Intro: Okay I have good news and bad news, good news is this update is pretty sizable (including one starring Diana!) and I'm pretty happy about that. Bad news; I have had kind of had a bit of a shake up with my free time (which is why this is so late btw) , I'm not going to be able to dedicate the time to writing that I have thus far, which is a major bummer cause I feel like I'm starting to hit my stride with this bad boy… good news I'll be updating every week still, but it might only be one chapter instead of the usual two…I hope I can still do two but I thought I'd let you all know just in case.

Thanks: Yellow Flash, Nerdman3000, ben10987654321,Nightwing509, Wondiebuff, Hellacre13 I have to say thank you not only for encouraging me but for keeping me on track if I veer off course.

Yellow Flash: Hmm… I don't know what to say, I tried to make that seem like something a T.V producer would do, y'know keep the show on schedule and all but as someone who's never had any experience in said occupation I had to wing it somewhat…

Nerdman3000: Yes Kara will be appearing at a later point in the story, I already kinda laid the means for that way back at the beginning of the story.

Ben10987654321: You would be correct, glowing green is never a good thing for Clark. Oh yes that is the eventual idea I imagine the two of them will be giving him quite a few headaches in the future.

Nightwing509: That is very kind, thank you.

Wondiebuff: I guess I kind of flubbed there…judging from your reaction I might have had her react to strongly? Thank you that is something to watch out for and I'll keep that in mind with any future mentions of him with her.

Hellacre13: I can say they won't be hooking up immediately. I suppose it was a bit premature, sorry about that Yeah Clark'll defiantly have to step up to keep the League functioning properly especially given the fact that new elements will be added to the mix...

Unoaranya30: Glad you're caught up! Yes I have her at almost seven hundred years old, uh I'm going to try and keep her more in character for future appearances. Bryne got a lot of things wrong with Superman but I'm trying to borrow some of the good and leave the bad behind...and no whiny Superman lol.

Hobs Bay had established itself as the industrial center for Metropolis during the dawn of the Twentieth Century, in many ways it embodied the spirit of Metropolis, prosperous and on the cutting edge. But after the Great Depression and World War II it had fallen into a slump, a slump from which it had never really recovered. The area had been hit hard by the cocaine and crack epidemics and despite the effort of dozens of politicians and relief funds Hob's Bay or Suicide Slum as it was now known as had all but been written off. That made it a natural haven for criminals and various elements of the underworld which was precisely why Black Canary was there.

It had all started ironically enough in the days following Superman's taking the chairman position of the Justice League and the changes he had affected.

The first thing of which was a subtle change in the attitude around Watchtower. It was almost as if their headquarters had a more 'homey', feel to it. The second was his handling of meetings, as chairman Superman liked to encourage open discussion and allowing everyone to get a chance to voice their opinions. Training had also taken on a different flavor; perhaps it was growing up on a farm that had required so many moving parts to function properly or maybe it was from his stint on the high school football team but he knew a team worked only as well as its weakest link and he had made it his business to make sure there were no weak links on the team. The result was that he had had shifted the focus of their training sessions from a one on one environment to a more team based dynamic with a greater emphasis on tactics and using their abilities in complementary ways.

There was no doubt that he was in charge but the interesting thing it wasn't like he was a drill sergeant, he had assumed an attitude almost reminiscent of a cool older brother. He was willing to listen to you, made you feel important like your opinions mattered and if you needed it, encouragement and suggestions on how and where you could improve.

As they say the proof is in the pudding and the pudding was saying he was doing a bang up job: The Justice League had never functioned so smoothly.

If Dinah was being honest she would have to admit she was a little frustrated and resentful that Clark had adjusted so well in a role that had taken Ollie so long to find his stride in. It was true she had supported his appointment (and she still did) but it was a little disheartening to see him (in her mind) so easily replace Ollie.

The fact that her comrades seemed to unequivocally and wholeheartedly support Clark didn't help either.

