Chapter Text
Passing two days on the Watchtower was not a boring affair, it seemed.
Between J’onn, Barry, Diana, and Batman, there was hardly a time when Kal felt alone on the space station.
And Barry had been right, J'onn did seek Kal out for more quiet meditation sessions in the room. Of course, every time he did so, Barry somehow seemed to be scarce. Despite feeling unsure if he was making any progress, whatever that might look like, J'onn's small pleased smile at the end of their sessions told Kal he must at least be doing something right.
There were also times when several of the League members happened to be on the Watchtower at the same time and ended up gathering together. This was how Kal currently found himself an open ear for Barry to vent about the difficulties he was facing in his home of Central City.
Barry had pulled back his red cowl to reveal flattened golden hair, and while the League members had been getting more and more casual around Kal, he hadn't expected the the show of trust. He'd almost been surprised Barry wasn't wearing a second, smaller mask underneath his cowl. Kal glanced at Batman, whose slight frown held more resignation than rebuke, and realized he didn't even know the other man's name. Maybe that was more Batman's style than Barry's.
"I can't believe they've been letting 5th Street sit for weeks. Weeks. Blocking access to people's homes and businesses, and majorly backing up traffic because the city council and the transit authority can't agree on how to fix an intersection."
Barry was running his fingers through his hair and making the strands stick up haphazardly, having spent the better part of twenty minutes bemoaning the needlessly complex and petty bureaucratic obstacles that were taking up the bulk of time now that the most urgent recovery efforts were dealt with.
From beside him, Kal nodded in sympathy, and Barry continued.
"It's the most ridiculous thing I've heard. They can't decide between two ways to fix the road, so they're just. Not fixing it at all."
Kal knew there was something to about budgets and project schedules, but most of what Barry had said went over his head. So he tried his best to be supportive with the barest of context.
"I can't say the Caretakers have seen quite the same situation, but I'm always surprised by how much infighting can get in the way of a decision that all sides agree is important." Kal distantly remembered one such occasion. "There was one very contested permit, something about the cultural importance of copta wool..." He stopped himself when he soon remembered how long that particular line of conversation could go.
"In my experience," Diana began, looking amused at the rumpled mess of Barry's hair, "the best way to to get two groups to come to a decision quickly is to go ahead and do something they both dislike. They will soon learn their differences are not so great when faced with a far worse alternative."
"While I usually don't condone such direct interference in local affairs in the absence of an emergency," Kal could almost feel the sigh Batman let out from beside him. "I agree with Diana that an action to kick-start a resolution would be beneficial. Either option seems to be acceptable, and any sort of decision being made would be preferable to the current stalemate. And would alleviate unnecessary hardship from the affected civilians."
"Maybe a parley is in order." J'onn seemed happy to supply his own thoughts on the matter as well. "A mediated discussion may give them a much-needed chance to connect more meaningfully." He added, "or perhaps a chance to propose that the Justice League can 'help' directly. An option that I've seen to be peculiarly unpopular amongst Earth localities."
Batman's short hum sounded almost amused. "Perhaps volunteering Green Lantern to direct traffic in the meantime would be an acceptable proposal."
Had that been a joke? Kal thought he caught a fleeting glimpse of an amused twitch to his lips and playful blue eyes before it was gone, and Kal was left blinking, wondering to himself if he hadn't imagined everything after all.
"I'll have you know that there's good reason I'm barred from traffic duty." A new voice came from the other end of the room. "I'm much too distracting to drivers and pedestrians alike with a whistle between my luscious lips."
They all turned towards the entrance to the canteen, surprised at Hal's unexpected arrival. Except for Batman, who calmly gave off the impression that he'd noticed their newcomer long before.
"Hal!" Barry stood from the table with a grin, his hair still a tangled mess. "You said you wouldn't be back until tomorrow!"
Hal came to stand beside the table the five of them were seated at, reaching out to ruffle Barry's hair even further and snickering when Barry let out an indignant noise.
