The Universe's Mixer

His lab was empty. Of him at least. All of Jensen's monitors were running as per usual with the pseudo GPS program running, security feeds on the Clocktower, random chatter over lines he'd tapped into as well as some beta coding he'd been working on. All except for one station where his chair was knocked over. A half a cup of coffee sat there along with a mostly eaten glazed donut. The monitor was black, but the hard drive was on. Turning on the monitor would show a blank window with a cursor blinking. Only one person other than himself would know his passwords since she'd been working with him on his programing and coding. Which meant only Fred would be able to activate the program. He had counted on that.

Entering the password activated the video message along with another empty window. Cpl. Jake Jensen's head and shoulders appeared, an excited grin on his face.

"Fred! Hey, babe! Oh, man you would not BELIEVE what happened to me today!" He was gesturing a lot with his hands, a clear sign that he was hyper about something. "I was working on that coding we had going. The one where we were going to try to track shifts in the City via the utilities but specifically through phone lines and cell signals since those would be tracable because you're a freaking genius as well as gorgeous for suggesting we triangulate the cell towers." He waved that off with a shake of his head. "Anyway. You know how famous people discover famous shit usually by accident? I totally made this typo in the coding," he looked down and typing could be heard. Meanwhile, lines of code begin to appear in the blank window next to the video. "...and I stumbled across something that was absolutely amazing! A wormhole." He clapped his hands together as he laughed. "I created a fucking wormhole! On the computer! Do you have ANY idea what this means?! Wait. Of course you do. Because you're an absolutely gorgeous genius BUT, just in case you're sitting there blathering off the probabilities of a digital wormhole let me tell you. It's TRUE! TRUE, Fred! Tron? The Matrix? Totally possible even without the red pill! And! I'm gonna prove it." He pointed at the viewer with a smug smirk on his face. "I'm going to run a diagnostic then run a test. If it works I'll test it on myself and then..." His smile turned more gentle as he looked directly into the camera, directly at Fred. "Then. I'll come back. I'll get you and we'll get the hell out of the City once and for all." He smiled and leaned forward as he huffed a small laugh. "God, Fred. I can't wait to get you home. I'll take you to one of my niece's soccer games and we won't even have to go in disguise because with this I'll be able to clear my name. And Clay's. Pooch. My whole unit." He reached out to tap the lense, making the image bounce a little. "I'm leaving this in case I'm not back by the time you get to the lab. The coding should be complete in the other window so you can see what I did. But I'll be back for you, babe. Promise. But uh...just in case...I love you." He smiled again then the video message ended.

In the other window where the coding had been listing out the program jumped then gliched. Almost immediately the coding began to change, numbers, equations and lines turning into nothing but jumbled nonsense. Faster and faster the coding reprogrammed itself then deleting itself. No amount of trying to interrupt it worked, the external controls entirely locked out. Finally, it all abruptly disappeared except for three words at the bottom left of the window:

:end of line:

Fred wasn't sure how she got to the Tower. Her mind was working through what had just happened. She rode up in the elevator, her fingers touching just so. She didn't do the first position as he showed her, so much as just let her fingers touch together almost as if she were just about to clasp her hands before her rather than behind her. She ran the events, what there was of them, through her mind. She was so lost in thought that she nearly let the doors shut on the HQ before she noticed she was there.

The brainy Texan didn't try to glide across the floor. She didn't try to do anything. She just walked from elevator to Jake Jensen, nudging him softly to indicate she wanted to sit on his lap, and as soon as he moved, she climbed right up on his lap and curled up there. Her fingers curled into his shirt. She wasn't shaking, but she wasn't her usually smiling self.

"Do you think I could be a dancer?" The question wasn't really one she thought he'd answer. It was almost too soft to be heard. She nuzzled his shoulder, holding to him for a moment before sighing.

The brainy Texan curled up under her covers; it'd taken her a while to fall asleep. She'd fallen asleep staring at the phone she was actually waiting for it to just disappear. They always disappeared, always went away. Of course, she never saw them disappear; it was usually when she was asleep or not looking. They always went poof. She didn't want to wake up, open her eyes, and see that the small phone was gone. She didn't want to see the pager sitting there all by itself.