Since things at Watchtower were running so smoothly Dinah had found an influx of free hours available to her; so she had begun using the time she would normally spend at H.Q to stalk and shake down criminals in Metropolis's underworld in an attempt to find who was responsible for the attack on Ollie.

A week of following dead lead after dead lead had seemingly paid off.

She had gotten a tip that Bobby Gazzo, a highly ranked member of Intergang, (Metropolis's local crime syndicate) had been employing a super powered enforcer on a number of hits over the past few months. She knew Oliver had busted Gazzo once before during his first few months as Green Arrow, so it made perfect sense that Gazzo would want revenge against him.

Which brings us back to Black Canary camping inside an alcove on the rooftop of the adjoining building from Wild Night's; Gazzo's small time gentleman's club. The alcove served the dual purpose of keeping her in the shadows and shielding her from the cold wind sweeping in from the harbor, unfortunately her cover offered little protection from the putrid smell of sludge mixed with seawater that seemed to permeate all of Suicide Slum regardless of season or weather conditions.

She saw an old fashioned Lincoln town car pull to a stop in front of Wild Night's and tensed. The driver walked around the car and opened the door allowing a man draped in a fur overcoat to step out onto the sidewalk.

Even from this distance she could tell this was her mark, she watched as he entered the building and made her move. Stepping out of the shadows of the alcove she hopped off the edge of the roof and landed on the fire escape below in a crouch. Reaching into the pouch on her hip she extracted her grapnel and fired it onto the adjoining building, the line stretched taunt and she swung across the gap, enjoying the momentary sense of weightlessness. A moment later her boots contacted solidly against the side of the building killing her momentum, a flick off a switch on the grapnel and she was lowered down four stories onto the ground.

Discarding the front entrance as a fool's errand she tried the side door, unsurprisingly it was locked, she reached up her left glove to extract a lock pick only to notice it was absent… she must have left it at home.

Under normal circumstances she would have never forgotten something so critical but a combination of her pushing herself so hard over the last week combined with a lack of sleep since Oliver's attack must have been catching up with her. Cursing under her breath she hesitated for a moment as she went over her options.

She could try and retrieve her lock pick and return here, problem was she wasn't sure if Gazzo would still be here by the time she came back. She could blast down the door with her Canary Cry but that would attract way too much attention and she wasn't sure how many goons Gazzo had inside or how armed they were. She could…probably should call for back up, J'onn would be an ideal partner for something like this. She discarded that too, she wanted to do this on her own.

She mulled it over for another moment before an idea occurred to her, she had seen in countless movies and it was something that if he were here Oliver would've suggested with that cocky grin she loved so much. The question was would it work?

She didn't have a better idea so shrugging she pulled off her domino mask, unstrapped her hip pouch and stowed them behind a dumpster. That accomplished she fanned out her mane of blonde hair, unzipped the front of her costume down to reveal a generous amount of cleavage, she didn't have to worry about her legs, the fishnets did everything she could ever want to show them off. She walked around to the front of the club hesitated and knocked on the door remembering to arch her back slightly before it opened.

As one would expect a large grouchy looking man opened the door a minute later a partially smoked cigar in his mouth.

He looked her up and down, pausing at her legs and again at her chest before looking her in the face. "Yeah?"

Dinah's voice went up an octave "Hiya, I'm here to try out to be one of Big Bobby's girls." She finished with a flirty giggle.

The doorman's eyes narrowed. "The boss, didn't tell me 'bout no new talent, what's ya name?"

"Honey." Dinah replied with the first word that came to her mind. "Cause I'm so sweet." She elaborated before finishing with another giggle.

"One sec." he said before disappearing back into the club.

Dinah held her breath, if this didn't work- well she just hoped it did.

The doorman reappeared a moment later and waved her in, she had to endure a longer than necessary pat down and then she was in.

As these things often are, the club was dimly lit and a haze of Tabaco smoke seemed to hang in the air as slow slinky music boomed in the background. Women in various states of undress carried drinks and gyrated on stage.

She looked around, her eyes sweeping back and forth over the club until they came to rest on the V.I.P section. There, he was. Gazzo was surrounded by four other men and one who looked like he should have had a booth all to himself; even from this distance she could tell he was a mountain of muscle. He had to be the enforcer, but was he the one who had assaulted Ollie?

She'd find out soon enough.

Remembering to keep her back arched, Dinah sashayed her hips as she walked into the V.I.P section and up to Gazzo's table.

"Can I interest any of you boys in a private dance?"

The men at the table were with the exception of Gazzo and the man mountain in various states of inebriation.

Gazzo looked her up and down. "I don't recognize you sweetie, what's your name?"

"My name's Honey."

"You one of the new girls?"

She hesitated for a split second. "Yeah."

He looked at her before nodding. "What d'ya say Mickey, you want a little P.T with Miss Honey?"

The previously unnamed man mountain smiled toothily. "Yeah, sure boss."

Gazzo winked at her. "Don't worry sweetie, Mickey'll take good care of you."

She lead him into one of the private rooms she had seen some of the other dancers take customers to, but before she could do anything other than close the door she found herself shoved against the wall.

"Who are you, and who do you work for?"

"What do you mean?" she gasped.

"Drop it, me and the boss know every girl that works here…and you ain't one of 'em."

It would've come down to this sooner or later anyway, she had no intention of stripping for these clown's; a little showing off was one thing, but she had standards to uphold. In fact she was a little relieved she was getting to the 'kick their ass' phase of this mission. She brought her knee up and considering she didn't have any leverage landed a solid hit to Mickey's gut. He released her and she fell from his grip. She took half a step back and delivered a vicious snap kick to his face sending him crashing into the table. Any normal Human would be down for the count but instead of staying down he rolled right back up to his feet apparently no worse for the wear. A perfect storm of lack of sleep and being caught off guard slowed Dinah's normally exceptional reflexes down a hair and allowed her opponent to tag her with a heavy cross. She was reeling when he lifted her up by the scruff of her jacket whirled around and threw her into and through an old plaster wall.

The fact that she had taken the brunt of the impact on her arm and that the plaster was dry and brittle were the only thing that had saved her from a serious and possibly fatal injury. Even with all that, the sharp pain shooting up her arm told her she might've broken her shoulder or at the very least dislocated it.

The world seemed to tilt on its axis and blinking lights filled her field of vision. Coughing on the plaster dust she tried to reach for her earpiece with her good arm but a larger part of her just wanted to give up, she was tired: tired of fighting, tired of searching, tired of everything, it would be so much easier to just lay here and let him finish her off.

She could hear the heavy footsteps of her opponent approaching as she lay there. Suddenly there was a shattering of glass, a loud thump and a grunt of pain.

"On your feet Canary!" A deep voice called out.

Dinah eyes struggled to focus for a minute and she saw a figure in an armored bodysuit fighting against Gazzo's enforcer, a pair of nunchaku were swooshing in his hands as he tried to keep Mickey back; he was holding his own for now, but it was plain to see that he would be overwhelmed in short order. Struggling to her feet she cradled her busted arm with her good hand.

She didn't have time to ponder who her rescuer was, she needed to act. "Get out of the way!" She shouted.

He rolled to the left and she hit the enforcer with her Canary Cry, he raised his hands and attempted to cover his ears and block out the hypersonic warble but it wasn't enough, her sonic scream wreaked havoc with his equilibrium and jumbled the impulses going to his brain, he stumbled around blindly, blood seeping from between his fingers until he blacked out.

"That's a handy trick." Her rescuer commented plaintively.

Before Dinah could respond gunfire echoed around the club narrowly missing the pair of them. Any dancers or customers that hadn't been scared off by the initial scuffle were now running for their lives.

A look of understanding passed between Black Canary and the armored man, moving quickly they dove into the gaggle of hired muscle.

Even with an injured arm Dinah was a force to be reckoned with, she took down more than her fair share of the enforcers with vicious kicks and intermittent blasts of her Canary Cry.

