Please enjoy!

OoOoOo

Wayne Manor: November 7th, 2025

Terry sat with Dana and Chelsea at the ridiculously long dining room table. The three of them were doing their homework, though he found he was having some trouble. It wasn't that the work was hard, it was actually pretty easy, he just couldn't do it. Or didn't want to. Whichever it was, he was making no progress.

Chelsea seemed to be in the same boat as him. "Ugh, math sucks," she complained, shoving her worksheet away from her.

Dana hummed in thought as she rapidly made her way through the answers. Stupid Dana. "It's not so bad," she reasoned. "I kind of like it."

"Yeah, because you're a nerd," said Terry, a bit bitterly. It was hard not to be jealous of Dana. She had a mom and dad who gave her everything, she was good at school, and everybody liked her. Even Lily genuinely liked her and there weren't a lot of people that Lily genuinely liked.

Dana pouted, a bit of hurt flashing across her face and then Terry felt bad. He shouldn't make her miserable just because he always was. "Sorry," he muttered. Her face softened and he knew he was forgiven.

Lily drifted into the dining room, a plate of cookies in her hands. "Hey, kiddos," she greeted with a smile. She must have had a meeting today because she was in one of her best pantsuits. "Working hard or hardly working?" Chelsea and Dana giggled while Terry rolled his eyes; she used that dumb joke every time they did homework. It got old fast.

Chelsea held out her worksheet. "I need help," she whined.

Lily laughed, sitting down next to the girl. "Let's see what we're working with here," she said. Eyes scanning over Chelsea's work, she pointed to a particular section. "You had the right idea here, Chels, but you made a tiny mistake. Can you see it?"

The blond stared at the page dumbly until recognition lit up in her eyes. "Oh, duh! That's a five, not a two!"

Lily ruffled her hair. "Look at you, smart girl." She turned to him with a kind smile. "Do you need help, T?"

Terry was about to snap that no, he did not need her help when Dana kicked him under the table. From the glare her dark eyes sent him, he knew that she knew what he was going to say and was warning him not to. He sighed, then nodded reluctantly.

Lily beamed, asking her for help usually did that, and took a look at his work. Her lips pursed. "Ter," she said quizzically. "Have you tried any of these?"

He shrugged.

She sighed, her eyes scanning over the page. "Why don't we go over these together later?" she suggested. "Terry, you should show your friends the garden. I'm sure they'd like that."

Terry scrunched up his nose, and groaned when he heard his friends squeal in excitement. What else could he have expected? They were girls, after all. "Fine," he agreed begrudgingly. "Let's go."

Dana and Chelsea each took hold of his wrists and all but dragged him along. Terry sent a rueful glare in Lily's direction, and she smiled back, waving.

OoOoOo

The Batcave: November 7th, 2025

Another day and she was still no closer to finding out who had killed the McGinnis'.

Lily grunted in frustration, banging her fist on the table. This was ridiculous; Dad would have unmasked the culprit months ago. But here she was, grasping for straws. James had obviously been a decoy to distract her; why would he be involved in the murder of two random Gotham citizens? Her distaste of the man had temporarily blinded her, much to her own shame. She should have been more perceptive.

She had never been the great detective her father was. Her expertise was in cold facts, not reasoning. It was hard for her to make the amazing conclusions he had.

Still, there must have been something she was missing. Lily scoured through the information she had.

Warren and Mary McGinnis were the standard suburban couple; steady income, sizable house, and one child. They were both upstanding citizens, she couldn't find so much as a speeding ticket for either of them let alone a connection to Gotham's wretched underbelly. There was no reason for anyone to target them.

The only thing that could have placed a hit on their heads was their son, a genetic match with Batman and Wonder Woman.

Unless this was a random shootout, which Lily knew wasn't the case, Terry was the real center of the attack. The question was, why? Who could have known of his true lineage? Who could have targeted only his innocent parents because of it?

Could the murder perhaps be related to why Terry had her parents' DNA in the first place?

