Shayera felt extremely uncomfortable. She didn't know how it happened, but it was quite obvious now that she was being fought over by three people. The first person to find her hide out was Flash, and he decided to stay with her even after she had politely suggested that he should leave. Next to show up was the Green Lantern; his smile almost as dazzling as his green light. Lastly to join the party that she really didn't want to happen was Diana, rolling her eyes at the two guys who were joking around, and then casually suggesting that they get dinner.

Shayera wasn't born yesterday. She knew when someone was asking her on a date or throwing her an escape rope. The way the princess was lightly blushing and her eyes were open and sweet, and it was kind of charming. She was really tempted to accept. Next thing she knew GL had an arm around her waist and was saying, "Maybe we should go out tonight. We could get Chinese, I know a great little place." He was in her personal space and she didn't know what to do.

Flash must have pushed GL out of his way because next thing she knew there he was, whispering in her ear, "It's ok, Wings. I'll always protect you from the creepers."

"Look, I'm pretty sure I asked her first, so, Hawkgirl?"

"I was here first!"

"Neither of you have the chemistry that we have! Please, like she'd date either of you."

"I don't think she'd go for you GL. She wants someone who's smooth, a good talker, and a nice guy. You're none of those things."

"Please, like you are?"

"Maybe you two should realize that she doesn't want to waste her time? I would never do that to her, yet both of you men are!"

At this point Shayera was leaning back in her little nook and enjoying the show. She debated on telling them that she was engaged on Thanagar, or if she should call for help…or if she should just let them rip each other's throats out. If this had been on Thanagar, she would go with the latter to see which potential mate would be the strongest, which she already knew was Diana. She saw Superman and Batman both walk by, give her a questioning look, and walk on when she shrugged her shoulders. As far as she was concerned this was better than any professional fighting match that she had seen before, including the constant bar fights she'd been a part of.

She let it go on for a few minutes, until she said, "Why don't you ask me if I'm attracted to any of you? All of you are assuming that I'm in love with one of you three. What if I'm not? What if I'm actually not attracted to any of you?"

"Is that true?"

"Yes."

The Green Lantern and Flash both walked off looking dejected. Diana paused before saying, "You're lying. I can always tell when you are. Your wings twitch more than they should. I understand if you don't want to talk to me about this, but if you do I'm here now."

"So what if I am attracted to one of you three? It doesn't matter. Attraction is nothing in actuality, just hormones. There's no real emotion behind it."

Diana smirked. "Very convincing speech, Hawkgirl. I hope you've convinced yourself."

She rolled her eyes. "Diana, look. None of you know my name, let alone what I look like. How can you be sure that you're romantically interested in a complete and total stranger?"

The princess thought for a moment. "The way you think that you don't deserve to be here with us, saving Earth, when you are probably the most deserving out of all of us. When you hide from us, and you look so relaxed every time I find you in a little nook that nobody else but you could find. You are smarter than we all give you credit for, and you're sneaky when you want to be. You genuinely care for us even if we don't always appreciate it. That's how I know I'm interested in you." With a sweet smile the princess walked off to join the others in the lounge.

Not but five minutes later, a red suited jokester was standing before her. "So I overheard what you said to Diana, and I wanted to do the same. Tell you why I feel the way I do about you." He let out a deep breath, and Shayera momentarily panicked, what in tha'al (hell) was he going to say?

"I think that you're a funny person. You make jokes at your own expense, and mine, but you do it so easily. I think it's adorable when you get flustered and annoyed because you try to keep calm, but we all know you just want to burry your mace in some evil dude's face. Even though we don't know each other's names, or what the other one looks like, I know that you are beautiful, because only exquisite girls have smiles as sweet as yours." He grinned his cheeky grin and walked off.

She was glad that Green Lantern didn't come looking for her that night. It gave her a chance to recover from what she heard from her two closest friends. She really hoped that she wouldn't break Flash's heart, but something about Diana was calling to her. It scared her. She always thought that she would want GL, not the Themicsaryan princess. It was all so confusing that the woman didn't even bother to change for bed, choosing to sleep in the comfortable sweats and racer back tank she had worn to her hide out.

The next morning, she was awoken by a slight knock on her door. She heard the lantern shout, "Hey, Hawkgirl, can we talk?" She groaned. "Sure GL just hold on a second, ok?"

She rushed to get her mask on, she didn't really care about the uniform, seeing as she was decent in her pajamas. She opened the door and stepped aside as he walked into her sparsely decorated chamber. He noticed how she didn't have much around her room, except for her mace hanging on the wall, a photograph of the seven of them framed and hung up, and another photograph of her and someone he had never seen before, that was on her bedside table. "Who's this?" He noticed the small smile touch her features, "That's Sawyer. He works at the Midway Museum with me—err when I worked there still. His specialty is entomology. We were dressed up for the Halloween mixer. Our unit went as the 'Arkham Inmates'. They volunteered me as Harley Quinn, because of my job."

