So there's been a few complications at work and I have just a tiny bit more free time than I thought I did, so I'll post this.

Reviews:

Thanks ChopSuzi for the reviews on each chapter!

whowantstoknow: I really look forward to your reviews every chapter. What I meant about the mystery comment is that the real mystery of the story hasn't started yet, I kind of consider Lily a decoy mystery. I suppose I should have said that instead of being confusing. Also it totally slipped my mind that a lot of readers wouldn't have watched "every single episode" and might be fuzzy on some canon details with both the DCAU and DP. And just to state it for the record, everything I know about the Justice League comes from the DCAU, and the occasional glances at wiki articles to make sure I have my facts straight. Everything in this story is as close to DCAU canon as I can manage. In order to justify stuff from the DP canon like Phantom Planet, I figured that had to have happened before the Justice League was a thing, and even before Superman was well known and could have stopped the asteroid. Therefore, Danny was a teenager when he stopped the asteroid, probably just as Superman was planning to start his career, probably in his mid twenties, and DCAU seems to infer that Batman had been in the superhero business just a few years longer than Superman, probably putting him in his late twenties. Then skip forward about thirty years and Danny is in his forties, Superman and Batman are probably in their fifties, and Lily is seventeen. Events in this story are probably a few years after the JLU finale, which means that all of the Superman and Batman Adventures and Justice League and Justice League Unlimited happened within about a twenty five year span, which I hope is believable. That's also why the story focuses on Lily instead of Danny, because she's just a teenager and although very powerful, not any stronger than the enemies she'll face like I'd imagine her dad to be by now. I'd imagine Phantom's raw strength to be somewhat on par to Wonder Woman's. Maybe that's also a bit of a stretch. Hopefully not.

...

Flash tried to walk into the room with an air of confidence. He tried not to let the bandages on the girl's face and body get to him. There was always something sad about seeing teenagers in hospital rooms all bandaged up, or really anybody.

"Hi, I'm the Flash: Fastest Man Alive!"

The introduction awarded him a smile from Lily. At least she still has a pretty smile.

"So, um, your name is Lily?" Dang it, he lost the smooth talking persona and it only took him two lines. He mentally cursed his fastest-man-alive status for applying to all the negative things too.

She gave a nod.

"That's a pretty name." Flowers always seemed to make pretty names for girls. If he ever got married and had kids he'd like to name his daughter after a flower like Rose or Daisy or wait, focus Flash, on what's happening in front of you!

A frown appeared on Lily's face, and she tilted her head, trying to convey boredom. Such boredom also became apparent in the Flash's voice.

"So, uh, what do you want to do?" What could she do? The bandages covered her eyes so it wasn't like she could even see him. He wondered if she would be blind permanently, but then figured the League had some technology somewhere to prevent that.

Lily tried to say something to Flash, but the meaning was lost along with the sound.

"Sorry, I bet Batman was probably able to tell what you were saying, but I'm not that good at reading lips."

Lily bobbed her head side to side in annoyance.

"What about charades? I'm good at charades!" Flash said, suddenly excited. He was simply the best there was at charades.

Lily motioned with her hands writing on a piece of paper. The Flash disappeared, only to return a second later with a small notebook and pencil in hand. He pushed them into Lily's grasp.

"You sure you'll be able to write on that?" How would she be able to see what she was writing? If she could write then that meant she hadn't always been blind. He couldn't imagine suddenly going blind. That would be awful, there would be no more Flash to help out around Central City. Not to mention not being able to see ever again. That would suck too.

Lily responded with a message on the notebook's first page. It was scribbled and crooked, but the Flash managed to parse the words from it: im starving.

"Well why didn't you say so?" Flash said, grin apparent in his voice.

Lily made the bobbling motion again.

"What was that thing you just did?" He instantly regretted asking. Now he'd have to wait for her to write her answer down before continuing.

me trying to roll my eyes under bandages

"Right… let me just see if I can find a wheelchair."

A second later there was a sound of a wheelchair being rolled into the room. Flash helped Lily off of her bed into the chair. Even with his help it seemed to take all of her strength and concentration.

"Next stop: the Cafeteria!" Flash raced the wheelchair – at a more human speed – to the elevator, and with a hurricane of movement pressed the button to the cafeteria.

"So…" He always hated the elevator. There was an open space for Leaguers that could fly to get from floor to floor and stairs incase the elevator broke or power had been cut, although there were bigger problems to worry about in a space station if the power was cut. Flash usually took the stairs because with his super-speed they ended up faster and more comfortable to him than the elevator, but it wasn't like he could take Lily in a wheelchair up the stairs – in a comfortable manner for her at least. But the elevator was so boring and thinking about the cafeteria made him even hungrier than he usually was. Flash tried to decide what he was going to eat, but realized Lily would need help getting food for herself.

"You know what you want to eat?"

