Chapter Nine: Dreams

Wally West was completely passed out when the knock on the door woke him up. "Go away!" He shouted, pulling a pillow over his head. The knocks continued. He ignored. Then there was a massive smash, and his door broke off the hinges and flopped onto the floor! Standing in the doorway was Shayera, out of costume as to be expected at two in the morning. Her mace was at her side, she had just used it to demolish Wally's door.

"Whoa! Was that really frickin' necessary?" Wally shouted, looking at her.

"I need to talk. Now." She said, sitting down on the foot of his bed.

"Um… ok…" Wally groaned, sitting up. But he was sure to keep himself covered, and Shayera realized that he was naked underneath the sheets.

"Uh! Get some clothes on first!" She shouted.

"You're the one who busted the door down, it was locked for a reason!" He retorted. But then there was a quick blur, and he was suddenly clothed. "Happy now?"

She did not respond. The shadow of a deep worry shone in her eyes. "Never mind, I shouldn't have come to you. You can't take anything seriously." She said sadly, getting up to leave.

"Hold on a minute-" Wally said, suddenly sounding sympathetic. He grabbed her wrist to keep her from walking away. "What's bothering you?" He asked.

"I'm afraid." She said, sitting back down.

"Afraid of what?"

"I don't know… of everything, I guess. There's been so much lately… Diana vanished out of thin air, Bruce has suddenly dropped off the radar, J'onn is supposedly a killer, John hasn't been seen in almost three days now, and…" She paused.

"And what?" Wally pursued.

"And I, I think Clark might be the killer."

"Wait, Clark Kent? The Superman we all know and love? Have you been drinking tonight?"

"Please listen to me Wally. You know he's been acting strange lately, and then he suddenly had us attack J'onn, and then… J'onn spoke to me today, telepathically… he said it was Clark who killed all those people, and he framed J'onn…"

"Wow. Well, have you considered that J'onn could be making that up? I mean, I don't like it anymore than you do, but the alternatives aren't any better." Wally said.

"I know. It's kind of a lose-lose situation for us. No matter what the truth is, it's a bad one."

"Want me to call GL? I know you two kind of have a thing and-"

"I already tried." Shayera cut him off. "He won't answer. Or maybe he can't answer… that's what I'm afraid of."

"Well, I could go looking for him if you want. I haven't been out of HQ must lately anyway."

"No, it's fine. I don't want you to do that. I want you here." She said, tears beginning to stream down her face.

"Um… don't take this the wrong way but, why? I mean, you and I have never exactly been great friends. You usually don't talk to me."

"I need someone Wally, and there's no one else left. Obviously I can't talk to Clark, there's a chance he might kill me." She said, her voice shaking now.

"Oh, I get it… I'm your last resort guy. You come to me when there's no one better." He said distantly, slouching down.

"No, it's not like that Wally. I just-"

"It's fine, don't worry about it." Wally said, cutting her off. "You aren't the only one. I'm the fallback guy. I'm used to it."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I'm the weak link. I'm the butt of everyone's jokes, the punching bag. It's alright, I understand how it is. It's nothing new."

"Don't think like that Wally, we all love you."

"You're full of crap. There's nothing to love, I get it. I'm not super strong, I don't fly or read minds or deflect bullets, I'm not smart or inventive. I run fast. That's all I do. I'm perfect if you want to win a marathon, and useless if you want to do anything else." He then looked her deep in the eyes. She had never realized how much his eyes sparkled.

"Wally… I never knew you felt that way." She said sympathetically.

"Well, now you do." He said, suddenly retreating from all emotion. But he quickly came back, wanting to vent a bit further. "I don't belong here, this is where the most powerful heroes on Earth get together and battle the forces of evil. That's you and the others. Me… I'm a sideline guy, a benchwarmer, a water boy. The most useful I can actually get is running around and hoping to distract somebody. I don't fit in here, to be honest I don't really fit in anywhere. I'm a freak to regular people, and a loser to superpowered people."

"I know the feeling." Shayera said in an understanding tone.

"You do?" Wally asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"You think I feel like I belong here? Anything but. I'm a giant pigeon swinging a mace!"

"A pigeon huh? Funny… I always thought of you more like an angel."

"An angel? A bit cliché don't you think?" She grinned.

"Seriously though, one day you just came out of the sky and… and you were so beautiful, yet so powerful. You had seen so much evil, yet you were so pure. I wasn't there, of course, but I imagine it was pretty damn awe inspiring." Wally smiled. Then after a long pause, he said, "And don't get the wrong idea, I'm not hitting on you or anything. I guess what I'm saying is that I kind of envy you."

