Interlude: Stranger from the Sky

Chapter One: Second Coming

Beast Boy had never been this nervous in his entire life.

He and Terra were rehearsing for their upcoming wedding, and Mrs. Jones, Hank's mother, had hired her family's church, the First United Methodist Church of Jump City, and their pastor, the Reverend Jackie Reed, for the occasion. But if he was this nervous at just the rehearsal, he could only imagine how bad it would be on the actual day itself. Cyborg, Robin, Starfire, Haywire, Kitten, Raven, and Angelique looked on. Omega had been called off to a meeting with the Hunters and the Justice League. The Kindred had, for the most part, been keeping to themselves, but there had been a few indications that they were not completely opposed to some interaction with humanity. Garfield hoped he wasn't sweating, well, at least not noticeably.

Ever since their return from Apokolips, there had been little sign of either Typhon or the Entity.

And then Terra entered, from the back of the aisle, and, somehow, his fears and nervousness just faded away.

Even without her bridal gown, just in her street clothes, she was still easily the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. All his tension, all his anxiety, diminished into the background. It didn't go away, of course, but just seeing her, knowing that they'd soon be husband and wife, made it all worthwhile.

Her brother, Brion, aka Geo-Force, escorted her down the middle of the aisle. The plan was, he was to give her away, their father choosing not to involve himself in these matters. At the direction of the Reverend, Gar and Terra went through the procedures, making the vows, exchanging the rings (though not the real ones of course), the whole mock ceremony. I guess this is a good thing, thought Gar, otherwise, to have this sprung on me all at once….well, I could easily faint. And wouldn't that be a note.

"….to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, 'till death do you part….." Garfield had no problem whatsoever with that; there would never be anyone else for him, ever. No. Matter. What.

"You may now kiss the bride."

He bent over towards Terra, and, taking her in his arms, kissed her deeply. Midway through the kiss, however, she grimaced. "Ow."

He drew back, a lopsided grin on his face. "Gee, thanks."

"Not you, goofball." She whapped him on his shoulder, looking off towards the north. "Something just crashed north of the city. Something….really hard."

"What? You mean, you can sense those things?" asked Robin, "you mean, like a plane?"

"Yeah, my connection with the earth works both ways, you know. But this was something different than a plane. But whatever it was, it came down really hard."

Robin thought. "We'd best go investigate."

…..

They found a great furrow dug into the Earth, a few miles north of the city. Judging from the angle, it must've come in from deep space….they followed the gouge to its terminus. Whatever had come down, had come down hard enough to bury itself fairly deep within the Earth.

"Terra? Can you…?" And the blond girl concentrated, shifting the dirt and topsoil off of the object, whatever it was…..

….to reveal a humanoid hand, buried deeply within the cold Earth. A chalk-white hand, apparently belonging to someone lying face down in the furrow.

"Omega!" gasped Kitten. What had happened? He was supposed to be on board the Watchtower, going over the plans for an alliance between the Hunter's Federation and Earth. She dropped, catlike, down into the gouge in the Earth and ran over to him…and stopped abruptly, her hands hovering just over the unmoving arm below her. "Wait. This…this isn't Omega."

Terra cleared off some more topsoil, revealing what unquestionably appeared to be an Osiran warrior lying face down: alabaster white hair and skin, black and silver uniform.

But the form thus revealed was definitely female.

"Terra?" Robin was puzzled. "Could you and Starfire turn her over?" Osirans, after all, weighed tons, due to being made of a different kind of matter than humans were familiar with. So Terra concentrated, hands and eyes glowing a soft yellow light, as she mentally raised curved columns of stone to turn the warrior over as gently as she could. Starfire assisted, her great strength helping to keep the Osiran from rolling over and over.

The Osiran female proved to be breathtakingly lovely, with fine features, ever so slightly almond-shaped eyes, a small straight nose, and a small mouth, all set in a heart-shaped face, above a chin that narrowed to a point. Her milk-white hair came down to just below that chin.

