Chapter Thirteen

Outskirts of Gotham City

United States

16:44 CDT

August 18, 2007

The Batcuffs came off and fell to the dirt. This both confused and intrigued Selina Kyle considering they were surrounded by trees and not cops.

Unlike him, she was dressed as a civilian. The Justice League had confiscated everything, even from her safe house which she had thought was, well, safe.

She turned around to look at Batman, rubbing her sore wrists. "I don't see any of the boys in blue," she commented.

"There aren't any here," Batman said in a monotone voice.

She wasn't quite buying it. Batman had never just let her go in the past. He had almost always managed to trick her somehow resulting in her temporary incarceration until she figured out a way to escape that is.

This time, however, something felt off.

"It's time to stop playing games Selina," Batman told her. "You'd do more good if you went straight."

"Come on, you know I love the chase."

"No more, Selina. I know how much you've donated anonymously to animal charities. I know how much you've done to help, but stealing for it isn't the answer. But I think we both know that it's just an excuse you tell yourself. You can't help yourself, can you?"

There was something in his tone of voice that caught her by surprise. He had always been serious, but there was something else this time.

"Turn yourself in, do your time."

"I'm not going to do that," she dismissed. "And you know I'm not."

"Do the right thing, Selina, for once in your life." A dark look crossed his face as he reached for his ear communicator. "What?" he asked in annoyance as he turned his back to her.

Catwoman took a step forward, hoping to get some idea as to what was going on.

"What's wrong with her?" Batman asked, before waiting for the response. "Have you contacted J'onn?" She heard him grunt. "I'm on my way."

"What is it?" she asked.

"None of your concern," he said coldly not looking back at her. "Just do us both a favour and go."

She turned away. "Fine, but we'll be seeing each other again, count on it."

There was a flicker of light. When she turned back around, he was gone. She reached out before her head dropped. She loved him, yet had never been able to say it, not in a serious way. Flirting was fine, but there was a point where one had to move past that. Now it was too late and she knew it.

"I'll take what you said into consideration," she said to herself.

Watchtower II

Earth Orbit

16:02 – Station Time

Superman paced back and forth while J'onn sat by Kara's bedside, his hands held out over her head. No one as of yet knew what was wrong with her.

He had spoken with Martha and Jonathan and the only symptoms were dizziness and a pain in her head shortly before passing out. Now she was practically comatose.

Superman looked around as Batman stepped into the room. "Any updates?" he asked immediately.

"Not yet," Superman said.

"I'm not sure what I can do," Batman said looking down at Kara.

Superman sighed. "I know, I'm just not sure what's happening."

J'onn lowered his hands and stood up.

"Found anything?" Superman asked with both hope and fear.

"It's confusing. I'm not entirely sure what it is that has happened to her. But it's almost like her mind has been pulled away."

"Pulled away?" Superman demanded. "What do you mean? That she's going to die?"

"I'm not sure. From what I can tell, it seems there is more than one mind at work here."

Superman turned away from him. "Galatea, it has to be."

"What I mean is there is more than one besides Kara," J'onn corrected. "I'm not certain but there might be two other minds involved."

"Two?" he asked turning back around. "Is this an attack?"

"I don't know," J'onn said with an unusual, at least for him, hint of frustration. "There is a powerful mind at work here."

"Mind? As in one?" Batman questioned.

"Yes, I believe so. The other mind I am sensing might be like Kara. Caught by a much more powerful entity. I also believe it may be Galatea that has been caught and the entity is using her connection with Kara to do whatever it is it is attempting to do."

"So we're looking for a powerful psychic?" Superman asked.

Batman turned around. "I'll get a list ready of every psychic on record."

He quickly left while Superman moved over to Kara's side. "Is there anything you can do?" he asked J'onn.

"Not until I know what I am dealing with. I will continue to monitor her mind and see if I can figure out what is happening and how. Only then will I risk trying to sever it."

"Do what you can J'onn. But please, hurry."

"I will do my best, Superman."

"Thank you," Superman said with gratitude as J'onn sat back down next to Kara and reached out over her head. His eyes began to glow red while Superman once again began to pace.

