AN: Just a heads-up, this chapter got a lot darker than I expected to be. So, I had to put in a trigger warning... I'm sure you'll take that as a good sign. Enjoy Barbara experiencing her worst fears - including one she thought of once as a child and then never again until now!

Trigger warning - Death.

The darkness didn't last more than a few seconds, but it felt like an entirety. It was both tranquil and terrible at the same time. There wasn't really anything horrible about it, but there wasn't anything to it, really. It was an inky black void. Hell, Barbara couldn't even move while staring into the darkness. Where was she? Was she dead? She didn't feel dead. Then again, she didn't know how dead people felt so...

Wait. Was that... a light?

Yes! It was! And it was getting closer. Barbara watched as the light slowly approached her face, wondering what would happen. Was this all a bad dream? Maybe she was about to wake up.

Unable to do anything else, she let the light envelop her, hoping that she'd wake up in her nice comfy bed.

Once it dissipated, Barbara saw the sky, which looked a little orange. There weren't too many clouds in the sky, and the sun wasn't visible. After taking in her surroundings, he sat up, rubbing her head.

"Well, that was weird," she muttered, before looking around. "Wait, where's Scarecrow? Is..." Her eyes widened. "Is it afternoon? How long was I asleep?! Oh God, my dad must be..."

She trailed off when she looked down, causing her to notice two things. One, she wasn't wearing her Batgirl costume. Instead, she was wearing her usual attire; her purple hoodie, shorts, and knee-high socks. Two, she wasn't on the roof of the building she had caught up to Scarecrow on. She was instead on a footpath. Strangely enough, the place looked utterly barren. Looking around, she couldn't see any structures. Just fields of grass and corn. There were no cars driving down the road. She was completely alone.

Her head began to spin. "What's going on? Where's my Batgirl costume? What is this place? The last thing I can remember is that I was fighting Scarecrow, he shot some weird sack at me, and then..."

She wracked her brain, trying to remember anything else. But there was nothing. Her mind was practically empty. What on earth was happening?

Well, one thing was certain. This certainly wasn't Metropolis. Metropolis was busy, bustling, and full of people. This place looked like the countryside, maybe even the road to Metropolis.

Well, wherever she was, she was going to get back to where she needed to be. Barbara began to walk down the footpath. After a few minutes of walking, she saw something. Buildings! Ones like those in the big cities! It was Metropolis!

"Woo-hoo!" Barbara called. She quickly sped up her pace. Just needed to find her stuff, track down the Scarecrow and...

She stopped as soon as she stepped into the city itself. Just like where she was, it was barren. No people. No cars. Hell, none of the buildings had any lights on.

"Hello?" She called out. Nothing. Aside from her echo, there was no sound. The silence was deafening.

Where is everyone? Barbara thought. She decided to call out again. "Diana?! Karen?! Jess?! Kara?! Zee?!"

No answer.

"Harleen?!"

No response.

"...Dad?"

Nothing. It was evident she was all alone.

"Where is everyone?!" She cried out. She was starting to lose her mind. Was everyone messing with her? Was there a zombie apocalypse? Did Zod come back? How long was she gone? Why-

Then, totally interrupting her thoughts, came a loud snarling sound. Barbara stopped dead. That sound... It was strikingly similar to...

She looked up, praying that this wasn't happening. Suddenly, something burst through the cloud. It was a shark. A huge shark, one with bloodstained teeth and eyes as black as coal. Several other sharks were following it.

And they were locked onto her.

Barbara screamed so loudly that it surprised even her. Quickly, she sped off, running as fast as her legs would carry her. Unfortunately, the sharks were following her. When she looked back, she saw them closing in on her, their jaws snapping open and shut methodically.

Oh God, oh God, oh God! What the heck is happening?! Is this a dream? It has to be! Wake up, Babs! Wake the hell up!

But no matter how much she told herself it was a dream, she was stuck there. And all she knew for certain was that if she stopped running, she'd be shark dinner.

Barbara looked behind her again. The sharks were catching up with her, and their jaws unhinged, preparing for a bite. And then she saw a shadow looming over her. She looked up. It was a giant shark, its mouth unhinged and ready to eat her whole.

