March 4th 2016 Smallville Kansas 8:00 PM EDT

We were home, but we were home FIVE YEARS after we left. I stared down at my phone blankly. Out of curiosity I tried calling someone, and my eyes widened in shock as it went through. I hadn't had my perfect recall back when I got these phones for Zee and I, but it made sense phones made with my power would still be functional. This was the phone I got specifically to keep in touch with her without being tracked. The phone rang a few times, and then it picked up, a voice answering. "Gojo residence, how can I help you?"

My mind blanked. I...I couldn't remember the last time I'd heard moms voice. Putting aside the fact that apparently she and Gojo got fucking MARRIED while we were gone, it had been months even from my point of view. I swallowed. "Mom?" There was silence on the other end of the phone, not even breathing, she'd just...frozen. "Mom it's me. I'm back. I...I know we've been gone a while, but I didn't mean to go and I..." I choked a bit. I was crying. Fuck. I didn't want to cry, not in front of my girls, but...I'd missed my mom.

I heard her swallow. "Morgan...honey where have you been? We searched everywhere. Satoru went and looked for you himself, he basically scoured the whole planet. Craddock spoke to every single contact he had. Xanadu tried every magic she could think of, Blood even contacted actual demons looking for all of you. And Paula...oh gods Morgan is Artemis with you? Paula left after she vanished. I get letters from her sometimes. She and Craddock had a falling out after you vanished. Not that I blame her. He was your mentor, he was supposed to watch out for you."

My heart twisted. Gods, poor Jim. I hadn't even considered that he would be an adult coming back from a dangerous mission with three missing teens. I hoped he holed up on the island, because I was pretty sure Zatara and Kent would have been livid. "It's...a long story. Can you come get us? We're in some town in Kansas called Smallville. It's a few hours out from Metropolis from what we were told." DG had mentioned trips up to Metro a few times when we'd been traveling together.

She sniffed. "Of course! You stay right there. Give me the address I'll come get you right now." I looked around for the nearest...anything. I turned to Wally after spotting a farm in the distance. "Hey I'm getting us a ride but I need an address to give my mom. Can you zip over to that farm and get me one?" Wally knew my identity by now so knowing my mom was coming was no big, he wasn't the type to hurt a civilian. He nodded and zipped off, coming back to tell me the address, which I relayed to my mom. She said she loved me and hung up, clearly excited.

I turned back to the others. "So...lot's has been going on. I'm going to try Jim next." Luckily the island had a phone line. I somehow doubted that Jim and Reggie kept their sending stones in for half a decade. It rang twice before a tired female voice answered. "Hello." I blinked down at the phone. That was...Claire? Jesus, good for Jim, she'd been a total stunner. I was glad he hadn't just wallowed for the last five years after Paula apparently dumped him. Bet Reggie was all sorts of bitchy about that.

I cleared my throat. "Hey, Claire. Not sure if you remember me but I'm Morgan, I was-" She cut me off immediately, telling me to wait and screaming for Jim. Which I was pretty sure meant she DID remember me. To be fair she was obviously still living on my island, which was bound to make an impression. Still it had been FIVE YEARS, so I wasn't completely sure. As I waited for her to come back I took a calming breath.

I'd considered flying back to Gotham, but considering it was only a few years post invasion and I would have stuck out like a sore thumb flying us all I decided against it. I could have gotten some vehicle or something from my email, but honestly I was just...rattled. I needed some time. The was a rustle on the phone and a cultured voice came on. "Morgan?" I swallowed. My mentor sounded...ragged. Tired. Which was weird to hear from Jim. He was always so urbane and suave. These past five years must have been really hard for him.

I cleared my throat, clamping down on even more fucking tears, something about coming home really threatened to turn on the waterworks. "Hey boss. Glad to hear your voice. I was a little worried after I talked to mom. She didn't sound particularly happy with you." I tried to keep my voice light, but the thought of him dealing with half a decade of fallout from everyone involved was not pleasant to think about. "She's coming to pick us up now, we landed a bit out of the way and needed a ride."

There was a beat of silence. "Dear boy, I'm more than capable of dealing with a bit of infamy I assure you. It is...it's good to hear your voice lad. I'd have thought you dead myself after so long without contact if the island hadn't been functioning. Nimue assured me it would cease to function if the owner had died. The others are well? Artemis? Zatanna?" The relief in his voice was palpable, and it reminded me of nothing so much as the cold fury in his voice when he saved me from Lady Shiva all those months ago. Jim had always looked out for us in his own way.

I chuckled. "Fine, better than fine maybe. Both of them are demigods now if you can believe it. We brought a friend back with us too. Kid Flash made it back ok too, which I'm sure will make the League ecstatic. We'll come by after we catch up with mom to see you. Is Reggie there with you? I know his mom was on the line but then again Reggie is...what, twenty one now? So I figure he might have moved out."

He chuckled at that, some of that good old Gentleman Ghost sardonic humor leaking into his voice. "Oh he did. He and Miss Kane have gone their own way. I spent the years after you left training the boy. Becoming a master thief became an obsession of his. Once he felt he'd learned enough he branched out into independent work. Or pairs rather. The two of them have become quite infamous. They've been going by Deja and Vu. He's gotten quite handy with that power you gave him."

I snickered at that. Their names were certainly Reggie's style. "Alright boss I'm gonna go. It was good to hear from you, we'll be back by the island soon to look around so make sure not to leave your ghost boxers all over my map table or something." He chuckled softly and said goodbye, hanging up the phone. I turned to the others. "Wally, what's your plan here? You going home now? You could probably run there in a few minutes. No need to stick around for a ride when you can outrun a Ferrari."

