Lex Luthor had many attributes that he was justly proud of; he was the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company, he was the holder of more than three dozen patents that had revolutionized the world several times over, and he was one of the smartest men on the face of the planet.
But what Lex was right now was enraged; no, that wasn't the correct word to properly describe what Lex was feeling. No, what Lex was feeling was apoplectic; and the reason for reaching this new level of rage that seemed to consume his entire being was a simple laptop that sat in front of him and displayed a video that had been uploaded to the internet several days ago and had already been viewed by more than two million people across the globe, a number which was still climbing.

As Lex watched the video of himself, Ras Al Ghul, and the rest of the League of Assassins dance around and sing "Men in Tights," he felt himself reach unconsciously into his desk drawer and pull out a small revolver; a moment later, Lex fired several shots into the laptop screen, not stopping until he heard the click indicating that he was out of bullets.

Throwing the revolver away in disgust, Lex rose to his feet and stalked to the large window; locking his hands behind his back, Lex stared out at the city of Metropolis, his thoughts whirring angrily as he gazed down at the seat of his empire.
"The whole world is laughing at me," Lex growled as he gazed out at the city; the more Lex considered the current situation, the angrier he seemed to become, his rage reaching levels that even he didn't know existed within himself.

"To be fair," Lex's assistant, Mercy Graves, replied in a low voice, "The world is laughing at the League of Assassins as well. I doubt Ras Al Ghul will long allow that to continue."

Turning to face his assistant, Lex's eyes narrowed as he thought over her words; he could see the barely contained rage that her face showed, and felt satisfied that she understood his current mood, since it was one, she shared as well.
"No doubt Ras will have to make an example of Arcane and Lunatic," Lex sneered as he turned back to the window, "He will not have a choice, not unless he wishes his reputation, and that of the League of Assassins, to take a rather large hit."
"So, what are we going to do?" Mercy asked, "Allow the League to handle it?"

"Of course not!" Lex spat back, losing his calm demeanor for a moment, "We will simply have to move faster than Ras to achieve retribution."
"Meaning?" Mercy asked with a raised brow,
"Meaning," Lex sneered as he turned back to face her, "That I will not allow Ras Al Ghul and his band of martial art fanatics to get to those two children before I do! I want you to put a bounty on Arcane and Lunatic's head so large that every assassin, mercenary, and monster will literally be killing each other for the chance to get to them first!"

"That's an impressive order," Mercy replied with a smirk, "How much exactly should I put as reward?"
"Did I stutter?" Lex growled, "Money is no object! I just want those brats found and brought to me, alive!"
"Alive?" Mercy asked in surprise, "Are you sure about that, sir?"
"No one will kill them but me!" Lex spat back at once, stalking quickly back to his chair and tenting his fingers, his elbows resting on the desk in front of him as he sat back down, "Those two insolent brats dared to disrespect Lex Luthor, and I will make them dearly regret that mistake before I finally allow them to die."

Swallowing nervously at the madness that she saw in her boss's eyes, Mercy quickly made her way out of the office to make a few phone calls; while it was true that what Arcane and Lunatic had done to her was humiliating, even she felt sorry for what the pair of them would soon be experiencing before Lex was done with them, and that was if the League of Assassins didn't get to them first.
XXXX

"Harry, we can't keep doing this," Dinah 'Black Canary' said patiently as she gazed at the scowling boy sitting across from her, "This is our fifth session together, and all you've done is sit and glare at me the entire time."
"Just because I'm being ordered to be here, doesn't mean I have to talk to you," Harry sneered back as he glared at the heroine, "And I have nothing I want to say!"

Smiling patiently, Dinah gazed at the boy who had become her newest patient for the last few weeks; he was sitting across from her, with only a small coffee table between the two; Dinah was wearing her normal 'Canary' outfit, which consisted of a black top under a motorcycle jacket and fishnet stockings. Harry, on the other hand, was wearing a black sleeveless 'Drowning Pool' t-shirt, a torn pair blue jeans, and a black and red pair of all-star sneakers; his long hair was tied behind his head, and his raven earring had been replaced with a simple small gold hoop.
As Harry crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Dinah, she couldn't help but let out a sigh at what appeared to be another wasted session.
"Then, I guess we'll just have to try again tomorrow, won't we?"

