Bruce woke up groggily, the most unusual dream of Harry Potter claiming to be Death played through his mind.
He sat up and saw that he was in his bed, just as he remembered climbing into it after dropping Rachel off home and leaving her with the vials of antidote and instructions to give it to Sergeant Gordon.
Then he noticed the second body in his bed.
It was substantially older than he was used to and completely the wrong gender.
Fortunately the sleeping body of Alfred Pennyworth was still clothed.
"I swear I tried to get him to put you in separate beds."
Bruce jumped out of bed at the sound of another person in his bedroom.
He was… nonplussed… to see Harry, Clark and his parent's ethereal forms standing by the door.
"It wasn't a dream?" He asked. "I didn't relapse from the toxin?"
"Nope, you are completely sane and healthy." Harry said.
"Unfortunately the same can't be said for Harry." Clark sighed.
The group found themselves downstairs indulging in a large breakfast conjured by Harry as they discussed the ramifications of Harry's revelations and Alfred and Bruce's trip to the other side. His parents soon departed as the strain began to show, but they left with assuring that they were proud and pleased with both men.
"Are you one of the homo-magi?" Bruce asked suddenly.
"Erm… I haven't heard that term in a long while. Where did you hear it?" Harry asked curiously.
"In my travels, I met a man, Giovanni Zatara, also known as John. He trained me in the art of escape. He could do magic, but he used spells for the most part, incantations. Apparently they are a subset of humans who have hidden themselves."
"Interesting. A complete race of magicals native to this universe." Harry mused.
"But you had them in Scott's world." Clark pointed out.
"We had people who trained and had a talent they nurtured, but not a race of wizards and witches. I created that race in Scott's world. In my home world I was born a member of the magical race of humans." Harry explained. He turned back to Bruce. "I would have to meet this Zatara or another homo-magi to be sure if I was born into the same race as them, but it wouldn't really make a difference. Being Death and the Master of Magic makes me something else, even if my body is human."
"You could end world hunger." Bruce stated.
"Eventually."
"You could prevent everyone from ever dying."
"Not with out severe drastic consequences." Harry warned. "I can stop a body from getting ill and old but the human soul can't last more than five thousand years in the mortal world before insanity sets in. I had to watch Daphne slip away from me despite the fact that she never looked older than twenty."
Bruce nodded. He knew that there had to be a catch or clause otherwise Daphne Potter would still be here.
"You could conquer the world."
"I've already started." Harry said as he fought a smirk.
Next to him Clark smacked his head on the table. Harry had to fix the crack.
"He's joking right?" Alfred asked from beside Bruce.
"He completely controls North Korea. He took me there himself." Clark admitted.
"Eventually I will be recognised as the ultimate ruler of Earth and all her people. But I will probably not be the official head very often. Scott and the girls will take a turn. Clark might, hell, Alfred might do a fine job."
"Not me?" Bruce asked.
"People like you develop too much paranoia. I had this problem back in Scott's home. Once the world is at peace and you don't need to watch your back, then you might be offered the position for a while. No one holds it for too long, two, three hundred years tops. There is too much work involved." Harry said with a dismissive wave.
"Two to three hundred years as ruler of the world?" Alfred asked with wide eyes.
"You and Bruce here will live to be at least three thousand barring accidents and foul play and me not being around to stop it. Two to three hundred years out of that is like a couple of months in the current average life time."
"What do you intend to do with us now?" Bruce asked. He kept his voice and demeanour calm, but the very question showed the tension.
"Nothing. You know me, I know you. If you run into a problem too big for you to handle then call us for help." Harry shrugged. "Look Bruce, as long as you don't go off the deep end and start hurting innocent people you won't ever have a real problem with me. Sure we will disagree on things as any two sentient beings would. But you are doing good work. I will be sending Scott back here with some of the girls to work on your equipment, try and improve it for you. Nothing big, just work out any latent bugs."
"My equipment is state of the art." Bruce frowned, he knew he wasn't being insulted but he couldn't understand what they could offer.
"Lorna still has trouble with our technology." Clark spoke up. "She explained that she is used to technology that is thousands of years more advanced than ours. You should see their training room and labs."
"Hmm, speaking of 'our technology'." Harry mused as he looked at Clark. "Mind if we ask for their help regarding your questions?"
Clark stiffened. His immediate reaction was to chastise Harry for even hinting at it in front of others. But then he remembered Laura's words and how much easier it was now that Lex, Lana and Chloe knew about what he was.
