A/N: Happy July All! Sorry for disappearing again. I wasn't really sure what direction I wanted this story to tread and I had a bit of a writer's block. But I think I have it all figured out now :)!

Thanks for all the reviews and reads, I really appreciate it!

Enjoy~

"Nurse…" Lex called out feebly from his hospital bed. His lips were bruised and cut open, as was the rest of his face. The resistance brat had done a number on him and the doctors told him he was lucky to be alive. If only he could clench his fist… he would love to break some things to let out his frustration.

They had come just in time to save Jason before the truth serum even took its complete hold over him. The serum was experimental, but it was supposed to make a person remain awake while losing their controlled consciousness so that they act and think according to their hearts desires. His intentions were not focused on getting Jason to tell him the deep down secrets of the resistance. He could care less about a puny army. Instead, he simply used him as an experimental patient, the perfect scapegoat, no one would think twice about Jason dying in an incident. He only had one chance once he got the serum to work, so he needed to make sure it was working correctly. But all that flew out the window the moment the meddlesome resistance members came along and took his lab rat and scientist away.

He grunted at the thought of the scientist being kidnapped. He hoped the insolent man kept his mouth shut about the experiment and that hopefully the resistance members had killed him off before he could say anything.

"Nurse!" He tried to yell once again, but his attempt was proven a failure as he coughed involuntarily at the sharp pain he felt in his ribs. He silently cursed in between ragged breaths, the dark haired young man had gone completely berserk on him and cracked the majority of his ribs, broke his leg and bashed his face in to the point he was unrecognizable if it weren't for his signature bald head.

Where the hell was this stupid nurse? Lex shook his head as he confirmed with himself that he was simply and unavoidably surrounded by incompetent people who did not know how to do their jobs.

He struggled as he reached over the railing with his left arm and tried to catch the lever that swung near the edge of the bed. The lever was there so patients could call the nurse over whenever they needed assistance, but there was obviously a flaw in the design as he struggled to catch it. Why was it swinging in the first place? Lex froze and realized that there was a cold breeze in the room, had that been there before? He looked over to the right and saw that the windows were shut. He looked up this time and found no ventilation systems that could possibly produce this breeze. It was when he looked over at the door on the other side of the windows that he realized where the wind was coming from.

Leaning on the side of the doorway was the closest being he had to a son. The dark haired teenager smirked as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and straightened up to his full height. For someone who was biologically 14 years old, he stood at an impressive 6' height and was muscular and well-built. Most people who saw him scoffed at his features, stating that he must be using the enhancements that Dorrance and his porters utilize. But Lex would just laugh at these remarks; no one knew the secret except for him, not even Kal – who was the true 'father' of Connor.

Lex attempted to smile as the boy walked up to his bed. If he was being truthful, he had no love for the boy. He was an experiment, but one that had proven successful. When his gazed upon the boy he felt no paternal love or feelings for him in the family sense. Rather he was filled with pride and joy from the fruits of his labor. Under his wing, he had a superior being of his own. A minion, a weapon-a clone.

"It was fun watching you struggle, so I couldn't help myself," Connor sheepishly laughed as he pulled the seat out next the bed with much ease, "Who knew that my breath would reach that far?"

"Don't use those powers in the open," Luthor muttered as he tried to relax into the pillows but finding whatever position he moved into was still met with discomfort as his body groaned in protest.

"It was a joke," Connor waved off his guardians warning with an annoyed tone, "You look like crap, how you feel?"

"Delightful," Lex replied in a sarcastic monotone voice leaving a thick layer of tension in the air,

"Well, my trip to Hawaii was awesome, thanks for asking," the boy muttered as he leaned back in the chair with his arms crossed over his broad chest,

"Once again, delightful," Luthor paid little attention to the boy as he began to plot how Connor's being there would help him in his cause. If only he had arrived a few days earlier, he could have easily taken care of the kidnappers.

