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Brave New World: Stargirl

Summary:

My name is Courtney Whitmore. When my mom got remarried, I knew my life would change, but I had no idea how much. After we moved to Blue Valley, I expected my life to suck. Then I was chosen by the cosmic staff to carry on the legacy of the Justice Society of America. I still have a lot to learn, but someday, I'll be as great as Starman was. I am Stargirl. Part 7 of Brave New World

Chapter Text

Northern Hollywood, 1996

Pat Dugan was currently racing through the streets of Los Angeles, racing towards the location that he'd been informed was currently where the Justice Society was currently battling it out with their greatest enemies, the Injustice Society of America.

"Starman, hang in there, I'm on my way." Pat said over the comms as he heard explosions from the battle through the comms.

"No Pat, do not come here, you're not a member of the JSA, you're just my sidekick and if you come here you'll be out of that job." Starman said on the comms as it cut out, though Pat was not deterred as he continued to drive until he reached an isolated mansion that he could easily tell was where the battle was going on due to all the explosions. In fact, right as he came to a stop, the explosion flung one of the JSA's members out of the house and onto the ground right in front of him.

"Wildcat." Pat said as he kneeled down over the fallen hero.

"You need to get out of here Stripesy." Wildcat said before he died and Pat just headed inside to find the entire house in chaos, members of the JSA dead everywhere. The Flash, Green Lantern, Johnny Thunder and so many more. The only ones left standing were Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Dr. Mid-nite and Hourman. Pat panicked when he didn't see any sign of Starman anywhere, but it looked like the rest of the JSA was taking a beating. Dr. Midnite was taken out by the Shade literally swallowing him whole, Hawkman and Hawkgirl both vanished into thin air from waves of the Wizard's wand and Hourman had been knocked off a banister by Tigress.

"Well, well, look who came out to play. The sidekick." Tigress as she, Wizard and Sportsmaster advanced on him, only to be blasted back by a glowing beam of light and Pat turned to see Starman standing there, holding the powerful cosmic staff in his hand and he looked bruised, exhausted and annoyed.

"I told you not to come here Stripesy." Starman said as he found himself lifted up by Brainwave.

"Hello Starman. Time to join your friends." Brainwave said.

"Not today." Starman said as he blasted the villain back with his staff as he dropped to the ground.

"Come on, we need to get out of here." Pat said.

"We can't leave." Starman said, only to stumble back as he felt something puncture his gut and looked down to see a shard of ice in his stomach.

"Icicle." Starman said as he fell back and Pat turned to see the frosty leader of the ISA standing there.

"We need to get out of here." Pat said as he managed to drag Starman out of the house and into the car and drove off, activating his car's flight mode, right as Icicle dispatched the ISA's heavy hitter, Solomon Grundy to pursue and the giant zombie did manage to knock out the car's stabilizers, sending it whirling off course and crashing, leaving the ISA to assume that Starman and Stripesy had perished along with the rest of the JSA.

"Well, this was a fun night." Sportsmaster said and his wife nodded in agreement while the others rolled their eyes at them.

Once Pat was sure the coast was clear, he managed to get himself out of the ruins of his car and managed to pull Starman out of the wreck as well, though he noticed that throughout the whole, his boss had not let go of his weapon.

"Come on, we need to get you to a hospital." Pat tried to insist, surprised when Sylvester struggled against him.

"No Pat. It's too late for me." Sylvester said.

"No." Pat said.

"Pat, you need to listen to me carefully. It might be too late for me, but not for the JSA. It must live on. It's legacy must endure. Someone with honor must carry the torch." Sylvester said and Pat was touched.

"I'll try my best." Pat said.

"Oh no, not you. Someone with grace and heroism. Again, not you. But there is someone out there. Someone who isn't you. And that someone will carry on what the JSA started and get justice for us all. But once again, that person is not you." Sylvester said and Pat couldn't help but chuckle, since even while he was dying Sylvester was trying to show his sense of humor.

"Pat, you were a good friend and an even better sidekick. Promise me that when my staff finds a worthy hero, that you will help them like you did me." Sylvester said.

"I promise." Pat said and Sylvester nodded as he shuddered before finally passing away, the glow of the cosmic staff dying with him.

Pat just sat there and cried, mourning the loss of all his friends and mourning the world's loss of the JSA. However, what he didn't know was that in a hospital on the other side of town, at the same time as Starman died, his successor and the leader of a new generation of heroes was being born. The JSA would be reborn. He just didn't know it yet.

Chapter Text

Blue Valley Nebraska, 2012

Courtney Whitmore was not happy. She hadn't been ever since her mom had married Pat Dugan. Okay, that wasn't entirely true. At first, she'd been happy because her mom had been happier with Pat than she'd ever seen her and honestly, she didn't mind Pat or his son Mike. Then Pat and her mom had announced that out of nowhere, they were uprooting their new family from their life in Northern California and making them move to the backwater town of Blue Valley, a choice that Courtney was sure was Pat's idea, since her mother would never make a decision like this without at least asking her how she felt about it first, though her mother had said that getting out of California was the best thing for them, since she wanted to get them away from all the villain activity in California. But that did not make Courtney anymore thrilled about the prospect about leaving all her friends behind, along with the whole life she'd had.

Anyways, she was driven from her thoughts when the car finally stopped in front of their new house.

"So, what do you guys think?" Pat Dugan asked his son and step daughter as they all got out of the car to  take a look at their new home.

"I think that you had to have robbed a bank in order to be able to afford this place." Mike said, since that house was way bigger than the apartment he and his dad had lived in before Barbara and Courtney entered their lives.

"Yeah not quite." Pat said with a chuckle, glad to see that at least Mike was starting to come around to the idea of moving here.

"What do you think Courtney?" Barbara asked her, only for Courtney to move to start unloading the car trunk without a word.

"Court." Barbara said, wishing that her daughter would come around to this, but at the same time, she also knew that it would likely be awhile before Courtney was willing to give Blue Valley a real chance, since she knew that they hadn't exactly gone about announcing the move the right way, since they'd just sort of sprung it on her and expected Courtney to be okay with it.

"Hey, she'll come around." Pat said.

"I can't help but think that it's my fault she's acting like this." Barb said.

"What do you mean?" Pat asked.

"If I had actually talked to her about the move before actually doing it, maybe she wouldn't be so upset and she wouldn't be taking it all out on you." Barb said.

"Hey, I'd rather her be angry at me than you, but I'm glad that Mike is coming around to this, though I did expect that, since he is more used to moving around." Pat said.

"Well Pat, promise me that this will be the last time. I feel bad enough I uprooted Courtney from her life once already, I'm not doing it again." Barbara said and Pat nodded.

"I promise." Pat said as the movers began moving crates out of the truck, but he quickly grabbed one from them. 

"Whoa, easy guys, easy. I'll take that." Pat said and the movers nodded as they gently placed the crate on the ground as he walked past Courtney to pick the crate up, though he did not notice that as he passed Courtney with it in his arms, the contents of the crate began to glow.

"Hey, what's that thing?" Courtney asked, since she could've sworn she saw it glowing.

"It's just an old keepsake from my life before Mike was born. Why?" Pat asked.

"Well, it looks like whatever is inside that crate is glowing." Courtney said as she watched glow dim as Pat looked down, but to his relief, he found it was nothing.

"What are you talking about?" Pat asked, since to his relief, there was no glow going on.

"Nothing I guess. Must've been a trick of the light." Courtney said, though she didn't think so.

"I guess so." Pat said, hoping that she bought it and that it was true, because if Courtney was telling the truth, then he did not want to think about the possible implications about what would happen if it turns out that she was right.

"Why don't we finish getting unpacked and then we'll go out for a nice dinner." Barbara said and they all nodded, though Courtney could not stop thinking about what she had seen, since she was almost positive that it hadn't been a trick of the light, she'd really seen whatever it was that was inside that crate glow. She just didn't know why or what it was. However, her attention was temporarily moved to the large crates that were being unloaded from the truck, all of them marked auto parts, making Courtney curious about what was in them too.

That night, the four of them went out to dinner at a cute diner in town.

"Why is everyone talking to us?" Mike asked after the third person greeted them.

"It's called being friendly Mike. It's a part of living in a small town." Pat explained.

"Okay, I guess it's just going to take some getting used to, since right now, it seems kind of weird." Mike said.

"And is that a bad thing?" Pat asked his son.

"No Pat, you just gotta take the good with the weird." Mike said.

"Yeah okay, loving the enthusiasm Mike, but it's dad, not Pat." Pat said.

"Courtney calls you Pat." Mike pointed.

"Hey, don't drag me into this." Courtney said.

"Okay, enough. This is supposed to be a celebration of our new life here in Blue Valley. New beginnings. You two at your new schools, Pat at his new garage and me at my new job at the American Dream." Barb said.

"Yeah, it's gonna be a blast." Courtney said as she continued eating without another word.

 

Chapter 3

Notes:

This chapter will contain slight spoilers for the future of this story. You'll know how when you see it.

Chapter Text

That night Courtney was tossing and turning in her bed as she had the same dream she'd been having for several nights in a row and it had first started after her mom had started dating Pat. Well actually, it was several dreams, but they were all of things she didn't understand and what more, she actually remembered them when she woke up, something that from her research, wasn't very likely and neither was having the same dreams on loop constantly. All of her dreams were about these strange people she'd never seen before fighting each other, the dream full of explosions and different sounds. However, there was always one man in them who stood out to her. He was dressed in red, white and blue and he was holding some kind of cool staff.

"What is going on?" Courtney asked and for the first time, the man with the staff actually turned to face her.

"It's your turn now Courtney. Find the staff, carry on our legacy." the man said.

"What are you talking about?" Courtney asked, since honestly, this felt like more than just a dream now.

"You'll know when the time comes." the man said as he faded away and the dream shifted and now Courtney found herself wearing a similar costume to the one that guy was wearing and holding the same staff as he had and she was surrounded by other people. A girl about her age wearing black cat bodysuit, a boy who looked maybe a year older than her wearing a green suit with a yellow hood and cape, another girl who was wearing a red and brown suit and weird looking goggles, a guy with a red beard holding a sword, two people, a man and a woman, wearing brown hawk themed outfits with wings and directly behind her was a giant robot.

"What is going on here?" Courtney asked, since she had no idea what was going on, but honestly, she was pretty sure she wasn't just dreaming this anymore. It felt as if someone or something was showing her whatever this was for a reason. She just didn't know what.

"We need you to lead us Stargirl." the girl in the catsuit said before the dream ended and Courtney was suddenly jarred awake.

"What the hell was that?" Courtney asked as she tried to wrap her head around whatever it was she'd just dreamed and also hesitant to go back to sleep, since she didn't know what she'd see. Of if she'd like what she saw. Fortunately, she noticed that the sun was shining and her alarm went off shortly after she'd woken up, indicating that she'd managed to sleep through the night, however poor her sleep had been.

"Okay, time to get back to reality." Courtney said as she got out of bed and tried to shake off the craziness of those dreams. Little did she realize that those dreams would soon become her reality. Whether she wanted them too or not.

"Hey Court, how'd you sleep last night?" Barbara asked her daughter when she came downstairs for breakfast.

"Not that well." Courtney admitted as she sat down.

"Dreams again?" Barbara asked her, since she knew that Courtney had been having weird dreams, not that she knew what they were about.

"Yeah. They're coming more frequently now." Courtney said.

"Maybe we should look into getting a therapist once we get settled in. I was really hoping that once we moved here you might have an easier time sleeping." Barbara said.

"Yeah, you and me both." Courtney said as she tried to stifle a yawn.

"Do you want to try and get some more sleep and go into school a little late today?" Barb asked.

"No, but any chance I can get some coffee like we did back in California." Courtney said and Barbara chuckled as she poured Courtney a cup.

"You are becoming dependent on coffee far sooner than any woman should in life. I was hoping that you wouldn't need it till you started working." Barbara said.

"You and me both. I just wish I could figure out what was causing these dreams and get them to stop." Courtney said as she sipped the drink and sighed in relief as she felt the caffeine enter her system and start to wake her up and compensate for the sleep she'd lost.

"Everything alright?" Pat asked as he entered the kitchen.

"Yeah, everything's fine." Courtney said as she grabbed her cup and her bag and walked past him without another word.

"She seems moodier than usual. Is she okay?" Pat asked.

"She hasn't been sleeping well for awhile. Once we get settled in, I'm thinking about getting her some therapy." Barbara said.

"Is she okay?" Pat asked, concerned.

"Yeah, she's just been having these weird dreams." Barbara said.

"Did she say what they were about?" Pat asked.

"Just vague things about staffs and explosions. I don't think she even understands what it is. I just wish I could reach into her head and pull whatever it is that's causing these dreams out." Barbara said.

"Yeah, that would be nice." Pat said, trying not to let his concern show, since unfortunately, these events sounded vaguely familiar to him and not in any way he liked. He'd really hoped that Courtney had just been seeing things yesterday, but these dreams were confirming that she had not. And he also knew that he couldn't stop it, since it could end up that he was wrong. He'd just have to keep a close eye on both Courtney and the thing that was calling to her and see if his suspicion was wrong.

By the time lunch had rolled around, Courtney was notably underwhelmed by Blue Valley High. First she'd learned that the school's gymnastics squad had been shut down and she had no interest in joining the cheerleading squad, since to her, at least at this school, being a cheerleader translated to being a bitch and be expected to date an idiotic jock. Case and point, the school's head cheerleader, the extremely bitchy Cindy Burman, who was dating the dumber than post football captain, Henry King Jr.

Anyways, speaking of lunch, Courtney was having a hard time trying to find a place to sit, since nearly all the tables were full with everyone sitting with their friends. The downside of being the new girl. She had no friends to sit with, which made it even harder for her to find a place to sit.

Finally however, she found a table with only three very different people sitting at it. The first one was a black girl who wore glasses and had a brunette afro and Courtney could already tell that she was basically a ball of walking sunshine, since she had a huge grin on her face and it looked like she was talking to someone on a tablet.

The next kid was a boy, who looked maybe a few months older than her and the first thing that popped into Courtney's head was danger! Stay away, but she decided to wait and see if that assessment was accurate.

However, it was the final person sitting at the table that really got her attention. She was a pretty, latina girl who, if Courtney was guessing based off of her posture and facial expressions, was carrying deep sadness and regret within her. Courtney wasn't sure why, but she wanted to wrap her arms around the girl and assure her that everything was going to be okay, but restrained herself, since she didn't even know this girl's name, let alone why she was so sad.

"Hey, is it okay if I sit here?" Courtney asked as she approached the table.

"Yeah sure." the black girl said.

"My name's Courtney by the way. Courtney Whitmore." Courtney said.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Beth Chapel. You're the new girl right?" Beth asked.

"Yeah. So do you guys eat together by choice?" Courtney asked, since she was getting a vibe about this table.

"Oh no, we're not friends. The reason so few people are at this table is because no one wants to meet what's been deemed the qualification to sit here." Beth said.

"Let me guess, this is the loser table?" Courtney asked as the guy got up.

"Speak for yourself." He said as he walked away.

"Well, maybe that could change." Courtney said.

"I doubt that. We're the outcasts and that is not likely to change anytime soon." Beth said.

"I meant the part about not being friends. I'd rather be friends with people this school deems as losers and are actually decent people than the bitches that pass for popular around here." Courtney said and Beth grinned.

"That would be great. I've never had friends aside from my parents and they've actually been encouraging me to try and find some friends my own age." Beth said.

"Well, I could use some help learning my way around the school and this town, so having at least one friend could be helpful." Courtney said, as for the first time since her mom had told her about the move, she let a genuine smile across her face as she and Beth exchanged phone numbers.

Courtney was about to ask the other girl if she wanted to be friends, when suddenly two jocks approached them.

"Hey, do you smell something?" the other guy asked.

"Yeah, it smells terrible. Must be the smell of dyke." the other one said, causing Courtney to be shocked at that.

"Leave me alone." the girl said.

"I thought you'd want attention considering the fact that even your own parents don't want you anymore." the first jock said.

"Hey, back off." Courtney said, not knowing why she felt the need to defend a girl she didn't even know, but honestly, she was shocked that more people weren't. She guessed it was that small towns were incredibly small minded.

"Oh look, it's the new girl. You screw her yet?" the other jock said and Courtney had to take deep breaths to avoid losing control of her temper, though it was not easy.

"Is there a problem here?" a new voice asked and Courtney sighed in relief when she saw it was Principal Bowin.

"No ma'am, not at all." one of the jocks said.

"He's lying. He and his buddy were antagonizing this girl over her sexuality. They even asked if she'd screwed me yet." Courtney said.

"It's true. I have proof." Beth said as she turned her tablet to reveal that she'd recorded the entire interaction from the moment Courtney had gotten involved.

Principal Bowin looked over the video for a few minutes before reaching a decision.

"Mr. Brian, Mr. Tompkins, detention for the rest of the week and I will be calling your parents about this." Bowin said.

"But." one of the boys, Tompkins, Courtney believed, tried to defend his actions, but Bowin just shook her head.

"No, I am trying to reduce the amount of bullying at this school, not encourage it, especially over an issue like this." Bowin said as she dragged both boys away.

"Sorry if that embarrassed you." Courtney said, since the girl had honestly seemed mortified by the whole encounter.

"Honestly, it was nice to have someone stick up for me. That hasn't happened in awhile." the girl admitted.

"My name's Courtney." Courtney said.

"I know. My name's Yolanda." Yolanda said.

"Nice to meet you. Think that maybe we could be friends?" Courtney asked.

"That would be nice." Yolanda said and Courtney smiled as she gave Yolanda her cell phone number as the bell rang.

"Hey, any chance you can help me find my next class?" Courtney asked.

"Depends, who do you have?" Yolanda asked as Courtney checked her schedule.

"Uh it looks like I have Ms. Saunders for English." Courtney said.

"Then you're in luck because so do I. Come on, I'll show you how to get there without drawing attention. Something that I've had to become an expert in lately." Yolanda said and Courtney decided that she'd get the story about that whenever Yolanda was ready to tell her, though she had her suspicions based on what those brainless bastards had said, but she was going to let Yolanda confirm it when she was ready.

"Thanks." Courtney said as they headed out of the lunchroom.

Chapter Text

"So, how was everyone's first day in Blue Valley?" Pat asked as the Whitmore-Dugan family sat down to dinner that night.

"You were right about this place, it's awesome." Mike said eagerly as he began to stack food onto his plate.

"Really. I thought you said this place would suck." Pat asked with a chuckle.

"That was before I realized that because there's nothing for kids to do around here, so all they do is play video games and it turns out that in my computer design class, we get to use computers to create our own video games." Mike said eagerly.

"Really. What has the world come to if that's true." Courtney asked with a chuckle, though honestly, she had to admit that this town was not as bad as she thought it would be.

"It's true. My group and I are working on this game, Pizza Blood Party." Mike said eagerly, causing both of his parents to raise an eyebrow at that.

"Really. And your teachers have approved that?" Pat asked.

"Yeah." Mike said.

"Okay, I think I might need to have a talk with them about what's appropriate." Barbara said.

"Please don't. I don't want to lose all my new friends because my stepmom had to be a party pooper." Mike said.

"Fine." Barbara said and Courtney chuckled.

"What about you Court, did you join the gymnastics team?" Barbara asked.

"No it was shut down due to budget cuts. Our tax dollars at work." Courtney said and Barbara was disappointed.

"I also learned that small towns are also very close minded." Courtney said.

"So it sounds like you did not have a good first day." Pat said.

"I didn't say it was all bad. I did make a few friends today." Courtney said.

"So, it sounds like Blue Valley isn't so bad after all." Pat said.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I just said it didn't suck. I wouldn't say that this place is great yet." Courtney said.

"I'll take what I can get." Pat said.

"How was your first day at your garage?" Barbara asked him.

"It was good. I met one of the other owners today. Kind of a strange guy, a real fitness nut." Pat said.

"How was your first day at your new job mom?" Courtney asked.

"It was okay I guess. I got an actual office at the American Dream, which is more than I was expecting, but I don't think that my boss likes me that much." Barbara said.

"Well, give it some time. Like you told me about this town, maybe your new boss will warm up to you once he's gotten used to you being there." Courtney said.

"I hope so. However, I'm glad that at least you both are making friends." Barbara said, right as Mike's phone buzzed.

"Speaking of which, can I go over Johnny's house tonight? We want to play Fortnite for research." Mike said.

"Is that what you're calling it?" Courtney  asked.

"What, if we're gonna design a video game, we need to learn more about what people want in their games." Mike said.

"Sure you do." Courtney said, rolling her eyes at him.

"It's learning." Mike insisted as Pat and Barbara chuckled at their sibling banter.

"Anyways, yes Mike, you can go, but you need to be home by 10:30 and if you're not I'll start texting you every 5 minutes till you come home." Pat said.

"Yeah, no need to do that. Thanks dad." Mike said as he finished eating before taking his plate to the kitchen and then heading out.

"What about you Court?" Barbara asked.

"I don't have any plans tonight, but my new friend Beth is going to be taking me out tomorrow to show me around Blue Valley and hopefully my friend Yolanda will be able to join us too." Courtney said.