And Kitten suddenly felt her heart drop down to somewhere near the vicinity of the Earth's core. Although the others couldn't know, she recognized this warrior.

It was Athena.

…

"So what of these Kindred?" asked J'onn J'onnz. "These others, these Hunters, seem inclined to establish peaceful relations with us. But we've heard little from the Kindred. And, from what you say, they could pose a serious problem, should they choose to."

"We are in the process of establishing relationships with them even now. Keep in mind, they are not born conquerors by nature. It is their nature to build, to invent, to improve. I am not saying they have no desire to rule, but I believe them to be amenable to reason. They were actually helpful to us during the recent catastrophe, remember. Their force-shield saved the city from the tsunamis." And with Angelique now a Titan, for all intents and purposes, that would be an added incentive for peaceful relations, but he saw no reason to add that. Yet. After all, one doesn't reveal everything about a negotiation all at once. "Plus, their notion of 'ruling' is not exactly the same as you might be thinking. Mostly, they desire to control their immediate environment. And, unless it is needful for them to do otherwise, they prefer to keep to themselves." He looked around at the assembled core members, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern… "Remember, they were designed to be, basically, biological computers. The urge to conquer was the province of the Lords; for them to share such personality traits with any underclass would've had the potential effect of creating competition they didn't need, and to court, at the very least, social instability, and possibly even revolution."

"Very well." The Martian Manhunter shuffled some papers. "The Hunters are sending a convoy of ships with the intent of establishing relations with us. They have extended the offer to us to join their Federation. Many here are skeptical of such, of course," and here he looked pointedly at Batman, who showed absolutely no reaction at all, "but, from what I have been able to glean, they seem sincere. I plan on casting my vote in their favor. But," and here he pointed to Omega, "We will have to be counting on you to deal with these Kindred. The level of technology you've described them as possessing is quite….formidable, to say the least. Can we count on you for that?"

"I will certainly do my best, sir. That's all I can promise."

"Then that will have to do. Now, as to the matter of these god-like superbeings…."

Batman continued scowling. This being his normal expression, hardly anybody noticed.

Except Omega.

….

Kitten actually felt nauseated. While this wasn't her worst nightmare come true, it sure came close.

Robin was speaking to her. "Kitten? Are…are you alright?"

She sniffled and turned away, trying not to show her feelings; after all, she'd never let them see her as weak. "'Course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, look: this is an Osiran warrior. I don't know what's happened to her, or when she'll wake up, or anything, but we have to have some means of communicating with her. Osirans don't have vocal apparatus, and, while they can hear, that doesn't mean she'll be able to understand us when she wakes up. And remember: she's a warrior. Chances are, when she does wake up, in an unknown situation, among strangers, she could easily react violently. Very violently.

"You know the most of any of us here about Osirans. Is there some way of communicating with her, of letting her know our peaceful intent? Maybe some kind of writing or sign or sign language, something?"

Kitten was almost too miserable to think straight. So. This was how it was gonna end. "There, there is a sign…you gotta piece of paper?" He produced one, and handed her a pen. She drew a line, up from the bottom, then stopped. Above that, she drew a circle. Within the circle, she continued the line almost to the center of the circle, stopping short less than a half a centimeter. In the exact center of the circle, she drew a dot. "Here. This…isn't exactly a 'peace' sign, I don't know if they even had such a thing, but this figure basically means, loosely translated, 'hostilities have ceased within this vicinity.' It's the closest thing I can think of….." She handed the paper to Robin, still sniffling. "Have Terra carve this on a rock or something. That way, when she wakes up, she'll see it, and….." She found she couldn't go on. A tear coursed down her cheek. The others looked at her with concern.

And then the alien woman moved, shifted. She was regaining consciousness.

Robin moved everybody back. He'd seen what an Osiran warrior could do; if this one felt threatened, she could easily devastate half the state without even trying. Terra had carved the Osiran symbol into a nearby rocky outcropping, within easy sight of the female.

