11.

Titan Tower

September 20

16:59 UTC

Returning back to the Titan Tower for after school training, Carter tossed his backpack onto the sofa as he exited the Zeta Platform. He ignored the green and brown sack sliding to the floor with a few books fumbling out as he morphed his clothing to athletic wear and headed for the gym. One good thing being able to shape-shift was the Martian suit h was given being able to respond to his thoughts. Popping his knuckles and rolling his shoulders, he was so caught up in his thoughts of the two girls wanting to be with him the next day, that he was taken by surprise at the sound of a throat clearing as he headed past an open door. Backing up, he looked into the nearest conference room and saw his friends sitting around the table in their civilian attire.

Bruises covered their arms, faces, and any other exposed skin with their clothing in desperate need of a good wash. Dirt smudged their faces along with road grease and a number of condiments on Carrie's clothing with a small amount in her hair. All had disgruntled looks on their faces and we're currently focused on the alien-human hybrid.

"Whoa," Carter said as he caught sight of the four. "What happened to you?"

"You," Irey darkly said as she stood from her seat. "Where were you?"

"At school. Where were you?"

"Well, since you asked," Moving away from her spot, Irey got a frightening look about her. "I went out to lunch today. I was happy. I was ecstatic. I had two ice cream cones. Delicious ice cream cones that were sent from heaven and served to me by a cute blonde guy named Ted. All of a sudden, I see a robbery take place across the street and a George Strait wannabe running out with bags of money. I chase him down and meet his twin brother and identical triplet in a flea market where one disappears and several others take his place. Turns out, we were put into an ambush situation!"

Circling the teen, Irey made sure he knew her eyes were always centered on him, burning a hole into his super strong flesh, metaphorically. "I then call for backup. Carrie, my sweet and bestest friend, answered and came to my aid. She got tossed into a food truck and was covered in every condiment known to man!"

Making sure Carter saw her, Carrie wiped her face of more semi-dried mayonnaise. Her death glare did not go unnoticed.

"A cowboy did that?" Carter asked.

"No," Carrie grunted. "It was some chick who turned into a gorilla like Garfield does! And guess what? She wasn't green!"

"Carrie, sweets, please take a seat." Rubbing her friend's shoulders, Irey directed her back to her seat then went back to using her death glare on Carter. "Lorena got there. She helped us. She actually thought about her friends enough to come to our aid. And what did she get? She gets shoved into a port-a-potty then launched fifty feet into the air where she lands in a ball pit for kids!"

Looking at Lorena, Carter was about to say something when she shook her head while giving him a look capable of killing the immortal Soloman Grundy himself. She REALLY did not want to talk about it.

"And Zachary," Irey continued. "Poor Zachary-"

"I was nearly drowned then thrown into a shop selling Beanie Babies where I was pantsed by the cowboy in front of a crowd of girls!" The magician slammed his hands on the table as he shouted at Carter.

"Luckily he was wearing underwear today!" Irey shouted.

"Yeah, Luckily I was- wait, what!?"

"Never mind." Forming a smile capable on creeping out The Joker, Irey got a sweet tone to her voice that completely went against her current demeanor. "And would you like to know what happened to me?"

"Um," Carter said.

"Well, I was surprised by a guy who appeared from the jet of water that attacked Lorena and Zachary. Only this time, he had turned into an ice giant and was impossible for me to attack because of how hard he was and the spikes on him! I couldn't even put space between me and it cause of a sheet of ice it put on the ground! So I ask once more...HOW...WAS...YOUR...DAY?"

With wide eyes staring at his friends, Carter felt undeniably that he was not going to make it out of the room alive. Each of his friends waited for his reason as to why he did not answer his phone and went to help them with the look in their eyes daring him to try to weasel out of the situation. He could just picture it, each one using their powers on him with, most likely, Irey giving him an atomic nuggie.

"Yes, how was your day, Carter?"

Somewhat jumping at the new voice interrupting them, the teens turned to a wall mounted screen and saw the cowled face of Batman. Instantly, those sitting stood at attention with the banter between them cut off just as fast.

"U, um, I-"

"Being part of a team," Batman began, "means you are there for those who need you, ready at a moment's notice, and always putting them before yourself. They are to do the same. That way you all will grow stronger together with no one being above the other. That is a team."

"Yeah, Carter," Irey said.

"Isis," Batman snapped.

"Sorry."

"Now, why don't you inform us all as to why you deemed it more important to spend time with a classmate than at your team's side?"

"A classmate?" Lorena asked. "You were with a friend instead of helping us fight three...whatever they were?"

"Well, I," Carter stammered.

"Was it that Luthor chick?" Carrie asked.

Batman frowned.

"The hottie?!" Zachary yelled when he saw the girls angrily stare at him. "I, uh, I mean, Lex's daughter?!"

"You're dating the enemy?" Irey asked in disbelief.

