Harley strolled past where Batman was threatening some thug who was too minor for her to care who he was. "Don't worry, I'm going to talk to the wannabe me, Bats," she chirped. She had her mallet over her shoulder and was in Harley having fun clothes instead of respectable clothes that Flag demanded while they were in DC. She found the not-her there and smiled. "Hey, chicka." The woman was in a copy of her old Harlequin costume.
The woman looked at her, eyes going wide. "Yeah, it's me. So let's *talk*, dear." She took a swing of her mallet. The not-her ran for her life. Harley chased with a giggle. "Oh, come on. I can take a good few blows from it. If you're gonna be me, you're going to have to learn how to take a few blows, princess."
The thug that girl had been talking to just nodded and walked away. He didn't want to get in the middle of that. He almost ran into Batman since he was in a shadow watching them. Nope, that guy was smart enough to not want to get in the middle either. He warned a few others that the actual Harley was back to talk to her copycat. Just in case they got in the way.
Batman noped out of that fight. He was not going to break that up. Or his helpers. He sent them all a warning so they got away from it. Either those two would end up drinking buddies by the morning or Harley would have fixed the problem of having a not-her running around.
***
Xander walked past the guards and his assistant's desk with a nod, petting the hyena walking beside him. Patrick stared oddly then just sighed. "I'm pet sitting for Harley." He grinned. "I got possessed by one way back when too. We're friends." He took him into the office to sit and pet him while reading stupid things to him.
The cook brought up the rare meat he had ordered, then blinked a few times before slowly backing out. "He won't hurt you. He's housetrained. Just put it down please." She did and went to tell the others. Bruce the hyena got up to get his snack, liking that a lot.
Word got back to the head of the Division of Natural Resources thanks to guards calling them to complain. Their director showed up. "Sir, is that an endangered animal?" he asked calmly. Bruce was staring at him. "I'm not mean, boy." He knew who it had to belong to and that it had been raised around women so he wasn't going to seem more than tired to see it.
"That's Harley's pet Bruce. I'm pet sitting. And I was possessed by one back in high school. He's housetrained." He patted the couch and the hyena hopped up beside him to get petted. He grinned at his person. "Harley's Brucie is such a good boy. She trained him to chase after mild livestock for hunting practice, and sometimes after DuBois when he picked on her."
"It's a bit freaky, sir. Does she have a license to keep a pet hyena?"
"She's usually in Gotham. Not sure about their regs."
He nodded at that. "That figures. I can check into that. I know if he's going to be here or Louisiana she'll probably need some paperwork."
"Or a dispensation," Xander said with a smile, going back to petting. "He's the best friend's pet I've seen recently. Not that many of the slayers have pets."
"I'm sure that would be fine. You're going to be responsible if he eats someone?"
"Sure." He nodded. "It'd probably be a date that snuck in."
"I've heard, sir." He let the hyena sniff his hand then gently petted an ear. "You're very used to people. It's obvious your human mother is very attentive to you."
"He's been shacking up with a few of her friends in Gotham while she's in Louisiana."
"I've seen others in jail who had to let friends raise their dogs." He gave Bruce one last pet then went to make notes on that.
Peacemaker leaned in then nodded at that. "Yeah, not going near Bruce. You have a delegation of rich guys."
"They can come in. I'm calmly petting the baby while reading him stupid things that the press has said about me."
"Okay." He went to tell Patrick that. Who did lead the rich guys in there to complain about taxes and things.
One of them stared at the hyena then at the president. "New pet, sir?"
"Harley's pet. I'm Bruce sitting for her today. She's off telling some people they're wrong about her being back in Gotham already." He looked at Bruce then at them. "So what's up, people? All I got told was you wanted to talk about my plans to actually use your tax money?"
"Twenty-five percent is a bit high," Lex Luthor said with a smile for him. "Isn't it?"
"When my mother was born, before Regan screwed up so hard, it was seventy-eight percent on anything over a few hundred million." He stared at him. "Which means we had money to build bridges, roads, all that stuff. Which all need replaced now. Can you honestly tell me that you'd realize you paid another two or three million in taxes a year?"
"Well..."
"Most of your money's in the bank. It's an abstract number to you that you look at sometimes. Guys who grew up like me, we know down to the penny how much we have. You probably realize to a rounded up thousand or so. Right?"
"Million actually in my case," Luthor said, sitting down across from him after unbuttoning his suit coat. "I get that point."
"Was I wrong about how tax brackets work?"
"No. They are on a graduated scale." Xander nodded, looking like he understood that. "It could bring up a lot of pressure against other politicians that support you both."
"There's no politicians that support us. I saved a whole bunch a few years ago with Rick's team and they still don't appreciate us." The billionaires moaned at that because that meant they couldn't pressure others to help their plots. "So yeah, that's an empty threat."
"Congress may not like that because it would affect their pay as well," Luthor tried.
Xander nodded. "Congress shouldn't be making more than minimum wage at any point in time. They're public servants and should be making public servant wages. Most of them are well enough off that their income here is toss away. Or just put in the bank. They get a lot of other perks that make their salary actually higher than mine."
Xander grinned. "For that matter, I take enough so I can buy my own weapons again but not the full income I'm entitled to. Second, don't we have a deficit?" They nodded. "And the US getting more income would lower that, which would mean less debt we're carrying, and makes us look better to do business with because we don't look as dumb?"
"Some of that would help, yes," Bruce Wayne said with a nod. He sat down. The others pulled over chairs to sit down. "It would do a lot of good but Congress probably wouldn't put it toward those uses."
"Congress is going to be really upset with me when I do write that legislation to put them back at civil servant wages as they are." They all winced. "Do they do enough work to actually earn over two-hundred-thou a year?"
"Well..... They are congress," Bruce Wayne admitted.
"And if it's at civil servant wages maybe we'd get people who actually wanted to be in congress for that duty instead of rich guys who run for the perks and later status. Or later higher offices."
"That's...." The rich guys all looked at each other then at him.
Luthor cleared his throat. "There's still status attached to being a member of congress but that would get people who wanted to and couldn't run. How would they get over financing the election campaign?"
"My idea is a group pot. All donations for everyone, and I do mean both parties, are put into a huge pot. Whoever's running can draw out an equal amount of money. No direct donations. No more dark money. No more of those PAC's that put out ads that lie." He smiled. "Everything has to go into the pot.
"You get allotted so much and can spend it however is legal now, but if you drop out you put whatever's left is back. After the primaries and the giving back then, then the ones who're going up for the last election stage can draw from what's left, an equal amount. Not sure yet if I want it with one pot for the whole US or one per state though. Do you guys want a single state or a US wide one?"
Luthor looked at the others then at him. "That would ruin politics as it stands."
"Which means we'll get people who want to do the job, not have the status."
"They'll balk. Those private donations can be used for living expenses," the head of a tech company said.
"Like public utilities, they earn an income and a profit. They should be using that to support their own works and lives. It's not your job to pay for their kid's college funds. It's their job from their incomes."
