Disclaimer: I do not own Shayera, Diana or any of the JLU or DCAU or DC comics -sobs quietly in a corner-
Shayera concentrated as best she could on her food, but still couldn't help but flinch slightly as Green Arrow walked past, nearly brushing against her wings as he went past, forcing herself not to lash out automatically. She couldn't help it, ever since that day…. She just couldn't help but be scared by human men…
She almost squeaked in surprise as she felt a soft yet strong hand touch her shoulder, rubbing it gently and comfortingly, feeling herself able to calm and relax under her lover's touch. It had been about a month since that first wonderful kiss they'd shared, since they'd become a couple, and she could already feel herself falling deeply in love with the dark haired Amazon, smiling softly if nervously up at her lover.
"Shayera? What's wrong?" Diana murmured gently, able to see her lover's discomfort. Shayera always seemed to be on edge whenever they were in a crowd, or for that matter, simply when there were certain other people around. She wasn't blind, and she could see something was really troubling her red haired angel, remembering that night after they'd first kissed, the younger woman having fell asleep in her arms, remembering cradling her as the nightmares took over, as she thrashed and sobbed, holding Shayera as she awoke, comforting her and holding her gently.
But Diana wasn't going to try and force answers out of her lover, she trusted Shayera to tell her as soon as she felt ready to do so. Nevertheless she wished there was something more she could do than simply holding and comforting her angel.
"Just…. A little nervous… being around humans again" Shayera admitted softly, turning her head slowly to look over at her lover with an expression that was clearly pleading with her not to ask any more about it, Diana giving a soft smile, arm sliding around Shayera's smaller form, pulling the Thanagarian gently and comfortingly against her, the smaller woman snuggling against her with a small smile
J'onn slowly lifted his hands from Volcana's forehead, he couldn't sense her thoughts, only two distinctly different telepathic signatures in what was left of her mind, one having already torn her mind to shreds, the other trying to restore certain parts of it at this very moment.
This telepathic wipe had been very skillfully executed, similar to the incident where Metallo's mind had been torn apart, J'onn knew even he would require several full days to properly restore Volcana's mind, and even if he did he'd be unable to return her memories.
The worrying thing is that there were very few telepaths with this much control over their powers and whose powers were able to cause this much damage, obviously there was himself, but he knew for a fact it wasn't him, there was Grodd, whose location and activities were currently unknown, Doctor Destiny who was in the same situation as Grodd, Raven from the Teen Titans, though there was no motive behind Raven doing something like this, and for that matter why would she be here in China? And Manchester Black, who'd have simply killed Volcana rather than just wiping her brain.
But J'onn could sense that neither of the psychic signatures was from anyone he had encountered, slowly leaning down to lift the young ex-villain, floating back into the air and flying quickly towards his home
*About a week later*
Shayera took in a deep breath, steeling herself ready for what was about to come. Diana and she had been talking about her phobia of human men, while she hadn't told Diana the whole truth; she knew she wouldn't be able to tell her beloved about what had happened to her for a while, but she'd explained her fears and her desire to overcome them, even if it was hard for her.
That was why she was currently dressed in civilian clothes, her wings invisible, her hair dyed blonde, and a pair of sunglasses adorning her face. She wanted not to have to fear, she wanted to feel safe, to walk in public again without wanting to break down and cry, and she knew if she was ever to manage that, she'd need to face her fears.
Gently she felt Diana's hand squeeze her own as they stood together within their room, turning to gaze up at her lover with a determined, but nervous expression. This wouldn't really be a date as such, Shayera wasn't even sure if she would be able to stand being in public at all, let alone managing to be calm enough in public to have a full date without ruining it. Slowly she lay her head down against Diana's chest, arms wrapping around her taller and older lover, a sense of comfort washing over her as she was held, able to feel her Princess' love as she was held gently.
"Thank you Diana, thank you for doing this for me" she murmured softly as her lover's hand gently rubbed her back and the bases of both her wings.
"Anything for you Shayera" came the gentle reply, Diana's lips gently pressing against Shayera's temporarily blonde hair, smiling gently down at her. Slowly Shayera drew back, leaning up to press her lips adoringly to her lover's, kissing her deeply and with all the love in her heart.
Shayera gave a small flinch as she stepped onto the teleporter, Diana not too far away, already setting the coordinates and with a time delay so she could teleport herself too. Diana seemed to have put a lot of effort into planning this, the older Amazon having decided to take them both to Northampton in Massachusetts after a little checking online.
