A/N: This is Act 2, please read Act 1 ( s/7083098/1/Justice-Lords-LIMITLESS-Act-1-ReBirth) if you haven't yet. If you use the app, and/or the link does not work, you can find Act 1 on my profile along with information regarding Justice Lords Limitless.

-Two Days Later-

Curtis walked up to the door of the Lee household. He raised his fist but paused just before knocking. This would be the first time he'd be meeting Goren Lee, police chief, and asking for his daughter to accompany him. He'd interacted many times with Mr. Lee as Robin, but this was scarier for some reason. Would the older man approve of him?

Feeling insecurity well up in him, he whipped out his phone and looked at his reflection as best he could in the dark screen. His hair was well-done and he'd done a pretty good job of reducing the swelling and bruising he'd suffered at the hands of Scarecrow and Ra's' goons. Heck, he looked hot if could be so bold. Then why did he feel afraid?

The door opened and Mr. Lee stood in the doorway, one hand on the knob and the other braced against the jam. He was in a long-sleeve button up that was partly messily tucked into brown slacks decorated with grey concrete scuffs about the knees. Just under his armpit sat his service pistol and by the way Lee stood, it was obvious that he wanted it to be seen.

"Kimber told me her new boyfriend was coming by," Goren started, "If you're her new boy toy, better speak up. I'm not a fan of weak men," Though his words were harsh, there was a level of levity in his voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sir," Curtis began. He put forth his hand, "I'm Curtis. Curt. Uh, we went to high school together and recently found each other,"

Goren accepted the offered hand and shook it warmly, "I remember you from some school functions. You always did good work with the tech stuff. Come in," He moved from the doorway and ushered the young African-American into his home, "Kim's in her room, I'll call her," he moved for the hallway that further led into the house, "I'll save you embarrassment and not tell her that you froze on the step," he added with a wink.

Curtis gave a nervous laugh and raised a hand in thanks.

"Kimber! You've got a guest!" Goren turned the corner to the inner parts of his house, leaving Curtis alone with his thoughts.

Goren looked tired. It was written all over his face. His bags had bags and no doubt some of those bags came not from late nights, but from crying. Curt wasn't sure if they were tears of joy or of sadness.

After Ra's defeat, the city went quiet. People remained in their homes for the better part of the next day. The city was just strangely still for the first time. Only civil servants went about fixing infrastructure and tending to the wounded. Other than the odd siren or barking dog, Gotham was actually silent.

Superman spearheaded relief efforts in Gotham in the wake of the Elder Things attack, while Wonder Woman led Queen Mera, Fate and Hawkman in a second purge of remaining Elder Things. While he was sure that not every monster in every dark corner had been expelled, he was confident that now that those 'fingers' had fully been severed from their plane, they wouldn't pose nearly as great a threat anymore.

"Curt?" Mr. Lee broke Curtis from his thoughts, "She'll be right out,"

Curtis nodded at Goren but said nothing.

"Just between you and me, Curt," Goren moved in closer to him, "She really likes you. A lot. And she went through a lot just figure that out for herself a few weeks ago. You're very special to her," He gave Curt a warning look, "Please don't break her heart,"

Curtis answered honestly, "I have no intention of doing so, sir,"

"Good. I know my girl can take care of herself... really... she can. But even so, the father in me, you know?" He clapped Curtis on the back a few times then paused, his hand on the man's shoulder. He gave Curtis a curious look, "You're more solid than you seem," he muttered.

Curtis felt his heart skip slightly, "WayneTech has a pretty good health plan," he replied, "I've taken advantage of the gym membership fully,"

"Ah," Goren cocked his mouth in a half smile, "Of course," Curt could tell that the seasoned officer was doing his best to sound convinced but obviously wasn't. He was relieved in more ways than one when his girlfriend rounded the corner.

She had a duffle bag sloppily slung over one shoulder and she immediately greeted Curtis by interlacing her fingers with his and giving him a peck on the cheek, "Hey, bud,"

Curtis blushed and his eyes darted to Mr. Lee, fearful of retribution. Instead, Kimber's father simply shook his head, "Just keep hands above the waist when you're around me. Please, for my sake," He gestured to the door, "Now, git! Y'all have that club meeting you're supposed to be at!"

