Star City was no Gotham, but right now that felt like a plus. It didn't hurt that she had good company with her.

Yes, there was still civilian life back east, the flower shop couldn't stay closed forever, and there were the Birds who were keeping the good fight going, but after all the recent events and revelations, Black Canary needed a temporary change of scenery. Who better to do that with than the man who had been by her side during the whole ordeal?

However, no matter where you go, the news was always about the latest alien arrivals. All of the talk was about the Thanagarians, and everyone had an opinion. Right now, she didn't really care about any of that.

There was something about breaking up would-be muggings and assaults that put things into perspective. Follow that up with some attempted robberies and Black Canary was finding her groove again. Green Arrow was like a machine at her side, easily falling back into the old practiced movements that came with tackling much smaller scale crimes.

These weren't big time heists, or the opening gambits for some big plan that would plunge the city into chaos. It was your typical, standard criminal activity, the kind that did not die down just because something big went down.

In fact, they had just put a stop to a convenience store robbery not two minutes ago. It had been three armed men wearing ski masks who had barged in, but they hadn't been subtle, what with racing into the parking lot and tires squealing to a stop. The second they had opened the doors, the two vigilantes knew what was going down.

So after that bit of excitement, they were now cooling off in an alley. A rooftop felt like too much work getting up to this time, and also there weren't any decent ones nearby. It was finally, at this time, that Green Arrow thought it was the opportunity to break down the proverbial damn both of them had been ignoring.

"So, the League: staying or leaving? Doesn't matter to me which one we choose."

This is what it had all been leading up to. Black Canary gave a sigh, staring straight ahead, though not really seeing anything. Arrow would make sure she wasn't ambushed, as unlikely as that was.

After everything, joining and slowly becoming disillusioned, then the revelations of a trip to the future, dystopian governments and an evil League, erosion of trust, and then having to put everything aside for right now to stop the end of the world, that one question remained unanswered.

Oh, she had been honored, both by Batman…recommending she try out, being accepted, going out on actual missions…it had all been unreal. But it wore off, and there was so much she found wanting. Now the question had been asked and needed to be answered.

"I've never quit anything in my life, even if it went to shit, and it has, many times," the Gotham-based vigilante began. "I don't like it; I don't like turning my back on anything. We both know how much trouble saving Gotham is. Star City has its problems too, but I don't feel the same about the Justice League. I don't know why."

"I think they've won so many times that's it's easy to overlook a loss here and there," Arrow admitted, glancing towards the alley's exit. "You don't really see how many times they lose, and the reason we think they win all the time is because they win when it counts. You know, losing the battle, but winning the war. Then there's the superpowers and that's a completely different ball game."

"Oh? I've never heard you complain before," Canary glanced up teasingly at the Emerald Archer.

He answered her with a smirk. "You don't rely on yours. It's usually a last resort." The smirk faded and became a grim line. "But not with them. For them, their powers are the first choice and usually the only one. Their tactics are basic, and they don't do well with contingencies until after the fact." Arrow paused, and Black Canary tensed. Then, the bearded vigilante looked up and said, "No offense."

"None taken."

That hadn't come from her. In fact, that voice came from...above. Tilting her head up, she saw Superman descending from on high, and there was a second when Canary wondered if this was how the people he protected saw him. Like a guardian angel coming down to save the day and make everything better, the face of the League itself touched down on the grimy ground of the alley, standing before the two vigilantes.

"What brings you here this time of night? I thought you'd be dead asleep," Arrow remarked.

"Saving the day doesn't keep regular hours," Superman replied. "I've been checking in with all the members of the League, those who haven't left Earth at least. I've been getting feedback—"

"And it's our turn now?" Canary cut in, keeping her arms at her side by force of will. She didn't want to cross them, somehow feeling it was unprofessional.

"Everyone has an opinion, views, and I want to know them all," the Man of Steel confirmed. "I overheard the last bits, and I want to tell you that I understand fully. Know that you aren't required to stay with the League at any time. You can leave. However, I would appreciate it if you stayed."

