The Light Beyond by BillA1
Copyright December 2005
Disclaimer: The characters Batman, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Superman & Flash and their respective secret identities are all owned by DC Comics. This story is intended for my own pleasure and is not for profit. It has been posted to this site for others to read. Places and characters not own by DC Comics are my own creation. This story is based on characters from The Justice League story: "Starcrossed, Part 3" written by Dwayne McDuffie & Rich Fogel. Thanks to Merlin Missy for her beta on this story.
For the JLA Universe HG/GL Fic-a-thon. From GammaRayGus: John trying to find Shayera after the conclusion of Starcrossed.
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The Light Beyond
Rating: (PG-13)
Synopsis: John learns that he knew less about Shayera than he thought. Spoilers up through Starcrossed.
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They say in the darkest night there's a light beyond
But the ending always comes at last,
Endings always come too fast.
They come too fast
But they pass too slow.
I love you, and that's all I know. (All I know - Jimmy Webb)
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CHAPTER ONE
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(Wayne Manor – Moments after Shayera Hol resigns from the League)
He'd watched her walk down the hall after hugging the Flash. One didn't need to be a telepath and able to read minds to know that she was heartbroken. The woman who just two weeks ago was the bold, brash, ultra-aggressive Hawkgirl had just resigned from the Justice League. Her resignation speech was short. Her voice was firm. But J'onn could sense the speech was rehearsed, hiding the emotions she'd truly felt.
The last few days had been tough on all of them, but she had perhaps suffered more than the rest. She was a pariah now and he had said so, before the vote.
He'd listened as Superman had answered him, "Believe me J'onn, I feel for her. But after everything that has happened, I honestly don't know if I could ever completely trust her again."
J'onn had said nothing aloud, but answered Superman telepathically: "Even after Darkseid used you, after all the damage you did to this world, people still found ways to trust you. And you have not let them down. Doesn't she deserve that same chance? You cannot let her fend for herself on this planet. She would not survive a week here and you know it. She is our responsibility. She is… Justice League!"
Superman exhaled sharply and said nothing, not even mentally, but he glared at J'onn and then voted Shayera in.
Now as the Flash asked what was next for the League, J'onn wondered what was next for the Thanagarian. He knew John wanted to talk to her, needed to talk to her, and didn't want her to leave before they spoke.
But allowing her back in the League wasn't the same as her staying. She'd just thrown away a lifetime of concepts and beliefs. She had nowhere to turn, but needed to turn somewhere, needed to turn to someone. J'onn didn't have to read her mind to know she wasn't going to ask for help, even through she needed it badly.
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John stood up, looked outside the window and suddenly announced he was leaving. Before Clark could say anything to him, John was gone. Diana jumped into Clark's face, intent on letting him know that she was unhappy with his vote.
Clark sighed and said softly, "Not now, Diana. J'onn is first, and then you can have what's left."
"Oh, you bet I'm going to have what's left," Diana huffed. "How could you vote her in?"
He pursed his lips together in a tight line and frowned. It would be easier to swallow a glass full of hornets than listen to the barrage he knew was going to come from Diana. For a moment he wished he could just walk away from things like Bruce. Speaking of that, where is Bruce?
J'onn and Clark walked away from Diana and stood near the window, looking out over the bluff. They could see Shayera standing near the cliff ledge.
The anger in Clark's voice came through his whisper as he spoke pointedly to J'onn. "Don't do that to me again."
J'onn looked out the window as he folded his arms across his chest. "Would you rather I'd said it out loud for all to hear or say only what you could hear, only what you could truly understand?"
He sighed. He'd sighed a lot in the last thirty minutes, he thought. But J'onn was right. The pain he'd felt from being manipulated by Darkseid had not eased over the years. He'd done a lot of damage under Darkseid's control and it had taken him years to regain the trust of the world again.
He inhaled sharply. "Okay. She is our responsibility. For the moment, I buy that, but only for the moment."
The Martian continued to look out the window, staring straight ahead. John had joined Shayera on the bluff.
There was sadness in J'onn's voice as he spoke. "There will be many on both worlds who will want to kill her now. She needs a safe place where no one can find her, where no one can get to her."
