New Justice: Trials of the League
Disclaimer: I do not own the Arrowverse but do own the idea for New Justice. And Rae. I own her.
Facebook: Fanfiction Millma Verse Page.
Note 1: This chapter takes place during Karry Universe's Seeing Red chapter, but it won't be referenced as much here as it's not a direct crossover, focusing on another member of the League without Rae in the picture.
Note 2: There are big differences between the Supergirl TV show and this story. Bare that in mind when reading this chapter. Thanks.
Sins of the Father.
"Pancakes' up," Rae called, putting the plate down. Chris was in his school uniform with his tie untied around his neck while tossing books into his bag.
"Thanks Rae," Chris said, grabbing the pancakes from the plate with his hands and shoving them into his mouth. "I am so going to be… and I am late." Chris paused as he looked at the clock. "I am late. I missed the bus."
"Good thing you can get there fast anyway," Rae reminded the boy with a wink – he was smart but sometimes under the red light of the dome he forgot about his powers. Chris paused for a second as he realized this, and then smiled. "And you can eat like a human being. With a fork." Rae put some eggs down on the plate too as Chris took his seat and grabbed a fork. It didn't slow him down though as he continued to shove food in his mouth.
"Asking him to eat like a human is like asking the same of Krypto," Kara joked as she came into the room. "I should put him in a habitat to live with the animals." Chris stuck out his tongue at his cousin, having finished shoving the pancakes and eggs. Taking a spoon full of Kryptonian jam before he grabbed the cup of milk Rae had poured and chugged it down. "Hey, what do you say?" Kara grabbed his arm as Chris turned to leave.
"I already did," Chris complained and noticed the look. "Thank you, Rae for cooking for me like you always do when you are here. Which is almost every day." Kara slapped him on the shoulder playfully as Rae giggled and waved him off.
"Now, go. Get to school before homeroom," Kara said, and Chris was out the door. "Why are you not at work?" She turned to Rae at this.
"Remember how I worked this weekend on my days off because Mr. Foster had that big dinner?" Rae said; Joel Foster had a big event with his co-owners for something big his company was doing. Rae didn't know the details, all she knew is she cooked a five-course meal for many people. "Well, they said I could take two days off this week instead. I chose today and tomorrow. Halloween usually causes more alerts, but I also figured maybe we could set up something for Halloween? Maybe a League party."
"That sounds fun, but I need to be here today and tomorrow," Kara said. "This is the first Halloween we are doing a big event. Laurel thought it would be a good idea to officially announce the Kryptonian Amusement Park Island at an event and there was an ancient Kryptonian holiday that we're going to incorporate in – not the correct day, but it goes along well. I have to organize everything."
Rae pouted, she had been looking forward to a day with Kara.
"Aw," Kara sighed, wrapping her arms around Rae. "Tomorrow you can come to the event. We're also going to be announcing the restaurant."
"Oh," Rae paused. She had successfully created several dishes for the restaurant, enough to open the restaurant for the Sanctuary. It was only going to be once-a-month thing now, but if it was popular it could expand, which meant Rae had to train a full-time chief for it. Rae was also still working on some more dishes. "That's nice."
"Yep, and your name is going to be mentioned. We also want you up there with us. Ready to be a famous chef," Kara said, bringing Rae close kissing.
"I don't know about famous…" Rae said.
"Oh, you will be big," Kara kissed Rae neck and Rae started to giggle as Kara also started tickling her.
Rae's phone rang, and she grabbed it. "Hello?" Rae said, continuing to laugh as Kara continued to tickle her. "Kara, stop for a second."
"Well it's nice to hear you laugh," Rae heard the familiar voice of her cousin as Kara agreed, stopped the tickling.
"Prime, SuperEarth, or Karry?" Rae asked, figuring those would be the only three Barrys who would call her. She liked all three in different ways too.
"Karry," Barry said, and Rae had to smile. It had been a while since she talked to the first world she had met on the system – while she loved the other worlds, Karry did hold a special place in her heart. They had helped her so much when she had nothing and gave her everything. But then she remembered the speed force telling her not to use the multiverse, and so far, that time had not come but the warning was still confusing to Rae.
"Hey," Rae said regardless. "It's been a while. I miss you guys," she honestly had.
