Disclaimers: Batman created by Bob Kane, Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Wonder Woman created by William Moulton Marston. All three are owned by DC Comics, Justice League: The Animated Series. I own the story and any original characters; no copyright infringement is intended.

Synopsis: JL-animated fic; Someone or something trying to kill Wonder Woman. As the JL attempts to deal with public scrutiny being directed at them in the aftermath of the Kasnia incident, the Amazon Princess becomes the target of several seemingly random but potentially lethal "accidents". It falls to the Dark Knight Detective to discover who wants her dead and why. But as he does, he must come to terms with his feelings for Diana.

Author’s Notes: As stated in the synopsis, this story takes place shortly after the events of episodes 33 and 34, ‘Maid of Honor’. Also, General Wells’ statement is different here than it was in the pilot episode and for good reason - the producers cut part of it since the original statement would have dealt with the animated Superman Legacy issues and they didn’t want to go back to that yet.

-Wonder Woman-

Earth.

Third planet of the Terran System.

Cradle of the human race, it had survived numerous global conflicts as well as three major invasions from interstellar tyrants and aliens. Yet despite these troubles, it had advanced to the point of being able to build machines and send them into space.

One such satellite was currently in an high orbit above the sparkling planet.

It was the Watchtower, a space station that had secretly been built using surplus finances from the Gotham City-based conglomerate Wayne Enterprises. The Watchtower was headquarters to the international (and on occasion, intergalactic) peacekeeping force known as the Justice League.

Consisting of seven members, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Hawkgirl, and the Martian Manhunter, the Justice League existed to fight for peace and justice.

Unfortunately, they weren’t exactly able to do that at the moment given that they couldn’t leave the Watchtower.

Their primary mode of transportation, the advanced vehicle dubbed by the team as the Javelin-7 had been destroyed, shot down by the International Space Station Platform 1 while attempting to destroy the Rail-Gun that the apparently immortal and tyrannical Vandal Savage had built into what was supposed to have been an international pledge of unity and peace among the nations of the planet.

As a result, with the exception of the backup shuttle, there was no way to leave the Watchtower save being ferried down to Earth by the Green Lantern John Stewart via his ring’s protective aura.

Still, they were lucky that no one had been killed when the Javelin had been shot down. Engineers were already working to rebuild the craft as fast as possible.

On the main deck, Superman sat in the ‘chair of command’ as the Flash liked to put it. He was on Monitor Duty. Normally a quiet, yet still serious assignment, many Leaguers found different ways to pass the time. Flash normally played Solitaire against himself, J’onn had been indulging lately in Oreos, and Batman…well, no one really knew what he did to pass the time while on monitor duty.

At the moment, Superman was watching a news program on one of the display councils. It involved his interest because not only was the conference discussing the League, but the speaker, a slightly weathered yet still solid man in an general’s uniform, the Last Son of Krypton knew all too well.

“--‘League’ has proven itself to be a loose cannon of idiots and power-mad--”

The image winked out, Superman sighing warily as his hands as his hand lifted from the off button. He sensed a presence behind him and saw that was J’onn J’onzz.

J’onn had come to Earth to warn of an invasion by an ancient race that wiped out his own people on Mars. As a result of J’onn’s efforts, a group of heroes had been assembled that could repel the invaders. This group became the Justice League. He and Superman both held a bond as they were the last members of their kind; after all, Superman was the Last Son of Krypton.

However, there was one key difference. While Superman felt the loss of Krypton, he had little to nothing personally invested in it other than losing his biological parents. J'onn, however, experienced life on his homeworld firsthand. He grew up there among its people. He found a mate and sired offspring there. It's those memories that, as the incident with Morgaine Le Fay had shown, haunted the refugee that those outside the League had dubbed the Martian Manhunter.

“It would appear General Hardcastle is at it again.”

“Yes, he is.”

The Man of Steel thought back to General Wells’ words at the United Nations Assembly two years beforehand.

“We can’t entrust the security of the entire planet to one man - especially him!”

Wells had said these words with great reason.

Two years before the League‘s formation, the alien tyrant Darkseid had captured him while on a deep-space mission. He had had lackeys Granny Goodness and Dessad brainwash him, make him believe that he was Darkseid’s son and it was his destiny to conquer Earth in the name of Apokolips.

And he had nearly done so until Lois had snapped him out of it.

Unfortunately, the damage had been done. Most of the world had believed him a traitor, particularly General Hardcastle. Hardcastle had never trusted him and no saw no reason to now. In his eyes, Superman had willingly betrayed Earth to Apokolips and even thought that he had been allied with Darkseid from the very beginning, back during the Intergang incidents.

