19
Claire Connelly briskly maneuvered the streets of Metropolis. The nearest subway stop was four blocks from her destination. Claire had utilized public transportation her entire life. She'd never bothered to get a driver's license even when she lived in a much smaller city that barely warranted a bus stop. She still shuddered to think how she'd barely escaped with her now-life versus her then-life. Her parents had kicked her out at fourteen when she'd grown out her hair and they'd found her prom dress. Fortunately for her, she had an aunt that was sympathetic because she too had been castigated for coming out as a teenager. And so Claire had moved from Madison, Wisconsin to a semi-rural area in Iowa. And her real life had begun.
She was on her way to meet Michael Jon Carter, her once on-again off-again boyfriend and now committed fiancé. But he hadn't been the one call it off. He'd become dangerously close to discovering the great secret of her identity and she cared too much for him to stomach another rejection such as what happened with every other relationship that she'd attempted to have.
Claire had poured herself into academics and scientific research. She was now the chief engineer of nanotech at LexCorp. An enviable position to most but a dutifully rueful for her intended. Michael was better known to the world as Booster Gold. Booster was far from perfect. He was egotistical, vain, shortsighted, oblivious to anyone's feeling but hers and his own. But, being from the future he was blind to sexual and gender prejudices. Which made him perfect for her.
Claire was the first to admit she was far from perfect. But she and Booster didn't love each despite their mutual faults but rather because of them. And what she had hidden for years from would-be lovers, he accepted and embraced rather than reject her or belittle her. And Booster never condemned her over anything. So despite popular perception, Claire knew Booster was perfect…for her.
Rough hands grabbed a hold over her mouth and around her waist and pulled her into a dark alleyway that led to the rear of the hotel where she was meeting Booster for dinner. Rather than be alarmed, she was annoyed.
"Let's have some fun first," her assailant tossed her clutch aside and began to grope her with his free hand while clamping down on her mouth. His partner eagerly waited to get to the "good part" of raping her. She rolled her eyes. They were in for a bitter disappointment.
His hand lingered on her breasts and they were sizable enough and firm so he was distracted for a minute. She was getting impatient, Just get on with it already.
Finally, he slithered down to her groin and slipped his hand inside her skirt and underwear. And the moment she'd waited for arrived. The man jerked his hand free from her, also releasing her mouth and shoved her away from with all of his might. Claire was glad she'd worn pumps and not heels.
"Wattsamatter?" the largely illiterate partner asked.
"He's gotta cock!" the man yelled.
"That was just rude," Claire drove the heel of hand into his nose. It went crunch and squish simultaneously. Then she stepped back and drove her pointed foot into his balls.
"I know how that feels," she relished the opportunity to repay his roving hand.
She heard a click as the other one used a flick blade to decide what to do next. Claire happily sacrificed her high end footwear to distract him while she scooped her clutch off of the pavement and pulled her .380 caliber pistol from it.
"You won't do that. You ain't got the…" he stumbled over the next part.
"Hell yes, I do," she shot his leg out from underneath him. She'd never been so happy to still be a pre-op transwoman. For another two weeks anyway. She kept her pistol ready while she retrieved her phone and dialed 911. Then she called Booster.
Since he was in the adjoining building he arrived before Metropolis' finest. She regaled him with the tale of her adventure. He just stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her while they waited for the cops.
Making statements for reports and pressing charges took until past midnight. They returned to Claire's apartment and Booster fixed them a light supper. Grilled cheese and eggs being the extent of his culinary mastery.
"Wait until those guys brag in prison how they almost raped a transgirl," Booster chuckled.
"Transwoman," Claire growled, "Thank you very much. And it is possible to rape me. You should know about that facet of my body better than I do myself."
"Well, I'm not tired anymore. I think I need to explore your facets even more," Booster grinned.
"Are you always horny?" she asked.
"Aren't you?" he wondered.
"Of course I am. Sex and violence breed one another," Claire replied.
"So what are we waiting for?" he asked.
"For you to make a move," Claire said slyly. And he did. And they did together. Several times.
