Chapter 7

"The Team is a little bit raw around the edges, but we managed to work through it in the end. We're just going to have to get our team work down a little bit better, but that comes with time and training."

In the skies above Metropolis, Superboy and Power Girl circled around the city for an early morning patrol, which got them a chance to talk. Of course, there was not that much crime in Metropolis in the morning. Only the densest of criminals committed crimes at this time. Sure, there were slightly more crimes when Superwoman was dead, but now that she was back the criminals lost a lot of their nerve.

"Looks like you're starting to be a bit more comfortable with them than you were at first," Karen said.

"Well, once we get our timing down better, we'll be a good team," Harry said. "And I do have my misgivings about the entire Team thing still, but not as many as I did. Not so much of the team itself, but some of the choices that the League is making regarding the team."

They circled the Daily Planet building and came right across. A group of civilians could look up right now and see a blur passing them by.

"And speaking of which, are we going to get the training from Canary?"

"Soon," Karen said.

"Because, as I said, we might need training on how to work together collectively as a team better, than original training," Harry said. "I admit I'm not the best for that either. My training in Cadmus did not cover that, yet, not to say it wouldn't."

Karen and Harry stopped on the rooftop just across the street from Karen's penthouse.

"I agree from what you told me and I think that Batman would as well," Karen said.

Harry just flashed a smile. He respected Batman's abilities, but respect and trust were two different streets as far as Harry was concerned.

"Well, if Batman thinks so…."

"He is the man who maps out most of the League's strategy, so he would know that best," Karen said. "But, soon, Black Canary will start your training as promised. And then Wonder Woman will be helping. Both of them are looking forward to helping the Team out where they can."

"Would be nice to have some other League members by the cave other than Batman and Red Tornado," Harry said. "And there's something that I have to tell you about Red Tornado…."

"The Mister Twister thing, I know," Karen said with a frown. "Not sure why he's being targeted."

"The fact he's being targeted is putting my team in the crossfire," Harry said.

Karen just smiled and put her arm around Harry. Harry raised his eyebrow.

"I know why he's put there. He's the best at following whatever the League decides for the team and he doesn't have a civilian identity...at least not one that I know of."

The smile on Karen's face showed that she was neither confirming nor denying.

"But, I don't know that much about his past," Harry said.

"Well, I don't either," Karen admitted. "Whether or not the big three know...that being Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superwoman, they're not telling what they know about Red Tornado. He's been a valuable member of the League for some time."

"Oh, I'm sure that Red Tornado's trustworthy enough on League missions," Harry responded. "But….I'll be honest….just something about this Mister Twister thing strikes as rotten. Someone's obsessed with Red at the very least and I'm afraid if his presence is going to put the team at risk…."

Harry pinched his nose for a second. It hit him suddenly.

"They knew he was in the general area," Harry said.

The more Karen thought about it, the more it struck her as odd.

"I'll pass along your concerns," Karen said. "I agree, there's something off right there, but...upper management of the League...they can be set in their decisions."

Karen joined the League almost a year ago, and while she got along with many of the members, she did not get a seat at the big table just yet. She wondered what it would take. Of course, two of the League's founding members recently left them, thanks to a tragedy, and Karen was not the most senior member after them.

Still, she did deserve some consideration, didn't she? She always did her part in helping the League during the big missions. And was pretty good at doing PR work. Running a corporation gave Karen plenty of experience with that.

One more pass around the city allowed Power Girl and Superboy to get a good view of Metropolis. It was quiet and today would be a beautiful day.

Cat Grant pinched the bridge of her nose. Trying to get her station manager to go along with this story proved to be pretty impossible.

"Cat, I'll concede this is big news," he said with a smile. "But, you're chasing something that's based on a lot of hearsay, rumors, and innuendo."

The mark of being a good reporter would be to fight for your stories and fight for your passion. And Cat could get very passionate. It was a trait that she inherited from her mother. Catherine Grant, the owner and founder of CatCo media, who had an tendency to name everything after her.

Including her own daughter, and boy Cat had some big shoes to fill and would always be in her mother's shadow.

"But, another Kryptonian showed up in the city," Cat said. "Superboy...although from what little I've seen, I don't think he's too much of a boy. Well, he's male...but that's not what I meant."