He bit his lip. "I...I don't think so. Not yet. I've been gone a long time, longer than I expected, and that was already pretty long to me. Things are going to be a lot different. I'll stick with you guys for the moment, at least until I get a handle on things. I've been missing for half a decade, another few hours won't hurt anyone, and I don't know if I'm ready to deal with my friends or family right now. Not after...all this."

I nodded sympathetically. It was going to be weird getting used to this. Coming back after months would have been bad enough, but this? I had some serious adjusting to do. We all did. Dreamer stepped up next to me and took my hand, Zee taking the other as Artemis leaned in to hug her boyfriend. It was strange, but in a very real way we were all we had now. None of the people we knew were the way we left them, and we'd all changed on our trip, so we weren't the way they left us either, the time shift just made that even harder to deal with.

We sat like that for about an only movement to walk over to the farm we'd given mom the address to. Otherwise we just...stood there. Just kind of processing all this, until a sturdy town car pulled down the road in the distance and made its way over to where we were waiting. The pulled up and the second it stopped moving my mom was out of the drivers side and on me, wrapping me in the tightest hug I could imagine a mortal giving. I hugged her back, inhaling that familiar smell of home I hadn't smelled in months.

She was sobbing into my chest, though I managed to hold off on the waterworks after my earlier bout of emotion. I pulled her close and just held her as she bawled out an apology, a reprimand, a thank you, and a guilt trip all in one massive jumble of words. I just held her, happy to be home. She pulled back and stared up at me. "Look at you. You've barely aged a day. Are you still sixteen?" I blinked. we'd missed five years but it was the same day relative to what we experienced somehow, so...

Huh. "Yeah. For another...what is it? Three months? Wow. And Zee doesn't have her birthday for another two." Artemis had turned sixteen in November and told no one, and I hadn't asked Wally when his was. Still it was weird to technically be the same age as I was when I got my power still. My mom pulled back and turned to take in Zee and Artemis stepping up to yank them both into a hug, with Wally coming soon after. He looked a bit panicked but mom had met him at that dinner at our place with Artemis's mom and that was enough for her.

She turned to look at Dreamer, who had been holding Zee's hand, and raised an eyebrow, but she was too happy to see me to make a fuss so she just gave our girlfriend a welcoming smile and held out a hand. "I'm Marie Gojo, Morgan's mother." Again with the last name. It was a total mindfuck. She must have realized that because she glanced up to see me as soon as she said it, smiling wryly. "You missed a few things, but luckily I can catch you up on most of the important ones right now." She turned and walked around the car, opening the back seat and reaching in to pull out...a fucking toddler.

The little girl she was holding had Gojo's insane blue starburst eyes and mom's red hair. She propped her up on her hip. "About a year after you vanished I got pregnant. I honestly don't know how I would have made it the last five years without Satoru or Hana. Satoru and I got married after I found out about the baby. He might come off casual but he was very insistent on making an honest woman of me once he found out." She held the little girl with vaguely asian features and red hair out to me with a smile. "Morgan, this is Hana Morgan Gojo, we chose her middle name for you. She's your little sister." As I reached out and took that little girl, who giggled at me and hid her face, it occurred to me that not all the things that had happened while I was gone would be bad. This surprise was actually a pretty nice one.

March 4th 2016 Gojo Penthouse 10:00 PM EDT

I had to fight my girlfriends to hold my little sister on the way back to the city. She fell asleep pretty quickly anyway though, so when I handed her to a cooing Zee I didn't feel the need to complain. I just sat back in the car and let myself finally relax. I'd been in a state of near constant tension since we went through the portal. Aside from brief moments after sex, even when I was relaxed I was still partly on guard against...everything.

Being home though, being in my moms car with my girls and my friends, letting my head loll back against the headrest and my muscles just decompress as I took in the familiar yet somehow alien smell was a level of relaxed I'd forgotten I could achieve. Which was how I managed to fall asleep, only to shaken awake two hours later by my mother as she smiled down softly at me. "Rise and shine baby boy, we're home." It felt so...nostalgic. Being woken up like that. The whole trip had been more surreal than fighting bug monsters on a god planet.

We all climbed out of the car and funneled upstairs. It was weird seeing the penthouse again. The place was pretty calm compared to my last sight of it on lockdown during the Amazon War. The front desk had been redone, and there was a youngish man in a red uniform who nodded at mom as we walked by. "Evening Miss Gojo, good I see the little one fell asleep before you got her home again?"

Mom chuckled. "You know how she is Ralph, almost as lazy as her daddy. I swear I'm lucky she bothers to wake up in the morning. I live in fear of her going to school in a year or two. Getting her up for class is going to be an uphill battle, and Satoru is no help. One look at those big blue eyes and he caves like the big softy he is." She smiled down at Hana, pressing a kiss to the little girl's head of red hair.

Ralph the doorman grinned and waved us through, wishing us a good night. Hana, of course, slept through the whole thing. I really could see how she was like Gojo. Sleeping through a big fuss seemed like the kind of thing the wacky man would have done when I last saw he. We mounted the elevator and mom pressed the button for the penthouse. When we stepped off we headed down the hall, but the door wasn't where I last saw it.

I turned to quirk an eyebrow at my mother and she smiled, rolling her eyes at her forgetfulness. "Right, sorry. When Paula left she handed over the deed to their penthouse to me. I kept it for a while, hoping she would come back, but when I got the tenth letter or so I decided to have it opened up and combined with our place. Craddock..." Her lips thinned. "He sent money, said it was yours and that you would want us to have it. I turned it down for a while, but with the baby on the way..."