The billionaires and business owners looked at each other. "Tell us more," Luthor said. "Let us find any reasonable arguments we'd see as being on a different lifestyle spectrum."
Xander got up and got something, bringing it back. He sat down to pet the hyena some more. Bruce was staring at Bruce Wayne for some reason. Xander grinned at the hyena. "I know your mommy named you after him, Brucie. She thought he was hot.
"She said she almost named you after me but she hadn't met me yet and it might've warped you greatly." The hyena put his head back down so Xander went back to petting him. "There's a whole lot of people who could be doing more with their lives if they had the opportunities."
"There are," Luthor agreed. He stared at him. "That's fairly socialist."
"People who're in jobs they like are healthier, take less leave time, work harder for the company if they like working there, and have a better life expectancy."
"I..." He grimaced. "I can't refute that but most higher level businesses wouldn't want to do that."
"Then they can lose staff to companies who do." He shrugged. "That gives better opportunities for education, job training for those who need it, support for those who need it." He grinned. "I know the various ways that people who get assistance could be helped. My parents were chronic alcoholics who were functioning with a few beers in them and looked sober.
"I've seen plenty of people on the system who could have done more with some opportunities. I've seen ones who scammed the system." That got a nod. "A lot of people would do things if they had the opportunity. Or training if they had someone to watch their kids. Would it bother you guys to have workers that did better for the company by being happier? It may cost a tiny bit more but you'd be making a lot of it back."
"It would have to come out of pocket then get paid back later," Wayne said. "Though I'm not against any of those. Gotham could certainly use some of that. I may steal some of those ideas." Xander grinned at that.
"It would come out of present profits to be paid later," the tech giant owner said.
Xander nodded. "Your company made what last year in profits?"
"About nine billion."
"Would you making about two hundred thousand less be that important? Would you even notice that?"
He blinked a few times. "It'd mean a lesser profit in the bank for bad years."
"Which you haven't had yet and the minor bad year you had, you came to Congress to fix for you," Xander said, staring at him. "Even though you had billions in the bank."
"A lot of that is stock options," Luthor said. "Not hard cash."
Xander nodded. "Which can be managed and if it's all in stock options is that really a healthy business practice?"
"No," he admitted. "It's like virtual money where the value fluctuates." He considered it, rereading the list. "I actually sponsor a training program myself."
Wayne nodded. "Wayne Industries does and a scholarship and a few other things for employees and their families. We'd meet up to at least half of those metrics and demands. I'm not sure if a company should care that their employees aren't on solid financial footing though. It's a bit too nosy and overlooking their shoulders to me."
"If your worker's are homeless, are they able to work safely and be healthy?" Xander asked him.
He considered that. "That's true. We do actually donate to a homeless program that gives the people shelter and training plus substance abuse help."
"I'm pretty sure your middle manager sorts would realize if one of their employees had a sudden, catastrophic problem. Or got married and ended up in an abusive relationship. Or something that would impact their job at the very least."
"They would," he decided. "I'd hope." He looked at the others, who all grimaced but nodded. "We, being CEO's, are a bit more removed from our company." Luthor nodded to agree with that. "I do tour my companies often. The employees complain it interrupts work."
"Would you setting up an office for employees to get help from hurt that? Or if other employees noted that so-and-so-in-accounting may be being abused that could help them get to the help they need?"
"No," he admitted. "It wouldn't. Or making sure they worked good hours. I noticed the make US wide standards on hours and breaks idea."
"Yes, because my father used to work on a dock some years. Whenever he got fired from the casket factory for being too drunk too often. They worked those guys like they were robotic and the bosses refused to give proper breaks. Even in hundred plus degree weather they were penalized for needing to drink and get out of the sun, even though the state said they had to give them those breaks.
"A few of the biggest companies have a lot of complaints about how employees are treated and hours without breaks. Some have died on shift from the stress of the job. Is that good for the workers? Or for morale for the rest of the staff? Is it good for the company's image?"
The tech CEO huffed. "They can't prove that by law."
Xander stared at him. "The EEOC has proved that and you paid a fine. The same as companies that pay fines instead of fixing things that lead to repeated problems, it needs to be more punitive so fixing things is easier. That way fewer people die."
"Like with that factory that made formula," Wayne said with a nod. "They needed a lot of cleaning work, some maintenance, and put it off to pay the fines instead because it was cheaper. So some kids died from contaminated formula and they had to shut a major factory down for the violations. Which led to a shortage."
"Exactly that sort of situation or the mines that pay fines instead of fixing things that lead to collapses," Xander agreed with a nod. "Safe, healthy workers do better for the company and look better on the company. Workers dying due to things like 'no one changed the lube in a machine' is a waste of people. It looks bad on you guys and on the US itself."
"Companies will just move overseas," the tech CEO sneered.
Xander snorted, shaking his head. "If they do they get fined. That's already law. I'd strengthen that a lot."
Luthor winced at that. "That is the law but it's not always enforced. Also, there's a difference in smaller companies and bigger corporations."
"True but there should mostly be one standard for all. Is a company that only has five employees mistreating employees? Then they should have to live up to the same standards of taking care of their people. A lot of that won't cost you more."
"No, it really won't," Bruce said. "But they'll complain."
"Whining about that stuff has become a national pastime. You guys have those sort too and you need to lead by example."
Luthor tipped his head then nodded. "That's true, we could. We could also note how much it would benefit us. But what's in it for us?"
Xander smirked. "Us not sending the DOJ down your throat for your little side company that does robotic implants for people who do slave things?"
"I do what?"
Xander sighed and looked up. "Patrick?" He came in. "Get the files out of the safe." He pointed at which one. "The one on Luthor's side enterprise please?" His assistant nodded and got it out, then handed it over to him. "Thanks."
"Welcome, sir. Anything else?"
"No, we're good," Bruce said. He watched Luthor read that.
"That is not me." Xander pointed so he went back to reading. "That's one of my board members. He's been taking...he's been siphoning off Luthor Corp to fund that. Oh hell no." He looked at Xander. "If the DOJ want him, have him." He handed that file back.
Xander waved it off. "Keep it and save us some money. You showing that you're willing to clean house means that others can go 'I can do that too and maybe be less mean'. I'm sure you've got a tank of sharks somewhere, Luthor."
"That's so stereotypical if I did," he shot back but was smirking. This one clearly knew about his alter-ego and part time job as a villain.
Xander grinned. "Then ask your other board member who has a soul debt to see if his master would want that one as a slave. I've used owed poker debts to eliminate threats to the world in the past when I was in Africa. And once when I got back but he was a terrorist wannabe. The poker circuit wanted to eat him anyway. I won him in a poker game." He grinned. "They were happy to help."
"I may do that." He stared at him oddly. "You're very expedient."
"Yes I am. I grew up that way. I have a standard of needs that're set lower than most of you but yeah. If it's expedient and safer, then I'm usually for it. The same as the vision that got us elected was about alien invasion problems." He looked at Wayne, who winced. "You have things that can help. It was seen in a few of them."
"I'll pull them out when they show up and seem non-peaceful," he promised. "I have friends who have contacts with the Justice League too. I'll let them know." Xander grinned and nodded. "Have you warned everyone?"
