M'gann awoke drifting in a sea of perfect bliss. She felt utterly drained, wrung dry in the very best of ways. Her limbs felt light and elastic, her head swimming with a wonderful muzzyness. She had never been subject to anything so powerful before, so moving that it made the world seem far away and yet so near.
She slowly opened an eye and watched overcast winter light filter gauzily through Conner's bedroom window. Sometime during the night they had managed to actually move from couch to bedroom but M'gann didn't remember much of the transfer. She only remembered heat and passion as they had stumbled from one place to the other and had been back at it until they were both exhausted.
Said exhaustion had brought them both a deep, dreamless sleep. He was asleep still, lying on his stomach, his head turned away from her, a pillow bunched under his head with his arms wrapped around it. Her eyes traced the muscles and structure of his shoulders and back as she listened to his steady breathing. He smelled like his favorite cheap soap and the paint he'd used on the house, and after a moment she realized she smelled like him too. She gently rested her brow between his shoulder blades, feeling the softness of his skin and the hard muscles beneath, just wanting to touch him again.
Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes once more and let her mind replay the events of the night. She had never felt accepted in this form before but Conner had not only told her he loved her in that form he had made her feel wanted.
Many times in fact, especially when he had….
"You liked that the most?" Conner said with a hint of mischievousness through their mental link. "I'll make sure to keep it in mind."
A faint aura of sleepy surprise rippled from M'gann's side of the mind-link. She hadn't known they'd been still mentally attuned. She had just been letting her mind wander, those images flashing before her mind's eye, unintentionally presenting them to Conner as well.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," she replied softly, banishing the images from their mental link.
"Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty good way to get woken up," he said drowsily. "I don't think anything else could have gotten me to open my eyes for a few more hours. Last night was… intense."
Intense, M'gann thought, was putting it mildly. They had been connected mind and body. What ever the mind had felt so had the body, bombarding them on all fronts. They had alternated between dozing and waking all through the night, each time they'd woken up only wanting the other until true sleep had finally overtaken them.
"The best sort of intense," she murred.
"Absolutely. I think you bit me a few times too."
She laughed and playfully tapped her brow against the upper-part of his back. "I did not!"
Conner chuckled aloud and with a heavy grunt turned to face her. The shoulder he had been sleeping on showed a series of triangular indentations around the upper width of it. Amusement mixed with the sleepiness on his face and he grinned crookedly at her.
Had M'gann been able to blush in Martian form she would have turned cherry red. "Oh." The Martian racked her mind trying to find something else to say but she drew a perfect blank. 'Sorry' briefly crossed her mind but she realized she wasn't sorry at all.
"It just looks like that for now. You didn't do any permanent damage. I'm invulnerable, remember?"
M'gann let out an accepting sigh as she released her sudden embarrassment. It had no place here, not with him at her side. "Guess I went a little overboard, huh?"
He chuckled. "Believe me, I'm not complaining."
"Last night was perfect." It wasn't a question, just the heartfelt truth she felt inside.
"It was."
The mind-link went silent as they both stared at one another, listening to the other breath. For a moment all they needed was this, just to be near one another.
At length, Conner slipped a hand upwards and caressed the red streaks on her own shoulders. She had two red streaks going from the front of her shoulder to the back of it. They were about as thick as his middle and index finger put together and seemed almost like tattoos against her chalk-white skin. "Never noticed these before," he said, breaking the silence and tracing his thumb against the edge of one of the markings.
"They're my family markings," M'gann supplied. "All Martians have them. J'onn's is that red X that he incorporated into his costume. "I took his X when I came here, hoping that that would make being his niece more believable, but I guess I needn't have bothered in the long run."
"So everyone in your family has these?"
"Traditionally. In White Martian culture the males morph their old marking away to take the markings of their wives, while it's the opposite for Green and Red."
He smiled and exhaled a happy sigh through his nose. "I like learning new things about you, you know that?"
