Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted materials contained herein. They are the rightful property of their respective creators and/or associated companies. I make no profit from this whatsoever and I have no intention of changing this at any point in the future. I write because it's fun and because there are those who enjoy reading my stories. Therefore please no lawsuits or court orders to cease and desist.
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The Present
Sophie Snow aka Willow Rosenberg's POV
"It took a while to officially found the company and then wait for the scientists I'd recruited while working for Lexcorp to arrive after their respective resignations," she explained, quite proud of all she'd accomplished, "but it was well worth it when I walked into my corporate headquarters for the first time."
"But how did you afford it all?" Cordelia asked, sounding impressed but puzzled at the same time. "Ya weren't rich before getting hired on at Lexcorp and I doubt a nine to five job there suddenly put you in the six figure salary bracket."
"Let's just say some 'silent backers' whose identities will remain a mystery saw fit to provide me with quite a bit of seed money for my company," she said with a smile as she remembered how she'd acquired the money. "Still, I've made good use of it. Better than they would have in any case."
"You didn't… you know, tweak some millionaire's mind to make a generous contribution, did ya?" Cordelia asked, sounding a little uneasy.
"No one who came by those millions legally," she replied with a knowing grin.
"You mean you ripped off criminals!?" Cordelia exclaimed in surprise after connecting the dots.
"I can neither confirm or deny that theory." She knew better than to brag. What was the point when Rogue's successor had already figured it out?
"Once I made sure that I had enough it was easy to acquire a property, outfit it with the technological necessities and turn it into the best it could be," she said, remembering all the purchases she'd made with care and precision. "With the right people staffing it we quickly began making progress both in improving the company's reputation AND putting out products to help the world. Once I had enough presence I even began to expand by buying out other companies."
"I hope you didn't use moves from Frost's playbook when you 'acquired' other companies," Cordelia said, sounding like she didn't approve of such ruthless methods.
"I may have inherited a lot from Emma Frost but I am NOT her," she said with a slight narrowing of her eyes. "All the businesses I acquired were already on the downward spiral due to bankruptcy or had no future due the poor leadership of their owners. I acquired them to help the employees reach their full potential and to save them from unemployment. True, some of the owners of the various businesses required some 'thoughtful persuasion' to get them to sign things over to me but it was for the best. Sadly about a month ago one of my acquisitions got the wrong sort of attention."
"Bad guys?" Cordelia asked with concern.
"Worse. The good guys," she replied, remembering how it'd all gone down.
Star City
One Month Prior
The East Side Docks
~Not the way I'd imagined things would go but it should work out well enough~, she thought, putting her street clothes in a locker before closing the door and adding a 'lock' of her own.
Indeed, it'd all started out innocently enough with a meeting involving a company that, from what she'd learned, had the potential to revolutionize the energy industry. Sadly the company was getting stonewalled by legal red tape and plagued by 'accidents' that set back their efforts by decades. While she didn't have any evidence she could take to the police, her telepathic eavesdropping proved to be enough to confirm that the people who made a profit off of conventional sources were behind it. It made sense since, if the company's work succeeded, the barons of fossil fuels and nuclear power stood to lose quite a bit of money.
The owners had done all they could to protect their employees and their ideas but it just wasn't proving to be enough. That was why she'd stepped up to take the company for herself since she had assets that the current owner didn't.
Sadly the CEO of the company had proven reluctant to sign over his company to her and had only been willing to make talk of alliances or co-ventures. Her telepathic powers told her that he had strong emotional ties to the company due to a promise made to his dead sister and refused to accept that he could take the company no further.
And so, over the course of several meetings, she'd telepathically nudged him into doing the right thing.
Within days the company became a part of Snow Enterprises and, with the resources she provided, almost all the employees were excited about the new opportunities they now had. However within a month of the acquisition trouble popped up in the form of destroyed labs and near death experiences by employees. It hadn't gotten to the point where they all left the company but she knew it'd go in that direction eventually, unless they were reassured that they'd be safe.
Thus she'd stayed after hours for over a week, staking out probable targets in the building, and just when she was about to give up it happened. A group of thugs carrying a combination of illegal guns and gas-filled gas cans broke into the building and made for the alternative energy labs. Not keen on letting anything get damaged she was quick to stop them telepathically and, once they were suitably restrained, she scanned their minds for answers.
She learned that they were a part of criminal organization run by a man called Brick.
The man possessed superhuman strength and durability, making it necessary for unusual means to be used to subdue him for the police. From what she saw in the minds of the men sent to harm her work, though, the man was just a step or three above that of a gang leader with his bling and his gold tooth. A complete lack of sophistication and professional behavior cemented Brick in her mind as a thug with delusions above his station.
However she didn't believe that he was the one behind the attack but rather was just the hired muscle. Likely being promised a large sum of money and certain 'perks' if they made sure that the project was destroyed beyond all hope of continuation. The most annoying part of it all was the fact that, even with the minions sent to prison, this wouldn't be the last attack. Either Brick would send more thugs with better weapons or someone else would be given the job potentially doing a better job of it than the first batch had.
She needed to send a clear and impactful message to the criminal element that Snow Enterprises was not a company to take on lightly.
She'd spent some time looking and found an opportunity that looked almost too good to be true.
She'd learned that Brick liked to hold underground cage matches operating under Thunder Dome rules: two people enter but only one left alive. According to what she'd learned the man used the matches as a proving ground for who he let work for him, as well as a way to intimidate his enemies when he himself chose to participate. The bodies of the losers were disposed of like anyone else Brick chose to kill, with so far no one being able to find any of them. Fortunately for her she'd been able to lift three out of the five dump sites from the minds of the goons.
They'd make for a good exclamation point for what was about to happen.
"Hey, newbie! You're up," a punk girl growled from the entrance of the locker room. "Try not to die too quickly. I want some entertainment."
"Don't worry. I think tonight's going to be the night no one will forget," she said with a grin before striding with confidence for the door.
The building the cage matches happened in was… sanitary for the most part, but it was clear that Brick didn't see the point in dolling the place up for a more upper class crowd.
"Now we have a new combatant for you, ladies and gents! A first timer here in the arena but a nice piece of tail just the same," the announcer/commentator said over the speaker system. "She's got an ego on her, though, because she wants to be called 'White Queen', so let's hope she can back that up!"
She rolled her eyes at the lacklustre job but then the announcer, like the rest of the audience, probably expected her to be killed in the first minute, so why waste time on a proper entrance.
She'd show them.
"As for her opponent, this lady needs new introductions!" the announcer said with more enthusiasm. "She is the dame of destruction, the captivating crusher and the woman that'll crush a man's nuts as well as his dreams, give it up for DEVASTATION!"
~Well, at least she looks the part of a cage fighter~, she thought, taking in her opponent.
Cornrow hairstyle, barbed wire tattoo, a single piece of shoulder armor, a wife beater shirt, black pants and combat boots.
"Please! THIS is the best Brick could throw my way? A barbie doll with a thing for white?" Devastation asked with clear disappointment. "This won't even take ten seconds!"
"Don't worry, Devastation!" the announcer declared. "We've got two more arena regulars waiting to give you the fight of your life once you finish off the newbie!"
"Then let's get this over with," Devastation said with a malicious grin.
"Indeed. Let's," she said, reaching out telepathically for a cheat sheet.
