I looked down from the cliff above as police and first responders tended to the hostages. Gordon and Liam were quick in having Gotham PD down here as soon as the threat was gone.
The man that saved us earlier from the water did turn out to be the man Bruce had tried to recruit first. Arthur Curry is his name or as the rumors called him the Aquaman. Arthur joined us up on the cliff but Victor had still yet to return.
Diana looked up to the sky with a frown on her face. "It called to him," We turned to her as she spoke.
She lowered her head to look at us, "The Mother Box. The one he already had." She stated.
I raised a brow, "That's what got him to leave?" Diana nodded. I was wondering why he suddenly just beamed away like that. He was winning.
"He has two. He took the Mother Box from Atlantis." Arthur corrected Diana.
"All he needs now is the lost Box of Men." Diana stated.
"If he doesn't already have it." Batman stated.
Our attention turned when Victor suddenly landed. I frowned seeing a box in one of his hands. That's it.
"He doesn't have it. I do." Victor stated.
"At least we have the upper hand now." I stated as I crossed my arms, "But we need to talk about what happened back there.
Barry grimaced, "Yeah, that wasn't good." He agreed.
"If the Mother Box didn't call Steppenwolf back we would have lost. Hell, I still consider this a loss. Everyone was working individually instead of as a team unit. We all agreed that we would attack as a team, but," My eyes glanced at Victor, "it just takes one person on the team to throw it off." Victor narrowed his one eye on me. His heavy footsteps banged against the ground as he moved to.
I fully turned to him and held my ground, "My father was in danger. I did what I had to." He said lowly.
"I get that, but we had a plan and you needed to have stuck with it. Instead of going in there by yourself, we all could have worked together to get your father out of there. We're supposed to be working as a team but we don't have a clear direction." I stated.
"What are you trying to say, Mel?" Diana asked.
"I'm saying we need a leader. Diana was acting leader back there but there was no follow through. The Avengers have Captain America to lead them. This team has nobody like that right now." I stated.
"Are you suggesting yourself?" Arthur asked.
I shook my head, "No, I don't have the tactical experience to lead a team. Cap has prior military experience which allowed him to lead us like he did."
"Um, I don't think any of us have any tactical experience then." Barry said as he looked around the six of us.
"No. One of us does." Diana stated and looked over at Batman. Batman's eyes widened slightly seeing all of us looking towards him.
"Me?" He questioned. He looked taken aback.
Diana had a point. Bruce is easily the most decisive out of all of us. He's the only normal human on the team. He's always had to think tactically and strategically against everything he's ever fought against because of it.
"You're the best option, Bruce. You have the tactical experience, you're a strategist, and not to mention this was your idea to bring a team together. Batman needs to lead this team." I agreed with Diana.
Barry raised his hand up, "I second that." Barry agreed as well.
"You're the one that brought us this far. You might as well be the one that leads us the rest of the way." Victor said in agreement.
"You're crazy enough to run around dressed like a bat, now you can add team leader to your resume." Arthur stated.
"Then it looks like we're all in agreement." Diana looked at all of us before going back to Batman, "The Batman is the one that will lead us against Steppenwolf."
Batman looked at us slightly shocked before his steely gaze came back. He nodded his head.
"Alright. I'll do it." I smile proudly at him. I knew he'd rise to the challenge. Batman always does.
"Okay then. What are we doing next? We have no idea where Steppenwolf took off to." Barry asked.
"More than likely he's retreated to the main nest. We've destroyed the one here and we have the last Mother Box. It doesn't seem to be awake yet. We bought ourselves some time." Diana stated.
"Then we need to use that time while we have it. That fight had its toll on all of us. We can't face Steppenwolf like this. Everyone needs to recover for the night. We'll meet back up at the hangar at sunrise. We'll come up with a plan then." Batman instructed us.
"That sounds great to me. I don't know about you guys but I'm starving." Barry held his hand to his stomach. I couldn't help but smile and chuckle. Leave it to the guy with the insanely high metabolism to think about food right now.
