The Question found himself standing back in the main foyer of Dog River City hall. J'onn, along with several of Dog River's citizens, was lying on the floor of the building. A few, including J'onn, were slowly getting to their feet. Their groans of pain and discomfort filled the room, but at least they were alive. The Question, still in his faceless mask, blue overcoat and fedora after his encounter with the demon, reached out a brown-glove and helped the green-skinned Martian to his feet. J'onn looked up at him. "Question, what happened? The last thing I remember is all those horrible smiling faces and then it was as if my mind was lost in pure evil."
"You were possessed by a demon with plans to destroy the world. He's gone now.
"How did you-?"
"Long Story. I'll fill you in later. Do you have enough strength to quickly scan these people for serious injury?"
J'onn groaned. He felt like he had been turned inside out and back again. He did his best to stand up straight. "I believe so." He put his hand to his head and did a light psychic sweep of the town. J'onn's eyes went a little wide during the sweep
"What is it?" the Question said.
"Everyone is—fine, even the officers we battled earlier this evening are back in one piece. They are a little worse for wear from being possessed, but, otherwise, the supernatural evil is completely gone."
The Question chuckled. "A demon who keeps his word, go figure."
"What?" J'onn said.
"Never mind. I recommend contacting Dr. Fate and a few of the league's other magical members to do a little clean up down here, just in case," The Question said.
"Agreed," J'onn said. He put his fingers to the com-link in his ear. The Question walked away from J'onn, while the Martian communicated with the Justice League. He looked around at the people and some of them looked at him. His faceless mask made them raise an eyebrow, but they were not afraid of him. A few even nodded to him and smiled. This surprised The Question at first, but he concluded that somewhere inside them, they must have a sense of his role in saving them. He said a silent prayer of thanks that they were okay, even if they did live in a small town. He was about to rejoin J'onn when he saw an old man. It was Garibaldi. The man looked at The Question with eyes that said he was tired of masked men and women and just wanted to go home. The Question nodded and let the retired FBI agent lose himself in the people exiting the building. The Question already knew more now than Garibaldi could have told him anyway.
J'onn walked up behind The Question. "There is some kind of problem with the Javelins and transporters. All are off-line, far too many to be a coincidence. However, no one can explain it. Fate is busy teleporting leaguers where they need to be and he will send a team down here as soon as he can."
"Fine," The Question said. 'Now, follow me." J'onn hesitated. He really wanted to get back to the Metro-Tower and assist with getting the Javelins and transporters back on line, but he remembered why he had come here in the first place. He took a deep breath, and followed. The Question led him into one of the City Hall offices. "Close the door," The Question said. J'onn did so.
The Question turned and faced J'onn. "I was considering punching you in the face the second we got in here, but I probably would have just hurt my hand."
J'onn was silent, expressionless.
"You were the first to know, weren't you—that The Batman is Huntress' father?" The Question said.
"J'onn said nothing.
"Between my defeating the demon that possessed you and your recovery, I was shown two things. First, the Batman secretly tricking Garibaldi into taking a sample of his blood instead of a child the Batman was trying to save. Oh my, wouldn't the government have a fit if they knew they've had a sample of Batman's blood on file all this time? Then, I was shown you in the Metro-Tower med-wing promising the Batman not to breathe a word of what you had learned until he had contacted you again."
"I keep my promises," J'onn said.
"And I'm sure you sleep well at night knowing, while you have endangered all of reality as we know it by not being straight with me from the beginning, your honor is intact," The Question said.
J'onn did not reply, so The Question carried on. "But, unlike you I'm sure, I'm still at a loss. I don't know who Huntress' mother is. The demon gave me just enough information to point me in one direction, but not both. I'm sure he's laughing about it as we speak."
J'onn's eyes narrowed. "The Batman is working to resolve the situation. He'll do everything in his power to—
The Question cut him off. He put a finger in J'onn's face and raised his voice a little. "You know, when I confronted Superman about his possible future where he assassinated President Luthor, he took me into your private conference room. A room I had never been invited into until that moment. And you know what that revealed to me? It revealed to me that even in a place full of heroes who have to count on one another, sometimes for their very survival, there are still secrets. I shouldn't have been disappointed really. Exposing secrets is what I do. But you know what? I was. That's right. There was a part of me—of me!-that hoped, secret identities notwithstanding, the original seven members were being straight with us. So much for that, but I do know the one thing in my life that is absolutely true and that is how much I care for the Huntress, and so help me, none of you are going to stand in the way of me saving her." The Question put his face right in J'onn's. "So, are you going to tell me who Huntress's mother is or are you going let me walk out this door with the knowledge that everything you said to me about trust when you saved me from Brainstorm was a lie?"
J'onn's eyes narrowed. Now, it was his turn. "And what would you do with the knowledge if I gave it to you, Question? Tell me."
"Whatever it takes," he said.
J'onn's eyes narrowed. "And you think The Batman will do no less? Tell me this, Question. If it came down to a choice between you and the Batman to save the world who would you rather have doing it?"
The Question took a step back. Like it or not, J'onn had a point. Then, his eyes narrowed behind his mask. "And just what the hell am I supposed to do while he goes off with the entire world's future in his hands?"
"I'm sure the people we save everyday ask themselves the same question," J'onn said. However, they have the one thing in us that you need to have in The Batman."
"And what's that?" the Question barked.
J'onn looked at the Question again, "Faith."
"Wonderful words, J'onn, worthy of Superman himself, but there's one thing you're forgetting. Faith is for God, not The Batman. The Batman is human. He makes mistakes, gives into weakness, and can be broken just like everyone else in this less than perfect world. Even you who are not from this Earth are not above these weaknesses. And, if or when the Batman fails, somebody better be there to help him do what needs to be done or to pick-up where he leaves off or we're going to look mighty stupid when the entire timeline as we know it starts to collapse around us!" The Question left the office and slammed the door behind him.