Chapter 1

Rain. That was what he saw as he looked out the window. He sighted, he would rather be outside then working in the kitchen. Working in a youth correction facility was not very fun work.

"Get back to work!" yelled a supervisor.

The other children started to work faster but him, Willard. He continued to look out the window at the rain. His green eyes looking out into the yard. The supervisor seeing this walked over to the sink where Willard was cleaning.

The supervisor then placed her hand on Willard shoulder and said, "Willard darling what are you doing."

Willard turn and looked at her. It was supervisor Worth, she was one of the supervisors that you avoided. Willard thought she was more related to a eel then a human being.

"Just looking out the window," Willard knew it wasn't a good response, but it was what he had.

"Well that's nice and all, but you need to get back to work."

All of the other children had stopped working and were staring at them. Willard didn't want to cause any trouble, so he put up his hands and went back to work. Worth could see the other kids looking from the sides of her eyes, not wanting to look weak. She grab Willard's collar and dragged him out of the kitchen. Willard struggled in her grasp, but knew he couldn't get out of it. Out of the three months he had been there he had learned that you couldn't get out of a supervisor's grasp.

"Come on Worth I wasn't caus'in trouble," Willard said as he struggled with Worth's grip.

Worth didn't even loosen her grip; she just continued to drag Willard. Worth dragged him out of the kitchen and down the hall. The kids he passed tired not look Willard's way, for they all know where he was going. Worth was dragging him to the time out tube where naughty kids were put for a couple of hours, and it was five o clock and Willard would most likely be in there for the rest of the night.

Worth then reached the time out tube hallway and dragged Willard to the last one down the hall and throw him in. She then locked it and walked away. Picking himself up Willard looked at the door. Another day in hell he thought.

"Okay who else is in the tubes?" Willard asked.

The tube next to him responded, "Clive, Lewis, Zoe, and Henley,"

"Thanks for telling me Clive," Willard knew all of them. All of them had done small crimes to get them in here but Henley. She was an eleven year old girl who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Hey Willard is that you?" cried one of the voices.

In the small tubes you could hear people's voices very good, that was why they had built them on their own end in the building.

"Yeah it's me Lewis."

"I've got some good dirt on supervisor Sauer," Lewis yelled.

"Like what?"

"Oh you know about his affair."

This was how they passed the time in the tubes, by telling stories about the supervisors. The kids listen while Lewis told his dirt on Sauer and that got them through the first few hours. They then talked about random stuff, till finally at ten o clock they quieted down and fell asleep. The rain stopped an hour after and silence took its place. The kids slept peacefully in the night.

The silence was then interrupted by a noise, it could hardly be heard but it was definitely there. It was sort of a tapping noise; it would tap every few seconds and then stop. Then it would start tapping on a different area. The sounds were coming from outside the building where the time out tubes were. None of the kids seemed to hear it, for they continued to sleep. The tapping noise continued till it finally stopped around one-twenty a.m. Then there was silence again.

Then fifteen minutes after a new noise broke the silence. This noise was the sound of drilling, and it was coming from each of the tube areas. Zoe stirred from her sleep; the drilling noises were waking her up. The tool that was making the noise finally reached the other side of the wall. Zoe felt the shavings fall on top of her head. She looked up groggy eyed.

A plastic tube was being pushed through a hole in the wall. Zoe was too groggy to realize how weird it really was. The tube then stopped once being a few inches in. It then started to pour a gas into the tubes. Zoe watched as the gas poured on to the floor and started to fill the time out tube up. She thought it was a strange dream.

She then in haled some and grew dizzy, losing conscience in a few seconds. Once the time out tube was filled with gas the plastic tube was pulled out. The other four time out tubes had been filled with knock out gas as well. The sound of a helicopter then filled the area, and an explosion then shock the in tire building waking everyone but the five kids in the tubes.

People were panicking from the loud noise and in the commotion no one saw the helicopter pick up the test tubes from where the explosion had been and fly away with them hanging from the ropes nailed on to it that night.

Chapter 2

It was three hours after the explosion, and the cops were on the sense. There was no justice league for there was a super villain prison break three cities over and all the heroes were over there. The police were taking statements and taking pictures of the sense. The officers knew there had been a helicopter from a witness off the street and that five kids had been kidnapped. They knew nothing else.

From the shadows a woman appeared. She was a local hero, known for taking care of the city when there was no one else to help. She was known as the Scarlet Night. She got her name from the way she dressed and from her short scarlet red hair. Scarlet looked like a modern cowboy. She wore a black over coat, black jeans, a loss fitting black button up shirt with a black tank top underneath. She wore black steel tipped boots, and black gloves. She wore no mask, for she had no secret identity to hide, but she did wear a black leather hat. Her skills were similar to Batman's skills. She had hand to hand combat and could sneak around and not be seen, but she also had a super power. It wasn't a huge power, but it got the job done. She had mind powers, where she could read minds and even control the wreaked willed.