"If I didn't know it before last night made that abundantly clear," she replied teasingly.
She willed her form to change and became Megan. She pressed her head against his chest and felt his arms envelop her.
"M'gann you don't have too–
"Oh I know," she replied with more confidence than she had ever possessed before. "It's just hard to cuddle you in Martian form."
"That's not the only thing that's hard," he replied mischievously.
M'gann's brow beetled in confusion, wondering at the meaning until it suddenly clicked. "Conner Kent!"
Conner chuckled aloud and pressed a kiss softer than the night before to her human mouth. The morning drifted across the sky as they discovered one another all over again, this time with Megan in his arms.
0000
The meeting room in the Watchtower was packed.
Every seat, save for two, had been taken around the long cigar shaped table. The only two missing members were Aquaman and Batman. Aquaman was MIA, but that was nothing out of the ordinary. The king of Atlantis was typically unavailable unless world-ending threats called him to the Watchtower. He did have the seven seas to rule after all.
Batman on the other hand….
"There you are, Batman, we've been waiting for you," Superman said as Batman finally entered the meeting room.
The Dark Knight did not greet the members of the League nor apologize for his tardiness. His cowled gaze scanned the meeting and fell on J'onn. "Where's Aquaman?"
"Engaged in Atlantean business, I suspect." J'onn rose from his seat. "But we can proceed with the meeting without him."
"Are you sure you want to do this, J'onn?" Batman asked as if he was one giving him an option to back-out.
J'onn pulled a large green and white rectangular box from beneath the table and slid it towards the center of the meeting. "I brought donuts."
A low mutter of concern rose amidst the gathered heroes.
"Oh this is bad," the Flash remarked as he flicked open the box and grabbed a jelly-filled donut.
There was an unspoken rule in the Justice League: if someone brought donuts to a meeting there was something gravely amiss indeed.
Batman stepped closer to the table but didn't take a seat. He stood on the exact opposite end of the table, his cowled gaze boring into J'onn and his grim frown revealing nothing. "Let's get on with it, then."
J'onn tapped a button inlayed into the table and a screen hanging from the ceiling winked on behind him. He scanned the curious faces in the room then took a singular deep breath and began. "As a detective it is my duty to collect evidence and present facts just as they are. Together we will look at the evidence and you, the League, must determine if you draw the same conclusions as I."
The screen opened to the profiles they had on Superboy and Miss Martian. Images of the two appeared along with a brief run-down of their appearances and abilities beneath their photos while to the right of their profiles ran helixes of their different DNA structures in red and blue.
"My suspicions rose some months ago when Batman chose not to hand down any consequences for Miss Martian's deception," J'onn began. He didn't need to go into any amount of detail about the lie M'gann had told. It was already old news as far as the League were concerned and while they did not approve of lying none of them cared that she was a White Martian. Many of them had faced their own prejudices for being what they were so empathized with her, and while they didn't condone her lie, all had been in agreement not to send her back to Mars. That did not mean, however, that there would be no consequences for lying.
"The team was going to be temporarily disbanded anyway," Green Arrow interrupted. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "What would have been the point?"
J'onn nodded. "At first I too bore the same train of thought, but my suspicions, or I suppose I should call it intuition, was not soothed. The team seemed more distant than usual after the announcement of their disbandment. I meant to talk to Kaldur, but as you know he had already stormed away, so I set my sights on Aquaman, hoping he would be able to give me more clarity into the team's innerworkings. He and Kaldur share a close bond and Kaldur often consulted him for advice. I thought if anyone might know what was amiss it might be him.
"While dining with Aquaman he informed me that Batman had made a request that La'gann be recalled back to Atlantis. I didn't understand as to why until I met with Dick Grayson who informed me there had been a long-term romance between Miss Martian and Superboy. But the two had broken up after they graduated High School and now Lagoon Boy had entered the picture."
