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Speed of Lyght	By : JLinz Category: DC Verse Cartoons > Justice League Views: 6137 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics, Marvel, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited nor any of the characters from either series. I do not make any monetary value from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 20
- 21
- 22
Chapter Twenty-One: Divided
The ordeal that Tabitha had gone through with Lex Luthor prompted Bruce to conduct an investigation on the man; he knew that Luthor was always attempting to make the Justice League look rogue to the public eye. As one of the rare members with no super abilities whatsoever, he couldn’t help but to slightly see his point of view; the rest of the world could see them as a threat because of their powers, alone. What or who would stop Clark, for example, if he wanted to suppress the people on Earth, save some Kryptonite? A regular human like himself really didn’t pose a threat to other humans; he could easily be stopped by bullets and force by numbers. But how would someone stop a superhuman… a group of them? Bruce was glad that the others wouldn’t go rogue… however, he had means to stop every last one of them, just in case.
It was long overdue however J’onn insisted for Tabitha to invite Ramil and Ashley aboard Watchtower; they were to receive special recognition from the Martian himself for what they had done for his girlfriend. As the three made their way to the large conference room, Ashley shrugged at the idea.
“All he had to say was thanks; this isn’t necessary…”
“That ain’t him. You’ve saved my life twice… that means a lot to him…” she smiled, “Plus, it wasn’t all his idea. The council…”
“The council…?”
“The other founding members; I call ‘em the council.” she told Ramil, “Anyway; they wanted to thank you, too.”
“Oh… still… a thank you would’ve been more than enough…” Ashley cut herself short as Tabitha escorted them inside. The six founding members stayed seated but looked brightly at the husband and wife. They both shot glances at Tabitha, who only stepped to the side and kept her smile.
“Ramil and Ashley Jones. There aren’t many who can say that they’ve saved a Justice League member’s life, let alone twice. I’ve spoken with the others and we all came to this decision: because of your heroic actions, we will like to extend membership to you both.” J’onn announced. The two gave everyone shocked looks and finally turned to look at Tabitha. She laughed.
“He’s asking you to become a part of the Justice…”
“We know what he meant!” Ramil laughed, shaking his head. He put his attention back to the founding members and nodded, “We’d be honored…” he said. The group smiled at the two and gave them a round of applause. Tabitha put her arms around both of their shoulders.
“Good; welcome to the Justice League! As our newest members, you’ll have to go through some series of required training. If you wanna go back to Earth, just make sure you’re here on time for training. While J’onn’s getting you communicators, I’ll take you on a tour!” she escorted the two out of the room. Bruce looked at the Martian.
“You told her to do that…?”
“…No…”
“Hmm…” he couldn’t help but to smirk towards the door.

It was rare for the Justice League members to have a break, especially during the holidays. However, as they found that no missions were being issued, everyone took it to their advantage and made plans.
“Are you spending time with your family for the holiday, too?” Clark asked Tabitha as she made her way towards the control room. She smiled brightly and nodded.
“Just feels kinda weird leaving Watchtower for a while…”
“J’onn will be here so if something comes up, I’m pretty sure he can handle it…” he nodded.
“Oh…” she realized that he had no family. She felt slightly guilty that there she was, making plans on spending Christmas on Earth when her boyfriend had no one to celebrate with… except with her, “Well… there’s no need for him to be alone!”
“You’re changing your plans so that he won’t be here alone…?” it puzzled him. He knew that the two had bonded over the years but he never would had guessed that he meant that much to her. She gave him a smirk and shook her head.
“No; I’m gonna invite him to spend the holidays with me!” she smiled. She shot the man a look as he slightly snickered, “What?”
“Good luck with that…”
“What you tryna say… he wouldn’t?”
“I don’t think he’ll be that comfortable around your family. Maybe the Lindseys…”
“Hmph… we’ll see. Happy holidays, Clark!”
“Same to you… and do let me know how that goes when you get back!” he lightly laughed as he walked away. She refrained from sticking her tongue out at him; he didn’t know that the Martian would have no choice but to spend the holidays with his girlfriend! She pressed a button on her communicator, calling her family.
“Tabitha! Tell me you’re coming home for the holidays…” her mother didn’t even bother to say “hello”!
“How’d you know it was me?”
“The caller ID; a whole bunch of zeroes come up whenever you call!” she laughed.
“Yeah, I’ll be there in a few. Mom… I’m bringing J’onn with me…” she tried. She knew that there would be silence on the other end; her family was still trying to get used to the fact that the two were dating, “Mooom…”
“I’m sorry, honey…”
“Wait; you’re telling me no…?”
“No! O-Of course, you can bring him; he’s your boyfriend, now…” her voice trailed off. It prompted Tabitha to huff.
“I know that he’s… different, but so am I, now. I just want y’all to get to know him better… please?”
“Alright, dear. We’ll see you two in a few minutes, then…”
“Thank you, mom!” she ended the call. She smiled and strolled over towards J’onn, who was at his usual spot over the controls of Watchtower. He turned and smiled at her, “So… whatcha doing for the holidays…?” she smiled back.
“What I always do; stay he… why are you shaking your head…?”
“Seriously? You’re gonna let your girlfriend spend the holidays alone?! No way; come on…” she tried to shove him away from the control panel.
“W-Wait… Tabitha…”
“What?”
“I can’t just… leave…”
“You said it yourself, J’onn J’onzz; you’re always in contact with Watchtower so no problems there! You got no excuses now, let’s go!” she was now attempting to pull him away by his arm.
