TW: Glad you enjoyed it.

Gallifrey 22.3: Sort of.

DCMarvel heroes: Glad you enjoyed it.

Abandoned military base, Metropolis

Afternoon

Joe, Iris, Cisco and Caitlin were still sitting down, waiting as they tried not to look at Eiling's body. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the door opened and Barry walked in, followed by Oliver and Sara.

"Barry!" Cisco said happily.

"Thank God you guys are alright," Barry said in relief, not caring for the moment that Iris knew.

Yeah, he'd have to have a tough conversation judging by the look on her face, but they were safe. That was the important thing.

"Where are our families and my team?" Oliver asked after making sure they weren't there.

"Some guy showed up, turned Eiling's men against him and they killed him," Caitlin explained as they looked down at Eiling's body. "Then he took them. He didn't say where."

"This man, can you describe him?" Sara asked.

"Late twenties to early thirties, dark hair, had an accent," Joe described and the trio exchanged a dark look.

"Kane," Barry said.

"Did he say anything else, anything at all?" Oliver asked his mind racing at what Kane might have planned next.

"Yeah. He said he had a message for you, told me to give you this," Cisco said, opening his palm to reveal a flash drive.

"Did he saw what it was?" Oliver asked as Barry, at super speed, freed his loved ones from their restraints before tossing the drive to Oliver.

"He said once you saw what was on that, you'd understand exactly what was at stake," Caitlin explained.

Watchtower

Later that afternoon

In the med bay, Clark was being examined by Emil and Tess, who exchanged a glance but Clark already knew what they were going to say.

"I'm human now, aren't I?"

"I'm sorry Clark, but yes," Emil said and Clark stood there for a moment, trying to process this.

"How is this even possible?" Tess wondered.

"The dagger Esme threw at me, it glowed pure gold just before it hit me. I think it was some kind of Kryptonite. Gold Kryptonite. I never even knew it existed," Clark with a sigh. "This is why Darkseid wasn't worried about me. He already had a plan to take me out."

"This place is everything," Cisco said impressed as he, the Wests and Caitlin were led into the main room of Watchtower.

"So this is what you've been up since you've been gone," Iris said icily which Barry grimaced.

"A lot's happened since I left Central City. It's…a long sorry," Barry said lamely.

"This is where we've been operating out of for the last week," Oliver explained.

"Who all is here? It can't just be the three of you here," Joe noted.

"You're right, Mr. West, it's not," they all turned as Chloe stepped into view. "I'm Chloe. I'm kind of the person that got Barry involved in this mess."

"Considering Ross already knew who I was, I'd have been involved sooner or later," Barry pointed out.

"Would someone please explain what is going?" Iris asked, out of patience.

"Long story short, there is a …being called Darkseid that's behind everything. The Accords, what happened with my family, everything. We've been working together, trying to stop him," Oliver explained.

"Who is 'we' exactly?" Joe asked.

"The Avengers, a group of mutants, a few vigilantes, a former SHIELD agent and-" Barry cut himself off as someone else walked into the room.

"One former conjoined Meta-Human. Who is still sometimes conjoined," Ronnie said as Caitlin and Cisco stared at him in shock.

"Ronnie," Caitlin said as she walked over to him, wondering if she was hallucinating. "How…"

"Long story, but basically, Barry and his friends helped me. Hey, Cait," Ronnie said with loving smile.

Tears of joy in her eyes, Caitlin threw her arms around Ronnie, burying her face in his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her. It was silent for a moment before a spoke.

"Uh, have to interrupt, but we've got problems," Tony said as he, the rest of the Avengers, Bobbi, Clark, Tess and Emil all walked into the room. "Clark's powers are gone."

"So you're sure then?" Oliver asked and Clark nodded.

"I've encountered a type of Kryptonite that took away my abilities before, but that was temporally, I get them back as soon as I was away from the Kryptonite. This seems permanent," Clark sighed.

"Darkseid appears to be heading towards his Endgame," Stein noted.

"And he's not the only one. Kane took my team, along with my and Sara's families. Chloe," Oliver tossed the flash drive at her and she caught it. "Kane gave that to Cisco, said what's on it would let me know exactly what's at stake."

"More taunts then," Steve noted.

"In my experience, Prometheus doesn't taunt, he mocks you with the truth. Oliver, whatever is on that flash drive, you can't let him get in your head," Bobbi warned her lover, who merely nodded.

Chloe plugged in the flash drive, finding a video file on it. Clicking on it, it began to play, an image appearing on one of the screens. Oliver frowned as he saw a face he hadn't seen in years.

"Samantha?" Oliver wondered out as he saw Samantha Clayton in what seemed to be a park.

"You know her?" Clint asked and Oliver nodded.

