Batman glided towards the GCPD building, the infamous bat signal shining brightly in the night sky. However, the man standing beside the signal was not Commissioner Gordon, instead Superman waited for the Bats arrival.
"Didn't know how else to call you," Superman explained, turning off the signal as Batman landed in front of him.
"What is it?" Batman asked getting straight to the point.
"Ivy's being transferred tomorrow, I've got a bad feeling something's going to happen."
"Most likely."
"So you'll be watching over her transfer?"
"No," he replied much to Clark's surprise. "I've got more important things to take care of. I do have someone watching over it though," he revealed.
"Who?" Clark asked. Suddenly a black figure landed in a crouch position beside Batman.
"What an entrance," the new person whispered, with only Clark hearing. They stood up to reveal a women dressed in similar costume to Batman's. It was black, with yellow gloves, belts and boots. The bat symbol across her chest was the same yellow. Her green eyes where visible through the black mask she wore and her shoulder length, red hair fell out the back of it.
"Superman, this is Batgirl," Batman introduced.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," he greeted her.
"Likewise," she replied, with excitement.
"Batgirl will be overseeing Ivy's transfer tomorrow." Clark couldn't help but notice the roll of Batgirl's eyes.
"Well, I look forward to seeing you there."
"You sure I'm needed if you're going to be there?" Batgirl wandered.
"I enjoy the company," he replied with a smile.
The door to roof slammed open and Natasha Romanov walked out.
"Is it just me or is this rooftop starting to get crowded?" Batgirl asked causing Clark to lightly chuckle.
"Batman," Widow called out, "And Bat…girl," she wandered.
"That'd be me."
"I'm just here to talk." As a sign of good faith she raised her hands in front of her.
"Director Fury of SHIELD has requested a meeting with you. Nothing more than that. As soon as the meetings over you're free to go," she explained.
"Tell Fury I've had enough of his games. The only reason he wants to meet is because he doesn't know anything about me and he can't stand it." After saying what he needed to Batman took his leave followed by Batgirl.
Clark and Natasha watched as the duo disappeared into the night.
"How you been?" she asked, walking up to him.
"Busy. Between stopping alien invasions, tracking down alien weaponry, fighting giant plant monsters and helping rebuild Manhattan I feel like I never get time out of this suit."
"At least you're doing something productive. Fury's had me on this freaking bat case for weeks now. You know how far I've come in that time?" Clark shook his head. "You just saw it. I've had multiple teams try to take him out but he's too good. Luckily, tonight's meeting was Fury's last ditch efforts. We've tried force, we've tried talking, there's not much more we can do. Especially when he keeps hospitalising our men."
"Why does Fury want to speak to him so badly?"
"The exact reason Batman said. Honestly we know nothing about him and Fury can't stand it." Clark let out a small laugh. "What?"
"You almost sound like you admire him."
"Whoever he is, he's impressive. He can fight better than anyone I've ever met before." Clark watched her curiously, much to Natasha's annoyance.
"What?" she demanded.
"Nothing," Clark replied with a smile. "You hear about that Air Force test pilot who crashed in the desert?"
"Yeah, tragic," she responded. "Seriously Clark, you should take some time off," she suggested. "You've haven't stopped working since the whole mess with Loki began."
"I don't need to rest, I'm powered by the sun."
"That's not what I mean."
Clark starred across the city, thinking over her words.
BATCAVE
"But I can help," Batgirl argued.
"The answer is still no," Batman replied firmly.
"But if Superman's going to be there what's the point of me being there? I can help you instead!" she argued.
"Barbara." Batgirl was surprised by how soft his voice suddenly became. "Please, stay out of this case," he begged.
"Okay," she reluctantly conceded. "I'll stay out of it but I'm here for you. We all are." Barbara reminded him before heading towards the exit.
Once alone in the cave Bruce walked over to a glass case displaying an old Robin suit. A pained expression came over his face as the memories flooded into his mind.
