Chapter Thirty-seven

Terry watched as a myriad of emotions filtered across Diana's face, and the slight narrowing of the other Batman's eyes gave away the struggle with the new facts that they've figured out about him. It wasn't too hard to guess why, he too could imagine what this would mean to him if the tables were turned. But the truth was simple, they were just thinking too much.

Hesitantly Terry spoke, "Look, you guys don't need to read too much into this. My biological parents are actually neither of the two of you. Besides the fact that I was raised by two people that were not 'Super' in anyway, I am not from your future. And the fact that there are also two Kara's Zorel's in the watchtower right now means that we are as related as an alternate version of myself is with me."

Bruce nodded his head in affirmation, but the conflict was still evident in his eyes. Smiling a little, Terry couldn't help chuckle a little at the sight.

"Find something funny?" Diana asked with a small amount of frustration revealed in her tone and a pinched expression shown in her soft features.

"No... Well, kind of. It's just that 'The Old Man' where I come from, is like a mountain. He never lets his emotions show, stoic, and is incredibly hard to read. In comparison, this version seems down right... well tame. No offense, I am just not used to you showing so much of your emotions," Terry explained with a smile still on his face.

Bruce's expression blanked as Terry finished speaking, but he wasn't fooled by the vail Bruce hid behind. It was still much easier to read him than that of his mentor, possibly because he had known the older version that this person may one day become. Then something occurred to him, where was the old man in all of this? Terry didn't believe for a second Wayne would leave him without some type of support. They had been through too much. Hadn't they? Terry's missing memories plagued him still, if he could just remember how he had gotten in that lab... He'd just have to wait on Kara's explanation.

Arching a delicately defined eyebrow, Diana interrupted his internal ramblings, "Really? I find that hard to believe. Batman is one of the best I've ever known. Surely twenty years from now he is more experienced, but..."

Chuckling lowly, Terry interrupted, "Who said anything about twenty years? The Wayne I know is in his eighties... He walks with a cane and is a lot shorter in stature. Honestly, I believe that if he hadn't gotten to the point that his health was so bad... I'd probably be wearing a bird on my suit instead of a bat."

Before either could say anything in response, Diana put a hand to her ear listening to a voice only she could hear. Meeting Terry's gaze, Diana finally spoke, "It seems your girlfriend isn't doing so well. She seems tohave gotten upset..."

Before she could finish speaking, Terry was already out of his chair and attempting to exit the interrogation room. For several moments Terry was stalled at the door, frowning for a second Terry considered just breaking the heavily enforced door down out of impatience, but before he could act on the impulse, he heard the lock disengage.

Looking up, he spotted Bruce's understanding gaze level itself on him. Giving him a sharp nod, Terry raced out of the compartment and into the corridor. Since Terry gained access to his abilities all those months ago his hearing had been magnified to an extraordinary level and within moments he identified where Kara was. A few seconds later he was outside the doorway he could hear the most commotion.

Before Terry could open the steel door two beams of red energy shot out, nearly grazing Terry's shoulder as it passed. Not waiting for a second longer Terry kicked the remnants of the metal out of the way and caught the stunning sight of Kara fighting both Superman and her alternate self single-handedly... and it appeared she was winning. Although his memories from the past were hazy at best, he could still remember the affection Kara held for their world's Clark. To see them at such odds now was very bizarre, to say the least.

Unlike his spar with Diana, Kara wasn't holding back much. To his knowledge, Terry hadn't seen Kara this angry, and for the life of him, he couldn't imagine what could have set her off to this degree. The only problem Terry could foresee with this fight happening was the fact that they were completely outmatched at this moment. It wouldn't be long before the commotion would attract more people. He knew he had to bring this conflict to an end soon.

Terry had seen some old footage of his own version of Superman's battle with seemingly endless massive androids attempting to take control of Metropolis. As any child would, he idolized the 'Man-of-Steel's' prowess of indomitable strength in the face of overwhelming odds. But after training with Bruce and Diana, though it was a comparatively short timeframe, Terry could see major flaws which if given enough strength to fight back could give the man a run for his money.

It seemed Kara had begun to use these flaws to her advantage. At some time in the past, Kara had been taught where pressure points were on the human body. And when dealing with the much larger person, offsetting his quick sweeping moves had the desired effect of crippling Clark's primary defenses. Which also had the added effect of giving her enough time to toss her alternate self around using body throws and by using a few grappling moves the other blonde was seemingly at her mercy. Given time, Terry was sure Kara would be overwhelmed, but he wouldn't allow her to be ganged up on either.

Keeping in mind, they were currently in this world's league's base, Terry had to end this and soon. Intercepting one of Superman's punches and with a swift motion, he gave the man of steel a swift kick in the abdomen. Sending him sailing through the door Terry had demolished as he entered, Terry couldn't help smiling slightly. How many could say they had sent him crashing through doorways? The surprise attack had apparently been completely unexpected because the older hero didn't immediately rush back through the door.

At closer observation, Terry could see Kara's face was red and her eyes were shining with unshed tears. Whatever had happened before he had gotten here must have truly set her off! And whatever it was had really hurt her, a blind man could tell. Kara wasn't a crier... Sure, he might be missing a giant chunk of their relationship, but he'd bet all the money in Wayne's accounts on it.

