Chapter Six

Watchtower II

Earth Orbit

18:46 – Station Time (Eastern Standard Time)

March 11, 2007

"There is no change," J'onn told Argo, lowering his hands. He had just finished doing a quick scan of her mind, regarding her unwanted mental connection with her clone.

"That's good," Kara breathed in relief. "I'm hoping it doesn't get worse."

"All I can do at this moment is wish you luck in that regard," J'onn offered.

"Thanks. I just hope it goes away on its own like it did before."

"That may be wishful thinking," J'onn warned.

"I know," she replied feeling frustrated. "I could really do without this problem."

"I don't think anyone would wish to have a mental connection with their nemesis."

"Do you think she knows?"

"I do not know," he told her. "I would say, however, that without access to a telepath like myself, then I doubt it."

"Let's hope it stays that way," Kara said. "Is that everything?"

"Yes, it is Argo. You may go now."

"Excellent, because there's someone I haven't seen in eleven years I want to go see."

Kara turned and left the Founder's conference room, and headed down the hallway towards the teleporter, where she was sent back down to Earth.

After arriving at the Metro Tower, she greeted the operator planet-side before leaving the room. As she rounded a corner, on her way to the elevator, a voice shouted from behind.

"Hey, Supergirl!"

Argo turned around to see who had spoken. She saw Stargirl, also known as Courtney, running over. Her first thought was how young she looked. Before she had gone to the future, there had been perhaps five or six years between them. Now there was something like sixteen or seventeen. It made a huge difference in her perception of the young hero.

"OMG, you look so old," Stargirl commented, coming to a stop in front of her.

Kara frowned. As far as she could tell she didn't look that different than she had a decade ago. "Yeah, it's nice to see you too," she said folding her arms.

The young blonde bit her bottom lip. "Sorry, it just took me by surprise."

"It's fine. I should expect it. The alias is Argo now, though, not Supergirl."

"That is so cool," she said excitedly.

"I'm glad you think so."

"What was the future like?" Stargirl questioned, barely able to contain herself. "Did you get to fly around in a spaceship? What was the music like? Did you have any hot teammates? What were the bad guys like?"

"Easy there, I can't really answer questions about the future."

"Aww, come on. How is knowing if you flew a spaceship going to change anything?"

"It won't, but I still don't really want to talk about it."

"Why not?"

"Please, can we not talk about the future? I'm trying to put it out of my mind."

"Sorry, I didn't know you were in a mood."

"I wasn't until you showed up. Now is there something you wanted in particular?"

"I just wanted to see if it was true you were back. I didn't know you were going to be such a bitch about it."

Kara held her tongue. She had to keep in mind that she was dealing with a moody teenager. No one here had aged a decade like she had, and she was constantly being reminded of that fact.

"Listen," Kara began, deciding to try and diffuse the tension between them. "I'm feeling a little homesick. I'd made my life there, then find out I have to come back. I didn't mean to take it out on you."

Stargirl shrugged. "It's fine, I guess."

"Enough about me. What have you been up to?"

"The usual. Since the Darkseid invasion, things have been quiet."

"Yeah, I heard about his last one. Sorry I missed it."

"It was pretty cool. There were his mindless Parademons everywhere, but they were easy to take down."

Kara looked passed the teen to see Lantern walking up to them. He didn't look happy. "Courtney," he said to get her attention.

Stargirl turned around. "Yeah?" she replied, cautiously.

"Your stepfather's looking for you, and he isn't happy."

"I told already him I was sorry," the young blonde said, folding her arms over her chest, a pout on her face. "I didn't know you all were going to have a fit about it. I only wanted to ask Superman something."

Lantern looked at Kara. "Sorry, Argo, but I really have to take her to Pat."

"What happened?" Kara inquired.

"She used the comm system to contact Superman while he was in his civvie guise. All unauthorised of course."

"I have to be off anyway," Kara told him. "I want to visit a friend."

Stargirl offered a small wave. "I'll see you later then, maybe?"

"Yeah, when you're no longer grounded," Kara half-joked.

"You're as funny as ever," Courtney mused, before heading off with Lantern.