The couple exited the house and Kimber smiled back to her dad, "Bye, Papa! See you later!"

"Be safe!"

Curtis opened his car door for Kimber and she slid in, placing her backpack on the back seats of Curtis' car. As she buckled in, Curtis got into the driver's side and started the engine, "He knows?"

"Yeah," Kimber's voice was low, "How could you tell?"

Curtis pulled the car away from the curb and started driving, "His eyes were puffy. He'd been crying. Said you could really take care of yourself. Sure you're a cop's daughter, the cop's daughter, but he seemed to very pointedly make clear that you would take care of problems and not him. Also, he clapped me on the back and felt around my shoulder, scoping out my size,"

"Well, gee," Kimber didn't seem the least bit concerned, "I guess you really will be the world's greatest detective?"

"Guessing you two had words?"

"Yeah… he's not a fan of it, but no doubt he has to admit that I'm doing what he couldn't," she chuckled to herself, "Have to admit it's funny. When I was younger, he always told me that he wanted me to go into law enforcement and I would say no, cuz I was seven and I wanted to be a princess,"

"Well, looks like you made both goals?"

"How do you figure?"

"Well, Batgirl's in law enforcement and you're my princess,"

"That's really corny, Curt," Kimber grinned back at her boyfriend and flicked his ear.

"Hey!" he gestured to the road, "I'm driving,"

"You're at a stoplight!" Kimber protested, "Besides, streets are still empty…"

"Or broken," Curt mentioned as he pointed out a massive pothole, "When do you think they'll fix the streets?"

"Well, you know city workers… nice and slow when it comes to budgeting street repairs unless it affects them,"

"Now that's a job for Superman,"

Bruce Wayne stood before the mirror in his master bedroom. He was doing his best to remember how to flash a Bruce Wayne smile. It'd been so long since he'd been out of the mansion as Wayne at a public function and not Batman that he'd almost forgotten that Bruce Wayne existed. But Bruce Wayne had his uses, and one of those uses was giving the Gotham public a face and bureaucrats a swift kick in the rear after tragedy.

Tomorrow he was to appear at a benefit hosted in Star City by Oliver Queen. Queen and his company were spearheading repairs in Star City and Wayne Enterprises was invited to bridge the divide between the two cities. Anything to help Gotham. He'd gotten in contact with Roland Daggett's assistant, some intern named Derek Powers, earlier in the morning to ensure that Wayne Enterprises alone wouldn't be undertaking restoration efforts.

"We should head down soon, Bruce," Diana's delicate yet powerful fingers fluttered over his neck and she gave him a look that stirred up his soul, "The League will be arriving soon and you wouldn't want to be late,"

He tried again to flash the smile he'd practiced for so many years but he found it couldn't be done.

Diana gave him a concerned, confused look, "What on earth are you doing with your face?"

"I'm trying to smile," he responded, then he gave it another shot.

"Well, you're doing a terrible job of it," Diana remarked. She gently patted both his cheeks with her hands in an effort to relax his facial muscles, "It's been that long since Bruce Wayne smiled for charity?"

"Appears so," Bruce answered.

"I have some photo references in my camera bag if you need them," Clark's voice came from the door jam and Bruce turned his head to his old friend, "Though I do have to admit this is wildly entertaining,"

Clark was leaning on the door jam, arms crossed and a wry smile on his face. His dress shirt was casually unbuttoned at the top two buttons and just peeks of bruising was apparent.

"How the hell did you get in here?" Bruce turned his attention back to the mirror.

"You let me spend the night last night… and the night before," Clark reminded him, looking over his glasses at Bruce, "You asked me that yesterday morning, too. Did you seriously forget again?"

"I was more hoping you'd forgotten," Bruce responded and tried his smile again.

Clark straightened from the doorway and entered the room with a reserved sigh, "Good morning to you, too, sunshine," He placed a hand on the dresser before the mirror and studied Bruce's awful expression, "Nuh uh, it was more like this," Clark spread his lips and revealed his pearly whites. They almost sparkled in the mirror.

Diana laughed at Clark's attempt to mimic the trademark Bruce Wayne smile, "Oh, heaven's no! That's too innocent. The smile always had a hint of debauchery. It's more like this," She gave her best effort as well to parody the smile, adding a sultry look in her eye as she smiled at herself in the mirror.

