(AN: This is an answer to a challenge made on the Batmanwonderwoman Forum. It is set in the Batman Beyond universe and Diana has just returned to man's world. It will be a BMWW story, but along the way there will be twists and turns. Enjoy it.)

The Old Man (Prompt challenge) (Preview)

The entire Watchtower falls into a hush as Wonder Woman walks down the hall. Whispers fall all around the amazon as she strolls toward the original founders meeting room. She walks inside and sees familiar faces.

"Diana." Clark says as he smiles at her.

"Kal, how's everything?" Diana asks as if she had never been away in the first place.

"Stable for the moment." Clark says as he looks at the other members sitting at the table. Diana looks around at Shayera who has gained a little gray in her hair. J'onn looks the same, but then again he most likely will age even slower than Kal. John looks older, but the ring is keeping his body strong and fit. She looks toward Bruce's chair and feels a slight pang of grief. The man was stubborn, but when she heard that he had to drop the mission. She wished that she would have remained in man's world if for nothing else than to be there as a friend.

Another head pops into the room and a man dressed in a black trench coat and wearing a strange looking gas mask walks in.

"More trouble going on in the undertowns. The clones know that Luthor the second put genetic defects into them. They are rallying into a fighting force. We may have less than two days." The man says.

"Dar..." Superman begins before the man holds up his hand.

"Stuff it. I've got to get back to Blüdhaven." The man says as he turns and leaves.

"Seems familiar." Diana says as she watches him leave.

"Granted. He acts quite a bit like Batman." Clark says. Seconds later another dark figure steps into the room. He walks toward Clark and stairs the man of steel down.

"Gotham is not a meta playground." Terry growls as he looks at Clark.

"Look... No one meant for the newest version of the injustice gang to end up there." Clark begins before a well placed Bat Glare stops him.

"Gotham. Is. Not. A. Meta. Playground!" Terry growls harder and slams his fist down on the table.

"I've spent the last thirty six hours gathering up criminals that your party pals let out. And since you couldn't manage to hold on your own rogue gallery I've been force to stop chasing after Inque and apprehend Lex Jr for you. By the way... This is what he was in Gotham to do!" Terry shouts as he throws a file down on the table.

"Batman calm down." John says before a glare from Terry shuts him up.

"Calm down nothing! Warhawk is in the hospital because everything got out of hand! Inque nearly killed him because this became priority! On top of that Luthor II was there to buy information off of Inque. It seems that she had managed to find sentive files from the old cadmus files. Files that include updated information about the metro and watchtower. Now let me say this one more time. Gotham is not a meta playground. Keep your enemies out of Gotham, and stay out of there as well!" Terry shouts before he turns and storms out.

John and Shayera quickly get up and head out. Clark nods and then looks at Diana who is confused.

"Warhawk is their son." Clark says.

"Oh, Oh Hera, I hope he's alright." Diana says.

"If Batman knows about him, then he is. For him to be a hospital it means that he's in one that no one except for the league knows exist." Clark says before he sits down.

"Speaking of which... The new Batman sure seems a lot like..." She begins before Clark raises a hand.

"He is a lot like Bruce. Diana a lot has happened, and to be honest this is something that you should talk to Bruce about." Clark almost laughs at himself for that statement. "We both know he won't talk about it though. Look... It's not my place to talk about it, and I won't, but you really should see Bruce." Clark says as he shuts off the monitor.

Diana looks toward J'onn who also nods and then walks out of the room.

"I can't... We didn't part on good terms." She says as she looks at the floor.

"I know. You do know what happened a few nights before right?" Clark asks.

"No... I... I was too hurt to find out." She says as she stands there in shame.

"The Joker had kidnapped Tim. He had tortured him until Tim finally broke. When Bruce found him... It wasn't pretty Diana. Believe me Bruce didn't mean the things he said. He never once stopped thinking about you." Clark says as he begins to walk out.

Diana stands there for a few minutes as the sentence soaks in. Bruce's family had been hurt, and his lashing out was a way of him dealing with the pain. Adding more salt to the wound is the fact that he still thought about her and for Clark to know it meant that he had talked about her. She shakes her head as she prepares to go out into the halls. She loved Bruce. She really did, but whatever time they would have had together was gone by now. She would go and be his friend, but most likely he would reject her. She left him. She left everyone and the Batman didn't deal with those he care for leaving him. No... She would start over again and try to get past that part of her life.