"Over here too. You know it's been a year since we met?" Barry said, and Rae paused, nodding. It had been a full year since she went to Karry… A year since Superman died. There had been a public day a while back to remember the fallen old League. "You busy today? Can you come over?"
"Actually, perfect timing. The Grant's had me work on my days off, so they gave me today and tomorrow off instead. Kara is busy and I have nothing going on. Why though? Need some help?" Rae asked curious if Karry was finally calling in the debt she owed them.
"We want to show you something," Barry said, and Rae raised an eyebrow. "The system can now send you to other earths on the system. So, you don't have to bug Gypsy or your Cisco."
"Oh yeah Adam mentioned that," Rae remembered Adam having been in Home Base working on a way to easily world hop. "See you in a bit." Rae hung up the phone. "Seems I have plans today. Cl…" Rae paused, seeing her puppy sleeping. She could leave him for the day. "I'll see you later."
"Bye," Kara said, and Rae ran into her outfit and ran out.
-New Justice-
Winn was sitting at the computer looking over his design for a new bike he was making for himself – he didn't want to continually have people running him places or flying him… he really hated flying. The bike was pretty cool though, having one large wheel on it instead of two; a stabilizer keeping it balanced. The accelerator and breaks were on the handle and it had a gravity modifier, so it would stand up on its own and he could manipulate it to ride up building.
Jess meanwhile was excitingly telling Winn about some new type of tire STAR was making that could enhance the bike, so he could ride on water. Adam was in on it too, discussing adding some type of weapon to it.
Winn was barely listening though as he rubbed his eyes. He had not gotten much sleep last night as every year at this time he had the same nightmares. The same thing haunting his dreams repeatedly.
"What is your problem?" Donna's voice interrupted Winn's daze and the other nerds' discussions.
Winn had also been ignoring the little drama between Donna and Thomas – since joining the League, Thomas seemed to have had an attitude with Donna. The Amazonian had kept quiet until today, when Donna and Selena had been about to go out on a small mission when Thomas, who had been around, said he would take it without her.
"Okay, you two," Sara appeared, going between the pair before any drama could really unfold. "How about we all go? We're a team, remember?"
That was when Winn heard the zap tunnel and turned to see Rae coming in, outfit on.
"Hey. Why is everyone here?" Rae asked.
"Red is doing some minor repairs to Watchtower and upgrading some weapons. He said all humans should stay away for the day," Adam was the one to answer. Rae took out her communicator though, as if to check and saw the message and nodded.
"Rae," Donna said. "Can you deal with him?" Donna pointed at Thomas.
"Whatever stupid comment you made, apologize," Rae said, having noticed the tension between Thomas and Donna. "And really, Black Arrow, I don't know what your problem is, but Wonder Girl has been a valuable member of the new League since almost day one. Either tell her what's wrong or suck it up. I want no fighting in my League." Thomas gave a nod to the leader, respecting Rae at least. "Sara you got this?" Sara gave a nod to Rae, indicating she could handle them. "Good, Adam I'm going to Karry. Send me. There's meant to be…"
"Oh yeah. The new inter-earth vibe thing. Sure, stand there," Adam said, pointing at an X on the floor. Rae stood on it cautiously, and Adam put something into the computer and a moment later, Rae was gone, vanishing through a portal.
"Cool," Jesse stated, but turned to Winn after a moment. "Okay Winn. We can start working on this now."
Winn didn't answer, and Caitlin noticed the look on his face. She had been sitting next to Jess and had noticed Winn seemed off.
"What's wrong?" Caitlin asked. Donna, Selena, Thomas, and Sara had left off to the mission together already.
"Forget it," Winn said, and then everyone noticed the way he said.
"Winn…?" Caitlin said. "Let us help you."
"It's… well… you know Rae's not the only one in the League with a dark past," Winn muttered.
Caitlin crossed her arms as she raised an eyebrow. "And you know Kara's planet blew up, right? M'Gann was a prisoner of war… the Aquas were in the civil war and forced to flee their home, Sara and Thomas sunk on a ship and we know Sara was in the League of Assassins – who knows what happened with Thomas? My sister was…"
"I get it," Winn said annoyed, holding out a hand to stop Caitlin. "I'm sorry. Today is a touchy day for me."
"Winn," Caitlin said kindly, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. "We're here for you."
"Yeah, man," Adam said, turning from the computer and abandoning plans for the bike. "Tell us what's going on."