"Geez. I knew you were always a grump, but this takes it to a whole new level," Connor sneered as a pout formed on his lips. He hated it when Lex was in an even worse mood than his usual demeanor. Lex was his father like figure, ever since he could remember which was only the past year or so. Lex had told him how he suffered from amnesia from having a hard landing on Earth and that Kal was his relative, but did not know of his existence. Of course he always wondered why he could not just let The Supreme know of his existence, but Lex tells him it's for everyone's own good that he remains believing that he is the sole survivor of his home planet. Once the Empire had completely taken over the world, then they could discuss the whole family tree, but for now he had sworn to remain silent and make believe that he was just a normal member of the Empire. He could not wait till he could go public with his powers and his relations with the Supreme. He envied the power and absolute rule Kal had over the world, and knowing that it was all for their home planets sake made his inner fan boy shriek with pride and joy.

"Oh! I just remembered," Connor sat up, pleased to see that he finally had Lex's complete attention, "There was a messenger outside and he asked me to relay this message to you: The Supreme demands that you recover Diana from the Resistance, you have 50 days to complete this mission, otherwise he's taking away your position,"

Lex found it difficult to breath with this new information. 50 days?! It would take him at least a few weeks to recover from this, and on top of that they had no leads on the whereabouts about the Amazon. If Kal took away his title and position that would mean he had absolutely no chance in following through with his ultimate plans. It would mean all this was for nothing, and the past 20 years were a fluke and wasted. It wasn't possible, unless…

"I'm guessing something real bad happened while I was away," Connor shrugged his shoulders; he was not all that concerned. Lex had always pulled through, he was an absolute genius after all, and he would surely find his way. And Connor vowed that he would help him in any way possible, just as the man had helped him recover from his loss of memories and family.

"Connor," Lex just stared straight up at the ceiling, lost in thought as he called the boys name,

"Yeah?"

"Take me to my quarters,"

"What?" Connor raised his eye brows as he tried to determine what kind of medication they had put the older man under, "I can't move you! Look at you!"

"Just do it," Lex grimaced as he used every ounce of the little strength he had left to pull himself up in a sitting position. His sharp green eyes were determined as he knew that he had found his answer, "There's something I need to do,"

"Kori!" Roy shouted as he banged on his girlfriend's door impatiently, "we're going to be late, and you know Todd hates late,"

"Yes, Yes, I know," she called back as she grabbed her duffle bag which was packed with as much of her clothes as she could fit, "Sorry, I need one more second,"

She fumbled with her shoes as she tied them with nervous fingers. Kori was a young girl, who once held a bright outlook on the world and everything that was happening to it. She tried to stay faithful to her beliefs, and that one day justice would prevail. But she lost sight of it when she lost her beloved brother, Ryan which eventually led to her sister betraying the Resistance and joining the Empire. Her parents had died before she could even remember and her siblings were all she had, but they had eventually left her as well.

"KORI!" her lover yelled as he banged on the door even harder, "why is your door even locked?!"

Good question, she thought to herself but quickly remembered why. She had shut herself in her room as she thought about Grayson and contemplated whether or not she should go talk to him before she left. She knew that she shouldn't, especially considering that she still felt something for him. When she had lost everything, Dick had been there for her as a friend, a lover, and someone who understood her pain and struggles. Naturally over time, the friendship grew into something romantic and she fell in love with him. She felt a sharp pain as her heart ached at the thought of how everything unraveled and Dick had confessed that he could not love her like he loved Barbara. Kori didn't blame him; she was brilliant, determined, beautiful, but most of all-unbroken. Two broken things could not possibly fix one another, and she reasoned with herself that she would be selfish to ask Dick to remain in the same state with her forevermore.

But overtime she realized that she could only reason with herself so much. The feelings had never faded, and it was difficult for her to continue to pretend that they were gone forever. She accepted the fact that she would always have feelings for Dick, but she also realized that she could harbor feelings for more than one person. Jason had noticed what had happened between her and Dick and he came to help pick up the pieces. She knew that at first, his intentions were to make Dick seethe with jealousy, but over time she realized that behind all the anger and hatred he carried, Jason was a kind-hearted person. He truly wanted to help her out as a friend. Roy joined the duo and eventually he and she had gotten closer. She began to understand the comfort that could only be provided by another being, and found herself attracted to Roy. As childish and smug Roy had seemed to be, he was innocent-minded. Another broken soul that had found its way into her life, and one that was insistent on remaining broken. One that would thrive with her own shattered being, and would never leave her unless she was the one who desired to be fixed.

