Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Courtney Whitmore sighed as she headed down to the kitchen of her aunt Eliza's house in Midvale, which was where she'd spent the past summer since her mom had married her new stepdad Pat Dugan, something she was not thrilled about, but anyways, she was on her way down when she heard her aunt arguing with her mom, reminding her that today was the day she was picking up both her and her friend Yolanda, who Courtney had invited to come out to Midvale with her, since she had a feeling that Yolanda could use a break from their hometown of Blue Valley Nebraska, since neither of them had it very easy there, especially since Yolanda's life had taken a very negative turn towards the end of the previous school year, but that was not what Courtney was focusing on. Right now she was trying to listen in on what her mom and aunt were saying.

"You know you're going to have to tell Courtney the truth soon, especially considering who you married." she heard her aunt Eliza say.

"She's safer not knowing." her mom Barbara insisted.

"You keep telling yourself that, but I think that Courtney is old enough now to understand the truth about what happened to her father. And besides, I don't think you're going to have a choice about it." Eliza said, much to Courtney's confusion, since as far as she knew, her father, Sylvester Pemberton, had been a no good deadbeat who'd abandoned her and her mother when she was three years old, but for some reason, that story had never sat right with her. The few memories she did have of her father were of him being kind and loving to her, not to mention the very large house he'd had built for them on the outskirts of Blue Valley, since she knew he was rich and she was set to inherit his fortune when she turned 18, though she was planning on convincing her mom and Pat to let her use some of those funds when she turned 16 to buy her own car.

Anyways, Courtney continued listening in on their argument.

"What are you talking about?" Barbara asked her sister.

"From what I can gather, Courtney has been having the same kind of dreams her father had. She's been having them ever since you married Pat and there's only one reason why she'd be having those dreams in the first place. You can't protect her from this anymore. I know you were hoping someone else would be chosen, but it's clear that isn't the case." Eliza said.

"I can protect her from this as long as I can and you won't say anything to her about it." Barbara said and Eliza was getting tired of having this same argument with her sister, since she knew she was right, but Barb wouldn't accept it until she had no other choice. Something that she could relate too, but since she knew that they were being listened to, she decided to change the topic.

"How do you feel about the fact that I let Courtney and Yolanda share Kara and Alex's old room?" Eliza asked her sister, who smiled, while Courtney, who quickly realized where this was going and headed back upstairs so she could make sure Yolanda, who'd still been asleep when she'd left the room, didn't hear any of this.

"Honestly, I'm totally fine with it, if only because Yolanda has no idea how Courtney feels about her or how she feels about Courtney yet. But her time here helped?" Barbara asked her sister, who nodded.

"You made the right call having her come here with Courtney. I swear, she's a completely different person than she was when she got here." Eliza said and Barb smiled.

"I'm glad. When Courtney suggested that we let her invite Yolanda to come with her, I was skeptical, but now I understand why. Getting her away from her parents definitely helped, which is why she's not going back to them when we get back to Blue Valley." Barb said.

"Good. I'd hate to see her lose all the progress Courtney and I made in building her back up after everything her parents did to tear her down. I still can't believe that her parents would essentially disown over a teenage mistake. I mean, Alex and Kara never did that, but even if they did, while I'd be upset, I wouldn't make them feel like a disgrace to the family." Eliza said, since she was genuinely horrified at how Yolanda's parents were treating the young girl over her mistake.

"I agree. But anyways, I'm glad that she and Courtney both had fun this summer. Thank you again for taking care of them while Pat and I were on our honeymoon." Barbara said and Eliza smiled.

"I had no problem doing it. Ever since the girls moved to National City, I have felt a bit lonely. It was nice to have kids here again." Eliza said and Barbara smiled at her sister.

"You know you're always welcome to visit us in Blue Valley. Also, do you have any suggestions on how I can find a place in Mike's life?" Barb asked, since she figured that Eliza would have some experience in that field, considering she'd been in a similar position when she'd taken Kara in.

"All I can recommend is show him that you're not trying to take his mom's place in his life but you still want to have a role in it. At least that's what worked best with Kara." Eliza said.

"Honestly, Mike never really got to know his mom, so that shouldn't be too hard." Barbara said.

"Still." Eliza said as Courtney and Yolanda entered the kitchen.

"Hey Mrs. Whitmore." Yolanda said as Courtney nodded at her mom silently, indicating that she still wasn't thrilled about having to go home.

"Hey girls, I hear you had fun this summer." Barbara said.

"Yeah, thank you again for letting me tag along Mrs. Danvers. I really needed a break from Blue Valley." Yolanda said.

"It was my pleasure Yolanda and please, call me Eliza." Eliza insisted.

"Okay." Yolanda agreed.

"Do we really have to go back to Blue Valley? Can't we just stay here and go to Midvale High?" Courtney complained and Yolanda looked curious about whether that was an option.

"No Courtney, remember our deal. You're coming home for the school year and you're also helping us get Pat and MIke unpacked into the house." Barbara said.

"Who was Mike staying with while you and Pat were on your honeymoon?" Yolanda asked, since Courtney had assured her before they left that Mike would not be joining them.

"He stayed with Pat's mom. We picked him up on our way back to Blue Valley. They're starting to unpack now, though Mike is asking if he can have your room." Barbara said and Courtney rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, if he tries to take my room, well, I won't be held responsible for my actions." Courtney said.

"Hey, in his defense, you have the best bedroom in the house, considering you took over the entire attic." Yolanda pointed and Courtney shrugged.

"Whatever. Come on, let's go make sure we're all packed." Courtney said and Yolanda nodded as they headed up to the room they'd been sharing all summer.

"Smart move using the sibling thing to get Courtney to leave. Alex was not happy when Jeremiah and I told her that she'd have to share her room with Kara." Eliza said.

"Fortunately, one good thing about Sylvester is that before he disappeared, he built us a house that was big enough for that to not be a problem. Especially with the other surprise that will be waiting back in Blue Valley." Barbara said and Eliza nodded, since she knew what that surprise was and she fully supported it.

Chapter Text

"Well girls, welcome home." Barbara said to Courtney and Yolanda as they drove past the welcome to Blue Valley sign.

"Welcome to hell." Yolanda said, not looking forward to returning to her family, since the past summer she'd spent in Midvale had been one of the best in her life, since even before her life had been ruined, she had felt constant pressure to be this good girl that her parents wanted her to be and it was exhausting. Honestly, she wasn't sure which was worse. The way her parents treated her now or the way she had to act before.

Honestly, it had been exhausting having to be the perfect straight A good girl they wanted her to be. She'd spent her whole life trying to get their approval and yet, at the first slip up, the first mistake she made, they tossed her out on her ass.

"I'm not sure you'll feel that way for much longer Yolanda, since there's actually a reason why Pat and I gave you two extra few days at Eliza's." Barb said.

"Really, why?" Courtney asked, since wasn't aware that they'd gotten to stay longer than planned.

"Because even after Pat and I got back from our honeymoon, we started working on a new project. One that requires lawyers." Barbara said.

"What did you do?" Courtney asked her mother.

"As of a few days ago, Pat and I are now Yolanda's legal guardians. We've already moved all her stuff from her parents house to one of our spare bedrooms, though we decided to leave decorating up to her." Barbara said.

"Wait, I don't have to go back to my parent's house?" Yolanda asked, thinking it was too good to be true.

"That's one of the reasons why we let Courtney invite you to come with her to my sister's over the summer. So you'd be gone while we set up your room." Barbara said and Yolanda beamed at her and she would've hugged Barbara if she wasn't currently driving, since now she no longer wanted to get hurt in a traffic accident.

"Are you sure I wouldn't be imposing?" Yolanda asked, wanting to be sure that this was real and Courtney had to resist the urge to scoff.

"You've seen my house Yolanda, you know we have plenty of spare bedrooms. Heck, literally only two bedrooms have been taken in the place, since I have the attic all to myself." Courtney said.

"Tell me again how you pulled that off?" Yolanda asked, wondering how Courtney had managed to get permission to turn the attic of her huge house into her own loft bedroom.

"A way to make up for not having a dad in my life. Plus I used my future inheritance to pay for it." Courtney explained and Barbara nodded.

"And as we agreed, you'll also be able to use that inheritance to buy yourself a car after you turn 16 and get your license. But you won't be able to use the rest of it until after you graduate. From college." Barbara said and Courtney rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Anyways, all your stuff is waiting in your new room at our house, but we decided to let you decorate however you want to." Barbara said and she could tell that Yolanda felt immensely relieved by this.

"Maybe things won't be as bad as I thought they would be, since I can already feel a bit more relieved since now I just have to worry about the jerks at school, not the ones at home, since now I live with people who actually care about me." Yolanda said as Barbara pulled up on the huge house she, Courtney and now Yolanda called home.

"I still can't believe you live here." Yolanda said as she looked up at the mansion she could now call home.

"Yeah, too bad I never had enough friends to throw a party here." Courtney said.

"Like you'd ever be allowed to." Barbara said as she punched in the security code to the gate, which slid open and allowed them to pull up to the entrance, where to Yolanda's surprise, there were valets waiting for them. Then she once again remembered that even though she didn't act like it, Courtney was rich.

"Mrs. Whitmore, Ms. Whitmore, Ms. Montez, welcome home." one of the valets said.

"Thank you Charles. Please take my stuff up to my room and take Yolanda's things to whichever room she's been given. I'm going to give her a full tour of the house, since until now, I don't think I've ever had a reason to give her a full tour." Courtney said and the valet, Charles, nodded as he took their bags from the trunk of the car.

"I can't believe that you never told me you had a pool and a basketball court." Yolanda said to Courtney as they continued the tour.

"I didn't want you to think I was some kind of spoiled brat who got everything she ever wanted." Courtney said.

"Courtney, believe me, I could never think you were  a spoiled brat. And honestly, that's a surprise, since a lot of people thought that you'd be even worse than Cindy, considering you've got more money than her, a bigger house than her, literally everything she has, you can one up her." Yolanda said, thinking of her arch rival, Cindy Burman.

"I will never be like Cindy. Honestly, I'm pretty sure one of the reasons she hates so much is because she's jealous of me." Courtney said.

"Why would she be jealous of you? After all, it's not like you let people know you're rich." Yolanda said, since Courtney had never flaunted her wealth by being dropped off at school in a limo or wearing expensive designer clothes. She'd always been a rather simple girl who needed the simple things in life. That was just the way her mom had raised her.

"People know that I live in this huge house. The only reason I'm not popular at school is because unlike Cindy, I don't want to rely on money to buy friends. I want friends who like me for who I am. Not because of how much money I have." Courtney said.

"You think your brother is going to be that humble?" Yolanda asked her and Courtney laughed.

"Not a chance. Mike seemed to jump at the chance at having servants. Probably because he didn't get to grow up with this kind of luxury." Courtney said, since the house was relatively big, with three main floors, the floor they were on now was still the main floor, which had the entrance hall, living room, dining room, kitchen, laundry room, den, her mother's office and her father's study, though the study had been off limits to Courtney even before her father had disappeared for a reason she still didn't know, along with a video game arcade (Courtney was positive that her dad was the one behind that, since he was the one who loved those old vintage games). In the backyard was a standard sized in ground pool complete with a diving board and water slide, along with a trampoline and regulation sized basketball court.

On the second floor of the house were a majority of the bedrooms, including the master bedroom, which was her mom and Pat's, Mike's bedroom and now Yolanda's bedroom. The final floor of the house was the attic, which when she was 10, Courtney had used her inheritance to turn into her own loft-like bedroom, which of course had led to Mike insisting that he get to turn the basement into his own bedroom, since they were only it for storage right now.

"True, but still, you really think your mom and Pat will let him get away with that for long?" Yolanda asked.

"Not a chance. But anyways, before I show you your room, there's something else I wanted to do, since remember when my aunt pulled me aside before we left?" Courtney asked.

"Yeah why?" Yolanda asked.

"She told me that if I wanted to find out what happened to my dad, then I needed to look in his study. Which means that I finally have a good enough reason to break in there." Courtney said.

"And you don't want to do it alone." Yolanda asked her.

"Well, I don't know what I'll find and I don't want to be alone and it's clear that if my mom wanted to tell me what happened to my dad, she would've done so by now and I'm not at that point with Pat or Mike yet." Courtney said and Yolanda was touched that Courtney trusted her enough to do this.

"Okay, let's find out what happened to your dad." Yolanda said as Courtney led to the one locked door in the house.

"So, how are we going to get past this lock?" Yolanda asked her as Courtney pulled out a bobbing pin.

"My cousin Alex taught me how to pick a lock when I was little. Don't tell my mom." Courtney said and Yolanda nodded as Courtney got the door unlocked and together, they walked inside to find the walls of the study covered with news articles about the old superhero Starman.

"Wow, your dad was a real Starman fan wasn't he." Yolanda as they looked around and Courtney came to a realization.

"Actually, I think it was more than that." Courtney said as she picked up a photo that was on the desk.

"What do you mean?" Yolanda asked as she saw that it was a picture of Courtney and her dad and realized what she meant as she saw that the man in the photo with young Courtney was the same man in the Starman pictures.

"Your dad was Starman?" Yolanda asked.

"I guess he was." Courtney said, trying to wrap her head around that as she placed her hand on the picture, which to her surprise, lit up green.

"Handprint confirmed, Courtney Whitmore, access granted." an automated voice said as suddenly, the wall behind the desk slid away to reveal a hidden elevator.

"You have a batcave in your house?" Yolanda asked.

"You know as much as I do." Courtney said as they got in the elevator, which closed once they were both on board and started heading downwards, though to what, they weren't sure yet.

Chapter Text

"How did you not know that you had a secret elevator in your house?" Yolanda asked Courtney as they rode the elevator downwards, though they didn't know how far down they were going.

"Why would I know there was a secret elevator in my house if I didn't even know that my dad was a superhero until now?" Courtney snapped.

"Court, are you okay?" Yolanda asked her.

"Yeah sorry Yolanda, it's just a lot to process. After all, I've spent my whole life basically hating my dad for abandoning me and now I find out that everything I thought I knew about him was a lie. And then there's my mom. There's no way she didn't know about it, since I'm positive my aunt Eliza did, since she's the one who told me to look in my dad's study. So why didn't my mom tell me about this sooner? Why did she let me think my dad was just a deadbeat who abandoned me?" Courtney asked her.

"I don't know Courtney, but I still think she's a better mom than mine is." Yolanda said.

"Maybe, but I still think I'm owed an explanation, which I will get once we find out where the hell we're going." Courtney said, right as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened to reveal some kind of underground tunnel.

"Where are we?" Yolanda asked.

"You're asking the wrong person. Come on, let's see what we can find." Courtney said as she and Yolanda stepped off the elevator and suddenly, there was a bright flash of light going over them, like something was scanning them, then they heard a digital female voice.

"DNA match confirmed, Courtney Whitmore." the voice said.

"Who said that?" Courtney asked.

"My apologies, allow me to introduce to myself Ms. Whitmore. I am Gemma, an artificial intelligence program created by Dr. Charles McNider and Sylvester Pemberton to maintain this base and answer any questions you may have." the voice, Gemma said.

"Wait, why me?" Courtney asked.

"Your father had me created in the event that he was not around to explain things to you himself. Would you like me to play the message he created for you?" Gemma asked.

"Message?" Courtney asked.

"The message he recorded the night of December 24th, 2000." Gemma said.

"That's the night he disappeared." Courtney realized as Yolanda gripped Courtney's hand before either of them realized what had happened.

"Yes, he created it in case he did not come back." Gemma said.

"Play it." Courtney said, since she needed to hear these words.

"As you wish." Gemma said as suddenly, a hologram of Sylvester Pemberton, fully dressed in his Starman suit and holding the same staff that she'd seen in her dreams.

"Hello Courtney. I created this message in the hopes that you would never see it, because if you are, that means that I'm dead and you had to grow up without me and I'm so sorry for that. But if you're seeing this message, it also means one of two things. One, that your mother decided to tell you the truth about me and explained everything to you, though I find that option highly unlikely, since she was always against me going out there, let alone telling you the truth." the hologram said and Courtney couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"The second and more likely option is that you finally snuck into my study and found the entrance to the Citadel on your own. The Citadel is a fortress I had secretly built underneath our home to serve several purposes. The first one being to serve as a base of operations for my activities as Starman should I ever need to come out of a retirement as a solo hero again. The second reason was to serve as a backup base of operations in case the original JSA base was ever compromised. The third reason was to serve as a bunker to protect you and your mother if any of my enemies ever found you. And the final reason is the one that likely brought you down here now, since if you're seeing this, it means that you've been chosen like I was." Sylvester said.

"What do you mean chosen?" Courtney asked.

"The staff you see me holding right now is a weapon called the cosmic staff and it was created by your grandfather, Ted Knight, who passed it on to me after it judged me worthy of the staff and you've been having dreams of this staff, that means you've been chosen as well. If I die in the battle I'm about to leave for, then the staff is most likely with my old friend and sidekick, Pat Dugan." the hologram said, making both Courtney and Yolanda do a double take.

"Wait, did he just say that your stepfather was his sidekick? That means that Pat knew about this too." Yolanda said and now Courtney was pissed.

"If Pat isn't with you at this time, find him and bring him down here so I can tell him to give you the staff. And tell him that I expect him to teach you how to use the staff since I can't be there to teach you myself." Sylvester said and Courtney chuckled before the hologram of her father turned serious.

"Courtney, I'm sorry that this is how you most likely had to find out the truth about me. I should've been there to tell you all this myself. Hell, I should still be the one using this staff, not you. I never wanted you to have to live this life, but I can't say I'm surprised. And make no mistake, no matter what I've done, all the lives I've saved, the thing I am most proud of is you. I hope that I made sure you know that. You and your mother are the most important things in the world to me. Always have been and always will be. You're the reason I picked this staff up again. I just wish I was still there now, since while I always knew that you'd pick up the cosmic staff, just not until you were all grown up and I was too old to continue on. And that I was there to teach you about this legacy. I'm not asking you to forgive me for leaving you and passing this responsibility onto you, but I want you to know how proud I am of you and that I know you can handle this. But you can't do this alone. You're going to need help. Pat is a good start, but you'll need other people you trust to have your back, not only in the field, in your life. And most important of all, stay true to your heart and never let your light diminish and never doubt for one minute that you are my daughter. And it's time for you to shine bright, my little stargirl." Sylvester said, right as the hologram shut off and Courtney had to wipe tears from her eyes at hearing her father say all that.

"You okay?" Yolanda asked her.

"Yeah, it's just I've been holding onto this anger towards him for so long and now it feels like I can finally let it go. I can finally love my father again, something I never thought I'd be able to do. And I feel so much better now that I've finally let go of that anger." Courtney said and Yolanda smiled as she pulled her friend into a hug, because she knew better than most how long Courtney had spent being angry at the father who abandoned her and she was happy that she could finally let that go. And she also promised herself then and there that she'd be one of the people Courtney's father had mentioned in his message. Someone Courtney could trust with everything. Since she already knew that she could do that for Courtney and she wanted to help her, but for now, she just comforted Courtney as her friend processed everything they'd just heard.

Chapter Text

Barbara was getting concerned about the fact that she hadn't seen Courtney or Yolanda since they'd gotten home from Midvale, but not for the reason most parents would be concerned about it. She was concerned because of the dreams Courtney was having, since she knew what it meant, but she was determined to put it off for as long as possible.

However, that did not stop her from making her way to her former husband's study, the one room she'd kept off limits to her daughter, though she'd entered it a few times over the years, since even though she'd moved on with Pat, Barb still liked feeling connected to Sylvester, especially since that way it felt like she could still tell them about their daughter.

However, she was concerned when she saw that the door had been left open.

"No Courtney, you didn't." Barbara said as she rushed into the room and sure enough, she could see the signs of someone having having been in recently, particularly a certain photo of Courtney and her father and Barbara checked her phone and saw that sure enough, even though she'd muted her phone, she still got a notification saying that the Citadel's systems had come back online.

"No." Barbara said as she looked down at the picture of Sylvester.

"Why Sylvester. Why did she have to be so much like you? Why did the staff have to choose her like it chose you and why did it choose her so young. She's only a child. She should be worrying about telling the girl she likes how she feels and what she's going to wear to prom, not the things the staff brings. I thought that it would wait until she was at least done with high school before picking her. I knew this day would come, I just didn't think it would be so soon." Barbara said, since she knew this day was coming, she just didn't expect it to be so soon.

But she was pulled from her thoughts when Pat entered the study.

"Barb, what's in this room, you've never shown me?" Pat asked as he noticed all the Starman paraphernalia.

"This room was Sylvester's study." Barbara said, since Pat was aware that his old boss was Barb's old husband.

"And you didn't show it to me because you didn't want to give Courtney any ideas. But what are you doing here now?" Pat asked.

"Because Courtney finally broke in here after we got home, which means that she's finally figured out who her father really is." Barbara said and to her surprise, Pat actually smiled.

"Good, I'm tired of hearing her say bad things about Sylvester when he was a great man. Now she knows it." Pat said, since he'd been waiting for Courtney to learn the truth about Sylvester ever since he'd met her, but had kept his mouth shut out of respect for Barb.

"Pat, I wanted to protect her from this life. I saw what it did to Sylvester and I don't want that for Courtney." Barbara said.

"I get that Barb, believe me I do, but it's your choice. It's Courtney's and believe me, keeping this truth from her for so long, it's not going to end well, since she's gonna be pissed at you for lying to her. Besides, if what you told me is right, the staff has already chosen her, which means that we can't do anything about it, since sooner or later, the staff will find its way to her. Might as well do it now, since it wouldn't be choosing her at this age for no reason. Which means that she needs to learn how to use it while she still has time to." Pat said and Barbara sighed.

