The Powers that Be

Disclaimer: I do not own the Justice League or any of the DC Characters. No profit is gained by this fiction.

AN: I have to admit, I don't have all the details of all the characters committed to memory, and I don't have a beta. If I get something wrong, forgive me.

Chapter 10: Change or Progress?

Clark Kent stepped off the teleporter pad. Green Lantern's smiling face greeted him and he extended his hand in welcome.

"Good to see you again… Clark," he said warmly, although he didn't sound comfortable using that name. Before the ACCORD incident, he, Flash and Shayera didn't know Superman's secret identity.

"Good to see you too," Clark replied taking his hand. He was very conscious of the other man's grip. He had forgotten how strong John Stewart was… or was he just that weak now?

"You know the way," Green Lantern said sweeping his arm towards the door and patting Clark on the shoulder.

The two men made their way down the corridor. It was like a bittersweet homecoming for Clark. The Watchtower was as familiar as ever, but the feel of it was off. It was like returning to Smallville High School many years after graduation; just a fondly remembered episode of his past. Yet it had only been a couple weeks since he left.

Not much had changed. The walls were the same. The equipment and rooms were the same. Clark paused briefly at a large window to enjoy the vista of his adopted home planet far below. Turning to continue on towards the conference room, a red streak followed by a wave of wind greeted him.

"IsHeHereAlready… oh!"

Clark suppressed a smile as Wally caught himself and shook his hand. The three men exchanged a little small talk as they meandered down the corridor. When they reached the conference room, Clark hesitantly took his old seat.

"Well," he announced, retrieving his notebook. "I'm here to interview Superman."

The three men chuckled. It sounded forced.

"Manhunter and Hawkgirl are on their way," GL informed him. "Wonder Woman is on a mission, but she shouldn't be long. She made me promise to keep you here until she got back."

Clark smiled. Diana, his dear friend… He had missed her most of all.

"And Batman?"

Lantern shook his head.

"Can't to make it."

Clark understood. Knowing Batman's daytime activities, he had already written off any chance of seeing him, although he had hoped. He didn't like the way their last meeting had ended at Wayne Manor. He wanted to show Bruce that he was okay, physically and mentally. He felt the need to redeem himself in Bruce's eyes, to regain his old friend's respect.

The three men sat and talked, tensely at first. Flash didn't know what to say, so he stayed uncharacteristically quiet. To him, it felt like visiting a relative in the hospital. How could he make small talk with somebody in that condition? When Clark took off his glasses, sure, he looked like Superman (in a gray suit and tie), but there was something missing. It seemed that there was a void of confidence in the bigger man's voice. Flash was afraid to say something wrong, to put his foot in his mouth like he does so often despite his best intentions.

Lantern was easier with it. More experienced than Flash, he understood that Clark was just as much the same man he ever was. John Stewart had friends in the Marine Corps that had been wounded and killed. He had buddies that had lost limbs or hearing or eyesight. That was how he approached Clark. He's every bit a person as he was before, just a little different now.

As the conversations grew warmer, more open, everybody was able to relax a little. Laughter happened a little quicker. The two active Leaguers told a few stories about adventures since Clark left. Clark listened with appreciation and a little jealousy, but not much. He was very aware of GL quickly changing the subject when Flash had said a little more than he should – security reasons. Flash wasn't comfortable treating him that way, it felt a little like betrayal. But there are rules for a reason, or so he had been told.

Clark tried to take it in stride, but the twinge of trust lost hovered over him. He understood from the debriefing weeks ago that the League had to plan for the morbid possibility that Superman may never return, and in doing so, Clark wouldn't be exposed to many of the inner workings for his own safety. He understood it, but it was still a hard pill to swallow when actually faced with the reality of it.

J'onn and Shayera joined them before too long and the five spent the better part of an hour reminiscing and sharing stories. Flash got them all snacks and drinks. Clark gently offered J'onn a few pointers on being more Superman-like. When the Martian told him that he planned on making some 'changes' to Superman, including giving him a crew cut, it took everybody a couple seconds to realize that he had actually made a joke.

