(This is gonna be a series of at least 3 'origin' stories...after those are done I might continue the idea into a full JLA Elseworlds story...not sure.)

Gotham City
We start this part of the story with a little boy with his head to a tree. Why is his head to a tree you ask? Read further and find out. "5...4...3...2...1! Ready or not, here I come." Billy shouted as he ran off the tree. To be honest he knew where Bruce had gone. One of the things he'd always had going for him was really good hearing. With his eyes closed he could hear that Bruce had hidden behind the second tree on the right. But going along with it, he looked around to the other trees, getting subtly closer before suddenly dashing. "BOO!" Billy yelled, causing Bruce to trip over one of the roots. "How do you always know where I am? You peek, don't you?" Bruce accused as Billy continued to laugh.

"I don't, I swear. You just suck at hiding." Billy taunted back. "I don't know how he does it either." A little blonde girl said with a shrug as she looked up from playing with her Bed-time Care Bear. "I can't ever beat him in hide and seek." Billy shrugged back. "What can I say, Greta. I can't help if I'm good." Billy said with a toss of his head which left him even more surprised by the sudden tap on his shoulder. "Tag! You're it!" Bruce yelled as he took off dashing past the trees as Billy gave chase. "Oh you're gonna get it now!" Just like when he was hiding, it was really easy for Billy to track Bruce's movements. He was about to catch up when he heard a loud noise followed by Bruce's scream, making him run double time to see what had happened. "Bruce, are you okay?!" He yelled as he came to a sudden stop when he saw that there was a huge hole in the ground that hadn't been there before. "BRUCE!" He yelled frantically.

Going on pure instinct, Billy jumped into the hole. "Billy! Don't!" He could hear Greta yelling behind him, but it was too late as he plunged into the darkness. When he landed he looked around, trying to get his eyes adjusted to the dark. Billy was quickly able to find Bruce who seemed to be fine, but a bit shaken up. The 'bit' part of being shaken up was taken to the limit as the new source of light hit some of the residents in the area and a swarm of bats flew overhead, causing Bruce to yell once more. "Stop being such a wuss, Bruce. They're just running away from the light." Very soon, there was a large shadow coming from the top of the hole. "Mr. Wayne?" Billy inquired, pretty sure that was him but there was still hesitation in his voice. "Yes, Billy. Is everyone alright?" With that Billy nodded and looked back to Bruce. "I told you he'd find us." Bruce retorted by sticking out his tongue, which caused Mr. Wayne to smile as he picked him up. "Thank you for looking out for him." Mr. Wayne said, giving him a warm smile.

It wasn't long after he'd gotten both of them up and sent Billy and Greta home. "You're laaate. You know that the Waynes had to go to that play tonight. That was very rude. The last thing you want is them not letting you play over there anymore." Mrs. Hayes scolded from the kitchen as Greta was about to defend themselves but Billy shushed her. "We won't let it happen again, Mom. I promise." After a quick motion, Billy led Greta up the stairs as Mr. Hayes looked up from his paper at the retreating duo with a little bit of a smirk. "They were only 10 minutes late, dear." He commented with a flick of the paper. "Well, that's 10 minutes too many. The Waynes have been very good to us and we don't want to-" "Yes yes, you're right as always." Mr. Hayes sighed in a way that said, 'Best I agree with her if I don't want to sleep on the couch.' "And you better not forget it." Mrs. Hayes taunted.

From upstairs, Greta climbed onto the bed hugging her bear. "Why didn't we tell them the truth?" She asked, cocking her head to the side. "Because if they knew what happened, they might think it was too dangerous to go over there anymore. It wasn't like I lied. I just...didn't tell the whole truth." Greta seemed to think about it before giving a nod. "I guess..." She muttered. Billy playfully ruffled her hair. "Come on, we need to get ready for bed." Greta was busy slapping away Billy's hands before getting a serious look on her face again. "Billy, are you scared of anything?" Billy seemed to smile at the question before leaving the room. "Yeah. All the time. But I'm the oldest so it's on me to make sure none of the scary things can get to you." As he went to close the door Greta yelled back. "Will you read me a story?" The door stopped and opened again. "Again?" Greta then gave her best puppy dog look. "Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease? I'll be your best friend for ever and ever?" Billy let out a sigh as he left. "Eh, you had me at 'please'."

