White.

Always white.

Always and always.

Let there be light.


Hal shielded his eyes as a white glow emanated from Kyle. Then, he felt himself blown away by another burst of power, sent flying away from his quarry. "What the hell…?" he asked as he slid against the road, grimacing.

Similarly, the various young heroes along with Superman were all coming to and watching the scene in disbelief. "Well, I'll be damned," the Kryptonian muttered, eyes wide. Nearby, Jason similarly watched the scene with a certain knowing apprehension, even as he felt relief enter his heart. Donna and Kon had managed to sit up, hanging on to each other for stability and leverage, and were both smiling weakly, though with a tinge of bittersweetness.

Ganthet was the most surprised of all. "What is this?" he gasped out.

The glow faded. Kyle laid prone for a moment, before snapping up, grabbing his power battery despite the obvious pain he was in. He got to his feet, barely aware of all the heroes surrounding him, nor the other heroes that had also just come to and were just now reaching the scene, including Alan Scott. He held the battery before him, and thrust his ring forward.

And then he spoke.

"In brightest day, in blackest night" he began to recite.

"No way," Wally whispered, never thinking he'd ever hear those words again, not after learning about what his Uncle Hal did to the Green Lantern Corps. Next to him, with his bow in hand, Oliver Queen stilled, his eyes shifting between both Kyle and Hal.

"…no evil shall escape my sight…"

Alan Scott landed gently next to Stargirl, helping his young friend and teammate get up. They both stopped as they watched the emerald glow around Kyle grew brighter, engulfing him entirely and blinding them like the white one had before. As he watched, Alan felt his heart skip a beat.

"…let those who worship evil's might…"

"You."

Jason, now on his knees, glanced at an utterly perplexed and slightly distressed Ganthet. "You know what's going on," the Guardian stated. "Explain."

The former Batman tilted his head. "Nah. I'll let Kyle have that honor himself."

"…beware my power…"

Hal Jordan watched as the emerald glow grew fiercer, and saw a thousand memories pass through his mind. Memories of a time long past, a time he had been trying to desperately recreate for these past several months. A time where it had been him that held a power battery in one hand and power ring in the other, where it had been him reciting that oath.

He felt his insides stutter, and heard a cry in his head that sounded suspiciously like his own.

"…GREEN LANTERN'S LIGHT!"

There was another burst of energy, an emerald green that soared into the sky and could be seen for miles. A hand—no, a ring, was thrust upwards along with it, as energy flowed from it and encased its bearer. For a single, everlasting moment, it was like nothing else existed in the world as every hero present watched as the current Green Lantern super-charged his ring, healing his injuries near instantly.

When the aura faded, it revealed Kyle Rayner in his full glory. His uniform had changed completely, the white color removed in favor of an entirely green and black ensemble. There was a Green Lantern symbol still on his left pec, however. His visor, meanwhile, had gotten rid of the protrusion on its sides completely in favor of a linearly smooth design. He had one hand up, curled into a fist to the reveal his smoking ring, and his power batter hanging from the other.

He set the latter down, and then his gaze almost immediately zeroed in on Hal. "Parallax," he hissed, lifting up and then speeding forward. He rammed into Hal with a literal ram encased around him, sending the other man flying. Before Hal could recover, he was grabbed by another beam of green energy and tossed into the air, where a construct of a magical girl blasted him with another beam of energy with her wand.

In a flash she was gone, and soon there was a dragon in her place. It breathed green fire unto Hal, causing the older man to shriek, before trying to bite down on him. Hal barely managed to form a two-pronged lift to prevent it from biting down before using his own considerable power to completely dispel it. He whipped his head to and fro, trying to find Kyle, his confusion replaced with a furious glower.

"Get out of Hal," Kyle's voice commanded. Hal whirled around and froze. An utterly massive construct of a giant Godzilla roared before its back lit up, the light moving up his spine before centering on his head. There was only a moment of warning before Godzilla's maw snapped open and his atomic breath hit Hal full-force, sending him into the Hudson River below.

