DISCLAIMERS/NOTES

1. This is a fan fiction based on characters owned by DC Comics. I DO NOT OWN THEM. This is just for fun.

2. As always, I'll point out this was written over a decade ago. Here in the UK, Season 2 of the JL cartoon had yet to air, so Hawkgirl had not been revealed as a spy. And the massive, every-hero-in-the-DCU roster of Unlimited wasn't a factor. My timeline picks up after the Season 1 finale, The Savage Time. All my Wayback Wednesday stories are numbered chronologically, if you get stuck.

3. There are aspects of these stories that, in hindsight, I would change. However, I have kept them as I originally wrote them for history's sake. Not laziness.

PART 5

13:44.

Flash went into the kitchen, and looked around. It was empty. Good. He was not in the mood for company.

But of course, if he was not in the mood for company, what was he doing there?

He sighed. He knew the answer, of course.

He wanted to be near her. Just… around her brought him joy. But then, that was because he…

He…

He groaned. How could he still feel this way? He should have forgotten about her months… a year ago. But he could not. No matter how hard he tried to let her go, he had to admit it…

He still loved her.

He went upto the side table and opened the cupboard. He took a mug and clicked on the kettle. He opened a drawer and took out a spoon. He then put some coffee into his mug and reached for the sugar. Once the kettle had boiled, he poured some water into his mug, then began putting in his regular thirty-seven sugars.

He did the whole process on autopilot. He was too depressed to think about what he was doing. All he could think about was her.

Still, hopefully today would not be a totally regrettable. Batman and Diana were coming up later, and they were bringing the kids. Flash was looking forward to seeing his little trooper, his little princess. He felt particularly proud of Faith. He had breathed life into her, and it was without a doubt the best thing he had ever done in his life. He knew she was not his daughter, but… he loved her like one.

He heard footsteps and turned to see Hawkgirl at the doorway. He froze. Not now…

She looked at him, her arms behind her back. "Hi," she said cautiously.

"Hi," he replied, as casually as he could.

She walked closer, and Flash could tell she was nervous. Did she know…?

"How are you?" she asked.

"I'm… fine," he said. He went to the table, and sat down. He began to sip his coffee, trying not to look at her.

She took a seat opposite him. The tension in the room was unbearable. "Flash…"

He was silent, but when he looked up and saw her face, his heart ached. Despite her mask, he could still tell her expression was saddened. "Yes?" he eventually said.

She looked at the table. Flash put down his coffee and looked at her. He felt terrible. How could he still love her? It was wrong. She was married. Pregnant. He was just what she always called him – a jerk.

"How's… Linda?" she asked quietly.

Flash froze again. To hear her say Linda's name… felt terrible. All he could think about was her… he did not WANT to think about Linda.

Oh man… did he just think that?

"She's fine," he said. "How are you?"

"Flash…" she said. "There's something I need to know…"

Flash frowned. He was incredibly conflicted. He did not want to cause her pain… but he wanted her more than anything.

Before Hawkgirl could say anything else, J'onn walked into the room. "Batman and Diana are here," he said. "They've just arrived. The children are already stressing Green Lantern."

Hawkgirl sighed and stood up. "OK… I'll be there in a moment. Flash, can we talk later?"

Flash got to his feet and went to the door, as J'onn left back down the corridor. "If you like. I'm gonna go see the kids. Later." With that, he whizzed down the corridor as fast as he could.

Sometimes it helped to be the Fastest Man Alive…

/

16:09.

Faith and Thomas stared at Lantern. He sighed. "They're just staring at me."

Diana giggled. "Maybe if you create something more exciting than a bubble with your ring…"

Lantern looked at his hand, and the energy bubble emanating from his ring dissipated. "Well, I was amused with bubbles when I was a kid," he said.

"If that's true," said Flash, "I'm sorry."

J'onn smiled as Lantern frowned at the Scarlet Speedster. He looked around the room at his new family. Lantern and Flash were on the floor with Faith and Thomas, and they had spent the last couple of hours entertaining them. Well… Flash had been making them laugh. Lantern had just either made them yawn or cry.

Diana was sitting on the coach, smiling down on her children. However, J'onn had sensed some discomfort in her. Nothing too serious, just… something that was on her mind. Some… frustration. It did not take J'onn's telepathy to figure out what she was stressed over. But he had no worries that everything would be OK. It was just going to take time.

Hawkgirl was sitting in an easy chair. To J'onn's surprise, he sensed unease in her too. But it was more intense. It was something personal to her… something distressing. He wanted to find out what was worrying her, but he did not want to pry. But it was different to Diana's discomfort. J'onn could sense it was causing Hawkgirl pain. He would have to have a talk with her.

