An Injust Sentence

Chapter Six

Back at Belle Reve, Diana slept in her bed peacefully for the first time since her incarceration. She dreamt of times in a nearly forgotten past, relieving as much happiness she could of her memories with Bruce and the League. Drawing in a desperately needed reserve of strength from them, in case her latest meeting with the Dark Knight was the last bit of positive attention she ever received again. Her slumber came to an abrupt end when the intercom blared in a loud squeal. The voice of Officer Bolton shouted at her, "Blunder Woman! Wake your ass up, inspection time!" It took a moment for the Amazon to shake off the night's sleep, the scratchy wool blanket still tucked up under her arms as the door slid open. Bolton and his guards filed in, moving quickly to surround her, with one guard grabbing her hair by the back of her head and yanking the former Leaguer to her feet.

Feeling her inner strength returning somewhat, Diana broke the hold the guard had with a wheeled motion of her hand and forced the guard back with a step with a follow up shove. A small sneer crept its way across Diana's lips as she felt the surge of satisfaction of the man's surprise and the success of defending herself, but it was wiped away in an instant as Bolton retaliated. He punched her in the back of the head with such force it sent her face first into the linoleum floor. "You musta forgot the rules around here, your highness, to be screwing off like that." Diana began to pick herself up, until Bolton forced her back down as he stomped his foot into her shoulders. "I can see you have got some fight back in you, can it be because you got to talk to the Bat the other day?" The Amazon slowly began to push herself up off the floor, her muscles screaming in protest.

Bolton growled at this and tried to force his heel into the prisoner's shoulders more and send her back to the ground. "You better start being smart and talking when you're talked to." The former member of the Justice League ignored the comment, and after a second more she let all of the weight on her left side go, using the momentum of her oppressor to help roll her out from under him. As she did so, Diana snapped a kick at the back of the man's knee. Before the large man's back hit the floor, Diana was on her feet and punched him hard in the gut. Grinning with satisfaction as she hears all the air forced out of his lungs in an explosive cough, the Princess of the Amazons readied herself for the next combatant, but the guards just stood there. They held themselves in a defensive posture, but they made no move towards her.

Bolton got up to his knees, a dangerous glare in his eyes as he stared at his attacker. Once she turned back to face him, he finished picking himself up from the floor and stood up to his full height. A short time ago, Diana would have felt fear of this man who stood a full head length higher than her. Now, she felt exhilarated, she had defended herself and showed that she wasn't just some prisoner to be pushed around. Before her thoughts could continue to bolster her ego and self esteem, her jailer spoke then in a quiet and measured tone. "My mother hits harder than that. " Flustered by that statement, Diana asked in an incredulous tone. "What?" Bolton gave a one shoulder shrug. "I didn't stutter. I know you're slowing down nowadays so I'll break it down for you."

He got close to Diana, so much she could practically smell his cheap aftershave as he said. "My mother. Hits harder. Than that." After he finished talking he grabbed a fist full of her hair in the span of a breath and yanked so their foreheads ground together. "If there wasn't a damn physical for the inmates here today, I would take my time re-educating you on who is in charge here." Diana tried to free herself from his grasp, but he simply pulled harder, grinding their heads painfully as he said in a rage. "We are not finished here, believe that you pathetic washed out bitch. You're gonna pay the toll for this little outburst here today." Bolton flicked the hand that held her hair back, his dark eyes tracking her movements as she stumbled back and into the arms of one of his subordinates. The guard entwined his arms with hers and held her in place.

Diana struggled for a moment before her captor hissed at her. "Knock it off. Play ball or my partner's cooked. Understand?" She recognized the man's voice from before and knew who he referred to. Instantly the fire that had begun to build in the warrior fizzled out, leaving the Princess feeling cold and empty. Bolton smoothed out his uniform and straightened his tie before eyeing the Amazon up and down. Satisfied that she was compliant, he made his way to the door to open but turned quickly to say in a threatening tone. "We're gonna keep quiet about this little scuffle today. Along with any other thing that's on your mind. If you play nice we can forget about today. We all want that, don't we.. Wonder Woman?" The way he said her honorific made her skin crawl, but the former League member just shook her head in agreement and allowed herself to be led to the infirmary.