Redwood Forest

Outside San Francisco

United States

14:31 - PDT

The Question and Huntress watched as the helicopter flew overhead and sprayed water across the blaze that was quickly starting to grow out of control.

They had successfully put out the fire at the remains of what had been the vacation home, but the blaze several miles away was proving to be a lot more problematic.

"Why would they burn the forest?" Question asked himself.

"Who are you talking about?" Huntress asked. She was still several steps behind the Question, both literally and figuratively as they made their way towards the remains of the house.

"Task Force X."

"The Suicide Squad?" Huntress asked. "Wait, are you telling me they were here?"

"That black van was them."

"How could you possibly know that?" Huntress questioned him.

"I know what to look for," the Question replied.

As they approached what remained of the old vacation home they were stopped by a Park Ranger and a Fireman, who both stepped in front of them.

"What's your business here?" the ranger asked, eyeing them both up and down, especially the Question. "This area's off limits. Leave, now!"

Huntress didn't like his attitude. "Justice League business," she answered. "This might be connected with some metahumans."

The ranger looked sceptical. "Yeah? Got proof?"

The Question responded to that. "That's why we're here. To investigate."

He shook his head. "I meant about you being Justice League?"

Huntress answered though with more than a hint of sarcasm. "We don't carry ID, sorry."

"I don't recognise either of you," the ranger said as he looked to the fireman for confirmation.

"I don't either," he said, staring at Question. "Where's his face?"

"He's very sensitive about his affliction," Huntress said faking outrage. "He lost his face fighting an evil sorceress that stole faces," she lied while trying to keep a straight face. "He saved many lives and many faces and here you are making fun of him."

To be honest, it sounded better in her head. Nevertheless, it still worked.

The fireman stood down immediately. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make fun of the guy. It's just freaky looking."

The ranger wasn't as convinced. "Seems unlikely to me," he said.

Huntress pushed on. "As unlikely as a man in a red cape flying around without wings? As unlikely as a man made out of a literal nuclear reaction? As unlikely as a guy who flies around with a power ring?"

That convinced him. "Okay, okay, you've made your point," the ranger accepted. "Still, I can't let anyone in. If it is arson, then the cops need to investigate first, so no, I can't let you in."

Huntress was really tempted to knock them both out, but Question had another idea. "Then we will return later." He turned and began to make his way back down the unmarked road to where he had parked his car.

Huntress quickly got in step next to him. She wasn't impressed. "What are you doing?"

"I doubt we would have gotten anything meaningful from investigating the ashes anyway," he responded as he pulled open the driver's side door.

"What's our next step, then?" Huntress asked. "Report in?"

"We find the Cadmus clone."

"Seriously? They could be anywhere by now."

The Question visibly clenched his jaw as he climbed inside. This indicated that he was either deep in thought or annoyed. Or maybe both.

"Galatea is the only one we need to find," he said finally.

"What about Hamilton and that doctor?" She asked getting in the passenger side.

"They're dead."

"How do you know that?" she questioned growing more and more frustrated.

"There were two graves," Question said as he started the ignition.

"What else did you notice?" Huntress asked him.

"There was a trench of scorched earth and what appeared to be the remains of several vaporised trees."

"A bomb?" she questioned as he began to drive.

"No, a Kryptonian."

"You're making a lot of assumptions," she observed.

"They're only assumptions if they're not correct," he said.

"While I'm all for doing things alone, fighting a Kryptonian isn't the way I plan on dying. I really think it's time to call your friends."

"It's not time yet."

"What do you mean it's not time yet? If she's on her own she could be anywhere. She could be in China by now for all we know. Unless you're keeping more secrets from me?"

Question slowed the car to a stop and looked at her with his featureless face.

"You know, you should really not drive with that on," Huntress commented indicating his mask.

He ignored the comment as he responded to her earlier one. "You're right, perhaps it is time to report in."

"Exactly. Let them deal with her. We need a vacation."

Question seemed to slip into his own world. "I still need to find the link between Soder Cola and the increase of gun crime in Midway City," he mumbled to himself. "Hallucinogens or other drugs put in the drink as a test, perhaps?"

Huntress shook her head and rolled her eyes. She reached over into the left inside pocket of his trench-coat and pulled out the earpiece communicator and placed it in her ear.