Frowning, Terry stepped closer to the outraged girl. Kara was the embodiment of purity, power and beauty. It was funny, silly even but he couldn't help feeling like the sight of the blonde at this moment was even more beautiful than anyone he had ever seen.

"You okay there, Kar..." Terry managed to say before the blonde launched herself into his arms. Enveloping her in his arms, the smaller girl seemed to be swallowed up by the embrace. Allowing her to release the frustration and sorrow that had built up into his chest.

As he gazed down at the intriguing sight, Terry couldn't help marvel at the feelings he couldn't remember having for the girl in his arms. All the same, he knew he felt something that rivaled and even overturned any feelings he ever felt for Dana. Still, that was a tall order as he had known Dana since he was just a kid, but Terry could tell there was something more when he looked at the short haired blond in his arms.

"What exactly is happening in here," Wayne's voice said coming from the entranceway. He seemed unruffled and completely in control of the situation and Terry couldn't help feel relief knowing that at least a version of "the old man" was around to step in when things were going off track. Even though he wasn't the same person that Terry knew so well, he had become reliant on the voice in his comm who knew what to do in all situations. The evidence of his lack of experience dealing with this situation must have been written all over his face, because Wayne nodded his head and directed his gaze at the other Kryptonians in the room that was just now beginning to get back to their feet.

Terry knew he had surprised them, and that was the only reason he hadn't found his way tossed out of the room like the man of steel earlier. Regardless, Superman seemed to be with his expulsion a lot more gracefully that he knew he'd manage if the tables were reversed. But before Superman could answer, the seemingly fragile girl in his arms answered instead, "It… it was my fault. I lost my temper."

Furrowing his brows, Terry asked first, "What happened?" His voice came out soothing and Kara seemed to regain her confidence a little at his worried tone.

Attempting to hide her embarrassment by making her expression blank, Kara spoke as the room got quiet whilst everyone held on to her words, "They asked me why I was created. When… when I told them, I wasn't something that was created but born…" She took a deep breath attempting to hold her emotions in again before she spoke once more, "They ignored me… Speaking over me and continued to spin theories of my creation. I…"

Getting the gist of what happened, Diana interrupted to stop her from speaking further, "So, they jumped to conclusions and you got angry."

Kara nodded, thankful Diana had taken over and was seemingly offering a small amount of protection with her statement. At this confirmation, the Amazon princess glared at the offending heroes in the room.

"Wait a minute, here. Why does it seem like we are being made the bad guys? She lost her temper as she said and we…" The other Kara spoke out in protest.

"Then obviously, you decided she was either lying or confused before hearing the whole story." Unable to keep the sarcasm out of his voice, Bruce added, "That is a rookie mistake, where is your head, Superman?" The other Kara's face morphed into a mask of frustration and barely contained anger as well, but she remained silent. She didn't think it was fare to put this all on Clark's shoulders when she had been doing most of the talking.

All the same, they had wrecked the room and Bruce knew that Clark could have taken control at any point. But it seemed that finding out about Superboy and now an additional 'Kara' was too much for him regaining his composure.

Bruce spoke once more, "We've spoken with young Terry here and are under the impression that these two are visitors from a parallel dimension and in fact not clones of any Justice League members of this universe. One that is approximately fifty years into the future though we have only begun to get details about what happened that brought the pair here, but I don't believe it is prudent to question either one further tonight."

"I'm sorry, Kal, it's been… a lot, and when you didn't listen to me..." Kara managed to say, looking tired.

"Tell us, what happened. What brought you here." Bruce said with a rather gentle voice Terry rarely ever heard from his mentor.

Kara's light blue eyes found Terry's 

 Her near-white uniform was torn in places and she looked to have a few extra bruises smattered around her small form. Still sore from the battle and also slightly stung from the dressing down Batman had just given him Clark's expression softened slightly at the younger girl's admission.

"I… I'd like to talk to you again, later. I don't often find myself in a position where I've jumped to such incorrect conclusions… What I mean is…" Clark stammered.

Kara knew he was apologizing and she couldn't help interrupt, "I know, Kal. It's been a long day for me too. Don't worry about it."

"Look, I'm glad we got this all cleared up, and all. But can we have some accommodations for tonight. We don't have money now but I'm sure I can find a place to stay if you can tube us back to the surface.

"We have a place with a few rooms available at Mt. Justice. This way we can keep in touch and you don't have to figure out how to pay for a hotel." Diana said with a hint of pleading in her eyes.

Terry knew he should say no. If they were going to find their way back home, then getting involved with the events he knew would be coming would hinder them. But he couldn't say 'no' either, both Kara and he needed time to rest and he still had a huge gap in his memory.

Glancing over at Kara he saw a look of curiosity at the Amazon princess. She looked so much like the Diana they knew that at first, he thought Kara had mistaken her for their own. But as he watched her there was a certain amount of longing he couldn't quite understand.

When he caught her eye she nodded at him, confirming their decision, "Alright," Terry said leaving all occupants at ease for the moment.There was still a level of trust that they all needed to build but a truce was reached which was all anyone could ask for at the moment.

"I'll have Martian give you both temporary identification passes, and assign longings in Mt. Justice," Bruce said as he swiftly exited the room eyeing Superman as he passed. They were going to have a conversation about all of this, but he knew they needed time to cool off before.

Terry didn't know what the future held for either of them but at least now in this moment, they were safe. As they loaded on the pad for transport he couldn't help wonder, how was his mother and little brother? Would they be ok without him there?