"Why wouldn't she?" Pat asked.

"I don't know. I can tell that she's not ready to tell me the whole story yet and since we just met today, I'm not going to push it. She'll tell me when she's ready." Courtney said, though she had an idea, but she didn't want to say anything in case she was wrong.

"Well, we can go to the drive-in theatre tonight if you'd like." Pat offered.

"Thanks, but I think I'll pass. I think I'm gonna go try and catch up on some of the sleep I lost last night." Courtney said not unkindly, but just tiredly.

"Go." Barbara said as Courtney took her dishes to the sink before heading towards the stairs.

"It looks like she's starting to warm up to this place." Barbara said.

"Yeah and she's not giving me the cold shoulder anymore." Pat noted.

"I think that now that she's starting to warm up to Blue Valley, she'll come around to you." Barbara said and Pat nodded. But then his attention was drawn by the fact that he was seeing Courtney walk back downstairs, though what really concerned him was the glow in her eyes as she headed towards the basement.

"Courtney, are you okay? I thought you were going to get some sleep?" Barbara asked.

"So did I. But for some reason, as soon as my head touched my pillow, I felt a weird urge to go down to the basement. It's like there's something down there calling to me." Courtney said.

"That's ridiculous." Barbara said, but Pat knew it wasn't and he was silently cursing himself for keeping the object that he knew was calling to Courtney in the house in the first place when he should've stored it at his shop.

"I know, but I can't help it." Courtney said as she headed down to the basement, with both Pat and Barbara close behind her, since they wanted to see what was going on with her and Pat was desperately hoping that he was wrong, though he knew that he wasn't.

When Courtney arrived in the basement, she felt herself drawn to the same crate she'd seen glow yesterday while they unpacked. Especially since whatever was inside was glowing again and this time, it was glowing even more brightly than before.

"What is going on?" Courtney asked as she approached the crate and as soon as she touched it, it started to rattle, like whatever was in there was alive and wanted out.

"Courtney, don't. You don't know what'll happen." Barbara said, but Courtney was beyond listening as she found herself in some kind of trance as she opened the crate to reveal the same staff she'd seen in her dreams.

"This is what's been causing my dreams." Courtney realized as she picked the staff up and pulsed with energy in her hands.

"Courtney, put that down." Pat said as he groaned at the sight of her holding the Cosmic staff.

"What is this thing?" Courtney asked.

"It's called the Cosmic Staff." Pat said as he moved to take it from her, but Courtney held it out of reach and the staff responded as such.

"Pat, what is that thing, how do you know what it is and why is my daughter holding it?" Barbara asked and Pat sighed.

"That is a very long story Barb." Pat said.

"Well, we've got time. Start sharing." Courtney said and Pat nodded, knowing that he wasn't getting out of this.

"It's a very long story, so I guess I better start from the beginning." Pat said as he felt both his wife and stepdaughter's eyes on him as he continued.

Chapter Text

"What is this thing?" Courtney asked as she held the staff in awe, not at all fazed by it's blinding light.

"Something that doesn't belong to you." Pat said.

"And why exactly does whatever this thing is belong to you and why is my daughter holding it. You promised us answers Pat, so start talking." Barbara said and Pat took a deep breath.

"Okay, okay. That staff is called the Cosmic Staff and it's not supposed to work for anyone other than Starman, which means that shouldn't be working anymore, especially not for Courtney." Pat said.

"What are you talking about?" Courtney asked.

"Wait, Starman, as in the JSA, from the 90s?" Barbara asked and Pat nodded.

"The JSA, like the group of superheroes who gave up right before I was born?" Courtney asked.

"That's not what happened." Pat snapped, shocking them both, since they'd never heard him react like that.

"Sorry, but that's a touchy subject for me." Pat said.

"What do you mean that's not what happened? The Justice Society of America disappeared literally the same day Courtney was born." Barbara said.

"I know, but it's not because they quit and it's also why I never seemed particularly happy about Courtney's birthday, since that day is also the anniversary of downfall of the JSA." Pat said.

"What happened?" Courtney asked.

"Starman and the Justice Society, they all died on that day, trying to save the world from their mortal enemy, the Injustice Society of America." Pat said.

"How do you know all this?" Barbara asked.

"Because I was there." Pat said.

"You were a member of the Justice Society of America. No offense Pat, but you don't really seem like a superhero." Courtney said skeptically and the staff bobbed, almost as if in agreement.

"Not exactly. I was Starman's sidekick, Stripesy." Pat said.

"Why didn't you tell me any of this before we got married?" Barbara asked.

"Because I was trying to protect you from the same fate that everyone else who knew about the JSA suffered, which was their deaths. Starman's entire family was killed and so was our contact in the FBI among others. I was really hoping that this life was behind me." Pat said.

"Then why keep all this stuff around, since I'm guessing it's not mementos from your glory days." Courtney said.

"No, it's because all this stuff was too dangerous to risk leaving some place for it to fall into the wrong hands, especially that staff, but it was also because before he died, Starman asked me to do something for him. To find someone else to carry on the JSA's torch. I promised him I would, but that all changed when I met you Barb. You were the reason I decided to finally stop chasing down the Injustice Society and settle down here in Blue Valley, a place so far off the radar I didn't think that they'd give it a second thought and allow us to live in peace, without worrying about them coming for us." Pat said.

"This staff is what's been causing my dreams isn't it." Courtney said.

"I'm afraid so Courtney. It did the same for Sylvester before he claimed it. What were your dreams?" Pat asked.

"Sometimes they're visions of the JSA in various battles that I'm guessing was the staff showing their greatest hits and one of the members, Starman I'm guessing, he always said the same thing. That it was my turn now and that I needed to find the staff and carry on the legacy. But more recently, I've been having dreams of a new team, with myself leading them, wearing a suit similar to Starman's and holding this staff and in the dream, they called me Stargirl." Courtney said.

"Did you see anyone else in those dreams wearing anything like this?" Pat asked as he pulled out a photo of the JSA and Courtney took a look at it.

"Yeah, a few of them. In my dreams, there was a girl wearing that same black cat suit, a boy wearing the same hourglass and green and yellow costume, another girl wearing those goggles and the suit with them and those two people dressed like hawks. But there are still two people from my dream that I don't see in here." Courtney said.

"Pat, what are you doing?" Barbara asked.

"I never believed it when Sylvester told me that the staff could show it's users a brief glimpse of the future, but I think that it was showing Courtney the next generation of the JSA." Pat said.

"Who's Sylvester?" Courtney asked.

"Starman's real name was Sylvester Pemberton." Pat said, neither he, nor Courtney noticing the brief look on Barb's face.

"Pat, she's 15 years old, she doesn't even know how to drive a car yet. There's no way that Courtney is going to become a superhero." Barbara said, for some reason trying to keep them from noticing the thoughts going through her head.

"You think I can't handle it?" Courtney asked.

"You're still a child Courtney. There are plenty of superheroes in the world already. Grown up ones. It doesn't need a teenager to save it." Barbara said.

"Mom, the staff wouldn't be calling out to me if that were true. I think that it chose now to pick me because the world needs Stargirl. It needs me." Courtney said.

"The world needs you to be an ordinary teenager. Not a crime fighting superhero." Barbara said.

"I still don't know why the staff would pick a 15 year old girl. It didn't show up to Sylvester until he was already full grown." Pat said.

"Maybe it's because the staff could sense a connection between me and him." Courtney said.

"What do you mean Courtney?" Barbara asked.

"What if the reason the staff picked me is because I'm Starman's daughter?" Courtney asked.

"Courtney, I can tell you right now that you are not Sylvester's daughter, since he died the same night you were born and from what Barbara tells me, your father was there in the delivery room the day you were born." Pat said regrettably.

"Courtney, I wish that your father had been a superhero, since that would excuse his absences from your life, but he's not. He was a deadbeat drunk who abandoned us." Barbara said.

"I don't care. The staff picked me for a reason and I'm not going to let either of you take it away from me." Courtney said.

"Look Barb, I don't like it either, but we both know Courtney well enough to know that when she sets her mind to something, she doesn't let anything deter her, something she gets from you, and I know that staff and it has a mind of its own. I'm not saying let's let her start her own team, but at least let me teach her how to use the staff so that way she doesn't end up hurting herself or anyone else with it. I promise I'll keep her safe." Pat said and Courtney looked at her mom beggingly.

"Only because I'm outvoted, but no costumes and if I hear anything about you using that staff outside of these training sessions, it goes away. And also Pat, you're sleeping on the couch tonight." Barbara said as she headed upstairs.

"Yeah, I figured." Pat said.

"Sorry about this Pat, but you should've told her the truth a while ago." Courtney said.

"I know. But Courtney, Mike has no idea about any of this and in exchange for teaching you how to use the staff, you have to promise me that you won't tell him." Pat said.

"Deal. But Pat, you recognized the people I mentioned from my dream, who were they?" Courtney asked.

"I'll show you." Pat said as he picked up the picture again.

"The guy in the cat suit is Ted Grant, aka Wildcat. His suit was cutting edge for it's time since it gave him all the abilities of a cat. Enhanced speed and agility, reflexes, sharp claws and he always landed on his feet. The guy with the hourglass is Rex Tyler. He was a scientist who invented that hourglass to give him enhanced strength for one hour a day and the reason for that was because he didn't want to get addicted to that power. The guy with goggles with Dr. Charles McNider, a blind doctor who invented those goggles to help him see again and became Dr. Mid-nite. The people dressed like birds are Carter Hall and Kendra Saunders, aka Hawkman and Hawkgirl. They're the only members of the JSA that I know are still out there somewhere." Pat said.

"What do you mean?" Courtney asked.

"In addition to having hawk wings and other abilities, every time they die, they reincarnate into a new life where they eventually recover their memories and powers. They may not look like it, but they've actually been live since the time of Ancient Egypt." Pat said.

"But wouldn't they still be kids right now?" Courtney asked.

"Yeah they would and it's highly unlikely that either of them have emerged yet." Pat said.

"Pat, in my dream, they were fully grown, but I was still the age I am now." Courtney said.

"A riddle for another day Courtney. What else did you see?" Pat asked.

"Just two other players. A guy with a red beard holding a sword and then this giant robot." Courtney said.

"I think I know where to find one of them. I'll show you at my shop tomorrow, because it's getting late. I'm guessing that you'll find the others as time progresses. I just wish that I could figure out why the staff picked you." Pat said as he headed back upstairs.

"I don't know why, but I'm glad it did." Courtney said as she placed the staff back in it's crate as it's glow died down and she headed back upstairs to try and get some sleep and for the first time in months, she slept peacefully.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Courtney woke up feeling more well rested and refreshed than she had in months. It appeared that finding the staff had been what she needed to finally allow her to get some rest.

Anyways, after she got dressed, she headed downstairs to find Pat waiting for her.

"Sleep well Court?" Pat asked.

"Better than I have in awhile. Turns out when you finally answer a magic stick's call, it leaves you alone." Courtney said and Pat rolled his eyes.

"Come on. Eat breakfast and then I'll take you to my shop so that I can tell you what I meant about what you told me." Pat said and Courtney nodded.

"So, what is it that you wanted to show me?" Courtney asked Pat as they entered his shop.

"This." Pat said as he led her into the backroom of his shop and Courtney was very surprised to find the robot that she'd seen in her dreams standing there.

"What is that thing?" Courtney asked.

"That Courtney, is a robot I built before I met your mother." Pat said.

"You are way smarter than you look. How did you build that thing?" Courtney asked.

"I built it out of old car parts." Pat said.

"Why are you a mechanic when you could be a rocket scientist or something?" Courtney asked.

"For the same reason the JSA wore costumes. Misdirection. By hiding in plain sight, doing something that does not draw attention to myself, the bad guys can't figure out who I am." Pat explained.

"Makes sense. Speaking of costumes." Courtney began.

"We'll talk about that once your mom calms down a bit, since unlike her, I do realize that with the staff comes a desire to protect people. Sylvester felt it and so do you and while I'm not thrilled about you putting yourself in danger like that, I also know that I can't talk you out of it, so I might as well do my best to make sure that you don't get killed." Pat said.

"Honestly, I doubt that there's anything here that could kill me. Even if the staff chose me, I don't understand why it waited till we were here to become so insistent. It makes more sense for it to have shown up while we were living in LA." Courtney said.

"I don't know how the staff's mind works, since I know that it has one, but I think I may know why it activated here." Pat said as he led her over to a trunk in the garage.

"What's this?" Courtney asked.

"Everything I've gathered on the Injustice Society. Ever since the JSA was wiped out, I've been following the ISA's trail, trying to pick up their trail. That's the reason why I moved around so much and why we moved to Blue Valley." Pat said.

"Because the trail led you here." Courtney said and Pat nodded.

"The fact that staff became active all of sudden means that I was on the right track." Pat said.

"Where did you get all this stuff and what's with the robot?" Courtney asked.

"One member of the JSA survived the initial slaughter that night. Hourman. He became obsessed with hunting down the ISA and finding out what they were up to. He followed the trail across the US until he and his wife were killed in a car crash." Pat said.

"And then you decided to pick up the trail from there." Courtney said and Pat nodded.

"I built the robot because I thought that I could help Hourman, but he wanted to go in alone." Pat said.

"Pat, let me help you. If the ISA is here in Blue Valley, you're going to need all the help you can get." Courtney said.

"You'll get your chance Court, I promise, but not until after you show me that you can handle yourself both with the staff and without it, since Starman never solely depended on his weapon in a fight, since while the staff may be alive, it can't always be there." Pat said.

"So what you're saying is that I can't just depend on the staff." Courtney said.

"Exactly. The JSA weren't just heroes because they had powers, in fact a lot of them didn't have any. But they survived and won as many times as they did because they were renowned fighters and the ISA was just as skilled. If you don't have the right training, then you'll get killed. So, that puts you on the back burner, since you've got a lot to learn and unfortunately, what I can teach you is limited." Pat said.

"Yeah, I figured that out from the robot you built to fight in." Courtney said.

"I'll figure it out. But for now, let's focus on the staff training." Pat said as he pulled the staff's crate out and put it on the ground before allowing Courtney to open it.

The moment she did, the staff glowed and shot up before flying towards her.

"Let's get started." Courtney said with a grin as she twirled the staff around before catching it perfectly and getting into a fighting stance.

"What was so urgent that you felt it necessary to summon me?" Brainwave asked Dragon King as he entered his lab.

"I'm sorry to disturb you Dr. King, but I thought that you might be interested in learning about this, since we both know that the Wizard is not the person Jordan should've left in charge." Dragon King said.

"On that we agree, William has always lacked the stomach to do what was necessary. But what is it?" Brainwave asked.

"My instruments detected a very strong energy signature coming from here in Blue Valley, though they could not identify where." Dragon King said.

"Okay, so, what is so concerning that it could not wait until morning?" Brainwave asked.

"My concern is that not only is the energy signature strong, it's also familiar. In fact, it's an exact match to the energy signature of this." Dragon King said as he pulled up an image of the cosmic staff and now Brainwave understood Dragon King's concern.

"Starman's staff. Are you sure?" Brainwave asked.

"Positive. I ran several tests to confirm that it was a match. You understand now why I called you." Dragon King said and Brainwave nodded.

"I always knew that leaving the staff out there, unaccounted for, was a mistake that would come back to haunt us and now it has. Jordan believed that without Starman, it would be dormant and not a threat to us. But by allowing it to stay in the wind, we have allowed it to find a new wielder and now that it has reawakened, our plans are in jeopardy." Brainwave said.

"Should we alert Jordan?" Dragon King asked.

"Yes. Even if it turns out to be nothing, he should be made aware of what is going on." Brainwave said as he pulled out his phone.

Jordan Makhent was currently sitting on a bench, thinking about his next target when his phone rang.

"Henry, what a surprise. I wasn't expecting to hear from you." Jordan said.

"You need to return to Blue Valley now. There's been a complication." Henry said.

"What sort of complication?" Jordan asked.

"Dr. Ito has detected energy signatures that are consistent with Starman's staff. It's resurfaced and it looks like it's found a new wielder. I thought that you'd want to be made aware of this." Henry said.

"You're correct. Who else knows?" Jordan asked.

"Just you, me and Ito. The others don't know yet. How would you like us to proceed?" Henry asked.

"With caution. I will head toward Blue Valley tomorrow, but in the meantime, see if you can locate the staff's current location and extract it. Preferably without making any noise. I don't want to draw unneeded suspicion when we are this close to our triumph." Jordan said.

"Understood. So that means that we're not telling Sportsmaster or Tigress." Henry asked.

"No, while they have their uses, they're not exactly subtle. We've evaded the authorities for so long because we've managed to avoid drawing suspicion. They'll end up turning a simple mission into a bloodbath, which will no doubt bring unwanted and unneeded attention. This operation requires subtlety. Something that both you and Ito excel at. I want you two to work on figuring this out and try to acquire the staff before I arrive, but if you do not, then we will inform the others and go from there." Jordan said.

"Understood. I look forward to seeing you again. William is not up to the task." Henry said.

"See you soon." Jordan said as he hung up and sighed, thinking he should've known that something like this would happen this close to their estimated launch date.

Chapter Text

After a brief training session, Courtney made it home in time to shower off from her workout since she was hot, sweaty and smelly and that was no way she wanted to look or smell like that since she was going to be spending the rest of the day hanging out with Beth and hopefully Yolanda.

She'd just finished up in the shower, but she was very shocked when she entered her room wearing only a towel to find Yolanda waiting for her.

"Sorry, your mom told me I could wait for you here. I guess she didn't realize how long you take in the shower." Yolanda said, both embarrassed and a little flustered at the sight of Courtney wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around her chest.

"Yeah, sorry, I was working out earlier and I took a bit longer in the shower than I'd anticipated." Courtney said, more than a bit embarrassed at Yolanda seeing her like this, though she had to admit, she didn't exactly mind the looks the Latina was giving her.

"I'll leave you alone to get dressed." Yolanda said and Courtney smiled at her gratefully, though honestly, for some reason, there was a part of her that was tempted to ask Yolanda to stay and actually help her get dressed, which made no sense while they were both girls, Courtney had no desire to let anyone else see her naked.

Yolanda seemed to take an extra minute or so to not so subtly stare at Courtney before finally leaving the room to let Courtney get dressed and while Courtney was relieved about that, she also found she was a bit disappointed by her leaving. However, she quickly shook those feelings off so she could get ready so she could go out with her friends.

"It's about time." Yolanda said to Courtney when she finally came downstairs, now dressed in a blue top with star patterns on it and jeans.

"Sorry, but I wanted to look my best. A sentiment it looks like you shared." Courtney said, referring to Yolanda's black top and black skinny jeans.

"So, are we heading out?" Yolanda asked.

"We're still waiting on Beth. That's weird, I got the impression that she was the early bird who was always on time." Courtney said, right as there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it." Courtney said to her mom as she moved to the door to open it.

"Sorry I'm late, bad traffic." Beth said.

"Beth, this is Blue Valley, you need a better excuse than that." Yolanda said, though it was clear that she was simply teasing Beth in a friendly manner.

"Whatever, shall we get started?" Beth asked and they both nodded.

"I want you home by dinner Courtney." Barbara said.

"No promises." Courtney responded as she and the girls left the house, closing the door behind them and Barbara rolled her eyes and smiled at Courtney's response, since that was what Courtney should be doing right. Not what Pat was teaching her to do. But she knew that the only reason Pat was teaching Courtney any of it was because that they both knew that Courtney would be using the staff regardless, so it was better that she knew what she was doing so she had a smaller chance of getting herself killed, but there was still a chance that she could get herself killed. And there were other reasons that Barb didn't want to think about.

Courtney actually found that she was having a great time with Beth and Yolanda as they walked around Blue Valley.

"You know Yolanda, I'm kind of surprised you were able to come. I thought your parents were still trying to keep you isolated." Beth said.

"Yeah, so was I, but honestly, I think that they're more relieved that they don't have to look at me and the shame and disgrace I bring on our family according to them." Yolanda said.

"Why?" Courtney asked and Yolanda sighed.

"One of the downsides of living in such a small town is that a lot of people here are incredibly small minded and my parents are not only that, they're also insanely Catholic." Yolanda said.

"Okay then, I think I'm putting the pieces together." Courtney said.

"Yeah. Let's just say that I don't exactly fill the role of the good little catholic girl my parents wanted me to be. It turns out that I like girls a lot more than boys." Yolanda said.

"Okay, now I'm caught up." Courtney said.

"Yeah. My parents didn't exactly throw me a party when they found out." Yolanda said.

"I'm sorry." Courtney said.

"Yeah well, it's not your fault that my parents are small minded and don't seem to get that I didn't choose to be this way. It's just the way God made me." Yolanda said.

"I'm guessing that they weren't happy to hear you say that?" Courtney said.

"Never said it to their faces. Honestly, the only member of my family who still acknowledges my existence is my cousin Alex. He's the only one who seems to understand that I am who I am and I can't change it." Yolanda said.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that you didn't come out on your own terms?" Courtney said cautiously with Beth shaking her head in a clear abort signature.