"I'll keep the Mother Box safe until then." Victor stated.
"I'll stay with you to make sure it does." Diana added. The two shared a look and Victor nodded in agreement.
"We'll meet back up in the morning then."
I stepped foot outside of the elevator in the lakeside penthouse. Bruce was still in the cave changing out of his suit. Alfred was still down there himself, filtering through the damage to the Knightcrawler. He said he'd be having to make a call to Fox to have it repaired.
The house was completely dark except for the blue light coming from the TV in the living room. I furrowed my brows slightly as I made my way to the living room. Alfred had mentioned that Dick was determined to stay up until both Bruce and I had gotten home. He doubted that the twelve year old actually did though.
I approached the back of the black leather sofa and stopped. The TV's volume was low and a cartoon was playing. Dick laid curled up on the sofa with his head on the arm rest. His chest rose and fell as he took even deep breaths in his sleep. A soft smile grew on my face at the scene. It looks like he tried his best to stay awake.
I walked around the sofa and grabbed the remote sitting on the coffee table. I turned off the TV and now the only light coming in through the glass was the full moon. I set the remote down and kneeled down to the sofa. I placed one arm under Dick's back and my other under his legs.
I carefully began to carry him as I stood back up. I adjusted him slightly in my arms so his head would rest against my right shoulder. I began to walk down the hallway where the spare bedrooms were located. Alfred had shown me Dick's room earlier in the day when I first arrived.
I used my foot to gently make the cracked bedroom door open more. I walked into the dark room and headed to the full size bed in the middle of the room. I laid him down on top of the bed and rested his head on his pillow. I pulled down the sheets from under him and placed them on top of him.
My hand subconsciously went towards the direction of his head before I stopped myself. My hand hovered just above his hair. I was so use to doing this with Morgan but I had to remind myself that Dick isn't her.
My relationship with him is still rocky and I didn't want to overstep. I recoiled my hand back and smiled sadly. One day we'll get there but that day isn't today. I took a step back and made my way out of his room. I grabbed the door handle and gave one last look at the sleeping boy. I really wished I had been here when Bruce adopted him. It would have been different. I slowly closed the bedroom door and soft click sounded as it fully shut.
"You're allowed to tuck him in, you know that right?" I heard Bruce's voice come from behind me. He must have been watching me earlier.
I turned around to see Bruce in his usual casual clothes of sweatpants and a white t-shirt.
"It's something I use to do with Morgan when I would put her to bed. I wasn't even thinking. Dick and mine's relationship isn't there yet. I didn't want to overstep." Bruce frowned slightly hearing that.
"You didn't overstep, Mel. You did what any parent would have done. You carried your son to his room and put him to bed." Bruce gently grabbed my wrist and pulled me to him. I wrapped my arms around his torso as he rested his hands on my hips.
"I just don't want to mess this up." I whispered quietly and rested my head against Bruce's chest.
I felt Bruce's arms now wrap around me, "You're not going to mess this up. You've already gotten him to open up more than I have. You're going to do just fine, Mel." Bruce whispered back gently.
I took a deep breath at his comforting words. His scent filled my nose and I could feel myself relax in his arms. It had been so long since I've been held by him like this.
"I missed you so much." I muttered and gently gripped the soft cotton material of his shirt. I felt Bruce tighten his hold on me and place a kiss on the top of my head.
"I missed you too. More than you could ever know, Mel." He pulled back from the hug but kept one arm around my waist.
"Come on, we need to get ready for bed ourselves." He ushered.
I turned off the shower head and grabbed the towel hanging just outside the shower. I stepped onto the bath matt and began to dry myself off. I leaned over to look into the bedroom and frowned seeing the now empty bed. Bruce was laying there when I got in. The covers were pulled back on his side indicating that he had gotten up. Where did he go?
I grabbed my robe I had hung up earlier and wrapped it around my body. I tied the middle and placed the towel on top of my head. I ran the towel through my hair as I walked into the master bedroom. The sensor lights in the bathroom turned off as I left. I stopped seeing Bruce through the glass wall. He was standing out on the pier of the lake.