Eventually, the conversation evolved to the brass tacks of the day; the robbery. Clark scribbled his notes as the facts were presented. The reporter in him tried to remain objective about the situation and even a little critical over some points. True to form, the mild-mannered reporter got all the information he needed and put away his note pad, but kept the conversation more business like.

"Has any progress been made identifying who built that device?"

Everybody knew about which device he was speaking. More so, everybody knew that his real line of questioning would lead towards the big one; can his powers be restored?

As plainly as ever, J'onn outlined the situation.

The mercenary group was hired by an unknown person that the League had code-named "Mastermind" until properly identified. All evidence pointed to the mercenary group believing that the main goal of the operation was the destruction of the Federal Reserve Building outside Metropolis. The weapon that had caused so much havoc in their lives was thought of as a contingency plan. Everybody in the group knew of its existence and its secret whereabouts within the floor of one of the transport trucks. They were to use it on any member of the Justice League, and more specifically on Superman, should the opportunity arise.

When it became common knowledge among the captured members of the group that one of their own was killed firing the weapon, whatever loyalty they felt for Mastermind was lost. The information flowed a little more freely after that, but not enough to determine Mastermind's true identity. It also wasn't clear if the Fed building was the real target or if things were just set up to make it look that way.

As far as a counter device, progress had been made, in a clinical sense. They now had a good understanding of Superman and Batman's reactions to the weapon and they were able to recreate devices based on that knowledge.

The concentrated red sun radiation exposure was undoubtedly the cause of Superman's woe. His Kryptonian DNA was still intact and would eventually regain the ability to process energy from the yellow sun. In short, Clark would get his powers back – that was the good news. The bad news was that it would take 27 years.

When the Kryptonite LASER struck Superman in that trailer, it polarized his body and for a brief time anything that came in contact with it. That included Batman's body. Once similarly polarized, the red sun radiation that 'bounced' around the inside of the trailer exposed Batman to just enough to alter his physiology. Had it been a direct hit, he would have been incinerated on the spot. As it was, his cells were exposed to just enough radiation 'leakage' to alter their states. It was simply a freak accident. Like Superman, Batman's body would return to normal…in about 22 years.

The devices that had been developed so far were built as direct opposites of the original device. They had developed a Kryptonite LASER on an inverse wavelength and another device that would generate concentrated yellow sun radiation. In theory, if they fired the devices at Clark, with Batman in contact with him, they would be restored to normal. The problem was that Clark's de-powered body can't handle the exposure. He would die and Bruce couldn't be restored without him.

The news was good overall, albeit a little disappointing at the end. But the significant progress and the continuing effort was encouraging. The despair that had tainted his spirit off and on for the past few weeks was lessened slightly. His optimism was still in tact and he silently resolved, as he sat with his former colleagues, that he would look at this time as a long-term vacation. He'd be back.

When Diana walked through the door, she paused briefly, all conversation stopped and Clark slowly rose to his feet. Taking a second, her anxious face bloomed into an excited smile. She flew across the room, over the table and threw her arms around his neck, squealing with delight, almost knocking him over in her enthusiasm.

"I was hoping you'd still be here!"

She tightened her embrace as much as she dared. He squeezed her in return, although a little less affectionately, being somewhat uncomfortable with the others looking on, but still allowing himself the joy of the moment.

She kissed him on the cheek and stepped back, holding his hands.

"I've missed you, Kal," she confessed through her smile.

"I've missed you, too."

Looking around, Wonder Woman's face changed to show confusion.

"Where's Batman?"

"Can't make it," Lantern told her.

She didn't even try to hide her look of disappointment. She was keenly aware of the good and bad dimensions of the relationship between the two men. She knew of the rivalries and the respect. She was certain that Bruce… that Batman would be there, though. He would make the visit purely business, of course, when in reality, he would be checking on his friend. The fact that he wasn't there was fairly surprising to her.

