Chapter 48

Batman arrived first to the meeting in the Watchtower. Wonder Woman, Superwoman, and the Martian Manhunter arrived just seconds later. Batman knew this was going to happen, and there was really no way to stop it.

Superwoman's eyes narrowed the moment they settled on Batman. Batman figured this one was coming.

"Your little training exercise nearly got everyone killed! I should have listened to my gut and fought harder. But, you had to experiment to see how the Team would react to a worst case scenario. And for what reason? For what reason? To see if any of them would be fit to join the Justice League?"

Superwoman took a couple more deep breaths and really let Batman have it this time.

"I don't know if you figured it out, but playing with people in that way is going to do nothing other than make them resentful of you. You should not have put them through that. You should not have! But, you just had to! And now the Team's all messed up and they don't trust anything we say, and I don't blame them. Because you just had to be selfish like you always are!"

The minute Claire finished ripping into him, Batman just nodded in response. He deserved every coarse word coming out of Claire's mouth.

"We had failsafes," Batman said. "I ran myself through the simulation first, and did not run into any problems."

Claire's expression indicated she did not buy it at all. The simulation failed because of Batman's additions. Plane and simple, bottom line.

J'onn, being the peacemaker as always, tried to argue this from all sides. He put a hand on Claire's shoulder in an attempt to appease her.

"Perhaps, it should have been I who considered that M'gann would react to certain stimuli inside of the simulation," J'onn commented.

"Don't defend him," Superwoman curtly said. "He's been playing these games...and if you keep defending him...he's going to get worse and worse...and…."

"It was an error I regret," Batman said.

"But, it didn't stop you from doing it, putting your own daughter at risk because you wanted to run your social experiment," Superwoman said. "You're about as bad as some of the people we're supposed to defend the world against. And I'm not convinced that the League's not part of…."

"Enough!"

Diana stood up to look at two of her oldest friends. The blazing eyes of the Amazon locked onto Batman and Superwoman for the longest amount of time.

"We should not rip into each other. We should focus on how Dee's neural inhibitor broke at that time."

Leave it to Diana to be the voice of reason. Batman took a second to think about it.

"Someone must have tampered with it," Batman said. "After his encounter with Miss Martian, Dee is in no fit state to fight. She's extremely…."

"Don't, because it was you who pushed her to that," Superwoman said. "I'm not sure if you're fit to give missions to the team. It's obvious your judgment is not the best."

"They've proven themselves to deal with anything," Batman said.

"The League will discuss the future of the team soon, and perhaps it would be best for you to step back, in the moment," J'onn said.

Batman could not disagree with them. Despite everything, Batman did in fact blame himself for everything the Team had been put through.

Donna wished she could enjoy the trip back home more. It had been an extremely long time since she had a chance to enjoy paradise. Donna looked around at the temple and did not appreciate the temple.

Any attempts to find wisdom within the goddesses, Donna lost out of on it. Diana always found it a lot easier to get some level of clarity, even more so than Donna did at the very least.

Footsteps came from behind Donna and resulted in her turning around to face the woman who had been approaching her.

"You look troubled my daughter?"

Donna could hand it to her mother, and her ability to sniff out trouble from a mind away. Hippolyta's warm and encouraging smile did a pretty good job to encourage Donna to spill her emotions.

"It's the training exercise the rest of the Team and I were in. I...I failed to help the team out. Diana would have gotten them through it. But, I didn't...and I felt like I let the team down. It was just a simulation, but I felt helpless, lost, when they died. I'm glad that I wasn't the leader, and I'm not, but at the same time, I really feel like I could do more. Diana would have."

Very liberating to get that all off of her chest.

Hippolyta put a gentle hand on her youngest daughter's shoulder.

"You should find your own path and not worry about following in your sister's footsteps. I know it's hard, but, you need to…."

A long pause follows as Hippolyta struggles to find the proper words to articulate everything to her daughter.

"It's hard when you have a sister who is larger than life. You're always going to be comparing yourself to her. But, no matter what, you're special in your own way, and you shouldn't forget it."