Bruce looked from Clark to Diana, unamused, "Hilarious. Can I focus?"

"We're trying to help you, Bruce," Clark replied, "You know, Ma always said that when you smile, you gotta include the eyes. See?" He smiled wider than usual, making a concerted effort to get his cheeks to crickle his eyes until he was squinting, looking more like a 1940s pulp character than anything else.

"I-"

"I spoke at length with Narcissus before he… well, he said the secret to a winning smile was to feel like a winner deep down and make sure all your teeth are visible. He recommended this exercise," Diana smiled before the mirror and pulled at her lips with her hands resulting in a very comical face.

Clark immediately began laughing while Bruce only regarded the juvenile facial expression with disdain, "Seriously?" Bruce leaned away from Diana and straightened his tie, "I have to get this right," he tried again and this time it seemed a bit more familiar.

A buzzing in Clark's pocket distracted the trio and he fished his phone from his pocket, "Oh, it's Lois again. I have to take this," He removed himself from the room as he flicked open his phone, "Lois! Hey, how-how are you?" His stuttering Clark Kent guise quickly overtook the natural confidence of Superman as he spoke with his former romantic partner.

After the two heroes were sure their friend was well out of earshot, they looked back to the mirror and Diana asked the question Bruce knew was plaguing her mind, "So… do you trust him now?"

Bruce looked into his reflection and let his face relax back into Batman, "Enough. I've fought him and now I know I can beat him. More importantly, he knows I can beat him,"

"Even without the ring?"

"Especially without the ring,"

"So things go back to the way they were?"

"No: better than the way they were," Bruce twisted his neck to release a crick and then continued, "With J'onn out of the way for now and Stewart off-planet,"

"You really believe that J'onn was behind the Justice Lords?"

"No," Bruce responded, "That was all on us. But he fed it and clouded decisions to further his own twisted way of keeping the Earth safe. Do you ever wonder why I so quickly questioned what we did and why you all did not?"

"At times,"
"While the rest of you were watching over Earth from above in the Watchtower, I was underground, in my cave. You all were in close proximity with J'onn's passive mental suggestions. I was not. But my thoughts were still cloudy on the matter. When I found that world, that alternate Earth, I knew it would be the one chance to put our methods under a microscope and up to scrutiny. I had to speak with that version of me,"

"So J'onn was right," Diana said, "You brought them over to defeat us,"

"No. I brought them over to see which was better. After speaking with that world's Batman, I knew I had my answer: we were wrong. But as long as J'onn was there, he was clouding our minds,"

"He's still out there, Bruce,"

"And when he shows his face, we will handle him. But for now, Clark is Clark. That's how he's always been and that's how he'll always be," He tried his smile again but something still felt off.

Diana smiled, "Always seeing the best in others, aren't you?"

"I try,"

"And what of Azra'il? I saw what you did to him. Crashing the Batplane into him,"

"He survived. His body was missing from the wreckage of the plane. I don't know where he is and frankly, I don't care. When he resurfaces, we'll be ready. But as for now, life moves on and we have to accept that not every battle is tied up neatly. The mission goes on,"

She stood up, "I'm going to descend and wait for you. By the way, your smile," she reached out and squeezed his rear, "just needed some help,"
At the sudden provocative contact, Bruce stiffened up and jumped forward. After he regained a modicum of composure, he looked to Diana.

She winked, "I learned that from Princess Audrey,"

Bruce shook his head in disbelief that the Kasnian princess had left Diana with such a memory but found himself smiling. He looked at himself in the mirror, impressed. There it is.

Wonder Woman was the first in the BatCave. The cave itself was a mess. Digital tablets were strewn about in no particular order and some pieces of armor as well as uniforms were discarded on the floor. The usually clear large console of the Batcomputer was littered with energy bar wrappers and half finished bottles of nutrition shakes.

She approached a very small alcove where she'd stored her weapons the day before after slaying the remnants of the Elder Thing horde. She was sure that she hadn't beaten them all, but she had beaten enough. Enough.

