Several Months Later

Word had finally come from Oa. Months had passed since the Ovada Kaah incident and the Earth was well on its way to healing from the scars it had wrought. The fiend was defeated, dead by all highly accurate accounts. But that didn't mean he couldn't strike again. Particularly since that Ovada Kaah had come from a different dimension, assaulting every version of the Earth to avenge the death of his wife at the hands of an alternate version of Wonder Woman. More than all those Earths, it had been all those Wonder Women that Kaah had been trying to kill. However, he had not reckoned on the Batman.

Batman had managed to learn that Kaah's attack was coming before the villain could even reach the Prime dimension. He had gone to fight the villain alone, even assaulting the Justice League to ensure they couldn't go with him, and for good reason. Ovada Kaah had possessed the ability to strip a hero of their powers, and since Batman had none he had felt that the best way to beat Kaah and keep everyone safe was to face the foe singlehandedly. Of course, that hadn't been the only reason Batman's choice there. It hadn't even been the main one. He had done it all to protect Diana. He was in love with her. And, even though neither had admitted it at that time, she loved him back.

Initially Batman had failed to stop Kaah, the villain making it to the Prime dimension. However, right on the verge of the Earth's complete eradication, Batman had returned, dealing the heavy blows that meant Kaah lost. Kaah had gone down with his ship and his entire arsenal of weapons and soldiers, no way for Batman and the rest to get them out of there alive to pay for what they had done more than the easy escape of death.

But that hadn't meant that the threat of Kaah was over for good. It didn't mean that the Prime dimension's own version of Ovada Kaah wasn't out there somewhere, just waiting until he was in a position to attack too, even if with a different motivation. In the days immediately after that first incident, John Stewart had travelled to the Guardians on Oa, informing them of the situation. Even there, even with all the extensive experience the people there had, none had ever heard of Ovada Kaah, requiring time just to correctly identify his species. Kaah had immediately become a person of interest, someone all Green Lanterns were to watch out for in case he was as villainous as his counterpart. Now, at last, Kaah Prime had been found.

John looked over at his two travelling companions. He had personally gone to check this out, despite Kaah not residing in his jurisdiction of space. Luckily, the Green Lantern who was responsible there had no problem with that on this occasion, particularly due to how it was the Earth that this alien was known to threaten, and Earth was very much was in John's territory. However, he couldn't do it alone. He needed someone who had actually seen Ovada Kaah before, someone who could correctly identify him to make sure they had the right guy. John Stewart was not that someone. There were only three living, trusted sources who fit the bill, and they were about the three noblest, most worthy beings the Earth knew.

By far, it had been Batman who had seen the most of Kaah. That ought to mean he would the first choice companion on this trip. There was only one problem there. After the end of that first incident, Batman hadn't come back to the Justice League. He was welcome back, despite there having been issues of trust following Batman's attack on the rest of the Founders. Explaining – almost – everything to Superman had seen to that, but he had stayed away out of his own choice. Months had passed by and there was still no sign of him. Reports continued to flood in of his ongoing work in Gotham, though, and Bruce Wayne was still being seen aplenty, all over the world. There were plenty of stories of apprehended mob bosses and defeated supervillains in his city, but Batman had stayed away from the superhero team he had helped found. The official reason was that he was too busy down there, that Batman was simply taking a break from the League to ensure his own house got ever closer to being in order after so many years of hellish chaos. John Stewart was one of the very few to know different.

Batman was away because of Diana. He had confessed his love to her in the aftermath of saving the world, and she had returned the sentiment in full. They had, after many years of skirting the issue, finally decided to get together, to give happiness a try despite all of the barriers they both so often threw in the way. There was just one catch. Batman being Batman, he had to make sure that he was ready when the time came, that being with Wonder Woman would not affect his work, that his legendary self-control – particularly regarding his one and only rule – would not be threatened as it had been by Ovada Kaah. Beyond that, Batman just had to teach himself how to cope with being happy.