"Hal," Diana greeted warmly. "How was your patrol? I hope all went well?"
"Yeah, well," Hal said as he perched on the edge of the table. "I was coming up empty in terms of actually finding anything, so I finished earlier than expected. Which is a good thing, I guess. I did have time to consult my ring in the downtime. There's still no word on Starro, at least since we last saw him. And this Brainiac guy. There's not much on him either, except that he's wanted and slippery as an eel. Wanted for a whole laundry list, but mostly kidnapping charges, from whole cities to rare species. All," he cut a quick glance at Kal before continuing, "taken before extinction, or self-destruction. Endlings, in other words."
Kal knew all this, yet hearing it said aloud and laid out so plainly made his stomach twist.
"Wait," Barry said, oblivious to Kal's intestinal acrobatics. "Does that mean Brainiac could have stolen the entire Indus Valley Civilization?"
"I mean. Not like they carved ‘CROATOAN’ on a tree, so I guess we can't rule Brainiac out." Hal scratched at his neck with a dubious expression. "Last he was seen was in Sector XXX, but that was three months ago. So in short, no bad news, but no good news either. And we should still keep an eye out for Starro in case he still has a taste for terra nostra."
That reminded him. "Actually," Kal said, turning to Barry. "Xelek just got back to me with some new correlation sets that might help clean up the baseline on your scanners here."
“Did he already get through the stuff I sent over?" Barry sat up in his chair with raised eyebrows. "That's great! I'll put them in today if you’re around later.”
Kal nodded in response. Of course, it didn't require any consideration since Kal was always 'around' these days.
Hal turned to Barry, his lips set in a hurt pout. “I don't see you asking if could be around. I got my radio merit badge, you know. I know my way around that stuff.”
Barry wrinkled his forehead. "I thought you said you never made it past tenderfoot?"
Hal scoffed quietly. "I was really into all the badges and projects and stuff." He tossed his head. "I just didn't really go through with any of the stupid rank requirements is all," he added with a sniff.
At that, Barry burst out laughing. "Oh my god, you were absolutely just kicking it at the kiddie table because you couldn't bother reading the handbook, weren't you?" To which Hal let out an indignant--but not very dignified--noise.
The rest of them watched the exchange play out, Diana and J'onn looking on amusedly, while Batman let out a subvocal sigh. Kal watched the two men bickering with a bit of amused interest and mostly blissful ignorance, the cultural cues and context flying far over his head.
However, even their most long-suffering audience gradually lost their interest and began dispersing. Kal suddenly realized that he and Batman were the only ones still there when the other man stood with a quiet scrape of his chair.
"I believe I promised you a fix for your translator, if this is a good time," Batman said, turning to Kal.
Kal looked over at Hal and Barry and saw that the squabble had devolved into silent gesticulation and batting eyelashes. He turned back to Batman. "Sure." He stood to follow Batman out of the mess.
"Is that normal?" Kal asked when he chanced a glance back as they were leaving and saw a particularly contorted expression on Hal's face.
Batman let out a quiet grumble. "Never ask for normal with those two in the same room." Clearly, he had some strong feelings about the pair.
They walked to the same workshop, and Kal saw there was already a spread of supplies laid out on the workbench.
"If you would," Batman said, holding out a hand. Kal removed his translator and dropped it into his upturned palm.
He watched, curious, as Batman opened up the device and began methodically disassembling it into tiny parts. He didn't seem to mind Kal watching over his shoulder, not showing any sign that he was uncomfortable or telling Kal to leave and come back later, like the last time. Batman's large hands were surprisingly delicate in their work with the tiny components of the earpiece, using tiny cutters and tweezers to precisely excise parts and replace them with new ones. He connected the translator to a handheld console, into which he entered a flurry of commands.
With a final beep from the machine, Batman put Kal's translator back together, and when Kal took it back from him, it looked the same as before. Kal put the device back into his ear, and furrowed his brow in confusion when he couldn't hear anything at all. Had something gone wrong?
