The ringing in his ears, incessant and nagging, pulled the masked man from his half-conscious state. He could not remember who or where he was. Gradually, fragments of his memory began returning to him.

His head pounded, his mouth felt parched from the stone dust he had inhaled, his left arm felt broken in spite of his protective suit, and for a moment, he believed he was blind. He went into a coughing fit, clearing his lungs.

"Mask’s shot, can’t see…" the man thought, in a brief moment of clarity. He removed his hat and mask. He looked around him, feeling disoriented.

His eyes settled on the ruins that surrounded him. Another memory, rather vague, entered his confused mind as he tried to make heads or tails of where he was, who he was and what he was doing in that place.

"Those ruins, this was a Temple...we were fighting in there, weren't we? Fighting off some female demon? I remember, I think, that we were being tossed around like rag dolls, the Temple was about to collapse...my partner pushed me out of harm's way ...my...partner?" The man thought, confusion making way to anxiety, shooting through him like a lightning bolt. His mind had finally made the connection.

"Shy? Shayera? Answer me Shy, where are you?" The man tried to scream, his voice sounding tired and crackling from the dust.

Dropping mask and hat to the ground, he surveyed his surroundings in a panic, the adrenaline surge enhancing his senses, detecting every detail.

"She was right behind me...I remember her shoving me outside and seeing her flying towards me before I passed out..." His confused mind tried to reason.

"Come on baby, don’t scare me like this!" The man said aloud, finally spotting her mace on the ground, next to a pile of rubble.

"Oh no, please God no!" The man screamed, "Shy!" and began digging through the rubble, ignoring his aching head and the pain in his left arm, throbbing from shoulder to wrist, grunting in pain each time he moved a particularly heavy piece of debris. He finally found her body, bruised, bleeding and dusty. One of her wings seemed broken.

"Oh baby, please, please don’t give up on me!" The man sobbed, pulling her body from the rubble, wincing. He picked her up with a grunt, cursing his throbbing left arm, and carried her a few metres away from the rubble, gently laying her down on her back. He then proceeded to give her CPR.

"Don’t you dare give up on me!" He grunted, giving her mouth-to-mouth, ignoring the pain in his left arm, the pounding in his head, her lack of response, her cold lips and the taste of her blood.

Panting and stricken with grief, he cradled her in his arms, unable to hold back his tears, watching them bead on her face, his left arm now too numb for him to notice. Another memory tid-bit came back to him. There was a chance, ever so slim, but a chance none the less.

"Athena? Athena we had a deal! You said you would return us to our world unhurt if we agreed to help you! We held our end of the deal now you hold yours! Shayera’s dead! My Angel’s gone! Bring her back Athena!" The man screamed, looking at the sky. No response from the goddess; other than the breeze blowing through the ruins, there was not a sound.

"Damn you Athena, damn you to Hades, Tartarus or whatever you immortals call hell! Is this the thanks we get for helping you?" The man screamed, furious.

The quiet surrounding them felt overwhelming. Athena was not responding. Desperate, the man pleaded.

"Take my life if you must Athena, just bring my Angel back!" He cried, looking at his dead lover.

He brought his forehead closer to hers, his tears now merging with the blood trickling from her mouth.

He noticed a bright light and looked up. From the sky, a blonde-haired Olympian descended. She looked at them with pity.

"Your love for her is so great you are willing to forfeit your own life to bring her back?" She asked.

The man looked up at her, nodding, tears still coursing down his cheeks. She smiled what she hoped would be a comforting smile.

"You do not recognise me and I am not surprised: so many spells and counter-spells were cast in this hateful conflict, nothing must be making much sense to you at this time. My Sisters and I have been scrambling for the past few hours, in an effort to locate the various members of your team," she said. "You were part of a special Justice League taskforce sent to help us. And you are quite right: none of you were supposed to die."

She took a few steps towards them. The man was still cradling his deceased lover in his arms; tenderly rocking her back and forth. Moved by that scene, the goddess wept with him.

"I am Aphrodite, goddess of love; in fact, it is your love for Shayera that has led me to you. Athena is going over the recent events with the Fates to figure out what went wrong. But in your sorrow, you have damned her Joey Luca." Aphrodite said with a hint of reproach in her voice, shaking her head as she wiped her own tears.

The sudden realisation of who he was, where he was and what he had just done hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Mighty Aphrodite, please, I was lashing out from the pain! I take it all back, my memory was shot, my left arm feels broken or sprained, and the woman I love is dead!" Joey said, panting, feeling his pulse through his temples from the headache.

"I know Joey Luca, I know. Which is why I asked my Sister Athena to quiet her wrath; she is after all the merciful one of the family. Once she figures out what went wrong, she will restore you both as you were, as agreed. In the meantime, I pledge to keep Shayera alive in the only way I can, until Athena has found the solution. You did say you were ready to forfeit your own life to save hers?" Aphrodite asked.

"In a heartbeat, Mighty Aphrodite, do what you must!" Joey replied.

Aphrodite smiled, "Very well then, but let me reassure you, for what I have in mind you will be sharing your life force, not forfeiting it. Literally, you shall be one. In the same way my son Hermaphroditus and his wife Salmacis were once joined, you shall be joined, until my Sister can reverse the harm done to you both." She said.

"I accept it; Mighty Aphrodite, but what about our friends?" Joey asked. "Were they hurt?" Joey asked.

Aphrodite smiled at Joey’s compassion.

"Like you, they experienced fuzzy memory, disorientation and a few bumps and bruises; Shayera is the only true casualty." She said, "Your friends are all accounted for and awaiting your return with much worry," Aphrodite said, "So we must make haste."

"Fire away, Mighty Aphrodite, please, save my Angel!" Joey said.

"So shall it be, from this moment on the power of your love will keep you both alive and well. You will share the greatest intimacy known to any mortal until we can repair the damage done. Until then, by the infinite power of your Love; you shall be one!" Aphrodite said, arms raised in prayer.

More blinding light filled the empty ruins. Feeling confused but happy, the new entity that once was Joey Luca and Shayera Hol looked back at the goddess of love, nodding. The entity followed Aphrodite back to her temple.

In a small island in the Caribbean, which had become their home, Bruce and Diana were out of bed early. In what had become a tradition dedicated to the memory of their fallen friends, they watched the sun rising over the ocean.

Diana leaned on Bruce, smiling.

"Gorgeous, isn’t it? Shayera would have loved it." She said.

Bruce sighed and nodded, putting his right arm around her shoulders. Immortality had its advantages: being Diana’s life mate certainly was one. Seeing so many of the people he had ever held dear pass away, while he lived on was a definite inconvenience.

"Are you still mad at Aphrodite?" Diana asked, looking at him.

"How can I my love?" He said, smiling, "She has given me the greatest gift of all: eternity with the woman I love!"

She smiled and kissed him.

"No, not mad at Aphrodite, I don’t think I ever was. It’s just that I miss them all so much … the Justice League goes on with different faces, and that’s all fine, but…" Bruce said, looking down.

"I know Bruce, I miss them too. Of our ‘old gang’, only Kal-el, J’onn, you and me live on. And Kal is still resentful that we hid your status as an Amazon initiate from him." Diana said.

Bruce rolled his eyes.

"Resentful? He over-reacted! He resigned as the leader of the new Justice League when he found out, giving them no explanation, and dropped out of circulation. And they say I’m stubborn!" He said, with his eyebrows arched. He shook his head and sighed.

"I don’t know Princess, maybe I’m allowing events out of my control to irritate me? First Clark pulls his prima donna exit and refuses to talk to us, then my search for Dick and Kory comes up blank when I was so sure I’d spotted them in Rio..." Bruce continued.

Diana hugged him tighter, leaning her head on his chest. He returned her hug, with resigned smile on his face.

"I know Princess, you warned me not to get my hopes up. I should have known better and listened to you. My own stubbornness kept me clinging to the notion that he had perhaps stumbled upon an abandoned Lazarus pit and was playing dead like me, that he and Kory were living happily ever after in perfect anonymity. After all, Kory has a very long life span, quite similar to yours." He said and shook his head again, letting out another sigh.

"Then there is the way Shayera and Joey were stolen from us, and from poor Rex who had to grow up without his mother. Yeah, that bothers me a lot. The shocked look on his face when he found out his mom was MIA…too much déjà vu for my own tastes." Bruce paused, looking bitter.

Diana looked up at him, never releasing her hug. Her blue eyes focused on his, looking sad. The bitter memories were affecting them both.

"The duty of advising Joey’s parents and brother after we’d emptied their quarters was no picnic either." Diana said. "We didn’t want to give them false hopes, but since we hadn’t found Joey or Shayera’s bodies, there was still a glimmer of hope they might return. The thought of those poor people desperately waiting… it breaks my heart to this day."

Bruce nodded, smiling in spite of himself.

"Remember our shock when Marie Luca told us she’d figured it all out a long time ago, that she had recognised her son in spite of the mask and knew Shayera and Sheryl were the same person?" Bruce asked.

Diana nodded, smiling but teary eyed.

"Even more surprising were her words in spite of her tears: ‘being Reverend Justice made Joseph happy. Shayera’s love made him happy, counting you all as his friends made him happy. We may not know if he’s alive or dead; but thanks to you, he was a hero. Thanks to you, he was able to make a difference. Thank you." Diana said.

Bruce wiped a tear from his eye. Diana smiled, leaning her head on his chest again.

"My resentment was never directed towards Aphrodite Princess; part of it was directed towards Athena who couldn't hold her end of the bargain;" Bruce said, "but that resentment was misplaced. Ares and Hephaestus are the ones I truly loathe, for starting that whole conflict by becoming disciples of Cronus."

"And the wait for an answer," Diana said, straightening up, her expression becoming stern. "Athena assured us she was looking for a solution, asking for our patience …yet here we are, so many decades later and still no word from Mount Olympus."

They kissed. It was a wonderful day and it would have been foolish to waste it feeling depressed. They released their hug and held hands, leisurely walking back towards their Cottage. Diana smiled.

"Then again, we must keep in mind that a minute in Olympus can equate several days here on earth. I can’t say I’m very happy with the silent treatment we’ve been getting from Mount Olympus, but we’re living proof of the great power the immortals possess. Don’t give up hope yet Bruce." Diana added, with an optimistic look on her face.

Bruce smiled whole-heartedly this time.

"We must keep faith, right my love?" Bruce said. "It’s the first time I hear you refer to the gods as ‘the immortals’!"

"Perhaps I’m beginning to see things your way?" She said, with a teasing grin. "Sometimes faith is all we have."

"Oh, we have much more than that Princess, we have each other!" Bruce said, looking in her eyes.

"You are much too charming for your own good Bruce Wayne, the crusty, brooding Dark Knight resurfaces less and less; I like that!" Diana said, smiling.

"The credit is all yours my love!" Bruce replied, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

They resumed their walk towards their Cottage, still holding hands. To their surprise, visitors were already there, waiting for them.

Diana dropped to one knee out of respect, grabbing onto Bruce’s arm. He comically pulled his arm back, rolling his eyes.

"If you don’t mind I’ll kneel on my own, Princess?" Bruce said, putting a knee down, and getting laughter from their visitors.

"Trying to avoid another bruised knee my child?" The first visitor said.

"Indeed your Grace, my beloved does not know her own strength!" Bruce said with a smirk.

Diana gave his arm a playful swat.

"You must be a telepath, Mighty Aphrodite; we were just talking about you!" Bruce said.

"Indeed, please rise my Children, I apologise for the long wait, but we finally come bearing news." Aphrodite said, looking remorseful.

Bruce and Diana rose, and looked at their visitors: Aphrodite accompanied by Athena and Artemis. Another visitor stood at the back of the living room, hidden by shadows.

"From your perspective, many decades have passed whilst I searched for the answer to a great riddle with the help of the Fates. You must bear in mind that from our perspective, barely a day has passed, we have worked as fast as we could." Athena said, with an apologetic look on her face. "That riddle was: what went wrong?"

"And what was the answer to that riddle?" Diana asked.

"Once more, our Rogue brothers Ares and Hephaestus are to blame. As you know, the conflict broke out when Ares’ minions helped Hephaestus escape from the pits of Tartarus. What no one knew in Olympus until now, was that Ares took advantage of the escape as a diversion." Athena said.

"During the general confusion, Ares entered Zeus' secret crypt. He had stolen a relic dating from the Titan Wars, the Cronus Dial." Artemis continued.

Diana’s expression darkened.

"Without said Dial, the Chronos spell cannot be cast; and the rightful timeline cannot be reset. When I was a child, my Mother would tell me frightening tales on how chaos would ensue if the Cronus Dial fell into the wrong hands." Diana said.

"Your mother was absolutely right". Athena said, nodding, "The disappearance of the Dial is the reason why we could not successfully return your friend Shayera to life: every time we attempted to reset my Protection Spell, the Cronus Dial would return her right back to the moment of her untimely demise."

"In a display of ultimate defiance, Ares blatantly refused to tell Zeus the location of the Dial. Zeus offered him leniency if the Dial was returned, but he actually preferred the pits of Tartarus and to keep chaos reigning. The Dial must be returned to Zeus if we are to restore the lives of your friends that were so wrongfully taken." Artemis said.

"How can we help?" Bruce asked, "I know I swore I’d never get involved in Mount Olympus affairs again, but I owe you, Aphrodite. If finding and returning that Dial means we get our friends back, and if it means we can prevent a wave of other unfortunate events…"

Bruce stopped in mid sentence to catch his breath, feeling all of a sudden light-headed.

"If we can prevent Rex from growing up bitter over the loss of his mother; and Cassandra from quitting the Gotham Knights out of grief, never to be seen again; or Tim from becoming reckless to the point of becoming the Joker’s guinea pig…" Bruce said, still panting.

"Or from becoming the new Joker himself in the future…" Diana added.

Bruce smiled at her.

"You can count us in." Bruce said, looking at Diana who nodded.

The both of them were itching for some action and more than happy to get involved.

The goddesses smiled.

"We have narrowed the search down to Ares’ temple. My…sons from Ares- Deimos and Phobos- are proving to be uncooperative as usual, and our stepsister Enyo will not even respond to our summons." Aphrodite said, looking embarrassed. Her indiscretions were legendary on Mount Olympus.

"While Zeus has ordered a truce amongst the gods, her sons are being stubbornly supportive of their father, fiercely guarding his temple with the help of some of Ares’ minions which have remained faithful to him. And our stepsister Enyo refuses to talk sense into them…" Athena said. "I can’t believe I was once goddess of war, fighting by Ares' side."