Barbara's eyes widened. "Holy shi-"

She dived forward, just before the shark hit the ground. The impact caused a large amount of dust to kick up, as well as sending Barbara flying forward. After a few seconds, she fell to the ground, skidding across the hard surface for a bit.

"Ow..." She groaned, standing up. "That hurt." She looked behind her. The dust cloud had cleared up, and there was not a shark to be seen.

A grin spread across Barbara's face. "Yeah! Take that, sharks!" She pointed forward. "I didn't even any bat-shark-repellent to-"

She was cut off by a piercing screech. She stopped, looking around.

"Hello?"

She got her response from another high-pitched screech, this one twice as loud. She looked up at the sky, confused. Suddenly, a large light shone into the clouds. In the centre of it... was a bat.

The Bat-signal! Barbara thought. Maybe Batman could help her find out what was wrong. She looked at the beacon of hope, shining brightly.

Suddenly, the light went out. Curiously enough, the bat symbol stayed in the sky. Barbara tilted her head. "That's... weird."

Then, the bat symbol began to shake. It was like each tiny part of it was about to split apart in different directions. And that's just what it did. The bat symbol just fell apart, its 'remains' falling to the ground. But then, they stopped falling and began to hover. Then, they all began to fly in a certain direction. Barbara's direction. And it was only then did she realize what all those things were.

Bats. Real honest-to-God bats.

Once again, Barbara let out a deafening yell. But this time, she didn't get to run. The bats swooped over her and grabbed her by the arms and legs. They started to carry her into the air, letting out small little hisses that almost sounded like laughter.

"LET ME GO!" Barbara screamed, flailing her arms around. The bats obliged, releasing their grip. She began to plummet to the ground. "I MEANT CLOSER TO THE GROUND!" She closed her eyes and cringed in fear...

When she suddenly stopped falling. She opened one eye, confused. Did she land? Why didn't she feel anything? She opened her other eye...

And came face-to-face with the swarm of bats. She shrieked as she felt herself be carried upwards again. The bats continued their cacophonous cackling as they carried Barbara above the city. This time, she didn't squirm or try to escape. She didn't want them to drop her again. Or to end up as a red splat on the pavement. So, she settled for just shaking like a leaf in a hurricane.

Eventually, the bats stopped moving forward, now just flapping in the same spot. Their laughter stopped and the only sound was the flapping of their wings.

Barbara got nervous. "Um... what's going on?"

Almost instantly, she felt the bats letting her go again. Barbara began to scream again, her gaze fixed on the bats, hoping that they would at least grab her again. Sure, she hated being close to those things, but it was preferable to death.

Unfortunately, the bats had other ideas. They just dispersed, soon vanishing from her sight. Barbara's face flooded with horror as her screaming stopped, and she looked down. She was about to crash through the roof of a building. She was going to die.

Barbara gulped. "I guess this is it..." She closed her eyes and...

*SMASH*

Barbara kept her eyes sealed shut. Was she dead? What was this even real? Her hair was standing on end.

She opened her eyes and looked at hands. Shockingly enough, they were perfectly okay. She looked over herself. She was... unharmed. There wasn't a single wound, bloodstain, or anything. She didn't even seem to have any broken bones. How was this possible? She was totally fine with being alive, obviously, but how was she in mint condition after being dropped from the sky?

Once she stood up, she heard it. Crying. Loud, broken sobbing, coming from behind a door. The door was the only visible thing in the room. Without any other light, the room was an inky black void. Barbara walked up to the door, placing her hand on the doorknob. What could be behind it? She didn't want to think about it. With that, she opened it.

She stopped dead when she saw what was there.

It was her dad. She couldn't see his face, as he was hunched over something on a hospital bed. She examined her surroundings. She was in a hospital. What was with the empty room back there? Was her dad the only one left her, besides her? And, most importantly, why was he crying?

She approached him. "Dad? Are you..."

His sobs only grew louder. "What..." He choked out. "What kind of..."

