Chapter Text
Diana stood over the body of a dying alien, adrenaline rushing through her veins as she unwrapped her whip from what she assumed was the creature’s throat.
These insolent creatures thought they could invade Earth, home of Princess Diana of Themyscira. Home of the last Kryptonian and the Speedster and the Atlanteans. Home of the champion of Man, Batman.
It had been a good battle, and Diana had difficulty taming the fierce grin on her face… So she didn’t bother trying. She glanced around the battlefield, many of the buildings around them damaged but most were salvageable.
She searched for a new target. She found only one alien still moving, and as she prepared to strike, a shadowy form seemed to materialize on the creature’s back. With a motion so quick that it almost made Diana believe the man might have super speed after all, the alien fell, and the Batman straightened from his crouched position.
The sheer skill with which the man took down the monster was, to put it bluntly, alluring.
After her first and only lover, many years ago, Diana had felt no desire for other men.
Oh, there were plenty of attractive men in her environment. Superman, Kal El, was a hunk of a man. But he seemed to have his affections already turned elsewhere, and Diana did not quite match with him in certain things. One example was that Diana loved to hone her fighting skills and was truly happy when she did battle. The exhilaration and practice gave her purpose, and in a sense, gave her something to live for. Superman… well, to put it bluntly, he just hit things until they stopped moving, most of the time. There was no passion for it, no finesse, no strategy.
But Batman… he was intelligent. Strong. Trained. Dedicated. Strategic. And that jawline…
Diana shook her head. She needed to focus. Check on victims. Start the rescue work now that all the enemies have been taken down.
She started scouring through the rubble of the buildings, moving to wherever Superman or Batman claimed there was another victim.
She stepped over a large piece of rubble, hearing a moan beyond. She started to lift a pillar, only to come face to face with another alien.
Even if she dropped the pillar she now held over her head, there wouldn’t be enough time to react to the attack that the creature launched at her.
That was when Batman appeared suddenly, stabbing one of his oddly shaped knife thingies into the alien’s cranial area, causing it to shudder before letting out a low, wheezing breath.
Diana blinked as the creature slumped as Batman straightened before her, one of the few men to match her in height.
He turned towards her, giving her a small incline of the head— which was more respect than she had seen him give to anyone, actually— and spoke.
“Apologies for intruding, princess. These creatures are much warmer than humans, normally, but this one was dying, causing its cooler temperature to register as a human’s on my equipment.” he said, his head turning slightly towards the creature.
“They’ll take any opportunity to attack.” he finished, a bite of disgust to his voice.
Diana blinked as she lowered the pillar back down, staring at the man in front of her, before giving him a smile.
“Nothing to apologize for, Champion of Man. Fellows in arms must watch each others’ backs! And your reaction time was most impressive. I would love to see how you train.” she said, cocking a hip.
Batman looked slightly taken aback before— did Diana’s eyes deceive her? Was that a small smirk she spotted?
“You… are rather skilled, yourself, Princess.”
“Call me Diana.”
Batman cocked an eyebrow. “ Diana.” He growled, and it sent a shiver down Diana’s spine.
Yes, perhaps… perhaps there was something there.
—— Two years later ——
Timothy. His name was Timothy. What a fitting name for a child of godly descent.
She held the small bundle in her arms, smiling down at the babe that grabbed for her dark locks with flailing, meaty little hands.
She laughed, and turned to look at Bruce when he put a hand on her shoulder. It had taken a while of wearing away his paranoia, but after half a year, Batman had shared his identity; Bruce Wayne, multi-billionaire celebrity. And he was even better looking under the cowl, a pleasant surprise.
Bruce smiled down at their son, their crowning jewel. Steely blue eyes met big, watery, bright blue eyes, and Timothy let out a little giggle that made both their hearts melt. His little hand grabbed Bruce’s large finger, and immediately the little man tried to maneuver it to his mouth.
“All right, Princess.” Bruce said, having turned Diana’s official title into a pet name that she altogether did not mind in the least, “Everyone’s here. They’re all excited to meet him.” He planted a kiss on Diana’s cheek, and then one on Timothy’s forehead. “I’ll let them know you’ll be out shortly, all right?”