"That's cool. What was it?"

She laughed. "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

He smirked. "Try me."

"I was in a Doctoral program in Forensic Anthropology. We worked together when my boss got murder cases. My boss was the Joker, hence me being Harley Quinn."

He looked at her in mild surprise. "Really? So how did you hide your wings? For daily use, too. That costume is quite…." He blushed slightly, turning an awkward maroon color.

She laughed. He thought it was the sweetest, and sexiest, thing he'd ever heard. "Easy. I have a device that puts them in a trans-dimensional rift. It's disguised as a…and you really don't care. Why did you come here GL?"

"Flash told me what he and Diana did the other day. Look, I don't care if you are or aren't attracted to me. I don't care what you look like, and I'm not going to tell you things that I've noticed about you. If you do love someone else, or if you don't, I don't care. I do like you, sure, but I'm not going to push myself at you. If you do want something between us, then meet me half way. Otherwise, I'm fine with being fighting partners and friends." He smiled softly. She just stood there and sighed. "Look. I love all of you as friends, but I don't know what I'm feeling. In all honesty, I think that I'm leaning away from you and Wally. Just because I see both of you as my brothers, and I see you as a—well a strong warrior, and from experience, strong warriors tend to try to kill each other often. But Diana, she has a soft side. I need that." She needed to remember that out here she wasn't a lieutenant. She was a detective. She was mentally berating herself so much that she almost missed John's next statement.

He looked down. "Oh. Ok. So what do you want me to do with that information?"

She glanced up, with a slight wince. "I don't know."

They stood in silence for a few minutes, neither able to make eye contact. "So…I guess I'll go. I'll see you soon then?"

"Considering we live on the same space hub…yeah I think we'll see each other again."

He awkwardly left her room and she plopped back down on her bed. What if she wasn't interested in any of them? She knew that wasn't the truth, especially as a raven haired princess kept crossing her mind. She nearly had to force herself to remember that she was in a committed relationship, and facing that truth caused her more pain than she would ever care to admit. "Maybe I should tell her—no them, about Hro. Maybe it would be easier if they knew I am mourning what I'll probably never have. Then again, they might try to comfort me instead. I wish I had someone I could talk to! Someone who understands this all!"

She leaned back, momentarily forgetting about the helmet on her head. She grunted in slight pain as the back of her head hit the metallic surface. She tugged it off and threw it on the ground. The thud was loud and painful sounding. In two seconds flat, there was a screeching sound and she whipped her head around to see the metallic door that slid shut was being forced open by two strong hands. "Hawkgirl? Are you—" Diana paused seeing electric green eyes meet her own blue ones. "I—I'm sorry. I know I should've knocked but I thought that you were hurt." The Amazon lowered her head and Shayera quickly grabbed her helmet off of the ground and spun so her back faced the princess. "It's, uh, ok. Um, could you please…?"

"Yeah, I'll fix the doors."

Shayera tugged the helm over her face and nearly growled in frustration. Even if Diana hadn't been a potential contender for her love, it was inappropriate for her to see Shayera's face. They kept secret identities for a reason, on top of her alien customs. She was openly embarrassed, but she would try to fight it down. "Hey, Hawkgirl. You don't have to wear it, I know what you look like now," the other woman joked lightly.

"It's not that. It's just that…nobody is supposed to see me."

Diana's brow furrowed slightly. "Why? Why can't we see your face? On another note, why can't we know your name? Why can't I?" The last question came out softer, and much sadder than the general confusion from the other two. The Thanagarian plopped back down onto her bed, a hot breath of air huffing from her lips.

"It's my customs. My mask…I…argge! My face is…" she paused, thinking of the right words. "It's for only special people, my lover, my children, my parents. It's not that I don't trust you, it just means more to me than it does to you. Showing my face is saying that I'm allowing you to read my emotions freely. I'm showing you both physically and…err…fictitiously? ...No…oh! Metaphorically who I am."

Diana let out a small chuckle, "Now I know why you don't talk much. Is English that hard a language to learn?"

"Yes." Came the grumbled answer.

Truthfully, Diana was still thinking about what Hawkgirl had just said about what seeing her face meant. Hesitantly, she moved to stand next to the woman, awaiting an invitation to sit. She received a little nod to the space on the bed next to the winged warrior. It was quickly filled by the princess. "I don't think I have anything about myself that's like that. You know so much about me, and I don't know anything about you."