I swallowed and stepped up to pull her into a hug. "It's fine Ma. I'm pretty sure it was stuff I had lying around, and he was right, I would have wanted you to have it." I exhaled heavily. "Anyway, if there was some redecorating you'll have show me around." She unlocked the door. Letting us into the penthouse and calling for Gojo, clearly trusting my new sister's ability to sleep through anything as she shouter into the condo. I smiled at her. "So is my room still..."

She beamed at me. "Of course! We didn't touch anything. There wasn't too much in there, since you slept on the island most days towards the end, but we never moved a thing." Gojo came strolling into view, dressed in an awful hawaiian shirt and white bermuda shorts. I wondered if he changed for company or if he just dressed like a good will explosion all the time still.

He still had his sunglasses on covering his eyes, but they were just as expressive as ever, and when he saw us he swept forward...ignoring all of us completely as he swept his daughter into his arms. "My little princess!" He swung the sleeping toddler gently in a circle, pulling her close. "Did you fall asleep again? Poor thing. Your six eye is coming in isn't it? I know how draining it can be. We'll have to get you some glasses or a blindfold. I remember I slept all the time when I first got mine." He nodded to the rest of us. "You're all terribly late for dinner."

I couldn't help it. I busted up laughing. Gojo gave a self satisfied smirk as he turned to carry Hana back inside and my mother rolled her eyes, but I could see the joy and pride in them as she escorted us to the kitchen. We followed her into through into the dining room and she made us all sit down as she went about making us something to eat. I had food in my spatial ring, but it wasn't moms food. I just shut up and let her bring us something, smiling happily as I took a slow bite.

It tasted...like home. Better than the royal chefs back in the OZ made at the lakehouse. Better than old Stanga's stew. Better than my own cooking or anything else I'd had in a long time. The others were getting swept up int he atmosphere too, and their auras all looked content and peaceful. As we ate my mother say down and smiled at us. "Now. If you're open to talking about it maybe you could tell me where you ended up? Seems like it was much less time wherever that was than it was here."

Gojo, who had also gotten a plate of the reheated lasagna mom made for us, chimed in before I could answer. "They left this dimension. Not to another reality like I'm from...somewhere closer...but farther away? They look weird now. Interesting, but weird." I blinked. I knew Gojo's perception was above the normal, but I hadn't expected it to be THAT sharp. He pointed at me. "Especially you. You seem...similar to me. In some ways. Hard to describe it. Larger? Like conceptually."

That sounded a lot like what Del had talked about before, but I really didn't want to open that can of worms just yet. I just smiled at mom and started telling her about our adventures. Seeing her eyes light up when we told her about Supertown and the OZ was wonderful. By silent consensus we left out all the really bad stuff, glossing over the horror and highlighting the amazing things we'd seen. She particularly like our adventures in the Wozenderlands, because she'd always loved the Wizard of Oz.

Then it was our turn to ask her about what happened. "So that was what went down on our end. What about Gotham? What the hell happened when we left. We were at war and in the middle of a supernatural disaster and now the city looks...well like a dystopian shithole, but pretty much the same dystopian shithole I remember growing up." Artemis snorted at that, but no one argued, it was hard to dispute reality.

Mom shrugged. "Business as usual. Your father came by to see me after you vanished. He held a funeral service for you, had a casket interred in the Falcone family crypt. Told me how sorry he was. I didn't want to hear it. I never believed you were really gone. He and Craddock haven't been on speaking terms since you vanished. Reggie comes by once in a while to see me. Keeps me updated on things around town. He and Bette usually come over for dinner once a week. She is a delightful young lady."

She smiled approvingly at the thought of the blonde socialite. "Satoru would take trips to look for you every once in a while. Kent went with him a few times. He came by to give me his condolences and we struck up something of a friendship." She gave Zee a sad look. "He loved you very much. He passed in his sleep two years ago. I'll miss him dearly. He was such a kind man." Zee choked, her eyes filling with tears as she learned one of the only parental figures she had had died and she wasn't even here to say goodbye.

She swallowed hard, taking a minute to calm down. "And...my father? I don't suppose you know what happened to him?" I somehow doubted the old man had been cordial and friendly to the mother of the criminal scumbag who seduced his baby girl to her death. I doubted he'd been able to do shit to mom with Gojo around, the man was fucking terrifying, but if he'd made my absence worse on here I was going to have words with him.

My mother shook her head. "I only met him once, at Kent's funeral. He avoided me. I haven't seen anything about him on the news in a few years but..." She hesitated. "Doctor Fate appeared right after the funeral. I know that Kent used to be the bearer of that helmet. I think that your father decided to...go full time as a hero." Translation, Giovanni had been suicidal and sold his soul to a literal tin pot dictator to try and get the most out of his remaining years.

Zee closed her eyes, tears falling down her cheeks silently. I reached out to take her hand. "Hey, it's fine baby. He's alive and I'm sure he's fine in there. We just have to go wake him up." Dreamer took her other hand and my mother raised an eyebrow but chose not to comment. I cleared my throat. "Anyway we're exhausted. You mind if we turn in for the night? We can have breakfast together and talk more in the morning before we head into the city to check things out."

My mom gave us a soft smile. "Of course, take her upstairs and get her settled. You two can stay in your room." She gave me a hesitant look, then flicked one to Zee. I could see she wanted to tell me to leave the door open, but she didn't know how to act in this situation and neither did I. Still I doubted anyone was in the mood for sex anyway, so I didn't have any problems leaving the door cracked for her peace of mind.

