An few nights later I stood in front of a mirror dressed as a princess from the Dark Ages. The dress that was dark green that looked almost black and was lined with gold. Brushing my hair away from my shoulders I sighed glancing at the gold crown that sat on top of my head. "You look beautiful." Turning I smiled at Mrs. Kent. "I guess there are perks to being seen with a billionaire. I don't have to show up wearing a Wal-Mart costume." She smiled while I picked up a portion of my skirt to turn around to look at her. "So how do I look?" Smiling she brushed my curled hair away from my shoulder. "You look stunning my dear." Blushing self conscious I bowed my head to look at my gown. "Thank you." "Bruce is here. I left him waiting with Clark." "Is that code for we have to get down there fast or Clark will send him off." She shrugged. "If it was Jonathan down there then I would say yes." Nodding I picked up the front of my skirts and followed her downstairs. Stepping into the main room I found Clark staring at Bruce with an unreadable expression while Bruce stood there dressed like a standard knight.

"Why hello sir Knight, how are you this fair evening?" He quickly turned and smiled when he noticed me standing in the room. With slow purposeful steps he took my hand in his and kissed it gently. "Good evening my princess. I am fine, how are you?" "I am as well as can be." Giggling we turned and looked at the Kent's. "Bruce, have you meet Senator Kent and her son Clark." "Yes we were just talking about you actually." I raised an eyebrow in Clark's direction. "Good things I hope." "Depends on what you think is good." We laughed while Clark smiled. "You look beautiful Danielle." Blushing I brushed my hair behind my ear I meet his eyes smiling. "Thank you." Stepping away from Bruce I wrapped my arms around his neck while he returned my hug. "I can't thank you enough for letting me stay here." He pulled back and brushed his finger along my cheek. "As long as you keep Lois away you're welcome anytime." Laughing I kissed his cheek. "For you Clark I'll try my best but even I can't stop her." He shrugged. "You know if it's meant to be it will happen." He nodded. "I know." Smiling I pet his cheek before stepping back. "Let's get this show on the road. Taking Bruce's arm I said goodnight to him and smiled at Mrs. Kent knowing that I would see her soon at the party.

Taking a deep breath I glanced around the Luthor ballroom noticing the numerous society people standing in one room. "Are you alright?" Turning my head I smiled at Bruce as he gave me a glass of champagne. "Still trying to get use to this many society people." He nodded as the band glanced out over the room. "Welcome to the First Annual Benefit Ball for the victims of Dark Thursday. On behalf of Lex Luthor, we'd like to thank everybody for reaching into your pockets and supporting the families affected by this disaster. You guys rock." I rolled my eyes while Bruce's arm wrapped around my waist while we mingled. "I wonder how Metropolis would react if they knew who he really was." Bruce just smiled while we spoke to a few people before moving from one side of the room to the other while cameras flashed and music played. "Maybe with a few choice words…" He sighed moving me away from the reporters. "Let's not cause a war." I groaned. "You're no fun." The smile came back just time for me to see Lana Lang walk into the room dressed as Cleopatra. "Here comes the princess of the ball." Bruce looked up and then looked at me. "She doesn't hold a candle to you." Smiling I glanced up at him when someone said "I would have to agree with him." Turning I sighed as I glanced at Oliver and my cousin. "Hello Oliver, Lois you look beautiful."

