Note: This is a "what-if" fic partly based off of Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. Please take into consideration that I will be twisting, adding, and whatever else I like to this story to suit my needs. Also, this won't be strictly based off this one comic. There will be references from other comics, movies, and shows scattered throughout.

Genderbent Clear-Ups: Clark Joseph (or Jerome, w/e) Kent, is now Josephine (Josie, or Jo) Margaret Kent. I know it sounds weird, but I didn't want to go with the obvious "Clara", so I chose a feminine form of Joseph. Let's just pretend she was named after her grandparents. Her Kryptonian name is Kala (pronounced Kaw-La, and not so choppy), making her Kala Jor-El. Superwoman is obviously her hero alias. Her physical appearance will be addressed as you read, but she's basically what you'd imagine: a feminine Clark, but with much longer hair and a lot less bulk.

Sorry for all the rambling, but I'm a sucker for detail and I wanted this to be as non-confusing as possible.

*Please excuse any and all grammar/ spelling mistakes. I'm sure there are quite a few. And do keep in mind this is just a fanfic, an AU one at that, so some details may not be canon :D R&R!

Disclaimer: DC owns… I am not DC :/

"Don't worry, Ma'am. Your son should be fine in a few weeks."

Her brown eyes followed the ambulance carrying her son. She wanted to be with him, but there was enough room for only one, and she sacrificed her chance to be that one for her daughter-in-law. She wasn't a small woman, but I wouldn't go as far as to call her fat, either. Her black hair was lightened by random strands of gray and her face was dinted with laugh lines. She was one of the calm ones, if outward appearances were anything to go by. But I picked up on her nervous habits quick enough; she fiddled with the ends of her shirt sleeves and smoked too many cigarettes. I could still smell the scent of smoke lingering on her clothes, and see the faint yellowing of nicotine that stained her teeth and fingernails. I'm not sure if anyone else could see it.

"Thank You, Superwoman." Her voice was coated with the relief she failed to conceal. I know she wants to believe she didn't just spend the last hour hoping desperately that her son would survive the collapsed mine he was trapped under, wants to believe all along she knew that everything was going to be okay. But I also know that nothing was going to convince her of that until she saw her boy with her own eyes. Her heart had been erratic the whole time.

I smiled. Her thick accent reminded me of the country, and the country always reminded me of home. I really need to visit Ma and Pa soon.

I wanted to say more, but as I watched her eyes stray off into the distance, I knew she wouldn't hear me. The poor woman needs a break, I thought. Something more was happening in her life, something more than this recent disaster. Whatever it was, it wasn't something Superwoman could fix. No matter how much I'd like to help.

Giving her one more hopeful smile, I bid her and the other families a farewell before taking off to the skies. I stopped when I crossed out of West Virginia into Ohio, closing my eyes to decipher among a cacophony of different cries for help. This was always the most difficult part, choosing where to go and when. Flash asked me once how I chose between lives, chose which were more important than others. He didn't mean any harm, but I still wince thinking about it.

Can't think about that now, Kent. Focus.

I trained my ears long ago to pick apart different noises and voices, separating them from an entire rush of sound to be understood singularly. So I listened some odd thousands of feet above the ground, mentally categorizing the things that could be handled later from the things that needed me at that moment.

A fire in Indiana. The firefighters have it under control.

Drug bust in Chicago. They don't need me for that. Not this time, at least.

Sinking cruise ship in the Atlantic…That's an issue. I may need some help with the passengers while I take care of that one. I brought my hand to lightly activate my earpiece.

The droll monotone of J'onn Jones greeted me. "Watchtower. What can I assist you with, Superwoman?"

"There's a cruise ship going down in the Atlantic. I don't know the cause, but there are passengers and I may need some-."

"It is not your concern. Green Lantern and Wonder Woman should be arriving there in moments. However, you may want to find yourself back in Metropolis."

"Oh." I changed directions quickly, not realizing I was still flying towards the sinking ship. "What's the situation?"

There was silence for a few moments, and then, "It may be better explained if you listened for yourself."

Once our connection ended, I listened closely to my city and found that nothing had changed. People were going crazy in this country. I've reported the same things at the Daily Planet for months: riots, breaking and entering, businesses collapsing, even petty street theft crime rates were going up. The stock market had been plummeting in a way we haven't seen since the Depression. America was in an uproar of disbelief and fear. Our pride couldn't fathom the mess we'd put ourselves in.

A psychotic break on a nationwide scale. A paranoia epidemic. Wackadoodle juice. It was one of those reasons, I do declare. I'm going to bitterly stand by that hypothesis, naively accepting it as the reason, the only reason, that the American people would elect Lex Luthor as President.