Clark just nodded. "I'm an alien. I landed on this planet years ago as a small child and was taken in and raised by my parents Martha and Jonathan. They kept my space ship and recently we found the… activation disk?"
Harry laughed. "In short we found the keys to his ship… and no, they weren't hidden down the back of the couch."
Both men couldn't help but smile despite the massive revelation that they were sitting opposite an extra-terrestrial.
Clark continued. "When we activated the ship it spoke to us, some sort of artificial intelligence. It let a few things out like the name Krypton which is the name of my planet and that my birth name is Kal-El."
There was a short moments silence.
"What sort of help were you looking for?" Bruce asked eventually.
"Anything really, I guess." Clark admitted. "I really don't like what the ship was saying, trying to get me to leave my parents."
"Nothing too big, just keep an ear open in case you happen to hear anything about aliens or the words Kal-El and Krypton. Or Smallville even." Harry added.
"I can do that." Bruce nodded. "It will be hard to sift through the hoaxes but not impossible. I can tell you I have heard of certain legends, some thing about a Traveller and The King of Terror. The Traveller comes up around the world from Europe to Asia, but The King of Terror is unique to Japan."
"What makes them stand out from things like Roswell and other UFO sightings?" Clark asked curiously.
"The amount of secrecy surrounding them, there is a cult or group called Veritas I have heard of that focuses on The Traveller but there is a fair amount of government interest in The King of Terror."
"Hmm, I have someone in Japan, he could use a hobby so I will have him look into The King of Terror. The rest of us can focus on Europe and The Traveller. The King of Terror was actually foretold of by Nostradamus."
"Thank you." Clark said sincerely to Bruce.
"Anytime. I'll keep my ear to the ground."
"Right, I have two more things to do in this city, our main objective was to meet the Batman. Mission Accomplished!" Harry declared. "First I will magic up Alfred here and then I will see if I can't grab that idiot, Crane."
"'Magic up'?" Alfred asked.
"Yes, I am going to make you into a magical. In fact, I will bring in Jonathan I think to help you train."
"Why me and not Master Bruce? Logic would indicate that he has a greater and more noble need for it." Alfred noted.
"Yes, but Bruce would only use it for fighting crime. Now that isn't a bad thing as most of my girls and Scott only used it for that initially, but they were living in the equivalent of a war. No, you need magic first. You will use magic for what it is meant to be used for. Aiding in your day-to-day tasks like cleaning, cooking, running errands, etc. Eventually, say in a years time, Bruce will get used to seeing you do these little things and when I magic him up he won't run off and start capturing every crook he ever met."
"You're worried that Master Bruce will use the ability to use magic as an excuse to focus more and more on crime fighting instead of living." Alfred nodded with acceptance.
Bruce looked affronted.
"It's in your nature." Harry shrugged. "Also, you need to be careful as you are a public figure, if someone found out you had these abilities you would be at risk of constant kidnapping. Lex doesn't have magic yet because of that fact. He gets captured enough as it is, worse than Lana and Chloe if you ask me."
"Lex doesn't get captured that much, he does find himself in trouble a fair amount though." Clark defended his friend.
"Harry, you called?" Jonathan asked as he suddenly appeared. He noticed the shocked looks on Bruce and Alfred's faces. "I just teleported into your home, didn't I Mr. Wayne." He sighed. "I apologise, Harry doesn't believe in manners at times."
"We are gaining an increasing familiarity with the concept, Mr. Kent." Bruce mused dryly.
"Why am I here and invading Mr. Wayne's home? Where you at least invited?"
Clark just laughed.
"That answers that one." Jonathan muttered.
"I'm about to give Alfred here magic, he needs a tutor and I decided it was your turn." Harry informed him.
"And did you check to see if he was free today?" Jonathan asked.
"No, but it won't take more than an hour."
"I do have to prepare for Master Bruce's birthday party tonight. Your invitations should have been delivered to your hotel this morning." Alfred explained.
"Actually, teaching you whilst preparing your party will be better, practical application is something a soldier can appreciate." Harry nodded.
"How did you know I served?" Alfred asked suspiciously.
"I served in most branches of the military, especially the British Military. I recognised your stances. SAS?"
Alfred just nodded.
"Let's get you glowing!" Harry grinned.
Alfred had insisted that Mr. and Mrs. Kent be invited to the party along with the rest of Harry's family.
