Hello and welcome to Chapter 1! I'm so excited about this story I don't think you guys understand! I've been plotting and trying to make it all make sense! Hopefully, you all like it and are okay with the liberties I've taken with the New Justice League.

The chapter is slow and has fluff. I write too much angst so enjoy this while you can.

ENJOY!

ARGUS

The world is on fire, or at least it feels that way. No matter how many fires he puts out, children, he saves from burning buildings, or cats he rescues from a tree, the world still heats up, burns scorches the very path he walks on and it's all too consuming.

No—he isn't a firefighter though that profession seems easy compared to the line of work he does. But he was good at it, and at times seems like he was the only one that could handle it—could make sense of what others couldn't go places no one dared to go. It was hard and dirty work but above all, it was lonely.

For a while, he thought he had found someone to share his burden with and it worked for a while. But then he had pushed not only his burdens but his ideas and dreams onto her shoulders and though they were strong, could carry the weight of the world on them, his troubles were too much, strained and confined her a little more, into a world that neither of them knew they entered nor how to escape.

While she had escaped and found happiness—or what she believed it to be—he was still burning. The inferno grew cramped, and the temperature rose with every passing moment. He'd been burning with such a burden, this flame on his chest and no one could help him.

And in that fire one day, he found a spot that didn't burn as hot anymore. It wasn't this scorching pain but rather this warm comfort, one that resembled sitting by an open fire in the middle of the woods, telling ghost stories in the company of loved ones. He had never known that warmth though others around him seemed to relish in it. So, when it came to him in that burning inferno, he ran towards it, never looking back, never stopping to ask questions, never wondering if it was too good to be true because he had dealt with enough of the truth in his relationship and the truth, well—it fucking burned.

"Steve!" A voice shouts, snapping Steve Trevor out of his daze.

Steve looks up from his desk to the doorway. A woman stands in the doorway, adorned in a white doctor's coat that he had the opportunity to rip off once every while. Steve sighs and rubs his eyes, taking a deep breath and looking back at her.

"Sorry." Steve sighs flashing the woman his million-dollar smile. "Were we supposed to have a meeting?"

The woman closes the door and then walks towards the colonel, sitting on the edge of his desk. "No." the woman admonishes. "But I think you should take Dr. Simon up on her offer of therapy."

"I've been debriefed."

"Yet you're still here, dead to the world."

"I was waiting for you," Steve says, resting his hand on her knee, not daring to break work rules. "Didn't want to go home alone."

He didn't like going home in general. There weren't enough activities to keep his mind off work. It's the only thing he thought about, the only way he felt useful to the world was by saving it. Yes, he had a hero complex but when working with them, dating, and being dumped by one, it's the only ego he can grow.

"Steve." The dark-haired woman says, her hand resting over his. "It's okay to talk to someone. I know I can't get details but I'm still a psychiatrist."

"The best there is, Dr. Grace Khan." Steve compliments but is obviously deflecting.

Steve brings her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles gently. It's the only time he can do this, be gentle and caring, and slip away if just for a moment. He doesn't want to tell her his burdens because she has her own. Dr. Grace Khan also deals with her own group of troubled soldiers, not needing to add her boyfriend to the list. Plus, Grace had seen a few of Steve's terrible moments and he didn't want to expose her to more, to the ugly truth of him.

No, Dr. Grace Khan, or rather Grace was new to Steve's world, to ARGUS. Records account that she recently moved from a small town in Greece after getting her Ph.D. in Psychology, earning her MD, and becoming board certified in the States.

After the incident five years ago, ARGUS made it mandatory that every agent meets with a psychiatrist once every week. Failing to do so meant no field work and having their mental status questioned in the line of duty. Thus, the call for more doctors came into play, and like an answer to some secret prayer Grace Khan had come into Steve's life.

"Right." Grace nods, getting up from the desk.

"Wait," Steve says, getting up and gently pulling Grace back to him and standing. "I'm sorry." Steve apologizes, his thumb brushing her rosy cheeks. "I-I just…it's hard to talk about it. Every time I get a case—I see a victim tha-that looks like you, I get scared."

"Steve." Grace sighs, looking up at him. "They aren't me, I'm r—"

"I know." Steve nods. "I know but I think that you're next and if I say it, then it feels like it's going to happen, and I can't—I can't lose you. I won't lose you, Grace."

It's been three months since the chain of murders started. For the first month, ARGUS had kept it quiet until the media got a tip on the sixth body. Of course, the media didn't know it was six until that information was leaked. It now became a string of murders throughout the States, the public believing that they were living in an area of a new serial killer.