"Unreal…" Alan said disbelievingly, as the heroes watched on the ongoing brawl from the sidelines. The rest of the heroes were silent, too entranced by the sight.

"He was nowhere near as skilled with the ring before," Ganthet noted, both stunned and impressed. "Now he's forming solid and gargantuan constructs at a rapid pace with no signs of struggle or exhaustion. Not even Hal Jordan or Thaal Sinestro were ever this capable. How is he doing this?"

Jason chuckled as he got to his feet. "Easy. He's been doing this for way longer than Jordan and Sinestro."

"Combined, right?" Kon asked, glancing at Donna.

Donna shrugged. "Maybe. We don't know how old Sinestro is, after all."

Ganthet scowled as he glared at all three of them. "And how, exactly, is that possible?"

The three of them exchanged looks and then shrugged. "When we figure it out, Ganthet, we'll tell you," Donna told him, rubbing the back of her head.


Back at the battle, an enraged Hal burst out of the water, once again forming that giant construct of himself to combat the Godzilla Kyle had formed. The two began to exchange punches as their respective creators poured more power and willpower into them. Eventually, it became too much, and the two dissipated after one final cross counter.

Hal panted as he and Kyle began to circle each other again. He had already expelled a lot of energy today trying to get his ring back, more than he initially thought he would. Anymore and he would have to retreat back to Oa, try to regain his strength for another attempt.

"For the last time, Parallax," Kyle spoke, deathly serious with only just a hint of anger coloring his tone, grasping at his wrist, "Leave Hal."

The former Green Lantern narrowed his eyes, even as he felt something tingle in the back of his head. "What the hell are you talking about, kid? I am Parallax."

"No," Kyle denied, shaking his head. "You're not."

There was no desperation in his tone. He said it so matter-of-factly, as if he knew, for certain, that Hal wasn't Parallax. It almost caused the other man to falter. What was this kid talking about? Did he know something that Hal didn't?

Before he could respond, a new construct formed into Kyle's hand — a scythe. Hal prepared for Kyle to charge and swing, but instead Kyle spun it around, causing it fold into itself until it was some sort of gun rifle. Then, he aimed and shot, hitting Hal right in the chest. That sent the other man tumbling away in the air, only just catching himself and shaking it off in time to dodge another shot. "What kind of weapon is that?" Hal demanded.

Kyle smirked as he turned the weapon back into a scythe and aimed the blade at Hal once more. Then he fired it, and Hal found himself shot again. "Talk to me again in about two years, and you'll see," He shouted to his opponent, before finally charging forward and swinging the scythe at Hal's midsection.

It struck true, and Hal cried out in pain a cut formed on his armor, revealing a deep wound. The first wound he had ever suffered ever since becoming Parallax. He grabbed at it, wincing, before once again glaring directly at Kyle.

"You win this round!" He boomed, his pride hurt at the admission. "But I'll be back! And I will take my ring back! Mark my words, Kyle Rayner!"

And with that final word, he disappeared.


Kyle stared at the space where his predecessor once floated, and then scoffed. "Parallax has even got him talking like your stereotypical supervillain. It must be really intent on keeping up the charade," he muttered. He then flew down back to where his comrades were waiting for him.

Upon arrival, he realized that all of them were still in a bit of shock. Apparently the idea of another time traveler after Donna actually appearing hadn't really been accepted despite the words of his friends. Which meant this was going to be awkward.

He landed on the ground, and smiled hollowly. "Hello, everyone," he said, mostly as a courtesy.

The JLA and co. just stared. Except for Jason, Donna, and Kon, who simply beckoned him over. Kyle felt his shoulders slump slightly in relief, and he walked over to them. They were younger, yes, but it was them and they were more familiar to him than anyone else here.

Donna was the first to meet him, letting go of Kon and pulling him into a hug. "Sorry for dying on you, Don," Kyle apologized as he returned the embrace.