"I know, but I'm her mother. It's my job to protect her." Barbara said.

"I know and if it were Mike in this position, I'd feel the same way, but now you have to protect her in a different way. By trusting her with information she should've had a long time ago. And trusting her to be able to keep herself safe. Besides, you know I've been preparing for this in my own way." Pat said, referring to what he had hidden in his new machine shop.

"I know and I also know that you were with Sylvester every step of the way as he learned to use the staff, but since he isn't here to do it himself, I want you to promise me that you'll do everything you can to prepare her for this." Barbara said.

"I promise. But now I think I'm gonna go get the staff." Pat said, right as they heard a warbling sound and saw the staff float into the room.

"Guess it got tired of waiting for me to give it to Courtney." Pat said.

"I forgot that my father built that thing with its own personality for some reason." Barbara said.

"Where is Courtney?" Pat asked, changing the topic he gripped the staff, only for it to turn off, causing Pat to roll his eyes at that, since he was used to the staff giving him the cold shoulder.

"I think I know where she is." Barbara said as she picked up the picture of Courtney and her father and placed her hand on the scanner.

"Identity confirmed, Barbara Whitmore, access granted." the digital voice said as the secret elevator was revealed.

"Should've known that Sylvester would've built a lair under his house." Pat said as he and Barb entered the elevator.

Chapter Text

Courtney's mind was still reeling from what she'd just learned about her father. This whole time she'd thought that he was a deadbeat who didn't care about her when in reality he was a superhero who'd given his life to save the world and while she had about a dozen questions, the most pressing one was why. Why didn't her mother tell her the truth about her dad? Why did she let Courtney spend her life thinking that her father didn't care about her. It just didn't seem fair. Especially since it had robbed her of the chance to mourn her father, a fact that was just now catching up to her.

"Court, you okay?" Yolanda asked her, though that question seemed stupid, but considering the fact that Courtney looked like she was about to cry, she thought it was necessary.

"Not really. It just sunk in that my dad didn't walk out on me, he died and my mom didn't even have the decency to tell me that. Instead, she let me hate him instead of mourn him and now that it's sunk in, the grief is being pretty quick to set in." Courtney said and Yolanda nodded in understanding as she just wrapped her arms around Courtney and let the other girl silently weep into her shoulder as Courtney not only let go of the anger she'd held onto towards her father for most of her life, but more importantly, she also processed grief that was about 10 years overdue.

Yolanda wasn't sure if there was anything she could say to make Courtney feel better, so she settled for just continuing to rub Courtney's back and let the other girl cry, right as they heard the elevator door open and Yolanda couldn't stop herself from glaring at Mrs. Whitmore when she and Pat exited the elevator, since it was Barb's fault that Courtney was in her current state.

"Yolanda, what happened?" Barbara asked.

"She not only found out that everything you told her about her dad was a lie, but that he didn't walk out, he died and that grief is just now hitting her." Yolanda said, since Courtney refused to even look at her mom right now, like Yolanda, she believed that the only reason she felt this was because her mother had lied to her about this.

"Courtney, I can explain." Barbara said.

"Don't." Courtney managed to say through her tears and still without even looking at her mom.

"Courtney, I have something for you. Something that I think your father would want you to have." Pat said as Courtney finally looked up from Yolanda's shoulder to see that Pat was holding the staff she'd seen in both her dreams and she'd seen the hologram of her father hold.

"That's my dad's staff." Courtney said and Pat nodded.

"This is the cosmic staff. It was built by your grandfather Ted Knight who used it to become the first Starman. After that, he passed the staff on to your father Sylvester and now it's become clear that the staff has chosen you to be the next one to use it, since it's not just the family DNA that makes it work, since if it was, your mom could use the staff. Your grandfather built the staff to only work for people the staff deemed worthy, since he somehow gave it a mind of its own, don't ask me how, I don't know. But I do know that it wouldn't have chosen you if you didn't have the same characteristics, the same light, your father had. And I want to teach how to use it as best I can." Pat said and Courtney smiled through her tears.

"Thank you Pat. But why didn't you tell me the truth about my dad, since I know you were his sidekick?" Courtney asked.

"I wanted to Courtney, but your mom wouldn't let me. She wanted to keep you safe from the life your dad led." Pat said.

"I can understand that, but she shouldn't have let me think he didn't care. I spent years hating him when I should've been proud of him. And I couldn't even grieve for him until now because I didn't know he was dead." Courtney said.

"You're right Courtney, that was wrong of me, but I was trying to keep you safe from this life." Barbara said, trying to justify her decision.

"Unfortunately, that is unavoidable now." a new male voice said and all four of them jumped as they turned to see a guy with headridges and wearing the most ridiculous bulky costume any of them had ever seen standing there.

"Who are you and how the hell did you get in here?" Barbara demanded.

"My name is Mar Novu and I'm what your people might call a god." Novu said.

"I've never heard of you." Pat said.

"That's because I never felt it necessary to get involved in your world before now. But things have changed. If this world is to thrive, then all of its greatest heroes must reach their potential and that includes your daughter." Novu said.

"What does that mean?" Courtney asked.

"It means that you Courtney Whitmore have a destiny to fulfill, just like your father did before you. What that means is for you to determine yourself. But it is time for you to finally claim your destiny, something that has been put off for far too long." Novu said.

"Any chance you can tell me what that means?" Novu asked.

"All I can tell you is to follow your dreams. They will be your guide until you find your way. But first you must claim what is rightfully yours." Novu said and before any of them could say anything, he disappeared.

"Well, that was random." Yolanda said, though they all couldn't help but wonder what that weird guy meant.

"I've never heard of that guy before, but Dr. Fate was a lot like him. An incredibly powerful cosmic being who spoke in cryptic riddles. We'll have to figure it out ourselves." Pat said.

"What did he mean by my destiny?" Courtney asked and then, as if by some instinct, she held out her hand and the Cosmic Staff lit up and flew out of Pat's hand and into her's.

"I think that's a sign that your destiny is to pick up where your dad left off. It wants you to rebuild the JSA." Pat said and Courtney smiled a bit, since for the first time ever, she actually felt connected to her father.

"I'll help." Yolanda said.

"Yolanda, I don't want to put you in danger. This is my mission and it's personal." Courtney said.

"I have something you don't." Yolanda said.

"What?" Courtney asked.

"Powers." Yolanda said, shocking Courtney and her parents as suddenly she willed her eyes to shift to those of a cats and claws protruded from her finger nails.

Chapter Text

That night, despite everything Courtney had learned and all the thoughts she had going through her head, especially how betrayed she felt by her own mother, she had a better night's sleep tonight than she'd had in months, since it appeared that the staff calling to her was what had been causing her weird dreams and now that she'd finally claimed both it and her father's legacy, her dreams were peaceful.

Another thing that was helping her sleep was the fact that she was finally able to let go of her anger towards her father. An anger that she'd held onto for so long, she could actually feel the difference now that it was gone. However, unfortunately, her anger towards her father had been replaced by a new, maybe even greater anger towards her for lying to her for so many years and denying her the opportunity to grieve her father until now. She honestly wasn't sure when she'd be ready to forgive her mom, but she knew that it wouldn't be anytime soon.

A sentiment that didn't change when she entered the dining room for breakfast the following morning where she found her mom, Pat and Yolanda already sitting down at the table, but it was clear that Mike was taking advantage of the fact that today was the last day they could all sleep in.

"Courtney, how did you sleep?" her mom asked, only to receive silence in return.

"Courtney, I know I made a mistake, but you can't just spend your whole life ignoring me." Barbara said, only to get nothing back from her daughter.

"Barb, I think you just need to give her some time. It's a lot to process." Pat said.

"Mr. Dugan, maybe after breakfast, you can take us back down to the citadel and give Courtney and I a history lesson on the JSA, since they aren't covered in school." Yolanda said, trying to change the subject and Pat nodded, since he was going to do that anyways, but he was grateful to Yolanda for trying to change the subject.

"And maybe while we're down there you can tell us how you got powers." Courtney said, since they hadn't really addressed that last night.

"Like I told you last night, if I had any idea about how I got powers, I'd tell you." Yolanda said as Courtney sat down next to her and had her favorite breakfast placed in front of her by their staff.

"Thank you." Courtney said to the servant, who nodded before walking away.

"So, are we telling Mike about this, does he already know or are you gonna make the same mistake with him that you made with me?" Courtney asked, though this question was more directed at Pat than her mother.

"I originally wanted to keep Mike out of this, but I realize that would be hypocritical of me considering how much I wanted you to know the truth. But Mike is younger than you, so he is not getting involved, since unlike you, there's no weapon seeking him out and unlike Yolanda, he doesn't have powers." Pat said and both Courtney and Yolanda nodded.

After breakfast, Courtney, Pat and Yolanda headed down to the Citadel so that Pat could give them the full history of the JSA, which was why they were currently in the new meeting room.

"Okay Pat, start from the beginning." Courtney said and Pat nodded.

"Okay, it all started back during World War 2. That was when the original JSA was formed as an elite covert strike team to combat the more dangerous parts of the war, mainly meaning supernatural or enhanced assets the Axis powers tried to use. The team was led by Wonder Woman, I'm sure you've heard of her." Pat said.

"The half amazon warrior goddess who's the reason we won world war one." Courtney asked, since Wonder Woman was well known in history.

"Yes. She led the original JSA, which was made up of Commander Steel, the first Hourman, Vixen, the Black Canary, Hawkman, Hawkgirl and Courtney's grandfather, Barb's father, Ted Knight, who was the first Starman. After the war ended, the JSA kind of drifted apart, since they weren't needed, especially after the Cold War ended. Eventually the staff was passed down from Ted to Courtney's father Sylvester, though Sylvester had been acting as a vigilante for years before the staff chose him." Pat said.

"What do you mean?" Courtney asked.

"I mean your dad was around your age when he first started out as the Star Spangled Kid. His parents, your grandparents on his side, were being threatened by some criminals and he put on a mask to protect them and I partnered with him, since I was his family's mechanic at the time." Pat said.

"So, he'd already been a hero when the staff chose him?" Courtney asked and Pat nodded.

"After the staff chose Sylvester, he took up your grandfather's mantle of Starman and he also began working on building a new JSA." Pat said.

"Who else did he recruit?" Courtney asked.

"First he recruited another legacy, the original Hourman's son, who'd been named after him, Rex Tyler Jr. he also recruited the reincarnations of Hawkman and Hawkgirl, since as part of their powers, each time they die, they reincarnate, it's weird, even by our standards. Your father also recruited the other greatest heroes of the time. Dr. Charles McNider, aka, Dr. Midnite, Alan Scott, the Green Lantern, Jay Garrick, the Flash, Kent Nelson, Dr. Fate, Johnny Thunder and the Thunderbolt, Wesley Dodds, the Sandman, the Spectre, Liberty Belle, Black Condor, TNT, Blue Beetle and Wildcat, aka, Ted Grant." Pat said.

"Wait, Ted Grant was a member of the JSA?" Yolanda asked.

"Yeah, why?" Pat asked.

"He was my uncle and godfather." Yolanda said.

"Then I guess in a way, that makes you a legacy too. What did Wildcat do?" Courtney aside.

"He didn't have powers, but his suit had tech that basically gave him the same abilities as Yolanda." Pat said.

"Then I guess it's a good thing my powers allow me to take up his mantle, but where is his gear, since you had the staff?" Yolanda asked.

"I kept the staff with me since I promised Sylvester I would keep it safe. The rest of the JSA gear is stored at their old base in Civic City." Pat said.

"Well, maybe we should move it here, since this is the new JSA headquarters, so we should keep the gear here for any other new members we recruit." Courtney said, quickly falling into the role of team leader and Pat knew that she was just like her father in that regard and knew better than to argue with her, especially since he knew she was right.

Chapter Text

"So, who called this meeting?" Lawrence Crusher Crock, aka, Sportsmaster, aside as he and his wife Paula Brooks, aka, Tigress, walked into the meeting room of the headquarters of the Injustice Society of America to find their fellow members there waiting for them, including City Council member William Zarrick, aka, the Wizard, Blue Valley High school Principal, Anaya Bowin, aka the Fiddler 2.0, brain surgeon Dr. Henry King Sr., aka Brainwave, Dr. Shiro Ito, aka, Dragon King and the current acting CEO of Blue Valley's the American Dream, Stephen Sharpe, aka, the Gambler.

"I did." A new voice said and all members of the ISA turned to see their leader, Jordan Mahkent, aka, Icicle, walk into the room.

"Jordan, we thought you were still out traveling the country on your revenge spree?" Paula asked.

"Just saying Paula and I would've been more than happy to help you with that." Crusher said.

"I would've preferred you two do that than slaughtering my coaches every single time they don't treat your daughter like she's a goddess on the football field." Anya said.

"Hey, stop hiring bum coaches who bench our daughter when she's literally carrying the whole team and we won't have a problem." Paula said.

"Enough. Anaya's right. We can only make up so many cover stories before people start noticing a pattern that draws attention to you and by extension, the rest of us. So, this is your last warning. Shape up and play your parts or I will deal with you and you do not want me to deal with you." Jordan said.

"Understood, but you haven't answered my question yet?" Paula pointed out cautiously.

"No need to be nervous Paula, since it is a fair question. But what brings me back to Blue Valley earlier than anticipated is this." Jordan said as he tossed a copy of the Freeland Gazette onto the table and all his fellow ISA members looked shocked at the headline.

"Black Lightning returns." William said.

"The last surviving member of the Justice Society. It was a dangerous oversight to just assume that he died when he disappeared all those years ago and now we're going to pay for that mistake." Jordan said.

"Jordan, I don't see the need for concern? He's just one man." Stephen said, only to have Jordan glare at him.

"A man who's the last surviving member of the Justice Society. He presents a risk to our plans, especially if he's able to inspire a new JSA to take his comrades' place. It was a mistake to leave stone regarding the JSA unturned. A mistake we will now correct. I've contacted an associate in Freeland who wants Black Lightning dead even more than I do. He's more than happy to perform that service as long as we can provide him with resources to do it, which I've agreed to." Jordan said.

"Great, so what's with the urgency?" William asked.

"I'm not taking any chances. I'm accelerating our timetable. Dr. Ito, let me know what you need to complete your machine and I'll provide it. Henry, this means that you need to keep an especially low profile, since you're the key to pulling this off. I don't want you in any situations that could put you out of commission. Am I clear?" Jordan asked, since Henry had always been a bit of an enigma.

"Understood. Dr. Ito, has your daughter made any reports on my son? Has he shown any signs of having inherited my powers?" Henry asked Dragon King.

"Not that I know of, but unfortunately, Cynthia is a teenager and despite my best efforts, she still engages in the teenaged practice of keeping big secrets from her parents. Perhaps you can find something out, since no one can keep secrets from you." Ito said and Henry nodded.

"Jordan, if we're speeding up the plan, shouldn't we get a certain fast freak here to help, since no one's better at picking up the pace than him." Anaya asked.

"I've already reached out to him, no word back, though fortunately, this isn't a Shade situation. But just to be safe, Ito, if you wouldn't mind searching for him as well, I'd appreciate it since Anaya is right and he'll be useful in the end." Jordan said.

"I already have, since you're right, he could solve more than one problem with Project New America, though there are others. Mainly Superman. I am unsure if aliens will be affected like humans and even if they are, there is no guarantee that Superman will be affected. Before we can execute our plans, we must find a way to remove this problem." Ito said.

"I'm looking into that. There are plenty of geniuses who want to kill Superman, I'm sure we can find one to help us." Jordan said as the meeting continued.

Chapter Text

"Okay, this place is way cooler than the Sanctum." Jen said as she, her dad, Pat and Barbara entered the Citadel.

"Gemma." Pat said as the Citadel's AI appeared.

"How can I assist you Mr. Dugan?" Gemma asked.

"Wait, this place has an AI?" Jefferson asked and Barbara nodded.

"It does, but the only person here that Gemma actually likes is my daughter Courtney. She'll take commands from the rest of us, but Courtney's the only one she's actually programmed to obey. Much to my annoyance. I still don't know why Sylvester did that." Barbrara said.

"Where are Courtney and Yolanda?" Pat asked.

"Yolanda is currently in the gym working out while Courtney is in the meeting room going over JSA files. Particularly the ones regarding her father. And Mr. Pierce, I see you got my signal." Gemma said.

"Wait, you sent Jefferson the signal?" Pat asked, surprised.

"I was following my protocols. Starman programmed me that once his daughter claimed the staff to send out a signal to any JSA communicators that were still operational. I believe he set the protocol up to bring any surviving JSA members together to help teach the new generation." Gemma said.

"That actually does make sense." Pat said and Jefferson nodded.

"Was I the only JSA member you sent the signal to?" Jefferson asked.

"Only two Justice Society Communicators have been detected as still active. One of which was yours." Gemma said, surprising them both.

"Who was the other?" Pat asked.

"The other signal was sent to a communicator in Central City and belonged to Jay Garrick." Gemma said.

"Wait, Jay's alive? I thought that he died when the rest of the JSA did? I saw his helmet left behind." Pat said.

"Maybe he faked his death." Jefferson said.

"Maybe, but we'll need to go to Central City to find out. But that can wait till later." Pat said as Jefferson nodded as Pat led them to the meeting room where they saw Courtney sitting at a computer, looking at files about her father from the JSA archives.

"How did you access the JSA database in Civic City here?" Pat asked, since he could tell that the files she was looking at came straight from the JSA mainframe.

"The citadel has remote access to the computer system." Courtney said as she turned to see the strangers with her mom and stepdad.

"Uh, Pat, why did you bring two strangers into the Citadel?" Courtney asked.

"Courtney, this is Jefferson Pierce, aka, Black Lightning." Pat said.

"Wait, as in the only member of the JSA who wasn't killed by the ISA?" Courtney asked and Jefferson couldn't quite gauge her reaction to that, not that he could blame her, since he was alive but her father was dead.

"Court." Pat said.

"Relax, I'm not upset about that, if anything, I kind of wish dad had made the same choice as him, but I understand why he didn't." Courtney said and Jefferson sighed in relief.

"But who's this?" Courtney asked, referring to Jennifer.

"I'm Jennifer Pierce and we have something in common, seeing as both our fathers were members of the JSA." Jen said.

"Really. Can you do anything?" Courtney asked, very curious.

"Can I?" Jen asked her dad, who nodded.

"Just don't destroy anything, since we can't afford to repair it." Jefferson said and Jen grinned eagerly as she showed off her powers.

"Okay, why don't you join me in the training room. I want to see what you can do." Courtney said as she held out her hand and suddenly, the cosmic staff flew into it.

"I'm in." Jen said happily as she and Courtney ran out of the room.

"It's been awhile since I've seen Jen look that happy." Jefferson said.

"Well, she's around other people her age who are like her. I can't say I blame her. I just hope that they don't almost kill each other." Barbara said.

"The training room's been designed to be able to withstand almost anything, it should be able to contain them." Pat said.

"Still, why don't we keep an eye on that." Jefferson said and Pat and Barbara nodded as they headed towards the observation room next to the training room, where they found Yolanda already waiting for them.

"I take it you already met Jen?" Barbara asked Yolanda.

"Yeah, she seems great and honestly, I wanted a good seat to watch the fireworks." Yolanda said as they saw Courtney and Jen circling each other, Courtney with her staff and Jen with her hands glowing with power.

"And go." Yolanda called out as the two teenage girls began to hash it out, the two of them, blasting each other, though it became clear that Jen had the upper hand, since she had a lot more training with her powers than Courtney did with the staff, but Courtney quickly made up for it with ingenuity, since after Jen tried to blast her, Courtney somehow managed to use the staff to grab the energy she fired and used it to yank Jen across the room.

"Wow. She's a natural with that thing." Jefferson said, impressed.

"Yeah, I think this is all instinct with her, since I haven't really taught her how to use the staff yet and she still needs to learn to fight without it." Pat said and Jefferson nodded in agreement as they continued watching the fight.

"So, does your entire family have powers?" Courtney asked Jen after the fight and now they and Yolanda were hanging out in the Citadel's meeting room while the adults talked.

"My mom's a normal human and while my sister has the metahuman gene, she hasn't shown any powers yet." Jen said.

"You seem very smug about that." Yolanda said.

"It's something I have over my older sister." Jen said and Courtney chuckled.

"Still, it's too bad you have to go back to Freeland, I think you'd make a good fit here." Courtney said.

"Yeah, honestly, I've felt happier today than I have since before my powers showed up, since for the first time, I feel like I can be my true self to people my own age. Until now it's only been adults." Jen said.

"Sounds like you don't want to go back to Freeland." Yolanda said.

"Honestly, I love my family and my home, but it never felt right to me. I always felt like I was the outsider and no one in my family ever really understood me. They did their best." Jen said.

"Well, maybe you should stay then." Courtney said.

"What?" Jen asked.

"You just said you prefer being here than Freeland and honestly, rebuilding the JSA would be a lot easier with more legacies." Courtney said.

"And you're really the one leading it?" Jen asked, since she still couldn't believe that.

"Pat and I are co leading it, since he's got the most experience, but the more experience I get, I feel the more I'll become the leader." Courtney said.

"Makes sense. And I'm definitely interested. I can tell that Blue Valley is a much nicer place to live in, since it doesn't have quite as many problems as Freeland, but there's no way my dad would ever agree to that." Jen said.

"Except I already did." Jefferson said as he and Courtney's parents entered the room.

"What?" Jen asked.

"Jen, I saw how happy you were today. And Pat, Barbara and I were talking about how it would be better for you to be around people like us who are closer to your age and honestly, considering what's going on back home, it might be better for you to be here." Jefferson said.

