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!

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), but I try my absolute best to make it as close as I can with the story.)

Chapter 35: Day 13/16, Saturday

"I'm not saying this again," Superman said. "Go home Supergirl, get some rest!" Supergirl huffed.

"I don't want to go, I'm fine," Supergirl protested. Superman shot her a look.

"Go home… Get some rest!" Superman demanded. Supergirl sighed and nodded.

"Fine," Supergirl said.

"Thank you, and if we need you we'll call immediately," Superman said. Supergirl nodded and went to leave, but noticed something.

"Wait!" Supergirl said. "Do you see that?" Superman frowned, noticing it too.

"What in the world?" Superman asked. Batman studied it.

"What on God's green earth?" Green Arrow whispered, staring. Everyone watched as the sun began splitting in two. The sun, barely scraping the horizon, was pulling itself apart, splitting into two identical sized balls of fire. No one could take their eyes away. As the sun finished splitting in two, a solar flare struck, flying right towards Earth. Panicked, Superman took off, and Batman and Green Arrow glanced at each other and teleported themselves to the Watchtower. Supergirl hovered in absolute shock, unable to move, frozen in fear. Any remaining civilians in the area were also frozen in shock, but Supergirl noticed in the corner of her eye someone moving towards Cal. Supergirl forced herself to tear her eyes away from the splitting sun and solar flare and saw a woman bent over Callum. Supergirl frowned in confusion, but slowly flew over.

"What are you doing?" Supergirl demanded. The woman was in a dark blue hoodie, the hood pulled far over her face and shadowing the rest of her remaining face. She glanced at Supergirl, who saw a flash of yellow, which was similar to Cal's flashes of gold but a different color, and Supergirl heard a crash behind her. Supergirl ripped her eyes away and watched in horror as a building literally crumbled to dust behind her, leaving only the building's base structures intact. Supergirl's eyes widened, and she flew towards the building to help anyone trapped in the rubble, but she was stopped abruptly as she slammed into the wall of the building, which had seemingly rebuilt itself. Confused, Supergirl turned and flew back towards Callum, seeing the woman easily lift the armored Callum over her shoulder and begin running away.

"Stop!" Supergirl yelled. The woman glanced back at Supergirl, surprised. Nevertheless, the woman didn't stop, and Supergirl flew after her. The woman's eyes flashed yellow again, and both she and Callum disappeared. Supergirl slowed to a stop, scanning the area and flying higher. She saw no sign of either of the two and sighed, frustrated.

"Guys…" Kara said into her comm. "The Protector is gone…"

-Break-

Batman growled in anger.

"Explain exactly what happened!" Batman demanded, making Kara flinch. The 7 leaders of the Justice League sat at their table while Kara stood in front of them. "How the hell did someone take The Protector from under your nose?" Kara swallowed heavily.

"After you and Oliver left, I was kinda frozen in shock," Kara explained. "I just watched the solar flare and sun, but I saw something in the corner of my eye. I looked and there was this woman wearing a dark blue hoodie with the hood pulled up. I couldn't see her face-"

"How did you know it was a woman?" Cyborg asked. Kara blushed.

"Her chest was… you know…" Kara said, embarrassed. "And her brown hair slightly fell out of her hoodie…" Wonder Woman, GL, and Flash chuckled lightly. Superman and J'onn smiled. Cyborg rubbed his head, sorry he asked. Batman remained emotionless.

"Okay, continue," Batman said. Kara nodded.

"I couldn't see her face, but she was knelt over Walter like she was checking him out. I thought she was just trying to get a closer look like most of the people, but…" Kara sighed and focused. "She looked at me and her eyes flashed yellow. I was fine, but confused, but then I swear I heard a building crumble and I turned to see a building in rubble. I instantly flew over to help, but as I got to where the building was I ran into the wall… Like it rebuilt itself in an instant… I figured I was just losing it, so I flew back and saw the woman pick up The Protector like he was nothing and start running. I flew to stop her and told her to stop, but she looked at me again and her eyes flashed yellow and she was just… gone…" Kara looked at the table, finished with her side of the story. Flash looked around.