"A place our stepsister Enyo has gladly taken," Artemis said; "she is cruel, violent and wild. With Zeus’ forces decimated, the truce is maintained with great difficulty, taking up all of our father Zeus and our mother Hera's time and energy. You are quite right Bruce Wayne: Mount Olympus is in dire need of your help, once again."

"If restoring order on Mount Olympus means righting the wrongs done to Shayera, Joey, Rex, Cassandra, Tim and so many others effected … we’re in." Bruce said.

"Without hesitation," Diana added, "in fact, we might try and talk Kal-El and J’onn into joining us for a bit of extra reinforcements. They may not be as lithe and agile as they used to be, but they can still pull their weight." Diana grinned.

Artemis blushed slightly at the mention of J’onn’s name. She had respected his wish for privacy, respected his mourning of his Martian family and of his human companion. However, deep inside she had hoped he would someday turn to her. She could not help feeling quite fond of him.

"Convincing our Kryptonian friend might be rather challenging though." Bruce said, with his eyebrows arched.

Diana nodded. "True, Kal-El has been resentful of Bruce and me since he discovered our little secret." She said.

"This is where I come in." The stranger said from the shadows. That voice, unusual and eerie, sounded like a man and a woman trying to speak over each other. The stranger stepped into the light.

Bruce and Diana stared in shock and disbelief.

Diana broke the awkward silence.

"Rex?" She said.

"Try again!" The stranger said, with a pursed-lipped smirk oddly reminiscent of their friend Shayera. Bearing many physical similarities to Rex – a hybrid Thanagarian humanoid, he or she was shorter and looked different, yet so familiar.

"Oh my, déjà vu all over again," Bruce said, piecing the puzzle together, gape-mouthed.

The stranger smiled.

Diana looked at Bruce, still in shock.

"This was the only way to preserve her essence alive – merge her to the man she loves until we can repair the damage done." Aphrodite said.

"An unusual sensation to say the least, we can boast being the most intimate couple in human or Thanagarian history!" the merged form of Joey and Shayera said.

Still dumbfounded, Bruce and Diana looked at the entity that used to be Joey and Shayera in disbelief. After a few moments of awkward silence, Diana spoke.

"Shall we call you Joeyra then?" Diana asked, shaking her head.

"Beats being called hey you I guess!" the newly named Joeyra said, pursed-lipped smirk turning into a grin. "We’ll help you convince Superman. We were also a bit hurt from being kept out of the loop regarding your secret …but we understand what dire circumstances could have arisen if Bruce's longevity had been exposed. If we were able to understand, so must he. Forgiveness is good for the soul."

Bruce had to smile at the vintage Reverend Justice short sermon.

"We shall leave you at it then," Athena said. "Zeus and Hera require our immediate assistance. Contact us as soon as you arrive in Olympus, once you are ready and your team is complete. No mistakes or accidents this time, you have my word. You are all returning home safe and sound."

The three sisters disappeared in a bright flash of light.

Bruce looked at Joeyra and Diana. "Before we gather our team, there’s some gear I’ll need from the Bat-Cave." He said.

"Bruce Wayne calling Wilfred, come in?" Bruce said, pinching his right ear lobe, as Joeyra cast him a curious glance.

"The newest version of the Communicators: an implant in the ear lobe, we still have connections within the League you see." Diana said.

Joeyra nodded.

"And FYI, Terry is the new Batman, one who actually decided to get married," Diana added, casting a teasing look at Bruce, "and the one posing as Bruce; well...you'll see for yourself when we get there!"

After a pause, Wilfred replied. "My apologies for the delay Sir, I was assisting Mrs Dana with dinner, you see, your stand-in seems to be somewhat overplaying your part." Wilfred said.

Bruce chuckled. "So much the better Wilfred, while I’m sure Terry and Dana could be trusted with our little secret, the less people know the better. I need some gear from the Bat-Cave, is the coast clear?" Bruce asked.

"Mrs Dana is eating dinner and will be taking a relaxing bath afterwards. Master Terry is out on patrol." Wilfred said.

"Good, tell our old friend he might want to keep Dana distracted while we get our gear. Oh, and please disarm the Bat-Cave’s security system so we don’t get an unscheduled visit from Terry." Bruce said. "Diana’s Invisible Jet should be there within an hour; we’ll be there with a visitor. Try to see to it we’re not interrupted."

"I shall try my best Sir. My power cells still need to be overhauled, but I should have enough power left for a few hours before my next recharge cycle. If I may Sir, it will be nice to have you and Miss Diana at Wayne Manor again; your stand-in may be close, but he could never replace you." Wilfred said.

Bruce chuckled, as he terminated the communication. "Well Princess, time to dust off your Invisible Jet!" He said.

"It will be my pleasure!" She said, smiling. They proceeded to the basement. In the basement, Bruce opened a door, which led to another staircase. This one led to a cave, converted into a hangar for Diana’s Invisible Jet. Joeyra laughed to tears.

"Some things will never change; trust Bruce to have a smaller Bat-Cave on an island in the Caribbean!" Joeyra said.

Bruce and Diana chuckled.

"This one isn’t as well equipped," Bruce said. "This is why we need to drop by my old stomping grounds in Gotham City."

They boarded the invisible Jet.

"Buckle up; the take-off might be a bit bumpy." Diana said.

Bruce and Joeyra complied. The Invisible Jet hovered towards the exit of the cave – a natural waterfall on the other side of the island. Diana checked her onboard sensors.

"Coast is clear, hang onto your hats!" She said. In a sudden forward lurch that made Bruce and Joeyra's heads hit the back of their seats, the Invisible Jet took off, flying through the waterfall, and heading to Gotham City.

"What gear do you need to grab my love?" Diana asked.

"I won't be of much use on this mission as Bruce Wayne, and Terry's likely to notice if one of the Batsuits went missing. The Exosuit would be perfect as it would enhance my physical strength by a factor of 100, but that would also be too noticeable if it went missing. There is, however, one prototype Terry isn't aware of." Bruce said, turning to Joeyra.

"That prototype was meant for you – or at the very least for the part of you that is Joey Luca – one of the first 'strength enhancing' suits from before we had that technology refined." Bruce said. "Alfred was about to alter it to your measurements, but then Shayera and you went MIA."

"It would seem we have missed out on a lot...it felt like one day in Olympus, but so many years have passed...my son has grown into a bitter man." The part of Joeyra that was Shayera said, looking hurt.

"All isn't lost Joeyra," Diana said, "the goddesses have promised to restore you into Shayera and Joey, and repair all of the harm done."

Joeyra nodded. "Tell us more about the new prototype suit? Once we're restored we want to know what to look forward to!" Joeyra said.

"The suit features a nano-technology based strength enhancement apparatus. It is the brainchild of Ray Palmer, with an assist from J'onn and yours truly. Not as advanced as Terry's current Batsuit – which enhances the wearer's physical strength by a factor of ten, but more advanced than the suit you wore last.

Your prototype suit can achieve a strength enhancement to a factor of five, more than sufficient for this mission. We reinforced your n’th metal belt, same lead-lined compartment, but with titanium reinforcements and a few secret-compartments similar to the Bat-utility belt.

The rest of the suit – trench coat, boots, gloves, hat, mask, quarter staff, stunners, handcuffs; remained pretty much the same. I did add some smoke grenades and flash grenades to your arsenal though." Bruce said, with a smirk.

"Sounds pretty amazing," Joeyra said, "is the suit still bullet-proof?"

"It certainly is, even more so than before – lesser chance of bruised ribs or shoulder blades. Since Terry is assuming the Batman identity these days, would you mind if I were Reverend Justice for this mission, with Diana being the Angel? At this stage the suit is still made to my measurements anyway." Bruce said.

"We would be honoured to have the great Bruce Wayne don the trench coat, and Diana wielding the Angel’s mace!" Joeyra said, smiling.

"Do you have another outfit for me then Bruce?" Diana asked, grinning.

"As a matter of fact I do," Bruce said, "after Shy and Joey were reported MIA we had to clear their quarters, remember? I have one of the old Hawkgirl suits in the Bat-Cave… you’re a bit taller than her, but I think we can figure something out."

"This Angel won't have any wings though." Diana said.

"No matter, you can still fly, wings or not." Joeyra said, smiling. "I'll lend you my mace; Athena was nice enough to recuperate it for me. I may need to borrow a few Thanagarian artefacts from your Hall of Trophies though Bruce, another helmet, a shield and a battleaxe or battle hammer if you have one. For the duration of the mission, I guess you can call me... Knight Hawk."

Bruce and Diana smiled and nodded.

The Invisible Jet was nearing Wayne Manor.

"Get ready; we'll have a very short window of opportunity to make it to the Bat-Cave undetected. Wilfred should have cleared the way, but remember Murphy's Law." Bruce said.

Inside Wayne Manor, Dana McGinnis was relaxing, taking a bath. The man she believed to be Bruce Wayne could be quite a handful. He was a sweet man inside; she was sure of that, but so gruff and cold at times … and so tough. In spite of a second heart attack and a kidney transplant, he was still hanging onto his nineties.

She worried about him though; he had become a father figure to Terry. And no matter how many times they argued, it was plain to see they deeply cared about each other. When Terry was out on patrol or on mission with the Justice League, the man she believed to be Bruce Wayne could not keep still, often risking another heart attack.

"I knew what I was getting myself into when Terry proposed to me." She thought, with her eyes closed. "I love Terry with all my heart. He’s a big boy and can handle himself quite well …Bruce was a good teacher. It doesn’t mean I don’t worry though, about the both of them. Bruce worries too…that’s why he can be so stubborn in watching Terry’s back from the Bat-Cave."

Meanwhile, in the Bat-Cave, the real Bruce, Diana and Joeyra were getting ready. Joeyra cast Bruce an appraising glance as he wore the enhanced Reverend Justice suit.

"You wear it well my friend," Joeyra said, "You don’t seem very comfortable though!"

"I’ll get used to it," Bruce said, smirking. "Nearly 30 years of wearing the Batsuit kind of gets engraved…not wearing a cape feels a bit naked to me!"

"Shayera’s Hawkgirl suit fits me better than anticipated," Diana said, slipping on the Thanagarian Helmet.

"Here Di," Joeyra said, handing her the mace, "The crowning touch; use it wisely!"

"Di? In the years I’ve known you, you’ve never called me Di!" Diana said, grinning.

"We didn’t mean to offend," Joeyra said, "we’ve been friends for so long and all…"

"No offence taken, in fact, I like it, I’ve called Shayera Shy and Joseph Joey for so long…you just took me by surprise is all!" Diana said, smiling.

"Time to get you outfitted Joeyra." Bruce said. "Hopefully Wilfred didn’t forget to disable the hall of trophies’ silent alarm along with the Bat-Cave’s security."

Bruce turned on the lights to the hall of trophies…and the silent alarm went off, triggering the remote monitor on the modern Batman’s utility belt.

"Damn, right in the middle of a stakeout…I gotta be discreet here…" Batman thought.

In a low voice, he activated his communicator.

"Batman to HQ, come in? The silent alarm’s been triggered, we have a security breach in the Bat-Cave, do you copy?" He said.

"I got it Terry, probably just a rodent." The voice of the man Terry believed to be Bruce Wayne responded. "I’ll check it out."

"Bruce, don’t be stubborn," Batman said, "you’re in no condition to handle an intruder, and we can’t assume that’s only a racoon triggering the silent alarm!"

"Neither is your wife, Terry! Sending her to the Bat-Cave to investigate that alarm could endanger her, have you ever thought of that? Wilfred’s still overdue to have his power cells replaced; you keep postponing that, so he’s recharging right now. I’m the only logical choice to investigate that alarm." Bruce said.

"Don’t underestimate Dana Bruce, she has an Ace up her sleeve…but you’re right, I’d never forgive myself if she got hurt. I’m on my way back. The Bat-Cave’s my responsibility now." Batman said.

"Terry, don’t be a fool! You’ve been investigating that drug smuggling ring for six weeks and you’re about to bust that case wide open!" Bruce said. "I’m not completely useless. If we do have an intruder in the Bat-Cave I’ll have it flooded with sleeping Gas before the intruder realises what hit him. He’ll be ready for the picking by the time you come back, after you’ve completed your bust."

Batman let out a frustrated sigh. "Okay, just promise me you won’t pull any Bat stunts? You might find this hard to believe, but I do care for you old man, so does my wife!" He said.

"Just get the job done sonny boy, let the old geezer worry about the house!" Bruce said, "Wayne Manor out".

"Please be okay Bruce…I’m still a bit overwhelmed by that whole concept of Cadmus injecting your DNA in my Dad's bloodstream under the disguise of a flu shot …and that I in fact have two fathers. I already had one of my Dads killed; I’d really hate to have my remaining Dad die at the hands of an intruder." Batman thought, returning his focus to the stakeout.

Back in Wayne Manor, the man posing as Bruce Wayne sighed. "We had worried something like this might happen sooner or later. Oh well, I must keep up appearances." He thought, getting out of bed, making sure Dana was not around to see him moving with such ease.

He reached for his wheelchair and sat down, wheeling himself towards the door. He headed towards the wheelchair access elevator, fully expecting to be caught. Dana stepped out of the bathroom dressed in a bathrobe and with a towel wrapped in a turban around her head.

"And where do you think you’re going Mr Wayne?" She said.

Keeping a cool demeanour, he replied, "The silent alarm’s been triggered from the Bat-Cave’s hall of trophies. Since the main alarm was never tripped, we’re likely dealing with a racoon or a fox." He said.

"Or we might have an actual intruder. Terry would never forgive me if you were injured Bruce, please let me handle this. I know this lion can still roar but…" Dana said, looking at him with concern.

"And I would never forgive myself if you were hurt. This is a dangerous lifestyle Dana, I respect your decision to get married to Terry, in fact I applaud it; I’m happy it’s actually working out for you two. I want to make sure it goes on working out." Bruce said.

Dana smiled. "That’s very sweet Bruce, but just humour me, okay? Wait for me here, I’ll be quick." She said, heading towards the Master Bedroom.

"Now what is she up to? I know she’s quite the accomplished Martial Artist, but she lacks the field training to handle criminals …and besides, I’m supposed to keep her distracted from the Bat-Cave to allow our friends to gather their equipment…still, she’s got me curious now!" Bruce’s stand-in thought.