"Right," Donna said. "But, my Team's had a rough time. And they could use some rest and relaxation, and this island….it's the change of scenario they need."

It's here that the younger Amazon Princess bit down on her lip.

"I know that it's...forbidden to have men on the island," Donna responded a second later. "But, maybe just maybe we could….I don't know, we could make an exception...just a tiny one, to have Harry here, please, just...please."

Donna waited to hear her mother's response. She had been asking a lot.

Hippolyta smiled and decided to let Donna in on the good news.

"I have spoken with the goddesses, who have allowed me the blessing to have Hadrian visit this island. So there's no need to be concerned. Our sisters will be on their best behavior...because let's face it, none of them want to make a bad impression after...what happened months ago."

Donna realized that her mother had been stung by the Aresia thing just as much. Queen Hippolyta thought of the entire incident to be a failing of herself, even though Donna thought it was not her fault.

They really did need a break from all of the chaos. And Donna was glad her friends could have a chance to visit Paradise. That would be nice, very nice indeed.

Back to school, and Harry almost was glad for the workload to keep his mind off of everything. Megan had been coping about as well as possible. Although, she did not want to talk to it, and Harry did not pressure her. When Megan wanted to open up, she would.

Karen Beecher and Wendy Harris came around the corner. Harry greeted Megan's two fellow cheerleaders with a smile.

"Harry, do you think we can talk to you for a minute?" Wendy asked in a low voice.

"Of course," Harry said.

The two cheerleaders, along with Harry, moved around the corner to talk. Past the water fountains and into the trophy case room. Not too much traffic came through here during their lunch period. People were really not supposed to be hanging out in the hallways during lunch. Only no one enforced the rule, and pretty much everyone broke the rule.

"What's been going on with Megan?" Karen asked.

"She's been acting a bit...well she's not herself," Wendy said.

Oh, Harry had to explain this one, it was not going to be easy. Still, Harry felt he owed the two girls something, and if they noticed something was not right from Megan, then she let her guard down.

"She's dealt with some personal trauma lately," Harry said. "It's closer to the anniversary of the death of a family member, and she saw something that brought those memories back up. She's talking to a friend of her uncle's...who is a therapist about it. But, it's hard for her to get through...just be there for her...but don't press her on the details."

The two considered Harry for a second and nodded in response. They figured it was something like this. Wendy and Karen understood what it was like to go through loss and how there were just some days where people did not want to talk about it at all.

Anissa and Donna came around the corner to join Karen, Wendy, and Harry. In fact, Anissa went in a beeline for Harry.

"Well, I tried out for the wrestling team," Anissa said. "But, none of the other team members...they're not the right size compared to the girls from across state...don't know what they're pumping into them. Not sure if it's legal, but....well I can't prove anything"

The athletic girl paused for a second.

"Do you think you can help me train?" Anissa asked. "I know you didn't want much to do with extra-cirrculars...but I think that you're about the right size to help me. And let's face it, I need someone who isn't a string bean to practice pinning to the mat."

Harry raised an eyebrow at Anissa. He leaned closer towards the woman.

"Do you really think that you could pin me to the mat?" Harry asked.

"Oh, I'm game, "Anissa said.

Anissa just smiled and leaned closer to Harry.

"So, how about it, we get nice and sweaty, roll around for a little bit on the mat?" Anissa asked. "Should be fun."

Karen just exchanged Wendy one of those looks. Despite Anissa having a preference for girls, Karen figured she would make an exception for Harry. Of course, Harry had most of the women wanting to get into his pants, including Natalie Rushman, their history teacher, and that bitch, Madison Walker, who thought that she was all that because her Daddy was rich.

Megan walked down the steps, clutching her books. Harry walked over and wrapped her up in a one armed hug.

"Doing okay, Megan?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Megan said. "Just got to get through everything...midterms are coming up, right?"

"In about two months, yeah," Donna said.

She tried to put on a smile, although it was very much strained.

"Well, if you need anything, you know you can talk to us, "Wendy said.

