So... I struggled with this chapter a lot. I had tried multiple times to start it out a certain way, but it just didn't... work. Unfortunately, it took me weeks to realize that. So I tried an entirely different approach. That, and school, is what took so long and I'm so sorry. Please enjoy!
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Diana had selected a small outdoor cafe for their lunch endeavor. The food was delicious, and the iced mochas were- as Kara would say- 'to die for.' She sipped her beverage happily as she talked animatedly with Shayera. "I came here with Wally once," she recounted, an amused grin tugging at her lips. "He tried flirting with the waitress."
Shayera snorted. "Did she shoot him down?" she guessed. That seemed to be the norm with the other redhead.
"Brutally," commented Diana, shaking her head. "I don't know why he's so insistent on switching women so often." Wally was such a loveable young man. She knew that someone would love him for who he was. Unfortunately, he would never find her if he continued to resist the idea of settling down. She directed her attention to her daughter, who hadn't said much. "Does your Flash act similarly?"
She hadn't seen much of the second Flash. In actuality, she hadn't seen the other Justice League often. Then again, that may have been because she was so focused on Lily. She hoped that Kal had gotten around to talking to his son. Her heart hurt at the thought of her best friend having a strained relationship with his son.
Lily looked up from the crepe she had barely touched. "Um, Barry's pretty shy," she revealed softly, offering a small smile. "When we were younger, I was like his wing-woman. Usually, he couldn't go through with it, so I would try to put a good word in for him."
Diana wasn't sure how anyone with the last name West could be shy. "Did it work?"
She sighed. "No," she answered. She seemed almost sad. "The girls would either think that I liked him or just look at me like I had two heads." Her smile returned. "But then we'd go stuff our faces with sugar, and he would feel better."
Diana couldn't stop herself. "So you two never-?"
Lily tilted her head in confusion. "Never what?" Her cheeks turned bright red as she quickly shook her head. "Oh, Hera, no!" She glanced around and cleared her throat before sinking in her seat. "No, Barry and I are just friends. We always will be." Her tone held a note of finality, not unlike Bruce's often did.
Every part of Diana was begging to interrogate her more. Her deepest wish for her daughter was that she didn't go down the same route her father was. No one deserved to be as alone as Bruce was insistent on being.
Instinctively, her eyes slid over to Rex, who had been even quieter than Lily. He hadn't said a word the entire time they had been here. She wondered, if not Barry, then Rex? She knew it couldn't be Kal's son; she seemed to detest him. The Martian girl, perhaps? She'd had relations with other women, a few fellow Amazons, Audrey, but apparently, it was frowned upon in Man's World to assume.
Lily caught her gaze and looked like she wanted to say something. Before she could, however, her face paled, and she promptly stood up. "Excuse me," she muttered, dashing away.
Diana watched her leave with concern. "Is she alright?" she questioned. Falling ill was foreign to an immortal. She had been injured, yes, but never sick. Had it been unwise to assume Lily was the same way? She hoped nothing was seriously wrong.
There was a strange expression on Rex's face, one she couldn't quite place. "She says she is," he revealed quietly.
Diana didn't like the sound of that. She was going to express as much when her sensitive ears twitched at a low, baritone sound. It was one the Amazon knew well. Irritation welled within her. Her hand curling into a fist, she sharply kicked her friend's shin under the table.
"Ow!" yelped Shayera. "What the hell, Di-?" She stopped when Diana nodded in the direction of a table by the corner. Her green eyes widened with comprehension.
Sitting at the table was none other than Bruce and John.
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Shayera didn't know whether to laugh or to glare daggers at the two men. All she knew was that doing so in front of Rex would have been less than ideal. "Lily's been gone for a while," she spoke up. Her eyes never left John and Bruce. Neither man seemed aware that she and Diana had caught them, but Shayera wouldn't have put it past Bruce. "Rex, why don't you go check on her?"
Though she knew nowhere near as much as she would have liked about Rex, Shayera knew he was far from stupid. He just nodded and stood, walking in the direction Lily had gone in. Once he was gone, Shayera turned her attention back to Diana. "You know, Princess, sometimes I think your sisters have the right idea." She could hardly believe that they would do this; why were men so complicated?
Her friend sighed raggedly. "At this point, they're acting like children," she concluded irritably. "If they wanted to come along, they could have asked."
Shayera nodded in agreement, scowling. "Anything to avoid talking to us like adults," she muttered bitterly. It aggravated her to no end that John could never tell her how he truly felt, and that seemed to increase with Rex's presence. The product of their love for one another was right there, living and breathing in front of them.
Wasn't that enough?
Apparently, no, it was not. Shayera didn't know what else to do. If their son wasn't enough to convince him that they could work again, she didn't know what would. At this point, she was starting to lose hope herself. Maybe Rex was from a different timeline or something along those lines. As much as it broke her heart, she couldn't see John loving her again like he used to.
Diana, being her supremely empathetic self, softened a bit. "Well, we can't let them get away with this," she insinuated, uncharacteristically mischievous.
