15
At the K-Star Ranch on Earth Prime, Atom was leading the Dugans in a quest to retrieve Mr. Terrific's team from Earth-2. Pat Dugan had been summoned by his son Mike and sent with the urgings of his wife Barbara. Barbara Dugan was Mike's stepmom and the mother of Courtney Whitmore. Learning that her daughter was in another universe, Barbara had nearly broken down.
Pat knew Barb often worried over her daughter as she gallivanted across the world, and now apparently worlds, as Stargirl. At one time Pat had accompanied her in the STRIPE mecha. But having automated the suit, he'd turned it over to Mike. Yet Mike didn't take the STRIPE unit out except to defend the ranch. He felt more obligated to protect the seemingly defenseless Roxy rather than his stepsister. Given Courtney's ability to defend herself and her involvement with Billy Batson, she not only had her own vaunted abilities derived from her Cosmic Rod and Cosmic Convertor Belt but she also had Captain Marvel in her back pocket.
For all his blustering about how big a pain Star was, Mike threw himself into the work of getting her home and was resolved not to stop until she was back. But the task seemed increasingly difficult. Atom called a break and began reviewing what they already knew.
"Vibe can 'see' the multiverse when he wants to. He says each universe is separated from the others by existing within a different vibrational frequency than the others," Atom went over the specifics that they had, "Piercing the dimensional walls is just a matter of synching up to the appropriate frequency and apply power to create a rift."
"Wouldn't we have to occupy the same space on our own Earth?" Mike wondered.
"Actually it's safer if there's distance so the physical transfers don't overlap. That would be deadly to everyone involved," Atom postulated, "If we pursue Michael's original idea than we'd be creating a teleporter system that works through dimensions rather than simple space."
Mike knew Michael Holt was actually Mr. Terrific, "Gotcha."
"Sylvester Pemberton had an idea that he cooked up with the Flash, I mean Jay, and we put together a Cosmic Treadmill to accomplish the same thing. Jay was going to use it to align vibrational frequencies and Sly was going use his Cosmic Convertor Belt to create the rift," Pat recalled, "We could build it and use it as a sounding rod to find the appropriate vibrational barrier for the teleporter to lock onto. If nothing else we'd be able to communicate with Mr. Terrific's team."
"Yeah, but Court's got the rod and belt with her over there," Mike reminded everyone, "And Flash, Jesse Quick, and Jay are all busy somewhere else."
"We can use a Blackhawk fusion battery to power an energizer to create the rift," Pat conjectured, "And what about that Russian group calling themselves Kapitalist Kouriers? Waller vouches for them. Why can't we hire one or more of them to run the treadmill?"
"Okay, it sounds like a plan. I'll contact Waller," Atom stated, "Pat, we need the Star Spangled Kid's blueprints."
"Mike can get those out of the family bunker," Pat countered, "I step foot on the property and Barb may never let me return here until Courtney's back. I'll call her though and distract her."
"I'll be in and out before she gets wise," Mike promised.
"Come on, Mike. I'll walk you to the teleporter," Atom volunteered.
"I'll make the call in five minutes," Pat told them.
"Sounds like we have a plan," Atom guessed.
The JLU was given full access to the ARGUS-OWLS facility underneath Gotham City on Earth-2. The Justice Lords had decimated a secret cabal known as the Court of Owls that had infested Gotham City since its founding in colonial days. When the Justice Lords had returned depowered from Earth Prime, Lord Batman had announced that he'd had the underground complexes destroyed. Instead, he'd approached the United States with an idea of how to utilize the forgotten facilities.
Knowing the various nation-states chafed under the Justice Lords Authority yoke, Batman approached the United Nations with plans to react to re-empowered Justice Lords. And thus, ARGUS was born in secret. The various UN entities and agencies covertly reported to ARGUS. Most were unaware that they were doing so. The reports were intended for the Justice Lords' consumption.
