Twelve days. It was the estimated arrival time of the unknown colony Bruce calculated with the information from contacts at different stations outside the Sol system. Knowing should come as a relief. Olivia has worked with deadlines before, even had to crunch to get work done just before but this was something else. Everything they learned from outside the system pointed to them marching into battle with an efficient machine.

They are simply called the terraformers. A colony of elemental fae that are hired to reshape continents and sometimes whole planets for their employers. They embodied the title landscaper being able to move mountains. At the head of this colony was a single woman who bent lightning to her will and kept the colony under her tight control. They are fresh off a recent project and it is unclear if they are moving on to another. In twelve days they will either pass through the system or dock at The Watchtower.

Olivia sighed with her head falling against the brick behind her in a soft thump. The narrow alley between buildings she confronted Arthur in was to be their team meeting during class. Arthur, Damian, Melissa and one edition that snuck in, Victor. He was the only reason they were outside in spite of Damian and himself assuring that he could get in and out without being seen. Lacking a uniform and being tall meant people would notice.

"You are still resting today," Damian told Olivia with his arms crossed. "One less day isn't going to set us any further back than we already are."

"I can't hold still, Damian! I can barely breathe right now!" Olivia sighed. Mel's hand slipped into her own and squeezed tight. The girls shut their eyes and leaned on one another. "I'm not hurt. I need you all to get that! I should be out training, not going to class." She grimaced and rubbed her free hand on her face. "Oh my god, I sound like Damian..." Her brother squints in her direction.

"If I could make you rest I would, Miss Olivia," Arthur chimed in. "But pushing too hard too fast might result in you breaking something. A sprain heals faster than a shattered bone."

Victor looked among the students then focused on Olivia. "I suggest keeping Arthur close by."

"What?" Olivia asked with a bit of confusion. "He's not a fighter."

"But he can control other fae. If your influence doesn't work on your grandmother then his might," Victor points out.

"I can feel myself getting stronger along with you," Arthur adds. "I've been testing my influence a little more. Please don't be mad! But I need to find out. I did a small test to see and the time I can hold someone has extended considerably."

"There's no way of knowing if I'm stronger than her though! I'm not putting you or anyone else at risk."

"I have to insist on this because I am confident that you are! If I can be brought even just a little higher than her I can take control."

"I can't risk your life in this."

Melissa squeezed Olivia's hand to grab her attention. "Liv, bring him with you. If I can't go then bring him!" she insists. "Arthur can fight in ways you and everyone else can't. He might be able to keep a fight from happening all together."

"Unless Arthur can train up in the next week to keep up with us, he can't come. They'll have enough to worry about with just me."

"...Is that an order from a monarch?" Arthur asked with his head bowed.

"No, it's a plea from a friend. I need you to stay safe or I can't do what I need to."

"Then...then I refuse!" he says with his hands shaking. "I won't get in your way but I am going to help in every way that I can." Olivia sighs and hugs him around his neck.

"Fine, just don't tell me or I will stop you!" Arthur returns the hug before stepping back. The look beneath those shaggy bangs is one of determination. Damian, Olivia and Victor looked at their phones with Olivia sighing. "We have to go," she says while picking her bag off the cold pavement. She turns to hug Melissa and the girl feels close to crushing her.

"You better keep messaging me even if it's just stupid emotes," Melissa said with angry tears in her eyes. "We're graduating together. All of us." She points at Victor and glares. "And you better fucking be there too!"

Olivia is released and Mel is gently transferred to Arthur. "I know it's a big ask but try not to worry too much," Olivia says with an uneasy smile. "We'll spend a whole weekend doing everything before the snow melts. I promise." Mel nods and the three depart for Victor's car. Their next stop before is off to the west to visit Dr. Sylvia. Beyond ensuring that Olivia is healing, the good doctor is to be kept in the dark about the greater family matters.