~Hmmm… super strength, super durability and a barroom brawler style of fighting~, she thought with a lack of respect. ~Guess I won't be able to show off any fighting skills in this fight. Not to worry since I anticipated facing an opponent like Devastation.~
While it was true that Brick mostly used this as a method of recruitment to his operation, it was also something of a cash cow since there'd always be people willing to pay to see fights to the death. More than that, if the fighters had superhuman abilities then it only added to the excitement resulting in even greater profits.
Especially if the fight could be fixed to max out the betting while ensuring that only those who Brick wanted to win would win.
However in order to keep costs down it was only natural that Brick would limit the participants to those superhumans who wouldn't literally bring the house down or damage the place more than the criminal could afford per week. She'd entered the building fully aware of this and with a few strategies in mind for the most common power sets, with Devastations being right at the top of her list.
Time to use one.
With a thought she reached into her opponent's mind and began to both listen to ever move the muscle maiden intended to make before she made it but also planted subliminal suggestions that the simple mind of her enemy would act upon. As such she was in charge of the fight in every way allowing her to choreograph a match that would appease the fans without putting her in any real danger. Then, just as she sensed that the audience was getting tired of the act, she set up Devastation for a beautiful uppercut timed perfectly to coincide with a psi-blast guaranteed to knock the woman out cold for hours.
Basking in the applause and ignoring the booing, she let it go on for a little longer before turning to the announcer's position.
"Well, that was nice for a warm up," she said, voice filled with confidence. "What else ya got?"
"Well, that certainly was a surprise, wasn't it folks? An out of nowhere surprise and it looks like White Queen has got the chops to fight here after al!" the announcer said with enthusiasm that only served to hype the crowd up even more. "But let's see if she can handle an even greater challenge! We had two arena regulars prepped for Devastation and it'd be a shame to have them go home without getting some time in the spotlight!"
With that spotlights focused on the entrance opposite the one she'd used and a moment later her two opponents stepped out from behind the curtain to show themselves.
"Let's give it up for Ace of the Royal Flush gang and his partner Lady Vic!" the announcer declared as a man in a full white bodysuit and a woman wearing a bug mask, a red and gold outfit that left little to the imagination and a sword sheathed at her side walked towards the 'arena'.
Peeking with her telepathy, she immediately determined that Ace was a robot of some kind, albeit one that was sophisticated enough to move like a human and possible enough to fight like one. As for the blonde woman, she got something of a surprise when just as she began to touch on what the woman could do she sensed an awareness that made her retreat back into her own mind.
~Interesting. Not telepathic but definitely familiar with the experience of being probed by one~, she thought while coming up with a plan. ~Martian Manhunter, perhaps? In any case this means I won't be able to manipulate the fight like I did with Devastation.~
The robot was immune to her telepathy after all, and if Lady Vic had encountered a telepath before she might have had sense enough to take precautions. She doubted that anything the blonde could afford could keep her out entirely or prove effective at countering her efforts but it would likely require more focus than she could spare with an obvious powerhouse like Ace attacking her. If the two were indeed arena regulars then they were likely quite good, since otherwise they'd be quite dead. Since she didn't care to find out if she looked good even bruised and bloody, it was time for her to bring out her secret weapon.
~Showing them a partial hand is permissible so long as they don't suspect the full hand~, she thought as the door to the arena was closed shut. ~I hope.~
"Now let's see if this underdog can handle two experienced fighters at the same time!" the announcer said, much to the appeal of the crowd, "Ready! FIGHT!"
Since she was almost certainly the lesser fighter in this confrontation, she waited until the last possible moment before shifting into her diamond form. As a result, because they'd been expecting human flesh, both of the blows unleashed by her opponents did little good, especially when she properly braced herself for the impacts. Not wasting any time, though, she chose to execute a two hit combo intent on evening the odds against her by striking at Ace's left leg while also delivering a body blow that'd make any energetic movement on Lady Vic's part quite painful. She didn't use a lot of her now-superhuman strength, just enough to get the desired effects, in order to deceive everyone watching into thinking her diamond form was merely a durability buff.
She'd save the truth for the finale.
Hearing a satisfying crunch from Ace and an unmistakable grunt of pain from Lady Vic, she took both as confirmation that the desired damage had been done. Like most humanoid robots their creators often chose to mimic the human body either with the skeletal system or sometimes with the muscles. As such striking at Ace's knee damaged the mechanical version of the joint, hopefully to the point that any above human speed of movement would be nullified. As for Lady Vic, a blow to the area she hit would hopefully make any movements involving the muscle group she hit painful.
VERY painful.
This would even the odds between their combat abilities and her more limited ones.
Retreating half-dozen steps, she waited to see how they'd respond but didn't receive any real surprises. Ace merely tested the range of motion in his damaged leg before once more advancing towards her with hostility. As for Lady Vic, there was a noticeable increase in caution but not enough to make her think that the woman doubted her victory. More like she wouldn't discount her foe's abilities as much as before and actually put some effort into the fight.
~Nothing really to worry about as far as Lady Vic is concerned~, she thought, ducking under a punch from Ace. ~None of her weapons are strong enough to damage my diamond form, especially with only human level strength. Ace is similarly in the 'cannot damage' category but he might actually be able to put me through a wall.~
Again and again she weaved through the robot's attacks while pouncing on any opportunity to further the damage to the knee joint or strike any other joint within range. However this only lasted for so long before Lady Vic added herself into the mix. Deciding to at least give the impression that her diamond form was only somewhat impressive, she began dodging the blonde's attacks or ensuring that only glancing hits landed. Once she was sure that she'd done enough damage to Ace to negate what advantages the robot had, she went on the offensive against Lady Vic.
She did the best she could to focus on attack patterns that'd require the blonde to use the strongly bruised muscle group. Either the woman would try to power on through the pain or she'd stall halfway through the move when the pain disrupted her focus. Both possibilities could help her since forcing your body to do something it's telling you NOT to do via pain usually resulted in worsening the injury. As for the other, if Lady Vic couldn't keep her focus, then every time the blonde grimaced in pain and stalled she'd have a chance to add a few more bruises to the one that already existed.
Too bad the woman was quick to figure out the strategy and took action that safely protected those muscles that'd already been bruised.
Still, she wasn't too concerned since this also limited what the more skilled woman could do evening the playing field.
An all too recognizable sound reached her ears and, in a move she'd practiced on weekends, back flipped twice, allowing her to evade Ace's less than subtle efforts to blindside her.
"Coincidence, or is it that the two of you are finally going to act like a team?" she asked with mock approval. "A good choice. Still, it does mean that both of you have accepted that you can't beat me on your own, so what does that say about each of you? That two experienced fighters of the arena can't beat a newbie like me without HELP."
Neither rose to the bait but there was no way that anyone who took pride in their fighting skills wouldn't get angry at the idea of a newcomer somehow making all their training amount to nothing. Still, it was immediately evident that things were reaching a moderate level of difficulty, since neither of her foes were just charging in anymore and were beginning to employ strategy to get her to expose a weak spot. She still tried to strike at their weak points when possible but it was becoming increasingly difficult as well as dangerous since with telepathically peeking figuring out which was a feint and which was not was far from consistent.
After the fifth time Ace succeeded in knocking her back and Lady Vic proving quite adept at evading her blows, she knew she had to up her game and take a chance.
"Well, this has been an invigorating little tussle but I'm afraid the two of you've lost my interest," she said, doing her best to put as much distance between herself and her foes as possible. "Time to end this."
