12 Justice League Shadows

This is Part 14 of a series. Many interpersonal developments have occured before now. If anything confuses you I suggest you read the previous installments.

Also this takes place in the DCAU universe. This means it does not reflect the New 52. It does incorporate a lot of pre- and post- Crisis characters in an expansion of the cartoon world. Information on any all all characters is readily available.

Also, I cannot claim any rights to the characters or world portrayed. Such rights are wholly owned by DC Comics who are in turn owned by Time Warner.

Tessa Richardson had invited several JLers and their significant others to a barbecue that included her parents and her three brothers. The brothers, who were all much larger than Tessa, lined up like linebackers and decided to maneuver Sir Justin off for a private chat. Tessa had duly warned him that her brothers were very protective of her. The fact was, they'd been chomping at the bit to meet the man that had stolen their little sister's heart. They wanted to take his measure and God help him should he come up wanting.

Vigilante had come as Greg Saunders. He'd brought his new girlfriend, Heather Williamson. What no one had deduced yet was that Heather was a male to female transsexual. She'd fully transitioned by undergoing SRS so it wasn't like she had a hidden package but Tessa's parents had started to cast the occasional odd glance Heather's way after greeting her.

Claire Connelly had been responsible for introducing Heather to Vig. She had just recently transitioned. She'd also just become engaged to Booster Gold, who was in attendance as well. Included in the guest list were Starman and his husband, Roger. Gavyn and Roger were completely relaxed with each other and wrapping their arms around each other's waists. This had earned them a death glare from Justin but fortunately he was too busy to continue insulting Tessa's guests.

Mari McCabe and Curt Falconer came as well, much to Tessa's surprise. Of course, they were also known as Vixen and Aztek under different circumstances. Curt approached Greg and they were chatting with Tessa's parents. The parents had finally realized who Greg was and her dad was getting him to autograph CDs. Tessa was amused that her mother's eyes had nearly popped out of her head when she recognized Mari.

Gavyn and Roger were chatting with Booster, Claire and Heather. Mari sidled up to Tessa, "Where's Justin?"

Tessa grinned, "Getting the third degree from my brothers."

Mari laughed, "Should I feel sorry for him?"

Tessa shook her head, "Justin's a big boy. Instead of them doing the usual and chasing him off I think they might get the boot."

Mari was quiet for a moment and Tessa asked, "Something on your mind?"

"Vig, his date is awfully chummy with Claire," Mari said.

"Is that a problem?" Tessa wondered.

"Wasn't Claire a guy at one time?" Mari asked.

"It doesn't bother Booster. Why should it be a problem for you?" Tessa inquired.

Mari thought about it for a moment, "It isn't really. I guess I just never saw Greg with someone like her."

"Because she isn't you or because she was a guy once upon a time?" Tessa wanted to know.

"She was?" Mari gasped, "Does Vig know?"

"Intimately," Tessa smirked.

"Oh. My. God," Mari breathed.

"Well, she has undergone SRS. Did it years ago. She's legally been a woman all that time. Of course, she was a woman since childhood but the courts finally caught up with her," Tessa grinned.

Mari still seemed shell shocked so Tessa changed the subject, "Justin said you intimated that Greg did something to cause you to break up with him. He's gotta be the most faithful guy I know behind Justin so what was it?"

Mari wore a rueful smile, "Have you ever been serenaded awake?"

"Can't say that I have," Tessa admitted, "Sounds romantic though."

"Once is romantic. Twice verges on annoying. Every day for a week is pretty damn creepy," Mari complained.

"Mari, he's a singer. It's how he makes his living," Tessa scolded her.

"Yes, but I hate country music," Mari finally admitted her deep dark secret.

"Oh," Tessa blurted, "I can see the problem."

"Thank you!" Mari exclaimed.

"You should have known that would be a problem," Tessa accused.

"Hey, he swept me off my feet," Mari defended her choice; "At least until he opened his damn mouth and started warbling."

Tessa's brothers suddenly appeared. They were thoroughly chastened. They implored her to carry her relationship to the next level.

"He may talk funny but he's a keeper," her oldest brother enthused.