Later, Claire was in the shower to get off sweat and other bodily fluids. Booster raided the fridge when the slider's lock broke and three men and a woman charged into the apartment. Booster went to block them but he found taser darts imbedded in chest. Several painful convulsions later and Booster was down. Claire burst out of the bedroom only wearing a wet towel. She went to retreat but remembered the cops still had her pistol. The woman noticed a display monitor next to the fridge. It indicated three alerts had gone out. One to the police. Another to the Zither Security Group that contracted to LexCorp for personnel protection. And the third alerted the Justice League that Claire needed immediate assistance.
"She's wired to the damn Justice League," Queenie Hart warned everyone.
"It seems your trip just got draftier," Black Ace took her arm and began to drag Claire towards the balcony. She delivered an expert right cross that caused him to stumble. King Clubbo and Diamond Jack took her arms and lifted her so they could carry her into a waiting car. A car that floated fifteen stories straight up.
"I'm impressed with your ride," Claire confessed.
"Don't scratch the paint. It's a rental," Black Ace advised her, "And you might not want to let your towel waffle in the wind. The boys aren't above peeking."
She actually hoped they would just to throw them off balance. Claire had sunk every spare dollar in feminization surgeries so she was completely passable until some roving dick tried to finger bang her. She'd started hormone replacement therapy as soon she reached Iowa. So every curve and contour was feminine. Except for her genitalia…for two more weeks.
The neighbors called the police. Having been revived, Booster called off the general alert and requested two select members of the Justice League Unlimited. Despite her misgivings, Huntress and the Question readily responded. The hum of magnetic repulsors alerted them to the arrival of Booster's secret weapon. Blue Beetle cleared the Bug's hatch and vaulted onto Claire's balcony.
"You called, buddy?" Beetle asked Booster.
"Someone kidnapped Claire," Booster was angrier than Blue Beetle had ever seen him.
"And since Ted Kord has been headhunting her, you thought to bring me in," Blue Beetle realized.
"I know you parked the Bug and hung up the tights since your resurrection," Booster admitted.
"I still take care of family and you and Claire definitely qualify," Beetle promised him, "And Claire is like a sister."
Huntress snorted, "If your 'sister' has a swinging dick."
"Huntress," Question warned her.
"What?" she snapped, "I'm supposed to play nice because Booster gets a boner while he takes it up the ass? I'm born and raised Catholic. The Church teaches that crossdressers are just sick in the head."
"Claire has undertaken MRI's and they've proven she has a female brain in a male body. Hell, she's more of a woman than you'll ever hope to be."
"So God made a mistake?" Huntress threw the old argument out.
"Maybe it's all part of His plan. Her gender identity, her transition, my falling in love with her. Our upcoming marriage. Maybe it's one giant plan for our lives. Even yours," Booster was in her face now, "Maybe, just maybe, things are perfect just as they are."
"And Booster and I have each other's backs like Blue and Gold," Blue Beetle shared, "I want to get Claire back almost as badly as Booster."
"Look, let's just find my fiancé and you can back to hating anyone different than your narrow definition of who a person should be," Booster suggested.
Huntress clenched her fist to respond and Question intervened, "If we can have a word?"
"Just go," Booster was disgusted in the face of blind prejudice.
"Helena, I need you to stop antagonizing Booster. We need him focused and clear headed," Question told her.
"He's got the gall to tell me God's plans?" Huntress was livid.
"Maybe you don't have every answer," Question suggested, "There are still questions you need to ask."
"And if I don't like the answers?" she wanted to know.
"Then you ask the ultimate question: what do I do about it?" Question told her.
"I can't thank you enough, Ted," Booster admitted.
"I see what you mean about those two. And people treat us like Abbot and Costello," Blue Beetle shook his head, "Anyway, I thought I was done. Being dead for five years changes your perspective. The Reyes kid has that alien scarab and the name. I just didn't seem relevant anymore. But Claire needs my help, so here I am."
"Blue Beetle, you mentioned that you were attempting to hire Dr. Connelly away from LexCorp. Please elucidate," Question asked as he and a disgruntled Huntress returned to them.