"It's fine Beth, she'll find out soon enough anyways. No, I did not come out on my own terms, that bitch Cindy Burman outed me just because her boyfriend Henry liked me more than he liked her, so she decided that she should expose him to the real me. And she ruined my life in the process." Yolanda said.

"I'm sorry, but hey, at least you don't have to hide anymore." Courtney said.

"Maybe, but honestly, I would've preferred to wait until after I was out of this town to do it." Yolanda said.

"Okay, anyways, how are you liking our tour of Blue Valley Courtney?" Beth asked, trying to change the topic.

"It's nice. I have to admit that I wasn't exactly thrilled about moving here from LA, but maybe it's not so bad." Courtney said as her stomach growled.

"Hungry?" Yolanda asked teasingly.

"It is almost lunchtime." Courtney defended herself.

"Come on, let's head into that diner." Beth said and Courtney and Yolanda both nodded.

"I hope one of you won't mind paying for me since my parents refused to give me any spending money, even after I do chores." Yolanda said.

"Sounds like slavery to me." Courtney said.

"Feels like it too." Yolanda said.

"Anyways, yes, I have enough money saved up that I can cover for you." Courtney assured her.

"Thanks." Yolanda said.

After having a nice lunch at the diner, the girls continued their walk around the town, stopping by the movie theatre, the drive-in and a few other places before Courtney got a text from her mom saying that she needed to come home for dinner, but she also mentioned that she could invite her friends over.

"Sorry, but I promised my parents I'd be home for dinner tonight." Beth said regretfully.

"That's fine, maybe another time this week. What about you Yolanda?" Courtney asked.

"I'll take any excuse not to go home." Yolanda said and Courtney nodded.

"Okay, I'll tell my mom that she should set the table for one extra." Courtney said.

"I'll see you guys on Monday." Beth said and Courtney and Yolanda both nodded before saying goodbye and going their separate ways.

Yolanda was honestly surprised by how welcoming Courtney's family was to her. Unlike her own home, the Whitmore-Dugans were very welcoming to her, Barbara let her in with open arms and insisted that she get first pickings of all the food on the table and Courtney insisted that she sat down next to her. This kind of affection had become foreign to her and it was nice. She'd honestly forgotten what it felt like to have a family that cared about her.

"Yolanda, if you want, you can stay here tonight if you want?" Barbara offered as Yolanda moved to get her jacket before heading out to head home.

"I appreciate the offer, but my parents are likely going to be pissed enough that I'm not home yet." Yolanda said.

"You sure you want to go home?" Courtney asked Yolanda, since for some reason, the idea of Yolanda being around people like her parents didn't sit well with her. And it wasn't just because Yolanda was her friend, it was more than that.

"Not like I have much choice." Yolanda said.

"Well remember, our door is always open to you Yolanda. You're always welcome here." Barbara said with a knowing smile on her face at the look on her daughter's and the concern in her voice.

"Thanks Mrs. Whitmore, that means more than you know." Yolanda said.

"Good luck at home. See you at school." Courtney said and Yolanda nodded as they hugged before she headed out.

Chapter Text

Yolanda was not at all surprised when she arrived home to find her parents waiting for her.

"Where have you been?" her mother asked.

"Out with friends." Yolanda said as she attempted to move past her mom, only to be blocked by her father.

"You forget that you're grounded." her father said.

"Yeah, even though I did nothing wrong." Yolanda said, since honestly, she was done acting like she was okay with being punished when she did nothing wrong.

"You call what you've been doing nothing wrong? You've brought shame to our entire family." her mom said and finally, Yolanda had enough of this. The short time she'd spent with Courtney and Beth, but especially Courtney, had helped her find the courage she needed to finally stand up to her parents.

"Will you give it a rest already. I get it, you're ashamed of me, but you don't seem to understand that I didn't ask to be this way. If I had it my way, I'd be the good little catholic girl you wanted me to be, but I'm not. I am who I am and I'm done apologizing for it, especially since I shouldn't have too. You're my parents. It's your job to make me feel loved and cared for and I have to say that you have failed on that epically." Yolanda said.

"Watch your mouth Yolanda." her father said.

"Or what? What can you possibly do to me that you haven't done already that isn't illegal. Since if you kick me out for my sexuality, the police will be able to have you arrested. But honestly, you've already grounded me, isolated me, did everything you could to make me feel unwelcome in my own home." Yolanda reminded them.

"So you're saying that you don't feel welcome here anymore?" her mom asked.

"Why would I? The only person in this house who doesn't try to avoid me like the plague is Alex and even he is too scared to stand up for me and until today, I was too scared to stand up for myself. But you know what, today I spent time with my real friends and they made me remember what it was like to be loved. They helped me find my courage and the strength I needed to finally stand up to you. I'm sorry if you can't accept me the way I am, but that's your problem and I'm done letting you take it out on me." Yolanda said as she headed upstairs.

"Where do you think you're going?" her mom asked.

"Upstairs to pack my things. My friend Courtney's mom offered to let me stay with them at least for tonight and I'm going to see if that offer is still good." Yolanda said as she pulled out her phone to call Courtney.

When Yolanda got upstairs, she found her cousin Alex waiting for her.

"How much of that did you hear?" Yolanda asked.

"Enough to know that every word you said was true. But you're really planning on leaving?" Alex asked and Yolanda nodded.

"I can't take it here anymore Alex and I shouldn't have to. Mom and dad treat me like I'm a prisoner here for something I have no control over. You know how the Whitmore-Dugans made me tonight while I was having dinner at their house. Loved. For the first time since I was outed, I felt loved. Like there were people who actually wanted me around. And that's a way I haven't felt here in a while." Yolanda said.

"I wish I could say you're wrong, but I know you're right. You sure you want to do this though? You realize that once you leave, you'll most likely never be allowed back inside this house." Alex said.

"I know. And I don't care. Honestly Alex, you're the only person I'm going to miss." Yolanda said.

"We both know that you'll miss your parents too." Alex said.

"I would if they still acted like my parents, but the whole reason I'm leaving is because they're not and they haven't for awhile." Yolanda said.

"I know. But I'm still going to miss you." Alex said.

"We'll still see each other, Alex. Mom and dad can't control what we do outside this house and hopefully, until they get with the times, I won't have to set foot in it again." Yolanda said and Alex nodded.

"Still." Alex said and Yolanda nodded.

"I know." Yolanda said as she headed into her room for what she knew would be most likely be the last time in her life, unless that is that her parents got with the times, something that she knew was unlikely unless they uncovered a new holy testament saying that homosexuality is okay, which was unlikely. She still found it ironic that the bible said to love your family, and yet her parents treated her like an abomination simply because she liked girls. However, she refused to dwell on that, since she'd learned a long time ago that trying to point that hypocrisy to them, so instead, she just started packing her things. Or everything she could fit into her backpack and suitcase, which was really just a few days worth of clothes, her laptop and a few other things, before heading back downstairs, not even acknowledging her parents as she walked out the door and desperately hoped that the Whitmores would still take her in and let her stay with them, at least until she could make some other arrangements.

Courtney was surprised when she opened the front door to find Yolanda waiting on the other side, a backpack and suitcase with her.

"Hey, is that offer to spend the night still good?" Yolanda asked.

"Yeah, come on in." Courtney said as she showed the Latina in.

"Thanks, I'm gonna need to talk to your parents." Yolanda said and Courtney nodded as she led Yolanda into the living room where her parents were sitting.

"So, I know this is very sudden and I understand if the answer is no, but could I please stay with you guys until I can find some other arrangements." Yolanda asked Barbara and Pat after explaining the situation to her.

"We've actually already prepared the guest room for you Yolanda. You can stay here as long as you want, so don't bother making any other plans." Barbara said and Yolanda sighed in relief.

"Thank you so much. I can pay rent if you'd like." Yolanda said.

"Don't worry about that. However, we will expect you to follow our rules the same way we expect Courtney and Mike too. Though if you break them, you won't have to worry about us kicking you out. We'll treat you the same way we would them." Barbara said and Yolanda nodded.

"I'll show her to the guest room." Courtney said and Yolanda nodded as they headed towards the stairs.

"Also Yolanda, I want to make a list of everything still at your parents house that you want to have here and then Pat and I will go over there tomorrow to pick up for you." Barbara said and Yolanda nodded as Courtney showed her upstairs.

"So, how long do you think we have before we need to talk to them about staying in their own rooms at night?" Pat asked his wife.

"I give it two months until Courtney realizes what she feels for Yolanda. Then, once they both come clean to each other about their feelings, then we'll cross that bridge." Barbara said and Pat nodded.

"I have a feeling that there's another reason that you're letting Yolanda stay." Pat said.

"I'm hoping that it will distract Courtney from this absurd idea that she needs to be a hero." Barbara said.

"The staff chose her for a reason, Barbara. And she's actually doing really well in her training." Pat said.

"Pat, I don't want her to be in danger." Barbara said.

"Barb, this is Blue Valley. The most dangerous thing she'll face is a jay walker." Pat said, though he had no idea of how wrong he was about that.

Chapter Text

Stephen Sharpe was working late in his office at the American Dream when suddenly, he felt the temperature of the air go down by drastically, but all he did was roll his eyes.

"You know Jordan, if you want to keep our cover, then maybe you should avoid using your powers to make an entrance." Stephen said as his boss entered the room.

"I'll keep that in mind Stephen." Jordan said.

"What are you doing here anyways? I thought that you were still busy traveling the world." Stephen said.

"A complication came up. One I will explain downstairs. Summon the others. This is an issue that requires all of our attention." Jordan said and Stephen nodded as they opened up the secret passage to the tunnels below and headed down.

"Well, this is a sight for sore eyes. When was the last time we did this?" Larry Crock, aka Sportsmaster, asked as he and his wife Paula White, also called Tigress, entered the lair to find the rest of the Injustice Society gathered there.

"Not long enough. Though I'm hoping that with Jordan back, maybe I'll have a football coach that makes it to the end of the season." Anya Bowin, the new Fiddler, said coldly, since she'd always thought lowly of those two.

"It's not our fault that those coaches you hired were idiots." Paula said.

"Enough. The whole point of establishing ourselves in Blue Valley was to avoid raising suspicion. But if you keep killing off coaches, eventually someone will catch on." Henry said, since he had the same view of his teammates that Anya did.

"Jordan, perhaps you can tell us why you called this meeting before someone kills the other." William Zarick, aka the Wizard, said.

"The reason I have returned earlier than anticipated is because the timetable for our plans have been accelerated." Jordan said.

"Why? There was nothing wrong with our current time table." Stephen asked.

"That was before Dr. Ito and I discovered a problem that could threaten our plans." Henry said.

"What problem?" Larry asked.

"Starman's staff has become active. My instruments detected its energy signature." Dr. Ito said.

"So what? Even if that's true, it's not like the staff poses a threat to us." William said.

"As usual, you're short sighted. The staff only awakens if it's found a worthy bearer. That means that there's a new Starman out there. And that is problematic." Henry said.

"So what? Even if that's true, it's not like they know where we are." Paula said.

"That's the other problem. The energy signature of the staff was detected here in Blue Valley. It's here which means so is the new Starman." Dr. Ito said they all immediately understood the repercussions of what he was saying.

"So, how should we proceed?" William asked.

"I say we kill him." Larry said.

"And if we knew where exactly he, if it even is a he, was, we would. But unfortunately, the staff's energy readings are not strong enough for me to track, nor do they appear long enough or consistently for me to track either. All we know is that whoever it is that is possession of the staff is here in Blue Valley, which puts Project New America at risk." Jordan said.

"So what should we do? We can't exactly go door to door and kill everyone in the house until we find the staff. That draws too much attention." Anya said.

"Which is why Sportsmaster and Tigress are grounded." Jordan said.

"Excuse me?" Larry asked as he and Paula looked outraged.

"This operation calls for subtlety, not brute force. That is why I am putting Brainwave in charge of this. He is the most logical choice, since he can scan the minds of the people of this town without them knowing." Jordan said.

"What about the rest of us?" William asked.

"The rest of you will focus your attention on getting Dr. Ito what he needs for his machine. I want all of you to pull your gear out of storage. Larry, Paula, you two will be allowed to be a part of that operation, but I want to make something very clear. If you two end up deviating at all in any way, and I mean any casualties that are not absolutely necessary, then your roles will go from hunters to prey. And I promise you will not like who is hunting you." Jordan said.

"Understood." Larry said, though it was clear that he and his wife were not thrilled about this.

Yolanda Montez was surprised when she came downstairs the next morning to find the Whitmore Dugan family waiting for her, all of them very happy to see her. Or well most of them. Courtney's younger brother Mike looked indifferent to seeing her.

"Hey Yolanda, how did you sleep last night?" Barbara asked.

"Pretty well. Better than I have in a while." Yolanda said.

"Did you make the list I asked you to?" Barbara asked.

"Yeah, I left it on the desk in the guest room." Yolanda said.

"It's not the guest room anymore Yolanda. It's your room." Barbara said.

"Right sorry, it will take some time for me to get used to that." Yolanda said and Barbara nodded.

"Anyways, I'll be taking you and Courtney to school today to fill out the paperwork to change your emergency contact information." Barbara said and Yolanda and Courtney nodded.

"Sounds good." Courtney said.

"So what am I, chopped liver?" Mike asked.

"I'm taking you to school on my way to pick up a truck to get the rest of Yolanda's stuff from her mom's house before I go to my shop today." Pat said and Mike looked satisfied by that as Yolanda finally joined them at the table, though she had to stop herself from going to prepare her own breakfast like she'd had to do for the past few months, reminding herself that this was a family that actually liked having her around.

The rest of the day passed by relative quickly and Yolanda was relieved about that, since she was sure that in a small town like this, it wouldn't take long for the whole school to find out that she was staying with the Whitmore-Dugan family and she was certain that someone would end up giving her a hard time about it.

But thankfully, so far no one had. In fact, the only person who'd brought it up was Beth and that was because she was asking if she could help Yolanda fully unpack at the Dugans, which Yolanda had accepted.

However, she should've known that her luck would not last forever. In fact, as she, Courtney and Beth were waiting for Courtney's stepdad to come pick them up, they found themselves being confronted by none other than Cindy Burman.

"Well well well, I see the rumors are true." Cindy said.

"What do you want Cindy?" Courtney asked.

"Just to know how much this dyke here had to put out in order to get you to get your parents to take her in." Cindy said.

"Excuse me?" Yolanda asked, seriously offended by that accusation.

"Oh come on. There's no way the new girl would risk any chance of her ever leaving loser town unless she was getting something out of it and there's really only one thing you have to give." Cindy said.

"Excuse me, but I'd think that if anyone here would be engaging in that sort of thing it would be you." Courtney said, shocking Cindy with her comeback.

"Watch yourself Whitmore." Cindy said.

"Or what? Unlike most of the people in this school, I'm not afraid of you." Courtney said.

"You should be. You have no idea what I'm capable of." Cindy said.

"Really." Courtney said, only to have Cindy push her backwards with more force than she was expecting.

"What the hell?" Courtney asked.

"I told you to watch yourself." Cindy warned her.

"That was uncalled for Burman." Courtney said.

"Deal with it." Cindy said as she made it clear that she was just getting started.

"Back off Cindy." Yolanda said angrily.

"Oh, looks like screwing the new girl helped you grow a spine. Fine then, if you want to get involved, I'm more than happy to put you back in bed with a girl." Cindy said as she moved to punch Yolanda, but she was shocked when her fist met something sharp.

"What the hell?" Cindy asked as she pulled her hand back to see what it had made contact with, only to be shocked when she saw what was coming out of Yolanda's hands, but not as shocked as she was.

"I don't know." Yolanda said as she looked down at her hands in shock at strange, what she could only describe as claws protruding from them.

"This isn't over." Cindy said, since while she desperately wanted to reveal her own hand accessories, she did not want to deal with her father's reaction to those actions, especially since he'd likely be interested in this before walking away.

"Yolanda?" Beth asked as she helped Courtney up and they also looked at Yolanda in shock.

"What's happening to me?" Yolanda asked.

"I don't know. But we'll figure it out. Together." Courtney said, making a decision to tell Pat about this, since maybe he'd seen something like it during his days with the JSA.

And right on time, Pat's car pulled up to pick them up.

"Hey girls, is everything okay?" Pat asked, only to stop when he saw the claws shooting out of Yolanda's hands.

"No Pat, it's not. I was hoping you might be able to help." Courtney said and Pat nodded, since with Yolanda's new skill, it would be best to tell her the truth about everything, if only so that she would trust him to help her learn to control her new ability, even if she decided not to use it the way Courtney wanted to use the Cosmic Staff.

"How can he help?" Beth asked.

"She saw too?" Pat asked and Courtney nodded.

"She did." Courtney said.

"Come on. Get in my car now. I'll explain everything once we're at my shop." Pat said and while Yolanda and Beth were confused, they nodded as they got in the back seat of the car, though Yolanda had to be very careful since she didn't know what was causing these claws to appear, though she did hope that she could get rid of them. Somehow.

After Courtney got into the shotgun seat, Pat drove off towards his shop, hoping that Barb wouldn't kill him for this, since it was unavoidable.

Chapter Text

"I thought I told you not to come down here and bother me." Dragon King said to his daughter when she entered his laboratory.

"Well I have a report that I think might be worth you making an exception." Cindy said and she could tell that she had her father's attention.

"Has there been a development with Henry King?" Dragon King asked.

"No, he's still as boringly human as ever. No, I'm talking about Yolanda Montez." Cindy said.

"What about her?" Dragon King asked, wondering if what Cindy was about to tell him had anything to do with something that happened so long ago that he'd nearly forgotten about it.

"She's like me. She has powers now. As in claws coming out of her fingers. I know because she used them on me by accident. Took everything I had not to show off my own accessories." Cindy said.

"Then you have more self control than I gave you credit for and it sounds like one of my experiments was more successful than I thought." Dragon King said.

"What do you mean?" Cindy asked.

"Do you really think I'd perform those experiments on you without first testing them on another subject." Dragon King asked.

"Yeah pretty much." Cindy said, making it clear that she had a very low opinion of her father.

"That's fair, but I'm not that cruel." Dragon King said.

"So Yolanda is like me. Another one of your experiments." Cindy said and Dragon King nodded.

"Yes, though unlike you, she was a failed experiment. Or at least, I thought she was." Dragon King said.

"I thought all your work was flawless." Cindy said.

"There is no such thing as one hundred percent success. Not in science. It's always a matter of trial and error. You were a success story, or at least I hope you will be in time. Your accomplishment today has brought you closer to it. And it appears that Ms. Montez may be one as well. Perhaps she could become an asset to us as well." Dragon King said.

"You realize that she'll never agree if you abduct her." Cindy said.

"I'm aware, not to mention it would draw too much unwanted suspicion. Jordan nearly killed me for the attention that abducting her the first time brought and before you ask, the reason no one remembers her going missing is because Dr. King and Mr. Sharpe took care of that." Dragon King said and Cindy nodded, honestly surprised that her father was telling her this much.

"So what now?" Cindy asked.

"Now I'm giving you an additional mission. Along with keeping an eye on Dr. King's son, you will now befriend Yolanda Montez, earn her trust and bring her to me." Dragon King said and he saw Cindy rub the back of her neck nervously.

"What is it?" He asked.

"That might be a bit impossible, since she'd most likely rather run me through with those claws of her's then come down here with me. I am the one who outed her." Cindy admitted and Dragon King could see the problem there.

"That is a problem. One that you will find a solution to and quickly for your sake, since I have enough to worry about with Starman's staff reappearing." Dragon King said.

"Permission to speak freely?" Cindy asked cautiously, since honestly, after hearing that, she had a better idea.

"Be quick." Dragon King said.

"Maybe you should let Montez go." Cindy said.

"Explain quickly." Dragon King said.

"If there is a new Starman, he'll likely be looking for allies. Maybe if we let him find Yolanda, she can lead you to him." Cindy said and Dragon King could see the appeal of that plan, since it did sound much simpler in terms of accomplishing it than his plan. Not that he'd ever tell her that.

"Maybe you would be a valued addition to the Injustice Society. Someday. But for now, get out." Dragon King said and Cindy knew that was as close to saying she did a good job that she'd ever get from her father and once again she found herself wishing that her mother was still here. She actually knew how to make her feel loved.

At the same time as Cindy was talking to her father, Pat Dugan was taking Courtney, Yolanda and Beth to his shop, since he knew that while Barb may want to keep them in the dark about his past, Yolanda's new ability made that impossible since she'd need help learning to control it and Beth had just happened to see it.

"So, what makes you think you can help me with this?" Yolanda asked Pat as she held out her hands to reveal her still active claws.

"This." Pat said as he opened the door in his shop to reveal the Stripe armor.

"Wait, you have a giant robot in your shop?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, it's a long story. One my wife will kill me for telling you two, since Courtney already knows." Pat said.

"And you guys can't tell anyone. Not even your parents Beth." Courtney said, since she knew that Yolanda and her parents were no longer on speaking terms anyways.

"I don't lie or keep secrets from my parents." Beth said.