"Yeah Tessa, when we threatened to kick his ass he almost handed us ours," another added.

"You didn't actually try and fight him did you?" she wondered.

"Hell yeah!" her third brother piped up, "You've got that 'come hither and give me a ring' look in your eye. Of course we had to see if he'd scare."

Tessa chuckled, "You're lucky he didn't decide to cripple all of you."

Her oldest brother smiled, "I got that impression. Anyway, he's been a good sport about it."

"And he makes you happy," her middle brother chimed in.

Tessa smiled, "Yes, he does. So make nice."

"We will in a little bit. Right now I just want to make sure he doesn't still want to kick our asses," her youngest brother chuckled.

"Excuse me, but aren't you Mari McCabe?" her middle brother unabashedly inquired.

"Yes," Mari flashed her megawatt smile.

Tessa's brother melted, "Geez Tessa, when did you start hanging out with supermodels?"

"Justin introduced us," Tessa shared.

The brothers all exchanged approving glances. Tessa chuckled, "Now scoot. Justin is headed this way. Go introduce yourself to Greg Saunders before dad talks his ear off."

"Greg Saunders?" The eldest brother yelped, "Let me guess, Justin introduced you?"

"Yup," Tessa gleefully admitted.

"What's this guy do for a living again?" the youngest brother wondered.

"He's in security," Tessa tweaked the facts to suit her brothers' needs.

"I told you he had bodyguard type moves," the middle brother reminded his siblings as they moved off to visit Vig.

"Good save," Mari smiled.

"I'm learning the game," Tessa boasted.

"Lady Tessa, how art thou?" Justin asked with some concern.

"Well, you impressed the hell out of my brothers. Which is a first by the way. How are you doing?"

"Thy brothers meant well. Their approach was sadly lacking but it is understandable, my love. Thou truly are thy family's jewel. They wish to see you safely placed in a loving caretaker's hands," Justin related his experience.

"Well, they're off to convince dad to walk me down the aisle," Tessa chuckled, "So get ready for a lot of marriage talk. There will be expectations after this."

"Yea verily," Justin agreed with a knowing smile.

"Omigod! You approve!" Tessa exclaimed.

"I have made no pretense that I wasn't courting thee," Justin confided, "Courtships generally end in a marriage arrangement."

Tessa was slightly dizzy, "Okay, but don't expect a dowry."

"Very well, but will your parents expect a bride gift instead?" Justin inquired.

Mari snickered as Tessa quipped, "I'm sure they'd love one."

"Then I should begin negotiations at once," Justin said forthrightly and started towards her parents.

Tessa clutched at his arm, "Whoa! Slow down, Prince Valiant! Cool your jets. I was joking about the bride gift. My parents will just be happy if you will want to help take care of me and be there for me when it counts."

"I am content to do so for the rest of my life," Justin declared.

Tessa's heart caught in her throat as she realized he actually meant it. Mari intervened, "Say Justin, why don't you get to know Tessa's parents? I'm sure her brothers would be happy to make the introductions."

"Dost thou mind?" Justin asked Tessa.

"No, I think Mari is getting you out of the way so we can indulge in good old fashioned girl talk," Tessa grinned.

Justin took Tessa's hand and kissed, "Until later then."

Tessa watched him go, "I don't know whether to swoon or wet my panties when he does stuff like that."

Mari grinned, "I think it's time we discussed your future."

Tessa wore a rueful smirk, "I guess it is."

"Stop it!" Helena Bertinelli hissed at her husband, Vic Sage.

"I just don't see why we had to drive all the way to Chicago just to see Sonia Alcona," Vic complained.

As Batwoman, Sonia was the JLU's newest member. Helena rolled her eyes, "We're reinforcing Sonia's excuse for being out of town during Darkseid's invasion. She told Margo that she was running down some rich bitch's philandering husband. Well, you and I are reporters that were also on a similar case involving the same dickless husband."

"I just don't see why we have to do this," Vic grumbled.

"For the luvva God, Q! You'll play along or I'll break your dick off. You're just jealous because Sonia thinks I'm hot," Helena accused.

"You are hot," Vic replied.

