6. Catching Up

"Hey Di"

Diana found herself staring at the bearded face of Wally West 'Flash'.

"Wally?" asked Diana, tears coming to her eyes.

"The one and only" he answered with his characteristic grin.

Diana hugged Flash tightly. It was too much for her – meeting Batman, reliving the past, meeting J'onn and now finally meeting Flash.

"Hey Hey…come now. It doesn't look good that the great Wonder Woman is necking around with a dirty, stinking, homeless wannabe" he joked, trying to soothe her.

Diana withdrew back and wiped her tears. "It's good to see you" she said, trying to compose herself.

"You are telling me. Bats and you are the first living people I have seen in the last….I don't know how many years. By the way, which year is it?"

"2018" answered Diana quietly.

"2018….Aw man….2018….that means I have been there for four years. This sucks. The last time it was for only two and half before I got out."

"What happened? Were you in prison?" asked Diana.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you later. First we have to meet up with Batman and J'onn." "And I have a serious case of the munchies I have to take care off."

"Where are we?" asked Diana, looking around. "Are we going to meet them here?"

"Na" answered Flash, waving his hand. "I just wanted to have a small run; we are on a small island in Hawaii. Come lets go." With that he lifted Diana again and the next moment they were back near from where they had started, about fifty kilometers away from the base.

----

Diana and Flash waited and about five minutes later, they heard rumbling, announcing the approaching batmobile and soon the bat-tank could be seen, running across the desert at a high speed.

"WOW" exclaimed Flash. "Bats to the max, just when I think he can't go any further, he goes and gets a tank. So how are the little Bat-lings?"

"I... I don't know" Diana answered sadly. "I just got back today."

"Oh" "So you don't know anything" said Flash.

"Know what?" asked Diana, worried and curious at the same time.

Before Flash could answer, the bat-tank came to a halt in front of them and Batman and J'onn got out.

"Hey guys, sorry for getting caught again. Wondy here tells me it was more than four years this time. You guys are losing your edge in your old age" said Flash jokingly.

"Good to see you Flash" answered J'onn evenly. He was happy to see his teammate alive and in good health and spirits.

"Next time be careful" grunted Batman, walking past him.

"He cares you know" whispered Flash to Diana, with a hand on the side of his mouth. "He just has a weird way of showing it."

"Flash….eat" growled Batman, laying out dozens of energy bars next to the fire he had just started.

"What did I tell you" said Flash to Diana, before jumping on the bars and gobbling them rapidly. "Aw…Bats….you got my favorite flavor…..bland." "But they really hit the spot."

Once everyone was settled, Batman turned to Flash. "So how many hours was it this time?"

"I….think….eighteen hours…with….a….break…every….six" he answered between chomps.

"What do you mean eighteen hours? For what?" asked Diana.

"They were using Flash to generate electricity for the whole west coast" answered J'onn.

"Using….How?"

"They made me run in a circular cage and used that to run their turbines" explained Flash bitterly, before lightening up. "Like a human hamster…..but without newspapers on the cage floor."

Everyone ate in silence for the next few minutes, before Batman stood up. "We've got to move."

"So where do we go?" asked Flash. "Back to the cave?"

"Yes" answered Batman, throwing sand over the fire and then walking away to the tank.

"Cave?" asked Diana. "But wasn't it destroyed in the….attack."

"Oh you are talking about Bat-cave I" exclaimed Flash. "This is a completely new one. It makes the old one look like a….like a….a cave….but an small, empty one."

"Oh"

---

Later in the tank, "I got to say, no one builds machines like you" exclaimed Flash, taking in the impressive and spacious bat-tank. "A guy could live in this."

Gaining no reply from Batman, Flash turned to Diana. "So Diana, where have you been all these years? The last I heard, you had left for Atlantis."

"I was in Themiscyra" said Diana softly.

"Themiscyra, eh" muttered Flash. "So did you mummy dearest allow you back on the island."

"No"

"So, how did you get to stay there without her permission?" pressed Flash. "With all your hot Amazonian sisters."

"They…" "They are all dead" answered Diana, her voice cracking from the sudden rush of painful memories.

"Oh…I am sorry" said Flash, holding her hand and squeezing it gently.

"Diana, my condolences" offered J'onn.

Batman remained silent, his heart hurting for Diana. He knew how it felt to lose your family and friends, everyone you care about.

"We're here" he grunted.

As Diana looked on, the bat-tank approached a mountain side and ran right into it. But instead of crashing, it passed right through and started to move deeper into the earth.

After almost three minutes of driving in the dark, the tank finally emerged into an opening, finally coming to a stop on a cemented surface. The four of them got out.

"Hey guys I need to get cleaned up before I do anything else" declared Flash.

"I'll show you where the bathrooms are and also provide you with a change of clothes" offered J'onn.

Both of them moved away leaving Batman and Wonder Woman alone.

"This way" instructed Batman, before walking towards a lighted area. Diana followed him silently.

"I am sorry for your loss" he spoke quietly.

"Thank you" "But don't feel sorry for me….I am the one who caused it" she said dejectedly.

Just then there was a shriek, "Dadddddiiiiieeee"

Looking towards the direction it came from, Diana saw a small girl running down a flight of stairs. Suddenly the child jumped off the stairs and took to the air, flying towards Batman.

Diana immediately recognized the girl. She had flowing red hair with black tips, deep green eyes, but there was one thing that stood apart and that thing was,

Two large wings sprouting from the back of the little girl……