Clark was silent. He closed his eyes and mentally reached out to J'onn. There are few places on Earth where no one could get to her. Maybe Atlantis, maybe even Themyscira. No, not there. Sending her to Themyscira while Diana is this angry would seal her fate for sure. Fate! What about a place like Fate's tower?
J'onn nodded. He didn't answer Clark mentally, but instead said, "Agreed. I will stay with her while you contact your friend and see if he will help. Mentally call me when you're ready."
Clark opened his eyes in amazement. "You really think she'll let you go with her?"
"Yes," J'onn answered as he rose through the ceiling and out of sight.
Clark closed his eyes for a brief moment, then turned around and sighed. Too many sighs in so short a time. "Okay Diana, it's your turn."
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(On the rooftop of Wayne Manor)
J'onn rose through the building and assumed the shape of a large grey hawk.
He sat perched on a corner of the rooftop overlooking the bluffs of Wayne Manor staring down at Shayera and John below. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he could sense tremendous sadness in John. Shayera was as he'd never seen her before. She had her wings wrapped around herself as if she were…ashamed.
She kept her back to John as they both stared at the setting sun.
Suddenly she turned to face John and said something that J'onn couldn't make out. She waited a few moments and then turned away, launching herself skyward. J'onn let her rise in the distance before he followed.
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Stewart wiped the tears from his eyes and slowly walked back into the house. It had all turned to crud so quickly. Two weeks ago, he thought he was the happiest man on Earth. Now, she was gone and he couldn't follow. His hand and arm hurt. His ring was broken and so was his heart.
He entered the little library room they'd spent the last couple of hours in and saw Diana and Superman having an animated conversation in a corner. Wally was gone. Who knows where. Probably in the kitchen.
Stewart didn't want to stay and listen to the bickering in the corner. Where's Batman? Damn this hand hurts. Batman's butler had offered Stewart medication for the pain, but he'd refused it. He felt, at this moment, he needed the pain to remain focused, to remain in control of his emotions.
He walked out of the room and stood in the hall. He lowered his head as he contemplated the lecture he was going to get from the Guardians for losing his ring. Not losing it. Allowing it to be broken.
"Can I help you, Mister Stewart?"
Stewart looked up into the gentle face of Batman's servant. Al? Alex? Alfred? That's it. Alfred!
"No," Stewart answered. "Wait a minute. Yes, you can. Where's your boss? Where's Batman?"
"Follow me, sir," Alfred answered. He led Stewart back to the study and to the grandfather clock. Alfred stood at the top of the stairway and pointed down into darkness. "Through there, sir."
"Uh, thanks," Stewart said as he walked past Alfred and down the stairs.
Batman was seated at the computer console. The large screen in front of him appeared to be running some sort of program, which displayed (in Stewart's opinion) a lot of gibberish and street maps. Batman studied it intently.
Bruce. His name is Bruce. Think Bruce.
Stewart stood next to Bruce and asked, "How far will your little tracking devices work?"
Batman hit a key on his console and the display paused. He swivelled in his chair and faced Stewart. His eyes narrowed. "About fifty miles. Why?"
"Just wondering far you'll let her get before you leave to trail her," Stewart replied. His hand really hurt now and his shoulders were throbbing from the sling.
Bruce turned back toward the display screen. "I'm not trailing her," he stated flatly.
"What?" Certainly the master of paranoia would have wanted to know where she was. Wouldn't he?
As if he were answering Stewart's unasked question, Bruce looked up at Stewart and replied, "First of all, she never got close enough for me to plant a tracker on her. Secondly, you didn't touch her so the tracker on your cast wasn't planted on her either."
"What?" Stewart looked down at his immobilized arm, and for the first time spotted the tracking device carefully placed on his inside forearm. Alfred! Anger rose in Stewart's voice, "You were watching us? Why didn't you say something? Why didn't you tell me it was there?"
Bruce turned back to his display and pressed a button on the console. The monitor displayed street maps again. Without looking up, Bruce answered, "I don't do that."
Stewart spun the seated Batman toward him. "So nobody knows where she's going?"
Bruce stood. There was anger in his glare as he narrowed his eyes sharply. "I don't know where she's going, but you should go home. It's over. She didn't want to be here and there's nothing you can do here. Go home. Someone will call you."