I placed the towel around my neck and walked to the side glass door. I opened the door to meet the warm summer air. My bare feet padded silently on the wooden deck below. I folded my arms around me as I walked up next to Bruce.
"Are you okay?" I asked softly.
I turned my head slightly to look up at him. His gaze was out over the lake. He seemed to have been in deep thought.
"Just thinking." He replied simply. He kept his eyes out to the lake.
I frowned slightly, "About what?" I probed.
He let out a sigh, "Everything. The Mother Boxes, the team, you coming back, and the dream I had years ago." I tilted my head at the last part.
"What dream?" Bruce finally turned his head to look at me.
"The nightmare I had before you disappeared. The one I had when I fell asleep in the cave waiting for the decryption of Lex's files." That's right, he did have one. He didn't want to tell me about it and he seemed really freaked out.
"I remember. You practically freaked out when you saw me." I stated and turned my body to face him.
He nodded, "I had a nightmare about this post-apocalyptic world. A world where he was a villain. I watched him kill you in front of me." He said softly. Knowing what I know now about dreams…that world did exist somewhere out in the multiverse. A universe that I was dead in.
"He?" Bruce fully turned to me now.
"Superman."
I raised my brows at that, "Oh. What else did you see in the nightmare?"
"I'm not sure if the next part was part of my dream or if it actually happened. Barry showed up and told me that I was right about Superman. That he was dangerous. He said something about being too early and kept repeating "Lois is the key" to me." Lois is the key? What did that mean?
"That's cryptic." I muttered. Barry showing up in the dream didn't make any sense. That must have actually happened then. There is that theory that scientists believe if you could move fast enough, you could essentially go back in time. But this wasn't just traveling back in time, this was a different universe. Did an alternate version of Barry find a way to transverse the multiverse with his speed?
"I've been trying to figure out what exactly he meant by that since." Bruce ran a hand through his hair, "Or I'm just overacting. It was just a dream." I grimaced.
"Actually…it's not. At least for an alternate version of you." Bruce's face turned into a puzzled look.
"What are you talking about?" He sounded completely confused.
"It's about how I got back, Bruce. A fourteen year old with the powers to open portals to the different worlds of the multiverse. She's how I got back but she told me something that might make you take that dream more seriously. Every time we dream, we're seeing through the eyes of an alternate version of ourselves. That post-apocalyptic world you saw in your dream…isn't really a dream. It's another you living in that universe. A universe where Superman became the villain." I explained to him.
Bruce's brows furrowed in thought, "If that's a different universe, then how did Barry show up?" I shrugged my shoulders.
"We don't really know the extent of his powers. They say if you can go fast enough you can warp reality. Barry might be like America and could transverse through the multiverse or at least an alternate version of him figured it out." Bruce slowly nodded but I could see he was still in thought.
"That means another version of you actually died then." He mumbled under his breath.
I grimaced and nodded, "Yeah. I'm kind of glad I was awake. I wouldn't have wanted to dream about that." I felt Bruce's arms wrap around me and pulled me into a hug.
"Hey, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." I comforted him and wrapped my arms around him.
"I promise you, Mel. I'll do everything in my power to make sure you and Dick are kept safe." He promised and tightened his hold on me.
"I know you will, but you're forgetting I'm still Voltess. I get put into dangerous situations all the time." I reminded him.
"And you're forgetting that Batman will be right next to you. I'll be fighting and protecting you by your side." Bruce countered and pulled back from the hug. He kept a loose hold around me.
A small smile formed on my face. I moved my arms from around him and rested my palms flat on his abdomen. I could feel his toned muscles through the thin fabric of the shirt. Yet another thing I've missed.
My smile turned into a smirk as a mischievous idea crossed my mind. There's something else I've missed doing. Bruce noticed the look and raised a brow.
"What are you thinking?" He asked. He knew the look I had on my face meant something.
