Disclaimer: Justice League ain't mine.

First Steps

Epilogue: The Reunion

The clock tower in the city of Bludhaven struck four. Dick Grayson, the superhero otherwise known as Nightwing, freely looked over at the clock, surprised at the time. He quickly snapped his head back ahead of him, not wanting to miss the man he was waiting for.

What's taking him so long?

Dick leaned against the nearby wall, his arms folded, and began tapping his arm with his fingers, gently drumming the time away.

He's never this late. Every week, the same place, the same time.

Dick went over all the things that could have happened in order to delay him to this extent. He began considering his options and what he could do when he caught a glimpse of him walking down the street. Dick smiled. Even though he looked older than the last time he had seen him (out of costume), Wally West was still as recognisable as ever, not least because of the huge grin plastered over his face as he spotted Dick. He gave Dick an enthusiastic wave as he walked over. Dick raised his hand in response as he pushed himself off the wall.

It still seemed strange to Dick, meeting in public without costumes, and he had been trying his utmost not to adopt any Nightwing-esque poses on the remote chance that someone would recognise him. Not that there was any danger of that happening, though. When he fought the criminals of Bludhaven, he beat them up so quickly they rarely saw what hit them, and because of the shadowy nature of his costume, most of the time they only saw a black figure stalking towards them.

"Sorry I'm late, there was trouble in Keystone. So, when's the party starting?"

Dick smiled. He hadn't been too enthusiastic on the idea of having a party at his apartment, but since Wally had hosted the last one at his, it seemed only fair. That, and Wally said he had some 'surprise guests' planned, and Dick's curiosity got the better of him. Wally had told him to invite anyone he wanted as well, so Dick had invited Barbara and Kara. He had tried to contact the Titans, but was told they were out of town. Dick was slightly disappointed, having not seen them in well over a three months, but felt some relief at the fact as well. He did not need Barbara and Koriand'r meeting. Catfights do not a good party make, though Wally would probably disagree with him on that.

"About eight. When are your 'mystery guests' arriving?"

Wally grinned, but it wasn't his usual grin. This one was borne of true evil. "Oh, they'll be here."

That made Dick uncomfortable. Wally had a nasty streak in him when it came to pranks and practical jokes, and his hanging around with Plastic Man had only made it worse, or so Shayera had told him. Dick had invited her too, but she seemed hesitant, and Dick could understand why. Most of the people attending the party were at least ten years younger than her, and the only person whom she knew too well was Wally. True, she and Dick had become fast friends, but nowhere near as close as she was to Wally. Dick had thought he saw something else behind the hesitation when he talked to her, but he had put it aside, putting it down to spending too much time around Batman.

Dick made no effort to hide his discomfort, and Wally laughed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dick had no idea what he was doing. And Wally knew it.

"Dick, what the hell is that?"

"Uh… party music."

Wally looked at him with a mix of distaste and pity, and whizzed over to the stereo that Dick stood next to.

"Yeah, if you're about twelve."

Dick's embarrassment rose to his cheeks. No wonder the store clerk gave him such a strange look when he bought the CD.

"Hey, it's been a long time since I did this."

"What do you mean, since you did this? As I recall, it was always either me or Cyborg that would put any parties together back then."

Dick's embarrassment changed to irritation. "Well then, what would you suggest?"

Wally smiled. "I was hoping you'd ask. Don't go anywhere; I'll be back in a few minutes."

"A few minutes?"

"Hey, even the Fastest Man Alive has to wait in line."

And with that, Wally was gone. Dick sighed and took out the CD that was in the stereo and dropped it in the trashcan. He went to the kitchen to check the supplies for the party. Wally had given him a rather extensive list of food and drink, and, remembering just how Wally could eat, Dick had decided to buy double of everything. He hoped that Wally could eat as much as he remembered. He looked around the kitchen.

Well, may as well start somewhere.

He reached inside the fridge, and pulled out a beer. Just as he managed to wrestle the top off, he heard knocking at the door. He looked at the clock, and frowned when he saw that it read eight thirty. He shrugged and went to the door, undoing all the locks and latches. Just as he opened the door, he was tackled in the middle by an orange and purple blur, which now held him in a death grip. Dick's beer went flying up in the air, and Dick looked down to see Koriandr's beaming face looking back up at him.

"It is wonderful to see you again, Dick!"