After he'd gotten dressed into his night clothes, Billy went into Greta's room. Seemed like his parents hadn't been up there yet to tuck her in so he did it himself. Making up a story on the spot, Billy kept telling it until he looked and saw that his sister was asleep. With a smile he kissed her goodnight before quietly leaving the room and heading downstairs. It was bedtime for him as well, but it was unusual for his parents to have not been up to say goodnight to him. He stopped as he heard the loud sniffle. "I-...I can't believe it. After all those two had....had done for this city..." Mrs. Hayes wailed as Mr. Hayes consoled her. "I know, Sweety I know. Sometimes...bad things just happen to good people. At least we know the police caught the bastard." It seemed an odd contrast as his mother was wailing with tears coming down her face and his father seemed quite angry at the situation whatever it was. But it was like Will had already known as his heart sank and he listened more intently. "That...that doesn't help at all!" Mr. Hayes continued to pet his wife's head as he held her. "I know it doesn't..."

The two remained silent despite Billy's continued listening to find out exactly what happened. But without warning he suddenly got a flash into his mind. He wasn't sure how...but he knew that he'd never see Bruce or the his parents again. And knowing this, while inwardly he felt the anger of his father, as he felt the tears coming down his face it was his mother who he was channeling more.

As the pastor said his words of encouragement, but it didn't help as Billy looked on to the 3 caskets that housed the forms of Thomas, Martha, and Bruce Wayne. Though to be perfectly honest, he wasn't actually listening. He was just doing his best to think of the good times that he had with the family and blocking out Greta's sobs. When they began to lower the caskets into the ground it was almost too much, and the only thing that actually kept him from leaving was that it would have drawn attention to him and the only thing he wanted right now was to be invisible.

After the service was over there was a slight panic as Burt and Ellen realized that Billy was gone. They were near the Wayne Mansion which was now theirs due to the will, so they were sure that's where he was but they still went searching. Greta on the other hand knew exactly where he was as she separated from the parents as well and found her way to the hole that Bruce had fallen down the other day, which was now open. With a deep breath she jumped into the hole landing hard. "Oooow..." Greta groaned as she stood up. "And just how do you expect to get back up?" A voice echoed through the cave causing Greta to turn abruptly to Billy. "Billy! You scared m- EEE!" Greta suddenly shrieked as the bats flew over her head and deeper into the cave. "You do realize that you're the one who scared them, right?"

Once again Greta's eyes had to adjust to the light to make out where exactly Billy was. "...They're still scary..." Greta cautiously made her way to Billy, who was sitting on the floor hugging his knees. "That's a matter of perspective. Why'd you follow me down here?" He asked, without actually looking at Greta but keeping his eyes trained on the floor. "Mom and Dad were looking for you. And...I was a little worried..." Billy let out a sigh. "Why? It's not like I'm your real brother." He muttered much to Greta's surprise. "Wh..what? Of course you're my brother. Why would you say that?" Part of Billy did feel bad about being so blunt but unfortunately the majority of him didn't care. "Because I'm pretty sure I'm adopted." Greta cocked her head to the side. "What's ad-dop-ed?" Billy let out another sigh. "You remember that dog we got at the shop?" Greta gave a confused nod. "It's like that, only with people. Woof woof."

"Billy...you're scaring me..." Greta's words echoed her expressions. "If that's scaring you..." Billy started as he raised his hand which began to glow red before a blast fired into the wall. But to his surprise another blast hit the exact same spot and turning quickly he saw that Greta's eyes were glowing red and smoking. "G...Greta? How..long could you do that?" Greta's eyes went back to normal as she looked away from Billy. "..awhile ago..." Billy was overrun by emotions at this point. He'd been sure that his abilities were proof that he didn't actually belong in that family...but if Greta had the same ones... "You...you never..." "It wasn't like I lied. I just didn't tell the whole truth." Greta shot back which caused Billy to give her a look. "Okay...Big Brother Rule #30. Don't throw my own sayings back in my face." Both siblings smiled at each other. "There are a lot of big brother rules." Billy ended up smiling all the more. "It's one of the perks."

"Come on, get on my back." Billy said turning away from Greta who looked confused but obeyed him. His parents had a lot of explaining to do but that could wait. "Now I want you to hold on to me as tight as you can and don't let go until I tell you too okay?" He could feel Greta nod and jumped against the wall, rebounding up through the hole. "You can let go now." Billy wheezed out. He wasn't expecting Greta to hold on quite that tightly, but he'd rather have had that than the alternative. "That was...wow..." Greta said as she let go and looked at how far Billy had jumped. "Come on. You said Mom and Dad were looking for us, right?" He said, taking Greta's had as they gave one last look to the cave.

