Freya's POV:

As the adults stepped away to talk, Courtney turns to me and nudges my arm. "So when were you going to tell me that your mom is alive?"

"I wasn't even sure if she was, to be honest." I say as I glance over and see Inza talking to Pat and The Shade. "I didn't want to tell the others until I was sure. And...not to mention, we're still dealing with the murderer."

"Jennie was telling me about some demonic creature you guys had to face in the Summer. Is it true you turned him into toast?" Todd asked with a chuckle.

"Well technically my brother's friend did with this magical pen that makes wishes so--" Courtney paused, noticing his confusion before she waved her hand off. "It's a long story."

"All that matters is that we don't have to worry about Eclipso anymore." Jennie chuckled. "But for you guys to deal with a murderer with spy cameras? I don't know how you do it."

"Do you guys have any leads?" Todd curiously asked.

"The skeleton guy and Nurse Love were our only leads," I shrug. "now we have nothing."

"You guys will figure it out. I mean..." Jennie playfully bumped Todd's shoulder. "you guys helped Todd."

I gesture to Courtney. "It was all her. She deserves the credit."

Courtney stretches her arms with a yawn. "The one thing I know I deserve is a nap." She muttered and started to walk to where the adults stood with the rest of us following behind.

Taking notice of our presence, they all turn to us but The Shade steps forward. "Ah, yes, hello. Um...rather than make my exit, I'd like to extend...a hand. If you're amenable to my help with the shadows?"

"Yeah, I'd appreciate that." Todd smiled but Jennie seemed hesitant.

"I'm not so sure."

"Well, then, please turn me down." The Shade immediately added.

"I do need to get to New York."

"New York?" I ask in surprise. "Why New York?"

"It's where Sandy Hawkins is. Wesley Dodd's nephew."

"Wesley Dodds, the Sandman?" Pat emphasized and Jennie nodded with a smile.

"Look, I agreed to help two children, not three!" The Shade exclaimed, sending a pointed look at Pat and Inza.

"Sandy has nightmares of people in trouble like his uncle used to. That's how I knew Todd was here." Jennie explained, briefly turning to Todd who smiled. "Sandy dreamt about me and Todd and reached out to me. I promised him I'd help with his nightmares once I found Todd." Jennie's gaze shifts to me with a small smile. "Freya, you should come with us! This can be your chance to meet someone else who lost their relatives to the ISA as well. Maybe even learn more about your father? I think he has a tower that only his bloodline can access."

"That sounds like a dream," I glance behind at Courtney and Pat, meeting their encouraging smiles until I slowly shook my head. "but I can't leave my family. I'd miss home too much."

"I understand."

"Pity...anywho, New York. Fine." The Shade grumbled. "But things are gonna be different from now on. None of your outlandish theatrics." He emphasized before he turned away from us. Using his cane, he slid downward which causes a shadow portal to appear. "Right, follow me."

"Thanks, Courtney and Freya! Bye, Pat!" Jennie calls out as she and Todd stepped inside with a wave until they disappear along with the portal.

"Pat?" Courtney spoke up.

"Yeah?"

"How do we get home?"

They slowly turn to me but I immediately shake my head with a scoff. "Don't look at me. I can barely carry one person and I don't trust myself to try to do a telekinesis spell."

"I have a solution." Inza wiggled a set of car keys with a smile.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

"Any snack recommendations while I pay for gas?" Inza suggested as she got out of the car.

"Just some water and sunflower seeds for me, please." I say but Courtney shakes her head.

"Okay. I'll be back in five minutes." Inza closed the driver's door and walked inside the station.

"I can't believe the Shade actually agreed to help them." Courtney whispers since Pat's still snoring away in the front seat. "But it proves it's possible. People can reform."

"Right." I nod, watching Pat's brows crease into discomfort. I wonder what he saw in the Shadowlands.

"But you know what else? We helped Jennie and Todd just like I helped you, Yolanda, Rick, and Beth without the staff. I know what I need to do when I get back. Not give up on--on the villains, on my friends. On myself. What do you think?"

"I think it's fine. It'll be a good idea to start with our friends first."

She winced. "Yeah. I've got a lot of making up to do."

"It's a good thing that once we get home, you'll have a chance to talk with Yolanda." I casually bring up which causes her eyes to widen. "It's not my right to say but...let's just say she fought with her mom right before The Shade snatched me."

"That bad?"

"Really bad, Court."

She nods, letting out a sigh. "You know, this left us with one question. If Helix hasn't been the one spying on us...then who?"

"I don't know." I lean my head against the window, watching as Inza paid for the items and steps out of the gas station. "But can we theorize when we get home? I'm exhausted."

"Yeah, sure." She says and lets out a yawn. "I don't blame you."

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. *✭˚･ﾟ✧

Courtney twists open the doorknob and push the door open, stepping inside the house while the rest of us tiredly follow behind.

Quickly standing up from the steps, Barbara rushes over to Courtney and pulls her in for a tight hug. "Hi, baby. Come here." Barbara pulls away and quickly embraces me in a hug next. "We were so worried about you, Freya. Mr. Swift should've explained to us more rather than just snatching you up like that. Are you okay?"

