Chapter 56

Mareena kept herself as calm as could be. A finger wiggled back and forth against the final of the rune stones for the protective barrier she found. This was a mid-term presentation for Mareena, and she strived for perfection, to be the best in her class.

"Well, thank you for helping me on this," Mareena said.

"It wasn't a problem," Harry said.

"And I mean it, for everything," Mareena said.

A part of Mareena really was grateful that Harry had been there to back her up. Especially with the team and all of the growing paints they went through. There had been lots of ups and downs over the past couple of months, as the Team found their footing. And a degree of independence away from the obvious initial purpose of the Justice League of forming them to keep the Team members pacified and tranquil.

"Well, the Team's one hundred percent," Mareena said. "As in there is no mole."

"I would know," Harry said. "And I've had my mind picked apart so many times."

It had been very obvious the Team did not have a mole for quite some time. The cave had been swept and there was no one on Harry's team raised any suspicion. There were other reasons why Harry suspected the bad guys might be getting any information. The League had been very mute when Harry dropped those suggestions, but he had a feeling they did not want to let whoever was behind it know that someone might be onto them.

"And if the leak comes from the League…."

"Well, they're going to have to deal with it," Harry told her.

"Right," Mareena said.

Superwoman, Batman, and Wonder Woman pretty much told Mareena they had no cause to suspect anyone in the League. Which generally may have meant that no one had done anything overt. Of course, if she knew Batman, he was watching them all very closely.

Unless, for some reason, Batman was the mole. Because, that possibility could never be discounted. And Mareena smiled, when thinking about how Batman would approve their line of thinking.

"Maybe I should get back to work," Mareena said. "Want to get this finished before it's too late."

"Don't let me stop you," Harry told her.

Mareena returned back to the rune circle. It had been laborious work to create the protective shield. Mareena stepped back in the center of the circle. The symbols glowed and a protective shield circled around Mareena in a blink of an eye.

"Hit me with everything you have," Mareena told Harry.

Harry smiled and really wondered if Mareena knew what she had been asking for. Harry complied with her wishes, whipping his hand off to one side.

The hand of Harry whipped back and bombarded the side of Mareena's shield with an immense magical force. The shield rippled from Harry's impact. Another bolt struck the shield and the energy caused it to ripple, but it did not break.

"Again! Harder!"

So, he did and caused a minor crack within the shield. Mareena caught the weakness right away and reinforced it. She wiggled a finger and motioned for Harry to attack again.

So, Harry attacked again, slamming onto the shield as hard as humanly possible.

Another strike and Mareena smiled when the shield glowed bright. Harry cracked it the second blast and caused the shield to fade for a second. Mareena moved in to reinforce the runes, and fix the couple of flaws she noticed which allowed Harry to break through.

"Again! Harder!"

Mareena actually was glad Harry did not throw anything back. If there were any flaws in the shield, she found him to be the perfect barometer for these things. Harry blasted the shield with the full force of magic, causing ripple effects to move out.

"And I think we have it," Mareena said.

She lowered the shield and walked out to join Harry. Mareena looked extremely tired, but very pleased with what was going on here.

"Today's been a long day," Harry said. "How about dinner?"

"Dinner sounds nice," Mareena said. "I should go get ready."

She moved back and the second Mareena left, Tula caught a glimpse of Mareena. The smile on Mareena's face did not escape Tula's notice. Tula just smiled at her.

"What are you smiling about?" Mareena asked.

"So, I'm surprised you let yourself be the fifth member of the Team he slept with," Tula said.

"It's not about being the first, it's about being the best," Mareena said. "And we're just going out on a date...for now."

Whether or not the day could turn into something else, well Mareena would just have to wait and see. The night held many possibilities. And all Marena would have to do is sit back and wait for the magic to happen. And with Harry, tonight would be very magical. She could hardly wait for it.

A small army of jewel thieves established a defense barrier around the Jewel Market. The goal was obvious, get in, get out, and make sure Flash, Kid Flash, or both do not cause any trouble.

"You know, that's not for sale."

The two jewel thieves turned around and faced Kid Flash. Their moods darkened when coming across the young speedster. Especially since her mentor might not be far behind.

"Blast her."