10 years later

A man with long black hair looked down from the plane he was on as it landed. He hadn't been to Gotham in years since he randomly took off as soon as he graduated. Despite the random chatter from the woman next to him, he'd yet to actually say anything in reply, not that it mattered. She obviously just liked the sound of her own voice. Getting his bags, the man went left the plane, looking around until he saw a familiar face who acknowledged him with a nod. "Alfred." He said with a nod. "Master William." The butler replied as he opened the limo door and took his bags.

"Will. Please." Will said with the same tone to which Alfred gave the slightest of smile. "Yes sir. Of course. Master Will." Once Will was in the limo, Alfred closed the door and they were on their way. "So how is everyone?" Will asked matter of factly. "As well as can be expected. Master Burt and Ellen remain with their work at Wayne Enterprises. Lately they've been having more troubles with the board but you know them." Will showed the first sign of emotion with a smile. "Yeah, stubborn. They have to be, considering whose shoes their filling." There was an awkward silence for awhile as Alfred continued to drive. "How's Greta?"

Alfred's smile showed that he'd been expecting Will to ask about her. Knowing him, he probably left her out purely so Will would have to ask by name. "Oh your sister has been very busy. She's in her senior year in high school now. On her way to becoming a lead programmer, if I say so myself." Will once again gave a slight show of emotion. "A lead programmer? Good for her." Alfred gave a nod. "Oh yes, she's also been working very hard to make a name for herself outside of Wayne Enterprises. If I had to guess it would probably be not wanting to have to deal with the politics." Will let out a sigh. "I can believe that."

Once more there was a bit of a silence before Alfred spoke up. "I take it, you've been...well taken care of?" Alfred gave a curious look to which Will narrowed his eyes. "Is that your way of telling me you know about the 5 million I took before I left." Alfred smiled as he looked back at the road. "I wouldn't dare to imply such a thing. But if said amount had been missing, me and Miss Greta would most likely have noticed." Will looked outside the window. "Do my parents know?" He asked to which Alfred answered, "As I said, if anything had been missing we would have noticed. We noticed nothing worth telling anyone else."

"Thank you, Alfred." Will said appreciatively, while Alfred gave a nod, pulling up to Wayne Manor. "Will you be staying after the hearing?" Alfred asked, adjusting the mirror. But Will never actually answered as Alfred let him out. As soon as he was straight enough to stand up, he saw something out of the corner of his eye and suddenly darted in the direction in time to see a beautiful girl running at him into a half tackle, half embrace slamming the two of them against the limo. "Billy! I missed you so much!" Greta said excitedly. Alfred pretended not to notice that Greta wasn't corrected on the name as he took the bags inside. "Hey Greta. Missed you too." Will said returning the embrace. It was good to be home.

Black lightning looked over his gas station of solitude in distaste "Couldn't Icon think of something else to name it?" he didn't want to talk badly about his friend as he was always getting comments about name during patrol, but Virgil knew he would have to take care of it later. As Virgil sparked the room and walked in looking at the trouble in Dakota.

Icon came in and gave Black Lightning a high five "I felt that there was trouble; is there any?" Yeah, there is, let's go!" and black lightning flew off with Icon following.

As they landed, Icon looked around adn saw some kids playing with a gun "sorry kids, can't do that!" and pushed it away with his inertia field Black lightning caught the kids and they out them in juvie "That was too easy!" Icon thought as he was flying home, he saw that his Grandmother was waiting for him "Amistad Agustus Ervin! What are you thinking coming home so late, I told you to come home no later then 9:00!" Amistad looked at the clock and saw that it was 2:30 "Sorry Nana, I'll go get ready for bed.

As Amistad walked over to his room, he saw a picture that showed his mom with the first Icon, A man that was all about ideals and such "I wonder if he ever had a Grandma that told him what to do!" he thought

The next day was Saturday, as Amistad was walking out the door, he saw Virgil Hawkins standing on his stoop "So, did you get grounded huh?" Amistad looked at his friend and said "No, but I gotta come home very early from now on." Virgil looked at him "You know, this reminds me of when I started out." Amistad looked at him as they started walking to teh park "Really?" Virgil looked back "I'l tell once we get to the park." "That's messed up!" Amistad said

Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, had been given a gift. Her beloved daughter Diana was the best gift she could ever receive. But Diana died suddenly, as an infant, and no one could tell Hippolyta why. Diana had been found in her crib, very pale and not breathing. Hippolyta’s grieving wails grew so loud, they drew the attentions of the gods themselves. They took pity on her and gathered in her garden. They took a small mound of earth and molded it into a small child.
“She shall be beautiful, as beautiful as me.”
“She shall be strong, as strong as the earth.”
“She shall be wise, as wise as I.”
“She shall See.”
“pfft! Do you remember what happened last time you gave someone that gift? No one believed her and that entire civilization is pretty much gone.”
“That was her own fault that she got cursed as well as gifted! And anyway this time is different. It is a gift for a warrior. She will See dangers coming and be able to avoid them.”
One who had not spoken held up his hand to silence everyone else as he lifted the tiny child form. Inspecting the work each had done, he nodded and breathed the breath of life into the clay form, causing the hair to flow out of her head to be white and her cheeks pink with spirit.
Hippolyta, who had taken to wandering aimlessly in her grief, heard the child’s first cry. She looked around but saw no one. So she kept walking, thinking her mind was playing tricks on her. But the child cried again, more insistent this time. Curious, Hippolyta headed in the direction of the cries, as they were becoming louder and more frequent. Running now, she found herself among the rose bushes that had just started to bloom. There, among the roses, was a baby unlike any she had ever seen. Picking the child up, Hippolyta found her completely unharmed, not even a scratch from the thorns. She looked around the garden again, for anyone else, but she was all alone, save the baby in her arms. The baby reached out and grabbed a rose and started munching on in before Hippolyta could stop her. Making a face, the baby spat out the petals in disgust making Hippolyta laugh.
“Where did you come from little one? Your hair belongs on an old woman not a new born babe.” She cooed and put her finger under the little girl’s chin. A burble was the only audible response before grabbing the finger, surprising Hippolyta with her strength.
“Who are you?”

Hippolyta inquired of all her subjects whether they knew where the child had come from. No one claimed her. After weeks of searching, Hippolyta could find no one that even resembled the little girl. Knowing that she was growing attached to her, Hippolyta decided to raise her herself.

Everyone gathered on the steps of the palace, waiting for Hippolyta to officialy welcome the newest Amazon. Taking a deep breath and looking at the baby once more, Hippolyta smiled and whispered to the baby, “You’re a gift from the gods you are.” Then walking out to greet the rest of the Amazons, she presented the baby girl she had found. Holding her up, Hippolyta began the naming speech.
“So you were found among the rose bushes, so shall you be named. My sisters, I give you our newest daughter of Themescira, Rose!”

(lol Aphrodite went 'pfft!' I find that very funny for some reason. Love the reasoning for the name.)

It took awhile to catch up with everyone, which was understandable considering how much could happen in 10 years. After Will was finally able to get some time to himself he laid down in his room, which looked much different from what he could remember. For one, he could actually fit on the bed so they'd obviously changed some things to accommodate him for when he came back. "So...now that it's just us, you gonna tell me where you've been this whole time? Or why you left?" Greta asked as she came into the room and closed the door behind her. "Funny. I could have sworn I had a rule about knocking on my door before you come in." Will said mockingly, which got a pillow thrown at him.

"No changing the subject, Billy. You know, I was worried sick about you. It'd be nice if it hadn't taken Chill possibly getting released for me to know you were alive..." Will made a loud sigh. Greta always did know how to get to him. "I just...had a lot of thinking to do. Away from anyone who recognized me as 'the kid who got rich because his best friend died'. Just needed to find myself...my purpose." Walking over to the bed and sitting down, Greta looked intently at Will, asking the obvious question. "And?" A small smirk crossed Will's lips. "I found...something, alright. You ever ask Mom and Dad about the energy beams?" The sudden change in subject made Greta blush. "Of course not. I just pretended nothing was wrong... I did look it up though, and I don't think either of us is adopted... I can't explain i-...Hey! No changing the subject!" Greta growled as she hit Will with another pillow.

"I didn't mean to make you worry. I just didn't want to see or talk to anyone until I had it figured out." Will stated, as he flopped down on the bed. "Did you find it? It'd be...nice if you could stay after the hearing..." Greta mumbled, not actually making eye contact. "I'll take it under heavy consideration. But even if I go, I'll be sure to keep in touch this time." Greta gave Will a slight elbow to the ribs as she got up. "You better. Sweet dreams, Billy."
"Sweet dreams, Greta."

The next day was the hearing as Joe Chill, the murderer of the Waynes, was trying to plea bargain his way out of his full time. Will merely listened quietly as his attorney and then Chill himself made their case. They even had the audacity to claim that the whole thing was driven by desperation. After they'd made their points, the Judge spoke up. "I believe there's members of the Hayes family present. Would any of them like to make a statement?" He asked as everyone looked at the family, especially when Will stood up. Considering most of them had thought that Will had been dead, this was quite a surprise.