"Me? Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, you've got everything! You're ridiculously hot, and at the same time you could beat the crap out of just about anyone on Earth. You can soar faster than a plane, or walk casually down the street and either way, you look perfectly natural. Whether you're in the sky or among the people, you fit right into the picture, like you're supposed to be there, like you belong. I only wish I could feel that way."

"Funny… I've always been kind of jealous of you. You're always so happy and care free, nothing seems to bother you all that much, you just move through life with a smile on your face, no matter how much life beats you down. You have a whole museum dedicated to you! That's how much people love you! I'm so jealous of everything you have, Wally. I would kill to live your life."

"Wow… thanks." He looked her in the eyes again. "If we don't get killed by Superman tonight, we should talk more." He laughed. She laughed too.

"See! That's what I mean Wally! I just told you that the man of steel might be a cold blooded murderer, the same person who's bedroom is right next to yours for crying out loud, and you can laugh about it! I wish I could do that."

"You can. You just did." Wally said.

"Yeah, I guess I did."

Suddenly there was a loud scream from down the hall.

"What's that!" Shayera shouted.

"I'm not waiting around to find out." Wally replied quickly. Then there was another blur, and suddenly he was suited up in the Flash costume. Shayera grabbed her mace, and the two of them headed down the hall to see what was going on.

To their great relief, Superman had not returned to the headquarters yet. Instead, J'onn had finally woken up from his coma. He had attempted to leave the infirmary, but the candles lit in the room were harming him. He lay in a heap on the floor, nearly melting.

"Let's help him!" Shayera shouted, beginning to run toward the room, but Flash grabbed her arm, holding her in place.

"Wait… what if you're wrong? What if he really is the killer? If we help him, we'd be helping a murderer."

"Wally please, you have to trust me. He didn't do it, I know he didn't."

"But-"

"Trust me, please." She repeated. After a long pause, Flash sighed

"Ok. But if he gets up and kills us, I am so not gonna be your friend anymore."

"Shut up Flash."

Meanwhile…

Superman stood proudly above the bloodied body of his latest kill, the villain known as The Electrocutioner. He was a small time villain, strictly D list, but he had killed before and he would have killed again, so Superman took great pleasure in killing him.

"So much to do now… I'm so busy. I'll have to kill Bruce pretty soon, and then there's Cadmus to deal with… and I should go after Luthor at some point during all this. And then I can't forget I still have J'onn to finish off, and I'll have to put together my plan for John and Shayera too. So much to do… which comes first?" He said to himself, pacing around the room for a bit. Then, as if a sign from some evil god, a vampire bat flew through the window, drawn by the sent of Electrocutioner's blood. The bat landed not far from Superman, and the man of steel laughed out loud. "The bat it is then." He said as he raised his foot and stepped on the bat, crushing the creature.

Earlier that day, At the Kent Farm…

Kara woke up sweating and panting heavily. She had just had another nightmare… the kind she hadn't had in almost three years. Images of her violently killing and maiming others, or maybe it wasn't her… in the past she had seen images of Galatea's actions in her dreams, but that was impossible. Galatea died a long time ago. Kara shook these thoughts from her head and got out of bed. She had been spending the summer at the Kent Farm, as a sort of vacation for her. She wanted to get away from all the fighting for a while. The stress of being a hero, and having so much responsibility. She figured a farm in Smallville, Kansas was the best place to do that. She got dressed and headed downstairs, where Jonathon and Martha Kent were already up and active. That was to be expected, considering Kara had slept until almost two in the afternoon.

"And the dead girl walks!" Jonathon Kent shouted from the living room.

"Hah-hah, uncle John." Kara laughed, heading into the kitchen, where Martha was already starting dinner.

"Oh dear, you're covered in sweat! Do you feel sick?" Martha Kent asked.

"No, I just had a pretty freaky nightmare… that's all." Kara shrugged.

Later that day, Kara was out in the field doing work for the Kent's. That was the deal they had struck; Kara spent the summer with them if she did her share of the work. Not that she minded it; she actually kind of enjoyed it. But while out in the field, she began to doze off into a daydream. Then suddenly there were flashes of Galatea, again. This time it was much more vivid, Galatea was with Batman and The Question, and they were… they were killing Superman! Suddenly Kara snapped out of the daydream, but was now worried. This was the same thing she had experienced three years ago, she knew it. She could feel it. She and Galatea were genetically linked, and Kara often saw images of what Galatea had done… and sometimes, very rarely, she saw images of what Galatea had not done yet but was going to do. And there was no way in hell she was letting her kill her cousin! Kara ran to the Kent's house.