The six retook their traditional seats around the table and Diana pumped Clark for information about his life. He revisited many of the same stories he had already told the others. Flash took the opportunity to retrieve more sustenance from the pantry.

"… and so, when Green Lantern set up the appointment, I teleported up here."

"Well the fates have aligned," Diana said smiling, "and brought you back to us."

She took his hand again as Flash zoomed around the table, depositing iced mochas for everyone.

"I only wish Batman were here…" Diana looked at GL. She was enjoying Clark's company again, as was everybody. She knew that Bruce, despite his cool demeanor, respected Clark as a man and was quite fond of him. She wasn't expecting anything gushy or affectionate, but something more Batman-like… he would poke his head in and ask for a report or something and then be on his way… but he would have seen his old friend. Even Batman has friends.

"Where is he?" she asked nobody in particular. "Couldn't he take an hour out of his day to…"

As if on cue, the doors slid open to reveal the silhouette of the Dark Knight.

"How DARE you?!"

Lex Luthor slammed a solid fist down on his desk as his face reddened with anger. He had finally pieced together the answer to the mystery he had been working on – ironically, the same mystery the Justice League was investigating. The League called the answer "Mastermind". Until now, Lex had referred to that person as "Mr. X". Now Lex had a name.

"Do you know," Luthor continued, "how long I worked and slaved on this project? Do you have any idea how much money your little scam wasted?!"

"You came to me…"

"NO!" Luthor screamed. "I did NOT come to you! I found you. I saved you. And when I asked you to simply wait for the prime moment I had planned on for months, you go off half-cocked and set me and my company back thousands of man-hours in planning and production and millions in capital and material… not to mention the publicity nightmare we're still cleaning up."

"Don't grow too arrogant with your actions Lex Luthor," the calm voice warned. "You did no saving when you brought me here."

Lex's disposition suddenly shifted from antagonizing to defensive. He had tried taking on the position of authority, only to have his bluff be called. But Lex Luthor is a master at deception. There was no trace of backing down in his voice or demeanor.

It was a rare thing for Lex Luthor to come face-to-face with a situation so big even he couldn't control it. There were only a handful of people in the world that he couldn't manipulate, buy or neutralize. Now he was forced to acknowledge that he may be facing an 'ally' that would not take orders from him and a situation that he was not the master of. The feeling was not something he welcomed.

"As I was saying," Lex's impassive co-conspirator continued, "You came to me with your plans, which were impressive despite the obvious flaws."

"Flaws…" Lex scoffed.

"All I did was broaden the scope."

"What you did was embarrass me and put the Justice League on my back!"

"While that may be true, what you fail to recognize is that Superman has been neutralized and the Justice League is undoubtedly in the throes of turmoil."

"What are you talking about?" Lex demanded. "That damn alien was in the news just the other day, stopping some…"

"What you saw was an alien, but it was not Superman."

Sudden realization screamed through Luthor's brain and made his heart thump in his chest. He sat back in his expensive chair and turned to look out his office window at the setting sun. His remarkable brain processed that revelation as his mood downshifted from fear and anger, through surprise and into discovery.

"The Martian…" he said understanding.

"Yes."

Lex's eyes darted back and forth while he calculated the possibilities. If this new information proved to be true, then everything has changed.

"We'll need to confirm that," he said quietly.

Clark rose to his feet as Batman approached. As he drew closer, he extended his hand. The Dark Knight paused briefly, deliberately for effect, then took it.

"It's good to see you, Batman."

Nod.

"Clark was assigned to cover the robbery that Superman foiled yesterday," Lantern reported simply for show. "We were just finishing up."

"Good," Batman said coldly taking his seat. "Because there are some items to discuss…"

"Then I should probably be going…" Clark offered selflessly, though it felt like a stab in the chest as he picked up his jacket, pencil & notepad and started to leave.

