Chapter Text
When you're happy like a fool
Let it take you over
When everything is out
You gotta take it in
Oh this has gotta be the good life
This has gotta be the good life
This could really be a good life, good life
Say oh, got this feeling that you can't fight
Like this city is on fire tonight
This could really be a good life
A good, good life
Hopelessly
I feel like there might be something that I'll miss
Hopelessly
I feel like the window closes oh so quick
Hopelessly
I'm taking a mental picture of you now
'Cause hopelessly
The hope is we have so much to feel good about—Good Life by One Republic
Three Years Later
Bruce sighed as he packed the last of the supplies that Diana had requested he pick-up from Costco into the back of the Range Rover. She had insisted that they take a family vacation to their beach house in Lahiana, on the island of Maui, to celebrate his fifty-third birthday. And she used the term family quite loosely.
Bruce started to pull out of the parking space but stopped as he tried to duck the small, red sandal that hit him on the side of his head. He had better luck with the second one that hit the windshield
and landed on the dash. Childish laughter came from the back seat as the small passenger yelled,
"I'm ready."
Bruce smirked as he looked into the rear view mirror at beautiful blond haired girl sitting in her car
seat. Cassandra Martha Wayne was a few months past her second birthday and precocious as Hell
with an arm like Cy Young. "Cassie, sweetie, you're ready when you put your sandals on not take
them off," he informed his youngest child.
Cassie just laughed as she stuck her thumb in her mouth and cuddled her stuffed pony, Bella Pink
Sparkles. Bruce shook his head as he tossed her sandals onto the empty passenger seat next to him
and continued pulling out of the parking lot. He was soon on the highway, headed back to his
Hawaiian home.
Two weeks after his fiftieth birthday, Diana had discovered that she was pregnant. They figured that
she must have conceived on the night of Evangeline's birthday, as they hadn't really thought to use
any birth control. Nine months later Cassie had been born and Bruce couldn't have been happier.
Evie's words had certainly been true even if it wasn't always easy.
Diana and he'd had a lot of issues to work out. Trust had taken time and having another member of
the family on the way hadn't made it easier. Diana became a bit paranoid when he came back to the
Cave one night injured. It had been a rather minor injury but she had become angry when he
insisted on going out the next night. She had called him selfish and uncaring of his family. He had
snapped that she never understood his mission and left. His anger, combined with his injury, had
nearly cost him his life that night. He'd made a mistake and was cornered by some new Metahuman
villain calling himself the Electrocutioner. He could almost feel the pain still of the electricity that
had coursed through his body and he'd been on the verge of blacking out when a batarang had
flown from the shadows and hit the villain in the back of the head knocking him unconscious.
Thomas, dressed in Tim's old Robin suit, had emerged from the shadows and quickly zip tied the
criminal. Bruce had felt a crazy mix of relief and anger as he rose to his feet and barked, "Home!"
He and Diana may have been fighting but they both came together to lecture Thomas about the
foolishness of his actions. Thomas allowed them to vent a bit but stopped them cold by saying, "I
know what it's like to lose my father and I really don't want my little brother or sister to never even
know his or hers."
He then went on to say that he was probably as strong as Bruce and has been training most of his
life in martial arts and gymnastics not to mention he had faster than normal reflexes and healing
ability.
"Bruce, you are no longer alone. We are your family now and we can back you up. I'm sure Aunt
Donna will help so that you can recover and Mom can worry a bit less. You know she yells at you
because she loves you so much and she can't stand the thought of losing you."
Bruce was still stunned at the calm wisdom of the boy. It was truly Thomas' greatest gift and Bruce
had no doubt that he would be a great man someday.
So Diana and he had allowed him to patrol on the condition that he only went with Bruce or Donna.
Alfred had made him his very own Robin suit complete with gloves that covered the impenetrable
bracers that Donna gave him for his twelfth birthday.
Donna had balked at dressing up as Batwoman and, with Dick's permission, became the new
Nightwing. She seemed to enjoy the few nights a month that Bruce took off and Marcus ran point,
until she had to stop last year because of an unexpected pregnancy.
So Diana and he were able to work through many issues and the day Cassie had been born was truly
magical. Especially considering three goddesses had shown up as he and Diana were bonding with
their precious little girl.
Bruce almost sighed he turned into the long driveway leading to his house and "family." He
prepared himself mentally for the onslaught of people. He never really was a people person but he
could put up with it to make Diana happy.