I nod with a tired smile. "A little groggy but nothing bad."

"Oh, you guys must be so exhausted." She sighed, pulling away from the hug.

"We got some sleep in the car." Courtney nervously smiled, gesturing to Inza who gave a small wave in greeting before she held out her hand to Barbara.

"It's nice to meet you, Ms. Whitmore. I'm Inza Cramer, Freya's..." Inza awkwardly trailed off but I nod in reassurance. "I'm Freya's mother."

Barbara's eyes slightly widen in surprise before she shakes her hand with a smile. "Nice to meet you Inza. I'm Barbara. Thanks for bringing them back instead of having them take the bus."

"No problem. Anything for the people who took care of Freya." Inza happily patted my shoulder.

"Mom, where's..." Courtney trailed off, causing the smile to falter from Barbara's face once she realized who she meant.

"She's in your room."

Courtney nudged my arm to follow her but I look up to meet Inza's eyes. "Is it okay if...?"

"Go ahead, I'm a little tired from the drive." She warmly smiled. "I live at an apartment not too far from here so don't worry about me. We can chat later."

I nod with a smile before quickly following Courtney up the stairs. Once we reached the top, Courtney paused in her steps which caused me to look at her in concern.

"What's wrong?" I worriedly ask, placing my backpack near the couches.

"I...I think I need a minute to try to come up with what to say to her." She nervously picked at her fingers. "Do you think you can go first? I need to freshen up."

I open my mouth to object but I simply nod, watching as she walked to the restroom and shuts the door behind her.

I slowly push open her bedroom door a few inches and see only Yolanda's back since she had been sitting on the bench near Courtney's window, staring out at the view.

I couldn't help but smile at the purple hoodie she had been wearing, recognizing it to be the one I bought for her. Cute.

I push open the door wider and Yolanda immediately snapped her head in my direction, her eyes softening once she realized it was me.

God, Freya say something! An apology at least! Don't know what I would be sorry for but it's a start!

"Hey." I quietly greet. Nice one.

Not saying a word, she immediately rushes to me and I meet her halfway across the room, pulling her into a tight embrace.

"I was so worried." Her voice muffled against my shoulder. "I tried calling, and texting, I even had Beth track your phone but the goggles couldn't find anything except your last location since it was shut off. Even your helmet."

I wince. "Yeah, I think passing through The Shade's shadows messed the comms and my phone up since the battery was dead when I got it back."

"I started panicking over the fact that my last words to you were standoff-ish. I was...mortified because of all the messed up things my mom said to you." She rasped, and I pull away slightly, meeting her saddened eyes. "I'm sorry that you had to hear that argument. I never thought she would--"

"It's okay. Don't apologize for the conversation with your mom." I softly answered, feeling her embrace relax. "It might not have turned out so great but the fact that you stood up to her to set boundaries? Most of the time I wouldn't let anyone intimidate me but your mom scared the hell out of me! But you? You were amazing from the way you stood up for yourself."

A sniffle escapes from her and I wipe the tear that trickled down her cheek with my sleeve. "I thought I lost you."

"Never." I chuckle before leaning in to brush my lips against hers and she instantly captures it with a kiss.

You know that feeling you have where you would have this heavy weight of stress filling your chest until it finally just...releases?

This is what this feels like. Simple but after what happened within the last twenty-four hours, it was needed.

My fingers curl around the collars of her hoodie, tugging her closer to me and she sighs in contentment. It only lasts for a few seconds since she takes a breath with her eyes softening into adoration. "And I can never get tired of this."

I smile. "Agreed."

Yolanda tries to lean forward again but I move my head to the side, making her kiss my cheek which causes her brows to furrow in confusion. "Too much?"

Yolanda didn't know Courtney could enter the room at any moment and since she still didn't know about us, I pull away from the embrace.

"There's someone that wants to see you." I whisper. She tilts her head to the side but I glance behind me. "Court, you there?" I call out, pulling my hands away from hers.

A moment passes but Courtney finally steps into view, still nervously fiddling with her fingers. "Yolanda."

"Court." Yolanda whispered.

The two didn't hesitate to rush into each other's arms into a tight embrace, seeing the tears begin to pour from their eyes.

"I'm sorry." Courtney spoke first through her tears.

"Me too."

I watch them with a proud smile and plop on the bed with a sigh of relief. "Thank god." I speak up which causes them to turn to me in amusement. "Trying to support each side was giving me a literal ulcer!"

After a while, they finally separate, and Courtney and I got to explain what happened within the last couple of hours from helping Jennie to get Todd, explaining the skeleton man and Nurse Love, the Helix Institute taking care of other patients, helping Todd control his shadow form, to The Shade agreeing to mentor Jennie and Todd in New York to help Sandman's nephew, Sandy Hawkins.

For Courtney's sake, I even got to explain the backstory of Inza, going into better details about how we met, how I found out the possibility of her being my mom, to finally confirming it.

Once I finished, Yolanda went on to explain the arguments that happened with her mother and how they had been building up for the past few days.

But I subtly left out the last words I had with Yolanda's mom before we left since...you know, they weren't exactly so nice.

