Identity

Starks

The next morning, I asked Jon about the sidekicks; we'd spoken briefly about it the night before but conversation had been diverted. He made a face as he drank coffee. "The Justice League is talking about keeping us as sort of a reserve guard rather than full members of the League," he said in disgust. "None of us are anxious to go out and get ourselves killed, but we deserve the right to be heroes in our own right. We've been talking about forming our own group, independent of the League."

"Where would you base it? If you are independent of the League, would you still be able to use the boom tubes?"

"We're thinking about here in New York, keep it very quiet. We're thinking about maintaining a relationship with our heroes, just so we can continue to use the boom tubes, keeping our own association kind of off the books for now. It worked when we were just sidekicks and meeting at Mt Justice. Now that the League's new headquarters in Montana are done, we're thinking it's time to do our own thing."

"Oh, I understand all about the desire to prove yourself on your own merits," I said, putting plates of eggs and bacon on the table with a bowl of fruit. Jon's energy needs were big, but not as bad as Wally's. Jon smiled and squeezed my hand. "So I'm thinking that if you're looking just for a basic headquarters, nothing big, very hush hush, I'd be open to purchasing a building and renovating it for you." Jon frowned and put down his bacon.

"Lys, I'm not trying to hit you up for money," he said. "We'll figure something out."

"I know you're not, but let's face it, I've got the resources. It doesn't have to be fancy, especially until you guys figure out whether you want to stay independent or accept membership in the League at some point. And you guys are my friends. I want you to be as safe as possible. You've already chosen the life, and for those who don't hero, it's a family tradition to support supers. I don't expect you to speak for everybody, but I wanted to make the offer. You need to talk to the others, get their thoughts. The building would remain in my name, I'd be responsible for outfitting it and maintaining it, but there wouldn't be strings attached. I wouldn't expect to have any oversight or give direction." Jon nibbled on the bacon as he thought about it. "Just take it to the others, talk it over. I'm not prepared to spring for your very own Hall of Justice, it would be quite a bit more modest." I stroked the back of his other hand. "I'd have made the offer even if we weren't... "

"Whatever this is," Jon supplied, smiling at me, and I smiled back. "Ok, I'll poll the others."

"Good. Because I've been thinking about my Olympic ambitions. My ankle is a problem to be addressed, but that's only because of my personal style of coxing. I get in there and train with my rowers. Right now I can't run with them or get on the erg, but I could still do weight training and bicycle with them. So I've asked to be considered the next time tryouts for the national team are held. It's my opinion that getting a crew together just for a year isn't enough continuity. I can adapt my personal style until my ankle is taken care of. And training is in Princeton, so that's not too far from here. Fifty-two miles." I looked at him through my lashes. He grinned.

"It's good that I'm basing my freelancing career here," he said cheerfully. I leaned over and kissed him. Umm, bacon-flavored Jon.

It was with a light heart that we went down to the street together and separated. I grinned all the way to Uncle Steve's practice. The clothes looked even better on the models than I'd anticipated, and as always, the models seemed to be enjoying themselves. I enjoyed the practice as always, appreciating Uncle Steve's attention to detail and willingness to listen to his models to come up with the best way to display the clothes. After several hours, we were done, and ready for the real show the next day. From there, I cabbed over to Stark and stopped at the reception desk, asking if my uncle was around. The security guard smiled cheerfully and picked up the phone.