"As long you don't do it again for a long time, it's all water under the bridge," Donna replied, giving him a pat on the back and a kiss on the cheek. She was soon replaced by Jason, who Kyle just knew was smirking under his mask.

"Asshole."

"Jackass."

A beat of silence, and then Kyle grinned and one could sense Jason was doing the same. The two then exchanged a hug as well. "Missed you, you jerk," Kyle admitted with a sigh of fondness.

"Missed you too, Rayner. Missed you too."

They released their embrace as well, and the Kyle's grin morphed into a smirk as he glanced at Donna. "I'm glad you finally got your head out of your ass, by the way," he said cheekily.

Jason punched him in the arm, grumbling. "Is everyone going to comment on that?" he asked the universe.

"Yes," Kyle and Kon answered in unison, before glancing at each other and laughing. Jason cursed them both as he returned to a sympathetic and amused Donna's side.

As the laughter subsided, Kyle pulled Kon into one last hug. "It's good to see you, man. You don't know how much we all missed you."

Kon pulled out of the embrace and took a look at Jason and Donna, before smiling sadly. "Maybe not, but I think I have a pretty good guess."

Kyle nodded, before turning around to face the non-time travelers. They had been watching the scene pensively, and warily, though some like Superman also had sorrow in their expressions. Kyle's smile faded, and he sighed.

"I guess you have questions?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

There were some nods.

"Okay then," Kyle said mildly, looking up at the sky. "But I think we should take this conversation elsewhere. Somewhere more private."


For the second time in a week, the Watchtower was beheld to a massive meeting. Jason had Impulse recover the rest of Young Justice, Batgirl, and their three civilian friends and family for the mass teleport. Once they were on the Watchtower, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the rest of the JLA were contacted about the situation and teleported in as well. Jason also made sure to contact Alfred and inform why they weren't going to be home yet.

While they waited for the rest of the team to arrive, Kyle chatted idly with the three of them, catching up on what they had been doing since the time travel started, including the camp. They could see the gleam in his eye — he wanted in on that too. Of course, they would have to further accommodate the base for his lessons, and chances are Kyle would have to take a long trip to space so he could restore the Green Lantern Corps in the future, but that was for the future, not now.

From the corner of his eye, Jason could spot Green Arrow, Hawkman, and Ganthet watching them. They were the only three present who weren't aware of the time travel, and had been dutifully informed by the others upon their arrival to the Watchtower. Shocked and slightly dismayed, they were watching the four of them like a (heh) hawk, with Ganthet in particular eying Kyle as if he was seeing him for the first time. It seemed Kyle's display in driving off Parallax had changed his mind about the young Lantern tremendously.

Finally, the door slid open and Batman and Wonder Woman arrived, followed by Plastic Man, Steel and a few others. Kyle straightened up, and nodded at Diana, who approached him with the Lasso of Hestia. She wrapped it around his arm, and stared directly into his face, mindful of their audience.

"What is your name?"

"Kyle Aaron Rayner."

"Did you time travel?"

"I believe so. I remember dying almost forty years from now before waking up here."

"Do you have any malicious intentions towards anyone here?"

"No."

Satisfied, Diana removed the Lasso from Kyle's arm. Then she gave him a pat on the shoulder and a smile. Kyle smiled back before turning around to face everyone else. "It's good to see all of you," he said warmly, almost serenely.

There wasn't an answer. No one here really knew how to react to that statement. Kyle noticed, his smile falling with another sigh. "I guess you want to know what's going on with Hal?" he asked instead.

"Yes," Oliver replied before anyone else could say anything. "I heard you telling Parallax to 'get out' of Hal. What the hell was that about?"

"Knight," Batman grunted, catching everyone's attention, "You said Parallax was a fear entity possessing Jordan last time we discussed this, but you didn't elaborate further. Why?"

Jason shrugged. "Because I only knew so much. Lantern here can explain it here better, since he was there in-person for most of it."

