Eddie Brock tried to clear his throat with a cough, but he knew the lump wasn't going anywhere. He rubbed at his sweaty palms with his fingers nervously. The perspiration registered subconsciously with the symbiote as being uncomfortable to the host and so it exuded a transparent layer of cells over his hands to absorb it and feed. It was content and communicated this to the host, adding a moment of unease to an already awkward situation.

    The Hall of Justice was uncomfortably quiet as the assembled heroes waited for Eddie to talk. Harry was already looking somewhat wearily at his watch. Matt had just gotten there a moment earlier, having been delayed by having to deal with a mugger, and could hear Eddie's rising pulse and knew not to ask if he had missed anything--whatever it was, he was still gearing up for it.

    Earth's heroes, Eddie thought?  These are MY heroes!  I've spent my whole life watching them soar the skies.  These are my idols.  How can I tell them what I did?

    Daredevil heard Eddie's pulse spike again over a muffled, impatient croak from the back of Harry's throat.

    "Um, hi," Eddie said. "I'm glad you all came.  I've called you all here to, um.discuss..." He worked his mouth, hoping the words would magically somehow come. Uncomfortable silence was beginning to consume him yet again. He wasn't sure if he could go on.

    Eddie looked out at the assembled heroes. In the gulf of the new pause, Harley was beginning to decidedly lose interest and examine her manicure. AGF had re-filled his coffee mug and was now leaning on the wall by the door, clearly eager to leave. NoMan regarded Eddie with inhuman stillness. The Joker fanned a deck of cards absently with one well-practiced hand, his smile opaque, eyebrows raised, still interested, but aloof. Warden was quiet as usual, and shyly expectant. The aliens sat together and exchanged looks, clearly centered on their reactions to human inelegance--Zero Man's gently wry, Genni's increasingly annoyed, Starfire's exuberantly intrigued. Captain America was sitting back in his chair, fingers tented, lips slightly pursed, looking at Eddie intently.

    No!  I owe it to them, Eddie thought.

     I owe it to HER.

    "I have something I need to show you."

    Eddie motioned to communications room's room and it opened.  A very beautiful woman surrounded in yellow flame walked through it. She looked uncomfortable, even slightly scared.  She tried to move close to Eddie, who stepped back reflexively from the heat, then stopped, standing awkwardly under the many eyes. She looked to Eddie for a sign.  With his nod of encouragement, she extinguished the flame around her. There were a few gasps, sharp intakes of breath, and one chuckle followed by a golf clap.

    "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like you to meet Gwen Stacey."

    Gwen smiled nervously at the assembled heroes.

    The Joker sprang up. "Pleased as punch! Speaking of which, with that out of the way, I now move that we adjourn for punch and pie."

    "Seconded!" Harley said.

    "No," Eddie said. "Wait. This is important."

    "So is punch and pie," The Joker replied. "What kind of pie did we bring this time, hon? Apple?"

    "Rutabaga, Puddin'."

    "Rutabaga pudding? Why that sounds even better than pie!"

    "Joker, please," Captain America said. "Go on, son."

    "As many of you know, the work of the Atomic Armadillo led me in a new way of thinking," Eddie began. "Three weeks ago, I started work with Dr. Miles Warren on a cure. Together, we were able to create a treatment that altered Gwen at a genetic level, giving her fire powers signifigant enought to drive away the Carnage symbiote, and the strength to survive the withdrawal.  We were successful.

    "We prepared a different set of treatments at the time to revert her genetic structure back to normal, as the mutation looked to be highly unstable. Unfortunately, as I'm sure you all can tell, things did not go according to plan. The first step of the cure was to make her powers go temporarily dormant. After we did that, Dr. Warren betrayed Gwen and myself, nearly killing me in the process.  While I was trapped, Gwen decided to retake the first treatment, reactivating the powers and bonding their mutation totally to her DNA, in order to save my life."

    Recalling that gruesome day, both Gwen and Eddie reached for each other's hand for comfort and Eddie stepped back in what appeared to be intense
pain.