"It's the anniversary of my mom's death," Winn said simply. "She was murdered, and the murderer was never caught. It makes me so angry. My mom was… she was the best. She was so sweet, always cooking cookies and constantly there for me. Who would want to kill her? And it gets me the man was never caught. Every year, on this day, I always have dreams… I hear her scream. Blurred motion… A figure…. Like I am making up what happened to her. It's not clear… I just want to know."
"Then let's find the bastard who did it," Jess said brightly, making Winn look up.
"It happened when I was 11," Winn pointed out.
"So? We're the Justice League. We have taken on terrorist, aliens, Nazis, speedsters… we can find one killer," Adam said, turning to the computer. "Let's just get the file from the police. Your mom's name?"
"Mary Schott, and it was in Central City," Winn said, and Adam typed.
"Oh," Adam said after a moment. "We already have the file. The old Justice League flagged your mom's death as part of a possible serial killer."
"What?" Winn asked shocked.
"Rae's right. We should look into the League's archive," Caitlin stated thoughtfully at Winn's surprise.
"This goes far," Adam continued, putting all the files on the screen. There were tons of them. "All of them were killed by deadly toys – your mom was killed by a yoyo with deadly blades on it." Winn paused, almost seeing a yoyo going towards his mom but blinked. Adam saying it must have brought that memory to him.
"Damn… whoever this guy is, he's creative," Jess commented. "This one was killed by a giant toy dinosaur that bit him in half. No wonder the Justice League marked this file 'The Toymaker'."
"Give me," Caitlin said. "Let me look over the autopsy reports…"
The boys moved from the computer, giving the space over to Caitlin who first went to read Mary's report. Obviously, she could not go over all the serial killers' victims' reports, but she looked over Mary's and then went to the most recent recorded, noticing the last one put in this file was a year ago when the old League had died. Caitlin knew at that time some things had gotten lost and it seemed Batman had been the one putting together this file. It was possible Rae did not know of it, though. Then again, even she tended to forget things in their archive.
Going into the system she searched all police reports for anyone killed by toys and found more recent ones.
"Well, this serial killer is still active. We could find him or her." Caitlin said, noticing the boys had drifted off. She had spent a good deal of time looking over everything.
Before anyone could say anything, the inter-earth phone rang. "It's Karry. Must be Rae," Winn said.
"She barely even been gone for an hour," Adam stated, as Winn who was closest, answered the video call.
"Stopwatch," Rae said as the video came up seeing, Winn on the screen.
"Hey Rae," Winn said trying to seem normal, but his voice must have given him away.
"You okay?" Rae asked.
"Um… Fine, something wrong?" Winn asked, wanting to change the subject.
"I need Wild Fire," Rae said.
"Um… well she's right here…" Winn said pausing. Caitlin was helping him with his mother's murder and she could be the key to finally catching the asshole who did it.
"Good, send her over," Rae said, and Winn gave a nod. The boss wanted Caitlin it was more important than this. "Stopwatch," Winn's attention went back to the video at that. "I don't know what you've been up to today, but careful." Winn raised an eyebrow. "I know that look in your eyes. I've had it before." Winn gave a nod as he hung up, thinking about it… When Rae had discovered who killed her father, it might have caused more pain than not knowing.
"Guess I am going to Karry," Caitlin said, grabbing her helmet and putting it on – ready for a battle if needed.
Adam then sent Caitlin away using the inter-earth vibing technology.
"Well, we can continue this," Adam said, trying to sound positive. "Hey, here's a suspects list..." Adam noticed it in the file, clicking on it. "The number one suspect was…" Adam paused and turned to Winn. "Winslow Schott Senior."
"My dad," Winn said, shocked and standing up. "No, my dad is not a murderer. He loved my mom." Winn though put a hand on his head as he remembered the dark figure in his dreams. It was a male. "No… no, he was with me."
"Your mom was murdered in your house. You were there," Jess pointed out. "And so was your dad. He could have done it while you were asleep."
Winn shook his head. "No… that's not right," Winn shook his head again. "She was… I… er…"
"Winn, you can read the police report," Adam said kindly, pointing at the screen and so Winn went to it, hoping it would say his friends were wrong, but was disappointed. His mom was murdered at his house and his father had claimed he chased out the killer but the police themselves said they did not believe it. There had been no cause to arrest him.
"No, I just…" Winn took a step back and ran out of the room, running out of the base and onto the beach. His head was spinning.
