Twenty-odd years ago….
It had been over five hours and he was still fuming, especially after the delay at the airport. The weather, despite being pleasant all week or at least that is what it appeared to be outside the glass of his windows, had made a turn for the worse and the moment he stepped out of the manor it down poured in the city. Apparently a record breaking one at that. Needless to say he was not amused by the irony of it being his first time out in months and it beginning to rain.
Before the rain though, there had been Alfred a couple days ago once again nagging about how he never left. Bruce had countered that at least he took walks around the gardens, Alfred was unmoved by the statement. Why bother leaving when one just ended right back where they started? It made sense to him but again Alfred was reluctant to answer in the positive for the situation the Bruce had put them in.
It had been two years since he had bothered to show his face in Gotham and in the office. Four since he had been to social or charitable function. Seven since the real Batman had been confirmed as sighted on the premises of the old warehouse building where he had lost everything that he held out on. There were a couple excursions as the cape crusader at least three more times before he retired the suit and gave up a suitable potential for living. He had not kissed a woman since Rachel and had not bothered to pursue anyone. All the business handling were done by Fox and the board, all of whom he had hand selected himself except for one recently acquired member. Honestly, nothing had breathed life back into him and he was not looking for someone or something to do so. It wasn't worth it and probably never had been in the first place.
Then, he got a wind of a small town with a rather interesting problem. Perhaps a problem was not the correct way to look at it but nonetheless the secret that he had been trying to keep a secret for eight years had revealed itself. Really it was more of a breath on a wind in most circles and others did not even care, but he did. He knew what people were capable of and he was not willing to risk it, or rather him.
With the window of his rental car down he could feel the afternoon breeze come swiftly into the vehicle and then out again. The country air was fresh, clean, a little too fertilized at times but it was pleasant not to see concrete and buildings. When he had stopped in town for a quick coffee, they were friendly, kind, and did not have the rushed attitude that he was used to, even though his manner was gruff and short, the woman that handed him his coffee did not bat an eyelash and smiled at him anyway, perhaps used to the city people passing through by now. He felt that he had to return it even for a fleeting moment. Quietly he enjoyed the kindly manner of these people of Smallville as they waved goodbye to him from the window.
Perhaps in his next life he could be born in something like this, quiet, unassuming, simple.
A perfect environment for a child to grow up in, particularly a child with powers to rival the Greek pantheon of gods he had once studied.
This time, it was not a myth, the boy was real and one day that boy would become a man. A man with the power to, if he so chose, to rule over mankind. Bruce had made a study of the boy, looked at his cell structure and the pattern of his growth spurts. In addition, he had recorded all the possible outcomes of the powers that the child would have. Now that this country boy was growing older and people were bound to notice, one in particular that Bruce was highly concerned about.
He had not visited this place in a long time and as he drove closer to his destination, he took in the stillness of the environment. Then he saw the husband moving into the house with bags of food in his hand, while the wife tredded back to the truck for a couple more bags.
Driving up the driveway, the gravel below the car caught the attention of the woman and she looked up with a smile to see who it was. Catching her eye, Bruce noticed a moment of a startled glance before easing back into the smile then, as a common trait in these parts, a wave. He did not blame her hesitation and to make her feel a bit more at ease, Bruce waved back. Opening the car door, he saw that the house door also opened and out came the husband. His disposition was not as friendly. Again, Bruce was not at all surprised by the initial reception.
"Mr. Wayne." The woman came forward with two bags in her hand. "Welcome back."
"Thank you." Bruce smiled then offered. "Here let me help you..."
"Oh that's alright." She eyed the cane that he leaned on. "They aren't that heavy" Turning back to her husband. "Jonathan! Go on and get the rest of those bags, then set up some ice tea for Mr. Wayne!" Looking back at Bruce she questioned. "You like ice tea don't you?"
"I'd love some." He assured her and followed her back towards the house. "Thank you, Mrs. Kent."
"Martha, please." Her smile was infectious and Bruce was quietly reminded of his own mother. Strong, sometimes bossy, but overall a loving and caring woman.
"Mr. Wayne." Jonathan nodded, holding out his more open hand. "Nice to see you again."
"Is it?" Bruce challenged and saw that the older man's eyes wrinkled in appreciation at the understanding the formalities.
"I guess you want to discuss Clark?" He questioned.