The girls were always the focus of much attention with their exceptional good looks, but Lorna as always, stood out amongst the elite of Gotham with her green hair. Occasionally she would charm it a more natural colour when she wanted to be inconspicuous, but it was as much a part of Lorna Dane as was magic and her mutant ability to manipulate magnetic fields.
Clark found he was also the recipient of many envious or disapproving looks as with Lana absent the Cuckoos had latched onto him in their usual manner. They were dressed in attire of differing styles but exactly the same colour, white.
Lorna was latched onto Harry's arm this evening as Amara accompanied Bruce. Amara was much more comfortable in a board room or court room, her up bringing having given her insights and appreciation of ruling long before she took her turn at governing Earth under Harry's rule back home.
Bruce eventually found himself moving back to Harry and Lorna. Harry was deep in conversation with a tall man who had his back to him.
"Bruce!" Harry gestured to the man to join them. "I was just talking to this interesting man who says he knows you from your travels. He says he is one of your tutors. He has some… interesting ideas on society at large." Harry said with a raised eyebrow.
Bruce's brain immediately put the name to the face and all the pieces of the puzzle fell together for him. Crane and the mysterious plant that he had experience with and now the man who called himself 'Ducard' who trained him with it standing in his home.
"Ra's." Bruce said with a dark smile. "I saved your life." He reminded him.
"I warned you about compassion, Bruce."
"To true. You shouldn't waste compassion on those who don't deserve it." Harry nodded sagely.
"Compassion is weakness, an opening for your enemies to strike." The newly revealed Ra's countered.
"It's also the first step to building true alliances."
"Harry-" Bruce began warningly.
"Don't worry Bruce, the guests are leaving now." Harry assured him as Jean and Emma telepathically nudged the high society club of Gotham.
Ra's frowned. He hadn't heard any orders given, no one was panicking.
"Not so much fun when you have to deal with someone more powerful than you, is it?" Harry smirked. "What's it been, some three hundred years since you met someone who could best you?"
Ra's was scowling now. "Cheap parlour tricks."
"If that's what you want to believe. The only thing I will promise you is that I will treat you as you wish to treat others. I will destroy you completely. You cheated death this far and I have no problem with people living a long life, but I cannot abide those who hurt others for their own personal gain. You aren't worthy of immortality!" Harry spat angrily.
"Who are you to decide that?" Ra's demanded.
"I. AM. DEATH!" Harry roared as he transformed into his dragon form causing the interior of the Stately Wayne Manor Ball Room to magically expand to accommodate his excessively large form.
Lorna grabbed Bruce and teleported back a short distance. "Ah crap. Harry is really pissed."
"This is pissed?" Bruce asked worriedly.
"Usually he is methodical about how he deals with these idiots." Laura explained as she teleported next to them with Alfred. "He doesn't usually go in for these theatrics. When he let's out his dragon form like this it means he is angry. Very angry."
"He also gets sloppy." Scott grimaced as he approached them. "His rage clouds his mind and he let's the minion types escape. You remember the mess he caused when he got pissed with Hades. Hela had to take over in his absence."
"And we had to round up all the escaped prisoners of Hades realm." Emma sighed.
"He seems to be quite effective at the moment." Alfred said with a wince as the dragon chewed up another of the minions.
"Ra's escaped though." Bruce pointed out.
"Exactly." Jean sighed. "Girls, see if you can calm him down." She instructed the Cuckoos who immediately transformed into a single Phoenix and flew to the rampaging dragon to try and calm him down.
"Alfred, take Bruce to his gear. Teleportation will be quicker." Scott ordered. "The rest of us will suit up and track down the escaping idiots and Ra's."
"Clark, come with me, you need a costume if you are going to be out in public. And a code name." Laura said as she grabbed his hand and vanished.
"Aw, I wanted to be the first one to play dress-up with him." Dani pouted before being dragged off by Amara.
Laura and Clark arrived at the castle where Laura transfigured her evening gown into her standard black fighting attire. "Now Clark, we've been discussing your costume for a while. A costume is many things, but to the people it is an expression of what you stand for. My costume is designed for stealth and fighting where as Emma's costume is about standing out and taking command. Scott is more about being a symbol for others, a symbol of hope.
"We believe you should be a symbol for hope as well." Laura lectured. "We've known you for a while now and seen you help others. We discussed you with your friends and family and they also agree that you are a symbol of hope. So, this is what we had planned for you."