He had barely stopped the SUV before Cassie was bouncing in her seat, yelling, "Conna." Bruce
turned his head and spotted another little miracle standing in the breezeway between the house and
carport. At least he was a miracle to Clark and Lois.
Even before they married, Clark and Lois knew it was unlikely that they would ever have a child
together. A few years into their marriage they'd adopted Chris, the son of Mala and Jax-Ur. They
had somehow managed to escape a black hole but were given life sentences by the Green Lantern
Corps for crimes committed in sector 1583. Mala gave custody of her infant son to Kal-El as he was
the only remaining Kryptonian that she knew. Chris was now fifteen and Clark and Lois had done
fine job raising him. He was a good kid with all of the Kent values that made Clark such a good
man. He was also one of Thomas's best friends.
Bruce had barely unbuckled Cassie from her car seat before she leaped out of the Range Rover and
practically threw herself at the nearly three-year-old boy with violet eyes.
His mind wandered back to the phone call he'd received from Amanda Waller a few days after his
fiftieth birthday. She was lucky he was in good mood with Diana moving in or he might have wrung
her neck when she told him that samples of Superman's DNA had been stolen from the Cadmus
archives; samples that were supposed to have been destroyed over sixteen years ago in an
agreement between Cadmus and the Justice League.
Of course she had exhausted all her own resources in trying to find them herself before she called
him two months after they'd discovered the theft. She left him an ice-cold trail and no leads but he
had managed to find Dr. Emil Hamilton in a remote lab outside a small town in North Dakota about
six months later. It turned out that Hamilton had stolen the samples a year before Amanda
discovered the theft and he had already perfected his research to create a Kryptonian/Human
hybrid.
Batman planned a surgical strike on Hamilton's secret lab and it had gone perfectly because as
brilliant as the doctor was his security measures were lacking against the counter measures planned
by the dark knight. Before the scientist knew what was happening, he was bound in Wonder
Woman's lasso and confessing everything from his fear of Superman taking over the world to his
bizarre crush on Lois Lane.
Between the abomination that became Bizzaro and Galetea's instability and insanity, Dr. Hamilton
knew a full Kryptonian clone would be too unstable. So he had created a human/Krytonian hybrid.
He had needed a female human's DNA and he had chosen Lois Lane because she was a smart, brave
and determined woman who sought truth and justice for the weak and down trodden. In his mind
she would be the perfect mother for his "child."
Needless to say the scientist had become a few cards short of a full deck but the result actually
turned out to be a blessing for two of his closest friends. Bruce would never forget the look of awe
on Lois's face when he handed her the child she thought she could never have. Conner Samuel Kent
was her miracle and she quickly got past the circumstances of his birth.
Conner giggled at Cassie's behavior and returned her hug. Cassie had declared them best friends
and so they were. Conner never seemed to have a problem going along with whatever notion
crossed Cassie's mind and the two would be off on adventures of the imagination for hours.
A pretty blond woman stepped out of the house and said to the two children, "There are freshly
baked chocolate chip cookies in the kitchen if you want some." They didn't need to be told twice as
they raced into the house.
"Hey Bruce, Diana sent me out here to help you unload the supplies. It's almost noon and Marcus
and she need to get the burgers and hot dogs on the grill."
Bruce raised a sardonic eyebrow at her. "Can't disappoint the Princess now can we, Steph? You
would think that today was her birthday the way she's acting." He couldn't help giving her a small
smile though. She was a major part of the reason Tim was back in his life.
Stephanie Brown Drake scoffed at him. "You know Di is just trying to make your birthday special."
"A family dinner and movie night would have been special enough," Bruce groused.
Stephanie rolled her eyes at him. "Movie night seriously?! I don't think even Tim could stand
another Gray Ghost marathon and he likes those creepy old movies." At Bruce's bark of laughter she
continued. "Besides, I'm not stupid enough to pass up a week of fun in the sun and neither is the
rest of your family." And with those parting words she picked up a case of Coke and headed into the
house.
Bruce smiled and shook his head. Tim had done well in his choice of wife. Bruce quite enjoyed her
blunt personality and sarcastic sense of humor. Although when she had become the teenage
vigilante, Spoiler, he hadn't been too fond of her. He'd understood her desire to compensate for her
crooked father but she had nearly gotten herself killed and would have if he and Tim hadn't saved
her. She had been smart enough to retire after that and had become friends with Tim until his run
in with the Joker. They'd met up again in college and this time fell in love.