"You too, Kori," he gasped, trying desperately to get her to loosen her grip. Her eyes widened and let go him, a sheepish smile creeping across her face. Even though she had matured and changed since they had first met, Kori was still very much ruled by her emotions, and Dick usually caught the brunt of them, good or bad.

"I apologise, but it seems like so long since I last saw you!"

Gathering his breath, Dick managed a smile. "I thought you guys were out of town?" he said, looking past Kori to see the Titans stood in his doorway. Vic shrugged, taking a swig from the beer that he had caught after Kori barrelled into Dick.

"Or maybe that's what Wally wanted you to think," he said, winking. Dick was surprised by how well Vic's holographic imager worked, effectively disguising his metallic components to the point where Dick had trouble recognising him until he spoke. Dick smiled.

"So you're Wally's 'mystery guests', huh?"

Garfield grinned nervously. "Yeah… uh… where's your bathroom? Vic wouldn't stop on the way over here," he said, shooting a glare in his hulking friends' direction. But Vic was already walking around the apartment, looking the place over. Dick's smile grew.

"It's just over there," he said, pointing him the right direction. He looked back to see Raven still stood in the doorway. "Raven," he said, nodding.

"Dick. It's good to see you."

"You too. Hey guys, you can help yourself to food or whatever, it's just in the-"

Vic ran by him and into the kitchen, closely followed by Garfield, who had just emerged from the bathroom. Dick looked over at Raven and Kori, and, after closing the door, motioned for them to sit down on the chair that Wally had placed seemingly randomly around the room. When he had mentioned it to Wally, he had merely winked at him and said,

"You'll see."

Dick pushed the memory aside, and looked at his two friends. He and Kori sat next to each other on the sofa, while Raven sat on a chair off to the side, so that Dick could see both of them. He tried not to look at Kori more than Raven out of politeness, but even after all this time he still couldn't stop himself.

"So, how have you been? What have you been up to?"

Raven was the one to answer. "The new students are a bit… troublesome. Especially the new Robin," she said, a hint of a smile on her lips.

Kori nodded an affirmative, smiling as she did so. "He has many stories to tell of you."

Dick raised an eyebrow. "He does, huh? I hope they're complimentary."

She nodded again. "Oh, very much complimentary. He sometimes has moments where it is as if you never left," she said, some sadness sinking into her eyes as she spoke. Dick took his hand in hers.

"I'm sorry I haven't been over recently, but I've been… busy."

Raven nodded. "We've heard. How are things in the Justice League?"

Kori's eyes lit up once again. "You must have many great stories of your adventures."

Dick paused, then shook his head. "I'm not a member anymore."

"You're what?"

Dick looked over to see Garfield looking at him with his eyes wide, potato chips exploding from his mouth as he spoke.

"You've left the Justice League? Aw, man, this was my one chance to get in and meet Wonder Woman!"

Vic rolled his eyes, and looked at Dick. "What happened, man?"

Dick shrugged and sighed. "It just… wasn't right for me."

Vic smirked. "You mean you couldn't handle it."

Dick narrowed his eyes. "No, I just couldn't be in four places at once. What if I was out with the League, and Blockbuster suddenly decided to go on a rampage through Bludhaven? Or what if I was working with you and the League called? I had priorities, and…" he trailed off, his eyes working their way over to Kori's. "…and I made a choice."

The sound of rapid muffled footsteps broke the conversation, and Wally burst through the door with a stack of CD's and yet more snacks.

"Music and food for all!" he yelled, his view blocked by the tower of food and plastic. As he dropped the goods on a nearby chair, he spotted the new guests, and his expression changed as rapidly as he could run, changing from first shock, to happiness, and then finally to angry disappointment. He crossed his arms.

"Ah, dammit - I wanted to be here when you arrived!" He said, sounding like spoilt child as he spoke. Gar went over to him and put his arm around him.

"Don't worry, dude; you didn't miss anything. Kori nearly squeezed the life outta Dick, me an' Vic ate almost all the food, the usual. What music you got?"

"Glad you asked," Wally said, grinning as he took the stack of CD's over to the stereo, Garfield in close pursuit.

Dick tried to ignore their snickering over what he presumed was the CD he had bought for the party, turning his attention to Vic. "Want a drink?"

"Thought you'd never ask."

After they both took a beer from the fridge, Dick leaned back on the kitchen table, and pointed at Vic's arm.

"You can turn that off, you know."

