"I'm not happy."

The teens flinched at Jason's cold, unamused tone, trying not to meet his harsh gaze. They were currently sitting in an isolated lounge in one of the higher levels of the JSA's Brownstone in Civic City. With the Watchtower still out of commission, the heroes had convened there after the battle to discuss the aftermath after dropping off all the supervillains with the regular authorities. Many were currently being checked out by Doctor Mid-Nite, not wanting to take any chances despite Kyle having healed all injuries before they left Infinity Island.

Jason had quickly requested (read: ordered) all the younger heroes to meet with Donna and him in private, after asking for use of the lounge from Jay Garrick. Knowing what was to come, the children had tried to wiggle out of it, but a look from their own (non-time traveling) mentors stayed them — there was no getting out of it. Which had led them to here: the young heroes all seated together on a crescent couch, wilting under the dual glowers of the third Batman and the second Wonder Woman.

"We are not going to deny your contributions to the battle," Jason continued, voice deliberately even. "If it had not been for you, things wouldn't have gone nearly as well as they ended up going."

Cissie's head shot up. "You called that as things going well?"

"Yes. Because, by God's grace or some other kind of miraculous power, no one died," the man stated flatly. "There were a couple of close calls, but in the end, we all made it out okay. And trust me, considering that we were facing off against Kyle Rayner, that is the Devil's luck at play. If he had gone all out, we would've all been stains on that godforsaken island."

The teenagers froze. "He…wasn't going all out?" Tim squeaked.

Jason gave a half-shrug. "No. Kyle can destroy a planet with a flick of his wrist if he wished. I once saw him do it. Thankfully, whatever spell Savage had on him muted his emotions, weakening him. He probably didn't with planet destroyed any more than we did, and acted accordingly." He leveled another glare at them. "Now do you understand why they didn't want you there? Granted, the JLA, the JSA and the Titans weren't aware about us, but they were aware of the dozens upon dozens of villains that were supporting Savage in containing and using us. There was a reason they didn't want you there. You could've died. Hell, you almost did."

"What he's trying to say is that we're proud of you for doing so well under so much pressure," Donna cut in before Jason could really get going, "But the fact of the matter is that you disobeyed orders and put all of yourselves in unnecessary danger. It worked out this time, but there's no guarantee of a similar result if you do it again."

"So, you're getting rewarded and punished," Jason continued, expression softening a tad. "This upcoming weekend is the beginning of Spring Break for all of you, luckily enough." There was a cough from Tim's direction that Jason deliberately ignored; luck had nothing to do with their synchronized breaks. "We've talked it over with your guardians and with your mentors so you'll be staying with us for not just the weekend, but also for Monday through Wednesday as well. Your reward is that you won't have to cook at all this week — I'll handle the cooking."

Looks of relief were exchanged between the younger heroes.

"You punishment is that you get to spend your entire first day on drills with Donna." The woman in question smiled innocently and gleamingly, causing her students to stare at her in apprehension.

"Uh…Jason?" Everyone glanced at Cassie, who hesitatingly put up her hand. "Considering everything, including, well…" she glanced at both her teachers, grimacing. "…won't this affect training too? I mean, what are we supposed to call you two and Kon in the field now?"

Jason and Donna exchanged a look, before glancing down at their own bodies. Even after liberating Kyle and Savage's disappearance, the Era 2 Justice League had yet to return to their original bodies, instead remaining in the prime ones that Savage had 'gifted' back to them when he had brainwashed them. Bruce had already called in Zatanna and Constantine to see if anything could be done, but everyone knew it was unlikely to be that simple. Whatever power Savage had at his fingertips had managed to clone an entire universe; even for the likes of Zatanna, that magic could not be easily broken.

It wasn't that they minded being back in their original bodies — Jason and Kon in particular felt more like themselves than in what seemed like forever. But being back in these bodies caused its own slew of problems, considering several of them had civilian identities that would be immediately compromised if they went out in public like this, all aged up after it was exposed to the supervillain community that there were a bunch of time-traveling heroes around; especially Jason, who was a minor celebrity. Not to mention the fact that it was Savage who was responsible for this. Even now, they were all waiting for the other shoe to drop. It always did, with things like this.

