Two updates in less than two weeks! The muse is back! ZabuzasGirl, I hope you'll forgive me for the eleven hour lag in my immediate update! ;) I did my best and your review really helped! Thanks also to AkibaraLatina & booklover1598 for your lovely reviews!
This chapter takes place in the episode 'Darkest', and is mainly Bart centric. We do, however, get an update on Selina.
March 23, 2016- 21:05EDT
Yeah, Bart knew that Nightwing was yelling at him, but he didn't really care. He counted today as a win. He and Jaime had gotten into a scuffle on their own and escaped. Bart looked up as the doors to the room slid open and Damian Wayne entered, Lian Harper in his arms. He tried not to stare at her, but it was really hard.
It had been easier when he'd first arrived. The helpless newborn had really looked so little like the Lian he knew, but now, as she was gaining independence everyday, he almost lost it every time she looked at him with those huge blue eyes he missed so desperately.
Of course, Nightwing was right. No sooner had he put painful thoughts to rest, Aqualad and his goons had infiltrated Mount Justice. Bart did all he could, evading Icicle Jr., but the Terror Twins got him. Right before Tommy knocked him out, he saw the bright red soles of Damian's favorite shoes disappearing into one of the air vents. Satisfied that Lian and Damian were safe, Bart slipped into unconsciousness.
When he came to, he was strapped into the cockpit of Aqualad's ship. He had a clear view of the mountain through the window, as well as of Tigress. He saw he take a deep breath before she depressed a button in her hand. He started screaming as the whole mountain exploded.
Aqualad looked away from the fiery image and to Bart, who had crumpled in his restraints, tears running down his face as he spoke rapidly, repeating a name over and over again: 'Lian'. "Put him in a containment pod." He said as unemotionally as he could. In all his planning, he'd forgotten about the new civilian residents of Mount Justice.
Lian, that was the name of Red Arrow's daughter. She was just a few months old. How could he have forgotten? Easy, he spent too much time in character these days. Artemis looked pale, "Kaldur..."
He hushed her, whispering, "I'm certain Nightwing would have gotten them clear."
She set her jaw, "If we just killed that baby, I won't have a life to go back to. Kat was my best friend when we were kids. She'd never forgive me!"
"Tigress!" Kaldur growled, pulling her to the side. "We must wait for Nightwing's signal before we panic. We have more immediate persons to be concerned about." He said, gesturing to the captive Team members. Tigress pulled herself together and did her part when they docked at the Manta-Sub, watching her former team mates get sent off to the mysterious Partner. "While we're waiting, why don't you go over some of the security tapes for my father's ship. He had visitors earlier."
"You got it, boss-man." She said grudgingly, going into the computer system and pulling up the day's recordings of the main room, fast forwarding until she saw Red Claw enter, speaking with Kaldur's father.
Artemis looked at the dark haired woman at Red Claw's feet, and realized in horror that she knew that face. Long stringy brown hair fell down to the ground where the woman was knelt, looking far thinner than Artemis had ever seen. She was almost naked, dressed only in a filthy underwear set.
"Something troubles you, Tigress?" Kaldur asked softly from beside her.
"I know her." Artemis said, her voice wavering.
Kaldur stood to look over her shoulder at the tape, "I do not recognize her."
Artemis flinched as Red Claw kicked the skeletal woman halfway across the room, her thin limbs seemingly unable to stop the movement of her body as she hit the far wall. "Kaldur, that's Selina Kyle." She stared at the screen, frozen in horror as Red Claw approached the cowering woman with a harsh looking whip held high above her head. Artemis turned her face away and was grateful that the sound wasn't transmitting. "Oh, God, Kaldur. That's Kat's mom."
Kaldur killed the video feed, sickened. "Who is this 'cat'?"
"Katherine, she was pretty much my childhood best friend. Her mother is...was Catwoman." Artemis explained, trying to shake the image of Selina's dead eyes.
Kaldur sighed raggedly, "Let me see what insight my father can give me on her"
"We have to help her, Kaldur." Artemis said firmly.
He nodded, "I know, but our mission comes first. We will do all we can."
