Oliver Queen should stop staring. He knew that it was rude to stare, and at a nanny no less, but he couldn't help it. There was something utterly familiar about the young woman. At the way she held herself, the way she turned her head and bit her lip, and the way she smiled almost innocently. All of these were hauntingly familiar to him, especially her captivating pair of violet eyes that he could see from this distance.
It also didn't hurt that she was an attractive woman with long purple locks and a slim, petite figure that fitted in a midnight black shimmery and sheer dress that complemented her pale skin. Her dress almost appeared to be made of starlight which clung to the woman's curves and he couldn't help but check her out every so often.
He felt somewhat foolish for being so enthralled by a total stranger when there were many people there, but he couldn't get enough of her. And the more he stared at her, the more his heart raced erratically.
A few days ago he would have never dreamed of having such a reaction towards an unknown person, let alone some girl who barely seemed old enough to be out of college, but now, standing there watching her, he knew that he was half infatuated with her already.
The young woman was certainly something else, especially with her purple hair.
It was just such a lovely shade of purple it made Oliver want to reach out and touch it, to run his hand through it and pull her against his chest.
He shook his head slightly.
What am I thinking? This was not the time nor place for such thoughts.
He tried hard not to let his eyes wander towards her again, but like every man there, he just couldn't resist glancing in her direction and wondering who she was.
He noticed that she had five children with her, which was odd at first until someone explained to him that the children were the heirs to Raven Corporation.
It looked like the children's parents didn't mind letting their children join in their company's annual celebration with a nanny. Surprisingly, their parents weren't there however. He learned from another guest earlier that the children's parents were doing business somewhere in Europe.
Growing up with rich parents who travelled a lot, Oliver understood the children's situation and he could only feel empathy for them. For certain, they must have missed their parents by now.
From the corners of his eyes, he watched the children and the woman; the beautiful nanny. He silently wondered if it was considered presumptuous of him if he talked to them while his date tagged along.
Felicity won't mind, will she? He thought as he glanced at the blonde woman next to him.
Currently, his date was listening to Lucius Fox talk about Wayne Enterprise's latest venture. And as he looked to the side, he suddenly caught sight of the business mogul, Bruce Wayne, staring at the same direction where Oliver's eyes had been.
He followed the other man's gaze and soon discovered that Bruce Wayne was actually checking out the nanny like Oliver had been doing for the past hour.
He immediately frowned.
He glanced at Bruce Wayne and back at the nanny, who now looked frantic about something.
Oliver's frown deepened when he noticed the woman's worried look. He soon realized the reason for the look. There were now only two children within the woman's sight while the other three must have escaped her watchful eyes.
Suddenly, he felt concerned. There was a tagging sensation at the back of his head that made him want to go there and helped the woman find the other children for a strange reason. His instincts were shouting at him to do so. For a moment, he contemplated going to her but he stopped himself in time.
Whoever the woman was. It appeared that she could affect him so strongly that his rational thought was nearly overpowered by his instincts.
Does she have powers to cause me to respond to her just now? He silently wondered suspiciously. It can't be... She appears to be an ordinary, but beautiful woman. It must be because of her familiar appearance that I can't help but respond to her subconsciously.
He continued his observation as the woman whirled around on the spot in obvious worry for the other children who disappeared. He would have contended himself to watching her in silence if not for Bruce Wayne, who suddenly seemed to understand the woman's plight and was now making his way towards her quickly.
He watched the other man go and wondered if Bruce Wayne had the same visceral reaction as Oliver had with the nanny and the children. It appeared so and observed how the business tycoon approached and soon interacted with the children and the woman. The nanny looked relieved to see the man while the children appeared happy to meet Bruce Wayne.
Then, to Oliver's surprise, four other men approached the group a moment later. He saw how the children seemed to brighten up at the men's appearance while the nanny looked flustered at the attention she was receiving from the other four men.
By now, Oliver felt compelled to join them as well. So after hastily excusing himself from Felicity's and Lucius' conversation, he strode towards the children, the nanny, and her growing number of admirers.
"Where did you last see them?"
He heard one of the men ask the nanny. He recognized him to be Arthur Curry, the King of Atlantis.
As to why the King of Atlantis seemed to be interested in the children's whereabouts, Oliver could only assume that the man was there due to the beautiful woman as well. Like probably most of them were, who crowded around the woman and the children.
"One minute they were just here and then the next thing I know they were gone," the purple-haired woman said while she bit her lower lip in worry.
