It wasn't the same.
The Watchtower was pretty cool alright. She had liked the way the huge beautiful stained glass windows, the ornate hanging lights, and the graceful spiraling wrought iron stairs mixed it up with all the modern computer tech stuff. It gave the place an eclectic geek vibe that actually kind of really seemed to fit Chloe. And it sure beat this place hands down on the superhero secret base in sweet factor.
Stargirl grinned, carefully wiping the thick dust off another glass display case.
It had kind of miffed Hawkman actually.
But when their joint mission had finished and it was time to call it, the JSA had returned without regret to still sheet covered furniture and time coated cabinets.
Because the Watchtower just wasn't the same as the Brownstone.
It was more than the wildly different looks to the two bases.
And in spite of all the good natured teasing they gave Hawkman that he had dragged them back so fast because he was afraid they'd defect, they all knew that their return was more than anyone just trying to keep a sense of team identity going by getting back into familiar territory.
She'd tried to explain it to Chloe but she wasn't sure she'd done it right.
Still, she must have gotten something through good enough, because she'd seen Chloe's eyes change as she looked around her beloved nerd nest. As if she was actually seeing it for the first time. And realizing for all its edge over what the JSA had in everything else, that Stargirl was right.
It was truly an amazing base.
But that's all it was.
It wasn't a home.
Like what the JSA had in its rundown museum.
There had been a certain . . . wistfulness in the other's eyes at least that seemed to say she'd gotten at least the gist of what they were still missing.
Their computer brain was up and running.
But they didn't have their heart online yet.
There was a sudden spat of raspy cursing followed by the sound of something heavy shattering against a wall. Stargirl snorted and shook her blond curled head ruefully as she set down her dust cloth and picked up the glass cleaner.
Which was, ironically, exactly the JSA's opposite problem.
Maybe she should propose a trade with Chloe tonight when they gathered for dinner. Some tech support to get the JSA at least up to the modern world in exchange for some team building training experience so the Watchtower superheroes could start functioning together right.
Preferably before Hawkman destroyed another computer or the Green Arrow decided to shoot another piece of art.
Stargirl wrinkled her nose.
And maybe while they were at it, they could also help The Blur work on his superhero name because, well frankly, it kind of sucked. Like her step-dad's sidekick moniker Stripesy. Really? Talk about ugh to the both of them. But at least her step-dad had the excuse of being a sidekick.
You needed a bit of righteous in a superhero name.
It was practically a universal law.
Stargirl sighed and stared at the glass before her critically, chewing her lower lip absently as she looked for smudges. She turned her head to catch the light at a different angle, found a few and set to work again. They had so much to do to get the place up again.
Of course, given the fact that the others didn't even have a team name yet, it wasn't surprising really that he didn't have a proper name, either. It was the weirdest thing. Good grief, even rappers and Boy Scout Patrols gave themselves names. What kind of superhero lets the media stick him with a cheesy handle more suitable for a sidekick? Or a bunch of capes that operate together, well technically kind of together, without having come up with some sort of unifying identity? It was almost like both he and they were still hesitating on some sort of final step or something before going all in. Like maybe he wasn't so sure he still wanted to be a superhero? Or maybe they weren't all the way really sure yet that they could completely trust each other? She didn't know. But she did know that whatever their hang ups were, until they figured them out and overcame them, they were both bound and guaranteed to continue having problems functioning smoothly 'in the cape world'.
She really hoped their association now with the JSA could help them get solid and fast.
Because there was way too many freaky super villains popping up these days and the secret black ops style government organizations like Checkmate were getting longer reaching, higher powered and mind meltingly more insidiously sneaky.
And the JSA wasn't going to be able to take them on alone.
Their roster simply had way too many holes in it. Some of them all too painfully recent.
Stargirl blinked hard against the sudden blurring of her eyes and found herself staring past the glass she was working on to the honored tributes solemnly displayed inside of superheroes she had known only in revered retelling of stories.
Her heart panged again.
Unlike the ones whose iconic things now quietly filled another far newer cabinet that she had known so personally.
She lifted her chin stubbornly and returned to work fiercely.
Hawkman had sent out the call. As whispered old code words found their ways to the right ears that the scattered and long hidden remnants of the JSA was once again reuniting, those who still could fight would come. Those who could not . . . well, their protégés or children would answer for them, just as she had stepped into the void now of her mentor The Star-Spangled Kid. And as it became known that the JSA was operating and actively recruiting, soon others with the will and abilities to take a stand for good would join them.
They were rebuilding as fast as they could.
But right now they were still dangerously weak.
Stargirl sighed and began picking up her cleaning supplies, trying to decide which room she should tackle next.
As much as it chafed Hawkman's pride to be forced to admit it, they sorely needed help.
But The Blur and the Watchtower's loose alliance had to become more than what they were now, however, if they were actually going to be the strength the barely rising JSA grimly needed to lean on if there was to be any hope of surviving long enough to stand on its own once more. So that later between the two of them, they might one day be strong enough to bear the weight of the world together.
She just hoped for all their sakes that they had the courage to make whatever last step they needed to.
Because it wasn't the same, yet.
And everyone so very desperately needed it to be.
They still had to decide who they were.
They still had to learn how to become a family.
They still had to make the Watchtower their home.
Only then would they have at last the strength to survive the dark days ahead.
Because as the JSA knew from bitter but now deeply cherished experience when they were hunted down and saw everything they had built up and all the good they had done be systematically destroyed until in the end all they had at last left was each other, it was their unwavering JSA heart that kept them true.
And it was their heart that ultimately saved them.