Chapter of the week poll link is in my profile for Week Four. Feel free and vote if you haven't done so already. And now with the shameless shilling out of the way, on with your feature presentation.

Chapter Forty-Eight: Nightwing Returns.


A figure rushed as quickly as he could, running across the rooftops of Metropolis. The man jumped from one rooftop to the other rooftop, trying to get away from his pursuer. He stopped by STAR Labs to steal an important piece of technology for a very special benefactor. The dark clad figure slipped into the shadows, hanging back for a fraction of a second.

The figure wore a costume where the material reflected the surroundings around him. The figure craned his neck back a fraction of an inch and looked around. A couple of seconds passed before he could be allowed to breath.

On the roof, Supergirl landed several feet away from where the dark clad figure stood. He held the breath in his body and hoped she couldn't hear him. His heart started to race with a few heart beats. Unfortunately, an attempt to mask his true location ended in Supergirl reaching into the shadows and grabbing his adversary.

The adversary flipped over the top of his enemy and landed on the ground. The mysterious gentleman sprung into the air and reached into the side pocket. An energy dagger glowed with an illuminating light. The dark clad figure rushed towards Supergirl, but Supergirl avoided the attack.

The dark clad figure rushed Supergirl with the arm extended and the dagger bared. The figure went straight for Supergirl's throat, but the Kryptonian survivor avoided the attack. She used her quick speed and agility to avoid the attack. The figure started to stab and jab at her in mid-air. Kara jumped back to avoid the stabbing motions this villain made.

"Okay, time to take your little toy away from you!" Kara yelled.

With one swift flip, Kara kicked the enemy in the hand and caused the energy dagger to fly into the air. The dagger landed point down against the roof and burned a hole through. Kara allowed herself a momentary sigh of relief.

"You haven't had the slightest idea who you're dealing with."

The figure flung a chain out and wrapped it around Supergirl's arm. Supergirl pulled it forward and caused the dark clad figure to fly towards her. She tried to nail him with a clothesline, but the dark clad figure avoided the attack. The man hit her with a series of fast hands and faster feet to drill her enemy from behind. The figure pounded the back of her head, causing the wind to be knocked out of her.

"You have no idea who you're dealing with," the figure said. He flung Supergirl down onto the ground, causing her to land down hard.

Another figure swooped down from the shadow and dropped down on the back of the adversary's head. The figure stepped back and stepped out to fight the adversary.

Kara's eyes widened, watching the figure clad in black to face off against Nightwing. The rumors of Claire being back in town looked to be true because Kara saw it with her own eyes.

The dark clad figure looked rather pleased to see Nightwing standing before him. The man perched himself in front of his adversary and withdrew another blade, this one longer and this one, more glowing than the other one.

"I've been wanting to take a crate at the Dragon's apprentice for a while," the dark clad figure said. "You aren't as skilled as you think I…."

Nightwing smacked the figure in the face to shut him up. The dark clad figure went in for the kill by extending the blade out towards her, but Nightwing dodged the attack. Nightwing swept the foot out from underneath her adversary. Said adversary bounced to a standing position and Nightwing disarmed the blade from him in the most painful way possible.

The man's arm dislocated from his shoulder. The dark-clad figure groaned and Nightwing popped him in the face, knocking him out.

Nightwing bent down and picked up a canister. Supergirl moved over towards her.

"Hello, Claire," Kara said. "I could have handled him."

The two cousins shared one of those nervous stares which accompanied a tense reunion.

"I know, but it's something I needed to do," Claire said. She peered at the metal canister and frowned at it, brushing her fingers over the edge of it. The woman's frown grew even more prominent the more she looked the can over.

"So, what are you doing back in town?" Kara asked.

"This is a plot from the League of Assassins to bring one of the most dangerous men back from the death," Claire said. She made sure the canister had been secured. "Ra's Al Ghul."

The name of Ra's Al Ghul caused Kara to feel a chill over her body. She never once fought the leader of the League of Assassins, but Kara heard enough about the League leader to know pretty much how dangerous he could be and why him coming back for the dead.

"What's the deal with the canister?" Kara asked.

