my body is no longer his temple;

 #she genuinely expected him to be a vampire

“Five years. That's how long she'd spent in Bahamas, with Luke. They bought that house by the beach, crossed off a lot of wishes on Luke's bucket list and their binder of memories had grown so thick they'd need a new one soon. Most importantly though, she'd spent five years being genuinely happy and in love. She never once dwelled on her painful past or got any visits from her parents. Once every year she spent some time mourning the ones she lost but it didn't last for too long, just as Melaina and Sameer would've wanted it.”

She was happy. That emotion was extremely prominent in her dream. She wasn't sure if it was actually her emotion or not but she assumed. Dancing shadow figures showed her two people in a domestic environment, falling in love. Then she could feel a sharp object pierce through her chest so deeply that she almost believed it was real. In the next scene, she sat in a room with a man in front her. His lips were moving but nothing came out. Lastly, right before she woke up with a jolt, a clown aimed a gun at her and fired as he laughed like a maniac.

#obviously it wasn’t actually the worst year of her life but being nice is close enough

YEAR: 1998.

Ares was the god of war. Former, considering he was for sure dead now. And yet, a second world war erupted. Roni contemplated on making an effort but it just wasn't the same. Aside from that, she still hasn't recovered. It's been seventy years. Seventy years since she last fought and lost and yet whenever she closed her eyes to sleep, all she could see was the people she lost. Keith, Melaina, Steve, a part of herself.

Sometimes she looked herself in the mirror and got an urge to punch it. Seventy years of jumping from country to country, job to job, just to be alive. She's learned so many languages, so many cultures and professions but still didn't know what she wanted. She's worked as a journalist, a TV editor, at several animal parks, restaurants and so much more. None were fulfilling and she hated it. It made her feel spoiled and greedy when nothing ever filled that emptiness.

YEAR: 1940.

Roni kept her promises. She visted Marcos and Sameer very often, making sure they were happy and living. Sameer got to live out part of his dream: he hasn't become a famous actor yet but he was in the small business and Roni couldn't be happier for him. Marcos was content with his job in Greece and he took care of the house and garden that Melaina had left him.

Whenever she visited Marcos, she was afraid to even go near the weapon's shop ever since Mr. Serapis had commented on her professions, which she had never mentioned to anyone. Roni knew she should've barged into his store and demanded to know how and why he knew that but she was too afraid. So she never did.

YEAR: 1924.

Six years. That's how long it took Roni to gather the strength to return to Greece. During those six years, she wrote. Living on an island all alone, she wrote about her life just to get it out of her system. About Themyscira, Greece, Melaina and everything after that up until she decided to go back.

When she knocked on the door of her old home, Marcos opened. It took him some seconds but he finally recognized her. He didn't even say a word: instead he hugged her and sighed in content.

"Hadronia? I can't believe you're back." He smiled as they pulled away.

"Actually, it's... I just go by Roni now." She pointed out timidly. The smile on his face vanished slowly. "Can I come in?"

roni wasn’t sure why they asked her to go with them. surely a group like the league could complete any mission that was thrown at them. usually she said no whenever bruce asked her to join them but she was bored with nothing to do and bruce had promised her it wouldn’t take long. the league met up with a soldier who was most likely in charge or had at least called for their help.

“okay so i know what most of you guys do, but what does blondie bring to the team?” the man asked and motioned upwards with his chin as he eyed roni. almost rolling her own eyes, she crossed her arms and tilted her head to the side.

“i make good life decisions.” she stated blankly, not wanting to tell him her powers considering it was none of his business. bruce smiled in the corner proudly, no doubt in her mind that he hadn’t told the man about his own abilties and talents either.

“that’s not really a-” he started but diana quickly cut him off.

“no, trust us, she’s our most important member.”

“still not a member but thanks.” roni whispered and glanced and diana who merely smirked at her.

#cause they can’t even bother being discreet about it

“You and Alfred are the only ones that Bruce listens to.”

When Bruce suggested that he and Roni work together, her first reaction was to tell him that they’re equals. Not sidekicks, partners. Considering she’s never had any familiar relationships, she found comfort in Bruce very fast and the two grew to become like brother and sister. They were there for each other, they would take a bullet for each other but no one could quite irritate or hurt her in the way Bruce could and vice versa. No one is allowed to tease and mock him as much as she is and no one has put so much faith and trust in her as he has. Together, they help take care of the Batman family, of Wayne Enterprises and of the streets of Gotham. The Bat and the Shadow, the most feared duo in Gotham.

The morning after, the group gathered outside. Steve reminded them that if they wanted to, they could leave since they did their time and there was no more money. Sameer and Chief still wanted to proceed. Charlie however doubted himself and scratched the back of his neck.

"You should go, I'll stay behind. You'll be better off without me anyway." He said. With a frown, Roni gently placed her hand on his and shook her head. Diana leaned her head to the side and offered him a soft smile.

"No, Charlie. Who will sing for us?" She asked, putting a smile to his face. Roni looked up at Diana and was slapped with how pure she was. Even if Charlie wasn't the best sniper for the moment, Diana still managed to make him feel wanted and significant. Roni wished that Diana would stop making it so hard for her to hate her.

"Oh, no. Please." Steve groaned.

"Sing?" Charlie grinned before he rounded Diana as he began singing loudly.

"You asked for it." Steve shrugged while Diana only giggled.

"Freddy?" She said and stopped him for a second. "What you said before to Billy... I'm sorry. If there's anything I can do or if you just need to talk, I'm here. I just want you two to be happy. I know it sucks to be young and not have the perfect life but it's about what you do with it. If I get to help, I'll make sure you'll have a great life. Just don't dwell on the past. People will see you. I do. You're never truly alone even if it feels like it sometimes."

"You also see dead people so I don't know if that's much comfort." He joked and wiped his wet cheeks, making her laugh and a smile linger on her face. "I'm kidding of course. Thank you, Roni. I don't know where Billy found you but I'm glad he did."

"I'm gonna miss you." Billy confessed and rubbed his wrist. "You were right when you told me I was abusing my powers. You helped us a lot and even when you were... zoned out, you still came back to help us. I understand what you meant when you said that family doesn't only come from blood relations. You're part of my family now and I really like you. You're cool and smart and I could really use that in my life. I wanna be more like you. Please don't be a stranger."

Roni couldn't control her tears anymore so she allowed them to just form and roll down. Billy rubbed his hands together and doubted a little before he got up and embraced her in a hug. She smiled and rested her cheek against his head, sighing in content. At this point she almost wished that Bruce would've adopted him first so she could be around him constantly but then she would've never met Freddy or any of the other kids.

[read the story on wattpad here] [read it on ff.net here]

A pub. That's where Steve took them. Even Roni thought twice before stepping inside to the building that smelled horrifying and was loud of yelling voices. Steve quickly leaned against the wall where a Moroccan man was sat, talking to a group of people.

"But seriously, which prince?" Steve asked the man who seemed frustrated by his appearance. Roni folded her arms together and smiled. "Care to talk for a minute?"

"I've been racing those peacocks all night and you've–" The man started but cut himself off when he lay eyes on Diana. "Oh my goodness gracious... that's a work of art."

"Ain't she?" Roni commented sarcastically and overly smiled at Diana who only shook her head and smiled back softly.

"Sameer, Diana and Roni. Diana and Roni, Sameer."

Sameer tried to hug while simultaneously kiss Diana on the cheek, but she gently pushed him away. Roni snorted and then laughed when Diana kicked her ankle. Steve then proceeded to explain that Sameer was a conman who's a top undercover man.