“Ugh.” Conner groaned in pain as he raised a hand to block the sun from his eyes. Sun? He lowered his arm and spotted the clear blue skies above. “Where—” He coughed violently and spat out a mouthful of blood. “Oh gross.” He murmured as he wiped his bloody hand on the ground. The pain was quickly subsiding; it must be the sun’s regenerative power.
A violent coughing fit came from his right. He spotted Terry yanking off his cowl and rolling onto his knees. His body lurched before he heaved blood onto the ground.
“Beyond!” He called out painfully as he crawled to the feet and hurried to his fellow project’s side. “Are you okay? What should I do? A doctor? I should take you to the hospital!” He tried hauling the other into his arms, but Terry swatted him aside and continued to cough up blood. “Beyond—” A hand shot up to cover his mouth. The boy wanted him to shut up.
After five minutes of his violent coughing fit, Terry finished and collapsed on his back with a heavy breath. His hand clenched tightly to his cowl as he stared up to the open skies, his mouth still stained with blood.
“Beyond?” Conner asked quietly.
“Body… expelling dead cells.” The other replied tiredly as he rested an arm against his forehead. “Rest… I’ll be fine.” He murmured, barely coherent.
Conner glanced at his fellow project and slumped onto the ground tiredly. It wasn’t until an hour later that Conner felt his strength return and the pain ebbed enough for Terry to talk.
“How did we survive Beyond?” He asked. The last he recalled before he blacked out was the grim rafter on the ceiling.
“… I don’t know.” Terry answered truthfully. “Batman must’ve done something. I’ve already breathed in too much of the gas to be coherent by that point.”
“… What do you think he did?” Conner asked as he plucked a blade of grass from the ground and rubbed his finger against the rough edges.
“I suppose we’ll have to ask him.” Terry grunted as he pulled himself to sit up. His body ached all over.
“Ask him?” Conner sat up quickly. “We don’t even know where we are right now.”
“You don’t.” His fellow project quipped as he pushed himself to his feet, but nearly stumbled back onto the ground if Conner hadn’t caught him and helped him up the rest of the way. “This was where the facility stood.”
“Really?” The super half-clone said in surprised as he looked around. The greenery didn’t stand out to him and without the building, he recognized the area even less.
“I don’t know what they did to get us out, but we should head back to Metropolis for now at least.” Terry said as he glanced around.
“Can you contact Bruce or pa?” Conner asked curiously.
“My suit’s damaged, communication’s down.” He pointed towards the north. “Metropolis should be thirty miles that way. When we get there, we should find a change of clothes.”
“Yeah, it’d be kind of eye catching with that costume of yours.” The super clone chuckled as he hauled his smaller friend onto his arms.
“Are you going to be able to fly?” Terry asked cautiously, he wasn’t sure what was the recovery rate for the other from the gas.
Conner chuckled as he took off from the ground “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
o.o.o.o.o
Stealing their new disguise was at the top of their priority when they reached Metropolis. With Conner performing the theft. Terry was still in agonizing pain to be of much use. He was stowed away in Metro Park to rest while the super stole what they needed. A shirt here, a pair of pants there, he collected a set for each of them from clothing lines. While he is aware that stealing was wrong he also knew it was a necessity. They were no longer in the world where they’ve dealt with the Cadmus projects.
According to the date from a discarded newspaper, there were no Justice League, no Titans and to their relief, no Cadmus. They were fifteen years from their rightful time. However, that posed another problem. They had no way to get home with the technology as it is.
“So what now?” Conner asked. They ate what little clean food he found from the trash.
Terry was pulling the bullets out of his suit and checking the damage. “We can’t do much as things are now. I suppose talking to Batman and Superman is necessary.”
The other paused in mid-bite. “Seriously? They don’t even know us here. Wouldn’t that screw up the timeline or something?”
“I meant Bruce and Clark from the other world.” Terry said dryly as he pulled the cowl over his face and checked the suit’s schematics. “The suit recorded down an energy about a few hours before we woke up. I’m assuming they tried sending us back to save us.”
“And what use is that information if we don’t have a way to go back?” Conner asked as he finished off his bread.
“We don’t, but STAR labs does.” Terry said as he changed out of his stolen clothes and back into his suit. “I recall there’s a portal there that opens to alternate realities. From the Cadmus records, Lois Lane was pulled through the first time it was activated.” He flexed his arm and tested his maneuverability in the suit. “We can reverse the energy signature to go back to their world.”