“Well… it has been a while since I’ve seen the Lindseys…”
“Nuh uh; my folks’ house…” her words made him stop dead in his tracks.
“Tabitha…” he widened his eyes at her. She stopped trying to push him towards the teleportation pads and huffed loudly at him.
“What, now? Look, I already told ‘em we were coming; don’t make me out to be a liar!”
“You expect for me to go… like this…?”
“Oh, my God; it ain’t like they ain’t seen you like this before!” she rolled her eyes and laughed, “Don’t make me use force now, come on!” she tried pushing him from behind.
“You’re going to continue to try to get me to leave… aren’t you?”
“Yep!”
“So… there’s no way I’m going to win this battle… am I…?”
“Nope!

She was surprised as well as excited to see the snowfall that happened in Chattanooga. It had been a while since she’d seen any precipitation, let alone snow; she felt like a kid all over again. The trees that lined the street were covered however the driveways and streets had been cleared; the current snowfall was threatening to undo the hard work. The Martian looked on in slight amazement as his girlfriend stuck her tongue out to catch a few of the falling flakes.
“Why would you do that; do you know what snow is made of…”
“Don’t spoil it for me, Martian…”
“I will never understand you, human…” he actually smiled at her childish behavior as she squinted and stuck her tongue out at him. Her playful mood was interrupted as she stopped to study her parents’ home, “What’s wrong?” he noticed quickly. She studied the yard more and narrowed her eyes. Usually, the snow removed from the streets, sidewalks and driveways were shoveled into large piles on the side or towards the curbs; she saw that someone had clearly made what looked like a wall in the yard. When she saw that the driveway was occupied by more cars than usual, her eyes widened.
“Ambush!” she quickly pulled J’onn with her as they headed for the nearest car. No sooner had the two ducked behind it, they heard the thumps of snowballs hitting the vehicle, “Shit; start making snowballs!”
“… What…” he noticed that she had already made a few.
“If you wanna go to war, I’ll take your asses to war!![1]” she launched a snowball grenade-styled over the car towards the makeshift fort, “You gotta be my eyes; how many of ‘em are there…?” she went back to making snowballs. Confused, J’onn stood up from their hiding spot, to make sense of what was going on. Before he could, he was hit with a snowball.
“OOH!! Tango down, men!!”
“What…? Oh, J’onn; did you get hit?! Damnit…”
“He’s out; you’re on your own, now, Tabby!!”
“Good one, Ty; we got the important one out the w… oh, shit…”
“Tabby, tell him he ain’t supposed to move!!”
“Wha…” she got up from her hiding spot in time to see the Martian walking towards her brothers, “Oh… J’onn, stop!!” she did a Lightning Cloud to face him, “We’re just playing around…” she tried to explain. She wiped the remainder of the snowball from his chest as he looked down at her.
“Throwing snowballs… is some sort of a game…?”
“You’ve never seen a snowball fight before…?”
“No…” he shook his head. She opened her mouth to say something but was quickly interrupted as a snowball hit her in the back.
“You’re out!” Terry snickered. Tabitha sighed and rolled her eyes.
“And now, we’ve lost… revenge will be cold… and in a bowl!!” she shook her fists at her brothers who erupted into laughter.
“… Revenge is a dish best served cold…” J’onn corrected, a smile playing on his lips. Before she could retaliate, the oldest of the Lyght siblings approached the two.
“Sorry ‘bout that; we kinda get carried away when we get together. The Martian Manhunter, huh? Thomas…” he introduced himself. The man was as tall and muscular as their father however he was an even mixture of the parents. The Martian shook his hand.
“You can call me J’onn.”
“J’onn? I like that. Kinda French.”
“It’s as close as humans can pronounce my real name.”
“Ah. Yeah; our names are pretty easy: Tyler, Tim and I think you’ve already met Terry. Mom was on a roll after she named me and Tim; figured she give the rest of us T names!” he introduced the other brothers. Tyler was the second youngest; J’onn saw that he and Tabitha could’ve easily passed for twins. Tim favored the Lyght siblings’ mother more than any of them and was the second oldest.
The Lyght children had settled down in the living room while the Martian talked to the parents; Tabitha figured that the only way for the three to get to know one another was for it to be in private.
“How long you guys gonna be here?” Tabitha took a sip of her hot chocolate.
“I’m leaving day after Christmas; gotta work to pay the bills…” Thomas shrugged.
“School ain’t starting back until second week of January. Then, it’s back to Tuscaloosa!”
“Me and Ty staying ‘til after New Year’s.” Tim explained. She curled up in the chair and nodded.
“So… you and J’onn dating?” Thomas looked at his sister. She blushed and nodded.
“I knew it…” Terry eyed her.
“Y’all okay with that…?”
“Are you shitting me?! You know you’re set for life, right?” Tyler pointed out. She gave him a weird look.
“Wha…?”
“You’re with the Martian Manhunter; who’s gonna fuck with you?!”
“Yeah… so much for your brothers having your back, threatening your boyfriends to treat you right or else!” Tim huffed out.
“Yeah; go ahead and make that threat to him and see what happens!” Thomas pointed out and the men laughed. Tabitha blushed furiously.
“Well… n-no one knows that we’re dating…”
“Whaaat…?” Thomas eyed her in amusement. She didn’t want to explain everything to them; she knew that they wouldn’t understand. She was happy that her brothers accepted him without question.
“Only people who can keep their big mouths shut know…”
“Why…?” Terry asked.