"What's going on in Freeland?" Pat asked.

"Nothing, he just means that I'm seriously pissed at my older sister right now and getting some space from her is a good idea." Jen said and Jefferson nodded.

"Are you sure you're okay with this dad?" Jen asked.

"I want what's best for you Jen and it's clear that this is what's best. I saw you today. You looked more in control of your powers then I've ever seen you be. This is where you belong." Jefferson said.

"Does mom know about this?" Jen asked.

"I just got off the phone with her and she agreed that this is the best place for you, though there are some conditions." Jefferson said.

"I'm listening." Jen said.

"Number one, you have to call us every week just to be sure that you're safe, you have to come home every school vacation and school work has to come first." Jefferson said and was barely able to stop himself from being knocked over by the hug Jen gave him.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Jen said happily, since she felt like she'd finally found her people.

"Come on, we do need to get back to Freeland to pack up your stuff and so you can say your goodbyes." Jefferson said.

"And when you come back, we'll have a room waiting for you here, since we have plenty of it. We're already housing Yolanda." Barbara said.

"Thank you. I promise I'll be a good houseguest." Jen said.

"We know you will." Pat said as Jen looked at her new friends and teammates.

"Guess I'm here to stay. Once I get back." Jen said with a smile as both Courtney and Yolanda hugged her.

"Welcome to the JSA Jen." Courtney said.

"Call me Lightning." Jen said with a grin before she and her dad made their way out, though they knew that she'd be back soon.

Chapter Text

"So, we're taking in another girl?" Mike asked after his father and stepmother had explained Jennifer's situation to him.

"Her father's an old friend of mine and he asked us to take her in for the school year." Pat said.

"Okay, and does this have anything to do with what's going on downstairs?" Mike asked, since his dad had told him about the JSA and shown him the Citadel.

"Yes, she's Black Lightning's daughter and Courtney recruited her into the new JSA." Pat said.

"So you'll let a complete stranger join, but not your own son?" Mike asked, still annoyed that his dad wouldn't let him join the JSA.

"Jen has powers and she's already shown that she works well with Yolanda and Courtney. Mike, I get that you want to help, but you're too young to join and you don't exactly have anything to offer. Yet at least." Pat said.

"Well, if you'd teach me how to drive that robot you built, I would." Mike said.

"Not gonna happen." Pat said.

"Still, I can't help but feel incredibly outnumbered." Mike said.

"I know it's a lot of girls around here Mike, but you have to remember why we're taking them in." Pat said.

"I know, but still, it would be nice if we'd bring another guy in." Mike said.

"I'm sure that eventually we'll start recruiting some other boys, but even if we do, they won't be moving in. Barb and I have already agreed that Jen is the last one we're taking in." Pat said and Mike nodded.

"I still think I should be allowed to join the JSA." Mike asked.

"Talk to me again when you turn 15." Pat said, since while normally he'd make it 18, that didn't seem fair since Courtney was 15 right now.

"Fine." Mike complained, still very annoyed about that, right as one of the maids walked up.

"Excuse me, Mr. Dugan, but Ms. Pierce has arrived with her parents and you've been summoned to help get Ms. Pierce unpacked in the room she picked." the maid said.

"We'll be right there." Pat said.

"Actually, I'm gonna go take Buddy for a walk, since I think this can be considered JSA work and as you made it clear, I'm not a part of the JSA, so, bye." Mike said as he walked away, causing his father to roll his eyes at him before he went with the maid to the front door to find Jen and her parents bringing boxes into the house, with help from Courtney, Barb and Yolanda and some of the other house staff.

"Lynn. It's good to see you again." Pat said to Jefferson's ex-wife.

"You too. It's nice to know that Jefferson has a few old friends left." Lynn said as she put the box she was holding down to hug him.

"Yeah, speaking of Jeff, I hear that Black Lightning's been sighted in Freeland. I guess you lost that fight." Pat said, since he knew what Lynn felt about Jefferson's heroic alter ego.

"I'm willing to give Jeff a rare victory every now and again. Besides, after what happened last week, it's clear that Freeland needs Black Lightning more than I thought, since the 100 kidnapped our daughters. That's part of why I agreed to move Jen here." Lynn said and Pat nodded.

"Don't worry, I promise, I'll do everything I can to keep Jen safe." Pat said.

"Good. Because if you don't, well, Jeff won't be the parent you need to worry about. I'll make sure that you can't have any more kids." Lynn said and to her surprise, Pat just chuckled.

"That's nothing compared to what Barb has threatened me with if anything happens to Courtney or Yolanda for that matter." Pat asked.

"Fair enough." Lynn agreed.

"Anyways, what's the story with you and Jeff? Are you two still together?" Pat asked.

"It's complicated. I mean, the spark is still there, but I'm still having trouble accepting that there will always be three people in the relationship. Jeff, myself and Black Lightning, since honestly, sometimes it feels like he's a separate person." Lynn said.

"It must be weird. Though at least girls know. I'm just curious, does your older daughter have powers like Jen?" Pat asked.

"Let me get back to you on that." Lynn said as Jefferson walked up to him.

"Jeff." Pat said as they hugged.

"Hey Stripesy, make yourself useful and grab some boxes." Jefferson said as he placed a box in Pat's hands.

"Where are the girls?" Pat asked as Barbara joined them.

"Courtney and Yolanda are showing Jen the room we picked out for her." Barbara said.

"Yeah, Mike still isn't happy about having to live with 2 more teenage girls. He's feeling outnumbered. And it's already making him angrier about not letting him into the JSA." Pat said.

"At least you're able to keep one of your kids out of this life." Lynn said.

"I tried to keep Courtney out of it, but honestly, that was naive considering who her father and grandfather are. It's in her blood. Besides, I didn't do her any favors by lying to her about what happened to her dad." Barbara said.

"You did what you thought was best for her. You could've come up with a better excuse, but what's done is done. Now let's finish getting Jen's stuff unloaded into her room so she can unpack before school starts." Jefferson said.

"We also need to finish getting the forms filled out so that Pat and I can get her registered at school and be able to fill out parental forms for her." Barbara said and the other adults nodded as they got to work.

Meanwhile, Courtney, Yolanda and Jenn were taking a break from unpacking and were hanging out in Courtney's loft-like bedroom.

"I can't believe your mom let you turn your whole attic into your room." Jen said from where she sat in one of Courtney's super comfortable chairs while Courtney and Yolanda were stretched out on her bed.

"I thought it was a birthday present, but now that I think about it, I think it was really a don't ask about your dad present." Courtney said.

"Yeah, I still can't believe your mom lied to you about what happened to your dad. That's messed up." Jen said, since she knew what it was like to be lied to about something like this by family. Though she couldn't exactly tell Courtney anything about a reality that no longer existed or one that Jen was pretty sure Courtney hadn't existed in, since it seemed to be an unspoken rule not to tell anyone about the old world. Something Jen did agree with.

"Yeah, tell me about it. At least now I know why I'm gonna be loaded when I turn 18, since that's when I can inherit dad's fortune, since right now, mom still controls it." Courtney said.

"That's not stopping her from playing the guilt card though." Yolanda said with a smile and Jen couldn't help but note how obvious these two were crushing on each other.

"I'd be disappointed if she wasn't. But anyways, what's Blue Valley like?" Jen asked.

"Well, it's a small town, so not a whole lot happens, though from what I hear, it's better than Freeland, no offense." Courtney said.

"None taken. Trust me, I could not get out of that gang infested hell hole fast enough. I kinda wish my parents weren't making me go back there over the holidays." Jen said and Courtney smiled.

"We'll see how you feel about that in a month. After all, nothing exciting ever really happens here." Courtney said and Yolanda nodded in agreement.

"I don't know. I get the feeling that the staff wouldn't have chosen you while you're this young if it wasn't necessary." Jen said.

"I guess we'll see." Yolanda said, right as Barbara entered.

"Sorry to interrupt girls, but Jen, we were hoping you could help us set up your new room and you girls are helping." Barbara said.

"We're coming mom." Courtney said.

"Oh Yolanda, Jen's mom was wondering if she could take a sample of your blood." Barbara said and Yolanda immediately took a step back.

"Uh, why?" Yolanda asked, creeped out.

"Relax, my mom's a scientist who specializes in metahumans. She probably just wants a sample so she can figure out you got your powers." Jen explained, while making a note to tell her mom to not be so creepy and her explanation appeared to calm Yolanda down.

"Okay, sure, but Ms. Whitmore, couldn't you have phrased that better?" Yolanda asked.

"I'm sorry Yolanda, but anyways, come on." Barbara said as she led the girls back downstairs.

Chapter Text

At the same time Courtney Whitmore was working on rebuilding the Justice Society of America, she had no idea that there was another legacy living there in Blue Valley.

Rick Tyler, son of Hourman, was currently sitting in the kitchen of the home he shared with his mother Wendy, though he had no idea about the circumstances about his father's death, since like Courtney, he was not aware of his father or grandfather's actions with the JSA.

"Rick, can I talk to you for a second?" Wendi asked as she entered the kitchen.

"What's going on?" Rick asked.

"You remember your Aunt Esi?" Wendy asked.

"Dad's sister who we haven't seen since his funeral?" Rick asked.

"Well, she passed away, and so did her husband Chuck." Wendy said.

"So?" Rick asked.

"So, their daughter Mari is coming to live with us, since her sister Kuasa lives in your grandmother's ancestral home in Africa and we can't uproot either of them, so it makes the most sense for Mari to move here with us." Wendy said.

"Where does she live now?" Rick asked.

"Detroit." Wendy said.

"And she's upgrading to Blue Valley, good for her." Rick said.

"Enough Rick. Mari is family and I expect you to treat her as such. Maybe introduce her to your friends at school." Wendy said.

"So, we're not even going to discuss it first?" Rick asked.

"Rick." Wendy said.

"What, I'm sorry mom, but honestly, I wish that you'd taken my feelings into consideration before you just made the decision." Rick said.

"I didn't think I had to, since we're helping our family." Wendy said.

"I need to go. I'm gonna see if Courtney's parents can give me a lift to school." Rick said, deciding he didn't want to get into this with his mom and before she could respond, he was out the door and had his phone out.

Wendy sighed, right as her phone rang and she saw it was Courtney's mother.

"Barbara, what's going on?" Wendy asked, since they both knew the truth about the JSA.

"Fair warning, Courtney knows the truth about her father." Barbara said.

"What, I thought we agreed to keep our kids in the dark about that?" Wendy asked.

"We did, unfortunately the staff didn't agree to that." Barbara said.

"So it bonded to Courtney." Wendy said.

"Yeah and she's already started recruiting a new JSA under Pat's mentorship." Barbara said.

"Who?" Wendy asked.

"Well, there's Yolanda, who's the goddaughter and niece of Ted Grant and has metahuman powers that are exactly like the abilities Ted's suit gave him and Jefferson's daughter. By the way, Jefferson is still alive and active as Black Lightning and his daughter as an upgraded form of his powers. I think you should tell Rick and maybe even give him the hourglass." Barbara said.

"I don't know Barb." Wendy said.

"Trust me, it's better if Rick finds out from you, since Courtney's still freezing me out for keeping this from her." Barbara said.

"I guess I don't really have a choice, since Rick's cousin Mari is coming to stay with us and I'm almost positive as she has her grandmother's totem and she knows exactly what it is." Wendy said.

"Trust me, you need to do it on your own terms. If Rick finds out on his own, he'll just end up resenting you. I'm counting myself lucky that Courtney has stopped glaring at me." Barbara said.

"I suppose that finding out the truth about his father could actually help Rick, since he has been acting out a lot lately. He's been angry at the world for a while and now it's coming to a head." Wendy said.

"Courtney was the same way, except she was angry at a father who she thought abandoned her. She honestly seems happier now that she knows the truth. Though now she's been directing that anger at me for lying to her since she was four." Barbara said.

"Can you blame her? You not only lied to her about why her dad vanished, you never even let her properly grieve. At least I was able to tell Rick that his dad died, just not how." Wendy said.

"I did what I thought was best at the time." Barbara said.

"And now you have a daughter who hates you." Wendy pointed out.

"I never said it was the best decision, but what's done is done." Barbara said.

"I'll tell Rick when he gets back." Wendy said, knowing that Barb was right and she'd put off telling Rick the truth for too long.

"You should also give Rick the hourglass, since it's not fair if Courtney has her father's staff but Rick doesn't get the hourglass." Barbara said.

"I don't know. I don't think he's ready for that yet." Wendy said.

"What do you mean?" Barbara asked.

"I mean Rick's angry enough as it is without having super strength. I don't want to think about the kind of damage he'd do with it. After all, he did inherit his father's temper." Wendy said, since both Rex and his father had had violent tempers at times.

"But he also has his father's heart. I mean he's looked out for Courtney and Yolanda and Beth since the day they met." Barbara said.

"Yes, I remember being so happy when I got the call that he broke Henry King Jr.'s nose last year." Wendy said sarcastically.

"Hey, that kid deserved it, since he outed Yolanda against her will." Barbara reminded her.

"I'm not saying it wasn't justified, just that I wish he'd found a more productive way to deal with his anger, since honestly, I'm getting tired of getting calls about him." Wendy said.

"Then I think that the JSA will help him with that, since it will give him a more productive place to use his anger." Barbara said.

"Maybe." Wendy agreed, hoping that Barbara was right, though she remained firm in her decision that until Rick proved to her that he could control his temper, she was keeping the hourglass with her. Also, she'd need to direct Mari to this new JSA when she arrived in Blue Valley.

Chapter Text

Instead of leaving the house for her first day of the new school year, Cindy Burman found herself in the tunnel network that ran beneath the town, into her father, Dragon King's, lair.

"Shouldn't you be at school right now?" her father asked her without turning away from what he was working on.

"I would be if I actually cared about it. Seriously, why do you force me to spend time with those idiots? They're so dull and boring. I want a seat at the table." Cindy said.

"Then don't start complaining. You want a seat at the table, then you earn it by following orders and completing the task that was assigned to you." Dr. Ito said.

"Henry doesn't show any signs of powers. Believe me, if he did I would've told you since I'm sure that would be my ticket out of this cesspool." Cindy said.

"We cannot rule anything out. Continue to play your part or things will become very unpleasant for you." Dr. Ito said.

"Can I at least know what you're working on now?" Cindy asked, since it looked like her father was working on some kind of tracking program.

"None of your concern. Now get to school and do not come back down here again until you have an actual report to give." Dr. Ito said and Cindy took that as her cue before walking out.

"Well?" Dr. Ito asked as he turned to see Dr. King walk out of the shadows.

"She's telling the truth. So far she hasn't observed any sign of my son displaying my abilities." Dr. King said.

"Still, I'm uncertain how much longer we can rely on her. She's already growing impatient." Ito said.

"Well, there are ways to ensure her compliance." Dr. King said.

"That's a last resort. While I have no qualms about it, I feel like the side effects of you entering her head could draw attention." Ito said.

"Understood. But we must be prepared for the possibility that she will betray us. Especially when she finds out what we all think of her." Dr. King said.

"She just needs to keep thinking there's a spot on the ISA waiting for her once she completes her mission until Project New America is complete. After that, you can do whatever you want with her head." Dr. Ito said.

"Fair enough. But, how is your current task going?" Dr. King asked.

"Clariss is being particularly difficult to track down, not that it's surprising considering the man can move faster than sound, but he's not making it easy to find him. Though if the reports I'm getting from Central City are correct, he may show himself soon." Ito said.

"What's going on in Central City?" Henry asked.

"A new speedster has been spotted, one that is apparently following in the footsteps of our old foe the Flash. Even took his name. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before Clariss decides to challenge him and when he does, we need to be ready to bring him back into the fold." Ito said and Henry nodded.

"Sounds like him." Henry said.

"Go talk to Jordan, see if he can arrange a trip to Central City to keep an eye on things there, so that when Clariss shows up, he's in position to bring him in." Ito said.

"I'll run the idea by him, but remember, he's the one who calls the shots, not the other way around." Henry said.

"Of course." Dr. Ito said as Henry left him to his work.

At the same time this was happening, Pat Dugan was currently setting up the backroom of his machine shop, the Pit Stop, which was where he was doing some maintenance on his robot, which Courtney had affectionately dubbed STRIPE and Pat had to admit, he did like the sound of that.

However, he was distracted from his work when he heard the bell up front signaling that someone was at the front door and when he went up there, he was surprised to find Wendy Tyler, the wife of his deceased friend Rex Tyler, entering the shop.

"Wendy, what a surprise?" Pat said, since he knew that Wendy was friends with Barb, they hadn't interacted much since he and Mike had moved to Blue Valley.

"Hey Pat, sorry to drop by unannounced, but I was hoping that you could hold onto these for me." Wendy said as she handed Pat a box and he was surprised to find that it contained Rex's hourglass and suit.

"Why are you giving me this?" Pat asked.

"Because Barb told me that Courtney knows the truth and I've decided that when Rick gets home from school today, he's going to be your next recruit, but I want you to hold on to his father's stuff, just because I don't think he's ready for the hourglass yet." Wendy said.

"Really?" Pat asked, though didn't necessarily disagree.

"He has a father's temper and until he learns to control it, I don't think it's a good idea for him to have access to superstrength, even if it does last for only an hour." Wendy said.

"Maybe you could give Rick some of Rex's old journals. It might help him connect more to his father." Pat said.

"Not a bad idea." Wendy said.

"Maybe I could also help Rick fix up Rex's car?" Pat asked, since unlike the rest of the JSA, Rex had died in a car crash a few years after the attack, though Pat was pretty sure that the ISA had something to do with Rex's death, but Rex had left Rick his car and Rick had been focused on repairing the car ever since.

"I'd appreciate it." Wendy said, knowing how much that car meant to Rick.

"Great. Why don't you and Rick come by for dinner tonight and we can explain everything then. Especially since we have another houseguest." Pat said.

"Who?" Wendy asked.

"Jefferson's daughter Jen. She has the same powers as him, though maybe a bit more advanced. She's starting school with the rest of the kids today and I'm sure that Courtney and Yolanda will make sure that she fits into the rest of their group, though that shouldn't be a problem since Beth is friendly to everyone and Rick will go along with the rest of them. I think that he and Jen will get along pretty well." Pat said.

"Maybe she'll help Rick finally work up the guts to ask Beth out." Wendy said and Pat chuckled.

"Barb and I have heard all of Courtney's complaints about that topic." Pat said as they continued talking.

Chapter Text

"So, this is Blue Valley High?" Jen asked as she, Courtney and Yolanda entered the high school and Jen was still getting used to the idea that she didn't need to wear a uniform to school like she had at Garfield.

"Yep. Welcome to hell." Yolanda said, since she was still holding onto last year.

"Yolanda." Courtney warned.

"Relax Courtney, isn't hell just another name for every school in the world?" Jen asked with a smile, though she was honestly wondering when these two would hook up, since they clearly needed to already, considering how Courtney seemed to be the only one who could truly express any amount of control over Yolanda's temper.

"True and I'll admit that Blue Valley High is probably one of the worst examples of that." Courtney said, since she'd been out and proud since middle school and she was well aware of what most of her peers thought about that.

"I think you'd get along well with my sister Courtney. You're not letting the way other people think stop you from being out." Jen said and then Courtney noticed the look Yolanda was giving Jen.

"It helps that I came out on my own terms. Which reminds me, between the staff and your powers, we need to make Henry King Jr's life miserable for outing Yolanda." Courtney said.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Jen said eagerly, since she was so happy to finally have people her own age with powers to hang out with.

They were prevented from talking about this anymore when they heard a very excited girl's voice call out Courtney and Yolanda's names.

"Beth." Courtney said with a smile as a short and very peppy black girl ran up to them.

"Hey girls, how was your summer?" Beth asked.

"Making me wish I was still in Midvale." Yolanda said.

"Yeah, she's been like this ever since we got back." Courtney said and Beth sighed, though she understood Yolanda's pain.

"Aren't you going to introduce me?" Jen asked.

"Right, sorry. Jen, this is one of my best friends, Beth Chapel. Beth, this is Jennifer Pierce, her dad is friends with my step dad and she's staying with me for the foreseeable future." Courtney said.

"Nice to meet you Jennifer." Beth said as she held out her hand, which Jenn shook.

"Call me Jenn, only people who call me Jennifer are people who are related to me." Jenn said.

"Got it. But anyways, have you girls seen this news yet?" Beth asked as she pulled out her phone and showed them an article on Catco Worldwide Media's website.

"Supergirl?" Jen asked.

"Apparently she's Superman's cousin. She's got all of the same powers as him and she's protecting National City. She did a whole interview with Cat Grant herself." Beth said.

"Wow, it sounds like girls are finally getting into the superhero game." Jen said, since from what she knew about the JSA, most of its members had been men. Luckily it seemed like this version would be the opposite, since so far it was all girls, no boys.

"Yeah." Courtney said with a grin.

"And it's not just in National City. New superheroes are popping up all over the country." Beth said eagerly.

"Really?" Jen asked, curious about that.

"Yeah, check out this article from the Central City Citizen." Beth said as she showed them an article about the Flash.

"The scarlet speedster who calls himself the Flash." Courtney said, thinking that she needs to show this article to Pat immediately, since someone else taking up his friend's mantle was something he'd want to investigate.

"Hey Beth, can you do me a favor and send me the link to that article?" Courtney asked and Beth nodded.

"Yeah sure. Do you want me to send you the Supergirl article too?" Beth asked.

"Please. I can't shake the feeling that she looks familiar, but I don't know why." Courtney said.

"I'm sure she just has one of those faces, since I doubt that you actually know Supergirl." Yolanda said.