She groaned softly and finally gave up waiting. Plus, she was really needing to slip to the ladies'. She squeezed her eyes closed tightly and, with another grown, opened her eyes. She had to blink a few times to make sure she was seeing things clearly. She nearly whooped in excitement, but instead, she took care of the usual wakeup routine, a bounce in her step.

Pocketing the pager and the phone, she checked the time. She's slept that long? The day was halfway over; it was after lunch already! She didn't know if she should call him or not; no, she'd surprise him. She stopped long enough to pick up a couple sandwiches, two bottles of coke (or pop), and a few cookies. Yes, that would be nice.

Fred bounced a little in the elevator as she rode it up. As soon as it let her out, she smiled brightly.

"I bring food!" Yes, that seemed like a good way to open it.

Dinner had been nice for the most part. Fred had tried not to prolong it more than it needed to be, but she really didn't want what was coming next. She had a feeling it was going to be a very uncomfortable time, when all she wanted was nice and cuddly. After cleaning up the mess they made of Hank's lab, not that it had been much, she went with Jake to his apartment.

She felt a little uncomfortable as she stood just inside the door. Her body itched a little from wanting to take a shower; it was the usual feeling after being beaten up and mended. She was glad there was a doctor near by, and she knew she couldn't just hop in the shower quite yet. Actually she wasn't sure she could do it very well with how her side hurt.

"So, did you see my bruise?" Fred gave him a proud little smile. "I don't think I got too burnt." She glanced at herself, knowing the scorch marks were here and there. She was delaying, just a little longer.

Exploring was a lot easier with the streets in one place, but not nearly as much fun. Annie had to admit that without the movement, she was a little let down. Streets were still in every other universe ever, fictional and otherwise. Moving streets and buildings were unique here, and she missed it though she hadn't been around for very long.

It was so easy to get from point a to point b it was almost frustrating.

She wasn't expecting any kind of excitement for the day, really. She was just going to go to the store and pick up some essential things and then go home. There would be no random encounters because she wasn't going to take very long to do her errands now that everything was immobile.

So when she came across the guy with the tracking system in his hands, she was pleasantly surprised. She walked right up to him and stared at the device.

If nothing else came out of the fiasco that had been the League meeting he had gotten pseudo permission to start lacing video cameras all throughout the City. Sort of. He was supposed to be monitoring some big bad vampire dude's movements, ostensibly at his club Fangtasia, a silly name in Jensen's opinion. No one said JUST around Fangtasia, and Jensen felt that this guy was probably cocky and moved around a lot of places so why not have a lot of coverage?

He got Zatanna to put up the cameras near the club since she had mystical teleporting abilities and he didn't. (No sense tempting fate, right?) Everywhere else he was putting up himself. The new search and GPS program was already geared up to take in feed from the cameras once they were activated and triangulate movement. Even if the City started switching around again, Jensen would have his location. Take THAT vampire bitches!

He had put up the last camera for the day and decided he could eat something. He spotted a Chinese restaurant across the street and thought it looked familiar. He couldn't quite place why he knew it, but figured if it stuck out in his mind chances were he liked the place so after checking traffic he jogged across the street, his bag bouncing against the back of his hip.

Once Dinah had had the chance to talk to Zee about everything, she called the Justice League together for a meeting. They needed the chance to pull together as a team now because they had all been going in opposite directions since that first fight with King Kong, and that was her fault more than anyone's as well. A good leader brought people together and didn't get bogged down in her own personal issues, letting the team possibly fall apart as she did.

She didn't know if the rest of them would still want her as a leader, but she knew that they would want to discuss what could be done about the vampire that could walk in the daylight. They could also take the meeting to discuss whether or not Dinah should remain as leader.

Fred was specifically left out of the meeting because of her sympathies for Eric. It was safer that way. Jen was left out as well, but that was simply because Dinah knew that she needed to talk to Jen privately about whether or not the CBI agent wanted to continue to risk her career by associating with the League. She had told everyone that she'd been able to talk to about the meeting that Dean would be there. It was a courtesy, since he wasn't officially a part of the team. But he had information that could help them and he had as much a right as anyone to help take down the vampire.

Not to mention that Dinah trusted him as much as she did any of her teammates.