Shifting back into her flesh and blood form she immediately went on the offensive, her telepathy attacking the blonde woman in a one two move meant to negate the lady's possible defenses against telepathic attacks. One meant to draw her in one direction while a second attack was sent from a different angle hopefully impossible to counter. When the blonde dropped to the ground with a groan of pain she knew she was successful and a quick psionic probe confirmed the unconscious state.
Returning to her diamond form before Ace could strike her, she now could focus entirely on him and luckily the robot wasn't a fighter on the same level as Lady Vic. He was obviously meant to be a powerhouse, the muscle of the Royal Flush Gang, and his move set reflected this even as it made him predictable. Without the skill of Lady Vic to use to his advantage, she quickly began to make headway in striking key points on the robot's body before executing a leg sweep that sent him onto his back. Then, leaping high into the air, she put her right leg into position to stomp down on its head since she had little reason to show mercy to a machine like Ace. Normally this would be ill advised since, while a showy move like this was a crowd pleaser, it took too much time to complete giving the target time to get out of the way or catch the descending foot.
Normally.
But her blows had been calculated in order to severely impair the limbs necessary to do either and so without interference the robot suddenly became a full head shorter.
"Is this all you've got for me!?" she yelled at the audience and the announcer. "A woman on super steroids, a robot and a fashion disaster!? When am I going to get a REAL challenge? Maybe I ought to just challenge the big man himself. How about you ask Brick if he wouldn't mind stepping into the arena himself? Bet it's been a while since anyone saw him throw down. Then again maybe he's too high and mighty to tussle in the dirt with the rest of us. Go ask. I can wait."
"No need, little girl," a deep voice said from the crowd. "Challenge accepted."
Seeing the crowd part, it wasn't long before a man in a suit of the style you'd find on a wannabe gangster was revealed, looking like he was ready to get down to business.
"Good. The appetizer's might've been nice but I'm ready for the main course," she said, bracing herself for what was to come. "Think you can deliver?"
"I've never had any complaints from the ladies," Brick replied as he took off his jacket and then his shirt. "'Course that might've been because they were a little too… soft… to go the distance with a man like me."
"I think you'll find I'm anything but soft," she said, deciding that it was time to show Brick where his new limits were.
"Sounds like the fighters are ready to get it on, people!" Tte announcer said with maximum enthusiasm. Quite honestly it was starting to get on her nerves. "Let's let them know how psyched we are!"
With a roar the audience made it clear that they were expecting quite the show and far be it for her to disappoint them.
For a moment she was torn between just dominating the man from the beginning and make it clear just how far above him she was and letting him win even while letting him know it could've been otherwise. In the end she decided to go with the latter, no matter how satisfying the former would've been. She knew all too well how fragile the male ego could be and, if she humiliated him in front of the crowd, Brick would probably come after her even if he didn't get paid. That kind of outcome ran contrary to what she wanted so it'd be better to let the guy keep his rep and just keep things between the two of them.
Decision made she began to do her best to make it look like she was being pressured by the big man when in fact, while his blows had more power than Ace behind them, the hand-to-hand combat level between the two was about the same. Not dimwitted cavemen but definitely not on the same level as someone who actually received training in one or more fighting disciplines.
After a few exchanges she saw the look of realization on the man's face and she knew that he knew that she hadn't taken any real damage. Watching as he reached out with both hands, she predicted that he probably intended to either throw her or perhaps put her in a bear hug but whatever the case it was the chance she was looking for. Quickly bringing up her own hands, she acted with precision to slip into the classic finger lock she'd seen on one of Xander's wrestling shows. Now with the matter becoming a test of strength and positioning, she was free to put her plan into action.
"Let's see what cracks first… Brick or diamond," she said before beginning to bring her super strength forward to its fullest effect.
Inwardly she grinned in satisfaction at the sight of the man trying more and more to counter her with his own superhuman strength, only to find the gap widening rather than growing ever smaller. In an effort to change this, the man tried to shift their positions in order to give himself the advantage but she matched him too quickly for any ground to be gained. Once she was confident that she wouldn't be losing the dominant position anytime soon, she decided to lay the truth on the man.
"As you can see, Brick, I'm no frail flower for you to step on," she said just loud enough for him to hear her. "In all honesty I couldn't care less about winning this fight. I'm here for a different reason."
"Oh? An' what's that?" Brick asked even as he tried to figure out how to get the upper hand.
"Snow Enterprises. You sent some of your men to do quite a bit of damage," she replied, her voice betraying no emotion. "I didn't like that. I have quite a bit of money invested in the alternative energy project and I will not see it go up in smoke."
Wide eyes made it clear the dots had been connected.
"Yes. It was my company you sent your men to attack so I decided to come here to complain about it," she said with an icy grin. "How all this turns out though is entirely up to you. Option one: I throw the match, I leave alive and you come up with some reason to back out of the deal asking you to trash my investments. In fact, if anyone tries to convince you to do something similar in the future, you decline saying you've got 'bigger plans' or something like that. Honestly it's the option that works out best for you. Option two: I stop making people think that you can actually win this fight, beat you into the ground and walk out of here while making it clear that anyone who causes me trouble can look forward to the same or worse treatment."
Taking a massive leap in exertion in order to make it clear she COULD humiliate him, she held it for a little while longer before reining it in a bit.
"It's your choice. What'll it be?" she asked before waiting to hear what the big man would go with.
As she expected of male pride, Brick did make further efforts to gain a position of dominance but after they all failed… well, the man wasn't stupid.
"Fine. Option one," Brick grunted with angry acceptance.
"Oh, and one more thing," she said just to make sure he got the point. "If you double cross me I'll make sure people find out about ALL of your dump sites. All the places you think no one knows about but if they did and started digging, they'd find some pretty interesting things. Missing people, for instance, that presented certain problems for you or others. People the police are still looking for to this day. I wonder what they'd make of what I know. Keep up your end of the deal and they'll never find out."
A grunting nod showed that Brick understood the threat all too well.
"Then let's start the finale," she said before preparing the sequence of moves in her head. "I'll lead."
What followed was probably the best choreographed fight anyone'd ever see outside of Hollywood, with Brick gradually gaining ground against her before building up some steam. She allowed expressions of desperation show on her face even as Brick played up the angle of the big man showing the 'little girl' who the alpha dog was in the arena. Then, grabbing of her head and the slamming of it into the ground, she feigned losing consciousness and reverted back into her flesh form in order to sell the deception. It was a risky move to be sure, since the muscle head could use the opportunity to kill her, but she was confident that her telepathy would save her in time.
"You got spunk, girl, but disrespect the big dog and this is what you get," Brick said, making it clear to all who the victor was. "Get this piece of white trash out of here!"
Keeping up the illusion of being unconscious, she used her other senses to determine where she was and what existed in her environment, including her telepathy. It didn't take long for the hired goons to reach the doors leading outside and, once in the open air, she was predictably thrown in the nearest dumpster. She waited until she was sure no one was around before opening her eyes and hauled herself out of the garbage, grimacing at the foul smells and feelings.
~Ugh! Good thing I'm not particularly partial to this outfit or I might just need to punish those two cavemen~, she thought, brushing off the more obvious piece of filth. ~And here comes my real clothes right on time.~
She'd figured that being kicked out of the building was a given should Brick accept her deal so she made sure that a pre-chosen person would arrive with her clothes. Oh, the girl would think that she was lifting something to fence but she wouldn't remember anything after finishing her task. Smiling, the young girl set the clothes down, bowed like one would in the presence of a queen, and then walked away, soon to leave her line of sight.
