AN: This is the mini-sequel/epilogue to Guess Who's Coming for Dinner. I would recommend reading that first but I don't think it's absolutely necessary.
For those of you who caught the first 2 versions of this chapter, I'm sorry for the mess. This is the winning version.
Disclaimer: The AU and OCs are mine; the rest belongs to DC Comics.
Wayne Manor
At breakfast, Diana announced there would be a mandatory household meeting at 10 am in the family room. And so a few minutes before the hour, the four newest residents of Wayne Manor made their way to one of the many rooms none of them had explored yet.
.
The atmosphere in the family room was different than the rest of the house. It was more intimate, more casual. The ancestral furniture and original art that decorated the majority of the manor were replaced by overstuffed couches and family photos. The midmorning sun shining through the large picture windows made the room inviting.
The central feature of the room was a grand fireplace. Over the fireplace hung a large portrait of a couple the Amazons didn't recognize. The man bore a striking resemblance to Bruce, same bone structure and stature, same nose and hair; the woman was petite, only coming to the man's shoulders, she had a kind face and eyes the same shade as Bruce's but with infinitely more warmth.
On the far end of the mantle was a large photo of Bruce and Diana with their arms wrapped around each other. Diana was dressed in a flowing white gown and Bruce wore a formal looking suit with a flower in the lapel. Upon closer inspection, Alexa noticed the same warmth in Bruce's eyes as the woman in the portrait above.
Next to the photo of Bruce and Diana was one of Bruce and Dick. It was probably a couple of years old, based on how much Dick had grown since it had been taken. Bruce had an arm draped over Dick's shoulders and Dick was holding an orange ball under one arm. Laughter shone from both sets of blue eyes and the Amazons didn't understand the significance.
There was a photo of Bruce, Dick, and Diana with several people the Amazons didn't recognize. Diana was pregnant in the photo and Bruce hovered protectively at her shoulder. Dick and a girl with red hair stood apart from everyone else in the photo, laughing at something unseen. The location was completely nondescript but pink and yellow decorations indicated it might be some kind of party. A well-built man with unnaturally blue eyes, covered by oversized spectacles, stood on Diana's other side. His arm was wrapped around a woman with dark shoulder length hair and violet eyes. On Bruce's other side was a woman with wavy black hair that appeared a little younger than him. A blond man with a runner build, an athletic man with light brown hair, a strong woman with long blonde hair, a petite woman with short blonde hair and Steve Trevor rounded out the group. Mala wondered if these people were taking the place of the Amazons in Diana's heart.
The last photo on the mantle was a family portrait that couldn't be more than a couple months old. Diana was sitting in a chair holding baby Alex, Bruce was standing proudly behind her, Dick stood on his right and little Helena was standing in front of Dick next to Diana. They all wore happy smiles, even Bruce, though his was more reserved than the others'.
.
Dick flopped down into one of the oversized chairs and Helena quickly climbed into his lap. Dick softly chuckled.
Alfred wasn't more than a minute behind the children, not even giving Helena time to get comfortable before luring her out of the family room to bake cookies. She wasn't old enough to understand her family's double life and thus needed to be distracted during the upcoming meeting.
Bruce and Diana appeared in the family room a couple of minutes after 10. Much to the Amazon's surprise, the couple was followed by two of the women from the photo on the mantle.
Diana quickly introduced Barbara Gordon and Zatanna Zatara to the Amazons and then Bruce got straight down to business.
Bruce and Diana stood directly in front of the fireplace and the other two women stood off to the side a little, seemingly waiting for their cue.
"While you are living here you will have to adopt a secret identity like Diana did." Bruce said firmly.
"Why?" Artemis demanded.
"So that no one can draw a connection between Diana and Wonder Woman through one of you." Bruce said sternly.
"Diana Wayne can have a family, Wonder Woman can't. Do you understand?" Diana added.
"No." Donna said confused.
Diana was the only one to catch Bruce's sigh.
"If Wonder Woman has a family, they become targets for her enemies." Dick said.
"Surely Ares and Strife are not fooled by this "secret identity"." Artemis argued.
"No," Diana admitted, "but I have other enemies, Cheetah, Dr. Psycho, and Giganta to name a few. They cannot know about my family." Diana said with Amazon determination in her eyes.
One look at Diana in that moment and the Amazons knew the Warrior Princess was still very much a part of who she was, despite her marriage.
"Ok," Mala said, "how do we do that?"
"Bruce is a master at coming up with identities and will provide all the necessary official documents and such that are needed. You just have to learn your part."
Artemis growled slightly.
"As for your physical disguise, Zatanna has been kind enough to provide a glamour charm, similar to the one I wear, for each of you." Diana replied.
"Magic?" Alexa asked, surprised. She had gotten the distinct impression Bruce wasn't a big fan of the supernatural.
