Pulling his phone from his pocket he dialled alex's number first. He wasn't surprised when he heard the ringtone of the phone coming from her bedroom. Next he tried Kara, it rang and he couldn't hear it anywhere in the house but eventually it went to voicemail and he hung up.

Dashing back upstairs he checked their rooms again and realised there was a note on Kara's bed, grabbing it he only read the first line before he grabbed his phone again and dialled another number, Clark.

"Clark?" J'onn called down the phone panic showing a little in his tone. A sleepy voice answered him, "Yeah Jonn what's.. its .. why?"

Good with words as ever, "Kara and Alex they've run away and not on foot" J'onn swore realising he would have heard them going out the front door

"I'll be right there" He quipped back now clearly wide awake and J'onn could hear fumbling as he was clearly getting dressed. He must have forgotten to hang up as J'onn could hear a muffled woman's voice on the other end of the phone.

Time to hang up Jonn thought and he went back to evaluating the bedrooms. Their school backpacks were missing but they had left something on Karas bed. He went to reach for it when he realised there was a note in between them.

Flipping it open he scanned it quickly as he felt a familiar large rush of air at his shoulder announcing Clark's arrival.

"Sorry for calling you out of bed this early" Jonn greeted not even looking up from the note which he hadn't finished reading

"Its fine, any clues?" He asked and J'onn looked up to see he was still getting dressed, buttoning up his shirt as he spoke

"Looks like they went after the anti alien group that claimed false responsibility" sighed Jonn handing Clark the note,

"False responsibility?" He asked as he scanned through it, questioning J'onns choice of words

"I have it on good authority that they have most likely been paid off to claim the attack as theirs after the police got too close to the real perpetrator" Jonn filled him in

"Well this is a terrible morning not only do we have two missing 12 year olds but that group didn't do it?" He rubbed his eyes, "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked

"Sorry Clark I didn't think to what with the girls reaction to the news things have been … well" He threw his arms to indicate the room and the lack of a child.

"Yes good point now is not the time for this conversation" Clark responded and he turned to face the open window, "Any idea where they might have gone first?"

J'onn put his hands on his hips and looked out the window as well, "No idea, I can't even sense Alex so they've gone pretty far"

Clark nodded, "Think we could fly out a search grid?" he questioned, "Use you as like a child metal detector?"

J'onn rose his eyebrow, "Okay I admit that came out wrong" Clark continued "It's early but I don't have any other bright ideas!"

J'onn paused, he didn't have anything better either, "Alright but how long are we giving this search grid before…" he trailed off

"Oh!" Clark suddenly his fast movements making Jonn jump, "Do either of them have their phones on them?"

"Alex doesn't but Kara might I didn't hear it go off when I tried her number" J'onn replied pressing a few buttons on his phone to display Kara's number

"I know a guy who can trace numbers" Clark responded pulling his own phone out his pocket

"Well the DEO can do that but no-one would be able to get in to help me for hours" J'onn pointed out

Clark shook his head, "No it's okay this guy works at night" his phone began dialing as he put it on speaker so J'onn could hear, "He owes me a favour" he added

"Wayne Residence" came an elderly voice from the other end of the phone

"Oh hello Alfred" Clark seemed surprised at the voice who answered, "I didn't mean to get the house sorry if I woke you"

"Don't worry Mr Kent I was awake anyways, it was actually Master Wayne that redirected the call with the phrase if you will pardon my crass, 'See what the steel boy scout wants now' "

Clark rolled his eyes, "I really need him for a favour Alfred - my cousin has gone off on a vendetta with her sister and I was really hoping with all your fancy gadgets he could track the phone so we can find her faster before she gets into trouble"

"Oh my that is a dilemma, Master Wayne is currently in combat but I can track it for you Mr Kent if you could supply me with the digits?"

J'onn held up his phone and Clark read the number on the screen out to alfred and they didn't have to wait long.