"We're here for you girl, we know that life can be rough sometimes," Karen said.

The support of her friends lifted Megan's spirits. She sunk into Harry's embrace, thinking it would be time to let it all get out.

Helena's entire mind ran wild with thoughts on the simulation. By now, her mother must have known about it. And maybe given Bruce an earful about it. Helena thought it did not shake her as much as others did.

On the couch sat both her mother and Harley, who looked to be better off than the last time Helena saw her.

"Aunt Harley!" Helena yelled.

"Hey, Helena, ooh, pretty soon you'll be taller than me," Harley said. "Then again, you've had a bit of a growth spurt since last spring, haven't you?"

Helena just broke out into a smile, she really had. The two women exchanged a smile and hugged each other.

"Anything about Aunt Pamela?" Helena asked.

"Well, other than the sighting in the sewers shortly after the incident with the Injustice League, nothing," Harley said. "Then again, I was in the hospital getting my face fixed...modern medicine, isn't it great? They finally let me out….I've been crashing here at Selna's...hope she doesn't mind."

"Honey, I told you, I didn't," Selina said. "I thought someone else was supposed to come with you?"

"Oh, he's coming now," Helena said. "There we go, right on cue."

Right behind her coming up the steps came Harry.

"Selina," Harry said. "And you must be Doctor Quinzel."

"Please, call me Harley," the woman said. "I don't know if I would ever be that much of a doctor anymore, after that nutjob sweet talked me into doing all of those things."

Harley looked over Harry, the first time the bubbly blonde got a good look at him without her brain being well scrambled. Selina wrapped her arms around Harry, greeting him with a long and warm hug, which Harry submerged into Selina's cleavage almost.

A small smile passed over Selina while releasing Harry.

"The mind's a very funny thing," Harry said. "It can't make people believe that fantasy is reality...and it just confirms a lot of your biases."

"Man, that's the truth," Harley said. "The truth is, there are a lot of minds out there, they deluded themselves into thinking that there's a lie."

"And people will keep rationalizing what happened, not to face the harsh reality," Harry said.

If that was not the truth, Harley did not know what is. It always brought her back to Joker. For the longest time, Harley tried to rationalize everything in her mind. Yet, there was no rational thoughts with the likes of Joker, just the fact she had been mentally manipulated.

"Harry, a word."

Selina motioned for Harry to join her off to the side. The two of them walked off next to each other.

"How is Helena coping after Bruce put her through that simulation?" Selina asked.

"She's...she's better off than a few of the girls are," Harry said. "Strong like her mother...and like her father."

A deep sigh followed from the mother in question.

"And that worries me sometimes," Selina said. "She's putting off dealing with trauma until it's a problem. I want Harley to talk with her a little bit...but I'm afraid if I pushed her too much, she might push back."

"It will take some time," Harry said. "I should have never let them in...but Batman insisted it would be fine."

"Well, Bruce can be very persuasive," Selina said knowingly.

Only time would tell how well these wounds had healed. Helena and Harley entered an animated conversation, and Selina would hate to bring that down.

After their trip to Gotham City concluded, Artemis met Helena and Harry. They were heading off for a trip to see Jan and Lana, who had some new gear that they might be interested in.

"Oh, we've been busy, the two of us have cooked up something that you might like," Jan said.

Lana just greeted Harry with a nice warm hug and gave him a light, but lingering kiss. The moment she pulled away, Lana greeted Artemis and Helena.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both," Lana said. "Harry's mentioned how great the team is, and I have something someone of your skill set would want, Artemis. I think the Green Arrow would have killed to have something like this, but he does not have the right temperament to use it."

With a push of the button, Lana produced the item in question.

"The Quantum Bow," Lana said. "It fires hard light arrows, never breaks, and also cannot be used as a weapon against the person it's keyed into."

Artemis whistled when she got a good look at the hardware. She was particularly giddy.

"It's all mine," Artemis said.

"It's all yours," Lana confirmmed.

She could not help and smile. After the incident with the Injustice League, Artemis had been hoping to solve the problem of her bow breaking.

