Gotham City

September 22, 06: 56 EDT

"And then he said—" Barbara got interrupted by Dick nudging my right rib. He was wearing a ginormous grin.

"What is it, Dick?"

"Artemis is here!"

Instantly, a smirk of my own crept up my lips. I scanned the area to quickly set my eyes upon the blond girl standing awkwardly in the middle of the courtyard, not sure of what to do. She pulled down her skirt, yeah; she wasn't a big fan of anything that didn't cover her knees.

I stared as Bette came toward her, blue eyes sparkling in interest of seeing fresh meat to tamper with.

Barbara gave us a questioning look, "You know the blonde?"

I shrugged before grabbing Dick's hand and dragging him to where Artemis stood, "You could say that."

I came to stand behind Artemis, and casually wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "So, Arty, I see that you met Bette! What do you think of Gotham Academy so far?"

Her eyes widened comically, "Diana? You go here?"

"Did I not mention that when you went to my house?" I turned to Bette, "We can take it from here."

Bette raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure, Diana? I can give her a tour with no problems."

I shook my head; "You do that for everyone, Betty. You should take a rest today, I know that the cheerleading practice tires you out."

Bette smiled at us in gratitude, and left to her other girl friends. I turned to Artemis just in time to see Dick snapping a picture of them both.

"We'll laugh about this someday."

Artemis turned to me, "Isn't this the guy that you had a picture of on your nightstand?"

Dick instantly smirked at me, and winked teasingly. His clear blue eyes held this joyfulness to them that I had not seen in a very long time. "You have a picture of me that you can see every time you wake up?"

I rolled my eyes, mostly to mask my flushed face. "Dick, you have a picture of us both as your phone background picture! And a picture of us both on your desk, I think I should be the one asking you why."

Artemis looked in between us two, and turned to me with a smugness in her eyes. I knew that look.

Barbara came toward us, introducing herself to Artemis, and then moving on to talk to Dick about the rest of her story of the boy who had asked her out.

Artemis leant forward, whispering in my ear. "You two would make a cute couple."

I let out a snort, "Just like you and Wally?"

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"Bye guys!"

Dick let his gaze wander from his and Artemis' conversation to look at me questioningly, "I thought we were going to go train for gymnastics."

I shrugged, "Dinah said that I could skip today since her and Ollie are out on a date. Besides, gymnastics practice isn't today."

Dick nodded, "Don't get run over on your way back home."

I had almost looked at the dark-haired boy in startlement. Those were the same words that Roy had told me a few weeks back. I missed the older redhead, I hadn't seen or heard of him in such a long time.

The last time both him and I had seen each other was when Artemis joined the Team, and that had been more than a month ago. I didn't know anything about what he was doing, or if he was doing fine.

I didn't even know if he was alive!

I crossed the street, close to my neighborhood. That last thought unnerved me. I knew that Roy was perfectly able of taking care of himself, but that didn't mean I couldn't worry over him.

Roy had always seemed like a brother figure to me. We used to fight, argue, laugh, and train together. Since Ollie and Dinah went on dates often, Roy would come over to the house and keep me company. We would watch James Bond movies, and we had even gotten in a food fight once.

Roy and I would sometimes go out. We would go paintball fighting, to Smoothie King, grab a bite at an expensive restaurant, and even take walks in the beach.

We would have so much fun, even if the beginning of the night would start out with us both shouting at each other. We would always hug it out.

I felt myself sighing in grief, "Where are you, Roy?"

I unconsciously sped up my pace. I often did that when I was nervous or maddened by something, or, in this case, someone.

I took my cellphone out of my backpack, and dialled Roy's number. I wasn't sure if he would answer or not, but I could only hope. The ringing went off once, twice, and finally three times before someone on the other side picked up.

"Yes?"

I let out a nervous laugh. "Hey, Roy! It's me, Diana. I just wanted to see how you were doing. I haven't heard from you in a while."

"Oh, hi. I've been busy lately, but I'm fine…"

An awkward silence passed in between us.

"Hey…Uh, thanks for checking up on me."

I grinned to myself, "What are younger sisters for?"

"They're for annoying you constantly on the phone after you've been on a mission."

"Hey, this is the first time I've called you in months! Be grateful I haven't bombarded your phone with calls and texts!"