Common, all too common to get on the wrong side of enemies. They blasted away at Kid Flash, who averted herself over to one side. The laser blasts repelled off of the wall. Kid Flash flicked her hand and a blinding forced resulted in the criminals being knocked about ever so slightly.

"Which way did she go?"

"I don't know! Just keep firing! Just keep firing."

Kid Flash ran circles around the criminals and bamboozled them ever so slightly. They kept firing on her, the deflection of energy popping off on her from one side. The Speedster ran up the wall and then jumped down, to avoid the bombarding attacks.

Opening them up for Flash to take them down with a double cyclone whirl. The speedster knocked the trio of jewel thieves down. They fell ass over tea kettle and smashed down onto the ground hard.

Just when Flash and Kid Flash had their timing down, a third blur came into the picture, a bright crimson red blur. The fourth and fifth thief's eyes widened, as the newest speedster on the block came around, running in circles and rocked them down.

The thieves found themselves extremely outclassed against the trio of speedsters. The minute the speedster stopped, Whitney gasped in disbelief. If Whitney could not see it with her eyes, she would not believe it.

"Jesse?" Whitney asked.

"Hey," Jesse said. "I was inspired, and thought I would do something to help up."

Flash blinked, and while she appreciated what Jesse was doing, she could not help and be concerned.

"You do realize you could get hurt without the proper training, right?" Flash asked.

Jesse frowned, she knew it, but maybe it was just the rush of adrenaline talking. But, Jesse found herself not caring too much about any potential problems. She just felt so excited, with the speed. Like nothing in the world could touch her or hurt her. Jesse Quick could handle everything.

Name had a pretty nice ring to it, come to think of it.

"Please tell me you didn't take the Velocity Nine," Whitney said. "Because you said…."

"I didn't," Jesse said. "But, I found a formula that allowed you to tap into the same energies you and Flash do, pretty cool right?"

Whitney frowned, recreating the experience which turned Barry into the Flash in the first place all those years ago was the epitome of reckless behavior, in her opinion. Perhaps it had been a mistake, no matter how much good she did.

Iris was about to say something. A beeping caught the attention of the trio of lady speedsters. Jesse heard that beeping once before. On Halloween, it was an alert that one of Team Flash's many Rogues was stirring up some trouble in Central City.

"So which one is it this time?" Jesse asked.

"Mirror Master," Iris said. "Let's deal with this."

"I'm in," Whitney said.

Jesse just smiled, the potential rush exciting her. She sped off in the other direction, not quite matching Flash, but equalling Kid Flash in speed. Kid Flash was about ready to say that maybe Jesse should not follow them. But, the words failed her and to be honest, Whitney might as well have been talking to the wind.

A real rogue, oh Jesse could not be more excited. Pinch her, pinch her hard! Talk about a dream come true for the young speedster. Finally, something exciting would happen. This would beat fighting jewel thieves any day.

Harry prepared for his date with Mareena. To be honest, it did seem like a bit of a spur of the moment, with little foreward planning. But Mareena had been working so hard with her team and with her studies, therefore she needed a little break. Harry made sure his hair was in order.

"You know, she's over the moon."

Mera stepped into the room to face HArry. The gorgeous woman sauntered over and moved forward, under the pretext of adjusting Harry's tie. When she bent down, Harry got a good glimpse at her body in the tight green one piece she wore. The Queen of Atlantis was extremely beautiful.

She moved down to check to see everything was in order, spending a bit of time making sure Harry's fly was shut. After Mera's warm fingers lingered for a second, she pulled away and gave Harry one approving look over.

Those hands moved a bit lower when Mera moved over to whisper in Harry's ear.

"You know, if you treat my daughter well...then you will have my gratitude."

Harry just smiled, only guessing what Mera had in mind. She pulled away from Harry, the smile only getting deeper. One could see temptation dancing in Mera's eyes, forbidden lust towards her pupil, who she helped train in magic.

"How's your husband?" Harry asked. "He's still hunting Black Manta, isn't he?"

Here, Mera's smile faded a bit. Despite her and Arthur's marriage being political, more so than usual, she could not help and worry about the obsession her husband had for Black Manta. Especially what this war would bring for the people of Atlantis, her daughter, and by extension, her daughter's friends. And there were other potential threats which lingered in the darkness.

