Right this is the end. I actually wrote most of this before I wrote the rest of the story, but I had to tweak some things. Again, critisism and advise is always greatly appreciated.

Epilogue 1

Wally and Dick sit in a booth at a diner in their civilian clothes. It's a really old fashioned diner with wood paneling and dark red leather cushions. There's a light smell of cigarette smoke coming from the smoking section and the sound of clanking dishes in the kitchen. There's a thick aroma greasy food and syrup that almost makes the air sticky. Wally's dressed in a red sweatshirt and jeans while Dick in his solid black dress shirt and dress pants. Dick stared down at his coffee mug and Wally looked directly at his friend.

As bad as Wally feels not having slept in two days, he knows that Dick has had it worse. The scratches on his face from the earlier fights that rouged his face actually improve his pale complexion. Dick is in a lot of pain. His shoulder stings from what Clark did. His ribs and head from Diana. His leg from Arthur. Not to mention the Sabbac assault. He's in so much pain, but him also being drained makes it so he doesn't care. There was awkwardness yesterday when Wally woke Dick up after visiting hours ended. Reluctantly, he let J'onn mind the baby on the tower so Dick could sleep. Wally and J'onn dealt with monitor duty that night. Four hours later, Dick woke up. J'onn agreed to stay and watch the baby while the two friends spent some "catch up" time together.

They were better friends than most people realized. However, tragedy and a search for an individual identity that usually comes with the mask makes strains on fellowships like these. In the JLA, Wally and Kyle would hang out a lot, but that was more because they were the powerful league members in their twenties. They were more friends who were around each other. Kyle was learning to use his powers for those first few years. Wally had already had years of experience as Flash before joining the JLA and a decade plus of him being Kid Flash. And then just as Kyle was finally getting the hang of being a hero, he flies off the planet to deal with the unwanted beating of a friend of his. They never really had the chance to bond, but now Wally saw being a member of a team of superheroes as a job with co-workers

Dick on the other hand, stayed on the Titans. He could have gone up to the League, but he felt it was better to lead a team then to give advice and be a backup Bruce like Huntress. For about ten years, Wally was his best friend. Roy and Garth were really good friends with Dick, but Garth kept going back to the sea and Roy was always too ashamed of his drug habit to open up to the rest of them. Wally, Donna and Dick would be the only constants in each other's lives until Wally tried to lead a normal life and Dick was forced to move on from being Robin. Dick and Donna were all that were left of the old gang of heroes. When Donna died…

But now, they're in a diner in Keystone City. They started talking about recent events in their lives and the stories just flowed.

"So then what?" Wally asks bringing his coffee up to his mouth and sipping.

"Well it turns out she actually was a meta without knowing it. She gave off this pheromone that excites the medulla and hinders the frontal lobe. Essentially, just by being around her, people do whatever she says regardless of logic. The longer she's around a person, the greater her influence."

Wally starts to laugh a little. "So she physically messed with you emotionally. How long did this go on for?"

Watching Wally smile brings out a chuckle in him. "Just a couple of weeks."

Wally crooks his head to the side asking, "Is that long?"

"Well," Dick just can't quite find the right word combination to make it more factual and less absurd. "Bruce was around her for two hours and he almost gave her a Robin uniform and all the codes to the batcave."

He fails miserably. Wally's laughing uncontrollably. Dick isn't that far behind. He keeps trying to stop himself, but the harder he tries to stop the harder the chuckle and longer the laugh. Hearing Wally's laughter just puts it all into perspective and Grayson realizes for the first time that it is all just so silly. I mean it's… just… weird and silly. Really.

And Wally, being that one friend who comes up with the one sentence that is just perfect for the situation says, "Wow, you're lucky she didn't ask you to marry her."

Dick's laughter slowly drifts off, not sure whether or not he could touch on that subject. Wally sees his reaction and stares wide-eyed not saying a single word.

"What?" Dick asks. He tries to find a good excuse, but can only come up with. "I didn't sign the papers." Then he tries to cover himself. "You have to understand, she was really powerful… She made me think I had her memories."

Wally, with a lot of effort asks, "Like what?"

"I thought I was racially discriminated against."

Laughter.

"I thought I was a troubled youth that picked fights with everyone."

Uncontrollable laughter.

"I thought Batman helped me want to be less violent."

They just can't stop themselves. It just makes no sense. "Would you two like anything else?" a waitress asks. They both look back at her. Wally is the first to reply, "Just a refill, thanks."

The laughter dies away. They sit in silence looking at each other. Wally breaks the silence, "Can I ask you a question?"

Dick just looks at Wally quizzically. Wally continues, "What was the worst part of it?"

If anyone else asks that question, it would be awkward to answer. They both know that he didn't mean anything by it. Wally just wants to understand more of what he went through. Being forced to fight for Brother Blood. Maybe it was the hopelessness of the task or the thought of fighting his family. Dick doesn't hesitate in thought. "I was afraid of loosing her. Every time I thought of getting help… even trying to send that message to you…. I was just-- so afraid of loosing her that-- I can honestly say… It scared me." Wally looks on as he felt helpless.

