Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.
A.R.G.U.S., Gotham City
In the medical area, the doctors were checking Ethan and Henry over, bandaging their wounds.
"Dad…" Henry whispered, turning to Ethan.
"I did what I had to do to protect you. I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me. But I'm trying to make up for that." Ethan said.
Henry clearly had more to say as Nicole and Barbara entered, hugging them both tightly.
"Thank God you're both OK, are you alright?" Nicole said.
"We're fine, don't worry." Henry assured his sister and best friend.
"What did they want?" Barbara demanded.
"Something dangerous." Henry said before turning to Nicole. "How's Riley?"
"Just in shock but he'll be fine." Nicole said before she looked at them both, chuckling softly. "You two always have to be heroes, do you?"
Both men sighed, already expecting what was going to happen next.
"If you're gonna yell at us at how reckless and stupid we were for putting ourselves in danger again, go ahead. We're not gonna stop you." Ethan said and Nicole breathed out.
"Honestly… I want to yell at you both so madly but…" Nicole sat down and wiped her face. "I'm just glad you're both fine. It's just… I'll never be able to talk either one of you out of this, will I?"
"Never." Henry chuckled.
"It's just who you are, the two of you." Nicole nodded, chuckling before she took a breath. "Dad, Ian, you… the men in my life always have to be heroes. No matter what I'd do, I'd never talk you out of it, no matter how angry I'd get." She turned to her brother. "Do you know why I always yelled at you, whenever you'd go out on missions or investigating?"
"Because you thought I would put myself and you and Riley in danger." Henry said.
"Yeah. That. But it's more." Nicole said before turning to Barbara. "Do you remember, when we were… fifteen and we were building the treehouse?"
"Yeah, when Henry fell off when building it and we were at the party." Barbara remembered.
"I hit my head hard." Henry nodded.
"Yeah. It was my fault." Nicole said.
"No, I wanted to finish it without your permission." Henry said.
"That's what I told you." Nicole took a breath. "But I lied, you know? I didn't want you to think I was the irresponsible one." Ethan, Barbara and Henry raised their brows. "Earlier that day, I promised you to finish build it but then I got stupid and so deep into that party I had forgotten about the treehouse. Then I got a call and they said you fell on your head."
Henry, Barbara and Ethan listened as she had her eyes wet and her voice broke.
"I was so worried about you. I thought, if anything happened to you, I'd never forgive myself. In the hospital, when you came to, you didn't remember. So I lied." Nicole said, looking guilty. "I told you that we'd build it later but you wanted to get it done ASAP. But that day I promised you but I forgot about that promise because I was young and stupid. So anytime you played hero and tried to help others… I was never angry that you would make things worse." She breathed out. "I was scared you wouldn't make it home alive because I couldn't protect you."
"Nicky…" Henry trailed off, now understanding of his sister more than ever.
"It's silly and stupid, I know. But you'll always be my little brother." Nicole said.
"I'll be fine. Don't worry." Henry said, hugging her tightly as she returned the hug alongside Ethan and Barbara.
"We'll always look out for you." Barbara said.
"Damn." Rene said as Oliver and Bruce filled him, Dinah, Curtis, Rory and everyone else in.
"Felicity is…" Dinah trailed off, her eyes getting wet.
"Dante was punishing us." Oliver explained as they stood over the corpse in the morgue.
"This isn't your fault. Don't blame yourself." Bruce said.
"I'm not. I'm gonna kill him." Oliver growled, clenching his fists.
"Do we have any way of tracking Dante?" Lyla asked.
"Assuming he'll be on his way to find Project: Amazo, I have an idea." Ethan said.
Gotham City
Batman and Green Arrow approached the building at the edge of the city as the police with Gordon arrived.
"Batman. Mr. Queen." Gordon said as they turned to him.
"You shouldn't have come here, Jim." Batman said.
"Are you kidding me? Those bastards have been wreaking havoc in the city for weeks. I'll be damned before I let that continue." Gordon said.
An explosion went off as the police, Green Arrow, Arsenal, Speedy, Batman and Nightwing with Gordon entered. Green Arrow, Arsenal and Speedy fired arrows, while Batman threw batarangs and Nightwing threw wing-dings.
While there were many mercenaries, with the help of the heroes they were able to overpower them before they entered the elevator and went up.
"I got visual on Dante. He's on the rooftop." Lyla said.
"We've come a long way, have we?" Gordon said.
"We sure have, Jim." Batman said.
"Thanks for looking out for Henry and Nicole, even if you didn't have to." Gordon told them.
"Maybe. But I wanted to." Batman said.
"Someone had to. They're both strong and stubborn. Wonder who they got it from. Ethan liked to be the hero." Gordon chuckled as he turned to Batman. "Guess it runs in the family. You know, you see a lot in this job. A lot of suffering. But I'll never forget taking a witness statement from a boy, who'd just seen his parents gunned down. I used to call you a criminal. Until I realized you were a hero, Batman. And today I realize that a hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy's shoulders to let him know that the world hadn't ended."
Batman nodded upon seeing the pointed look Gordon was giving him, acknowledging that Gordon had known Bruce's secret for a while now.
"You were kind, Jim." Batman said.
"This isn't just your city. We protect it together. Like a family." Gordon said.
They went up on the rooftop and saw Dante loading the crates into helicopters.
