Call to Duty: Accepting a Challenge
A/n. The title just means I couldn't think of anything, and it was better than 'answer to challenge by…" lol. It doesn't reflect the story at all. Anyway, enjoy!
Wonder Woman sat on the bench and sighed. He wasn't coming. He'd invited her to this fundraiser banquet in an attempt to boost revenue. She'd agreed, hoping to help the paediatrics ward with her presence, but didn't stop to think for a minute that the host himself wouldn't turn up. She looked down, and a pair of shiny black wingtips entered her view. Following the body to find Bruce Wayne standing there with a steaming cup of some random beverage raised to his mouth with his left eyebrow significantly higher than his right, she stood and smiled, then took a breath through her nose.
"Coffee?" She enquired.
He replied in a dry voice, "Don't even ask. Scarecrow's had me beat; even with Nightwing's help I can't find him. This is the closest thing to sleep I've had in days." He looked her up and down as if for the first time. Black high heels, stockings covering her well toned legs, and an incredibly beautiful dress, black with a lace shawl covering her bare shoulders. Of course he didn't react to any of this, except to raise his eyebrow even higher and remark, "You look like you're going to a funeral."
She coolly walked towards the entrance of the Wayne Convention Centre, leaving him to trail behind. "Tell that to the other members of your race, male. They don't seem to care." She let her lips curve upwards.
Batman sighed and followed her into the crowded banquet.
The Flash, aka Wally West, sighed with disgust as he sat back on the couch in the Watchtower. With Diana and Bruce at some banquet, J'onn out on a date with some astronomer and Hawkgirl starting a bar fight in some other part of the galaxy, Green Lantern, Superman and himself were left alone in the Watchtower. What made things worse? There was nothing on cable.
Three hundred and seventy two channels, and no good movies, TV shows or even music videos. The 'Tower was clean, and none of them had the inclination to work out. Or at least, that was Wally's view on the situation.
As Green Lantern flipped through the channels, he exclaimed, "Oooh! The Notebook, I always wanted to watch this, but Hawkgirl thought it was ridiculous." The Flash rolled his eyes, which then widened when the channel changed to a view of Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling on top of each other.
"Oooh… leave it here for a minute…"
Superman shook his head, and his communicator beeped. Saved by the communicator… "Superman here, what's up?"
"Hey Clark, it's me, Lois. Can you meet me at the Daily Planet? I… I have something to tell you." Her voice broke.
"Lois, Lois what is it?" He listened to her sobs from the other end of the line.
She paused before she continued. "Just… just come. Please." With that last plea she disconnected the line.
Superman stalked into the common room, where Flash and Green Lantern were debating over whether to watch 'The Notebook' or whether to watch the AV channel… with no AV's plugged in. (aka a blue screen). "Guys, I have to go. Lois is upset over something and wants to meet me. I'm not sure what's wrong."
Lantern looked up with concern. "Is she alright?"
Superman sighed and held the bridge of his nose, trying to ward off the approaching head ache. "I don't think so. But I don't know what the problem is. I have a feeling it's bad. I'm gonna take the Javelin, okay?"
Green Lantern nodded, but the Flash protested. "How come he gets to pilot the Javelin by himself but you won't even let me touch the controls!"
Lantern glared at him and took a swipe at his head. Unfortunately the fastest man alive was just too quick for him. "Not now Flash. Supes, you should go."
But the Man of Steel was already out the door.
Lois Lane sat miserably at the steps of the Daily Planet. She let out a strangled sob as she tried to control her crying. She had made her decision. Unfortunately, that decision was going to break the heart of the man she loves. She buried her face in her hands.
Suddenly there was a hand on her shoulder. "Clark?" She asked, looking up. She sighed in disappointment. It was just Jimmy.
"Are you okay, Lois? What's wrong?" He asked her, worried, sitting down next to her.
