Chapter Text
Garfield Logan wakes up to a new world.
No more Justice League. Titans reforming. A cascade of memories that's giving him the worst headache of his life. It's a lot to take in, all at once, and he's trying to follow Donna's advice, to let it all come back slowly.
She'd know best, after all. He remembers that much; Dark Angel, a million different origins, the timeline stretching and cracking to accommodate Troia.
So he's taking it about as easy as any Titan can. It might involve the world almost ending a handful of times, Deathstroke being found dead in a status tube, and Dick's paranoia hitting an all-new high, but you know. Baby steps.
He does remember he's got a cousin out there. Matt. In LA. Kind of a loser, but he's been there for Gar when he'd needed him most. Terrible at throwing parties.
Take it easy. Breathe. Move forward.
It's five in the morning. Titans Tower is dead.
And he's stuck on LA and blurry, half-formed memories. Matt. Jail. Gemini. Bright blonde hair and a flashy bunch of colors that almost hurt his eyes. It kind of reminds him of Robin, but that doesn't track -- Nightwing's locked pretty firmly in that mess of Los Angeles and Tim's not gonna be coming to California just for him.
It's gotta be two over in LA. Sometime around that. Matt never really slept in the first place, did he?
The phone doesn't make it one ring before he picks up.
"Gar! My man!" Matt's comes out clear as day through the WayneTech phone. "How's it rolling in the Big Apple?"
"Good", Gar gets out. Not, sorry I forgot you existed. Not, sorry I didn't call sooner. "I, uh, I kinda need your help with something."
"Sure, sure", he replies. "Need to run another recruitment drive, huh? Well, you know I'm your--"
"There was", he interupts, "a... blonde? A blonde girl. With us. In LA."
"Uh, yeah", Matt says. Like it's obvious. Like it's something he should know. "And Bette's still a blonde, and she'll get real fucking mad if you even imply it's fake. That girl has a serious backhand."
"Bette." The name rolls off his tongue easily. "Bette... Kane?"
Matt pauses. "Are you okay, man?"
"I'm...." Struggling to deal with Tara's existence again. Struggling to feel at home with his family. "Catching up on some stuff. Missed a lot of stuff in that crisis."
Gar can picture Matt nodding along. "Brain damage. Yeah, figured it was inevitable for you -- how many times can you hit your head before it happens, y'know? That's life, Gar, and you know we --"
"The multiverse exploded. Multiple times. Memories are messed up."
"So... not brain damage?"
"Not brain damage, no."
He lets out a low whistle. "You might wanna reconsider that. Bette'll get real upset if she finds out you forgot her."
"She probably forgot me, too!" He argues. "We all did..."
"Eh", Matt says. "You two were best friends."
Gar can't argue it. Everything's still blurry, but you're my hero, Garfield Logan, Superboy-Prime rushing closer and throwing himself in the way, reaching across universes trying to grab her -- a whole life, just beyond his reach, and every moment of it was shared with her.
"Just friends?"
Matt snorts. "Yeah, man. That girl's way out of your league."
"I'm a superhero?"
"So's she?"
"But I'm--"
"And she's hot", Matt continues, "and rich and talented and smart. And she beat up Deathstroke."
He can't help the flash of fear and anger. "She did?"
"Uh-huh. Texted me a selfie after she did it."
Something warm and familiar bubbles in his chest. "Do you know where she is?"
"Not LA, man", he says back. "Already tried her old number, old address, even her college, but they don't have anything on a Bette Kane."
"S'cool", Gar says. Even her name makes him smile. "I've got a Bat with me, we'll figure it out."
Matt's maybe one step ahead of him. "Duh. Bette was the first BG, remember? And you know Robin..."
Seeing her could make it better. Just talking to Matt makes those memories with him whole, more complete. Blurred sights come into clarity and more bubble to the surface.
Those missing moments will become clear when he sees her. Bette. His apparent best friend. They had an apartment together, didn't they? Two of them, with Matt, living it up in LA... he can almost see it if he squints.
He won't have to, soon enough. Bette's a Titan, and she's from Gotham; Nightwing will know how to find her. If Gar's honest, he'll already have found her. He's probably got a long list of past and current Titans and where they are, what they're up to. He's prepared like that.