"Maybe." Courtney said, but she didn't think that was it.

"Uh, Courtney, maybe you should get Yolanda to class now." Beth said as she saw certain people coming their way and when Courtney saw who, she immediately nodded.

"Yeah, can you show Jen around?" Courtney said quickly and Beth nodded, both of them trying to get Yolanda out of there before those people arrived.

"What are you doing?" Yolanda asked, knowing that Courtney was clearly trying to distract her from something, though her thoughts quickly turned to rage when she heard a familiar voice call her name.

"Yolanda." Cindy Burman said as she and Henry King Jr. approached them.

"Yolanda, let's go. Don't start something that could get you arrested." Courtney said, since she knew how much Yolanda wanted to slash Cindy with her claws.

"I'm sensing some tension here." Jen asked Beth.

"Cindy is Yolanda's archenemy here and the school's resident mean girl and her boyfriend Henry King Jr, who's actually Yolanda's ex best friend, until he destroyed his friendship with her by outing her to the entire school right as she was giving her acceptance speech for class president. Kind of the reason she's living with the Whitmore's now." Beth explained.

"So typical butch and bitch. Got it. Should we help Courtney break this up?" Jen asked.

"Definitely. I thought that the summer with Courtney in Midvale might've helped her calm down, but the look in Yolanda's eyes, she's gonna snap if this situation isn't diffused." Beth said.

Luckily, Courtney took control of the situation.

"So Henry, how's that healing up?" Courtney asked.

"Mind telling me what that's about?" Jen asked.

"The first thing Courtney did after Henry outed Yolanda was break his nose." Beth explained and Jen grinned. She and Courtney were definitely going to get along well.

"Just fine, no thanks to you." Henry said.

"You're lucky that's the body part I aimed for after what you did to Yolanda. If I'd aimed lower, I highly doubt this bitch would be paying any attention to you right now." Courtney said and while Yolanda and Beth chuckled, Jen was surprised that no one else was watching.

"So, I'm guessing this is a common occurrence?" Jen asked Beth, who nodded.

"Courtney and Cindy have hated each other for years. They're complete opposites, the only thing they have in common is that they both come from money and even then, Courtney's richer." Beth said.

"Watch it, Whitmore." Cindy said.

"Why don't you try that on someone who's actually scared of you Burman, since in case you've forgotten, I'm not." Courtney reminded her, right as a new party joined them.

"Is there a problem here, or do you and I need to have another talk Henry?" Rick asked him as he joined the group.

"You think I'm scared of you Tyler?" Henry asked.

"Considering what happened the last time we spoke, yeah, I do. Now beat it before I finish what I started." Rick said as Cindy and Henry decided to leave with dignity.

"Nice timing. I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep Yolanda from killing them." Courtney said to Rick.

"No problem. Now we should get to class." Rick said and Courtney nodded, though she did make a quick introduction between Rick and Jen before they headed to class.

Chapter Text

Pat was surprised when he got an email from Courtney with a link to a website for a newspaper in Central City, though when he clicked on the link, he immediately saw why, since the headline of the article, which read THE FLASH RISES.

"What the?" Pat asked as he read the article and it sounded like a new speedster had shown up in Central City and he was even going by Jay's old moniker and was even using a similar color scheme. He couldn't help but wonder if there was a connection between him and his old friend.

Which was why he was glad that he'd been at the house so he could head straight down to the Citadel, since he had to know what was going on as he approached the main computer hub in the Citadel and booted up its AI.

"Gemma." Pat said.

"Hello Pat Dugan, how can I assist you?" Gemma asked as Pat rolled his eyes, since Courtney was the only one who had full access to Gemma, everyone else only had guest access that she had to approve, though Courtney had given him as close to full access as she could get, which basically just meant that while Gemma gave Pat all the same luxuries as Courtney, but he couldn't block her access from any files and Gemma wasn't quite as respectful to him as she was to Courtney.

"I need you to run a scan of the Central City for any traces of the speed force?" Pat asked, since while he didn't know much about Jay's powers, from what Jay had explained to him, the speed force was a source of energy that could be tracked with the right technology. Kind of like a radioactive signature.

"Would you like me to scan for Jay Garrick's specific speed force signature?" Gemma asked.

"Yes, but also look for any others." Pat said.

"Right away." Gemma said and a few minutes later she pulled up a map with three dots marked on it, all of them in Central City. Each one of them looked different. One was a bright yellow, one was dark yellow, almost gold and the last one was silver.

"Three signatures?" Pat asked in shock.

"Yes and one of is consistent with the speed force signature of Mr. Jay Garrick." Gemma said.

"Can you access his JSA comm like you did Jefferson's?" Pat asked.

"Attempting now." Gemma said as she began trying to access Jay's comm.

"Communicator accessed and now online." Gemma said.

"Send him a message with the citadel's coordinates and tell him the message is from Stripesy." Pat said.

"Done." Gemma said as the message was sent.

Literally two minutes later, Pat heard a sound he never thought he'd hear again as he turned to see Jay Garrick standing in front of him in the Citadel.

"Pat." Jay said.

"Jay." Pat said as he hugged his old friend.

"Actually, my name is Henry." Jay said.

"Wait, what?" Pat asked.

"Jay Garrick is a false identity I created to help protect my family, since my helmet didn't exactly provide the best in identity concealment. My real name is Henry Allen." Henry said.

"Honestly, I'm just glad to know you're alive to care about what your name is." Pat said truthfully as they hugged again.

"So am I. I'm sorry I never reached out to you to let you know I was alive, but honestly, until recently, I was trying to put that life behind me. Especially since I was in a pretty rough place after the attack." Henry said.

"What happened?" Pat asked.

"Well, while I survived, it was not unscathed, since something that happened to me during the battle caused me to lose my speed. Then a few months later, my wife Nora was killed by another speedster and I was nearly arrested for her murder. Thank god there was enough proof at the crime scene and the world has enough experience with the extraordinary to prove my innocence. After that, I decided that I was done with my life. Or at least I was until I discovered that my children had inherited my speed." Henry said.

"I'm guessing one of those kids is the one who's running around Central City with your name?" Pat asked and Henry nodded.

"My son Barry. He's a chip off the block, though I think he might be faster than I ever was. His connection to the speed force is stronger than any other speedster I've ever heard of. He got his powers when he was 14 and he was a natural." Henry said.

"And what about your other kids?" Pat asked.

"One other kid. My daughter Chloe, who I had with my second wife Tina. Chloe's 15 now and her powers only surfaced a few years ago. She's still learning to use her powers." Henry said.

"Sounds like Chloe's the same age as the rest of the new era of the JSA." Pat said.

"Wait, what?" Henry asked.

"It turns out that Blue Valley is full of legacies. My stepdaughter Courtney is Sylvester's daughter and she has his staff, Ted's niece and goddaughter Yolanda has powers that are exactly like the abilities Ted's suit gave him, and Jefferson sent his daughter Jen here and she has an upgraded version of his powers. Also, Rex's son is in Blue Valley and his mother gave me the hourglass, though Rick doesn't know about the JSA yet, but he will." Pat said.

"Think you'd mind adding one more?" Henry asked.

"Meaning?" Pat asked, since he assumed that Henry wasn't talking about himself.

"Tina and I have been talking about moving Chloe out of Central City, since the guy who killed Barry's mom is back and while Barry can handle it, especially since he has his own team set up back in Central City, but honestly, Chloe has always had a bit of an inferiority complex to her brother and it's causing her to make mistakes. I think that Chloe would be able to better master her powers away from her brother, where she's not quite in his shadow anymore." Henry said.

"Huh, that's not a bad idea and we both know it could never hurt to have a speedster on the team." Pat said and Henry smiled.

"I think I might even give Chloe Eliza's name." Henry said.

"Silver Bolt? You sure about that?" Pat asked, since Eliza Harmon, aka Silver Bolt, had been Henry's sidekick back in the day before she'd been killed by Henry's enemy the Rival.

"Yeah, I am. I think that Eliza would be honored to have Chloe take up her mantle. Besides, Barry's already the Flash and I don't think Chloe would want to share that title with him." Henry said and Pat nodded as they continued talking.

Chapter Text

After school that day, Yolanda decided to pull Courtney aside, since she knew that if it weren't for her, she likely would've gutted both Henry and Cindy by now, since she hadn't forgotten how much those two had done to ruin her life. It was because of Henry that her own parents wouldn't even acknowledge she existed anymore. Not that Yolanda was overly upset about that, since it meant that she was free of the honestly toxic influence her parents, especially her mom, had had on her life, but that didn't mean she appreciated being outed before she was ready.

"Yolanda, what's going on?" Courtney asked, though she had to admit, she had no complaints about being along with Yolanda like this, since Courtney had long accepted her not so small crush on Yolanda a long time ago and while she was angry that Yolanda had been outed before she was ready, she was happy that it meant that she had a real shot with her now. Though Courtney was not going to rush it. She was gonna let Yolanda make the first move. Or at least wait until she was more comfortable with her sexuality before she made any moves.

"Honestly, I just wanted to thank you." Yolanda said.

"For what?" Courtney asked.

"For not punching Henry again today and for punching him the day he outed me. For letting me move in with your family after mine disowned me, for letting me spend the summer with you at your aunt's house, really, just for being there for me every step of the way. I honestly don't think I would've been able to work through all of this without you in my corner." Yolanda said.

"Yeah you would've. Yolanda, you've always been one of the strongest people I know and honestly, you know how I feel about your parents, since they never approved of us hanging out after I came out." Courtney said.

"Trust me, I remember. Why do you think I spent so much time around Henry? It was so that my mom wouldn't question it. I hated having to sneak around to hang out with you, but you know how my mom felt." Yolanda said.

"Yes, she was afraid that I'd lure her perfect Catholic daughter away to a life of sin. I guess in a way she was right." Courtney said and Yolanda slapped her.

"Don't say that. I hate my mom, I don't want to think that she was right. Especially about this." Yolanda said and Courtney chuckled.

"Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood." Courtney said.

"Well next time, insult my parents, don't joke about them. Especially about them being right." Yolanda said.

"Right, sorry." Courtney said.

"It's fine. But honestly, I have to admit, while I'm still pissed at Henry, maybe he did me a favor." Yolanda admitted.

"What do you mean?" Courtney asked.

"If he hadn't done what he did, I'd still be living a sad, miserable, closeted life with my parents with my mom micromanaging my life. Now though, I'm free from them. I don't have to deal with their toxic influence in my life anymore." Yolanda said and Courtney smiled.

"I'm glad to hear that. But you're not letting Henry off the hook anytime soon are you?" Courtney asked.

"Oh hell no. Even if I appreciate what he did, he still did it just to hurt me because he was mad that I was only dating him to keep my parents off my back." Yolanda said.

"Remind me again why you did that?" Courtney asked.

"I was hoping that it would get my mom to stop finding boys to pair me up with and also give me some breathing room. Henry and I were friends at the time and I thought I could trust him, since he already knew about my sexuality and had been supportive. But I guess that he got mad that I kept stringing him along and he wasn't getting anywhere." Yolanda said.

"Did he ever?" Courtney asked, trying not to ask it.

"No. He never tried to force me to do anything, but he did try to encourage me to at least consider it. He didn't even consider that it would make one of us happy, since even if I had given him what he wanted, I never would've enjoyed it and excuse me for wanting my first time to be an experience that both my partner and I would enjoy." Yolanda said.

"I get it. Though I have to warn you, there's a very good chance that you won't have your first time until you go to college, since there aren't a whole lot of girls in Blue Valley that are even interested in experimenting, let alone playing for our team." Courtney said.

"I can wait." Yolanda said, even though she could feel how fast her heart was beating as she discussed this particular topic with Courtney, since she couldn't deny that she'd thought about her first time being with her, not that she'd ever say that, since while the summer with Courtney had helped, she wasn't sure if Courtney truly felt that way about her and even so, she wasn't sure if she was ready for a relationship with another girl yet. Though she couldn't deny that the idea of her and Courtney was appealing. Maybe some day.

Chapter Text

That night, the Whitmore-Dugans had Rick and his mom over for dinner, since tonight they were going to tell Rick the truth about his father and grandfather. Courtney was already in a good mood, since in addition to the talk she'd had with Yolanda earlier today, when she'd got home from school today, Pat told her that another member of the JSA was still alive, Jay Garrick, aka, the Flash, though his real name was actually Henry Allen and apparently he was considering moving himself, his wife and most significantly, his daughter Chloe, who'd inherited his powers and who would likely be joining the JSA's ranks. Something that made Courtney very happy, since building a new JSA was proving to be easier than she'd thought it would be, since she was their new Starman and they also had a new Wildcat and a new Black Lightning and by she was hoping that by the end of tonight, they'd have a new Hourman and soon they'd have a new Flash too. Things were looking up.

Anyways, after they ate, Courtney decided that the best way to tell Rick the truth was just to show him the Citadel, since this was a case where seeing was truly believing.

"What is this room?" Rick asked, since he'd never seen it in any of the times he'd come over to Courtney's house before.

"It was my dad's office before he died." Courtney said.

"Wait, I thought you said that your dad walked out on you guys." Rick asked.

"That's because until recently, I thought that was the case." Courtney said, glaring at her mom, making it clear that she wasn't off the hook by a long shot yet.

"What is going on?" Rick asked.

"Hopefully things will make sense in a minute. But I doubt it." Courtney said as she placed her hand on the picture of her and her dad that triggered the hidden elevator.

"Wait, you have a secret elevator in your house?" Rick asked.

"Trust me Rick, that's the least surprising thing about this place. But do you trust me?" Courtney asked.

"I'm not sure." Rick said and while normally Courtney would be offended by that, but under the circumstances, she could understand why.

"I promise, we'll explain everything once we get down there." Courtney said as she, Rick, their parents, Yolanda and Jen got in the elevator and headed down to the Citadel.

"So you're telling me that both my father and my grandfather were members of this Justice Society of America that was originally founded as a secret black ops unit for Allies during World War 2?" Rick asked.

"We have that in common, since my dad and grandfather were in the same boat. My grandfather invented a weapon called the cosmic staff, which he used to fight alongside both of your grandparents during World War 2 as members of the first Justice Society of America where they helped turn the tide of the war to the Allies' favor." Courtney said.

"How come no one knows about that?" Rick asked.

"Because that version of the JSA was a secret unit that technically didn't exist. Other members of that JSA were Commander Steel, Hawkman, Hawkgirl and the Black Canary. Your grandparents were Hourman and Vixen while Courtney's grandfather was the first Starman." Pat said.

"After the war, the JSA went their separate ways, though eventually the second generation was built by several other heroes during that time, including your father, Rex Tyler, who was the second Hourman, Yolanda's uncle and godfather, Ted Grant, the first Wildcat, Jen's father, Jefferson Pierce, who's also Black LIghtning, and Courtney's father, Sylvester Pemberton, the second Starman. Other members of that JSA were the Flash, Dr. Fate, Johnny Thunder and the Thunderbolt, Sandman, Green Lantern and Dr. Midnite." Pat said.

"What happened to them?" Rick asked.

"Most of them died in an attack by their archenemies, the Injustice Society of America and I know, Courtney already told me how lame that name is and I do kind of agree." Pat said.

"Did dad die in that?" Rick asked.

"No, your father was one of the only survivors." Wendy said.

"My dad died that night though. That kind of ruined Christmas, since until now, I thought Christmas was the day my dad walked out on me, not the day he died." Courtney said.

"I'm sorry." Rick said.

"It's okay, but from what we can guess, it sounds like the ISA had something to do with your dad's death too, we just don't know how. But that's why I'm building a new JSA. To get justice for my dad and all the members of the JSA that the ISA killed." Courtney said.

"How's that going?" Rick asked.

"I've already recruited two people." Courtney said.

"I'm gonna be the new Wildcat." Yolanda said as she showed Rick her claws.

"And you have powers?" Rick asked.

"Yeah don't ask." Yolanda said.

"And I inherited powers from my dad, though I'm going by the name Lightning." Jen said as she showed him her powers.

"And I want in." Rick said and Courtney grinned.

"I was hoping you'd say that." Courtney said.

"And you'll get another member since Rick's cousin Mari is coming to stay with us and she has her grandmother's totem, which gives her the ability to call on the spirits of any creature in the animal kingdom and gives her their abilities." Wendy said.

"Sounds great." Courtney said.

"How did dad get the name Hourman?" Rick asked.

"Because of the hourglass his father invented. It gave the user superstrength for one hour a day, since they learned the hard way that if the power is not limited, things can get ugly." Wendy said, since she'd seen the toll the hourglass had taken on her husband when he'd been dumb enough to remove the limiter from it.

"And you're not getting the hourglass yet." Pat said.

"Why not?" Rick asked.

"Because you need to learn to control your temper and your anger. Until you do, I don't think that giving you the hourglass is a good idea." Wnedy said.

"What's the point of being Hourman if I don't have the hourglass?" Rick asked.

"Your dad didn't rely on the hourglass to be a hero. Just like how mine didn't just rely on the staff. They're tools, but we can't depend on them. That's why in addition to learning how to use the staff, I'm also learning to fight without it, just like how both Yolanda and Jen are learning to fight without their powers." Courtney said and Pat nodded.

"But at least you can use the staff." Rick pointed out.

"Rick, this is a call that's out of my hands. It's your mom's call." Courtney said.

Chapter Text

Rick was not exactly in a good mood right now as he and his mom waited for a cab to pull up to their house, since that cab would have his cousin Mari in it and he wasn't thrilled about it, since while he wasn't allowed to use his father's hourglass yet, she had given their grandmother's totem, which meant that she already had access to their family's powers, while he was being forced to wait.

"Rick, cheer up. Remember, your cousin is going through a tough time and I expect you to be nice and polite to her." Wendy scolded her son.

"I can't help it mom. Mari gets her family's super artifact, but I don't get ours." Rick complained.

"Mari's spent her whole life being prepared for the totem, while you have made nothing but bad decisions lately. I told you, once you show me you can control your temper and make good decisions, then we'll talk about the hourglass. I don't want you to end up doing something that you'll end up regretting later." Wendy said and before Rick could retort, the cab pulled up and a black girl who looked around Rick's age got out of the car.

"Mari." Wendy said as she went to greet her niece, half dragging Rick with her.

"Hi Aunt Wendy. Thank you for letting me stay with you." Mari said politely and Rick noticed the golden necklace around her neck.

"It was my pleasure. I'm not sure if you remember, but this is my son, your cousin Rick." Wendy said.

"It's good to see you again Rick." Mari said politely.

"Yeah, you too." Rick said half heartedly as Wendy went to get Mari's bags out of the cab's trunk.

"Rick." Wendy said warningly.

"Nice necklace." Rick noted.

"Thanks, it was all my mom left me after she died." Mari said and Rick nodded as he noticed the book Mari was holding.

"What's that you're holding?" Rick asked.

"It's my design book. I'm hoping to get into fashion design someday." Mari said.

"Well, I'm sure your designs are great, but why don't we go get you set up in your new room and then I was thinking that Rick could go introduce you to his friends, since I think that you'll really hit it off with them." Wendy said.

"Yeah, because they all have superpowers like she does." Rick said bluntly.

"I'm sorry, what?" Mari asked, her hand subconsciously going for her necklace.

"What Rick means to say is that his friends have started up a new Justice Society of America, which as you know, your grandparents and uncle were part of." Wendy said and Mari nodded, since she'd grown up hearing stories about that.

"Yeah, I always asked mom why she never joined the JSA like Uncle Rex did, but she never gave me an answer. But it sounds like I won't have to keep my totem a secret from them." Mari said.

"No. In fact, Courtney was overjoyed when my mom told her about you moving in with us." Rick said.

"Rick, go to your room." Wendy said, getting fed up with Rick's attitude and she was beginning to think that maybe letting her son join this team was a bad idea, since it wasn't having the impression on him that she'd hoped it would.

"What was that about?" Mari asked as she watched her cousin storm upstairs

"Rick inherited his father's temper and he's not very good at controlling it. He's already mad that I won't give him his father's hourglass, so finding out that you got your grandmother's totem, it's not sitting well with him." Wendy said.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause any problems." Mari said.

"Don't worry, you're not. Mari, we are more than happy to have you here, you didn't do anything wrong. Rick just is not handling things well." Wendy was quick to assure her niece.

"I'm also sorry that we lost touch after Uncle Rex died." Mari said.

"Thank you Mari." Wendy said, hoping that Mari's good influence would rub off on Rick, since she was growing tired of his attitude.

"So, can I see my room?" Mari asked and Wendy nodded as she led Mari upstairs.

At the same time this was happening, Courtney decided to talk to Pat about something she'd been thinking about ever since they'd told Rick about their secret.

"Hey Pat, can we talk?" Courtney asked.

"Yeah, what's going on?" Pat asked.

"I want to tell Beth about the JSA. It's not fair to her that she's the only member of our friend group who doesn't know. Besides, she's one of the smartest people I know, she's going to figure it out eventually. Plus, this JSA already has plenty of brawn between me, Yolanda, Jen, Rick, once he earns the hourglass of course, and Rick's cousin Mari, since it sounds like she'll want to join to, plus your big robot, but I think that we could use some more brainpower. Not to mention Beth is obsessed with superheroes, so she'd understand the necessity of keeping this secret." Courtney said.

"Maybe." Pat said, right as they heard a knock on the door, since they'd been talking near the front door.

"I'll get it." Courtney said before any of their staff could and she was very surprised at what she saw on the other side.

"Beth, what brings you here?" Courtney asked, though she was pretty sure she knew.

"I think we need to talk." Beth said, since there was an owl on her shoulder and she was wearing a pair of weird goggles on her forehead.

"Come on in." Courtney said, knowing that the decision had just been taken out of their hands.