KENT FARM SMALLVILLE
Clark pourd Shelby's food into a bowl. He wasn't staying for long, as soon as Shelby had eaten he was flying back to Manhattan and helping to rebuild the city. A car door closing shut caught his attention. Who was visiting at this time of night? Could be SHIELD with a mission for him, or it could be Cap, who'd been considering spending more time at the farm. Clark's hopes were shattered when he activated his x-ray vision. Racing upstairs he changed out of his costume and into his regular clothes. Putting on his glasses and making the final changes to his hair style Clark exited the house.
"What are you doing here, Lex?" Clark demanded.
"No hello, how are you?" Lex asked sarcastically. Clark crossed his arms in annoyance.
"Don't worry, I don't expect much of you anymore," he practically spat. A smug smile spread across Lex's face. "Ahh, the Kent farm. I have so many fond memories of this place…"
"Why are you here?" Clark asked again. Much to Clark's surprise Lex handed him an envelope. Clark ripped the envelope open and began to read the letter inside. His eyes widened in shock, it was an invitation to Lex and Lana's wedding.
"Don't look so surprised Clark, Lana still cares about you, I know that. And I know what it would mean to her having you there."
"Is that really what you want, Lex?" Clark questioned.
"What I want? What I want is to make Lana happy for the rest of her life," he replied, sounding surprising genuine. "And I want you to be there on our wedding day to see what you lost."
"Is that what Lana is to you Lex? A game?!"
"I love Lana and I'll do anything for her. It's just added bonus that I'll have the women you've always dreamed of." With that said Lex began to walk back to his car.
"Oh and make sure you RSVP. We need a head count for the reception!" he called over his shoulder.
As soon as Lex left Clark ran into the barn and smashed his fist through a wooden beam. Lex was a monster and Lana deserved better. Hopefully Lex would be exposed for 33.1, his experimentations on the meteor infected. Unfortunately, Oliver hadn't been able to get much information on it lately, Lex was being extra careful.
His night having being ruined, Clark grabbed his suit and took off into the sky. In an instant he'd broken the sound barrier and was pushing himself even faster. As helpful as his powers were, at times they were also a curse. For example, right now all he wanted to do was blow off some steam, he wanted to punch something as hard as he could, let his anger and frustration out. But he couldn't, he was forced to hold back his true strength in every situation.
Poison Ivy, locked in a specially designed containment cell was loaded on to the prison truck that would transport her from Arkham Asylum to Belle Reve. As it drove two military trucks lead the way. Behind the transport truck were another two military trucks. Finally, behind them all was Batgirl, riding a black and gold motor bike, designed by Batman himself.
"Let me get this straight. We're transferring one of the craziest super villains around and we don't even get the bat, we get his sidekick," the driver complained.
"I don't think you'll have to worry much longer," the passenger replied starring into the side mirror. The driver looked out the mirror and couldn't believe his eyes. Flying down from the sky was Superman.
"Morning," Clark greeted the heroine as he landed and began to run alongside her.
"Hey Supes," she replied. They travelled in silence for almost half as hour and Barabra noticed the sad looks Superman had on his face.
"You seem upset," Barbara noticed. Clark looked surprised at himself.
"I'm fine."
"You wanna talk about it?" she offered. In response Superman sped up leaving Batgirl behind him.
"See ya Batm oh I mean Superman."
A few hours passed and the transfer was going smoothly. Superman and Batgirl had travelled in silence the whole ride, following closely behind the transport truck. Suddenly the trucks at the front began to swerve uncontrollably. Clark rocketed ahead and caught the cars just before they crashed. The transport truck screeched to a halt as Superman made sure the drivers were safe.
"Keep moving!" Clark shouted. Just as he got the words out a sudden, tremendous force smashed into him. Superman was sent skidding across the ground leaving a large trench in the road. He looked up to find a man with short, brown hair, green eyes, and a scar on his right eyebrow. He was dressed in a fully body, dark leather suit, a black belt, and combat boots. The attacker took a step towards the transport truck when a set of bolas wrapped around him.
"Sorry buddy can't let you take that truck!" Batgirl called out from her bike. In a blur, a second figure appeared beside the man. The new person was female with long blonde hair and brown eyes. She wore the same type of outfit as the man.