"You do know this isn't some social club, right?" Arrow stated, standing taller with his shoulders squared. He was staring down a man that could crush his handsome head with his bare hands and showed not a hint of fear. "This is the first and last defense of Earth. No one can afford for it to be all about getting along and toasting marshmallows."

"Which is why it needs to keep improving. The Legion of Doom and Luthor showed just how fragile it is," Superman agreed. "Unfortunately, we don't have all the time in the world to do that. The same alien that first attacked Earth is returning, and unless J'onn can stop him up there, we will need to be ready for him here. But the League has to be ready, and that means facing the fallout from what has happened."

"It needs better structure. Hands off isn't going to cut it. It's going to need a hub of sorts, something where all updates and reports go through and are compiled. The whole operation needs major revamping, and definitely more hands," Arrow listed off. "The Justice League watches over the whole world, and it's a miracle that six of you held on this long. And let me make this clear, when I say more hands, I'm talking about support. Not everyone has to have some kind of superpower. You need technicians, dispatchers, people who aren't supposed to be on the front lines, but support the ones who do."

Wow, Ollie—ahem, Green Arrow really sounded authoritarian there. Yet, he was also a C.E.O. of a major corporation. He knew a thing or two about organization, and through passing chit chat, she knew there was a Team Arrow keeping watch over Star City. Like Batman, Arrow had begun to let others help out fighting the good fight.

Sometimes it was easy to forget about that.

Superman's eyes were wide, but he nodded regardless.

"The League needs to expand, not shrink. Yes, those who have powers or have the skills to fight are front line, and you need to go quality over quantity there, but the support system is just as important, maybe more so. People like Oracle in Gotham, for example. I don't know who she is, if she is a she, but her intelligence gathering is the best I've found as well as her skills in navigating changing technologies. Given enough time, she gets you want you need to better do your part. It's all connected. Ignoring one weakens the other and vice versa."

Now that he had pointed it out, Black Canary had to agree. No wonder Nightwing and his Batclan had relied so much on her, if it was a her. She had her suspicions of who it could be, but respect to alter egos was important and so she never pried. Results were results, and she sometimes had problems recalling how the Birds operated before embracing Oracle's skills. Yes, there was the reliance of what intel Manhunter could get, but it was always limited to the DA's office.

Imagine a whole team of Oracles…what would they be able to do with that?

"Thank you for your honesty," Superman said, nodding his head once again, though his eyes had stopped being wide. "No matter what happens, I hope you two stick around. The League needs people like you, maybe more than I've ever realized. We need all sorts of perspectives…and one most needed is the critical one, the one that questions everything, including the League itself. We can't…we mustn't lose sight of what the League is supposed to do."

"Those are pretty words, and they'll only mean something if you match your actions to them," Black Canary said, feeling here was a point that she could make. "That video from the future is a warning. It's one we can't ignore. From what Batman said, all it really takes is one bad day. The League's had a bad day recently."

Learning they had all been played for a gambit to be replaced certainly counted as a bad day in her book.

"I understand." The Man of Steel gave them a smile, and Black Canary found it somewhat infectious. No wonder people tended to be drawn to him. "I'll leave you to your business here. I've got to get back to the Gobi and help with the defense system. Your help is still appreciated."

"You know how to reach us," Arrow drawled. "And we're still weighing our options. Once we figure out what we want to do, we'll let you know."

Soon after, the Blue Angel of Metropolis had taken off, leaving the two vigilantes behind and it silence. Black Canary was the one who chose to break it.

"Do you trust them?"

"Hm?" Arrow glanced at her. "The League?"

She shook her head. "No, the Thanagarians. I know what they claimed. We both heard them. I'm just feeling a bad vibe."

The Emerald Archer fully turned to face her. "Tell me more."

