Strange Visitor - Part 1

[melworks]

"I don't remember much after the Crisis. Just the White Room and the Powers looking down on me and making amends."
"Making amends for what?" asked Batman.
"Not being able to put me back where I belonged. When they rebuilt the universe there were a couple of minor differences. Nothing major. Just certain things happened in a different way. Like my parents never having another child after my sister."
"So you were never born," said the Flash. "And your existence would have caused a paradox."
"Yeah. But I survived, somehow, and was thrown outside of time and space. They could have left me there, but they decided to be magnanimous."
"And they sent you here," said Batman.
"Yeah."
"Why?" asked the Dark Knight.
"They said it would be familiar to me."
"Is it?" asked the Flash. "Are we?"
"Yeah. Although the Flash I'm familiar with wasn't a woman and Batman wasn't black."
Batman grunted. The Flash looked vaguely amused.
"Now that these . . . Powers, have dumped you on us, what are we supposed to do with you?" asked Batman.
"I don't know, but I'd appreciate it if it didn't involve exploratory surgery or anything."
The Flash laughed. "We wouldn't do that. This isn't The X-Files."
"Cool. You guys have The X-Files here?"
"They've been on air for almost twenty-five years," said the Flash.
"If we can get back to the matter at hand," said Batman, gruffly. "We'll need to confirm your story, Mr. Jones."
"How?" asked the Flash.
"STAR Labs," said Batman. "They owe us after that mess with Will Magnus and his Metal Men."
He turned on his heel and marched toward the Batjet.
The Flash and Jones looked at one another, shrugged, and hurried to catch up with him.
* * * * *
"Well," said Professor Francine "Frankie" Palmer, "he's certainly not from this universe."
Batman's mouth tightened. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," said Frankie. "Everything in our universe resonates at the same quantum frequency. Your new friend doesn't."
"He's not a friend," said Batman. "He's an unknown."
Frankie shrugged. "Whatever he is, he isn't from our universe. That would suggest his story has elements of truth to it."
"I sense a 'but' coming up," said the Flash.
"But," said Frankie, "he's not baseline human either."
"He's a meta?" asked Batman.
"Hard to say," admitted Frankie. "His genetics are almost a hundred percent identical to ours, but there are differences. If he was from our world, I'd say he was a meta. Since he isn't, I don't know if what we've detected is normal for him or a reaction to being in a different environment."
"What have you detected?" asked the Flash. As a scientist herself, her curiosity was piqued.
"He's stronger and tougher than your average human and, I'm not sure, but I think he might have some kind of regenerative ability."
"Did you ask him about it?" asked Batman.
"No," said Frankie. "I thought you'd want to know first, Batsy."
Batman scowled. "Don't call me that."
"Sorry," said Frankie. "Old habits die hard."
"So parts of his story check out," said the Flash. She looked at Batman. "What do we do now?"
"If you want, you could leave him here," said Frankie. "I'd love to do more tests. Maybe some exploratory surgery. . . ."
The Flash grimaced. "I don't think so, Frankie."
The professor's face fell.
"We'll take him with us," said Batman. "Keep him close, so we can keep an eye on him. If he's a threat, we'll deal with him."
"And if he's not a threat?" asked the Flash. "If he is a cosmic refugee?"
Batman said nothing, but from the way his mouth hardened, the Flash was sure he didn't believe that possibility for a moment.