Richard breezed into Lois' office at eleven-thirty and asked, "Hey, Lo, there's a new Thai place on 38th street. Wanna swing by for lunch?"

She chuckled at him. "Trying to butter up your boss again?"

He crossed his arms and grinned. "I almost married you, that should've been enough sacrifice for a lifetime of preferential treatment. No, I just thought you'd enjoy the chance to conquer something hotter than you are."

"No such thing exists, not even Thai curry," Lois replied automatically. Then she remembered her plans for the day, and sighed. "I'll have to go tomorrow. I've got lunch plans today."

Richard waggled his brows at her. "Oh, Clark's gonna sweep you away for a nooner? Good man. Just not the supply closet, okay?"

She threw a paperclip at him. "Dammit, Richard, that was almost twenty years ago, let it go. But no, I'm not having lunch with Clark." He was out on assignment today – reporting, not heroing, for once.

Her ex-fiance looked at her curiously. "Really? Meeting the girls at Dooley's? Or a mysterious source?"

Lois couldn't help grinning. "Actually I'm meeting an attractive younger man."

Richard smirked. "I am an attractive man, but if it's got to be younger, make sure he knows what the hell he's doing. Send the cougar-bait my regards."

She scoffed laughter, picking up her purse; it was time to head out, anyway. She kissed Richard's cheek as she passed him – standing in the doorway, of course, so the old guard could listen to the eternal joking and roll their eyes – and whispered, "He really wouldn't know. It's Sebast."

He turned at that, with a relieved smile. "Thank God he's talking to someone. Give him a hug for me, okay? I remember what a head trip it was."

Lois shrugged. "At least he wasn't trying to fly a plane." They both grinned, remembering how Richard found out about Clark's alter ego, and she headed out.

The restaurant had been picked for privacy, but Lois knew the food was good. She got there five minutes early, but even so Sebast was already there, standing just outside the doors. "Hi," he said, looking sheepish and awkward.

She stopped, smiling at him, and then caught his arm to pull him in for a hug. "Hi, Sebast. We've missed you."

"I missed you guys too," he mumbled against her shoulder, and Lois could feel the tension in him. He felt like he'd needed a hug for days, and could stand there just sinking into her arms for hours.

Lois rubbed his back gently, and murmured, "And everyone would completely understand if you were totally pissed, too."

That startled a laugh from him, drawing back, and Lois patted his arm. "To a certain degree, I was when I found out. Come on, let's go inside. We're both public figures, and Richard already implied I was sneaking out for a quickie."

Sebast spluttered, shaking his head. "Dios mío, I don't wanna hear that. Jeez, Mom, way to make me never hug you again."

"If all this with Kala hasn't made you drop out, getting called cougar bait won't do it either," Lois quipped back as they headed in. She took a table toward the back, and Sebast sat down beside her, the better to keep their conversation private.

He looked nervous; hell, that was being generous. Sebast looked like he hadn't slept for a week and was holding it together with coffee alone. So the first thing Lois asked him, once their drink orders were in, was, "Are you okay?"

"No?" he said with a little laugh. "I mean, every damn day since I found out, it's another revelation. And I'm still kinda paranoid about my phone, once I heard from Oracle."

Lois scoffed a little. "She got you, huh? That side of the group is kind of … overprotective."

"Paranoid," Sebast said. "Elise had a few choice words to say, too."

"Elise is still pissed. Oracle's probably not watching your phone, Sebast. She's got a lot on her plate, like being the information broker for the entire League. You didn't fly off the handle and call the press in the first forty-eight hours, so you're unlikely to do it now."

He frowned at her. "Damn, you've all done this enough that you know what the window is for freaking out and calling the Inquirer?"

"Sadly, yes. There are a lot of people out there doing this kind of thing, Sebast. All of them try to have real lives, as much as possible. That means keeping secrets … and eventually the people they love either find out, or get told." Lois looked at him frankly, seeing an echo of herself. The wonder was there, that sense of awe that she'd felt watching Clark straighten up and lower his voice to Superman's rich timbre. Also the frustration, at how the few parts of 'normal' life she wanted for herself kept getting postponed or denied.

He rubbed the side of his face, where stubble had been allowed to grow. "It's just … a lot. I mean I'm still getting over him. Also aren't there photos of him and, y'know, the alter ego?"

Lois nodded. "We've got a couple shapeshifters. If her identity had ever been compromised, we'd arrange for them to be photographed together. It's all about protecting people, Sebast. Especially the ones who aren't in the game. I'm not a civilian, anymore, but you are. And almost everyone out there has civilians to protect. There are some who try to stick with other capes, but that has its own issues."

"Seems to be working for her," Sebast sighed, and the waiter approached with their drinks. Sebast had gone for a rum and coke; Lois had to go back to work, so she'd gotten coffee. Neither of them had glanced at the menu, but Lois glanced at it long enough to order a mushroom swiss burger, and Sebast picked out something similar with bacon and pepper jack cheese.

Once they were alone again, Lois said, "She didn't plan on this, Sebast. She's always stayed away from capes – she doesn't have the best relationship with the community, because she started later than Jase, even. They think she can be like him, or like her father, leading a team, and they don't know she has a real job that she can't just ditch anytime. Or they do know, and they think she's crazy for trying to do both."

He sipped his drink thoughtfully. "Yeah, that is kind of a mind trip. Just to think of everything she's had to juggle. And then, how did I not see it? I mean, I've lived with her and never noticed this!"

"I worked across from her father for a couple years and never noticed," Lois replied with a sad smile. "At least in your case, the Blur was barely on your radar. I was interviewing him every chance I got. Once, right before a date with Clark."

Sebast's mouth twitched up in a grin. "Oh, that's just rude."

