Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Recruitment Part One.

Gotham City was a city that never had a moment's rest from the criminal element. There were a number of gangs who stood around, and waited for a moment to strike. There was no question about it, those who were in Gotham City had grown desensitized to the attacks throughout the city, from a variety of colored criminals. Mob warfare ran ragged on the street, although there was a dark force running everyone ragged.

Batman sat perched on the catwalk, watching a group of figures dressed in black. They were members of the League of Shadows, a group who had been given Batman recurring problems. He had been able to gain a bit of information on their operations, but there was a higher power operating them from beyond Gotham City. It had been a global operation, and it was hard to determine why Gotham City was chosen for their latest base of operations.

Batman had stepped in, and realized that the League of Shadows had kidnapped several high ranking politicians in Gotham City. The Dark Knight scoped out the situation, and recognized a few of the faces. They were corrupt, and dishonest, likely funneling taxpayers dollars to fund their own lifestyles, but nevertheless, they were just another set of lives that Batman had to protect from a far more dangerous voice.

"That's all I know, I swear," one of the politicians stated in a raspy voice.

The League of Shadows assassins surrounded them, several swords raised. The politician swallowed the lump in his throat. His fellow politicians feared for their lives. They had been snatched out of their offices, or homes, these assassins had gotten past the security that they paid a great deal of their ill-gotten gains for. There was no question about it, this League of Shadows was dangerous enemies, and they were not secure.

Batman had seen all that he needed to see, and he dropped down to the ground, swift and ready to pounce. The detective was on the attack the moment he dropped the ground. He took a few steps forward, and a couple of smoke bombs had been thrown down to the ground. The League of Shadows stumbled around, coughing on the smoke. Batman rushed around in the smoke. One punch after another knocked out the ninjas. The leader of this particular group rushed forward, and tried to stab Batman, but Batman dodged the sword.

The next thing the leader knew, he was suspended upside down from the rafters. His fellow League of Shadows members had been rendered unconscious, and the politicians could not scramble out of the doors fast enough.

"I'm not going to ask you twice," Batman growled. "Who are you working for?"

"Forget it, I shall not betray my master," the leader said, and he bit down in his mouth. It released poison from a filling in his mouth, and he swallowed it. The leader went stiff, and the poison did its work.

Batman could not formulate an antidote quickly enough to save him, with the unfortunate realization hitting him; it was another dead end. The League of Shadows had been something that had bedeviled Batman on and off for months. He had heard rumors that a couple of their agents had been lurking around Smallville as well, searching for something. It might be time for Batman to pay someone another visit, and let him know what was going on.

They were not the only problem that bedeviled Batman, a crime wave was also occurred compliments of one of his most persistent foes in his eighteen months under the cowl, the Joker. Batman found that ironic in many ways, because he found the crimes this man committed to be anything, but funny. What was worse that the Joker seemed to kidnap a doctor, Harleen Quinzel, from Arkham, and seemed to be using her as a hostage.

One problem at a time.

With a swift movement, Batman made his way to the Batmobile, and drove off towards his cave. He had gathered some evidence, but it was not enough. The mission was never ending, against the criminal elements that had threatened to pollute the city. The Dark Knight checked the police scanner, to try and find any crime, but had not been able to track anything down.

Batman arrived at the Batcave, and exited the car. He took a step back, and saw Supergirl and Arcane casually lounging in his cave, like it was no big deal that they had bypassed all of his security. The two just had entered the cave, and just made themselves at home. Batman just grimaced at the thought, but did not allow himself to be bothered by them.

Kara could barely keep a straight face at the look of shock underneath Batman's face. "I was wondering when you'd get back, Bats."

"So how are you doing?" Harry asked, casually and calmly.

Batman took a moment to really digest what was happening, and he asked one calm question.

"How did you get here? How did you find this place?"

"We have our ways," Harry replied, a smile crossing his face.

"That doesn't tell me anything," Batman told them, and he took a step back. He realized that he would have to take some steps into upgrading security. "Is there any particular reason why you're here, or did you just decide to come into my cave to prove you can?"

"Well, partially we did that for that reason," Kara said in amusement, hovering in the air, mischief dancing in her eyes. "We didn't tell a soul where this place is, not even Clark, even if we did know it for months. Plus, I think you have an idea who we are, right, Bruce?"

Kara used his real name, to indicate that she was not going to be intimidated by this man, grumpy bastard that he might be, and her and Harry were the ones who were in control of this meeting.

Batman stood and looked at the two young heroes. The two of them were brash and bold, and he knew when he had his back against the wall, and they held all of the cards.

"We understand that you've been keeping tabs on Clark," Harry told Batman, and Batman nodded slowly. "And you've also been dealing with a group here that has been causing you problems."

"They call themselves the League of Shadows, and word is a pair of their agents has been sulking around Smallville as well," Batman told them. Kara and Harry nodded, and invited for the Dark Knight to continue. "It is a good thing that Clark has relocated mostly to Metropolis, or should we say, the Blur?"

Kara and Harry were caught off guard, and both of them looked at each other. They were not sure what to say. The name "the Blur" seemed to be rather new to both of them, so Batman decided to elaborate.

"That's what they're calling him now," Batman added.

