The phone calls from Mar'i were becoming more spaced out, by the end of April she only called once a week. Mostly her stories were about her adventures with Antonia or Toni as she called her now. Zatanna made sure to keep an open mind when it came to Mar'i and her new friend. The two of them were in the washroom getting ready for the day when the phone rang. Both of them turned their heads to look at each other before dashing to get to the phone.

There was pushing and shoving, Dick ended up wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her back. "Hey no fair!" she yelled as he smirked and picked up the phone. Sure enough it was Mar'i on the other end of the line.
"Hey sunshine, how are you?" he asked, arm holding Zatanna back as he stuck his tongue out at her. The two adults could be such children sometimes. "Fun! Toni, Colette and I played in the garden and they showed me around the entire school. It was so cool!" she sounded so excited, the kind of excitement where you expect the person to be bouncing up and down.

Apparently there was a new trinity that ran the school and that was Antonia Tabitha Huxley, Colette Elaine Kincaid, and his daughter, Mar'i Grayson. A part of him was worried that the two were bad influences on her. Even though he had yet receive a call from the head master about her 'bad behaviour'. The phone was abruptly tugged out of his hand, Zatanna scrambling to the washroom. In the distance he could hear the door slam shut and a faint giggle. "How are you?" Zatanna asked holding the phone close to her ear.

"I'm great, this school looks just like the one in Harry Potter!" Mar'i exclaimed.

Zatanna forgot that she had packed the Harry Potter series in her bag before she left. The line was silence for a moment, she was actually beginning to worry. "Has Damian, has he called at all?" she asked, she sounded so sad and bothered. Zatanna knew how close the two of them were and for him to break of their friendship was heartbreaking. "No baby he hasn't" Zatanna said, although she couldn't see her she knew the girl was frowning.

The bubbly and peppy attitude could only be held for so long. She knew personally how painful it was to move away from everything you ever knew. That's exactly what happened to her after her father died, that's when her years of absolute hell began. "Okay, if he does can you tell him that I'm sorry for whatever I did and that he can call me anytime?" Mar'i asked.

"You know I will" she replied with a small smile.

Their conversation picked up after that, she asked her plenty of questions about her school. At some point Dick managed to pick the washroom doors lock. Zatanna was sat on the counter, him stood between her legs as they spoke to Mar'i over the speaker of the phone. "Can I go to Toni's house this weekend?" Mar'i asked near the end of the conversation.

Everything inside of Dick screamed no to the highest degree but he couldn't do that to her. Before he could even respond Zatanna answered for him. "Sure you can, be safe okay?" she said smiling. It was nice to know that their daughter was being sociable and making friends. Even if one of her new friends was the daughter of one of the largest and most dangerous organizations to date. "Okay bye!" they could hear the smile in her voice as she bid her goodbye before hanging up.

His hands were on either side of her hips, fingers pressing into the counter as he hung his head in worry. During that time she brought her arms up around his neck and pulled him close so that his forehead was pressed against her shoulder. "She'll be fine Dick, she always has been" she said, her fingers toying with the ends of his hair. They stayed in a comfortable silence for mere minutes before a few warm kisses were pressed sweetly against her neck.

A sigh escaped her lips as she smiled softly, he was always one for being sweet. She giggled when his hands sneakily began to tickle her sides. "Stop it, oh my god Dick stop it!" she yelled trying to contain the fit of giggles pouring out of her. He loved hearing her laugh, the laugh of hope and happiness. Just hearing it made him feel as if the world was going to be okay, that they were going to be okay. One of her hands slid along his back under his sweater, he froze when he felt her icy fingers sweep across his spine.

Zatanna knew that the one thing he hated most was the feeling of cold feet or fingers against his skin. Which was why he always wore as much clothing as possible during the winter. The weather however was beginning to warm up, the first day of May was tomorrow. She was excited to feel the sun again and see all of the beautiful flowers blooming around the city parks. "You're going to get it now" he said while picking her up off of the counter.