There was however, another piece of news that might bother her. I pulled Zee up to her feet and gestured to Dreamer. "Um...three of us actually. But I'll leave the door open so don't worry." Despite having been a bit suspicious based on her aura her eyes widened in surprise as I said that, and I grabbed both girls hands and fled up the steps. I heard Artemis cackling from the bottom of the steps as I shouted back. "Love you mom night!"

Even Zee's lips were twitching as we got to my room, and as I said I cracked the door before taking off my shoes shirt and pants. Sleeping in my boxers wasn't sexual to me, nor to Zee or Dreamer, so they just stripped to their underwear and climbed in. Dreamer went in first, then Zee, and me last. When we were settled I pulled my sorceress against me as Dreamer held us both, and we sat there with her as she began to sob. I wished I could make it better for her, but this strange new version of home most likely wasn't done throwing gut punches. All I could do was let her cling to me and cry.

March 5th 2016 Gojo Penthouse 10:00 AM EDT

It took Zee a few hours to fall asleep. She cried for Kent, for her father, for the things we lost when we were ripped away from home and dropped back in this strange parody of where we came from. Dreamer and I held her, and our goddess sang to her as she wept. Dreamer had a lovely voice. I hadn't known that. We fell asleep cuddled around her, giving her warmth and support as best we could. When your mother dies young and you only have a few people in your life, every loss is that much harder. Losing Kent was devastating to Zee.

The catharsis seemed to help though, despite not being exactly chipper the next morning she certainly seemed better at least. Crying herself our had released a lot of tension. When we got up and got something to eat she was still quiet but not as overtly sad. Her aura was still deeply torn up with grief, but she was starting to heal, which was a relief. Once we got downstairs, we sat down at the table and mom made scrambled eggs and cheese for us while we talked about where exactly we were going to go for our first day back.

Naturally we all had our own ideas. "I want to check out the island. We've been gone for ages, I want to make sure it's all in order." Not to mention I wanted to check on Jim, but I didn't want to bring him up in front of mom, who was obviously incredibly angry at mentor still for allowing me to vanish. I hoped they would get past that but there was no way to know when or even if that would happen.

Zee looked uncertain. "I really want to go see my dad, but we don't know exactly where he is. Maybe someone at the League would know." She looked at Wally. "Are you ready to get back in touch with your team? I know you were worried about how much things have changed." She purposefully didn't mention his upcoming moral dilemma about what to do about us and the League.

Still, he bit his lip. "I...yeah. I can reach out. If I go home I can get in touch with...the Flash. He'll know where your dad is for sure." I was pretty sure his dad or someone close to him was the Flash based on the hesitation, but it wasn't really my business either way. He turned to Artemis. "Are you ok coming with me? I...I don't know what to say to them. What do you tell your parents when you vanish for half a decade at sixteen and come back the same age?" She reached out and took his hand, giving it a firm squeeze.

That...might not be a great idea. I doubted they had word out to look for us, given we were supposedly dead, but mom said Kent had come here to pay his respects. Which meant the League knew us. Still, I wasn't going to be able to talk her out of it. I cleared my throat. "I don't think that's the best idea man. If our identities are out then the League might get wind of her being there."

His face fell. But Zee cut in. "How about we divide and conquer. I'll go with Wally to his parents place, since he's going to be asking about daddy anyway. Arty, you can go with Morgan and Dreamer to check in on Jim." I could see how nervous she was to find out more about her dad, and I was just as anxious to see my mentor. I gave her a reassuring smile, which she responded to with a soft curve of her own lips.

We eventually ended up agreeing on all of that, and we split up, Artemis, Dreamer, and I heading to the island. We'd never set up a teleportation pad at moms place, opting to get a better spread since she was safe with Gojo. Which left the one at the Clock Tower and the one at Gotham Academy. The Clock Tower was closer so we headed for that, hopping a bus so we would have time to think. I sat down next to Dreamer and Artemis, watching the familiar buildings go by. "So do you think she's going to be ok?" I looked at Artemis. "Hell, are you?"

She shrugged, her aura anything but the peaceful facade she was putting on. "I'm fine, my mom is ok. So she's with Jade now, big whoop. Kind of glad she's not banging Jim anymore, to be honest, but I'm not super jazzed he's been getting the blame for us being gone. As for Zee...I don't know Morgan. You know how few people she really lets herself get attached to. Kent was there before any of us. Plus with her dad stuck in the helmet too...I think it's going to be a hard road to recovery. What about you, princess? You have any insight into Zee's mental state?" She looked at Dreamer, raising an eyebrow in question.

Dreamer just sighed, shaking her head. "I do not know. Losing a parent is a powerful thing, from our talks, her Uncle Kent very much filled that role for Zatanna, in a way her biological father was too damaged to manage. Her time with him was brief, but she was truly happy there for the first time in her life. I suspect that very nostalgia will make this a difficult hurdle for her to move past." She looked sad and lost, and I realized I'd taken for granted how much listening to all our problems must weigh on Dreamer.

I reached out and squeezed her hand, letting her lapse back into silence before returning my attention to my best friend. "Now, how about we try your answer about yourself again, but this time remember that I can see your emotions." She let out an annoyed huff but eventually it turned into a smile.

She shook her head. "It's weird being back here after all this you know? Like I think about how long we were gone and it feels like forever, but then I compare to how long we were ACTUALLY gone and its an eye blink, and I have no idea how to feel about it. Not to mention we're back, and Wally is going to have to pick between me and the League." She paused. "Well, I mean I'M not going to make him choose. But you know they are. I still don't know what he's going to decided and that scares me."