And during the democratic revival, Darkseid reactivated the abilities taken from the individual Justice Lords. And Earth-2 devolved into hell. ARGUS moved swiftly and Mercy Graves consolidated her empire between the confiscated Wayne Enterprises and the Kord Industries merging them under Mercy Corp's banner. Mercy Corp would be the spear point of the newly created Resistance while ARGUS prosecuted the underground war. ARGUS-OWLS would backup any and all research and technological developments as well as strategic records.
Mr. Terrific had recruited Aztek, Stargirl and Galatea to assist him in creating a bridge between Earth-2 and Earth Prime. He'd never had a full inkling of Galatea's technical expertise until that moment. Emil Hamilton had trained her in multiple disciplines. Finding his adopted daughter a voracious student, the doctor had her trained in several branches of physics and engineering while Waller had her instructed in military sciences and black ops.
Tea referred to herself as a novice but Mr. Terrific soon realized she had as firm a grasp of transdimensional quantum mechanics as he did. It seemed Dr. Hamilton had pursued the studies as a potential last resort weapon during his tenure with CADMUS. It had been Galatea's idea to interlink and pool their JLU signal devices' memories in case the Atom got a signal through the dimensional wall.
Amanda Waller came and asked that Galatea accompany her to a debrief regarding Lord Superman's final moments. Mr. Terrific could see Tea's hesitancy, "Go ahead, Galatea. We'll manage for a while without you. Just be sure to come back."
She gave him a wan smile and followed Waller to her soundproofed office. Inside Steve Trevor waited for them. Galatea blanched.
"Um...am I in trouble or something?" she inquired.
"Quite the opposite," Trevor assured her, "We just wanted to thank you on behalf of a grateful world."
"Why?" Tea pretended not to know.
"My God, they really do have you walking on eggshells," Waller couldn't believe it; "You killed Lord Superman and ended his tyranny forever. No one else among our people or yours came close to accomplishing that. And I doubt your so-called friends would have had the tenacity to do what needed to be done."
"Please don't tell the Justice League," Galatea requested, "Their suspicions are hard enough to deal with. If I'm going to continue to work with them I need the latitude their inability to prove anything provides. And if they stare too hard at me they'll also scrutinize my husband they'll find out what his unit really does and everything will really hit the fan."
"If you don't want your fellow Justice Leaguers to know, that's fine," Waller conceded, "Your pals will be gone soon enough. But allow us to commemorate what you've accomplished in order to allow our citizens to know the truth behind the event and be able to celebrate your gift to us all."
"Uh...okay?" Galatea sighed, "Lois said this would happen."
"She was wise beyond her years," Trevor agreed, "And her sacrifice saved everyone on this planet as much as your actions did. People need to know that as well. Both of you need to be honored."
"Okay, I think I can manage doing what you ask as long as Lois gets celebrated to," Tea relented.
"Steve is going to take you to our press room," Waller told her, "There you'll be interviewed by one of our most respected journalists. Remember there are no right or wrong answers. Just honest ones."
"I can do that," Galatea agreed.
"Follow me, please," Trevor opened the door and led her to the studio.
Stargirl had been sent to find Galatea when she saw Trevor and Galatea exit a discreetly hidden room. Seeing as how her wanderings had led her here by accident, she thought the sighting was fortuitous. She opted to follow them.
Star almost lost them several times as Trevor knowingly navigated his way through the labyrinth that had once belonged to the Court of Owls. She finally came upon a television studio and saw Galatea was being interviewed by Linda Park. Apparently the ex-girlfriend of the deceased Flash had become a major news figure on this Earth according the introduction she was given.
Courtney discreetly entered the engineering booth and watched as the interview began to unfold. Galatea briefly described rescuing Lois Lane after Lord Superman had killed both Power Girl and Mercy Graves and was about to kill his own wife. Galatea had intervened and fought Lord Superman in single combat before killing him.
