On the 16th day of the hero's 16th year
For one single precious held most dear
By the shade of evil with time in his hands
Choices will be made to determine who stands
The hidden hero will be proclaimed
After a fall leaves him heavily maimed
The day's weather will be fought
By winter, summer, and storms a lot
The land of choice is the original spot
Where she died and now lives reborn
In the world of the original's form
The Road to Happiness, The Long One
A/N: Please review! Happy Easter!
Characters: Cal (Your "average" mysterious male), Mason (Cal's best and most trustworthy buddy), Kara Danvers (Kara Zor-El, AKA Supergirl), Jason (Kara's Ex), Barbara Gordon (Batgirl), Dick Grayson (Nightwing), Clark Kent (Superman), Lois Lane (Superman's wife), Batman, Bartholomew, Karen (Power-Girl) and more that aren't quite ready to be presented yet. (Lots of characters are Out of Character (OOC).)
Chapter 19: Day 7/16
Kara cried and tried to get past Batman, who was holding her back. She wanted, no NEEDED to get next to Cal. Batman held her back, but he wasn't strong enough to hold back a Kryptonian and Kara made it past him. Batman quickly pressed a button on his utility belt.
"Teg kcab!" Zatanna said, causing Kara to fly back. Kara tried to get to Cal's side, but an invisible barrier blocked Kara from getting there.
"Strap him down, he may go into a fit which will cause him to thrash about!" one of the doctors said.
"Sparts dnuora mih!" Zatanna said. Suddenly, straps appeared and wrapped themselves around Cal's arms and legs. The doctors began their work and Barbara rushed in.
"Batman, what's wro-" Barbara started. "Uh… Kara, let's go get something to drink while Zatanna works her magic." Zatanna glanced back at her. "Unintentional!" Zatanna lightly shook her head and returned to trying to save Cal's life. Barbara ushered Kara out of the room, and Batman stood guard. Barbara took Kara to the League's cafeteria, grabbing them lemonade. Kara was in tears, sobbing uncontrollably.
"H-he's al-alm-most d-died 3 t-times n-n-now… As-ssuming he surv-vives…" Kara said through her tears. Barbara rubbed her back reassuringly.
"Hey Kara, he's came back to you once already, he will do it again! I promise!" Barbara said comfortingly.
"H-he p-promised he'd c-come back, a-always…" Kara stammered.
"And I'm sure he will, has Cal ever let you down before?" Barbara asked. Kara shook her head. "See? I'm sure he'll be fine! I bet Zatanna is doing her absolute best to save him!" Kara sniffled some more.
"But… Why does it have to keep being like this?!" Kara yelled. She took a sip of lemonade. "Why does he constantly keep getting hurt? Why do I constantly have to worry about him?" She broke back into tears. Barbara continued to rub her back comfortingly.
"Maybe he's just got that kind of luck, like a 'no pain, no gain of luck' type deal?" Barbara suggested. "I'm sure he'll always come back, just like he promised…" Kara stood up abruptly.
"I'm going to kill Karen!" Kara threatened through her tears. She stormed off to find Karen and Barbara chased after her.
"Wait! Kara! You can't! She's your family!" Barbara tried to reason with her. Kara stopped and turned to Barbara.
"Why not?! Why can't I kill HER, who killed him?!" Kara screamed. "She deserves to die for killing him!" Barbara grasped her by the shoulders.
"Kara! You're acting like Cal is already dead!" Barbara said. "He's not, he may be teetering on the edge, but he's not dead yet, and I think he's still got some fight in him. You can't kill your sister!" Kara clenched her teeth and fists.
"Fine, I won't… but if Cal DOES die…" Kara punched the wall, denting it. "I swear I will kill her!" Barbara sighed.
"I suppose that's the best I'll get from you right now," Barbara said. Kara glared at her. "Hey, I'm just as worried as you about Cal, but I…" Barbara trailed off, seeing something behind Kara. Kara turned around to see Karen standing in the hallway. Barbara quickly got in front of Kara, holding her back and in place. Kara clenched her fists.
"What do you want?" Kara growled menacingly. Karen raised her hands in surrender.
"I just want to talk," Karen explained. "I want you to know that…" Karen struggled to admit it. "I just want you to know that I believe you now, that Cal is honest… I didn't see it before, but something about Cal while I was beating him up was that… Well, that's the thing, I was beating up HIM. While I was doing that, I could see that he wasn't fighting back or even trying to defend himself… I could see him tense right before I hit him, and see him relax and tense over and over… I asked myself after what it meant, I assumed he was bracing himself, but after I thought about it, I realized that he was intentionally forcing himself to NOT fight back or even block me… I don't know why he would do that, but no self-respecting guy who takes advantage of people would let himself get beat up like that… I'm sorry Kara… I should have listened to you… I never should have attacked him… I'm sorry…" Kara sighed and relaxed for a moment, but suddenly she sprang forward, slamming Karen into the hallway wall. Karen slammed into the wall, groaning. Kara proceeded to beat the crap out of Karen, who let it happen, but Kara got weaker with every strike, tears streaming down her face. Kara pounded Karen one last time and cried into Karen's chest.