Helena grinned, "Good answer. So you can understand where she's coming from."

"Unfortunately," Vic grumbled.

They'd reached Sonia's apartment building. She lived on the top floor. Her apartment had a skylight, which was convenient for her alter ego.

The couple entered the building and eschewed the elevator. Arriving at the eighth floor, they sought out Sonia's number. Although they'd been in her apartment before this was the first time Helena and Vic had come through the door. Last time they'd simply teleported into the bedroom. That had annoyed Sonia to no end.

Helena knocked and a different woman answered. Helena recognized her from Nightwing's files on Batwoman. Margo Collins was Sonia's partner and a detective in the Chicago Police Department. Sonia herself was an ex-detective with the Gotham City PD and now worked as a licensed private investigator.

Margo grinned, "Honey, you've got more company."

Helena gave her a startled look and Margo gave her a wry look, "Yes, none other than the illustrious Dick Grayson and friend are here as well."

Helena smirked and Vic, well Vic played it cool as usual. Margo noted Helena's reaction, "Although you were surprised by Grayson being here yet you still seem to know him."

"Are you always on duty, Detective Collins?" Helena asked.

"Since Sonia is being tight lipped, do you mind explaining how you know her?" Collins asked. It wasn't a combative or suspicious question. It was the question of someone protecting their lover.

And it just so happened Sonia needed protection. Some harassed shop owners had hired Sonia to put together a case against Ennio Falcone. It revolved around his protection and numbers rackets. Several businesses were forced to launder money for Falcone's mob.

But, as Sonia studied the mobster and his cronies, they studied her. They found out about Sonia and Margo and then they found out that Sonia was Batwoman. Falcone had tried leveraging Sonia to get her to back off but she wasn't budging. She had convinced Falcone that no one would believe she was Batwoman, least of all her partner.

Since then Falcone had sent no fewer than three professional hit men after her. Her skills had been honed to a razor's edge after she donned the mantle of Batwoman so she came out unscathed but cleaning up after the abortive attempts on her life had gotten the police involved and therefore Margo knew all about them.

Margo ushered Helena and Vic in. As they moved through the hallway into the living space, Margo asked; "Can I at least ask your names. You already know I'm a detective with CPD so you probably also know I'm Margo."

She'd paused as if to form a living shield for her girlfriend. Helena smiled, "I'm Helena Bertinelli and this tight lipped bastard is my husband, Vic Sage."

"Vic Sage? As in the crime and conspiracy reporter on NPR?" Margo started to smile, "You actually helped crack a couple of my cases wide open."

"I do what I can," Vic replied demurely.

"He's too modest," Helena grinned, "He's a frickin' genius but won't come out and say so."

"Because if they learn I am, then they'll track me," Vic pointed out, again.

Margo mercifully let that comment go, wisely judging Vic to be a crackpot. Instead she turned to Helena, "Bertinelli? As in the Bertinelli Family?"

"Yes, is there a problem?" Helena said as calmly as she could. She never took references to her family well.

"Is this some kind of mob vendetta?" Margo asked sharply, "Are you here to help or hurt Sonia?"

"I'm here to help," Helena declared angrily, "Otherwise you'd be a broken pile of bruised flesh and Sonia would be dead already."

Margo studied Helena's eyes. She eventually backed down, "Good to know. Are you here on behalf of the Family?"

"I really don't talk to my family," Helena confessed, "I can't even talk to my grandmother in Sicily anymore because when told her I was getting married the whole freakin' mafia showed up for it."

Margo smirked, "Let me guess, the wedding was in Sicily?"

"My grandmother can't travel," Helena replied defensively.

Margo smiled warmly, "Neither can my grandmother. C'mon, would you like to join Sonia and the others?"

"I think that's why we're here," Vic suddenly popped off.

Helena shot him a warning glare. Margo just chuckled, "They're in the kitchen."

Margo entered the open doorway that led to the kitchen, "More guests for you."

"What the…?" Sonia started to curse. She saw Helena and Vic and she smiled wide. In turn Helena and Vic learned her other guests were Dick Grayson and Ulla Paske. Also popularly known as Nightwing and the Little Mermaid.