The mystery man favored a more…heavy style of combat, shoulder tackles, bull rushing and heavy body blows. His style was reminiscent of street fighting but he definitely had some formal training judging by his stance and the skill he wielded his nunchaku with.

In short order the remaining thugs lay cradling injured limbs or were knocked out. Dinah didn't even bothering to look for her mark, she knew it was too late; Gazzo had used the pandemonium to flee. She realized her rescuer was speaking.

"I'm sorry you what did you say?"

She could see his jaw tighten in agitation "I'd have expected one of you Justice League big shots to know to use a skylight."

"There was a skylight?"

He pointed up and sure enough there was said skylight. "Your way was good to, the whole stripper thing works for you."

She ignored the verbal jab to busy focusing on the fact that she had made such an amateurish mistake. Knowing the proverbial lay of the land was heroing 101, not knowing your environment could get you killed and had her rescuer not shown up there was a very high probability that would've occurred. In that moment Dinah felt like slapping herself on the head; she swore at that moment she was taking the day off and catching up on her lost sleep.

"You know I'm with the League?"

He rolled his eyes. "Everyone knows that's probably why Gazzo high tailed it out of here; you spooked him. Spooked a guy it took me almost a month to track down."

Dinah snorted. "A month? Took me a week, I guess that's what playing the lone wolf gets you." The fact that she was doing the exact same thing didn't escape her notice but it felt good to knock this condescending punk down a peg or two.

If he was bothered by what she said, he didn't show it. "So, why are you in Suicide Slum? You super-types tend to hang out on the main island; did you draw the short straw on patrol duty?"

"I'm looking for someone, a metahuman hit man or enforcer; he attacked someone…close to me and I'm looking to even up the score."

He observed her in silence for a few moments before stowing his nunchaku back in his costume. "I got a hot tip, you might be interested in, meet me at the harbor tomorrow at midnight and I'll show you how to really conduct a raid."

"Who are you?"

He jerked his thumb at himself and smirked. "Call me Gangbuster. Make sure you get that arm checked out, I don't need you slowing me down."

Without another word he shot a line up through the broken skylight and zipped away.

"That is why Luthorcorp is excited to announce the hiring of the world's first superhero, allow me to introduce my friend and Metropolis's newest defender…Conduit!"

Clark was watching Luthorcorp's press conference, the event had promised to be so big it was being streamed over the internet and as usual Lex did not disappoint.

Clark had to admit Lex was a natural at this sort of thing, his natural charisma coupled with his knowledge of how to manipulate people had the crowd eating out of his hand.

As he minimized the browser and pulled back up the word document he considered what had gone down.

Anytime Lex was mixed up in metahuman's things had a way of going sour when his ulterior motives came to light. Level Three, 33.1, Project Leviathan; Project Ares…the list went on and on.

Clark had no doubt that there was something else behind Lex's decision to hire a sort of metahuman spokesperson…besides the obvious appeal of having a super powered person at his beck and call. Whatever Lex was planning he'd be keeping an eye on him and Conduit as well.

"He's a snake."

Clark looked behind him to see Cat Grant shaking her head in disgust.

He had been so focused on the press conference he hadn't noticed her approach. "What do you mean Cat?"

She gestured at his monitor. "Isn't it obvious? He may act like he's being all altruistic but he's hiding something.

"That's an interesting view to have." He deflected secretly agreeing with her.

"Trust me darling, I've seen it a thousand times before in Hollywood, it's just as much about what they say as what they don't say. And he didn't say a lot."

Catherine 'Cat' Jane Grant was an interesting person; she hailed from Los Angeles where she had carved out a successful career as a gossip columnist for the Los Angeles Tattler before transitioning to Metropolis and establishing herself as the assistant editor of the Arts and Entertainment section of the Planet. Everything about her seemed to scream dumb blond; her glossy lip stick, the love of everything pink, her flirtatious nature, and her airheadish mannerisms… all of it just seemed so typical.

But the operative word in that description would be 'seemed'.

