Not All Worlds Are Equal

by Jasontodd908

Summary:

Powergirl and Batman have been married for some time now, and following the events of Public Enemies, have settled into life well enough. They have their arguments, but they would like to believe they get along well. They are about to find though that not all their universal counterparts are quite so lucky, and now Earth's greatest heroes will find themselves in a battle that even they cannot win alone.

Against themselves.

Notes:

I know. So sorry for not continuing on with On Swift Wings right now. I just hit a roadblock. Again, so so sorry. I hope you enjoy this final installment of Of Capes and Cowls though!

Chapter 1

Three Years Later, Master Bedroom, Wayne Manor, Gotham City

 

     All was calm and quiet at that moment, which for the two people who were threaded together in the massive four post bed, was quite welcomed. When they were awake they rarely got any time at all to just relax and enjoy each other’s company. It was morning, and the birds were chirping outside, darting to and fro towards the multitude of different bird baths that had been set up courtesy of the lady of the house.

 

That woman was perhaps the happiest person on Earth at that moment, content beyond words.

 

Mrs. Kara Todd, though to the public she was known as Linda Lee Todd, something that kept her true identity secret.

Nobody suspected that the joyful, bubbly and consistently well meaning, though also described as naive and “folksy”, Mrs. Wayne was actually Powergirl, the world’s greatest hero. Well, one of the world’s greatest heroes. The other was lying right next to her. Her husband.

 

Jason Todd.

 

Batman.

 

He snored lightly, his bare chest rising and falling as he took each breath, last night’s patrol having been particularly taxing on him. For some reason Two Face and Killer Croc had been working together, causing him to take more of a beating than usual. Kara had been busy, halfway around the world, evacuating a small village in the Philippines that was being ravaged by a tsunami, and simply couldn’t get any outside help.

 

Besides the Justice League of course.

 

He’d won, as always, but still, he’d taken a beating.

 

Kara slowly wakes up as the outside noises of the birds stir her from her sleep, and she blinks her eyes a few times to try and get accustomed to the early morning conditions and the first thing she sees is his bare, pale, and to her utter pleasure, slightly hairy chest.

 

“Mmmmmm…”.

 

She coos as her hand reaches out and caresses his pectoral, moving up and down, sliding her dainty digits over his skin, caressing it as lovingly as she could. He didn’t stir, falling into such deep sleep that it took a very long time for him to wake up. It was really funny for the Batman. To be so alert and awake at all times, and yet, here, right now, with her, be so at peace that she wasn’t sure if a nuclear weapon going off could wake him.

 

She was flattered really. Knowing that he felt safe enough with her to let his defenses fully drop. 

 

Her hair, short as it was, was splayed out over his chest, golden locks that mimicked the sun outside, and her curvaceous body was pressed up against him, over him really, as half of her was draped over her husband’s form. 

 

She was dressed only in a flimsy red negligee that was secured by straps over her shoulders, thin straps that didn’t do much to keep her prominent, and often spoken of in vulgar circles, breasts. She didn’t mind really. In fact, she liked it a bit. Knowing that so many people found her beautiful and yet, only one man would ever have her.

 

It went to just below her ass cheeks, and in the night had ridden up a bit, exposing her pale, supple curbs which were covered only by her panties. Jason slept with his arm around her shoulders, and his arm as a result draped down over her back and down to her butt, which he was clutching possessively.

 

It was strange to Kara. How all of this could be so vivid in her focus at that moment, but she chalks it up to just how amazing this all felt to her. How perfect. How…heavenly. 

 

“Mmm”.

 

She coos again and nuzzles her cheek into his chest, nodding to herself as she closes her eyes. ‘Yes…heavenly. Rao, this is heavenly…’.

 

Her ear was pressed right up against the man’s chest now, which gave any woman access to hearing one’s heartbeat. But for a woman like Kara? She could hear any heartbeat within the entire house, hell, around the world.

 

Right now she could hear Alfred’s, steady and loving Alfred, who was in the kitchen at that very moment, fixing his employer’s, but more family, breakfast. The steadfast servant, whose heartbeat reflected that. Firm and constant, never wavering. He was healthy, which was always a concern for Kara due to the man’s increasing age. 

 

Alfred was fine though, and she pushes those worries away and focuses instead on the heartbeats that were within their room. Jason’s was firm, pounding against his chest with a power that was a testament to the man’s strength. It was girded against the world by his training and intense health regiment, something that paid dividends in the bedroom as well as the battlefield.

 

Kara smiles naughtily at that, pondering if she should wake the man up in a very…special way. 

 

She decides against it rather quickly though as she knew that the man was very tired and didn’t want to add to it, not when the man had a meeting at Wayne Enterprises today, something important that he’d told her right before they went to bed, though it had apparently slipped her mind as to what it was. 

 

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

 

So steady, so firm. It was like his heartbeat was a direct comparison to how the man was in his waking hours. 

 

Her own heart beat was there too, not all that different of course, but still somehow less intense.

 

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

 

She smiles again, and decides right then and there to just go back to sleep, wait until Jason’s alarm wakes the man up, who would in turn wake her up. So, she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, getting ready to do just that.

……thump, thump, thump, thump.

 

Her eyes shoot open as soon as she hears yet another heartbeat, which seemed to just…start, right out of nowhere. At first she was confused, wondering if maybe someone had come onto the property and she was now detecting them, but discards that notion instantly.

The new heartbeat, much lower than the other two, was coming from inside the room.

 

Powergirl jumps into action, rushing up into a seated position on the bed, her eyes peeled and glaring about the confines of her bedroom, scanning for any possible threat or avenue of attack. “Mrrrrnnn”.

 

At the foot of the bed, a massive head rises, reminding the woman of yet another living creature in the room in the form of Ace, their loyal hound, looking at her, questioning in its aged eyes. “It’s okay Ace” the blonde whispers, still trying to understand what was going on.

 

“It’s just…something weird”.

 

‘Was it Ace? No…no. I can hear Ace’s AND the other one’.

 

She was shocked, not understanding how something could happen like that. She couldn’t see anybody! No matter how many different ways she looked. The room was empty except for her, her husband and their dog, and yet? There was still that extra heartbeat.

 

The closets were empty, that she could see with her x-ray vision.

 

There was nobody under the bed. Alfred was a whole floor away. It didn’t make sense!

 

…thump…thump…thump…thump….

 

“Urrrggghhh…where is that coming from?”

 

She whispers that to herself as she relaxes a bit, relatively sure that they weren’t in any danger now but still utterly curious….

 

Her eyes widen in shock as the thought comes to her, and slowly she lowers her head down towards herself, looking specifically at her stomach. It was flat, even muscled under the nightie she wore. There was nothing visibly wrong or different and yet, that was where the noise was coming from.

 

There were suddenly two heartbeats within Kara Todd’s body.

 

“By Rao…”.

 

Her hand comes up to her lips first, shocked as she covers her mouth in an attempt to calm herself, completely floored by this development, and through it all, that tiny little heartbeat persisted, strong like a freight train in tandem with her own.

 

Her hand lowers and joins her other, with both moving towards her stomach where they grasp herself, rubbing softly as if she was caressing the baby inside of her, growing, right at that very moment. It was quicker than an adult would be, at least double the speed, and the scientist within the woman couldn’t stop herself from extrapolating what that meant.

 

“Twenty two days…twenty two days since conception so…so…”.

 

She was getting choked up, unable to fight the smile that overtakes her face as the dam breaks and tears burst forth, spewing over her cheeks. She takes a deep breath and thinks back to twenty two days ago.

 

“Okay…okay……it was right after we came back from the Watchtower. Down in the batcave….by Rao”.

She remembered that night as having been particularly passionate, with her husband taking her right up on the hood of the batmobile. As usual, they hadn’t been using protection, both seeing it as rather a moot point since they were married.

 

“What happens…happens. As long as it happens with you, I’m the happiest man on Earth”.

 

She still remembered how he had smiled when he said that, and how he had reached out for her hand, grasping it in such a way as to make her feel like she was the only woman on Earth. They hadn’t been trying for a baby, but they weren’t exactly avoiding one either.

 

And now? Here they were. Two heartbeats.

 

Her hand shakes as she removes one from her belly, the woman already moving into a purely protective mothering instinct, as if her removing her hand would open the baby up to danger. But, even still, she needed to do something. 

 

Kara reaches out for her husband, and grasps him by his shoulder, shaking him firmly.

 

“Grnnrrrrrrrr….”.

 

“Jason” she whispers at first, her voice stained with tears. “Jason, baby…wake up”.

 

“Nggrrr?”

The question could almost be heard in the noises emanating out from Ace’s maw, and the large canine jumps up, padding across the bed and moving towards his mistress, who was the only one he ever seemed to listen to. Without any hesitation, he plops his head down on her lap, and sniffs her, looking right at the woman’s belly in an accusing way.

 

The doberman/shepherd mix knew. 

 

“Jassssoooonn!” she coos pleadingly, releasing her other hand, having to force herself to do so, in order to pat their overgrown puppy’s head and calm him. Apparently, that had been enough to wake the dark haired man besides her, and he opens his eyes slowly, blinking in much the same way Kara had moments before.

 

“Huh…wha…what? What’s wrong babe?”

