I own nothing recognizable

I looked at the girl out of the corner of my eye. She didn't seem like the sort of person who'd try a trick on Batman – or any other member of the Justice League; for one, he didn't recognize her at all and set-ups this elaborate usually meant the mastermind was out for some form of revenge. Usually.

It didn't matter this time, though, because true or false she appeared to be Batman's only hope. My heart clenched in fear as I thought back to him lying in the med wing, so terribly pale and the heart rate monitor measuring out time in a dull, repetitive beep that simply counted out the space between life and death. No, I didn't know what she was going to do, but I had to trust her. With everything I held dearest, I had to trust her.

We docked in the Javelin without a hitch, though there were surprisingly no hails from those who had remained on the station. I shut off the engines, opened the bay doors and extended the ramp before getting up and picking up the crate to take with me. "How does this work?" I asked the little courier as she hurried to catch up. "Honestly? I have no idea. I have more instructions waiting for me inside that crate that I'll only have access to when it's just me, Batman, and crate in a room with no-one watching. Which would be really dirty if the situation wasn't so serious," she replied, straight-faced

Superman, what's going on? You left in quite a hurry, and now you have brought a civilian to the Watchtower. J'onn's telepathic voice drifted through my head, and I made a concentrated effort not to answer him out loud. She says she can save Batman, and I believe her. J'onn seemed surprised by my judgment; he paused for several seconds as the courier and I got ever closer to the infirmary. Is there anything we need to do? He asked finally, a slightly resigned note in his voice. Just make sure the infirmary is empty and the security cameras are off. I felt the telepathic equivalent of a nod. Understood.

It was barely two more lengths of corridor before we reached the door to the med bay, which slid open automatically at our approach. The lights were dimmed, and when I covertly checked them the status lights on the cameras were off too. The courier paid no heed to the state of the room and simply walked over to the bed where Batman lay. "Geez, the paper wasn't exaggerating. Okay, Superman, if you could just put that crate down in the middle of the floor there, I'll get the rest of this set up while you vamoose. I'll let you know when it's done, believe you me.

My heart in my throat, I obeyed and gently set the crate down in the clear area to the left of the bed. I headed out hurriedly, determined to find the others and tell them what was going on. Most of it, anyway.

There hadn't been much to tell, and now the six of us were in the meeting room, sitting in a tense silence. Even Flash was quiet - though I could tell it was a huge effort on his part. As for myself, I was trying to put my natural abilities to good use; unlike J'onn, I wasn't above eavesdropping.

Though what I heard made no sense, past a point. First I heard the top of the crate being levered off, and the courier made some sort of comment on how whatever was in there not being reassuring. No confidence was inspired in me either, but I couldn't very well rush down there without anything more than that. Not with Batman's life on the line.

The next sound was of rustling papers, and the courier reading snatches off them. "Preferred sources of energy, nope. Maintenance, nope. Ah! Here we go. 'You have been hired for your technical skill as well as your services. Follow the step-by-step directions below to the letter.' I can do that. Let's see..." I strained to hear more, but there was just the sound of flipping pages.

Finally, she seemed to have finished reading. "Right! First things first. Pour this in there. Ow! What-? Oh." There was the soft sound of liquid sloshing in a container, a faint sizzling, and some muttered swearwords that accompanied some rustling. "Would've been nice to know about putting on gloves before I slopped some on myself. I'd like to give the person who wrote these instructions a piece of mind. Anyway," she finished rustling and I heard more liquid sloshing before I heard it being poured into something. A faint hum slowly faded into hearing -well, my hearing - range, and she made a satisfied noise. "Okay, next...Apply phlebotinum. What? Oh."

A harsh, electric crackling sound made me wince and Flash was instantly beside me, a stream of pent-up questions gushing from his mouth. "What?What'sgoingonyou''tyouhow'shedoingwhat'sshedoing-" I held up a hand. "I don't know much more than you. Just listening isn't telling me much. Now please be quiet - I don't want to miss anything that could be important. The Flash nodded, and I resumed eavesdropping.

Whatever had been crackling had stopped, and now there was a metallic clanking going on. The courier had more choice words for the situation, interspersed with complaints. "I can appreciate why they made them hard to get to, but did this thing -" clank! "-have to be some damn cumbersome as well? Aha!" This last exclamation was accompanied by a loud clunk. An electronic humming started up. "There. Got the bastard thing situated. Time to hurry up and wait."

Time passed. It felt like hours, but when I glanced at the clock it had been less than ten minutes.

Finally, the electronic hum stopped. There was another clunk and a few clanks, then the sound of something being dropped. "Ufff. Came out easier than it went it - go figure. Anyway, Superman - I know you're listening, I would be too if I was in your position - bring 'em down. I'm done."

I looked at the others who were looking at me with expressions somewhere between hope and fear. "She's finished. Let's head down to medbay." I had barely finished speaking before Flash was up and speeding out the door. The rest of us weren't far behind him - too close, in fact. I plowed into him when he stopped stock-still in the door of the medbay, sending us both careening to the floor. Everyone else managed to stop - in some cases, stop short - before they ran over us.

"Great Hera..."

Wonder Woman's whispered expression of surprise had me on my feet and looking to see what had sparked such an outburst before Flash did. I was thunderstruck by what I saw.