The Flash raised his hand. "Look, we all know how dicey inter-team relationships can be, but are you trying to accuse Batman of breaking a couple of fresh eighteen-year-olds up?"
A sardonic smirk twitched on the outskirts of J'onn's lips but he offered no comment to the query and continued on. "After speaking with Aquaman I headed to Mount Justice hoping to find evidence of strife or disunion in the team, perhaps training exercises done in anger or living arrangements that seemed strict or secluded." He tapped the button on the table again and the profiles of Conner and M'gann minimized to the far left of the screen allowing snapshots from Mount Justice to fill the space.
The images showed snippets of life around the cave – Conner and M'gann holding hands outside Mount Justice as they went on a walk. Another camera on a buoy in the harbor showing them laying on blankets on the beach, Conner leaning over to kiss her. There were other images too of the strange nest of pillows and blankets in Conner's room and pictures M'gann had taken and subsequently altered by drawing little hearts around Conner's face with a pink pen.
"That is a lakash." J'onn zeroed in on the Martian bed found in Conner's room. "I took that picture when I entered Conner's room. It is a Martian resting place and was found in Superboy's room." He looked at Black Canary. "I assume you had no idea."
Dinah shook her head in shock. "None at all…. If I had known I would have certainly said something."
"Certainly," J'onn agreed. "So would you all, had you suspected. However the information was scrubbed from the cameras, twice. Dick Grayson was the culprit of the initial scrub. He explained that while the team knew of Superboy and Miss Martian's relationship they never publicly told anyone they were together and so the team protected their privacy."
"You said 'initial' somewhere in there," Black Lightening pointed out. "That means more than one. Who went behind him? Who would have known?" He looked over to Red Tornado who sat motionless in his seat. "Were you aware of this?"
"Red Tornado knew nothing of the matter," J'onn interposed. "As I said before if any of us had known we would have brought it to the League's attention at once. Which brings me to my next point – the only one of us who could have lived there full time and not suspected would have been Red Tornado. The rest of the League only visited, practically allowing the pair of them free reign in Mount Justice."
"I apologize for this dereliction of duty," Red Tornado piped up robotically. "I am… what is the phrase? Red with embarrassment."
"It was not your fault, Red Tornado," J'onn assured him. "You were unintentionally a part of this. It was Batman who suggested Red Tornado take the job as Den Mother."
"Two years ago you knew that test would fail," Red Tornado said suddenly. His bullet-shaped dome swiveled to Batman. The dark eye slits fixed almost accusingly upon the caped crusader. "With the Thanagarian cloaking devices. You remanded Superboy and Miss Martian to Mount Justice and for them to have extra training together."
Wonder Woman leaned forward ponderously, her gaze boring into Batman. "And let's not forget how M'gann came to be on the team. Though we did not know she was a White Martian, J'onn explained to us that she would be punished for leaving Mars without the proper authority. Batman hatched the plan to have her on the team as a way to help others as she desired to do but also have a place for her to stay during her time on Earth."
"That is one of the very first thoughts that crossed my mind, Diana, but then I had to ask myself to what end? Why conspire to bring Superboy and Miss Martian closer together? Then I recalled what Batman was doing when we first spoke of M'gann staying on Earth and it all fell into place." He touched a button again and the still-images vanished and the profiles of Conner and M'gann once more took center stage.
The helixes of their DNA's spun next to their pictures as biological information filled out their profiles. "Superboy is not Superman's perfect double making his already hard to read Kryptonian DNA nearly impossible to replicate. Superboy's volatile Kryptonian DNA was balanced out with human DNA belonging to Lex Luthor. Batman ascertained this early on and relinquished the secret to no one, but, to his credit it was a happenstance discovery. He had been in the process of trying to unravel Superboy's DNA but to no effect.
"Now enter Miss Martian." J'onn's brow furrowed. "Whereas Kryptonian DNA is nearly impossible to replicate Martians cannot be cloned by even the most highly scientific of means. Our DNA is too morphic for even the greatest minds in the galaxy to try and emulate.
