"Privacy, please," the mustachioed man quietly ordered in the back seat of the jet black limousine.

"Sure thing, boss."

"You trust him then?" the companion in the back seat asked.

"Hap? Absolutely. He's saved my life more times than I care to admit. I wouldn't say his field medical skills are as good as Alfred's, though."

"Few people's are. Tell me, Tony, is the traffic in Washington D.C. always this bad?"

"When Congress is considering removing one of the biggest cities in the country, I imagine so. It's only the story of the century..."

"...Until the next alien invasion."

"My God."

Bruce Wayne gave his college friend and comrade-in-arms an inquiring glare.

"Bruce, you cracked a joke."

"Must be Dick's and Tim's influence. They've been in town since the quake."

As the limousine inched closer to Congress, a WHMATA bus circled the Washington Monument. "Look at all the American flags," a black-haired boy of six shouted in Portuguese.

"Si, Pao," his equally dark brother answered. "And soon, those flags will be ours too."

"Is it so important to listen to a bunch of old people arguing? I want to go back and see some more dinosaur bones at the museum."

"We're supposed to meet our parents here in an hour. Do you really think we'll be able to get between the places that fast? Besides, mother and father were thinking we should live in Gotham It'd be nice to know that it's still going to be there if we choose it."

"Well, I want to live in the Smithsonian!"

"I can see it now--we'll live in the zoo--a family of psychics from the USSR! We'll be doubly valuable--people from an extinct empire and psis."

"Awww, Rocky!"

"Now, Pao, remember to turn down your magnetism when we go through the scanners."

Five minutes later, Pao was still protesting, "It's not my fault, Rock!" They had been brusquely escorted into a small white room and left there after the door was shut with a resounding bang.

The other occupant looked up from a copy of Sports Illustrated and offered his hand. "Hi! I'm Garth Ranson. Welcome to the Waiting Room."

"What are we waiting for?" Pao wailed

"Hey, little guy." Garth squatted down to give Pao an eye-to-eye view. "This is where we metahumans wait until the government makes sure we're really who we say we are. Before we get to see Congress in action."

Pao stopped and looked back at his brother, who nodded as Garth got back to standing. Rock held out his own hand. "I'm Rock Krinninski. We're the grandchildren of the Soviet psychic research."

"Really? That's so cool! So, how'd you get the name?"

"It's my street name in Little Hispana."

"That's neat. As for me, I'm just Garth. Me and my sibs just got blasted with the gene bomb! We got zapped during a lightning storm and--" he wagged his fingers and a shower of sparks danced from his hand. "To tell you the truth, I think the test here is if we wait long enough patiently, they'll know we're the good guys."

Rock laughed. "So what are you doing here?"

Garth shook his head, staying serious. "My older brother was in special forces, then disappeared. I was hoping my congresswoman could help us find him."

"Ah. My parents were hoping to smooth out our nationalization."

"Oh. Good luck then"

"Thank you."

For the next ninety minutes, the boys talked about sports and living with super-powers. Rocky mentioned a soccer game in Brasilia where he had to push an oncoming car to keep a friend from getting killed. Garth told his new friends, with Rocky translating sometimes for Pao, about his best play in baseball.

"So I almost ran up the wall and just as I catch the ball, lightning hits me..." His voice trailed off as the door to the waiting room opened and the boys stepped out to rejoin the audience. "Whoa. Do you see the blonde in the school uniform…."

"You've caught those boys' attention, Emma," a raven-haired girl whispered to her blonde friend.

"Ssh, Tina, don't attract their attention," Emma answered in a light brogue. "I've no time for summer romances."

"Not if you're going to win the Noble Peace Prize by the time you're thirty."

"Would you stop teasing me about that?" Emma hissed as she found a seat. Tina laughed, a windy laugh like bamboo chimes in a breeze. "By the way, the carrot top is still watching."

Emma flushed. "I'm trying to concentrate, and they're in session. Do you mind?"