My smirk grew, "Don't worry about it." I whispered with a suggestive tone. A smirk graced Bruce's face catching onto my tone of voice.
I lifted myself slightly to stand on the balls of my feet. Bruce got the hint and leaned down. Our lips met in a heated kiss. Bruce separated from the kiss partially.
"You know we're supposed to get some rest." He whispered in a teasing tone. His breathing is currently heavy from the sudden heated kiss.
My smirk grew, "We will," I slipped my hands under his shirt, "after we've had our fun." I let small sparks release from my fingertips.
A surprised gasp escaped from the man in front of me. I felt his muscles twitch from the small shock. Bruce's lust filled eyes met my mischievous filled ones.
Without warning, Bruce suddenly picked me up in a bridal carry style. A small squeal came from me because of the sudden action. My arms instinctually went around his neck. He wordlessly carried me in the direction of the bedroom. He used his foot to push open the glass door.
He turned the tight corner where the king size bed stood. He dropped me onto the bed. He quickly pulled his shirt over his head and threw it to the ground. I sat up and my eyes immediately took in the sight of his shirtless torso. I could right away identify the new scars that he had gained since I left.
He then discarded his sweatpants leaving him only in his boxers. He kicked off the clothing from his ankle. Our eyes met and I could see the lust he held in his eyes. I knew mine also held the same. It had been a long eighteen months since I had been intimate. I knew that also applied to Bruce as well.
Bruce leaned down and captured me in another heated kiss. I kissed him back with the same amount of force as he was. A groan came from him. I felt his arm wrap around my waist and in one motion he lifted me further onto the bed as he climbed onto it.
I felt my back make contact with the bed below me as Bruce now hovered over me. He began to trail down my chin and neck. My body shuddered, feeling the sparking sensation with each kiss. I placed my palms on his abdomen and trailed them up until I rested them on his chest. A muffled groan came from him and I could feel his body shudder under my palms.
A moan left my lips when I felt Bruce begin to nip and suck at the skin on my neck. I felt Bruce undo the loose knot of the front of my robe. I could feel the cool air hit my bare skin as the front of the robe opened. A gasp escaped from me when I felt his calloused hands begin to feel the exposed skin. Bruce stopped his attack on my neck and nuzzled his face into the crook of my neck.
"It's been so long since I've felt you." His breath tickled my skin as he whispered. His hands continued to gently caress my body as he spoke. The sensual touching sent shivers down my spine. I had almost forgotten the effect this man had on me.
"I almost forgot what this felt like." I whispered softly. I moved my hand on his chest slightly until I could feel his heart beating against it.
Bruce lifted his head to stare down at me. The lustful look was now gone from his face and replaced with a loving look. He moved one hand and gently placed it over my hand on his chest.
He gave it a gentle squeeze, "So did I." He leaned back down and captured me in a more loving and passionate kiss. I moved my hands to go around his neck. I felt one of his arms go under me and pull me down slightly. He removed his arm and I could feel him shift on the bed. He hadn't broken the kiss so I wasn't sure exactly what he was doing.
I soon got my answer. I felt him pressing himself against my lower half. I could feel my body quake in anticipation. My body was begging for more of him at this point. Bruce slowly broke the kiss and he gazed into my eyes.
My back arched and a gasp escaped from me as I felt him thrust forward. It had truly been too long since the last time I've felt him. I could already tell that I wouldn't last long. A broad smile appeared on Bruce's face as he looked down at me.
He leaned down and softly placed another kiss on my lips. Muffled moans escaped both of us as he thrusted further in. My legs wrapped around him and another set of moans could be heard. Bruce began to set a steady pace.
He broke the kiss and leaned his head under my chin as he focused on the task at hand. I dragged my fingers against his back, enlisting a groan from him. He quickly brought me further down the bed and sped up at the new angle. A deep moan came from me as I felt him hit that spot that had been neglected for months.
I couldn't hold back the release anymore and I could feel my body tense up. I felt Bruce shudder and a moan came from him as he did a final thrust forward and held it as his release came soon after mine.
