Justice League 1. Why Not?

As it releases one victim, it claims another, tendrils and all. The realization is taken away in an instant as he can hear a distant memory, a young boy's imaginary gestures, a dotting pair of parents, a rousing adventure film made their evening, but just then someone emerges from the alleyway.

"_All evildoers beware my sword!" laughs Bruce._

"_Slow down Bruce!" chuckles Thomas._

"_Tom, over there!" gasps Martha._

"_Pearls first!" shouts the stranger._

The rest as he truly knew was a blur, a double bang, a pool of blood, a scream and sob cut short and the pained expressions on their faces. However something shifts instead of what did happen, something else happens as the mugger pulls the gun, Thomas grips the mugger's wrist then proceeds to beat him up, Martha and Bruce watch with admiration. This is what could have happen, but this is not real, not as he knows it rather it is some part of him that wishes this were the real story now.

It is ever so slow, so subtle, he saw at last why it was so hard for his friend to abandon the fantasy, because it was convincing, it felt right, the mind begins to accept it unless someone or something cracks the image. All it took for him was the sound of her voice, her crying shout of his name, and then it all floods back to him. It happens as it did again the first bang, the blinding flash, the revulsion, the anguish, the pain, the sadness, the misery, all of it; every emotion like the blood drops that stream out to become pools on the pavement.

Her shout echoes in his ears…

"_Bruce!" _

He drops from its embrace and watches her wrestle to avoid its grip as well. Why was he so resistant to a better life or at least a less lonely life, he had no answer, just all his old lines for the why not explanations. She tumbles with that monstrosity, she who would call out his name, risk her trip to false happiness to break its grip on him, if anyone deserves the chance to save his heart, it would be her. However could he let her in, he spent so much of his life giving, fighting, struggling, did really know how to love her as she acts out her love for him.

He did not feel good enough for her, maybe that was the real cause for his resistance, he felt so undeserving of such a woman, but somehow he already saw she disagrees with all her heart. He recalls going to the gates of Tartarus for her, pulling her away from a fawning crowd for a dance, a cheek kiss for his dirty gloves in Gorilla City, a full on the lips kiss when hiding in that restaurant. He had all these memories of her, they all seem to point to one thing he does seem to love her, the only question is does he, and what would he do about it instead of avoiding it like he had been avoiding having a real love life since Andrea.

It was not just feeling undeserving, he also put up emotional and psychological walls inside to work his way through the kind of pain that gets one's heart. He recalls once more that dive into the water to get to the Fortress earlier, she did that on purpose he felt sure of it, and later as they leave Clark to repairs as well some alone time. On the flight back to Gotham, they sat almost entirely in silence. He asks her to drop him off at a certain cemetery, not that it was that day, but he felt it necessary to go there after what just happen with the Black Mercy. She does not ask what happen to him under the plant's influence, she does not want to pry, if he is going to share, it'll be on his terms, that's what he is like to her, his actions flow so much more smoothly than his words.

"I saw it again, just like I always do except the plant changed it, made it happen the way I used to wish it did, because as much as I care about and respect Alfred, there is no substitute for parents. He is a great man, greater than me, and as for them, all I have of them is their love, the memory of watching them die in front of me. I could never really understand why he left me alive."

He pulls back the cowl, his eyes are wet, no tears, not yet, and she is holding in tears of her own.

"Maybe the cops nearby heard the shots, maybe he was short on bullets, maybe the gun jammed, maybe it was a sick joke for him, maybe a lot of things, but I am just a polyglot who is never certain of his identity or what he deserves in life."

She quietly listens even as tears begin to stream down her face.

"I don't want to hurt anyone, I don't want to be hurt by anyone, but somehow it happens…"

She wraps her arms around him, he can hear her sobs, she chokes words between sobs, she is telling him to cry already, but somehow it is still not flowing from him. She shakes him almost roughly before seeing some tears on his face. He rubs his eyes, kisses her deeply on the lips, she softly moans, the wetness of the tears meshes against the other's skin. This time he would show how he felt about her as much as he kept trying to avoid it, deny it, or somehow believe he had infallible logic to keep her out of his life.

Undeserving maybe, mortality perhaps, but that is not what life is about, for the flicker of time that there is a Bruce Wayne or Batman, there is still a boy and a man called Bruce that in her mind has more than earned her love. She only wishes that he would take it, in this moment he had, and she wishes that they could stay there forever. The Bat Signal lights up the night sky by the time their trembling embrace separates because Gotham needs its hero for the moment. As she watches him take off towards the obsidian skyline, she knows that she will just have to wait him out because he is coming around, for how long she did not know, but she would take it.

She looks to the Wayne family headstone. It is a burden among many to bear, but that never means life or love is beyond reaching though of course Bruce is one of the most stubborn men she had ever known. The dark hair, the deep eyes, compassion too, but of course a man she could give her heart to in the hopes that he realizes this is for you too, not just me. She recalls that night after clubbing with Audrey, he was there watching her take off her shoes, and she notes a slight grin in the corner of his mouth before she makes a little pose. It would be moments like those that made her fall in love with him again and again.


