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All right, one heart to heart with a parent figure is done, two to go. If this chapter doesn't pull at your heartstrings, I don't know what will.
The Eyes of Childhood
J'onn found both Diana and Angela when he returned to the Watchtower. From a distance, it looked as if Angela was sleeping in Diana's arms, but a quick scan of the girl's mind showed that she was still awake. Still, he felt something lift off his heart, knowing that Angela had allowed herself some comfort.
At the sound of his footsteps, Diana looked over Angela and met the Martian's eyes. She clearly directed her line of thoughts in his direction, containing her recent conversation as well as her assumptions concerning Angela's parentage. J'onn neither confirmed nor denied her reasoning. With a look that promised details later, J'onn turned his attention to Angela. When he sat down next to her, she straightened, leaving Diana's arms, and began to blot the moisture from her face.
"I brought you news of your mother," J'onn said quietly.
Angela looked at Diana in alarm, thinking that her identity was about to be revealed.
"It does no harm for anyone else to know that your mother is in danger as long as only I am aware of her identity," J'onn assured the teen girl.
Angela nodded cautiously. "Is Mom okay?"
"I took her and your younger self to a safe place," he said out loud. Silently, he told her, They both are at the Clocktower with Barbara Gordon.
Angela sighed in relief. Diana furrowed her eyebrows slightly. Angela noticed and debated what to say, if anything.
"My mom and dad were never married," she explained. "I live with my mom in this time."
"And you are how old…?" Diana asked.
"Well, I'm seventeen, so in this year I should be four years old."
"And both are safe?" Diana asked J'onn.
The Martian nodded.
"I want to see them," Angela said.
Both J'onn and Diana looked at her in surprise.
"Please. I just…I need to see that they're safe."
The adult heroes shared a look for a long moment while Angela held her breath. Then, J'onn turned to her and motioned for her to follow him. Diana remained behind to uphold the image that she still didn't know who Angela was. J'onn took Angela to Earth's surface in the Javelin II and found an abandoned warehouse in Gotham to park it while he flew Angela to the Clocktower himself.
The Clocktower, conveniently located in downtown Gotham City, was on the list of locations that were "home" to Angela. First and foremost would always be the small apartment she had lived in with her mother, and close second was Wayne Manor. Themyscira gradually became familiar, as did the Kents' apartment in Metropolis. The Clocktower, though, was special because of Barbara Gordon.
Not only was she the one person who could still tell Angela about her mother, but she also provided so much more to Angela as a child and as she grew older. It was Barbara who had convinced Bruce that the traumatized girl wasn't ready for formal schooling yet and instead recommended a private tutor. Angela's teacher for three years was Helena Bertinelli, an associate of Barbara's, and was not only a wonderful teacher, but a strong mentor as well. When Angela had discovered her father's alternate activities, she had also picked up that Ms. Helena was the vigilante, Huntress, who stayed on to educate Angela's sister as well as the Kent twins and West children until the young ones could control their powers.
Barbara also gave Angela an outlet for all of those discoveries. As Angela had grown over the years, she still had no way to express her interest in superhero activities, which the observant Oracle had noticed. So, Barbara claimed Angela two afternoons a week and taught the girl to become a computer hack. It was the only way Angela could watch her family as they risked their lives and help keep them safe through research.
Diana may become Angela's step-mother, but Barbara would always be the most influential of the women in Angela's life.
The red-headed woman was waiting when J'onn and Angela entered through the front door. Angela stood before her, waiting for any kind of reaction. Barbara's face was unreadable as she wheeled herself closer to Angela. Instinctively, Angela knelt down to reach the other woman's eye level. Barbara reached out with one hand and hesitantly placed it on Angela's face, tracing her features.
"Angela…"
"Hi."
"Get over here."
For the second time, Angela found herself pulled into a strong, caring set of arms. She practically melted into the embrace, leaking a few tears. Barbara used one arm to keep her in place and the other to gently stroke her hair. After a moment, Angela pulled away, reluctantly.
"I figured you would recognize me," Angela remarked dryly, sitting back on her heels.
"How could I not?" Barbara countered. "You really do look like your mother."
"Yeah, that's probably why no one else has guessed who my father is," Angela agreed.
"I'm surprised your father isn't having flashbacks, looking at you."
"I wouldn't know," Angela shrugged. "I've done my best to avoid him since I got here."
"When J'onn brought you—your younger self, I mean—and your mom, I almost didn't believe it when he told me we had a time traveler on our hands," Barbara said. "And I couldn't believe that it was you. But here you are."
"Yeah. It's not like this was a planned trip," Angela answered somewhat bitterly.
"Honey, what happened? J'onn wouldn't tell me details."
Haltingly, Angela told the complete story for the first time, starting with her arrival at Wayne Manor. By the end of it, Barbara had reached out to her three times in an effort to comfort her. Each time, Angela had shrugged her off and continued. She told Barbara everything she and Guardian had told the Justice League and everything they had not.
"My God…" Barbara muttered. "This goes beyond anything we've ever faced before. Bad enough this bastard went to your time, let alone ours."
"Barbara, where's Mom?" Angela asked.
Barbara smiled. "She should be putting little you to bed right now."
Angela smiled back and crept down the hallway to the guest bedroom where she guessed she would find her mother and her past.