 

He was instantly awake, not needing much, as always being the Batman underneath it all. He was seated up with his bare back against their headboard, and he reached out for his wife, grasping her waist as he looked deeply into her eyes. He notices the tears first and foremost, which frightens him, but then he sees the smile.

 

“I got a surprise for you lover”.

 

Her hands clamp onto the sides of his face, and she lays a passionate and fiery kiss right upon his lips, one that if he hadn’t been awake before, certainly would have woken him up now. He was shocked, wide eyed as Kara had been when she first heard the heartbeat, but didn't stop himself from kissing the woman back intently. 

 

“Mmm…mmmm…wa..mmm…wait!”

The smacking of the lips against one another could be heard as the man tries to fight back his amorous wife, at least for long enough to get his words out. Kara didn’t seem eager for that though, as she just kept coming back in for yet more kisses. He had to grasp her by her shoulders and keep her in place, though if she didn’t want to, he had no hope of doing so.

 

He laughs and shakes his head, cupping her cheek and softly caressing the skin there.

 

“Babe…not that I’m complaining, butttt…did I do something to deserve that this early in the morning?”

 

She bobs her head rapidly, conjuring an image of a rapidly nodding squirrel in his mind, so wide was her smile. “You did. You Did. Maybe….maybe the greatest thing we ever did together Jason”. His own smile falters as confusion reigns, and the woman realizes that she was going to have to tell him. But she couldn’t! Her words wouldn’t come out right. She’d stutter and keep crying and…

 

There was only one way. 

 

She reaches out for his hand and grabs it by the wrist, taking the hand slowly away from him, and moving it to her belly, where she places it atop her flesh, making her point.

 

“I woke up to two heartbeats”.

 

He didn’t seem to get it…at first, but it quickly dawns on the hardened vigilante, and his face goes utterly slack, shock registering in his eyes. 

 

“Kar…Kara?”

 

She nods quickly again, looking down as she presses her hand over his, both rubbing her belly. “You’re going to be a daddy Jason”.

 

“Ohh…ohh God!”

 

He lunges forward and wraps his arms around her, pulling her tightly to his chest as the woman retaliates, pressing herself in just as close. The two were peppering each other’s faces in kisses, unable to stop from caressing and touching on another as they luxuriated in the joy of their discovery.

 

“Kara…you…you…you’re an angel! You’re so damn beautiful I…fuck…”.

 

“Yeah, that’s how we got here” the blonde teases, knowing that her husband was so over the moon that he was losing control of his thoughts and emotions, which is the only time he ever really cursed. They slowly relaxed, calming, and settling into the amazing thoughts that were now overtaking their minds.

 

He leans his forehead against hers and smiles, closing his eyes.

 

“This is the best day of my life babe”.

 

“Pfft, you think? It’s mine too Jay”.

 

They sat there, caressing and cooing at one another, unable to stop it. “Alfred is going to flip. And get ready for a massive fight by the way”.

 

“What do you mean?” Kara asks, confused as to what the man meant. 

 

“Between Courtney, M’gann, Kory and Diana. All of them, and I do mean all of them, are going to want first dibs on our little guy or gal when it comes to being a godmother. Hell, even Harley is going to throw her hat in the ring”.

 

Kara seems genuinely worried by that, and she frowns, looking away and beginning to think.

 

“I don’t want to upset any of them babe….it…it doesn’t feel right”.

 

“Hey, hey…I’m joking. They all know there's a waiting list for a Wayne baby to spoil” he says, trying to comfort her. The woman laughs, shaking her head. “So, we have to have at least five babies to make them all happy?”

 

“If you insist”.

 

He takes her hand and brings it up to his lips, kissing the back of it lovingly. 

 

“Thank you Kara”.

 

“Baby…you don’t need to thank me” she says, taking his hand again. “We did this together. I….Rao, I’m so scared”.

 

“Of what?”

 

“Of being a mother. What if…what if I’m not good at it?” she asks, growing teary eyed again, though this time from sadness and fear. “What if I’m too strict or..or..if I push them too much in science or something? What if they hate me? What if…”.

 

“Kara, Kara…no offense but…babe? That’s stupid”.

 

“Don’t call me stupid!”

 

“I’m not!” he defends quickly, not wanting to get on the wrong side of his wife, a wife who could shoot laser beams from her eyes and incinerate him if she wanted to, though was far too good to do such a thing. “I’m just saying, you’re Powergirl. Which means that you’re going to be the most amazing mother to ever live, and our baby? He or she is gonna love you….any way to figure out which it is yet?”

 

Kara blushes at her husband’s words, and decides to see if she could check.

 

After all, the zygote…no. Not the zygote. She hated calling them that. It felt so awful, so demeaning. This was a baby. Their baby, her and Jason’s. Utter perfection already in her mind. No, the baby. She wouldn’t call them an embryo or zygote or fetus. No. The baby was formed from organic matter after all, and if she focused hard enough, maybe, just maybe, she could see them.

 

She looks down at her belly and then past it, onwards past her own flesh and then settling on the tiny little ball that was forming right in the pit of her uterus. 

 

It was tiny, so tiny, and yet she could see it inside of her, growing even then, but infinitesimally slow.

 

She pauses for a moment, and then presses on, her husband waiting patiently for her verdict. She peers into the genetic makeup of their child, the cells forming and clinging to one another, dividing and shifting. She pushes past even this, all the while continuing to rub her belly, and gets to the DNA where she can study the chromosomes.

 

She sees it. Clear as day.

 

1.  

 

A boy. 

 

A baby boy.

 

“Jason?”

 

“Yeah? Yeah?”

 

It was like he was a man dying of thirst, waiting for the verdict with the same intensity that the dying man would wait for water. She loved him. So damn much.

 

“You’re the proud papa of a little boy”.

 

“A boy…wow…really?”

 

She nods her head, confirming that that was indeed the case. “Uh huh. A boy. Yup”.

 

He was beaming, no doubt the happiest man on Earth at that very moment, and he reached out for his wife, hugging her close to him while rubbing her back. “Wow…okay…okay. He’s going to like football. I know it. And army men”.

 

“Jason” she chirps out, loving how her husband was already going down tangents of his hopes and dreams for their son.

 

“It’s okay if he doesn’t but…hey, a guy can dream right? Alright…schools. Schools. Gotham U for sure. I’d like him to study something important. Something big. Medicine, law. Anything. But just…something. Hell, if he’s your little boy I can almost bet he’s going to want to be a scientist. Maybe a doctor. Who knows. I gotta set up the college fund today. I’m going to do that right after I go to Wayne Tow…”.

 

“Mmphh”.

 

She kisses him again, silencing him in the middle of his tangent. It works, and after a moment, she releases him, and caresses his cheek while looking longingly into his eyes. 

 

“I’m glad our three week old baby already has his life planned out for him, courtesy of his daddy…”.

 

“It isn’t like that…” he says, pouting a little, already feeling guilty.

 

“I know. You’re just going to be an amazing daddy”.

 

He holds her close again, the two falling silent as they just decide to snuggle for a little bit, though, they are quickly reminded that they weren’t alone. Ace looks at the two, moving his eyes back and forth and then letting out a massive exhale of breath. He then barks, drawing the attention of the two just in time for him to jump forward and nuzzle between them.

 

“Ohhh you jealous baby! Of course we aren’t gonna forget you” Kara teases, rubbing the dog’s belly as he turns onto his back and presents it. Jason joins in, the two fawning over the dog to make him feel welcome again, which worked apparently as his tongue lolled out and he panted, his tail thumping loudly against the bed. 

 

“No way a secret superpower of yours is that you can speed it up, is it?” he asks his wife, though clearly not serious.

“Afraid not Jason. Looks like we have to wait the full nine months and you get to see me swell up like a beach ball”.

 

“We need to tell the family” he says, not even addressing that at the moment as he looks towards his wife’s stomach and finds himself wishing for a sign, physical proof that their baby was in there. 

 

“Alfred first of course”.

 

“Of course. You’re going to the watchtower today right?” he asks, receiving a nod from the woman. “Uh huh. Gotta do a mission brief and a monthly review”.

 

“You should tell Diana…and ask her to be the godmother”.

 

“I’m glad we’re in agreement on that then”.

 

“Courtney, M’gann, Kory and….ohh God Barb too, they’re all gonna have to spar for the next one”.

 

Kara laughs and rolls her eyes, laughing aloud. “No, no. To be fair? Here’s the order. Diana, who’s going to be over the moon by the way, first. Then Barbara. Then Courtney. Then M’gann. Then Kory”.

 

“So, I guess that means there's a lot of baby making in our future?”

 

Kara just smiles nefariously and nods, moving in like a predatory jungle cat. “Mhm. The factory is open baby, and now? We gotta get to work making sure the future is full of Todds to keep them safe”. She was hiding the real reason both of them wanted a large family of course. The real fact was…neither of them ever wanted to be alone again, and they didn’t want any of their children to feel alone.

 

So the answer? It was right in front of them. A large family. 

 

And they were on their way.

 

“Better tell Alfred to double your eggs this morning…..you know. Eating for two and all”.

 

“Ugh…here we go…but…some more eggs sound good. Actually, you think I can convince him to make me his southwestern omelet?” she asks, still worried that Alfred would still be mad at her for doing ALL the housework yesterday.