Her station manager just humored Cat with a smile. The two made their way through the station headquarters, where people were buzzing, talking. It was the usual chaotic scene.

"Stick with the news, Cat. Because, if you go out there with the notion that Superwoman had some unknown lovechild way back when, there's going to be a lot of trouble. Especially giving the other half of who you're implicating in the affair."

Cat just responded with a frown. Her station manager gave her a smile.

"You've busted your ass and worked so hard in becoming a respected journalist over the past year, after writing gossip for Perry White. You had the wrong kind of reputation, but now you're much better off that you're not going down that seedy TMZ route."

Cat did smile, the past year had been more relevant stories in a sense, but there was a line she had to toe that Cat found boring on other days.

"I guess you're right."

"Not trying to discourage you, but let the facts come out before you start dropping down rabbit holes."

"Right," Cat said. "I'm going to head across the street for a cup of coffee. I'll be back in five."

The station manager waved her off and Cat sauntered across the street. She made her way to the coffee shop and stopped.

"Well, as I live and breathe, Claire Kent. It's been too long."

Claire, who had been moving towards the coffee shop stopped, and stared. She came face to face with her former co-worker at the Daily Planet.

"How are you doing, Cat?" Claire asked.

"Far better than you were," Cat replied with a smile. "So, are you feeling much better after your illness?"

A knowing smile crossed over the face of Cat Grant, when she looked Claire in the eye. Claire did not act as if she was shaken by this particular honest question. But, skepticism was evidence, as Cat wondered a lot about Claire.

Along with the fact that she just happened to disappear with an illness when a certain heroine died. And got better when that heroine was resurrected. Just by coincidence, of course.

The only thing which shook Cat's theory was the fact that Claire showed up at Superwoman's funeral. But, in an world of fantastic heroes, there were explanations for that.

"Much better."

"That's good to hear, from what I heard, your kind of affliction is almost deadly," Cat said. "So, I want to ask you something about Superwoman. You do know her right….turned in a couple of intimate interviews that made Lois's ears burn."

Granted, she was not working for the Planet at that time, but her mother was, before she moved onto other things, running one of the biggest gossip magazines on the west coast. And she loved recounting the story to Cat several times a day for ages.

"We've met, yes," Claire said in a very even voice.

"So, have you heard of Superboy?" Cat asked.

Claire narrowed her eyes from behind the glasses she was wearing.

"Yes," she curtly replied. "He's...something else."

"Oh, he's amazing," Cat said. "So handsome...he saved me a couple of weeks ago. I haven't been able to get another glimpse of him since then, but I'd like to have a one on one interview with him. When he wrapped his arms around me I felt a burst….I felt so warm, so good….it was like something out of a tacky romance novel."

It took every fiber of Claire's being not to lose her breakfast. Although she conceded that Superboy was very handsome it was not proper to have any thoughts like that.

"Are you sure you're not writing a romance novel yourself?" Claire asked. "Or is there anything substantial to what you're saying?"

The cute young blonde just gave Claire a smile in response to her question.

"Do you think that it's possible that a long time ago Superwoman had a secret son that she had to hide away?" Cat asked. "Because maybe she didn't want his father to know...perhaps because his father is someone like...oh say….Lex Luthor."

This caused Claire's face to cloud over, even though she decided to hide her disgust by laughing that idea off.

"Oh, come on, that makes perfect sense," Cat said. "Lex acts like a classic jilted lover, like Superwoman's personally betrayed him. And getting dumped would explain why Lex is so jaded towards her."

"Don't you think that you're reading a little too much into this?" Claire asked.

"Maybe," Cat offered with a shrug.

The sound of a jet engine blowing in the distance caused Claire to jump up and startled. It gave her the perfect excuse to get away.

"I just had to finish filing my story with Perry...it was nice talking to you."

Cat just shook her head when Claire rushed away. She always was a terrible liar, bless her. Her mother mentioned the same thing, but that was another hurdle that Cat had to climb on her way to becoming a respected journalist. Always being in Catherine Grant's shadow, including being named after her, but never mind that. Cat did wonder though about whether or not she had something to her allegations regarding him.

She would have to dig deeper to find out. Other people would leave well enough alone, but not Cat Grant.

Perhaps, she struck oil and hit a little too close to home.

