DISCLAIMERS/NOTES
1. This is a fan fiction based on characters owned by DC Comics. I DO NOT OWN THEM. This is just for fun.
2. My continuity branches off after the end of Season 1. So the last episode to occur was the two-part "The Savage Time". No Season 2. No JL Unlimited.
PART 2
The moon shone down, into the large building through the skylight. All was quiet. All was peaceful.
Slowly, a shadow crept along the glass. It was a figure… a slim, athletic figure. The figure put its hand to the glass, and scratched a ring shape on the glass with its index finger. The small piece of glass made into the ring then fell from the overall skylight, but the hand caught it before it could fall into the room within.
The person's arm reached in and pulled open the handle to the skylight. Opening the door, the figure then descended slowly into the room, held aloft by a strong rope attached to its waist.
As it lowered itself more into the room, inch by inch, the moonlight revealed that the person was female. She slid down, more and more, ever so slowly, until she was just six feet from the floor.
She looked ahead, and saw her prize. A priceless statue. However, it was encased in glass, and was over five feet infront of her.
With a heave, the female began swinging back and forth. With every swing, she advanced closer to her goal. After several patient minutes, she swung hard enough to reach it, and grasped onto it, digging her claws into the glass as smoothly as she could.
She carefully lifted the glass case over the statue, then swung back to her original vertical position. Gently dropping the glass onto the floor, she then began the whole exercise again, heaving and swinging as much as she could, ever closer to her prize.
Eventually, she swung close enough, and quickly grabbed the statue as she flew back in mid-swing. She then slowly came to a stop, clutching the object closely.
Once she had stopped swinging, she took a moment to admire her statue. It was of an Egyptian cat…
Suddenly, a sharp dart flew through the air, and severed the female's rope. She fell clumsily, though quickly recovered and landed on her feet, in a crouching position. She darted her head around, apparently in surprise.
"The alarms…?"
A voice appeared from the shadows. "I turned them off."
She looked in the direction of the voice, but saw only darkness.
The voice spoke again. "Hello, Catwoman."
Catwoman slowly narrowed her eyes. "Who's there? Show yourself."
"I'd rather not," the voice, male, responded. It was a cold voice, but not the usual cold voice Catwoman was used to. It was not HIS voice. To her, HIS voice still had an air of warmth… but this new voice… had an air of bitterness.
"Afraid of cats?" she asked with a smirk.
"I've heard you can't be trusted," the voice said. "I heard you can't keep your paws to yourself. Although you're far too… second-hand for my tastes." The voice's tone was verging on humour.
Catwoman's anger rose, but she managed to keep it restrained. "What do you want, mystery man?" she hissed.
There was silence for a few moments, then eventually the voice said, "I have a proposition for you."
"Thought you weren't interested."
"Ha. No, I mean… how would you like to make a lot of money, and all you have to do is… make a triangle."
Catwoman cocked an eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?"
"Meet me on the rooftop of the next but one building, to the right, and I'll explain all."
Catwoman was confused, yet intrigued at the same time. As blunt as this man was, he had obviously gone to some trouble to set up this meeting. He must have followed her for hours, to know that she would be here, at the New York Foreign Arts Museum. And she liked persistent men.
"Alright…" she said slowly. "But if you try any tricks, I'll rip your heart out."
"That was done a long time ago, my dear…" the voice replied, condescendingly.
Then, in an instant, he was gone. Catwoman did not know how she knew – he had never left the shadows, after all – but… she just KNEW he was gone. That also cinched it that it was not HIM, was not the Batman. Because she NEVER knew when he had left.
She unwrapped her whip from her slim body and whipped it up towards the ceiling, until it hooked onto the edge of the skylight. As she climbed up the rope, one thought continued to go through her mind.
Who WAS that person?
/
The Javelin-7 slowly lowered into the Hanger Bay. Just before it touched ground, it wobbled slightly. "Easy, girl…" the pilot said to himself. The craft soon steadied itself and landed softly on the hanger bay floor.
