The next morning, Harry awoke a few hours earlier than normal. He had decided to essentially do nothing, and merely observe what Clark would do in the future, not wanting to draw attention to himself. He went down to the basement and obliviated Supergirl, so she would forget about the entire encounter. He then modified her memory to make it seem like she had followed him for a while before she heard a commotion nearby and had to leave to go check it out, that way she would have some excuse to give Clark when he asked about it. Harry rummaged through her mind a little, discovering the location of her apartment, then apparated there and left her on her bed.

A couple hours later, Harry arrived at the Daily Planet to see Kara already there. He made small talk with her, quickly ascertaining that she was perfectly calm and unsuspecting. As he got to work, he got a text from Perry White telling him to come to his office, so he went on his way. Perry explained that he had heard a rumor that Lex was funding a criminal gang called the Orange Bandits, saying that he wanted Harry to investigate if possible. The only lead at the moment was the address of a previous meeting place, and Harry noted with some frustration that it was on the opposite side of town. As he was at the door on his way out, Perry called out to him "Oh, and Harry, I want you to work with Lois on this. It's been several months since you guys have done a piece together."

Harry spun around, furious. "WHAT? I don't need any babysitting!"

"Calm down. Don't think I haven't noticed the tension between you two lately. I expect you guys to work it out over the course of this investigation and story."

Harry stormed out, slamming the door behind him. I haven't even spoken more than a few words at a time to Lois in months. Now I have to work with her on a complicated story that involves LEX LUTHOR of all people? This is going to be a disaster. Walking up to Lois, he tapped her on the shoulder and told her they needed to talk. She looked surprised at first, but agreed and they went to a conference room.

"I'm sure you've already heard of the Orange Bandits?" he asked. After she nodded he continued: "Well, Perry wants the two of us to work together on the investigation. He says he's noticed the tension between us and expects us to figure it out."

Lois instantly rose to her feet, smirking. "Not a problem for me. Don't tell me you can't handle being professional for a while, Potter." Without another word, she strode out of the room, leaving a bewildered Harry behind.

Meanwhile, that night, Clark had alerted the Justice League about Emorn after hearing from Kara that she wasn't able to find out anything. Given magic was one of their weaknesses, Clark felt it imperative to seek some counsel. The Watchtower had been recently damaged and was undergoing repairs, so Batman summoned them to Wayne Manor.

Superman looked solemnly out around the table, reflecting on the changes to the Justice League over the years. Now, their ranks consisted of himself, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Green Arrow and Supergirl. Others such as the Martian Manhunter and the Flash had come and went. Lost in thought, he was interrupted by Batman clearing his throat and looking expectantly at him. Superman snapped himself out of it and explained the situation with Emorn in Metropolis. Unsurprisingly, everyone looked to Batman at first for his strategic insight.

"In my view, the fact that he gave Supergirl no useful information says it all. If he had nothing to hide and was truly on our side, why not be forthcoming? It's fairly clear to me he's trying to stop a bunch of petty thefts to get in your good books and then enact his true agenda later," he said.

"I agree with Batman. He seems like a typical man, willing to lie and deceive to get what he wants," Wonder Woman said.

Superman gave Wonder Woman an incredulous look at this, as if to say: Seriously? He continued on: "Of course, his magic is the main problem here. Obviously, Kara and I are extremely susceptible to magic, so it's going to be difficult for us to monitor him and capture him if necessary. I also don't believe that it was just coincidence that there was a commotion that needed her help just when she was following him."

"I think it's important to get a handle on him before the situation gets out of control. Amazons are actually resistant to magic, so I would be a useful option in battle if it reaches that stage. I can come to Metropolis for a while, maybe stay with Kara," Wonder Woman said. Everyone considered her words for a minute before all nodding.

"That sounds good as a first step, but if he's still a threat then we're going to have to take more drastic action, perhaps setting a trap for him or confronting him head-on," Batman warned. The plan agreed to, the League dispersed, Wonder Woman coming along with Superman and Supergirl.

Harry and Lois crouched behind a bush outside the Moore Warehouse. After some lurking, they had discovered that the Orange Bandits were supposed to meet here. They choose to hide behind the bush so they could get a headcount of the number of people in the gang, and see the password to enter the warehouse. Seeing a group slowly approaching, Harry nudged Lois and told her to be ready. She had a notebook in hand, ready to write down physical descriptions of anyone in the group they could make out. They both stood up carefully, as they were shrouded in shadow so would not be seen, and Lois began furiously scribbling.

Harry was turning to speak to Lois when all of a sudden, his foot hit a piece of metal on the ground and he slipped. Disastrously, he knocked Lois to the ground and fell on top of her, rustling the bush loudly in the process. Lois was about to curse him and roll out from underneath before she heard one of the Bandits call out "Who's there?" and fire a shot. Fortunately for both of them, it went twenty yards to the left of where they were, indicating that the Bandits had not pinpointed their location. The downside, of course, was that they had to remain frozen in place, for even the smallest movement would give them away with the Bandits approaching.