Matt doesn't hang up the phone. "You thinking about getting the gang back together?"
"The gang?"
"Y'know, Titans LA. Or Titans West, if you wanna be lame like Bette."
Another flash of warmth he doesn't really get. "Huh."
"'Cause you know you'd always be welcome here", he says. There's a sense of longing in his voice that shoots down the happiness Gar is feeling and replaces it with even more guilt. "Always got a couch for you to crash on, man."
That's his cousin. That's his family.
There's family in this Tower, too, but that doesn't stop the grief from ravaging him. There's so much of his family that he's left behind, forgotten in the glitz and glam.
And Bette's... out there, somewhere, and just the thought of that makes his chest feel a little less restricted. Sure, everything with her is blurry right now, but it'll settle into focus, and he'll see her again, and he gets the feeling that aching hole inside him might feel a little more full.
"I can fly out soon", he finds himself promising. "I'll find Bette and bring her too."
"Like the old days", Matt laughs, and Gar can't stop the smile.
There's a kaleidoscope of memories within him. He's had a dozen different lives, all so vastly different from the last, but he knows what his favorite is. He knows who was there, for the best version of himself.
It's a more appropriate time in the morning, and Titans Tower is slowly coming to life. Donna and Kory sit on the countertop, blitzing together an alien smoothie of questionable quality; Vic's on a call with that new Yellow Lantern, an old teammate from the depths of space; Wally is passing them all by in a chaotic blur.
And Raven's staring at him. Lookin' at him like she's just a little lost.
It's whatever. Gar's good at distracting her from whatever demons are plaguing her at nine in the morning. "What's up, good lookin'?"
"The ceiling", she answers dully.
He smiles, just a little bit, and Wally zooms by, dropping a steaming cup of coffee in front of them, because, hey, being the current premier superhero team in the whole entire galaxy is hard work.
Nightwing walks in, a bounce in his step. There's a quick word to Donna, an achingly tender smile directed at Kory, and then he's right in front of Gar, heading straight for the cereal. For a man who ended a crisis, he's remarkably nimble in the following weeks. Gar's still nursing a headache from having his brains blown out.
Still, at least he didn't get a buzzcut. There are some lows even he won't sink to.
"Hey, man!" His voice is louder than he'd expected. Blame Wally and blame caffeine. "I kinda need your help with something."
He nods, preparing his breakfast. Her seems a little prepared for what he assumes Gar's gonna ask about, immediately dropping a, "If it's about Terra--"
"It's not", he interrupts quickly. Raven grows even more cloudy. "It's, uh, it's about a Titan. I'm looking for her -- Flamebird. Bette Kane."
Dick freezes. The pep in his step vanishes in an instant. He's not even facing him, and Gar can see how his entire body freezes up. "How the hell do you even...?"
"We were friends", Gar says, a trickle of ice running down his spine. "Bette and me."
Nightwing braces his hands against the counter. "Gar..."
"Don't tell me she moved to France", he groans. "I know she said she'd do it, but I always thought she was better than tha--"
"Bette Kane is dead."
The world comes to a very sudden halt. Donna and Kory's chatter stops, Vic ends his call, and even Wally comes to a standstill. Raven's hand falls upon his shoulder-- bad, then, if she's reaching out to comfort him. There's only one plausible thing to say, because what--
"The fuck?"
Dick's not facing him. Dick's almost refusing to face him. "It was... God, Gar, it was years ago. Before the Crisis."
Before they had their memories. Before they got their family back. Before she'd even had a chance to know he existed. "No, she's not. C'mon, 'Wing, she's a bat. You guys don't just die."
"You know the job. You know the risks."
He shakes his head. "Bette's not dead, Dick."
He breathes out slowly. "She's been dead for five years."
"Uh, no, she's not", Gar snaps back, because it's true, because it has to be. He'd know if Bette was dead. It'd be something he'd feel. Something that would wreck him the second it happened, because that's his -- because she's --
Dick finally turns around. The bags under his eyes have never been so pronounced, and even a blind man could see the combination of grief and guilt on his face.