He nodded as Lois came up and glared at Bruce. "Lois this is Bruce Wayne. Bruce this is my cousin Lois Lane and you know her date." Oliver and Bruce shook hands. "Still wearing tights Queen, I thought you kicked that habit." "You should try them Wayne." "You should see them in tutus." The four of us turned around to see Lex and Lana staring at us. "Lex Luthor…with a girl that he doesn't have to inflate." "Now don't be rude Oliver." He glanced at Bruce as I watched and waited. "I'm sure Miss Lang sees something unique in Lex. Please forgive him." Bruce smiled as he pulled me closer while Lex laughed. "Lana Lang, meet Oliver Queen and Bruce Wayne. We went to boarding school together." "Hello." I nodded a hello. "It's good to see you again Lana." She gave me a smile. "Talked to any of the old gang lately?" Lex just nodded. "Enjoy the party." "We always do." Bruce nodded as they walked away. "Well that was interesting." Bruce glanced at Oliver and I not surprised by Lex's cold hello. "That was actually one of our better meetings." Glancing at Oliver and Bruce before following Lex I sighed in agreement. "I believe it." Sighing I glanced at Lois who looked like a puppy hyped on sugar. She must be looking for Mrs. Kent. "I thought I saw Senator Kent around here somewhere." She smiled and pulled Oliver away. Relieved I glanced at Bruce. "And then there were two." Bruce sighed while he ran his hand up and down my back for comfort. "I promise by tomorrow evening we will be back in Gotham where we can really talk about what happened." Really smiling I glanced up at him. "Thank you." With that we wandered around the party until Bruce took me back to the Kent's.

Saying goodnight I moved to walk inside but stopped when I heard a noise coming from the barn. Picking up my dress I slowly and quietly walked into the barn to hear an object hitting a wall. Walking up to the loft I found Clark sitting in front of his couch throwing a baseball against the wall. "Clark?" He slowly turned and looked at me while I smiled at him. "What are you doing up here?" I shrugged as I finished climbing the stairs only to glide over to him. "Bruce just dropped me off." He nodded throwing the baseball against the wall again. "Do you want to talk about it?" He shook his head no. Taking a deep breath I sat down beside him and laid my head against his shoulder while he stopped. "How was the party?" Sighing I glanced at the far wall. "I was waiting for Bruce and Oliver to throw punches at Lex." He chuckled while I wrapped my arm around his bicep moving closer to him. "How'd she…" "She was beautiful." He nodded picking up the baseball again. "I'll be here for you no matter what Clark." With a nod he laid his head against mine. "Thank you." Nodding we just sat there just staring at the wall while we thought about our own personal demons.

The following morning I woke up to find Mrs. Kent making breakfast. Running my fingers through my hair I smiled at the older woman as the back door opened. "Good morning Danielle." Smiling at Clark I walked over to the island and sat down as Mrs. Kent brought over a plate. "How was your date last night?" I shrugged as Clark joined us at the island. "It was different but I think I'm ready to go back to Gotham and work." She nodded as the three of us sat down just as Lois breeze in. "Oh thank god there is coffee." Chuckling I picked up my fork to eat when I heard Clark say "Are you sure you can't stay. You know to control Lois." Laughing with a glare from Lois we just ate breakfast. "How was your night with Oliver cousin?" She just glared annoyed while she drank her coffee.

A couple of hours later I was packed and waiting for Bruce to arrive so we could return to Gotham. "You're still here?" I turned my head to see Clark and Chloe come up the stairs as I sat on the porch swing. "For a few more hours until I find myself sitting at my desk drinking stale coffee." Chloe walked over and sat down beside me. "I still can't believe you have a job at the Gazette." I rolled my eyes. "This from the girl working at the Daily Planet, hey where were you last night I tried to call you but you weren't picking up?" She glanced at Clark and then me. "I was at the hospital." Concerned I stared at her. "I wasn't hurt. A friend of mine was and I just wanted to make sure he was alright." "That better be all because if I find out otherwise, well let's just say Lois will look tame compare to me Chloe." She nodded laying her head against my shoulder. "How was the ball?" "Full of people that I never want to talk to again and people that I may write about in the future." Clark laughed while Chloe rolled her eyes when someone pulled up. The door opened and I smiled at Alfred and Bruce. "Well my ride is here." Standing I moved to grab my bags but Clark got to them first. Taking Chloe's arm we walked down to the car. "I will take that young sir." Clark just nodded handing over my bags to Alfred.

Turning I watched the door open as Mrs. Kent and Lois walked outside. "Guess this is me heading out." Wrapping my arms around Chloe I said goodbye before moving on to Lois and Mrs. Kent. "If you ever need anything just call." I nodded smiling at the older woman. "I will." Moving back I turned to look at Clark. "Well this was the lease exciting time I've spent in Smallville but the most enlightening." Clark just smiled as he wrapped his arms around my waist. "I'll miss you to Danielle." "I'm just a call away if you ever need anything." "I know" "Hell I'm even a run away." He stared at me surprised while I smiled. "Bye Clark." Pulling back I slipped into the car after Bruce. "Are you ready to go home?" Nodding I sighed as Alfred pulled away from the Kent home. "I think I am." Laying my head against his shoulder I closed my eyes and sighed.