She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Nothing Jimmy. I'm okay, really. I just… I just need to talk to Clark." She looked down again, trying to control her rampant emotions.
Jimmy grabbed her shoulder, firmly this time. "Did he hurt you? I swear if he hurt you-"
Lois gave an ironic laugh. "No… he didn't hurt me. He doesn't deserve what I'm about to do to him."
Jimmy looked up as it started to rain. "Come on, come inside."
Lois shook him off. "No. Clark will be here soon. I don't want to make him wait. I want-" Her voice broke and she started to cry again. This time a hand in front of her offered her a handkerchief.
"You wanted to see me?" Clark asked, concern filling his blue eyes.
Lois looked at Jimmy sideways. "Could you… could you leave us alone for a bit Jimmy? I need to speak to Clark in private."
The younger man departed, casting Clark a questioning glance as he left. Clark shrugged. He looked at Lois and took her in his arms, until she pulled away, turning to face the cars on the street passing by, rather than her fiancé.
Suddenly the flood gates opened. The tears poured down her face, mixing with the rain. The sobs tore from her chest as she sunk to her knees. "Clark, I- I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."
He drew nearer, wary. He wanted to hug her, to console her, but it was obvious that she didn't want him near her. "Lois, what's wrong?"
She turned to him, straightened with an effort and whispered, "I've betrayed you Clark. I'm so sorry. It was just one night… but it still happened. I can't keep pretending. I- I'm so sorry."
Clark just stood there, gaping. "What do you mean?"
Lois just gave him a disbelieving look through the tears. "Are you really that naïve, Smallville? I- I- …Jerry… I can't do this. I can't. I'm sorry Clark, I'd had a few but that's no excuse. Jerry and I, we… lost control. I told him to stop but my heart wasn't in it. I should have tried harder…"
"Jerry? That new reporter? Wait, you and him? Lois…"
Lois turned and started walking slowly away, muttering "I'm sorry Clark. I really am. I understand that you don't ever want to see me again."
But he was already in front of her. "Lois, how long ago? How long has this been going on for?" His voice was hard, no longer consoling.
Lois couldn't meet his eyes. She looked at the sky, the pavement, the street, anywhere but him. The tears were still streaming down her face as she replied, "It was three months ago… But I swear it only happened once. Please don't hate me. I'll understand if you don't ever want to see me again, but please don't hate me."
He looked on in disbelief. "Three months? Three mo- why didn't you tell me earlier?"
She still wouldn't look up. "I didn't think… I didn't think… You can't handle the truth, Clark."
He turned red with anger, "'You can't handle the truth'? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
She'd had enough. She turned and fled to her car, got in and drove off.
Superman just stood there, wondering what he'd done to deserve this betrayal. One thought crossed his mind. 'Jerry'.
Wonder Woman looked on in surprise as Bruce did the socialite thing better than she could have ever expected. He moved with the crowd in a smooth, suave manner that would make her severely doubt his identity as the masked avenger of Gotham if she didn't already know better. She jumped as Robin, that is to say, Tim Drake, appeared at his shoulder. "He's pretty good at it, isn't he?"
She just nodded and took a sip of her champagne. It was the most incredible transformation she had ever seen.
Suddenly the man in question was at her side. "Let's get out of here. It's getting boring." He said in his 'Batman' voice. "Tim, you coming?"
But Tim was already gone, his plate full of meats from the charcuterie, and he was on his way to the desserts table. Sighing, Bruce said, "He's going to eat me out of house and home, that boy."
J'onn sat across the table from a beautiful young woman. He already knew it wouldn't work out with her. Her thoughts were just too disturbing. 'that beautifully sculpted chin, how'd I just like to…' and what not. It was borderline obsessive, and he was trying to find a way to end it without hurting her feelings.
He had an idea. Thinking in the general direction of the Flash, he urged, 'Call me on urgent business.'
Flash thought back. 'Why?' He sounded somewhat amused.
