Zatanna
Watchtower

"Thanks for being here, Shazam," Zatanna said, pulling up her saved videos and files on the Watchtower screen.

"You're welcome. Bruce gave me a little information, but go ahead and tell me what you're thinking."

"Dr. Fate said I would need to recruit tremendous amounts of power to close the rip between dimensions. You're powerful. You also sent J'onn through it by accident. Your power works differently than anyone else in this room, so my question is whether you can generate enough to close the rip."

"I don't really know how to answer that. Like you said, sending J'onn through was accidental...still really sorry about that, man...and I didn't even know there was a rip there."

"Which brings me to concern number two: if we get it wrong, we could cause an even bigger problem."

"How big?" Clark asked.

"End-of-everything big."

The group shifted and grumbled in unison.

"This is what we're here for," Bruce said, trying to keep them focused.

"Causing problems and then scrambling to fix them?" Ollie asked.

Bruce shot him a glare.

"I'm sorry," Zatanna said quietly, feeling the weight of the situation more than ever. "I shouldn't be putting this on all of you. I did cause this. I know I'm not a part of this League anymore and it's not my place to ask this."

Bruce stood with his fists clinched, but Diana spoke first.

"What would have happened if you hadn't fought against the Darkness the first time?"

"End of everything," she said, voice still weak.

"And if you hadn't fought in Hell?"

She sighed and sat, turning the screens back off. "Same thing."

"So, yes...I believe that's what we're here for," Di said. "Even more so considering Tsaritsa is a problem we created. If anyone doesn't want to be a part of this, they can walk out now. I know what I signed up for."

Bruce walked to stand in the corner and nodded to her to continue.

"I would be doing the hard part. I already know where the rip is."

"Where?" Shazam asked.

"Hell."

"Oh. Nice place, I hear."

"No one else would have to go there. I can be the conduit for the power."

Bruce's eyes shot open wider. "You're not actually thinking of going back there."

"If I have to, yes. I'm hoping I don't have to, but..."

"Absolutely not!"

"I'm in the 'absolutely not' corner, too," Diana said.

"Same." Clark stood and walked to stand next to Bruce. "We can find another way."

"How?" She asked, knowing no one would have a good plan. "I don't know if I'll have to, but it's a possibility that we all need to consider."

"What about Etrigan? Can't he be a conduit for the power? He has no issues with visiting Hell."

"No. He's a demon, not a magician. It would have to be me."

"You're wanting me to generate a 'tremendous amount of power' and throw it into you? Can you even take that?"

"I...I think so." She kept her eyes down, avoiding Bruce's gaze. "Look, we're talking about step number 150 in all of this. Can we back up?"

"Tsaritsa," Diana offered.

"Yes. I need to get access to her mirror."

"Why, though? If we're going to close the rip, wouldn't that stop her plan?"

"When I spoke with Fate, he said she wanted to affect the rip. I've considered that and the only logical conclusion I can come up with is that she wants to shift it...move it so she can access a dimension other than the one Bruce and I visited."

"That's where this other Kal is?" Clark asked.

"That's my assumption. I need to know if it's true, so I need to access the mirror. Fate said that if she's working against me, then my attempts to close the rip could go horribly wrong."

"And, yet again, end of everything," Ollie grumbled. Bruce was glaring a hole through him, but Zatanna wasn't as bothered. She knew she was asking too much.

"Yeah. End of everything," she said. "I need to go to her place and see if we can stop her plans before we try to get started on ours. If she's not working against me, it makes it less dangerous."

"So, let's start with that," Bruce said, sitting down and still glaring at Ollie.

"Your job first. I'll need a distraction to keep her from carrying out her daily routine. Remember your little tech trick from the orphanage fundraiser?"

He smirked and looked at her with a glint in his eye. "Vaguely."

"If you can get her out of the house when her Kal is expecting a call at midnight, I can get in and have a chat."

"So, that's what the glow is?"

"That's my best guess. And it's an easy theory to test, provided you're able to lure her away."

"Easy. When?"

"No reason to wait. When you're ready we'll move."

"The rest of us?" J'onn asked.

