Chapter Forty-One

Watchtower II

Earth Orbit

08:42 – Station Time (EST)

March 19, 2007

Yesterday had been quiet. Well, apart from the release of the Leaguers that had been incarcerated. That had caused some excitement for a couple of hours. They, of course, had been given leave for a week to recuperate while the Founders prepared for the meeting with the UN, which was scheduled for midday.

Wally West awoke on the thankfully large single bed aboard the station, snuggled up against Giganta. A wide smile spread across his face. Despite him trying to move slowly, their relationship had developed quickly. Sure, the others finding out the way they did, hadn't been the way he had planned or hoped. Or maybe it was. He had always known he would have to tell all of them eventually. He had originally thought that it would be a few months from now. Instead, they had found out by Giganta becoming in a lot of ways a hero. Even if that's not what she wanted to be.

Wally had talked to her at length about it yesterday evening. She had made it clear that being a member of the Justice League wasn't one of her aspirations. She confided that being a villain wasn't either. She had done that mostly out of a sense of loyalty and because she saw no other future for herself.

That had begun to change when Grodd had betrayed her. He had put a device in her head that was supposed to kill her if someone tried to read her thoughts. It had further changed when she had fought alongside them during Darkseid's last, and hopefully his final attack on Earth.

Whether she liked it or not, he already saw her somewhat as a hero. A reluctant hero. They usually were the best type. They didn't seek out praise or acceptance. They just helped people because they could.

He himself liked to showboat. In fact, it was one of the things he didn't like about himself. The problem was, he couldn't help himself. He got a high off of aggrandizing himself and showing off. It had started out as a confidence booster, as when he first put on the suit, he didn't have much of it and hid behind bad puns and jokes. Now, it was more habit than anything else, the bad jokes included.

His thoughts were interrupted when the door chime sounded. He sighed as he climbed out of bed and put on his Flash suit, which he did all in a blink of an eye.

Giganta stirred and rubbed her eyes. "Time to get up already?"

"For me, yeah," he answered as he stepped up to the door and opened it.

Shayera was stood outside. She smirked at him. "Have a good night?"

"I did actually."

"Meeting in five," she said before she turned and left.

He closed the door and turned back to Giganta, who was slowly climbing out of bed, her long red hair a complete mess.

"You don't have to get up," he told her.

"I'm awake now, so I might as well," she said.

"I have to go to a meeting in a few minutes," he explained.

"I heard," she answered. "What time are you heading down to the Metro Tower to meet with the UN?"

"We have to be down there for twelve."

"While you're down there, I'll be stuck here in this room."

"Yeah, sorry about that. But the restriction won't last, you'll be able to walk the station without an escort before too long."

"I'll take your word for it," she said, clearly not at all sure whether that would ever be the case.

Flash gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I better head off to that meeting. I'll be back soon."

"It won't be soon enough," she said with a sad smile.

He stepped out of the room and promptly made his way to the founder's conference room. He stepped inside, finding that he was the last one in.

They all looked over at him. Shayera was the first to greet him. "For the fastest man alive, you sure do take your time."

"Take a seat," Green Lantern said, gesturing to his seat.

He quickly sat down, resting his hands on his lap and looked to J'onn, as did everyone else. He, after all, had been the one to suggest this meeting in the first place.

J'onn looked around at all of them before he began, "I believe that you will all agree that we will need a contingency plan. Today's meeting with the United Nations may not go at all in our favour and the fallout from it may end up crippling the Justice League. Thoughts?"

Batman immediately responded to the Martian, "I already have fifteen separate contingency plans that can be set in motion based on what occurs today."

Shayera rolled her eyes. "Of course you do. If there was there any doubt."

"Let's hear them," Lantern said.

"They're too complicated to go into right now. Suffice to say, we will be ready no matter what."

Diana folded her arms. "How can we be ready when you won't tell us what they are?"

"It's pointless going through them until we've had the discussion with the UN," Batman told her.

Superman leant forward in his chair. "Give us an idea of the worst outcome you've prepared for?"

"Worst outcomes result in us disbanding the league," Batman answered.

That answer took Flash by surprise. "What would make us do that?"

"A few reasons," Batman said. "If they force us to give them our true identities in order to continue operating for instance. This isn't a problem for Diana, J'onn, John or Shayera. But for most of the league, this is not negotiable. Our identities are our lifeline and cannot be given away meaning most of the league would be forced to quit."

Superman nodded. "And without Batman, the funding is almost non-existent, even if the rest of you decided to continue. This space station would quickly fall into disrepair."

"Revealing our true names is bad," Flash agreed.

"What else could force us to disband?" Lantern asked.

"If continued operation required them to know where all of our funding came from. I'm careful not to leave a trail, but if Bruce Wayne was connected to the league, then it increases the chances of who I am being discovered."