The first order of business was the question of whether or not Gotham City should be part of the United States, or should it be left to become a ghost town. Could they possibly abandon one of the greatest museums of American architecture and the home of millions of people? Tony Stark began the presentation that the Maria Stark Foundation created to discuss the logistics of relocating the citizens and repairing the earthquake torn city. Then the Congress turned their attention to the other playboy-turned-spokesman.

Emma turned her attention to the various senators. An image kept appearing. "This is so weird. They keep thinking of a rock star."

"Most of them were born before rock and roll!" Tina objected.

"That's not the point!" Emma hissed. Then she sensed a thought as red hot as her irritation at her exchange study partner.

"Those people! They're going to kill Bruce Wayne!" she suddenly shouted and pointed to a darkened of the upper balcony, creating pandemonium.

Senators and representatives dived behind their chairs; Tony pushed Bruce down and covered him.

"Oh, really, Stark! How are you going to explain your heroism?"

"Easier than you explaining yours," Wayne growled back.

Rocky pushed Pao between the seats, while Garth flashed a bolt of lightning where Emma pointed.

"See them?" Garth asked.

"Yeah, let's do it!" Rocky grabbed the rifle with his mind and twisted out of one assassin's hands.

Garth's second lightning bolt arced across the roof and struck the other assassin.

Security swarmed across the assassins... and the unlikely heroes.

"Let me guess, back to the white room?" Rocky asked as the police handcuffed him.

"If we're lucky," Garth answered. "Say nothing without a lawyer."

Six hours later, the boys were joined by the girl. Her expressionless face was set, except for the line of tension in her jaw.

Garth got up and offered her a seat.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you."

"How'd--"

"I'm a telepath. I think your government is convinced of that."

"Aren't you sorry you saved that man?"

"'The worst thing that good people can do is do nothing'. Someone is manipulating this whole Gotham situation."

"Do you know who?" Bruce Wayne asked as he walked through the door, Tony Stark followed, watching his fellow businessman.

"No. There's a haze around the influenced minds," Emma answered miserably.

"Young lady," Bruce began.

"You know my name, sir."

"Are you serious about wanting to do something, Miss Arden?"

The door whooshed open again and two elderly people crashed in, grabbed Rocky and Pao, squeezed them, while the woman yelled and sobbed in a combination of Russian and Portuguese.

Tony steeped forward. "Mr. And Mrs. Krinninski? You should be very proud of your older son. He risked his life to save us."

"Ah, my baby is a hero," Mrs. Krinninski announced in her heavily accented English.

"Would you like even more opportunities to be a hero?" Bruce Wayne asked quietly.

Tony's smile faltered. "Would you excuse us all for a moment?" he asked as he grabbed Bruce's arm." What are you thinking?" he hissed.

"Gotham will need more heroes soon," he rumbled.

"No! I mean it, no! don't even think about recruiting those kids! Emma's a foreign national, and maybe Rocky, too. And the redhead kid would be led by his cajones! Have you seen him looking at that girl?" Bruce glanced at him. "Who am I talking to? Of course you have."

"Mr. Stark, sir? I know the vote to close Gotham will go through. I know the Maria Stark and Wayne Foundations will be hard pressed just to handle the refugee problems on the East Coast, and trying to use legal channels to open Gotham, let alone try to help the people who stay there."

"Do you understand what you are offering, young lady?" Tony challenged.

Emma answered Stark, but stared at Wayne. "Yes, I do. And so will they."

Bruce Wayne considered her words and walked into the middle of the white room. "Mr and Mrs. Krinninski? Mr. Ranse? Miss Arden? An acquaintance would like to meet you. Here's the address of the D.C. WayneTech building. He'd like to meet you on the roof at midnight."

Hours later the trio, along with Tina and the Krinninskis, were on the roof. The boys were playing hacky sack, since they were too bummed out to care what the observing adults would think.

Emma sat quietly and scanned the area, not quite trusting the situation.

"He likes you, y'know," Tina whispered. "The carrottop."

"He likes the package. He doesn't know anything about me."