“So we’re going to steal it?” Conner frowned.
Terry paused and glanced over to him. “Is that a problem?”
“Well…” The super clone gave a thoughtful look. “We don’t have a power source. Even if we steal it, we can’t use it.”
The other young man grinned wryly. The fact Conner was not bothered by stealing, rather he was more concern with not being able to use said stolen item was amusing. “I’ll stop by Central City to pick up the power source later.”
“Central?” The other said with a puzzled expression. “What’s in Central that can power this thing? That transporter pa and Bruce used was pretty big and they’re like ten, twenty years ahead of this place.”
“Which is why we’ll be using the lightening rod that gave the Flashes their power.” Terry replied simply. “But our main concern is where to put the portal after we retrieve it. We can’t risk someone stumbling onto it and accidentally enter the other world. Or the other world to this one.”
“So somewhere secluded.” Conner pondered. “What about the Fortress of Solitude? Even if they stumble onto the portal by accident from the other world, they’ll have trouble with the terrain.”
“… Sounds plausible.” Terry agreed. “We’ll head to Metropolis first to retrieve the portal. The security in STAR labs is dated compared to our time, but it might cause some trouble since you’re not familiar with it. I’ll head over to Central City afterwards to retrieve the rod while you take the portal to the fortress.”
With that, the two went to Metropolis in the dead of night before they broke into the labs. They weren’t stupid to do it in broad daylight. Superman would’ve spotted them miles away. Breaking into the labs was a simple feat, but searching for the portal was the troublesome bit. Apparently, it’s been quite a while since Lois Lane had gone through and back from the portal. They had meticulously stored the contraption away to avoid any further mishaps. It took half an hour for them to find it and another half to get it out and reset the security features.
While Conner headed towards the Fortress of Solitude, Terry went to Central City to retrieve their power source. He was a bit worried that it might not have been created yet, but seeing Kid Flash running about, relieved him somewhat. From his dad’s records, Barry Allen had created the rod to replicate the accident that gave the Flashes their powers. Wally West, the first Kid Flash, was caught in the experiment by accident and gotten his powers in that manner.
He had little trouble in retrieving the rod. A forensic scientist, such as Barry Allen, doesn’t have the resources necessary to place top security on such items. He was in and out of Central long before they noticed it was gone. Conner returned to their meeting point before flying them to the fortress. Terry’s suit wouldn’t have been able to make the trip alone.
Despite of Conner’s tactile telekinesis covering the both of them, he could still feel the chill of the Arctic waters seeping through.
“You okay?” Conner asked as he set the other down.
“F-Fine.” Terry replied through chattering teeth. He would have to remember to add temperature control to the suit when he has a chance. “Where did you set up the portal?”
The half-clone scratched the back of his head. “I wasn’t sure how to set it up.”
“Just follow my directions.” Terry said before they set off to bringing the contraption online. Conner did mostly the heavily lifting, while his fellow project dealt with the more intricate detail work.
Once the portal was set up, he hooked up the rod to various equipments in the fortress to test the power levels before attempting to hook it up to his suit or the portal. It’d be pointless if the rod fried either item. They need the portal to contact the other world and the suit for the coordinates. Fortunately, the rod fried none of the equipment in the fortress and hopefully will not fry either the portal or the suit. Or else this whole theft attempt would’ve gone to waste.
With held breaths, they turned on the contraption. The machine hummed before the air crackled around them, when it finally settled the machine continued to hum. Terry had Conner tied to a safety line before they attempted to near the two pillars that created the portal.
“Once you’re through, check for if it’s the right world or not. You have a hundred feet of line.” He briefed.
The super clone grinned, giving a mock two-finger salute before running into the portal and disappeared. Terry kept a close eye on the controls as the other went through. He needed to make sure the equipment doesn’t go haywire if he needed to cross the portal.
“Beyond!” Conner’s voice came through before his head peek back through the static field of the portal. “Hole in one! We got the right world. Bruce and Clark were a little surprised to see me, but they were pretty relieved. They’re coming to meet us at the fortress. The portal is stable for you to come through right?”
“I’ll be over in a moment. Did you have any trouble finding the portal back?” he asked.
“Don’t worry, I marked the ground before I walked around.” Conner replied.
“Good, check if the computer has any record of the current news over there.” Terry ordered before the half-clone nodded and slipped back to the other side.