"He might die…" Kara mumbled. Karen sighed sadly.
"I know, I'm sorry… I'm really sorry," Karen said truthfully. She hugged Kara back. They hugged for a while, Kara crying. Barbara came over and joined the hug. Then they made their way back to the cafeteria, sitting down and waiting for news about Cal.
-Break-
Superman finished saving a falling plane, a burning building, a bank robbery, an attempted murder, and a treasonous bombing. He finished his rounds and made pressed his belt, which continued flashing. He glanced around for a quick second, surveying nearby areas for safety. Suddenly, he was teleported to the Watchtower. He sighed and began walking to the monitor room. He stopped when Batman's voice spoke through the comm link into his ear.
"Um, Clark… We need to talk, meet me in front of the hospital wing…" Batman said, a faint clicking signaling the end of his notification. Clark sighed, confused, but made his way to the hospital wing. He passed Zatanna, who was standing facing the wall, leaning against it with a sad composure. She glanced at him, eyes full of sadness, but looked away quickly. Clark frowned, confused, for a second, but shrugged it off. He walked through the double doors to see Batman leaning against the wall with one hand, rubbing his eyes with the other. Clark approached him.
"What did you need to talk about?" Clark asked, concerned. Batman glanced around and guided Clark to a quiet area.
"Look, you remember Kara's boyfriend, Callum?" Batman asked. Clark nodded. "Well… um… Karen might have misunderstood their relationship and savagely beat Callum… Kara managed to stop her and took Cal here… Zatanna and the other doctors did all they could, but… Callum's dead Clark… And I think you should be the one to break it to Kara…" Clark's eyes were wide.
"Karen killed Callum?" Clark asked in shock. "That's one hell of a misunderstanding…"
"She didn't intentionally kill him, but I reviewed the Watchtower cameras and it doesn't help with the fact that Cal refused to defend himself or fight back…" Batman said. "I'm just worried about what Kara's going to do now…" Clark sighed and sat down.
"It's not that I didn't like Callum… I was just trying to be protective of Kara… I didn't think…" Clark guilt tripped himself. "I should have figured Karen would over-react like this…" Batman awkwardly patted Clark's shoulder.
"Don't beat yourself up about this. It's not your fault," Batman said. Clark sighed. "How do you think Kara will react?"
"I don't want to know what she'll do… Nothing good, that's for sure," Clark said. Batman nodded and they made their way to Kara, Karen, and Barbara. They walked in a somber silence, avoiding any discussion out of respect for Cal. They finally made it to the cafeteria, seeing the girls sitting together, Kara looking pale and worried. They noticed Batman and Superman and stood up quickly.
"What happened?! Is Cal okay?!" Kara demanded. She noticed Batman's and Clark's somber, sad faces and broke out in tears. "No…! NO!" Kara collapsed in Barbara's arms, crying her heart out. Karen rubbed her arm guiltily. Clark shot a glare at Karen.
"Later, we will have a LONG talk!" Clark said to Karen. Karen looked away guiltily.
"He said he'd always come back… always…" Kara whispered, sobbing into Barbara's chest. "HE CAN'T BE DEAD!" Kara screamed. Batman stepped forward.
"I managed to have a brief conversation before he…" Batman decided to skip saying 'he died'. "He told me to tell you if he didn't make it that…" Batman glanced at Clark. "He told me to tell you he loves you and he's sorry for breaking his promise… for not coming back…" Kara choked a sob and tried to calm down enough to talk.
"Thank you, for telling me that…" Kara managed to say. Batman nodded. Clark took Karen aside, ignoring the new fact that Cal loved Kara. They left to go home.
"I know this isn't much, but I'm sorry for your loss…" Batman tried to comfort. Barbara shot him a glare.
"This really isn't your forte Bruce, go away before you make things worse," Barbara said. Batman nodded, swiftly and silently leaving.
"Kara, it's going to be okay, you'll get through this…" Barbara whispered to Kara. Kara nodded weakly into her chest. Barbara held her for a while, till Kara spoke.
"I want to see him!" Kara said.
"You sure that this's a good idea?" Barbara asked. Kara nodded.