 

“Babe, right now, you can ask him to make you the largest cake ever, and he’d buy out all the flour in the store and get to work. For Mrs. Wayne? He’d do anything”.

 

Five Hours Later, Justice League Watchtower Observation Deck

 

The briefing had wrapped up relatively quickly all things considered, which meant that most everybody in the League was now on their way home. For Diana, that was a good thing, as it gave her time to relax and just…walk about. 

 

Usually she came here, to the observation deck, which allowed her to look down upon the Earth which they protected, and ruminate over the beauty she saw there. 

 

A giant mud ball, of water and soil, and yet, over eight billion people lived upon it, each going through their daily lives. There was violence and war, famine and hunger. Rape and injustice. In many places, evil prevailed.

 

But, even still, she knew that love was stronger.

Each man or woman walked the Earth right now desiring one thing. Love. Another piece to the puzzle that was their almost inexplicable existence. Company, an end to loneliness. Understanding. All the trappings of love.

 

She’d had that for a time, and even now it filled her with warmth in place of the sadness that had once been so prevalent.

 

Her hand comes up to the glass, and she smiles, grateful for the life that she had been given thus far. 

“Long meeting huh?”

She turns to see that she had company, another woman joining her on the observation deck. It was Powergirl, leader of the Justice League, and she was standing there with such an expression that Diana was instantly made aware of something important happening.

 

“It was” the Amazon agrees, “though very fruitful”.

 

The Kryptonian smiles and nods, already wanting to brush right past her opening statement and onto what she felt was truly important. She was wearing her all too typical uniform, a white unitard that left her legs open and exposed at the bottom, yet covered her arms. Blue gloves and a red cape completing the motif and color scheme that she’d inherited from her predecessor. Her cousin, Clark Kent, or Kal El. Superman. 

 

The only thing that Diana wasn’t exactly happy about was the often spoken about “boob window” which was an opening towards the top of the unitard that allowed a generous portion of cleavage, which was definitely a physical attribute that clashed with Kara’s “aww shucks” innocence.

 

‘Some battles you cannot win’ the Amazon queen reminds herself, shaking her head with a smile. ‘Jason likes it, and so it stays’. She ponders to herself if she would’ve kept a certain aspect of her uniform if she knew that Bruce had liked it, and quickly decides that that was indeed the case, which heightens her understanding and lessens her discomfort.

 

Powergirl walks up beside her and joins her at the window, looking down on the Earth with utter joy.

 

“Things are going well down there huh?”

 

“They are Kara, and much of that is thanks to you and Batman”. 

 

“Yeah….hehe…most of these guys don’t know it” the blonde says, gesturing with her shoulder towards the rest of the watchtower and hence, the heroes aboard. “But you’d be surprised at how often it’s actually him calling the shots”.

 

Diana smirks, hearing the secret that the blonde had no idea wasn’t actually a secret.

 

“Ohh believe me Kara….we all know that Jason makes his thoughts on any subject within the League very clear to you, and we all know that when he speaks, you listen”. Kara blushes as Wonder Woman reaches out and grasps her shoulder, lightly squeezing it. 

 

“That obvious huh?”

 

“Yes. Yes it is”.

 

Powergirl sighs and rolls her eyes, chuckling lightly to herself. “I hear they’re closing in on Green Arrow?”

 

“Yes, they are” Wonder Woman confirms, her smile falling as they move back to more serious topics of discussion. “Any day now”. It had been three years since Lex Luthor and the Joker had taken over the United States and almost destroyed the heroes who protected it. Many of their former friends, who had been missing for years, either on the run or…well, nobody wanted to think about it, had gone along with the billionaire. And in the end, it had cost them everything.

 

“I…let’s leave it to them” Kara says quickly, pained at having to go against people who’d been heroes for so long. Before she even came to this planet.

 

“I have news…well…we have news”.

 

“You and Jason?”

 

Kara smiles and turns to face the woman directly once again, nodding. “Yeah, but he sent me along with a little messenger to tell you about it. So that “we” right now, doesn’t necessarily physically include Jason…”

 

“Ohhh stop speaking in riddles Powergirl. You know that I don’t like them”. 

 

Kara beams, reaching out for the woman who was practically an older sister to her, and she grasps her shoulder firmly, squeezing it as she gets ready to drop the mother of all bombs upon the woman. “You want me to come right out with it?”

 

“Yes”.

 

“Sure you can handle i-,”

 

“For Hera’s sake Kara, tell me! I grow worried”. 

 

Right then and there, she knows that she needs to tell her, and without further delay, the Kryptonian lets it all out. “I’m pregnant, and Jason and I already decided that you’re going to be the godmother”.

 

Diana was floored, and it showed in how her eyes suddenly became the size of dinner plates, and her mouth hung open. 

 

Of all the things she expected on this relatively routine day…that? That hadn’t been one of them.

 

Wayne Tower, Main Lobby

 

“Good morning Janice!”

 

“Well good morning to you too Mr. Todd! You certainly seem happy today” the receptionist at the front desk says, smiling and waving warmly back at the man, the CEO and her boss as he strolls into the building. 

 

He was immaculately dressed in his suit, black of course with a white shirt and red tie. His hair perfectly brushed and his eyes wide awake, which was really quite a difference from how he usually came into the building.

 

“I am. I am…..”.

 

He couldn’t keep it in, not even as he made his way towards the elevator, the doors already opening to reveal the woman inside who was to serve as its operator, Wayne Tower being quite old fashioned and wanting to supply some extra jobs. 

 

“I’m gonna be a dad. A dad! Can you believe it?”

 

He was practically skipping. 

 

Jason Todd….was skipping. 

 

“Ohh Mr. Todd! Wow! That! That’s such good news! Congratulations!”

 

“Thank you Janice! Thank you. Wow…wow…wow! Wow!”

 

He just kept repeating that word over and over again to himself and the others, all of whom were smiling. The security guards, who were supposed to try and be serious, couldn’t help themselves, enjoying the clear happiness registering on their employer’s face. 

 

He gets to the front door of the elevator and steps inside, turning and facing forward as the uniform clad woman behind him, smiled as well. Her hat was pulled down over her forehead, allowing the brim of it to obscure her features a bit, and her collar was done up completely, further helping that along.

 

“Good morning Mr. Wayne. What floor can I get you too?”

 

“My office please. Wow…wow. Holy crap. Holy crap”.

 

The woman nods and does as he says, reaching out for the panel in front of her in order to press the requisite button, which brings the elevator heading up towards the 78th story, which was the uppermost floor of the building. 

 

He was happy, and as such distracted.

 

Even still, he notices the woman as she leans forward a bit. Her pale white skin, her startling blue eyes. He didn’t recognize her, as the usual elevator man was an elderly gentleman by the name of Harry whom he’d had multiple conversations with over his time here.

 

He didn’t find himself unduly concerned though. After all, people came in and out of the tower all the time.

 

“Where’s Harry today?” the man asks, trying to make small talk.

“He took a sick day Mr. Wayne” the woman smirks, stepping back beyond his line of sight and reaching up for a pocket of her coat. Her hands reach into the pocket, and grasp a small steel pipe, solid in heft and weight. “Had a case of the flu”.

 

“Ahhh, poor guy”.

 

“What’s got you so happy today if you don’t mind me asking?”

 

The woman draws out the solid steel piece of pipe and hefts it in her hand, watching as the numbers on the elevator go up more and more, heading towards their ultimate destination. 

 

“Well…I’m going to be a dad. Hehe…I…I’m going to be a father”.

The woman’s face falls flat for a moment, completely emotionless at the revelation of that fact, as if she was floored. But then…she smiles, her lips wickedly curving outwards as just how…delicious this all was came to her.

 

‘Puddin…you are a bona fide genius’.

 

“No you’re not”.

“Wha…”.

TWACK!!!

 

She brings up the steel pipe as hard as she possibly could, and slams it right into the back of the man’s head with all of her might. A sickening crunch was heard, and the man stumbles forward, shocked for a moment as his brain shuts down from the catastrophic damage he’d just suffered. Batman or no Batman, a massive blow to the back of the head like that would knock anybody out, and he didn’t even have the cowl on to somewhat prevent the damage.

 

The CEO falls to the floor, crumpled up at the bottom of the elevator like a ragdoll…his eyes fluttering closed as he falls into unconsciousness.

 

His last glimpse was of the woman, who was reaching up to remove her hat while shaking her long blonde hair out of the bun it was done up in. The tips were blue and red respectively on each side, which gives her identity away.

 

Marian Drews. The new and “improved” Harley Quinn.

 

He was completely gone from the land of the conscious by the time the woman reaches into her coat once again and draws out a cell phone, which she eagerly begins to press buttons upon, dialing up a number. It was on speaker, something that both she and the man she was calling had intended upon.

 

It only took one ring.

 

“Hello Pooh. How is your little tour of Wayne Tower coming along?”

 

She practically purrs as she hears the man’s voice on the other end of the line, and she leans against the side of the elevator, nonchalantly looking down at the prone body of her quarry. “It’s going amazing puddin’. You won’t believe the kind of things they just leave around in the gift shop”.

“Ohhh? Pick up anything good?”

 

“Uhhm. I even got you something sweetie. How do you like unconscious billionaires?”