Sylvia compared the burns on Olivia's back to the clear picture taken from yesterday. "This is fascinating," Sylvia Mars says in aw. "I mean, yeah, terrible that this happened but I've wondered if it was possible for your powers to backfire on you." She moved away from her patient to grab a scalpel. "Just going to scrape a few skin cells." Olivia looked pale but just held perfectly still. Victor was in the room with them while Damian left to snoop. S.T.A.R Labs doesn't answer to Wayne Tech they just work alongside so Sylvia may be hiding information they need. "Too bad you guys were so far away when it happened. The initial raw state could have yielded so much data on elemental fae."

"You never saw anything like this on my mother?" Olivia asks while staring into the void. She is not fond of a knife coming to her back but as soon as she felt cold sliding over her skin it was done.

"Not even once. I'm not entirely sure, I may be romanticizing the memory a bit but I don't even think your mother had stretch marks while she was carrying you. Such a smooth birth too."

Olivia's face is red while Victor's ears change color. "Slyvia, can we please stay focused!" she whines.

"Oh right! So you are healing quickly which is to be expected. The marks on your shoulders should clear up quickly as well." Static surged along Olivia's skin while Victor could not help the smug look on his face and had to turn away and pretend something on the wall grabbed his attention. Olivia flipped her shirt back on and buttoned up the front. "But you don't feel any limitation to your movement at all?"

Olivia shook her head before slipping off the exam table. "If anything it doesn't feel as tight. Like massage relief I guess."

"Interesting. While I would love to experiment with you getting in a double strike again, I doubt your father will be happy about that. So be more careful next time and maybe stick to one bolt of concentrated energy at a time from now on. Okay?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. And you!" She turned to point at Victor and the young man froze. "Her father Oliver never would answer my questions about their sex life so I have to know a few things before you go on your way." Victor's eyes grew wide.

"THANK YOU DR. SYLVIA!" Olivia yells and grabs Victor's arm to lead him out of the office.

"SCIENCE NEEDS TO KNOW YOUNG LADY!"

"IT DOESN'T NEED TO KNOW THAT!" As they turn the corner Damian arrives with a brow raised with all the yelling. "Don't ask, it's not important! We're going now!" Victor could not stop laughing and wiped a tear from his eye. "I should have let her think you were our driver!" Damian shook his head and followed the pair out. During the drive up to Wayne Manor Victor did explain that the woman was about to ask questions of a sexual nature.

"I don't need to hear this!" Damian said with a grimace. "I've already heard you two. I don't need more details beyond that." Victor was back to laughing until his face was red.

"Like you and Rae are quiet like mice!" she hissed! "Consider using that black wall again. Please!" Victor leaned forward and tried to catch his breath. "She's going to ask me that every time I see her now."

"I'm down for having an audience if you are, babe," Victor snickers and receives a small pinch from her. "Hehe, so what's on the schedule, Sunshine? You know outside of us doing some research for Sylvia?"

"I will drive us into the fucking bay!" Damian growls.

"I need someone to spar with, target practice and trying to get my super lit up floaty state going without needing a jump start." She's counting on her fingers while making certain she hasn't missed anything. "I also need to get a new body suit made for me. Dad should have sent the materials I need already."

"Have you considered just leaving the back open? You are just burning through that part the most," Victor suggests.

"Yeah true. It'll be less material so I can make spares. Once we get close enough to home I can get the printer going. Am I forgetting anything?"

Damian locked eyes with her in the mirror. "You know who you should get to spar with?"

Olivia narrowed her eyes. "I...I can do this without any more outside help. I know I already asked him but like dad already said we can't get any other xeno involved!" Victor looked between the siblings growing increasingly curious on whom they were talking about.

"Father is going to want to see just how capable you are at flying and Kent already knows how to fly. He'll be able to catch you if you fall."

"Kent?" Victor asked.

Olivia puffed up her cheeks. "Jonathan Kent is Damian's best friend...he's also Superboy. Why can't we ask Jaime?!"

"I don't want that interloper on his back learning anymore than it already does about you. Father would agree."

"What about Rae?"

"Do you see yourself being able to zap her at even half the strength you have?" Olivia looked away. "Didn't think so. He can take the hits and keep you from plummeting to your death."

