Chapter 48: Livewire Part 1
Central City, Mr. Smoothie
August 27, 10:48 CDT
Harley leaned against the register as Ben headed into the back.
"Gotta grab more strawberries and mangoes," he called. "Let me know if any customers give you any trouble."
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, relax. You should know by now that I have amazing people skills."
"You've handled whole shifts without many complaints, so fair enough."
Once Ben disappeared into the back, the bell over the front door chimed. A man in a baseball cap and medical mask stepped inside. Harley straightened a little as he approached the counter without looking at the menu.
He slid a folded note toward her.
Harley raised a brow and opened it.
THIS IS A ROBBERY.
She read the message, then looked up at him. The man gave her a small, impatient nod.
Harley glanced toward the back. Ben was still rummaging around there. 'Man, where's the Flash when you need him?' "Okay…"
She grabbed a pen, pulled a sticky note from beside the register, and wrote something down before sliding it across the counter.
IOU.
The robber paused at the reply, then slowly looked back at her.
Harley gave him an apologetic shrug.
Harley tensed when he reached into his jacket, but instead of pulling a weapon, he produced a pen of his own.
Leaning over the counter, he added something beneath her message and pushed the sticky note back.
NO U.
Harley frowned at the note. 'Dammit. Didn't expect that…'
The robber leaned back, far too pleased with himself.
'Okay. That was pretty good.' Her eyes narrowed. 'Fine. You wanna play it that way?'
The robber watched her reach into the purse, his expression tightening as he waited to see what she pulled out. His smug look faded as she finally pulled out a single card and placed it face-up over the sticky note.
A red Uno Reverse card.
Harley held out her hand and wiggled her fingers.
The man stared at her in disbelief before banging his hand on the counter.
From the back, Ben's footsteps started getting closer.
Harley's eyes widened. "Come on, come on."
The robber grumbled under his breath, pulled out his wallet, and reluctantly handed over several bills.
Harley pocketed them. "That's right. Keep it coming."
When the man's wallet was visibly empty, he snatched up his note and stormed toward the door.
Ben came back carrying a box of fruit just as the bell jingled behind the robber and the door closed much harder than usual.
He watched the man leave before looking over at Harley. "What was his problem?"
Harley leaned casually against the register and counted her new wad of cash. "Ah, nothing serious. He was just upset that he had to pay back the money he owed me."
Ben frowned. "You lent him money before?"
"Something like that…"
Ben stared at her for a moment. Harley smiled back innocently.
He turned and carried the box toward the prep station. "I don't wanna know."
"Now you're thinking like a Gothamite." Harley peeled off a few bills and dropped them into the shared tip jar.
#
A while later, the lunch rush had died down enough for Harley to start getting bored.
She wiped down the counter, glanced toward the small radio near the prep station, and reached over to turn the dial.
Ben looked up from the blender as she worked through the stations before landing on one. A familiar woman's voice came through clearly.
"...I'm not saying Superman's out there demanding statues of himself. That's not the problem. The problem is everybody else acting like the guy can do no wrong."
Harley smiled and turned the volume up.
Ben glanced toward the radio. "You listen to Leslie Willis?"
"Arkham let us have radios in the common room sometimes, but only certain stations." Harley shrugged. "Most of 'em were boring. Leslie is one of the nationwide ones that the inmates didn't mind listening to."
Leslie continued. "I can't be the only one that's a bit suspicious about the super powerful aliens around that just want to help people for nothing in return."
Ben nodded. "I can see how it appeals to the demographic."
The bell over the door chimed.
He up and recognized the black-haired woman walking inside.
It had been a week or two since Dinah had stopped by. Back then, Dinah Lance had just been someone Ben met at the gym who occasionally came in for a protein smoothie.
Now he knew she was Black Canary.
Ben still felt a little dumb that changing her hair to blonde had apparently been enough to fool him until Brainstorm put the matching facial features together.