"Well it's been switched off recently but it last pinged off a tower…. Hmm oh my just outside the city!"

J'onn Was more than a little impatient now, "Which city?!" He snapped

"Oh sorry sir, Gotham, in all likelihood she is in Gotham"

J'onns heart sank. Gotham crime hotspot with the highest death toll in the country

"No they wouldn't be that stupid?" He said a little disbelieving looking at Clarks equally shocked face.

"Alfred I don't suppose you know where the terrorist group AAI happen to frequent in that area?" He asked quickly as both he and J'onn began heading out the girls rooms and down the stairs to the front door.

"Why yes it's where Master Wayne is right now, I will alert him of the situation and your imminent arrival, I will send you the location to your phone" as he was informing them J'onn and him were out the front door J'onn absent mindedly locking it before him and Clark headed into the back garden where they could depart without being seen.

"Thanks Alfred" Clark said before he hung up the phone a text coming through the second he brought it to his dye level

"Can you keep up?" He asked J'onn

"I'm a little rusty but I will try" J'onn replied and he morphed himself into his Martian shape and adding clothes last minute along the lines of Clark's uniform so he was now in complete with a cape

"Smart let's go!" Clark spoke before shooting off into the air, Jonn a split second behind him.

Jonn was slower than Clark but not by enough that it slowed their progress significantly and they were soon hovering airborne over the location.

Clark must have switched on his X Ray vision because he was soon shaking his head, "They're not here" then he turned to the left and flew on top of a taller building that was overlooking the one they had been directed to.

That's when J'onn sensed him, having been focused on flight he hadn't noticed the man Clark had just flown down to meet. Flying down with him he morphed back into his regular shape so as not to cause any adverse effects

"Director Henshaw of the DEO is an alien" a deep deadpan voice spoke from the dark eves of the building

J'onn wasn't really in the mood to explain, "Yes" J'onn waved it off, "Have you seen Kara or Alex?" He asked

"No but If I might say finding out the director of an agency dedicated to catching aliens is an alien isn't fantastically ironic" The voice stepped out the shadows as he spoke and J'onn finally got a good look at the man Clark considered a friend.

He was wearing tough armor way better specifications than anything he had on hand at the DEO, A utility belt that looked like it had everything he might need down to a toothpick and the more noticeable things like the large bat symbol across his chest and the long ears on the mask concealing his identity.

Not that anyone but Kryptonians could do that to him.

"Bruce, J'onn J'onzz, J'onn - Bruce Wayne" Clark quickly introduced impatiently, "No sign of my cousins?" he asked Bruce, J'onn momentarily noted that Clark referring to both of the sisters as his cousins was significant but he filed it away for later

"No When you called I was just turfing the last of them out of their new base and into the less than thrilled police officers hands, When Alfred let me know I stuck around in case they showed up but they definitely didn't beat me here"

"Damnit" Clark swore he turned to J'onn, "Any pings on your mental detector?"

J'onn shook his head he had been keeping his mental abilities at full strength the whole flight in case they were for some reason on their way back.

"Alfred still has tabs on the phone in case it is turned back on" Bruce began, "He's working on forcibly turning it back on for a location but it looks like the phone is either destroyed or has run out of battery life"

"Great so we're back at square one" Clark sighed

"At least we're not flying around Central City we know they are here somewhere" J'onn supplied still remaining hopeful he could get both girls back in their beds before morning, "We could fly around here in a grid pattern?"

"Gotham's a big city" Bruce commented, "They could be anywhere, even underground" he added, "Flying above won't be much use if that's the case"

"I've got to do something" Growled Jonn taking his anger out a little on Bruce, "They're 12!"

"And one of those twelve year olds is a mini version of him" He said gruffly back pointing to Clark

"She's still twelve" Jonn snarled and he stepped toward Bruce angrily when he felt it on the edge of his consciousness Alex's mind. It stopped him mid stride and he reeled backwards a little.