	2. Fragile Hearts!

His injuries were healing, but his heart that is another matter entirely. The argument is going in circles. Wonder Woman is adamant to kick Hawkgirl, to kick Shayera out of the League. Batman also calls for her dismissal though not for the same reasons as Wonder Woman. Some took Shayera's actions with the Thanagarians as betrayal, their weaknesses were exploited well during the capture. An angry Diana used a Hawkman's physicality against him to begin their breakout. However the surprises only really began after that flirtatious kiss over the reflecting pool in D.C. First there was Hro Talak, her Thanagarian commander and lover, but of course there was also Kragger who was a mental mess thanks J'onn prying knowledge from his brain.

"_Whose side are you really on?" _shouts John.

"_Don't you know," _sighs Shayera.

He hesitates to blast her, just like he had done with that alternate Shayera. As the mace struck him in the face, it was only himself that he blames for believing her, but of course his heart still belongs to her. As he is stuck in restraints aboard the prison ship, he can hear her and Kragger passing each of the six in captivity. Kragger's commentary would have gotten him a beating if they were not beaten down and held in place.

Her response is nothing short of saying killing them is a bad idea. She might have been after the symbolic value of an imprisoned League. She is of two minds, one for duty to Thanagar and the other of loyalty to her friends, to John. She took no joy in smacking him with a mace. As she took up her military uniform look again, she saw not just what she was as a soldier, but she saw that other Hawkgirl, the one that was de-powered by the Achilles disruptor. The headgear looks almost exactly like it, disturbing that they might found their own way into recreating a variation of that reality though she had seen little of that reality as she was unconscious.

She remembers awakening in his arms to a bittersweet smile.

He remembers the anguish of finding her like that in the alternate Arkham.

She watches their transport fly away.

He smashes into Hawkmen with the heavy cuffs.

It is a blur to the Batcave by dodging a military strike force led by Kragger. She appears, the enraged six stare her down, but all except John step forward. Bruce takes the bypass data from her, he directs her out, the others though John remains behind her. He wants her, loves her, but part of him still distrusts her.

"You sucker punched me."

"It wasn't personal."

"Keep telling yourself that."

She hands him the ring after speaking of doing the right thing. His expression shifts from surprise to suspicion. It felt better to have the ring back especially after Kragger's squad tries to ambush them in the cave. The scene blurs again to the chamber where the bypass shield controls are except Talak had been waiting for him from the moment he had put Shayera away for treason.

She sat in her cell torn worse than ever as first the League and by extension Earth is of a mind to hate and distrust her forever while now the Thanagarians are liable to do the same. Diana releases her despite reservations so she picks up a mace then goes looking for Hro. John was down and almost about to take a killing blow from Hro's axe. They take flight once clearing John's position.

As they fight she recalls the last time they were happy together on Alura. As he closes in to finish her off, she implores him again to find another way, but he insists a death to traitors and for Thanagar's survival again. She falls to the deck and so John will have to fight him again without the ring. He exploits Hro's feelings for Shayera as well feelings of contempt for him. Hro goes right into the console's force field and is knocked out.

He struggles to push the enormous pad button with his good hand then her clawed gloves come down on his. The force field drops just as the descending Watchtower comes into range smashing right into it. After that a troop of Hawkmen surrounds them until Hro calls them off. The scene blurs yet again to Shayera watching the news in the sitting room of Wayne Manor.

"I'm not qualified to judge you by their standards, but if not for your great sacrifices we would not be here to share this hot cup of tea."

She weakly smiles before she takes the cup from him after sharing a warm moment. She suspects this kindly butler has been a great comfort to Batman for many a year. As she finishes the tea, his hand is on her shoulder before telling her they are ready for her now. Alfred watches her poised figure recede from his line of sight. He too understood a thing about being torn between ideals and people he cares about though in the realm of costumed heroics, personal qualms had more fatal and far reaching consequences.

"_If to no one else, but me, she is as much a hero as your son," _he murmurs to the Waynes portrait.

She gave her parting comments before retreating to the promontory outside the manor. John goes to her after hearing Superman speak of never letting Earth... her down. It was not the Earth bit that got him, it was him attributing a feminine identity to the planet. As he nears Shayera, she looks truly sad yet determined, ever so lovely yet lonely, she is a woman without many things. They briefly talk until he broaches the question.

"What is it all a lie?"

"I love you John that was never a lie."

She turns spreading her wings then takes flight again, as she did so many times before, but this time it actually made him tear a little as he hesitates to stop her from leaving now.

"I love you too."

She in flight wonders what John had said, but she had to leave, because otherwise how else she work out what was bothering her to the core even though she left physically, she is never leaving him behind in her heart. She barely heard him, but she heard the word love somehow even on the wind. She cries, the tears drop from her face to the water below mixing with waves. She did not know when if ever she would come back. Hawkgirl and Lieutenant Hol is no more, there is only Shayera perhaps.

_Sometimes when in love,you must let loose the bird, and then wait for its return if you believe in it, and maybe after you will have the answer that you already felt all along if the love be true._ The song echoes in their ears even as both are miles if not light years apart.

