[20th August 2010]

[The Watchtower, Low Earth Orbit]

"Is it me, or are we having more of these meetings since all we put all our protégés together on the one team?" Flash asked from across the table with a bemused look on his face. He brought his hands up and motioned apologetically "...not that I'm complaining about the company guys, just something I've noticed ya know?"

Dinah smiled slightly at that attempt to lighten the mood as always "It does feel like that at times doesn't it Flash?" still she glanced at the well dressed magician of their ranks "...though I see a few absences? J'onn is with his niece? Diana?"

Across from her Zatara nodded tiredly, it had been a long night for him, and the rest of them had only arrived to find the aftermath of the fight "Yes young M'gann is recovering from her ordeal but...touching the mind of a creature such as Klarion was traumatic for the child to say the least. J'onn obviously wished to stay with her to help in her recovery in Mount Justice, and Diana wished to talk with her old friend Doctor Fate as helped J'onn's niece with us own magic which would be the best counterbalance to the Lord of Chaos's"

The man sighed deeply, resting his hands upon the conference table "In truth we are very lucky that such short term harm was all the damage that was suffered. I am still unsure if this was an ambush, or merely our own stumbling upon an already planned assault upon the Tower of Fate. Doctor Fate believes it combination of the two, that our entry revealed the Tower while they were attempting to torture him prior to our arrival"

Batman was scowling, but then again he was always scowling she found, but still...it was a concerned scowl from her reading of 'Bat' language as he interjected his own opinion on the matter. Behind him images of his own fight against the League of Shadows appeared on the screens alongside the information on the villains Zatara and the Team had fought.

"Which is rather concerning timing...coinciding surprisingly well with Ra's al Ghul's own attempt at Cape Canaveral. It was an attempt that, in consideration of this other attack, perhaps seems unusually sloppy for Ra's and the League of Shadows now that I reconsider events in light of your fight in Salem Giovanni. There are rarely coincidences such as this; a foe of Doctor Fate not seen in decades resurfaces in the company of both Abracadabra and Felix Faust? Then attempting to kill one such member of its team when there was possibility of him being captured? There is more going on here I fear"

'Or perhaps just being paranoid my friend' Dinah thought to herself a moment before acknowledging that while it was possibly paranoia it didn't change the fact their dark cowled member was more often than not correct in his concerns.

Glancing through the information they had on the two separate attacks she couldn't see any evidence any direct cooperation, but the timing at almost exactly same hour, and extent of both attacks, hinted at something more sinister. Both incidences after all had mobilised the Justice League, requiring splitting of forces...only to arrive to the situation already having been resolved; but it was almost sheer luck both had been discovered had it not? Not something you'd want to depend on in the end. Zatara apparently seemed to agree with Batman on the matter, with a faint nod to the League's official leader before he spoke.

"It is a strong possibly, it is hard to the understate the danger we almost failed to notice, nor the danger an alliance of two beings such as Felix Faust and Klarion the Witch-Boy could represent. Nor should we fail to mention the fact they were willing, and already prepared in advance, to summon a Lord of the Pit and his creatures unto the battle to tilt it in their favour"

Flash seemed to hum in thought "You managed to handle them with the Team and Constantine, demon dude got banished, and you even managed to get Abra healed up enough to send him on his merry way to Belle Reve..." he brought a hand to his chin "...and I think I'll pay him a visit and a nice chat about endangering our sidekicks, and the obvious dangers of associating with such people as that!"

Hawkwoman shook her head, folding her hands across her chest almost if she was going to roll her eyes in exasperation with Flash "While I believe Flash is been rather flippant in regards your accomplishment, and that of the Team itself, it does bear considering that despite your foes obvious preparations and powers you managed to drive them off rather rapidly while capturing a third of their number. It is a worthy deed, and worth celebrating as none of your number was killed and Doctor Fate liberated"

"No Shiera, we were lucky, very lucky indeed that you did not arrive to find a burning Tower of Fate and a field of bodies..." Zatara replied calmly but some force to his words "...the Team were to be sent alone originally, on what should have been a rather safe and straight forward mission of checking up upon Kent Nelson. Indeed it was only by chance, that one of them requested a trained mage attend, and that almost being John Constantine alone, that had myself and him in attendance. While I have many qualms about the man, as a person most of all, his abilities in the arcane are not something to doubt. Nor are the skills of his erstwhile apprentice less than acceptable, or yours Arthur..."

He nodded at Aquaman who was studying the report with interest beside her Oliver. The King of Atlantis gave a show of his own agreement though still studying something on the report with curiosity and concern "...but we were outmatched but for quick action, and managing to free Kent Nelson to regain the Helm of Fate. I would also speculate that, from their pre-prepared wards and weapons, Constantine and young Fortune are probably as close to being a dedicated anti-demon or anti-summons team for their country. In truth the boy appears to be an Order mage to my shock, though in a way I can understand to place such one as that with Constantine to counterbalance would seem a viable choice. Which is yet another boon that might have been there otherwise; so our victory arose from lucky coincidences and unusual preparedness from one or two individuals I would not have expected as much off"

"Skullsy pulled out a bazooka after his mentor pulled out a shotgun? Wow...that's preparation..." Flash muttered as that part of the fight was highlighted "...not Bats here level preparation but still"

Dinah glanced to her side as Arthur entered the conversation "Newly enchanted weapons at that you believe? That's exceedingly rare on the surface is it not?"

