So, I started this a few years ago and was never satisfied with it until some time this year. All recognizable characters belong to DC comics, but I do claim rights to the characters I have created.
I'm pulling the "busy college student" card as well as the "two jobs and a summer course" card to say that chapters will probably come out once a week. Fingers crossed. I'll do my best.
This is more of a prologue that provides most of the back story. The action will pick up in the next few chapters. Let me know what you think, thanks for reading.
Comparative Childhoods
Okay, so I didn't have the most interesting childhood in the history of the planet, but I came pretty damn close. I'd like to think that I'm on the top ten list; not like any one has ever kept track. Most of the aliens who grew up here have me beat, though I'm completely human so we shouldn't really be in the same playing field anyway. All of them are much older than me, too, so there's a time factor there that alters the comparison. As for my generation, I think I'm definitely near the top. Then again, when your mother is Catwoman, your father is Batman, and your step-mother is Wonder Woman, what more can you expect?
See, from what information there is—which isn't much by the way—my mom left my dad with little explanation when she found out she was pregnant with me. This was before he really started working with the Justice League, so Mom was pretty much out of the picture when Dad started dating Diana. But that's a little farther in the story. I can even understand Mom's reasons; she wanted me to be safe and as the daughter of Bruce Wayne and Batman, safety is an impossible dream. So Mom went away and raised me as best she could.
So maybe the insanity started then, I'm not sure. I grew up with a single mom who adored me every minute of my life, but there was a degree of oddness even after Mom gave up her nightly activities. From what I can tell, she still met up with some old connections like Barbara Gordon occasionally and she worked as a waitress at a bar. I was the darling of the entire building and trust me, you get quite an education when you're three years old and learning the best way to get away from drunken men and how to pick locks.
Then came the thing that aged me beyond my years; driving home one night when I was five years old, we were hit dead on by a drunk driver. I survived in the back seat, Mom didn't. I woke up in the hospital and demanded to see my mother only to find out that she was gone. Mom's co-worker, an elderly lady who was like my grand-mother of sorts, took me in until Mom's will was read. I had no idea what was going on in the slightest. The only thing I knew was that life wouldn't ever be the same and I didn't even know what changes would come. The next thing I know, a man in a suit comes to me and tells me that my mom wanted me to go live with him. I learned that his name was Bruce Wayne and that he was my father. I wasn't really sure how I felt about fathers at that time in my life since I had never known one and didn't really see the need for one. Mom had given me all the love I needed or wanted and I knew even then that that would never disappear with her death.
But my opinion wasn't counted at all since the law was the law so off to stately Wayne Manor I went. Looking back on it, I can appreciate that my dad was panicking, bringing a little girl to live with him. I believe whole-heartedly that if it wasn't for Alfred, one of us would have gone mad and my money's on dear old Dad. Thank God for Alfred, or rather, thank Alfred since he pretty much was God in that house. He always knew the right thing to say or do no matter what. He was the only one who could get away with berating Dad for not remembering that I was only a little girl and he always knew when I needed to be hugged or left alone to pout and then cheered up with a cup of hot chocolate.
But between business functions and nightly activities, somehow, they would lose track of me on several occasions. So, naturally, I found the cave. With that revelation, I figured out the rest of the Bat Clan's identities. Dick, my adoptive brother, was Nightwing and Robin before that since he was the only one who had known my father long enough and was the right age. The rest were just as easy to put together, except Barbara Gordon. Then I overheard quite a few conversations that I shouldn't have where the name "Oracle" kept on coming up. Then it was easier. Dad finally caught me eavesdropping and asked me how much I knew. I was too young to know to lie a little bit, but it was worth it to see the look of shock on his face when he learned how much he had let slip. Technically, I was grounded for a month, but Dad caved after one and a half weeks.
