4 Justice League Family Affairs

"Ah Q, the lovely places you take me to." Huntress quipped while slogging through Metropolis' drainage system, "Are we going to explore the Parisian sewers on our honeymoon?"

"Of course not." He assured her and then muttered, "But it may not be a bad idea. The Illuminati would never expect me on their doorstep on such an auspicious occasion."

"I better not have heard that." Huntress warned him.

Catwoman laughed as Question shuffled several feet ahead of his beloved. Selina's grin was lit up by the glow of the flash lights they were using, "You were right. He is hopeless."

"But in a good way." Huntress defended her man, "It's not like you have a real prize in Batman."

"Whoa!" Hawk exclaimed, "You're dating Batman?"

"Thanks for keeping the secret." Catwoman whispered. Huntress merely grinned.

"What's it like?" Hawk wondered, "Are you two all hot and heavy?"

"Drop it, Hawk." Dove warned, "The lady obviously doesn't want to talk about it."

"Look muscles, this isn't a locker room so let's keep the sex stories to ourselves. I know I definitely know I don't want to know about yours." Catwoman declared.

"You would if you knew what I did with Tracy Newberry. You might like a piece of the ol' Hawk if you did. I had her…" Hawk began to his brother's mortification.

Selina waved a clawed glove in front of Hawk's face, "Too. Much. Information."

"Hey, no need to get pissy." Hawk retorted.

Dove interjected himself between the two, "I'm sorry. He's not housebroken. I can't take him anywhere."

"Hey!" Hawk exclaimed.

"In fact, last week he came back from a party so drunk that he took a whiz in the living room." Dove added, "It took forever to get the smell out of the recliner."

"Hey! Too much information!" Hawk declared.

Selina wore a victorious smirk, "No, I'd say that was just enough."


Superman was cajoled into divulging the tale of how Kalea was conceived…without going into specifics. If people didn't know how that was accomplished by now, then they could wait and find it out on their own. The collective reaction, apart from Diana, Kara, and Rocket Red, was one of mute restraint. Diana and Kara had already known the answer to the question of how, when, and why. Red was just thrilled. As a family man himself, he was thrilled anytime someone mentioned their kids.

"And Lois never knew?" Kyle asked of his former co-worker.

"We were on a break. She'd been seeing Bruce Wayne and a score of other men at the time." Clark reminded him.

"Yeah, but did she sleep with them?" Kyle wondered.

"I don't know. I never asked. It wasn't any of my business." Clark stressed, "We'd never formally dated so the rules to the relationship were pretty fast and loose. I pretty much just followed her lead."

Superman rose and headed for the cockpit. Starman intercepted him, "Just for your own comfort, what Maxima did is fairly common amongst galactic royalty."

"Really?" Superman was surprised.

"Maxima chose you as an exemplary mate. You offered the best choice of genetic material with which to work with." Starman explained.

Clark was a little crestfallen so Gavyn laughed, "I'm certain she had other reasons for choosing you in particular. She approached you twice. For a queen that had rejected every suitor that bespeaks of much on its own."

"Do they do this on your home planet?" Clark wondered.

"Sometimes, if there is a need. I was seen as needing an artificial means of conception since my nature was publically known." Starman described, "Since my sister ended up with the throne, they never had to use my DNA. I sometimes wonder if my children would have shared my gifts."

"If nothing else, they could have shared their father's courage and utter reliability." Superman offered.

Starman smiled, "Thank you, my friend."

"Superman, could you, Gavyn, and Shayera step into the cockpit?" Blackhawk asked over the intercom.

Superman started to comply when Starman noted something, "Did you notice that the intercom didn't buzz its announcement of an incoming message?"

Superman reflected on it and decided that Gavyn was right, "That's odd."

"Don't let it get under your skin." Shayera advised as she reached the cockpit space, "I turned the intercom on so Blackhawk could overhear your little confessional."

Superman turned bright red, "It's bad enough to have to 'confess' anything to the team but to embarrass me in front of the…"

His voice drifted off and Blackhawk called out the last word, "The help?"

Shayera lit into Clark, "This is the most arrogant bullshit that I've ever heard from you and I've heard a lot! The Squadron members are our teammates, just as much as you or I or anyone else in this stupid shuttle. As for your 'confession', so you're 'human' after all. Isn't that what you've always wanted to be? Just an average person with average problems?"

Shayera took a breath before plunging on, "Well, deadbeat dads are an average problem, much as anyone wishes that they weren't. So you're not so high and mighty, all so gloriously perfect, it makes you real and accessible. You want to be a god? Fine. I'm sure Hades is looking for a partner…or even Darkseid. Is that the route you want to go?"

