TW: Glad you enjoyed it. Yep, he is. Glad to hear it. I thought of a few characters who could have been such as Charles but it would have gotten too complicated to include that.

Gallifrey 22.3: Glad you enjoyed it.

Traveling Guest: Really was. The sad fact is by the point they met, nothing could have stopped Lex from going down that path. Cool.

DCMarvel heroes: You'll see.

Watchtower

Morning

Rogue was on her way to the kitchen, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she walked. Entering the kitchen, she saw Gambit sipping a cup of coffee.

"Morning, Chère," Gambit greeted.

"Hey, morning," Rogue said, her face flush as she remembered a certain dream she'd had last night, one staring the Cajun in front of her.

"You feeling well? Your face is red," Gambit asked and Rogue coughed.

"Fine, thank you," Rogue said uncomfortably.

Her conversation with Logan flashed through Rogue's mind as she wondered why Gambit seemed to have such an effect on her. Lots of men had shown her interest, both before and after her powers developed. Yet Gambit was the only one who seemed to get under her skin and, no matter how hard she tried being annoyed at him, she couldn't seem to stop herself from being affected by him.

"Here, Chère," Gambit said, passing her a cup of coffee.

"Thank you," Rogue muttered, taking a sip and surprised to find it was the way she liked it. "Anyone else up?"

"Gambit saw Allen up earlier, but not sure where he is now," Gambit shrugged.

In the main room, Barry was staring out the window, deep in thought. But he still felt when someone walked up beside him.

"We haven't really had a chance to touch base about what went down with Thawne. How are you doing?" Oliver asked and Barry sighed.

"I don't know, man. Thawne…I killed him," Barry said having trouble even saying the words out loud. "Darkseid or not, I stabbed him in a way I knew would kill him."

"It was self-defense, Barry," Oliver said immediately but Barry shook his head.

"No, I wanted him dead. You know I did. I saw my chance and I took it. But in the end…it didn't change anything. Doesn't bring my mom back, doesn't get my dad out of prison. And I just…"

"You feel empty," Oliver supplied and Barry nodded slowly. "I'm gonna tell you something I learned five years ago: revenge doesn't end your pain, it adds to it. I had to learn that the hard way. By the time I figured that out, I had done a lot of things I regret, things I stayed up a lot of nights thinking about, wishing I could take back. A friend of mine gave me a piece of advice I didn't take at the time that I wish I had: don't let vengeance consume you, or it may turn you into a monster."

"Sounds like a smart guy," Barry noted and Oliver chuckled slightly.

"He is...Are you gonna be okay, Barry?"

"Eventually, I think so. Right now…I just wanna be alone," Barry said and Oliver nodded in understand.

"I get it. But Barry…the first person you kill, they stay with you. And it should, because you're a good man. But you don't have to go through this alone."

With those words, Oliver walked off, leaving Barry alone with his thoughts.

In another room in the building, two people were lying in a bed. Natasha stirred, opening her eyes to see Matt sleeping next to her.

The previous night

Matt was in the kitchen when Natasha entered the room, lingering for a moment. They both knew he knew she was there, but he said nothing, waiting for her to speak.

"Dex, he was the FBI agent who impersonated you as Daredevil," Natasha noted and Matt nodded.

"After Midland Circle, I was gravely injured when I heard Fisk had been let out of Prison. Fisk had figured out my identity and recruited Dex to ruin Daredevil's reputation and frame me for his actions. I was…in a dark place. I set Dex up to go after Fisk. My plan was to have Fisk not survive the night," Matt confessed, stunning Natasha.

"I didn't think you had it in you to do that," Natasha noted and Matt smiled tightly as he turned around to face her.

"As it turns out, I didn't. At the last minute, I stopped him. There was a fight and Fisk threw Dex against the wall, his spin broke. Prometheus apparently supplied him with a new one, and now he wants payback on me," Matt said and it was silent for a long moment.

"We all have regrets in our past, things we'd go back and change. I now that better than anyone," Natasha noted and Matt sighed.

"I was in a dark place, like I said. I'd given up on…just about everything. Luckily, I had some friends that weren't ready to give up on me," Matt said and Natasha smiled.

"We could all use friends like that," Natasha said, thinking of Clint and Steve before pausing. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, Natasha. But I had to stay, I couldn't leave," Matt explained.

"I know. I understand. I felt like I had to go at the time, told myself I was going straight. Turns out, I just traded in the KGB for Hydra," Natasha said with a grimace. "But Matt, I never stopped thinking about you."

"Neither did I," Matt said honestly.

Even when he'd been with Elektra, as much as he loved her, there had also been a part of him that had been thinking of Natasha.

Neither was sure who moved first, but they found themselves kissing each other passionately.

Now

"Morning," Matt said as he sat up, opening his eyes.

"Morning," Natasha echoed and it was quiet for a moment. "So, what now?"

"I don't know," Matt admitted. "I know I care about you, that I never stopped. But sometimes, loving someone isn't enough. You're still on the run, and I just can't abandon my city."

"Then there's Ross and The Accords," Natasha sighed. "So I guess we just talk about it later?"

"Later," Matt agreed.

Kent farm

Same time

Clark was staring into space when Lois set a coffee cup down in front of him.

