UnMasked Nomad

2

^^ Erin (more Greek, less Latina?) ^^

— Erin —

The contents of my stomach were... varied, considering my actions over the past two-day-long evening with the girls. Honey, chocolate syrup, maple syrup, brownies, and several dozen types of liquor, and about an entire bottle of desert wine to top it all off; all together, it was apparently of such an alarming consistency (or color or volume) that Aqualad apparently assumed I was poisoned, and carried me into a room full of medical equipment, shoving a breathing tube up my nose and an I.V. drip into my arm before I could gather myself to protest. (He was quite fast.)

I frowned at him, and waited until the Tox-Screen came back, (no poisons, obviously, but an amazing amount of alcohol remained in my blood,) to snap at him. "No one is trying to poison me! The only one you're hiding me from is Dr. Fate!!!"

He blinked, while Zatanna gasped softly. "Fate? Why are you hiding from Dr. Fate?" He asked suspiciously.

"My plan, trying to get home to my dimension: he claims it's 'disruptive to the Cosmic Balance' to allow me to go home, even though he could send me home with the snap of his fingers, and that any attempt by me to do so with technology would be destroyed and halted by him. He already destroyed one of the ingredients I need to make the apparatus, as soon as he heard I needed it. Now... I need sleep, and this bed is better than most I've dealt with, so good night, thank you for your help. I'll talk in the morning." I sighed, relaxing into the bed.

He hummed. "I see... and Batman rightly assumed that he wouldn't come anywhere near where Zatanna lives, so your work is relatively secret, just on principle... and with our silence, you will be able to go home?"

"I... hope so. I know the basics of Rothschild's experiment, the early stages of it, I helped with the theoretical math required... I'm not sure if she added or subtracted any variables... also, I'm the numbers and physics gal, she's the gadget-gal. I might be able to replicate her work, with some help from an engineer. Perhaps I'll manage just enough to manage to at least return to the Fold, and work backwards from there... maybe." I shrugged.

He nodded. "I see. It's a long shot, then... We specialize in those. Either way, you're free to stay here with us until you manage to get home. Leave the IV in, overnight, and the oxygen as well. Zatanna or I will check in with you in the morning." He checked the monitors next to the bed, then patted my shoulder awkwardly, leaving in a hurry.

Zatanna smiled and gripped my hand gently. "Don't worry. We'll help all we can. Sleep well."

I nodded, and waited until she left to slip out of the bed, stripping my clothes and folding them at the foot of the bed, then laid back down with my gun belt under the pillow.

Then I let sleep come, relaxing into its welcome embrace.

—

I was back in the Fold, exploring, following the cracks and patterns, attempting to find the center, until I hit the edge of the pattern, and another, very nearly identical pattern, started. I frowned at my bad luck, and turned around, going the other way, in the hopes that I would reach the center, and maybe know which direction to go from there.

Instead, I hit another pattern, and realized that I must've missed the reflections in the patterns, meaning I had no idea how many of them I passed before finally halting.

I supposed if I could recreate the explosion that sent me flying, and if I had the direction perfect, I could manage that... but there were too many undesirable variables. If the direction was off by even a billionth of a degree, I would miss the 4ft long target. And what would I even do if I got back? Sit around and wait for Rothschild to try her portal again, even though the last one didn't work so well, because I blew it up? I mean, sure, she didn't know that, but she did know that it collapsed in on itself, which would mean she is going to beta-test the hell out of it... ooh, damn her and her Cautious Anti-Mad Scientist principles!