"You just have to test it out, to make sure it works for you," Jan said. "And just press your thumb to the pad, and it will key you in...you can remove yourself if you don't like it."

Oh, no question about it, Artemis thought she was going to like this bow. Lana pressed a button and a target system appeared out of the floor.

Artemis gave it a test run at the target, firing it. Three fired shots and three direct hits nailed it.

The modifications made Artemis like this more and more. It just felt lightweight in her hand.

The moment Helena and Artemis had been occupied with the bow, Lana waved Harry over, to join her off to the other end of the room.

"So, how are you holding up?" Lana asked.

"Good," Harry said. "I've had better...but now that everyone's safe, I can relax."

Lana could tell that Harry was trying to keep a brave face not to spook the girls. He got that particular feature from Claire, who always tried not to upset anyone around her, by acting like everything was alright. Lana accepted it for now.

"What are these? "Helena asked.

"Oh, percussion grenades, they most certainly pack a punch," Jan told her. "Here, I'll show you...careful not to set it off too soon...trust me...it will sting just a little bit."

And by a little, Jan means a whole lot

Helena could not wait to delve into the new toys, to take them on a test run. She lined up one of the grenads towards a test dummy and smiled.

"They're get some good use out of those," Harry told Lana.

"Suit still working out?" Lana asked.

"Yes," Harry said. "Great job."

"I want to make sure...so could you just follow me back for a moment?" Lana asked. "Just to make sure everything's in working order."

Lana turned around, giving Harry a nice view of her tight ass when she walked off into the distance. Harry had the suit underneath his clothes, and it did fit comfortable as well under every situation.

Caitlin Fairchild ran through the replay of the simulation. She attempted to pinpoint the precise spot where everything went wrong. And she did agree with Batman to an extent that everything was foolproof. The only thing which proved them to be a fool was the fact that some crazed madman attacked them.

Harry, Karen, and Lana joined Caitlin. A hand on the back of Caitlin's chair drew the scientist out of her work.

"Caitlin, I don't think you're going to find anything else," Harry said.

Despite Caitlin's desire to figure out everything, she suspected Harry had a point.

"I should have trusted my gut," Caitlin said. "Batman helped me make the simulation work for multiple people."

"And the League should have tested it out themselves before giving it to the team," Karen said. "Not just Batman on his own."

Karen did not find out about the simulation run until way after the fact and she was not happy about it.

"It might have ended up better," Lana said.

"Or maybe Destiny would have done the same thing to the League," Harry said darkly.

Karen figured he had a point, but the League took down Doctor Destiny once. And Lena built that inhibitor device, which someone tampered with. The lone doctor who had been on duty tonight, he had went missing. And Karen figured it was only inevitable they would find him dead, because whoever released John Dee from his prison, wanted their tracks to be covered.

Footsteps indicated there were more visitors coming up the steps. Harry turned his head to notice who was coming.

Lois, Kara, and Claire turned up the steps. Claire walked a little bit further and moved towards Harry.

"The League has agreed no one will be put through a simulation like that again," Claire said. "I understand if it bothered you and I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," Harry said. "It didn't bother me."

To be honest, Harry only worried about the well being of his team. Megan more so, but others, they might have been feeling the sting of everything. They really needed a vacation, a long one as a matter of act.

"Any news about Doctor Destiny?" Harry asked.

"Well, he's just John Dee, and he's still drooling, still catatonic, and his doctor was missing," Claire said.

No news was not good news in this case. Lois just frowned at Claire.

"He won't turn up alive," Lois said.

Claire feared Lois had a point and given how Lana, Karen, and Caitlin all nodded, Lois was not the only one.

"Harry, are you busy Saturday night?" Kara asked.

Lois broke out into a smile at Kara's bluntness. Claire just gave her cousin one of those looks, as if she had been disappointed with Kara's lack of sensitivity to a dire situation.

"No, I'm not," Harry said.

"Good, because I was wondering if we could go out on that date," Kara said.

