Author's Notes:
Sorry it took a while to post this one: I've been pretty busy with school and other stuff (including my Lion King story). Please read and review...
2040.
"Is this the Batcave?" Max asked in awe.
Bruce and Coba nodded. "Yep," the young girl answered.
"So that's the computer you guys use to collect data," Max noted the large computer. "I always thought it would be the size of a widescreen."
"It is the size of a widescreen," Bruce stated bluntly, "an old theater's widescreen, that is."
"Not what I meant," Max said irritably.
"He knows you mean a widescreen television," Coba reassured her friend. "He's just messing with you." She looked at Bruce. "How was Terry holding up before you—"
"—came and got you? The cops were on his tail, but he'll get away. That's a perk that comes with being Batman: you're an escape artist."
Coba was silent for a moment, thinking over what Bruce said. Her eyes suddenly went wide with horror. "No, he won't get away," she said in a terrified voice. "Spellbinder's going to send him and Barbara back in time!" She became dead serious right then. "Bruce, check that security footage from the hotel. I'll go help Terry!" Without waiting for a response, Coba dashed out of the cave, despite her crippled feet being sore from running around Gotham all day.
"Be careful, Coba!" Wayne shouted after her. "The law's not on our side this time!"
"I will!" Coba called back. The clock entrance could be heard skidding back into place.
Max's face creased with worry. I hope this'll all work out, she thought grimly.
~!~
Terry stood on the roof of the old Majestic Theater, hiding behind the sign as bullets bounced off of the building's walls. This is not good, he thought. Where's Wayne when you need him?
"McGinnis, come in!"
"Wayne!" Terry murmured gruffly. "Where have you been?"
"I'll explain later," Bruce replied urgently. "Turn on your high-frequency scanner."
"Why?"
"Because I know who's behind all this, and I'll bet he's there right now, hiding behind an illusion."
Knowing it would be best if he did as his teacher ordered instead of pressing him to say who the enemy was, McGinnis turned on his visor's high-frequency scanner and glanced around at the audience below. The perpetrator faded into view, directly behind Commissioner Gordon. "Spellbinder," Terry snarled. A figure also faded into view, sneaking behind Spellbinder as it did. He gasped in shock when he realized who it was. "Coba!" he murmured.
There was a bright white flash and the sound of shattering glass. Barb and her partners stopped firing in surprise and finally saw Billings standing there, his glass ball shattered in his hand. The wicked man raised the ball's shards above his head, ready to strike the commissioner, but was immediately tackled from behind by something he could not see. Coba turned off her invisibility, a sly and mocking grin on her face. "Annoying when you can't see your enemy, isn't it?" she jeered.
Spellbinder threw Coba off of him and stood up. "I thought I sent you into the past to be killed!" he growled.
"Guess what, dreg: I came back," Coba growled back. "Let's skip the 'welcome home celebration' to why you have been doing this, shall we?"
"I'll kill you if you do," Billings threatened in a low voice.
Coba seemed to not hear. "You knew that the commissioner was ready to believe that Batman would kill. Only, you knew he wouldn't, so you decided to come up with a plan to frame him for the murder of Mad Stan. Stan's not dead though, is he?" She waited for Ira to say or do something, but the villain remained silent. "That's obviously a 'yes, Mad Stan's not dead,'" Coba continued. "But your 'framing Batman' plan needed a little help, especially since Batman has a few partners. You needed to come up with a way to get rid of whatever partner—or partners—tagged along with him so they wouldn't be alibis. You did some research on time-travel, and implanted a device in your ball that, when flashed, would send the viewer back in time to a specific time that you knew they would not survive. And right now, you were going to send the commissioner and Batman to the time I was trapped in: when Joker was still running rampant in the streets of Gotham. Then you would have been able to run around over here to collect money without worrying about the shadow of a Bat or police officer to foil your plans."
Spellbinder threw himself at Batgirl with a snarl, only for her to swiftly step aside. The man fell to the ground with a hard thud. Coba planted her right foot sturdily on her enemy's back, not allowing him to stand back up, as she cuffed his hands behind his back. "You're dead when I get out of prison, runt," Spellbinder snarled.
