Caliburn: Agent of CHECKMATE

"Serves him right." I growled. I'd never liked my father. He'd been a decent provider, but he'd always had a history of verbal abuse towards me and mom. I looked at the shock on Mr. Reynolds' face. "What? He was an asshole who used to rail my mom endlessly over little shit. I'm surprised he never hit her before, more than anything. He's always had a temper, and was even worse when he drank. I'm not sorry he's dead." I meant every word of it, too.

Mr. Reynolds nodded. "I understand, son. I just hope your mom takes it as well as you are."

"Hell of a week, Adam." Kev said and clapped his hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah. Mom's in a coma, but at least dad won't be able to hurt her again, and we've got two hot dates for Prom." I laughed ironically.

"Oh? You found a date, Kevin?" Mr. Reynolds asked his son.

"Well, more like Adam found me a date. He asked his date if she had any friends who might be willing to go with me." Kev blushed even as he grinned ear to ear.

Mr. Reynolds chuckled. "You mean you're both going to Prom with Superheroines?"

"Unless there's an alien invasion or something, it looks that way, sir." I smiled and shrugged. "Vixen is bringing Zatanna as Kev's date."

"I've had a crush on her for years, dad." Kev grinned.

The rest of the afternoon and evening went with me and Kev sitting by mom's bedside most of the night. Mari and I texted back and forth for a while, joking around. I read the texts to mom, hoping something would get through to her. I texted Mari with where I was, and about an hour later, she showed up.

"Hi, Adam. How is she?" Her voice caught me by surprise. I looked up and smiled.

"Hey, Mari. No change yet." I stood as she came over and hugged me. She was dressed in civilian clothes, but Kev was hyperventilating upon seeing her.

"Mari, the hypervent there is my best bud Kevin. Kevin, this is Mari, AKA Vixen." I introduced them, and she smiled at Kev. Kevin got his breathing under control and shook her hand.

She thought for a moment. "I'll be right back." She stepped out into the hall and pulled out what I thought was her cellphone at first, until I saw the JLA logo emblazoned on it. She talked for a moment, then hung up and came back in. We all sat at mom's bedside talking about what had happened. Detective Reynolds came back in shortly afterwards and stopped dead as his eyebrows hit his hairline.

"Vixen, this is Detective Reynolds, Kev's dad." I introduced them too.

"Ma'am, it's a pleasure to meet you." Mr. Reynolds said with a smile.

"Likewise, Detective." She smiled back, then sat back down by me.

He turned to Kevin. "Come on, Kev. Your mom has dinner waiting on us."

That was when a soft pink flash of light happened outside the room and a lady in top hat, topcoat with tails, and fishnet mesh leggings came into the room. "Is this the place?" She asked with an impish smile.

"Zee, this is Adam, my date for Friday night, and this is Kevin. He'll be your date to their Senior Prom. And that's Detective Reynolds, Kevin's father." Vixen said.

Zatanna shook Mr. Reynolds' hand and smiled. "Pleased to meet you, Detective."

Kevin looked like he was either going to come in his pants, pass out, or both. He rallied himself and stood slowly, holding out his hand. "Hi, I'm Kevin." He introduced himself.

When she shook his hand, he raised it to his lips and kissed it. "Oooh, a gentleman. A pleasure to meet you, Kevin." Zatanna blushed!

"The pleasure is all mine, Zatanna." Kevin said with more gallantry than I knew he possessed. I nodded in respect for his ability to NOT make a complete ass of himself.

"Sorry, ladies. I hate to break this up, but Kev and I really need to get home. My wife has dinner ready." Mr. Reynolds said as he shook their hands.

"Sorry, Detective. We won't keep you." Zatanna smiled at him.

Mr. Reynolds nearly had to drag Kevin out of the room, leaving just me and the two most beautiful members of the JLA in my mom's hospital room.

"Ladies, this is my mom, Lynnette. She can't really say anything right now, but hopefully she'll be up and around soon." I smiled at them both.

Mom loves Superheroes. I told Mari and Zatanna, who insisted I call her Zee, about mom's huge crush on Superman. They laughed quietly at that.

Zatanna noticed my Batman t-shirt and laughed with a smile. "If he only knew what kind of fans he's inspired."

"Huh?" I asked. Yeah, real intelligent sounding, right?

"Mari told us all how you took down your father who had been beating your mom. When he found out about the injuries you inflicted, Bats said 'He must have some skill', so you've just impressed one of the best martial artists on Earth." Zee said.

