The Legion of Doom wasn’t particularly good at welcoming people.
There were no banners.
No balloons.
No applause.
At most, Lex might nod in your direction before handing you a mission file.
That was generally considered warm.
Which was why headquarters felt… different.
One chair in the conference room had sat empty for months.
Not because its owner had been injured.
Not because she’d been captured.
She’d been on maternity leave.
A phrase that had once sounded so absurd coming from the Legion of Doom that even the Joker had laughed for a solid five minutes the first time he’d heard it.
Lex, however, had been completely serious.
He’d insisted she take as much time as she needed.
Mission rosters had been rearranged.
Assignments redistributed.
No one complained.
At least…
Not where Lex could hear them.
⸻
The elevator doors slid open.
Conversation stopped.
One by one, heads turned toward the hallway.
Captain Cold looked up from his cards.
The Riddler quietly closed his notebook.
Sinestro folded his arms.
Grodd looked over from the massive monitor he’d been studying.
Even the Joker paused halfway through spinning a knife across the conference table.
There she was.
Standing in the doorway.
Looking… rested.
Different.
Not weaker.
Just…
Changed.
Motherhood had softened some of the exhaustion around her eyes while somehow strengthening the confidence in the way she carried herself.
For several seconds…
No one spoke.
It wasn’t awkward.
They simply weren’t sure what the appropriate response was.
The Legion had welcomed back teammates from prison.
From injuries.
From presumed death.
No one had ever returned from parental leave before.
Captain Cold finally broke the silence.
“…About time.”
She rolled her eyes.
Grodd gave a single approving nod.
The Riddler quietly slid a thick folder across the table.
“Everything you missed.”
It was nearly four inches thick.
She stared at it.
Captain Cold looked at the folder.
Then at the Riddler.
“…You actually organized it?”
“I color-coded it.”
“…That’s terrifying.”
A few quiet chuckles spread around the room.
The tension dissolved almost instantly.
Lex stepped out of his office.
He looked at her for only a moment before giving a single nod.
“Welcome back.”
Simple.
Professional.
Exactly what everyone expected.
Then he looked around the room.
“The briefing can wait another fifteen minutes.”
Several members blinked.
Lex… postponing a meeting?
For anyone?
The room collectively decided not to question it.
Some things were better accepted without analysis.
The Legion of Doom wasn’t known for sentiment.
They conquered nations.
Stole impossible technology.
Fought the greatest heroes on Earth.
But every now and then…
One of their own came home.
And somehow…
That felt like a victory no mission report could ever measure.