Chapter 1: Alien Home Invasion
Chapter Text
Tim rubbed his eyes, entering the kitchen. It had been a long patrol. He needed sleep. He was sorely tempted to never leave his bed again, until he remembered the healing powers of coffee. He hesitated. No. No Coffee. Only snacks, and then sleep. He opened the cabinet and stretched, straining for the top shelf where he knew Dick hid his stash of that dope-ass sour candy you could only get in Bludhaven. He huffed, significantly too short. He was tired, it was dark, and climbing on the counter would be a bad idea. If for no reason other than he didn't wanna get on Alfred's bad side for leaving footprints on the table. He sighed, disappointed.
And then heard a squeak behind him, like... someone in sneakers. Or a rat... he hoped to god it wasn't a rat. He moved slowly to the light and flicked it on, wincing as the light stung his eyes. ...Nothing. ...He told himself he just needed sleep. When that didn't convince him he told himself getting knocked unconscious was basically just an express powernap, if anyone was actually in the mansion. He groaned, clicked the light off, and stumbled from the kitchen.
Wayne manor at night was creepy as hell. Like the house from the Addam's family but somehow more offputting. Fully lit, it was spacious and luxurious. But the windows were placed in a way that made the whole mansion dim - not pitch black, but with this sort of ethereal glow that felt somehow ominous. Honestly he thought it explained a lot about Bruce's entire deal. He walked up the steps... and heard a creak on the step behind him. ...Nothing. ...Okay, he was maybe starting to freak out a little. He looked around, making himself alert. Another creak, this time from the top of the stairs. Still nothing. "Oh fuck, oh fuck oh fuck..." he muttered. Think. League of Assassins? The freaky Owl People? Crazy Quilt? Why would it be crazy Quilt?! He was too tired for this. He rushed up the stairs and sprinted down the hall. Bruce was still out, Dick wasn't in the manor. Steph and Cass were hanging out again, and Babs would be at the Clock Tower - which left Alfred. Shit, Alfred! He had to warn him, wake him up! He sprinted down the hall toward Alfred's room... and skidded to a halt, feeling his blood run cold.
At the far end of the hallway the corridor split into a T-shape. Creeping slowly from the right, bathed in pale blue light, was a twisted bestial figure. Spiny protrusions emerged from it's back, its head was long and almost insect-like, and it featured a long, thin tail covered with more of those bone-like spines. It stopped, slowly turning its attention toward him. Hissing like a rattlesnake. Tim's eyes went wide. He found himself rooted to the spot. It leant down on all fours and started to run at him. He shrieked in abject, utter terror, turning around and breaking into a sprint. He jumped off of the balcony, reached out and caught the Chandelier like Dick had showed him - but messed up the dismount and landed weirdly on the stone floor below, skidding on his ass toward the front door. Shit - shit, he had to get back for Alfred! He pushed himself to his feet and turned. The... thing... was gone. He paced back toward the stairs... and heard a hiss by his ear. He slowly turned his head, finding himself staring at the featureless head of some eldritch monstrosity.
"Boo." It said. Tim blinked. He knew that voice. "...Gotcha."
"...Cassie?" He asked, voice shaking a little.
"Mhm."
"Was this Steph's idea?" He asked. The Xenomorph shook it's head.
"She told me I really shouldn't, actually." It said. "In case it freaked you out too bad." Tim nodded. "Did I scare you? Hard to see in this thing."
"Yeah. Yeah. Cass?"
"Mhm?"
"...I think I'm just gonna lay down right here for a little bit."
"Okay. Want company?" She asked. Tim shook his head no, slowly lowering himself to the ground and laying down. The cold stone floor was his new best friend. "...Want me to carry you to an actual bed?"
"...Yes please." She nodded, scooping him up. He thought for a moment. "...Did you get Alfred in on this too?" The Xenomorph-Cass nodded. "Did he buy you the costume?" Another nod. "...I'm too tired to be mad at you both, so if you promise to do this to Dick as well I'll forgive you."
"I promise."
Chapter 2: Hall of Records
Summary:
Hal Jordan, Barry Allen and Oliver Queen hang out and talk about famous firsts and world records they've broken - but can't tell anyone about.
Chapter Text
"It doesn't count!"
"It absolutely counts!"
Oliver Queen strode into the Watchtower's observation deck - a large dome on the side of the satellite that gave a frankly spectacular view of deep space, not to mention the earth below. Currently on occupied by two other people - Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern, and Barry Allen, the Flash. They were sat on beach loungers made out of green light constructs, drinking beer from a cooler set down between them.