A few hours later I was once again sitting beside Bruce while he drove back to my apartment. Staring out the window I sighed knowing that the conversation I was dreading would happen sooner than I wanted it to. The car came to a complete stop and I got out with help from my doorman. I looked to find him smiling at me. "Welcome home Ms O'Connor." Smiling I stepped aside as he closed the door for me. "Thank you Mr. Edwards, did you have an eventful week?" "It was quite." With a tip of his hat I walked around to get my things when I notice the signal in the sky. "I guess even Batman can't get a night off." Ignoring my doorman I glanced at Bruce. "Bruce I know you wanted to have dinner but can we reschedule it. I think I'm just going to go to bed." He nodded with a faint understanding smile. "Of course, say 1pm at Luis tomorrow if you're not too busy?" "I'll see you there." Standing up on my toes I brushed my lips against his before stepping back. "Goodnight Danielle." "Drive safe Bruce." I watched him get into his car and drive away. "Ms O'Connor?" Shaking my head I picked up my bags and walked into my building.

I stepped out of the elevator and pulled my keys out of my purse as my phone started to ring. "Give me a minute." Opening the door I pulled my bags inside and closed the door behind me as I raced to the phone. "Hello." "You're alive." I rolled my eyes at Rachel's concerned. "Hi Rachel, how are you? I'm fine thank you for asking." Sitting down I took off my shoes and sighed. "Where the hell have you been? I tried calling you ten times." "I was out of town visiting my cousins." "Really cause the Daily Planet says that you were on a romantic get away with Bruce Wayne." Groaning I stood and slowly started to unpack while simultaneously checking my mail that had piled up. "If you're fishing for a story then you're in the wrong business." "Care to explain then." "Yes I went to Metropolis with Bruce. But it was to attend that stupid party Luthor had put on as well as visiting my cousins." I heard her sigh as I flipped on my coffee pot knowing that I would be up later than usual. "Danielle I don't think you should get involved with Bruce. There are things that you don't know about him." If you're referring to him dressing up as a bat and running around the city stopping psychopaths from committing crimes then maybe you're right. "How is Harvey?" She groaned as I smiled to myself.

It was around 2am when I was able to swing by Danielle's apartment. There I found a single light on, as if she was waiting for me. Landing softy on her balcony I knocked on the doors and waited. A minute later the door opened and I smirked while she smiled at me. "Honestly I never thought you show up." "Ms O'Connor." She stepped back and allowed me to enter. Walking in I heard the door close as I checked the room for bugs. "You're the only superhero that's been in my apartment so I'm pretty sure it's not bugged." I turned and looked at her as she shrugged. "We need to talk." With a nod she walked over and sat down while I watched. "I have no intention of printing your secret in the paper or telling anyone." "That's good to know but you need to beware that as long as I am Batman people will target you to get to me." "And people will target me to get to you. I do understand the consequences." Stepping forward I stared down at her. "I don't think you do."

She rolled her eyes in response. "Here, I think you should take a look at this." She reached forward and pulled two files out of her bag before handing them to me. "What are these?" "One file is all of my research on the Scarecrow and the other is on the man that is calling himself the Joker." She stood and walked into her kitchen while I flipped through the file. "How did you get this?" "I have an informant in the police department as well as one stationed at Arkham Asylum." Closing the file on Crane I opened the one titled Joker. "The Joker is an individual that appears to have several known and unknown mental disorders. He also tends to display a pathological need to create chaos." Closing the file I watched her take a sip of her coffee. "You can take them. I have duplicates." Placing them on the island I stared at her. "Why?" "The cops and the DA can deal with the mob but we both know they don't have the time or the patience to deal with them." She sat her mug down and looked at me. "I'm not saying that you should only focus on them but you do need every resource available to you when you needed it. I can O'Connor that as long as Gotham has you around they will be to." Lifting her mug she casually took a sip. "I don't need a sidekick." "And I don't want to be one. Frankly if I have to dress up like that… Thanks but no thanks." "Then what is this?" "All I want to do is make sure you don't go out there half cocked." She set her coffee down, walked around the island and placed her hands on my chest as I touched her shoulders. "It would make me feel safer knowing that someone else has your back." With a deep breath I looked down at her. "Alright but the only thing you are feeding me is information understand." She nodded and looked at me. "Thank you." She stood up on her toes and kissed me while I wrapped my arms around her.