"Just call us what you would usually would, before all this," Jason told them, rubbing his arm. "It's just easier that way, even if there's something of a visual dissonance going on now."

"And what about the others? They're going to be teaching us too, aren't they?"

"That's technically still under discussion," Donna interjected before Jason could answer, "but most likely, yes. We will need to determine alternate names for Wallace and Kaldur, but you can just call M'gann Miss Martian."

"And Kyle will be White Lantern for the time being," Jason added. "I have no doubt that he'll manage to convince Hal Jordan to get back in the saddle and become Green Lantern again. Especially since they're likely going into space soon, trying to reform the Green Lantern Corps. Jordan will want to be a part of that."

Tim nodded, before adopting a pensive look. "And what about the new girl, Kara? Wasn't she a hero too? Is she going to join us in our training?"

The older heroes exchanged a look. "That has yet to be determined as well," Donna replied.


"No."

Kon rubbed one of his temples and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Clark…"

"How can you even think of sending her away?" Clark demanded, incensed. "She's our family! She needs us!"

"I'm not saying we send her away immediately, but—"

"But nothing! She's now on a foreign world, lost and confused. She needs stability, not be shunted away like some problem child—"

"DO YOU THINK I WANT TO SEND HER AWAY!?" Kon snapped, shouting. Clark stepped back, eyes wide. Upon seeing that, Kon took in a deep breath, calming himself down, but the steely glint remained in his gaze.

"You've only just met her, Clark," Kon said slowly, seriously. "But me? I knew her for close to fifteen years. She's practically a sister to me, and losing her…God, losing her hurt me in a way that's never completely healed. The last thing I want is to let her leave my sight. If the world were kinder, I'd keep her by my side and shield her from it all. But I can't, and neither can you. We have far too many responsibilities to dedicate ourselves to watching one girl, no matter how much we love her." Jason had only just barely managed that with his own family, and that was only because his own skillset allowed him to do most of his work at home. Kon did not have that luxury; he was not a strategist and detective like his friend. If he wanted to make change, he had to be in the thick of it, and that offered little time for much else.

Clark grimaced. Kon was right, he knew that, but… "But still, Themyscira? Even with our powers, we won't be able to visit often. Ma, Pa, Lois and even Jon — they won't be able to visit at all."

Kon sighed and glanced at the glass window that acted as a peerview into the infirmary. Inside, Kara was being scanned for treatment by Doctor Mid-Nite, J'onn and Kyle to make sure that where Savage had dragged her from didn't have any long-lasting effects. They had already drained her of the Kryptonite poisoning that had caused her dementia in the last timeline, which Kon would be forever be grateful for. That would make Kara so much easier to deal with when they finally talked to her about this.

"Clark, she isn't like you, or even me. She grew up on another planet and has now suddenly found herself on this one, with powers she has no idea how to control. If we had the time, I would have us teach her ourselves. But the simple truth is that we don't. You already have your hands full with your own son and with Metropolis. I've got my hands full dealing with all the more troublesome threats that will pop up in our future, and this recent stunt by Savage is going to double my workload even more. Not to mention training my own old teammates." The clone leaned his shoulder against the wall, his eyes trained on his cousin's face. "With the Amazons, at least, she'll have both dedicated teachers and a chance to make friends that she won't have to be afraid of breaking just because she sneezed or something. If all goes well, she'll complete her training within two months and then she can join the family properly and decide what she wants to do with her life from then out."

His own mentor and predecessor frowned. "That's an oddly specific time table," Clark noted, narrowing his eyes. "This happened last time, didn't it?"

"Yes," Kon admitted bluntly. "You were stubborn and refused to get her solid training. Diana had to stage an attack with her Amazon sisters to convince you to concede. It put a strain on your relationship with Kara because it felt like you weren't giving her any agency in her life."

"And how will this be any different?"

"Because we're going to explain everything to her immediately, including why she needs to go to Themyscira," Kon patiently explained. "And then, we tell her that as soon as she's deemed ready, she can decide to do what she wants with her life. As opposed to just playing tug-o-war with her with Diana while Bruce is being an unhelpful and paranoid interloper."

