Batman was minding his own business in The Base, and Shayera and Diana were talking down by the catwalk. It had been a slow day.

"So they've been gone how long?" Diana was asking.

"I'd say three days." Shayera held up a sheet of paper with writing on it. "But it's been over three months. For them. And things have been absolutely crazy." She muttered a Thanagarian expletive.

"By the 9 muses," Diana echoed with humor, since it was a weird one even for her. "How do they fit it all in?"

"Well, listen to this part." Shayera looked down. "'You'll be happy to know the evil gorgon lady wasn't as bad as we thought. Shine and her had tea.'"

"Is he talking about the one who was trying to destroy their world?" Diana said.

"Yeah, and Wall--Flash is saying she wasn't as bad as they thought," Shayera said.

"Consider the source." Diana folded her arms. "I mean, they'd say that about...almost anyone."

"Hmrf. I ever hear them talk about someone who they can't stand, I'll run," Shayera agreed. "But I suppose as long as they're safe. I gotta admit, Flash being off without the League in another dimension? A new concern for me."

"It's not like it's never happened before..." Diana said.

"And was it ever an easy situation?" Shayera said.

"True..." Diana agreed. "So nothing since then?"

"I don't know. Maybe they were too busy, or maybe gorgon lady was worse than they thought," Shayera said.

Batman glanced down at them like he could hear, though he really shouldn't have been able to, at least not well.

"Do you think he can lip read?" Diana asked.

"Is there anything he can't do except emote?" Shayera said dryly.

Vigilante walked in and by them. 

"Mornin', ladies." He tipped his hat. "Any word from 'em yet?"

"Not since earlier." Shayera held up the letter. "It could have been a week for them."

"Should we start climbing the walls?" Diana wondered. 

"It'll take more than a few varmints to stop them," Vigilante said.

"A few? Try an army of...what were they?..." Sheyera consulted the paper. "Demon-animal, soul-eating monsters with attitude.... Oh, and for extra fun, mind-invading ones."

"Again, we've dealt with that before," Diana said.

"With a J'onn," Shayera said.

"You worry too much," Vigilante pronounced. "Now, they'll walk right in one of them fancy doorways any second and probably ask what's for lunch."

"That specific--?" Diana began.

There was a bright flash farther below them.

Shayera and her looked down.

Flash and Shine were standing on the smooth tile of The Base's ground floor, looking around.

"Yes! Home again!" Flash said.

"Don't kiss the floor," Shine said.

"I'd rather kiss you," Flash said, giving her a hug. "Boy, is it good to see a familiar building again.... Gosh, I didn't even know how bad I missed it till now."

"Flash?" Shayera flew down and folded her wings, then she hugged him. Then she slugged him. "You can't just write your last note talking about death witches and gods and then not follow it up! Do you know how long it's been waiting for it?"

Wally rubbed his head. "No..."

"7 hours." Diana landed with far less drama. 

"7 hours!" Sheyera shook him. "And you!" She pointed at Shine. "I expect this hare-brainedness from him, but where were you?"

"Sorry, I had so much writing to do, I let the letters slide." Shine held up her hands. [Me to my Fantasy AU fans.] "Don't hit me, I've been smacked around enough the last few months."

"What are you wearing?" Diana asked.

"Our old clothes kind of got torn up a lot..." Flash said. "And why bother replacing 'em, right? Besides, I thought I looked kind of cool." He struck a pose.

"Well..." Shayera held up her hands like a frame. "I guess it might suit you if it wasn't so...over complicated. Who needs that many straps and embroidery?"

"That's just the style," Wally said.

Shine fingered her clothes. "I liked it. And this is nothing. Should have seen the really showy ones."

Diana hugged her. "Honestly, I thought you'd be in worse shape."

"We had, like, a week to just kick back," Wally said.

"You had...like," Shayera imitated his tone. "Are you from the valley now?"

"You pick it up hanging around her all the time." Wally pointed to Shine.

"Guilty," Shine admitted. "Well, the kids talked like that too--but you should have seen how it all ended. There was this huge party, fireworks, food, dancing all hours of the night. Just like an old legend."

"A proper Grecian celebration, from the sound of it," Diana said.

"Please tell me there were scuffles too." Shayera's idea of partying was pretty rough.

"I'm sure there were, but we avoided it." Shine rolled her eyes.

"Lame." She shrugged.

"A pleasure ta see ya again, ma'am." Vigilante had finally walked down.