Lois sighed and shrugged. "I was a real ball-breaker back in the day. He got a kick out of giving me some of my own medicine. The point is, no one looks at Clark and thinks, him. Just like no one looks at the singer in a Goth band and thinks her. Just like no one looks at the nerdy farmer and thinks of who he is. They're good at what they do."

"Aw man, I can't even think about Jason. Like I see it, now, but you'd think he couldn't keep a secret to save his life." Sebast winced, rubbing his temple. "It makes my head hurt, Lo. I don't know how you keep up."

"Have you seen my friends? My life has always been crazy. He just kicked it up a notch. Or three." Lois chuckled a little.

"Oh my God. All your friends are reporters. You practically raised the twins in the newsroom. How the hell did you hide that?" Sebast's eyes had gone wide with the fresh revelation.

"They didn't start to show any differences until they were about six, and not long after that, they learned the hard way why it was better for no one outside the family to know," Lois replied, gritting her teeth. If not for a mirror, she would've ended her family's nightmares on that yacht eighteen years ago, putting a bullet in Luthor's head. "When someone's life depends on it, you get real good at keeping secrets. Too good, sometimes."

Sebast nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think that's where she is right now. Which, okay. How did you find out? And how did you get over being lied to?"

Lois laughed at that. "Well, honestly, I started to suspect because I was always around one or the other, but they were never in the same room. If one turned up, the other had just disappeared seconds ago. Not to mention, the hero had become a little standoffish, and the man was being just a little forward. Forward for him, anyway. They were both sending mixed signals. What cinched it was seeing a side by side photo set of both of them. Then I knew, and I was out to prove it."

"How'd you manage it?" Sebast asked, with a little grin.

She couldn't help rolling her eyes at her younger self. "Jumped out a sixtieth floor window. And into the rapids below Niagara Falls. And when he managed to fake that out, I got sick of it and shot him."

Sebast's eyes went wide with shock. "You shot him?!"

"It was a blank, relax," she chuckled. "He didn't know that. He heard the shot and scolded me, said that if I'd been wrong, my friend would've died. And smartass me just grinned and told him about the blank. I wish I'd had a camera."

"Damn, all I had to do was punch a wall, find a costume, and call and ask," Sebast said, shaking his head. "What about afterward? How'd you handle the lies?"

Lois gave a chagrined laugh. "Yeah, I don't think our aftermath will work for you. See, Kala and Jason were born exactly ten months later. And boy, was I pissed at him then."

"Ten months?" Sebast asked, arching a brow.

"Their gestation is longer than ours. If I hadn't been carrying twins, they might've gone to eleven. So yeah, we got the after sorted pretty quickly. But then, all the other stuff happened." There was a wealth of sorrow, even now, looking back on those days, as her belly grew and she stared up at the sky, at first with longing, then with grief, finally with fear.

Sebast propped his chin on his hand, looking at her thoughtfully. "I don't actually know all the other stuff. I know Kala didn't meet her dad until she was almost six, and you used to be engaged to Mr. White, but there was some story about Clark being out of the country or something. I guess … I should've looked it up."

Lois sighed, and glanced around the restaurant again before speaking. The waiter arrived with their food, and she waited until he was out of earshot before replying. "He was gone, all right. He thought – he was made to think – that Krypton might still exist. And with everything that happened … hell, Sebast, the day after I found out about him was when Zod came to town."

He bristled at that name, then the implication hit. "Oh no. I did read up on that – he was missing, when they first arrived?"

Chagrined, Lois told him, "Distracted. The way it all came down, he thought he had to give up his powers to be with me. So he didn't know, when they first arrived. And when we ventured out into the light of day again, that was the first news he heard." She was leaving out a great deal, but Sebast didn't need to know all of that. "After it was all over, he thought he couldn't have me and the cape, and not even I could disagree that the world needed the cape. So … we split. And it broke my heart. His, too. He couldn't bear to see me hurt, so he found a way to make me forget what we had. And forget who he was, because I already knew Clark was head over heels for me. Before too long, it was killing him to be the only one who remembered, so when he saw the news about a home that might still exist, he went to see for himself."

She sighed, shaking her head. What fools they had all been. "Problem was, not only did he not tell his press liaison that he was about to leave for almost six years, I was already pregnant with those two. Nobody was ready for that news."

Sebast shuddered. "I can't even imagine. And hell, he took your memory – did you even know how they happened?"

"I got the memories back eventually," Lois replied. "Damn near drove myself crazy chasing after them until I managed to break through the mental block. And when I did, my heart broke all over again, because the guy I loved left me alone, in the dark, and pregnant. Anyway, now you know why I sound ready to kill him, if you read any of the articles I wrote just after he showed back up."

Taking a sip of his drink, Sebast could only shrug. "He is lucky you didn't outright kill his ass. Although, that'd be pretty hard to accomplish."

"I could've found a way," Lois admitted. "Problem was, I was still in love with him, too. A fact that did not escape the guy I was engaged to at the time, who happened to be a fanboy with S-shield decals on the wings of his seaplane."

"Ouch," Sebast winced. "God, that far back?"

Smirking, Lois added, "Oh yeah. Don't worry, the fact that he was still in love with me didn't escape anyone's notice either. Including the hometown girl high school crush turned millionaire who'd just rolled into Metropolis wanting to know if he was still single."

He almost choked on a bite of the burger. "You are all terrible people. Dios mío, at least you're making all my bullshit look salvageable."

"It was a powder keg. We got lucky – when everything went sideways, we all put the bullshit aside to save the kids. And came out of it still friends with each other, even if it took a while to get as comfortable as we are now. Of course, you have a different set of challenges." Lois looked at him with a sympathetic eye. He'd known Kala younger, and was more wrapped up in her life than Lois had been with Clark. The pressure from his parents – who were so far in denial that they might as well buy a riverboat – didn't help either.

