Hello everyone, this is my first attempt at a one-shot, and it is about filler in the forever evil storyline, and a thought experiment on how far the heroes can be pushed. Hopefully it is not too short, but I just felt that the league wasn't killed, but just forced into hiding... without further adieu...
The Fears of Family.
Sitting around the old printing press that the founders originally met to discuss the things later known as mother boxes, the three leagues, consisting of the Justice League, the Justice League of America, and Justice League Dark, licked their wounds. Batman and Catwoman had gone to Detroit to see if Victor's father could revive the dying Cyborg, knowing they would have to lie in order to keep the rest of the league safe for the moment, and that they couldn't bear leaving the other out of their sight.
Diana looks over to see her Kal, the most understated man in the room, looking back at her. He had just seen her near death at the hands of superwoman, and she could tell it still bothered him. She had never seen this early base of his, but it was undeniably him, the smell of ink and paper was heavy on the air.
"Everybody shut up for a second, I can feel a different signal on the air," he shouts. suddenly his eyes snap to the size only seen in a parent afraid for his child, "Turn on the television, over there! Do it now!"
This scared everyone around him, as an angry superman is something truly to behold, but this was not angry superman, this was much worse, this was scared Superman, and someone turned on the television
The volume is muted because everyone has an idea of what was going to be said, and didn't want to hear it, most of the time the television showed the evil twins from hell gesturing, and a man tied to a chair. Some minutes later, they gather that it is Nightwing, and that he is bloodied. Suddenly one of the Injustice Society reached up and yanked the mask of his face. Underneath there was the clearly shown face of a famous circus owner, and one time ward of Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson.
"Oh, this is bad, really, really, bad," said anyone who had ever had lasting contact with Batman, which included almost everyone on the Justice League, especially Superman and Wonder Woman, who had grown closest to Bruce in the past five years.
"Wait a minute," Steve Trevor was the first to recover, seeing as he didn't know the secret of Batman and not on the most friendly of terms still with the League, "isn't that Bruce Wayne's oldest ward?"
The faces that knew the secret paled further, if it was even possible, because they already looked like bleached granite, and the shared glances showed their fear even clearer. If they figure this out, Bruce is a dead man. Batman might kill his Bruce personality, and won't recover. After that it is one small step to me!
These looks telegraphed their thoughts and the rest of the people gathered the needed information to jump to the inevitable conclusion, Bruce Wayne is highly connected to Batman, if not Batman himself.
"That is not the worst of it, that was a repeat of earlier, this is what is happening now..." The lone voice called out, it was the one that looked the most scared, the most vulnerable, Superman, he pointed to the TV and there was a collective gasp.
"That one looks to have your symbol, blue!" was the most heard cry, followed by "oh my god, that's Red Robin!" Superman didn't hear any of this; he was too preoccupied by the evil speedster beating the one thing closer to his heart than Diana or Kara, his clone/son Kon.
"This is worse than when H'el was here, at least I could try to help, I'm powerless right now, Diana," he whispered so that only his love could hear him.
Diana turned to him, eyes full of sorrow, and whispered back, "you have no idea, that is my niece over there, I could tell the offspring of Lennox anywhere... I promised myself to look after his family as well."
Clark knew what happened to her brother, how he sacrificed himself to make sure that her group made it to safety, away from the First Born. Clark didn't know what he would do if he ever came face to face with this monster, but from the look on Diana's face, he knew that he wouldn't be the only one in line to kill the bastard. Wait did she just... it is not the time to make that joke Clark... don't do it... don't do it.
"You're a poet and you don't even know it, Diana." Dammit!
Her eyes twinkled, showing either danger or gratitude, he couldn't tell, "thank you for that, Kal." Thank you Rao, I didn't want to end up shish-kebobed.
There where a few demanding second's before... "aaaaahhhhgggghhhhh," it was the Flash, because as the camera panned it stopped on another speedster in yellow and his connection to the speed force and time gave him a major head ache.
There was only two people around him now as they where the only ones fast enough to catch him, Clark and Diana. When they found themselves alone, he turned to them with the same fear as Superman only a few seconds ago, "That is my grandson!" jaws dropped as Barry was the same age as Clark at twenty-six, and while the Speedster was one of the oldest of the league, he was definitely not old enough to have kids let alone grandkids that age.
