Disclaimer: I don't own Batman Beyond, the Flash, or any of the D.C. universe.
Author's Note:
David doesn't really appear in this chapter, but don't worry. He'll be back.
Resurrecting the Red
Chapter 7: Legacies
Amanda Waller stared down at the tiny baby before her. She hesitated a moment before reaching down and brushing the soft down of red hair.
The child's mother was dead. Grodd had made certain of that.
Waller had been afraid this would happen. The child's father, uncle, and grandmother had supposedly died in an accident. But she knew better. That was why she had pestered Iris West for weeks on end until the woman finally gave in. Amanda had immediately gone into action and had the baby removed by Caesarian section.
Now she was glad she had.
Ever since Wally had disappeared into the speed force nearly seven years ago, Iris had been the one to take up the Flash mantle. Sadly, Wally's son Barry West, who had always been a bit lazy, had wanted nothing to do with the legacy. Now they were all dead, with the exception of one tiny baby.
The boy whimpered softly in his sleep and Amanda resisted the temptation to pick him up. She had never been good with children. Many people in fact would hardly equate her with motherhood. But in the last few months she had grown very fond of the boy. She had recently even begun to find herself harboring thoughts of raising the child herself.
But that would never do.
"You're going to have a new father in a few weeks Sugar," she murmured. She had found a relative of the boy that should do quite nicely as a surrogate parent. The boy yawned in his sleep and Amanda found herself thinking of another boy child that had been born a few weeks ago.
'Project Batman Beyond' had been successful.
Terrence McGinnis, son of Warren and Mary McGinnis...secretly the child of Bruce Wayne. Amanda secretly referred to the boy in her mind as Terrence Wayne.
She looked down at the boy sleeping below her.
Iris had named her child David Wallace Cullen. Unfortunately, that wouldn't do either. Too many people now knew the true identity of the Flash. When the boy reached the hands of his "uncle", he would be known as David Michael Kae. Michael had been her father's name; it was a good name.
Terry and David, two legacies preserved.
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"Stop pretending to be angry Bruce. Had I done nothing, the boy would have died with his mother," Amanda Waller argued. A pair of stony blue eyes regarded her through the computer screen.
"I'm not angry about that and you know it Waller," Bruce said. "Why didn't you tell anyone what you did?"
"And who would have taken the boy in? You? Clark?" she countered.
"That's not the point."
"I think it is. At the time of his...birth, you had already barricaded yourself well within the walls of your mansion. And don't even get me started on Clark. It wasn't until Terry came along that you finally came out of your shell."
"Yes, Terry. Yet another topic we need to discuss."
"We discussed it, remember? I told you the truth about him the night after he first stole your batsuit."
Bruce glared at Waller. The night after Terry had returned the batsuit, Bruce had already been contemplating the possibility that he might carry on the legacy. Then Waller had called and told him about her "project." That boy had been his son. His son.
"You have two sons because of me Bruce," she said.
"It was unethical. You had no right."
"So you're saying that you wish Terry and Matt had never been born?"
Silence. Then, "That's not what I said." Bruce and Amanda stared at each other for several tense moments.
"Does Terry know?" she finally asked.
"No."
"You should..."
"And tell him what?" Bruce argued. "That he was born to replace me? Terry needs to believe that he's worthy of that mask because of his character, not his blood, because that's the truth."
"Bruce..."
"You know all the trouble he's gotten into Waller. If he thinks that it was genetics only that makes him Batman, he'll lose his confidence." Not to mention that he won't trust me.
Amanda sighed.
"Your choice Bruce, but he'll figure it out eventually. He may not have your brilliant mind but the kid's not stupid," she warned.
"I know. But I don't want him to know that I'm really his father. Not yet." If ever. He watched as Amanda took a sip of tea before looking at him expectantly.
"You didn't call me just to talk about the boys. You had something else in mind," she stated.
"Luthor."
"I don't have the kind of leverage in the government that I used to have Bruce. But I do still have a few contacts."
"And..." Bruce started.
"You know what she wants. Luthor wants to resurrect Cadmus. I'm not sure how, but she's managed to confiscate about fifty-three percent of our old files."