If Kara had not been so sure that Batman had his sense of humor surgically removed from birth, she would have thought he was joking. Batman reached over, and handed Kara the newspaper detailing the Blur's latest exploits.

"Well if you know, it isn't difficult to put two and two together," Harry told Kara.

Kara mouthed the words "the Blur" over and over again, looking at the paper, unable to believe it. She just let it set in. As Clark's cousin, it was her sworn duty to give him a hard time over this moniker, as much as she could.

"And furthermore…"

Batman had noticed that Arcane and Supergirl had left the cave at that moment. He watched, someone had pulled the sudden disappearance act on him for a change.

"Well played," Batman said, impressed, and he turned to his computer to log his latest mission, and see if he could uncover any more information on the mysterious League of Shadows.

He reached over, and picked up the arrow with a note attached to it that he uncovered three nights before. It offered Batman an invitation to join a group of heroes. Batman felt he worked best alone, but it would be prudent to give this group his answer in person.

Lana sat and pondered, ever since the incident in the Fortress, she had given the matter of what she had learned about thought. Most frustratingly, she had only been able to piece together about ten to fifteen percent of what was given to her inside the Fortress. There were more bits and pieces that had been coming to her, but it was a rather slow and ponderous process. Lana thought the assumption that she would figure it out on her own would be false.

Clark seemed to be a bit reluctant to do anything about the Fortress, for some reason. Then again, given what happened, and the fact that even if they were able to find the Fortress, there might still be some residual nastiness from Lily. Given what Harry and Kara said, the Fortress could have been anywhere. Lana had thought that there was a possibility that it could have been broken up, and scattered throughout several universes.

It would be foolish to think that Harry and Kara had not even thought about something like that. At that moment, Clark and Lana were adjusting to life in Metropolis, even if they could still fly back to Smallville when it struck their fancy.

Everything had calmed down a lot ever since that night at the Fortress. Lex's disappearance had hit the news, and there was people suspecting foul play. His last known whereabouts had yet to be determined, and a part of Lana just knew that there would be some kind of calm before the storm.

Clark walked over, past Lana in the Daily Planet. The moment that they arrived there, they saw Lois on the warpath already. She barely even said two words to either of them.

"Well, at least she's up bright and early," Lana told Clark, nudging him and pointing it out.

Clark just smiled at Lana. "Yeah, she really is, but so what are you going to do today?"

"Keep an eye on everything in the city," Lana informed him, standing with a smile. "I'll be back to visit you before lunch, but I need to go flying and clear my head. Do you think you can keep out of trouble for a few hours?"

"I'm sure I'll be fine, unless the coffee machine attacks me," Clark answered, trying to keep the mood light.

Lana just offered a nod, and leaned forward for a kiss. She kissed Clark goodbye, and the couple parted ways. It did seem like they were going through a tense time in both of their lives. Lana had the sense that Clark still had doubts about where his destiny truly lied. He needed some time to piece it together, and to a lesser extent, Lana did as well. The only thing that gave her clarity was the fact that Clark was not attacked by anyone.

Clark walked inside, and Lois nearly bumped into him.

"Can't talk right now, I've got a Blur sighting that I want to follow up on," Lois said, speaking faster than a speaking bullet.

"Oh, well I'm sure he's gone by now," Clark told her, and Lois looked at him. "He saved an entire group of school children from careening off an unfinished bridge. The brakes failed."

"Or they were cut," Lois offered, deciding to take the more pragmatic approach to the situation.

"Why would someone want to cut the breaks?" Clark asked.

"There are some sick, sick people out there, Smallville, nothing surprises me anymore," Lois offered, with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "I wonder when Chloe is getting back from her sabbatical. I talked to her the other day, and she seems fine, but I can't help and think there is something that she's not sharing with us. Then again, I get that sense that there are a lot of secrets that I'm being left out on for some reason."

"Are you sure that you're not looking for a story that's not there?" Clark asked, but he would be lying if he was curious.

Lois just shrugged. The latest business maneuverings around this city was only secondary to the new hero of Metropolis. The funny thing was that regarding the Blur, there were conflicting reports on whether it was male or female. Some of them reported a female that could fly, and others had reported a man on the ground, who ran at super speed. Being the reporter she was, Lois was determined to get to the bottom of the business, and uncover the secrets.

'Could be some kind of co-opt act,' Lois thought to herself, trying to ponder the situation.

The dark haired reporter took a step forward, and ran into Harry and Kara Potter, who stood on the elevator.

"Fancy meeting you here," Lois told them, offering them a cordial nod, but she was not going to be denied her story.

"Hello, Lois, nice to see you too," Harry replied to her.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Lois asked.

Kara was the one that answered. "Oh this and that, we do like to kind of check up on our employees when we need to, and make sure everyone's working hard."

Lois stood up straight, and looked at both of them. It was a few seconds before the statement that they had said clicked in her head.

"So, wait, you're the new mystery investors?" Lois asked, trying to keep her voice neutral, and racked her brain, thinking about anything she could have done recently to Harry and Kara that might offend them, and put her out on the streets, and out of a job.

A smile crossed over Harry's face. "Well, really not that much of a mystery now, is it? Yeah, we've invested in the Planet, but it's more of a hands off thing. We wanted a paper that was free of corporate interest, and told the people what they needed to do. Like the latest rumor about the…Blur, I believe he is called."

