A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I hope this clears things up a little bit with regard to what's happened to Kal. And thank you as always to the wonderful DaisyJane.

Shot through the heart,

And you're to blame,

Darlin' you gave love,

A bad name,

An angel's smile,

Is what you sell,

You promise me Heaven,

Then put me through Hell,

Chains of love,

Got a hold on me,

When passion's a prison you can't break free,

You Give Love A Bad Name—Bon Jovi

Chapter Sixteen

Thomas had a similar reaction to Barda, only he wasn't sure there was anything deeper than friendship going on in his sister's heart. It seemed like no one understood her disquiet. There was just … something … though Thomas, at least, asked practical questions and threw up logical obstacles.

"Alexa, J'onn only found him because he picked up his thoughts. If it wasn't Kal, we wouldn't have found him."

"It could be periodic."

"Then why didn't he sense it once we got Kal to the Metrotower?'

"At first, the same reason. After that, maybe he just wasn't looking. And he said himself, he'd have to go deeper into Kal's mind to be absolutely sure. Doesn't it seem strange that he doesn't really seem bothered that he can't remember what happened?"

"You have a point there. Okay—well, if your theory is correct, and we should have tested his blood, how do you propose going about that?"

"I don't."

He stared. "Okay, now you've lost me. If you can't prove your theory –"

"Oh, I'll prove my theory. But there's more than one way to skin a cat. I'm just going to find another way to prove it."

"Without risking your life, right?" he asked, slightly nervously.

"If you're right and I'm wrong, then I won't be risking anything except offending Kal, will I?"

He groaned. "Alexa, you know I hate it when you say things like that. It inevitably leads to you getting hurt."

"So you believe me, about Kal?"

"I can't. All the evidence says very strongly that he is exactly as he was when he disappeared. I'll admit, the week-long gap in his memory is problematic –"

"Problematic and highly convenient," she put in.

"Convenient for who?"

"Whoever took him!"

"We don't know if anyone took him!"

"That's complete bullshit," she snapped. "You're twisting the facts to fit your theory, which is completely the wrong way to go about investigating any type of crime, and you know it. Dad and Terry taught you better than that."

"Maybe, but so far your theory doesn't exactly fit the facts either!"

She looked at him gravely. "As I said. I will prove I am right. You may either help me or leave me alone."

"Oh may I? Thank you so much for your permission, Your Highness!"

He left the cave, and ten minutes later she heard the roar of car engines as he headed out. Alexa continued her work alone, with a defiant temper. She had meant what she'd said; she would prove she was right, and she would do so by herself if no one believed her. It was hard to keep her thoughts away from Kal though. If he was here, the real him, he'd believe her. She knew he would. And physically … it was him. Kryptonian saliva was a lot easier to come by than Kryptonian blood after all, and the sample had been tested but the result showed nothing conclusive. But mentally …

Brain-washing was a possibility. It had happened before. Darkseid again. But there was no evidence that Darkseid still existed and even if he did, one week was hardly sufficient to alter Kal so much. She had more faith in him than that. Drugs were another option. But that would have to be a seriously sophisticated chemical blend to target his personality, his will, but leave his thought patterns and brainwaves intact. Third was human error. Specifically, hers. Even though her gut told her she was right, her intellect had to examine the possibility. Was it that she had simply misjudged Kal? Maybe he wasn't as warm and kind and super as she had always felt him to be. After all, Terry, Barda, Warhawk … all of them were certain that he was his usual self. Technically it could be possible that –

Alexa shook her head in disgust. No. It was not possible. If it made her arrogant to think that she knew him better than anyone else, then so be it, because it was true. She knew him. She had not been wrong about him. Maybe she should contact her parents…they knew Kal better than anyone alive…

"Blood analysis completed. One anomalous compound detected," the computer announced.

Alexa felt a little thrill. It had been her blood, and there was something wrong with it. She had tested it based on the hunch that she couldn't get that dizzy from one kiss even if it was from Kal. And there was something her blood that shouldn't be there. "Identify."

Immediately, the computer began flickering through long lists of chemicals. They were plants, animal extracts, manmade concoctions, over twenty million possibilities. It could take hours to trace what it was. So there was nothing else to do but wait, so Alexa sat down to do just that. Immediately, fatigue threatened to overwhelm her. She hadn't slept in a week, after all, not for more than about twenty minutes at a time. And then he has the gall not to be himself when he does turn up … Couldn't hurt to close her eyes for a few minutes. Just a few … minutes …

The next second, a ball had hit her in the face. Or was about to—her impeccable reflexes saved her, and she caught it. "Oh man! I'm so sorry, lady!" a kid's voice shouted.

"It's alright," she said, handing the kid his ball back. She watched the little boy run back to his game knowing he was a figment of her imagination. She was dreaming. Having accepted that, Alexa looked around for a meaning or a narrative. It would come. She was here for a reason. It was reality, yet it wasn't.

