Three days later and it was time for the memorial service and while Kerenai would be an informal representative in the minds of almost everyone the Cybertronians and EDC officers knew that she was in truth a full and true representative being the adoptive daughter of the Cybertronians. After the speeches everyone was allowed to go up to the empty coffin to place flowers or whatever they wanted onto the casket and finally it was Kerenai's turn, she put flowers onto the casket and then put her forehead onto the casket, the first person to do so and then whispers something knowing that at least two members of the League would hear what she'd just whispered
"I'm sorry, we're sorry, so, so very sorry that we missed your signal"
Kerenai suddenly hears a question behind her
"What do you mean by that?"
One look and a shake of her head and Kerenai signals Superman that she wouldn't discuss it there and so they went to a private area that the League knew would be secure enough and several members were there
(Sighs) "As you may or may not know the EDC monitors your communications regularly, despite not being official allies we know how important you are to the world and so we like to keep a discreet eye on you guys. It's why we know when we're needed generally before you guys call for us whenever something happens that beyond even your capabilities, but this time...this time something went wrong"
"How?, a moment you said you missed his signal, but what signal are you talking about?"
Kerenai shakes her head for a moment
"It's not a signal you would have recognized Superman, in fact it wasn't a signal any of you would have recognized since it wasn't originally designed to be a signal, distress or otherwise in the first place"
"What do you mean?, and how did you guys recognize it as a signal if that wasn't it's purpose anyways?"
(Sighs) "This is going to take some explaining but...do you guys remember that very brief burst of static from Batman's communicator right before you lost all contact and then..."
"Then the explosion happening not ten minutes later? I remember that, we all do in fact we were trying to find Batman from his last known position because of the contact lost after that burst of static"
"Good then we're on the same page to a degree, you see for the Cybertronians and EDC a burst of static before complete comm silence is a prearranged signal that they're in trouble and need backup immediately, when that signal is received by any of the EDC a set of prearranged events go into motion since they're responses to various situations that they've developed over the years. Unfortunately like I mentioned earlier they missed that signal, in fact they missed the entire incident in question, if it hadn't been missed maybe they could have saved Batman at the very least if they'd discovered the explosion wasn't able to be stopped"
"How was the signal missed?, actually how was the entire event missed?, you said something about monitoring our communications regularly"
"Yeah that's where the problem comes in surprisingly enough, you see they don't just monitor your communications they monitor the entire worlds so they have to have a purge system and a cycle system so that we're not overwhelmed with information, plus their system automatically saves and records all calls to us which adds to the problem. As such their system automatically purges all information from a specific groups call every forty-eight to seventy-two hours depending on what they specify for the program, and while this only takes about two hours to complete during that time they can't receive any calls from that group or monitor their communications, it's why you've had the occasional trouble of getting in contact with the EDC and thus they have other means of finding out if you're needing our help as a precaution"
"The purge happened during the emergency"
"Yes, it's also why they request recordings of missions that we might have missed during that specific time period so that they can know what they've missed and see if there was anything they could have done to help or done differently to make improvements for the next time"
"And that recording was where they heard the signal that isn't a signal, at least not in a conventional sense of the word"
"Exactly"
"Listen Kerenai, you and the EDC, as you're obviously a representative of some sort, have nothing to be sorry for, yes the people you represent may have missed the event and thus the signal that no one else would have recognized as such but even if they had been there and heard it they might not have succeeded in saving Batman, you don't know him like I do and he would have been determined to be the only sacrifice on the mission, he might not have allowed the EDC to help in the first place"
"Except the Cybertronians are really, really hard to kill Superman, but in any case I think...I think it's time that formal alliances are discussed with me as the intermediary, plus...well something else that needs discussed but not here, in private later is better"
"I see, by the way are you okay?"
"Sure I am what makes you say I'm not?"
"Your breathing changed just a moment ago, it's shallower than before"
"It's fine, weather can do that to me sometimes, my medical file has proof"
"If you don't mind I'd like to x-ray your chest for my own piece of mind if nothing else"
"Very well"
And so Superman x-rays her chest and isn't happy with what he sees
"You have three cracked ribs on your right sight and four on your left, some of them near breaking point I might add"
"Oh...okay guess I didn't walk away from the fight uninjured like I thought I had, I'll go to the hospital for official confirmation and my medical records and go from there Superman, guess the talk will have to continue later"
"What fight?"
