I Can't Tell You Why

Chapter 4

Inspired by Maroon 5's song "Back At Your Door"

He turned to look at her, very quickly looking away again. He heard a small sob leave her.

It broke him.

He stood up and walked out, not turning back as he heard her sob again. He walked away, not really caring where he was going. No need to cry about it. Every time I wind up back at her door. He chided himself as he wiped a tear away from the corner of his eye. He continued to walk away, people moving out of his way in the hallways. They knew the look he had on his face.

"Batman!" He growled under his breath, not wanting to deal with anything, or anyone for that matter. He turned around to find himself face to face with none other than Superman. "Bruce, there's been an emergency in section 5. J'ohn thinks the Joker may be involved. Can we get your help?" he asked. He wanted to say no, to go home and sleep the pain of the last few days away. "I'll be there." he reluctantly stated. Clark cracked a smile and clapped him on the shoulder, saying "Great. Meet us in hangar 2 in half an hour." He turned away after Clark walked away and snarled. You know he's after Diana. But there's nothing you can do about it now, is there?  He hated being in his own head. Walking away to his personal room, he set an alarm and got a little sleep, however restless it was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He hopped into the passenger seat beside J'ohn, who was flying the jave. He sank back into the seat, rubbing the residual sleep from his eyes. "Bruce, I know something has happened between you and Diana. She hasn't been eating or sleeping, and I'm starting to become concerned for you too," J'ohn stated, far too calmly for Bruce's liking. "Why do you do this to me? And right before a mission. I'm fine. There's no need to be concerned for me, and I'll see Diana after this is over." Bruce said, facing forward and giving his best my-final-word-on-the-conversation-and-don't-start-anything-you're-not-willing-to-finish look. J'ohn turned back to the front and started the jave, hoping Bruce would keep his word.

At the same moment, Diana walked onto the jave and took a seat two rows behind them and buckled in. Bruce didn't notice, and it was a good thing. He didn't see the pale, broken warrior of Themyscira. She had a cloak wrapped around her shoulders, trying to fight off the nonexistent chill in the air. Other than being pale, she looked fine, minus the broken look in her eyes someone might not catch if they didn't know her too well. She closed her eyes, blocking out the rest of the world. Bruce turned around when the jave took off and he heard Clark start the mission debriefing. Only then did he see her, eyes closed with bags under them. What little part of himself he had left shattered. I did this to her. Me. How... She was so strong and independent. Or was it all a facade, to keep everyone at ease? 

He snapped to attention when J'ohn shouted "Brace for impact!" He looked forward to see a piece of rock being hurtled towards them. J'ohn managed to dodge it, only to have another one hit the underbelly of the jave and cause one of the engines fail mid descent. The whole ship tilted and started to spiral towards the ground. Bruce heard and felt the back of the ship get hit again, but it didn't do much. He turned around and saw that Diana had kicked out the hatch and was evacuating everyone. Bruce unbuckled himself and was grabbed by J'ohn and flown out. He looked down fast enough to see the jave hit the ground and explode. He then turned his attention to the culprits.

Clayface, Joker, Harley Quinn, and Circe.

Of course.

Clayface picked up another rock and throw it at them. Everyone easily dodged it, heading down to the ground to fight. As soon as they landed, they all charged at the villians. Circe immediately put up a smoke and mirrors illusion. Everyone was confused except Bruce; he had dealt with this before. He waved his hand through one of the mirrors and it disappeared, the next layer of mirrors appearing behind it. The trick was knowing it wasn't real. When the last mirror disappeared, a punch landed on his jaw almost instantly. He stumbled, lunging at the Joker, landing a punch to his cheek and a kick to his stomach. Clark appeared behind him, going after Clayface and knocking him about 100 yards. Before Bruce knew what was happening, Harley blindsided him with a bat to the chest. J'ohn materialized behind her and did his weird, mind-trick thingy and she fell to the ground unconscious. Diana came from above and was going for Circe when a rock came flying over from where Superman and Clayface were fighting. Diana managed to dodge it, but Circe took the momentary distraction to cast a spell on Diana. She screamed and fell to the with a sickening thud.

"Diana!" Bruce yelled. No response. He grabbed a smoke bomb from his utility belt and threw it at Circe, immediately following it up with punch. She promptly fell to the ground, not unconscious but not trying to get back up and fight. He ran over to Diana and turned her over so she was face-up and he could look at her. He grabbed her wrist; she still had a pulse. That fact didn't lessen the knot sitting in the pit of his stomach. He pressed the button on his earpiece and called up to the Watchtower and started telling whoever was on the other end the situation they were in and the state of Diana. They told him they were sending down a medical team and to not move her too much. He looked down at her pale, lifeless face. You couldn't have done anything Bruce. Just be there for her now. 

It felt like an eternity before the medical jave showed up. In reality, it was only about 10 minutes. She was put on a stretcher and taken onto the ship. Bruce never left her side, and he wasn't planning on leaving her anytime soon. Until she let out a blood-curtling scream.