Introduction 4

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As soon as we entered the Cortex, almost everyone was trying to make themselves seem busy. With Cisco, other Barry, Hal, and Billy tried hard to start a conversation that wasn't making sense. Superman surprised Harry and Jesse, trying to introduce himself.

The only ones that were staring back at Caitlin and me were Batman and Diana, one with a worried expression and the other a blank, but tense one, guess which belongs to who.

"Hey guys," I called out to them, stopping their awkward greeting. With everyone joining us at the desk, I sat up Caitlin by the chair first before turning to the others. "So, introductions are in other." Which made Billy nod, while Barry and Hal carefully looked at Caitlin and then at me.

Pointing at the engineer, "Cisco, the genius engineer in our team." Which made him smile wider and puff his chest a bit, "Harry and his daughter Jesse from Earth-02, and 2 because it's way too similar to this one." I explained, while Jesse nodded at the few glances she got from Justice League, even when she had already met them before.

"And last but not least, Caitlin, my wife." I placed a hand on Caitlin's shoulder, and hearing it, Diana let out a happy smile, "I am grateful and happy to meet my sister-in-law." She spoke, surprising Harry and Jesse, though Cisco and Caitlin smiled in a response to that.

Pointing at her and then the rest in order, "Caitlin, guys, meet Diana, Bruce, Clark, Hal, Billy, Viktor, and lastly, Barry." Which earned a "Hey, why am I last?" though I ignored that for the favor of making Caitlin giggle.

"Thank you, everyone, for taking care of Mike when he was with you," Caitlin spoke, giving them a slight bow.

Snorting at her gesture, "Please, if anything, he took care of us," Viktor spoke up for the first time, giving Caitlin a smile which was returned. "What are you talking about, I took care of everything," Hal spoke up, glowing green and floating in the middle of the room, though Barry scoffing at him, friendly I might add, took away all his remaining credits.

This resulted in Hal and Barry talking out loud, drowning out the rest. Cisco just looked at them weirdly though I didn't miss the "They're like children." Which wasn't missed by Clark either, making him chuckle and join him, "Oh you have no idea."

Viktor, Harry, and Jesse got together, with the father and daughter looking in wonder at the Cyborg, asking him questions regarding his body. But thankfully, Viktor seemed to get over his issue of not being human anymore, so he answered any or all questions that they had and also seemed interested in their suggestion.

"I believe we need to talk," Bruce spoke and as if it was a comment, everything stopped talking, turning towards the Dark Knight and then me. With my hand on Caitlin's shoulder, I sensed her shoulder get tense for a second before she relaxed and nodded at him.

With her permission, "What happened after you left us, Michael?" Diana asked, her tone laced with worry and concern.

Sighing and sitting down next to Cait, with others circling the table, I ran a hand through my dark hair. "Whe-" "From the beginning, right after you entered the portal." Bruce intervened and I nodded at him.

"I did return back to my earth, but it wasn't at the same time," I told them, taking a minute on how to continue but my mind felt like it was surrounded by fog. "Fuck it, I dropped into a world that shouldn't have existed."

"What do you mean?" Clark asked, Harry and Jesse closely paying attention next to the man of steel. Taking a breath, "Before my return, Barry, my Barry, traveled through time by accident, returning to the past by 1 day." I spoke, making Barry's eyes widen.

"No..." He spoke and I nodded. "Yeah," I nodded at him and his eyes widened even further if that was impossible. "How is that even possible? It should have been erased,"

I shook my head, "I don't know, but it existed for a long time. Almost half a year," I told him, seemingly confused by our conversation, "I don't quite follow this conversation," Diana spoke up, looking at me and then at Barry.

"Right, sorry." giving me a nod to continue, "After taking out Darkseid, I was thrown in the timeline that we were originally in, a timeline without Barry because he had hopped off."

"The reason why Barry traveled through time, even if it was by accident, was because someone by the name Mardon was going to sink the entire city with his tsunami but Barry avoided that future by going back a day before the tsunami."

"Let me guess, where you were dropped off, the tsunami hit the city and with no Barry, people died," Hal spoke seriously, summing up the event. "Yeah... But worst was Eobard Thawne, the man that was Barry's and my mentor and the person that had taken over Harrison Wells's identity" I told them.

"The man that you were worried about" Diana spoke up and I nodded. "In that timeline, I had figured out who he really was but before I could tell Barry, he crushed my heart, literally," Cisco told them, his previous good mood gone.

Though it was quick and sneaky, I noticed the surprised Jesse who looked up to her dad and then to Caitlin, Cisco, and me, her eyes conveying sympathy. "The tsunami had killed almost everyone that I cared about, my dad, my father figure, Iris, and her fiance, Eddie Thawne" Hearing the same name, "Eobard's ancestor," Bruce spoke and I nodded.