"Claire and Tessa Richardson are the top of the echelon in nanotech research and development. Dr. Richardson is locked in an ironclad contract with STAR Labs for another two years. But Claire's exclusivity contract is done and up for renegotiation," Beetle explained, "The tech she developed for LexCorp is proprietary but her expertise isn't anymore. Needless to say, Mercy Graves is preparing an impressive contractual offer. But rumor is it won't be ready to be offered until the end of the week. Meanwhile, every competitor can pitch their deals."
"And the leading competitors in this process?" Question asked.
"Kord Industries, WayneTech, Powers Tech, Cale Tech, STAR Labs, Kane Enterprises, Innovative Concepts, MARS Corp, and a few dozen startups that actually can't afford to hire Claire away but they have to try," Blue Beetle listed, "Outfits like Ballantine Smart Metals."
"But Claire likes LexCorp," Booster explained the heated escalation in the number of would-be recruiters, "Everyone just assumes she's playing hardball. But she just doesn't want to leave her job."
"And if Mercy learns that it, she may downgrade the offer," Blue Beetle warned.
"But Mercy gives her nearly complete autonomy," Booster clarified, "No one else is offering that."
"Mercy Graves is a completely different corporate animal than Lex ever was," Blue Beetle admitted.
"Claire got approached by mysterioso groups like the NOWHERE Project. Arvell Hauser, Eliot Caldwell, and MARS Corp all want to weaponize Claire's projects," Booster shared.
"Concerning the SHIELD program, correct?" Question asked.
"Yeah, but they wouldn't say what it is beyond being a defense contract," Booster complained.
"Kord Industries is working on it," Blue Beetle revealed, "They're exploring multiple avenues for human enhancement."
"The typical super-soldier experiments," Huntress said disdainfully.
"We have our suspects," Question announced, "Now we begin the process of elimination to determine precisely who arranged for Dr. Connelly's abduction."
"And we make them pay," Booster angrily declared.
Now that Huntress could get onboard with.
The Black Ace Gang brought Claire to a scenic vista known as Mt. Justice. Bordering its coastline was a former whaling town and present tourist economy town. What wasn't known in Happy Harbor was that the former volcano was riddled with cave networks and was essentially hollow. The gang flew to a discreet ledge and landed the aircar provided to them.
They forcibly took Claire inside of the mountain. All the while, she continually had to straighten and refasten her towel. Claire saw security guards lining key entrances within the corridor network. She was brought to what was revealed to be an expansive private office. And behind a desk centered near one wall, sat the Black Ace Gang's employer.
"We have her," Black Ace announced.
"So I see," the blonde women removed her reading glasses, "I also see she's almost literally disrobed."
"She triggered an alarm system tied to the Justice League," Black Ace advised her.
"Considering she's marrying a member, that isn't a surprise," the woman smirked.
"You could have warned us," Queenie Hart complained.
"You wanted a recommendation towards membership in Intergang. You have it. Now, I'll pay a generous bonus if you stay on hand, for the next hour, in case Dr. Connelly decides to attempt to escape," their employer offered.
"Name the bonus," Black Ace countered.
"The aircar you've grown so fond of," the woman shared.
"Done," Black Ace felt they'd buffaloed her.
"Please excuse us. I believe Dr. Connelly will be compliant…for now," the blonde requested. She steepled her fingers, "Are you aware of who I am, Doctor?"
"Dr. Veronica Cale, CEO and founder of Cale Technologies. Your corporation has tried to recruit me on several occasions. Word is your company is facing a fiscal crisis," Claire stated, "But in your favor, you helped Dr. Will Magnus fabricate the Metal Men."
"He does his best work when he's off his meds," Veronica opined, "Will laid out his designs. I made them a reality. Just as I hope you'll assist my team in completing a nanotech project by week's end."
"You could have just asked," Claire countered.
"Your misguided loyalties to LexCorp seem to cloud your judgment despite your currently being a free agent," Veronica opined, "My understanding is that you intend to renew your exclusivity contract with LexCorp."
"They get my first consideration," Claire admitted.
"Lex and I are contemporaries. He inspired loyalty, and a measure of fear. I understand Mercy Graves is for more…gentle in the handling of things," Veronica shared.