"Sounds like someone who can create illusions…" Flash said. Superman nodded.

"After all, the sun never split and the solar flare also never happened…" Superman added. Everyone nodded.

"And with a building seemingly falling…" Cyborg said. Batman nodded.

"But aside from the illusions, how did she pick him up?" Batman asked. "Superman, you tried after a few hours, but you couldn't…" Superman nodded.

"Kara and I both tried, but he wouldn't budge…" Superman confessed.

"Wait, were the illusions mentally oriented?" Batman asked, looking at J'onn.

"I don't know what else it could be, but your mind is nearly impossible to beat. I can't even…" J'onn inputted. Batman nodded.

"So either someone has incredible power, or a being like one who brought Callum back to life is in play… I don't like either options…" Batman said.

"Magic?" Wonder Woman asked. Batman shook his head.

"Zatanna and Dr. Fate checked for me, no magic was used in that area," Batman said.

"There are rings that are connected to emotions," GL said. "There's always a possibility that there's something between magic and a super power…" Everyone either shrugged or sighed.

"That's always true," Flash admitted. "But it's more of a last resort hypothesis…" There was a moment of silence.

"Let's step back a moment," Wonder Woman said. "I heard The Protector caught Bane…" Batman and Kara both nodded. "Which prison?"

"Quadrant 8," Kara said. Batman nodded.

"And who has been caught this week?" Wonder Woman asked.

"It's quite a list, some overfill have been assigned to Quadrant 9," Cyborg said. "But some of the more noticeable ones are Joker and Harley, Bane, Cheetah, Doomsday, Duchess, Reverse Flash, Livewire, Gorilla Grodd, Solomon Grundy, Black Adam, Killer Frost, Poison Ivy and Metallo…"

"That's quite a list…" Superman said finally. Everyone nodded. GL frowned.

"It's weird having so many bad guys finally caught…" GL said. "They usually get away…"

"And it's mostly due to The Protector introducing us to those far more effective power dampener cuffs…" Flash pointed out. Everyone nodded.

"I still find it weird that they all were caught since we got those handcuffs," J'onn said. "Usually they get away while leaving us either a bomb to disarm or hostages to save…"

"I'm glad we implemented the duo team idea," Superman said. "I never would have caught Metallo without Flash."

"And I would never have caught Reverse Flash without Zatanna," Flash admitted.

"Yes, yes, and the list goes on," Batman finished. "But I'm still bothered by now three beings with powers strong enough to destroy the world…"

"Three?" Wonder Woman asked. Batman nodded.

"One who brought Callum back to life, one who compressed a white sun and blew up The Protector, and one who managed to trick me, Superman, Supergirl, and even Green Arrow and take The Protector while we couldn't…" Batman explained.

"How do you know none of them are the same being?" Superman asked. Batman shrugged.

"The voice that brought Callum back was male, the one who took The Protector was female. Usually, I don't think a being that brings people back to life will blow someone up…" Batman said. "Then again, 'usually' this doesn't happen…"

"Why isn't it possible the female blew up The Protector for his armor or something?" Kara asked. Batman shrugged.

"It's possible, but why leave The Protector there for hours?" Batman pointed out. Kara nodded. "Hey, Kara, can you call Callum? I want to touch up his training…" Kara nodded.

"I can try, but he told me yesterday he was going to take a day to help Miss Charlemagne with the other kids," Kara lied. "He felt he was spending too much time here waiting for training instead of helping out at home or going to school." Batman nodded.

"If you can," Batman said. "Otherwise we'll continue his training another day… Thank you Kara…" Kara nodded and pulled out her phone, leaving the room.

"Are we going to look for The Protector?" Wonder Woman asked.

"Why would we?" Batman asked back. Everyone shot him a look.

"Because he is a person…" Flash said slowly. "Do you need any better reason than that?"

"We can't find every person that goes missing," Batman said. "And we have no idea where to look…"

"That doesn't mean we shouldn't even try!" J'onn said. "Would Superman leave Kara, Lois, Karen, or Josie to rot wherever they were taken?!"

"Not a chance in hell," Superman growled.