Clark crossed his arms. "And why two months? It shouldn't take her that long to learn control."

Kon didn't answer.

He didn't have to. Clark already knew the answer. "Who's after her, Kon?" he asked, this time his voice softer but with an undercurrent of anger.

Kon didn't take any offense, he knew the anger wasn't directed at him. Instead, he sighed again. "Darkseid," he answered, spitting the name like poison.

Clark froze. "What."

"Ever since Barda's defection, he's been looking for a new captain for his Furies, but none of the candidates have been up to snuff." Kon's eyes flashed red as his own gaze met Clark's horrified one. "But Kara is a Kryptonian. Under a yellow sun, her strength is only equaled by us and second to him. She can take the post easily, and did for a time in the last timeline after he kidnapped her and brainwashed her. You, Bruce, and Diana managed to rescue her, but that just invited him to Earth to kill you and her in retaliation. We had to fake her death in order to get him to back off."

"God…" Clark muttered, a hand to his head. "Is there any guarantee?"

"I can't say," Kon admitted, shrugging again. "We don't have any intel on the current ongoings of Apokalips. But considering how things have been going lately, it's best to prepare for the worst."

Clark sighed and took a look through the window himself. Kara was currently holding a conversation with Kyle, one of the few people besides a fellow Kryptonian that could speak to her. They were talking about Kyle's occupation as an artist, about one of his more recent works. They were getting along well, Clark noted with some fondness. "She doesn't need to learn just control, does she?"

"No," Kon said, looking wistful for a moment. Memories of the first Supergirl, one of the greatest heroines to have ever lived, flashed through his mind. "She needs to learn how to fight. Because regardless of whether or not she becomes Supergirl, she's always going to be a target. Whether by virtue of being our cousin, or by virtue of being a Kryptonian…there are always going to be people after her. And we can't always be there to protect her. So the best way to protect her—"

"—is to teach her how to protect herself," Clark finished. "…Can she at least meet the family first?"

"I don't see why not. It won't take her long to learn English and us Kents have been dealing with Jon and his powers for ages now. She's not going to be much different, just stronger." Kon rubbed his arm. "It will also give the Bats enough time to draw up a solid civilian identity for her and give her time to learn her cover. You know; just in case."

Clark closed his eyes. "…Fine. But you're going to have to be the one to explain this to her. You'll be better at handling it than me."


Wallace hummed he scrolled through the primer the first Batman had handed him upon their arrival to the Brownstone. It was a general file Jason had written up about all the changes to the timeline since his arrival, downloaded onto a tablet for easy reading. Two other copies had been handed to Kaldur and M'gann, who were seated right next to him, reading the file at their own paces.

They were seated at a meeting table, being watched by various members of the JLA. Bruce, of course, was present with a harsh and distrustful expression on his face. Not surprising; he doubted even Jason's influence would be able to soften his stance against unknowns like them. Especially since Kaldur had tried to kill Black Manta; the first Batman wouldn't get along with him, simply for that. Wallace doubted his own brutality would win him any points either.

Another was Diana, something to be grateful for. She was reasonable and the three of them knew her well, had worked with her for several years before she retired to ascend Themyscira's throne. If there was anyone here on their side, it was her — even if she herself didn't realize it. Depending on how the conversation went, they could expect her to at least give them the benefit of the doubt.

Then there was Arthur and Wally. Wallace could immediately tell that Arthur still didn't know what to think of Kaldur. Not entirely surprising; even after decades working together, Wallace didn't know what to think of his friend at times either. He didn't doubt the man's heart, or his friendship, but Kaldur had always held himself at a distance from them. A certain aloofness, born of his utter devotion to Atlantis and to Atlanna in particular. He imagined Arthur was in a similar predicament. There was no questioning Kaldur's loyalty to him, not after Kaldur had attempted to kill Black Manta for his sake, but…well, things weren't as simple as that.

Wally, Wallace noticed with some sadness, was the same with him. He couldn't exactly blame his cousin, Wallace hadn't hesitated with his own viciousness when it came to their Rogues. One might argue he shouldn't have been so harsh, but Wallace refused to admit that was a mistake. They were in the midst of battle with several villains and a single lapse could've meant life or death. Wallace had lived with the consequences of such mistakes all his life, and he wouldn't dare to make them himself, not after all this time.