“It’s a… superhero thing. Folks find out that we’re together and guess what; villains gonna come out and harass either me or him. That’s why a lot of us have secret identities.”
“Oh. That makes sense…” Tyler nodded.
“So, wait… does that mean you know who Batman is…?” Terry lit up. Tabitha sighed and nodded, “Who is he…?”
“He’s a detective on the Gotham police force…” she looked at him.
“No shit? For real?!”
“No; why in the hell would I tell you who Batman really is?!” she laughed at her brother’s disappointed face.
“… I’m feeling really uncomfortable with your father…” J’onn’s voice almost echoed in her brain. She suddenly sat straight up and looked at her brothers.
“Where’s daddy…?”
“Oh… he’s… ‘interviewing’ J’onn…” Thomas smiled. She widened her eyes and then narrowed them towards the hallway.
“He wouldn’t…”
He sat across from Curtis Lyght and waited for the man to speak. He felt slightly uneasy that the human only looked at him as if he was studying him. The Martian knew that his girlfriend got his telepathic message and wondered what was taking her so long to either reply or come “rescue” him. He wasn’t used to this, being stared down by the father of the one that he loved. He wanted to go through his mind, to see what exactly he was thinking about but opted not to out of respect. Maybe this was a human tradition? He had a slightly painful thought; how would he react to someone that was courting his daughter? J’onn started to understand the human man…
“What are your intentions with my baby girl?” the man finally decided to speak. The question actually shocked him. His intentions with Tabitha? He only wanted to love her; wouldn’t that be anyone’s intention with one another? He was sadly reminded that human ways were vastly different from his. He was living on a planet where money and sex were huge factors in a relationship; it was as if everyone had given up on true love. He kept his smile to himself; he knew that their relationship was based on more, much more and he wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.
He was about to respond until Tabitha rushed into the room, glaring at her father.
“Daddy!” she warned.
“Go back in there and help your mother cook, honey; this is men folk business…” he said without looking at her. Her eyes widened.
“Really?! This ain’t the… the…”
“The fifties…”
“Thank you! I didn’t invite him over for you to make him uncomfortable! J’onn… could you go and talk to my brothers; they won’t give you the fifth…”
“… Third…”
“… Third degree! How is it that you have no clue what a snowball fight is but you know our sayings?” she eyed J’onn. She shook her head, “Never mind! Just… leave me and daddy alone for a minute, please…” she asked. J’onn nodded and got up from his seat. Before he left, he looked at her father.
“I have every intention on treating your daughter how she deserves to be treated. Our relationship is not based on lust, as I’ve seen that is the case with the majority of human relationships. The way I treat her is definitely not by human standards… she is worth more than that to me…” he nodded and left, leaving Tabitha completely red. She watched him as he left the room and finally put her attention towards her father, who had a wide smile on his face.
“… S-Stop… d-don’t look at me like that!” she stuttered and sighed, “Daddy… I’m not a teenager no more…”
“I know.” he sighed almost sadly. Curtis slowly nodded and looked at his daughter, “… I like him…” he surprised her, “He may be a Martian but he got a lot of heart… and that’s all that matter. How much does he mean to you?” he looked at her seriously. She continued to blush.
“A… he means a lot, daddy…”
“So, you love him…”
“I… I don’t feel comfortable talking…”
“Thought you said you were grown…” he gave her a sly look. She narrowed her eyes at her father.
“Yeah. I do.” her words made him smile warmly.
“That’s good. He’s gonna make a good father…”
“W-W-Wait… what?!?!?!”
“Don’t think I ain’t noticed that you gaining a little weight there…”
“Oh… my… GOD; daddy!!!!”
“So… you’re not…”
“NO!!!”
“Well, he better start making you hit the gym; don’t want a pudgy, lazy superhero in this house…” he smirked. She could only sigh and hold her head in her hand.
“Are you done…?”
“So, how do you two… well… do you…” he tried. Tabitha widened her eyes and immediately turned to leave.
“MOOOOOOOM!!!”

He had never spent the holidays with anyone, seeing that he was one of the only ones without family. He was thankful for the friends that he had made within the Justice League however he knew that the majority of them had their own families to spend time with; he didn’t want to feel as though he was intruding. This was the first time that J’onn was able to witness a family celebrate the Christmas holiday and learned a lot about the Lyght family traditions. He learned a lot about the family as a whole; how hard work was instilled in the children at an early age, along with numerous other values. J’onn was glad that he was “forced” to spend time with Tabitha’s family.
The Lyght family believed in the true meaning of Christmas, however it didn’t stop them from celebrating the commercial meaning as well. The family members sat in the living room and exchanged Christmas presents with one another. Olivia glanced at J’onn, who seemed to have taken a slight joy into watching the others open their presents.
“I’m so sorry, J’onn; we didn’t find out that you were coming until the last moment…”
“That is fine. The fact that you have welcomed me into your home is more than enough.” he smiled at her.
“Well… what do you give a Martian for a present, anyway…?” Tim shrugged.
“I got something for him!” Tabitha smiled as she quickly went upstairs.
“If you come back down here half-naked, I’m gonna throw up!” Tyler yelled at her.
“SHUT UP!!”
“Do they… always act like that among each other…?” J’onn asked Olivia. She slightly sighed and nodded.
“My boys will be boys… and my Tabby will always be conservative…” she shook her head. Tabitha returned carrying a reddish abstract sculpture.
“Pretty nice artwork! Where’d you get it from?” Thomas asked. She smiled as she handed the piece to J’onn.
