I wondered to myself how Lois and Selina would react to the fight between Robin & Superboy and Batman & Superman. It also occurred to me that their good friend Dinah wouldn't just leave things as they were so that the men could tell them what happened especially given Clark's track record and the likelihood that he might not realize Lois knows Conner as she does in my universe. This story takes place after the end of the episode Auld Acquaintance - Season 1 Episode 26.
WATCHTOWER
NEW YEAR'S EVE
AFTER MIDNIGHT
Dinah took a few moments before heading back to Earth with Roy and Ollie to contact Selina. She gave the other woman a run down on everything that had happened with the League, Team, Klarion and Savage. Then she bluntly told her about the fight Dick and Conner had been forced to have to subdue Bruce and Clark. Dinah had made it clear that there had been no choice. That Bruce and Clark had not been responsible for their actions but Selina was decidedly not happy when the conversation ended. Dinah didn't have time to contact Lois as well and left that to Selina. She did give clearance to Catwoman and an unnamed guest to enter the Watchtower prior to leaving however.
That would be why less than an hour later Catwoman and an unknown female vigilante dressed in a skin tight leather suit strode confidently through the Watchtower. Heroes moved quickly and quietly to get out of their way. Whispers were heard by the two women; how Catwoman could have gotten up to the Watchtower, who the unknown woman could be, those whispers were summarily ignored.
Catwoman led the way into the corridor leading to the infirmary. She knew the complete layout of the Watchtower. Batman had made sure of that. Also that she could hack their systems. Wouldn't that just freak out the Boy Scout? She thought. It was all to protect Robin though. She had to have access in case something happened to Robin. Something had happened though and she had been down on the surface with no idea he had even been in danger.
She pushed opened the door into the waiting area of the infirmary. Batman, Superman, and numerous Leaguers and Team members stood waiting for the last two Team members being treated for injuries.
"Where are they?" Catwoman growled.
"What are you doing here? How did you get up here?" Superman snapped at her.
"Don't even." The unnamed vigilante stepped out from behind Catwoman. Superman realized it was Lois. "Where are the boys?"
At that moment Robin stepped out with Superboy behind him from the infirmary. Neither boy looked any worse for wear but Catwoman's sharp eyes caught the slight limp Robin hid that only Batman would notice besides her. She was sure that there were bandages under his uniform as well.
Lois moved past her to Superboy gripping his arms. She looked up at him through the lenses of her domino mask, concern radiating on the rest of her face.
"Are you okay?" Her hand moved to rest on his cheek. "Did he hurt you?"
"What?" Superman was confused. "You two know each other?"
"I will talk to you later." Lois barely spared Superman a glance.
"I'm okay. I handled it." Superboy repressed the ridiculous urge to grin at her. "The Kryponite really hurt."
"I've heard that." She smiled at him.
While they were talking, Catwoman moved slowly forward toward Robin. She wanted very much to gather the boy up and race back to zeta tubes, headed for home. She wanted to rage at Batman for hurting their boy even though she knew that he had no control over himself. Neither reaction was an option. They were who they were and appearance was everything.
"You took him down." Her voice was quiet. "The two of you took them both down."
"Teamwork." Robin glanced at Superboy as he responded cheerily. "The whole Team did a great job."
"Yes. They did." Catwoman responded. Her attention never wavered off of Robin but her next statement was clearly not directed to him. "We'll need a room."
Batman grunted in response and turned to leave the waiting area. Catwoman touched Lois on the arm and inclined her head indicating that the woman should follow her. Lois took Superboy's hand and they followed Robin and Catwoman out into the hallway. Batman led them to a room a short distance away.
The door slid open and Batman stepped back. "It's completely secure." He spoke to Catwoman. She nodded and stepped inside with Lois and the boys following. Batman stopped Superman with a hand on his chest. "We aren't welcome." The door slid shut.
Selina pulled off her cowl. "It's okay. Bruce turned off all security measures except the door lock."
"I didn't even realize Clark was behind us until Bruce stopped him." Lois stripped off her mask. "What was he thinking?" She sighed. "I guess he wasn't. This isn't normal in anyway."
"We talked though. Sort of. It was nice." Conner admitted. "I told him my name."
"You talked?" Lois grinned at him. "That's great Conner."
Dick was in the process of stripping off his own mask when Selina grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. She buried her face into the top of his head.
"Kitten, you scared the crap out of me." Selina muttered.
"K. Well, bruised ribs here so ease up." He muttered back but he didn't attempt to move out of her embrace.
"Sorry." She loosened her grip and he looked up at her. "You want me to beat him up for you?" She teased.