Vic blinked as if not sure what he was talking about, then nodded. "Oh, yeah! Right," he said, pushing a button hidden beneath his holographic 'skin' to reveal the true Victor Stone. Dick nodded in approval.

"So, how are you finding being a teacher?"

Vic sighed as he sat tentatively in a chair. Dick resisted the wince threatening to play over his face as he heard the chair creaking in protest. "It's tough, man. These kids aren't like we were; they've been around. They don't think they need to push themselves 'cos they think they've seen it all."

Dick smiled. "Doesn't sound that different to me."

Their conversation was interrupted by a sudden blast of impossibly loud music from the main living area, followed by an angered yell from Raven, and a laugh from Garfield and Wally. Dick could vaguely make out Raven saying something over the loud music, and the music suddenly stopped.

Vic smiled back, then became serious again. "It'd be easier with you there, man."

Dick nodded solemnly. "I know, but I have responsibilities here."

"It's not just that." He leaned towards Dick, and he tilted his head to better hear Vic's whispered words.

"She's not gonna wait around forever, y'know."

Dick frowned. "Wait for what?"

"Don't give me that. You know what I'm talking about. You've already hurt what you had going with Batgirl because of your whole 'lone wolf with responsibilities' thing."

Dick was about to object, when pieces of a jigsaw fitted into place in his head.

Barbara... Barbara!

There was a knock on the door.

"Oh no," Dick whispered. Vic looked at him, puzzled.

"What?"

"That's Barbara."

Vic smiled, and turned his attention back towards his beer, before seeing the horror in Dick's face. "You're not… serious, are you?"

"What do you think?"

Vic's eyes widened. "What were you thinking?"

"I didn't know that Wally was inviting you! Blame him!"

The knocking at the door came again. Kori's voice came from the living area.

"Dick? Should I get that?"

Dick heard Wally's voice come next as he left the kitchen.

"Don't worry 'bout it Kori, I'll get it."

Just as Dick came into the room, Wally had opened the door and had widened his eyes in shock. He smiled weakly. "Hi, Barbara. Kara."

Dick put his hand over his eyes, rubbing them in hopes that he would be a few hours in the past when he opened them, and stop himself from making this stupid mistake.

No such luck. He opened his eyes to see Barbara and Kori staring at each other. Just staring. No movement, not so much as a sound. In fact, that pretty much described everyone in the room. Garfield had turned around from his fiddling with the stereo and was frozen in a hunched over position. Raven looked indifferently at the whole ordeal. Wally was completely still, which Dick took as a sign that this was very bad. He turned to look at Vic, who had his teeth clenched and his eyes widened in horrific anticipation of what was to come.

Dick took a deep breath, and stepped forward. It took him a moment to find his voice. He wasn't sure what to say, so he just settled for a formal introduction.

No way and argument could grow out of that, right?

"Babs, meet Kori. Kori, Babs."

More silence ensued. Kori was the first to move. She lifted up her hand in a handshake gesture. "It is… nice to meet you."

Barbara lifted her arm equally slowly. "Likewise." She turned to Dick and grabbed his arm. Dick didn't even think about what Kori would think of that. "Could I have a word with you?"

Garfield raised his eyebrows several times. "Oh ho ho!" he said, his trademark grin plastered on his face. Upon seeing the expression on Kori and Babs' face, he quickly wiped the smile away and turned back to his fiddling with the stereo. Kori looked over at Dick, and put her hand on his other arm as she spoke.

"I would also like to speak with you," she said, not once taking her eyes off of Barbara.

"It won't take long," Barbara said, a smile forcibly stretching her features. "Then you can have him all to yourself."

Kori was about to say something more, when Dick put his hand on hers. "It's okay, Kori. I'll be back in a second."

The hurt on Kori's face made him go silent with guilt. Barbara dragged him into the kitchen before he could do anything more, replacing his guilt with dread.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Who was that?"

Dick put his head in his hands as he sat down, resting his elbows on the table. "That was Starfire."

"The Teen Titan girl?"

"That's her."

"And what are you to her?"

"We're... just friends."

"And what exactly does 'just friends' entail?"

"Why do you care?"

She was silent for a moment, as if taken aback by the comment. She turned so her back was facing him. "Don't you know?" she whispered, almost making it sound like an accusation.

