Even when in the face of a last second bargain, that did not mean Waller had forgotten how this latest mess up had occurred. No one in the Justice League needed to know about this. The vast majority of the public sector didn't need to know either.

It could be traced to a name, and she was contacting the owner of that name for the details she was going to demand. However, not before she levied an accusation or two first.

"You messed up, Boomerang. I had to have a meeting that never should have occurred. How did you mess up this badly?"

She was speaking over a secure line. The Squad in play was still out in the field and there would be no waste of resources used to bring the moron here. So while Waller would not be able to see Harkness' face, she would still be able to hear him and whatever pathetic excuse he could give.

"We're in the middle of some alien construction site! You never said I'd have to be doin' somethin' this insane when you grabbed me!"

"And I don't recall saying that I wouldn't," the dark-skinned woman retorted. "You of all people know how much of a blabber mouth the Flash is. Well guess what: he blabbered to the rest of the Justice League. They're on to you. Give me a reason why I shouldn't fix the situation before it gets worse."

It rested on the desk, her hand inches away from it. It was a remote, and from a distance it didn't look special. There was a noticeable absence of buttons with the exception of a single column of them. Each button had a label, assigning a button to a certain, individual explosive device. It wouldn't take much; all she had to do was move her hand a few inches and press the button fourth from the top.

Problem solved.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe you kill all of us and set off Force here. I think people are gonna notice a big boom, 'specially this close to all the alien ships, if you get my meaning."

Cute. He thought that she was talking about wiping out the whole Squad. That would be a waste. Oh, he full well knew that she wasn't talking about that contingency, but was trying to place it that way.

"Acting stupid doesn't suit you," was her response.

"What, you think they're gonna blabber to those aliens?"

Yes, that was precisely her thought. That there had been no uproar from the Thanagarians promised hope, but hope was not a commodity Waller traded in unless it was dangling it in front of a new recruit. The League was helping the Thanagarians with building that defense system, which required a high level of cooperation. They had to be talking with one another.

"You're digging your hole deeper, Harkness. Unless you want your new home to be six feet under the desert, you better come up with a very good reason why I should continue to pay you for your services."

"You don't pay me anythin', you cow."

"Allow you to live."

There were several seconds of silence. The Aussie was doing his best to try to reason his way out of his screw up, but while he had his smarts, he wasn't that smart. It was his people skills and ability to weave about the criminal underworld that she had recruited the self-styled Captain Boomerang, and not his intelligence.

"We haven't heard anythin' that would cause the aliens to go on high alert. Flash hasn't told them—"

"Anything yet, but that could change any minute," Waller interrupted.

"I did get ya those pictures."

"That are in an untranslatable alien language."

"You still need me to sneak 'round."

"I have many people who can replace you if I just wanted someone to sneak around. There's a SEAL Team I could have commandeered if I wanted to have someone sneak around."

"Well then it seems like ya got no use for me, do you? So how 'bout instead, you blow my goddamn head off and end my misery. Eh? Eh? Go on, you'll be doin' me a favor!"

Ask and you shall receive, but…that would be giving him what he wanted. Waller was not in the habit of giving her private army of super-criminals what they wanted unless there had been some negotiation prior to it. A reward for a job well done was you get to continue living. Perks were just a little thing to keep dangling hope.

Oh, she knew he was trying to play a reverse psychology ploy on her, and it held no effectiveness over her. No, Harkness was going to earn some forgiveness, or at the very least be in her presence when that bomb detonated. Until then, she was going to work him harder than a plow horse, and if he was lucky, he would prove himself such a valuable asset that this whole fiasco could be overlooked for the time being.

By that, she meant his part in it. Something would have to be done to get Batman off of her case.

"You would like that, wouldn't you?" is what she said instead. "Sorry, but you don't get it that easy. If you want to die, you have my permission, but if life is what you value, then you are going to get me more concrete intel, the kind that would let me overlook your transgression here without taking the toilet out of your cell."

"Oy! I have rights!"

"That you forfeited upon your arrest. You're mine now, so work like you are. Deadshot?"

"Waller."

"You heard me. Find me something that I can use and not need a translator I don't have access to. I want a comprehensive report in the next twenty-four hours."

The snipper did not respond, but he didn't need to. He heard her loud and clear and would go out to fulfill this latest task. A useful man, that. She may have trusted him only as far as the detonator to his bomb was from her hand, but she did value a reliable tool. Replacing him would be a bitch.