Claire noted the are rather than were contemporaries. And word was, Veronica motivated Will Magnus through sexual encounters and depriving him of his mood stabilizers rather than his voluntarily forsaking them. All of which earmarked Veronica Cale's proclivity to manipulate rather than negotiate.
"Let's get you something to wear and take a tour. I'm assuming you'd appreciate some coffee right about now?" Veronica inquired.
"Definitely something more substantial to wear and the coffee would be a bonus," Claire admitted.
"Follow me," Veronica rose and rounded her desk, "And shoes. We definitely need to get you shoes. I'm guessing you wear a men's size twelve."
Claire had to admit Veronica had a good eye. She typically had to special order women's footwear in her size. Her clothing had to be purchased at specialty shops given her 6'2" frame and her substantial bust. She'd worn her favorite sheer blouse to meet Booster yesterday evening. They were in the early AM now. She'd get the lay of the place and then steal the precious aircar.
But she knew that Booster was moving heaven and hell to find her.
"What is this place?" Blue Beetle asked. They were in a highly dilapidated section of Suicide Slum. Question had led them to a condemned building filled with druggies and other squatters. He'd replaced the sliding door with a steel reinforced replacement. The walls inside were reinforced to prevent an intrusion. One entire wall was covered in monitor screens. A full length bench could barely be seen underneath the computer towers, keyboards, mice and various sundry laptops.
"This is one of my safehouses scattered across the country," Question revealed.
"I need a beer. Anyone else want one?" Huntress headed towards the refurbished kitchen.
"I'll take one," Beetle replied. He noted the generators, "What's with the portable generators?"
"Metropolis Public Utility can trace large power draws," Question was turning on all his linked equipment. Blue Beetle had to admit that the man was using the largest network servers available outside corporate and government server farms. He'd even invested in refrigeration to keep the processing speed maximized.
"Dammit Q! What have I said about leaving rice and beans out? There's mouse shit everywhere!" Huntress yelled from the kitchen.
"She's never happier," was Question's only response.
She returned with German bottles of beer for Blue Beetle and herself. He appreciated that his was nearly ice cold. Unlike in Germany where they served it at room temperature.
Question began running multiple search on an equitable number of computers, "Tell me, why are you so eager to recruit Dr. Connelly?"
"LexCorp revealed that they have working prototypes of nanite tech that exceed the capabilities of even wat TO Morrow accomplished with Maxine Hunkel," Blue Beetle shared.
"But towards other endeavors than replicating Red Tornado's capabilities," Question realized.
"The biomedical applications are staggering," Blue Beetle commented.
"They can grant near immortality," Booster broke his silence, "Which is why in the 22nd Century the rich monopolize the tech and an anarchist revolt sweeps the world and nano tech is destroyed and never utilized again."
The chilling narrative would've seemed the stuff science fiction but Booster was from the 25th Century so it was a history that the future had already endured.
"Hell, I suggest you make better investments," Huntress advised Blue Beetle.
"And Dr. Richardson?" Question asked.
"Is a year or more behind Claire," Beetle answered, "Tessa's designs are biotech. So they're far more delicate."
"And they're just as dangerous," Booster said glumly.
No one knew yet that Tessa Richardson was a convict from the 31st Century. Because Tessa didn't know it yet either. But the day of revelation was coming. And with it, her original personality. And she would burn down the universe to make her future jailors pay.
"I believe I'm detecting a pattern. The vendors offering technology to the nascent SHIELD initiative have offered the highest salaries and benefits to Dr. Connelly. Cale Tech seems especially desperate to procure her services. The Defense Department reports indicate Cale Tech is contractually obligated to offer a working prototype or face stiff penalties," Question realized, "And from all indications, Cale has failed to produce a viable prototype."
"How stiff are these penalties?" Huntress asked.
"The reimbursement of all development funding and the cessation of all other pertinent defense contracts," Question divulged.
"That's pretty damn stiff," Huntress conceded.
"And, Cale's debts outweigh their profit margins. They simply can't afford to reimburse the government. Veronica Cale will be forced to sell off her company at a fraction of its estimated value just to meet her creditor's demands," Question assessed.