(Batcave)

Bruce grabs his chest as he looks at the video from Terry's cowl. There is Diana. Diana, his Diana finally came back. He shook his head and looked again. It had been so long since he had seen her. For a moment a flash of youth flooded his old blue eyes, but his body reminded him of his age. Slowly he forces himself to sit down.

"That time is over." he says to Ace as the large dog lays beside him.

(Watchtower - Training room)

Diana stops as she hears training and looks in to see the man called Dar fighting against the new Batman. The both of them are in peak physical condiction. She watches as Dar manages to flip over the Bat and grabs his shoulders as he does. The action is followed through until the second Batman finds himself slammed against the wall.

"Do not speak of my mother again." Dar says as he grabs his trenchcoat and heads outside.

Diana looks to see tuffs of dark blond hair sticking up from under the mask and the man stops to look at her.

"Diana of Themyscira. Wonder Woman one of the original founders of the Justice League. If you are going to tell me that training like that isn't accepted in the League then go ahead. I'm a part time member. Certain rules don't apply to me." Dar says.

"No, I was going to say that you shouldn't have waited for that one opening." She says as she smiles.

"Point well taken, but now if you will excuse me I have to return to my city." Dar says as he walks past her and toward the teleporters.

Seconds later Terry walks out and storms past Diana.

"Just wait a second! We aren't finished talking!" Terry shouts to him.

"You accused my mother of a crime she did not commit. We are finished talking!" Dar says as he looks at Terry.

"I said that it was done in the same fashion she commited her old crimes. I wanted to know if I could speak to her!" Terry shouts.

"Get this through your pointy eared head. You. ARe. Not. Going. NEar. Her! It has taken her years to get past what the original Batman did to her! You are going to leave her alone." Dar says as he looks at Terry.

"Leave her alone or what?" Terry asks.

Dar grabs Terry and shoves him hard against the wall. He pulls the gas mask away from his eyes and one of them glows a dull green. For a second nothing happens, but then Terry seems to become limp and falls to the ground.

"Or I will drain the very life from your body." Dar says as he pulls the mask back over his face.

He turns to Diana and bows in respect.

"Miss, have a nice day." He says as he walks down the hall.

Diana looks where he has gone and then turns toward the second Batman. He slowly gets to his feet and shakes his head.

"Did you get that old man?" Terry asks.

"She's not the one that did it. We still need to speak to her." Bruce says over the communicator.

"How the hell do you expect me to go and talk to her? Her son's a freakin' nut job!" Terry says as he slams a fist against the wall.

"Nut Job or not we need to speak to Selina." Bruce says.

"Alright, alright... I'll see if I can set up a meeting through the foundation or something." Terry says before he looks at Diana.

"Hello Bruce." Diana says straight into Terry's face.

"I'm not..." He begins before she narrows her eyes at him.

"Oh... Yeah I get it." He says before he shuts up.

"Hand her an ear piece." Bruce barks the command.

Terry grumbles and pulls a blue-tooth earbud from the suit and hands it to Diana.

"Princess." Bruce says.

"He acts too much like you." She says as she looks into Terry's face.

"The training does that." Bruce says over the communicator.

"This isn't training Bruce." She says simply.

"No it isn't. What do you need Diana?" Bruce asks.

"To tell you that I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I wasn't here when Alfred passed away, and I'm sorry that I didn't let you explain about Tim. I'm sorry that I fled and went home. Bruce... I don't know what kind of life we could have had, but I wish that I would have stayed and tried. Maybe... Maybe things would have turned out different." She says softly.

"Maybe, but time has moved on Princess." He says his voice almost sounds as if it is breaking up, and Diana understands. She feels the bitter loneliness as well.

"I was a fool Bruce. Did you at least find someone to make you happy?" She asks.

"They all left the mission. And there is only the mission." Bruce says

"Stubborn old man." She says with a smile.

"Arrogant preening Princess." Bruce replies with a soft chuckle.

"I hope to see you one day." She says before she hands the ear bud back to Terry and walks off.

"Okay... What was that all about?" Terry asks.

"None of your business. Now... Get back to Gotham." Bruce orders