"I need to see him!" Kara said. Barbara nodded and they went to Cal's room. They walked in to find Cal's lifeless body, eyes, dull and glazed, left open. Cal's shirt was cut away, revealing a bloody mess. The evidence of a surgery to save Cal was very clear, a stitched cut just above Cal's heart. Underneath the dried blood, Kara could see the various scars. Kara gasped at the sight and went over to Cal, collapsing next to the bed. She began crying again and climbed up on Cal, starting chest compressions. "Come on Cal! You aren't dead right?! You just need a jump start or something right?!" Barbara rushed over and pulled Kara off him. Kara's tears were falling free and she cried into Barbara's chest again, blood all over her hands.
"I'm sorry Kara, but he's gone…" Barbara said.
"And he's not coming back…" Kara finished. She glanced back at Cal. "I'll never forget him… Not ever!" Kara promised.
"And you can be sure as hell I won't either…" Barbara promised. "4 months of finding out everything I can about him… You get attached." Kara nodded.
"With all the time spent talking to him… It was nice talking to him, hearing and witnessing all the stuff you told me," Kara laughed softly. She thought about Cal's beautiful, hearty laugh. She thought about that ever existing twinkle of hope and comfort in his eyes. She thought about his quiet and thoughtful demeanor, his smile… Kara began crying again. She realized that Cal was dead because of Karen's stubbornness, Karen's refusal to listen to her…
Kara began shaking in anger.
"I'm going to kill Karen!" Kara exclaimed. Barbara's eyes widened in shock.
"No! No!" Barbara said, trying to stop Kara from leaving. "Don't do something you're going to regret! Don't kill her!" Kara shot her an angry look.
"I'm not going to let Karen get away with killing the man I loved!" Kara yelled. She stormed out and Barbara tried to catch up.
"Wait Kara! Don't do this! You're not thinking clearly!" Barbara tried to reason with Kara, but Kara pushed her to the side.
"I don't care! Karen is going to pay for this!" Kara said. Barbara sat on the floor, stunned at Kara's aggressive movements. Kara angrily stormed away, finding the teleporting room and heading home. She appeared in her room, and quickly searched for Karen. She passed by Lois, who tried to let Kara know she would always be available if Kara needed to talk, but Kara wasn't in the mood. She angrily stormed past her, but leaving her untouched. She quickly searched the entire house, finding that Karen wasn't home. She checked the backyard, where Karen was sunbathing. Kara growled and flew over. She got on top of Karen, blocking out the sun from her face, and began choking her. Karen's eyes flew open and she tried to kick Kara off her, but Kara was a bit too determined. She kept choking her, and probably would have killed her if Clark hadn't pulled her off. Karen got up slowly, rubbing her throat.
"Kara! Calm down!" Clark said. Kara struggled against Clark, but Clark held her tightly.
"Get off me Clark! She killed Cal, she deserves to die!" Kara yelled. Clark shook his head.
"Kara, you need to calm down!" Clark demanded, but Kara continued to struggle.
"I'll calm down when Karen's dead!" Kara screamed. She managed to break free from Clark's grasp and flew towards Karen. She threw a successful uppercut, sending Karen flying into the air. Kara flew after her and threw punches, most of which Karen was able to block or avoid, but Kara managed to land a couple of punches. Kara continued her assault on Karen, kicking Clark in the chest once, which sent him flying back. Kara punched Karen in the face one last time and tackled her to the ground. Karen groaned in pain. Kara savagely beat Karen's face. Clark tried to pull her off, but Kara knocked him to the side. Kara smashed Karen's face a bit more until she stopped and her eyes began glowing red; Kara was readying her heat vision. She knocked Karen out with one more punch. Just before Kara could attempt to melt Karen's head, a Batarang smacked Kara in the back of the head. Kara whipped her head around and shot at Batman with her heat vision. Batman rolled to the side, throwing another Batarang. Kara's eyes stayed their glowing red color and she shot the Batarang. She glanced at Karen, who was still unconscious, and got off her. She turned towards Batman, who had thrown another Batarang. Kara shot it and appeared instantly in front of Batman. Before she could do anything, Batman jumped to the side, kicking Kara in the side in the process. Kara winced, but it didn't stop her whatsoever. Batman back flipped away, trying to avoid Kara. Clark saw his chance and got Karen away. He grabbed her and flew off. Kara turned to chase them, but Batman distracted her by kicking the inside for her knee, causing her to kneel, and jumping on her back, trying to choke her. Kara angrily stood up and grabbed his arm, throwing him off. Batman flew around and put his hand on the ground, slowing down and sliding. He landed and pulled out a small container; he opened it and revealed a small chunk of kryptonite. Kara tried to ignore the kryptonite's effects, but it wasn't working. Kara knelt down as Batman got closer. Before he could get too close, Kara shot off some heat vision, aiming for the kryptonite. The kryptonite was blasted out of his hand and landed among some bushes. Batman growled and went to go find it, but Kara recovered and nabbed Batman by the cape. Batman made a strangled sound and was ripped back, flying into the wall of the mansion. Batman grunted and pressed the distress button on his belt. He dodged Kara's next blast of heat vision. Kara flew towards Batman, but Superman intercepted her. He slammed her into a wall, denting it. Kara yelled in frustration and kneed Superman in the stomach. Superman lurched over and Kara threw him to the side. Batman tried to go find the kryptonite again, but Kara zoomed in front of him. Batman somersaulted around her, kicking her in the back as he got to his feet. Batman ran off and Kara started to chase him, but Superman tackled her to the ground. She threw a punch, which he caught, but she flipped her wrist, grabbing his hand, and spun around, causing Superman to flip and land on the ground. Kara slammed a punch into Superman's chest and he sunk deeper into the ground. Kara growled and zipped in front of Batman again, who threw a quick punch. Kara caught the punch and twisted his arm, HARD. A snap was heard and Batman let out a loud yell. Kara raised her fist to punch him in the face, hard, but Wonder Woman grabbed her wrist and wrenched her arm behind her, ready to dislocate her shoulder.