"Yeah, you've been away on your honeymoon, so you wouldn't know," Lois replied. "Sir…"

"Lois, call me sir one more time, and you'll be fired," Harry told her cheerfully, cutting her off.

"Right," Lois answered, regaining her bearings and she nodded, feeling a bit more at ease with the entire situation. Lois took a deep breath, and walked over. "Anyway, I figure that the Blur might be two different people. The rumors for the sightings vary about who is behind it."

"Well, I'm sure a persistent reporter will uncover the truth," Harry remarked, with a casual shrug.

"And I've also been looking into the change of ownership on Luthorcorp, and their newest partnership, seems like someone's trying to take your shine," Lois told him, and she handed Harry the story that she completed. "It's still a little rough around the edges, but…"

"That's what editing is for," Harry replied to Lois, and Lois nodded. "Do you have anything else that you can show me?"

Lois nodded, and Harry turned to Kara.

"Go and visit your cousin, see how he's doing," Harry suggested to his wife.

Kara nodded, and walked over, to see Clark. Clark was busy with his work. Kara stepped in front of his desk, and tapped on it, causing Clark to look up.

"Kara, you're back," Clark said to Kara, just noticing her.

"Yeah, Harry and I just flew back in from our honeymoon," Kara answered, and sitting down on the chair in front of Clark's desk. "It's a shame that it didn't last for longer, but all good things must come to an end."

Clark nodded, and Kara continued to sit, allowing Clark a moment to work. She performed a handy little charm that would block the conversation between her and Clark out, from any third parties who might want to listen in, but found themselves unable to.

"So, I understand that you've stepped up your efforts," Kara remarked to Clark in a casual voice. "Still, the Blur, Clark, really?"

Clark looked at Kara, and threw his hands into the air defensively. "It wasn't really my choice. That name was given to me."

"And it stuck," Kara remarked to Clark. She placed her hands on her hips, and leaned back in the chair. "I wondered when you would go public, well not necessarily public. It could have been worse, I guess. I would have thought that the name Superboy would have stuck, or something."

"Superboy?" Clark asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm Supergirl, you're Superboy, and you can be my sidekick," Kara remarked to Clark in a cheerful voice.

Clark opened his mouth wide, and Kara laughed at him. Her cousin was so uptight sometimes that he was so easy to wind up. Kara's arms crossed, and a smile appeared on her face.

"So any luck with finding the Fortress?" Kara asked.

"No," Clark answered shortly.

"Well, if I were you, I would get on that as soon as you can," Kara told him. "Harry and I can help you, but only to a certain extent. Your destiny is your own to master, and there is a choice that you and Lana must make about where to go next. And did you tell her the truth about everything?"

"What are you talking about?" Clark asked, nearly dropping his papers, and caught completely off guard.

"You know what I'm talking about, Kal-El," Kara fired back at him. Clark realized that she was trying to convey something serious to him, given that she had used his given Kryptonian name. "We both know that you told Lana that she died. You left a part of your story out, didn't you?"

Clark had no idea how is cousin knew.

"What did you leave out, Clark?" Kara asked him.

"I asked Lana to marry me," Clark muttered, trying not deny this fact to himself.

"And did she accept?" Kara asked him quietly.

There was a moment of pause, before Clark answered.

"Yes, but then she died," Clark replied.

Kara sighed, and looked at Clark for a very long moment.

"So, you now have a crippling fear of commitment because of one doomed timeline," Kara told him. "What you do is your business, Clark, but you and I both know that Lana might figure out that there's something else you're keeping from her."

"If something happened to Lana…"

"What if something happened to you?" Kara countered, and she gazed her cousin dead on in the eye. "And you both missed an opportunity. Life is fleeting. Either of you might be dead tomorrow, even with your great powers. And there will be an entire boatload of missed opportunities. Seize the moment today, Clark, Carpe Diem, all that good stuff. "

Clark conceded that she had a point, and had a lot to ponder upon, about everything. Kara turned around, and saw Harry exit the basement. No doubt he had uncovered some information that the two of them needed to discuss.

"I've got work to do, and I'm sure you do too," Kara concluded. "I'll talk to you later, and take care."

Kara walked off, and left Clark to ponder every single word she said. Deep down, Clark had this nightmarish fear that history might repeat itself, and that's why he kept certain secrets from Lana.

Chloe took a deep breath and reflected., over the past week; she had been practicing her new found powers. Perhaps it might have sounded arrogant, but Chloe thought that she was getting kind of decent after mastering her powers.

At the very least, she was not flying into walls, or running into them.

The heat vision was mostly good, she managed to get used to her new super senses, and not break every single door knob she touched, well anymore. Granted, the Shining Light Foundation had self-repairing spells built into it, so it did not cause too much damage. The blonde stood, and tried to focus her heat vision on the target.

"Not, bad, but you might want to focus about a tenth of an inch to the right."

Chloe did as she was told, before she realized who had spoken to her. She turned around, to see Harry smiling at her. Kara stood by the side of him, with a smile on her face as well. Chloe's eyes widened.

"Oh yeah, you guys were supposed to be back today," Chloe replied. She had to slap herself, then again she had been so focused on her powers, that she had lost track of the time.