But, it seemed, it had come at the cost at what should've been easy camaraderie with his cousin. Wally was apprehensive of him now, even scared. It hurt to see. Wallace had missed him so much.

"Huh."

The two men glanced at their third. M'gann was biting a nail, looking annoyed. "What is it, M'gann?" Kaldur asked.

"J-Batman died again," she responded, careful not to use Jason's real name. That would've been an easy way to get on Bruce's bad side. Wally and Diana knew his identity already, but Arthur didn't, and Bruce would probably want to keep it that way.

Wallace stilled. "Are you serious?" He sounded incredulous.

"Yes."

The speedster groaned, while Kaldur sighed. "At least that explains the sword," the half-Xebelian pointed out.

"What are we going to do with him?" Wallace complained. Jason had done his best to curb his recklessness over the years, owed to the fact that he had children waiting for him at home, but it always seemed to flare out regardless. The simple fact of the matter was that for all his skill and magical weapons, the third Batman was every bit as human as his predecessors, and if it weren't for a combination of that skill and sheer, inhuman amounts of luck, those kids would've been orphaned long before they actually were.

Kaldur snorted. "Nothing. Donna probably already has a handle on it."

M'gann chuckled. "Oh, definitely. God, I've missed her." She leaned forward to look at them both, looking nostalgic. "I've missed all of you."

Wallace met her gaze, the depths of sadness and loss. You're always the one left behind, aren't you M'gann? "I wish I could say the same. Last thing I remember is the Speed Force." And the lightning burning me into nonexistence.

"I don't remember anything at all," Kaldur confessed. "Just went to sleep and woke up here. What about you, M'gann?" You were the last of us. No one knows how you died.

"Despero."

"Ah." No one pressed any further.

They heard Bruce clear his throat, and shifted their collective attention towards him. He was glaring at them all, clearly attempting to intimidate them. Wallace rolled his eyes, while Kaldur and M'gann's expressions remained perfectly blank.

"Yes, Batman?" M'gann asked politely.

"Are the three of you all caught up?"

"Give me a sec," Wallace said, then quickly sped through the screen. "Okay, now I'm done."

"I will need to fully read and digest the file later, but I should be able to keep up with the conversation," Kaldur stated calmly, setting down the tablet and turning off the screen.

M'gann simply gave a half-shrug. "I'm good."

The first Batman continued to glare at them all, before standing up. "Very well. It's time for the meeting, then."


'The meeting', as Batman called it, was the third mass-meeting in the last several weeks. Considering the unexpectedly positive outcome of the last battle (Savage's ominous warning notwithstanding), that meant basically everyone was hale and hearty enough to attend. However, considering the relatively small size of the JSA's meeting chamber, the lack of sufficient furniture to accomodate everyone, and general tensions between all five teams, only a select few had been invited in.

Young Justice had been excluded entirely. It had been deemed that nothing of what was going to be discussed pertained to them specifically, and either way everyone was still mad at them for essentially bullying their way into the rescue mission. The same went for Batgirl (who had no team) and for Stargirl. No one below the (mental) age of eighteen was going to be allowed to attend.

After further discussion, it was determined that only representatives from all three remaining teams, specifically connected to the members of the Era 2 JL, would be present. For the JSA, that meant Jay Garrick and Alan Scott; for the Titans, that meant Nightwing, Tempest, and Jesse Quick; and for the JLA, that meant the core members: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, and the Flash. Hal Jordan had also been invited on Kyle's request, even though he was still withdrawn over his actions as Parallax.

The group sufficiently sized down, they had all gathered around the circular table that bore the JSA's iconic symbol. After some hesitance, a debrief began, in which the time travelers recounted what happened during their time in Savage's captivity. Including the truth about their 'time travel'.

"A cloned universe?" Wally blurted out, shocked. "But how is that even possible?"

Jason exchanged a look with Kyle, who was sitting on the other side of Donna. "We've got a couple of theories, but nothing concrete so far. Maybe Zatanna or Constantine can get something off us when they get here. Otherwise, we'll have to capture Savage himself for answers."