Park Ridge

Gotham City

United States

19:41 – Eastern Standard Time

March 11, 2007

Barbara Gordon had just arrived home from her day doing overtime at the police station and was feeling exhausted. It had been a busy day, despite it being a Sunday. Gotham was a cesspit of crime and they never rested. It had only gotten worse since she and Tim had quit the hero game. Still, she felt like it had been the right decision. She just couldn't be around Bruce, nor the Bat any longer.

Barbara sat down heavily on her couch, and rested her feet on the coffee table, on top of the stack of TV guides that went back a few weeks. She was hungry but was also too tired to be bothered to get up and make herself something. So instead, she leant back and closed her eyes.

She remained like that for several minutes, until someone rang her doorbell. For a moment, she tried to ignore it, but after it was pressed again, she decided that she'd better answer it. It could easily be Dick, and she didn't want to refuse the opportunity to rekindle the friendship they'd started to lose.

Slowly, she stood up and made her way to the front door. She pulled it open, and just stopped, staring at the blonde woman in front of her.

Her first instinct was that this was not who she thought it was, but her doppelgänger. Mainly due to the fact that her friend was in the future. If it was the doppelgänger, then things were about to turn very ugly.

As if sensing her distress, the woman before her raised her hands in a non-threatening manner. "Hey, it's me," she said. "Relax."

"Kara?" Barbara asked, unsure whether she'd like the answer or not.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm back from the future," she told her, smiling.

Barbara's mouth fell agape. "Is it really you?"

She nodded. "Yeah, it is. Can I come in, Babs?"

The redhead stepped aside, still looking slightly concerned. "Um, sure."

Kara made her way inside, and Barbara promptly closed and locked the door.

"I'm glad to see you're living in the same place," Kara said, sitting herself down on the couch in the lounge, Barbara close behind. "I was worried you'd moved and that I'd have to search for you."

"No, I still live here," she told her, sitting down on an armchair that lay at a forty-five-degree angle to the couch and the television. "But that's not important. What's important, is that you're back."

"Yes, I am and I might be here a while."

"Why? I was told by-" Barbara instantly went quiet, looking down at the floor. "I was told by Batman that you'd be gone forever."

"Batman says a lot of things."

"Yeah," Barbara said solemnly.

"Supergirl stays in the future. Argo doesn't," she explained.

"Argo?"

"I changed my alias. I'm Argo now."

"Why the name change?" Barbara asked, still unsure whether this was actually Kara or not.

"Because Supergirl was who I was here in this time period. I decided that I should put her to rest and move forward with my life."

"Only you came back," Barbara pointed out.

Kara half-shrugged. "It wasn't really my choice. Events made it necessary. To save my present, I had to come back here to the past."

Barbara leaned back, her previous uncertainty over the identity of the woman, having mostly evaporated. "Sounds weird. The present being referred to as the past."

"Not as weird as returning to it. Imagine you going back to the middle ages, and having to live in a mud hut. That's kind of how I feel here."

The redhead's eyebrows raised. "Wow, and I thought I had a nice place. To have it referred to a mud hut is pretty eye-opening."

"Sorry Babs, I didn't mean it offensively," the Argoan apologised. "Besides, you do have a nice place. It was more of a metaphor."

"I know, I'm just teasing," Barbara said starting to grin. "It's good to see you again."

"I'm getting that a lot. I didn't know people would miss me so much. What I want to know though, is what happened with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I hear you're not Batgirl anymore. What's up with that?"

Barbara looked forlornly at the wall. "It's something I'd rather not get into."

"Sounds pretty bad."

"It was. It is."

"You sure you don't want to talk about it? It might help."

"No. What I do want to talk about though, is you. The last time I saw you must have been sixteen months ago."

"I was in the future for eleven years."

"Longer than you were here on Earth," Barbara commented. "I guess you got pretty attached to the people there?"

"Yes, I did."

"So, why come back?"

"As I said. Argo was needed here."

"How do you know that?"

"I'm recorded in history. If I didn't return, then the world and the people I knew would cease to exist."

"And again, how do you know that?"

"I saw glimpses. Glimpses of a destroyed future. Of Metropolis in ruins. A teammate identified the reason it was happening and it was me."