I blinked at that and swelled with pride. "Wow. You're not shi... kidding me, are you?" I censored myself in front of the two Paragons of Justice in my presence.

"No, Adam. Zee isn't kidding. He really did say that." Mari squeezed my hand, which I realized she'd been holding for a few minutes now.

"Well, from what Mr. Reynolds told me earlier, my dad won't be hurting anyone else ever again. Some inmates at County didn't take kindly to him bragging about beating up my mom." I informed them. They started to say how sorry they were, but I stopped them. "No, please. It's honestly a relief that he's gone. He verbally abused mom and me for years. I'm just surprised that he didn't lay a hand on mom before last night."

"It's still a horrible thing to happen, Adam." Mari said. I knew deep down that she was right, but it still felt like justice to me.

I just nodded and smiled at her sadly. She squeezed my hand again and smiled back.

The rest of the week went by pretty fast. Wednesday I went to Jiu Jitsu class again before heading to the Hospital to see mom. Once again Mari came over from the East Coast, after me texted her with mom's status. Mom still wasn't awake yet, but her injuries were starting to look better. Her eyes were still swollen badly, but the bruising had started to go down.

Thursday afternoon was when mom woke up. I heard her moan and called for the doctor. He came running in as mom opened one of her eyes. A nurse ushered me out of the room while the doc performed the standard checks, and I saw mom wave at me with a weak smile when she saw me. I went back in after the doctor said it was ok.

I texted Mari to tell her mom was awake, and soon she showed up in civvies again.

"Thank you, sweetie." Mom squeezed my hand as I sat on the edge of her bed.

"I wish I'd been there sooner, mom. I got home and he'd already been beating on you for a while. I'm sorry." I said. I hadn't been there, but at least I'd been there in time to save her life.

"It's ok, hon. I'm just glad you're ok, and that you got him to stop." Mom said, patting my hand on hers.

"Umm, hi. Mrs. DeVries?" Mari said as she poked her head in. Mom squinted at her.

"Yes, I am. Are you Halle Berry?" Mom asked.

"Mom, this is Mari. Mari, this is my mom. Mari's my date for Prom on Friday night." I introduced them, and Mari came into the room.

"Mrs. DeVries, I've talked to Su...a coworker of mine that Adam here says you have a crush on, and he's agreed to come over as soon as he's finished dealing with something work-related." She had to change what she was going to say as the nurse walked in to record mom's vitals from the machine.

As the nurse left and the door closed behind her, Mari said "Superman is coming to visit you, ma'am."

Mom's eyes opened at that.

"Mom, Mari is Vixen, and she's a member of the Justice League." I told her.

Mom started laughing until she winced in pain. "You mean she isn't Halle Berry?"

I laughed. "No, mom. I made that mistake at first, too. Halle Berry could play her in a movie, though."

"I don't see the resemblance, myself." Mari shrugged.

"Take it as a compliment, dear." Mom patted her hand. "Adam has had a crush on you and Halle Berry for as long as I can remember."

"Mom!" She just had to tell my Prom Date about my celebrity crushes. Yeah, not fun.

It was a hell of a way to introduce my Mom to my Prom Date.

Mari just grinned and walked over to the window when I thought I caught a flash of blue or red out the corner of my eye. She unlatched it and slid it open, and Big Blue himself stepped through and into my mom's hospital room.

I thought mom was going to have a heart attack when she saw him smiling at her and walking to her bedside. "Mrs. DeVries? I'm Kal-El of Krypton. Mari told me what happened to you, and I just wanted to say that your son is the real hero here. He saved your life when none of us could." He sat down in the chair next to mom, who was now blushing profusely.

"S... S... Superman?? It's a pleasure to meet you!" Mom said and reached up to hug him.

"It's my pleasure, ma'am." He hugged mom back gently.

"Wow!" I still couldn't believe it. In this world I live in, with all the weirdness in day to day life, and I still couldn't believe it! Superman was in my mom's hospital room and I was going to Prom with Vixen!

He heard me and turned to smile at me. "And there's the young man who could give Batman himself the fight of his life." He stood up and shook my hand. "It's an honor to meet you, Adam."

"S...Same here, sir." I said.

"I'm sorry to cut this short Ma'am, but I have to get back." He smiled at us both and leapt out the window and flew off to the east.

"Whoever he's going to save is very lucky." Mom said dreamily.

Mari laughed at that. "I think we're the lucky ones, Mrs. DeVries. Adam is your son and my Prom Date."