'She is obsessive. I wish to leave without hurting her feelings.' J'onn had a fake smile plastered over his face.
'Right… so who's attacking?'
'No one. That would be on the news, and then she'd know.' Out loud he said, "Just water for me, thank you."
Flash sounded annoyed and confused. 'Okay, so if no one's attacking, then what?'
J'onn thought for a moment. 'The Watchtower's surveillance system is on the fritz. You need me there to fix it in case something happens to while it's down. That's urgent enough. Do you understand?'
'Yeah yeah, surveillance down, could be a disaster. Gotcha.' The Flash sounded mischievous in J'onn's mind.
J'onn sat there patiently as his date made adoring comments about his work, how very heroic it is and other stalkerish topics. And he waited, and waited, and waited. Finally, he put out another call to the Flash. 'What's the delay? I cannot take much more of this.'
'Oh, you wanted it now? Right then.'
J'onn's communicator beeped. He looked gravely at his date and apologized. "I am sorry, but it may be important. I must answer it."
She gave a seductive smile and replied, "Sure thing honey."
The Flash's voice came over the communicator. "J'onn, we need your help up here, the surveillance system is down! We can't figure out why, but all the screens went blank just like that!"
If J'onn were a religious man he'd thank God for the existence of easy to break technology. But coming from Mars it didn't really work that way. Instead he answered into the comm, "Don't worry Flash, I'll be there in a minute. DON'T touch anything. Am I making myself clear?"
"Sure thing boss. Not touching a thing. Gotcha."
J'onn turned to his date, whose name he couldn't remember. "I am sorry. It is quite urgent. I must retire."
She turned and pouted at him and J'onn felt a wave of revulsion hit him. "Okay sugar dumpling, but we need to do this again sometime. Promise?"
He realised he was in a jam. He began to pray that there would be a crime wave, or something else to keep him preoccupied. Instead, he reluctantly muttered, "Agreed."
Hawkgirl stumbled through the door, giggling. She had a bottle of Karovian rum in one hand and was twirling her mace in the other. The Flash and Green Lantern sat staring as the final scene in 'the Notebook' played on, unnoticed. They took in her appearance, including the glazed over look in her eyes and the dried blood on her clothes. Try as they might, however, they couldn't see any wounds of her own. That, and the fact that she was giggling uncontrollably suggested that the hunt for bar fights had gone well.
John rolled his eyes, and went to take the bottle from her. He knew it was coming but wasn't ready for it. A mace flew at his chin and he went flying into the wall. "No. That's MY rum. Get your own Flash." But the Scarlet Speedster was too fast for her. He raced around her, making her dizzy, until she finally fell to the floor in a fit of giggles, where he easily took the bottle from her.
J'onn's transparent form floated through the floor and he sighed. "Thank goodness that is over. I-" And he noticed the winged woman lying on the floor in front of him in a fit of laughter. "Did I miss something?"
John picked himself up off of the floor, and shook his head to clear it. "Can I just say 'Ow.' I really need to work on my reflexes… or maybe I should just avoid a drunk Hawkgirl…"
Flash deposited a half empty bottle of rum in his hand. "Have fun!" and dodged behind him.
John looked up just in time to see a very angry and drunk Hawkgirl stumbling towards him with an electrified mace. He ducked and threw the bottle to J'onn. "Catch!"
It went on like this for quite some time, until Superman trudged through the room to the kitchen, opened the cupboard above the refrigerator and pulled out John's bourbon. Without a word he took it to the couch, sat down, and took a long drink. Everyone stopped to look at him. They saw the tear marks that ran down his cheeks, and the fatigued, pained look in his eyes. None of them had ever seen him like that, and it scared them.
John sat down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, what's up? What did Lois want?"
Clark just continued to stare out the view port, at the endless sea of stars.
Hawkgirl, who had recovered her bottle from an unsuspecting Flash, sat down next to Superman. Her glazed eyes big, she generously offered her rum to the Man of Steel. He took it without looking and had a quick swig, handing it back to her. She smiled, content, and passed out on the couch.