Lois switched into a black dress, a nice little tight black number, which she hoped to catch Harry's eye when they have lunch. Harry stepped into the lunch, dressed in a nice dress shirt and a pair of pants. It suited him just well.

"Hey, Harry," Lois said.

A whistle escaped Harry's lips when he gave Lois a nice little lookover.

"Lois, you look nice," Harry said.

"And you clean up pretty nice yourself," Lois said.

Harry could not take his eyes off of Lois, who wore that little black dress well, with it fitting snug in all of the right places. They moved into the table and set down for dinner.

"You and your little team are making some headways," Lois said.

"I don't think Batman was that pleased that you were there to report it and MJ got pictures," Harry said.

"Let me deal with Batman," Lois said with a wicked smile as she put her hand on Harry's thigh from underneath the table and gave it a squeeze. "Besides, it was mostly on you and I didn't say anything about the League using child soldiers. It's Teen Titans East Coast as far as the public is concerned, although you're not living out of a big tower."

Harry got his lunch, and the beef was pretty good. He kept his eyes locked on Lois, who wore a dress that emphasized certain parts of her body. It was a nice view to have while eating.

"I'm glad the two of us could get together," Lois said.

Her hand dangerously inched towards a certain part of Harry. Harry smiled at the effect he had on women. It was very thrilling to think about. But, Lois was not going to go down that easily.

"So, how about after we have lunch, I can show you my apartment and we can have coffee," Lois said. "But, I must warn you, I like something pretty strong and hard for my coffee."

Harry just grinned at her and his hand moved up her leg from across the table. He stopped just inches away from the lacy fabric of Lois's panties.

"You know, I like mine pretty creamy."

She flashed him a knowing smile.

"I do like the glasses," Lois commented idly. "I almost didn't recognize you in them...although I'd like to think I was getting better at recognizing people in glasses."

Lois laughed and Harry had a feeling that he missed some kind of inside joke. He realized that Lois's shoes were off underneath the table and she rubbed his inner leg with her stocking clad foot. She kept eating, with a straight face while toying with Harry underneath the table.

"So, did Superwoman stop by your little clubhouse?" Lois asked.

"No, not yet, a few members have stopped by, but never her," Harry said. "She's still adjusting to being back alive...and I'm not going to force the issue."

"You're better than I would have been if I was in your shoes."

Harry just smiled. He was not going to force Superwoman to have a relationship with him, unless she wanted

Lois rested her feet against Harry's lap and rubbed them slightly against him. She seemed to take it as a personal challenge to get Harry to cream himself in his pants underneath the table before they finished lunch. Harry just smiled and raised his crotch.

"You know, I thought you were going to wait until we had our coffee to get you some cream," Harry said.

"Always been impatient," Lois offered with a slight smile and a subtle rub of his manhood through Harry's pants. "So, are you looking forward to school?"

Harry sighed. He would have rather went without, but they needed to maintain appearances, at least for Harry Kent.

"To be fair, that sigh shows that you're normal," Lois said. "Hopefully you don't do what I did during my senior year of high school."

"What did you do?" Harry asked her.

"Well, let just say that I was on a first name basis with the truancy officer," Lois said as she moved her feet off of his lap and slipped her shoes back on. "I had to repeat Senior Year to get all of the needed credits to graduate. But that's where I met your mother….and I swear, I'm not going to go into a series of long winded stories on how I met your mother that takes several seasons."

Harry just responded with a raised eyebrow. He took Lois's teasing in good stride, but once they had gotten back to her apartment, he'll show Lois what he's really made of.

And punish Lois for her edging of Harry under the table.

Outside, a man dressed in a trenchcoat peered across the window of the restaurant. The man's lips curled into a snarl when he came across that bitch Lois Lane, having lunch with someone. He didn't care whom, all he cared about was the target.

John Corben, better known as Metallo, was as rough as could be. He had clashed with Superwoman for years, and both was glad that the girl scout was dead, and disappointed that he couldn't do her himself.

Regardless, if Corben knew one thing, the best way to get Superwoman's attention was through Lois Lane. It might have been an old trick, but it had been a successful one.

Also, through the grapevine, he heard that Superwoman had some bastard son. That was interesting, although Corben would stick to the tried and tested approach of getting his hands on Lois Lane, when he wanted to do something.

