The Gobi Desert had been the final choice in which to build the Defense Shield Generator. Miles of sandy desert stretched out as far as the eye could see, which meant minimal disturbance in the lives of the locals, as few as there were.

A powerful wind struck the mountains and valleys created by the sand dunes. Clouds of sands were swept up into the air, causing a sandstorm.

A second wind coming from an entirely different direction slammed into the rising sand and the sand dune that fueled it collapsed into one of the valleys. This phenomenon was repeated over and over throughout the area, courtesy of the overhead Thanagarian ships.

Step one was flatting the area out. Packing the sand into a firmer foundation would come next, along with mixing solidifiers. For a building that was going to be massive, making certain the very ground it stood on needed to be secured.

Of course, this process had been going on for a couple days now. There was a sizeable area that had been flattened out to specifications and construction was beginning. It was much like an assembly line: one group terraformed the area, one group treated it to ensure the desired solidity, and the latest group was beginning the construction. There would be other groups that joined the fray, but they needed to wait until their turn was necessary.

As far as construction, sections were being placed, each one formed with what would be known as rebar. However, this rebar was less the long, thin metal rods Earthlings saw and instead were long, giant metal pillars, ones that were placed on their sides on the ground. Each Thanagarian ship involved was lowering each piece as carefully as they could lest they make a mistake. Looking at it, one could think this was a job for a very specific person.

Enter Superman.

With ease, he placed one of the pillars on the ground, eyeing it next to its neighbor to make certain they were in the correct place. The Thanagarians were quite insistent on the exact placement and there were currently a few such men—and surprisingly women—marking the intervals for the next piece. Their wings proudly declared who they were, though each had a helmet or helm covering their heads, giving them bird-like visages. It was very much like seeing an army of Hawkgirls.

Lifting off the ground, Superman headed for one of the larger ships hovering in midair. What was best described as a tractor beam glowed out from underneath the ship and within the light was another of the long metal pillars. Two Thanagarian ships were moving in to intercept it, looking to attach each ship to either end of the piece.

Superman interrupted this process as he went right for the pillar, grabbing onto it at its middle. He moved it out of the tractor beam and flew it over to one of the marked-off areas for the next foundational piece. Reaching it, he placed one end on the ground right where the markings were. He then lowered the other end, having to make subtle adjustments until he had it right where it needed to be. He then dropped it into place.

Though this was simple manual labor, Superman found himself sweating. He wasn't really exerting himself here, so he chalked it up to the desert heat for making him break a sweat. And it was hot. If one were to look out to the horizon, the rocky mountains off in the distance seemed to waiver and shimmer into nothingness. The Kryptonian knew those outcroppings were there since he had flown over them when scouting this area out with a Thanagarian architect.

There was a gust of wind and suddenly Flash was right next to the Man of Steel, holding out a water bottle. "Break time, Big Blue," the red-clad man declared. Superman took the water bottle and shot a stream right into his mouth. He even sprayed some over his head, which felt really good as the cool fluid washed through his hair and dripped down his skin.

"Hot day, isn't it?" the speedster remarked as he looked at their surroundings. Clearly he was just making conversation, but the Kryptonian found himself relieved by it. With the recent fracture within the League, that Flash hadn't altered his friendly disposition was comforting. It stood in stark contrast to Batman and his thoughts of dissolving the League.

Superman had to admit, that disturbed him. That a man known for fighting to his last breath was just willing to let the League fail was alarming. Maybe it shouldn't be that surprising considering everything he had lost, but it left a bitter taste in the dark-haired man's mouth. "If the League is that fragile, then perhaps it shouldn't exist." Just those words were terrible.

So seeing Flash business as usual was comforting. There was at least one person that was letting the League's rift affect him. "Even I'm sweating," Superman agreed with his friend. "How are the others handling it?"

"GL is a trooper like usual. He's coordinating the League with what the bird people want." Flash shrugged his shoulders. "Not that there are a lot of us out there. Captain Atom and Firestorm are the only other ones here. Apparently, Firestorm is a bit of an egghead. He's got a pretty good grasp of the tech here."

That caused the dark-haired man to raise an eyebrow. "How would he know about all of this technology?"

"Something about a professor in his head, or something. I think I'm a pretty smart guy, but the only person I think that would actually understand it all is J'onn, and he's not here right now. So if Firestorm says he understands, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt."

That seemed fair. Taking another drink, Superman then said, "I'm glad you're out here, Flash. It's good to see all the unpleasantness hasn't gotten to you."

"I wouldn't say that."

The Kryptonian glanced to the speedster. Already his gut was sinking from the implications. "How so?" he asked carefully.