    "I do not understand," Starfire asked.  "Please, why are you not joyful? Is this not a happy day?"

    "It is, Starfire, it is," Eddie said. " But there are two problems.  First, there was an explosion in the lab that destroyed all the notes.  Without those notes, I have no way of recreating the final phase of the treatment Dr Warren developed. I know it had to do with certain nucleotides found only in my symbiote, but removing them would have killed us both. But even if I can recreate what we needed then, I'm not sure it would even work now that she took that second dose of the agent that catalyzed her powers. And the mutation that gives her these powers is highly unstable, so there's a concern she could begin to... degenerate."

    He wanted to hold her more than anything, but the symbiote howled at even the thought of it. Eddie slammed a lid on the symbiote's moaning. "To that end, I...."

    "We," Gwen corrected.

    "Yes, we are asking all of you with scientific experience to lend your expertise in helping us monitor and treat Gwen should anything go wrong. "Second...." There was no more avoiding it.  "Second, I... I must turn myself in for the willing commitment of a possible felony."

    AGF took a single step toward the conference table as he sipped his coffee.

    Eddie's words came in a rush. "The process I used to cure Gwen and give her these powers was derived from 'The Anointing.'  In using the Atomic Armadillo's research, I knowingly and willfully applied the research of the Patchwork Man in my work.  As we all know, use of any of the Patchwork Man's work is against the law.  It was Dr. Warren's idea, but I must take full responsibility for my own part.  As such, I am turning myself in for a full investigation.  During the time of this investigation, I will not participate in any crime-fighting, nor will I leave the Hall without supervision.  If you feel I should be jailed, I will fully cooperate.  I will offer up all information requested in this investigation and take whatever course is necessary according to the law.  If convicted, I will willingly serve my sentence.  D.D., I hope you will agree to be my lawyer?

    Reflexively, Gwen reached her hand to put it on his should, but then pulled it back at the last moment and touched her own face.

    "We are heroes," Eddie continued. " We are to be an example to the people we protect.  I intend to fulfill that example.  From this point until otherwise directed, I will consider myself in the custody of the JLA.  What will you have me do?"

    The first to break the brief silence after Eddie's revelation was The Joker.

    "Oh, is that all?  Whew! You had me worried!  I thought maybe you were going into TV news or something." He let out a braying cackle. He jumped out of his chair and pounced at Eddie, throwing his arm around Eddie's shoulders.

    "Ohhh welll, Edwardo, I wouldn't worry too awful muchly about those silly ol' Patchwork Man technology laws; I don't remember there being any!" Another cackle. He then leaned theatrically over to Harley and stage whispered, "Psst...Harley...destroy those slides and call my army of attorneys!"

    "Hacky, Joke & Dunnit, it is, Puddin'."

    "As for keeping you in custody," the Joker continued to Eddie, still keeping him physically off balance with the raw power of his aggressive chumminess, "...hey, aren't we all just prisoners here of our own device?!? Don't either of you worry your pretty little heads. We'll work on this thing. I've made some really nifty upgrades on the JLA biochemistry lab, including a large machine... a very expensive machine... a machine that goes, 'ping,' and all kindsa neat stuff!.  It's gooder than it's ever been!"

    The Joker hurled Eddie back into a chair, and then spun around and threw his arms into the air with a flourish, laughing. "Don't you worry; never fear; JLA is always here!!!"

    As Eddie collected himself from this relatively very mild interaction with The Joker, Matt looked at him from the end of the table, "I never did take the bar exam.  After I exposed my identity, I decided against trying to return to NYU.  But, personally, I don't think you will need a lawyer.  In what sense is everything we do completely legal?  You do realize that only reason we still operate is because the President signed an executive order allowing, right?" Matt grinned.  "The ends justify the means. You saved your love. I think it only appropriate that Patchy's little toys saved a life, rather than destroying one."

    Eddie visibly flinched at the "the ends justify the means," part. He recovered quickly and even managed to smile weakly. 'Thanks."

