Okay, guys, chappie 4! Hope you all like it.


The Justice League was in a complete meltdown.

Or as meltdown-ed as it gets in the Justice League, which is to say that all the heroes were looking slightly more pissed off than normal and their protégés were gathered around Robin in the room outside, trying to hack the security system and discover what their mentors were saying.

The heroes of the Justice League were all in their massive meeting hall, gathered around a stainless steel table. The tension in the room was almost tangible.

Batman started the meeting. "As I'm sure you all know, Star Labs was broken into today."

Everyone nodded. The story had been running nonstop on the news: the indestructible fortress that was Star Labs has been smushed by two giant robots! Everyone, run for your lives!

Batman continued. "The attack was too sudden to send many of our members to defend. It's not yet been determined what was taken, but we have reasonable cause to believe that the Dominion Serum went missing."

There was a gasp from around the table. "Isn't that stuff illegal?" the Flash asked. "Why does Star Labs have some?"

Batman shook his head. "We don't know. Our best guess is that it was being manufactured for a private client. In any case, whoever took it now poses a threat, both to us and to the safety of civilians everywhere."

"Do we have any idea who took it?" Superman asked.

Green Arrow cut in. "The robots were both from Lexcorp, and we traced a remote control signal to their building. However…"

"However what?" Black Canary cut in.

"As of now, the civilian death toll is a big, fat zero. It was strange…I was there, and it was like the robots had been programmed to walk around people, to keep any life form from getting crushed along with the rest of the place. Since when does Lexcorp care about people's lives?"

"Also," Batman cut in, "On the day Star Labs was robbed, a certain Lexcorp employee, Tara Santiago, showed up to work at her usual time, checked in with the front desk—then never showed up at her office. Three and a half hours later, the police received a call from Tara Santiago saying that she was knocked out and tied up in her own closet. Nothing had been taken from her apartment except a grey business skirt and jacket, a white blouse, a briefcase, a pair of heels, and an ID tag."

He looked around pointedly at the rest of the League. "We hacked into Lexcorp security cameras and found that they'd all been hacked into first. All except this one." He pushed a button on the desk and a screen slid smoothly up from the table.

The screen flickered to life and showed a view of one of the outside walls of Lexcorp. After a couple seconds, a grate near the bottom of the wall flew off its hinges, clattering away somewhere off camera. A head poked its way out of the hole. The figure's hair was dusty and her face was stained with dirt, but it was clear that the person was Tara Santiago.

She slid out of the duct and landed in a crouch by the edge of the wall. In one swift movement, she reached up and pulled her thick black curls off, shaking her head to let her own, royal blue locks fall free—even from the security camera footage, it was evident that they needed re-dying. With the wig off, the girl looked much younger—maybe in her early teens.

She stood up, barefooted, and tossed the wig into a nearby Dumpster. Her office suit perfectly matched the description of the one stolen from Tara's house, but it was ripped and stained. She tapped her ear once, and paused for a second, listening intently. Her lips moved quickly, then she turned and left. The footage cut out.

"So you think…Lexcorp might have been framed?"

Superman shrugged. "There's a first time for everything, I guess."

"Who the hell would do that?" Black Canary asked.

"We don't know—yet. But we do know that the girl's young, maybe in her early teens. We're running pictures from the footage against those of girls in Star City to see if we come up with any matches," Batman said calmly.

"You're suggesting a child pulled off a full-fledged heist at Star Labs, framed it on Lexcorp, and got away with it?" the Flash asked incredulously.

"Stranger things have happened," the Batman shrugged. "For now, we're not ruling out any possibilities."

"I've already sent word to all the papers in town. They're printing notices for this blue-haired girl as we speak. The news stations are also on alert," the Green Arrow said confidently.

"So, that's it, then? We just sit around and wait for this girl to show up?" Black Canary didn't sound convinced about the genius of the plan.

"For now, yes." Batman looked around the table as if daring anyone to challenge him. No one said a word.

"Good," he said. "And now, there have been some reports of attempted murder in Metropolis…"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Lex Luthor kicked his feet up on his desk and tossed a three-thousand dollar crystal paperweight from hand to hand. His mind was a flurry of emotion, though his face remained unusually calm.

So, the kids had the Dominion Serum. The thought sent a sudden pang of rage through him, and in a fit of anger, he hurled the paperweight in his hand at the wall, where it smashed into a thousand crystalline shards.

So much for three thousand dollars.

He growled under his breath. Those. Damn. KIDS.

Okay, he had to admit, they had been smart about it. Framing it on him, Lex Luthor? That was a good move. Clever, even. Almost admirable—if that hadn't been his serum they'd stolen.

But he had paid good money for the Dominion Serum. He wanted that serum. And they had taken it from him.

They had messed with the wrong man. He would see to it that it didn't happen again.

He pressed the button on his intercom and radioed down to the main desk. "Get me the mercenaries. Yes, all of them. I'm getting the Dominion Serum back. Tonight."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout.