I snorted. "Please, that boy thinks the sun shines out of your ass. With this whole time jump thing I doubt he's going to feel at home in his own life anymore. More than likely he's going to be relying on us for a sense of normality. Besides, they probably can't tie us to many crimes anyway, it's not like we left calling cards. Hell, what's the statute of limitations on burglary, we might not even be criminals anymore."

She blinked. "it's...holy shit. Misdemeanors are two years, felonies are five. We..." She burst out laughing. "Oh gods, we're not criminals anymore. Anything they could have even pinned on us has expired." I snorted, which set her off, and we both dissolved into gales of laughter. We'd spent so long worrying about dealing with the League when we got back and now...we didn't have to. I mean we could go back into the business, but even then a new identity would completely scrub us, and even if they guessed it was us, without proof our civilian ID's were bulletproof.

I had a brief but satisfying fantasy of finding Robin and openly taunting him until he pulled his hair out, but I decided that it might not have the same impact after so much time. It was annoying to think about but I'd been a brief rivalry of his years ago. Just because it was more recent for me didn't mean he would still care. I slumped back against the seat of the bus, this was...a big deal. We had to have a meeting about what the hell we were going to do. I'd spent a few dozen points getting us burners this morning after my power topped up, so I pulled mine out and texted Zee the news.

She took a minute to respond before telling me to hold on and checking online before she called me. "How the fuck did none of us consider that? That's amazing. The League can't touch any of us now." There was a brief pause as someone asked her a question and then Artemis's phone rang. She picked up with a giggle responding to her frantic boyfriend as I listened to my sorceress crow about how we were in the clear. It was a great feeling, being civilians again, one I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to throw away.

We got off the phone as we finally arrived at the Clock Tower, or rather, the bus stop closest to it, we climbed off and made our way in. The wards were still functional, which was a good sign, and we headed up through the place for the teleportation pad. I took a few steps up a set of stairs when suddenly...my reflexes kicked in as was teleported against my will...into a chair. I was sitting across the table from a clean cut man with short blonde hair and bright green eyes. He was staring intently.

It was the aura that gave it away though. I blinked at the man, and early twenties version of a friend I hadn't seen in months who was staring at me like I was...well, a ghost. But like a full ghost. I smirked at him, raising an eyebrow. "Still a little slow with quips huh Reggie?" I looked him up and down. "I did the whole clean cut dandy look man, decided to follow in Jim's footsteps huh?"

A loud snort sounded from behind me and I turned around to see a drop dead gorgeous blonde in her twenties. "He better fucking not. That good for nothing womanizer will regret it if he rubs off on my man." It took me almost no time to recognize Bette, even after years. Aura aside just being here with Reggie gave it away. She gave me a wide smile. "I never thought I'd see you again Morgan, and still all baby faced. You must tell me where you buy your moisturizer." Artemis, who had come charging up the steps behind me, came to a stop as she saw the other girl, who nodded at her with a smile.

Reggie stood up, walked over to me, and grabbed me up into a tight hug. "Jesus Morgan, you scared me senseless. Look at you, you haven't changed a day." His voice was thick with shock and amazement, and I squeezed him back, careful not to shatter him like glass. I'd gotten used to interacting with humans again in the OZ so it wasn't a huge effort not to squeeze too hard. He laughed and pulled back. "Good to see you both. And you too...weird busty stranger who just walked into my house." He yelped as Bette smacked the back of his head. "What, like you weren't thinking it? They're huge!"

I cackled at his word vomit. Reggie might have grown up and become some badass master thief, but he was still my friend, the talky idiot who didn't know how to keep his mouth shut. I had to admit I'd been worried, but it looked like some things at least had stayed the same. He rubbed his head, glaring at his girlfriend, before turning back to us. "Well since you seem surprised to see us, I assume you're here for the teleporter." He gestured behind him. "Come on then, I'll come with, I haven't been home in a few days."

March 5th 2016 Doomhallow Hall 11:00 AM EDT

Stepping back onto the island after so many months away was...weird. I felt my connection with the place snap back into reality. I felt the orb that linked me to the island reestablish connection to the island and I was able to conjure the thing into my hand again. The familiar weight of the glowing purple sphere was just wonderful. I sighed with relief as I saw the base screen come up, grinning at the interface I hadn't see in years.

I resisted the urge to play with the screen with the twenty thousand I currently had on me, dismissing the orb as I looked around for my mentor. I saw Jim stroll into the room and swept forward as soon as I spotted him, yanking him up into a tight hug. I laughed as I scooped him up. "Jim! It's so good to see you. Thanks for looking out for my mom as best you could while I was gone. She told me you sent money." Even with my perfect memory I didn't focus on everything all the time, and I'd almost lost track of the fact that I asked him to do that.

He chuckled hoarsely as I set him down. "It's good to see you Morgan, truly." His head turned slightly." And you as well Artemis. Please, come in." He froze. "I suppose inviting you into your own home is a bit absurd isn't it. You made this place." I smirked at him, following him into the map room. The black marble of the hallways with its white veins was the same as ever, with the harsh light of the white flames in the black wall sconces casting my mentor in eerie relief. Which to be fair made sense, since he was lighterally a ghost.