"A lot of things happened that aren't easily forgotten. It's gonna take some time, Supes, before everyone is okay with one another. For some, it'll be a lot longer."

Or never, in at least one case. "How much time do you think?"

"However long it needs to be." Flash sighed. "I can only do what I can and I'm honestly trying not to hold it against you guys. Sometimes it's easier than others, but don't try to rush it because it's uncomfortable for you. For those of us not brainwashed, it was very real. Hell, this was Bats' second go-around with this and his first time wasn't all that great either. If he decided to leave again, I don't think I could find it in me to try and bring him back again."

That was really disappointing and it was becoming apparent that Superman was underestimating the effects the crisis had on everyone. It was just like Metropolis all over again—with him being the unwitting destroyer once more.

"What can I do to help?" he asked after a moment.

"You give everyone all the time they need. If someone wants to leave, let them, especially the new members. This whole thing has to be disillusioning to them, so if they want to go, they have the right to." Flash sighed again. "There's no easy way around this, Supe, so don't rush it. Otherwise, you're going to find yourself the only person in the League.

"I'll check on you later. Someone else must be dying of thirst out here, so let me go help them."

Flash was off, leaving Superman by himself. What had started out as a nice moment laid at his feet like so many other things. He hated it, but he could understand it. Perhaps Flash was right in that he needed to give people, the ones that needed it, some time. Either they stayed, or they left.

The only question was who would be left?

How long had it been since he had last told that lie? Tim remembered he had been on a "borrowed" yacht when he had established the cover story. Never did he believe that he would, in a sense, make it real.

After the shock, terror, and surprise had worn off, they had been recruited by Batman for a little mission of his. While Raven had to be briefed about it later, at the time no one had any objections because there was the feeling that saying no to Batman was not an option.

It was almost like that rooftop meeting all those years ago, again, but with a lot less hostility. Their mission was to infiltrate LexCorp headquarters in Metropolis and try to see what they could find out about the secret projects going on in there. More specifically, they needed to see about finding out about the android that had attacked them during their battle with the Tamaraneans.

Another killer robot from LexCorp, what were the odds? That Batman was interested was the big difference here.

That, and he had come to them.

So, how were they going to get in that building and dig up whatever dirt they could? Well, it came back to a lie, the same lie mentioned earlier. He had once told his parents that he had been on a trip to Metropolis and was going on a tour of LexCorp when really he had been on his way to an island in the Caribbean. Now, after all this time, he was about to make that lie a reality.

Now, not all of them were going in. There was no way. Someone like Cyborg really stuck out, so he was making camp elsewhere. His job was simple: he needed to create a hack into LexCorp servers and maintain that connection so that they could go through all the digital secrets the corporation kept. A program provided by Batman meant they would need to upload it into a LexCorp server.

When it came down to it, the plan was simple. Four of them would be part of the tour. Two would stay outside and monitor the skyscraper, whether the normal happenings of Metropolis forced a lockdown, they happened to mess up, or some random cosmic accident occurred, then they would have someone who could bust in. For those who went inside, they would be discretely planting surveillance equipment throughout the place. Now, if you did your math correctly, there were two who were unaccounted for.

Well, those two had special tasks of their own.

To get this all started, they went in through the front entrance like good tourists. Tim even held the door opened for several seconds in case someone else would enjoy the courtesy. From there, it was to the front desk to check in, and the wait. It was easy putting on an act for the receptionist. As soon as he was looking away from her, directed to some seats to wait for the tour, he could feel the tension in his body. He wondered if the others felt the same way.

This was different, completely different. This wasn't going against the crazies of Gotham or the out of this world threats in Jump. Here they were, the Teen Titans, being pitted up against one of the wealthiest men in the world, and one that tended to go head-to-head with Superman of all superheroes. This wasn't Black Mask, or Two-Face, or Bane. This was a man who already had power, knew how to use it, and wouldn't lose sleep if he caught them in the act.

Already, he was spotting the small black domes in the ceiling that were the security cameras. They were all spaced evenly and given different vantage points. And this was just the front lobby.

"Get a hold of yourself," Raven told him from his left. "I can sense your anxiety and its distracting."

"This isn't the stuff we normally do," Tim explained, keeping his voice soft while trying to stick the act of a wide-eyed tourist.

"I would have thought you'd have done something similar back in Gotham," the empath who was decked out more casually than she normally was quipped. Instead of her classic hood and cloak, she had a long, dark blue windbreaker instead, its hood resting against her upper back.

"The only thing that would've come close would have been breaking into Wayne Enterprises, which we didn't do. Never had the reason," was his response.