Bruce lifted his head and captured me in another soft kiss. The two of us are still currently riding off the high of our releases.
"We're out of practice." I muttered breathlessly.
A grin and breathless chuckle broke out from Bruce. He gingerly kissed my forehead and looked me in the eyes, "Sunrise isn't for several hours. We've got plenty of time to get back into practice." He said with a suggestive smirk on his face.
I matched his smirk, "Doesn't leave much time for resting." I said sarcastically.
"I think we'll manage." He responded and captured me in a heated kiss. I could already feel him begin to rock his hips again. This was going to be a long night.
I bit the tip of my thumb as I leaned back in the office chair in the hangar. I watched the computer screen as Athena still entered the new code for the software for the carrier. I was currently alone in the hangar while Bruce went out to get the others.
"How close are we to being done with the code?" I asked the AI.
"A couple more hours at best, Mel." Athena responded. I let out a sigh and slightly moved the office side to side.
"I really want to know who Fox let program this software. They need to learn how to properly code." I muttered under my breath.
The sound of the hangar door opening caught my attention. I leaned further back in the chair to see the black van Bruce had taken earlier. I stood up as the engine was cut and the team began to file out of the van.
"Again, so cool. From the outside, it looks like this building is abandoned." Barry reinstated. Himself, Diana, and Bruce congregated over to where I was. Victor stopped and stared at the carrier.
"It wants to fly." I furrowed my brows and looked up at the carrier.
"You talk to machines?" Arthur questioned. He had a judgmental look on his face.
"Can't you talk to fish?" I fired back with a smirk. Out of all of us to judge talking to weird things…Aquaman isn't the best one to do it. My smirk grew seeing the annoyed look Arthur shot at me.
"I speak to intelligence. This one's saying she can't fly because of a software issue." Victor then turned to me, "She's saying you're helping her." I was taken back by that.
"Huh yeah. The code was completely wrong. Athena's been working on re-writing all the code. It's almost done." I announced.
Victor nodded and a small smile appeared as he looked back at the carrier, "She's saying thank you." I scrunched up my face and looked at the carrier. Victor and Arthur headed for the center table with the others.
"Huh…you're welcome…I guess?" I muttered as I stared at the carrier. I am completely weirded out by this situation right now.
"Mel, you talk to me all the time. It shouldn't be that strange." I gave a blank stare. Nice timing Athena. Barry, Arthur, and Victor froze hearing the AI's voice.
"Who was that?" Barry asked as he turned his head over in my direction.
"Right. You three haven't met yet. Guys this is Athena. She's my personal AI. Say hi, Athena." I said as I walked around the desk.
"Hello."
Barry pointed towards me, "I heard you say the name earlier. I just never expected it to actually talk back. It's like Siri." I frowned at the comparison. I opened my mouth to talk but Victor beat me to it.
"Athena's AI is much more sophisticated then what's on our phones. I can sense it in the programming. Whoever made this AI went to special lengths to give it a personality." Victor stated.
"My friend made Athena. He made sure the AI would be able to follow up with me in a conversation." I stated with a grin.
"And you think me talking to fish is weird." Arthur clapped back with a smirk.
"At least Athena can talk back." I fired back without missing a beat. Arthur rolled his eyes as we all surrounded the center table now. I stood next to Bruce at the table.
Victor set the Mother Box onto the table, "There's a dark spot in my data stream. I could feel the other two boxes. I know they're awake, but I can't see where they are." He stated.
"Well, we can't attack unless we know where the base is." Arthur argued.
"Even if we knew, I've never seen a being as strong as Steppenwolf," Diana said and leaned on the table, "Maybe one."
"Hm. Superman." Barry stated.
I shrugged, "Steppenwolf is strong I'll give him that but, he's nothing to sneeze at. Try fighting a purple alien with the power of magical stones that could wipe out the entire universe with a snap of his fingers." I emphasized by snapping my right fingers.
Barry's jaw dropped, "You fought that?" He asked in disbelief.