We sat down at the table in the map room and Claire came bursting in. "Morgan!" She stepped up to give me a tight hug. "It's so good to see you dear, and I see you brought my layabout son with you." She raised an eyebrow at Reggie, who looked sheepish, probably from not visiting. She then turned to the blonde who had come in with Reggie, favoring her with a bright smile. "Elizabeth! It's so wonderful to see you!" She let go of me, pulling Bette into a hug next, and ignoring Reggie who was now fuming at being left out of the proceedings.

Chuckling at my friend's antics as Artemis got a hug from Claire, I turned to my mentor again with a smile. "So boss. Wanted to check in. I've heard things have been tough for you since we got sucked into that portal." My smile dropped. "I...I'm sorry Jim. For leaving you behind like that without considering what it would mean for you. For all of you. I just...I saw them go in and I reacted. I was stupid and impulsive, and while I can't say I'd do things differently if I could do it again, I feel bad that things worked out how they did."

Jim's monocle was trained dead on at my face, and after a minute, he started chuckling, then laughing, then broke down into cackles. It took him minutes to stop laughing. "Morgan, my poor, sweet, stupid apprentice. I never blamed you for that. Never blamed you for anything. I was supposed to protect you. I saw your growth and how easily you handled yourself against all threats and I made the foolish mistake of assuming you were a peer with no more to learn. I treated you like a partner instead of a mentor, and it was far too soon for that. I failed you."

I flinched back at the self loathing in his voice. "Whoa there, hold the fucking phone. You did NOT fail me. You taught me the skills and techniques that I used to acquire all that power. Your training has saved my life more than once. You think you could be expected to know how to react to the weirdness that is my ability? A unique ability even I can barely keep up with? That's...stupid. You're being stupid. Get over yourself and pull your head out of your spectral ass."

Claire dissolved into giggles. The monocle turned and she shot back a challenging smirk. "Sorry Jimmy, but the kid has a point. I've told you for years this pity party was pointless. But with the League targeting you whenever possible and all the parents blaming you it was natural you would be upset. Now they're back though, and it's time to stop sulking and be a grown up ghost."

Now it was my turn to burst out laughing. I grinned at her. "You really call him on his shit huh? I approve. I'm glad he had someone like you to look after him. One downside to his insufferably big head is that he thinks he can do anything. I imagine being proven wrong on that front didn't help his self esteem." I looked around. "So, with Jim's ass clear of head shaped obstructions why don't you fill me on on all the locals. Where were the people living here?" It hadn't just been Claire and Callie here, we'd had other tenants too.

Claire smiled widely. "Arthur still lives here. He likes to work as a groundskeeper. His daughter, Stephanie, has actually been apprenticing under Jimmy." Jim cleared his throat, and she rolled her eyes. "Sorry, Jimmy doesn't take apprentices anymore, he's been 'showing her a few tricks'." She made air quotes with her fingers as she spoke. Clearly having had this argument more than once. "Other than the two of them, it's just us." Her smile wilted slightly. "Since Paula left."

Jim reached out to take her hand. "It's alright love. I'm sure with Artemis home she'll be back any day now. She was never angry at you anyway. She was always angry at me." He turned to us. "Claire and Paula had become good friends in the time they spent on the island. They've kept in touch, but Paula's refusal to come back has been something of a sore spot for her for some time." Artemis for her part remained silent, clearly still overwhelmed by all of this.

I offered them a smile, curious how Jim got his lovers to get along so well. I'd been lucky with Dreamer and Zee, but the thought of trying to introduce anyone else to that dynamic was terrifying, and I was pretty sure Jim had like eight girlfriends at one point, all aware of each other. That wasn't my business though, so I changed the topic to something I'd been much more worried about. "So. She mentioned the League was giving you trouble?"

His shoulder slumped. "Not exactly. It's more that they've stopped dismissing me as a threat. Outside of preplanned thefts I mainly spend my time on the island these days. When I go out too often I tend to catch attention. The Flash was mainly too kind to outright target me, but Batman took the disappearance of Kid Flash rather personally. He's simple enough to avoid, but he's extremely irritating to have looking over your shoulder after the fact. His reputation as the world's greatest detective is not unearned."

I winced at that. "Well Kid Flash is contacting his family and the League along with Zatanna. She was hoping to find out more about what happened with her father. Do you know anything about that?" I was guessing if Batman had started shit, Giovanni hadn't left my mentor to his own devices. Not with their existing rivalry. I'd have been shocked if he didn't blame Jim for Zee vanishing.

There was genuine sadness and regret in his voice when he answered. "Giovanni...he couldn't take it anymore. Losing his wife broke him, he dedicated himself to his heroics, but losing his daughter...he was done. He came after me once, he was drunk. I didn't have the heart to hurt him overly much, I just subdued him and dumped him on the porch of

Shadowcrest. After a few months of drinking and grieving he just gave up. Offered himself to the helmet. Said he wanted to protect the world in her honor but that he couldn't bring himself to continue. Kent told me about it after the fact."

I'd been afraid it had been something like that. Zee would be devastated, but I wasn't surprised. In retrospect Giovanni had been a barely functional shell of a person even before we left. It was why he clung to his daughter so tightly. "So, Dr. Fake is running around full time then. Has he been making trouble for you too?" I'd never liked the spirit in the helmet, based on what I'd been told at least. Dictators who insist on order often do a whole bunch of damage without caring too much about who gets hurt.

He laughed at that. "Gods no. Nabu is a self obsessed ego-maniac. He doesn't care about petty grudges, or about theft, unless it happens to him. Just his precious 'order' and 'maintaining the balance' I stay out of his way and he stays out of mine. He has world ending magic problems to deal with and gloating to do. I haven't even run across him more than maybe once or twice in the last few years, even at the Oblivion Bar." He paused. "But I don't blame him...the world has gotten...darker. Thing's are more bleak now than they've ever been, and it's hard to say exactly why."