If she was to believe that her parents never conceived Terry, which was the more believable option, could his genetic makeup have been overwritten? Unless it was the work of her mother's gods, that was the most logical option. Lily knew that was technology Cadmus primarily dabbled in, but it had been illegal for almost thirty years. But of course, that hadn't stopped the Joker from-

No. This wasn't the time.

But it did raise the point; Cadmus was the only organization to have nearly perfected genetic technology. Eyes narrowing in suspicion, Lily pulled up the pictures of Terry's parents once more. Staring at them, she was nearly reminded of, well, her grandparents, Thomas and Martha Wayne. Was she crazy or-?

No. No, it couldn't be. Warren and Mary didn't look anything like Thomas and Martha. And yet...

She was paranoid, she must have been. But Lily put all four of them into the Cave's psychological profile function anyway; she had always been paranoid. She leaned back in her seat, waiting anxiously. If the result was what she suspected it to be, then there was a clear culprit. There was only one person on Earth who had the technology, resources, and absolute nerve to do what she suspected was done.

The thought made her blood boil.

As the results came back, Lily braced herself before reading the outcome. She gripped the arm of the chair as the computer confirmed her terrible suspicion.

The psychological profiles of Warren and Marry McGinnis were a nearly identical match for Thomas and Martha Wayne.

OoOoOo

Wayne Manor: November 14th, 2025

Lily had been in a bad mood recently.

She tried to hide it from him, but Terry had been living with her long enough to pick up on the subtle signs. Her smiles were forced, her tone was sharp, and she was spending a lot of time at work. She had called Dana's mom asking if he could go home with them a few times that week.

Her negative energy didn't bother him much. She didn't yell at him like Oaken had and tried her best to hide it from him. Everyone had to feel angry once in a while, right?

The dark cloud hanging over her, however, seemed to ebb away that Saturday as she carefully approached him. "Hey, Ter," she greeted softly, a box of pizza in her hand.

Terry looked up from his phone and waved. "Hi."

Lily set down the pizza box and sat next to him at the dining table. "Thanksgiving's coming up," she reminded him. "I... I know neither of us has much family, but did you want to invite your friends?"

He shrugged; he hadn't given the holiday much thought. It was usually just him, Mom, and Dad. If it was just him and Lily this year, well, he was fine with that. Who else did he have? "Dana will probably want to spend it with her folks," he reasoned. "Maybe Chels?"

She hummed in thought. "We can invite them both," she decided.

They sat in silence for a moment. Terry played with the hem of his shirt and Lily tapped her fingers against the table. Then, "Terry."

He looked at her. "Yeah?"

Lily ran her fingers through his hair for a moment, studying his face. He didn't like it when she looked at him like that; it was like she could see through him. "Terry, the only thing I can hope for is that you stay true to yourself," she said, her gaze suddenly intense.

Terry blinked up at her. "Uh-"

"No matter what anyone tells you," she continued. "You are special because you're you. Just for the simple reason that you were brought into this world."

He didn't quite know how to respond to that.

Whatever trance Lily was in seemed to disappear. "I just wanted you to know that," she told him with a smile. She opened the box of pizza. "Now, dig in. I got your favorite."

He tried to focus on the meal, but her words rang in his head. What did they mean? Was there something she was trying to tell him?

But she never elaborated, so he tried to let it go.

OoOoOo

The Batcave: November 14th, 2025

Lily slipped on her Nightingale suit, her body tense and rage burning in her veins.

She wasn't sure, exactly, what was going to go down tonight. She didn't know if her actions tonight would make her unworthy of holding the Wonder Woman title. All she knew was that Amanda Waller had crossed the line and she had to pay for it.

It was one thing to wipe out the entire Justice League, who knew the risks of their occupations and had taken them anyway. it was another thing to steal the DNA of Batman and Wonder Woman to make a genetic clone of them. And it was something else entirely to murder Warren and Mary McGinnis, two innocents who had just been raising their son in peace.

