Chapter 4: Apologies and Revelations

Kandice rubbed her shoulders as she walked through the abandoned streets of Dakota. Over time, Dakota had merged with Gotham to make a bigger city. Everything looked like a historical landmark from this timeline. Her feet cracked against glass and she kept walking. "Hey bat boy, you can stop following me now." She said

Batman turned off his camouflage and jumped down to her. "How can you see me?" he asked

"Mind reader." She answered, "You don't hide your thoughts as well as Bruce can."

"Do you even know where you're going?"

"Richie…he's not that far from here…"

"Are you sure you want to do this? In this timeline, you're-"

"I know that! I just need to see for myself…"

"I never really got to know Gear, but I'm sure he's not as bitter as he is now."
She nodded and kept walking. She knew the only place he would be at was the apartment that they lived in. Kandice was sure that Batman had stopped following her by now, considering that she could read his mind. She took her key out of her pocket and opened the door. Inside, she could see everything as she could barely remember. She could remember living in this house, but she couldn't really remember him. Her fingers traced the couch, the coffee table, and then she looked at the bed. Haunting memories came back of things she wanted to forget, crying bed, arguments, and lying alone. She took a glance into the bathroom and found it empty. Suddenly, she felt sick and fell to her knees. Looking at her hand, she saw herself going transparent then re-appearing as flesh and bone. Soon enough, her memories were slowly coming back. As she looked throughout the apartment, she found that everything the two had been working hard to keep together stay the same as it was a decade ago. She just found everything a mess, like their relationship wasn't working out, but she couldn't understand why.

Richie took another drink and stared at the empty glass. He gave bitter laugh, thinking about how it reflected his true feelings. He couldn't take it anymore, the doctor appointments, the lying, the children, it was just becoming overwhelming. Kandice just laid there, sleeping, and he had to pay her hospital bills, make sure her IV was being fed in her body properly, plus handle being part of the Justice League. How he managed to get into a bar underage wasn't really important, but he called it curiosity. He concluded that many college kids come in here. He then thought about Courtney. She was cute, perk personality, and she wasn't lying to him. She was also a superhero, plus she had a figure that he couldn't take his eyes off of. Then, there was the suspicion that Virgil was giving him. He suspected that something was going on between him and Courtney, and he couldn't be anymore wrong. He never acted on his raging hormones, but the thought has crossed through his mind a couple of times. Richie got up and paid his fee, then left the bar. He sighed, thinking about how the hell he started drinking in the first place. "I don't see you as the liquor type." Said a voice

He turned and saw Courtney just sitting on her cycle. His eyebrows raised at the thought of her having one. She wore a pair of tight jeans and a black shirt that showed her stomach.

Terry looked at the figure across from him. They two were them were eating at a burger place, and she looked down at her stomach. He had returned to see her a bit discouraged, and looking like she was going to cry. "Kandice?" he asked

She looked up at him and gave him a sheepish smile. "Just thinking…" she said

She took a bite in the burger and gave it an awkward look. "Not as good as McDonalds…" she said

"McDonalds?" asked Terry

"Before your time."

She sat back in the seat and looked outside. "Do you miss him?" asked Terry

"I dunno…I can't really say…" she answered, "Part of me wants to be in his arms…and the other part wants to kill him and wear his guts for garters."

Terry spluttered on his soda when Kandice made that last comment. She chuckled, then stood up. "We should get back." She said

"What for?" asked Terry

"I want to get back as soon as possible…maybe I can prevent this future from happening…"
As the two of them stepped out of the burger place, Kandice clutched her stomach and fell to her knees. Her body became transparent, then flesh again. "Kandice?" asked Terry

"We have go…now…" muttered Kandice

She slowly got up and walked down the street. "Do you hate him?" asked Terry

Kandice stopped and looked at her appearance in the store window. "You don't understand." She sighed, "He's starting to look at other girls…like that damn Stargirl."

"His wife?" asked Terry

"Wife! That two-timing…son of a…"

"He marries her after you die…or at least that what's Bruce tells me."

