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[ He's already in the room, but that's not the point. Bruce heads straight back to the transport pads and goes back down. He could lurk, wait for her to show up and then approach her. It's an instinct, he follows it insofar as staying out of sight of anyone else going back up to the station. ]

[ But the moment she's spotted, he's there waiting, ready to step on together with her. ]

( as promised, she doesn't come immediately, but it does not surprise her that when she arrives Bruce is already there. it went without saying that he has already been to the station before they'd even spoken. because how else would he know?

she joins him without much in the way of words, taking his arm with a soft breath. she's ready to face what neither of them would ever be willing to ignore. )

[ The gesture is natural. Every gesture can be, for him, but the Diana of the future does not offer this outside of when it's purposeful. He doesn't comment. She doesn't mean it as comfort, and standing together is something he's had to remember how to do. ]

[ But it is there, stretching, blinking, adjusting to the sunlight. They walk quietly together to the stasis room. ]

( it's true, she is quicker to reach out now than she would be in their future. after centuries of learning, Diana found ways to guard herself beyond her shield. in that respect she is less impervious than the woman she would become.

she has yet to be given a reason to regret reaching out, though. she appreciates having his presence, when they are both facing something they do not want to see.

she glances at other faces as they pass them, though none of them take her breath away like Clark manages to. the last she'd seen of him, he'd been strong. healthy. what had happened to send him back here? the breath stalls in her lungs, and her grip on Bruce's arm is a little tighter. )

Oh, Clark. ( how could this have happened to you? she doesn't say it, but she wonders. it makes no sense, even seeing it with her own eyes. ) When did you find him here?

[ It is as valuable offered to him now as it would be were she from any other time. Bruce doesn't want to take things from her. ]

[ They walk quietly — they walk together — through the station. He's had time to school his emotions into something manageable. Loss and Bruce Wayne always existed in the same sentence — it is his oldest companion. ]

[ Clark's not lying dead at their feet, but this too feels like robbery. ]

This morning. I couldn't get through to his phone.

( her hand presses a little harder, as with all her strength she can simply reach past the obstruction and draw their friend back. both hands land at the pod's face, and her shoulders paint a miserable line as she looks at Clark's sleeping face.

what darkness could have found him? was it on the face of the planet? if only she could ask him; he'd want to warn anyone else from treading where he had.

finally she forces her hands to drop, before she turns back to Bruce. it's rare that Diana doesn't seem to know what to do with herself, though at the moment? even she seems uncertain. Amazons were not an overly affectionate people, beyond her mother. humans were a different sort, though Bruce has never struck her as a particularly conventional human.

in the end, simply putting a hand on his arm doesn't feel enough. not for the comfort she wants to give him, nor for the comfort she herself seeks. she puts her arms around him, face securely at his shoulder, instead of the blank expression that still manages to linger in her thoughts. )

He'll wake again. He will. Whoever hides behind this darkness, we will find them. ( her promise isn't as fervent as usual, facing a loss she could not have expected. even if she has to believe it's temporary. )

We will.

[ He wasn't expecting it. Should have — given that he woke in the outpost to find a friend on either side of him, like they were both his comfort and his shields. He had wondered then whose idea it had been — either one of them could be the culprit. ]

[ He wraps his arms around her firmly. She has a generous heart — which is deep, still — but more sparingly given. The Diana of the future has never touched him outside of combat training, usually for appearances. What warmth there is between them lies in words, in subtleties. It grows, but slowly. They're warriors — vulnerabilities aren't offered up. ]

We're still here.

( it'd been hers, if only because Clark was too much of a gentleman and likely would have slept on the floor if she hadn't said anything. it is a night so long past, now it feels as if it were a dream. waking up with the company she trusted most beside her was not a feeling to last, and it makes her determined to hold on to the only link she has left while Clark sleeps — while her family and her friends remain in stasis.

she thinks little of the touch, even though affection tends to be something she offers with purpose, even now. her heart is less hindered by disappointment and distrust, yet bold affection was not the norm for an Amazon. Diana gives it anyway, when she wants to. when it feels right.

and even in her sadness, it feels right now.

she lingers a moment, before pulling back just enough to take a proper look at Bruce, over the face beyond them that is not like to change. she can tell that this is even more difficult for him than it is for her, though it takes a moment to remember why. words said months ago, not easily connected to something she has yet to live. ) He is the one we lost, fighting this Doomsday.

( it was never said implicitly, but now it seems very clear. )

[ He lets go when she does, hands tucking into his pockets. ]

Yes.

[ More than that — his fault. If he'd scrutinised Luthor as stringently as he had Clark, if he hadn't used up the kryptonite bullets, if he had realised the man in the red suit could have meant any him, they'd be sitting in a different world. The weight of failure and guilt are nothing but burdens for those who keep living. ]

[ Every second with Clark here had felt stolen, but snatched rightly. His life ended too soon, and memory can barely hold a torch to the legacy he left behind. ]

You saved my life then, but he saved all of us.

( it is difficult, to hear of a life she has yet to live. especially with such dire consequences, the loss of a friend she's only barely begun to meet. Clark still lives, here, even though he's shut away in the pod before them. Diana breathes an unhappy note, looking at the silent face once more. )

Whatever fate you've lived, we have a chance to change it, here.

( Clark isn't gone, he's right in front of them. once he wakes, she's quite determined to never see him in such a state again. Diana can't imagine what would be strong enough to bring the man of steel to his knees, but she's equally determined that whatever it was, it does not reach the only other ally she has left. )

We must be careful, Bruce. Do not walk where I cannot follow. ( it is rare for her to be afraid, to know the weight of loss. she's not immune, though, and perhaps she is not so removed from human emotion that she cannot fear losing someone else. )

[ Their power is not in reflecting bullets, waving magic lassoes, or flying. It's when they say what they do, there is a part of him nods and says yes, I will be with you when you do this, even if it brings you to the end of the world. Humanity needs that simplicity. Bruce has missed seeing it. ]

[ And humanity needs people like him too. ]

That's my line, [ he murmurs wryly. All the places she's gone alone, and how they exhausted her heart but did not dim her light. ]

( a sad smile runs at her features, and she shakes her head. )

Good. Then we are of one mind.

( she does tend to waltz too easily into danger, even knowing she is not invincible. seeing Clark like this cements that even she must be careful. she will help no one if she ends up in stasis again herself.

Diana pauses to look at Clark, one more time. in the short stretch of silence, she suspects that Bruce has been here for far longer than he would ever admit to her, and she imagines Clark would not want him to linger here alone. ) I am taking that as a promise, you know. And a promise is unbreakable. ( well, to an amazon, they are. never make promises to an amazon. she takes Bruce's arm again, just as she did when they arrived. )

Luckily for you, where I would walk next is my apartment. I think we will both manage it if we go together.

( closed )

DIANA.

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