He couldn't even finish before he buried his head in his hands. Barbara felt her heart break. "Dad. It's OK, I'm here, I-"

And then her dad said something that pierced through her chest like a sword.

"What kind of father am I?"

Barbara froze. Her mind raced through the possibilities of what that may have meant. None of them were possible.

Nevertheless, she walked up to him, stopping just behind her. "Dad, I'm here! It's OK!" She placed a hand on his shoulder to console him...

But her hand phased right through him.

Her eyes widened. What the hell? She thought. She just... phased through him. Like a ghost. She looked over his shoulder to see what he was crying over.

And once she saw it, her already broken heart sank to the bottom of her stomach.

Lying there, on the hospital bed...

Was her.

It was unmistakably her. Her bright orange hair, her youthful face... It was her lying on the bed. She was also wearing the Batgirl costume. But this Barbara's face was white as a sheet. Her eyes were shut, her mouth was hanging slightly open, and... Oh God.

Her chest wasn't moving up and down.

She was dead.

Barbara began to shake. "Wh... what happened?" She whispered, feeling tears coming to her eyes.

Her question was soon answered by a TV in the corner of the room - one she didn't notice upon entering the room - turning on. On it was, of all people, Lois Lane. She was wearing a freshly-ironed black suit, and she looked as shaken as Barbara probably did.

"At 11:00PM last night, the superheroine Batgirl was found dead on the rooftops. Her death was determined to be from an overdose of the 'Fear Toxin' used by the enigmatic Scarecrow." A picture of the criminal flashed beside her. "Once unmasked, Batgirl turned out to be Barbara Gordon, daughter of police chief Jim Gordon. The Scarecrow has not been found, but the police swear that they will find him."

Then, the TV shut off. Barbara looked back at her dad, whose sobs had transitioned to quiet sniffles. She stared at him for what felt like an eternity, barely moving, barely blinking. She was about to pull him into a hug before...

"Come in, commissioner."

Her dad, without a word, took out his walkie-talkie. When he spoke into it, it sounded as though all emotions had been drained out of him. Except for barely concealed anger.

"Yes?"

"I was just, um, wondering on your orders, commissioner," came the muffled voice from the walkie-talkie. Her dad sighed heavily before he responded.

"I want the Super Hero Girls caught. Bring them to me alive. So that I can toss them into cells."

Barbara gasped, placing a hand over her mouth. Was she hearing this? This couldn't be real.

Right?

"Um, sure... but..."

"But what?!" Her dad barked into the walkie-talkie. Now he was making no effort to conceal the anger in his voice. It made Barbara flinch. "They could have told me! They could have done anything as opposed to what they did! But they just let her into their game, didn't tell me, and let her die."

Barbara felt like curling up into a ball and blocking out everything. This couldn't be her dad. Her dad wasn't anything like this. But, death does change someone and...

The voice on the walkie-talkie rang out again. "Do you even know who-"

"Yes. Diana Prince, Kara Danvers, Zee Zatara, Jessica Cruz, and Karen Beecher."

The man on the other end cleared his throat. "I see... but commiss-"

Her dad just turned off the walkie-talkie, shoving it back into his pocket. He looked back at Other Barbara. Soon, all the hate and anger melted away from his face. Replacing it was pure sorrow.

"I'm sorry, Babs. I'll make sure to make your 'friends' pay." He sniffled, walking over to the door. He looked back at Other Barbara one last time.

"But I'm not blameless here. Far from it."

With that, he shut the door, leaving Barbara alone.

What he said before he left was the final straw for Barbara. She knelt beside the hospital bed, crying her eyes out. This was awful. A fear that she didn't even know she had. She loved being a superhero. It was her passion. But deep down, she always had this fear. And she never knew until now.

"Why?!" She wailed, burying her face into her hands. She would have stayed weeping like that for a good hour or so, if not for another voice cutting through the room.

"That's right..."

She looked up at the source of the voice. And nearly died of a heart attack.

It was the other her. But she was sitting up. Her eyes were pitch-black, and she bore a wicked grin. The other her stood up, holding their arms in the air.