She waited outside the Clocktower for Dean. She would let him in rather than give him his own code. Because while she trusted him, it wasn't fair to everyone else to give him access without the team clearing it. She was also waiting because she wanted to have the chance to make sure that he would be able to work with Zatanna. She thought that he was capable of it, but she didn't want there to be any personality clashes once they got into the meeting.

She was in her full costume with fishnets, leotard, jacket and all. She paced outside the tower in an attempt to keep warm because the weather was still a little bit too chilly to be comfortable.

Hank trudged into his lab in the JLC headquarters slowly, looking around and feeling a shiver go down his spine. He hadn't been here in weeks, hadn't even contacted anybody. He knew it wasn't the most responsible way to handle things, but after realizing there was no way to reverse what his serum had done to him he'd retreated to his apartment and not even noticed that so much time had passed.

Once he had, though, and had also run out of food, he realized that it was ridiculous to stay cooped up for so long. He needed to return to his work; he'd promised to care for a team of superheroes and there was a vampire on the loose. He also wouldn't be able to study how to reverse what he'd done to himself unless he was back in his lab.

So he was back, using his newfound senses and increased agility to avoid running into anybody until he got to his lab.

He was now in a clean pair of sweatpants and a sleeveless undershirt, which still was less than comfortable packing all of his fur in but it was all he could come up with to remain decent and covered.

Once he got into the lab he naturally picked up his white coat and put it on, though he realized quickly that it was too small. Another little jab at his self image. He put the coat down and then went to his coffee maker, turning it on before sitting to write an email to the team.

Apologies for the unexpected absense. I've returned.

- Hank

It took him nearly twenty moments to work out, but finally he hit send and then went to pour himself a cup of coffee. He'd need to get himself a bit more centered before the inevitable encounter with his teammates. Might not be today, if his past time in the lab was any indicator, or it might be very quickly if somebody needed him or was upset by his absense. Either way, he wasn't looking forward to it.

Dinah had given him a job to do. Regardless of what Jensen thought about the blood crap with the Nordic Vampire God this was way more important. He'd see it through. So he sat down with his laptop and sent out a generic message to everyone, then one more private.

To: Batdude(batman@jlc.com); DrHank(hmccoy@jlc.com); Fred (fredcutie@jlc.com); RobinHood(oliverqueen@jlc.com); MagicLegs(zatanna@jlc.com)

Hey guys,

FYI. Dinah's going on hiatus for a bit. Jake is missing. I'm running as many searches as I can and I'm coming up with nothing. No record. At all. As if he never existed. Consider her backup for now. Nothing less than Priority Apocalypse to draw her out for JL related stuff.

Any questions, let me know.

Jensen

He sighed after he hit Send then started composing an email to Fred.

To: Fred(fredcutie@jlc.com)

Hey

Regardless of what's going on personally, I wanted you to know she's hurting. Like bad. She called me by my first name. I'm going to check in on her once in a while under the guise of giving her updates on the search, but I'm not that kind of friend to her.

Thought you should know.

J

This time there was a heavier sigh as he hit Send. He ran a hand over his face then put the laptop to the side to return his attention to the searches.

Jake wasn't at the school when Dinah went to pick him up. She sped home taking the usual route that he might have walked, her eyes searching the sides of the road for any sign of him. There wasn't.

She was trying very hard not to panic, but flashbacks of when the Joker had taken him were surfacing quickly. She had to remind herself several times to stop and just breathe. Not that she actually took much time to do any deep breathing, but she was trying.

She was already slipping into search mode. She stopped by the townhouse first and found that his room was there but stripped bare. Almost as if he hadn't ever been there in the first place.

There was a knot forming in the pit of her stomach, but she had to find out more.

She had to find Jake.

She hopped on her bike and flipped on her commlink as she sped toward the Clock tower.

"Jensen. I need you to look for someone," she said once he answered. She gave all of the information she could, even if she was pretty sure that Jensen should know who Jake was and who he was to her.

After all, the whole team knew at least a little bit about her home life. She was doing her best to remain composed and not dissolve into tears or a panic.

Panic was useless. Fear-a little bit of fear-was healthy and could be funneled back into action. But panicking and shutting down wouldn't do Jake any good. Neither would crying.

There was a part of her somewhere that knew that that would come later. A part of her knew what must have happened, but she wasn't ready to accept it yet. And she wouldn't accept it until she could confirm that Jake wasn't still in the City and in trouble.