"You okay, Smallville?" Lois asked, a little concerned.

"Yeah. Just…thinking about the past," Clark sighed even as he reached out, picking up the cup ad taking a drink.

"You mean about Lex?" Lois said knowingly and Clark smiled tightly. "Seeing him again must have dug up a lot of issues."

"I keep thinking about the past, trying to see a moment where I could have pulled Lex back from the edge, before it was too late. But I realize now that Lex was too far gone by the time I met him. For a long time, I felt like I'd given up on him too soon. And maybe I did but…At the end of the day, Lex wouldn't have fallen as far as he did if he didn't want too," Clark said and it was quiet for a moment.

"I know you have the whole 'savior complex' thing going for you, but Clark, you can't save someone from themselves," Lois said gently.

"I know. Doesn't make it any easier to accept," Clark said with a sigh.

His phone then buzzed with a text. Clark pulled it out and frowned as he read the text.

"Smallville? Something wrong?" Lois asked.

"Chloe wants us to turn on the news," Clark said, a pit of dread forming in his stomach as he got to his feet.

The two walked into the living room and Clark turned on the TV and changed to a local news station. They watched as Ross stood at a podium, the caption 'Secretary of State speaks after Raft breakout' on the screen.

"Earlier this week, an attack was carried out on The Raft. Several criminals were set free, various personal assaulted, and thousands of dollars' worth of equipment was destroyed. Among the vigilantes carrying out this attack was the alleged hero who calls himself The Flash.

"For too long, we have allowed these 'heroes' to run amok, to do as they please with no consequences. For too long, people have been living in fear. That ends now! Let them live in fear for a change. They will not be able to step outside their homes, go to the store, a restaurant without being aware of the fact that they were not welcome. And any of their supporters will share the same fate!"

Ross then walked off, ignoring questions reporters fired at him. Clark watched the screen, clenching his hands into fists as he realized what Ross had just done.

"This is bad, really bad. He's turning up the heat on you guys," Lois muttered.

"He's done worse than that. He's letting us know that he's going to go after those we love next. No one is safe anymore," Clark said grimly.

Unspecified location

Same time

Moira, Thea and Roy all blinked as bags were removed from their heads.

"Roy!"

Roy turned his head, quickly spotting Diggle and Felicity a few feet away. And they weren't the only familiar faces. Queen and Laurel were there, so were Cisco and Caitlin, along with a black man and woman who Roy vaguely recognized from the trip to Central City to catch Digger Harkness as Joe and Iris West.

"Roy, Thea, Moira, are you alright?" Diggle asked.

"Little confused but alright. What is going on?" Thea asked.

"We're not sure. Some men just showed up on my Precinct, told me I was being arrested under orders of Secretary Ross for violating the Sokovia Accords," Quentin explained.

"It's the same for all of us, we were grabbed by men who seem to be working for Ross," Joe noted.

"But why? We've never done anything to violate The Accords," Iris said clueless.

"Oh, I'm afraid that's not true, Ms. West."

They all looked up to see Eiling, flanked by a few of the men who had abducted them.

"Eiling? Why am I not surprised you're working for the evil Emperor," Cisco scoffed and Eiling smiled unpleasantly.

"Careful, Ramon. Does it look like you're in any position to get smart with me?"

"And who are you supposed to be?" Roy asked and Eiling chuckled.

"The name is Wade Eiling. I work under Secretary Ross. And you all are going to help me bring an end to vigilantes like The Arrow and Flash. Or as you know them, Oliver Queen and Barry Allen."

Watchtower

Not long after

"Ross is stepping up his game," Clint noted as Chloe showed everyone the video of Ross' speech.

"Not Ross, Darkseid. Ross is just a pawn, Darkseid is the one pulling the strings," Clark noted.

"He said he had plans to deal with Oliver when he took Thawne's body. Maybe this is how it starts," Wanda mused.

"Would be a pretty big coincidence if it wasn't," Barry said with a glance at Oliver, seeing his friend appeared deep in thought.

"Regardless, Ross is going after innocent people. He has to be stopped," Steve said with a frown.

"We need to know what he's planning. Chloe, do you think you can hack into his server?" Oliver asked.

"Could I? Yes. Without tipping him off that I had? No. I'd need to be right there to get into his mainframe without letting him know I was accessing his files," Chloe explained.

"Then one of you needs to break her into Ross' office," Fury noted.

"You realize that place is a fortress, right? Walking inside isn't like walking into a bank," Sam pointed out.

"We have 3 people with super speed here, Barry, Jay or I can get Chloe to Ross' computer. We just need to buy some time," Clark said.

"So we're really doing this? Breaking into the Secretary of State's office?" Rhodey said, in complete disbelief.

"It's where we are, bub," Logan said grimly.

"I thought it was bad when the Vice President was working with Aldrich," Rhodey muttered to Tony, who grimaced.

"That was nothing compared to this. But we have to stop Ross, before it's too late," Tony said, steeling himself. "Who knows what else Darkseid is planning?"

Space

Same time

In space, nearing the Milky Way galaxy, the group of heroes was unaware of a planet that was heading towards Earth.

A bit on the short side, but hope you all enjoyed it anyway.

Ross/Darkseid is stepping up his game, and the final battle is about to begin.