"It happened years ago", he says tersely. Kory's moved from her perch with Donna to put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "She was working with Batwoman."
"Batwoman's dead."
"New Batwoman, not the old one."
Raven's hand finds his. The universe might be ending. "She's not dead, Dick."
His hands dig into the countertop, and he can't even bring himself to look at Gar. "She was gutted in an alley in Gotham, Garfield."
He flinches, and Raven squeezes his hand. "She's not dead."
"Batman looked into it", he says, tiredly. "You know how he is-- if there was even a chance--"
Gar shakes his head. "I'd know if she was dead."
Yeah, okay, sure, he didn't remember much of the specifics of her until that morning, but... he knew something was missing. He's known a piece of him was taken away. And he knows, more than anything, that he can get it back. That he can see her again.
If Bette Kane were dead, Gar's heart would've torn itself apart, no matter what timeline they were in.
"Do not tell Dick I'm helping you with this", Flash says, dropping Garfield right in the middle of a hallway in Metropolis. "I've got enough shit on my plate without contributing to his upcoming mental breakdown."
Gar waves him off. "It'll be fine, Walls. Dick's probably just confused -- whole multiverse just got shook up, remember?"
The look Wally gives him is almost pitying. "Look, man... we can't save everyone. Not always."
"I know."
Wally's hand on his shoulder is as oppressive as Raven's. "It's not the first time we've lost a Titan."
"Yeah."
There's a pause. "You know it won't be the last."
"Yeah."
Wally nods. "Right. Text me when you need to be picked up."
Gar makes a noncommittal noise that sounds vaguely like a snake choking. The situation must be worse than he thinks because Wally doesn't even take a second to mock him over it. He just runs.
He won't blame him. New kid, the twins getting powers, being a Titan, and being the Flash, it's a miracle even he's able to keep up with it all. That's what he does, though. Everything he can, and then some.
It's fine. Gar doesn't want anyone else here, and it'd probably be awkward to run into a woman you made out with before your marriage came back into existence.
Garfield, luckily, has no such baggage. He's confident when he knocks on the door, and even with the whole universe fucked up as it is, he can't help the grin on his face the second it swings open, revealing bright green eyes and a fiery mane of hair.
"Gar", Lilith says warmly. "I was wondering when you were going to get here."
"Did Wally call ahead?" He asks, slipping inside. Metropolis isn't where he'd ever have expected Lilith to settle down-- if that's even a thing she's capable of-- but her apartment screams Omen, a myriad of greens.
She snorts in laughter, "No, Wally's not gonna be calling for something like this."
"Then how'd--?"
She taps a finger against her temple. "Saw you coming a week ago."
"So you know why I'm here?" He asks with a smile. He's never seen her hair that long.
Lilith shakes her head. "I didn't bother looking that far. Doesn't seem like an emergency."
He flops down on her couch, and the roll of her eyes lacks any venom to be insulting. God, he wishes she'd come back to the Titans-- he knows Dick invited her, and knows she's busy here, but he misses the days when it was all of them in the Tower.
"It's about Bette Kane. Flamebird. Do you remember her?"
"Is this about Titans West?" Lilith replies with a groan. "Or LA, whatever you're calling it now-- I told Dick I didn't have time for it, so why do you think I'd--"
"Dick thinks Bette is dead."
Lilith pauses. The couch sinks a little as she sits down next to him. "And what do you think?"
"She's alive", Gar says confidently. "I don't know where she is, but I know she's not dead."
It's a confidence that falters at that look in her eyes. Hiding his emotions from someone like her is like trying to hide them from Raven-- a pointless waste of time for everyone involved.
Lilith takes his hand into hers. It might be the safest place in the universe.
"You can find her, right?" Gar asks. His voice is so small.
She smiles, that easy confidence always present. "I think so. I can tell you she's not dead, at least."
"Nightwing says--"
"Dick is making a logical assumption", she replies. "I'm sensing her mind, however faint."
"Faint", he echoes. "How faint are we talking?"
Lilith keeps a hold of his hand and that confusing connection. "It's... strange. She's definitely alive and her mind is-- active-- it's just... far away."
Some pressure in his chest pops. "Alive is good."