Claire nodded. "It's true. The secretary general of the UN was just leaked as an alien, partially because another alien showed up hunting him. Though not all aliens are bad. " She smiled widely. "There's a friendly species that landed recently called 'The Reach'. They've been going out of their way to put everyone at ease and have even started integrating with our culture." She giggled. "Hell, they even released a new soft drink. I've tried it myself, it's pretty good. Though naming at after themselves seems a bit egotistical to me still."

See, that would have been weird to me, I would have been interested but moved on, however, while we'd all sat down, Dreamer, who I realized I'd forgotten to introduce, had been standing off to one side not wanting to intrude. She was in view enough for me to see her aura, and to watch it light the fuck up light a neon red billboard as soon as she heard the term The Reach. Considering my girlfriend was a universe traveling adventurer who had been all over both this reality and many adjacent ones, I took that as a very bad sign.

I decided however, that it could wait. For now we were catching up with loved ones, and I'd been kind of rude. I stood up and walked around the table, putting my arm around Dreamer. "Ah sorry, I got so excited to see Jim I forgot to do proper introductions. This is Dreamer, she's my and Zatanna's girlfriend." Reggie raised an eyebrow at that, and I realized I hadn't told him yet, Better looked suspicious I was on the up and up, and possibly worried I'd convert her boyfriend to polyamory, and Jim shot me a subtle thumbs up under the table that made me choke down a laugh.

Artemis, finally working past the issues she was dealing with butted in, taking some of the pressure off. "Enough about that. I want the juicy details from when we were gone. We're apparently civilians now because of the statute of limitations but that doesn't mean we lost all out passion for the job! Come on Jim, spill! What have you stolen while we've been away?" I snicked and pulled dreamer to sit down as we settled in to listen to my mentor. We would deal with everything else later, for now, we just needed to spend time with our loved ones. Once we left though...well I wanted to hear what Dreamer knew about "The Reach".

March 5th 2016 Gojo Penthouse 5:00 PM EDT

I waited until Zee got back to the penthouse before I questioned Dreamer about The Reach. Before we did that though we told Zee what Jim said about her dad and asked what she'd learned. She shrugged. "I tried to get in touch with him but I couldn't manage. He apparently moves around pretty often. They said they would pass on the meeting request next time he shows up at their base but I'm not holding my breath." She frowned sadly. "I don't there's anything much of daddy walking around in his body right now."

I put an arm around her, pulling her close, and Dreamer snuggled in on the other side. We let her just kind of decompress for a bit, but finally I had to ask Dreamer about what happened on the island. "So. The Reach. The friendly aliens with the sports drink the Claire was gushing about, you know them, or of them. I saw your aura react when she mentioned them. Are they going to be a problem?"

She looked up, lips twisting uncertainly. "I...I don't know. Maybe? I don't know much, we never met them, but I heard about The Reach on my travels. They're...big. They tend to make an impression wherever they go. I can tell you what I know about them, but I can't be sure it's the same people. Alien languages can be complicated, it's possible it just translates to English the same way. They certainly don't sound like the reach I know of." She seemed hesitant to speak up, which worried me. We'd met some bad shit. If she was this worried and this hopeful it was a mistake they must be bad.

I reached out to clasp her hand where she held Zee's. "Dreamer. We aren't going to declare war on them right this second. We just want to know what you've heard. We can do some recon and look around to see if they're a threat, but if The Reach are that bad we need all the advanced intel we can get on them. Nothing we would act on without verifying, so you don't have to worry about us assaulting some innocent friendly aliens."

She swallowed, biting her lip uncertainly. "Ok. It's not that I don't trust you all, I just worry about casting aspersions on the innocent. But you're right. This is an important subject and as long as we verify sharing information is nothing nefarious. The Reach, as I've heard of them, are...conquerors. They are a war machine that spans almost half of the known universe, consuming planets to add to their hoard like a dragon snatches treasure."

I flinched. That sounded...bad. She kept going, staring off into the distance as she focused on her memories. "The reach are known for the use of a sort of sentient armor system called scarabs. They take the form of a back mounted capsule in the shape of a scarab when not active. There are a variety of colors, though I don't know them off hand, just that the places we visited that were in the path of the reach lived in fear of their scarab warriors. If it is the same force, their presence on earth is...unsettling."

That was unsettling, especially since she sounded genuinely worried about these scarabs, which meant whatever she'd heard put them at a level to threaten us directly. Considering I was a ghost devil who pretty much couldn't die, and she was a LITERAL goddess, that was pretty much the opposite of reassuring. I turned to Zee. "You down for some recon? No thieving this time. I don't want to blow this whole civilian thing, but I think wherever they make that sports drink might be worth checking out."

She smiled fondly at me. "Which is to say you think I could use distracting and you know I like helping people. You're going to go full hero if you keep going at this rate." I grimaced at that. Dealing with robin had given me a distaste for heroes honestly, and even without it I was more true neutral than lawful good. My moral compass pointed right at me and my friends and family, north or south were basically irrelevant. I was trying to avoid south as best I could recently, but that didn't mean I wanted to be a cape wearing goody goody.

Dreamer saw the look on my face and burst into giggles. I glared at her and she held up her hands placatingly. "I'm sorry. But you look like a very wet cat. I don't think I've ever seen you pout before, it is...what was the word you used to describe my milk tea habit?" She grinned evilly. "Oh yes...adorable." I gasped in faux outrage, lunging across Zatanna to tackle her playfully onto the bed, pinning her down to be tickled. Zee swooped in besides me, fingers flying up and down our goddess's rib cage.