    "Yeah," Harry said, dismissively. "And none of us have ever done anything even somewhat questionable. I myself didn't inject myself full of a chemical formula created by a psychotic supervillain."

    There were some murmurs around the conference table. Hearing them, the Joker turned to Harley and started saying, "Murmur... Murmur..."

    "An investigation would be short, pointless and stupid," Harry continued. "We know what you did. You're not denying it. The question really is 'Do we feel like punishing you for it?' Personally? My answer is no. You used his work to try to undo his work. And while it may have worked, it may also be killing Gwen. You have to live with that. What could we possibly do to you that would be worse than that? And why should we cut ourselves off from having you as an ally as a result?"

    Harry sighed and rubbed his temples. "Of course I'll lend any knowledge I can to the cause. It's not like I don't have some experience with unknown compounds used to mutate a person derived from that lunatic's theories."

    "Thanks, Harry," Eddie said.  "I appreciate your support more than you can know.  However, it is not we who can decide whether what I did was right or wrong.  We are not above the law, nor are we the law.  My innocence must be for the courts to decide, or our work is in vain.  As such, I can not, in good conscience, let this rest until either the police find I have committed no crime, or I am acquitted... if I am acquitted."

    "Venom get over it," Harley said with a snort. "One of the reasons we work is because we have been given a lot of leeway from the legal authorities to take care of things they can't. That includes bending and breaking the rules. Things they can't do, we do for them. Yer a big boy now; live with yer decision or don't, just don't ask us to light the fire at yer own witch burning."

    Eddie looked at her with a little surprise, then he remembered the footage show nationwide over and over again during the Legion crisis of her almost killing Batman. "Harley, we're not talking about matters of due process here. I am not sorry for what I have done.  If given the chance, I surely would do it again.  I firmly believe that sometimes it is necessary to break the law in order to do what is right.  However, that does not make what I did any more legal.  That is why I am turning myself in.  I will let the justice system decide my innocence and, if appropriate, the extent of my punishment.  The people of Earth must know that we do not stand above them, but beside them.  They must know that we are real, we are mortal, we are fallible.  But most importantly, they must know that we are willing to step up and take responsibility."

    "Nice martyr complex ya got there," Harley sniffed. "Did you get it from Macy's? That's where my mom got hers, you know."

    Ghost Fighter had heard enough. He drained his coffee mug, pulled down his mask and slipped out the door. This doesn't concern him. If he stayed any longer he'll be late getting back to Gotham and he had work to do there.  Plus Mary was playing in a club with a new combo that night and he didn't intend to miss it. With tempers starting to get hotter, only Daredevil and Gwen noticed him leave.

    Gwen, too, was hanging back. She wanted to say something, but didn't know quite what. She can only think about how her life used to make sense. Several times she opened her mouth as if to speak, then seemed to change her mind.  She'd really rather not get involved-- even if it was her life that was on the line.

    "Miss Harley, Mr. Goblin," a small voice came from the other side of the table. Warden stood up and held his hands behind his back to keep them from shaking as all the eyes rested on him. "I don't think you understand what he's sayin'.  Mr. Venom ain't gonna look at it and say it's all OK 'cause I was tryin' ta do good. Lots o' people make big messes while they're tryin' ta do good. Cheshire Cat was tryin' ta do good, and thought it was fine ta hurt Cap, the President an' anyone else who might interfere. Mr. Venom knows that tryin' ta do good isn't enough. It actually has to be good."

    Warden paused and looked around the room. "I think we should investigate. We should understand what he did, what he coulda' done and what harm he may a caused. If it comes out he did wrong, I think he wants to pay the price. If he did good, we should thank him. But either way, we owe it ta him to know for sure, and ta be willing to hold our own to the standards we hold everyone else to."