"And what fun that will be," Kyle muttered sarcastically. Kaldur, who was sitting on the other side of him, gave him an elbow to the ribs.

His other friends astutely ignored him. "Anyway," Jason continued, "that's not the immediate problem. It's unlikely that either of them, or even Doctor Fate, will be able to undo the spell on us. In that event, we need to decide…temporary measures, pertaining to our civilian identities."

He got several blank looks. Thankfully, none from his family, but that was a cold comfort.

"What Bat-Knight, Knight," M'gann shot him a look. "Why the hell are you call yourself something as cumbersome as 'Gotham Knight' of all things? No, never mind, whatever. Anyway, what Knight is trying to say is that, with the exception of myself, everyone here has a civilian identity, and people are going to notice if they show up like…" she gestured to her teammates. "…this."

Realization dawned on several faces.

"Well," Jay Garrick started slowly, "we could make up fake identities for you, so you can stay with us?"

"And what about the disappearances of our actual identities?" Donna pointed out, raising an eyebrow. "How are you supposed to explain that without a sufficient body double? We don't know how long we're going to be stuck like this."

Jay didn't have an answer. It seemed no one did.

"We can't stay home."

Wally whipped his head around and gave his younger(?) cousin a disbelieving look. "What, Wallace? No! Aunt Iris will go spare—!"

"I'm not saying we won't visit, Wally," Wallace cut him off before he could go further. "But we can't stay. Many of us look too much our younger selves, and suddenly showing up in the lives of our loved ones under false names after the disappearances of our original identities is just begging for our secret identities to be blown to hell. Kyle and Donna might be able to manage and M'gann is a shapeshifter with no secret identity right now, but the rest of us? It's not going to work."

"He's right, West," Bruce said, shutting down any response the other speedster might have had. "They have to go in hiding for now. At least until we can find some way to revert them back."

Upon hearing that, Wally faltered, and sighed. "Where are you going to stay, then?"

Wallace adopted a mischievous look. "Well, the Manor—"

"No."

Everyone looked at Jason, who had his arms crossed. Nobody could see beneath his helmet (not even with X-Ray Vision), but they could just feel the glare burning into them all.

"Not just no, but fuck no," he continued, ignoring the admonishing looks and the shout of 'Language!' from the JSA members. "I am not having you assholes live at my house. Last time I let that happen you nearly ate me out of—"

"Oh, come off it!" Wallace shouted before he could finish. He stood up and jabbed a finger in Jason's direction. "You're rich! Hell, you were letting Donna live there full-time before all this!"

Kaldur snorted. "We all know why that is," he commented. M'gann and Kyle both gave agreeing nods.

Jason ignored him and stood up himself, mirroring Wallace. "If you want to freeload, why don't you freeload at Rayner's! He's got plenty of room!"

Kyle shot right up, slamming hands onto the table. "Oh, screw you! I'm a broke starving artist—"

"Who lives in a two-bed studio apartment."

"That's not nearly enough room—"

"Before anyone asks," Kon interjected, "None of you are allowed to stay at the farm."

"Ah, come on Kon! We can pull our weight—"

Donna cleared her throat. The argument immediately ceased as everyone glanced at her.

"We can just stay at the Catskills Base," she said pleasantly. They all stared at her for a moment, before Jason sighed and dropped down, slumping back into his seat.

"Catskills works," he admitted.

"It does," Wallace agreed, sitting back down.

"I'll tell Ma and Pa."

Kyle looked contemplative. "I've got to deal with my lease…and my job…"

"Mother and Father will need to know."

"Can I stay with one of you until the base is complete? I mean, since the Watchtower is still being rebuilt and all—"

"If you are all done?"

The room fell silent again as every eye landed on Bruce. While some looked apprehensive, the formerly bickering heroes just looked annoyed. Bruce felt his irritation rise — was no one scared of him anymore? — and tried not to let it show.

"We have been giving you leeway in the amount of information about the future you've been willing to part with. But in light of everything that's happened recently, we can no longer allow you to hold back. At the very least, we need to know the major crises of the next five years—"

"Done."

Batman did not blink. But he was very close to it.