"Like a glove," Flash said. "I knew I'd get the hang of flying this thing eventually." He pressed a button on the control panel, and the rear door opened on the ship. Flash stood up and exited the craft.
As he walked through the Watchtower corridors, his feelings of pride at landing the Javelin quickly eroded. His thought had returned to the reason why he had returned to the Justice League headquarters.
He was going to… talk to Hawkgirl.
He was going to… tell her…
How he…
He groaned. No matter how many times he played the situation in his mind, all the scenarios ended with Hawkgirl screaming and swinging her mace like a mad woman. And it did not matter if he WAS the Fastest Man Alive… when she was in that kind of mood, she was pretty persistent.
As he neared the kitchen, he heard voices coming from the room. He paused as the voices became more clear.
"So, when are we going?"
"Soon."
"How soon, darling?"
"Don't call me that."
Flash was confused. Though muffled, the voices sounded familiar. One was male, the other female. Plus, this was the Watchtower: only seven people were allowed here. Which meant…
Oh please, don't let Hawkgirl have already gotten with someone…
He walked into the kitchen, and saw… Batman and Diana.
That he did NOT expect.
Batman was sitting down, as still and unmoving as he always did, typing something on a laptop. Diana was sitting next to him, slurping on a milkshake. Man, she LOVED those things…
Flash was about to say something, but Diana spoke first. "So, what are we going to do when we get to yours?"
Flash's eyes widened.
"We'll… discuss it later," came Batman's gruff reply.
Flash could not believe what he had heard. Was Batman taking Diana… back to his place? The idea seemed impossible. Unfathomable. What would they do at his…
Flash froze.
No. It could not be that. Surely not. Not her and… HIM…
Flash decided to take his leave, while neither of them had still noticed him. He whizzed away as fast as he could. But his mind was still on them. Of all the crazy things to happen… those two?
Together?
He was so shellshocked that he almost forgot why he himself was there. But when he ran past the door to Hawkgirl's room, he suddenly remembered.
He went back to the door and hovered by it. Was he REALLY going to do this?
"Hera, give me strength," he sighed.
Flash blinked. Man, Diana said that too often… it was rubbing off.
He took a huge gulp, then cautiously knocked on the door…
/
Hawkgirl stared out of her bedroom window, looking at the bright stars. She heard a beep nearby. She turned her head and saw her bedside clock.
12:00am. Officially Boxing Day.
Well, it certainly had been a memorable Christmas. Unfortunately, she was not sure if it was memorable for a good reason.
She had… with… Green Lantern.
Hawkgirl groaned. How could she have done it? How could she have allowed it to happen? Was she THAT alone? Yes, she liked Lantern, but not… THAT way… surely.
She dreaded seeing him next. Going into missions with him. She was not sure if she could do it… especially after they had… been so intimate.
But she had to be professional about it. They were teammates, colleagues. They were HEROES, for crying out loud. They had a responsibility. They – SHE – had to remain professional.
Not that she had been very professional the previous night…
Hawkgirl darted her head when she heard a knock at her door. Not moving from her bed, she bit her lip, then cautiously said, "Who is it?"
There was a silence for a few moments, before she heard a reply. "It's er… it's me. Flash." He sounded nervous. "Can I come in?"
Hawkgirl moaned. This she did not need right now. "It's not really a good time," she said, slightly sharply.
"Please," came the reply, "it's kinda important."
Hawkgirl rolled her eyes, then sighed. "Fine."
There were a few more moments of silence, before she heard the doorhandle turn. She turned around and saw Flash cautiously enter the room. He looked slightly worried, but Hawkgirl was too depressed to care. "What do you want?" she asked bluntly.
Flash rubbed the back of his neck. He was obviously uncomfortable. "I… er… have to tell you something."
"What?" Hawkgirl's small patience was quickly eroding.