"I told you, all you had to do was ask," Harry said. "And I'd be honored...you and I...finest Metropolis has to offer."

Kara threw her arms around Harry and kissed him, not caring who knew it. Claire looked like she really wanted to say something about this particular plan, but Lana and Lois hushed her up and let Kara have her moment.

Megan broke out into a sigh. The things which she had been fighting, the inner turmoil she had been hiding behind, it all came out during Doctor Destiny's manipulation of her mind. And she had been rationalizing way too much, about why the White Martians were the way they were.

"There's just a lot I'm thinking about right now," Megan said.

"You don't need to be worried about it," Dinah said. "Just let it all out….nothing you have to say, will have to leave this room."

"Right."

Dinah's assuring statement gave Megan the courage she needed.

"The truth is, I've been rationalizing what they did for too long. I've been trying to justify that this is reparations for what the Greens did to them first. But, is really burning down entire villages and killing people justifiable no matter how opressed you feel? Is it truly justified if you become worse monsters? And how much of our history has been skewed by those who have their own agenda?"

Megan took a second to close her eyes.

"I'm never saying that the Greens are innocent. They have done some awful things to the White Martians. But the White Martians...they've done them back tenfold. Perhaps instead of...instead of trying to figure out what we had in common, where we are individual people...Martians...with our own loves, interests, and even fears, we lost sight, and became an us versus them thing. And we blamed the other too much for the hardships we should have figured out how to face a long time ago."

So much Martian history had gotten buried. Megan was not sure what started the conflict between the White and the Green Martians. Hell, she was not certain they even knew. Megan brushed a finger through the side of her hair, and sighed.

"It's tough to deal with it," Dinah said. "But, in an attempt to avenge the past, people become the very monsters that they hate."

"I know," Megan said. "And in there….I could have become that monster….Destiny pushed me to shatter his mind….and I don't want to have to do that again."

Dinah frowned, Megan did not say she would not do that again. Just that she did not want to do that again.

"Nothing leaves this room?" Megan asked.

"Unless you want to share what you shared with me with your friends," Dinah said. "Nothing leaves this room."

It did feel good to get it off of her chest. Dinah reached over and lightly hugged her fellow bond mate, making Megan just breath in and breathe out.

She had to tell them the truth. Someone on Earth said the truth would set them free, after all. And Megan wanted to be freed from the shackles she imposed on herself.

Megan shifted into the room, with the rest of the team talking. Donna seemed to be in the process of telling them to do something. Megan cleared her throat and all eyes turned towards her.

"Everyone, hey," Megan softly said. "I have something really important to share with you."

"What is it?" Whitney asked.

"Yeah, it can't be that bad," Aremis said.

"Whatever it is, we'll understand," Donna said. "And if it's about the simulation, we know you had no control in that."

Oh, Megan would disagree, she could have had more control. She almost killed her friends. Megan's trembling hand opened and shut, with a deep breath coming on through.

Not going to be easy, not at all. But, she would have to do this.

"My name is M'gann M'orzz, and I'm a White Martian."

Megan shifted into her base form, shuddering at the sight of it. And closed her eyes from the reaction of her team.

"I can't stand to see this in the mirror. Because, it's a reminder of everything that my people have done...all of the deaths, all of the destruction, all of the murders. What you saw in that simulation was the White Martians...my people...based off of what I saw up close and personal. But for years, I stood by and did nothing."

"What could you have done?" Donna asked.

"They would have killed you all the same," Harry said.

"I couldn't take it anymore," Megan said. "I freed some of the Green Martians they had imprisoned...I don't know if they ever knew it was me...but I had to leave….I couldn't accept this...and….I stowed away on J'onn's ship, posing as his niece. He...understood what I did and understood why I had to get away. Although, if they ever found me…."

"We'll be ready for them," Zatanna said.

M'gann appreciated it, although she cannot help and be uneasy.

"We're not going to let that world become our reality," Artemis said.

"Megan, I know what you are, and I accept you for who you are on the inside," Harry said. "You're a good person...but you couldn't have helped that situation, no one could have. You risked your life to save green martians you didn't know from a terrible fate."