"Well, she certainly likes you," Margo chuckled to Helena, "Not that I blame her."

Margo approached Sonia and wrapped her arms around Sonia's waist and pressed her mouth against the Cuban-American's. Their embrace quickly turned passionate and their arms explored each others' back and butts. Margo started to part ways.

"That's to give you something to remember while you lust after this very straight Italian hottie," Margo smirked.

"Don't go," Sonia pleaded despite the inconvenience Margo's presence would bring. It was a request made by the heart rather than the head.

"My watch starts in forty-five minutes. It'll take me a half hour in traffic just to reach headquarters," Margo explained for the umpteenth time.

"But it's your day off," Sonia whined.

"It was," Margo reiterated, "Then Blake got called to testify. They needed someone to cover his watch tonight."

"And you volunteered," Sonia grumped.

Margo smiled, "You've worn the badge, babe. You know the sacrifices it calls for. Just be glad you're a civilian now."

They exchanged another quicker kiss and Margo said her goodbyes and departed. Ulla broke the silence, "We never got a proper introduction. I'm the 'guppy'."

Sonia grinned at her nickname for the Little Mermaid, "Yeah well, a slip of the lip."

"Trust me, I've been called worse in a dozen different languages," Ulla laughed.

"You are aware of the surveillance team across the street lasing your windows so they can hear us?" Vic suddenly asked.

"Yeah, I know about them," Sonia growled, "Yesterday I brought them doughnuts."

Dick, Ulla, and Helena all grinned as Sonia explained, "We'll be secure enough in my office. I'm afraid I don't have room for you all in my Prius."

"I have a Dodge Charger," Vic spoke up.

"Good muscle car but it wreaks holy hell with the carbon emissions," Sonia scolded.

"I have the transportation problem solved," Dick announced.

Helena frowned as she turned to Ulla, "I thought you drove a MINI?"

"I do but it's still in Belgium," Ulla confessed.

"Then what…?" Helena was stupefied, "You drove all the way here from Bludhaven on your bike?"

"The bike's for 'official' business," Dick shared, aware of the listening audience, "I needed something to fit my trust fund lifestyle. Something big."

Helena glanced back at Ulla. The Dane grinned, "It's definitely 'big'."

Dick proudly showed off his SUV. Sonia was immediately offended, "A Mercedes?"

"Yep," Dick said proudly.

"I don't suppose you settled for a measly V-6?" Sonia asked.

"No, the Mercedes GL63-AMG comes a 5.5 bit liter 7-speed V-8 that delivers 550 horses," Vic said with approval, "It also has passenger room for seven. Excellent choice!"

"You are single-handedly killing our planet!" Sonia protested.

"We can argue about it later," Dick suggested as he unlocked the doors. He remotely fired up the engine.

"Omigod! That just shot off enough carbon monoxide to kill a room full of people," Sonia ranted, "How much did this mother cost?"

"Around $140,000," Dick blithely replied.

"Do you know how long I had to scrimp and save to get a car that wouldn't destroy life as we know it on this planet?" Sonia tried one last tack.

"Sonia," he was perfectly reasonable, "Your Prius can hold what? Four? Vic's car is almost as much of an emissions monster as this baby. Either way we go we are going to have a carbon imprint."

Sonia was startled. He knew what he was talking about. She was about to throw him in her mental wastebasket of environmental offenders but he'd surprised her. He knew the toll but he chose to utilize this beast because it fit his image as Bruce Wayne's ward. She began to wonder how much of Dick Grayson was an illusion crafted to meet expectations. And why the hell was he in Bludhaven while Batman ran Gotham City's criminal element into the ground?

"Okay," she finally relented.

"Then you get the front passenger seat," he told her.

"But…?" Sonia was surprised again.

"You're my map," he explained.

"You don't have a friggin' GPS with this behemoth?" she shot back.

"Of course I do. But a GPS doesn't show you the back roads to beat traffic and the best places to park," Dick said reasonably.

Sonia grinned, "There's hope for you yet, rich boy."

"Thank you for admitting it," Dick said. She could hear the pang in his voice. From her impression of Batman, she figured Grayson hadn't received a lot of praise throughout his life.