Chapter Text

"Wait, so your father was Starman?" Beth asked as she, Courtney and Pat took the elevator down to the Citadel while Courtney brought Beth up to speed.

"Yeah. Turns out the man I thought was a deadbeat was actually one of the bravest men on the planet and my mom is still in the doghouse for lying to me about that. And Yolanda's uncle was Wildcat, Rick's father was Hourman and Jen's dad is Black Lightning." Courtney said.

"So I'm the only member of our friend group that doesn't have a superhero relative?" Beth asked, feeling left out.

"Trust me, it's not as glamorous as you think." Courtney said as the elevator opened to reveal Yolanda, Rick, Jen and Mari all waiting for them in the Citadel.

"Who's the new girl?" was the first thing Beth asked.

"This is Rick's cousin Mari McCabe, since it turns out that both of Rick's grandparents were superheroes. His grandfather was the first Hourman and his grandmother was the first Vixen." Courtney said.

"I've heard of Hourman, since I followed the old JSA's adventures in the comic books and news reports, but I've never heard of Vixen?" Beth asked, since Amaya's actions with the rest of the original JSA were classified by the US government and Mari's mother Esi had never made the headlines as the second Vixen like her brother Rex had.

"Vixen was a hero from the original JSA back in World War 2, since that's when the JSA was originally founded." Pat said.

"Really?" Beth asked.

"Yeah. The original JSA was created as a top secret response division of the US military during World War 2 that helped turn the tide of the war in the Allies' favor. It was made up of some of the world's first metahumans and other powered individuals. Including both of Rick's grandparents, Rex Tyler Sr, the first Hourman and Amaya Tyler, the first Vixen and my grandfather on my mom's side, Ted Knight, the first Starman." Courtney said.

"What are your powers?" Beth asked Mari curiously and Mari smiled as she showed Beth her necklace.

"This necklace has been passed down through my family for generations and it's actually a totem. One of six. This is one of the legendary six totems of the tribes of Zambezi, specifically the Anansi or spirit totem. It allows me to access the ashe or spirit of any creature in Earth's animal kingdom and take on their attributes from the strength of a gorilla or the speed of a cheetah or the flight of an eagle to name a few." Mari said.

"Cool. What are the other totems?" Beth asked curiously.

"They've all been lost to time, but they're fire, water, earth, air and death. Each one gives the user the ability to harness that particular element of nature as a means of helping the tribes defend themselves from danger." Mari said.

"Anyways, based on the goggles Beth is wearing and the owl on her shoulder, I guess that means she's joining our little club." Yolanda said.

"Yeah, it was weird, I went into my room earlier tonight and found this owl sitting on my bed with these goggles in front of him and they have a man's voice in them." Beth said.

"Must be an AI version of Dr. McNider." Pat said.

"Who?" Beth asked.

"Dr. Charles McNider, aka, Dr. Midnite. It sounds like his sidekick, that owl Hootie, has decided to choose you to be the new Dr. Midnite just like how my dad's staff chose me to be Stargirl." Courtney said, since that was the name she'd chosen for her superhero alter ego, since Stargirl was the nickname that her father had given her when she was a little girl.

"Wait, so you didn't just get the staff because you're his daughter?" Beth asked.

"No. You have to be chosen by the staff and bloodline doesn't guarantee that you're chosen, since if it did, my mom would've been chosen before me, since her dad is the one who made the staff." Courtney said and Beth nodded in understanding.

"I inherited my powers from my dad, though I'm an upgrade compared to him, since he needs to charge himself up in order to maintain his powers while I actually generate energy." Jen explained.

"I'm still not sure how I got my powers." Yolanda said.

"Rick?" Beth asked the only boy on the team.

"My grandfather invented an hourglass that gives the user super strength for one hour a day that only members of my family can use, but Pat and my mom won't give it to me." Rick said.

"Why not?" Beth asked curiously.

"Rick's temper." was all Courtney would say in response and Beth nodded.

"So, can I join?" Beth asked.

"Since Hootie picked you, yes. Though Beth, you do know that this has to be kept secret right? You can't tell anyone, not even your parents." Courtney said.

"You know I don't keep secrets from my parents." Beth said.

"Beth, it's to protect them." Courtney assured her.

"Okay, so what now?" Beth asked.

"Now we start teaching you how to fight, since you can't just have brains." Courtney said and Beth nodded and as Hootie flew off her shoulder.

Chapter Text

"Chloe, are you almost done setting up your room, since our guests will be here soon." Henry asked his daughter as they finished getting settled into their new house in Blue Valley. Normally moving in would take a lot longer than a few days, but Henry and Chloe had used their speed to get them all moved in, though that was mainly because Chloe had won the race between herself and her father from Central City to Blue Valley, so they used their speed to get the house set up, though Chloe was not satisfied and she kept using her speed to rearrange her room in different ways.

"Almost." Chloe said as she finally finished setting up her room, ending by placing a photo of herself, her parents and her brother from before Barry was put in coma down on her bedside table next to a photo of her and Barry at the beach from when they were kids, in fact, it was taken while they were on a family vacation right before Barry's speed had emerged. Despite Chloe's love of music, the only instrument she had in her room was her prized acoustic guitar, which she'd gotten signed by one of her favorite musicians, Taylor Swift, back when she and her mom went to a concert in Tennessee for her 14th birthday. It was one of her most prized possessions. The rest of her music stuff was in the basement, which her father had soundproofed and turned into a music room with a built-in recording booth. The perks of super speed.

The only other musical item in her room was Chloe's song book. Chloe also had her own chemistry set, since even though she had no interest in science like the rest of her family, she couldn't live in a family of scientists without being great at it. Even without her speedster brain, she was a straight A student and one of the smartest people in this town, though she preferred to put her genius to use working on her music, not science, which her parents were fine with.

Anyways, after Chloe finished setting up her room, she headed downstairs to find her father opening the door to let Pat Dugan and his family in, along with the two other girls that she knew were staying with Pat's family since they were also members of the new JSA and Chloe was planning on joining them as well.

"Pat, everyone, meet my daughter Chloe. Chloe, this is my old friend Pat Dugan, his wife Barbara, his son Mike and his stepdaughter Courtney, along with her friends and your future teammates, Yolanda Montez and Jennifer Pierce." Henry said, making the introductions.

"Nice to meet you all." Chloe said with a smile, though she couldn't deny that her eyes did focus on Jennifer longer than everyone else. She didn't know why, but there was something electric about her.

"Can we see what you can do?" Mike asked before anyone could stop him.

"Mike." Pat said, since Mike was being rude.

"It's fine Mr. Dugan. I'll give you a hint about what I can do. My dad's a speedster and my older brother is a speedster, so what do you think that makes me?" Chloe asked with a smirk, since she honestly loved that she finally had people she could show her powers off too now, since she couldn't show off her speed to anyone at school back in Central City and her brother could laps around her whenever he wanted, so she couldn't exactly show off to him, but now she finally could.

"How fast are you?" Courtney asked with a smirk, since she wanted to know what they were dealing with.

"Well, I may not be the fastest person alive, but I am the fastest woman alive. At least the fastest woman who's not an alien." Chloe said, since she was sure that Supergirl was faster than her.

"Can we see it though." Jen asked, wanting to see what the new girl could do.

"Be right back." Chloe said and then she was gone in a blur of silver lightning and then about five seconds later, she returned having given everyone ice cream.

"I think we just found our best team member." Courtney said as she licked her cone and Yolanda and Jen both nodded in agreement and Chloe smirked.

"Glad you approve." Chloe said.

"Her lightning isn't like yours." Pat said to Henry.

"Or her brother's. We don't know why Chloe's lightning is silver, but it doesn't seem to signify there's anything wrong with her powers. Some speedster lightning is different from others." Henry said, right as Chloe started to feel a little dizzy.

"Uh dad, do we have any of those speedster protein bars?" Chloe asked and Henry quickly realized what was going on.

"Jen, they're in the cupboard right behind you, could you please grab one?" Henry asked and while Jen was confused, she nodded as she grabbed one of the bars and handed them to Chloe.

"Thanks." Chloe said as she ate the bar.

"Chloe, remember you need to be careful. Running at superspeed burns a lot of calories. You have to watch and make sure you don't burn yourself out." Henry said.

"I know dad, I just moved a bit faster than I planned." Chloe said.

"I remember how much you needed to eat back in the day." Pat said.

"And I still do. Good thing Tina made plenty of money so she'd be able to afford enough food to feed three speedsters." Henry said.

"How much do you need to eat in a day?" Jen asked.

"About 10,000 calories a day." Chloe said.

"And you still look that thin? Want to trade powers?" Jen asked enviously.

"No thanks." Chloe said with a chuckle.

"We're still waiting for the Tylers to join us, so in the meantime, Chloe, why don't you show the girls and Mike around while Pat and I catch up." Henry said and Chloe nodded.

"Follow me." Chloe said as she moved to get up, accidentally bumping into Jen, neither of them noticing the small amount of gold and silver electricity sparking together as they made contact with each other as Chloe began the tour.

Chapter Text

Dr. Ito was working on Project New America in his lab when he heard the sound of a speedster entering his lab and he turned to see Edward Clarriss standing there.

"Eh, what's up doc." Clarriss asked while eating a burger.

"You're late." Ito said, turning back to his work.

"Yeah, not my fault. I'm not exactly running on full power right now." Clarriss said.

"Really?" Ito asked.

"The negative speed force decided to transfer most of my speed to someone else. It's true avatar, Eobard Thawne, the Reverse Flash. He's the guy who's fighting the new Flash in Central City, since it's not Jay Garrick." Clariss said, clearly annoyed about that.

"You've lost your speed?" Ito asked, since that would clearly delay their plans.

"Not all of it. I'm just not as fast as I used to be, since apparently I've been downgraded by the negative speed force." Clariss said.

"How much of a downgrade?" Ito asked, since Clariss had been known as the fastest member of the ISA and a lot of their plan banked on him.

"My speed has been reduced to the point it was at when I first got it. I'm basically back at the beginning." Clariss said, clearly annoyed about that, since he'd spent years serving the negative speed force well and then the moment a new guy popped up and needed a boost, the negative speed force took a majority of the speed he'd spent years developing and gave it to the new guy. Apparently this Thawne guy was more important than him.

"This won't do. Everything about Project New America was calculated when you were at full power and we're too far down the road to have to make any changes." Ito said.

"Then tell Jordan to put Project New America on hold until after you've found a way to restore my speed to full power, since we both know that will be faster than making any changes to your calculations to adjust for my weakened speed." Clariss said and Ito nodded.

"Agreed, but he won't be happy about it." Ito said.

"What else is new?" Clariss said.

"But if I'm going to need more information about the negative speed force to find a way to recharge you. Though have you considered just going into it?" Ito asked.

"Of course I have, but I'm not fast enough to access it yet. At least not without having time to build up the speed I need." Clariss said.

"Then why don't you just use the track I built for you to use to power the project to build up speed?" Ito asked.

"Because I didn't know you'd finished it." Clariss said.

"Why do you think Jordan wanted you here?" Ito asked.

"Thank you. But I feel like that's not the only reason." Clariss said, wanting to be caught up.

"Black Lightning has returned and since we never did find Jay Garrick's body." Ito said.

"Even if he survived, he's powerless, I made sure to drain his speed and I broke his spirit when I killed Eliza Harmon right in front of him. He won't be a problem." Clariss said proudly, thinking back to his old glory days.

"Perhaps, but better safe than sorry. You should recharge your powers before we begin, just in case you're wrong. And don't worry, the energy you create as you run shouldn't be trackable." Ito said and Clariss nodded as he sped off onto the track.

"Your ego will no doubt be your undoing, since you're too sure of yourself. But hopefully you're right. For your sake. After all, the Flash may not have been able to defeat you, but Jordan can." Ito said as he watched Clariss run on the track, unaware that his snooping teenage daughter had heard everything they'd said and for now she was choosing to keep that to herself. At least until she could find a way to use what she'd overheard to finally get into the ISA.

Chapter Text

Jordan was currently sitting in his seat at the head of the ISA meeting table, thinking about the most recent report Brainwave had given him about one of their newer operations, since it had just revealed a big threat to the ISA that had been right under their noses the whole time. The existence of Starman's secret daughter, who'd been growing up right under their noses here in Blue Valley. If there was even a chance that she had her father's staff, she could cause a real problem for the ISA, especially since she decided to pick up where her father left off.

"You wanted to see me?" Dr. Ito asked as he entered the room.

"Read this." Jordan said as he handed Ito Brainwave's report, since the three of them were the only ones who knew about this secret project.

"Our project has already yielded results. I didn't think that would happen until we got closer to Project New America's completion. Especially since Clariss hasn't had any luck in restoring his speed, so I've had to find another way to power it, most likely by drawing energy away from the Blue Valley power grid." Ito said.

"Well now that is the least of our problems." Jordan said and Ito nodded.

"We know where she lives now, do you want to take her out?" Ito asked.

"Not yet. I don't want to draw attention to ourselves just yet. I have a different tactic in mind. One that requires your daughter, so summon her." Jordan said and Ito immediately figured out what his plan was and he approved.

"Of course. I'm sure Cynthia will be happy to help." Ito said as he sent a message to his current wife to send his daughter down.

"I've been summoned?" Cindy Burman asked as she entered the room to find her father and Icicle staring at her.

"You have a chance to prove yourself here Cynthia." Jordan said, not knowing that Cindy already knew he was lying, but was curious about what he wanted.

"I'm kind of busy with my current mission of spying on Brainwave's son, who's not showing any sign of powers developing." Cindy said, annoyed that she had to keep living this lie.

"This new assignment takes priority." her father said.

"Okay, what is it?" Cindy asked.

"We've discovered that one of your classmates poses a significant threat to our plans." Jordan said.

"Which one?" Cindy asked, thinking that none of her fellow students could possibly be a threat.

"Courtney Whitmore." Jordan said, much to Cindy's shock.

"How can Whitmore be a threat?" Cindy asked.

"We've recently discovered that she is the daughter of Starman and if she's bonded with his staff." Jordan said and Cindy understood.

"So, what do you want me to do, since I'm assuming you don't want me to take her out, since you've already got two attack dogs for that." Cindy said, knowing the ISA's nickname for Sportsmaster and Tigress and she saw Jordan actually chuckle at that.

"You're correct. Your mission is to infiltrate Courtney's ranks and determine if she has the staff and if she does, if she's building a new JSA to oppose us. Once you do that, let us know and we'll take it from there." Jordan said.

"How did you find out that Courtney is Starman's daughter?" Cindy asked.

"That's none of your business. But Cynthia, do you accept this task?" her father asked.

"I don't have a choice about it do I?" Cindy asked.

"You do. But I think you know what the alternative is." Jordan said and Cindy nodded.

"Okay, I'll do it." Cindy said, though she didn't tell them that what they were asking would likely be impossible, since Courtney Whitmore hated her guts even more than Cindy hated her's. Though maybe this was exactly the opportunity she'd been looking for. She just hoped that she could use it right.

"Good. Now get to work. Find a way to ingratiate yourself in Courtney's inner circle and learn all you can to help us." Jordan said.

"I'll do my best." Cindy said.

"You'll complete your mission or you will face consequences." Ito said.

"Yes father." Cindy said, trying to resist the urge to grin, since her father had no idea, but he might have just given her the secret to her freedom.

Chapter Text

It had been nearly a month since Courtney had found out the truth about her father and while she'd forgiven Pat relatively quickly, things between her and her mother were still pretty tense, but Barb had decided that it was time that they finally talked this out.

"Mom, what are you doing in my room?" Courtney asked when she saw her mom enter her room.

"It's time we talked Courtney." Barbara said.

"You've had 15 years to talk and you didn't." Courtney reminded her.

"I know and I was wrong to keep the truth from you." Barbara said.

"You could've at least told me dad died in a car accident or something so that I could've at least been able to grieve for him. But instead you lied to me and let me think that he just abandoned me. I spent years hating him when I should've been mourning him." Courtney told her angrily.

"You're right. But Courtney, I was scared. I was afraid that you'd end up going down the same path as your father and grandfather, since this life got both of them killed and I didn't want to lose you too." Barbara said.

"Mom, I get that, but I still don't understand why you let me hate dad for so long?" Courtney asked.

"I thought that it might prevent you from bonding with the staff, since I knew that it would come back into our lives eventually." Barbara said.

"Do you ever miss your dad?" Courtney asked.

"Every day." Barbara said.

"But at least you knew what happened to him. You got to grieve for your father, but you wouldn't let me do that." Courtney said.

"I know and that was wrong." Barbara said.

"Mom, I can understand why you kept dad being Starman secret from me, hell if I have kids, I'm making the same call, but at the same time, what I can't understand is why you thought letting me think he abandoned me was better than telling me he was dead. Especially because for the past 10 years, I've been holding out hope that he might come back." Courtney told her mom.

"I thought it was the right thing to do at the time, but it clearly wasn't and Courtney, I am so sorry, but you have to understand, I didn't want you in this life. It got my father and my husband killed and I didn't want to lose you too, so in my mind, trying to get you to distance yourself from your father was the best thing I could do to protect you, though clearly I went about it the wrong way." Barbara said and seeing how miserable her mom looked Courtney sighed, since she knew what she needed to do.

"Mom, I forgive you. I get that you were doing what you thought was best for me." Courtney said and Barbara smiled.

"Thank you Courtney." Barbara said.

"I forgive you, but I don't trust you anymore and I'm not sure if our relationship will ever be what it was." Courtney said.

"I understand Courtney. I get that I lost your trust and I hope that you'll give me a chance to earn it back." Barbara said.

"Just don't make me regret it." Courtney said as she held out her hand and suddenly the staff flew out of her closet and into her hand.

"What are you doing?" Barbara asked.

"I need to spend some time alone to think and the best way for me to do that is to go flying." Courtney said as she opened her window and let Cosmo suit her up, just in case anyone happened to see her.

"I still don't approve of how much skin that suit shows." Barbara said.

"Hey, blame dad and Cosmo. I didn't design this suit." Courtney reminded her as Cosmo hummed affectionately.

"Just be back before dinner." Barbara said, happy that she was at least beginning to mend her relationship with Courtney.

"I will." Courtney said as she let Cosmo fly her out of the house, unaware of what they were heading into.

Chapter Text

Stargirl was currently sitting on her staff while she flew through the skies of Blue Valley, being careful to avoid people seeing her, since she wasn't quite ready for the world to know about her or her team quite yet. Besides, she liked how peaceful things were up here in the clouds.

However, she was pulled from her thoughts when she suddenly had to grip Cosmo tightly to avoid being thrown off as Cosmo suddenly changed directions and headed downwards.

"Cosmo, what is going on?" Stargirl asked as she held onto the staff tightly as it sent her flying down to the ground to an old warehouse that was actually pretty close to her school.

"What are we doing here Cosmo?" Stargirl asked as she looked around, wondering why the staff would suddenly make her land.

Cosmo simply warbled again before Stargirl heard a voice behind her.

"You do look like your father. Especially in that get up." a male voice said and Stargirl turned to see a man that she immediately recognized as Brainwave from the old JSA files.

"Brainwave." Stargirl said.

"You know who I am? Excellent. That makes this easier." Brainwave said and he didn't need to be a mind reader to see that the girl was getting angrier.

"I know who you are and what you are and what you did. You helped kill my father and a lot of other good people." Stargirl said angrily, trying to stop herself from just blasting Brainwave on the spot before she realized something.

"How do you know who I am? My father did everything he could to make sure no one knew I existed." Stargirl demanded.

"If you know who I am, then I think you know that I have my ways. Especially since your father never bothered to learn how to shield his thoughts from me." Brainwave said.

"You knew about me all this time. But you never tried to find me." Stargirl asked.

"We did, but your father was at least smart enough to keep your location hidden. Besides, until now, you weren't much of a threat. The staff hadn't chosen you and as far as I could tell, you had no idea what you were a legacy of." Brainwave lied, since they'd only found out about her a few days ago, but she didn't need to know that.

"And as far as I know, I haven't done anything to let you know I had. So what changed?" Stargirl asked.

"Nice try, child. But you can't stall me. Especially since you're even worse at hiding your thoughts than your father was Courtney." Brainwave said with a smirk.

"Get out of my head." Stargirl said, since even she couldn't feel Brainwave in her mind, she believed that he was in it and she didn't want to think about the things he could pull from her thoughts.

"Interesting. You're not the only JSA legacy in this town. In fact it's filthy with them. Wildcat, Hourman, Black Lightning, the Flash, in fact, those last two are actually still alive. Well we knew about Black Lightning, but the Flash is alive too. This is all very interesting." Brainwave said, only to finally be blasted by Stargirl.

"Enough talking." Stargirl said, since she knew that she couldn't let Brainwave give all that intel to his friends in the ISA.

"I see you want to play with Daddy's toys. Let's see if you're anywhere near as good as he was." Brainwave said as he got to his feet and began using his telekinesis to chuck things at her, which Stargirl was quick to blast out of her way.

"You have potential, perhaps in time, you could become a threat to us. But sadly for you, that time will never come." Brainwave said as he then forced her back against the wall and caused her to drop her staff, which went dark as it hit the ground.

"It's a shame that I know that you won't ever willingly join us and the staff won't work for you if I just made you think like me. But I can't leave a legacy running around to threaten everything we've worked for. And you're just the first. In fact, once we're done here, I think that my next visit will be to a certain cat." Brainwave said and Stargirl felt anger overwhelm her.

"If you even think about touching her." Stargirl said as she tried to open her hand for the staff to return, but Brainwave was keeping it shut.

