“No way Luthor. Fuck you, I’m out.” Deadshot growled at his former employer.
“Lawton, did you really think I’d let you walk away from this?” Luthor’s voice rumbled. “Your options here really are limited. You either work for me, or you die.”
“Luthor I don’t give a shit what you do to me. Because that kid? He’s so much scarier than you could ever be. And he’s not even a villain, he’s just like that.” Deadshot said.
“I understand.” Luthor said. “But I wonder if your daughter will be as understanding as I am.”
As he said that, Luthor revealed a screen showing Floyd’s daughter’s bedroom. She was sitting on the floor, playing with her toys. Floyd could see Mercy outside her window.
“You bastard! I’ll-“ Floyd was cut off as Deathstroke appeared in front of him, holding a sword against his throat.
“Ah ah ah. You wouldn’t want to force me to take drastic action, would you?” Luthor crooned. “I’m sure we can all work out a deal here.”
“Luthor I swear to-“ Floyd cut himself off. “What the fuck is that?”
“Oh please, do you really think I’d fall for that?” Luthor said. “Don’t insult my intelligence.”
Floyd let Luthor continue monologuing as he watched the screen. A green portal had opened and a huge… yeti looking thing had stepped it. It looked like it spoke to his daughter before picking her up and pointing at Luthor’s camera. His daughter waved and the yeti stepped back into the portal before Mercy was even able to break through the window. Floyd was thanking everything that he had made sure to reinforce the windows. Can’t be too safe in his line of work. But that relief was short lived as he immediately began panicking about the fact that his daughter was kidnapped by portalling yeti. Then, Mercy fell to the ground. Floyd couldn’t tell what had happened, but the way her body moved it looked like someone had knocked her out with a hit to a pressure point. Suddenly, the 15 year old presidential candidate was in front of the camera. He had cards and was going through them.
‘FROSTBITE HAS HER. HE’S GOOD WITH KIDS’
‘IN 30 SECONDS I’M GOING TO OPEN A PORTAL UNDER YOU’
‘MAKE SURE NO ONE IS NEXT TO YOU”
And then he disappeared. Floyd wasn’t sure what to make of the situation. This was almost definitely a trap. But he would much rather be in Waller’s claws than Luthor’s. So he counted 25 second. Then, he stepped back. Deathstroke didn’t press him. This was job, not personal. He wouldn’t move unless forced to. Floyd took 2 more steps back. Three seconds left.
Floyd was falling. And then, just as abruptly, he wasn’t. Wherever he was, it wasn’t Earth. The gravity here was wrong. He looked around. Green everywhere. He was in some sort of castle.
“Floyd Lawton. Deadshot. Nice to see you again.” Daniel Fenton smiled, sticking out his hand for a hand shake. “We can go see your daughter in a second. She’s playing with my little sister.”
“What do you want?” Floyd asked. “Where are we? And how did you do all that?”
“I want to hire you, we’re in my castle, and I’m a ghost.” Fenton replied, as though he were simply telling someone the weather. “So what do you say? Wanna work for me?”
“Depends on the job. And the price.” Floyd said.
“I want you to be a sort of… liaison.” Fenton answered. “See, I know Luthor is working with other villains. Now, we both know that he isn’t a threat to me. Not really. But still, I’m not a big fan of the guy. Call it a hatred of billionaires, or xenophobia, or his actions, or bald people. Whatever you want. Point is, he has done too much to be allowed to be president. Frankly, the fact that he’s allowed to run at all is insane. Actually, this election in general is insane. I mean a 15 year old kid with no political experience and a known villain are the two primary candidates. It’s ridiculous. Anyways, I know I won’t be able to take his more deep rooted connections. From what I can tell that includes Ra’s al Ghul, Queen Bee, Vandal Savage, Black Manta, Monsieur Mallah and the Brain, Ultrahumanite, and Deathstroke. I’ve already flipped Klarion, Mr. Freeze, Cheetah, and Trickster. I’ve got friends working on Harley, Ivy. I need you to start putting feelers out. Turn people against Luthor.”
“What’s in it for me?” Floyd asked.
“A full, presidential pardon for a your crimes and a life with your family under federal protection.” Fenton smiled.
“You drive a hard bargain, Mr. President.” Floyd said, shaking the boy’s hand. Fenton laughed.
“Please, Mr. President was my father. Call me Danny.”
“Mr. Kent, can I ask a question of you?” Mr. Fenton, or Danny as he preferred, asked Clark, catching him off guard.
“I- Uh… Sure?” Clark stammered.
“You…” Danny seemed to take a moment to think about how he wanted to phrase his question. “You aren’t human are you?”
“Of course I am!” Clark laughed, trying to hide his shock and fear. “Mr. Fenton, are you feeling alright?”
“Hey, I’m not going to tell anyone.” The presidential candidate said. “It’s just been throwing me off this whole time. I haven’t been able to focus. Don’t get me wrong, you’re great at acting. But there’s things you pick up when you aren’t fully human yourself.”
Danny’s eyes glowed green for a second.
“Sorry, I just wanted to make sure our cards were on the table. I didn’t want you to think I was planning on blackmailing you with the knowledge or anything.” Danny said. Then he sighed and it sounded… almost sad. “Besides there’s not many around who know how difficult it is to balance a life where you have to pretend you’re fully human for the safety of yourself and your family. You can continue with your questions Mr. Kent.”
Despite Danny saying he could resume his questions, Clark sat there for a moment. This kid wasn’t what he’d expected. Especially not after finding out he’d hired Deadshot. But looking at him now, listening to him, Clark was realizing the reality of this kid. He was exhausted. He was willing to out himself as not being entirely human, just because he thought he’d found someone who he could relate to. Clark realized there was only one thing to do here.
“How about we finish this conversation somewhere with fewer ears. My parents have a farm in Kansas. You fly?” Clark asked the boy.
“Faster than you can old man.” The boy smiled back. Clark’s heart hurt a bit as he realized this boy was only a few years older than Jon.
“Ancients Danny, you’ve basically secured the votes of every meta, alien, extradimensional being, villain, hero, anti-hero, and vigilante that can vote through the entire country.” Tucker whistled.
“I mean, that was the plan.” Danny said.
“Don’t act like you had a plan.” Sam smiled, playfully pushing his shoulder. “We all know you did this on a whim.”
“Okay, fine. But after I decided to do this, then it was the plan.” Danny admitted. “Kind of can’t believe this is working.”
“I can’t believe you made people believe you’re planning and calculating every move instead flying by the seat of your pants.” Tucker said.
“I can’t believe my parents are begging me to bring you over now.” Sam laughed.
“Ancients I can’t wait until this is over. I’m never running for president again.” Danny groaned. The three of them lounged around, just enjoying the relaxing evening. Already thinking of what they’re going to do the GIW after the election.