Kara had to go to CatCo so I thought I would walk her to work. I needed the fresh air and spending even a little time with her without all the havoc of our lives was nice. We made it to her floor and I hugged her goodbye. She waved back as she scurried off to do some reporter business.

I turned to leave when I noticed Nia puffy-eyed and shoving a donut into her face in the break room. Instead of heading back to my apartment like I planned, I went to check on Nia. She looked up at me with teary eyes; she looked broken.

I took the box of donuts from her hands and wiped her face of crumbs. "Nia, what happened?"

"Brainy...He...he...broke up with me."

It took me a second to truly understand what she just said and I was utterly shocked. Brainy risked everything for Nia only a few days ago and now he just breaks up with her? That doesn't make any sense.

I spoke my confusion, "Did he give you a reason?"

"He said he didn't feel the same for me anymore because he was back to his true self. The part that runs on logic, not feelings." Nia wiped away the tears. "I thought I could get over this, but I can't. It hurts...It hurts so much."

Nia began to cry again as I pulled her in for a hug. I told her to take today off and with some convincing she listened to me. I told Kara about what happened and then I took Nia home. Once I knew she was comfortable, I had a mission. I headed over to the DEO because I knew that's where he would be.

I made my way through the front doors and found Brainy at his usual computer. I tapped his shoulder and he turned to face me, "I need to talk to you for a moment."

He agreed in silence as we headed to one of the training rooms so we could be alone. I was about to dig into him about Nia when he cut me off. "Before you say what you have to say. I made you something."

"Made me what?"

He left the room and reappeared with a briefcase. He set it on the metal table in front of us and opened it. Inside was a superhero suit with a base color of black and blue highlights on the arms and legs. What was most distinct was the V emblem on the center of the chest inside a similar diamond to Kara's suit. Plus it had a blue cape that matched the highlights. I looked from the suit to Brainy with surprise.

He explained. "I know you want to help out more since you have abilities now. Kara wasn't keen on you becoming an official hero, but I think it's time. I made you a suit so you wouldn't have to fight in your street clothes."

"What's the V stand for?"

"Vamtrona. I thought it fit since you are a vamtronian. If you don't like it, I can always change the suit."

"No no no." I said, raising my hand. "I love it. I love it a lot actually. Thank you, Brainy."

I got entranced by the suit and was smiling from ear to ear. Then the awe wore off and I realized why I actually came to the DEO. I was about to lay into him when my phone rang. "Just give me a moment."

I took a step outside and pulled my phone from my pocket. I didn't recognize the caller I.D. so I prepared for some creepy villain voice to speak, but luckily, it was only Deirdre. I spoke first, "How did you even get this number?"

"I asked Kara. Ever since my father was killed and the world literally ended, she's been really kind to me. Quite nice not having her shoot daggers at me with her eyes. I'm guessing you guys finally kissing helped with that."

Her words made my skin lose all the color it had, aside from my cheeks which were now a bright red. "What….what do you mean? K...kiss? No, we didn't do that..."

Deidre laughed. "I feel what you feel, remember? It isn't just pain or sorrow, I can tell when you are happy and whenever you are near Kara you are very happy. Only someone in love would be that happy. You both are really cute together, I'm happy for you."

"Is that why you called? To wish me luck?"

Deirdre sighed with a pause. "Yes and no. Can you meet me somewhere? I have something for you."

I began to decline. "Well, I'm kinda in the middle of something right now."

"Well whatever it is, it can wait. Please, it's kind of important. This can't wait." Deirdre insisted

I looked back toward Brainy and swore under my breath. I wanted to question him about Nia, but Deirdre needed me. Whatever it was sounded important. "Fine, but only for a few minutes. Meet me at Jitters."

I hung up and walked back into the training room. "I have to go meet someone, but we will continue this later. Can I take the suit with me?"

"Of course, it's your suit."

I nodded and closed the case. I reminded him this wasn't over and then I was off. Jitters was only a few blocks away, so I took my time. I couldn't enjoy the coffee anymore, but the smell still brought me happiness. I made my way to the back of the cafe and sat down on one of the couches.

I blinked and Deirdre was entering the building with some sort of cooler. She scanned the room and found me. She walked up and we quickly hugged before both taking a seat.