"If they call the debts. And they will," Blue Beetle remarked.
"So we have a leading candidate with motive and the means to afford an opportunity. However, I cannot locate the facility working on the nanites. It shall require a personal interrogation. And Dr. Cale is currently off of the grid. So we'll have to approach her number two, Charlotte Harris," Question informed them.
"Will she talk?" Booster worried.
"Trust us. This is what we do," Huntress reassured him.
"While I'm glad we could clothe you I'm sorry it's a men's security uniform. I'm afraid our ladies' uniforms just don't accommodate your frame or your bust," Veronica expressed.
Claire rather liked the uniform. It would make blending in during her escape easier, "Not a problem. Clothing is always an issue for me."
"Unfortunately we had nothing to offer in the way of a brassiere or underwear. But a bra doesn't seem to be entirely necessary," Veronica said ruefully.
"Given the nature of my breast implants I tend to be rather perky," Claire admitted, "And this isn't the first time I've gone commando."
"I understand your hair air dried on your way here but you don't strike me as the ballcap type," Veronica admitted.
"I have my lazy days," Claire confided, "Now, what do you consider so important as to invade my home and kidnap me for?"
"That does sound rather outre," Veronica admitted, "Consider it an act of desperation."
"How so?" Claire inquired. So Veronica revealed everything. It almost sounded reasonable. But not quite.
The JLers plus one visited the mansion of one Charlotte Harris, Senior VP for Cale Technologies. Harris herself was still up, awaiting the company of two high priced escorts, "Drew and Bunny". She didn't know their real names and didn't care. But he and she were Harris' favorites. And she would pay top dollar for their "company" after a public outing in an exclusive "to be seen in" club where no members' spouses were allowed. Many members traded each other for a night's pleasures. Harris was the envy of the crowd owing the physical beauty of her various escorts. But Drew and Bunny especially elicited envy.
While Harris planned her extremely fashionably late entrance, Huntress and Question smashed their way in and pinned her against a wall. Question asked the only pertinent inquiry, "Where is Dr. Cale?"
"I don't know," Harris was frightened half to death.
"Wrong answer," Huntress cocked her crossbow and the magazine elevated the first of its five quarrels.
"Once more, where is Dr. Cale," Question repeated himself.
"I don't know," Harris frantically insisted.
"I won't ask again," Question informed her.
"I don't farking know!" she was almost hysterical.
Huntress fired the bolt into Harris' thigh and the woman screamed. Booster and Beetle had just sent the escorts away when they saw Harris' leg, exposed by a hip high slit, had bene impaled and was bleeding.
"You know the question," Question said coldly.
"I don't know!" Harris screamed it this time.
"Let's begin again," Question suggested, "Where does Cale conduct her nanotech research?"
Harris hesitated before replying in the negative. Question tsked her, "I rather doubt that. Where is the research conducted?"
"Go to hell! I don't farking know. And you're both dead as soon as you leave here," Harris snarled.
Huntress took hold of the quarrel and twisted its broadhead tip. Harris howled in pain. Blue Beetle moved forward but Booster blocked him from intervening.
"Where is it," Question spoke softly but with evident resolve.
"Mt. Justice," she sobbed, "The place is honeycomb of tunnels. All of our secret research happens there."
Huntress pulled the quarrel loose to another bloodcurdling scream, "I'd call 911."
Harris sank onto the floor as Booster pushed Blue Beetle out of the home, Huntress tossed Harris' Harris' clutch towards her. She left a trail of blood as she dragged herself to it and its precious phone.
Once Beetle had lifted the Bug off of the ground and locked the destination into the autopilot, he landed a right cross to Huntress' jaw. She staggered back but came back at him ready to fight. Question intercepted her.
"When did we start torturing people?" Blue Beetle shouted them.
"You do what you have to," Huntress snarled.
"Well, I've never had to," Beetle retorted.
"And that's why you got killed!" Huntress started towards him again only to be blocked.
"And you! What the hell were you thinking? You stopped from helping that woman," Beetle accused Booster.
"Because if they hadn't done it, I would have," Booster confessed, "Anything to get Claire back."