"They have biological warfare in mind," Claire said. "In the small quantities, it can put a person underneath for surgery. In a larger quantity, it can be pretty dangerous."

Kara wondered what to say next to her cousin. Now the shock of running into her cleared her, Kara had so much to say.

"Whatever it is….."

Claire's words faded off into nothingness when a second dark clad figure appeared in the darkness. The apprentice of the dragon turned to her.

"If you kill me, you won't learn my message," the dark-clad figure said. Claire raised her eyebrow and motioned for the dark-clad figure to go forward. The dark-clad figure extended an object and stabbed it.

A cell phone, Lois's cell phone, and Kara's eyes widened at the look of the phone in the hand of the dark-clad figure.

"You have an hour," the dark-clad figure said, and without another word, the man slipped into the shadows.

Kara turned her attention to Claire, trying to tell her they ran into a trap, but there was only one problem. Claire vanished into the shadows. She turned around and moved off to see what she could find.
X-X-X
Lois tried to struggle against the bindings, but the bindings kept her against the chair. The reporter found herself tied up against the chair and not in the good way either.

"Sorry, I didn't know….I didn't know this would happen," Cat said. The young reporter's head hung down, and a frustrated grimace appeared on her face. "I didn't know this would happen, this is all my fault."

"Don't worry about it, kid," Lois said. She strained against the ropes, but they caused her to be pushed back against the chair. "I'm perfectly capable of getting into my own trouble; so there's no need to be upset about this."

Nine times out of ten, Lois found herself perfectly capable of getting out of trouble as soon as she got into it. The ten percent of the time where she couldn't stay out of trouble, well things really got bad.

"Why do you do it?" Cat asked. Lois raised her eyebrow, a long moment of confusion spreading over her face. Cat decided to clarify the answer. "Why do you put yourself in the danger you do? It isn't for the glory, isn't it? Or is it because you always know you'll be rescued?"

Lois wondered exactly how to answer the question. Her head hung down and the frown on her face deepened a shade or two.

"Sorry, I didn't really….I didn't really mean to pry."

"You didn't," Lois said. She tried to offer some reassurance in her tone, even though none came for herself. "But….it's really complicated….hard to explain really."

"Try me," Cat said.

Lois's lips curled into a knowing smile. She decided to figure out how she needed to answer a simple question.

"I guess it was because of my father….the General who wanted sons, but only had daughters. I've been a bit of an adrenaline junkie….I don't really think I have any self-preservation skills. I should have been dead several times over."

"And you would have, if it wasn't for Superwoman," Cat said. Lois raised an eyebrow, with her ceasing her attempts to find a weak spot on the rope. "Sorry."

"Blunt and you tell the truth," Lois said. "I like it kid, you'll go far….if you don't die first."

Cat experienced a shiver of fear go through her. Lois sounded a bit jaded, but she spoke the truth. The reporting career sounded a lot more glamorous when she studied to be one. Now, Cat felt the crippling fear which frightened her.

"How long did you know?" Cat asked.

"When I wanted to be a reporter?" Lois asked. "Bit of a personal question to ask me, especially given the situation we're in."

"No, not…not that," Cat said. She tried to calm herself down and ask her question in a more concise manner. "Although…this is more personal…when did you learn Claire and Superwoman are one and the same."

A long pause followed with Lois looking at Cat. She tried to take this one in good humor and chuckle at Cat's words.

"Do you really want to believe the ramblings of a madman, Cat?"

Lois sounded crisp and short, and Cat held her head down. She realized the only proof she had, as of right now, was Corben's word. Corben sounded completely and utterly insane, and mad for revenge.

"Well, I suppose not," Cat said sheepishly. She hung her head, but wouldn't quite let it go. "But you have to admit, the two of them look almost alike. The only difference is Claire wears glasses."

Lois mustered up the dirtiest look possible, mostly because she hit a bit too close to home with the entire glasses thing. The reporter would have liked to think she only entered a state of denial and wasn't foolish enough to not recognize someone without a pair of glasses.

The reporter would like to think as much, she would be wrong, but she would like to think as much.