She walked over to the officer in charge. He looked up and saw her; he was relieved to see a hero.

"Scarlet Night, well I haven't seen you lately."

"Well Officer Woolfolk I only came because your here," Scarlet sarcastically said.

Woolfolk chuckled, he had worked with Scarlet Night before she was more like a private detective then a hero.

"So what happen here?" Scarlet asked. She was looking at the destruction around her. There was a lot of rubble in the back yard of the building, and a big piece of the wall was missing from the buildings' side.

"It was a kidnapping," came a man's voice from behind her and the officer. They turned to look who was talking. It was a tall man with broad shoulders. He had an air of importance about him. The suit he was wearing probably cost more than a cheap car, and his face a savvy business man's' with a bald head. He was Lex Luthor.

"Hello Mr. Luthor what brings you out here?" Officer Woolfolk asked.

"Oh I was in the neighborhood when I saw the cop cars, so I thought I would come and see if I could help," He causally responded.

Scarlet knew that Lex Luthor never offered to help unless he gained something.

"Well Mr. Luthor we are glad to have you aboard," Woolfolk then gestured for them to follow him towards the hole in the wall.

Luthor smiled at Scarlet and she tipped her hat to him. They walked over to the hole and surveyed the sense. It appeared that they had set explosives around the tubes and detonated. It was a professional job.

"As you can see they used explosive to free the tubes," Officer Woolfolk stated, "they were able to take all five of them."

"How many kids were in the tubes?" asked Scarlet.

"Five."

Scarlet knelt down and examined the ground. The filth on the ground caught her attention.

"Are there usually kids in the containers?" Luthor asked.

"No, usually there is only two or three," he was then called by another officer and left them to the scene.

"So you are the Scarlet Night," Luthor watched her like a hawk.

Scarlet examined the filth and then stood up, "Yes sir I am, and you are Lex Luthor," she paused, "they were gas before the explosives went off."

"How can you tell?"

"I can smell a order from the filth that is usually found with knock out gas," she then picked her way into the hole some more. Luthor followed her. Scarlet looked around the area, this had been planed she thought.

"I need to talk to the supervisors who put the kids in the tubes," Scarlet then walked out of the hole and towards Woolfolk. Luthor followed behind her. The supervisors were then lined up; there were only four of them. There was Worth, Sauer, Sony, and Holt. Worth had put two of them in the tubes. Scarlet looked at the profilers of them till she found the one she was looking for. She was standing in front of supervisor Holt; he was a small man who was timid. He would have been easy to bribe.

"Tell me Mr. Holt how many kids did you take to timeout?" Scarlet asked him.

"One," was his reply. He wouldn't look Scarlet in the eyes.

Luthor then stepped forward and grabbed Scarlet's arm, so that his back was turned towards Holt and whispered in her ear, "Night, Worth is the one who sent two kids to timeout, she is the one who most likely was paid off if that is what you're thinking."

Scarlet looked him in the eyes, so he had realized that there was an inside man she thought. She then whispered back, "I know Mr. Luthor, but Holt has never sent one till today."

Luthor then let go of her arm. She then handed him the clip board and said, "If you look here the child he sent has never needed to be in the timeout tubes before."

Surprise spread on Luthor's face as he realized what Scarlet had found. Scarlet then focused back on Holt, he was squirming from being under her glare.

"Now Holt tell me why Henley Walsh had to be sent to the timeout tubes today."

He rubbed his hands together and mumbled something.

"Sorry sir but I didn't catch was you said," Scarlet's glare never leaving him.

"She had been acting fussy all morning, till finally I had to put her in the tubes," he still wouldn't make eye contact.

Scarlet glare then became intense, "Look into my eyes," she commented.

Holt did as commented, he look straight into her eyes. His eyes widen for a few seconds, and then his face went blank. Scarlet stared deeply into his eyes. Luthor had seen many mental tricks and even some tricks that we're real, but he had never seen one as intense as Starlets'. Neither had Officer Woolfolk and he didn't like it.

"That's enough," Officer Woolfolk then took Holt, handcuffed him, and walked him towards a cop car. Luthor and Scarlet watched him drive off with him.

"Well Miss Night," Scarlet turned to look at Luthor, "would you care to get a drink with me?"

Luthor smiled charmingly at her. Scarlet figured that he wanted to know what she had gotten from Holt, considering it was important information to what happen to the children.