“I made it! One of my Metahuman talents…” she boasted. It took the Martian a moment to examine it and then quickly look at her with slightly widened eyes.
“This… this is Martian rock…”
“Uh huh!”
“You… sculpted me something made from my home planet…”
“I wanted to make you something that you associate with. I tried Oreos but yeah… no; I didn’t want you to eat it! Besides; you ever try to make something out of Oreos besides food? I don’t recommend it…” she continued to smile.
“Tabitha… where did you get Martian rock from…?”
“… From Mars…”
“Rimshot!” Terry exclaimed and everyone laughed.
“Seriously, Cl… Superman got it for me; kinda sent him on a scavenger hunt for rare rocks! When he came back with a chunk of it, I knew I had to make you something…” she continued to smile. He was absolutely speechless as he studied the sculpture. He knew that he had wanted her to start back sculpting; J’onn had never thought that she would ever make him anything, especially something this personal. The idea touched him deeply as he traced the contours of the sculpture, “… You don’t like it…”
“… This is the kindest thing anyone has done for me… in quite some time. I love it…” he actually blushed as she planted a kiss on his cheek.
“Merry Christmas, Martian…”

After they returned to Watchtower, everything went back to normal. Tabitha was surprised yet happy that she was going on more missions. However, she had become so used to staying aboard, she almost rejected the opportunities. She was just fine being in the Martian’s presence, completing upgrades. Now that he received the approval of her family, she patiently waited for the day when they would tell the other League members. Although they had talked about the situation, she couldn’t help thinking about what was really stopping them from coming out about their true relationship.
She was heading into the control room to make a small report when she overheard J’onn strictly talking to someone. She tilted her head to the side and sighed; Tony, she shook her head. For a multibillionaire genius, he could be very childish and annoying!
When she got into closer range, she noticed that he actually looked upset as he performed an emergency teleport. Her eyebrows lifted slightly as a man and a woman appeared on the pads; the woman in purple and black helping the faceless man walk. She had never seen the two before and shot a look at the Martian.
“… Who are they…?”
“… Huntress and Question.”
“I take it they’re not supposed to be here…”
“Question, yes. Huntress is no longer affiliated with us…” he slightly narrowed his eyes as he went over to help. Tabitha just looked at Huntress, who was more concerned about Question than how the Martian was looking at her.
“What… happened…?” she decided to break the ice; although Question had no face, it was obvious to Tabitha that he had been beaten up. When the masked woman scoffed, it was enough to make Tabitha widen her eyes. She tried to follow the men towards the infirmary but was quickly stopped as Tabitha appeared in front of her, “Maybe you didn’t hear me; what happened?” she glared at her. Huntress was slightly surprised at her quickness but still didn’t say a word, “Look, lady: you don’t belong here so I ain’t got a problem shocking you… you don’t start talking, you’re gonna regret it…” she threatened.
“I was unaware that the Justice League needed a bodyguard…” the woman smirked.
“Ooh… you’re testing me! I’ve never attacked a League member… but you ain’t one so… I’m gonna enjoy this…” Tabitha charged up. Huntress slightly backed away, getting ready to strike.
“Tabitha, Helena!” as quickly as the two women were about to battle, J’onn put himself in the middle of the two. He chose to glare at the non-member first, “Just because you don’t recognize her doesn’t make her a non-important member; when she asks a question, you need to answer her…” he warned. Tabitha narrowed her eyes and smirked, “And, you will not provoke anyone, regardless if they’re a member or not…” her smug look turned to one of surprise.
“Wait… she disrespected me and I get lectured?!”
“Being a bully won’t get you any answers…”
“You better be glad J’onn’s right here; I’d shock you back down to Earth! You don’t want none for real…”
“Enough!!” the Martian’s voice echoed through the room, “Go and check on Question, Tabitha; I will handle this…” he sighed. She continued to narrow her eyes at the woman before she turned to leave.
“I swear, she says one more word and I’ll…”
“Tabitha…”
“Fine, fine; it’s dropped!” she mumbled in her head. She made her way to the infirmary, where the guards saluted her in. There wasn’t much to study on Question however Tabitha looked at him regardless as he laid in the bed. He slowly looked at her.
“Watchtower’s… electrician…”
“Geez; I have a name!” she rolled her eyes.
“I know. Sorry that we’ve met… under these circumstances…”
“What happened?” she sat down in the chair beside the bed. He slightly huffed.
“Batman found out about the neurotoxins in your oils. He wanted me to find a connection between Luthor and Cadmus…”
“Cadmus?”
“I’ve had my theories about them for a while. A top secret agency out to keep the real super humans and Metahumans in check.” he told her. Tabitha sat back in her seat, thinking about what he had just said. If Luthor was connected to Cadmus… what did he truly want with her…?
“Well… is he…?”
“He is. I found out a lot of things; simulation programs predicting a war…”
“A… civil war…?”
“If you want to put it that way; a couple of members have already deflected to the government…” he explained. She slightly gasped and looked away.
“Amanda Waller…” she mumbled. Her impromptu trip into the future came back to light; she know knew the real source of the start of the civil war.
“You’re good…” if she could see his face, she knew that he was smirking at her, “I found out about the Justice Lords, too; how the Justice Lord Superman killed their universe’s Luthor.”
“Wow… they really were ruthless…” she shuddered.
“It… was going to happen in this universe…” Question stated quietly, “Similar events have already started to unfold…”
“He… the Superman that I know wouldn’t do that…”
“Well… I wanted to make sure that he didn’t. So… I tried to kill Luthor…”
“W-What?! Justice League members don’t kill!”