It was at that thought that she made her decision. She would not see Dick. He was most likely preoccupied with taking care of Barbara anyways.

She picked up her duffle bag once more and opened the door to find Roy with an initially annoyed expression which quickly turned into a gentle one as he grinned and took her bag out of her hand.

"Ready?" He asked as he turned to walk down the hall,

"Ready," She answered his question with a brilliant smile as she hooked her arm through his and they began their journey down the long hallway to their next destination.

Bruce exhaled his fourth sigh in the past five minutes as he reached over with his good arm to rub the knots that had formed in his left shoulder. One would think that a having an arm resting on a sling would mean he could relax it, but he found that the arm just naturally tensed up causing his wound to ache at the movement of muscles. Leslie had told him to just rest up that day, but he refused to lay in bed while there was mayhem and so many things left unfinished.

He had spent the day talking to people, trying to see what he could do to help organize the chaos a bit. Rumors were spread here and there that there were traitors in the Resistance and that they should start packing and moving before they were found by the Empire. Bruce would usually remain calm and try to dispel any unwarranted gossip, but he remembered the letter he had received in the cafeteria from Dick. The letter was originally from his ally Arthur who led the roaming naval forces which were primarily based in the North Atlantic. Arthur had sent word that the Empire was assembling troops in the pre-European regions and getting ready to send them to the Capital of the Empire, where Bruce's forces mainly occupied. This was a possible indication of a battle that was to come. Bruce knew that they would have to relocate as soon as possible but he also know morale amongst his commanding officers was low, especially considering what happened to Jason and Barbara. He realized that this talk with Diana about an alliance had to happen soon, she was steadily becoming his only chance at saving his people.

He looked at his watch as he turned the final corner to the hallway that led to his room and saw that it was only a couple of minutes before 7:00. He wanted to get a shower in before grabbing dinner with Diana, but he realized that he won't have the time to. Hopefully she did not mind the scent of coal and embers on him. He was just returning from the engineering headquarters and had to discuss some matters regarding the power grid with Beatriz. The Brazilian specialized as a pyro technician and decided it would be 'cool' to take him on a tour through their new energy chambers, where they burned coal and recently found a way to recycle it.

He looked up from his watch as he neared his chambers when he found a familiar figure standing by his door. He ground his teeth as he realized that there had been one person he forgot to see that day, but she had found her way to him instead.

"Selina," Bruce greeted in a serious tone, trying to convey that he did not want to play games with her at that moment, or perhaps ever.

"That miserable bastard," she muttered as she eyed Bruce's arm with a displeased look on her face, "we should have just left him,"

This earned her a deadly glare from Bruce, one which she wasn't sure if it scared her or tantalized her. Bruce was a mystery to her, one that she knew all too well. Although he never delved too much into his past, she knew that a great number of scars had marked his heart. Ever since the first time she met him 10 years ago, she could not help but feel a somewhat animalistic attraction to the man and she knew the feeling was mutual. But Bruce had too much pride, morals and willpower. He would never give in to their game of cat and mouse. They had a few things here and there, but he had always cut it short saying that he had no time and that her time was better spent elsewhere. She hated hearing him say such things. He portrayed himself as an undeserving man, which ironically made him far more deserving than any many she had ever come across. There was no other man for Selina, Bruce was the only one who had piqued her interest, he was the only one who could make her feel something other than disappointment and hatred for what the world has to offer her.

"I know you went to the surface with Ollie," he muttered as he stopped walking a few feet in front of her, "I'll let it pass just this once,"

Selina raised an eyebrow at this, "The big bad sheriff isn't going to punish us?"

Bruce just shot her another look, obviously trying to convey that he was not in the mood. Selina returned a soft smile. It saddened her at times when she realized that Bruce would always have his guard around her. She saw the way he laughed and poked fun at his mentees at times, but she would never see that side of him directed towards her. He never took her seriously, but instead he took the things that she did far too seriously. She realized that, that was why she kept going against his word and back and kept doing the troublesome things she did. It was how she got his attention. Like a cat, she was always lurking in the back… waiting to cause a scene when the perfect moment rose.