John tried again. "Hey man, you wanna talk about it?"
After a few moments Clark turned to acknowledge him. He sighed. "No." Picked up the bottle of bourbon and trudged off to his room.
Clark woke up some 14 hours after passing out on the floor in his quarters. It seemed Kryptonians had two weaknesses; Kryptonite and Jim Beam.
He staggered over to the mirror, holding his head. Glancing up he thought, 'I look like hell.'
Damn right you look like hell! Look at what you've done to yourself. You let the best thing in your life get away from you. His reflection seemed to say to him. He shook his head, thinking he must still be drunk.
No you're not drunk. I'm you, just not so easy to push over. You put this on yourself. If you were there for Lois as Clark more than Superman… but no. You put the lives of people you don't even know over the life you could have had with her! Clark stared at his reflection in disbelief. Either he was really, really drunk or it was making some sense.
"Well what can I do to win her back?" He whispered to his reflection.
Take a break; show her how much you love her. Leave Metropolis to Supergirl and anyone else willing to lend a hand.
"I don't think I can trust Lois again… No matter how much I love her." Clark couldn't look at his reflection, but he could still hear its echoing voice.
If you love her you'll find a way… It faded out, and again Clark was alone.
Flash, Green Lantern and a now sober Hawkgirl were watching 'Pirates of the Caribbean'. More specifically, the part where Captain Jack Sparrow picks his crew. He'd just walked to Mr. Cotton, and the annoying parrot was about to talk. Flash subtly picked up the remote and was about to press the 'fast forward' button when John spotted him. "Oh thank god, someone else hates it too. Its just so… irritating."
Hawkgirl nodded her head. She was still in a lot of pain; hangovers don't cure easily for Thanagarians. At this point everything annoyed her. Soon John and Flash were caught up in a conversation about annoying talking animals.
Unnoticed, Superman walked out into the living room, took one look at the picture on the screen, and inside a battle waged.
Destroy it. That'll show that damned parrot.
No, that's a $40000 plasma screen, and the League needs it for wide screen views of crises…
But that parrot is so damned annoying... And the internal battle was won.
Back on the couch, John and Flash's tirades continued, until a red beam of highly concentrated light passed over their heads to focus squarely on the parrot's head, a split second before the TV exploded. They turned in astonishment to see Superman walk out of the room. Wally turned to John. "Well that's one way to get rid of the annoying parrot."
"And I'm telling you, I'm not doing it!" Green Lantern argued with Hawkgirl.
She snapped back, "Why should I have to? You're the one with the protective aura. I've only got a mace!"
"Well you're a faster flyer than me!"
"That doesn't matter!"
"Does too!"
"Does not!"
The Flash took one look at the pair arguing like an old married couple and sped off in the opposite direction, the empty husk of the mournfully deceased television in his arms.
Superman flew. He flew for all he was worth. On his eighth lap of the planet he realised that this technique wasn't going to work; he'd need to find something other than fatigue to take his mind off of his pain.
He landed in a vaguely familiar city, and wandered the back alleys for a while, wondering where he went wrong. He heard a crashing noise coming from a building several blocks away, and went to investigate. What he saw brought a half grin to his face. Maybe flying wouldn't tire him out, but a bout with Plasmus might. As he was about to launch himself at the grotesque, moving statue of slime, he heard a familiar young voice yell "Titans! Go!" and a group of five teens ran past the alley entrance, oblivious to his presence. Expertly they dealt with the plasma monster.
Starfire, the young Tamaranian princess threw her starbolts. Raven, the troubled youth from Azarath deflected all of the projectiles thrown by the monster and shielded her friends from his slimy attacks. Cyborg blasted him with his inbuilt blaster cannon while Beast Boy beat him in T-Rex form. And Robin was beating him senseless with his staff while using birdarangs to blow holes in his body, which quickly regenerated.