Stargirl suddenly felt a pit in her stomach and she wanted to throw up. Jesse Quick and Hourman had been right all along. But were they really? The news crew and Linda seemed elated by the news. They were practically worshipping at Tea's feet after that revelation.
Galatea explained how she'd justified the reasoning behind the action. And then she shifted the emphasis to Lois herself. Lois' sacrifice with the world destroying bomb and the boom tube to Apokolips were described. And Galatea stressed that it had been Lois who had saved all life on this world. Lois hadn't taken any lives but she saved billions with one monumentally brave act.
Galatea confessed that she wished she were the same type of hero that Lois had been. But she hoped there was room for her type as well. Justice had to be served and sometimes Justice was a harsh taskmaster.
Linda profusely thanked Galatea, "We'll never forget you or what you gave us after you've gone back to your own Earth."
"And remember Lois Lane as well," Tea insisted.
"We couldn't possibly forget her," Linda promised.
The interview wrapped up and Linda laid a hand on Galatea's, "Thank for honoring the memory of Wally West. The legacy of the Flash deserved more than what the Justice Lords were prepared to give it."
Tea looked like she was going to bawl as Linda stepped off stage. Trevor spoke from his position behind Stargirl, "She could use a friend right now."
"Gah!" Courtney yelped as she spun around, "Where'd you come from?"
"I've been here the whole time," Trevor informed her, "But if Galatea was ever your friend, now is the time to prove it."
Court decided he was right and exited the booth to join Galatea on stage, "Hiya."
"Oh God," Tea groaned between tears.
"No!" Star thrust out her free hand to ward off Tea's assumptions, ""It's cool. I saw your interview. You had to choose how to stop Captain Insano and protect billions of lives. I don't think I could have even made a choice. And everyone would've been screwed because of it."
"You would've done fine," Galatea lamented, "You would have been a Justice League type hero."
"But that's what our Earth needs," Stargirl argued, "This Earth requires something else. They needed what you gave them. And when you get home you'll give our people the hero they need."
"You're just saying that," Tea appreciated the sentiment but basically felt Courtney was placating her.
"I'm saying it because I believe it and you know that better than I do," Star asserted.
"You actually are," Galatea studied the signs.
"Look, I'm your friend and will always be your friend," Stargirl promised, "And I'll never lie to you even when you really want me too. You did a helluva brave thing facing down an insane Superman. And you did what everyone on this world prayed for."
"Okay," Galatea relented, "Just don't tell anyone."
"Not a chance," Courtney vowed.
Elsewhere in the ARGUS-OWLS facility's main lounge, Sand conferred with Jesse Quick, her husband Hourman, and Supergirl. Sand was arguing with Kara, "Surely you'd know if Galatea were lying or if Lois had."
"Lois was hiding something but she basically spoke the truth," Supergirl replied.
"So Galatea is Lord Superman's killer," Jesse decided.
"She was trained as a black ops soldier," Kara rebutted her, "Tea is more than capable of killing but she's chosen not to."
"It's hard to walk away from what you've been trained to do especially during a crisis," Hourman asserted, "And facing Lord Superman is a crisis for anyone. Especially after he'd already killed this Earth's Power Girl and Mercy Graves."
Supergirl had seen how hard Power Girl's death had hit Galatea but she wasn't ready to buy into the conspiracy theory yet, "But it's all conjecture at this point. There's no evidence and no witnesses left alive."
"Maybe not," Jesse remembered, "ARGUS collected the Justice Lords Authority security tapes. The battle took place within Smallville's boundaries so they may have been under surveillance when the fight occurred."
"So we ask Col. Trevor for the relevant footage," Sand recommended.
"If Galatea did kill Lord Superman and the locals know it, they'll probably revere her like a demigoddess," Jesse countered, "It's better if I search the building and see what I can turn up."
A red and yellow blur disappeared. Hourman gave the others a wry grin, "Trust me. You get used to it."
Speed wasn't the attribute Kara was worried about.