* * *

A/N 1: Not exactly linear of course, but a string of scenes meshing together until that last scene in Starcrossed where Shayera takes flight to leave after leaving the League and turning against Thanagar and by extension Hro. Of course it does not seem like she hears him, but one can wonder what her reaction might be if she did. The song lyrics at that end don't belong to actual song, just something I thought of when writing the close to this segment.

A/N 2: The tidbit with Alfred, what I can say never underestimate the fatherly nature of this butler. Efrem Zimbalist, his voice actor since BtAS, had permanently endeared the character to me and of course Michael Caine in the live action Batman films has done it too.


	3. Threads

The teleport beam encompasses her after she fires a spread of arrow darts into a lump beneath the sheets. As she reappears on the pad, a clearly annoyed J'onn is there to greet her then demands she turn over all her Watchtower technology. She flings her I.D. at him in frustration before heading off to take her stuff from her room, which incidentally or maybe not is across the corridor from the room of the League's conspiracy theorist, the Question. She can hear him muttering through the closed doors so she enters, his attention is stuck on his computer screen, as she moves around the room, and he acknowledges her presence. Everything connects in his patterns with strings tied to pegs on a board, and of course she chuckles slightly at the things he believes to be connected especially Girl Scouts and prepackaged pop music.

She makes a deal with him, he helps her find Mandragora, she will tell him what she knows about Cadmus, but of course she knows almost nothing except the name and what is found in the reports Question made on the first encounter with Supergirl's clone. His attention is barely drifting as she crosses her legs and she stares to where she thinks his eyes are though for a man without a visible face, he could hold his space. She takes her stuff and beams back to the surface then rides her motorcycle to an underpass though as she gets off her phone rings, it is him. He says a lot of things before she starts saying anything back.

"All right Q. You said you'd help me. Where are they keeping Mandragora? Well?"

The call cuts off.

"Oh... you did _not_ just hang up on me!'

Headlights cast her shadow against the paved asphalt beneath her, and as the car speeds towards her it makes a swerve casting some smoke before breaking next to her. A shade of purple paint, a well kept interior, and of course there is him too. As for being an eccentric personality, he certainly picks a good ride she thinks to herself.

"Figured I'd cut out the middleman."  
"Oh, baby doll... and for the record, I usually prefer my dates to have a face."

He slides over as if to invite her in to drive, trusting a woman you barely know with your car what a gamble she chuckles inwardly, she slides into the driver's seat then grips the shifter.

She speeds off into the distance as he tells her that Mandragora's got federal and League protection pending a grand jury testimony hearing. He already knows that Oliver would definitely react to him turning up with Huntress because word gets around fast when someone gets the boot in the League, the mill is fast like that, but he had more important things to deal. He wonders why he is helping her, but for now that is like a catchphrase in mind, that is the question.

As they hop the fence, Oliver and Dinah are already outside, Dinah looks like she hurt her hand, probably gave the insulting walking hunger a piece of her mind for insulting Oliver. It fits since word got around of them of pairing off after Wildcat was in that Metabrawl business. Huntress or Helena is a close match for Dinah, but sparring with someone like Oliver gives her a new perspective knowing what moves to expect as well as how to deflect in a fight. She catches Helena's attempt to chest kick her so the two continue to tussle until Helena gets thrown into a car yet he holds out longer until Oliver does something unexpected flipping him over into Helena.

In the midst of all this, the walking appetite got away with his goons, but he already knew this would happen, the criminal had no intention of testifying, he is looking to skip town after he gets something important back safely. He passes off a bogus key to Dinah and at first Helena punches him though he relates what the real deal after the other couple is out of sight. He takes the driver seat this time speeding towards the docks where a freighter is in bound with Mandragora's 'cargo.'

Oliver had expected the deception, seen them leave, they found on Dinah's rebuilt motorcycle, but for this catch up he relates what he knows about Huntress' past as well as her connection to Mandragora. He sees her wiping away a tear, he got to the heart of it, the source of the patterns converging on this night, the lace or thread of Helena Bertnelli's tapestry, so end of line, and it all falls into place. She demands he get to the point finally after that getaway down a train tunnel, the same tunnel where Dinah's rebuilt bike gets trashed while its passengers are beamed to the bay.

Dinah takes out Mandragora's bodyguards, but she is no match for the physical toughness of the big man. Oliver tries to come to her aid, his arrows are useless, Question jumps onto his back, but both men get the toss just as a little plump boy runs towards his father. She steps into the light shouting her target's name then aims her crossbow gun, but then she notices the boy go behind his father.

"…you want this?"

Her child self coalesces with this boy, then he runs Dinah goes to shield him as does Oliver shield both his lover and the kid. Huntress fires, the arrow shot clips the crane wires, the load falls on Mandragora knocking him out, and she whispers 'no its not' as she walks towards his unconscious form. The target is taken back into custody, his son is sent off with child services, and now she confronts him. He had been expecting yet he is finally coming to an answer, this is where the thread of the pattern that made him opt to intersect his search with hers.