Effortlessly the soldier snapped out of the bolas and the two soldiers proceeded towards the transport truck. Clark rocketed towards the attackers and tackled into the man. The two went flying through the sky, beating on each other as they flew. Batgirl tossed several batarangs straight at the female attacker. The attacker effortlessly raised her arm and the batarangs stopped midair. With a slight flick of the wrist she sent the batarangs racing back towards Batgirl. Batgirl ducked out of the way, with only one batarang grazing her left arm. Batgirl raced down the road on her bike, the attacker running after her. She looked behind her to discover the women wasn't anywhere to be seen. She screeched to a halt wandering where the women could've gone. An invisible hand suddenly punched Batgirl off the bike and sent her crashing into the ground. The woman became visible again, standing beside the crashed Bat Bike. Quickly typing a command from a device in her belt Batgirl took cover behind one of the military trucks. Her bike blew up, in a massive ball of fire. Batgirl smiled triumphantly as the women went flying through the air. The women slowly stood up, the explosion seemingly wounded her. Batgirl approached her in a fighting stance.
"Stand down!" Batgirl ordered. In response the women turned invisible again. Batgirl looked around trying to cover every angle. An invisible hand wrapped itself around her throat and before Batgirl could react she was thrown into the side of the transport truck, creating a large dent in the side. As she fell to the ground the now visible attacker picked her up, again by the throat and slammed her against the transport truck, creating an even bigger dent in its side. Batgirl's vision began to fade as she struggled for breath, unable to break out of the woman's iron grip.
A loud bang filled the air.
"Let go of her!" A soldier ordered re-cocking his shotgun. The women turned her head to find eighteen soldiers aiming their guns at her. She tossed Batgirl aside and fearlessly approached them. They opened fire but it had no effect on the super soldier before them. Batgirl looked up, clutching her side in pain, her vision still blurry, just in time to see fire shoot out of the woman's hands and engulf the soldiers.
"No!" she cried, too weak to do anything.
Superman took a punch to the stomach followed immediately by a punch to the face. The soldier went to punch him again, but this time Clark leaned back. Just as the attacker's arm became fully extended he grabbed it and took off, flying backwards he flipped over and began smashing the soldier into the ground. Taking off into the sky Clark rocketed upwrads before slamming the soldier into the ground. An explosion echoed in the distance. Clark looked back to transport to find the female soldier shooting fire at the soldiers.
In an instant he was by their side using his super breath to extinguish the fire. Clark shoulder charged the women and began to fight her. They ended up one the ground with Clark pinning her arms above her head. The women put her knees to her chest and kicked Clark off of her. Superman smashed into the transport truck flying right into Poison Ivy's cell. In an instant he shot out and continued to fight, unaware that he'd just broken Ivy's cell. Poison Ivy smiled to herself as she broke free from her remaining constraints. Amidst all the commotion she climbed out of the back of the truck and an into the surrounding forest.
The women held Superman to the ground and beat him down. However, every time she punched she was becoming noticeably weaker. Clark realising this, blasted her off of him with his heat vision. As she picked her herself up he gave her a super strong punch to the side of the head, sending her crashing into a nearby truck. The women stood up for a few seconds before falling to the ground unconscious and defeated. Superman clutched his side as he began to heal from his severe beating. Just when he thought it was over the male soldier raced behind him and began to attack. As they fought Clark discovered, like the female, the male attacker was becoming weaker. However, he was still strong enough to pose a serious threat.
"Hey asshole!" Batgirl shouted, leaning against the transport truck for support. As he looked up to face her she threw several batarangs at him. Just as the women did earlier the man raised his hand and stopped the batarangs just before they hit him. The batarangs began flashing red for a second before exploding right in his face. He was sent him flying off of Superman and crashed into the ground, unconscious. Clark stood and approached the transport truck. "Is it over? Please tell me it's over," Batgirl begged, her whole body feeling new levels of pain. "What is it?" she asked noticing Clark starring at the truck.
"Ivy's gone," he revealed. Clark scanned the area, unable to find any trace of her.
"So we went through all that for nothing?!" she cried.