Despite herself, a smirk tugged at Shayera's lips. "What did you have in mind?"
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They knew.
Bruce kept his expression neutral as two cross women stormed over to the table where he and John were sitting. It was only a matter of time before one of them took note of their presence. Not only were their senses trained to perfection, but they also weren't human either. Who knew the true extent of their hearing or sight? Yes, Bruce had known that he and John wouldn't have stayed hidden from them for long.
That begged the question, why were they here?
Bruce knew Diana's anger and frustration with him. She had hidden it well and had covered it with regality, but she was pissed. He knew he was pushing the envelope by being here, but something inside him wouldn't let him ignore it.
Next to him, John balked. "Tell me why I let you talk me into this," he muttered. His eyes never left Shayera.
Bruce raised an eyebrow. "You didn't need much convincing," he reminded the man. And that was true; it hadn't taken much to get John to come along. In truth, it hadn't even been his intention. What should have been an escapade all his own had ended up being a dual venture.
John didn't look happy but kept his mouth shut as the women approached.
"Funny seeking you here," snapped Diana once they got there.
Bruce was unable to stop himself from teasing her. "It's 'Funny seeing you here,' Princess," he corrected impassively. The billionaire fought a smirk as she glared viciously at him in response. She crudely hissed something in Themysciran that he had no hope of understanding.
Shayera, however, wasn't so easily distracted. "If you wanted to get to know your children, you could have just asked," she almost spat at them. Her rage was solely at John, who was worriedly looking around at the other patrons.
"That isn't why we're here," he said quickly to quell Shayera's rage. It didn't work as she continued to glare at him.
Diana put her hands on her hips. "Is that so?" she demanded, every bit the haughty Amazon princess. Her lip curled in anger. "Why else would you be here?"
Bruce cut in before John could respond. "We're making sure nothing goes wrong," he said. Which, to be fair, was part of it. Suppose that someone here would come into contact with Rex or Lily in their time. There were too many variables with time travel, variables that not even he could take into account. He had only dealt with it a handful of times, and even then, he could only grasp at straws. Any information he could find on the subject was purely theoretical.
A lot of good it did him now.
"Goes wrong?" echoed Diana. "Hera, Bruce, we're having lunch. What are the chances of something going wrong?" He opened his mouth to reply, and she held up a hand. "Forget that I asked." She muttered a couple more phrases in Themysciran before sighing. "Well, if the two of you are going to be staying..." She held out her hand.
Bruce blinked stupidly. "What?"
Diana flashed him a dazzling grin. "If you're going to be staying, you may as well pay."
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John rolled his eyes as Bruce handed over his card. For all the man's insistence that Diana was only a friend, the billionaire had seemed much too eager to comply. "He is so whipped," he deadpanned quietly to himself, shaking his head. He ought to have pitied his friend; it must have been torture to care for a woman like Diana and yet always keep her at arm's length.
He didn't know how Bruce did it.
"Don't let him hear you say that," chimed in Shayera dryly. She watched the scene before her, amusement dancing in her green eyes.
John snorted, turning to face her fully. She had dressed casually in jeans and a coat that hid her wings well (though he could see them peeking out). Still- he noticed with a tug on his heart- she was gorgeous. How could someone be so beautiful without trying? "He's too focused on Di," he pointed out.
She hummed in reply. "I know why Bruce is here," the redhead stated. "He's too paranoid to let Rex and Lily on the surface without his supervision." She looked at him with piercing eyes that seemed to pin him in place. "But why are you here, John?"
He sighed; that was a good question. When he had agreed to come along with Bruce, he had known why the other man was there. His paranoia wouldn't have let him leave them alone. And maybe, just maybe, there was a part of him that couldn't let Diana go. But for him? It was hard to say. It could have been similar to Bruce's reasons. But something told him it wasn't.
Of course, he couldn't tell her that.
So, John shrugged. "What kind of father would I be if I let my son sit and listen to your girl talk?"
Shayera gave him a look of disbelief but decided to play along. "I'll have you know, Stewart, that Diana and I are practical," she retorted.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Uh-huh," he replied, not believing her for a second. For two warrior women, the two of them could gossip like old ladies.
She looked like she was going to say something when the feathers on her wings tensed. John's time spent around Shayera had taught him a lot of things. For instance, she had to stretch her wings every morning, or they would go stiff. Despite their bird-like appearance, Thanagarian women did not lay eggs.
And when her feathers would tense, something was wrong.
Before he could register what he was doing, John's military training kicked in. He shoved Shayera to the ground just as the windows of the cafe shattered. A few pieces of broken glass broke his skin, but he ignored it as he activated his ring. Successfully shielding both himself and Shayera, his uniform materialized onto his body.
Diana, her outfit ripped away to reveal her uniform, shot out to meet the oncoming assault. Bruce, he noticed, had disappeared, and Shayera stood up with her mace raised.
They were under attack.
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Welp... Bruce is a stalker. He's paranoid. He's a paranoid stalker. We all know this. Y'all can come at me all you want, but I stand by that. Anyway, I hope you liked it and please review!