"What?" Harry cried in annoyance, "Ron and Hermione are coming tomorrow!"
"Yes they are," Dinah replied with a smirk, "And instead of hanging out with them, you'll be here with me."
"That's not fair!" Harry cried angrily, "That's… that's blackmail!"

Dinah couldn't help but laugh at that, causing Harry's glare to intensify,
"Maybe it is, but if it's the only way to get you to talk to me, then so be it."

"What is with you people!" Harry scoffed, throwing his hands up as he fell back against the chair, "I got possessed by a demon! So what? I'm still alive, and feel better than ever, so what do we need to talk about!"

"Harry, we both know that is not all that happened…" Dinah said softly, making Harry sneer at her.
"Oh yeah, I forgot the part where your friends trapped me in a magic circle and then proceeded to torture me!"
Dinah frowned at that, biting her lip anxiously; her personal opinion was that Batman and the others had gone too far, and she had in fact, told them so when she volunteered to be the Justice League's liaison with the Titans.

"The Justice League's approach may have been wrong," Dinah replied in a soft voice, "Of that, we can both agree. But their hearts were in the right place, Harry. They were trying to help you."

"Yeah right," Harry scoffed, rolling his eyes at Dinah, "They have a funny way of showing it."
"Harry, why don't we just skip to the real reason you're so angry, and who that anger is directed at…"
"You don't know anything," Harry sneered back, looking away from Dinah, and toward the large window that showed the sea outside.
"I know more than you think," Dinah replied with a patient smile,
"Oh yeah?" Harry scoffed, looking back at her with a raised brow, "Go on, then. Enthrall me with your acumen."

"You've suffered horrors that most can scarcely imagine," Dinah replied sadly, "Abused by the ones who were supposed to take care of you."
"Shut up…" Harry growled softly, looking away from the heroine,
"And then one day, your big sister comes and saves you," Dinah continued, "And promises that you'll never be hurt like that again."

"I said shut up," Harry growled, louder this time as he squeezed his eyes shut, as if he could block out the sound of her voice.
"And then when the Justice League hurt you, you watched while she did nothing to stop it, and now you feel betrayed."
"She did betray me!" Harry shouted, jumping to his feet, and using his tentacles to throw the coffee table across the room, "She promised! She promised me that she would always protect me! And then she just let them hurt me!"
"And you hate her for that…" Dinah said softly,
"Yes! I mean no!" Harry said quickly as he began to pace in front of Dinah, "I mean…. I don't know!"

Falling almost defeatedly back onto the chair, Harry rested his head in his hands for a moment before looking up at Dinah with a heartbroken expression; Dinah wisely chose to stay quiet, sensing that Harry was approaching an important moment in his therapy.
"I don't hate her," Harry said softly, "I mean, she's my big sister. She saved me from the Dursley's! She's the reason I want to become a hero, so how can I hate her! But I…."

"You feel betrayed," Dinah added, making Harry quickly nod his head,
"Exactly! She promised that she wouldn't let anyone hurt me again! And then she just stood there while your 'friends' tortured me! She just let them do it!"
"Harry, Raven didn't know what the League had planned," Dinah said gently, "The spell that Dr. Fate used was both crude and dangerous. He should have planned better to ensure you weren't tortured like that. From what I heard, the moment it became obvious that something was wrong, Raven tried to stop it. She did, in fact, try to save you."

Tears were now running down Harry's cheeks, and he angrily wiped them away as Dinah continued in the same gentle tone as before.
"Raven even risked her sanity and soul when she followed Dr. Fate into your mind. Trigon could very well have left her a brain-dead vegetable, yet she accepted that risk because you are her family. Your sister is hurting more than you can imagine, Harry. She thinks that the last remaining member of her family hates her; you are all she has left, and I truly believe that the thought of you leaving her terrifies her beyond anything she's ever faced. Because if you leave, she'll be all alone again, and that to her is a fate worse than death."