Harry and Kara smiled, and stepped over to greet Chloe, to see how she was doing.

"We've actually been back a bit longer, and have been reading the progress reports on you," Kara replied, offering a smile.

"You've been doing really well, Chloe," Harry added to her. He took a step forward, and looked the blonde in the eyes. "I might have to reward you on your progress."

Kara just smiled knowingly, and Chloe just looked at Harry. She took another step towards him.

"What do you have in mind?" Chloe asked to him.

"Your powers aren't quite as potent as ours, but they need a certain means of stability," Harry told her. This was going to be a fun conversation to have, but Kara and Harry braced themselves for what was going to happen. "And there are certain activities…"

"Harry, no need to really just dance around what you're saying, I know what needs to be done, I figured it out," Chloe answered, and she took a step forward, and looked into Harry's eyes. "For my powers not to drive me…well a bit off, you and I need to have sex, at least once a day."

Chloe said this in such a nonchalant and shameless way, that Harry could not help, but smile.

"Yes, at least once," Harry replied to her with a grin, and Harry reached forward, and placed his hands on Chloe's waist, and looked her in the eyes. "I wanted you to get control of certain abilities, before you take the next step in your training."

"Training, huh?" Chloe asked. "Is that what they're calling it now?"

Harry just replied with a slight grin, and looked at Chloe, his eyes meeting hers. "Well, call it whatever you want it, but it's something that has to be done."

"No, not something that has to be done," Chloe replied, and she took a step closer, so her and Harry were practically nose to nose. "It's something that we had to do."

Chloe thought that with increased powers meant an increased libido and she could hardly keep herself at bay.

"You know, I never thought that I'd be needing to do this with a married man," Chloe remarked in an off handed manner. It did seem so wrong. "Especially when his wife is standing on the other side on the other side of the room, and is okay with everything that has been going on."

Kara offered Chloe a smile. "Well to be fair, said wife will be watching and sometimes joining in. Just remember that I always get first dibs on Harry, and don't forget that."

"Um, yeah," Chloe said, a bit intimidated of the blonde Kryptonian. That was a new experience for her, but she tried not to back down.

"We won't pressure you into anything, unless you're ready," Harry answered to her.

"I didn't say I minded, I was just caught off guard," Chloe replied, shaking her head, but she looked into Harry's bright eyes. These eyes showed so much, and captivated her. Her heart beat against her chest. "So, we're really going to do this, and we're all okay with this."

Harry and Kara both smiled at her, reassuring her.

"You know the suspense is killing me," Chloe said, and she put her hands on her hips, looking at Harry. "Are you going to kiss me or not?"

Chloe offered this in almost a teasing manner, expecting the rug get pulled out from under her, and this be one big April Fool's Day gag. Harry leaned forward, and pulled Chloe into a long kiss. Chloe wondered if Harry was going to take the plunge, or she would have to take drastic action.

The moment Harry's lips were on hers, she felt new sensations that she had never experienced. Harry's hand was placed on the small of her back, and Harry tilted her back, pushing her against the wall. Chloe wrapped her legs around Harry, getting into the moment. Harry kissed the breath out of her, and Chloe returned fire, the two of them getting into the moment.

Harry released her, and Chloe looked at him, driven completely breathless by his actions.

"He does have that effect on women," Kara commented, knowing that she had a responsibility of unlocking these doors on Harry.

Chloe remained in Harry's arms, and looked in his eyes. Words had failed her, that kiss had driven her speechless, and caused her spine to tingle. If that was just a kiss, she could hardly wait to do anything else with Harry.

"Wow," Chloe whispered.

"Yes, wow," Harry agreed. "Just wait until tonight."

"Why wait?" Chloe asked him.

Kara just snickered.

"See that's the problem, you give them one taste and they want more," Kara replied to Harry, offering an impish grin towards Chloe.

"Okay, fine, I guess I can wait, it will be worth it," Chloe answered to Harry.

"Trust me, it will," Kara added to her.

A frown crossed Chloe's face. "Okay, now you're just teasing me, and it's unfair."

"Good things come to those who wait," Kara replied in a calm voice. "So did you tell Clark?"

Chloe blinked at that moment.

"Tell Clark about our new arrangement, or about the power thing," Chloe replied. "If you're talking about the power thing, well I didn't tell him yet. I was waiting for the right time to tell him, or rather show him."

"Just don't give him a heart attack, whatever you do," Harry told Chloe.

"Well there are a few things I wanted to do to him if I ever had his powers," Chloe answered, and she looked at Harry, amusement crossing her face. "I have a few things that I want to um…pay him back for shall we say."

Chloe paused, and mischief danced in her eyes.

"Let's just say Clark has a bad habit of popping by unexpected, and knocking everything around, like a tornado came through. I wondered how he would react if the shoe was on the other foot."

Kara and Harry had both been highly amused by that fact, and hoped that they would be there to see it.

"The flight is the hardest part, but once I got it down, it was easy," Chloe added.

"That's good to here, and there will be other powers that you'll have, but we'll work you through those," Harry told her, and Chloe nodded. "We just wanted to run you through the essentials."

"Fair enough," Chloe agreed, and she folded her arms, and waited.

