Justice League: Spartan Alliance

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Halo or DC, period.

Chapter 4

Adapting…

( ): Thoughts

As the Dawn moved with the Watch Tower, the Spartan was currently onboard with Cortana to inspect the new base of operations for the newly formed Justice League. The Watch Tower was a very impressive facility though it was not the same as the facilities the two of them had seen back in their universe, namely the UNSC orbital facilities and ODPs, the Covenant orbital facilities, and of course, those developed by the Forerunner. Still they found the place to be very well made, the technology was also impressive in key areas as well.

Cortana was in her Human sized and proportioned avatar and walked alongside the Spartan as she looked at the station. Once they were done, the A.I spoke to the Spartan as well as the other heroes.

"This place is pretty impressive, we could provide you guys with some technology if you so wish though the more sensitive stuff will not be revealed just yet."

Batman thought about that and nodded.

"That sounds fair enough, but I suppose I suppose that you and Cortana will be operating mostly out on the Dawn as it is your base of operations?"

"Not really, we have a civilian identity already in place so we go only to the Dawn if we need to do things that can't be done on the surface. Naturally some of those things will be kept something of a secret so we can't really say much about that."

The other League members nodded at that as the two continued to examine the watch Tower while they also did the very same thing. Once the tour was over, the League decided to have a slight discussion on a few other matters that would need some considerable attention before it was time for them to head back to their usual civilian covers since there was not much activity going on the surface of Earth that needed their attention.

It was here that Cortana raised a very interesting question pertaining to one of the League members.

"I wanted to ask something from Diana first."

"What would that be Cortana?"

"You don't happen to have a place for you to stay in Earth do you?"

This was a very interesting question as that got Diana to thinking about what she would be doing while she was in Man's world, as part of the League now she would be helping keep man's world safe, and at the same time, study it to see what was it about this world of men that seemed to intrigue her. Apart from her home island of Themyscira, the only places she knew were of the Greek nation and a few others that were recorded on the books in their libraries. After what she had seen, she could wager a guess that there had been quite a number of changes that happened to the world after her mother's time. Finding a place to stay would be a good way to start, going back to Themyscira would have been a wise idea, but she knew that her disappearance and that of the gifts from the Gods that she took might soon be noticed so that left her in a bit of a bind as it were.

She decided to answer her friend's question as it was in many ways an important one.

"I am afraid not, I suppose I can remain here in the Watch Tower and routinely visit Earth every now and then."

Cortana did not like that a bit but before she could reply, Flash spoke.

"You know that you could go and stay in Central City, I can help you get adjusted there and finding a good place shouldn't be too hard."

Diana thought about that for a few minutes. But then Cortana decided to speak on that matter.

"I think it's best that Diana has some matters dealt with before staying anywhere on Earth apart from her home-island. For one thing, having her appear in Central City without any explanation might be a bit hard to swallow. The next is that she will need to have a civilian identity since if she does not have one, which might make things a bit suspicious for her when the people there meet her for the very first time."

Batman nodded at that and replied.

"Cortana does have a point, a vast majority of the heroes here in Earth have been established already so it would be best that new heroes have to keep a low profile. Diana is new to the rest of the world so some time to get to know it without being hounded is a good idea."

Diana listened to that and wondered whether having a civilian identity was really worth all the trouble, then she recalled how Batman used that same name to hide his real self, no doubt he had collected a number of enemies and if they did find out who he was, then they would attack him. And this time it would be to their advantage, it was not something she found favorable to her as Amazons didn't see the need to remain hidden and preferred to fight in the open.

Still, this was how things were done by the protectors of man's world, so if she wanted to learn more about it, then she might as well try it out."

"If that is the best way for me to learn about this world, how exactly do I start?"

Cortana grinned as she had a very good idea.

John on the other hand, despite wearing his MJOLNIR and the helmet once more was able to notice the way Cortana looked. That was more than enough to tell him that she had something in mind for Diana. And he knew that if Cortana had something in mind, he was going to be dragged into it as well, he knew that while he could tell his reasons for not agreeing with some of what she might be planning, he was going to listen to what was it she had in mind.

Two days later…

The Amazon flew over New York and marveled at the sight of the buildings there, they were so different from the ones she was used to on Themyscira. There were few buildings on her home that were as tall as the structures that were there in this city though she would prefer the sights of trees, forests, streams, and more. Those were what dotted the island paradise of her home of Themyscira. However she decided to place those thoughts aside as she tried to recall the place that Cortana had told her to go.