"That's coming out this year during the State of the Union. That and all this. Congress is going to have a fit but oh well!"
"You can't change some of that by executive order," Luthor said. Xander smirked at him. "All those who owe debts."
"Are being outed again," Xander agreed with a nod. "And I could probably ask a few if they wanted their minions back right now. Are people with soul debts really good for the people? I really could make it law that no one with an owed soul debt of more than thirty percent can sit in public office."
"No," Luthor said with a single nod. "That's slightly evil."
Xander smirked. "I raised myself with Willow's help sometimes. I didn't do a bad job but after sixteen I was surrounded by teenage and younger girls until I got here. Do you really want more kids to grow up to be me? Or Andrew Wells?"
Luthor moaned. "I've seen some of his ideas. I nearly stole a few."
"If you bought them from him he probably wouldn't mind. He'd use it to up his comic collection. The same as I have."
Luthor snickered quietly but nodded. "It figures he likes comics." He stared at him. "You want our support?"
"No, this is fair warning that I'm going to do this. And push for it." He shrugged but went back to petting the hyena next to him. "If you want to help, great. I'd appreciate that. Otherwise I'll just do it without support. I've done that plenty of times with the girls balking at sensible ideas. That pay thing, it is an executive order. I'm signing it then." They all moaned. "It's not right that we get people who want the status and not the job."
"Point," Wayne said. "Which will make you seem like an asshole."
"It will. Colonel Flag's team has already been ordered to take me out by a few senators." He beamed. "He told them to bite him because he didn't want this office and he'd do worse."
Patrick leaned in. "Sir, your ex is here."
"Which ex, I have a few?" Xander asked.
"Holly, sir. Again."
"Awww. Give me a few more." He looked at them. Wayne was muttering and shaking his head. "Yes, that one. She helps the girls in Africa a lot." He grinned. "She's really good to my girls sometimes."
"She's a bit dangerous."
Xander nodded. "Only the deadly and dangerous like me. Aren't you glad you don't think I'm cute?"
"Very," he admitted. "The few I know who think you are, I'm going to check on better."
Luthor snorted, then started to laugh. "I can see that. I know a few of those too and I'd hate them to become villains."
Xander smirked at him. "I met a few of those!" He beamed. "Damn but they weren't that fun in bed either. So many have ego and no dick or skills to back it up. And most of them hate when I get pleasure too. Can you tell your assistant that the next time she flirts with me? I do demand to do the squealing she wants me to make her do too."
"Yes, I can do that. I don't want my assistant to be more evil than I am." He leaned over to shake his hand. "I can see how I can implement some of those but I'll probably complain publically about a few. It'll make me look better to those who want my support for their political run."
Xander shook it. "That's about what I expected anyway." They left after shaking his hand. Holly leaned in. "At least you like me squealing too."
"I do like you squealing and I have most of the African slayers in my compound."
"Did you take them hostage?" he asked, frowning at her. "Why?"
"No! A few groups have wanted to kill them. I'm only keeping Kylie hostage."
"Her boyfriend noted that." He waved so she came in to tell him what was going on so he could solve it. And maybe got a bit of squealing time in for both of them. The hyena huffed at that but he could nap for a bit. When the mini slayers came in he sniffed them looking very confused but they cooed and petted him because they thought he was a dog. It was sweet of them to spoil him like his mommy did with just as much cooing. One even held the plate of meat for him to nibble on.
***
Xander did the video call to his uncle. "Hey," he said. "I thought you went with the 'rents in Sunnydale."
His uncle, who looked sober, shook his head. "Nah. The last earthquake spooked me so I ran. And ran into trouble. Then I found a friend in jail who helped me." He pulled her into view. "This is my nephew Xander."
"Hey," Xander said with a grin and a wave. "It's great you could make him better. I know his first wife dying led him to a life of DUI's." He looked at his uncle. She kissed him on the cheek then got out of view. "You kinda freaked me out when you wrote. I thought for sure you were going to go on a semi-reputable news source and talk about me. My assistant thinks the same thing though." He frowned. "Are you?"
"No," he huffed. "Not like they don't already know."
"Hey, I tried to keep it quiet," he said dryly.
"Point." He stared at him. "You got someone special yet?"
"Not really. Got friends again. That's nice. None of them are bitchy girls. Well, I do have the minis to train still and sometimes they are, but my friends aren't. And one's a guy!" He beamed. "That's been rare around me for years now."
"I remember Jesse, Xander. He get bitten?" Xander nodded, losing his happiness. "He out and about?"
"Nah. He got shoved onto my stake. My first one," he said more quietly. "To save Cordelia."
"Damn that sucks." He sighed. "I'm happy."
"I'm super glad you're happy and you're recovering from losing Aunt Mabel." He stared at the picture. "You look like you're healthier than you have been for years too. And hey, no more driving an ambulance while drunk, right?"
"Nah. I've got something manual going on."
"I miss construction. I liked it a lot. That reminds me, I gotta go work on a habitat project soon." He made himself a note with a frown. Then he looked at the camera again. "Sorry. My mind is slipping thanks to the paperwork of doom again."
His uncle snorted. "There's that much?"
"Yeah, and I have to read a lot of stuff," he sighed. "Thankfully Willow got the dyslexia handled so I could read."
"That was good of her." He stared at him. "You wanna come for the holidays?"
"I may just do that but I have no idea what I'm doing yet." He grinned. "You can come up for the holidays if you want."
"She's got family too."
"Family's important," Xander assured him. "They've gotta get used to you. So come up between them for a long weekend?"
"I can do that," Rory decided with a nod. "I'll write you to let you know when, kid."
"Okay. I look forward to it. And things not being so awkward."
Rory laughed. "That can happen." He hung up with a smile.
Xander hung up on his end and leaned back in his chair, nearly falling out of it. He got up and reset the backrest again so it wouldn't tip back as far then sat back down to think about it. His uncle was much better, and nicer. It was nearly miraculous.
***
Xander walked in to do his second State of the Union speech and heard problems already starting. He stared at one senator, who smirked at him. "You, me, we'll talk later about your manners. Yours are worse than mine and I grew up to drunks." He walked up there to the podium. "Good evening," he started.
"I know this is the speech were I tell you how I want to lead the US into things for the next year. First though, I'm going to talk about the visions that got me up here. Because it'll be next year and you, the people, deserve to know about the aliens we've seen showing up." A few senators shouted.
"Sit down and shut up!" he shouted back. "Dumbasses! We've had three already!" They all stomped off. He waved. "Don't worry, I'll be talking directly to their problems later." He went over the visions, staring at few generals, who grimaced but nodded at his orders to be prepared. He smiled at the camera again.
"I hate visions. I intensely hate visions, the pain they cause, the brain damage they can cause seers. I had to have two brain scans in the last year due to mine. I have never been more than off-time in over fifteen years of visions." That made the generals wince again.