"Wait," Superman began, "I thought it was known that Bruce Wayne donated to the Justice League?"

"Only four percent of what I actually 'donate' is known," he explained. "If the true figure was known, it would be seen as excessive and suspicious."

Flash's brow raised under his mask. "How much do you donate?"

"You don't wanna know, kid," Lantern said. "More than a lot of nations have in total wealth."

Flash whistled.

"To be fair," Shayera began, "Some countries aren't all that rich, but that's neither here nor there."

Superman brought them back on track. "So, what's the best outcome?"

"Nothing changes," Batman said.

"But that's unlikely," Diana said.

"Very unlikely," Lantern agreed. "But let's be honest. The World Assembly itself doesn't hold as much power as people tend to think."

"Perhaps not," J'onn agreed. "But the nations behind it do."

"Positive outcomes are not an issue," Batman told them. "I don't have any contingencies for them, only possible negatives. There is the real possibility that we will be bargaining the outcome. Whatever it is, we can guarantee that it will both be good and bad. All we can hope is that it's more the former than the latter."

There was a buzzing of the door chime. They all looked around before Superman stood up and made his way to the door. It slid open and he spoke with Mister Terrific for a few moments before turning back to the others.

"They're expecting us down there in forty minutes."

"Did they move it forward?" Flash asked.

"They didn't say," Superman responded. "But we should get ready to head down to the Metro Tower."

J'onn stood up. "Then this meeting is adjourned."

Approaching the Metro Tower

Metropolis

United States

09:22 – Eastern Standard Time

March 19, 2007

The Javelin carrying the seven founders of the Justice League headed down towards the Metro Tower.

The craft slowed down and landed in front of the tall building, a large group of reporters stood behind mobile steel barriers, police and military were there, making sure that no one crossed the line.

Superman gestured to the reporters. "Clark Kent is meant to be covering this," he said.

"He has the best seat out of all of them," Shayera said with a smirk.

They all stood up and made their way out of the Javelin and were escorted by two men in black suits into the tower. They were led to the tower's large waiting room, where they saw Hippolyta speaking with King Orin who was also known as Arthur Curry, AKA Aquaman. He was as shirtless as ever and beside him was a younger man with long dark hair dressed in blue.

"I see you have met the King of Atlantis, Mother," Diana said.

They turned to face the newcomers. Hippolyta smiled at her "Ah, Diana. Yes, it seems they requested his presence here also."

"Probably because they fear the power and strength of the Atlanteans," Aquaman said.

"And the same is probably said of the Amazons," Hippolyta added.

Arthur gestured to the younger man. "This is Garth," he said. "He has been interested in the surface world for quite some time, so I brought him along."

Flash waved. "Hey, Garth."

"Hello Justice League," Garth responded politely, with a slight bow.

"Polite," Superman commented.

"So," Batman began, "Have any of you been given any information on what is going to be discussed here?"

Hippolyta looked from Batman to Diana, then back to the Dark Knight. "Both I and King Orin are here to discuss our position in this world and we believe they wish us to join the United Nations."

"Not going to happen," Arthur said, with a shake of his head.

"So why come?" Superman questioned

"Because I'm fair and will still hear them out," Aquaman replied.

"I'm here to humour them," Hippolyta stated. "I am also here to see how they try and control and neuter your Justice League."

"Don't fall in line," Aquaman advised. "Fight and they will yield."

"I don't think it's that simple," Diana said. "They could essentially forbid us from operating in any UN allied nation."

"They cannot forbid you from doing anything," Arthur said firmly.

Superman disagreed. "I think we would rather operate legally than illegally. But I doubt it will come to that."

The door behind them slid open and they all looked around to see Amanda Waller stepping into the room. This immediately put the Leaguers on edge.

"What do you want?" Superman questioned, immediately folding his arms over his chest defensively.

"I have good news," she told them.

King Faraday stepped up beside her. "Depends on what you class as good news."

"I'm the new United States representative to the Justice League," she told them.

"That's the opposite of good news," Flash commented.

Superman nodded in agreement. "What makes you think we want to work with you?"

"I told you this wouldn't work," Faraday said.

Wonder Woman looked at him. "Why aren't you still our representative?"

"Because there comes a time when one's too old to play the politics game," he told them.

"He was fired," Waller corrected.

"I wasn't fired. They just felt I wasn't doing a good enough job and have asked me to step down."

"He was giving you too much leeway, not challenging you on anything and doing a poor job in general. After today, that will end."

"Great," Shayera said sarcastically. "I really liked the hands-off approach."

"Thanks for that," Faraday grumbled to Waller. "And here I thought you liked me."

"I don't like anyone," she answered him. She then turned her full attention back to the league. "Today will mark a new beginning for the Justice League, one that will have you reigned in and under control. Something that has been sorely missing up until now. Your little escapade in Gateway City is a prime example. The museum was destroyed by your recklessness and it might never re-open."