People are going crazy.

Crazy makes people do desperate things.

My head wasn't clear. Lex Luthor is President, and I hate it, but it's been distracting me too much lately. Bruce was right. Get over it, Kent. The world is ending in a different way today. That's what he said to me when an earthquake threatened to set off Yellowstone's super volcano. Thank God nothing actually happened that day. We took it as a warning, and started making the necessary evacuation plans and shelter areas we were missing before. Honestly, as much as it pains me to think it, those plans aren't going to help much of anything.

I shook my head. Nice going, Josie. I needed to listen to what's going on before someone gets hurt. There was a reason J'onn told me to go to Metropolis.

I stopped the stolen, red sports car before it had the chance to stop itself by way of another vehicle. The man behind the wheel was frantic and desperate, and though it's true those things aren't exactly the cocktail of stellar decision making, I couldn't figure how he reasoned plowing head-on into backed-up traffic was the wisest thing he could've done.

The car was lifted weightlessly above my head, the tires continuing to spin inches away from my shoulders. One of the police choppers chasing and reporting the crime hovered in midair for the moment I flew slowly passed it before turning, realizing the chase was over. I carried the car away from the busy interstate, pausing above an unfinished section clear of pedestrians or cars or any other thing with the possibility of getting hurt or damaged.

I could pretend for the moment I didn't see the three heroes waiting for me. Pretend they weren't there, at least, until one of them spoke.

I wholeheartedly didn't want to talk to them.

Captain Atom addressed me first. "So this is what you've been up to the last few months."

"Chasin' cars," Major Force added, crossing his arms across his red and gold chest as he stepped closer to Atom. I didn't appreciate the taunting tone of his voice. Not at all.

"I help wherever I'm needed." The engine was still running above my head, and I contemplated letting the car down to drive away again, just so I could use chasing it as an excuse to escape. Immature at the best of times, I suppose.

"But you haven't been needed much lately, have you?" Atom asked, his silver lips moving against each syllable.

"What do you want?"

Ma wouldn't be very proud of how rude I sounded, but Ma wasn't here. And to be frank, I was a more than a bit disappointed in a number of my fellow heroes lately. I wanted them to see that. More confusing than the general body of these United States, were the heroes I had fought beside.

How could they work for him?

"We want you to admit something…"

Atom was interrupted by the man from inside the sports car that, admittedly, I had forgotten about. The man was sick looking. Pale, gaunt features and eyes that were lifeless. He held a gun to his temple in a sloppy, shaky hold. He was on something, no doubt about it. "I'll shoot myself! I swear!"

"Excuse me," I said, managing to be somewhat polite, if not a bit sarcastic. Focusing through the metal of the car to the weapon clasped in the man's hand, I knocked the gun away from him with low powered laser beams. Cops that had arrived some few minutes ago cuffed the man and escorted him away as soon as I placed the car on the unfinished road. I watched them drag the man away, mentally sighing before throwing myself into a conversation I really didn't want to be a part of. "Now, what am I supposed to admit?"

"That Luthor hasn't done a bad job." Captain Atom continued, as if he was truly justified.

I looked from Atom to Major Force to one person I truly couldn't believe would stand against me. When my eyes met Power Girl's, I turned away. Karen looked guilty, and I felt guilty for thinking she should be.

"Told you this would be a waste of time," Major Force announced as I walked away from them. I was quite unable to believe this was really happening. That they honestly couldn't see…

Power Girl's voice grew louder as she jogged to catch up to me. "Luthor is doing the one thing nobody was expecting. He made things boring again! And boring's good, isn't it? The economy is back to normal, crime's down, there are no wars or anything… "

She sounded desperate to believe what she was saying, as desperate as the look in the druggie's eyes. A very small part of me could almost understand. Things were getting beyond chaotic in our country, that is, until Luthor's magnificent reformation. It was too good to be true, the way our situation was starting to turn around. And that's because it was too good.

That small bit of understanding I could have had was squashed suddenly by the large urge to knock some sense into her. "He's up to something. Can't anybody see that?"

"That's what I thought at first." I turned as Atom and Major Force moved to stand beside Power Girl. Atom was trying to stubbornly reason with me. "But eventually I realized all he was trying to do was putting that formidable intellect in doing such a good job no one will have a choice but to respect him. It's all about ego, now."

Doing a good job. Lex Luthor was doing a good job, so of course that meant we should all forget about the not so good job he was doing before? Unbelievable.

"I will never respect him," I declared for an innumerable time, using every ounce of gut-twisting instinct and conviction I had. "He's a sick man."

Major Force must have decided I would love his input. "He's not the first to sit in the Oval Office."