I looked down at her cooler. "Why do you have a cooler?"

"Why do you have a briefcase?" She asked in the same tone.

"A superhero suit Brainy made for me. And you?"

"Open it and find out."

She handed me the medium sized cooler and I set it on the table in front of me. I peeked inside, but the smell hit me first. I quickly reclosed the cooler and looked at her with concern. "Where did you get this?"

"I have a friend who works for a blood bank outside of town. When I can't hunt for animals, he helps me out. I know you live in the city so hunting for animals like I do would be impossible. I know you don't want to hurt anyone and I also know you like to wait till the point of frenzying to actually eat." Deirdre explained. "This way you can feed and not hurt anyone at the same time."

"I don't know…"

"Carly, listen to me." Deirdre said, placing her hands on mine. "I know you don't like this, but it's the only option you have. You only have to feed once or twice a week, so this should last you a month or more. It isn't as good as fresh blood, but it will satisfy you. Would you rather sink your fangs into a bag or one of your friend's throats?"

I nodded slightly. "I'm terrified all the time. Does it get easier to...control?"

"With time, it does." Deirdre reassured with a small smile. "I was born into this life so I have never known different. After a while simple cuts and scrapes will not affect you, but the hunger never truly goes away. Stopping yourself once a frenzy starts is nearly impossible, but luckily you have a girlfriend you can't harm without harming yourself. As long as she has her powers her blood is toxic, which means you can be around her without worry."

"I would never forgive myself if I hurt her."

"You won't."

That's when my phone beeped with an alert. An attack was happening at the toy convention on the other side of town. I knew Kara would be there as she was covering that story today. I shot up and was about to run off when I realized I still had the cooler. Deirdre realized what was happening and took the cooler from me. "Don't worry I'll take it back to your apartment. Go save the day."

"How do you know where my apartment is?" I asked as Deirdre looked at me and I realized I didn't really care. "You know what, nevermind."

Deirdre took the cooler back to my apartment as I made my way to the convention. I knew Kara could handle herself and they honestly didn't need me, but now that I had powers I wasn't going to squander them. I might as well use them for something good. I snuck through the back and slid on my suit, which fit me perfectly.

Sadly, I had missed the fight. When I entered the main room I noticed Brainy, Alex, Kara, and another man with his back to me. I noticed explosion burns on the other end of the room so whatever happened had to have been interesting. As I approached I could hear their conversation.

The man sighed. "Damn it. Brainy, I need you to lock on to every traffic camera in National City, and please, please find this guy."

"Winn, stop. Just breathe for a minute, okay?" Alex reassured

Winn. Winn was back. I knew that I recognized his voice. I hadn't seen him in almost 3 years, but I knew that voice anywhere. Last time I saw him I was still a shy human. Damn, things have changed.

Kara squeezed Winn's shoulder. "We're gonna find the other you, and then we'll stop him before he hurts someone."

Other you? There were two Winns...Well, that's interesting. Man, I wish I was here during the fight. I miss everything good.

"I should've caught him. By now he could have hurt someone, and if he hurts someone, I don't think you understand. My life is over. Everything! I will lose everything. My wife, my daughter…" Winn ranted

I revealed myself. "Wait. You have a wife? And a kid?"

My voice made everyone turn around to notice my presence. Kara and Alex looked me up and down with liking and surprise. Brainy also smiled just a tad as he noticed how awesome I looked in the suit. Winn, on the other hand, loved the suit, but was the only one to approach me and give me a much needed hug. When he got close I could smell the blood pumping through his veins. I bit my tongue because biting Winn the second he returned was not my plan.

When he pulled back he realized he never told us about his family. He opened a hologram picture of a beautiful woman and little girl. "Yes. Uh...that's my wife, Aila. While this little cutie is Mary, she's gonna be two in April."

"They're beautiful." Alex and I said at the same moment.

Kara agreed with their beauty, but then she got to business. "What happened?"

Winn explained. "Well, I'd just finished putting Mary to bed. And then somebody's knocking on the front door, and I'm thinking, please don't wake the baby up, and then Aila is arguing, suddenly, with whoever it is, defending me. So I run down there to see what's happening, and it's the time cops. Accusing me of killing Chester Dunholtz on this date, at this time."