"The other six that have had the visions, they've all been right over ninety percent of the time. I started to yell that I'm not from Torchwood, I shouldn't have to deal with aliens, but ...." He shrugged. "It's my job to protect the US and the world with the slayers. This time, the slayers can't fully help. Slayers are meant to go against demons, not aliens who have ideas. We will beat them. All the recent visions have shown that.
"They've varied in losses, in property damage, in military usage, but they are all certain we will win. I'll be making them accessible to those groups who would need to see them to preplan things. I've been nudging towards it all along but now it's time to be open so people like the military can plan and those who wear capes and spandex may have their own helpful ideas we need to hear. Though, in a few, the villains actually did a lot of helpful things against them."
He smiled. "We'll thank them if they do go that way." He looked around. "Now that we've gotten the big thing out of the way, and worried you all, it's time for my routine attempt to piss you off. Which I am." He held up his notes. Then switched pages to one. "I'm going to go out of order. Mostly because of the rude people." He grinned at the one he had glared at.
"Some of you have pointed out that you're civil servants. I agree, you are civil servants. We are all civil servants. So from now on, you'll be treated like civil servants. All of congress, on both sides, in both houses, in all positions, including mine and Colonel Flag's jobs. You wanted to be treated like civil servants so you will be. From now on you'll be on the federal pay scale. You will be entitled to all civil government worker perks and options."
One stood up to shout. Xander stared at him. "Yes, including you. You said you were a civil servant so therefore you will be treated as a civil servant. With all the rights, responsibilities, and ethical rules of civil servants in this government." He smiled. "As you wished, so shall it be. Or as wish demons say, wish granted!"
He signed something and handed it to the speaker of the house behind him. "Here you go, Madam Speaker. The Executive Order stating that members of Congress and their staff are recognized as civil servants of the United States government and which agency they belong to so they can be set on their schedules of pay and raises instead of a special category." He turned back around.
"I've already alerted the people over the union for government workers to come talk to you about if you want to join them or not and the assistants were told earlier about all the new rules you'll have to follow. Including ethics rules. They were mostly amused. Apparently some people aren't good bosses like I was when I ran my construction crew or the slayers."
He cleared his throat. "Also, I'm going to try to implement a change to election finance laws. I'm hoping those who wanted to be civil servants but not act like them will be able to pass on their jobs when they get to retire to people who want to be part of congress, to make congress work for the people of this country, and to aid the country moving forward."
He coughed again. "Whoever has that laughing gas, it won't work on me. I'm rather immune." He smiled. "And it won't stop me putting out four bills." He laid each one out then handed them all back. "To change election campaign donations. Each state will have a pool for all those who want to be elected.
"All donations, in both parties, in all races, will go into that pot and only into that pot." He smiled. "Each of you can draw out an equal amount. There will be no more PACs that try to push their own lies and agenda. It will make it easier for those who want to join politics to throw their hat in the ring. It will mean that there's no more mega donations that will tilt people and corporations.
"Every person running in every race will get an *equal* amount to draw from the pot. If and when you lose or drop out, all the remaining money you have will go back to the pot for those we're going on to draw from. Each state already has an election committee and it is their decision about how much is drawn and when." He smiled.
"That way someone's not spending major money to start running ads a year before they run and also we're not hiring for congress and other positions based on the depth of your wallet. We want to hire people for political offices who want to do the actual job. I know you're all probably more wealthy than you let on."
He smirked a tiny bit. "And that's fine if your family is. I have nothing against you being wealthy as long as you're paying your fair share of taxes. But I want congress to be the group that is actually by the people, for the people, and of the people that it says it should be in the constitution."
He sipped some water. "The other three bills. One is to fix the tax bracket problem we're having. We in the US haven't been repairing bridges, roads, those necessary things. People have died because we have not been repairing things. Just last week a bridge collapsed and fifty people died because you guys decided with Regan to take the tax rate down and it left no money for necessary repairs.
"So yes, I'm putting in a bill to up the top tier tax bracket. Because let's face it, if you earn a billion dollars a year, you're not going to miss a few extra thousand of it. You probably won't even be able to tell by the state of your bank account and your interest for the year will probably make up for it.
"Will that piss people off? Yes. Does the highway bridge collapsing making sure things can't get delivered to places piss people off? Yes. I'm more worried about the average person than I am any corporation or any billionaire. I'm incredibly worried that we're supposedly the best country in this world and yet we're behind on health care, our people die of easily treated things because it's too expensive.
"Our kids are going hungry. We have more houses sitting there rotting than we do homeless people to fill them. Our people are our job, our employers, and our responsibility to support. I've protected the world a number of times but not to sit back and stare at people dying for stupid reasons like the hospital would've charged them over a thousand dollars to get a prescription for an antibiotic."
A few winced at that. "We have the means to fix a lot of social ills. We have the materials at hand to do that. We have groups to do that for us. Why are we not doing that? Are we that greedy that we think our fellow man is unworthy of the basics of life? Because if we are, we're not a great country. Apparently that got ended in the eighties, people, and I hate it.
"I'm from the last generation that got an actual education, though mine sucked. We were the last generation that had some hope that things might get better. Since then, you guys have eroded that and eaten it away to the point where most of the current new adults are depressed and willing the country to die with them in it because nothing matters and no one has hope.
"Is this the US you want? Because it's not the US I want or the one I'll stand or the one I'll keep protecting. If this keeps going the way it has been, no one's going to protect the world. There's no point to protecting the trash dump that we've become." He walked off.
The reporters were going nuts. The rebuttal was huffy that they weren't simple civil servants. The news people refuted that. Even FOX news refuted that by that senator's own speeches in the past about being a civil servant and serving his people.
Though a lot of people were upset that the president thought they were so bad the US should be given mercy instead of continuing down that path.
***
Rick Flag got back from his last assignment with the Squad tired and limping so of course he nearly got pounced as he walked in. He stared at the guard. "I saw the State of the Union speech," he said bluntly. "I agreed with most of it. Including that executive order he signed." He walked around the guy. "I need to go shower off Turkish dirt and blood."
"Sir. The president's really going evil," the guard called after him.
"Yup, you drove him to it. He warned you. You still pushed. It made him look at problems to see how to fix it."
"Shit," that guard muttered, calling that in to the group he was in. It was a group of agents who hated a lot of what the president and vice president stood for. Which meant the virus in his phone went off and zapped him. He screamed as he fell.
Rick came down nearly naked and damp, staring at the body. He checked then called it in. "It's Flag. My guard at the house just died with a scream and his phone in his hand." He looked at the number, writing it down. He went to finish his shower then come back to look that up while they removed the body.
He found that group and decided it was his job to fix that. He checked on Xander's team, finding three had died, and Harley was there petting her hyena. He went back to looking at that group. If she couldn't handle it, Xander could.
***
At the pentagon, there was a lot of joking about the generals who had supported the president's ability to protect them, but not him, dying from that same virus. They had already figured out what had happened, and who had probably done it. They'd warn Andrew Wells in the morning. After they could stop laughing at those being the bad guys.