She waved her hand at Clark transfiguring his tuxedo and turning him to face the dress mirror.
Clark saw himself wearing blue heavy jeans with a tight blue long sleeved t-shirt, across his shoulders was a red cape that flowed down towards the backs of his knees. His boots were heavy-duty work boots in red; the only deviation was a yellow belt.
"A cape?" He asked with a wrinkled nose.
Laura smiled. "It's a symbol of protection and power, we also made sure that it can deflect everything from bullets to spells so you can use it to protect others."
"I will definitely stand out in a crowd." He sighed.
"That's the point Clark, a symbol of hope that isn't seen isn't very good. When people see you they will know that you have come to help and that will give them the strength to hold on a little longer."
"Ok." He agreed reluctantly. He had spent most of his life hiding who he was. But Harry and his family hadn't led him wrong so far. "You said something about a code name?"
Laura giggled momentarily. "Chloe initially wanted to call you 'Superboy', as everything you do is super, super speed, super strength, etc. But Lana suggested 'Superman' after Nietzsche's Superman.
"Harry also warned against 'Superboy' as once you are labelled with a diminutive like 'boy' it is hard to get people to take you seriously."
"Won't people think I have a huge ego?"
"Let them think what they want." She said firmly. "What you say and do is far more important than what you call yourself."
"Don't I need a mask?" He asked, thinking of Bruce and his cowl.
"No, we placed a charm on you. No one will be able to connect Superman to Clark Kent unless you specifically tell them. Even if they hear about your adventures and know about your powers they won't know it is you."
"Ok… I suppose we better get started then." Clark sighed with great reluctance.
Whilst Batman was chasing down Ra's Al Ghul, Scott, Jean and Emma were with Sergeant Gordon informing him of the situation.
All hell had broken loose in the slums known as The Narrows. Crane had released his fear toxin into the air and the population was in chaos as they ran from phantoms and terrors. It didn't help that Crane had released the prisoners from Arkham as this increased the fears and the dangers.
Harry was currently tracking down the maniac and found him riding a horse with a sack over his head and calling himself The Scarecrow.
"You are in so much trouble." Harry snarled as he grabbed the idiot off the horse. Harry was invisible as he didn't want to scare any of the civilians, he couldn't heal them properly at the moment as they were being constantly exposed to the toxin in the air.
"Put me down!" Crane screamed.
Harry ignored him as he teleported to Scott.
"Found the jerk. He is definitely insane." Harry said as he became visible.
"Taste fear!" The Scarecrow yelled as he sprayed Harry with his gas.
"Tastes terrible." Harry mused.
"Why aren't you afraid?" The Scarecrow asked worriedly.
"Kid, I've seen things that would literally scare you to death. Now shut up and go to sleep." Harry said as he punched the man in the face, his hand charged with a stunner.
"Sergeant Gordon, meet Death. Death, Sergeant Gordon." Cyclops sighed.
"The Batman speaks very highly of you." Harry said as he held out his hand.
Gordon numbly took it. "Does that name have any significance? Cyclops, The White Queen and The Phoenix… you are definitely a colourful bunch." He said weakly.
"Their names are codenames." Harry explained. "They need them to protect their private lives. Mine is not so much a codename as it is a description of what I am. The embodiment of Death."
"You're saying that you are Death?" He asked doubtfully. "A little young, aren't you?"
"Only in looks. I've been around for a very long time." Harry smiled.
Gordon shook his head in mild frustration. These costumed heroes weren't breaking the law, they were helping. As long as they didn't cause him problems they could call themselves whatever they wanted to.
At that moment Batman swooped in. "I've tracked Ra's, he's on the train headed for Wayne Tower. "I can get on board but someone needs to make sure that the train doesn't make it to Wayne Towers. He has a microwave emitter that is causing the water to evaporate and the toxin to become airborne. Wayne Towers houses the main water plant for the city."
"I think we can handle that." Cyclops nodded.
"Here, take my car." Batman said as he threw his keys to Cyclops before shooting off a grappling hook.
"I think I'll give him a hand." Harry said as he took off flying and intercepting Batman and carrying him the rest of the way.
"I'll come with you." Gordon informed Cyclops as the other man began to turn.
Cyclops stopped and smiled at the officer. "You take the car, we don't actually need transportation." He said as he tossed the keys over and took off into the air just as Harry had.
