Miyumi

Liar

A Justice League fic

Disclaimer: Though I thoroughly wish I owned Justice League, namely Green Lantern and Hawkgirl, I don't. Only the plot is mine.

~*~

"Jon Stewart, what in Oa's name happened to you?"

Sunlight filtered through the room as I made my bed, trying to ignore the sarcasm in Kat's voice. I knew she wanted to mock me. After all, I chose Shayera, not her.

"You haven't shaved in weeks, your apartment's a mess-and have you showered at all?"

"Is it your business?"

She stopped behind me, dropping a heavy bag. Inwardly I groaned; I hoped she wasn't planning to stay. I have had my fill of intergalactic women for a lifetime. I can't take the heartbreak anymore. I needed to be alone.

"The Corps sent me to check on you. No reports for a month? What's gotten into you?"

"My planet was under attack," I answered tightly. "I think you can excuse that much."

"You know me," she said, a bit of her old charm seeping into her voice. "I never tolerate that." She trailed an eager finger across the back of my neck. "You know me well, Jon."

I snapped my neck around, my eyes boring into hers. "Touch me, and I'll throw you out."

My response seemed to startle her. "What's with you?" Anger was her tone now. "I'm just looking out for one of my own."

"One of your toys, yes."

Her voice was suddenly soft. "You meant the world to me, Jon."

My laugh was cold and short. "Someone else told me that, you know." I faced my bedroom wall, ignoring her reproachful eyes. "And then she proceeded to nearly crucify my home. I don't take kindly to words of love, Kat. Now either beat it, or explain why you're here."

She shifted her weight, standing her ground, as I knew she would. Kat was never one to give up easily, or without putting up a fight. But I wasn't in the mood for fighting. As of now, I wanted to curl up and die.

"She betrayed you, Jon. Left you and your precious League to die as prisoners of her planet's war."

My throat tightened. Every word about Shayera that came from Kat's mouth was filled with acid, anger-even resentment. Kat was jealous of the attention I paid to Shayera, choosing to remain on Earth with her, and not on Oa. I loved Shayera, not Kat.

"Shayera.she didn't know she was doing. That bastard, Katar, had her scared."

"She seemed tough enough to me."

"You didn't know the whole story."

"Oh, and you do?"

"I know what I know, Kat, so leave it alone."

"I can't, Jon, and surely you understand that."

"Shut up."

"Bite me."

I paused. This conversation was going nowhere, and I had things to do. Mainly, cleaning every aspect of Shayera from his house. The clothes left behind, the pictures, her mace, even her costume and mask. She allowed anything when Thanagar took her back. All her belongings haunted me now, a tribute to a fallen angel.

Kat snatched up a picture beside my bed. "This is her, isn't it?" Her voice was frosty. I almost cringed, realizing which picture it was.

Over a year ago, Shayera had given birth to a single child, a girl. She was every bit our daughter; horribly stubborn, tough, but vulnerable underneath, even sweet sometimes. She was a beautiful baby, and I wanted the world for her.

But Thanagar took that too.

"You never told the Guardians that you had a child. This would have interested them." She paused. "And me," she added, as an afterthought.

"I didn't think it was important."

Now it was her turn to laugh. "Important?" She threw the picture on my bed. "Do you know how rare it is for a Green Lantern to bear offspring? They die so often, that they never even dare to fall in love, nevertheless have a child." Her hands clenched, as she paced slowly around the room. "And you did both. You fell in love with a Thanagarian. You had a child. Tell me, did you even marry her?"

"Of course I did." I pulled off my ring, almost thrusting it in her face. It struck me that I hadn't even removed the gold band since Shayera left for Thanagar. I guess I was hoping too much.

She held the ring close to the sunlight, catching the rising sunbeams across the golden surface. Her eyes flickered for a moment, before she tossed it back to me.

"I see."

"Is that all you have to say? That speech you gave was quite impressive."

"Don't mock me, Jon."

Anger boiled inside me. "Mock? Isn't that what you came here to do? Admit it, Kat. You came here to gloat, to watch your fallen boy-toy wallow in his misery. You wanted to shove up my ass the fact that my wife is a good old Benedict Arnold, and my daughter is probably dead on a planet I've never even been to. Get to the damn reason you're here already. I'm done playing games."

"I came to comfort you, okay?" A lone tear slid down her lovely, tan cheek. Her gray eyes sparkled in the early morning sunrise. For a moment, she looked like she really cared about me.

Then I wised up.

"Bull."

"What did you say?"

"I said, 'Bull'. I want you to go back to Oa, and stay away from me, the League, and Earth. Go find another man to mess with."

"Did it ever cross your thick skull that I cared about you?"

"Sure it did. When I was a stupid rookie."

"No. You were a grown man capable of making your own decisions."

"I was a kid."

"You were out of the army." She slid her hand down his back. "You liked, even loved me during training, didn't you?"

I didn't dignify her with a response.

"I got news for you, honey, I liked you back. You were different from the other recruits. Smart, savvy, even a little bit dangerous." She clicked her tongue. "Almost like a male version of me."

"You liked me on Kalinor."

"Not enough. You couldn't distract me in the end, and you can't sidetrack me now."

"I know why you got your powers back. I may have been under Despero's control, but I wasn't blind. I saw how he touched your Thanagarian. He made you mad, didn't he? Touching her where you dared not to."

"I was in chains, remember?"

"So? It wasn't until he started going into her mind that you snapped. Drove your passion for her to a maximum, until your body was practically reaching for the ring. You fought Despero for her, not the other people of Kalinor."

"And so what if I did?"

"You are a selfish human being, Jon Stewart."

"You're the selfish one, Kat. Coming all the way here just to yell at me? You wanted me back."