"No one knows death like Wally West and Dick Grayson."

Dick looked on as his friend recalled the past.

"Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris. Max Mercury."

"Donna."

"Uncle Hal and Ollie."

"Uncle Clark."

"My--" Wally chokes on the words. He continued, "My twins"

"My parents." Dick was only eight. "Tony Zucco." Wally looked back at Dick. Tony Zucco killed Dick's parents, why was he mentioned? "Judge Watkins." Slowly, he began to realize how different it was for them. Whereas Wally's was more "people close to him", Dick was mentioning people he witnessed die. Judge Watkins was tied up and dropped to the bottom of Gotham harbor by Two-face. Right after being forced to choose between Judge Watkins and Batman, Two-face then beat Dick with a baseball bat to within an inch of his life. Arguably the most traumatizing things to happen to a person in the course of a year… within the first decade of any life.

"Kole… Aquagirl… Dove… Hawk…Lilith…" teammates

"Jason Todd…"

"Enemies, friends… Sometimes I feel like, I have to try harder to hold onto the people around me so that I don't loose the few I have left."

"Yeah… when you loose a lot… sometimes… I feel like I have to push the ones closer to me away… because… it just gets too painful… you know?"

Wally pauses for a second. He considers what Dick is saying. It really doesn't sound like what he does, but Dick continues…, "But that only works for about a half a second before I realize how much I need them." Wally is still silent for a time. Dick had dropped his gaze some time during the conversation, but now he looks up to see Wally. He declares, "I'm not like Bruce. Not that way anyway. I might have turned out like him if things were different… if there were no Titans… no Kory… but there was… I can't separate myself from those around me like that. I know that if I did… well… it wouldn't be worth it in the first place."

Wally remains silent for a long time. Dick breaks the silence. "Listen, I think I should head back up to the Watchtower. You know… see how Mar'i is doing."

"Is that what you're going to name her?"

"For now… I want Kory to name her, but I'll call her Mar'i until Kory comes back."

Hearing those words, Wally's heart sinks. "Dick…"

"Look… I know. She's most likely not coming back… I'm just trying to hold on to that slight possibility."

Wally nods in concession. As unlikely as her return is… it's rarely ever hurtful to hold onto the hope in this world.

"I have to go to work now. You sure you're okay, Dick?"

Dick looks down at the black and white tiled floor. He looks up at his friend smiling and says, "I've been better."

Epilogue 2

Outside the diner, two "Gods of Olympus" look on their Titans. One is dressed in brightness, while the other is in shadow. Each influenced the young men in ways beyond what they would think… and they continue to inspire. Clark and Bruce look down on what they have produced together… a competent hero of his own right more capable, intelligent and selfless than they could ever hope.

Of course, like most parents, they're torn between giving them their space and "checking up" on them. As a compromise, Batman has two bugs in the diner and leaves the transceiver in his belt.

"You've really got to work on your trust issues, Bruce."

"You do realize this is coming from the man that can eavesdrop on this conversation from Metropolis."

"There's a difference. I'm not bugging their conversation."

"But the option is open to you. I have to have faith in you not prying, while you can see I'm definitely not."

"Do you want to do the fall back test?"

"…… no."

Clark thinks to himself, at least he's not taking out the binoculars.

How can two people so different, be friends? They're not. They respect each other and know each other better than anyone… but the substance of friendship can never equal that of the pair in the diner.

Superman and Batman are the world's finest partnership… without question. The compliment of intelligence and power is unmatched. The strength and power of Superman is only surpassed by his compassion. Batman is the apex of human endurance, study and training. Together, they are amazing to watch, but they aren't friends… they're symbols.

Batman is a symbol of the darkness and intensity. Superman is a symbol of light and the choice of doing the right thing without the encumbrance of inability. Batman finds more companionship and respect with a man like Jim Gordon, Lucius Fox and Alfred than he ever could with Clark Kent. Often times, Superman is isolated by his intimidation to other heroes. Of the exceptions are Diana and Arthur, but they have much stronger connections to their own people than they could in Superman. Only as Clark Kent can Superman hold the precious connections of human relations… Perry White, Jimmy Olsen… Lois Lane.

So where does that leave the two heroes masquerading as civilians within the diner? Nightwing is Dick Grayson with a mask. When Wally West adopted the Flash identity from his uncle, the Flash became Wally West. From the first time they met as Robin and Kid Flash, they never had to hide anything from each other because they were themselves in and out of the costumes.

Superman, as always, is the first to break the silence. "Why didn't he trust me?"

"He couldn't tell you. His communication was being monitored."

"If he used a device to inform Flash, I'd imagine he could have also found a way to contact me as well."

"Would you have just fallen down and given yourself up?"

"…… for him? Yes."

Batman looks back for a moment. "He also needed to bring in the League."

"It all worked out in the end… I guess that counts for something."

Batman looks down back at his son. "In all honesty, his plan shouldn't have worked. He relied too heavily on people's faith in him… especially John and Diana."

