I was on an IV system when I awoke the second time. I could hear someone moving behind me. "She's awoken," came the flat voice. "Her blood seems to have returned to near human levels."

"What?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.

"When you went under the second time," Batman explained, coming into my line of sight, "We attached that IV to you. Your adrenaline levels were off the charts, though falling. My hypothesis is that it is some sort of innate defense from the exobyte you absorbed. If you think you're in a hostile situation, your body's adrenaline level kicks up beyond normal human limits, and continues even if you fall unconscious. A natural defense, probably why the sedative didn't work as well as Sivana thought it would have."

It made sense, I supposed. As much as anything had in the past seventy two hours. "How inhuman am I?" I asked. That came out wrong. Again. I didn't feel as groggy as I'd had when I'd woken up before, but I wasn't acting like it.

"Not as inhuman as you might think," Batman responded.

He said it. Honest about that. He meant me, not himself.

"Approximately ninety two percent human DNA, with about five percent matching feline – tiger, naturally. Thanagarian?" he mused, to himself.

I was over my head again.

"Let me get the IV out," said a kindly female voice from behind me. I craned my neck, and met Supergirl's eyes. "I've brought up something simple and American: burger and fries."

She helped me sit up while Batman nodded at me. "I'm going to get some research done," He told her, giving me a single nod, and departing behind me.

"Feeling better?" she asked. Her tone was light and cheerful. She almost sounded like a valley girl, now that she was feeling healthy.

I nodded, tearing into the burger. It was good, maybe not the best burger I'd ever had, but extremely good, or maybe I was just starving. For the second time this week, I didn't know how long I'd been out. This was becoming an uncomfortable habit. At least this time it was around people who wanted to be allies, not enemies.

"So," I said once the burger was finished, "Now what?

"That's up to you," she paused, looking at me directly in the eyes. It made me uncomfortable, her eyes were such a deep piercing blue. They were not quite human, which goes to show, I guess. "We could take you home – by shuttle, I mean. If you'd rather learn more about your powers, though, we'd like to help you."

I sighed. I guess I did. If I blacked out like I did earlier, say when I was driving... I don't have to finish that thought. "Yeah, I'm in. I still don't think I'm any good at a fight, but I don't dare any more surprises."

"Voluntarily or not, Ms. Rachel, I think you've crossed the line where surprises are to be expected. So to speak, anyway."

I gave a sad, nervous giggle."That's not very appealing. I didn't ask for this," I told her. I buried my head in my hands, thinking of Calor. "None of us did."

She smiled, and there was understanding and sorrow in it. I frowned. "You too?" I asked her.

She nodded to me, relating to me how she was kidnapped by the villain Darkside, how it took her cousin, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Big Barda (who I'd never heard of) to rescue her. Then he went for round two in the home of... well. She wouldn't tell me where.

"I had wanted to live life as an ordinary human, forsake my abilities, my powers. How could I when I saw what needed to be done, what could be done," She paused. "That was kind of lame, wasn't it?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No, it made perfect sense. I still don't know about combat. If these abilities I've found myself with can help, however, and I can learn to control them. Dr. Scrachansniff, psychatrist to the stars; and Rachel, medic to the Justice League."

"It's got a ring to it!" Supergirl said, laughing. She sobered after a moment or two. "There's one other thing. It's an offer I really think you should take up..."


"It was certainly more fun then anything else I had done. Granted, that's not saying much. I didn't watch anything on the way down. At least I didn't get sick again."

Sheri laughed. At me, probably. I was used to it. "You said you had something for me?" I asked her.

"Actually, yes," she told me.

I grimaced, sure it was some kind of costume. Sheri was enjoying this whole superhero thing much more than I was. I wasn't quite sure if she was into the entire idea, or if she was just enjoying it happening to someone else.

She pulled out a cloth loop from her bag. I took it, and examined it. "A belt?" I asked.

She nodded. "It's a bit of trickery I stumbled across when researching werewolf movies. The tail comes out under the belt and above the pants; with the right coloring, you can only tell they're two separate pieces of fabric if you look closely." Sheri gave me a look. "It'd have to be pretty close. I don't know that you want anyone looking at you that closely." She snickered.

"That can't be the only thing in that bag," I told her.

"Well, I did bring a handful of them," she told me, somewhat defensive.

I gave her a look. I didn't really have eyebrows any more, but I would have raised them if I could. I waited without saying anything.

Sheri took a deep breath and plunged her hand into her bag; pulling out a large loose fitting tunic. It really looked like something Ryu, from Street Fighter, would wear, albeit jet black. A "Gi", I think it was called. "It was either this or a sweater," she told me. "And I just can't see you wearing one of those form fitting sweaters with the heart neckline."

All right. That was actually pretty funny. I smiled and gave her a thumbs up. She pulled out matching pants. Then a second pair, this one was a dull orange and mote then a bit smaller. She held up her hand. "I'm not stupid, and I'm not a sidekick," she told me. "But unless you got a boyfriend at some point when I wasn't looking, I know what being your best friend means. Also, from what you'd told me, your powers are neither really offensive or defensive."