Speaking of people who were delusional, Corben showed up with them. He stepped towards them, crouching down with a wicked grin crossing his face.

"Revenge is sweet, wouldn't you agree, Lois?" Corben asked.

Lois rolled her eyes at Corben, pretty much ignoring his words. She turned her attention towards Cat, allowing a small smile to cross over her face.

"Congratulations, Cat, you're going to hear your first ever supervillain monologue."

"Revenge will be sweet," Corben said. He ignored the words from the reporter. She tried to get a rise out of him, but Corben refused to allow it. "I was a man, a full man, until Superwoman crushed me and Luthor used me. It's a shame Luthor is gone, but I'm not going to shed some tears with the bald bastard being dead. He deserved to be crushed."

The figure in the shadows stepped out of the shadows. The Silver Monkey made his way over to Corben, extending his head down to face him.

"The message has been sent," the Silver Monkey said.

"Excellent," Corben said. "All we have to do is….."

A figure crashed down from the ceiling through the glass, causing shattered glass to follow everywhere. The ninjas stepped in, preparing to attack.

Supergirl faced off against them. They recovered from the fact she wasn't Nightwing in a few seconds. One of the ninjas charged forward, a mystical blade extended towards her.

The Girl of Steel utilized her quick abilities. The ninjas came at her from all sides, but she used the fact to her advantage. Kara's super breath launched the ninjas back.

Corben watched the battle, with the Girl of Steel making quick and rather elegant work against the ninja minions. The man's lips twisted into a oh so casual smirk when he stared her down.

"Supergirl, well, I didn't expect for you to pop up this soon," Corben said. "But perhaps it should have been inevitable."

Corben removed his coat and the second he did so, Lois screamed. A large chunk of gold Kryptonite flashed in front of Kara, dropping her to one knee.

The ninjas surrounded Kara, blades drawn. The Girl of Steel experienced a heavy weight weighing her down as the goons surrounded her. They drew closer, preparing to kill.


Nightwing crept around the shadows, and the woman stood rigid. Corben had his new and improved golden Kryptonite heart, which would be a problem. It wasn't as refined as the piece Luthor used, but still it could cause some damage.

Claire needed to move quickly before time ran out.

"I hope you're with me."

Receiving no answer, at least not one which satisfied her, Claire dropped down from the ceiling. She grabbed two of the nearest ninjas and yanked them into the shadows. The figure pushed the goon into the wall, causing him to slam against the wood panels with a sickening crack.

Corben stood as high on his feet and prepared to finish off Supergirl. A silver device flew through the air and stuck in Corben's open chest plate. Several red lines of energy wrapped around his body and an energy shield manifested around the Kryptonite, blocking it from feeding the rest of his body.

"It's your choice," Nightwing said. "Either save yourself before the backup power runs out or gain revenge. Pick your poison."

Corben picked his poison by lunging at Nightwing, but she blocked his latest attack. She dragged him off the ground and slammed the criminal into a stack of crates. The backup power started to sputter, before Metallo fizzled completely out.

The Silver Monkey made a split second decision of what he needed to do. To go while the going was good, the Monkey crept over towards the nearest exit.

Green fire shot up from the floor and blocked him. One flash of light manifested and the Dragon popped the goon right in the side of the face. The Silver Monkey crashed down onto the ground, the wind knocked completely out of him.

"Your betrayal will be known to her, because you went above your station."

Kara's eyes flickered, and she couldn't believe it. The same thing happened to her which happened to Claire. The exposure to the Golden Kryptonite made her feel like she had the flu.

She looked up, seeing a burning pair of green eyes from the shadow. Kara opened her mouth to protest something, but she never had a chance to do so. A dart connected the side of her neck. The next instant Kara blacked completely out.

"Leave," the emerald-eyed assassin said to Nightwing.

Nightwing responded with a nod and escaped into the shadows. The figure walked over and took out a shield canister. She yanked the golden Kryptonite out of Metallo's chest and put inside the canister without another word.

She snapped her fingers and the ropes came off of a shell-shocked Cat, and a rather disturbed, but mostly composed, Lois Lane.