A loud explosion from outside caused both Lois and Harry to stand up straight, along with several of the restaurant patrons. The doors blew open as a gentleman dressed in a trench coat, with skin appearing to peel off of his face stepped up. Lois stood up to her feet, mouth opened. She stepped a bit closer.

"Corben."

"Hello, Miss Lane," he commented with a leer towards her. "Long time, no see."

Lois drew a gun so fast that it nearly caught Harry off guard. He should not be surprised she had a concealed weapon after all of the trouble she had been in. Harry moved in to clear out the patrons before they had a chance to realize what happened.

The intruder open for two shots.

Harry recognized him straight away. A former terrorist known as John Corben was stopped years ago from leaving Metropolis with a super suit that Lex Luthor commissioned and Corben's organization stole. Luthor poisoned Corben and then turned him into this dangerous criminal, Metallo. He was powered by the very thing that was Superwoman's greatest weakness, Kryptonite.

He noticed Metallo grabbing Lois. Harry dove on Metallo's back and punched him a couple of times. Metallo turned around and then blasted Harry with a beam of green light from his eyes.

"Well, this is interesting," Corben said. "So, there is a Superboy."

Pain, nerve racking pain, beyond everything Harry experienced hit him when the Kryptonite radiation soaked into his skin. It only took sheer determination for Harry to be pulled up. His shirt had been ripped and his glasses had been knocked off. His flesh, red raw, stung from the attack.

Yet, Harry persisted in trying to get up and rejoin the fight. Because, he refused to be taken down.

Corben tore his trench coat open and the hum of the Kryptonite in his chest made it very difficult. It felt like someone slashed razor blades through Harry's flesh and they had been set on fire. Harry pushed himself despite it, images in his head of a faceless man shooting a beam of light at him in a graveyard popping straight into Harry's mind.

Up until now, that was the worst pain Harry ever felt, up until now. Harry's fingers grew completely numb when trying to hold himself up. The damage was healing when he moved back from Metallo.

"But, there won't be one for much longer."

Harry dodged the second Kryptonite beam even though he could not leap as high to avoid it this time. The third one nailed him flush in the face and sent him outside of the restaurant.

Much like some kind of terminator, Corben stalked him. The news crew outside gathered and Cat Grant appeared in the thick of things.

"Get out of the way," Harry groaned to them.

Corben beamed him a second time with Kryptonite vision and knocked Harry into a building. The bricks toppled and the crowd gasped as Superboy appeared to be buried underneath the debris.

Lois ran outside and smashed a chair over Corben's back. This only barely got him to flinch. He turned around and grabbed Lois by the shoulder before injecting something into the side of her neck. A little knockout drug that his men used to use to make women more agreeable. He dragged Lois's body over.

"Ah, Miss Grant, perfect," Corben said, and he grabbed Cat around the neck as well. "You are to come with me….someone is going to need to film my demands when I get Superwoman's attention."

The cameraman trembled, not knowing what to do. He saw Metallo kick around a Kryptonian like he was nothing, so he was nearly pissing himself in fear.

As Metallo disappeared into a waiting van, seconds later, the rubble started to shift. Superboy punched himself out of the rubble.

The young man staggered, and almost collapsed to the ground. The pain racking through his body, well immense did a pretty good job to describe it to be honest.

Harry knew that he was far in other his head, and perhaps backup should be called in to help deal with Metallo. But, perhaps not, perhaps he should not put anyone else in danger. Pride, the greatest sin of them all, overrode him.

"Don't worry kid, I'm sure Superwoman will save them."

Harry stopped short of signaling Karen with the watch she gave him. This statement, combined with the frustration of his defeat, made Harry decide not to call anyone in. He would have to take care of this on his own. It was his fault for the fact that Lois got captured as well.

Moving in, Harry took out the phone Lois gave him and switched it on. He was able to lock onto a signal and thankfully Lois still had her phone, because it was on the move.

Mostly healed from his ordeal, although still covered in dust and debris, Superboy flew to the skies.

From the shadows, a figure watched him with a frown. And trailed behind him.

Lois slowly stirred awake. She realized that she had been tied up against Cat Grant, and her cameraman was also there. Unfortunately, Corben took good care to make sure that the knots were tied tight, so they could not break free from them so easily.

"You better do a good job in filming this," Corben warned them. "Superwoman is going to pay for ruining my life….along with Luthor."

