A/N: Thank you for the reviews! Enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Seven - In This Gotham

He perched on the rooftop like a vulture. He called himself the Batman, but anyone watching would have likened him to only one predator: a wolf. In his Gotham, he would have kept to the shadows. In his Gotham it would be better for the scum not to know he was there until he'd already knocked them out. But in his Gotham, the ordinary criminals were not super-powered. In his Gotham, the Justice League was strong.

In his Gotham, Diana still existed.

So now, in this Gotham, Batman was through hiding. He was through waiting. They might come to him, and he'd take them all down. He'd destroy them utterly.

New Batman had assured him that in plain sight it wouldn't take long for one of the scum to come looking. It didn't, and within a few moments, Ghoul turned up. Bruce turned to face him, lenses narrowed, but said nothing.

"You're s'posed to be the real Batman, right?" Ghoul asked. "I mean the first one. I've seen history cubes about you. Hard to believe somebody as stupid as you ever beat the Joker," he mocked.

Batman's eyes narrowed to while slits, his voice lowered to a pitch that anyone with more than one brain cell would have taken as a sign to start running. "Maybe I'm smarter than I look." Come on. Give me an excuse. He was feeling a recklessness coming over him that he hadn't felt in a long time; not since recovering Tim from the Joker's clutches. If an opportunity presented itself...he wouldn't hesitate. He'd maim, torture, kill if it got Diana back.

Ghoul chose to ignore the only warning he was going to get, and instead charged. The trap sprung, and he was knocked back with a shock of energy from Static, descending with Rex, young Batman and John. Bruce's older self had already been waiting in the shadows on the rooftop.

Ghoul turned over to see all of them converging on him. "Oh terrific."

Young Batman leaned forward. "You've got some information we need, Ghoul."

"You won't find me the talkative sort," he snorted. Batman came up behind him, grabbed his shoulder and simply dragged him over to the edge of the building. "Hey!"

Bruce switched his grasp from shoulder to ankle, and let Ghoul swing into thin air - quite prepared to drop the criminal if he proved uncooperative. "Where's Chronos?" he demanded. "My arm is getting tired."

Apparently, either his older self had not understood how much Diana's disappearance had changed things, or he wasn't impressed. He came and stood next to Bruce, reaching for Ghoul. "I can't believe I was ever that green," he commented dismissively. He threw Ghoul back onto the rooftop and descended on him. "This is how you interrogate someone."

Watching, Batman had to admit he was impressed. They might not have been the same tactics that he would have used, but there was no doubt they were certainly effective. In less than thirty seconds, his older self had Ghoul babbling about everything he'd ever been told. He switched his attention from thinking about how he could incorporate it into his interrogation technique and back to what was going on.

"-and we've got nine thousand four hundred and fifty three active Jokerz organised into about two hundred smaller groups!" he said. "I don't know where Chronos is! He contacts us!" he asserted, nodding furiously. "Spends every night in a different one of those old buildings. There's no way of knowing ahead of time where he's gonna be! And that's everything I know!"

Old Bruce bent forward menacingly. "Everything?"

There was a slight pause. "…I wet my bed until I was fourteen!"

He was met only by narrowed eyes. "Losing my patience."

Bruce intervened, a hand on his own shoulder. "I can't control my friend here much longer," he warned. "You better give us something we can use."

"His wife!" Ghoul babbled. "I know where his wife is!"

Both Bruce's straightened, smirking at each other. Jackpot.

They left Ghoul handcuffed and unconscious to some piping on the roof, and took off after Chronos' wife, in the Great Pyramid - no longer in Giza. Rex and Static went first, with Batman taking old Bruce with him. John and Bruce were left on the ground, but GL made no move to take off, instead turning to Bruce.

"Hey," John said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You ok?"

Bruce just glared. "Why wouldn't I be?"

It wasn't often that he saw John look totally stunned. The first time was when it had turned out Shayera was engaged to Hro Talek. "Why wouldn't you be?" he demanded. "Oh, I don't know, maybe because Diana just disappeared into thin air? Maybe because you've met your future self and it turns out he's old and lonely and bitter? Maybe because-"

"If you have a point, get to it," Batman growled.

John folded his arms. "Alright, fine. I know how you feel about Diana-"

"No, you don't." He didn't know how he felt about Diana, let alone anyone else.

