Chapter Text
Monday, February 27th, 2006
-Superman-
al·ter·ca·tion
/ˌôltərˈkāSHən/
noun
a noisy argument or disagreement, especially in public.
Superman tapped his finger on the Founders' table. The six of them (yes, six, J'onn is retired, remember?) were sitting at a table, waiting for Vigilante to arrive so he could give them the debrief of what had happened at the Metropolis parade on Saturday.
Sitting the way he was, with his head kept up with his left arm, he was facing the right, where, in order, sat Bruce, Diana, and John.
Bruce, ever vigilant, sat staring straight ahead at the doorway, which, unlike usual, was opened as they waited for their fellow hero to arrive. Diana watched their dark friend in a pose similar to Superman's, a small smile on her face. At least she was enjoying herself, because John, Green Lantern definitely wasn't. He was glaring all the way across the table to the other end, but turned around when he saw Superman staring at him.
Superman turned to what John had been boggling.
The Flash, who was sitting on Superman's left, had his head bent towards Shayera, who was occupying the chair J'onn used to sit in. Superman had insisted she do so. That way, they looked more united. The two of them sure looked united, their heads bowed together as they whispered to each other. Superman didn't want to use his super-hearing on his friends, but he had to admit he was curious. He turned his head away before he got too tempted.
Superman stared at the door. He wondered what Lois was doing right now. She was taking his shift at work. Was she writing an article Perry had originally wanted to give to him? How about Jimmy?
Before Superman could let his head wander too far, Vigilante walked in. Superman stood up straight.
"Ah. There you are." The southern hero swallowed, looking around self-consciously.
"Oh, er- I'm a-sorry 'ta have kept y'all waiting. I've never been in this part of the Watchtower, 'an these halls are mighty confusing."
Superman gave him a warm (he hoped) smile. "Oh, that's all right. You didn't take too long." Yes he had. It had felt like forever.
"Yeah, anyone could get lost in here," Flash added helpfully. (not)
Superman frowned at the Scarlet Speedster, (who pretended not to notice,) before turning back to Vigilante.
"Anyways, Vigilante, give us your recount of what happened at the Metropolis parade, please."
Upon request, Vigilante explained what had happened at the parade. Whilst the cowboy was light with his description compared to how Superman would have been, the Kryptonian noted the lack of any description at all of when Shining Knight fought General Eilling, skipping to when 5th century hero was defended by the citizens of Metropolis.
"Eilling. I recognize that name." Wonder Woman mused when Vigilante finished.
"You should. General Eilling was majorly in charge of the military aspect of project Cadmus." Batman replied.
"That sounds about right. The whole time, he was yappin' about how Meta-humans 'n aliens are bad and stuff." Vigilante's brow furrowed beneath the brim of his hat.
"I thought we shut Cadmus down," Flash said, the visors of his cowl knitting together into a confused frown.
"So did I. But they've clearly been doing •some• kind of experimentation." Batman replied, his voice ever monotone.
"Whatever. We need to strike him down; deal with him while we can." Shayera pounded her fist on the table for extra effect.
"Yeah. We should organize a task force and and get him now, while he's still weak," Flash agreed.
"No! That's exactly what we shouldn't do!"
Diana had stood up, glaring at the two ginger heroes over Batman and Superman's heads. Bruce glanced up at her, his cowl upturning as he raised an eyebrow beneath it. The princess sat down and continued in a calmer voice.
"It's already been over 24 hours. We don't know the full scope of his new powers, but with skin tough too resist Shining Knight's sword, I assume he'll get over the fight pretty quickly. Men like Eilling- they give into fear. He wants us to spread our resources thin, then-" She slammed her fist down on her palm. "He gets us when we least expect it."
"I'm with Diana on this." They all turned to John, who had been silent the entire meeting. "She's right about us basically begging for him to get us that way, but that still doesn't mean we should just sit around and wait for him to attack either."
The room exploded with five heroes all talking over each other, and Superman buried his face in his hands. I should stop this, he thought. He felt a hand on his shoulder. "You should stop this," Bruce said.
Superman groaned at the man he had come to consider his best friend. (Other than Jimmy, of course) "Can't you do something?" It was a rhetorical question, of course. He didn't expect the Dark Knight to actually help him with something emotion-related. But Bruce had made his whole thing about no one ever knowing anything about him.
"Stop." The single syllable rang out in the meeting room. Deep. Commanding. The voice that made Wonder Woman's cheeks turn pink for a fraction of a millisecond before she caught herself. The voice that made Flash freeze mid-sentence, his mouth still half-open. The voice that made Superman glad he wasn't on the receiving end of it. All in one simple word.
Batman nudged his friend, as if to say, 'your turn now.'
Superman cleared his throat, standing up. "You guys are all right." They all stared at the Kryptonian like he had grown a second head. "We'll organize a task force, •quiet• one; a small one. Track him down without him knowing until it's too late. That way, Eilling is brought to justice and the League is never put at risk." He smiled at his own plan he had just come up with whilst talking and stood confidently, like a propper leader. "The people who fought him on Saturday will make up its membership. Shayera, you'll oversee the task force I trust you'll go about it just as good, if not better than I would. Does that sound like a plan?" Superman turned to Vigilante, who nodded, turning on the the heel of his cowboy boots whilst mumbling something about telling the others on the force.
Superman sunk into his chair. "Okay. What just happened was not good." None of the Founders who had been arguing could meet his eyes, but Superman saw Batman rolling his eyes underneath the cowl. "But to be honest, I'm exhausted. I'll meet you guys here at 3:00 tomorrow and deal with it then." He looked directly at Flash. "Don't be late."
The red-clad hero nodded. And that had been that.
•°'°•~•°'°•
Clark sighed on his bed back in Metropolis. The reporter was not looking forward to dealing with all that tomorrow.
^•×•^