Soon enough the plasma monster had been dealt with and had reformed to its human self, having been knocked out by the five teens. Superman sighed. Now what was he going to do? The young heroes handed custody of the villain over to the police and departed in various ways. Robin left on his motorcycle, Cyborg in his car and the other three flew.
Superman followed them without realising, flying but sticking low to the ground. Not noticing where he was going, he almost ran smack bang into an alien teenager. Starfire asked in her broken English, "Who are you and why are you following us?"
Superman looked up in surprise. "I'm sorry… I didn't realise what I was doing. I- did you just ask who I was?" Starfire nodded seriously.
Raven levitated down to their position. "Starfire, that's Superman. Superman, meet Starfire." The sharp, young Azarathean (sp?) took in the Earth's greatest protector's appearance. He was haggard and bleary eyed and looked like he hadn't slept properly recently. Inside her head a conversation was taking place.
Sympathy, "I think we should try to help him. Bring him back to the Tower or something; make him get a good night's sleep."
The other emotions agreed, in various different ways, and Tact came up with the next suggestion. "He won't want to come with us if he thinks we're doing it because of how bad he looks. We have to think of a reason."
On the outside, Raven looked over at Superman and said carefully in her monotonous voice, "Robin actually wanted some of your expertise on Kryptonite. He'd asked Batman, but he couldn't get hold of him last night. He thought he must have been on a mission."
Superman looked up, as though about to ask why a teenager wanted to know about Kryptonite, but instead shrugged and nodded his head. "Lead the way." After all, it was something to do.
Raven hadn't anticipated this, however, and looked around nervously. "Uhh… Starfire, can you take him. I have to take care of something." She quickly disappeared.
Raven reappeared in front of Robin, whose bike skidded to a sudden halt. Flipping the visor up on his helmet he asked, concerned, "Raven, what's wrong? I thought we were all headed straight back to the tower…"
Raven moved closer to the bike so she wouldn't have to talk very loud. "Starfire and I just saw Superman. He looked… haunted. I told him you wanted to speak to him about a matter to do with Kryptonite, and that Batman wasn't available. Just thought that you might like some heads up. I just didn't think that he should be left alone."
Robin let out a low whistle. "I wonder what could be wrong… He's got to be the most unflappable man I know. Well, except when the Earth's in danger… but he wouldn't look the way you described if it was." He paused, thinking, the face behind his mask unreadable. "Okay. I know what to do."
Superman flew into the garage of Titan's Tower behind the much-too-cheerful Tamaranian girl. Robin was already there, with Cyborg and Beastboy. Robin and Beastboy were watching, amused, as Cyborg waxed furiously at a tiny spot on the precise paintwork. Raven had already left, retreating to her room for some quiet meditation.
The Man of Steel landed on the cool metal floor and approached the Boy Wonder. "Your friend said you wanted to ask me something about Kryptonite. So ask."
Robin blanched. He'd expected some formalities from the haggard alien. "Hi, I'm great and how are you?" He replied sarcastically.
Superman felt his anger grow once again. "I'm not in the mood for sass, kid. If you have a question, shoot. If not I'll be on my way."
Robin stared him down, and the annoyed Kryptonian turned, ready to leave, until he felt a hand on his arm. "Please, Mr. Superman. Stay. I can make you the traditional Tamaranian food of misery; the blorchnob."
Three voices cried out in unison; "No!" and Beastboy dragged a confused Starfire away from the despondent alien. Robin stepped toward him. "I'm sorry Superman. You were brought here under false pretences. Raven noticed how depressed you looked and decided that you might need to see some friendly faces. Is there anyone we can call? Batman, Wonder Woman? Both… she seems to be spending a lot of time at the Batcave recently if you know what I mean…"
Superman looked up in shock. "Diana… and… B-"
A grin broke out on Robin's face. "Yep. And it's about time too. Come on, we'll get Cyborg to Barbeque some ribs or something." Superman allowed himself to be led towards the kitchen.