'What's next? A pair of glasses?' He pushed the thought aside. "Hey, Dinah. Been a while."
"Yeah. Things got busy at work. Sorry I haven't been around."
Ben had a pretty good guess what kind of work she meant. "Don't worry about it."
Harley glanced over. "Look who finally came back."
Dinah smiled. "Good to see you too, Haley."
Ben gestured toward the menu. "Your new favorite?"
"You remember?"
"Of course. Banana-peanut butter protein smoothie."
Dinah nodded approvingly while Ben started her drink.
A few minutes later, he set it on the counter. Dinah reached for her wallet, but Ben waved her off.
"On the house."
She paused. "Really?"
"Consider it a thank-you for coming back."
Dinah gave him a suspicious look.
Ben smiled. "Plus, now you'll feel guilty about getting a free smoothie and have to come back again."
She chuckled. "Or I could just do this."
Dinah pulled out the exact amount and dropped it into the tip jar.
Ben stared at the money for a second.
"Oh, right."
Harley snorted from beside him.
Dinah picked up her smoothie, still smiling, as Leslie continued through the radio.
"Think about it. Superman stops a robbery, saves a plane, catches some alien monster, and suddenly nobody wants to question the guy. He shows up somewhere, people cheer. He says something, half the city takes it as gospel. Maybe Superman really is that good. Fine. Since when does that mean nobody gets to question him?"
Ben frowned slightly. 'She's got a point about the fame.'
He knew what attention could do to a hero. He had enjoyed his own celebrity status enough to know how easy it was to start changing your priorities. Superman, at least, never seemed interested in feeding any of it. If anything, he usually looked uncomfortable when people made too big a deal out of him.
Dinah didn't say anything, but she was clearly listening.
Leslie shifted topics.
"And since we're talking about superheroes getting a free pass, let's head over to Gotham. Somebody explain Batman to me. How many times has this guy caught the Joker now? Ten? Twenty? I've lost count. Batman takes him down, hands him over, Joker ends up back in Arkham, then he breaks out and people die all over again. At this point, the guy's basically a terrorist."
Harley's hand slowed over the counter.
"There's even people who'll tell you Batman helped create these freaks in the first place. That you don't get Joker without Batman."
Harley gave a quiet snort. "Nah. Bats probably makes some of 'em worse. Gives 'em somebody to obsess over. But they weren't exactly well-adjusted citizens before he showed up."
Ben nodded. "Maybe Bats makes some of 'em worse. Gives 'em somebody to fixate on. But that doesn't mean he made 'em like that from the start."
"Joker definitely got worse once Bats got involved."
Dinah took a nearby table instead of leaving.
Leslie continued. "And look, I don't know what goes on in Batman's head. Maybe killing Joker is a line he won't cross. Maybe he figures it's not his job. Fine. But everybody else just sees the same thing over and over. Batman catches him, Gotham locks him up, Joker gets out, people die.
Harley let out a breath. "She ain't completely wrong."
Ben glanced over. "About what?"
"The whole Joker thing. Same crap keeps happenin' in Gotham."
"Yeah, but that's not all on Batman."
Harley looked at him. "You think Batman should kill him?"
Dinah looked over, interested in his answer.
Ben raised a brow. "Uh, no. Obviously."
"Really? Just like that?"
"Pretty much."
Harley rubbed her thumb along the edge of the counter. "Couple months ago, I probably would've said the same thing."
"And now?"
She looked back toward the radio. "Now I dunno."
Ben didn't push.
After a moment, Harley glanced at him again. "Lemme guess. It's a hero's number one rule. No killin', ever."
"I think you're oversimplifying it."
"You and the other heroes coulda fooled me."
Ben set the blender cup down. "Look, I just don't think catching Joker means Batman suddenly gets to decide whether he lives or dies."
Harley frowned. "But why not?"
"For one, he's a masked vigilante. Nobody even knows who the guy is outside whatever friends he's got."