"Diana will be there to back me up...so I'm told. Shazam, see if you can work on finding out how much power we might need to close this thing and if you can do it."

"Okay," he said. "I'll keep you informed."

"You wanted to show this other Kal force," Bruce said. "Do you need our Kal there? J'onn?"

She shook her head. "No. I can handle that part." Clark gave her a nod and a knowing look. "Anyone else who wants to help, we'll cross the next bridge when we get to it. I wanted everyone to know what we were up against. I appreciate you hearing me out."

Sitting with her head in her hands, she waited for the group to file out. Bruce came over and sat on the edge of the table once the room was empty.

"Don't worry. They'll step up and help. Even Ollie - he's just spooked."

"He should be. What I'm asking...this is..."

"What happens when you decide to be part of the Justice League. If the average person knew half of what goes on, they'd never leave their homes. The world is always at risk. This is just another hurdle we need to get over."

"God, you sound like a motivational poster."

"Really? I was going for dollar store greeting card."

She stood and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Not enough rhyming."

"Damn." He kissed her and pulled her closer.

"I love you. I know I don't say that enough. And I don't show it enough."

"As much as you love Thomas?"

"Every bit as much as I love Thomas," she whispered. "You two mean everything to me."

He smiled and pressed his forehead to hers. "Don't worry. I won't tell him he has competition."

Batman
Gotham City

The man was running down the street, dodging cars and pedestrians and nearly getting flattened several times. Batman was gaining on him, leaping over hoods and shoving his way through the crowds.

"Batwoman?"

"On you."

"I'm going to take him down."

"I have cops waiting to move in when you do."

The man suddenly turned and stopped, facing him and putting his hands up to square off.

"You think I'm afraid of you, Batman?" He laughed and took a swing that missed when he ducked. "Soon, no one's going to remember you. No one's going to care."

He threw his fist forward and knocked the man unconscious. "Idiot."

"I'm guessing he'll remember you just fine in the morning. Seems like he was out to piss people off tonight," Barb said. "Picked a fight with a gang and then spent ten minutes screaming at the security guard who broke it up."

"Sounds like an Arkham candidate. Let the cops know. I've got him tied up."

"Will do. If you want to go pick a fight with the gang, they're still milling around the bar on 5th and Oak."

"Let me know if I need to, but if they're behaving, I'd rather keep patrolling for Scarecrow signs."

He returned to his car and switched the scanners back on. The night was almost over, but he wasn't going to miss a chance to run through town one more time. The next night would be devoted to LA. Zatanna seemed confident in the plan and Diana was ready to defend her, if needed. His job was to set off every alarm in Tsaritsa's office and ensure that the "police" requested her presence shortly after midnight to resolve the break in.

Not often I'm the one breaking in.

He would have to do a little rearranging of her things to make sure the distraction lasted long enough for Zatanna to have her chat with Kal-El number two. It still gave him a chill to think of a nefarious Superman coming to their world. Black Adam was hard enough to deal with; he didn't want to try again with someone even more powerful.

The sun started to rise over the city, so he began a long, sweeping circuit back home. No results from the scans, but no further incidents, either. Maybe cutting off his supplies altered his plans. Maybe he was waiting for the right time to move. Making it back to the cave, he devoted a couple of hours to his latest effort against Scarecrow. He'd drawn enough blood from Zee's arm after the attack that he was able to run additional analyses on the samples. If he could process it and isolate enough of the compound, he might be able to formulate an antidote. He would need help with the development and distribution aspects, but if he could determine the structural makeup of what she'd been injected with, they had a shot.

Neutralize the gas, neutralize the psychopath.

When his eyes were stinging from exhaustion, he left the computer running to continue analyzing and went upstairs to find the family.

"Hey, I was wondering when you'd come up," Zatanna said when he entered the library. Thomas let his floating toys fall to the floor and came over to get his morning cuddles.

"Sorry it took so long. I wanted to get a few things done before I went to bed."

She leaned her head onto his shoulder. "It's okay, but I missed waking up with you there."

"I know. Me too. I won't make it a habit." He kissed the top of her head and tried to relax.

"What's the schedule today?"