Superman woke up the next day feeling much better than he had the day before. He heard a ruckus in the hallway of Titan's Tower and opened the door to have a peek. There was Beastboy, running around with a ball of dirty socks in one hand, and a plate of tofu in the other. "Come on Cy, it's the Stankball or the tofu. Your choice. You're eating one of them!"
Cyborg was running as fast as he could in the opposite direction. "What's gotten into you BB? You're normally half dead in the morning… what did you eat?"
Beastboy, not missing a beat in his pursuit of his half robotic friend answered in a slightly higher pitched voice than normal, "WellI'drunoutofmyorganiccerealsoIdecidedIshouldtrysomethingnewandtherewasthishighlychocolatycerealthattastedreallygoodbutIwasoutofmilktoosoIhadtohaveitwithoutmilkandIatethewholeboxand-"
Cy turned around in angry disbelief. "You ate all my choco-rocko balls! YOU ATE ALL MY CHOCO-ROCKO BALLS! Oh you are so gonna pay. Come here you little elf!" And the chase had suddenly reversed, with the predator becoming the prey. Superman closed the door behind him and made his way to the lounge, careful to avoid the two combatants.
As he walked through the door an orange face appeared way close for comfort. "Hello would you like that blorchnob now? It goes quite well with ice cream, mustard and pickles."
Raven spoke up quietly from the corner where she was reading. "No he doesn't. He's feeling quite better now."
Superman raised an eyebrow. "I am?"
She didn't look up from her cross legged position on the floor. "If you wish for the current contents of your stomach to stay where they are then you are." She raised an eyebrow.
Superman looked appreciative. "Riiiggghhhttt… I'm feeling better. Really. Great."
Now it was Starfire's turn to look depressed. She took one bite of the offending dish and rushed it to the trash compactor.
Meanwhile, in the depths of the tower, Robin was making a phone call.
Bruce Wayne answered his beeping cell and was surprised to hear Tim Drake on the other line. He and Wonder Woman were out on the town, shopping at Gotham. They were currently entering a department store, where the door ladies pulled an unsuspecting Amazon toward the seat at a make up station, ready to tamper. (You know the one's I'm talking about… grrr… they annoy me SOO much.)
In the background he could hear her protesting, "No, no really this isn't necessary. I am quite happy with my appearance. I do not wish to hide my natural beauty." He smiled but focused on the call.
"What is it?"
His young protégé sounded somewhat wary. "Well, we have a friend of yours at Titan's Tower. Superman. And he looks pretty beat up. Do you have any idea what's wrong with him?"
Bruce frowned. "No, I don't. He was fine when I left. What do you mean, 'beat up'? As in sick, hurt, depressed…?"
"Depressed. Definitely depressed. I figured he could use someone to talk to…"
A half smile was on his lips before Batman could stop it. "Did you ask him if he wanted someone to talk to?"
"Yeah…"
"And?"
"And he said no. So? That's never stopped you before." Robin replied defensively.
"Right. We'll be on our way. Give us a few hours." He ended the call. "Diana, we need to be gone, now. A friend needs our help."
Casting one last look at the offending door ladies she sniffed. "Thank the gods."
Wonder Woman looked at Batman warily. "I thought you said a friend needed our help. I don't know anyone that lives Metropolis." They leapt to the balcony of an apartment, about 10 storeys above the ground. The balcony door was open, so Batman took this as an invite to walk right in, only to find a despondent Lois Lane weeping in a heap on the sofa.
Batman melted from the shadows in front of her and offered a Kleenex. "You look like you have something to confess… or like you just have."
She looked from the Kleenex to the Dark Knight in shock. "Batman, what- how- how did you know?"