His son lifted one of his gauntlets, and a holographic interface burst from it. Jason typed in a few commands and the interface disappeared, and a USB drive was produced by his other gauntlet. He slid it over the table to his father, who caught it absentmindedly.

"That contains everything that will happen in the next five years, including incident reports and profiles. Quick warning, it's a lot — at least two petabytes of data, probably more," Jason causally exposited, leaning back into his chair. "I suggest you share it with Oracle, let her help you sift through it. Or don't, and I'll just give it to Oracle next time I see her."

Bruce stared at the USB drive for a moment, befor giving a single nod.

"What now?" Clark asked. "What are your plans? Your civilian identities may be on the backburner for now, but you've made it clear that your superhero identities aren't."

"Other than training the children?" Jason noted, then shrugged. "Mostly dealing with any threats that you can't deal with for the time being. In particular, we want to make sure this recent stunt by Savage doesn't lead to the beginning of another Secret Society. That's the last thing we need right now."

"Secret Society?" Diana asked, confused.

Jason nodded toward the USB drive. "It's in there. Long story short, it was the Legion of Doom, except it included almost all villains and acted more like a protection racket. It was made in response to a certain incident that won't happen anymore. I made sure of that. Well, that and what happened to Doctor Light."

Dick blinked. "Doctor Light? That loser? Why would supervillains band around him?"

His Titans teammates and the JSA representatives similarly looked confused, as did J'onn J'onzz, Wally West, and Arthur Curry. However, the remaining JLA members (and Hal Jordan) adopted perfectly blank looks, which more-or-less betrayed their guilt. As did the winces from the Era 2 JL.

"How—?" Superman began asking. He didn't get to finish.

"After Sue Dibny was murdered, he was the prime suspect. Green Arrow led a team to arrest him, and over the course of the battle he started to remember what they did to him."

There were now various looks of horror around the room. "Sue was murdered?" Arthur demanded.

"Yes," Jason admitted candidly, if grimly. "Don't worry, we've already dealt with that situation. It was one of the first things Batman and I did after I came back." He shot a speculative look towards the Trinity. "What I want to know is how you three found out. If I remember correctly, Green Arrow and the others went through great pains to hide it from you."

"They didn't go far enough," Bruce grunted. "Once you told me what was going to happen and gave me the clues, it didn't take long for me to begin spotting the threads and start piecing things together. Superman always had his suspicions and shared them with Wonder Woman and myself, and after that…" He left the statement hanging.

"Hal?" Alan piped up, noticing how the other man had begun to retreat into himself as the conversation went further along. "What's wrong? Did you have something to do with this?"

Hal flinched. Now everyone was watching him. "I…" He screwed his eyes closed for a moment.

"Hal," Kyle spoke, trying to soothe his predecessor, "I'm sorry. But it's going to come out either way. Either you tell them, or we do."

A sigh. And then, "Several years ago…we had Zatanna rewrite Doctor Light's personality to be less…offensive."

There was a beat of silence.

"What," Nightwing grit out.

Almost immediately after that, the shouting began. Several of the Era 1 heroes shot up from their seats and began demanding answers from Hal, who looked a combination of guilty and downtrodden, completely unable to get a word out. Others were shouting admonishments and recriminations. The only ones that managed to keep their composure were the Trinity (who were still glaring at Hal nonetheless), and the time travelers, who looked more tired and resigned than anything else. After several minutes of shouting, Kon gave a look to Jason, who sighed (he was sighing a lot today) and lifted his arm, recreating the holographic interface and typing a few commands into it.

The sound of a airhorn blasted throughout the room, piercing the cacophony. Almost immediately, everyone grabbed their ears, wincing at the sound. Once he was certain he had everyone's attention, he cut the sound off. "Sit down," Kon ordered. After some reluctance, everyone did.

"Who?" Nightwing said. It was not a request.

"Ray Palmer, Barry Allen, Ralph Dibny, Hawkman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Zatanna, and Jordan," Bruce listed off, staring at Jason. "Am I correct?"

Jason nodded solemnly. "You were there too, but you voted no. So everyone agreed to wipe your memory as well."

Bruce's nostrils flared. "Black Canary failed to tell me that."