Stewart lowered his head. Damn him, but Bruce was right. There wasn't anything he could do here. And it was over.
She didn't want to be there. She didn't want to be with him. He turned and walked up the steps passing Diana on her way down. His heart sank.
I should have hugged Shayera.
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(Stewart's Apartment – thirty-six hours later)
He'd had lots of time to replay in his mind their last meeting, their last words, her last words to him: "I love you, John. I never lied about that."
Now he wondered, what could he have said to make her stay? Would she have left if he had hugged her? Why didn't he reach out to her? What was he afraid of? Why didn't he tell her how he felt about her?
He couldn't sleep. His arm hurt, but it was just as well. Sleep was the enemy now. In his sleep, he wasn't in control anymore. In his sleep, he saw her face. In his sleep, he heard her voice.
He wasn't sure if it was the throbbing in his hand that woke him up or the steady persistent, light tapping at his door. Once he realized he wasn't dreaming anymore and regained his awareness, he grasped that there was indeed a tapping at his door. He looked at his clock.
1:37 A.M.
He got out of bed and opened his apartment door. In front of him stood a blue-skinned, blonde-haired woman, wearing a long, tan trenchcoat. Her piercing white eyes showed no pleasure as she stood in front of Stewart. It was Droxelle, a Green Lantern who had been a trainee of his.
Stewart extended the customary salutation as he stepped aside so she could enter his apartment. "Greetings, Green Lantern," Stewart said. At least the Guardians had sent Droxelle and not Katma.
"Greetings, Mister Stewart," she answered as she walked past him. He locked the door behind her and turned to face her. She slapped him. Hard.
Maybe they SHOULD have sent Katma.
"Why aren't you dead?" she said. Emotion rose in her voice.
"Happy to see you, too," Stewart answered flatly. What is it with these damn alien women hitting me?
She suddenly threw her arms around his neck and kissed him as the tan coat disappeared, revealing her Green Lantern uniform.
"I am happy to see you, John" she said. "When the Central Battery lost contact with your ring, we feared you were dead. At least Lantern Katma and I thought so. The slap was from Lantern Katma for scaring her if I found you alive, and the kiss is from me because I did find you alive."
She paused and gently rubbed the side of his face. "Oh my. I may have delivered Lantern Katma's message too hard. I hope you'll let me make that up to you." She smiled broadly.
Stewart smirked, "Maybe," he said as he rubbed the side of her face.
"Anyway," Droxelle continued. "The Guardians want you to report to Oa in two days to explain what happened to the ring."
"When do we leave?"
"I'm leaving in a few minutes. You can leave whenever you want. Here." She held out her hand and opened it to reveal a ring. "Oh. They're brown. They're pretty."
Stewart took the ring and slipped it on his finger. He immediately sensed a welcome wave of energy wash over him. It was a feeling he'd missed the last couple of days. He removed the sling from his arm and hand. He didn't need it anymore. The ring had healed him physically.
"Now that's the color your eyes should be," Droxelle whispered. "That's the color I remember, a nice pretty green."
He ringed a uniform on himself and pulled his lantern battery from its hiding place in a pocket dimension. Droxelle solemnly lowered her head and mouthed the words Stewart had taught her as he repeated his oath and fully charged his new ring.
"Greetings, Green Lantern," she said when he finished.
"Greetings, Green Lantern," he replied.
"Don't forget. Oa. Two days. Don't be late." She walked over to his window and raised it. She leaped out of the window and hovered in front of him.
"And don't forget," she grinned. "When you finish on Oa, give me a chance to make up for the slap." She winked at him. "You won't be disappointed."
"Promises. Promises," Stewart smiled. "Take care of yourself and thanks for the delivery service," he added.
Droxelle laughed. "You're welcome, John. Just glad you're okay," she called out as she shot skyward, disappearing into the night. Stewart watched her leave and then closed his window.
Droxelle was wrong. He wasn't okay and wasn't going to be for a while. He knew that. And yet, he also knew he better get okay and quick. No telling how long the Guardians would keep him on Oa and every day he was away, her trail would get colder.
Oa in two days. Damn.
He inhaled sharply. He would go to Midway City, the city she'd protected, first thing in the morning. Right now, he was going to try to get some badly needed sleep.