    Harry was now gently seething. "Oh, I understand exactly what he's saying. I just don't believe for a moment this is an issue of being concerned with the law. This is about feeling guilty," he said in clipped tones. "The fact of the matter is that we break laws almost every day. Having secret identities probably violates some laws. Many of the sources of our abilities violates the law. And we enter hideouts without waiting for warrants, pre-emptively attack villains, destroy evidence and a million other violations of the law." His voice started getting higher and louder. "Hell, if we were concerned with the law above everything, why then did we let Green Lantern take the Patchwork Man away? If we were concerned with holding ourselves to the standard of the law above all, he should be in jail, his ability to slip out be damned."

    He paused a second and when he resumed he was calmer. Marginally. "Like I said, an investigation would be short, simple and pointless," he said with deliberate precision. "Venom used technology that is illegal to use. He's not denying it. It may have saved Gwen's life. It may have damned her. Only time will tell."

    Harry stood up and swept his arms. "Who outside of this room is even qualified to do an investigation? And what possible punishment could be appropriate?"

    Harry stalked over to Eddie and glared at him. "This isn't about wanting to follow the laws of the land. If you were concerned about that, you'd stop being a super-hero and become a cop. Part of what we do requires that we not obey every law. We are given a certain amount of trust that we won't violate the law in big ways, but if we did everything strictly according to the law, we couldn't do almost any of what we do, and you all know it. Venom, you're not worried about whether or not you broke the law. You're looking for absolution. You're looking for someone to either tell you that you did right, or if you did wrong, to punish you for it. I can understand that. My whole career as the Goblin is about that, honestly. But you're not going to find it by submitting yourself to the legal process."

    Harry spun away from Eddie and picked up his briefcase. "Hell with it. Do whatever you need to. I just can't believe that people confused you with Spider-Man. Now, if we're done here, I'll be at my office. Some of us realize that the people who depend on them are more important than any feelings of personal guilt."

    Eddie stood up angrily as Harry started to leave. "Thanks for your advice and your help, GG.  But let's get one thing straight. You don't understand me and you don't understand what I'm really about. And until you realize this, you will probably never understand how Spider-Man could be deceived into believing that you are a villain.  And why it was YOU that the Patchwork Man got him to turn on, and why it will be so difficult to fix."

   Harry stopped in his tracks. No one in the room was breathing. Eddie instantly realized he'd gone too far.

   Harry slowly turned back around. He barked out a laugh and Daredevil cringed at its similarity to ones he'd heard from Harry's father in the heat of battle. Harry looked Eddie in the eyes without a shred of emotion visible. "You haven't earned the right to talk to me about Peter Parker. You say I don't understand you? Fine, you're probably right. After all, I thought you were dedicated to doing what is right, not what is 'easy'. But don't presume to understand me, or to understand Peter Parker. You want to throw yourself in jail instead of staying where you can make a difference? Don't let me stop you. For her sake, not yours, my notes are available for helping with her treatment."

    Harry left.

    Eddie almost started after him, whether to apologize or continue the argument no one could say.   "I wish I was surprised.  Huh?  Yeah, me too.  Well, maybe one day he will learn," he muttered to himself. Eddie wondered at what point exactly things had gone so completely off the tracks. This wasn't what he wanted, not at all, but now he felt besieged and like he couldn't back down.

    NoMan calculated that it was now the optimum time to speak. He deduced that there were approximately 36 probably outcomes from entering the conversation at this point, and only three of them made the situation markedly worse. "If you would like my input, Eddie, I would point out that I have been involved in cutting edge science and government for several years. What you have done breaks no laws, only government guidelines for federally funded labs, although  it does test the boundaries of ethical science. But to be a proper scientist one must be willing to sometimes test those boundaries. If you go into the police now, they will simply be confused, and will tell you to go home before all of the greedy defense attorneys come out of the woodwork.

    "What you need to do now, is to drop all thoughts of self blame and guilt, and look at correcting whatever mistakes might have been made to improve the current situation. I can assure you, if you turn yourself over to the law now, and the media and government investigate this matter, they might as a knee jerk reaction put laws into place that might prevent you from correcting matters. Cut your losses and move on. Trust me on this one." NoMan was content with this reasoning; so much so he reassigned 12% of his neural network's processing power to working on a plasma flow calculation for the new power cell he had been designing.