"Hey fellas! What's got you two so heated?" Ollie asked. Barry's attention snapped to him lightning quick - his powers always made him look sort of startled, but anyone who knew him understood that he just reacted that fast. Hal looked over a little lazier, flashing a grin.
"Ollie!" He said. His ring flashed, another lounger appearing next to him. "Have a seat. We're just having a friendly debate." Ollie obliged and took a seat, Hal handing him a beer from the cooler. He made a bottle opener construct appear on the lip of the bottle as he passed it, cracking it open for him. Ollie took a sip.
"We're talking about world records we've broken, but can't tell anyone about. Like - Hal's the first man on most of the planets in the solar system." Barry explained.
"Aah. So what's the debate? Who's got more?" Ollie asked. Barry shook his head.
"Nah, Hal's probably got the most kinda by default." He said.
"Until Guy got a ring, I was the first human being on any planet I ever set foot on. It's not really fair, and it'd be boring for me to just get the ring to list everywhere I've ever been on the job." Hal shrugged. "No, we're debating about who gets 'first man to travel faster than light.'"
"I still say it's me." Barry chimed in.
"It's not, man. Empirically." Hal said, exasperated. Ollie quirked a brow and took another sip. The watchtower always stocked good beer. Some great stuff you could only get in Germany, but given the tower had teleporters making the trip wasn't so much of a challenge. Still, he wasn't sure who actually made the beer runs.
"So what's the point of contention?" He asked.
"I'd already been Flash for a little while before Hal got the ring, right?" Barry said. "I briefly travelled faster than light the first time Reverse Flash showed up-"
"Still a dumb name." Hal interjected. Barry nodded.
"It really is... anyway, the ring took Hal to Oa at the center of the universe right after he got it, which was slightly before the thing with Thawne." Barry said. "So these two events happened within quick succession of each other, but Hal's thing was probably slightly before my fight with Reverse Flash."
"So... Hal was still first, right?" Ollie felt the need to point out the obvious.
"That's what I'm saying!" Hal exclaimed, exasperated. Barry groaned.
"No, because I don't think the trip to Oa was Hal moving at light speed, or faster than light. I don't think he technically did that until HE had control of the ring." Barry explained. "In the simplest possible terms, I think Hal's trip to Oa was more like Hyperspace, in Star Wars."
"Hyperspace and Light speed are the same thing, Barry." Hal said. Ollie wrinkled his nose.
"They're actually not. They were used interchangeably for a while, but in the actual canon-" Ollie said, trailing off. Hal was looking at him in horror. Barry was grinning like an idiot.
"Surrounded by nerds, my god..." Hal said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
" - the point is," Barry jumped in. "Hyperspace is entering another dimension that runs parallel to our own, but where the laws of physics allow for much faster travel. You're not moving at light speed, you're BEING moved through entire other dimension to make trips that just wouldn't be possible otherwise. That's the only way to explain how you got there so fast, and why you can't keep up with me when you're in-atmosphere." Barry said. "You CAN go at light speed in space, and you have NOW done it multiple times. But technically you didn't do that until after me."
"I think you're just mad I beat you to it." Hal grinned. Ollie laughed, taking a swig and staring out at the sky.
"Actually, I think Barry's right." He said. "It makes the most sense. He's got you on a technicality, buddy."
"Traitor." Hal said, irritated but willing to concede the point. "Alright, you've got light speed."
"I've also got Time Travel." Barry said. "Accidentally time-travelled about thirty seconds into the past. Not long after the Light Speed thing, actually."
"That seems contentious." Hal replied. Barry gave him a look. "No, hear me out! Technically, the first person to travel through time is whoever went back furthest in history. Say you go to... Ancient Rome, right? And then you come back to now. You Time-Travelled IN Ancient Rome. But if someone goes back to caveman times, and then back to the futures to the present, that person Time-Travelled before you because they did it at an earlier point in history." He said. Barry opened his mouth to speak, and then thought about it for a while. Hal took a drink.
"...Dammit, I think that checks out." He said, disappointedly. Hal snorted. Ollie quirked a brow.
"Incidentally, Clark, Bruce and I did time travel back to caveman times once." Hal said, smugly. Barry furrowed his brow.
"...One second." He said. He disappeared in a burst of electrical sparks.
"...That's probably not... great, right?" Ollie asked. Hal shrugged. And then grinned.
"Ollie, how fast do you think we could switch outfits?"
"What?"
"Before he gets back. And then don't address it at all."
Ollie paused, and grinned. "...Okay, let's do it."
Chapter 3: Lex Loser
Summary:
Bruce Wayne doesn't care for Lex Luthor.
