Epilogue

They didn't hear from Diana for a while after that. Various near-world-ending crises proved a little more pressing. But it wasn't long after that fateful day in Paris that the Avengers welcomed some very particular guests...

"Whoa." Barry Allen stood riveted outside the Commons, gawking in awe. "Avengers Headquarters. This place is bigger than my apartment building. Probably bigger than my block."

"Focus, Allen." Bruce Wayne, with a dark dress suit and an even darker stare, brushed past him. "We're not here to sight-see."

They'd barely stepped foot through the door before Barry noticed something on a hallway signboard. "No way!" he cried, speeding over to read it better. "They have a pool?!"

A boy with a wild head of platinum-blonde hair appeared and leaned on a nearby doorway. "Well, three actually," he said with a slight accent, "but one is for training."

"That's incredible." Barry hadn't lost enthusiasm.

"Is." He smirked. "Maybe you can see it later."

"I'd like that." He offered his hand with a grin. "Barry Allen. I'm fast."

The boy grinned and shook it. "Pietro Maximoff. Probably faster."

"Ooh, a challenger!" Barry didn't even miss a beat. "Wanna race?"

"Fine." Pietro's grin made him look like a shark. "Stark says we can use lawn, long as I don't catch grass on fire."

"Who's catching anything on fire?" laughed Barry. "C'mon, let's go!"

Bruce watched grimly as the two speedsters disappeared down the hall. "And," he grumbled, "we lost Barry."

"Relax, Bruce." Clark Kent patted him on the shoulder as he passed. "We're here to make friends, after all."

"Allies." Bruce glared from under his dark eyebrows. "You're all taking this rather flippantly."

Clark raised an eyebrow. "Well, you're grumpier than usual."

"Late nights." Bruce's expression didn't change. "It happens."

Clark elected to ignore him. "Diana, which way?"

She searched the unfamiliar hallway with her eyes. "We're a little early, but they agreed to meet us—ah!" She smiled. "Here they are."

The Avengers came to meet them, with Steve Rogers at the front. Handshakes and greetings were given and received, especially since most of the Avengers recognized Diana.

"Welcome to Avengers Headquarters." He offered his hand. "I'm Steve Rogers. Superman, I presume?"

Clark beamed with his ever-charismatic smile and shook it. As always, he had to be conscious about the fragility of a human hand, but it was muscle memory at this point. "Clark Kent is fine. Sorry we couldn't help out with your Ultron problem," he added, as he stuck his hands in his pockets. "We had some business with Darkseid off-planet."

"It's not an issue." Steve shook his head. "As long as you do what you do, we're safe to operate as the ground team."

Clark grinned. "I appreciate it."

Meanwhile, Bucky smiled up at Diana. "Good to see you again."

"You too." She gestured to his left arm. "I see you've been repaired."

He laughed, rotated the shoulder, and spread his fingers. "That's one way of putting it. Stark went ham on this design."

"I'm glad to see you well. Since our last meeting..." Her face fell into something rueful and far away.

"Hey, hey." Bucky shook his head and one hand in front of him. "Water under the bridge, right? Let's just not repeat it. I'd like to keep this one."

Diana laughed. "Of course."

Naturally, the Commons was spic and span in preparation of the Justice League's visit. Pietro's junk food, Clint's pizza boxes, and even Natasha's knives had been cleared away under Steve's stringent supervision. The Common Room hadn't looked so clean since the day they moved in. Steve couldn't have been prouder.

And then, right in the middle of the tour, Tony appeared.

He shambled out of his lab in complete disarray. His face was unshaven, his hair and t-shirt rumpled, his sweatpants baggy and stained, and he had a mug of coffee in one hand and poked at a floating hologram with another.

Steve frowned. He was still trying to figure out how quickly and subtly he could hustle him away when Tony locked eyes with Bruce Wayne.

"Okay, why is he here?" snapped Tony, pointing at the man in the tuxedo.

Steve winced and made rapid slashing motions across his throat. Tony didn't seem to get the message.

"Nice to see you too, Stark," Bruce said curtly. "That is, the sober version."

Clark's jaw dropped. "Bruce."

"Oh, that's real cute, Wayne." Tony prowled over and stood up all of his short height, as if he was hoping to intimidate him. "Don't think I've forgotten about that battle over shares in the Bahamas."

Bruce absentmindedly checked his cell phone and slid it back into the inside pocket of his suit. "You can have the Caribbean. I've decided to diversify my portfolio to developments in Singapore."

"Remind me to crash your next fancy social."

"I aspire to rise to your level of pettiness."

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Tony took a step back to look him up and down with a stink-eye. "We're supposed to be hosting the Justice League."

Bruce lifted his chin, and his low, gravelly voice somehow boomed. "We are the Justice League."

Tony blinked. He looked at Clark, and then Diana, and then right back to Bruce.

"No way," he said flatly.

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "You're surprised?"

Tony began to pace and ramble. "You know what, I had my suspicions—especially given the weapons arsenal and the car—which, by the way, what brand?"

"Custom."

"Right. Of course. But really?"

"You're surprised?" Bruce scowled. "Some of us are careful enough not to reveal our secret identities."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Oh, and you'd rather lie to the public."

"It's not a lie. Just an omission of truth."

The argument probably would have continued for far longer than that, but the team leaders had finally had enough of it. Steve shouted, "Tony!" just as Clark yelled, "Bruce!"

"What?" both of them snapped back.

For a moment, there was a standoff. Steve and Clark looked baffled and disappointed in their general direction, and Tony and Bruce glared back with varying degrees of annoyance.

After a moment, the billionaires shared a look.

Bruce's tone was suddenly lighter. "Do you think we convinced them?"

Tony shrugged. "Your acting was a little lacking, but I gotta hand it to ya. That was hilarious." He offered his hand. "Put 'er there."

They shook hands, looking very smug, and Steve and Clark were just more baffled.

"What just happened?" asked Steve.

"You just got bamboozled, is what just happened," said Tony.

"Stark is an old friend." Bruce pulled a sardonic smile. "And a pain in my ass."

"Look who's talking. C'mon, let's go." Tony gestured with his coffee cup, leading them down the hall. "Have you gotten the whole house tour?"

Vision, who'd been working in the lab, finally poked his head through the door—literally, in this case—to see what all the ruckus was about. As he phased through the metal door and into the hall, someone else descended from the ceiling and landed next to him.

The Martian Manhunter looked stoic as always, with his green skin and billowing cape, but he turned and nodded in Vision's direction. "Greetings."

Vision smiled timidly. "Hello."

Steve hadn't yet picked his jaw off the floor.

Diana set her hands on her hips with a beaming smile. "Ah, yes," she said. "They shall get along quite well."

A/N: Hooray! The Justice League! Apologies if your favorite member of the League didn't show up; I had to narrow down the characters to a) those I know something about, so I can write their personalities correctly, and b) those who have a counterpart in the Avengers, because comedy. There's probably a joke in here somewhere about Hawkeye and Green Arrow or something, but I know jack squat about Green Arrow, so...

With the exception of Diana, these are not the DCEU versions of the characters. To quote Gimli after falling off the horse, that was deliberate.

Also Pietro is alive because of course he is. This is the Remembered AU, fight me.

Reviews are super-speed races! Thanks for reading!