New Justice: Trial of the League
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Reflections in Crime
Rae laughed as Nora and Henry grabbed hold of the little green baby, Garfield. His social worker was coming today with the boy's father – they had managed to contact him, even though he had been overseas. It had taken him some time, but he managed to get honorably discharged from the military to come back for his son.
The doorbell rang and Rae went to open the door. The social worker who had dropped Garfield off days ago was there with a man.
"Uncle Henry, Aunt Nora!" Rae called, letting the two in. Henry came out holding Garfield as Nora came with a bag of his stuff.
"Garfield," his father said, going to take the boy. "I can't believe she did that to you." The man was kissing his son as he talked, and Garfield seemed happy as he laughed. "Thank you." The man was looking at Nora and Henry now
"Well it's what we're here for," Henry said, smiling at Garfield.
Rae on the other hand was looking at Garfield's father. "You're a meta human," Rae said right away, making the man turn to look at her surprised. "You have not blinked since you got here. And it's very slight, but your eyes are different."
"Enhanced eyesight," the man said seeming impressed Rae had noticed. "Not exactly Justice League material, but made me a good snipper." Rae nodded as the man looked down at his son affectionately. "But Garfield here will one day be a great hero. You watch it, one day he will be in the Justice League."
Rae gave a tiny smile, shaking her head as the social worker and the others had words with each other. Garfield's father was apparently moving to DC to get a job in the FBI as he had friends there. Once they left, Rae gave her aunt and uncle a smile.
"Apparently Garfield there will one day take over for you," Nora said, and Rae had to laugh. His father had constantly praised his son abilities, how he would one day be a hero.
"Who knows? Maybe one day I will be putting him in the Justice League," Rae said. "If I can figure out Savitar…" Rae had continued with her Savitar obsession, Kara trying to help her unravel the information Jay Garrick of Alien Earth had given her and what she knew from their encounters. All they agreed upon was that Savitar hated Rae.
"You will," Henry assured his niece as he turned on the TV and Rae froze. The news was talking about a battle deep in Central-National and how people had run for cover, but some were hurt. Before Henry or Nora could say anything, there was a flash and Rae and Clark were both out of the house.
-New Justice-
"Stopwatch," Rae said entering Watchtower. Winn was by the computers. Rae had come here, knowing Winn was in the tower. Clark ran to his seat to curl up. "What's going on in my city?"
"Our city," Winn said, but stopped when he saw the look Rae gave. He stared at her for a moment, taking in the outfit Frankie made but decided to bite his lip and turn back to the computer. "I've been trying to handle this on my own," Winn admitted. "I know you have been… well… but it's big. I think we might need to get the League involved here."
"Elaborate," Rae said, not liking the small talk and wanting to get into action.
"Two groups of criminals have gone to war with each other," Winn said.
"In my city," Rae said, agitated by this. Central-National hadn't been the safest of cities when she started, but it was through hard work and years that she had made it one of the safest cities in the United States.
"Well they think you're dead," Winn muttered, and Rae had to blink. Even Clark picked up his head and barked at this. "It has caused quite a panic in Central-National the last few days. Crimes have gone up."
"Excuse me?" Rae asked getting closer and spinning Winn's chair around to make the man face him. "What do you mean they think I am dead?"
"You have not looked at the news the last few days, have you?" Winn asked seeing Rae's confusion. "Well it started with you ditching the President over a week ago. Then you did not appear in Starling with us and then you have not actually appeared in the city. Going to Alien Earth and then doing stuff with Kara and… well, you have not been seen. Then a few days ago CatCo printed this." Winn brought up the article on the computer.
Rae read through it fast, seeing the negative comments, the assumptions based on pure speculation. The title wasn't helpful, simply saying 'Is the Flash Dead?' to grab attention.
"This is horrible work. It based on rumors with no facts. Cat Grant would never let this pass," Rae said, and then sighed, realizing. "But Ms. Grant is still on vacation."
"And Samantha Arias is in charge," Winn said. "I tried to object to it, but I'm just an I.T. guy."
"Okay," Rae said. "I'll take care of my death later. Tell me who has the nerve to start a war in my city?"