They had mentioned that she was going to meet up with a friend of theirs who could be able to help her get set up wherever she would decide to stay in while she spent her time in observing and learning what she wanted concerning man's world. The others asked who this friend was and Cortana replied that he was a trust worthy man, more than enough to have their trust so that went a long way when it concerned the two of them.

This was enough to make Diana decide to go to New York and meet this man who apparently was someone that the two did trust. If the Spartan and Cortana trusted this person

Diana was wide eyed at this for a moment or two until she relaxed as the man before her was someone she easily recognized.

"Sp…"

John placed his fingers on his lips for a gesture of silence as he looked about and then allowed her inside his shop. It was expected that she would act like that, after all this was the second time that she was going to see him face to face without his helmet on. However, this was going to be the first time she saw him without the armor on and only wearing simple clothes. Once they were in the shop, Diana looked the place over and spoke to him.

"Cortana told me to come here to meet a friend of yours, but now I see that she was actually referring to the two of you, I was a bit caught off guard by that."

"Cortana has a way of doing that, this is our base of operations here on the surface, when she mentioned that we had a friend here in the city, I already knew that she was referring to the two of us here in New York. It would make sense though since Cortana was the one who bought this place and set everything up for me when we needed to stay on the ground."

"I see but I must admit that I've never seen a place like this before, what is this place?"

"This is a vehicle customization shop; I work undercover here on the surface as a fabricator for custom made cars and the like for legitimate people and clean businesses. I don't work for corrupt people or organizations. It's nice to see that you've made it, now we can get to work on helping you settle down here in Man's world in your own civilian cover if you so wish."

The Amazon decided to follow the Spartan as he led her to the second floor just as Cortana arrived on site and smiled at Diana.

"Hey there Diana, how are you doing?"

Diana smiled and replied.

"I am fine, though I have to admit that all of this moving about in secret is a bit new to me."

The A.I smiled and replied.

"Can't be helped you know, keeping things a secret is key to avoid revealing too much about yourself. Besides, if the public here in New York found out that not only is their city being watched over by the Spartan, but by Wonder Woman, then who knows what that might lead to. You might not be able to learn much about the world of men if everyone knows you're here. A few changes can fix that right away."

"Changes?"

John replied to that.

" A change of clothes for one, as well as a slightly different hairstyle in order to make it less easy for those nearby to see you as Wonder Woman. Not to mention a place of residence…Cortana and I can fix that for you along with a few other matters."

Diana was surprised by these acts of generosity from her fellow League members, and she had to admit that it might help make being in Man's world and learning what was about it that a lot easier for her. She could not help but smile somewhat at the help she was getting though she would have preferred to do things on her own. That was why she decided to tell them her thoughts on the matter.

"I appreciate what you are doing for me Cortana, and the same goes for you as well Spartan, but I believe that I will be in good hands."

John then replied.

"Cortana and I are not trying to imply something negative Princess Diana, we merely offer support if you so wish it, if you wish to learn about man's world as you call it on your own terms, then that is all right by us."

Cortana nodded as well.

"I guess I can agree with the Chief there, it's your call Diana."

The Amazon thought over what the two had told her and she realized that it would be rude to turn them down; they were giving their time to help her learn more about man's world. They were willing to provide her with means that could make the whole process less complicated for her and that meant that they were putting a lot of their own time into this. Besides, they were not just her team mates, but her friends as well. Cortana was her friend and was someone she could talk to well enough, and the Spartan was more than respectful to her as well as someone she respected for all that he had been through and admired for his fighting skills as well as his honor.

"I apologize if I sounded if I was refusing your help without consideration, it's just that I am not really used to such things being done for me. I usually prefer to do things on my own back in Themyscira."

Cortana laughed gently and replied.

"None taken Diana, so if you are ready, I think the first course of action is to get you some clothes that can be useful for you to wear when out in public when wearing your costume is not the best of ideas. Naturally you will get to choose your clothes and John will be the one to shop for you."

That statement made John raise his eyebrows a bit as he replied.

"You want me to do that? You realize that it might look odd for a man to be seen going into a clothing store and buying women's clothes?"

"Well it's not like Diana can go in there dressed in her usual choice of uniform, it'll cause a heck of a ruckus in that said clothing store."

