Disclaimer: I do not own either Young Justice or its related characters. Such are the property of DC Comics, Warner Bros. Entertainment and Cartoon Network. I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit entertainment.
Intrepid Reporter
Chapter Five:
Kon stood with growing impatience, his arms crossed over his chest, as he watched Nightwing read and reread the page he'd given him. The former Boy Wonder's domino mask made it impossible to see his eyes traveling over the page, but Kon could see his expressions shift ever so slightly as he read and the Superboy could hazard a guess as to where be was in the document based on his reactions. Also, that this must have been Dick's third go-over of the page.
Finally, sick of waiting –patience had never been one of his strong suits- Kon asked, "Well, what do you think? Do you think Godfrey might have any connection to the Light or is this just the hysterical over-analyzing of a woman angry for being fired?"
"Not sure." The Nightwing admitted. "But I might as well send someone to look into it. After all, 'a simple fire…'"
'…lead them to Superboy.' Yes, Kon knew. He was more than well aware of that. He had kinda been there at the time. It had become the Team's moto, 'A simple fire lead them to Superboy.' Over the years, it had just been shortened to 'A simple fire…' Kon wasn't sure if some of the newbies even knew the end of that saying. They probably thought it ended with something like '…can lead to a complicated blaze.' or '…doesn't seem dangerous until it burns down your house.' or whatever other fortune cookie proverb-like ending they thought was applicable. In the end it didn't matter what the saying actually was, the lesson that it taught was never to dismiss something just because it didn't seem important at the time, or because it seemed small.
Robin, Beetle and Lagoon Boy had learned that for themselves not to long ago. Only their 'small fire' was a tool shed and their 'Superboy' the Krolotean's main zetta-base. Maybe the saying should be changed to fit with the younger crowd, 'A small shed could hide a large base.' That sounded alright. Adequately proverb'ish.
But he was allowing himself to stray off point. "If you're sending a Team to Metropolis, I'd like to be in on it. I've been city-sitting for Clark since he left and I wanna tell him I stayed vigilant when he gets back."
"Why, Supey, are you developing a bit of a territory complex?" Dick teased. It was widely spoken about (and by 'spoken' we, of course, mean muttered in hushed tones) that both Batman and Superman were fiercely territorial of their cities to the point of impracticality. Well, actually, Batman wasn't whispered about. His territorialness was discussed and debated in the open. Superman was the one they whispered about, only because it wasn't the sort of thing one would expect from a Boy Scout like him.
"Yes. The center cushion on the couch is my spot. Its got my but imprint in it, which is as good as writing my name on it." He rolled his eyes. "Dick, focus."
"Right, right." The Nightwing sighed casually. "A small squad should do. You, Wolf, Sphere and Robin. He's still in school right now. Not due to get here until some time around three. A night mission would be most practical and the sun doesn't set until six thirty. What are GBS's office hours? Nevermind, here's their site." –He called up a holo-screen- "I'd say… be back here for a mission briefing by seven. Until then, you've got free-time."
Dick made a 'shoo-shoo' motion with his hands.
Kon heaved a sigh at the casual dismissal, but it was Dick. He knew the former Boy Wonder really did take his job seriously. But, unlike his mentor, he refused to allow everything to seem like 'doom and gloom' and so, for the things that were small enough to let him get away with it, he gave a casual laid-back attitude to. 'Keeping thing light.' He called it. You do this job long enough and it starts to weigh you down. That's why you gotta keep it light.
"Oh! One more thing!" The Nightwing called him back. "Your reporter friend, is she anything like Lois?"
"She's not my reporter friend. She's not 'my' anything!" Kon was quick to respond before he had fully processed the question. "Why do you ask?"
"'Cause, this seems like the sort of thing that Lois would –after bringing it to Clark's attention- continue to investigate on her own, thereby placing herself in danger, thereby needing a rescue, thereby getting in the way of whatever investigation Clark might have been doing, thereby letting the bad guy get away, thereby-"
"I get it."
"So, you'll keep that reporter you know who's not 'your reporter friend' from getting in the way."
"Yes." He nodded. "And I'll probably have a much easier time with it than Clark does, because I can do something that he can't do."
"What's that?"
"I'm going to lie."