Biting his lip, Harry looked down at his lap for a moment before finally taking a deep breath and mumbling something so softly that Dinah couldn't catch it in time.
"What was that, Harry?"
"Trigon showed me a vision of the future…" Harry said softly, causing Dinah's eyes to widen at the fear she heard in Harry's voice, "He showed me who I become, and how it happens…."

"Go on, Harry," Dinah urged gently,
"I become a monster…" Harry whispered in a hollow voice before launching into what Trigon showed him. At the end of his story, Harry looked up from his lap and finally faced Dinah, and the heroine felt her heartbreak at the hollow look in Harry's eyes; a look no twelve-year-old should have.

"I killed so many heroes…" Harry said softly, tears running down his face, "I don't even know how many, I only recognized a few of the bodies. All I've ever wanted is to be a hero like Raven; to make our parents proud of me. To make HER proud of me. But what if my destiny isn't to be a hero, but to be this world's destroyer? How can I possibly look Raven in the eye when I know that I'll be just as bad, if not worse, than the man who killed our parents!?"
Sudden understanding bloomed in Dinah, and she mentally kicked herself for not realizing it sooner; Harry was angry with Raven, yes. But more than that, he was ashamed of what he had seen his future self do; all Harry wanted to do was be a hero. Instead, Trigon had forced the boy to watch as Harry became the worst of villains.

Before she even knew what she was doing, Dinah had risen to her feet, walked across the room, and kneeled in front of Harry, placing a calming hand on his knee as the boy bit his lip to keep from crying any more than he had already.
"Harry, listen to me," Dinah said gently, "That future that Trigon showed you is a lie!"

"How can you be sure!" Harry retorted in a hollow voice,
"I want you to listen to me very carefully, Harry," Dinah commanded with such force that all Harry could do was nod silently, "You're not a bad person! You're a very good person, who bad things have happened to, do you understand?"
Harry could do nothing but nod, before lowering his head in shame; Dinah refused to allow him to slide backwards, however, and placed her hand under his chin, forcing his head back up.

"We all have both light and dark inside us; what matters is the part you choose to act on. That's what decides who you really are."
"I don't want to become him…" Harry whimpered softly and causing Dinah to smile,
"And that is why you won't."

"I…. I don't understand," Harry said softly as Dinah smiled up at him,
"You have a lot of people who care about you, Harry. And those people will never allow you to become that monster you saw, so never think that you are alone. We're here for you, Harry, and we will never let you fall."
For a moment, Harry simply stared at Dinah as though searching her eyes for deception; a moment later, Harry lunged into Dinah's arm's and quietly cried into her shoulder as she rubbed his back.

After several moments of this, Harry finally released his hold on Dinah and hastily wiped his eyes before taking his seat again; smiling gently, Dinah rose to her feet and retook her own seat.

"I think we've made real progress here, Harry," Dinah said happily, "But I think we can still do more. For now though, I want you to stop being so hostile to your sister; perhaps even have a civilized conversation with her without coming to shouting at each other."
Harry couldn't help but laugh at Dinah's smirk as she said the last part,
"I'll try my best," Harry smirked.

"Harry, I'm serious," Dinah quickly said, "Raven is really hurting since you stopped talking to her. Even a simple hello would mean the world to her."
"I will…..try," Harry said softly, earning a genuine smile from Dinah,
"That's all I can ask for. We'll talk more next week, and I'll come up with some ideas to help with your anger."

"Okay…" Harry said softly as he rose and made his way to the door; before exiting, he turned back to Dinah one last time.
"Hey Dinah…?"
"Yes, Harry?"
"Um…. Thanks, I guess….."
"You're welcome, Harry," Dinah replied with a smirk, "Now get out of here. You have to get the Tower ready for your friends, remember?"
"Oh yeah!" Harry said cheerfully, waving one final time before speeding out the door and down the hall. As he passed by Raven, Harry slowed and said softly,

"Hello."

Quickly speeding away, Harry missed Raven's look of surprise, which quickly turned into a smile.
XXXX

Author's Note:
Next time! The Weasley's and Hermione see firsthand what it means to be a superhero and what will happen once the bounties on Harry and Loony's heads hit the street.
Tune in next time to find out!