There was a pause in the conversation in which both looked down to their hands. The masked woman seemed to be debating something, but Diana was marveling at quite how soft the downy feathers that layered the bed felt on the backs of her legs, and thought briefly about how the wings would feel if she ever got to stroke them. The utterance was so soft that she almost missed it through her reverie.

"Shayera."

"What? What does that mean?"

"Not a meaning, princess. It's…it's my name. Shayera Hol."

The princess's eyes grew a slight degree wider. "You just told me your name. Why?"

"You know what I look like. Might as well clear the air while I can. So now you know. I have a name," The light joke caused the princess to beam a large grin. "Shayera. I like it. It's pretty, does it mean anything on your world?"

The hawk seriously debated telling the princess the meaning. The story behind it was sad, and the meaning it took on spoke volumes for the position that she was currently in. She sighed and turned towards the dark haired lady. "It's a long story, not to mention a depressing one. But the name most popularly means 'Ill Fortuned One'. Of course that's spelt different but pronounced the same way as mine. That's C-H-A-E-'-E-R-Y-A. The way my name is spelt, S-H-A-Y-E-R-A, means 'Star Wanderer' or 'Long Time Traveler of the Universe'. So, either way, it works for me."

The princess smiled softly. "I've got time to hear a story."

"It's depressing."

"But hearing you be so open, with me none the less, makes up for the actual tale. I'm too happy now to be depressed by the tale of a young, unfortunate woman."

Shayera smiled. "Well then, Diana, why let me ruin the mood? I'm happy now and telling this story will make me sad for many reasons, not just the tale but also the fact that it reminds me of home."

"I understand. I could tell you hundreds of stories about my people, but each one will hurt to speak because you will not understand them the way I do."

The winged woman smiled lightly. "Yes. Exactly. There will be things I have to explain, like my helmet."

Diana grinned. "Speaking of which…" before Shayera could react, Diana had grabbed the helmet off of the winged woman's head, and threw it under the bed. "There. Now I can see your eyes when you talk to me. I like being able to see the eyes of those I talk to." It was a bluff, and she hoped that the other woman wouldn't call her on it. Diana just had this insistent need to see what this sweet woman looked like. In her head, she wasn't talking to the warrior Hawkgirl, but the woman Shayera. She wanted to tell the difference between the two, both verbally and physically.

"You could see my eyes just fine before."

"No. In that helmet they look small and black, but now I can see how large they are and I can tell exactly what shade of emerald they are. Plus I didn't get a good look at your face otherwise."

The redhead blushed slightly under the attention of the other woman. She could feel the crystal blue orbs taking in all of her features: the little ringlets that fall lightly in her face, the small nose, and wide heart shaped face. Everyone called Diana beautiful, but they had never seen perfection. Mostly because the embodiment of it, in Diana's mind, kept her face hidden. Without thinking, Diana reached out and tilted Shayera's chin up slightly, forcing the redhead to look at the princess. Diana's hand moved from Shayera's chin and lightly held her jaw, her thumb sweeping against the soft skin that covered the redhead's cheek.

Shayera's skin was blazing. She was nervous, even more nervous than when Hro had promised himself to her. She knew what was coming, and frankly, she didn't want to fight it. In the seconds that ticked by, Shayera felt her breath becoming labored and her eyes kept flicking between the Amazon's lips and deep blue eyes. The hand at her jaw stopped stroking her face, and gently brought Shayera's face closer. Diana whispered softly, "Tell me if I do anything wrong, Shay. I want to do this in a way that works for both of us, if you want."

Their foreheads touched and both shuddered at the contact. "Shay, if you need to, say stop."

"I want this, Diana."

Those were the last words Shayera spoke before her lips were set ablaze from the soft, yet passionate, kiss. When both pulled back, and their eyes opened, they shared a small smile. "That actually happened? Right?"

"Oh Hera, Shay. If it didn't then we are both hallucinating." She paused, "You aren't regretting it, are you?"

"No. I'm just amazed, and scared. What does this mean?"

"Whatever we want it to."

The Thanagarian smirked lightly when she felt Diana's hand snake its way around her waist, pulling her closer to the strong woman. Somehow she knew just where to hold her, higher up on her back, just below her wings. She leaned back into the embrace, her wing reaching across Diana's back, her head resting against Diana's shoulder. "I like this. You're really warm, Shay. Do you have a—"

"Diana, I hate to say this, but I'm more bird than I care to admit. Higher body temperature, hollow bones. I got it all. Including the molting."

A frown crossed her features, and Diana noticed, leaned over and placed a light kiss on the pout. "You're not allowed to frown right now."

