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Rex was still reeling from everything.
He and Lily had discussed it briefly, but now there was no doubt. Someone was after them. Of course, things wouldn't be as simple as waiting for Gold to return and going home. They couldn't leave without dealing with this first, which was definitely going to be a pain in the ass. A hero's work was done when he was dead, his father had always told him.
He sighed as he rinsed of his hands, watching as the blood washed away down the drain. Rex had never been bothered by blood; he couldn't be doing what he did. But the fact that it was Lily's-
He stopped himself. He really couldn't think about Lily right now. If he did, he would start worrying and then he would never be able to stop.
Rex closed his eyes. 'M'gann?' he thought. There was something that needed to be addressed. He just hoped she could hear him. 'Can you-?'
'Call a meeting?' guessed M'gann telepathically, always a step ahead. 'You got it. The Founders have been in their own meeting for hours. Now is as good of a time as ever.'
The half-Thanagarian closed his eyes in silent contemplation, carefully mulling over his decision. 'Thanks,' he replied. 'Tell West,.0 Kent, Lantern, and McGinnis to meet in the hall in ten.'
He could feel her skepticism from her. 'You don't want Lily to know?' the Martian questioned. 'She's gonna be pissed when she finds out.'
Rex grimaced; indeed she would be. But she would get over it- eventually. 'I don't want to stress her out,' he defended. 'She needs to focus on getting better. She can't do that if she's throwing herself into a case.'
He could practically hear M'gann sigh. 'Alright,' she agreed reluctantly. 'I'll leave her temper to you. See you in ten.'
Once her mental presence had left him, Rex sighed. Realistically, it would have been better to have Lily with them. She was the best detective they had. Though, McGinnis was getting good. As much as he couldn't stand the twip, Terry had saved all their asses when he first joined the League. They would have to do with him for now.
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"She's gonna kick your ass."
Surprisingly, this statement came from Henry. "I'm more than capable of handling Lily, Kent," Rex shot back coolly. And to be fair, that wasn't a lie. He was the only one who could take on all of her moods. Sometimes, not even Barry or Terry could handle her. That was just how it had always been. "Which is more than I can say for you."
Henry glared at him with violet eyes, but said nothing.
Barry rolled his eyes. "Can we talk about the elephant in the room?" he demanded. "My best friend is laying in a hospital bed and I'd like to know who did it."
Terry took out a file. "I made a list of Gotham rogues," he told them. Rex would never admit how impressed he was. "And some of yours, but there was only so much I could do with my interface. You lot are going to have to fill in the blanks."
Kai-Ro, who Rex honestly hadn't seen much of this entire time, scanned the contents with his ring. "Not bad," he commented. "Although, I doubt any of your rogues are responsible."
M'gann nodded. "It has to be a League enemy," she agreed, brushing back her short red hair. "Lily was attacked as Wonder Woman, not Nightingale. At least, that's what I'm assuming since they obviously know your identities."
"We can't rule out the possibility that a Gotham rogue is working with one of our guys," pointed out Barry. "It's happened before. If this is the case, we know which one is the most obvious for the male assailant."
"Mad Stan," Terry supplied, his lenses narrowing into slits. "Or maybe one of the Jokerz, but I doubt that. If he can go toe-to-toe with Diana, then Mad Stan is the only one I can think of." He put a hand on his chin. "But this really isn't his MO. He's all about overthrowing the bureaucracy, that sort of thing. He wouldn't go out of his way to target us in the past. He wouldn't accept a bribe to either."
"Mind control?" suggested Rex. He didn't think they had any major or even minor villains known for mind control. "M'gann, if you were close enough, could you check?"
"Probably," answered M'gann. "We would have to draw them out first."
Kai-Ro nodded. "But how?" he wondered.
"Lucky for you all, I have an idea."
Barry rolled his eyes. "The queen has risen." Nevertheless, he looked pleased that she was up and about.
Rex groaned as he met weary sapphire eyes. "You just don't know how to sit still, do you?" he said irritably. This was exactly what he had wanted to avoid. She needed to rest.
Lily shot him a glare promising fierce vengeance. Though, he couldn't help but think that there was something more behind her gaze. "No, it's one of my many fatal flaws," she replied dryly. "Now, are you ready to hear what I have to say?"
He rolled his eyes at her notorious manhandling of any situation she could get her hands on, but didn't protest. Her plans were always well thought out and masterful, so he knew not to object. Rex gestured dramatically. "The floor is yours, Your Highness."
Her fingers curled at her sides, but she decided to ignore him. "Okay, here's what we're going to do..."
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The Founders' meeting was tense.