"Well I'm sorry Beth, but you're going to have to, because this is a secret where if it got out, it would put people's lives in danger." Pat said.

"What is the secret?" Yolanda asked, wondering what all this had to do with both the robot in the shop and these strange claws on her hands.

"I'm getting to that." Pat said as he began to explain everything to them.

"So, you were a sidekick to a superhero and a member of this superhero team called the Justice Society of America and now you're training Courtney to become a superhero since she found and can use some kind of magic stick?" Yolanda said when Pat was done.

"That's about it." Pat said.

"Okay, Courtney your stepdad is a lot cooler than I thought." Beth said.

"I wouldn't go that far. Anyways, I thought that Pat should tell you the truth Yolanda since I'm hoping that he might've seen something that can help you control your claws until we can find a way to get rid of them." Courtney said.

"Right now, I'd settle for knowing how I got them." Yolanda said.

"I promise we'll find answers to that and I think I know where to start at least in teaching you how to control them. However, it is kind of out of the way." Pat said.

"Where is it?" Courtney asked, since she was also interested in this and Pat sighed.

"The only place I can think of that might have the equipment needed. The former headquarters of the JSA. We're going on a field trip." Pat said and all three girls nodded.

Chapter 11

Notes:

This chapter will contain a big twist for the story and it's one that I and I'm guessing several other people wish happened in the show and if you read some of the earlier chapters of this story closely, you might notice a few hints I'd planted to this earlier on.

Chapter Text

Courtney, Yolanda and Beth were in awe as Pat led them through the old JSA headquarters.

"This place is incredible." Yolanda said, momentarily distracted from the deadly claws on her hands.

"You should've seen it when it was still in use." Pat said, thinking back to the old days and he could almost swear he could still hear the sounds of his former teammates talking in the base.

"You okay Pat?" Courtney asked her stepfather.

"Yeah, just being here brings back old memories." Pat said and Courtney nodded.

"So, why did you bring us here?" Yolanda asked.

"Because Yolanda, this is the only place I can think of that might be able to help you learn to control those claws, since until we can figure out how you got them in the first place, I doubt we'll be able to remove them." Pat said.

"What makes you think that anything here can help me?" Yolanda asked.

"Because one of the members of the JSA used a similar method as their weapon. He trained here and I have a feeling that gear could be very helpful to you." Pat said as they entered the meeting room.

"Are these the members of the JSA?" Beth asked as they looked around the walls at the posters surrounding the room.

"Yep. Starman, Hourman, Dr. Midnite, Dr. Fate, the Flash, the first one, Johnny Thunder, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern and finally, the one we're here for, Wildcat." Pat said as he led them to the wildcat memorial he'd set up.

"Who was Wildcat?" Courtney asked.

"He was a boxer named Ted Grant." Pat said.

"Wait, you knew Ted Grant?" Yolanda asked.

"Yeah, why?" Pat asked.

"He's like my idol. I'm a huge fan of his. I know that he died before I was born, but still, I've seen his fights on the internet. I know everything about his career. Or well, his boxing career." Yolanda said.

"Then I guess it's appropriate that we're using his gear to train you in how to use your claws." Pat said, right as they heard a hoot.

"Is that a real owl?" Beth asked as she walked over to the Dr. Midnite memorial.

"Yeah, that's Hootie, Dr. Midnite's sidekick. After every mission, he'd always fly to Dr. Midnite's arm." Pat said.

"Does he know that Dr. Midnite is dead?" Courtney asked.

"No, because everytime I come here, he's still exactly where he was the last time I left. He's still waiting for Dr. Midnite to come home. Honestly, one of the main reasons I come back here is to make sure he gets food, since I know for a fact that Charles would never forgive me if I let Hootie starve to death." Pat said.

"Who's Charles?" Beth asked.

"That's Dr. Midnite's real name. Or it was. Dr. Charles McNider. He was a brilliant doctor who lost his sight fighting a mob. He built those goggles as a means of helping him restore his vision and in a way, they did help him see again." Pat said as to his surprise, Hootie flew off his perch and onto Beth's arm.

"Aw, he's so cute." Beth said.

"I haven't seen him leave that perch in years." Pat said.

"Maybe Hootie is kind of like the Cosmic Staff. Going dormant for years until he finally found someone worthy of taking up the mantle of his previous owner." Courtney said.

"It's possible." Pat admitted.

"Sounds like we're forming a new JSA." Yolanda said and Pat sighed.

"I know the three of you are likely going to do this regardless of what I say about it, so before we go any further, I need to be sure that you're truly prepared to take the risks. Being a superhero, it's not all fun and games. It's very dangerous work and if you don't take it seriously, you'll get killed." Pat said.

"Actually, I'm thinking that I might stay back and use the goggles to take on a more technical position." Beth said as Hootie flew back to his perch before she reached for the goggles and put them on.

"Booting up. It is so good to be operational again. Good afternoon." a voice said.

"Whoa, who said that?" Beth asked.

"Who said what?" Pat asked.

"I hear some kind of guy's voice in these things." Beth said.

"I am the AI version of Dr. Charles McNider." the voice said.

"Wow, he says that he's Dr. Midnite." Beth said.

"Sounds like Charles uploaded a backup into his goggles so that he could pass them on someday." Pat said.

"Stripesy is correct." Chuck said.

"What should I call you?" Beth asked.

"Whatever is easiest for you. And to whom do I have the pleasure of speaking with?" the AI asked.

"Uh, Beth Chapel." Beth said.

"Beth Chapel. Born May 15th, 2004 at Omaha General Hospital to Dr. Bridget Chapel, currently a thoracic surgeon at the Blue Valley Medical Center, and James Michael Chapel, a salesman for The American Dream. Beth Chapel has a 4.4 weighted GPA, four point zero, unweighted. She's the founder and only member of the Blue Valley High student teachers appreciation club." The AI said.

"Wait, do you know me?" Beth asked.

"More like I have access to every database there is. I know a great deal about everyone my sensors are detecting. Pat Dugan, formerly known as Stripesy, Starman's sidekick and former member of the JSA, currently the owner and only employee at the Pit Stop auto shop in Blue Valley, married to Barbara Whitmore, father of Michael Dugan and stepfather of Courtney Whitmore." the AI said.

"Okay, this thing knows a lot about you Pat." Beth said.

"And not just him." The goggles said as Beth turned to face Courtney.

"Courtney Elizabeth Whitmore. Daughter of Barbara Whitmore and Sylvester Pemberton, aka Starman." Chuck said.

"Whoa, Courtney, these goggles are saying that you're Starman's daughter." Beth said, shocking both her and Pat.

"What?" Pat said.

"No, that's not possible, my mom said that my dad's name was Sam Kurtis and that he was there when I was born." Courtney said.

"Well Chuck, is it okay if I call you that Chuck?" Beth asked.

"Of course." Chuck said.

"Well Chuck is saying that your dad was Starman." Beth said.

"Sylvester never had a daughter." Pat said.

"Or maybe he had one and didn't know it or just chose not to tell you about her for her protection." Yolanda said.

"I need to go talk to mom. I think she has some explaining to do." Courtney said.

"Look, I get that this is big, but I'm not leaving here until these claws retract." Yolanda reminded them of why they'd come here.

"Chuck, got a solution for that?" Beth asked.

"While not the same as Ted Grant was with his gloves, I believe that it is simply a matter of will. She just needs to focus on her claws retracting and they should." Chuck said and Beth relayed that information to Yolanda, who tried it and sure enough, her claws retracted back into her hands.

"I guess it will take some getting used to and practice to figure it out." Yolanda said.

"Now that we've gotten that sorted out, I think mom owes me a conversation." Courtney said and none of them could deny that since they needed to return home quickly anyways.

Chapter Text

"Mom, we need to talk." Courtney said angrily as she barged into the kitchen to find her mother cooking dinner.

"Courtney, what's wrong and where have you been?" Barbara asked, since she'd been worried sick.

"You don't have the right to ask questions. Right now it's my turn to ask them." Courtney said.

"Excuse me young lady." Barbara asked.

"How could you lie to me about who my father is?" Courtney said, stunning Barbara.

"What are you talking about?" Barbara asked, desperately trying to deny it.

"Don't play dumb. If you must know, something happened today at school that you can ask Pat about later, but it ended with him taking me and Yolanda to the old JSA's headquarters where we found some kind of device that revealed that my father was Starman, like I thought." Courtney said.

"Wait, you brought Yolanda into this madness?" Barbara asked, trying to deflect the conversation, but Courtney would have none of it.

"You lied to me my whole life. Told me that my father was a deadbeat who didn't care about me when in reality, he died trying to save the world. So tell me, why did you lie to me?" Courtney asked and Barbara could tell that no matter how much she wanted Courtney to let go of this, she wouldn't until she got some answers.

"When I met Sylvester, I was going through a very rough patch in my life. I was trapped in a marriage to a man I no longer loved, if I ever did at all. I met Sylvester in a bar. He was kind and sweet and funny and he swept me off my feet. For the first time in years, I felt truly happy." Barbara said.

"So you slept with him." Courtney said bluntly.

"Yes. In a moment of weakness and I regretted it as soon as I did, since while I may have cared about Sylvester, he made it clear that we couldn't be anything more than friends and I was still a married woman. When I found out I was pregnant with you, I knew that there was a chance that you were his daughter." Barbara said.

"Did you tell him?" Courtney asked.

"No, I didn't want anyone to know that I'd had an affair, so I passed you off as Sam's daughter, even putting his name on your birth certificate." Barbara admitted.

"So you lied to me my whole life to protect yourself and your reputation. I had a right to know." Courtney said.

"Courtney, in my defense, I did not know about Sylvester's activities as Starman until you found the staff." Barbara said.

"Why should I believe anything you say to me anymore? I can't trust you anymore. And I don't know if I ever will again. Barbara." Courtney said, refusing to call her mom in her anger and Barbara flinched at the sound of Courtney calling her by her name before watching her daughter walk out.

"I really am sorry about all this Barb." Pat said.

"It's not your fault Pat, as much as I wish I could blame it on you, I always knew there was a chance she'd find out the truth. I just deluded myself into thinking that I'd be able to make her understand." Barbara said as Pat placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Courtney will come around eventually, she just needs time and the best thing you can do for her right now is to give it to her. You're her mother and you've been there for her whenever she's needed you. She'll come around." Pat said.

"I don't know if she will Pat and I don't blame her. I told myself that I was protecting her by not telling her the truth, but now I realize that I was just protecting myself." Barbara said.

"Personally, I think you made the right call, even if it wasn't for the reasons you intended." Pat said.

"Really?" Barbara asked and Pat nodded.

"Yeah, if Starman's enemies found out that he had a daughter, they'd no doubt try and use Courtney to get to him and there's a chance she'd wind up just like her grandparents. Plus, it also protected her from Sam." Pat said.

"What do you mean?" Barbara asked.

"Barb, now that we know that Courtney is Sylvester's daughter, she can now lay a claim to whatever's left of the Pemberton Estate and that family was rich. From what you told me about Sam Kurtis, if he knew about the money that Courtney could have access to, he'd do anything to get his hands on it." Pat said.

"Do you think we should tell her that?" Barbara asked.

"We'll let her cool down first and I need to check on a few things before we tell her anything." Pat said and Barbara nodded as Mike entered the kitchen.

"Is everything alright with Courtney, because I just passed her upstairs and she didn't even look this mad when you told her we were moving." Mike said.

"Look Mike, it's complicated and I promise I'll tell you more when things cool down a bit, but for now, all I can say is that Courtney is very angry with her mom right now and it's best to steer clear and let her cool off on her own." Pat said and Mike nodded.

"Anyways, Yolanda's with her now, just thought I'd let you know that she closed the door behind her." Mike said as he walked off and Pat stopped Barb from going upstairs.

"Barb, I think it's too soon for you to approach Courtney, especially if it's to make any kind of observation about her life, since from Courtney's point of view, you've likely lost those privileges for the time being." Pat reminded her.

"I know, but still." Barbara said.

"Barb, considering Courtney has yet to even realize how she feels about that girl or girls in general, I don't think we have much to worry about yet. Yolanda is probably just offering Courtney a shoulder to cry on." Pat said.

"Why did you bring her into this?" Barbara asked.

"It's a long story." Pat said as he started to fill her in.

"I'd ask you if you're okay but I'm pretty sure I know the answer already." Yolanda said as she sat down next to Courtney in Courtney's room and wrapped her arm around the other girl.

"I just, I don't know how to feel about this. On one hand, I get that my mom was trying to protect me in her own weird way, but at the same time, I can't help but feel betrayed by the one person I always thought would have my back. I don't know how I can trust her after this." Courtney said.

"I know it's not the same thing, but I do know what you're going through, since I have very similar thoughts about my parents." Yolanda reminded her.

"I know and I'm sorry that you have to deal with this on top of everything else you're going through right now, but I just, I can't do this with anyone else, since mom is the one I'm angry at, Pat is busy most likely explaining everything to her and Mike doesn't know anything about any of this." Courtney said.

"Hey, I get it. Honestly, I wish I had someone to support me like this after I was outed. Might've made the fallout afterwards a bit easier to deal with." Yolanda said.

"Does the pain ever get easier?" Courtney asked.

"I can't say that since it's too different kinds of pain. I was outed against my will, but at least I already knew who and what I was. You literally had your whole world turned upside in an instant when you found out that your father is not who you thought he was." Yolanda said.

"But we both share the pain of being betrayed by our parents." Courtney reminded her and Yolanda nodded.

"True, but there is one difference you need to take into account Courtney." Yolanda said.

"And what might that be?" Courtney asked.

"That my parents did what they did because they're religious zealots who believe that anything doesn't fit within the bible's guidelines is a blasphemy, but your mom, she did what she did because she thought it would be best for you and she still loves you. I'm not saying you should forgive her yet. Of course not, I think you should drag this guilt thing out for as long as you can." Yolanda said and Courtney actually laughed.

"But eventually, let her off the hook. Who knows, maybe now she'll understand why you want to keep using that staff now that you know that it really was your father's." Yolanda said.

"I don't know Yolanda. I hope you're right, but I am glad you're here now." Courtney said and Yolanda smiled, happy to see that she'd managed to cheer Courtney up a bit as they sat there and she allowed Courtney to take comfort in her presence, even if it wasn't for the reason she wanted it to be.

Chapter Text

"Hey Pat, can I talk to you for a second?" Courtney asked that night after dinner.

"Yeah sure, what's up?" Pat asked as Courtney led him up to her room.

"What was he like?" Courtney asked and Pat smiled, since he should've known that Courtney would ask him that and didn't even need to ask who she was talking about.

"Sylvester was a great man. Kind, honorable, courageous. In fact, I see a lot of him in you, especially now that I know that you really are his daughter." Pat said.

"Do you find it awkward being married to my mom now that you know that she's your boss's ex-fling?" Courtney asked and Pat shook his head.

"No. Maybe if Sylvester and your mom had actually dated I would, but now, I just see this as another way to honor Sylvester's memory, since now I have the chance to help raise his daughter." Pat said and Courtney smiled, since she was liking Pat more and more and honestly, he was her favorite parent right now since all his attitude in regards to her being a hero were simply due to him being protective and since he'd lived this life before, she could understand his concerns.

"So, tell me more about him? And I mean Sylvester, not Starman." Courtney said.

"I know. Honestly, I'd known Sylvester since he was around your age actually Court. I was 20 when his parents hired me to be their family's driver and mechanic. Sylvester was 15 when he first started out, taking down some criminals that were threatening his parents and I helped as best I could." Pat said as he began to tell Courtney stories about her father, stories that honestly helped Courtney make sense of a lot about herself, since it sounded like her father was a lot like her. Something that made her very happy, but also wishing she could've met him herself.

"You okay?" Pat asked her.

"Yeah, it's just, after hearing all these stories, I kind of wish that I'd been able to meet him myself." Courtney said and Pat nodded in understanding.

"I get that hearing stories about him from me isn't the same thing, but Court, I can tell you for certain that if he were here, Sylvester would be so proud of you." Pat said.

"I hope so. But now this mission isn't just about stopping the ISA, it's about getting justice for the JSA, especially my dad." Courtney said.

"I know. But Courtney, this just means that I'm going to be pushing your training even harder since Sylvester would never forgive me if I let something happen to you." Pat said and Courtney nodded, still wishing that she could've met her father in person, since honestly, it felt nice to finally be able to let go of anger at a father she never actually had, though instead it was now focused on the people who'd taken her actual father from her.

A few days after school, Pat had Courtney, Yolanda and Beth at his shop, since that was where they'd decided to setup an interim headquarters, mainly because they couldn't keep going all the way out to the Old JSA base everyday and they'd decided to establish the cover of the three girls actually working for the shop to explain why they were there everyday.

Anyways, while Beth was mainly sitting on the sidelines and playing around with her new goggles, Pat had Courtney and Yolanda sparring with each other, Courtney without her staff and Yolanda without her claws, since he wanted them to be able to fight without weapons or powers, plus, it it would be a good way for Yolanda to learn to control her claws so they didn't pop out whenever she panicked and so far, they'd been doing well.

"Huh, that's interesting." Beth said as she worked with her goggles.

"What's interesting?" Pat asked as he signalled to Courtney and Yolanda to press pause on their sparring.

"It turns out Courtney isn't the only JSA legacy here in Blue Valley." Beth said.

"What do you mean?" Pat asked.

"Court, Yolanda, you know that Rick guy who eats with us?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, the guy who seems like a loner." Yolanda said.

"Turns out that while his last name is legally Harris, it's not his real last name." Beth said.

"So what is it?" Courtney asked, waiting for Beth to get to the point.

"His real name is Rick Tyler, son of Rex Tyler, aka, Hourman." Beth said.

"I never knew Rex had a son." Pat said.

"It's possible that it might be for the same reason you never knew about my relationship to Starman." Courtney said and Pat nodded.

"Doesn't surprise me." Pat said.

"So, should we reach out to him? Maybe try to recruit him?" Beth asked.

"I don't know. Rick doesn't exactly seem like the kind of guy who's a team player." Courtney said, right as Beth learned something new.

"Well, if what Chuck told me is true, then I think he has just as much right to join us as you do Court." Beth said.

"What do you mean?" Pat asked.

"According to Chuck, Rick's parents didn't die in a car crash. They were killed by something that Chuck calls Solomon Grundy." Beth said.

"Who or what is this Grundy?" Yolanda asked, seeing the look on Pat's face at the mention of it.

"Grundy was or maybe even still the ISA's muscle. He's a giant, mindless wrecking ball that literally has no mind of his own. He's essentially a very big, very scary, very angry and destructive zombie." Pat said.

"Then yeah, it sounds like the ISA had him kill Rick's parents because Rex was digging around too much." Courtney said.

"Okay, Beth, can you get an address on this Rick kid?" Pat asked.

"Yeah, why?" Beth asked.

"Because I think it would be best if I went to talk to him, introduce myself as a friend of his father's and tell him I have a few belongings of his I think Rick should have, which is true. Courtney, I think you should go back to the old JSA base and grab Rex's Hourman gear, since if Rick does agree to join us, then he should take up his father's mantle just like you took up yours, plus that hourglass will only work for him." Pat said and Courtney nodded, right as Barbara entered the shop, some kind of package in her arms.

"Pat, you here?" Barbara asked.

"Yeah Barb, what's up?" Pat asked.

"Can you Courtney that this package was delivered to the house today for her, though I don't know what it is." Barbara said.

"What package? I wasn't expecting any package." Courtney said as she came downstairs, taking the box from her mom without a word before heading back up to her friends and Barbara just sighed, since she knew that Courtney would be freezing her out for a while, but that didn't make it any easier.

"I'll talk to her." Pat promised.

"So, what exactly is going on here, since I know that the girls aren't just working for you." Barbara asked.

"This is where I'm training Courtney and Yolanda, making sure that they actually know how to fight, since they're going to do this regardless, so I might as well make sure they don't get themselves killed." Pat said and Barbara nodded.

"Well, I guess I'd better head home, I just wanted to get that package here before Mike opened it." Barbara said and Pat nodded.

"What's in the box?" Beth asked Courtney when she rejoined them.

"No clue. All I know is that it was delivered to the house for me earlier." Courtney said.

"Well, open it and let's find out." Yolanda said and Courtney nodded as she opened the box and was stunned by what she found inside.

"You okay Court?" Pat asked as he saw what was in the box.

"I don't know who made this or how they knew I needed it, but I love it." Courtney said as she pulled out a blue and white suit.

"Someone sent you a super suit?" Yolanda asked.

"Yeah, but I don't know who, since there's no return address on it." Courtney said as she then noticed a letter in the box.

"Who's the letter from?" Beth asked.

"I don't know. Let's find out." Courtney said as she opened it and a few tears came to her eyes as she read it.

"What does it say?" Pat asked as Courtney took a deep breath.

