Nightwing and Barbara set on their royal mattress in the palace of New Tamaran and turned on the alien device that Superman had given them. From it projected a hologram of their old mentor.
"Hello, Robin. Hello, Barbara. If you're watching this, it means that I wasn't able to return. I don't have much time, so let me get to the one thing I want to say to the both of you – I'm sorry.
"Robin, when I took you in, you had gone through the same grief that sent me down the path I took through life. A path of never-ending loss of blood, sweat, and tears, which wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't also a path of loneliness. When I saw your family perform that day, I thought I had been doing a good job of making a world where no child would be made an orphan, but I was instantly proven wrong. I know you always thought that I took you in because I could relate to your pain, but that was only half of it. I took you in because I didn't want you to go down the path I took. I wanted to help you do what I never could – to move past the pain and lead a normal life.
"But you were too smart for me. You found the Batcave, and begged me to fight by your side. You found that the life of a young hero was not as glorious as it was, but you didn't care. You kept pushing yourself to be stronger, to be faster, to be smarter – to be more like me. But there was one part of me you never liked – my manipulative side. So, I pushed that up to its extreme: pitting criminals against one another, controlling your schedule down to every second of the day, putting enhancement drugs in your food..."
"Wait, he did what?" asked a stunned Barbara.
"Yeah, he put some experimental nth-metal powder in my orange juice for breakfast that would enhance the strength of my muscles and bones while accelerating my coagulation rate. I guess he did it to make it harder for the hero life to kill me."
"Actually, I did it so you could make love to Kara without her breaking half your skeleton again."
Dick and Babs both starred at the hologram in shock.
"Yes, it only lasted four-five months, but you still made a cute couple.
"Anyways, I made myself a broken pedestal in your eyes to drive you away. And it worked. You left Gotham, found a new city to make a name for yourself, and even got yourself a team that consisted of a cyborg and beast boy whom I may have encouraged to go there too."
Nightwing's eyes widened even more.
"You found yourself a team of friends that smoothened out the rough edges I had given to you. You became the leader that new heroes need to look up to. But most of all, you proved that you were better than me when you found the two things I never could – true love, and a happy ever after.
"And then … he took it all from you."
There was a pause as they all knew what he was referring to – Joker's attack on Robin and Starfire's wedding.
"It's bad enough what he did to you, Barbara. You were special, and not because you're the smartest woman on Earth. You became a hero because you wanted to help people, not to avenge ghost parents. You such joy and optimism in the role, the likes of which I've only ever also seen from Clark and Kara, and not even the worst streets of Gotham could take that away from you. But if there was one thing you didn't like, it was how grim I was, and how grim Robin was becoming. We could always trust you to put a smile on our faces. It was that same trust that made you so easy to manipulate."
"Yeah, I thought so," responded Barbara.
"You have a marvelous brain, and I wanted to show you how use it to become a puppet master like myself. I regret this being a factor that drove you and Robin apart, but your mind was a great key to bringing down crime in Gotham, and possibly everywhere else. But then you had one bad day. Not only did you lose your mind, you lost your smile. While you may never walk again, I fear something worse, namely that may never hope again.
"I should have killed the clown that day, but your father insisted I bring him in by the book, so I did. But today, he broke you, Robin. So, I screwed the book. And now I'm here. I haven't told anyone else in the League, since they'd all just give me advice that I'd ignore. I don't regret what I did, but I don't want to compromise my beliefs, either. Only thing will bring my mind peace, and I'd might as well make it epic.
"So, Robin and Barbara, I hope that by the time you watch this, you've conquered your demons instead of embracing them. I'm sorry, Robin, for not being able to stop you from turning into me. I'm sorry, Barbara, for turning you into me. I'm sorry for being a failure."
With that, the hologram went back into the alien device. Robin curled his fingers around it as he held back tears while Barbara hugged him for comfort.
"But you weren't, Bruce. You were the best."
/
The wedding between Donna Troy and Roy Harper went perfectly. It was all the more perfect that Diana was able to attend and do all the traditions as mother of the bride. Raven and Beast Boy attended as well, making the most of the last moments with their friends.
Near the end of the reception, Diana and Donna took a moment to step outside.
"So, Donna, do you feel that you're ready for motherhood?"
"Yes, mother, definitely."
"Make sure you aren't taking this lightly."
"I'm not. We've already sorted things out with Roy. The adoption agency will have his daughter ready after our honeymoon.'
"And you're ready to take care of her?"
"Yes. There is no higher honor for an Amazon than motherhood."
"Then you won't mind having the baby you've been carrying?"
"I'm not only ready, I want to finally have him or her more than anything?"
"Very well." Diana placed her hand over her daughter's stomach and gave a light zap.
"The time stasis is over. Your child will now continue growing normally, and I hope you raise him or her to be anything but normal. Oh, and one more thing."
Diana took of her tiara and placed atop an invisible surface, revealing a set of her armor remade to fit her daughter.
"No more Wonder Girl; you're Wonder Woman. And you'll make a fine one too."
Donna and Diana hugged and kissed in happiness, then once again in sadness as they realized it would be there last meeting.
"Will I ever see you again, mother?"
"When it is necessary. But for now, I need to go see my own mother."
"Hippolyta?"
"No, Athena."
"Oh, right. Goodbye, mother! I love you!"
"I love you, too!"
They hugged one final time before Diana joined Raven and Beast Boy as they left for the realm being the mortal reality.