Shayera glanced between her teammates. Clark looked nervous. Bruce was his usual glowering self, though somehow he seemed silently furious. He could try to hide it all he wanted, she knew that some part of him had been affected by Lily's assault. Poor Diana had been silent to whole time, her eyes glued to the table. She had grown quite attached to her daughter. And of course, no one could blame her. John had been quiet too, but Shayera expected it was for an entirely different reason.
This would be interesting.
The only ones who were acting like themselves were Wally and J'onn, who were virtually unaffected. "This is a precarious situation," J'onn reminded them. "We are facing enemies we know nothing about."
"We don't know anything," Clark agreed. "But the future League most likely does. If they were targeted, the assailants were probably someone from their time."
"But Rex and Lily were caught completely off guard," John reminded them. "Whoever these attackers were, the kids don't know their identities."
Shayera nearly snorted at his use of 'kids.' Rex was in his thirties; he was older than her. But she supposed it was easier for him to see them as children since they hadn't even been born yet.
"Then how do we go forward?" she asked. "We have no knowledge of these enemies, therefore no means to defeat them. And if they're from the future, there's no doubt they have information on us."
The battle had proved that. The woman had been sly, quick. She had easily evaded her and countered Bruce, which was not easy to do. The man had been strong, nearly as strong as Diana. And headstrong. It was almost like he hadn't registered the pain John and Diana had inflicted on him.
They had no idea who they were dealing with.
Diana suddenly looked up, a righteous fury in her eyes. "I don't know why we're sitting here and not hunting down my daughter's aggressor," she snapped. Studying her friend, Shayera realized just how much Diana was struggling. And Shayera couldn't fault her. In the span of just over a week, Lily had become Diana's entire world.
Had Rex become hers?
"Easy, Di," soothed Wally from her right. "I know you're pissed. But if we want to catch these, we have to be careful."
Shayera smiled at the way the other redhead's words calmed Diana down. Wally really had a gift with his words, when he wanted to. The princess nodded reluctantly, slumping back into her chair.
"Why don't we ask them?" suggested Clark, though he looked uneasy. Which was understandable, considering how distant his son had been. Their successors had all reached out to them in some way, shape, or form. But the second Superman didn't seem to have any interest in connecting with his father.
It made her wonder how their relationships with their children would survive the test of time.
J'onn nodded. "I think that would be a good place to start," he agreed. "Even if they haven't figured out who, it might give us insight on how to handle the situation."
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And so there was a discussion.
The meeting between the two teams was ridiculously long. It took a little over four hours as information was shared and plans were made. It all came together well enough. Lily's plan to catch the perpetrators was simple, though solid. Bruce wasn't particularly happy with it, but even he had to admit it was the best course of action. Though, Lily's plans usually were.
Rex, however, had some concerns.
"Is using you as bait really necessary?" he questioned, watching as she typed away on one of the computers. She was gathering intelligence; on what, exactly, he didn't know.
Lily barely spared him a glance. "Yes," she answered. Her slender fingers diligently glided across the keyboard. "They already targeted me once before, they'll do it again."
Rex couldn't help but glare at her. "Yeah, and you almost died," he pointed out. The memory was sure to stay in his head; of her blood staining the pavement, staining his hands. How could she just forget-?
Sharp eyes finally met his as the typing ceased. "What's your problem?" demanded Lily, her dispassionate façade cracking slightly. "I've 'almost died' at least thirty times before in the past nine years and you've barely blinked. What makes now so different?" There was something almost... afraid about her expression. He couldn't place what it was. What did she have to be scared about?
"You don't have powers," he pointed out, exasperated. "I don't see why you have to put yourself on the front-"
Her top lip curled. "I don't need powers," she almost snarled. "I can handle myself."
Rex quickly reigned in his temper before he could say something he would later regret. It wasn't often he found himself irritated with Lily, but lately... "Just be careful," he relented. Something nagged him to say this, something like a sixth sense. Was there another reason he was being so insistent about her safety?
He didn't know.
Lily closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "I will," she accepted, her features relaxing marginally.
Rex gave her what he hoped resembled a smile. "That's all I ask." The half-Thanagarian turned to leave, pleased with himself.
He was almost at the door when she called out, "Rex?"
Rex turned back to look at her. "Yeah?" he asked.
A myriad of emotions passed through her blue eyes. There was something almost vulnerable about Lily's posture, though he had no idea why that was. She stared at him for several long seconds, her mouth partly open as if she wanted to say something, but couldn't for whatever reason. It was so unlike her that he started to fear that something was seriously wrong.
Finally Lily merely settled on, "You be careful too, okay?" she asked quietly.
Rex grinned uncertainly at her. "I'm always careful," he joked, knowing that this was in no way the case. But he felt it necessary to assure her for whatever reason.
She gave him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I know."
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This chapter didn't go at all as I had originally planned it, but I think that's a good thing lol. Anyway, I hope you liked it and please review!