"They say they're building us a defense system to protect us from the Kalanorians. I didn't have too much experience fighting them the last time, just their brainwashed army. It's just the way their leader talks. He talks a big game, but I feel he's leaving something out." Black Canary frowned as she tried to put the pieces together in her brain, but wasn't quite able to. She searched and she searched and… "It's a lot like Harvey Dent. Multiple personalities, but he hid them until he couldn't. It would have been great to know beforehand, but he did like every politician did."

"Omit when you don't have to flat out lie," Arrow stated. "Yeah, I was picking up on that too. I think he was genuine about Earth having a mysterious force on it, the one that beat the Kalanorians the last time. He was honest about that. Also, about the World Engine, but you could figure out the why there as well. Everything about the defense system, even when he's in front of the U.N., he's leaving something out."

They were on the same page, fantastic. Giving the bearded vigilante a knowing look, she put a hand on her hip and asked, "You want to see what we can find out?"

The World's End didn't look well kept up. Then again, it was in Keystone, which tended to have higher poverty levels than Central City. What really stood out about it was the metal door that you had to get through to get inside.

Flash simply strode up to it, and threw it wide open.

"Yo, guys! Guess who—"

And then he immediately slammed the door shut. He had caught sight of the multitude of weapons aimed right at him, and acted quickly, like he always did. The door rumbled and shook as it was impacted by all sorts of things; huh, so the door wasn't an aesthetic choice.

He waited until the trembling stopped, calmed his own heart down, then picked out the next words he was going to say. They were going to be important, and hopefully, calm down the number of Rogues who happened to be enjoying themselves in there. Words picked, he squared his shoulders, reached out to the still intact door, and cracked it open.

"First round's on me!"

Waiting several seconds, when nothing happened, Flash pushed the door open wider and found many a barrel lowered, but weapons not put away just yet. Well, this was a promising start.

Since he wasn't a regular, he had to pay upfront—understandable. That door was going to need some work so that it didn't fall off of its hinges. Plus, there were sear marks, ice, whatever the hell Weather Wizard did, and was that snot? Yeah, all of that needed to be cleared off.

"You got five minutes, Flash," Captain Cold warned. "After that, you run like crazy out of here, or you pay for another round. Get to the point and no funny business."

Heatwave was eyeballing him, shot glass in hand while he drained it in one gulp. Mirror Master hadn't let go of his mirror gun and was fingering the trigger. The Human Top was stretching out at a table nearby, but he could jump into action at any time. Weather Wizard was a lot like Mirror Master, except his hand firmly gripped his wand and he held his own shot glass with the other. There was one other, and Flash really felt this needed to be addressed first.

"One sec," he said, then dashed over to a certain, blond-haired man wearing a long blue cape, with orange and blue stripes garishly coloring the rest of his costume. "James," he greeted, a slight disapproving tone in his voice. "You're doing it again."

James, or the Trickster, gave a huff. "I'm not doing anything."

"You're wearing the costume again."

Blinking, Trickster glanced down. "Well, what do you know?"

"You know you need your meds," the speedster gently reminded him.

Another huff. "I don't like 'em. They make me feel…funny. Not ha ha funny. More…sad sad funny. I don't like feeling that way!"

"I know, you don't like the way they make you feel. I get it. You still need to take them because they do help. I mean, can you tell me one kind of medication that doesn't make you feel sad sad funny?"

Trickster gave some thought to that. "Never thought about it that way."

"So, finish up your drink, head on down to the hospital, and they'll get you fixed up." Flash gave a friendly clap to the man's shoulder. "If you want, I can be there with you when you go? That sound alright?"

Holding his shot glass up, Trickster crowed, "Caught me again, Flash!"

And then Flash was sitting right next to Cold again. "Sorry, had to get that out of the way first."

The Captain, who was not an army Captain for the record, gave him a funny look, but then shrugged his shoulders. "You can't keep trying to help us, Flash."

"That doesn't mean I still won't," the speedster retorted.

"I doubt you're here to try and redeem us all. Get to the point," Mirror Master cut in.