    Eddie shook his head vehemently. "No. That's the problem.  I really don't know if I've broken the law or not.  I’d like assistance from those who have legal expertise in sussing out this matter: discovering if a law was broken, and figuring out where to go from there.  It is merely that, until we can discover if I've broken no laws, I want to do everything I can to ensure the legal course is taken.  Don't mistake me, I'm not about to go running to the media.  I know better than most here what they can do to our cause.  However, if I have broken the law, this will create a storm and I’d rather face it head-on than find it haunting us years from now.”

    Over a microsecond, a positron cascade simulating profound annoyance shimmered over NoMan's consciousness. As the probabilities coalesced unexpectedly into an unforeseen worst case scenario involving an emotional outburst, NoMan greeted it with some satisfaction, as these were the moments when, for all the crystalline purity of his silicone existence, his essential humanity stubbornly made itself manifest.

    NoMan nodded to Eddie. "As you wish, Eddie. Since you are determined to be incarcerated for breaking the law, I am here-by placing you under arrest."

    NoMan walked over to Eddie, drawing handcuffs from his belt; his expression stern, the shadows around his eyes deepening. "I have many friends and colleagues in the FBI who will ensure that you will spend the remainder of your lifetime in a federal prison. Say good-bye to your teammates and Gwen; it's the last time you'll ever see them."

    The symbiote growled in Eddie’s head, echoing his own anger. Eddie’s stance shifted from standing to defensive, muscles tensed, alert. Fists clenched. Ready.

    “That is enough! Both of you!”

    Eddie and NoMan stopped and looked at the far end of the conference table. Captain America was still sitting as he had been this entire time; his hands clenched in front of his face, listening intently. His cold blue eyes now rested on NoMan. Captain America slowly rose to his feet and walked over to him.

    “Dr. Dunn, you of all people, should be ashamed of yourself. You have dedicated your entire life to the responsibilities of power. Would you rather this lad never examine his conscience? And when he finds something there that sincerely troubles him, would you have him not come to people he trusts to share it with and ask for help and advice?”

    NoMan’s shaded eyes remained inscrutable, even as micro-hydraulics hissed imperceptibly and the android’s jaw set and his head inclined slightly downward.

    Captain American suddenly spun around to face Venom, his finger pointing directly at him. “And you, mister! You’d better get off your pedestal and stop acting like your brand of conscience and suffering is more significant than anyone else’s in this room.”

    Venom was started by the force of the words and stepped back. Cap crossed his arms and continued, still staring at Eddie. “Everyone on this team have all learned hard lessons about loss and sacrifice, and have struggled with themselves over the lengths that they’re prepared to go to in order to make sure that no one else ever has to go through what they have. So, with that in mind, you'll forgive me if I wonder how much of this self-flagellation is genuine and how much of this is your insecurity showing through and manifesting by wanting to be the center of attention.”

    Venom visibly wilted.

    Cap’s voice softened, but remained stern. “You’re a brave young man, son. I know this. I’ve seen you in action. But you have a lot to learn about the quiet courage, dignity and self-confidence that has nothing to do with the battlefield, and yet is exactly what makes it possible for us to do what we do. Day in and day out.”

    Cap turned back toward NoMan. “But these are the mistakes of youth, the mistakes of a youth with promise, and you know that as well as I. And you and I have been around a while—this is nothing new.  I’ve been in combat and seen bright, brave, young men driven to extremes they never wanted, driven to do thing they never dreamed. And I’ve seen them collapse in the face of it for a time. Take their real grief and guilt and build a romance around it, enacting the drama of it for all to see, making a show so they don’t have to deal with the real problem, the deeper questions that only they can answer.” Cap smiled slightly and took a step toward NoMan. “It can be frustrating for us old fogies to watch; you just want to just give them a kick in the tail, but what they often need more than anything is just a helping hand. Someone to take them and their worries seriously.”