"Very well Mr. Luthor, let us go get a drink." Luthor then held out his arm for her to take, but Scarlet shock her head at him. He then lead the way to his car.

Chapter 3

The elevator doors open on the top floor of Lex Corp building. Lex Luthor and Scarlet Night stepped on to the floor. Luthor then lead the way to his office. They pasted the empty desk of his secretary and went straight for the big doors of Luthor's office. He then opened the doors and they walked in.

Scarlet noted that the office was bigger than a regular apartment. It had a sitting area with a couch and two chairs, and a big desk on the other side of the room where Luthor sat, but the thing that surprised Scarlet the most were the windows. The windows were as big as the wall, and the view over all the other buildings was amazing. Scarlet couldn't help but stare out the window.

"Do you like the view?" Luthor asked.

He had been watching the entire time waiting to see a reaction. He could only see her staring out the window, her face held no emotion as far as he could see.

"I do... I'm assuming that we are standing inside the tallest building in the city."

"Yes, yes we are." Luthor then went over to the sitting area and started working on getting some drinks.

"What would you like to drink?"

"Water," came Scarlet's short reply.

Luthor chuckled, of course she would choose the safes drink. He got the drinks ready and went over to Scarlet and handed her a glass of water. She took it and looked at his drink. It was water as well. Luthor then clicked the glass together and went and sat down on the couch.

"So tell me Scarlet Night why aren't you part of the Justice League yet?"

Scarlet turned towards Luthor and walked over to the sitting area. She took a chair, and then took a sip from the glass.

"Why does it matter?"

"I was just wondering," he smiled.

Scarlet knew that Luthor had a way of knowing the truth, but she could sense that he did know everything in her position.

"How about you answer the question I have and then I'll answer yours truthfully," Scarlet face still showed no emotion.

Luthor found it an interesting situation; he had truly never really known someone like her.

"Very well ask your question."

Scarlet then took a breath in and asked, "why were you at the crime scene for I know you were across town like me."

Luthor took a swig from his drink and put it on the table.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you I cared," she shook her head no, "Well then I think I know who kidnapped the kids but I'm not for sure."

"Scourge?"

Luthor's eye went narrow, "you got that name from Holt didn't you?"

"Yes," she then stood up, "Now to answer your question."

She walked over to the windows again, "I am part of the Justice League, but I am station here to this city to keep it safe."

Luthor then stood up and walked over to her, she did not turn.

"You mean you were set here to watch me," his voice held a hint of anger, "but if your here to watch me you should have remained hidden."

Luthor then walked away, rubbing his face. Scarlet turned to watch him.

"That is true Luthor but I'm a hero I couldn't just remain in the shadow while others needed my help."

"Wouldn't the League have stopped you from blowing your cover?" Luthor turned to watch her.

"I was told by Superman that I should try to stay in the shadow, but Batman told them that you would never suspect a local hero to be watching you," she then walked back to the table and picked up her drink and took a sip.

Luthor then started rubbing his chin again, "well I guess we will have to talk about this later Miss Scarlet, we have to talk about Scourge."

Luthor then went over to his desk, opened a drawer and pushed a button. A computer then rose from his desk. Scarlet walked over to see what Luthor was doing. He was searching for a specific type of technology that gave off a unique radiation.

"Why did you suspect the Scourge?" Scarlet asked him from across the desk.

He looked up, "I assuming that you already know why."

"I want you to explain, and not have someone tell me how to think on the situation."

He straightened himself up, "I found the main scientist, Dr. Scourge, five years ago. He promised me that he could give me a super serum that could create..."

"Super Heroes," she finished.

He stared at her, she wasn't judging him at all, she was just trying to understand the facts.

"Well I played for lab to be built in a remote area, and I gave him the privacy he wanted."

"Really?"

"I made him think that I was, so after a few months he didn't have any results till suddenly I notice changes in ways they were testing."

"What type of changes?"

"They were testing more often and none of the test subjects were really making it through the tests. I then decided to have a friend of mine check it out; when he came back the results were not good."

He then went back to searching on the computer, "What he found was that they were kidnapping kids and using them, I may be a bad guy but I'm not a monster."

"Some people don't see the difference," she then walked back to the windows.

Chapter 4

The clouds rumbled in the sky as the car drove on the dirt road. Scarlet looked out the window, and Luthor looked at some business papers he had. Luthor's computer had found two sites where Dr. Scourge's technology was being used. They were being driven, by Luthor's own private driver, to the first one. The reading had come from a lonely field outside of the city.

"We will be there in five minutes Mr. Luthor," the driver said.

"Thank you Victor," Luthor started putting his papers away.