"I wanted to save your skin. The Guardians think you've gone insane, and want to take away your ring. I told them I'd see how you were, and evaluate the results myself."

"And am I crazy?"

"Crazy for a traitor, yes."

"Shayera didn't know what she was getting herself into."

"Yes, she did. She was setting your entire League up since day one. She was never away from her home, like that Martian and Kryptonian are. She was in daily contact with her commander, and played you all for fools."

I hit my nightstand, shaking a lamp and photographs. "The only fool here is you."

"You can keep blaming others for your pain, but it won't help." She tried to touch my hand. "I've tried."

I pulled it away, turning on her. I backed her against the opposite wall, thrusting my hand beside her face. Her eyes widened as I narrowed my own.

"You listen to me now, Katma Tui. I'm sick of you mocking my wife and child. I'm sick of you trying to win me back. And, I'm sick of you trying to make me pay for picking Shayera, and not you."

Kat spit at me. "Get away. You have no right to speak me like that."

"You are not my teacher anymore."

"I'm an experienced member of the Corps, more than you are."

"Experience isn't everything."

"Sometimes it is."

"Are you done with the insults yet?"

She crossed her arms. "Tell me about your daughter." She pointed to the photo, lying harmlessly on the bed. "Tell me about the dark-skinned, half- Thanagarian girl."

My eyes moistened. I hadn't seen Sara for so long; I was beginning to forget what my own daughter looked like. Picking up the photo shakily, I gazed into the frozen face of my baby girl, held in the slender arms of my wife. Her eyes glittered pure innocence, as she cracked a smile just for her Daddy.

"Her name was Sara."

"After Hawkgirl, I assume."

I didn't answer.

"Go on," she added, a little softer.

"Shayera was two months along when I married her. Six months later, she gave birth to a slightly premature girl, who barely survived." I held up my hands. "J'onn warned us about half-human children, and how they rarely live past infancy. But Sara seemed so healthy, that we had to prove him wrong."

"She had Shayera's hair, dark and fiery, like burned sunlight. Her skin was dark, lighter than mine, but darker than Shayera's. She had Shayera's eyes, shining bright green like polished jade. Her wings were so tiny, like a tiny bird's." I turned my eyes to the sky. "She looked like a little angel, from a painting."

"And now?"

I shrugged, trying to hide my misery. "The Thanagarian forces took her as well. They didn't want any trace of Thanagar remaining on Earth, and decided Sara counted." I finally looked at Kat. "I saw that bastard marching the two of them away. Shayera didn't have her own clothes, just a prisoner's wear. She wrapped Sara in a blanket, and took her without even saying goodbye."

I remember that day clearly in my mind. The Thanagarians agreed to leave peacefully, and chose their place of departure with the League's consent. It was a deserted meadow, where no one could see them. Acres of fields and wildflowers dotted the terrain. It was a sight I would have wanted to share with my daughter. I wanted to pick flowers for her hair, and swing her around in the breeze. I wanted to kiss my wife and love her. I wanted to be happy.

Instead I lived out a nightmare. The League stood behind me as I watched the ship ready to depart. Out of respect, they said nothing. I watched the officers, what was left of them at least, board first. They did not look up at us, where we watched from a nearby hill.

Katar, the smug, smirking bastard, boarded last. He held a rope in his hands, the rope that was tied around Shayera's waist. She carried Sara, who I knew turned her tiny head around, looking for my familiar face.

Shayera was a broken woman, and Katar was sneering at her fate. She would die on Thanagar for sure, but not until he had his way. He wanted to torture her, make her suffer at his hands for screwing over their plans.

She was dressed simply, her hair flying freely across her shoulders. The fiery hair I was loved to touch would be gone in moments. I noticed that the prisoner wear had been customized for her. Katar viewed her as a whore, and dressed her as one. The skirt was cut short, the top showing her slender form. The dull, gray color used made her eyes stand out. But they were cast down in shame.

I could hear Diana crying behind me, sobbing in the arms of Batman. Every member of the League tried to hide their tears, save for Diana. I couldn't cry for Shayera now. I had used all my tears already, when she had been taken into custody. What I had left, I used for Sara, who didn't deserve her mother's fate.

The ship's engine revved, sending fields of flowers and meadow into the air. Shayera was nearly in the ship, still held back by Katar's grasp. She cast her eyes to the League, her mouth trembling to speak. Before the ship took flight, I saw her break free from Katar for just a minute, trying to jump from the ship. She braced herself against the opening of the ship, screaming words that were carried away in the wind. No one else could understand her but me.

She was screaming my name.

"Jon?" Kat's voice seemed timid now, almost afraid of my sudden trip down memory lane. She saw the stony look on my face, and for once, didn't retort a snide comment.

"I need to be alone now," I said, my voice croaking.

"You were thinking about that day, weren't you?"

"Of course I was."

She turned around, picking her heavy bag up suddenly. "I'll go, then."

I was surprised. Normally Kat never backed down from a fight.

But after knowing what I went through, she knew to back down. She knew to leave.

She was almost the window when she spoke. "Are you happy with the woman you chose?" She chuckled. "You could have had me."

I held Sara's picture close to my heart. "Yes. I made the right choice."

She stiffened, flying out the window quickly. Like Shayera, she didn't even say goodbye.

"There's one thing I should have said," she whispered, flying off into the distance, trying to put Jon's face out of her mind.

"Liar."

~*~

A/N: *sniff sniff* Oh man, I keep crying while writing. I can't believe I finished this in one sitting. I just erased what I originally had here, and re-did the entire plot. I think this story turned out pretty well. But I'm just the author. What do you all think? Keep reviewing-it makes me smile.