"We did our best," Wonder Woman said defensively.

"Your best resulted in the loss of over a billion dollars in priceless artefacts, and heavy structural damage. Not to mention your confiscation of four items."

"Hold on," Superman said, raising his hands to stop Waller. He looked to Diana. "You confiscated artefacts from a museum?"

Lantern folded his arms. "Sounds more like the princess stole them."

Wonder Woman looked at her mother to explain. "I found four Themysciran artefacts there. I could identify the Sword of Athena, the Gauntlets of Atlas, the Sandals of Hermes and a shield."

Hippolyta nodded, agreeing with her daughter's actions. "These items do belong to the Amazon people and were lost many centuries ago. They are also very dangerous and should not be out here beyond our shores and certainly not on display where anyone could get ahold of them."

"They were the reason the museum was attacked in the first place," Wonder Woman defended herself. "And it was Aresia who was behind it."

Hippolyta's eyes widened in surprise. "So she's still alive?"

"Yes, and she managed to escape when we were fighting of Circe."

"Circe was involved as well?" the Queen of the Amazons said. "Did they both escape?"

"Yes, but Circe is a little worse for wear."

"I see," Hippolyta said, understanding. "In any case, I will see to it that any damages are recompensed in return for these item's retrieval."

"How will you manage that?" Waller demanded.

The queen's brow rose. She found herself annoyed at the woman, though somewhat admired her brazenness, even if she felt it was inappropriate. "My land is not without its wealth and I do not appreciate your tone."

"I don't really care if you appreciate my tone or not," Waller said.

Faraday leaned in towards Waller. "Keep up this attitude and you won't be the league's representative to the US for long."

She shot him a death-glare. He raised his hands in surrender and backed away. Despite having no superpowers to speak of, she had an uncanny ability to unnerve and frighten people. Even Superman felt intimidated by her.

Waller herself felt intimidated by all of them, but she never allowed it to show. She couldn't allow herself to display weakness, not in front of anybody. She didn't get to where she was by showing weakness. She got to where she was by not backing down, by showing strength and resilience and by being able to get the job done no matter what it was or how it was accomplished.

She turned her back to them. "Five minutes," she said as she left.

Faraday turned to them. "I don't envy you," he said as he too left.

Hippolyta frowned at her daughter. "Interesting woman," she commented.

"Quite," Diana said unenthusiastically.

Flash rubbed the back of his neck. "So, anyone else freaked out?"

"It is disconcerting," J'onn agreed. "In the past, she has sought to if not destroy us, then to at the very least hamper and undermine us."

"We'll have to be careful around her," Batman said adding his concern. "She has her own agenda, one that as of right now, is not known to us."

"I'm sure you'll find out what it is," Shayera told the Dark Knight.

"We can worry about that later," Lantern said. "Right now we need to focus on our immediate future."

"He's right," Superman agreed. "She can wait. We need to-"

Their attention was drawn to the door as it opened. A young woman in yellow and black with giant insect wings and yellow-tinted goggles stepped into the room. She looked between them, her mouth curled downwards not looking happy in the slightest.

"Bumblebee I presume," Wonder Woman said. "The current leader of the Titans."

"The Justice League," she said back. "I was hoping to meet you under better circumstances."

Batman stepped forward, ready to interrogate. "Why are you here?"

She looked at him before answering, seemingly not intimidated. "I was called here. Probably to discuss the future of my team."

Lantern looked at her sympathetically. "Hate to break it to you kid, but there's a chance there isn't a future for you."

"What do you mean by that?"

Flash was just as confused. "Yeah, what do you mean?"

Batman was the one that answered, "Children should never be put in dangerous situations," he said. "The Titans was built around so-called young heroes. Children that shouldn't be fighting."

"You can talk," Shayera muttered, referring to the two Robins, who had donned the cape at a young age.

Batman visibly clenched his jaw. "Yes, I can talk. I should never have put a child in harm's way like I did. In fact, I did it more than once. My actions ruined a life and no child should ever, ever, be put in a situation where they're in danger. I don't care if they think they're ready. The truth is they aren't."

"We currently only have one on the team that's under sixteen," Bumblebee said defensively. "And they chose to be on the team, we didn't force them."

"You may not have forced them," Batman said, "but they are not old enough to legally make such decisions. They cannot join the national military and for good reason. Children don't belong in this line of work. I wish I had seen it sooner before it was too late."

There was silence. They could all sense the anguish coming off of the Dark Knight. He had kept the events that had ended the Bat-Clan bottled up and now they were seeing signs of the cork coming loose. All it had taken was Shayera making a comment in relation to his former sidekicks, the last being the source of the anguish.