Superman looked as though his world had collapsed, "No, that's not where I want to go."

"Good! `Cause I'd hate to have to bash your head in." she waved her mace at him.

"People, if you're done castigating Superman, I really need a word." Blackhawk requested.

Shayera reclipped her mace to her belt and entered the cockpit and sat down at her usual spot at the co-pilot's station. There were two passenger seats in the cockpit as well. Starman and Superman sat down in those.

"I need to know something." Blackhawk began without preamble, "We have to stop every three hours to recharge the hyperdrive and we're flying at 1.4c. Can a Techno-Organic ship travel faster than that?"

"All I know is that the TOU was full of a bunch of cybernetic hot rodders… Oh! I guess that answers the question." Shayera realized.

"What kind of capabilities do these 'hot rodders' have?" Blackhawk asked.

"The Union relishes the fusion of technology and biology. Their secondary passions are high performance vehicles and weaponry. Their racing teams have made top 5 finishes in most of the interstellar events. Their racing vehicles can recharge every seven hours and exceed 1.9c. Their heavy vehicles can meet 1.7c and a recharge cycle of six hours. I do not know what kind of capabilities a shuttle would have."

Blackhawk pondered this. Starman had indentified the spatial disruption signature of the shuttle as being that of a TOU craft. They were presumably flying the same least time course to Almerac but he hadn't encountered another trace of their drive signature. If they were flying longer and faster that would explain that.

Blackhawk sighed, "I'm afraid, boys and girls, that the bad guys have a well established lead on us and they're going to get there first."

"You can't be sure of that." Superman said desperately.

Blackhawk laid out his navigational evidence and then said, "I'm sorry but your daughter is gone. But once we get there we can find the Union's homeworld and get her back."

Superman was despondent but he nodded his understanding and went back to the passenger cabin. Blackhawk cast a worried glance Shayera's way and then focused on the oncoming gravitational eddies.

Hyperspace was touched by only one thing: gravity. Gravity wells, such as stars, black holes, and planets could suck a ship out of hyperspace. Some civilizations had interdictor capitol ships that could project a strong enough grav field to pull ships out of hyperspace. Usually, the translation was so jarring that the crew of the afflicted vessel was helpless as the larger ship moved to board or destroy.

Blackhawk had drilled for either contingency but had never had to use those phantom skills. He had a bad feeling he'd have to this time. It was just that kind of mission.


Question's party stopped as they came to a juncture where three pipes merged into the one they were standing in. He consulted his signal device, and seeing the highlighted section of the map, he moved to the left and kept going. The others followed.

Hawk had fallen silent as of late and the Huntress and the Question were on guard. They only spoke to one another and even then only in hushed whispers. Catwoman and Dove spoke softly.

"So doesn't it bother you to wear that costume down here?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Dove innocently asked, "Should it?"

"It's a mainly white costume and you're in a sewer." Selina grinned, "Think about it. Your brother has even more white in his costume. Isn't that right, Muscles?"

Hawk growled and Dove replied, "Our costumes are magical. Mine's created by the Lords of Order, like Dr. Fate, and Hawk's is produced by the Lords of Chaos. Our costumes just appear when we activate our powers and they disappear when they're no longer needed. Wherever they go, they always come back cleaned and mended."

"Must be nice." Selina sighed.

It was Dove's turn to grin, "It is mighty convenient."

"Can we cut the Good Housekeeping crap?" Hawk snapped, "We're on a mission. Be serious!"

"Okay, Mr. I-want-to-brag-about-my-sexual-exploits." Catwoman retorted.

Hawk rolled his eyes, "Can we drop it?"

"We could if you ever sincerely apologized." Catwoman replied.

"I'm sorry! I really am." Hawk declared.

Selina felt the rush of victory, "Desperately so?"

"Trust me, I'm desperate." Hawk confessed.

"Desperate enough to be my boy toy for a week?" she asked.

"What?" Hawk yelped.

"Just kidding. You're off the hook, kiddo. Just don't do it again." Selina grinned like the proverbial Cheshire.


"Why are the people on 3rd Avenue dancing a jig?" Luthor demanded.

"The Hatter got bored." Mr. Mind answered via radio.

"Tell him to stop it or he'd better start watching what's in his water." Luthor warned.

Mr. Mind was delighted, "I'll pass that along."

"Whatever happened to professionalism?" Luthor groused, "It's enough to make someone miss the Joker."