Luthor placed the papers in a brief case and snapped it shut, he then looked at Scarlet. She was still staring out the window. He still couldn't believe that she had agreed to come with him, if it had been any other superhero they would have taken the information and walked away from him. He figured that they simple didn't trust him, but he did suspect that most of them didn't trust him because of Superman.

Superman did have a good reason to not like him, he thought. He did try to kill him with kryptonite, but that had been five years ago and he had gone to jail. Sense then he hadn't tried to do anything like that, but he guessed once a criminal always a criminal.

He turned his thoughts back to Scarlet.

"Night I have a question for you?"

She turned her head and looked at him.

"Were you given permission to tell me your reason for staying in the city?"

She blinked her eyes, and then said, "no," she then turned her head back towards the window.

He was shocked by this answer; even if it were true he thought she would have tried to lie about it.

"Why did you tell me," he asked her.

Without turning her head she answered, "because lying is the quickest way to tangle yourself up so that you are left out to die."

Of course she would say something that would shock him again. He looked out his own window. If this was the truth then she was working alone, but for what reason he thought.

The car slowed down, "we are here," came Victor's crisp voice.

The car then stopped beside a meadow.

"Victor wait for us to come back."

"Of course sir."

Luthor and Scarlet then stepped out of the car, and walked towards the edge of the meadow. It's grass a yellow that matched the fall season.

"Well Miss. Night we better start looking," Luthor said in his savvy business voice.

They then entered the field and started looking for clues. They stayed close to one another as they searched. Each one lost in their own thoughts. Scarlet thoughts were on the case, Luthor's was on Scarlet. She hadn't lied to him about anything, he was sure about that, but he could figure out why she would be involved in a case without the Justice League's help. The reason had to be something close to her.

Scarlet then stopped.

"Look," she said.

Luthor looked to where she was pointing. She was pointing at an old beat up shed. They both started walking towards it. Luthor reached the old door first opened it and looked in. Scarlet joined him as he looked inside. It was empty. They then walked in. Scarlet examined the floor and Luthor searched the walls.

Scarlet stopped suddenly.

"What is it?" Luthor looked at her.

"Listen," came her short reply.

A flock of birds cried as they flew into the sky.

"Get down!" she yelled.

They then both dropped to the floor as bullets flew through the wall, shredding the wall as they flew above their heads. Scarlet looked over at Luthor. His back was to her, but she could sense pain coming from him. She crawled towards him.

Reaching him she turned him over, he was bleeding badly from the right side of his belly. Scarlet looked into his green eyes and saw pain. His body was going into shock. Scarlet then placed her hand upon his forehead.

Luthor's heart rate then started to go down, as his body came out of shock. Scarlet was calming him down with her power. She then started to address the wound. She opened his shirt and looked at the bullet hole. The bullets continued to fly above them, as she pulled out dressing for the wound.

"Do you always have stuff for a bullet wound?" Luthor asked through his agony.

"Yes I do," she finished dressing the wound and pulled out a needle.

"What's that?"

"Morphine," she then stuck the needle into him and injected the medicine.

She then placed her hand back on his head and closed her eyes. Luthor could feel some force going through his body. His body was becoming relaxed and the pain disappearing.

She lifted her hand from his forehead and stood up. None of the bullets seemed to come close to her. She opened her eyes and looked towards the gun man. The shooting stopped seconds after, and screams of suffering could be heard. She then turned back to Luthor.

"Come on Lex we need to get out of here," she then picked him up by the arm.

Supporting him with his right arm over her shoulders they started to walk out of the old shed. Luthor could see the gun man on the ground.

"What did you do to them?" his weaken voiced asked.

"Shhh, Lex we need to get to Victor so save your strength."

He noted that this was the first time he had sensed emotion. He thought it was funny that it had taken him getting shot for her to show it.

"Victor is too far away," Luthor spited out blood as they continued to walk towards the road.

"I know, that's why I'm having him drive up," she sounded out of breath as she carried him.

"You were able to tell him mentally," he sounded impressed.

The sound of a car stopped Scarlet from answering him. It was Victor, driving the black car towards them, sliding it to a stop by them. Victor then got out and helped Luthor get into the car. Victor then got back into the car and Scarlet got into the other side of the back seat.

Victor then sped back to the road and towards the nearest hospital. Scarlet placed Luthor's head on her lap.

"Lex you are just doing fine, keeping your heart rate down is the best thing right now," Scarlet looked into Luthor eyes.

"Do you think you could do that touch thing again," blood was covering his bottom lip.

"The Scarlet touch of course," she placed her hand atop his forehead.

And the feeling before filled his body, before he passed out he looked into Scarlet's eyes. Concern was what he saw in her eyes. He still thought it was funny that it took him getting shot for her to express emotion. His world then went black, and he did not know if he would ever wake again.