"I took the day off. I'll sleep as much as possible and we'll get ready. Diana is meeting us here at eleven."

"She's still not happy with me doing this."

"I know. And I'm not going to claim I am, either, but I know what needs to be done."

"Thanks for standing by me," she said, kissing his cheek.

"For better or worse...Tsaritsa is definitely worse."

"Worse than Crane?"

He chuckled. "Only if she succeeds in bringing Evil Superman here."

She clinched her jaw and laid her head back down on his shoulder. "She won't."

"I know. You're ready. We all are."

He stayed and held them for another hour before he had to relent and go to bed. Zatanna went back to prepping, readying herself for anything she might encounter in the house. There was nothing he could do to help there. All he could do was make sure she would face this new threat without any interference.

Zatanna
Batcave

"It's really not fair you're making me wear this. We won't even be in Gotham."

"Shut up, no one asked you."

Bruce finished suiting up while she tried to stretch the collar of her armor out so that it wasn't rubbing so much. It wasn't comfortable and she didn't see how she would ever get used to it. He'd threatened to make it even thicker if she tried to magically tamper with it, so she was stuck...in it...maybe literally.

"Did you just tell your wife to shut up?" Diana asked when she walked over.

"She started it," Bruce said, kissing Zee quickly before donning his cowl.

"New outfit?"

"Yes, it's from the new torture and bondage line at Sak's."

"Hmm...guess I missed that section the last time I went."

"Diana doesn't have to wear a rubber turtleneck."

"Diana's a goddess. Deal with it, mortal." He grabbed the rest of his gear and walked over to her. "Show me."

Rolling her eyes, Zatanna pulled out her beacon and put in her earpiece. "Are you going to make me wear the gas mask?"

"Not today. Just think of this as a trial run. Shouldn't even have to fight in it."

"Are we ready?" Diana asked.

"I am," Zee said. "Bruce, I'll send you to the office. Kate and Tim are already nearby in their police uniforms. I...'borrowed' a cruiser for them to ride in. If they wreck it, I'll punish them both."

"Kate might like that."

"I heard that, boss," Kate said over the intercom. "Not that you're wrong. I'm pretty much down for whatever."

"They're also both patched in through the intercom," Zee said with a wry grin.

"Bruce, if you'll give us the signal, we'll intercept and be the car that responds," Tim said.

"Yeah, got it. I've already hacked the security company and police precinct. Nothing will actually go to them. Their security protocols are stone-aged."

"Well, not every city has a rich tech genius to help them out."

"A fucking sexy one, at that," Zatanna said, slipping her hands under his cape and grabbing his ass.

"Uh...right. That was going to be my next point," Tim said. "Can we focus?"

"With him around? Not really, but I'll do my best."

Bruce kissed her again and turned to Diana. "I'm trusting you to yank her out of there if things go sideways."

"Gladly."

"Things won't go sideways," Zee said. "Not if we all do our jobs. Let's go."

She sent Bruce straight to Tsaritsa's office.

"Okay. I'm going to trash the place and then set off the alarm."

"Is that a hint of excitement I hear in your voice?" Kate asked.

"No," Bruce said. There were crashing and rustling noises over the line. "I'm taking this all very seriously. You should be, too."

"We're all very serious, Batman. Just trash the place so we can role play."

After several more minutes of crashing, ripping, banging, and shattering noises, things went quiet.

"Okay. I'm setting off the alarm now."

Zatanna walked to the computer. "I'm watching the satellite feeds. As soon as she's out of the house, we'll move in."

It only took a few minutes for the garage door to open and her car to roar down the driveway. Zatanna transported Diana outside of her house and herself into the front entryway. Bruce was talking to Tsaritsa over the line, disguising his voice and discussing the break in as if he worked at the security company.

"Yes, ma'am. We have the cops on the way. They should be there around the same time as you. For your safety, we advise not entering until they arrive."

"I'm in," Zatanna said quietly. She walked down the hall until she found a room that looked familiar.

God, this place is tacky.

Sitting down in front of the ornate mirror, she glanced at her watch. It was two minutes to midnight.

"Sister? Anything?"

"Nothing yet. Should be anytime."