"So, there's something big on the way we should be preparing for?" Barbara questioned.

"Honestly, I don't know. I didn't want to know. Extra knowledge might make me do something to change history."

"I can see the logic there. But it would have helped if we knew what it was."

"Yeah, well, whatever happens, it isn't pretty. Seeing Metropolis as a wasteland was pretty chilling. What I do know, is that the first thing I saw when I emerged from the time-bubble, was my clone punching Superman in the face."

"Do you think it's her?" Barbara asked. "Do you think she destroys the world or something?"

Kara shrugged. "No idea. I was told though that I would appear where history dictated I would appear, so maybe."

"Did you defeat her?"

She shook her head. "No, she pulverised me into the dirt. When I came too, I was at the Metro Tower in Metropolis."

"Nasty."

"Not the worst of it."

"No?"

"I'm not really meant to tell anyone this. But, remember when I told you about the dreams I was having before I went to the future."

"Dreams?"

"Me seeing what my clone was up to."

"Yeah, I remember," Barbara said cautiously.

"Apparently, it's back."

"You're having dreams?"

"No, but J'onn says there's a connection there, so it's possible I could start having them again."

"So creepy," Barbara said, shivering. "To see what someone else is doing. I hope you don't start seeing what she's doing, or vice versa. I'd hate for her to find out who I am and show up on my doorstep."

"My only hope is that if it does happen, then It'll lead me right to her and we can put a stop to it once and for all."

"You mean kill her?"

Kara slowly shook her head. "I don't know what I mean. She shouldn't even exist in the first place. I hate the fact that she does. It's like a nightmare, but real."

"I can only imagine."

"Unfortunately, I don't have to."

There was a silence between them. Barbara broke it, as she stood up. "Do you want anything to drink, or eat?"

"No, I'm good, thanks for offering."

"Well, I'm having a coffee."

"Long day?"

"It's Gotham and I'm a police analyst. Every day is a long day."

"Longer than before, when you were in costume?"

Barbara headed through into the kitchen and switched on the kettle, before calling through her answer into the other room, "I wasn't stuck in an office all day back then. It's still rewarding when I analyse data of a serial criminal and successfully predict their next move. Unfortunately, I don't get to go out and get them like I did before. I just move to the next thing."

"So, boring then?"

"Not boring, more tedious," Barbara told her, as she grabbed the can of coffee and scooped some into her mug. "But I still enjoy it when we get the criminal into a cell. The long days and hard work pay off in the end."

"That's good to hear. I'd hate to think you were doing something you didn't like with your life."

The kettle boiled and she poured the water into her mug. "I enjoy it when it goes right."

Barbara moved back into the lounge and sat next to Kara with coffee in hand. She then took a quick sip after cooling it with her breath. The redhead then stared down at the floor.

"You okay?" Kara asked her.

"I think I do want to talk about why I'm not Batgirl anymore."

"You sure?"

"Honestly? I have absolutely no idea if it will help or not. But apart from Dick, I have no one else to talk to."

"That's the first Robin, right?" Kara asked for clarification. "Who's Nightwing now?"

"Yeah. Unfortunately, he has this tendency to act like Batman junior. He was there for me at first, but he vanished back into the underworld of Blüdhaven and he didn't come out until a couple of days ago. He promised to spend more time with me. As friends. But I'm not sure I believe it."

"Well, I'm here now."

"Until you decide to head back to the future," Barbara said bitterly.

Kara cringed. "I'll be here for some time, don't worry. You don't have to deal with this alone."

"Thanks," Barbara said, with honest gratitude. "Anyway, I was off to talk about why I quit being Batgirl, and why Tim's no longer Robin." She ran her hand through her red locks. "Things were more settled after the last invasion from Darkseid. Bruce was spending more time in Gotham, and we grew close. Very close. It was bliss. It had been so long since I'd started to see him as more than just a friend, or mentor. It started out as a stupid crush, sure. But it grew, had been doing for years. I honestly thought he'd end up with Diana, but that never happened for whatever reason. Instead, with him spending more time in Gotham, we got together. It was amazing."