“Who would’ve known I was Justice League… besides the Justice League…?” he asked. She shook her head slightly, “He was… stronger than I would’ve imagined. Almost… Metahuman strong…”
“Luthor’s a Metahuman?”
“It’s something to look up. Cadmus wanted to know how I knew so much; they had a feeling that I had stolen some files.”
“You got tortured…” Tabitha realized, “I’m sorry…”
“All in a day’s work; I got the information that I wanted, that Batman wanted…”
“How did Huntress find you?”
“She… was with me… almost the entire time. I told her to go back and help Superman back at the facility… but she wanted to make sure I was taken care of here.” he finished explaining. Tabitha nodded and got out of her seat; the two were lovers, she made another realization.
“Why isn’t she with us anymore?”
“You’re right about one thing: Justice League members don’t kill. She was intent on doing so…” he explained. Tabitha slightly nodded.
“I’ll… send her here, then. I have to report all this to J’onn… anything else you wanna tell me?”
“… Cadmus cloned Supergirl…” he mentioned. As Tabitha made her way back to the control room, she was shocked about everything that she had learned. She had known that Luthor wanted her to leave the Justice League and be by his side; she would have never thought that he was connected to a government faction that looked forward to the superheroes going rogue, pitting them against those who were on “their” side. From what Question had told her, it sounded as though Cadmus was already preparing for everything, already convincing members to join their forces and even going so far as to clone Kara, Superman’s adopted cousin.
Another thing that bothered her was what Question briefly mentioned about Luthor. How was it possible for someone to purposely become the one thing that they had despised? It was one thing to try to fool the public, getting a few superheroes on your side; it was another to make yourself into one.
As Tabitha reached the control room, she slightly glared at Helena but then softened her look. The woman was only protecting her love interest; Tabitha knew that she would have done the same for the Martian. She sighed as Helena looked at her.
“He wants to see you…” she announced. Helena nodded but then looked at J’onn, who could only nod his approval. As she left, he looked at Tabitha.
“What did you find out?” he asked and she told him everything that Question had told her. Just when she was about to tell him about the clone, Clark materialized on the teleportation pads, carrying a man who donned a bluish-silver suit with red gloves and boots. A white with a red outline starburst was placed in the middle of his chest.
“What is this; new members’ day…?”
“That is Captain Atom… and seeing that he is made entirely of nuclear energy… there isn’t too much that can hurt him…” he immediately approached the two, “What happened?”
“He was ordered to stop me…” was all that Clark said as he made his way to the infirmary, leaving the two to watch him. Tabitha quickly drew her attention to J’onn.
“I don’t like this. What we gonna do about this whole Cadmus thing?”
“There’s nothing we can do…”
“… What…? They’re attacking League members! They already kidnapped one; they’re pitting us against each other and they’ve cloned Kara!” his eyes widened at that bit of information, “But, we’re gonna sit here and do nothing?!”
“What do you propose, Tabitha? Go down to Earth and initiate the war with the government?”
“You were quick to threaten Luthor and Tala…” she narrowed her eyes at the Martian. He sighed heavily.
“With Tala, I had a lapse of judgment… and you know full well why I won’t recant what I said to Luthor… as well as stay true to my word. This is different. Cadmus wants us to retaliate; they want the rest of the world to hate us. We allow justice to prevail; we do not take matters into our own hands…” he tried to explain.
“Seems like a lot of folks are tryna take matters into their hands, though…”
“Which isn’t right. We investigate, we make our findings known to the public; that is it. Unless the threat is something that only we can handle, the rest is up to the right authorities.” he looked at her. She sighed out her frustrations however she knew that he was right. He grabbed her tenderly by the shoulders, “I assure you that this will be monitored carefully.” the Martian tried to reassure. Tabitha was about to nod her head until she noticed Clark and Kara storming up towards the two. Tabitha had to admit that she admired that the woman made her outfit in homage to Clark’s; a white cropped short sleeved shirt donning the same S emblem and a plain blue skirt. Her red cape stopped at the middle of her back. Her blues eyes almost radiated with anger.
“J’onn, we’re enlisting Tabitha to go down to Earth…” Clark demanded.
“I will have to shoot that idea down.” the Martian matched the Kryptonian’s tone, “In fact, it is not a good idea to go after Cadmus.”
“… What? I know Tabitha told you what they’ve done…”
“Yes. But, that doesn’t give any of us the right to take things into our own hands. We uphold the law. Cadmus may very well be a legitimate organization.”
“What type of legitimate place harasses Justice League members?!” Clark glared. Fear danced in Tabitha’s eyes as the two glared at each other. She questioned if what she was told by the future Ramil still held true; that Clark and J’onn would get into a heated argument, causing J’onn and herself, along with a few others to leave the Justice League. She had to slightly agree with Question; things were starting to unfold and be put in place for the civil war. Of course, she didn’t want that to happen; not only did she enjoy being a Justice League member and adored every member, she feared for the Lindseys’ lives, “Tabitha, you’ve dealt with Luthor; what do you think?” he looked at her. She bit her lip and slightly looked away.
“I think that… that if we put the law in our own hands… folks down on Earth are gonna get more nervous about us…”
“She has a valid point…” Green Arrow chimed in; by then, several more members gathered around the four, “I’m one of the rare ones without any superpowers and you know what? You guys scare me…”[2]
“See? And he’s in the League with us! Look; I don’t like this one bit. But marching down there like a bunch of powered up bullies ain’t gonna look right…”
“So, what do we do? Just sit here and take it?” Kara asked. Tabitha glanced at J’onn and then back at everyone else.