"Nah. He's not feeling the aster either." Dick paused for a second to consider. "Well maybe your next spar could be a little less friendly."
"Sold to the boy in the cape!" She laughed. Selina looked over to Conner. "What about you? Anything I can do to the Boy Scout? Or my friend here can do for you?"
"Ah, I think maybe since we just talked I should stay friendly?" Conner looked at Lois.
"Good choice." Lois nodded at him. "Not to worry, though, I'll keep him in line from here."
"Can I ask a question, Lois?" Conner looked her up and down. "When did you become a superhero?"
Both women started to laugh.
"You know, maybe we should pick a name, have you seen out and about with Superman once and awhile being cozy." Selina suggested. "Put those rumours of him and a certain reporter to rest."
"It's a thought." Lois mused. "I just needed something to come up here in so Selina loaned me one of her old ones." She glanced over at Selina. "Honestly, how did you fight Bruce in one of these? I'm working on breathing and walking."
"Yeah." Dick snorted. "They fought a lot when she wore that."
"Brat." Selina flicked the end of Dick's nose and he laughed at her. "You get used to it. It's like a second skin."
"So what made you change the suit then?" Conner nodded at her Kevlar and armour.
Dick's hand gripped slightly on Selina, unnoticeable to Lois and Conner. Selina's lungs tightened fractionally in her chest. Both of them remembered a suit almost identical to the one Lois wore shredded by bullets and covered in blood.
"Ah, well." Selina shrugged it off. "Bruce has ideas about how the good guys should look." 'When I got shot Bruce freaked out and tried to lock both me and Dick in the Batcave. This was the compromise.' would never do as an answer. "I got a new look when I left my wicked ways behind."
Conner nodded and then turned back to Lois. "I would really like you to meet M'gann. Since you're here. If you don't mind."
"Oh, honey I don't mind at all." Lois smiled. "I would love to meet her."
"M'gann doesn't know Clark's identity. That's a conversation you need to have first." Selina reminded them gently.
"I trust her!" Conner was annoyed.
"Not the point." Selina folded her arms. "When you reveal your identity you have to take into account who else's it might reveal. It isn't just your secret you're playing with." She waited until he nodded. "Bruce isn't going to give us much more time."
"Conner." Lois took Conner's hand and waited until he looked at her. "Why don't you come home with me and Clark tonight? We'll have breakfast in the morning; figure out all this kind of stuff. We can even decide when the best time is to take you to Smallville to meet Martha and Jonathan. That's Clark's parents. I know they're going to want to meet you."
"Really? That would be great." Conner paused. "Do you think his parents will want to meet me?"
"Oh please." Lois chuckled. "They took on a baby and a teenager who fell out of the sky from space. What's a clone between family?"
WATCHTOWER
CAFETERIA
The League members had all headed to finish up the numerous reports that Batman insisted were going to be needed to cover this debacle as he was calling it. Team members were being given a 24 hour pass before their reports on the incident had to be started. They had decided to wait for their two missing members in the Watchtower cafeteria. It had the current benefits of being quiet and well stocked with food.
Artemis watched M'gann's growing unease at Conner's absence. Knowing the Martian's fondness for Earth TV and movies she tried a joke. "Who was that masked woman?" There was no response. "M'gann?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry. I think that was Superman's wife." M'gann starred at her hands.
"Wait? What?" Raquel lurched forward in her seat. "Superman has a wife? And she's a superhero?"
"Superman does indeed have a wife." Kaldur responded calmly as usual. "She is not a superhero. I believe that she and Catwoman resorted to such theatrics to conceal her identity. I do not understand why she would have responded so quickly to a concern for Conner's safety."
"He's met her before. They bonded." M'gann said softly. Everyone at the table stared at her. "Something to do with Catwoman and Black Canary. He's been spending a lot of time with Catwoman and Robin out of uniform."
Across the table Artemis threw her head back and laughed. The staring turned to her. "Don't mind me. I just figured it out. I just figured out who they all are. Continue, continue." She waved her hand at the others.
"Oh no, girl." Raquel stated firmly. "You can't tell us that you just figured out who Batman and Superman are and then not share."
"Oh yes, I can." Artemis stated equally as firmly. "My Mom knew Catwoman back in the day. She tells me that Sportsmaster put his hands on Catwoman's butt once without permission. Catwoman, a thief, put League of Shadow's trained Sportsmaster in the hospital for it. That was before she was sparring with Batman on a regular basis. What do you think she would do to someone who spilled his identity?"
Before Raquel could respond Zatanna cut in quietly. "Is she just like him? Is she just like Batman? She didn't ask if he was okay. Or check him over or anything. She just wanted to talk about the fight like it was all that was important. Is she supposed to be like what? His mother figure or something but she doesn't smile or laugh or anything?"