Her giggles were the only thing that could be heard from down the hallway. So what if they had a make out session on the couch, Mar'i wasn't here to witness anything anymore. Every kiss pressed to her lips were soft and sweet, he loved her so much and she knew that because she loved him too. He was leaning over her now and the kisses were becoming more passionate and heated, instead of the excitement she should've been feeling the only thing she felt was a low bubble of fear.

This scared her, she was terrified of anything more than kisses. It was almost as if he could read her mind when he pulled away. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she stared up at him with wide blue eyes. "Don't worry Zee" he whispered as she sat up and wound her arms around his neck. He could feel her body shudder when his arms loosely wrapped around her waist. The horrible memories and darkness sweeped over her mind like a shadow.

Hearing her muffled cries absolutely broke him inside. He knew, he wasn't foolish to try anything else on her. "I know, I know" he murmured against her hair as he pressed a kiss into the long dark locks flowing down the side of her head. He stared ahead out the large wall of windows at the city, Gotham was breathtaking at this time of day. Pain flickered across his eyes as she continued to cry, one hand now running through her hair as a form of comfort. He was going to get that sick bastard, John Constantine was going to be found and he was going to be the one to kill him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There's something about seeing a loved one lying helpless and unconscious - Harley sees it as terrifying. That psycho attacked Pamela while she was preparing dinner. Her daughter was there with her, Pamela picked her up from school twenty minutes before. She sustained an injury to the back of her head, there wasn't any brain damage but she was put into a medical induced coma.

The back of her head, more specifically her skull, needed staples in order for the cracked piece to stay in place. Harley made sure to come and visit her as much as possible. Even if she were to sit there and hold her hand for hours. There weren't any tears left for her to shed, the sadness was lingering but it wasn't as heavy as before. Her chest was aching with a pain she had never experienced before, seeing Pamela like this killed her on the inside.

Today was like any other, it's been almost two weeks and there was no change in her condition. She was wondering if Pamela was ever going to wake up. Their time together was so unappreciated, so fleeting. If she could rewind time she would spend as much time with her as possible. She sat there holding her hand, thumb smoothing over her pale skin. There was something so eerie seeing her so still and devoid of emotion. Her nails were painted dark red, almost black, her red hair was all pushed to one side, and her cheeks were rosy - the embodiment of sleeping beauty in her opinion. "When you wake up we're all going down to the beach, I've been saving, workin' extra hours and everything" she whispered.

It was almost time to head over to the academy to pick up Melody, she didn't want to leave Pamela alone. Before she got up to leave she brought her cold hand to her lips and pressed a warm kiss to the top of her hand. Her lips lingered on her hand for a moment before she placed her hand to lie on her stomach. Harley stood up and headed towards the door, glancing back when she thought she heard something.

Lately whenever she came here she day dreamed quite a bit, she was probably imagining hearing her voice. "I would like that" Harley turned back to see Pamela's eyes open, a wry smile gracing her cracked lips. The air became lighter and within seconds she had hands on either side of the redhead's face and her lips pressed to hers. Harley was absolutely beaming to see her awake. "Pammy you're alive" she whispered when they pulled away from the kiss.

There were stars in her eyes as she stared down at her as if Pamela was her world, truly she was. Besides Melody she was her everything, her earth, her moon, her sun. They laced their fingers together and Harley couldn't resist placing a kiss on her forehead. "I would like that, going to the beach" Pamela said as the smile on her face grew. If it meant spending time with her two favourite girl's then she would take off work to go anytime. "You get better first and maybe I'll think about it" she replied, just then a nurse walked in.

They were surprised to see Pamela awake and immediately wanted to run some tests. Harley had to go pick up Melody anyways so she waved and blew her a kiss before making a discrete exit out of the room. The entire academy was deserted by the time she arrived, her train was delayed by an hour and a half. She found her sitting underneath a large tree with her books spread out around her. "Hiya sweetie, I'm sorry I'm late the train was delayed and - " Harley began to say before being cut short by the cold look in her daughter's eyes. 

