Author's note – Marvel and DC own all character rights.

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Chapter One

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"You wanted to see me?"

Superman nodded and walked across to the armoured hero.

"Steel, yes, I did. I've been reviewing the after-action reports of the Joining incident, as well as the personnel files, and I have a few questions to ask you. Please, sit."

Steel sat on the indicated seat and removed his helmet as Superman sat down on the facing chair.

"What did you want?"

"I am fully aware of your links to WayneTech and how you've incorporated Kryptonian Tech into your armour. Supergirl and I, as well as Batman and a few others, recently visited Krypton to... recover some items that Kara thought might be of interest."

"Kara?"

"Supergirl. She was raised on Krypton. Anyway, the orbital museum survived the planet's destruction, as did several orbital warehouses including a military stockpile. We got quite a haul and are planning another trip."

"And you need more people to help? You can count on me."

"That as well, yes." Superman said. "Among the items we salvaged were several suits of Kryptonian armour. Kara and I were hoping that you and few others could help us reconfigure some of it in order to upgrade our outfits. How would you like a suit of Kryptonian armour for yourself?"

Steel's eyes widened. "Full Kryptonian armour? My suit is good, but... I upgrade it with more Kryptonian tech every chance I get. A full set?"

"Ceremonial combat armour. Energy weapons, protective shielding. We have several different suits, we can fit you out with one, then reconfigure its outer surface however you wish."

Steel stared at him for a few moments, then his eyes narrowed. "And why don't you want it? Equip you with Kryptonian armour and you'll be unstoppable."

Superman smiled. "I just want to slightly upgrade the tech I have. And in a way, it doesn't matter how strong or invulnerable I am, I can only be in one place at a time. You, though, you took some damage to your armour during the fight, you had to spend quite a bit of time fixing it. Kryptonian Armour is somewhat self-fixing, given power and raw materials."

"I'm in." Steel said. "Not because of the armour, although I will accept with thanks, but because I want to. Who else is in?"

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"Hey, Superman! Sorry I'm late, school sports day over-ran and I couldn't get away any earlier. Wow! Steel?"

"Hello, Gear." Superman said with a smile. "Ready to get started?"

"Oh yeah!" Gear said, his voice filled with glee. "A chance to get a Kryptonian data-matrix and power gear? Not to mention proper flight-equipment, not the jury-rigged stuff I made. How could I say no? Wow, this is a cool lab! Whose is it?"

"Steel is in charge." Clark said. "Aside from me, Supergirl and Batman, he has the most experience in the League of Kryptonian technology and how to integrate it. However, may I introduce someone I think will be useful?"

Superman motioned and both Steel and Gear followed his motion as a man walked in. "This is Lucius Fox. He's been researching Kryptonian tech for several decades. Lucius, be gentle with them please."

"Don't worry, Kal." Lucius grinned. "I won't eat them. Unless they do something stupid, that is."

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Steel frowned at the data streaming across his HUD and then adjusted several of the settings. After a moment, the data responded and he smiled and retracted his helmet.

"I'm done." he said. "Anyone need any help?"

"Almost got it..." Gear said, then a sudden cloud of smoke engulfed him. Lucius and Steel rushed over as Gear fell to the floor, coughing.

"Gear? Gear?"

"I'm okay." Gear said weakly. "Didn't expect that much smoke, this power system is way stronger than the one I used before. Hey, when did you change back into your old armour?"

"I didn't." Steel said. "I simply reconfigured it. Took me a while to grok the controls, but..."

"To what the controls?"

Steel paused for a moment. "Um, to understand them. Had to upload a translation patch, the controls were all in Kryptonian which I do understand, but it takes a bit of concentration. Got it in english, re-wrote the menus and readouts, reconfigured the outer skin, mapped the systems and noted possible upgrades. Done. Damn, I like this suit, fits better than my old one, and I made that one from scratch."

"Maybe I should ask for one." Gear said, standing up. "How many are there?"

"They got five that work." Steel said, moving across to a workbench scattered with parts and plans. "As well as parts from several dozen broken suits. Lucius, where did you get up to?"

"Kara's visor." Lucius said. "There seems to be a problem that I can't quite solve in the detection systems."

"I assume the crstal matrix is unflawed?" Steel asked. At Lucius' nod, he donned his helmet and extended a probe. "Well, it'll be either connections or software, let me check the program..."

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"Wow! I like it!"

Kara slow-rolled through the air and dropped back into formation beside Steel.

"It's called Augmented Reality." Steel said. "I managed to find the software incompatabilities between the various functions and resolved them. You should find that with the sensor systems covering your blind spots, you can dodge incoming attacks from any angle. I have something similar in my armour."

"You are amazing!" Kara laughed. "I only learned how to use this tech, fixing and reconfiguring it was a task left to the experts. I like the collision-alert thing."

"It's good up to mach-6." Steel said. "Above that, it gets... spotty. It'll still alert you, but the auto-map function may not be able to keep up. Especially in crowded environments."

Kara nodded, then slowed from their almost-supersonic pace. As she slowed, the smooth silver backplate shivered and unfolded, becoming her cape.

"Batman is a genius." Steel mused as he slowed and his red backplate did the same. "Capes look great and confuse the enemy, but they really slow you in flight. Having them fold away automatically... wish I'd thought of that."

Kara touched down lightly on the roof of the Detroit Hall of Justice, then stepped out of Steel's way as he landed with a whining of Kryptonian grav-thrusters.

"Hey, guys! Cool entrance!"

"Hey, Static." Kara grinned. "Gear sends his regards, he's testing out his upgrades with Superman. Just in case something else goes wrong. How's everyone?"