"And what happens when you get her back and can't look her in the eyes?" Blue Beetle demanded to know.
"Never gonna happen," Booster replied.
"We'll find out, won't we?" Beetle went back into the cockpit.
But Booster wasn't remotely disturbed. He'd spoken the truth. There wasn't a single action he wouldn't commit to in order to rescue Claire. Claire had said sex and violence breed other. But it wasn't anything compared to love and hate. They were opposites and yet the same. Because of his love, Booster felt hatred for the world. And if she were taken from him, he would end whoever did it.
"So Claire, are you willing to assist me?" Veronica asked.
"Let's stick with 'Dr. Connelly', shall we?" Claire replied.
Veronica's temperament visibly cooled, "Very well, Doctor. If you have any intention of leaving this facility alive, you will help my team perfect their prototype to a working condition that cane be perfected later. Understand?"
"You're bluffing," Claire responded.
"My dear, one doesn't make into the Legion of Doom's secret Advisory Council without being willing to overlook society's moralistic restrictions," Veronica stated.
"You're serious," Claire realized.
"Deadly," Veronica promised.
Claire cold cocked her and ran from Veronica's office. She rounded her desk and opened to retrieve a small caliber handgun and a radio, "Security, our visitor has gone rogue. I need her alive but she can be damaged."
Veronica exited her office to see just how well Claire had paid attention during the tour.
"Ted?' Booster sat down into the Bug's co-pilot seat.
"Oh, you came crawling back," Blue Beetle said diffidently.
"I know we haven't hung out a whole since you came back. But I regret anything coming between us," Booster confessed.
"I get that you want Claire back and think you'd do anything to achieve that," Blue Beetle stated, "I really do. But there are certain lines we can't cross. You can't ever cross."
"You've never been in a totally committed relationship," Booster reminded Beetle, "Wait and see if you'll feel differently."
"I have been seeing someone," Blue Beetle said, almost sadly.
"Who?" Booster was happy to hear it.
"Veronica Cale," he finally revealed.
"Oh God, I'm sorry," Booster breathed.
"It's better to find out she's psycho now rather then later," Blue Beetle ventured.
"Indeed," the Question startled them both, "But I'm pleased you finally shared your secret."
"You knew?" Beetle asked.
"Of course," Question replied.
"He's like that," Huntress said flippantly.
"Thanks a lot Mr. Mysterio and Crossbow Killer," Blue Beetle quipped.
"I am not the Crossbow Killer," Huntress defiantly protested.
"Whatever. Your actions say otherwise," Blue Beetle argued.
"Argh!" Huntress stomped off and Question followed her.
"It's good to have you back, man," Booster chuckled.
"Let's not do this more often," Beetle requested.
"So what is Veronica Cale like?" Booster wondered who they were up against.
"She can be a bit of a minx. Other times she borders on being crazier than a bag of cats," Blue Beetle shared.
"Minx, huh?" Booster grinned.
"That's your takeaway?" Beetle was incredulous.
"Hey, I'm a shallow guy," Booster shrugged.
"Shallow guys wouldn't mount a rescue operation for their girlfriends," Blue Beetle persuaded him.
"I love her," Booster admitted, "More than I love myself."
"That says a lot," Huntress said as she returned from the galley.
"She's brilliant, beautiful, funny, and sexy," Booster listed, "And she has three other essential characteristics."
"Which are?" she asked.
"She doesn't have periods. She can't get pregnant. And she grooves on anal," he grinned.
"You're scum," Huntress angrily retorted.
"I know, right?" Booster boasted, "Claire pointed those three out to me."
"Makes sense because 'she' is a man," Huntress retorted disdainfully.
"God, here we go again," Booster groaned.
"Huntress does have one exceptionally valid point. Dr. Connelly would only prefer anal sex because she has no vaginal recourse to even begin to compare it with," Question sagely pointed out.
"Shut it, Q. Don't help," Huntress impatiently snapped.
"We're coming up on Mt. Justice," Blue Beetle announced, "I'm going to swing around a few times to see if we generate a response."
After three orbits, he announced, "Nothing on radar, lidar, or infrared beyond a tremendous amount of heat. The type you'd expect from a live volcano not an extinct one."