If she hadn't been disgusted by Waller before, now she was repulsed. People like Waller shouldn't have been allowed to walk the world freely.

As Lily walked towards the Batmobile, she passed the display case with her father's suit in it. She stopped, turning to look at the white slits of The Batman. She could almost imagine her father's angry glare; he would be horrified to know what she was capable of doing tonight.

"Reminiscing, I see."

She didn't turn around. "Leave, Barry," she snapped.

Barry ignored her, coming up to stand on her right. "You've been MIA for a week," he reminded her. "Not really a good look if you want to create a new League." She felt his gaze on her. "Is there something you wanna talk about?"

Lily's jaw clenched. "No."

"Really?" Gone was the playful, aloof tone her best friend was known for. In its place was now something she couldn't quite recognize. "Because I distinctly remember you studying the McGinnis case a little too personally. Weird coincidence that a few months later you adopt the kid who could be your brother."

Was her brother.

"What I do is none of your business," she spat. It wasn't often she was genuinely angry with Barry, but a part of her wanted to shut him up with a punch to the jaw. "You've left me to my own devices for five years, why take an interest now, Bartholomew?"

The use of his full name was a low dig, she knew that, but Lily couldn't bring herself to care. There was no reason for him to involve himself in her business. He wouldn't understand, so why couldn't he just-

A gentle hand was laid on her shoulder. "Doll," he coaxed. "Talk to me. Whatever's going on, we'll handle it, okay? Just tell me what's going on."

Lily's biting response died in her throat. What was she doing? This was Barry, her best friend. She didn't have to hide from him, she never had. Even if he tried to stop her, she couldn't not tell him; she told him everything. She couldn't shut him out, not after-

She sighed, pinning him with a tired gaze. "You really wanna know?" she demanded.

Barry nodded. "You know I do."

So she told him. She told him everything from the moment she had found out about Terry's DNA to her revelation about her conclusion about Waller's involvement. She watched him after she finished, his dark eyes processing the information she had just thrown at him.

Finally, Barry looked at her. "What, exactly, were you planning on doing tonight?" he asked sharply.

Lily met his gaze. "Not sure," she answered flippantly. "The logical side of me wants to question Waller and get her to admit to what she-" Her voice cracked and she cursed herself. "What she did to him. The other side of me wants to end her."

He looked alarmed at that. "Doll-"

"I know," she snapped back. "I know it isn't right to even think of it, I know killing Waller would have drastic consequences on us all. I know my parents would be ashamed of me. But Barry-" She swallowed down the lump in her throat. "On Halloween, I took Terry and his friends trick-or-treating. They went to look at this old house a-and some brats jumped out to scare them. Terry, h-he-"

A tear escaped, rolling gently down her cheek. She didn't wipe it away. "He shut down, B. I could see that entire night play out in his eyes, as if I was there that night. The devastation in his face-" She stopped talking, knowing she was close to breaking down.

Barry's face softened. "Oh, Lily," he whispered, bringing her in for a hug. "I'm so sorry. I know that can't have been easy for you."

Lily buried her face into his chest. "She caused that, Barry," she whispered. "She took his parents from him. And for what? A sick science experiment? She's a monster."

"I know," he murmured, running a hand through her hand. "And one day, we'll bring her to justice, doll, I promise you." His tone shifted from comforting to serious. "But you can't confront her tonight. We're too fragile; even if you go as Nightingale, we can't risk direct vigilantism with someone as important as her just when the League's getting on its legs."

She didn't answer him. Lily's mind knew he was right, but her Amazon heart demanded vengeance. Still, she would have to reign it in; this wasn't her decision to make. She couldn't risk the revival of the League even though she so desperately wanted to.

Terry was too young, he wouldn't understand anyway. The death, or even incarceration, of this woman would mean nothing to him.

She would have to wait. For now, at least.

OoOoOo

Was not expecting for this chapter to be so long. Anyway, I hope you liked it and please review!