Cat knew from a lifetime of experience that people tended to treat you differently when they believed they were coming from a place of superiority (imagined or otherwise), it was almost hardwired into Human's dealings with each other. People were less intimidated and more susceptible to let things slip out that they might not normally be so inclined to reveal. So she had essentially given the people what they wanted.

Being persuasive or hardnosed might've worked for some, playing the dumb blond worked for her.

If she had to act dumber than she actually was in order to get a scoop… then so be it. It was a method that had been working for the past three years and it had landed her a managerial position at one of the country's most respected publications at the age of twenty-four…an age where most reporters were trying to establish themselves…so who was the dumb one?

She looked at Clark as he adjusted his glasses with his forefinger somewhat wistfully. She had nursed a little crush on Clark for a few months, there was something alluring about him, maybe it was that he hadn't risen to her flirtatious bait like most of the other men in the office, maybe it was his shy and polite mannerisms or maybe it was the fact that he treated her as more than a pretty face and a pair of breasts to be ogled… but whatever it was she was determined to get a date out of him. Problem was since he hadn't risen to her bait she was going to have to be a bit more…direct. She had his attention and add that to the fact that none of his normal gang was around; this could be the perfect opportunity.

"So Clark, other than watching Luthor's press conference on the clock, what are you doing?"

He indicated his computer. "Trying to finish up this article."

"Have any plans this weekend?"

"Uh, no not really." He replied seemingly focused on his article.

"So how about you take me out on a date?"

That got his attention. "What?"

She smiled teasingly. "A date…you do go on dates in Smallville don't you?"

"Of course, it's just-

"Are you seeing anyone?"

"No, but-"

"When was the last time you went out on a date?"

She was bombarding him and he couldn't seem to gain any traction. "Uhm I-"

"If you have to think about it, it's been too long." She said firmly as she jotted down her address and phone number on a sticky note. "Come by and pick me up on Saturday, say around seven?"

"I-

She winked at him. "Great, ciao darling."

Clark watched her walk away and was left wondering what the hell had just happened.

"Okay how'd it happen again?"

"I don't even know, one minute she's asking me what I'm working on and the next thing I know, I'm supposed to be taking her out on Saturday."

It was a little bit later and Clark was talking to Chloe over their weekly lunch.

Chloe frowned over a cup of coffee that Clark was sure broke the law for the legal amount of caffeine in it. "And you're sure she asked you out?"

"Yes, it's kind of hard to misconstrue 'how about you take me on a date?'"

So what's the problem, she doesn't do it for you?"

"No, Cat's very good looking-

"Thennnnn…"she let the word drag out for a few seconds.

He sighed. "What I think of Cat's looks are beside the point. I already told you, I'm not interested in romance."

She waggled a finger at him. "No you didn't, you said that it would take a special woman to get involved with all of you, you know all dates don't have to be trying to find 'the one' Clark. A lot of times people go out just for fun and to socialize with other people."

"I know that Chloe."

"Then what are you so afraid of?

He frowned lightly. "I'm not afraid."

Chloe threw up her hands. "Then go out with her, It's not like she's asking you to marry her, get out and have some fun and socialize, when was the last time you did anything not work or hero related ? And before you say it, our little get togethers don't count."

He scratched his chin in apparent deep thought. "Well I took Shelby on a hike through Granville last week…"

She wasn't sure if he was joking or not (his expression gave nothing away). "That doesn't count either." she replied flatly.

"You're not letting this go are you?"

Her tone softened. "No, you deserve down time just like all of us, hell given all that you do during any given week, you probably deserve it more."

It was true that his life consisted of work and his duties as Superman. Maybe in his quest to embrace his destiny and powers he had let the human side of his life slip up a little bit. Maybe this date could be the first step in him achieving balance between the different facets of his life. "Okay Chloe."

"Okay?" She asked suspiciously.

He nodded.

"One other thing…"

"What?"

"Where's a good place in the city for a first date?"

She had her hands on her hips with a 'You've got to be kidding me' expression on her face.

He shrugged sheepishly. "I've never been on a date in Metropolis."