"Throw me under the bus, why don't ya?" Kyle deadpanned as he once again became the center of attention. He exhaled deeply. "Parallax is, in fact, what Knight said — a fear entity. The cosmic embodiment of fear to be accurate. He was sealed into the Central Power Battery on Oa millions of years ago by the Guardians, who then eliminated all memory of it from their minds so anyone one who did know of it would never find it. He's the source of the Green Lantern power ring's weakness to yellow, as he's associated with that color, and his presence in the Central Power Battery was an impurity of sorts that spread to all the power rings. That's actually why my ring isn't weak to yellow — there's no longer a Parallax in the Central Battery to corrupt it."

There was a beat of silence as everyone processed that information. Ganthet in particular was completely alert and shaking, which was strange behavior coming from the Guardian. "If that is true, Kyle Rayner, than how did it come to possess Hal Jordan?"

Kyle stared at his old mentor for a moment, before shaking his head, getting a grip on himself. "Easy. Because Hal and the Corps sealed another being into the Central Power Battery. That being then manipulated Parallax into driving Hal Jordan gradually mad over the years — hence why Hal went gray-haired so early. Eventually, after the destruction of Coast City, Hal was in complete despair and at his lowest point, which Parallax took advantage of. It nudged Hal over the edge, sending him after the Central Battery, whispering about how he could use its power to restore Coast City. After Hal defeated the Corps and entered the Battery, he was fully possessed by Parallax and has been under its control ever since."

"But that can't be!" Ganthet exclaimed. "The only other being we sealed into the Central Power Battery in recent memory was—" The Guardian stopped as the realization hit.

"Sinestro," Kyle finished for him.

Almost immediately, there were gasps and expressions of dismay. Just about everyone present knew about Sinestro — he was Hal Jordan's arch-enemy. Hal's former mentor and teacher, his partner, a man who had conquered his own world and put it under a dictatorship in the name of 'order'. He was one of the most dangerous supervillains in history. But most of all…

"That can't be," Alan Scott said through the din of noise. "Sinestro is dead. Hal killed him, snapped his neck."

Kyle shook his head. "That wasn't Sinestro — that was a hard light construct created by Parallax to help fake Sinestro's death. Sinestro is alive, and if my memory of the timeline is correct, he's retreated to the Anti-Matter Universe to start building his own Central Battery with the Qwardians with the intent of creating his own Lantern Corps."

Silence once again blanketed the room as everyone present mulled on that in sheer horror. It seemed too fantastic to be true, but it was too elaborate to be anything else. There was not a hint of a lie in Kyle's visage, and the implications of what he was saying were not lost on anyone present.

Ganthet once again began to shake. "What else do you know?" he demanded quietly.

Kyle flared his nostrils. "Everything. Blackest Night, Volthoom — even the Life Entity currently incubating in the Earth's core."

"What!"

And just like the chaos started again. Everyone was talking over each other, demanding that Ganthet explain that particular revelation. Kyle leaned back as he watched the fireworks, feeling his friends do the same beside him. It seemed cruel, to do this, to Ganthet especially. But Kyle, like any other Lantern of his time, had some unresolved issues against the Guardians, and as much as he loved Ganthet, he couldn't help but resent him for how all of this began.

"Not holding back, huh?" Kon idly commented, plopping his chin into his hand.

"Nope," Kyle said, the slightest smirk on his lips.


Finally, after several minutes of pandemonium, Batman put the figurative foot down. He got onto a chair and shouted "ENOUGH!" and just like that, the entire room fell so silent one could hear a pin drop. The Bat glared at them all for a few moments, before sighing.

"As interesting as learning all that would be, it would be safe to assume that none of that will be important for at least a couple of years, correct?" He glanced at the time travelers.

There was lots of nodding though Jason made a 'so-so' gesture just to be sure. Bruce reminded himself to corner Rayner to schedule another tell-all for later. In fact, when they had this whole time travel mess worked out, he was going to schedule a tell-all from all of them. It was going to be informative, for certain. But until then…

"Very well. Since that is settled, we need to deal with our current pressing matter — the fact that another time traveler has appeared during this time and merged with his past self. I am sure you are all aware of the implications?"