Raven gave a huff, which was really out of character for her. Then again, this was all part of the act. She had to be more emotive here, more like a sullen teenage girl who was in a place she did not want to be and less like a sullen teenage girl who preferred to lock herself in her room all the time.

What were the differences between those two again?

"If you let your anxiety go unchecked, you'll give something away, most likely us. Victor didn't work his magic to get us in here just so we can mess up now."

Tim glanced at his companion from the corner of his eye, raising an eyebrow as he did so. "You have noticed the security around here, right? There's way too many cameras in just this part of the building. Imagine what the rest is going to look like. We're going to need to be extra aware when we start the real objective here."

"Then use those observation skills to their fullest and don't think too hard. There's plenty of other people doing that now and I don't feel like having to filter through them all."

Looking away from Raven, all he said was, "One of these days, you're going to have to really explain how…you work." Getting a snort in return, Tim sought out and spotted the other tour members. Cassie and Terra were keeping to themselves, dressed up much like a pair of valley girls with too rich daddies. From what he had heard them talking about earlier, they were doing their best to mimic the way of valley girl talking as a way to mock it. They looked like they were having fun, trading barbs with one another, gesturing with their hands a lot.

And of course using those same gestures to toss out some of Batman's specially made surveillance cameras.

They were small, made to be that small so as not to be initially noticed by any observing eyes. All it took was a flick of the wrist, and you could throw one of these tiny babies as far away as one hundred feet. How Batman was able to figure and measure that out was probably best left to the imagination. Suffice to say, these were what he wanted planted throughout the skyscraper.

Visual and audio would be recording, so the more places they could place them, the better.

Glancing down, Tim peered at his wristwatch, marking the time. They still had a good ten minutes left, maybe less, until everything got started. Tours were scheduled here, remember? They weren't going to start early just because. It meant they were going to have to wait.

Waiting was one of the worst things you could do to a teen.

It was sweet how Red had kept the door open for him. It was part of the plan, after all, and Kid Flash felt giddy for it. He needed less than a second to run through without anyone seeing him, because he was that fast. And now it was time to show off why he was the fastest kid…no, that was a bit too childish there. Yet, he couldn't say he was the fastest man either, because that was Wally's gig, so what would that make him?

No, gotta keep on task. Which was going to be anything but boring.

Through the lobby he ran, already knowing what speed he needed to go so as not to be picked up by any of the cameras. That took a lot of trial and error, by the way, to do, and it was extra hard not to rustle anything while going that speed.

His first destination had already been decided and that was the basement. Batman had taken a long time searing a mental map into his brain, and while he had gained a new appreciation for why Cyborg and Beast Boy were so crazy about him, Flash was still number one and he needed to find a way to prove it and his mind was wandering again. Keep it together.

So, mental map, there was an elevator, just needed to find the right one, and that one over there seemed to match up with Batman's intel. Without slowing a second, he was already vibrating his body so that he could phase through the doors and into the shaft. Well, it didn't quite work out that way since the elevator itself was on that floor too, so he had to vibrate through that as well to get into the shaft.

Next, it was running down the walls to the right floor. Batman intel again had to be used, but he reached the right place. His body vibrated again, molecules sped up so that they could move through the atomic structure of the metal doors and there he was in another hallway with another set of doors. This was getting to be way too easy.

Now, there were security protocols here, and that had to be doing their best, but there hadn't been a system he hadn't found his way through because they were challenging enough to keep his attention long enough to figure out ways around them.

Too bad most of the solutions he came up with could be summed up as "go fast." But hey, if it worked, don't fix it, and so he was doing one more vibration through some of the thickest doors he had ever encountered and now he was in the super secret lab that Batman suspected that android from the beach was made.

Time for stealth mode and yes, he could totally do stealth.

He hid behind the first counter-slash-table-slash-workstation-slash-whatever word they used in this era, and that was when he finally came to a stop. If only he had a watch, he'd figure out how fast he had done this and then brag later—focus. Focus.

Peeking around his hiding spot, he searched for any signs of life in here, spotted a few more cameras and—damn, come on, in here too? Well, more of a challenge then. Too bad Cyborg wasn't hacked in yet. Then again, that wasn't part of the plan because apparently Luthor would be smart enough to realize someone put his security feeds on loop, or that was what Batman suspected, and so he wanted everything to be as genuine as possible.

Just another way to say, "I'm putting the difficulty level from normal to hard, deal with it." Such a pain sometimes, you know?

Anyway, there was a sign of life in here. Two, in fact. They were two men standing in front of what looked like a server, you know, a machine that stores all sorts of digital content and all? Yeah, they had those in the future too. Wonder what the storage capacity was? Anyway, these two guys were doing something over there, and after peering at the cameras again, getting another lay of the room, Kid Flash picked his next hiding spot and raced to it.

