Sell you a Bridge chapter 186

March 4th 2016 Smallville Kansas 8:00 PM EDT

We  were home, but we were home FIVE YEARS after we left. I stared down at  my phone blankly. Out of curiosity I tried calling someone, and my eyes  widened in shock as it went through. I hadn't had my perfect recall back  when I got these phones for Zee and I, but it made sense phones made  with my power would still be functional. This was the phone I got  specifically to keep in touch with her without being tracked. The phone  rang a few times, and then it picked up, a voice answering. "Gojo  residence, how can I help you?"

My  mind blanked. I...I couldn't remember the last time I'd heard moms  voice. Putting aside the fact that apparently she and Gojo got fucking  MARRIED while we were gone, it had been months even from my point of  view. I swallowed. "Mom?" There was silence on the other end of the  phone, not even breathing, she'd just...frozen. "Mom it's me. I'm back.  I...I know we've been gone a while, but I didn't mean to go and I..." I  choked a bit. I was crying. Fuck. I didn't want to cry, not in front of  my girls, but...I'd missed my mom.

I  heard her swallow. "Morgan...honey where have you been? We searched  everywhere. Satoru went and looked for you himself, he basically scoured  the whole planet. Craddock spoke to every single contact he had. Xanadu  tried every magic she could think of, Blood even contacted actual  demons looking for all of you. And Paula...oh gods Morgan is Artemis  with you? Paula left after she vanished. I get letters from her  sometimes. She and Craddock had a falling out after you vanished. Not  that I blame her. He was your mentor, he was supposed to watch out for  you."

My  heart twisted. Gods, poor Jim. I hadn't even considered that he would be  an adult coming back from a dangerous mission with three missing teens.  I hoped he holed up on the island, because I was pretty sure Zatara and  Kent would have been livid. "It's...a long story. Can you come get us?  We're in some town in Kansas called Smallville. It's a few hours out  from Metropolis from what we were told." DG had mentioned trips up to  Metro a few times when we'd been traveling together.

She  sniffed. "Of course! You stay right there. Give me the address I'll  come get you right now." I looked around for the nearest...anything. I  turned to Wally after spotting a farm in the distance. "Hey I'm getting  us a ride but I need an address to give my mom. Can you zip over to that  farm and get me one?" Wally knew my identity by now so knowing my mom  was coming was no big, he wasn't the type to hurt a civilian. He nodded  and zipped off, coming back to tell me the address, which I relayed to  my mom. She said she loved me and hung up, clearly excited.

I  turned back to the others. "So...lot's has been going on. I'm going to  try Jim next." Luckily the island had a phone line. I somehow doubted  that Jim and Reggie kept their sending stones in for half a decade. It  rang twice before a tired female voice answered. "Hello." I blinked down  at the phone. That was...Claire? Jesus, good for Jim, she'd been a  total stunner. I was glad he hadn't just wallowed for the last five  years after Paula apparently dumped him. Bet Reggie was all sorts of  bitchy about that.

I  cleared my throat. "Hey, Claire. Not sure if you remember me but I'm  Morgan, I was-" She cut me off immediately, telling me to wait and  screaming for Jim. Which I was pretty sure meant she DID remember me. To  be fair she was obviously still living on my island, which was bound to  make an impression. Still it had been FIVE YEARS, so I wasn't  completely sure. As I waited for her to come back I took a calming  breath.

I'd  considered flying back to Gotham, but considering it was only a few  years post invasion and I would have stuck out like a sore thumb flying  us all I decided against it. I could have gotten some vehicle or  something from my email, but honestly I was just...rattled. I needed  some time. The was a rustle on the phone and a cultured voice came on.  "Morgan?" I swallowed. My mentor sounded...ragged. Tired. Which was  weird to hear from Jim. He was always so urbane and suave. These past  five years must have been really hard for him.

I  cleared my throat, clamping down on even more fucking tears, something  about coming home really threatened to turn on the waterworks. "Hey  boss. Glad to hear your voice. I was a little worried after I talked to  mom. She didn't sound particularly happy with you." I tried to keep my  voice light, but the thought of him dealing with half a decade of  fallout from everyone involved was not pleasant to think about. "She's  coming to pick us up now, we landed a bit out of the way and needed a  ride."

There  was a beat of silence. "Dear boy, I'm more than capable of dealing with a  bit of infamy I assure you. It is...it's good to hear your voice lad.  I'd have thought you dead myself after so long without contact if the  island hadn't been functioning. Nimue assured me it would cease to  function if the owner had died. The others are well? Artemis? Zatanna?"  The relief in his voice was palpable, and it reminded me of nothing so  much as the cold fury in his voice when he saved me from Lady Shiva all  those months ago. Jim had always looked out for us in his own way.