Jesse raced through the corridors and the central maze. ARGUS personnel were nearly blown over by the air turbulence she kicked up. But to her frustration, Jesse discovered the entire installation was under lockdown. Every door and cupboard was secured and she lacked the simplest key.
But she did come upon Waller, Linda Park, and two editors putting together a documentarian style interview. She was going to go inside to more easily eavesdrop when Trevor intercepted her, "Can I help you?"
"What's going on?" Jesse tried skirting past Trevor.
"We're putting together a special on the deaths of Lords Superman and Martian Manhunter. In addition we're showcasing the capture of Lord Green Lantern and Ladies Hawkgirl and Katana. They'll be standing trial before the world after a full compilation of their crimes has been put together," Trevor explained.
"Does that include Galatea's part in all of it?" Jesse thought that was both direct and subtle.
"Why do you hate her so much?"Trevor asked, "Ever since the Justice Lords fell you've connived and accused her at every available opportunity."
"Why do you protect her?" Jesse threw back at him, "Is she really guilty?"
"She isn't guilty of anything and this area's off limits," Trevor scowled.
"She isn't a hero," Jesse insisted, "She's just another Lord Superman waiting to happen."
"I don't think we're even disusing the same person," Trevor retorted, "Galatea is an incredibly brave person who risked her life to liberate a planet she wasn't even born on. Can you say the same?"
"I fought Lady Katana," Jesse grated.
"An enemy whose relative speed couldn't even compare to yours," Trevor stated, "It must have really been challenging."
"Lois said Galatea helped her fight Lord Superman," Jesse reminded him, "Did Lois even fight him at all?"
"Yes, she did. And he was going to kill his own wife for opposing him just seconds before Galatea intervened. The rest was history in the making," Trevor told her.
"But she didn't begin to fathom the real stakes here," Jesse determined, "Survival versus keeping her moral compass straight."
"Spare me the pretty lectures on mercy towards an enemy. You haven't even begun to face an enemy like the Justice Lords and I pray you never have to," Trevor heatedly declared.
"I could say pretty much the same about your impassioned statement," Jesse countered.
Trevor's eyes narrowed, "Perhaps I should share what happened to our Jesse Chambers."
"Nothing you could possibly say would shock me, Colonel," Jesse said haughtily.
"Our Jesse called herself Liberty Belle after her mother," Trevor told her, "You see, the Justice Lords lobotomized criminals but dealing with their own archetype, people who could one day see them as criminals, they were given a single choice: submit or die. And the speedsters were made an example of. Any so-called pretender to the Flash's hallowed throne was given special consideration."
Trevor spoke slowly but firmly and unveiled Liberty Belle's last moments, "That was a public spectacle so she would be an example to others."
Jesse's horrified shock almost had her trembling, "Okay, you made your point. But mine remains as well. Galatea could easily become the next Lord Superman but on our world."
"I don't know who killed Lord Superman," Trevor gruffly told her, "I was in the Evil Factory at the time of his death. And any regime that would erect a biogenics program facility to breed meta-gene warriors under that title deserves whatever they received. Not to mention they sold our world to Darkseid in exchange for regaining their powers."
"I will still find out what happened out there and Galatea will spend her last days under a red sun lamp in solitary confinement," Jesse vowed.
"And if she didn't even do it? Is it worth this much hate?" Trevor had to try and reason with her one final time.
"Then she was still an accessory when she let Lois kill him," Jesse retorted.
"I'd re-examine my motives here if I was you," Trevor advised, "Because this isn't even remotely revolving around justice. This is about fear and fear poisons. Meanwhile you're restricted to the main lounge until you can be escorted to the transdimensional teleporter."
"What?" Jesse exploded, "How can you even try and enforce that?"
She heard energy weapons charging. She looked around and saw she was in a crossfire. The ARGUS troops wore ablative armor that would absorb the weapons' discharges.
"This entire base is now on alert," Trevor informed her, "Any of your companions leave the lounge and it'll be open season."