Now he was close enough to hear what they were saying better.

One of the men was obviously older and was wearing some kind old fashioned clothes—definitely going to look up what they were called later, and wait, was that a bowtie? Those things existed in this era still? Because they still existed in the future, unable to be extinct, it was crazy. So, older guy was busy ejecting a flash drive out of the server and handing it over to the other guy who was much younger. Like much, much younger. Like, Kid Flash wasn't sure if this young guy might be able to be a Teen Titan if he had any superpowers kind of young.

"This is the last one," older guy told younger guy, holding the flash drive out as if to draw all attention to it. "It has the prerequisite data, enhanced strength, enhanced durability to the point of invulnerability, flight, and metallurgical manipulation—" hey, he knew what that was! "—which one it belongs to is your discretion." Older guy then turned to an opened case and set the flash drive inside of it.

Ooh. Oh, that's what he meant by last one. That was the last flash drive out of a set! And they were all in that case. You know, he better check it, just to be sure. But first, he slipped out a flash drive of his own. Alright, three, two, one—

He raced out of his cover, was beside the two men in an instant. He plugged his flash drive in where the older man had removed that last flash drive, continued moving to a terminal close by where he had to make a few passes to input the proper command of download into new external harddrive, a.k.a. his flash drive, and had to make those passes because computers were still so slow in this time period and he didn't want to be seen by the cameras, but he got it started, and then for the last pass, got a look inside that case where yep, there were like six flash drives being held in it. Finally, he returned to his hiding spot, not the first one but the second one.

—done. Alright, time to play at being a good spy and see if he couldn't learn a little more.

"I think this is a bit much," younger guy was starting to say while older guy closed the case with the flash drives shut. "I did not intend for…superpowers. They're made of metal! Pretty much invulnerable themselves."

"Unfortunately, we live in a world where there are individuals who can test that durability and win over it," older guy said, locking the case. "If the Responsometers are able to download and utilize this data, this will be little more than an upgrade."

Young guy was rubbing the back of his neck now. "I don't get what Luthor wants with this upgrade." Score! Dirt! "They're for search and rescue."

"Will, from what you told me, they are not just to rescue, but to protect, are they not?" older guy responded. "Protecting the Earth is perhaps the greatest rescue mission they will ever have."

Will made some kind of face. Sure, Kid Flash didn't see it, but his voice gave it all away that he was making a face. "Well, when you put it like that… I just feel like this is asking too much, Professor."

Professor, Professor what? Why couldn't they be all convenience and use full names here? He hadn't spotted any name tags on Will or Professor so the speedster from the future was relying on some kind of expositional name drop.

"That's just the sad fact of robotics," Professor answered. "We ask so much from our brain children, sometimes it's more than what can be delivered. Yet, that is why we strive to perfect them, improve them, so that they can achieve the impossible whereas we cannot."

"Children…" Will murmured. "Now I feel like a parent and I'm not even married…but yeah, they are my…"

"That's how you know you live and breathe the field. We're attached to our creations, it's normal. In a way, this approach will be to ensure that your children will not be needlessly damaged or destroyed. They will be ensured to achieve their purpose, their destiny. Is that not what a parent strives for with their children?"

And it was getting all sappy about robots in here, ew. Let's do a real quick check.

And back, still downloading, and why was it taking so slow? Will and Professor were standing right there and could see the flash drive sticking out of the server if they just turned their heads to look! So nerve wracking, but not as frustrating as, you know, getting a full name, first, middle, and last.

Crazy how they were still using middle names…

"You better be getting back to your lab. Luthor waits for no man without a good reason." Huh? Oh, Professor was talking again. Say, he said Luthor's name, didn't he?

"Except for you," Will replied, handling the case now.

"There's always an exception to the rule, so strive to be that exception." Now that sounded like sage advice. Maybe even a family motto. Speaking of—

Another race, almost complete but not quite.

—and he was back, crouching again.

"Hopefully this doesn't blow up in my face," Will said as he began heading towards the lab's entrance. "Or the lab. Well, if it does, then it better take me with it."

"That's very pessimistic," Professor commented. "Life doesn't end just because there's an explosion."

"Unless Lex Luthor is involved."

Why were they so chatty now? Weren't they done here or—oh hey, isn't this one of mentor-mentee relationships? Really, who were these people because he had a good feeling Batman would want to know. Well, once he got out of here, he'd try to tail this guy and find out some name. At least he had a starting point with Will. And speaking of—

Out of cover again, checking the monitor, fully loaded, alright, eject and swipe, and bam, crash.

