When we arrived at the Titans Tower, it was Friday morning. I didn't have as much time to spare as I thought, but it worked out. I would figure something out, I told myself. Today was the day we would start to fight the League. I would try to make time for Meg though. Explain everything to her. I wasn't sure.
We landed the Batwing on top of the Tower. As we disembarked, we were greeted by a man in a red and blue outfit, a man who we knew.
"Superman." I said, acknowledging him.
"I almost thought you were him, with that suit on." He said somberly through a smile. "He'd be proud of you, Danny."
I wasn't sure how to respond. I was wearing Bruce's Batsuit. It was a little bit too large for me, but it fit well enough that no one would notice.
"It's not the time to reminisce." I told him coldly. "We have work to do."
"You sound like him too…" Superman responded, defeatedly. He went to greet Barbara and Jason.
We went down the elevator, to the top floor. All the titans and the justice league were there. They were surprised to see Batman enter. I guess no one was really used to me being Batman, especially with this outfit. I removed my cowl and looked around at them.
All of them, my friends, were excited to see me. Meg especially caught my eye. It made my heart heavy that I couldn't run to her, that I couldn't be with her. It also made this harder than it should've been.
"You all have come here because I called you." I started my speech. I had never been good at speeches, but Bruce had been. I needed to rally them together. "I won't lie to you all. This is a dire situation. I wouldn't have called all of you here if it weren't. If any of you have second thoughts or want to back out after I brief you all, feel free to do so. I know many of you have family and loved ones, and I can't guarantee the safety of any of you all.
"I have spent the last six months recovering from wounds inflicted by a man named Ra's Al-Ghul. He is the leader of an organization called the League of Shadows. Most of you probably have never heard of this organization. They are deadly. I severely underestimated them, and paid the price. I don't know their plans and I don't know their next move. I just know that Dr. Fate told me to be here in the city by today, so here I am.
"Basically what I'm asking is for your help. I intend to go to war with the League of Shadows, and I can't do it alone. I already tried that and nearly lost my/ my life. They have been preparing all this time, and, if we can't stop them, I'm afraid that the whole world will suffer because of it."
There was silence. The air was tense. People shifted.
I expected Superman to be the first to speak up. He wasn't. It was the Flash, Barry Allen.
"Batman… do you realize what you've just done? You've asked us to fight an impossible enemy." He told me before turning to the rest of the group, "I know that this isn't the same Batman as before, but I don't think it matters. Batman is Batman. He doesn't 'underestimate' enemies. This 'League of Shadows' is an enemy with unknown and probably unlimited capabilities. What Batman is doing right now is asking if we would all die for this."
"And why wouldn't we?" Green Arrow, Oliver Queen said, "Most of us came into this world knowing that we could possibly die. Hell, I came into this knowing that I would probably die in this outfit. You all heard the man, without us as the last line of defense, the world is doomed. If the League of Assassins is capable to nearly kill one of us, then we should all band together. Isn't that why we started the Justice League?"
"I think this Batman should've joined the Justice League, before deciding to come ask for us to die for him." Hawkwoman said coldly, "He may be wearing Bruce's costume, but I don't even know this man. I disagree with Flash. If he says that he 'severely underestimated' them, it doesn't mean much. Not to me at least. Batman, I admired and trusted. I would've gone with him to this battle. I am having second thoughts about this boy."
The final one to speak up was Martian Manhunter, John Jones.
"I have known Daniel since he was a boy." He began to say, addressing the whole group, "I have seen him fall many times, but he has gotten up every single time. After every single loss. After every single defeat. Time and time again he comes back from the most difficult situations. He is not a perfect man, but he is a man who, like Bruce, I trust my life to. On top of that, I know that if I came to him for help in a similar situation, no matter how impossible, he would help me with no second thoughts. He has lived a life of self-sacrifice and learning from his mistakes.
"Most of all," John said, turning to the Titans, "He is a great leader and a wonderful friend. I say, as a member of the Justice League, we shouldn't decided if we should follow Daniel into battle. If his team decides to, then we should follow them."
All were silent. Superman spoke up.
"I've already made my mind up. But I like John's idea. I will ask the Teen Titans who worked with Daniel, present and former, if they will do it. This will be the JLA's decision too.' Anyone who wants to leave the JLA before the decision is made, do so now."
Again, silence. No one left and no one spoke up.
"Nightwing, discuss it with your team for a few minutes."
"With all due respect, we don't need a few minutes." Dick said, smirking, "We've already followed Danny to hell and back, and we'd do it again."
"It's settled then." Superman said, turning back to me, "What do you want us to do, Batman?"
I was stunned. I wasn't sure what to do. The only thing I knew for sure was that I had to be in San Francisco today. I looked at Dr. Fate, who had been silent until this point. He stared back at me with glowing blue eyes, but did not respond.
"Tell them to go on patrol." I heard Khonshu's voice in my head, "That will buy us some time to figure things out."
Khonshu had been pretty quiet since sharing his perspective on death with me. Not completely silent, like before, but quiet, like he was pondering. I decided his idea was a good one.
"I need the JLA to patrol the city. Try not to make our presence too known. If all of you are out there, it will be hard for the League of Shadows to hide."