"Former friends actually," Winn said, bringing up pictures. "Snart, his partner Mick, and sister Lisa, against Mirror Master and Top."
"Mirror Master and Top used to work for Snart," Rae pointed out, having had encounters with them before. "Seems old friends have turned against each other."
"How much of the League do you want?" Winn asked.
"Me, you, and Flash Pup will be fine," Rae said, and Clark barked. Frankie had come through and made a new outfit for Clark along with a new helmet which was much better than the one Rae bought from a pet shop.
"Really?" Winn asked, surprised by so few numbers.
"We're not going to fight this. Snart is a friend of the League. Mirror Master and Top fear us. We can talk them down," Rae said.
"Snart a friend of the League?" Winn asked, his mouth opening. "You've sent him to jail… multiple times!"
"I've also worked with him multiple times," Rae added. "Only put him in jail when he is robbing or hurting people, which does happen a lot. But if we can end this war, we can get them in jail next time."
"One more thing you should know," Winn said, making Rae raise an eyebrow. "A new hero has appeared in Central-National… They call him Angel." Winn brought a photo of the new hero up; he was white, with dark hair, and wore an outfit with a white shirt with yellow wings on it with blue pants. He had silver gauntlets on, too. "He has appeared in many different cities, but for the last few days been in Central section. He's actually pretty good. Adam and myself believe he has the ability to fly, since his suit has nothing in it to make flight and the gauntlets shot electricity. We believe…"
"Nerd it down," Rae said, wanting to deal with the Snarts first before they got into discussion of a new League member. "I got it. We keep an eye out for the newbie. Come on."
-New Justice-
It wasn't hard to find the fighting group. They were in a junkyard with Mirror Master and Top at one side with Snart, Mick, and Lisa at the other. It seemed they'd moved their battle from the streets now.
"Give her back!" Snart yelled, holding up his cold gun.
"Not until…" Mirror Master was cut off when in a flash stopped him and Rae was there in her Flash outfit with Flash Pup next to her, and Winn dressed as Stopwatch.
"Flash!" Snart said, turning to her. "I thought you were dead."
"I thought you were in prison," Rae countered back with a smirk from Snart.
"Nice new outfit," Lisa said, and Rae gave her smile and nod.
"Thank you, now that that's over, how about we stop this war?" Rae said, looking between the two groups. "And end this. Before I have to bring the rest of the League here and this gets even messier."
"No," Mirror Master said. "This has been has to realize this is my city now!"
"This will always be my city," Snart countered.
Rae sighed. "You know, it's actually mine. Stopwatch, freeze them!" Rae said, pointing at Mirror Master and Top. Winn held up a hand and the two froze. Before Snart, Mick, or Lisa could react, Rae was in front of them, looking them in the eyes. "What happened? Why are you at war with your former allies?"
"Everything was fine. We got away with a job and then this ass puts us all in danger by spending the money too soon. I then confronted them to teach them a lesson about endangering the group. They kidnapped Stephanie." Snart explained.
"What?" Rae asked. Stephanie Brown-Snart was the youngest Snart sibling. The half-sister to Leonard and Lisa. Her mother had died not long after Stephanie was born, and the father being the criminal he was, Leonard had practically raised Stephanie himself. Stephanie also was the only Snart who was not a criminal, and Rae liked the girl.
"And we're not going anywhere until we get her back," Mick said, raising his gun.
"Stopwatch, switch," Rae said turning around to face the frozen duo and Winn switched his hands, freezing the Snart's group and unfreezing Mirror Master and Top.
"What?" Mirror asked looking around noticing the changes from being unfrozen.
"Okay here's the deal. I get you're in a 'who's city is this?' war. Well you're both wrong. I said it before and I will say it again. This is my city," Rae said, crossing her arms. "It always has been and always will be. Now, you can avoid jail right now by giving up Stephanie Snart and stopping this war. Do you really want to be fighting the Snarts when you have me in this city to worry about? Tell me where Stephanie is and this is all over."
"Not happening," Top said, going to use her power to make Rae dizzy. Rae had felt this before so was not shocked, but Winn went to freeze them both.
"How is your talking thing going? Now what do we do?" Winn asked, getting tried with the constant freezing of time.
