and Poison Ivy? They're dangerous when they're normal," Green Lantern retorted as Ivy struggled to get out of the Pit and onto her feet.
"Red?" Harley asked hopefully.
Ivy looked at all of them, her eyes unblinking. She certainly looked alive. She also looked naked. Whether the Lazarus Pit had seared her clothes away or whether they'd come free when it geysered earlier, there wasn't a stitch of clothing on her. Superman was the first to look away.
Clayface did not. He whistled.
Ivy's head swept to her side and her eyes focused on him. Her lips pulled back in a snarl. Then she shrieked and ran at Clayface, leaping onto his body and flailing away at him with her dripping arms.
"Quickly, subdue her!" Talia said. "It will wear off shortly!"
"Whaddya mean?" Harley asked, ecstatic. "That's my Red!"
Superman and J'onn pulled her off, but she hissed and tried to lunge back at Clayface, whose head was briefly shaped like a T before he returned to what passed for normal. "You dirty, filthy pig!" Ivy screamed at him. "How dare you - "
Any further response was interrupted by Harley throwing herself at Ivy.
"I thought being in the Pit made you temporarily lose your faculties," Superman said to Batman.
"Ivy was never the sanest person in the world," Catwoman pointed out.
"Oh, Red," Harley blubbered as she held Ivy. "You're okay, you're really okay!"
"Of course I'm okay, except for being ogled by perverted mutants like him," Ivy said, still outraged. "What is he doing here, and where are my clothes! In fact," she added, looking around, "how did you get here? Where is Aresia?"
Diana nodded. Ivy had awoken to find herself in an odd cavern surrounded by members of the Justice League. Naturally she'd assumed she was still on Aresia's island, which would be her last memory.
"Huh? Who's that?" Harley asked, confused.
Batman cleared his throat. "Savage is trying to escape."
The League members turned and saw Savage, also naked, trying to sneak away. Diana smiled grimly. No one else tried to get there first. She flew at him, spun him around by the shoulder, and delivered a crushing fist to his face, breaking his nose and causing blood to splash her. She didn't mind.
"Why didn't you take him?" GL asked Batman.
"Wonder Woman had first claim," Batman said.
"I'm very confused," Ivy muttered.
"I think we all are," Superman told her. "I asked the three of you down so we could sort everything out. I didn't expect these two to appear and add to the confusion. How about we start at the beginning and go from there? J'onn?"
"This is unacceptable!" Ivy fumed. "I wake up naked, and covered with slime, and I have no idea where I am, and that animal is looking at me - "
"You've put on a few pounds, Pammy. Not getting much exercise lately?" Clayface growled.
"Like I'm a slab of beef! And did he just say I was fat?" Ivy added, her voice uncomprehending.
"Let's just say the melons look a little overripe. You always liked plant metaphors, right?"
"Oh, for heaven's sake," Talia, her sense of anxiety nearing its breaking point with both Batman and Wonder Woman close by, suddenly burst out. "So he made a pass at you years ago. Could you stop behaving like children for five minutes!”
Almost everyone looked at her. Including Ivy and Clayface, who were giving her identical enraged glares.
"Oops," she mumbled.
As it happened, two people were paying surprisingly little attention to Talia. Batman and Catwoman appeared to be engaged in some kind of silent conversation. "Fine," Catwoman finally muttered. "I'll humor her, but you owe me one. Come on, Pammy," she said, stepping forward. "How about Harley and I take you aside, we get you cleaned up and in proper clothes, and then Harley pieces together what happened?"
"Selina?" Ivy asked, having failed to notice her before. Her anger once again gave way to bewilderment, and not a little exhaustion. "What are you - I don't understand any of this," she pouted. "I've been treated abominably."
"Of course you have," Catwoman assured her. She glanced at Batman and rolled her eyes. "Harley? Do you think maybe you could let go of her for ten seconds? Otherwise I'll have to drag you both."
"Sorry, Catty," Harley said, letting go of Ivy tentatively. "I'm glad you're all better, Red," she whispered.