"What about Derek Powers? How did he get access to Cadmus information?" he asked.
"His aunt was a former employee. Apparently she had smuggled some data out before we disbanded. But as far as I can tell, the stolen information that she took only held information on our cloning program, nothing else."
"And Debray? Do you know anything about him?"
"Nothing that you don't know. It's possible that some of his cybernetics are in fact old Cadmus tech and not Luthor Corp."
"Luthor tried to kill us earlier. And not only that, she knows who we are. She called Clark by his name." Amanda's eyes narrowed at that and she set down her tea cup.
"If she's been digging into the old Cadmus files, there's no telling what she knows Bruce. In fact, I've been doing some digging myself. Luthor's hiding something, something big. But I don't know what it is. If I find out anything, I'll let you know."
"The Justice League will check it out. Good night Waller."
"Wait, Bruce...one more thing," Amanda added. Bruce raised a questioning eyebrow as she picked something off the floor.
"I'd been anticipating your call. I knew it was only a matter of time before you met David, seeing as he's in Terry's class. I have something for him, something that might be useful." Waller held up a scarlet red garment in her hands and Bruce's eyes widened a fraction in recognition.
"I see you've been busy," he said dryly.
"If the boy's willing and capable Bruce, you might consider his help. He comes from good stock," Amanda said. Bruce eyed the clothing in her hands.
"Yes, he does," Bruce admitted. "I'll consider it. Send it over."
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"Out with it Ter, are you going to tell me or what?" Max asked. Terry had called her some time around midnight. His friend had immediately peppered him with question after question.
"Okay, fine. It's about David," Terry said.
"What about him? Why was the old man so interested in him?"
"You sitting down?"
"Yeah, why?" she asked. Terry smirked beneath his cowl as he flew the car past Gotham State University.
"Bruce knew his mom and granddad. He's worked with them before. Well, at least with his grandpa anyway."
"Worked with them? You mean in Wayne Enterprises or..."
"The League," Terry answered. There was a pause, then...
"No. Way."
"Yes way." There was another pause and Terry could feel the rush of excitement on the other end.
"Who? Who was..." she started excitedly.
"David's grandpa was the Flash, so was his mom," Terry answered. He could almost see Max's jaw dropping on the other end.
"Are you serious? Does that mean he..."
"Has superspeed? Oh yeah."
"Tell me everything," Max demanded. "Now." Terry automatically shook his head, even though she couldn't see him.
"Not now Max, I'm busy. I've got to finish my patrol and get home before my mom kills me. I'll tell you everything later."
"How do you expect me to sleep after telling me that and not finish the story?"
"Try really really hard?" he asked innocently.
"Very funny Ter."
"I try. Night Max."
"Goodnight Ter."
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"That's checkmate War Hawk. The kid wins again."
"Shut up Static. I let him win."
"Sure."
Rex Stewart glared at the chess board in front of him. The young Tibetan across from him, the newest Green Lantern, smiled innocently back. The older man muttered darkly to himself. He couldn't even count the number of times that he'd lost to his mother.
"Aren't you tired of losing yet Stewart?" Virgil taunted.
"Shut up old man!"
"This old man can still kick your half-Thanagarian butt."
Kairo, the young Tibetan, wisely took this moment to bow politely and retreat. Sometimes he wondered at the sanity of the older members of the League. Then again, sometimes he even questioned the sanity of Terry McGinnis.
"Hah, I could beat you at basketball any day of the week Stewart!"
"And what do you call last Friday? It sure looked like you losing to me."
"That was different. You had help," Virgil protested.
"What the…my dad's older than you! It's not like he can play that well anymore," Rex pointed out.
"Yeah, but John's still good at trash talking."
A sudden beeping from the League's computer drew the two men out of their bantering and into business. Static Shock reached out and pressed a few keys until a large, three-dimensional map formed above the console.
"Looks like there's some trouble down by the Big Apple," Virgil commented. "You want to go? You know the area better than I do."
Rex Stewart grabbed his helmet off the table and placed it on his head. He took one look at the computer before heading to the door. It was time to go to work.