"Arthur is as determined as you would expect to take down Black Manta," Mera said. "I wonder if he's a bit too determined, as it's dividing his focus from his duties."

Harry just shook his head. He had a feeling that even Ahab would call Aquman's hunt a bit of obsessive for the hunt, just a little bit. Still, Black Manta was a danger and Harry could not think that taking him down was a bad thing at all.

Mareena stepped into the room, wearing a nice teal dress which showed off her neckline and legs. It fit Mareena like a glove. Harry looked over Mareena and whistled appreciatively at her. Mareena just smiled and leaned closer towards Harry.

"You look beautiful," Harry said.

"And you look very nice yourself," Mareena said. "So, shall we?"

Taking Harry's arm, Mareena walked him from the room. Mera watched the two of them leave. Never had the Queen of Atlantis felt such a combination of envy and pride in her daughter. Regardless, Mera had some assessments to mark, so it would keep her mind about what she rather would be doing.

Hopefully, they had a nice time. And if Mareena had a nice time, then Mera would have a pretty good time as well later.

Mirror Master broke out into a giddy smile. Tonight had been the perfect night to get the implement he required for a very nice power upgrade. The rogue prepared to open the case, containing the glinting emerald he needed to accomplish his goals.

The pitter patter of little speedster feet caused Mirror Master to turn on the spot. Mirror Master broke out into a smile. The replacement and the sidekick, they did not make Mirror Master as fearful as the original flash. He almost lazily grinned at their appearance.

"Flash, and Kid Flash," Mirror Master said. "I hope that did not think you were going to stop me...especially now that my new partner's given me upgrades."

"There's a lot of that going around as of late," Kid Flash said. "Won't stop me from stopping you."

Kid Flash removed all of the mirrors and other reflective surfaces from the building. She hoped that would be more than sufficient to slow Mirror Master down. The bastard could be quite the tricky one, if they were not careful when fighting him.

"Alright, Scudder," Flash said. "Let's see if you learned your lesson from last time."

"Oh, I have Flash, I have."

Just before Kid Flash and Flash could make their move, the third speedster entered the room. Mirror Master raised his eyebrow. This had been new. She moved in, and then suddenly, skidded as hard as possible on the floor.

The skid showed how little Jesse managed to compensate for the slick floor. She flew around the room, causing several tables and chairs to get knocked around. The flying furniture came close to striking civilians until Kid Flash and Flash were prominent enough to strike them away.

"What were you thinking?" Kid Flash asked.

"Sorry," Jesse said.

"DUCK!" Flash yelled.

In the confusion, Mirror Master took the shot. One of his mirror discs shot out and grabbed hold of Flash and Kid Flash. Their pupils dilated before being sucked into the mirror realm. The mirror containing the two speedsters were trapped forever.

Mirror Master smirked as this mysterious third speedster rushed in. Not concerned, Mirror Master finished breaking open the vault. And he created two mirror copies to slow down the speedster. She struggled when vibrating through them.

"She makes this look so easy!" Jesse screamed.

"Well, that was fun," Mirror Master said. "Better long next time, my friend."

A portal opened up and Mirror Master disappeared into the night. However, Jesse just barely registered it because she had much bigger problems. The mirror duplicates faded and Jesse stared down at Kid Flash and Flash.

They tried to push through the edge of the mirror portal. Unfortunately, there were stuck in this mirror. Jesse snatched the mirror before anyone could trample on it.

"Don't worry, I'll think of something," Jesse said. "Even if I'm the one who got you in this mess in the first place, I'll still think of something!"

Jesse cradled the mirror in her hands completely panicky. The pained faces of two speedsters looked trapped, helpless. And uncertain of their fates which alarmed Jesse.

"Just hang on."

The Speedster hoped, she hoped,something at Star Labs could free them from the mirror dimension. Jesse really made a pig's ear out of it. First night on the job, and she got two more experienced heroes trapped because Jesse Quick bumbled on a wet floor.

Tonight, Mareena decided to let her hair down, for lack of a better term. No worries about studies, or the team or being a princess or anything else. Just a nice long night out with an extremely handsome man who made her smile.

"You deserve a rest," Harry said. "You're one of the most dedicated people that I know. And….I appreciate the fact that you live beyond the title you've been given."