"Likewise, cowpoke." Shine waved. "Now that was one thing it was missing: cowboys."

"I can't see that fitting in Remnant at all," Wally said.

"Remnant? Oh right, that was the name," Diana said. "Isn't that kind of a sad name?"

"Now you've got it," Wally agreed. "It was sad a lot."

"You're late." Batman had appeared behind him and Shine without them hearing it.

"Whoa!" Shine jumped. "Oh, gosh, Bats, how many times have I told you I don't like that."

"Do you really think that will deter him?" Diana said wryly.

"Hey, Bats!" Wally tried to fist bump him, which Batman ignored. "You won't believe what went down. You know, we met a guy kind of like you, but more of a bird."

"You said before." Batman wasn't amused.

"But for real, we met so many interesting people," Wally said. "It was different from here--"

"Quiet," Batman hissed. "This is supposed to be confidential, isn't it? Don't talk about it till we have more privacy."

"Oh... oh, right, we can't now," Wally said.

"Already got used to the whole group knowing, huh?" Shine said wryly.

"Maybe..." He rubbed his head sheepishly.

"You told them all?" Diana was amazed. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Between the gods and the portals, they'd have found out anyway," Shine said.

"So... you did face the gods?" Diana said this with the proper amount of surprise as one who'd met gods of her own.

"Oh, yeah..." Shine shook her head. "It already seems so unreal."

"They put us on trial," Wally said. "It was just like with GL that one time, but I lawyered them."

"See, that is fantasy right there," Shayera said.

"You have to tell us about it--once we move," Diana said.

* * *

A short time later--and as soon as Batman could get off his shift--they were in one of the meeting rooms that was soundproofed even against Superman's hearing.

Batman would only ever pick socializing over going to his Batcave if it involved another dimension, let the record show.

Though really Flash hardly knew how to start. Firstly, he told them about fighting the Mind Grimm, which was familiar enough to them.

But the trial, the tests... that puzzled his friends.

Shine spoke more of the team.

Diana and Shayera were less observant than Batman and only had time to think how strange it all sounded--and that they were kind of glad they missed it. It sounded so difficult.

Batman, more attentive, noted how they spoke of it--and didn't miss where they must have omitted details that might be best not to share.

"Well, you had to be there," Wally finally said, seeing they weren't getting the idea. "But it was just... it was..." He rubbed his head. "It was so cool, how they all changed and grew over time. I was so proud of them. Especially Oscar, Ruby, and the criminal kids. They really had to go through it."

His friends looked at him funny.

Shine tapped the table thoughtfully.

"I think I was most impressed by Winter," she said. "And Pyrrha. Winter had to lead and deal with a kingdom falling, on top of her own powers. I've never had to witness that up close before. That was a new one for me. Perhaps I never understood how difficult leadership on that scale is. I'm sure I'll never look at politics the same way again. Our decisions, it felt like, really were directly impacting the fate of the world. I've helped before, but to be looked to so much for guidance as the only alternative to a false religion and a foolish teacher... to pick up where others had failed... it was so sobering."

Vigilante was polishing his gun, but he nodded like he understood. He was a man of few words.

"Wow," Shayera said. "I've never heard you sound so humbled by an experience. It's a little weird. Don't tell me you didn't preach to them and tell them they were wrong."

"Oh, no, I did that a lot," Shine said. "But it did feel at times like a gnat in the face of a giant. Still, we had to try."

"I had mad respect for Jaune too," Wally said. "He had to learn that killing our enemies doesn't really solve anything. And not just because we have too much power either."

"It's hard to pick who made the biggest impression," Shine said. "But it was... well, unforgettable, to say the least."

"Must have been," Batman remarked.

"You sound so... serious." Diana patted Flash's head. "It's not like you."

"I do?" Flash said. "Did I really sound different before? I think I always sounded like this."

"On an off day," Batman remarked dryly.

"An off day?" Shine scoffed. "You just mean when he thinks no one is looking. Like you smiling."

She got the Bat Glare, but it never bothered her.

Nor Diana, who just giggled dryly.

"I suppose now the big question is what will they do without ya?" Vigilante hit upon the real meat of the conversation. "And will the both of ya be going back?"

"Oh, eventually," Shine said, looking sleepy. "I could use a long break, personally."

"Yeah, it was pretty hardcore," Wally said. "I hope I'm not on shift today."