Sitting on the sand, letting the hot sun beat down on him as he watched waves hit onto shore, he picked up a seashell, trying to distract himself by playing with it in his hand as he kept thinking about his mother and his father. Before his mom had died he and his dad had been close; going to arcades together, sharing similar book interests and playing like any good father and his son would. After his mom died though, things had changed. His father had changed. He started locking himself in the basement and was barely around for Winn. Winn had thought it was because of his mom's death but could it have been something else.
It had been a long time since he talked to his dad, but Winn took out the phone and called his number. After a few rings, his father picked up.
"Hey there son. It's been a while," his father voice stated cheerily.
"Hey dad… I was wondering if you wanted to visit mom grave?" Winn said, casually as possible and hoping his father would say yes, hoping he could see his father caring about the woman who had given birth to Winn.
"Sorry kid, I'm kind of busy," Winslow Schott Senior said. "But maybe another time?"
"Yeah," Winn said. "I got to go anyway." Winn hung up without letting his father say goodbye, and stood, deciding to walk back into the base.
Adam and Jess were still in the base, and still working. Winn didn't know how long he had been outside, but it felt like forever.
"Hey, we've been going over the other suspects. We crossed one off since he's one of the new victims," Adam explained.
"Name the victims," Winn said, determined.
"John Radcliffe," Adam started.
"Hilary Winstead," Jess continued.
"Matty Gilmore," Adam took over.
"Andrew Humphries…" Jess stated, but Winn help up his hands – he knew all the names.
"They're my dad's competitors in the toy industry. People he worked with or against," Winn sighed. He wondered how the hell the police did not connect all this. "I need absolute proof it's my dad before we do anything."
"I've been thinking," Adam spoke. "And I think you're the proof..." Winn paused. "You said you were having dreams? Every year? Sounds like it might be repressed memories. You might have seen your mom's death."
A zap tunnel opened at that moment, and in came Kara with both Krypto and Clark by her side. "Send me to Karry," Kara said.
"What's the big…?" Jess started.
"Not now, nerds," Kara said with a glare.
"One portal to Karry. Stand there," Adam said pointing to the X, and Kara did as she was instructed; Adam sending the woman and two dogs to the other world. "That was weird. Anyway, repressed memories."
"Ah human memories, so fragile," Red Tornado's voice spoke as he too came out of the zap tunnel. "Who has repressed memories?" Both Jess and Adam pointed at Winn. "Well, if you really want them back I suggest hiring a meta human."
"What?" All three said together.
"There are meta humans who sell their abilities," Red Tornado explained. "They're not commonly known, but we do have a list." Red Tornado then went to the computer, bringing up said list. "Ah, here. Right in Central-National. Madam Abbot – she has mental abilities and is known to help witnesses remember everything about a crime they witnessed or people who just want to remember. If you want to get back your memoires, you go to her. If it's possible she will find it."
Winn stared at the screen and nodded. "Okay, I'll go," Winn said.
"We'll come to," Jess and Adam said.
"I suggest changing out of your outfits first," Red Tornado added, and all three boys look down – all of them in their superhero outfits. They forgot they were in them sometimes.
"Good idea," the three said as one again, all going to change.
-New Justice-
Winn, Adam, and Jess were waiting in the waiting area of the tiny shop Madam Abbot owned. Outside, there was anti meta human messages from protestors, but it seemed Abbot did some good business as these were practically ignored.
"Thank you," a woman said, walking out with an older man; a middle-aged woman who looked completely normal relative to meta human standard, was behind them.
"It is my pleasure, but I have to tell you, he's losing memory faster now. Sooner or later, even my power is not going to help him," the three Justice League members assumed this woman was Madam Abbot.
"I know," the other woman nodded solemnly as she took out a check and gave it to Madam Abbot, walking out with what the three assumed was her grandfather.
"Now," Madam Abbot looked at Winn, Adam, and Jess. "What can Madam Abbot do for three such handsome man as yourselves?"
Winn stood up nervously. "I need… I think I repressed a memory. I want it back," Winn said.
"You come to the back. You two, wait here," Madam Abbot said to Jess and Adam as she then led Winn behind a curtain to a room with two couches. "Sit." Abbot pointed, and Winn took a seat. "Now… tell Madam Abbot everything."