Diana nodded in return. “Thank you, my love.” she responded, watching him go.
She stood, and adjusted her child’s blanket so his arms would not grow cold, grabbing at everything. He was a strong, smart little thing, and she doubted this blanket would contain him for long, despite being only a week and a half old.
Diana… was not sure how half-Amazonian babies developed. She wasn’t even quite sure how human babies OR Amazonian babies developed, in fact. Apparently, according to her mother, the Amazonian genes would come in later, meaning that right now, the little boy was a hundred percent human.
She took a deep breath, feeling a maternal wave of protectiveness wash over her as she looked at her child. Nothing and nobody would harm her baby, and she would protect him with her heart, body and soul. And she did not doubt that his father would, as well. And once she introduced him to the rest of the Justice League, they would protect him, too.
”Ah, my little starlight, I would fight the whole world for you.” she said, placing a gentle kiss on Timothy’s forehead before smiling and wiping the lipstick mark off the boy’s forehead.
She stepped out, and immediately was surrounded by a buzzing Barry and an enthusiastic Arthur, waxing poetic about how the boy could come train with him in Atlantis when he was older. Barry was babbling, showing off the multiple sets of baby clothes he had gotten for Timothy in different sizes. He showed them in such quick succession that Diana could hardly keep up, but she managed.
Peeking around her shoulder was Hal Jordan, floating a bit off the ground to get a better look. He scrunched his nose. “He’s got Spooky’s intense eyes.” he says, and Diana smiles.
“He does. Aren’t they beautiful?”
Hal’s cheeks redden at Diana’s honest declaration of love for her child, and he deflates. “I… suppose. He is pretty cute.” he says, poking the little fella’s cheek, causing Tim to let out a giggle, tinkling through the party like a heavenly little bell.
Smiles erupted from Diana’s friends around them.
The next to approach were Clark and Bruce. Clark leaned over the child and cooed. “Well, well, who is this little hero, then?” he said with a smile, leaning over the child. And, as Diana had expected, Timothy had gotten his chubby little arms loose from his blanket and tried to grab Clark’s “Superman” curl. It was too far to reach, but it made Clark let out a delighted laugh.
“His name is Timothy. Timothy Wayne.” Diana said, adjusting the blanket to cover his little arms again. The blanket had been a gift from Alfred, a light blue thing with little bats and stars splattered across it. The old man had made it by hand for his grandson and had wrapped the babe in it the moment he had first held Timothy.
Bruce reached over, and Diana handed him the baby. Diana loved watching Bruce with his son. Their son. Their legacy, still so small and fragile but with infinite potential. She loved watching that intense love playing over Bruce’s face as he tucked the baby in, held him and fussed over him.
The man had been frankly terrified when Diana had told him about the pregnancy. Why wouldn’t he be? He was a vigilante that put his life on the line night after night to make his city just a little safer to be in.
Bruce knew what it was like to lose a parent. And he was terrified the same could happen to little Timmy.
But Diana had smiled, and told him that, in that case, maybe he should accept the help offered to him from outside. Accept the help of those around him, like Superman and herself, to help keep the Batman alive to see his son grow up.
And Bruce listened. Oh, he still took on way too much, and was still a hard-headed fool, but… when there were civilians at risk, he wouldn’t just throw himself into danger. He would call over the Flash, or Superman to help him evacuate the citizens. When he was preparing to take down an extreme hard-hitter he would ask Diana for help.
He had even on a momentous occasion asked Hal Jordan for help.
Timothy let out a small whine, and wriggled his hands free to grab at Bruce’s face. The man chuckled and let the baby feel his face, scrunching his nose when the baby almost stuck a finger straight up his nose.
Diana smiled, before excusing herself to go to the bathroom. That was the one real side effect she had from the birth besides a general soreness; a weakened bladder.
She did her business and headed back to the party after washing her hands.
But when she opened the door, rather than seeing the party with loving faces and laughter and happiness like she expected…
She saw everyone on the floor, wrapped in green glowing magical vines. Even Kal El seemed to be out for the count, his skin looking gray and feverish like the vines were Kryptonite-infused.