For a few moments, they ate in silence, wrapped up in their own thoughts. Sebast washed down another bite of the burger with a large swallow of his drink, and sighed. "Well, at least we've got one thing going for us. At least she's not pregnant. Although that was well over a year ago now anyway."

That made Lois' fries go down the wrong way, and she had to cough until her eyes watered. Alarmed, Sebast patted her shoulder, muttering, "Shit, shit, shit, I forgot you didn't know about that! Sorry, I'm sorry, forget I said anything."

Lois finally managed to catch her breath, and laughed a little. The waiter had started their way, looking alarmed, and she waved him off, dabbing at her eyes with a napkin. "Well, you certainly managed to make it complicated for yourself." When he looked away, miserable and embarrassed, Lois caught his chin and tilted his face back up. "Oh, honey. You two always did love each other more than any convenient label for it."

"Yeah, well, now she's dating someone else, and that's my fault," Sebast said. "In a way, I kept secrets from her, too. I can't mess with what she has with him, though. She loves this guy. A lot. He gets her."

"So do you," Lois pointed out.

"I thought so, but there's a whole other half to her life that I knew nothing about," he replied, with a flicker of pain in his eyes.

Lois rapped him lightly on the nose. "Him, too. He's never really had a civilian life. He was in this game from like thirteen. That's what he knows. And Kala won't give up being a singer. You thought Dustin couldn't handle the vagabond rock star life, there's no way in hell you'll get him on a tour bus."

Sebast shrugged, pulling away slightly. "I just… Stuff I thought was only in newspapers, that only happened to other people, now it's dumped in my lap. No matter what I do now, my life's never gonna be the same, because anyone who knows about her is gonna assume I make a good hostage."

Lois' smile was cold and sharp. "Anyone who thinks that about you is going to find out real fast that she has her mother's temper. I'd feel sorry for them, honestly. The rest of us won't take kindly to it either. We protect our own, in this family."

"That's the same as it ever was," Sebast said, but she could see that it heartened him to hear it anyway.

"Also, most people don't have the first clue about her. There's one that knows, but most of the bad guys think she's something else entirely." Never had Lois been so happy about Kala's iconoclastic streak. It hurt her, sometimes, not to wear the family crest. But she was different enough in temperament and fashion sense that so far no one suspected she was a Super.

Sebast sighed again, lost in thought for a few moments. "Lo, how do you deal with all this shit? The person you thought you knew has a whole other world to them. How do you reconcile that?"

She leaned back in her seat, regarding him. "Sebast, that's true of any relationship. You think you know someone inside and out, but unless you've been there every day since they were born, you don't. Ask Jason and Kala, even if you were there every day, you weren't inside their head to see what they thought about everything. It's like … out at the Kent farm, there's that big field, the one the mules hang out in? And I've been there plenty of times, I've walked all over that property, I watched my kids learn to ride in that pasture. If you asked me, I'd say I know it pretty well. But last year I was walking across the same way I always do, taking a shortcut from the barn to the front yard where I parked the car, and I managed to put my foot in a hole and twist my ankle."

Sebast frowned, chewing his burger, and she continued, "Clark knew that hole was there; he's the one who mowed that field as a kid. It's a spot they've filled in before, but it's right behind a tree root and that's just how the rain collects and washes out the soil right there, so they keep having to fill it back in. He knows that, because he knows every rock and stump and hollow on that land. I thought I did. But the thing is, the grass in that little spot grows just as high as everything around it, so you can't see it until you step in it. People are like that, too, Sebast. I've know Clark almost thirty years, and every once in a while he surprises me. What I thought was a level patch of grass has a hidden rise or dip in it. You … this secret's a little more like falling into a cave, but that happens to people all the time, too. They think they know their land, and then a tree comes down on a hillside and opens up a tiny spring into an actual cavern. Everyone has worlds inside them we don't know about."

That was clearly a sobering thought, and Sebast leaned his chin on his palm, turning it over in his mind. "So what do you do? When you step onto what you thought was firm ground and fall into a cave?"

"Keep loving them anyway," Lois told him. "They're still the same person as before. It doesn't change everything you've said and done together. You still know them. You don't have to know every blade of grass in a field to make it part of your home. People do it every day. Maybe not as dramatically as this, but since when have you shied from drama?" She smiled at that, arching a brow.

He smiled back slowly. "This is why everyone loves you. And why you won a Pulitzer. You've got a gift for putting things in exactly the right words."

Lois scoffed. "I didn't at your age. Or a few years later when I was scrambling to deal with him. Hell, Sebast, at least you didn't have to make yourself believe a man can fly."

His chuckle warmed her heart, and Lois let herself believe that it was going to be all right. She shrugged. "We love them. What else can we do? Not like we get much choice."

"Amen to that," Sebast said staunchly.

…

The band were unremarkable in the main concourse at LAX. Morgan had the earliest flight, back to Metropolis, and Ned's plane left for New Orleans half an hour later. They'd both gotten nonstop flights, and the airfare was surprisingly cheap considering the distance. Perks of flying out of a large hub.

Everyone thought Kala was leaving an hour later, going to Kansas City. Which she was, but she hadn't actually bought a plane ticket. Her way was both faster and greener, and the carry-on bag she'd brought contained her Blur uniform. That'd be less conspicuous than flying around in her regular clothes.

Robb was staying; he was from California anyway, and he had invited Jennifer to his parents' Thanksgiving dinner. Her folks were in Minnesota, and she was going home for Christmas this year, staying in Los Angeles for Thanksgiving. She and Robb had driven the others to the airport, and Kala made sure to hug her tightly. "Take good care of my bassist," she said, smiling. They were going to be gone for the four-day weekend, a longer separation since the beginning of this tour.