The warrior sat up, looking around. She noticed the Osiran symbol carved into solid stone, but her gaze was fixed, primarily, on the humans gathered around her in a ring.

And she spoke, with a clear, clipped, precise British accent: "What happened? Where am I? And who are you?"

To say that the humans standing around her were astonished would've been an understatement. Mouths were literally hanging open. Omega had been the only Osiran they'd ever encountered who could actually speak, but that had only been because the Orb had artificially grown some vocal apparatus within him. It had been an excruciating ordeal for him. And, of course, his familiarity with the English language had been a by-product of his temporary soul-bonding with Hank.

But this…this was totally unexpected.

While the others concentrated on the female warrior, Raven moved towards Kitten. "Kitten? What's wrong? I sense your distress."

"Nothing's wrong. I'm just fine." She lied, hugging herself. "I'm going back to the Tower now." She summoned her flying platform. "By the way, her name's Athena. Just so's you know." And with that, she was gone.

Raven watched her go, a worried expression on her face.

…

Omega flew back to the Tower, in one of the happiest moods he could ever recall. In truth, he'd actually overstressed his fears regarding the Kindred; they had proved to be helpful in the past, and he certainly had hopes that trend would continue. If only he could overcome their seeming fear of him….

He moved down the hallway towards Kitten's room. No doubt she'd be as ecstatic as he was, and he wanted to share this triumph, premature though it might be, with the one he loved.

And, of course, there was his and Kitten's upcoming role in Beast Boy's and Terra's wedding. He hadn't been able to make it to many of the rehearsals; he'd have to make a serious effort to try to remedy that.

But what were these emotions he was sensing coming from her room? Anger, hurt, a sense of betrayal?….what could be the cause of that? Had someone hurt her? If so, he'd certainly see to it that they'd regret it mightily. He was definitely not too good to enjoy a good bout of revenge.

He opened the door. "Kitten? Are you alright?"

Kitten was over by her bed, throwing some things into a duffel bag. "'Course I'm alright. Couldn't be better. Everything's just peachy." She practically spat the words out, all the while continuing to fill up the duffel bag.

He came over and sat on her bed. "Do you want to try that again? It didn't seem to work, last time."

"Look, just get outta here, okay? Leave me alone."

"No. I will not leave you until you tell me what's got you so upset."

Kitten seriously considered throwing something at him. It wouldn't do any good, of course; he was invulnerable. So why waste the effort? Instead she snorted. "Like you don't know, Mr. X-ray / telescopic vision."

He cocked his head at her. "Kitten, I don't use my senses to pry into every nook and cranny of human existence. It doesn't require much intelligence to realize that humans have such things as walls-and doors, with locks on them—for a reason. So, no, I don't go spying on people unless I have to, in the line of duty. Now won't you tell me what's going on?"

Kitten had finally packed all she felt like she could carry. Okay. All she had to do was just fly her platform back to her dad's place….it would be good to be back home, in her old room. She'd already made up her mind to flush the glowing blue crystal pendant Omega had given her down the toilet. It was just garbage, anyway. But he obviously wasn't going to quit pestering her until he got an answer to his question. And so she sat down beside him, as far away as she could in the narrow confines of her room, and, drawing a deep breath, said, "Athena's back." There. There it was, out in the open.

He looked shocked. "Athena? She..she's alive? And she's here?

"Yes. She's here. Just down the hallway, in fact. And somehow, she's able to talk and understand English. How we don't know." She sighed.

He looked puzzled. "Well, that is….good news, I suppose. I had thought she was dead. But why would it cause you to feel this way?"

"Whaddaya mean 'why'? Now it's you and her, together again. And that leaves me out. So I'm leaving."

Now he understood. He had the ability—very much unlike the warriors of Osira—to read emotions, but just being able to sense what someone else was feeling didn't necessarily mean you knew why. "You're jealous!"

"I am not!"

"Yes, you are."