She'd explained to Shayera that she'd read that both Massachusetts and Northampton were known for being very accepting of gay men and women, and as a result she could kiss and hold her without them needing to worry about being harassed and that Northampton was not too large or busy a town so Shayera wouldn't feel too overwhelmed.
Shayera gave a small but nervous smile as Diana stepped over to her, she was very grateful for all the effort Diana had put into this and she'd do her best not to freak out immediately, but it was still scary for her. She managed a weak laugh at that thought, scary? It was fucking terrifying for her.
Taking a deep breath she felt Diana's gentle arms wrap around her before her molecules were torn to shreds, in a flash of light the two of them reappearing in an ally beside the main street, fortunately none of the passerby's appearing to notice them appear.
Shayera almost immediately gave a small whimper as she pressed back into her lover's arms, turning and burying her face in her lover's chest again, her small body quivering softly as Diana cradled her gently and carefully, her voice loving and calming as she comforted her lover.
"I've got you Shayera, I'm here, you don't need to be scared, I'll keep you safe angel" standing there and gently murmuring to her lover until Shayera finally stopped quivering and whimpering, gently leaning down to kiss the Thanagarian's forehead
Shayera gave a small groan as she rubbed her head, after she'd calmed down earlier Diana had been sure to give her the most wonderful day imaginable, she'd taken her dancing, for a meal, they'd even been able to watch a movie together like an ordinary couple without having to be too scared, before they returned to the watchtower. But after that she must have blacked out or something. She honestly couldn't remember a thing after Diana had kissed her and told her she'd had a wonderful time on their date, and then everything had gone black.
Slowly her emerald eyes slid open to look around at the dark room as best she could, but even with her super-human vision she couldn't pick out any light, slowly lifting herself to her feet from where she had been laying strewn across the ground and spreading her wings apart. She froze in an instant as she felt each wing touching one of the two walls, her mind going into overdrive as she realized she was in a cell, a very small cell…
If there was anything that terrified Shayera more than human males it was being trapped in a small place, her mind racing, one word standing out in her thoughts, 'Trapped!'. With a shout she launched herself at the metal wall of her cell, slamming into it, her full weight behind her charge, but not so much as denting the wall, pulling her fist back and punching the wall as hard as she could, tears beginning to form in her emerald eyes a she punched the wall again, beginning to realize she wasn't doing anything to it.
It was no wonder she was claustrophobic, it'd been when she been a very young child, she'd been beaten up by several of the older children in the orphanage and they'd thrown her into a cupboard before locking her inside. In hindsight she still realized, while it had terrified her having been locked in such a small place, it had saved her life. Only a few hours after she'd been locked inside her orphanage had been hit by a bomb from a Gordarian raid. She'd been trapped within that cupboard beneath the building for five full days before the rescue teams had pulled her out. Every time she'd been in a small area since she'd been reminded of those days trapped beneath that building.
"Trapped… can't get out…. Suffocating…. Trapped…" she whimpered softly as she slid down the to her knees, taking in large gulps of air, her body shivering as she looked around panickedly, she could feel the walls closing in on her, the air leaving, suffocating her, killing her… letting loose a long terrified scream before clutching at her ears as the Sonic Screech rebounded around the room, her arms wrapped around herself as pain lanced through her body from her ears.
"Please…. Diana…. Save Me…." She whimpered softly as she began backing into a corner, her ears still ringing from her own Sonic Screech attack, "God, walls…. Closing in…. can't breathe…. Trapped…", her hands moving to her shirt, wrenching it over her head and throwing it away, her terrified state causing her to believe the clothes were trapping her, so desperate to escape, her own fear suffocating her as she wrenched off her pants and underwear, snapping off her bra and curling up in the corner, tears streaming down her cheeks, barely managing to sob out "Don't want to die…"
She could feel her heart began to race and forehead started to perspire, beads of sweat rolling down her forehead and body. And the worst happened all at once. Her insides felt like they wanted to be on the outside. Her stomach lurched and twisted violently. Her panic had increased tenfold. With one final lurch, Shayera could taste a mixture of bile and the lasagna she'd had for her lunch in her throat, hurling across the metal floor.