"Your father has been driven mad with grief, and your friends are doomed." The other her quickly knelt down to her level, the grin on her face growing wider. "And, to make things even better, it's all your fault."

Barbara stared at the other her, tears clouding her vision. "H-how?"

The other her cackled, grabbing both sides of her face. "Isn't it obvious?" With that, she did something totally unexpected.

She ripped her face off.

The rest of her fell to the ground, like a disturbing skin suit. Now, standing in her place, was a shadow. A shadow with glowing white eyes and teeth. It was the Scarecrow.

"You being a hero has brought grief upon your family. Didn't you see your father? He was messed up, wasn't he?"

Barbara sniffled. "Yeah, but-"

"But nothing!" The Scarecrow cried out with glee. "If you hadn't had hidden your alter-ego from your father, or, you know, just hadn't been a hero, then he wouldn't go this mad if you died. Think about it! Would he really want his 'pumpkin-pants' fighting the Joker?"

Barbara just stared back at the thing. "I-I-I..."

"And now your friends will suffer!" The Scarecrow yelled, laughing. "Face it kid, you being a hero was just a mistake."

Just a mistake.

Just a mistake.

Barbara let that statement echo in her brain for a bit. All sorts of negative thoughts began to develop in her mind. Maybe he was right... Maybe she did just bring upon grief in the end... Maybe...

Wait.

What was she thinking?

As she really mulled over the statement, she thought about it. She had saved lives before. She helped her friends in ways that only she could. Without her, they'd probably be killed by the Super Villain Girls.

Soon, all the negative thoughts began to fade away. Instead, there were other thoughts. Thoughts that made her strong. She looked back up at the Scarecrow and smiled.

"Really? That's pretty stupid."

The Scarecrow's maniacal grin faded away. Replacing it was a look of shock. "What?" He asked, his eyes widening.

Barbara stood up triumphantly. "Me deciding to be a hero is not a mistake! It's one of the best things of my life! Heck, me being a hero has actually saved lives!"

The Scarecrow placed a hand on his chest, starting to breathe heavily. "B-b-but this fear of yours... you-"

"Had it deep down?" Barbara interrupted. "Well yeah. That's true. I had a thought like this when I was a kid. I got nervous about dying on the job and causing a lot of trouble." She wiped her eyes dry and stared back at the Scarecrow - who looked a lot more pathetic and weak. "But I was able to see all the good I could do as a superhero. So, I just forgot those fears and focused on the good I could do."

The Scarecrow screamed and recoiled, as if pained to see her succeed. "But... your father-"

"He would understand!" Barbara retorted. "I know that now! I've been afraid of telling him, but I have a feeling that he would be proud! I'm doing good, like he does! And you know what? I'll tell him tonight! And I bet everything I have that he'll understand and not hurt my friends!"

The Scarecrow grabbed both sides of his head. "No. No! No! NO!"

Barbara turned away from him. "And I bet this is all just some bad dream... Which means all I need to do..."

"NOOO!"

"Is wake up."

As soon as the words left her mouth, the Scarecrow let out a deafening screech. He began to slowly fade away. The rest of the room began to shift as well. Soon, the Scarecrow was gone and so was the room. Barbara was standing in the middle of of Metropolis. She looked at her hands. She was back in her Batgirl costume.

She had overcome the toxin.

She grinned. "Whoo-hoo!" She began to dance in place. "Oh yeah, go Batgirl, conquered my fears, well at least the worst one..."

"Um..."

Batgirl jumped in surprise, turning around. There stood a man, one who looked very confused.

"Have you found the Scarecrow?" He asked. Batgirl gritted her teeth. She had somehow forgotten about him.

She smirked. "Not yet. But I will." With that, she ran off. She was going to find the Scarecrow and bring him in.

And no amount of fear toxin was going to change that.

Well... this was something.

I honestly didn't expect this to be this long or dark. I'm not complaining, though. Hopefully this won't be a tough act to follow.

We're reaching the climax, people. Excited? I hope so. And don't think I'm done with DC Super Hero Girls after this fanfic.