Of course Thomas, with his stubborn sense of compassion, could not leave the rift between Tim and
Bruce alone, especially after Cassie was born. So, after trying to subtly convince Bruce to talk to him
for a year, he had taken matters into his own hands and paid Tim a visit. Only Tim hadn't been
home and Stephanie had answered the door.
After hearing Thomas's story over cookies and milk, Stephanie decided to help as well. The two had
concocted a plan that afternoon and both talked Diana into it. To say that Diana and Stephanie hit
it off right away would be an understatement. Stephanie had long idolized Diana and Diana had
admired Stephanie's spunk. Together they arranged a dinner in a private room at a nice restaurant
downtown.
Bruce would never forget Tim's shocked face or the shock he felt when the maître de lead Diana and
he into the private dining room. Nor would he forget the anger on Stephanie's face when she pulled
an envelope from her purse.
"Tim sweetie, look what I found in the drawer of your work bench at home," she stated as she waved
the envelope in Tim's face and he blanched. "Oh yes it is the wedding invitation I asked you to write
a personal note on and send to Bruce. But you didn't do that did you hun?"
"Look Steph, it's complicated..." Tim began.
"Cut the crap, Timmy. Here I thought Bruce was an asshole for not even bothering to RSVP when
you didn't do the one thing I asked you to do, which was to invite your father."
"He's not my father," Tim hissed. Bruce could still feel his chest tightening at the memory.
"Oh really! You forget that I know how close you two were before...everything that went down."
Stephanie's tone had become solemn. "Are you going to let the Joker win?"
Tim had stared at her intensely before sitting back down at the table. Stephanie gave him a soft
smile and kissed him on the forehead before grabbing her purse and saying, "Di and I are going to
have a drink at the bar while you both talk for a bit."
And the two had left. To say that their first conversation in years had been awkward would also be a
massive understatement. But Bruce had managed to apologize for letting Tim down both before and
after what happened with the Joker and Tim apologized for not inviting him to the wedding. They
bonded in their agreement that Stephanie was a little spitfire and Bruce could see the love and pride
Tim had for his wife. The ladies had returned and they all had dinner. Of course not everything was
resolved with one meal but it had been the start they needed.
So now he had all his sons back in his life and a daughter too. Life really was good, he thought as he
heaved a case of bottled water out of the car and headed inside. He could hear Diana ordering
everyone around.
"Richard and Timothy," she barked. "Get outside and help your father unload the Range Rover. I
don't need him straining his back."
Bruce grimaced as he rounded the corner. Did she think he was some feeble old man who couldn't
lift a feather? He was still the Batman who made Gotham's underworld tremble in fear. But he
forgot his irritation a moment later when he saw her. She was wearing an aqua colored bikini with a
sheer pareo draped around her, expertly slicing a mango. Diana knew how to handle a knife and her
movements were smooth and quick as the fruit seemed to fall apart in perfect chunks. It was
strangely sexy, especially when she lifted her finger to her lips and sucked off the juice that coated
- When she wrapped her lips around a piece of mango, the look of unbridled pleasure on her face
almost made Bruce drop a case of water.
"You better let me get that old man, so you can wipe the drool off your chin," Dick teased as took
the case from Bruce's frozen fingers. Bruce glared briefly at him, causing Dick to grin, but nothing
could distract him from his beautiful wife, who now returning his stare. He took two steps and
swept her into his arms, causing her to laugh before his lips expertly found hers.
He tasted the honey nectar and tang of the fruit and honestly couldn't remember anything tasting
sweeter than her lips. He completely lost all thought as she returned his kiss with equal passion and
his hand slid down her back to her hip as he pressed her firmly against his arousal. He was about to
lift her and wrap her legs around his waist when a loud cough jerked him back to the reality of their
immediate surroundings.
He felt heat rise in his face as he pulled back from her lips. Diana's checks were also a bit pink but a
smile spread across her lips as she whispered, "Happy Birthday."
Bruce returned her smile and said softly, "It most certainly is." He pulled a little more away from
her but still kept his arm around her as he let his heart rate return to normal before looking at the
shocked members of his family. A few were, like Dick, Donna and Marcus more amused than
shocked. Clark stared at them with an open mouth, forgetting he was in the middle of eating a
chocolate chip cookie and Lois had put her hand over Connor's eyes though her expression was also
a bit amused. Cassie broke whatever tension was in the room as she let out a loud giggle and started
to sing, "Mommy and Daddy sitting in a tree, G..."