"So you do feel something for her," his friend said, his eyes gleaming in something like triumph.

"We have a job to do," Batman said flatly. "So unless you have anything useful to say?"

Apparently John had made his point, since he stepped back and enveloped them both in green light, following the others.

Flying across Gotham, it didn't take long to get there, and they set down outside the Great Pyramid. John, still angry with Bruce, stormed ahead into the huge tomb.

Bruce moved in front of himself and stopped. "Recommendations?" he asked curtly.

"Not happening," was the flat reply. "Can't risk tampering with destiny."

"I don't believe in destiny."

"Age has a way of re-casting things."

"Bull."

"Fine. One: spend more time with Dick and Tim. Two: don't sell the company. Three: you know what three is."

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "You sure? Not…?"

"No comparison."

"True," he admitted. "And him?"

"He has a name."

"Alright. What about Terry."

"He'll find you or you'll find him, one way or another."

The second eyebrow joined the first. "That sounds like faith."

"Like I said: age."

There was silence as Bruce debated whether or not to ask the next question on his tongue. Of course, since he was talking to himself, he didn't need to verbalise it. "Once," was the answer. "Ten years ago." The voice went hoarse. "Night before the Watchtower went down."

That surprised him. Ten years ago would still mean this Bruce would be an old man. Not as old as he was right now, but still a man in his seventies. "And she still...?"

He was fixed with his own glare. "Do you really think that would matter to her?"

Yes was the honest answer. He couldn't see how it wouldn't matter. "I see."

"There you go then." Older Bruce nodded at the door that the others had disappeared out of. "They'll be waiting. Move your ass."

He went inside to see Rex dismantling an Egyptian robot deftly. His fighting style was far more reminiscent of Shayera than it was John; he'd obviously learned a lot from his mother.

John stepped forward. "Enid Clinton?"

As with Diana, the change was sudden. One moment he was John Stewart, the next he was another man altogether. The new man carried on John's sentence. "We have business with your husband." Only then did he notice the stares of everyone else. "What?"

"John?" Static asked.

"Hal Jordan," the new Lantern said briskly. "Another time shift, I'm up to speed. Carry on."

New Batman sighed. "Ok, I'm starting to get a migraine."

"We better get used to it," Bruce warned. "This is going to get much worse before it gets better. Any one of us could change or cease to exist." His mouth tightened with the last words. He'd get her back. He had to.

"That's why you have to tell us where to find David," Jordan explained, moving toward Enid Clinton. "We just want to undo the harm he's caused; you have my word we'll do everything in our power to keep from hurting him."

She scoffed, folding her arms. "Between you and me, I wouldn't mind one bit if he got roughed up along the way."

It did not surprise Bruce that Chronos' wife held him in contempt.

Rex stepped up next to the man who had been his father. "Then where is he tonight?" he asked. "The Parthenon? The Great Sphinx?"

She shook her head. "He just wants people to think he moves around; he always sleeps in the same place."

"Where?" Bruce demanded.

"The Coliseum," she replied. "And I'm coming with you."

Old Bruce went back to JL HQ, while the others - along with Enid - headed to the city centre, and the Coliseum. They landed on the midst of it, next to a very familiar jail-house. Another surge of longing for Bruce. That jail was from Oklahoma. The same town where he and Diana had...

Green Lantern scanned the building with his ring. "No booby traps." Suddenly he was John again. "…at least none that my ring can detect."

Static sighed in exasperation. "Make up your mind, would you?!"

John ignored him. "Anyway, it's safe to go in."

Rex moved forward, then hesitated. "If we don't beat this guy, it's the end of everything."

Terry tried to comfort him, albeit in a fatalistic way. "We've been there before."

"Not like this," Rex replied. He sighed, looking down. "What are you supposed to do when you have the weight of the world on your shoulders?"

John put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. "Plant your feet," he told him firmly.

Rex smiled, nodding and looking very much like he wanted to hug John. From what Bruce could see, his friend wouldn't have resisted.

With Enid Clinton leading the way, six of them went into the jail, and then into the cell where they'd found him in the old West. "I don't understand," Terry commented. "Of all the places he could be, why sleep here?"