Olivia sighs. "Go ahead and call him. But I don't need him today okay! Let me see how long I can maintain that state at least." She rubbed her face. "This is going to be so embarrassing!"

"Why? Is he a stage four clinger or something?" Victor asks.

"No...well. It's family pride. This will be the second time a Wayne has asked a Kent for a personal favor."

"And what was the first?"

"You'll have to ask father that one," Damian says, knowing that man may just take that to his grave.

Olivia looked up as they pulled onto the long private driveway. "You might get to ask him. He's home."

Once in the mansion's garage Olivia lagged behind gazing down in one particular direction. Victor gently nudged her hand with his own. "You okay, Sunshine?" he asks while looking towards the same spot. They must be over the cave. "Thought you'd be excited to see him again."

"I am...but that just makes this more real, you know?" She sighs while squeezing his hand. "I'm not looking forward to seeing how worried he is and how disappointed he might be when I can't keep up." As she begins to walk away Victor gently tugs her back.

He hooked a callused finger beneath her chin and brought her gaze up to his. "Didn't you tell me your dad's more disappointed in himself than his kids?" She nods. "Then I doubt he's going to be disappointed in you. But if he is, fuck 'em! You've done a lot and you're already trying to push to do more. Scared as you are, you still want to fight. Be proud of yourself. I am." He nods towards the door. "Now come on." Olivia gives a weak smile and leads the way.

The first stop is to say hello to Alfred then to her room to get changed into active wear. They check on her workshop to ensure the new body suit is coming out as it should then finally make their way to the cave. Bruce was at the computer looking over information with his cowl pulled back. He pulled quite a few strings to track the terraformer's ship in as close to real time as possible given the massive distance. "Hi dad!" Olivia smiled bright and hurried over to hug him. "I'm happy you're home."

Bruce's smile is genuine as he returns the hug. "Glad to be home, sweetheart." His attention turns to Victor who is seeing him in the suit for the first time without his face concealed. "Victor." It's surreal. For years he's wondered who was under that mask. Who had the gall to disrupt the underground but still wanted to be anonymous. Just some rich dad.

Victor gives a two fingers salute. "Mr. Wayne or do I call you Batman when you're in uniform?" he's joking but he wouldn't put it past him to prefer one over the other.

"When I'm home, Bruce is fine."

"And again, not calling you Bruce because you really don't want me to."

Olivia puffs up her cheeks and sparks. "Be nice you two," she warned while stepping back to stand beside Victor.

"How are you feeling, Olivia?" Bruce asked while pulling up a few things on the computer. Weather reports for thunderstorms, data on Olivia's physiology slipped away from Sylvia and various reports and rumors around the approaching colony.

"I keep telling everyone I'm fine. I just need to take things slow when it comes to getting charged up," she explains. As if he didn't already know. He always knows. "I'm healing but I didn't feel a thing, I swear. I'm ready to try again."

"I think it best that you continue to rest for today," Bruce begins.

"And I think everyone in this family is underestimating what my body can handle! I know it better than anyone else. I know you all don't want me to go for another storm but I can't sit around and do nothing!" She punctuated with a stomp of her foot then walked out onto the target platform. "Oracle, I need to get some target practice in." To her surprise the array appeared. When asked to pick up where they left off she smiles and accepts the offer and dove headfirst back into her training.

Victor quietly admired Olivia's initiative. She told him she devised debate points for weeks just to get Bruce to agree to her attending Gotham Academy and now she seems done asking for permission. "You have zero intention of getting in her way, do you?" Victor asked while the sounds of drones being zapped rang out.

"I've had to learn over the years that each one of my children responds differently to training. Dick liked breaking boundaries. Jason was easy to frustrate. Tim needed to be challenged and Damian had to learn restraint. Olivia has a great amount of anxiety towards what she is allowed to do as well as how much of herself she's allowed to be." Victor took notice of the various pictures of his children throughout the years across the desk. Smiling young faces with the youngest being an annoyed Damian and nervous Olivia.