Whilst Harry, Batman, Cyclops, Jean and Emma dealt with Ra's, the train and The Scarecrow, Clark and the others were doing damage control in The Narrows.
The triplets had shifted to their phoenix form and where flying over the crowds calming them with their song. Amara walked through the streets as a being of pure fire keeping the escaped Arkham convicts from getting close to the innocent civilians.
Clark quickly sped around collecting the inmates and bringing them back to Lorna who, using her mutant powers, extracted metal from the area and turned it into restraints for them. Clark also collected the weapons from civilian, criminal and policeman alike as none of them were of the right mind to handle firearms whilst facing their deepest fears.
Eventually Clark took to the rooftops where he had a better view. He was shocked to find a familiar face.
"Miss Dawes?" He asked in surprise.
"Who are you?" She demanded as she pointed the gun at him.
Clark quickly zipped in and grabbed the gun before she could blink. He realised that his identity was protected so he was just another face in the crowd.
"I'm here to help. You've been infected by a toxin that induces fear."
"No, I'm inoculated. Bru- The Batman gave me the antidote earlier. He also dropped us here for safety." She explained; she was completely awed by how fast he moved. "But this boy, he's infected, he could die." She said as she hugged the blonde haired boy to her.
"My friends down below can cure him. I'll take you to them, you'll be safer with them." He said as he offered his hand.
"Are you an angel?" The boy asked fearfully?
"I'm just a friend who can make the bad people go away." He said softly as he knelt in front of the boy. It was clear to Clark that the boy was terrified of him and everything else, but like he had with Miss Dawes, the boy had found him as another thing to latch onto.
Clark picked the boy up in one arm and hauled Rachel Dawes to her feet, pulling her to the edge of the five-storey apartment complex.
"How are we going to get down?" Rachel asked.
"Jump."
"The fall will kill us!"
"Actually the landing will kill you… but I'll make sure you land safely." Clark said with a wry smile.
Rachel screamed as the blue and red clad man grabbed her around the waist and jumped with her and the boy off the ledge.
Clark could see the world moving in slow motion as they fell, he saw the windows moving slower and slower as they approached the ground floor.
Suddenly, it all fell into place for Clark. He could feel the air around him; he could feel gravity. He knew that he could not only leap into the atmosphere but that he could control his descent. He knew he could save the woman and child in his arms from the unnecessary jolt as they landed and his own knees absorbed the deadly impact.
"We stopped!"
Clark looked at Miss Dawes curiously.
"We're floating." She explained as she pointed down with a free hand, the other clinging to his neck.
Clark looked down and smiled. Sure enough they were still six feet of the ground.
Clark Kent could fly.
He focused his will and headed for the glow in the distance as he rose up a few more feet to fly over the heads of the crowds.
Rachel was even more awed when she saw that the glow they were approaching was actually a person made of fire and that another woman seemed to manipulate metal without touching it.
"Polaris, this woman is ADA Dawes, she was inoculated by the Batman. The boy needs healing though." Clark called out.
Rachel watched as the green haired woman approached them and laid a calming hand on the boy causing him to fall asleep.
"I see you learnt to fly, Superman." She said with a pleased smile. "Lord Death will be pleased. Your training will have to be altered."
Rachel paled. They worked for someone named Death. It was bad enough that Crane was riding around with a mask and calling himself 'Scarecrow', but now there was someone calling himself 'Lord Death'. Gotham wouldn't survive the night.
"Relax Miss Dawes." The woman named Polaris said calmingly. "Lord Death has no designs on the souls of this city unless they are guilty of the most heinous of crimes."
"Who calls themselves 'Lord Death'?" Rachel demanded in disgust.
"He calls himself 'Death'. But the higher powers of the universe respect him so much that he is elevated in their esteem, so they call him 'Lord'." Polaris explained.
A fiery white and red bird that split and shifted to form three identical young teenage girls suddenly joined them.
"There is too much chaos for us to be effective, Polaris." One of them stated.
"We will need to have our Lord take more direct action so that we can save the innocent." Another said.
"This place is lost. All we can do is evacuate the innocent." The last of the girls said.
Polaris sighed. Even back home an incident of this nature would stretch their abilities. Here in this world, where they were constrained by secrecy they were severely crippled.
"So be it. We will withdraw from The Narrows and allow Lord Death to bring peace here before we try and save the innocent."