"Oh, I will," Jennifer promised with a roguish grin, and beside her Robb turned an interesting shade of pink.

"Don't kill him, Jennifer," Kala laughed.

"He'll be fine. Just hope his parents don't kill me." She had a professional smile that Kala had seen, all perfectly capped teeth, but this one was her crooked grin that meant she was really happy. And Kala was happy for both of them.

Now maybe Kala herself might be able to put her own life together.

Ned hugged her next, resting his chin on her head, and said, "Tell the mechanic we miss him. And don't run his girlfriend off, she was nice."

"Yes, sir," Kala laughed, face buried in his shoulder. "Tell your mom we miss her, too. And tell your cousin not to give up on that rockabilly thing, I like their sound."

Morgan hugged her last, while Robb and Ned were playfully punching each other and Jennifer rolled her eyes at them. When Morgan stepped back, he caught Kala's shoulders. "You gonna be all right?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "It's only a few more shows until Christmas break. I've got this, we can work it out. And tomorrow all I have to do is eat and harass my cousins."

He nodded. "Do you think the label's gonna call you in?"

Kala stretched her neck. "Pretty sure they will. But fuck 'em, I told them we'd see after the holiday. Whatever happens, I'm not giving up."

Morgan gave her one more hug, and then said sternly, "I'm fuckin' proud of you, Kala."

Her smile wavered; he tended to see through her facade a little better than the rest. Then again, of the remaining band, Morgan had been here the longest. He'd only signed up to teach her and Sebast to play guitar, at the very beginning, and she'd sweet-talked him into joining another band. He'd since admitted he only agreed because he was trying to figure out how to ask Kala out – meanwhile Sebast had wanted to ask him out. Things had settled out for the best, but he'd known them both long enough that the fight, and the breakup, weighed more on his mind than it did on Ned and Robb.

"I'm proud of me, too," Kala said, flashing false confidence in her smile. Morgan shook his head; he knew better. But now wasn't the time to call her out.

With a few last goodbyes, they all went their separate ways, Kala heading down a different concourse from Morgan and Ned. She slowed down, picking her spot carefully, aware of cameras in the ceiling.

It wasn't cold in Los Angeles, but Kala had worn a long, lightweight coat anyway. It made sense for the colder climate she was heading to, though she really wanted it for concealment. She slipped into a bathroom and quickly changed into her uniform, buttoning the coat over the suit and pulled her hair back into a bun. Her regular clothes went into the carry-on.

Then all she had to do was walk past a sign that read 'Authorized Personnel Only' like it didn't apply to her, and quickly make her way outside. She took off from close to the terminal, and launched fast. Not sonic-boom fast, but quick enough that she'd only be a brief, concerning blip on the control tower's radar.

Kala leveled off at sixty thousand feet, well above the planes, and started soaring eastward. She was heading home, and already felt the stress of the tour rolling off her.

…

Thanksgiving, and everyone was at the Manor. Babs and Dinah had come over, they'd roped Helena into it, Tim emerged from his room over an hour before the food hit the table, and Selina dropped by. Jay didn't know that until her cat stole a shrimp right out of his hand, and had the audacity to eat it sitting right next to him. "Are you fuckin' serious?" he complained. The cat glanced up, green-gold eyes somehow far too knowing, and then dismissed him utterly.

He took another shrimp from the appetizers spread out on the coffee table, looking around the living room for some sympathy. Dick was trying to convince someone to play board games, and so far only Dinah had taken the bait, but she refused Monopoly outright. Babs was watching the news on her tablet even as she munched on some canapes. Tim was on his phone, texting – either Sandsmark or Superboy, Jay didn't know which. Bruce was reading something, too, and when Jay glanced over, he realized with a snort that it was Capespotting. "Whatever you do, B-man, don't read the fanfic," he laughed.

Bruce arched an eyebrow at him, but the damn cat stepped onto his shoulder, leaning out to steal the next shrimp. "No," Jay said firmly, and the cat blinked at him. Then she moved toward the shrimp again, and he pulled it out of her reach. "I said no, dammit, you're a cat. Cats don't get hors d'ouvres."

"She doesn't know that. And Miss Kitty wouldn't listen even if she did," Selina said, walking up behind the couch and running a gentle hand down her cat's spine. She got a purr in response, and took a napkin, picking out a selection of appetizers that she piled on it before placing them on the arm of the sofa.

Miss Kitty settled down to eat them happily, and Jay shook his head even as Selina sat down beside him. "You're feeding her caviar, Selina. Seriously?"

"Not too much," she protested. "It's too salty to be good for her, but she just wants a taste of what we have."

"Yeah, she needs to not steal mine," Jay grumbled, reaching for one of the fruit and cheese skewers next. "Does she get the theft from you, or do you get it from her?"

Selina rolled her eyes at him, but Babs spoke up then. "I'm less interested in a cat or cat burglar debate, and more interested in a bank robbery."

"Barbara," Bruce said warningly.

Babs looked up at him, unimpressed, and then turned to Selina. "What does Harley need a million dollars for?"

Jay had to admire Selina's moxie. He'd seen coverage of the robbery, sure, and there was nothing there to prove Selina had been involved … but they all knew she was. And yet Bruce hadn't said a word when she arrived, and now she was sitting with her legs crossed nibbling on caviar, just as bold as her cat.

She swallowed, and smiled at Babs. "Well, I'm hoping she'll use it for running money. She and Pam are kinda tossing around the idea of getting out of this town."

Bruce frowned at her, and Jay just leaned against the arm of the couch, letting it play out. "Selina. Do you know where Harley is?"

