[21st January 2011]

[St. Bricin's Military Hospital, Dublin, Republic of Ireland]

I sighed as I, carefully so as not to spill the hot liquid unto myself, sat back into the chair provided before taking a well deserved sip from my mug of coffee. Marching orders got placed on the table as I took the mug into both hand and savoured the warmth and smell in the moments peace between checking my patient, annoying questions, and now explaining current circumstances to the blonde woman, likely not too far away, when she arrived. Roy Harper, Original Version, now had his hand, arm really, back even if it'd be weeks before it'd stop being sensitive and...he got full use of it once again.

Won't be as big a deal for your big burly warrior crudely smashing dudes in the face with a mace, but Team Arrow were archers and that required a level of skill and hand eye coordination the immediate healing won't provide without a severe drain on my rather limited resources. Even this stage by stage focus, with potions and other tools, was tiring enough;- even moreso with the constant questions from the Atlantean mages, and then the good doctors of the military hospital itself. Documenting my methodology, and then the tests to ensure everything was okay, was more time consuming than the operation itself itself...but that was proof the magic worked, with no side-effects at that.

'Which is the point of all this, outside of making super-duper friends with the Justice League and Atlantis by the Government' I thought to myself taking another sip of the, not too bad, coffee. Making things nice and official, and doing a favour for the JL, might help overcome the fairly strong distaste from Necromancy, which a chunk of the spell was, as part of my hoped for magical education system. Because just because certain spells were dark, and/or evil, doesn't mean it should be taught in a least a limited manner...or that bad guys won't get access to it anyway. It was a tool, an oft horrific one, but demons were better at getting the unwary than those with some basic knowledge...

'And if their too stupid after getting a whole pile of warnings and stop signs then dealing with them more permanently is for the of them and everybody else around them' I mused just as the door opened and Black Canary strolled through with her own mug of tea or coffee in hand. Green Arrow was back on duty in the States already after yesterday's visit to the three Roys, but that was unsurprising considering the awkwardness between them and the current situation across the water. Understandable, if a poor choice in my view as I'd rate Black Canary as the better fighter with her sonic scream, but not for me to comment upon as I found myself sighing tiredly and putting the mug down on the table and shoving the tab folder over to were the blonde woman moved to sit.

"Oh? And what's this? More paperwork about Roy's healing?"

I shook my head as she took the dull brown folder into hand and flicked it open "Nope, my marching orders, or list of things John is not allowed to do in the next few weeks"

She hummed a moment, eyes scanning the first few pages "Off active duty and on mandatory leave...no, I misread training and interaction with the Team but no missions without approval...etc, etc, etc, subject to further psychological evaluation"

I shrugged at her look at me "I stormed into hell and stabbed demons, my state appointed psychiatrist didn't really have much of a case to make I imagine about the need for me to not to be on active duty a while. Most everyone involved in said operation is getting the treatment, so we don't go coo-coo for cocoa puffs I imagine honestly. That and the whole being a target thing I expect, so only secure facilities like the Mountain, and places like here for instance, for the time being"

She smiled tiredly, resting back in the wooden chair eyes moving over the rest of the document as she replied "Oh, it's been put a put more nicely than that here, for the mental well being of the individual involved but I don't entirely disagree with the need for such a rest, even if right now is hardly ideal"

"Eh, I do have authorisation to help in emergency circumstances, but they really would prefer me not too. Just to avoid me going bonkers like Jack'O'Lantern did, or just the fact I *am* exhausted as much as I'd prefer to say I wasn't" How long this break would last was hard to guess, as it was my...well I'd had a few attempts at escaping the Justice League's reach and ended being sent right back to do stupidly dangerous things soon afterwards. Even a few weeks ago I was supposed to be held back, but this was somewhat more formal and official in many respects so hopefully this time I'd be able to sit down, study, train, and all that jazz. All the recent insanity had exhausted a large portion of my prepared scrolls, potions, and weapons, and having seen the First...well, one had the concern at that monstrous power being mad at oneself, so best get them restocked.

"And would have you admitted that if you had not been ordered too, hmm?" she mused back at me and I shrugged. Who knows?

"Maybe"

"Hmph, of course you would..." she replied with a soft snort of amusement perhaps as I barely noted the sarcasm in her tone "...and your mentor?"

"Family time, and teaching" I replied with a nod, and leaving out the part about ensuring there wasn't duplicate Constantine's running about, or more demon children, and general security if the First of the Fallen or some other high level demon sought revenge upon us all. Putting him, under alot of supervision, on this new project the government was planning for an Arcane Library would be a distraction from him going off and doing other, more dangerous, things. At least one could hope so...