Grimaces. Lots and lots of grimaces. Yes, it seemed everyone was well aware of the implications.

"Good. Then our new priority is locating the other potential targets and relocating them to a safe and secure location. Flash, we need to get your cousin. Aquaman—"

Arthur sighed. "Mera still refuses to speak to me."

Jason stepped forward. "But you know where she is, don't you?"

"Well, yes. What of it?"

The former Batman looked at his best friend, and they exchanged a single nod. "Then take us to her. We'll convince her to speak to you and take us to Kaldur'ahm."

"You aren't planning to harm her, are you?" Arthur asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes.

Kon and Jason both looked offended. "Of course not! We're just going to talk!"

"Good."

Bruce cleared his throat. "That just leaves the Martian. Martian Manhunter?"

J'onn shook his head. "If she is here on this planet, then she is not responding to my mental calls. I do not know where she is."

Everyone sighed upon hearing that. "Fine, but keep looking. We need to locate her immediately. Until then, Troy, you go with Flash to pick up his nephew. Knight, Superboy, we'll teleport you down back to Earth with Aquaman. And Rayner—"

"I'll stay here," Kyle offered. "I need time to…acclimate, before I do anything else."

"If you feel that is best, then go ahead. The rest of you, head home for now and rest. But be prepared for anything else that may come our way. Dismissed."


"Well, kids, I'm sorry your first camp had to end like that," Jason apologized to his students as they waited to be transported home via teleporter. "But we should have figured something like that would happen. Something always does."

"That's not really inspiring a lot of confidence, Jay," Tim told him flatly.

Jason gave him an affectionate pat on the back. "When you've been a superhero for as long as I have, you tend to expect the worst to always happen, little brother. You'll understand one day."

"Uh, Knight?" Everyone turned to look at a hesitant Secret. "Is Green Lantern going to be teaching us too now?"

"Maybe," Jason said after a moment of thought. "His expertise is important, but his lessons aren't ones you should be learning at your age. At least, not to their fullest extent. We'll have to discuss it with him later."

"What about our stuff?" Courtney asked.

"I already talked that over with Ganthet. Apparently he teleported your stuff back at your respective houses — and don't ask me how he did that, he's a Guardian, they tend to do stuff like that. Be prepared to field any questions from your perspective guardians. If they're in the secret, tell them about Kyle, but that's it."

With that last instruction, he saw them off one-by-one. Eventually, there were only Bats and their three civilian tag-a-longs. Jon had been checked over by his father after the battle was over, and was now instructed to head back to the Manor to pick up his stuff and go home. Bruce had done the same with Stephanie and Damian, and now they were heading home with Tim and Cass as well.

"Again, I'm sorry you had to get dragged into this," Jason told Stephanie and the kids.

Stephanie waved him off. "We live in Gotham, Jason, it's nothing new. You managed to get us out of dodge as soon as possible anyway. It wasn't your fault."

"You're not going to be around the Manor much anymore, are you?" Damian suddenly said, causing the group to fall silent.

Jason looked down at his little brother, and then sighed. He crouched down and put his hands on the young boy's shoulders. "Probably not, at least not for a while. I'm sorry, Damian, but this — whatever this is — I have a feeling it's not going to end soon. And I'm going to be out a lot to deal with it."

The younger boy swallowed, and then pulled his brother into a hug. Jason was stunned for a moment, before smiling and returning it. "Then please be careful, Jason. I do not wish to lose you." Not again.

"You won't. I promise." He ruffled his little brother's hair before giving a meaningful look to the other teenagers. They nodded before heading over to the teleporters with Damian and Jon. It was time to go home.


"I'd figure I'd find you out here," Kon stated as he spotted Kyle standing in one of the corridors of the Watchtower, staring out at the recesses of space. "Reminiscing?"

Kyle shrugged. "Aren't we all?"

"True," Kon conceded, moving to stand next to his friend. "How are you feeling?"