The victims were all women, all seeming to be of European descent, black hair and blue eyes, sometimes blue thrown into the mix, around the same age of twenty-three to twenty-eight. It was the demographic that Grace fit, and it terrified him. They all look like her, the woman that Steve Trevor is in love with.

"Steve, stop it," Grace says, lacing her hand with his. "I'm right here, okay. I'm not going anywhere. Nothing is going to happen to me. You'll find out the truth and then you'll be able to move on, okay?" Steve nods and Grace smiles, placing a kiss on his cheek. "Let's go home."

Wayne Manor

The world is not burning, not yet at least. However, the world is heating up, getting ready for the spark to set the world ablaze. For three months it's felt like that as if they're all holding their breath, shutting their eyes, and waiting for the smoke that's crept into the room to dissipate and the alarms to extinguish all fires.

Even he was on edge, waiting for something to happen. He was always a man five steps ahead of everyone- contingency plans from a to z and yet he was lost. The best detective in the world couldn't figure out the string of murders. Any evidence he did have went straight to ARGUS as now is the protocol for things such as these. Well—the evidence that didn't give information, while the good stuff, he had for himself.

"Still playing Hero huh, Batsy?" The grimy voice asks, sauntering into the foyer of Wayne Manor. "After all this time, I thought you'd join me and retire."

"When were you ever a hero, John?"

"Ouch." John fains a wound to the heart. "I saved the world a few times… put it in danger a few times too, but who's counting."

Bruce doesn't have time for this conversation, he wants to get to the point. Bruce hands John the wrinkled paper. Bruce couldn't read the language and the search on the web didn't show any books or artifacts that connected to the piece of paper. The language wasn't known to man and Green Lantern compared the language to all other alien languages, but nothing came up.

"It ain't the Queen speech." John groans.

"It's not from Earth and it's not alien either," Bruce says. "Maybe from another dimension."

"And what makes you think that I—" John scoffs as the realization hits him. "You fucking cock—"

"John I couldn't get to her without you."

"Bloody hell!" John hisses. "You think she's gonna talk to me after the shit I pulled."

"She loves you, John." Bruce reminds John.

"Loved, mate." John corrects Bruce. "Love ain't strong enough to make up for the shit we did to her, to them."

Bruce stays silent, doesn't warrant John a response. He didn't want to think about the past, about the years when he and his team were not recognizable. They didn't function as a team, too much tension and pressure from not only the press and government but from each other. Bruce was left alone to pick up the pieces from the mess he made.

"But I'll try." John sighs, looking at the paper. "There's been some shit going on around here and I doubt she doesn't feel it."

John looks up at Bruce and nods. Walking towards the door, John looks at the paper and stops. Without turning to Bruce, he asks him a question, one that Bruce wasn't ready to answer.

"We'll need more than just us, Bruce," John says. "But I know you got a plan for that."

Somewhere in the Solomon Islands

Their world had burned long ago, thus it called for a retreat. Their lungs filled with smoke while their feet burned against the heated coal as they traveled through the smog, grey and blurred. Every house that was once supposed to be safe had crumbled around them, beams breaking, the ceiling caving in, walls with holes and cracking in the foundations that only led to the house cracking, breaking, giving way to the pressure outside.

And when all seemed lost, when every dream and desire seemed to be carried away by the wind, some embers lingered and once found, burned brighter and hotter than any fire the world had seen.

"Be careful." Diana shrieks, watching as Lyta tackles Lara and they fall into the water.

Johnathan giggles as the waves crash onto his feet, clapping his hands and smiling. Diana smiles as she lifts Johnathan up, letting him jump over the waves as they come in.

"Papa!" the twins shouts as they run out of the water and towards their father who bends down to pick them up, each girl on his arm. Diana turns around, holding Johnathan in her hands and she can sense her husband falter, catching his breath as he looks at her.

"Seems like you guys had a fun day," Kal says, walking towards Diana and placing a kiss on her lips. "Sorry I missed out."

"Ewww!" The girls groan in unison as they watch their parents kiss, Diana chuckling as the girls wiggle in Kal's arms.

Kal then walks to the ocean and tosses the girls in, both laughing and smiling as they come up for air. Diana smiles as the girls then use their speed to grab their father, pulling him into the ocean. They wrestle, Kal of course letting the girls win until he begs for mercy.