I gave a tight lip smile and held up two fingers, "Twice. First time we lost, the second time we won. It wasn't easy or painless for that matter." I stated and crossed my arms. A shiver went down my spine just remembering the pain the Power Stone had caused on me. Not once but twice have I felt it.
"As long as the third box is asleep, they can't see it, only sense it. We stayed still all night. We need to keep moving so they can't catch up." I disagreed with that plan. That's just running away.
"No. That's just a strategy to lose more slowly, not to win." Bruce argued.
"We actually need to make a plan of attack. That's the only way we're winning this." I advised.
"Remind me, are flamethrowers not a thing? Why don't we just destroy it?" Barry questioned and gestured to the box.
"Fire doesn't destroy the boxes. They're an unknown form of matter. Oh, they love heat. They absorb it, hold it in their cores." Victor stated.
"Well, you know a lot about these boxes. Makes you think." Arthur said with suspicion in his voice. My eyes glanced over at Victor. Arthur had a point. How did Victor know so much about the box? Could he be trusted was the more important question.
"Where'd you find the box, Victor?" Bruce asked. He was thinking along the same way as I was.
"Are you trying to say something?" Victor asked.
"Oh, I'm saying it. How do we know you're not working for them?" Arthur confronted Victor.
"Paranoia runs hand and hand with hero work. Typically when a good guy knows too much about the object they're after. It's typically a telltale sign they're not actually the good guy. We need to know we can trust you, Vic." I added and shifted weight to one foot.
"It's a long story." Victor stated as he eyed Arthur and I.
"You got somewhere else to be?" Arthur countered.
Victor looked down at the table and a projector showed on it. A diagram of a map suddenly began to form.
"The Nazis found the box at the end of the Second World War, buried under an Italian monastery. The Allies intercepted it on its way to Hitler. They brought it back to the States in '44. Unknown object 6-1-9-8-2. It collected dust in the Pentagon archives for seventy years till DoD began to study the Superman ship. A researcher at STARLABS made a connection between the ship…and 6-1-9-8-2." The US Government probably thought the box and Superman had something in common.
"He understood they were both alien technologies." Called it.
"Different civilizations, similar properties. And though the box had slept for thousands of years, the researcher formulated a theory on how to awaken it. And so did. Then…I had an accident that should've killed me. But in an act of desperation or madness, the researcher harnessed the power of the Mother Box. He unleashed an alien technology he didn't fully understand. He used that power to keep me alive." Victor paused on his words.
"Alive…but turned into this." The hologram image disappeared, "The box went back to sleep and he never returned it. That researcher was Silas Stone. My father." Dr. Stone is the one that did this to his son?
"Wait, your father saved your life with one of these things? Aren't they psycho murder machines?" Barry questioned.
"They're changing machines. The boxes don't think in terms of healing or killing, alive or dead. They rearrange matter at the will of their masters, regenerate, reinstate." Victor explained.
"Reinstate?" Diana questioned.
"Are you saying that this box," I pointed to the box, "has the ability to transform a state of matter by essentially reverting it back? As if it never happened?" This box was sounding like it had the same powers as the Time Stone. Essentially, you're turning back the time of the object. Thanos had use it to bring Vision back from the dead to get the Mind Stone. Wait…back from the dead…
Victor nodded, "To put it simply, yes."
"So, you mean in the way that particles of matter can't be created or destroyed, their relations just transform." Barry added.
"Burn down a house, the particles still exist. Particles of the house become particles of smoke." Victor stated.
"Anybody with a match can turn a house into smoke." Diana said as she stared at the box.
"But a Mother Box…" Arthur trailed off as he stared at the box.
"...turns smoke back into a house." Bruce finished. We all glanced at each other. We all had the same thought.
"I know we're all thinking the same thing right now. Who's gonna say it? I'm not gonna say it." Barry questioned.
I gave an open mouth smirk, "We can bring Superman back." Victor then projected a holographic image of Clark Kent himself in his Superman suit.