John conceded and decided to get some money from his bank account that would be needed for the buying of clothes for the Amazon princess. He only hoped that the clothes that he was going to buy was enough for her. He knew that as an Amazon, Diana was not exactly the kind of woman who was familiar with modern fashion, and he didn't even want to guess what she would think of the clothes worn by the women today. But if it could help her get used to being in the world of men, why not?

"All right, but before I go, I need to take a look at Diana's exact measurements first so that when I go to buy those clothes, I buy the clothes that she will be comfortable in when she wears them. This will not take too long either."

John was right in that regard as he looked at Diana from head to foot and the Amazon did not mind as she had an idea as to why that was necessary. Most men would have enjoyed ogling a beautiful woman, and Diana was no exception to the rule as she was very much a beautiful woman. But John was a practical man as well as having a duty in helping Diana adjust to being in a civilian disguise. As soon as he was done, he bade them farewell and headed off to get some money to buy the clothes.

This left Diana with Cortana as the A.I spoke to the Amazon.

"Now that John's out of the base, we should focus on a few other matters.

"Such as?"

"Well, a place to stay for one, there are some good places in both New York to stay in, and outside of it as well if you want to be elsewhere. We have managed to earn a good deal of money so we can purchase you a good place to be in and we can set up an account to pay for anything you might need to pay for while there. Trust me, living by yourself is not very nice if you don't have a lot of good incoming, but that can wait, let's go house shopping."

Cortana activated the nearby computer console and brought up an image of New York and brought it up for Diana to see. There they were going to look about for a viable place for Diana to take root in, as well as some other places around the map. Diana however decided that since she already know John and Cortana who resided here in New York, she might as well stay close to them as she spoke.

"Maybe a place closer to you would be better, that is if it's not too much trouble for both of you?"

Cortana smiled and replied.

"Not at all, I think that it saves us a load to things to work out that would take too long for us to do in the first place. There are some good places here for you to set up and considering that New York is a serious melting pot of cultures due to the people who live here, you can learn a lot of things here Diana."

The Amazon appreciated that as they began to look for a house for her, with Cortana explaining a number of things to her as best as she could. The things she was able to grasp was enough to tell Diana that being with Cortana and John in New York and having them around to help her was by far the best choice she made since coming to Earth after spending some time getting used to the Watch Tower.

In the clothing store, John was already wishing he was never in the place as a number of people were looking at him. Some of the people in question were the female staff workers, and the others were the male staff who were of a different…'orientation'. More than once a few of the more…risk taking female staff had tried to get a bit too close to him as well as offer to model some of the clothes for him…in private. The men however steered clear of him though he knew that they were not looking away that much either.

He didn't have much against such people as such preferences were known to exist in the UNSC even though he never met any. At the moment he decided to buy some regular clothes, the kind that could be worn every day, but Cortana also insisted when she contacted him on the Warthog to buy Diana some good party dresses that would be useful for her to wear on party occasions if she decided to socialize.

That naturally included some of the usual items a woman would have on hand for such occasions and that made his day all the more difficult. It was a good thing that Cortana's wily skills in analysis worked well in finance which was why the money they had was going to be worth it and enough for this buying of items.

As he bought the clothes, he was lucky that he was able to get Diana's exact body measurements into memory so he was able to locate the right clothes that would fit her and be comfortable on her. That however was going to be judged by the woman herself and no doubt Cortana once he got back. As soon as he was done, he moved to the cashier and paid for the clothes he had purchased and took the change that he was planning to keep as cash on hand.

There were some shirts, sweaters, blouses, long skirts, knee high skirts, jeans, pants, jackets, stockings, comfortable socks, and four different party dresses with one in deep black, one in red, the other in red and black, and the other in white with golden thread patterns. That came also with some shoes for both normal everyday things and high heels as well. The clothes were from cotton, wool, and silk as well. He hoped that these were enough.

The cashier whistled at the amount of clothes and the payment and she spoke to him.

"That's a lot of clothes sir, are these for a friend?"

"Yes."

"A VERY close friend by any chance sir?"

For once, the Spartan wished he had an answer to that.

It took him a while but he was now able to get all the clothes packed away on the back of the Warthog and secured as he headed back to base. He could only hope that he was not going to hear this from any of his new clients who were going to come down on him and ask questions. That was on his mind though not for very long as he soon arrived back into his base. He took the clothes and locked down his Warthog and took the clothes in.