~All in all I'd say this went rather well~, she thought, changing into her clothes, confident that she did so without an audience. ~Brick has been suitably punished and warned with anyone watching wary of crossing someone who bested three arena regulars.~
Indeed, once enough time had passed for word of her fights to have circulated throughout Star City, she could put on a similar outfit to make any threats to back off or reapply her 'warning' as much as was needed. Eventually it was her hope that none of the lawless community in the city would dare take up a job where her company was the target.
Once she finished getting dressed she prepared to call her driver to come pick her up when she picked up on thoughts that hadn't been there before. Someone not familiar with properly shielding their mind from telepaths and, unless she was mistaken, someone very much familiar or at least disciplined enough to train their mind to defend itself from mental intrusion. It took her but a moment to locate the duo and so she turned to look at the rooftop of the building opposite the one that housed the arena.
"You do realize it's rude to peep on a woman getting dressed without her permission, don't you?" she asked, addressing the two she sensed. "Now introduce yourselves like proper gentlemen or I'll be quite annoyed."
For a few seconds she thought that the two men would play dumb or try to convince her that she was mistaken in believing that there were people on the rooftop. However a moment later two shadows emerged at the edge of the roof before stepping off and dropping to the ground. Once the light exposed their identities she was only partially able to conceal her surprise since of all the possibilities these two were not among them.
"Well, well. I suppose I should be flattered that I rate the attention of two such famous gentlemen," she said with amusement. "Now what brings you out tonight? I doubt it's Brick's little sideshow."
"We're here to see you," the one with the pointy ears stated.
Present Day
Sophie Snow aka Willow Rosenberg's POV
"Who was it?" Cordelia asked after they entered the main building.
"Batman and Green Arrow," she replied, taking in the repairs that'd been completed. "The latter I'd expected to run into eventually but not the dark knight of Gotham City. For a moment I thought that they'd tracked me down in connection to Xander but it wasn't that simple."
"You did something Frosty and they found out about it, didn't they?" Cordy asked with a knowing grin. "Coulda told ya, sugah, that letting the White Queen side of ya call the shots was just asking for trouble."
"I'll have you know that dipping into my 'inheritance' has proven to be most beneficial more often than not," she said, defending her past choices. "The only times it doesn't end well is when I forget that certain technologies or resources that Emma took for granted don't exist in this reality. A mistake I've taken steps to remedy."
Indeed but not the steps most would take.
Most people would think that the right course of action would be to abandon those things that didn't exist and focus on what did but she knew better than that. Instead she committed all she knew about the various resources to a single heavily encrypted file along with plans for MAKING them exist in this reality. It would take a while, five or more years, but when she succeeded she'd take the market by storm, possibly seizing the top spot away from Lexcorp.
After all, when you have something unlike anything else on the market that revolutionizes their respective fields, it was only natural to get more attention than anyone else.
"In any case it was indeed due to one of my corporate maneuvers that the two members of the Justice League chose to take interest," she said as they approached the residential area. "Honestly I don't see what they were so upset about."
Indeed, thanks to her the employees were getting paid more, had access to better equipment and no longer had to worry about the future of their employer.
What was wrong with that?
One Month Prior
Snow Enterprises HQ
Office of the C.E.O
'Sophie Snow's' POV
"Now that we're in more comfortable surroundings, how can I help you two gentlemen?" she asked, pouring herself a light drink.
"Three weeks ago your company successfully took over Freeman Energy Consolidated. It was a company that focused on developing alternative energy for the purpose of leading the world away from fossil fuels and nuclear energy," Batman briefed, the only thing moving being his mouth. "Mister Freeman had devoted twenty years of his life to this and by all accounts was expected to die rather than give up his cause."
"So why did a man that dedicated sign over his business to you with barely any fight at all?" Green Arrow asked, sounding a bit hostile.
A bit odd but not if her suspicions regarding his true identity proved to be accurate.
"Perhaps I simply succeeded in persuading him that his dream was better off in my hands than his," she replied, taking a sip of her drink. "Don't get me wrong, I admired the man's devotion to his purpose, but he was never going to achieve it with the approach he was using. His methodology was too entrenched in the past with no room for bold innovations. At the rate he was proceeding, it was only a matter of time before his business went bankrupt and his employees lost their jobs."
"Maybe not. He had friends in the business community who would've helped him until he had a chance to show something to the public," Batman said, not giving away anything. "He knew that."
"Having friends is good but not if they prove to be a financial drain while showing little for it," she said aware that there were other business owners who could've floated the man a loan. "In any case, the deal is done, all legal and law abiding. Even if Mister Freeman has changed his mind since signing the contract, there's nothing he can do about it, really. Aside from meeting with me and convincing me to give him his business back, that is."
"We believe that an outside influence manipulated Mister Freeman into signing your contract," Batman said with a slight change to his eyes, indicating suspicion in her mind.
"I'd call that grounds for getting that contract reviewed and nullified in court," Green Arrow said, making it clear that the two heroes were willing to steer things in that direction.
She wasn't scared.
"You're forgetting two things, Robin Hood," she said with complete confidence. "Despite the existence of superhumans and super powers, the law is still scrambling to come up with specific rules as well as qualifiers. What is considered admissible proof? At which point is using a power illegal? I think you'd have a tough time convincing any D.A. that Mister Freeman did anything other than sign over his business entirely of his own free will."
"And the other thing?" Batman asked prompting her to explain.
"Even if you can prove that someone used some sort of outside influence to make the man sign over his business to me, there's the little problem of identifying WHO wielded said outside influence," she replied, making sure that her mental shields were strong without giving away her telepathy. "After all it's not like Superman could use his heat vision in the middle of nowhere and then someone comes along, scrapes up a sample and after some lab tests names the man of steel as the perpetrator. The same would likely be the case for any sort of mental influence. Did it leave a sort of fingerprint or signature that you can tie to a specific person? Granted, I benefited quite a bit from buying his business, but that's hardly a smoking gun. In short, gentlemen, if you had anything other than opinions and suspicions the police would've accompanied you to Brick's arena or been waiting for us to arrive outside this building."
It was true.
Even if through Emma she knew of a few scientific tests that could be run to prove that a normal person had been affected by a telepath or an empath or something similar, it didn't point out who used the super power. All it did was narrow down the list of suspects to those who possess one of the abilities and who'd had contact with Mister Freeman during the time period in question. The matter of actually coming up with evidence to narrow down the list of suspects to a single individual still needed to be addressed or else it'd basically be a fishing expedition.
"We might not have a smoking gun, Miss Snow, but we have enough to tie this up in litigation for months. Not exactly the sort of press a new company wants when they're just getting started," Green Arrow said, trying his hand at corporate bullying. "Also I think if we show people your little fight with Lady Vic at the arena tonight they might draw some very incriminating conclusions."
"Oh yes! A woman of a suspicious nature drops unconscious to the ground in an illegal cage fight with much gambling going on amongst an audience of equally suspicious people," she said, making it sound like she found the approach laughable. "I'm sure that'll make the supposed video recording all the more credible and that's assuming you can even get it from Brick in the first place."
"And if we took the video? I think the opinion of two members of the Justice League carries quite a bit of weight," Green Arrow said while Batman simply observed her.
"Even presuming that a judge finds the video intriguing, there's still the matter I pointed out earlier of linking me to the supposed mental manipulation of Mister Freeman," she said, feeling mild concern but not enough to show on her face. "Face it, gentlemen. All you have is a great deal of bluster, some conjecture that fits your version of events and the amount of time our discussion has taken that I'll never get back. Now unless you have something else to add, this discussion is over."