Ivy just stared at Harley as she was led out.
"I'll just, uh, stay here," Clayface called after them.
"There's an idea," Catwoman said dryly without looking back.
Clayface muttered something about women.
"Maybe now we can get some answers," Batman said. "What happened here?"
J'onn had been watching Ivy leave with an oddly intent look, but now he turned back. "You know more than most, Batman. Don't you?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Green Lantern asked.
"How DID you know we'd find them here anyway, Batman?" Diana added.
"When you turned green at the Tunisian airfield, J'onn, people noticed," Batman replied calmly. "I knew I'd find Talia where you were, and it was likely, given her history, that she was here meeting her father.”
Diana went over to Ra's, whose crumpled body remained untouched on the floor. "And why didn't you contact us first, J'onn?" she asked quietly, studying the mastermind she'd been hunting for days.
"Talia asked me not to. I'm sure there are people you would do that for if they asked you to."
"The difference between Talia . . . " She remembered Clayface. "Couldn't we do this with a little more privacy?"
Superman understood. "Nothing personal," he said to Clayface before using his heat rays to finish the job he'd started before Talia had stopped him. The Gotham villain had only a few startled seconds to cry out before the rest of his body became a solid statue. "Can he hear us?" he asked Batman.
"No," Batman said.
"The difference," Diana repeated coldly, "between Talia and Audrey is that Audrey has never shown herself to be an untrustworthy liar. Surely you’re not serious comparing the two."
Talia flinched at the disgust in Diana's voice, but J'onn was unmoved. "No," he replied, "but it was a matter of great urgency for her. If I had acted differently, it would have created even greater hardships for her, and I care too much to do that."
"You care for her," Batman said grimly.
J'onn nodded.
"And it affected your judgment to the extent that you allowed her to lead you here into what could have been a trap, rather than simply notifying us as to the whereabouts of al-Ghul and Savage. We could have been here in thirty seconds," he said. "What was so important about coming here yourselves? Not to mention with a pack of Gotham criminals in tow," he added.
"I had to stop my father," Talia finally spoke up. "He was going to use the Lazarus Pit to have Savage's immortality transferred into his body."
"I'm guessing it didn't work," Superman said.
"He didn't have the chance," Talia told them. "I contacted my father and asked him to delay the ceremony until I arrived. Then J'onn, myself, and the others made sure his plan failed. As you saw, the only people in the Pit were Savage and Poison Ivy."
"Wait a minute," Batman interjected. "Your father thought he could become immortal if he was lowered into the Pit at the same time as Savage?"
Talia nodded.
"He'd steal Savage's immortality essentially? So that Savage would be mortal again?"
"Yes, obviously," Talia said, a little irritated.
Batman looked at Diana. "How long would you say it took Savage’s injuries to heal after the Kasnian palace exploded?"
She blinked. That was an odd question. "Only a few minutes, I guess. I saw him shot once, and his wounds healed much sooner."
"And you broke his nose just now. That was, what, two minutes ago?"
Diana looked at Vandal. There didn't seem to be any noticeable improvement in his nose. "You're not saying he's mortal now?" she asked, surprised. "But al-Ghul didn't even enter the Pit with him! The only other person was - " She stopped. Had she been so distracted by Talia that she didn’t realize this before?
No matter how dour Batman might appear, he could always make it look worse. "Poison Ivy," he said.
"You're a fool!" Savage sneered at Batman. "My powers can never be taken from me! Many have tried, and all have failed."
Diana picked up Ra's' scimitar and walked over. Vandal watched her warily. She grabbed his hand and used the scimitar to make a minor cut across his palm. "Audrey told me about how she left scratches on your face that healed almost instantly," she said. "Let's see how long it takes now."
She watched his hand calmly, while Vandal tried to appear indifferent. Thirty seconds later, with no discernible change, however, Vandal had grown increasingly frantic. Diana just looked back at him with a small smile on her face. "Look at it this way, Savage," she said quietly. "You're lucky you didn't turn into a twenty-five thousand year-old pile of dust."