Severing the connection, Waller reclined into her seat, arms resting on the armrests. Her gaze was directed upwards, her head tilted back. Above her was where Batman was, out to find the answers guarded by a lack of linguistics and phonetics. If he was a man of his words, and reports indicated he was, then he would be back with the intelligence she wanted.

However, he hadn't proved himself to her, so like her Task Force X recruits, she didn't trust him at all. Until the vigilante proved himself, she would operate as if she was on borrowed time. The Thanagarians would find out about her team, she was counting on that due in no small part to Harkness' blunder.

Thankfully, the protocols for plausible deniability were already in place. All that was left to do was form another task force to replace this one. It was easy; she had a prison full of them and all were outfitted with her insurance policy. The only difficulty would be forming a team that would be able to work.

Before that, a few calls needed to be made. Certain interested parties needed to know about this breach, first and foremost being Bordeaux.

Batman could safely say that he was impatient. For a man that was used to spending hours on a stakeout without feeling the need to so much as twitch, that was saying something.

It was most likely due to the fact that the Watchtower's computer was taking quite a bit of time. By that he meant at least an hour. The Thanagarian file he had received from Amanda Waller was taking quite a bit of time translating the foreign Thanagarian symbols into English. Considering he had personally installed the computers, it was strange they were taking so long.

One glance around the Monitor Room and the damage that had yet to be fixed indicated why the computing process was taking awhile. Numbly, he added yet another thing onto his To-Do list—fixing the computer and the corresponding systems that had been damaged in the fighting that occurred up here.

Of course, sitting in a chair and staring at a computer screen couldn't be all he could do, not when the Monitor Room doors slid open and Flash bolted in. The moment the man came to a stop next to him, his words came out fast and almost jumbled. "Please don't be mad, butIhadto—"

Batman held a hand up, surprisingly silencing the man. "Flash, slow down," he told him. "Now why would I be mad?"

The answer to that question came walking through the door next. In came Superman and Green Lantern, two people the vigilante didn't quite care to see at the moment.

"Don't bother getting up," Stewart said gruffly as he came to stand a short distance away, crossing his arms over his chest. "Flash told us what you two have been up to."

Batman turned his chair to face the men. "I don't recall keeping it a secret," he retorted.

"You didn't bother informing us either."

"John," Superman said warningly, silencing the man. Returning his attention to the dark-clad man, he said, "Look, I know you're not exactly happy with us right now, but we need to be professional. Now tell us what's going on with Boomerang."

There was something to be said about the request for professionalism. Batman could respect that. However, he did need to know what Flash had found out from his rogues gallery first. "Flash, what did you find out from the World's End?"

The scowl that was on Lantern's face deepened, but he didn't immediately respond. Flash immediately answered, "Nothing good from what I could see. None of them had seen Boomerang in awhile."

That wasn't what the vigilante wanted to hear, but then, he half-expected it. Flash continued, "They did mention about some hush-hush thing though. They didn't have specifics, but it sounds like Boomerang may have been picked up by some black ops thing. The Rogues seemed spooked about it."

Superman and Lantern had frowns on their faces, but this time it was about what Flash said rather than Batman himself. "I haven't heard anything about this," Stewart remarked before glancing to the Kryptonian. "How about you?"

He shook his head. "No, I haven't either."

That at least confirmed what Batman figured was going on. "I did my own investigation into the matter and I can confirm that Boomerang is involved."

Flash perked up. "Really? What is this thing?"

"As far as I can tell, it's some sort of secret program run by the government. I found a facility with many metahumans, all criminals, locked up. I don't suppose any of you have heard of an Amanda Waller?"

He received three heads shaking in the negative. That was another thing he needed to do, it seemed. If he still had access to his own supercomputer, he could speed up his search, but there were two people here that were responsible for its disuse. He didn't dare try a search on the Watchtower computer for fear it would slow down its current task.

"As far as I can tell, she's a member of A.R.G.U.S.," he began.

"A.R.G.U.S.?" Superman questioned. "Was she short, African-American, and demanding?"

Those were descriptions of Waller. Batman narrowed his eyes. "You've run into her?"

"I think I have," the dark-haired man admitted. "When we were at the beach after stopping the Tamaraneans, a representative from A.R.G.U.S. intervened."

"Yeah, I think you're right," Stewart agreed. "In fact, I think she did introduce herself as Amanda Waller."

Which meant she was the one with the World Engine. What the hell was A.R.G.U.S. up to? Already, he smelt something rotten. Now he had a file she had somehow collected from the Thanagarians, probably from one of the metahuman convicts she had in the field if Deadshot and Harkness were any indication.