—he was back in his hiding spot and holding his prize. He had no idea what was on it, but maybe it would mean something to somebody. It probably meant something to Will and Professor, but he wasn't about to ask them about it, because for all he knew they were bad guys even though they were working for a bad guy and, you know what, Will was at the doors.

Alright, time to split.

"And up here, we have one of our centers for research and development! While I would love to take you all in, these areas are restricted mostly for your safety. Accidents happen everywhere and LexCorp is no exception! But don't be worried, because our C.E.O. makes sure anyone harmed in an accident is well taken care of, along with their families!"

Who would have thought a tour of LexCorp would be mind-numbingly dull? There were more restricted areas in this building than Wayne Enterprises, and he had been there on a school field trip once. Then again, Wayne Enterprises didn't keep anything capable of creating supervillains in the middle of downtown Gotham. No, that was one of the subsidiaries scattered throughout Gotham.

Still, they were taking pains to plant their cameras where they could, making sure to get some good spots. Keeping one facing these set of doors, transparent so you could see the large room on the other side filled with workstations and all sorts of folk in lab garb and hard at work doing science, felt like a good idea.

To Tim's amusement, Cassie and Terra were still maintaining their valley girl parodies, Cassie even going up to the transparent doors and knocking on them.

"Please don't knock on those. Our staff are hard at work making the world a better place and that could distract them," their tour guide admonished.

"But they, like, look so alone. I just want to give them, like, some eye candy. Make them want to make the world a better place, you know?" Cassie quipped back, and wow, she got that clueless look down so well.

Nice distraction and Tim was able to slip over to a trashcan, placing a camera between it and the wall and making sure it had a good view of the doors. He only had to take two steps away and he had made a show of throwing away some trash to sell it.

"I'm sure they appreciate your generosity, but now we should be moving on. Say, how about we head on over to where the real magic happens? The sales department! LexCorp sure would not be able to do all it can without the busybodies over there earning all that money! So follow me!" their guide gestures, the group of twenty something people, a mix of adults and children of various ages, all tourists.

They were moving again, and Tim glanced towards the R&D. It was hard to make out what they were doing in there, and maybe that was the point. If everyone looked busy, then no one would question if they were. Odds are this was all that Luthor wanted to show.

It made for a nice photo op, but it didn't quite inform you of anything.

Now at the back of the moving group, Tim, quickened his pace marginally to keep up. Yes, it was going to be so exciting to see the guys who earned Luthor his paycheck.

"Dude, when am I going to see some action? I'm sick and tired of staring at your phone."

It took effort not to grimace or make a shushing sound. He did bring a hand up to his jacket pocket and pressed on it from the outside. "I'll let you know," he muttered softly, "now keep quiet."

"This sucks."

Yeah, it did. It really did, but damn it, Beast Boy, learn some fucking patience already.

There was a sudden bit of commotion up ahead. The group coming to an abrupt stop. Not distracted, Tim was able to stop easily, though he craned his neck to a side to see what was going on.

"You lot are in for a treat!" their guide chirped. Now he was starting to understand why this lady was the tour guide, what with sounding perky and cheerful all the time. "What are the odds we get to see our amazing C.E.O. in person. Say hello to Mr. Luthor everybody!"

It was automatic, the group saying hello, even Tim found himself doing it. Then came the double take.

By some kind of cosmic…whatever, their paths had happened to cross with none other than Lex Luthor himself. The tycoon had turned a corner unexpectedly, heading in the direction that they themselves were leaving. Following him was a woman who had some bruising on the side of her face, but she looked strict. And what was up with the chauffeur outfit? Still, she radiated danger, so she must have been a bodyguard.

At hearing the tour guide, as well as the tour group's nearly monotone greeting, Luthor slowed his pace long enough to flash them a charming smile. "I hope you've all been enjoying yourselves. Take care not to go anywhere I wouldn't."

It was a casual greeting, one to greet and dismiss all in one go. Tim rustled his pocket, alerting the shapeshifter hiding within. "Big cheese," he hissed lowly. Taking a second to try and give some direction, "12:30."

"But isn't it, like, 11?"

Oh ha, ha, not the time, but any reprimand went silent. He barely caught a flash of green, but whatever animal Beast Boy had chosen, it was small enough to escape sight without concentration. He couldn't attempt to follow, because that could give him away.

It was just for an instant, but there was Luthor walking right past him. He was looking ahead, not even a glance thrown his way. Tim watched after him, like many of the other tourists, a few taking pictures. The disguised vigilante noted how Luthor took a right up ahead, right where that R&D area was.