"Right." Flash gave a nod and he looked over the assembled Rogues. Not all of them were here. Pied Piper wasn't, and hopefully would never come back here. Oh, Golden Glider was coming out of the little girl's room, so she would be joining them all shortly. That left the status of one other Rogue, and that was the reason he was here. "So I ran into Captain Boomerang recently. I thought he was still in Iron Heights."

"If you think we're going to rat one of our own out, you got another thing coming," Cold growled. "I think you have one minute left."

"Hear me out," Flash protested. "I saw him out in the Gobi. He said he was released on good behavior. Have you heard anything about that? You don't have to say anything if he's got another score in the works. I just need to know if you guys knew that he was out."

The Rogues were all studying him, and the Scarlet Speedster took it. He was used to being looked at, watched, and all other things involving people watching him. Then he saw them all trade looks to one another.

Top spoke first. "They'd never let Boomerang out for good behavior. A smart ass like that? Always causes trouble, even if he doesn't always throw a punch."

"We haven't heard anything. He would have come here for a drink," Heatwave added.

"Do you know about any transfers? Like Boomerang transferred to another prison?" Flash asked.

"People get transfers all the time," Cold stated. "It's normal."

"Transfers to Belle Reve?"

Huh, the mood changed, and it said something that Flash picked up on it. Normally, he was one of the last ones, so this meant something.

Weather Wizard glanced at the group of super-criminals, then downed his shot. "This has nothing to do with any scores. I think we can talk about this." No one objected, so Marko got to talking. "You hear things. Rumors. Gossip. There's been talk about something shadier. Shadier than anything that goes on here. Blackest of the black."

"It's like a draft. Once you're in, you don't get out," Mirror Master picked up. "Sometimes you're asked, sometimes you don't get a choice. When you're gone, you're gone."

Now this was starting to sound like something Bats would be interested in. That meant he was on to something, sweet!

"You think Boomerang might have gotten drafted into…whatever this is?" Flash asked, trying to hold in his excitement. It was like finding that one piece of evidence while it was under the microscope. You know, the piece that could wrap up a case in a neat little bow.

"Who the hell knows? We haven't heard from him in a long time," Cold stated. "It's a lot of rumors is what it is, but you get people who believe it."

"It's a MK Ultra thing, I'm telling you," Heatwave piped up. "It's all secret, then it turns out its real. People are disappearing and you know it. They just have records, and that means no one gives a shit about it."

"Hey, I give a shit!" Flash protested.

"Now. Where were you before?" Heatwave retorted, glaring at the speedster.

"Not here," Cold interrupted. "You're over time, Flash. Unless you're gonna buy another round."

Flash gave a sigh, did a quick check of his wallet—because he always felt bad about snatching other people's orders and needed to leave a little something behind—and knew he didn't have enough on him for another. "Well, it's been fun guys. I'll catch you all later. Don't get into any trouble for a while, ya hear?"

He ran out of the World's End, already racing away. So all he had were rumors, but the fact that the Rogues had caught onto it was what had his interest. The thing about rumors were that there was some truth in them, and that multiple guys knew the same rumors had to mean there was one kernel of truth somewhere in it all.

Hopefully Bats had come up with something. Hell, he was probably neck deep in it already.

Belle Reve was a maximum security prison that was supposed to hold the worst of the worst. It was specifically designed to contain the incredible powers of the rising meta-human population. Hidden from the local population, it was surrounded by miles and miles of Louisiana swampland; one, to discourage visitors; two, to ensure escape attempts from the outside didn't have any terrain to work with; and three, doom any escapes to getting lost in the marsh should they actually succeed in escaping through the outer walls.

Despite all the precautions to keep prisoners in and intruders out, none of them kept Gotham's Dark Knight from slipping in unannounced.

Hacking into the prison's security network had taken quite some effort. The firewall was quite formidable and it didn't help he didn't have his supercomputer to help get through, so the more time-consuming method had to be done. Once in, he made certain he knew the layout of the prison, checking on guard patrols so that he could avoid detection.

Once he had his intel, and had a running loop of security footage on each and every camera, he was inside, using the shadows to hide his presence as he moved through the halls like a ghost. Lights out had been a couple hours ago, but he felt little need in checking the cell blocks.