"Why are you protecting her?" Jesse asked, incredulous.
"I think the question should be why aren't you," Trevor said to her.
"Because I won't defend a killer," Jesse snapped.
"And whatever happened to the golden rule of 'innocent until proven guilty'?" Trevor mocked her, "Because now you sound like a Justice Lord."
It was a like a slap to Jesse's face, "Because I know she's guilty. All that's lacking is evidence or a confession."
"And Lord Superman would bask in the ignorance of that statement," Trevor said with disgust.
"Stop saying that," Jesse demanded.
"You know, I actually pity you. I don't know what's worse, to follow the Lords' path in ignorance or willingly. Let me know how it works out for you," Trevor motioned for the troops to herd Jesse away.
Trevor took a moment to confer with Waller after Jesse was taken away. With her permission, he issued pistols loaded with synthetic kryptonite ammo issued to the sentries throughout the complex, "I hope we aren't making a mistake, Amanda."
"This isn't their world and they have no place in it," Waller grimly replied, "They served their purpose and now it's time for them to move on."
Trevor's wrist communications device beeped and he checked the message, "It seems Galatea has a pair of visitors."
Upon hearing who they were, Waller made the call, "Clear them through."
Trevor did so and then went about honoring Galatea's one request.
Batman and the Flash had come to see Galatea. She was delighted to see Dick Grayson wearing Batman's original costume. Christina Molotova wore the same blue and white motif she'd received in the Justice Lords Authority prison but sans the weapons they'd included. Galatea was relieved to hear Christina had dropped the "Lady" from the "Flash".
"We decided to carry on their legacies before they were twisted by the insanity of the Justice Lords," Dick explained.
"I know Bruce will be proud of you," Galatea assured him, "And I know Wally would be grateful for your decision, Christina."
"My only meeting with him did not go so well," Christina said sadly.
"But since his death, you've carried on in his name," Tea reminded the Russian soldier, "You accomplished a lot as Lady Flash and now you will rise above his legend as the newest Flash."
"You should be a leader," Dick commented.
"I'd rather not be," Galatea admitted, "How did you two find this place?"
"Bruce, Barbara, Tim, and I fought the Court of Owls and their Talons before there was a Justice Lords. Bruce clued me into what ARGUS had done with their lairs after the Justice Lords swept the places out," Dick shared, "It was Tim's last case and Barb retired soon after just as the League became the Justice Lords."
"Don't you need a cave or something?" Galatea asked.
Dick managed a smile for the first time since Tea had met him, "Lord Superman collapsed the Batcave and the manor went down in the sinkhole. I'm using my loft since it was already geared for my Nightwing days until I can find something better. Barbara Gordon is a state senator now. She's coming by in two hours to help me look over potential sites to create a Batcave replacement."
"And what about you?" Galatea asked Christina.
"I am staying with Richard for now. He has guest bedrooms and the one I am in currently suits my needs," she answered, "He is helping me find lodgings in Central or Keystone City. If I am to be a true Flash then I must protect the traditional homes of the Flashes that went before me."
"Like I said before, you'll do their memory proud," Galatea assured her.
"Well, Barb is dropping by in a few and I have a few ideas to bounce off of her," Dick admitted, "I actually already have sites in mind. I just need to sound off of someone from the old days."
"Maybe she'll rejoin you as Batgirl," Galatea said hopefully.
Dick blanched and Galatea apologized, "I'm sorry. What did I say?"
"Bruce convinced Barb to retire by breaking her back and paralyzing her legs," Dick said tonelessly, "She's confined to a wheelchair."
Galatea thought of Earth Prime's Barbara Gordon, a detective-lieutenant with the Gotham City Police Department and couldn't begin to fathom this world's Batman, "I'm...so sorry."
"You needn't be. You didn't do it," Dick said stiffly, "We need to be going now."
"Of course," Galatea said meekly.
"Do svidaniya," Christina said as she followed Dick out.
"You'll both do fine," Galatea whispered at them as they departed.