"You know, I'm starting to not like this," Flash said after a moment. "A.R.G.U.S. has a facility of bad guys they're using and keeping it hush-hush? And why are they going along with it too? I know Boomerang and he's not one to take orders."

"Which means Waller is holding something over his head to keep him in line," Batman stated. He then gestured to the computer monitor next to him. "I…confronted her not too long ago about her connection to Boomerang. She gave me a file she had obtained from the Thanagarians, but was unable to translate it."

This caused the three Leaguers to glance to the monitor. "Any idea of what it is?" Superman asked.

"Not yet. It's been slow going. I won't have an idea until the translation is complete."

Stewart stared at the Thanagarian symbols before he shook his head. "Wish I could help, but unfortunately Oa and Thanagar aren't all that close. I doubt my ring could translate it any faster than the computer."

"Why is the computer going so slow?" Flash inquired. "I could have sworn it processed faster."

Batman stared at the man in response, causing him to go, "What?"

"There's not much we can do until we have a translation," the vigilante said then. "So we have to wait. I may need to outsource our investigation into Waller, perhaps have Cyborg hack into A.R.G.U.S. and see what he can find."

"That's another thing," Stewart spoke up. "You've been using the Titans lately. You do realize they're just kids, right? Especially since you have them watching Luthor of all people."

"If you think Luthor is going to sit on his hands after what he pulled with Amazo and the Legion of Doom, then—" Batman started to say.

"We know he isn't sitting still," Superman interjected. "And I know we don't have a lot of options either." Ever the diplomat, wasn't he? "I think what John is getting at is these are kids and we're asking them to do things that may get them into some serious trouble. If Luthor finds out they're spying on him, he'll retaliate."

"And it'll be on you if they get hurt," John added.

"I understand," Batman said quietly. "And if there was another way, believe me, I would pick that over sending some kids to do a mission they shouldn't be involved with. The fact of the matter is that there isn't one. We have a bad hand right now and we have to play it the best we can."

"Plus, these aren't some random kids," Flash interjected. "They all have powers too. We set up that Titan program for a reason, right? So they could get training and be ready to take over when we're all old and decrepit."

"I think we're getting ahead of ourselves here," Superman responded.

"Regardless, I'll handle the Titans," Batman replied. "I should be receiving an update on their investigation soon."

"Are you sure you can handle it?" the Kryptonian asked. "You seem to be juggling a lot."

"As Lantern said, I'm responsible for them. I also have the most experience working with them, which I can't say for anyone outside of maybe Flash."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Stewart demanded. "Are you saying we're neglecting them?"

Batman leveled the man with a knowing look. "When was the last time you interacted with them? Talked with them? Showed them how to better understand their powers? According to their logs, you haven't been to their tower. Neither has Superman. Flash pops in from time to time. I've worked cases with them prior to the T.I.T.A.N. Initiative. So you tell me, are you neglecting them?"

The dark-skinned man glared at him. "Hey, I have an entire sector to patrol."

"And they're in your sector, are they not?"

"That's enough," Superman interjected. "Look, we're all starting to get heated here. I think it would be best if we stopped for now. Batman, please keep us in the loop on your investigation."

The vigilante nodded. That was all he was willing to respond with.

If this conversation continued any further, he wasn't certain what he would say.

Not to brag, but slipping out of LexCorp had been a breeze for the handsome shapeshifter known as Beast Boy. Once you understood that all of the security measures the building took were designed for humans, becoming something not human, let's say an animal, made it all the more easy to get in and out.

Animals came in all shapes and forms, right? Small, big, tough, delicate, with wings and without, claws and horns, you name it, there was a species out there that had what you needed. Insects were the best, he found, for getting in and out. They were small so that they could slip past human detection without any problem. Sure, they lacked the strength needed to open a door, but there so many other ways out of a building too.

Like windows, or vents. The vent system is what he used today, though he went with a lizard's body once in there. LexCorp regulated its temperature like every other place in the world, so there were A/C units and the like located all over the roof. Well, the lower roof, because someone wanted this building shaped like an L

Once out, the shapeshifter was a bird, not an owl this time because there was more than enough light pollution to allow him to at least know where he was going. This had been planned before, and so he was looking, looking, and looking, and there Cyborg was. One strong flap of his wings had him rushing in, and a series of rapid flaps slowed him down enough so that his shift back into his handsome normal self didn't have him stumbling on his feet.

"Yo, Cy! Can you get everybody? You're not gonna believe what's going down in there."

This part was planned too, and the rest of the Titans were heading in as soon as Cyborg put out the word. Kid Flash was there in an instant. Superspeed, you know. You had Raven and Kori showing up about the same time, Terra on their heels. Wonder Girl was next, and not quite fashionably late was Red Robin. Once they were all together, that's when he began to talk.