Batman scowled at J’onn. "This is just the kind of thing that could have been avoided if you had contacted your teammates, instead of taking this all on yourself while leading a band of lunatics from Arkham."
"It's not like this is a disaster!" Talia retorted hotly before J’onn could reply. "We don't even know if Poison Ivy is immortal now! And even if she is, I fail to see how the world is in any more danger now than it was before."
“Now that Vandal’s a regular mortal,” Superman said, trying to ignore Talia, “he’ll be much less trouble than he was before for us.”
"For us, maybe," Batman growled. "For the League. But I'm dealing with her on a weekly basis on my own. She's a bigger headache for myself and Gotham now that she can heal any wound in a matter of minutes or less."
"We could always not tell her," Superman suggested.
As if she'd been waiting for someone to make that suggestion, Catwoman came back in. "We have a problem," she said.
"No kidding," Green Lantern said. "What?"
"We were trying to find a place for Ivy to recuperate when we were stopped by a big guy wearing a metal arm," she explained. "He said we weren't allowed to be there. Specifically, I wasn't allowed."
"Damn it," Talia groaned. "I'll have to go back there and - "
"You will do no such thing!" Diana interrupted her, surprising Talia. "You will remain HERE where I can see you. This man with the metal arm," she went on, turning to Catwoman. "Did the arm have a golden hand? And was his head shaved?"
Catwoman nodded. "Friend of yours?"
"Not exactly," Diana said angrily. "That man is wanted for leading the party that abducted Vandal Savage. He's also responsible for the deaths of two Kasnian soldiers."
"Oh. Well, if you want him, he won't be much trouble." Catwoman grinned. "Like I said, when people try to tell me where I can and can't go, I tend to let the claws come out." Then her smile disappeared. "The real problem is that Ivy was injured in the fracas, and then she wasn't again. Harley wants to know if that's some lingering effect of being in the Lazarus Pit."
Batman glared at Talia.
She sighed. "You could say that."
"So I'm immortal now," Ivy said flatly, now dressed in the generic clothes that Ra's' female servants wore. Fortunately no one had said she was dressed as a servant.
"It appears that way, yes," Talia told her. "You won't age, and you won't die."
Ivy smiled for the first time since waking up. "Well, well, well," she said. She gave Batman a nasty look. "Looks like I'll get to see you pushing up daisies after all."
"Cut it out, Ivy," Catwoman said. "This is serious."
"Serious? I should say so. But you're making it all sound so BAD," Ivy replied. "I'll be able to protect the Green for the rest of eternity. No offense, Selina, but I'll still look the same when everyone else here is dead and gone."
"Including Harley," Batman observed.
"Hey, Red, how about that?" Harley said brightly. "When I'm an old lady, I can tell everyone you're my granddaughter!"
Ivy's smile became a bit sickly. "Er, right."
Talia shrugged as she stood up. "My father's scientists will want to take a look at you. You're one of the very few people who have been permitted to use the Lazarus Pit, and with your unusual genetic makeup and newfound immortality, there could be any number of complications."
"Like I'd submit to any tests," Ivy sneered.
"Do whatever you like," Talia said. She was already grateful that Ivy had been unconscious during the plane trip to Tunisia. Her name was Poison, but her personality was positively acidic. "I've got other things to do."
"Like turn yourself in," Batman pointed out.
She gaped at him. "For what?"
"For instigating their escape from Arkham Asylum," he said.
"Why Batman, if you talk any louder, your friends in the Justice League will hear about what you did to me."
"Ooo, the Bat's been a baaaad boy," Harley sang.
"Trying to blackmail me now?" Batman asked. “Is this how you plan to prove to the League that you’ve changed?”
"Hmph," Talia said. "Like you would agree to it."
His glare of disapproval strongly suggested he was no longer interested in discussing it with her.
Talia refused to become silent, though. "I was only trying to do the right thing. That is why J'onn did what he did. What reason would I have to blackmail you?"