"But you didn't do it." Alex said

"I told them that. But they had my DNA to prove it, so I'm thinking, "Okay, this must be some type of, you know, doppelganger person with my father's sick, twisted brain." And now, if this Toyman kills someone, I will never see my family again. They'll put me in jail, or worse, it's gonna affect the timeline. And I will have never met Aila. Or my daughter." Winn worried

"Okay, all right. Well, there must be something, right?" I asked with optimism

"Well, there is one thing." Alex said, pulling out her tablet with a picture of a blurred man. "This person was found lurking near Dunholtz, so maybe they were working together. I mean, we've got a face. Can we get an ID, Brainy?"

Brainy took the tablet from Alex and suddenly looked nervous. He tried to hide it, but I could tell something was off. "Yeah, I'll, um, I'll go to the DEO and start cleaning up the image to ID it, tracking it. I'll, uh, also put Winn's ship in the DEO hangar for safekeeping."

"No, no, no, I do not want the Legion ship anywhere near Lex." Kara exclaimed

Winn looked confused. "Lex as in Lex Luthor, the hero? Why would you not want the Legion ship near him?"

Those words coming from Winn's mouth made me gag a little. So, I decided to explain it to him. "Uh, Lex is not a hero. We're just gonna have to have J'onn bring you up to speed on exactly what happened."

Kara got ahold of J'onn and we headed right over. So glad the last few days have been cloudy, otherwise everything was going to be a hundred times more complicated. When we arrived a secret elevator appeared and took us to a whole part of J'onn's building I didn't know existed.

Winn and J'onn caught up as the rest of gawked at the space. J'onn said it would be a meeting place for the heroes of this city to work without the government or Lex getting involved. I loved that I was included in that title. Made me feel important.

"So, tell me what I missed with this whole Crisis thing." Winn exclaimed

"Not tell you. Show you." J'onn said as he motioned for Winn to take a seat. "But I must warn you. The truth of the old Earth could be quite upsetting."

"Uh, not more upsetting than what I'm already dealing with, so how bad can it be?"

J'onn placed a hand on Winn's forehead and he gasped; eyes turning a bright white. Clips of the past sped past his eyes and it was a lot to handle. Winn began to actually hyperventilate to the point of becoming nauseous. When J'onn moved his hand away Kara handed Winn a garbage can as he violently puked into it.

Alex patted his back. "Okay, get it out. Get it all out. It's okay."

Winn lifted his head from the garbage can, looking around at all of us. "Whoa! Uh, so, wait, Lena killed Lex? And then he came back to life? And James runs a small town newspaper and mentors children? And you!" Winn pointed toward me. "You were, what, turned into a vampire?"

I nodded. "Vamtronian, but pretty much. Kinda like an alien vampire."

Every screen in the room glitched out to project Winn's double. J'onn turned the volume up just as the announcement began. "Hello, National City! Well, by now you might've heard that my splashy show at Toycon caused, well, a little bit of ruckus…"

"Can you track his location?" Alex asked

J'onn shook his head. "He's blocked his IP address and signal. Whatever technology he's using, it's something that I've never seen before."

The speech continued. "Now, tell me. Have you ever been so unfairly wronged that it just made you wanna burn it all down? Well, I have. And I'm angry. Someone hurt my family and they destroyed my father's good name. So, I have the target, I have the method, and what I need now is you. Give me the will. Like, subscribe, share, and once I reach one million followers, you will see a fireworks display like never before. Until next time. I am hashtag Toyman."

Winn shot up as his hologram wrist gauntlet lit up with a wanted dead or alive poster of him. He turned toward us with worry. "Uh, guys? If he wins, I'm dead."

"I can't believe all these people are rooting for violence." Kara said, watching the follower count rise.

I shrugged. "Well, the anonymity of the internet brings out everyone's basest instincts."

We had to figure out what to do next and fast. J'onn left to search the city for anything out of the ordinary as the rest of us had to figure out our next move. Brainy arrived and began working on finding the IP address as Alex made a call. Nia arrived a short while later with the same awe we all had with this place.