In a secret facility a male soldier dressed in the same black leather suit carried and unconscious Poison Ivy over his shoulder. He marched with purpose down the halls until he came across a specific lab. He placed her body on a lab table and strapped her in.
"Mission accomplished. Standing by for further instructions," her announced snapping to attention.
"What went wrong with the others?" Lex Luthor demanded a scientist, watching from behind a pane of glass. A short man with balding, grey hair scanned through files on his computer.
"Their bodies weren't able to maintain the constant stress of using their powers so frequently and began to weaken as their bodies deteriorated from exhaustion," he explained. "What should we do about them?"
"You've gathered all the information needed from them?" Lex queried.
"Yes," the scientist replied.
"Then leave no trace." The scientist immediately began typing a command into the computer.
Back at the transport, Clark's hearing picked up on a faint beeping.
"Get away from them!" he cried realizing it was coming from the attackers. Moving as fast as he could he grabbed the two soldiers and chucked them high into the air. Just as they broke through the tree line they erupted into a massive explosion, destroying any evidence they could've gotten from the bodies. The day having been a total loss, Superman farwelled the guards, grateful none had been to seriously injured in the attack, picked Batgirl up in his arms and began flying her back to Gotham City.
They flew in silence for most the journey, it wasn't until Gotham appeared over the horizon that they first spoke.
"I'm sorry," Clark apologized. "For being so rude earlier. I had a really rough night," he explained.
"It okay," Batgirl forgave him. They flew in silence for a few minutes. "What happened?" she wandered. Clark paused, not sure whether to tell her or not. He figured he might as well, she did save him today.
"There's this guy I know, we used to be friends, a long time ago," he stressed. He came by last night and invited me to his wedding."
"Okay?"
"The problem is, he's marrying the women I've loved since I was a kid. He knows how I feel about her and came by last night to rub it in my face. His exact words were, I want you to be there on our wedding day to see what you lost."
"What an asshole." Once again they flew in silence. "Are you going to go?" she eventually asked him. Clark seemed to think this over for a while.
"No, I won't give him the satisfaction."
"What if I came with you?" she suggested. Clark looked at her in confusion. "I mean he wants to rub it in your face that he's marrying the women you've always wanted right? So, what better way to get back at him then by showing him you've moved on," she explained, causing Clark to look extremely nervous. "It's not like we'll be going on an actual date. It'll just be a way to get back at this guy."
"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'm going to have to pass. Now, where can I drop you off?" he asked as they reached Gotham.
"There's fine," she decided pointing at a nearby building. Superman lowered her down and said goodbye. "Well, see ya around Supes," she Farewelled.
"Clark, my names Clark," he revealed with a smile.
"Barbara," she replied. With that Superman took off into the sky.
STARK TOWER
Later that day Superman flew into Stark tower where Bart and Victor were.
"Clark, we saw what happened on the news!" Bart exclaimed, being the first to realise Clark had arrived.
"What were they?" Vic asked.
"Not sure," Clark replied. "Some kind of super soldier and not the Captain America kind."
"Any clue who was behind the attack?"
"I haven't got any proof but I can take a pretty good guess. All the powers the soldiers had, I've seen before. They all belonged to people infected my Kryptonite."
"Lex," Vic and Bart said in union.
BATCAVE
Barbara sat on a bench as Alfred Pennyworth, the trusted butler to the Wayne family, patched up her wounds.
"These injuries are beyond what I can do here. I'm afraid we're going to have to emit you into a hospital."
"No, I'm fine," Barbara argued.
"And how would Barbara Gordon explain how her injuries were treated without going to a hospital?"
"Fine," she conceded.
"Guess the mission was more dangerous then you thought," Barbara teased as Bruce starred at the computer in silence. "At least Superman was fun to talk to," she mumbled.
"Any leads on the Joker?" she asked.
"None," he replied. "He keeps showing signs he's around but there isn't any connection between them." Images of possible Joker sightings appeared on the computer.
"You'll catch him. You always do. You are Batman after all," she encouraged him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to the hospital apparently." With that she left, leaving Bruce starring at the computer.
HELICARRIER
Clark stood amongst Nick Fury, Agent Hill and the rest of the Avengers in the Helicarrier.