"Take out Mirror Master and Top and find Stephanie," Rae said, but at that moment they heard a voice calling to the Flash. Both Rae and Winn looked up to see the new hero Winn had showed before, floating above them.
Before either could say anything, Winn looking up, distracted him, and everyone unfroze. Clark barked running at Top to stop her powers. Snart, Lisa, and Mick, in the confusion starting shooting and Rae went to run after Mirror Master.
Mirror Master must have planned this out before as he ran to a wall, which had in fact a covered mirror, and Rae found herself running after him as he dodged into mirrors. Then Mirror Master grabbed hold of her and push her into the mirror.
"Come," Mirror said, going for Top and grabbing her hand before bringing her through another mirror nearby. Clark barked at the mirror they disappeared before hearing the banging and seeing Rae trapped in the other mirror so ran over to it and paws at the glass, moaning.
Winn and Angel were throwing out attacks at the Snart, Mick, and Lisa. Angel flying around and throwing out electrical attacks from his gauntlets. Winn used the guns in his suit to counter their attacks.
"Come," Snart said, seeing his targets were gone. He had to find Mirror Master and Top again. Snart shot a cold blast directly at Angel, making him fall and Lisa got Winn with her gold gun. Mick used the fire gun to cover their escape as they ran.
"Oh, that hurt," Winn said putting an arm on his stomach where the gold gun had hit him. "You okay?" Winn asked, helping bring Angel to his feet.
"Yeah," Angel said. "Cold." Angel fixed his glasses on his face. "Where did the Flash go?"
Clark was barking at the mirror and Winn and Angel turned around to see Rae inside the mirror. "Flash?" Winn asked, to be responded by an unfamiliar language from his leader. He paused, confused – he could hear her, but it made no sense. "What? I don't…. what?"
Angel came up beside them, his mouth open, but a thought came to him. "Hey, you know," Angel said. "When you look into a mirror, everything is backwards…"
"She's talking backwards," Winn groaned, getting it. "Well, not talking backwards but that's how we're hearing it. We should be able to record what she's saying and have it play back in the right way. We…" Winn paused, looking around. Rae had run him there. The nearest Zap tunnel was far away. "Can you carry this without dropping it?"
"Yeah," Angel said with a nod.
"Okay, Flash Pup," Winn said, hating he had to do this. "You're going to have to fly me." Clark gave a bark but nodded, biting down on Winn's outfit and flying him into the air; Winn closed his eyes and tried not to scream. Angel lifted the mirror and flew after them.
-New Justice-
"What does Flash stuck in a mirror mean?" Kara asked coming out of the zap tunnel with Krypto into Home Base and saw the mirror there. She could see Rae standing in it and heard her say something weird. "Oh… kay… What happened? And who is that?" Kara pointed at Angel sitting on a chair talking to Caitlin.
"Angel," Winn said. "He's… he helped me get the mirror back here and came up with this idea." Winn held up a device he and Adam had been working on. Angel had given ideas, but the two had done it by themselves in the end, especially after Caitlin had shown up and distracted Angel.
Winn put the device on the mirror. "Flash say something," Winn said.
"Get me out of here!" Rae said, and Clark barked.
"Yes, get her out of there," Kara said, turning to look at her girlfriend. "How did this happen?" Kara put her hand on the glass and Rae put her hand over Kara's. Both giving each other longing looks. Rae definitely felt trapped.
"Are they dating?" Angel asked, ruining the moment.
"Yes," multiple people said at once.
"How do we get her out?" Kara ask, turning to the group. Red Tornado and the Aquas were also in the room.
"Well, I have run the thought through MIA," Angel was the one who talked, making multiple people look at him.
"Who's Mia?" Caitlin said, her voice a little too high at that.
"Not Mia, M.I.A. - Multipurpose Intelligence Alternate," Angel said. "An A.I. I created. The reason why I am in Central-National. To have STAR start marketing. You know I could add her here and she would run all these systems…"
"Nerds," Rae said, waving her hand. "Speed this along."
"Well MIA suggested freezing the glass," Angel said.
"That's brilliant!" Adam said, jumping up at the idea. "If we freeze over the glass, Flash should be able to phase herself out. I got to see this MIA." Angel had a smirk on his face.
