Chapter 34: The Key


She could hear something crackling and popping, and light flickered behind her closed eyes. Wherever she was, it was unbearably hot.

Morgan took a deep breath and immediately started coughing when the air that rushed into her lungs was smokey.

She opened her eyes, then, and sat up. At the movement, her right wing gave a deep throb and she looked over her shoulder. The sight of her bloodied wing, a splintered bone sticking out, made her yelp. It was clearly broken.

That wasn't the worst of it – she realized exactly where she was.

The building was on fire.

She looked around, almost expecting to find a small bundle containing Alex. Morgan pressed a hand to her stinging chest and then tried to shield her mouth as she took another breath. She burned and stung beneath her skin still, but as she closed her eyes and searched in her memories, she felt a distinct weight was gone.

The spell wasn't there anymore.

Even the stinging felt like a distant throb, like residual pain after a slap. It was no longer eating her up.

She remembered everything. She had surely died in that field – so why was she here? Had her dreams been foreseeing some kind of purgatory, made specifically to taunt her? Her own, personal hell?

Morgan got up on shaky legs, her back hunched under the pain and exhaustion that had settled in her body.

The fire had yet to blaze so high that she couldn't move freely, and she started walking through the halls. Her heart was drumming a punishing rhythm in her chest, and before long, she couldn't keep her legs from speeding to a run, despite the way it jostled her broken wing. The pain was potent, but the fear in her system overrode it. She had to find a way out – maybe if she could escape this building, she could-

The fire blazed higher, licking up the walls. The hissing and groaning of the wooden structure sounded like mocking laughter. She had to stop a moment to catch her breath, the smoke slowly choking her, when she became aware of rhythming thudding from the floor above. Footsteps.

She broke into a run again, but her limbs already felt sluggish from the heat and the lack of clear air. Morgan ran past a staircase and down the hall. There was a bend, and she skidded to a halt.

A dead end.

No, no, no..

She fell onto her knees. Even as she felt herself resign to her fate, the denial rang clear in her mind. It couldn't end like this.. she couldn't allow her dreams to become real. In every one of them, she'd tried to run. She'd never faced the danger head on.

No more.

Morgan got up again, her jaw tensing and her mind reeling. She wasn't going to run away. She wasn't going to be a coward – and she wasn't going to resign herself to this fate. Not without a fight.

Turning around, she stalked down the hall. Where was that staircase?

She was searching for him.

Morgan remembered dying in Dick's arms. If that was true, then none of this mattered. She probably wasn't even here – this was probably a dream, a hallucination of her mind in the last few seconds of awareness she had left before she..

Black Beetle had better show his face so she could tear him apart. If she was already dead, she might as well seek him out. This would be her only chance of revenge for the way he'd haunted her mind for months.

She heard a loud thud on the ceiling once more, and she walked resolutely up the stairs.

"Beetle!" she called out, her voice hoarse from her earlier screaming and from the smoke. "Come and face me, you alien bastard!"

She climbed the last set of stairs, and he came into view. His dark shape contrasted against the wall of fire behind him, the orange light highlighting the wicked glint of his sharp blades. Her courage stuttered, but she only gripped it tighter.

"Meat," he growled in his hateful voice.

Morgan spread her arms out in challenge, feeling telekinetic power at her fingertips, ready to burst out at her command.

The spell was gone – which meant her telekinesis was back under her control. And she was ready to use it.

Black Beetle dared to take a step towards her, and she immediately sent him flying through a burning wall. He landed in a pile of rubble in the next room. Getting up on his knees, he growled at her and transformed one of his blades into a gun. He started blasting, and she got into a solid stance, holding her hands out to keep up a telekinetic shield. Sweat erupted on her brow, the fire in the room rapidly getting to her. She needed fresh air.

Black Beetle came ever closer, and she got ready to jump out of the way when he got too close.

He leapt forward, and she jumped to the side, sideswiping him with her telekinesis to send him hurtling into another wall.

Before he could collect himself, she ran closer and picked him up with her telekinesis.

She held him aloft and he squirmed in her grasp.

"You've haunted me long enough," she ground out behind barred teeth, and she felt her fury blaze up like the fire around them. "This is for every night you've ruined my sleep."

