Please enjoy!

OoOoOo

Wayne Manor: February 14, 2025

Lily examined herself in the mirror. Her long, dark hair was tied back into a ponytail with two curly strands framing her face. She wore a red, knee-length dress with a sweetheart neckline and a gold necklace. She had to admit, she looked good. Not that she ever looked particularly bad, but tonight she wanted to look perfect. It was Valentine's Day, after all, and her first-ever date. She wanted everything to go flawlessly and that included her ensemble.

"Knock, knock," came her mother's teasing voice. The tall Amazon had a wide grin on her face as she entered. "Oh, dearest, you look resplendent."

Lily smiled. "Thanks, Mom," she replied, slipping into her flats. She watched her mother, who was fidgeting. "Yes, Mom?"

Diana beamed at her. "Just wondering if we're ever going to meet this young man," she answered easily. "I never thought that my daughter's heart was attainable. You've turned down everyone else. I just wonder what makes him different?"

She grinned to herself, but outwardly rolled her eyes. "Please, Dad probably already knows," she pointed out. She thought of her date, trying to ignore the fluttering of her heart. "But to answer your question, soon."

Her mother observed her for a moment before leaning forward and kissing her forehead. "I trust you, my Sun and Stars," she whispered. "Just be careful. Don't be afraid to say no and if he tries anything-"

"Turn on my distress signal," finished Lily irritably. Her father had made her carry it all her life. "I know, I know." She kissed her mother on the cheek. "I'll be fine, okay? But I really gotta go."

"Have fun, darling," called her mother as she retreated.

OoOoOo

Wayne Manor: July 16, 2030

Another dead end.

Lily was going to yank her hair out by the roots. The shells of the keel bullets she had collected at the crime scene weren't compatible with the guns used to kill the McGinnis's. Fucking James had sent her on a wild goose chase, vacating Gotham whilst she was distracted. Stupid, spoiled prince. She was barely able to stop herself from flying over to Kaznia and beating the answers out of the rat. Queen Diana may have been her friend, but he was still an heir of the country.

She wouldn't lie, she was nowhere near the detective her father had been. Or Timmy was, for that matter. She was intelligent and insightful, that wasn't in question, but sometimes things didn't properly connect in her head. She had a hard time putting together the pieces to see the bigger picture. She couldn't even really read people like Dick could.

Dad had taught her a lot, but some things were either natural or they weren't.

Lily carefully left the Cave, making sure that Terry was nowhere in sight. It was early enough, but she didn't think that he slept all that much. And really, who could blame him? Nightmares still plagued her and it had been five years. Making sure that the entrance was thoroughly hidden, she stalked upstairs, her limbs feeling heavier than usual.

She would have said it had been a long night. But honestly? It had been a damn long two weeks.

Lily finally made it to her bedroom, flopping onto the large, extremely comfortable bed. Her eyes drooped closed and she felt herself drift away into sleep. She was almost under completely when her alarm blared annoyingly into her right ear.

Slowly, she lifted her head, wishing destruction and pain upon the offending device. She glared daggers at it for what felt like hours- really, only two minutes- before sighing heavily and pulling herself off the bed. "Stupid alarm clock," she muttered disdainfully, trekking over to her bathroom. "Stupid Wayne Enterprises."

Since adopting Terry, Lily had taken a short break from the company. She still worked from home, but she had wanted to let Terry adjust before bringing him along to work with her or getting him a babysitter. Though, she would have to be extremely careful if she got a babysitter. Perhaps it would be a good idea to look into summer camps for him.

Not only was she ready to return to work, but she wanted Terry to become familiar with her workplace. She also wanted to make sure that he knew who he could and could not trust within her company.

Once she had made herself ready, Lily made her way into the kitchen and began to cook. Terry, unfortunately, really liked eggs. She really, really hated them, but she would be fine with toast, bacon, and a cup of hot chocolate (she didn't like coffee either).

A few minutes later, Terry, still in his pajamas, slid sleepily into the kitchen. "Hi," he mumbled tiredly, rubbing his eye.

Lily smiled, setting his plate down in front of him. "Morning, sweetie," she greeted. "Sleep alright?"

He shrugged. "I guess," he murmured back. He picked at his eggs with his fork. "I'm going to your job today, right?"

She nodded, sitting down across from him with her hot chocolate. "That's right," she told him. "I wanted to ask, have you ever thought about camp? I'm excited about having you come to work with me today, but it can get boring even for me. I'm sure I could get you into camp somewhere if you wanted."

Terry shrugged again. "That's cool," he muttered. "I used to go to Camp Awesome, but they closed down."

Lily raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Oh yeah?" she asked. "Why's that?"

He grinned at her. "One of the counselors tried to set it on fire."

Lovely.

OoOoOo

Wayne Enterprises: July 16, 2030

Terry busied himself with one of the game consoles Lily had bought him upon his arrival to the manor. He played quietly while she worked, careful not to disturb her. She was wearing glasses again and he noticed that she never wore them at the manor. She looked like she was thinking hard as she hadn't looked up from her work for about two hours.