 

“They’re my favorite kind”.

 

She could practically hear the smirk on his lips, that ohh so beautiful murderous smirk that never ceased to amaze and thrill her. It had to be going into overdrive now as this plan they were working on? It was a doozy. 

 

“I’m bringing it up to deliver it to my baby right now”.

“That’s good Harley. Very good. You’ve earned your spanking tonight my murderous little dove. Let me just bring the helicopter around and pick you up. I’m sure Mr. Todd won’t mind if we use his roof for a little…heheh…fun!”

 

“On my way puddin”. 

 

She hangs up and then reaches out to press the panel again, redirecting the elevator up towards the roof. When that is done, she works on undoing her coat, which reveals the black leather armored bustier beneath. She slips off the coat quickly enough, leaving no illusions as to who she was. 

 

As the elevator goes up and up, she turns and smiles right at the camera positioned in the upper right hand corner. 

 

She blows a kiss at it, and as soon as that is done grabs a pistol that had been holstered at her side. She raises it, aims it at said camera, and fires, completely obliterating the feed, but leaving just enough time for whoever was watching to get a nice long look at what had happened. 

 

Jason Todd had been kidnapped.

 

Back on the Watchtower

 

Diana was still standing there in shocked silence, unable to comprehend what had just been told to her, even after nearly half an hour. She just…she couldn’t move, and yet, she also couldn’t wipe the smile off of her face. 

 

Kara was no different, and the two women had just stood there, occasionally bringing one another in for a massive hug. 

 

“I…by the gods…this…this is a blessing”.

 

“I know. You really don’t have to tell me”.

 

“And you just…woke up? Hearing their heartbeat?” Diana asks, shocked still at the revelation of how this had all come about. Kara nods, reaching for her stomach yet again. “Yes. I just…he…he was there. He’s been there for a little while, sure, but now? Now I can hear him. Even right now. He’s there”.

 

“He. I’m not shocked,” the Amazon says, laughing aloud. “Why?”

 

Kara was asking that accusingly, waiting for some sort of Amazonian sexism to come out. She might’ve laughed along good naturedly with it before, humored it a bit, but if it came to her son? She just might have to put Diana in her place. 

 

“I just never could’ve imagined you as a mother to anything but a son” Diana says, brushing the blonde’s worries away. “I cannot see you helping a little girl with nail polish or playing tea party or anything like that”.

 

“Pffft, and you could?” the blonde shoots back, causing Diana to smile, though this time very sadly. 

 

“No. I always wanted to give Bruce a son, though my very nature cried out for a daughter. In a way…I thought that…perhaps if we had a son…it would make up for what had happened to Bruce. If he had grown to live a happy life with both of his parents. A sort of…cosmic equilibrium so to speak”. 

 

“Diana…”.

 

Kara reaches out for the woman’s arm in an attempt to calm her, though Wonder Woman turns and smiles, grasping the hand. “Now is not the time for sadness. It is time for joy. I’m going to be a godmother, and you? A mother. How did Jason take it?”

 

“He’s over the moon. Like…seriously ecstatic”.

 

“He’s a very lucky man. He has every possible reason to feel that way”.

 

“I’m the lucky one”.

 

“Bruce would be so happy to see this” Diana says, speaking on behalf of her deceased fiancee. “To see all his hard work, finally, truly paying off”.

 

“Yeah. It’s so…cathartic really. After everything that’s happened, we now get to enjoy our lives a bit”.

 

“What about the League? I assume, with you and your…new state of being” she teases, openly referring to Kara’s newly discovered pregnancy. “You can’t exactly go toe to toe with the likes of Solomon Grundy while carrying your son”.

 

“Really? I was thinking it would be a good way to get some experience” she teases, not meaning it at all. “A little sidekick of my own to help out”.

 

“How so?”

 

“Maybe he can kick? Not really sure yet”.

Diana laughs at the mental image that conjures up for her, of a visibly pregnant Powergirl subduing Killer Frost by getting her stomach close enough to allow the baby to kick out, defeating the villainess in one go. It truly was humorous. 

 

She remembers what else was said though at that moment, and fixates on it, finding it strange that it hadn’t occurred to her until just then. 

 

“Why hasn’t Batman ever taken on a sidekick? A Robin?”

 

“Hmmm? Ohh, yeah. He uhh…he actually talked to me about that” Kara says, rubbing the back of her head. “He’s more or less afraid, you know? He loves Bruce, even to this day he was his father in his mind but…he isn’t going to glamorize it. Bruce took him, a street kid, and threw him into a warzone, training or no training. He’s still afraid of that day…with the Joker”.

 

Diana looks away, knowing exactly what the woman was talking about. Even now she could hear the laughter of the sadistic clown, reverberating in her ears.

 

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

 

“He never wants another kid to ever feel that way, even if he knows he would do everything in his power to save them. He doesn’t want to risk it”.

 

“I understand. Truly I do, and I believe that it’s noble”.

 

“Besides, he’s going to have a literally indestructible sidekick soon,” Kara teases with a smile. “Why try and train a kid and put them in danger when we can work with literal perfection?” 

 

“Pfft, child snob”.

 

“When it’s my kiddo? Yeah, I am” Kara teases. “My baby boy is going to be the best ever”.

 

“I don’t doubt it”.

 

“Good because…”.

 

Her communicator goes off, instantly alerting her as she looks down to her arm, her upper arm specifically, where the link to the batcave had been implanted into the fabric. All she needed to do to access it was click upon it, though for some reason, this time, she found it odd.

 

“Who is it?” Diana asks, knowing the signs.

 

“Alfred. Probably wants to know where we want to put the crib and the changing table and if he can start painting the nursery” she teases, remembering the man’s expression and reaction when they had finally gotten to tell him that morning. 

 

“Ohh that man…he never stops”.

 

“No. Never. Let me answer. Hi Alfr…”.

 

“HE’S BEEN TAKEN!”

 

“What…what? Who? Who’s been taken? Slow dow-,”

 

“MASTER JASON! THE JOKER! HE HAS HIM! HIS LACKEY WAS IN THE ELEVATOR AND SHE HIT HIM FROM BEHIND!”

 

“It’s true Kara” calls out Barbara, the younger redhead pushing the man away from the computer so that she could speak. Alfred was besides himself, a bundle of nerves, too worried and scared to be of any help. “We have footage showing what happened. Marian Drews kidnapped Jason, and she and Joker took him off of the roof of Wayne Tower in a helicopter”.

 

“Rao…no…”.

 

“Kara, what’s happening?”

 

“Joker took Jason”.

There was a look of anger, utter rage mixing with fear and despair upon the blonde’s face that instantly sets Diana off, her own fear for the man quadrupling and growing every second. “Oracle, do we have a lead on where he is?”

 

“Not right now but we’re…”.

 

“HOW?!! HE HAS A TRACKER!!”

The Kryptonian was apoplectic, shocked at how something so awful could’ve happened after something so good that very morning. ‘I knew it…I knew it when we threw him and his bitch back in Arkham. He was going to break out again and try something…I knew it!’

 

“It’s been turned off….”.

 

“He’s somewhere in Gotham”.

 

“We know that but…”.

 

“I’ll be right there”.

She severs the link without another word and turns to Diana, who wanted her leadership at that moment more than anything else. “What do you want us to do?”

 

“Get Lantern and Flash down to Gotham. I’m going to start looking for him. Tear every single piece of the city apart until we find him. I’ll see you there”. In a flash the woman was gone, seemingly disappearing right out of thin air, though Diana knew that she was on her way to the transponder in the main atrium. 

 

She was on her feet and rushing to carry out their leader’s orders, knowing that she’d have to step in for Kara at the moment and lead the Justice League. One of their own had been taken by one of the absolute worst foes they had ever faced. 

 

They were already running out of time.

 

Beneath Gotham Bay

 

“How is everything up front Harley?”

 

“The boys are piloting her nice and steady puddin’” the colorfully dressed woman says as she ducks down through the hatch, entering one of the rear compartments of the submarine that they had stolen some weeks back. 

 

“Good, good”.

 

The Clown Prince of Crime was there in what was tentatively being referred to as the operating room, in the middle of which was a large steel gurney. A man was resting upon it, secured firmly to the table by his ankles and wrists, while a steady stream of IV drip was being fed into his arm. 

 

“Ohhh, looks like you’re almost done huh?”

 

“Almost pooh. Almost”.

 

Joker steps back and reaches up to remove the medical mask he’d been wearing over his mouth, his gloves bloodstained. He quickly removes them, luxuriating in the rubbery snap he hears as he reaches around him and begins to undo the medical gown he was wearing, though Harley quickly moves forward to help. 

 

“What’s left?”

 

“Want to help my dove?”

 

“Always puddin” she says as she reaches around him and kisses his cheek, allowing the man to showcase his affection by reaching up to caress her hand. “Well then, as my queen, you should do the honors of reengaging the tracker you so handily turned off for me. Hehehe…so lucky I am to have such a good helper”.

 

“You got it Mister J”.

 

Marian moves forward, hopping like an energizer bunny as she looks down at the billionaire on the gurney, who tossed and turned fitfully in his drug induced sleep. He couldn’t get out of it, no matter how hard he mentally struggled.