"I've been having reoccurring dreams…" Winn started, as he explained about his mother's death, his father being a suspect, the relation to a Toymaker – although leaving out the Justice League bits – and his apparent repressed memory. "Can you help me?" Winn finally finished.
"I can," Abbot said, leaning back now in thought. "But you must know, once I dig up this memory for you you're not going to be able to repress it again. You will have to live with it."
Winn took a deep breath. "I need to know," Winn said.
"Repressed memories are repressed for phycological reasons," Abbot continued to warn. "They can drive the holder insane if brought back to the surface."
"I can handle it. I have to," Winn stated, determinedly.
"Okay," Abbot took a breath, "now, it will be like you're re-living the event," she warned as she moved off the other couch, over to Winn and put a hand on his forehead.
Winn felt a pressure in his head and then around him the room started to change...
And it was night now. He was in his bedroom as when he was 11; he was woken up by yelling. Rubbing his eyes, he got out of bed and went to the door. Going down the first few steps, he stood overlooking an argument, his parents not hearing him.
"This is the last time!" Mary yelled at her husband. There was blood on her face. "I will not let you hurt me or Winn again. I'm taking him and leaving."
"You will not," Winslow Schott Senior yelled. "I won't let you!"
"You're not stopping me," Mary yelled, turning to the stairs, likely to run and get Winn.
"No, you won't!" Winslow yelled, taking out a yoyo and tossing it out. Blades shot out of it, hitting into Mary and she yelled out. The yoyo came back to Winslow and he tossed it again.
"Mom!" Winn yelled holding out his hand as his wounded mother looked up – and everything froze. Young Winn felt confused as a few seconds later everything unfroze. The yoyo hit into Mary again, this time striking a fatal blow, and Winslow acted like he did not notice the freeze or hear Winn. Young Winn, scared, ran back into his room crying.
And that was when the room changed again, and Winn returned to the back little room of Madam Abbot. Tears in his eyes as he gasped like he'd been submerged in water until his last breath. He had never known when his power activated though; one day he had just noticed he could freeze things and kept it his secret, not even telling his father. Now he knew why… His power had activated trying to save his mother.
"Oh my," Abbot said, standing and moving to the lobby, asking Adam and Jess to come in. Both came to either side of Winn, confused.
"He just re-lived a very bad memory," Abbot said, obviously trying to keep composure herself. "Give this to him." Abbot gave a piece of paper, which Jess took. "it's a certification his memories were retrieved by me. My power can be used in court defenses – makes his testimony more solid. He'll need it."
"Thank you. What do we owe you?" Jess asked.
"I don't charge for that," Abbot said pointing at Winn. He had barely moved besides the tears coming out of his eyes. "Come back some other time and I will let you re-live a nice memory." She told Winn. "Then you pay me for that."
"Deal," Adam said, taking Winn out and leading him out. "Come on Winn; let's go back to Home Base."
"No," Winn said, his voice croaky now. "I need… to go to a grave first."
Adam and Jess understood and followed Winn, heading to a graveyard in the Central City portion of the dual-city.
Winn lead them to where he knew his mother's grave was. It had been a while since he had been, but he had never forgotten.
"Mom," Winn said when he got to the stone. The two kept back though, out of respect. "I should have saved you. I should have remembered… I'm sorry." Winn whispered to the gravestone. "I'm not going to let him get away with it anymore. I'll stop him. I promise you."
Winn put a hand on the stone and paused for a second, taking a breath as he tried to accept the newly recovered memory – it was as fresh now as though it had only just happened. He even felt like a kid again, but knew he was an adult, knew he was Stopwatch, part of the Justice League.
"We got work to do," Winn finally said turning around to his friends.
Adam looked at the gravestone for a second. "Your son is a good man," Adam said to the grave, before going to follow Winn.
-New Justice-
Back at Home Base, Winn got back into his Stopwatch outfit and had messaged the rest of the League. Everyone but Rae, Caitlin, and Kara – who were still on Karry – came to Home Base, confused.
"Winn… I don't think we need the entire League?" Jess said, not aware Winn had done this when he noticed everyone gathered.
"My father is creative, tricky and clever. He's a lot like me, but with no powers," Winn said determined. "And we are stopping him."
"Okay, someone back up and explain?" Sara said, acting leader with Kara and Rae off-world.
