stands_for_hope | The Not Quite Justice League in... The Bee's Pleas!!!

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The Not Quite Justice League in... The Bee's Pleas!!!

[continued from here]

Finishing his article, clearing everything with Keith, those things took time. That was why it took a few hours before Clark was ready to make his usual call to Lois that night. He had worried that he might not make the time window that she cleared every day to talk to him and the others, but he was proud to say that he'd left himself an even half an hour as long as everything was to schedule.

After the fifth time she didn't pick up (didn't so much as text or ping him), it became clear that things were very much off schedule.

Clark made his way back to the main floor where everyone seemed to congregate and headed straight for Tony, holding up the phone to him.

"I know we're all tired and we've certainly had a long day, but... can you find out where Lois's phone is from the number here?"

In all the madness of the day, all the fighting and the close calls and the weakness brought on by the proximity of kryptonite, he'd lost track of her heartbeat. Usually, it was simple enough to pick up over the phone once again, a steady pulse that he could find his way back to once the phonecall had ended.

He couldn't hear her. He couldn't tell where she was. And she wasn't answering her phone. She always answered her phone. He didn't want to think anything was wrong, but he wasn't naive enough to discount something like this. Not after today. Not after they'd pulled out kryptonite weapons.

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Clark's smile was brittle but warm enough as he leaned against the kitchen counter.

"Everyone seems to be accounted for, Lois seems better..." he turned specifically to Mike and gave him a grateful nod. "I can't thank you enough for yesterday, Mike. Really."

Sandy gave the both of them a quick nod of greeting.

"We were just checking in, though we were thinking of heading out in a few minutes if the coast was clear."

"I should give you all the official news, though," Mike said. "My father was pretty cheerful, but there are some serious things to keep an eye on. Number one, uh..." He dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "Tony, Kitt already gave Jarvis my info and my father's, but we've also told him very plainly that some of it isn't to be used except in emergencies, and he promised. AI-to-AI honour. Everybody else, Kitt has put my basic contact info in your phones for a reason."

Mike cleared his throat to go on. "Yesterday, after the UN attack, Hydra units in Europe mobilised against the one European safehouse. If Michael hadn't gotten there first, they would've been killed, but right now, they're staying in a FLAG safehouse here in the US. Denver, specifically. Things are starting to die down, but Senator Christian Ward has insisted on having custody of his younger brother, who... is ex-SHIELD in the bad way. He was Hydra on the inside. We don't have anyone in DC to keep an eye on that, but we think there's no real way it's going to end well.

"And finally, Hydra isn't really slowing down, but they are going in circles. Officially. They've added men to their contingent in South America, but it's..."

He shrugged, shaking his head, looking like he was on the verge of laughter. "They're seriously going in circles down there in the jungle. Big circles, but circles. They're looking for something, and so far all they're finding is their own asses."

Steve looked up from his phonecall and murmured a 'I'll tell you which restaurants have been there forever later, Sam' before pressing the button to hang up. Steve didn't exactly look like he was going to start laughing (it was HYDRA, it'd never be funny after what they'd done to Jim), but he did have a faint curl to the edge of his lips and he was clearly pleased that they were stymied.

"Do we know what they're looking for?"

Sandy looked over at Mike before turning to Steve.

"If we don't, it won't take me long to find out. Amazing how people don't take the ground into account when they worry about prying parties."

Sandy glanced over at Mike.

"And it shouldn't interrupt our plans much at all."

"If you want to, go for it," Mike said, "but let me say this first - what we know is that they have an artifact, and they're in the process of trying to figure out what culture it was a part of, if it was a culture at all. The only thing they could be looking for in that area is... Well, it's a little bit of a legend, like Atlantis."

There was a faint snort from Keith, and Mike shrugged. "I don't know either, but I know that they're probably looking for a city called Paititi. It's thought to be the capital of the ancient 'kingdom'," he included the air quotes, "called Animaria. A few scientists went out in the... eighties, early nineties? Disappeared down in the area where they're looking now."

"That was mentioned earlier," Steve remembered, shaking a finger, "though I'll be honest and admit I've never heard of anything like that, not from the SSR or anywhere in my SHIELD briefings."

"It's a kids' story," Keith said from where he was sitting. "You can probably get a copy of the book across the street or something. It's like..."

And at last he finished chewing.

"It's like, 'once upon a time, thousands of years ago, there was a vast kingdom that stretched from high in Canada to the wilds of the jungles in South America. It was a magical place where humans and animal spirits lived side by side, and they called it Animaria.' That kind of tripe - and if Hydra believes that, then they're the ones with problems, not us."