He looked at Batman, who was standing near the back of the room. He never quite knew what to do. Despite his loosening up since he started his relationship with Diana, the Dark Knight still had trouble socialising. Even now, when they had come to the Watchtower as friends, he still distanced himself. The only person he opened himself up to was, obviously, Diana. But J'onn regretted that Batman felt he could not relax more around the other Leaguers. Then again, J'onn was hardly the loosest person there…

He watched as Flash flipped a toy between his hands at superspeed. The children began giggling and bobbing up and down on their bottoms. J'onn smiled as Thomas reached out for the toy, and Flash passed it to his other hand. Faith squealed as she lunged at the toy. She grabbed it, and the force of her push sent Flash falling backwards. "Whoa.." he said, as he put his arm out to break his fall. "She's pretty strong…"

Diana shrugged. "She'll be quite the Amazon," she said. "Stop playing with them, Flash. Give them the toy."

As Flash handed the toy to Faith, J'onn sighed. His new family would never replace his old, but all things considered, his life had turned out pretty good…

/

18:22.

Batman stepped out of the costume chamber, and pulled his glove on tighter. He then put his hand to his collar, and shifted his cape slightly. He had made pretty good time. He had not made a particular effort to be quicker, but he had tried to be ready earlier than usual. He had been told off enough today.

He went upto the Batcomputer and uploaded his notes for the night. He pressed a button on the console, and the data was transferred to the Batmobile's onboard computer.

He turned and went towards the car. As he walked, he saw a figure standing a few yards away. He stopped and looked to see Diana smiling, holding Faith and Thomas in her arms, as she did every night.

He went upto her and stroked her arm. "Am I early enough tonight?"

Her smile widened. "Yes… just make sure you don't be late home."

Batman took a step closer to her, and put his hand to her cheek. "Are you going to keep ordering me about?"

"Until you start obeying me, yes," she said. Her smile fell. "Please… come home on time tonight."

He sighed. "Diana…"

"Please…" she whispered. "I miss you so much…"

Batman looked down. He hated this. He had sworn that as long as he could do anything about it, Diana would not be hurt. But he was hurting her himself. He had promised to make some changes when the children were born… but he had not. He had kept going on patrol, kept taking risks… Dick, Barbara and Tim had offered to take care of the patrols, but he had been stubborn. He knew how to be a crimefighter… he did not know how to be a husband and father.

He looked up at her, and could tell the sadness in her eyes. He had not realised how lonely she was… all she had were the kids during the day, and an empty bed at night. "Diana… I'm sorry. I'll… try and be home early."

She smiled faintly. "Listen… I'm sorry about earlier. I just… I love you so much… and it's been so long…"

"It's OK," he said. "I just don't want you to hurt yourself… you need to recover. I love you… and I don't want you to get hurt." He leaned close, and kissed her tenderly on the lips.

She closed her eyes. "Bruce… I'm sorry. I'm being silly. Just… ignore me. I'll be OK." She looked at him. "Go do what you have to. I'll be waiting."

Batman sighed, and looked into her eyes. He loved her so much… what was he doing to her? He was so focused on his quest… he had lost sight of his new one. He had a wife and children… he should be with THEM. And he wanted to be… he wanted to be so much…

But… he could not.

He…

He looked into her eyes…

He stroked her hair. "I love you so much… I know I said I'd make changes… and I will. I promise you. We'll… talk about it tomorrow, yes?"

She nodded slightly. "You don't have to… I'm just in a funny mood…"

Batman looked at Faith and Thomas. They were tired, nearly falling asleep in Diana's arms. He moved his arms to them and tickled their chins. "Don't keep Mommy up tonight…"

Diana giggled. "You're so cute…"

Batman smiled at her. "I'll be back in the morning. Tomorrow we'll… go out. I'll take you somewhere nice."

"Anywhere would be fine, as long as you're with us," Diana said.

He caressed her cheek. "It won't always be this way. I promise." With that, he turned around, and strode towards the Batmobile. He hopped into it, and sat in the cockpit. "I love you," he said.

"That's my line," she said.

"The first of the changes I'm going to make," he said. "Don't break any locks tonight."

She grinned. "I won't. I love you."

"Give the kids a kiss goodnight for me." With that, he closed the cockpit, and started the engine. The car moved forwards, and it drove up the ramp, Diana and the babies watching it go…

Batman watched them in the rearview mirror, and sighed.

It would not always be this way…

THE END