Not the best advice, of course, but hell, at least it was easy to follow.

I ran in circles. I screamed. I shouted.

The Justice League was catching on. THE JUSTICE LEAGUE WAS CATCHING ON.

I was terrified.

The news had come at eight this morning. My team and I had passed out around midnight from sugar-induced comas after laughing 'till our sides hurt at the news broadcasts and gorging ourselves sick on cookie dough, popcorn, and ice cream.

It had been great. Then, I was woken up by Charles' panicked voice hollering, "Rowan, wake up! WAKE UP! The Justice League knows!"

I sat bolt-upright. The news had brought me from a dead sleep to full consciousness in only half a second. "What!?" I gasped in terror.

Charles helpfully peeled off a cookie-dough wrapper from where it was plastered to my cheek. "The Justice League knows," he repeated, scraping the rest of the dough from the wrapper and popping it his mouth.

Oh, crap.

Which brings me to where I am now: screaming and shouting. Or, actually, pacing the front hall, trying desperately to think of a way out of this.

Gadget stops me, putting his hands on my shoulders and forcing me to stand still. "Look at me. Rowan, look at me. Stop freaking out. It's going to be okay."

"Okay!" I cry. "Okay!? Gadget, the Justice League knows! God, I'm gonna go to jail! I can't go to jail, Gadget, you know that!"

"Rowan, just breathe. The Justice League doesn't know that we did it. Not yet."

"They have security footage, Gadget. If they don't know it's us yet, they're gonna catch on damn quick." I run my hands through my hair. God, why the hell'd I have to dye my hair blue? I may as well have written my name and phone number on the back of my jacket and danced in front of the security cameras. It certainly would have been less obvious.

He laughs. "You really don't get it, do you? Rowan, it's really not that hard to hack into the system and delete video footage."

"This isn't just any system. It's the Justice League's system. Hacking into there is like breaking into flippin' Fort Knox with only a paper clip and a spool of thread!"

"From the outside, maybe. But from the inside…"

"Gadget, it's the Justice League. We're the scum of Star City. They're not exactly gonna invite us on a private tour," I say, shooting him my most scathing it's-a-good-thing-you're-cute-because-God-you-can-be-so-stupid-sometimes glare. "How the hell are we going to get close enough to the Justice League to hack their computers?"

He grins proudly and takes something from the back pocket of his jeans. "This came in the mail," he says, pulling out a thick envelope made of creamy white paper. The letter had been closed and held with a golden wax seal, but the seal's been peeled off and the envelope steamed open. I reach in and take the letter out.

"Our mail?" I ask incredulously, eyeing the designer stationary suspiciously. The last time I'd seen designer stationary like that was in a house I was robbing.

He shrugs. "Well, no. The mayor's mail, actually. I borrowed it."

I laugh and unfold the letter. Is it any wonder I love this kid?

The letter is thick and smooth, professionally printed in gold and red ink. Someone obviously cares a whole lot about appearances. I'll bet that this letter alone cost a good hundred bucks. I start scanning the text.

"Dear Sir or Madam," it starts. Christ, someone's full of themselves, aren't they?

"Dear Sir or Madam, we cordially invite you to join us for our holiday gala…"

I have to stop. "Gadget, this is an invitation to a Christmas party."

He grins. "Bruce Wayne's Christmas party."

I roll my eyes. "So what? A bunch of rich people in fancy clothes gossiping about everyone else's fancy clothes does not keep us out of prison." Unless we can hold one of their miniature poodles captive until they agree to pay our bails…

It's his turn to roll his eyes. "Guess what world-famous institution in D.C. is letting Bruce Wayne host his party in their front hall?"

"Madame Tussads' Wax Museum?" I ask drily.

"Hilarious. No, genius, the Justice League."

I grin. Things are starting to add up, but… "Gadget, we're not invited. And knowing Bruce Wayne, I'll bet that he'll have bouncers at the door with photographs and everything."

He smiled. "You think that's a problem? Dude, I'll bet there are tons of spoiled rich brats who are too busy enriching the economy to show up at that party. All we have to do is find a couple, get Bree to disguise us, and we're good to go! Charles can even download a virus on a USB or something so that all we have to do is plug it in to the nearest computer or security camera or whatever and let it wreak havoc on its own time. We can be in and out of there in half an hour. It's perfect!"

He's right. Of course he's right. But still… "Dressing up's not really my thing."

He groans and rolls his eyes. "Oh, come on, Rowan. When's the last time you've been to a party?"


So...yeah. A party in the Hall of Justice. I REALLY wanted to know what a party thrown there would be like, and now...well, I guess I get to find out. I figured, since the HoJ is basically a big tourist trap ANYWAYS...it couldn't hurt. Right?

Anywho, I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading, and PLEASE review. If you loved it, if you hated it...I don't care. Just SAY something!