The space where their lives collide, the moment where he admits his attraction, the gesture where she tugs on his tie, the pressure that alerts him to their lips connecting, the momentary disgust in Dinah's words, and the brief shrug in Oliver's posture. She pulls him along by the tie to show him where this thread is about to lead him, but this is one of those equation that adds up when you forget everything except what the kiss represents as two variables become one entity.

The question is the time between kisses and the answer is just her desire to physically thank him for helping her even if he did not understand why he did except he did, the answer was her, he did it because she had the answer to the question of his attraction to her.

* * *

A/N: It is mostly Question/Vic Sage POV, but occasionally the thoughts/actions of the others enters like Helena, Oliver, and Dinah. More or less what goes with Question during the JLU episode Double Date. I went for a relatively Question sounding segment.


	4. Sparrows

She could sense him watching her yet she does not mind, rare for a man to watch her in silence, to recognize what she could be for him, to him. The way the leather hugs her curves, the crisscross pattern of her fishnets, the gentle tugging of her boots after sliding her feet into them, and she knows it well. He wonders what she is thinking, but some mysteries are meant to be kept forever unless one risks much to unravel them. She is so slow about the finishing touch with the boots though she also appears to be taking some reverie in this ritual.

As her hips sway as she walks away from the bench, his brow arches upward, sure it had been a crazy start to his involvement with the League, but apparently Batman believes he and others like him will keep the roster honest. However he might have found another reason to stay, because he had seen her. He takes his I.D. card, ear piece, and returns to the teleport pad once back in his mended costume. She stands next to him as she is also beaming back to the surface.

"Where are you headed?" he asks.

"Home, to bed, I wouldn't want to sleep up here, too cold" she replies.

She smiles just a little before they disappear from the Watchtower to separate locations planet side. Time would pass before she crosses the doorway to the sparring room where he is busy going a couple rounds with a punching bag. He pretends not to notice her coming towards him. She comments that she knows he has been watching her.

_Watch the sunrise. _

_**Her golden flowing hair.**_

_Say your goodbyes._

_**She pulls off her leather jacket.**_

_Off we go._

_**Her shoulders are bare.**_

_Some conversation._

_**She asks go a couple rounds.**_

_No contemplation._

_**His eyebrow arches and mouth opens.**_

_Hit the road._

_**She means sparring silly me he thinks.**_

_Car overheats_

_**She is telegraphing he tells her.**_

_Jump out of my seat_

_**Her kick is caught in his grip.**_

_On the side of the highway baby_

_**He pins her roughly.**_

_Our road is long / your hold is strong._

_**The way her hair flips on the way down is distracting.**_

_Please don't ever let go, oh no._

_**She is asking for his help.**_

_I don't know you / But I want you so bad_

_**She makes a deal, if he can pin her, he is off the hook, if not...**_

_Everyone has a secret / Oh can they keep it/ Oh no they can't_

She throws him clear across the room, towels fall on him, she offers to help him up.

He suits up, they beam down, and get on her bike.

_Driving fast now / Don't think I know how to go slow / Where are you at now?_

As they speed through the traffic, she says you can hold onto my waist if you want.

_I feel around / there you are_... holding her feels warmer than sunlight.

The meeting with Wildcat after getting the tickets does little to break him of the bad mood

brought on by having to buy tickets to Metabrawl in order to get to her old mentor.

_Cool these engines / Calm these jets / I ask you how hot can it get_

The argument is tense, she goes on the defensive, his mood crumbles, he feels bad about hsi behavior.

_And as you wipe beads of sweat / Slowly you say "I'm not there yet!"_

They turn their backs to each other, he can't resist watching her switch between outfits just as she notices his archer look. They setup to swing down into the arena. The standoff with the competitors is brief before she offers to fight Wildcat. The old fighter objects, but she insists so they are led away to a dressing room. As she stretches out he is at first captivated again by her figure, by her legs as she stretches oh so flexible could be a thought.

_I don't know you / But I want you so bad / Everyone has a secret/ Oh but can they keep it / Oh no they can't_

He uses a knockout gas arrow on her, which she does know it is, she mumbles then folds into his arms. She looks even more lovely asleep, she is a fighter, but she is also a woman, the kind you best be direct with otherwise you waste her time. He'll go on to fight Wildcat in her place, the old fighter objects because he would only fight her after initially objecting to that too, but he tricks this guy too making it look like he killed him. She believes it too, but appearances are deceiving.

As she cries over his fallen form, he suddenly starts moving again even with all the bruises, her tears are slowing, but clearly the flirting was more than just flirting or about helping Wildcat. She is starting to fall in love with him and so after they have coffee. This is only the beginning as she would slug Mandragora for what he said about 'Ollie' and again he would say something sappy like live to punch criminals another day Pretty Bird. Almost like an energy charged arrow or the way eyes lock together, they end up kissing in on the porch of a tree house.

The song finishes, but the story never does...

* * *

A/N 1: Something a little different with this one, played multiply scenes through the Maroon 5 song titled Secret. There is an AMV titled My Secret, which is one of many I made and uploaded online.

A/N 2: This is more so an Oliver perspective, but its balanced out with some Dinah moments.