"So we have the only living quasi-clone of a Kryptonian in existence, a being who we cannot replicate but in time our enemies might, and we have a Martian girl living under the same roof." He clicked another button and profiles with their biology and their pictures disappeared, leaving only the pictures of their DNA and cells. "And, while Martians cannot be cloned in a lab or manufactured unnaturally, Martian shape-shifting allows for practically any type of conception with every type of humanoid in the known universe.
"So we have two new heroes on Earth, boy and girl. Left to their own devices, enmeshed in one another's lives as teammates, friends, all mostly by themselves. For two years. A romance that was intentionally kept under wraps from even Black Canary. High school, dances, dates, and the list goes on and on…"
"Batman was the one who suggested M'gann join the team. Batman suggested to Red Tornado he should be Den Mother, an android who, for all his strength, rarely understands the context of emotions and feelings outright let alone subtly. It was Batman who suggested the two attend school, Batman who set up a security test in which Miss Martian and Superboy were doomed to fail. It goes on and on and on…. I think I do not need to say more, I trust you have drawn the same conclusion as I?"
Superman's face was troubled and grim. "I think we have J'onn."
"Hell yes we have, and if none of you want to say it out loud, I will," Green Arrow snapped angrily as he shot to his feet. He pointed a finger accusingly at Batman. "You pointy-eared son of a bitch, you want them to have a baby!"
0000
"They're here," M'gann commented as the two motorcycles pulled into the drive.
Standing in front of a large bay window, M'gann and Conner watched as the headlights of the bikes flicked off and pair parked. The last remnant of overcast daylight revealed one of the riders in dark leather with a blue bird icon on his jacket with a satchel over his chest while the other wore a black jacket with red patches and a helmet with a Red X in its center.
Conner reached up and placed a hand on her scalloped shoulder, his touch firm and comforting. "You ready for this?"
M'gann shifted into her human guise and flashed him a loving smirk. "With you at my side? Always."
Conner chuckled, unable to help himself and kissed her on the side of her head, her rich red hair tickling his chin just as the doorbell chimed.
Regretfully they parted and moved for the door. M'gann opened it mentally and they met the pair at the door just as they strode inside.
"Finally some friendly faces!" Dick pulled off his biker helm and smiled roguishly at them.
"Dick!" M'gann squeaked in glee and closed the distance between them. She wrapped her arms around him in a big hug. "It's been way too long!"
"Definitely," Dick laughed. He untangled himself from the hug, giving M'gann a pleasantly surprised once over. "You look a little different."
M'gann shrugged happily. "I got a new perspective and decided to make a few changes that were just… me."
"If Wally were here he'd have a few things to say that would get him walloped by Artemis," Dick opined and when M'gann wasn't looking he flashed Conner a wink.
Conner grinned and rolled his eyes as he always did when the subject of Wally trying to enchant M'gann came up. For the first three months of the team's creation the speedster had tried to convince himself he and M'gann were together until it'd finally clicked that M'gann wasn't interested. They still laughed about it to this day, especially when Artemis had a thing or two to say.
"Aren't you going to introduce us to your… friend?" M'gann said uncertainly, unsure what to label the vigilante wearing the biker helmet with the stark red X.
Dick frowned and turned, gesturing towards the silent menace. "Mortal enemy Red X meet my teammates Conner and M'gann. Conner and M'gann meet mortal enemy Red X."
"Just Leana will do," Red X supplied as she pulled off her helmet. Silky red hair spilled out after her and she shook it free of sweat. "Since none of us are standing on secret identities anyway."
Conner's eyes widened in shock. "Leana Luthor?!"
"That's the name," Leana laughed mirthlessly. "My dad's not the only one with a double life." She tucked her helm under one arm then stepped forward, looking Conner up and down. "I've been waiting for quite a while to meet you, little brother."