"And if they weren't dead by the tsunami, Eobard almost finished the job, killing Cisco and almost Caitlin as well, but before he could, he was erased out of existence," I spoke, the eyes of my teammates from both earths conflicted and in pain.

"If Caitlin had died, I would have turned into a monster," I admitted, making Bruce and Diana tense for a second before they nodded at understand while Clark was in deep thought, his forehead wrinkled because of his frown.

"Because of what Weather Wizard had done, the government had come to Central City and hell broke loose. A war started, metahumans against metahumans against humans and their weapons" Caitlin spoke up this time, her eyes focused on a specific spot on the table.

"It was a battlefield." She spoke and then turned to look at Diana and the rest, "We had to kill to survive and... We killed a lot..." She spoke, her hands going to her stomach, gently caressing it. "Do you regret taking a life?" Diana asked her and then turned to me.

After a few moments of silence, "No, if I hadn't, I wouldn't have been alive, with my husband, expecting a child." Caitlin answered her, one hand on her baby small baby bump and the other taking my hand and holding it.

"I don't either, but I... Could have been it more humanely." I spoke up, staring at Diana and then Bruce, "I had become a monster, Bruce, and the only thing holding me back from tearing everyone apart was Caitlin by my side."

Sensing his clenched fists behind his dark cloak, he nodded gravely with a blank face, "I'm sorry for what you went through." Clark spoke up, his eyes soft, and not only he, but the rest of the Justice League were also clenching their fists, at least half of them frowning in anger.

Harry also seemed to understand the pain, Jesse's hand in his, both of them showing sympathy. "So, how are you... Well, alive? If that timeline was destroyed?" Billy asked in his adult form, though his depressed state was noticeable.

"The same being that brought him to your home, saved us, and brought us here," Caitlin told them and while Caitlin explained how everything went down before it, I motioned for Bruce to follow me out in the hallways.

After coming back and marrying Caitlin, after receiving news of Caitlin's pregnancy, I knew how deranged I had become, how broken I had become and there was no fix to that. I went beyond the no-return point.

If before I had hesitation to kill, now I would do it in a heartbeat without batting an eye, and honestly, that was frightening even for me. I didn't want my kid to see that. I didn't want my kid to grow up and see his father be a killer. Caitlin had much better control over herself regarding this compared to me.

'Mike, are you sure about this?' Toxin asked uncertainty, though I just gave him a nod.

'You saw-you knew what I was going to do to the scientist that was supposed to merge with Martin, you knew what I wanted and I did to that crime family, and you knew this huge desire to kill people better than me Toxin.' I told him, silencing him.

'Because that's what you have been busy trying to push down and hold back all this time, partner. I-!' 'No, We!' Toxin interrupted, correcting me, 'We took hundreds of thousands of lives and now we see no value in it when it doesn't involve our friends and family.'

'Then why pretend to be a hero? Why not quiet?'

'Because we,' I shook my head, correcting myself 'I have to be a role model for my future kids with power and a blanket of security and warmth for my wife.' I answered back.

'What better way to achieve those two than help and bring a calm and peaceful time to the city we will build our life?'

With that, I only felt a nod from Toxin before he was back to being quiet, guarding me and pushing away my demons like usual.

Once Batman and I were outside, "The plans, I need you to upgrade it as much as you can, not to neutralize or capture, but kill if necessary." I told him, only receiving a blank glare back. "You kno-" He started only for me to intervene,

"This isn't a favor, Bruce... I know every weakness of the founding Justice League members. If I ever go back to that situation I mentioned or if I lose Caitlin and the baby. No one in this world could stop me, not even Clark." I told him, making him go silent a bit.

Though he was an habitant of another world, that didn't mean that Justice League wouldn't visit sometime or that I wouldn't. Now that they had finished the way to travel between universes, our meetings would just increase.

I didn't want them to come to this world when I was lost, to a worst-case scenario without the proper things to neutralize me and if that doesn't work, to kill me. They needed to be prepared just in case.

"All it takes is just one bad day," I told him,

"I'll consider it." He finally spoke, making me sigh in relief before a green crystal appeared in my hand. "This should be with you." With a nod, he took it.

"I'm surprised my paranoia rubbed itself off on you," Bruce spoke, making me take a pause in my step toward the Cortex.

"Well, being a parent does that to you but wait, did you just crack a joke?"

Shrugging his shoulder, "Tell me about it, parenting does that to you." He parroted my phrase back to me, "Wait, wait, you've never cracked a joke! I need to ask Cisco to save the security video of this moment..." I muttered.

And of course, Bruce only cracked a smirk and ignored me, heading for the Cortex. But before passing me, he placed a hand on my shoulder, tightening his hold,

"We'll be available to you if you ever need us. Just ask." Giving him a nod with a smile, he continued on his way, going straight to Cisco and having a talk with him.