And so he had secluded himself away from them until the time came when he was ready for all that. Months had passed by and he was still away. After so many years alone in the darkness, John figured it would be a lengthy process for Batmanto start turning things around, no matter how small a turn he took. He was still amazed that Batman had actually got as far as he had. He had expected his friend to push Diana away until his dying breath, but she was as persistent as he was and had forced her way in, even before she had realised it herself. John had been one of only three to recognise that those two had feelings for each other, besides themselves of course. Now, even despite what they had finally allowed to happen, those same three were still the only ones to know – outside of the would-be happy pair themselves.

But right now all of that came down to one key thing. It all meant that there was no way Batman was available for this mission. He was too busy on that one of his own.

Superman, who had fleetingly met Kaah right at the end, was busy elsewhere too, off on some other intergalactic mission that had begun before word had even reached John that Kaah Prime was found. That meant that the man of steel was out of the picture too. That only left Wonder Woman herself, the one who the alternate Kaah had tried so hard to kill.

Batman certainly wouldn't like it if he had known that she had come with him. He had done so much before to keep Diana away from Kaah. Having her go and encounter the alien again now and in the process potentially risking events repeating themselves – at least to a paranoid mind – would not be a wise course of action.

But then, John felt sure that throughout all of his time away Batman would no doubts have been keeping tabs on them all, even from down there in his lonely old cave, and he had not complained. Perhaps doing nothing to try and stop Diana from doing this was a part of his training, a part of his learning to cope with her still risking her life in the never ending battle after he had let her in.

And so here they were. Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and J'onn J'onzz, hiding low behind the rocks of some distant alien world spying on its residents. Bringing J'onn with them was a logical step, the Martian's telepathy being another way to let them know if they had found the right guy and, of course, allowing them to understand if he shared his counterpart's malicious tendencies. It helped that J'onn was one of the others who knew of Batman and Wonder Woman – Shayera being the third – as that was essentially at the heart of what the Kaah issue revolved around. For the Justice League as people, anyway.

"You're sure he's down there?"

It was Diana who had asked the question, and John could understand why. Doubts had hit his mind from the first moment that they had arrived here. This planet didn't seem to fit with what they knew of Ovada Kaah. For one thing, it all looked so... primitive. The Kaah they had met had had all kinds of technology at his disposal, with his warships and deadly weapons. These people on this planet didn't seem to have even mastered steam power, let alone space travel. They definitely didn't look like the threat the Justice League had faced before. But then again, the threat they had met before had come from a very different place. John had had to keep reminding himself that with infinite dimensions out there, the Kaah they knew could be entirely different from this one here.

And that was exactly what they were finding. Diana had already confirmed that these aliens certainly seemed to be the same race as Ovada Kaah, from what she could see at least. Considering the aliens' state of advancement, the trio had had no trouble finding an obscure observation point from which to scout out the village where they had been told Kaah could be found.

"The Guardian's seemed sure enough," John answered, knowing that Diana likely asked the question out of frustration and boredom rather than any actual doubts. She wasn't stupid, she was just impatient. After all, they had been sat there watching without any luck for long enough, several hours at John's best guess. "He'll be down there. Or at least, he was down there very recently."

"I think I have detected him," J'onn announced out of nothing, surprising both of the others. From the look on the Martian's face, it was clear he was psychically reaching out to that village down there. "He's on his way down towards the main square now from the North side of the town. His mind certainly suggests that he is Ovada Kaah, albeit he is... different."

"Different how?" Diana asked out of reflex, tone giving away her piqued level of alert.

"You shall see any second. Keep watching. To give this matter finality, you must confirm that it is him."

Both GL and Wonder Woman did exactly as J'onn had suggested. The main square of the village was easy to pick out. It wasn't like there were a lot of skyscrapers to block the view; such construction was obviously still beyond these people. Of course, for John knowing what he was looking for was difficult. However, seeing the look of recognition spread across Diana's face as they watched a male being enter that square made it clear to him. More than that, he saw the look of both calm and relief spread over Wonder Woman's visage too.

"That's definitely him. I wouldn't forget that face." Diana reflexively put a hand to her torso as she spoke. During the end fight, before Batman had been able to defeat Kaah, the alien had managed to stab Wonder Woman during a moment when her powers had been down under his aura. Particularly with her durability lacking for those vital seconds, it had been a pretty nasty wound. Of course, Batman had saved her in the end or she wouldn't be here, but obviously the memories came back in the sight of Kaah again, even if the wound had long since healed, her powers long returned. She clearly wasn't happy at being reminded about a time when she had failed to prevent herself earning such a wound. Her warrior's pride clearly stung at the thoughts, no matter how little she could actually have done to stop herself from taking that knife to her torso.