As he got inside, he headed up and saw Diana and Cortana discussing what appeared to be a nice looking house that was a two story one as well. He gave a slight cough to get their attention and Cortana smiled at the amount he had brought back.

"Wow, you really brought in a haul John."

John shrugged and replied.

"I figured having a good selection is needed, besides, if some don't meet Princess Diana's approval I can always send them back since I have the receipts."

Diana looked at the boxes and decided to look at them, she did not have any trouble and saw the clothing. They were certainly different from the clothing that she used to wear back in Themyscira, but they were going to have to be her clothes for her time here. They however felt nice so the turned to John and spoke to him with a smile.

"You bought these for me, thank you very much, it feels a bit odd for me to say that, but doing this for me was a kind gesture."

John nodded and replied.

"Think nothing of it Princess Diana, those are now yours and if you need to, I'll have them taken to a good laundry service if they need cleaning."

As soon as the clothing was removed from the packages for a temporary fitting, Cortana told John that Diana had decided to settle in New York City, namely in the area of Queens and in Forest Hills Gardens area, a fair but very much easy distance to reach their base which was near Manhattan itself. The house was well maintained and already Cortana was working on getting the house bought and paid for. Naturally they would divert a portion of their funds to help Diana set up there for now until she has made other plans.

It was not long before Diana decided to try some clothing on, namely wearing a white cotton sweater, light green pants and simple sandals. She appeared before the two with her hair in a ponytail and a cloth belt to hold her hair together and her tiara off of her head. She looked at them expectantly and asked them what they thought of the change.

"What do you think?"

Cortana smiled warmly and replied.

"Really nice, classy and simple, but on you Diana, very attractive, I guess even if not in your uniform, you can really turn some heads, right John?"

The Spartan looked at Diana as she was still in her civilian garb and said nothing at first and after a moment or two replied in a very respectful manner.

"You look very nice Princess Diana."

Cortana snorted a bit and replied.

"Really John, you could be a bit more complimenting to Diana you know."

The Spartan looked a bit worried by that which did not escape Cortana's notice and even the Amazon's as he replied.

"I don't mean to sound offensive or anything…I've never judged a woman's choice clothing before...ever."

Diana knew that John was being honest and that was good enough for her as she smiled at him.

"It's all right Spartan, I am happy with what you have said, you were honest to me and I like that a lot."

That made John relax a bit more as he did not want to offend, as even with his abilities, he knew that Diana was a lot more capable than he might be some areas. And for some reason the way she smiled at him seemed to stir something in… he did not know what, but it passed just as quickly so he discounted it for now.

Cortana however noted that sudden change in her Spartan's demeanor and decided to record that just to make sure she did not miss it and review for a much later date. It was here that John asked Diana a very simple but also just as important question.

"How do you plan to change into your outfit in a hurry?"

Diana thought it over and recalled a special trick that her mother had taught her as well as one of her mentors back in her younger days in Themyscira. She moved around in a spin and as soon as she began to blur, out came a slight flash of light through magic she appeared with the room not damaged but her in her full uniform with the tiara there on her as well as her lasso. That was enough to make John raise an eyebrow and Cortana to laugh a bit more.

"There, does that answer your question Spartan?"

John nodded at that and Cortana replied.

"Oh yeah, I think that answers the question perfectly, so how do you plan to change back, the reverse of what you just did?"

Diana nodded and spun in the reverse direction and the same thing happen though she was now back to wearing her civilian garb. That was more than enough to satisfy the two members of the UNSCDF as they decided to let her try on the other clothes as well as the shoes to see if they were to her liking..

They all were and with that done, John decided to help with hauling the clothes over to Diana's place once they made the purchase and Cortana was able to do all the much needed paper work that would finally place the house she had picked under her name. That however brought up a concern to John.

"Hold it, we can't write Diana of Themyscira on the document, that might attract attention."

Diana did not understand why that was a topic of concern.

"Why? What's wrong with using my name?"

Cortana then explained.

"You're name's all right Diana, it's just that usually there are what you call middle initials and family names in the names used here in public. Just like we use a full name here to hide John's real name and character, you might need one since using only one name is not only strange, but might attract attention."

Diana was surprised by this and asked the question in her mind.

"Is this normal in man's world?"

John answered her question easily.

