FIC: What Have I Done?
 

TITLE:  What Have I Done?

AUTHOR:  DC Lady

SPOILERS:  Wonder Woman #220

RATING:  PG-13

SUMMARY:  Wonder Woman & Batman regarding the events in WW 220.

A special thank you to HeyBats and Djinn for the beta of this story.

NOTE: Wonder Woman then Batman's POV.

What have I done?  Why do I care about how my duty effects those I call my friends?  I did what I knew to be right.

And yet, I do care.  I care a great deal. 

I will not second-guess my actions.  I did what was necessary.  But the truth is my actions have consequences. I now must face those consequences with or without my friends.  With or without Kal and Bruce.

Kal - Superman.  The most powerful of us all and perhaps the most dangerous.  I placed him on a pedestal with expectations no mortal could ever hope to reach.  Perfection, however, is reserved for no man.  The pedestal I had him perched upon has toppled on more occasions than I care to remember.  But, there is one thing that will never change – he is still my best friend.  Even now, when he no longer calls me his.

Kal turned his back on me.  His rejection should have prepared me for what was to come.  But, I still hoped that Bruce would somehow understand.

Bruce - Batman.  A fellow warrior.  A kindred spirit, of sorts. I’ve worked hard to obtain his respect.  In so doing, I found that I’ve also attained his friendship.  Something I didn’t expect.  Something I cherish.  I sometimes think that we have more in common than either one of us is comfortable admitting.  Our methods, however, are different and have, at times, been a cause of contention between us. 

I needed to try to make him understand what I did.  Wanted him to hear it from me.  I didn’t want to lose him, too.  But, just like Kal, he sent me away.  Told me to ‘get out’.  If only he would have said something more.  Anything.  The icy glare of the Bat had cloaked Bruce Wayne’s features.  Many words, I suppose, were spoken in that glare.

“You are a murderer”

“We don’t kill”

“How dare you take justice into your own hands.”

But, he remained silent except for his command that I leave.  The intensity of his glare speaking for him.

What have I done?  Was it worth the price that I am now paying?  The friendship of these men that I love?

Yes, and a thousand times, yes.  They may hate me, but they are free and safe.  Kal from Lord’s mind control and Bruce from the inevitable death at the hands of a friend.

I don’t ask for their forgiveness.  I did what needed to be done.  But they will never forgive me.  Our friendship is no more.

**

I listened as she told her story and waited for the inevitable.  When she arrived, I knew what she’d done.  It was written in her every move – in her cold gray eyes.  No, not cold.  Never cold.  Warm, loving, passionate, but there was a distance in those eyes when she walked into the cave that bespoke of the violation she’d committed.  Those very features that I admire most about her led her to kill Lord.  Her love for people…for Clark…for…me.  She has killed before and I saw no regret as she recounted the details. 

She will never regret her actions - her methods.  Methods that I cannot condone, but have set in motion nonetheless.  And although she offers no apology or excuse, she knows that actions of this magnitude bear consequences.   I know about those from the past – from other protocols I set in place to protect innocents against their kind – Metas.  Protocols that Ra’s – and now Maxwell Lord - used with catastrophic results.   History seems to be repeating itself.

What have I done? I already quit the League – with friends like that, who needs enemies? Zatanna and the others have repeatedly begged for my forgiveness, justifying that they only took ten minutes of my mind to serve their cause. They don’t understand my anger over that action. My mind is really the only weapon that I have that can compete with their power. By taking away even a small part of it, they negated me – violated me in a manner words cannot describe. 

What have I done?  How many more will die?  How many more will she be forced to kill because of my protocols?  My contingency plan to protect the innocent against those who are my teammates – my friends - is the very mechanism now killing metas and the innocent alike. So, in my rush to judgment, I sent her away.  Away from me.  I am not worthy of her friendship.

The consequences of my actions will lead to my self-imposed exile.  Hers will too.  She’s already lost Clark.  He’s turned away from her.  But the fault is mine and mine alone.  She would not have killed Lord if not for me.  If not for my creation.

What have I done?