She tried not to laugh but it was a losing battle. "I swear Clark most of the time you're one of the most amazing people I know and then you go and ask me something like that and you completely kill the image."

"Thanks a lot." He grumbled.

"No problem, what're friends for?"

At seven on the dot Clark stood outside of Cat's apartment, raising his hand he lightly knocked on the door.

He heard her call out "Just a minute!" And a moment later the door opened to reveal Cat looking marvelous in a violet dress. "Hi."

"Hi…I uh brought you these." He handed her a bouquet of flowers, suddenly feeling every bit like a fourteen year old boy on his first date again.

She eyed him playfully. "On time, and with flowers…you're off to a great start already Mr. Kent, come in and I'll put these in water."

He stepped over the threshold and discreetly took a look around. Her apartment was fairly tidy and furnished mostly in dark wood, if he had to hazard a guess he'd have pegged her for a more modern metal/plastic type person. An e-reader was on the coffee table, he briefly wondered what she had been reading before he had arrived.

"So what's the plan for the evening?" She asked as she looked through the cabinets for a vase.

"Uh I was thinking we could try Scott's over on 98th."

"Oh that sounds great, I love Italian."

He sent a silent thank you to Chloe for the suggestion.

She appeared back in the living room a few moments later with her purse in hand. "All set, shall we get going?"

Over the relaxed atmosphere of Scott's Clark began to let his guard down some and enjoyed his time with Cat.

While it was true that they were fairly different people they did share a number of similar interest including a love for classical movies, an appreciation of jazz music and they were both fans of one of Metropolis two' baseball teams: The Monarchs. As it turned out she was friends with the general manager of the team and had season tickets in the sky box.

Time seemed to fly by and thankfully Metropolis decided to have mercy on him; he didn't have to rush off in the middle of the date to handle any emergencies, which allowed him to focus on getting to know Cat better.

Sooner than he thought they were in the cab ride back to Cat's apartment, along the way she snaked her hand into his. Although a bit surprised he didn't resist and just enjoyed the moment.

The elevator ride back to her apartment was quiet affair, but it was a comfortable silence as opposed to a pregnant one.

In next to no time they were stopped outside of Cat's door.

She fiddled with her handbag as a nervous feeling crept into her stomach. "I guess this is me, listen Clark I- I had a great time tonight."

He smiled. "Really?"

She nodded shyly.

"I did too."

Suddenly she crossed the distance between them, wrapped her arms around his neck and was kissing him. For the second time that night she had surprised him but he quickly recovered and returned her kiss. After a few moments she broke the embrace and let out a small sigh of contentment.

"Well… we'll have to do this again sometime Clark darling."

He wasn't sure if she meant the kiss or another date, candidly speaking he wasn't opposed to either. "Sure, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Count on it handsome… goodnight."

"Goodnight Cat."

After the door shut Clark stood in the hall for a moment letting the night wash over him before he stuck his hands in his pockets and walked away, he didn't strut or swagger but he couldn't stop a smile from breaking out on his face as he rode the elevator back down to the waiting taxi.

A/N: I hated what Smallville did to Cat's character or characters….so I'm exercising my prerogative to wipe it from existence and change it up. The title for this chapter I thought was appropriate for both Dinah and Cat, even though the type of prowl they were on was fairly different lol. Anywho for those of you not in the know, Cat and Clark dated for a while before he ended up with Lois in the comic books and I'd like to explore their relationship a little bit, which was the impetus for putting them together. She's a fairly impulsive/spontaneous character and I think that'll be an interesting contrast to Clark's more cautious nature.

Gangbuster is a street level vigilante that calls Suicide Slum home, his origin works fairly well for this story, so I won't be changing it too much. I took the chip on his shoulder and tried to supersize it, trying to make him seem like a jerk. As of now I have no plans for him to join up with the Justice League; it doesn't seem like he'd jell well with them, personality or agenda wise. I also kinda have other plans for him down the road…so uh yeah I think that's everything for this chapter