Chapter Text
"Bruuuce." The voice came out of the ether like a whisp of smoke, all smarm and false familiarity. Bruce turned his head away from the conversation he'd actually been enjoying, and toward something altogether less pleasant. Lex Luthor strode toward him. An all white suit with an even whiter man stuffed into it. Notably more expensive than Bruce's own. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and adopted a wide, open grin. The 'Friendly Frat-boy' look. He could stand to enjoy this a little bit.
"Mr Luthor!" He turned, holding out his hand for a shake. The 'Mr Luthor' was intentional. A part of game Lex didn't realize he'd already lost. Get him confident. Get him feeling in control. Luthor grinned, and shook his hand. Bruce kept the big dumb grin on his face.
"I was hoping to clear the air after that business with lot 48. Rest assured, the Lexcorp industrial science building will be just as good for Gotham as the... Gotham Knights foundation, was it?" He eased into a smug smile like an old leather jacket. Bruce adopted an almost apologetic smile.
"Ah, maybe it's just as well. I hear Lexcorp's been doing some great things. I mean those numbers on Lex-One satellite have been pretty incredible!" Bruce said, with a level of genuineness that masked the fact he knew damn well the Lex One satellite was about to be mothballed. It was a money pit, it's data had been padded to cover that. Of course, no one outside of the company would know that. Lex's smile faltered slightly, just for a moment. Bruce twisted the knife. "Either way, after we lost the building rights for lot 48, we managed to pick up a spot in the Founder's district - Lot 52, I think? The board seems to think it's a pretty great spot, so maybe it's best for both of us!"
Lex very nearly let himself snarl. He restrained himself somewhat clumsily. His smile curdled. "That's... very lucky, Mr Wayne." Lex seemed to adjust himself, his whole presence in the room. He had slipped already - hadn't noticed his sudden formality. "I understand the Knights project was something one of your boys started? The latest one, I think?" He said. The reflection of a private joke appeared on his face. A Lazy one at that. Frankly, Lex was making a disappointing offensive so far.
"Tim, yeah!" He said, letting the words light up his face. "God - obviously, I'm so proud of all my kids, but Tim is something else. The Knights project has already helped so many people, we haven't seen such a significant dip in crime since the Batman first showed up. If I'm not careful, he'll be running Waynetech before too long!" Bruce said, adding in an obnoxious laugh for good measure. He really was proud of Tim. He was just also petty enough to use that fact to knock Luthor down a peg or two. He decided to go in for the kill. "Oh, and actually -" He said, as though a thought had just occurred to him. "It's good that we ran into each other." His tone turned conspiratorial. "Wayne research and development has been working a project. But a collaboration with Lexcorp Sciences, especially given your recent expansion into Gotham..." he looked at him suggestively. Luthor quirked a brow. Taking the bait. Already working out how to snatch the project out from under him.
"Go on?" He asked, dryly.
"It's new medical endeavor, potentially revolutionary. The applications as I understand them are almost limitless. It's called "Project Samson." We're keeping things quiet, but..." Bruce checked his pockets. He found a pen, frowned theatrically, and then grabbed a napkin from a nearby table and quickly scratched out a phone number. "Have your people call my people, they'll be able to send over a more complete briefing." Bruce said, flashing a wink and a smile. Luthor took the napkin and stared at it a moment, before folding it and slipping it into his pocket. He smiled like predator, gloating over the kill.
"Thank you, Mr Wayne. I'm sure I'll find it very interesting. But, if you'll excuse me - I see Mayor Gleeson, and he and I really need to have a chat." He flashed that smile again. Bruce raised his hands.
"Don't let me keep ya, Lex." He smiled that earnest, goofy grin until the moment Lex wasn't looking his way anymore, and went off to find his other companions.
A small part of him regretted the fact he wouldn't see Lex' reaction when whatever intern, aid or PA brought him a thorough and detailed report on Waynetech's latest brain of hair-growth cream.
Chapter 4: Questions
Chapter Text
"Oracle. I'm in Gotham Bay. I need you to send in the batwing to deploy the Chemical Shark Repellent on my location." Bruce's voice came through the speaker, clear, authoritative, and deadly serious.
"Got you. On it's way. ETA is about twenty seconds." Barbara replied, fingers whizzing over the keyboard. She briefly looked to one side as a steaming cup of coffee was set down on her desk, courtesy of Alfred. "Thank you, Alfred."
"Of course, Miss Gordon." He replied, calm and crodial as ever. She paused a moment.
"Hey, Alfred?"
"Yes, Miss Gordon?"
"...You ever think about how... silly this is, sometimes?" She asked him with a slight smile, sparing a second to take a long sip of the coffee.