She tapped the pencil against her chin before writing her answer.

something soft and cold

"Sounds like you want a milkshake. Vanilla or chocolate?" A chocolate milkshake sounded good. But he thought the ice cream dispenser was too slow to wait for it to fill the twenty cups of ice cream that he wanted. Not to mention the last time he had ice cream the cafeteria workers yelled at him for emptying the machine ten minutes after they had filled it and also spilling a bunch of the ice cream when he forgot to put lids on a few of the cups. He would definitely not be having an ice cream shake, even though he was excited to make one for Lily. The dispenser only dispensed soft serve, and there was nothing to make it into a shake, but he got around that by putting a lid on the cup and shaking hard in his hand with super-speed. Oh wait, she was blind, she wouldn't be able to see him make the shake.

A giant C was written on Lily's notepad. What did that stand – oh yeah, she wanted chocolate.

Ding. The elevator opened, filling it with the aroma of food. Lily's stomach growled in anticipation.

"Finally!" Flash voiced Lily's thoughts and rushed her to the ice cream dispenser.

"That's one Lightning Chocolate Flash Specialty." He said after shaking the cup hard for a few seconds – careful to make sure the lid was on nice and tight.

She smiled at him again and he remembered at the last possible second to grab a straw to put in the shake just before she would have realized it was missing.

"Almost forgot the straw." He wheeled her to a table and set off to find something to eat himself. He was back a few seconds later holding a plate piled high with cheeseburgers.

"Want a cheeseburger?" he asked, not waiting an answer as he got another plate to put one of the cheeseburgers on and slid it over to Lily.

She placed the notepad on the table and started writing on it while sucking on her milkshake in her other hand.

thanks was written on top of the giant C.

"So how old are you, Lily?" Flash asked between burgers.

17 was written on top of the giant C and the thanks, which made it barely legible.

Underage and too young to join the League, oh wait he didn't even know if she was a metahuman or not. Then again why would she be in the Watchtower hospital wing is she wasn't a metahuman? The Watchtower hospital wing sometimes took unique cases like that whenever a hospital on earth couldn't figure out how to care for the weird person that showed up in their ER. They also took care of the Leaguers free of charge, just like the food was free of charge, for the members anyhow. All of the facilities on the Watchtower were free to the metahumans. Well, at least the League members, he wasn't sure about the weird hospital cases that were flown in. Flash for one was grateful for the free food, it really cut down on his grocery bill at home when he could eat as much as he wanted here.

"You got any special powers?"

Lily thought hard before writing down her answer, thankfully remembering to turn the page in the notepad.

only if being dead is considered a special power

"What?" Flash exclaimed after reading the notebook, and also noting that it was getting easier to read, and not just because it wasn't written on top of other stuff. "But you're sitting right here talk– writing to me."

Lily smiled at his confusion, and Flash found it hard to tell if it was a smirk, since the rest of her face was covered. She took a big bite out of her cheeseburger, not bothering to write down an explanation. Flash wolfed down the rest of his cheeseburgers and brought Lily another shake when she reached the end of the first. She took it without question.

He watched Lily as she ate, she seemed to savor every last bite of her burger. She also seemed to have perked up a bit since getting out of the hospital room, no longer having to consciously drag herself through every movement, although it was hard to tell what kind of mood she was in or how well she was adjusting with half of her face covered in bandages. Out of boredom Flash grabbed the notebook to get a better look at it.

First page: im starving was barely legible.

Second page: me trying to roll my eyes under bandages. A lot of the letters overlapped and lines were almost written on top of each other, but it was clear what she wrote.

Third page: something soft and cold. Fewer letters overlapped and it was neater in general.

On the fourth page the C, thanks, and 17 were written overlapping each other.

The last page with writing had the only if being dead is considered a special power. Not only were the letters neater than before, almost resembling his own scribbled handwriting, but they were also written on the lines provided in the notebook. She couldn't see the lines, could she? Flash suddenly felt proud that he had made a deductive connection and blurted out asking if she could see before thinking about what he was saying.

"Can you see through the bandages?" Oops. He could have been more tactful.

Lily didn't seem to mind though and nodded. She motioned for the notebook again, and he gave it to her on a new page.

yes and no

sort of a sixth sense

never worked like this before though

though to be fair Ive never been blind before either

The letters were neat and clear, but not all of them matched up with a line, in fact it seemed a little crooked now. It must have just been a coincidence before.

Lily slurped her straw as she finished up her second shake. She waved the empty cup to signal that she wanted another.

"Another?!"

A nod.

Flash got her another Lightning Chocolate Flash Special. If she kept up like this she'd eat as much food as he did. He was pretty sure the other Leaguers would frown at another big eater like the Flash. He didn't want to lose his free meals.

He yawned. Flash had planned on crashing as soon as he got home, but now that he was babysitting, he could kiss that plan goodbye. He had to be up in six hours to get to work. His other work, as a forensic scientist. At least he was also a fast sleeper, if he could just get a few hours in. He really didn't want to have to call in sick; he wasn't sure he could do that too many more times without getting fired.