"You did files on the League. Plan on ways to be the hero if we do the whole costume change thing. Did he use them?"

Batman has a stoic expression on him when he explains. "There are three sections to my files. The first part is which heroes would be most effective in apprehending or defeating the most powerful of us. The second consists of tools to use to apprehend or defeat heroes. The third part is effectively confronting directly… in some cases, at the expense of my own life." Batman pauses for a second and continues, "Dick is the only other person with access to the files for the first section… and he doesn't know about any of them."

"So he did this all himself?"

Batman smiles, "Garth supplied him with the Escrima sticks. Cyborg supplied him with a large portion of the mechanics. Donna supplied him with the apples of Hesperedese. I didn't even know they existed. Dick didn't do this alone. He rarely ever does anything alone."

"Is that a twinge of jealousy I hear?"

Batman pauses. "Envious, if anything."

"Wow… you've become real emotional Grandpa Bruce."

Batman begins to groan slightly and retorts, "Grand Uncle Clark."

Superman's smile immediately fades.

Epilogue 3

The hum from the teleporter echoes throughout the satellite headquarters of the JLA. The accuracy of the atoms aligning themselves so rapidly to form Dick Grayson dressed in his civilian cloths is one of the most unappreciated aspects of the satellite. Even his blood soaked bandages retain their tapered edges and the crease on his left pants leg holds themselves as if he was picked up precisely as he was to where he now is. Precision of a computer is always expected, yet precision in human planning is envied. That's fairly humorous.

Nightwing walks heavily down the corridors despite the great weight that has been lift off of him. His body and mind scream for rest, but his heart and desire only knows of one thing right now. She's in the infirmary.

A seven foot metallic door opens itself as he approaches it. The vision inside catches Dick off guard. J'onn is standing in the doorway by himself. He's looking on three monitors. One has dossiers on the most infamous criminals across the globe displayed. One has a map of the globe in a panorama with little red lights illuminating across it. The third one has a list of heroes organized alphabetically. Upon Dick's entrance, J'onn replies to his internal questions.

"Ease your fears Nightwing. Your daughter is in the care of Dr. Midnight. He wished to do another medical checkup. Furthermore, his handling is more paternal."

"You called me Nightwing."

J'onn twists his body at his hips to look on the hero behind him with a curious expression on his face. "Would you prefer I call you Dick Grayson?"

Dick smile hobbles around him to an adjoining door. "Not necessarily, I just wanted to see you ask a question."

J'onn nods and turns around to look at the screens again. "Because I am a telepath."

Dick smiles, "On the Titans, we've had our share of telepaths… empaths… They were always the strongest of us. And the ones we had to watch out for the most."

J'onn closes his eyes. He's always frustrated by people's mistrust of him.

"They could always tell when we were troubled and needed someone to talk to, but unfortunately they never understood that non-telepaths lacked that ability for when they were in need."

J'onn looks back at the young hero behind him. "Maybe they never needed the emotional help."

Dick presses a few buttons on a keypad beside the door to the medical labs and replies to him, "J'onn, everybody feels that way all the time. That doesn't mean they're right."

J'onn looks on unable to reply. "For whatever it's worth J'onn, I'm sorry. Not just for what happened in New York. I designed the holding devices in Brother Blood's headquarters. I engineered your containing box with a telepathic inhibitor. I didn't know what the influence of hellfire would do to you."

"It's completely understandable what you've done.

"I understood that when you were awakened, you'd be blind in everyway. You couldn't see, hear, feel and your sense of telepathy would have been blocked. You probably wouldn't have even know you were really awake--

"There is no need to apolo-"

"Yes I do J'onn," Dick interjects. "Even if it was justified. I put you in the worst position of all. Denying it or accepting it for what it was isn't enough. I sincerely am sorry for what I did to you."

"I assure you…. I am fine."

Dick nods and looks into the medical lab at Dr. Midnight. He walks toward his daughter.

"Thank you for that," J'onn whispers as the doors to the medic lab close. He looks at the door. Who is he? Dick Grayson? Nightwing? Robin? The son of Batman? The leader of the Titans?

J'onn doesn't know for certain. A small stretch of flesh extends from his shoulder and clicks a button on a console. It brings up a small screen of the video feed going into the infirmary. J'onn sees that, whoever he is at any time in is life, all that matters is who he is at this moment.

Right now: he's a man … holding his daughter in his arms… singing her to sleep.

I would like to apologize for the extremely terrible delay. I actually thought I'd already posted this, but someone reminded me that I was waiting until I finished more of my next story. Again, I apologize.

I'd like topost my next story as soon as I can, but it's taking so long and nothing is really happening. If anyone is available to help me with it, i.e. proof read for grammar, inconsistency etc. it would be greatly appreciated. It's going to be a Batman story and I haven't gotten to much action yet, so it's boring the heck out of me right now.

Again, thanks to everyone that helped me with this and I'm sorry for wasing the time of anyone who didn't like it.