Justice League: The Heir of Hecate

Invaded

"You're grounded when all of this is over," Violet threatened after Luke returned and she's finished hugging him.

"Never do that to us again, son," Jared added gently. "You have no idea what could have happened."

"I know," Luke groaned.

Jared took his face on his hands, forcing him to meet his gaze. "No- you don't. There are powerful, dangerous forces out there, son."

"Forces you could have prepared me for!" Luke shouted, pulling away from him. "Both of you could have told me earlier. You could have prepared me better for all of this."

"We won't apologize for protecting you," Jared said in a firm voice. "We took you away from MYSTIC because they wanted to turn you into a monster."

"If they get their hands on you, the whole world could be in danger," Violet added.

"How?" Luke asked. "How can it be in danger if I won't go along with what they want?"

His parents looked at him, unable to offer an answer. "We don't know," Jared confessed. "There are secrets that only the inner circle is privy to. We only knew it was bad enough that we needed to get you out of there. We couldn't allow you to be corrupted by them."

"It looks like now is a good time to discuss  following the rules," Batman said after a moment of silence.

Luke felt a spark of resentment. "I was just trying to take control of the situation. MYSTIC is after me and I just thought drawing them out was the best way..."

"You thought," Batman stonily said.

"So did Aquaman!" Luke said, pointing at the Atlantean.

Aquaman's raised his eyebrows, shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "I mean...maybe I might have told him I thought the bait idea was a good one."

"We don't put kids in danger," Batman said, fixing Aquaman with a cold glare.

Luke was about to speak up when Aquaman cut in. "Wait a minute. You don't put kids in danger? Really?"

"Don't," Cyborg firmly said.

Luke read the slight cracking of Batman's frosty demeanor and knew there had to be a story there.

"Whether it was wrong or right of me, I did manage to lure in people who can give us answers," Luke said, standing in defiance.

"Speaking of that- maybe we should talk about the witches now?" Flash suggested. "You know- the ones Wonder Woman's got on lockdown?"

Batman walked out of the room, barely glancing Luke's way. "Let's go and see what they have to say for themselves."

Luke started to join and Superman laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Maybe you shouldn't?"

Luke looked up at him and scowled. "Because I'm just a kid?"

"Because I don't want whatever they're going to say to hurt you," Superman spoke earnestly.

Luke's retort died in his throat and he stared up at the Man of Steel, reading something in his blue eyes, something that went well-beyond kindness and protectiveness. He sensed something more.

Lydia's predictions are looking pretty spot on right about now. Too bad I'm just a kid in their eyes.

"Listen," Superman said, drawing him back to the present. "For what it's worth, I think you've got all the makings of a hero."

Luke felt a warmth pooling in him. Superman- arguably the superhero- had just paid him a very large compliment. "I...I always kind of wanted that," he said with a shy smile. "To be a hero."