"Um, are you sure this is working?" he asked with an uncertain look at Batman, braced for an unintelligible reply without the translator.
"Perfectly."
Batman's low voice spoke directly into his ear, and Kal nearly jumped in surprise. Kal sent a wide-eyed look at the other man, who wore an undeniably smug expression.
"I also took the liberty of patching you into our comms channel," He explained. Batman pressed a finger to his own ear, and suddenly his voice was back to being a more decent distance away."So that you have a better way of contacting us."
"Oh. That's--" Kal let out a strangely tense breath, "--actually really useful." He paused, finally taking in how completely undetectable the device really was now. Even if he focused and tried to extend his hearing, there was only the slightest fizzle of electricity. "This is incredible. Thank you."
"It was no problem," Batman said. "Metahuman abilities always create a nice challenge, especially when it comes to modifying equipment."
"So you aren't a-- metahuman?" Kal asked.
Batman let out a quiet huff. "No. I'm not."
Kal hadn't expected that. "Isn't it difficult?"
"Hm." Batman hummed. put down the tool in his hand before turning to look at Kal. "It depends on what you're asking."
"Last time, when I asked why you were helping us despite everything. You seemed so sure. Like you didn't have any doubt in the choice," Kal said. "I just don't understand how, if you aren't a Green Lantern. Or intangible. Or--" he made a gesture, "directed by the gods."
"Well, I certainly don't do this because it's easy," Batman said with a tilt of his head. "Nothing is certain, not even if we could defeat Starro again if he returned. Or someone else, like Brainiac." Kal sucked in a breath. "But I also don't operate on doubt, and it's why I'm a part of the Justice League."
Batman sat back in his chair. "Plus, this team needs a strategist. Or else our headquarters would be somewhere like Cincinnati. Instead of a strategically advantageous location that isn't corrupted by things like politics and capitalism. Like space."
"The Watchtower is a very nice facility." Kal wondered what Cincinnati was. Batman didn't seem to have a high opinion of it, at least. "So the location of the Watchtower was a practical choice? A satellite seems like more work logistically," he said, realizing just now how true that was. Especially for a planet-based team like the Justice League.
"Perhaps you recall Barry's laundry list of troubles caused by politics." Kal did and winced slightly. "Surprisingly, there are far more logistical advantages than disadvantages. I myself am very familiar with many of them." Batman added with a sniff, "One unexpected benefit from the chaos wreaked on Earth's infrastructure and society by Starro is that there are many less appearances that need to be made from Bruce Wayne, which I couldn't be more fine with."
Kal nodded in understanding until another unfamiliar word caught his attention. "Bruce Wayne?" he asked, puzzled.
"Unfortunately, it is the tiresome product of my living in Earth society," Batman said with a reluctant grumble. "Which Alfred tirelessly enables."
The answer left Kal profoundly confused, and wondering if his translator really was malfunctioning. Until he finally puzzled through the vague context and narrow misdirections, to finally arrive at the surprising conclusion that Bruce Wayne was his civilian identity.
"It's actually quite refreshing to find someone who doesn't care about Bruce Wayne." In the long moment that it took for Kal to wonder why Batman had so much disdain for... himself -- the other man had resumed talking. "Hal and Barry, predictably, are insufferable about the fact. And you'd think Diana would be much more mature about it all, but she considers social events fair game," he said with a petulant huff, which Kal found strangely endearing.
"How about J'onn?" Kal asked, thinking of his calm demeanor. "He doesn't seem the type to care about your... social standing."
Bruce grimaced. "You'd be surprised at how easily fame can corrupt."
"J'onn is famous?" Kal asked in surprise.
"No," Bruce said in a chilling tone. "It's much worse." Kal held his breath, wondering what could be so terrible. "He pimps Bruce Wayne out for Chocos," he said grimly.
"...Chocos?" Kal asked hesitantly, not sure if he wanted to know. Perhaps Chocos were something unspeakable, like Cincinnati. More shocking, though, was that apparently J'onn used Bruce's identity to... solicit such things. Kal was getting more confused by the second.