“We don’t do nothing. They want to start a war with us. I don’t want that. That’s what’s gonna happen if one of us go back down there and start raiding places! And, why?”
“Because… Luthor and that Cadmus group have messed with you, me, Kara… everyone here! You’re seriously going to let him get away with what he did to you…?” she was glad that Clark didn’t glare at her. Tabitha closed her eyes and sighed heavily.
“I can’t do nothing about that; I can’t retaliate. You know what would happen if I did? All hell would break loose! That ain’t the Justice League way and of all people, you should know that! We save the day; we aid justice, not take shit into our own hands!”
“So, why did you confront Luthor in the first place?”
“Really? All I wanted was answers; that was it! I didn’t go there to cause any shit and I damn sure didn’t go there to kill him; I walked the fuck away!!” she fumed and took a step towards Clark, “You wanna sit here and bitch and moan about what all he’s done to you, you wanna tear down everything that he owns? You’re pissed because he and Cadmus are trying to make you, to make the whole damn League look like the bad guys? Well, guess what; he turned me into one! He got into my dreams, Clark! You wanna know the most fucked up thing about that? I don’t remember it. I can’t remember none of what I put Wally and Bruce and J’onn through! So, do I want him to pay for what he did to me? Fuck… yeah! That’s what you wanna hear from me, right?! Fine… yes; I wanna charge up with all of my might and hit him… over and over… and over again! Every time I think about it, it makes me wish I had the power to bring people back to life so that I could kill him over and over and over and over again; that’s how I fucking feel!!” she surprised everyone in the room. A hot tear rolled down to her cheek and she angrily wiped at it, “Do you know what’s stopping me from doing that? I don’t wanna be a villain. Do you…?” she asked seriously. Tabitha hadn’t meant for all of her emotions to come out. However, she figured that it was better that Clark would argue with her instead of J’onn.
Clark opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by the computer announcing the preparation of the laser cannon firing.
“What the…” Green Arrow mused. Both Tabitha and J’onn went over to the console to see what was going on. Sure enough, the screens were showing a countdown meter.
“It… it went off by itself!” Tabitha panicked. Before the Martian could do anything, Tabitha immediately went to work in trying to override the system. When she became locked out, J’onn took her to the side and tried the same.
“It’s… not accepting the code… we’re being hacked…” his words made Tabitha’s eyes widened. Before she could think, she contacted Tony on her communicator.
“Dawling!”
“Tell me you didn’t hack into our system, again…”
“… No. What’s…”
“Would you know how to override something?”
“… I would have to be there in person…”
“Fuck! Call you back…” she immediately disconnected, “Wasn’t Tee…”
“I know…” J’onn continued to try the override code. Frustrated, he tore into the panel, ripping the wires and circuit board hoping to shut everything down; the laser cannon continued to charge up. Tabitha reached her hand into the mess of wires and released as much of her lightning as she could however nothing worked. Just as Clark went outside to at least redirect the aim of the cannon, it was too late; the laser fired and drained Watchtower of its electricity. Tabitha stared at the dismantled console in horror.
“S-S-So… what was targeted…?” she quietly asked; it was brief however as she was trying to override the system, she noticed that there were coordinates being displayed.
“… I’m pretty sure it was Cadmus headquarters…” J’onn confirmed.
“Oh, fuck… our lives…” she breathed out.
“The force of that impact…” the Martian shook his head but then turned to the others, “We’ll need a rescue team down there…”
“I’m on it!” Wally volunteered and started to gather more volunteers. Bruce slightly shook his head.
“Question is out of commission for a while; I’m going to find out who’s trying to frame us… although I have a clue…” he made his way towards the teleportation pads. Tabitha nodded and started to leave with the group.
“I’m with Wally…”
“No. You stay here. Keep an eye on the control room…” J’onn immediately ordered.
“Wha… but… ain’t much to look after in here… I’d be more useful down there…”
“There is no need for you down on Earth. Wally has his team. You will stay here and make sure no one else decides to leave…” he slightly glanced at Clark and Kara.
“Wait… how the hell am I supposed to do all that?! I’m telling you, Wal…”
“Tabitha, that is an order!” she was absolutely shocked that he would raise his voice at her as well as glare at her, “Stay… here.” he finished. She returned the glare and gave out an agitated huff.
“… Yes, sir…” she bit her tongue to keep from saying more. The Martian left the area, ordering a few others to make sure that everyone else was fine. She stopped glaring at him and put her attention on Clark and Kara, “I don’t wanna fight either of you… but let it be known I won’t back down if I have to…”
“I would never expect you to.” Clark nodded. When she saw that the two were not going to move anywhere, she turned away and sighed.
“I’m sorry… for what I said earlier…”
“Why? You meant it. And… you’re right. We shouldn’t act like bullies just because we have super powers.”
“… I know that he’s a criminal mastermind or whatever but… a couple of things that Luthor told me… I kinda felt that he had a right to feel…” Tabitha shrugged, “I think that… every civilian thought about it once or twice: what happens if they go rogue? Call him what you want but… even if he’s just pretending to be concerned, he’s a voice of the people; whoever plays that role is brilliant.”
“It’s what he does best; manipulate people…” Clark shrugged. Tabitha nodded and then put her attention on Kara. The Cadmus organization was equipped adequately enough to produce clones of powerful superheroes. She didn’t think of herself as being that powerful; Tabitha knew that she was strong enough to become a potential threat. It made her wonder what Cadmus would have done to her if Luthor had successfully convinced her to join him.
Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a phone ringing. Looking towards the dismantled console, Tabitha’s eyes widened as she realized what was ringing; the emergency line that the President had access to.
“Oh, dear God… please let that be Tee…” she mumbled as she slowly picked up the receiver, “M-Mr. President…”
“Wait; who is this? Where is J’onn J’onzz?!” he bellowed out, making Tabitha swear in her mind.
“T-This is Tabitha, sir. J’onn is check…”
“There better be a damn good reason why you decided to fire a nuclear laser without me knowing about it…”
“Sir, we had nothing to do with that, please believe me! Our system was hacked…”
“Hacked?! Who on God’s green earth has the ability to hack your station?! Shouldn’t you have some sort of alien firewall for something like that?!” he continued. Tabitha bit her lip; after Tony’s playful hack, she had every intention on upgrading the system, “What’s being done about this?”
“We’ve already sent a recovery team down, sir. After the power returns, we can do a full investigation…”
“So, what am I supposed to tell the people of Earth, Tabitha?”
“… That we had nothing to do with this, sir…”
“Until I get actual proof of that, my hands are tied! I need a few of you down here, in D.C. now!” he ordered and ended the call. Tabitha bit her lip as she hung up and looked at the group.
“The President…” J’onn asked and she slowly nodded.
“Uh… to say that he ain’t happy is putting it lightly… he pretty much just asked for heads on platters…”
“Understandable. I guess… we give him what he wants…” Clark nodded.
“To see us surrender willingly should be a good gesture to the public.” Diana chimed in. Tabitha shook her head and looked at J’onn.
“It’s gonna make us look guilty!”
“So would not doing anything at all. Seeing us under arrest will calm them down, at least until the real culprit is caught.” John agreed with Diana. Tabitha crossed her arms and sighed heavily.
“So, that’s the decision?”
“Yes. We cooperate with what the President wants. Kara… hold down the fort[3].” Clark announced. Kara nodded and headed out of the control room as the founding members turned to leave, teleporting themselves down to Earth. Before Tabitha could get to the teleportation pads, J’onn gently grabbed her arm.
“Where are you going?”
“You heard ‘em; we’re turning ourselves…”
“Not you; you’re staying here.”
“… Is that another order…sir?” her jaw slightly twitched as she spoke.
“Tabitha…” J’onn sighed.
“No; you listen here: I know the controls of Watchtower like the back of my hand, now! It could’ve very well had been me who pulled the trigger; wouldn’t it make sense if I was there as well?!”
“I know. But, that’s the very reason why I need for you to stay here. I’m assigning you as temp Monitor.” he surprised her. She stared almost blankly at him.
“… What…?”
“You’ve been trained well enough to handle it on your own. Assist Kara in any way that you can; she’s first in command… and you’re second. I have to go.”
“W-Wait! What do I do…?” she asked. He slightly smiled and caressed her cheek. She was surprised yet again as he pulled her in closer, planting a tender kiss on her lips.
“Use your instincts.” he told her before teleporting himself. She nodded and turned to look for Kara as well as other Justice League members. She found the girl by the infirmary.
“Still keeping an eye on me?” she lifted an eyebrow. Tabitha gave her a surprised look but shook her head.
“You’re in charge, now. I gotta figure out what to do about Watchtower…”
“Oh… that means we’re working together, then. What do you need, Tabitha?” she asked. Tabitha had to think for a moment. What needed to be done? Everything, she almost rolled her eyes.
“Well… everyone needs to be told who’s in charge of what. I… I need to get communications back up to tell Wally and Bruce of the others’ plans… as well as find out what’s happening with the rescue mission.” she went back to the control room. She immediately went to work on the destroyed panel, “After we get the power restored, I can see if I can disable the laser for right now…” she continued. Kara slightly smiled and nodded.
“I’ll go get you some help…”
“Thanks.” she found it slightly weird to take control without J’onn or the others being there. As she attempted to get communications back up, she realized that she had taken for granted all that the Martian actually did. Then again, this was a special circumstance, she realized.
It took Tabitha and her team of help only ten minutes to restore communications. She immediately dispatched herself to Wally.
“Tabby…?”
“Yeah. How are things going with the rescue mission?”
“Fortunately, no deaths. A couple of serious injuries. Wait… why are you doing J’onn’s job…?”
“He… they turned themselves in. To show or try to prove that they’re innocent…”
“All of the founding members did…?”
“Yeah. Except for Bruce but I’m gonna contact him next.”
“Alright. It’s reasonable; everyone’s lost their trust in us. We got to win it back…”
“Agreed. Give someone else the lead and go.”
“You know what; I like you as Monitor!” he ended transmission, making the lightning woman blush. She contacted Bruce and told him about everything; the two were being patched through his communication system in the Batwing.
“So, you’re telling me to turn myself in…? You’re about as bad as that Martian…”
“Bruce…”
“I can’t do that, Tabitha. I have to get to the bottom of this; no one else will do it if we’re all locked up…”
“… Fine…”
“Hmm… I like this; no argument…” he smiled. She rolled her eyes.
“You have seniority over me… plus, you’re right. Go get the bastard… but you make sure you report back in and let me know something!”
“Yes, ma’am…” he smirked. She narrowed her eyes at him as he ended transmission. Part of her job was done: communications were back up, everyone else on Watchtower were being told who was in charge and she had spoken to two Justice League members. Tabitha told herself that she would start working on restoring the power; she had high hopes that since communications were quickly restored, the rest of the power would be back soon.