Back on Earth Prime, the Cosmic Treadmill had been built. Kapitalist Kouriers had agreed to send a literal runner. Bebeck volunteered for the assignment hand arrived from NYC just under fifteen minutes later.
The Atom explained the principle of the thing to her and she was obviously skeptical but agreed to power the treadmill. She began with a jog to warm up the machine. Then, as Atom urged her, she broke into a run and began to accelerate from there.
As the treadmill's inner mechanism began to resonate with vibrational frequencies, Atom directed Bebeck's speed. Finally, it synched on Earth-2's frequency as recorded when Mr. Terrific had contacted the JLU at STAR Labs. Atom ordered Bebeck to hold a steady speed.
Pat and Mike wheeled in a fusion battery and hooked it up to an energizer they'd cobbled together based upon STRIPE's power blasters. Firing through a targeting grid built into the treadmill, Atom called out that they'd pierced the dimensional wall. Mike triggered the data burst transmission and Atom told Bebeck she could step slow down and step off the treadmill for now when they got an acknowledging ping.
Having their parameters for the teleporters to operate in, Atom got Pat and Mike busy constructing it. Aton turned to Bebeck, "How'd you like to triple your bonus money?"
Bebeck grinned, "How?"
"I'd like to send a second signal. To do that, I need you on that treadmill," Atom explained.
Bebeck hopped back onto it, "Give the word."
Now Atom grinned.
In the ARGUS-OWLS facility on Earth-2, Aztek was startled when the JLU signal devices all began beeping. He checked them, "We just got a message from the Atom."
Mr. Terrific reviewed the data packet, "Linking the devices was an excellent idea, Tea. I'm sorry I underestimated it before."
"What did they send?" Stargirl impatiently inquired.
"A way home," Mr. Terrific said enigmatically. He began reviewing his parts and components stockpile along with the prototype teleporter, "We have everything we need."
"For what?" Stargirl huffed.
"To make this an interdimensional teleporter," Mr. Terrific grinned, "One that can send us home."
Then the signal devices chirped again.
At the K-Star Ranch on Earth Prime, the Dugan team had successfully modified the teleporter inside of four hours. Two hours after that they got a signal device ping from the activated teleporter. That was the announcement that Mr. Terrific and his assistants had completed their modifications as well. So now came the field trials.
Inanimate objects were used to calibrate the transfer process. The first two attempts badly mangled the metal components sent over. It took another hour to correct those errors and then further adjustments had to be made after organic material was sent through. But forty-five minutes later every plant and vegetable sent through survived and seemed perfectly healthy to all the scans they were subjected to.
Finally it was time to start sending people across the dimensional wall. Mr. Terrific requested thirty minutes to gather his JLers. Atom, the Dugans, and Bebeck stood by.
On Earth-2, Waller had the JLU escorted from the lounge to Mr. Terrific's workshop. Before the transfers began, Trevor handed Galatea a CD-ROM, "These are the specs you asked for. Hopefully our programming languages are similar enough for your fabricators to translate the patterns."
"Oh, I have a wily translator that can help out," Galatea grinned, thinking of Roxy.
"She'd be honored by this," Trevor informed her.
"That's the idea," Galatea replied.
"You could always stay here," Trevor said quietly enough only Tea and Kara could hear him.
"No, I can't. I have a life and a husband waiting for me. I can't abandon either. I've weathered this storm before. I guess I never should have believed it ever went away," Galatea said sadly.
"Good luck," Trevor shook her hand. Then he made the rounds with the others. Jesse flatly refused to acknowledge his presence.
The JLers were to go across in groups of four. Jesse hustled Hourman onto the grid. Sand accompanied them. Supergirl took up the fourth place. They vanished in a bright flash. Seconds later Mr. Terrific got a ping.
Hawk, Dove, Aztek, and Stargirl comprised the second group. Trevor got a quick lesson from Mr. Terrific and he and Galatea were ushered back to Earth Prime. Waller issued the standing order afterwards.