"That depends on the nation and culture, some areas use full names while others are all right with less elaborate names, and at times, no names at all. But here in the US, I know they prefer a full name to be used on any documentation that is to be legally binding. Cortana can make a very effective one that they cannot easily crack but even that needs a full name."

Cortana and the others remained silent for a moment or two until Cortana decided on this one.

"How about Diana Prince? That could work."

Diana thought it over and figured that it could work for what she needed.

"All right, I can work with that."

Cortana smiled and decided to work on the documentation immediately. As soon as she was done, which was only at five seconds, the documents were not fully logged into the international database and legally confirmed. Now all they had to was claim the house for Diana so she could now start her civilian identity as Diana Prince, resident of New York City's Queens area. One thing was sure in his mind, the very second Diana went to being Wonder Woman, things in New York were going to get a heck of a lot more interesting.

Two weeks later…

Diana was getting used to this civilian cover that was made for her by both Cortana and John, and she had admitted that this was a helpful way to see how the world of man worked without having to deal with people quickly recognizing her. The disguises helped her avoid being easily recognized as Wonder Woman and even allowed her to see just what sort of men lived in this world beyond Themyscira. So far she had seen a number of men who matched the things that her mentors had told her, much to her disgust and worry as to why there were such men like them in this world.

Some of the things she had seen from the women also served to confuse her even more, she could not understand why was it some women were willing to dress themselves in some strange fashions, use make-up, perfumes and more to attract men. The Amazon in her was wondering just what was it about men that made women this determined to get their attention, using their wiles on them and the like. She was also not happy how some women were not willing to defend themselves when attacked by some of the less scrupulous men that she had seen and met in her time here on Earth. There were also actions of violence and corruption that she did not like along with how men would at times abuse women as well. All of this told her that her people's teachings were at times correct when it came to men.

And there were times that some men tried to accost her but she was able to beat them off though not at full strength as doing so would arouse too many questions, as was suggested by Cortana when she and the A.I spoke about such things possibly happening. She had no problems as she had received plenty of combat training to do just that though she made sure to convince them as best she could to leave her be. Some did that while others did not, and it was the later who got their proverbial butts kicked by the disguised Amazon.

.However, not all the things she saw in Man's world were bad, she witnessed a number of good people as well who showed noble qualities as well. She met and saw men who despite suffering the loss of a limb continue to compete and win both recognition and respect despite their physical wounds. She saw others who had turned away from violence and the use of drugs, money, and more to make a more positive end to their lives. They would help give youth a better future through sports and education, turning them away from drugs, gangs, and violence to make better people of themselves. She saw people of faith dedicate their time in helping not just the people and youth in their community but also around the world.

She saw the soup kitchens there that fed the poor and unemployed and when she asked John why that was happening, he replied that there were usually lines that separated the rich and poor from one another. It was hard for her to see such things, but she had some compensation to see people who were more than willing to give clothes, food, medicine, and even simple words of encouragement and support to them. These were both men and women as well so she could see that men were not always bad.

She saw this even more when she saw families in parks in New York being happy together, children playing and parents being happy with not just their children but with each other. These things were very surprising and somewhat interesting to the Amazon as she observed the things happening before them all. She still did have her doubts about men but due to her upbringing, but she had to admit that there were things about men that were certainly good to see.

She would also talk to John and Cortana about these things, and why is it like that, both her friends were willing to talk to her about it and help her if needed. This cemented the friendship even more between her and the two. Cortana was able to make her laugh and help her learn more about things in Man's world, both good and bad. While John helped her in that same situation as well as in other areas like dealing with some of the many technological things that were there and not commonly found on Themyscira. This was a way for her to get used to seeing the many things that she saw.

She also got a present from John, and that was a custom built ride of her own. It was a Warthog design but was made to have special bullet resistant panels both in the front and on the opening doors that opened on hinges by the crossbar area between the two seats. The ride was a bit lower in elevation so she would not have to with the height of the vehicle itself. The baseline blueprint of the vehicle was the same as the Warthog but was the Arctic version without the threads used for snow combat.

It was well armored and was more of a military vehicle type but was made less so by the simple light purple scheme and the less militaristic lines. John had taken the parts from the Dawn and had the vehicle built to handle Diana's strength and abilities. And Cortana naturally had the vehicle registered as Diana's own personal ride. John naturally was requested by Cortana to take her how to drive the vehicle so she would not have to worry about it too much. Diana was willing to try it out and that made John's job a load easier.