"Alex" he whispered and he closed his eyes and focused on her

"She's just gotten off a train, she's at an outdoor subway station… Hoswick Station" he finished opening his eyes. Bruce immediately indicated that it was to his left and J'onn flew up with Clark next to him as he honed in on her location.

They were there in seconds but to Jonn it felt like hours. Landing under the tracks on the street, Clark paused to throw on a coat as Jon ran up the stairs to the platform.

He got on the platform and looked down to see Alex looking under the bench halfway down the tracks for something.

"Alex!" J'onn called his relief showing in his voice, she turned from where she was bent down.

"J'onn !" She cried and ran toward him and hugged him she spoke fast, "I'm so sorry I convinced Kara to come and we got split up but I didn't bring my phone and I think someone stole my backpack so I ran out of money and I really was just looking for money so I could call you I'm sorry"

"It's okay you're safe now" J'onn told her and lifted her up easy to turn to Clark who had just come up the stairs

"No Kara?" He mouthed and J'onn shook his head

"How are you here?" Alex asked into J'onn's shoulder

"He had a little help cousin" Clark spoke from behind them drawing Alex's attention and she turned from J'onn's neck looked toward him, "Clark! I'm sorry i lost Kara…"

He interrupted her, "Hey it's fine we can easily find her now we're all together with your extra brain power" he joked and Alex smiled a little amid tears. Suddenly a loud clang sound rattled behind them and then Bruce was behind them having used what looked to Jonn like a climbing line to get up to the platform

Alex made an inhalation of surprise as Clark muttered darkly wondering what was wrong with the stairs.

"Alfred got an update of a sighting of someone flying over the east side of the city"

Clark nodded, "I'm on it" and he vanished off in a blink, before Bruce could talk again J'onn spoke into his mind "They don't know"

J'onn couldn't see Bruce's face correctly to gauge his response but was shocked when across his mental link he replied, "Stupid but I won't reveal you if you don't reveal me"

"Are you.. Batman?" Alex asked most of her tears now gone.

"Yes" Bruce replied shortly, "Your cousin requested my assistance on my home turf to find you on your suicide mission" Alex looked down at the floor and then returned to rest her head on Jonn's chest

"However you might be pleased to hear all of the terrorist group are now behind bars" Bruce added in a moment of kindness, "So you're good to go home"

Alex peered at him from between her hair, "Is it true you're only a human?"

Bruce looked surprised at the question, "Yes"

J'onn looked down at her still in his arms, "Alex?" he questioned

"Oh Sorry Mr Batman I didn't mean to be rude it's just I honestly think it's really cool what you can do" She stuck out one of her hands as an offer for a handshake

"Alex Danvers, big fan"

Bruce from what J'onn could see looked bemused but shook her hand nethertheless, "This has turned into one of the weirder nights in Gotham" he commented just as they all felt a rush of air

Looking up from each other hopeful it was Clark's return with Kara they watched disappointed as a train sped through the platform. No one on board giving them a second glance

As the last of the train sped through their was another rush and this time they were greeted to the sight of Clark and Kara

Each sister shouted the others name and soon J'onn had armfuls of Danvers sisters, he had bent so all the girls had feet on the floor as they kept talking over the other in a misshapen hug.

One word rang through it all and that was how sorry they were that they had tried something as ridiculous as this and that they would never do it again.

They said their goodbyes to Batman/Bruce and thanked him as well. Him and Clark had a conversation as J'onn and the sisters headed down the platform steps to the street neither of them too willing to let go of his hands which led to quite the perilous descent of the steps, he wasn't too practised at stairs but he made it and they waited in silence for Clark.

He swooped down and they heard the sound of a grapple followed by an engine starting further down the road and the girls and J'onn got to watch the batmobile zoom past them.

They worked out travel logistics and Kara carried Alex and Clark 'carried' J'onn back to the house. It was early morning by the time they landed and Alex looked like she was a frozen icicle.