Forty minutes later, Tabitha and the others had the power restored. She sighed in relief and debated on what to work on next. She had told Kara that she would disarm the laser however another agenda came into mind; she wanted to check on the founding members. She started to mentally prepare her speech for the President until the Watchtower systems started to go off.
“Shit; what now?!” she glared at the screens. She was taken by disbelief of the warning system showing missiles heading towards the space station, “Fuck… me… KAAAAAARRRRAAA!!” she was glad that the girl was a replica of Clark; she appeared in seconds besides Tabitha, “We got missiles heading our way; twelve of ‘em!”
“W-What?!”
“I don’t know what they’re gonna do… but we gotta tell everyone to brace for impact…” she was glad that the communication system was up; she didn’t know how long it would’ve took Kara to notify everyone aboard. She quickly made the announcement as well as telling the civilian workers to immediately take shelter. Seconds later, the collision of twelve missile heads were felt as they bored into the hull of the station.
“Sounds like it hit close to the reactor room. I’ll go check on it.” Kara volunteered.
“I’ll check on the others.” Tabitha told her as the two made their way to investigate. Going around the corner, the two were met by what Tabitha could only describe as an all out battle; several League members were fighting other superheroes who looked as though they had been cloned in groups of five.
“Ultimen!” Kara exclaimed. Tabitha looked at her.
“Ulti… what?”
“I’ll explain later; looks like that’s what those missiles were really carrying…”
“Alright; leave ‘em to the rest of us: go check on the reactor! Wait… what we dealing with?”
“Water, air, electricity and self manipulation, and animal shifting…” Kara flew away.
“… Electricity, huh…?” Tabitha smiled at the Ultimen clones, “Piece of cake!” she did a Lightning Cloud towards a group and made quick work of them. She soon found out that the clones were attacking mindlessly at the League members; although the civilian workers were told to take shelter, they too were fighting the clones, warding them off. Tabitha made her way to the infirmary, only to see Captain Atom, Huntress and Question fighting off three of the clones. Charging up with all of her might, Tabitha released her lightning towards the clones, knocking all three unconscious.
“What are you doing; you two are still injured…” she slightly glared at the two men.
“I’ll be fine. Where’s… Kara?” Captain Atom asked.
“Reactor room.”
“I’ll go and help…”
“Not alone; I’m coming with you. Huntress…” she stopped the woman dead in her tracks, “Take care of the infirmary area; Question is in no condition to be fighting…” Tabitha ordered. With a slight smile, Huntress nodded as Tabitha and Captain Atom made their way to the reactor room.
“It may not be safe for you down there…”
“You’ll protect me, right…?” she winked, “Look, I’m second in command; no way in hell I’m gonna let Kara do this alone!”
“… The lieutenant protecting the captain…” Atom slightly smiled at her. Tabitha nodded her head and smirked.
“Damn right!”
As the two reached the reactor room, Captain Atom immediately shoved Tabitha out of the way in time as the steel door flew into the adjacent wall. As she gathered her senses, she could hear Kara arguing with someone else. Tabitha got a glance at who Kara was talking to and slightly gasped. When Question told her that Cadmus had cloned Kara, she had no idea what to expect. The other woman was indeed a near clone; instead of blue eyes, the clone had piercing green ones. Her white outfit was more mature than Kara’s, a long-sleeved one piece with a hole in the middle to show her cleavage. She clearly had the upper hand on Kara; Tabitha and Captain Atom immediately put themselves in the fight. Tabitha soon realized that looks weren’t the only thing that was copied; the clone proved to have the same abilities as Kara as she punched Tabitha in the square of her jaw, sending her flying across the room. Captain Atom met the same fate, landing near Tabitha.
“Exactly like Superman…”
“So, it seems…” Tabitha groaned, rubbing her jaw. The clone ignored them and continued to go after Kara. They were all caught by surprise when she started to laugh.
“You know… no matter how bad you beat me… nothing changes the fact that I’m real… and you’re a clone.[4]” she taunted.
“S-Shut up…[5]” the clone stuttered. Kara smiled as the clone hit her yet again.
“And, deep down… you know this. You’re not a real person; you’re just a weapon! Grown out of one of Hamilton’s petri dishes![6]”
“SHUT… UP!!![7]” it raged. However, Kara dodged her attack and ripped out one of the large power couplings in the room. Before the clone could attack yet again, Kara rammed the power plug into her stomach, electrocuting the clone. Tabitha and Captain Atom stood beside Kara, watching as her clone’s body twitched uncontrollably.
“See… told J’onn that taunting helps!” Tabitha smirked, “Did she have a name?”
“… Galatea. You can… fix that… right…?” Kara nodded towards the damaged coupling. Tabitha narrowed her eyes at it and sighed.
“Yeah, sure; no problem: it’s only a power source to somewhere…” she mumbled, making Kara laugh and put her arm around her shoulder.
“Hey; I couldn’t make second in command an easy task for you!”

[1] Paraphrased from “Scarface”; real saying is: You wanna go to war, we take you to war, okay?

[2] Paraphrased from Justice League Unlimited episode “Flashpoint”

[3] Taken from Justice League Unlimited episode “Panic In The Sky”

[4] Paraphrased from Justice League Unlimited episode, “Panic In The Sky”

[5]-[7] Taken from Justice League Unlimited episode “Panic In The Sky”
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Speed of Lyght