Instead, he made a beeline for the security office. A pellet of odorless knockout gas took care of the guards inside, but just to be safe, Batman wore a gasmask before entering. He found the guards slumped in their chairs and one man lying face first on the floor. Sparing a couple seconds to make certain all of the guards were unconscious, the vigilante made certain the door behind him was locked before he got to work.

Taking over one of the consoles, he accessed the prisoner records, doing a search for George Harkless. Not too surprising, there were no records of the Australian being a resident here. A search for transfers showed that he hadn't even been sent here.

Batman paused as he considered this. Belle Reve was a prison for meta-humans. As far as he knew, this Captain Boomerang had no powers, only skills with long-range weapons. So what would a man like that be doing in a prison with super-powered criminals?

So he did a search on the prison itself, looking for any inconsistencies. He received schematics on the prison itself, which revealed everything from the prison's layout, its water and sewage system, and the power system. Everything seemed on the up-and-up unfortunately, so it was looking as if this was a dead end.

Except for an abnormally large surge of power directed below the prison.

Even on the schematics, there was no evidence of an underground level, like a basement. Yet, there were generators directing power there.

Closing down his searches, the Dark Knight paused long enough to remove a badge from one of the unconscious guards before re-entered the hallways, making his way further into the prison. According to the schematics, there was a place for solitary confinement. Once he reached it, he paused as he noticed some advanced security measures.

While it made sense to have such features to keep the prison population under control, this was the only place he had encountered such a system. There was a keycard reader with a retina scanner. If this had been at the entrance of the prison, he wouldn't have batted an eye, but this was the first place he found such a setup.

Reaching to his belt, he pulled out a device, one he had given to the Network when they had infiltrated LexCorp. Placing it on the retina scanner, he waited a moment for it to link into the security system. Using the keycard, he ran it through the reader. Several seconds went by before a green light appeared and the door opened.

Removing his hacking device from the retina scanner, he entered the solitary confinement. It was a long hallway of solid steel doors. There were slots for food trays to be passed through and that was it. There was no way to know who was in each cell without prior knowledge, or checking the cell itself.

Batman ignored the doors, heading towards the back and stopping at another security checkpoint. This was a restricted area apparently, one for high-profile criminals. This also had an advanced security access point, but his hacking device let him through just like the previous one.

Entering the restricted area, he continued his trek to the back, where he found an elevator. There was another set of security measures even more advanced than the previous ones.

This time he took a manual approach. He jimmied open the door, making certain he had access to the shaft. Looking up and down, he spotted the elevator several floors below him.

Pulling out his grapple, he fired it at the top of the shaft, hearing the claw clamp down on the ceiling. Undoing his effort that kept the elevator shaft doors open, he then stepped out into the shaft itself, the doors closing behind him.

Hanging there for a moment, he then hit the release button on the grapple gun, cable slowly leaving out the barrel, and lowering him down the shaft.

Down he went for what felt like several minutes. Eventually, he reached the top of the elevator and disengaged the grapple claw. Waiting for it to retract back into the grapple gun, he pocketed it back on the backside of his belt before he got to work on the hatch on top of the elevator. Dropping in, he again jimmied the elevator doors open.

He was greeted with the sight of a sterile room, devoid of people. It was lit up, however, revealing a set of doors on the opposite side. A small panel was next to the door.

Again, his hacking device made short work of it and the moment the doors opened, Batman froze where he stood.

Before him was a massive cell block, catwalks crossing back and forth. It was even bigger than the main prison above his head.

How the hell had a place like this been built? Without anyone knowing? Such a place like this didn't just appear out of nowhere.

Slowly he entered the giant cell block, he glanced at the cells, spotting men and women in orange jumpsuits. They just stared at him with dull eyes, watching him pass by, but not even bothering to make a sound.

All except for one.

He was a large man, muscular, and looked as if he belonged on the cover of an all-American football team magazine. The man stared at him with a mirthful gleam in his eye.