"Miss Gordon, when he wanted to start taking Martial Arts classes in 'everything' at age ten, I did not ask questions. When he studied Law, Criminology, Sociology, Criminal Psychology, Forensic Science, Business Studies, History and Art History at a Doctorate level, only to drop out right before his final exams to 'avoid a paper trail' and 'study abroad' for seven years, I did not ask questions. And when he returned from his overseas education and started dressing up as a Bat to beat up petty criminals and corrupt police officers, I did not ask questions. I rather think that at this point, stopping to consider the silliness of it all would drive me quite mad."
Chapter 5: AcroBATics
Chapter Text
"How the hell does he even do that..."
"I know, right? I mean I get he was raised in the circus but this is just ridiculous."
Robin and Spoiler were perched on top of a low roof, watching Nightwing take on a group of goons with so much style and grace his movements looked choreographed. He jumped, kicking off of the wall into double spin. His feet came down hard on one of the men's shoulders, and he pushed himself into a backflip - but at the apex of his jump, with his legs straight up over his head - he tossed both of his escrima sticks at two of the thugs, bounced them off of their skulls, and caught the sticks on the rebound before landing.
He hardly even paused before he was on the next guy.
"We're sure he's not a meta, yeah?" Steph asked, resting her hand on her chin. Tim scratched his own.
"Pretty sure, but I've never checked his suit for extra tech..."
Three more men burst out of the building. Nightwing pounced at the biggest of them, turning his body in the air so that the momentum of his impact with the burly man (the one clearly best able to support his weight) swung him feet first into the man on Nightwing's left. As the thug fell, Dick practically threw the burly guy into his other buddy. He was out cold... but the burly guy was slowly pulling himself back to his feet.
Nightwing stopped in place, and tossed one of his escrima almost lazily. It went just wide of the last man standing - then bounced off of a trash can and clocked him in the back of the head. The escrima spun in the air - and Dick caught it in an outstretched hand, finally seeming to take a breath.
Dick suddenly looked up at the rooftop, mildly expectant and slightly annoyed.
"...Oh shit we were supposed to be helping out on that one, weren't we?" Tim noted.
"Honestly, I'm pretty sure he was fine." Steph replied.
Chapter 6: Little Red Dot
Summary:
Kara Zor-El grapples with homesickness.
Chapter Text
The pale light of the moon reflected crisp and clear on the seemingly endless snowfields and tundra of the Arctic. The sky was clear and dark, barely a few streaks of cloud high above. Kara Zor-El sat in the snow, backed by the crystalline spires of the Fortress of Solitude. It was strange. She knew she should be cold. By all rights, she should have been frozen to the core by now. The thin material of her clothing, the short sleeves exposing her bare arms, her legs sinking slightly into a snowdrift where she sat - she ought to have been dying of exposure.
She didn't even have goosebumps.
She sat in the snow and stared at the sky. Her focus was locked on a single fixed point. So much so that it took a moment for her to notice the slight rush of wind coming up behind her - and even then, she wasn't roused until she felt a hand touch her shoulder.
"You okay?"
Kal looked down at her with a reassuring smile. It was so... effortless for him. Everything seemed to be. That... kind of made it worse. She couldn't stop thinking of him as her little baby cousin and yet... here he was. Older than her. Almost twice her age, in fact. And that line of thinking inevitably got her to remembering they were both technically hundreds of years old. Time dilation and relativistic spacial mechanics weren't even the most mind bending thing about their situation but... still.
"Yeah." She said, drawing her gaze away from the sky. She moved to stand - but he sat beside her before she could. Their arms touched as he did, and she felt a little comfort. He was the only person on the planet who almost felt normal to the touch. She hadn't met any of the humans before - but she'd seen the damage she'd done to the walls of Kal's 'Fortress' just by stumbling into them. She couldn't imagine how... delicate she'd have to be with one of the native Aliens. With Kal... Clark, she could just be normal.
"That really wasn't convincing." He said, smiling sympathetically. Making a joke of it. Kara shrugged, tucking her knees up to her chest. "You wanna tell me what's up?"
She didn't. Not really. It felt cruel to even bring it up with him. But it was just too much to keep crushed down anymore. She had to say something. She'd been dying to say something since she first noticed it.
"I can still see it." She said, quietly.
"See what?"
"Krypton."
"Oh."
A long moment of silence passed between them. She tensed - and he put his arm around her shoulder. Gave her a slight squeeze that probably would have crushed one of the aliens native to this strange planet.
"It'll be millions of years before the light from the explosion even reaches Earth. I... I woulda needed a telescope to see it before, but now it's just..." she lifted her hand, gesturing at a spot in the sky. At this distance, it was nothing more than a speck, even when she focused in on it, even when she applied her 'super powers'. "It's right there." A little of the pain crept into her voice. She couldn't help it. A knot twisted in her throat, and she started trembling.