The group piled into the SUV and Dick started down the road. Sonia steered him in the right direction and got him into a fairly straight shot towards her offices. She studied him for several minutes.

Finally he asked, "What is it?"

"You are definitely what you pretend to be. And the girlfriend? Is she into you because of your money?" Sonia blurted.

Dick chuckled and Sonia got defensive, "What?"

"Sorry. Ulla's worth more than me," he shared.

"You're kidding," Once again Sonia was startled. Ulla seemed so unpretentious.

"Ulla's father is human. A career lighthouse keeper. Her mother was an Atlantean handmaiden. She rescued Mister Paske at sea and it literally was love at first sight. When Ulla got old enough and they discovered her aquatic abilities, she began searching the Baltic and North Seas for treasure. They set aside a nest egg and bought themselves a very comfortable life," Dick explained.

"Why do I get the impression they stayed at the lighthouse?" Sonia wondered.

"Because they did," Dick confirmed her suspicion, "Ulla's mother can only stay in an open air environment for 30 hours and then she has to be underwater for at least 12."

"What about the guppy?" Sonia asked.

"Ulla is the opposite. She can only be underwater for up to 30 hours and then she needs at least 12 hours in the air," Dick explained.

"But how did she get richer than you?" Sonia was still confused, "Was that all from undersea salvage?"

"No, most of it came from Ulla's term with the Legion of Doom," Dick stated.

"I forgot all about that!" Sonia admitted, "But the papers said she gave the money back when she got free of the mind control."

Dick nodded, "She gave one hundred million dollars back but that left her with over thirty-one million that she'd legitimately earned by working as the Crimson Queen's bodyguard. Between that and some Vegas winnings, the total came to somewhere near sixty-one million. It was all cash. I introduced her to some old school European investment bankers and she got into companies like Samsung, HTC, and Vizzio when their shares were still reasonably priced. Now, well now, her net worth is so beyond mine that it isn't even funny."

Sonia started paying more attention to the road, "There's going to be a parking garage on your right in about a block and a half. Swing in there. It's adjacent to my building."

"Your building?" Dick grinned.

"Not exactly my building," Sonia corrected herself, "I don't have anywhere near your girlfriend's wealth but I do have some nice offices. I even have an administrative assistant and an associate. He's just gotten his license so he takes the cases I don't want. He'll be gone as soon as he pads his résumé."

"And then?" Dick asked as he swung the Mercedes into the garage.

Sonia shrugged, "Then I find a different associate. Park in number 113."

She pulled a hanging permit out of her bag and hung it off of Dick's rearview mirror, "Now you won't get towed."

"Okay, everybody out and I'll take you to my digs. And watch what you say to my associate and my assistant. They don't know anything about this whole 'cape' and JLU business. Let's keep it that way, shall we?" Sonia requested.

The more experienced costumes all exchanged knowing looks. The help wasn't a problem but Margo was. If not now, then eventually.

Ennio Falcone moved around his desk and then leaned on a corner of it, "So we have an arrangement?"

Oswald Cobblepot, colloquially known as the Penguin, chuckled, "I too have a personal score to settle with this 'Batwoman', or should I say 'Sonia Alcona'?"

"Well, if it's so personal, why the steep price?" Falcone asked.

"You wanted the services of the best," Bane warned, "It is just a benefit for us that this is also personal."

"And why is that advantageous?" Falcone wondered.

"Because it provides motivation," Penguin explained, "And you are not paying for our services but the services of a select handful of members of the Legion of Doom."

"I thought you guys were kaput," Falcone admitted.

"No, no, we've merely begun to show ourselves the world. They cannot hold us indefinitely. We shall always rise again akin to the mythical phoenix," Penguin assured him.

"Whatever just get the job done," Falcone dismissed them.

"Oh, we'll get the job done," Penguin assured him as he depressed a button on his wristwatch, "And we'll even solve your Batwoman problem in the interim."

Penguin and Bane vanished in a blue flash of light before Falcone could register the full import of Penguin's words. Falcone just stared at the spot where they'd just stood a moment before, "When did they start doing that?"