When she came out of the bedroom, he could only stare back at her gape-mouthed. She struck a pose, smirking.

"Not bad huh? Terry recuperated Cassandra Cain’s old Batgirl suit and integrated the strength enhancing nano-technology that makes his Batsuit tick. He figured that one of these days I might need protection he can’t provide, so he started sparring with me, grooming me into the next Batgirl. I’m no seasoned Justice Leaguer, and the Gotham Knights are a thing of the past, but like this, at least I feel I can hold my own in a fight." Dana said, her voice trailing off.

It had suddenly dawned on her she might have upset Bruce by bringing back more memories from his past. To her relief, he chuckled.

"And now, Batgirl is reborn! Do me a favour Dana? Wheel me to the Bat-Cave and make an old man feel useful again? I’m sure that if I watch your back and you watch mine, nothing bad will happen to us!" He said, smiling.

She smiled and kissed his forehead. It was not often that crusty old Bruce Wayne opened up to her like this.

"It would be my pleasure, honestly, I often feel pretty helpless and useless myself when Terry’s out on mission … if we can co-operate like this and both feel useful, I’m all for it!" She said, stepping behind the wheelchair, pushing him towards the elevator.

"This is good. This way I can lead her on a wild goose chase while our friends gather their gear and head off on their mission." He thought.

In the Bat-Cave, Joeyra was slowly turning into Knight Hawk.

"You’re quite the pack-rat Bruce; you’ve kept enough artefacts from the failed Thanagarian invasion for a full uniform!" Joeyra said, grinning.

"They were meant as trophies…but I had a hunch they could be of use somewhere in the future, case in point." Bruce said, smirking, still getting used to the Reverend Justice suit.

The old Reverend Justice and Hawkgirl uniforms Joey and Shayera were wearing when they were merged had fused into an odd blend of black, silver, yellow and green Kevlar reinforced spandex, with an opening at the shoulder blades to accommodate the wings.

With the gold coloured Thanagarian soldier’s helmet, shield and mace, Knight Hawk was ready for action.

"Not the mace we used to wield as Shayera Hol, but it will do nicely." Joeyra said, with a satisfied smile.

"I can give you your old one back if you wish, I’m not fussy!" Diana said, wearing the Hawkgirl suit.

"Please Di, you’re the Angel on this mission, and that mace is the one Hawkgirl used when she was the Preacher’s Angel; it’s only fitting!" Joeyra said.

Diana snickered, still getting accustomed to be called "Di".

"Oh boy, I’m getting a telepathic message from my stand-in, looks like the wild goose chase isn’t going as planned and that…" Bruce never finished his sentence.

"Hold it right there!" a female voice said, with authority. "Turn around slowly and keep your hands where I can see them, no funny stuff, or I’ll have the Bat-Cave flooded with sleeping Gas so fast you won't know what hit you!"

Bruce, Diana and Joeyra turned slowly, hands in the air. Dressed in a Batgirl suit similar to the one Cassandra used to wear, a young woman stood a few metres in front of the exit leading to Wayne Manor. She held a remote control in her right hand and a gas mask in her left.

Bruce had to smirk – Dana had taken the precaution to dress up as Batgirl to investigate the security breach, protecting her identity, smart, very smart. His stand-in was hiding in the shadows of the exit to Wayne Manor – she also wanted to protect him at all cost. Bruce felt overwhelmed with pride.

"Now, nice and slow, helmets off and mask and hat off. I don’t know what kind of sick people you are; grave-robbing the Bat-Cave, but it won’t go unpunished." The woman dressed as Batgirl said.

Joeyra frowned under his helmet. "Little sister?" The Joey Luca half asked, reaching for his helmet.

"Try again!" Diana said, smirking, removing her helmet.

"She is Dana Tan-McGinnis," Bruce said, removing his hat, "Loving wife of Terry McGinnis. Terry McGinnis is Bruce Wayne’s genetically engineered offspring, and the current Batman."

"How? How on earth could you know this?" She said.

Bruce sighed, reaching for his mask.

"You wouldn’t believe me if I told you how I know all of this. We’re here on official business Dana. We do not wish to hurt anyone, just get some gear so we can complete a mission of dire importance, and be on our way. Are you sure you want me to take this mask off?" Bruce said.

"Humour me," she replied, no longer raising her voice. "You seem to have me at a disadvantage, you know quite a lot about me and my husband, but I haven’t a clue of who…you…are… Wonder Woman?" Dana finally recognised the woman in the old Hawkgirl suit as she had removed her helmet.

"And you, I’ve met Rex Stewart many times, he’s taller and has shorter hair…yet you look so much like him…what’s going on here?" Dana said; looking at Joeyra, feeling flustered.

Seeing Dana’s shaking hand holding the sleeping gas remote control, Bruce finally removed his mask. "I’ll just have to take a leap of faith … Dana and Terry can be trusted, right?" he thought.

"It’s me Dana." Bruce said.

The sight of that man without his mask knocked the wind out of her. Dana no longer felt as self-assured as the Batgirl suit made her look. She felt dizzy, and her ears were ringing, the gas mask and remote control slipped out of her hands and hit the ground without her realising it.

"This can’t be, you’re 96 years old and wheelchair-bound, you had two heart attacks and a kidney transplant, y-you’re standing right there by the exit door! You…" Dana said, feeling her knees buckle under her.

Diana was by her side in a leap, putting an arm around her. "Be careful my Sister, come, you must sit." She said, carrying Dana to the Bat-Computer’s chair.

"It would seem that, as you say on earth the jig is up, and that regardless of the fact we are pressed for time, Dana and Terry deserve an explanation." Bruce’s stand-in said, joining them, floating from his wheelchair to the Bat-Computer and morphing back into his true form.

"M-Martian Manhunter? You were pretending to be Bruce?" Dana said, pulling her Batgirl mask back.

"I knew it!" Joeyra said, "Happy to see you again old friend!"

"And I you, the both of you, so that’s what you’ve been up to for the past decades, becoming the most highly evolved couple on earth? I detect the handiwork of our Olympian friends." J’onn said, with a subtle smile on his lips.

Dana stared back at them looking quite pale.

"Explanations, please?" She said.

Joeyra smiled. "Allow me, Aphrodite regaled me with that story, and I like her version! The story begins a good 50 years ago I’d say, give or take a year. The Amazon Princess, Wonder Woman and the Dark Knight, Batman, had become mutually attracted to each other.

At first, they tried to ignore their feelings, but Aphrodite’s grip grew increasingly stronger, drawing them together. Quite naturally, they became secret lovers." Joeyra said.

"Trust Aphrodite to take credit for that!" Diana said, smiling at Bruce. They kissed.

Joeyra continued. "From secret lovers, they soon realised they wished for a more ‘normal’ relationship, but Batman’s own mortality became a source of worry to him. He feared to lose her to a younger man, and did not wish for her to care for an ‘ageing old relic’? Weren’t those your own words Bruce?"

Bruce nodded sheepishly.

"So out of pride, he tried to break up with her, creating much tension within the Justice League’s founding members. However, in her infinite wisdom, Aphrodite ‘influenced’ his butler Alfred and his adoptive son Dick Grayson to intercede, along with their old friend Kal-El –Superman-; to mend things between them, for you see, Bruce Wayne was worthy, truly worthy of receiving the gift of Aphrodite." Joeyra said.

Diana nodded with a smile and continued. "I had already lost one lover to the test of time; due to my own foolishness. We are talking of my first coming to the world of men, during the Second World War. I did not wish to lose Bruce in the same way. After some convincing, I performed an ancient and very secret Amazon ceremony; I initiated Bruce, made him into my life mate."

"That initiation stopped your ageing?" Dana asked.

Bruce nodded.

"I believe I was the only one who knew their secret from the get-go – being a telepath gave me this advantage." J’onn said.

"We had originally tried to keep our relationship among founding members only, but soon enough, through the rumour mill, the entire Justice League knew, which was fine. I confess drawing great pride from being known as the Amazon Princess' chosen one!" Bruce said, smiling at Diana. They kissed again, Joeyra rolling his eyes.

"You see, once I found out Amanda Waller got hold of my DNA to perpetuate Batman for future generations, I knew the day would come where my offspring would come seeking me. Agreed, Dr. Waller got my DNA before the love of my life initiated me." Bruce said, giving Diana a loving look.

"So when the day came and Terry first came to me, it was indeed me greeting him, under a lot of prosthetic makeup. I even simulated that first heart attack to make things look as realistic as possible." Bruce concluded.

"But why all of that masquerade, why all the secrecy?" Dana asked.

"Because, my Sister, human nature is quite predictable: should it be known that the secret to eternal youth lies with the love of an Amazon, the consequences could be catastrophic. Imagine my Sister, a mad hunt to discover said secret.

Imagine evil men trying to seduce an Amazon for a chance at eternal youth. Worse yet, imagine companies such as the now defunct STARLABS, Lexcorp or Cadmus proceeding with a black ops invasion of Themyscira to try to discover that secret, starting an international incident between Themyscira and the world of men? " Diana said.

Dana nodded. "I think I understand." She said.

"So do I, But I’d really like to know, when exactly did Martian Manhunter replace you Bruce?" another voice asked, startling them.

Terry was back from mission and had overheard most of the conversation. He seemed rather upset.

"Just as well then, it avoids us repeating the explanation." Bruce said, meeting Terry’s stare.

Terry pulled his mask back; his expression seemed more hurt than angry.

"Well? I can understand why we were kept in the dark, and why I was led to believe you had a weak heart. And to a certain extent, I can also understand why I had to submit my own DNA to clone a new kidney for you –which you never got I gather – to make the masquerade complete. So I'd really like to know; when did J’onn J’onz assume your role?" Terry said, dryly.

"It was in the midst of your second year as the new Batman." J’onn said. "It was becoming increasingly difficult for Bruce to ‘play the old man’ for you. It was getting to the point where he was spreading himself thin balancing his relationship to Diana with mentoring you. When it became clear to me Superman had the new Justice League well in hand, and since I was in the loop with Bruce and Diana; I volunteered my services to help. Your cloned kidney went to a diabetes patient who happened to be a genetic match. You saved a life Terry."

Terry looked down and sighed. He then looked up at Dana, who was dressed in her Batgirl suit, and his expression softened

"Terry, I don’t blame you for being upset," Bruce said, "I knew I should have trusted you and let you in on our secret sooner, but the risk..."

Terry nodded. "The damned human error risk; yes, I know Bruce. A tongue slip at the wrong time could have led to an international incident, and I was hardly the most disciplined pupil. I guess I should be flattered I’m finally included in the loop, but you'll have to bear with me. That's quite a load for me to process, and part of me can't help feeling cheated from being deceived for so many years." Terry said, shrugging.

"Well, you’re taking it much better than Kal-El did…Superman. He's been cold-shouldering us ever since he found out. He just exiled himself to his Fortress of Solitude, resenting Bruce and me for our immortality." Diana said.

"You mean…that’s why Superman resigned from the League in a huff without so much as an explanation? Touchy!" Terry said, eyebrows arched.

"I’m afraid so," Bruce said, "I have a theory…Clark will never admit to it, but I can bet you he expected to pursue a relationship with Diana once both Lois and me had passed on. He didn’t realise there is an initiation ritual involved that makes the initiate age slower."

Diana nodded; it made perfect sense. "Kal has always been like a brother to me, I don’t think I could have fallen in love with him that way, even if you had passed away Bruce." Diana said. "He really needs to move on…"

"He's on the verge of changing his tune," J'onn said, "he mourns Lois and misses her dearly. Seeing his chance at solace with you slip away angered him. Staying upset at you helped him forget the pain, but deep inside I can sense he misses you both dearly. You're like the brother he never had Bruce. And he always loved Diana like a sister, even if he would have considered something more."

Bruce nodded pensively and turned his attention back to Terry.

"Terry, you have Gotham City well in hand. You have a wonderful woman watching your back and if you ever get around to replacing Wilfred's power cells; you also have wonderful house help and the best home security ever." Bruce said. "You won't mind if J'onn joins us on this mission?"

"Don't you need us to tag along too Bruce?" Terry asked.

"I appreciate the offer Terry, but Gotham City and the new Justice League need you right here." Bruce said.

"If Terry can spare me, I shall gladly join your team Bruce." J'onn said.

"I think we can manage!" Terry said, casting Dana a loving look.

"I wish there was more time for us to sit and talk, believe me when I say this. But a terrible wrong occurred during a secret mission, which happened a long time ago. We need to head to Olympus and right that wrong." Bruce said, smiling at Terry and Dana. "Take good care of each other."

He put the Reverend Justice mask and hat back on, while Diana and Joeyra put their respective helmets back on. Curious, J’onn contacted Joeyra telepathically.

"Shayera, Joey, how are you both holding up in there?" He asked.

"Surprisingly good all things considered," Shayera’s half answered. "My Joey sacrificed his own individuality for me. We share the greatest intimacy ever. What greatest proof of love do I need?"

"You lost your life to save mine Angel, I remember that part clearly. My individuality is a small sacrifice to get you back. Though I confess I can’t wait for the Dial to be returned to Zeus …so I can hold you in my arms again! Sharing the same body doesn’t quite cut it!" Joey’s half replied.

"You’re sweet Joey! To be honest, I can't wait either; I miss your touch Preacher!" Shayera's half replied to Joey's half.

J’onn smiled. From the astral plane, he could see Joey and Shayera as they were before they had gone MIA and their bodies became merged: happy, flirty, playful, and very much in love.

"Have courage my friends, Aphrodite herself has great faith in you!" J’onn said.

Joeyra smiled back.

"If you’re both quite done with your little telepathic powwow, we should head towards Diana’s invisible jet. There’s one stop we need to make at the North Pole before we can all head to Mount Olympus." Bruce said, smirking.

Diana snickered as J'onn and Joeyra cast Bruce an annoyed look. They exchanged their farewells with Terry and Dana and left the Bat Cave.

"Can you believe what just happened tonight Terry?" Dana asked.

"It all feels unreal to me too…but unless we’re both having the same dream, it happened. Whatever their mission is, and whoever their Thanagarian friend is, I wish them luck." Terry said, putting an arm around Dana’s back.

They kissed, and walked back upstairs to Wayne Manor.

Dressed in a Kryptonian-style tunic his adoptive mother had made for him as a gift, and feeling nostalgic, Kal-El, the one known to the world as Superman, was stuck in yesteryear, viewing holographic crystals.