"I dunno, man," Tony mused. "A few years ago, we thought the same thing about Norse gods and look how that turned out."

Keith blinked slowly. "...Okay, point taken. And I guess they did send scientists out to check shit out..."

"Not to mention aliens" Clark said from his spot at the counter. "Or--"

Which was when his head tilted just a little and he glanced down the hallway. The expression on his face said that the discussion had turned... interesting.

"Problem?" Jim asked quietly, looking at Clark and then down the hall. Diana and Lois were still back in the bedroom, and that was fine - but Clark knew more than he did.

Clark winced just a little and wobbled a hand. Things weren't bad... but they were less than good. He tilted his head towards the hallway and put down the dishes he'd been about to do to head back there. He didn't like to listen in, but this was important.

"--much as I'd like to, Di, I can't do that. I've already got a summons from the UN to testify to my treatment in Bialya. I can't do that if I'm walking around like nothing happened."

Jim followed, listening - and he knew immediately when he heard just what it was that Diana and Lois were talking about. He tipped his head just slightly back, understanding.

Mike, meanwhile, watched, and surprised himself a little when he felt a little tension ebb from around his shoulders. It was easier now than it had been at first, but he wasn't sure he'd be ready for any kind of reconciliation for a while.

Sandy looked down the hall at the two men and walked over to sling his arm around Mike's shoulders as he addressed the lot of them.

"You've got our numbers. I'm sure, Mr. Stark, that we'll be seeing one another again."

He wasn't sure if Tony knew about Ted's current gripe, but he had a feeling it wouldn't stay secret long. Kara wasn't exactly the kind of woman people missed around.

"It was good to meet the neighbors, though."

Down the hall, Clark opened the door to find Diana sighing tiredly and nodding to Lois, who was smiling again even though it was very close to splitting her lip again.

"Did we get loud?"

Clark wobbled a hand. Mostly not.

Mike lifted a hand in a wave to everybody in the room and, arm around Sandy's waist, led him out toward the garage. The two of them had a bit of a ride ahead of them - with two cars in their convoy. "Okay, we'll start out in mine," he said, "and we'll switch to Michael's partway. He'll get bored if we don't."

A voice sounded in Mike's ear and he rolled his eyes. "We'll see." And that he said to the invisible someone he was speaking to.

Jim leaned in behind Clark. "We couldn't overhear until we were right here. ...I couldn't, anyway. But I understand what you mean. We want you better, but you're right. We do need evidence, too."

Sandy headed over to the more modern car, the one he was more familiar with, though he took the time to give the other a small wave of greeting as he made his way to the door.

"I'll defer to your judgement."

He, on the other hand, had things to think about on the ride. Like the first place he was taking Mike out to dinner at. And whether he could get the man flowers or if that would be seen as ridiculous or if the gesture might still have the desired affect.

Back upstairs, Lois winced as she shrugged.

"Hell, I'd love a magic whammy job to make me feel all better. But if I went through the trouble of getting this done to me, I'm gonna make sure they pay for every hair on my head they decided to harm."

Clark looked mildly distressed about the whole thing, but he nodded to her answer. Diana did as well before reaching over and carefully putting her hand on Lois's shoulder.

"Bravest of sisters, know that I will assist you in your time of pain whether it is through ray or by the simple gift of caring."

Lois smiled at the lot of them.

"I know. That's part of why I'm not dreading this as much as I should."

"All right, you two," Mike said after stowing his duffel in Kitt's trunk. "We're on our way to New York. Michael said no meeting in him in Denver - so he'll see us sometime soon. And that means you two get to work in tandem for a while."

"This should be interesting," the elder said.

The younger agreed. "Our strengths should complement well."

"Just warn me before you decide to unsheathe those gatling guns of yours."

"Of course."

Mike smiled as he climbed into the driver's seat. "Okay, boys, off we go."

Jim gave Lois a smile, though, and said, "I'm pretty good at washing hair. I'll give you a hand when we get home."

Just an offer, but he was pretty sure Lois would take him up on it, especially if he was careful. And maybe a little creative on how he did it. After all, their kitchen counter was a little tall for that.

Sandy gave Mike a quick kiss after slipping into the car.

"Been a while since I did a road trip. But I think I'll enjoy it well enough. It's all about the company, after all."

And they were on their way.

--

"Ugh, if there's something I want more than to nail every one of those bastards to a wall, it's to feel clean again. Don't be surprised if I take you up on that, Uncle Jim."