 

The toxins being pumped into him, mixing with the blow to the back of the head he’d sustained knocked him out of commission. 

 

He was naked from the waist up, which exposed the massive jagged cut that had been dug into his body by the scalpel Joker held so masterfully in his hands, sewed up just as quickly. It looked painful, though it had been necessary.

 

‘Who am I kidding? He would’ve done it even if he didn’t have to,’ she thinks, moving towards the remote control device on the side table, right next to the gurney. She picks it up gingerly with her hands, and without any hesitation clicks it on, causing the device to emit an electrical charge that goes right towards the body besides her.

 

She couldn’t hear it, but at that moment the tracker Joker had turned off ignites, beeping under the skin. The latent electrical charge was enough to engage another foreign object that shouldn’t have been there.

A small box, implanted and connected to the rapidly beating heart of the secretive vigilante. 

 

Thump..thump…thump…thump.

 

“This…is going to be…MY MASTERPIECE! HAHAHAHAHAHA!”

 

Joker throws his arms out in order to make space for the happy Marian, who throws herself right into him once again, smothering his face in kisses. “OUR masterpiece Harley” he corrects, giving her rear end a swat.

“Ahhh, I didn’t do anything special”.

 

“No, you didn’t” the clown corrects, grasping her by the chin to lift her face up. “You did everything special”. With that, he kisses her, cementing the genuine and mutual love that he still felt for this woman, this woman who utterly completed him. Even after he found out that she wasn’t the “real” Harley, he loved her. His queen. His partner in crime.

 

All around them were canisters of compressed gas, which soon began leaking into the room, carrying with it a strange green tint. On the gurney, Jason struggled, fighting off the helplessness of his position. He was trapped, and all he could think about was Kara and the baby.

 

‘God…please…don’t let them hurt her. Whatever you do, don’t let them hurt her!’

 

One Minute Before, The Skies Over Gotham City

 

She was moving as fast as possible for her, which, to nobody’s surprise, was very, very fast. She soared through the air, moving with ease through the valleys and canyons of the cityscape around her, checking every nook and cranny.

 

Abandoned warehouses, an old candy factory. The docks. Anywhere that the clown might’ve taken the man she loved. But she couldn’t find him. It was like he’d disappeared without a trace.

 

‘Why…why?!! Why didn’t they make sure this never happened again?’ she asks herself through teary eyes, her arms and balled fists raised out in front of her. Newspapers go flying as she zips by a newsstand, and she was sure that a hot dog vendor was going to have a few complaints the next day.

That didn’t matter. What mattered was finding Jason, and yet she couldn’t find anything that would even hint at the whereabouts of her husband. 

 

“Flash? Did you find anything?”

 

“Not yet Powergirl, but I’m looking” comes the response back over the closed circuit comms that the League used while in the field. “Dammit…dammit!”

 

“Be calm Powergirl. We will find him”.

At that very moment, Diana and Hal were scouring the city, looking this way and that, though at a very slower speed than Kara and the Flash were. She wanted to scream. Scream until her lungs broke apart under the pressure. 

 

But then….

 

She hears it.

 

Beep. Beep. Beep.

 

Thump…thump…thump…

 

It was him. Jason. Her husband, and she knew exactly where he was. She could pinpoint with one hundred percent accuracy where the man was, and she hones in on it until she sees the dark, tubular shape under Gotham Bay. A submarine. 

 

Joker was holding Jason on a submarine.

 

“Diana! I found him! I’m going after him right now!”

“Where is he Kara?”

 

“Gotham Bay! A submarine! I see it right now!”

 

That was it. Right after the woman said that she zipped away, heading at supersonic speeds towards the Gotham Bay, allowing her to traverse the distance in little more than a second or so. Across the city, the beginnings of the trap being laid were unraveling, but it was too late. Far too late.

 

Gotham City Rail Line, Track 4

 

Barry Allen was moving as quickly as he could, rushing along the tracks, careful not to trip. Something was down here, something important. He didn’t know what, but he did know that he had to investigate. 

 

‘Could be where Batman’s being held’.

 

He stops right as he gets to one of the side maintenance tunnels, closed off only by a door that would lead him further into the maze of crisscrossing tunnel systems beneath if he let it. But the Scarlet speedster had a job, and he wasn’t going to be distracted.

 

He opens the door to the tunnel, and finds that it wasn’t a tunnel, rather an enclosed space. A closet almost, where a multitude of different necessary items for train maintenance were stored. But apparently, it was also a tomb. Barry didn’t have to look for very long to see the corpse seated in the chair in the middle of the room, positioned in front of a series of computers. 

 

It was Scarecrow, that much he knew, and his arms were splayed out to the side, letting the blood that was spilling from his opened veins form a puddle on the floor. 

 

His neck had been sliced, and around his neck hung a placard that simply read “Haha”.

 

“Crap…”.

 

Barry was about to step into the room and look at the canisters that were on either side of the wall, clearly labeled as toxic. The faint green hue that came off of them in the form of mist was also a dead giveaway.

 

Fear gas.

 

The speedster almost stepped in…almost, but he stops as he looks down and sees the thin tripwire that almost might’ve escaped his notice had he not thought it through. He was glad for that, as whatever would’ve happened as a result definitely wouldn’t have been good. He would have to observe the room from where he was for now. 

 

His eyes land on what was in front of the desk that Scarecrow was seated at, and his heart almost stops.

 

“No…”.

He was on the horn instantly so to speak, calling it into Diana.

 

“Wonder Woman, we’ve got a problem”.

“What is it, Flash?”

 

“I found Scarecrow. He’s dead, but a lot of fear gas was taken from him too…as well as a good stock of Kryptonite. He left some behind. Whatever Joker has planned, you have to keep Powergirl away from him”.

 

He zips out of the room, maintaining contact with his team leader at the moment and makes his way up to the surface, listening in as Diana tries to raise Powergirl.

 

“Powergirl! Powergirl! This is Wonder Woman! Pick up! Pick up!”

 

Over Gotham Bay

 

She didn’t have time to respond to the radio call as she was far too busy diving down into the water below, breaking through it with the ease one would go through paper. She was like a vertical torpedo, rushing down through the depths at such a speed that the sea water practically boils around her

 

Luckily though, the submarine wasn’t that deep, and was in fact only about fifty feet below the surface.

 

As if it wanted to be found.

 

Powergirl sees it and rushes right on towards it, not even thinking of that angle as her mind was focused only on saving Jason at that very moment. She gets to the side of the hull, right where the heartbeat was coming from.

 

She could sense the others in the submarine, the two others immediately in that room, but she didn’t care about them. Not right then. She reaches out and grasps the hull of the submarine, slowly beginning to lift it into the air, or at least further up in the water, so that she could then lift it into the air.

With the greatest of ease, the glorified tin can is lifted, and Kara puts more and more effort into it until the submarine is rapidly rising. Within seconds it crests the water, and begins to get hoisted into the air with waterfalls cascading off of it and to the side.

 

A second later and Kara was above the surface as well, the sun hitting her and giving her a clear view of what she needed to do. The docks. They were a hundred feet or so away. She’d have to place the submarine down atop them so that there wouldn’t be an escape for the Joker.

 

‘Alright, alright. Calm down. It’s fine. It’s fine. We’ve already stopped him’ the blonde thinks. ‘Whatever he had planned, it’s over. It’s over. Just bust this tin can open and save Jason’.

 

She gets the submarine down over the concrete docks, and sets it down as gently as possible even though part of her wanted to shake it and really, really hurt the two clowns and their gang that were still inside.

 

But she doesn’t, because that would risk hurting Jason too, and that she would never do. 

 

So the submarine is set down on top of the dock, and Kara floats down to a standing position outside of the exact spot through which she could hear Jason. Her face is fixed in anger, and she draws her fist back, slamming it right through the steel without the least bit of effort.

With the hole made, she begins to push her fist this way and that, making an opening through which she could get both hands through. 

With that done? There was nothing stopping her, and the hull opened up like the peel of an orange, exposing the inner workings of the room. At first she sees nothing but the random assortment of frightening medical equipment strewn about, mixing with the obviously military apparatuses laying around. 

 

She keeps looking though, and the first thing she sees oddly enough is the Joker, standing off to the side with a gas mask secured around his face, his green hair sticking up at odd angles over the straps secured about the back of his head. 

 

His eyes, green and evil, glare out at her through the glass of the mask, while Harley besides him was no better. She was laughing openly, also wearing a gas mask, acting as if she was in on a joke that the other woman was completely unaware of.

 

“Joker…you…urrgghhhh…”.

 

She took a step into the submarine and when she breathed, inadvertently began to take in the mist around her, which contained tiny flakes of kryptonite. That made the mist ten times as effective, though Kara didn’t see what it was doing to her mind.

 

“Awwwww, what’s the matter super boobs? You look a little…under the weather”.

 

“Hehe, when we kill her, I might take that outfit from her Mister J. Don’t you think it would look better on me?”

 

“Ohh I do pooh, I do. But, how about instead of us killing her, we let our good friend here do it for us?”. He gestures to the side, causing the now coughing Kara to turn her head, wanting to know what kind of threat Joker had conjured up to face her. 