"Di...Diana, please s...save me" she whimpered softly, her body shaking in fear before she huddled herself further into the corner, tears rolling down her cheeks before she felt the world around her spinning, whimpering as she fainted from pure terror
Diana's sapphire eyes fluttered open, her mind slightly befuddled, slowly looking around, trying to see where she was, she remembered she'd taken Shayera back to the watchtower and too her room, they'd been talking then there was this horrible noise, and everything had gone completely black, wait, what had happened to Shayera? And where was she? Glancing around at the blackness she calmed herself, lifting a hand and walking forwards in hope of finding a way out, only having taken two steps before her palm hit cold smooth steel, slowly moving her other hand to the wall beginning to follow it along the small room, hands running over the metal for any kind of handle or weak spot to help her get out, a worried feeling washing across her as she felt herself reach the corner
The room was incredibly small, it felt worryingly like a prison cell, which worried Diana for two reasons, firstly that she was trapped in such a small room, secondly that Shayera must have been taken just as she was, otherwise she would have stopped her being taken, and Diana knew her lover's greatest fear alongside humans was being trapped in a small area, if they'd placed Shayera in a room like this...
"SHAYERA!" Diana shouted out stepping back against the wall and launching herself off it to deliver a herculean punch at the wall, cratering the metal heavily, stepping pack and launching herself at the wall again, causing another crater to appear. Before she could leap forwards for another punch a loud screech, dropping to her knees and clutching at her ears, intense pain breaking out as the sound began to upset the fluid within her inner ear canals, her head both pounding and spinning from the sound, even after it stopped, it was more painful than even the screech of a harpy, the Amazon trying to force herself to stand, stumbling before she braced herself on the wall.
"Shayera!" she called out, still swaying slightly she forced herself to pull her fist back, slamming it into the wall again. Her ear drums hadn't fully burst from the screech, but her hearing had been damaged, so she didn't hear the soft hissing at first, still pounding on the wall as best she could. As soon as she smelled the gas that was being pumped into her cell she clapped her hand of her nose and mouth, swaying even moreso before the gas began to affect her, eyes slowly falling closed before she slid down the wall, onto the floor of the cell, managing to croak out "Sh..Shay..." before unconsciousness took her
Shayera's eyes widened as she saw the image of her lover slowly rising from the floor of the arena, her voice terrified and desperate at the same time, she didn't know if she could give everything in a fight against Diana, and even if she did, there was no way in hell she could win, not even with Vixen, Canary and Huntress' help, Diana was a level far beyond theirs
"Anyone got a plan?" she heard Mari ask from beside her, her heart beginning to pound as she stood, replying with the first thing that came to mind
"Yeah, try and stay alive", trying to mask her fear with false confidence, but god she was terrified, they couldn't win, Diana was possibly the third most powerful member of the league behind only Clark and J'onn when it came to physical strength, she'd trained in the art of combat for over a thousand years and right now she had the mind of a ruthless killer instead of her own. tensing as she prepared to fight for her life against the woman she loved, hearing Helena comment slightly crassly
"Anyone got a good plan?", the Huntress lifting an arm, launching a crossbow bolt towards Diana, the amazon blocking the shot with ease before leaping towards the four heroines,
A/N: Wow, sorry about the delay, had a bought of writers block already DX Cliffhanger! One thing in case your thinking, yes, I will be doing the Shayera and Mari vs Diana fight in the next chapter.
Ok, so firstly, most of the JLU knew about Shayera and Diana before Scars, just the public didn't, John seemed to assume Shayera still wanted to be with him, more than with Diana in Ancient History, and since I don't really count Hawkman as being part of the league yet (only an affiliate, kinda like Huntress) he doesn't know about them yet.
Secondly, Shayera isn't really scared of Meta-Humans, at least ones she's very familiar with, the costumes and when they often use their powers will help her feel their trustworthy, but normal humans, even heroes such as Batman or Green Arrow scare her. Put simply, at this point she has a general deep-set phobia of human men, which to be honest; you can't blame her for (If you're confused, go read Violation, which explains this)
Thirdly, one of those psychic signatures J'onn sensed was Luthor, using a machine with Grodd wired in he made sure no one betrayed him.
Fourthly, Diana's not as naïve as she always appears and realized the possibility of them being harassed because of their sexuality, but didn't quite realize how bad it would be which is why she was so hurt during Scars.
Fifthly, Shayera's Sonic Screech appeared in one of the video games and I decided to make it canon in the DCAU too.
Sixthly, the removing clothes thing is something Claustrophobics are known to do, feeling trapped and restricted by them, and on the show, at least in the Doctor Destiny episode, they showed her claustrophobia to be rather severe
Wow long A/N… Reviews make me happy, so do cookies 8D so all reviews and cookies are appreciated and will make me write faster 8D