"Pushing a metahuman afraid of their own abilities breeds even more anxiety and it was a balancing act I was not accustomed to. I had to get outside help from someone raising their own. Admitting I was not the best teacher for her at the time was a blow to my pride I was not ready for," he chuckled. Is this what dads were supposed to sound like? Victor was unsure but this seemed about right.

Olivia cheers and bounces in one spot sparking as she aces the present level and graduates onto the next. "That fae nature of hers really throws a wrench into things, huh?" Victor asks while watching her charge up just her hands.

Bruce turned to watch his daughter hitting strides he unfairly expected of her years ago. "It's not in her to want to harm people. Not even ones posing a threat to others. After she helped rescue you from Ibanescu's goons she cried for half a day. I had to reassure her that no one was seriously injured."

"She really is too much of a marshmallow," Victor snickers. The brow raise from Bruce makes him laugh even more.

"I've been wondering, Victor. What is it that drew you to Olivia?"

"Mm, this feels like a test."

"It's not."

"Forgive me for being skeptical but I learned how to watch what I say the hard way." He looks down at his boots and smiles. "Pretty girls are more common than people like to think and then there is Liv. Maybe it's the demon in me but something about her shines and makes me into a complete idiot. She's so painfully sweet. She told me after she found out who I was she wasn't allowed to talk to me but didn't want to be rude about it. Ridiculous."

Bruce smiles as Victor brings his eyes back up. "As far as honeypot schemes go I'd say this was a rousing success. I didn't have to do a thing," Bruce states with a straight face. The look of alarmed amusement on Victor's face tells him there is just a small part of him that believes him.

"Well congrats. The bat has defeated the underground's favorite attack dog," Victor scoffs. "You get me off the streets and a guard dog that will go anywhere she goes."

"I got a stronger willed daughter out of it. She puts her foot down, snaps back and yells more than she ever has." Bruce shrugs. "I consider this all a win."

"Most of the father's I've known would be upset that their little girl is being rebellious."

"I'm not most fathers," Bruce points out. "I raised four boys that needed to be humbled, much like myself. Building up the confidence of one girl that tries to make herself as small as possible was a struggle. If you break her heart I suggest you never stop running."

"There it is!" Victor laughed. "I'll try not to give you or your sons reason to hunt me down." Both men looked up as a small explosion went off in the cave!

Olivia looked back to them wincing with her hands over her mouth. "I thought it could handle a stronger zap!" she explained. She managed to get her energy to arc between the drones and moved on to testing something the system was not meant for. Just how strong the drones were. "Sorry!" The array is put away as a different variety of drone disappears into the cave to clean up the mess she made and check the integrity of the cave. Olivia stepped up to them with static still on her skin. "I guess I should move on to sparring."

Victor grins. "Yeah lets go, I want to see you beating up one of your brothers for a change."

"I think you should try this charged up state instead. Try it concentrated in your hands for now. I need to test out the insulation on all of our suits," Bruce suggests. Victor narrowed his eyes at the older man.

"I've never done that before but I'll try!" Olivia says with a determined look in her eye. "Oo! We should check on the new body suit!" The excited young woman grabs Victor's hand and pulls him along. "Get some rest, dad! I'm warning you!" Victor and Bruce lock eyes as he passes. He is going to insist she spar with all of them isn't he?

As they make their way to Olivia's workshop she is trying out "igniting" just her hands. The state her hair gets in when she's excited in anyway is clearly just a reflex and what is naturally supposed to happen. He witnessed as much with Yazmine when she was startled. He's also seen that far light up just her arms as a bar trick to draw attention away from fights. Olivia found it a tricky balancing act. It was one thing to shoot out that energy but she was trying to transform just portions of herself. Perhaps them being further from her spine is what made them harder to shift.

"You do realize he's got you doing that so they can spar with you later, right?" Victor asked as they passed through hall upon halls to reach her workshop.

"I know, Victor. I find fighting my family a little easier than even thinking about hitting someone else," she says while trying as hard as possible just to get one hand to lit up. It was like she had to feel it in her bones. "Even that first kick I threw at you I was holding back but once I realized you were way beyond my level I didn't need to."