Artemis allowed her eyes to trail back to the screen, watching Red Claw drag Selina to the exit, "I hope it's enough." She slammed her head into the console, "This day might go down as the worst of my life."
The Scientist was intrigued by the new sample that had been brought to her. He'd stuck out because in his containment pod, he had stirred before he should have, prompting one of her grunts to pump him full of the sedatives, dangerously close to killing him with the dose.
Looking at the metal covered room outside of his pod, Bart Allen, Time-Traveller extraordinaire, could see aliens he recognized all too quickly. One of them noticed he was awake and seemed panicked, pressing a button, causing gas to fill Bart's chamber. He held his breath as long as he could, and felt drowsy as soon as he took in a ragged breath.
Bart felt her hands on him the instant his eyes closed, "Bart, there's no time for a nap. We have a world to save, remember?"
He blinked his eyes open, blinded by bright light. Wasn't he in his time machine hurtling to the year 2016? Wasn't she dead?
His vision cleared, "Lian?" She smiled down at him, dressed in a white sundress, her auburn hair pinned out of her eyes with what looked to be tiny delicate silver twigs, willow if he were to guess. She was beautiful. He'd seen her before since his return to the past, but she had never felt so real. He'd see her standing on the street, still bloody and broken, and every once in a while, when Kat held him to her, he could swear he smelt Lian instead. Never in all of those glimpses and terrible moments of deja-vu, had he ever felt her touch him, and he had never ever heard her voice. Damn, he'd tried so hard not to think about her. It just hurt too much.
Lian ran a hand gently through his brown hair, "Yeah, you idiot. It's me. You've let your hair grow since I saw you last. I like it." He pinched his eyes closed, but the warmth of her hands didn't fade away. He felt her lips brush a kiss onto his forehead, "If you've lost my gloves, I'm going to kill you."
He couldn't help but smile at her words, opening his eyes to look into Lian's crystal blue eyes, "Li, I think I'm already dead."
Lian shook her head, a small frown on her face, "You're not, Bart. Trust me. I would know."
"I'm sorry." He said, sitting up and turning to face her, startled to find they were on a beach.
Lian shrugged, following his gaze across the scenery, "I always promised to take you to a beach. Now's as good a time as any." He kept staring at her, his chest aching. She glared at him, "Stop that, idiot. I'm not bitter, and you shouldn't be either." He couldn't breath when she pressed her lips to his in a chaste kiss, pulling away with her usual smug grin on her face, "I regret nothing, Bart. You have to realize that."
What was there to regret, really? They'd only known each other for a few months, and they had been the most wonderful months of his life. He'd never regret her, and he would never regret loving her. She was the only person he'd ever loved.
"I miss you so much." Bart admitted, holding her right hand, rubbing a finger along the rough circular scar in the center of her palm. He missed everything about her, her wicked sense of humor, her breathtaking eyes, her ferocity, her brilliance, but most of all, he missed touching her, missed holding her hands in his, missed falling asleep with his hand wrapped in her long auburn hair, feeling safer with her than he'd felt in his whole life.
"I miss you too." She said softly, catching his eyes again, "Bart, you aren't done. You know that, don't you?"
"I don't understand. I've been watching Jaime Reyes." Bart said, confused.
"Things changed, Bart, but not enough. You cured Nate, but Blue Beetle still takes over." Lian explained, standing up.
Bart stood with her. He had to look up slightly to look her in the eyes, but that was expected. She was older than him by two years after all. "He's my friend, Li."
She scoffed, rolling her eyes, "You make the most terrible choices in friends, Bart. I had hoped that after me, you'd have learned your lesson."
"I'm an idiot, remember?" He said, winding his arms around her waist and linking his fingers together at the small of her back.
Lian laughed, "I remember." She looked sad as she traced the side of his face with a hand, "I have to go soon."
"Why?" He said, pulling her closer to him.
Lian looked around, "This isn't for us, Bart. You know that."
He forced a laugh, "Why've you always got to be a kill joy?"
Lian kissed him again, more forcefully than before, "I'm being serious, Bart. The time line needs to change, and when I does, I won't be the same."