"Uh...bye"
Kerenai leaves to head to the hospital because of the fact that not even her family knew about the fight she'd been in not too long ago as she was heading to Batman's funeral, but on the way to the hospital she got into another fight and needed to be rescued by Robin and her cracked ribs became broken ribs and she started coughing up blood because of a punctured lung
"Well so much for waiting to call family"
"Wait...you're a minor and you were going to wait until the hospital called for your family to know about your injuries?...wait you were at a funeral without an adult"
"Sorta yeah, besides there's more to me being at the funeral by myself than what you think"
"What do you mean by that?"
They suddenly hear another voice
"She means me, Faireborn isn't too happy by the way Kerenai"
"You called her didn't you, did you tell her I didn't exactly have a choice in the matter?"
"She knows that, doesn't mean she isn't happy"
"True, so...you the paperwork person this time in her stead?"
"Considering that Faireborn is in Japan yes"
"Hey I was just checking considering the fact that I know her second should be around here some where's"
"Yeah, during the funeral he got an emergency call, his flight to Australia should be lifting off right about now"
"Understood uh...you going to tell my family about this or am I?"
"Neither of us will actually"
(Groans) "Don't tell me"
"Yep, they know alright"
"Who?"
"Not sure actually, I only just caught sight of them before they disappeared but..."
"Right, well medical records will need to be updated anyways so they would've found out from the hospital even if we both had decided to remain silent"
"True enough, now let's go you're coughing up blood and you know what that means"
"Yeah, punctured lung, I can tell"
"How are you still talking normally?"
"Don't ask actually, I don't think she can manage that feat much longer"
Kerenai coughs up more blood and nearly passes out in answer fortunately though Robin catches her
"Not good, she needs a hospital, now"
"Unfortunately while my car is fast it will still take at least ten minutes if we're lucky"
"Then maybe we should take over"
Robin and the EDC officer look up to see Superman and Supergirl along with Green Lantern
"Green Lantern can you make something I can carry her to the hospital in"
"No problem Superman, you carry Kerenai while Supergirl gets the EDC officer?"
"Exactly"
"Works for me, but we have to be fast Superman she's in critical condition and has been for some time"
"Don't worry I can do it"
And Superman does indeed get Kerenai to the hospital in time, later the League learns that she would be in the hospital for a week solid at the very least for her own health and that the punctured lung had reinflated successfully and thus her life wasn't in danger
"You know I still wonder about her family and why she didn't want them to know she was in a fight"
"Who knows, but at least we know that she's going to be okay ultimately"
"Yeah, there is something we've learned though that we've never been told, at least one EDC kid, and potentially all of them after a certain age are taught to protect themselves"
"I might be asking our official representative about that in person to see if she's the exception or not"
"No need Green Lantern"
The group all turns to see an EDC officer they had never seen before but had obviously passed the security measures in place to prevent impostors getting into the League buildings and EDC buildings as well
"When we learned that a few League members had witnessed the fight I was sent over to do some basic explaining regarding EDC kids and any training they might receive. Now then you'll only be told the basics but essentially every EDC kid is taught how to fight in hand-to-hand combat starting at age five, or six depending on a few factors that are not to be discussed with you, at about age thirteen or fourteen they are taught how to safely be around guns though unless they express an interest are not taught how to actually shoot any guns and it is also their decision if they want to learn how to handle other weapons that are used in the martial arts"
"So what we saw is normal for a kid around Kerenai's age"
"Yes, though you should know she's one of the ones who also knows how to handle a variety of weapons including various firearms through her choice"
"Understood, I guess that means we don't have to be as protective of EDC kids as we might other civilians in a situation, but we should still watch their backs as a precaution correct?"
"Yes, especially because anyone can get overwhelmed with numbers or when it comes to your enemies any special abilities they might have"
"We can do that, by the way how's Kerenai taking enforced rest?"