"Dear Courtney, I know that this likely won't make much sense to you when you get this, but this is a gift from me, your real father. If you're reading this letter, it means that I'm not around to give it to you in person and for that I'm sorry. And not just for that, but for leaving you to inherit my burden. The staff picked you just like it picked me. I kept tabs on your mother after I met her, since I was hoping that I could convince her to let me have time with you after you were born, but that clearly didn't happen. Before you ask, the way I know your name is because shortly after I found out your mom was pregnant with you, the staff showed me a vision of a girl who I knew could only be my daughter and would one day be my successor. I had this suit made so that you could look the part when you're ready. I know you'll put it to good use, because the staff wouldn't have chosen you if you wouldn't. I wish I was there to explain all this to you in person, but I can't. I hope that someday you can understand why I'm not there and that you'll understand what it means to be a hero. And one more thing. If you're with Pat, tell him I'm sorry for not telling him about you, but I expect him to help you the same way he helped me. I love you Courtney, even though I never got to meet you. Love, your father, Sylvester. PS, tell Pat that as my daughter, you have full access to whatever is left of my estate by the time you get this, so make sure you get it." Courtney read out loud and now they could all understand why she was so emotional.

"You okay?" Yolanda asked her.

"Yeah, it's just, more than I was expecting." Courtney said as Pat carefully took the letter.

"Everything okay?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, I just wanted to be sure that this was Sylvester's handwriting, which it is. I'll see what I can do about that estate." Pat said.

"Good, because I want to be rich." Courtney said and Pat laughed.

"We'll see." Pat said as Courtney put the suit and the letter down.

"Do you want to call it for the day?" Yolanda asked.

"Yeah, I think that would be best. My head is not focused on training anymore." Courtney said and they all nodded in understanding as they packed everything up before heading out.

Chapter Text

"So, what do you think?" Courtney asked Yolanda later that night in her bedroom, since she was trying on her new superhero costume and she wanted Yolanda to be the first one to see her in it.

"I think that it shows off a bit of skin, but it's very hot." Yolanda said at the sight of Courtney wearing that red, white and blue outfit.

"Honestly, I feel a bit like Captain America without the unbreakable shield." Courtney admitted.

"But you got a magic staff instead. I think that's better, since the staff comes back on it's own." Yolanda said.

"I know and trust me, I love the suit, it's just going to take a little getting used too and I can't believe my dad made me a suit that showed off so much skin." Courtney said.

"I got no complaints about it." Yolanda said.

"Yolanda, you're staring at me." Courtney said, though she didn't exactly have a problem with it.

"Sorry Court, it's just, you in that outfit, well, you look really, really hot in it." Yolanda said.

"Really." Courtney said, a bit smugly.

"Yeah, you do. And I am very jealous, since not only do you have a costume and I don't, but yours already looks so good on you." Yolanda said.

"Well, if you want, when I go back to the JSA base to get the hourglass, I could snag Wildcat's suit for you, see if we can modify it for you." Courtney said.

"That would be great. But Court, you're still missing something. You've got the staff and the costume, but you still need a name, since you can't go by Starman since you're a girl." Yolanda said.

"True. How about Stargirl?" Courtney said.

"Not very original." Yolanda admitted.

"It's the closest I can get to Starman and Starwoman makes me feel old." Courtney said.

"I never said I had a problem with it. After all, I'm taking over the same name as the guy who wore the suit I'm going to be wearing." Yolanda said and Courtney nodded.

"I should probably change out of this before Mike sees me in it." Courtney said and Yolanda nodded in agreement as she stepped out of Courtney's room to her change.

When Courtney told her that she could come back in, Yolanda found that she'd changed into an old t-shirt and some booty shorts.

"Nice look." Yolanda said and Courtney shrugged.

"The costume was nice, but for work emergencies only." Courtney said.

"I'm sure that we'll find some exceptions for that." Yolanda said.

"Meaning what?" Courtney asked and Yolanda decided that after seeing Courtney in that outfit and knowing that she would be distracted otherwise if she didn't get this off her chest, she decided to go for it and finally come clean to her about how she felt and hoped that it wouldn't all blow up in her face.

"Look Courtney, I thought I could handle keeping this secret, but I can't. Not anymore." Yolanda said.

"What secret?" Courtney asked.

"I like you Courtney." Yolanda blurted out before she could lose her nerve.

"Yeah, I like you too, we're friends." Courtney said, confused.

"No, not just as friends. I mean, I like you as in I like girls." Yolanda said and now Courtney got it and she was stunned.

"Wow." Courtney said.

"I know, I'm stupid and I understand if I freaked you out and you want me to get out of your house, I'll see if Beth will let me stay with her or something." Yolanda said.

"No Yolanda, I'm glad that you told me. If we're going to do this, we can't keep secrets from each other, especially like that and honestly, it does explain the way you've been looking at me." Courtney said.

"So, you're not freaked out." Yolanda asked.

"No, I was just caught off guard." Courtney said.

"So, where do we go from here?" Yolanda asked.

"I think that I don't know how I want to respond to what you said, so could you give me some time to figure it out." Courtney said.

"Of course. Honestly, the fact that you're not shouting at me to get out is a relief." Yolanda said as she moved to leave Courtney alone as she sat down on her bed to think about what Yolanda had told her.

"Hey, not used to seeing you up this early on a Saturday." Barbara said to Courtney when she came downstairs the following morning to find her sitting at the counter.

"I didn't get much sleep last night." Courtney admitted.

"I know I'm still in the doghouse for keeping the truth about your dad from you, but you can still talk to me if you need to." Barbara said.

"Honestly, I could use some mom advice, though you're still in the doghouse for a while." Courtney said.

"So, what's up? Nightmares again?" Barbara asked.

"No. Just got a lot on my mind." Courtney said.

"Really, like what?" Barbara asked and Courtney sighed.

"Last night, Yolanda told me she liked me. Like, she like liked me." Courtney said and was surprised when her mother smiled.

"What?" Courtney asked.

"Nothing, I'm just surprised that she did it this soon." Barbara said.

"Wait, you knew?" Courtney asked and Barbara smiled.

"Courtney, she wasn't exactly subtle about it. I'm honestly surprised you didn't realize it." Barbara said.

"I guess I just didn't know what to look for." Courtney said.

"Or you tried to avoid looking for it on purpose." Barbara said.

"What do you mean?" Courtney asked.

"Courtney, do you think I haven't seen the looks you give Yolanda when you think no one else is watching? The way she makes you smile and laugh, it's like no one else I've ever seen." Barbara said.

"Wait, you think that I like her too?" Courtney asked, shocked, but not angry by her mother's assumption.

"Well, do you?" Barbara asked.

"Of course I do, she's my friend. She's nice and smart and tough and beautiful." Courtney said as she realized what she'd just said.

"Sounds like she checks all your boxes." Barbara said.

"Don't you think that if I liked her or girls in general in that way, that I'd know it first?" Courtney asked.

"Not always. I'm sure there have been plenty of cases where the parents figured it out first. But Courtney, you still haven't really answered my question. In fact, it sounds like you're trying to avoid answering it. To please, take a deep breath and then don't think before you answer this question, just say it." Barbara said and her daughter nodded.

"Courtney, do you like Yolanda as more than just a friend?" Barbara asked.

"Yes." Courtney said on instinct as she realized it.

"I like Yolanda. I'm so confused." Courtney said as a bunch of new emotions rolled over her.

"I know sweetie, I know. But I think you should tell Yolanda, not so that you can start going out on dates with her yet, but because I think that she can help you figure things out in your head first." Barbara said and Courtney nodded.

"I'll go talk to her now." Courtney said, deciding she should talk to Yolanda now before she lost her nerve, especially since she knew she'd need help from someone who'd been through this before to help her through what she was going through now.

Chapter Text

Yolanda was honestly relieved when she was awoken from her less than ideal sleep by someone knocking on her door, since honestly, she'd spent a majority of the night worried that Courtney would end up hating her now that she'd had time to think things through a bit.

So, after putting on her robe, even though she was wearing pajamas, Yolanda didn't want to feel awkward, but anyways, she then went to open the door to find Courtney, who was also dressed in her pajamas, waiting on the other side.

"Can I come in?" Courtney asked.

"Yeah of course." Yolanda said as she showed Courtney into her room.

"I need to talk to you about something private." Courtney said.

"Is this about what I told you last night?" Yolanda asked as she closed and locked the door behind her, since she didn't want to risk any interruptions.

"Yeah it is." Courtney said.

"Okay, what is it?" Yolanda asked and she was very surprised by the words that came out of Courtney's mouth.

"I like you Yolanda. As in, the same way you like me." Courtney said, much to Yolanda's pleasant surprise.

"Yeah. My mom actually helped me figure things out this morning and she encouraged me to come and tell you now." Courtney said and Yolanda relaxed.

"That's great." Yolanda said.

"But Yolanda, I'm not sure I'm ready for a relationship yet. I mean, I didn't even think that I was gay or even bi until you told me how you felt last night and even so, it took having a talk with my mom about it in the first place to get me to realize it. I think it's a bit too soon for me to jump into a relationship, even though I want to." Courtney said and Yolanda nodded, not at all discouraged, since this all made perfect sense to her, since she'd gone through it herself.

"I completely understand and I promise I will help you Courtney. I wish I had someone to help me when I first came out." Yolanda said.

"I am sorry you had to go through that alone. But remember Yolanda, you're not alone anymore." Courtney said.

"I know and while I am a bit disappointed that you're not ready to date yet, just knowing that you do feel the same way about me is enough for now." Yolanda said.

"Good. Now, let's get downstairs for breakfast before Mike gets all the good pancakes." Courtney said and Yolanda smiled as she nodded in agreement, since she'd tasted Barbara's pancakes before and they were worth getting up early on a Saturday for.

Later on that day, Pat found himself walking towards a house on the outskirts of town. He was honestly considering calling Beth to make sure she'd given him the right address, since this place did not exactly look very homey to him. However, he stopped himself when he noticed a very familiar car in the driveway.

"Yep, this is the place." Pat said as a man who definitely was not Rex walked out.

"Can I help you?" the guy asked aggressively.

"Yeah, I was looking for your kid, Rick, is he around?" Pat asked.

"Is he in trouble again?" the guy asked.

"No, nothing like that. Just wanted to have a talk with him." Pat said, wondering who this guy was and why Rex and his wife would leave their son with him.

"He's not here and before you ask, no I don't know where he is. Now get off my property before I call the cops." the guy said and Pat sighed.

"Fine. Thanks anyway." Pat said, trying to keep his frustration under control as he walked towards his own car and called Courtney.

"Hey Pat, how did it go?" Courtney asked.

"Well, Rick wasn't here, but whoever it is Rex left as his guardian was. Speaking of, you might want to have the police check in here." Pat said.

"I'll keep that in mind, but I'm guessing there's a reason you called me?" Courtney asked.

"See if Beth can use those goggles of hers to find Rick, since honestly, I'd feel a lot better knowing that Rex's son was actually being raised by someone who cared about him." Pat said.

"Okay, good to know. But you know we'd need actual evidence, since the police won't just arrest the guy due to one phone call." Courtney said.

"Let me worry about that." Pat said.

"Okay. I'll see if Beth can get you a location on Rick. But Pat, even if Rick doesn't join us, I still think he should have his dad's hourglass." Courtney said.

"Courtney, that hourglass is too dangerous to be allowed in a kid's hands without adult supervision. Rick will need to learn how to control the power it gives him, just like how you're still learning to use the cosmic staff." Pat said.

"I know, but still, I feel guilty knowing that we have something that's rightfully Rick's, but we're refusing to give it to him." Courtney said.

"Look, I want Rick to have his father's hourglass too, but I also know that Rex would never want it to fall into the wrong hands. Especially hands that could make it work." Pat said.

"Okay, I'll let you know if we find him before you do." Courtney said.

"Great, thanks." Pat said as he hung up and got into his car.

Rick Harris was currently standing in front of a tree, glaring at it like he did every day, since it was this stupid tree that destroyed his life. He still didn't know what had caused the accident that killed his parents, all he knew was that they'd been slammed into this tree and that his life had been ruined because of it, since now he was living with a bitter uncle who wanted nothing to do with him. However, Rick was drawn from his thoughts when he heard someone speak up from behind him.

"Are you Rick Harris?" a man's voice asked and Rick turned to see a man who looked around the age his dad might be if he was still alive, standing there.

"Depends, who are you?" Rick asked and to his surprise, the man smiled.

"I'm a friend of your father's." Pat said to the young man.

"My dad doesn't have any friends." Rick said.

"Let me rephrase that. I'm a friend of your real father, Rex Tyler." Pat said, surprising Rick.

"Wait, you know who my real dad is?" Rick asked.

"I do and he was one of my closest friends." Pat said.

"I don't remember seeing you at the funeral." Rick said.

"That's because I didn't know about Rex's death until after the funeral had happened. But anyways, I think we have a lot to talk about, since there's a lot more to your father than you realize." Pat said.

"Like what?" Rick asked.

"Like I have a few things of your dad's that I think he'd want you to have back at my shop. I hear you're good with machines. I could use someone with your skills." Pat said.

"Show me what you have of my father's and then maybe I'll consider it." Rick said.

"Fair enough. Come with me. I'd say you should let your uncle know where you're going, but based on my visit with him, I doubt he'd care." Pat said.

"You're not wrong. Let's go." Rick said, honestly not worried about getting into a car with a stranger, since not only did he know how to protect himself, but for some reason, he did trust this guy.

"Who are you?" Rick asked, deciding that he should get the guy's name.

"My apologies. My name is Pat Dugan." Pat said as he led Rick towards his car.

Chapter Text

When Pat and Rick arrived at his shop, Rick was surprised when he saw the three girls he had lunch with at school sitting up in the upper level of the shop, all of them not so subtly staring at him as he walked in.

"What's up with the viewing party." Rick asked and Pat chuckled.

"Sorry, that's just my stepdaughter and her friends, they hang out here when they have time and lend a hand." Pat said.

"So anyways, you said that you knew my dad?" Rick asked and Pat nodded.

"I did. Very well. But before I tell you anything, I want to know what you know about your dad." Pat asked.

"Not much. My uncle never really talks about him unless it's to complain about how he ruined his life." Rick said.

"Well, your father was not the person your uncle no doubt made him out to be." Pat said.

"Then who was he really?" Rick asked.

"Your dad was one of the bravest people I've ever met. You ever hear of the Justice Society of America?" Pat asked.

"Vaguely. A team of superheroes who quit around the same time Superman showed up?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, that's not exactly what happened." Pat said.

"And how would you know?" Rick asked.

"Because I was there. The JSA didn't quit, they were slaughtered by their enemies, the Injustice Society of America and your father was one of its members. In fact, he's the only member of the JSA that's actually second generation." Pat said.

"What do you mean second generation?" Courtney now asked, since that was new information to her too.

"Come on down, I'll tell you guys too." Pat said as the three girls came downstairs.

"Anyways, the JSA you guys know about was the second incarnation of it. The original JSA was a team that was actually founded in World War 2. That team was established by the US government to utilize super-powered or gifted assets for the Allied war effort to combat the Axis Powers. That team was made up of a much smaller roster, Commander Steele, Vixen, Obsidian and Rick's grandfather, Rex Tyler Sr, aka the first Hourman. After the JSA disbanded during the war, due to Vixen retiring and the others being killed on a mission, Rex settled down and started a family, eventually passing his mantle onto his son, Rick's father, Rex Tyler Jr., who became the next Hourman and began recruiting his own JSA made up of members like Wildcat, Dr. Midnite, Dr. Fate, Johnny Thunder, Green Lantern, the Flash." Pat said.

"I thought that the Flash didn't show up until a few months ago." Beth interrupted.

"Different Flash, but honestly, I think this new guy could give the old one a run for his money, but anyways, along with them, the team also had Hawkman, Hawkgirl and Courtney's father Starman." Pat said.

"So what happened to them?" Rick asked.

"Like every superhero, they had enemies and some of those enemies came together and formed the Injustice Society of America and a few years ago, on Courtney's exact birthday, the JSA and the ISA had a huge battle that ended in a majority of the JSA being wiped out. Rick as far as I know, your dad was the only survivor." Pat said.

"How do you know all this?" Rick asked.

"Because I was there. While I wasn't an actual member of the JSA, I was Starman's sidekick and essentially an honorary member." Pat said.

"More like a butler." Courtney mumbled to Yolanda, who chuckled.

"I heard that. And don't forget, unlike your mom, you can't hold the guilt card over me anymore." Pat reminded her.

"Just saying." Courtney said.

"So, my dad survived being attacked by supervillains, but he died in a car accident with my mom. Kind of lame." Rick said.

"Except it wasn't a car accident, it was the Injustice Society tying up loose ends." Beth said.

"What do you mean?" Rick asked.

"Show him Beth." Pat said and Beth nodded as she put her goggles on and used them to project the hologram of what really happened to Rick's parents.

"What was that thing?" Rick demanded.

"That was Solomon Grundy. He's the ISA literal wrecking ball." Pat said.

"So it wasn't my dad's fault." Rick asked.

"No. Best we can figure is that he and your mom were leaving to try and protect you because the ISA realized he was onto them. We don't know anything else." Pat said.

"Why are you telling me all this?" Rick asked.

"Because we want you to join us Rick. I'm building a new JSA and just like your parents, my dad was killed by the ISA before I even got a chance to know him. I didn't even know he was my dad until a few days ago. But the ISA is up to something and now we're trying to bring them down and get justice for the entire JSA. Including my dad and yours. And we want you to help us." Courtney said.

"This is a lot to process." Rick said.

"I understand. You can take some time to figure things out if you need to, but don't tell anyone what we told you. We don't know who we can trust." Pat said.

"No, I'm in. I want justice for my parents." Rick said.

"You sure it's justice you want and not revenge?" Pat asked.

"I think it's a bit of both." Rick admitted.

"Which is understandable, but you'll need to work through some of that rage before we give you your dad's hourglass." Courtney said.

"What's the big deal about the hourglass?" Rick asked.

"That hourglass was invented by your grandfather and improved by your father. It was created to give its user enhanced strength for a 60 minute period of time and the reason for that is because both your father and your grandfather didn't want to risk getting addicted to the power." Pat said.

"Do you think it will work for me?" Rick asked.

"It'll only work for people who have Tyler family DNA in them. Your grandfather designed it so that way no one else could use it." Pat explained.

"I had no idea that my dad was a hero." Rick said.

"We have something in common. My dad was Starman and I got his staff." Courtney said.

"Whereas Beth and I are not legacies like you guys are, but we still get cool stuff." Yolanda said.

"Who are you guys?" Rick asked.

"The new Wildcat because I can do this." Yolanda said as she summoned her claws before retracting them, since she'd mastered controlling them.

"That's cool. What about you Beth?" Rick asked.

"I'm the new Dr. Midnite, even though I'm not a doctor." Beth said.

"So I guess that makes me Hourman 3.0." Rick said.

"I guess so. I'll get you the hourglass once you prove to me that you can keep your temper in check, but I do have some other things from your dad that I think he'd want you to have. I'd also like you to start working here so that you have an excuse to be around here." Pat said.

"I'll do that on one condition." Rick said.

"And that would be?" Pat asked wearily.

"You have to help me fix up my dad's car." Rick said and Pat grinned.

"I'd be happy too." Pat agreed as he held out his hand to Rick who shook it.

"Welcome to the new JSA Rick." Courtney said, since she honestly felt like they were getting close to the team she'd seen in her dreams.

Chapter Text

So, which way do you guys want to see Cameron go? JSA or ISA? I can think of a way for both of them, but I'm curious on which way you guys would prefer, since honestly, of all the ISA legacies, he's the one I'm most unsure of.

Barb was sitting in her office, so focused on what she was working on her computer that she didn't realize someone had entered it until she heard a man clear his throat, causing her to jump as she looked up from her computer to see a man that she quickly recognizes as her boss.

"Mr. Makhent, I'm so sorry I didn't hear you come in." Barbara said as she turned off what she was doing.

"It's no problem. I take that to mean that you're very committed to your work, though I'm guessing by the fact that you shut down what you were working on that it wasn't actually American Dream work, so what is it you were working on?" Jordan Mahkent asked her.

"It was a personal matter. I'm currently looking into lawyers." Barbara said.

"Why?" Jordan asked.

"It's a long story, but my husband and I recently took in one of daughter's friends after her parents all but kicked her out simply because she's gay." Barbara said.

"You mean Yolanda Montez." Jordan said.

"How do you know who she is?" Barbara asked.

"Oh my son Cameron goes to school with her and your daughter. Her name is Courtney right." Jordan said.

"It is. So I'm guessing you know about all the drama then." Barbara said.

"Not all of it, all Cameron told me was that one of the students there outed Ms. Montez and there was a lot of fallout, but clearly I should've gotten involved sooner, since I had no idea that her situation had gotten so tenuous." Jordan said.

"Well, I appreciate that Jordan, but right now, I trying to get the judge to approve letting my husband and I take legal custody of Yolanda, or at least get her emancipated, since she's no longer living with her parents, who have never once even reached out to see how she was doing." Barb said.

"Let me guess, a super religious family, thinks that anything that didn't happen in the bible is crap." Jordan said.

"Yeah pretty much. I mean, I know that these sorts of people exist, but I thought that Blue Valley was one of the few places where people aren't that small minded." Barb said.

