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“Oh. Hello. Who is this?” Came a curious voice as the form of a blonde materialized on the platform.
“Green Lantern, this is my nephew.” Diana introduced, gesturing for Bernard to step down into the common room from the zeta. The demigod nodded at the other member of the Justice League.
The man’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Since when do you have a nephew?” He asked.
“I have many sisters back on Themyscira.” Diana responded, raising an eyebrow. “Am I to tell the League every time one forms any kind of family or relationship? Do they not deserve privacy in their personal lives and identities?”
“Ah. Sorry.” He nodded in understanding, and turned to Bernard with a curious tone. “So you’re from Themyscira like Diana, too, then?”
Bernard snorted and adopted the most neutral accent he could pull off. “Something like that.” He was related to Wonder Woman through her father’s side, not her mother’s, but they weren’t going to tell the Justice League that when none of them knew the greek gods still existed, other than the Batclan. That technically made not only Diana, but also Cassie and Thalia his aunts as well, which wasn’t at all weird to think about.
“I have some things I wanted my nephew to look over with me, since he has a few more civilian contacts in the world of man than I do, in this case.” Diana explained. “We should be getting started.”
The Green Lantern nodded at them as he moved toward the hallway. “Good luck on the case. I’ve got to get to the monitor room to start my shift soon, anyways.”
Once the door to the conference room was firmly shut and locked, Bernard slumped in a chair and peeled the domino mask off his face. Diana watched in amusement as she took her own chair beside him.
“I don’t know how any of the Bats can get used to those things.” He complained. “I had to keep resisting the urge to push it up like a pair of sunglasses.”
“Practice, I would imagine.” Diana mused, picking up a folder. “Now, Batman did compile a few lists for me that may connect to the case, and I would appreciate any insight you have on who might be connected to the godly world. This is everything we have so far.”
A couple hours later, they’d finished combing through the evidence Diana had, as well as an extra set of potential targets and related persons that Batman had dropped off on his way to the monitor room to install a brief security update.
“Would you like to visit the cafeteria before returning home?” Diana asked. “It is quite late, there should not be many people around tonight. The Green Lantern you met earlier is still on monitor duty, Batman should be done with the update soon if he hasn’t already left, and I believe there are a couple other Lanterns resting after returning from missions, as well as one or two of the Supers.”
“I could go for a quick sandwich or something.” Bernard decided, propping up his phone to use the camera as a mirror so he could paste the nondescript domino mask Tim had lent him back onto his face.
Diana’s estimations were correct, both the walk to the cafeteria and the cafeteria itself were empty of other people. The two Greeks grabbed sandwiches and water bottles from a large fridge placed in the space for quick meals such as those, and moved to a table to sit.
They were about halfway through their meal when Bernard felt a sudden presence nearby. Turning his head, he stared at the figure in a moment of speechlessness.
Diana inclined her head respectfully. “Brother.” She greeted politely. “To what do we owe the visit?”
“Dad.” Bernard dropped the other half of his sandwich back onto the table, scrambling out of his seat to stand. Apollo reached out and put a gentle hand on his arm before he could bow.
“You and your siblings never need to bow to me.” Apollo told him, smile on his face.
Bernard nodded slowly. “What are you doing on the Watchtower?” He asked.
“Well, my siblings and I may not be allowed to directly interfere with anything in the mortal world, but we’re not exactly on that world right now, are we?” He asked with a smirk.
Bernard glanced at Diana, who shrugged. “I guess not.” He said slowly. “Space really doesn’t count?”
“Not when our reach doesn’t extend out here, I’d say.” Apollo said guilelessly. “And I’ve been meaning to come check out the vast cosmos for myself, anyways.”
The door to the cafeteria opened, then, and all three of them turned to see a half-asleep kryptonian walking in, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Hey, are you okay?” A yawn nearly cut him off, and then he continued as he moved forward. “I could feel your power from all the way across the Watchtower, it was strong enough to wake me- oh.”
“I’m good.” Bernard said amusedly. He gestured to the god standing beside him, whom Kon was staring in confusion at. “It was actually him. He’s just kinda like that.”
“Nice to make your acquaintance.” Apollo nodded at the young man, before turning back to his son. “How has the city been lately? Have you been able to get outside and get enough fresh air?”
“It’s been good.” Bernard responded, seeing Diana and Kon stepping away to give them some privacy out of the corner of his eye. “Cold and dreary, but that’s home.”
Apollo shook his head. “City way too dark. Not nearly enough sun there. Needs more warmth and light.”
Bernard laughed softly. “I like it there, though. I spend plenty of time over in New York, anyways. And it’s winter, it’s going to be like that all over.”
“I suppose you do.” Apollo conceded. His tone turned serious. “How have you been since your time with the beast? Are you recovering well?”