The door to her workshop opened and they could hear the printer making another skin tight suit winding down. "Do you think you can still do that when you've got half a substation in your fist?"

Olivia paused as her energy flickered and died in her hands. "I...I have to try, but maybe just on a striking dummy first?" She knows she can't have anxiety over this forever. They needed to be tested against her strength just as much as she needed to be stronger. "I was hoping that there was a chance my grandmother was a different kind of fae and then I wouldn't have to stress test everyone but sure enough she's like me..." The suit printed out was in two pieces that she would need to sew together with thread meant to endure high levels of heat.

"And your birth father is likely the same." They anticipate having to deal with both of them. If this conflict gets out of hand outside help may arrive on principal. Victor watched as she split the middle of one piece open then moved the small project over to a hearty sewing machine to begin binding them together. She speed she could work with a machine that can power its way through solid bone was something to witness. Olivia truly was in her element when needle was in hand. A second suit was designed with a scooped back and made with the new materials provided by her dad.

While she was hoping to get in more practice than two things, trying to focus her energy into just her hands alone occupied more of her time and energy. The most she managed by dinner was the same glow that Victor says appears on her back when she's excited. It was a wild sight seeing her own skeleton beneath her skin but this was on the right track. It had to be.

The family plus Victor manage to make it through a dinner keeping conversation light and casual while Olivia attempts to practice. She's chastised by Alfred pointing out that if he doesn't allow weapons at the table she can't become one at it either. Victor points out that this dining room would be empty based on that rule.

Gotham calls. Bruce accepts that his daughter has grounded him and mans the computers of the cave while the rest of the family disperse. Tim and Damian responded to police scanner chatter. Incidents on the north and western side of the city. Jason and Victor had a meeting to catch between the families that smelled rotten the moment it was brought to their attention. No disruptions could be allowed. This city needed to behave while their family prepared for a battle they intended to win.

Olivia smiled listening to the minds in the car. So much excited energy can be infectious. Bright eyes looked to the passing greenery she's grown used to seeing as they make their way from Gotham proper. No this doesn't feel right. Why would they be leaving Gotham? Who is driving the car? She looked down at her small body. A pair of shoes she's not seen since that day. A soft, feminine laugh draws her attention to the front passenger seat. Her mother looks back at her, a smile that could light up a cave. Olivia's eyes well up with tears as she tries to pull free from her seat. "No!" She looked to the seat in front of her. A mass of wild red hair and her father's excited chattering. "No no no no! Wake up!" She looked around their small car then slammed her eyes shut. "Wake up! WAKE UP!"

Everything around her seemed to stop. She heard not a sound, felt nothing near her, not even the soft breathing of someone familiar. Her eyes open. A blaze has taken the family's car. They are stranded somewhere in the woods with the interior filled with smoke. Her mother lay motionless on the dashboard. The little life in her is fading fast. "No!" Olivia cries with tears streaming down her face. As her father coughs she looks out the shattered window beside her. The dead-eyed stare of an unknown person approaching. "STOP IT!" she shrieks. The smoke around her rises and she feels the heat licking at her back.

Yellow eyes snap open and she scrambles from her bed as the suppression system overhead is triggered. Just a small fire this time ruining her pillows and barely scorching the wall behind the headboard. When was the last time she did this? She sniffed, tried to fight back the tears as she stumbled into her bathroom and crawled into the metal tub to curl up with her arms over her face. Her sobs echo off the tile while she tries to disappear. Her senses are numb. All she wants is for this nightmare to stop happening. A knock comes to her bathroom door before a familiar energy enters and comes to sit on the outside of the tub.

Sniffling, Olivia slowly sits up and peers over the edge to Bruce with her eyes red and tears still streaking down her cheeks. Bruce kept his word in trying to get some rest so the Batsuit was put away and he wore casual clothes. It still wasn't him getting proper sleep but still. "Hi dad," Olivia said through a cracking voice.

Bruce reached out to wipe the tears from her eyes and brought his forehead to press against her own. Olivia exhaled and tried to keep from crying further. "The same dream again?" he asked in a hushed voice.