***
In Metropolis, Lex Luthor saw the news and burst out laughing at that evil idea. It was so *simple*. So easily accomplished! So artistic at the same time. Yes, he wanted that plan. And the virus itself of course. He had some people he wanted to test it on.
In Gotham, Batman saw that on a bulletin board broadcasting live news and groaned, shaking his head. That so figured. Some evil genius rose up again it seemed. He'd have to make sure they weren't in his city so he didn't have a new enemy to fight.
***
Rick Flag showed up at the slayer house the next day, staring at the guy who answered the door. "I'm not an agent," he said. "And they're not coming, Mr. Wells. Let's go talk though."
"They were harmful to the US. Were going to offer the slayers to someone." He shrugged. "And I always planned on being a villain."
"Clearly you did a great job." He walked him off to talk to him about his evil plans. Andrew told him about his former cohorts and Flag winced at that. So he was following his original plans. He just had to wait on technology to meet up to his ideas. Wells did have handling bad things immunity for working with the slayers. That had actually protected the president and the slayers. So they'd have to probably leave him alone. But it would make someone reevaluate how far those permissions went.
The Luthor Corp people waited until Flag left to have their own talk with Wells about his ideas and how much they could buy them for. Though he wasn't interested in selling them.
***
Xander walked out to the Rose Garden to meet the visitor he had. He squinted up at him. "You could land so I'm not staring at the sun," he noted dryly. "I don't need to see auras all day."
"Hangover?" Superman asked smugly.
"Yes."
"Is that something you should be doing as the president?"
"Last night was the anniversary of when I lost my best friend that I had known since before I could walk and started to hunt vampires because of it. I'm sure you have an anniversary of loss too." The alien winced but nodded as he landed. "Beyond that, judgmental much? You're not a deity I employ in my daily life. If you want to proclaim yourself to be godly, I can introduce you to some that I actually appreciate."
"I'm not a god."
"Then quit acting like you're holy and always right."
"Sorry." He stepped back. "The plans against the aliens. Are they against my type of alien?"
"No. They're in semi-round ships. They'll tell us they saw our sci-fi and came in a form that we could understand." Superman blinked a few times. "They're shape shifting, matter shifting sorts." He went inside and came out with a card. "Here's the website with the visions all compiled by date given. It'll be updated if any others come out that are considered credible. At least ninety percent right by the seer is considered credible. There's a listing of the ones from less credible sources under a link."
"Okay. What if we defeat them before they get here? I can blow some up in space."
"That won't work. The ships are part of their mass and they're not explodable. They're not able to be affected by lasers. A few of the visions showed that you and others tried and it didn't work. Including Andrew's ones that work on magical energy instead of usual laser energy. The one that won the easiest and fastest, Luthor and his crew created some sort of flu thingy to take them out. And they took it home because it killed them within a day of getting exposed."
"That's fairly evil but useful in that case."
Xander nodded. "Ethics has very little to do on a field of battle. It's off the field of battle and the edges of the battle that need the ethics fairies to visit so civilians aren't involved. That's why I've always fought to keep civilians safe. Especially women who're used by every army as a toy to prove their prowess."
"Which is foul."
"Yes but humanity hasn't gotten past that yet. We've proven it recently. That was one of the bills I introduced, to make sure that the UCMJ covers those war crimes and they're counted as crimes against humanity." He shifted his stance. "Go over the visions. Get with me in a few months with ideas on how you and your cohorts can help. Or get with Flag. I'm putting him in charge of that response so people like him more. That lets me fix things and him look more innocent of fixing things."
"That's very political of you." He frowned. "I thought you grew up without that."
"I did, but it's still a sound tactic. You learn how to handle things like that when you have to deal with government agencies all the time. I've had to deal with many politicians and generals over the years." He walked off. "Have a good trip back. See us in a few months when you have ideas."
"Um, yeah, I can do that." He flew off, going to talk to the others. He did put out that website as a front page story through his mundane job and his phone. That way others could see it and figure out how bad it was. He handed it to Batman to pull up. "There's a link for those visions that weren't from as credible sources," he said. "The rest had at least ninety percent correct ratings." He sat down. "He wasn't in a good mood. He had a hangover. Apparently it was the anniversary of him starting to hunt."
Batman nodded. "He was sixteen when he jumped in. Two-thirds of his life have passed in a war no one wants to handle with the slayers. He has the right to mourn and drink to remember all that he's lost."
Superman grimaced but nodded. "I understand why. You probably have one too."
"Yes I do."
Superman nodded. "He told me if I was feeling like a deity I could go talk to a few he had met in the past."
Batman smirked a bit. "They're probably very interesting beings. People should hear about their ways to see if it's one they like. I know one was a healing goddess who got him through dengue by something he noted in the past." He pulled up all the visions in open tabs. "That's interesting."
"He said they were matter shifting and shape shifting. The UFO's they use is because they saw it from our sci-fi stuff. It's actually part of their matter. They're not able to be exploded or lasered according to him, and he said that Luthor had made a virus in one of the visions."
"That's good to know," Batman agreed. They went over each one, each of them making notes about how they could handle things or what they'd need. They came to the one with the villains and Batman tipped his head, then nodded. "That's actually not a bad idea. Can it be done quickly is the real question." He tapped his pen a few times. "That can take years or more to create."
"Do we have someone we can ask?" Superman asked the Flash, who had been a CSI sort of scientist.
"Yes. There's a few viruses that can be warped probably. Not my field."
"I need to see if Gotham has any working on that. Mr. Freeze may know too." He made that note for himself too.
"I have the feeling I'm not going to be of much use," Superman said.
"Perhaps," Batman said. "Not sure yet."
"He said he's having Colonel Flag handle the incoming ideas for it. That way he's left alone to fix things while Flag looks more innocent."
"Which means he's setting Flag up to take over for him when he gets to escape after pissing congress off," the Flash said happily. "They've been shouting for days about him signing an executive order that congress are in fact civil servants and must adhere to all pertinent civil service regulations and pay schedules."
"I did like that election funding idea," Wonder Woman said. "It would level things for everyone so more normal people could join."
"It could," Batman agreed. "Overall I like many of his ideas. His idea that the basics should be guaranteed so people can make their own choices and paths is a good one. It'll mean less suffering overall." Superman nodded he liked those. They went over a few more then the listed less credible sources. A few were weird. "Super Evil Legion of Doom clubhouse," he read. "That had to come from a slayer." He checked. "Yes, a young slayer." They smiled at that.
***
Bruce Wayne got let in to talk to the president again. He had very little doubt that Harris knew about his alter ego. He had been caught reading a comic book from another realm about Batman and Robin by an infotainment reporter. "Something was noted that you said to Superman," he said quietly, staring at him. "How do we know they can't be exploded or lasered?"
"I've been expecting this question. Because we've had a single version of that thing show up about ten years ago," he said, staring up at him. He smiled. "We tried everything but magic since magic made it flash back at us. We put it in a capturing vessel that is sitting in Goddess Hanal's temple in Mozambique. It's her backup temple. We couldn't kill it."
"That's good to know. Are they coming for that one?"
