The office lights sat low and warm, tinting the walls in the mellow glow of late evening. Jason sat buried in a fortress of reports, each page a reminder of how the world had tilted after The Tragedy of Joker. The room felt too quiet, like even the shadows were waiting for him to exhale.
Public opinion had detonated upward.
Forty-something percent had become eighty.
Half a world that used to argue about due process was now chanting for blood.
Jason hated that part.He hated the way justice mutates when people get scared.
He massaged his temple as he read another trending post calling him The Sinbearer. Some artist had drawn him holding humanity's sins like flaming chains across his shoulders. Others were calling him a "good devil." One lunatic was already building a shrine.
He muttered at his screen, voice low and tired:
"Sin Bearer… what the hell… They're turning me into a bargain-bin folklore demon. People's hubris never stops."
His cursor flicked past another video clip of his interview, the one that had gone viral.
His words echoed back at him from the screen:
"Blood isn't something to be desired.
You must never want to see villains dead.
Live like Superman would — with hope.
Let the dirty parts fall on me. I'll take responsibility."
A quote meant to calm the world… instead it turned him into a myth.
The door opened with a soft click.
Diana stepped inside, closed it, and leaned against it for a moment like she needed a breath.
Her gaze softened as it landed on him.
"How are you doing, Jason?"
He closed a folder, offered her a weary smile.
"Hmm… I'm doing great. What about you? Harley, Raven, the others?"
Diana approached with slow steps
"I'm fine," she said. "Harley and Raven will be out in a week. The others not long after. Only Flash is… out of commission. Likely forever."
Her voice cracked on that last word before she pressed on.
She came around the desk and sat gently on his lap, her hand lifting to cradle his cheek.
"But what about you, Jason? I read everything online. I see how they're talking about you. How do you feel?"
Jason let out a humorless exhale.
"It doesn't get to me. Not really. Bit annoying that they're turning me into a god. But I don't care."
Diana's heart warmed at that — she could feel it in the way she settled against him, the way her thumb brushed his cheek.
Then she asked the real question:
"What about Joker?"
Jason's eyes dropped to his hands.
Silence stretched.Then:
"…It's not that I'm hurt by what happened," he said quietly."But I felt weak, Diana."
Her fingers stilled.Jason swallowed and continued:
"I never had someone built specifically to counter me. And when I won… it felt empty. Tasteless. I looked around and saw no celebration — just bodies, friends dying, people I care about injured, terrified. It felt like I should have done more. Hurt him more. Instead he got… the most peaceful death someone like him could ever get."
Diana leaned her head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat.
"Jason…"
He pulled in a slow breath.
"I'm not ashamed I killed him," he whispered. "I'm ashamed it wasn't enough."
Diana lifted her head, eyes solemn but fierce.
"Let me tell you something."
She intertwined her fingers with his.
"When Doomsday first appeared… we didn't even dare get close. He was mindless. That's the only reason any of us survived. He didn't think. He didn't torture. He didn't taunt. We attacked from afar, terrified. Even Clark struggled."
Jason nodded. He'd heard pieces of this, but never from her voice.
"And yes… we killed him," she continued. "We poisoned him with Kryptonite, because that was the only way. And it cost Clark his life. We held a funeral. We mourned him."
She paused, breath trembling.
"Joker was different."
Her voice hardened with something raw.
"He attacked a city. He used civilians as shields. He twisted minds. He broke us emotionally. When I saw the footage of Hal…"
Her throat closed.Jason placed a steadying hand on her thigh.
She forced herself to continue.
"…If I'd been there, Jason, I would have died. Because I wouldn't have been able to hold myself back."
Her fingers curled into his shirt.
"When you fought him… I couldn't move. I was terrified to breathe. All I could think was losing you to him."
Her forehead pressed to his.
"I wanted you to run."
His heart tightened at that.
"So don't you dare diminish what you did," she whispered."You're a hero, Jason. More than us in that moment. Because even with all his tactics, all his cruelty, all his psychological warfare… you didn't fall. You stayed true. You fought him the only way that could stop someone like him."
Then she kissed him.
Not the desperate kind that trembles.But the kind that claims, grounds, and restores.
A slow, deep, soul-steadying kiss.
When she pulled back, her forehead rested against his.
"I'm happy I didn't lose you."
Her voice was a soft tremor.
"So don't torture yourself with this. Please. You don't deserve it."
Jason closed his eyes, breathing her in — her warmth, her truth, her strength wrapped around the fracture inside him.
For the first time since the Joker incident, the weight on his shoulders eased.
Just a little.
....
A soft chime of the office lock broke the warmth between them.
The door swung open, and Kara stepped in mid-sentence, all bright urgency:
"Jason! We've found somet—"
She froze.
Her eyes fell on Diana perched in Jason's lap, her hand still resting on his cheek. The air between them was thick, vulnerable, clearly mid-confession.
Kara's brain performed a violent reboot.
"Oh Sorry! My bad!"She backpedaled so fast her cape almost got caught in the door, then slammed it shut behind her.
Outside the office, her thoughts spiraled into chaos like hyper-speed fireworks:
'Jason with Diana?!Didn't Harley say she was with him?Oh Rao— is he… CHEATING?!'
Inside the office, Jason exhaled through his nose.
"Kara… you can walk in now."
The door cracked open. Kara slid in like a guilty toddler caught stealing cookies, eyes flitting rapidly from Diana now standing beside Jason, composed and regal to Jason who looked strangely calm and back.
Her internal monologue was a meltdown.
'They're not even denying it!They're just just standing there like I didn't walk in on a Greek tragedy!'
Jason straightened.
"So. What is it? What did you want to tell me?"
Kara tried to keep her voice level, but her eyes still bounced between them like rubber bullets.
"Uhm… well… the surveillance we placed on Bialya picked something up. Alien in origin. Adam Strange tagged it before it hit atmosphere. We intercepted a voice message it's Origin from space and it's path...To Earth..Specifically inside Queen Bee's castle."
Diana's brow furrowed.
"Looks like your bait worked…"
Jason nodded, the shift from emotional to tactical almost instantaneous.
He stood, grabbing his coat.
"Let's go see what Adam found."
They moved toward the door with perfect strategic synergy.
Behind them, Kara stared at the two of them with wide, betrayed eyes, her thoughts practically screaming in neon:
'They don't even CARE that I just caught him CHEATING!'
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