I heard a deep chuckle from the other line. I took out my house keys, already reaching the quaint building that I lived in. I opened the door and threw my backpack on one of the kitchen's stools."

"Diana, I need to go." Roy's voice suddenly turned serious. "Something came up. A new mission."

I felt like I shouldn't have made the call. "Oh, okay then. I guess, good luck on catching the bad guys!"

Roy sighed, "We'll go to Smoothie King soon, all right? Just like old times."

I rubbed my forehead, "Yeah, okay. Roy, you can't keep the universe waiting."

"Bye."

"…Bye."

The line went dead, and I couldn't help but drop the phone on the beige couch in the living room. I wanted to be able to talk to Roy for longer. It's been a whole month, and even more, since we last contacted each other. I couldn't help but think that it wasn't fair.

"Boy troubles?"

There. Was. No. Way.

I didn't dare turn around to prove that my guess was correct. I knew that voice. I hated that voice. All my emotions and thoughts despised him, except a small side of me that told my heart that he was still a part of me.

"What are you doing here?" I didn't have to look at him to know that he was smirking. That smile full of malice.

"No 'hello' or 'how have you been'?" When he realised that he wasn't going to ever get a reply to that, he sighed. "I could have not come here today, you know? I could have stayed away from you. Far away."

I turned half of my face to look into his eyes. He had the dark blue eyes of the ocean, and they bore the same colour as my own pair. "Wouldn't it have been better for you to stay out of my life, then?"

"I came for a reason."

I turned my whole body to face him, slowly, at a threatening speed. "What could your reason possibly be?"

"Oh, I'm sure you've already figured that out. You're a very smart girl."

I definitely knew why this man was standing in front of me today. His face told me that it wasn't for my own well-being purposes, but that didn't stop the persuasion from being there. I have been having troubles lately, troubles that only he could help me with.

"You don't want to admit it, but you know you need me." His dark brown hair glistened in the sunlight streaming in from the windows.

"Why would you help me, dad?" I spat at him, venom on my tone.

My father's eyes softened, "Why, I'm only looking out for my little girl!"

"Looking out for me?" I exclaimed indignantly. "If you truly cared about me, then you would have called at least once these past five years! Where the hell have you been?"

"Watch the language, young lady!" My father looked at me warningly, but I only glared back until he backed down. "Diana Rosa Crane, I came here for a reason. I saw you on TV lately, and you almost got yourself killed! You couldn't control your powers, you couldn't bend them to your will!"

I looked down in shame. No matter how horrible this man was, he was still my father, and getting lectures from him was like Dinah calling me out on something bad that I did. I just couldn't stand it.

"So, you are willingly offering me your help?" I asked suspiciously. "What's the catch?"

My father shook his head, "There's no catch. I just don't want to have a daughter who dies in battle because she can't control her powers! I don't want my legacy to be a teenage girl who dies because she was premature on bending her powers."

I sent him a deadly look, "Cut me some slack! I've been training my butt off these past three years with no mentor to actually teach me something about my powers! I'm doing pretty good without another time manipulator helping me along the way!"

My father sighed, and suddenly, I saw how truly old he was. His years were catching up to the younger body. "Sweetie—"

"You have no right to call me that!"

"Oh, and your dear old Oliver does? He's not even your real father!"

"He's more of a dad to me than you have been these past five years!" I shouted at him. "How do you even know about Ollie? Have you been spying on me?"

"I wanted to make sure you were all right!" My father finally screamed in my face. His tough exterior was crumbling. "Don't you get it? I have been worried sick about you all this time! That's why I came here today to help you with your powers! That's why I've been looking out for you these past years!"

I looked down at my socks. They seemed like the most comfortable thing to be gazing at, right then. "That still doesn't make it right. It doesn't make you coming here fine."

Suddenly, his calloused hands grabbed me by the shoulders. I was so shocked that I didn't push him away. "You don't have to forgive me! Just learn from me! You need this, and you know it! What will happen when you face a situation where the only way you can get out of it is slowing time, and slowing you with it?"

My father was seventy. He was old, but he definitely didn't look it. He was trapped in the body of a forty-year-old man; it was almost a blessing and a curse. Still, whenever I stared into his blue eyes, I saw him for the age that he truly was.

He could pass away at any moment now, but he was offering to help me master myself. It was a wonderful opportunity for me. It meant the less chance of dying. It meant one more day in staying alive.