	5. Am I Blue?

_Step one you say we need to talk_

She shifts her position to the ledge, fingers in her hair, and he looks at her.

_He walks you say sit down it's just a talk_

He shifts his weight into a kneeling position on the ledge while looking about.

_He smiles politely back at you_

She talks about being down with someone special and his response is predictable to her.

_You stare politely right on through_

She hates the cowl sometimes because it feels like he is looking through her, not at her.

_Some sort of window to your right_

He lists off his reasons for not pursuing a relationship within the team.

_As he goes left and you stay right_

She avoids showing too much frustration because she loves and hates him for the logic.

_Between the lines of fear and blame_

She knows he is using the falter with John and Shayera against her possibly.

_And you begin to wonder why you came_

Suddenly she does not want to be up here until the thief is seen below.

_Where did I go wrong…_

The saving glide is to go after this person except it is Circe up to no good as usual.

_Somewhere along in the bitterness_

Circe's taunts are too close to home especially with Bruce having to see this transformation.

_And would I have stayed up with you all night_

His behavior after her being turned into a pig is surprising yet Zatanna is right about him.

_Had I known how to save a life_

She however does not lose the urge to eat because seeing him act like this is making it hard for her to hate him even when he will not continue what happen with that long kiss not so long ago.

_Let him know that you know best_

She remembers kissing him on the cheek in Gorilla City after the missile buried her.

_Cause after all you do know best_

She recalls giving it to him full on the lips at that restaurant while on the run from Hawkmen.

_Try to slip past his defense_

The strain of trying to pry the Black Mercy off him while screaming his name.

_Without granting innocence_

His admission of what his Mercy fantasy was like seeing those pictures again.

_Lay down a list of what is wrong_

She recounts telling him to just cry in front of her for once in his life.

_The things you've told him all along_

He unexpectedly is kissing her with tears in both their eyes at Gotham Cemetery.

_And I pray to God he hears you…_

She would have almost given anything to always have that moment forever with him.

_Once she is back to her human looking self she hears Zatanna humming a song that sounds familiar since she herself had heard it at the Iceberg Lounge as if some kind of passive hint to her about what happen after she in pig form had run off. She also remembers another song she heard not so long ago either._

_As he begins to raise his voice_

_You lower yours and grant him one last choice_

_Drive until you lose the road_

_Or break with the ones you've followed_

_He will do one of two things_

_He will admit to everything_

_Or he'll say he's just not the same_

_And you'll begin to wonder why you came_

She confronts him later on wearing that red dress from Paris.

"So what is going to be Bruce?"

"You know why not, I already told you before!"

She pins him and demands the truth. He says she cannot handle it and of course she hits him before demanding it again. He admits his feelings yet he claims how uncertainty to whether or not he can be with her without all the troubles that seem to intersect his life. She hesitates to leave because he still seems unable to resolve his mind and heart. She kisses him again and forces him to acknowledge that she is not going anywhere, not tonight, not any night.

"I'm not leaving because no one else saves my heart," she whispers when he is asleep.

He may feel undeserving, unworthy, or anything number of other things to make her leave him like so many other women have in the past, but she is going to fight because some battles are truly matters of saving hearts, not just saving lives, and she would fight for him and stand up to him whenever the situation arises.

* * *

A/N: Kind of a sequel to Why Not? - this one takes places during and after This Little Piggy-. Song lyrics belong to 'How To Save A Life'.


	6. Don't Say

Bruce's verifications about the age and origins of the Thanagarian blade are encouraging enough for her to venture a dinner date with Carter.

Once in her quarters, she slips into a dress, once in a lifetime opportunity, she rarely did dresses even with Hro or John. She shakes off thoughts about either man as she applies the eye shadow yet as she applies the lipstick she wonders back to thoughts of all the times she had kissed Hro or John yet the sharper of the two were the ones with John. She ran her fingers along her lip not realizing she had smudged the dark red lipstick onto her fingertips. She quickly wipes it off then picks a different and darker shade to cover it up then slips on her only pair of high heel shoes, mentally she adds the only pair she owns so far. She wonders how the other women in the League do this especially Diana except once she heard the Amazonian claim they were high heels that fit most of the time after all she had worn heeled boots into battle from the very beginning.

Bruce wore the cowl for a reason perhaps all too similar Shayera when she wore the headdress yet after all that happen with the Thanagarians she no longer wore it. However even without it her gaze would conceal as much as Batman's cowl with its white lenses. One of the more intense gazes she had seen from him was actually a reflection of him after her first solo trip to Themyscira. The Batwing's canopy reflection of Batman's cowl exposes much to her as if Aresia's back story hit a nerve with him though as she later found out, Bruce Wayne had seen his parents murdered in front of him, and the fact that Batman operates typically in Gotham, she figures Bruce must be Batman though the real proof of many concealed identities gain confirmation when she had come with the bypass plans to the Batcave. They already had no cause to trust her, not even Flash or Wally whom she had often teased and threatened except she had gotten softer on him in recent weeks especially after learning what happen to the other Flash. His outburst made it clear that even his faith in her is shaken.

One last gesture had been to give John his ring back. His countenance crumbles and she is certain he is watching her fly away into the darkness. The rest is a blur to her aside from losing the faith, the trust, and the affection of her fellow Thanagarians including Hro thanks to the nefarious Kragger whose mind ends up a mess thanks to J'onn forcefully taking knowledge of how to pilot Thanagarian craft from his mind.

***

She left because she had to, she felt like she no longer belongs here, and if not for Fate coming to her aid, she probably would have lost the will to find herself again, but her need of sanctuary is clear to him, so he takes her in. She is alive yet she is a shell of her former self aside from the deceptions she had put out, there was plenty that had been really honest except what happen with the Thanagarians had made many doubt, distrust, condemn, and fear her.

***

Several months pass without much incident except for the return of AMAZO. The Lantern Corps had come looking for the constantly evolving being yet as before he could outmatch virtually anyone and he had come looking for Luthor for answers. Luthor had guts to say the least, AMAZO could eliminate anything with a thought, but of course he is after the answer to a question she is still asking, purpose, what is it, what am I to do with it, and of course Fate speaks of John's behavior towards him.

She had known his bark is often worse then his bite, that his words are seldom given weight in actions, but of course John is still a sensitivie subject for her at times.

She finally gotten around to pouring out whatever she could to him or to Inza and so they would listen, it seem so surprising at first yet later she realizes without them, she would be dead, mentally and emotionally. Aquaman had proven his point as usual during many of their chess games, which she often lost to his confusion until he finally explodes at her about how could she could have beaten Batman if she can lose to him.

_"It's just a game..."_

_"You disgust me..."_

_"Join the club..."_

***

Batman... Bruce... had been a much more listening and less talkative chess player, which is why she found it simpler to relate with him better then she had with the others. She knows he probably did vote against her though she had beaten his call to the punch, his vote as he would later say to her was based on what he suspects she must have been feeling or rather what he thought would be best for her. Her verbal resignation seem proof enough of his notions. She never did resent how any of the six might have voted of course John going neutral had been a slight jolt. She knows Wally had voted for her staying, maybe even J'onn after all the Martian had seen how two worlds could pull one individual apart.

Superman or rather Clark would later speak of something that happen to him years before when Darkseid had psychologically manipulated him into leading an attack against Earth, which she figures made him resistant to helping Darkseid against Brainiac though as she rememebers the whole thing had been a betrayal and a deception though Darkseid appears to die after that encounter. He spoke of how J'onn and Lois reminding him of how many had come to regain belief and faith in him, so perhaps she deserves that chance even though there would always be those who would hold it against her forever.

As for Wally, he had been happy for her return, he jokingly said aloud the band is back together at last. She got a laugh out of that one, Batman just made his usual glare, Diana seems rather impassive, Superman chuckles, and J'onn smiles just a little. She saw little of John aboard this new Watchtower yet she had taken the time to acquaint herself with the new station as well as the expanded roster. She remembers Mari from the fight with Grundy, she figures out that she is John's new girlfriend though of course, he had the right to date others, just as much as she did even though her feelings for him were only made more intense by being back at work with him.

***

Her mental competitiveness lessen like other things about her when she made her verbal resignation from the League yet the Chaos Magic that caused the resurrection of Grundy made it impossible for her to stay in solitude indefinitely. She reclaims the mace and reluctantly engages her misunderstood friend plus refrains from the tears that his memory had often given her when she did dare to visit the spot where he had been laid to rest. At the end to her, Grundy had been heroic and he asks if she thought his soul is waiting for him, she hesistates at first yet with tears in her eyes, she reassures him, he'll get his reward. A book she had read since then made her reaffirm the different light she saw him in, a book titled Frankenstein written by perhaps one of the most psychologically compelling Earth writers she had read so far. A child like mind in a body made from dead body parts who yearns for much that seems beyond his reach by his appearance, by others' attitudes towards him, and also to be shun by the one that made him.

She certainly found an affinity for the writer who wrote Frankenstein so it had become one of her solace bringing objects. According to some the movie adaptations always got it wrong or put too much emphasis on the scene where the body that becomes the creature uses up too much screen time. She agreed given how many times she had read the book to the point that she had to ask who could fix book covers. Grundy while never quite having the level intellect comparable to his literary likeness, he still had his heart to her.

She had seen his determination and intensity firsthand when he fought to kill Icthultu, he had almost done it until one of the super natural's defensive measures fatally stung him leaving her to finish the job, and so when she had, she went back to his side. Memories of that experience would stay with her forever especially as she fought the rage driven resurrected Grundy and again Fate would remind her that her purpose is not fully understood yet, she may think herself a destroyer or a wrecker, but there's more, more she has to yet to find or learn about herself.

The little girl from before tugs at her harm and the mother calls her by what her old costume name translates into in Spanish. She would face the dawn, face the world, yet most of all face familiar and unfamiliar faces about the second Watchtower.