"What do you mean?"
She gave him a small, mournful smile, "Bart, when you fix the timeline, I won't be sent with Etrigan to the Hell Realm. I'll grow up with my parents."
"You'll be twenty-sixteen's Lian Harper. I'm stuck in this timeline. I'll be twelve years older than you." Bart said, frowning at the realization.
Lian squeezed his hands reassuringly, "I'm twenty-six years older than you right now."
He raised an eyebrow at her, "Only by a calendar, Lian. Two years, that's how much older you are than I am."
She sighed in amusement, stepping away from him, "Always so technical, Bart. You amaze me." She tugged absently on the end of her ponytail, one of her nervous habits.
He realized then that her clothes had changed. "No." He half reached towards her, wishing desperately for the glinting twigs and white dress to come back, "Lian, no."
Lian looked helpless, "I have to go, Bart. Just remember. The timeline has to change, but just because it does, that doesn't mean I'll be any different."
"Li, you were raised by a demon and his magician human bond." Bart bemoaned.
She rolled her eyes again, "Keep in mind that my grandfather is Batman. I think I'll be just as world weathered. Granted, hellfire is a little brighter a background than the waterfall of a cave, but I promise I won't be anyone's princess."
Bart scowled at her, "Lian, you're telling me that I should love someone who's not you."
"No, I'm not. We're the same person, Bart." She looked like she was going to punch him, and it wouldn't be the first time.
"Who's to say that Lian will even like me?" Bart hissed out.
Lian pulled her black fingerless gloves on, the same one's he had worn into the past. "I love you, Bart." Out of the pocket of her black cargo pants Lian pulled a worn notebook, waving it at him. He recognized it, knew that every page was covered in Kat Harper's tear stained writing as she wrote down a whole lifetime of advice for her daughter to take with her in her absence. He'd read some of it, enough to know that sending her daughter away might as well have killed Katherine two months before her actual death.
Lian slipped the book back into her pocket, "My mother knew too. She knew my father was the one for her, just like I know that no matter how I grew up, you're the one for me. So yeah, save the world, go on with your life with the family you were robbed of, but in seventeen years or so, give me a chance. You're annoying and off-kilter, but you are the singularly most hopeful human being I've ever met. You made me a better person." She adjusted her weathered black combat boot. "Do it again, Bart, make me a better person again."
He reached out to her, but she was just an image, "Lian, what do I do?"
"To make me a better person? Be yourself. I'm sure I'll follow along. I did last time." She checked the belt around her waist, speaking again without looking at him, "I don't want you to forget this version of me though." Tears welled up in Lian's eyes and she blinked them away furiously, "If you can, I'd like for you to tell my parents what I did. I want them to be proud of me."
Bart nodded in agreement, holding in his own tears, "They will be, Li, and yeah, once this is all over, I'm gonna have a long sit down with Huntress, Red Arrow, and Baby-Lian. They'll know."
Lian gave him one last genuine smile before she looked to the horizon, "I think I'm going on a walk. I don't need you to see me like this twice." She pressed a hand to her stomach, but he could see the blood spreading under her fingers. Lian hardly seemed effected by it, "You need to go now, Bart. The Reach gave you too much sedative to compensate for your metabolism. If you don't leave this level of consciousness, you might never wake up, and then everything we've done will be for nothing."
Bart nodded, that was the Lian he was most familiar with. Above all, the mission. He gave her a weak smile, "Maybe one day we'll go to the beach for real."
Lian nodded superiorly, "I'll hold you to that."
"I love you, Lian." Bart called after her as she shuffled down the beach, leaving a macabre trail of blood drops behind her.
She looked back over her shoulder, her smug grin fully in place, "I know."
He woke to another Reach alien's face before being promptly put out again, only that time, dissolving into real dreams, memories of Lian.
November 18, 2055
Of course he'd heard the news. Who hadn't? The last visage of the Justice League had appeared through a portal in the middle of the ruins of Gotham. In the year since, the remaining human population, all living in hiding, had named her their last hope. After vanishing exactly thirty-five years earlier, Lian Harper had walked out of a portal flanked by Jason Blood and Etrigan the Demon. She'd been about four years old when she went into the demon realm with the men, but coming out, she was about fifteen. Bart hadn't seen her himself, but he'd certainly heard a lot about her. Apparently, she was beautiful, and very very smart.