"Good Lord I miss them all so much, Mom, Dad, Lois, Jimmy; the old gang…even Diana and Bruce. In spite of their deception I miss them too." He thought.

"Deception, Clark? Do you really believe they meant to deceive you?" A voice clamoured, a voice sounding so much like that of Martha Kent.

He looked at her holographic representation, feeling like a teen again. The adaptive technology of the crystals gathered and stored personality traits, memories and idiosyncrasies of the people they represented. In many cases the holographic renditions could be quite true to form.

Kal-El was having more and more such conversations with the Kryptonian crystals’ A.I. He really hated when the A.I. became preachy with him.

"They should have trusted me Mom. We were like family, they confided in J’onn but not in me. I was Bruce’s friend long before there was a Justice League, before J’onn even landed on earth. Diana was like a sister to me. That’s no way to treat a friend Mom." Kal-El replied.

"Has it never occurred to you that J’onn knew because Bruce and Diana couldn’t hide their secret from a telepath?" This time, the voice of Jonathan Kent said. "If you hadn’t reacted like an immature teen when Bruce and Diana finally tried to confide in you and if you had actually listened to them, you would understand why they had to keep Bruce’s enhanced life span a secret even from you."

He turned to Jonathan Kent’s holographic image, feeling upset. He hated getting the fatherly lectures as if he were still a child, especially when it came from an Artificial Intelligence rendition of his father.

He knew deep within that he had overreacted when Bruce and Diana had finally decided to open up to him, and regretted stepping down as leader of the new Justice League. In fact, he could not help feeling like the spoiled child, who had taken his ball and goes home after a spat with his friends.

"What’s really eating you Clark?" This time, the voice of Lois said. "Mourning can be a real bitch, but we all have to deal with it sooner or later. Face it SmallVille, you’re using Bruce and Diana to forget the pain. They’re your excuse to keep the rest of the world out. Keep the world from knowing that the great Superman has another weakness other than kryptonite: he can love, he can mourn, and he can hurt."

He turned his gaze to Lois’ holographic image, on the verge of tears. He wished he could make the pain go away, wished he could bring her back, wanted so badly for things to return to the way they were no matter how unrealistic it was.

"Lois, I…I…I’d give up my powers to have you back!" He said, sobbing.

"And there we are: indeed the great Superman can hurt, badly enough to throw himself in the arms of the one woman he believes could make his heart feel safe. In spite of the fact that she has been a sisterly figure to him for all of those years and in spite of the fact that attempting a romance with her might ruin everything. Is that about right Kal?" The voice of Wonder Woman interjected.

She had hit a nerve. He cast an angry glare at her holographic image.

"That’s quite enough!" he yelled, powering off the holographic crystals, before the A.I. renditions of Bruce, J’onn, Wally, John or Shayera could also add their two-cents’ worth.

He stormed out of the Fortress of Solitude, needing some air. "If it had any effect on me I’d go for a few beers…or for something stronger." He thought, grinding his teeth, gaining altitude in the cold Arctic air, his tunic flapping in the wind.

He looked at the sun, that yellow sun that had granted him his super powers as well as an inhumanly long life span. While he looked older, he definitely did not look his age. A few more wrinkles, yes, and a touch of grey around the temples…but he looked like a 50 year-old man, not like a man well in his nineties.

"My blessing, my curse…" he began, but then shook his head in a frustrated sigh. The conversation with the A.I. renditions of those people near and dear to him still echoed in his head.

"When did I start feeling sorry for myself like this? Who am I kidding, I know they’re right." He said aloud, knowing no one could hear him. That admission overwhelmed him with a sense of relief and sadness, all at once.

"I’ve allowed my grief and anger alienate the few remaining friends I have that are still alive, and I walked away from my responsibilities because of it. Good Lord, what a fool I’ve been." He mumbled, a tear rolling down his cheek. "And what I’d give for a second chance…"

A familiar noise got the attention of his Super hearing. He turned his head and switched to infrared vision. He smiled.

"Mom and Dad always told me never to underestimate the power of prayer! It seems like this prayer’s being answered!" He said, recognising his old friend Diana’s Invisible Jet nearing. "Not so invisible from my infrared vision. I’m getting my second chance, Praise the Lord!"

He flew back to his Fortress of Solitude to greet them; he had a hunch Diana would not be coming on her own.

From inside the Invisible Jet, Diana was preparing for touchdown.

"Are you sensing anything from Kal yet J'onn?" she asked.

"Indeed I do. I mentioned to you that he was about to change his tune; I am sensing our Kryptonian friend has had an epiphany. The solitude has become too much for him to bear. He misses his friends too much." J'onn said.

"Imagine his surprise when he sees us, and realises he has two more friends still alive...and needing his help!" Joeyra said.

Diana landed the Invisible jet.

In spite of J’onn’s update, they were not prepared for the greeting they were about to get.

"Welcome Justice Leaguers, welcome to my Fortress! There must be a higher power at work, I was just thinking about you!" Kal-El said, now dressed in his Superman suit, with a cordial smile on his face.

"J’onn told us you were having a change of heart, but I must admit I wasn’t expecting this!" Bruce said.

"Bruce? Is that you under that RJ suit?" Kal-El said, giving his old friend a hug, minding his super strength.

Bruce gave him a puzzled look.

"The look on your face is priceless Bruce, I wish I had a camera!" Kal-El said, chuckling.

"And Diana, dressed in Shayera’s old Hawkgirl suit, what’s up with that?" He continued, now giving Diana a hug.

"J’onn, my Martian brother!" he said, giving him a hug too.

"And you…age must be catching up with me, I don’t think I recognise you!" he said, looking at Joeyra.

"We are the combined life forces of Shayera Hol and Joey Luca. We have returned to this world from Mount Olympus, sent by the immortals. Diana has renamed us Joeyra." Joeyra said, smirking.

Kal-El’s eyes bulged; he looked at Joeyra gape-mouthed, recognising his two missing friends in the one person standing before him. Minding his super strength, he also gave Joeyra a hug.

"Shayera, Joey! The Olympian gods sure took their own sweet time!" He said, eyebrows arched.

"Don’t forget Kal, a minute on Olympus can equate several days to the world of men. And one day can equate several decades. To our friend Joeyra, only one day has passed since Shy was merged to Joey." Diana said.

Kal-El shook his head, feeling overwhelmed.

"My friends, before we go any further, allow me to apologise. I have behaved like a child: resentful, jealous and spiteful. I should have been happy for you, but anger made me deaf to your explanations. I beg your forgiveness. When this mission is over and done, all I can do is hope and pray that our memories aren’t erased again, so I don’t repeat the same mistakes." Kal-El said.

"As if you never had to put up with my own mood swings!" Bruce said with a smirk. Diana, J’onn and Joeyra chuckled.

"You were always there for me Clark, no matter what. We may have exchanged harsh words trough the years, but I always knew I could depend on you. I’m just happy we’re on talking terms again!" Bruce concluded.

"That goes for all of us Kal, your reaction when you found out the relationship between Bruce and I was… well, permanent, left us all feeling like we had lost a brother. And the Justice League needs you at its helm." Diana said. "In fact, we need your help now."

Kal-El nodded, smiling. The answer to his prayers: he had made up with his friends, and they still needed him, as much as he needed them.

"The just of it all is this Clark," Bruce said, "that mission on Mount Olympus in which Shayera and Joey were reported missing in action, was never completed. Athena advised us only this morning that a relic belonging to Zeus, the Cronus Dial has gone missing; very likely stolen by Ares."

Kal-El looked upset for a moment. "That damned Disciples of Cronus conflict! How does a temporal conflict ever end?" He said.

"The Sisters of Mercy, Athena, Artemis and Aphrodite have pinpointed the Dial to the Temple of Ares. While Ares and Hephaestus themselves were banned to the pits of Tartarus, Ares’ sons, Deimos and Phobos are fiercely guarding that Temple, very likely with the help of their step-mother Enyo." J’onn added.

"Sisters of Mercy?" Diana said, giggling. "Don’t get me wrong, it’s fitting, but we haven’t been accustomed to that particular brand of humour from you J’onn! It seems you’ve read the minute details from our minds!"

"It must be said that Olympus as a whole is under a very fragile truce, Zeus and Hera are spending all of their energy maintaining the peace. Zeus’ brothers Poseidon and Hades are too busy maintaining balance of power in their own realms to be of any assistance. This is why our help is needed again, with guarantees from Athena that this time that nobody dies or gets hurt, and that we shall be restored as Joey and Shayera." Joeyra said.

"They need it, they got it, and I have this gut feeling that unfinished mission is the reason for many of our woes. Besides, I hate knowing that we as a team didn’t get the job done the first time around." Kal-El said.

"Your gut feeling is right, old friend." Bruce said. "Many lives were hurt by the hacked up timelines."

"Now tell me, why are you dressed up as RJ and why is Diana dressed up as Hawkgirl?" Kal El asked, with a curious grin.

"I needed a strength enhancing suit, this was the prototype meant for Joey before he and Shy went MIA. Terry’s Batman now, so…" Bruce said.

"So for this mission, Bruce is the Reverend and I am his Angel of Mercy!" Diana said, smiling. Kal-El smiled.

"Think we’ll all fit in the Invisible Jet?" Bruce said, grinning.

"I’m sure we can all squeeze in!’ Diana replied.

Reunited, members of the original Justice League were now heading towards Mount Olympus, to convene with their allies. The new Reverend Justice, the new Hawkgirl, Knight Hawk, Martian Manhunter and Superman were on their way.

Several hours later, the Invisible Jet landed near the Temple of Athena. Athena, Aphrodite and Artemis were there to greet them.

"Lower your weapons my Nymphs!" Athena said to her guards. "I am glad you have made it here so soon my friends, wearing different uniforms, but here nonetheless."

Athena smiled at the Justice League team as they knelt on one knee, in a gesture of respect.

Artemis could not help giving Martian Manhunter an affectionate look, but turned her eyes, fearing her sisters would notice. He sensed her feelings and felt a combination of pride, embarrassment and, yes, affection for her too.

Aphrodite smirked; she had noticed her Sister's attraction to J'onn J'onz from the time they had rescued her son Hermaphroditus from his fate, making him and Nymph Salmacis husband and wife.

"Please stand my children; I fear we do not have much time. Once more, we are on the verge of an all-out conflict. Deimos, Phobos and Enyo are literally competing to take Ares' place as god of war. Ares himself has been forgotten since his exile." Athena said.

"One megalomaniac god of war was bad enough; imagine three of them, trying to outdo each other!" Aphrodite said.

"With the Dial missing, not only can we not restore the proper timeline, or break the time loop keeping us from restoring your friends Shayera and Joey; but durable peace in Olympus would be nearly impossible. It must be found and returned to our father Zeus, soon." Artemis said.

Athena smiled. "We did get a few impromptu volunteers to this mission!" She said.

Dressed in her Amazon Warrior armour, Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons stepped up to them, smiling, accompanied by a familiar man, who was dressed in an armour similar to the old Trojan one.

"Mother!" Diana said, with a surprised smile on her face, "You followed my advice after all!"

They hugged. "Yes my daughter, you were absolutely right: if the Queen of the Amazons cannot make a few amendments, what good is it to be Queen at all?" Hippolyta said, looking at her life mate.

"Agreed, the Themiscyran Senate had to set many a condition for this arrangement to work." Her mate said, smiling.

"Ted! How’s life as an initiate treating you?" Bruce asked under the Reverend Justice mask.

"That's a rhetorical question, right?" Ted replied, chuckling. "I look 20 years younger than I did on the day of the Ceremony, I live with Hippolyta on an island a few kilometres off the shores of Themiscyra, where I spend my days hunting and fishing while my beloved officiates as Queen of the Amazons. When her day is done, I spend my evenings and nights with her. I don't know what I did to deserve her...but whatever it was, I'm thankful I did!"

"And we are only happy to lend a hand in putting an end once and for all to this Disciples of Cronus conflict." Hippolyta said, "Too many lives were ruined by a conflict that had nothing to do with them."

"As are we," another pair of voices said. Hermaphroditus and Salmacis had also volunteered.

"It is thanks to the help of Bruce, Diana and J'onn that our individuality was restored," Hermaphroditus said, "and that we have become loving husband and wife. We have learned from my Mother how your friends Joey and Shayera now suffer a fate similar to that my wife and I once shared. We wish to help. If fighting my evil half-brothers is what it takes to undo the damage done, we will."

"Bruce, Diana and J'onn are our friends," Salmacis summarised, with a smile. "Their friends are our friends, and we help our friends. It's as simple as that."

"As gods, we are subject to the Truce imposed by Zeus and Hera, but we will assist by joining our forces in an unbreakable protection spell." Athena said. "I vow that this time, no one gets hurt, and all of the wrongs will be righted."

"I am quite sure that the nine of us can handle Deimos, Phobos and Enyo." Diana, the new Hawkgirl, said.

"Their powers may be partially neutralised from the truce, but be aware my children: Deimos, Phobos and Enyo are fierce warriors." Aphrodite said, "They are vicious, ruthless, and as mortals say, ‘they fight dirty’."

"Good," Superman said, "This way I don’t have to hold back or feel guilty if I hurt one of them!"

"Ted and I had to ride past Ares’ former Temple on our winged horses," Hippolyta said, "And the stench is unmistakable: the gates of Hades have been breached. Hades himself is respecting the truce; in fact, he is supporting Zeus in this conflict; but some demons have definitely escaped, and have leagued up with Deimos, Phobos and Enyo."

The part of Knight Hawk that was Shayera grinned, "Cool, more demons for us to terrorise!"

The new Hawkgirl snickered at that memory. When Faust had attempted to topple Hades, Shayera had terrorised demons that believed her to be an angel and turned away in fear. That mission was also the time she and Shayera had made their peace.

"Joey wasn't the first one to see Shayera as an angel!" she thought, smiling.

"Say what you may of our Uncle Hades," Athena said, "but he is consistent. He may have had his shady dealings, but he stood united with Father in the Titan war against Cronus. And he believes in balance of power. He does not tolerate escapees. Those demons who escaped to Ares’ Temple will beg for their demise once Hades catches up with them."

Diana’s smile made place to a shudder. The very mention of Hades’ name kept bringing back too many bitter feelings. He was the god who claimed to be her father in spite of her mother’s denials.

