DISCLAIMERS/NOTES
1. This is a fan fiction based on characters owned by DC Comics. I DO NOT OWN THEM. This is just for fun.
2. As always, I'll point out this was written over a decade ago, when, here in the UK, Season 2 of the JL cartoon had yet to air. So Hawkgirl had not been revealed as a spy, and the massive, every-hero-in-the-DCU roster of Unlimited wasn't a factor. My timeline picks up after the Season 1 finale, "The Savage Time". All my Wayback Wednesday stories are numbered chronologically, if you get stuck.
3. There are aspects of these stories that, in hindsight, I would change. However, I have kept them as I originally wrote them for history's sake. Not laziness.
THE STORY SO FAR…
Superman/Clark Kent
Age (approx): Mid 50s (age slowed)
The Man of Steel continues to protect Metropolis and the world from the forces of evil, and is the leader of the Justice League. As well as Superboy and Supergirl, he and Lois Lane have another son, Jimmy.
Batman/Bruce Wayne
Age (approx): Mid to late 50s
Batman still patrols the streets of Gotham, accompanied by his sons Robin and Nightwing, and his daughter Batgirl. He is still happily married to Diana.
Wonder Woman/Diana Wayne
Age (approx): N/A
Now comfortable in Man's World, Diana is no longer naïve and unsure of the world. Happily married to Batman, she is currently offduty, as she is looking after their five children, and is pregnant with twins.
Green Lantern/John Stewart
Age (approx): Late 50s (age slowed by power ring)
No longer in contact with his home side of the galaxy, Green Lantern patrols the outer reaches of the galaxy, and is known far and wide as the Guardians' greatest officer.
J'onn J'onzz/John Jones
Age (approx): N/A
The last Green Martian alive continues to work at the New York Police Department as Detective John Jones, and is a well-respected officer. He has also started to date Human women, but so far all relationships have ended. He is still a member of the Justice League, but no longer feels uncomfortable or out of place.
Hawkwoman/Shayera Hol
Age (approx): Late 40s
Returning to the Justice League, Shayera's husband Kator was killed in action, and she now lives at the Watchtower looking after her three children. She is trying to be positive, but she is often depressed and sad. Her state is not helped by the fact that Megan West, daughter of the late Flash, hates her.
Superboy/Joel Kent
Age (approx): 17
Hoping to take over from his father one day, Joel continually takes chances, eventhough his powers are about a quarter of Superman's. He acts like a ladies' man, but is really shy and awkward around girls.
Supergirl/Lara Kent
Age (approx): 15
Taking over from Kara, Lara hopes to live upto the legacy of Superman, and strives to make him proud.
Robin/Thomas Wayne
Age (approx): 21
Batman's oldest son has become a skilled vigilante. He often operates alone, but still feels he has a long way to go before he becomes as good as his father. He has feelings for Megan West, but feels he is too old for her. He is also the leader of the Titans.
Nightwing/Clark Wayne
Age (approx): 17
Given the Nightwing identity when Dick Grayson retired, Clark is part of Batman's team.
Batgirl/Grace Wayne
Age (approx): 19
Grace often works alongside her younger brother Nightwing.
Wonder Girl/Faith Wayne
Age (approx): 21
Batman and Diana's oldest daughter, Faith has trained to become an expert warrior, and hopes to make her mother proud. She is dating John Stewart Jr., son of John Stewart and Shayera Hol.
Hawkgirl/Tarran Hol
Age (approx): 20
The daughter of John Stewart and Shayera Hol, Tarran's wings have grown strong enough for her to take over her mother's superheroic identity. She has feelings for Superboy, but considers him too immature for an adult relationship.
PART 1
The small group huddled through the darkness, trying to keep as quiet as possible. The reached the far wall, and put their bags on the floor. They began to remove various objects from the bags, including welders, goggles and batons.
Two of them revealed a box and carried it over to the wall. They pushed it against the surface, and it stuck on magnetically.
They began the timer to blow the vault door.
"So, you think these are tourists?"
Nightwing looked at Robin. "What makes you say that?"
Robin shrugged. "They obviously don't know that Gotham is protected by the Bat Family."
Batman smiled, and put his hand on his oldest son's shoulder. "There's nine of them. You take the two on the right, Nightwing will take the two on the left, and I'll take the others."
"Why don't we just divide them by three?" Robin asked.
"The other five are too big for you."