Dinah could count the number of Batman's close friends on one hand and still have leftovers.
"So it'd be fine if he was a cop?"
"Not really." Ben shrugged. "Cops can use lethal force if things get bad enough, but they're still supposed to answer for it afterward. They don't just get to say it was necessary and call it a day."
Harley folded her arms. "Maybe they're supposed to, but you got three guesses how well that works in Gotham."
Ben paused. "Okay, fair. But if Gotham can't hold its own cops accountable, that's a whole other problem."
Ben raised his hand halfway.
"Show of hands. Who wants to live somewhere where random masked people can decide somebody deserves to die, kill them, and never explain themselves to anyone?"
Harley kept both hands on the counter.
Ben glanced toward Dinah. She didn't move either.
He lowered his hand. "Yeah. Me neither."
Harley snorted.
Ben sighed. "You can't just say, 'It's okay because I trust Batman.' Maybe you trust him. What about the next vigilante?"
Harley dropped her hand back to the counter. "Gotham's corrupt from top to bottom. Cops, judges, politicians. Half the people who're supposed to clean the place up are workin' for the people makin' it dirty."
"If Gotham's really that bad, I can kinda see why Batman does things the way he does."
Harley gave him a skeptical look.
"I've looked him up before. When he's not dealing with League stuff, half the stories are about him going after dirty cops, mob guys, crooked officials. People with enough pull to make things disappear. Batman gets the evidence however he can and puts it out there where people can't ignore it."
"So?"
Ben shrugged. "So maybe he's not trying to replace the cops. Maybe he's just trying to clear out enough of the bad ones that decent people can actually do their jobs."
"That's a pretty generous read of Bats."
Dinah finally spoke from her table. "There's something to that."
Harley turned toward her. "You been listenin' this whole time?"
"You two aren't exactly whispering."
Harley leaned against the counter. "All right, then. What's your take?"
Dinah considered it. "People like having one person to blame. Batman catches Joker, Joker gets out, people die, so everybody points back at Batman."
"Sounds about right."
"But Batman isn't the only one making choices in all this." Dinah took another sip. "The courts make choices. Arkham does too. And Joker definitely does."
Harley's expression tightened slightly, but Dinah didn't press it.
"So no, stopping Joker doesn't make Batman responsible for everything Joker does afterward."
Ben pointed toward her. "Thank you."
Harley rolled her eyes. "Don't look so happy."
"I'm enjoying being agreed with."
Harley looked back toward Ben. "Okay, then what if Bats doesn't got a choice? Joker's about to blow up a school or somethin'. Bats has one shot, and killing him is the only way to stop it."
There had been a time when Kevin was losing control and becoming a danger to everyone around him. Ben had been ready to kill him if that was what it took. Grandpa Max had backed the decision, and as far as the Plumbers were concerned, Ben had the clearance.
Gwen had been the one who kept insisting there had to be another way.
And she'd been right.
"If people are about to die and there's really no other way to stop him, you do what you have to do."
Harley raised a brow. "So you are okay with killing."
"I didn't say I liked it." Ben rested a hand against the counter. "I said sometimes you don't get a good option."
Dinah watched him more closely.
Harley considered that. "And if Joker dies?"
"Then Batman answers for what happened."
"To Gotham cops?"
"Whoever's supposed to review it."
Harley frowned. "Even if he knows he was right?"
Ben hesitated.
He'd been pretty sure about Kevin too.
"Especially then."
Dinah nodded slightly. "Especially after something like that."
Harley looked toward her.
"People aren't great at judging themselves right after something violent," Dinah said. "Fear, anger, adrenaline, all of that can mess with how you remember what happened."
Harley considered that. "And if everybody else decides he screwed up?"
"Then he deals with it," Ben said.
Dinah looked at him with more interest. "You've had to make that kind of call before?"
Ben paused. "Yeah."
Harley looked between them. "And?"