He had to still be in the City. He had to. Maybe he'd just gone to a friend's house after school and forgotten to tell her. Maybe...

Jensen was feeling pretty thrashed emotionally after Fred left. It didn't help that she pretty much told him how much of an ass he was. He didn't need her to tell him that. He knew that already, but damn it he was allowed to be pissed off! And hurt. But you don't tell people you're hurt when you're a guy. No. What you do is you text message another guy that you were in a vulnerable place right now and wanted to do something stupid like go out and get drunk off of whiskey and hurricane shots in an effort to numb the ouchy parts, possibly get in a pointless and needless fight and he should come be supportive. That translates to:

Dude. Girls suck. Beers? Sent to Logan's phone. Logan, who responded in kind to something that translated into: I totally understand and sympathize, man. Why yes I would be happy to meet you for imbibing alcohol and support you in your hour of need for indulgance and school yard behaviour. Still won't bail you out of jail, though.

Logan had the night off and suggested another bar to go to, some place called The Roadhouse. Jensen had texted back saying if Patrick Swayze was going to be there to not be nice when it was time it was a no go. He was assured there would be no Swayze ass kicking so to the Roadhouse it was. He showed up with the mostly dead flowers and tossed them on the bar in front of Logan before sliding onto a barstool. "Here. Don't say I never gave you anything."

Fred held on to Dinah as they zoomed - it felt like zooming whether it was or wasn't - through the streets of the City. The brainy female couldn't tell if the ride was longer than it normally would have been. Sure, she could have counted the seconds, figured the time, done something to decide if it was actually longer, but she was thinking more of the feeling. Plus, she was a little mad at the City for deciding to stop moving. Just when she thought she had the pattern figured out, or at least a way to find the pattern.

She walked into the Tower building, thankful Dinah was there and nervous when Dinah left her alone to ride up to see Jensen. She worked through the scenario a few times, and no matter how she worked it, they would fight. Fred really didn't want to fight; she didn't like fighting. She nearly cursed herself for not bringing food or coffee as a preemptive peace offering.

With a soft sigh, the doors opened, and she stepped out. She stood tall, chin lifted, hopefully without looking too challenging or defiant. Just...confident. Hopefully.

It didn't penetrate Jensen's brain that there was something different about the City right away. He stopped to get a ginormous cup of coffee and a bag of powdered donuts without the street changing while he was in the shop, but it wasn't until he'd crossed three intersections that he realized nothing had changed randomly. Period. At all. When it finally did sink in he stopped in place to look around...it might have been better if he hadn't stopped in the middle of the road, but he knew the cars with the blaring horns would swerve around him.

"....whoa.."

That was when he decided to test this out. He pulled up a City map on the laptop he was carrying, plotted out a route to the City library then implemented it. When he got to his destination without having to replot his course even once he stood looking at the stairs to the entrance and burst out laughing.

"This is so awesome!"

He was out of coffee. OH DEAR GOD HE WAS OUT OF COFFEE! This was a national emergency...if the City could be called a nation. Was it? It existed on its own so far as Jensen could tell so maybe it was a nation unto itself. But if that was true why elect a mayor? Why not a president or prime minister? If it wasn't its own country then to what nation did the City hold allegiance?

These thoughts ran at a rabbit's pace through his head as he made his way down the street to find a nearby store that would supply him with coffee both immediate and a bag or seven of ground beans for his lab. They really didn't want to see what would happen if he didn't have his stimulant.

Hank looked over his electronic message once more before he hit send from one of the computers in his new laboratory. It was a simple request for the team members to contact him to make appointments for physicals and blood samples, so Hank wouldn't have to deal with the varied people blindly in case of emergency. There was medical data he needed to know before medical treatment was required, blood samples to take and keep, abilities and medical histories to discuss. He was a professional, after all, and this was the main reason Dinah had reached out to him. Attached to the end of the notice was also a quite offering of assistance in the creation of tactical uniforms (he didn't like the word 'costumes') to conceal identity and control or amplify any natural abilities they used in the feild. Some members (at least, the ones who had been heroes in their past lives) already had protective outfits, but after the Mayor's condemnation of the Justice League's actions Hank had become uncomfortably aware that it might be something all world-venturing team members might want for matters of personal safety.