"Supergirl! Stop this!" Wonder Woman said. Kara shook her head and broke loose.
"No! Not till Karen dies! …like Cal…" Kara said. Wonder Woman frowned.
"I understand your loss, but you can't take it out on Power-Girl. It was an accident! She would never have meant to kill anyone!" Wonder Woman tried to reason. Kara shook her head.
"She didn't listen! I told her repeatedly that Cal was completely innocent, and she still went on and attacked him! And because of that he's DEAD! Cal, the love of my life, is DEAD and she killed him!" Kara screamed, tears filling her eyes. She charged Wonder Woman, throwing punches weakly. Wonder Woman quickly blocked or dodged each volley of punches and managed to catch Kara's arms behind her. Kara kicked and screamed to get away, but Wonder Woman held her in place. Kara collapsed in a heap and began crying. "He's gone… He's really gone…" Kara's face filled with tears as Wonder Woman knelt down next to her and hugged her.
"I know; I know…" Wonder Woman said gently to Kara. "Sh, I know… I know it hurts… I know…"
-Break-
In Cal's room, there was a distinct silence. Cal's body lay lifeless and cold, dull and glazed eyes still closed. Cal's phone laid on the table nearby, buzzing. Mason was at home, pacing, worried about Cal's safety, calling him. But Cal wasn't going to be answering him anytime soon. Suddenly, Chronos stepped through a portal in the corner of Cal's room. He saw Cal's motionless body and sighed, sitting on the chair next to Cal's bed, crossing his leg.
"Well Callum, I suppose we won't get that final battle from the prophecy. Such a shame, I was looking forward to destroying you, maybe not fairly, but destroying you personally none-the-less," Chronos sighed. "Oh well, I guess with you out of the picture I can at least give you the respect of leaving your dimension alone…" He stood up and walked to the other side of Cal's bed, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I must admit I am happy that I have won, but as much as I'm happy, I'm going to miss our bouts and jousts." Chronos sighed and turned away. "I will admit, it was low of even me to kill her and I know you never would have gotten over it, but… I want you to know, assuming you can hear me from wherever you are, that I'm truly sorry for killing her… For killing Annabeth Munroe… I know how much she meant to you and I'm truly sorry for taking that away from you. I remember what it was like, losing my wife while chained in, well, hell basically. She faded from existence, no reason to keep on existing… The most painful thing a being can endure, the loss of a loved one… but deep down I know I should have given my spy a bit less leeway. I should have told him specifically not to kill if he didn't have to. I'm sorry for causing you this pain…" Chronos realized he hadn't checked Cal's pulse. He quickly leaned over and checked and after a few minutes of checking, Chronos sat back, satisfied that Cal was dead and wasn't going to come back and rub this moment in his face. Chronos laughed to himself. "Look at me, rambling to my worst enemy without double checking he's dead!" Chronos continued laughing. "Well, anyway, I'll make sure Kara is safe for a while, even from me, and then I'll return to my home and take that over. That okay with you buddy?" Chronos laughed again and slapped Cal on the chest. "Who am I kidding? You'd never be okay with that no matter what." He laughed again. "Well, I'd better leave you to decompose, I got to plan to take over a different dimension now." He stood up and opened a portal, stepping through it, the portal closing behind him, leaving Cal's dead body alone in the dreaded silence.