Seemed like a good idea to put a camera there. If the big man himself was strolling around here, they could try and narrow down what might be in that section.

He had to detour since there was the tour group and all, but all that meant was that Kid Flash had to move on to his other goal. Thanks to that tour group, he lost sight of Will, but hey, maybe the others could shed some light on what all was on this floor.

In the meantime, he raced off to his second destination, and perhaps the least dangerous of them.

Security had its own little bunker, and having been drilled to go to one specific room on one specific floor, it was a piece of cake to use the stairs this time, though he nearly did run into someone, causing them to drop reams of paper. Feeling a little guilty, he doubled back and cleaned up the mess, leaving the LexCorp employee looking confused.

Alright, next stop, security. For real this time.

Once again, he vibrated through the door, but found at least five different guys in there, watching monitors, so he strategically went right back out. Okay, one too many people were in there and someone was definitely going to notice him. He was in skintight yellow and red, and that stood out, you know?

So he was going to need to empty that room out a bit, but how? Well, there was always the tried-and-true method of causing a commotion. But what kind of commotion? This place was huge with a lot of secret underground floors on it, and would that cause them to come running out if something bad happened down there?

That might get too much attention, like from Luthor of all people, and the one thing Batman wanted them to all understand was do not get Luthor's attention. At all. Especially you Kid Flash. Why he was singled out, no idea.

Hmm, aha! He had it! Why not cause a commotion on this floor? Close by too, so these guys in there would come out to handle it. Genius Bart, you truly were a genius.

It took some looking to figure what kind of commotion he needed to cause, but sure enough, he found something promising in a break room. Someone had brought donuts in here. There was still quite the batch too. Such a shame.

It took some creativity, but man, the following mess had to be considered a masterpiece. Really, it was. Brought a tear to the eye, and he would have wiped it away had it not been for the eyewear. Wiping his hands off, he returned to the big ol' security room where he cracked the door open, then gave quite the performance if he didn't say so himself.

"Help! Help! They're tearing apart the donuts, it's everywhere! I think he's sticking them down his pants!"

Hiding behind a potted plant now, and waiting and—

Four guys in security uniforms came running out. Nice to see some things didn't change no matter the era. However…that was four, and not five.

Oh, he knew just what to do here.

Out of cover, he ran right into the security room, finding one guy left who was searching through the monitors. Carefully closing the door behind himself, the speedster zipped on over behind the guy and with one hand clamped it down where the neck and shoulders met.

"What the—who—"

Oh, so that death pinch stuff didn't actually work. Backup plan time.

Before guard man here could say another word, Kid Flash had him in a sleeper hold, arm slipped around a thick neck, and pressure applied while the guy struggle against him. Shushing the nine-to-fiver, Kid Flash maintained pressure until guard man was out, and now…

Pulling out another flash drive, he went to the first outlet he could find and plugged it in. Unlike that first flash drive, which had been empty, this one had a program in it, and right now, he was uploading it right into the system. Cyborg claimed it would give him a direct connection into everything LexCorp, though when he tried to go into detail, Kid Flash had found himself zoning out.

Alright, uploading and uploading and uploading, he did remember that part. Okay, okay, why was this taking so long? You would think—oh hey, done already? Sweet. Now to eject and he should be done here.

Glancing at the unconscious security guard guy, Kid Flash grimaced to himself. Alright, so nothing for it. What to do, what to do, oh hey, how about this?

Getting to work at a monitor, he switched it away from one of the cameras and brought up a desktop screen. Going to the file explorer program, he sought out the history of uploads, found the particular one he was responsible for and deleted it. Then to the recycle program—why was that a thing?—to look up recently deleted files and there, delete the record of the deleted file and there we go, no record of an upload or deleting the record of the upload. So when guard guy there wakes up and tells everyone he had been strangled or whatever, they wouldn't find anything suspicious. Sometimes Bart, you could be a genius. Really, you were.

Returning the monitor image back to a security feed, he moved back to the door, cracked it open, waited to hear any footsteps, then slipped out. No one would see him because he was moving too fast for them to see, and that included the cameras because that was a good challenge right there.

So two for two. Time to, uh, what was a crash saying he could use right here? Make like a tree and get out of here? Nah, too dated. Well, he'd think of one later, he was going to get out of here and meet up with Cyborg and Starfire, then wait for the others to leave. If all went well, then that would show Batman, wouldn't it?

What could go wrong? They were the Teen Titans!

These Thanagarians knew how to get stuff done in a short amount of time. Already, they had cleared up a patch of the desert, and by cleared up, he meant leveled it to the point it was flat with no geological features to mess it up.