"We have a lot of interesting news to share," Harry added, and Chloe invited Harry to continue. "Apparently your cousin was doing some digging, and she discovered another new foundation that had rolled into town. With a woman with a vaguely mysterious past, who had been traveling the world."

Chloe put a hand to her chin, and shook her head.

"So do we might have our mysterious Third Herald of Death," Chloe remarked casually.

It was at that point, Harry and Kara looked at each other.

"It's a potential, but I wouldn't count on my chickens before they hatched," Harry said. "The woman's name is Karen Starr, and she's never been photographed by anyone. She's really cold and distant. Which is why this partnership with Luthorcorp is quite baffling. She doesn't seem to be the business type if this little information we were able to uncover was correct."

"Are you doubting the validity of that?" Chloe asked.

"Well, kind of, her past seems too clean and too nice, and people might start to ask questions," Harry said. "The fact of the matter is, I know that there's a third Herald who entered this dimension, but the fact of the matter is that she doesn't want us to find her, at least not yet."

Chloe put a hand to her chin, and slowly pondered, before she spoke slowly.

"Maybe you should get an appointment with this Karen Starr, and see what her game is," Chloe suggested.

Kara was the one who chimed in. "We're going to find out all we can about her first, and then we'll force a meeting. If she is the third Herald of Death, then there's a chance that she might seek us out. Providing she hasn't already. She may have the power to turn invisible, and be watching us, and thus we won't even know."

Chloe suddenly shivered. The thought of someone being invisible and watching over her was a bit alarming. Granted Chloe could do that with her powers. She sank back on the chair.

"Our newcomer to Luthorcorp, and our acting CEO is also a potential problem," Harry added. "I'm looking into her, but she wants a meeting with us apparently."

"Did you ever figure out what happened to Lex?" Chloe asked, curious suddenly.

"No," Kara said. Lex had just vanished; perhaps he had been sucked wherever with the Fortress. Of course, they still could not find whatever backdoor Lily had sent the Fortress.

"We're going to set up a meeting with this Tess Mercer," Harry informed Chloe, and Chloe nodded. "If she's Lex's hand-picked successor, maybe she has an idea where some of the skeletons at Luthorcorp are buried."

"And maybe she'll have a clue about what Lex might be up to," Chloe offered Harry, and Harry shrugged at that instinct. "There have been rumors about her and Lex…"

"They'll be rumors about any woman who had risen to that level of power, regardless of the circumstances," Harry responded, just waving off everything, and not really putting much stock into what the media said about anyone, knowing what happened to him at first. "Controversy creates cash, and that's one lesson the media has embraced. People eat that up with a spoon."

"We're getting off the subject, are you going to tell Clark?" Kara asked.

"Yes, about my powers, I'll let him know," Chloe responded. Chloe then paused. "About the relationship….I'm not sure how I'm going to break that one to him."

"Are you ashamed of the arrangement?" Harry asked. "Because if you are…"

"No!" Chloe yelled firmly. "It's just…well Clark's the most morality minded person that I have ever met. Nuns might laugh behind his back about how many morals he exercises. And the polygamous relationship, that might offend his delicate sensibilities. So I got to break it to him, gently."

Kara just frowned, and thought it might be time to enlighten her cousin on the facts of life, and how it was perfectly acceptable on Krypton for a man to have multiple spouses or lovers. In fact, at one point, Krypton had about thirty percent men, and seventy percent women, due to war, so it was rather encouraged.

"Clark will understand, eventually," Kara replied, and she cracked her knuckles, for adding. "And if not…well I'll find a way to make him understand."

Chloe nodded, and hoped that Kara was right. Kara looked off with a smile, and a knock on the door had indicated that someone was there. Harry walked over, and saw Megan outside, waiting.

"Mr. Potter, Oliver Queen is here to briefly meet with you, but he says he can't stay for more than fifteen minutes," Megan responded to him.

"Right, thanks Megan, and you'll get a substantial bonus for all the work you did helping Chloe, I really appreciate it," Harry remarked.

"It wasn't anything, I'm here to help out, and that was helping out," Megan responded, but she blushed slightly at the praise from Harry.

"Tell Claire I'll be back after dinner to visit her, unless a life and death emergency comes up," Harry remarked, and Megan nodded.

"Right," Megan said with a smile.

Harry turned briefly to Chloe and Kara.

"Chloe, why don't you give Kara a demonstration of your powers, and I'm sure she'll be able to help give you some pointers on anything that you're not quite right on."

"Will do," Chloe responded, firm and ready for the battle.

Harry turned around, and walked down the hallway, walking far enough to spot a young man with blond hair dressed in a suit.

"Mr. Queen, I presume," Harry remarked casually.

"Mr. Potter," Oliver said in a crisp voice. "Please call me Oliver."

"Then, call me Harry," Harry said, as he shook hands with the man. "I understand that you wanted a meeting with me, about matters for the Shining Light Foundation."

"Actually, no, Harry, that's not what I wanted to meet with you for," Oliver replied. "There are other matters that I wanted to meet with you. Regarding any other identities that you and your wife might be keeping from the general public."