"Long story short, Winn had a repressed memory recalled and found out his dad killed his mother, he got away with it and it seems he's this same Toymaker who's been killing for a few years," Adam explained.
"Unresolved case files in the League archives," Jess added for this.
"Oh… Winn," Sara said. "I'm all for stopping your father, but the police need proof to put him away. And that proof is your memories. You need to go to the police and tell them what happened. Then I will personally make sure your father pays."
"Incoming portal," MIA announced, making people turn around as Rae, Caitlin, Kara, and the dogs came through. All three pausing at the group meeting.
"Why is everyone here?" Rae asked. She seemed shaken but getting into leader mode instantly.
"More to the point, where's your outfit? Why are you in New STAR Labs clothes? What's New STAR Labs?" Jess asked confused.
"Oh, I let Kara borrow it as a Halloween costume," Rae said, making people look at Kara.
"Karry Kara," Kara said a little annoyed. "And what's going on?"
"Apparently Winn dad is an evil serial killer," Laurel summed up.
"Toyman," Rae said with a groan, making eyes go to her. "That's what Alien Earth calls him. Big super villain there. Tried to use Kara, Clark, and Chris to power some machine or something." Rae noticed the eyes on her. "I never told anyone but Kara this, did I?"
"No," Winn said, anger in every syllable as he glared at their leader for this slipup.
"Oh…" Rae said, biting her lip. "In my defense, I had no idea what was going on with your dad on this Earth."
"There's files of Toymaker stuff in the archive," Jess pointed out, confused. "Well different name. Similar enough it's a link."
"Erm," Rae had nothing to say about this, but Winn took a breath, knowing Rae was right – she had no idea about his mom's murder – or the others. Just because an alternative of his father went by a similar name on another world, didn't necessarily mean the same name was being used for the same person on others. "Stopwatch… Winn… tell me what happened."
Winn felt like he was repeating his day now, the amount of times he recalled the bad dreams and repressed memories to someone else. But with the new information on top from Madam Abbot and the League files to back him up, it felt like he finally had the full story to tell Rae. After he was done, Rae was very serious as she put a hand on his shoulder.
"Go to the CCPD. Ask for Joe West – he's a friend of mine. Plus and Minus' father. Tell him you're my friend. Tell him this and then we will make sure the police get him and connect all the other murders to him as well. He's not getting away with this. I promise. And I always keep my promises to my League."
"Thank you, Rae," Winn said.
Rae gave a nod. "But Winn, revenge not going to make you feel better. I know," Rae said seeming suddenly serious about it. It seemed she and Winn had more things in common now, with a murderer in his own family.
"Wait, so we all got here for nothing?" Dinah spoke up as Rae looked to her, but Laurel punched her cousin on the arm.
"Not entirely," Rae stated thoughtfully, "if Toyman , um Toymaker, here is as dangerous as the one on Alien Earth, the League might be needed to help the cops… just in case," she stated thoughtfully, turning to Kara as Winn quickly changed out of his outfit, heading for a Zap Tunnel.
-New Justice-
Winn walked into the CCPD, familiar with the place.
"Um…excuse me?" He asked one of the officers at the desk. "Is Joe West here?"
"West!" The officer called, and a detective came up. Winn was sure this was Joe West – he knew of Iris and Wally and personally knew Walter and Julia – they all had elements of his genetics in their features. "He wants you." The officer pointed at Winn.
"Can I help you?" Joe asked curiously.
"Um… yeah… I'm a friend of Rae," Winn said, making Joe raise an eyebrow. "I need… well I need to make a statement about something." Winn held out the certificate to Joe who looked at it and knew what it was.
"Madam Abbot? This has got to be serious," Joe stated, leading Winn to a different room with a couple of chairs and a table and for what felt like the tenth time this day he recounted everything, including the memories to Joe West, who took it in in silence and shock himself. Winn was already starting to get a handle on the memory he had repressed, too.
"And… you're willing to testify on stand?" Joe asked after a moment, and Winn nodded. "Do you know where your father is?"
"He lives in National now," Winn said.
Joe opened the door, calling out to Eddie Thawne. "Call over to the NCPD and ask them to pick up Winslow Schott Senior."
"What charges?" Eddie asked.
"Murder of his wife Mary Schott," Joe replied, and Eddie turned to the phone.
"You're not going to have a problem getting him…" Winn said after a moment. With no outfit, Rae had put Kara in charge of making sure his father was arrested and did not escape, just in case.