Green eyes narrowed, and Jay wanted to chuck a pillow at Bruce. Way to ruin a nice relaxing Thanksgiving with family, and Alfred would probably have some very droll words to say if they managed to have a huge fight before the turkey was even on the table. But instead of getting pissed, Selina just shrugged. "Of course not. Bruce, you know I want the best for her. She's my friend. If I had any idea where she was right now, I'd tell you."

Jay looked across at Babs, who'd raised a skeptical brow. Dinah and Dick, who had settled on Risk and somehow convinced Helena to join them, even turned around at those words. Tim didn't look up from his phone, but he was definitely listening.

"Joker's awake. Harley isn't safe, wherever she is." Bruce stated that without ever admitting he doubted Selina.

She licked a bit of crème fraiche off her thumb. "I know. Arkham's for damn sure not safe, either. If she gets locked up, Bruce, you might as well paint a target on her back, because he'll know right where she is and how to get to her. Harley's never going to be safe while he's alive, not after this. But then, who's safe? None of us are. This house is pretty secure, but we all have to go out in the world sometime. Hell, I could get hit by a bus crossing the street tomorrow."

The cat walked across Jay's shoulders to curl up on Selina's, purring, and Selina petted her head gently. Bruce just sighed. "This is not going to end well. You know that the same as I do."

Selina arched a brow, and turned to Jay. "Hey, Hood, you got any immediate plans to kill Joker while he's still in the hospital?"

The bald way she asked it made him laugh. "Fuck, Selina, if I was gonna do it, it'd already be done. Can't say I haven't thought about it, but shit, you'd all know it was me."

A wave of unease passed through the room, but Selina turned to Babs next. "What about you? I bet you could hack his monitors and triple his dose of morphine. No one would ever guess it was anything other than a malfunction."

Babs blinked at her, and Jay didn't laugh at her affronted expression. "One, I don't do that. Two, the data feeds from IV pumps only go one way for a reason."

Selina frowned. "Huh, I really thought you could make that work somehow. Then again, if you can't do it, no one can. Helena, you don't have personal beef with Joker, do you?"

Helena looked at her in surprise, then said, "I gave up vengeance killing some time ago, Selina."

That got a chuckle from Selina. "You sound like you gave it up for Lent and just never started again. Okay then, that settles most of the morally-gray people in the room, except yours truly. And frankly, much as I'd like to see that bastard in the ground, the whole not-killing thing is one of the few advantages I have over your wife, Bruce."

Jay gritted his teeth, trying not to laugh out loud at Bruce's flummoxed expression. Selina really wasn't pulling any punches tonight, no matter how playful she was. She looked at Jay, and put a theatrical finger to her lips. "Ooooh, there's a thought. Maybe I should call Talia and spend that million putting out a hit on Joker. She might not want to get her hands dirty, but the League of Shadows has assassins aplenty."

"Selina," Bruce scolded.

"Bruce," she shot back, and now Jay saw the flash of her temper. "Look, you know better than to ask me something like that. I'm not turning the girls in, even if I did know where they are, and they're smart enough to have moved since I last saw them because everyone in this city knows we're sleeping together. I swear, even Oswald knows there's a line I won't cross. I don't dime out my friends." A pause, and her mouth twisted. "Unless it's the only way to keep them safe, but hell. That was only once. And locking them both up would just be dangerous now."

"What did Penguin want to know that you wouldn't tell him?" Bruce asked, zeroing in on peripheral information the way he always did. Jay could almost admire that about him, if he hadn't been on the receiving end of it too often.

Selina scoffed. "The same thing everyone wants to know. Pam asked me, too. I promise you this much, they're not gonna find out we have Supergirl running around town from me."

"They damn well better not," Jay growled, unaware that his hands were unconsciously balling into fists.

At least, until Selina pinned the heel of her shoe against his throat, looking at him without surprise. She was goddamn fast, and he wouldn't have thought that the careless-looking way she'd been seated on the couch was a good defensive position. "Down, boy. I said I'm not sharing that. Partly because yeah, I like the girl, she seems like something we could use a little more of around here. Mostly because when that news does break, everyone's gonna lose their damn minds. She spooked Pam, and kicked poor Johnny's ass, so she's not just a Super, she's a Kryptonian with a temper. That whole thing with the roof when the kids were in trouble? Harv better watch himself if he runs across her."

Jay curled his lip, and shoved her foot away. "Yeah, she doesn't have a whole lot of patience for the bullshit. She even stood up to Joker."

Selina's eyebrows went up. "Oh yeah? I heard a different version of that. According to Harley – who also got her ass kicked, but Kala looked after Bud and Lou, so she gets a pass – all Joker said about crossing paths with Blur was that the two of you were disgustingly overprotective. Young love, blah blah blah. Which, yeah, obvious."

"Oh fuck off," Jay grumbled, the hair on the nape of his neck prickling. "If Bruce hadn't called her off, she would've crispy-fried the miserable fuck."

Selina leaned against the back of the couch, turned toward him. "Of course he wouldn't tell Harley he got trashed, too. But damn, Jay, have you two heard of subtlety?"

"I'm sorry, Ms. Everyone-in-this-town-knows-I'm-banging-Batman? You're trying to lecture me on subtlety?" Jay challenged, trying to quell the unease. He'd told Kala his history with Joker. And her reaction was to get, well, Super-protective. Turn the fucker into a greasy smear kind of protective. Forget her dad's code or Bruce's, she'd have broken his jaw at minimum to shut him up. That was … terrifyingly reassuring, and just plain terrifying, all at the same time. Maybe Selina had a point about how the Gotham rogues would react.

To his surprise, Selina laughed. "Look, that's not my fault. He's the one who keeps letting me go. Even the most cynical bastard in this town knows it means something when Batman bends his moral code. They don't even realize I know his real name, I'm that good."