"It's okay" Melody said rather abruptly as she stuffed everything into her bag and walked past her.

The small apartment was chilly when they stepped inside. Melody headed straight for their shared room and shut the door behind her. She knew how hard it's been for her this month,  especially with her losing one of her best friend's and all. Harley hovered in front of the door, fist raised in preparation to knock, instead she sighed and turned away to head to the sofa. The moment her body sinks into the squeaky sofa a wave of fatigue washes over her body. Work lately was stressful, Pamela made her quit her nightly job at the club so now she only worked at the diner.

Many things were on her mind but every thought melted away when she closed her eyes. Melody stepped out of the room an hour later dragging a blanket behind her before she begrudgingly tucked her mother in. Soon after she headed back to bed, Harley knew she had a great daughter. She just hoped that she wouldn't turn out like how she did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The blaring ringing and quick heavy footsteps followed by the closing of their bedroom door was what woke her up that night. Her dark eyes travelled around the room in one tired sweep before she felt around the bed in front of her. It was empty and there was a streak of light spilling into the room from the hallway. Outside she could just barely hear his muffled voice even when straining her ears. This had been the fourth time this month that he's done this. Again she had her suspicions, she knew he was faithful but something else was clearly going on.

She had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with that father of his, however she didn't dwell too long on that possibility. This time she sat up and reached over to turn the lamp on. It flooded their bedroom with a warm orange light, one that almost blinded her when turned on. One hand absentmindedly rubbed the small bump, she was beginning to show now. This was something she did when she was worried or stressed. Ten minutes later the door opened and he looked stunned to see her awake.

Her dark eyes flickered over to him, the start of a frown tugging at her lips. "Kal, baby it's three in the morning. What the hell are you doing on the phone again?" she asked, the annoyance would've been more obvious if she wasn't so tired. The mattress sunk when he climbed back into the bed and under the layers of blankets. That reminded her to change the bedding soon, it was May now which meant it wasn't going to stay cold for much longer.

She reached over and ran a hand through his hair, after much convincing he finally agreed to grow it out. "It's my father" he said, he stared down at his hands blankly. He knows that he shouldn't be conversing with the man but he has to. Her hand falls from his hand and finds it way to rest against his cheek. "Oh Kal, what have you done?" she whispered. His father was a dangerous criminal, a pirate, and probably so much more that she didn't know. "I need to convince him that I wish to help in his 'organization'. The group I'm working with, select individuals, they call themselves the Justice League. Different from the CIA and even more secretive than the FBI" he explained.

Roquette sat there and listened to everything. This Justice League sounded quite powerful. "So Dick is a part of this? Does Zatanna know?" she asked, she was wide awake now. This sounded dangerous and the last thing she wanted was for one of her closest friends to get hurt, again. "No, he thought it best to be sparse with this information" he said hearing her sigh. Apparently she wasn't even allowed to know any of this but Kaldur hated lying.

He felt awful whenever he had to, even when he was planning on first proposing to her he hated hiding the truth from her. However it was worth it because she did say 'yes' in the end. This was a whole new level of secrecy, he would do anything to keep her safe, this was a part of that 'anything' category. "Kal I don't want you getting hurt" she whispered against his chest. The two of them were entangled under the blankets now, perfectly warm and comfortable. His hand lowered to rest against the small bump of her stomach. "Rest now my love" he whispered pressing a kiss to her forehead.

They would deal with this later, for now he just wished for her to rest. The last thing he wanted was for his wife to become stressed and exhausted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
This country differed so much from her own. It seemed to rain much more and the ocean surrounded the island that made up the country. Also everyone spoke differently, their accents seemed so much more formal to her. It didn't take her long to make new friends at the school. Antonia was quite a lovely girl, very kind to Mar'i, and Colette reminded her very much of Melody. They made her almost forget about the friends she left back in Gotham. Damian practically alienated the last few day's which only left Melody.