She started stretching and pulling at him, using her telekinesis with the clear intention to tear him apart, like the way he had sliced her open night after night. The Beetle grunted and struggled in her grasp and then he let out a pained, furious growl. She could see his armor shake and give, and she knew she could rip him apart if only she could keep her strength up. Bloodlust coursed through her, and she decided it didn't matter if she killed him – he wasn't real. This was another dream. They were both dead.

Morgan stepped closer to keep her grip on him firm. But the room was getting unbearably hot, and she was starting to choke from the acrid smoke.

Just a little bit more, she thought, fully intending to tear him apart. Her body shook and her lungs pleaded for air.

Black Beetle screamed.

She fell to her knees as her strength failed her. Even that position proved too exhausting, and she tipped over, lying on her side. The wing on her back screamed in pain, but she was unable to get more than a whimper past her lips. She was choking.

Black Beetle had crumbled into a heap against the wall, and he let out a deep, rumbling groan of pain. Blood trickled out of his mouth, and he stilled.

Morgan mussed that she should've felt satisfaction, but her thoughts were too muddled to grab onto the idea. Her vision blackened as her lungs filled with smoke. The strength siphoned out of her, and she wondered what happened now.

Was it possible to die twice?

Then, everything froze.

Morgan saw a white fog materialize around her. The fog grew in size and strength, until it washed away the fire and smoke, until no shadows or enemies remained.

It grew too light for her to look, and she closed her eyes against the brightness. Her mind became blank. Hours could've passed, and she would've been none the wiser.

Then, air rushed into her lungs, and she took several deep breaths.

The world was still entirely white, but eventually the blinding light died down and she was able to see. She was lying on a patch of grass. Beside her was a pond with koi lazily swimming around. Around her were tall, flawless trees.

Morgan sat up quickly. She was back in that- what had Wally called it? Place outside of time?

She looked around slowly. What was going on? Had she died for real, this time? How many times was she going to die before it stuck?

Looking over her shoulder, she saw her wing wrapped in gauze of the purest white. The pain was gone.

Had it been a dream? Had she even actually faced Black Beetle, or was it simply an extraordinarily vivid nightmare?

She saw movement beyond the clearing, and then Wally came into view.

"You're awake," he said.

"Am I dead?" she asked. He grimaced and sat down beside her. "Last time I was here, you said I wasn't meant to."

"I'm sorry," he looked at her sadly. "This time, I think you're supposed to be here."

"Oh," she said. Was this.. heaven, then? The afterlife?

He was still wearing a white, long, dress-like garment, and looking down at herself, she realized she was wearing it too. Studying it closer, she realized it was full of intricate designs of many, subtle colors that together made it look white. Exactly like the fogs.

"Is this some heaven-shit?" she demanded, dangling her flowy sleeve in his face. "Am I about to grow a halo? I suppose I already have the wings."

She hadn't ever really thought about what she believed came after death, if anything, but she supposed this little clearing with its Koi Pond wasn't so bad.

Wally looked at her weirdly and then he burst into laughter.

"I told you it's not heaven – we're somewhere outside of time."

"That just sounds like another way of saying heaven," she huffed. Morgan bit into her lip and pulled at the grass beneath her fingers. Perhaps killing Black Beetle had been her unfinished business, and now that she'd done it she was meant to be at peace.

She didn't feel at peace. Sorrow curdled in her stomach.

He studied her. "What's wrong?"

"It's just.." she sighed and lay back down, staring at the white expanse above them. No sky. "I thought sacrificing myself for the greater good, I would feel some sense of accomplishment. But I don't at all."

"I hear you," he lay down too, on his stomach, placing his fingers in the water and watching the ripples he created. "I felt the same. I thought dying to save my friends was supposed to be the greatest thing a hero could do, but after I died.."

"You realize all of the things you wish you would've gotten to do," Morgan mumbled. Wally hummed in agreement.

"I wish I got to propose to Artemis," he sighed, his eyes distant.

"I wish I had finished my degree. It's stupid that it took me to die to realize what I wanted to do with my career but.. I- I wanted to get my degree in human biology and then I wanted to study the metagene. I think I would've liked that."