He answered in a neutral tone. "There are very few things that can get the Man of Steel depressed, barring family issues and those he loves. So when I received a call from Robin saying that he had a depressed Superman at the Titan's Tower, I knew it had to be something to do with you, since Martha Kent is in perfect health and the Justice League has suffered no major casualties recently."
Wonder Woman looked on in interest. It never stopped amazing her how an ordinary man such as Bruce Wayne could put together so many different variables and come to a conclusion ages before anybody else even enters the ball park.
Lois let out a shuddering sigh as she wiped her eyes. "I- I did something I wasn't very proud of. It just happened once, but… Maybe I should tell you. Maybe I should tell you the whole story."
Superman took one look at the training course the Titans had made and let out a low whistle. It was impressive, especially for teenagers. "You made all this yourselves."
Robin looked up from the display showing how Cyborg was doing and grinned. "Yep. Cyborg holds the record so far, but only by 0.2 of a second. Next time I'm going to beat him. I- what?"
"A-booyah! New personal best and Titan's record. Everybody do the Cyborg, oh yeah!" The half man half machine proceeded to do an abbreviated version of the Robot, with Starfire clapping in joy.
Superman raised an eyebrow. "Are they always like this?"
A low voice answered from behind him. "Yes, they are."
Clark whipped around, faster than a speeding bullet. "Bruce, what are you doing here?"
A smirk graced the Dark Knight's lips. "I was asked here by Robin. I bought Diana… and a friend."
This was their signal. Diana led Lois out from around the side of Titan's Tower. The latter seemed to shrink in size as she saw the man she loved, the man she betrayed. Diana had a hand on her shoulder, guiding and supporting her.
A rainbow of emotions flashed across Superman's face. Shock, confusion, anger, sorrow, and finally, locking onto cold hatred, he turned to Batman. "You always have to meddle don't you. You can never leave well enough alone, can you?" He shouted the last part, shocking the Titans. Robin led them all inside, as Wonder Woman continued to support the subdued reporter.
"You need to sort this out, Clark. You didn't have a chance to when Lois first told you, she was too scared. Well now's your chance. If you don't do this now, you might lose the woman you love forever. Do you really want that, Smallville?" Lois' nickname for him hit home, and he calmed down, sitting on the dirt. Lois shakily sat down next to him, and Wonder Woman and Batman left them to their privacy.
Arriving in the Batplane, Wonder Woman and Batman stepped out into the hangar of the Watchtower. "Are you sure we should have left them there?"
Batman just nodded. Sighing in exasperation at Green Lantern and Hawkgirl, who were rushing up to them, he muttered under his breath. "Now what do they want?"
Green Lantern and Hawkgirl both started talking at once, "Hey Bats-" "Batman would you mind-" They cut off when they realised what they were doing.
"One at a time, please."
Green Lantern raised an eyebrow at the alien female, and finally started. "Well, we were wondering… uh…"
Hawkgirl butted in, rolling her eyes. "We need you to tell Superman that he has to replace the TV in the living room."
Batman looked surprised for one of the few times, ever, since they had met him. "Why would he need to replace the television in the living room?"
Shayera and John both looked at each other. "Well… because he was in a bad mood and kind of zapped it. With his heat vision… because the parrot in Pirates of the Caribbean was annoying him…"
Batman sighed. "And why can't either of you tell him?"
It was Hawkgirl's turn to answer. "Because we can't decide which one of us deserves to be pulverised, zapped and thrown out of the Watchtower more. You didn't see the mood he was in when he left."
Batman nodded thoughtfully, kept them waiting for a few minutes, and finally said, simply, "No."
He walked past their shocked expressions, chuckling quietly to himself, as Diana looked piteously at the unfortunate pair.
"Alright. This is stupid. Rock Paper Scissors."
Fin.
Wow. Longest story I have EVER written. Hope you like it, it satisfies all the criteria, I think. Better check that cause I cannot be bothered. Just saw X-Men 3, AWESOMEST MOVIE EVER! Lol.