That was of course, false. The late Bruno Manhiem had been Darkseid’s willing Earth agent. It was Manhiem who had sold out Earth by planting the detonator in the Ayers Island nuclear plant. The Last Son of Krypton and the SCU had confirmed this from accounts taken from survivors of the plant’s destruction as well as Intergang’s remnants hoping to cut a deal with the SCU. Maggie Sawyer, heavily grieving over Darkseid’s murder of Dan Turpin, had nearly killed them in the interrogation room.

But none of this mattered to Hardcastle and while Superman had since, with the aid of the League, regained the basic level of trust he had once enjoyed, Hardcastle’s distrust had only grown greater.

Thus, deep down, it hadn’t personally surprised him that Hardcastle had had a role to play in the six-month imprisonment of J’onn, even if it had turned out to be one of the Alien Invaders. However, J’onn had confirmed that Harcastle hadn’t been replaced for some time until then. Superman was horrified with the inhumane, almost sadistic torture that the last Martian had endured at the real Harcastle’s hands. He also felt that he was partially responsible for that - again, the General’s paranoia and prejudice towards aliens had sprung from Superman.

The real Hardcastle had been located in the government complex, trapped in the stasis tubes that Invaders had used to store their captives while they had replaced key government and civilian personnel.

Upon his revival and several months of therapy, Hardcastle had proceeded to publicly make stabs at the superhero team, particularly at the fact that it featured a Kryptonian, a Martian, a Thanagarian, and a human affiliated with an alien agency on its roster. He argued again and again that the security of the world should be not be handed over to a group of aliens, particularly one who had betrayed Earth in the past. And he was having a field day with the aftermath of the Kasnia incident.

The Kasnia incident had been the final result of a Justice League mission to stop Vandal Savage and his Rail gun. Unfortunately, while the mission had been successful (save for the loss of the Javelin-7; Bruce had confirmed to him that he already had gone through the same channels that had paid for/built his headquarters, vehicles, and other personal equipment. They were currently working on building a new Javelin-7) the League was being heckled big time.

The Dark Knight, Wonder Woman, and John Stewart were already coming under heavy public scrutiny, Diana for her rampage through Kasnian special forces, GL for having blown up Platform-1, and the Dark Knight for redirecting the final volley from the Rail-Gun at the Kasnian palace.

Of course, it had either been that or Paris, Savage‘s original target. But the General didn’t care. In fact, Hardcastle wasn’t the only one. There were others that were questioning the League’s reliability, from everyday people on the streets to a new hotshot talk show host calling himself Glorious Godfrey.

As serious as it was, Superman couldn’t help but see some slight amusement in the public scrutiny that his old friend was getting. At the League’s press conferences, the media avoided asking, or mentioning the Dark Knight, because their reputations as 'serious reporters' weren't worth indulging any curiosity in what many, including the residents of Gotham City itself, perceived to be an ‘urban legend‘. The general public also usually followed this line.

***

Diana, former-princess of the Themyscira, and the superheroine dubbed by Earth’s media as ‘Wonder Woman’ sat in the Watchtower’s galley, sipping on an iced-mocha, a beverage that had been introduced to her by the Flash during the early months of League.

She took a quick sip of the chilled coffee and looked out the viewing portals to Earth below. Diana began reflecting on everything that had happened to her in her life. Her status as a founder of the Justice League, the exile from her home, and the people she had come to call her extended family.

Superman, Green Lantern, Flash, Hawkgirl, J’onn, and….

…and Batman.

She remembered her first glimpse of the Dark Knight from three years prior, on that hill in the American Southwest when she had come barreling in to rescue Hawkgirl, clothed in the Amazonian uniform which she had ‘borrowed’ from the temple of Themyscira.

Batman had fascinated her from the start. Everyone else on the team, herself included, had special powers. Superman had strength and heat vision, J’onn had telepathy, Flash had lightning speed (both in his feet and mouth as they were all so fond of observing), and so on.

But Batman…

Batman was different in so many ways. He was a highly trained athlete, possessor of a keen scientific mind, and wielder overwhelming amounts of weaponry, armory and "gadgets" as her teammates had call them, from grappling hooks to his so-called trademark ‘Batarangs’.

And although he had denied it at the ruins of Kasnia‘s Royal palace, she was certain that he was industrialist she had met at the restaurant in Paris, Bruce Wayne. And in digging through the League’s connection to Earth’s databases, she believed she had discovered why.

She had learned that Bruce Wayne’s parents were ruthlessly murdered when he was a child. Although the Amazons on Themyscira hadn’t exactly known of the science that the people of Man’s World termed ‘psychology’, she was sure that only something as terrible as this could drive an ordinary man to strike fear in the hearts criminals everywhere.

He was, like her, a warrior. They both respected each other and had suffered horrible losses in their lives. There was undeniably a bond between the two.

She only wondered if he felt it too.

***