"There is one other matter," Batman said, speaking up after a long period of silence.
Present Day
Sophie Snow aka Willow Rosenberg's POV
"Turns out you, Xander and Buffy have each done something to warrant the Justice League's undivided attention," she said, carefully wording her story. "As a result they'd chosen to approach each of you eventually to either keep you off the path of villainy or mentor you into excellent recruits into the Justice League. Needless to say I thought you could use someone in your corner to make sure you didn't get bullied into going completely comic book."
"And showing up as we were leaving Cadmus?" Cordelia asked with a bit of curiosity.
"I was meeting with them to negotiate the particulars of the Scooby gang's relationship with the League when Zatara called in a crisis alert," she replied, making it sound feasible. "We put the meeting on hold and I was taking in their exhibits at the Hall of Justice when they returned to find their sidekicks had gone off on a mission without permission. I then chose to follow them to see if the trouble they'd gotten into was amusing or not. Needless to say when I arrived to see Xander getting into a testosterone battle with Superman and Batman, I chose to intervene. The rest you know."
"Nice story, hun, but I don't buy all of it," Cordelia said with a knowing grin. "You've made it pretty clear that you've dipped pretty deep into your inner Emma. Frost mighta not been incapable of heroism but she always worked the angles before making any decision. What's yours?"
Not just a pretty face after all.
"It's true I did consider alternative benefits to Batman's proposed 'team' and his efforts regarding our friends," she said before allowing a grin to show. "Chief amongst them being a way to market the technologies of my company in full view of the public. Imagine the entire team outfitted and supported by technology created and patented by my company. You can't BUY better advertising than that!"
"Because everyone'll want to have tech used by the newest super team on the block," Cordelia said with a little cynicism.
"They will once we take down a few notable villains and saved a couple groups of people using technology from my company," she said with confidence in her plan. "The next best thing to being a super hero is using the same technology that they do."
"And you want Xander to do the same?" Cordelia asked, remembering the words spoken a short while ago.
"Contrary to what others have thought of him, he's not stupid. He was able to keep up with me in my advanced classes and made passable grades," she replied, her voice completely serious. "With the addition of his Halloween inheritance he could easily become one of the smartest men on the planet. It would be foolish not to take advantage of that. Besides, his 'predecessor' was quite adept in areas that I fall short in and that will come in handy to reduce the team's vulnerabilities."
Indeed, while it was only logical that the team would make allies to help them with their efforts, they could not always count on having the time to consult with them. The more specialists in the fields a super team would need the better and, once sufficient time had passed, she would ensure that they had the equipment to make the most of those specialties. It wouldn't be right away, sadly, but once her company grew enough and use of its products generated new revenue she would be able to convince the right people to increase the amount of funds diverted to the team. When added to the growth to Xander's business, money would cease to be an issue within the next two to three years at most.
"Ah never doubted Xander's brains, even if ah said different sometimes," Cordelia said, allowing a bit of her true self to come out from behind her high school queen mask. "It just pissed me off that he never tried to be all he could be. He was always playing it safe, not making waves, and settling for minimum wage when he could've been more."
"We can blame Tony Harris for that. The waste of space probably knew Xander was better than him and couldn't stand it, though for different reasons," she said with a look of disgust at the memory of the foul man. "Those doomed to mediocrity will always hate those with the potential to soar to even greater heights. Tony likely abused Xander to keep him from that potential, either through pain or daily insults. Now that the fool is dead and Xander has left his old self behind, I hope we can all see just how great the new 'Master of Magnetism' truly is."
Indeed he would need to shine, to soar, if her plans were to reach fruition.
After all, she would push to have him named the leader of the new public team of heroes that were to act as distractions for the covert group the sidekicks had formed. While she had considered taking on that role herself, she chose to assume the more tactical position as second in command. The earnest nature that often manifested in Xander would do a better job at earning the trust of the team's members as well as the public. She, on the other hand, would be seen as a point of contact but of lesser importance. This would allow her to be absent at certain times as well as conduct certain ventures covertly that would aid the team and hinder their enemies without being immediately noticed.
"Sounds like ya haven't quite shaken your crush on him, sugah," Cordelia said with a slight smirk of knowing.
"I'll admit that I've entertained the notion but now is not the right time for it and I have considerably more competition for that position than before," she said, feeling a slight flutter in her heart before she suppressed it.
"You're not wrong, hun," Cordelia said, looking about the room they were in. "Knockout might not recognize the feelin' but she's got an itch for Xander, no two ways about it. Barda's a little harder to get a handle on but it'd fit the cliché since warrior cultures tend to smile on the strongest hookin' up to make stronger kids."
"True. Still, until Xander realizes this and decides to act on it, things will more or less remain the same," she said, recalling her own observations regarding the women from Apokalips.
"How do ya think Buffy'll react?" Cordelia asked, bringing up the only absent member of four survivors of the Scooby gang.
"Hard to say. With Angel gone and Natasha's point of view, she might choose to see Xander in a more romantic light or she might continue to see him as 'one of the gang'," she replied, thinking about her best friend's crush on the Slayer after the girl came to Sunnydale. "But she won't even think about that until she gets settled in with the sidekick team. Natasha was always business first and pleasure second."
"Buffy might have taken what she got from Nat to heart, sugah, but that don't mean both of them are the same," Cordelia argued before walking away to do her own thing. "If you're not careful, she just might surprise ya."
Watching as the inheritor of the X-men's southern belle walked away, she considered the parting words. It was true that none of them could be considered exact copies of their predecessors, either in body or in spirit. Nevertheless, her information had made it clear that certain aspects of Magneto, Rogue, Black Widow and Emma Frost had taken a stronger hold on each of them than others. Whether those aspects would indeed cause Buffy to differ from Natasha as Cordelia had implied, but she was fairly certain that the Slayer would stick to her current comfort zones.
There was safety and peace to be had in not straying too far from what you were used to and romantic feelings for one who'd always been 'just a friend' was definitely far away for Buffy.
The Hall of Justice
Private Room
Elizaveta 'Buffy' Romanov's POV
"Are you certain this is necessary?" she asked, looking down at her new 'costume'.
"Introducing you to the team as your former costumed self would not be conducive to gaining their trust and acceptance," Batman replied as they waited for the third member of the impending conversation to be had to arrive. "This will give you a clean slate with them. They'll know only what you tell them or I see fit to disclose."
"And any trust I gain from them will vanish the second they find out the truth," she pointed out, recalling memories of Black Widow's past. "Even if I never explicitly lie to them or even veer too close to lying, the fact that I kept a large part of who I am and who I was from them a secret will be poisonous."
"Everyone has secrets. Parts of themselves they don't share with anyone even their closest friends or family," Batman said with undertones that he spoke from experience. "In the hero trade that goes double and we all know it. However we're united in our common goal and the trust that none of us would ever betray the ideal that heroes represent in the eyes of the public."
The ideal of the hero as understood by the people.
A good person who adhered to a code of honor that represented the best of humanity and acted as a shining light to push back the terrifying darkness. One who would never adopt the tactics of villains and would be repulsed by the very concept of joining them under any conditions.
Not words she would consider being appropriate for herself these days.
Her own personal crusade might've been done and she might've agreed to abide by Batman's own personal code of conduct when in costume fighting crime, but that didn't mean the Widow was gone. Deep inside, in the dark places, the person she'd needed to become in order to hunt down those that'd murdered the people she cared about still existed. However it slept for the time being, waiting, but would waken once more if circumstances required it.