"I knew your parents were hard on you, but I never thought they'd kick you out." Courtney shook her head in disbelief.

"They assumed the worst, and I couldn't defend myself. I can't tell them what I'm actually out doing every night." Yolanda scoffed. "They wouldn't understand any of what we do."

"You don't know that."

Yolanda raised a brow. "I know I can't trust them, Court. They'd tell people about everything just to try and control me like they always do. And this isn't just about my secret. It's about yours. Freya's, Beth's, and Rick's. Like as soon as my mom saw Freya and..." Her eyes slightly widen in realization until she quickly shook her head. "Nevermind."

"Saw Freya and what?" Courtney questioned, looking over at me in confusion. "What did you do?"

"Let's just say I said a few words she wasn't too fond of...and she doesn't like me." I casually shrug. That sounded believable.

"Right..." Courtney trailed before she let out a sigh. "Speaking of Rick and Beth, I need to apologize to them too, but...there's something else I wanna ask them. Before I do, I need your guys' support on it."

I furrow my brows in confusion as Yolanda tilted her head to the side. "What are you talking about?"

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. *✭˚･ﾟ✧

I was on the fence about supporting Courtney's plan for two reasons.

One, I'm worried about how Cameron will react since there's a chance he'll see us in a different light and if he understands why we had to stop his father.

Two, if it ends up backfiring on us, would he stoop so low to come after our families next? I mean, I hate that even after everything Paula and Crusher did to me, I still want to give them a chance to redeem themselves. As much as they piss me off with some of their actions, I can see that they mean well to make it up to Artemis.

Not only do I have to protect The Crocks, but now with Inza--or well, my mom now in the picture, I have to look out for her safety as well. I just got her back.

But overall...I reluctantly agreed to support her. Even with my 'what if' concerns, Cameron shouldn't live with the rest of his life not knowing.

So after managing to stay up through my classes, we were all seated at our lunch table in the cafeteria, listening to Courtney as she started with her apologies, along with what had been happening with Jennie and her brother and my truth about finding out my mom is alive.

"I'm sorry I never told you about Cameron." Courtney continued to say as Rick and Beth intently listened from across the lunch table. "It was never my intention to put him before you."

"Thanks, Courtney." Beth gave a small smile. "Apology accepted."

The rest of us look over to Rick, seeing as his expression didn't waver until he nodded. "Okay. We're good."

Relief etched across Courtney's features as she relaxed in her chair. "Cool."

Yolanda nods her head towards Rick and Beth with a pointed look. "Go on, Court."

He raises a brow. "Is there something else?"

I nod, timidly drumming fingers on my leg out of nerves as Yolanda answers, "Yes."

"What is it?" Beth worriedly asked.

Courtney looked up from her unopened fruit bowl with a nervous look. "I wanna tell Cameron everything."

"What? Why?" Rick asked in disbelief.

"Because I can't be with him if I can't be honest with him about the JSA, about his father, about me being...Stargirl." She listed off, and Rick shook his head with annoyance. "I'm asking for your support."

"No. You can't keep doing this, Court. Every time you share our secrets, it makes all of us less safe." Rick snapped, gesturing to the rest of us as Beth glumly looked down. "And for that kid, because you like him?"

He looked towards Yolanda and I for help but since we stayed silent, he let out a scoff. "Don't tell me that you guys knew about this."

Yolanda nodded. "Yeah, we did."

I cross my arms over my chest in discomfort. "We talked about it earlier today."

"You've gotta be kidding me."

"You have to admit you guys were wrong about Cindy." I try to point out but Yolanda grabs my arm.

"Not completely wrong." She tried to argue but I raised a brow. "Just a little wrong."

"Yolanda."

"The point is that Courtney wants to tell Cameron about who his dad really was and why we had to stop him." Yolanda emphasized, taking her hand off my arm and leaving it on my knee, leaning further in her chair. "He can't spend the rest of his life never knowing anyway."

"Look, I know it's going to be hard, and I know there's some real risk here, but once we get through it, and I have faith we will, we'll all heal." Courtney added, looking around at all of us. "I need to tell him the truth."

"Should we vote?" Beth hesitantly suggested.

"Don't bother." Rick scoffed.

"Rick." I warn.

"You do what you want to do. I got your back. I've got everyone's back here, no matter what." He continued, causing my eyes to widen in surprise as he made sure to make eye contact with each of us. "And you all know that because you're my family. Nothing will ever change that." His voice slightly trembled at the end which causes him to take a deep breath.

I smile at his words. The last thing I expected to come from him would be for me to be considered family to him.

"But don't say that I didn't warn you." He sternly stated which Courtney nodded in acceptance.

Aaand there it is.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. *✭

A/N:

sorry this is random but y'all,,,,,seeing that POKIMANE replied to my response 🫠my heart practically beated out of my EARSSSS OOF

I literally set her response AND her picture as my lockscreen hehehehe

On another note, Yolanda and Freya have my heart 🫶🏻 they're so cute together I can't. 'Never,' is their thing now snxjsjdj

Anywho, I hope you all have/had an amazing day! Bye!