…
Tana was at her desk updating her resume when she heard a light tapping on her window. Curious as to what could be tapping on a fourteenth floor window, she pushed her chair back and crossed the room to open her blinds. None other than the Superboy stood perched on the fire escape outside.
She rushed to pull the window open.
"That didn't take long." She said. "So, what'd you find out?"
He climbed inside and said, "Its nothing."
"Nothing?" She echoed. Admittedly, that had been the answer she was expecting so Tana could not say it surprised her. But it had only been a few hours since she saw him last. How much serious checking could the Superboy have done in that time? Had he just decided that she was nothing more than a hysterical crazy-woman who's leads weren't even worth looking into? Probably. Heck, she sounded crazy to herself, of course she would sound crazy to a hero. "Okay, then. Thank you for at least checking. I'm sorry to have wasted your time."
She held her hand out, expecting him to pass her back her paper.
The Superboy looked at her extended hand in confusion for a moment, as if he had no idea what she wanted. Then he took her hand in his and shook politely. "You're welcome. It was not trouble."
He turned to climb back out the window.
"Hang on a minuet!" She grabbed the back of his shirt. "That's it? 'Its nothing. No trouble. Good bye.' And I don't even get my paper back?"
He turned back around to face her. The Superboy looked her strait in the eyes with that unearthly crystal stare of his and said, "Yes. Nothing for you to worry about."
His voice was calm and even, his gaze never wavered, there were no 'tells' and yet somehow, just like she's known during the GBS interview, he was lying. The fact that there were no tells was the tell. She didn't know how she knew this, but it just seemed to fit. It was said that the Superman never told a lie, she never met him so she couldn't comment one way or another. But the Superboy it seemed was an almost expert liar. The question then turned to 'Why was he lying?'
Was the Superboy working for… for Godfrey's 'mysterious partners' Edge had mentioned? Was he covering their tracks, throwing her off their trail and destroying evidence for them? What had she stumbled on? Something huge! There was a moment of panic when she realized it. But it was quickly superceded by the realization that this could be a career making story. Like hell was she gonna give this up! Superboy wanted her off the trail, well, she would just have to make sure he didn't find out. Do some investigating of her own. Find out whatever this was that was going on and blow it wide open!
Tana met his crystal gaze, glare for glare, and said, "Alright then. Thanks again."
He nodded and left.
…
Hours later found Kon standing in Edge's office at GBS, standing over Robin as he hacked the CEO's private files, and board out of his skull. This wasn't his type of mission. He much preferred the ones where they had to parachute in behind enemy lines, knock some heads together and then blast their way out. That was his thing. Not this sneaking around office buildings in the middle of a densely populated city to get information that may or may not even exist. This was really more of a Bat thing.
But it was in Metropolis, so that made it a Super thing and with Clark off-world at the moment, he was the only Super in Metropolis. That made it his thing –as much as Kon was loath to admit it.
The Superboy was momentarily distracted from his mental ramblings, however, by the sound of rubber-soled sneakers creeping softly up the corridor towards the office they currently occupied. It was to late for the cleaning crew to still be in the building and even if it were a wayward custodian, they would not be creeping. Same thing with the security staff, they were supposed to be here so why would they skulk and slink? It had to be some third party. They were wearing normal sneakers by the sound of it, so another costumed vigilante or one of the enemy's operatives was out. A normal civilian that just happened to be trapped in the building over night? Feh. Yeah right!
"Hey, Rob, hang tight for a minuet." He said. "I hear something and am gonna check it out."
Without turning to look at him, Tim smirked as he said, "That always what the tough-guy says right before the axe-murderer get him."
"Well then I guess it's a good thing I'm invulnerable, then." The Superboy replied before slipping out the office door.
His own boots sounded loud to his ears as he strode down the corridor at a controlled pace. The source of the footsteps was just around the corner, he wanted to keep his own steps as quiet as possible so as not to spook away his quarry. Kon paused at the corner, flattening his back against the wall, he waited for the stranger to turn the corner… They didn't see him until the Superboy already had his arms around them.
"Got ya!"
In addition to the common sneakers, they wore simple blue jeans, gloves and a black sweatshirt with the hood up. Definitely not a professional. Neither a new vigilante or enemy operative. But the thing that surprised him was the high pitched and shrill yelp that escaped their lips when he grabbed them. Far to high an octave to be male, it was a woman. Kon pulled the back hood of the sweatshirt back to reveal none other than…
"Tana Moon!"