Oliver was surprised to find out that Clark Kent not only had a cousin, but she was married to Harry Potter. He had heard of Harry, briefly. Oliver had known a girl named Daphne in his childhood, and they had corresponded a few times. They had dated briefly as well, really technically twice, but that was longer than most of his relationships. It was a highly political scene with the people in that circle.

"Oh, you mean your little club of heroes," Harry responded, and Oliver was surprised. "Yes, I know about everything that you've been doing, from your efforts to disable Luthor's 33.1 facilities. You missed a couple, but don't worry, I took care of that."

"Right, um thanks" Oliver said, happy to get to the point. "You know why I'm here then."

"Yes, Oliver, I do," Harry responded. "You want to me join your little team."

"Both you and Supergirl," Oliver corrected. There was a third person he recruited as well, and there were several other heroes that he had his eye on. "Don't answer now, and just think it over. Talk it over with your wife, and come to this address tomorrow night, and the rest of the team will be there."

"I'm not making any promises that I'll join," Harry told him. He had a lot on his plate after all.

"I just ask for a courtesy of a meeting," Oliver responded. "Just think it over, think about all of the good you can do for the world by being a part of this, and I'll be in touch..

Harry watched the archer leave. The truth was Harry and Kara had found out every single bit of information they could about everyone who hung out in that particular group, and knew that since they went public as Arcane and Supergirl, there would come a time where that league of heroes would come knocking at their door.

Still, it was an interesting proposition, and Harry wanted to see firsthand what kind of operation Oliver was running, and he knew Kara would agree.

Lana and Clark sat outside of the Kent Farm. It was a quiet night, and both of them had plenty of time to sit back, and ponder. The two of them sat next to each other. Clark had thought about what Kara had told him, even if he was not quite ready to spit out everything. He was just waiting for the right moment.

Clark had thought about all of the people that with his powers that he could never save just in time, Alicia, Raya, his father, just to name a few, and despite the fact that Lana was empowered, he still worried about and always would be worried about something happened to her, even if they should ever split apart.

The only thing for sure about life was that nothing was for sure, and that was one of the most painful lessons Clark learned.

At this moment, Lana had tried to piece together everything that had happened to her. She decided that she might need a tiny bit of help to reconcile what happened in the Fortress. The fifteen percent of the information she deciphered might have been decent, but there was still eighty five percent of the information that she was unable to decipher.

What if in the eighty five percent of that information, she had some crucial bit of information that would help Clark, and be the difference between life and death? Like for instance, the secret about why he was unable to fly. Lana thought and pondered that matter.

"It's a nice night," Lana, remarked breaking the silence.

"Yeah, it is," Clark responded.

Clark had a mixture of emotions, and really had nothing else to say. He had been hiding who he was for so long, that it sometimes was hard to be completely honest. The fact that he never really intended to tell Lana that he went back, and had reversed time to save her life, it was more than he really intended to say. Given what Clark lost on that day, he was unwilling to relive that day any more than he had to.

On that day, Clark asked Lana to marry him. On that day, Lana said yes.

And on that day, she died.

What if Clark asked her again? What if she said yes?

What if something happened to kill her again?

Or worse, what if she turned down the proposal?

There were so many questions, and doubt racked the mind of Clark Kent. His hand was on Lana's. There were a million questions in his mind about everything. Harry and Kara had no doubts, were completely honest with each over from the beginning. Kara really did not seem comfortable with hiding who she was, rather she embraced it, and accepted everything that went along with it, accepted all sides of her.

Even with the great power Lana had been gifted, even if in some ways she protected him, Clark still felt a certain amount of responsibility to make sure she remained safe. Lana could be a thousand times more powerful than he was, and Clark would still feel that responsibility. Clark could have no powers, and still feel that responsibility. That was just the type of person that Clark Kent was.

"I get the feeling that you want to tell me something," Lana responded, and she looked at Clark. "Just by the look in your eyes."

"It's nothing," Clark told her quietly.

Lana wondered sometimes. She got flashes of a memory, and the strangest dreams, that Clark proposed to her on that day, the day she got killed. Yet, she wondered if she should tell him. Sometimes a dream was just that, a dream. The scatterbrained delusions of someone who was delusional, and Lana was content for what she had, for now.

"I really hope that I'm not interrupting anything."

Clark and Lana spun around, and saw Chloe standing there with a smile on her face.

"Chloe, you're back," Lana said, in a happy voice. "I'm guessing you have a clean bill of health."

"That's one way to put things," Chloe offered, a slight smile tugging on her lips when she spoke.

"I'm glad to see you're going to be okay after everything that happened," Clark added.

Chloe offered a smile. "Clark, after all we've been through, do you really think you're going to get rid of me that easily?"

Clark had to laugh; he never thought that, not even for a moment.

"I've got something to show you, both of you," Chloe told them, and Lana and Clark looked puzzled.

Clark suddenly found himself pulled off of the ground, and Chloe shot off of the ground, flying into the air. Lana looked rather surprised, and then amused.

That was before Chloe had pulled Lana off of the ground as well, and had flown around Smallville with both of them held like they were feathers, circling the city several times in a short amount of time.

It took a moment for both Clark and Lana to register what happened, when Chloe deposited them on the ground.

"Wait, since when…what happened….it's…" Clark stammered, unable to string together a coherent sentence.