"A confectionary sandwich made of highly processed and unhealthy components," Bruce explained off-handedly, before resuming his tirade. "There have been countless campaigns for Valentine's day and Halloween that pop up on social media for years now. Every single conceivably food-related holiday," he said with unexpected fervor.
"I keep shutting down the accounts, but I suspect he's made new ones in advance. And I know it's him. The trail always leads back to a P.O. box in Gotham."
"Oh," Kal said uncertainly. "You're sure it's J'onn?"
"Yes!" Bruce said with vehemence. "It's can't be anyone else. Who else would have the means--and the motive--to impersonate me, while also having access to private details of my life to trick fans into sending the things by the boatload?"
To that Kal had no answer, except the fleeting thought that if J'onn really was willing to go so far, that Chocos must be a fine delicacy indeed.
Ding.
There was an unfamiliar chime in Kal's ear. He looked around in surprise until he saw Batman move to tap a finger against the side of his cowl, and Kal mimicked his movement, tapping his newly modified translator.
"Kal?" Barry's voice came clearly through his earpiece.
"Barry?"
"Hey, it worked! Not that I doubted you, B," Barry added quickly. Kal thought he saw a smirk flicker across Bruce's face before it was gone without a trace. "B said he'd patch you into our comms, so I thought I'd test it out. Wanted to check if you were free to do the scanner work. I was going to head over soon."
"I'm available," Kal said. "I can meet you there."
"Sounds good." The line shut off with another chime.
Kal thought he remembered the way to the equipment room. He turned to Bruce, who had also been on the line. "We could go together. If you wanted to help, too," he suggested.
"Hn," Bruce hummed. "I suppose it'll be worth the trip."
He was very much Batman when he stood with a sweep of his cape, and Kal wondered what Bruce Wayne would be like.
The two of them walked down to the equipment room together, and they found that Barry and Hal were already inside when they arrived. Hal rolled his eyes when he saw Bruce was with Kal, but Barry waved them both over to the control terminal.
"Just got finished setting up," Barry said. "Should be good to go."
Kal reached into his tunic and brought out a datastick, which he handed over to Barry.
Barry waved the datastick in front of Hal. "If you would."
Hal rolled his eyes again but nonetheless raised his fist toward the terminal, projecting an interface with his ring. "I knew you only keep me around because I'm useful."
Barry plugged in the datastick and got started on adjusting the calibration with the new values from Xelek.
"I don't see how plugging in a bunch of numbers is going to make our scanners any better," Hal said, peering over Barry's shoulder.
"This is just something to tune our base calibration," Barry explained. "We're going to start setting up the big stuff, too. Kal has more of the details."
Kal nodded. "Yes, what Barry's doing right now is just some minor adjustments to your current equipment. In the datastick I just gave him, there's also additional configurations that will allow the scanner to directly communicate with the ship." He pulled out his datapad and opened the schematics. Bruce leaned over to get a better look. "With some minor hardware adjustments as well, you should be able to create a baseline between the scanner on the Watchtower and the scanner on the ship. Doing this would increase the resolution and sensitivity of your detection system."
"So basically, we'd be combining the data from both scanners, and it'd be the same as if we had a massive satellite dish," Barry chimed in.
Hal looked between them and shrugged. "It sounds like you two are having fun." He elbowed Barry, who yelped. "I thought you said you weren't a rocket scientist."
Bruce hummed. "If this works, it would add a lot of new capability to our detection and tracking systems without much modification."
"Exactly." Kal grinned. "And if you could tap in other receivers, like another satellite, you'd be able to create an even more robust array."
Bruce hummed again, looking at the datapad and Barry's inputs on the terminal with a thoughtful expression. "We'll have to look into the possibility of a new orbiter in the future." He stroked his chin. "But there are some backdoors I think can be easily tapped into, in the near term," he said almost to himself.
