14. Divide And Conquer
“Have you lost your MIND!?”
Grayson was furious. It was a sight not unfamiliar to those who dwelled in The World, Grayson having taken up the Batman's mantle in more ways than one since his passing. Diana stood before him, motionless, her face calm and blank. They were in the main chamber of what was once known as the Batcave, the populace in the shadows around them, drawn by Grayson's shouts and protests.
“I am in control of my faculties, Richard.” Diana replied, her voice still, like a steel trap. “Are you?”
“How could you do this, Diana? How could you let innocent children out... out THERE!?” Grayson gerstured to the ceiling, the world above them, his arms flailing as it tried to encapsulate all the madness existant in the world about them.
“Do not presume innocence on anyone, Grayson.” Diana spoke, remaining still as a statue, “Innocence is dead, taken from most of these children before they were born. All they have left now, if fortunate enough, is the will to act... which is more than I can say for some of us.”
“Snideness is beneath you, 'Wonder Woman.'” Grayson seethed, stepping toward Diana, his breath hot on her face, “It betrays your arrogance at thinking you are justified in placing children in the line of fire. These are not Amazonians, not heroes, they are KIDS dammit!”
Diana's eyes flashed with anger as Grayson made his hostility clear.
“And how would we know if they are heroes or not without testing them? How can they prove that they are ANYthing whilst we keep them cooped up in this 'cave'? We are not all of us like you, Richard. Not all of us can afford to hide in the darkness before we are cradled into the light! We don't all have the luxury of being a 'sidekick'. Some of us have to be more than just a Robin!”
Grayson bristled and a sardonic smile broke across his face.
“Diplomacy was never your strong suit, Diana. For all your talk of being a hero, all your posturing about the warriors way and your birthright... all for nothing.”
Grayson placed his nose against the tip of Diana's, his mouth a breath away from hers; their eyes locked in fire.
“Where were you when Batman fell?” He whispered. “Where were you when Superman was turned to shadow? When the world ended? When your people cried your name? The same place you always were when the world needed you, Diana... in the dirt. The almost champion. The could have been hero. The one who stood in the shadows of greatness. Batman. Superman. They cast their shadows still and you... you still skulk in them.”
The silence in the room was thick as darkness, as complete as the grave and all that could be heard was the sound of air, breathed like steam from Diana's mouth; a sound like rage personified, like world's ready to explode.
“You dare?” She said, quiet but filled with power, “You dare say such things to me after all we have been through?”
“You let Karissa... Montez, Steel, Wildling, Element Boy out there on their own.” Grayson stated, his voice shaking, emotion replacing anger, “You left children to die... to be cast to the wolves for nothing more than your over inflated sense of pride. What is to gain here, Diana? What is to gain here but you trying to heal your own failures?”
“What... what do you mean?” Spluttered Diana, her demeanour thrown by the comment.
“You failed!” Grayson bellowed, his anger again rising, “In everything you were ever tasked to do... The Amazons are dead, destroyed by Eclipso! Humanity is enslaved in his shadow! Your colleagues have fallen, their children run their whole lives and you... you hide in this cave with the rest of us because you don't know what else to do! You failed, Diana!!! In all that you claim to be! Not a hero! Not a warrior! Just a survivor... just like the rest of us!”
Diana closed her eyes tight, trying to stem the rage which rose within her.
“Don't.” She whispered.
“And now you use our children... the offspring of our departed... our dead friends to make yourself feel like you're more than what you are? More than the failure you know in your heart you truly, truly...”
“ENOUGH!”
Grayson's feet dangled a few metres above the ground, Diana's hand clenched hard around his mouth, barely seen moving as she stared with the fury of a God into his eyes, her arm straining not at all.
“You hide here, with these flying vermin and you dare accuse me of the very thing you stand guilty of? Who hides in whose shadow, Robin!? Who skulks in the darkness of those who went before, who made you what you are in every sense of the word? How DARE you!!! If I have failed it is not the failure of inaction, Richard. It is the failure of wanting, of passion not that which comes from cowardice. What have you ever achieved? What have you ever accomplished to make such accusations?”
“He killed the Joker.”
The voice came from the shadows which surrounded Diana and Grayson, a voice composed and steady. The man that stepped from the darkness had seen it all before; soldiers pushed to breaking point by the battle around them; friend turning against friend under the great mantle of leadership, the lost leading the lost in the hope of something... better. As he shuffled toward them slowly, legs aching, eyes weary from age and the solitude of the cave, he realised that there had been very little that he had not seen.
“When the blackness took Gotham, it was Richard who fought for our freedom, who broke Black Bane and took down the Penguin.” James Gordon, had seen a lot and would have given all he had fought for to have it unseen. “It was Richard who brought us here, who rescued the children, who worked so tirelessly to keep hope alive. If nothing else... he deserves to be heard.”
Diana flinched. This man, this grizzled, fleshy human... She knew him through the stories of her fellow heroes; Superman, Batman, flash... those she respected the most and she knew him to be more than all of them. Their respect for him mirrored her own for this one man had done what none of them could; fought evil from within the system, side by side with the humanity he was trying to save. Diana dropped Grayson to the floor and, agile as ever, if not wearied by time, Grayson landed without a sound, crouched, cat like and ready. Diana looked to Gordon and then to Grayson, long, lingering ctares of rage and uncertainty before she turned and walked away. Her strides were purposeful and all knew that she could have flown, but there was something deliberate in her action, No retreat for her, no scurrying into the shadows; her dignity would not allow it.
Gordon knelt down to help Grayson to his feet.
“Don't take it personally, son.” He said warmly as Grayson refused his help and rose to his feet alone, coughing and rubbing his throat and face, “We are all of us in the dark here. Nerves fray. She didn't mean what she said.”
“Yes she did.” Grayson said calmly, “And damn her if she wasn't right.”
Grayson walked back to the control panel of The World, with the same determination as Wonder Woman, Gordon thought to himself.
Then he lit a cigar, the ones they wouldn't let him smoke in the cave anymore and allowed a brief, glorious smile to carve across his face.
For a moment, it felt just like the old days.
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