Flash blinked, then looked right at her. "I…er…" he cleared his throat. Whatever he had to say, he had a hard time saying it. "I… I really… er…"
Hawkgirl rolled her eyes annoyingly, then snapped, "WHAT?"
Flash froze at her outburst, and went silent. Hawkgirl immediately felt a pang of sorrow. Whatever she was feeling, she had no right to vent it out at him. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I… I'm not feeling very well."
Flash's face immediately became concerned. "What's wrong?" He walked up to her side, but dared not sit next to her on the side of the bed.
"It's nothing," Hawkgirl whispered.
Flash seemed to push his fears aside, and sat down next to her. He lightly put his hand on her shoulder. "Come on, what's wrong?"
Hawkgirl looked at his hand, and was shocked. It was not unlike Flash to make such a gesture… but… this time was different. When he usually did it, it was in an arrogant, "lady's man" way. But now… it seemed that he truly cared.
Hawkgirl took a deep breath. She actually considered telling him what happened. "I… made a… mistake…" She stopped herself. She just could not admit it. Not to Flash. He would just make a joke of it all.
Flash frowned. "What did you do?" he asked. "I'm sure it can't be that bad. After all, you're looking at the king of mistakes, babe." He suddenly closed his eyes, and appeared to be cursing himself. Hawkgirl had never seen him this nervous… this… Human.
"It doesn't matter," she said. "Don't worry yourself."
Flash looked right at her. "I'm used to it."
"What?"
"Worrying about y…" Flash suddenly stopped dead, and his face went pale.
Hawkgirl was confused. "What is it? What were you going to say?"
"I…" Flash stuttered. "That is… I…"
"Come on, you've never been lost for words before…" Hawkgirl said. Despite her own problems, she found herself more concerned with Flash's awkwardness that she thought she ever could.
Flash looked out the window, then took a deep sigh. He closed his eyes, as if wrestling with a mighty problem. He looked down, and rubbed his eyes.
Hawkgirl's concern grew. What could make Flash this upset? This awkward?
After a moment, he lifted his head and looked right at her. "Hawkgirl?"
Hawkgirl looked into his eyes, which were filled with a sudden confidence and conviction. "Yes?" she asked, slightly unsure.
"I lo…"
Suddenly, there was another knock at the door. Hawkgirl's head darted away from Flash, while Flash himself creased his face, in obvious anger. "Who is it?" Hawkgirl shouted at the door.
Without waiting for permission, the person on the other side of the door opened it, and the door swung open to reveal Green Lantern.
Time stood still. Lantern looked at Hawkgirl and Flash, at the position they were in. They were both still sitting next to eachother, his hand still on her shoulder. And they were sitting mere millimetres apart.
Hawkgirl stared at Lantern, and she could have sworn she saw anger in his eyes. He seemed to calm it, however, when he calmly spoke. "Hawkgirl. We need to talk."
Hawkgirl sighed. She did not want to have this conversation, but knew it had to happen. And she would face it, head on. She was a professional. "Fine. Come in." She stood up, tearing her shoulder from Flash's hand. Flash sat there, darting his head from Hawkgirl to Flash. Eventually Hawkgirl remembered he was there and spoke, but kept her eyes on Lantern. "Flash, will you excuse us?"
Flash seemed hurt, but eventually stood up. "Are you sure you're OK? Want me to get you…?"
"Flash, will you please LEAVE?" Hawkgirl shouted.
Flash's eyes widened, but he quickly appeared to recover. His face fell into a deep scowl, not unlike Batman in a good mood. "Fine. No problem." He then strode out of the room, giving a quick glare to Lantern. "I'll be in the kitchen, if anyone cares," he growled.
Hawkgirl sighed. She felt awful for lashing out at Flash, especially as he had been so nice. But she wanted to get this talk over with, as soon as possible.
Lantern closed the door, leaving them alone in the room. "So," he said.
"So," said Hawkgirl.
They looked at eachother, waiting for the other to speak first…
TO BE CONTINUED