"So… freeze breath," Kara said, to sum it up. Flash Pup perked his ears up at this and opened his mouth too but stopped when Adam called out.
"No," Adam said before Kara could start. "Your freeze breath isn't cold enough. This has to be done quickly and fast. Times like this Frost would be useful… Ow." Adam said when Caitlin slapped him over the head. "Sorry. But your sister would have been useful."
"That's why you look familiar!" Angel said with a smirk. "You're Frost's sister. I always thought she was beautiful. Should have realized you were related." Caitlin blushed at the compliment.
"Snart's gun," Winn suddenly said, turning to the computers and bringing up a Justice League blueprint of the gun. "We take apart the gun and use its components to completely freeze over the glass in seconds." Both Adam and Angel were looking at the blueprints, talking amongst each other for a moment.
"Okay, we need to get the gun," Adam said after a moment.
"So we find this Snart and take it," Selena said.
"I think I know where he is," Angel said.
"Erm, hello!" Rae said as Kara and everyone started to talk plans on how to take the gun. "Hello. Yes. Clark, Krypto get their attention." Rae finally ordered, and Clark and Krypto barked loudly, shutting the group up; everyone turned to face the mirror Rae was trapped in. "While I am glad you all can make plans without me, I'm here and I got a plan of my own. Just ask Snart for help. He'll help us. He's a friend of the League."
"I thought he was a villain?" Aqualad said.
"He's half and half," Rae said, annoyed at that. "But his sister is in danger. We agreed to get her back. He'll help us. So go ask him now and bring him back here, since we seem to bring everyone to Home Base."
Everyone stood there for a second. "Flash is still technically leader," Red Tornado pointed out. "And she is right about Snart. He has helped the League numerous times before. Usually when one of his sisters are in danger."
"Okay, we ask Snart for help," Kara said, nodding and trusting Rae completely. "Winn, with me. Superdog, Flash Pup you too. Everyone else stay here." Kara grabbed Winn before he could say anything and a zap tunnel was open and they left.
-New Justice-
Snart, Lisa, and Mick had a headquarters, of sorts, set up and were making a plan when Kara came in, with Winn and the dogs.
"We need to talk," Kara told them when they looked up.
"Look here, I found where they are keeping Stephanie and I'm going to get her," Snart stated. Clark gave a bark followed by Krypto. Snart eyed the two dogs.
"Stopwatch," Kara said and Mick and Lisa froze.
"Stop doing that!" Snart complained, seeing his sister and friend frozen as he turned around. "I got a little sister to save."
"And we don't want to stop you. We want to help you," Kara said.
"I'm listening," Snart droned. He had worked with the Justice League enough to know they were true to their word.
"We just need your help first," Kara said. "Come with us and then you have the entire Justice League to help you get Stephanie back."
Snart stared at Kara for a moment before he nodded. "Okay. Unfreeze them," Snart said and Winn moved his hand and the two unfroze.
"I hate that," Mick growled after a moment, realizing what must have happened.
"We're working with the Justice League," Snart told the two,
"Cool," Lisa said with a grin.
-New Justice-
Kara, Winn, the dogs, Snart, Mick, and Lisa all came out into Home Base.
"What's this?" Snart asked, smirking at seeing Rae in the mirror. "Flash, you have never looked so good." Snart looked in the mirror seeing his own reflection too, with Rae there.
"Very funny," Rae said as Mick and Lisa laughed.
"Your gun," Adam said, holding out his hand.
"Why?" Snart asked, patting the device, protective of the machine.
"It's how we're getting Flash out," Adam said and Snart gave Supergirl a look. Supergirl crossed her arms and glared at Snart.
Snart sighed and took out his gun, handing it to Adam, who along with Winn, and Angel, went to work on it. Taking the gun apart.
"Hey!" Snart yelled, seeing his gun being dismantled, but Supergirl put a hand on his chest and Aqualad and Aquagirl gave him a look. He stepped back as the three used the components of the gun, and some others equipment Adam had brought out to make a new device.
"Here we go," Adam said, putting the new device on the mirror and pushing a button. The entire room got cold as the mirror started to fog up, freezing before their eyes. It started to splinter due to the cold, but Rae had moved, vibrating quickly moving forward, out of the mirror just as it exploded due to the cold.