"What feels like a lifetime ago," Oliver said wistfully as they all watched, wondering what Kane was getting at with Samantha.

"William!" Samantha called out.

Suddenly, a young boy ran up to Samantha and Oliver paled, staring at the boy. The blood then drained from his face as the image then changed to Samantha and the boy, William in a cage, Samantha wrapping her arms around William as they stared at something, terrified.

"An eye for an eye, Oliver," Kane's voice came over the video, a malicious edge to it. "You killed my father. And now, I will kill your son. You will lose everything you ever cared about. And there is nothing you can do about it. Goodbye, Oliver."

With a last laugh from Kane, the video ended. Oliver stumbled back before a chair suddenly appeared behind him, curtesy of Barry. He collapsed into it, knowing that his friends were saying things, trying to talk to him, but he couldn't for the life of him tell you what it was.

Kane was right, now he understood exactly what was at stake. And he had one more thing to lose.

Metropolis

Same time

In the safe house that Lana had been housed in previously, Esme was tied to a chair, staring blankly at Charles, Logan, Rogue and Gambit. It was silent for a long moment.

"Esme, what is Darkseid planning?" Charles asked patiently and she laughed mockingly.

"I will never tell you. My Master has already won. Soon, his dark rapture will happen. Those saved will be part of his new world order," Esme boasted.

'And those of us deemed unworthy?" Logan asked and she smiled sadistically.

"Those of you left standing will be made into slaves, the lowest of the low. You will know your place in Lord Darkseid's world," Esme said with a dark giggle.

"Think you can get anything from her mind?" Gambit asked and Charles put a hand to his chin.

"Darkseid was able to force me from Erik's mind after a brief conversation. But I suppose we have nothing left to lose," Charles said, putting a hand to his head as he attempted to read Esme's mind.

Charles stood on his legs, standing in a darkened room. Then, hearing something behind him, Charles turned. Standing before him was a creature that seemed to be made of rock with glowing red eyes, with darkness seeming to emit from his very being.

"Darkseid I presume?" Charles asked, already knowing the answer.

"Charles Xavier. You must realize by now that you cannot win," Darkseid told him.

"I do not believe that. Without Clark or not, we will stop you," Charles said firmly and Darkseid laughed mockingly, a sound that made a chill run down Charles' spine.

"Then you are as foolish as Magneto believes you to be. You cannot stop me, more powerful beings than you have tried. I have taken Kal-El's powers; I have divided your forces by taking the loved ones of Oliver Queen. I have Magneto at my disposal. How can you possibly think to defeat me?" Darkseid demanded.

"Just as I have faced every threat that has come my way: by working with my X-Men, and with humans," Charles said firmly and Darkseid laughed again.

"You fight for humans who hate you, yet you expect to bring about an era of peace. You are a fool, Charles Xavier. And I will enjoy tearing you down."

Charles gasped as he was forced back into his body, Logan, Gambit and Rogue all immediately rushing to him.

"Professor, are you okay?" Rogue asked in concern and, after a moment Charles nodded.

"Yes, Rogue. I'm fine. I just had a conversation with Darkseid, where he gave away a piece of information he shouldn't have," Charles said.

Watchtower

Not long after

Oliver was sitting alone, not really paying attention to anything that was going on around him, for he was too deep in thought. Hearing someone sit down next to him, Oliver looked over to see the concerned face of Bobbi.

"You alright?" she asked gently.

"No. Not really," Oliver said with a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry. I know this must…bring up a lot of feeling."

"The fact you have a son with another woman? It's…complicated, but I'm trying to keep my head focused, to not dwell on the past right now. That's not what we need right now," Bobbi said, reaching out and taking his hand. "How are you feeling about this?"

"Trying to process the fact that my world just imploded. I don't understand any of this," Oliver said with a sigh.

"Samantha, she never told you?" Bobbi inquired.

"About six months before the Gambit, my friend Tommy dragged me and Laurel to this party. She and I got in this stupid fight; I don't even remember what it was about. She left; I stayed, got black out drunk. The next thing I remember is waking up in bed with Samantha the next morning. A few months later, she told me she was pregnant. Then, a few days after, she told me she miscarried. I didn't think anything of it, because I knew her, she was a good person. She wouldn't lie to me about that without a good reason," Oliver said trying to understand before something occurred to him. "Mom."

"What?" Bobbi asked confused and he turned to her.

"The day after she told me, I told my mom. Less than two days later, Samantha told me the baby died," Oliver explained.

"You think your mom did something that made Samantha lie to you?" Bobbi asked surprised as a grim look crossed Oliver's face.

"My mother went along with Malcolm Merlyn's Undertaking; her excuse was always that she was protecting me and Thea. It's how she justifies every action. Not only is she capable of doing something to Samantha, she would do it without thinking twice about it if she believed she was helping me," Oliver said as he clenched his hands into fists. "Damn it, Mom."