Kal watched as Bruce pulled out his own datapad and started typing. After a bit, he paused for a moment before muttering to himself and typing something else in a flurry of taps. He didn't look up when Barry made a triumphant sound.
Kal turned back to the terminal and saw Barry rub his hands together, shooting a grin at Kal.
"Went through without a hitch. Now," Barry said, circling to kneel at the back of the terminal, "I think we should have enough slots in our I/O module for the tether." He ran his hand along the back panel before springing back up to his feet. "I'm gonna need something to open this up. Be right back," Barry said, before disappearing in a blur.
Kal looked around and realized there was no sign of Bruce either, the man had left the room at some point, unnoticed.
"Oh, yeah, Spooks is long gone," Hal said dryly.
Hal rounded the terminal and held out the datastick to Kal, who took it with a small nod. Kal slipped the datastick back into his tunic, and there was a moment where neither of them spoke.
Hal cleared his throat. "I'm, uh, sorry if I ever made you uncomfortable."
Kal turned fully to blink at Hal in surprise. "You've never done anything to make me feel that way. You've been nothing but professional." He glanced at the door, wondering if Barry needed any help? He'd been gone for... not even a minute. now.
"No," Hal grimaced slightly, "I know I've been unfair towards you. And I definitely crossed some lines." Kal had no idea what Hal was referring to. "I was thrown off when I first worked with the Caretakers and saw you. The way you were on that ship, in that enclosure." He shook his head. "I knew the Caretakers were trusted. But you looked so human, like some kid. So I stuck my nose where I shouldn't have, and by then I felt like I had definitely overstepped. I thought it was better that I took a step back, keep a respectful distance. Kilowogg and the other Lanterns checked in with you, assured me you were in good hands."
That was, huh. Kal took a moment to process that. "I never knew that," he said, with a thoughtful frown. "But I don't hold it against you. I guess I appreciate that you were concerned." He added, "If I was in a bad situation, that would have been the right decision."
Hal sighed. "But it wasn't. And that's a good thing." He rubbed a hand to his jaw before saying, "All this to say, I'm sorry if I swung too hard in the other direction and sort of, um, avoided you, too. Barry told me off for it. So you can thank him for noticing."
Kal had tried not to take Hal's standoffishness personally, but now that he knew it wasn't anything he had done, it felt like a silly thing to worry about.
"I guess if you really didn't like me, it'd be pretty obvious," Kal said, trying for light. "Like with Bruce--Batman."
Hal's slack-jawed expression had Kal trying not to laugh. "He told you?" Hal asked incredulously. "It took me years. Years. And being strapped to a bomb. With the rest of the League unavailable. And he told you after, what? Two months of meeting you?" Hal fisted his hands in his hair. "That asshat. That... that absolute pillbug."
Kal bit his lip to hide his smile. "He's not so bad?" he offered. "He's very kind."
"Kind?" Hal looked at him with wild eyes. "He's on my ass all the time about the stupidest things, like paperwork. I mean, that stuff doesn't even matter, since we don't have audits. Except internal ones. By Batman." He huffed loudly. "See? What do you even talk about?"
"We have some mutual interest, I guess," Kal said, not too defensively. "He was very committed to our joint collaboration for Jarro. And now with Brainiac's probe."
"Ugh," Hal groaned. "He nagged me about that Jarro thing for days."
"Really?" Kal asked, curious.
"Yeah, well, I was an idiot for mentioning you guys were in the area and might know something about that Starro spore, because he was like a dog with bone. Classic helicopter parent, that guy."
"Huh." Kal hadn't known Batman had been so interested in the collaboration from the start. Though, he wasn't familiar with the term Hal had used. "I think, if that means he's a very dedicated caregiver," he said with a furrowed brow, "I don't see why it would be a bad thing."
"Of course you wouldn't," Hal muttered darkly. "I swear, he's some sort of demon. Meant to torture me in particular. There's no other explanation for why everyone else thinks he's a decent guy, he has them under his thrall. His devilish--demonic charm."