Carefully checking the controls, he made sure nothing would go wrong before he tied himself to a safety line and jumped through the portal. The readings on his suit spiked as a tingling sensation washed over him. He found himself standing on the other side of the portal and staring at Superman and Batman.
“Terry.” Batman greeted him bluntly.
“Bruce.” He returned just the same.
Conner gave a roll of his eyes. “Just give each other a hug and get it over with.” He said in amusement. Both Bruce and Terry turned to him with a glare before he yelped and ran behind Superman.
“All right, all right.” Superman raised his hands to settle the glaring duo. “They’ll show their affection to each other in their own way.” The Kryptonian grinned, unaffected by the glares directed at him.
“How long were we gone?” Terry asked, ignoring the super’s attempt to gush over their return.
Months had passed since they were last there. Time flowed differently between the two worlds. Without Cadmus and its legion of so call heroes in Lex’s disposal, his public favor quickly diminished. Members of the Justice League slowly returned to the public as the missing Cadmus heroes failed to appear when crisis occurred. Furthermore, in a particularly nasty crisis, someone had finally voiced against Lex’s unlimited terms in office. All in all, it seemed like this reality was slowly getting back onto its feet with the exception Luthor getting the short end of the straw.
“Everything seems to be improving.” Terry commented after he was caught up in their current events.
“We were a little worried that you and Conner didn’t make it, since the transporters were prototypes.” Superman said as they walked to another part of the fortress.
“Transporters?” Terry asked curiously.
Superman smiled brightly. “Bruce’s been working on them since you started the deact-gas project. He’s just a big softie on the inside. Right Bruce?”
The dark knight said nothing to the Kryptonian. Instead, he noted the bullet holes on the red symbol on Terry’s suit. “You don’t have any lingering injuries do you?”
The teen glanced at him in surprise before shaking his head. “The damage from the deact-gas passed. The bullets didn’t go though, but the invisibility cloaking is damaged.”
“Since you’re here already, why don’t you and Bruce fix it up?” Superman said cheerfully.
Terry made no complaints. His suit needed repairs and they weren’t going anywhere until they figure out how to get to their rightful time.
“Why did you come back?” Batman asked as he took the suit under a microscope.
“… Do I not meet your approval?” Terry asked quietly. The man’s question was startling and hurtful.
The man was silent for a moment. “… You and Conner both would face scrutiny if you stayed.”
“The public hardly knows who we are.” Terry commented as he reached for the Kevlar-lined invisible cloth.
“Not the public, the other heroes.” The man said with a low grumble in his voice. “They see you two as younger copies of Beyond and XIII.”
“I see.” Terry murmured as he handed his alternative father a tool. “Their fears aren’t unsound.” He could recall incidences where he and Conner were brainwashed to attacking their own.
“It would be hell for you.” He murmured.
Terry felt a flutter of warmth as they finished the rest of the repairs in silence. The man was only interested in his wellbeing. It must’ve pained him to realize that Terry couldn’t stay in this world with him. When the suit was finally repaired Conner and Superman had found nothing they could use to return them to their rightful time. However, it seemed the two had quite a conversation that they were grinning from ear to ear at least until it was time for them to go.
“Well… I guess this is goodbye again.” Conner murmured sheepishly with a sad smile. “But at least this time we can say a proper goodbye right?”
“Take care Conner.” Superman said as he pulled him into a brief one-arm hug before repeating the same to the other teen with a sad smile. “You too Terry, take care.”
Unlike the last few times he received a hug, he felt completely relaxed and sadden that he was going to leave so soon. It’s for the best…
“Don’t worry! We’ll be fine!” Conner chirped. “Right Beyond?”
Terry nodded silently as he shouldered his bag of the few possessions he brought to that world.
They were about to head towards the portal when Batman held out a familiar drive. “There’s a complete blue print of your suit and various technology from here.”
Terry gave a small smile as he took the drive from the man’s hand. “… Thank you.”
“Stay safe.” He clasped a hand on his shoulder briefly before letting him go.
“… Bye dad.” He said before he and Conner went through the portal. He knows the man wasn’t his father, but for that little moment, he wanted to believe he was.
o.o.o.o.o
Once they returned, they quickly dismantled the portal and brought the stolen items back to where they’ve taken them. They dropped off the portal and all its pieces in front of STAR labs before heading to Central City to return the rod. They planned to place it in plain sight where the police would easily see it. Finding a place was not a problem, but Terry never expected a bolt of lightening to hit as he tied the rod to the top of the Flash Museum.