Bruce frowned at her, and Selina just raised her eyebrows at him. Jay thought they'd stay locked into a staring match until Alfred called them all to the table, but into the silence Tim spoke up. "You don't actually have Talia's phone number, do you?"

Jay saw the disapproving look on Bruce's face, and chuckled to himself, thinking that was the oddest part of that conversation to fixate on. Selina just grinned. "Yeah, I do, actually. And she's got mine, as a matter of fact. I'm gonna make a shared calendar so we know who gets custody of Bruce when. Why, do you want me to call her up? You're old money, too, you wanna chip in on the Joker hit fund?"

That left Jay choking on laughter, both at Selina's droll delivery and Bruce's horrified expression. Much to his surprise, Babs looked up thoughtfully. "Is it a rerouted number, or do you think you have her actual direct line? Because that could be extremely useful."

"Oh, it's got to be a reroute," Selina said. "I doubt her direct line actually rings, it's all call forwarding through a dozen numbers so the signal can't be tracked. Why, are you trying to track her down? Want me to call and ask just to see what she says?"

"Wait, since when are you talking?" Jay cut in, because Bruce looked like he was about to have an aneurysm. "What the fuck, Selina?"

"It's the prank war," she explained. "I signed her up for dating services, she created a fake dog training company in my name. Which Oswald already knows about, by the way, so I can hear about that for the next ten years."

"You're pushing your luck," Babs warned.

Dinah, however, just crossed her arms and looked at Selina thoughtfully. "How'd you get her back for the dog training thing?"

Jay saw Selina brighten with the most smugly self-satisfied smile he'd ever seen. "You'll see. She hasn't found it yet. Hey Babs, if you did have that number, could you track her phone through the reroutes and find out where she actually is? Because she's not gonna get my revenge until she goes back to her place in London."

That was enough to make Jay uneasy; he remembered Talia's London flat too well. How the hell Selina had even gotten in … well, she was Catwoman. If she could break into his building, he guessed she could break into Talia's place too. He just really hoped Selina hadn't taken one of a handful of prized antique weapons stored there. That would really set Talia off. And he for damn sure didn't want to see this whole crazy prank war thing Selina had going on blow up in her face.

Babs, however, was answering her question. "I could try, but she's likely got safeguards against that. And I currently suspect she's in Libya. There's League of Shadows problems there."

Selina sighed, flopping back against the back of the couch. "Well damn. It's been long enough now that she probably thinks I'm just gonna let it go. I don't want her to think I'm scared or anything."

"Please tell me you didn't steal something from her," Jay finally said. "I mean, we saw the bracelet, but jewelry's not a big deal. She has plenty of it. Selina, if you took something she actually cares about…"

"I didn't take anything," Selina insisted. "I just left her something. She'll see it whenever she gets back to London."

Jay rubbed a hand over his face. "If you did something ridiculous like leave a pound of Limburger cheese in her fridge, Selina, I swear…"

"Relax, Hood," Selina laughed. "I don't do gross-outs. Besides, I'm sure she has a service to clean up before she gets back. Probably has Daddy's henchmen do it. I don't think any maid service would come back, with all the weapons in that place."

Jay looked at her narrowly. "I hope to God you didn't mess with any of her weaponry. Last I checked, she keeps some of the personal stuff in London. That engraved Python revolver that was made for a prince is locked up there, when she's not carrying it. I know she'd kill over that gun."

And never mind how Dick was frowning, or how calculatingly Babs and Bruce were eyeing him. They ought to know this stuff, too. Talia was particular about her weapons. She had drop guns like every other killer, but there were certain swords and knives, certain pistols like the Python, and at least one sniper rifle that Talia was very careful about. If Selina had scratched the finish on the Python, or chipped the enamel on the hilt of that one Egyptian sword, there'd be hell to pay. It wouldn't be a series of pranks anymore, it'd just be war. And Jay liked Selina well enough to not want that to happen.

She reached out and patted his hand. "Relax, Jay. I'm not foolish enough to mess with any weapons owned by the Queen of Assassins herself. This is strictly high school, college level prank stuff. I mean, more expensive, obviously, but she can afford it. We're both having fun with it."

"And that is the most bizarre sentence I've heard in my life," Dinah declared.

Selina just shrugged. "She's not going away. I've gotta deal with her if I wanna keep playing with him. And sue me, I've got a soft spot for big dumb handsome men who share my love of cosplay."

Bruce just stared at her, but Tim apparently felt the need to defend him. "You do realize he exceeds all the requirements for Mensa membership, right?"

She just chuckled. "Oh yeah, he's brilliant. World's Greatest Detective, IQ second only to Lex Luthor, card-carrying genius. In emotional intelligence, though, he makes Forrest Gump look like Einstein."

That made all of them laugh, with a horrified edge to it. Dick was the one who actually said, "Damn, Selina! That is cold!"

"It's not a lie," she said, raising her hands. "Someone has to speak truth to power. And he loves me for not ever lying, not even to make him feel better. Besides, I admit the man has come a long way. Here he is, Mr. Stoic, eating hors d'ouvres and reading the news with his whole family. Ten years ago this much domesticity would've sent him out the window in the Bat-suit."

"Can't really argue that," Jay said thoughtfully. Bruce just kept his mouth shut, which maybe proved he was smarter than even Tim though – or he just knew better than to argue with Selina when her claws were already out. "Hell, there've been times when most of us would head out the window. There's a lot of fuckin' neuroses and bad coping mechanisms in this room, not to mention some really checkered history."

"But we're all here anyway. And I'd love to take the credit for that, but really, it's Alfred." Selina smiled even as she said it, looking toward the door, where Alfred had just appeared.

"I'm certain I have no idea what you mean, Miss Kyle," he told them in his most formal tones. "However, I must announce that dinner is nearly ready. I do require some assistance getting the larger items to table."