"Yeah, I'm more than a Princess," Mareena said. "I didn't have to lift a finger...but I doubt my mother would approve if I was lazy."

Harry smiled, he doubted that about both of Mareena's parents. Their dinner arrived and they ate, just enjoying the time spent on with each other. The music playing in the background sounded both quiet and soothing and allowed them to relax.

"You've made your mark," Harry said. "An amazing mark leading the team."

"I'm the leader, but I don't think that this team goes as far without you," Mareena said. "You're the heart and soul of the entire team."

Harry just casually ate his meal, looking very thoughtful. Perhaps Mareena had a point. Still, it was a team effort, not just one person. Harry owed Helena, Whitney, Donna, and Mareena for helping rescue him and Caitlin from Cadmus and put him on this path he had now.

"Which is why I don't know what is going to happen when the League recruits you," Mareena said. "Because, it's only inevitable."

Harry just smiled, and took a long bite. He preferred not to talk about the future, because in the present, Harry dedicated himself to making sure the team worked. League membership had not been a consideration for Harry. In fact, Harry doubted he would be happy being a member of the Justice League, even in its current state.

Cadmus may have created him to release Superwoman and potentially infiltrate the League. But, Harry grew beyond that. And he continued to defy all explanatiations and expectations.

"For the record, I always thought Megan or Whitney would be more of the heart of this team," Harry said.

Mareena smiled and took a bite out of her steak. After adding some sauce, Mareena put a hand on the table and smiled.

"I'm glad Megan trusted us enough to share her secret," Mareena said. "That was...a step for her."

Harry was glad as well. People could have leveraged that secret over Megan's head, if they wanted to. And there were people who were very awful who would really want to do such a thing. Use people's emotions to cripple of them.

One of them was currently a drooling wreck in Belle Reve. While a fresh neural dampener had been constructed for Dee, there had been many questions raised on who destroyed the first one.

"But, she's not the only person who has...problem relatives on their family tree," Mareena admitted. "My Aunt Hila...my mother's sister...she's got problems."

"She was the one in the simulation?" Harry asked.

Mareena responded with a nod. She should have figured out that none of that was real, and Harry was shouting at them the entire time. It was much easier to look at these things, critically in hindsight.

"Family's funny like that," Harry said. "Megan, Artemis, you...me...we all have our...branches on the family tree."

"What?" Mareena asked.

Harry figured he would better explain this one. Although, he did not think it was that big of a deal.

"Claire showed me the papers, one of the names on it is L. Luthor," Harry said. "And maybe we should assume the worst."

"But, there's a lot of Luthors whose first name starts with an L," Mareena said. "About five or six of them...granted very few of them could be good."

Harry answered with a nod. Yes, he had wanted to avoid talking about the team. Mareena slurped a noodle from the spoon which caused Harry's mind to drift to other, more pleasant topics of conversations. They should not spend all dinner talking about depressing topics like their messed up family trees.

The feverish work Jesse done did not go well. In fact, Jesse wished to pull her hair out. Shattering the portal could break them. Or trap them forever, and Jesse found that fact very much worse.

"Okay, think Quick, Jesse," she muttered. "The most obvious thing is to bring them out the same way they brought in. "

Whitney waved her hands wildly. Jesse really wished that she had an idea of what Whiney was saying. Tapping on the mirror, Jesse hoped to convey something to Whitney. Whitney shook her head, and Jesse frowned, tugging back at her hair.

That hope had been dashed when Kid Flash sped off in the other direction of the mirror. Jesse looked down into Iris's eyes hoping to get any information conveyed to her. But, Iris just shrugged and Jesse could not even hear what she was saying.

And given the fact everything had been reversed in the mirror dimension.

"You gave yourself super speed, you had five doctorates by the time you were eighteen, and you regularly got detention because you made your teachers feel inferior," Jesse murmured. "Mostly because they are inferior...but that's not the point...no need to be an insufferable genius. I know it runs in the family...but..think...think..think...there's got to be a way out."

Back to the drawing board. Jesse slowed down the Mirror Master's cannon in her mind. She doubted without a closer look, any possibility presented itself to counteract it. And Mirror Master could have gotten anywhere. Especially now it had been upgraded to create a portal without any of the traditional reflective surfaces.