"You're a pussy, you know that?"

Batman stood with his profile to the man, his head turned to gaze upon him.

"That's right, you heard me, Jackass."

"And you are?"

The man tilted his head back, jutting his chin out. "Peacemaker. Learn it and weep over it."

Batman turned to fully face this man. He just stared before saying—

"Never heard of you."

Rage exploded in the man's eyes, but the vigilante didn't bother to stay. He turned and walked away, not even slowing down when he heard a fist hit the fiberglass cell door. "Get back here, you candy ass! I'm not through with you!"

"Oh, shut up, Smith!" one of the other convicts shouted.

"Who said that?!" Peacemaker roared.

Batman just continued on. There was quite a bit of this underground prison to explore and he didn't have time to waste talking with muscle-bound criminals.

Luthor prided himself on learning from his mistakes. Even with the track record associated with the Boy Scout, he could safely claim that each defeat had not been repeated identically. No, each time Superman had to find another way dismantle the weapon in question.

This was how you improved over the long run. Defeat did more to teach than victory did. It was only a matter of time until he found exactly what he wanted, and until then the war of attrition would continue. In the meantime, the latest weapons he had produced needed testing.

Right now, the one known as Lead had just withstood the latest artillery battery. Not even a single chip knocked off of its metal frame. At seemingly random, Lead had been blessed with the enhance durability, nigh invulnerability that many metahumans tended to exhibit, Superman being a prime example. Oh, the android already possessed much strength; what automatron didn't?

Now, the big question was what the next test would be. Should they go for an experimental bunker buster next?

"I think we've gone as far as we need to," Magnus said, his tone giving away his uneasiness.

"Nonsense," Luthor dismissed. "These tests are essential, and it is best that we find out what their limits are."

"But they were designed to go into the most hostile—

"Hostile environments, yes. However, we happen to lack a volcano, so to get the tests as close to full readiness is the best we can do here," the business mogul cut in. "A battlefield does count as a hostile environment, does it not? And with the Thanagarians warning the whole world of an alien menace, what better way for the Metal Men to prove themselves than to rescue the world? It may not be what was initially intended, but we all know circumstances change. We need to change with them, and is that not the heart of this project?"

Talked down, Magnus had nothing else but to repeat himself, and to the young prodigy's credit, he did no such thing. Someone was learning.

Luthor, for his part, still wanted to learn more, and so felt that a redirect is in order. "How are the results for the rest? I am most particularly interested in Platinum's performance."

She was the most expensive of them all.

Raising a tablet up, Magnums brought up the requested results. "So far, they have been holding up. Iron's combat abilities are just over the expected parameters. Tin is showing some issues, but nothing that some diagnostics can's fix. Mercury is all over the place, literally and in his results. Gold is exactly where we expected. Platinum, well, blowing away all the competition."

Great to hear. "We'll need to have both Tin and Mercury further assessed then. Make the necessary update on Tin and pin down what needs to be done with Mercury."

There was something about Mercury that was fascinating to the business mogul. Yes, he was more interested in Platinum due to costs, but Mercury was truly fascinating. Never before had he ever taken part in building a robot, or android, with such abilities before, and that was not even taking into account the additional programming he had recommended.

Had he come across this project before, or sat down and read through it more thoroughly, would this have changed where he was now? Instead of Amazo, or the other hosts of mechanical marvels, would he have been able to put Superman in his place with these latest models?

It took an effort of will to stop that train of thought. It always did, and he had a varying degree of success. Everything always went back to the Boy Scout, to that alien who would not bend or look the other way. Who would not be bought and refused to break. How many times did he need to relearn this lesson?

The Metal Men were too new, and trying to orchestrate a scenario to pit them against the blue menace would take too much time and effort, especially with the impending Kalanorian invasion. There wasn't the Legion of Doom that he could take advantage of as the recruited members were either incarcerated or incapacitated at this time. Plus, with Ultra Humanite's knowledge, any new recruits would be warned away.