Batman cleared his throat and regained his composure. "In the end, all we can do is go in there and listen to what the UN has to say and what it is they want. We can be certain that whatever happens, it will be primarily in their best interests and not any of ours."

The others all agreed.

The door opened once more and two men in suits stepped inside.

"If you'll follow us."

They all stepped out of the room and followed the two men. What their future held they didn't know. What they did know was that the events of today would ripple out into the far future.

Legion HQ

Metropolis

Earth

12:45 – East America Time

July 09, 2992

Cosmos, Quantum, Timber Wolf, Light Lass and Phantom Woman all stepped into the main lounge and made their way over to Brainiac 5, who was stood at a terminal in the far corner.

Phantom Woman was the first to speak. "We've been discussing this for a while and we've agreed that we need to talk."

Brainiac 5 turned from the console and looked at them expectantly.

"This is about Argo," Cosmos began.

"It's been a year," Quantum added.

"You've been vague on when it is she comes back," Timber Wolf said.

Brainiac 5 turned back to the console. "Most likely she doesn't."

"What does that mean?" Light Lass questioned. "Does she come back or not?"

"The history archives are available for your own viewing," Brainiac informed them. "There's nothing I can tell you that isn't there."

"We've looked."

"Then you know she is there for some time after she returned," Brainiac 5 said, looking back at the console. "Now, I'm busy."

"You can be busy later," Cosmos told him firmly. "We need answers."

He turned back around. "Argo was there till the mid 2030's," Brainiac told them. "Maybe longer. She was heavily involved in the action against the Gordanians, Citadel and Psions under General Hol."

"We know that, but what happens to her after that?" Phantom Woman demanded. "Does she vanish, because that could be when she returns to us?"

Before he could answer, the Legion's newest and most annoying member decided to appear. In a gust of wind, he was there, joining in with a conversation he knew nothing about.

"Whatcha talkin' about?" he asked them, where he stood next to Timber Wolf. In an instant, he was next to Phantom Woman. "Is it about me?"

"No," Phantom Woman said feeling pestered. "This has nothing to do with you, go away, Impulse."

He ran his hand through his auburn hair. "It was about me, wasn't it."

"No," Cosmos said. "We were talking about Argo."

"Oh, the hottie. Is she coming back? Tell me she's coming back."

They found themselves quickly getting annoyed with him. Phantom Woman poked a hard finger against his chest. "Why do you care, you've never even met her."

"Wow, no need to be like that," Impulse grumped, folding his arms.

"We're in the middle of something," Timber Wolf told him. "Can you bother us some other time?"

Impulse was next to him within a blink of an eye. "Why can't I bother you now?"

"Because this is serious," Light Lass said angrily. "We want to know if we'll ever see her again."

"We could always go back-in-time and see her," Impulse suggested.

"That could damage the timeline," Brainiac 5 said dismissively.

"All we want to know, is does she return?" Cosmos demanded.

Brainiac faced them again. "Records from that time have been lost or altered. From what I can gather the Argo name was used for at least twenty Earth years."

"So, she isn't coming back," Phantom Woman surmised.

"You don't know that," Cosmos said.

"Team members have left before," Light Lass said. "Perhaps she finds happiness there."

"But she said she was happier here," Cosmos said. "How can she suddenly like it better there?"

"Things change," Light Lass said as she walked off.

"So that's it then?" Timber Wolf said.

"The future is not set," Brainiac told them.

"No, but the past is," Phantom Woman said. "Time to move on." She turned and followed Light Lass out of the room.

The others soon left also, including Impulse. Brainiac 5 watched the Speedster in particular as he walked out. He knew something about his future, or rather his past, something the others, even Impulse himself didn't.

And as for Kara, he had a feeling that they hadn't seen the last of her, but he didn't want to get the other's hopes up. He didn't want to get his own hopes up. He regretted a lot of things. Ignoring her and the result of them growing distant from each other had been one of them.

In the end, only time would tell.

The future may not be set but in a lot of ways the past wasn't either.

A/N And that is it for this particular story. I know I left a lot of hanging threads, but I need to gather notes and see where I go from here, as most of this story was written off the top of my head with no real game plan. I think it might show as I threw a lot in here, especially the Raven thing (which will be resolved. Her story is more of a journey, which means it won't be resolved quickly, but will be an ongoing thing.)

I'm not fully happy with this final chapter as I wanted to have something with Kara so the final act of this chapter made more sense, but whatever I tried just destroyed the momentum of the chapter and felt too tangential. I didn't want to chop off the future bit, because not only does it bookended the story from the first chapter, but also does in some ways lead on to what comes next. I also didn't want to have to write tedious discussions with the UN and decided that it would be better off if the story finished where their future was still uncertain.

As to what comes next is probably a 6 or 7 chapter story where each chapter will be a one-shot introducing new characters (one of them completely new and not a DCU character).

Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed.