The Mount Justice meeting room was more crowded than usual.
Most of the time, that place belonged to Young Justice. It was where they received missions, analyzed information, and discussed the problems that arose during their operations. However, this time, members of the Justice League occupied almost every available seat.
Batman stood in front of the main screen, his arms crossed as he watched the data displayed before him. Superman stood beside him, accompanied by Wonder Woman and Green Lantern. Several additional members of the League had also arrived to analyze the situation.
On the other side of the table sat Dick, Artemis, Kaldur, Conner, M'gann, and Bart.
Alex sat slightly apart from the others.
Not because he wanted to distance himself.
He was simply observing.
Over the past few months, he had learned that observing before acting could be far more useful than immediately using his abilities.
Before, he would have tried to find an answer by using his powers.
Now, he preferred to understand the problem first.
The screen once again displayed that impossible image.
An unknown planet.
A dark-colored ocean that seemed to stretch all the way to the horizon.
Two moons suspended in a sky covered with clouds.
And, on the surface, an enormous structure that appeared to be a floating city.
There were no known references.
No coordinates.
No recognizable signal.
It was as if that place had never been part of the universe they knew.
"I've gone through the records three times," Batman said. "There is no planet that matches these characteristics."
Green Lantern raised a hand.
"I ran a much broader search. I checked the Corps' records, including sectors that don't normally appear in the League's databases."
The image changed.
Hundreds of star maps appeared.
"Nothing."
Kaldur studied the images.
"Could it be an unknown region of the universe?"
"No," Hal replied. "The distribution of the stars doesn't match either."
Wonder Woman looked at the screen.
"Then we are looking at another world."
"That's what it appears to be," Batman said.
Bart raised a hand.
"I have a question."
Dick looked at him.
"What?"
"Why are we talking about a planet that supposedly doesn't exist?"
Artemis crossed her arms.
"Because the Watchtower was connected to it."
Bart's eyes widened.
"Oh."
He paused.
"That explains a lot."
Dick shook his head.
"Sometimes I wonder how you're still alive."
"Speed."
"That wasn't a literal question."
"Oh."
Alex smiled slightly.
The conversation continued, but he was barely paying attention.
There was something more important.
He could feel the image.
Not physically, of course.
The screen was only displaying a representation of the data they had managed to recover.
But behind that image was a frequency.
An extremely faint vibration.
So faint that, to anyone else, it would have been impossible to distinguish from background noise.
For Alex, it was different.
He could feel it.
And the longer he stared at the image, the more familiar it became.
Batman noticed his silence.
"Alex."
He raised his gaze.
"Yes?"
"You've been staring at the same image for five minutes."
"I know."
"What are you looking for?"
Alex looked back at the screen.
"Something that doesn't appear in the records."
Batman waited.
"What?"
"The connection."
Dick frowned.
"What connection?"
Alex stood up and walked toward the screen.
He didn't need to touch it.
A small sphere of energy appeared above his hand.
The sphere began to slowly rotate.
"When the Watchtower disappeared, we all assumed it had been transported."
The sphere split into two.
One part remained in front of Alex.
The other appeared several feet away.
"But that's not what happened."
Batman watched carefully.
"Continue."
Alex pointed at the first sphere.
"This represents the Watchtower's physical position."
Then he pointed at the second.
"And this represents the place from which we perceived it."
Both began moving toward each other.
"Normally, they should be the same thing."
The two spheres merged.
"But for seven seconds, they stopped being connected."
The sphere split apart again.
This time, the two began vibrating differently.
"The Watchtower still existed. Its reactors continued functioning. Its internal systems remained active. Even its electronic components were still transmitting small signals."
Hal intervened.
"That matches what my ring detected."
"Then why couldn't we see it?" Superman asked.
Alex looked at him.
"Because it wasn't somewhere else."
Superman waited for the explanation.
"It was in another state of reality."
The room fell silent.
Batman was the first to understand the implication.
"They didn't alter its position."
"No."
"They altered its relationship with our space."
Alex nodded.
"Exactly."
Kara still hadn't entered the room.
The door remained closed.
Superman looked at Batman.
"Is that possible?"
Batman didn't answer immediately.
"Until now, we had no evidence that it could be done that way."
Alex allowed the sphere to disappear.
"I didn't know it was possible either."
Batman looked at him.
"But you could do it."
It wasn't a question.
Alex thought for a few seconds.
"Probably."
Dick raised an eyebrow.
"Probably?"
"I've never tried separating an object from reality."
Bart's eyes widened.
"I think we should avoid letting you try that inside the base."
Alex looked at him.
"I wasn't planning to."
"Perfect."
"Although I could do it outside."
Bart looked back at Dick.
"See? This is exactly what worries me."
A few people smiled.
Even Batman's expression relaxed slightly.
Alex did too.
That was something that had changed in him.
Before, he would have taken a conversation like this far too seriously.
Now he could recognize when a situation needed tension and when it didn't.
He had learned that not everything had to become a mission.
Not everything had to become a threat.
And perhaps that was one of the most important consequences of everything he had experienced.
He had begun to understand the world differently.
He no longer saw only problems to solve.
He saw systems.
Relationships.
Causes.
Consequences.
Connections he hadn't been able to perceive before.
And precisely because of that, the signal unsettled him.
Because he couldn't find its origin.
---
The door finally opened.
Superman raised his gaze.
A young woman entered the room.
Blonde hair, blue eyes, and a blue uniform with red details and a cape flowing behind her.
Kara Zor-El.
Supergirl.
Alex recognized her immediately.
Not because they had spoken before.
He recognized her from his memories.
From stories he had once read.
From images he had once seen.
But seeing her standing in front of him was different.
Much more real.
Kara closed the door and looked around.
"Sorry I'm late."
Superman smiled.
"It's all right."
Kara walked toward him.
"I was told it was important."
"It is."
She looked at the screen.
Her expression changed.
"What is that?"
Batman answered.
"We don't know yet."
Kara studied the image for a few seconds.
"Is that another planet?"
"Possibly."
"And where is it?"
Hal answered:
"We don't know."
Kara looked at the image again.
"Then how did we get the image?"
Dick smiled.
"Good question."
Bart raised his hand.
"The short answer is that reality decided to do something weird."
Kara looked at him.
"Does he always talk like that?"
Artemis immediately replied.
"Yes."
"Oh."
Bart smiled.
"I like her."
Kara looked back at the screen.
Then her eyes met Alex's.
She studied him for a few seconds.
Alex did the same.
There was no tension.
Only curiosity.
Finally, Kara extended her hand.
"Kara."
Alex stood up.
"Alex."
She shook his hand.
"I know who you are."
Alex smiled slightly.
"That could be a good thing or a bad thing."
Kara smiled.
"I haven't decided yet."
"Fair enough."
Superman watched them from a few feet away.
"I think you two are going to get along."
Batman interrupted.
"We have a more important problem."
The screen changed again.
A representation of the signal recorded just before the Watchtower disappeared appeared.
A series of waves.
Patterns.
Frequencies.
Hal moved a hand closer.
His ring began analyzing them.
"The signal doesn't use any known technology."
Batman pointed at the screen.
"Is it energy?"
Hal shook his head.
"Not exactly."
Alex stepped closer.
"Let me see it."
Hal looked at him.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
The ring projected the signal in front of him.
Alex closed his eyes.
He didn't need to look.
He could feel it.
The signal passed through his perception.
And for an instant, everything disappeared.
The room.
Mount Justice.
Earth.
Space.
Only darkness remained.
A darkness identical to the one he had known after dying.
Alex remained motionless.
A sensation passed through his body.
It wasn't fear.
It was recognition.
The same energy.
The same frequency.
The same sensation he had experienced when he first appeared in this universe.
Alex opened his eyes.
"It's her."
Superman approached.
"You recognize it?"
Alex slowly nodded.
"Yes."
Batman stepped a little closer.
"From where?"
Alex looked at the signal.
"When I arrived in this universe, I felt something similar."
"Similar?" Batman asked.
Alex shook his head.
"No."
He paused.
"It's exactly the same energy."
The room fell completely silent.
Kara watched him more closely.
"Then this could be connected to you."
Alex lowered his gaze.
That possibility had been lingering in his mind for some time.
But he had never wanted to accept it.
"Probably."
Batman was direct.
"Do you think someone is trying to find you?"
Alex raised his head.
"No."
"Why are you so sure?"
"Because if they were trying to find me, they would've found me already."
Batman remained silent.
Alex continued.
"I think this is different."
"Different how?"
Alex looked at the screen.
"I think something is trying to remind me where I was before."
Kara frowned.
"Before you came here?"
Alex didn't answer.