Before Conner could even formulate a reply she flapped a hand dismissively his way. "C'mon, I know just about everything our dad's been up to. I always did want to meet you albeit under nicer circumstances."
"You did once, at the prom," Conner informed her once he found his voice again.
The revelation caused Leana to arch a brow. "That was you? Corey Kinkaid?"
"That'd be the one." Conner nodded.
Leana looked to his right and peered at M'gann. "And I'm guessing this is the fabulous Melissa Mace."
"Right again," M'gann said brightly. She stuck out a hand excitedly. "But you can just call me M'gann."
"I see you two recovered from your prom tiff." Leana winked at Conner. "You're welcome for the advice, Blue-Eyes."
Conner put a hand on M'gann's shoulder. "It helped a lot and you were right."
"Luthor's usually are," Leana said with a wink.
Conner winced at that but hid it well.
"I'd hate to interrupt but if you two are done with the family reunion let's get to work," Dick said as he pulled out a map and a series of folders from his satchel.
"Sure," Conner agreed with a grin then lightly tapped Dick's jacket with the back of his hand. "As soon as you explain that. Call me crazy but it looks like a symbol."
Dick looked down nervously. "Oh that. I uh–
"He's going by Nightwing now believe it or not." Leana jerked a thumb in his direction. "Former Boy Wonder over here was workshopping that all the way from Metropolis."
"I knew I should have dropped you off at Blackgate when I had the chance," Dick grumbled.
Leana shrugged. "You need me, remember?"
"I think it's great, Dick." M'gann smiled. "Nightwing. It fits."
"Agreed," Conner chipped in. "You've come a long way from Robin."
"And longer still to go," Dick replied with a grin as he moved towards the kitchen. "But I'll make that journey as Nightwing. Now c'mon, we've got some bad guys to stop."
They entered the spacious kitchen and Dick unrolled the map on the table. The playfulness in the former Boy Wonder's face was gone, replaced by seriousness and concern as they got down to business. "Between what me and Red X have figured out thanks to your suggestion about cloning Perfection, what I'm about to say isn't good news." He flicked his gaze to Superboy. "We did some investigating around Metropolis and the Cadmus Labs where you were made Conner, is no more. Either the G-gnomes scattered and went underground which I think likely or they were taken along with everything else."
"Taken where?" Conner asked tensely.
Dick briefly searched the map and tapped a finger beneath a small but familiar island nestled in the warm south Atlantic waters. "Santa Prisca."
"Hey props to them for location. Hot islands paradise and horrors beyond our comprehension all in one convenient place," Leana commented sarcastically as she drew up a chair and sat.
Dick ignored her. "The move coincided with the theft of those experimental alloys that might make new Amazos and since the island technically belongs to a very anti-superhero country…."
The League can't swoop in and take care of it," M'gann concluded.
"You got it Miss M, meaning it'll just be the team. Off the record. Just like old times."
Conner stared intently at the small, blue-green outline that highlighted the insidious island. "What's the goal?"
Leana reached into her jacket pocket and laid two malleable red Xs on the table. "Destruction. We break those test-tubes and pods and whatever else they have out there and leave them with nothing. Personally I wouldn't mind drowning those bastard scientists either but you hero types seem to be against that sort of thing."
Dick shot her a warning glare. "Very against it. We don't kill. We just want to destroy what we can before they can get any substantial operations underway. But we can't do it alone." He looked at the trio seated around the table. "Now I know I can find Kid Flash, but Artemis, Z, and Aqualad may be harder to find, now if we split up we might be able to track them all down in about a week."
"I can probably reach them now," M'gann offered. "Aqualad might still be too far out of range, but it's worth a try."
Dick's brow furrowed. "The rest of the team is scattered across the US, I think it might be a bit out of your range Miss M."
"Not anymore," M'gann assured him. Her eyes went green as she focused on the team-link that had long lay dormant, then, like a sleeping giant it woke up.