Dick slowly rubbed the back of his neck and groaned. "Babs, I… you never… I mean… We never…" He stopped trying to talk, the words getting caught in his chest well before they even reached his throat. He knew what to do in almost any battle or tactical situation, but when it came to women, Dick had no clue what he was doing.

Where's that Bat training now, Bruce?

In all honestly, Dick and Barbara hadn't talked for a long time, gradually becoming more and more distant as their respective work places pulled them away from each other. He had tried, initially, to keep in contact with her, but had simply thought that she didn't want to talk to him. That was, until Bruce had told him the real reason; she was filling in for Batman, keeping his presence constant in Gotham. Dick's relationship with her had become increasingly fraught, ever since that fateful day that he threw the Robin cape in Bruce's face. It had taken him a long time to let go of both Bruce's and Barbara's betrayal, and even then, the pair's relationship had been strained. When he had told her he was moving to Bludhaven, the most either of them could manage was a friend's embrace, Dick allowing himself the guilty pleasure of smelling her hair before he left her, a reminder of things as they were before Batgirl and Robin dominated their lives.

Of course, that wasn't so say that his relationship with Kori wasn't complicated as well, being quite the opposite, with him never being able to sort out his feelings for her properly. They even reached the tentative stage of being a couple until he left Bruce. When he had told her and the rest of the Titans that he was giving up his role as Robin, and that he was going away to train, Kori had been sad but had also been supportive of his choice, and was happy for him when he eventually returned as Nightwing. But since then, they hadn't picked up where they left off. Dick put it down to being too busy, but he knew deep down it was more than that. Vic was right when he said that she wouldn't wait for him forever, but it was something that Dick had never felt ready to confront; it would require making a choice that would seriously impact is life, and he was self admittedly very bad at this kind of thing. And more important than anything, he desperately didn't want to hurt either Kori or Barbara, though by waiting, he realised he most likely had hurt both of them by waiting until now to do anything. That is, if he was going to do anything now.

Of all the places to do this…

He took a deep breath. "Babs… we were never going to end up…"

"What?" she said, taking Dick aback with how hurt she seemed. Dick took another deep breath, and spoke very slowly and gently.

"We've ...been growing further and further apart ever since I moved to Bludhaven, and-"

"And who's fault if that, Dick? You were the one who said that you couldn't stay in his city anymore."

"I know that. But this was coming ever since I came back. You had to have seen it, though I don't blame you if you didn't. I have to admit, I didn't see it until Alfred said something."

The silence that resulted from Dick's statement would have killed any ordinary man. As it was, Nightwing and Batgirl settled for staring at different parts of the room.

"Are you serious about her?" she asked, pushing the ever present choice into Dick's face. He took a deep breath, carefully deliberating what he could say, if there was any way of saying it without it sounding like he was making a commitment one way of the other, but realised that he had been running from this choice for too long, and it was time to finally stop running. If there was anything he had learned from his brief stint with the Justice League, that was it.

"Yes. I am."

She sighed. "Then there's nothing I can do, is there?" she said, a weak smile on her face. Dick stood slowly, pushing back his chair. He walked around so he was facing her, then wrapped his arms around Barbara, and felt her arms doing the same, gripping his shirt.

"I'm sorry, Barbara."

She pulled away, wiping a stray tear from her face as she smiled. "Hey, I knew this was going to come eventually. If not with her, then with someone else, or me with someone else…" she sighed. "I guess I was just… trying to avoid it. You know what I mean?"

Dick smiled. "More than you know."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few hours later, the only members of the party left were the five Titans and Wally. Barbara and Kara had left shortly after her talk with Dick in the kitchen, and Dick had understood, promising to keep in touch with her and the others. The party was winding down as they sat on the floor in an improvised semi circle.

"Dude, you throw one hell of a party, you know?" Garfield said, more than slightly tipsy, "It's a shame that Supergirl had to leave though, you know? I think there was something there, you know?"

Vic chuckled and Dick just smiled. This was one of the few times he had seen his changeling friend under the influence of alcohol, and it was a sight to behold. Wally, meanwhile, was finding the whole display hilarious. Vic patted his old friend on the shoulder.

"Think you've had enough, BB?"

Garfield shook his head profusely, then shrugged. "Nah, he's okay…" he mumbled, before falling backwards unconscious. Wally laughed even more, if that was possible. He always laughed more when he was drunk. Raven rolled her eyes, trying to hide the smile that was obvious to her friends. Vic shook his head, and looked at the watch in his arm.

