After coming home to Gotham, Barbara struggled to sleep. The horrors she endured in the alternate timeline of the Anti-Living took a toll on Barbara's mental state. She would have nightmares about the undead monsters, and the horrid memories of mercy killing the infected Kevin and her father. Sometimes she would have nightmares of turning into an undead monster herself, and being killed mercilessly by Ivy, or mercy killed by Kevin. Sometimes she would have nightmares of Martian Manhunter being infected and turning Flash into an undead monster, resulting in a disastrous chain reaction where Superman and Wonder Woman would turn, becoming powerful Anti-Living creatures. Some nights, Barbara would wake up screaming from the nightmares. The one person who would help her get through the nightmares was Kevin. He'd hold her and tell her it'd be okay. Kevin was her rock, her strength, and her hero.
How did Barbara cope with all this personal trauma? She decided to write it all down. And that's what she did. Barbara consulted Lois Lane, and together they wrote a cautionary tale of horror, death, loss, grief, guilt, survival, and time travel. Lois gladly helped Barbara write this tale, and Barbara didn't leave a single detail out. She left out that she was Batgirl for the sake of keeping her alter ego a secret. But she and Lois wrote and wrote. There were chapters where Barbara would write of the nightmares and what would have happened if she'd died and turned, and the others who would have most likely turned. Due to Barbara's eidetic memory, it took her and Lois three weeks to write it all. Barbara and Kevin were at Lois and Clark's apartment with Lois and her son Jonathan. Barbara was writing the conclusion to her story. Her final words were, "when I was a child, my father told me that he'd protect me from any monsters. As long as he was around, there would be nothing hiding in the dark and nothing was going to jump out of the shadows. But as I've grown, I've faced too many monsters. If I have children, I hope I can tell my children what my father told me. I hope they don't have to face the monsters I have. What I do know is that life is fleeting and death is forever. It's an inevitable truth. But I do not fear death. If I do die, I will embrace it, and welcome death as an old friend, knowing the monsters are far behind me now. The End..."
Lois looked at the finishing touches and said, "this is a very good story, Barbara. Didn't realize you had such a knack for writing." Barbara smiled and said, "Well I learned a lot reading articles from you and Clark." Kevin came in with four glasses of a drink. "Hey Mrs. Kent, I made some peach lemonade for you, Jon and Barbara. Hope you don't mind," said Kevin. "Thank you Kevin, that was very nice of you," said Lois as she took a glass. Jon took a glass and said, "Thanks Kevin. Hey Barbara, is it true you wanted to be a reporter like Mom and Dad before you became Batgirl?" Barbara nodded and said, "that is true. Thanks babe." She happily took a glass from him and kissed him. "No problem. Finished with your story?" Kevin asked as he took a sip of his peach lemonade. "I sure am," confirmed Barbara, "I gotta say, writing all this was very therapeutic." Kevin smiled and said, "that's good. I could make you a burrito to celebrate this accomplishment." Barbara sipped her lemonade and said, "that'd be nice. I just hope this story helps me sleep better at night."
After the novel was published, Barbara lived each day like it was her last, living it to the fullest. She never took the ones she loved for granted. She never had to dread the day any undead monsters would come to end the world. She married Kevin, and they had children together a boy and a girl. She named the boy after Victor to honor his memory. Barbara and Kevin also lived to see their two children grow up and have children of their own. Barbara and Kevin both lived to be 100. And eerily enough, they both died on the same day. They both died peacefully in their sleep. It was a life well lived for both of them.
The End.