“Beyond!” Conner said is surprise as he blocked the blinding light from his eyes.
“Oww… if I knew dying would hurt so much, I would’ve stayed alive!” A whiny groan caught the half-clone’s attention. It was familiar, yet it was not his fellow project’s voice.
“Get off.” Terry said darkly to the speaker.
“GAH!!!!!” The yellow-red suited teen shouted in surprise as he stumbled back. “I died and went to hell!”
Conner lowered his arm quickly before spotting the young man scrambling to back away from Terry. “Bart?” He said in surprise.
The speedster’s eyes widen as he whipped his head towards him. “Oh my god! Conner! I really am dead! And you’re in hell too!”
Conner found himself hugging his sides and laughing at his friend’s distress. “You’re not dead Bart.”
“Then who the devil is that? Literally!” Bart nearly screeched as he pointed.
“I’m not sure should I be insulted or flattered.” Terry said as he crossed his arms, his voice still retaining the hint of dark tone. “XIII, we need to move before Kid Flash here attracts the local Flashes.”
“Right.” Conner nodded before grabbing both Bart and Terry in each arm. “I’ll explain later Bart, but you don’t have to be scared. It’s just Beyond.”
Bart blinked in surprise. “Beyond? You mean… he’s the evil overlord?”
“You do know I can hear you.” Terry said bluntly.
“Conner! He’s going to drink my blood!” Bart whined.
The half-clone snickered as he quickly flew them out of Central. “Relax, Beyond’s not going to drink anyone’s blood.”
“Promise?” Bart demanded childishly.
“As long as you don’t do something stupid.” Conner chirped.
It wasn’t long before they reached their hideout in Metro Park in Metropolis. There, Conner went into detail to what happened during the two years he and Terry was gone and Bart listened with rapid attention.
“Woah.” He whispered with wide eyes. “So if you guys stayed in Cadmus, we would’ve been screwed?”
“Pretty much.” Conner agreed.
“So… are we still in that world?” Bart asked curiously.
“No.” Terry said. “What are we going to do?”
“We’re—” Conner started but was interrupted by a loud growl from Bart’s stomach.
“…Ehe…” Bart scratched the back of his head. “Sorry, do you guys have anything to eat?”
“Yeah.” Conner said before fetching the bag of stale bread. “We couldn’t buy anything, so it’s a bit stale.”
Bart picked up a roll and studied it for a moment before shrugging and inhaling the entire bag of bread. “Um…” His stomach growled. “Sorry…”
Terry breathed through his nose. “Finding a way home will have to wait.”
“Yeah.” Conner sighed in disappointment. “It’d suck if Bart starved to death before we got back.” He agreed. “So… which shops should I go to get food?”
Terry glanced over to the embarrassed speedster. “His metabolism is ridiculous, he’ll need more that what we can forage. We’ll need to buy food.”
“But we have no money.” Conner quipped.
“We’ll get some.” Terry replied.
“Wait! Wait!” Bart interrupted with flailing arms. “How are you getting money? We can’t get jobs here. Interacting with people in the past would create a paradox! Or worse! We’ll erase our own existence!”
“We’re not interacting more than necessary.” Terry answered.
“Then how are you getting the money? You can’t…” Realization clicked in the speedster’s mind. “Oh… my… god… You’re going to rob the bank!” He said in disbelief.
“Not exactly, but close.” Terry said.
“You can’t do that! That’s wrong!” He protested.
“Where are we hitting?” Conner asked, ignoring Bart’s vocalization.
“Conner! You’re going to do it?” The speedster turned his protest to him.
The super clone shrugged. “Beyond isn’t going to do something reckless without thinking over all the possibilities. Besides, you don’t want to just die here do you?”
“But…” The speedster protested weakly.
“We’re not robbing a bank. We’re going to ask XIII’s mother for an allowance.” Terry said simply.
“…Mother?” Bart asked puzzled.
“Lex Luthor.” Conner inserted.
“Ask?” Bart said in disbelief.
“Metaphorically.” Terry continued. “With his wealth, ten-twenty thousands would not make a difference to him. It’s better than robbing a bank or stealing a farmer’s livestock, is it not? Don’t forget, your metabolism is the issue here. We’re just trying to keep you from starving to death.”