"We planned for you to be gone a bit longer, honestly," Diana said. "So if you need time to recover, I'm sure Superman will understand."

"And you won't tell him about this?" Shine said.

"Why not?" Shayera asked.

"With the four of you and maybe a few others, it's all right," Shine said. "You know better than to overstep... but he can do so many things. If he knew there were more forces like that out there, do you think he'd be easy in his mind? I don't need him to have the idea he should start confronting gods and monsters and witches just because we could. He tries that often enough as it is. You know he doesn't really understand what makes us different."

"I'm not sure I get it." Shayera tapped Flash. "You didn't used to be immune to magic and mind games. I'd say you've been amped up. That means you can stop getting knocked out of fights so easily now?"

"Hey!" Flash feigned being offended. "You should show a teacher a little more respect. I'm legit now."

"Sure," Shayera said dryly.

"I can't say I wouldn't like to study more about this..." Batman said.

He got cold looks, even from Flash.

"But I'll respect that it's your turf," he said slowly.

"You will?" Diana said. "Wow... you really take this seriously, Bruce."

Batman knew better than to mess with magic and dimensions if he didn't have to. At least he did since meeting Shine and hearing her many stories of how disastrous it was to do so.

Shine and Wally were both so tired, they soon went home after that--Wally joked that he wouldn't even know it when he saw it now--but that wasn't the case.

It all seemed so natural to him again, he couldn't believe how little he'd thought of it while in Remnant.

Shine was right about the effects. By the next day, the strange customs, food, and clothes had become like objects in a dream. He couldn't have described them clearly if you asked him.

But the people remained clear, though the things they'd done with them also faded into being the things stories and childhood memories are made of, and not like the completely engraved in the mind experiences you'd expect.

Shine told him, when he mentioned it, that it was the same for her--and that often she remembered mostly the quirks of people and her conversations with them, not the moments spent in peril.

It explains why all he'd thought of his League friends in Remnant were just their oddities.

Wally thought maybe those were the most real things about people in one way. Maybe it's not what's most important about them, but it's what you know that can be quantifiably different from anyone else. Anyone can be brave, noble, true, or smart. Not everyone can have a Batcave full of memorabilia, a vocabulary laced with Greek words and legends, a good mace arm and sardonic but sweet repartee, or any amount of other things that his friends had that no one else did.

And you'd not find the same signature blend of shy and bold, smart and innocent, jaded but kind as you would find in the Remnant group anywhere else. They were shaped by their world, but they were also themselves.

Batman seemed to understand this difference better than the others when Flash and him spoke one-on-one about it a few days later, just casually.

"You'd think the whole thing would be so life-changing," Flash remarked. "But I feel like I'm the same person now. Back to the usual. Protecting my city and stuff. A few more wild stories for the kids I work with maybe, if I say they're made up."

"Isn't that for the best?" Batman said. "If you became a mix of many different worlds, you'd no longer be recognizable as the Flash. And this world needs the Flash."

"That's actually a nice thing to say," Flash said.

"I meant that it needs this Flash," Batman said, "and not whatever you were in this other one."

Flash realized suddenly that Batman's point was profound.

Shine had also mentioned how she adjusted to each world, and he saw now that he must have too. He'd changed, sure, but the changes had been like adapting to a new climate--they weren't deep.

And they were discarded now that he was back.

Except that he had had to grow personally also, but that wouldn't change who he was, it would only change how he handled it slightly.

And maybe it was the same for Remnant. They'd be the same people, but they'd be people going in a different direction, into new things, new experiences.

He was a guide, but he wasn't going to be some muse to them.

And he didn't really want to be.

"Huh," he said aloud. "So we're what each world needs while we're in it, and yet we're still the same person, ourselves. We change, but we stay the same. That's weird... but that's deep, Bats."

"It's just what anyone would do." Batman brushed off the compliment as usual. "Adapt. Suffice it to say, if you try to be the Wally West you were there, while you're here, it's not what we're going to need. And if you were the superhero there that you are here, you've already told me you could have messed things up. So be one or the other, but don't try to be a DJ to your own world. If you need to change your personality that much to begin with, I doubt you'd be selected for the job."

"That's really some first rate deduction, Bats," Wally said. "I think that's what Shine tried to explain too."

"Who can understand her explanations?" Batman said.

"You can," Wally said.

"I'm a detective." Batman made what might have been his version of a joke.