Diana rubbed her shoulder gently.

"We shall all assist. This is definitely a 'family emergency' which the community center will certainly accommodate."

"And I'll pull over for anything. Food, drink, bathroom breaks, stretching legs - just say it and we'll pull off," he promised, then leaned over to rest his cheek to Sandy's. "This'll be fun."

And he had to admit to himself, part of him was itching to get back on the road, no matter what he ran into. And then, he and Sandy were on the road, Kitt and Kitt both following the loops down the parking garage and out into the city. The Mustang had shifted colour before they'd exited, going from black to green. It wasn't much, but it was at least pretending to be covert. The elder Kitt couldn't quite do that, but... well. He'd draw attention anywhere.

----

He nodded. "I used to help Steve out after he got into all his fights. I'm pretty good at washing around injuries, but I figure there are some things you'll want someone else for."

But then, he thought he'd offer some good news.

"Did you hear what that kid Mike said? Apparently Hydra's chasing their own asses down in South America, going around in circles."

Lois laughed a little, keeping it light so she didn't hurt herself on the doctor's orders.

"Oh, I hadn't heard, but it's nice to hear. It'd be nicer if I could go down there and see what they're looking for."

Clark crossed his arms at that.

"Oh no, Lois, you're not going anywhere for a little bit. You've got to heal, not to mention the fact that you'll probably have to do any number of interviews yourself with the UN."

She made a bit of a face.

"I hate being interviewed. Half of them are awful. And I am definitely not talking to any of those Fox News assholes. I'd rather they started going after my nails again."

Clark winced at the mention of her torture before walking around and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure we'll look into it, or someone will look into it, when we need to. Thankfully, it sounds like they might be looking for something that doesn't even exist."

Lois shook her head.

"Oh no, the kind of people who do what they did to me, they don't follow their own tails, and definitely for no reason."

"He said something about someplace they thought of as a kids' story - but like Tony said, we know Asgard's a real place now, so it might be real." He took a seat on the bed's edge, though, careful, and said, "But don't worry too much about your nails. I've lost a few back before I had anything in my blood and they grew back okay."

Jim held up his hand to demonstrate. They were fine. Not manicure-worthy, maybe, but he was a guy. He didn't do manicures.

"Well," and she glanced over at Diana, "my sister over there promised that if things don't heal up right, she'd bring me to Themyscira to get them fixed up. Or, you know, I promised her I'd let her."

Diana nodded in agreement, though it obviously still hurt her heart to see her beloved sister in such pain.

Steve said nothing on the matter of Jim's torture but Diana could see him twitch behind Jim, as did Lois.

Clark waved a hand.

"We'll get there when we get there. For now, let's worry about Perry, the UN, and all the typing I'm going to get to do for you in the next few months, hmm?"

"Ooo, yes," she said with obvious, playful delight, "I get to make you my keyboard monkey. This will be amazing. I'll have to yell at Tony to make you a laptop that can actually pick up your typing without overheating. TONY! You need to make Clark a better laptop!"

"The element of generosity has physical limitations, lady," came the answering yell, and Jim chuckled under his breath.

"I bet that means he'll do it anyway."

Tony was already wondering how he could do it.

He might have had an idea. Maybe.

...Maybe.

"The element of generosity wants an excuse to try and test Clark's physical limitations!" Lois shouted back, though it split her lip open. She didn't seem to care much at all about that but Clark rolled his eyes a little and leaned over to kiss her forehead.

"The element of kindness can pull Tony into the room for you. Careful."

"Not really my skillset, Smallville."

"Well, at least more careful."

"Y'know," came Tony's voice from the doorway where he stood, almost absently eating almonds, "you could just dictate to Jarvis. He understands phrasing and punctuation so you wouldn't have to do that annoying 'period, exclamation point' crap that Dragon makes you do."

"Clark understands punctuation too," Lois said with a little lift of her head. "And I'm not going to have JARVIS once we head back to the apartment."

"You could have." Tony shrugged. "If you asked nicely. And it'd take less time than me trying to build a keyboard that would withstand a kryptonian - no offense, Clark, but I have no idea what kind of processor it'd take to actually get your kind of speed. I mean, I'd like to try, but it'd take longer than you'd need him to type for you."

But then he paused.

"...I think."

Clark looked between the two of them.

"You know I do type on my laptop. It's called 'slowing down a little'."

Lois grinned over at him, then Tony.

"Oh, I know. I just like to tease our illustrious host."

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