A knock sounded at the door. "Come in," called Lily, still not looking up.

A man dressed in a nice suit and glasses walked in, a kind smile on his face. "Morning, boss," he greeted, walking up to Lily's desk.

Terry watched as Lily smiled kindly. "Lucius," she replied. She, finally, turned away from her computer screen as she adjusted her glasses. "What do you have for me today?"

The man, Lucius, handed her a stack of files. "From the board," he told her. For the first time, he frowned. "The board's pushing for a merger with Powers."

For the first time since Terry had met her, Lily looked angry. Her fist clenched at her side and her face twisted. He decided that she looked a little scary. "We went through this five years ago," she hissed. Her eyes darted over to him and she lowered her voice a bit. "Powers is just looking for an opportunity to take over. I may have partnered with him, but I will not merge. End of discussion."

Lucius shrugged sympathetically. "You know how they are."

Lily sighed heavily, then glanced at him again. "Sorry, Terry," she said softly. "This is Lucius Fox Jr., Vice President of Wayne Enterprises. Lucius, this is Terry McGinnis, my ward."

The man smiled at him, extending a hand. "It's very nice to meet you, Terry," he said kindly. Terry didn't know why, but there was something very kind about the man's brown eyes. "How you are adjusting?"

Terry shrugged. "Okay, I guess," he answered offhandedly. Though, 'okay' wasn't really the right word. Wayne Manor was huge. It was so big, in fact, that the few times he'd dared to go exploring, he had gotten lost. Lily was also so busy that he wasn't comfortable seeking her out during the day. He didn't want to disturb her' he knew she worked hard.

There were also the nightmares. Sometimes, he would be in the parking garage as Mom and Dad bled out in front of him. Other times, he, himself, was on the receiving end of the gun. The assailant's face would be completely covered as they would point the gun towards him. They would shoot and he would wake up.

Usually, whenever he would have a nightmare, he would sneak into his parents' bed and sleep with them. But... It wasn't like he could do that with Lily. Really, she wasn't his mom. It would just be weird.

Besides, all he really wanted in those moments were his parents.

Lily and Lucius talked for a little bit, using big words he didn't understand, before he finally left. Once he did, Lily buried her fingers into her hair and released a huff of agitation. Terry looked up from his game. "What's wrong?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Nothing, Terry," she assured him, smiling weakly. "Nothing you need to worry about, anyway." She checked her watch. "You hungry? It's about time for lunch."

Terry realized that he was, in fact, hungry. "Yeah," he answered.

Lily stood up. "Come on," she urged, walking toward the door. "Let's go get something to eat."

He nodded, putting the game down on the chair and joining her. They walked down the long hallways for a while before he looked up at her. "Mr. Fox is nice," he told her honestly, taking her hand. He didn't particularly know why, it was just a feeling he had.

She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "He is very nice," she agreed, smiling a bit. "His family has been allies to the Wayne's for decades. His father was a great friend of my own."

"What happened to your parents?"

The words flew out of Terry's mouth before he could stop them. It had suddenly occurred to him that he had never asked her before. But they had to be gone, right? It wasn't like she was old, but she lived alone in such a big house. That meant that she was an orphan like him.

This was confirmed by the sad way her eyes fell. Shoot, he hadn't meant to make her feel bad! He just couldn't help himself. He shouldn't have asked. He didn't like to think about what had happened in that parking garage. Of course she didn't want to talk about it!

Lily stopped walking, making him stop too. She was quiet for a long time and Terry was afraid that she was mad at him. She hadn't gotten mad at him yet, but now he had gone and ruined it. What if she didn't want him anymore? What if she gave him back to Oaken?

He'd ruined it. He had only lived with her for two weeks and he had ruined it.

But when she looked at him, Lily didn't look mad. Sad, yes, but not mad. "Have you heard about the Battle of 2025?" she asked quietly.

Terry racked his brain. He recalled that his teacher had mentioned it vaguely a long time ago. That was when the Justice League had been destroyed, or something like that. And after that, there were no more superheroes. He had only been three at the time, so he didn't know much. "Yeah," he answered quietly, wondering why she was bringing it up.

Lily breathed in deeply through her nose. "My parents were caught in the crossfire," she revealed. Her bottom lip trembled slightly, like it had when she had talked about her family's butler. But this seemed much worse. "They were in Metropolis at the time."

He instantly felt bad. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, taking her hand. He felt bad for bringing it up, especially since she was so upset. He had never seen her so upset before.

She was quiet again before she gave him a shaky smile. "Not your fault, kiddo," she assured him, all traces of sorrow wiped from her face. "Now come on. If we hurry, we might have time for ice-cream."

OoOoOo

A few things. I know that the beginning flashback seems... out of place. That's intentional. Try to connect the dots. Also, sorry for the short chapter! Another, I've made a prequel (sequel?) Justice League story to this called Far From Home. The new League gets sent back in time and come face-to-face with their parents. There will be... slight spoilers to this story. But they aren't too bad. Check it out if you want.

With that being said, I hope you liked it and please review!