"My best friend went through a really bad period a while back. He wasn't himself, and he started getting dangerous. Hurt people, went after people close to us." Ben looked down at the counter. "One time he probably would've killed somebody if I hadn't stepped in."
Harley's expression shifted.
"Authorities got involved." Ben paused. "At the time, I was pretty sure I knew what needed to do."
Dinah stayed quiet.
"My cousin wasn't. She kept pushing for another way."
"And she found one?" Harley asked.
"Yup. So yeah. I'm not leaving myself out of this either."
Harley looked back toward the radio. "Still think Gotham'd find a way to screw it up."
"Probably," Ben said. "Doesn't mean you stop trying to make it better."
#
Metropolis
August 27, 13:00 EDT
Clark hung up with Perry and stared at his phone.
There was no breaking story that needed him, nobody had called out, and Perry had made it very clear that Clark was not supposed to come anywhere near the Planet.
"You have a mandatory day off, Kent," Perry had told him. "If I let you work anyway, the paper gets fined. So unless you plan on paying it yourself, stay home."
Clark had offered to cover the fee, which got him hung up on. So work was out.
His first thought after that was Superboy.
Clark was still getting used to thinking of him as a brother. For a while, he'd kept slipping into something closer to a parent, mostly because Superboy had seemed so young and new to everything.
Part of the problem had been getting past how Superboy had come into existence in the first place.
Cadmus had taken Clark's DNA without his knowledge and cloned him without his consent. It had taken Clark time to separate what Cadmus had done from the person standing in front of him afterward.
Ark's suggestion had helped: stop trying to figure out how to be his father and just try being his brother.
Ma and Pa had liked the idea too. They'd even joked about wondering what Clark would've been like if he'd grown up with a brother around the farm. Neither of them had been happy hearing that Superboy had spent his whole life in a lab instead of getting anything close to a normal childhood.
They were already talking about meeting him once the League was satisfied there weren't any security concerns left.
Ma had called him "another member of the family" without hesitating.
What bothered both of them, especially Ma, was that he still didn't have an actual name. "Superboy" was fine as a hero name, but it was hard for them to accept that nobody had ever given him anything else.
Clark understood the concern. He'd thought about it too, but giving him a name himself felt wrong. Superboy had spent enough of his life being told what he was supposed to be. Clark didn't want to make one more decision for him that personal.
Younger brother felt closer. Maybe younger twin, in a strange sort of way.
Of course, that hadn't stopped either of them from teasing Clark about his general aversion to fatherhood. Ma and Pa weren't getting any younger, and they'd made it clear more than once that they wouldn't mind meeting a grandchild someday.
Clark preferred not to think too hard about that part.
He and Superboy had been boxing together lately, and Clark enjoyed it, but that still counted as training. He wanted to do something that didn't involve teaching Superboy how to throw a better hook or reminding him not to rely entirely on how hard he could hit.
Clark leaned back on the couch and tried to think of what brothers actually did when they weren't training or saving people. Lunch was easy. Maybe a ball game, though that sounded suspiciously like something Pa would've suggested years ago. Video games crossed his mind too, but he had no idea whether Superboy even liked them.
Something simple was probably best.
He made the call.
Superboy answered after a few rings. "Superman."
"Hey." Clark shifted the phone against his ear and leaned back against the couch. "You doing anything today?"
"Yeah. M'gann wants me to go into town with her. She needs stuff for dinner, then she wants ice cream. She also said I need more clothes."
Clark smiled. "More black shirts?"
"She says I have enough and need to broaden my color choice."
"Might be right." So far, Superboy had been just wearing jeans and black shirts.
"She wants to see a movie too, if there's time."
Clark sat up a little. Groceries, ice cream, shopping, a movie. "You know, you're dating way earlier than I ever did."
There was a pause.
"We're not dating."
Clark rubbed a hand over his mouth. "Right."
Superboy's tone stayed completely neutral. "Why does that sound like dating?"