"No. That was their advanced guard. To see how bad we were and how hard we'd be to conquer." He found something and pulled up that battle on the tv in there through his computer then waved a hand.
Wayne turned to watch it, frowning. "Is that coming out?"
"Yes. It'll be on the webpage in a few days. It is noted that there's a possible version of this being but the film had to be found. It'd be up this week once Patrick has time to do that."
"That's interesting." He nodded once. "Okay." He turned off the video. "Can we get that?"
"Go ask her."
"I can do that."
"Just don't release him."
"Not my intention, Mr. Harris." He stared at him. "They do hate you so hard."
Xander grinned. "Good. It's fixing issues and making humanity more secure for a future. Before we start sliding downhill again."
"I hadn't thought about that." He hummed. "I'll bring this to others. Wayne Industries does have a research lab."
He nodded. "I know. Andrew keeps track of that. You'll need to ask Holly to talk to Cera, she's got all the African slayers in her compound to protect them. Cera was the one who delivered that urn so she knows where the temple is."
"I can do that. Does she have a map?"
"That I don't know. Probably. She's also got a diary. She's kept one every week since she was eight."
"That's good to know. Thank you." He left, going to tell the others. They could go find that slayer, not bother the one protecting her, and get her map to that temple.
***
Wonder Woman walked up to that compound, nodding at the guards. "I wish to speak to the head of the compound," she said. She was in uniform. It was clear who she was. "We come in peace and mean the slayers no harm."
"That's good," the guard said, calling that in. "She'll be out in a minute. She needs to put on clothes."
"That's fine." She waited patiently. The woman warlord came out, making her nod at her. "We wished to talk to Slayer Cera about the temple she left that being's capturing urn at. Harris has said that you're guarding her?"
"I am," she agreed. "She's sobbing today because the girl she was flirting with turned her down. What urn?"
"There was a creature like the one we have coming up soon. That alien."
"Interesting." She went to get Cera, walked her and her journal out.
Cera sniffled at her. "She's mean to us."
"I will tell the watcher that so he can check," Wonder Woman said.
Cera shivered. "No, she's not that mean. She's just mean and said I can't flirt."
"That woman doesn't want you. Being a lesbian down here isn't often liked," Holly said dryly. She rolled her eyes. Cera scowled at her. "We need to know about that alien."
"Watcher Harris said that you could not kill it with him but it was captured and put in Goddess Hanal's temple to hold safe?" Wonder Woman asked.
"Oh, that thing. Eww." She got into her journal. "Here, that's the GPS according to my phone." She let her see it and take pictures. "She's really nice and lets us flirt."
"I will not harm that one. She is apparently good for people and not causing harm. We just need that being to test against it." She handed the journal back. "Thank you, Slayer Cera."
"Welcome. Let me know if I can help? We're really bored in here."
"Then go back to training," Holly said dryly. Cera huffed off rolling her eyes. She smiled at the other woman. "I'm treating them like Xander would but one of the other slayers is older and my girlfriend. Cera was found to be flirting with one of the cooks, who is pretty but straight.
"I'd never let anyone hurt the girls and shot two of my people because they wanted to date them and weren't worthy." She walked off. "That being's temple is in the middle of really sharp rocks as far as I remember. Like can't walk on them because they'll tear up titanium."
"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you." She went back to her jet and flew to those coordinates, scanning around. She found the temple, landing in a safe area nearby. No, she could not walk on those rocks. She called in Superman to join her. He could float over them. His floating abilities were canceled out somehow.
Batman had special boot covers to go over them that were metal. They got scratched and cut but it got them to the temple. She bowed at the goddess sitting there looking amused. "Ma'am, we have heard you have an urn in keeping that holds one of the ones that will be invading. We wished to get it from you so we can figure out how to fight it."
Goddess Hanal, who was very tall, fairly blue with brown mottled spots on her skin, and looked fantastic in her jewelry laced outfit, nodded. "I've seen those visions. Xander had the first one before that one showed up and it meant he went to look at it." She pointed at the urns on her fireplace. "It's the green capturing urn. As long as he is not released?"
"We do not wish to and the urn will be going into a system that will hold it even if it's slightly released," Batman said.
"I know of you, mortal." She smiled. "One of my sisters has a geek much like Andrew and he reads comics about you." Batman smiled at that. "Are you doing the work yourself?"
"It's not my field of study. We'll be working with a few different scientists."
She nodded. "As long as it does not get fully released. We don't need more threats from that."
"We're finding a way to destroy it," Superman told her.
She nodded. "That's good." She stared at him. "Hmm. Rao. Interesting." Superman stared at her oddly. She smiled. "I remember when your people lived, Kal-El." She smirked a bit. "I was young then."
"I got crystals with memories from them," he said quietly.
"It must be soothing." He nodded. She looked at the woman staring at the urns. "The green one."
She looked back. "I was studying the design on the paint to see if it was the containment runes in case my hands covering it harmed it." She pointed. "This one?" Hanal nodded. "Thank you." She lifted it down carefully and put it in a box they had carried in for it. "We thank you for keeping it safe and helping us defeat that enemy." She bowed and left with the box. The others did the same.
"Thank you," Superman said quietly. She smiled and waved. He followed the others back to the jet, thinking about that. Did other demonic higher powers remember his people as well? Might they know something about them?
***
Xander met with some of the congressional hissy fit throwers. "What?" he asked. "You didn't say why you needed to come over to talk." He stared at them.
"Congress was never meant to be simple civil servants." He put down papers.
Xander got up to get something and came back with his. "From their own writings. Maybe you guys should do that reading thing? I mean, I have a slight learning disability and I still learned how to read what the Founding Fathers wrote themselves." He slid them down. "Frankly, you jumped yourself up back in the early eighteen hundreds to give yourselves more power than you should've had.
"All those who serve in the government are civil servants. No matter where they serve, they're civil servants. My job, the Colonel's job, your jobs, your assistants' jobs. All of it. Those are the basis of the protection against the lawsuit you guys tried to file." He grinned. "If Franklin himself worried about Congress becoming minor monarchies, then there's a point."
They glanced through them. "This is not in the constitution."
"According to the constitution only three of you are eligible to hold office because you're white men who own property. The rest of you are either five-eighth's of a person or considered property. Is that what you're basing your ideology on? Times have changed but the roles you play in the government haven't."
He stared at one, who shrank away from him. "Frankly I'm trying to keep humanity afloat for a few more decades. It's on a quick slide down, and I do mean the old metal ones that used to be in parks when I grew up, not the slower plastic ones that get put in today."
"God will be coming back soon anyway," one sneered.
"You have fun with that since you don't follow a single thing in your book of faith. Also, what makes you sure he was real? I know ancient deities who've been around since before that time. Did they note it?" She gasped, staring at him. "Yes, the world is a wider place than you think. Frankly, if that's your religion of choice, you're allowed to have it but not push it on others.
"The same as I don't push mine on you. As mine are tangible beings I talk to, who have physical bodies, who were there for a lot of that and have history scrolls going back that far...." He stared at her. "Your book of faith was put together by a committee in the eight-hundreds. You should look at that topic and see why some of your books are in there instead of others.