“I… wasn’t very okay for a while.” Bernard admitted after a few moments. “Physically, I’m fine now. And I think I’ve mostly settled into the new normal. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s always easy.”
“It never is.” Apollo sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Red knows what she’s talking about when it comes to learning to live with it. Keep following her advice, and try not to blame yourself when it gets hard.”
“What do you mean?” Bernard asked, a sinking feeling in his stomach. He thought he might know where this conversation was headed.
Apollo smiled sadly at him. “It might feel like you should be okay, and that it shouldn’t bother you, because this is basically something you were born for.” He was quiet for a few moments as he formulated his thoughts. “But you went through something traumatic, and you don’t deserve harsh treatment for it, especially not from yourself. Be kind to yourself, Bernard, and understand that vulnerability and low moments do not make you weak.”
“You defeated him once.” Bernard said softly. “Is this- will it always be like this?”
“I can’t say for sure. But most likely, yes.” Apollo responded. “You have people around you who love you and are willing to let you lean on them. Let them support you.”
“I’m trying.” The demigod said. “Red knows. And so does T. I haven’t found the right time to bring it up to anyone else yet, but I want to.” His gaze settled on Kon and Diana across the cafeteria. He knew that even with enhanced and super hearing, both would be making a conscious effort not to listen in.
“Come here, kid.” Apollo held out an arm, and Bernard hugged his dad. When they parted, the god spoke once more. “I can’t be away too long, but if you ever need anything, go to Red. She has to have ways of contacting me in case she sees anything big, so she’s got a big-guy-approved direct line.”
Apollo started toward the doors, Bernard following slightly behind him. When he reached Diana and Kon, he stopped for a short moment to nod to Diana. Then he gave Kon a once over, looked back at Bernard, and nodded approvingly before walking out. Diana followed, giving Bernard and Kon a moment to catch up.
“Hey.” The blonde said, nudging the kryptonian’s shoulder as he passed him.
“Hey, yourself.” Kon responded, nudging him back playfully. “What are you doing up here?”
“Looked over some case stuff for Diana since I have more civilian contacts than my aunt does.” Bernard told him. “Dad was a surprise to us both, I’ll tell you guys about it later. Were you asleep?”
“Yeah, the mission on Ienia took longer than we thought it would. I was too tired to head back home so I crashed in Clark’s quarters up here.” He said.
“Well, far be it from me to keep you from your beauty sleep.” Bernard teased. “Go get some rest. I’ll see you on thursday.”
“Can’t wait.” Kon yawned then, and Bernard laughed, shoving him lightly down the hall.
Much to Bernard’s amusement, Apollo was still in the common room when he arrived, seemingly talking Batman’s ear off. About… mountain dew?
“Judging by the name, you would think it would be some purified water brand, but instead you get a carbonated, sugary soda.” Apollo said. Batman’s face was expressionless.
“Is he for real?” Bernard asked under his breath as he walked up next to Diana, who had her arms crossed and seemed to be watching in amusement as the Dark Knight and the god of the sun interacted.
“As he ever is.” Diana said. So, he was genuinely interested in the topic, then.
“Now, some of the regional flavors are pretty good, but only being able to get them in one area can be annoying. I actually got my hands on the Gotham-exclusive flavor, which wasn’t bad. Could have stood to be a little fruitier. Now, the Applebees-exclusive flavor, that one’s got the perfect amount of fruit. Shame they didn’t use that one for Gotham, it’s literally called dark berry bash.” Apollo continued, gesturing emphatically. “I actually wrote a little something about it - A dark berry bash. Flavorful party for mouth. Should have been Gotham.”
Bernard coughed lightly, stepping forward. He may not have interacted a ton with the Bat, but he knew how much his father could grate on even the most patient of people. “I haven’t actually tried that flavor yet.” He called, walking over to the two of them. Behind him, Diana moved toward the zeta panel. “Where in Gotham did you get it from? Is it just city-exclusive regionally or exclusive to some chain that’s only in Gotham?”
“It’s new at Batburger, actually!” Apollo said, turning to his son. Bernard gestured toward the zeta and the god began to walk with him as he spoke. “It’s a passionfruit based flavor, with a bit of guava.”
“I’ll have to try it.” Bernard said as they stepped up onto the platform.
“It’s not bad, it could just stand to be a little stronger on the flavors.” Apollo told him.
God and demigod disappeared from the Watchtower zeta platform in a flash of light. Bernard was alone when he rematerialized at the zeta site in Gotham, but laughed aloud when he realized he was holding a Batburger fountain drink.
Boy ❤️
Hey, you ran into B today, right?
Any idea why his eye started twitching when J asked what people wanted for patrol snacks over the comms and I asked for a mountain dew?
Me
Guess he really hated the haiku lmao
Boy ❤️
??
what haiku?
Bear?