"Kid Flash, Zatanna, Artemis, Kaldur, anyone there?" Dick asked through the mind-link.
"Woah, Dick, what are you doing in my head?" Z asked over the link.
The former Boy Wonder couldn't help but smile. "Just making sure you're still thinking about me," he teased.
"Well duh but I meant the mind-link. Are you and M'gann nearby? What's going on?"
"It's a long story," Dick replied.
"I've got a lot of time to listen as long as you and Z cut down on the flirting," Artemis chimed in over the mind-link.
"Same here," Wally laughed in agreement.
"Nice. Then I'll keep it short. Looks like the only one we're missing is Kaldur, but I guess we'll have to do without him on this one. Everyone ready for a little bit of action?"
"Hell yes," Artemis cheered. "I've been dying to get back out there. You know how infuriating it is to try and sneak out of Green Arrow's safe-house in California? What am I supposed to shoot, tumble-weeds?"
"I'm in," said Z, then her voice softened. "And it's good to hear from you, Dick."
"Been way to long, Z," Dick replied warmly.
"Hey less flirty more flighty," Wally said. "I haven't seen my girl in over five months. I'm in too. Just shoot me the coords."
"I'll swing by and pick up Artemis," offered Z. "Just tell me where you are, Arty."
"The ass-crack of here, there, and nowhere," huffed Artemis.
"So, Death Valley?" Z concluded.
"You got it magic girl," Artemis deadpanned. "So please get me out of here before I start going crazy."
"Perfect. Meet you all here," Dick said with a sigh of relief.
M'gann mentally fed them the coordinates and then they waited.
In less than two minutes there was a knock on the door and Kid Flash sped inside.
He was a red and yellow blur as he rounded the table and wrapped Conner, M'gann, and Dick in a group hug. "Am I glad to see you guys, it's been so fucking long!"
"Way too long," Artemis's disembodied said throughout the kitchen. A second later a golden sigil glowed against the ground and in a flash of light the archer and Zatanna stood amongst them.
Artemis carried a green duffel-bag with her gear while Zatanna flung off her top-hat and let it disappear in a puff of purple magic. As the two stepped out of the magical sigil and stood in the kitchen it became apparent that change had happened to them all. Each had experienced their own journeys in the time the team had been apart. Joys and sorrows which had nurtured them like sun and rain had helped them grow.
For a heartbeat they all stared at one another then the disbanded team began speaking all at once.
"Z!"
"Dick!"
"Conner!
"Wally!"
"Artemis!"
"M'gann!"
"Marco!" Leana Luthor chipped in.
The talking faded as the newly arrived heroes looked at the vigilante.
Leana leaned back in her chair and gave a two-fingered salute. "Well either one of you say 'Polo' or maybe we get down to business?"
"Uh, who is this?" Wally asked, jerking a thumb in Leana's direction.
Dick frowned. "Red X."
"And she's not sitting on a bus headed for Bell Reve why?" Artemis inquired with displeasure.
Dick sighed. "Long story. She's really not the criminal we thought she was."
"Thank you Boy Wonder."
"Still a criminal though," Dick added on. "But for the moment she's helping us with the mission."
"Can we trust her?" Z asked dubiously.
Leana flashed a frosty smile. "You can, as long as we take down my dear old dad."
0000
Chaos erupted in the Watchtower. Heroes climbed to their feet shouting what they thought all at once, their opinions heavy on their hearts and firing out in a tumult of emotions. Some looked shock, other furious, others curious as to the ramifications. There was emotion and logic, empathy and cold calculation all shooting in every direction.
J'onn looked across the shouting heroes to Batman, a ledged, green brow raised in silent question. Did he intend to provide an explanation?
"I want to show you all something," Batman said sternly, answering the silent query.
"I don't think we need to hear anything from you, you sick freak!" snapped Green Arrow. "Who gave you the right to play god?!"