"I don't think you're getting out this time," Brooklyn muttered darkly. "And by the way, my name's not runt: it's Batgirl."
Batman glided down to where his sister stood. He helped her to lift Spellbinder up to his feet and to walk him to a nearby police vehicle, allowing the officers next to it to place the villain in the car. Barbara walked up to the two Bats solemnly. "Sorry, kid," she apologized to Terry. "I really messed up."
Terry grinned. "I've been there," he stated reassuringly.
Barb knew that the young Dark Knight was accepting her apology when he said that- -and that everyone makes mistakes. She looked at Coba gratefully, though still speaking to Terry. "I guess we both need to thank your sister for arriving when she did," she said. "If she's right about what Spellbinder had planned to do—"
"—which she is—" a different voice cut in.
"—we'd both be facing the Joker right now," Gordon finished. "Wayne," she said gruffly to the other voice, which was coming from her headset, "you're not authorized to use this signal. Get off of it!"
"Alright," Bruce said, a slight chuckle in his voice. "I just wanted to see how you would react." He hung up.
The woman shook her head, a large smile plastered on her face. "We should also thank her for giving Bruce a sense of humor," she added.
The three companions all had to laugh at that. "Yeah, I have to agree with you about that," Terry chuckled.
"I don't need to be thanked," Coba said modestly. "I only did what I had to."
"Who said you had to?" Barb inquired. "You did what you did because you wanted to. Don't try to deny it either."
Coba smiled. "Alright, I won't."
Gordon watched as the two siblings flew away. I'm glad Terry didn't kill Stan, she thought gratefully. The idea of a Batman being willing to kill another man sickens me. I'm also glad Coba's here instead of back during the time Joker was still alive. I could tell she had a tough time breathing on those filthy streets, anyway.
~!~
"You okay, Coba?" Terry asked once he and his half-sister were back in the Batcave, both of them removing their masks. "You've been freakishly quiet the whole way over here."
Coba looked up at her brother reassuringly, although it was obvious that she was feeling rather perturbed about something. "Yeah, I'm alright," she replied. "I was just in deep thought about a few things, that's all."
Max and Bruce looked at Brooklyn concernedly. "Does some of it have to do with the past?" Max asked.
"Uh-huh."
"That you left without thanking everyone for helping you?" Bruce asked.
"Yeah." Coba fought back guilty tears. "Dick saved me from Hal; Talia reluctantly agreed to not kill and succeeded; you and Alfred worked hard to keep me from bleeding to death; and although I got into a verbal fight with Tim, he defended me when the thugs tried to kill me and take him to Joker. I didn't get to thank anyone except Alfred and Dick."
Bruce looked at Coba apologetically. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have rushed us out without you giving thanks."
The small girl looked up at her legal guardian solemnly. "Don't be sorry. You were in the right of mind to have us leave at that time: any moment later then Terry and Gordon wouldn't still be here. They'd be facing the Joker in 1999, and we both know very well what that's like- -and how it would end up for both of them."
Wayne let out a sigh of despair. "You're right as usual, Coba. But still- -"
"I know," Coba gently cut him off. She let out a troubled sigh as well, looking towards the entrance of the Batcave absent-mindedly. "I know." A quick sign of movement caught her eye. Her eyes' mood changed from sorrowful to dangerous. "Who's there?"
A large man stepped out from the shadows at the sound of the girl's voice. Bruce and Coba's eyes went wide in surprise, but were unafraid. "An old friend, Coba," he said calmly, walking towards them.
Terry protectively placed himself in front of Brooklyn. "You'll have to be more specific," he snapped. "Who are you? How do you know my sister?"
Coba lightly touched her half-brother's shoulder, causing him to relax a little. "It's alright, Terry," she said reassuringly in a quiet voice. "He's Dick Grayson: the first Robin and the first Nightwing. He knows me because we ran into each other when I was stuck in the past."
Author's Notes:
What's Dick Grayson doing in the Batcave at this time? Find out next in Epilogue!
Aww, man! Epilogue is next already?!
Yes, yes it is. Don't worry, though: I highly doubt you'll be disappointed by it.
Oh, okay. I'll take your word for it.
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