"Superboy!"
…
Fine! Tana had decided. If the Superboy didn't want to help her, then that was just fine. If he was really on the take of a wide-spread conspiracy of some sort then just fine! She didn't need his help to investigate, she could do it on her own. It was what she went to college for in the first place. If he was really a bad guy pretending to be one of the good guys then she would expose him. Either way, there was a Pulitzer in it for her.
So, after night had fallen, Tana had pulled on a pair of old jeans –functional ones, not cute ones-, an old T-shirt and a black sweatshirt. In short, she dressed-up like and American ninja. Plus gloves to avoid leaving her fingerprints everywhere and good shoes for running in case she had to make a hasty get away.
Tana entered the building through the maintenance service entrance around back and took the stairs up –pausing every few flights to take a breather, going up these things was so much more taxing than going down them. Finally, she found herself in the executive suits, the floor Edge's office was one. She didn't know exactly what she'd find up here, if Edge had some extra security around his office at night or not, so she decided to play it safe and keep as quiet as she possibly could. Tana hadn't counted on a demi-kryptonian with super-hearing being within earshot. She didn't know she wasn't alone until she'd already been caught.
"Got ya!"
She let out a startled yelp that sounded louder and more hysterical to her ears than she felt it should have.
Her hood was yanked down and the Superboy blinked at her with those inhumane blue eyes of his that seemed to almost glow in the dimly lit corridor. "Tana Moon!"
"Superboy!" She replied. She knew he was working for Edge! Whatever was going on, it was big and he was here as Edge's (or maybe Godfrey's) hired muscle and Mr. Fix it to make all their problems go away. When she broke this story it would make her career. If she survived to write it, that is. Tana was more than well aware that if he was one of the bad guys he could kill her easily and they'd never find the body.
"What are you doing here?" He demanded.
Refusing to show any fear to spite the very real danger she perceived herself to be in, the unemployed reporter crossed her arms over her chest and glared up at him. "I might ask you the same question. 'Nothing', indeed."
"You really shouldn't be here, Ms. Moon." Did he cringe when he said that? Tana decided she didn't care.
"Don't you 'Ms. Moon' me!" She snapped. "You lied to me, right to my face! There's only one reason I can think of for that and that's that you're actually working for Edge, or Godrey, or maybe their 'mysterious partner'. Whatever it is, I intend to figure it out! …And there's nothing to can do to stop me, short of killing me!"
There. She'd said it. She'd called him out. Next move was his. She didn't stand a chance against him, but at least she could die with some backbone. Superboy raised a hand. She shut her eyes against the blow. The blow did not come. Instead she head of soft smack and opened her eyes again to find that the Superboy had smacked himself on the forehead instead. She just stood there, blinking at him.
"My god, you're as bad as Lois…" He groaned.
"What?" She only continued to stare. "'Lois'? As in Lane?" Then her mind reached a different conclusion. "Oh my gosh, you bastard! You took my information to another reporter! You sonofabitch!"
"What?"
Tana wriggled out of his arm and stomped towards Edge's office. "You are just unbelievable! I come to you with information for you to look into as a super-hero and what do you do but take it strait to your mentor's pet-paparazzi! What, do you Supers have a 'deal' with her or something? Ass!"
Her hand closed around the knob to the office door and it was wrenched open roughly. "Lane! I don't care how many Pulitzers you have! If you think you can steal my story, you're got another thing co- You're not Lois Lane!"
Robin had bolted to his feet the moment someone whom was decidedly not Superboy entered the office. He perched on the desk, careful not to step on any vital equipments, a roninrang in one hand poised to strike. He did a double-take when he recognized the woman.
"And you're not a bad guy." He replied.
It was then that Superboy reentered the office looking harassed and exasperated. They both fixed him with their full attention, as if everything that was going wrong or could possible go wrong within the next few hours was all his fault.
"What the heck is going on!" They both demanded.
The Boy of Steel paused in the doorway. "Uh… Robin, meet Tana Moon. Ms. Moon, meet Robin, the Boy Wonder."
"I know who she is!" Robin snapped.
While Tana also snarled, "I know who he is!"