The moment Lois regained her bearings, another figure dropped down from the ceilings. The reporter calmed herself down as much as possible, in time to be greeted by the Huntress.

"She's been exposed to the Gold Kryptonite," Lois said.

"The police have been called," Huntress said. "All of the ninjas have been taken care of, you should be safe."

Lois nodded as Miss Sunshine and Happiness gave them a full detailed explanation of what they had to deal with. Huntress scooped up Kara's limp form in her arms and grapnel her through the nearest exit.

"Come on, Cat, you need to….you just need to calm down after tonight," Lois said. Her usual hard and tough as nails voice sounded a fair bit softer than normal.

Cat swallowed, but didn't trust herself to say anything. She regretted stowing away in the back of Lois's car.


Kara's eyes fluttered open. Helena crouched over her.

"How are you feeling?" Helena asked.

Kara grumbled at this question, even though she adjusted her attitude really quick.

"How do you think I'm feeling?" Kara asked. "I lost my powers. I can't believe I just lost them….like this."

Kara snapped her fingers to demonstrate. A shuddering feeling spread through her body, the thought of all she lost hitting her hard and very fast.

"You didn't lose your powers, but you came close," Helena said.

"What do you mean I didn't lose my powers?" Kara asked.

"See for yourself," Helena said. She dropped a folder practically on Kara's lap. "You were out for two days and there were some times where….well it looked pretty bleak."

Kara figured about as much. She took the folder of information Helena pretty much dropped in her lap and looked it over. It detailed the tests which had been run. Kara opened her mouth, which allowed Helena to swoop in with a cotton swab and take a sample of salvia from Kara. Kara closed her eyes and allowed Helena to get to work.

Helena walked over and put the salvia sample to the test. The machine in front of them lit up.

"The dart she injected me with, it stopped the power draining process before it could really be completed," Kara said. She continued to look over the information on the paper to ensure she read every single word of it right. "Which means, if there's a way to reverse the partial power drain, then there might be a way to reverse the powers being taken away completely."

Kara labored underneath the impression for months and months, there had been no takebacks with Gold Kryptonite.

"The one thing working in your favor was the exposure from Corben wasn't as constant and the Kryptonite in his chest wasn't as refined as the piece Luthor used on your cousin," Helena said. "But, never the less, she managed to figure out a way to stop the infection from spreading. Before it stripped you of the ability to channel your powers."

Kara thought Helena knew who the person in question was and after a few long seconds of thinking, Kara had a pretty good idea of who she was as well.

"You're not going to be strong for a few days, but if the results of these tests hold up, then your powers will be returning in a number of days."

Kara would have to hold Helena to those words and hope for the best. Her heart started to race against her chest.

"You haven't been the only one who has been working on this problem for some time," Helena said. "I have to admit, I had my misgivings regarding Claire, but the person she went to….she was the best hope for trying to reverse her problem."

Kara just frowned, and again, Helena managed to say what she thought, without really saying what she thought. Regardless, Kara again had a shrewd idea who Claire talked about.

"Your powers are slowly returning to you, and within a day or two of yellow sunlight exposure, you'll be back to normal," Helena said. "You might be a bit more vulnerable to injury until your powers completely return, so I'd advise plenty of rest and relaxation."

Kara smiled, she hoped she could have the luxury of relaxing, but something told her, easier said than done. Just call it a hunch which haunted her.

"Cat and Lois are fine," Helena said. "And Corben has been taken into police custody…the Monkey Clan….well they won't be a problem anymore."

Helena didn't have the hardcore aversion to killing people as her father did, sometimes it was necessary. Leaving deadly assassins who would slaughter or rape millions alive didn't qualify as necessary to leave alive. But, she didn't have to worry about the blood on her hands, in either the figurative or the literal sense of the world.

"And you died."

"What?" Kara asked.

"For a few minutes, your heart stopped, I only just got it restarted by bombarding you with yellow solar radiation," Helena said. "More than enough to give your average normal human skin cancer."

Kara whistled, talk about an excessive amount of yellow solar radiation. She rose to her feet, feeling a bit better, now she knew a cure was out there.

