Like Toy Soldiers
Chapter 1
My name is Batman.
What else do you need to know?
What I eat? Where I work?
Who I really am?
That doesn't matter now that I am 45, finally married and content with my life.
Many years ago, the only family I had consisted of five lucky people.
One of them was Alfred, my trusty butler. I have always had something against having help and ordering them around, but Alfred is like an uncle to me. Ever since my parents died, Al watched over me and taught me important things I applied to life. No, he isn't a superhero, too. Can't imagine him flying around with his tray.
Then there was Dick Grayson, my adopted son. Just like me, Dick had suffered a while after his parents died right in front of him. I decided to take him in and train him to become strong despite the obstacles thrown at him. Later on, I realized he had a passion for martial arts which urged me to give him a costume and mask of his own and allow him to join me in fighting crime as Robin, the boy wonder. When he got tired of being under my shadow, he left for the Teen Titans, another group of superheroes.
Another one was Babs. Barbara Gordon was plain weird. Being the commissioner's daughter, she was as trained as Dick was. Maybe less; but she was so caught up in fighting. She even named herself Batgirl. I hated her for that, but she was like a daughter to me. She was quite annoying too.
Tim was another little tyke I took in. He was my student and the successor of Robin. He is just like Dick. Black hair, blue eyes and stubborn like hell. Like Dick, he had a series of girls falling for him. I've always wondered how that hobbit attracted women like a magnet. He's only 5'3.
Hmm, who else? Oh yeah; Selina, my best enemy. You can say that Selina Kyle was a thief; a thief that was able to steal almost everything including my attention. I was attracted to her the first time we met. She stole a lot even though she was far from poverty and was known as the infamous Catwoman. We dated for years but never found solace in marriage. Purring was just not the way I wanted women to flirt with me.
During my early 20's I joined the Justice League. They became my "extended" family. Superman was like an older brother I never had. We hated each other but we learned to be best buds as we continued our adventures as a team. J'onn Jonz was an alien; an eerie looking one too. Though I never really clicked with aliens, I was glad to help and teach him about the planet Earth. Hawkgirl was like a little sister who confided in me when she had boy problems; same with Flash. Flash was constantly flirting with Hawkgirl who actually liked the attention the little punk gave her. Green Lantern was a cool guy. He was smart and was a helping hand to everyone. He even offered to help me fix all my bat mobiles.
Diana was exceptional. I secretly loved her the first year we were together as a team. She was the daughter of a goddess who gave her the most impeccable and graceful features. Her light blue eyes would brighten everyone's day. Her silky jet black hair fell to her back and swayed around, following her every movement. She was sweet and gentle but she was also tough, determined and just. No wonder she was called Wonder Woman.
After ayear of battles and hardships, I opened up to her and told her all my feelings for her. That was when we took our relationship to the next stage. Of course, we kept our relationship hidden from everyone, especially from the Amazon women of Diana's homeland. She was never permitted to marry; most of the relationships I had taken seriously with women became a flop. We had that in common.
The year I turned 28, something happened to the team. Something happened to each of us. My identity was in peril. Hawkgirl became terribly sick. Lex Luthor had spread secret of Superman's weaknesses to other villains. The Flash used abused his power and used his speed for robbing banks. J'onn was called back to his home planet. Green Lantern was accused of injuring many with the power of his ring, again. Wonder Woman became pregnant. She kept it from us all andjust left the team one day, without saying goodbye.For all thosereasons,we drifted away from each other, went our separate ways and successfully thrived in our new lives.
After 17 years of loneliness and depression, we found each other. I found Diana… and my daughter. I found my real family. Since then, I became the luckiest man alive.
But before that- Well, you find out… My depressing, lonely days are just a click away. To get to the good part, you'll have to struggle through the hard parts… like toy soldiers.
A/N pairings Bruce and Diana; Bruce/Diana/Clark; Flash/Hawkgirl (kinda...)... there's more coming...