Already, they were getting ready to start building. There was a perimeter, a massive section of the leveled earth marked off, smaller spaceships landing nearby. They were different from the big ones, lacked a lot of visible weaponry.

Deadshot raised his head up, looking away from the sniper scope he was using. They were a far distance away, but even here he could see the alien ships hovered about, or they were making use of the terrain to park.

"Please tell me ya saw somethin'. I'm sweatin' mah balls out 'ere," Boomerang complained.

"It's a desert, get used to it," Major Force grunted, arms crossed as glaring at everything alien.

"Can it," the sniper ordered. "So far they look like they're just getting started. They got a piece of land ready; they're starting the transition from model to scale; they're going to be building soon."

"That's not something we can report back," Vertigo remarked, crouched beside the sniper. "Ve need more."

He was right. They were going to need to know what exactly these Thanagarians were building and if it was any kind of threat. That meant getting closer.

"Boomerang, Vertigo, you're with me. Force, hang back and if we need a quick getaway, you'll know. Frost, stay with him" Slinging the rifle back while slipping the strap over his head, Deadshot took the lead as he began the trek over to where all the action was happening. He ignored any response Major Force or Killer Frost might have given.

Really, that man was not suited to an infiltration and reconnaissance gig. No patience and too much power combined with a black and white morality, no gray area, and smash first, ask questions never mentality. Everything that stood against him was the energy and so was going to die for that alone. How Waller managed to leash him was anyone's guess. Frost, to her credit, would at least listen considering she was newly recruited.

The little stroll through the desert took the better part of an hour before they could get a real good look at everything happening. At this point, they all split up, agreeing to rendezvous in an hour. Deadshot himself steered around the edge of this setup, taking care to keep hidden. A single glance up told him that these Thanagarians were flying around, not just with their ships. Should have guessed from the wings. But wait, what was that?

You'd have to be blind not to pick up that shade of blue. Also red. Superman was here. Weird. What was he doing here? He had heard about the pledge of support; was the League keen on going through with it?

Well, that was what they were there to do. So after making sure he had proper cover, the sniper took to playing a little game of Where's Waldo, with members of the Justice League instead of a twerp in red and white. Superman was clearly here. It took some effort, but he was able to spy out the Flash, and that took waiting for someone in red to pop up out of nowhere.

Really, you had to look for people without wings. Eventually he caught sight of a man who looked silver in color—and who the hell was he? The other was a guy whose head was on fire. Yeah, not going to touch that one. Where did they dig up these people?

And of course, there were all these winged people, the Thanagarians themselves. He had had an idea about that, all based from the intel given to him, and he had been expecting a lot of people who looked like Hawkgirl. Not disappointed, and it seemed like the outfit she tended to wear held more significant. It was like a military uniform and seeing how many of the women Thanagarians wore similar outfits led credence to that.

So, down to business, what were they building? It was going to be big, but other than that, he couldn't tell. Winged aliens were flying all over the place, unloading building materials, getting Superman to do manual labor, and they were making progress.

Waller distrusted everyone, and until he could find a reason to trust them, he would have to go the way of distrust. So, where could he go to find anything that would make Waller happy?

Deadshot ducked further down as two Thanagarians passed by. He could hear them talking, and he nearly rolled his eyes at the language they were speaking that was obviously not English. Hell, he doubted it was any language on Earth. The assassin knew quite a few himself; some languages tended to blend with others, having similarities with the sole exception of Korean that just spontaneously popped up out of nowhere. He wasn't recognizing any typical syllables or a linguistic pattern.

Great, there was a big old wrench to worry about. Even if they found something, something that was on a computer and could be downloaded, or written down even, there was no guarantee they'd understand it. It could be in the written form of the native Thanagarian language, and tough luck finding anyone on the planet who understood that or could figure it out.

Hopefully Vertigo and Boomerang would have better luck. In the meantime, he could go scope something else out. Perhaps the wiring and all that stuff, because this place was destined to be part of some kind of planetary defense system. It would need some wiring.

Making sure the coast was clear from both the Thanagarians and the Justice League, the deadliest sniper in the world darted to his next cover and further into the construction zone.

Normally it was busy within A.R.G.U.S. HQ, but never before had it been this busy. Steve had been doing a lot of phone calls, talking with a lot of people, coordinating efforts, and all sorts of bureaucratic crap that he had never intentionally signed on for, but hey, here he was doing it.

Paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork. Right now, a hydra was so much more appealing; in fact, its terrible breath was starting to look very appealing. Thanks to all that business that happened before things went to hell thanks to the Thanagarians, he was not in good standing. Unable to find Diana, unable to really help, a bit player who wasn't even a bit player and sidelined by bigger players, and that could only make a guy feel a little shitty.