They both looked at Catwoman as she placed a hand on their shoulders. "Maybe we should take this outside and let the hardened felons have a moment of privacy?" she suggested.
Batman silently acknowledged that this wasn't a topic he wanted aired in front of someone like Poison Ivy. He stepped back and gestured for Talia to leave the room first. Ra's always had rooms like this set aside for when he had to recuperate after a particularly grueling visit to a Lazarus Pit.
When Harley and Ivy were finally left alone, Harley wrapped her arms around Ivy's neck and hugged her. "This is so exciting! Now you can't ever have a coma like the last time."
"Wait, coma?" Ivy asked. "I was in a coma? That's why I don't remember leaving the island?"
"What island?" Harley asked blankly.
"Why don't you fill me in first?"
"Oh, okay, Red. Well, Batsy brought you into Arkham, and you were in a coma, and the doctors said you might not ever wake up," Harley said. "And Batman said it was kinda-maybe-sorta my fault."
"YOUR fault?" Ivy said. "What the hell was that supposed to mean?"
"Well, he said you got mixed up in something because of me, and that was why you hit your head," Harley said softly.
Ivy could only imagine that Batman was referring to her conspiracy with Aresia - offering her knowledge in exchange for a plague that could potentially kill every man on the planet, including the Joker.
"Anyway, the doctors were a bunch of fuddy-duddys, as usual, and they'd just shake their heads and say no improvement. But I KNEW you'd come around, Red," Harley said, "so I stayed by your bed every day! Still, after a couple months I began to - "
"Months?" Ivy gasped.
Harley nodded. "It's been about three months since they brought you in, Red."
"And you were there the entire time?" Ivy asked, shocked.
"I promised I'd be there when you got better, because it was my fault. So then Talia shows up and says she can wake you up again if I helped her escape." She hesitated. "I know Clayface is a jerk, but maybe you should lay off him for a while. He was the one who broke us out of Arkham, and if it hadn't been for him, you'd still be in a coma."
"I'll - think about it," Ivy said, hardly caring. Harley had been at her side all that time. "What about the Joker? He let you stay with me?"
"Oh, sure," Harley said. "Well, maybe there was a few times when he wanted me to come with him and I said no. And there was a couple times where I gave it to him but good because he said something nasty. But other than that, he was really sweet about it!"
Ivy shook her head. "Of course he was."
She'd defied the Joker! To be with her! Surely it wasn't too much to think that during all that time, Harley had perhaps re-evaluated her feelings for Ivy? That maybe she'd decided some things were more important to her than a sick, abusive monster?
"And now you're all better!" Harley said joyfully. "Maybe we could pull off a couple crimes, show everyone you're all back to normal. And then I can see Puddin' again! You'll be all right by yourself now, and I've missed him something awful."
Ivy's dreams quickly crumbled into dust. "Of course you do," she muttered.
Ivy had always feared that she would outlive Harley, that the Joker would kill her. Now, thanks to her immortality, she knew that even if Harley DID leave that twisted clown, Ivy would still be the one burying her.
Which only made her feel worse.
Outside, Talia was now telling a variation on Harley's story to the entire Justice League. "And that was when Superman arrived," she finished.
The only detail she'd left out was the asylum. As futile as it would be to score brownie points with Bruce, the point of this entire mission had been to smooth things over with the League, not create more problems.
Of course, depending on how they interpreted her motivation, the League might disagree with her on that point.
At any rate, Talia had claimed that she broke Harley Quinn and Clayface out of prison because she knew they needed miracle cures, and because she didn't think she could stop her father all by herself. She'd selected those two specifically because she'd always been much more knowledgeable of the Gotham villains than any others, and she didn't have the time to do research.
Naturally, Batman seemed unimpressed. Catwoman's expression was similarly unreadable.
Talia's greatest concern was Wonder Woman. She had the most invested in this latest drama, not to mention she was the one who originally threatened to "cut off Talia's head and bury it under a rock" if she told anyone about Princess Audrey.