"This is different!" Batman protested. "We don't know him! And if he was taken as a hostage, we should get a ransom and THEN we can talk about this… Otherwise, there's no reason to."

"Do we turn our back on a single villain because they aren't the toughest?" Wonder Woman asked, incredulous.

"He's not a villain terrorizing people!" Batman yelled. "The Protector is gone! The Protector is dead weight! The Protector isn't any more special than the average person! The Protector has done nothing to determine his worth!" There was an awkward silence as no one spoke. Everyone was too busy staring at something. Batman followed their gazes to see Kara, standing in front of the doorway, fuming in anger and her eyes glowed red with heat. Batman stared her down, unrelenting, but uncomfortable.

"The Protector saved my life," Kara said, still angry. "The Protector has saved more lives in one try than you probably have in the entire time you've been Batman. The Protector made those extremely useful handcuffs, and has nearly tripled the capture rate of super villains, making the world a thousand times safer! The Protector chose to use his powers to help people! Could you imagine if he used his powers for evil? For selfish greed? For himself? Because I guarantee that none of us would be able to stop him! I promise you that if he was evil he'd have killed all of us thousands of times over! But he didn't! He chose to help people! The Protector saved my damn life! He saved my life and proved himself time and time again, but you can't even see him as human!" Kara shook her head and ran out of the room before her eyes could betray the level of worry and care that she had only for Cal. Batman swallowed.

"She's right," Superman said. Everyone, but Batman, nodded in agreement. Batman left the room, storming in anger. "We all do our best to find The Protector…"

-Break-

Mason opened his eyes as the pain stopped. He looked at the shadow in the corner of the room.

"Congratulations Mason," the voice said. "We don't need you anymore… We have The Protector to ourselves…" As they said this, a woman in a dark blue hoodie, with the hood pulled over her face, carried him in, putting him on the table next to Mason. Mason looked over in disbelief.

"How?" Mason asked, extremely surprised. "No way…" The voice laughed.

"Luck of the draw I suppose," the voice said. The woman strapped The Protector down with seemingly normal straps.

"Those won't hold him…" Mason said. The voice laughed again.

"They will suffice," the voice said. "And now you can go home!" The voice gestured to the woman, who nodded and looked at Mason. Mason frowned, managing to see her face, and recalled where he had seen her before.

"Wait, you're-" was all that Mason was able to say before her eyes flashed yellow and Mason was gone.

"Wake him up," said the voice. The woman nodded and her eyes flashed yellow, but nothing happened. The woman looked at the voice.

"I said, WAKE HIM UP!" the voice demanded. The woman looked back and Cal and her eyes flashed an even more intense yellow, but still nothing happened. Angry, the voice in the shadow left. The woman followed quickly behind, the metal vault-like door banging closed behind her.

-Break-

A few hours later, Cal's eyes flew open. Cal blinked a few times, confused at where he was. Cal tried to fight the straps, but he couldn't break them. After a few minutes of trying, Cal sighed in defeat.

"One prison to another…" Cal said, sighing. "At least my armor is still on…" Suddenly, Cal whipped his head up as the metal door opened. One person stuck to the shadows, but the other stepped beside him, a woman, wearing a dark blue hoodie pulled over her face. Cal remained silent, waiting for the other two to speak first, as was his training. After several minutes of silence, the voice spoke.

"I suppose you think making me speak first will somehow prove your integrity," the voice stated. "But you're the one tied down… Now please, remove the armor." The woman nodded and bent over Callum and, starting with the boot, began removing the armor with ease. Cal frowned in silence as he struggled against the straps and confusion as the woman simply slid off the supposed immovable armor.

'The armor is only supposed to be able to come off with my touch…' Cal thought to himself. The woman continued removing each piece of armor, until only the helmet was left. The woman glanced at the voice.

"Continue," the voice said. The woman nodded and pressed the button under the base of the helmet, the mouth plates moved to reveal Cal's mouth and chin. Cal kept his mouth shut literally and tensed as the woman removed his helmet.

"Hello, Callum Orson," the voice said. "Welcome to LESPAS… League of Earthly Self-Protection Against Supers…"

-Break-

Kara punched the bag angrily.