Now, though, there was emergency meeting after emergency meeting to attend on top of all the bureaucracy, coordination, and paperwork. Developments were coming in that quickly. Speaking of, there was another one, and this one was entirely expected.

Away from the confines of his personal office, Steve was back in a conference room, which was not as full as before, agents and other officials off doing what they needed to do and unavailable. This was whoever Bordeaux could pull aside to attend.

It wasn't going to be a small thing either. The Green Lanterns who stood there in the conference room gave away how big the issue was and how predictable it was going to be.

"Lady, you have no idea what that thing is fully capable of. You are not in any position to hold on to it," a Green Lantern who looked human, if you could overlook the solid green eyes and elongated ears. Dalor was his name, or that was what he introduced himself as. "It would be irresponsible to leave it in your hands."

"Has it not occurred to you that maybe leaving it with people who have no idea how to use it would be better? Do you know how to use it?" Bordeaux countered. Someone had been getting some tips from Waller, but Steve kept himself silent.

"We would never use it. You, on the other hand, would try to figure out if you can," Dalor rebuffed. "There is no doubt in my mind that you have your people already trying to do so. In the process, you could cause a disaster that this planet is not ready for, that any planet wouldn't be ready for."

"Much like the situation with Despero? How has the Corps dealt with that matter?" A sharp-tongued barb. Past transgressions had not been forgotten. Steve would have thought that Bordeaux would have been above that; however, this could be less retribution and more diversion. A.R.G.U.S. really wanted to hold onto the World Engine, and there were many, many, many other agencies also trying to get their hands on it, not to mention other governments too.

"It's being dealt with, but that does not concern me right now. With the authority of the Green Lantern Corps, I request you turn over the World Engine effective immediately. It's too dangerous to leave here, or anywhere," Dalor stated. "Your belligerence will be reported to the Guardians and know that it is in everyone's best interests if you comply. Can you really say that Earth is a safe place for this machine? That there won't be unscrupulous individuals who try to use it for their own ends? This is a dangerous situation, one that started with your whole race almost being wiped out. Let's not play games and come to a resolution."

"I hear you," Bordeaux said. "I will need to confer with my superiors as well. Do go back to your superior and do as you need to do. We will be doing the same."

You could see it in Dalor's face. As humanoid as he was, even with his eyes completely green, no iris or anything that could be seen, he was wanting to jump into action and take the World Engine. But this wasn't a cut and finished situation anymore. Politics and bureaucracy had entered, so this was not going to be a fast process.

Especially if A.R.G.U.S. had it its way.

In time, the Green Lanterns left, and now the real purpose for this emergency meeting began.

"How secure is the World Engine? Do we need to move?" the Director asked.

"How secure is anything when aliens and Green Lanterns are involved?" someone asked.

That was an answer in and of itself.

"Then we need to delay," Bordeaux said. "Buy time. Buy as much of it as we can. Give the runaround while looking like we're helping. We're the ones who have taken custody of this terraformer; finding out everything about it is in our jurisdiction. If it wasn't so big, I would have had it shipped to the Red Room. We're going to need to find more permanent accommodations for it in the future, but for the time being, we need to keep it where it is currently."

"So we treat them like we do the C.I.A., F.B.I. and all the rest," Steve summed up.

Bordeaux gave a nod. "Don't forget Homeland Security. Speaking of which, I had to delay that meeting for the Green Lanterns. The Secretary is not happy about that."

And when was a politician ever happy when told to wait? Especially with the implication that there were people who dared to be more important than you.

"I'm also happy you reminded me. You know what to do with our Earth-based colleagues: put them through the bureaucratic ringer. I'll try to see about getting our best minds to work on the Green Lanterns and intergalactic laws that we don't know anything about."

No lawyer in the country would take a case like that. At the very least, they wouldn't have to depend on that kind of folk which was a silver lining. Now, dealing with them…

The dismissal came soon after, and Steve was more than happy to leave. So this was what he was doing, playing the games that came with government agencies, something he had little interest in. This wasn't what he had signed up for.

Now he was beginning to wonder if he even had a place here. The direction A.R.G.U.S. was heading was not one he liked. Bordeaux was starting to lean towards the Waller way of doing things instead of remaining middle of the road. Yeah, sure, he was an idealistic, liked to see things as black and white. though he absolutely knew there was more gray than either of the two. Nothing was ever one thing or the other. That was a lesson he had had to teach to Diana when she had finally left the island.

Why was he feeling like he was the one on the island now? Trapped and isolated, forced to act in ways he never thought he would have to.

Really, all and all, this sucked.