"Watchtower, come in," she said out loud, while Question continued to sit there mumbling conspiracies to himself.

"Watchtower here," Came Mister Terrific's voice into her ear. "This is the Question's communicator, who's speaking?"

"Huntress," she said.

"You know I'm not supposed to talk to you, you're not part of the Justice League anymore."

"Yeah well, this is important. We found Galatea, but it's not good news. According to Question, Task Force X paid her a visit and Hamilton and that doctor may have bit the bullet."

"What about the clone?"

"Could be anywhere."

"Where are you now?"

"Can't you get a lock on this communicator?"

"Usually, but I'm having trouble."

She looked at the Question. "I don't like being tracked," he said with a shrug.

"If you stay on the line, I should be able to get a lock in a minute or so," Terrific said.

"We can wait," she said, before adding, "I'll narrow it down for you. We're near San Francisco."

"I'd already narrowed you down to the west coast of America, but that helps. In fact, I have your location. Do you want to be brought up?"

"No, just send someone down."

"I can't at the moment, but I'll report on what you've told me."

"Good, we'll be staying in the area, Huntress out." She looked to Question. "So, what do you want to do, now?"

"We sit and wait."

"For what?"

The Question didn't answer. Huntress wished she could say that his lack of a response was indicative of something, but at this point, she had given up trying to read him. His mask was probably the most perfect disguise of any hero as it showed literally no emotion. His large trench-coat also helped to cover any cues his body language would give off, making him near unreadable.

Huntress folded her arms and sat back in her seat. He didn't know how close he was getting to getting his ass kicked.

She just didn't know why she hadn't, yet.

Watchtower II

Earth Orbit

17:01 – Station Time (EST)

Superman stepped into the room where Batman was sat at a computer terminal with a list of names on the screen.

He turned to the Man of Steel. "I've been expecting you," he said.

"What have you found?"

"Nothing," the Dark Knight answered before adding, "But I do have a list of every known telepath and not just on Earth. Now it's a matter of eliminating those from the list that probably aren't responsible."

"So, who have we got?" Superman asked as he stepped up beside him.

"First up, is an easy elimination," Batman said.

Superman read the name. "Aquaman? He's telepathic?"

"To sea life, yes."

"Right, of course. So why even bother having him on the list?"

"Because I gave the computer those parameters. I want to be as broad as possible on the initial search."

Superman looked at the next name. "Who's Black Manchester?"

"Manchester Black," Batman corrected.

"Who is he?" Superman repeated.

"Mostly an unknown at least to the league, though he has come up on my radar a few times. He's a vigilante, but tends to leave those he comes up against dead."

"What's his telepathic ability level?"

"Unknown," Batman said. "His motive for attacking Kara is unknown and without motive, it's unlikely that he's responsible for Kara's condition."

"So he's off the list?"

"No, because we simply don't know. It could be that he came up against Galatea and Kara simply got caught up unintentionally."

"So it could be him?"

"It's possible," Batman conceded before continuing on with the list. "The next is, or rather was Brainwave, but he died some years ago. No indication as of yet whether his son has any abilities and as none of us has ever fought or encountered him I don't know whether his abilities were natural or mechanical. So he's off the list on account of being dead."

Superman read the name underneath. "Captain Comet? Never heard of him."

"Few have. There's next to no information, so I can't even tell you if he actually has telepathic ability or not. It's only a rumour that he has, much like his existence."

"Is he on Earth?"

"Unknown. Chances are he's not. If he exists. It could be that he is just an urban legend."

"Is he a good guy or bad?"

"Supposedly good, but with the amount of information I currently have at hand I don't know."

"So he's unlikely?"

"Yes."

"As is Lilith Clay," Superman said reading the next name.

"Yes, she is unlikely but we cannot rule her out completely."

"Why not?" Superman questioned. "She's on our side."

"Perhaps."

"No perhaps, Bats, she's on our side. I don't think it's her."

"There is also Despero, an alien who John and Shayera encountered off-world, but he is by their account dead. So he is on the probably not list."

Superman physically shivered as he read the next name. "Doctor Destiny."

"No known last location," Batman said.

"He's a good candidate."