"What, what will you do? You're powerless without that toy of yours. You're no Starman. And everyone you love will die because of that." Brainwave said and Stargirl didn't know why, but it was as if his words had unlocked something inside of her.

"You're right. I'm not Starman." Stargirl said as she closed her eyes and felt some strange warmth come from inside her as she let it fill her up to the point of almost bursting out of her.

"What?" Brainwave asked, shocked her body started to glow and she opened her eyes to reveal they were glowing a bright golden yellow.

"I'm Stargirl." Stargirl said as she released the energy, which sent Brainwave flying backwards and released her from his hold, allowing her to call her staff back to her.

"How did I do that?" Stargirl asked, since from what she knew, neither her father or grandfather had been able to do what she just did. And she didn't have much time to think it over, since she felt exhausted, since whatever she'd just done had tired her out, since she was now leaning her staff to stay on her feet.

"Interesting. Looks like the daughter is even more powerful than the father who came before her. But that won't save you. Not from me." Brainwave said, as he managed to get to his feet, only to freeze as he felt something pierce his back and he turned to Cindy Burman shoving one of her wrist blades into his back.

"You." Brainwave said.

"You shouldn't have strung me along for so long." Cindy said as she pulled her blade out, allowing Stargirl to see her.

"You're welcome Stargirl." Cindy said to her, seeing her former rival barely able to stay on her feet.

"You killed him." Stargirl said.

"Hardly. He'll live. But if I were you, I'd let your toy do something to keep him from talking." Cindy said and while Stargirl was no fan of Cindy's she couldn't deny that she had a point.

"You heard her." Stargirl said to Cosmo as she chucked the staff towards Brainwave, since she was in no shape to fight and since Brainwave was still recovering from his stab wound, the shields he put up were so weak that the staff tore right through them before colliding with his head and causing some kind of chain reaction that rendered him unconscious as the staff flew back to Stargirl.

"I know you don't trust me, but I did just save your life." Cindy said.

"What do you want?" Stargirl asked her.

"To help you. I know everything you need to know about the ISA. Everything I've done has been to keep them off my back." Cindy said.

"You know that just because you saved my life doesn't mean I trust you or that the others will right?" Stargirl asked.

"I know, but." Cindy said.

"You could've killed me, but you saved me instead, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Don't make me regret it." Stargirl said.

"Done. Now, do you need a hand?" Cindy asked.

"Yeah. Whatever it is I did, it took a lot out of me." Stargirl said.

"Then let's go." Cindy said.

"Just to be clear, you know that even if you hadn't saved my life, I wouldn't be the one you need to worry about." Stargirl said.

"I know. But I'm hoping that since I saved your life, you'll be willing to hold her back." Cindy said.

"No promises." Stargirl said as she actually put her arm around Cindy's shoulders to let the other girl help her to her feet.

"Hold on. Fastest way home is to fly." Stargirl said and before Cindy knew what was happening, they took off and she had to stop herself from screaming.

Chapter Text

The whole team was getting worried, since Courtney hadn't come home yet. In fact, Jen and Chloe were both suiting up to go find them, since they were the only other members of the JSA to already have costumes, plus their powers would make searching the town much faster.

However, before they could head out, they, along with Yolanda, Rick, Mari and Beth, along with the rest of Courtney's family, were shocked when the door opened and Courtney came in, being supported by none other than Cindy Burman.

"What the hell did you do to her, you maniac?" Yolanda demanded as she rushed forward, extending her claws from one hand as she prepared to finally gut Cindy.

"I didn't do anything to her. In fact, I saved her life." Cindy said.

"Yeah right." Yolanda said.

"No Yolanda, it's true." Courtney said as Yolanda realized just how close the girl was to collapsing and that quickly took over her mind as she retracted her claws and moved to take Courtney from Cindy.

"Chloe, can you get Courtney a chair or something?" Yolanda asked and in about a second, Chloe had retrieved a very cushy chair from the living room that Yolanda helped Courtney sit down in.

"Chloe, go get your dad. I think he should take a look at Courtney." Pat said and Chloe nodded as she sped out of the house.

"What happened?" Yolanda asked as she sat down on the arm of the chair Courtney was now sitting in and neither of them noticed the smiles on Courtney's parents' faces at that before turning serious again.

"Brainwave attacked me." Courtney said.

"Wait, Brainwave?" Pat asked.

"Yeah, the ISA is here in Blue Valley." Cindy said.

"How do you know that?" Yolanda asked her and Cindy glared at her.

"Because my father is Dragon King. And since we're being honest, I should probably tell you that I'm the one who outed you, not Henry." Cindy said.

"You little bitch." Yolanda said angrily.

"Yolanda, let her finish, then you can beat her to a pulp." Courtney said as she placed her hand on Yolanda's to help her calm down.

"Fine." Yolanda said, though she was still pissed.

"Anyways, I grew up knowing that my father was a member of the ISA and he turned me into one of his lab rats. I didn't ask for anything he did to me. Everything I've ever done has either been to try and make him proud of me or to keep him and his cronies off my back." Cindy said.

"Do you know the identities of the other ISA members?" Pat asked.

"Yeah, and I'll tell you on the condition that you keep Yolanda from attacking me." Cindy said.

"Yolanda, she saved my life. I know you hate her and for good reason. I'm not asking you to like her. I'm just asking you to put up with her, since right now, she's an advantage we can't afford to lose." Courtney said.

"I'll make a deal with you. Once the ISA is gone and I'm finally free from my dad's grasp, I'll leave Blue Valley, you'll never see me again." Cindy said.

"You swear?" Yolanda asked.

"I've got nothing keeping me here anyways. But now that the ISA knows that I betrayed them, they will come after me." Cindy said.

"Okay then." Yolanda said, still not happy, but she could accept that.

"Okay then." Cindy said.

"Why don't we take this down to the Citadel." Pat said.

"I'm not sure if I have the energy to leave this chair." Courtney said tiredly, since she was struggling to stay awake.

"What happened?" Barbara asked as Henry and Chloe sped into the house.

"I honestly don't know. I was trying to fight Brainwave but he had me pinned down with his powers and I couldn't call the staff back to me, but then somehow, I managed to fire off some kind of energy blast from my hands. I don't know how." Courtney said.

"Okay, I think that the ISA can fall on the backburner until we find out what is going on with Courtney. I'll take her down to the Citadel's lab so I can run tests on her." Henry said and the rest of the JSA nodded as Henry picked Courtney up bridal style and sped her downstairs.

"Chloe, would you mind?" Yolanda asked, since she did not want to let Courtney out of her sight until they were sure of Cindy's loyalties.

"No problem." Chloe said as she sped Yolanda down to the lab before returning and locking a pair of metacuffs on Cindy's wrist.

"What the?" Cindy asked.

"Those are power dampening cuffs, they should keep you from using your powers and they're just a precaution until we know we can trust you." Chloe said and Cindy nodded, since she understood them being skeptical.

"Okay then. Let's head downstairs." Pat said.

Chapter Text

While Henry was looking Courtney over in the med bay, Pat had taken charge of the JSA and he'd even let Mike sit in since if the ISA had found out Courtney's identity, then they were all at risk.

"Tell me again why Cindy is allowed to sit in on this meeting?" Rick asked, still annoyed that he wasn't allowed to use his father's hourglass.

"Because she's the only person here who has actual information on the ISA." Pat said, getting real tired of Rick's attitude, since it had been weeks and he still had not shown any improvement.

"Including their real names. Should we start with the one who nearly killed Courtney tonight?" Cindy asked.

"Brainwave." Pat said.

"Better known in this town as Dr. Henry King Sr, father of my now ex-boyfriend Henry King Jr and one of the top brain doctors in the country." Cindy said.

"That explains so much about his son." Yolanda said.

"Henry doesn't know that his father's a villain, though he does know that he's a jerk." Cindy said.

"Does he have his father's powers?" Pat asked.

"If he does I haven't seen any proof of it, which is actually why I had to start dating him in the first place. Our fathers wanted me to keep tabs on him in case there was any trace of him developing his powers." Cindy said.

"How do you know he wasn't just hiding them?" Yolanda asked.

"Do I want to know what's happening between Yolanda and Henry?" Chloe asked Jen, since she was the new girl.

"Probably not." Jen confirmed.

"Got it." Chloe said as they returned to the primary conversation.

"Anyways, next up would be an old playmate of Chloe's dad, the Rival, also known as Edward Clarriss." Cindy said.

"Seriously, who came up with that name?" Chloe asked.

"He named himself that since he was your dad's rival. Not one for imagination, but he was the only person who could give your dad a run for his money in the speed department." Cindy said.

"Fair point. And I guess I can't really talk since my dad named himself the Flash." Chloe said.

"That's still better than the Rival and that's coming from me." Cindy said.

"True." Chloe agreed.

"Okay, back on topic, the reason your father hated the Rival so much is because of one of his worst crimes. He killed your dad's sidekick, the original Silverbolt." Pat said as he pulled up a picture of the first person to wear the Silverbolt mantle.

"Dad told me her name was Eliza Harmon. Was she a member of the JSA too?" Chloe asked.

"No, sidekicks weren't allowed in until they graduated to full hero status." Pat said, since he hadn't been a member of the JSA until now.

"Wow. So what happened. I've asked mom and dad about what happened to her and they never answer." Chloe asked, hoping to finally get an answer about it.

"It happened before the massacre. Your dad and Silverbolt were engaging the Rival in one of their worst battles ever. The ISA had the rest of the JSA scattered across the country to prevent us from helping them. The Rival was putting up one hell of a fight and he had your dad at his mercy and he was preparing to put his hand through his heart, but Eliza decided that the world needed the Flash more than Silver Bolt, since she saved your father's life, but ended up taking the attack meant for him. She died in your father's arms. Jay never forgave the Rival for doing that." Pat said.

"And I never will and I don't want Chloe going up against him." Henry said as he and Courtney joined him, Yolanda quickly got up to help Henry guide Courtney to her usual chair at the head of the table, since it had been agreed early on that that seat was hers, since she was the new JSA's leader.

"You feeling any better?" Yolanda asked Courtney as she sat back down in her usual chair next to her.

"Still a little dizzy, but I think that once I get some sleep, I should be fine." Courtney said.

"Any idea what's going on with her?" Pat asked Henry.

"Still waiting for Gemma to finish the results. But anyways, Cindy said that Clarriss is back in play." Henry asked and Cindy nodded.

"The ISA brought him back into the fold a few weeks ago." Cindy confirmed.

"Okay then Chloe, I'm going to be upping your training and putting your brother on standby, since you are not ready to fight someone as powerful as Clariss yet." Henry said, while Chloe had been making big strides in her training since they'd moved to Blue Valley, she wasn't at the level where she could fight an opponent as experienced as the Rival yet.

"Dad, I can handle it." Chloe said.

"Chloe, Clariss not only has speed, he also has years of training to back it up. You're not ready yet." Henry said.

"Dad, you know Clariss might not give me a choice about it. From what you told me, once he finds out there's another speedster around, he'll want to come after me." Chloe said.

"Not any time soon. Right now he isn't at full power and the ISA is making him conserve his speed." Cindy said.

"Wait, he's not at full power?" Henry asked, wondering if this might have anything to do with what his son was dealing with back in Central City.

"Yeah. I don't know why and even if they told me, I doubt I'd understand all that science stuff." Cindy said.

"Okay, let's move on." Courtney said, getting them back on topic.

"Right, next up, we have the ISA's showman, the Wizard. Aka, William Zarrick." Cindy said.

"Wait, as in Councilman Zarrick? Jimmy Zarrick's father?" Yolanda asked, finding it hard to believe that such a nice kid could be the son of a villain.

"Yeah, that apple fell very far from the tree. He's nothing like his old man and honestly, the Wizard is probably the softest member of the ISA." Cindy said.

"What about the ISA's attack dogs?" Pat asked.

"I assume you're talking about Sportsmaster and Tigress?" Cindy asked, since no one else fit that description.

"Who else would I be talking about?" Pat asked.

"Fair point. Their real names are Lawrence Crusher Crock and Paula Brooks. AKA Artemis Crock's parents." Cindy said.

"No wonder that girl is so intense." Courtney said and everyone who'd met her nodded in agreement.

"It does explain why she's such a natural athlete though." Beth said.

"Pretty much." Cindy agreed.

"What about the others?" Pat asked.

"Well, the original Fiddler is locked up, but his wife took his place in the ISA with his mind controlling violin and she's none other than our principal. Anaya Bowin." Cindy said.

"I knew that woman was evil." Rick said and everyone rolled their eyes at that.

"Very funny, though several students would likely agree with you." Jen said.

"Then we have the ISA's computer expert, the Gambler, also known as the American Dream's CFO, Stephen Sharpe." Cindy said.

"I always knew there was something weird about that man." Barbara said, being the only one in the room besides Cindy who had some experience with the man.

"Trust me, you don't know the half of it." Cindy said.

"Are they still controlling Solomon Grundy?" Pat asked and Cindy nodded.

"Yeah and he's the one who's responsible for Hourman's death." Cindy said.

"Wait, Grundy's the one who killed my dad?" Rick asked angrily as Beth and Mari moved to hold him down.

"I don't know why, but your dad apparently got back on the ISA's radar after he survived the massacre and the ISA sent Grundy to tie up that particular loose end." Cindy said.

"And what about the ISA's leader, you know the man who killed my father?" Courtney asked, wanting a name.

"Icicle is actually Jordan Mahkent, the founder and CEO of the American dream and the dad of our classmate Cameron Mahkent." Cindy said.

"Wait, the guy who's spent more time and money than anyone on bringing this town back to life is actually the man who killed my husband?" Barbara asked and Cindy nodded.

"How do the ISA know who I am, since Brainwave seems to know who I was, even before he read my mind?" Courtney asked.

"I don't know. I'm guessing through one of my dad's side projects, not that I'd know, since they never tell me anything." Cindy said and Courtney nodded.

"What do we do now?" Beth asked.

"Now we make plans to take the ISA down." Courtney said.

"Do we have any idea on how you did that weird light blast thing, since that could come in handy but also be dangerous if you can't control it." Yolanda asked Courtney.

"We're still waiting for Gemma to get us the test results." Henry said and Courtney nodded.

Chapter Text

Henry King Jr. was currently walking through the halls of Blue Valley High, feeling even more dejected than usual, since not only had his father fallen into a coma following a car accident last night, but his girlfriend Cindy Burman had ghosted him when he needed her. Not that he really felt sad about that last part, since he'd never really felt anything for Cindy anyways, but he could still use her support during this time, since he'd already lost his mom when he was a kid and now he might lose his dad.

"Henry." He heard a voice he never thought would say his name in a tone other than angry again and he turned to see Courtney walk up to him.

"You here to yell at me again?" Henry asked, not in the mood for Courtney to yell at him again, especially now.

"No, I'm here to offer my condolences over what happened to your dad." Courtney said, though she was deliberately not mentioning that she was the one responsible for his coma.

"Wow, I honestly thought that you'd be telling me I deserved it." Henry said.

"No matter how angry I might've been at you before, no one deserves to lose their father, especially since I've had to grow up without mine." Courtney said.

"Thanks Courtney. And for what it's worth, I am sorry about what happened with Yolanda." Henry said.

"We know that wasn't your fault. It was Cindy and you just took the fall." Courtney said.

"She told you that?" Henry asked, shocked.

"More or less. But I think that Yolanda has calmed down enough to maybe consider giving you a chance to be friends again, just don't blow it." Courtney said.

"As long as you promise not to hurt her." Henry said, shocking Courtney.

"What are you talking about?" Courtney asked.

"You think I don't know how you feel about Yolanda? I've known since sixth grade, so why aren't you two together now, since I would've thought that the one good thing about what happened is that now you know you can ask Yolanda out." Henry asked her.

"Trust me, I want to, but she's not ready for that. Even though she was outed, it was against her will." Courtney said.

"How bad was her reaction?" Henry asked, even though he knew that it would only make him feel worse.

"She cried for a week after her biggest secret was revealed to everyone and her whole family rejected her. Thank god my mom and stepdad were more than happy to take her in and that we have plenty of room for her." Courtney said.

"And it definitely makes it easier for you to get a shot with her." Henry said and Courtney playfully smacked his arm.

"Very funny. I don't want her to think that she has to go out with me just because she's living with my family and she'll get kicked out if she says no." Courtney said.

"I think it's been long enough that she wouldn't worry about that. Besides, the homecoming dance is coming up and since I'm obviously not going to be taking her anymore, why don't you?" Henry asked and Courtney smiled.

"Are you just trying to make up for being a huge jerk or because you genuinely care?" Courtney asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"Why can't it be both?" Henry asked and Courtney smiled.

"I'll think about it. But now we'd better get to class before you do something that destroys any chance of us forgiving you." Courtney said and Henry nodded as he followed her to class, neither of them aware that Yolanda had overheard their conversation and she was now smiling as she began to come up with a plan about what she'd just heard.

That night after school, Courtney was surprised when she got a text from Yolanda to meet her in the backyard, since there was something she wanted to talk to her about.

"What's going on?" Courtney asked as she entered the backyard to find Yolanda waiting wearing a beautiful floral dress.

"I overheard you and Henry talking today." Yolanda said with a smile as she walked up to Courtney.

"Oh, how much did you hear?" Courtney asked, wondering if this was going where she desperately wanted it to go.

"Enough to know that I have a date for the homecoming dance and in case it's not clear, that date is you, because I like you as much as you like me." Yolanda said with a smile as she took Courtney's hands and spoke with a confidence Courtney had never heard from her before.

"Who are you, what have you done with the Yolanda Montez I grew up with and most importantly, can I keep you?" Courtney asked with a smile.

"I've been trying to work up the courage to ask you to the dance for weeks, but, even though I knew we played for the same team, I wasn't sure you felt that way about me, but honestly, the more I thought about it, the more I realized just clearly you were sending me signs that I just couldn't read. Or didn't want to. Until now." Yolanda said and Courtney smiled.

"I didn't want to pressure you, since you were still freshly out and you didn't exactly come out on your own terms. I wanted to wait until you were comfortable before attempting to make any kind of move with you." Courtney said as Yolanda placed her hand on Courtney's cheek.

"And I appreciate that. But now I have to know, how long have you had a crush on me?" Yolanda asked her.

"Since before I came out." Courtney admitted and Yolanda had to admit, she was flattered.

"Wow, you were really patient, considering you never went out with anyone else." Yolanda said.

"To be fair, I'm pretty sure that until you came out, I was the only lesbian in Blue Valley." Courtney reminded her jokingly.

"Very funny. But still." Yolanda said and Courtney saw Yolanda's eyes briefly go cat for a minute as brown turned a bright green before returning to normal.

"Sorry, that happens sometimes when my emotions spike." Yolanda said.

"Don't worry about it. I think your cat eyes are almost as cute as your real eyes." Courtney assured her.

"Thanks, so I know I kind of just insisted on it, but I think that now I should actually give you a choice. Will you go to the homecoming dance with me?" Yolanda now asked.

"Yes, I would love to." Courtney assured her.

"Good." Yolanda said with a smile as Barbara walked up to them and while she hated to ruin this extremely happy moment that she and Pat had honestly been waiting too long for, she had too.

"Sorry to ruin this moment, but Court, we need to talk." Barbara said and Courtney could tell that whatever her mom was going to talk to her about, it was serious.

"What's going on?" Courtney asked.

"I just got a call from your Aunt Eliza, your cousin Alex was hurt very badly." Barbara said.

"What happened?" Courtney asked immediately.

"She was shot in the back. I don't know all the details, but I'm going out to National City tomorrow to visit her and you are coming with me, since they're our family." Barbara said.

"Don't worry, I'm in. Especially since I could use Alex's advice about a few things, though this might not be the best time. Can you call school and let them know I'll be out the next few days?" Courtney asked.

"I already did." Barbara assured her.

"Is Pat going with you guys?" Yolanda asked.

"No, I want him here in case the ISA makes another move, since he's kind of become the JSA's second in command." Barbara said, since Courtney was without a doubt its leader.

"Great. I better go pack and then when I get back Yolanda, I promise we'll talk more about the dance." Courtney said and Yolanda nodded as Courtney headed inside to pack.

"You know, you could come too if you'd like. Eliza said you were more than welcome. Especially considering how close Courtney and Alex were growing up." Barbara said.

"Are you sure I wouldn't be imposing?" Yolanda asked.

"I'm positive and I've already called the school to excuse you too. Now go pack." Barbara said, wondering how Courtney and Yolanda would react to the other secrets they'd learn about their family when they got to National City.

Chapter Text

After they arrived in National City, Barbara, Courtney and Yolanda quickly dropped their bags off at the hotel they'd gotten a room at before heading to National City General Hospital, where Courtney found her aunt Eliza, cousin Kara and several people she didn't recognize already there, all of them looking concerned.

"Liza." her mom called to her sister, causing her aunt Eliza to look up and see her.

"Barb, you came." Eliza said as she rushed forward to hug her little sister.

"Of course I did sis. And I brought Courtney here for more than one reason." Barbara said.

"If it's because you wanted her to talk to Alex about being on the same team, now is not a good time." Eliza said.

"No, it's not that. You were right about the staff, it chose her, which meant I had to tell her about dad." Barbara said and now Eliza understood.

"You want to tell her the rest of our family's secrets." Eliza said, since Barb was one of the few people they'd trusted with Kara's secret, since thanks to their father, the two of them had been born into this world.

"More like I want someone who has a little more experience to be able to help teach Courtney how to not end up like her father." Barbara said and Eliza nodded.

"I'll talk to Kara about it, since I agree, maybe it's time to let all the secrets out." Eliza said.

"What secrets exactly?" Kara asked as she joined them and quickly hugged her aunt Barbara.