Cat tried to remain cool under the face of fire. However, this was one of the worst situations that she had been a part of. And she faltered, ever so slightly.

"If this Superboy is their son, then I just got back at both of them by crushing him," Metallo said. "And unless Superwoman wants me to mail back dear Lois piece by piece, she will do exactly as I say. Her homecoming back to the living will be very short once I'm done with her."

"And what makes you think she'll stay dead if Doomsday couldn't kill her?" Cat asked.

"Oh, Ms. Grant, how I hated your mother and the trash she peddled about female empowerment," Metallo said. "It was always the man's fault, never the woman. Despite the fact that your mother is a whore that can't keep her legs shut...if I said it once, I said it a million times….giving women the right to vote was the biggest mistake that any country could make."

Despite the fact that Lois hated the entire "blame men for any shortcomings" complex that some women had, Metallo veering in the other direction was an equally bad look as well.

"Yeah, you're a real prize," Lois dryly responded. "Man like you, women just hurl their panties at you."

If Corben heard what Lois said, he choose not to acknowledge it.

"To show how serious I am, I will kill you live on the air, slowly and painfully," Metallo said. "Hopefully your mother is watching."

Cat was too terrified to scream.

From the heavens, Superboy dropped from the ceiling and landed to the ground. Metallo stepped back for a second.

"No, you're dead," Metallo breathed. "You can't have….you can't have survived that."

"I can," he said with the room going cold as he stalked Metallo. "I have a special ability to adapt. And what does not kill me, makes me stronger."

"You bluff," Metallo said. "Keep that camera on us….while I kill Superboy live on the air."

X-X-X

Harry knew that he might only have a couple of minutes to take out Metallo, so he should make his shots count. He zipped away, flinging a crate at Metallo. Harry supercharged a chair and sent it flying at Metallo. The chair exploded upon impact

"You're not at your strongest," Metallo said. "You're bluffing!"

The beam of Kryptonite vision hit Harry flush in the chest. Surprisingly, he pushed on through it, through sheer force of will power, despite every nerve ending in his body burning. He nailed Metallo with a concussive blow and sent him staggering back.

Harry collapsed to one knee and Metallo kicked him in the ribs hard. He returned and fired another beam of Kryptonite at him.

Metallo opened up a compartment on his armor and pulled out a Kryptonite dagger. He stabbed downwards, with Superboy blocking it at the last possible second. Superboy bounced up and nailed Metallo with a couple more punches. Metallo blasted him flush on and sent him to the ground.

"I'm going to make you…."

An arrow shot from the shadows and nailed Metallo in the shoulder. The Kryptonite dagger fell to the ground with a clatter. A second arrow hit the ground and an explosion sent him staggering backwards, with the sticky glue from the third arrow forcing him on the ground.

Sensing his moment, and remembering his training regarding Metallo, Harry jumped in and punched him directly through the metal chest plate. Despite the nerve racking pain rushing through his body, Harry ripped Corben's Kryptonite heart out of his chest, damaging the life support system in the process.

Harry collapsed to the ground. From the shadows, Harry noticed, through blurry vision, Speedy.

"Let go of it," she told him.

Harry relinquished the Kryptonite and Speedy picked it up. Metallo, sparking, and running on back up fumes, tried to get to the Kryptonite.

In five minutes, he would run out of power and he would die.

By the time Metallo freed himself, Speedy was gone. Harry spun around and nailed Metallo with a huge punch which caused his head to flatten like grape. The unpowered android dropped to the ground and Harry stood over him, breathing.

Harry spent a few seconds recovering as the trembling cameraman moved over towards him.

"You need me to call someone?" he asked.

"Fine," Harry told the cameraman.

Harry shook his head to clean the cobwebs. One thing hit Harry clearly. He was going to have to have a discussion about Karen about developing some kind of Kryptonite shielding. He staggered and after another minute, Harry moved over to untie both Cat and Lois.

"Thank you."

Cat was a bit less subdued than Lois was. She looked at Harry with a gushing smile.

"My hero!"

Cat threw her arms around Harry for a second. She thought for a minute that Metallo was going to literally cut her into pieces live on air, and that would be the worst end to any journalism career she could think of. Without really thinking about it, Cat leaned forward and planted a passionate kiss on Harry.