"No?"

"Nope. You, my pretty phoenix, must stay happy, at least for now."

Both lapsed back into comfortable silence. Neither voiced the small questions forming in their heads, instead shoved all their thoughts away and just held onto each other almost desperately. Shayera finally pulled away and glanced at the woman in her arms. "Phoenix? I don't think I've ever heard that word before."

Diana let out a small laugh. "How? It's a common enough word, and I figured that it would be used around you all the time!"

Shayera groaned. "I knew this day would come! A common word? And I don't know it! What does it mean?"

"A phoenix is a mythical creature, a bird of fire. I figured with your wings and hair, and temper, you'd be called a phoenix a lot."

"So it's not an actual bird?" Shayera snuggled back into the warm embrace.

"No, just a mythical one."

Their silence relapsed, and was welcomed by both parties. It was getting later in the morning, nearing the end of their time to be hidden together. Shayera broke the silence again. "Diana, I have monitor duty at 10:45. It's nearly 10:40." The Amazon still held onto the smaller woman. "Di, I have to go." But she still didn't budge. "Princess, please let me go? You can keep me company, and get me coffee?" Shayera laughed when Diana scooped her up, held her bridal style, kissed her soundly on her lips and whispered, "If you even think about flirting with GL or Flash I will kill them. And I'll never kiss you again. You're my phoenix now."

Shayera laughed loudly and grinned at the other woman. "Why in tha'al would I flirt with either of them? They're my best friends, Princess. Besides, you're the only one worth kissing."

Diana was happy with the answer and let the winged woman down gently. The redhead quickly dashed to her closet to pull out the uniform. Diana watched in slight amusement as she ran around the room in an attempt to not be too late. She assembled bits of her costume and finally dashed into the bathroom to pull on the leggings and tube top. When she flew (not literally) out of the bathroom she grabbed her helmet that was now on the bed and her mace from the wall. She dashed to her doors, only to find them already open. "Don't wait for me, phoenix, fly! You know how Batman gets when we're late." The winged woman literally took off and flew through the watchtower hallways until reaching her final destination, only two minutes late.

"Sorry Batman I just-"

"Save it. I have to go."

He melted into the shadows of the watchtower and she rolled her eyes, quickly taking a seat at the consol. Not five minutes later, there was a light tap on her shoulder. Expecting it to be her princess, she turned with a light smirk on her face. "Couldn't stay—Flash!"

The scarlet speedster smiled and offered her a frozen mocha. "Thanks."

"I was wondering if we could talk about yesterday…?"

"Yeah."

"…So do you want to get dinner tonight?"

"What the hell does that have to do with last night?"

"I just figured that…well…because we're all kinda trying to date you…well me, GL, and Diana…and I thought that if I didn't make my move, you might choose someone else."

Shayera felt terrible. She didn't really want to tell Flash that she had made her decision and it wasn't him. Luckily for her, Diana rounded the corner holding a bottle of water and a mug of black coffee. "Phoenix, I got you some coffee. I'm not sure how you like—" She stopped when she saw Flash standing there, and Shayera holding a frozen mocha. A gentle, fleeting smile passed across the winged woman's face and Diana couldn't help but smile softly back. "Flash. What's going on?"

"I'm asking Hawkgirl out."

"I'm afraid that I can't let you do that."

"She's her own person you know."

"You see, she's not. She's mine, and I think that she's fine with that. Hawkgirl?"

"Oh yeah. I am perfectly fine with that," was Shayera's hasty response. She stood up quickly and pressed her lips against Diana's mouth; the amazon's arms wrapped around the smaller woman, without spilling either the coffee or the water. GL chose that moment to walk by, glanced in and saw the two women's brief but sweet kiss. He grinned as he saw the scarlet speedster get even pinker, and shouted, "Not at the workplace, ladies!"

Both women gently pulled apart, each with a light blush, but only Diana's was visible. "Sorry GL I just—I didn't mean to—I…sorry?" Shayera couldn't exactly explain why she was sorry but, hey, she tried at least. It didn't help that Diana still had her arm wrapped around the hawk's waist and Shayera, for once in her life, didn't mind the PDA. Flash glanced at the arm, then at GL, then back at the two women. "I fold. I wish the best for you two. Seriously. Oh, and wings? We are soooo having guy talk later." He finished with a wink at the aforementioned girl, then he and GL left the couple alone.

Diana gently let go of Shayera. "So, phoenix, you're alright with this being public?"

"I am the one who kissed you, Princess."

Diana laughed. "So you are." They kissed again and Shayera sat down to continue monitoring the world with a beautiful blue-eyed warrior sitting next to her.