John Liseo was the head of the Bandits. He had been handpicked by Lex to lead the team, after displaying his shrewdness and ingenuity on many occasions. He knew this was too big of a mission to blow, so they desperately needed to locate and capture the intruders. Dividing the Bandits into two groups, he had them each go in opposite directions to search all the way around the building, while he himself went inside the warehouse to confirm that nobody had gained unauthorized access. "Remember, only shoot if you absolutely have to. We need to interrogate them and bring them in to Mr. Luthor, we could have been discovered by the cops or a larger team," he cautioned.

Meanwhile, Harry and Lois continued to grow uncomfortable. After about half an hour of having her breasts smashed into his chest, he naturally developed an erection. When she first felt it poke her thigh, her eyes went wide in horror and her lips opened in an 'O' shape. Harry noticed this, but obviously could not react or move in any way. Fortunately for the two of them, bushes lined the entire front of the building, so it would be very difficult to spot them, particularly in the darkness.

Two hours later, John was pissed. The Bandits had meticulously searched around the building but there was no sign of anybody. Resigning himself to the possibility that they may not be able to capture the intruders, he came up with a new plan. He directed his men to spray bullets along the entire length of the building, that way anybody hidden in the darkness there would get shot and either cry out, allowing them to be captured, or die, which was not ideal but better than letting them escape.

Hearing this, Harry recognized the trouble they would be in if he did nothing. Lois seemed consigned to her fate, still not moving an inch and just preparing for the gunfire. Wordlessly and wandlessly, Harry cast a weak Protego that would deflect any bullets. After 10 minutes, the Bandits had still heard nothing, so John assumed the intruders were either dead or had escaped. Angrily, he directed the group to leave, with the wheels in his brain already spinning about how to convey this development to Lex.

As soon as she was sure they had left, Lois threw Harry off her and instantly rose to her feet. Before he could react, she slapped him in the face and began screaming. "HOW CLUMSY ARE YOU GOING TO BE? YOU ALMOST GOT US BOTH KILLED, AND ON TOP OF ALL OF THAT YOU HAD ME PINNED UNDERNEATH YOU FOR THREE HOURS WITH THAT (here she gestured to his dick) PRESSED AGAINST ME." She then walked away without a second glance.

Harry was frustrated. He had genuinely hoped that he and Lois could use this opportunity to go back to the way things were before the incident. If he was being perfectly honest with himself, he still had a bit of a crush on Lois and was resentful of Clark, and also hoped to get closer to Lois and entice her a bit. This was the worst possible start to their investigation, that too caused by his mistake. Although, I wouldn't mind having her soft body up against me again, he thought.

The next day at the Daily Planet was the most awkward yet. Lois refused to even look at Harry, and when he went up to her intending to apologize, she pretended like she didn't hear him at all, forcing him to just leave. Clark saw this, but just assumed Lois was in a bad mood for whatever reason and shrugged apologetically at Harry. Seeing that Harry was looking upset, Kara walked over to him and suggested they get lunch together, hoping that she could use the time to pry out some information about what he was working on.

They got to the cafe and Harry selected a table at the back corner of the room. Old habits from the war died hard, and he wanted to ensure they wouldn't be overheard while at the same time keeping an eye on everyone else. After ordering their food, they made some small talk at first, complaining about how Perry was so demanding about deadlines and restrictive with regard to everyone's roles.

Finally, Kara decided it was time to be assertive. She had harbored a crush on Harry ever since he knocked her to the ground on his first day, and spent many hours at the Daily Planet sneaking glances at his muscled body, imagining him running his hands all over her. She leaned forward over the table, showing off her cleavage in an attempt to fluster Harry, and began to ask questions.

"So Harry, why don't you tell me what you're working on?"

Harry was about to answer when his eyes drifted down to her breasts and widened. He had started taking great care around her since he discovered she was Supergirl, as he knew the smallest slip-up could land him in big trouble, particularly with Clark being Superman and frequently available. At the same time, he could not deny that Kara was extremely attractive, and he had admired her curves on many occasions, and he was caught in that trap again. Before he could stop himself, he blurted out:

"Well I was trying to find out more info on this gang with Lois. Dammit Kara, you have to promise me you won't tell anyone about this."

"Only if you let me in on the scoop and allow me to do some investigating of my own," she said, smirking.

Harry cursed to himself for letting his guard down. Now he would have Supergirl accompanying him on all his investigations, meaning it would probably be impossible for him to get away with using magic, and would thus have to be even more careful for them not to be caught.