"I'll make this short. I'm probably not the best public speaker but here are the facts. As all of you know, I was a very close friend with the Waynes and their son, Bruce. I know that if they were held up, especially with Bruce there, they wouldn't have resisted. Chill killed all 3 of them. He shot Thomas, then Martha, and finally she shot Bruce. After shooting his parents in front of their son, Chill shot and killed an 8 year old. To be honest part of me is slightly glad about that purely because of how traumatized Bruce would have been after sitting in his parents' blood waiting for the police. No amount of desperation can justify that. He killed 2 unarmed people and 1 unarmed child who did nothing but try to make Gotham a better place. I don't care what information he has. What 'good behavior' he's been on. Some things can't be forgiven." With that, Will turned and walked out of the courtroom.

He never actually found out what the ruling was. Pacing on the roof overlooking the courtroom exit, Will was pondering about something else entirely. Hearing a ruckus down below, he could only assume that Chill was out. He was still in cuffs which could only mean that hopefully Will's speech had gotten through to the idiots that were even considering letting him out. But that didn't actually help Will's fury as he looked at the murderer. As he looked at him, all Will could see was Bruce and his parents falling as Chill ran away with their wallet. He didn't deserve to live. Will barely felt the burning in his hands as they were charging on instinct. He knew he shouldn't do it. Besides the moral applications there were a bunch of people down there. Common sense would say blasting Chill into oblivion would be a just a bad idea.

"#$%@ it." Will swore as he unleashed an energy blast down to Chill. Then a loud explosion caught Will's attention as the blast never actually reached Chill. But the explosion alone was enough to make the cops hurry up and get him out in case it was an attack. Everyone was so intent on the explosion above them, they didn't see Greta's glowing red eyes practically glaring a hole into her brother on the roof. Will turned around just to see Greta standing right in front of him with the same glare. "BILLY! I can't believe you just did that!" Greta fumed as her eyes continued to glow. "I can't believe you were able to stop that blast so easily. Been working on your aim, much?" Will said, trying to distract Greta from the point which didn't seem to be working that well. "You don't see me laughing. If I hadn't stopped you, Chill would be dead."

"Okay, to be honest that was a spare of the moment decision. But even if I had, he'd have deserved it." Greta stomped up to Will so furious, he wasn't completely sure she wasn't going to hit him. "That's not your decision to make!" There was a pause as Will let out a long sigh. "I know, Greta. I know. I just...got so angry when I saw him. I..." Will seemed like he was trying to find the words and just couldn't get them, causing Greta to sigh. "I know. That's...why I don't really use my abilities that much. They tend to make me a bit...violent." Will rolled his eyes. "No kidding. I thought you were going to hit me for a moment there." Greta took a deep breath and her eyes went back to normal. "Well I wouldn't have had to use it if someone hadn't forced me to." Greta grumbled.

"Thanks." Will said. He didn't like to admit it but part of him was actually glad that Greta had stopped him. "You're welcome. Now you owe me." Will gave Greta a look. "And what do you want?" Crossing her arms, Greta's face remained stern. "It took everything I had to stop that blast and you did it with one hand. What exactly have you been doing these past 10 years?" Will just stared at Greta for awhile before taking off and jumping off the roof to the next building. "Follow me!" He yelled to Greta, who looked rather shocked at the sudden departure but followed suit.

(I take a very Xena/Hercules approach to my characterization of the Greek Gods. Cause Aphrodite was awesome as a ditz! And WARNING! This is loooonnnggg!)

Rebecca sighed as she took off her uniform and smacked the button to turn on the shower. Taking down her hair she stared at herself in the mirror a bit before shaking her head and grabbing her inhibitor bracelet. As she stepped in, she let the water pound on her back, letting it soothe her soar and achy muscles. Just as she was about to lather up, a familiar and rather annoying voiced buzzed in the room. It was just a robot, a very annoying robot that Rebecca had short circuited more times than she cared to count.

"Hunter designation two one five, Rebecca McCabe, you are scheduled to report to Headquarters for-"

"Yeah yeah yeah, graduation and team orientation, ah know. Shut it ya tin can, ah haven't showered in over a week." Rebecca went back to her shower and lathered up. Ten minutes later as she was drying off, the robot again reminded her that she had to report to headquarters. Getting frustrated after the third time, as she was putting on her uniform, she fried the robots circuits with a small blast from her hand. A loud splash brought her attention back to the still clogged drain in the tub. Putting back on her bracelet she went to unclog the drain.

"Fifty-one centuries of forward progress, and they still can't invent an uncloggable drain," she said to herself as she pulled out clumps of blue hair.