Pulling back I brushed her hair away from her face as she stared up at me. "We need to be careful. Batman cannot be seen with the woman who is dating Bruce Wayne." She nodded taking a step back. "I know. That is why I thought of this." She walked around me and over to her desk. I watched her pull out a drawer and remove something before closing the drawer again. "While my father was stationed near Los Angeles I was privileged enough to hear about a product that Tony Stark was looking into." "What is it?" She opened her hand and revealed a small Bluetooth ear piece. "A Bluetooth?" "No it's a two way transmitter, scrambler and a receiver actually. Stark was having issues trying to manufacture it on a smaller scale. I was going to mention it to Oliver but decided that it was something that Wayne Tech would be interested in." Picking it up I noticed that looked like your average Bluetooth. "While I was away I received this from Mr. Fox. As you can see its smaller so it can fit comfortably in an individual's ear without being detected. I figured we can communicate with it. It's set up to connect with my cell phone only." "Wires?" "Don't need them. This little guy is wireless but the problem is if this gets out to the public…." "We would have everyone listening in on conversations that shouldn't be heard." "And the idea that having someone like the Joker listening in on a conversation between the President and his chiefs…thank you no. So that is why I asked Mr. Fox to make only one and then destroy all information about it." Nodding I stared at her. "Thank you." She just shrugged. "I figure if anyone should have it… it should be someone who is trying to do better." Slipping the piece into my belt compartment I glanced at clock on her microwave. "I have to go." "I know. Be safe and I'll do my best to get you more information." Nodding I walked over to the balcony and with one more look I was gone.

Sighing I glanced at the clock and noticed that it read a little bit after 2am. "Guess it's time for bed." Walking over to my balcony I locked the doors, turned off the light and slipped into bed after making sure my gun and knife were nearby. Turning off the light I settled down for a good night sleep secure in the knowledge that Batman was protecting the city and by extension me.

The next morning I woke up to the sound of my alarm and got ready for work. Walking out of my bedroom I smiled when I noticed a new basket of muffins and Clark Kent standing in my living room. "Not that I didn't expect you but what are you doing here Clark?" He turned and watched me as I walked around picking up this and that as I complied what I needed for work. "How did you…?" "Figure out that your one step ahead of mankind." He just nodded as he slipped his hands into the pockets of his red jacket. Putting my flies aside I walked around the island and directed him toward the couch where we both sat down. "Do you remember the summer before Chloe disappeared?" He nodded. "That's when I figured it out." "How?" Sighing I reached over and placed my hand on his knee. "Clark…you're a horrible liar and well I kind of saw you use your powers to save Lana." "Why didn't you say anything?" I shrugged. "I figured if you wanted me to know you would have just told me and besides you were dealing with some big things. I didn't want you to worry about me knowing your secret on top of everything else." He nodded unconvinced. "Is there something you want to talk about?"