Jay stood up, along with Dick and Tim, because helping Alfred carry plates meant getting the first chance at the food. No one would miss a small slice of turkey or a broken bit of pastry. Dick looked at him, and grinned, both of them remembering what it was like as a kid, striving for that first bite mostly because Bruce would scold them, gently, if he caught them at it. Jay's thing had always been sneaking bits of meat off the turkey carcass while Alfred carried the carved platter into the dining room.

It gave him pause today, snatching a scrap off the breastbone for old times' sake, before carrying the first ham out. Jay could remember the first time he'd sat down to a meal like this, being awed by the sheer amount and variety of food on the table. Not even in the good years with Willis and Catherine had he ever had a meal like a Wayne Manor Thanksgiving. It was a level of decadence he hadn't thought existed outside of fiction, much less that he'd ever be able to eat as much as he wanted. Even with months of good meals, he'd been damn near comatose after his first major holiday here as a kid.

And then, for a while, he'd been certain that not only would he never set a welcome foot in the Manor again, but that he didn't want to. Jay had told himself that he didn't miss his old life, didn't miss his late childhood and early adolescence here, that his sense of betrayal was stronger than those good memories. He'd focused on the bad ones instead to fuel his hatred, and let his outrage burn hot enough to keep him warm through the loneliness.

Now? Here he was again, sitting down to dinner with people he'd tried to kill, and they liked him being here. And he even liked being here with them. Basically all the Bats were under one roof, and no one had gotten shot yet. Hell, no one was even drunk. It was … weird. But good.

…

Thanksgiving in Smallville had turned out to be the easiest way for Elise and Jason to handle the holiday. They didn't have to do anything, really – Elise gladly turned her kitchen over to Mr. Kent, and went to relax on the couch. She could hear kids running around outside – some of the younger cousins were playing with the kids of the older cousins. Elise leaned back, sipped spiced cider, and was glad there were plenty of genuine adults around to supervise them.

She didn't feel quite like enough of an adult, herself, even with the twins growing steadily and her work progressing. Let someone old enough to be her parent take charge. Jason was in the middle of it with them all, being a good host, but Elise had been told in no uncertain terms by Lois Lane-Kent herself to take it easy. As the only other mother of twins, Lois had adamant that Elise needed to relax while she could.

Lois had also told her, quietly, about meeting with Sebast a few days ago. He'd gone away from it with a lot to think about, but everyone was hoping that he and Kala could salvage their friendship. From the way Lois spoke, Elise wondered if she knew the two had been trending toward more than friends – but she wasn't going to bring that up. It was still too potentially explosive, and Kala was going to arrive shortly anyway.

So she lounged, and listened to half a dozen conversations. Someone had to talk football, with Sam Troupe debating the merits of various teams, getting some chiding from Richard and his own father Ron. Clark came in to support him in rooting for the underdog, but he was a Chiefs fan. Lana, Lucy, and Lucy's oldest girl Nora were in the kitchen at the moment, keeping an eye on the turkey and setting up side dishes, talking lightly about the flight out and their Black Friday plans. Nora's husband had gotten sidetracked by the conversation between Lois, Maggie Sawyer, and Tobie Raines, who were planning to set up the trap machine and shoot some clay targets either after dinner, or tomorrow morning.

Outside were Kristin, Sam's kids, Nora's daughter, Joanna and Michelle Troupe, all watched over by Cat Grant and her boyfriend Ian. Cat was still keeping a watchful eye on her son Adam, but the younger kids were being reasonably good. The Hubbard grandchildren had wandered over, too. Luckily the weather had been oddly warm this week, and there was no snow on the ground for them to start snowball fights. Last Elise had checked, there was a complicated variation of hide and seek going on, although how anyone could hide with a dozen Hubbard and Kent beagles running around, Elise didn't know. Almost everyone in the family had dogs, but they hadn't been subjected to the flight – except Bagel, who was getting up in years and whose attendance had been requested by Kala.

Kala had wanted to see her dog, after an awful week, and though Lois had crabbed about Bagel being their dog for the last ten years at least, they'd brought Bagel along. Elise turned to look at Kala, on the other sofa, and smiled to see Bagel sprawled out with her. Kala had flung an arm around the snoring dog, and the two looked like the definition of after-dinner nap.

Except, dinner hadn't been served yet, and normally Kala would be in the middle of all of everything, teasing the football fans, threatening to out-shoot her mother, and sneaking into the kitchen to ogle dessert. If not outright steal a cookie. She'd take her turn playing with the younger kids, always willing to make up something new on the spot or join them at board games or video games.

Of course, normally her partner in crime would be right there with her. If they were doing Thanksgiving in Metropolis, Sebast would eat with his parents around midday and then come over to the Kents' place for dessert. If the tour was on the road and they were dining in Smallville, sometimes he'd come with Kala to Kansas, depending on how things were with his parents. Even if he wasn't there, Sebast would always call her, or text her pictures of the food at his parents' house. Everyone in the extended Lane-Kent-White-Troupe family had grown used to hearing about Mikey's latest shenanigans or what Sebast's abuelita had said after a glass of rum. They always asked Kala what he was up to lately.

This year, everyone had been forewarned about the band issues and that Kala and Sebast weren't speaking, so no one had asked. There'd been plenty of discussion before she got there, of course; the idea of Kala and Sebast not being platonic life-mates was disturbing. Elise had found herself biting her tongue; too much of the reasons why were bound up in the other family history. The story they were going with was as close to the truth as they could safely get: that Kala was dating a guy Sebast didn't approve of.