Even so, Wally laughed.

* * *

Shine had gone to her home world by now. She said she needed to recover in her familiar terrain also, with her roots.

Of course, for her, the rendition of what happened was a lot more detailed to her siblings who knew about Remnant already.

But they were quite interested to hear about how it had changed and things weren't as doomed as they'd seemed from home.

Also hearing about all the new people they hadn't seen or heard of before.

Shine got letters from the Remnant people, and Ozma and Salem also, for the next several days.

She read them and answered what she could. For them, of course, it was weeks and months passing, and they didn't know how little time she'd had to recover.

But recovery really happened pretty fast for DJs, at least after so many missions, and she was back in the rhythm of her own life after just a couple days.

She still had to travel between her world and Wally's, but they both knew they needed a break.

"You really need to just pick a place to live," Crystal, her older younger, sister commented.

"Yeah, but right now we really can't," Shine said. "I think I'd prefer going to his though if... you know.... Just seems right."

"Yeah, if it didn't almost get blown up every other year," Lumina, her younger younger one said.

They all snorted a laugh.

"So which was more stressful, that world or Remnant?" Crys asked.

"I couldn't pick. At least the Remnant people had better style and less pomp about their presentation, but they were real downers a lot of the time." Shine was always so quick to roast her friends. "On the other hand, I do like the maturity of the League more. And I missed Batman's ability to keep up with my explanations."

"And how was it working with your partner/boyfriend full time?" Lu asked.

"It was awkward at times," Shine said. "But he did really well. He fit, in fact, much faster than I did, I think, compared to my first mission. And it was so much easier having someone run around and be able to execute things so quickly. I think I need that. I think fast, but I can't act fast with my powers, usually."

"So that balances out perfectly," Crys said.

"And you didn't drive each other crazy," Lu said.

"Really too involved in the crisis to do so," Shine said. "I mean, there's nothing like saving the world again to keep our focus on the important stuff and not the petty annoyances. I suppose I've no hope of dumping him now though. I mean, how could you dump someone who's saved you that many times? Even when they're being annoying you'd have to think, 'But I owe them big time.'"

"Uh... I don't know. That sounds like Tighten from Megamind a little too much," Lu said dubiously.

"Oh, that's not the same," Crys scoffed. "Anyway, it sounds great."

"Yeah, but I hope I have a few months before the next mission," Shine said.

She would have a year actually, give or take a month or two.

[And that will track with the MHA timeline if you check the age she claims to be. She was 22 in this one.]

In fact, though, the first visit back to Remnant was only 8 days after getting home.

Shine went back to the DCU to see if Wally also had an invitation.

There it had been also about 8 days, surprisingly.

"Are we syncing up?" Wally asked her.

"Might be. Frequent travel does seem to do that," Shine mused.

"I missed you," he said.

"Yeah, same," Shine said. "Do you really want to go back so soon though?"

"I admit it's a little jarring, but also, they're our people now," Wally said grandly. "And also, I mean... it's a wedding. And, boy, did that not take long. It can't be more than...geez...months for them?"

"I thought it would happen sooner actually," Shine said. "A whole week off and I already have almost forgotten how busy it is there."

"You don't think they're too young?"

"You're talking to someone from a culture where 13 isn't too young, or it wasn't," Shine shrugged. "I think 18, considering the circumstances, is plenty."

"I think, yeah, they're smart," Wally said. "And hey, age is just a number--usually. Unless maybe you're like way, way older. Like Twilight."

"How did you even know about that? It's not even made yet--thankfully," Shine said.

"Oh, Lu ranted to me about it one time," Wally said. "My question to you guys is if you hate the internet's take on stuff so much, why do you spend so much time on it?"

"It's a love-hate relationship with enjoying the distraction and being frustrated by the reveal of how shallow people can be," Shine said. "Really, I like someone more if I know they aren't on the internet all the time."

"Oh, is that why you like me," Wally teased. "Because I can't figure out how to use a computer."

"Who can with those ancient models you have?" Shine said. "I tried to use one once, and it buzzed at me. They stopped buzzing in the 2000s."

[If you're younger than 20, you won't get that. Watch a movie from the 90s with a computer in it.]

They told their friends they'd be out for a few hours probably before they tossed on their Remnant garb (no reason to raise any flags first off).

[And that's the first part. So the bonus chapters will cover a continual story line like the main story, but more slice of life. Expect a lot of shipping.]