It took Cat maybe about a half of a minute to pull away from Harry and realized that the cameraman was still filming everything, and her passionate thanks was caught on camera. The cameraman finally lowered the camera, but the damage was already done.

"That will be all over YouTube within the hour," Lois dryly remarked.

A second passes as Cat looks Harry over for a second. She just smiled and leaned towards him.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

She did not elaborate on that one. Cat slipped off, but not before slipping Harry a piece of paper. He noticed both a phone number and an address. It was almost like she had planned to slip this to him, the first time she gt him alone.

Lois crossed her arms, frowning. It took Harry a second to realize that wasn't because of what Cat did, but rather because of the fact that Superwoman was looking through the broken skylight.

Before the two could make eye contact, Superwoman flew away. Harry just shrugged and made his way off now that the police arrived. Metallo was no longer a threat, with a crushed head and a ripped out heart.

Harry needed a long break to recover from this battle.

On the rooftop, Speedy stood and heard someone land behind her on the rooftop.

"What were you doing in Metropolis?"

The archer turned around to face Superboy.

"Investigating something," she replied curtly. "And you know something, it was a damn good thing that I was here."

"I could have…."

"You could have been killed!" she snapped. "You were entirely reckless going in there against Metallo, and you put Lois and Cat in danger because...you had too much pride, you wanted to prove yourself….because you just had to grandstand and you have to be the hero...you have to prove something!"

She looked about ready to fume. Superboy on the other hand, narrowed his eyes and stared her down.

"You know, given that you're the girl who went solo, who broke off all ties from the Green Arrow, the Team, and the League, you're the absolute last person to talk about having too much pride and needing to prove yourself. Because, you decided to take your solo act on the road."

"It's completely different!" she snapped.

"How is it different?" Harry asked.

The two stared down each other with Thea practically fuming. He almost called her bluff, but one of Thea's worst qualities was her inability to back down from a fight.

"It just is!" Thea yelled back. "I don't know if you will ever get your through your thick skull, but just because you were born to be a weapon, that does not mean that people can't care about what happens to you. You could have called the Team or Power Girl or someone...but instead, you went in there, all Lone Ranger."

The two of them stared each other down for a second. They looked about ready to go at it with each other.

"Don't talk about what I'm doing and why I broke apart from Green Arrow," she said. "Because, you'll never understand."

"Help me understand," Harry told her. "Because, all I'm seeing is a spoiled entitled brat who wasn't inducted into the League, therefore she's throwing a fit."

"See, you don't get it!" Thea yelled.

The two of them go almost face to face on the rooftop. One could almost think that Speedy and Superboy were either going to have a fight or angry sex with each other. Or both.

"When your b...your mentor keeps secrets from you, you will understand," Thea said.

Something flickers into Harry's mind. It had a white beard and a twinkle in his eye. He pushed it to the back as irrelevant.

"Oh, I understand," Harry said. "Still doesn't give you any right to shun your friends."

The two came almost face to face before Thea threw her hands in the air and left Harry on the rooftop.

"Maybe you should take your own advice!" Harry called after her. "And not go in there alone in situations that could get you killed."

The two parted ways and Harry thought about learning the exact chemical composition of Kryptonite, so he could transfigure the bloody thing.

Lois got out of the tub after a good long soak. She the deal with Metallo and then a long interview with Captain Sawyer of the Metropolis Police Department. Corben or whatever was left of him had been taken into ARGUS custody.

Just as Lois slipped her robe on, she answered a knock on the door. She moved over to answer it. After peaking through the keyhole, hand near a baseball bat lying near the door, she relaxed and opened in. Harry stepped into the room and flashed a smile at her.

"So, are you still on for that coffee?" Harry asked.

"Mmm...or something stronger if you have it," Lois said.

Lois beckoned for Harry to come in, her tanned thighs flashing at him from underneath the robe. And she made it obvious to Harry that the robe was the only thing she wore.

Lois never would let Cat Grant, even the younger model, get the better of her. And since she intended to seduce her kind of stepson, it just gave her more incentive to get her rear in gear. Before Kitty-Cat ended up jumping the line. So Lois beckoned her sort of step son inside to rock his world.

It did sound like something of a porno, Lois was not going to lie. But, she did not care. Because Lois knew what she wanted.