Mom chuckled and looked sleepy. "Mom, we're going to go for a little while. We should let you rest." I said and squeezed mom's hand.

"Ok, dear. You two lovebirds have fun." Mom smiled at us.

"Thanks, mom." I replied as we slipped out of her room and walked towards the elevators. We went down to the lobby and out into the warm spring air of the April night.

"Thanks, Mari. I'm not sure exactly why you did all this, but thank you for being my Prom Date and even getting Superman to visit mom." I had both of her hands in mine as we faced each other.

"I did it because I never got to go to Prom while in High School, and because I really like and respect you." She hugged me and kissed my cheek again. I held her close and felt her body pressed to mine.

"You respect me?" I was almost knocked senseless.

"You stood up against evil to protect the innocent. That's what makes a hero a hero. Not superpowers. Not gadgets. It takes heart, sweetie." She once again put her hand on my chest, and her touch felt warm.

I leaned down and kissed her tentatively on her full lips. It was just a kiss, but she moaned softly as I kissed her. She broke it after several long moments. "I have to go, sweetie. I'll see you tomorrow night, ok?" She said with a smile before kissing me back.

This time her lips parted, as did mine, and our tongues slowly danced together. I kept my eyes open and on her lovely face as we kissed, and I noticed her eyes were on me too. We both wanted to remember this. Her hand came up to the back of my neck as our tongues caressed each other.

We finally broke the kiss. "Ok, Mari. I can't wait. I'm going to have the most beautiful woman on my arm at Prom!" I grinned sheepishly and blushed. I was now rock hard thinking about what might possibly happen on Prom Night.

She called upon some bird's power and took to the sky. She blew me a kiss and grinned as she waved. I waved back, and she flew out of sight.

I sprinted back inside and slowed down when I got near the elevators. When I got back to mom's room, I was still grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Mom saw my expression and grinned. "She kissed you, didn't she?" Mom said. It wasn't a question.

"How did you know, mom?" I asked.

"The last time you grinned like that was after you kissed Gina Harkin after Homecoming last year." Mom knew my expressions.

"Yeah, mom. She kissed me after I kissed her. She is a GREAT kisser!" I exclaimed.

Mom laughed. "She's what? Ten years older than you?"

"So? I like her. She's a genuine person, not some stuck-up celebrity." I told her all that had happened, and how we'd met in the first place.

"She seems sweet, hon." Mom said.

"She is, mom. She didn't have to come over and see how I was doing after you got brought in. She didn't have to accept my invitation to Prom. She didn't have to call Superman to come visit you. She didn't have to come in and visit with us during the week. She didn't have to set Kevin up with Zatanna. But she did all that because she is a good person. I know that after tomorrow night, I'll probably never see her again, but I'll have the memories of this week, both good and bad, for the rest of my life." I told mom evenly how I felt with a smile on my face.

"You're right, Adam. She is sweet." Mom smiled at the remembered hug from her Superhero crush. "So is Kal-El."

"Calling him by name now, mom?" I grinned.

"It's how he introduced himself, hon." Mom reasoned. She had a point.

"Mom, about Frank..." I started. I had to tell her.

"What about him?" Mom's voice went cold.

"Mr. Reynolds told me earlier that he's dead thanks to some inmates at County that shanked him when he bragged about beating you into a coma." I blurted it out in a rush.

Mom closed her eyes for a bit, then opened them and smiled at me sadly. "Is it wrong to say that I feel relieved?"

"No, mom. I feel the same way about it. I love you." I said and hugged her.

"I love you too, honey. Now get home and get some sleep. You do have school tomorrow before Prom, after all. I want pictures!" Mom ordered.

"Yes, mom. We're going to have a lot of pics for you on Saturday." I promised.

We said our goodbyes and I drove home. My head was spinning with what all had happened that week, and the week wasn't even over yet.

At school the next morning, word had apparently gotten around about what had happened at home on Monday and at the Hospital during the week. Larry was looking at me like he wanted to kill me, which was fine. He'd tried taking me during freshman year, and had failed miserably. I could handle Larry. Everyone else was giving me friendly nods and greetings, and treating me with more respect than I was used to.

I ran into Kevin at lunch and asked if he knew what was going on.

"Dude, Stacy Kendall's mom is a nurse at the Hospital, and saw Superman fly into your mom's room! That's all anybody knows for sure, though. They still don't know who my date is." He grinned.

"Thanks, man. I think Larry knows I was telling the truth the other day. He was glaring daggers at me earlier." I chuckled.