"He's right. There've been womanizers, drunks, crooks…"Atom agreed, obviously. "But Nixon helped turn our worst enemy into our best trading partner. And Johnson gave us the Voting Rights Act."

There wasn't anything they could say to sway me. All I heard was misconstrued nonsense. "Thanks for the history lesson, but I'm not buying it."

"Come on, work with us." Power Girl's guilt and desperation turned into sympathy. Sympathy for me. I needed sympathy because I refused to rely on and work for a mad man who has personally tried to destroy me. "Please? We need you."

"Sorry."

I wasn't, though. Not for me. I was sorry that I was becoming bitter. Upset that I let that bitterness plant a desire to see this all blow up in their faces. But I couldn't hold on to that desire, I just didn't have it in me.

I shot upwards, leaving them there with my final word. I knew they thought this was about my own ego. It wasn't. I wouldn't join them in this. That was a promise. Ego has nothing to do with it.

At least, I hope not.

And I want to ensure all Americans and all the citizens of the world that I tend to handle this meteor with the same efficiency that characterized my previous endeavors.

Lex's voice bounced off the cave walls and back to me, and I had to hear each word repeat itself at least three times. I looked at Bruce, hunched over one of his projects in full Bat regalia, and wondered how he could concentrate. Then again, I suppose it's a bit different when you don't have super hearing.

I forced myself to concentrate on Luthor's face. Psycho or not, a Presidential Announcement isn't something to take lightly, especially when the announcement concerns a meteor the size of a small country aiming to crash into the planet.

But as a precaution, I'd like to meet with Superwoman. As soon as possible!

Of course he would.

It's time to bury our rivalry once and for all. And work together…for the good of mankind.

The window showing Luthor's face minimized and moved to rest beside one of Batman's closed files. Another file opened, showing the meteor our country's top scientists were tracking. If Lex isn't lying, then a piece of my birth planet is hurtling closer to destroy my home planet. I would laugh at the irony, but that's not my sense of humor.

"This is one time he's not lying."

Again, my attention was back to Batman. "About burying the rivalry? I don't think so."

"No, about the meteor. I've been tracking it for months on my own computers."

I didn't bother asking why he didn't tell me about it sooner. He's Batman, he has his reasons. I learned to trust him a long time ago, wholeheartedly. Besides that, he wouldn't give me an answer even if I asked. Maybe.

I placed a hand on my hip. Lex wasn't lying. Proof or not, that statement rings disbelieving little bells in my head. The meteor was a part of Krypton and the size of a small country, meaning it either contained more Kryptonite than I could survive, or was solid Kryptonite. Either way, the odds weren't looking in my favor. "I could go up there in a lead suit and smash the thing."

"There's no amount of lead that could keep out that much radiation." Batman moved to stand beside me. "It wouldn't stand up to all that smashing either."

I couldn't take my eyes off the meteor, that one piece of a home I'd never know. Feeling guilt was unavoidable. I knew this wasn't literally my fault; regardless, I felt it was my responsibility. I had to do something.

"Any other ideas?"

"I'm working on something with one of my contacts." As he moved away from me and back to his project, I finally removed my eyes from the screen. His back was blocking whatever he was working on, that lead-lined suit of his making it impossible for me to see. Not that I was trying. I was watching his shoulders rise and fall, subtly, like he wasn't breathing at all. I had never met anyone that moved like him, whose body could move like his, even doing something as simple as breathing.

"You're going to go ahead and meet with him, aren't you."

I blinked, not realizing I was still watching him until the deep tone of his voice broke whatever fixation I was under. I suppose staring at Batman was better than thinking about that ridiculous Kryptonite laced meteor. Or Lex. Batman didn't ask me if I was meeting Lex, he stated it. The jerk knew me, and even if he didn't Bruce wasn't one to ask many questions. Not at loud. He figures out what he wants to know, then hurls them at you. I could hear the smile in my voice as I spoke.

"You know me too well," I said, sure he could hear it, too. He'll get aggravated with me soon. It's routine. It's normal. It makes me happy. When he didn't say anything, I continued. Serious this time. "I can't just sit back and do nothing."

"Well, when it all goes south, don't plan on me to save you."

I was about to take off, but stopped for a moment. A smile back on my face because there it was! The routine.

He still hadn't turned around, but that was okay. I was used to this. "I won't. I know you pretty well, too, Bruce."

I exited the cave and met the sky once more, all the while wondering what exactly it was I thought I was doing. Going to meet with Lex Luthor?

I hope there's at least some ground of truth, something right about what Power Girl thinks she believes. Otherwise, this could turn out ugly.