"Let me get this straight," Diana finally said. "You kept the League in the dark about an operation that got people killed so you could make yourself look GOOD?"
"No!" Talia said quickly. "I didn't have the chance! I couldn't get away from my father! He wanted me to lead the operation myself, but I managed to persuade him that I had a - prior engagement with Batman in Gotham, and he let me leave! What was I supposed to do, pick up the phone in front of him and call someone?"
"If you left your father BEFORE the plan was set in motion, you could still have done a better job warning us in advance!" Diana retorted. "How can I believe you didn't arrange this whole thing with your father so you could gain our trust?"
"An arrangement? My father is DEAD!"
"He's been there before, hasn't he?"
“Perhaps you’d care to witness his cremation yourself?”
“I can clear my calendar.”
J'onn should have interrupted by now to say that she was lying about her whereabouts prior to the abduction, but surprisingly, he was remaining quiet. Allowing others to lie wasn't exactly his nature, but he appeared to be letting her steer.
Naturally it was Batman who spoke up, not caring to see this devolve into a shouting match. "I spoke to Talia the day of the abduction. She was with her father. And later, I did see her in Gotham. While I can't speak to how hard she tried to warn us in between, she never said anything about it to me."
Diana smiled angrily, but Talia threw up her hands. "I was going to, but you didn't give me the chance!"
"We'd been talking long enough."
“How long did you need?” Catwoman added sardonically. “ ‘Father attacking Kasnia, tell Wonder Woman’.”
"You think I was excited about telling you?” Talia responded, ignoring Catwoman’s jibe. “What none of you seems to understand is I didn't want to tattle on my father because it's what you would all have expected of me! Batman and I have danced that dance for years! Believe me, Batman," Talia told him. "You were the LAST person I wanted to tell. I'm sick of betraying one side to the other in your game with my father. But I couldn't get in touch with anyone else, and you were the only one left. Besides," she added, "even if I HAD been able to tell you, I would have been accused of exploiting it just the same! My father was going to 'liberate' Savage long before Valentine's Day."
"What's this about not giving her a chance?" Diana asked suspiciously, looking at Batman. "In a rush to leave, were you?"
"I sedated her," Batman replied. "It made it easier for me to turn her over to the authorities at Arkham Asylum."
"You did WHAT?" Superman said, startled. "What for!"
"I hoped that with her out of the way for a few days, J'onn would be more willing to see reason. She more than met the requirements for involuntary commitment."
"That’s a decision for the legal system,” Superman reminded him. “So you arbitrarily locked her up with a group of psychopaths!"
"Segregated."
"Then how did she end up with Harley Quinn and Clayface?" Hawkgirl pointed out.
Diana seemed to have forgotten Talia was there. "The one person who could have stopped this before it started," she said, "and you had her committed? And then she escapes, so NONE of us knew where she was!"
"Obviously I didn't know her father was going to do what he did."
"You would have if you hadn't interfered in J'onn's love life!" Flash retorted.
"Stay out of this, Flash," Diana said.
"No, I'm not going to!" he shot back, surprising her. "I want to know if Batman's going to stick Raven in a cell somewhere if he decides I shouldn't be dating the daughter of a demon either!"
"Wait, you're dating Raven now?" Green Lantern asked.
"There’s another daughter of a demon?" Talia asked J'onn.
"I believe a demon in the literal sense, yes," J'onn murmured.
"You're being irrational," Batman told Flash. "Or are you forgetting that it was your interference in my personal affairs which brought Talia and J’onn into contact in the first place?”
"Or maybe we should kick Superman off the team!" Flash continued, even though he stiffened at Batman’s response. "He's pals with Volcana, isn't he? Maybe we can't trust him any more either!"
Superman suddenly lost sympathy with his argument.
Green Lantern and Hawkgirl looked at each other. "I'd say we've been missing out on a lot of gossip," Hawkgirl muttered.
"So spit it out, Batman," Flash said. "Should I expect you to interfere in my life too?"