John's mind was more focused on something else, though. He could see now that J'onn was right. This Kaah wasn't the warmongerer that they knew, he wasn't the enigmatic mastermind intent on causing death and destruction. This Kaah was happy, all smiles, clasping the arm of a female of the species who was lovingly at his side. Not only that, but Kaah also looked far less developed on a personal level, just as his species as a whole did compared to what they had expected. That other dimension had clearly yielded a far different path for this species and for Ovada Kaah. The discoveries, the evolution that had made them – him – an intergalactic force to be reckoned with were yet to happen here, and they looked to be a long, long way off. The motivation that had eroded Kaah of morality had yet to happen too. Hopefully, it wouldn't be happening any time soon either. Here Kaah's wife was clearly still alive.

All things considered, the Justice League had nothing to fear about the prime dimension's Ovada Kaah. The guy looked to be just about as peaceful and innocent as they came.

"Indeed, I sense no desires at all in him to do harm to anyone, even if he could. I think we have our assurances. The Earth will not be ever threatened by this man."

"Agreed," Diana concurred, her relief spreading into a slight smile. "That is a relieving thought."

Of course, John had suspicions that there was something else behind that smile too. They may have only spotted Kaah for a matter of seconds, but already it was abundantly obvious that their mission was at an end. It was time to go home. Subsequently, no matter how unlikely it was that he would have timed it for now, that meant that Diana had begun hoping to see Batman again. She was hoping that by the time they arrived back at the Watchtower, Batman would be up there, ready and waiting for them. She had been that way a lot ever since the day Batman's self-imposed exile had begun. It never interfered with her work, it was even hard to notice if you didn't already know to expect it, but it was definitely there, bubbling away under the surface. She was hoping that he would have returned.

And it seemed that no matter how long Batman took away, that hope would always be there. It was as immortal as she was.

As for John Stewart, he wasn't particularly looking forward to getting back home. Things in his love life were quite different to how Diana's was playing out. Yes, she and Batman were apart, but that wasn't going to last forever. It wasn't a problem to plague her mind, just her patience. John, though, was caught up in the midst of intense doubts, confusion and fear.

Things between him and Vixen could definitely be described as rocky. In truth, they were all but over. He had stuck by her when Shayera had returned to the Justice League, wanting to do right by her. He did love Mari, even if his heart had always told him that Shayera was the one. He was not about to hurt Vixen just to be self-indulgent. Of course, things had gotten even worse when he and Batman had travelled to the future. Having met the son he and Shayera had – will have one day – together sired, now John was not only contending with matters of the heart but also the notions of destiny and fate. He was never one to put much stock in such things, always being the type to firmly believe the only fate a man could face was the one he made for himself. Now the future was trying to tell him something different, and he was trying to oppose that. As he had said before, he didn't want to just become destiny's puppet. And so he had stayed with Vixen more firmly than before.

But then the Kaah incident had happened. Shayera had been hurt during it. She had since fully recovered, but at the time John had been unable to hide his feelings. He had been too worried for Shayera's safety, so worried that he had forgotten that Vixen was facing danger in the fight against Kaah too. It had made his true feelings blatantly obvious. Had they been there, even the most distant outsider would have been able to tell exactly who it was that John truly loved. Vixen had seen it too. She was stubborn enough that she was yet to give John the boot, determined enough to try and make everything work out regardless after she had invested so much in them, but it was still pretty clear that they were coming to an end.

And that meant that John was edging ever closer to being with Shayera again. Destiny was happening all around him, despite him trying to cut the strings it held him by. He was still trying to fight it, but he couldn't deny that he would not be successful forever. Nevertheless, despite him and Vixen being practically over he was still trying to keep out of Shayera's way, to stop himself from diving straight back into her arms, no matter how he felt. Being here on this alien world was helping him to do exactly that. Going back and being so close to Shayera again... He didn't know how much longer he'd be able to resist.

