Victor knows what Arthur had meant, but he can't help but take it to heart.

Victor does what he's become good at, and was once almost convinced he now exists to do: pulls his hoodie tight and lets the red luminance of his eye hide his body among the patches of trees, where he stares at a place he doesn't really belong.

Wayne Manor, now the Hall of Justice, where he can see, in place of ruins, Bruce and Diana go about their work.

Being not broken and not alone comes at a cost. Victor has had a good run with this team of people, he doesn't need to be here at the cost of Arthur's sanity.

The previous night

Victor cruised through the clouds over Wayne Manor, and stopped right above the patch of gravel where Bruce's car had just rolled away, with he and Diana and Barry driving into the sunrise. For the three, Barry was just too hungry to stick around. However to Victor, late.

Victor had really thought he could make it on time, because he's never been late to anything and now he had no reason. It wasn't as if he couldn't find the place or as if he didn't have the clock blinking in his mind and Bruce's calls at his fingertips is Bruce and Diana were to decide they needed him. It was moreso… After the pride and adrenaline of beating Steppenwolf had worn off and the heroes had all gone separate ways, what was left? Victor missing his father's funeral, having no say in his father's remains or their family assets, the things they shared, things that have been passed down in many generations? Victor, the only one left in the Stone legacy, with no tangible presence, so many questions unanswered, so many things said and done that can't be mended, is supposed to simply keep going? Like the other five, what was now about to be four and one less person for Bruce to worry about if Victor could take care of himself after all. (Which has proven well, given that Diana has decided to let up on those calls.)

The person still here and working, Arthur Curry, spotted him with a nod.

What Victor was doing here, fuck if Arthur knew. Fuck if Arthur even cared, surprised Victor cared to come.

Victor landed with a billow of clouds projecting through the trees and brushes, and came up to the path of trees that Arthur was in the process of ripping out to create a smooth slow down stream. Arthur had actually been a minute away from letting loose the river from the hills above, so Victor had made it just on time, and unless he was looking to get washed away then he'd better make this quick.

Arthur shut down a conversation before it began. "Not trying to be buddy buddy here."

Victor went on anyway, "Whatcha working on? Need any help?" Not sure how he would help but it's an attempt towards getting productive.

"I got this." Arthur plucks the last tree but is gentle throwing it to the pile, because as long as it doesn't split, his father could use it as a post.

His father, the only one he really has at this point. The father who's stayed by him, ever since that mutual agreement that without a mother, It would just be the two of them unless a miracle happened. Decades of waiting for that miracle, which could have come at any point given Arthur's existence to begin with, and trying to get though life— only for Arthur to abandon his post and nearly die with these fucking lunatics.

These lunatics who, after saving the world wasn't enough, had stalked his father to go tell Arthur about how good he is and invite him to join their little club. The whole fight team/Justice team thing had been solid for the apocalypse, but Arthur's over it now. Arthur, at the moment, should have been scanning for icebergs or digging up some trenches, but here he was, tearing up redwood and Bristlecone pines and disturbing the streams that are so old that the plastic and glass are thin and the blue shines again… to make white noise, because this annoying kid Arthur just met convinced Arthur to worry about him. If this turned out to be all for nothing, with no thanks, and the failure of this lunatic team led by the bat lunatic from Gotham, imagine what Arthur would be getting himself into if he were to let his guard down.

Hell, Victor's father's dead because of them. Who knows what Clark got up to after being resurrected before they confronted him at his own monument that he up and tore to shreds.

What are these people even thinking?

Actually, the thing that surprised Arthur wasn't the fact that Victor decided to show up, but rather the looks. The look on Victor's face right now, even the gleam in that red eye, that plastered guilt for being so late. The disappointment and concern of Bruce and Diana earlier, even if they didn't realize it, upon waiting for Victor to show up. That thing Barry does, physically perking backwards, when he's taken aback –Barry having done that many times after finishing a task and still not seeing Victor.

That relief that Barry gets fuzzy with, and the way he would've thrown himself at Victor with all this yapping and touching If Victor would have come yesterday or today before they left. The way Diana's face flexes before she's about to smile, or the sigh and grin that comes on when she's happy that someone made it, the one Victor would have gotten. Hell, that glimmer of hope in Bruce's eyes If Victor would have shown up, and whether it was actual hope peeking through that emo nihilism bullshit or forced for the sake of the team didn't matter.

All the shit Arthur didn't get earlier tonight when he arrived. Not so much as a hello or a glance when he abandoned the work his father needed to come start this project that Bruce had given his approval on without so much as a thank you or a question.

And now, for Victor to come and ask what's up? That's a first.

He faced Victor straight on. "Going up against Steppenwolf was compulsory. You separated the unity and I did my shit. Neither of us should be here."

Victor didn't have much to say for himself right now. Still in the limbo of whether he should have been showing up, and now, frankly, wondering if trying today was really worth it . "Maybe not me, but you got a lot of power, over the land and the people. Bruce and Diana are doing their best, they have a lot to make up for. If they're trying to start a league, I got faith in them. They need you, and if I were you, I'd recognize that you need them too."

Monologue from Victor. Something that would come out of his mother, or any mother.

Arthur pffted.

The rest of this talk didn't last long but the envy spoke volumes.

And all Victor can think about is how he shouldn't have said all that. Would've been nice to not be so harsh.

Arthur was right to say that Victor really shouldn't be here, while as for Arthur there's not a shred of truth in that. And if Victor is reading this right: Yes, he once had the ability necessary to infiltrate the unity, and in the grand scheme Arthur might feel envy, might not feel like he had a part in the Victor the way Victor and Barry and Superman did, but when Arthur refers to his work as "shit", he needs to understand that infiltration of the unity was simply one step in the entire process and Arthur is just as much of a hero. In fact, more of a hero than Victor, he's dedicated many years to helping people and unlike Victor is capable of moving forward. The last thing Arthur needs is to feel like this is a competition or he doesn't belong, or that he could be any better.

And Victor knows he's made this struggle all about his own father, who's not even around to suffer anymore, when only so much can be done for Arthur's father who has to handle the damage to his property on top of backlog of work from when Arthur had left to fight Steppenwolf and the Parademon army…

The hardware along the walls of the Manor at peak condition, almost as powerful as his alien technology. His sensor picks up no danger here or in the furthest radius. He has no work due here.

He blasts off away from the Manor for the last time. He'll keep an eye on the place.