"I wish that were true Barbara, but sometimes small towns have the most small minded people. But that is something that we're working on changing here at the American Dream." Jordan said.

"I hope so. But in the meantime, I'm trying to make it so that it's legal when I sign permission slips for Yolanda." Barb said.

"Hey, why don't you let me help? I have a friend on the city council, along with a judge who owes me a favor. I'm sure they'd both be more than happy to help." Jordan said.

"I didn't think you'd care about something like this." Barbara said.

"The whole reason I started the American Dream is because I wanted to help people like this Yolanda girl and honestly Barb, I admire how far you're willing to go to help her." Jordan said.

"Thank you. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. Especially since Yolanda has been so helpful to my daughter Courtney in adjusting to the move." Barbara said, deciding not to mention her daughter's emergent sexuality or attraction to Yolanda to her boss, especially since she was still in the doghouse with Courtney and honestly, she had a feeling that she wasn't getting out of it anytime soon, not that she didn't deserve it.

"It's my pleasure. I'll also talk to my son to see if maybe he could help your daughter adjust a bit more." Jordan said.

"That would be great." Barbara said.

"I'll let you know what my friends say." Jordan said and Barbara nodded.

"Are you going to be at the Blue Valley High Open House tonight?" Barbara asked.

"Of course, wouldn't miss it for the world." Jordan said, though Barbara did not see the look in his eye as an idea came to his mind.

"I guess I'll see you tonight." Barbara said and Jordan nodded as he walked out of her office and pulled out his phone.

"Henry, you are planning on attending Blue Valley High's open house, correct?" Jordan said.

"Of course, but only because it is expected of me in order to maintain my cover. Why do you ask?" Henry asked.

"Because I think it's time to check in on our experiments at the school for one thing, since with Starman's staff back in play, we can't risk whoever it is that has it accidentally reminding our subjects of who they are, which could be problematic." Jordan said.

"Understood, but I don't have to read your mind to know there's another reason. What is it?" Henry asked.

"At least half the town will be in attendance tonight. One of the perks of living in a small town. But anyways I also want you to scan the minds of everyone else in attendance of the event to see if any of them know the whereabouts of the staff, since Dr. Ito is taking too long to locate it." Jordan said.

"I understand. Would you like me to also read the Montez girl's mind as well, see if she knows anything in case this new Starman has gotten to her?" Henry asked, since Ito had informed them all of Cindy's discovery.

"Do it. And also see if you can get your son to lighten up on her. If we want any chance of her joining us, then we need her not to hate our children." Jordan said.

"I believe Ito's daughter has already made that inevitable. Are you really considering allowing her to join our ranks?" Henry asked.

"Of course not. She's an even bigger loose cannon than Sportsmaster and Tigress and that is saying something, since at least those two know when to fall in line. I don't know what Ito was thinking bringing her into this in the first place, I only allowed it because he said she could be useful and more importantly, she was aware of his true nature before I recruited him to our cause." Jordan said.

"Glad we're on the same page there. Should we tell her?" Henry asked.

"No. We let her keep doing her job, keeping an eye on your son in case he did inherit your powers. Once she's no longer useful to us, unless she proves me wrong about her, we'll dispose of her." Jordan said.

"You really think the Dragon will allow that?" Henry asked.

"You act as though he actually cares about her like we care about our kids. We both know how he feels about his daughter. She's a tool to be used until she's no longer useful to us." Jordan said.

"Just checking to make sure. I'll let you know if I find anything tonight." Henry said.

"See you then. Though one more thing. Do not tell the others. This is a delicate matter." Jordan said.

"Of course." Henry said as he hung up and Jordan sighed as he entered his own office.

Chapter Text

"So is there anything you want to tell us before we go to your open house tonight?" Pat asked Courtney and Yolanda as they, along with Barb and Mike, prepared to go to Blue Valley High for their open house.

"No, nothing." Courtney said and Yolanda nodded in agreement.

"Good. Because if that story doesn't check out, you'll be grounded for a month. Both of you, since then you'll both have lied to us." Barbara said.

"And I can still use the guilt card on you." Courtney reminded her mom.

"That's not gonna work forever young lady." Barbara told her.

"I know. That's why I'm enjoying it while I can." Courtney said as Yolanda rolled her eyes and followed her out the door.

"Still not sure what is going on and I'd like to be in on what Courtney has on you." Mike said to Barbara.

"Yeah, not gonna happen cause it's none of your business Mike. Now come on, let's go." Pat said and he chuckled at the disappointed look on Mike's face.

"You know we're going to have to tell him eventually right? About everything." Barbara said.

"I know, it's just, I feel bad enough that Courtney got dragged into this world, along with her friends. The whole reason I got out of this game was because I wanted to keep my family safe." Pat said.

"Well unfortunately Courtney has too much of her father in her to allow that to happen." Barbara said.

"Honestly, I'm trying to figure out how I never realized that Courtney was Sylvester's daughter to begin with, since now that I know, I can actually see a few resemblances. But anyways, we better get going before we're late." Pat said and Barbara nodded as they headed out.

After the opening assembly led by Principal Bowin, Pat was walking around the gym, looking around when he heard a voice that was actually kind of familiar to him, but he was thinking that it wasn't possible that it belonged to the person he thought it did. Nonetheless, he decided to check it out and followed the voice back to its source and was very surprised at who he found his wife and stepdaughter talking to.

"Pat, just in time, I was just talking to Courtney's English teacher Ms. Saunders." Barbara said as Pat did his best to conceal his shock at the woman standing in front of him.

"Please, call me Kendra, everyone besides my students does." Kendra Saunders said, though Pat knew her by another name. Several other names in fact. But the one he knew best was Hawkgirl.

"It's nice to meet you." Pat said as he held out his hand, which Kendra shook.

"Pat, are you okay?" Courtney asked.

"Courtney, can I talk to you for a second? Outside?" Pat asked and Courtney nodded as she followed him out, neither of them noticing the look that Dr. Henry King was giving them or that he was following them.

"Pat, what's going on? You got all weird when you saw my English teacher." Courtney asked him.

"That's because I've seen her before." Pat said.

"Okay, so I'm still not getting it?" Courtney said.

"Courtney, that's Hawkgirl out there." Pat said.

"Wait what? Are you sure?" Courtney asked, wondering how she'd never noticed that one of her teachers was a Golden Age JSA member.

"I'm positive." Pat said.

"Okay, but why didn't she recognize you and how is she even still alive? You said that she died that night?" Courtney asked.

"I don't know. I thought she was dead. Clearly I was wrong, since it's clear that she did not reincarnate, because if she had, she'd be your age right now." Pat said.

"So what do we do now?" Courtney asked.

"For now, try to act as normally as possible, we'll bring Yolanda, Beth and Rick up to speed later and then we try to figure out how to jog her memory, remind her of who she is, since it's clear that she doesn't remember being Hawkgirl and while I don't know how that's possible, we are going to find out and we're going to get her back." Pat said.

"This is what my dream meant. Pat, I saw her in my dream, I just didn't recognize her since I never saw her face." Courtney said and Pat nodded.

"That also means that Hawkman is still alive somewhere, so once we figure out what happened to Kendra, we'll start looking for him." Pat said.

"Well, at least now we'll have some extra veteran JSA help should we need it." Courtney said.

"Yeah, but something tells me that if Kendra is here, then the ISA must be here too and it sounds like they are a lot more active than I thought." Pat said.

"So, guess that means we should up our training and get costumes for the others." Courtney said and Pat nodded as they headed back in, unaware that a member of the ISA had heard everything they'd said and was smiling, since after reading their minds, he now knew exactly where to find the staff, but rather than telling Jordan, he decided that he'd go after it alone, since it would draw less attention.

"Hey, where did Courtney and Pat go?" Yolanda asked Barbara as she joined back up with her.

"Not sure. Pat said he needed to talk to Courtney about something, but I haven't seen either of them since." Barbara said.

"Well, maybe we should go, since it looks like things are starting to die down." Yolanda said and Barbara nodded as they moved to leave the gym, only for Barbara to freeze at the sight of who else had shown up.

"Barbara, what's wrong?" Yolanda asked before she saw who Barb was staring at and she immediately paled and had to fight the urge to run away.

"Well well well, look who it is." Mr. Montez said as he and his wife approached them.

"What are you two doing here? You don't have any kids who go to this school anymore." Yolanda said, reminding them that she no longer lived with them.

"Technically all legal forms regarding you still come to us, so yes we do and we are here to find out what you've been up to since you ran away from home." Her mother said.

"It's not like you left me any choice." Yolanda said angrily.

"Yolanda, go find Mike, Pat and Courtney and tell them we're leaving. I'll handle things here." Barbara said and Yolanda nodded, eager to find any reason not to have to talk to her parents, not that she even really considered them to be her parents anymore.

"You stole our daughter from us." Mr. Montez accused Barb.

"It's my understanding that you didn't want her anymore simply because of who she loves." Barbara said coldly.

"You're making a mistake encouraging her to pursue this choice. We were getting through to her before she met your manipulative daughter." Mrs. Montez said and Barbara glared at them, since it was bad enough that they were emotionally abusive to their own daughter, but insulting Courtney was crossing the line.

"You should know that I'm talking to a lawyer about getting your parental rights to Yolanda revoked, since honestly, she deserves much better parents than you are. And as far as her lifestyle goes, it's not a choice. She didn't ask or choose to be the way she is, but she is gay and instead of being understanding and supportive, you made her feel like a criminal in her own home. You two don't deserve to be parents with thinking like that. Parents should support their children and on that scale you failed miserably. I hope the bible was worth losing the only child you have and I hope that if you do decide to have another one that you won't push them away like you pushed Yolanda away. And by the way, never speak ill of my daughter again. I'll see you in court." Barbara said as she walked away from them, leaving the Montezes shocked by what they'd just been told.

Chapter Text

Courtney and Pat were walking out towards the car to meet the rest of their family to go home when suddenly, Pat noticed a very bright object coming their way very quickly.

"Courtney, is that what I think it is?" Pat asked.

"It's my staff." Courtney said as the Cosmic staff landed in front of her and they were surprised to find that it had a bag on it.

"What's in the bag?" Pat asked as Courtney checked.

"It's my suit." Courtney said.

"Okay, that can't be good." Pat said.

"Why would the staff be bringing me my suit?" Courtney asked.

"I don't know, but I'm guessing that a member of the ISA is on the move and the staff somehow wind of it. Get changed and check it out, I'll tell your mom and then head to the shop to get the robot." Pat said.

"You need to come up with a better name for it." Courtney said.

"We'll discuss this after you're no longer in danger. I'm only giving this the green light because I know the staff would not have come to you like this if it wasn't urgent." Pat said and Courtney nodded as she took the bag from the staff and moved to find a private place to change into her suit.

When she came back, she handed Pat the bag, which was still full, even though she was now wearing what she'd dubbed her Stargirl costume.

"Your regular clothes are in here?" Pat asked.

"Can't risk anyone finding and stealing them, especially if they think it'll give them a chance to see a girl walk home in her underwear." Courtney pointed out.

"And it will also make sure that you know where they are so you can change back into them after this is over. Now go." Pat said.

"Do me one favor." Courtney said.

"What is it?" Pat asked.

"Don't let Yolanda follow me. She doesn't have a costume yet, if she goes out, she'll risk putting herself, her family and everyone else she cares about in danger." Courtney said.

"Agreed." Pat said, since Courtney was right. While he wasn't comfortable with her doing this, at least she had a costume with a mask to protect her identity, he never knew why Sylvester got rid of the mask when he transitioned from the Star Spangled Kid to Starman, but Yolanda didn't have anything like that. One look at her face and they were all made.

"Go. Just be careful." Pat said.

"No promises." Courtney said as she let her staff fly her away.

However, Stargirl was very surprised when she saw the staff landing her at her own house.

"What are we doing here?" Stargirl asked.

"Well, it looks like this won't be as dull as I thought it would be." a new voice said and Stargirl turned to see a red haired man wearing a vibrant green undershirt and a matching leather green trench coat. The coat begins at his neck with a collar, which has black buttons on the side. A black leather stripe goes around the top of the collar and carries on from the second black button and down his torso. The jacket itself intersects and forks at his midsection. The sides continue to just about his kneecap. Black leather strips define the bends and corners of the jacket. Around his waist is a shiny leather black belt. He wears solid black pants that tuck into knee-high black leather boots, along with black leather gloves.

"And you would be?" Stargirl asked.

"You mean your stepfather Stripesy never told you about me? I thought he'd tell you about your enemies. Courtney." Brainwave said with a grin.

"Why do you think that's my name?" Stargirl asked.

"I can read your mind like an open book. I know everything about you. Courtney Whitmore. I know how your stepfather is Stripesy and even more importantly, I know that you are a legacy of my hated enemy Starman. Not only are you his successor, but you're his daughter. I have to admit, I do find some solace in knowing that when I'm done, you'll finally get to meet him." Brainwave said.

"Who are you?" Stargirl asked again as she held up her staff, preparing to blast him.

"For the short time you have left to live, you can call me, Brainwave." Brainwave said with a grin.

"Don't be so sure." Stargirl said as she fired a blast from her staff, only for Brainwave to summon some random debris from around him to use as a shield.

"Pathetic. At least your father put up more of a fight." Brainwave said.

"Give me a break, I'm still learning." Stargirl complained.

"A pity you won't live to complete your education." Brainwave said as he used his powers to levitate Stargirl off the ground.

"What do you want?" Stargirl asked as she struggled to find a way to break free.

"Finally, you ask a semi intelligent question. I'll make it easy. You give me that staff and I'll wipe your and family's memories of all this and let you go about your lives." Brainwave said.

"And if I say no." Stargirl asked as she began to control the direction her staff was pointing.

"Then, if it's really necessary for me to tell you, I'll kill you and everyone else you're associated with. Though I may make a certain girl suffer a bit first." Brainwave said as Stargirl felt her mind become overwhelmed by anger and while she wasn't sure if Brainwave's powers allowed him to control her emotions, but she knew that this anger was all hers since she knew exactly who Brainwave was talking about.

"You stay away from her." Stargirl said as she could feel her staff itching to blast, but she wasn't going to do that yet. She wanted to let it charge up a bit first as she could feel it's power growing with every second she was forcing it not to fire and it also seemed to be responding to her mood.

"That is entirely up to you, Stargirl. This offer won't last long. You have till I decide to put you down and I'm getting tired of doing this." Brainwave said, only to be surprised when Stargirl grinned.

"I just want to say thank you." Stargirl said.

"For what?" Brainwave asked.

"For being such a talker. It really helped kill some time." Stargirl said as she finally let her staff unleash a huge blast of energy that tore right through Brainwave's defenses and sent him flying to the ground, allowing her to land safely on it.

"I'll admit, that was well played." Brainwave admitted as he managed to get to his feet.

"You must be rusty. I thought a bad guy like you would know better than to fall for a trick like that. Now, let's do this." Stargirl said as she blasted Brainwave again and this time he was still dazed from the first blast he took, so she was easily able to hit him, but this time he was able to stay on his feet.

"Lucky shot." Brainwave said as he blasted her with his psychic waves, only for Stargirl to power through them as her staff glowed as she approached him.

"This is for my dad." Stargirl said as she finally got close enough to smack Brainwave's head with her staff, but she was not prepared for the reaction that she got, it seemed to cause some kind meltdown in her opponent that caused him to lose control and cause everything around them that was lighter than them to levitate.

"What is going on?" Stargirl asked, as the effect finally ceased and Brainwave collapsed to the ground.

"What did I do?" Stargirl asked as she quickly made sure that he was still alive, which he was, which was a bit of a relief, but she still didn't know how she'd done what she did. Or even what she'd done. All she knew was that she needed to get lost before someone came out to see what happened, so she used her staff to fly off and have Pat hopefully explain what had happened.

Chapter Text

"Courtney, what is so important that we had to come here so late?" Yolanda asked her when they, along with Pat, Rick and Beth, gathered at the Pit stop later on.

"Well for starters, a member of the ISA showed up at my house." Courtney said.

"Wait, is that why your staff showed up?" Pat asked and Courtney nodded.

"Wait, how would an ISA member even know who you were, let alone where you live? You haven't even put on your suit outside of training?" Rick asked.

"Because that member said his name was Brainwave. Pat, does that mean anything to you?" Courtney asked and Pat nodded.

"Oh yeah. And Court's right, that was definitely a member of the ISA." Pat said.

"Why is he called Brainwave?" Beth asked.

"Because his powers come from his brain. He's a metahuman who can read minds, control minds to a degree and move things with his own mind. He's incredibly dangerous, he killed a lot of members of JSA that night." Pat said.

"Maybe we should get a complete rundown of the ISA so we know who's who if we end up facing any more of them. And by if, I mean when." Courtney said and Pat nodded.

"And we will. But first, Courtney, why don't you tell me what happened when Brainwave attacked?" Pat asked and Courtney nodded as she told him what happened, though she did leave out a few things, like he said, mainly because it was personal and while she may trust Rick and Beth, she wasn't ready for them to know about it yet. Especially since the fight had made her realize that she needed to have a talk with Yolanda.

"Wait, if Brainwave was knocked out like that after you two fought, why wasn't he at the house when we pulled up?" Yolanda asked.

"I can only guess that one of his partners got him out of there. I'm more surprised that there weren't any marks from the fight in the house." Pat said, looking at Courtney.

"I didn't really get the chance for that to happen. Somehow the only thing the staff hit was Brainwave." Courtney said.

"You mean you hit Brainwave?" Beth asked.

"No, trust me, if I were the one who aimed at the staff, there would've been a lot more damage, since I'm still training with it." Courtney said.

"She's not wrong. No offense Court." Pat said.

"None taken, you're right. Though I'm sure dad had the same issues when he first got the staff." Courtney said.

"That is true." Pat said.

"But blast marks weren't the only thing missing from the fight scene. There was also no Brainwave. Think he got away?" Yolanda asked Courtney.

"Not on his own. I've been meaning to tell you about that. Pat, during the fight, my staff hit Brainwave's head and it caused some kind of chain reaction that ended with him passed out on the ground. He wasn't moving, but it looked like he was still alive." Courtney said.

"Did it look like Brainwave was losing control of his powers? Things were floating around?" Pat asked.

"Yeah, you know what happened?" Courtney asked.

"I can guess. It sounds like the collision overloaded Brainwave's brain and knocked him out. There's a good chance he'll be out of commission for a while until he recovers." Pat said.

"Well, at least that will buy us some time, since he knows who I am and he knows who you are Pat." Courtney said.

"We'll figure something out." Pat agreed.

"But who moved him?" Yolanda asked.

"Probably one of his partners." Pat said.

"Anyways, can we get back to the ISA? If we're gonna pound them, we should know who they are." Rick said.

"Yeah, pounding them isn't going to be as easy as you think, Rick. They're some of the most dangerous people on the planet." Pat said.

"More dangerous than the people Superman has fought?" Yolanda asked.

"Okay, not that dangerous, but to be fair, a lot of those guys are aliens. I mean in terms of threats that are from Earth." Pat said.

"Still." Beth said.

"Why don't we focus on the task at hand. Learning about the ISA so we can know our enemies." Courtney said and Pat nodded.

"Give me some time to put something together, since honestly, I think we're all tired and it's best to learn about this sort of stuff when we're all fully alert and it gives me some time to figure out everything you need to know." Pat said and they all nodded.

"There is one other thing we need to talk about." Courtney said.

"What?" Rick asked.

"The fact that apparently one of our teachers is a member of the old JSA." Courtney said.

"Wait, what?" Yolanda asked as Pat remembered now.

"Right, thank you for reminding me about that Courtney and she's right. Your English Teacher, Kendra Saunders, she is also known as Hawkgirl." Pat said.

"Wait, I thought you said that she was dead?" Yolanda asked.

"And I thought she was. Or at least I thought that she'd be your age now since one of her powers is that whenever she dies, she reincarnates. Long story. But it looks like I was wrong and she survived, though it looks like her memories have been wiped, because she didn't recognize me. I don't know what they did to her, but we need to find out and we need to undo it, since having her on our side, that's an advantage we can't lose." Pat said.

"And I think we will get her back. Her and Hawkman, wherever he is." Courtney said.

"What makes you so sure?" Pat asked.

"The dreams I told you about, those visions of the JSA, the one we're building." Courtney asked.

"Yeah, what about them?" Pat asked.

"Remember, I told you that Hawkman and Hawkgirl were in them?" Courtney reminded him.

"Okay, I can see where you're going with this Court and I hope you're right, since honestly, I do miss the old JSA." Pat said.

"And having her in our ranks could really help with training." Courtney said.

"On a different topic, maybe now's the time the rest of us get our suits, since it's clear the ISA is becoming active, so the JSA should be too." Rick said.

"Fine. Courtney, tomorrow, you'll go back to the old JSA headquarters and get suits for Rick, Yolanda and Beth." Pat said and they all nodded before heading out.