Because he didn't know.
And that was one of the few things he could still admit without becoming frustrated.
Not knowing something no longer bothered him as much as it used to.
He had learned to live with unanswered questions.
What truly worried him was that the signal seemed to know what those questions were.
---
The meeting continued for nearly an hour.
Batman established a protocol to study the signal.
Green Lantern would send the data to the Corps to determine whether a similar phenomenon had ever been recorded in other sectors.
Superman and Wonder Woman would review any information related to dimensional disturbances.
Young Justice would remain at Mount Justice to support the analysis and respond to any new event.
Alex stayed throughout the entire meeting.
He didn't try to take control.
He didn't demand to investigate personally.
He listened.
He asked questions when necessary.
And, above all, he waited.
That was different too.
Months ago, he would have immediately gone into space to follow the signal.
Now he understood that acting without information could make things worse.
When the meeting ended, the members of the League began leaving the room.
Kara stayed behind.
Alex was once again standing in front of the window.
She approached him.
"Do you always do that?"
Alex looked at her.
"Do what?"
"Stare into space."
Alex turned his gaze back toward the stars.
"Lately, quite a lot."
Kara stood beside him.
"Are you looking for something?"
"Yes."
"What?"
Alex took a moment to answer.
"I'm not sure."
"That doesn't sound like a very satisfying answer."
"It isn't."
She smiled.
"I know the feeling."
Alex looked at her.
Kara continued:
"When I came to Earth, everything felt strange. The people, the language, the customs... even the simplest things."
"But you knew where you came from."
Kara fell silent.
Alex realized what he had said.
"Sorry."
"It's okay."
Kara looked outside.
"Yes. I know where I come from."
She paused.
"But that doesn't mean I know where I belong."
Alex watched her.
That sentence felt familiar.
Much more than he expected.
"I guess we have something in common."
Kara smiled.
"I guess we do."
For a few seconds, they remained silent.
It wasn't an uncomfortable silence.
They were simply watching the stars.
Until Alex felt the signal again.
This time, it was different.
Stronger.
His expression changed.
Kara noticed immediately.
"What is it?"
Alex closed his eyes.
The signal was there.
Much closer.
Not outside Earth.
Not in space.
Everywhere.
A vibration passed through matter.
The air.
The walls.
The electronic devices.
Even Alex's own body.
His perception expanded.
And then he saw something.
Not with his eyes.
He saw it directly within the structure of reality.
A door.
It had no physical form.
It had no conventional dimensions.
It was simply a separation.
A boundary between one place and another.
On the other side were countless points of light.
Each one was different.
Some were bright.
Others could barely be distinguished.
But Alex understood what he was seeing.
They weren't stars.
They were universes.
Thousands.
Millions.
Perhaps more.
And they all seemed connected by an impossible structure.
Alex tried to move closer.
The door responded.
A small portion of his energy began moving toward it.
Then a voice appeared inside his mind.
"Alex."
He froze.
It was the same voice he had heard so many times.
The same one that had spoken to him in the void.
The same one that had told him he wasn't ready yet.
But now there was something different.
It no longer sounded distant.
It sounded close.
Far too close.
"You're beginning to remember."
Alex felt his energy body beginning to react.
Kara placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Alex."
The vision disappeared.
He opened his eyes.
The room was in front of him again.
Kara was still standing beside him.
"What did you see?"
Alex slowly breathed in.
He looked at his hands.
He could still feel the echo of that door.
"Something that shouldn't exist."
"A threat?"
Alex shook his head.
"I don't know."
Kara waited.
Alex looked up at her.
And for the first time since arriving in that universe, his expression showed neither fear nor confusion.
It showed curiosity.
"I saw a door."
"To where?"
Alex looked at the stars.
"I don't know."
A small smile appeared on his face.
"But I think I can find it."
Kara crossed her arms.
"And you're planning to do it alone?"
Alex looked at her.
For a moment, he remembered all the times he had tried to solve his problems on his own.
He remembered Wally.
He remembered what he had learned.
Then he shook his head.
"No."
Kara smiled.
"Good."
Alex looked back toward the sky.
This time, he didn't feel the need to immediately throw himself into the unknown.
He could wait.
He could investigate.
He could learn.
Because he was no longer simply trying to discover what he was.
For the first time, he was beginning to discover what he wanted to do with what he had become.
And somewhere beyond the reality they knew, something had begun opening a door.