Looking down at the costume Batman had made for her, she could honestly say that no one would ever connect her to the crimson clad killer of assassins that'd been in the media. The style, the placement of equipment pouches and even her weapons were a decided deviation from what she'd used thus far. White and red were the primary colors, forming a pattern that was definitely arachnid in nature, but after what she'd told Batman she wasn't surprised. He and his charges all had animal themed outfits, codenames, so it only made sense that he'd do the same for her. She'd already tested her range of movement in it and wasn't hindered in the least. Most of the tools were familiar to her and would be useful to her as a member of The Team.
Her weapons, on the other hand, would take some practice to master.
A retooled version of the Widow's gauntlets possessed all of the non-lethal tricks from the electric shock to the tear gas pellets and grapple line launcher. However the more lethal accessories that she'd come up with and incorporated into them had been removed entirely or modified to be brutal but non-lethal. She had three weapons that looked like firearms but had ammunition that was decidedly non-lethal, though they would allow her to handle enemies at all three ranges. Combine that with shock batons and she would say that she was well equipped to handle most opponents, albeit using the Batman's approved playbook.
~I wonder if he realizes that there really is no such thing as non-lethal in the hands of an expert?~ she thought, hearing footsteps getting closer to the room.
While all her tools and weapons might've been designed and calibrated to stay out of domain of lethal, she had a solid grasp of science. As such she knew of a variety of ways to enhance the effects of non-lethal implements in order to make them lethal. However, out of deference for all that Batman had done for her since her quest for vengeance had come to an end, she would keep those ways locked up until she was given no other alternative.
Abiding by Batman's rules wasn't worth letting an innocent person die or an irredeemable evil have their way with the world.
The codename she'd been assigned was Crimson Arana and, while it might've been smarter to leave red out of the costume's color scheme, it shouldn't be too big of a problem. After all, if the color red was all it took to connect a woman to her Widow personae, then Wonder Woman would be on the list. With the spider themed pattern of the costume she now wore no one would make the connection especially since her old outfit was meant to resemble the funeral clothes a grieving widow would wear. Naturally she'd made modifications to make the traditional outfit more practical for fighting her chosen opponents in order to maximize the odds of her success while minimizing liabilities.
Seeing as how this outfit was designed by Batman, it naturally focused on efficiency, practicality, and to a degree the psychological effects it could have on the criminal element.
~If he ever gave up crime fighting, he just might have the knack for becoming a Hollywood costume designer~, she thought in a flight of whimsy.
Hearing the door open, she turned to see one of the top ranked members of the Justice League enter and the woman who'd take on the role of her 'mentor'. It was a fact that every person on The Team had a mentor in the League and it was decided that following this route would be the best way for her to gain a place on it.
Black Canary.
With a sonic scream capable of shattering concrete and instruction by the former hero Wildcat, she had forged quite the reputation for herself both on her own as well as with the League. Operating out of Seattle that would be where she would make her debut for a few weeks until she became an established part of the costumed crime fighter community. Then an incident would be arranged that would set things up perfectly to be transferred to The Team. She wouldn't go on all their missions with them but this would be explained away as her still needing training under Black Canary. Her time away 'training' would be a cover for whenever she had to meet with Xander's team or accompany them on missions where public eyes would not be a concern.
The problem?
Black Canary hadn't been filled in on all this yet.
The woman was probably aware of the Cadmus incident and the fact that Mount Justice was being called back into service but nothing much beyond that.
"You wanted to speak with me, Batman?" Black Canary asked, closing the door behind her.
"Yes. This is Crimson Arana," Batman said, gesturing to her while only half turning in her direction. "I encountered her on a mission not too long ago and I think she has potential. I'd like for you to become her mentor."
"While I'm happy you thought I'd be up to it, who do you think you're fooling?" Black Canary asked with a bit of amusement. "Anyone you think has potential for the crime fighting game you train yourself. What's the real story?"
Batman's eyes narrowed for a moment, a debate clearly going on, but as she'd come to expect from him a decision was quick in coming.
"As you know, information has recently come to light to suggest that something is going on behind the scenes with large scale implications. I have no proof but I suspect that villains among our various rogues galleries have formed an alliance," Batman replied, keeping his voice even and focused. "They've seen the benefits of cooperation and more than that learned that the Justice League is not a force that none of them can overcome on their own without substantial resources. Cadmus was likely an effort to produce biological weapons to use against us in future confrontations and could be reproduced on an assembly line."
"What makes you so sure? You've obviously thought a lot about this," Black Canary said, sounding like she found the possibility feasible.
"I've dug deeper into Cadmus, traced its creation and its financial backing, and at least a third of them were fronts for Lexcorp," Batman explained succinctly. "Luthor's never been one to breed an army for his plans. He prefers technology or at least a small group of operatives he can control either with his money or his substantial influence. He's working with someone else. Perhaps more than one person."
"I take it you're going to propose that the League look into this possibility?" Black Canary said, making the logical leap.
"No. If I'm right then every member of the Justice League is being monitored. Where we go, what we do, and who we speak with," Batman said, shaking his head. "They're not going to just wait for us to intervene in their plans. They're going to make damn sure they see us coming. So we've come up with an alternative method that our enemies won't be ready for."
"You're referring to Robin and the others," Black Canary said, beginning to catch on to the grand design. "I heard you've decided to have them operate out of Mount Justice since they're determined to continue acting as a team. You plan on having them investigate on the sly?"
"Yes," Batman replied with a word.
"Are you sure they're up for it?" Black Canary asked, not leaning towards the negative or the positive. "They've been trained well but this'll be a step up from what they're used to."
"While their infiltration of Cadmus might not have gone smoothly, they managed to get in then out with only minor injuries," Batman replied, sounding certain. "Besides, given their reaction to their introduction to the Hall of Justice, I doubt we could stop them from acting even if we tried. At least by giving them some of what they want they'll play along with our conditions, allowing us to minimize the risks involved."
"And where does mentoring her come into the picture?" Black Canary asked, looking towards the only other person in the room.
"There was a second group involved in the incident at Cadmus. Based on what we learned, they'd come under attack by some of the facility's weapons and in retaliation sought to obtain leverage in order to prevent another attack," Batman replied, showing minor tells of disapproval. "They're powerful, skilled, but have fewer lines they won't cross to accomplish their objective. In an effort to change that we've managed to convince them to act as decoys for this secret society of villains in order to allow Robin and his team more freedom to act. Crimson Arana will act as a liaison between the two teams to keep them informed of developments and coordinate when necessary."
"And my 'role'?" Black Canary asked, sounding like she didn't approve of schemes among heroes.
"Crimson Arana needs a way into Robin's team but they'll have difficulty trusting an unknown," Batman replied, not wavering. "However if she was introduced as your protégé after a few weeks operating out of Seattle they would accept her as someone like them."
"Trust is something you earn. What's wrong with having her earn it the old fashioned way?" Black Canary asked, making it sound SO easy.
"We have no way of knowing how far along this secret group's plans are and earning the team's trust the normal way could take more time than we have," Batman replied, unwilling to risk giving the enemy any further ground.
"You make it sound like they'll try to take over the world in six months," Black Canary said sounding a little skeptical.
"It's a possibility," Batman said, absolutely serious.
For a moment neither she nor the fishnet-wearing woman could tell if the man was serious but then they realized who they were talking to and he was always serious.