"Then it's safe to approach?" Question asked.
"You mean you don't know?" Blue Beetle pretended to be shocked.
"Fair enough," Question allowed.
The Bug landed and the dorsal hatch opened. Huntress dropped through it. She returned after scouting the ledge. The Black Aces Gang had already departed with their aircar. Dawn was on the horizon.
"No response," she announced as the others disembarked.
"Because security is already occupied," Question deduced, "Locating Dr. Connelly."
Claire had evaded security for nearly thirty minutes. It took that long for them to realize what Veronica had already told them. Their quarry was dressed as one of them. But she'd managed to reach the nanotech lab.
"Hey! Are you new? We don't need security," a tech yelled at her.
She kicked him in the balls, "Trust me, I've felt your pain."
The remaining graveyard shift tech made to approach the alarm button mounted beside the doorframe. Claire tripped him and swung him so his head bounced off of a metal table as he fell. She sealed the lab and examined the rippling mass of what appeared to be mercury. But she knew it to be a sea of semidormant nanites. A sea she was about to navigate.
"I need access to the security systems," Question requested.
"Got just the thing," Blue Beetle informed him. He'd used to carry a strobe light gun in holster. But now he'd switched out for a magazine fed pneumatic pistol. The holster itself contained two air cylinders. The utility pouches on his other hip housed the clips as well as a small receiver/display. He locked a particular magazine into the pistol.
Taking aim he fired a transmitter into the base of the overhead camera in the outer corridor. He tuned in the transmitter and handed the display to the Question. He them removed that particular magazine and inserted the other clip filled with fully charged taser darts of his own design. Ted Kord was retiring from the superhero world but he intended to stay at the forefront of innovation. Jaime Reyes could have Blue Beetle to himself.
"Security has located Dr. Connelly and they appear ready to execute her," Question announced.
Claire had corrected the software governing the nanites. Engineering-wise they were viable for short periods of time. But sustainability would've been corrected should the project reach the trials phase of the competition. What they lacked was a sustainable fuel source and metabolic processors in to allow them to utilize human ATP.
Knowing security was about to breach, she activated the nanites, now keyed to her individual physiology, and they flowed over her as a metallic liquid. Forming up and hardening, she now possessed a metal carapace, completely bullet and puncture proof. However, she was still adjusting the design specifics to create filters as security entered followed by Veronica. Bullets ricocheted off of her proving the utility of the design.
"Cease fire, you idiots," Veronica ordered, "She can't be harmed directly. So we'll try indirectly."
They pulled out and the doors sealed once again. But there was a sound of compression. The air ducts shuttered and sealed with a hiss of air. She was hermetically sealed in with no fresh oxygen being sourced. But given the volume of the room and the unconsciousness of the two employees, Claire could withstand a siege for several hours. But then the vacuums engaged to clear "noxious fumes" taking all of the air with them.
And Claire knew she was screwed. She'd asphyxiate in minutes if she didn't find a way out. Straight through Veronica Cale and her security force.
"They've converged on what appears to be the nanotech lab," Question reported, "And a chemical hazard alert has been issued triggering the lab to seal itself off and vent all of the air."
"But Claire is okay?" Booster fretted.
"She'll be dead within minutes unless we can procure her release from the lab," Question clarified.
Booster used his Legion of Superheroes flight ring to tear off down the deserted corridor.
Huntress snorted, "Idiot."
"Wait for it," Blue Beetle advised.
Booster returned with a sheepish expression, "Um…where's the lab?"
"Right, left, left, right, right, and left," Question told him. Booster just hovered wearing a blank expression.
"You lost him after the second left," Beetle explained.
"Follow me," Question said in resignation.
"Or we could come back for you…next year," Huntress offered.
"You're too funny," Booster deadpanned.
"Actually, she's a laugh riot," Question informed him.
"Maybe she could do stand up on our way back to Metropolis," Booster suggested.
"Or I could break your face and call it good," Huntress retorted.
Question began chuckling, "See? Absolutely hilarious."