“…” Bart’s shoulders slumped, losing his resolve completely. “Fine… Sorry for being such a burden.”
Between the three of them, twenty thousand wasn’t hard for them to take and transport out. And to make sure the money lasted as long as they could, they prepared the food themselves, rather than buying it from restaurants. They bought high-carb foods such as pasta, rice and whole grains. For proteins, they bought beans and dairy. They would have hunted small games for meat or deep diving for fish, but they had no clue how much that would’ve affected the timeline if they did. By the time they were certain Bart was not going to starve before they return, Terry had fallen sick.
“Beyond!” Conner shouted worriedly when the boy collapsed. He and Bart were panicking, completely lost at what to do. “Are you okay?”
“You’re not going to die are you? Hospital! We should take you to the hospital!” Bart panicked with his fidgeting and pacing.
“Both of you stop before you pace a trench into the ground.” Terry murmured tiredly under the covers Conner stolen from the clothesline. His face was flush with fever. “And don’t even think about taking me to the hospital. We don’t have any identification and adding to the fact we’re underage, they’ll treat us as runaways and either stick us in an orphanage or attempt to find our relatives. We don’t have time for that.”
“But you’re sick!” Bart argued.
“There are pharmacies.” The sick boy sighed. “Over the counter medicine should be enough.”
“Right!” Bart said agreed. “Medicine! We’ll go get some now! You stay and watch him, Conner!” He zoomed off ahead.
“Bart wait!” Conner shouted out, but the other was already gone.
“Go after him XIII.” Terry said with closed eyes. “Tell him to stop using his powers or he’ll draw attention to us.”
“Are you going to be okay alone?” Conner said as he pulled the covers higher to cover Terry’s neck.
“Just go.” He murmured tiredly.
“Hang in there Beyond, we’ll be back soon.” Conner said before hurrying after Bart.
Terry rested his eyes and waited a moment before extracting himself from under the covers. While he was in the past, he would take advantage of what he could. Paradox be damned, if they haven’t been erased from doing what they have, it meant they were supposed to come back to this period. He grabbed the bag Bruce gave him before rummaging through the pack. Not surprisingly, he found some expensive looking jewelry and trinkets in the bag. He smiled slightly. Apparently, the man thought ahead and expected that they might need some funds. They still had a good amount of money they stolen from Luthor, but that money was needed to make sure Bart didn’t starve to death.
He took the trinkets to a pawnshop and haggled a reasonable price for them. If he were to return to his time now, it would be bothersome to get him funds. Instead, he took the money he had now and invested in Wayne Enterprise under a false alias, Warren McGinnis. He won’t be able to access the funds until he develops McGinnis’ history and another identity for himself ten years after Warren McGinnis. But that would have to wait until he returned to his own time.
It wasn’t long before he managed to get a small percentage of Wayne Enterprise’s stocks and a bank account for the dividends to deposit into. However, the most troublesome aspect was to hack and program the system to show activity in McGinnis’ account for the next decade or so. When he returns to his time with Bart and Conner, he won’t be able to manage the accounts. And with the economic crisis to come, the government would seize bank assets that are out of activity for over five years.
By the time he was finished, the sun was setting and he was exhausted beyond what he was used to. Dragging himself back to their hideout, he found a bag of medicine sitting by his sheets and the other two were nowhere to be seen. Had he felt better, he’d reason where they ran off to, but he was too tired to care. He ate what he could before ingesting the medicine and returning to sleep.
o.o.o.o.o
Hours earlier, Conner and Bart were going through isle after isle of the pharmacy, looking for medicine.
“Just how many kinds of medicine are there?” Bart whined as he read through each of the labels. Having never been sick due to his fast recovery rate he had no clue to which medicine to buy. “Did Terry have nasal congestion? Or sore throat?”
“… I don’t know, but I think he has a fever.” Conner said with a puzzled expression. He too had never gotten sick and while in Cadmus, he never seen anyone else sick.
“… Well, it doesn’t look too pricey, we can buy a few and just let him pick.” Bart said before grabbing an armful of different medications.
The two gained questionable looks at the counter, but neither of them noticed as they left after paying. They were too worried for Terry. Afraid that his condition might’ve gotten worse, they hurried back. When they got back, the boy was gone.
“Beyond? Conner called out to his fellow project, but he got no response.