Wetting his lips I waited until he met my eyes. "Black Thursday was my fault." "How can it be your fault?" "I released a person that nearly destroyed the world." "Okay…confused, I thought Queen Satellite saw Lex on top of LexCorp." "It's because of me that Lex was able to do that." "Clark I don't think you should take responsibility for someone else's actions. At least of all Lex Luthor's." He got up and started to pace. "Lex wasn't in control it was a man from my home world." "Okay, well not seeing how you are at fault." "If I had killed Lex then Black Thursday wouldn't have happened and I wouldn't have released the creatures from the Phantom Zone." Taking a deep breath I stood and forced him to face me. "You are not a killer Clark." He looked so defeated. "Now are you trying to fix what you did?" "Yes." "That's all you can do. Being a part of this world means we all have to make difficult choices and with you having as much power as you have just means you have to make the most difficult ones." "I don't know if I can do it." "None of us know what we are capable of until we do it. I have faith that you will make the right choices and I know that Chloe, Lois and your mom due to. All you need is faith in yourself." He nodded as I smiled up at him. "Good, now I have a question for you." "What is it?" "Please tell me I'm not the only one that knows beside your mom because that's just lame." He laughed. "No. Chloe and my friend Pete also know the truth." "Good." "I should go and do my chores." Nodding I picked up my things. "Okay, only because I have to get to work." He moved toward the balcony that I swear I locked last night. "I swear I locked…" "You did, I had to fix it after I got in." "How about from now on you give me a call and I'll make sure it's unlocked." "Good idea." "Bye Clark." "Bye Danielle." With a rush of wind he was gone. Shaking my head I locked the door, grabbed my coffee and left for work.

*January 2007*

Stretching my arms over my head I glanced at my laptop as I tried to find the right words for my latest article on Batman and Bruce when a window popped up on my laptop screen. "JL? Who the hell is JL?" Clicking yes I was pleasantly surprised to see Chloe looking back at me. "Chloe, what's going on? Did something happen to Lois or your dad?" "No they're fine. I'm sorry about this but I need your help with…" "Watchtower, what are you… hey Oracle." Groaning aggravated at the sight of my ex and my cousins current boyfriend Oliver standing beside my other younger cousin. "What did you get her involved in Oliver?" "It wasn't him per say, it was Clark." Concerned I glanced at both of them until I spotted two other men walking around in the background. "Explain Cousin." She sighed as the other two guys smiled huddling around the screen. "Hi, I'm AC." "Step aside fish-stick." "Beat it iPod." "Guys stop it!" I watched Oliver push them out of the way while explaining to them that I was Chloe's cousin and I should be left alone on the whole flirting issue. "Sorry about them…it's been like this since I showed up looking for Clark ten minutes ago." "Explain from the beginning and please do it quickly before I find a way there in the next few minutes." "Right, well Oliver created his own band of merry men who have been targeting Lex's 33.1 projects and when one of their members didn't show up Clark went investigating." "Let me guess, he hasn't come back yet." Chloe nodded. "I need your help, Oliver has schematics of the place but I need a feed to direct them to Clark and their missing friend." "Send me the info and I'll get you taped in."

She nodded and proceeded to help me access the information. "So I guess you know that he…" "Prances around the city dressed up as a leather clad version of Robin Hood. Yep, I've known for a while now. Has Lois figured it out yet?" "No but she really doesn't like his alter-ego anyway so it's funny thinking of the ways she wants to reveal her boyfriends identity to the world." I chuckled while bypassing a few access codes among other things. "Hey Oracle are you done yet because we have to be going soon? Or has working for the Bats slowed you down." "You want to go in and trip a sensor landing your ass in a 4x6 cell be my guess Jolly Green but if you don't then you're going to give me a few more minutes to get this right." "Jolly Green…haha, that's a funny one." Smiling I watched the taller one walk past smiling while Oliver glared at him annoyed. "You're giving my guys ideas on how to make fun of me." "Don't piss me off then. And I won't give them suggestions to taunt you with." With a few more key strokes I was in. "Got it. Chloe I am sending you the feed and Oliver if you do not want me to show up on your doorstep tomorrow morning then you're going to listen very closely to my cousin because you really do not want to see me mad." With a salute he was gone. "Thanks Oracle." "Welcome Watchtower." She moved to click off. "Hey Chloe." She stopped and stared at me. "Yeah?" "Don't let him boss you around." With a smile she was gone. Shaking my head I quickly finished up my articles, found some missing pieces of information and turned in for an early night.