"Just about the incident Mr. Kent." Not wanting to make enemies of these people, Bruce stuck with his less playboy and business tone and stuck with a more cordial one.
"I figured you'd hear about it." Jonathan tried to put on a good face as they walked into the house. The two men stopped briefly. "What are they planning on doing?"
"No one knows." Seeing that Martha had also stopped, Bruce wanted to stay positive about this but was finding it very hard. "I made sure of that."
"We almost had a run in with a couple men from the government." Martha admitted and Jonathan gave her a sharp look. "But they couldn't locate what Clark had done."
"I suppose we have you to thank for that." Jonathan grumbled, pushing his way further into the house and Martha was there in time to catch the door before it had captured Bruce. Bruce gave her a smile of thanks.
"He'll be safe." Bruce told them.
"And from others?" Protective of the boy, Bruce completely approved of that. "If they're like you and..."
"There aren't others like me." He cut him off. This was going to be more difficult than he thought. "If there are. I have other plans."
"Really?"
"Yes." Not bothering to go further into detail, Bruce took the seat that he was offered by Martha and decided that it was time to stop playing around. "But first we have to discuss today."
Around 18 years ago…
"When you said you wanted to see the water," Selina huffed beside her significant other, "I thought you actually wanted to go to the beach, not hike the whole damn island."
Decidedly ignoring, Bruce looked down at his daughter for a moment in the baby carrier that he had strapped to his chest as Selina had protested him doing so, noticing that she was staring up at him with bright hazel eyes. She seemed to be the only one enjoying the actual scenery. Stopping for a moment not only catch his breath but also to see exactly where they were.
"You think you can carry me around in that?" A year ago this hike would not have nearly as bad.
However, physically having a child really put things into perspective, one that Selina was not too keen on. It was more of the middle of the night feedings and the waking up bright and early that Selina was not really used to rather than her physical state. She had worked herself out, trying to get her body back into the shape that it had been in but even then there were new marks, new curves that she had to get used to. Yet, she did not have an issue telling dear ol' Bruce how hard of a time she was having and it was not as if he was in the best of shape either. Having said that, he also did not mind showing her how much he didn't care about the curves or his physical state.
"We need to get that boat." Nodding over to the shipyard, he could feel Selina's questioning glance. "What?"
"Nothing." She shrugged, taking the lead.
"You're thinking something." He pushed her, following her. "You're mad."
"I'm not mad." In a tone that told him otherwise, Bruce sighed heavily and she relented a bit before they got to the shipyard. "I'm intrigued and perplexed. And I feel like there's a reason you've been reading all those Greek mythology books and why you wanted to come all the way here, with a baby."
"Selina..."
"Oh don't tell me." She threw the words over her shoulder, walking to the docks and bypassing the station at the beginning. "It'll be fun."
As she picked one of the nicer boats out with a cabin underneath, a very angry Greek man accosted Bruce. The man began to speak in a very fast pace dialect that Bruce was familiar with but not fluent, so he interrupted him in modern Greek to make up for it. Apparently Bruce had offended the man and Helena began to whimper and moan as the man droned on. Finally after about ten minutes of this, Selina walked up to the threesome and apologize profusely in English. The man let up seeing that they were a family and taking Selina's excuses as she executed them perfectly.
Both impressed and slightly disheartened by the performance, Bruce was finally allowed to pay the dock owner only twenty Euro after Selina insisted they pay for the misunderstanding. The owner had been more than compliant when she had arrived, explaining that they were celebrating their anniversary and that Helena just absolutely loved the water and boats, which luckily proved to be true because as soon as they were allowed on the boat, Helena stopped her unhappy whimpering and it turned into a squeal of delight with the word boat to make a show of it.
Bruce decided that it was indeed a safe vessel and put the child down on the carpeted floor of the boat as Selina bid the owner farewell. He started up of the boat when she jumped down, Helena went straight over to her mother, climbing on her leg before Selina picked her up and slung a free arm over Bruce's shoulder, giving him a quick peck.
"What would you do without me?" She smiled.
"Probably still be fighting with that man." He answered truthfully.
"Ugh!" Helena called out in her mother's arms as she saw the bubbles from the back of the boat rise up as they began to steer into the seemingly open waters.
"I hope you know where you're going." Eyeing the open sea, Selina was not exactly the biggest fan of the water, or rather, dying of starvation without a landmass in sight.