"That sounds like fun," he agreed.

"I wanted to feel more established at the League. Kaldur asked me to consider monitor duty, and I think I would've loved that kind of responsibility. But I wasted so much time trying to think of reasons why I didn't deserve that trust." She fiddled with her fingers. Everything felt so simple and easy to define now that it was all out of reach. She wished she had been able to figure these things out sooner. Now, they would always be nothing more than unrealized dreams. Perhaps this wasn't heaven - perhaps it was hell. To sit here in this clearing and think about all of the things she would never have.

"And I wanted.. more time with Dick." she admitted, biting harshly into her lip to keep it from wobbling. "I could tell he wanted a family.. marriage.. The whole picket-fence thing. As much as heroes can get that. I was scared of the idea then but.."

"But now that you can't have it, it's all you want." Wally whispered wistfully. "Three kids. That's what I wanted."

"Three kids with superspeed?" Morgan snorted. "Poor Artemis."

"And you think your kids with flying, telekinesis, and insane acrobatic ability would be any easier?"

"Touché."

Wally sat up, wiping his hand on the white robe. "Well, it's fun to think about. But it's not really going to do us much good."

"At least you have someone to talk to, now," Morgan shrugged. It wasn't much of a comfort to her, but she hoped it eased his loneliness, at least. She got up too, resting her arms on her knees.

"I have Him to talk to, when he decides to visit my clearing."

"Him?"

"The guy that controls this place." Wally pointed at the gauze on her wing. "He's the one that treated your injury."

"There's some guy that controls this place?"

"He's.. hard to explain. You'll probably get to meet him eventually."

"Well, can't we just go find him now? Is this place really that big?"

"That's a tough question to answer since it's literally outside of time and space," Wally pointed out. He considered her proposition. "I haven't tried to seek him out before."

Morgan was on her feet. The grass tickled her toes and she wiggled them at the sensation.

"Let's go. We can at least try. Maybe he knows some way out of here."

Wally got up too. "There's not really anything out there beyond this clearing," he explained.

"Then we just go back to the clearing, if we can't find him. Now, let's go."

Off they went. They struggled to get past the thick stretch of trees, almost like they were there to prevent anyone from leaving the clearing. When they managed it, they found themselves looking into a vast and empty expanse. As before, when she had visited last time and looked out over the landscape, it was like they stood in the middle of a vast, thick cloud. No wind stirred, and yet mists floated in swirling patterns, shimmering with subtle colors.

Morgan began walking. The ground was soft, almost like she was floating, but solid enough that her legs felt secure.

They seemed to get nowhere. The landscape – or lack thereof – never changed. The only indication that they were making some kind of progress, was that the clearing moved further and further away, until it was little more than a colorful blob in the sea of white and gray.

"Maybe we should go back before we lose the clearing," Wally suggested.

"Nonsense," Morgan waved at him dismissively. "Are you really content to just sit there forever?"

He thought about that, and then shook his head. "No, you're right."

Morgan supposed his two years here had bred complacency. She'd met Wally a few times on Earth before his death, and he seemed different then. Almost like the serenity of this place had put him in a trance. He appeared unbothered, but also unmotivated. She couldn't believe that he'd never truly ventured past the clearing - it should've been his first instinct. That made her even more determined to figure this place out - she didn't want to become complacent too. She wanted to understand, before it was too late.

They pressed on. The clearing disappeared from view. Morgan felt doubt creep in. What if she was leading him into nothing – what if there really was nothing here but that clearing?

No, she had to believe there was more to this place. Any minute now.

"How do you know we aren't just going to keep walking forever?" Wally asked.

"I'm just trusting my gut-feeling," she said.

They kept walking until they both perceived a shift. It wasn't obvious upon first glance – it was something felt more than seen. Morgan felt hair rise at the back of her neck as she got the distinct feeling that there was a presence in their midst, a third, undetected being.

Wally put a hand on her arm and the two of them exchanged a look of understanding.

"Who's there?" Wally spoke before she could.

A wind blew past them, then. It broke the vast emptiness of the landscape, as the mists before them all swirled from its manipulation, rising upwards and coalescing into a thicker, more substantive cloud.