Diana nodded.
Zatanna stepped forward. "These aren't quite as powerful as Diana's but should be more than adequate. Basically, they operate in two modes "Wonder Woman's friend" and "secret identity". To switch modes you simply need to think about it and touch the charm."
"I know this seems like a lot now but you'll get used to it." Diana reassured them.
"I've printed out a one page summary for each of your secret identities." Bruce said opening the manila folder he was carrying and pushing the conversation along.
"Donna." Bruce said getting the teen's attention. "You're Donna Prince, daughter of Polly Prince, father unknown. 15 years old, born on the island of Corfu in western Greece. Spending your summer holiday with your sister, Diana Wayne."
Bruce handed her the one-page summary that had more details and Zatanna clasped one of the necklaces around her neck.
"I don't feel any different." Donna said.
"The charm hasn't been activated yet." Zatanna replied. "And even once it is, the only difference you'll feel is the knowledge somewhere in the back of your mind of which mode you're in."
Donna nodded.
"Alexa." Bruce continued. "Alexa Prince, daughter of Ani Prince, father unknown. 24 years old, born in Alexandroupoli, a port city in eastern Greece. PhD student studying ancient Greek history, spending your summer with your cousins, Diana and Donna."
Bruce handed her the one-page summary and Zatanna clasped another one of the necklaces around her neck.
"Artemis." Bruce started again. "Phoebe Prince, daughter of Ani Prince…"
"Phoebe?" Artemis interrupted.
"Artemis is too uncommon. It draws attention." Bruce said evenly.
"And Phoebe is sometimes used as an epithet for the goddess Artemis." Alexa surmised.
Artemis growled; she didn't want to be Phoebe.
"Any other suggestions?" Diana asked the room.
There was a long pause before anyone spoke.
"How about Ariana?" Barbara suggested.
"Yeah," Dick said, "then you can be Ari for short and that could also be a nickname for Artemis."
Artemis grumbled.
"Can you make the necessary changes?" Diana asked her husband.
Bruce nodded reluctantly. He took a pen out of his pocket and crossed out Phoebe and wrote Ariana on the summary page.
"Ariana Prince, daughter of Ani Prince, father unknown. 28 years old, also born in Alexandroupoli. Adventurer spending the summer with your sister, Alexa, while she visits your cousins, Diana and Donna."
Bruce handed Artemis the summary and Zatanna clasped the third necklace around her neck while Bruce wrote on the back of the folder a reminder to change Phoebe to Ariana.
"Mala." Bruce said to the last of the Amazons to get her attention. "Malinda Young, orphan, parents unknown. 30 years old, born in New York City. Teacher spending your summer with your friend Diana and her visiting family."
Bruce handed her the summary and Zatanna clasped the last necklace around Mala's neck. Bruce then handed a page to Dick, Barbara, Diana and Zatanna that contained an even more condensed version of each bio.
"Wait so how does Mala know Diana?" Dick asked.
"Polly, Ani, and their daughters spent several summers vacationing in New York when Diana was a young teenager. She befriended Malinda, Mala for short, they have kept in touch ever since. The rest is history." Bruce replied simply. No need for complications.
"Right!" Dick said, remembering a frequently ignored piece of Diana's cover, her family was very wealthy. "Makes sense."
Barbara and Zatanna nodded.
"Those don't leave the room." Bruce said sternly while looking at the summary pages. "Memorize them and return them."
Barbara handed hers back immediately, eidetic memory.
"Zanna." Bruce waved at her to take up the meeting.
"Okay, now we need to activate the glamour charms." Zatanna said and produced her magic wand from thin air.
As the necklaces had already been prepped, all she had to do was save the two different looks for each one. She tapped one of the necklaces and said "Lamron" and repeated the process 3 more times.
"Now for the fun part." Zatanna said with a wide grin.
Dick rolled his eyes and Bruce wanted to.
"Who wants to be first?" Zatanna asked.
The Amazons exchanged glances and Artemis volunteered.
Diana and Barbara came to stand next to Zatanna and looked at the muscular redhead with an assessing eye. Dick shot out of the chair and dashed between the women for a second, snapped a picture of Artemis as Artemis with his Wayne Tech cell phone and then flopped back into the chair.
"Before and after shots?" Barbara asked with a raised eyebrow.
Dick nodded.
"Since Bruce made her an adventurer the build should be fine." Zatanna said.
The other two nodded in agreement.
"But the hair is way too long." Barbara noted.
"Lighten the eyebrows." Zatanna suggested.
"Freckles." Diana added.
The three women nodded.
Zatanna tapped her wand to the necklace again. The charm glimmered and she cast a spell in backwardspeak
"Hmmm. Not bad." Barbara said.
"It still needs something." Diana said.
"The high ponytail is a dead give away. How about a French braid?" Barbara proposed.