Kal was quiet for a long while, and she was worried she'd upset him. He'd never seen their home, and the few times she'd brought up she felt so... selfish, like she was reopening an old wound she hadn't been there to help him close. But it just... hurt, so much. "I'm... I'm sorry. It was your home too, and I know you didn't get to see it, and-"
"-Kara." He said, turning to look her in the eyes. She froze. He looked so much like Uncle Jor. "You have nothing to apologise for. The truth is... I can't imagine what you're going through." He smiled, sadly. "I was older than you are now when I even found out about Krypton. It... it isn't the same for me. It's academic, in a way. Of course it makes me sad, but... Kara. You know you don't ever have to feel guilty for being homesick around me, don't you?"
She felt a little floored. And then... she choked out a little laugh, and felt the tears come on. She wasn't even sure why she was crying, she suddenly felt so ridiculous. "I don't - I... hadn't thought of it like that." She stammered, half laughing, half crying. Kal just chuckled, and gave her a hug.
"You should uh, be careful about the waterworks out here." He said, gesturing. Kara touched her cheeks - her tears had frozen in the cold. That just made her laugh even more - which set Kal off too. She wiped her face - but couldn't stop herself, and the tears froze around the corners of her eyes and on the backs of her hands. Kal was still giggling at her.
"Stop, you're making it worse..!" she laughed, pressing her hands to her face, rubbing her eyes and clearing the frost from her face. She got herself under control, and took a deep breath. She settled in, and the world returned to quiet around them.
"Is... that why you haven't talked about it before now?" Kal asked, eventually. Kara nodded, softly.
"I know... you're older than me now. But I was still... it was going to be my job to protect you. You're my baby cousin, and all." She said, gently elbowing him. "I just thought... I didn't want to make you feel how I'm feeling. Not if you'd already gone through all that while I wasn't... here."
Kal smiled, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "I was very lucky. I have a family here, I've never known anything else. But..." he said, softly. "I'd love to know more about where I come from. Whenever you want to talk about it, don't hesitate. I'm sorry I didn't make it clear you could before now." He smiled. Kara... finally felt up to returning it, earnestly. She was quiet a moment.
"Do you... do you want to see it?" She asked. Kal nodded, softly.
She raised her hand, pointing. "Up there. Past the Gas Giant, the one in the solar system? To the left. Just below that nebula. That... that little red dot." She said.
Kal tilted his head, squinting along where she was pointing. A slow smile crept over his face. "Huh."
Kara wrinkled her nose. "Huh? I point out that last reflection of our dead homeworld and all you've got for me is 'huh'?" She said, in faux-irritation, but... still felt a tug at the corners of her lips as she did it.
"It's pretty and all, don't get me wrong, but." He grinned at her. "Have you ever seen the world's biggest ball of Yarn?"
Kara scooped and handful of snow and tossed it in his face. She was fairly sure he'd let her. "Ass." She grinned. Clark made a face.
"What? Made you laugh, didn't it?"
"It's serious..!" she said, indignantly, although she couldn't stop herself from smiling now. She readied another handful of snow, and he raised his palms in surrender.
"So am I!" He said. "Maybe roadside attractions aren't the pinnacle of human achievement - but I'd like Earth to feel like home for you too. You should see more of it. You're welcome to stay here as long as you like, but... well, the 'Fortress of Solitude' as Lois so hilariously refers to it, isn't exactly the place to start building a life."
Kara frowned, just a little. "I... I don't know Kal. I don't... Krypton is my home - was, my home... I'm not ready to give it up just yet."
Kal looked at her sympathetically. "You don't have to. I'm not asking you to just forget and move on. Krypton will always be there when you look up. But why not... look down too, once in a while?"
Kara fell quiet for a while, glancing out across the snow. This place was beautiful. She hadn't seen much of earth yet, hadn't really left the Fortress after Kal recovered her broken escape-craft from the Sun's orbit. She didn't want to let go of Krypton, didn't want to lose it. But... if Kal had grown up here, and turned into the person he was now... maybe it wouldn't be so bad to follow his advice.
"Promise you'll show me this giant ball of Yarn?" She asked, offering a sheepish smile.
Kal rose to his feet, extending a hand and another easy smile. "I'll show you every tacky roadside attraction from Smallville to Metropolis."
amazon6 on Chapter 2 Sun 10 Apr 2022 04:19AM UTC
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Ghostsaberwolf on Chapter 2 Fri 27 May 2022 09:12PM UTC
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