Dreamer screamed with laughter, trying to escape. "Stop! Please I surrender, you aren't adorable, you're a stoic and brooding hunk of man, just stop tickling me!" We tormented her for about five minutes, the entire room full of giggles from both girls and laughter from me. Finally we got tired and all slumped down to cuddle up in bed. Dreamer leaned up to press a kiss to my lips, then one to Zee's.

Zee smiled softly as she snuggled against us. "Thank you. Both of you. I know you're trying your hardest to help me through all this. It's a lot to put on you, on anyone, and it means more than I can say." I just kissed her quietly in response, and the three of us drifted off into a nap, lulled to sleep by warmth and closeness and the sound of each other's breathing.

I woke up five hours later, according to me bedside clock, to Zee shaking me awake. I grumbled and I heard her giggle. "Come on baby, time to get up. We've got a factory to break into." That jolted me awake and she smirked at me. "You didn't think I'd forget because we took a cat nap? Would have been too early to go at five anyway. I know you do your best work in the dark." She shot me a wink and I laughed, sitting up and shaking Dreamer awake as I did. She took in what we were doing and frowned in confusion. I left Zee to catch her up as I got up to get dressed.

I slipped into the shower, cleaning up as I considered what brought us here. We were at my moms place again. The island didn't seem like home anymore with Jim and Claire living there. It was an important place to me, but I felt like a stranger there. Plus, after being gone so long it was just nice to be near mom, and with Hana around now I kind of wanted to get to know my little sister. Because of this we were going to do our snooping out of mask. We would be busted for trespassing if we got caught, but it was safer than activating our old aliases since we could get screwed out of our statute of limitations defense if they decided we'd been secretly active the whole time.

Once I got out and got dressed Zee, who had been doing research on this place since she woke up an hour before us teleported us there without much delay. As we stood on the hill overlooking the huge factory, I stared down at it, me aura sense sweeping the place, looking for anything remotely useful...like a powerful alien aura or something like that. Sadly I saw absolutely nothing suspicious. I considered sending in clones, I had a few hundred points left from my daily upkeep without even dropping below twenty thousand.

Instead, I turned to the girls. "I've discovered a glaring flaw in our plan to investigate the reach." They both looked at me questioningly as I scratched my head. "Do either of you know how to investigate things?" Zee facepalmed as Dreamer stared at me in shock. I shrugged. "In my defense, aura vision usually does what I need, and detective mode is perfect for tracking, but we're infiltrating a chemical production facility, and I don't know anything about chemicals. From aura sight I can tell there's no obvious bad guys in there either."

I could theoretically learn that information at warp speed with my power, but this didn't seem like an optimal place for that. We did, however, already know a chemist. Zee came to that same conclusion as she pulled out her phone, rolling her eyes. "Hey, Arty? You and Wally busy? We're doing some recon on a potential hostile alien incursion and my boyfriend the genius didn't bring anyone with any idea what we were looking for." She gave her the rundown on what was happening and then address and hung up. I sulked.

Artemis and Wally arrived five minutes later, also in civilian gear. Artemis glared at me. "You didn't think I'd want to be invited on the alien recon mission?" She kicked me in the shin, and I yelped to be a good sport despite it hurting not even a little. She looked pleased and then turned to her boyfriend. "Now, what are we looking for babe? Do you need like...a microscope to...micro things inside."

I snickered at Artemis being just as scientifically dense as I was. Among my MANY areas of study to be a thief, chemistry was not one of them. Jim always said ninety percent of chemists fail or only manage to make a slight variation on something else, and the rare incredibly valuable chemicals that got produced could be stolen even if you didn't know how to make them. Personally I was under the impression he was just a huge snob about magic being better than science, but I didn't want to argue myself into more homework.

Wally shook his head. "No." He patted his pocket. "When Artemis told me what was going on I snagged some test tubes for samples. We'll take bits of anything suspicious and run them through a mass spec. My un- I know someone who has access to one for work." We all pretended he hadn't been about to say my uncle, nodding our understanding. Before we went in though, Wally held up a hand. "One minute guys."

We all stopped, looking at him. "Listen, this is...legally questionable, but it's still technically hero work. After Arty told me what Dreamer said I agree these guys are suspicious and need to be checked out. But this is recon only. No stealing, you're all in the clear now, and Artemis for one has promised me she's going to stay that way. If you guys are going to go back to a life of crime please at least wait until I won't be an accessory."

I turned to my best friend, raising an eyebrow as she averted her eyes with a slight flush. I just laughed it off though. "It's fine Wally. I've been on the fence about a similar decision. Regardless of my choice though, we won't get you in trouble for no reason. This job is strictly information gathering." I spawned ten clones, watching their forms coalesce from ectoplasm right before our eyes. They held out hands and wally handed out some test tubes.

Before we went in the redhead lapped the whole place to make sure it was clear from the outside, and then we all entered from different spots. Dreamer went with Zee, Artemis went alone, and Wally and I each entered solo as well. My clones and I went invisible, slipping through the walls of the place without leaving a trace as we spread out to look for samples. I did my best to try to move quickly. Hopefully this would just a be a quick in and out job.

They're baaack! Finally the return to Gotham! I have some neat stuff planned for this arc, it will NOT be canon compliant obviously, though I'll work with some of the material. As always pat-reon has the advance chapters at that site /malcolmtent