"Your shields have been increased, you're now immune to green, red, black, and gold Kryptonite, unless someone finds a way to inject the crystals into your blood stream."

"Well, let's try and avoid anyone who tries," Kara said.

"Stay for dinner," Helena said.

Kara thought she was hungry enough to eat a house. A more intense hunger than being hungry enough to eat a horse, but she was distracted. Kara shook her head to clear it.


Lois Lane paced around her living room. She received a few days off to recover from the ordeal she suffered. The only ordeal Lois Lane suffered happened to be boredom and loads of it.

A knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts and made the reporter scramble to the door. Never in her entire life had Lois been so ecstatic to see company on the other side of her door. The door swung open and revealed Kara on the other end, which prompted a wide smile from Lois.

"Kara, thank God, I'm glad…"

Kara stopped Lois with a hand held up and a smile crossing her face. She waited for the brunette to step back to allow the young woman to enter the apartment properly.

"Don't thank God, thank Helena Wayne."

Lois laughed; Helena would be more capable of any god.

"Figured, I'd swing by and check out to see how you're doing," Kara said.

"Well, Cat was pretty shaken up, more so than I am," Lois said. "But, I think she finally recovered…as for me, I'm just bored as hell and frustrated….frustrated Claire was there, and I never had a chance to talk to her."

"I talked to her briefly," Kara said. Lois raised an eyebrow. "But it was all business. Nothing out of the ordinary to be honest….and I never had a chance to say the things I wanted to say."

Lois's dry chuckle pretty much told the story. Anyone, never mind a prize-winning reporter, understood from Kara's tone, she had a mouthful.

"So, sorry for losing your powers," Lois said.

"No, I didn't lose them," Kara said. "The….Dragon stopped the power loss."

"You mean the mysterious woman dressed in black who injected you with something?" Lois asked. Kara nodded in response. "Who is she really?"

Kara's suspicions increased, she had a good idea who the Dragon was, but she didn't really want to know.

"So, I've been thinking about something Claire said," Lois said. Kara looked at her. "Nothing bad, but maybe the two of us need some time apart to try some new things. And it looks like Claire's moved on to a new Mistress."

Even though Lois kept the bitterness out of her voice, one could tell she felt the slightest amount of heart attack. Kara took Lois's hand in hers.

"Lois, look….."

Lois's eager lips attacked Kara's lips with a blistering kiss. Months of frustration spilled out, and Lois tried to jam her tongue down Kara's throat.

Not to be outdone, Kara put her hands around Lois's backside and squeezed it firmly. Lois closed her eyes and took a long breath, with Kara backing her through the open door into the bedroom.

The moment Kara entered the bedroom, she noticed handcuffs on the dresser and a red lamp above the bed.

"Handcuffs?" Kara asked. "Seriously, Lois?"

Lois didn't look guilty at all, in fact, she turned on the smug charm the reporter had been known for, for quite some time.

"Have to keep Claire in line somehow, but….."

Kara scooped up Lois and threw her onto the bed. She screamed.

"Naughty girl ,always putting yourself in danger….maybe you should get punished for it."

Lois looked up at her ex-girlfriend's cousin, lust burning in her eyes.

"Maybe I should."

The buttons on Lois's blouse worked themselves open revealing a lacy black bra and Kara leaned down, pinning her down on the pin. Kara crouched on top of Lois and kissed her intensely. The able lips of the Girl of Steel caused Lois's brain to shut down in bliss.

A snap of metal over her wrist brought Lois back to reality. Kara had her and she really had no one to blame other than herself.


Outside of the window of the apartment, Claire Kent, better known as Nightwing, perched outside. She observed the entire event with an intense expression on her face. The moment she discovered Kara and Lois were both okay, she slipped off into the night.

Claire dropped down into the night, without a word. She was happy Lois moved on, and Kara would be able to keep her into line. She wasn't pleased how it ended the way it did, but Claire appreciated the fact Lois moved on all the same.

'Good, she moved on. Now I can do the same.'
To Be Continued on February 5th, 2016.