She didn't let her mind drift too far into the subject of Melody let alone Damian. The young Wayne definitely left an impression on her, one she found hard to shake off. "You're not thinking of that bug are you?" Toni asked snapping the girl from her thoughts. The three of them, Toni, Colette, and herself were in their shared room. That was how she became friends with them in the first place. It was early Saturday morning and the three of them - well two, Colette was still loudly snoring underneath her blankets - were finishing up homework.

The sunlight spilling in through the tall windows gave off enough light for her to not have to turn a lamp on. Mar'i blinked a few times before setting her work aside and turning to face Toni who was hanging upside down off of her respected bed. "No! I was thinking of ideas for my short story!" Lies. She was totally thinking about the ex-friend she left back in Gotham. She couldn't help but feel guilty somehow whenever she thought about him. Perhaps she would be able to speak with him during summer break when she returns to Gotham for a few weeks?

Antonia rolled her eyes and sat up on her bed before shifting to properly face Mar'i once again. "Anyways, are you excited to come for dinner tonight?" she asked, the girl was absolutely beaming. Mar'i had forgotten all about going to Toni's house today. "My parent's are flying in today specifically to meet you, they already know Colette" Toni said flashing Mar'i a joyous smile.

The day whizzed by quickly and soon she was inside of a black vehicle sitting between Colette and Toni. "My mum will be pleased to meet you Mar'i" Toni said as they drove up the long driveway of the estate. It was a beautiful large house but it wasn't as magnificent as Wayne Manor. She remembered running around and causing trouble for Alfred with Damian and sometimes Melody. "Come on!" Toni grabbed her hand and dragged her up to the front doors once they exited the vehicle.

"Wait for me - you two never slow down!" Colette yelled chasing after them.

The three of them ran around the large house, laughter following them into every room. "What's that room?" Mar'i asked, they had passed this large set of black double doors several times now. Toni went quiet, smile falling as she shifted between both of her feet. "That's Daddy's office, I'm not allowed to go in there" she said looking down at her feet. Mar'i quickly decided to change the subject, the tension made it clear that this was uncomfortable for Toni to speak about. "I thought you said you lived in London? So why are we in the countryside?" she asked, they were walking down the corridor now.

"Daddy travels between here and London a lot so sometimes we stay there overnight if it's too late to drive back. He and mum usually travel a lot for work and leave me here with Leo and Anna" Toni said, Mar'i knew already that her parents travelled quite a bit for work.

"Oh hey baby, hanging out with your thumb sucking friends?" a voice said from behind.

Antonia's body went rigid as she turned around. A boy who looked two years older stood behind them in a suit and tie, brown hair gelled back and a smirk formed against his lips. This must be Leo - Toni had told her quite a bit about her older brother Leonardo and how cruel he was. "Hmm. You're new, how are you you disgusting little alien?" he asked hovering above Mar'i like the pest he was. She rolled her eyes, she had been called many names but this was new. The girl shrugged and crossed her arms, eyes narrowing into a deadly glare. "Great until a walking fire hazard approached me, can you cook marshmallows on that stiff hair of yours?" she asked, her smirk eerily mimicking Damian's.

The few things she learned from Damian Wayne was how to scare someone with a glare, insult, and having a good smirk. Leo opened his mouth to say something, his eyes flickering to look behind them before he simply closed his mouth and walked away. Someone cleared their voice from behind her and Mar'i visibly went pale. The three turned around and gulped as they stared up at the tall man. "You must be Mar'i, Antonia has spoken quite a lot about you" the man said, his dark eyes cold and calculated.

He held his hand out to her which she took and shook it firmly. Her father taught her that it was always good to have a strong handshake. "I'm Antonia's father, Dorian Huxley. You can address me Mr. Huxley" he said, his voice low and almost threatening.

"Now who wants dinner? We can go horseback riding through the forest after dessert" he announced with a smile.