"A god and a demigod broke my mother’s heart. How ironic is it that a mere mortal became her true love, her initiate." She thought, smiling again.

"I propose we put Diana in charge of the team, she is the one with the most experience in Justice League protocol, and with our Olympian opponents." Bruce said from under his Reverend Justice mask. "That is if there are no objections from our immortal friends." He said, casting Hippolyta and Hermaphroditus an inquisitive glance.

Hermaphroditus and Salmacis nodded in agreement. Hippolyta gave her daughter a proud look and said, "Yes, my daughter is a formidable warrior in her own right, and quite the experienced leader! It would be an honour!"

The new Hawkgirl smiled at the endorsement from her mother, and gave the new Reverend Justice's hand a squeeze.

"I hate to bring this up, but this is where we could use Etrigan’s help. He can be a loose cannon, but sending other demons back to hell is his speciality." Superman said.

The new Reverend Justice nodded. Jason Blood and his alter Ego Etrigan had disappeared not long after the team had been returned from the original mission to Olympus.

Deep within Joeyra's mind, a short conversation was occurring.

"I really miss that." Shayera's half said, noticing Bruce and Diana holding hands.

"What's that my angel?" Joey's half replied.

"The random acts of tenderness: the holding hands, the kissing, and the hugging...the passionate lovemaking!" She said.

"Yes Shy, I miss that too, a great deal. Soon my love, soon I promise to hold you, kiss you, make love to you...." He said.

"Something for the both of us to look forward to baby, once this screwed-up conflict is settled, and don't you dare tease me about calling you 'baby'!" She said.

Even while sharing the same body, she could sense his smile.

"Perish the thought!" He said. "Not so long ago I believed you were well above me. I was convinced your heart still belonged to our friend John. But before I knew it, we were exchanging terms of endearment, before I knew it, I found out first hand that the mighty and gorgeous Hawkgirl could be warm and sweet and loving, and she had chosen me! You made me feel so privileged Shy!" He said.

"Remind me to kiss you when we get our bodies back, preacher!" She replied.

"Got that Knight Hawk?" Superman asked.

"I'm sorry Superman; we were lost in our train of thought." Knight Hawk replied.

"Diana suggested we split up in teams: herself, the new Reverend, Hermaphroditus and Salmacis handling a frontal attack, J’onn and myself covering aerial patrols for any lateral or rear attempts of escape to relocate the Dial; Hippolyta, Ted, and yourself will patrol the catacombs underneath the Temple. Diana and Hippolyta agree: that would be the likeliest hiding place for the Dial." Superman said.

"Oh great, another damp, musty, smelly mission…at least only half of this body suffers from claustrophobia!" Knight Hawk replied.

"The Catacombs were built from natural caves, quite a bit of space in them, and very well lit by perpetual fire torches Joeyra. You’ll do fine." The new Hawkgirl said.

Knight Hawk nodded. The Caves of Hades had not triggered any claustrophobia attacks in Shayera when she and Diana fought Faust.

"Since the Dial is likely hidden in the catacombs, here's an obvious question: what does it look like?" Knight Hawk asked.

All eyes turned to Knight Hawk. It was a good question.

"Like many relics from the Titan wars, it was shrouded in a veil of secrecy." Athena said. "Other than Hephaestus who actually worked on it, only Zeus and Hera have actually seen it. Father has described it as made of a slab of pure white marble, with parts made of massive bronze, assembled by the hand of Cronus himself. Father had Hephaestus engrave it with the various phases of the Titan war, as a reminder of the gods’ great triumph, but ultimately had to have it hidden due the volatile nature of its power."

"Pure white marble is already unusual-looking enough; I think we’ll know it when we see it!" Ted said.

"Above all, be careful my friends." Diana said, "Too much suffering has already happened. The protection spell and the reduced powers of our opponents will help, but they can still hurt us badly even if they don’t kill us."

They headed towards the Temple that used to belong to Ares.

Barricaded in their father’s old Temple, Deimos and Phobos were at odds, passionately arguing, their stepmother Enyo impatiently pacing back and forth, shaking her head wondering when her stepsons would shut up.

"I say we should return the Cronus Dial to Zeus," Deimos said, unsuccessfully trying to intimidate his brother, "Right now, the only war happening is right here on Mount Olympus, most of it in this very Temple. With order restored to Olympus, we can once more influence the mortals, start conflict on earth; reap the souls of the vanquished, just like father used to!"

"If you had your way, you would have father restored as god of war too!" Phobos replied in a grunting voice, his face contorted in an angry scowl, "Once again you are too near-sighted to even see the benefits of the Dial being in our possession my brother: total chaos, fear and confusion. More nourishment and entertainment than we will ever dreamed possible, brother dearest!"

"You are both too blind to see the obvious!" Enyo interjected, throwing a wine goblet at them to finally get their attention. Deimos and Phobos stopped their arguing, giving their stepmother a fearful look.

"Control of the Dial gives us control of time itself. We can manipulate time in ways that we can raid Dionysus’ cellar without him knowing what happened, hunt in Artemis’ forest without her Nymphs knowing we were there at all; help ourselves to the reserves of nectar and ambrosia without being noticed! We can reset the Dial to any major conflict in earth history and relive it for our entertainment and spiritual nourishment!" She said.

To her great frustration, her points had fallen upon deaf ears. She rolled her eyes, her voice taking a piercing, high-pitched tone.

"That was the whole point of your Father and Uncle turning against Zeus and becoming Disciples of Cronus you half-wits! Controlling time is absolute control. The only problem is you both are too busy fighting each other to understand just how much power is in our grasp, in spite of the Truce Zeus has imposed on us all!" She finished, panting.

"Trust our stepmother to offer us leftovers for dinner," Phobos said, with a disdainful sneer. "Who wants to relive old conflicts anyway?"

"The only way we’ll get fresh conflict is to restore a temporal stability. Return the Dial to Zeus; let us influence human behaviour again. And let us be perfectly honest which each other, if we were not immortals we would gladly kill each other to become the next god of war." Deimos said, casting a smug look to his stepmother and brother.

They looked away, knowing he was right. They also knew that they would be butting heads trying to fill Ares’ sandals for eternity, unless Zeus managed to restore his decimated forces and settled that dispute himself.

"Still Deimos, your brother and I do agree on one thing: having the Cronus Dial in our possession is an advantage we mustn’t give up. If we could stop fighting each other for long enough; we would be the new gods of war. Think about it: we could influence human behaviour to the power of three; a deadly triumvirate." Enyo said, smiling sadistically, this time with her stepsons' full attention.

"You have my attention stepmother." Deimos said.

"And mine; if I have learned anything from father, it is that there is strength in numbers." Phobos said.

"We have one major setback however, our distrust of each other." Deimos said.

"We’ll just have to work at it." Enyo said. For the first and only time, they joined hands in an unholy covenant, the deadly triumvirate.

"Masters?" one of the escaped demons said. They turned to look at her. It was Onoskelis.

She was a female demon capable of assuming many forms, each more seductive than the other. When the chance to escape Tartarus was offered, she immediately pledged allegiance to the Disciples of Cronus, and took asylum in Ares’ Temple when the first Justice League intervention occured.

"They are back, it is about to start all over again." Onoskelis said.

"This is where we see how well we work together." Enyo said to Deimos and Phobos, casting them a stern look.

"Onoskelis, assemble a team of your demons to guard the Catacombs and protect the Dial." Enyo said, taking charge, getting dirty looks fom her stepsons.

"Also assemble a second team, have it circle the Temple and distract our opponents, lead them in the wrong direction." Enyo continued.

Phobos crossed his arms, giving his stepmother a disdainful look, but Deimos had to smile. Enyo could be quite a strategist.

"And us three, dear stepsons, take arms and defend the Temple, unless you have any better suggestions?" Enyo said.

This time, both Deimos and Phobos flashed her a blood-chilling grin.

"It will be a pleasure, stepmother!" Deimos said.

"Finally a chance to prove ourselves worthy of the god of war title!" Phobos said.

Onoskelis went to the servants quarters which the escaped demons used as their lair. She did not share her masters' optimism, in fact, she could not repress a certain sense of fatality. She had handled the Thanagarian and her mortal lover with difficulty, in spite of the spell cast by Ares disrupting Athena's protection spell.

The Thanagarian had died quite accidentally in the collapse of the old Temple of Cronus, which had been rebuilt by Ares' minions. She had learned of Aphrodite merging the Thanagarian to her mortal lover, saving her life. Their fighting abilities, strength and experience combined would make the hybrid unstoppable.

The hybrid's lust for revenge would be immense, as the love the Thanagarian shared with the mortal was strong, so strong he had cursed Athena in his grief. She knew that she would not be able to stop the hybrid's wrath.

The inevitable confrontation was coming. Even the undead can die again. Even as a demon, her existence could end. The ultimate version of Tartarus: non existence.

"No, not the ultimate version of Tartarus," She thought, correcting herself, "The ultimate freedom from Tartarus."

In a past lifetime, she had rubbed elbows with the likes of Plato and Socrates. She had become their follower, a free-thinker. It was as a free-thinker that she had angered the gods of Olympus. It was her free-thinking that had made her forsake them.

And it was that sin that damned her, made her into a demon, a seductress.

She had seduced, betrayed, hurt and killed so many times she had lost count. She had been sentenced to Tartarus for so long for those crimes, that the end of her existence at the hands of the hybrid seemed like poetic justice, even to her.

"I welcome it. Balance of power is an absolute. Zeus, Poseidon and Hades all understand this, which is why they have ruled their respective realms for Millenia, unopposed. While the Cronus conflict served us in escaping Tartarus, it was doomed to failure before it even began. Our refuge in Ares’ old Temple won't last, and I would much rather go into non-existence then to return to Tartarus." She thought.

She entered the servants’ quarters.

"Arise my brothers and sisters, the time has finaly come. The final showdown is afoot, it is time for us to face our most dreaded moment." Onoskelis said. She looked at the four demons to her left, the stereotypical gargoyle types. "You four, come with me. We must guard the Catacombs, protect the Dial. The rest of you, outside. Engage our opponents, lead them astray, or at least die trying. They come bearing magic and weapons composed of iron and n’th metal, both of which can end our existence."

Grunting and mumbling, the four chosen ones followed Onoskelis to the Catacombs, while the others took flight, exiting the Temple.

"I have never talked to the Fates, but if my intuition is correct, our fates are pretty much sealed." Onoskelis thought. "Unless the masters try to use the Dial again...which could also have dire consequences. Only Zeus fully understands the power generated from the Cronus Dial, only he knows how to properly use it."

From the sky, Martian Manhunter paged the other teams, "Martian Manhunter to all teams, incoming! I sense two teams on the move, one towards the Catacombs and the other coming outside; to lead us astray."

"Copy that J’onn," Diana replied, her team standing a few metres from the Temple’s entrance, "Thanks for the heads up! Looks like our friends aren’t going to make this easy." The New Reverend Justice, Hermaphroditus and Salmacis nodded.

Entering the caves leading to the Catacombs, Knight Hawk replied telepathically, "Read you loud and clear J’onn. We have a score to settle with a certain female demon!"

"Your Highness, Ted, be on your guards. J’onn tells us we are to expect quite the welcoming committee." Knight Hawk said, with a stern expression.

"Yes my friend, I can smell them; that unmistakable fragrance of brimstone, decay and filth." Hippolyta replied.

Ted chuckled. "My beloved Queen holds quite a grudge against escapees from Tartarus, they remind her too much of her ex!" He said.

Hippolyta jokingly stuck her tongue out at him. They walked a few more metres within the Catacombs and Knight Hawk could smell them too, the R'às effect in full force from Joey's half; enhancing all perceptions. Knight Hawk put a finger to his lips and signalled Hippolyta and Ted to stop.

"Onoskelis! You and your cronies can come out now, I know you're there!" Knight Hawk said, "I recognise your smell from our last encounter, we have some unfinished business!"

"Indeed we do hybrid, and I can tell you have revenge on your mind." Onoskelis replied, in a quiet, even tone. She came out of the shadows carrying a club, with four other demons, carrying battle axes. Surprisingly, they stood behind her obediently, a low snarling hiss coming from them.

"Still have doubts about my olfactory faculties?" Hippolyta asked Ted.

"I never doubted you my love!" Ted replied.

"We have you outnumbered," Onoskelis said, grinning contemptuously, "and here I thought I was walking into total anihilation."

"The day is still young demonesse," Hippolyta said. "I do not need my Amazons to beat your sorry hides back to Tartarus, my Widlcat could handle the toughest meta in his day, and with my training you five are child’s play to him. And the one you call hybrid, our friend Knight Hawk, well … Wildcat and I will stand out of their way, it would be unwise."

"You actually think I’ll make this easy for you?" Onoskelis said, transforming into Shayera’s old Thanagarian fiancé Hro Talak.

The distraction was enough to allow Onoskelis to take a swing at Knight Hawk with her club, knocking Knight Hawk violently onto the adjacent cave wall. Ted and Hippolyta raised their sheilds as the demons attacked.

Shaken but otherwise unhurt – the protection spell was indeed working – Knight Hawk stood up.

"Sorry about that Joey, she took me by surprise taking the form of Hro…I still feel guilt over his death." Shayara’s half told Joey’s half within Kight Hawk’s mind.

"No worries Shy, she just knows what hurts." Joey’s half replied, within Knight Hawk’s mind.

Powering up the mace, Knight Hawk took a flying leap, wings deployed. With a war cry worthy of Hawkgirl, Knight Hawk struck Onoskelis square across the jaw, knocking a tooth out.

Still in her Hro Talak form, Onoskelis smiled a bloody grin. "Now that wasn’t very nice! After all we’ve been through!" She said, now morphing into Green Lantern.

"Not him baby, that is not really him!" Joey’s half cautioned.

"I know, besides, you’re the one I love, John’s become a good friend, that’s all; and that ain’t him!" Shayera’s half replied.

"Is that the best you can do demoness? Pull dead relationships from our subconsious minds?" Knight Hawk said, teeth clenched.

"Who do you think you’re fooling? She still has feelings for me and you, you took my left overs and couldn’t even get it right! I managed to get her pregnant, but you couldn’t Luca! You’re nothing but an impotent piece of trash!" Onoskelis said, sneering in her Green Lantern form.

Knight Hawk tensed up at that. That last jab had hit a nerve in both Shayera and Joey. That was not John Stewart, but anger was still overtaking both halves of Knight Hawk.