It was Wally who answered her from behind his mountain of food. "She's not like that. What we saw is a Bat thing. They don't show emotion in public like that. Not for battle stuff." He chewed his lip for a minute in concentration and then his face brightened. "Oh, like the time me and Uncle Barry and GA and Roy were at the Cave and her and Rob attacked Batman out of nowhere. At first, we all went into battle mode but not really seriously because of course Batman can take Catwoman, right? Then we realized Rob was helping her. The two of them are laughing like loons but still taking this fight pretty seriously and he's not giving an inch. They were playing. There was some kind of bet going on and they had to take him down to win. They did too. She's like that middle road between them. She can be as crazy as Rob when she wants to be and she will hand you your ass at video games. I've seen her fight though and she's as scary as Batman. If I had to pick I don't want to meet either of them in a dark alley. She loves Rob more than –" Wally swallowed back the words 'her own life' before continuing on. "anything. Bats puts up a pretty good front around all of us too. It's not like that away from us."
"I know her." All eyes swung back to Artemis. "When I had all those problems with Sportsmaster and my sister Batman sent her to me. He figured she could connect to me because of her background. I've spent a some time with her and Canary. Those two are tight but when they spar I swear it's a competition to see who can go home more injured."
"Maybe they're just hoping for the care and comfort they get when they get home." Raquel smirked.
"Oh. Yuck." Artemis covered her eyes briefly. "Do not say that. GA and Canary are way into the PDA. So are Batman and Catwoman when the public is more private, scarily enough." Artemis smiled at Zatanna. "If you knew her you would know there isn't a cold bone in her body but you should hear her talk about Rob." Artemis refrained from using the word 'kitten'.
Zatanna nodded. "Thanks guys. He's just so….him. And he lives with Mr. Dark and Moody. I worried that she was just the same. Where would he ever get the joy and happiness he needs?"
Conner and Robin walked into the cafeteria just then. M'gann floated forward to meet Conner in a hug while Robin walked over to hop up on the table next to Zatanna.
"They want me to come home with them tonight." Conner whispered to M'gann. "To talk about what's going to happen from now on, about meeting Superman's parents."
M'gann pulled back a bit to look up at him. "Really? That's fantastic!"
"She wants to meet you as well." Conner grinned. "Superman's wife. Catwoman said we need to let him make the call about the secret identity .reveal but it shouldn't really be an issue since I trust you and you're J'onn's niece. Still, his wife said it would be a nice gesture to let him decide so we'll wait on you two meeting. But she's excited about it."
"Oh, Conner!" M'gann threw her arms around him enthusiastically. "I'm so happy for you!"
"Thanks. Um, can you take Wolf and Sphere back to the Mountain for me?" He felt her nod against his cheek.
Robin looked down on Zatanna from his perch on the table. "I've got about a minute before an angry cat stalks me down as prey and drags me to the zeta tube." The cheerful look and tone belied the words.
"Unhunh. You sound real scared." Zatanna teased.
"Oh, I am. You have to believe me. When she called down to Agent A she asked for double dark brownies. If I don't behave I won't get any. Batman is already being denied." Robin looked to Wally for support.
"Oh yeah. You don't want him to be denied the double dark brownies. Anything but that." Wally moaned a little.
"I can confirm that." Conner said. "The brownies are pretty amazing."
"Amazing? Those brownies are pieces of chocolate heaven. Or sin. Or Heavenly sin. They are soooo good." Every Team member gaped at Artemis.
"How have you had Agent A's double dark brownies?" Robin's head tilted in query.
"Ha." Artemis smiled weakly. "Catwoman brings them to sparring matches with Canary. Sometimes I'm there so I get to have some."
"What?" Robin was outraged. "She's smuggling the brownies out of the Cave?"
"My brownies I can do what I want with them." The Team spun to see Catwoman and Lois, cowl and mask firmly in place standing in the door. "You planning to stop me little bird?"
"No." He lifted his chin a notch. "Maybe I'll just tell Agent A what you're up too."
Catwoman threw back her head and laughed. "Well played except Agent A knows exactly where each batch is going when he bakes it. I don't like to live that dangerously." Robin almost, but not quite, pouted. Catwoman turned to Lois. "What did I tell you? Looking to find boys go where there is food and girls."
"She means us Conner." Robin hopped off the table and leaned down to place a quick kiss on Zatanna's lips. He whispered to her as he pulled away. "I'll message you as soon as she stops smothering me long enough to let me come up for air."
Both boys walked across the cafeteria and followed Catwoman and Lois out the door.