He walked slowly around the table towards the door. With every step he took, his heart sank a little more. He was hoping against hope that somebody would speak up for him, would tell him that he was still welcome and should stay to listen. He got half way towards the exit when he was shocked by the one who finally did.

"Actually, Clark," Batman stopped him, "I think you should stay for this."

A wash of relief fell over the reporter as he turned around and retook his seat. He made a conscious decision to keep his mouth shut for the duration of whatever they had to discuss unless he was specifically asked for his input. As much as it bothered him to acknowledge, this was a League meeting and unless told otherwise, he would approach it as if he were a guest.

"This is all off the record," Batman said with a nod towards Clark's notepad.

"Of course," Clark said, understanding and sliding the tablet into his shirt pocket.

Taking a second to make sure he had everybody's attention, Batman began his report.

"Several thousand gallons of chemicals have been reported stolen at various plants across North America, Europe and Asia over the past 24 hours."

"What kind of Chemicals?" Hawkgirl asked.

"Among others, the kind Scarecrow uses."

Batman paused to let the magnitude of that news sink in.

"Scarecrow, however," he continued, "is still locked away. I have information confirming that he hasn't had any visitors or contact with people outside Arkham for over 4 weeks."

"Do we have any clues who did it?" Flash asked.

"Nothing positive, but the methods used indicate that the thefts are all related."

"Whoever it is," Green Lantern surmised, "seems to work on an international scale. It wouldn't be easy to coordinate an operation like that across the globe without some major resources."

"That, and they'd have to know the formula to Scarecrow's poisons," Hawkgirl added as she processed the info.

Batman turned to Clark.

"The Daily Planet" he started, "will no doubt investigate the thefts since the largest chemical plant in Metropolis was one of the ones hit. See if you can't get assigned to the story and let us know of anything unusual… things that may not be… appropriate to print."

Clark nodded in understanding.

"Next item," Batman said looking at Flash. "Cunningham Technologies is in your city."

"Yeah, I know a guy who used to work there."

"One of the suspects apprehended with the ACCORD incident had a stolen security badge for Cunningham in his apartment. Along with that, there are other indications that "Mastermind" may have planned to use that group to steal some prototypes of their new equipment."

Batman flipped open the cover to the keyboard at his seat and typed a few commands. The center of the round table sank to the floor and a holographic projection of some sophisticated equipment materialized in its place.

"They are developing portable EMP devices designed for use by police departments in high-speed car chases."

"I've heard about those," Hawkgirl said leaning forward. "The devices are mounted on the front of the squad cars and can disable the electronics of any car they are pursuing. Should save a lot of lives and property damage…"

"And if amplified, could be used from the ground to disable aircraft flying overhead," Batman finished for her.

Flash used the ensuing pause to think about what a dangerous criminal Batman could have been.

The rest of Batman's list was relatively mundane. There were reports on assignments. Green Lantern requested some time off for personal reasons. It would be hurricane season again soon and evacuations would be required no doubt. Etc, etc, etc.

Clark sat and listened as respectfully as he could, but he couldn't get around the fact that there was really nothing he could do about any of it any more. As Batman and the others discussed different topics, he realized that he had nothing to say. He started to feel the frustration and helplessness that goes along with such situations. He started to believe that he had no business associating with these incredible people any more. He felt like it was a waste of his time and theirs to still be sitting there.

He remained inexpressive, but the frustration inside was building into rage. He wanted to throw the chairs around the room and rip open the steel doors with his bare hands. Such was the feeling of helplessness – something he had never endured at length before.

Why did Batman want me to stay for this? What am I now, his errand boy? "Clark, go cover that story…" What am I doing here? I feel so bloody useless!

You shouldn't. J'onn interrupted Clark's thoughts. It had been a while since the two friends had communicated telepathically and it took Clark a second to realize the voice in his head was not his own. He forced himself to calm down.

Sorry, J'onn. Was I thinking that loudly?

Yes.

Clark glanced an apologetic look at the huge green hero sitting on the other side of Batman.