"hcnerF diarb riah." Zatanna said.
Dick tapped Diana on the shoulder and handed her his phone.
The trio looked from the phone to Artemis and smirked.
"That might work." Zatanna said. "Rorrim." And a mirror appeared in her hand and she showed Artemis the new look.
"What do you think?" Diana asked. "Ari?"
Artemis was startled at first but found she didn't mind the look and it was only temporary. "Fine."
"Evas." Zatanna said tapping the charm again with the wand and it glimmered again.
Dick jumped in between them again to take the after shot with his phone.
Barbara rolled her eyes at him.
Artemis turned to face her Amazon sisters, who had only been watching from the side. She was still Artemis just not obviously so.
While Artemis got nods of approval from her sisters, Diana looked at Bruce. He too gave a nod of approval and mouthed one word freckles. It was the seemingly permanent difference between the two identities that would sell it. Diana couldn't help but smile.
Zatanna had Artemis touch the charm and think Artemis and she changed back to normal. Then she had her test Ariana and Ari and when she was satisfied the charm was working properly they moved on to the next Amazon.
Alexa ended up with the same eyebrow color change and freckles as Artemis, as well as a long pixie cut, and rectangular silver glasses.
Mala ended up trading in her curly hair with bangs for a straight look with a side part that was still shoulder length and blonde, a tan, a beauty mark on her face, and a small tattoo at the small of her back.
Donna ended up with a treatment very similar to Diana's, her complexion became a little more olive, subtle dark chocolate and coffee highlights were added to her ebony locks, a pair of fashionable glasses made their way to her nose and her hair was released from its normal ponytail to cascade around her shoulders.
In the end, it only took about an hour and a half to transform all four women.
Bruce had left between the first two Amazons and was kept appraised of their progress via Dick's picture messages. When he saw they were done with the last of the Amazons he returned to the family room from the Batcave, where he had made the Phoebe/Artemis correction and printed ID for each of them.
"Now that that's done, time for phase two." Diana said.
"Phase two?" Mala asked.
"A new wardrobe." Barbara replied
The Amazons looked down at their clothes.
"Women's fashion is kind of a big deal here." Dick said from his spot in the chair.
"Traditional Amazon clothing kind of stands out here so we need to go shopping for some basics of Man's World." Diana explained.
Barbara and Zatanna nodded.
"Barbara will be taking Donna to the mall…" Bruce said, purposely trailed off.
"To replace her luggage that was lost by the airline." Barbara finished as expected.
Bruce handed her a credit card and Diana handed her a list Alfred had made earlier of the basics Donna would need for the summer.
Barbara knelt down to her backpack on the floor and pulled her small purse out. She slipped the card into her wallet and then pulled out a blue tank top and gray skirt out from the bottom of the backpack.
"Go put these on." She said tossing the clothes to Donna.
Donna looked at the clothes for a moment and then to Diana who nodded with a smile.
While Donna changed, Barbara looked over the list, she would have to add a couple things but it was a good start.
"Zatanna and I are taking the rest of you to the fashion district."
Diana provided Mala and Artemis with T-shirts and pants to change into and Zatanna provided a pair of shorts and a casual halter-top to Alexa since she was smaller than Diana.
"I have an appointment on the outskirts of town at four, so I might have to leave you a little early. But rest easy, Zatanna has our utmost confidence, in fact, she's Alexandria's godmother." Diana added.
After everyone had changed and Diana and Bruce had explained their interpretation of a godmother to the Amazons, the women were off. Leaving Bruce, Dick and Alfred with baby Alex and little Helena.
Not wanting to get roped into another game of Pretty Pretty Princess Dick had his phone out immediately. He quickly dialed a good friend and classmate at Gotham Academy who thus also had the day off from school. "Hey, it's Dick…"
When Bruce looked up from watching the last tendril of paper turn to ash from burning the summaries in the fireplace, he realized Dick was gone.
Helena skipped into the family room with a little chocolate smudged on the side of her mouth and her pigtails swinging back and forth.
"Daddy! Play Candyland with me? PLEASE." She begged.
"Kitten, I…" Bruce trailed off at the sight of Alfred's bat-butler-glare from the doorway. "Would love nothing more." Bruce finished, defeated.
"Yay!" Helena jumped up and down.
"I shall keep Miss Alexandria entertained in the kitchen until you leave for the parent-teacher conferences this afternoon."
"Where's Dick?" Bruce asked looking around.
"He departed a few minutes ago on the back of a motorcycle with a young woman." Alfred replied.
Bruce was surprised, more at the fact he hadn't noticed, than at what Dick had done. The Amazons were already distracting him.
This is the 3rd version official version of this chapter. Hopefully, it fixes the problems with the other two versions but still manages to keep what everyone liked from them. I also hope everyone likes the new chapter ending. :)
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