So. This is set about two months after the last chapter. Right after the episode The Return.
This actually wasn't as hard to write as I thought it would be.
Disclaimer: I still don't own anything related to DC comics. A girl can dream, though.
Wally sat at a table in the cafeteria of the Watchtower. As usual, he was eating, but today was slightly different. It wasn't that he was eating to have enough energy. While he was doing that, he was also nursing his wounded pride.
"Hey kid. How're you doing?" came a deep voice. The red head looked up from his tray to see a man with chocolate colored skin sit beside him with a tray with a considerably less amount of food on it.
"Oh nothing. Just wondering how I could be so useless," Wally said. "What about you, John? Heard you almost lost it."
John Stewart sighed. "You aren't useless. Amazo is nearly impossible to beat. Cheer up. I haven't seen you this down since Shaye..." John drifted off, unable to say the name of the one being in the entire universe he cared about over everything else.
Wally's already sour mood took a downward turn. "Shayera, GL. Her name's Shayera. You can talk about her sometimes, ya know," he said bitterly. He then stood up and left for transport. Before he got there, though, a hand grabbed ahold of his arm. The speedster sighed.
"What do you want, Bats?" he asked not even having to turn around to know who stopped him.
"Come with me," the Dark Night ordered.
-LINE BREAK-
Batman sat at one of the chairs at the table in an unoccupied conference room and motioned for Flash to do the same. After a few minutes of staring at each other, the elder sighed, relaxed in his seat, and folded his hands on the table.
"Now, how are you really?" he asked in his Bruce Wayne voice.
Wally looked at him with sadly. "I don't know if I can do this, B. I, I was so worried today when I heard Amazo was coming back to Earth. I'm not stupid. I know he's powerful, almost unstoppable, and, I don't know," the speedster sighed while running a hand through his hair. "I froze up. I kept picturing how Bart could be hurt if that stupid android decided to attack the planet."
Bruce looked at the young man in front of him. "You're rethinking you're decision to train him," he stated.
"Yeah. No. I, I just don't know anymore. How do you handle knowing Robin or Nightwing or Red Hood, especially Red Hood, could get killed whenever? And you get the job done; you don't get beaten just because you're so worried. You always win," the speedster said defeated.
"For one, I don't always win. Red Hood is a prime example of that," Batman said. He looked at the man he watched grow from a sidekick to a hero in the eye. "I know the risks. Each time Robin goes on patrol with me or Nightwing talks about a case in Bludhaven I panic. I stay up for countless hours thinking about the son I can't protect. I even worry about Oracle. I'm always thinking about if someone attacked her, she wouldn't be able to defend herself like she used to be."
"So how do you let them leave your sight? How do you let them fight?" the red head asked.
"Because I can't keep them safe at all times," Bruce said. "I can't keep them in glass houses. Someone's going to throw stones at them. I might not be there to help them when that happens. I'll worry when that time comes, just like any other parent. Surely you've already noticed Green Arrow worrying about Arsenal and Speedy."
Wally winced as a memory struck him. It was three days before Bart came into his life. All adults were sent to another dimension be Mordred while all children stayed on Earth. GA want berserk. He kept saying that he had to get home. He had two sons that needed him. At the time, Wally didn't really get it. He had only found Connor existed not too long before, and Arsenal was on that team with Red Hood and never even visited. The oldest archer had even been the one to kick him out in the first place! It wasn't until after Bart came along that he understood. No matter the circumstances, your kids meant the world to you.
But still, you couldn't save them from everything. Eventually, they're going to want to be on their own. They're going to want to fight on their own. Wally could understand that. Wasn't that the reason for the Teen Titans? To get away from overprotective mentors for a while?
The speedster smiled. He ran out of the room saying a quick, "Thanks, B." He left too early to see the Dark Night giving a small, barely noticeable, smile.
-LINE BREAK-
Shayera's POV
Shayera sighed and looked at the book she was reading. It was a stupid fairytale about dragons and witches and heroes who saved the day. She usually wouldn't be caught dead anywhere near this sort of literature.
But she needed it right now.
Not a day went by when she didn't think about the family she had made orbiting Earth. The ones she betrayed. Images would flash trough her mind.
Her and J'onn talking while walking down a hallway.
Her and Batman sitting and just enjoying the other's company.
Her and the one she had come to see as a little brother as he showed her his face for the first time. Him telling her his real name. Wally West.
The nights she spent with the man she loved most. John's arms wrapped around her in a loving embrace.
The result of one of those nights.
The woman shook her head. She wouldn't let herself get lost in those memories. Not anymore. Those days were over. She was never going back. She had to stop or she would start missing those times.
She had just stopped tearing up every time familiar brown eyes looked at her.
A cry came from the small bed beside hers. She walked over and reached passed the bars on all four sides of it to pick up the four day old child inside of it. As brown eyes (So much like his father's.) opened and looked towards his mother as she smile.
"It's okay, Rex," she said softly. "We're going to be okay."
TBA…
Ha! Bet you didn't see that coming, did you? Yep; Rex is now in the picture. I just love the pairing JohnXShayera so much!
Good? Bad? Please review! Suggestions are always welcome and will be considered, if not used right away.