"So get this. Big, bad, bald C.E.O. guy is making killer robots!"

"That's not really saying a lot," Red Robin said unimpressed, arms crossed over his chest. "What else can you tell us about these robots?"

"Well, they're made out of metal," Beast Boy said, rallying defiantly when he wasn't getting the immediate praise and reactions he was hoping to get. A snort from Cyborg gave away the feeling of "no, duh" that the green teen was starting to pick up on. "No really, solid metal. Like, they're nothing like Cyborg here. One is literally solid gold! And another's red, but can stretch itself all over and…um, I think, something about killing all humans? But there's six of them! And C.E.O. man is calling them the Metal Men!"

"So they don't have skeletons?" Cyborg asked. When several looks were sent his way, he explained, "All robots have a frame, or a skeleton. Something to give them a shape. It's not like anyone has to give them organs. Are you telling me that these Metal Men are solid metal and nothing else?"

He'd seen a lot through the eyes of a fly, but fly eyes were not human eyes. Let's get that straight there. "There were these ball things. And there were these vats with the liquid metal in it. Like, all the metal was made liquid first, then these ball things were put in there. There was electricity, and when I could see again, there were six of them, standing on their legs, and the vats were empty. And C.E.O. guy—Lex Luthor!—he mentioned at one point that he had something else added to their programing."

A lot of eyes were watching him, but only Red was nodding his head. "Okay, first, you're gonna need to work on how you report back. Second, this sounds like something big Luthor is cooking up." The masked leader glanced over to Cy. "You're still in the mainframe. Can you find anything about these Metal Men that might give us an idea of what Luthor intends to do with them?"

"Give me a bit," the cyborg replied, getting back to work.

"So what's the plan?" Wonder Girl spoke up. "You know Batman is gonna want to know what's up."

"Which is why once Cyborg's done with his search, I'm calling him up. In the meantime, Beast Boy, I need you to really think and remember anything else you heard or saw. Doesn't matter how small a detail it is."

Beast Boy could only frown. There had been a lot back in there, you know? So much that he was hard pressed to remember it all. He had hidden in Lex Luthor's collar for most of it. Some of the things he saw were amazing, definitely not stuff you saw on the tour. There were the Metal Men, so…

"Red, you are not going to believe this," Cyborg spoke up. "I just found Project Metal Men. No one was trying to hide it or anything. I think you might have passed the lab with it on the tour."

No way. Seriously?

"So what's it for? Project Metal Men? What was the purpose for it?" Red asked, his eyes now on Cyborg and giving the shapeshifter some time to get his thoughts together, provided he didn't get distracted which, to be honest, he was getting that way.

"On the surface, some kind of search and rescue stuff. Robots that go into dangerous places and save people. The guy in charge is Will Magnus," Cyborg reported.

Red's eyes were back on him. Damn. "Does that name ring a bell? Magnus?"

Giving a shrug of his shoulders, "It does. Luthor was talking with this guy he kept calling Magnus, but he doesn't look like some really important scientist dude. Like someone from college? A senior in high school, maybe? He didn't look old at all. Oh! And there was someone else they were talking about! Someone I think is important 'cause they kept mentioning his name. Ivo, I think."

"Then we'll need to find out about this Will Magnus and Ivo," Raven cut in.

"They are the best leads we have," Red Robin agreed, nodding his head. "Everyone, get back to your positions, and keep watch. Beast Boy—"

"Is that all we're going to be doing?" Wonder Girl interrupted. Oh hey, he had almost forgotten she was there. Wow, she was quiet. "It's really late, you know. And I don't know about you, but I know I'm feeling tired. Until Cyborg called, my eyelids were starting to feel heavy. We might be teens, but we do need sleep."

No kidding. Now that she brought it up, and he wasn't inside LexCorp, Beast Boy felt a little tired himself. Maybe it was all the stress keeping him alert, but now that he wasn't inside, he could relax a bit and—okay, now he was really starting to feel it.

That's when it happened. He yawned, but then came the chain reaction. Terra was yawning, then Kid Flash, Wonder Girl after him, and then, as if not to be left out, Starfire. Red, Cyborg, and Raven were the only ones who were not yawning, but did his eyes trick him, or did it look like Raven was trying to hold back her own yawn? Oh, she was! He could tell! Her eyes were narrowing, and everything about her was screaming that she was trying to control herself. Oh man, this was…this was…

And there was another yawn.