"Wait… what are you talking about?" Rachel asked worriedly. There was very little chance in her mind that anyone called Lord Death would be able to bring peace and not be talking about killing people.
"Good evening Miss Dawes." Said a familiar voice.
Rachel spun around to see- "Dr. Potter?"
"I'm sorry you got caught up in this, but I am proud of your actions and attempts to aid the police, Sergeant Gordon… and this young lad." He indicated the boy sleeping in Clark's arms.
"Wait… you're this 'Lord Death'? Are you in league with Crane?" She asked with narrowed eyes.
"Crane is nothing more than a man who takes pleasure in the pain and suffering of others. I am the gateway between this life and the next. And so much more." Harry said with a small smile.
Harry closed his eyes and raised his hands as he floated into the air.
"Can all of you fly?" Rachel asked as she watched him in awe.
"We can now." One of the triplets smirked at Clark.
"We might want to lie down for a minute." One of the other triplets said.
"Even after all these millions of years, Harry still can't redirect this type of magic without affecting everyone in the zone." The last said as they began to lower themselves to the floor along with Clark who laid the boy down and the being made of fire that sat on the floor cross-legged.
Rachel wasn't sure what happened but one minute she was standing in the middle of the Narrows surrounded by criminals and hysterical citizens whilst several beings of incredible power and ability discussed the fate of Gotham, the next she was waking up in her bed.
She sat up quickly and looked around. She nearly squeaked when she saw the green-haired woman from the previous night standing at the foot of her bed.
"I'm just here to let you know that last night wasn't a dream. But you probably shouldn't talk about it to anyone. The world isn't ready for us yet. See you around Rachel."
And then the woman vanished.
Rachel didn't bother to get washed; she just threw on some clean clothes and jumped in her car heading straight for Wayne Manor.
"Ah, Miss Dawes."
"Not today Alfred. I need to talk to that idiot of yours." Rachel snarled as she barged passed him.
"Of course Miss Dawes. Happy to be of assistance Miss Dawes. Might I take your coat Miss Dawes?" Alfred muttered to himself as he trailed after the brunette.
"Bruce, wha-" She froze as she entered the dining room to find a large collection of people, she recognised them from the previous night, she also realised the man who saved her was Dr. Potter's assistant, Clark Kent, a mere farm boy.
"Rachel, I thought you might arrive today when Bruce told us he essentially told you his identity last night." Harry smiled. "Come in, let me introduce you. This is Lorna Dane, Laura Kinney, Celeste, Mindy and Phoebe Cuckoo, Scott Summers, Emma Frost, Jean Grey and Amara Aquilla, you met them all last night."
Rachel just stood there stuck to the spot.
"Alfred, perhaps some tea for Rachel?" Bruce smirked.
"Which of you is the fire man?" She asked suddenly.
There was a bright flash as Amara became engulfed in flames. She quickly doused them and repaired the damage to the chair, floor and table.
"Oh." She said weakly as Clark led her to a chair. She had been hoping that it had all been part of a hallucination, but seeing the woman burst into flame… it was all too real.
She was startled further when two other women appeared in the room. One was a golden haired woman and the other was dark haired and tan skinned.
"Ok, the cave is a little more friendly, the elevator down should survive everything short of nuclear explosion at ground zero and I am going to shut up now as there is a stranger here." The dark haired woman finished with a blush.
Harry just smiled. "Meet Assistant District Attorney Rachel Dawes. Rachel, meet Danielle Moonstar and Brunhilde. Rachel was in the middle of the Narrows yesterday trying to help the police and managed to save a young boy."
"Nice." Dani nodded appreciatively as she conjured extra seats for her and Hilde.
"Miss Moonstar, we have plenty of seats without the need for you to magic them out the air." Alfred chastised as he walked back in with two people older than the current occupants but younger than Alfred.
"And these are Jonathan and Martha Kent. Clark's parents." Harry sighed.
"Harry, she looks a little pale." Martha said with concern.
"She is trying to cope with all this new information." Jean explained.
"Sitting here surrounded by the lot of you won't help." Martha scowled. "Come with me, dear. I'll try and answer your questions." She said as she laid a hand on Rachel's shoulder and vanished.
"Your wife is fairly forceful, Mr. Kent." Bruce said with a raised eyebrow.
"I'll say." Clark muttered.
Bruce just laughed with the others.
"Master Bruce, the papers have arrived, needless to say your adventures have made the front page." He laid out a stack of various local and national newspapers. "On every paper for the first five pages it seems."