They all nodded and headed off to dinner. He didn't seem all that scary, Leo was more threatening than he was. She shrugged off the way Mr. Huxley spoke to her earlier as just him being protected. All in all her visit didn't go as horrible as she thought it would. She was even asked to sleep over the next time they visited the household. For once she forgot completely about her friend's in Gotham, maybe that was for the better?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Final exams were in two months and Artemis had a mild feeling of panic beginning to build. She was never any good at tests, this was university and she was worried. Her marks were great but tests were always something she worried about. "I don't see why you're worrying babe" Wally said, they were out walking Brucely. Finally, Gotham was starting to warm up again. All those rainy days led up to plenty of sunny ones, today included. "I don't know Wally, I mean this is my future we're talking about" she said, this was definitely a touchy subject.

When she was younger her father had her whole life planned out for her. She didn't have a lot of choices which is why she didn't care much when in high school. Until her friends came and freed her of course but up until then her life was carved out in stone. Now that she had control she was constantly worried if what she was doing was right for her. Wally's hand slipped down into hers to lace their fingers together. "Well I know you Artemis and you'll do a damn good job on these exams" he said before leaning over to press a kiss to the side of her head.

Wally was always so nice to her, she loved him more than anything. Besides Jade he was the only family she had left. "How about we go and stay with my parent's for a bit during summer break? I mean they're still in Happy Harbor so we can go to the beach, relive old memories" he said with a smile as bright as the sun. That actually gave her an idea.

"Y'think we can get everyone together and see if Dick can get Bruce to use that cabin by the beach? That would definitely be reliving old memories" she said as he groaned.

"The last time we were there I was a royal dick to you" he said remembering quite clearly.

That was when Linda still had a hold of his mind. Manipulation was one of that evil bitches specialities. Artemis however rolled her eyes - that was all such a long time ago. "We're older now Wally and if anything I'd - " she was interrupted when his phone began to ring. They both knew who it was by the ringtone. Artemis muffled a laugh as he rolled his eyes and answered. "Dude I was in the middle of something, not cool" he said, eyes shooting over to where Artemis was red in the face trying hard not to laugh.

"Yeah, sure you were. Anyways I need you and Artemis at my place now it's important" Dick said, he sounded serious.

"We're walking the dog, can't it be later?" he asked.

Artemis was genuinely curious in the conversation now once she heard that. Her boyfriend was on the phone for a few more minutes, every now and again he would run a hand through his hair. "Yeah, okay we'll be there soon" he mumbled before hanging up. She raised an eyebrow at him when he turned to face her. "What does boy wonder want now?" she asked, hand on her hip and eyebrow raised.

"I don't know but he says it's important so come on" Wally said before grabbing her hand and leading her down the busy street.

Brucely was quite an obedient dog. As soon as they arrived at Dick and Zatanna's place he laid down on the floor. "Where's Zee?" she asked taking her sweater off. There was no need for heavy jackets anymore. Dick ran a hand through his hair taking a seat on the sofa. "In class, she won't be back for an hour so we need to make this quick. Kaldur called me this morning" he said, immediately Artemis began to worry.

Did Roquette lose the baby this morning? Is she okay? Are both of them okay? "The baby is fine" Dick said before she could even open her mouth to ask. A sigh of relief escaped her lips and she finally let herself relax into the sofa. "Then what is it you want?" Wally asked. He trusted Dick, he was like the little brother he never had, but something seemed off about this meeting. It was too abrupt, too unplanned for someone like him. "I - we need your help, what I'm about to tell you is top secret, the question is: can I trust you?" he asked, Artemis and Wally both shared weary looks.

"Yes" they both answered sincerely.

"Okay, okay that's good" he said standing up and running a nervous hand through his hair.

Dick explained everything to the two of them. He explained how he was tied to the secret organization known as the Justice League, how they monitored criminal activity across the globe - they were practically everywhere yet nowhere all at once. The both of them had never heard of them before until now. "My Da - Lawrence, was he on their list?" Artemis asked, she was sitting on the edge of the couch now, practically about to fall onto the floor. The look in her friends eyes gave her the answer, he was on that list. She wondered why this mysterious and all powerful group never did anything sooner?