Clark smiled despite himself. "Never mind."
"I was gonna see if you wanted to grab lunch or do more training."
"We can another day."
Clark relaxed a little. "Yeah. I'd like that."
Some movement came through the phone on Superboy's end.
"M'gann's ready."
"Then go. Have fun."
"Thanks."
The call ended, and Clark lowered the phone into his lap.
Clark looked at the phone for a moment, then called home.
Martha answered after a few rings. "Hi, sweetheart."
"Hey, Ma. You and Pa busy?"
"Tell him we're still here!" Jonathan called in the background.
Clark sat up. "Where?"
"The DMV. Your father's renewing his license, and they want him to redo the written and driving tests."
"I passed the vision test just fine!" Jonathan added.
Martha lowered her voice. "He's very proud of that."
Clark smiled. "What about the written test?"
After a pause, Martha said, "He's taking it again."
"They changed the questions!"
Clark laughed. He'd been thinking about flying down to Kansas, spending the afternoon at the farm and catching up with them. Waiting around the DMV wasn't quite what he'd had in mind.
"I could come keep you company."
"No. Your father's annoyed enough already."
Jonathan called out again. "Ask him if he remembers the hand signals!"
Martha pulled the phone away. "You are taking the test, not Clark."
Clark laughed. "All right. Call me when Pa passes. I'll come by the farm another day."
"When," Jonathan repeated.
"We'll call tonight," Martha said. "Love you, sweetheart."
"Love you both."
Clark hung up still smiling.
A little later, as Superman, he opened a secure League channel and called Batman.
Bruce answered almost immediately. "What is it?"
"Good to see you too." Superman rested an elbow against the console. "I have the day off and was thinking about grabbing lunch."
Bruce gave him a look. "And you called me?"
"That offended?"
"I have plans."
"League business?"
"No. Dick." Bruce glanced away from the screen for a moment. "He's been frustrated lately."
That got Clark's attention. "Could be part of the leadership thing. He's used to working with you, and now he's on a team where Kaldur's the one making the calls."
"Kaldur is the team leader."
"I know. I'm not saying he shouldn't be." Clark shifted his weight against the console. "I'm saying Dick might still have feelings about it. Especially after spending years working with you and watching everyone look to you when things go wrong."
Bruce's eyes narrowed slightly. "I'm not the leader of the League."
Clark rolled his eyes. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."
"The League doesn't have a single leader."
"Sure."
Bruce let that go. "Dick understands why Kaldur was chosen."
"Doesn't mean he has to be thrilled about it." Clark studied him for a second. "You gave me enough grief about how I was handling Superboy. Seems fair that I return the favor."
"That was different."
"Of course it was." Clark smiled faintly. "You were right, though. I was so caught up in what Cadmus did and what I was supposed to be to him that I wasn't making things any easier."
Bruce stayed quiet, so Clark continued. "Maybe don't make the same mistake in reverse... Dick's your partner, sure, but he's also your son. If something's bothering him, maybe just talk to him."
Bruce's expression flattened. "You sound very pleased with yourself."
"A little." Clark folded his arms. "Mostly because I don't get many chances to use your own advice against you."
That earned him the smallest hint of a smirk.
"I'm spending the day with him," Bruce said.
Clark nodded. "Then I won't get in the way."
He reached for the controls, then paused.
"Have fun, Bruce."
Bruce looked faintly suspicious of the suggestion.
Clark smiled. "That's allowed too."
He ended the call and tried Flash.
Barry answered with a roll of streamers around his neck and tape stuck to one sleeve. "Supes, bad timing. Jay's birthday."
Clark paused. "That's tonight?"
Barry looked at him. "You forgot."
Clark winced. "I'll stop by later. Bring him something."
"Good."
A crash sounded somewhere behind Barry. He glanced over his shoulder.
"We're getting everything ready now. Iris has the place organized, and I'm trying not to ruin that."
Clark smiled. "Need help?"