 

‘The kryptonite isn’t that bad…you can still fight’ she thinks to herself, knowing that the miniscule amounts in the air weren’t enough to fully cripple her. ‘His plan failed’. She was wrong. Completely wrong. The Joker’s plan was working like a charm. The flakes weren’t meant to incapacitate her.

 

She wasn’t thinking though, only focused on the massive dark shape that begins to lumber towards her, moving from the mist. 

She raises her hands, ready to fight whatever it was.

 

“Powerrrrgirrrrrrllll!”

 

The creature finally exposes itself as it bursts through the mist, letting the woman see exactly who it was that the Joker had brought out to fight her. It was Doomsday, the thought to be long dead Kryptonian bioweapon that had killed Clark and had nearly killed her and Jason three years before in its other form of Armageddon.

 

Doomsday was on the ship.

 

“No…by Rao…no!”

 

It moves towards her, raising its massive clawed fists in what Kara could only assume to be an attack. She didn’t have time. She had to get this monstrosity away from Earth. Away from Jason. No matter what.

 

She lunges forward, taking flight, and manages to grasp the massive beast by its throat, hoisting it up into the air with ease as she snarls back at it. “YOU’RE NOT GOING TO HURT HIM!!!” She was focused on Jason of course, but the worry was also there for the rest of Gotham, the city and people that she so loved.

 

She had to get Doomsday away. Somewhere she could fight him without leveling the entire city. 

 

The only possible answer was space. She had to get him into orbit as quickly as possible while laying down the most vicious beatdown that she could muster, putting him out of commission so that they could find a way to keep him contained. She had to act quickly, and to that end, Powergirl rushes from the side of the hull, and angles herself up into the sky, where she and her prisoner both disappear in seconds.

 

Marian and Joker both rush out through the opening at the side of the submarine and smile up at where they could only assume the woman was, wide smirks dominating both of their faces. 

 

“No…but you will…hehehehe…”.

 

“Hahahaha!”

 

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

 

The couple enjoys this immensely, as much as they possibly could, still watching the skies as the rest of the Justice League arrives on the docks, having been tracking Kara’s position. Flash and Green Lantern get their first, dropping down and instantly moving towards their two foes, who react only by putting their hands up.

 

“Don’t worry Speedy and Nightlight. We surrender!”

“Yeah..hehe….we played our part”.

 

Hal keeps his hand raised and his ring trained on the clown and his mole, while Barry stood besides him, waiting for any sign of movement. Neither of them did though, instead opting to reach up and remove their gas masks, smiling all the while.

 

Diana was the last one to arrive, the woman coming down from above with her anger on clear display.

 

“Ohhh she’s angry!” Joker titters to his wife beside him, who chuckles back, covering her mouth with her hand. The Amazon touches down, and wastes no time in moving up towards the Joker, who laughs right in her face.

“Wondy! It’s so good to..ohhhhh!”

 

She had grabbed his shoulder with one hand and with the other, that she had balled up into a fist, thrusts it right into his stomach, almost making the clown hurl his guts out right then and there. “HEY! LET HIM GO YOU BI…AHHH!”

 

Marian was backhanded across the face, dropping her to the ground right alongside her mad husband, who rocks back and forth, holding his stomach, still letting forth those awful sounds of laughter. 

 

“What. Did. You. Do?”

 

“That’s…all you wanted to know?” Joker asks, shaking his head and trying to get back to his feet, though he instead moves to Harley’s side, hugging her close as he caresses her cheek, trying to soothe her. The woman throws herself into his arms, and nestles up close to him, not liking the sting of the Amazon’s slap.

 

“Talk” Hal snarls out angrily, angry beyond words.

 

“Orrrr what?” the Joker mocks, enjoying every second of this. “You won’t do anything….all talk, no bite..hehe…but…maybe, maybe…that’ll change for one or two of you soon enough. You see…Powergirl? She’s not quite right in the head. She thinks that she just launched Doomsday or whoever into orbit…but the truth is? Well…I don’t want to spoil it too much”.

 

Diana looks up and slowly, very slowly, lets everything come to her. The kidnapping, the kryptonite and the fear gas. The submarine. How easy it was to take Joker down….

 

“By Hera…no…”.

 

“HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

 

“Hehehe call out to your gods Wonder Bitch! It isn’t gonna help! As soon as his heart stops beating? This whole city? It goes KABLOOOEEEY! HAHAHAHAHAH!”

 

Joker and Harley were holding onto each other tightly now, rocking back and forth in utter joy as the others realized what had happened, the trap that they, and especially Kara, had been led right into. 

 

Wonder Woman was instantly trying to reach the woman, while Barry jumped into action, rushing away in order to evacuate as many people as he possibly could. They didn’t know what Joker had meant, but they did know he wasn’t lying. 

 

They could only pray that Diana would reach her in time.

 

“Kara! Kara listen to me! Sister! You aren’t seeing what you think you’re seeing! It isn’t real! Stop it! Whatever you’re doing, stop!”

 

The Atmosphere

 

Doomsday roared as yet another blow rained down on his chest, careening him further up into the air and away from the planet where he wouldn’t hurt anybody. It felt good, having her fist impact against solid flesh, letting off steam.

 

The creature’s mouth opens, exposing its maw of razor sharp teeth that could easily rend her apart if he so wanted to.

 

But he didn’t.

For some odd reason, the villain hadn’t even seemed to try and fight back, only helplessly laying in her grasp as she rained down more and more blows upon it, battering its body. Kara started to think about this only now as she finally reached space, and the sun cresting over the horizon of the Earth was visible.

 

This was far enough for now, and she reached her fists back, ready for a fight as she floated there, watching Doomsday begin to drift away from her, his arms splayed out to the side, his body completely unmoving. 

 

She was shocked, truly shocked, and she began to feel fear.

 

‘Oh no…did I…kill him?’

 

It was a testament to the strength of character within the woman that she felt guilt and fear for that, a worry over a creature intent on death and destruction only such as Doomsday. And yet, here she was, checking for any sign of life. Luckily, she found it, though it was rapidly dimming.

 

Thump…thu..thu..thump…

 

The heartbeat of the creature was irregular and weak, fading, which shocked the woman who always knew that the creature was made of much sterner stuff. He was a foe that she shouldn’t have had to hold back on, like Darkseid or Grundy, and yet, it was like he’d been weakened by several degrees.

 

“Kara! Kara, do you hear me?!!!”

 

“Diana?”

 

She turns on the comm, seeing that the Amazon had been trying to reach her.

 

“Kara! Where are you?”

 

“Orbit” she says, taking a deep breath despite the lack of oxygen, something she did just out of habit. “I had to get Doomsday away. I don’t know how Joker brought him back, probably the same crap that Waller used to make Armageddon. I think he’s done though. He seems really hurt. Where’s Jason? Do you have him? Is he safe?”

 

“Kara…you’ve been poisoned by fear gas laced with Kryptonite. You…you…”.

 

The woman’s voice begins to break up, and Powergirl doesn't know what to do. She was confused by so much around her, everything that was happening. None of it made sense. “You’re seeing things that aren’t there Kara…I…ohh Hera…”.

 

“What are you…”.

 

She sees it.

 

Right out of the corner of her eye. A hand floating in space, attached to an arm that seconds ago had belonged to Doomsday. But now? It was pale white and slightly muscular. Her mouth falls open and she quivers, slowly beginning to turn her head a bit more.

 

Thump….thump….thump…thum..th..th…t…..t……….

 

The heartbeat stops completely, just as Kara is able to look directly into the face of the man who was now floating in space before her. His body was battered, broken in so many places that it was hard to see flesh. There was bruising and blood everywhere, except for his face.

 

Kara had avoided punching Doomsday in the face, mostly because she wanted to avoid those teeth that she had seen as such a threat to her safety. Because of that she clearly sees the man’s expression, and she looks right into his eyes, which were open in shocked horror.

 

It was Jason.

 

Her husband.

 

“JASONNNN! NO! NO!”

 

She charges forward and grasps up his body, the tears rushing forth from her eyes and then falling off into space, droplets of water completely uninhibited by the laws of gravity. She cradles him into her as if that act alone would save him. Her hand comes to the back of his head, fingers threading through his hair as she presses his face into her neck. 

 

She was wide eyed and sobbing, horror incarnate at what she’d just done.

 

“No..no…no…please…please…Jason…JASON! I’m so sorry! I…I……”.

 

His heart gave one. Final. Beat, which roared horrifically in her ears due to the utter silence of it, the weakness. 

 

Jason Todd…the Batman…dies, his body giving up completely under the onslaught that had unknowingly been dealt out to him by his wife. And with him? An entire city goes up in flames. The device that the Joker had placed by his heart, powers down, losing its source of energy. That sends out a single command. 

 

Laughing Jack’s Candy Factory, Gotham City

 

Beeep! Beep! Beeeeeeeeeeeppppp!

 

The large nuclear warhead that had been haphazardly thrown onto the center of the abandoned factory floor begins to beep, having received the signal. It laid amongst a group of boxes, each of which were opened up with hay and different articles relating to the Joker strewn haphazardly around. 

Throughout the city six other bombs of similar make and model had been placed.

 

And all of them went off in an instant.

 

Back at the Bay

 

“Lantern! Shield!”

 

The explosion had gone off, causing practically another sun to appear in the far eastern section of the city, expanding upwards and outwards, enveloping buildings in a bright and blinding light that couldn’t be avoided. 