Joe gave a smirk at that. "Out of curiosity," Joe said lowering his voice, "which one are you…?"
"Stopwatch," Winn whispered, hoping no one heard that as Joe smiled.
"You're a good kid," Joe said after a moment. "You don't deserve that father." Winn gave a small smile at that.
This day was done. His mother murderer was finally going to be caught and Rae was right. He didn't feel any better, but at least he knew now.
-New Justice-
The next day Rae was at the Sanctuary, having just watched the big news headline of the Toymaker finally being apprehended due to his very own son.
Rae had to smile at Stopwatch for this victory; but even the victory of her friend was not taking her mind off her trip to Karry Universe - and it wasn't killing their Maxwell Lord that had her in a daydream. She had felt horrible yesterday, true, but she had been under another meta human's influence, angered by her previous encounters with a Maxwell Lord. She knew she shouldn't have taken it out on Karry Universe's version, but she'd had no choice at the time, and it wasn't like their Lord was squeaky-clean - even Karry themselves had told Rae not to worry about it, so she shouldn't be and she wasn't.
Besides, it was something else completely that was getting to her: Karry's Kara telling her she could always count on the multiverse. She knew it was her being nice but that completely countered what the speed force had told her to do. To not use the multiverse when she needed them the most.
She needed answers.
So that morning while Kara was just finishing off preparing for the events of the day she pulled her girlfriend aside giving Laurel and Arthur a wave. They were there, too. Laurel to help with the event and Arthur to just have fun.
"Kara," Rae called, having thought it through. "I'm heading to Alien... I will be back soon. Before the next event starts."
"Okay," Kara said, confused but did not guess to answer or know what to ask as Rae left.
She needed advice from a more experience speedster about something.
-Alien Earth-
"Incoming portal," Alien Earth's Winn read off the screen, confused and was shocked as Rae came out of a portal, nearly on top of him. "What? How…? Where's…?"
"The system can now open portals. Might want to mark off this spot," Rae said as Kara, Mon, and J'onn all looked over at her. "Where's your Flash?" Rae asked.
"At home," Kara answered.
Rae ran out at that, only to return a second later. "Where does he live?" Rae asked.
"Central City," Mon answered as Winn chuckled; Rae ran out again only to return only a few seconds later.
"Where's Central City?" Rae aske, again making all eyes look at her. "Central and National are one city separated by a river on my Earth," she explained.
"Oh, it's a couple of miles south," Winn said, pulling up a map on the computer, Rae frowning at it but knowing not all Earths were like hers with the two cities next to each other. Rae ran out, only to return yet again.
"Where in Central…?" Rae began.
"Oh, just lead her there!" J'onn yelled out, clearly annoyed at the interruptions.
"Will do," Winn said, connecting to Rae com.
-Alien Earth-
Jay and his son Malcolm were sitting in the kitchen when Rae entered the room through the wall, putting out the fire on her legs caused by not wearing her suit.
"Wha… Barry?" Rae questioned, pausing at the bearded version of her cousin.
"No," Malcolm complained. "Who are you?"
"Rae Garrick," Rae stated, looking the man over. "I could swear…"
"He's a clone of Earth-1 Barry," Jay explained, waving it off as Malcolm sighed. "Do you not have an outfit yet?"
"I lent it to Karry Kara for Halloween," Rae said taking a seat. "I need some advice." Rae told Jay.
"Of course," Jay said right away.
"I'll leave you two alone," Malcolm got up at that. "Nice to meet you," he nodded to Rae at this.
"You too… I think," Rae stated as Malcolm left.
"What's troubling you?" Jay asked Rae now.
"Have you ever been inside the speed force?" Rae asked.
"Yes, once," Jay said with a nod. "Have you?"
"Twice," Rae sad, holding up two fingers. "And after the last time… the speed force gave me some advice. It was weird and didn't make sense to me, but I am inclined to believe it, even though I don't want to. What I would like to know though is… is the speed force always right?"
"What was the advice?" Jay asked, and Rae looked away, not sure she wanted to tell him about the speed force not wanting Rae to lean on the multiverse for help – technically even this was breaking that rule, as she was asking someone from another world for advice. But the speedforce had only said for one event. Not for everything.
"Okay, then," Jay said, standing but getting it as he put a hand on Rae's shoulder. "But in that case, you're not going to like my answer. Because you know what's right. You know if the speed force told you it that it's important, you have to listen."