Chronos' wife laughed derisively. "Because a loser with a kingdom is still just a loser. See for yourself!" In a sudden movement, she whipped the blanket off her husband, waking him up in the process.

He took his thumb from his mouth in consternation. "Enid?"

"Nice on the stealth thing, lady!" Terry admonished.

Bruce took charge. "Get the belt, nothing else matters!"

Chronos had been expecting them; he immediately opened a portal which admitted all of the villains except the ball-clown guy. Once they were in the shack, Chronos disappeared. Bruce didn't remember much of the fight after that; mainly because the roof collapsed on top of him. It was several minutes before he regained consciousness, but once he did, he immediately sought out the time-lord. There was no sign of Static - and only the remnants of Terry. Rex looked as though he was getting the shit kicked out of him by a mammoth.

Mouth set in grief and revulsion, Bruce ran toward the skinny figure of the former David Clinton. "Chronos!"

Chronos blinked in apparent admiration, having not expected to see Batman alive again. "You are good. Isn't he good?" he asked his wife, grinning.

"Look at what's happening around you!" Bruce yelled. "Look at the sky!"

Chronos did so, a dreamy expression coming over his face. "Pretty…"

John landed at Bruce's side, coming to the same conclusion as his teammate. The man was absolutely insane. "Stay with us, man, we've got a problem here!"

Chronos refocused on reality. "Right, you're right. This calls for another approach." He put a finger to his chin, thinking. Suddenly he perked up, leaned in and kissed Enid's cheek. "You'll love me next time!"

He pressed the button on his belt, creating a tunnel behind him and leaping into it. Batman and GL were after him immediately.

"Where's he going?" Bruce demanded once they were safely encased in the green bubble. "There's nothing left!"

Worry creased GL's face. "Yes there is. The beginning of time."

Bruce's mouth fell open. "He can reset everything – make himself into a god!"

"Only if he gets there first!" John retorted, increasing speed. "The Green Lanterns have a legend: no-one can see the beginning of time. It's a universal law!"

Bruce suppressed the urge to smack John upside the head. "Write him a ticket!"

John didn't reply, but poured more power through his ring, the strain showing clearly on his face. Finally he managed to grab Chronos with a pair of laser handcuffs, and yank him inside the bubble. Bruce wasted no time, slotting the disc into Chronos' belt.

"Uploading the programme!"

"Make it fast!" John groaned out. "…having a little trouble with the brakes!"

The strain was evident on his face as they continued to hurtle through time. Suddenly a giant hand appeared at the end of the tunnel, a swirling vortex sitting in the palm. As they watched, it closed slowly - far too slowly. If they hit the vortex then Chronos would still be able to-

A flash of white light. The commissary. Drinks in hands.

John blinked. "That all…really happened?"

"Think so," Bruce nodded numbly.

"Then…we won!" his friend murmured, not looking as though he believed it. "Everything's back to normal?"

No. Everything is not back to normal, where the hell is-

"That's a nasty cut, John."

At her voice, every bone in his body felt like it had melted in relief. His heart seemed to have relocated to his throat, and was restricting his breathing rather than aiding it.

Offering a small smile, Diana sat next to him and began eating. He got his bodily functions under control, then raised an eyebrow in puzzlement, realising what she'd just said. "You don't remember going on a mission with us today, do you?"

She frowned in question. "I just got here."

He leaned toward John, mostly speaking to himself. "The timeline's restored to equilibrium. We're the only two people who remember what happened."

John's eyes widened as they focused on Shayera, just leaving the cafeteria. "That…complicates things…"

Yeah. Yeah, it really does. He hadn't been counting on this. One night where they could act on their impulses was fine, but for Diana not to remember it? What on Earth was he going to do now? Damn David Clinton to hell.

In spite of himself, Bruce gave a wry smirk. Perhaps he had.

Then he frowned. Before, Shayera had left before Diana sat down, not after. Things apparently weren't exactly the same as they had been - and he knew from experience that small changes could be potentially more damaging than big ones. He'd have to keep an eye out.

What happened to Chronos?" John asked.

The smirk came back, widened into a smile that was almost evil. "I re-programmed the belt to make sure that Chronos would never come to exist."

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A/N: And this is where we enter uncharted waters! The episode is over, so now I hope I continue to do ok without the guidance of the cartoon. Review this chapter please!