"What's a demon?"
"You'd understand if you saw his cave. There's no reason for any normal person to skulk down there all the time like he does." Hal lowered his voice and looked over his shoulder like Batman might appear.
"A cave? A natural underground structure?" Kal asked. "I'm sure there's a good reason he chose one for his base. I've heard that the ecology of caves is a fascinating branch of study."
Hal shot Kal disbelieving look, then narrowed his eyes in consideration. "You know," he said, stroking his chin. "Now that you know our sun isn't dangerous for you, there's no reason you can't go down there yourself."
"Go where?" Barry came back into the room in a burst of sparks. He held up a toolbox. "Found it. You guys get along?" he asked, giving Hal a meaningful look.
Hal glanced at Kal and grinned at Barry widely. "Like gangbusters. Was just telling Kal he should give Spooks a visit planet-side. Maybe do some spelunking, meet the bats."
"Hal, you know how much B lectures us when we use the transporter 'on an unofficial basis'. You can't just go around inviting other people for him. But," Barry said, turning to Kal with a bright expression, "I think it'd be great for Kal to be able to visit Earth while he's here."
Kal frowned a little. "I don't know," he said hesitantly "I wouldn't want to overstep."
Barry waved his free hand. "Don't worry so much. I'm sure B would think it'd be good for cultural exchange, or something. Also, as B would say, 'Enough chit-chat, boys. Back to work.'" He dropped the toolbox next to the terminal and dug through it. "This should be easy. In and out."
With the help of some tools, the panel came off easily, and Barry laid on his back to look up into the terminal. He shined a flashlight up into the depths of the instrument and squinted.
"Good news, I can see we have a few slots open. But I'll need to move some stuff, and I can't quite see far enough in there," Barry said.
Kal looked at his datapad again. "You should only need 3 adjacent slots. Is that feasible?"
"I definitely see three open. Not adjacent, though." Barry sighed and started to shuffle back out of the space. "I'll have to look at the manual so we don't mess with anything important."
"Wait," Kal said. He narrowed his eyes and focused on the terminal until the outer casing faded away. He saw the maze of components and wires inside, as well as the module that Barry's flashlight was shining at. "Three adjacent, right?"
Barry hummed in affirmation and reversed course, reaching back into the instrument.
"On the left, there's a single connection, black wire, that leads to a," he squinted, "rectangular module with a spinning rotor."
"That's the intake fan. Shouldn't matter if I move it." Barry's fingers found the wire and carefully unplugged it before connecting it back to a different slot. "Hey, I think that's good." He slid back out and grinned at Kal. "Nice work. X-ray vision coming in handy."
Hal whistled lowly.
Barry dusted off his back and began closing the panel back up. The last bolt stubbornly resisted going back into its socket. He grunted as he tried hammering it back in, but it wouldn't move.
Barry wiped his brow and looked back at Kal. "Hey, while you're already practicing, how about some heat to help this along?" He held up the stubborn bolt with pair of tongs and held it up for Kal.
Kal shook his head but could help a small smile. It might have been a mistake to let Barry to learn about his 'heat vision.' The man was perhaps overly excited about the (very) inconsistent ability. To Kal, it felt like a dangerous thing to emit infrared radiation with the very same parts he used for vision, but it was a fascinating overlap.
Kal closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. He focused intently on the metal bolt. He still didn't have a good grasp on how to trigger the radiation, and it took a lot of trial-and-error to get it started.
Eventually, the small metal piece began to glow faintly, and once he saw that, Kal quickly closed his eyes. He heard the loud clanging of Barry striking the piece again, and when his eyelids fell cool again he opened his eyes slowly.
"Good job." Barry made a gesture with his fist and thumb.
Kal looked at the panel and saw the bolt in place, slowly cooling and losing its glow. Next to it, there was a slightly scorched outline. He grimaced. Clearly, he still needed a lot more practice.
From beside him, Hal muttered under his breath, "Damn, laser vision."