Claire couldn't hack the hazard alarm but she could access the fire suppression system. Isolating the nanolab, she triggered the site wide halon system excepting the lab. The heavier than air compound drove the oxygen to the floor and smothered it, thus extinguishing flames.
Outside the lab, everyone was affected by the halon. Veronica was trying to yell at her security detachment to shut the fire system off, "Get those…hack…damn things…cough…shut down!"
They scrambled to comply.
"We've…wheeze…cough…arrived," Question was more deeply affected by the halon. Blue Beetle had distributed nose filters. But Question refused to remove his mask in order to insert them in his nostrils.
"Your woman had better be worth this," Huntress warned Booster as she primed her crossbow.
"No matter what, Claire makes it out," he declared before flying into the midst of the security force.
"He really does love him, doesn't he?" Huntress was amazed.
"He loves her more than his own life or even his sister, Michelle," Blue Beetle corrected her and was tired of doing so. Michelle, now calling herself Goldstar was travelling through time with a Time Master named Rip Hunter. It was Goldstar and Hunter that saved Ted from death and reinserted him into the timeline. For purposes yet unknown.
The Question continued to suffer as proton blasts from Booster and gunshots from security filled the corridor. Huntress held him up against the wall, "If you die I swear I'll defile your corpse."
He just waved her on.
Booster had knocked out several guards. Huntress' precisely placed quarrels disabled four more and then she extended her metal bo staff and went to work. Beetle's five taser darts removed more out of the equation. Veronica fired off several shots at Booster but his force field deflected them and ricochets killed two of her own people.
The fire suppression system had depleted itself and it was discovered Dr. Cale had vanished. Much to Blue Beetle's dismay. But the Question jauntily strolled up to them.
"You alive, Q?" Huntress asked as she removed the nose plugs as oxygen flooded the area.
"Of course," he was raspy but nonchalant.
Booster disabled the seal and the doors slid open. And he ducked a metallic fist. Jumping back, the JLers rallied to his side.
The nanites flowed off of Claire's head, "Booster! You made it!"
"Claire!" Booster lifted her off of her feet despite her being taller than him. They kissed each other over and over in a joyous, tear filled reunion.
"It really is romantic," Question whispered.
"If you like gay porn," Huntress complained. He'd about given up trying to convince Helena of the legitimacy of Claire's gender identity.
The nanites fell from Claire and the passion of her reunion aroused both her and Booster with resulting erections. Huntress stormed off in disgust. Question sighed and signaled Beetle to follow him in a search for Veronica.
Veronica departed in a travel pod of her own personal design. As she flew from Mt. Justice she knew her company would collapse in on itself within the month. She'd decided she'd rather not witness it. So she placed a strategic phone call.
"Luthor, it's Cale. I've lost the company and require a laboratory in which to continue the work. Text me the appropriate coordinates and I'll join the rest of the team there," she disconnected. A ping informed her of the whereabouts of a Hall of Doom secondary location. It was a private atoll in the Hawaiian chain. With an elevation of minus five hundred feet sea level. And she knew her life would be more interesting from that point on.
"Thank you so much," Claire said from her own living room, "You all have literally saved my life even if you didn't to or even want to."
Huntress glared at her. Question spoke, "It was a matter of course for us, Dr. Connelly. We would readily do so again."
"Please, it's Claire," she insisted.
"I'm afraid that implies familiarity and under these circumstances we will not friends," Question advised her. But neither was he condemning her. Claire chose to take the little victory.
"Stay safe. Both of you," she urged.
"Safety is such a relative term," Question remarked.
The crimefighting couple exited out the front door that they'd originally arrived from to employ Question's muscle car to return to Hub City.
"Ted, I can't thank you enough especially. I know you'd retired," Claire offered.
"It's worth it just to have you safe and you two reunited," Blue Beetle shared, "But I have to go. I have a board meeting in two hours where my corporate officers will decide on whether or not I'm actually alive."
He vaulted out to the Bug. Claire turned to Booster, "I could sleep for a month. But first, I made an important decision."
"Tell me," he requested.
"You're moving in. Starting tomorrow," she informed him, "And I need your help to get to sleep. Just be with me and keep me safe."
Booster wasn't about to refuse her.