"Alright," Red Robin relented. "I'll get a schedule set up, but for the time being, everyone get back into position until otherwise." No sooner had Red finished that sentence that a yawn left his mouth. "Sorry."

"Better be quick," Wonder Girl commented as she took off from their meet up.

Returning to the Green Lantern camp, John did his best to put the turmoil he felt behind him. His Corp didn't need to know what was going on with the Justice League. As much as he liked to think of himself as professional, he knew the recent incident within the League was coloring the way he saw things. Batman's secrecy and arrogance—something he barely tolerated to begin with—was wearing on him.

The problem was that there was some logic to the man. John was firmly in the camp that Batman should have told them about that dystopic future, but following their encounters as brainwashed Regime members, he could honestly see why the vigilante kept it to himself. His claim that he would be the Regime's first target upon reforming had come true and the Batcave was in rubble as a result.

There were politics at play here now and he hated that. Fighting bad guys should never be more than black and white. Someone commits a crime, they needed to be brought to justice. Simple. Now…it wasn't that simple anymore.

Entering the warehouse, he was greeted with the sight of his fellow Green Lanterns. Many glanced at him and offered a greeting, which he nodded his head in response. John, however, made a beeline to where Ganthet was.

The Guardian knew he was coming as he stood waiting patiently, arms in front of him as his hands disappeared into the sleeves on his opposite arms. "Greetings, John Stewart," Ganthet said.

John got right to business. "The exterior of the Shield Defense Generator is complete," he told the Guardian.

Ganthet nodded. "It seems the Thanagarians are making good time on their construction," he mused. "Do you have an estimate on how long it will take for the interior to be completed?"

John shook his head. "A lot of that will be the software, which Talak and his men are keeping on the down low. Part of that, I think, is because a spy was spotted at the construction site."

The little blue man raised a white eyebrow. "A spy?"

"Earth isn't a unified planet. There are a number of governments that are unfriendly to one another. Having a foreign power arrive sets them on edge. One of them has been putting agents into the field to keep an eye on the Thanagarians."

"That is unfortunate, but not entirely unexpected." Ganthet shook his head in disappointment. "Is there anything else I should know?"

John initially was going to say no, but then thought better of it. The Green Lantern Corp was involved with the protection of Earth from the impending Kalanorian force. It would be a good idea to keep every ally informed on what the other was doing. "A member of the Justice League was able to obtain a Thanagarian program from the offending government. The League is currently trying to translate it."

"And you did not offer your ring?" Ganthet questioned.

"As far as I know, our Corp has had little interaction with Thanagar, so any Thanagarian symbols would be limited in the ring's database."

The Guardian nodded his acceptance of the explanation. "There is merit to that. Unfortunately, it is also a blind spot. Perhaps we can acquire the Thanagarian language during this campaign."

That was indeed something they could do. In fact, now that John thought about it, there was clearly a program on the Watchtower that had Thanagarian installed, most likely from Shayera at some point. All he needed was to have his ring scan it and that would take care of that. Internally, he kicked himself for not thinking of it sooner.

That was when Ganthet frowned. Pulling his hands out of his robe's sleeves, he revealed his power ring was glowing. John found himself staring at the ring intently. "It seems I have a call," the Guardian mused before his eyes became glazed over.

Patiently, John waited. While he wasn't certain what the transmission was, he knew what he hoped it could be. Considering everything though, he rather doubted it could be good news.

When Ganthet's eyes sharpened, indicating he was no longer taking his "call," a small smile appeared on his face. "It would seem our strategy was a success," he announced warmly. "Kilowog has just informed me that the Martian and his team have successfully apprehended Despero the Destroyer."

John's eyes widened while nearby Lanterns suddenly let out a loud cheer. "What else did Kilowog say?" he couldn't help but ask.

"That their team is intact and they are in the process of returning to Earth with Despero in custody," Ganthet answered him. "I hope to not trouble you, but the Corps will remain here until Despero is brought here so that we can retrieve him and take him to Oa for detention."

"Of course," John agreed. Internally, he felt relief. Shayera was alright if Kilowog's message was any indication. Part of him could not wait for her to return, especially in light of how they parted.

"If it would not trouble you, would you relay this message to your Justice League?" Ganthet suddenly asked him, startling the former marine, forcing him to tear himself out of his thoughts. "That way we can inform the Thanagarians that they can end their construction of the Shield Defense Generator."

"I'll see to it immediately." John turned and began walking away, heading for the warehouse exit. Ganthet was right that they needed to inform everyone of the strike team's success.

For John, it was one less thing that Earth needed to worry about.