"She already knows you're Supergirl Kara. She's known since your cousin first gave you to us." Eliza said.

"Okay, why?" Kara asked.

"Because Eliza and I grew up in this world. What do you know about the Justice Society of America?" Barbara asked her niece.

"Basically the world's first superheroes before Superman appeared." Kara said, not mentioning that she'd fought side by side with one of the original world war 2 members twice, mainly because those events hadn't happened yet and likely never would now. Or at least Amaya would likely never be removed from her time period this time around.

"Yes, well, our father was one of them. He was the first Starman who served alongside the original JSA during world war 2." Eliza said.

"So being a hero runs in the family." Kara said and Eliza nodded.

"Though after our father retired, instead of passing the staff off to either Barb or I, it bonded to the man who would become Barbara's husband and Courtney's father." Eliza said.

"Uncle Sylvester?" Kara asked, since even though her uncle had died before she'd arrived on earth, Alex had told her all about him and Barbara nodded.

"That was how we met, when my dad was training him." Barbara said.

"Was it love at first sight?" Kara asked.

"No, as a matter of fact, I was not a fan of his for stealing what I thought was either my or Eliza's legacy." Barbara said.

"But he grew on her." Eliza said.

"Anyways, even though Courtney's father is dead, his staff, the cosmic staff chose to stay in the family since it chose Courtney to be its new user." Barbara said.

"So Courtney's going to be a teenage superhero?" Kara asked, thinking that considering how she'd spent her teenage years in Midvale she wasn't in much of a position to judge.

"And so is Yolanda, since she has her powers and while we're in town, I was hoping you could give them some pointers." Barbara said and Kara nodded immediately, since she and Courtney had always been very close.

"I'll go talk to them now." Kara said as she walked over to where Courtney and Yolanda were sitting.

"Kara." Courtney said as she got up to hug her older cousin.

"Hey Courtney. Thank you for coming." Kara said.

"Of course. Especially since Alex helped me come out." Courtney said and Kara smiled, since remembered that.

"Anyways, Alex is going to be in surgery for a while, so why don't we take a walk outside. There's something I want to show both of you." Kara said and while both of the younger girls were confused, they nodded as they followed Kara out of the hospital.

To say Courtney was confused when Kara led her and Yolanda into an empty alley behind the hospital was an understatement, though she was even more surprised when after Kara looked around, she wrapped one arm around Courtney's waist and the other around Yolanda's and Courtney found that her cousin was a lot stronger than she looked and the biggest surprise came she felt Kara literally jump into the sky and flew to the top of a nearby building and that was when Courtney realized who her cousin really was.

"You're Supergirl." Courtney asked, not believing her big cousin was one of the most powerful people on the planet.

"And you're Stargirl from what your mom tells me." Kara said.

"Wait, mom knew?" Courtney asked.

"I didn't even know she knew until she told me earlier today, but don't get mad at her, since it wasn't her secret to tell. It was mine." Kara reminded her cousin.

"Fair point." Courtney conceded while Yolanda was still in shock that her best friend's cousin was Supergirl.

"So, why are you telling us now?" Yolanda asked.

"Since you're involved in this world anyways, there is no point in keeping it a secret from you anymore, plus, your mom wants me to try and serve as a mentor to both of you." Kara said.

"Wait, you want to teach us?" Courtney asked, thrilled.

"I can't let my favorite cousin get killed can I?" Kara asked.

"Wait, I'm your favorite cousin, not Superman?" Courtney asked with a grin.

"Yes, but don't tell him that. But anyways, I showed you what I can do, now it's your term." Kara said and Yolanda was quick to show off her claws.

"I see why you're called Wildcat." Kara said as she saw Courtney holding out her hand.

"What are you doing?" Kara asked.

"Sorry, it takes a minute when I'm this far away." Courtney said, right as the staff flew into it and Kara could feel the power coming from it and Courtney.

"Wow, that's impressive, though the power is clearly coming from more than just the staff." Kara said.

"Yeah, but we don't know much about it." Courtney admitted.

"Well then, I guess we'll need to fix that. Can you fly with that thing?" Kara asked.

"Yeah, why?" Courtney asked as Kara grabbed Yolanda again.

"Just make sure you follow me." Kara said as she flew off and Courtney got on Cosmo and flew off after her.

Chapter Text

"Okay, no offense Courtney, but this place puts our place to shame." Yolanda said as Supergirl landed with her and Courtney landed next to her inside what had to be Supergirl's base.

"Welcome to the Tower." Kara said, a little amused by Yolanda's reaction.

"I'd be offended if that wasn't true. Beth would lose her mind here. Granted, she's gonna lose her mind when I tell her that Supergirl is my cousin. I can tell her that right?" Courtney asked Kara.

"Is she on your team?" Kara asked.

"She's the new Doctor Midnite and the brains of our operation. Plus she's our resident superhero nerd." Courtney assured her and Kara smiled.

"In that case, you can tell her and the rest of your team. Speaking of which, I'll need a breakdown of the other teenagers who've committed themselves to this." Kara said, though Courtney could tell that Kara didn't really disapprove of people her age doing this, she just wanted to know who else would know her secret.

"Well, there are a lot of legacies of the old JSA on the new one. Just like how my dad was Starman, I'm Stargirl, Yolanda's uncle and godfather was the original Wildcat, our friend Rick Tyler is the son of Hourman 2.0 and he's eventually gonna become Hourman 3.0 once he gets his temper under control, his cousin Mari McCabe is granddaughter of the original Vixen and has her totem and mantle, Jennifer Pierce, Black Lightning's daughter is taking her father's place under the name Lightning and Flash's daughter, Chloe Allen, who's calling herself Silver Bolt." Courtney said and Kara perked up.

"Wait, does Chloe happen to have an older brother?" Kara asked.

"How did you know about that?" Yolanda asked.

"Because Barry and I are friends and yes, I know about him and he knows about me." Kara said.

"Really?" Courtney asked.

"Yep. And I've met Jennifer's father before too and so has Clark. But anyways, I brought you here so we can try and figure out what kind of powers you have, which is why I called in our resident alien brain, since Lena needs to put her's to use finding a way to help Alex walk again." Kara said, right as Brainy entered the tower.

"Who's this?" Courtney asked.

"Courtney, Yolanda, meet Querl Dox, aka, Brainiac Five. Like me he's an alien, but he's a coluan from the planet Colu." Kara said.

"And also from the future." Brainy added.

"Wait, what?" Yolanda asked.

"Yes, Brainy is from the 31st century and he's actually a descendant of the Brainiac Superman has fought before." Kara said.

"But you're not evil like him?" Courtney asked, not even bothering to ask why her cousin had someone from the future on her team, since honestly, it was none of her business.

"No, I am not. I've put a lot of work into proving that I am not my ancestor, but that's not why we're here. You want to know where your powers came from." Brainy said and Courtney nodded.

"Well, let's see what we can find." Brainy said as he ran a quick scan on Courtney and moved over to the computers.

"Fascinating." Brainy said.

"Based on what our own brains could tell us, it's like I'm a human version of my staff." Courtney added.

"Yes, though it appears to be even more than that." Brainy said as he looked over the data he was seeing.

"What are you talking about?" Kara asked.

"It appears that Courtney has bypassed the staff and directly connected to its power source, the Star Force." Brainy said.

"The Star Force?" Courtney asked, since that was a new term.

"Just like how your friend Chloe Allen taps into the speed force to access her powers, Courtney has tapped into a force just as old, and possibly even more powerful, the Star Force. It's a cosmic force that's a well of creation and power and light. Based on everything we've learned from studying the staff over the years in the 31st century, we believe that the Star Force sent it to your grandfather to give him a way to access its power, since it was supposedly too dangerous for any mortal to have direct contact with it. It appears that over time, the more Ted Knight used the staff, the more it changed his biology and then he passed that altered biology onto his two daughters, Eliza and Barbara." Brainy said.

"Does that mean Alex has this kind of power too?" Kara asked.

"No. Neither Eliza or Barbara alone have enough residual cosmic energy in their systems to pass it down to another generation. However, the staff's next user was Courtney's father, Sylvester Pemberton and just like Ted Knight, the staff altered his physiology. Combining that with the residual energy in Barbara's system didn't just pass energy down to Courtney, it actually gave her a direct link to the Star Force. Something neither of her predecessors could accomplish." Brainy explained.

"That does make sense and I'm guessing that it wasn't until the staff bonded to me that the connection to the Star Force was completed?" Courtney asked.

"Correct." Brainy said.

"So, what now?" Yolanda asked.

"Barry told me that he could go into the speed force when he needed to, maybe Courtney should try to do the same thing for the Star Force. Learn directly from it." Kara suggested.

"I don't know how to do that. But it's something I can figure out when we go home." Courtney said.

"That reminds me, I was also sent here to bring you back to the hospital, since Alex is awake." Brainy said and Kara nodded.

"Let's go. And Brainy, I know you already have the Batcave on your todo list, but maybe you could also offer an upgrade to Courtney and her friends." Kara said.

"I'd be happy to. And speaking of upgrades, Ms. Montez, how would you feel about fighting in something besides your uncle's hand me downs, since I do have some ideas for improvements." Brainy said.

"We'll talk more later." Yolanda said, since she was interested in what Brainy had in mind before Kara picked her up and flew her out of the tower, with Brainy and Courtney flying behind them.

Chapter Text

"Jennifer, please, come in." Henry Allen said as he showed Jennifer into the Allen House (the house the Whitmore Dugans had in the show, since they live in the mansion in this story) .

"Thanks Dr. Allen. Is Chloe downstairs or in her room?" Jen asked, since she'd come over so Chloe could tutor her in her chemistry homework. She had to admit, school was a lot nicer here in Blue Valley than it was Garfield, since now she was free of all the expectations that came from being the principal's daughter, though that did mean that she did sympathize with Issac Bowin, the son of Blue Valley High's principal Anaya Bowin, though unlike her at Garfield, Issac was pretty badly bullied, though Jen did do her best to try and help him out. Anyways, another way Blue Valley High was better than Garfield was the lack of uniforms, since she did enjoy being able to wear regular clothes to school, since it did make her feel a little more comfortable, but the best part were her new friends. The new JSA had become more than just her teammates, they were new friends and they felt more like real friends than her old friends in Freeland in either reality had ever been. Probably because they understood her in a way that the people in Freeland didn't.

Jen had also formed a special bond with Chloe, since they were both new girls, both JSA legacies and both of them still had their parents.

Anyways, Jen had been having some issues in chemistry lately, so Chloe had volunteered to tutor her, since thanks to growing up in a family of scientists, she took all honors classes and she excelled at science, though she preferred music, which was why the basement of the Allen house had been turned into a soundproof music room for her.

"She's in the basement. If you hurry, you might catch the end of the new song she's working on." Henry said and Jen smiled.

"Thanks." Jen said as she headed to the basement and as soon as she opened the door, she could hear Chloe's voice singing as she played her guitar and Jen smiled as she listened to Chloe singing, though she had to admit, something about this particular song didn't feel right like the others.

However, the moment the door closed, Chloe stopped and hit the end button.

"Hey Jen." Chloe said.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt." Jen said.

"No, it's fine, I got so caught up in this song that I lost track of time. Something about it doesn't seem right." Chloe said.

"Yeah, I heard it too. Great lyrics, strong music, but it just doesn't sound right. What's it called?" Jen asked.

"It's called Something Real. I just wish I could figure out what's wrong with it." Chloe said.

"So, I guess we're going to figure out this song before we do chemistry homework?" Jen asked as she slid her backpack onto the floor.

"You just want an excuse to put off your homework." Chloe said with a smirk.

"You know me well. Now, can I please see your songbook to see if I can help you figure out what's wrong with the song." Jen asked, knowing how territorial Chloe was about her song book.

"You know you're one of the only people alive I'd ever allow to even touch my book, let alone read it." Chloe said as she handed Jen the book.

"This is really good. And I think I see your problem." Jen said after a quick look over.

"What do you think it is?" Chloe asked.

"I think that while you meant to write this song as a solo, it turned into a duet." Jen said.

"You think?" Chloe asked and Jen smiled at her.

"Trust me, I may not have your eye for music, but I know a thing or two about it. Take it from the top and I'll join in when I think it's a good time." Jen said and Chloe nodded as she looked at the book and started singing.

"I thought I knew what I wanted

'Til I got it

Turned around

Now the pressure's on in the moment

I was chasing a fairy tale

Until I caught it

Took a leap of faith

Now I'm back where I started out

This perfect life

Somehow doesn't really feel right

I learned tonight

That I…" Chloe sang, right as Jen decided to join in and the moment she did, Chloe could tell that she was right, since the song sounded so much better.

"I'd trade it all

For something real

Something that's raw

Something that I, I, I can feel

Flaws and all

Now here's the deal

I don't want nothing 'less it's something real

Something real ." They both sang together before Jen took over.

" I used to get so caught up

Finding all the answers

Always liked to play it smart

Never taking chances

Had to see for myself

To believe in magic

Now I know inside my heart

I already had it all

This perfect life

Is an unperfect puzzle sometimes

I learned tonight

That I… " Jen said as they returned to the chorus.

"I'd trade it all

For something real

Something that's raw

Something that I, I, I can feel

Flaws and all

Now here's the deal

I don't want nothing 'less it's something real

Something real ." they both sang again as Chloe picked it back up.

" All along I was posing for the cameras

Focused on the dream world

Dreaming 'bout a sandman." Chloe sang.

"Now I'm awake

And life is so much better

Let's go crazy now

All of us together

Let's get real." Jen sang.

"Let's get real

Let's get real." Chloe sang as they returned to the chorus.

"I'd trade it all

For something real

Something that's raw

Something that I, I, I can feel

Flaws and all

(Flaws and all)

Now here's the deal

(Deal)

I don't want nothing 'less it's something real

Oh oh ooh oh

Oh Something real

Oh oh ooh oh (Something real)

Something real

Eh eh yeah

Something Real." They finished singing together.

"You were right, that was incredible." Chloe said.

"Yeah, I always knew I had a great voice and it's nice to finally get to put it to use." Jen said.

"Well, why don't we perform this song at the school talent show. Now that Cindy's locked up in the Citadel cells until Courtney and Yolanda get back from National City, we may have a chance to dethrone her." Chloe said.

"I'm in. But for now, let's do what I came here for before your parents come down to check on us." Jen said.

"Agreed." Chloe said as they moved to switch from music to homework.

Chapter Text

Mari was currently in the room she had at her Aunt Wendi's house, working on her newest fashion design, which happened to be the dresses for the girls on the team for the upcoming homecoming dance. She would've offered to make a tux for Rick, but he was still being an asshole. In fact, she currently had earbuds in to help drown out Rick's complaints about not getting his father's hourglass and Mari had noticed the way he'd been eying her totem lately. Honestly, Mari didn't know what Courtney was thinking, letting her cousin join the JSA, since in her opinion, Rick was showing more of the signs of a supervillain than a superhero, since he was constantly throwing tantrums that Courtney got her father's staff, Mari herself got her grandmother's totem, Yolanda got her godfather's suit, Beth got Dr. Midnite's goggles, Jen got powers from her father, and Chloe got both powers and her helmet from her father. Rick was the only one who didn't get any JSA swag at all.

He was really starting to sound like a spoiled, entitled brat. He wasn't the only one with a dead parent. After all, the whole reason Mari was living in Blue Valley was because both of her parents were dead and so was Courtney's dad, but neither of them pouted about it.

Anyways, Mari was so caught up in her work that she didn't hear her door get forced open as Rick stormed into her room.

"What the hell?" Mari asked as she turned around to see her idiot cousin barging in.

"Give me your totem." Rick said angrily as he moved to yank the totem from her neck.

"What?" Mari asked, right as she smacked his hand away.

"I'm tired of waiting for mom to give me the hourglass and I have just as much of a right to that totem as you do, since it belonged to my grandmother too." Rick said angrily.

"Not a chance you asshole. I'm not giving you my totem and you don't deserve it." Mari said angrily, since the totem wouldn't work for him anyways.

"Come on Mari. Why can't we share it?" Rick asked.

"You don't deserve this totem anymore than you deserve that hourglass and Aunt Wendi is never going to give it to you until you get your damn act together." Mari said.

"I'm tired of waiting." Rick said as he reached for the totem again, but this time, Mari grabbed his hand.

"Not gonna happen. Besides, it doesn't match your outfit. Now back off." Mari said.

"That totem belongs to me just as much as it does you." Rick insisted.

"And you're delusional. The hourglass belongs to your side of the family. The totem is mine." Mari said as she threw him back.

"It's the closest I'm going to get. Now I'm taking it, one way or another." Rick said as he then moved to punch her, but Mari quickly dodged and returned the favor.

"Did I never tell you I have a black belt in martial arts? And now, you want my totem so badly, here's a taste of what it can do." Mari said as she activated the totem and summoned the strength of a gorilla before she punched Rick straight out of the room.

"Mari." Rick groaned as he tried to get to his feet and winced in pain.

"No Rick, I'm done with your attitude and so is everyone else. You want that hourglass so badly, then prove that you deserve it." Mari yelled at him before she picked him up.

"Mari." Wendi said, seeing her niece beat the shit out of her son.

"Sorry Aunt Wendi, but I'm tired of letting Rick's attitude go. It's clear that it's not working, so maybe it's time for tough love. Rick, the only person who wants you on the JSA is you. Courtney is about an inch away from kicking you out. I get that you don't like feeling left out, but you've left us no choice. Your obsession with that hourglass is destroying your life and pushing everyone else away. I get that you're angry about your dad, but so is Courtney and she doesn't act the way you do. You're going against everything the JSA and your father stood for. You need to figure out a way to let go of your anger." Mari said.

"That's easy for you to say." Rick grumbled.

"No, it's not. Don't you think that I've been tempted to track down the drunk driver who plowed over my dad in the middle of the night? Or what about the monster who killed my mom because they wanted the same totem you just tried to take from me. Or how about my deadbeat older sister who abandoned me when I needed her the most? Trust me Rick, I have plenty of rage built up, but I'm not going to unleash it like that, because then I'm no better than the bad guys." Mari said angrily and Rick finally saw that he'd crossed a line, since just like how that hourglass was one of the last physical connections he had to his father, the totem was the last connection Mari had to her mother.

"I'm sorry Mari. I've just got all this anger pent up all the time and I don't know how to let it go." Rick said.

"Rick, your choices are either lose your friends and your spot on the JSA because you're insisting on holding onto anger that isn't doing anyone any good. I'm not saying you aren't entitled to how you feel, but now it's not doing you any good. I suggest that you focus your anger into your training. And also work on repairing your friendships." Mari said.

"I'll try." Rick said.

"And I'm gonna start looking into anger management classes for you, since you clearly need them." Wendi said and Rick nodded, knowing that he would benefit from it.

Chapter Text

To say Courtney was surprised when she got back from National City to find Rick waiting for her and Yolanda was an understatement.

"Rick, what are you doing here?" Courtney asked, since their friendship had become strained by Rick's recent attitude.

"I'm here to apologize." Rick said and Courtney and Yolanda shared surprised looks.

"Really? For what exactly?" Yolanda asked.

"Everything. I've been a jerk to all of you and I'm honestly amazed that you still let me be on the team, let alone be friends with me." Rick said.

"Who beat you up?" Courtney asked with a smirk.

"Mari." Rick said, not even bothering to deny that his cousin had beaten some sense into him.

"You tried to take her totem, didn't you?" Yolanda asked with a smirk of her own.

"Not my best moment, but I lost control of my anger." Rick said.

"Rick, if anyone knows what it's like to grow up full of anger it's me. The difference is that I always had someone to aim my anger at, a target to focus it at. You didn't, so you just kept it pent up until it overflowed." Courtney said.

"Yeah, pretty much." Rick agreed.

"So, does this mean you're trying to change?" Yolanda asked.

"My mom is signing me up for anger management classes to help me learn to control my temper." Rick said.

"Good. Because Rick, I do want you to become the next Hourman, but not if you're just going to become a rogue cannon. I've known you a long time Rick and I don't hate you, regardless of everything you've done. I just didn't like who you were becoming." Courtney said.

"I know and I hope that I can make up for everything I've done and honestly, while I do still want the hourglass, I'm not going to let that cloud my judgment anymore." Rick promised.

"Good, because when we take the fight to the ISA, we're going to need Hourman on our side. So get your act together." Courtney said.

"I'm working on it and my mom finally gave me something to occupy my head in the meantime." Rick said.

"What do you mean?" Yolanda asked.

"What I mean is that my mom gave me my dad's old journal and I think that whatever he wrote in it is actually a code for something else. I just don't know what yet. Beth is helping me try to crack it." Rick said and Courtney and Yolanda both smiled, since it was clear that their old friend was finally finding his way back to his old self and they also knew how he felt about Beth.

"Really, you and Beth, alone for possibly hours on end?" Yolanda asked as Rick just rolled his eyes.

"Like you're one to talk." Rick said.

"Actually, we finally got together before we left for National City and we're going to homecoming together." Courtney said with a smile as she and Yolanda locked hands and Rick smiled at that.

"Congrats you two, it's about time." Rick said.

"Maybe you should ask Beth to go to the dance with you, even if it's just as friends, since you don't want to be the only guy there without a date." Yolanda said.

"Shut up. Is that a new necklace Yolanda?" Rick asked, noticing Yolanda's new purple and silver cat necklace.

"Yeah, it was a present from Courtney's cousin Kara and her friends." Yolanda said.

"Go on, I know you're dying to show it off." Courtney said to her girlfriend with a smirk.