H.U.N.T.E.R. Headquarters

"Today is your day, students, because today you become Hunters, part of the best Law Enforcement team in the galaxy. Today, you join the ranks of-"

Rebecca yawned and looked around at the new recruits, all looking bright and shiny with their fresh faces and uniforms. It was enough to make one sick. On of her fellow Hunters leaned over and whispered in her ear, "So, you ready for today? Fresh meat of the rookie is tasty."

Rebecca just rolled her eyes. New recruits on her team usually ended up in the infirmary on the first day. Mostly because they mouthed off at the wrong person, so it was their own fault anyway. They had to learn who was in charge. "Am ah ever ready for today? Ah hate breaking the new ones in. My squad gets all the mouthy, hard t' handle rejects."

"Bah," he said "That's cause only you straighten know how them out." he winked as he got up to go meet his squad while the graduates found out who they were assigned to. Rebecca sighed as she got up and followed suit, walking to her designated meeting room. She was greeted by her squad, looking distinctly not freshed face and shiny, which she appreciated. Closing the door, she walked over, grabbed a chair, spun it around and straddled it.

"Yeah, ya heard right, we're gettin' a rookie this year. After Johnston got promoted last month, they decided we were lackin'. More 'n likely he or she is gonna be as mouthy as each of you were til ah put you in yer place."

"Oh this'll be good....ten creds says the rookie lands two hits before he's done."

"Can it Scolaro, the kid will be here soon. You just remember to do your job. Now, as ah was sayin'-" but she didn't get to finish as the door opened and everyone stood up. They of course were all taller than her, but had learned not to mention it. She stayed sitting as Scolaro did the introductions. She picked him because he looked like the rookie's idea of a captain. He was the biggest, both in height and build. But he was still only second in command.

"This is Tiggs," Scolaro said, pointing to his left at a taller woman with glasses who just nodded at her name. "Horowitz," pointing at a stocky man with a buzz cut. "Hardy," he pointed to another younger woman with her hair in a pony tail. "I'm Scolaro, and this," he said stepping to the side, to reveal Rebecca who then stood and hopped over the back of the chair, landing next to Scolaro. The kid looked cocky; it was the way he carried himself that tipped her off. So as he looked in disbelief between her and Scolaro, who was a whole head and a half taller, she could see the remark forming in his head. Her uniform should have told anyone that she, was indeed, the captain. It was striped with blue, denoting her rank. But the ones that walked through her door always challenged that.

"You're kidding me right? This is rib the rookie day....you switch uniforms or something?"

"Ah'm right here idiot, didn't they teach you anythin' in class about rank? An' d'you know how hard it is to get one of these uniforms let alone a spare?"

"But you're too...."

Rebecca could feel her squad mentally groan because they knew exactly where this was going.

"Too what, rookie? Too what?"

".....Short."

Rebecca was short, she knew that, but she also had a serious Napoleon complex. All her squad new that, and had been in the exact same position the rookie was in no and had learned never ever to call her short.

Her eye began to twitch behind her visor as she tried to calm down, but it wasn't working to well.

"Too short?! Are you saying there is a height requirement for your C.O.? Rookie?" Her voice taking on an hard edge with every word and the rest of the team backed up a bit.

"No it's just....How do you, you know, lead? How do you take orders from this pibsqueek?!" He said, looking at Scolaro. The rest of the team either went wide-eyed, slack jawed, smacking their forehead or shaking their head. He had said the one word that got deep under her skin and they all felt sort of sorry for him. Rebecca on the other hand, was fuming.

"Pibsqueek?! PIBSQUEEK?! Just because Ah'm short ya don' think Ah can lead?!! If the only way ah can prove t' ya that Ah can lead is with mah fist in yer face, then put 'em up!! Think Ah'm too short t' kick yer ass do ya?!"

"Yes! Yes I do think you're too short! I used to bully twirps like you for fun back home!" he finally shouted back. The entire squad was either making 'cut it out' motions behind her or just sighing heavily. But that had done it for Rebecca. She was through trying to convince him. Now he was going to end up in the infirmary just like everyone else. It was becoming a right of passage more or less now.

"Now you've done it rookie." Tiggs said, shaking her head.

"What? What is she gonna do?"

"Ah'm gonna kick yer ass into next week. Then kick it so hard it comes back!!"

The rookie, for the most part, just laughed, until Rebecca's fist connected with his face. There was a bright flash and he was gone.

"Been awhile since I've seen you use that one," Scolaro smiled. Rebecca just grunted and then pushed a button on her arm guard and was also gone.

"You know it takes a lot of power to create a time rift. It takes even more power to put it behind a punch." Tiggs spoke, adjusting her glasses.