"I imagine much like you all did when you first arrived. Happy, scared, grieving. I knew it was a possibility but I didn't think it would actually happen. And now…" Kyle flickered his eyes towards one direction in particular. "Well, there's so much to do I can barely wrap my head around it all."

"And yet, unlike us, you've managed to keep your head straight so far," Kon leaned against the glass, "But considering that it's you, I shouldn't really be surprised."

"What can I say?" Kyle replied, shrugging. "I am what I am."

"Yeah. You are." Kon crossed his arms. "But I do have one question. Soranik?"

Kyle's face marbled, as his eyes flickered towards Kon. For a moment, Kon could have sworn there was a hint of violet, but if there was, it was gone before Kon could even zero in on it. His friend's face was perfectly blank, devoid of emotion except a single, nearly imperceptible smile.

So that hasn't changed either. He didn't even want to know what that meant for the future.

"Love is love," Kyle responded, positively serene. "You know how I am, Kon. I follow my heart."

"And your heart led you to the woman who's broken it more than anyone else," Kon stated neutrally, trying not to sound accusing. "The daughter of your worst enemy."

Kyle shrugged once more. "Like I said, I am what I am. Just because I keep my emotions under control, does not mean I do not feel them."

"No. It doesn't. You do feel them." Kon narrowed his eyes. "You feel everything."

"Yes. What of it?"

Kon scoffed. "You know that Jason has deliberately refrained from calling you a Green Lantern? At least, when wherever he can get away with it. And there is no way his father missed that, and we all know it."

"Again, what of it?"

A beat of silence.

"Kyle…can you access it?"

"…I don't know. I haven't tried yet."

"Even if you can't, you can't hide it forever. Ganthet, John, Guy, Carol, Hal, when we can get Parallax out of him — they're all going to want to know. And they aren't going to like it. They aren't going to like any of it."

"I wasn't planning to, Kon," Kyle replied, fiddling with his ring. A Green Lantern ring — it had been so long since he only had this ring to use. "I already gave them a taste when I explained Parallax. When we get Hal back, I'll explain the rest. It isn't important right now anyway."

"Maybe, maybe not." Kon turned around and pressed his forearm against the glass window that displayed the stars. "Kyle, whatever is causing this would know what you are. They wouldn't dare risk bringing you back without some nefarious purpose in mind."

"Is that you talking or Jason?"

"It's all three of us, actually."

The two heroes hardly reacted as Jason and Donna walked into the hall to join them. "We discussed this over the week," Donna explained, "we figured that if stopped with three of us, then it would be someone with a grudge against us three, and that would narrow the field down. It's not like we didn't make our own fair share of enemies who would be irrational enough to pull a stunt like this off. But even people who have grudges against the entire council would be hesitant to bring you in, Kyle. The risk would be too great."

"Which means that whoever is doing this either has one hell of a grudge, or wanted you for something," Jason surmised.

"You know your dad is probably watching us right now, right?" Kon deadpanned.

"I know, but he isn't going to forgive out anything anyway," Jason replied, waving him off.


In another room in the Watchtower, watching the surveillance feeds, was Batman. He grunted in irritation.

"I hate time travel."


"You already knew all this, didn't you? That's why you're choosing to stay on the Watchtower instead of just going home or visiting the others, trying to explain to them what's going on," Donna accused Kyle, who shrugged.

"Well that and the fact that I don't get along with John and Guy yet in this timeline. I don't even know Carol right now."

"That's not everyone you could visit, though."

There was a wave of silence.

Donna sighed sadly. "Kyle…don't you want to see them?"

"They've been dead for so long that I can hardly remember what they look and sound like," Kyle replied with wistful sorrow.

"It's not your fault," Jason pointed out, tone sympathetic.

"It still feels like it is. Even after all these years," Kyle exhaled out. "My mother is one thing, but Alex… I'm scared to go near her. I'm afraid if I do, Major Force will kill her again and they'll find her strangled body in the fridge, like I did the first time around. And unlike Sinestro, I can't kill him no matter how much I want to."