Batman wanted you to stay because he believes you are still a member of the Justice League. And although there are still security concerns, he's not going to shut you out completely.

Sitting back, relaxing, Clark's mood completely reversed. The rage disappeared like wisps of smoke in the wind. And the hole inside that he had been feeling since he awoke from the coma, the hole that he had learned to accept and live with, suddenly it didn't feel so big.

Until this very moment, all hope and optimism Clark had about regaining his powers were the workings within his own head. He had been talking himself away from depression and despair, and doing an admirable job, but it had all been by himself. Even the news about the development of counter devices wasn't that optimistic except from his point of view. This revelation, however, was something else.

He needed this. He needed this confirmation from another person to truly believe that he really would be back soon. And although it took J'onn to make him understand it, the fact that Batman was the source of the confirmation was the best possible situation. Of all his teammates, for Batman to shine a ray of hope into a situation… that was something special.

For Clark, the room felt more comfortable. He hadn't grown, but he felt a little taller. He looked at his friend and colleague in the black cape with that much more respect and appreciation.

And he felt, once again, like he truly belonged here.

Lois Lane was driving her way to work the day after Clark's article made page 8. The story was complete in all technical terms, but Lois needed more. While she couldn't put her finger on it, there was still something not right. There were still unanswered questions in her mind about Superman and his elusiveness over the past few weeks. That and she'd never been invited up to the Watchtower!

She resolved to corner her colleague and pump him for some inside info on anything Justice League that he may have observed in orbit. She didn't know if she should take the direct approach and grill it out of him or the sultry approach and coax it out of him. While she weighed her options, her radio announced breaking news.

"…runaway freight train headed towards Metropolis…"

Turning up the volume to drown out all the ambient noise, Lois absorbed the details. All communications with the engineers had been lost 15 minutes ago. Soon after, the train had started speeding up – far too fast for its size, especially since it was heading into the Metropolis freight yards.

According to the report, the Justice League had been called. Flash was on his way in and he was going to board the train and try to stop it from the inside. If that failed, then Superman was waiting at the edge of the city and he would stop it by force. Lois had to turn her car around and head out towards the city limits in order to catch the action, and hopefully pin down her favorite man in blue tights for a few comments. She only had a few precious moments to fight her way through traffic to get to the scene.

"Catching it was easy," Flash said over the noise from inside the lead engine over the com link. "But the controls aren't responding. The engineers are out cold – I can't revive them."

"Sever the connections between the engines and the rest of the train," Batman suggested from the Watchtower.

"Right."

Flash zipped out along the catwalk of the yellow and black diesel engines and made his way to the back of the last one. Hanging on tight to the cold steel railings with one hand and leaning dangerously out into mid air, he had to kick at the linkages below to try to separate the 5 engines from the mile and a half long line of freight cars. It took a few seconds, but he was able to break the ables at their junction.

"I've disconnected the train from the engines!" he shouted over the noise.

"Good," Batman's voice sounded in his ear. "That should automatically trigger all the cars in the train to break."

It seemed to Flash that "Superman's" help might not be needed after all. That optimism sank into a ball of urgency within his chest after a couple seconds when he realized that the train was not slowing.

"Uh, Bats," he called, trying to sound urgent but not panicky, "we're not slowing down!"

"Uncouple the engines from the rest of the train," Batman ordered. "It will be easier for J'onn to stop 5 engines if they don't have 200,000 tons of mass behind them."

"Got it!"

Flash strained against the linkage disconnect. At first, nothing moved, it seemed the tension was too great. With continued effort, he was able to open the clasps, only to find that they were welded together underneath – where nobody would notice. A terrible thought ran through his head. He jumped off the speeding train and, streaking along side, he checked every single linkage. They were all covertly welded together. No controls, no breaks, no way to uncouple the cars… Somebody had sabotaged the train.

"We've got a big problem!"