She was on a park bench. The park was wide, the day was bright, but the blue sky was lit by stars as well as the sun. There was a glass pavilion shimmering in the distance, but too far for Alexa ever to reach. There was a wide lawn; a children's playground—slide, water running down it, swings, a seesaw balanced on nothing at all, sand-pit that melded into a beach. People of all ages milled about along the red-brick path. Children held hands with their parents and old friends strolled along. Alexa knew every person who passed, but she couldn't name anyone. Coming up to her were a mother and child—Hippolyta, and a little girl she knew to be Diana. The little girl had a yellow balloon. About ten feet from behind them was a man in a business suit with a briefcase, obviously on his way to work. The glasses and the purely dark hair did not disguise him to her eyes.

"Mommy! Mommy, my balloon!"

Little Diana had let go accidentally, and the helium-filled sphere was blown away from her. Until it got to the man, who jumped only slightly higher than he should have been able to, in order to reach the balloon ribbon. Once he had it, he handed it back to the little girl with a smile.

"Thanks, mister!" little Diana grinned.

He smiled, and Alexa's heart skipped a beat. There was her smile. "You're welcome, miss." He adjusted his glasses and continued on his way.

There was a wistful sigh from next to Alexa. "My hero."

Still in the dream-state, Alexa turned to look at Lois Lane without any particular surprise. Her violet eyes were still on the man in the suit, and there was a soft, slightly sad smile on her face. She glanced at Alexa briefly. "You know him, don't you?"

"Of course.'

"You think you'd know him anywhere?"

"I know I would."

"Then why are you doubting it?" Lois shook her head, sighed. Then they were walking together, down a street in Gotham that was paved with grass. "Look, Lexie—is it okay if I call you Lexie?"

"Um … sure."

"Lexie, If you're going to do this, you've got to be convinced of yourself and him. You've got to know. You know him. There's no point in second-guessing yourself. You either are sure or you're not. If you're prepared to stick to your guns and alienate everyone else just so you can fight for him—then you're worthy."

"Like you?"

Lois shrugged. "Whether I was or not isn't for me to judge."

"Are you real?"

"What is your definition of real? I am the reality that you need right now."

"Oh…okay…"

"You're at a crossroads. I'm here to tell you not to give up, because Kal needs you. And thanks, by the way."

"For what?"

"For listening. He needs someone to listen to him and be there for him. Otherwise the grief is overwhelming." She stopped and offered her hand. Alexa took it; firm and cool. "Now there's only one thing left to do."

"What's that?"

"For you to go save him."

"Sample match found," the computer said calmly. "Compound identified."

Alexa jerked awake, shaking her head rapidly to clear it of the dream. "Well, that was weird …" she muttered, leaning forward to look at the screen.

The result had come from a file of her father's that was a good eighty years old. Its parent file was one of his rogues, and this sub-file was under 'List of Known Used Toxins'. Looking at it, every single one of the unanswered questions—bar one—were instantly solved. The blockage in Alexa's mind was dissolved, and a flood of solutions raced through her brain. Now all she needed …

"Nanites. I need lots and lots of nanites."

Nanotechnology was hardly new science, but in this case she was confident that it would be highly effective. Unfortunately she just had to build the nanites and program them, since she'd need them for a specific purpose. It was another sleepless night—but by the time dawn broke, she was finished. The nanites were ready, as was the canister that would carry them. She had a few other specialised items she needed, so she packed them carefully in her belt. The last item, she put in with some hesitation. She didn't want to use it—didn't really want to be touching it—but to leave it behind would be utterly stupid. And she'd decided she was done with being stupid. Or at least Lois had told her to stop being stupid. She never said anything about crazy obviously. So, acting on that, she was going to go upstairs and sleep the whole day. She'd probably need the energy.

Just as she was on the point of getting into bed though—after a long and luxuriously hot shower—the phone rang. When she answered it, a miniature of Michael appeared on his palm. She frowned. "I thought I asked you not to call me."

"You did. But as I'm not a child and neither are you, I thought we could discuss this like adults."

"I said I needed to think. I'm not done thinking."

"Alexa, this discussion is moot anyway. Superman is back."

"That wasn't the point and you know it."

"Wasn't it?" he asked, eyeing her carefully.

"No. This was about you wanting trying to grab the spotlight when someone else might have been in serious trouble. You didn't seem to care about another's possible pain, only about your political advantage. Whether you know them personally or not it's still …"

"What?"

"Unethical."

"I disagree. We're not hurting anyone."

"How can you say that for sure –"

"He was found by the Justice League, not the media. The media's coverage meant nothing in the end."

"But it may have and you didn't seem to care."

"You're acting like this is personal."

"He did save my life a week ago!" she retorted. That wasn't true, but Michael didn't know that.

Michael's expression softened a little. "Alright, that's true. We both own him a debt for what he did for you. I can see how it could be disrespectful."

"Good."

"I'm sorry, Alexa. Will you forgive me?"

"For that, yes. But I'm still not completely okay with this side of you. When you're elected, there will be other times like this, probably, things that aren't personal to you and me. Can you promise me you won't try to take advantage of them?"

"You know I can't. That's what politics is, Alexa. If it's effective, it can't be purely humanitarian. I'm sorry for that, but it's not something I can change. If you're going to play the game you need to know the rules."

"Then I need to think some more. I'll call you soon," she said.