"Seriously, Supey, I thought you promised Nightwing you'd keep her away from this mission and out of trouble. What part of that did you not understand?" The young boy glared at his senior Teammate through the white-eyed slits of his mask. It was not exactly a bat-glare, but it was well on its way to becoming one –give it a couple more years…
"Hey, I tried!" The Superboy defended. "I told her it was nothing and that she shouldn't worry about it. I thought that would be enough to throw her off."
"She is standing right here, ya know!" Tana snarled at both boys.
There was a beat of silence.
"Whatever." Robin shrugged. "I've got all the data 'Wing needs, so I'm heading back to base. You-" he jabbed a finger at the Boy of Steel "-are going to take your girl reporter home and then come strait back to base for a very strongly worded lecture."
The Boy Wonder crossed the room to the window, withdrawing from his belt a grappling gun. A few moments later he was gone.
Superboy turned to Tana. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uhm… did you drive here? Do I have to make sure you drive all the way home or can I just walk you to your car and trust that you'll keep yourself out of trouble?"
Tana shook her head. Something about all of this was very surreal. "Haven't got a car. I took a cab here."
Kon looked alarmed. "Then how'd you plan to get away? I mean, if you had to make a hasty escape, without a get away car… you wouldn't happen to have any secret super-speed of flight abilities, would you?"
"No."
He once again smacked himself in the forehead. "I take it back, you're not as bad as Lois. You're worse than Lois!"
…
Kon deposited young Ms. Moon on her fire escape. "Now, can I trust you to stay out of trouble for the rest of the night? Or do I have to call Gangbuster, or Steel over to keep an eye on you?"
She glared at him reproachfully. "I don't need a baby-sitter, and I don't much care to be talked down to by a kid. You're what? Seventeen? Eighteen? You can't even buy beer! What gives you the right to order me around?"
She wasn't quite sure what kind of response she expected from the Superboy, but Tana most certainly did not expect him to reply with, "Really? You think I could pass for eighteen? That's awesome!" He tapped the communicator bud in his ear. "Hey, Nightwing, I can totally pass for eighteen! On my next civilian ID, I want my age to be eighteen, okay? …Yes, yes, I know. No rewards for negligent behavior. Okay. Got it. I'll be back at the base soon. Superboy out."
Tana just blinked in confusion.
"Well, Ms. Moon, I bet be going. Have a good night and stay out of trouble."
He turned to leave, but just as she had done earlier that day, Tana grabbed the back of his T-shirt before he could hop away. "Hold it! I think you own me an explanation. You lied to me earlier. You told me it was nothing, then when I decide to do some investigating of my own, I find you and Batman's side-kick doing your own investigation. 'Nothing', indeed! I think I'm entitled to know just what's going on."
Kon was about to reply with something along the lines of 'First of all, you're not entitled to anything…' But something in her eyes stopped him. Two hazel orbs glared at him with a kind of severe determination that reminded him a great deal of Lois. She wouldn't relent unless he told her what she wanted to know –or at least, a satisfying censored version of what she wanted to know. Damn it. Dick was going to kill him. The Superboy sighed and crawled all the way in through her window.
"I can't tell you everything." He said. "Think of it like the police, I can't talk about an on-going investigation. But… we –that is, me and a group of other heroes and side-kicks- think that Edge or Godfrey might be connected to a secret organization that's been giving us trouble for a while now."
"A secret organization?" She snorted. "Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds? C'mon, Superboy, I'm not an idiot."
"But it's the truth."
Tana just shook her head. "Sorry, but you've already lied to me once today."
"Alright, look, I'm sorry. Believe whatever you want. Just, please stay out of trouble."
"I make no promises." She told him.
"I suppose that's the best I could hope for." Sighed the Superboy. He climbed back out the window and jumped from the fire escape to the roof of the neighboring building and then from there off into the night. All he could think of while he made his way to the zetta-tube hidden in the Daily Planet's globe was just how much like Lois she really was and whether or not there might be some validity to everyone's comments about him getting an intrepid reporter 'of his very own'. After he was done getting chewed out by Dick he should talk to Lois again. He hadn't dropped the 'next time' phrase and she hadn't asked him what he does when he's not hero'ing. But they still seem to keep being pushed together.
It was almost like the universe were teasing him too.
…