Nightwing looked at his father. "We're stronger than YOU…"
"You're not experienced enough," Batman said. "If I don't let Robin take more than two, I'm not going to let you…"
"Come on, Batman," Robin said. "We can take them. Why don't you just stay here and watch?"
Batman was silent.
"We've done it before," the Boy Wonder continued. "Remember when you and Mom went on vacation, and left us on our own? We can do it."
Batman sighed. "Fine. But I'll be watching."
His sons high-fived eachother. "Boya! Let's go!" Nightwing said.
"After you," his brother said.
"Oh no, I insist."
Batman held them both by the scruff of the collars. "Just go."
Robin and Nightwing braced themselves. They then leapt off the balcony, and flew into the air. "Let's give them a proper Gotham welcome," Robin said.
As his sons flew down on the burglars, Batman's smile widened. They were eager, yes. Headstrong. But they were excellent soldiers. He had spent years training all of his children the fine arts of crimefighting, and it made his heart warm to see his teachings come to fruition.
As three of the burglars reached for their guns, Robin dove down and grabbed them out of their hands. Meanwhile, Nightwing turned in mid-air and knocked down two with a flying kick. The others aimed their guns, but the two young crimefighters took to the air, using their flying ability they inherited from their mother to dodge the bullets. They then swooped down, and took out five of them with massive tackles.
Robin landed on the ground and ran to the burglar still guarding the bomb on the vault door. He aimed his rifle, but the Boy Wonder slapped it out of his hand effortlessly and threw him into another wall. As he investigated the bomb, another burglar approached him from behind. However, Robin threw his arm back, hitting him in the face without even looking.
His sons were stronger than normal Humans, another ability they had inherited from their mother. But Batman had spent hours training them to control their strikes, so that they never accidentally injured someone heavily. Watching them in action, you would not know that they had enhanced strength.
Nightwing punched another burglar in the face, as the last one ran past him, attempting to escape. Nightwing reached out to grab him, but missed him by inches. As the burglar ran off, Nightwing shrugged. "I'll get him in a minute." He then picked up the other burglar, and threw him against the wall.
Batman watched as the final burglar ran to the exit. He would make it outside before Nightwing would reach him.
Batman held out his arms, and leapt off the balcony. His cape grabbed the air, slowing his fall. He descended down in the burglar's path.
He landed infront of the burglar, feet from the door. The burglar stopped in his path, and his eyes widened. Batman began to walk upto him, and he stepped back. However, Batman grabbed him by the shoulder, and pulled his other arm back to punch him.
Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. His eyes widened, and his chest ached harder. He relaxed his grip on the burglar, and put his other hand to his body.
He took deep breaths… what was happening…?
His legs began to buckle, and his vision went blurry. He slowly sunk to the floor, the pain in his chest getting worse.
God… he was having a…
The burglar looked down at him, his feared expression turning to delight. He pulled his leg back, and kicked Batman in the face, knocking him to the ground.
Batman tried to lift his head, as everything went red… he made out someone standing above him… pulling something back…
The burglar kicked him again, right in the stomach. Batman gasped as the air left his body… when he needed it the most…
Robin pulled out the wire that controlled the detonation mechanism, and the bomb's timer stopped. He put his mini-welder back in his utility belt as Nightwing went upto him. "Taken care of the bomb?"
"Yeah," Robin said, turning around. "Where's…"
He froze.
He watched the figure on the floor, being taunted by the burglar. "Dad…" he whispered.
He flew across the room, as Nightwing turned and watched him go. His eyes widened as he saw where his brother was going.
The burglar pulled his leg back again, about to kick Batman in the stomach again. Suddenly, Robin grabbed him by the collar, and viciously threw him away. The burglar slammed against the wall and slumped to the ground, out cold.
Robin knelt down to his father, as Nightwing ran upto them. Robin put his hand on Batman's arm. "Dad… are you OK? Talk to us!"
Batman took slow, deep breaths, as he vaguely saw his two sons looking at him, worried expressions on the faces. "Take me… to the cave…"
/
The moonlight shone through the window, illuminating the bedroom. A figure say up in the bed, staring at the wall. Another figure sat in a chair by the bedside, inches from him.
"I'm not eating that," Bruce said, not moving his eyes from the wall.
Diana sighed. "Come on Bruce, you should eat something." She held out the bowl of porridge, the hotness not bothering her bare hands. "Just a bit. For me."