She nods then looks to the black smoke coming from her room. "I...I tried to stop it from happening and I couldn't and... and I tried to just wake up and." She sniffs.

"Breathe, Olivia." She listens to her dad and takes deep, slow breaths. "We'll get you more pillows. Do you want to talk about it?"

Olivia gulped then slumped back into the tub. "What is there to say? I want them to stop. Do the nightmares ever go away?"

Bruce sighs and leaned his back against the tub. "In my experience, no."

"Does it get easier? Does it stop hurting as much?" she asked while her vision blurred from tears.

"Easier? Perhaps. As for the hurt, that all depends. It won't stop ruining your night as much. You recover from the shock of seeing it all over again faster but it will always hurt. If that is a good thing I can't really say, but if it holds you back then it isn't. It can drive you into some dark places as well if you let it."

"...Momma and papa wouldn't want me to go down a path like that. They'd want me to be happy. I am happy here. I love all of you. I love Victor. I'm just scared." She sat up hugging her knees and sighs. "I keep thinking I'm braver than this. I am bigger than this but I..."

A heavy hand reached over and came to rest on her head. A soft static danced across his hand. "What have I always told you about being afraid?"

"Fear can be a tool to help fight against terrible things. And if something is worth doing then you can do it afraid." She inhaled as her eyes dried and a little static crawled along her skin.

Bruce smiles as she looks up at him. "You'll be scared but I promise you will never be alone. You have me, Alfred, and your brothers. Your friends. Victor."

Olivia gives a weak smile before hugging around his neck. "I love you dad."

He held her tight. "I love you too, sweetheart." Pulling back he looks over her. "Think you can get some sleep? Preferably not in the tub," he chuckles.

"I can try. I...I'll just crash in Victor's room if that's okay."

"Of course. I don't think I can keep you from doing what you want."

Olivia smiled. "You stopped doing that a while ago."

"Not true, I just don't show you as much." Olivia giggles and shakes her head. "You grew up so fast. I thought I'd get more time with you squeezing my hand and following me everywhere. Complaining that I don't get enough sleep."

"Because you don't!" she huffs. She gives a weak smile and sits up straight.

"I promise when this is all over I'll take some time off. A day."

"Two days! If you can't get 18 hours worth of sleep it's not worth it!"

Bruce laughs and nods. "Okay, two days. Now, get changed and get some rest. We'll deal with your bed in the morning."

Olivia hugged around his neck again and kissed his cheek. "Okay, dad." Bruce took his leave, reassuring Alfred that everything was okay. With her senses stable she inhaled and reassured any fae she may have scared that she was fine. That was one thing she understood about her role as a monarch. When she's frightened she calls out to them on instinct. She emerged from the bathroom to swap her sleep clothes out for another then with phone in hand made the trek across the manor to Victor's designated room. While on his bed she checked her messages. There was a sleepy voicemail from Arthur asking if everything was okay and to message her as soon as possible.

"Had a nightmare and burned my bed. It happens. I'm fine now." He may worry a bit more about that but she's done all that she can right now. She laid back in the center staring at the ceiling. She can still hear that nightmare, that day, but its sounds are fading. An anger takes fear's place for only a few moments before that slips away too. With her eyes shut she counts backwards sending out a pulse of her energy along her skin to wear herself down further and get some much needed sleep.

Back in the cave the Robin's plus Victor were getting themselves cleaned up after a rough night. Tim held an icepack to his left side while waiting on a scan from the lab. He'd come across another dogtag user and wanted to make certain the tainted variant were off the streets. Damian bandaged a long cut on his arm after stitching it closed. His encounter was a small-time gang trying to take advantage of the cold. Jason and Victor had a far louder event to deal with. As Bruce descended back into the cave he looked to all the young faces.

Victor looked up from the shrapnel wound he was stitching up. "How's our girl?" he asked.

"A nightmare and some burned sheets. Nothing we haven't seen before," Bruce explained while coming to the computer to check on the colony's progress across the stars.

"I'm sorry what?!"

"Likely her memories of the crash," Damian clarifies. "She hasn't had one of those in maybe two years?"