***

It is assuredly not an easy time as old and new faces alike are mindful of her yet in the wake of defeating the merger of Brainiac and Luthor, it seem like she could say she was not quite estranged from the League and that matters much to her. As she had found years before, it had been the few friends she did have that made her life on Earth enjoyable despite having been undercover at the time. The near death of Wally had given all of them a startling turn as some remember the time that they thought Superman had perished. At J'onn's words that he could still sense Wally, she reaches out passing her arm through the vortex and latching onto Wally's hand. She felt John's hand grips her then the others were quick to follow suit with a notable surprise when Batman took to gripping Diana's forearm. It is a strain yet they had to do it, they remember the Justice Lords well enough.

She sighs with relief once he is back, she had found him to be like a brother and of course he would later at Blackhawk Island joke about her as an older sister... though of course shorter. She took it in stride, she adores him in the way one expects a sister to adore a sibling that makes her laugh and reminds her of her better qualities. As for Batman, he had been somewhat kind and warm to her yet for them its more of a sparring friendship or personal respect. She found strengths in each of them even Diana despite how opposite they could be. Each of the original seven had something to bear in their own way yet they had come through a lot as a family.

She does however still wonder at times if she would ever have a separate family life of her own and so as she shakes out her tumbling recall of memories she heads for the elevator looking too lovely to resist of course. The look on John Stewart's face is priceless once she steps inside the lift.

***

As for John's new look, she did not like the beard at first yet something made her more fond of it when they were flirting in the elevator. She had known he is with Mari now and he been tripping over how flattering the dress is on her body. She obviously kept in shape yet there is more feminine then he had ever seen her before. They lean ever closer as she suggests where he could find the same dress for Mari though he seems more focusing on how she looks right now. They are close enough for her to smell him and for her perfume to draw him in more. The elevator doors slide open to reveal Batman standing there, he smirks knowingly, nothing had happen, at least not physically, both straighten up then follow Batman to the Metro Tower's nerve center or rather his part of it. He flips through pictures and video feeds of the past several years indicating that Carter Hall has been following her a long time. Both Batman and John express concern that this guy might be dangerous though of course she is angrier about the kinds of accusations that they seem to insinuate about Carter.

However after the visit to the tomb that belongs presumably to Katar and Chay-Ara Hol, her doubts about the soundness of Carter/Katar deepen even when Batman insists its nonsense. The reunion with Carter comes in the wake of Shadow Thief capturing John in order to lure her to Carter so that he may force the three to see the events that brought about the demise of Katar, Chay-Ara, and another man called Bashari. In the memories, she is Chay-Ara, Carter is Katar, and John is... Bashari. There are far too many parallels in her own memories regarding John in relation to how Chay-Ara reveals her face to Bashari. They are lovers, Katar seems too caught in bringing Thanagarian elements of government and justice to the people that they 'rule over'. In the end, Katar forces Shadow Thief, his dark side to merge back with him, and then Carter leaves still exuding a romantic interest in her yet she still sees a spark in John's eyes unless she imagines it.

He tells her of an incident only he and Batman remember when they eventually end up in a future where he met a young man in Thanagarian style battle armor, that the man identifies himself as Warhawk... as Rex Stewart. She feels a flush in her cheeks, her wings almost seem to perk up just a little, she senses a smile, and an urge to kiss John until he declares he is staying with Mari, no being a destiny puppet he insists, but unlike on the promontory, she is not going anywhere this time.

_"Don't say you don't love me..." _

_"I'll never say that..."_

He walks away back into the infirmary to Mari.

She goes in search of Batman.. of Bruce to ask more about Rex. One just doesn't dangle a story like about a son she might not never had thanks to John's call at present.

_"Tell me about my son."_

He turns to face her knowing he had to tell her all of it since John finally let loose about it. On the one hand, he did not believe in fate or destiny, but he did at times believe that nothing is suppose to get away in the way of what you already feel despite having told Diana that it would not work with them yet she is persistent. If there is one quality above intution to admire in a woman, its her persistence, and so he would tell her yet he insists that if John is ever going to accept his feelings are more important then a future that might or might not happen, he will have to get there on his own terms. She knows he is right yet as long as John holds feeligns for two women, he is not exactly being honest or fair to either, and just as likely both of them are going to demand he make up his mind unless he wants both of them walking out on him. They both know they are in love with him, the only question is which one does love enough to commit to her alone instead of being with one while being jealous of any man that goes near the other.

Eventually John would have to decide between her and Mari.

One would wonder is there any truth to all is fair in love and war.

***

An untold amount of time passes as Shayera ponders what the future may hold even though she does not want to think on it much.

Now she knows of him, she on many levels longs to be back in that place where she and John first made love before the occupation yet she knows that will never be, she can only hope for him to love her in a way that compliments how she still loves him, but some part of her does not want to wait him out. She wonders if leaving hurt her chances to get back with him yet she resolves that while that might have something to do with it, the rest was up to whatever both of them did from now on. The scene in the elevator plays out in her mind again just as it had for John yet both would awaken with a start. Mari is still in the infirmary recovering from her injuries so that's why the space next to him in his bed at the apartment is empty. As for Shayera she resides at the Tower yet is unable to sleep, it is not uncommon yet when closing her eyes to sleep she can almost imagine that son as a toddler. Her earpiece comlink chirps and so she puts it in. Its John, which is unexpected after his revelation that particularly unforgettable afternoon following the shared Absorbacron experience.