"Sounds like you really enjoyed your time together," Kara observed.

"Yeah, but then the Joker happened. Him and his psycho girlfriend."

"What did they do?"

"They kidnapped Tim, tortured him. Joker tried to turn him into some sick caricature of himself and call it his son."

Kara gasped. "Sounds awful."

"It was. Tim told him everything. About Bruce, maybe about me, I don't know. Maybe the twisted clown didn't care enough about me to bother asking. But he knew that Bruce was Batman. He knew everything about him that Tim knew."

"What happened?"

"Tim killed him. Shot him in the chest with one of his own novelty guns."

"Justice, in a twisted sort of way," Kara commented. "What happened to Harley?"

"She fell down a chasm. We never found the body. We looked, but we couldn't find any trace. I don't see how she could have survived, but she's survived falls that should have killed her before."

"So she could still be out there?"

"I'm not even sure she's even dangerous without the Joker. I wonder if she's a victim of the clown just like Tim was. Batman told me about how Joker had twisted her mind around like a pretzel. I honestly wasn't sure if I believed it. I thought she was just another Gotham psycho. But now, I'm not so sure."

"You hope she survived, don't you?"

"Yes. Even if she knows who I am. I hope the death of the Joker does her good. I really honestly hope she can get her mind out of whatever hole he twisted it into and put her life back together."

"You really are a good person, Babs," Kara said earnestly.

"Unfortunately, the event did Bruce in. He pushed everyone away, blamed himself. I felt bad for him. I just hope this doesn't end up destroying him."

"So you no longer feel anything for him?"

"Maybe. But every time I see his face, even if it's on TV about some Wayne Enterprises thing, I just want to punch it. Batman I can accept being cold and heartless, but even Bruce became that. At least towards me."

"He seemed the same as always when I saw him," Kara said. "But then again, I always thought Batman was an emotionless android, so I probably wouldn't notice any change."

"It isn't Batman that breaks my heart. It's that Bruce now acts like him. Once the cowl was off, he was such a different person. Now he's the same man, in or out of the costume."

Barbara started gulping down her coffee, which was now half-cold. With the mug empty, she stood up and took it over to the sink in the kitchen and rinsed it off, before putting it on the side. She then headed back into the lounge, seeing Kara standing up.

"You off already?"

"Not if you don't want me too. I was going to offer a hug if you want one?"

Barbara smiled. "I would actually."

The two embraced in a tight hug. The emotions that Barbara had kept hidden from everyone, even Richard came flowing to the surface. There had been no one she could confide in regarding what had happened. She had pushed it all down and put on a brave face. Now, she found that she could hold it back any longer.

She wept into Kara's shoulder, while the Argoan rubbed her back gently. All she could think about was how Tim had suffered, and how she should have protected him.

Barbara blamed herself for what happened, but she blamed Bruce even more. A child should never have been put in that situation. This was Gotham City, the worst place in America for crime. Well, apart from Bludhaven. To put a child into costume and have him patrol the streets was the most irresponsible thing that anyone could have done, could still do. She feared that Bruce would put some other kid into the suit, and something worse would happen. That the next one would be killed in some agonising, painful way.

Barbara forced the horrible thought out of her mind and pulled out of the hug. She wiped her eyes and smiled weakly. "Thanks. You're a real friend, y'know that?"

"I'll be here if you need me," Kara told her. "Unfortunately, I should be heading off. I have to get up early for patrol tomorrow."

"Oh, okay," Barbara said with disappointment. "I suppose I should be getting an early night too." She paused, before asking, "Where are you patrolling?"

"DC," Kara said. "And it's with Wonder Woman."

"Tell her that if she's still waiting for Bruce, then it's a good job Amazon's are supposedly immortal because she's going to be waiting a really, really long time."

"I think she's already figured that out."

"She's smarter than I was, then."

Kara grimaced. "If you want, I can come visit again tomorrow night?"

"I'd like that."

"Goodnight, Babs."

"Night, Kara."

The redhead walked her blonde friend to the door.

After another quick hug and a goodbye, Kara left. Barbara watched her as she walked down the street, before pushing the door closed.

Updated December 2017