"Let's just get you both to bed and talk about this in the morning" J'onn told the both of them as he unlocked the front door and ushered them both in.

"Goodnight" they both chorused sleepily and wandered up the stairs. After they were out of sight Jonn turned to Clark, "Thank you, I couldn't have done that without you"

Clark nodded and then let out a large yawn himself, "No problem, let me know how it goes Oh and-" he dropped his voice to a whisper, "I told Bruce about the cover up and he's going to see what he can uncover on his end… he has less bureaucratic tape to deal with"

J'onn raised an eyebrow, "Take all the help I can get on this one, something's not right"

Clark slapped him on the shoulder, "We will get who's responsible but for tonight I just need to get into my bed for an hour before work!"

They bid each other goodnight and J'onn went upstairs and was more than elated to see both girls asleep in their respected beds.

Closing each of their doors he turned and went to re think tonight's events thinking about how he had come too close to failing Jeremiah and Eliza.

It was late morning when both Alex and Kara woke around the same time. Jonn could hear them moving between rooms and the bathroom from the ceiling above as he sat at the kitchen table, the cereal boxes surrounding him.

Eventually both girls came downstairs and seated themselves across from him and began making their breakfast. They talked between each other but J'onn stayed silent waiting for them to settle with their meals. It wasn't long before their conversation died and they began shifting uncomfortably in the silence of J'onn's stare.

"John we're sorry" Alex started but faltered off as J'onn made moves to speak,

"Oh I know you're both sorry and I know you both regret what you did last night, you taught yourselves that lesson while we were all out in the middle of Gotham at three in the morning" Both girls looked at their cereal bowl uncomfortably and Kara shuffled her spoon around the bowl,

"But what you don't know is how profoundly disappointed I am with the both of you" He started and both girls looked up at him a little stunned, "Flying off together, you leaving your phone Alex and you Kara turning yours off when I tried to call, leaving me with a note telling me you had flown off to god knows where to avenge your parents, are you aware how stupid that is?"

Kara opened her mouth to speak but Jonn shot her a look and she closed it again, "Do you have any idea what that did to me? Here I am trying to do my best for my friends in making sure their children grow up safely and I'm left with an empty house and a note I can't even show to the police to report you missing because it says the words 'Kara has flown us'" Both girls winced, "Now I know you feel sorry and regret what you did but I think that's only because your plan didn't work out quite as you would have liked"

J'onn stood up from his chair, "I am not going to punish either of you as I think the ordeal of yesterday was enough" he caught the look of relief that crossed their faces, "But since Alex you instigated this" Alex made a motion to interject but J'onn continued, "And Kara you allowed your sister to pressure you into this plan your both to blame and i think maybe a week of no TV should do" Both girls went to groan and J'onn snapped

"Which is nothing compared to what could be happening to you right now if Clark hadn't been able to help me find you"

Both girls looked chastised and then Kara got up and walked around the table to give J'onn a hug, "I am really sorry J'onn, we won't do it ever again" Alex stood up and joined in the hug "We won't"

J'onn sighed and hugged them both back, "I know you won't"

The summer was all over far too soon and then J'onn was packing them up ready for school like he did many months back when their parents were still alive.

They were quiet, definitely not like they had been during summer. There had been bad days of course but never both of them at the same time past the initial few weeks, there was also no trouble getting them up dressed and into the car as they had elected to not get the bus this morning.

It was quiet in the car by even Alex who normally by now would have forced the window down. He pulled up outside the school almost far too fast for his liking not wanting to leave them. He turned off the engine and turned to them both.

"Have the best day you can, and … If you need me you both have my number and I will come right down and pick you up"

They both nodded and headed out the car, both of theme giving him a parting hug which was awkward in the cab but they made it work.

He stayed in the parking lot and watched them until they were inside the school. They received a lot of stares from those who didn't know them but more often than not hugs from classmates and support.

He smiled a little, maybe this is what they had needed all along.