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[22nd January 2011]

[Secure Bunker, Headquarters of the United Nations, New York City]

Yulia Popov clicked her immaculately painted fingernails off the leather bound folder containing the various executive summaries and bullet-points of the Security Council agenda for tomorrow. Far more than she'd ever seen assembled for one, especially so quickly, but orders from Moscow were to make it happen and it seemed her counterparts had received similar orders from all indications. Not all that surprising with all that occurred in the past few years and now with alien spaceships hanging up in the skies above the planet after other aliens had just tried to eat everyone's brains. If the situation hadn't been so terrifying and stressful to work through the thought of mind controlling cute looking starfish taking over the world would have sounded like something from a children's cartoon.

'Focused panic is what all of this' she mused reviewing the mutual recognition agreements...oh they weren't called such in the creation of the United Nations Special Defence Auxiliary Certification, but that's what they were in truth. Her own nation had resurrected the Rocket Red Brigade, a rather expensive effort from all her sources, and the Chinese appeared to be on the verge of announcing their own 'Super Team' as they too were seeking their own blessing for such. She resisted a small chuckle at that; 'blessing' for actions already taken and infrastructure in place with this 'Great Ten' she had heard rumours of. Instead she calmly gazed around at her colleagues in the room, deciding to end the silence that had arisen shortly after their return to the room after briefings with everyone's respective superiors.

"I believe the first matter that will be on the agenda is the matter of funding for the Justice League, and of course support staff for that organisation. I assume we are all in agreement on this matter? Or has there been any objections raised that require modification of the documents?" she paused a moment before a continuing"...it has been made clear that this coming meeting must be a swift and decisive event in its findings and decisions for public morale"

"No, I do not believe anyone here has any objection to what we agreed prior to Christmas, nor on revising upwards to what we have before us..." the American, James Ellis-Pierce Jnr., replied after a quick round of nods and hand gestures of the affirmative from the others around the table "...as events have proven an overreliance on the Justice League has been detrimental to public safety when..."

'Oh, he does tend to ramble on doesn't he, must like the sound of his own voice I fear' she mused to herself as the American took a minute or so to details his answer was basically *Yes* to the question '...but if we'd known political chaos within the United States was the way to get them off of their intransigence on global defence then we'd have encouraged such years ago'

"Indeed, and it will be good to get boots on the ground on that fancy satellite of theirs..." Ian McDonald interrupted the American's little speech. It was rather naughty of the British, hiding their own secret meta-human and 'magic' programme while playing pious agreement with the American's on the need to avoid a meta-human arms race. The Kremlin, and her own bureau in particular, was rather impressed at managing to keep such a think hidden before eliminating the corrupt elements within its government, secretly, in one fell swoop "...and it should lay the groundwork for future space operations"

"Yes, has there ever been such a coordinated, and costly, global initiative as this proposed United Nations Space Command" Jade Liyuan of the Chinese People's Republic stated with only the faintest of glances at Yulia. Who nodded in agreement with her colleague; after all it had been the secret pushing of the project by the PRC and her own government through various proxies and dupes that had brought it too light over the past few weeks. It had only taken the United States being temporally removed from the board through internal politics, and Franco-German agreement on the need for it that allowed it become reality.

Yulia nodded "Yet, has there ever been such a need? Alien spaceships in our skies, Martians turning up, fearful, and seek our cooperation against future threats we have been unaware of...why, one could almost say our species childhood has come to an end"

The American gave a slower nod "Perhaps, and the President and Congress are both fully behind the intiative and the United States will offer no further objections to it and similar proposals..." he finished with a nod to the Frenchman Jule Boucher "...as it has in the past. We must be aware though that this was merely a reflection of political realties till now, such as the Justice League's strong objections to both the militarisation of space around earth, and the dangers of the regions beyond our solar system"

'Which is why we are all agreeing to certify as UN approved, and then cooperate, with each others not-so-secret-anymore projects at the same time as we treble the budget that the Justice League requested. It has been a long time, but together we have something resembling a counterforce to their power' she thought as she spoke "Of course, an understandable position, but events of late have made the status quo is no longer sustainable politically, nor militarily I'm afraid. We must just soldier on with the world we live in, rather than the one we wish to live in"

'Because then we would live in a world where Superman had a big red star on his chest and we won the Cold War with him and our rocket soldiers' she mused but pushed the thoughts aside. Communism had never much appealed to her, but those had been better times, and no damned American 'superhero' would have dared land in the Motherland to prevent the State's armed forces dealing with terrorists and other assorted malcontents. Times were changing...she would make them change as the Motherland demanded...

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