Diana then sits on the beach, Johnathan sitting and playing with the sand next to her. It had taken a while for them to get to this state, find a place where they could build a family, have a life, and not fear being found out.

They lived in a small village, where local news and phone service were minimal. The population of the village was no more than three thousand people, not complete isolation but nothing like the metropolitan cities they lived in before.

Life on this island was slow and calm like an open fire burning on the white sand beaches. It was calm and normal, something both had wanted for themselves and the family they had raised and would continue to expand.

Once tired, Kal walks out of the water, spinning quickly to dry himself off and sitting next to Diana. Johnathan crawls over Diana to reach his father, Kal smiling and sitting the child in his lap.

"Have you decided yet?" Kal asks, kissing Johnathan's head and then smiling down at his son.

"It's not an easy decision to make, Kal." Diana sighs, looking at her daughters. "We've never traveled with a child, especially a newborn."

"He's almost one."

"He's still a toddler, Kal-El." Diana retorts, lightly shoving Kal with her shoulder. "His powers haven't come in yet and I want it to be safe for him."

"Diana," Kal says, wrapping his arm around Diana, bringing her into his chest, and placing a kiss on the crown of her head. "You know I will always protect you and our family. But we don't have to go now, there isn't a rush, we have all the time in the world."

They did have all the time in the world, and it was something that they didn't have before. Diana recalls Christmas time, when she had asked the league to leave them alone for the holidays, just give them time to decompress, relax and enjoy their time with each other, before the world needed saving again.

But now, they took this time for themselves, for their family, and neither regrated it. Not when they lived a life where either of them could die, a life where this very moment with their children on the beach was only a fantasy.

"And I've got time to convince you to marry me." Kal teases Diana which has Diana rolling her eyes and pulling away from him.

"Gods, Kal." Diana groans. "I've had three of your children and we live together, yet still want that piece of paper."

"It just makes it official." Kal shrugs. "We don't wear rings, nor do we have wedding photos and the children don't even have birth certificates."

"The certificates aren't an issue, when they start school, I'm sure we could find—"

Diana stops talking as he looks at Kal as he holds Johnathan. They had done everything Diana wanted to do and almost everything Kal wanted to do. They moved to a semi-remote island, had children, have normal jobs, thus from the outside they seemed to be a modern couple.

But then a realization sets in for Diana, something that Kal hasn't mentioned but holds dear to his heart. Kal's parents wanted to see them married, before they passed away, officially bonding them as a family. When the couple had broken the news of Diana's pregnancy to the Kents, the second question was 'When is the wedding?' to which neither had an answer.

Kal had waited for the perfect moment but then Johnathan Kent had fallen sick and passed. It was rough after that, having newborn twins and Kal dealing with the loss of his father while taking care of his mother as well. Kal's way of dealing with pain and loss was to recoil into himself, thus, emotionally neglecting his girlfriend.

They recovered and then Martha passed. After that, it was never exactly brought up again until Diana fell pregnant with Johnathan. Though marriage was something foreign to Amazons, she wasn't exactly a traditional Amazon. Diana was not only a mother but living with a man, in love with a man, something against Amazon rules. Diana wasn't opposed to marriage; she just didn't see the importance of it, but it meant something to Kal.

"Beloved," Diana says, cupping Kal's face and turning his gaze towards her. "I am yours in every single way. I'm bound to you, and I will not leave you."

"I know, my love," Kal says, his hand resting on Diana's. "I know it just—it connects us, and It feels—"

"Normal," Diana says, finishing Kal's sentences.

Diana forgets sometimes that it's the life they live, a mundane one, one that they'd fought for. It only seemed right to officially tie the knot.

"I will marry you, Kal-El," Diana says, smiling at him. "After our month's vacation."

Kal chuckles and grasps Diana's hand, kissing her knuckles. "I'll hold you to it."

So the Justice League is not being controlled by the government. However, following the incident and departure of Superman & Wonder Woman, things had to change. Justice League now works with ARGUS and all Police Departments in their respective jurisdictions. Pretty much the JL can not openly investigate active crimes and their scenes without it being viewed as tampering with evidence or being an accessory to a crime. It didn't seem right for the JL to be controlled by the government and there would be no JL if that was the case. This is the happy middle for the story. Of course, the Justice League doesn't like it but they enjoy hero work too much to let the government ruin their fun. I'll expand upon it more in later chapters.

Hopefully, this makes sense. More will be explained but I left it pretty open-ended because our heroes need that freedom to be heroes.