Kandice sighed and kept walking. "Are you going to be ok?" asked Terry

"Eventually…" She answered

Richie groaned as he walked in the door. He had a throbbing headache from last night, and to make things worse, he had woken up next to Courtney. It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened. Part of him felt bad, but it also felt good to get rid of the frustration that was building up. He trudged into the bedroom to see Kandice still sleeping there. Her comatose-like state was starting to arise suspicion, and Richie had to call her doctor for frequent house calls. She ended up on an IV machine with a brain monitor. Right now, he noticed that they were a bit higher than usual. Usual for Richie meant that the dormant case of brainwaves that went through the machine. Now, it seemed as if she were close to awakening. He went into the bathroom and looked at his saddened face in the mirror. After all the two of them went through, he had the nerve to go behind her back and sleep with Courtney, and have the nerve to feel good about it. All these mixed feelings he had were starting to affect his general being. He wanted to be with Kandice, she had understood him more than even Virgil did. She was having his children, but why didn't he love her like he used to? Courtney was different than Kandice was. She was perkier than she was, and she liked to go places that he wanted to go to. His heart hit a wall as he realized that he loved both women. He had no choice but to try and decided which one the one he was to be with. He turned around to Kandice to see her mumble something in her sleep.

Kandice watched the scanner go up and down her body. She felt like a guinea pig that had been put on display. She hated getting x-rays, and with good reason. She hated it when people began asking questions. Some questions they asked were too personal for her to answer. She got up and got off the stretcher. She walked over to Bruce, who was examining the data. "Your body's disintegrating." He said

"What!" exclaimed Kandice, "That means that I'm…"

"Not exactly. My theory is you came here from the past and now you're going back."

"Oh…"

She leaned on the control panel and sighed. "Something wrong?" asked Bruce

"I'm not sure I want to go back." She said

"You don't have much of a choice in the matter. Your body's breaking down as we speak."

"Mmmm…there's so many things that's going to happen that I don't to."

"You mean like you dying?"

Kandice nodded and sighed again. She knelt down and pet Ace, who was willing to get a scratch behind the ears. "There is a cure for it." Said Bruce

"What's the catch?" she asked

"It was created in this timeline; it won't be made for another couple of decades."

She nodded again and went back to petting Ace, who seemed to be happy. Bruce got up and walked across the lair. She didn't seem to care much, because she wanted to enjoy the moment she had there. The old man returned with a syringe. "Kandice." He said

She looked up at him, and then at the syringe. "Is that the antidote?" she asked

"Yes, but I don't know how it will affect you in the past." He said

She sat there while Bruce gave her the treatment. She scrunched up her nose at the slight pinch she felt. No matter how many blood tests she got, she still hated to get needlework done on her body. She rubbed her arm and smiled. One good thing came out of it; she would be able to see her children born. She hugged the old man and he just glared at her. "Sorry." She said, walking off

"Where are you going?" he asked

"Where I belong." She answered

As she walked up the stairs, her body began disappearing. Bruce petted Ace. "Maybe time will change…" he muttered

The dog just whined at him. Apparently, he liked the attention Kandice had given him.

Kandice felt heavy eyelids as she had awakened from her long slumber. The pain in her right arm jolted her awake. She saw an IV in her arm and she immediately pulled it out. That was one pain she didn't want to feel. She took off the cords that were planted on her head and turned off the brainwave machine. Her legs felt weak as she got out of bed. She gripped the nightstand, then the doorway to gain leverage. Her footsteps were wobbly, and she saw Richie just sleeping on the couch. When she tried to reach over, she fell over. Richie's eyes snapped open and he sat up quickly to see Kandice trying to stand. "K-Kandi?" he asked

She gave a soft smile and nodded. He ran over to her and pulled her up, walking her over to the couch. Being quiet for about five minutes, he immediately held her as he did before all the complications came, and kissed her passionately. Kandice was first surprised, but then fell into it. 'What's wrong with me?' he thought, 'Why don't I feel like I used to?'

Kandice could hear his thoughts, and then her body began to tense, despite the fact that she was kissing him. She knew that Courtney had something to do with his behavior, and she was determined to fix it.