Lana decided to take pity on Clark, and ask the question that he was trying to ask. "So, how did you get those powers Chloe?"

Chloe thought about giving a flippant answer, something along the lines of "Kara and I were having a hot make out session, when we got struck by lightning", but she figured that Clark would get a brain aneurism at even the very thought of something like that. Even if it could have happened, but it did not, so Chloe opted for a version of the truth.

"When Brainiac infected me, Harry and Kara had to go in and save me, you do remember that," Chloe said, and Clark nodded, offering her to continue. "The only way they could save my life was to give me Kryptonian powers."

Clark just put his hand to his chin, and nodded. There was something that he had to state.

"So, does that me everyone can fly before me?"

"I'm pretty sure Lois is still grounded," Chloe offered, and she took a moment to step back, and envision Lois with super powers. She was resourceful enough without them. "As far as I know anyway, but that's beside the point. I spent the last week practicing these powers, while Harry and Kara were on their Honeymoon. And they thought that I did a good job."

"You mastered them in a week?" Lana asked, a twinge of jealousy filling her, despite herself.

"Well, I wouldn't say mastered, but I got about a ninety percent hold of them, a few flaws, but Kara is giving me advice on how to best use them," Chloe remarked, shrugging her shoulders.

Lana shook her head, it took her a lot longer to master her powers, and there were times where when her emotions got the better of her, her powers did not work as they should have.

"Don't worry, Lana, everyone learns at their own pace," Chloe replied, getting a sense at what Lana was thinking.

"No, I'm not worried, just surprised," Lana said, waving off Chloe's words.

Clark paused suddenly, and just remembered something.

"Lana, there's something I got to do tonight, do you want to…"

"I trust you to go off on your own Clark," Lana said waving her hand. "Chloe and I need to talk about stuff, catching up."

Clark nodded, Oliver had called him just earlier today about the meeting, and it was a bit short notice, but Clark agreed to come. With speed, Clark rushed off into the night. Lana slowly turned to Chloe, and a questioning expression appeared in her eyes.

"There's something going on with how you've got those powers," Lana said to Chloe, giving her a searching look. "It wasn't just gifted to you like you said."

Chloe opened her mouth to say something, but Lana cut her off.

"There's something going on between you three, isn't there?"

Chloe looked at Lana at that moment, and she slowly nodded.

"So, you're the third Herald?" Lana asked.

"Not exactly," Chloe told her. "It's complicated."

"How is it complicated?" Lana asked.

Chloe bit her lip nervously, and took a long and deep breath.

"Well, to give you the cliff notes version, Harry saved my life more than a few times. I decided to tell him how much I owed him my life, both he and Kara after the latest ordeal with Brainiac. Suddenly, I got bound to both of them."

Lana took that in, calmly and carefully. She could see why Chloe might be a bit tentative to say anything to Clark.

"So, you three…"

"Lana, I know it's unconventional," Chloe told her.

"Actually, on Krypton it isn't, males have had multiple mates for generations there, given the wide gap between male and female population after an alien invasion which wiped out most of the population, and a subsequent civil war," Lana recited. "That's one of the things that the Fortress told me and….never mind."

"What is it Lana?" Chloe asked.

"Just never mind," Lana repeated to Chloe. "If it was anyone other than Harry, I would be freaking out about this a lot more than I am. Of course Clark…"

"Might have a problem with that on sheer principle," Chloe agreed. "Harry is very faithful to Kara, and won't do anything unless they mutually agree on it."

"Is Kara…"

"Yes, she is," Chloe offered, before Lana could even ask her question.

"You didn't even let me finish," Lana argued.

"Didn't need to, Kara plays for both sides," Chloe answered.

"Do you?" Lana asked.

Chloe just offered a shrug. "I don't really know. This is very new to me, I'm just going to go with the flow and see what happens."

"I'll deal with Clark if he puts up too much of a fuss," Lana told Chloe. Chloe looked grateful. "You are going to tell him."

"When the time is right," Chloe offered.

"He's going to find out, and it would be better off if the three of you came clean," Lana warned her. Chloe offered her a pleading expression not to say anything, and Lana's expression softened. "But my lips are sealed."

"They better be," Chloe said. "Because I can now wipe memories, and I'd hate to do that to you, Lana."

Lana looked a bit intimidated, but Chloe laughed.

"You actually thought I was being serious, weren't you? But if something happens, we kind of have to wipe memories."

"There's no need," Lana answered. "I swear…not a word to Clark, even if I think you should."

Chloe shifted, and nodded. The truth was that she was glad this arrangement was offered by Kara. It saved all three parties a lot of heartbreak. Although with the third Herald looming, Chloe felt that Kara was already used to the idea of sharing Harry with someone else. Perhaps that little declaration she had was a blessing in disguise.

"So, you want to go flying?" Chloe asked. "Maybe you can give me a few pointers."

"Given how well you've mastered your powers, I figure it's you who should be giving me pointers," Lana offered.

Chloe just smiled, and they took off. Maybe they'd bust a few heads along the way if there was any crime to be found.

"Try and keep up, Lana!"

Lana just smiled, and Chloe was having a bit too much fun with her new powers, acting like a kid on Christmas morning.