To really get close to optimal testing scenarios, he was going to need to find a different target. Not Superman. Batman perhaps? No, nowhere close to what an alien invasion could offer. Maybe a certain island of Amazons. The footage he recovered from Brainiac indicated there was an island, but only one man at the time knew that location and had not shared it. What about something closer to home? Who?

Certainly, there were other members of the Justice League, and each and their respective cities, but how to really utilize it?

This was an interesting conundrum then, and it required more thought. Oh, did he want to pit the Metal Men against Superman? Absolutely, but the timing was too bad for it. Who else could provide the challenge he was seeking then?

Who indeed?

There were an alarming number of cells that were filled in this underground prison beneath Belle Reve. Batman knew he didn't like it. There was some sense of hopelessness that permeated the air. In most prisons and jails he had ventured into, there was defiance, maybe even a sign of fear at his presence. Aside from the brief meeting with Peacemaker, not a single inmate reacted to him. They just watched with dull eyes.

Finding a doorway that led out of the cell block, he found another sterile hallway and followed it. Yet another doorway led to an area with offices. Most were dark, but there was one with the lights still on. Faintly, he could pick up a voice. Cautiously, he advanced to an open office door, listening in on the conversation.

"—anything I can use," came a woman's voice. There was a bluntness that demanded respect. "All that you've gotten me is a file with some foreign language that I can't even translate. What good does that do for me?"

"It's not like these aliens use English, you know."

That voice had been male, distorted by the frequency and speaker. Batman couldn't put his finger on it, but it was faintly familiar. Holding his position next to the door frame, he continued to listen.

"Careful, Lawton," the woman warned. "I don't need to remind you that I don't tolerate attitude."

Lawton? There were only so many criminals with that name and the only one that came to mind was the sharpshooter assassin, Deadshot. The last the vigilante knew, the man had been captured in Gotham and then promptly removed. He had a list of charges that seemed endless, so a higher court in a different jurisdiction was necessary to put him on trial. Whether this Lawton was indeed Deadshot, he needed further proof, but he knew which way he was leaning.

"I'm just telling you, everything we've encountered with these Thanagarians is in their own language. We collected as much of it as we could," Lawton said.

The woman was silent for a moment. "Very well. What can you tell me about that construction site of theirs?"

"It's still early, but they're working day and night out here. Without having the specs, I can't tell you just how far along they are with it."

"Is that it?"

"Just that the Justice League is helping them build it. Again, I don't know if that's helping their timetable, or anything."

"That's unacceptable. Get me the intel I need, now. I wanted it yesterday, so you're already behind schedule"

"Alright, Waller, whatever you say."

Waller. Batman peered around the doorframe and spotted a short, obess woman. She was in a pantsuit that seemed to swallow her wide frame. In front of her was a computer filled with alien symbols, ones the vigilante recognized as Thanagarian. There was a telephone stand next to her, the receiver lying on the table next to it. It was clear she was on speaker phone.

Silently, the dark-clad man glided in, making certain to not line up in front of the computer screen. Because most of it was black, his reflection could be picked up, and it would immediately alert Waller. While he was going to…speak…with her, it would be on his terms, not hers.

"What else can you tell me about the situation? Surely you have more," Waller pressed.

Whatever Lawton's answer was going to be, he never got the chance. Having stopped just behind Waller and to one side, Batman reached over her shoulder and pressed the tab button where the top of the phone usually rested, cutting off the call. He had his hand pulled back before the dial tone rang out, capturing the woman's attention.

"The hell?" she snapped as she tore her eyes from her computer screen to look at the phone stand, only to freeze. The iris of her eye moved to its corner, clearly focusing on the vigilante. Waller slowly turned her chair as she raised her head, looking up at the Dark Knight as he stared down at her.

"Waller," Batman greeted her as he returned her stare. "We need to talk."

To Guest: That seemed to be a lot of people's favorite part lol. Batman's too used to his rogues being insane and murderous. While Flash's rogues will kill people, it's never their intent, unlike Batman's.