She immediately stiffened and looked at the one figure still standing in the room.
Diana identified the woman as the midwife who had helped her deliver Timothy, and had been invited to the party as a thank-you. She turned, and the old woman’s gray, frizzy hair grew and twirled until long, black, wavy locks framed her face. A crown of moons and stars formed on her face and her outfit went from a conservative pink dress with stars on it to long purple robes with golden embroidery on it. Two other faces twisted in rictus anguish peeked over her shoulders.
Hecate.
And she was holding Timothy.
Diana’s eyes widened and she sprinted forward, only to have her advance stopped by the same roots that were holding everyone else.
The moment the viney tendrils made contact, she felt her strength wane as the vines drained her strength.
Hecate smiled cruelly down at Diana, who had dropped to one knee.
“Ah, Diana. How nice of you to drop in.” she said with a smile. “I see you’ve… been busy.”
The goddess held up the baby, raising her eyebrows at her son, Diana’s son, how dare you hold him!
Timothy made grabby hands for Hecate’s crown, and although the smile twitched, she allowed the boy to play with her necklaces instead.
“I hope you don’t mind. I have been wanting an… apprentice.” she says, voice echoing around.
Diana saw movement in the corner of her eyes. Bruce, slowly cutting through the vines with his batarang.
“You will not take him from me! He is my son! ” Diana screamed at the goddess as adrenaline flooded her veins. With a single burst of maternal strength, she tore through the vines at Hecate, catching the Batarang Bruce threw at her with his one loosened arm, and stabbing it in Hecate’s chest.
She immediately grabbed for Timothy— but was dragged away by more vines as Hecate screamed in outrage.
The Golden Ichor that was the blood of the gods dripped down onto Timothy’s cheek, leaving a small, golden, moon-shaped mark as the blood burnt into his skin.
Hecate glared at Diana.
“I was… going to raise the brat myself… but perhaps, a curse is more appropriate! You dare raise your hand to a God, Diana. You and your mate deserve to suffer. And so does this little… creature. ” she sneered, glaring at the baby, and at the mark on his cheek. She smiled cruelly, then.
“Let him be forgotten, then. Let you forget. Let him grow up forgotten by those who should love him. And let you realize, when he is sixteen and grown, unloved, that you have forgotten your own precious child.” Hecate chanted, a strange echo to her voice as all three heads spoke in unison, eyes glowing. She places a finger on the baby’s moon-mark, where it glows for a moment before losing its golden luster, becoming a regular crescent moon shaped scar.
She smiled and dropped the baby. Diana and Bruce dove to protect him as Hecate let out a loud laugh, sending out a shockwave of pure energy as she vanished, causing the building to collapse.
A minute later, Diana came up out of the rubble, coughing slightly, covering Bruce from the collapsing building. She pulled her lover into a sitting position, checking him for injuries. The other members of the League were slowly digging themselves out, and those who couldn’t dig themselves out were being dug out by other heroes.
“Are you okay, my love?” She asked, putting a hand on her own head. Her skull was pounding, which wasn’t a feeling she was familiar with. From the reactions of those around her, they seemed to be having similar issues. Almost everyone was holding their heads and groaning. Bruce gave a small hum in the affirmative.
She flinched suddenly when a baby started wailing, and she glanced down.
Right inbetween where Bruce and Diana were sitting was an infant, a week or two old at most. The poor child wailed their little heart out, and Diana felt sorry for the poor thing. She wondered where the baby’s parents were, and what sort of place this was.
Bruce seemed similarly confused by the presence of a child. Then, Diana and Bruce both blinked.
Was… was there something there? She couldn’t remember. She looked around. Nobody else seemed to think anything was amiss, either. She heard some sort of wailing, although she quickly realized those were probably the sirens of the emergency services vehicles that were starting to show up. She dusted herself off and took Bruce’s hand, picking him up from the ground.
She walked off to help the others with Bruce by her side.
Timothy’s tiny wails went ignored until one of the EMTs picked him up, taking him to the ambulance.
That would be the last time Tim would touch his birth parents for the next decade.