"It wasn't a date," Carter told her. "She's in my class and told me she moved to Happy Harbor recently and wanted to-"

"Have lunch at your mother's cafe with said girl." Having his image shrink, Batman had surveillance footage appear with an overhead shot of Carter and Mar'i. Both sat at a table with a tray of food between them. "So Carter, with your attention on Miss Mar'i here, was there any reason for us to think you did not simply abandon your teammates?"

"I didn't abandon anyone!" Carter yelled at the Dark Knight. "I took her on a tour of the city, we ate lunch, and I left my phone in my bag with the sound off. It was an accident!"

"An accident that could have had dire consequences for your teammates. And might I remind you that she is the daughter of Lex Luthor, one of the League's biggest threats and enemies. Nothing good ever comes from associating with the enemy in any way."

"Bruce and Selena?" Carter asked.

"That is none of your concern." Narrowing his eyes, Batman seemed to silently dare the teen boy to continue when Conner and Kaldur entered the room.

"Is everyone ready for their training session today?" Kaldur asked as Carter made his way to the door.

"Carter?" Conner asked as his son ignored him and left. He then turned to the others, "What's going on?"

No one said a word to the Kryptonian/human who, despite still being in his civilian attire, still looked rather imposing. The teens were easily dwarfed by him and tried to look at anything except the new Superman. It was not until the League member turned to Batman on the large screen when any of them finally moved, albeit just to sit down.

"What happened?" Conner asked Batman.

"Carter failed to answer a call from the others and needs to understand what could have happened if things had gotten worse," Batman told him. "He needs to be disciplined."

"We'll see," Conner told him.

"Conner, your son was on a date and insisted he did not know his phone rang. Everyone else was alerted and met up. Carter needs to be told nothing else matters except-"

"Did he tell you what he was doing?"

Batman narrowed his eyes.

"That's what I thought. I heard you from down the hall. You were spying on him again."

To that, Kaldur snapped his head in Batman's direction with a puzzled look.

"It's called surveillance, Conner."

"Not when it's on friends. Or are we otherwise...Dick."

Both men stared the other down, Dick Grayson, Batman, on the monitor; Conner Kent, Superman, in the room. Beside them, the four teenage heroes in training found breathing to be slightly difficult with all the tension in the air. It was not the first time the two League members had been in a standoff with each other, but it was still unknown to them why they were always at odd ends.

"Regardless," Batman continued, "this needs to be addressed if your son wishes to be on this team. If you do not-"

"Kids," Conner interrupted, "leave the room. You too Kaldur."

Immediately, the teens rushed for the door with the Atlantian ushering them away from the room, each attempting to be the first one out as the door closed behind them with the aid of Conner's TTK.

"Understand this," Conner began once the door shut. "Our business is our business. I already told you once about spying on us. As for my son, if he said he did not hear the phone, then he did not hear the phone. He has always been there for the others when they need him, so don't accuse him of doing otherwise."

"He needs to be more responsible," Batman shot back. "As a being not supposed to even exist like him, he-"

"Don't say that." Conner hissed between teeth.

"You're making my point. If you still get this mad after all these years, and with your power set; well we can only guess at what Carter is capable of."

"That is none of your business!" Walking up to the large screen, Conner inadvertently had his eyes flash red, something he recognized in the reflection where Batman's chest was. He calmed himself down, even though anything regarding his family in a negative light tended to set him off easily. "I can understand you wanting to be careful, but with what you did, planting cameras in our apartment, at the fortress, spying on us like you did. What happened to you, Dick? You used to be someone I could trust, count on."

"Simple, I grew up. And this girl he was eating with is a Luthor. Luthor, remember?! The man who was a thorn in the League's side since practically their creation. You think she actually wants to be his friend? She was raised by the man. There's no telling what she may be doing behind closed doors. It could all be a set up."

"Funny how you changed positions on the one with a history of being associated with the enemy. Is that how you thought of me when you and the others brought me into the cave? Or Artemis given her parents? Are you nothing more than a carbon copy of Bruce? Not trusting anyone?"

"Funny how this is coming from a clone of Superman." Leaning closer to the camera, Batman made sure Conner would know how serious he was. "Remember, she is a Luthor, someone with ten plans for every one he had. For all we know, she is just another one in a series to bring us down, a potential cousin of sorts to Carter in order to infiltrate us using family ties sing cloning technology. And for future reference, it's called gathering intelligence."

With that, Batman cut the feed, leaving the still angered Conner alone in the conference room. Outside, down the hall, Carter sat on the couch, phone in hand with Mar'i's number cued up. He heard everything with his enhanced ears and it hurt when Dick said he should not exist, it always did when he heard the phrase, even more so coming from someone he looked up to. But now at least he knew why his parents and Carrie's parents were always cold to each other. But now he had something else on his mind, the daughter of the most dangerous villian his parents ever faced wanted to spend time with him this weekend. With all the stories he heard of her father, maybe it was dumb to think she deserved a chance to show she was not like Lex. After all, if his father was a clone of Lex and wound up on the side of the Angels, then the same could be said for the daughter.