He glanced over at Diana again then, seeing the smile still on her face. She may be so inexperienced in all these things, and Batman may be far from the most externally emotional being around, but John so envied the two of them in that moment. He couldn't deny Diana the chance, however remote, of today being the day that she could see her hope become reality just because of his own stupid issues. It was time to go.

Looking away from her, John looked back to the Martian Manhunter, caught off guard for a second. J'onn's eyes were glowing as if he was in telepathic contact with someone again. For a second GL thought they might have a problem, that they might have read Kaah Prime too early. Still, he waited for J'onn's eyes to return to normal before making sure. It didn't take long.

"So, are we all done here?" he asked probingly, long standing training and experience preventing him from feeling any real worry.

"Yes. I see no reason to stay. It would be best for us to return in case the Justice League needs us elsewhere." J'onn's answer was simple, typically stoic. He made no hint of a mention about what the contact had been, or even who with. Then again, GL didn't really need to know, so long as it wasn't a problem.

One last glance to Diana, and the confirming nod she gave him in return, was all that John needed. Using his power ring he formed the air-tight bubble of light around them, and began to fly them on the long journey back to Earth, and the people there that were – maybe – awaiting them.

It was a whole world apart, nowhere near any of the major developments affecting the Justice League and its key heroes. The crack in the red rocks widened as they forced their way through it, from where they had been buried for so long. They felt nothing as they moved onwards. They no longer had anything to feel with.

Or, at least, they didn't physically.

But they did feel that mind, that Martian mind, reaching out from far away to telepathically connect with...someone. They had felt it before from the same being, but it had taken years to get this far through their cage to be able to do anything about it. Now they were free, and they had felt that mind again. They knew that the others had tried to send out their own communiqué to the Martian, but they hadn't the strength yet to do so properly, not over this distance, not to the outside world. Good. The others had touched the Martian's mind briefly, but they knew that it hadn't been enough for either party's need. The Martian would likely just shrug the connections away if he had even registered it at all, as if it had been nothing worth even remembering. The effort had been far too weak.

As for them themselves, they too needed to talk to the Martian, only they would have to get closer. Much, much closer.

Their energy seeped further and further from the cracks. Despite knowing the damage that such an act could cause, they knew they had to go to this Martian, and to do so before the others could make contact with him. Now that they had detected him, they could feel that he was moving. They knew where he was heading for, they could tell that without doubt.

And they had to go to him. They had to go to where he would be.

Any losses on his newly adopted world would be inconsequential compared to the damage if they didn't go to him, if they didn't make him use his abilities to help them achieve their ultimate goal. They had to accomplish that. They had to find it. They had to make the Martian help them.

Willingly, or not.

It would take time, but they knew they had to go to Earth. And no one, especially the others, would be able to stop them until they had what they wanted, no matter what they had to do against that world and its citizens in the process.

The campaign had begun.

A/N:

Good news, everyone! I'm back (sort of)! Yep, I know this one be short and nothing much directly happens, but like the description says it's a stepping stone from one story to its sequel, which I thought would be wise considering I've been gone a while. Also saves from having to do a lot of clumpy explanations at the start of the sequel, which now can get on with things a bit more. This also meant that I could wrap up the one major loose end I thought was left in The Shroud of Fear, that being the situation regarding the Prime version of Ovada Kaah. As you can guess from this, I don't want to revisit that chestnut again, but if someone else fancies a crack at the character for one of their own stories I'm sure with a PM or two requesting use something can be sorted out.

As usual, the reviews etc. are all more than welcome and even encouraged, for both this one and The Shroud of Fear. The sequel proper is already underway and coming along nicely, but I might be a bit sneaky and wait a month or so before I start posting it, just to let the tension build (editing/continuity purposes may also be involved and be more significant reasons, as is a still rather busy schedule). I originally planned to leave this until closer to when the sequel would be ready to start posting, but I've been sat on this for a while and with the read count for The Shroud of Fear still climbing away I decided to offer this up a bit early. Call it an early Christmas gift.

Anyways, see you all on the other side, when the Justice League will be put to the test again, physically and emotionally, as both Batman and an unexpected foe return. And all hell breaks loose…