"Shut up demoness! SHUT UP!" Knigh Hawk screamed, taking another swing with the mace, Onoskelis ducking that last shot.

Meanwhile, facing two demons each and more than holding their own, Hippolyta and Ted fought valiantly.

"You see? I told you iron is the basal element which can hurt the demons!" Hippolyta said to Ted, with a wide smile on her face. As if to prove her point, her blade sliced through one demon’s arm, neatly severing it. That demon staggered away, letting out a whining growl.

"My love, I-never-ever-doubted you!" Ted replied, pausing between words to duck the flaming breath from the demon to his left, and a clawed swat from the demon to his right. He raised his sheild, slamming it into fire-breath’s face, and swung his sword at the other one.

His sword hit the target, neatly slicing that demon’s head off. What happened next chilled his blood. Appearing from the shadows, dark figures crept towards the slain demon, pulling him through the solid rock of the cave’s floor.

"Now that was creepy!" Ted said, turning his attention back to the other demon.

"Hades’ minions retreiving their escapee. Say what you will about my ex, but he’s serious about his job." Hippolyta said, ducking a blow from the demon that still had its limbs intact.

After trading blows, pausing to catch their breath, Knight Hawk and Onoskelis cautiously stared at each other.

"By the way, still hate the beard!" Shayera’s half said, as Knight Hawk connected with another solid blow with the mace, right on top of Onoskelis’ head. Demons are indeed tough skinned: the blow managed to stagger her, but barely broke her skin. A bit of blood trickled from the cut.

Onoskelis morphed again. "You bastard! How dare you hit me! I’m a girl!" Onoskelis said, now taking the form of Charlene, Joey’s ex.

Knight Hawk looked nonplussed. "Running out of options there aren’t you? The part of me who used to love her, stopped loving her years ago. She nearly ruined my life. The woman I’m merged to is the only one I’ll ever love!" Knight Hawk said.

"Is that so, you pathetic loser? Don’t you still have fantasies about me when Hawkgirl is away on mission? Don’t you still secretly think of me when you make love to her?" Onoskelis said, playing her mind game to extremes. She may cease to exist today, but she would have some fun before it happened.

"You lie, you lie, YOU LIE!" Knight Hawk screamed. "I’ve been merged to Joey for long enough to know his innermost secrets, his most intimate thoughts, and he has shared mine, all of them. He carries very few fond memories of her, and he knows of all my past lovers!" Shayera’s half bellowed.

"All you’re accomplishing now is pissing us off. Sending you back to Tartarus is no longer enough, now we want to make you suffer before sending you back!" Joey’s half added.

Onoskelis morphed back to her normal form and spread her wings. Her plan was working- she wanted to get the hybrid angry enough to put an end to her demonic existence. She did not want to return to Tartarus. And, she was distracting the Justice Leaguers away from the Cronus Dial

"You’ll have to catch me first hybrid!" She said flying off.

Knight Hawk growled in anger, flying after her.

"Knight Hawk, no! That’s not our mission!" Ted called after his team-mate.

"The demonesse is fulfilling her mission," Hippolyta said, slaying the second demon she was fighting, sending it back to Tartarus. "She is leading us astray, away from the Dial."

Onoskelis knew the Catacombs like the back of her hand. She could lead the hybrid on a wild goose chase for hours. Perhaps the prospect of the end of existence was making her enjoy her last moments.

One thing was for certain: she was not returning to Tartarus. Unexpectedly, Onoskelis flew right into a column of hellfire. Knight Hawk had to change trajectories to avoid getting burned. Onoskelis fell to the ground, dusting the soot from her body.

A familiar figure emerged from the shades of the catacombs.

"Sorry fer being late laddie, but Sir Jason Blood was stuck in a parallel dimmension cell, took us a while to break out and find ye all." Etrigan said. In spite of Etrigan’s gargoyle-like features, he was indeed a sight for Knight Hawk’s sore eyes.

Onoskelis gave Etrigan an angry snarl. "You traitor! You’re one of us, you should be helping us, not them!" She screamed.

"Ye must have me confused with somebody else Lassie. My mission is simple: bring evil ones back to hell, what you call Tartarus. Ye escaped, I gotta take ye back. Simple." Etrigan said, with a semblancy of a smile on his face.

"I’m-never-going-back!" Onoskelis hissed, her eyes glowing a dangerous shade of red.

"I’ll handle the demoness from here," Etrigan said to Knight Hawk, "Ye better handle the task at hand: find the bloody Dial and let’s get this over with."

Knight Hawk nodded and returned to where Queen Hippolyta and Ted were still fighting the remaining demons.

Hippolyta saw Knight Hawk returning. "Onoskelis, is she …" she began, as she sent the last remaining demon back to Tartarus.

"Our friend Etrigan appeared out of nowhere, he’s handling her as we speak." Knight Hawk said.

Meanwhile, Diana’s team cautiously proceeded inside the Temple, a few moments before J’onn had given the alarm.

"The entrance wasn’t guarded, everybody be on your guards, I can smell an ambush." Diana, the new Hawkgirl said.

"Tight formation you two," the new Reverend Justice said to Hermaphroditus and Salmacis, "stand behind the Princess at no more than three steps’s distance, pay attention to the flanks, I’m guarding the rear."

They nodded quietly, keeping their sheilds raised. Hardly the Roman Turtle tactic, but every precaution would help. A voice echoed through the Temple.

"Deimos!" Hermaphroditus said, clenching his teeth. "I’ll make him pay for that whore comment!" Salmacis smiled at her mate.

"Keep your calm," the new Hawkgirl said, "they’re trying to goat us on, make us fight on their terms. We need to make them fight on ours."

The new Reverend Justice smiled. The love of his life was also quite the strategist.

"Resorting to childish insults now? Who do you think you’re dealing with, human pre-schoolers? Ares may have had many flaws but he had one thing over you three: he was not a coward hiding in the corners of his palace, using a pathetic excuse for psychological war!" The new Hawkgirl replied.

The new Reverend Justice smiled. Attack their sense of pride, it works every time.

"I am NOT a coward! You shall pay for your impudance, you Themiscyran wench!" Phobos screamed, ruining his cover, and the attempted ambush. Weilding a sword, Phobos stood alone, his own anger had broken the Triumverate.

He did not realise his brother and stepmother had left for another room of the Temple to regroup.

"No brother dearest, you are not a coward. You’re an idiot, but a coward you are not." Hermaphroditus said, chuckling.

Arrows from Hermaphroditus and Salmacis knocked the weapons out of Phobos’ hands. Before he had fully realised what was happening, a flash grenade blinded him and a Thanagarian mace blow to the head knocked him out cold.

"One down…" the new Reverend Justice said.

"Two more to go." The new Hawkgirl said. "I can only pray Hera that our friends are progressing as well as we are."

"I am confused," Salmacis said, "The blinding light affected Phobos but not us!"

"The protection spell, my love." Hermaphroditus replied. "It protects us, not them. Did you bring some golden yarn?"

Salmacis nodded, pulling a ball of rolled yarn from a small bag hanging from her quiver’s strap.

"It’s the same golden material my Lasso is made of!" the new Hawkgirl said. "Perfect to keep our friend Phobos tied down!"

Salmacis and Hermaphroditus proceeded to tie down the fallen son of Ares.

Above the Temple, Superman and Martian Manhunter were amusing themselves with the demons sent after them.

"Memories of the Kharriek, don’t you agree J’onn?" Superman said, taking a blast of fire breath on his chest and looking no worse for wear.

"Somewhat, yes, I agree!" Martian Manhunter replied, turning his body intangible, letting two demons collide in mid-air. "Incoming at one o’clock Kal-El!"

Superman turned, grabbing the demon who had tried to sneak up on him, twirled him around like a grunting rag doll and trew him full force at a group of five who had the bad sense of hovering too close.

The demons hitting the ground were grabbed and pulled back to Tartarus by Hades’ minions.

"I still say we could use Etrigan’s help about now…" Superman said, ducking a battleaxe blow.

In the Catacombs Etrigan and Onoskelis were going toe to toe. She had climbed on his back, unsuccessfully trying to break his neck.

"Go ahead lassie, expand as much energy as you want. The result’ll be the same, I’ll send ye back to hell – what ye call Tartarus – through hellfire." Etrigan said, pulling Onoskelis off his back.

Onoskelis gave Etrigan an angry glare, panting. She was becoming increasingly frustrated at The Demon’s great power.

"I’m never going back! You of all people should know how lonely and desperate Tartarus is! I was condemned to Tartarus by jealous, spiteful, false gods! I’d rather cease to exist than be sent back!" Onoskelis screamed in despair.

"I don’t undo unfair decisions lass, I can only serve my purpouses. The first one is to be Sir Jason Blood’s punishment for eternity , the second one is to return hell escapees to where they came from." Etrigan said.

"I feel your loneliness demon. Sir Jason’s needs and desires have bled through to you." Onoskelis said, smiling mischieviously. She morphed into Morgane Le Fay, the Sorceress who had seduced Sir Jason Blood. "I can grant your fondest desire, be any woman you want, fulfill your most secret fantasy …let me be your companion!"

She transformed from Morgane Le Fay into Wonder Woman, then into Hawkgirl, Vixen, Black Canary, Huntress, Fire, Ice, Zatanna, Dr Light …all women Etrigan had worked with in the Justice League, all women for whom Etrigan had felt a lust he knew was forbidden.

Everso briefly, Etrigan had to consider the possiblity that through Onoskelis, all of these women could be his, or a reasonable faccimile thereof.

Onoskelis saw her tactic was paying off, and took advantage of Etrigan’s distraction by pulling an iron dagger from a fold of her toga.

She reverted to Wonder Woman’s form again. "I sense you hold especially deep desire for this one. Yes, you do desire her, don’t you?" She said, stepping closer, iron dagger hidden behind her back.

"Don’t confuse me lust fer affection lassie," Etrigan replied, looking at Onoskelis who looked quite sultry in her Wonder Woman form. "Only a blind man wouldna be attracted to Wonder Woman…or to any of the other lasses ye transformed into!"

Her seductive smile truned into an ugly grin as she swung the iron dagger at Etrigan, stabbing him in the chest. He took a few steps back, staggering, cursing himself for allowing her to distract him with thoughts of lust.

"Aye, ye treacherous harlot!" he growled pulling the dagger from his chest. He would heal quickly, but iron inflicted wounds caused him seering pain. In anger, he blew hellfire at her from his mouth, full strength, an intensity strong enough to grant Onoskelis’ wish: that hellfire would terminate her existence.

Etrgian stood there, catching his breath, looking at his healing chest wound, and then turning his attention to the ashes left where Onoskelis stood.

"Not nice to play with Etrigan’s emotions like that!" He said, then threw his head back laughing uncontrollably. "Even in death ye tricked me demonesse! I wanted to take ye back to hell, ye wanted to die …now yer dead!"

Etrigan disappeared in a puff of smoke, going to Superman and Martian Manhunter’s aid.

In Ares’ Temple, in Enyo’s sleeping quarters, Deimos was fuming.

"My idiot brother! Ruins our ambush plans and now we must fold back!" Deimos screamed.

"Quiet you half-wit, are you trying to alarm them to our location?" Enyo said, "I had a backup plan in case our ambush was thwarted."

Deimos gave his stepmother a bewildered look. She pulled a medallion from a chest.

"When your uncle Hephaestus was lobbying to keep your half brother Hermaphroditus merged to Nymph Salmacis, he had created a bunch of attack drones he could control with his mind to patrol the domain of Artemis. I had some of our followers gather the remaining drones. Not enough to stop our attackers, but sufficient to buy us time, and make sure the Dial remains in our possession." She said, slipping the medallion around her neck.

Deimos smiled. He had heard stories of his uncle’s attack drones. Enyo raised her arms. "Arise my drones, come to your new mistress!" She said.

From hidden corners of the Temple, 10 drones joined Enyo and Deimos, one of them hovering past Diana’s team, ignoring them.

"I’m getting a bad feeling about this!" the new Hawkgirl said.

"They’ll be coming back at us full force," the new Reverend Justice said, "When they do, aim for the head, the drones collapse once they’re beheaded, Diana and I have dealt with them before."

Diana smiled under the Hawkgirl helmet. Freeing Hermaphroditus and Salmacis from their curse had been Bruce’s first mission with her as her initiate!

As if on cue, Deimos stepped in front of them, the ten attack drones standing behind him.

"I see you have decided not to heed my warning. You may have been able to fool my idiot brother, Amazon Princess, but you will find me a far tougher opponent." Deimos said, with a defiant expression on his face.

"Enyo has left the building J’onn, she’s very likely on her way to the Catacombs to get the Dial, advise our friends, quickly!" The new Reverend Justice thought, hoping Martian Manhunter would pick up his thoughts.

"I hear you Bruce, relaying the information to Knight Hawk now!" Martian Manunter replied telepathically.

The drones attacked. The new Hawkgirl took flight and swung her mace at the first drone, knocking its head clean off.

Arrows from Hermaphroditus and Salmacis hit the second drone right in the neck-to-head mechanism, jamming it. Sparks flew as the drone tried to turn its head and it exploded, releasing thick black smoke.

"Fancy shooting!" the new Reverend Justice said, smiling, as he jumped at the third drone, swinging the electrified quarter staff right in its neck, knocking the head clean off. The strength-enhancing suit was paying dividends.

Deimos looked on, feeling over confidant. The battle unravelling before his eyes did not clue him in that the Disciples of Cronus were losing, and that his half-brother was coming after him.

The Amazon, her human initiate and the huntress Nymph were doing short work of the drones, and his half brother, was walking ever closer to him; bow slung across his shoulder and hand on the hilt of his sword.

Deimos finally realised what was happening when his half brother’s sword was right at his throat.

"Bastard brother huh? Calling my life mate a whore? Since we have the same mother and her original husband was Hephaestus what does that make you, son of Ares?" Hermaphroditus said, teeth clenched. "Your own track record with the Nymphs is hardly glowing!"

Deimos took a cautionary step back and drew his own sword. "All right, so I guess it takes a bastard to know another bastard!" he replied, grinning. "And the fact that you actually fell in love with a Nymph who originally forced herself upon you…all right, I concede, whore was the wrong term. Rapist was more like it!"

Hermaphroditus growled in anger, swinging his sword at his evil half brother. "They’re trying to goat us on, make us fight on their terms. We need to make them fight on ours ." The Princess had said earlier.