The door was half open, giving Angela a decent view of the room and its occupants. Angela saw a small, blond-headed girl in the bed, tucked in tightly and smiling at the woman in the room. All Angela could see of the woman was the back of her head, blond hair hanging loose down her back. Angela leaned against the door frame and waited for the words she had not heard in twelve years.
"Once upon a time, there was a princess who loved adventure. She had no family to care for, nothing to keep her tied down. The princess loved the night and the freedom she found in it. She climbed buildings, snuck into great fortresses, and took whatever treasures she found. One night, the princess met a dark prince, a knight who guarded his city from evil. He was so different from her, yet so similar. He carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, consumed with duty for the people of his city. He protected the innocent and fought for those who were unable. Yet, he, too, reveled in the darkness and raced across rooftops in the night.
"They fell in love, a night-time courtship that nearly consumed them. They would trade blows one moment, only to kiss the next. For years they danced and sparred in turn until one day, the princess discovered that she would have a baby. She knew at that moment, that her baby was in danger. There were evil demons who would hurt them to weaken the dark prince. So the princess did the only thing she could do to save them all: she said good-bye to the prince and left without looking back."
"And did she ever see the dark prince again, Mama?"
"No, kitten. She never saw him again."
It was the same fairy tale that Angela had heard every night that she could remember with her mother. The words were the same, every single night, until Angela was capable of reciting the story herself. After twelve years, she hadn't forgotten.
The girl in the bed drifted off into sleep. The woman stood and turned to walk out of the room. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Angela in the door way. Just like Barbara, Selina Kyle could recognize her daughter in the teen girl and likewise knew that she was the time traveler. Unlike Barbara, Selina did not reach out to her daughter hesitantly. Selina rushed across the remaining distance in the room and swept Angela into a tight hug. Angela squeezed back for all she was worth.
"I've missed you so much, Mom," she whispered.
Selina lessened her grip somewhat, gently leading Angela through the hallway and into the living room where Barbara and J'onn waited. Once both of them were secure on a couch together, Selina asked, "Now will one of you tell me what is going on?"
Barbara and J'onn helped Angela tell the story again, though Angela did her best to keep from implying that her mother died. Selina was quick enough to catch on despite Angela's efforts.
"So, if you're with your father, that must mean that I'm, well, dead," Selina said at the end.
"Mom—" Angela objected weakly. "I, I can't tell you."
"I understand, kitten," Selina told her. Angela felt a thrill go through her at being called "kitten" once more. "I may not be entirely happy with the fact that I leave you, but I do realize that you can't tell me without risk to your past."
"I'm sorry, Mom. I want to save you; I want to tell you how and when I lose you so that the little girl in the bedroom doesn't go through what I did. But, Mom, there's some stuff that happens that is good, things that I don't want to take away from her."
"Like your father?" Selina asked.
Angela smiled a little. "Yeah. He's not, he wasn't, perfect. But, he was a really good dad."
Selina shared a look with Barbara. The red head only raised a single eyebrow. Selina sighed. "I suppose that his over-protective streak would actually take care of the dangers of being his daughter."
Angela smirked. "Trust me, any danger I've gotten into has been taken care of by him, or by myself because of what he's taught me."
J'onn allowed them to talk for another hour before submitting that Angela should get back to the Watchtower.
"That way, if he comes looking for me again, he won't find you as well," Angela agreed, speaking to her mother.
"When you defeat this son of a bitch, but you can't get to your own time, you know you can come back home with us," Selina told her in one last hug.
"I know, Mom." Angela leaned into the hug a little more. "I love you."
"I love you more than life, kitten."
Angela moved over to Barbara. "Thank you for everything you'll do for me."
"Anytime."
J'onn gently steered her away before the good byes took much longer. Angela waited until they were back on the Jav before speaking.
"Thanks. For letting us talk and say good bye and all."
J'onn looked sideways at her where she sat in the copilot's seat.
"I knew that it was something that would benefit you. And, I know that my future self would have done so."
Angela watched him carefully. "I'm sorry he died because of me."
"He cared for you very much; it was easy to find in his thoughts. All that he, and now I, ever wanted to do is protect you."
"Sometimes, I think I don't deserve any of you. Mom, Barbara, you, Dad—"
"You are an easy person to love," J'onn cut her off. He waited a beat and then added, "But if you don't get some sleep when we come back, I will sedate you."
Angela stared in shock, straining to determine if he was exaggerating since she knew he wasn't kidding.
"Compromise: I'll get something to eat and at least try to lie down and you don't come near me with any sleep medication," she bargained.
After a moment, the Martian nodded. "That is all I can expect. If you don't keep up your end of the bargain, I will tell Diana, Barbara, and your mother that you haven't slept in, how long now?"
Angela frowned in thought, trying to work through the answer. "Well, the day this started, I was awake early and went through the whole day and into the night, so that's… nineteen hours. After the time jump, Guardian and I were in Metropolis around four this morning and I've made it to now which is another, eighteen hours for a grand total of thirty seven hours without sleep."
J'onn shook his head. "You are so much like you're father, it's scary."
"Why do you say that?"
"He would be acting in just this same way."
"Well, I am my father's daughter. Now, just so long as I can keep anyone else from figuring that out, and I just might make it out of this whole thing without messing up the time steam continuum."