"Yeah yeah, that's one of the reasons she became a captain so fast, blah blah blah. I just like it," Scolaro waved her off. Seconds later there was another bright flash and Rebecca dropped the rookie unceremoniously on the floor. He was covered in blood and both of his eyes were swollen shut. It also looked like one of his arms were at a funny angle.

"Where'd you send him?" Horowitz asked, remembering the time she sent him to the last Ice age.

"Exactly where Ah said Ah'd send him, next week, Tuesday Ah think."

"Heh you're late cap. I actually got to finish an entire sentence this time." Scolaro scolded playfully.

"Oh be quiet will you and call the nurse." Rebecca said as she opened the door and walked out. Scolaro picked up the rookie and shook his head.

"You got off lucky kiddo. She busted my head open wide and broke both my legs." Now, Scolaro, as you know, was the biggest on the team. Rebecca only came up to the bottom of his ribcage. So to say that the rookie looked surprised was an understatement.

"Oh and rookie?" Rebecca stuck her head back in. "Remember, it's not 'where am ah?' but 'when am ah' with me."

"-and if you ever return to these islands, you'll have to answer to Captain Fear!" The dark haired women smiled, reciting the story. She wasn't very old, perhaps only in her early thirties as she reached down and ran a hand through her son's hair.

"Did they ever come back?" He asked, enraptured by the story, far to much to sleep even if it WAS a bedtime story.

"Of course not." She shook her head, getting up from the edge of the bed. "They were too afraid of him. Good night Adam. Try to sleep tonight, grandpa said he'd start teaching you karate tomorrow."

"Good night mom." The little boy said, curling up under his blankets and preparing himself for a night of dreams featuring swashbuckling adventurers and their feats of derring-do, and a world where the good guys always won and went off in search of the next adventure.

Jun Honshi gave one more glance over her shoulder at her son before clicking off the light to his bedroom and shutting the door, she walked slowly into the living room where an older gentleman sat watching the television with an amused smile.

"So, does he still ask you to tell him 'Captain Fear' stories before bed each night?" He inquired, stroking his small beard. "It's funny, I've told him plenty of stories about Yoshitsune, Musashi, and plenty of other Samurai and Ninja, but it's always that pirate he wants to hear more of."

"He's a little boy dad, he wants his adventure stories." She sighed, sitting down across from him. "Besides, it's good for him to have heroes."

"You're still worred about the crime rates around here, hm?" Enoki asked, watching his daughter. "Look, we have cops and even the occasional superhero. Just because Gotham never really bounced back from the Depression is no reason to assume we need to move. Besides, Adam and May already have friends here."

"I know, I just...get so worried...this city is like a breeding ground for the weirdest criminals..."

"Every city has it's problems Jun, Gotham, Metropolis, Star, all of them. What you need to do is work on overcoming them make the city a better place however you can."

Neither of the adults was aware, of course, of the small boy peeking through the slight crack between the door and the frame, listening to their conversation. "I bet Captain Fear could protect Gotham." He whispered...

Five years later

Twelve years old now, the dark haired, green eyed bundle of energy that was Adam Honshi sat on the stool holding an ice pack over one eye, his lower lip was split and he sported several scrapes across his arms. "But they deserved it!" He protested; his good eye looking up at his mother as though that simple contact would make her understand. The other boys had been bullying his friend, he only stood up for him.

"Adam, you can't just start a fight because someone is being mean. You need to try and talk it out first." Jun protested.

"I did try!" He protested.

"Threatening them does not count as 'talking it out'." She sighed, placing band-aids over some of the scrapes that had drawn blood.

"But...what's the point of knowing how to fight if i'm not allowed to use it to protect people?" he asked.

To this, Jun didn't have a response...

(Ta-da, my first post here hehehe)

(I'm a pretty big fan of the Herc/Xena Aphrodite as well. Think her and Ares were my favorite gods ironically. Oh and threatening so does count as talking it out! :P)

"Where are we going!?" Greta yelled after Will, who was steadily hopping off of rooftops. While she was able to keep up with him, it wasn't nearly as easy as he was making it look. It was like someone out of shape trying to keep up with an Olympic athlete. "You'll see when we get there!" Will yelled back to Greta seeming to find it amusing that she was having a little bit of trouble keeping up. The two siblings kept going until they eventually ran out of roofs as Will stopped. Greta seemed out of breath as she stopped behind him. "Can you...tell me where...we're going now?" Will smirked as he pointed to a wooded area.