"…that's when I heard a faint beeping. So I chucked them in the air and they exploded." Clark finished the story of what happened that day.
"And you believe Lex Luthor's behind the attack?" Steve asked.
"Yes. We know he's experimenting with the meteor infected and the soldiers that attacked both had powers I've seen from meteor infected I've stopped in the past. You have to arrest him," Clark urged Fury.
"I would, except Luthor has deep connections with the U.S. government. If I get anywhere near Luthor he could easily avoid jail. Our best bet is keep a close eye on him and wait," Fury decided.
"For how long?" Oliver demanded. "We're just going to sit around here while he's out there experimenting on people?"
"Until the appropriate time there's nothing we can do. Meeting adjourned."
"Well this blows," Bart complained as they walked to a jet that would take them home.
"Tell me about it," Victor added.
"How have you been feeling Bart?" Clark wandered. "Any more speed problems?"
"Nope," Bart smiled as he began running circles around them.
"Good as new. What about you?"
"What about me?" Clark wandered.
"Clark when was the last time you took some time off?"
"Why does everyone keep asking me that?"
"He's got a point Boy Scout," Arthur added. "You've been doing more work than all of us put together."
"Guys I'm fine," Clark insisted.
"What you need is a holiday," Tony suggested, walking up to the group. "No one's going to fault you for not being around every second of every day."
"Thanks for the concern guys but really I'm fine," Clark insisted.
MANHATTAN
Later in the day, as Superman rebuilt the city, he noticed people looking at him in distrust. He'd slowly gotten used to it. People were afraid of him, of what he could do. That's why he was doing so much, he wanted to show people they didn't need to be afraid of him or any of the other Avengers. They were here to help. He noticed a rally holding signs, angrily chanting about disassembling he Avengers. Clark flew down to them, startling the crowd.
"The Avengers are here to help you all. We're not you enemy," he explained. The crowd starred at him, suddenly terrified that a super was in front of them.
"Your dangerous," One man spoke up. The others began mumbling their agreements.
"Your just as bad as those things that attacked the city!" Another cried. Clark couldn't help but feeling annoyed at their claims.
"I bet those super soldiers were your friends!"
"Yeah!" the group shouted. Clark, sick of all their crap took into the sky. Clark rocketed through the air. After everything he'd done, after everything the Avengers did, this was how they were repaid. Clark clenched his fists in anger. Did these people even understand what would happen if they weren't around. What would happen if Clark was like Lex or Loki. He came to a sudden halt. What was he thinking? These people had every right to be afraid. After seeing what they did it was more than understandable. Clark let out a long sigh. His friends were right, he'd been working to hard, he needed to take time off. He began to fly home thinking over what to do.
Clark typed away at his computer back in his room, Lex's wedding invitation beside him. Lana was getting married and he couldn't change that. He needed to move on and taking a break would help him get over her. He smiled as he finished typing his RSVP when an idea popped into his head.
I will be bringing a plus one. He added at the end of the email before sending it. Clark looked over to where his Superman suit laid on his bed. He knew he said he'd take time off but there was one thing left he had to do.
Barbara laid on her hospital bed flicking through the channels on T.V. Finding nothing to watch she switched it off and chucked the remote aside. She looked around, incredibly bored at being forced to stay at the hospital all night. A knock on her door peaked her interest. She was surprised when a man she didn't recognize walked in. He wore a blue buttoned up shirt, long black pants and wide brimmed glasses.
"How you feeling?" he asked.
"Fine, bored mostly," she replied. "Sorry, do I know you?" He smiled back at her. Pulling his glasses off he revealed his face. She couldn't believe it.
"Superman?" she whispered as Clark took a seat beside her. "How'd you find me?"
"Your one of three Barbara's that've have been admitted since we came back and considering one of them is seventy-six and the other is ten it was a pretty safe bet which one you were."
"Nice detective work Scooby. So, what brings you here?"
"You remember your offer?" She nodded in response. "I'm here to take you up on it."
Author's Note:
And that's chapter 13. A lot went down and I've set a lot up for future chapters. Hope you all had fun and next chapter will be about Lex and Lana's wedding.