"Woo… guess we better be going, guys. It's getting' late and I don't trust Robin alone in the tower for too long." He looked up at Dick. "Guess you never thought you'd hear that, huh?"

"Hope he's not too much trouble."

Vic smirked and shook his head. "Nah… y'know, he reminds me more of Garfield than of you."

Raven shuddered. "Now there's a horrible thought."

Vic picked up his green friend and slung him over his shoulder. He activated his holoprojector, once more becoming the ordinary Joe known as Victor Stone. He opened the door and turned to Wally. "Hey, Wally. You wanna come with us and show these kids how it's done tomorrow?"

Wally smiled. "Nothing would make me happier right now. But then again, I am pretty drunk, so we'll see in the morning."

Raven stood looked over at where Dick was sat with Kori wrapped around his arm. "It was good to see you." She walked towards the open doorway and stopped. She turned around. "Oh, and… good choice." She smiled slightly, and Dick smiled back. Vic looked at the two of them, completely clueless, and turned to look at Wally, who wasn't really paying attention.

"Are we gonna go or what?" Wally asked impatiently.

"Uh… yeah… Kori, ready to go?"

Kori looked from Vic to Dick, and back again. "Well, I…"

"Actually," Dick cut in, "I think Kori can stay here for a few days. I think she needs a vacation."

Dick was expecting Vic to smirk, but in its place was a happy smile. "Yeah, I get you. Took you long enough. Good party, man. Next time we'll have to do something at the Tower, okay?"

Dick nodded, and got up to see them off. "Yeah. It was good to see you guys again."

He and Vic pushed their fists together in the way they had done since the earliest days of the Teen Titans.

"Don't be a stranger, y'hear? Keep those priorities of yours straight."

Dick looked back at Kori, who was resting her head on his chin. "Count on it."

Dick turned to Wally. "Wally... thanks."

"What're you thanking me for?"

"For... everything. You know?"

Wally grinned and put his hand on Dick's shoulder. "Nope. But I'll take your word for it."

Dick smiled took a step back. "You guys take care of yourself."

They all said their assorted goodbyes before walking down the corridor, Vic yelling at Wally to slow down the whole time. Dick closed the door and turned to look at Kori, who had gone to sit on the sofa. She looked troubled.

"Something wrong?" Dick asked, sitting down next to her and taking her hands in his.

"Perhaps it will be best if I go with the others. You will want to patrol the city, won't you?"

Dick smiled. He looked into Kori's eyes, and thought about everything that lay before him, and all the things that had happened to bring him to this point, his mind lingering on what Kori had said to him about good things coming from the bad. From Bruce and Barbara's deception, he learned independence. From his forcing himself to leave the League, he learned that he needed to re-evaluate how he ran his life. And from Barbara and Kori's forced meeting, he had learned that he couldn't run from the problems in his life. He only wished it hadn't taken him so long to realise it. He also wished that Wally had been sober enough to understand why he was thanking him. Through helping him, Dick saw the value, once again, of facing up to hard choices. And as he spoke, he knew he would be forever grateful to Wally for helping him to make that choice.

"It's not high on my list of priorities right now," he said, leaning in to embrace Kori, who, at that moment, was his highest priority.

Fin.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In case you didn't know:

Kori/Koriand'r - Starfire

Vic/Victor Stone - Cyborg

Gar/Garfield Logan - Beast Boy

(A/N: Yeah, that's the end. For those who think this story as a whole was a bit short, all I'm going to say is that this was all I had planned from the beginning, and anything else I added would have just been stretching the story (and the characters) further than it (and they) needed to go. Short and Sweet.

Thanks to:

The World's Finest - for info on heroes and villains of the JLU

The Watchtower - for the same info

Titans Tower - for info on the Teen Titans comic book world

DC and Warner Brothers - for giving me such a cool universe full of such great characters to write about

You, The Esteemed Reader - for reading and (here's the important part) reviewing. Your feedback and suggestions were very helpful and helped me to make a better story. Remember to review this chapter as well.

Also, I've gone back and edited the old chapters, so if you've been following this update by update it might be worth your while to read the whole thing again. (For example, I've removed Barry Allen references since he doesn't exist in the DCAU at all, and I'm really trying hard to make this thing fit in. So just think that Wally used to read Flash comic books or something.)

Adios, amigos.)