My phone buzzed with a text. I flipped it open and read 'can't wait for tonight, Adam. Got our dresses ready. See you at 6. Love, V'

I showed the text to Kev, and he just grinned and nodded. "Awwww, yeah! Man, it's gonna be hard keeping my cool around Zee."

"Hey, how do you think I feel? I've been in love with Vixen for forever." It had only been a few years, but it seemed like forever.

We laughed about that and went about our day. When school let out, it was time to go home to get ready. I picked up Mari's corsage for her before I went home, and threw it in the fridge once I was there.

By the time I had finished shitting, showering, shaving and had my tux on, it was 5:30. Half an hour until show time. I checked my look and decided I could be a young James Bond or maybe even Bruce Wayne. I looked enough like him, judging by the pics I've seen and his News interviews. I just don't have near as much money as he does. I opened the front door but left the screen door latched at about 5:45. It was a beautiful spring evening, and the weather was warm.

I was nervous as hell, so I did a quick kata to calm myself down. It helped, even though I had to pick a simple one because my tux kept me from full range of motion. Yeah, I was nervous.

I got the corsage out of the refrigerator at t-minus ten minutes and let it sit on the counter. I went back to pacing and calming my nerves. Then I remembered to call the limo! I dialed and they said they would be here in five minutes. Sweet! I had saved up from my weekend job for this night. Even if I'd had to go stag, I was not going to miss my Senior Prom!

I saw the flutter of her red gown outside the door as she landed, I ran and opened it for her in as she approached the door. Mari looked breathtakingly beautiful in her strapped backless red evening gown. Just behind her I saw the lights on Kev's car as he pulled into the driveway by mine. Then the pink flash of Zatanna appearing outside as Mari and Kev came in.

Kev held the door for Zee as I picked up the corsage and pinned it on Mari's dress. "You look beautiful, Mari." I kissed her gloved hand and admired her choice of evening gown. It showed off just enough cleavage and back to be sexy without being slutty.

"Thank you, kind sir." She curtsied as I bowed.

Kev was giving Zee her corsage too, and it seemed to be going well. Kev had yet to lose his cool, which gave me hope for him yet. Zee was wearing your basic strapless black evening gown with a slit up to mid-thigh. Very understated, yet she looked great in it, and as I'm sure Kev was hoping, would look great bunched up on the floor of his room after Prom was over.

I took Mari in my arms and kissed her cheek softly just as we heard the car horn from outside. The limo was here.

"Our chariot awaits, ladies and... Kev." I motioned for us to head outside, and they all gasped at the stretch limo I'd rented.

"Wow, Adam! You went all out!" Mari exclaimed.

"You deserve the best, Mari. This might not be the best, but it's the best I could afford with my job." I shrugged and smiled.

"It's perfect, sweetie." She replied and kissed me as she squeezed my hand.

We left the house and I locked the door behind us as we all went down to the limo. The chauffeur held the door for us, and smiled as we all entered. He knew where to go, so once we were all seated by our respective dates, he drove us to our school basketball court/pep rally room/dance hall.

We arrived and Kev and I stepped out first to get the door for our dates. Kev gave Jenny a shit eatin' grin as she recognized his date for the night, and her jaw dropped open.

Zee, for her part, looked to be thoroughly enjoying Kev's company. She had both of her arms holding his right arm as they strolled in and were announced by the MC, who had to get her name from Kev. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Kevin Reynolds and his date for the evening, Zatanna Zatara."

Kevin and Zee were both smiling, as she would tell us later, she'd also never attended her Prom.

Mari and I went in right behind them, and I gave the MC her name. "Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting Adam DeVries and his date for the evening, Vixen." More applause from our friends and classmates. More dirty looks from the popular girls who had turned Kev and me down as dates to Prom. Larry stood with mouth open, just inviting the flies in.

Once inside, we found the photographer and had some wallets and larger sized photos ordered. Kev wanted one poster size of him and Zee where she was puckering her lips while giving a sultry face for the camera and had her hand on one hip while her other was around his waist. She hammed it up for the camera, and it came out perfect. We paid the cameraman and he confirmed our orders to be delivered by Email in the morning, and Kev's poster by FedEx within the next 3 to 5 business days.

We then made our way to the punch bowl and made sure we got some cups full before the jocks decided to spike it. Last year's Junior Prom had been a drunk fest because of that, and I didn't want it to happen tonight.

I noticed a guy in a tux that looked to be about my size with longish black hair and blue eyes nearly the same shade as mine. Mari smiled when she saw him and the beautiful wheelchair-bound redhead he was with.