Over the next few years, I learned more about the super-hero community than any one would have felt comfortable with had they been given a choice. I was thrilled. I also found out that my dad's current girlfriend, Diana Prince, was Wonder Woman which helped a few things fall into place. I learned how my dad's friend reporter, Clark Kent in Metropolis got such great information about Superman and the Justice League since he was Superman.
Life took more interesting turns when Dad realized that he and I needed more bonding time which was perhaps one of the few areas where he holds little skill. According to family legend, Dick angrily told him that he couldn't treat me like a side-kick and bond over punching bags and defense drills. I believe that the next day, Dad took me into the Cave and began to teach me how to fight like he did. I was ecstatic. When I was fifteen, if I was in the 'zone', I could land a few hits on him. He would always give me a hug afterwards, and then teach me different ways I could have done the move sooner, faster, or stronger for next time. It came in handy too. Mom was right to worry about me being Bruce Wayne's daughter since the temptation for ransom money was very pleasing to some people who thought that kidnapping me would be a walk in the park. I showed them the errors of their ways.
During this time, Clark and Lois had their first children. I knew them as well as anyone since along with Barbara and Dick they were often my baby-sitters when Dad had a function he needed Alfred for. I was no longer the only child from that group of heroes and no longer the youngest. They had twins, named Nathan and Lara when I was seven years old. However, I also started to long for some siblings of my own, typical of an only child. Lucky for me, Dad finally proposed to Diana and they were married with me as the flower girl. When I was nine, my wish came true when Penelope was born. For a split second, I was jealous of her since she was the daughter who looked like part of the family with dark hair and her mother's eyes while I was blond with my mother's eyes which were green. Like I said, it was a split second before Dad let me hold her and told me that I would have to make sure that he didn't make all the mistakes on her that he did on me. I should have argued with him, and Diana would have, but she didn't know about the times Dad would accidentally swear in front of me until I could curse with the most hardened of criminals in Gotham at the ripe age of nine. Of course, neither of them really remembered my time spent in that bar before I was in pre-school.
It became clear within a few years that these children would have to be told a few things early on. It all started when a four year old Nate suddenly set his teddy bear on fire with his eyes. After that, Lara was found floating in her crib during one of her naps. Luckily, Clark and Lois were expecting something of the sort considering the twins' DNA. The Kryptonian genes seemed to split fairly evenly between the two, probably due to their human halves. On the other side of the equation, Penny inherited all of her mother's abilities save none. We also heard from another of Dad and Diana's associates named Wally West—the Flash—that his own kids were starting to demonstrate odd behavior. His son, Barry who was the same age as the twins, had taken to running around their house at a toddler's version of superspeed whenever it was bath-time. His year old daughter Donna (a year younger than Penny) could crawl on the floor faster than his normal wife, Linda, could run. In order to handle this problem, the parents decided to semi-quarantine their kids until they were old enough to control their powers. By the time they reached kindergarten age, all of them could hide their abilities with the help of their parents.
When Penny was three, Diana became pregnant again and this time had a son, something that shocked the entire super hero community. I was surprised myself; I didn't think that an Amazon princess could even have sons, but go figure. He was the spitting image of Dad and despite no developing powers, still kept me, Dad, and Diana busy. At the same time, two more Justice League members had their first child: Jon Stewart and Shayera Hol had a little boy named Michael who became the best friend of Tommy, my little brother. Wally and Linda had another boy named Jeffrey and then Shayera gave birth to a girl, Gabrielle. In nine short years, I went from being the single one of my generation to being the oldest of ten children, of whom at least eight showed promise of super powers.
Now, in the present time, I am seventeen years old with an eight year old sister and a five year old brother. Penny is starting to give me trouble in arm wrestling contests, but Tommy has not yet displayed any signs of super activity. The Kent twins each have their own sets of powers, clearly defined but not wholly developed, just like Barry and Donna West. According to Shayera, Michael's wings are due to start growing in within a few years and the youngest two of the group, Jeffrey and Gabrielle, are too young for anything odd. And then there's me; simple, human me with no powers whatsoever. Of course I can handle this. Right?