    Captain America turned from both of them and paced away slowly, walking around the JLA conference table. “Gentlemen, when we stop looking carefully and sincerely at our motivations and our actions, when we stop asking how what we do effects others, how it inspires or disappoints others, we begin to risk becoming exactly what the Patchwork Man always wanted us to be. And when we squabble amongst ourselves instead of listening to each other, we tear at the foundations of not just a team, but of the very support mechanism that helps to keep us all on the right path.”

    Cap stopped at his chair and stood behind it. “To be honest, I don’t know what the legality is of what Eddie has done, and before any of us go off half-cocked, I think we should find out. I will look into this personally and we will let the chips fall where they may. Until then, Venom, NoMan, I want you to look at each other.”

    Reluctantly, guardedly, NoMan and Venom turned to face each other again.

    “The man in front of you is worthy of your respect,” Cap said.  “He has mine, and that does not come easily. Now shake hands and let’s be done with this.”

    There room was deathly quiet as everyone waited to see what would happen next…

    “I don’t agree with everything he has to say, but enough of it is right,” Eddie said. He let down his guard and stuck out his hand.

    "I also agree with a lot of what Cap had to say," NoMan replied with a hint of pride in his voice. "You have character, young man; I failed to acknowledge that, and in that I was wrong.  At the same time, Cap was correct that you need to learn to internalize your doubts a bit more and deal with them in a more guarded and measured fashion.  Wearing them on your sleeve can give ammunition to the enemy.  You're relatively new to this fight, and I'm an old war horse who has become largely numb to global threats and black-bag intrigue.  Hopefully, we can both learn from each other and grow a bit."

    NoMan took the handshake as a hint of a smile crossed his features.

    The Joker smiled widely. "God bless us...everyone!"  He immediately spun around to make sure AGF had left.
"Whew...he's IS gone...good thing...coulda got myself zapped." He laughed.

    Eddie breathed a sigh of relief as he felt the tension drain out of the room. But he realized it wasn't over yet.

    He turned to Gwen and got as close as was comfortable.  The symbiote did not appreciate it.

    "I'm so sorry, sweetheart.  This has been extraordinarily unfair to you. This is supposed to be about you, and I hijacked it.  Please, this is your
day.  Do you want to say something?  Do you want to introduce yourself?"

    Gwen took a deep breath and shuffled her feet.  She had wanted to make a good impression on the JLA, but that wasn't going too well so far, all thing considered. She stepped forward a little and said, "Hi. I'm Gwen.  I'm really sorry to be the cause of such dissension.  It's really great to meet all of
you."

    Cap shook her hand. "Welcome aboard, Miss. And don't feel like you are to blame for this. Like any team, sometimes we have disagreements, even strong disagreements, but we work them out and are stronger for it. And we always come together when someone needs help. We'll get you both through this, I promise."

    Zero Man was the next to step forward and offer his hand. "Welcome to the team.  Don't worry about them", nodding his head toward the masse of heroes, "For Humans, they are good people." He chuckled. "It is strange. I have met many different races across the galaxy, and they all pretty much act the same way."

    Gwen smiled.

    "I have to go now," Zero Man said, lifting into the air. "I need to do some research on this Christmas thing you Humans celebrate.  It sounds like fun." Zero Man the flew out the roof exit.

    Genni-Cide continued to hover in the air, while sitting cross-legged and being affectionate with her white cat, Fuzzy Muffin of Doom.

    "Greetings Girl," she said in her usual delightful tone of cold. "Apologizing for the weak one's behavior is incorrect. Never apologize for another, it surrenders power to the enemy and weakens yourself."

    She lowered herself to be in view of Gwen, critically analyzing her. "You need to be trained, your body is weak, your stance is submissive, and you reek of victimization. On my world we would have killed you. However, if you show promise I may choose to impart some of my skills to you."

    Genni looked to the Joker and then shakes her head, "I know better than to ask you of this thing you call Christmas. Since Ghost Fighter does not care for it, I will ask him; his answers will be at least understandable."

    "And dull. Terribly dull," The Joker replied. "So I'm going to tell you anyway!"

