18~When I'm Gone~
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"Batman."
He turned away the monitor, towards a troubled-looking teammate. "Yes?"
Flash had been … uncomfortable in the days after their visit to the other universe. It gave her a new way of looking at things that, frankly, seemed to disturb her. Admittedly, his response towards that fact had been somewhat minimal, manifesting in arranging monitor duty together with her. But it was important that she decide to talk to someone about it, if she wanted to, and not have someone press the issue. And so, he'd waited.
"In that other universe we went to, how did it get so bad? Was it really … just because of me?" She glanced at him nervously, a smile flitting on her lips. "I mean, come on! Obviously, there had to have been some other differences there that made it more likely to happen, right?"
He didn't respond as she continued to speak.
"And, like, our Superman would never kill Luthor – he'd never kill anyone. I … none of you would change because of me, right?" She turned to him, desperation thick in her voice. Asking him to please, please agree, please say yes, please say you won't turn out like them.
Bruce turned back to the monitors. He couldn't look at her as he said, "You overestimate our virtues."
Seated in the computer chair, the Flash spun herself around like a child. "I think you underestimate them. Would you do it?"
"Not now."
She stopped her antics and stared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Things like the Justice Lords don't happen overnight. They … spiral downwards. Slowly. It took two years for them." Bruce looked at the reflection on the monitor. "It's not something so noticeable once it starts. But it gets easier after the first incident. Then, you commit another and another…"
"I wouldn't let that happen."
"No." Satisfaction settled into Bruce's voice. "You wouldn't."
"Yeah." Wally smiled. "And now that we know what'll happen in the future if you all go off the rails like that, you won't end up that way. Right?"
Batman fell silent. How could he agree to something like that? Flash's smile wavered and then disappeared.
"Hey," she said softly. "You won't go all … dictator-y if I die, will you?" When she received no reply, she drew herself together. "Well, I'm here right now and I'll say it: if something does happen – to me–"
"Nothing will happen to you."
"But if something does," she insisted. "I don't want you guys to turn into the Justice Lords. Promise me that you won't."
Could Bruce promise something like that? He hesitated.
"Promise me."
For a long while, he simply looked at her. But then finally, reluctantly, he nodded. "I promise you."
She whooped. "One possible bad ending averted!"
Still facing the monitors, Bruce watched her out of the corner of his eye. He seemed to be making a lot of promises lately.
…Take care of her.
He looked at his Flash – happy, alive, humming a commercial song under her breath as she watched the monitors. And for one moment, he allowed himself a tiny smile, relaxing as they settled into an ordinary evening.
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Author's Note: And that's it. Thank you so much for reading this fanfic! I'm sorry if any errors were left even after editing and I'll try to fix them as soon as I can find them. Constructive criticism always helps, although for obvious reasons, the characters are OoC, though I've tried to keep it to a minimum. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as or even more than I enjoyed writing it!