"Unsurprising. You were probably angry enough as it was, and even Oracle's protection stretches so far in Gotham."

"Why?" Arthur demanded, staring hard at his friend. "Why would all of you agree to do this?"

Hal hesitated. Jason didn't.

"It's because Doctor Light raped Sue Dibny."

Another silence fell upon the room, this one much more hushed.

"To be more specific," Jason continued, ignoring the looks everyone was giving him. "Light managed to sneak into the JLA satellite, corner Sue, and rape her. After he was captured, he was gloating about how he would eventually escape prison and shout to anyone that could hear about how he raped the Elongated Man's wife. So, to help preserve Sue's dignity and eliminate the threat Light posed, they decided to not just wipe away Light's memory of the event, they also elected to rewrite his personality entirely so he could never do such a thing again. Hence, the 'loser' you and the Titans always faced off against, Nightwing."

Dick looked sick. "You're telling me that all those people allowed the Teen Titans to fight and make fun of a known rapist?"

"Who you already knew as a child murderer even before that," Donna lightly reminded him, though the lack of a smile on her face made it clear that she was perfectly aware of the implications. Of course she was, Dick realized. Donna had lived through this before.

"How could you ever think this was a good idea?" J'onn's scarlet eyes fell upon Hal, who swallowed. "Ralph already had a public identity; Sue wasn't any safer before what you did to Light than she was after. You might've rid the world of one rapist but what about all the others?"

Hal swallowed. "I'm not going to make any excuses. In hindsight, it was a stupid thing to do. The wrong thing to do. But we just wanted to give Ralph and Sue some peace of mind, and this seemed like the best way."

"The best way would've been to reform the justice system and ensure Light could never get out of prison," Bruce responded tersely.

"Oh, like you're one to talk!" Hal snapped. He had never gotten along well with Bruce, and it seemed he was sick of taking a beating from all sides. "How's Arkham doing, by the way?"

"That is not relevant to this discussion—"

"Like hell it isn't—!"

SKREE!

"Enough," Kon said, standing up. He looked imposing like that, and combined with Donna's placid smile and the ominous non-expression of Jason's helmet, it made him all the more authoritative. Both Bruce and Hal backed down, though they continued to shoot glares at each other. "Whether we like it or not, it's done. Now we have to deal with the consequences."

"Like this Secret Society?" Diana spoke, sounding slightly skeptical.

"Yes. We're not sure they'll form in this timeline considering all the changes and how badly we broke the current alliance of villains, but you can never be too sure. And as for Light, we have to make sure he stays locked up in prison."

"Or we could just have Waller recruit him," Kaldur casually stated.

"Wouldn't work," Jason reminded him, ignoring the recent bout of horrified stares. "He tried to join the Squad once, and even they rejected him."

Kyle hummed. "I could take him to space. Or maybe seal him in a crystal prison with Violet Power of Love."

"Don't those things brainwash their prisoners?" Wallace wondered, "How is that any better than what Zatanna did?"

"Those things only release their prisoners after they learn to love someone. Since Light isn't going to love anyone but himself…" The White Lantern shrugged. "I never said it was a good idea."

"I'd suggest Themyscira, but I don't want to soil the sands of my home by allowing him to step on a single inch of it."

"Same with the Fortress."

"I could—" M'gann began.

"No," was the collective response.

Bruce cleared his throat. "The League will decide what to do with Light at a later date. Seeing as he's currently in prison right now, it's not a pressing matter. I motion to move on from this topic, and put it on hold for discussion at a later date."

Murmurs of agreement followed that statement. Nightwing looked belligerent, and both Jason and Bruce resigned themselves to a solid grilling from him after the meeting was over. Maybe I should give him access to the files as well, Jason mused. God knows Dick would be a lot more rational with information than Bruce was going to be.

"Moving on," Bruce began, before shifting his gaze towards Hal. "What are we going to do with him?"

Everyone cringed.


Merry Christmas, everyone! Here's your gift from me!

I hoped I conveyed the differences between Era 1 and Era 2 well. Make no mistake, those differences are going to be a major theme in this story, and eventually you'll get to see why Era 2 is the way it is.

Next Chapter: The meeting continues.