It felt like a minute later but when I glanced at my alarm clock I realized that it was actually three hours later. "Danielle please responds." Groaning I threw back my blankets back and grabbed my phone. "Hello?" "Ms O'Connor I am aware that it is late but I need your assistances." "Where is he?" "Thank you." Throwing on some clothes I grabbed a few things and raced to the elevator. A few minutes later I took another elevator down and found Alfred holding Bruce down as he tried to strap him to a table. Dropping my bag I raced over and helped him while Bruce struggled against us. Taking in the blood on his uniform I shook myself out of my fears. "Ms O'Connor?" Looking at him I smiled only to start removing the outfit so Alfred could get to the wound. "What happened?" "Scarecrow and the man you refer to as the Joker along with the mob. I need you to hold him down while I treat his wounds." "Alright I can do that." Taking Alfred's place I watched and learned from the older man.

Blinking I opened my eyes to find myself in my bedroom in the penthouse we moved into after the mansion burned down. Sitting up I glanced around to find Danielle asleep in a chair. "Good morning Master Bruce." Turning slightly I watched Alfred walk into the room carrying a glass. "What happened?" taking the glass I glanced at Danielle while I drank. "Last night you were seriously injured and under Dr. Krane's fear toxin. I called Ms O'Connor for assistance." "How long has she...?" "She slept there all night after we brought you home." Nodding I sat there and just watched her sleep. "When did...?" "Shortly after 2am." I nodded as a cell phone started to ring. "Breakfast will be ready soon. I suggest you ask her to stay." With that he turned and left. She groaned and pulled her phone out of her pocket. "What do you want? Oh, I'm sorry Chloe. No I didn't mean you. I've been up most of the night looking through some research I gathered. Did everything work out? Good, tell them to stop by so I can kick all of them in the ass. Alright well then bye Chlo." She hung up and stood stretching her arms over her head. "Good morning." Jumping she turned and stared at me surprised before looking annoyed. "You better be prepared to buy me a week supply of coffee after what I've done for you." Interested I petted the bed.

Rolling her eyes she sat down beside me. "What happened?" She sighed running her fingers through her hair. "I was working on a new article when my cousin skyped me." "Your cousin called you?" She nodded. "It seems that she volunteered to help Oliver locate one of his missing team members." "What did he need with you?" "Chloe asked if I could help her with finding them the best route to get them into the building and out before anyone would find them. I informed her that if Oliver gives her any crap then I would deal with him personally. After that I went to sleep only to have Alfred call me on your secure line. He asked for help." I nodded as I reached out and placed my hand on her thigh. "Thank you." "I couldn't watch you bleed while you fought an invisible enemy. I couldn't do it." She placed her hand on mine as we sat there in quiet. "When Alfred said you where fine and we moved back here all I could think about was how it felt waiting for Oliver to come in bleeding or bruised up." "I'm not Oliver." She nodded quickly running her fingers over the back of my hand. "I know that but seeing you like that… all I could of think of was the worst possible thing. I want to be with you but to do that I would have to lead the life of your girlfriend and the writer of your alter ego and I'm not sure I know how to do that anymore or that I want to." She leaned over and gently kissed me before getting up. I sat there and watched her gather her things.

Throwing my blankets back I stood and wrapped my arms around her waist while she stood there. "I'm sorry that you had to see that." She sighed and let go of her things before turning around in my arms to look up at me. "I'm not. Because the way I see it is that you told me the truth rather than letting me believe that you were just a normal billionaire like Oliver did." "What happens now?" She took a deep breath before meeting my eyes. "We move on with our lives. You as Bruce Wayne and Batman and me as the single reporter I have become." She slipped out of my arms and picked up her things before turning around to look at me. She reached up and placed her hand and alongside my cheek. "Goodbye Bruce." With that she left. I heard her speak with Alfred before the door closed. "Master Bruce?" "I'm not hungry Alfred." With a sigh he walked away.