"Thank you." Yolanda said and before Rick could ask what was going on, Yolanda tapped the silver cat charm on her necklace that caused the whole thing to release a swarm of black and silver nanites covered her until they formed a brand new and much sleeker and more streamlined version of the Wildcat suit formed around her and it looked like it had been better fitted to her body than her old one had been and the helmet looked better suited to Yolanda's face than her godfather's had. There were even silver lenses covering her eyes.

"Whoa, where did you get that suit?" Rick asked as Yolanda reverted her suit back into necklace form.

"While we were in National City, we found out that my cousin Kara is actually Supergirl and her tech guy made Yolanda a new suit." Courtney said.

"Which I love even more than the old one." Yolanda said.

"Anyways, we're gonna have a team training session tonight and I hope that you'll be able to actively participate this time." Courtney said.

"Yeah, me too." Rick said as they continued talking.

Chapter Text

After talking to Rick, Courtney's next stop was the Citadel, specifically its cell block and she'd taken a lot more satisfaction than she should have in seeing Cindy Burman in a cell.

"About time. I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about me." Cindy said.

"You're lucky we're not leaving you down here to rot. You said you had information about the ISA. Spill it, now." Courtney said.

"I'd really rather only go through it once in front of your whole team." Cindy said.

"Which is why they've all gathered in the meeting room. You want your freedom, you need to earn it by helping us." Courtney said.

"I just want you to take my dad down. I don't care who actually wins, since either way, once my dad is gone, I can ghost this armpit of a town." Cindy said.

"Nice to know how much you love this town. But anyways, you know the drill." Courtney said and Cindy nodded as Courtney moved to open the cell door.

"How do you know I won't kill you the second you open this door?" Cindy asked.

"Two reasons. One, you kill me and the JSA turns you over to your father and two, you still have those cuffs on that restrict your powers. You know the only way you're getting out of Blue Valley alive is if we take down the ISA." Courtney said.

"And you're the only one keeping Yolanda from taking those claws of her's and slashing my throat." Cindy said.

"Pretty much." Courtney agreed as she let Cindy out and dragged her into the meeting room where Pat, Yolanda, Rick, Beth, Jen, Chloe and Mari were waiting.

"You already gave us the names of the ISA, what else could you possibly give us?" Yolanda asked, skeptically, since she didn't like that they still needed to to rely on Cindy for anything.

"How about where the ISA is based. There's still a lot of stuff we don't know that we need to know before we launch any kind of attack." Courtney said.

"And I'll give you everything I know. Starting with the fact that ISA is based underneath the American Dream in an already existing sublevel created by this organization called the Other Founding Fathers back in the 1800s. It's connected to tunnels that run all over this town, including to the high school and my house." Cindy said.

"We need to know all the locations so we can divide and conquer. Attack from multiple entrances, since we can't exactly attack the members in broad daylight with no proof." Courtney said.

"What do we do after we take the ISA down, since I doubt that regular prison can hold them?" Beth asked.

"I can call my aunt, since she runs a government organization that's meant to handle things like this." Jen said.

"Good to know." Courtney said.

"Wait, we still need the layout of the base, since no matter what you tell us Cindy, we need to know what we're getting ourselves into." Pat said.

"I can go in and see if I can find them." Chloe volunteered.

"Absolutely." Henry said as he joined the meeting.

"Dad, I can do this." Chloe said.

"Too risky. Besides, I've been talking to Rick's mom and I think we figured out what the code in Rex's journal will reveal." Henry said.

"Well, don't leave us hanging." Rick said.

"Your mother said that Rex spent a surprising amount of time around the school and the building that would become the American Dream. I think that he might've managed to get down there and scope them out and then he put the map in his notes to keep it protected in case something happened to him." Henry said.

"That does sound like something Rex would do." Pat agreed.

"That means that cracking that code has become even more important. We get that map, we can take the fight to the ISA, since it's too risky to run any kind of recon mission in that tunnel, since all of the ISA members are more experienced than us." Courtney said.

"She's right." Pat said.

"But Beth, see if you can use your goggles to monitor the Gambler's activities online. Maybe we can get a hit on some of the ISA's activities that we can at least respond to until Rick cracks that code." Courtney said, already sounding like a true leader.

"On it." Beth said, so glad that her goggles contained an AI of the original Dr. Midnite, though she doubted her parents would approve of some of the skills the AI had taught her in terms of computing hacking, though Beth had sworn to never use these skills for personal gain.

"In the meantime, Jen, call your aunt and see if she can arrange some more long term accommodations for Cindy, since our cells were not meant for long term confinement and there's too much bad blood to keep her here." Courtney said.

"So I'm trading one cell for another?" Cindy asked.

"The cell you'll be going to will likely be outside of Blue Valley and Aunt Lyla will probably help arrange for you to be relocated once the ISA is gone." Jen said.

"You should've led with that, I'm in." Cindy said, since she knew this would be in her best interest.

"Good. Then do it. In the meantime, Chloe, take Cindy back to her current cell and then meet the rest of us in the training room. I want to see what else I can do with my new powers." Courtney said, since she'd told them about the Starforce, but they still didn't know much about it and Courtney hadn't been able to summon those powers again yet and she knew that if they were going to take on the ISA again, they'd need every advantage, including her powers, which her father hadn't had.

Chapter Text

"Dad, can we talk?" Chloe asked her father while the others were training.

"What's going on?" Henry asked her.

"When are you going to take off my training wheels? You don't treat Barry with kid gloves like you do me." Chloe asked, since her father was way too overprotective of her.

"Chloe, I know this seems extreme, but I'm trying to keep you safe." Henry said.

"I'm a superhero, just like you and Barry. The life I've chosen isn't safe, but that never stopped you. And Rick, Courtney and Jen aren't stopped from being heroes by their parents." Chloe said.

"That's because none of them lost someone to their greatest enemy." Henry said.

"This is about Eliza." Chloe said, realizing that this was about her father's old sidekick, the original Silver Bolt, who she was named after.

"Eliza's dead because I didn't try hard enough to protect her. I gave her too much free reign. Maybe if I'd had her on a shorter leash, she'd still be alive." Henry said.

"Or maybe she would've died a lot sooner. I understand that you and mom just want to protect me, but you have to take off the training wheels at some point. I mean, you never treated Barry like this and he's going up against guys who are way more dangerous than the ISA ever was." Chloe said.

"That's because Barry is an adult and you're my little girl. I already lost Eliza and my first wife Nora. I can't lose you too. Barry has had his powers for years, knows how to use them in ways I couldn't even begin to imagine. You've only had your powers for about a year and a half. You still have a lot to learn." Henry said.

"Then why won't you teach me like you taught him? You didn't just teach Barry how to run, you taught him how to fight." Chloe said.

"You're not ready for that." Henry insisted.

"I'm not ready for it, or you're not ready for it? You still see me as this little girl and because of that, you won't let me be me." Chloe said angrily.

"Is this about being a superhero or something else entirely." Henry asked, thinking about another conversation they'd had with Tina about a year ago.

"This has nothing to do with that." Chloe said, knowing what her father was talking about.

"Yes it does. This isn't just about your training, this is about you being bisexual." Henry said, since Chloe had come out to her parents and Chloe knew that the jig was up, since her father was right.

"Ever since I came out, you've been treating me like I'm made out of glass. Is this about you not wanting me to use my speed, or you not being able to accept that I like girls as much as I like boys." Chloe asked him.

"Chloe." Henry said.

"No dad, you've made it completely clear that you don't respect me the same way you respect Barry. You don't trust me the way you do him." Chloe said.

"Chloe, that's not true." Henry said.

"Yes it is." Chloe said.

"Chloe, Eliza was the same way and that's why I know that it's not a choice and I also know how hard the world can be for people like you. I saw it with Eliza and I don't want to see you go through it too." Henry said.

"Times have changed since then and in case you haven't noticed, I'm not made out of glass. I can take care of myself." Chloe said.

"Which is what I'm afraid of. Chloe, I love you and I don't want you to change, but you're too hot headed and when you get pushed too far, you lash out. And what was before your speed surfaced." Henry said.

"Well it did and that's how I can do this." Chloe said as she tossed a lasso of silver lightning at her father.

"How did you?" Henry asked, since throwing lightning was a more advanced move that he hadn't taught her yet.

"Barry's been a much better teacher than you are, since he doesn't try to hold me back, he's teaching me the tricks you wouldn't. He taught me some pretty cool tricks to do with my lightning. And apparently I'm a better student than you make me out to be. So tell me dad, why are you holding me back?" Chloe asked.

"Because I don't want to lose you." Henry finally said, the floodgates finally opening.

"Dad, don't you get it. You're trying to stop me from being who I am. You keep doing that and you will lose me. I get that you want to keep me safe, but you're going about it in the wrong way. Instead of trying to shelter me and pushing me away as a result, why don't you do what Barry's doing and actually teach me how to take care of myself in the field. Because believe it or not, I didn't enjoy having to run back to Central City behind your back to have my big brother teach me all the stuff that you wouldn't behind your back. Hell, you haven't even taught me how to phase yet. Not to mention time travel." Chloe said.

"Watch it. Time travel is off limits. At least for now, because I'm sure that your brother will agree with me that it's very dangerous, not only to you, but to everyone else around you. But I admit, maybe I have been overprotective." Henry admitted.

"Maybe, more like definitely. You never treated Barry like this and from what I've heard, he's the one with the actual target on his back from the same psycho who killed his mom and you don't keep the training wheels on him." Chloe said.

"Barry's an adult. You're not. But you're right. But that's because these threats didn't exist when Barry got his speed. I had more time to train him. But you're right, I need to stop holding you back. But now can you please let me go." Henry said as Chloe released her lightning lasso.

"Creative use for your lightning." Henry said.

"It's all about imagination." Chloe said with a smirk.

"I'll keep that in mind. But now, I suggest that you get some rest, because tomorrow your real training begins. And you're going to be wishing that I was still holding back, because if you want me to make you ready for the fight that's coming, it's gonna be harder than you ever thought possible." Henry said and Chloe grinned, since that meant that her dad was serious about upping her training.

"Bring it on. I'm ready and it sounds like you finally are too." Chloe said and Henry nodded.

Chapter Text

Ever since she'd discovered her connection to the Starforce, Courtney had begun trying to connect further to it and she was grateful that Mari had some experience with that with her totem, since it was similar, so she'd started using the cosmic staff in a way it had never been used before.

Instead of using it as a weapon, Courtney was using it to further her connection to the Star Force while she meditated. It was a new experience for her, but one that she needed to do, since before they went to war with the ISA, she needed to understand her newfound powers and how to control them, since the fact that she could do something that neither her father or grandfather could do was an advantage against the ISA. One she intended to use to her advantage, the only issue was that she hadn't been able to channel the star force's power without the staff since her fight with Brainwave and she needed to find a way to access it. That was why she was taking a page from Mari's book and trying to meditate, though she didn't think it was working.

Or at least that's what she thought until she heard a male voice speak.

"Hello Courtney." a man who looked vaguely familiar to her said, though that was mainly because with the way this man looked, it was hard to forget. This was the same man who'd appeared the night the staff had bonded with her.

"You're Mar Novu right?" Courtney asked.

"I'm surprised you remember me." Novu said, since most of the heroes who knew would rather forget him.

"Looks like yours are hard to forget." Courtney said and Novu chuckled.

"I suppose that is true." Novu said.

"Why am I here, since I'm guessing this isn't the Star Force?" Courtney asked.

"No, but the fact that you're learning to access it on your own proves that you're ready for what lies ahead. And for the truth of what came before. A secret known to a select few, including your friends Jennifer Pierce and Chloe Allen, though only Ms. Pierce knows the full extent." Novu said.

"What are you talking about?" Courtney asked.

"The Crisis of Infinite Earths. Allow me to show you." Novu said as he placed his hand to Courtney's temple and showed her flashes of her cousin Kara, Chloe's brother Barry, Jen's father Jefferson, alongside Superman, Batwoman, the Green Arrow and so many other heroes fighting some huge army of shadow creatures and some kind of energy wave destroying planets.

"What was that?" Courtney asked.

"That was the destruction of the old multiverse and the rebirth of this one, caused by your cousin Kara and her friends." Novu said.

"Wow. That explains why Kara seems to already be so experienced." Courtney said, astounded by just how heroic her cousin was.

"Chloe Allen is aware of her brother's actions, since his archenemy forced him to reveal the truth to her and Jennifer Pierce is actually from the old reality. Her powers allowed her to survive. However, this is not something that you can reveal to others. I only revealed the truth about it to you because of the role you'll have in the upcoming battles." Novu said.

"What battles?" Courtney asked.

"You'll find out soon enough. But just like how your cousin has a role to play as the paragon of hope, you have a role to play as well, as the paragon of creation." Novu said.

"Wait, what's a paragon?" Courtney asked.

"Something your cousin can explain to you." Novu said.

"I'm just a teenager. How can I save the world?" Courtney asked.

"Aren't you preparing to attack the Injustice Society now?" Novu reminded her.

"That's different from the kind of thing Kara and her friends dealt with. The ISA may be evil, but they're all earth based and it's just Blue Valley for now. That's different from saving the whole world." Courtney protested.

"It's true you're still young and you have much to learn, about your staff, your powers and even yourself. But I'm certain that once you find the proper teacher, you'll become just as much of a hero as your cousin is." Novu said.

"What do you mean, the proper teacher? Pat's teaching me?" Courtney said.

"He can teach you much, but not everything you'll need to know to become the hero you're destined to be." Novu said.

"Kara." Courtney said.

"She will be one teacher for you, but there is another. One who can teach you things that no one else can. Someone who can show how to truly wield the Starforce's power." Novu said.

"Who?" Courtney asked.

"That is for you to discover on your own." Novu said, right as suddenly, a vision flashed in front of Courtney's eyes of some kind of dark, dismal planet in deep space for a few seconds before it vanished.

"What was that?" Courtney asked.

"I do not know. There are some things in the universe that are mysteries even to me. Though this is curious." Novu said.

"Do you think it has anything to do with what you mentioned the night you first appeared to me?" Courtney asked.

"Unknown, but likely." Novu said.

"So what do I do?" Courtney asked.

"Continue training, prepare as best you can for what's coming, but do not speak of what I showed you to any of your teammates besides Chloe Allen and Jennifer Pierce. The others do not need to know. At least not yet. I have faith in you Courtney. I believe that your existence on this earth will help ensure that history doesn't repeat itself. Now, I shall allow you to return to your quest." Novu said as he returned her to her meditation on Earth.

Chapter Text

Despite her mind racing with everything Mar Novu had told her, Courtney did her best to stay focused on what she'd originally been doing. Trying to meditate into the Star Force so that she could gain a better understanding of it and hopefully her powers, since she didn't want to risk losing controlling of her abilities during the coming battle with the ISA, since while they could be the game changer that prevents the new JSA from going the way of their predecessors, if she couldn't control it, she could end up becoming a liability and put her team in more danger than the ISA ever could.

Which was why she was meditating hard, trying to focus on her goal of reaching the Star Force when she heard a voice speak.

"What took you so long?" the voice asked and Courtney opened her eyes to see a man she'd only seen in old photos before, but she knew who he was immediately.

"Grandpa?" Courtney asked, since this man was Ted Knight, her grandfather on her mother's side and the first person to ever use the Cosmic Staff.

"It's about time you showed up, Courtney. We've been waiting for what feels like an eternity for you to find your way here to the Star Force." Ted said.

"Wait, are you the Star Force or my grandfather?" Courtney asked, confused.

"Both in a way. Because of my connection to the staff, I had enough of a connection to the Star force that while I can't use it like you can, when I died, my soul came here so that I could serve as a guide to you when the time came for you to enter here. But I am still Ted Knight, your grandfather and I'd like to finally get to hug my granddaughter." Ted said and Courtney smiled as she actually ran forward and finally hugged the grandfather she'd never gotten to meet, since Ted had passed away before she was born.

"I've waited so long for this moment. You look so much like your mother, my Barbara. I have to admit, I was disappointed when the staff didn't bond to her or Eliza, but I guess neither of them were really cut out for this work, but Sylvester proved himself to quite capable, even if his connection to the staff wasn't strong enough to allow him to come here when he died, since I know you're wondering why it's me and not him who's greeting you." Ted said.

"No offense." Courtney said.

"None taken, I understand, but he would be both proud of what you're doing and regretful that you got involved in this life. As am I. When I built the staff, I had no intention of choosing someone so young to be its wielder, but while I may have built the staff, the Star force is the one that gave it a mind of its own. But it did choose me to create the staff, which is part of how I was able to end up here." Ted said.

"So this is where I'll go when I die?" Courtney asked.

"Yes, especially since you've managed what neither your father or I ever could. You've become an actual avatar of the star force, essentially becoming a human version of the staff." Ted said.

"What exactly is the Star Force? My cousin Kara's friend Brainy explained it kind of, but I'm still not sure what it is?" Courtney asked.

"The Star Force is one of the five cosmic forces of the universe and actually the youngest of them, but still older than time itself. It's the force that actually created the universe, since it's a force of pure, light and creation." Ted said.

"Why am I the only person who can actually use it without the staff? My friend Chloe doesn't need an artifact to use the speed force?" Courtney asked.

"Because every force of nature does things differently and seeing how powerful the star force is, it had to choose its avatar very carefully. That's why the staff was created in the first place. To locate humans who it deemed worthy of it. The staff was meant to gradually connect its user to the Star Force, but it didn't take human life spans into account. It's only because if you have residual star force energy inherited from both sides of your family that the Star Force was finally able to connect to you fully. Now, it's time for you to learn to use it properly, since until you can control it, attempting to use the Star Force without the staff could turn the power of creation into destruction.

Chapter Text

Henry King Jr. was currently at Blue Valley General Hospital visiting his father yet again, even though there had been no change. He was still in a coma and from what he could understand from the doctors, he wasn't waking up from it anytime soon.

Still, Henry didn't know why, but he felt like he was still hearing his dad's voice in his head and it was still annoying. And it was like it was getting louder, like the voice was pounding against his skull.

"Henry, are you okay?" a new voice asked and he turned to see Artemis enter his dad's hospital room.

"Yeah, just a headache. I've been getting them a lot lately. But I'll be fine. Better than my dad anyways." Henry said.

"I just wanted to check in. Has there been any sign of him improving?" Artemis asked, since even though she didn't particularly care for Henry's dad, it was actually through their parents that they'd met and become such close friends and she was the only one of his original friends to stand by him after the Yolanda situation, since Courtney, Rick and Beth had all cut ties with him about that, taking Yolanda's side, not that he could blame them. He was still surprised that Artemis had stayed by his side long enough for him to explain the truth and she'd stood by his side and had even told Cindy off for what she did before she disappeared.

"No. The doctors say he's stable, but none of them can figure out what caused his coma or how to bring him out of it." Henry said.

"I'm sure they'll find a way to wake him up. I know that my parents seem to be interested in him too." Artemis said.

"I always got the impression that our parents didn't exactly get along." Henry said.

"Me too, but maybe they're trying to make an effort for our friendship, since I'm the only childhood friend you've still got." Artemis said.

"Actually, I talked to Courtney and I think that while Yolanda might not be ready to forgive me yet, Courtney, Rick and Beth might be willing to consider forgiving me. Especially since they know that Cindy was the one who outed Yolanda and framed me for it." Henry said and Artemis smiled.

"Then maybe we can get the whole band back together, since you're not the only one who lost friends because of what Cindy did." Artemis said, since Courtney, Yolanda, Rick and Beth had seen Artemis siding with Henry as nothing short of betrayal.

"Why did you side with me over Yolanda anyways?" Henry asked, since he'd been curious about that for a while.

"Mainly because I didn't want to make things more complicated between us since we're teammates on the football team." Artemis said, since she was so talented at sports that Principal Bowin had allowed her to join the football team as Blue Valley High's first female quarterback.

"Fair enough. But still I'm glad I had one childhood friend stand by me, since you know how the other guys on the team reacted and they don't get it." Henry said.

"No, they don't. They're assholes who only care about popularity. At least what we put on at school is just an act." Artemis said, showing a much more compassionate side of herself than she shows everyone at school.

"Yeah, tell me why we do that again?" Henry asked and Artemis chuckled.

"Because it's what everyone expects. And I also put on the act because I have to since as the first female quarterback in school history, there are certain standards I need to live up to. Not from my parents of course." Artemis said, since her parents were her biggest fans.

"Yeah, I've always been jealous of how supportive your parents are for you. My dad, well, you know what he's like." Henry said.

"Nothing you do is ever good enough for him. I wish I'd gotten the chance to meet your mom though." Artemis said, since Henry's mom had died before Artemis had met them.

"Yeah. So do I. Especially since dad's story about what happened to her never really made sense to me, but I learned a long time ago not to question it." Henry said, looking at his father's comatose body, right as his stomach growled.

"When was the last time you ate something that didn't come from the school or hospital cafeteria?" Artemis asked him.

"I'm not sure." Henry admitted.

"Well, today is my cheat day, so we are going over to my place for pizza." Artemis said, making it clear that she was not giving him a choice about it.

"Fine. I wouldn't mind some food that actually tastes like food." Henry admitted as he let Artemis lead him out of the room, not seeing a magazine next to his dad's bad move slightly despite no one touching it.

Chapter Text

I know I said I wouldn't do this again, but I am, since honestly, after nearly two years, I don't think this series is going anywhere, despite my claims otherwise, so since I'm sure someone is interested, consider this series up for adoption, reach me on any site this story is on to discuss. I have an idea for a new series in the works that I've started planning, but do not know when I'm going to post it, since this one will be a little different than my previous works and hopefully that will be a good thing. And also hopefully by the time I get the new series up, Fanfiction will be sending email notifications again. Thank you for your patience with me and I hope that my new series will be worth the wait and any possible frustrations.