Disclaimer: Based on characters and references created by DC Universe and the CW, which I do not own. Enjoy!


"Let me be the first to say that we are so, SO sorry for what we have done," Iris says, clenching her fists tightly together in a ball.

William can sense the tension from Team Flash, even when they are on opposite sides of the cortex. It probably helped that Barry was smiling at her apology while William and Oliver are giving neutral stares. But deep down, William is as forgiving as Barry, as is father most likely is.

"We shouldn't have locked you up in the pipeline," Cisco adds, looking slightly down from them. "It was a rash decision and a harsh one."

"And you were right William," Caitlin points out with a serious stare. "We let fear drive our actions."

The reminder of William's pleas to Caitlin make him smirk a little.

"And fear is a dangerous motivator indeed," Sherloque agrees, his low pitched voice making his accented voice sound somber.

"I was actually motivated by group pressure," Ralph says with a raised hand, resulting in glares from everyone. He lowers his hand and shrugs his shoulders. "Just saying."

"Can you forgive us?" Iris asks.

"Of course we can," Barry says encouragingly.

"We always held out hope that you would make the right decision," William admits. "Well, eventually."

"The point is," Oliver interrupts. "All is forgiven."

"Thank you Braniac," J'onn J'onn's says as he, Kara, and Clark step into the cortex. "Keep us updated." He then hangs up and turns his attention to the others. "I just got off the phone with my friends at the DEO. They contacted IVO Labs and assured us that something like Amazo will never be built again. And everyone hurt by Amazo are recovering quickly."
"Including my sister," Kara adds.

"Good to hear," William says, walking up to them with his arms crossed. "But are you sure you want to help us? The journey may be long and you all have been through a lot."

"You guys helped us," Kara says. "And you're our friends. Of course we're willing to help."

"And the Book of Destiny is a dangerous tool," Clark points out. "Especially in the hands of whoever Novu gave it to."

"And he must pay for what he has done to National City," J'onn says with an almost quiet anger in his voice.

William nods. "Then lets get started." He walks to the center relative to everyone's position before continuing, "So, while Team Arrow is on standby and surveying Star City, same for Nora scouting out the entire globe, Team Flash will keep tabs on Central City, along with you Billy." He looks to Billy, who is sitting in the computer chair in his normal form with Older Barry standing next to him. "The rest of us are an away team, but we're not going anywhere until we have a lead." He looks to Billy and Older Barry once more. "Did Novu leave any mention of his ne—"

Suddenly, William's vision distorts. He becomes dizzy, unable to speak and move for a moment.

"Are you okay Will?" Billy's voice echoes.

William closes his eyes and shakes his head. "Uh, yeah. I'm just…exhausted. Anyways, did he mention—"

As soon as he opens his eyes, he finds himself no longer in STAR Labs. His eyes look upon the mysterious forest he saw when he was knocked out by Ralph Dibney. He lets out a slightly frustrated sigh.

"Well great. Could he have picked a better—"

William then hears the beep of a car behind him. He turns around, seeing the man with the long hair and white coat again. But Novu is not there this time and the man is not in possession of the Book of Destiny. He throws a satchel in his car and leans on the trunk, his head bowed down.

William starts to walk up to the man like before, hoping that this time, he can—

"William?"

At the mention of his name, he turns around and is about to get into a combat stance. However, he stops himself upon seeing that it is not Novu, but rather Barry, his father, and J'onn. He can guess that J'onn accessed his mind and brought the two of them with him.

But that only answered part of the question that he now asks, "What are you guys doing here?"

"You fell on the floor," Oliver answered as he walks up to William. "But your eyes are still open."

"I assumed you were in a hypnotic trance," J'onn adds. "So I—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah," William speeds things along. "I figured that part out. But look!"

They all walk next to him, seeing the man whose motions seem to suggest crying or some form of grief.

"Is that him?" Barry asks. "The guy Novu gave the book to?"

"It is," William answers. "But I don't know who that is or why—"

"Doctor!" The familiar voice of Novu's voice calls out.

It echoes within the vision, startling everyone, including the doctor. They look around, but do not see him anywhere.

"Dr. John Deegan."

Novu's voice is now more distinct, coming seemingly out of nowhere. He stands in the parking lot across from the man now known as Dr. John Deegan.

Deegan turns around, showing himself to the others. He looks unremarkable, his facial hair nearly stubble, and his face looking somewhat wrinkled. He does not look very old though. More likely he works long hours, judging from the bags under his eyes.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Dr. Deegan asks in a bitter tone.

"Something beyond your comprehension," Novu responds. "And in need of your assistance."

Deegan walks over to the driver's side of his car. "Look, I don't care what prank you're trying to pull, but I'm not in the—"

Before he can even pull the door open, the car windows break, the top compressing down on it hard. Deegan shrieks and jumps away from it. The others watching are a bit startled, but not as much as him.