"Also, before you bring up some self-righteous telepreacher or the vatican, yeah they know about that too." He shrugged. "History, it's not pretty or nice or clean or healthy but it's something everyone should learn so they don't repeat it." He stared at her, arms on the table, hands clasped together. "You might also look at the laws that are giving churches tax free status as many of them violate that and I'm going to enforce it.
"Especially after a church of people just like you tried to burn down a peaceful community nursery full of children for daring to be different." She stomped off. He waved at her back. Then he looked at the others. "Does the Dalai Lama have this sort of issue with his people?" They shook their heads. "Then there are rules and laws and they apply to everyone equally.
"All men are created equal," he noted patiently. "Including members of congress." He smiled a bit. "I follow the rules. I get nagged about dating arms dealers but I do follow the rules. They don't give me anything but a discount for the slayer weapons I have to gather for their use." They grimaced at that.
"Because some agencies still haven't followed the executive order. I'm about to jump down their throats for that. Do we need to have a meeting where you go over the guidelines that all civil servants must live by? I know there was one and many of you chose not to go but read the regs on your own."
"No," one said. "We still don't like that approach."
"Well, that or the country dies like Rome. Which interestingly enough survived some psychos but not Christianity. I'm seeing scary parallels right now. You guys have ethical guidelines and I expect them to be followed."
"You won't get reelected," one sneered.
Xander shrugged. "Don't want it anyway. You guys have pulled me from my duty to protect the world with the slayers so one little girl wasn't doing it on her own. Keep Colonel Flag if you want, but I don't care. I'll skip off that day with my minis helping me by carrying my few bags of stuff." He smiled. "We'll have ice cream on the way to the airport to eat on the plane home." They slumped at that.
"I don't care. I'm going to do what I need to do so all of you keep going. Because if the world ends tomorrow and I didn't do it by screwing up a battle or being so pissed off and angry that I end it on my own then I've failed and I don't like to fail. I had enough of that in third grade. You guys keep acting like you're above the laws and you're not. The lawmakers have to be impeccable or the law's a sham.
"The officers aren't above the law and will be held to the laws of this land. You guys will be held to the laws of this land and the ethical guidelines for those in government service. Hell I've even had this talk with the CIA and I know how badly they need to break rules sometimes but in others it's not allowed and they know it too." He smiled a bit.
Rick Flag cleared his throat from the other doorway. "Thank you for complying with the order to prove that you're not the rot in the system. Or the worm in the apple." They nodded and left to go talk. Xander smiled at their backs, waving a bit. "If they elect me after you I'm going to beat you to death, bring you back, torture you some more, and then bury your ass in an unmarked grave in a field," Rick said.
Xander looked back at him. "The PTB would like that and if I'm not buried with the slayers someone will try to make pilgrimage to it. Do we really want that?"
"No. You're an inspiration for many but not that way. It'd probably be like Harley's ex."
Xander nodded. "Could be." He grinned. "Do you like those four bills?"
"Yes. And enforcing some that have been lax." He came in to read those pages from their own writings. "Oh, that's what he meant."
Xander nodded with a grin. "Yup. They noted the end of Rome too."
"They did." He looked at him. "If they assassinate you I'll keep on this path."
"Please do." He got up. "Had a vision about that battle, more of a how to." He showed it to him and sat back down. "I'm thinking I'll be the distraction instead."
Flag looked it over and nodded. "Yeah, that won't work. Very tactically unsound. Those Powers That Be over the slayers apparently have no training in strategy."
"No, they're chess players."
"Aaaah." He grimaced but nodded. "I'll work on that. I'm getting a lot of information on how to handle it, including the generals and the villains in one case." He looked at him. Xander grinned. "I saw that one. Has he?"
"I don't know. You might want to ask someone up that way."
"I may do that. Thanks, kid." He took that back to his own office to go over it. Xander went back to doing paperwork he hated. He came back a few minutes later. "At my last speech I nearly got shocked but there were three Harley impersonators in the crowd."
Xander grinned. "Is she happy about that?"
"Freaking out. They apparently look up to her for the wrong reasons."
"Then have her give an interview? Someplace that those girls will look up to her?"
"That's not a bad idea." He went to do that.
***
Rick Flag smiled as he was met at the airport in Metropolis by a very tired looking Lex Luthor. "Thank you for letting me come see how your new job training program is going. It's something Xander and I both think is really necessary, Mr. Luthor." He shook his hand, passing over that card at the same time. "How is the six months trial going so far?" They walked off together.
"It's been good. A bit odd and we've had to change some parameters. Some of the things we thought needed to be trained had to be a later, smaller topic instead of an earlier major topic. But it has been very useful." They got put into the limo together and he stared at the card. "I've seen them."
"Have you looked at the ones from the not as credible sources? Including a few mini slayer versions? Xander wasn't sure."
"I haven't. I haven't really had time. I've been ill."
"I hope you get better."
"Me too." He settled in to look at those while they traveled, frowning. "Super Evil Legion of Doom clubhouse?"
"Something about a comic book came up, a Legion of Doom? She apparently likes to read it."
"I need to look into that. People like myself often can't work with others like us." He looked up that topic to see who was in that comic book version. He blinked a few times. "Oh, I see why it was brought to our group that the mini slayer saw." He smiled at Flag. "That could be quite helpful."
He nodded. "Wayne's got some working on it, including a few from that group. We'll need people who can quietly virus that thing when it gets here in six months."
"I can see that." He saw the new ones and frowned. "That's not a good idea." Flag handed over the battle plans with a grin. "That's nicer. More steady and able to be done subtly." He nodded. "That's not a bad idea."
"I'm going to pass it on to the good guys as well. Can you play your part?"
"I believe I can or I have someone who can." He stared at him. "Xander is very optimistic."
"No, he's realistic but he's been low enough he's seen all the problems from the underside. And he studied up on Roman things."
He nodded at that with a sigh at the end. "He's seeing us in the declining years of Rome."
"He does." He grinned. "He's also certain that some people need to live up to the standards they say they do. That way more guys like him are protected."
"It would be a good idea if they weren't hypocrites."
"That's his thing too."
"Huh." He nodded, tucking his tablet away and that card into his pocket with the battle orders. "I'll pass that on to some of the local do gooders later."
"You sure? I can."
"It'll look more subtle if I do it. I can stand on my building and talk to him again."
"That's fine. However works best for you. What about the peaceful community locally?"
"The do gooders are not overly supportive but they'll stop attacks on them. I heard about that nursery."
"So did Xander. He was livid. It made me see if someone really harmed the mass of slayers and he lived through that I really have to keep him away from nuclear codes."
Luthor smiled. "It's good for a boy to have friends and family to protect."
"It is but sometimes Xander really should be on my Squad as more than an associate." He smirked a bit at that awed look.
Luthor took a second to consider that idea. "Oh, dear. I didn't think about that."
"Xander's not cleaner than I am. He had to do a lot of things with battles that aren't *good* but they worked and saved people."
"I had not thought about any of that. I don't have a good profile on him."