Zatara waved his hand in a non-committal motion "Yes and No, there is some but it's almost unheard of to do such to firearms, or even for most of the magically inclined to even use them. I'd suspect Constantine's influence in that, while he is rather skilled his bloodline, while potent, seems to have given him less than desired power at times. Clearly though these are military grade weapons, and the anti-tank weapon itself was strongly imbued with Order and Holy seals in my brief handling of it before it was recovered"

"Wait the kid is walking around with a small armoury on him? Where are they hiding it exactly?" Dinah asked curiously, and perhaps mild concern. It was dangerous for teenagers to have access to such things, and her own failure to spot this situation was a failing as a teacher. Though considering the usage of them, and the nature of who'd supplied them, she suspected her concern wasn't warranted. Especially consider young Fortune was one of the better adjust teenagers on The Team...was good, albeit rather concerning considering a few of his actions since joining.

Giovanni smiled faintly now, bringing his hat up from beside him, turned it upside down and pulled a wand out from it "It's rather more complex than it appears, but certain spells allow you to store items out of phase, or dimensionally adjacent, to our own. What I've noticed both have done is essentially created such 'bags of holding' as the younger calls them into their clothing, or packs, and store items such as scrolls and weapons within them"

Beside her Oliver chuckled and glanced down the table "Oi don't be giving Batman there any ideas, or he'll be storing enough weapons to equip a small army in his utility belt"

Dinah smiled a little at that, and Batman's brief 'My current situation will suffice' response. Still it was something that she tucked away for future reference, having magic pockets to store extra gear wouldn't be a bad thing in this trade after all. Still overall the reports were troubling to say the least, and while the discussion on the possibility of collusion between the various parties there seemed to be little that could be done beyond being even more on guard than usual. Of course the fact the revelation of a new villain for them to contend with, one who could harm Superboy, and therefore Superman by extension, wasn't exactly what they all wanted to have on their plate right now.

At least her Kryptonian teammate indicated some concern for Superboy, rather than outright unease, concealed hostility, or nervous confusion. She could understand Superman's unease with the whole thing; she herself would probably feel the same if a teenage version of herself was suddenly created. But Superboy was a person too, and was as much the victim in all this as Superman was sadly.All she could hope for right now was Batman or Wonder Woman would be able to get him to make a decision either way on whether to be family to the boy or not.

Stability was what Superboy needed, and even the citizenship issue was there thanks to the Irish application that had cropped up after Santa Prisca fiasco. Personally she'd prefer if Aquaman or Wonder Woman would intercede diplomatically for either US citizenship, or for their own nations, but till things were sorted with Superman that seemed unlikely. Or that the United States government stopped being so dreadful in viewing on rights for non-humans. Still after an hour's discussions another Team related matter was brought up, by Superman to her surprise.

"There's another request for more training mentioned here from Fortune? From the fact Miss Martian and...Superboy..." she gave a faint hint of smile that the word wasn't bitter sounding this time at least "...were injured, and 'something needs to be done about it before someone dies' he said to you Giovanni?"

Zatara gave a wan smile "I don't think it's as bad as he fears, but there is an issue with leaping before looking or coordinating effectively. With Superboy I fear, I'm sorry to say this my friend, it is similar to your own propensity to believe yourself entirely invulnerable to harm...because you usually are...and to put yourself between an injured teammate and a threat. But the lack of a clear structure is hurting the Team I'll suspect..."

He motioned around the table at those them most involved with the youngsters "...your protégés are used to following the lead and guidance, however unwillingly they seem to at times, of their mentors in a battle and that is different as working as part of a team. Even the nature of team leader is blurry as while Aqualad is semi-officially leader, and is generally so in fact, in situations such as earlier Fortune tends to take up the role and his inclinations are different to the others, or to our own in fact. Leaving aside the situation of Santa Prisca, I've noted that leans towards clearly defined rules of engagement and structure...which is perhaps why he and Aqualad seem to have similar complaints, albeit your protégé being less vocal on that matter Arthur"

"Military training most likely..." Captain Atom interjected calmly having stayed quiet most of the discussion and now looking thoughtful "Aqualad completed compulsory military training in Atlantis, and while the Irish equivalent is small and voluntary it's clear Fortune completed similar from all reports along with his magical training. I'd also expect their both used to working closely with law enforcement and the military in ways many here wouldn't have. While I'm grateful for all they've done for me in clearing my name the truth is even a week or two of such training might be helpful"

Flash looked annoyed faintly at that "We're training them to be superheroes not soldiers Cap!"

The silvery metal skinned man shook his head "I'm not suggesting that at all Flash, just some basics might help them with developing themselves...without throwing them into life and death situations as seems to be constant in the few weeks since we let them together. I say we say 'okay' to this request and do exactly that, send them to Ireland a week or two even since I know most of you are uncomfortable with the Army and Marines here thanks to Luthor and Waller. If anything it'll give them a rest after all they've been through, and perhaps even get a better handle on what their thinking over there with their dynamic wizard duo?"

Dinah gave a soft snort of amusement as the discussion began. Still as they debated she had to ask "So who are we sending with on the paid vacation to play chaperone?"

"Much like the status of Doctor Fate, and his request to aid in finding a successor to his mantle" personally Dinah wasn't sure why the young evident mage of Order wasn't suitable but hey, it was magic so what did she know "I believe we'll await Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman's return before discussing such. Though after recent events a spot of team building, and an reason to not issue missions, would serve the Team's development best..."

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