Everyone start to laugh before returning to whatever they had been doing. Lois picked up the book
she had been reading to Conner and Cassie as they munched cookies. Donna, holding her nine-
month-old baby daughter, Phoebe, was talking to her husband Marcus as he chopped vegetables for
a salad. Tim, Dick and Stephanie headed back out to the Range Rover to get the rest of the supplies.
"Where's everyone else?" Bruce asked as he nuzzled Diana's neck.
"Thomas, Chris, Mary, James and Rex are playing volleyball on the beach with Wally, Jai and Iris.
Linda and Barbara are soaking up the sun with Alfred. J'onn had to return to the Watchtower for a
bit and Ming is resting upstairs. I have no idea where John and Shayera disappeared to."
"Probably doing what I would love to be doing with you right now," Bruce said as he kissed her lips
gently.
Diana eyelids dropped to half-mast as she bit her lip. Bruce felt his arousal heighten only to have it
squashed. "We would be bad hosts," she whispered. "Because, once I get my hands on you, it may
be days before we see anyone else." Then she gave him a deep kiss and walked across the room to
check on Marcus's progress with the vegetables.
Bruce stared at her retreating form for a moment as the blood returned to his brain. A grin spread
across his face as he thought again, that life really was good.
On another island thousands of miles away, Veronica Cale sipped her green tea as she scanned her
tablet for news stories from around the world. She was always checking to make sure her
organization was flying well under the radar of the world's authorities and the Justice League. She
had been very successful over the past three years staying in the shadows while earning a great deal
of revenue. Her lips tightened into a grimace as she came upon a news story about Dr. Leslie
Anderson. It was not the first time. First Leslie had become a media darling with all the
humanitarian work she had done to help those hurt by Cale Anderson Pharmaceuticals. What she
had really done was destroy the business Veronica had worked years to build. Then Leslie had made
the news again earlier this year when she was awarded a Nobel Prize in medicine. Of course she did,
with deep pockets like Wayne Industries funding her research. Though she would never have meet
Mr. Wayne if it hadn't been for Veronica. Hell, she would probably be some sorry lab assistant while
some other doctor took advantage of all her hard work. She was such a mouse until she had met
Veronica.
Today's news article was to announce her engagement to Lucius Fox Jr., COO of Wayne Enterprises
and the heir apparent to be CEO when Bruce Wayne retired. Leslie was now officially a member of
high society and she owed it all to Veronica, the woman she stabbed in the back. There were times
when Veronica missed her old life of the successful businesswoman that traveled in all the elite
circles. Now, she always had to travel incognito when she left the island and when she was here she
was stuck managing a group of psychos. They may have made her a great deal of money but she
often wondered if it was worth it when no one really knew how much she'd accomplished. And now
that Leslie was an international star in the field of medicine, it wasn't fair that Veronica wasn't as
well. Veronica slowly let out her breath as she controlled her anger. Leslie would get what was
coming to her one day and so would the Wonder Bitch that destroyed all her plans.
Veronica looked up and eyed her future weapon of divine retribution. She had named her Adrasteia
for that very reason. She watched her daughter kick her current sparring partner in the stomach
and knock him to the ground. The idiot was going too soft in fighting her, fooled by the child's
innocent appearance. She was incredibly beautiful with her long blond hair, worn in a French braid
down her back, large blue eyes and Cupid bow pink lips. But her eyes glowed with a cunning
intellect that was eerie coming from a young child.
Adrasteia's demigod nature was clear in her appearance. She was twice the size of a normal two
year old and stronger than most men. Her reflexes and agility were far beyond normal – as well was
her intellect. She could walk at six months old and talk in full sentences by a year. She started
reading a month after that. Veronica had started her training with the best martial arts masters not
long after she could walk and within six months she was regularly defeating the mercenaries in
Veronica's island security force. The mercs treated getting beat up by Veronica's scary daughter as a
part of the initiation to the security team.