J'onn shut his eyes, sending out a mental shout to the team. "Silence please!"
The sudden blast of telepathy rocked the team enough for all of them to fall quiet.
"Thank you," J'onn said calmly, opening his eyes once more. "While I am sure we are all still reeling from this revelation, Batman deserves an opportunity to explain himself." He stepped away from his end of the table and gestured at the empty space with one arm. "Batman if you please."
Leaguers begrudgingly took their seats once more as Batman glided noiselessly towards the head of the table. He turned towards the gathered heroes and clicked a button on his dark gauntlet. The screen behind him winked to life once more but instead of the DNA information belonging to Conner and M'gann there was drone footage.
The drone flew over some mountainous, bucolic, European country-side, the land sloping and green. Spring had newly come there and the rich green grass was awash with millions of wildflowers.
"Very idyllic, Batman. What are you trying to do, convince us to chip in on a damned honey-moon package for them?" Black Canary snarled in outrage.
Batman ignored her fury as the drone flew over the mountain and dipped towards a quaint village at the foot of the mountain, or, at least what had been a quaint village. The once picturesque, rural village was completely destroyed. Craters squatted where lofts and homes used to be. Shops were on fire, their windows smashed and fire belching out of their ruins. Cobblestones were churned and jagged and the small cars and motor bikes had been twisted and crushed into abhorrent shapes.
Then, as the drone flew closer, they saw the bodies. They were scattered in the wreckage, men, women, and children. Here a severed leg, there a jacket sleeve drenched with blood with the arm still inside. The people lay like fallen lumps, bodies contorted into a thousand different horrific poses. Blood ran through what little of the street that was left.
J'onn's stomached churned and dismay clawed at him but he carefully hid the emotion from his face. "What is this?"
"Drone footage from Markovia. Its county is ruled by a Dictator known as Frederik Markov and had ties with Bialya," Batman explained. "They, along with seven other nations strictly forbid the entry of heroes on their sovereign territory. Last night metahuman negotiations between Markovia and Bialya fell through. Markov decided to push back against Queen Bee wanting him to extradite their metahuman criminals to Bialya and paid the price."
Superman stared at the images, distraught, but couldn't look away. "That's… that's terrible." His heart ached for the poor people there who had been killed no doubt by Queen Bee's orders, but he wasn't putting the pieces together. "How does this link to what you're being accused of?"
"This is the creature that cause the massacre." Batman tapped another button and the drone zoomed in to a creature that lay against the side of a half-destroyed clocktower like a forgotten doll. It was a horrendous thing, with sallow gray flesh that was already rotting and putrid. It had no eyes. Its body was wholly disproportionate and spikes stuck out from its shoulders, feet, and knees.
"Great Hera what took that thing down?" Wonder Woman asked.
"Nothing," Batman replied. "It died on its own. Sources say it perished about an hour into its rampage."
"All that in one hour?" Shazam said aghast. "What was it, one of Darksied's minions?"
"No. It was supposed to be a clone of Doomsday."
Batman said it so evenly so grimly just like he said everything else, but J'onn felt a chill race up his spine and coil against the base of his neck. "This was the Light's doing?"
"The very same," Batman replied.
No one had no reply to that.
"There has always been a race between good and evil," Batman said sadly, suddenly, taking the horrified League off-guard. Very few of them had ever heard Batman sound so, well, human. "We create safeguards and they find a way around the safeguards. They make weapons, we find a way to defeat the weapons. We find something precious and they steal it away, we get it back and they work on stealing it again. It is an endless sprint.