That was the one goal both Dinah and I were trying to achieve. My father was giving me the chance to learn from him, even if it was for only one night. It would seem extremely foolish of me to let an opportunity like this pass away.

Yet, I didn't trust this man. I wanted to be able to trust him, I really did, but I couldn't. He'd hurt too many people, endangered too many lives, and shouted at me too many times.

I didn't have a good reason to believe him, or to let him train me.

I didn't trust him. Not anymore.

"Fine. I'll learn from you." I glared up at him. "I'm only doing this because this decreases the chances of me dying, though. It's the perfect opportunity for me to learn something about my powers."

My father archaically snickered, and I swore I could see a glint of accomplishment swimming in his eyes. "Good. Well then, Diana, I'm going to go ahead straight to the point."

I nodded, that was probably the best option.

"You need to learn how to stop, slow, and fast forward time with you going through those time changes, too. For example, when you're trying to get away from the enemy, and you need to jump a twenty-meter drop, you're going to hurt yourself by just jumping. You need to be able to slow yourself down as you halt time itself!"

I rolled my eyes, "All right, Albert Einstein, cut the crap. Teach me how to do it, and then we can merrily walk away as if nothing had happened."

My father smirked, and it wasn't like the warm ones that Dick often gave me. "Oh, but you need more training than for just one day, young lady. We're going to have to train for quite a few weeks, now. That is, if you want to be able to use your powers at their full potential."

I glared at him, "I agreed to it because you said you would be able to help me. I didn't think you would go ahead of yourself and think we could do it for more than just a few days."

"Sweet—Diana, you know, more than anyone, that to succeed, you have to train. Training has to be of more than just an hour. Especially with your powers."

I huffed, getting frustrated. This hadn't been our agreement. "I should just kick you out of the house."

My father tusked, "But you won't do that. I'm the only one who can possibly help you. You need me."

I looked down toward the floor, seemingly the millionth time that evening, and raised my eyes up. My face kept facing down, but my eyes glared at him, and I answered between clenched teeth. "Fine, dad."

My father smirked menacingly, and motioned for me to follow him out of the house. When we got outside, there was a motorcycle waiting for us both, and it was parked as if this was where it belonged.

It most certainly didn't belong there, but it was still there. It seemed impossible to move away. It haunted me.

We got on the bike, and I didn't ask questions. I didn't have to. I already knew where my father was going to drive us to, and even though I had no intention to visit that place, I didn't think we had a choice. It was the safest place for us to be in at that moment.

We drove in silence for half an hour. Those thirty minutes made me think about how awkward it could get between a father and daughter. How horribly uncomfortable a relationship could get.

There was nothing to talk about. There was nothing for us to catch up on, no 'how you doing' or 'what's up'.

There was nothing that could possibly break the dense layer of years separating us both.

Absolutely nothing at all.

We passed buildings and parks, but I couldn't shake the feeling that everything was so new to me. I had walked through these roads almost a billion times, but never had they felt so strange. It felt just like it did when I saw my father; it was exactly like talking to a stranger for the second time.

You didn't remember names, you don't know anything about them, but you have seen them. You formed a connection with them. You just can't figure them out, though.

At least, not anymore.

When we got to the low ceiling buildings, I was shocked to find them the same as how they were when I was nine. My father chuckled at me from behind, "You definitely haven't changed. You still have that child-like wonder in you."

I glared at him, "Thanks for noticing, dad."

He just ignored me, and put on his sunglasses, walking into the apartment that used to be ours. The inside of our old house was definitely the same, too.

The cheap furniture was still decaying, and the lamps flickered just slightly. The bathroom was full of ants crawling about, and the air conditioner barely worked. We had bought about four fans when I was little, so I turned them all on.

"Did you—Did you visit this place?" I hesitated. "You know, after mom…died?"

My father sighed, and just then, he looked extremely weak and pale. "Many times. I still lose count whenever I try to find out how many times I visited this place. I never did any changes to it, though."

He paused, this wasn't easy for him to admit."You couldn't bring yourself to?"

My father nodded, and for the first time in years, he actually smiled in appreciation. "I couldn't bring myself to, yeah."

As soon as the grin came, it vanished, and in came his strict side. "All right, this is what we're going to have to do…"

Throughout a full five hours, we practiced. I learned, I added into his techniques, and could I just say, I was a good apprentice.