"It's over, Dante. A.R.G.U.S. and the police has you surrounded." Oliver sneered, aiming his bow at him.
"You really don't know when to quit, do you?" Dante said before he threw two knives that Oliver shot down before Batman engaged him, exchanging blows.
Roy and Thea fired, shooting down the mercenaries as Dick jumped over another one and slammed him to the ground.
Gordon fired but Dante dodged before he threw a knife, disarming Gordon before Dante kicked Bruce and Oliver back, making them realize that Dante was a skilled fighter, who was not to be underestimated. Dante rolled back and then cut Oliver in the face before he dodged Bruce's kick and blocked his punch before Bruce hit him in the chest as Dante staggered. Oliver fired arrows but Dante cut through them with his knives before he threw it and got Gordon in the abdomen as he fell down.
"How far are you willing to go for those you care about?" Dante gloated.
Oliver fired an arrow that got Dante in the chest as he fell over the railing. Oliver and Bruce ran to the edge of the rooftop and saw Dante holding onto a rope ladder as a chopper flew away.
"Can you follow them?" Oliver called out.
"Already on it." Curtis said.
Later
Gordon was on the stretcher in the ambulance as Batman was next to him as the medics left them alone.
"You're a good man. Looking out for Dick, Jason and Tim. Henry and Nicole… like if they were your family." Gordon said, smiling at him proudly.
"They are." Batman nodded.
"The lengths you'd go to protect them… kind of drastic." Gordon said, referring to what they had become.
"As if you'd do any differently." Batman said as they both chuckled, remembering the lengths Gordon would go to in order to save Barbara. "You're a good father, Jim."
"So are you." Gordon said.
"I had a good example." Batman said.
"Yeah. Your Dad was a good man." Gordon nodded.
"I'm not talking about my Dad." Batman assured him with a pointed look.
The words hung between them, a thousand unsaid things passing between them in that moment before Gordon held Batman by his arm.
"Look after them." Gordon said and Batman nodded.
S.T.A.R. Labs, Central City
"What is it that you need again?" Alex asked J'onn.
"I need you to enter my mind." J'onn said before he groaned in pain. "Uh, the headache is getting worse."
"OK, just give us a minute." Caitlin said.
J'onn was attached to a chair as Harry planted electrodes on him.
"It might hurt you, badly." Harry warned.
"Last chance, J'onn. Are you sure about this?" Alex asked.
"I need to remember." J'onn said. Caitlin flipped a switch and J'onn groaned in pain. "Turn it off!"
Caitlin flipped the switch as she looked at J'onn's brain scan and showed it on the screen.
"What is it?" Cisco asked.
"Have you ever had brain trauma or some sort of illness before, J'onn?" Caitlin asked.
"It's possible." J'onn said.
"It's like if someone… erased a part of your memory." Caitlin said.
"Amnesia?" Harry asked.
"No. That would mean damage. I'm talking mind-wipe." Caitlin said.
"Who would do that to me?" J'onn wondered.
"There's only one way to find out. But it's going to hurt." Caitlin said.
J'onn took a breath. "Do it."
He closed his eyes as he groaned again as Caitlin turned on the machine and Harry approached the monitor.
J'onn suddenly was in a library as he looked around.
"What are the blank books?" J'onn asked as he looked at them.
"It's all a construct of your mind. Nothing is there by accident." Harry explained, his voice echoing.
"The blank books might help you remember. Take a look at them." Caitlin advised.
J'onn opened one of the blank books. It was empty but suddenly…
J'onn appeared on Mars, seeing a Martian touch another one's head as his eyes glowed green as J'onn recognized him.
"That's him." J'onn said, recognizing the Martian he had seen. "Malefic…" J'onn said, remembering his name.
The other Martian's head was suddenly with black veins as he fell down.
"He… he betrayed us. My brother… he poisoned us with H'ronmeer's Curse." J'onn said, horrified. "The High Council tried him."
Malefic, J'onn and Myr'nn stood in front of the council.
"Malefic J'onzz, you are accused of treason, conspiring with the White Martians with an intention to poison our people."
"You are stripped of your rank among us and sentenced to life in the Phantom Zone."
Malefic snarled in rage, glaring at Myr'nn and J'onn before turning to J'onn who was remembering.
"Why can't I remember any of this?" J'onn wondered.
Malefic suddenly looked in front of himself, as if he was seeing J'onn.
J'onn paled and gulped as Malefic neared him, their faces inches away from each other.
"You are still in the dark, brother." Malefic said as his eyes glowed green.
J'onn screamed in pain…
…as he put down the device on his head, holding his head in agony.
"OK, that's enough." Caitlin said.
"No. Bring me back." J'onn said.
"You need to rest—"
"Caitlin, please. I need to know. I need to remember." J'onn insisted and Caitlin nodded after a moment.
"The moment I think it's dangerous…"
J'onn nodded before putting on the device again, returning to his memories.
A.R.G.U.S.
"Do we know where Dante and Luthor are?" Barry asked.
"We might have a lead." Lyla said as she recognized the look in his eyes. "We'll help Kara and Conner but you need to keep your head straight."
Barry nodded.
Elsewhere
Lex injected himself with some serum as he breathed out before clenching his fists as his eyes glowed yellow and he smirked.
So, what do you guys think?
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