He hadn't done anything about his own possiblity except a rudimentary yellow and black outfit that was built to let him move unhindered, with an attachable pack on the back to carry medical supplies in case he was needed. It was hung on one wall at the moment, a simple example of his ability to manufacture an outfit that hopefully didn't look too campy.

His brow furrowed at the last part of the message and he grunted, hitting 'send' before he could overthink the matter. It was his job to look after the health of the team, and in his mind the uniform offer of help went along with that, now that he had the lab fully equiped to handle the team's medical needs. And who knew, parthaps even the already outfitted members of the group would like enhancements. Everyone except the Batman fellow, who just unnerved Hank. The full body suit was hiding something, the boy could tell, though he couldn't put his finger on what, yet.

Finished with the message he pushed back from the computer station, his wheeled chair moving swiftly and easily over to one of the broad, oversized tables that didn't have designated hardware on them. Climbing out of the chair he sat in the middle of the table, which otherwise was ammassed with bits and pieces of electronics, tools, wires, and spare bits of metal. He picked up a small device he'd been working on and strapped it onto his wrist, turning towards a full length mirror he'd put on the wall temporarily, clicking a button on the wristband.

"Ouch," he winced, the electric shock that came from the band taking him somewhat by surprise. It stopped, though, and as he watched his reflection it started to become fuzzy, then slowly dissintegrate into a patchy, unfocused set of sparkling colors, flickering in and out. Hank's lip twitched and he turned off the device, his physical image in the mirror reverting back to the normal picture of a gangly, skinny boy in doctor's clothing. This image inducer technology was exciting, but so far he couldn't even get close to a human-like image to lay over whoever wore the wristband. As a method of protection it didn't seem like it would be a readily available disguise.

Hank picked up some tools and opened the device, starting to fiddle with the contents, loosing himself in the innovation and trying to push out thoughts of his cure out of his mind. He was still waiting for things to settle, still waiting to see what his place in the team might be. He hadn't really interacted with any of them since their initial mission, but he trusted that soon they'd come to an understanding and he'd be able to better guage the best time for him to try the solution out. In the meantime he'd do his best to contribute to the team by working on his technology, a task which he lost himself in easily for hours and even days without noting a change in his surroundings.

(Continuation of this happy meeting)

The look didn't fade as Fred heard what was only a partial apology if it was one at all. She looked at him a little longer before walking on. She'd lost her appetite, which was saying something. The two men who she thought were pretty special and good had turned into real asshats as she'd heard Dean call some jerk he'd had to deal with once. They had forgotten completely what it meant to be good guys. She knew that good guys didn't always have to be nice, soft, fluffy puppies, but they had turned into real jerks. And, over something completely out of either of their hands.

"It wasn't right. What you did. It wasn't right. Not that what he did was right either. What y'all said, not so much what he did. It's not like he had a choice not to put the statement out. It hurt, but you don't say things like that. You don't say things like that to people who could help you." She wasn't going to cry; she refused to cry. She wouldn't do it.

She was starting to wish she had worn a jacket because she wanted to wrap something around herself, nice and tight. She opted for her arms for a little bit as she walked. She stopped once more; a few tears were already going down her cheeks.

"You two should be friends or pleasant acquaintances because he could make things very difficult. I know you could make his life uncomfortable, too. And what you said. That last part. That was really mean. I was there. I was standing right there when you said it. You don't say things like that when people are standing there. I was okay with it, you know that? Or maybe I wasn't okay with it because they didn't think I was his girlfriend or pretty enough to get a picture with him, but that's not really the point. The point is I was okay with the mix up because he wasn't really with her. And then you go and say that. Like I wouldn't care if you would say something like that. I do." Fred just looked at him, waiting for something more than an apology possibly. She didn't how he could even start to make a difference in what was said and what she felt, but she knew that she was hurt.

Fred had continued to come help Jensen in the comm central of the Clocktower after their...understanding. Of course Jensen had occassionally turned on the little boy charm to pout at her just enough to ask that she come back. To help. Yep! Helping was now defined with randomly snitched smooches. Suddenly his job didn't suck quite so much.