"You hungry?"

"Yes, are you?"

"Meet me at..."

"... the place near your apartment."

***

"You know we haven't eaten here a long time."

"Strangest thing is the owner kept asking me about you."

"Guess the hint got around sooner or later."

"I saw a few smiles when they saw you come in just now."

"Maybe they know a good thing when they see it."

Some food is set down in front of them and the server indicates its on the house tonight.

"I know what I said about destiny, but between that trip to the future and that Absorbacron thing."

"I think it was damaged or degraded by the passage of time besides we were together for a time before either of those things... plus we went back to fight Savage during World War II."

"We were there to repair the time line."

"You were in that future to stop Chronos."

"When you flew away that day... I said the words too late I think."

She remembers something echoing on the wind yet she did not turn back and just go to him, some part of her felt she really had to leave everything behind.

"I thought I heard you, but I had to go, I felt too much to stay."

"We could have worked through it together."

"Maybe, but I felt like I wronged you most of all aside from the fact I love you as much or more since that afternoon."

"I remember Wally made that jokes about us fighting like an old married couple a long time ago."

"Yeah he did."

The argument had tumbled over into something about clocks.

"I was definitely surprised to see you in a dress that night you had dinner with Carter."

"I could tell, I couldn't believe I was actually flirting with you again in a way I never flirted with anyone... not even..."

"I couldn't believe the things I told him especially after he zapped you... said freely offered, maybe you should take better care..."

"Pretty bold to say to a Thanagarian, but at least we were able to prevent the bypass activation with some help from Batman and the others."

Twice John had the same arm busted up by something made from Thanagarian technology, but of course, she would hope such things would not deter him indefinitely. There is true notions in we often hurt those we love the most, but one ought to forgive even as we cannot really ever forget it. She wonders if she should ask about Mari yet considers it might spoil the evening. John knows he'll have to make or break with this decison since he is dining with Shayera tonight while Mari is still in the infirmary.

After they eat they fly back to the Metro Tower together and it is as they come in to land that Mari stands there in regular clothes to meet them both.

So now its time to face whatever is going to happen, but all three had a feeling this meeting would happen some time if they were going to have any amicable resolution to this triangle of sorts between them. Mari bows out knowing John seems to have chosen Shayera and she took it better then one would expect as if she had seen it coming somewhere along the line. He had seen the look on his face before... when Shayera went to handle the resurrected Grundy alone and when Carter Hall made his first appearance with the offer of dinner to Shayera. John did love her yet he is in love with Shayera, there is a difference yet they were all adults so she tries to be as adult as possible. Shayera asks to speak to Mari alone, which John is cool with as he heads inside leaving them outside together.

"It seems you won..."

"... never about winning."

"Almost like the time I thought you poisoned my water..."

"... or when I thought those weights would fall on me."

They crack up laughing, she would hope their unconventional friendship would weather this change, and Mari assures her it will, as for what's next, she said is fixing for a date with Vigilante. The two women part ways amicably and Shayera sneaks up on John. He turns around and dares to kiss her for the first time since after Vegas and just before the Thanagarians' arrival.

***

"You think you'll ever wear a dress again?"

"Someday... maybe...though for now..."

"Yeah, I get your meaning..."

"That's it right there..."

"You sure..."

"Yes I am sure..."

It had been a long time since she had a back rub like this one though of course what comes next feels much better. There is a majestic quality to when she spreads her wings like that and so they awhile longer before they retreat to the bed for the rest of the early morning hours. They ate more takeout before going to bed and so they take the time to relearn each other's bodies. She in a way has only become more alluring and beautiful to him since he had first seen her without the headdress and as for him, she actually thinks the beard looks rather charming on him now. She spreads her wings as far as they will go when he pins her beneath him and the release is one she had almost forgotten when with him in this way. She in turn pins him and they just lie like this for hours. It had taken more then either of them had known or would admit to reach this moment yet they are glad for the trip if only to be together again.

It is not destiny, it simply is so for it comes from what they feel towards the other, and so she kisses him deeply as he runs his fingers through her hair.

* * *

A/N 1: A highly debated event, so when its established that Warhawk is Rex Stewart, that John and Shayera are his parents, what does that mean exactly for them as well as for Mari. The writers didn't want to short change Mari, which I can respect, but still what exactly would possibly get them back together and/or lead to the birth of Rex.

A/N 2: To me, it might have been that Mari had seen through John's attempt to disguise that he is in love with Shayera yet he only loves her. Someone would get hurt in some way no matter what happens so maybe one or both of the women would demand he decide something or maybe they both act independently knowing he can't exactly resolve it on his own.

A/N 3: Sometimes I think one has give something up because only in its absence do we learn the inestimable value of such things or rather people we care about or love deeply. I admit to having a preference to a John/Shayera couple rather then a Jonn/Mari couple, but figured she should still have some dating or romance in her life.


End file.