"What? We going camping or something? Oh I get it. You were a hermit these past couple years." Greta taunted, causing Will to roll his eyes. "Keep looking." As Greta took another look, she finally saw what Will had been pointing to. Not the wooded area, but the huge mother of a mansion behind it. "That's almost as big as home..." Greta gasped as she looked at it harder. "It's bigger once you see the inside. Want to closer look?" Will asked as he took Greta's hand. "Is...is that yours?" Will merely smiled in reply. "Let's just say I've been in Gotham a bit longer than you thought I was."

By the time they got to the mansion, it was starting to get dark. When they opened the door, Will and Greta were greeted by a maid...in a rather revealing outfit. "Bonjour Monsieur Hayes. Mademoiselle." She said with a nod to Will and Greta. "Hello Anastasia, this is my sister, Greta. She'll be staying for dinner. Greta, Anastasia." Greta gave a nod which was returned. "Excellent Monsieur." With that she left as Greta was giving Will a look. "A French maid? Really?" Will let out a slight chuckle. "Maids actually. You think I'd clean this place myself? Remember when I annoyed the heck out of you by pretending to be stereotypical 'rich boy' in high school for everyone else?" Will asked, to which Greta growled. "And you would act normal when no one was around. Yeah. I take it you're still doing that?"

Will smirked. "Yeah. For a slightly different reason though. The maids clean all the rooms except for the library. No one but me is allowed in there." Will stated as he led Greta through the immense house which did indeed look bigger on the inside than it did on the outside. "I'm an exception?" Greta asked with a cute smile as Will let her into the room. "That you are." The library wasn't quite the size of a public one but still a pretty impressive size. "I'm thinking that all of this is where the $5 million went?" Will let out a little laugh. "Not as much of it as you think. I only got all this stuff the past year though. You wanted to know I've been doing the other 9 years?" Greta gave an impatient nod. Will did always have a thing for the theatric.

"I was getting trained by Lady Shiva." Will said bluntly as he sat down at one of the tables next to a pile of books. "Whose that?" Greta asked as she sat down across from him. "She's quite possibly the best martial artist on the planet. And definitely the deadliest assassin." Greta paused as she gave Will a look. "And...why were you getting trained by a killer?" She asked, warily. "When you walk into a room with Shiva...she just...has a presence. You feel death in her every breath. She can literally scare you witless, standing still. Any who know of her, fear her. And if she sets her eyes on you. You're dead." Greta nodded slowly. "Okay.. she's an uber badass...I get it...that didn't answer the question." Will smiled at the comment. "I want to manipulate fear like that. Make it so the criminal element as a whole wouldn't dare to defy me. I want to...make sure that what happened to the Waynes doesn't happen to anyone else. I...don't want anyone else to have to go through my pain."

Greta suddenly got up and wrapped her armed around her brother. "Billy. I know it hurts. But...what you're talking about. People fear Shiva because they know she'll kill them. You can't do that or you'll become the criminal element you want to punish." Will let out a long sigh. "You don't understand. A stupid kid with a gun can kill you. The fear Shiva gives you is...on another level completely. She doesn't have to kill you, it's just...hard to put into words." Will could feel Greta smirking. "She's scary." Greta said bluntly, to which Will made a face. "Okay, so you can easily put it into words...but it doesn't do it justice. I won't let myself cross that line." Greta then made a sour expression and Will knew what was coming. "You almost crossed that line today, Will."

"I know... I... I won't let that happen again. You can always help me...if you want." Greta raised one of her eyebrows as she gave Will a questioning look. "Help you? Help you what? Scare the bejeebus out of criminals?" Will smiled a little at Greta's phrasing. "And stop them, yes." Greta now seemed to be getting a little angry by the slight red tinge in her eyes. "Will, you better be telling me that you're going to join the police, because if you aren't..." Will not rolled his eyes. "Oh so it's fine for Superman to do it."

"You're not Superman! Besides, he works with the police, not against them." Despite Greta's anger, Will remained calm. "I'm not working against them. I'm dealing with the criminals that they can't handle. Or that they miss. The fact is I have the power, I have the ability to take care of things they can't and I just want to use that power to make Gotham livable again. Can you tell me that that's wrong?" Greta's pause as she tried to think of a retort seemed to be enough for Will as he smiled and stood up. Putting his hand on the bookshelf next to him, it turned out to be a door that moved to reveal a room. Though it was so dark you couldn't actually see in it. "If you've been paying attention to the news, you might have noticed that the crime rate is slowly dropping. My offer wasn't so much for you to help me start. I've already started. Watch the first step. It's a doozy." Will said as he took a step and seemed to fall into the abyss.