 

Hal Jordan reacts quickly though, and uses his concentrated will power to form a massive bubble around himself, Diana, Joker and Marian. The Flash already knew what his job was, and the crimson speedster was already rushing off, running throughout the city and grabbing as many people as he could to get them from the blast radius.

 

But, the man wasn’t fast enough to save them all, and there were still millions of people who were stuck in the blast radius. The bay seems to sizzle and boil from the heat of the weapons that go off around it, blasting down buildings and crushing everything in its path, hitting against the surface of the bubble with atomic force winds.

 

“Urrggghhhh”.

 

Hal groans as he tries to keep up the force field, pushing as much of himself into it as was humanly possible, and succeeding in keeping the shield functioning. They were safe, and as flames and destruction gripped the city, toppling the buildings that had dominated its skyline for so long, Diana could only glare at the Joker and Marian, a white hot anger building up inside of her.

 

The clown threw his head back in utter glee, looking around and holding onto Marian close, enjoying this immensely. Wayne Tower began to collapse, the name of her beloved being ripped away by the blast for the tower itself to begin to crumble, tilting and then falling, crushing thousands beneath it. 

 

And yet, over it all, she could hear the Joker’s laughter more than anything else.

 

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

 

Gotham City had died with its protector.

 

The Batcave

 

“No…no…Master Jason…no…”.

The butler refuses to accept what he had just heard over the link that Oracle had formed with the Justice League, allowing her to piggyback on what was being said so that they could hear. 

 

He was inconsolable, knowing, just knowing, that Kara had been tricked into killing Jason Todd. It was all right there, clear as day, and his knees buckled with him falling further and further back into the cave. 

 

He’d failed, yet again, and another man he considered family was dead because of it. And Kara…Kara Todd….

 

That morning had been one of the happiest moments of his life, knowing that Bruce’s charge had found happiness with his wife, and was starting a family. The thought of a baby’s cries echoing throughout the manor were enough to make him almost feel like he could fly. 

 

And now?

The little boy was without a father, before even coming out of the womb.

 

Barbara Gordon was in an even worse state, sitting as she was at the computer, looking over what had just happened as the city she loved went up in flames. She cried, viciously sobbing, and the redhead couldn’t find a way to pull herself back together and do what needed to be done as usual. She just sat there in the chair, quivering and shaking as she cried.

 

But…the outside world wasn’t going to allow their mourning to continue uninterrupted. From above, the Manor disappears, thrown into nothing more than debris and shards that are blasted into oblivion, leaving nothing of one of the most famous of Gotham City’s many landmarks. 

 

“Miss Gordon…..Miss Gordon!”

 

Alfred comes somewhat to his senses as the cave shakes violently, pieces of rock from the ceiling falling down onto the floor below. The shattering of glass accompanies this horrific sound as pieces of said rock come crashing down through the display cases, of which the one containing the bat suit was most prominent. 

 

Alfred watches as a large sliver rips right through it, reducing it to nothing but the remnants of fabric and armor upon the floor. 

 

“We…we’ll be fine!” the redhead shouts, trying to find a way to describe any of what was happening as “fine”. She turns around in the chair and looks back over the cave, which looked like it was about to cave right in. Alfred Pennyworth, trusted servant of the Wayne Family for decades, was a few feet away…standing right under the giant penny once used by Two Face in one of his many capers. 

 

Barbara watches as the moorings that kept the penny in place begin to break, and panic rises in her throat.

 

“ALFRED MOVE!”

 

The cave was meant to withstand much, possibly even a nuclear weapon, but whatever was ravaging the city and the grounds of Wayne Manor was so much stronger than just a single atom bomb. Cracks begin to open in the roof, rock ripping through the layer of steel that separated the cave from the outside world. 

 

They could hear the roaring of the nuclear wind outside where the manor once had been, and where now there was only open sky.

 

He wasn’t going to be able to move. Not nearly quickly enough, something that the wheelchair bound woman could see clearly even as she tried to rush to him. The penny broke free, and it began to fall forward, no longer secured.

 

Its shadow was large and all encompassing, cast over the butler who looked up at the last moment in utter horror. 

 

“No!”

 

He brings his arm up in a vain attempt to protect himself, though it was utterly useless. The massive penny, solid copper, comes crashing down, crushing the man underneath it so perfectly that there was no doubt in Barbara’s mind that Alfred was dead. 

 

Like a bug being stepped on by a shoe. 

 

And all the former Batgirl could do was look on in horror as the rest of the ceiling came down, this time right atop her. The rocks clatter and clunk against one another, slamming into the side of her wheelchair and breaking her leg in the process. She was glad that she couldn’t feel it though, and was tossed to the side where more rocks tumbled upon the rest of her body, which she definitely could feel.

 

“AHHHH!”

 

She screams as she lays there on the ground, her skin cut and bruised in so many places that the very real possibility of her bleeding out slowly enters her mind. The rocks falling around her somewhat abate though, with the entire portion of cave roof above her now gone.

Outside was a red sky, charred as if it itself was burning. 

 

“No…no…”.

 

She thinks of them all. The ones she loves in the city, the ones she loves and has already lost as there was no way that they weren’t all gone. Jason, Alfred, Dinah, Helena…her dad. 

 

“Ohh God…dad”.

 

BOOOOOM!

A massive stalagmite from above breaks away from the roof atop the area where the batmobile was usually parked, and its size allows it to penetrate through the steel of the carriage that held it. With horrific screeching the batmobile is destroyed, exploding as the engine and fuel tank ruptured, no doubt due to a spark that spread from the rock clashing against the steel.

Barbara watches the unfolding inferno with fear, seeing that the fuel depot stored right below the batmobile was right in the way of the spreading flame. Like a flaming river, the droplets of fuel drip down from above onto the barrels themselves.

 

“No…”.

That was the one word she could utter as they ignited, and the fuel that bursts forth from the ruptured barrels, now aflame, makes its way towards her. She was on the ground, half of her face pressed to it due to the rocks that pressed down on her.

She couldn’t move. Couldn’t escape. 

 

All she could do was watch as the flames came closer and closer, and feel some of the spilled fuel splash against her skin.

 

“No! No! God no! Please! Not like this! Not like…ahhhh! Ahhhhhhh!”

 

The flames had reached the redhead, and were now licking at the side of her face, chewing up the gasoline soaked flesh and yet, not stopping as more and more spilled in towards her, soaking at least half of her body.

 

Her screams were isolated though, as at that moment they were overshadowed by the instant immolation of millions of lives at that very moment. Barbara Gordon was left to struggle on the floor of the cave, desperately fighting, but failing nonetheless. Her flesh was marked now, and half of it aflame.

 

She screams, but nobody hears her.

 

All the people she loved were dead. 

 

Hours Later, Epicenter of the Gotham City Blast

 

It had taken a while to find her.

 

Not because she hid or avoided them or anything, but rather because it was hard to find someone that could get to her despite the radiation that swirled all about, making the area inaccessible to mere mortals.

 

The woman who kneels in the massive shell crater could hardly be called a mere mortal though, as she braved the elements of this vast newly formed wasteland without any damage to herself at all it seemed. 

 

She just kneeled there, holding a body in her arms as close to herself as she possibly could, rocking back and forth with a steady stream of tears coming down her face and cheeks. In her arms? Jason Todd. Her husband.

 

Lifeless, unmoving. Never again to let a breath escape from his mouth. He’d never tell her a joke again, nor would he ever sit at the bat computer and try his best to ignore her and brood, the corners of his mouth giving it away that he wanted to smile at her presence. 

 

He’d never hold her again, or kiss her, or make love to her. Never massage her shoulders when she got agitated or ran up against some sort of problem that she couldn’t immediately solve. She was alone now. Utterly, alone.

 

Thump, thump, thump, thump!

 

The second heartbeat that came from her own body reminded her that not only was she not exactly completely alone, but that that wasn’t all that would be missed. Her son, her child, THEIR child, just had his father taken from them. He’d never teach them how to play ball, or give them the talk, or just pal around with them. 

 

She wasn’t alone, no…but she certainly felt like she was.

 

“Jason…Jason”.

She whispers his name as she comes in close and presses her lips to his, which were already cold due to his lack of life. He was dead. He wasn’t coming back. This was no trick. She’d lost him.

 

Powergirl hears the woman approaching before she actually sees her, cresting the ridge of a newly formed hill where Wayne Tower had once stood, and was not even rubble any longer, the strength of the blast having been more than enough to atomize it. She was there though. Kara could see her.

 

It takes her a minute, but slowly the woman sets herself down in front of the couple, and almost breaks as she sees the look on her friend’s face. No, her family’s face. After all, Jason was her brother in law, which meant that Kara was her sister in law. Sister. She always secretly liked that. Well, perhaps not so secretly.

 

“Kara…”.

 

Starfire had come, able to not only lock onto her Justice League communicator but also brave the radiation filled wastes with no issue.

“Kory…”.

 

“I….I…”.

 

The red headed alien was barely able to keep her own composure as her eyes landed on the corpse of the man, clutched so tightly, like a baby, in his wife’s arms. He was broken, defeated, and what was worse? It had been done at the woman before him’s hands. 