She noticed my suit first. "Nice suit, Carly. It really fits you."

"Thanks, Nia."

"Whoa, Nia. As in Nia Nal?" Winn asked with the excitement of a teenage girl. He approached her and shook Nia's hand with great enthusiasm. "This is incredible. Holy...Hi. I'm sorry, your great, great, great, great, great bunch of greats granddaughter, Nura Nal, is, like, one of my best friends and, like, the most kick-ass Legionnaire."

Nia's face lit up with just as much excitement as he had. "That's crazy. Tell me everything. Does she look like me?"

Alex stepped between them. "Okay, wait. Let's save story time until after we catch the bad guy. Once he's hit a million followers, he's promised to strike. So, you'll have to work fast."

"Um, right. So, are there any markers, any specifics I can keep an eye out for?" Nia asked, sitting on the couch to get more comfortable. She looked a lot better than she had this morning, but you could tell by her red eyes she had been crying.

"All we know is that he wants attention and a lot of it." Winn mentioned

"Attention. Okay."

Nia closed her eyes and focused on The Toyman. She began muttering and tensing up. I grabbed her arm to see if she was alright just as she shot back into reality. She looked frightened, sad, and angry all at the same time.

Nia looked around at all of us. "I'm sorry, I didn't see anything."

Brainy approached with no emotion on his face. Nia looked at him and was about to break into tears again. What he said next stopped her tears, but made her anger rise. "Nothing? That seems unlikely."

"Fine." Nia shouted, standing straight up and looking directly at Brainy. "I saw a tiger. A wildcat."

She slammed her shoulder into his and ran off. Winn followed after her as the rest of us looked at Brainy with confusion and a little disgust. He wandered off back toward the computers and I followed suit, since the others didn't feel the need to talk to him.

Brainy sat down in one of the wheely chairs and I sat down in the one beside him. "Brainy, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Really?" I questioned, moving my head into his line of vision so he had to look at me. "A few days ago you would have died to save Nia and now, what, you just don't care? Is that it? Now that you are all "logic" you just break up with Nia and make her feel awful. Is that your plan?"

"I don't want to hurt, Nia."

"Then why do you? If you don't want to hurt her then stop. Stop pretending you don't love her because I know you do. I saw the look on your face when she bumped into you. You love her, so why are you doing this?"

"It's complicated."

"No, it's not complicated. All you have to do is talk to someone. Things become more clear when you lift the weight off your shoulders."

Suddenly, Winn burst into the room with Kara trailing behind. We all looked in their direction as Winn announced his discovery. "I know where he is."

I looked at Brainy who wouldn't even look me in the eye. I sighed and followed after the others. Brainy followed, but stayed in the back. We arrived at an old toy factory to find it empty, well, aside from a desk covered in scribblings and toy plans.

We looked around to see if we could find anything and I was the first to discover a clue. I was searching through the scattered documents and found a picture. "Guys. I think I found something. Isn't this Andrea and her father?"

Alex got to action right away. "We have to get to CatCo. We have to warn Andrea. If he has her picture she must be a target."

"She's not at CatCo. She's at National City University." Kara said, turning to look at Nia. "Home of the Tigers."

We rushed to the University as Andrea was unveiling an updated contact set. A man, hooded with a cloak, came from the back of the stage. He pushed a button on the remote in his hand and a giant metal tiger appeared behind Andrea. She screamed as 3 more jumped from the balcony to the main part of the room.

Kara and I got to work getting all the pedestrians out of the room while the others stayed to fight the Toyman and all of his tigers. When we got everyone to safety, including Andrea, we joined the fight. While fending off a tiger that was inches from eating my face off I noticed Winn run after the hooded figure.

I knocked my tiger across the room and followed Winn. I ran in to see Winn and The Toyman circling one another. Winn was trying to convince him to stop. "Listen to me, I know what it feels like to wanna protect your family. Believe me, I do. But you have also got to create your own legacy."

"This is my legacy. You've seen the people. They adore me."

Winn shook his head. "Dude, this isn't love. No, you're just a cheap thrill for them, all right? Give me, give me the trigger."

The Toyman shook his head in the same manner. "Can't. It's a dead man's switch...for a dead man, like me."