I  chuckled. "Fine, better than fine maybe. Both of them are demigods now  if you can believe it. We brought a friend back with us too. Kid Flash  made it back ok too, which I'm sure will make the League ecstatic. We'll  come by after we catch up with mom to see you. Is Reggie there with  you? I know his mom was on the line but then again Reggie is...what,  twenty one now? So I figure he might have moved out."

He  chuckled at that, some of that good old Gentleman Ghost sardonic humor  leaking into his voice. "Oh he did. He and Miss Kane have gone their own  way. I spent the years after you left training the boy. Becoming a  master thief became an obsession of his. Once he felt he'd learned  enough he branched out into independent work. Or pairs rather. The two  of them have become quite infamous. They've been going by Deja and Vu.  He's gotten quite handy with that power you gave him."

I  snickered at that. Their names were certainly Reggie's style. "Alright  boss I'm gonna go. It was good to hear from you, we'll be back by the  island soon to look around so make sure not to leave your ghost boxers  all over my map table or something." He chuckled softly and said  goodbye, hanging up the phone. I turned to the others. "Wally, what's  your plan here? You going home now? You could probably run there in a  few minutes. No need to stick around for a ride when you can outrun a  Ferrari."

He  bit his lip. "I...I don't think so. Not yet. I've been gone a long time,  longer than I expected, and that was already pretty long to me. Things  are going to be a lot different. I'll stick with you guys for the  moment, at least until I get a handle on things. I've been missing for  half a decade, another few hours won't hurt anyone, and I don't know if  I'm ready to deal with my friends or family right now. Not after...all  this."

I  nodded sympathetically. It was going to be weird getting used to this.  Coming back after months would have been bad enough, but this? I had  some serious adjusting to do. We all did. Dreamer stepped up next to me  and took my hand, Zee taking the other as Artemis leaned in to hug her  boyfriend. It was strange, but in a very real way we were all we had  now. None of the people we knew were the way we left them, and we'd all  changed on our trip, so we weren't the way they left us either, the time  shift just made that even harder to deal with.

We  sat like that for about an hour.Our only movement to walk over to the  farm we'd given mom the address to. Otherwise we just...stood there.  Just kind of processing all this, until a sturdy town car pulled down  the road in the distance and made its way over to where we were waiting.  The pulled up and the second it stopped moving my mom was out of the  drivers side and on me, wrapping me in the tightest hug I could imagine a  mortal giving. I hugged her back, inhaling that familiar smell of home I  hadn't smelled in months.

She  was sobbing into my chest, though I managed to hold off on the  waterworks after my earlier bout of emotion. I pulled her close and just  held her as she bawled out an apology, a reprimand, a thank you, and a  guilt trip all in one massive jumble of words. I just held her, happy to  be home. She pulled back and stared up at me. "Look at you. You've  barely aged a day. Are you still eighteen?" I blinked. we'd missed five  years but it was the same day relative to what we experienced somehow,  so...

Huh.  "Yeah. For another...what is it? Three months? Wow. And Zee doesn't have  her birthday for another two." Artemis had turned nineteen in November  and told no one, and I hadn't asked Wally when his was. Still it was  weird to technically be the same age as I was when I got my power still.  My mom pulled back and turned to take in Zee and Artemis stepping up to  yank them both into a hug, with Wally coming soon after. He looked a  bit panicked but mom had met him at that dinner at our place with  Artemis's mom and that was enough for her.

She  turned to look at Dreamer, who had been holding Zee's hand, and raised  an eyebrow, but she was too happy to see me to make a fuss so she just  gave our girlfriend a welcoming smile and held out a hand. "I'm Marie  Gojo, Morgan's mother." Again with the last name. It was a total  mindfuck. She must have realized that because she glanced up to see me  as soon as she said it, smiling wryly. "You missed a few things, but  luckily I can catch you up on most of the important ones right now." She  turned and walked around the car, opening the back seat and reaching in  to pull out...a fucking toddler.

The  little girl she was holding had Gojo's insane blue starburst eyes and  mom's red hair. She propped her up on her hip. "About a year after you  vanished I got pregnant. I honestly don't know how I would have made it  the last five years without Satoru or Hana. Satoru and I got married  after I found out about the baby. He might come off casual but he was  very insistent on making an honest woman of me once he found out." She  held the little girl with vaguely asian features and red hair out to me  with a smile. "Morgan, this is Hana Morgan Gojo, we chose her middle  name for you. She's your little sister." As I reached out and took that  little girl, who giggled at me and hid her face, it occurred to me that  not all the things that had happened while I was gone would be bad. This  surprise was actually a pretty nice one.