"Keep your calm, anger can lead to costly mistakes." Hermaphroditus thought, parrying a blow from Deimos. "His words are filth, lies and venom. I am better than him. I can better him."

"Be careful my love," Salmacis yelled out with a grin, beheading the fourth drone, "do you need any help handling your evil brother?"

"I believe you already have your hands full dearest!" Hermaphroditus replied, letting Deimos expand his energy swinging his sword at him, and missing at every shot. The training he had received from his Aunt Artemis was paying off.

"Let the bigger opponent wear itself out, then go for the final blow." She had told him.

Still controlling the drones remotely and still losing the battle, Enyo was making her way through the Catacombs, to the secret hiding place of the Cronus Dial.

"Deimos and Phobos are fools, untrustworthy and unreliable. I might as well take Ares’ place and just assume the role of goddess of war. With the Dial no one can stop me." She thought, running as fast as she could.

She came face to face with Knight Hawk, Hippolyta and Ted. She stopped in her tracks, as they all stared at each other in genuine surprise.

"I guess that means we’re close to the Dial." Knight Hawk said, with a bemused smile.

"Cursed demons could not get the job done right! Step aside, unless you’re willing to find out how much more powerful I am than the common demon!" Enyo said.

"Powerful and very humble too I see!" Ted added, getting chuckles from Knight Hawk. Hippolyta smiled but kept her full attention on Enyo. She had tangled with her in the past, Enyo was wild and treacherous.

Agreed the Olympian truce reduced her powers, and the protection spell would keep Knight Hawk and Ted safe …but the spell had failed once before.

Enyo cast Ted a disdainful sneer. "I would watch my tongue mortal, initiate or not I can still send you to the Alesian fields!" she said.

"Where I’ll live eternally with my Queen. Do you have any threats that are actually frightening?" Ted asked.

"Why you simian half-breed, I will…" Enyo blurted out.

"Enough courtesies you Olympian tomboy, you’re outnumbered and your side’s losing the battle, where’s the Dial?" Knight Hawk said.

Enyo looked puzzled at that last retort, unfamiliar with the expression.

"Tomboy?" She said, confused.

Still using the old Hawkgirl war cry, Knight Hawk flew at Enyo, mace glowing in the darkness. The blow struck a force field, which sent an electric current through Knight Hawk who collapsed to the cave’s ground.

"Diana warned us she was treacherous! Take care of our friend my love, Enyo and I have an old score to settle!" Hippolyta said, raising her shield.

Ted helped Knight Hawk up as Enyo and Hippolyta circled each other.

"Your Amazons have always been a thorn in my side; it will be a pleasure to hurt you!" Enyo said.

"I cannot slay you, you cannot slay me; but I can stop you so we can restore Order!" Hippolyta said, hoping Ted and Knight Hawk would get her hint.

Fortunately, they did. As Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons kept Enyo busy trading blows that only hit their respective shields, Ted and Knight Hawk took the passageway to their right; the only other logical exit as Enyo had come from straight ahead.

"This is where we wish we still were the Reverend … the progressive vision of the mask would be invaluable right now." Knight Hawk said, Shayera’s half beginning to feel the effects of claustrophobia.

"Hold up, Hippolyta showed me how to do this." Ted said. He recited an incantation in ancient Themiscyran.

"God of light, god of sight, show us the path with your might!" Ted said.

The torches in the natural corridor magically lit up.

"Wow Ted, when did you become Merlin’s apprentice?" Knight Hawk asked, smirking.

"Since I became the consort of the Amazon Queen!" Ted replied, with a grin on his face.

The walked several metres within the corridor, which led to a tall, massive bronze door.

"Here we are my friend." Ted said. "This is either the door that leads to Hades’ realm, the last line of defence before Tartarus; or it’s Ares’ secret crypt."

"Not likely to be Hades’ door," Knight Hawk said, "The part of us that is Shayera was there once before with Diana. While we are no archaeologists, we do recognise the crests of Hephaestus and Ares engraved on this door, and the giant hourglass imprinted on the door can only be the crest of Cronus, enclosing the crests of his "grandsons", the first two Disciples of Cronus. If the Cronus dial is hidden anywhere, this would be the likeliest spot."

Ted smiled. Shayera’s powers of deduction were still intact, and Joey was her star pupil. "Shall you make use of that mace and smash that lock then?" He said.

Knight Hawk smiled and nodded powering up the mace. With a loud grunt and a swing of the mace, the massive bronze lock was knocked clear from the door, hitting the cave’s wall. The door swung open with a loud creaking noise.

On a shrine, the Cronus Dial sat.

"It’s…beautiful!" Knight Hawk said. "I didn’t think of asking before, but is it safe for us to touch?"

"It’s a logical assumption, the Olympians are trusting us with returning it to Zeus. A rare honour in itself as Zeus does not like to see outsiders’ face to face. Since this is the second time we help him out as a team, he’s making a rare exception. Would you like to do the honours?" Ted said.

"You’re far too kind Mr. Grant!" Knight Hawk said, taking a few steps towards the Dial, then giving it a bow out of respect.

"What are you doing?" Ted asked, bemused.

"Showing that relic respect. With the power it generates, we can’t be too careful." Knight Hawk said.

Ted nodded, that was a valid point.

Knight Hawk picked up the Dial with both hands and froze in place, letting out a loud gasp.

"Knight Hawk! What’s wrong?" Ted asked, worried.

The contact with the Cronus Dial had triggered a premonition within Joey’s half, which Shayera’s half witnessed.

"No, not so much a premonition as a vision of an alternate future, had Aphrodite not succeeded in merging us Joey." Shayera cautioned Joey from within.

The moment Knight Hawk had frozen only lasted a few seconds, but to Joey and Shayera, it had felt like hours. In that vision, Aphrodite had reached Joey and Shayera too late, unable to save her.

Joey was returned to his world, heartbroken and grieving. Filled with anger, he abandoned the Reverend Justice persona and adopted the identity of Knight Hawk, only this time it was in memory of his deceased lover.

Joey was behaving more brutally and pragmatically than any member of the Justice League ever had, eventually getting himself suspended from the League. Cut off from his friends, Knight Hawk became more of a vigilante than a hero, a bounty hunter of the worst kind.

Only Batman would never give up hope and try to reform him. For Batman understands loss, grief, and battling inner demons. But that was only an alternate future.

"You love me that much Joey? Enough to throw it all away out of grief?" Shayera asked Joey within Knight Hawk’s mind.

"Yes my love, you’re my life. I’d be lost without you!" Joey replied to Shayera, within Knight Hawk’s mind.

"I know you mean it, as our minds are merged. I love you too Joey, more than words can say…and I’m flattered, but I’ll haunt you if you ever go on self-destruct over my death! Do you understand me?" Shayera said.

Knight Hawk nodded in response to the part within that was Shayera and turned to Ted.

"We are fine old friend. For a moment, the Dial triggered a vision of what the future would have been like had Aphrodite not found us in time." Knight Hawk said, placing the Dial in the burlap bag Ted carried slung across his shoulder, next to his sword’s sheath.

"Time for us to see if my Queen requires our assistance." Ted said.

As they walked back, they could hear Enyo screaming at the top of her lungs.

"I shall tear you limb from limb Amazon Queen, do you hear me? This is far from over!" Enyo screamed.

Ted and Knight Hawk looked on gape-mouthed, in genuine amazement. Hippolyta was standing with her arms folded, snickering. Enyo was lying on the cave’s floor, tangled in a golden net.

"A magic golden net my love? I thought Hephaestus was mad at you for not thanking him for the first armour he made you, the one Diana took?" Ted said.

Hippolyta smiled. "I baited her into an easy target, and she walked right into it!" She said

"As far as Hephaestus goes, he wasn’t my only resource. After his failed marriage to Aphrodite, a Sea Nymph named Cabeiro became Hephaestus’ consort. Out of that short lived relationship, Cabeiro gave him twin sons, who became metalworkers like their father." Hippolyta said.

Ted smiled and nodded, looking at his life mate with pride.

"I dealt with his offspring to get a new armour to replace the one Diana took. They made me a magic golden lasso and a magic golden net. This is the very first time I use it!" Hippolyta said, walking up to Ted, kissing him.

"You are certainly full of surprises!" Ted said, smiling.

"Now that we have the Dial let’s get out of here and return the Dial to Zeus." Hippolyta said.

"Hey! You’re not just going to leave me down here are you?" Enyo yelped.

"You would certainly deserve it!" Hippolyta said.

"But we’re the good guys. If you behave yourself, we’ll take you with us, and deliver you to Zeus personally." Knight Hawk said.

"Why you walking abomination, how dare you speak to me this way? I am the only true goddess of war left! I deserve respect! I deserve…" Enyo screamed

"You’re about to deserve a bruising if you don’t shut up!" Ted said. "Other than the usual enhancements, my initiation gave me improved reflexes and increased physical strength. Care to see how much stronger I’ve become? I’m not above beating up a meta-female!"

"Better believe him, Ted was the last Meta-brawl Champion in our world." Knight Hawk said.

Enyo immediately became quiet. She had heard of the Meta-Brawls, and Aphrodite’s ambrosia extract concoctions were reputed to have dramatic effects on the Amazon initiates.

Diana’s Batman was one example, Hippolyta’s Wildcat was another. And Hera only knew what powers the one with the wings had.

"Good," Ted said, "Knight Hawk, you might as well carry this, I’m going to have my hands full carrying little miss Sunshine back to Zeus."

Ted handed the burlap bag containing the Dial over to Knight Hawk, and then effortlessly picked up Enyo from the Cave’s floor, heaving her across his shoulder.

"We have the dial J’onn, and taken Enyo as a prisoner. How are you holding up out there?" Knight Hawk thought.

"Etrigan has helped us send the remaining demons to Tartarus, and Diana has just advised us that Deimos and Phobos have also been neutralised after having to deal with a small detachment of attack drones. Meet us upstairs my friends." Martian Manhunter replied.

"Dare I say it my friends? J’onn just gave me an update, the remaining demons have been returned to Taratrus and Deimos and Phobos have been neutralised." Knight Hawk said, smiling. "It’s near my love, we’ll be two people again, I can hold you, kiss you!" Knight Hawk thought.

"Useless hacks!" Enyo said.

"Quiet witch!" Hippolyta said. They proceeded towards the catacombs’ exit.

Just as Ted and Knight Hawk were busting the bronze door open, the last few drones had fallen victim to the new Hawkgirl’s mace, the new Reverend Justice’s electrified Quarter Staff, and Salmacis’ arrows.

Hermaphroditus and Deimos were still crossing swords.

"Nice defence my brother, but your attacks lack assurance!" Deimos said.

"Seeing that your own attacks failed to hit their target, I would not gloat, dear brother!" Hermaphroditus said.

Deimos clenched his teeth. He had always deemed his half-brother as soft and weak, yet the son of Hermes was holding his own against the son of Ares.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the last drone fall. His love, Salmacis, was looking at him with a smirk.

"What did you expect Deimos, an easy victory? A surrender written in gold foil, embroidered in gold thread?" Hermaphroditus said, cueing in Salmacis.

Salmacis nodded, reaching in the bag tied to her quiver. Soon enough, Hermaphroditus would draw Deimos to turn his back to her.

As if they had read Salmacis’ mind, the new Hawkgirl and Reverend Justice flanked her.

As soon as Deimos’ back was turned to them, the new Hawkgirl grabbed Deimos’ left arm, while the new Reverend Justice grabbed the right. Salmacis tied Deimos with the gold thread.

"And by the way dear brother, I owe you this!" Hermaphroditus said, punching Deimos in the jaw. "That’s for calling the woman I love a whore and a rapist!"

"Time for a team update," the new Hawkgirl said, pinching her earlobe, activating her communicator. "Temple team to aerial team, all clear, do you copy? All clear at Temple level."

Above the Temple, Etrigan had just joined Superman and Martian Manhunter.

"Pretty creepy how the shadow people take the fallen demons through the ground!" Superman said, tossing a demon Etrigan’s way, who batted it down, slamming the demon to the ground hard.

"Aye lad, the shadow people as ye call them be soul reapers, Olympians call them Hades’ minions. Their task is to take escapees back to what ever they call hell around these parts. Sure make me job a lot easier!" Etrigan said.

"Double team sneaking up behind you, Etrigan!" Martian Manhunter warned.

Hovering in mid air, Etrigan turned and stared at the two demons, which stopped in mid air, looking quite hesitant.

"Now what do ye two pansy boys think ye’re doin’, sneakin’ up on Etrigan like this? After I terminated yer mistress who’s more powerful than the two of ye put together?" Etrigan said.

The two demons looked at each other and tried to flee, but Etrigan went after them, grabbing them by the ankles. He smashed them together a few times, then tossed one to Superman and the other to Martian Manhunter, who batted their respective demons to the ground, more work for the soul reapers.

Just then, Diana’s message got to Superman’s communicator.

"Roger that Diana, everything all clear here too." Superman said, smiling, looking at Martian Manhunter and Etrigan. "A shame neither one of you got the new Justice League communicators! The Temple’s clear and we’re all clear here too. Any news form our friends in the Catacombs J’onn?"

"Indeed, after disposing of a few demons and capturing war goddess Enyo, the Dial is safe and on its way to the surface." Martian Manhunter said.

"Did you get that Diana? It seems to be mission accomplished!" Superman said.

"I won’t be accomplished until the Dial is in Zeus’ capable hands Kal. Let’s all meet in front of Ares’ Temple. We can all go to the Temple of Temples, home of Zeus and Hera." Diana replied.

They met in front of Ares’ Temple.

"Great work my friends!" The new Hawkgirl said. "Enyo didn’t give you too much trouble?"

"None at all my daughter," Hippolyta replied, "she’s all rage, no brains."

"Why I’ll.." Enyo growled.

"Quiet witch!" Ted warned.

"We must say we look forward to handing this Dial back to Zeus, Di!" Knight Hawk said.

The new Hawkgirl snickered. The man wearing the Reverend Justice suit put a hand on her shoulder, smiling.

Superman, Martian Manhunter and Etrigan landed nearby.

"Shall we leave my evil brothers tied down in Ares’ Temple?" Hermaphroditus asked.

"Yes, as soon as the Cronus dial is returned, Zeus’ forces will return to full power and his soldiers will clean up this mess." Hippolyta said.