Winn looked from the switch to his doppleganger. He knew if things had gone down differently he could've been just like his doppleganger. He could've been so angry and diluted that he would've destroyed everything, "Just stop that. You could still change. All right? You are not Toyman."

"You say that name with such disdain, but you, you do not understand. Toyman is eternal."

I saw his finger heading for the button on the switch so I used my speed to grab Winn and get us out of there. We got to the edge of the door when the explosion shot us across the room. We hit the opposite wall while Kara was quickly getting the others out. Before the flames could do some serious damage, Winn and I jumped out of the room to have it consumed by flames.

Once the hysteria had calmed down and the DEO arrived to clean up the mess, I noticed Winn sitting on his own. I took a seat next to him. "Is the future fixed?"

"Yeah, I think it is." Winn said, pulling up the hologram to show it had changed back to the picture of his wife and child. "Thank you, Carly. You saved my life."

"No problem, Winn. I might as well use these powers for good, otherwise I'll be just as bad as the villains we face."

"Is it bad?" Winn asked, catching my attention. "I know what I was shown, but I want to know. Is being a vam..tronian difficult?"

"Depends on the day, honestly. Some days I feel normal and on others I feel like the alien I've become. I can't walk in the sun unless every inch of my skin is covered or I will start smoking like a house on fire. Oh and I drink blood. So, that really makes family meals awkward."

"Have you ever bitten anyone?"

"Only twice. Kara when she risked her life to save me from Deirdre's father and Ryan Choi who helped me during Crisis. I don't want to hurt people, even if my bite brings them pleasure. I don't want to take their strength from them, I don't want to be a monster."

"You are not a monster, I can promise you that." Winn said with a genuine smile.

"Thanks, Winn."

When everything was taken care of I decided I needed to finish my conversation with Brainy. I knew he was hiding something and I wasn't going to let him continue to be secretive. I popped up in the DEO to find him working on one of the computers.

I sighed. "What are you doing?"

"J'onn has asked me to upgrade the diagnostic system."

"No, he didn't. Brainy, what is going on?" I asked, honestly concerned. "I saw the way that you looked at Nia, when the tigers attacked. That fear of losing someone that you love. So, tell me the truth. What is going on?"

Brainy looked from the screen into my eyes with tears. He swallowed the spit in his throat and blurted out what he had wanted to say earlier. "I have lied to everyone because I've had to work with Lex Luthor. I helped Lex bring Winn back for the sake of the future."

"That was you? Why?"

Brainy got up from his chair and turned to face me. "I had to. It was imperative that Lex get information from the memory cube on Winn's ship. I did the calculations. I knew no one would die. That we would catch Toyman."

I got angry. "You risked everyone's lives, Brainy! If I hadn't grabbed him, Winn would have died. I could have died. Nia...could have died. Was it really worth working with Lex?"

"Lex, he's chaos incarnate. He's completely unpredictable, and I'm so sorry. Another Brainiac told me that it was absolutely critical that I help Lex in complete secrecy. But I hate it. I hurt Nia. And all I want is to be close with her again, but I have to be cold. And I'm terrified that I'm becoming the bad guy…"

He was sobbing at this point and I should've been angry, for me and the others, but I wasn't. I wasn't angry because I understood why he did it. He wanted to save the future and had to hurt those around him to save them in the end. I understood the fear of becoming a bad guy because I had that same fear.

Brainy noticed my silence and broke it. "You must hate me. Are you going to tell the others?"

"I don't hate you." I stated as surprise appeared on his face. "I should hate you for risking everyone's lives and working with the devil incarnate, but everything worked out, so I guess I don't. I won't tell the others because I understand why you did what you did, but you are going to have to tell them. Hiding this is weight you do not need to bare. If working with Lex against Leviathan will save the future then you need to tell the others, even if the the other Brainy told you otherwise."

"You're not mad?"

"I'm mad, but I understand where you are coming from. I feel that same fear of turning evil, so I get it. Kara is having a game night with the others. We could go right now if you like."

Brainy shook his head. "Not tonight, I have work to do."

"Alright, but Brainy..." I said turning back to look at him. "Don't let him get to you. Lex is a manipulator and highly unpredictable. Be careful."

"I will."