"He knows you're brave. He knows you have grace under pressure. He knows you care about strangers."

"Speaking of caring, where were you?"

"The boys acted faster than I could. Did you really expect me to stay by your side in interrogation? You might've needed me to call Amnesty International."

"The British consulate would've worked. Ssh. He's here."

"OOOO, I hope he brought Nightwing with him. That molded kevlar and spandex..."

"Shut up."

The shadows Emma watched moved against the warm September wind.

"Ladies. Gentlemen." a soft, rough voice greeted.

"Oh. My. God. You really do exist!" Garth yelled.

"Yes, Wisconsin. There really is a Batman," Tina jibed.

"I do. I have an offer for your elder son and the other two who saved Wayne's and Stark's lives today." Then he began, "I have an offer for you to consider." Quietly, with an intensity the children had never seen, Bruce Wayne outlined his plan. Gotham, alone and desperate, would need champions, people who would help those who stayed because of patriotism or had no where else to go. Sometimes the work would be simple tasks--sometimes the work would be fighting super-humans.

The teenagers sat in stunned silence. Then Emma began. "Sir, this sounds like something I would like to do. However, I'm from the United Kingdom."

"Edinburgh." Batman confirmed.

"WayneTech International is already working with the Scottish Congress to secure your diplomatic visa."

"I need to talk to my folks," Garth admitted.

"Use the phone in the office. It's secure."

"Uh, thanks."

"What about you?" Tina asked Emma.

"I already spoke to my parents. They fear for me, but they approve."

"I can't do this!" Rocky objected. "If I do, my parents' visa will be revoked."

"WayneTech will secure employment for your family and their immigration lawyers will expedite your visas, even if you don't agree to the project."

"Um, Mr. Batman? I'm also on family business," Garth interjected.

"Your missing brother. I have resources for such matters and I'll use them. Wayne is a valuable resource to me and you protected him."

"Is that all people are to you? Resources?" Rocky challenged.

"No. Of course not. It's just--"

"--If you let people get to close to you, you hurt when they die. It's easier to love the pack o' strangers then to let a few come to know you, isn't it?" Emma asked.

"If you wish, Miss Arden. I'll leave you alone so you can think about what I'm asking."

While the girls sat on the roof and talked, Rocky and his family whispered in a variety of languages, Garth went to the office and dialed his number.

"Ayla, Ayla, your brother's back," he sang as his sister answered the phone.

"What do you mean, 'which one?'" Just get mom and dad on the line too! I've got a helluva story to tell them…. Besides what you saw on the news!"

Just over an hour later, the group reformed.

"Where's your friend?" Garth asked Emma.

"Around. What have you decided."

"Yeah. Every kid in the world who woke up with an active metagene that day dreamed about becoming a super-hero. I've got a chance to do it, and get trained by the best in real field conditions."

Emma stared at him, impressed. "Hey, I'm not going to make this decision the same way I'm gonna decide to go to a movie!"

"My grandparents and greatuncles suffered horribly during the siege of Stalingrad. My parents were... forced… to do... things during the Cold War. Helping the American dispossessed would be a good way to balance the scales of justice."

"Batman, it looks like you have a team of Gotham City Guardians," Rocky said. "When do we start?"

The End

For those of you who missed the past few years of the Batman books, there was an earthquake that destroyed most of the city. The U.S. government, under the influence of an evil rock star (I'm not kidding!) decided rather than repair a major city, they'd close it down. The following year was the No Man's Land storyline.

Tony Stark is indeed, Iron Man. I just thought it'd be a kick for the pair of rich boys/philanthropists superheroes to be friends.

As for the Legionnaires: I could see the group joined by Dirk Morgan, who was irradiated by Dr. Phosporus, Val Armorr would be an ex-member of a yakuza wannabe group, "Princess" would be a daydreamer from Sarajavo, who can see the future and project illusions. She's a little insane because of the trauma she's gone through in her short life, and no one really believes she's the exiled princess she says she is. But that's all I had time to daydream for this particular Elseworlds.