All the men's gaze immediately zeroed on that part of her and remained transfixed on her beautiful face. Their eyes lingered on each of her fine features. Even Oliver who couldn't help but stare at her again as he came to a halt in front of the group. This closed to her, he couldn't resist admiring her feminine assets, which she seemed to be oblivious about.
"Don't worry. We will help you find the children," said a dark-haired man with the glasses. He had a badge on him that indicated that he was a reporter from the Daily Planet.
His name was Clark Kent after Oliver looked closely at his badge.
Apart from Bruce Wayne, Arthur Curry and the reporter Clark Kent, he also noted two other men there. One had brown hair and brown eyes and went by the name Hal Jordan. He knew him because he was in the conversation with him earlier regarding the man's role as a new test pilot for Raven Aerospace. Meanwhile, the man with dark hair and brown eyes was named Barry Allen, which he saw in his badge. Apparently, he was a forensic scientist. Another odd addition to Raven Corporation's still growing list of associates.
All the men's attention was riveted on the woman who said, "Thank you. The other children probably haven't gone by far. I am sure they are around here somewhere."
By now, people were looking towards the group of men surrounding the young woman and the children curiously. They probably started to wonder what the men's reason for talking to them was.
Oliver watched as the two children suddenly walked up to Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne and extended their arms towards each man as if they wanted to be carried.
And before the nanny could even utter an objection, both of the men happily obliged the children and bent down to carry them in their arms.
"What's your name?"
Oliver heard the reporter ask the little girl.
"My name is Samantha," the girl replied.
"And how old are you?" Clark Kent said.
The girl raised her hand up and spread five fingers in front of her while she spoke, "I'm five."
"How about you? What is your name?" Bruce Wayne asked the little boy he was carrying, who immediately responded.
"My name is Nathaniel and I am five like my other brothers and sisters." The boy stated.
As Oliver looked at the little boy and Bruce Wayne, he suddenly noticed the uncanny resemblance between the two. The business tycoon looked like he fathered the boy, but that wasn't possible right?
He frowned in consternation.
Bruce Wayne and the man Clark Kent appeared highly amused about something as they carried the children. Meanwhile, the nanny looked conflicted as she regarded the men with the children but didn't say anything about it.
"It looks like your brothers and sister have gone off somewhere, but don't you worry. We will be back with the rest of them," Bruce said, glancing at the nanny, who looked grateful for his words.
"I will help too," Oliver finally offered loudly and he watched as the other men turned to face him.
"I am more than willing to look for them as well," He said.
Some of them looked skeptical, but didn't say anything to him, which he was grateful for.
He also didn't know why he even offered to look for the children. He just thought that it was the right thing to do and because he wanted the woman to stop worrying.
"Thank you," the woman said to him and Oliver simply smiled a cocksure grin at her.
He watched as a blush crept across the woman's beautiful face as she regarded the men gathered around her. The woman was fortunate that the others were willing to help her out.
Oliver silently wondered where the other men's dates were. He suspected that they must have lost them in the crowd when the woman showed signs of needing help and the others couldn't resist coming to her aid, like him.
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.
Rachel was attuned to the men's presence there like they were a part of her. They must have felt the same thing with her because she noticed them glancing in her direction quite often earlier and ever since she and the children arrived.
And when the three children disappeared from her sight, the men must have sensed her distress because they immediately approached her with the intent to help. Perhaps diving into their minds all those months ago must have left a lasting effect on the men's psyche because they wouldn't have been hyper aware of her presence in that moment if she had not talked to them at all while they were unconscious. There was no denying the fact that she had an irrevocable connection with these men, who seemed oblivious to it.
Now, Rachel felt overwhelmed once more to be interacting with her children's fathers, who were all looking at her with keen interest in their eyes.
Although she was fortunate that they were helping her out despite the fact that they have not properly been introduced yet, which didn't take priority not when the children were missing from her sight.
By now, she noticed that people were pointing in the group's direction and murmuring amongst themselves, which made Rachel feel self-conscious, especially with the men's attention on her.
"Don't worry. We will find them soon," Barry Allen assured her.
At the same time, Hal Jordan said with a kind smile, "You can stay put while we look for the other kids."
Rachel felt only gratitude for the men's offer and said as much.
"Thank you. I will be right here waiting for you to come back then," She said to them while the men nodded their heads.
"We will be back Rachel," Samantha and Nathaniel said simultaneously.