After Courtney, Yolanda and Pat got home, Courtney decided that it was time to have a talk with Yolanda in private, since after her fight with Brainwave, she knew she couldn't put it off anymore, since ironically, it had been a fight with a supervillian to help her get her head on straight.

"Hey Yolanda, can I talk to you in my room, alone?" Courtney asked.

"Yeah sure." Yolanda said as she followed Courtney upstairs.

"What was that about?" Barbara asked Pat from where she was sitting on the couch.

"If I had to guess, I think we're going to need to start implementing an open door policy for whenever Courtney and Yolanda are in the same room together." Pat said.

"You think they're finally going to take that step?" Barbara asked.

"Considering what Courtney just told us, I'd be surprised if she wasn't rethinking some of her past decisions." Pat said.

"So, what's up?" Yolanda asked Courtney after she closed the door.

"I've been rethinking a few of the things I said before. Especially since my fight with Brainwave." Courtney said.

"Court, what's going on?" Yolanda asked, though a part of her did wonder if this was going to go the way she hoped it would.

"It turns out fighting for my life really puts some things in perspective for me. Especially when I wasn't the only person Brainwave threatened. He read my mind, he knew everything about me. Including how I feel about you." Courtney said.

"Court, you said you weren't ready for that yet." Yolanda said, remembering when Courtney first came out to her.

"I know I said that. But then Brainwave threatened you when I wouldn't give him my staff and I don't know, something inside me just clicked." Courtney said as she walked up to Yolanda.

"And now?" Yolanda asked.

"I don't know a lot about all of this, but there is one thing I do know. It's how I feel about you Yolanda and I know you feel the same way about me." Courtney said.

"What are you saying Courtney?" Yolanda asked, since even though she was pretty sure she knew, she wanted to hear Courtney say it. In fact, she needed to hear her say it.

"What I'm saying is that life is too short, especially for people who do what we're doing and I don't want to have any regrets and I'm done overthinking things and letting them keep me from what I want. And what I want more than anything is you. Yolanda, I want to be your girlfriend." Courtney said.

"Wait, are you serious?" Yolanda asked.

"Completely. But only if you're ready to take that step." Courtney said and Yolanda smiled.

"You know I am. I've been waiting for you to decide that you're ready and I'm glad that you finally are. But Court, are you sure about this? Being out in Blue Valley, especially Blue Valley High, it won't be easy." Yolanda said.

"And we have friends to help us through it. We're not going to abandon you now. Not like your parents did." Courtney assured her.

"Okay. But still." Yolanda said, only to have Courtney silence her by kissing her.

"I didn't realize we were there already." Yolanda said.

"Honestly, that was just to get you to stop looking for reasons I might regret this and also assure you that I meant it. We don't have to do it again until you actually feel like you're ready." Courtney said, only for Yolanda to then kiss her.

"I didn't say I didn't like it. Honestly, I've been wanting to kiss you since I met you and it's only gotten stronger since we became friends. That first kiss just took me by surprise." Yolanda said and Courtney smiled.

"Well then, I guess that means that you're done trying to talk me out of this?" Courtney asked.

"Completely. But are we gonna tell people?" Yolanda asked.

"We'll start small. My parents, Mike, the rest of the team and then work our way up from there." Courtney said and Yolanda smiled.

"As much as I'd love to keep doing this, I think your mom is going to do bed checks soon, so I should probably get to my room before she and Pat decide we can't be in the same room together alone anymore." Yolanda said and Courtney nodded as she left the room, both girls feeling ecstatic about this change in their relationship, since they certainly hadn't seen it happening when they'd woken up this morning.

Chapter Text

When Courtney and Yolanda came downstairs the next morning, they were surprised to find Pat and Barbara waiting for them.

"Mom, I thought you'd be at work?" Courtney asked.

"It's Saturday Courtney. I can be there a little late, especially when I think there's a talk the four of us need to have. One I think you'd rather have before Mike wakes up." Barbara said.

"Were you two listening in on us last night?" Yolanda asked.

"No, because we didn't have too. I had a feeling that after what happened yesterday, Courtney would decide she's ready to take that step with you and it sounds like I was right. Which means that we need to talk about some new and improved house rules to make sure that you both respect everyone else in this house." Pat said.

"We will." Courtney said.

"Courtney, this is more about giving us some peace of mind. We know that you and Yolanda would not betray our trust like that, but you're also teenagers, which means that we need to establish some guidelines." Barbara said as Courtney and Yolanda sat down on the couch.

"Okay, let's get this over with. What are your rules?" Courtney asked.

"You two are not to get too 'intimate' with each other while there are other people in the same room as you, since that would just be awkward for all of us." Pat said.

"And what would be too intimate?" Yolanda asked.

"Yolanda, you didn't just ask that." Courtney said, grimacing at the thought of what her parents were about to say.

"Making out, french kissing, anything that does not involve you two being fully clothed." Barbara said.

"Mom." Courtney said, blushing at the thought of that and so was Yolanda and Courtney could tell that they were both having the same thought. Not thinking about the other the way her mom had just described.

"We wouldn't do that in public anyways." Yolanda assured her.

"Good. Rule two is that you two are not to be in each other's rooms alone after 9pm unless we've given permission for it." Barbara said.

"And if we catch you two breaking that rule, then we'll implement another rule of no being in your rooms alone without your doors being open and nightly bed checks." Pat said.

"Great. Suddenly we're five again." Courtney said as she leaned back on the couch.

"Look Court, if Yolanda was still on speaking terms with her parents, things might be different, but the fact is that you're both living under the same roof, which means that we have to take extra precautions to make sure that it's pleasant for everyone, not just you two." Barbara said.

"I know, but that doesn't mean I can't feel like I'm a child." Courtney said.

"Technically Courtney, you are. And be glad we're not being stricter about it." Barbara said.

"And the final rule, which is one that I don't think any of us are going to be comfortable hearing me say, is that if you two do end up, taking that step, please don't do it when you're here, or if you have too, then don't do it when anyone else is home." Pat said.

"You're right, I never want to hear you talk about that again." Courtney said as Yolanda looked mortified.

"Look, at least it's done and over with." Barbara said.

"Okay, now can we act like Pat never brought that up." Courtney said.

"Like ever." Yolanda agreed.

"Yeah. Come on you two, let's get breakfast and then I'll take you to work with me." Pat said, since their cover for JSA training was that both girls worked for Pat part time at his shop.

"Okay so, now are we getting a rundown of the ISA members?" Rick asked after they'd all gathered at the shop.

"Yes Rick, yes you are." Pat said as he pulled up a whiteboard that had several pictures on it, each one of a member of the ISA.

"Okay, so where should we start?" Pat asked.

"How about from the top, work your way down." Courtney suggested and Pat nodded.

"Okay then. First we have the leader of the ISA, Icicle." Pat said as he pointed at the picture of a man covered in ice at the top of the board.

"Wow, really on the nose." Rick said.

"Enough. He's one of the most dangerous enemies the JSA ever fought. His powers are ice based, he can encase himself in ice as a form of identity concealment and armor and he can shoot ice out of his hands and breathe frozen air. Only thing I've ever seen be able to hurt Icicle is the Cosmic Staff and I think that's why Icicle personally killed Starman." Pat said.

"Okay so he's at the top of my list, since he's the reason I'll never know my real dad." Courtney said.

"Anyways, next up we have Sportsmaster. He's one of the most dangerous fighters in the world and an old foe of Wildcat. He doesn't have powers, but he makes up for it with raw strength, skill and savagery. He's also creative, since any piece of sports equipment he can get his hands on, I assure you, he'll find a way to make into a deadly weapon. His specialty is exploding hockey pucks." Pat said as he gestured to the photo of the guy in the hockey mask.

"Sounds like a typical jock to me. Big time bully." Beth said.

"That is putting it mildly. Next up, we have Tigress, Sportsmaster's partner. She's as sadistic as they come and lethal too. Like a tiger, she's a trained predator, just without the claws. Instead, she has a crossbow. That's part of why she works so well with Sportsmaster. She's long ranged attacks, he's up close and personal, but don't get me wrong, if you're not properly trained when you go up against her at close range, there's a good chance it'll be the last thing you do." Pat said as he pointed to the picture of an asian woman with a black tattoo on her face that covered one of her eyes.

"Charming." Rick said.

"Next up we have probably the weak link of the ISA, the Gambler. He's not much for brawn, but he is a criminal mastermind and a master hacker. He was a bit of a thorn in the side of Dr. Midnite. He never goes into the field, but he's very dangerous behind a computer." Pat said as he referred to the picture of the man with a beard, mustache and a big purple hat.

"Sounds like he'd be a good first catch." Rick said.

"If we knew where he was, I'd agree, but like I said, he's almost never in the field because Icicle knows he'd be a liability. Next up, we have the Wizard." Pat said, referring to the picture of the guy in a typical magician's costume.

"Let me guess, he can do magic?" Yolanda asked.

"Something like that. His power comes from his wand, which is extremely dangerous and only works for him. We never did find out exactly how it works, but it allows him to do all sorts of incredible and terrible things, like energy projection." Pat said as he reached the bottom.

"And finally, we have Solomon Grundy. He's not even a living creature, he's an undead zombie that serves as the ISA's one man wrecking crew. He's got no mind of his own, he's a mindless bulldozer that does whatever he's told without question. He's basically a wild animal. I still don't know how the ISA managed to tame him." Pat said.

"Grundy killed my parents." Rick said.

"And you'll get your chance at justice Rick, I promise, but not yet. If we're going to stand a chance against the ISA, then you guys need to learn how to work as a team." Pat said.

"Are there any other members of the ISA we need to worry about?" Courtney asked.

"At the moment no." Pat said.

"But it sounds like there are others." Yolanda said.

"Pat, even if they aren't a threat right now, we should know about them in case they become problems later." Courtney said.

"You're right. There are three other members of the ISA that as of now are not issues. The first one is Brainwave, who thanks to Courtney, is currently in a coma at Blue Valley General Hospital. You already know his powers." Pat said.

"And the others." Beth asked.

"The others would be a member called the Fiddler. He was a caucasian man of Irish descent, but the JSA defeated him about a little while before they were wiped out. He's locked up tight and trust me, he's not getting out." Pat said.

"How can you be sure about that? Where is he?" Courtney asked.

"I don't know. That information was kept strictly on a need to know basis to prevent the ISA from breaking him out." Pat admitted.

"Moving on. The last member?" Yolanda asked, breaking up a potential fight between her girlfriend, she still loved that she could call Courtney that now, and her stepfather.

"The last member is called the Shade and he's the one we likely won't have to worry about until the rest of the ISA is dealt with, since after he helped wipe out the JSA, he cut all ties with the Injustice Society. I doubt any of them would give him a warm welcome." Pat said.

"Okay then. Sounds like we have some work to do." Courtney said.

"We do and Courtney, Yolanda, please keep things professional." Pat said.

"What does that mean?" Beth asked.

"Pat, really?" Courtney said, since while she and Yolanda were going to tell Rick and Beth about the change in their relationship, they wanted to do it on their own terms.

"Sorry Court, I thought you'd told them already." Pat said.

"I'll tell you how you can make it up to me after we talk to them." Courtney said.

"Fine." Pat said as he left them alone.

"What was he talking about?" Rick asked as Courtney and Yolanda looked at each other.

"Yolanda and I are going out now." Courtney said and to their surprise, Beth held out her hand and Rick placed some money in it.

"You two bet on us?" Yolanda asked.

"We bet on how long it would take you guys to get together, since it was obvious you two had feelings for each other. Rick thought it would take another month, but I was sure that after Court's fight last night, she'd decide to take a chance and I was right. Pleasure doing business with you." Beth said.

"If you don't want me to get mad at you, you can give me a cut." Courtney said playfully.

"Nice try." Beth said.

"Anyways, let's get to work. We have a lot to do." Courtney said and the three others nodded as they did exactly that.

Chapter 22

Notes:

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that Eclipso is stealing Ricardo Diaz's moves. Dismantling Stargirl's team one by one before he fights her again himself.

Chapter Text

"What the hell was Brainwave thinking? Going after the staff himself?" Crusher asked as he, Jordan, Paula, Steven. Anya and William all sat in the ISA headquarters.

"William, you ensured that Brainwave's cover would be kept right?" Jordan asked the Wizard, who nodded.

"Made sure he was changed into his regular hospital getup and everything before I had him dropped at Blue Valley Hospital. They won't suspect a thing. I've already established a cover as well." William said.

"Good." Jordan said.

"Jordan, what are we going to do? Project New America can't commence without Brainwave." Paula said.

"Do you think that you can wake him up?" Jordan asked Anya.

"I can try." Anya agreed.

"There is another option." Dr. Ito said as he joined them.

"What option?" Steven asked.

"Brainwave's son." Dr. Ito said.

"Except he's shown no sign of possessing the same powers as his father. We can't bring him into this unless we know for sure that he has his father's powers." Jordan said.

"Unless there's something you haven't told us." Crusher said to Ito.

"No. Cindy has yet to report anything back to me." Ito said.

"And you trust her to be honest with you? Honestly, that kid's more rebellious than the rest of our kids combined." Crusher said.

"At least our children know we love them. Imagine what Cindy Burman would be like if she had a parent who cared about her." Anya said.

"Enough. Bickering gets us nowhere." Jordan said.

"Why did you drop Brainwave at the hospital. He should be here where Ito can keep an eye on him." Paula said to William.

"Because in case you've forgotten, Henry is very well known in this town and like the rest of us, except the Gambler, just because he can't find a woman dumb enough to sleep with him, he has a son, so people would notice if he just disappeared." William said.

"William made the correct decision. Until we can deploy Project New America, maintaining our cover is necessary. But for now, we're going to proceed with our plans, though we'll have to accelerate our time table a bit. Dr. Ito, tell me what you need in order to complete your machine and we'll begin acquisitions. Though William and Anya will likely be handling that." Jordan said.

"Why not us?" Crusher asked, referring to himself and his wife.

"Because whoever put Brainwave in a coma is going to be looking for the rest of us, especially if they figure out we're here in Blue Valley. We need to do things covertly." Jordan said.

"And considering that you two like to leave a bloodbath in your wake, cover isn't really your style." William said.

"You want to say that again? After all, without that wand of yours, you're not so tough." Crusher said.

"Enough. Gambler, you will be tasked with identifying our new foe." Jordan said and Steven nodded.

"So what do we do?" Paula asked.

"How about you stop killing my football coaches every time they don't treat Artemis like she's the star." Anya said.

"Stop hiring bum coaches and we won't have that problem." Paula said.

"Enough. She's right, you two have risked drawing too much attention to our operation as it is." Jordan said.

"We want action." Crusher argued.

"Fine, we'll split the missions." Jordan said, not wanting to get into yet another fight, since honestly, all this pointless bickering was exactly that. Pointless. He was well aware that his teammates had issues with each other, but he didn't care. As long as they refrained from killing each other until after they'd put their plan into effect, he could care less what they do.

"Jordan, there is another problem that I don't believe you have accounted for." Ito said.

"What problem?" Jordan asked.

"The process will only affect fully developed human minds. Which means that people like Superman and Supergirl will not be affected and we can be sure that they'll be interested if we try to enslave half the country." Ito said.

"That is a problem that you will find a solution to. Ideally by finding a way to make sure it will affect aliens, since if it does, then we'll have Superman and Supergirl on our payroll. Very ideal to help bring our message to the rest of the country and the world." Jordan said.

"That will take and I will need information about the Kryptonians that isn't available to the public." Ito said.

"If it exists, I'll find a way to get it to you." Jordan said.

"Is there anything else?" Anya asked.

"That's all." Jordan said, dismissing them, though Ito stopped him before he could leave.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Cindy is growing restless. She is insisting that if we want her to keep doing her part, then she wants something out of it." Ito said and Jordan sighed.

"We wouldn't be having this conversation if you'd actually been a parent to her and hadn't let her become the spoiled brat she is today. Does she really think that she'll get a seat at the table if she keeps acting like this? She has no restraint and no control and I already have three attack dogs with that problem." Jordan said.

"Sportsmaster, Tigress and Grundy." Ito said and Jordan nodded.

"If your daughter wants a seat at the table, then she better grow up and show some actual maturity, not the same antics she's shown so far. Besides, members of the ISA complete their missions before insisting on rewards." Jordan said.

"She'll never get a membership will she?" Dragon King asked.

"Would you offer her one if you were me?" Jordan asked him.

"No." Ito agreed.

"Then we're done here. Tell her whatever you want, but make it clear that by insisting she be made a member of the ISA before she finishes her mission, she's just lowered her chances of it ever happening." Jordan said and Ito nodded as they went their separate ways, unaware that they'd been overheard.

"Fine then. If you won't put me on your team, I'll start my own." Cindy said to herself as she looked at the file she'd stolen from her father. The folder contained records on her and all the other ISA legacies. Henry King Jr., Artemis Crock, Issac Bowin, Joey Zarick, hell, even Icicle's own son Cameron Makhent was in here.

"Time to do some recruiting." Cindy said with a grin as she closed the folder and looked down at the title on it. The name of her new team. It was only two words, but it perfectly described what her team would be. INJUSTICE UNLIMITED.

Chapter 23

Notes:

Okay so episode 9 of Stargirl season 2 was definitely an interesting one. Pat definitely did not think about keeping that secret through all the way. Also, online sources confirm that the Jay Garrick shown in the episode in Stargirl is the same one who appears in the Flash, which just leads to more questions, but is still exciting. I hope that they explain it at some point during the Flash or maybe even Stargirl.

Chapter Text

"Hey, are you okay?" Courtney asked Yolanda as they sat on the porch swing outside their house. Well technically Courtney's parents' house.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Yolanda said as Courtney wrapped her arm around her.

"We said no more secrets between us." Courtney reminded her as she felt Yolanda snuggle into her.

"I know, it's nothing." Yolanda said.

"It's clearly something it's bothering you." Courtney said and Yolanda could tell that she wasn't going to drop this.

"It's stupid." Yolanda said.

"You're worried about how people are going to react at school tomorrow when they find out about us." Courtney guessed and Yolanda looked at her shocked.

"How did you know that?" Yolanda asked.

"That staff gave me the power to read minds." Courtney said seriously.

"Really?" Yolanda asked and Courtney laughed.

"No, not really, but it's an obvious guess." Courtney said.

"Not funny." Yolanda said, though she was smiling.

"I beg to differ. Besides, it worked, got you to smile. And I've been the same thing." Courtney said.

"You don't look like it." Yolanda said to her girlfriend.

"That's because I can tell that you're worried enough for both of us. You don't need to see me worrying about it too." Courtney said.

"Court, I appreciate that, but whatever this is between us, I want it to be an equal partnership, not you feeling like you have to be strong all the time for me." Yolanda said.

"I know, and it will be, but I know how much the school hurt you after you first came out and now with us being together." Courtney said.

"I wish I didn't feel this way. I wish that knowing that we have people behind us helped, but it doesn't." Yolanda said.

"And I bet that little run in with your mom last Friday night didn't help." Courtney said.

"It didn't." Yolanda confirmed as she felt Courtney rub her arm down her back and it calmed her immensely.

"We don't have to tell people about us right away. Rick and Beth and my family were one thing, but we don't have to be out at school if you're not ready for that." Courtney said.

"No, I want to be out at school, it's you I'm worried about." Yolanda said.

"What are you talking about? I'll be fine." Courtney said.

"Courtney, you haven't seen the way a majority of Blue Valley High treats people like us. I have, I lived it for months by myself before you came here. And I don't want you to go through that." Yolanda said.

"And I won't." Courtney said.

"How are you so sure?" Yolanda said.

"You said it yourself, you went through that yourself. I won't be. I'll have you, plus Rick and Beth with me the whole time, plus my family." Courtney reminded her.

"Wish I had that when I came out. It would've made being rejected by my parents a bit easier." Yolanda said as Courtney cupped her cheek.

"You have us now and I promise you Yolanda, you'll never be alone again. Just promise me you'll keep your claws to yourself." Courtney said.

"You know I'd never use them to hurt you." Yolanda said.

"I'm not worried about you using them to hurt me. I'm worried about you using them to kill any guy who doesn't treat me like the plague and actually tries to flirt with me." Courtney said and now Yolanda smiled.

"I promise they won't face my claws, but if they try to make a move on you, they will pay a price for it." Yolanda said and Courtney smiled.

"As long as it can't be traced back to you or Wildcat, that's fine." Courtney said.

"As long as you don't blast anyone who looks at me funny or gives a hard time with your staff." Yolanda said.

"You know I won't make that promise because I don't want to break a promise to you." Courtney said.

"Courtney, I'm serious. I appreciate you being protective like that, but I don't want you to kill anyone. Besides, that staff is for JSA stuff only. Just like my claws." Yolanda said.

"Fine." Courtney said.

"Try that again, this time while showing me your hands so I can make sure you're not crossing your fingers." Yolanda said and Courtney sighed.

"You win." Courtney said as she did exactly that.

"Good." Yolanda said and Courtney chuckled as her girlfriend leaned into her.


The next day, when Pat dropped Courtney and Yolanda off at school, Courtney could see Yolanda taking deep breaths, trying to keep herself calm.