Maybe if they did her mother would still be alive. "What do you need me to do?" she asked. Wally's green eyes went as wide as flying saucers when he heard her say that. "No Artemis" he stood up to his feet which led her to do the same moments after. Never before had she seen Wally this angry, this protective. "I can do this mys- " she was cut off mid-sentence.

"I said no Artemis" he practically growled at her.

"Hey, you two have by the end of May to make a decision, you two are the best options, better than any police officer I know" Dick said as the two turned to look at him.

"How? We've never been trained, well besides you Arty, but isn't there some super special FBI agent's or something?" Wally asked now scratching his head.

Surely there are better people specially trained to do things like this, right? Wally really didn't want Artemis going back into the fire like this, especially when she just escaped the heat. Her father was absolutely horrible and trained her like a soldier, he didn't want her to have to use that training. Especially after he's seen what it's done to her. The scars, the nightmares, sometimes he wished it was him and not her. Wally West was in deep, he knew just how much he loved her and just how far he would go to keep her safe.

This was a dangerous kind of love, something his parents warned him about when he was younger. He didn't care, he'd die for her in a second. "Raw instincts buddy, you both have them. We're not normal if you haven't noticed that, the three of us took down a mafia boss - " Dick said before Wally shouted his complaints.

" - dude I was shot! We both were!" Wally protested.

"You'll be trained rigorously through June and then you'll be sent undercover with Kaldur for however long it takes to take the Black Manta down" he continued, "Just think about it, okay?" he finished giving the two of them pleading looks.

They knew he himself would go but he had a kid to take care of and Zatanna to protect. John Constantine was still roaming free out there, they knew that all too well. "We will" Artemis said quickly before Wally could even utter a word. The two of them left soon after that and the walk back to their apartment was horrifyingly silent.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Megan decided to take a job of a waitress at the same diner Peggy works at. There was a position open and she took it, Peggy had a hand in getting her the job. It helped when your friend was able to shower you in compliments to persuade the boss into hiring you. This job was to help earn her extra money and take her mind off of things. The first week was smooth sailing and she met lot's of people. Everyone was quite kind which was nice considering she was new.

Peggy never stopped talking by the way, all she ever talked about was this Steve guy. She never got to meet him until the second week working there. Her friend's brown eyes lit up as soon as she spotted the tall blonde man in the doorway of the diner. "Is that Steve?" Megan leaned over to her and whispered. All she received was a heart throbbing goofy smile from Peggy.

The young woman couldn't even lie, Megan thought he was hot too. "Go say hi" she said ushering Peggy over to the young man. Peggy had been bragging about their date from months ago and now she was all of a sudden nervous. Lately Conner had been hanging around her a lot. She understood that he was grieving but it was beginning to spark old emotions. One's that she thought she buried deep down a long time ago. It had her thinking while she was wiping down the tables. Peggy left early with Steve, he was taking her dancing.

She remembered the look Peggy had on her face, she used to wear the same deliriously-head-over-heels smile as well. Until Conner broke her heart but now the circle has come to a full turn. He was back with her again, not romantically together but together nonetheless. Life was funny that way wasn't it? Wendy had died almost a month ago now, she still felt unimaginable guilt for that. It wasn't her fault, her death, but she couldn't help but feel as if she were responsible.

If she cleaned up her act sooner than they never would've broken up and Conner would never have had his heart broken by Wendy. Now she was thinking selfishly. Was she not allowed to every once in awhile? Lately all she has been in selfless, most of her life she had been. So her being a little bit of selfish, even for just a moment couldn't hurt. Hearing Peggy talk her ear off over the phone later that night about her date made Megan let out a sad sigh. She looked down at Conner who had his head in her lap half asleep.

This shouldn't have happened, he shouldn't be staying in her dorm room like this. Would this be taking advantage of him? She didn't know. They hadn't done anything but while she was on the phone - she had been on the phone for two hours now which was why he climbed onto her bed and sprawled out on his stomach, his head resting in her lap. Here she was carding her delicate fingers through his hair just because she could. It made her feel better which was even worse. So what? She was allowed to be selfish.

Skycrystal23 ;)