"Nice work my three nerds," Rae called, speeding to Winn and Adam's side.
"Hey, that included me," Angel said with a smile as Kara moved and put her arms around Rae.
Rae put her arms around Kara and kissed her, to catcalls from Snart and Mick. Rae gave them an annoyed look and smiled at Lisa, who slapped her brother. "Okay, now it's time to save Stephanie," Rae said, determined.
"We know where she is," Snart said.
"But they have groupies," Mick added.
"They hired some thugs," Lisa clarified.
"Thugs against the Justice League?" Rae said with a smirk. "Red, Top's power won't work on you. You'll go after her. Aquas, take the thugs. Wild Fire and Atom, you're with me against Mirror Master. I need someone to smash the mirrors. Stopwatch, you and Supergirl are on rescue duty, with Snart, Mick, and Lisa." Krypto and Clark moaned. "Flash Pup with me. Superdog help Supergirl."
"What about me?" Angel said, raising his hand.
"Thanks for the help, but we got it from here," Rae said, not even going to call in any other members of the League anyway. They did not need it. Rae noticed Angel frown but shrugged. Angel was not part of the League and she already had three wild cards working with her. She couldn't add Angel right now. "Stopwatch, open a zap tunnel for Angel. Then we're gone."
-New Justice-
Mirror Master and Top were in an old warehouse. He had set up mirrors as his and Top's escape route, easily able to jump to and from any mirror. Stephanie was tied up in one corner, and Mirror Master was threatening her.
"I'm in," Adam said, having shrunk to get in, flying around the room the size of a fly. "And I think I can break most of the mirrors with a new high pitch noise sound I put in my suit."
"Wait until we come in," Rae said, as everyone situated themselves. "Okay, everyone ready?" She got an affirmative from everyone. "Red, show them we're here."
Red used a tornado blast to knock open the door and then headed right for Top. Adam grew and used a button on his suit and a high-pitched noise started shattering mirrors. Wild Fire came in and started breaking mirrors too as the Aquas threw water at the thugs. Selena came in with her trident to attack.
Rae ran right in and pulled Mirror Master aside, the attack being too quick for even he to react to. Clark bit his leg and dragged him away "Round two?" Rae asked with a smirk and Mirror Master looked around for a non-broken mirror to use as he went to punch at Rae. Rae grabbed him away from Stephanie.
That was when Supergirl, Superdog, and Winn came in with Snart, Lisa, and Mick. Winn freezing the people closest to them so the group could untie Stephanie. Stephanie hugged onto Snart as she looked around. Winn's power timed out though, having used it too much this day but Krypto was already knocking out the people Winn had frozen along with Kara and Mick was punching people. Leonard and Lisa too concerned with their sister to take part in knocking out the thugs. Soon Mirror Master, Top, and all the thugs were down. Top had stood no chance against Red Tornado.
"Without mirrors he's not so tough," Rae said, standing over Mirror Master and she could hear sirens. "Sounds like the police are heading this way."
"I guess it's time for you to…"
"Get out of here," Rae interrupted Winn, surprising him. Winn had been about to tell Snart and his gang they were going back to jail. "Go now. Don't rob again, or we'll put you back in jail."
"You'll have to catch us first," Mick yelled out.
"Hey Flash. You owe me a new gun," Snart called out as the four disappeared out the back.
"Why set them free?" Winn asked, clearly confused. He always thought the heroes put away the villains when they could. The group of three had been part of a war that hurt a lot of people in the city.
"You have to weigh the good and bad," Rae said, knowing Winn did not understand her reasons. She needed to let them go. Something in her told her it was the right thing to do. "This time Snart was on our side. It was the right thing to do to let him go. Always do what is right."
"No matter how hard it is," Kara added, having heard Rae say something similar before. Rae smiled at her girlfriend as she heard the cops at the door. "Let's go back to Home Base."
The Justice League was gone before the cops entered the building.
…
"You know, Angel was a good addition," Adam pointed out once they were back at Home Base, giving Winn a look. They had liked having a third who was as intelligent as them in the group. Plus, he was another guy.
"We did not even get his name, though," Winn added.
