It was over.
That was the one thought in Robin's head. That they had survived, they could go home, and his siblings and his mother would be there to greet him and his father. There had been so many close calls though. He could still vividly picture the moments where he almost lost team members, friends, family. He knew those images would be in his nightmares for some time, but that was something he could worry about later.
"Robin?" The boy looked up at his father who had noticed his trance. "Are you okay?"
It seemed like such a simple question, something one would ask if he had fallen and scraped a knee. Not a question that applied to a boy who had just saved his universe.
The bat got down on a knee so that he could be face to face with his oldest son and removed his mask.
"Dick?" Instead of answering the boy moved forward and hugged his father. It took a second but Bruce hugged him back, his hands gripping the boy's costume.
"Let's go home and see Mom and the others, alright?" Dick's faced brightened with a smile as he nodded.
Diana reached for the light switch on the side of the wall and gave a slight smile when she saw that her small apartment was still intact and exactly as she had left it. Placing her bag and keys on the hook next to her she removed her shoes and walked into the main room of her home. It was a nice change, to be Diana and not Wonder Woman, even if just for a second.
She began to think about everything she'd have to go back to doing tomorrow. Cleaning, her job, and everything else that came with a typical human life. Including sleep. Which at the moment sounded very tempting to her.
Diana made her way to the bedroom and collapsed on the soft blankets. Sleep overtook her before she even made it under the covers.
"Kal-el?" Superman turned his head towards his wife. Her dark hair was lose around her face and her chocolate eyes stared at him in question.
"Uh, yeah?" He had a slight panic. She had obviously asked him something, and he had missed it. Did it have something to do with the house? The league? Superman racked his brain for something that she might have asked him about. Nothing.
Supergirl laughed at his expression and spoke again, "What are we doing for dinner?"
Dinner. It seemed like such a simple idea. Something he did every night. But now, with everything that had happened…
He may have never had dinner again, or have seen Kara ever again. The thought sent shivers down his spine. They had come very close to losing everything. Friends, family, the whole world was nearly destroyed. In another timeline, he could be dead, Kara could be dead.
"Kal? You o-" Kal-el cut her off in a strong hug, tucking her head under his and wrapping himself around her. She felt small to him. What would he have done if he had lost her?
"Kal, it's okay, I'm here, we're fine." How she was able to read his mind like that was beyond him, but at the moment he appreciated it. He wasn't sure he could voice what was going on in his head without a breakdown. They fought the average criminal, what they had done was beyond them, and they would have lost without the help of the other leaguers.
Kara stepped away and held his face with her smaller hands.
"Hey listen, tomorrow, after a nice sleep, we're gonna wake up, have breakfast and go to work. You're going have a great day at the Daily Planet, and I'm going to keep Cat from tearing my hair out. What happened doesn't change anything Kal. We still have each other and we still have our friends. This is going to take everyone awhile to work over, and we're all going to be there for you. I'm not going anywhere, and neither is this earth, we won Kal. We won."
Kal felt a burst of affection in his chest. They had won, they still had each other.
"Now how bout we go out for food?"
The lights flickered on in Hal's empty apartment. He could feel the bruises and aches with every step he took.
"Quite the battle today, huh Hal?" He muttered to himself as he stripped off his pilot jacket and shoes. His feet made little noise as he walked on the hard wood towards the kitchen. After navigating through his table and counter he grabbed a bag of chips. He ate and headed upstairs.
He heard a sudden noise above him and he turned, ring ready. He scouted for the source and felt his shoulders sag when he realized it was the house cooling system.
Was he really this jumpy? Sure the fight had been big and he had more than enough close calls, but he hadn't even thought about how it would effect him afterwards. What about the rest of the team? Did Batman panic when he couldn't hear or see his Robin? Or would Superman have nightmares about his wife's close call with death. This was going to be a ride for all of them. Not to mention the whole world. How many people would go to bed anxious, waiting for another attack?
But those were "what ifs", and those cause unnecessary fear. Hal still had his team, and Flash, and the people he cared about outside the hero life. He'd have to do his best to adjust and then help others.
"Almost miss the common criminals." Hal recalled a time where he saw them as minor annoyances. He could stop a bank robbery in the time it took Cat Grant to order a latte. He missed that now. Maybe he'd even thank the next guy to do something illegal.