Harry escorted Mareena off to the dance floor. One could see the relaxed nature in her eyes. The two moved in for a dance with each other. Harry tightened his arms around Mareena.

Mareena had spent the better part of five days revising for a big presentation. Normally she would be more high strung than this. Harry found a way to calm her, relax her and pull her in, reign her in.

"Maybe you just need to unwind before you can really knock them dead," Harry said. "I find that I do a lot better when I'm relaxed."

The two moved closer to each other. Their lips edged closer to the touch. Almost there, almost, almost, Mareena could feel Harry's breath on hers. Her lips tingled, as tonight had been the night that it was going to happen.

A loud crack echoed of something ramming up against the crystal walls. Harry pulled away from Mareena to come face to face with Kid Flash. Mareena raised her eyebrow and mouthed "Whitney" and Kid Flash's eyes widened when shaking.

Kid Flash waved her hands back and forth, aggressively miming something. Harry cocked his eyebrow, seeing everything clearly. He turned to Aquagirl.

"She wants us to go to Star Labs," Harry said.

"Well, I'm glad you got that much out of that," Mareena said with a slight shrug.

So, there went her date. Mareena clasped Harry's hand and the two of them vanished with a pop.

They landed on the ground right next to Jesse. Jesse jolted up and launched a lightning bolt at Harry when he dropped down to the ground. The lightning bolt sent Harry flying backwards and Jesse reacted with horror. She rushed over to help Harry up off of the ground.

"Oh my God, I didn't mean to hit you!" Jesse said.

Despite the fact he got hit by lightning, Harry did not seem too shaken.

"Just a scratch," Harry said as if it was nothing. "Slow down and talk me through this."

"So, I created a formula to give me super speed, which was cool. And then I tried to help Kid Flash and Flash, but I didn't calculate because of the fact that the floor might be slick. So I slipped and that allowed Mirror Master to create a portal and suck them into this mirror, into some kind of wacky mirror dimension and caused them to be trapped and stuff...and I don't know anything about how to get them out, and if I don't get them out, it means they're stuck forever and….I'm glad Kid Flash found you."

She finished without taking a breath, which Harry judged to be quite impressive. Placing his hands on Jesse's, Harry calmed her down. Jesse took several deep breaths.

"I need you to copy my movements," Harry said. "We need to vibrate through the mirror at the right frequence...and hope they get the hint to do it on their end."

"I can't…."

"You can," Harry said. "Because, I say you can."

Mareena just chuckled at the baffled look on Jesse's face. The two lowered their hands onto the mirror, with Harry's fingers vibrating. Slowly at first, as they found the right frequency.

"Copy this."

Now that Jesse's hands steadied, they shook. She copied Harry's motion as they vibrated against the mirror. The rattling on the table grew even louder as the light retracted. From the other side of the mirror, Kid Flash and Flash copied their movements.

A bright light appeared, a swirling vortex which caused their eyes to squint.

Kid Flash and Flash popped out of the mirror. It took several minutes for them to get their heads back together. Kid Flash shook her head back as if being pulled out of a pool. It had not been fun being sucked into some kind of wacky mirror dimension.

"Oh, hearing everything backwards sucked," Kid Flash said. "My brain's still kind of fried."

"Sorry, "Jesse murmured.

"Good one," Iris said. "I owe you a dinner for that."

"There's a line growing for that one," Harry said.

Iris just smiled and moved in, to kiss Harry lightly on the the lips. It had been very nice to give him that little down payment. However, they had a job to do.

Now they had recovered, taking down Mirror Master was top of the line. Fortunately, now they had their heads together, they could make a plan. And hopefully trap the villain for some time to come.

"Here's what we need to do."

Mirror Master popped into the middle of the ballroom. The rich and the famous of Central City, some of them clutching their pearls tightly, kept their gaze onto the criminal. Pearls that Mirror Master soon would be touched.

"Alright, listen up," Mirror Master said. "You either put your valuables in a bag, or I sent you to where I sent Kid Flash and Flash."

"Are you sure you sent us anywhere?"

Two speedsters zipped behind Mirror Master. He almost dropped the weapon in surprise at the two speedsters, who had not been trapped in the endless void of mirrors. But, recovering quick as just part and parcel of dealing with the speedsters of Central City.