"Behave you two," She said to them as both Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne continued to carry them like they were really theirs, except they were their children without them knowing about it.
"We will," the two children replied.
Afterward, she watched as they left her in search of the others.
She could only hope that the other three children had not gone too far. She suspected that they must have snuck out of her sight just to see their other fathers.
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.
.
Clark Kent knew it the moment he saw her and the children. He immediately knew that they were his just by listening to their heartbeats. However, he was shocked to see them aged so fast.
He wanted to confront the young woman the instant he saw her, but it would be unwise of him with the people present and especially with Lois Lane as his date for the gala. So he had found an excuse to approach the purple-haired young woman while she was out looking for the other children. However, he soon regretted it because he never felt drawn to another person like he was drawn to the young woman.
There was something about her that held all of his attention. Perhaps it was her breathtaking violet eyes or it must be her captivating smile. Or it was simply her overpowering presence that enthralled him to her. Either way, the young woman had a certain kind of magnetism, an allure that Clark found devastatingly irresistible.
The moment he saw her he knew he was in trouble because he definitely couldn't keep his eyes off her when she arrived with their children. Now, Clark was conflicted about what to do next.
As he carried the five year old girl in his arms, he didn't know how it was possible for her and the other children to grow up so fast. However, he assumed that it must be something to do with the power they inherited from their mother.
Still if given the opportunity, Clark would really like to talk to the woman alone and ask why she was pretending to be the nanny instead of the mother. But perhaps it was because she didn't want to raise suspicion, especially when it looked like the children had aged a couple of years since the last time he saw the woman.
It must be that or she was doing it for a different reason. He also wanted to ask if Raven Corporation was actually her company. He assumed that was the case. Now, he was determined to find out the truth from her as soon as he found the other three children.
He and the woman, whom he recalled as Raven, was going to have a serious talk after this.
"Clark, who's the kid?" He heard a familiar voice say from behind him.
He turned around and immediately saw his date. Lois Lane.
His heart sank at the sight of her. Clark didn't want to lie about his children to his girlfriend but he knew it was necessary. So he said to her, "Oh, this is Samantha. I am helping her find her siblings."
"Isn't she one of the heirs of Raven Corporation?" Lois asked as she drew near.
"Yes," He admitted while he looked at the little girl, who was frowning at his girlfriend.
"Where is her nanny?"
"I left her in that direction while I looked for the other children," He responded.
"My, aren't you a good Samaritan," Lois remarked in amusement.
Clark was feeling tense and he tried not to show it by chuckling at his girlfriend's words.
He felt guilty, but there was no helping it. He couldn't very well admit to his girlfriend that he had children with another woman. He hoped one day Lois would understand the truth about his children even though he didn't still understand how they came to be.
The woman, Raven, had all the answers and Clark Kent was determined on finding the truth from her. He could only hope that she wouldn't erase his memories again the moment he confronted her alone.
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John Constantine was one of the lucky few who was invited by Raven Corporation for their potential. After the representative of the Raven Corporation had spoken to him about their advanced books and artifacts on Occult knowledge, John hadn't hesitated but accepted the offer of being the company's consulting detective. Zatana was also offered the position and had accepted it just as easily as him, mainly because of the astronomical pay they received for their involvement.
Currently, he was enjoying his drink at the corner when he suddenly felt someone tagging at his trench coat.
He looked down and saw a small little girl with purple hair standing next to him.
John was surprised at first. He never saw the girl walk towards him. She just simply appeared in front of him without him noticing first.
He frowned at the sight of her.
"Hello Mister," the girl greeted with a solemn look on her pale face. "Do you mind if you help me with something?"
"What is it? Are you lost?" Constantine asked as he crouched down to the girl's level.
"Yes, I am Sir. So can you help me look for my nanny? She's a pretty lady with purple hair like mine. Her name is Rachel," the girl said to him.
"A pretty lady with purple hair, huh? That seems easy to spot. Of course, I can help you find her. Just let me finish my drink first," He said.
"Ok," the girl said while she watched him raise his glass towards his mouth and drink all the wine in one gulp.
"Now, what is your name kid and where did you last see your nanny?" He inquired as he held up a hand towards her.
"My name is Laura and Rachel is probably over there!" The girl replied as she grabbed a hold of his hand and dragged him away towards the other direction.
Author's notes: I hope you find the chapter interesting. Please tell me what you think. Constructive criticism is welcome.