"Evil has many advantages in this race. They don't care about morals or laws or truth. They'll do whatever needs to be done to see their aims achieved. Over time the League, we, seemed to have forgotten this. We thought we were keeping pace, perhaps even outdistancing evil, but then there was Project Superboy. Our enemies partially managed to unravel Kryptonian DNA. The ramifications of that are astounding and the knowledge is nowhere within our reach. Simply put, we can't replicate it. We can't find the flaw that will keep us in pace with evil. And the divide is only getting worse." Batman gestured back to the screen. "Every year their research yields more results. Two years ago it was thought impossible that a Doomsday clone could be created and yet there it lays. Its cells couldn't keep it alive, but it is only a matter of time. Science only progresses. We are losing the race. In time we might be able to see how they created Superboy, or find a way to prevent the creation of these newer, more dangerous clones, but we're probably decades away from a breakthrough and by the time we find it the science might have already changed, a newer, better way for clone-making.
"I needed what we couldn't create, what couldn't be grown in a lab." He looked to J'onn. "Martian's have incredible abilities, fire is just about your people's only true weakness but your DNA is impossible for cloning. As you said it is far too morphic." He looked to Superman. "And while we can't recreate you, they did create Superboy, someone who possess many of your abilities and may acquire them all in time.
"The fact of the matter is, if we can't make what we need artificially, we need to make it naturally. We need to get back in the race."
"Bruce we don't do this, we don't play god." Clark rose to his feet. "That's what Luthor and the Light try to do!"
"We either catch up or fall behind."
"We have always found a better way, Batman," Diana said. "We have always found an answer without having to resort to our enemies' tactics."
"I use our enemies' tactics, Diana," Batman said. "I fight fire with fire, fear with fear."
She shook her head. "Not like they do. There are some lines you will never cross."
Batman gave a terse nod. "You're right, and I haven't. Everything that has grown between Superboy and Miss Martian has been their choice. I would never take that from them. I would never demand they have a baby. That's why I didn't tell them or any of you, I didn't want the pressure of expectation on them."
"You isolated them in a last-man-on-earth scenario!" Clark shouted. "And then you –" Realization struck him as he smacked the heel of his hand to his brow. "They're in Rhode Island right now together. We have to stop this, we have to let them know!"
Batman's grim frown deepened. "We can't afford to do that."
"Bruce, their relationship is a LIE."
"No," J'onn interrupted suddenly. "It isn't."
The gathered Leaguers looked back at J'onn, their faces a torrent of emotions, fury, incredulity, agreement, or staunch disapproval.
"When I entered M'gann's mind while she was healing I sensed her deep love for Conner and it took no telepathy to prove Conner felt the same for M'gann," J'onn explained. "Batman might have arranged their meeting but what lays between them is purely genuine."
"So you're for this, J'onn?" Green Arrow asked in outrage.
"Absolutely not. What Batman has done is abominable. I called this meeting so that we could ensure it never happens again, to found safeguards and rules that unequivocally prevent us from creating some sort of artifice for a new generation of heroes…."
Green Arrow frowned. "I sense a 'but' somewhere in there."
"It's been two years and they're in love," J'onn said simply. "Batman is not wrong about the Light's cloning procedures getting better. If Conner and M'gann have a baby we have our best chance at a long-term solution that squashes their cloning schemes forever."
Green Arrow pushed the heels of his hands to his eyes and threw his head back in utter frustration. "I don't believe what I'm hearing. So we just let Bruce get his way on this? We keep our mouths shut and become party to this conspiracy to create some sort of Human-Kryptonian-Martian chosen one?"
"That's exactly what he's saying," Batman said. "There is no guarantee Superboy and Miss Martian have reconciled or even want to have a child, but if they do, we will have a permanent foil for the Light's genetic schemes."
"How did you even sketch all this out?" Clark asked with a defeated sigh.
"He is known for being prepared for anything," J'onn remarked wryly.
Green Arrow thumped a fist to the table. "Yeah well old Matchmaker Batman is just going to have to come up with a new plan. As a full-time Leaguer I call for two votes. All in favor of telling the paramours how Batman went out of his way to set them up, and all in favor of voting Batman out of the League for playing genetic bingo say aye…."