As the group browsed through the various papers, duplicating them with magic so they all had a copy, Clark noticed one very important fact.
"Why are only Batman and Superman mentioned?"
"Magic." Harry smiled. "I made sure that only you two were recognised. Our presence was concealed as were our actions. Only Sergeant Gordon and Miss Dawes know about us. As we have said before, this world isn't ready for us. To be honest, they aren't ready for you, but you will need to make a start some time and now is as good a time as any."
"So the city and the world believes that Superman and Batman saved the city last night?" Bruce asked.
"Yes." Harry nodded. "Batman saved the city from destruction whilst Superman saved various individuals."
"What about the whole mass sleep thing?" Clark asked.
"It will be written off as a side effect of the drug that was in the air." Jean answered. "We managed to eradicate the drug from the air and water supply, there are no compounds left to test so no one can say otherwise."
"Doctor Potter, would you be so kind as to inform Master Bruce that Mr. Lucius Fox is here?"
"Alfred says there is a Mr. Lucius Fox here." Harry relayed the mental message.
"He's like Alfred, he helped the Batman where he could. Didn't even care if I couldn't tell him what I was doing." Bruce explained.
"It's your choice, Bruce. You are doing good in the world so you'll get nothing but my support." Harry assured him.
Rachel eventually got over the shock of being teleported by Martha Kent to what she claimed was Smallville, Kansas. Now she was trying to ask the right questions. As a prosecutor she always had to be careful of the answers she sought, especially in Gotham. The wrong question could tank a case or even put her life or another's in jeopardy.
She was fairly certain that the same was true here. Anyone who had the power to put a city to sleep or turn into flame and fly likely had to have a hidden agenda. It wasn't likely to be an agenda that was good for everyone.
So far she had asked fairly benign questions about what they generally did and could do. She had been purposefully avoiding the harder topics.
She was taken aback when Martha changed the subject abruptly.
"Did you know that my father was a lawyer?"
"I can honestly say I have never heard of you before today." Rachel said sincerely.
"I studied finance myself. But Daddy always taught me the keys of successfully arguing a case." She said with knowing smile. "Don't be afraid to ask any question you want, Rachel. I promise you there will be no repercussions for asking questions, there is only the chance you won't like the answer or you simply won't get one. Harry has a policy of never denying someone the right to ask a question though."
Rachel steeled herself and decided to bite the bullet. "What are Death's plans? Long term."
"Call him Harry, he only uses Lord Death for official stuff. I've never called him that myself." She said reassuringly. "To be blunt, Harry intends to have full control of the world. Now, before you go off and think he intends to conquer the world through force, let me assure you that is not the case."
Rachel continued to walk with Martha around the farm as Martha told her the stories the girls had told her about how Harry conquered the last two worlds he'd been in.
"What do you intend to do now?" Bruce's question was asked in as carefree a manner as possible, but even Clark picked up on the tension beneath it.
"We go home. You continue with what you are doing and make sure to call on us if you need help. You will also be meeting with Dani on a monthly basis for counselling sessions. You have a lot of trauma in your past and you need to deal with it before this new path of yours completely destroys you." Harry explained as he saw Bruce about to protest.
"You have full confidentiality, Bruce." Dani assured him. "I wouldn't tell your secrets and only Harry can actually force his way to them. He taught us how to magically hide certain secrets in our minds."
"I for one am begging you to consider this, Master Bruce." Alfred said earnestly.
Bruce looked at the man who had been like a father to him since his parents died. He knew what it was doing to the man to see him throw himself into danger like this. It seemed even more important that Alfred wanted this after he had heard his parents thank him for adopting him. Something that not even Bruce was aware he had done.
"If he refuses I will personally manhandle him to the sessions." Rachel declared with a scowl at Bruce and she and Martha rejoined the table.
"Don't worry Rachel. I'll make my own way there." Bruce assured her.
"Would one of you mind showing me the modifications you made to Mr. Wayne's equipment?" Lucius asked. "I'm curious as to how you improved it and if you might have solutions for some of our other dead end projects."
"Sure, follow me." Dani smiled brightly.
"A counsellor and an engineer?" Lucius asked in surprise as he rose to follow.
"And a doctor and a lawyer and so many other things. A hundred thousand years is a long time, you find you need to expand your repertoire or get bored out of your skull." Dani explained as she led Lucius away.