"Good idea. Team, head out and keep an eye out. If anyone sees anything, report back via comm-link and do not engage. Batman says that even he underestimated these people, so we really don't know what they are capable of. It's best to engage as a group."
The Justice League filed out, leaving me, Barbara, Jason, and the rest of the Titans, both present and former, like Cyborg and Zatanna. Zatara also stayed behind, and John Constantine didn't move either. I breathed a sigh of relief, and fell backwards onto the large circular sofa in the Hub.
"You did well, Daniel." Zatara was the first to speak up after a moment of silence, "You make a fine Batman."
After he'd said those words, it seemed like all my friends had come over, hugging me and giving me words of encouragement. Meg finally came and stared into my eyes.
Everyone else disappeared in that moment. Jason, The League of Shadows, Batgirl, even Khonshu. It felt like it was just her and I as she stared into my eyes either her warm glance. Her eyes were full of tears of affection. I felt my heart beat faster and my body become warmer. She grabbed my costume on the chest and pulled me to her, kissing me. I wrapped my arms around her, feeling the warmth of her body. For a second, just a second, I felt like I didn't have control of my body. Like when Khonshu had taken over back in Nanda Parbat, but the feeling quickly passed. The titans started hooting and hollering. Both Meg and I blushed.
"Sorry…" she blurted out, embarrassed.
"Friends Megan and Daniel, it is fine!" Kori said, with a huge bubbly smile on her face, "You both missed each other dearly. You must go and share a moment alone."
"Yes, I say let the lovebirds have their moment," John Constantine blurted out, laughing, "The JLA is looking for the League of Shadows. We can afford a few minutes."
Meg took me by the hand down the hall to her room. I was speechless, and my heart felt heavy. I knew I couldn't lie to her, and tell her that I was going to be able to come back. And if I told her, Khonshu would know too.
Shit, what am I going to do?
Meg sat down on her bed and I next to her. She wrapped my hand in hers and leaned her head on my shoulder.
"Danny…" she started to say, tears rolling gently down her face, "I thought I had lost you. Tell me everything that happened."
I didn't say anything. I tilted her chin up gently, stared into her eyes, and leaned my forehead against hers. She pressed a hand against my face and began to see all my thoughts.
She saw the afterlife. My training with Savage, and most importantly, my dreams. I also felt a third person watching all of this, someone who I didn't want to know all of this: Khonshu.
Despite my worries, mind-melding with Meg felt relaxing to me. It made me feel calm. It was warm, like an embrace.
When she was finished, she placed a hand on my chest, feeling my slow heartbeat and my cold skin. She was crying once more, but this time I knew she was sad.
"Danny, I don't want to lose you again. It's too much for me."
"I gave the other Arbiters my word, Megan." I told her, biting back tears myself.
"Yeah Danny, you really messed up this time." Khonshu said, angrily. I turned to meet his cold gaze as he appeared to me in the room. I understood his anger though. I had lied to him after all.
"Khonshu?" Meg asked, shocking us both.
"You… see me?" He asked, looking her in the eyes. She held eye contact with him.
"I do." She said, surprised that she was able to as well, "it must be a side effect of the mind meld, but yes, I can see you."
I had never seen Khonshu embarrassed. I didn't think he even could be embarrassed. But I saw him turn bright red. I knew then exactly what was happening. The feeling I had when I kissed Meg made sense now. Khonshu, like me, was in love with Megan. And he was now embarrassed to be seen by her. As fast as he'd appeared, he disappeared, leaving Meg and I alone once again.
We were silent for a time. Meg started sobbing. I hugged her tight and stroked her hair.
"I don't want you to leave me." She finally said, composing herself somewhat. "I just got you back, Danny. I can't lose you again."
My heart burned. I felt determination like never before. I could picture us like before Bruce died. I remembered a promise I had made to her long ago, that we would retire from all this, settle down and have a normal life together.
"You won't, Meg." I told her, despite the fact I wasn't sure. "I'll find a way. I promise you."
"You better."
We sat for what seemed like a long time, just holding each other in our arms. She felt so warm, but perhaps that was because I'd always felt so cold after my 'death'. No words were spoken during that time, but nothing really needed to be said. She was grieving, and nothing I could say would make her feel better. She had me back for now, but it felt only temporary. My heart ached and hers did too.
I finally decided we had spent enough time there. We had work to do and I was sure the other Titans wanted to speak with me too. Before I could get up, Meg grabbed my arm firmly.
"Danny, I need to talk to you about something else." She said, looking me in the eyes. She had a different look now, one of determination, "It's about Helena, from your memories of the realm of the dead."
I was worried about this conversation. She was mad about Helena. My kiss with Helena in the afterlife.
"Meg, I can explain-" I said, trying to defend myself. She raised a hand to silence me.
"You don't know what I'm going to ask. I am not mad about that. You needed closure, and that was obvious."
"I'm sorry. You're right. I am not the mind reader here. Ask me"
"Helena mentioned you had a son?" Meg asked. It took me a second, but she was right. Helena had mentioned that. How did I not realize that she'd said that?
"I don't know anything about that." I told Meg honestly. She already knew I was telling the truth.
"You've only been with three women." She started to explain, "Helena, Harleen Quinzel, and me. We obviously never had a child. Who is the mother?"
"I'm scared to answer that question." I told her, my mind instantly focusing on the fact that mental illness is passed down through genetics