I'm back BABY. Please enjoy!

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The Batcave: October 19, 2039

Lily was far from a gentle teacher.

Terry grunted as he landed face down on the training mat. "Ow," he bemoaned. His entire body ached as he pondered his predicament. To this point, he had only been fighting against simulations. Hand to hand combat with someone as skilled and experienced as Lily was... humbling. Street fights when he was younger and spats with Nash had done nothing to prepare him.

His guardian gave a soft hum from her stance across from him. "Maybe it's time for a break," she suggested. There was no disappointment in her tone, only concern and care.

And to be honest it pissed him off.

He didn't want her pity and he didn't want her to go easy on him. He wasn't a child anymore; Terry wanted to be taken seriously. "No way," he insisted, forcing himself back on his feet. His legs trembled and he knew Lily noticed, but he didn't care.

"Forget that," he snapped, his chest heaving with exhaustion. "I want a rematch."

Lily looked at him with an unreadable expression. "Alright then," she agreed, shifting easily into a fighting stance. He was almost envious of how easily fighting came to her, it was like she wore her skill as a second skin.

Not once did Terry win a match that night. Lily beat him over and over again, his back stinging a little bit more every time it hit the mat. Although every loss utterly sucked, Terry did take pride in knowing that Lily wasn't going easy on him.

That much, he could tell.

Finally, after maybe five hours, Lily nodded. Not a single hair of her ponytail was out of place, he couldn't see a drop of sweat anywhere on her. She wasn't human, she couldn't be. "You're doing well," she said honestly, holding a hand out to him. "Much better than I thought you would."

Terry scoffed, but allowed her to help him to his feet. "Yeah, right," he muttered sarcastically. "I suck."

She smiled at him. "No, you're progressing quickly," she assured him, ruffling his hair. He didn't have the strength to push her away. "Faster than I thought you would. In fact, you're close to most rookie League members."

His mouth formed and o-shape. "Really?"

Lily nodded, giving him a small smile. "Yup," she told him. She stretched, yawning. "Get some sleep, you have school soon."

"Sure," Terry agreed, also yawning. He made his way towards the long, winding stairs. He had some serious issues with whoever designed Wayne Manor; all that money and they couldn't install an elevator?

"And get there on time," stressed Lily from the bottom of the stairs. "Your homeroom teacher called last week, she said if you're absent two more times you'll get a detention."

He shrugged. "Just means I won't be at your beck and call that day," he replied playfully. He missed their banter. Before their troubles, he had always called Lily his big sister. He liked her better when she was a sister to him, not a mom.

"Brat," she huffed affectionately. "Just go to bed."

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Hamilton Hill High School: October 20, 2039

Terry attempted to hide his yawn, stifling it behind his hand. He tried to concentrate on what his teacher was saying, but he honestly couldn't care less about what was being taught. He was already more familiar with the criminal justice system than he needed (or wanted) to be, he didn't need to sit and listen about it for another hour.

Next to him, Dana frowned. "You okay, Ter?" she whispered when it was time to do classwork, nudging him.

He nodded. "Yeah," he told her. "Just a late night." Late wasn't even the word; he had gotten maybe three hours of sleep.

She gave a disbelieving hum. "Don't you think Lily's working you too hard?" she asked disapprovingly.

'You don't know the half of it,' thought Terry to himself. Dana would probably have a conniption if she found out what he was really doing. When he had been running with Charlie back then, she was never silent about her disapproval.

If only he had listened to her; to her and Lily both. Maybe he could have gotten Charlie help. Things might have turned out different for the both of them.

"It's fine," Terry assured her. "It's a lot of work. It I can't handle this, she might as well sell Wayne Enterprises to Derek Powers." As if. Lily would cheat death a thousand times if it meant keeping her family's legacy out of that dreg's hands. Why she despised Powers, he still had no idea. But she was good at reading people, so he was more than willing to follow her lead.

Also, he wasn't too fond of the fact that Derek Powers kept hitting on her.

Dana kissed his cheek. "If you're sure you're fine..."

Terry took her hand. "I promise," he swore, kissing the back of it.

On Dana's other side, Chelsea gagged. "God, you two are sickening," she teased.

Dana stuck her tongue out. "Jealous much?"

Chelsea smirked. "Hardly," she replied, waving her off. "If I wanted the mushy gushy stuff, I'd have it with the snap of my fingers. Unfortunately, it's not for me."

Terry rolled his eyes. It was true that half the guys at this school were in love with the blond. They made such idiots out of themselves that Terry couldn't have cared less when he watched them get their hearts broken. It was a good lesson in his opinion; learn to take no for an answer.

Chelsea yawned. "Anyway," she said. "Is it any surprise Ter's overworked? The Wayne Enterprise labs keep getting attacked."

He eyed her curiously. One wouldn't think that the blond kept up with things like that, but she was a lot more observant than she led others to believe. She paid a lot of attention to what went on in the lives of high society especially. Why she did this he had no idea, but she was a good source of information for the innerworkings of the upper class.

Dana turned surprised eyes to him. "Really?" she asked. "I didn't know that. What's going on?"

Terry waved her concerns away. "Lily thinks it's a petty rival," he answered, which wasn't exactly a lie. "It's nothing too serious, but we have been working extra hard to make up for it."