"I see you've found a way out," Mirror Master said. "But that doesn't matter. I can still…."

Aquagirl, Superman, and Jesse Quick turned up. The Mirror Master's confidence faded, but just for a second. A twist of the dial on his belt created multiple mirror copies of himself. Dozens and dozens of different copies of Mirror Masters appeared.

"The Slaves don't matter if we don't find the master," Flash said.

"I'll find him," Harry said. "Just keep him occupied."

Kid Flash, Jesse, and Flash all nodded and moved in. They pinged off of the mirror duplicates, shattering them constantly. They moved in harmony. Jesse pulled off of the vibrating trick with great ease now that Harry showed her how to do it.

The Flashes took out a second army of mirror copies. Which is what Superman wanted Mirror Master to do. He wanted Mirror Master to make more copies.

The heated concentration of energy pointed Superman in the right direction. He flew through the army of Scudders and grabbed the original one, ripping the mirror gun from his hand and throwing it up into the air.

The explosion of the mirror gun caused Scudder to scramble back. Superman caught the crystal Mirror Master stole. The Mirror Master, deciding discretion had been the better part of valor, scrambled through the nearest reflective surface. A fountain, a fountain which would allow him to get out of there.

"Better luck next time….aghhh!"

The fountain's waters trapped him in a modified cage thanks to Aquagirl. Mirror Master reached for his belt to try and shift out into the mirror dimension. A blur coming his way prevented Scudder from pulling off that particular trick.

"I don't think so Scudder."

Two quick movements followed from Kid Flash. She took Mirror Master down and slapped the dampening cuffs on him. Defeated, Mirror Master dropped to his knees. He had been so close this time, but yet, so far.

When returning back to Star Labs, Jesse tried not to eavesdrop on the serious conversation that Whitney and Iris were having. She really did mess up on things getting trapped in the Mirror Dimension. Granted, she helped them get out and then stopped the Mirror Master. So, everything evened out in the end.

"Jesse, could I talk to you?" Flash asked.

"Yeah," Jesse said.

"You're decent, raw, but decent, but you need some good solid training," Iris said. "But the thing about speedsters is we always fall on our face the first time out."

"Maybe if you apply yourself, there is a spot for you on the Team," Harry said.

The carrot Superman dangled in front of Jesse's face made her break up in a big smile. She would apply herself. Especially if it meant Superman's approving eye would be on her. And maybe, just maybe, he would reward her in other ways.

"Oh, I'll do the best I can than, "Jesse said. "I mean no one does good, well I mean, their first time out..do they?"

Iris and Whitney shook their heads knowingly. No, speed training came at a curve. Jesse threw her arms around Harry and hugged him in gratitude for all of the help he gave her.

Harry chuckled as Jesse came an inch away from kissing him on some sort of impulse. Locking eyes with Mareena, she just barely escaped smiling. Harry took Mareena's hand and lead her off.

"And now, Samuel Scudder, better known as the Mirror Master, is back in custody, in a cell where he'll never be able to gaze upon his own reflection for the next five years. Thanks to Superman and Aquagirl, along with Kid Flash, Flash, and Central City's newest speedster, Jesse Quick, Mirror Master will no longer be able to target the richest in Central City for their valuables."

On the television screen, they saw Iris's time remnant talking about Samuel Scudder, the Mirror Master, and his capture tonight. All ended very well for them. Harry and Mareena disappeared to finish what they started earlier.

Mareena returns to her room in the palace at Atlantis. She slipped out of her dress and stood in the room, in her bra and panties. Tomorrow was exams, and Mareena hoped for a good performance. Her shield held, which made Mareena feel good.

From the corner, Harry stopped at her door. He noticed Mareena's state of undress. Mareena grabbed Harry and pulled him into the room. She moved in and finished the kiss they started earlier. Harry wrapped his arms around the scantily clad Atlantean Princess and she pulled away, with a satisfied smile.

"I'm tense," Mareena said. "Do you know of any ways to destress before exams?"

"I might," Harry said. "I helped Artemis and Zatanna yesterday."

"Good," Mareena said. "You can teach me in your methods."

Mareena unbuttoned Harry's shirt and rubbed against Harry's chest and abs and moved a little bit closer. Oh, yes they would enjoy each other indeed.