The two Heralds of Death stopped at a makeshift headquarters for the foremost group of heroes. The two of them looked around. The set up was halfway decent all things considered, although both Harry and Kara had thought that they would do many things different.

The entire group of heroes thing was one that Harry thought personally would have been bound to have headaches at best, and been bound for failure at worst. Just the fact that so many colorful personalities were together, and they clashed, it could be trouble. Then again, Harry had no idea how they ran, so he could have been jumping the gun.

"Please to see you two showed up, and I hope you stick around."

Oliver stood to address Harry and Kara. The entire group seemed to move around, and looked up at the two newest arrivals.

"Supergirl and Arcane this is…."

"Impulse, or Bart Allen," Harry said, pointing out the young man standing in the background.

"Dude, are you psychic or something?" Bart asked.

"Actually we do something called research," Kara told him, with a smile crossing her face.

Bart looked at them, and nodded, feeling gobsmacked.

"Right, that makes sense too."

"Arthur Curry, or Aquaman," Harry said, turning to the larger swimmer beside Bart.

"Please, call me AC," Aquaman said, with a bright smile, and an outrageous heroic pose.

"Victor Stone, or Cyborg," Harry added, turning to the black youth that stood in the background, and offered a crisp nod. He turned to the woman dressed in a black coat and fishnets, before he responded. "And Dinah Lance, or Black Canary. Together you're…what are you calling yourselves again?"

That was one piece of information that Harry did not know, and would not be getting an answer, for Clark had just sped in.

"And the Blur," Harry replied, barely concealing his grin.

"The Blur," Bart said with a chuckle. "Seriously, Clark, amigo, the Boy Scout fit you a lot better."

"Neither of those were my choice," Clark said shaking his head. "You said that you wanted to meet me."

"We have trouble, there have been three magical artifacts that have been stolen from museums, I'm trying to get…"

"The eye of the dragon, the horn of the Unicorn, and the fang of the Basilisk," Harry recited in a bored voice.

"Next time I need to do hours of research, I'll just ask you," Oliver said in a dead pan voice, and Harry just smiled a slight smile. "What do they do?"

"Separately, nothing," Harry told them all, and they looked forward.

"Then, what do we have to worry about?" Bart asked.

"Yet, together, they do something far worse," Harry said. "Don't worry, they need power, multiple human sacrifices, at least seventeen."

Black Canary was the next one to speak up, in a trembling voice "The dried out husks that we found…they were those sacrifices."

"Then this situation has gotten far worse," Kara added in a solemn tone of voice, and they looked at Harry. "The three artifacts can bring back what once lived, at the expense of sacrificing the lives of many."

"And they kept these things in a museum," Clark said shaking his head.

"It would have made sense to destroy them," Harry agreed, closing his eyes.

Destroy them was what the two of them planned on doing once they had gotten their hands on the artifacts. Harry and Kara sensed that whoever had stolen the artifacts. Victor had looked up, and had ushered them over.

"I managed to hack into the security, before it went nuclear," Victor said. "There was a lot of static, but I managed to isolate a few scarce images."

"It's a start."

The heads of the team mates had snapped around, and they were graced by the presence of the one and only Batman. Bart nearly ran backwards, caught completely off guard.

"Dude, that just took ten years off of my life," Bart said, and Batman just dropped down.

"No need for introductions, it seems like you're up your necks in a problem," Batman replied. "An old colleague of mind clued me on this theft, and the culprit behind it."

"Don't leave us in suspense, then," Oliver remarked.

"Morgaine le Faye," Batman said dryly.

Harry and Kara's attention was immediately grabbed. Le Faye was among the undesirables on their list, both her and her son, who had been alive since the days of Camelot. The sorceress had remained hidden for years, but the time was ripe for her to take over.

"So, you're here to help us?" Clark asked.

Batman just offered him a stoic look. "I'm here to tell you that I decline the offer for membership in person. I work alone."

Clark turned, and stared down Batman.

"I thought that at one point, but it doesn't hurt to have any backup," Clark replied.

"You know, you are the last person that should be giving me any advice on anything," Batman replied, in a stern voice. "Does anyone have a plan beyond stumble around in the dark, and hope for the best, while causing mass property damage?"

The assembled group remained silent, waiting for someone to speak up, but Harry stepped forward.

"I got an idea," Harry told them. "You're all going to have to follow my lead for this to work…"

"I've got what we should do," Oliver replied. And Harry opened his mouth, but Oliver cut him off. "No offense, but…"

"Fine, you've got your idea, just let's hope it doesn't blow up in your face," Harry replied, his voice dripping with warning.

Harry and Kara had an idea that whatever plan Oliver had, it would not end up for the best. The rest of this group seemed to defer to him, but both Clark and Batman had their doubts. Then again, this group only seemed to really sabotage Luthor's 33.1 facilities, at least so far. They had potential for more.

"Just a fair warning, le Faye is not your average thug, she's a powerful sorceress with hundreds of years of magical experience," Harry added.

Oliver took this into consideration, but he had a feeling that this woman who claimed to be le Faye could be someone hopped up on meteor rocks, and driven insane with mad delusions.

"Are we ready to do this, then?"

There were nods all around. Batman had slipped off already, into the night, and so did Harry and Kara. Clark had remained behind, and readied himself.