Harry put a gentle hand on her shoulder and made Megan relax. Still, her eyes remained close. Megan could not even look at her own hands in this form. Similar hands had been stained with blood.

Megan just smiled and shifted back into the form she preferred. That was who she was now. Green, that's what she identified as.

"You know, we could use some time off," Donna said. "I've asked my mother...and how would you like to see Themyscira."

"Are you serious? "Whitney asked. "Oh my...that's amazing...Iris went there one time...and she talked about how amazing it was!"

Donna's suggestion got the excitement of the team pumping. Harry smiled.

"That includes you, Harry," Donna said.

It was the kind of distraction they needed, after everything which went on.

The beautiful beaches and landscape of the island of Themyscira brought excitement to the entire team. Amazing, well built architecture, lovely nature, and hoards of beautiful women as far as the eyes could see.

The group of Amazons approached them. Donna frowned as they looked at Harry like he was some abnormality on the island. Whitney, Artemis, Helena, Sara, Zatanna, Mareena, and Megan all rose up, in case there was any problems.

"I thought you said this was not going to be a problem," Whitney said.

"Oh, they just never saw a man who came to this island without being near death or trying to enslave them," Donna said.

"And you've arrived...welcome."

The gorgeous dark haired woman, who looked like she could be the older sister of Donna and Diana, walked over to them, taking several long and powerful strides. Harry got a pretty good glimpse at her, and she looked as alluring as her daughters.

"Queen Hippolyta, it's an honor once again," Mareena said.

"Mareena, it's good to see you as well," Hippolyta said. "And I hope your mother is well."

"She's very well, thanks for asking," Mareena said.

The beautiful Queen of the Amazons approached them with a wide smile on her face.

"Mareena, Sara, Artemis, Helena, Whitney, Megan, Zatanna, and Hadrian...welcome, my daughter has told me so much of your adventures together."

Although admittedly, Donna had been keeping some of the exploits with certain members of her team under wraps.

"It's an honor to meet you, your majesty," Harry said.

"Well, given your the man who has stolen the heart of both of my daughters, it's only inevitable you would visit this island," Hippolyta said. "Stand down, he is a guest, and you will treat him with the dignity I expect."

"Of course, my Queen."

The Amazons relaxed at the edict of their Queen. Hippolyta broke out into a smile.

"Donna, why don't you help me give them a tour of this island?" Hippolyta asked.

"I would love to, Mother," Donna said.

The Team followed Hippolyta and Donna off to see the sights of this beautiful island. And the occupants were just as beautiful as the rest of it.

"So, what do you think?" Donna asked them.

"It's amazing," Sara said. "When Dinah talked about it, I didn't think it would live up."

"Same with Iris," Whitney said. "And to think, there's a feast in about an hour."

"Oh, I knew that would get your attention," Helena said.

"I'm a growing girl," Whitney said.

"And if it wasn't for your metabolism, it would be horizontally instead of vertically," Helena told her.

One of the things which caught Harry's attention on their tour was the same woman who appeared to be watching them from afar. Harry put his hand on Donna's shoulder.

"Donna, who is that woman?" Harry asked. "I've seen her several times today, watching me."

Donna noticed the woman, ever so briefly as well. Recognition dawned on Donna.

"We rescued her from a damaged vessel off of the island two years ago," Donna said. "Her name is Faora. She's a very formidable woman. The only people better than her is Artemis, my mother, and sister...and she gives them a run for her moment."

Harry had a suspicion this woman was something other than your normal Amazon.

"We have so much more to see before dinner," Mareena said. "There's a stream that I find particularly relaxing."

"Yes, I remember the first time you came here," Donna said. "Your mother could not pull you away."

"Oh, well it had a certain majestic beauty," Mareena said with a shrug.

Paradise could be very wonderful. They would be able to see all of it's wonders and all of its splendors with this tour about the island.

Faora stopped watching them after Harry brought up her presence. Perhaps, Harry would seek her out later.