"It is not wise to test a being like me," Novu says as he walks towards Deegan. "Especially one who has tasked you to carry a burden such as this."

Deegan holds up his hands to his eyes, assuming the worst. Instead, Novu holds up the Book of Destiny. After a few seconds of nothing happening, Deegan lowers his hands and looks at it with confusion.

"This book will allow you to reshape reality as you see fit," Novu explains. "And I have selected you to wield it because you have a vision, one that has been denied for too long."

Deegan seems to be entranced by the book, for he looks at it with an amazed stare, his hands slowly gripping the sides. He tries to take it, but Novu does not let go just yet.

"Use it wisely, Deegan. And…" Novu gives a small smirk. "Think big."

Novu lets the book go, allowing Deegan to slowly open it. As he does, the blue stream of energy from the previous vision shoots out of it.

Deegan laughs hysterically as he flips the pages. "I can see everything! It's—"

Suddenly, everything freezes. Everything except Novu, who turns around and looks at the group as if he can see them.

"You have made it this far," Novu addresses them, which surprises William and the others. "Which is why I allow you to see this now. You and the others who have intruded upon this vision."

The four of them look on with various confused stares, wondering how Novu would have known that.

"It is time William. Time to truly prove yourself worthy of being the Chosen." He points to the now frozen Deegan. "Find John Deegan and use the Book of Destiny to restore reality to the way it was. That is your next test."

Suddenly, a wall of white light letting out a hum slowly evaporates the wall in front of the car. Hearing the same hum behind them, the four of them turn around and see another wall of light swallowing the forest one row of trees at a time.

"Oh no," William then begins to panic. "Quick! Find any clues about where this may be."

The group quickly disperses, finding anything that may pinpoint where they are. So far, all William sees is the forest, the parking lot, and the demolished…car…

"Wait a minute." William runs towards it quickly and looks at the license plate. "Black license plate with gray lettering? That's only found in—"

William's eyes grow wide, and so does his smile. He shouts to the others, "Guys! I know where this is. It's—"


"Gotham!"

William shoots straight up from a bed, surrounded by everyone, including his father, Barry, and J'onn, who are right next to him. He finds himself in the small lab next to the cortex, breathing heavily after waking up from his vision.

"Gotham City," He clarifies with an exasperated breath, clutching the sides of the bed to keep himself balanced.

"William," Oliver grabs his arm quickly. "William, calm down. Just take a minute"

William does as he is asked, waiting until his breathing slows down before continuing, "Black license plate…with gray lettering. It was modeled after the colors of Batman, the protector of Gotham City, the only place where such a plate is made. That's where Dr. Deegan is."

"Gotham City?" Oliver asks. "Are you sure?"

William nods.

"Give me a minute," Caitlin says as she exits into the cortex. "I can fact check that."

"And I need to get ready for the mission."

When William tries to get up, Oliver tightens his grip on his arm.

"No! You just got up from whatever vision Novu put you in. You need rest."

"I'm fine Dad," William assures as he shrugs Oliver's hand off. "And we're running on sparse time. You saw how Dr. Deegan looked, how he acted. If he has the book, then it won't be long before he gets driven mad by it."

"Then let me and Old Barry scout ahead, get the lay of the land."

"Which Deegan will most likely be expecting. What he won't expect is…" I'm sorry Bruce, but I have to say it. "Is that I already know the 'lay of the land.'

"You do? How would you—"

"Guys," Caitlin interrupts, walking back into the room. "I ran the license plate description and it matches. They are only manufactured in Gotham City and very few of them ever make it out of there."

William nods. "As I expected."

"But…I looked up a Dr. Deegan in Gotham. I managed to get a basic history, but nothing beyond that."

Everyone looks at her with various looks of confusion.

"What do we have?" Barry asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Just that he used to be a psychiatrist before some complaints against him forced him out of a job. He's poked his head out a few times, but he's rarely seen in public."

"Then he's covering his tracks," William surmises. He gets up from the bed and moves to the doorway. "We need to move. Supergirl, I'll need you and Superman to transport us to Gotham."

"Hold on," Oliver calls out, catching up to him. "You haven't explained how—"

"Oliver," Old Barry chimes in just as William was about to say something. "There's no time. He knows Gotham. That's all we need to know. We need to move before Deegan masters the Book completely."

While he maintains his neutral stare, William can't help but be curious about how Old Barry is certain that Deegan hasn't mastered the book already, if at all. The laymen would have written it off, but William counts it among the few suspicions William has been developing about this entire adventure.

Turning his attention back to Oliver, who is about to refute this, William places a hand on his shoulder. "Dad, I promise that I'll answer your questions when we get there. But he's right. We need to move."

William moves towards Kara and asks, "Shall we?"

Kara nods a bit unnervingly. She is slow to place a hand on his shoulder, almost looking as if she was going for his hand.

Okay, I'll have two things to resolve when we get there, William thinks to himself before he feels the rush of super speed taking him out of Star Labs and towards Gotham.