"She's not happy about being forced into staying at the hospital, though she understands the reasons behind it and is one of the few kids who doesn't generally argue against medical restrictions, though she's done that twice with valid reasons in the past, but those were the only times she argued about the restrictions"
"At least she'll heal completely from what we've heard, and I'm sure the doctors have their reasons if they're aware that she'll be one of the few who normally obeys doctors orders"
"She knows their reasons and like I said while not happy about said reasons understands and is obeying doctors orders, though she has requested, and they are allowing that she be allowed to walk around and join in on normal activities whenever possible"
"Makes sense, because I get the feeling she likes socializing with people her age"
"She does, she actually needs to socialize with people around her age for reasons that I can't get into for security reasons"
"Okay then, once she's better she mentioned meeting with us about something so we'll wait until she's released from the hospital and asks to meet us to schedule that, in the meantime while we don't have the usual recordings for the EDC for that fight there were camera crews at the fight that recorded everything"
"We already got those recordings if you were going to ask if we need you to get those for us"
"Okay"
"Though...I did get a strange request that makes zero sense to me but might make more sense to you guys"
"Oh?"
"Yes, the Cybertronians are asking if Superman can ask Clark Kent and Lois Lane to be their personal liaisons with the press from now on except in specific circumstances, such as if an incident happens in another country and that they aren't there or for some reason they don't want any press liaisons whenever dealing with Gotham"
"I'll ask them, have they considered using the Daily Planet whenever in another country?"
"That I don't know"
"In any case thanks for the update, oh and could you ask them if we can't get their recordings regarding the incident in Japan that we were unable to help with due to being too busy in Slovakia?"
"Of course, didn't realize that was needed since normally you guys don't ask us for that kind of thing"
"It's okay, this is actually the first time it's needed so it's not surprising that you didn't realize it was needed"
"Maybe something else to discuss at a later date"
"Indeed"
The EDC officer left and two hours later the incident in Slovakia was being viewed by everyone in the League
"Okay, good thing the EDC was available but we might need to take measures like the EDC does to make sure that we never miss an incident like this again"
"True, but for now we have to wait until Kerenai talks to us again"
"By the way does anyone know her first name? I've only ever heard her addressed by her last name"
"If anyone does it's the EDC and they're being protective of her"
"Good point, in any case while she's in the hospital we can't do much so let's just wait until she's out and hope that she remembers to contact us soon"
"Indeed, and I think she will remember at some point anyways but for now she needs to heal up and get back into a normal routine"
They didn't receive any further news about Kerenai but they did hold up their end of the agreement still regarding recordings that were requested and even without a formal agreement they themselves were given recordings on incidents that no League members were seen at, plus the EDC and Cybertronians did indeed decide to use the Daily Planet as their main press contact even if it wasn't the specific reporters they requested if the incident happened in another country that Kent and Lane weren't known to be in. Finally two months after the memorial service and Kerenai being put into the hospital the League received word from Kerenai that she was ready to meet with them to discuss formal alliances plus other things that needed discussed though what those things were no one was sure about
"Did she specify when that meeting would take place officer?"
"Three days from now, she has a school thing first though"
Three days later and Kerenai was with the League
"Hey Kerenai"
"Hey guys, so there's a few things that we need to go over and the first thing is my first name which I have only just learned you still don't know which is Linda"
"I see, so you wanted to talk to us about something Linda?"
"Yes, as I stated the last time we talked the EDC and more specifically the Cybertronians want to discuss having a formal alliance with you guys, however if that's the case then your encryption methods will have to be severely improved due to information that you'll be receiving that is highly classified in a very unique way since the information itself is publicly available"
"We'll need to talk about it then"
"Agreed"
"Give us a few hours, however...you have access to the more public places at our earth base"
"I need to call someone to let them know where I'm at because I was only given permission to be at this location only and only for a specific amount of time"
"Wait, really?"
"Yes, it's...it's part of what you'll learn if we become official allies"
"We?"
"Yes, I am speaking on behalf of the EDC and thus decided to speak as if I was an officer temporarily"
"Make your call and then once you've confirmed you can come with us we'll take you to the base"