"We don't have to do this yet. We can just keep us to ourselves." Courtney said.

"No, I can do this, I need to do this." Yolanda said as she managed to calm herself down and then, whether it was to keep herself calm or to reassure Courtney that she was serious about doing this, neither girl was sure, Yolanda took her girlfriend's hand in her own and squeezed it tightly.

"Okay then, let's do this." Courtney said, trying hard not to wince at how tightly Yolanda was holding her hand.

"I'm holding your hand too tightly aren't I?" Yolanda asked as she noticed the uncomfortable look on Courtney's face.

"A little bit." Courtney said as Yolanda loosened her grip.

"Better." Courtney said.

"Sorry." Yolanda apologized.

"It's fine, just remember, you're not alone anymore. You've got me in your corner." Courtney reminded her as she took the lead as they headed inside.

To Yolanda's relief, the first half of the day went by relatively smoothly. No one seemed to bat an eye at her and Courtney, holding hands. But as she knew it would, their luck ran out at lunch as they sat down with Rick and Beth at their usual table. And no surprise, things were ruined by Cindy Burman of all people.

"What do you want, Cindy?" Courtney asked.

"Well, I just wanted to congratulate Yolanda on finally succeeding in turning another girl at this school to her team. I wonder what she had to do to get you to do that." Cindy said and smirked as she saw the embarrassed look on Yolanda's face, since it was very clear what Cindy was implying.

"Actually, she didn't do anything. I made the first move and honestly, you need to get your head out of the gutter. Honestly, if you're thinking about stuff like that, it makes me wonder if you're playing for the same team as us." Courtney said and Rick couldn't help but say oh under his breath with a grin at that.

"Excuse me?" Cindy asked.

"You heard me." Courtney said.

"Clearly someone needs to teach you respect, because no one talks to me that way." Cindy said.

"I think it's the other way around. You're the one who needs to learn some respect and it's clear that someone needs to put you in your place princess." Courtney said.

"Court." Yolanda said.

"No, Yolanda, this isn't just about you. It's high time someone showed Cindy Burman that she's not the queen of everything. All she is is a little spoiled brat who's never been told no in her life. And it's clearly time someone does." Courtney said.

Everyone in the cafeteria was watching them now, wondering what Cindy was going to do, since none of them had ever talked to Cindy like that or seen anyone else talk to her like that. Courtney was going to be a legend for this, one way or another.

Cindy herself was trying to exercise some self control as she resisted the urge to whip out her wrist blades and slit Courtney's throat, but all that would do is blow her cover and likely get her killed by the ISA for potentially exposing them to the new JSA. Not that Brainwave hadn't already done that. Cindy then decided to just huff before walking away, leaving everyone stunned, since Cindy Burman never backed down from anyone.

For a minute, the cafeteria was silent as Courtney moved to retake her seat before the room burst out into applause at someone finally bringing down the Dragon Queen as many students called her.

"I have a feeling that no one's going to give you two any trouble anymore, especially since I think Courtney just became the new queen of Blue Valley High." Rick said.

"I guess we'll see." Courtney said, since honestly, she knew that Cindy would be on a warpath now to take her down. She'd just need to be ready.

Chapter 24

Notes:

First off, I'd like to amend my previous Stargirl AN. I misunderstood the statement I read from John Wesley Shipp. The Jay Garick in Stargirl is the doppelganger of the Jay Garrick in Flash, I think what he meant was that the two of them were exactly alike, which honestly makes more sense than it being the same Jay in both shows.

Chapter Text

Yolanda had to admit, ever since Courtney had put Cindy in her place at lunch earlier today, things had started to change for her again. People were no longer looking at her like she was a freak of nature, even though technically she was, not because of her sexuality, but because of the claws she had hidden inside her hands, still trying to figure out where those came from, but instead they were almost treating her the way they had before she'd been outed. She never realized just how much of her treatment was due to Cindy's influence in the school and now that Courtney had weakened the Dragon Queen, they were no longer scared of her. She made a note to herself to take Courtney out for a very special actual first date to thank her for in a sense, giving her her life back. Things with her parents would always suck, but at least at school she wasn't treated like the plague anymore.

However, she was pulled from her thoughts when she bumped into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Yolanda said before she saw who it was.

"Yolanda." Henry King Jr. said.

"I take it back. I hope that hurt." Yolanda said to him angrily, since she did feel some sympathy for the guy considering her girlfriend was the reason his father was in the hospital, but that was only because Courtney was protecting her family from Brainwave, that didn't mean that she'd forgiven him for how he'd betrayed her.

"Yolanda, please wait." Henry said as he tried to follow her.

"No Henry, I thought I made it very clear I don't want anything to do with you ever again. Not after what you did to me. You ruined my life." Yolanda said.

"Yolanda I never meant to out you. It was an accident." Henry said.

"Really, you just so happened to mention that I was gay around Cindy Burman, the school's resident bitch. You knew she would use that to bury me and she did. My own parents are ashamed of me to the point where I felt I couldn't even live in the same house as them anymore. You were the first person I trusted with my secret. The only person I thought I could trust with it. We'd been friends for years and in another life, maybe we could've been together, but not this one and you betrayed me. I'll never forgive you for that." Yolanda said angrily as she walked away from him.

Henry was about to follow her when he was stopped by Courtney.

"Give her some space." Courtney said.

"I'm surprised you don't hate me for the pain I caused her." Henry said to Yolanda's girlfriend.

"Oh trust me, I'm no fan of yours, considering how much hurt you've caused her, but I want to try to keep you from getting hurt. Besides, Yolanda told me your history with her. You two were friends right?" Courtney asked.

"Best friends. And I admit I did have a crush on her, but I'd never purposefully hurt her like that." Henry said.

"But you did." Courtney said.

"Actually I didn't. Yolanda just assumed that I did." Henry said, surprising Courtney.

"What?" Courtney asked.

"I didn't tell Cindy she was gay, I still have no idea how she found out, since I was always careful not to mention it school. Or at least not intentionally." Henry said.

"So you didn't do it on purpose." Courtney said.

"No. Not that she'd believe me." Henry said.

"Let her cool off and then I'll talk to her." Courtney said.

"Really?" Henry asked.

"As long as you don't give me a reason to regret it. Maybe try sticking up for her to your dumbass buddies." Courtney said.

"I'll keep that in mind." Henry said as Courtney walked away from him, but not before he heard her say "don't make me regret this." But it had a bit of an echo in it and he swore he was hearing her voice in his head, even though he didn't see her mouth move.

"What was that?" Henry asked himself before walking away.

"You know Courtney will be upset when she finds out you went to Civic City without her right?" Barbara asked her husband over the phone as drove in Civic City.

"I know, but this couldn't wait until the weekend and she's not skipping school." Pat said.

"Why are you going to Civic City anyways? I know you said it's where the old JSA headquarters is, but why are you going there?" Barbara asked him.

"Because after the JSA was wiped out, I gathered up every artifact of theirs that I could get my hands on and stored them at the base. Including artifacts that belonged to Hawkgirl. I'm hoping that if I can expose Kendra to some of them, it might help remind her of who she really is." Pat said.

"Okay, I can see why that would be a priority, but you know Courtney will be angry that you went there without her." Barbara said.

"Which is why I'm also going to be collecting the gear for Wildcat, Hourman and Dr. Midnite. Hopefully that will distract them." Pat said as he pulled up to the secret entrance to Garage of the JSA base.

"I understand getting the Hourman stuff for Rick, it belonged to his father, but the suit and everything else?" Barbara asked him.

"Because the ISA is in Blue Valley and the kids are going to go after them eventually, so they might as well have the tools. Now I have to go." Pat said as he hung up and lowered the platform for his car to get into the Garage.

As his car was lifted into the garage, Pat couldn't help but look around. It had been 10 years since he'd set foot in this place. Not the building of course, he'd been there a few weeks ago when he'd brought Courtney, Yolanda and Beth here to find something to help Yolanda control her powers and also learn that Courtney was Sylvester's daughter. No, he meant being in the garage. The last time he was here was the night the JSA died. He remembered feeling so powerless, especially knowing why they lost. He swore to himself that he wouldn't let that happen this time around and when he was sure that Courtney and the kids were old enough, he'd tell them this. But not now. They were just getting the JSA back on its feet, now wasn't the time to rock the boat.

Anyways, as he got out of his car, he couldn't help but lookaround, since everything looked exactly the same as it did the last time he was here. This had been the one place in the entire headquarters that had always felt welcoming to him. That he actually felt like he belonged in. He looked over at the display cases and sure enough, he saw that both his old Stripesy suit was there and so was Sylvester's old Star Spangled Kid suit, which Pat walked over too.

"I wish you were here Sylvester. I wish you'd gotten the chance to meet your daughter. Courtney is so much like you, it's scary. But I think you'd be proud of her. And thinking about it now, that night, when you told me to find someone to carry the torch, you meant her didn't you. A kid who didn't even know you existed, who'd just been born and you wanted her to take on your mantle. It's just too bad that you never got to see her yourself." Pat said as he looked at the Star Spangled Kid suit before turning around to head upstairs to the meeting room when he noticed something different about the room. The couch in there looked like it had been used. And recently.

"Hello. Is someone else here?" Pat asked, wondering who could get in here or how they could even know what this place was.

However instead of getting a response, he found himself being blasted back against a wall.

"What the hell?" Pat asked as he turned in the direction the blast had come from to see a girl, around Courtney's age, maybe a little older, standing there and most surprisingly, she was holding the Green Lantern's lantern and wearing his ring, both of which were glowing.

"Well, things just got a lot more complicated." Pat said as he looked at the girl, who was glaring at him.

Chapter Text

"Who are you?" the girl asked Pat.

"I could ask you the same question. How'd you get in here and where did you get that ring?" Pat asked.

"How do you know what this is?" the girl asked.

"Okay, easy. My name is Pat Dugan and I know that ring belongs to and should only work for the Green Lantern." Pat said.

"AKA Alan Scott, who's my father. Or well, he was my father." the girl said.

"Wait, Alan was your dad? Who are you?" Pat asked, wondering how he seemed to be finding all the JSA legacies. Courtney was Starman's daughter, Rick is Hourman's son and now he seems to have found Green Lantern's daughter. Now he was tempted to try and track Wildcat's son, even though that mantle had already fallen to the girl that he had a feeling would be his daughter-in-law some day.

"Yeah, and you're Stripesy, I can't believe I just blasted Stripesy." the girl said.

"Who are you?" Pat asked.

"Right, sorry. My name is Jenni Lynn Hayden and my dad was the Green Lantern." Jenni said.

"You know, as much as I'd like to say that's not possible, I think I've learned by now that all the JSA members had families they never told the others about." Pat said.

"Sounds like the JSA alright. At least what little my dad told me about them." Jenni said.

"But he told you about me?" Pat asked and Jenni nodded.

"You're Stripesy. The man who built the Star-Spangled rocket, a mechanical genius." Jenni said and Pat had to admit, he was flattered that Alan had spoken so highly of him.

"It's an honor to meet you." Jenn said.

"Thank you." Pat said, a bit unused to a teenager showing him respect like that.

"You said that there are other kids of the JSA you know?" Jenni asked.

"Only two. At least they are alive and that I know the whereabouts of." Pat said.

"Who?" Jenni asked.

"Hourman's son Rick Tyler, who has his father's hourglass. And more importantly, Starman's daughter, my stepdaughter, Courtney Whitmore." Pat said.

"Does she have?" Jenni asked.

"Yeah, she has the Cosmic staff and how exactly did you get your father's ring? I searched all over the battleground once the smoke cleared and while I found a lot of JSA relics like the Flash's helmet, Dr. Fate's helmet, Wildcat's suit, the Thunderbolt and your father's lantern, I never could find your dad's ring, I thought it was destroyed." Pat said.

"Somehow, before he died, my dad made arrangements for this to come to me when I turned 16. I don't know why, but I was given this on my birthday, right before I had to leave the group home I was staying in. I've been crashing here ever since." Jenni said.

"Why?" Pat asked.

"Trying to find my brother, Todd." Jenni said.

"Okay, clearly we have a lot to discuss." Pat said.

"Yeah, like what brings you here?" Jenni asked.

"I came here because I finally tracked down the ISA and Courtney has begun rallying a new generation of the JSA to fight them. I came here for the artifacts the new members will need." Pat said.

"And what artifacts would those be?" Jenni asked.

"If you come back to Blue Valley with me, I'll tell you. I get that you want to find your brother, but that will take time. We'll help you find your brother and you can help us get justice for your father and the other members of the JSA." Pat said.

"I have to admit, that is tempting. But I mean, I'm guessing it includes a new Starman and new Hourman?" Jenni asked.

"Yeah, but technically, it's Stargirl now. Jenni, I get that you want to find your family, but do you even know where to start looking?" Pat asked.

"Not really." Jenni admitted.

"Exactly. So come back to Blue Valley with me, work with the others, learn to use your powers properly and then I promise we'll see if we can help you find your brother." Pat said.

"Okay. If I can't find Todd, at the very least, I can punch the people responsible for us being separated, since it was dad's death that caused us both to be separated." Jenni said and Pat smiled.

"Okay then. The other members are some fresh blood. Our new Wildcat's name is Yolanda Montez and we have a new Dr. Midnite named Beth Chapel." Pat said.

"Can't wait to meet them." Jenni said, right as Pat's phone rang he saw it was Barbara.

"Barb, what's up? Yeah, my trip is going well, I'm bringing an extra surprise home with me." Pat said.

"Really, what?" Barbara asked.

"You'll see when I get home, but I'm guessing that there's a reason you called." Pat asked.

"Rick's uncle was arrested." Barbara said.

"Wait what? And I wasn't there to see it?" Pat asked and Barbara chuckled.

"Believe me, I was disappointed I didn't get to see it either, but Courtney texted me earlier and said that apparently when Rick came into school today, he had a black eye." Barbara said.

"So that bastard finally left a noticeable mark on Rick." Pat said and Barbara nodded.

"That, combined with our suspicions was enough for me to finally call the police on Matt. He's in custody now and Rick is staying on our couch until he can make other arrangements." Barbara said.

"First Yolanda, now Rick, I don't think we have room for anymore strays Barb." Pat said.

"Actually, I had an idea I wanted to run by you. Something that I'm not sure about, but I think could work." Barbara said.

"What is it?" Pat asked.

"What if, we let Yolanda move into Courtney's room with her and let Rick stay in her room." Barbara said.

"How do we know that the girls won't abuse that privilege?" Pat asked.

"Because they just acknowledged their feelings for each other, they're not going to take that step yet. Besides, Courtney's room is big enough for two beds and Rick's situation would only be temporary until we can make other arrangements, since I don't like the idea of him being in the foster system." Barb said.

"Wait till I get back to talk to them about it, since I think this is a conversation that requires everyone affected to be involved in the discussion." Pat said.

"Agreed. Get home safe." Barbara said.

"I will." Pat said.

"Sounds like an interesting conversation." Jenni said.

"Yeah, and not one I'm going to let you in on, only because we just met." Pat said.

"That's fair. Want a hand with those artifacts?" Jenni asked.

"Please." Pat said as they headed upstairs.

Chapter 26

Notes:

Okay first off, I loved the season finale of Stargirl, in my opinion, it was the best episode of the season and yes aspects of it will be incorporated into this story over time. And now, on with the story.

Chapter Text

"So, now the only member of the JSA you don't have living in your house is Beth." Yolanda said as she and Courtney walked home from school, since Rick had left early to first ID his uncle at the police station before going back to his now former house with Courtney's mom to get anything of his that he wanted to take with him.

"Yeah, honestly, we're running out of room, since Rick is going to be sleeping on the couch for the time being." Courtney said.

"Who knows, maybe your parents will let us share a room, since for one thing, there is too much of an age gap for Rick and Mike to share a room and for another, if Rick stays with Mike, there's a chance that he'll end up slipping up about the JSA around Mike." Yolanda said.

"Maybe, but either way, I do feel bad about keeping this from Mike, since he does have a right to know." Courtney said.

"Maybe, but honestly, I don't think that Pat even wanted you to know." Yolanda reminded her.

"True, but still. I get that he wants to keep Mike safe, but Brainwave knows who I am and he knows who Pat is. If he ever wakes up, he'll tell the ISA and that will put Mike in danger." Courtney said.

"Maybe he's worried that Mike will want to be like you, except he doesn't have a magic stick." Yolanda said and Courtney laughed.

"Maybe." Courtney said.

"So, you think Rick will be okay sleeping on a couch?" Yolanda asked.

"Honestly, it kind of feels like someone is going to lose." Courtney said.

"Hey, it's not like we have much choice. If Rick is just put in the foster system, there's no guarantee he'd be with a good family and as far as we know, he's got no other family." Yolanda said.

"True. But still, it's not fair that any of us have to give up our private bedrooms." Courtney said.

"We all make sacrifices in life." Yolanda said.

"Still." Courtney said as she got an idea.

"What's going through that head of yours?" Yolanda asked, since she recognized the look on her girlfriend's face.

"Well, maybe there's a way everyone can still have their own rooms." Courtney said.

"What do you mean?" Yolanda asked.

"Well, we've both a basement and an attic that are both unfinished, so maybe I could get mom to agree to let me turn one of them into my new room in exchange for finally ending my guilt tripping her and then Rick can have my current room." Courtney said.

"You'd give up your room for Rick?" Yolanda asked.

"More like trying to give us a place to be alone and not on the same floor as Mike or my parents." Courtney said and Yolanda chuckled.

"That sounds more like you. But do you really think that she'll agree to it?" Yolanda asked.

"She will if I pay for it, since thanks to my dad's estate, I'm rich." Courtney said, since it turns out that the Pemberton estate was huge and had only gotten bigger over the past 15 years with no one accessing it.

"I thought you couldn't access that money until you turned 18?" Yolanda asked.

"Actually, I can. I just don't because I don't want to turn into a rich spoiled brat like Cindy." Courtney said.

"Okay, good to know that you'll be the one paying for all our dates." Yolanda said jokingly.

"Very funny. But yes, I can access my dad's money, but I can only spend a limited amount without getting my parents' permission. Those limits get lifted once I'm a legal daughter." Courtney said.

"Got it." Yolanda said.

When Courtney and Yolanda got home, they were surprised to find Pat home, and with a teenage girl.

"Pat, who's this?" Courtney asked.

"The newest addition to the JSA." Pat said.

"Wait, what?" Yolanda asked.

"My name is Jenni Lynn Hayden and my dad was the Green Lantern." Jenni said.

"Wait, what?" Courtney asked.

"Yeah, I found her when I went to Civic City and found her staying in the old JSA headquarters." Pat said.

"How do we know that you're really Green Lantern's daughter?" Courtney asked.

"Because she has her father's ring. It's like your staff Court, it shouldn't work for anyone but the Green Lantern, but it does." Pat said.

"So, she knows I'm Starman's daughter." Courtney said.

"Yeah I do and I think you and I are going to be good friends." Jenni said as Yolanda got in front of her girlfriend defensively.

"And this is my apparently jealous and protective girlfriend Yolanda Montez." Courtney said.

"Relax, I'm just trying to be friends. I like boys anyway." Jenni assured her.

"Right, sorry." Yolanda apologized as she shook Jenni's hand.

"Where's Rick?" Courtney asked.

"Putting his stuff down in the basement." Pat said.

"Okay well, is Jenni going to be staying with us, because I don't think we'll have room." Courtney said.

"We'll figure something out. Maybe you and Yolanda can share your room and Jenni can take Yolanda's." Pat suggested as Yolanda nudged Courtney to remind her of her idea.

"Actually, I had a different idea that was originally from when I just thought Rick would be staying with us." Courtney said.

"Really, what is it?" Barbara asked.

"What if I used some of the inheritance my dad left me to actually renovate the attic into a new bedroom for myself. Then Rick can have my room and Yolanda and Jenni can share Yolanda's room or something?" Courtney said.

"You know, that's actually not a bad idea." Pat said.

"Are you sure, since we'd basically be giving Courtney her own floor?" Barbara asked.

"If you agree to it mom, I'll finally stop guilting you about the whole dad thing." Courtney said and Barbara sighed.

"Fine, but only because I'm tired of you lording that over me and honestly, we've got all the empty space in the attic, we might as well do something with it." Barbara said, since their attic was surprisingly large.

"Okay then, why don't we go check it out so I can get a feel for exactly how I want my new room to look." Courtney said.

"So I guess you don't want to see what else I brought home from the JSA base?" Pat asked, getting Courtney's attention.

"Okay, we'll do that first." Courtney said.

"Come on, it's downstairs." Pat said as he led the girls down to the basement.

Chapter 27: up for adoption

Chapter Text

I did not think I'd be doing this, but I am putting the brave new world series up for adoption. A new series will be up soon, but there will be some changes. For starters, I will not be doing another Black Lightning story, just because I was never into that show the way I am the others. Instead, I'm going to be focusing on the other shows and my Artemis story, since i'm not abandoning that. I hope you guys understand and hopefully, this will be the last time I do something like this until after I've finished the new series. Let me know if any of you are interested in this series and finishing it. I'm sure someone is.

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