I blinked at her. "What?"

"Martial arts classes, for both of us. You've all ready been attacked once. Whether or not you're planning to go for round two, round two may come for you. There's a Tae Kwan Do shop... Dojo! I figure we should enroll."

I laughed. I couldn't help it. That two so disparate people could come to such a unifying conclusion was beyond funny to me. The confused expression on her face just made me laugh harder.

"What's so damned funny?" she asked me, clearly cross.

"Sup..." I struggled with my breath. "Supergirl said the same thing." I swallowed my laughter, choking a bit. "She said Princess Diana had offered to teach a martial arts class to any new heroine who would like it."

"Who?" Sheri asked. Her eyes grew to the size of saucers. "Wonder Woman?" she said awestruck. "With the Brainiac invasion and everything?"

I nodded. "How else are they going to have the reinforcements when everything goes to hell?" I asked. I had thought about the offer during the shuttle ride, and had come to that as a possible conclusion.

"How cynical is that?" Sheri asked me, aghast. Then she looked harder. "Oh."

I was clearly joking. Just because something had a cynical answer that made sense doesn't make it any less valid. "Supergirl said Batman thinks that it is a waste of time, that people who want training will find it." I grinned at Sheri. "I don't know. I think self defense is a pretty good idea. The people who aren't serious will fall off quick. Learning a fighting technique teaches discipline, and gives even people with potentially fatal a powers a way of incapacitating villains."

"The First Law," Sheri said, nodding.

"Commandment, Law, first rule of the Justice League. Though shalt not kill."

"You said heroines," She said suddenly. "Does one have to have touched by Vorlons to participate?"

Interestingly, I had expected a different question. The answer to that one had been yes. "I don't know," I told her. "I'll ask."


I had thought the use of heroines had been an idiosyncrasy, defaulting to the feminine form of a gendered word. (Don't blame me. English is a sexist language like that.) It was about 90% accurate, though. I think of the group of about twenty of us, there were two men. I heard the explanation later that most men assumed they knew how to fight, women assumed that they didn't.

Or maybe they just didn't want to be taught by a woman. It's possible.

I think Sheri had impressed our sensei with outright gumption in asking. She was standing beside me, both in our new Gis, looking like a matched set. Most of the others were wearing similar loose fitting clothing.

"The first think I'm going to do is teach you how to fall. I've spent a lot of my time being thrown into things. And throwing people into things." There was a nervous chuckle.

How can I put this. Wonder Woman was built. I don't mean she looked masculine, because she didn't. Her whole body radiated power and confidence. She had arms and legs that any other woman would kill for. And perhaps kill with.

That was a scary thought. I'd joked about the first law of the Justice League being Thou Shalt Not Kill, Wonder Woman did not subscribe to this. Whether this made her less idealistic than Batman (yeah. I know.), or more practical I wasn't sure. Maybe the time would come I would not able to take the proverbial third option...

My eyes widened as I felt a hand dig into my side.

"Your turn," Sheri hissed at me, pushing me forward.

Wait. What?

I felt Wonder Woman's movements before she actually moved, and I responded on an instinctual level that I did not consciously control. I felt my right foot hook around around her leg, and give it a pull.

I don't think my face showed this much horror when it had a Magnum stuck in front of it.

It was a cheap shot on Wonder Woman. Probably embarrassed her in front of a class that looked up at her.

I don't know how the hell I did it. It was a muscle memory, I swear it.

I swallowed, and reached down to help her up. She looked into my face, and accepted the hand up. "That's an important lesson too. Always be prepared." Her face was neutral, a mask. Never assume you know what's about to happen."

Again, I got a flash before it happened. This time, I forced myself to stay still, at least until I was in the air. I instinctively twisted, landing on my hands and feet on the matted floor.

"You're a bad example," Wonder Woman said, a smile cracking through the mask. "No relation to the Cheetah, are you?" Apparently, that question was rhetorical. She looked out to the group. "Has anyone else had instinctual feelings?" she asked.

There were a few hands in the air, which relieved me somewhat. Sheri still poked fun at me as I returned to the line.

The rest of the class went about as I expected. This was not a style based on throws and submissions (though as I understood it, there would be some, and some training with martial weapons), but on strikes: punches and kicks. How to get maximum power into our blows, and then to control that power. I don't think the style had a name, at least, not one I recognized. It struck me as possible that this was some Amazon style.

By the time we were done, about three hours, I was exhausted. Sweat matted my fur, though I didn't stink. Yet. The next meeting was to be held just over a week from now. Wonder Woman was going to rotate the dates so people who had real world responsibilities would be able to attend.

We returned as we arrived, by shuttle, the shuttleport being just outside Chicago; and we drove home. Sheri must have been as exhausted as I was, because we barely spoke a word on the way home.

The time would come when I would be grateful for these lessons. I suppose I had guessed that, but this would be sooner than I would have liked it.