"But J'onn is familiar with him," Batman said dismissively. "I believe he would be able to sense his mind immediately."

They both looked around as the doors opened. "Yes, I would," J'onn said as he stepped inside.

"How's Kara?" Superman asked him.

"Unchanged," J'onn replied as he stood beside the man in blue. "Green Arrow is currently watching over her."

Batman continued with the list. "Doctor Psycho is also unlikely. He doesn't have the range."

"He does hate women, though, so he's a good candidate" Superman pointed out.

Batman was sceptical. "Perhaps."

Superman had had enough. "Keep looking, I need to take a break. I'll be with Kara if you need me."

"I understand," Batman said.

"I will aid Batman," J'onn added.

"Thank you," Superman said as he left the room.

He wished he knew who or what was behind Kara's condition. To have no clue as to who was involved was frustrating and worrying. As far as he could tell there was no motive other than the fact she was Justice League, which was motive enough for some.

But then again, why go after her? Why not one of the seven founders? Unless they believed she had information in her head about the future? There was no doubt she had, but could that be the reason or was he making up assumptions?

Superman paused as he saw Mister Terrific walking straight towards him. "Superman, glad I found you," he said. "Got a call from Question. He says he tracked down Galatea, the clone. I thought you'd like to know in person."

Superman perked up immediately. From what J'onn had said, he believed that she was likely involved. "And?" he asked. "Where is she?"

"Was near San Fransisco, but her current location is unknown. She got away, but Task Force X is involved."

Superman felt like he could put his fist through a wall. "I'm going down there to search," he said.

"Need any back-up?"

"Anyone who can fly and has good eyes," Superman responded as he headed towards the teleporter.

Unknown Location

Unknown Time

Galatea and Kara continued to watch their lives re-play in front of them. The strangeness and surreality hadn't completely gone but they were starting to get somewhat accustomed to it.

So far they had only seen bits and pieces. For Galatea, it seemed strange to see how robotic and childlike she had been during the early days of her existence.

Right now they were watching the memory of Kara fighting some old woman with her gang.

Kara decided to explain what exactly they were seeing. "That's Granny Goodness and the Female Furies," she said. "I can't remember exactly what they were doing. I think it involved an asteroid or a comet. It wasn't long after this fight I met Darkseid."

The memory faded out as the young Supergirl and Superman were buried under some rubble.

"They took Superman and I managed to rescue him. Not the first time Darkseid took him. The second time was when he warped his mind and made him think he was his son. Superman nearly killed me when he returned to Earth flying Darkseid's flag."

"That was the reason for my creation," Galatea said. "Because Superman couldn't be trusted."

"He can. You'd know that if you knew him," Kara objected. "You on the other hand, actually can't. You have no morals and you don't care about anyone but yourself."

The world began to reform until they were inside the old Cadmus building.

The memory version of Galatea moved through the corridor until she entered a room where Emil Hamilton was stood at a computer terminal.

He turned to her. "Ahh, Galatea. You'll be glad to know that you'll be getting your first assignment soon," Emil said. "Nothing complicated. You'll be spying on someone and reporting in."

"That's all?" Galatea questioned, her shoulders slouching. "Can't I do something more worthwhile?"

"This is worthwhile," Hamilton said. "It will prove that you're not only trustworthy but also useful."

"Okay, who am I spying on?"

"I don't know myself. You'll be getting the briefing this afternoon."

The memory faded away once again leaving darkness.

Seeing Emil alive and well didn't make Galatea feel happiness or joy, but empty and hollow. She knew it wasn't real, just memories of her past.

She turned to Kara as her progenitor spoke. "This has been fun, but I really should be getting back to the world of the living."

The green alien came into view out of the darkness of the void. "I wish I could."

Galatea rested her hands on her hips. "If that was really the case then you would. There's nothing stopping you."

"No, you don't understand. I'm not sure how to release you."

Kara moved towards her. "What do you mean? Let us go, now!"

"I don't know how," she repeated.

"What do you mean you don't know how?" Galatea demanded, stepping beside Kara.

"Someone's stopping me."

"Who's stopping you?" Galatea questioned, poking at the green girl.

The girl stared at her. "It's you."