"Jess Morgan," Caitlin stated, making everyone look at her. "He gave me his number before he left." Caitlin held up a piece of paper with a smile.
"Jess Morgan," Rae said the name, it brought back some memory deep within her brain. "That sounds familiar." Rae tried to think. "Wait… Karry Universe. Bring up the list of their Justice League members."
Adam went to the computer and brought it up for her, "There it is. Jesse Morgan," Adam said, highlighting the name. "Frankie put her down as not existing here because her dad, HR Wells never had kids. Already looking it up." Adam knew what Rae was going to request before she did. "Harrison Wells never had kids but… Harriet Wells did. Jess Morgan."
"He's HP's son," Rae moaned in realization. "Meaning he sort of is this Jesse counterpart… HR's twin's kid. Frankie was wrong. Sort of." Rae had a smirk on her face as she said it. Kara herself was laughing and Clark and Krypto sensed their owner's good mood gave out a playful bark. "Contact the League. We're having a membership vote tonight."
"On it." Winn stated, wondering if Rae would have even considered it had Jess not been a Karry Universe counterpart – she hadn't wanted to know earlier on, not even letting him help in the fight. He didn't voice this though; Rae had other things to think of back then.
-New Justice-
The next day, Samantha Arias was sitting behind the main desk of CatCo, her feet up a desk, a smile on her face until she heard a familiar voice calling.
"Serena!" Samantha jumped up, seeing Cat Grant standing there.
"Ms. Grant, I thought you were not going to be back until next week," Samantha said, suddenly nervous.
"Well, when the person I put in charge of my company prints rumors as facts I cut my vacation short and come back," Cat Grant stated. "We report facts, Ms. Arias – we do not make it up as we go along."
"I didn't make it up. The Flash is de…" Samantha started.
"There is no proof she is dead. Lack of evidence does not make anything on the contrary fact." Cat said, her eyes dead set on Samantha. "If the Flash is not dead, you made this company look like a fool and caused a panic in the city for no reason. If she is dead, you took away the Justice League's ability to lessen the blow. The world has grown use to her new Justice League, but the Flash being there was always reassuring."
"Ms. Grant," Siobhan, Cat Grant assistant, walked in. "The Justice League has called a press conference. I already told our DC reporters to get there. Thought you should know."
"Thank you, Sharon," Cat said. "Well, we will see what happens. Personally, I hope the Flash is alive. I can deal with an underling jumping the gun." Samantha moved away from Cat Gant's desk, letting the woman in charge take back her seat. "Oh, and Serena, your job depends on her being dead." Cat Grant said, emotionless on that, but Samantha took a deep breath, knowing Cat Grant was serious. If the Flash was alive, she was fired.
-New Justice-
Stephanie Brown-Snart was packing up her room.
"Batgirl," she heard a voice say, and turned to see the Flash standing there. Rae was pointing at a poster on the wall. It was of Batgirl.
"Always my favorite member of the old Justice League," Stephanie said. "No offense, but she had no powers. I learned material arts because of her. Didn't help much here though."
"Not use to people attacking you," Rae said, smiling at the poster. It felt good knowing people still loved her old League members. "So, you're moving?"
"Coast City," Stephanie said. "Teaching self-defense there, believe it or not." Stephanie put something else in the box. "And maybe get away from my family's enemies. Do some good." There was a look in her eyes Rae knew. Stephanie wanted to do good in the way Rae and the others did good.
"Well, be careful," Rae said with a nod, thinking she had to keep an eye on Stephanie now.
"Don't you have a press conference to get to?" Stephanie asked, pointing at the TV. It was already on the empty Hall of Justice in Washington DC.
"I got time. Besides, I owe your brother this," Rae lifted up her hand and Samantha noticed the gun in it. "Had Atom and Stopwatch make it last night." Stephanie took the gun, and before she could say anything, the Flash was gone.
"Leonard has strange friends," Stephanie muttered, but smirked, knowing the Flash could be considered a friend to her brother. Even if she did put him in jail a lot.
-New Justice-
Jess was walking into the STAR lab building when he was whisked away in a flash and found himself on top of a building.
"Hello," Rae said with a smirk. "Jess… or should I call you Angel?"