“Where could he disappear to?” Bart asked after he zoomed around to search for him. “He’s sick right? Shouldn’t he be resting?”
“…I don’t know! Beyond was never sick when we were in Cadmus.” Conner started fidgeting and worried. “You don’t think someone got him do you?”
“Well… he got kidnapped before… but no one knows who we are here.” Bart muttered.
“Let’s go look for him.” Conner suggested.
“I’ll have the city flipped in—” He was interrupted.
“No powers!” The other shouted.
“But it’ll take forever.” Bart protested.
“Beyond said not to draw attention to yourself.” He reasoned. “I’ll take the east side of Metropolis, you take the west. We’ll meet back here whether we find him or not.”
They searched the whole day for him. Weary and worried they returned dejected, but quickly noticed they boy they’ve been looking for was asleep next to the open package of medicine.
“Beyond!” Conner shouted in relief as he zoomed forward and pulled the boy into his arms.
“What is it XIII?” He murmured tiredly, too tired to shove the other off.
“Where were you? We looked everywhere for you! Do you know how worried we were?” He scolded.
“I had something to do.” Terry murmured. “Besides, you weren’t here when I came back.”
“You could’ve left a note!” Bart said with a huff.
Terry yawned. “I’ll remember next time… zzz…”
“Beyond?” Conner whispered but the other fell asleep again him.
Not having the heart to wake him to scold him some more, they let him sleep and confronted him when he was better.
o.o.o.o.o
“Something’s not right.” Terry said as he tried to blow his stuffy nose. The sleep and medication didn’t help. His eyes were dark and swollen. His skin was pale and clammy and his nose was red from blowing it so often.
“What’s wrong?” Bart asked.
“Superman.” He sat up groggily. “He hasn’t been in the papers much the last few days.”
“And that’s a problem?” Bart said with puzzlement.
Terry coughed as he tried to think and remember what he could, concerning Superman. “We have to get out of Metropolis.” He struggled to stand, but Conner caught him before he fell.
“Why Beyond?” Conner asked.
The naïve look on the super’s face would’ve convinced anyone else to change topics and protect such innocence, but Terry was not such a person. “Superman is going to invade Metropolis soon. We need to get out before it starts and escalates.
“Superman invading?” Bart said in disbelief. “Why would he—”
“Brainwashed.” He said bluntly. “Don’t interfere, don’t help, this is supposed to happen and we need to leave.”
“But Beyond.” Conner protested.
“We need to le…” Terry collapsed in a struggle breath, his fever was getting worse.
Bart looked worried. “… What do we do?” He asked uncertainly. “People are going to get hurt.”
Conner felt conflicted as he held the sick boy closer. “We… can’t help.” He murmured dejectedly. “Beyond said we have to leave, so we can’t stay in Metropolis.”
“Where do we go then?” Bart asked. “We can’t stay in Central. Wally would probably find us in his normal runs around the city.”
“And Batman would kill us if we stepped into Gotham.” Conner frowned their options were limited.
“No powers, civilians.” Terry muttered.
“… Wait you want us to go to Gotham?” Conner said in confusion.
“High homeless rate.” he said breathlessly. “Blend in.”
“You sure he’s coherent?” Bart asked.
“Even if he’s not, he is right about Gotham having a high homeless rate, we can probably hide there better than in Metropolis or Central.” Conner reasoned.
Bart glances over to Terry. “I hope his fever breaks soon.”
o.o.o.o.o
Hiding in Gotham was easier said than done, they stood out the moment they were in Gotham. The clueless and innocent expression on Bart and Conner’s faces was just asking for the local con artists to prey on them. Trying to keep a low profile? Not possible, especially when they’re lugging a sick and barely able to walk Terry around. Albeit, Terry looked like he belonged to the drug abusing population of Gotham with his sickly features.
Even in his feverish state, he managed to shoo away the preying locals before advising them to avoid eye contact and ignore whoever approached. Crime Alley was the best place for them to hide. Anywhere else would draw attention to the trio. In the alley, no one asked questions and no one would approach you unless they’re asking for money or trying to offer drugs. They managed a few days before Terry’s fever worsen. None of their medications were working; they needed help. Fortunately, they were lucky to find some rare and kind locals to direct them to the free clinic.
“My goodness! How long has he been sick?” Dr. Leslie Thompkins said as she hurriedly gave the young man an IV drip and a shot to the arm.