    The Joker, smiling even wider than usual, stepped up onto the JLA meeting room lecture platform. "Lights, please."

    Harley dimmed the main lights and flipped on the platform spot.

    The Joker raised his hands flamboyantly as he met his audiences' gaze.

    "In the beginning...there was nothing...except little particles of something...that evolved from nothing...We call this, 'something-nothing'..."

    Harley, having heard this routine before, rolled her eyes.

    "This something-nothing amassed and took shape" the Joker continued, "and upon achieving sufficient mass, EXPLODED....knocking the 'SH' off of 'SHAPE'...leaving 'APE'... And thus...BONZO was born!!! The great, cosmic orangutan looked over the vastness of black space...and declared, 'Let there be light!' And lo....a hunnerd-kajillion watt bulb lit all of existence... And Bonzo looked upon it, and said 'Ook.' And then came the planets, as even Bonzo could not remain constipated forever! And he added atmospheres to some of them to air them out.  He looked upon his handiwork...and he said, 'Ook.' But it was all too orderly, so he declared, 'Let there be chaos and stupidity!' And lo...MAN walked the earth!' But MAN was a relatively quiet creature, sitting around the campfire scratching his armpits... And it came to pass that the first man, Pete, said, 'It's awful quiet.' And the second man, RePete, said, 'Yeah, a little tooooo quiet!'
So Bonzo declared, 'Let there be NOISE!' And lo...WOMAN was created and all hope for tranquility lost forever... And man's stupidity bloomed to greater levels, even beyond what Bonzo might one day be able to tolerate...so Bonzo inspired them to build ATOM BOMBS as a fail-safe!"

    The Joker stepped off the platform and walked up to Genni.

    "And that's what Christmas is all about, Genni-Cide." he said with calm sincerity.

    He then walked over to Gwen and gave her a quick, "Here's lookin' at you, kid." in his best Bogart voice, and then quietly walked back over to where Harley stood.

    Harley whapped the Joker soundly on the forehead with her palm, causing him to rebound against the wall.

    "Yer hopes fer tranquility tonight has just lessened, Puddin." Harley quipped with mock menace and a sly grin, "And if you tell that 'Koosh Maker' story, yer REALLY in trouble."

    "Not even 'Nate the Snake'?" the prostrate Joker snickered.

    "Do you want I should have Reed Richards explain the Negative Zone to you again?!?" Harley countered.

    "Ulp...I'll be good," the Joker whimpered.

    While this bit of vaudeville was continuing, a little boy made his way to Gwen. "Hi, Miss Stacey. I'm Warden, and I'm here 'cause I come with Mentalon.  I'm real happy ta see ya doin good, an' I'm sorry about your loss. As Captain America said, lots a' folks around here really understand loss, though."

    Gwen was touched by Warden's solemn tone and was bending over to talk to him when Koriand'r flew towards her quickly, almost tackling her with a hug.

    "Hello, new friend!  My name is Starfire!  It is a great joy to have you with us!  You need not be sorry.  There is no need to listen to these gardnacks." He voice fell to a whisper. "Their shlortl is worse than their bite." He voice rose again. "Would you like a glass of the 'mustard'?  Oh what a joyous day," she
exclaimed as she flew off to the kitchen.

    Gwen nodded to all of them. "Thanks.  I appreciate your welcome." Then she called into the kitchen. "And, um, no mustard for me thanks...."

    As the group continued to introduce themselves the Gwen, Captain America walked away. He looked out the window, deep in thought. NoMan joined him.

    "What do you think, Captain?"

    "I think we may have just lost a member of the team."

    "The Goblin, yes. It is unfortunite."

    "Well, there is always the Christmas party," Cap said brightly. "That should put everyone in a good mood. Give us an opportunity to smooth it over."

    "This is the JLA Christmas Party we are discussing, correct?" NoMan said.

    "Yes." A pause. "What? It will be fine."

    NoMan ran a second series of probability calculations using all known variables. It wasn't encouraging.