"You left the clearing I made for you." The voice that spoke shook the ground they stood on and agitated the fog still floating around them.

Morgan felt a sense of awe come over her. She knew she hadn't given thought to what came after death but still, this was-

"God?" she asked, voice colored with surprise and disbelief.

A deep rumble made the ground tremble, and it took her a second to realize that it was this being laughing, and not an earthquake.

"I am not God – not according to your definition, at least."

"What are you, then?"

"I am.. time. I am space."

Wally leaned close to her and whispered. "How does that make any sense?"

"I don't know, Wally, I'm talking to a cloud," she hissed back. "You said you'd met him before!"

"Yeah, but he usually doesn't look like this!"

Another deep laugh that nearly shook her off her feet.

Then, the clouds started moving again, and they compressed. Out of them became a man, twice the size of a normal man, but still distinctly humanoid. She was unsure if he wore any clothes, but the mist rolled off him like a continuously building garment. He still looked like he was made from clouds, but he was at least easier to comprehend, now that she had a face to focus on.

"Am I easier on the eye now?" he said, a distinct twinkle of humor in his milky white eyes. his voice lost some of it's ethereal echoing.

"Yeah.. thanks." Morgan's eyes studied the man, finding any one detail difficult to focus on and pin down – probably because he wasn't made of solid matter.

"I'm assuming this isn't the afterlife, since it's not full of a bunch of dead people," she said, hoping he would elaborate.

He nodded his head solemnly in response. "I took you away at the time of death."

"So, we are dead?" Wally asked.

"No."

The two heroes exchanged another look, this one shining with excitement.

"So, you saved us from death?"

The cloud-man nodded.

"To.. send us back at a thematically appropriate moment?" Morgan's voice lilted with question and hope.

He laughed again. She seemed to have that effect on him a lot.

"Allow me to explain," he said. He bent down on his knee and held out his hand, beckoning them closer. "I will show you."

The two of them walked hesitantly towards the giant cloud-man and reached for his hand as one.

Morgan's eyes fluttered closed as her mind became overtaken, images flashing across her inner eye.

The voice of Time spoke like a whisper on her consciousness.

This part of the galaxy used to be at constant war with each other. So much pain. So many wasted fates.

Planets flitted past her vision, some burning, others suffering under famine and war. Ships crowded space, endlessly at war. Civilians screamed as they died. Everywhere there was blood and sorrow.

Eventually a fragile alliance was formed. The Intergalactic Democratic Republic of Peace tried to mend the relationship between the warring planets, but the hurt was too much and too deep for them to lay down their arms.

She saw a large room, so large she could barely see the end of it, with rows and rows of seats, all filled with different alien species. A podium at the end housed a score of people – all looked alien to her. This wasn't earth.

Trusting the vision of the Republic, I gifted them a fraction of my power, to help them foresee the future, and help them make decisions that would prevent unnecessary bloodshed and further war.

A council of different-looking aliens stood around a big, white fog. It swirled in the middle of the room, and they held their hands out to it, as if in worship. She saw as images of the future were revealed to them, and the knowledge let them know how to act.

They used it wisely and ushered in an era of peace, which has stood for millennia. But something on your Earth changed, and they grew weary. Something that was meant to happen, something that had been long foreseen, did not.

Morgan saw herself then. Shock flooded her mind at the image. She was lying somewhere, and she was in pain as she let out loud shouts and groans.

They sought to reverse this change, or the Republic would collapse within your short, human lifetime.

Was she somehow responsible for the downfall of a giant peace organization? How?

"They created the rifts," Morgan murmured, realizing this was the answer they had all been searching for. This was why the Yellow Lanterns had gone to Earth – to figure out why the IDROP was creating these rifts. Why their gaze was constantly turned to Earth.

The images playing across her mind melted away, and her eyes fluttered open, looking into the face of the cloud-man.

"Indeed," he solemnly stated.

"But what about the Fates, then? And the spell?"

"I could see the Republic was heading down a path that would only lead to more pain. They were willing to sacrifice your world, to save theirs," he said. Then he paused before admitting, "I planted the spell for you to find. You and the man you love."