I listened intently to everything my father had to say about my powers. I sucked in the information like a vacumn, and I could see in my father's eyes, I was getting almost everything right.

We trained until my insides and outsides hurt. We practiced inside of the apartment, doing little warming up exercises and then getting on to the good stuff.

It was almost overwhelming, you could say. I tried to stay whelmed though; I know my father was going as slowly as he could with this much little time. I could feel my insides burning up every time I tried to slow my body down.

I failed every attempt, every single one, and I had almost given up hope that I could do the advanced techniques that my father was teaching me. The man in front of me, my creator and my enemy, didn't lose hope on me.

"Let's go to the roof. Now."

I cocked an eyebrow at my father, but he just looked at me and shook his head. I had to listen to him.

Just this once.

This was going to be the only time in my teenage life where he tried helping my powers and I.

The wind bellowed upon my hair, waving it side to side. The setting sun was beautiful against the skyline of Gotham City. The screams and pleas resounding the area ruined it all, and I couldn't help my instinct, I wanted to help those victims.

I looked into my father's eyes, "I have to help those people!"

My father only looked at the horizon, and smiled. "You are just like your mother, you know that?" I gazed at him in confusion. "At the same time, you are just like me. The three of us just wanted to help humanity."

I realised that I wouldn't be able to help anyone tonight.

I shook my head in disagreement. "Mom wanted to help humanity, you want to destroy it, and you just don't realise it. I don't want just to help. I want to save humanity."

My father looked at me with wise eyes, "You're doing an amazing job at it, that's what I would tell you if I saw humanity like you did. Since I don't, then I am forced to say that you're doing a pathetic job at it."

I glared at him, "Let's just get on with the training!"

My father nodded, and placed me close to the edge of the building. He stood behind me, a hand on my shoulder. "All right, remember what I told you. You take deep intakes of breath to calm yourself down, and then think of the most relaxing memory you've ever had. Finally, you will time to slow down, but will yourself to do it, too."

I nodded, and was about to breathe in deeply when I felt myself being pushed off the apartment's roof. I gasped and struggled to intake air for I was too shocked to what had just happened.

I willed my body to relax, telling myself that this was just practice. My father was not trying to kill me.

Then, I took in deep breaths. I thought about sleeping next to Dick, and how peaceful we seemed whenever we slumbered on with each other. Finally, I willed time to slow down.

Nothing broke my fall, though. I focused harder, and thought about that almost indescribable feeling Wally got when he ran so fast that everyone was in slow motion. I thought about jumping into the water, and the bubbles leisurely rising up. The waves crashed slowly down on me.

Soon as that, my whole body was falling languidly. My hair floated up, in front of my face. My blue eyes scanned the streets below, watching as everyone strolled away from me. They seemed nonchalant about a girl falling ten feet from the air.

Then again, they were in slow motion, too.

My body landed on the cemented floor gently. I returned time back to normal and looked at my father, who was smiling at me from the top of the building.

I stood up, "You are one crazy man! But it worked!"

For the first time since I'd been with him, I laughed. It was harder than it was supposed to be and unnecessarily loud, but I didn't mind. I didn't care.

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Gotham City

September 22, 20:34 EDT

"Red Tornado has siblings?"

"Join the 'Shocked That Red Tornado Actually Has A Family' club! D, I tell you, they were even more dangerous than Tornado could ever be!" Dick exclaimed from the other side of the cellphone.

Apparently, when him and Artemis had entered the Cave to greet the rest of the Team, they'd gotten attacked. It was Red Tornado's two siblings, a boy and a girl android who could control water and fire. It had been tough on everyone.

I should have been there to help them.

"So, Tornado is just gone now? Banished? As in, he's never coming back and he's off the radar for a while?"

"Yeah. Batman can't track him, and if he can't, then I doubt anyone else can."

"Bet you ten bucks that we will be able to find Tornado in half the time that it took Bruce!"

"You're so on!"

I let out a chuckle, but then it was quickly silenced by a thought. Should I tell Dick about what had happened today? How would he take in the news of my father teaching me about my powers?

"D, what's wrong?" There was too much worry in Dick's voice.

I rubbed my eyes, and let out a short, and forced, laugh. "Nothing, Wonder Boy! I just can't believe Red Tornado would just betray us like that!"

Yeah, he didn't need to know. Not yet, at least.