"If it threatens others," Batman replied. “Not because I find it entertaining, or have so little to fill my time that I turn the League into a lonely heart society, or conspire with other Leaguers to use their abilities to insert themselves into matters that don’t concern them.”
Batman momentarily succeeded where few could - he stunned the Flash into silence. He looked at Catwoman, inviting her to add something, but she held up her hands. "I am so staying out of this," she said.
But Flash glared at Batman. "So you're always right, is that it?"
"I know Talia’s past better than anyone else, Flash. In this case, yes I was."
"No, you weren't," J'onn said quietly.
Batman looked at him. "You think that, but you're wrong."
"You were wrong when you implied that you know her better than anyone else here, Batman," J'onn replied. "You’re a detective, you draw conclusions from evidence. You said you know her history, I concede that. And from that you drew a conclusion, that she is not trustworthy. That conclusion is in error. I know her, Talia the woman, much better than you. Which, Diana, is why I've been helping her all this time. I know her. So I believe in her."
"Have you read her mind?"
J'onn sighed. "Can you read Audrey's mind? Can Batman read Catwoman’s?"
"No, of course not - " she answered.
"Then how can you have faith in her?"
Diana didn't answer.
"Just because I have the power to read minds doesn't mean I NEED to read someone's mind before I can believe in them. I can make that determination the same as the rest of you do. Well, I made the decision. I trust Talia. She needed my help. There was nothing more to decide. If you can't accept that, then I can't work with you any more, because you don't believe in me," J'onn said.
"J'onn," Batman began to say.
"Don't say it," the Martian interrupted. "Don't say that this was her plan all along. I don't want to hear it. What about it, Diana? Do you have faith in ME?"
Diana just looked at him, and Talia became convinced she would say no. "The lariat!" she said desperately. "You can use it to make me tell the truth! I'll answer whatever question - "
"No, Talia," J'onn said. "This isn't about powers or magic. It's about the trust that comes from working with someone, and caring about them. If Diana can't accept what I've said on faith alone - "
"All right," Diana said wearily. "I won't trust Talia, but I trust you, J'onn. If you believe her, then I have no choice but to accept that." She smiled bitterly. "At least now I can assure Audrey that I didn't break Talia's legs."
Talia shivered.
"What about the rest of you?" J'onn asked. "Talia acted out of her desire to do what was right, not because she wanted to please me or burnish her image. I believe her. Will any of you dispute that?"
The fact that almost everybody looked at Batman told J'onn that he already had the others' support. Naturally, the standout was Catwoman, who looked at J'onn with the hint of a smile. Batman, of course, said nothing.
"Could we discuss the finer points of the Justice League mutual trust allowances another time?" Green Lantern suggested. "I don't want to stay in this place any longer than we have to . . . ”
“Which was ten minutes ago,” Catwoman added under her breath.
“ . . . and we've got a lot of people here to bring into police custody." Green Lantern concluded.
Batman nodded. "He's right. I have three people to return to Arkham."
Talia blinked. She’d forgotten about them. "You mean Clayface and the others?"
"Right."
"J'onn and I made a deal with them. I promised they wouldn't be arrested again if they helped with this. You must yourself admit - they helped stop my father. Surely that's worth something!" Talia protested.
"She's telling the truth," J'onn said. "I went along with it at the time."
“That wasn’t her promise to make,” Batman said sternly. “The Justice League is now to let criminals go free on the word of an al-Ghul? Harley got something out of this already. Ivy is back to normal, that will have to be enough for her."
"But Clayface has gotten nothing!" Talia argued. "He came because I promised a chance to return him to normal. You can't just throw him back in a cell."
“That’s not my problem.”
“Eleven minutes,” Catwoman sighed.
“Just let it go, Talia,” J’onn murmured.
Talia sulkily crossed her arms. She’d have to settle for what she already got.
“Look at it this way,” Flash said. “Batman’s the one who has to lug the big statue back to Gotham.”
To be continued . . .