"I have something important that I think you'd like to take a look at," Selina took a step closer to him with her hands behind her back as if she was holding something behind her. Bruce's eyes darkened as he tried to calculate her moves and try to read her thoughts and motives.

"What does it involve?" He asked warily, exhausted and not wanting to play her games,

"Ever the detective," she murmured as she took another step towards him so that they were less than a foot apart, "I think it's cute when you try to play Sherlock Holmes,"

"Selina, I don't have time for this right now," Bruce muttered as he took a step to the side to avoid her advances, but she also took a step to the side so that he was backed up against the wall.

"I did what I do best, and borrowed something from that lab," she licked her lips as her eyes sought after his lips,

"What did you steal?" Bruce's voice was curious, and Selina knew that she had his full attention now,

"I won't tell," she teased

"You're wasting my-"

"I'll show you though," she slightly nodded her head towards his good arm, motioning for him to stick it out in front of him.

Bruce looked down at his hand, completely perplexed by what this woman was plotting. He would usually entertain Selina's approaches, just so he didn't come off as uncaring and cold-hearted, but he would usually cut it short when he realized that she was trying to get intimate with him. This time though, he felt as though she was being serious and actually had something to give her. He reluctantly raised his open palm between the two of them, making sure to extend it a little further so they would have as much space between them as possible.

Selina noticed a silhouette approach the two of them in her peripheral vision. She didn't bother to turn her head to acknowledge or confirm whoever it was, knowing exactly who it was. This was her chance, the perfect opportunity to cause some trouble. To be the black cat, which caused chaos wherever it went just to let it be known that she exists, and isn't just a shadow to be simply ignored. She smiled as she knew that this was what she did best.

Reaching between the two of them, Selina grabbed Bruce's hand with her empty ones and shoved it against his chest as she rammed her body into his, causing him to grunt in both surprise and pain. She felt his body freeze up as her lips crushed his in a heated collision. Her eyes were shut closed as she tilted her head to deepen the kiss with little success.

Bruce refused her advances as he kept his lips shut tight and shoved her off of him in a frustrated manner. He was sick and tired of her advances and he needed to make it clear that there was nothing between them. He would apologize for ever leading her on, but her actions were unwarranted and had forced him to reject her over and over again. Something he wished he did not have to do.

"Enough," Bruce's voice was gruff as he felt anger and impatience dwell not too far from the surface, "it ends here,"

Selina licked her bottom lip and grinned. This was just the beginning. She relaxed her body as she placed a hand on her hip and turned her head to where the observer stood. Bruce's eyes followed hers as they found their way to bystander.

"Oh sorry, how lewd of us," Selina mocked as her grin widened with mischief, "didn't notice you there,"

"No, I should apologize," Diana replied with a blank expression on her face, "it was rude of me to interrupt,"

Bruce's eyes widened as he realized what was happening. This was all Selina's doing. She had done this all on purpose, and now he was left to pick up the mess-as always. He looked down at the woman who caused so much trouble in his life and gave her a disappointed look before turning just in time to see Diana steer around the corner and away from sight.

"Perhaps that was the first time she saw a man and a woman together," Selina chuckled, "she is after all from an island full of women, I wouldn't be surprised if she turned out to be a –"

"-We'll talk later," Bruce cut her off in a stern voice as he walked past her without a second glance and chased after Diana. She remained alone in the hall for a few minutes in complete silence.

"What's gotten into you?" she sighed to herself as she lightly tapped her temple with the inside of her knuckle. She reached into her breast pocket and pulled out a rock that radiated an alluring green light.

"Why don't you ever do the right thing?" She asked herself as she felt an unfamiliar sting in the back of her eyes. It had been well over a decade since she last cried and it was strange sensation, but one that wasn't completely unwelcome by her. She tightly grasped the small piece of mineral close to her chest as her body echoed with the growing pain she felt in her heart.

A/N: Just getting it out there, I'm sure it's evident in my writing but I'm not a huge fan of Selina. She gives me the creeps, but she's not too bad. Thus why I gave her a little angst at the end. And there was tons of references to different characters in today's chapter! YAY Let me know what you think of their portrayals

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think with a review~

Thanks for reading, and I'll be sure to update soon(-er) :)!
Till then, Toodles~