"You've been awfully quiet brother." Hawkgirl soared over he sibling.
"I've been thinking." She frowned, he would have to give her a more detailed answer than that.
"Thinking?" She lowered so that she was flying next to him.
"A lot has changed sister." She nodded. "And we nearly lost, everything." She watched as her brother thought about what his next words were to be. He was right, if not for the league of the other earth, the JAA might not even exist now. She had chosen to stray away from that topic though, and focus on the fact that they were victorious, and she would be able to go back to her normal lives. As hawkgirl and as Shayera.
"But we will be better for it." Was all she said in response and they continued on in silence.
"Ba!" Tanaka turned towards the two girls running towards him. His face was split by a smile as he embraced them both. He picked up his youngest and walked towards the woman standing in the doorway.
"Xin'ai." He kissed the woman lightly and let his daughter down. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she had been worried about him. That she feared he wouldn't be back to say hello to their children or be able to help her cook and live their lives. It was something that he feared as well, and nothing had given him more relief than seeing them again.
Suddenly he felt a tug at his shirt and his daughter led him to the sitting room, where a board game and food had been left waiting. Waiting for him. He realized with a smile. He could deal with the weight of the world tomorrow. Already knowing Batman would have them busy, repairing, and helping the world and the people's adjustment to what had happened. But those could wait, he had his family together and no inter-world giant was going to keep him away from them.
"Mom!" Bruce watched as his oldest dove into the arms of his mother. Then by surprise he felt two sets of smaller arms wrap around his legs. One of them barely reaching his knees.
"Hey kiddos." Bruce ruffled the hair of his youngest and moved towards his wife.
Once Dick was released his younger siblings began running towards him. He wrapped his arms around them.
"Jaybird, I hope you protected everyone while Dad and me were gone." Dick kissed his forehead. And Bruce smiled at the blush on his son's cheeks. He then puffed out his chest and nodded.
"Good. Now Timmy were you as brave as Jason?" Bruce remembered the small speech Dick had given his siblings before they had left. His oldest had that ability, to give people a reason to be brave and protect the people they cared about.
"It's good to have you back." Bruce turned to the woman next to him and kissed her.
"I am to. But the battle isn't quite over. We still have a lot of work to do." The smile on her lips faded as he mentioned this.
"But we can have one night?" She asked hopefully. Bruce wanted more than one night, knew that the league would understand, but also knew he had a responsibility.
"I'm sure I could fit one night into my schedule."
Dick turned to him. "Good because we are going to have a movie night, and both of you have to watch with us." The oldest attempted a bat-glare but only managed to make his mother laugh.
"Very well." She said. "I'll get some popcorn."
Diana awoke in the middle of the night with images of blood and bodies flashing in front of her. Just a dream. A very real dream none the less, but it was only a nightmare.
Suddenly she heard a knock at the door. Getting out of bed she walked over and opened the door. Standing in front of her was a man, her neighbor if she remembered correctly. Having recently moved in and then being out most of the time didn't leave her much room to go out and meet people.
"I-I heard a crash or something, just wanted to make sure you were okay." Diana blinked for a second before realizing why he was worried about her.
"I am fine, thank you for coming to check on me." She nodded.
"You live here alone?"
"Uh, yes, my work keeps me rather busy." The man smiled brightly before offering his arm.
"Well how about I show you around the city?"
"It's rather late." She added.
"Ah that's the best time to look around."
The siblings had arrived in their small living space in silence. They removed their armor in silence. Hawkgirl was afraid to break it. She wasn't sure how deep in thought her brother was and she could possibly make things even worse.
She then felt something small hit her on her back.
"Carter?" She asked when another small pebble like thing hit her from behind the couch. This time she picked it up and recognized the small stones they had thrown at each other as children.
She smiled before leaping over the couch and tossing the pebble into the shoulder of her brother.
He moved and the game of tag began. Each trying to hit one another playfully and then laughing until they could not breath.
"If the League saw us, they'd think we were childish." Shayera spoke once they had both tired out. She laid out on the grass field near their house with Carter opposite of her.
"Let them, I needed the break." Carter smiled and Shayera returned the gesture, both happy to be out of the mess of battle.