At exactly midnight, the image in the mirror began to warp and shift. Zee took the communicator out of her ear so she could focus without the cross talk going on downtown. It took several minutes for the image to come into focus. It was him. Longer hair and a beard, but it was Kal El. He focused on her and his mouth dropped open in shock.

"I don't...Zatanna?"

It was her turn to be shocked. She tried to hide it and set her jaw.

"You know who I am. Good."

"Zatanna..." He glanced off to the side.

"No. You're not doing the talking tonight. If you know who I am, then you should know that I can stop you. Do not come to this dimension. If you try, I will use my powers against you."

"Zatanna, wait..."

"I'm also not alone. Whatever you're planning...whatever you think you're going to find here, it isn't worth it."

"You're the one helping that woman?"

"I'm not helping Tsaritsa. I'm stopping her."

"Then we have the same goal," Kal said. "I'm trying to stop her, too."

"Tell her," another voice near him said.

That voice…

"Zatanna, listen to me. I'm not what she thinks I am...or what she's wanting me to be. Please..."

The connection started to falter and fade.

"No, damn it. Tell me where you are."

"Where I am? Earth..."

"Not what she meant," the other voice said. A hand pushed against his shoulder and a woman moved in front of the mirror. "Here. This should help." A light shot from the woman's hands, through the mirror, and into Zee's chest. "Now get out of there. It's not safe. Find us when you're ready."

The image faded and Zatanna sat with her mouth hanging open. A muffled yell was coming from the earpiece in her lap. She put it back in.

"Talk to me," Bruce said, sounding pissed.

"I...I'm here. I..."

"You need to leave. She knows something's up."

"I..."

"Come on," Diana said, suddenly at her side. "Why are you just sitting here?"

Her mind started to come around and she stood. "Enoyreve emoh."

They all reappeared in the cave. She stumbled slightly and sat down on the floor. Bruce came over and knelt next to her.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm a little disoriented. Give me a second." Her head was still spinning, so she took several breaths to steady herself. Bruce had shed his cowl and was brushing her hair back from her face. "I think I found more questions than answers."

"Just take your time," he said, helping her to stand and move to a chair Tim had pulled over.

"I was there...in the mirror." They all looked at each other and then back to her. "I mean...of course I was there in the mirror. When it shifted, I was there. I was in the other dimension with him."

"With Kal?" Diana asked.

She nodded. "That dimension's me was there and was helping him. I really need to stop running into myself. It gives me a headache."

"Was it Zanna?" Bruce asked.

She shook her head. "This was a different Zatanna. Definitely a different dimension."

"She's trying to get here, too?"

"No. In fact, if what he was saying is true, Kal's not trying to get here at all. He said he was trying to stop her, too."

"From doing what?" Bruce asked.

"I don't know. We got cut off."

"So we're back at square one," Diana said.

"Maybe not. That Zatanna...before we got cut off, she gave me something. I think it was a way to reach them."

"So you can contact them again without the mirror?"

"I think so, but that's not all she did. She also took a piece of me. And I don't know why."

Bruce
Batcave

Everyone was home and no one was hurt. Everything essentially went to plan, but the look in Zatanna's eyes gave him a feeling of unease. Maybe it was just the shock of encountering herself again.

"Will she know you were in her house?"

"No, not this time. I made sure of it."

"Unless that Kal was lying and tells her," Diana offered.

"Yes, but that was always a risk. My hope was to scare him off, but he didn't seem scared. Just shocked and confused."

"What will you need to do to contact them again?"

"Figure out a way to use whatever she gave me. She also said something right before we got cut off. She said to find them 'when I'm ready', as if I needed to prepare for something."

Bruce started to pace, mind churning through the possibilities. "He said he's trying to stop her, too. We need to prepare, but all we were preparing to do was stop him from coming here."

"Right. So no matter what she wanted us to do, I'm going to have to contact her again so we can find out what's really going on," Zatanna said, finishing his thoughts. She yawned and rubbed her forehead.

"Everyone should go rest."

"Except dear old Robin," Tim said. "Gotta make sure Madam Gordon makes it through the rest of the night. Vic's been covering."