Silence. Then, "Well, okay, so what if I am? It's not like I haven't got good reason to be. I mean, here she is, and here you are, and, and…." She found she couldn't go on. It was like her throat was constricting, somehow. She turned away, her shoulders shaking.

He turned to her, still sitting there on her bed, and hitched over closer to her. Put his hands on her shoulders, turned her around, and looked her in the eye. "Kitten. Listen to me. Athena and I were friends, nothing more. Even that concept—which we didn't even have a word for, by the way—was discouraged by the Lords, who wanted us to be totally subservient to them, with no other loyalties. You remember what I told you, about me instigating a rescue? That was why it was discouraged. Why I was not executed for that, I don't know. By our law, I should have been. But I wasn't, for some reason. At least not for that.

"But what I'm trying to say is this: Athena and I were colleagues, coworkers, and, yes, friends. But never anything more. Anything like the sort of relationship you're referring to would've been an automatic death sentence for us both."

"But…but you said you and she 'made it' or something. Didn't that, I mean, wasn't that…." She fished around for the right words. "I mean, like, count for something?"

Omega let go of her and leaned forward, hands clasped between his knees, thinking. He was silent for a long time. Then, "Kitten. Perhaps I failed to fully explain just precisely what I meant by 'making it' when I spoke to you about this earlier. And perhaps I didn't fully understand what you were asking. Please remember, while I may know the English language, I am still learning how it's used. Now. When you went to grade school, say, junior high or high school, you had friends, didn't you?"

"Yeah." Actually, she really hadn't had all that many….

"Some of whom just happened to be male, correct?"

"Well, yeah." In fact, most of her few friends had been boys. They were soooo much easier to manipulate.

"Picture this: the both of you being hauled in front of a federal judge and, before a congress of witnesses, forced to have sex. Right there, in front of everybody. How would that make you feel?"

Kitten paled, her skin turning a lighter shade of red. "Omigod. It was like that for you?"

"That is the best analogy I can come up with. And even that isn't really accurate. It was as complete and total a public violation for us both as was possible."

"But, but you said it was, what was the word you used? Exhilarating? Especially with someone you cared about?"

"If I understand correctly, there is a curious human custom called rape. During this process, the female may occasionally experience what you call an orgasm. Correct? Not often, but sometimes. And orgasms are supposed to be pleasurable, are they not?" He paused; she didn't say anything. "Does this in any way detract from the overall unpleasantness of the experience?" She still said nothing, looking down at her hands. "I understand the reverse can also be true: males can be raped by females, and, even though they, too, may experience an orgasm, it is still a thoroughly unpleasant event." He continued. "What we underwent was definitely a form of intimacy, about as intimate as was possible. I took that to mean what you were referring to. But it was by no means voluntary, or pleasant." Pause. "I won't lie to you. Yes, I cared about her. I care about her still. Enough to go against the strictures of my people and stage a rescue. And yes, I enjoyed being around her. Don't you enjoy being around your friends?

"But we were never anything more. We didn't have time to become anything more, or the concept of being anything more. I will not try to deceive you: maybe in time, we…..might've become…something more….but we never were. She went back to her Lord, and I went back to mine. I only saw her again sporadically, on those few projects we worked on. And yes, I….arranged some of those so as to be in her company. I regarded her as a friend, someone whom it was pleasant to be around, even though the word didn't exist in our language. But there was never anything more to it than that. We really didn't even know there could be anything more than to it than that; that knowledge, the knowledge of romance or, or of sexual or mating practices, was suppressed. It had been effectively expunged from all our libraries and databases. And remember: such things as I described to you, the mind-link, were forbidden, except under very controlled circumstances like I just described to you. The mind-link…..our minds were basically invaded, not just physically, but mentally, emotionally. In front of a full parliament of Lords. And a few Thinkers." He paused. "Maybe if it had happened in private, it might have been different, but I don't know. As it was, it was a complete sense of violation, for us both. And it took place in public. Before witnesses." He actually shivered, something she'd never seen him do. "Imagine if, in the scenario I just described to you, of forced sex, of having Earthly scientists arrayed around you with something like fluoroscopes detailing the exact clinical procedure of physical penetration, and some mechanism to determine precisely when pregnancy had been accomplished." Kitten felt like she was about to throw up. "Yes, she sensed that I cared about her in a more personal way than I was supposed to, I guess you'd say. And, yes, I sensed the same from her. But that didn't keep it from being an overall horrible experience, one I never want to repeat." Now he took her in his arms. "Kitten. I love you, not Athena. Though I will not lie to you: I love her as a friend, but you are the one whom I truly love. If you haven't realized that by now, well, I must be doing something wrong, is all I can say. Or not doing something right. Or perhaps a combination of the two."