"Destroy it," she grimly ordered.
Trevor signaled the demolitions team standing by out in the corridor.
The wait seemed to last forever to the Earth Prime team. Then Sand, Hourman, Jesse, and Supergirl appeared in a flash. Stepping off the grid, they waited as Atom signaled Earth-2 that they were ready for a second group. Hawk, Dove, Aztek and Stargirl reappeared on the world of their birth.
Pat, and even Mike, rushed to Courtney and began to embrace her so tightly she was having difficulty breathing, "Uh...guys? Having trouble breathing here."
Pat and Mike let up and she shooed them off the grid, "Make way, people. We got two more waiting to come home."
Mr. Terrific and Galatea were the last to arrive. Upon inquiring, Tea was disappointed to learn Blackhawk was on a mission. But she knew duty was his way of coping with her absences.
Sand was hustled out by Jesse and Hourman. Mainly Jesse. Kara overheard that they were headed for a comm station to call Waller and level charges against Galatea. She also knew Tea overhead the same thing.
"Damn," Atom muttered.
"What is it?" Mr. Terrific asked.
"I've lost contact with the other teleporter," Atom told him.
"They probably destroyed it," Mr. Terrific shrugged, "They never really wanted us there."
"Then why allow you to stay at all?" Atom wondered.
"They were desperate and didn't know if they could win on their own," Mr. Terrific explained.
"Any particular reason why Sand and the others tore out of here like the building was on fire?" Atom asked.
"Funny you should phrase it that way because they're off to start a fire," Mr. Terrific said with disgust in his voice, "A fire that might tear apart the League."
Atom sadly shook his head.
Kara overheard the comments that followed Sand's wake. She could see by Galatea's expression she knew as well as Supergirl did what was going down. Kara had her own guesses as to what had occurred on Earth-2 and she knew Jesse was probably right about what had occurred. But Kara also knew she'd gone from mistrusting Galatea's motives to trusting Tea with her very life.
As such, she knew Galatea would only have killed Lord Superman if it were the only way to stop him. Supergirl was resolved to stand by her "sister" no matter what accusations came of it. If it drove both of them out of the JLU, so be it.
Later in Blackhawk and Galatea's quarters in the Blackhawk Squadron bungalow, Sue knocked on the door and realized Tea knew it was her at the door when she opened it with a resigned expression on her face, "Come on in, Sue. You certainly didn't waste much time."
"I'm not here regarding Sand's allegations," Sue informed her.
"Oh?" That caught Galatea by surprise and also piqued her interest.
"I'm here to discuss your future with the Justice League," Sue told her.
"I thought this wasn't about Sand's accusations," Galatea was immediately suspicious.
"This is about your future with the Justice League Unlimited and the Justice League of America," Sue explained.
Galatea smirked, "So Waller has implemented the JLA Initiative."
"The what?" now it was Sue's turn to be surprised.
"Back in everybody's CADMUS days, an initiative to replace the JLU with a Justice League managed by the government was theorized," Tea told her, "The Justice League of America was going to be filled with heroes that were deemed 'manageable' or at least amenable to the government's agenda. I take it you weren't told that part."
"No, but it makes sense given the speed at which everything is falling in line," Sue admitted, "Waller had a recruitment list supposedly drawn up overnight."
"Who's on it?" Galatea asked.
Upon hearing the Black Marvel Family had already been recruited, Galatea made up her mind, "I'm in on one provision."
"I'm not sure how much leeway I have but let's hear it," Sue offered her caveat.
"I'm not a spy. I'm on one team or the other. I'd prefer the JLA but if that isn't workable to have me just be a member of that group, then I'll stick with the JLU and wait for the chips to fall. There's no middle ground here and no option for one."
Sue smiled, "Welcome to the JLA then."
Tea knew Blackhawk was in for a few surprises when he got home. She had a new uniform, a new team, and a new life going forward from this point on.