"The CIA's dossier is crap," Flag said. "I had to get Harley to pull up her old college paper profiling him and then add to it with battle videos." He grinned. "That man is clearly meant to be on the Squad."
Luthor nodded. "We considered him rather simple and under educated thanks to his upbringing. More of a barbarian warrior sort."
"In many ways. One that pushes education on the girls so he had to learn alongside some of them. It's the first time he got algebra apparently."
Luthor sighed. "So he learned it later in life."
Flag grinned and nodded. "Viking warrior? Yeah. His ex Anya used to call him a viking in the sack too. Since she had been Norse before being demoned she'd know."
"If I were into loud, messy, dirty sexual events I'd gladly try to flirt with that man. But I'm not." He smirked a bit. "I'll note that to my assistant who moons over him."
"Please. We all want Xander to be happy someday."
"What about those two charming ones who guard him often?"
"If he'd take in Harley like we've all hinted to both of them I'd throw the wedding reception."
"Not the other one?"
"I don't think he's gay. Or would go gay. Not really certain though." They shared a look. "You sure you want to talk to him?"
"I've done so a few times. I can hang out in my hot tub and drink something while yelling for him to show up to get that note." The car parked and they got out together, Luthor first. Someone tried to shoot him but it was deflected by one of Flag's guards shooting the bullet out of the air. "That's impressive," Luthor told that one. Who grinned back.
"Thanks, Deadshot." Flag punched him on the arm. "C'mon. I wanted you here on purpose."
"I saw my little girl," he said quietly.
"She's doing excellently," Luthor assured him with a smile. "She's looking to train so she can run such programs later."
"That's good for people and I appreciate that," Deadshot agreed. He followed them in, being the dutiful bodyguard sort. Playing nicely and getting along meant he got better rewards. Flag shoved him into a room at one point and he stared at his daughter. "Baby girl."
"Dad." She stared at him. "Your turn bodyguarding?"
"The Squad takes turns with both of them." He walked over then hugged her. He pulled back to look at her. "I heard you're doing good. I'm proud."
She smiled. "I want to do things like that for others."
"That makes me even more proud. If your mother complains you tell her to see me."
"Dad," she sighed.
"I won't shoot her. Just yell back today." He stared at her. Then he wrote down a few things. "Accounts that the government didn't get but was slipped to your mother now and then when you two needed stuff. Use them to run those programs, baby girl. You help others."
"I..." She nodded. "Thanks, Dad."
"You do me proud." He stared at her. "And if you hook up with Dubois's kid to do those things, we'd both be happy with that."
"I do know her. We met to compare weird father stories."
He smiled. "Good." He walked out with her, taking her back to the group. Flag noticed but left it there. Deadshot noticed someone being creepy on the rafters of the warehouse they were in and sighed. He looked at his daughter, nodding for her to move away from him. She did, going to hide a bit more. He watched the guy, then nodded when he took aim and shot the guy. Dead in the forehead, making him fall down already killed before he hit the floor.
Flag looked then at him. "Make sure he didn't leave a bomb."
"You've got guards doing that I'm sure."
"If not, I surely do," Luthor said. "Some warning please?"
"I guess." The Harley girls in the audience all stared at him. He smirked a bit. "One of you's got the colors backward." He went to hunt down the other problems while Flag finished up and got evacuated. He'd join them at the plane.
***
Lex Luthor was indeed in his hot tub, relaxing with a nice glass of whiskey sour when Superman flew up and stared at him. "I didn't have to yell?"
"I heard you saying you'd yell for me earlier, Luthor. What's going on now?"
"That paper under the ice bucket is Flag's battle plan." He waved a hand. "I hadn't had the opportunity to look at the visions by those less accurate. I know who I'd ask to help with that plot; he's on his way to Wayne Enterprises to volunteer on that project. I've already paid his salary." He sipped and moaned, then put down the glass. "Want some?"
"Won't do me any good," he admitted. He took the paper to look at, frowning at it. "Oh, that's why." He looked up. Luthor nodded. "Are you going to go along with that?"
"I am."
"Who was that shooter earlier?"
"An agent who was mad that Harris and Flag have ethics they enforce." He smirked. "There's a whole agent group. Some of them survived that virus hitting their phones." He took another drink and put the glass down. "Harris is very certain that we're in the end times of the Roman empire."
Superman grimaced. "I can see that point. He's working to make the world safer for now. Oh, that's what he's doing. He's making a backstop."
"Yes he is. With all the other chaos going around, he's making sure there's stability to go forward." He smirked a bit. "My profile on that boy is totally wrong. Or at least mostly wrong. Apparently the only one that profiled him correctly was Dr. Quinzel."
"I need to get her copy. Is he going to come after the Justice League?"
"Why would he bother? Though he will note that none of you ever seem to show up at apocalypse battles outside the portal ones and only in Gotham apparently." He stared at him then smirked a bit. "The girls could use the backup there as well."
"They could and I can behead a vampire," he admitted. "I don't want to kill."
"If it's an invasion, would that really matter?"
He nodded once. "I'll tell the others." He flew off with that copy of the battle plan. It wasn't a complicated plan. It was almost brilliant in the simplicity as long as they got that virus done in time. He flew to Gotham, searching for Batman. He found him and landed beside him, handing over that plan. "From Flag."
He read it over, nodding. "That's not a bad plan. Fairly adaptable if we need to twitch or change completely. Good plotting of how and who." He looked at him. "Any other news?"
"Luthor has been sick so he just looked at the mini slayer versions of the vision. He knows who one was talking about thanks to looking up that comic book by what I overheard earlier when they were traveling." He grinned a bit. "He's already paid his salary and he's showing up soon at Wayne Enterprises."
"Excellent news there." He tucked that into his belt. "So that's a possible lesser worry as long as we get it done in time."
"Hopefully." He stared at him. "Dr. Quinzel is the only one that has a good profile of our president?"
"Mine's not half bad but it's thin," he admitted. "He's a complex man."
"I didn't think he was."
"You didn't look," Batman said with a smirk. "You expected him to be like Luthor or Lane. Driven to a point and that's their whole focus. He's not and he's got multiple focuses and multiple things that could twist him slightly. Including the girls going off on him again. He's been known to sulk for days or hide from the slayers when they get into nagging him about being a normal guy."
"I didn't hear about that. If we put that out, will people respect him more?"
"No," Batman said. He shook his head. "They won't see where he's working toward because they don't want to see what he's pointing out." He shrugged a bit, shifting his position. "They think he's some inner city kid and that's it. He's not."
"Flag said he really did deserve a spot on his squad full of minor villains."
Batman nodded. "I can see that. It was probably only the hunting that kept him from that fate anyway."
"Hmm." He nodded. "All right. Figure out our response and positions."
"I'll do that this week and tell Flag which area we're taking."
"Thank you." He flew off thinking about Harris. How complex was that guy? He didn't seem like a deep thinker but he had to be at least a little bit of one apparently. Had he misjudged a possible ally or minor enemy?
***
This Was Not What I Wanted To Be When I Grew Up!