Kitten blushed, something she rarely did. She brushed a tear away, as casually as she could. Wouldn't do to let the boy see her actually cry. "Okay, already. Guess I, I….overreacted a bit. It's just…I mean, she's someone from your past, with whom you've got some fond memories of, an' all…. "

He held her close. "It is true I have fond memories of her. However, my major memory regarding her is one of what I suppose you'd call horror, not just for myself, but for her, too. In fact, mostly for her. And I was powerless to save either of us from that horror." He paused. "That feeling of powerlessness only added to the horror." He paused again, still holding her. "We are the sum of our memories. And many of our memories are ones we wish we could rid ourselves of. But if we could, we'd lose valuable experience, and probably make the same mistakes all over again."

Again she sniffled, her head over his shoulder, with him holding her tight. He was right. Who'd ever thought that an alien, a stranger to the world of men, a stranger to emotions, even, could've ever glommed onto such a bit of wisdom? But maybe some things were universal. "Well, enough of my, my, I guess you'd say, my insecurity," she said, drawing back, wiping her eyes and nose. "Guess we need to go introduce you to her. Maybe you can find out how she got here, and why it is she can not only talk, but actually understand English."

He held her at arm's length, looking her in the eye. "Is there any hurry?" he asked.

"What? Uh, well, no, I mean, I don't guess so…."

"Good. Because I've missed you so much…." And he drew her to him.

Meanwhile, the warrior known to humans as Athena was in the humans' medical facility. Height: six feet zero. Weight: eighteen point nine tons. No heartbeat, of course: Omega had explained that Osirans didn't have hearts in the human sense. Rather, their circulatory fluids being thicker by far, not to mention somewhat differentiated, what they had was a complex organ that spun, producing much the same effect, while separating the different fluids and seeing to their delivery to the appropriate areas. Something like an Earthly centrifuge. They also had a secondary such organ lower down in the abdomen. It wasn't easy getting any other kind of useable readings from her, of course, due to the force-fields Osiran warriors produced as a natural byproduct of their metabolism, but she was being bombarded with questions.

"But how did you get here?" the one called Robin asked.

"I truly do not know. Our universe was ending; the chaos wave was getting closer and closer. My group had been charged with finding some means of countering it; barring that, some means of escape. We had been experimenting with interdimensional transit vortices, what I believe you would call 'worm holes,' with the idea that the Lords and the populace could be transported to safety.

"But the chaos wave was moving too fast. It began to swallow up my entire laboratory. I tried to reach the others, to save them, but it was too late. They were gone." And here she paused, pain evident in her face and voice. "I was the last one left. I had no choice but to leap into the vortex itself, wherever it would take me. Alone.

"I knew no more until you found me. The vortex must've led me here, wherever 'here' is. That is the only possible explanation that I have."

"Well, it's good that you survived. You aren't the only Osiran warrior here, by the way; we'll introduce you to the other one later. We call him 'Omega,' by the way, and he's been a great asset to our team. You could be, too, if you wish to join us, and you're welcome to do so. That would be good for you as well; it would help you learn about our society and culture, since, after all, you are new here. And for conveniences' sake, we've named you 'Athena.' You don't mind, do you?"