"Tell him thanks." Everyone started to disperse. "Go on up. I'll be there soon," he said to Zee. She nodded silently and disappeared, her suit returning to its case. He changed his clothes and set the satellites to resume to their usual west coast monitoring patterns. Everything else could be reviewed in the morning. When he went upstairs, Zatanna wasn't in the bed. He went to Thomas's room and found her standing and watching him sleep. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"Sure you're alright?"

She leaned back against him. "All I want," she whispered, "all I care about is that the two of you are taken care of. I know I'm not great at it sometimes, but I just want to make you two happy."

He turned her around and looked in her eyes. "We are. He's the happiest kid in the world and I'm a different person than I was when we met. I didn't even think I could be happy. That's not by accident."

"I've made mistakes. I won't be able to live with myself if they come back and haunt us."

Smiling, he pulled her out into the hallway and closed Thomas's door. "You're talking to Batman here. If you want discuss lifelong decisions that might haunt us, we should probably make some coffee and prepare for a long night. I'd rather spend that time sleeping, though."

Forcing a smile, she nodded and took his hand. "Good idea."

Tired as she was, he assumed she would pass out quickly. Instead, he woke shortly after dawn to find her back in Thomas's room, watching him sleep.

"You didn't rest."

"I couldn't. How am I supposed to contact the other dimension when I can't even clear my mind to meditate...or even sleep?"

"Well, I doubt you're going to fall asleep standing in here. Go back to bed. I can take care of him when he wakes up."

"I feel better when I'm close to him," she said, going and sitting down in the chair. "Go ahead and go to work. I'll get Sophie and Jenny to babysit when I get too tired."

He knelt down in front of her. "Promise me you'll rest...that you won't spend the day trying to contact the others."

"I promise. I don't think I could do it right now, even if I tried."

She curled up in the chair and closed her eyes. He didn't know if she would actually sleep, but he wasn't going to drag her to bed. He pulled a blanket over her and kissed her forehead.

"Call me if you need anything."

"I will. Love you."

"Love you more," he whispered.

Downstairs, Alfred assured him he would see that she got some rest. He went to the office and tapped into the batcave computers to write a report of the night before that he could send to the rest of the League.

How much do I even know?

The other Kal-El might not be evil. That was a relief, at least. There was also another Zatanna to help stop whatever Tsaritsa's true plan was.

I definitely don't know what that might be.

As much as he hated to put it all on her, he needed Zee to find out more; she was the only one who could. He called home shortly after noon to see if she was feeling any better and Alfred told him she had fallen asleep in the den watching cartoons with Thomas. Sophie and Jenny were over and making sure he was properly fawned over while she rested. That was another relief. She needed to be clear-headed to deal with what was to come...in Gotham, LA, and another dimension.

That school teacher/doctor reality is sounding better every minute.

He sat and wondered what this new Zatanna did in her daily life, and how she came to know "Callum". Maybe they had a Justice League of sorts, too. Hell, maybe he was standing in the same room with them, listening in and holding Thomas. Zee had it right when she said they had more questions than answers now.

Scarecrow

There's a fine line between fearlessness and simply being foolhardy. One opens up endless possibilities, while the other lands you in Arkham. His first experiment had led to the latter. The dose needed to be lowered or done in increments, so his next two assistants would be used to test which approach was more effective. There was no shortage of men willing to assist him. A little promise of money and shelter was enough to get them to follow him home. From there, subduing them was easy. The woman on the roof had caught him off guard with her fighting skills, but he was skilled enough to handle most men. He'd learned early in life that no one would protect him but himself. He needed to know these skills to survive...to thrive. "Ichibod Crane", they'd called him as a kid. The natural cruelty enacted by children was something he became accustomed to early in life, but he rarely blamed them. He blamed the adults that taught them to behave that way. There were many of those adults in his life, also – none more prominent than his own grandmother. She'd taught him not to trust, not to love, but she also taught him his most important lesson – not to fear. He'd faced fear time and time again...until it no longer held sway over him. He was freed from it.

"Just like you will be," he told the man, holding him still so he could administer the dose. "You'll see. You'll thank me."