Wonder Woman picked up her sword and inspected the enchanted blade's dirty edge. She'd been so weary from the past two days events that she hadn't taken the time to clean the blade nor her shield. How careless. What good is a blade if it is dirty? She had to prepare for war; after all isn't that what you are supposed to do in times of peace?

She picked up her shield and flew to the harbor waters, then brought a basin and simple rag. As she dipped the basin in the waters of Gotham harbor, a head poked out of the water.

"Hey Di'," Mereena's head barely stuck out over the surface, "Is it time?"

Wonder Woman smiled, "You know as well as I that the meeting isn't for another fifteen minutes,"

"Oh, yeah..." the Atlantean heir swam to the dock and propped herself up on her elbows, "Crazy few days, huh?"

Wonder Woman nodded, "Indeed, little sister," She began to steadily scrub the blade of her weapon with the rag, cleaning the dried otherworldly blood from her blade, "How are things below?"

"They go," Mereena replied simply, "Mother's doing a great job of organizing Atlantis and restructuring the government in the wake of… the king's passing,"

"Will you get a new king?"

Mereena remained quiet for a bit, "We will. When I marry and take the throne,"

"And if you don't marry?"

Mereena looked to Wonder Woman, "Di', the solitary warrior thing is cool and all, but I'm talking about running and ruling a kingdom. No one person can tackle that alone. Besides… I would like to get married one day and have children," she gained a smile that seemed to Wonder Woman almost a bubble, "I think I'd be a good mother,"

Wonder Woman finished scrubbing the blade and reached over to tussle the wet hair of the aquagirl, "The best," she said.

Mereena watched her friend pick up the shield and begin scrubbing it with the rag. After a few minutes of silence, she asked, "What about you an' Batman? When will you two get married and have awesome crime-fighting babies?"

It was a simple and innocent question but it caught Wonder Woman unprepared. She did her best to not stutter but was unsuccessful, "I, uh, what do you-Uh, I think- We proba- what do you mean?"

If Mereena caught the uneasiness in the Amazonian's words, she didn't care, "You. Batman. Babies. When?"

"That's what I thought you said," Wonder Woman resumed cleaning the grime from her shield, "Never,"

"Oh, what?" Mereena pushed away from the dock in shock, "But you two are so cute together!"

"Who's so cute together?" Superman's voice floated down from the upper entryway of the cave.

Wonder Woman threw a look to Mereena, warning her to not encourage the Man of Steel. But Mereena just grinned mischievously, "Di' and the Bat!"

Superman touched down next to Wonder Woman, "You and Batman? I thought you were already together?"

"Clark!" Wonder Woman let out Superman's name despite herself.

"What?"

"They're already together? Like a couple? Romantically?" Mereena almost squeed, "So it could be possible? Superpowered ninja babies in the future?"

Superman caught the horrified expression on Wonder Woman's face and sympathized, "Well, no actually,"

"Why not?" Mereena's voice dropped low, "Is it, like… a biological problem, Di'? You're not exactly human… Do things not… work down there-"

"Mereena!" Wonder Woman's nostrils flared and Superman had to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder to hold her back.

"No, that's not it at all. If Batman and Wonder Woman had kids, they would be the most disciplined crime-fighters the world would ever see and there'd be no more crime for the police to stop," Superman explained simply, "Precincts would shut down, jobs would be lost and entire economies may collapse!"

"Oh my gosh," The teen in the water looked at Superman with wide-eyed child-like innocence.

"But more than that, there'd be no crime for Batman to fight,"
"Gosh, I didn't think of it that way," Mereena muttered, "But wait, wouldn't Batman get old anyway and die?"

The question hit Wonder Woman like a Herculean fist. Again the mortality of the man she loved was raised and the problem of her selfishness for his life reared its ugly head.

Superman chuckled, "That man is too stubborn to die. He'll only go out on his own terms,"

"I'm glad you think so favorably of me," A flat, lifeless voice came from behind the two heroes and Mereena had to crane her neck to catch a glimpse of the speaker. His ears reached up in the air and his white eyes, in contrast to his darkened face, stabbed into her own.

"Batman!" She plunged back beneath the waves.

Superman and Wonder Woman looked to their teammate. One smiled; the other blushed.

"You figured out your smile?" Superman teased.

Batman nodded, "They will be here soon. So let's get ready to greet them,"