"Athena." She pronounced it slowly, getting used to the unfamiliar word, the sound that now meant her. "It…is strange to have what you call an actual name, but I find it oddly satisfactory. Pleasing, even. And I see the logic in it; your primary means of communication being sonic vibrations in the atmosphere, that can be heard by all, it makes sense to have terms of self-designation for each unique individual whom you may wish to address. I am eager to meet this warrior of whom you speak. Perhaps he can shed some light on the mystery of my arrival here."

"That's another thing: we know, from experience with him, that normally Osirans can't talk. How is it that you can?"

Athena thought hard. "I….honestly do not know. I only know that I awakened with this…to me, odd ability and a knowledge of several Earth languages."

….

In Kitten's room, she and Omega were engaged in perhaps the most passionate kissing Kitten could ever recall. Her hands explored his body through his suit, even as his did hers…."Mmmm. Talk about buns of steel….." She found herself wondering just how this uniform of his came off, anyway….

Omega's communicator beeped. "Not now," he growled, and switched it off. He turned back to her. "Whatever it is can wait."

She held him tightly. She could feel a slight vibration running through him, not a shiver, like before, but something more subtle. A slight thrumming. Something she'd never felt before." 'Mega? You feel alright?"

"I….yes and no. I feel….strange, somehow. Every since my return from the Infinite, I've felt this peculiar sensation. I don't know what it could be."

"Have you ever felt this way before?"

"No. But….it seems to be getting … stronger." She drew back and looked him in the face. He was clearly troubled by something. Something nagged her in the back of her mind….maybe an intuition, or maybe just her own desire….

"Omega. Stand up here for a minute, would'ja?" Puzzled, he did so, standing in the middle of the room. "Now. Take off your clothes."

"Excuse me?"

"I said, take off your clothes. Just take 'em off. Don't worry; I….just need to know something." She saw his hesitation. "You're not shy, are you? Would it help if I took mine off, too?"

"Uh, no, it's just….." He reached up to his neck and pushed on and twisted an almost invisible button there….

And his uniform simply vanished. No, thought Kitten, it didn't just disappear, so much as it seemed to withdraw into a single thin band around his neck. He stood before her naked. Interesting. Some sort of memory molecule, she guessed. She'd have to figure it out later.

She looked him up and down. Yes, so far, everything seemed to be in order: pecs just like the human norm, sculpted biceps, flat, muscular abs, perfect hips from what she could see, and tight, muscular legs.

And between those legs…..

Her eyes widened. "Wha-ho! Wow!" She moved closer. "Looks like somebody's ready to Par Tee." She began hurriedly stripping out of her own clothes…..

And at that very moment, Robin burst into the room. "Why aren't you two answering your-oh, Good God." He turned almost as bright a shade of crimson as Kitten herself and darted out of the room.

Kitten sighed. Talk about a mood killer. Still, she moved up to Omega and caressed him, fondled him. "You can feel that, can't you? I mean, you're not that invulnerable, are you?"

He took her by the arms and kissed her passionately. "Oh, yes. Yes, indeed, I can."

She moved away. "Well," she sighed, "I guess duty calls. But. Afterwards…." And here she ran her hand over his hips, her tail caressing his legs, "It's just you and me. Behind a locked door. Get ready for something even better, 'kay?" she whispered.

He kissed her. "I will." And again he pushed/twisted on the button on his neck, and his uniform sprang back into existence.

….

Athena waited patiently in the humans' infirmary. She was impatient to meet this lone surviving warrior; perhaps he could shed some light on her being here, in this strange place…

The one called Robin entered, followed by a humanoid girl with bright red skin and what looked like a prehensile stinger equipped tail. And behind her…..Athena's eyes widened….

"Athena, this is Omega. He's been with us now for-*"

But he got no further. With no warning whatsoever, Athena launched herself, with clearly murderous intent, straight at a surprised Omega, smashing them both completely out of the Tower.

To be continued…..

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