"You'll see it first." He assured her.
"You need glasses." She smirked.
"That's not it." Bruce quickly stated and she gave him an interested look. "It's not exactly... in the periphery for men."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning," Knowing how ridiculous he was about to sound, Bruce sighed, "men cannot see the island unless they are allowed on it."
"Have you been drinking ouzo again?"
"Selina." He chided.
"You just told me that we're going to an island that only women can see." Her brows narrowed. "What else am I supposed to think?"
"I haven't been drinking." Answering dismissively, Bruce began to explain. "Have you heard of the Amazons?"
"I take it we're talking about the Greek Amazons and not the people who inhabit the rain-forest in South America." Still curious as to what Bruce was up to, she played along.
He nodded and continued. "It was described in ancient texts that they were bested by the Greeks, defeated, disappearing completely from the ancient world. However, there's evidence that this world exists."
"How so?"
"An ancient papyrus was found not to long ago on the Rome by Dr. Helena Sansmark." Bruce kept an eye out for the island that he supposedly could not see but he hoped that for once that his communications had gotten through to them. Another hope was for them to welcome them a bit more openly but for a race of women that had prepared mostly for war all their lives and over the last two millennia, he wasn't holding out for that. "It had an account from Polybius, an ancient Roman historian that wrote about the rise of Rome. The papyrus stated that while trying conquer the other parts of the known world, Roman women would often see an island in the distance where the men thought they were just imagining things because they would have been at sea for days, sometimes weeks on end."
"This isn't making me feel better." They were now speeding through the water and Selina held to a wiggling baby Helena.
"One day," continuing the story, Bruce did not see a reason to stop, "a wife of the Roman emperor at the time fell overboard. They had searched for her but gave up, reporting her death. When they crossed back, she was in large boat, completely run by women. Giving the woman back, the general demanded to know the names of the women but seeing their statures and that they only spoke ancient Greek, the general could only get the name Themyscira as where they had come from."
"And they searched for the island?" She guessed.
"Yes." He nodded. "But only with men."
"So you're bringing us along to actually find the island?" Selina questioned.
"I had tried contacting them but never got a response." Bruce informed.
"Typical women." She smiled and he had to give into her little joke. "Why is it so important for you to do this?"
"Remember how I told you about that boy?"
"The one that could lift a bus?"
"Yeah." Still no sign of the island and they should be getting close. "Someone is trying to hoard both him and these women to do their bidding."
"The League?" Her grip on her daughter tightened unconsciously.
"I'm not sure yet." He sighed. "But I know that whoever it is, is not the type of person that should be supporting these people."
"Of course not." She rolled her eyes.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that you like everything to be under your control because you're paranoid about everything." Some may have had second thoughts about speaking to Bruce Wayne like that but not Selina. She had spent over two years with this man. Fighting alongside and against him in more than one incarnation. "And no, I don't blame you. Besides, I trust you."
"You trust me?" Although she usually was not one to give into sweet nothings, Bruce took what he could get and gave her a lopsided smile.
"Well, more you than some others." She amended and then affectionately bumped him with her shoulder. There was a moment between them and then something caught Selina's eye and she looked straight ahead. "Bruce! Slow down!"
So this is the preview to what I was talking about in The Hunt. Depending on your reactions I will finish what I have started for the idea for this story which would be integrated with Man of Steel and have Wonder Woman in it as well. That's right a Trinity/JL story.
I'm testing it out here because I want to know if people would actually read it or not. What I'm asking is if you are in fact interested in seeing Hunt continue with a Trinity tie in please let me know via PM or review. If you don't want it to then PM me or review and simply say that you either liked or didn't like Hunt and place Peanut Butter at the end of the review or PM. So if you DON'T want a Trinity/JL story Peanut Butter is your word. If you DO want the story hoot/holler or just say Trinity at the end of your review or PM.
As you can also tell I'm in desperate need of a beta so if anyone is up for the task, then feel free to let me know. I haven't had one in a VERY long time so I assume the way you go about it hasn't really changed.
If the story does come out look for it in the middle to the end of September. As of right now I am very uncertain if this is going to continue but I would be excited to keep going because I feel like it could be fun. But tis life. Again, I hoped you enjoyed the story regardless of the outcome of the preview.
-EV