She gave a humorless chuckle. "And to think Dad's convinced that Lily's never had to work a day in her life," she remarked bitterly.

He felt a wave of annoyance. Mr. Tan would always despise him; he didn't like it, but had accepted that fact. However, Terry loathed the fact that his opinion of Lily was so low. One thing that could never be said about his guardian was that she didn't work hard. Even before finding out she was both Wonder Woman and Nightingale, he had seen her pour hours upon hours into Wayne Enterprises.

Between everything, it was a surprise that she didn't collapse from stress.

Chelsea pressed her lips into a thin line. "Does your dad even know what Lily does?" she demanded.

Dana shrugged. "Probably not," she admitted. "I can't stand how narrow-minded he is sometimes. Without WE, Neo-Gotham would be in the gutter like it was in the eighties and nineties. Batman and his sidekicks dropped the crime rate, but the Wayne family helped so many people in Gotham. I'd say they were the real heroes."

Terry almost wanted to laugh; if only she knew.

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The Watchtower: October 20, 2039

Not for the first time, Lily was grateful that her powers allowed her to multitask so rigorously.

She tried to pay attention as M'gann spoke, but her mind was preoccupied. Now that she knew about Inque, it should have been easy to pin down both her and Powers. But she was swamped here. The software needed to be updated, teams needed to be orchestrated, equipment needed to be replaced, and rookies needed to be trained. She couldn't leave the Justice League Unlimited in disarray.

But staying here meant leaving Terry to that she-demon.

There was no doubt in her mind that Inque was dangerous. Deadly, even. And Terry still wasn't ready to face a metahuman with her level of expertise. Terry was clever and agile and quick and strong, but he was still a novice. She couldn't have him face Inque on his own.

But the labs couldn't take another hit. Not if they wanted to get this space shuttle done. All the time and resources spent would cause a huge loss for Wayne Enterprises. Not to mention Power would get the upper hand on them, resulting in the push for a merger from the board.

The best option she had was getting the work on the Watchtower done. The quicker she did that, the quicker she could return to Gotham. Now, if a certain rebellious teenager could stay his ass home until she got there...

"You've been busy."

Lily snapped out of her thoughts, noticing her fellow Founders had filed out of the room. The comment had come from Rex, who hadn't moved from his seat next to her.

She scrunched up her nose, idly updating the tower via her mini-console. Rex had this irritating habit of checking up on her in the vaguest way possible. Would he ever just come out and say what he wanted to? No, of course not. But he would certainly allude to it, patiently waiting for her to fill him in.

Lily huffed. "Yeah, well, you know Gotham," she drawled. She usually indulged Rex when he did this, but she was busy. She really didn't have the time to satiate the guilt that constantly ate away at him and he refused to acknowledge. That was him problem, not hers.

She was over it, he needed to be too.

Even under his helmet, Rex's expression screamed skeptical. "Heard about the Wayne labs being targeted," he mentioned casually. His gaze never left her.

But Lily refused to meet his stare, keeping her eyes on the downloading software. "Why, Rex, if I didn't know any better I'd think you were keeping tabs on me," she replied.

"Someone has to," he shot back.

Suddenly irritated, Lily looked up from her work to glare at him. "If there's something you want to ask me, then ask," she snapped. It was odd to be annoyed with Rex. Usually, they had a comfortable understanding.

There had been a shift in their relationship. She wasn't quite sure she liked it.

"Fine," relented Rex, crossing his arms over his chest. "Were you gonna tell us about the new rodent running around your city?"

Lily glared. "Not that it's any of your business," she hissed. "But Batman is still in training. There was nothing to tell." She hadn't told the League about giving Terry the suit because, frankly, she didn't feel the need to. How she operated in Gotham was no one's concern but her own. It was her city, her father's legacy to maintain.

When it came to Gotham, the League could kick rocks for all she cared.

"We've offered you help a thousand times for the past nine years," Rex pointed out. She could hear the anger forming in his voice; it was almost a foreign sound to her. "But the kid takes the suit for a joy ride and now he's Batman?"

"Jealous?" she remarked snidely. "It's not a good look for you." She took a deep breath, leveling her temper before it got away from her. "In any case, there's no need to worry about Gotham." Her eyes sharpened as she looked at him. "I've got it."

Rex stared at her for a good while. Then, taking her completely off guard, he flicked her forehead. "Ow!" she hissed, rubbing the sore spot. "Rex!"

He smirked. "For someone so smart, you sure are dumb," he said mockingly. The red of his lenses seemed to bore into her eyes and this time she couldn't avoid looking at them. "I'm not worried about Gotham." Oh.

Oh.

Much to her frustration, Lily felt her cheeks warm. She huffed, trying to hide her flustering with annoyance. "Then just say that," she shot back, averting her gaze once again.

He chuckled. "Promise you'll tell us if you need help?" he asked.

She sighed. "Sure," she agreed flippantly, not that she had any intention of it. The League wasn't allowed in Gotham, end of story. She would finish what she needed to here, then help Terry with Inque when she was done.

Though, now she was starting to think there was another problem festering here. One that she needed to put an end to immediately.

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Little bit of filler, the fight with Inque will continue in the next chapter. Anyway, I hope you liked it and please review!