"Uncle Jonathon, Aunt Martha, I'm… uh, I'm going with some friends. I'll be back late, but I will be back, I promise!" She called.

"Alright then, be safe dear." Martha responded.

"Stay away from boys." Jonathon called. Kara then got outside and flew off, she had to warn her cousin.

Back at JLA Headquarters…

No sooner than Flash and Hawkgirl had helped J'onn out of bed, he was out cold again. His body was still very weak and he needed rest, but at least they knew he was recovering. They had decided to leave him in the infirmary and light the candles again, just so Superman would think he was still comatose. It was for J'onn's own good, whether he liked it or not. Flash and Hawkgirl had also decided to wait in the lobby, nearby the infirmary, to make sure Superman wouldn't go in and finish him off. Hawkgirl, drained by the events of the day, began to doze off several times. Flash noticed this.

"Hey, why don't you go to bed?" He said.

"No, I'm fine, I just-"

"Come on Shayera, you've been up almost three days straight, and even you need to sleep. I can keep watch for quite a bit longer, hell all I've done the last couple days is sleep. Get some rest, Shayera." Flash insisted.

He didn't have to tell her twice. She got up and headed toward her room. But when she entered and the door shut behind her, she was immediately greeted by Superman's cold, decisive voice.

"I've been waiting, Shayera." He said from the shadows. She gasped, and even worse, she realized she had left her mace in the lobby. Great, now she had no weapon.

"Clark, what are you doing in here?" She asked, deciding to play dumb.

"Shut up, Shayera. We both know you're on to me." Superman said violently. "I've got an offer to make… one that you really can't refuse."

"What do you want Clark?" She asked, trying to hide the fear in her voice.

Superman stepped out of the shadows and handed her an envelope. She opened the envelope up, and gasped at it's contents. Inside were photographs of Green Lantern's bloody, beaten, almost lifeless body. She dropped the photos on the floor, shaking.

"You- you monster!" She screamed.

"I thought about giving you a video, but I figured the photos were enough." Superman laughed. Shayera balled up her fists and swung at Superman, who easily blocked her punch and then shoved her to the other side of the room.

"Listen up. Your boyfriend is alive, for now. And if you do what I ask, I'll keep it that way."

"What do you want! What the hell could you want Clark?" She demanded between sobs.

"Kill J'onn by this time tomorrow, and I'll keep GL alive. But if J'onn lives, then I'll make you watch your boyfriend die, right before I kill you. Is everything understood?"

"How can you do this Clark? What happened that turned you into this monster…?"

"I got a taste of reality. The way I see it, everyone on this planet is the same, all of them vile, disgusting, selfish, immoral pigs. None of them deserve to live. I think I finally fully understand why I was sent to Earth, of all places… I think I was sent here to exterminate every single being here! But more to the point, you have until this time tomorrow, like I said. And by then, the Martian better be dead." Superman burned the photos away with his heat vision.

"I think you know what'll happen if you tell anyone?"

"I get it… John dies." She said, her voice full of hate.

"Good, you do understand. Oh, and Flash… he doesn't suspect anything, does he?"

"No… Wally doesn't suspect a thing…" She lied.

"Good. And if you're lying to me…" He pulled out one last picture of Green Lantern, and then burned it to show her what would happen. Then he left, leaving her there to make the hardest decision of her life.

A few hours later, Superman stepped out atop the JLA headquarters. He had just finished ransacking Batman's room, trying to find some clues as to his location. He had turned up empty. But then, he saw something coming in the distance. Within minutes he recognized the figure as Supergirl, his little cousin.

She landed in front of him, frantically. "Good, you're ok." She said, her voice full of relief.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Superman asked darkly.

"Well… remember Galatea? How I'm like, connected to her? Well I think she's alive, and I think she's with Batman and The Question… I've been getting visions. I don't know why, but I think they're going to try and kill you!" She warned.

"Really?" Superman asked, suddenly very interested. He walked over close to her. "With those visions of yours… do you think you could give me an idea as to where they are?"

"Maybe…" She said with uncertainty.

"Tell me everything you saw, in detail. I want anything about the location that you can come up with."