Already, she was making strides to improving the quality of life for many of the remaining free humans, but in doing so, she'd already made herself a huge target. Stupid. You only made yourself a target if you wanted to die.
Neutron kicked at his shoe, "Hey, Bart. Get out of your head. You making another run?"
Bart nodded, "Yeah, I need to find something to power this hunk of metal. All the science in the world won't help if we can't find a battery."
"We'll find something." The man assured gently, rubbing the skin under his collar, "If we could get this thing off me..."
"You'd accidentally kill everyone around you, Nate. For the last time, no, not until we figure out how to cure you." Bart said, tightening one last bolt.
Nathaniel sighed, "Yeah, yeah, Bart. I hear you. Minor detail. Besides, I think I've almost got a cure ready. I'll give it a try in a few days."
Bart glared up at him, "I swear, you blow up and I will kill you myself, Reach be damned."
The grown man sighed again, "You're getting cranky, go run."
Bart stood, brushing his hands on his pants, "Okay, I'll be back as soon as I can." He shoved what was left of the candy bar he'd found the day before into his mouth. Sure, the thing had an expiration date of twenty years ago, but it hadn't grown mold or anything, so it was a pretty great find.
He was used to running on limited energy so the sugar rush made him feel like he was high. Everything was going great until he tripped. Next thing he knew, he was pinned to the ground under the prettiest girl he'd ever seen. Red hair framed her face, and he became aware of how mad she looked, "Who are you?"
"What?"
She curled her lip up at him, pushing his head to the side and checking the back of his neck for a Scarab. When she pushed his head back even with his body his head bounced against the concrete. She didn't seem to care that the back of his head was throbbing, and pulled out a vicious looking hunting knife to hold at his throat. "Are you an idiot? Who are you?"
He may have been only thirteen, but he was definitely aware of how warm she was, straddling his waist. "My name's Bart."
The girl pressed the knife tighter against his throat, "How did you get in here?"
"I ran in." Bart answered honestly, staring at her face.
"Impossible." She scoffed.
"It's what I did." He shrugged, regretfully choosing to move from underneath her faster than she could blink. He stayed in the room though, smirking at her. He rarely got to stop and show off, and she was pretty. Definitely worth the time.
She stared at him in awe, "You're a Meta-human."
"I sure am, hot-stuff." He said cockily, giving her a once over. She made wearing all black combat gear hot.
"I'm Lian Harper." She said stiffly as she eyed the bag of loot in his hands. "Now, would you mind telling me what you were here to steal from me?"
"I-I-ah-I-I can't get you out of my head
God knows I've tried
But I just can't forget
Those crazy nights and
All the things that we did
I-ah-I-I can't get you out of my head
Oh Oh
Maybe it was the way you talked
Maybe it was the way you laughed
I don't know just what it is
But I know I want you back"
"Out of My Head"
By: Theory Of A Deadman
There you have it, folks! Kind of a strange pairing, but once I thought about it, I fell in love with it. For the record, Bart is 13 and Future!Lian is 15. I thought back to Bloodlines and realized how much Bart's personality changes from the moments we see him in the future to present day, which is why the word 'crash' is not anywhere in his internal monologue. I've made the decision that 'crash' is just part of the bubbly personality he puts on as Impulse.
Also, for those of you who had no clue who I was talking about with Etrigan and Jason Blood, look him/them up. Cool DC characters that I pulled into the YJ universe. I could see Bats doing anything to protect his granddaughter, even if that meant sending her away.
There will be more Lian/Bart in the next few chapters. I'm returning to Kat for the majority, but don't be surprised to see little mini chapters tagged to the beginning or end.
Lian speculation is welcome as well as anything else you want to say! I'm all ears!
-Jenn
P.S. Think Haley Ramm for teenaged Lian, Jake Austin Walker for Bart, although he's a bit too redheaded. His grin is Bart-ish though!