He filled the rest of his comrades in on the situation. It was too late to derail it, since it was already flying through residential areas at over 50 miles per hour and accelerating. There was evidently no way to stop the train with normal means – they'd have to find a way to do it by taking drastic measures. Flash was ordered to get the engineers off the train and to the hospital, which he was able to do at ridiculous speed.

"J'onn, can you stop that thing before it hits the Metropolis freight yards?" Batman asked although he already knew the answer. As strong as he is, the Martian Manhunter doesn't have the power to resist that much momentum.

"No."

"Wonder Woman, can you get there in time to help J'onn?"

"I'm in Venezuela," her voice broke in electronically. "I'm in the middle of something here!"

There were only seconds to decide. Sitting in the Monitor Womb, Batman looked out the enormous window at the Earth, his brain screamming through the consequences of not stopping the impending wreckage. Something had to be done.

Almost instantly, he knew what he had to do. Calling upon his incredible new power of speed, he used his pirated pass code to break into Superman's personal quarters, stole what he needed and raced to the teleporter. Punching in coordinates near the Metropolis freight yards, he beamed himself to the surface. Invisibly, he raced his way to stand next to his teammate.

"This does not look good," J'onn spoke using Superman's voice with more calm than could be imagined in such a situation.

Mentally, Batman quickly outlined his plot.

'I want you wait for the train and brace yourself as if you're going to stop it,' he thought to his teammate, 'then phase through it and make your way to the engineering spaces.'

'What are you going to do?'

'I'm not going to do anything,' Batman though with a somewhat bemused tone, 'Superman is going to stop that train.'

There was no time to question his meaning. "Superman" took a deep breath and fought to control his alien version of nervousness.

'One more thing,' Batman added, 'stoop a little.'

J'onn didn't know that Batman was looking right at him, but he heard the mental chuckle made at his expense when he couldn't hide his expression of confusion.

The ground started to rumble under their feet and the headlights of the train grew brighter as the behemoth lumbered down the tracks right at them. The sound grew louder and the front of the engine was like a solid wall of yellow and black painted steel closing in on them at break-neck speed.

'Superman' struck a ready stance, preparing himself for the collision. He lowered his head and brought his hands up, ready to catch the streaking doom flying at him. The news helicopters circled overhead, adding to the commotion, and a thousand eyes and cameras were peeking out from behind concealed corners to catch the calamity, but J'onn concentrated on maintaining his appearance and not phasing until the last possible second. He had no idea how Batman was going to stage it to look like Superman saved the day again.

As the engine loomed over him and the rush of wind billowed his red cape off his back, J'onn changed his density and phased through the steel. There was a crashing noise behind him and almost immediately and the train started gently slowing down. He floated his way to the engineering spaces and waited for further instructions as the sound of shrieking metal on metal and the thunder of buckling railroad ties echoed around him. The dust and debris flew outside the windows.

"J'onn!" Batman's straining voice sounded over the com link, "Phase into the engine compartments and crush the fuel lines! That should shut them down!"

Complying, Martian Manhunter phased through the five engines, disabling them one by one. By the time he shut the last one down, the train was moving at a more reasonable speed. Within a minute, walking pace, followed shortly by a complete stop altogether.

'No get out here "Superman"'

Phasing back out the front of the train, J'onn was greeted by dust, smoke and debris everywhere. Despite the chaos and noise of the helicopters overhead, and the growing crowd of admirers that were seemingly emerging from nowhere now that the danger had passed, it almost seemed quiet within the clouds of ruin and it was impossible for him to see more than a few inches. Within seconds, Flash was on sight, speeding in tight circles to clear the air. J'onn/Superman stood in front of the indentations made by two hands into the thick metal frame of the lead locomotive. It had taken almost a mile and a half, but the train had been stopped without a single car jumping the tracks.

The crowd started cheering.

Batman was nowhere in sight.

AN: As always, thank you, thank you, thank you to those that have reviewed! For an author, it's pretty darn cool to find out that people may actually be enjoying all the work and effort - even if it's a quick note.

To Anon:
SSSSHHHH!