Lily pushed over her notepad.

was that a yawn? you sound tired

"I was ready to hit the hay but then I got babysitting duty. No offense."

none taken I wouldn't mind if you took a nap but batman probably would I think he wants eyes kept on me 24/7

"Why would he want that? You don't seem dangerous to me."

haha you didn't hear what I told batman I basically called him a puppet

"Why would you do that?! You don't just go making fun of Batman. Trust me, I've learned the hard way."

Between you and me I did it so he would order to keep eyes on me Im paranoid flash if theres eyes on me all the time then maybe I wont disappear again

"Again?"

batman hasnt filled you in on anything yet has he?

"Fill me in on what?"

It doesn't matter just promise me you wont tell him though come to think of it he'll probably get his hands on this notepad regardless oh well

"I could burn the notebook for you."

I seriously doubt you would besides its not like Im trying to hide anything

"Why ask me to not tell him if you think he's going to find out anyway?"

it just doesn't seem like something that should be heard second hand

Flash's comm. link went off, taking him by surprise like it always did.

"Flash, you're needed in the conference room," Batman had said, "Stargirl will be at the cafeteria to relieve you soon."

"I'm needed elsewhere, so I guess you get to chat with Stargirl?" Flash said to Lily.

K

True to Batman's word, Stargirl appeared shortly afterword.

"Hi, I'm Stargirl," She exclaimed to Lily, and Flash saw that Lily was furiously writing in her notepad.

"Well, now that you're acquainted, I can go. Bye Lily," Flash said and left. He was at the conference room in a second. He didn't have to guess how Batman knew he was at the cafeteria, there were security cameras all over the Watchtower; in fact he was certain that when he opened the door he'd see Batman watching multiple screens of security footage.

He could barely contain the excitement when he walked in and saw he was right. The only thing he hadn't guessed was that Superman would be with him, but you win some, you lose some. The security footage itself showed that Batman had zoomed into the notepad specifically with one screen and had another focused on the table they had both sat at, while other screens showed something that didn't look like security at all. Okay, so maybe he wasn't entirely correct, but he was still mostly right, right?

"Burn it for her?" Batman asked rhetorically.

"What? I was just trying to get her to not look so stressed."

"She certainly is a good actor. Look how she's behaving with Stargirl." Superman added while studying the security footage. "She's completely different."

"Her handwriting got better too!" Flash added, excited to be able to add something to the growing mystery."

"I noticed," Batman answered.

Flash frowned. "Hey, you mind filling me in on who she is exactly?"

"You ever heard of FentonWorks?"

"You mean those wacky ghost hunters? Sure! I once had this weird green stuff in my chemical analysis quota at work, and I couldn't match it to anything so when I searched the net for similar stuff, I found out it was ectoplasm from one of their websites. Almost lost my job over that one."

Batman only raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, look! That's one of their websites right there!" Flash exclaimed while pointing at one of the monitors. It was open to a ghost information page explaining different types of ghosts. The Flash quickly read through what was visible. It seemed to be going on about complex theories behind what the similarities and differences were between different classes of ghosts, and really it just all went over his head.

"What do you think about her?" Superman asked.

"She seems pretty nice." Flash said as he sat down in one of the conference chairs – the one with his logo conspicuously painted on it. "That's not the only reason you wanted to talk to me, was it?"

"No." Superman said. "If she stays on the Watchtower while she recovers, she's a potential threat to security."

"What? Not Lily! She wouldn't hurt a fly."

"If you really believe that, then you wouldn't mind with helping fill out the roster to keep a guard posted with her at all times?" Batman asked.

"Well, uh, I mean, no? Would you mind filling me in a little more?"

"We found her as a prisoner to a secret government agency." Batman said.

"You mean like Cadmus? Don't you remember Long Shadow? He was cool."

"Yes we do remember Long Shadow, even if the circumstances were slightly different."

"Different as in more in Lily's favor."

"I have reason to believe this entire situation we're in was orchestrated." Batman countered, "If that's the case than we don't know for what reason it was planned for us to take her."

"So she could be like a spy. I get that." Flash said, frowning. He always hated when the other founders started sounding condescending to him. He was able to keep up with what was happening. He was a forensic scientist after all. "Why isn't she in one of the holding cells then?"

"Because we don't know one way or the other, on top of the fact that she's injured and needs immediate medication attention." Superman answered.

Right, innocent until proven guilty, and Batman didn't need a lot of evidence to prove her guilty, which meant that if she really was a spy then she really had her bases covered.

"We want your vote on whether or not you think it's safe to keep her here as long as there are guards posted with her twenty-four/seven. We already talked to the rest of the founders while you were with Lily and got their votes."

"Is there a reason she can't go back to the ground?"

"She claims she'll be in danger if she goes back to ground-side. Otherwise it would be a non-issue."

"I bet you already know my vote."

"Then it's settled."