Today there were some final beta tests being run to make sure he had all of the critical programs working properly with his OS. That meant there was no time on their hands. Part of him was tempted to see how far Fred was willing to take those smooches, but decided he should probably behave himself and take them on a coffee run. All of the cups, makers and cupboards were bare of the essential goodness anyway so he suggested they go get some together. Maybe grab a sandwich while they were at it. He whined that he was running on empty as they left.

His goofiness increased the more fresh air he got. He didn't get out enough lately. It led to Fred getting her ribs tweaked from behind and him looming over her shoulder as he made to bite at her neck and spoke in a cheesy Dracula accent. "Perhaps you still have some caffiene in your blood system."

King Kong was contained. All was calm again which meant it was back to working through the systems to orient them with his programs. It was a time consuming process that required his attention for the most part. This translated to junk food, stimulant beverages and snacks. While he ran one of the systems through a beta test with his OS he did a fuel run for coffee, donuts and reading material. (See: skin and/or gossip rags.) A half hour later he was back in the lab successful.

The beta was still running so he sat at the station with his feet up on the console, box of donuts in his lap, ginormous coffee cup at his elbow and the latest rumor mill in hand. He hadn't looked closely at it when he grabbed it along with Busty Redheads with Guns or the errand might have taken longer. He was getting an eyeful now though.

There on the front page was Fred in a liplock with apparently the City mayor. He blinked with his jaw falling open barely comprehending the headline of Has the Mayoral Heart Been Filled Once More?!. Once it did penetrate the haze of buh his brain was seized on he read through the article. Half way into his his legs dropped from the console with his jaw closing finally. By the end of it he'd lost interest in the rest of the rag and the skin mag, tossing the latter to the side while he ate his donut in thought filled silence.

It had been a slow news week for Lois. No, who was she kidding? She had been scooped on all of the big stories ever since she'd arrived here. She'd had a handful of interviews with some fascinating people, but where were the stories? Where was the human interest?

She was either losing her nose for news or the City was conspiring against her, as some might speculate. Either way, Lois was just waiting for the day when she got the axe.

That was, of course, assuming her editor even knew her from all of the other people in the bullpen.

She wasn't going to give up though. That was why she was currently hanging out at one of the trendier restaurants in the City, rumored to be a favorite eatery of the mayor. Despite it being late December, the restaurant, located on the patio in front of one of the City's skyscrapers, was perfectly comfortable. The warm weather normally would have unsettled Lois for the time of the year, but she was too focused on finding that next cover page story.

She supposed that some people might say that you should be careful what you wished for.

There was a rumbling and Lois heard the slight chink of dishes rattling together. She felt the ground shaking, though it didn't exactly feel like an Earthquake. It was too much of a rhythmic pattern for that.

Lois turned as the shaking began to get more intense and she heard the sounds of something very heavy smacking against the pavement.

"You have got to be kidding me," was about all she had time for as a gigantic face turned its attention towards her and then a furry hand swept downward and scooped her up as if she was nothing more than a rag doll.

As the gigantic gorilla-yes, gorilla-started off toward the Wayne Enterprises tower, Lois looked up at it, still in shock.

"No, no no. This is not happening!" she shouted. The shout gave way to a scream as the gorilla reached the tower and grabbed hold of it, beginning to climb upwards.


OOC: open to reactions from all. The JLC will be doing the actual defeating the giant ape but others are welcome to join in with the rescue if you'd like :)

The preparations for the official formation of the City chapter of the Justice League were set. At least, as set as they could be. Dinah still had her reservations about the person manning the Tower, but the Justice League was needed in the City. She was sure of that. And she thought the City might accept that too. After all, it could very easily have taken away the Clocktower or sent some of them home or done any number of things to get in their way.

She didn't like the idea of the City handpicking their staff either, but Jensen deserved a chance. Dinah would be watching him like a hawk until he proved himself, but for now it was time to at least see how it worked out.

The Clocktower seemed to have grown to accommodate the new team. There was now a second apartment for Jensen and there was an entire subbasement that Dinah either hadn't been aware of or hadn't existed until they'd started planning to get the band back together. The basement had more than enough room for a lab for Hank and a training facility for the rest of them.

Dinah waited in the computer room for everyone to arrive. It shouldn't take Jensen too long since he just lived downstairs at least. And she could only hope that the City allowed everyone else to make it there without much trouble.