They all proceeded to the Temple of Temples. Diana, Bruce, Joeyra, J’onn. Kal-El, Etrigan, Hippolyta, Ted, Hermaphroditus and Salmacis were the victorious heroes.

The Dial had been recuperated, and would be returned to its rightful owner.

Under the cheers of Nymphs, gods and demigods, our heroes entered the Temple of Temples. They stopped in front of the thrones, where Zeus and Hera, looking much younger than any human could have imagined, sat, smiling.

Standing by them, Aphrodite, Athena, and Artemis also applauded, smiling.

Diana, Bruce, Joeyra, J’onn. Kal-El, Etrigan, Hippolyta, Ted, Hermaphroditus and Salmacis all put one knee down and bowed their heads in respect.

"Please my children, stand. You have rendered me and all of Olympus a great favour." Zeus said, in a voice much gentler than everyone in Olympus was accustomed to.

They stood. Taking the burlap bag, Joeyra looked up at Zeus.

"Great Zeus, I do believe this belongs to you." Joeyra said.

"Indeed, please approach me my child." Zeus said, standing. "No more need to kneel or bow, you have all earned my respect and gratitude."

Joeyra approached Zeus, both parts within feeling rather nervous. He opened the burlap bag showing the Dial to Zeus.

Zeus took the bag. "I owe you all so much." He said. "I had vowed to right the wrongs that were done because of the Cronus conflict. Let me start with this."

Zeus held the Dial against his chest with his right arm, raising his left arm, hand opened over Joeyra’s head, energy glowing from the palm of his hand.

"The Life that was taken in my realm is now being restored, the love you share shall shine evermore, I decree you both be restored, Shayera Hol, Joey Luca, return to us!" Zeus said.

Before everybody’s eyes, the energy from his hand engulfed Joeyra, restoring it to its previous forms of before the Cronus conflict: Shayera Hol, still dressed in her Hawkgirl suit, and Joey Luca, now dressed as Reverend Justice.

They looked at each other and cried tears of happiness, coursing down Shayera’s cheeks and running from under Joey’s mask.

They hugged and kissed. The applause coming from the Olympians and fellow Justice Leaguers brought Joey and Shayera back to their senses. Blushing a little, but too happy to care, Hawkgirl and Reverend Justice knelt in respect and bowed their heads to Zeus.

"Great Zeus, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much!" Reverend Justice said.

"We can be lovers again, return to our friends and loved ones, words can’t express our gratitude!" Hawkgirl said.

"No my children, please rise. Thank you. You both were ready to make the ultimate sacrifice to help us. Not restoring you would have been unjust." Zeus said.

Reverend Justice and Hawkgirl rose and walked back to their friends, smiling and holding hands. Zeus looked at them and smiled. Now Bruce was dressed as Batman again and Diana as Wonder Woman, a side effect of restoring Shayera and Joey to normal.

"Which leaves us with three god of war wannabe’s, all heading to Tartarus, and no one to assume the position. Balance of Power is an absolute. Do you not agree my wife?" Zeus said, looking at Hera.

She smiled. "Indeed my husband, but we do have someone in mind." She said. They turned to look at Athena.

"You were once Ares’ second in command, but then opted to become goddess of Mercy. Your mother and I feel you would be a wonderful goddess of war: fair, slow to anger and merciful to the weak." Zeus said, smiling.

The Justice Leaguers present smiled, nodding, looking at Athena.

"Mother, Father, I do not know what to say!" Athena said, blushing.

"Then say yes my daughter, our world and theirs could benefit from a bit of stability!" Hera said.

"Then yes, I accept!" Athena said, wiping a tear from her eye. Applause roared once more in the Temple of Temples.

"My Father, I ask for another favour of you before sending our friends back to their world and restoring the appropriate time line?" Artemis asked. "Could you be sure our friends’ memories are not erased when you send them back? I do believe they deserve to remember the mistakes they have made during the elapsed time, so they may learn from them and not repeat them?"

Zeus nodded.

"I can try my best my daughter. Time affects mortals in many ways, be they from earth or from other planets. You do make a valid point that many mistakes were made that must not be repeated." He said.

Aphrodite smiled, Artemis did not want her friend J’onn to forget her again.

"Can you read my mind J’onn J’onz? Can you feel the way I feel for you? I gave you space when you needed it. I gave you time to mourn your Martian family and your human lover. But please, feel my loneliness, and the affection I feel for you my green friend! Please J’onn don’t keep on ignoring me!" Artemis thought, focusing her attention, wanting J’onn to hear her.

"Yes, Artemis. I needed time to heal, and there were so many emergencies since the last time we met that I had little time to think about companionship. Ours would hardly be the run of the mill relationship…but you were on my mind your Grace, very much so." Martian Manhunter replied telepathically.

"Very well my friends, to your world I return you, mere moments after my daughters came to you seeking your help the first time around, before Shayera Hol and Joey Luca were merged. You will have the knowledge that your mission has been successfully completed, and you should retain the memory of every event, which has occurred leading to its completion. You deserve to remember. Thank you and be well!" Zeus said.

Zeus and Hera extended their arms towards the Justice League team, energy emanating from their hands. The energy generated by the Greek gods engulfed the Justice League team, sending them in time and space, back to Watchtower 1.

"We’re back," Superman said, is everybody okay?

"I’m fine," Wildcat replied.

"As am I". Martian Manhunter said. "With my full memories intact."

"Ditto here", Batman said. "How about you Princess?"

"Fine Bruce, and quite relieved!" Wonder Woman said.

"I be no worse fer wear. Feelin’ kind of hungry mind ye." Etrigan said.

"A bit shook up, but I’m too happy to care." Reverend Justice said. "How about you Shy?"

Hawkgirl looked dizzy, holding her head in her hands. Reverend Justice put a hand on her shoulder.

"Shayera, are you all right?" Reverend Justice said.

Nobody could have predicted her reaction. She grabbed Reverend Justice by the wrist, and swung him over the boardroom table, right at Superman who caught his friend in mid air.

"Where am I and who are you people?" Hawkgirl screamed in Thanagarian, raising her mace.

Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman grabbed Hawkgirl by the arms.

"Shayera! Calm yourself my sister!" Wonder Woman said.

"Who are you people? Demons, monsters and masked men! SOMEBODY ANSWER ME!" Hawkgirl screamed again in Thanagarian.

"Artemis? Can you hear me? We have a situation here and need your help!" Martian Manhunter telepathically said, calling for Artemis.

"Our appearances seem to upset her." Martian Manhunter said, transforming into his John Jones form.

Etrigan transformed into Sir Jason Blood, Batman pulled his mask back, as did Wildcat. Reverend Justice took off his hat and mask.

"We’re your friends Shayera, don’t you recognise us? Don’t you recognise me? I’m Joey, man who loves you!" Joey said, giving Hawkgirl a pleading look.

"I see, those were only disguises, what a strange bunch you are…but you’re kind of cute!" Hawkgirl said in Thanagarian, smiling at Joey.

"I think she’s quieted down." Martian Manhunter said, releasing her. Wonder Woman also let her go. Smiling, Hawkgirl walked up to Reverend Justice, gently touching his face.

"I’m sorry I over reacted earlier, I didn’t mean to hurt you…hey, you smell nice!" Hawkgirl said in Thanagarian, pulling Reverend Justice closer to her by the trench coat, smelling his neck and throat.

"Shy, that tickles! You..." Reverend Justice said.

Hawkgirl pulled him a bit closer.

"Hey, take it easy Angel, that tickles!" Reverend justice said.

"I think she likes your after-shave Joey!" Superman said.

"Gee, you think? I don’t mind it so much, but she doesn’t know her own strength!" Reverend Justice said.

Artemis appeared in a flash of light.

"Oh my, I see our winged friend has not taken to the trip back very well!" Artemis said.

"Can you help her Godmother?" Wonder Woman asked.

"Yes my child, I believe I can. I see she does recognise her lover, that’s a good sign." Artemis said.

She walked towards Joey and Shayera.

As Shayera was busy smelling Joey’s after-shave from his neck and throat, Artemis stepped right next to them, gently touching Shayera’s forehead.

Shayera stopped what she was doing as Artemis’ fingers gently buzzed with energy, unlocking her memories.

"Joey, we’re back!" Shayera said smiling. She realised she was holding him by the trench coat lapels and frowned from curiosity. She turned around and saw Artemis standing besides them, smiling.

"Why do I get the feeling I don’t want to know?" Shayera said.

"Zeus had warned us time effected mortals in different ways. Returning you to your world seemed to have blotted out your memory, I just unlocked it." Artemis said.

"It would seem I owe you thanks Artemis!" Shayera said.

"Think nothing of it, all of Olympus is in the Justice League’s debt! Be well my friends!" Artemis said. "And you, don’t be a stranger J’onn J’onz!" she thought, before disappearing back to Olympus.

"And now, we must vow secrecy." Superman said. "Everyone in this boardroom knows of Amazon initiation rituals and of the dire need to keep them secret. We know Bruce is Diana’s initiate, and that Ted will soon be Hippolyta’s. We must keep Themiscyra safe. Nothing must form a wedge between us, ever again."

Wonder Woman smiled. All exchanged a knowing look. They all shared of one of the greatest secrets of the world, and were now sworn to secrecy.

In Wayne Manor, Bruce and Diana were preparing their suitcases.

"Bruce, could you please tell me what your big surprise is?" Diana asked, smiling.

"My dear, we have lived over 50 years of our lives, waiting for the Olympian gods to give us a sign of life. We now get to relive those years, with the possibility of not repeating the same mistakes we’ve all made." Bruce said, with a wink.

He turned to Diana and put his arms around her.

"Would you care to come property shopping with me? There’s a miniature Wayne Manor and Bat-Cave that needs to be built in the Caribbean, and I’d like to get a head start. Besides, I find I truly enjoy making love to you under the stars, on the sand of a desert island’s beach!" he said, in a low, seductive voice.

Diana smiled, seemingly completely taken by surprise. "Desert Island shopping? You say you enjoy my acts of spontaneity, I must say I’m enjoying your spontaneity tough guy!" She said.

They kissed.

In Wildcat’s Watchtower Quarters, the love of his life was waiting for him.

"Good after-noon your Highness, I’m so very glad of your visit!" He said, pulling back his mask, smiling.

"Good after-noon Mister Grant!" Hippolyta said, walking up to him, kissing him.

"Since you have accepted to be my secret lover, and since we know I will make amendments to Themiscyran law in the future to allow me to take you as my mate…not to mention the fact I am head over heels in love with you! Ted, I see no reason to wait any further." She said, pulling a small vile from a bag tied to her belt.

Ted smiled. "I am honoured, and happier than words can convey my Queen!" He said.

"Then be quiet, dim the lights and sit in bed with me. Let’s do this. I must warn you Ted, this can be intense." Hippolyta said, smiling charmingly, sitting in Wildcat’s bed.

He complied, dimming the lights in his Watchtower quarters. He sat in bed next to the woman he loves, facing her.

"Fire away!" He said. The initiation ritual began.

In another part of Gotham City, Shayera and Joey had transported to his apartment.

"Joey, I’m so sorry I threw you across the table in the boardroom! I hope I didn’t hurt you!" She said.

"Don’t worry about it baby, you weren’t yourself. Besides, Superman caught me before I hit the wall!" He replied.

She took his face in her left hand in the way she had done so many times before, but puckered him up gently, kissing him tenderly. He put his arms around her, holding her close.

"What would you feel like doing Shy? It’s early after-noon, we’ve regained one heck of a lump of time in our lives and today’s still young. Do you feel like visiting Rex?" Joey asked, looking into her eyes.

"I do … but could we stay here a bit longer? I thought I’d never feel your body again, never hold you again…I may sound childish, but…mind if we just lie down? I just want to relax in your arms, feel you near me…" She asked, looking at him sweetly, a far cry from Shayera Hol, of the Thanagarian High Guard.

It was a look she had gained from becoming a mother, a look she had learned to use regularly when Joey came into her life, loving her unconditionally.

"No Shy, not childish at all, it sounds like heaven to me as a matter of fact, after all we have just gone through!" He said, kissing her.

She smiled and took his hand. They walked to the master bedroom, took off their uniforms and lay naked in bed, snuggling, kissing, and taking comfort in each other’s embrace.

They would visit young Rex, but later that day.

In Metropolis, Superman showed up in his apartment bearing gifts. Lois would return in a few hours, and he wanted to surprise her with something special.

Candles were lit, rose petals on the bedroom floor, exotic flowers from all parts of the world adorned the apartment’s lobby in a majestic floral arrangement.

"Champagne, caviar, your favourite chocolate mousse from your favourite Restaurant in Paris…get ready to be wowed Lois!" He thought, with a smirk on his face.

He heard the telltale noise of the key in the door’s lock. He smiled and hid in the bedroom.

Lois walked in, noticing the candlelight.

"Clark? What gives? Have we blown a relay or something? Clark?" She said, then noticed the flowers.

"That’s very sweet Smallville, where are you?" She said, smiling, now noticing the bottle of Champagne, the platter of Caviar and the dishes of chocolate mousse on the coffee table.

"You’ve pulled all stops haven’t you?" She said, smiling.

Clark stepped out of the bedroom, dressed in a silk bathrobe. Lois looked at him with a surprised smile.

"Like it?" He asked.

"I do! Clark, what’s the occasion?" She asked, putting her arms around him.

"I realise that being Superman I can’t always be with you as much as I would like." He said.

"You try your best Smallville, it’s not easy being Superman!" She said.

"All the same, I just wanted you to know how precious you are to me." He said.

"Oh, Clark!" She said, kissing him.

Elsewhere, in an old but well maintained farm on a small piece of land he managed to purchase with the help of his friends Bruce and Ollie, J’onn J’onz levitated, going into a trance.

"Artemis, Artemis can you hear me? You were right Artemis. If you still want me, I have some time off, would you care to join me?" He said, telepathically.

In a flash of light, Artemis appeared in front of him, with a teasing smile on her face.

"As the mortals say, ‘took you long enough’ Mr, J’onz!" She said, grinning.

He smiled and landed near her. He transformed into his John Jones form.

"I have been told I kiss better in this form …would it be presumptuous of me to expect a…" J’onn said.

Artemis pulled him closer and planted a kiss on his John Jones lips.

"I was waiting for a long time for you to ask!" She said, looking in his eyes. "You will have to forgive me, I lack practice in the kissing department, unlike my Sister Aphrodite!"

"Then…we can both practice together!" He replied, smiling. They kissed again.