She watched her daughter viscously punch her opponent in the face and tried to feel satisfied with
her accomplishments. She was clearly an amazingly gifted child but something about the way
Adrasteia would look at her sometimes made her uncomfortable. Veronica had personally seen to
her education and so far Adrasteia had exceeded her expectations but then the girl would look at
her in a way that Veronica finally realized was like how she would look at her mother when she
would read to her. While Veronica loved her mother as much as she was capable of loving anybody,
she had thought her stupid and weak.
Veronica could deal with being hated, Hell most of the people on the island disliked her. But to be
treated as anything less than a smart and strong woman pissed her off. But Adrasteia was never
disobedient or disrespectful to her so Veronica couldn't understand why she felt this insecurity
sometimes. Sure her little girl was not very affectionate towards her but Veronica didn't need a
clingy kid. Veronica grimaced as she remembered that Adrasteia had really only showed affection to
Maya, her nurse for the first eighteen months of her life. Veronica had had an island to run she
couldn't and frankly didn't want to take care of a baby twenty-four seven so Tanya had gotten Maya
from a caregiver service in Indonesia. Maya had handled the unique child well but when Adrasteia
had chosen to spend time with Maya over Veronica then the woman had to go and was swiftly
terminated.
Veronica had not expected the huge tantrum that the child had thrown with the removal of her
caregiver. She had refused to participate in her lessons with Veronica and had sat sullenly clutching
the handmade blanket that Maya had made her. Veronica had swiftly become exasperated and had
taken the quilt from her, threatening to burn it if Adrasteia didn't make an effort to participate. Her
daughter had agreed as long as she could have the blanket back.
Everything seemed to actually get better after that incident, in fact Adrasteia was even more
compliant with Veronica. She seemed to take to heart Veronica's advice regarding fighting an
opponent; she showed no mercy. She even took it a step further and marked her victims. Veronica
had been a bit surprised the first time Adrasteia had grabbed a knife from the table after knocking
out her opponent and had cut a "A" into his arm. That was also the first time Veronica had caught
the look from her. Like she knew she was better than the mere mortals that surrounded her.
And Veronica should be glad that she now came to her lessons and hungrily absorbed information
and seemed to really enjoy learning anything she could. While her attitude toward Veronica was
very polite, at times something about the child put her on edge. Veronica felt compelled to prove
that she was in charge to the point that she would give the child a challenge that she knew Adrasteia
would fail just to prove her own intellectual superiority. It always seemed worth it as Adrasteia
would be sweeter afterwards and Veronica would feel more confident in her plans. She would
someday control the ultimate weapon and she would destroy her enemies.
She again pulled herself from her thoughts to see the girl kick the man hard in shin. He accidentally
backhanded her as the pain caused him to lash out. Astrasteia flinched from the pain but her face
became a mask of anger. She pulled the knife she now always carried in her boot and started to stab
the merc anywhere she could reach. She was like a demon possessed and Veronica new she would
kill him if she didn't intervene.
"Adrasteia, stop!" she screamed but the girl kept going. He was down and she was cutting her name
into his chest.
"Adrasteia, that is enough," Veronica commanded. The girl stopped for a moment but kept the knife
raised above the now unconscious man. "If you don't stop now, you won't get to ride Perseus this
afternoon." Perseus was Adrasteia's horse and probably the only being still alive that the girl loved.
The girl lowered her knife, wiping it off on her victim's shirt before returning it to her boot. She rose
and turned toward her mother and bowed slightly. "Sorry Mother," she said softly looking down
and away from Veronica.
Veronica felt a wave of satisfaction at her immediate compliance. "It's okay, darlin', but I can't have
you killing off my soldiers." She signaled Tanya to get medical help for the mercenary while she
guided Adrasteia away.
"Again I am sorry," she said in a childlike but emotionless voice. "But he is too soft and he was only
able to get in one good hit. He won't last long."
If he isn't dead already, Veronica though but said, "I will advise Tanya of that fact. Now let's get
you cleaned, darlin'." She gave her daughter a smile.
Adrasteia returned her smile but it didn't reach her eyes though Veronica hardly noticed. "Maybe
after my bath we can have blueberry pancakes together. I had them the other day and they are very
good."
Veronica didn't answer for a moment. Blueberry pancakes were her favorite, an indulgence she
allowed herself on rare occasions and having Adrasteia wanting to share them with her just added to her earlier satisfaction. For a moment she could see all her lovely plans and schemes coming to fruition. "I would like that darlin'." What she didn't see as she looked away was the smug smirk on daughter's face as her eyes literally flamed with buried rage.