Meeting Moms

"And what is this about kidnappings?" Iris West-Allen asked, arms akimbo and eyes slightly narrowed.

Lucy gulped. She was fairly certain that she heard other, fainter gulpings coming from behind her. For some reason, Dawnie's mom was incredibly intimidating. It was like she was sucking all the air out of the clearing which was impossible because they were outside. Still, it did seem slightly harder to breathe and come up with a good excuse while she was glaring at them.

"The kidnappings," Lucy started, appalled to hear her voice come out faint and hesitant. She was never hesitant! Not even when she swiped her mother's favorite mallet and sold it to that smarmy collector her dad got it back from. She licked her lips and started again. "There are kidnappings we're aware of?"

And she could have kicked herself when she became aware of that very audible question mark at the end.

"Mother," Aarti broke in, slightly gasping.

Lucy could have kissed her when Iris West-Allen's attention slid from her to Aarti. Of course, she wouldn't because she'd promised Court no sidesies after they turned fifteen, but hey! Aarti so deserved a reward for distracting the evil gorgon!

"And how did you get from Themyscira to here without anyone being aware?" Aarti's mom asked in smooth, lilting tones.

Lucy could almost see where Aarti was getting her new inferiority complex from. It probably wouldn't last, but her mom was pretty much perfect. Even trying to hide her light under a bushel as Leilani had taken to saying (and she kept saying that it was something some curator had regularly said and that was another talk she and Rena were going to have to have with that girl), Aarti's mom couldn't quite hide the extraordinariness she just seemed to exude effortlessly. Even Lucy was finding it a bit daunting, and as everyone had to be aware, she, Lucy, was absolutely perfect!

"That's a long story," Aarti managed, and there went that spark of anger lighting up in the depths of her eyes.

Lucy held in a sigh. Aarti's default state was angry, but it was that anger that helped them in their escape attempt. It was no use trying to stifle it.

"What a coincidence! We happen to have time for explanations," Iris West-Allen said. Her sharp eyes glanced over the clearing. Jebediah, who was clearly trying to sneak away—that traitor!—froze in the act of slipping off of the picnic table bench he and Court were occupying. "We also have time for introductions. Lucy?"

Lucy mustered up a smile. The whole appalled thing was happening once again. She so needed to have a talk with Dawnie about just what she mentioned in her mom's hearing. During the last few years, she'd discovered that moms tended to hear only the things that interested them, like where people were stashing diamonds or blueprints to banks instead of useful things like there was no milk or hello, my arm is broken.

"Mrs. West-Allen, such a pleasure to meet you," Lucy gushed. She felt her smile slip on effortlessly. "I've heard so much about you," and Lucy swore in her heart that she was never going to say that Dawnie exaggerated ever again.

"Lucy Quinzel," Iris West-Allen slowly enunciated, sending shivers up Lucy's spine. "Child of two of the biggest psychopaths in Gotham City and sadly, a good friend of my children."

Lucy swallowed down the snark she wanted to toss out. Iris West-Allen looked like she could dismember you, bury the body and have everyone think you'd ran away to another coast without breaking a sweat, fingernail or mussing a single hair.

"The overlords are hunting creche children. We have proof," Court said. When Lucy peeped at him from the corner of her eye, he seemed very sturdy and convincing.

"Ah, Court King," Iris West-Allen smiled. Somehow it made everything worse. "Escaped from a juvenile facility after being sent there for—"

"—No need to be all prying, right, Mrs. West-Allen," Lucy interjected, feeling ruffled. No one got to mess with Court but her.

"Can we get on with it?" Aarti's mom said. Her voice was cool, clear and quelling. Lucy instantly developed admiration. She would learn that skill if it killed her. "I still haven't heard how Aarti got here from there."

"The overlords have a weird device that opens doors to other places," Lucy carefully said. "They tried to kidnap Aarti, but she got away. They can't seem to contain her."

Lucy stuck to the truth, well half-truth, as closely as she could. Aarti had mentioned that her mom didn't really need her little lasso to get truths from her, and Mr. Scary was his own lie detector.

"Is that so?" Mr. Scary, aka Batman, murmured from his spot in the shadows of some trees. Since it was night, he blended in quite well. "If we're going to cooperate, we need the truth."

"That is the truth," Rena blurted out. She clapped a hand over her mouth, astonishment in her eyes. "That's exactly the truth," she continued after a moment before hunching down and a little behind Aarti.

Lucy tilted her head back and opened her mouth as if trying to catch snowflakes. Very faintly, the taste hit the back of her throat. An aerosol truth serum. Her throat burned for a brief instance before a cooling sensation spread, signaling that her body had assimilated the chemical and neutralized it. She sighed internally.

"That's exactly what happened," Lucy agreed, nodding her head.

She honestly didn't know just what to think. Were the two moms aware that there was a truth serum floating around? She glanced at Aarti, slightly narrowing her eyes. She was rewarded by the slightest of nods from Aarti who turned to look down at Rena with feigned exasperation.

"And how do you know about these kidnappings?" Batman took the chance to insert his question. From the spark in his eye, Lucy could tell just who was the one responsible for the aerosol.

"Because they tried to kidnap all of us," Lucy responded, letting a smile bloom across her face. It was an easy, practiced smile. "It's not like we don't talk to each other, Mr. Batsy," she added, pulling the nickname from the depths of her memories, tacking on the honorific for good measure. She took a small amount of joy in the very slight flinch.

"They tried to kidnap you," Iris West-Allen zoomed in on that tidbit. Her eyes gleamed, making Lucy swallow. Dawnie's mom looked like her mom's hyenas eyeing a juicy ribeye.

They were interrupted by Don skidding to a halt in the center of the clearing. He took a quick glance around, frowning at Dawnie's absence.

"We've got to go! They took San!" He said, breathing hard.

Lucy lost her smile. She could hear the others scrambling to their feet. The last time she'd seen Don winded was when he declared he could circle the world in less than six hours. He'd returned in nine, saying that he'd given up in Shanghai because he'd met a girl. Later, Lucy had gotten him to admit that he'd become too hungry midway and had to spend all his credit filling himself up on dumplings.

Still, that was how he'd found Shimeng, so Lucy couldn't really fault him.