"Not to this bad of a reaction but she'll be fine," Bruce says then looks to his team. "How did tonight go?" Victor has experienced Olivia waking in the middle of the night from a nightmare but never once did she set the bed they were sleeping in on fire with her abilities. The stress of the arrival is getting to her.

Jason and Victor look between one another then back to Bruce. "So someone brought a bomb to a party!" Victor announces. Bruce looked displeased. "You'll have to wait for me to catch up on how this is supposed to go. I'm not used to giving reports when I shoot someone."

Jason held up a hand and grimaced. "You're done talking, Zsasz." The young man looked pleased with himself now that he didn't have to explain how tonight went sideways. "There was an impromptu family reunion with the Falcones."

Bruce narrowed his eyes and began to pull up information sent from Jason's and Victor's helmet. "Mario Falcone is back in town?" he asked, taking that Batman tone the Robins were familiar with.

"Yes, and Sophia was not happy about that!" Jason states. "Threw a wrench in her plans to take over the family."

"She was planning a coup. I told you it was going to be a coup and you didn't listen to me," Victor said while waving around a knife he was cleaning and sharpening.

"Do you want to explain what happened?!" Jason asked while pointing an unloaded gun at Victor. He held up his hands. "Banquet hall on Cape Carmine was full. Big meeting between the families that didn't involve Zsasz for a change." The young man shrugged. He was a very important man in the underworld. "Carmine isn't ready to retire. You know that, I know that. Sophia doesn't care. Her dad smelled smoke, called Mario to be a shield and set up the meeting with the families."

Bruce crossed his arms. "And the results?"

"A bomb went off. Minimal casualties. No deaths, yet."

"No one backing Sophia is going to stick behind her after this shitshow," Victor explains. "Talks devolved quickly once she saw her brother, but the horse to back is Carmine. The devil we know and all that."

"I know enough about Mario to say he'll be worse than either of them in more creative and disruptive ways," Jason says with a serious look about him. "Sophia will just start clearing out their stable of bought uniforms. This isn't a let it ferment and see what happens."

"We'll divert what attention we can to managing the Falcones," Bruce explains. "A disruption like this will give us more breathing room. When this ordeal with the colony is done it's business as usual. Clip Sophia's wings, light a fire under Mario so he understands what he's dealing with when he takes over. Who brought the bomb?"

"A straggler of Anarky. We're lucky there was no fear gas involved," Jason says with a roll of his shoulder. "That hall was packed tight. Victor being able to show his face and move through without anyone thinking twice about him saved more lives than I think he realizes."

"Bombs are so lazy!" Victor grumbles. "I mean, yes, efficient but not as great a message as precision." He examined his own stitching then pulled his shirt back on. "I'll be making appearances starting tomorrow. We have to pretend like all things are normal after all, right?" Bruce nods.

Damian looked to his dad once all of his gear was put away for cleaning. "Father, when do you intend to return to The Watchtower?" he asks in a stern voice.

"Once Olivia's training can be passed over to Jonathan I'll head back up. If the colony hopes to do any kind of work in our system they'll make the attempt to be diplomatic. Stopping them at the gates will be our first line of defense but the likelihood of that being all we need is slim."

"If they terraform planets neither Earth or Mars could afford their services or give them something they could find valuable," Tim adds. "You know, outside of Olivia." The group weighs the possibility that the powers that be on Earth would sell out Olivia for the chance to sculpt the planet to their liking. The chances are far too high. What the colony can do needs to be kept a secret for as long as possible.

Creeping into the early morning hours Victor is ready to turn in. He passed by Olivia's room to check on her but found it empty and her bed covered in fire suppression foam. Right, she's probably sleeping somewhere else. With a sigh he makes it to his room for one more morning of sleeping in the manor before he heads back to his place. He can't smother her with being around all the time. Movement in his room makes him pause. He smiled and slipped into the shower to get ready for bed. He dressed his wound and crawled into bed with Olivia. She moved towards him the moment he was beside her and curled into his chest. Maybe he can stay one more night.