Of course, that led to a whole other set of problems, namely speculation on who the guy was and why he wasn't with her at Thanksgiving. On the whole, it was probably best that Kala had come in, hugged everyone, scarfed up half the spinach dip, and then passed out. They'd been able to put off most questions by Lois' grumpy-sounding complaint that she hadn't even met the guy yet, so he wasn't going to be subjected to extended family interrogation when the relationship was only a few months old.

No one in the subset of family who knew the secret wanted to deal with all the baggage of Kala dating a Wayne boy. That would take a ton of explanation, and pique everyone's interest. Elise knew Kala would hate that scrutiny, and from what she'd heard of Jason Todd, he'd explode from too much extra attention. Unlike the rest of the boys, he had no social media, and none of the news connected to the Waynes ever mentioned him.

Elise sighed quietly. She and Jason had told everyone who asked – and many of them asked – that they'd spoken to Sebast, that he was okay, and that he, Kala, and the label were working on patching things up. But it was still the juiciest news of the year, and half of them were reporters. They couldn't help being interested.

Her falling asleep like this, clearly exhausted from running the tour by herself after kicking her manager out, had turned them all toward feeling sorry for her. Elise knew Kala would hate that, if she were awake for it. She'd rather be in trouble than be pitied.

As if she were aware of Elise's thoughts, Kala's brow furrowed in sleep. She shifted, looking uncomfortable, and jostled Bagel. The little dog picked her head up, looked around blearily, then hopped down to the floor and headed into the kitchen. Kala still frowned, and shook her head, her hand gripping the pillow.

Elise got to her feet, massaging her back briefly, and made her way over to the other couch. A year ago she would've sat down on the floor, but right now, she didn't think she could stand up on her own if she did that. Her center of gravity was too wonky. So she leaned against the arm of the sofa, and ran her hands through Kala's hair, trying to soothe her without waking her.

Jason came in then, and headed right for Kala. Elise raised an eyebrow at him. "Nightmare," he said solemnly, and dropped to one knee beside his twin. Touching her shoulder gently, he leaned in close and murmured to her in Kryptonese.

Yeah, that was a risk, but Elise had heard about Kala's nightmares. Her having one in a house full of people who didn't know the family secret was a bigger risk. They didn't need Kala searing a wall with heat vision, or kicking a couch apart. Elise knew the language even if she couldn't speak it well, and Jason told his sister over and over again that she was safe and well, that she could rest, no harm would find her.

Her eyes opened, and she looked at him, her sleep-rough voice asking in the same language, [Where am I, brother?] That was never not going to freak Elise out just a little. Kala sounded like a native speaker, more so than Jason.

He answered her in English. "My house. It's Thanksgiving, you zonked out on the sofa. Having nightmares again, Kal?"

She sat up, scrubbing a hand over her face. "I can't remember. It was … I lost something, I was trying to find it, something else was trying to find me. I don't remember what, though." Kala scoffed, and Elise could see her armoring herself against the exhaustion and any unwelcome questions. "I'm disappointed, honestly. Usually my nightmares are a lot more specific, and more operatic."

Elise bit her lip. She'd been around long enough to know there were two main fears that cropped up in Kala's subconscious: Zod, and the ocean. Neither of which she deserved to have, and if it had been up to Elise, Luthor would pay for it.

Jason just leaned in and kissed his sister's forehead. "Well, Mothra, I'm gonna assume that's just another symptom of being so tired you can't even go pester our cousins. You always have to take everything a step further – I'm not surprised you're not just burning the candle at both ends, you're running a Bic along the thing, too."

She started to smile, but it crumpled. "Yeah, I … I probably am."

He glanced up at Elise, who nodded, guessing what he was about to say. "Go up, then. We'll cover for you. How long's it been since you got properly sunned up?"

Kala laughed weakly. "There hasn't been time for that."

"Is it because you're running back and forth between coasts?" Jason asked.

Hazel eyes narrowed. "No, Jase. I haven't been to Gotham in almost two weeks. I've barely spoken to him. The label's dropped me into this headfirst. I fired Derek, so they're making me do all the managerial shit, including hotel reservations, on top of lead singer. Pretty sure I'm going to get pulled into the Principal's office before the break actually starts. And I've got to wrangle the boys, which I'm happy for Robb but if I take my eyes off him for two seconds, he's either calling Jennifer or running off to meet her. I'm gonna put one of those backpack leashes on him, I swear."

"Have you talked to Sebast at all?" Jason asked.

She looked heartbroken. "No."

Elise stepped in. "Okay, here's what we're gonna do. You're gonna go up for an hour. I'll lock myself in the bedroom; Jase, you tell them I'm having a pregnant crisis and need my sister-in-law to tell me I'm still beautiful when I look like I swallowed a basketball."

Kala laughed softly. "You sound like Mom."

"I feel like your mom did," Elise replied, reaching out for Jason's shoulder. "Only I got lucky, and I have my family to help me."

Giving her a watery smile, Kala said, "Yeah, if Lizardboy tries to leave you to find a planet, I'll knock the shit outta him. Elise – I love you. I love you both."

"Yeah, we love you too," Jason said. "Not like we had a choice. Don't fall asleep up there, okay? You'll leave too big of an impact crater."

"Great, now he's calling me fat," Kala joked, and levered herself off the couch. She hugged Jason tight, the two of them holding on. Elise watched them, thinking that Jason had known she was having a nightmare even while he was several rooms away. It hurt him so much to see her upset, but they couldn't put the pieces of Kala's life back together for her. And she wouldn't have appreciated them trying, either.

Kala and Elise slipped away upstairs, and after Elise locked the door, Kala slid the window open, checked for observers, pressed a quick kiss to her sister-in-law's cheek at super-speed, and flew. Elise closed it gently behind her, privately hoping her own twins didn't get flight. It was awfully useful, but she didn't relish the idea of trying to keep up with kids who could literally fly away.