"Not unless you want to get drafted into decorations."
"I'll pass."
Barry pulled the tape from his sleeve. "If you're looking for something to do, call Ark. You two got along fine last time."
Clark considered it until Barry added, "And don't forget Jay."
"I won't."
The screen went dark.
Superman lowered the communicator. Patrolling Metropolis was an option. So was checking in at the Watchtower. Neither sounded much like a day off.
Barry's suggestion made more sense.
He and Ark had gotten food together before, and once the fighting and alien problems were out of the way, Ark had been surprisingly easy to spend time with.
Superman selected his contact.
Back in Central City, Ben was upstairs in his room when his probationary League communicator buzzed on the desk beside him.
He picked it up, checked the caller, and answered. "What's up?"
Superman leaned against the wall. "Any news from the Collector?"
"Actually, yeah." Ben sat on the edge of the bed. "Repopulation's going pretty well so far. A couple of the species are already at numbers where he's comfortable moving them into larger habitats."
"And the Earth animals?"
"Still working on that. I'm trying to set up an isolated island environment first, somewhere we can bring species back without dropping them straight into ecosystems that haven't seen them in hundreds of years."
Superman nodded. "Makes sense."
"I'm looking forward to the tortoises." Ben smiled. "There used to be several Galápagos tortoise subspecies that are gone now. If the Collector has enough viable material, we might actually get some of them back."
"That would be something."
"Yeah. He's also looking for an empty planet to start terraforming for the next project. Somewhere with enough room to build a stable ecosystem from scratch instead of trying to squeeze everything into habitats on Earth."
Superman's eyebrows rose slightly. "That's ambitious."
Ben shifted the communicator in his hand. "Oh, and apparently he's trying to track down a gift for you."
Superman's brow furrowed. "A gift?"
"That's all he told me."
"Should I be concerned?"
Ben grinned. "Probably."
Superman gave him a flat look.
"He likes you. Could be worse."
"I remember you doing most of the negotiating."
"Sure, but you're a Kryptonian. Apparently that counts for something."
Superman shook his head. He thought back to the last time they'd had a chance to sit around together. Before Lobo had shown up and turned the afternoon into another fight, they'd actually been having a good time.
Maybe they could try again.
"You busy today?"
Ben glanced at the clock. Dinah had invited him and Haley to dinner later, but that still left most of the afternoon open.
"Not until around seven. Why?"
Superman shifted against the console. "We were having a pretty good time last time before Lobo crashed it. Thought maybe we could try again, if you're free."
Ben straightened a little. "Wait. Are you asking me to hang out?"
"Yes."
Ben laughed. "I just wasn't expecting Superman to call me again because he was bored."
"I didn't say I was bored."
"You didn't have to."
Superman sighed. "Do you want to come or not?"
"Yeah, I'm in." Ben pushed himself off the bed. "Just gotta be back before seven."
"Twenty minutes?"
"Works for me."
Ben took a step toward the door before stopping.
"Hold on. Was I the first one you asked?"
Superman looked away from the screen.
Ben watched him for a second, then waved it off. "You know what? Never mind. Honestly, the fact that I made the list at all is pretty good. Means I must be making a decent impression so far."
Superman looked back at him. "No issues from the League so far. Can't say the same for Batman."
Ben laughed. "I'll start heading out to Metropolis."
"Then we're good."
Ben clipped the communicator to his side and headed downstairs. Harley was behind the counter.
"Hey, I'm heading out for a few hours."
She looked up. "Oh?"
"Friend called. I'm gonna meet him in Metropolis."
Harley stopped wiping. "You have friends?"
Ben gave her a flat look.
She grinned. "Sorry. Couldn't resist."
"I'll be back before dinner with Dinah."
"Yeah, yeah." Harley waved him off with the rag. "Go have fun with your mysterious friend."
Ben started toward the back.
"Try not to get kidnapped!"
He raised a hand without turning around. "No promises."