 

Joker had turned Kara into a weapon against the Batman.

 

“Kory…I need you to do something for me”.

 

The blonde rises, still cradling Jason’s body to her averting her eyes from the other woman. That sentence gave Kory the strength to nod her head in agreement. “Yes. Yes. The anything Powergirl. Anything”. It felt good to just be able to do…something. Anything, and as Kara walked towards her she knew that it was momentous.

 

“Where are they holding him?”

 

“The wh…”.

 

Kara’s eyes snap up onto her friend’s, and in that moment Starfire found herself afraid. There wasn’t open rage or anger, at least not directed at her, but rather a cold, harsh warning. Looking into the blue eyes that had once been filled with so much joy and laughter…Kory didn’t think they would ever be so again. 

 

The orange skinned woman turns her head away and sighs, giving in instantly as she was too numb, too tired and too shocked by the losses incurred to fight it any longer.

 

“The Metropolis. Nightwing took him and…the bitch to Metropolis”.

 

“Kory?”

 

“Yes?”

 

Kara softens as she steps forward, no longer carrying with her the hate in her eyes, the raw unfiltered hate that Kory knew would be able to crack planets apart with the greatest of ease. That comforted her, had her convinced that perhaps she hadn’t made a terrible mistake. 

 

“I need you to take Jason. Just…take him someplace safe. Somewhere warm. Just…”.

She tears up as she looks around her, as if she was just realizing the scope of the damage and hurt by it. “Take him away from here”. That last portion was whispered, a plea beyond words, and one that Koriand’r, princess of Tamaran, had no qualms with carrying out.

 

“Of course. I…I shall take him to his friends”.

 

She reaches out her arms, and allows the Kryptonian to gently hand Jason's body to her, not letting him dip down an inch. She cradles her as tightly to her body as Kara had with her own, leaving the blonde to reluctantly step away, still eyeing her husband’s body. 

 

It was like she couldn’t leave, couldn’t move away from the area, but also, something was pulling at her in the other direction, forcing her away. 

She had something to do.

 

Slowly, Powergirl moves up into the air, still looking at Kory, and moves away, quicker and quicker, eventually turning and simply disappearing into the distance, leaving Starfire there with Jason. 

 

“X’Hal…I beg you. Watch over her…”.

 

Metropolis Police Department, Interrogation Room 3

 

“Why?”

“Why not?”

 

“That isn’t an answer!” Diana shouts, slamming her fist down as harshly as she could against the table, shaking the entire piece of steel furniture. But Joker? He doesn’t even blink. He just keeps smiling at the Amazon across from him, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

 

Wonder Woman takes a deep breath and tries her absolute best to collect herself. It was hard, but by the gods she did it, knowing that she had something more important to do at that moment. 

 

“How did you know? About him and her”.

 

“Easy enough Wondy” the clown teases. “Especially when you put all the pieces together of exactly who is who. It isn’t hard. I just never dropped dime on any of it because then it wouldn’t be so…fun”. 

 

She was getting close once again. Close to losing her cool, and it was only the thought of Bruce that kept her from diving right over it. 

 

“Again…I ask you…why?”

 

“Because every time I played with one of the bats alone, I lost” he teases, reiterating why he’d come up with this whole grand scheme. “Sooooo…”. He huffs and leans forward, rubbing the surface of the table with his manacled hands. 

 

“I decided to play the game on easy mode for a little while. And boy oh boy…was it easy? It’s actually quite funny. You uhh…what’s the term? Metahumans. That’s right! Supers! The ones with the powers…you’re the most vulnerable. All the damage I did to Batman and the Batfake, and they never blinked, but you? And others like you? All it takes is one…little…push!”

 

He splays his hands out, as if he was indeed making a pushing motion.

 

“And poof, you fall right off the edge. All those powers and yet? You can't protect the ones you love. That really has to stick in the craw, doesn’t it? You would know that as well as I do, wouldn’t you”.

 

“Shut up”.

 

“After all, you weren’t there to save him that day in Sarajevo, were you? I wonder…did you ever think about smashing my handsome mug in? Wringing my neck?”

 

“Every single night…” she whispers, looking away as if the mere act of expressing such a sentiment caused her guilt. She then looks up, firmly. “But to honor his memory? I don’t…and I won’t”.

 

“Hehehehe…ohh sweetness. His memory? It’s gone. Just like boy wonder. Both poof! Her husband and her city all in one. Hehehe”. He chuckles and leans forward, eyeing her as if he knew something. “And you know what they say about people who’ve lost everything. Imagine how that phrase applies to people with powers like she’s got”.

 

“You don’t know what you’re talking about”.

The formerly Gotham based villain looks around the stale and bland confines of the interrogation room with a smirk, patting the table without any fear or worry. “I do though. I really, really do. I think that this will be the end of the world really. Ushered in by little old me. A clown. Hehehe”.

 

“Powergirl will remain the beacon of hope and healing that she has always been” Wonder Woman says firmly, refusing to even heed his words. “She came back from the loss of Superman, the loss of her planet and what you and Luthor did to her and Batman. She will. Remain. And you? You are going back to pri…”.

 

“I just hope she can keep being all that for you” he says, openly sarcastic and mocking. “In between being a single mother that is”.

 

Diana sees red, and she almost reaches across the table to grasp the clown by the neck and slam his face into its surface as hard as she could. But…she’s interrupted.

 

BOOOOM!

The wall to their immediate right caves in, sending bricks and other assorted debris flying inwards. Diana herself wasn’t hurt too much, as most of them go right past her. But Joker? He was pelted with a good number of them, leaving gashes on his face and tears in his arms as he was thrown from his chair and onto the floor.

 

Someone had blown the wall of the interrogation room open, leaving a massive and open maw through which she could be viewed.

 

Powergirl was there, her eyes blazing with bright red energy, and her cape flowing out behind her.

 

“Kara…”.

 

Diana slips in referring to the woman by her name instead of her moniker, though she brushes right past it and rises, trying to walk towards the opening in the wall and talk to the woman. But the blonde has no time for the Amazon, and instead fixates on the grounded Joker, who coughs and sputters as the dust falls around him.

 

Even still he was aware of the situation unfolding around him, and he turned to face the woman, smirking. 

 

“Ahhhhh, look who it is. My favorite super bim-,”

 

“Powergirl, please. You shouldn’t…”.

 

Diana was trying to reason with the woman while also wanting to comfort her through the loss that she only knew all too well. Get her to leave this place, prevent the Joker from causing her further pain, though it seemed impossible that something could hurt more than what had already been done.

 

She’d lost everything, and perhaps that was why she didn’t even bother heeding Diana.

She zips into the room, and before the criminal could even finish his sentence, she was upon him, lifting him up by the grasp she held on either side of his head.

 

“Ohh..”.

 

“WHY?!!! WHY???!!!”

 

“Hehehe…for…the funsies…” the Joker mocks, loving the look he saw on the woman’s face. Tears and shaking. Sorrow and rage. She’d lost everything that mattered to her. There was practically nothing left.

 

Nothing…except for that little heartbeat within her.

 

That consistent “thump,thump,thump”. No. She didn’t lose everything. Just most of everything. And now she only had one singular thing left worth defending. Behind her, Diana raises her hand, wanting to reach out for the woman and stop her from doing anything rash, though the Amazon fully believes in her heart that she wouldn’t do it. That she’d pull back, and let good triumph over evil.

 

“Kara, please. Listen to me”.

 

“Hehe…he told Harley about the little tyke you know” the pale faced man teases, never knowing, or perhaps not wanting, to ever shut up. “Growing in your belly, right now? Ohh it’s delicious. A bat and super brat to play with hehehe…maybe a crowbar laced with kryptonite will do the trick that time…you know, after a few years when I escape again or get my clean bill of health”.

 

Powergirl’s eyes widen as she realizes the gravity of the threat that had just been made. What had been said, and even Diana was shocked into silence.

 

“Make sure they’re ready for their Uncle Joker. Because he’s coming! With a whole box of goodies for him”.

 

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

 

“Kara…”.

 

The woman’s hands shake as she presses further in on the sides of the man’s skull, which draws only startled chuckles from him.

 

“Hehehe..you won’t do it, and because you won’t? Your baby is going to die…and there won’t be a single piece of the Batfake left in this world. Hehehehe!”

 

“Powergirl…please”.

 

For a second, a singular second, all the pressure flees from Kara’s face, and it looked like she was about to let the man go, let the system handle him.

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

 

And then she begins to press in, harder and harder, all of her force being pushed into the two hands that she was using to compress Joker’s skull. Behind her, Diana looks on in horror, watching as the clown’s face becomes horribly disfigured, though his laughter still comes forth loud and clear.

 

“Hehehehehe!”

 

“KARA N…!”

 

SPLAT!

Bright crimson bursts all about the room, right on the tail of a sickening crack that could be heard as the clown’s skull splits apart and is then forced inwards, sending shards of bone into his brain while it still existed. It wasn’t long though, and soon, the laughter was completely silent, and blood was everywhere.

 

Wonder Woman was behind Powergirl, reaching out even still, midway through her attempt to stop the blonde from doing what she had just done. Her mouth was wide open and her eyes like saucers, mute horror overtaking her at what she had just seen done.

 

Powergirl had murdered the Joker.