"How? Caitlin…" Jess said. Wild Fire had given him her real name at the same time Jess had given him hers. "Should have known."
"She is a member of my League," Rae said. "And so are you." Jess raised an eyebrow. "If you want to be. We had a vote last night. You got in."
"After sending me away?" Jess asked. He had not been expecting to be added to the League after being sent away.
"That wasn't personal. You were not a member of the League then. Now you can be," Rae said, holding out a hand and Jess took it, smiling. "Good. We have a press conference to get to."
-New Justice-
The press was waiting outside, and all noise stopped as members of the League came out of the Hall of Justice, all lining up behind a podium. White Canary took her position to the left of the podium and Supergirl to the right, with Krypto by her side.
Then Rae came walking out with Clark next to her. Clark went next to his father as Rae got behind the podium. "Hello. Sorry to disappoint many of you, but I'm not dead," Rae said to a laugh from the crowd. "I know rumors have been going around since I stood up the President. I do not do what I do for awards. I do it to help everyone. I did have every intention of going there that day but sometimes in this life plans get thrown out. During that day, something came up. I got taken away and could not go there or help my League in Starling the day after. I have been dealing with some personal issues and I trusted my League to take care of all you while I was gone. And I believe they did a great job, but I am here and I'm going nowhere."
"What's with the new suit?" A reporter yelled out.
"I've been the Flash for nearly ten years. I thought it was time for a new suit," Rae said, and the group laughed. "But we are not here to talk about me. Today I am introducing some new members… Firstly, Wild Fire. I think her name covers her power." Caitlin came out in her suit with the helmet on. Rae shook her hand and Caitlin took a spot with the rest of the League. "And, our newest member, Angel." Jess came out in his outfit and accepted a communicator and Justice League patch from Rae. "Just two members in our ever-growing League."
Rae let the reporters ask questions for a while, smiling and loving being up there once more. Lois Lane was right: she loved her new League. She loved being up here. She felt at home.
-New Justice-
Cat Grant had returned to her penthouse after the press conference and firing Samantha. Dawn and Carter were hugging Annie as Joel was unpacking.
"I'm glad the Flash is alive," Annie said, seeing her sister. "And kind of glad you came back early. I had gotten used to seeing you all almost every day."
Cat smiled as she hugged her sister. "A little birdie told me you were back early," they heard a voice and turned to see Rae had come in with her key and had Clark next to her.
"Rae!" Dawn said, taking Carter's hand to bring her blind brother over to Rae and hug the chef. "We went to the Kryptonian Wildlife Sanctuary and your friend Kara gave us a tour. She brought us into the Natu habit and let us pet the red one."
"Jay," Rae said with a smile. She was very fond of that Natu herself for obvious reasons. "You know, he's named after my dad."
"Really?" Dawn asked as Clark barked and Dawn bent down to pet the dog.
"Yes, and Kara is not my friend. She's my girlfriend," Rae told the two, smiling.
"Really?" Cat asked, giving Annie a knowing look. "That's a rather long-distance relationship. Kansas and Central-National are not exactly right next to each other."
"We make it work," Rae said with a smile.
"Oh, we got you something," Carter said, having been petting Clark as well and looking up at Rae. Rae's glow had become comforting to Carter since he'd gone blind and could only see metas. "But it's still in the luggage."
"You didn't have to," Rae said, putting an arm around Carter.
"You know, the kids are not the only one who missed you," Annie said. "I thought about calling you and asking if you would just cook for me," Rae had to smile at that.
"Wait," Joel said, holding a hand. "You're still on vacation. Just because we came back early does not mean you have to. We can survive until next week without you."
"I didn't need the time off to start with, so if I could take the vacation days another time, I would be happy to come back to work tomorrow," Rae said with a smirk. "I would say today, but I don't think there's anything in the refrigerator."
"Sounds fair. Go shopping tomorrow morning and be here to make lunch and dinner for us. We can get take out for dinner tonight. You can take the rest of your days whenever you want, Rae," Joel said, and Rae nodded with a smirk. Having these vacation days in her pocket might be helpful.
Post Chapter Note: Another one done. I hope you enjoyed.
Please REVIEW.
Karry Master OUT!