She disconnected the phone, and another wave of tiredness overwhelmed her. When she lay down, she was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

Her body gratefully seized the opportunity for rest; it was after nine at night by the time she opened her eyes again, dark outside. She walked to the window and checked the sky above Gotham. No batsignal; it was quiet. Good. After eating something—her appetite had come back with the need to sleep—Alexa went down to the cave and changed into her suit. She slipped the canister containing the nanites into her belt last, and then made sure everything else was as ready as it was ever going to be.

Then she took a deep breath and touched her com-link. "Batwoman to Superman."

"Alexa. I was just about to contact you," he answered cheerfully.

"Really? Did you find something?"

"Yeah, I've got a lead. Are you still up for helping?"

"Of course, that's why I called. Where am I meeting you?"

"The park where the machine was, by the big hot house."

"See you there."

Concerned that it might get damaged or destroyed (and knowing that Terry would be very upset if it was), Alexa chose to leave the Batmobile behind, instead flying to Metropolis herself. It was easy to see the metal and glass roof of the hot house from the air, the only antique building in the surrounding area. She could also see Kal, waving enthusiastically.

Yeah, she thought, there's definitely something wrong.

Keeping that to herself—except to run through the plan again in her mind—Alexa landed next to him. She was greeted by that same hard smile. "What have you found?" she asked.

"I think, the source of the machine," he said, leading the way inside. The heady fragrance of tropical plants met her nose. "A lot is still fuzzy, so I started at the last thing I could remember, and that led me here."

"Okay. And you found something? I combed this area pretty carefully when you disappeared."

He squeezed her hand, a little too hard. The first time he'd ever misjudged his or her strength like that. "I'm sure you did. But I looked underground with my X-ray vision. There's a cable that runs along the park's length and ends up here."

She nodded, and they headed inside together, moving silently. She had calculated that the house could only be a hundred feet long, yet she felt like they had continued on for another fifty. Acting before they went any deeper, she decided the plan had to be put into action. She pulled her companion to a halt.

"Kal, I … I'm sorry I didn't find you."

"Hey, you tried."

"I should have done it," she said, forcing her voice to catch, like sobs were gathering. "I failed you, Kal, but …" She put her arms around him, hands around his shoulders in an embrace.

He hugged her closely. "But?"

Alexa slipped the necklace she'd just taken out of her belt—complete with kryptonite pendant—around his neck. He crumpled immediately. "But I won't fail you again," she said coldly.

She knocked him out and left him on the floor with a bit of regret. It wasn't his fault, what had happened to him, but while he wasn't himself, he couldn't be trusted at all. She proceeded forwards alone, and therefore didn't notice the tiny, winding plant squirm out of the bushes and head towards Kal. Ahead, Alexa was pushing through thick foliage. She had already programmed the emergency beacon for the League, so it was primed. All she had to do was actually send the signal, which she probably would have to do if the huge plants were any indication. They now seemed to be actively parting for her, and after another few metres, she was through. The hot house, it transpired, had indeed stopped; it was just that the plants had hidden that fact. The roof was no longer glass, but an overgrown canopy of leaves, and she stood in a clearing ringed by trees.

She put her hands on her hips and spaced her feet solidly apart. "Come on out, Ivy! I know it's you!

From above her, there was rustling movement. Alexa pulled out two batarangs and held them ready to throw. What descended from the leafy ceiling was Poison Ivy herself, looking exactly like she did in all the stock footage. She and Alexa appraised each other once the vine that had deposited Ivy withdrew.

"Well … now I know why Superman refused to bring me Batman."

"You're a little behind the times. What have you done to him?"

"Oh, just a little toxin. A lot of toxin, actually."

"What toxin?" Alexa demanded.

"Hmm, you do have the patience of the original though."

"What do you want, Ivy?"

"What I've always wanted. To cleanse Mother Earth, to let her bloom and flourish the way she was always meant to!"

"By killing everything else. You know I can't allow that."

"Look around you, you pathetic meat-sack! The earth is burned and scarred, barren because of what humanity has done to her!"

"And that's our problem."

"No," Ivy responded. "Not yet it isn't."

Feeling that was her cue, Alexa threw the batarang, backwards, through the stems of the enormous venus fly traps closing in on her. They weren't quite fly traps though, since as it did, one of them spat more of those sharp stamens at her. She deflected them, then pulled the nanites from her belt. She released them in a cloud of billions, knowing that they'd swarm over every plant containing a speck of Ivy's DNA and destroy it. In ten seconds, half the plants were writhing in their death throes, and Ivy was screaming.

"No! My children! My beautiful babies –"

She choked suddenly, the nanites invading her body. Alexa pressed a single button on her belt, and everything stopped. Ivy froze too, something like tears in her emerald green eyes. Alexa moved closer. "I press one button, and those things eat you from the inside out. And your 'babies' too."

"What do you want?" Ivy whispered.

"I would have liked for you to stay dead," Batwoman replied. "But since that's not possible—tell me what toxin you used on Superman and give me the antidote."

"I can't –"

"Wrong answer, Ivy."

A/N: Just to clarify, the song refers to Ivy (and maybe Michael), not Kal or Alexa! Review please!