'It's not fair,' she thought to herself, punching the bag again. 'Cal's gone…' Punch 'No one wants to look for him…' Punch 'He saved my life…' Punch 'I love him…' Punch 'Barbara's gone…' Punch 'Cal's gone…' Punch 'Cal's gone and I love him…' Kara punched the punching bag so hard her fist went through it. Kara withdrew her fist and fell to the ground, tears streaming down her face.

"Not again!" Kara cried, rocking herself. Suddenly, a soft hand touched her shoulder. Kara looked up to see Mason standing there, somber. Kara sniffled, noticing Mason's bruises, cuts, and weak demeanor. "Are you okay? What happened to you?" Mason shook his head.

"I'll explain later," Mason said. "I know what happened. I'm here for you…" Kara sniffled and smiled in thanks. Mason smiled back.

"Cal's gone again…" Kara said, wiping her eyes. "He's gone and no one is looking for him… I can't look for him alone… But I need him back…" Mason knelt down next to her, rubbing her shoulders comfortingly.

"We'll get him back," Mason said. "Don't worry… We'll find him… I promise…" Kara stifled a sob and laid in Mason's arms, and Mason knew it was simply a friendly comfort for them both.

'Besides,' Mason thought to himself. 'I would never let her do that to Cal if it was more than that…'

"But we have no idea who or what took him, or where he is!" Kara said, defeated. Mason sighed.

"I don't know where specifically, but I do know who… Well, sort of…" Mason said, trying to be reassuring. "I think I can figure out where I was…" Kara looked at him.

"Where YOU were?" Kara asked, surprised. Mason tensed, but nodded.

"I was kidnapped by the same people that took Cal. They came in, and had Cal in his armor. Cal's back there, and they somehow teleported me home… Kinda like…" Mason trailed off.

"Like when Cal does it?" Kara asked. Mason frowned, but nodded again.

"How did you know?" Mason asked.

"I saw her take Callum. I tried to stop her but…" Kara looked at Mason. "But her eyes flashed yellow…" Mason nodded.

"Like Cal's but not as rich or full in color…" Mason said. Kara nodded in agreement. "Cal was hit by a compressed white sun?"

"Something like that…" Kara said.

"Cal hasn't had a chance to catch me up on all the stuff he's gone through," Mason said. "But I think he knows things that no one else really does…" Kara nodded.

"He's been through a lot," Kara admitted. "Especially recently…" Mason sighed.

"Well, we'll need help with finding him…" Mason said. "So we don't charge into the wrong building…" Mason stood up, helping Kara to her feet. "Time to phone home, so to speak…" Mason focused for a few minutes and sighed. He sat down in a nearby chair and sighed. Kara stood confused.

"Now what?" Kara asked.

"We wait for help," Mason said. Kara frowned, but sat down in another chair nearby. Finally, a portal appeared and Bartholomew stepped through. Mason jumped up to fill him in right away, but Bartholomew raised his hand to quiet him.

"I've been filled in better than you can imagine," Bartholomew said, not even saying hello to Mason or really acknowledging him. He immediately and quickly walked towards Kara, who backed away slowly and was soon pressed against the wall. Bartholomew studied her, fuming.

"So Callum told you about his powers…" Bartholomew said, still angry. "What else did he tell you?!" After Kara remained in shocked silence, Bartholomew barked again. "WHAT ELSE DID HE TELL YOU?!" Kara trembled. Mason pulled Bartholomew away and got between the two.

"Back off!" Mason protested. "What else is there to tell?" Bartholomew clenched his jaw angrily.

"I learned a lot about Cal and what he's learned…" Bartholomew growled. "And I also was told Kara knows more than she should…"

"Whoa! Okay! Fill me in and instead of attacking Kara, we'll ask nicely what she knows…" Mason said, defending Kara.

"Callum's mother is alive…" Kara piped up. Mason and Bartholomew both looked at Kara surprised. "Cal's mother is alive and I'm not supposed to tell him, but her name is Destiny and she can control people's fates… She's a really powerful being…" Mason raised his eyebrows while Bartholomew frowned.

"You met her?" Bartholomew asked, surprised and still angry. "When?"