Morgan stumbled a step back. So, it had been placed there for her? This had all been on purpose?

"Why me?" her voice was barely more than a breath, but he heard her, nevertheless.

"Because you are the key."

"Uuuuuuuuuuh," she actively felt her brain short-circuit. "I'm the what?"

"You will understand with time."

"No, how about I understand now," she bristled. "This whole year has been shit! That spell wrecked me! So, I am asking you nicely to explain to me why you thought it was a good idea to give it to me when there are so many other, much smarter and stronger people who could've done this – and who probably wouldn't have died in the process!"

The cloud man beheld her quietly and she resisted the urge to shuffle in her spot. Maybe it was time to stop shouting at the apparently all-powerful deity-type being.

"You think you cannot be chosen because you are not special," Time's voice rumbled deeply, and he sounded almost sad. "When that is not the point. As I said, you will understand with time. I chose you because I knew you were capable. And that is why I brought you here – because your death was my fault."

Because she was capable? It was a strangely comforting thing to hear. If this giant, powerful being thought she was capable, then maybe it was time to stop looking for proof that she wasn't.

"What about me, then?" Wally spoke up, and Morgan almost jumped. She had been so engrossed in the conversation with this being, that she had nearly forgotten he was here. "Why did you bring me here?"

The being looked at him for a moment.

"I did not."

The two heroes looked at each other and then at the being.

"What do you mean?"

"The force that you battled sent you here. I merely allowed you to stay until it was time for you to go back."

"And that time is.. now?" Wally asked hopefully.

There was another pregnant pause, long enough that Morgan started to worry.

"Yes," Time answered. "I am sending you both back."

She felt almost faint with relief.

His giant, formless arm waved, and a fog manifested behind them, looking like every other rift Morgan had traveled through.

"Once you go through, you will find answers."

"One more question," Morgan spoke up. "Would you say you're Fate? Because there's an argument I really want to win."

Time chuckled again, but the sound faded swiftly.

The two of them looked at the fog and then at the being behind them. He was slowly losing his form, turning back into a cloud. As subtly as his presence has registered to them initially, it disappeared again. He was gone.

"Dammit, I hoped he would say yes," Morgan sighed. Then, she looked at Wally. "Ready to go home?"

Wally looked apprehensively at the fog. She grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze.

"I talked to Artemis a couple of days ago," Morgan said. "She still misses you every day. And so does Dick and the others."

"I know," Wally admitted. He took in a shaky breath and then nodded at her, giving her hand a squeeze back. "Let's go."

They walked through the fog and Morgan felt herself get swept up in it. This time, it was like a gentle caress, less powerful and violent than the others. She didn't lose her feet and instead she felt like she was being lulled to sleep. Images floated across her mind, but she was too sleepy to register them.


I'm uploading a little early because I was starting to feel bad for letting ya'll think that Morgan was actually, permanently dead, for so long! I think this chapter is honestly one of my favorite. The next one is a straight banger too. I think this has a lot to do with Morgan finally shaking that spell and feeling more like herself? It feels like she's got her groove back. The quips have been missed! And while her journey has been fun to write, I did feel bad for basically putting her in a magic-induced depression for most of the story. In the next chapter especially, we'll see that she's back to being the girl we all know and love.

So, we've basically come to it now - the reason for everything has been revealed. Or has it? We know who and how, but we still don't know the why! I intentionally left the Time guy a bit vague, bc I feel like a 'being' like that isn't really to be understood, but just sort of accepted.

Fun fact, originally, Morgan was actually going to lose the fight against Black Beetle, but I realized that would basically betray her whole arc. With every nightmare, all her anxiety, all of the work she's put into building her confidence back up - she needed to win. Thematically, it was the only appropriate ending. If she lost that fight it would basically be like saying she's learned nothing and changed nothing. So I don't care if it's unrealistic that she'd win, because it's thematically appropriate and sometimes logic must move over for narrative satisfaction!

The response to the last two chapters has been SO great and encouraging, I just want to say, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU! I love ya'll and when you take the time to let me know what you thought about each chapter, it makes all the time I spend writing and editing totally worth it.