Rae nodded as Jay confirmed exactly what she thought. When the time came, she could not use the multiverse – and she hoped it made sense then. "Thank you," Rae said standing up herself, and hugging Jay. "I got to go. Kara's having this thing today."
"Rae," Jay said, stopping her. "I know I am not your father and your Uncle Henry took the spot, but if there's any time you need me… well I would be honored to be a surrogate father for you."
"I would like that," Rae said with a smile. She did feel a connection to this Jay after all. Rae ran out at that.
-Alien Earth-
Rae stopped inside the DEO once more.
"Okay, send me home," Rae said, hoping Winn had figured out the vibing side of the network.
"If you asked me that two minutes ago I'd have no clue, but now… well, this is awesome," Winn said with a smile. With no vibe on their world, they did not have a way to world hop before – now they did.
Rae smiled back, turning to Kara as she remembered something.
"Hey Kara, how's your… Legion going?" It took her a minute to remember the name they were using instead of Justice League.
"Good," Kara said. "We even have a sort-of base. We never let Guardian in though," she shared a look with Mon at that, but Rae didn't get the reference. "What's your hurry to get home? You can stay for a bit."
"I need to be at the Sanctuary. We're announcing the Kryptonian Wildlife Restaurant… which needs a better name." Rae said noticing the looks. "Wait do you guys not know about the Kryptonian Wildlife Sanctuary? Kryptonian animals alive under a red sunlight dome."
Kara and Mon looked at each other. "We need to see this," both said together after a moment.
"Anytime, come on over," Rae said. "Ready, Stopwatch?"
"Yeah – but I'm not a meta here," Winn smirked as a portal opened, sending Rae away before she could respond to this one. She had to get better at separating her world and League from that of other worlds, after all. It had been that which caused her to… well, what happened on Karry she wanted to stay on Karry.
"Rae?" Frankie's voice confused her as she exited the portal, only to find herself in a STAR Labs. She was momentarily disappointed it wasn't Karry's STAR Labs until she realized this had to be Prime.
"Oh Winn…" Rae sighed, but chuckled at the same time.
-New Justice-
"Sorry," Rae said as she got back into the Sanctuary. "Alien Earth's Winn messed up and sent me to Prime but they sent me back." That had been funny, landing in STAR Labs to find only their Cisco there – Kara was officially off-duty now, being pregnant, and Barry was out at that moment as the Flash with the two Kryptonian dogs. Vibe had sent her back this way though.
"It's fine, we're starting now," Kara dismissed. "Ready to be famous as Rae?"
"Ready for Cat to be mad I did not give her the head start here," Rae countered.
"Actually…" Kara said. "We sent CatCo a heads up for you." Rae kissed Kara cheek.
"Ah. Thank you," Rae said – she honestly had been concerned Cat could get annoyed she had not told her about this beforehand. She still loved her job with Cat, even if Penny Foster was making it hard, but this could have been a breach of contract with Cat. She didn't know if she'd go back to work to find out she had no job with Ms. Grant, but if Kara had done that and nothing negative had come back, it had to be okay. "I'll let you know how much this means to me later."
"So, what did you need to go to Alien for?" Kara asked, honestly curious now.
"I needed to ask my dad something," Rae said. "He let me know I am right." Kara waited for more explanation. "Soon there is going to be a time where we cannot use multiverse's help and when that time comes I need you to back me up. It's important. It's the speed force's advice."
"Okay," Kara said, trusting Rae regardless.
Post Chapter Note: I hope you enjoyed this Winn-centric chapter and the differences to the show there. Also, a hint to the Karry crossover from a while ago.
Karry Beta Note: As you guys know, since early September we've been running a Karry Challenge which drew to a close the other day. We only had five entries in the end but below is listed the winners and other categories. If interested, go seek out these stories as FanFiction won't let us directly link within a story. Thanks for the effort too, guys - only one less than Karry Master's Karry Challenge!
1st Place: 'A Little Comfort' by CallMeMiles
2nd Place: 'Half of You Means Nothing' by Stacey Rangel
3rd Place: 'Hope & Despair' by Nuraka
Most Unique: 'Two Bold Words' by Ben23ten
Best First Story: 'The Road' by Naruto 89
That's all. Please REVIEW.
Karry Master OUT!