Epilogue

Dear Gabby,

I never thought I'd write a letter like this, and I never thought a letter like this would have a recipient, but I know that you'll want to know why. Why was this fat chick you hardly know at the right place at the right time, and how the hell was she invisible? Maybe you know the answers to the second question: The same way your friend Kelly could become an Arctic Wolf and Dinah could beat up this huge gorilla of a man without touching him when no one else but her hot friend was looking. We're all some sort of new wave of human evolution, or perhaps I've seen X-men way too many times. Thing is, there are people out there who have powers. I don't know why or how many. I don't know how, either. I just know that ever since New Gotham fell apart that night in February, I have seen more of us. Have you watched the news lately? There are more odd occurrences, and two months ago, I became one of them. I have always been one of many, a dismissed face in the crowd until someone like Demitri singles me out to torture me, but one day I woke up and no one saw or heard me. I thought I died in my sleep like Professor Binns, but whatever happened must have faded, because suddenly I was being yelled at for skipping first and second period when I was there the whole time. That was pretty funny, actually. I told them exactly what happened in class that day, and left them speechless. It was all so weird though. Over a couple of days, I figured out what I could do and how to control it. Of course, my dad doesn't know. I'm already a disappointment for the way I dress and being bisexual. I don't know what to call my ability. It seems to be more than mere invisibility. It's like I can go completely undetected. Unless I want to be, I guess. No heat sensors, motion detection, no sent. Five bucks says that is why Kelly looks at me like that. My dogs look at me like that, too.

Anyway, I was invisible one day not long after my powers really started to get weird, when I heard a growl. And then I saw the wolf. And Demitri. I watched him watch this wolf as if he knew her, and I thought it was odd. Then again, a lot of things happened. How could I find anything odd anymore? I could just tell that he was thinking something bad. Last week, I saw him again, popping in and out. After my shock at seeing him teleport, I searched for the wolf. I had then seen the wolf again. I had no time to do anything else but follow after him. He was after the wolf, I could tell, and I couldn't let him. I just couldn't. After I pushed at Demitri, I tried to calm the wolf, but she jerked away from me. I followed her again to see where she was from. It was hurt, and I wanted to help it still. Call me crazy. I didn't know what else I could have done for her, but imagine my surprise when I saw her shudder, then morph into Kelly Masterson. And then Dinah Lance was all butch and in charge, and then Ms. Gordon was there. For the first time since my powers began, someone looked right at me. It freaked me out so bad that I booked it, but I knew people like Demitri didn't quit.

Gabby, I don't know why I didn't just call the police, or why I didn't tell you guys, warn you somehow and tell you that I was there. I know Kelly knew by the way she looked at me, but she never pointed any fingers. What could I say to any of you? Even if you knew what type of person I was, how does one start that sort of conversation? Dinah was the closest I've had to a friend in a long time, and I have had a crush on you since forever, and I didn't want to mess up whatever we all could've become, if anything. I really wanted to hang with you guys. I saw how tight you three were, and I wanted to be a part of that, as silly as that might be.

Like the wolf in Dinah's story, we're running out of time. After years of being tormented by Demitri, I know him well enough to know he won't quit while he's behind. He's pissed at Kelly for something, and though I've trailed him since the last shooting, it is still unclear to me why. He'll try again and I'll be there when he does. Which is why I decided to write you this letter. I was lucky last time, but luck often runs out just when you need it the most. I can't stare down a gun and expect to not get shot. I may have super powers, but I'm not Superman. That would be cool, though.

In case I don't make it, I want you to know that I don't regret kissing you. I regret not doing it again. I regret not showing that punkass sooner, but in the end I guess he got me, huh? I'm sorry I was rude to you, Gabby. I really am. I hope you don' think anything bad of me. You're always nice to me, even in detention, and I wasn't very nice to you in return. I was just so mad, but not at you. I don't know how to describe it. I knew I was about to practically commit suicide. I knew it, and I guess I didn't want to let you too close to me in case I changed my mind for selfish reasons. I have to protect Kelly. Seeing as no one else knows, I have to. Know that you're the perfect girl. Tell Dinah and Kelly to just get over it. Thank you for being you, and thank you for making these last few weeks in and out of detention bearable.

Ce La Vie Babe,

Janel Woods

Gabby tucked the note in her pocket and stood at Janel's tombstone. The visits had been a weekly tradition for the past month or so. Gabby would stand and read the letter quietly, the three of them would lay down a flower for Janel, and then as soon as Gabby was ready, they would leave. Since the day Janel died, the weather had gotten better, but that was about all. The girls found out Demitri's story, that he'd met his birth mother after he teleported for the first time to see what else he may have inherited from the Fairbanks family. He was told about his cousins, and when Kelly had attacked his adopted dad and left him in the hospital for weeks, he assumed it was Mandy and sought revenge. Demitri was to go to court to determine his fate for the murder of Janel. Reece had to cut him a deal, that he'd get a reduced sentence for his silence. Otherwise it was life in prison or life in Arkham. Dinah didn't know what his new punishment was, and she never asked.

Gabby continued to deny her gifts, and no one pushed the issue, even after Helena got hurt during sweeps the same night Gabby slept over and the feline woman mysteriously got better days before she normally would have, or when Gabby's hands began to glow that white/blue glow when some kid on crutches walked by them in school. She'd just stuffed her hands in her pockets and quickly walked on. Dinah didn't say anything then, as she saw the look, the guilt that flashed on Gabby's face for just a second. She seemed to ask herself why she could heal everyone but Janel, the one person she needed to heal.

" 'Thank you for being you'," Gabby quoted, setting her flower on top of Janel's tombstone, then she turned to her friends. Kelly and Dinah took turns placing their flowers next to Gabby's, Kelly with a kiss and a 'thank you', Dinah with a whispered 'Rest in Peace'. Then Gabby did something that neither of the other girls expected. She took both of their hands and put them together, Kelly's on top of Dinah's. She kept her hands on both of theirs as Kelly and Dinah exchanged a look. "I could have easily fallen in love with Janel, but I didn't have that chance. You two do. We all know how precious life is... And how short it is. If there's any happiness to be had in this life, then grab it." Gabby squeezed their hands as she looked Kelly in the eye. "Twice she gave you another chance at like, at happiness, but what good is her sacrifice if you don't appreciate it?"

"I do-" Kelly tried to say.

"So figure it out. Please."

" 'Thank you for being you,' but you're not being you now," Dinah said softly. She expected Gabby to get angry with her again, but she didn't this time.

"Yeah, but I will." She let go of Kelly and Dinah's hands and began to walk away. "That's all I can give you, Dinah," she said without looking back, and the other blonde was confused as to what exactly Gabby meant. Dinah wanted to say something, to tell Gabby that she trumps Dinah in the 'mysterious and cryptic' department, but she couldn't. As Gabby neared the entrance to New Gotham Cemetery, Kelly and Dinah's eyes met. In unison, they nodded and their fingers interlocked. Both girls' hearts beat slightly faster, but they ignored it as they, too, headed out of the cemetery.

"Hey Gabby, wait up!"

The End