Bruce slowly turned his head. He looked down at the bowl and sighed. "Fine." Diana smiled lightly, and delicately placed the bowl on her husband's lap. She watched as he slowly took the spoon in his hand and lifted some of the food to his mouth.
Diana was amazed with herself how she was holding back her tears. When she had been woken by the ring tone of her direct link to the Batcave on her bedside table, she had not taken fully what she was being told. Clark was shouting at the other end, as Thomas drove the Batmobile. They were hysterical, yelling at her about an attack… but in her dazed state, she did not comprehend what they were talking about.
It was only when they got home, and she walked down the staircase to the cave… she realised what had happened. Her husband, the man she loved, the father of both her born and unborn children, her reason for being… was dying. He looked so weak, so fragile, as they lifted him out of the car and put him on the medtable. Bruce was breathing slowly and deeply… he could barely speak…
She had tried to remain strong, for her children, but she could not hold back the tears. She had cried silently as they watched over him, his breathing gradually returning to normal and his strength returning. By the time she had told the boys to go to bed – reluctantly – she had stopped crying, and had managed to keep calm as she took him upstairs to their room.
But seeing him like this… weak, in pain… made her heart ache. It was bound to happen sooner or later. He was getting older… he kept pushing himself…
She raised her arm and stroked his greying hair. "How do you feel?"
"No different from five minutes ago," Bruce gruffly replied. Diana knew he did not mean to be rude, but he hated feeling vulnerable. He found it hard to show weakness, but she could always see when he was in pain.
"Bruce…" she said quietly, "I've called Clark, I've told him we're not going to the meeting tomor…" She stopped, as the enormity of what happened sunk in. Her husband had had a heart attack. He had nearly died. She never would have seen him again. The thought of losing him scared her to death…
Tears began to run down her face. Bruce looked at her, concerned. "What is it?"
"You nearly died…" she whispered. "I nearly lost you…" She looked at him, then rested her head on his shoulder. She raised her arm, holding his neck, and delicately pulled him closer. She let out a sob, the tears running uncontrollably. "I love you…"
He returned the embrace, putting his hand to her back. "I love you too… I love you so much…"
"Please… don't do this to me again…" she breathed. "I couldn't take it… if I lost you…"
"I know," he said, looking at her. "I've been fooling myself."
Diana broke the embrace, and looked at him, frowning. "What…?"
"I thought I could carry on forever," he continued. "I thought… if I kept in shape, I could…" He paused, and looked back at the wall. "But I'm only Human."
"What are you talking about?" Diana said.
"I thought I'd die in action," Bruce said. "I never thought I'd live this long. Never thought I'd… find happiness. Even when the kids were born… I thought I could carry on. And when they became heroes themselves… and BETTER ones than me… I thought I could carry on. Thought… I was still needed…"
Diana leaned close, taking his hand in hers.
"But seeing them tonight… seeing them these past few months… years, even… they don't need me. I'm… in the way. I have nothing to contribute."
"Bruce," Diana said, "are…" She suddenly stopped, and winced. She held her stomach, the stress of the night and her pregnancy getting too much. Bruce looked at her, concerned. He put his hand to her stomach, comforting her as the pain passed.
"That's another reason," he said. "You don't deserve this. You need me, and I'm causing you pain…"
"I'm fine," she said. "You could never cause me pain. It's just… the effects of labour."
"All the pregnancies have been hard," he said. "Not as hard as the twins, maybe, but they've been more painful I'm sure than normal pregnancies. You passed out giving birth to Clark…"
"I'm fine," she repeated. "I haven't been in much pain recently…"
"How many attacks have you had today?" he asked.
"Bruce…"
"How many?"
She sighed. "Four."
Bruce looked down, and closed his eyes. "You haven't been in this much pain since Faith and Thomas. It must be the added stress of having twins…"
"Stop changing the subject," she said, taking his hand off her stomach and resting it on his lap. "This is about you, not me."
"Diana, you're all that matters to me," he said quietly, stroking her cheek. "I've been stubborn. You need me, and I'm still doing this…"
"You never missed a birth," Diana said, "and you've only missed a few birthdays…"
"I'm not going to miss anymore," he said sternly. "I have to devote myself to the important things."
"What are you saying?" she asked, knowing what the answer was.
Bruce looked at the wall, and took a deep breath. "The Batman is no more."
TO BE CONTINUED