"If I'm going to be her mentor, it has to be real. Not just for show," Black Canary said, clearly stating a term for her involvement in the plan. "Just having her show up alongside me isn't going to be enough to make people believe she's my student."
Batman looked to her to see if she'd be agreeable to this and she nodded.
"Then we'll start as soon as she's ready," Black Canary said with a welcoming smile.
A bit of good luck.
She'd have been expecting the lady hero to ask about her background or at least 'is there anything I should know' but apparently Canary's opening move was a show of trust.
Typical.
Naturally it was the start of an effort to make her trust Black Canary, since a teacher couldn't pass on anything if the student didn't trust her. It'd eventually lead to discussions about her past and she somehow doubted that she'd be able to come up with a convincing cover story without help. Until she had truly proven herself to them she would have to keep her true past a closed book to them, using aspects of tragedy and trauma to keep them from probing too deep.
Even if she couldn't come up with an entire story she was fairly sure she could come up with a few lines that implied much but revealed little. If they'd been trained half as well as she suspected by their mentors, they wouldn't push unless outside circumstances made them.
"Give me a few days," she said, staying polite but closed off. "I'll pack, deal with some loose ends and then head to Seattle."
"I'll swing by the International Fountain every night at midnight and wait an hour," Black Canary said, providing a time and location for them to meet up.
"I'll be there," she said before nodding at each hero and departing.
With the meeting over she headed for the nearest Zeta-Tube to head to Gotham City. It wouldn't take her long to pack her things since she'd learned to travel light but she'd need to make arrangements as head of Bruce Wayne's security. She wouldn't be abandoning the job entirely but her responsibilities as liaison would require that she be able to leave unexpectedly when the need arose. Tatsu rose to the forefront of her mind as a possible stand in for her when she needed to be away. The young woman knew the rules and procedures well enough and she'd been with the security staff long enough that they respected her. She'd likely still need to touch base from time to time or make choices that were above the Asian lady's pay grade but hopefully her orders from Batman wouldn't interfere.
~This is a long way from being a high school girl who hangs around in cemeteries~, she thought after reaching the controls for the Zeta Tube. ~I'd give almost anything to get it all back Calling included.~
Sadly time only moved in one direction.
No longer did she look to the past and reject change but she would make damn sure that from here on out it happened on her terms and no one else's.
Washington D.C
Local S.T.A.R Labs Branch
A Few Days Later
Xander's POV
"So… how is she?" he asked, walking alongside the employee who'd met him at the door.
"Well, for one thing we're pretty sure that while entirely unethical, whoever grafted the alien DNA onto her knew what they were doing," Doctor Emil Hamilton replied, flipping through the sheets of paper on his clipboard. "There's no sign of rejection between the human genes and the alien ones. The fact that they were able to do so while allowing her to retain a mostly human form is impressive."
"And that would be because…?" he asked, turning down another hallway.
"Because, according to some specialists who've done work with the Justice League, the alien DNA implies strong reptilian traits. Unlike what some would believe, aliens that look exactly like or similar to humans are actually not all that common. It is far more common for them to possess bodies suited to the environment of their alien home worlds many of which are quite different from Earth," Doctor Hamilton replied, finishing his perusal of the documentation. "I can only guess at what sort of world the alien DNA inside Miss Kitaen's body came from, though."
"Any sign of… non-human phenomena from her?" he asked, trying to phrase things delicately. "She's was unconscious and probably drugged when I found her. No telling what'll happen if she wakes up or her body shakes off the drugs in her system."
"Nothing so far. The few visible signs of the alien portions of her DNA have spread and receded a few times but nothing more than that," Doctor Hamilton replied with a negative shake of his head. "There've been no reports from the staff of anything odd either whether she was awake or asleep. I suspect that her abductors might've have imprinted on her some sort of basic control system to keep the alien DNA from going out of control. How comprehensive it is and how likely to fail it might be I cannot say."
Possible but unlikely.
Given the lack of precautions he'd seen in the room where he'd found her, the people experimenting on her didn't seem too worried about her going berserk. If they had, the level of restraints would've been more extensive possibly with some sort of instant kill system in place, either focused on the table or capable of eradicating anything biological in the room. It lent credibility to Doctor Hamilton's theory of some sort of basic control system being imprinted on her mind but it also meant there could be more hidden within her. It was a no brainer, considering all of the lower levels of the facility had been dedicated to unethical experiments focused on making combat applicable creations.
Never create something with the capacity for destruction and death without also installing a way to control it, not to mention kill it if your method of control failed. Basic 'Evil Overlord' stuff that a surprising number of people and groups forgot.
If she took him up on his offer, he'd have to have Sophie attempt a telepathic scan to locate any programming that'd allow the girl's abductors to take control. Freeing her from Cadmus would be pointless if all it took was a code phrase or messages hidden in mass media advertisements to make her a slave. Even if she did agree to his idea, it'd probably take a while before she trusted anyone else on the island enough to think letting someone root around inside her head was a good idea.
There was no telling how long she'd been experimented on or how aware she'd been while they'd done their work on her.
"She have anything to say when she's awake?" he asked in order to gain insight into Miss Kitaen's state of mind.
"Just the usual questions: where am I? Who are you? What's happened to me? What's the date?" Doctor Hamilton replied, showing sympathy for the young lady's plight. "All in all she's coping better than expected… for now."
He didn't need to ask what the doctor meant by that.
From his perusal of Magneto's memories he knew that it was easy enough for newborn mutants to keep their cool when their x-gene didn't really alter their physical appearance all that much. It was when the physical changes became more visible and impossible to get rid of that they began to get… anxious. When you stopped looking like everyone else it became tougher to move on with your life, especially if it altered how others behaved around you. For those who had friends or family who were capable of looking past the changes to the person beneath, the light within them was able to remain bright. However for those who found themselves alone, surrounded by 'looks', 'glares' and less than kind words, it was all too easy to get angry.
First at life for saddling you with changes you didn't ask for, then people for not seeing that for all the changes you'd been through you were still the same person underneath.
Being betrayed by people you trusted and thought you could count on hurting the most.
Priscilla Kitaen might be coping alright now but, if the alien DNA inside of her decided to aggressively show itself with a physical change, any coping would fall apart.
"How much longer do you think it'll be before it's safe for her to leave here?" he asked, keeping the question casual. "I imagine she wants to get back home. See her friends and family again."
"We've run all the tests we can and found nothing warranting a long term stay," Doctor Hamilton replied, sounding optimistic. "She's still a bit tired but that should take care of itself with enough rest."
"Good," he said with genuine joy.
Arriving at the door where the young lady was resting, he let Doc Hamilton knock before opening the door to admit the both of them. Upon entering the room, he had to will his face to stay casual but not for the gutter reason Indigo would probably imply if she'd been here. It wasn't because he'd glimpsed Miss Kitaen in all her physical glory but rather because he noticed the momentary flare of fear and trauma on the girl's face before it was suppressed. Trauma wasn't something you just got over and, when strangers showed just how dark they could be, every new one you met immediately got labelled as a potential threat.
It was a label that took a while to sand off.
"Good morning, Miss Kitaen. How are you feeling today?" Doctor Hamilton asked in a gentle voice that had to have been cultivated over the course of his medical education.
"Better, Doctor Hamilton," Miss Kitaen said in a calm but guarded tone. "Still a little tired. Who's this?"
"This is Mister Lensherr. He was the leader of the team that rescued you from Cadmus' lower levels," Doctor Hamilton replied, gesturing to indicate who he was talking about.