"How, wha... ok, How do you even know this?"
"Connected to the speed force and therefore time remember? That kid is not from anywhere near this time, he moves just like me, he looks like I did at his age, and I can just feel it!" Barry says ripping off his hood, and both could tell that the resemblance was remarkable.
"We cannot help them, at least not now without a plan," it was not a command, but a statement of fact, a hard fact, and it was needed to be heard by the protective men around Diana.
"Then we need a plan!" the two frightened heroes turn to her their fear turning into a burning rage that only a parent or close relative could feel, let alone understand... it was rage to protect the part of yourself brought to life in another.
"We need to observe their tactics closer to come up with a plan, and you, Clark, do not have your powers back yet you need more sunlight, before you could help anyone the likes of Kon," again Diana felt that the two men in front of her needed to hear this, but she also knew to add, "Do you know how hard it is for me to just sit here while my niece, the only part of my brother I have left, is in the same situation as your relatives! Someone needs to come up with a plan, so that we all don't just make the situation worse, and possibly get one of them killed!" She was near tears now, as she had finally let the events of the last two weeks set in, that she lost two brothers, one who had trained her from an early age and protected her against his mother for years after she denounced him, the other died to protect her.
With one quick glance at how close Diana was to tears, and knowing that she would not do so in front of anyone he turns to Barry and says, "she's right, we can't help in our current state but we can still make a plan to take them down, why don't you go back and study the speedster? We'll catch up."
There was a glare in that statement that was scarier than the bat glare, it was the super-glare, so Barry wisely shut up and left to do exactly as Superman said.
As soon as Barry was out of sight, Clark turned to Diana, with such a soft face, he almost slipped into his humble disguise. "Diana, he is gone you can do it now... there is no shame in crying, after all it is just your body's way of releasing extra chemicals from the brain," If there is one thing that he learned from his time as a member of the league, it was that while Diana had the biggest heart, she learned never to cry.
He steps forward, embraces her, and repeats, "There is no shame to cry, it is the least destructive way to release pent-up and overwhelming emotion, it's natural, even to Kryptonians, see..." He wipes a tear from his own eye, showing her the wetness on his fingers, "I hate seeing you like this, we are supposed to be the strong ones, but that is a piece of myself fighting over there, I can't even help him or you with your pain: to put it simply I'm overwhelmed, and I can see you are too, maybe together we wouldn't be so overwhelmed, and just sharing might help."
Finally Diana's last barrier falls and the first of many tears and racking sobs escape her, falling into Clark as he falls into her. The minutes pass as they tell each other the woes they have had to deal with over the last few weeks, from Diana being forced to become the god of war and killing her half-brother to Lois being given a death sentence by Brainiac's meta-human virus. It is all discussed as both allow the other to see how weak they feel.
After almost fifteen minutes, Barry returns in a panic, shocking them into silence. "Come quick, you need to see this!" was all he said as he leads them back to the rest of the teams in front of the TV.
It is repeating what happened only moments ago: The Evil Speedster, Johnny Quick they now remember, has the young speedster around the neck.
"We have to help please," the look on the Flash's face is so tortured that it hurts even the Martian's cold heart, who had just been observing this whole time, attempting to understand human emotion, and privy to the secrets that now were shared between the leagues founding members.
"Flash, we couldn't reach them in time now, I'm so sorry," and the Martian Manhunter knew it, he could feel the mind disappearing as he spoke.
"Oh no, oh no, please no, what is happening," A time warp that looked like a boom tube opened up, swallowing not only the young speedster, but the rest of his team as well.
"NOOO!" all three of the most powerful beings in the room collapse to the floor as they saw their relatives disappear in front of them.
From the feed they hear a familiar laugh as the traitor Rhonda embraced her lover on the screen; both the Flash and Superman fell to the ground, completely drained of emotion, their demeanor now that of the walking dead, having seen people who were like sons to them, Diana was not as far gone but she also had lost that light of one who had boundless hope, replaced by a hate filled determination.
The sight of all their dead eyes was more intimidating than a frightened Superman.
"Those two are the first to die..." no one found where it came from, until Batman stepped out of the shadows, back from star labs, "they couldn't revive Victor."