Sniffling I stepped out of the cab and went upstairs to my apartment trying to not think about Bruce or my decision. Stepping out of the elevator I opened my door and was surprised to see Clark, Oliver and his crew standing in my apartment. "How did you get into my apartment?" All of them turned to look at me. I guess I didn't realize that I was crying because once I was inside I found myself in Clark's arms while he asked me what was wrong. "Why did he have to go and get hurt Clark?" He didn't say anything as I cried into his firm chest clinging to his shirt and jacket. "Why don't you sit down?" Nodding I moved to step back but Clark surprised me by picking me up and walking me over to the couch. He sat down and I laid my head against his chest. "Showoff." Blinking I glanced around noticing the two guys from my talk with Chloe. "Why is my apartment filled with men?" Oliver stared at me as a sudden wind rustled my things. Looking up I saw a younger man smiling at me while he ate one of Mrs. Kent's muffins. "Hello Mademoiselle." Raising an eyebrow I felt him take my hand and kiss my knuckles. "Hi…who are you?" His happy smile disappeared. "You hurt me." Clark shook his head while I looked at him confused. "Danielle O'Connor meets Bart Allen also known as Impulse." Nodding I looked at Bart. "Hi Bart, how are you?"

The smile reappeared as the other two guys came over. One was tall with blond hair while the other was short with dark hair. Blinking I stared at the shorter one for a moment before I realized how I knew him. "Oh my god you're Victor Stone." He blushed while the other man looked annoyed. "Yeah, how'd you…?" Smiling I reached out and shook his hand. "My father may be an air force general but he does now a thing or two about football." The other guy pulled his hands out of his pockets and held it out to me. "I'm AC." "He's also known as Arthur Curry or Aquaman." Shaking my head I took his hand and shook while I glanced toward the voice. Oliver was leaning against the island in my kitchen unimpressed. Pulling my hand back from AC's grasp I stared at him. "So this is your team of superheroes that my cousin helped because you were five seconds away from killing yourselves." He shrugged.

He just looked at me while I felt Clark's hand settle on my waist while watching Bart eat everything in my apartment. "She offered to help because of Boy Scout there." I glanced at Clark. "Do I want to know?" "Oliver has been spying on Lex." "Only because Lex have been kidnapping people for his little project." They stared at each other upset. "You sent Bart in there unprepared." "I would have gotten out." Shaking my head I glanced at the five of them. "Whatever. Did you get the Intel you needed?" Oliver smiled while he pulled a thumb drive out of his pocket before tossing it at me. Catching it I just stared it for a moment. "What do you want me to do with this?" "I would like you to take a look at it or ask the "Bats" to." Standing up from Clark's lap I walked over to him and glared. "Why don't you ask him yourself?" He watched me walk toward my fridge. "What happened sweetheart?"

Taking a deep breath I glanced at him annoyed. "What do you think happen between us Queen?" He shrugged with a smirk. "Did you catch him in bed with someone?" Turning around I stared at my ex. "No see that only happened when I was dating you. Instead I found him bleeding while fighting the effects of a fear toxin. Unlike you who feels the need to pick on Lex he actually fights to protect people." He stood and walked over to me as I fought against my tears. "I'm sorry you had to go through that again darling." Sniffling I nodded as I turned around and pulled a couple of things out of my fridge only feel the brush of a wind. Looking up I saw Bart standing beside me. Shaking my head I went about making lunch for my superhero league.

The rest of the afternoon and into late evening I found myself enjoying my time with the boys. Getting to know Victor, AC and Bart was rather interesting but even I needed a minute to myself. Opening the balcony doors I slipped outside to relax but I wasn't alone. "Some party you have going on." Closing my eyes I turned and looked at Batman while he stood in the shadows. "What are you doing here Bruce?" "I came to make sure you were alright." "I'm fine but you better get to work." I turned to go back inside but he caught my arm. "I never wanted to hurt you." "The other day I saw you talking to Rachel." He didn't say anything. "All you had to do was tell me that you wanted her. That you had feelings for her and I would have let it go but you didn't." Turning I glanced at him and very slowly walked over only to run my fingers over his lips. "The last time I kissed you was in my apartment." "Danielle?" Looking up at him I licked my lips only rise up on my toes to kiss him. I felt his arms wrap around me while his cape brushed against my legs. "Danielle? My beautiful mademoiselle, where are you?" Pulling away from Bruce I stepped back and glanced at the doors. "I'm coming!" I turned back to find myself alone. With a deep breath I opened the balcony door and stepped back into my apartment