Valentine, TEXAS

15 All I've Ever Known

Entry Fifteen: I Was Never Prepared

✢ ✢ ✢

WASHINGTON
OCTOBER 23

Diana, Princess of the Amazons. Daughter of Queen Hippolyta, and the acclaimed Wonder Woman. Every title described a certain aspect of her life at the ripe age of eighty-five--or somewhere close to it--but neither of these titles prepared her for dealing with a moody teenager who hadn't left her room for the past week unless it were to eat her meals.

Diana was never ready to help raise her cousin which was something she never wanted to admit.

For the past week, since Nirvana returned to their shared apartment with a pale and sickly face, she had been trying to cheer her up from a somewhat forced visit by her boyfriend, Steve, to bringing Donna from Themyscira to stay over for a week or two. However, each attempt ends with an upset Nirvana and a door closing softly in front of Diana's face.

However, it was only a day or two since she discovered the reason behind her cousin's behaviour.

A meeting in the Watchtower explained everything Diana needed to know. First, it was Manhunter's idea, which Batman seemed to be on board with. When she knew, it took all of her self-control to stop herself from tearing her fellow heroes into shreds, unsure of her cousin's mental state after the simulation due to her silence. Then, they explained what exactly happened during the training exercise, her fist tightened at the thought of Nirvana witnessing those around her die before she did too. That much was enough for her to leave the Watchtower in anger before returning to Washington.

"OK, so I got-" Donna pauses, pulling up the yellow sticky note in her hands, her eyes squinting as she reads her sister's messy handwriting. "For a princess, I'm pretty sure Mother would be horrified with your penmanship." The young princess murmured, her face twisting into a horrified expression, "The eggs, a box of cookie mix and milk,"

Behind Donna, stood Steve, who huffed with frozen meat in his hands. "For a make-up dinner, this feels like a feast," he commented, staring at the nearly filled shopping cart that Diana was designated to push. "Are you sure this isn't too much?"

"Not enough," Diana murmured, "None of this will be enough to repair the damage done to Nirvana's mind, Steve."

Steve sighed, placing the frozen meat in the cart, while Donna excused herself to find the rest of the items on the list. "Di," he called softly, "Have you considered asking Dinah's help?"

"For what?"

"The therapy session you talked about after meeting with the League." Steve clarified, his voice hushed by the end as Diana recalled what he was referring to. "I think that could help Nirvana wrap her head around the trauma she faced from the exercise," he tells her. Diana ponders the thought, unsure if it was the right way to go, although it doesn't take long for her to contact her fellow Justice League member in the middle of the sauce aisle.

✢ ✢ ✢

MOUNT JUSTICE
OCTOBER 23

Conner sighs, sitting across from Dinah in the counselling room. His head down, leaning forward while the blonde hero kept her composure, masking her shocked face at the sight of Superboy returning to their unfinished session before storming off.

"Here's the ugly truth." Conner starts, his gaze fixated on the floor. "I wasn't devastated. Even with Superman, Tornado, you, the whole League dead," he mutters, "Even though I didn't save Wolf, watched Artemis and Kaldur die, and abandoned M'gann, I felt..." he paused, swallowing the lump in his throat. "At peace."