A Future Sooner than Tomorrow

Reflecting Past On Future

A/N: Bizzaro won't be using opposite speech here both for narrative reasons and for my overall sanity while writing this ♥️

Bizarro crosses the room, fast but clearly without using any superspeed. Once he's within arms' reach of Artemis, he stops.

Kal can see why Red Hood called Bizarro 'big guy' back when first describing him. Bizarro is large, as big or even slightly bigger than Kal himself. He towers over Artemis even as he smiles down sweetly at her.

His eyes hover over her face and his smile falls slowly, a concerned frown taking over his face.

"Everything okay?" Bizarro asks.

Artemis looks away, biting slightly at her lip. "As okay as I can be. Why do you ask?"

"Tense," he says simply and pats at her high shoulders. She snorts slightly and puts her hands over his.

Kal can feel the confusion coming off of Diana at his side. He feels the same. If he, or any man for that matter, had done that to Diana in their first month or so of knowing each other, she would've had her lasso around his throat.

Amazons usually hate or at least strongly dislike men. Artemis being so friendly with Red Hood and Bizarro, and tactile even, is strange to see. There's no hesitance in how she interacts with Bizarro, even with him so far into her personal space.

"Bizarro, we need to talk about the rescue misson," Artemis pauses as she pulls Bizarro's hands between them. She doesn't seem able to look him in the eye and instead focuses purely on their hands. "My part of the misson, specifically."

"Okay," Bizarro agrees easily. He doesn't look worried anymore, face entirely relaxed.

Kal finds it strange. The tension in the room is palpable, yet Bizarro seems unaffected.

"Waiting for Hood and Kon?" Bizarro leans left and the right, clearly looking past the Justice League in search of his teammate and brother.

Artemis' grip on his hands tighten. "About that... you may need to sit down for this."

Bizarro blinks at her, owlishly. His brows furrow and he sucks in the side of his cheeks. Kal recognises the gesture but can't think of where he's seen it before. Confusion, he thinks.

"Can talk standing," Bizarro says slowly. He gestures to himself with both hands and then Artemis.

"No, really," Artemis insists. She's impatient, tapping fingers together. Amxious. "You're going to need to sit down."

If anything, Bizarro manages to look more confused and even slightly frustrated. There's a crease to the corners of his eyes.

It's strange seeing his face move in such ways. His expressions, unlike Kon's, all look discomfortingly similar and yet wrong.

Bizarro's face looks like Kal's face. And yet his mannerisms are nowhere close to Kal's.

"Am fine. Feel fine," Bizarro says stubbornly. Kal peers at his teammates. They're all looking back and forth between the two in front.

Batman's lenses are narrowed, and he and Diana keep sharing glances. They look towards Kal. At his inquiring looks, Diana mouths, 'we'll talk later' silently. Kal looks towards Batman. Batman nods and adds, 'Watchtower, as a group.'

"Okay," Kal mumbles.

Bizarro's eyes flicker to Kal as though just noticing he's there. Then immediately back at Artemis. He steps closer to her.

She pats his arm and slowly says, "I know you feel fine. But I would feel better if you sat down for this, okay? Even you you don't need to."

Bizarro's face goes blank before lighting up in understanding. He nods compliantly. He walks over to the couch and sits down with his legs tucked under himself. Artemis' lips quirk up at the corners before she falls back into her somber mood.