Lilith gives a soft hum, eyeing him carefully. She knew Bette, too, just as long as he did, as entangled in Titans West as the rest of them. Even if they didn't always get along, there are some bonds that won't break under the weight of time.
"Did Nightwing tell you why he believes she's dead?"
The pressure returns. "Said she got gu--", and the words can't even be forced out, so he tries a different approach, "got hurt. Out in Gotham."
Lilith's nose crinkles. "Gotham? Yuck."
A choked laugh comes out, but it sounds fake even to him. He's usually better at pretending, but there's the knowledge that he has to talk to Nightwing about this, and he's gonna have to figure out why even the world's greatest detective came to conclusion that Bette's dead.
The easiest way to get some answers would be to find Bette. There's a pulling in his heart, that's for sure, but he can't find the direction it wants to yank him in.
Hey, that's what telepathic friends are for, right?
"Do you think you could find her?" He asks Lilith, trying to temper his excitement.
It's a wise move, that taperment, as Lilith says, "I could try, sure, but... it's weird, Gar. I know she's alive. I don't know anything beyond that."
"It's better than anything we had an hour ago", Gar replies.
She raises an eyebrow. "Who is the 'we' in this situation?"
He could lie and say the Titans in general, but this is Lilith, and she's never needed psychic powers to know when someone's lying to her, so he doesn't even bother.
"Titans West", he says. "Y'know. Us. We."
"Titans West is gone", she says, visibly restraining an eyeroll. "Jeez, Bette goes missing and you pick up her favorite hobby, huh?"
"God forbid a man do anything."
She smiles softly at him, squeezing their interlocked hands. "Talk to Dick. I'm telling you, Bette's definitely alive -- anything more than that, you're gonna want a detective for."
"Well, he's definitely in the top six of those."
"Only top six?"
"He's just not beating the Scooby Gang", Gar says.
"I'll let him know."
"Aw, c'mon, can you at least till after I've asked for his help?"
Lilith rests her forehead against his. "Go get our blonde bitch back, Garfield."
"Yes, ma'am", he replies, already starting to smile.
He knew it. He knew he'd know if Bette was gone, and now here's the confirmation in front of him, delivered in the form of a friend he adores, a friend he trusts -- one that Nightwing trusts. That's gonna be important if he wants to get him to help out in this.
Dick's a little paranoid sometimes, can spiral badly, but Gar knows he'll get it. A whole new day is shining down on all of them; who's to say the miracles have all dried up already? Who says they aren't owed another one?
Lilith's fingers dance along the scar Deathstroke left behind her, her smile faltering. "I'm sorry that I missed... I'm sorry you went through this."
"It's okay. I repressed the urge to drive taxis."
Fact: It's pointless to try and hide emotions from a telepath that likes to freeroam around your mind. Also fact: Gar loves pointless endeavors. Big fan of lost causes over here.
"It must've been scary."
"You're the mindreader", he jokes.
It falls flat. Spectacularly flat. Kind of jumps off a roof. And gets its brains blasted by Slade fucking Wilson. "Have you talked to anyone about it?"
"I'm fine, Lilith", he insists. "In a big tower of my friends -- if I need to talk, there's always gonna be someone around."
Her frown is as persistent as him, but she drops her hand from the head wound. She's not as much of a quitter about the heart wound.
"Talk to Dick", she says. "Or I will. And I will be telling him that you didn't."
"I don't think he'll mind. You know how weird he is about Bette."
"And I know he'll lose his shit if he finds out you and I know she's not dead and he doesn't."
"Oh, that's just his control issues bubbling to the surface."
"Gar", she says, flicking him on the nose. "You've got a man who understands detective work and traumatic brain injuries. Talk to him about one of those things, or I'll sic my new Kryptonian friend on you."
"Yes, ma'am."
"I'll read your mind, Garfield. I'll know if you don't."
"That feels like it should be illegal."
She smiles, the brightest beam possible. "But it's not."
Hadn't she been evil, for a little bit, during that timeline shift? How the hell had anyone survived that?
(How did he survive it? Flashes of red fur and the harvest, and at the center of it all, flying, blurring rocks and blonde hair. It's always blonde hair, when it comes to him).