“Days? We got him medicine and everything though.” Conner said worriedly. “Is he going to be all right?”
“You should’ve brought him to the doctors earlier!” She scolded.
Bart squeaked with worry. “He’s going to be all right, won’t he?”
The woman sighed. “He’ll be fine, but if you brought him in earlier, he wouldn’t be in this state.” She eyed them suspiciously. “You’re not from Gotham are you?”
“Erm… uh…” They didn’t know what to say.
“If you three are runaways, I suggest you to go home. Gotham City is not for you.” She warned as she filled a bottle with pills. “Antibiotics. Have him take one after breakfast, lunch and dinner. What over the counter medicine have you been giving him?”
“Aspirin and fever reduction.” Conner answered.
“Continue have him taking those in addition to these. And I’m serious boys, go home.” She ordered.
“We’re trying.” Conner smiles weakly. “Thanks Dr. Thompkins.”
o.o.o.o.o
When Terry was fairly coherent again, the two were reluctant to let him go about planning their return, but they had interacted with Dr. Thompkins. They had no other choice. They need to get home before they run into Batman.
“Zatanna.” Terry said with a stuffy nose.
“Zach’s cousin?” Bart said in confusion. “I thought we’re not supposed to interact with people.”
“The two of you took me to the doctors after I said no. Since we’re not erased from existence, interacting with one more won’t make a difference. She’s a magic user.” He sniffed before Conner handed him another tissue to blow his nose.
“… We’re going back through magic?” Conner asked.
“Is something wrong?” Bart asked.
“It just doesn’t seem like Beyond’s usual solution to problems.” Conner murmured.
Terry sighed. “Or we could go back the long way and wait ten to fifteen years.” He mumbled.
“… Where do we find her?” Bart asked, not wanting to wait that long.
“The paper gives the location of her performance. Wake me when you find her.” He said before slipping back into his feverish slumber.
o.o.o.o.o
It took sometime, but they eventually found Zatanna performing in a ritzy hotel. Fortunately, between Conner and Bart, they were able to avoid the security and sneak into Zatanna’s changing room and waited for her to finish her show. Conner rested Terry on the couch while Bart raided her fruit platter.
When she walked in, she immediately knew they weren’t fans waiting for her. “Who are you and what are you doing here? Only authorized personnel is allowed here.”
“Wait! Wait! Don’t call security yet! We need your help!” Conner said hurriedly. “Beyond, wake up, she’s back.”
Terry twitched at being woken but make no other movement as he slowly blinked his eyes open.
“… Is he okay? He looks sick.” Zatanna guard dropped slightly.
“I’m fine.” He sniffled. “We’re time travelers, we need a spell to return to our time.”
Zatanna gave a weak smile. “Very cute kid, I’m a stage magician.”
“I’ll pay for your services.” He replied.
“Look, I know you probably find this a cute prank or you’re actually deluded.” She muttered the second bit as an after thought. “But magic’s not real, it’s all illusions to fool the human eyes.”
“I’ll tell you who your John Doe is. You’ve been scrying for him, but couldn’t find anything on him, can you?” Terry added.
“How—”
“Time travelers.” He replied bluntly. “How accurate can you send someone through time?”
Zatanna closed her mouth and stared at him for a moment before giving in. “I could get someone close to the year they want, give or take a few years.”
“What’s considered a few years?” Terry asked.
“Time traveling is tricky magic, either I send you two to three years too early or too late to your desired time. There’s a small percentage that I could get you to the right time, but it really depends on your luck.” She answered.
“All right,” Terry said. “Is the payment I offered agreed?”
She nodded quietly. “Who is he?”
“Bruce Wayne.” He replied before Conner spluttered in disbelief.
“He’s—” Terry raised a hand to silence him.
“You know we can’t tell you anything more than that. It’s only because you’re supposed to know that we would even tell you.” The boy said.
“… The paradox effect.” She murmured, but skepticism still lingered.
“He learned from your father the skills of an escape artist. I’m sure you’ll figure out why he needs to skills eventually.”
“…All right.” She finally said. “How far do you need?”
“Fifteen years.” He replied.
“Hmm…” She held her chin in deep thought. “That’s pretty far…” She murmured. “It will be difficult, but I’ll do whatever I can.”
“Then I’ll leave everything to you…” He was starting to lose consciousness from the fever again. “Don’t tell them when we get back…” He gave the order to Conner before slipping into unconsciousness.
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