A few feet, Barry was standing with Iris, trying not to argue.

"How could you not tell me?" Iris demanded.

"Iris, I know you want to talk about this, but I can't right now," Barry said before walking over to Jay. "Jay, I really need to talk to you. Something…happened."

"What's is it, Barry?" Jay asked as he turned to Barry.

"On my way to the airbase, I saw…something," Barry said lamely.

"Describe 'something'," Jay said as Barry tried to put it into words.

"I was running and I saw…myself. Or another Flash, running besides me," Barry explained and saw the look on Jay's face. "You know what it is."

"Yeah, and it couldn't come at a worse time. There's no easy way to say this…Barry, in the near future, you are going to travel back in time," Jay said bluntly and all sound stopped as they turned to Jay and Barry, who was staring at Jay wide eyed.

"I'm sorry; did everyone else just hear the words 'time travel'? Sam asked.

"Speedsters, we get so fast we can run back and forth through time. I experienced the same thing shortly before joining the JSA; I saw another version of myself while running. The next day, I ran so fast I ended up back in that moment. Barry, you need to be very careful of what you do next. Changing time…it has unpredictable effects," Jay warned the younger speedster.

"Yeah, I think 'Back to the Future' has shown us what changing time can do. I'm gonna have to go with him," Cisco added with a nod to Jay.

"It's worse than just changing history. Time wants to happen. You might prevent one threat, but you'll create another, maybe more dangerous threat. Barry, whatever happens, you have to be very careful," Jay insisted.

"Ok, I'll be careful," Barry promised.

"You and careful aren't exactly exclusive, Allen," Logan noted as he wheeled in Charles, Rogue and Gambit walking in behind him. "So, what'd we miss?"

"Oh, the usual. Oliver has kid and Barry is about to time travel," Clint said sarcastically, stunning the four.

"Time travel? You're certain?" Charles asked, fascinated.

"What Barry describes is exactly what happened to me right before I first time traveled. It must be a speedster thing, Professor," Jay explained.

"Time Travel? Gambit wondering if he's dreaming after having little too much to drink," Gambit mused.

"I'm still on the fact that you have a kid. What is this, 'secret kids you didn't know about' month?" Logan asked dryly as Oliver ran a hand over his face.

"Prometheus gave Cisco a flash drive. On it is a video of an old flame of mine with a boy Kane claims is my son. Given his age, it's certainly possible that he's mine," Oliver explained tiredly.

"More than possible. Ollie, he looks almost exactly like you did at that age, just with Samantha's hair color and eyes," Sara told him.

"Whether or not he is Oliver's son, Prometheus thinks he is. That means he and Samantha are in danger," Matt pointed out and Oliver nodded.

"Matt's right. Just makes it even more important that we find Kane and where he has my friends and family," Oliver said as he got to his feet.

At that moment, Barry's phone buzzed with a text. Pulling it out, he frowned before looking up at Oliver.

"Ollie," Barry said before tossing Oliver the phone.

Oliver caught it, looking down and seeing what Barry wanted him to see.

"Do you trust this?" Oliver asked.

"Can we afford not to?" Barry asked and Oliver nodded, conceding his point.

"Kane is heading for Starling City, with his hostages," Oliver said as he handed Barry back his phone. "He's taking them in the factory where I killed Slade."

"Makes sense, he's all about the past. But where you'd get this information, Barry?" Bobbi asked and he looked at her blankly.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Barry said dryly.

"While you deal with Prometheus, we'll do our best to take down Darkseid," Bobby said.

"It might not be that easy. I just had a rather…enlightening conversation with Darkseid. He mentioned Magneto. I think he plans to use Magneto in his final attack," Charles explained.

"So we have to deal with Prometheus, Darkseid and Magneto. Great. What else can go wrong?" Tony asked dryly.

As if in answer, the light in the room suddenly dimmed. It confused everyone until Steve looked out the window, seeing what seemed to be an asteroid entering the sky, blocking out the sun.

"You had to ask," Steve told Tony as they all stared.

"What is it?" Matt asked and they remembered he couldn't see.

"It's like some kind of asteroid in the sky. It's blocking out the sun," Wanda explained.

"It's Darkseid's doing," Clark said with certainty. "Whatever the next part of his plan is, he's not wasting any time."

"We better come up with a plan fast. Because whatever happens next, we'll be in for the fight of our lives," Steve said grimly.

Well, lots of developments here. Kane has taken and informed Oliver about William, Darkseid let slip part of his plan, and Apokolips is nearing Earth. Buckle up, because the next few chapters are going to be a bumpy ride.

Darkseid would be played by Keith David. Thank you to Aragorn II Elessar for the suggestion.