"Oh, the Justice League Auxiliaries are doing great!" Static enthused. "Thanks for sending Red Tornado and Dove over to lead and train us in basic skills. And I've learned loads from Black Lightning, we've developed some really cool teamwork moves, it's great learning from another electric-type."

"Good to know." Kara said, smiling as Static dropped to the ground and folded his metal disc away. "You getting on with the other trainees?"

"I already knew some, but yeah. Kid Flash is a real laugh, Artemis is... well, serious. Especially in training. She insists we all learn basic fighting skills in case our powers abandon us. I think she really just likes to beat up on us, but we are learning. Kid Flash and Beast Boy keep pranking each other, you should have seen seen Nail's face when they accidently caught her in one of their pranks. She chased them round the Hall for an hour, vowing to spank then so they couldn't move for a week. Aqualad is turning into a real leader, and Martian Girl..."

"Who?" Kara asked as Static waved them inside.

"Martian Girl." Static repeated. "You know, Martian Manhunter's niece? Goes by the name Megan when she's not in her green-skinned space-babe form. Her uncle and Zatara are teaching her how to control her telepathy better, she's slipped a couple of times, but she's so nice that we don't mind. We seem to have lost some Bang-babies though, I have no clue what happened to the Night Breed."

"The four who cannot stand light due to their changes?" Kara asked. At Static's worried nod, she continued. "I can answer that. The Batcave has a lot of room for expansion, we installed several apartments for them and they moved in. They occasionally help Batman out, usually as mission control, and Batman has ensured that they have whatever they want. If you wish, I can take you to visit them to check for yourself. Or simply give you their phone numbers."

"I'll hold you to that." Static said. "Thanks, when I found their hide-out abandoned, I started fearing the worst. They're good kids, they just gained sucky powers. So, here's the main hall and... hey guys! Look who's here, Supergirl and Steel!"

The various kids and teenagers in the hall abandoned their games and discussions and flooded towards them.

"Supergirl, She-Bang. Nice to meet another powerhouse." "Steel! I'm Nail, how do you do..."

For several minutes the hubbub reigned as Supergirl and Steel found their hands shook and shoulders slapped, then Static called for silence.

"So, you said in your heads-up you had a mission you thought would be good training?"

"I did." Supergirl said. "In a week's time, several of us are taking some Javelins and a cargo ship loaned to us by the Green Lantern Corps to Krypton on a salvage mission to gather as much Kryptonian tech as possible from what remains. We have space for half a dozen trainees to come along once we've fitted them out with space-suits. There will be a lot of zero-G and vacuum work, so the use of powers may be... limited. If you can decide amongst yourselves who wants to come... oh, and parental approval will be required if you still live at home."

"Oh man." Static moaned. "I'll have to tell my mom and dad who I am. Not cool. What? Oh, okay."

For several minutes, the entire group remained silent, occasionally exchanging glances or making hand motions, then Aqualad nodded firmly.

"Miss Martian has her Bioship which has Javelin-level FTL capability, so she's going. She can also provide telepathic linkage and scanning. I'm staying here since my water-powers would be next to useless and someone needs to stay to keep an eye on the remaining youngsters, so Static will lead the group. You'll need strength and agility, so She-Bang, Artemis, Beast Boy and Gear. If any of them can't get permission, Cyborg and Nail are the two replacements."

"You decided all that telepathically?" Kara enquired and Aqualad nodded.

"Thanks to Miss Martian, yes. It's faster than speaking aloud, lets us make plans quickly and quietly."

"Makes sense." Steel said. "If you have an advantage, use it."

"Steel, can I ask for your help?" Static said.

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The man who answered the door stared at Static and Steel with wide eyes.

"Mr Samms? May we come in? We have something we wish to discuss with you, and I am sure you would not like to discuss it on the verandah."

"S... sure. Please, come in. Please, sit down? Is it Virgil? What's happened to him? Where is he?"

"I'm here, dad." Static sighed, pulling his mask off.

"Virg? Why are you dressed as Static?"

"Because he is Static, Mr Samms." Steel rumbled as he retracted his helmet. "And an opportunity has risen for him to get more experience heroing, but we needed to discuss it with you first since it will involve intersteller travel, meaning he'll be away for a couple of weeks."

Mr Samms stared at them for a moment. "Virg... is Static?"

"Yes, Dad."

"Virgil was right not to tell you earlier, Mr Samms." Steel said softly. "If word had slipped out, you would have been in danger. You and your whole family. That is still the case, but to a lesser degree. You and your family have been placed on our 'priority protect' list. That means that should you be targeted, the Justice League will protect you. Anyway, the mission in question is a journey to Krypton, the now-destroyed homeworld of Superman and Supergirl. It is a salvage mission, we are collecting cultural items, technology and other things that may have survived the planet's destruction. Your son's electrical abilities may prove very useful on this mission. He is not the only JLA member to be going, but he will be the senior member of the JLA squad seconded to this mission. It will be good practice for him. Very educational."

"I... see." Mr Samms said slowly. "Are you going?"

"I am, so is Superman, Supergirl, Green Lantern Hal Jordon, Captain Atom, Hawkgirl, Green Arrow and Batman."

"Wow, hold on!" Virgil exclaimed. "Batman too?"

"Yes." Steel said, smiling faintly at the awe in Virgil's voice. "Batman. He decided he was going, and Superman agreed."

"Batman?" Virgil whispered. "Wow! Cool!"

"Will it be safe?"

"With that many powerhouses around, it will be as safe as we can make it. We'll ensure that they have proper space-suits before we go, and training in how to use them. It's just a salvage mission, we don't expect any problems. And if there are any, we'll load the kids into Miss Martians Bioship and protect it until it can get FTL. I won't say it'll be perfectly safe, but it will be as safe as we can make it. You have my word of honour on that, sir."