"I got hurt by Doomsday and while I was under waiting for someone to be able to help me, his mom appeared to me and told me about Cal. And I heard Cal tell me that he had super powers…" Kara explained. Mason glanced worriedly at Bartholomew, who sighed and rubbed his head.

"You'd think family members would have each other's backs…" Bartholomew muttered.

"What?" Mason asked.

"I'm satisfied that Kara is trustworthy, but not because of herself. In fact, her actions persuade me otherwise…" Bartholomew stated. "But nevertheless, I'll tell my story…" Bartholomew sat down. "The Mentor and The Current are chosen by Potens, a being more powerful than anything I can even imagine. Potens chose Callum because he reminded him of his eldest brother… Callum was born with his powers, and Potens never gave him any. Callum's mother, Destiny, is one of the several beings that are Potens' children. Not from a natural birth, but Potens created them. Destiny is married to Karma, whom Potens created as a companion for Destiny. Time and Space are brothers, both of whom refused to settle down. Chaos and Order are each controlled by fraternal twins. Mark, the male Chaos, married Tiffany, the female Order. Walter, the male Order, married Veronica, the female Chaos. I know you're thinking it's incest or whatever it's called nowadays, but they were literally made for each other. Callum has been destined to die terrible deaths, yes, deathS, as in more than one, and… the only beings powerful enough to save him refuse to due to their rules… But most of them wish they could. After Potens himself told me of this, Time approached me privately and told me to suspect Kara of knowing more than she should. I'm sorry Kara, I shouldn't have forced you into that. I suspect Callum doesn't know what Kara does… And I also suspect that Callum himself knows things we still don't. But that is beside the point, I know where Callum is…" Bartholomew finished talking and leaned back in his chair.

"Where is he?!" Mason and Kara both demanded at the same time. Bartholomew sighed.

"With LESPAS, the League of Earthly Self-Preservation Against Supers…" Bartholomew said. "In the basement of the old CADMUS building…"

"Well let's go get him!" Mason exclaimed. Bartholomew sighed.

"There's just one problem," Bartholomew said. "I don't know where that building is…" Kara jumped up and down.

"Don't worry, I can find that out for us!" Kara said. "Then we all save Cal, TOGETHER." Mason nodded and they both looked at Bartholomew, who sighed and nodded.

"Fine, together," Bartholomew said, eyeing Kara like she would slow them down.

"I'll be right back…" Kara said, zipping off.

"Why don't you trust her?" Mason asked. Bartholomew shrugged.

"She hasn't proven herself trustworthy," Bartholomew stated plainly.

"She's doing that right now! Without being asked," Mason pointed out.

"I meant more survival and fighting wise," Bartholomew said. "But yes, she has seemed to prove herself trustworthy in terms of personality." Mason sighed and rubbed his head.

"She's a superhero, what could possibly prove more than that that she's a survivor and a fighter?" Mason asked.

"You can take on super villains on this world too," Bartholomew said. "This world's villains are like pebbles: annoying as hell if they bother you, but ultimately harmless."

"'Lest the first man to throw the stone in which he is guilty of be cast to the fires of hypocrisy'," Mason quoted. "You need to learn that Kara's far tougher, smarter, stronger, and faster than she lets on." Bartholomew stood up.

"Then let her prove that to me herself when we save Callum!" Bartholomew barked. Mason sighed.

"You don't trust her because you didn't train her…" Mason deduced. Bartholomew growled.

"Damn right," Bartholomew said. "Took Callum about a week to get me to even consider letting you on."

"And yet here I am, let on…" Mason said. Bartholomew sighed.

"Point taken, I'll be nicer, but you can't expect me to trust her without reason," Bartholomew compromised. Mason nodded.

"That's sounds fair," Mason said. Kara came back.

"I got the address," Kara said, a determined glint in her eyes. "Let's go get Callum back…" Mason nodded and glanced at Bartholomew, who nodded stubbornly.

"Let's go save us a hero," Bartholomew said. Before he could open a portal, another portal opened and Callum stepped through.

"WAIT!" Cal said. Everyone froze in shock. "I'm from the future, and there's something you need to know…"