"You didn't kill Sinestro either, though," Kon reminded him. "You just terrified his entire Corps by wrecking Qward and beating the hell out of him and half the Corpsmen present by yourself."

"And Major Force never did bother you again after you cut off his head and batted it into space," Donna mused.

"True," Kyle conceded. "Maybe I'll just track 'em down and do it again, just to make sure, before I see Alex and mom again." He paused. "Do I think I should tell Alex the truth? There's no hiding it from mom, she'll know me too well, but Alex…"

"I guess it depends on whether or not you plan on keeping her in your life, Kyle," Jason replied, voice solemn. "Whatever your decision, we'll accept it. You deserve that much, at least."

Kyle bit his lip, and looked away.


About two hours later, it was time to go. Jason and Kon met up with Aquaman and teleported with him down to Amnesty Bay. While they were doing that, Donna waited with Wally to do the same. There was an awkward air between them — they hadn't really talked since the debacle of last week. Then again, none of the Titans, not even Dick, had really talked to her ever since she told them her decision to quit the team. It must've felt like a betrayal to them, on their end, even though it really wasn't.

Donna was both hurt and relieved, a dichotomy of feelings that she rarely ever felt. She wasn't sure if she was ready to talk to them all yet. It was different for Jason and Kon — Jason didn't really befriend his closest friends in the superhero community until he was into adulthood. Kon had only just befriended his own close friends at this point in the timeline. It was…easier, for them to adjust.

Not Donna. Donna had been friends with several members of the Titans for years, since the very beginning of her career as a superhero. As awkward and bittersweet as it was for Donna to be facing them all again, alive and well, it was just as awkward for Dick, Roy, and the others. Their friend, their Donna, had been effectively been replaced with an older version of herself that had long moved on with her life. They knew the younger her like the back of their hand, but the person she was now? She might as well be a stranger.

Her relationship with Jason, her close friendships with Kon and now Kyle as well, her departure from the Titans…it almost felt like she was burning bridges with all of them.

"So…Dick's kid brother, huh?"

But then again, nobody ever said that burnt bridges couldn't be rebuilt.

Donna smiled. "He hasn't really been 'Dick's kid brother' to me in a long time, Wally. He's just…Jason, you know?"

"Yeah," Wally said after a moment, "Yeah, I think I get it. I'm…I'm glad you managed to find some happiness in your life, Donna. After everything."

"Thank you for saying that. It means a lot, coming from you." A hand was placed on his shoulder. "You're scared, aren't you? Scared about what Wallace will be like if he comes back like I did."

"Wouldn't you be?" Wally blurted out.

Donna cocked an eyebrow. "Considering I knew Wallace very well before he died, not really. But then again, seeing your nine-year-old cousin mentally age up to adulthood would be difficult for anyone, even if you knew what exactly he would be like." She squeezed Wally's shoulder. "Do not worry, Wally. Wallace grew into a fine man and a great hero. You would be proud."

Wally smiled slightly, before frowning again. "Donna…what did you guys mean by the fact that he isn't supposed to exist yet? You've seen Wallace before plenty of times. God knows I've shared more than enough photos of him."

The Amazon sighed once again. "Wally, it's complicated. If Wallace does come back, he would be better equipped to explain to you."

"I'm not going to like the answer, am I?" Wally said in realization.

Donna shook her head. "It's…well, let's just say that even the best of us falter, Wally. Remember that."

"If you two are done?"

The former Titans glanced at Batman, who was waiting impatiently by the teleporter. "They've been locked on to Central City's coordinates. Go."

"You know what I didn't miss? That," Donna stated dryly as Wally and her stepped onto the teleporting pads. "My boyfriend is nowhere near as bossy as him."

Wally laughed.

Donna smiled.

Maybe the bridges were burnt. But that didn't mean they didn't have the time build them back up.

No, they had all the time in the world.


Kyle Rayner, everybody. He's…well, he's still Kyle, but he's a bit different from what you'd expect normal Kyle to be. You'll see more of that later.

Next chapter: Gathering the others.