"It's good to hear you're doing better, Miss Kitaen," he said with his usual lopsided grin.
The young lady with a healthy Florida tan looked him over before a look of suspicion manifested on her face.
"Why'd you do it?" she asked, her tone matching her expression.
"Save you? At first it was just so I could have leverage over your kidnappers since they'd attacked me and my friends using some of their creations," he replied, deciding to be honest rather than trying to sugarcoat things. "However once I learned more about why they'd kidnapped you and what they'd done to you, I can honestly say I would've rescued you whether you would've made good leverage or not."
He could tell that Doctor Hamilton didn't like such brutal honesty but from his point of view the young lady was probably expecting nice and non-threatening words. While some would be reassured by them, he suspected that after the trauma the young lady had been through she would treat them with increased suspicion. He had no idea what she'd been through or what sort of life she'd lived prior to Cadmus getting their hooks into her but it was easy to see that her ability to trust others had been compromised. To him, the best way to repair that ability to trust others was to eliminate any reason she might come up with to distrust others and lies were right at the top of that list.
"And finding me naked had nothing to do with it?!" Miss Kitaen asked, hostility having somehow found out a circumstance of her rescue.
"You're hardly the first woman I've seen naked, lady," he replied with a smirk, "and seeing as how three of my friends are ladies, I think it's safe to say that my guy impulses have been successfully scared into submission by them. I like my family jewels right where they are, thank you very much."
"So why're you here?" she asked, slightly disarmed by his words.
"To check up on you and to make you an offer," he replied, moving right into his sales pitch. "For safety and for a way to master the changes in your body, I offer you a place at my team's headquarters. It's just inside American waters off the coast of California. Nothing will be asked of you in return for this sanctuary and you may leave whenever you like."
"Forget it! As soon as Doctor Hamilton gives me the all clear, I'm outta here and going home," she exclaimed, clearly not wanting anything more to do with the bizarre or the dangerous.
Not surprising and probably similar to how Buffy thought when the full truth of her Calling had been laid out for her.
Too bad for Priscilla, putting the past behind her wouldn't make her any safer.
"I understand you wanting to get back to what you know ASAP but I'm not sure if that's such a good idea," he said, trying not to sound too harsh. "I chose the project you were involved with because it had the highest cyber-security on it in Cadmus' database. That tells me whatever they were trying to do with you was important to them. Even with what Cadmus was doing blown wide open, the people behind it all still might try to get you back and I doubt the rank and file cops will be enough to keep you safe. At least at my team's HQ there'll be tech in place to see them coming, fight them off and, if all else fails, you'll have me as well as my teammates to protect you."
"The Justice League-" Miss Kitaen began to say, no doubt about to say that the team of heroes could deal with that.
"They're not gods, Miss Kitaen. They can't be everyone at once and they don't know everything that's happening in the world every second of every day," he said, interrupting her before the delusion could take hold. "Even if they decided to monitor the area where you lived or put a member on watch duty, it wouldn't be forever. Even if it was they're just people, people capable of extraordinary things, but people just the same. They can be outsmarted, outmaneuvered and in some cases overpowered. If the people behind Cadmus wanted you back badly enough, it's not unreasonable to think that they could pull it off with the right plan."
He might not know who'd been calling the shots for Cadmus but from the memories he had from Eric, he could imagine the types who'd be behind such a place. His predecessor had encountered many groups and people who were interested in pushing the boundaries of acceptable science or using their experiments to further their own agendas. Hydra, A.I.M., The Hand and Doctor Doom just to name a few would definitely be a good match for Cadmus. If something similar was happening in this world, then getting Miss Kitaen back would be more than likely, especially if only one or two members of the League were put on watch duty.
~At least on my island HQ she'd be safer~, he thought, tallying up all that had been done and was still left to do. ~With the reinforcements I'm doing to the overall structure of the facility and the plans I have for the defense system, it'd take a pretty strong force to get to someone on the inside.~
That wasn't even accounting for getting past him and the rest of the team.
The Master of Magnetism, a powerful telepath, a lady who could probably match Wonder Woman, two people who were raised on a world where only the strong survived, a young but skilled ninja girl, a high tech robot girl and someone who could be considered Wonder Woman's daughter or younger sister. In terms of raw power, he felt confident that match just about any organization on the planet and, by pooling any tech know how each member had, they could probably place themselves in a similar bracket in the brains department.
He didn't think that they were unbeatable just that Miss Kitaen would be safer with them rather than in her hometown with only the local police and a temporary member of the Justice League.
Looking at the young lady, though, he didn't think his words would lock in an immediate changing of her mind and honestly he figured she had the time to think things through.
"You don't need to decide right away," he said, trying to relieve any decision pressure she might be feeling. "This is a big choice. I'll give Doctor Hamilton a way to get in touch with me so when you've made your choice, one way or another. Whatever you decide to do, I hope your future turns out to be a bright one, Miss Kitaen."
With that he formally said his farewells before leaving the room with Doctor Hamilton. While it would've been nice for her to agree right away, he'd known from the beginning that it wouldn't have been very realistic. This was a young lady who'd been through significant physical and mental trauma and was still a ways away from recovering on the former. As for the latter part, it'd probably take months, if not years, before anyone could say that she'd made a full recovery. Better to take it slow and easy, let her control the speed at which things happened, rather than try to hurry things along. He'd already asked Indigo to use the resources present at their HQ to keep as close a watch on Miss Kitaen as could be managed electronically. Hopefully this would be enough to allow him to fly to her rescue if the people behind Cadmus tried to reclaim her at some point in the future.
"Do you really think it'll be that dangerous for her?" Doctor Hamilton asked after arriving at the main entrance of S.T.A.R. Labs.
"I hope I'm wrong, doc, but you don't invest time and money on the scale I found just to let your 'specimen' get away without a fight," he replied back, showing his disdain for how the Cadmus eggheads had probably viewed Priscilla. "They seem to want to keep things low profile, though, so we probably have some time before they try something. Maybe until they think the League isn't watching anymore, or maybe until they have both a team and a plan for kidnapping her without anyone knowing. Either way, I wouldn't worry about something going down today or tomorrow."
"Just the same, I think I'll have the chief of security heighten internal security for a while just to be on the safe side," Doctor Hamilton said, reaching a decision of his own.
While he didn't mean to demean or belittle the security, he doubted that they had much experience with super villains or members of the League of Assassins. Even if Ra's wasn't directly connected to Cadmus, whoever was might just decide to hire some trained professionals to reclaim their 'property'. Compared to his bio-dad's forces or the super villain crowd, S.T.A.R. Labs security staff might as well be the local college football team.
Saying his goodbyes to the Doctor, he left the building and made for the gates, intending to pick up a few things that'd been requested by the others. Truthfully he didn't mind but he still found it pretty disappointing that even after all the growth he'd been through, he was still a pack mule to the shopping habits of the ladies he knew.
~At least I don't have to give my opinion on the clothes they're trying on~, he thought, remembering the death trap that sort of situation often was. ~Master of Magnetism or not, I'd get pounded flat.~
Reaching the outside of the S.T.A.R. Labs property, he was about to take to the air to get to his next destination quickly when a cough made him turn to see who'd done it.
"I hear you're starting up your own team. Where do I sign up?"
~Well, this I didn't see coming~, he thought, instantly recognizing who'd spoken. ~If this is what they call 'protective custody' then I've definitely been using an outdated dictionary.~