It was not easy as driving was not something that Diana had ever learned with the exception of riding a horse back on Themyscira or riding one of the triremes that patrolled Themyscira's territorial waters and prevented people from finding them. But she was a quick learner and with both John and Cortana teaching her, she was able to grasp how to drive it out in the open easily and in the urban areas as well. It too only responded to Diana which was a bit of a bonus in the mind of the Amazon.

She also was exposed to a number of different cultures there since her area was so diverse in many ways. Themyscira was diverse in it's own way, but this New York was indeed diverse and after learning from her friends about New York's history, both good and bad she could see why there were so many cultures that called New York home. The art there was not the same as Themyscira but she did find the art intriguing as well along with surprising. The food was also surprising as there were so many cultures and people living in New York from different cultures and races that the Amazon scarcely knew where to begin.

Naturally from time to time, Diana would partake in stopping some crimes in New York in her uniform and using her new code name of Wonder Woman. And at times, she and John would work together in foiling some major attempts by criminals, one being the attempted bombing of City Hall by a few anarchists trying to cause trouble.

And this had a number of interesting results., namely in the sense that people in New York were now aware that they now had not just the Spartan watching over them, but Wonder Woman as well.

The sight of John and Diana in their respective gear, fighting crime either separately or together had surprised and delighted a rather large number of native New Yorkers. There were naturally newspapers about the arrival of Wonder Woman in the city as well as her alliance with the Spartan who was already residing in New York as it's residential hero.

Many of them said that if Metropolis had Superman, if Gotham had Batman and his young allies, if Dakota had Static and Gear, and if Central City had Flash, then New York had it's own Wonder Woman and the Spartan as it's heroes.

The rumors surrounding the two were just as vocal, some news papers said that they were friends, and associates, others that they were siblings, and some even suggested that they were intimate. Cortana laughed at that a great deal while John could not help but sigh and shrug, while Diana did not take it too seriously and actually found it amusing to say the least. While some she met in the city on a few occasion had remarked that she looked somewhat like Wonder Woman, Diana played along to keep her identity as a secret. Some groups of people even began to try and ask them to work in TV shows when they were done helping the police or emergency services, which both of them turned down.

Naturally however, there were those who did not think kindly of the two, there were already those who did not like the Spartan, even more so with him in the Justice League. But when she showed up, she too was being targeted. Some of the detractors were from TV, radio, and newspapers, and others were just trying to get famous. It confused Diana as to why they would act like this and Cortana replied that it was to be expected.

People usually feared that they did not understand well enough when they do not want to take risks, others would be jealous, some did it for recognition, others out of a warped sense of right, and the others did it for kicks. John himself ignored them and said that he had dealt with worse names. However that didn't mean that some of the actions and words of the detractors did not offend the two friends of the Amazon. She admired them for showing such restraint, and they even prevented her from doing something rash when some of the said rumors offended her.

Why that was the case was due to the fact that some of the detractors were aiming at her origins and that was not the wisest of ideas in any Amazon's mind, even more so as she was the Amazon princess.

Still those who supported them were there to counter those detractors, which was able to give a good feeling to the Amazon as she continued to do her part to learn about man's world. At least there were people who were willing to stand up against those who would lie just for their selfish reasons.

The Watch Tower…

John guided the Pelican into the Hanger Bay and both he and Diana came out of the transport to head into the Tower. Diana had been able to use the teleporter module that both he and Cortana had provided her with. As they got there, Diana was able to spend some time chatting with Cortana and also see John go through the shooting range to keep his marksmanship skills to their best level when Cortana called them that Batman was asking them to come to the Watch Tower.

And now here they were and they were now curious as to what was the emergency. Once they arrived at the main area of the Watch Tower, they spotted Batman who was currently running some of the systems as Cortana appeared on John's left palm, she leaped off and took her Human sized Avatar form as John greeted Batman.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"I came in to do some Monitor Duty to relieve J'onn but apparently no one was here in the Tower, I'm trying to find out how that happened."

Diana was instantly confused and spoke.

"Where would the others have gone?"

"I'm not sure, one of the Javelins is not in the hanger bay and that tells me something happened, you have anything on your end Cortana?"

The A.I shook her head.

"Nothing yet, I'm already relocating one of the Black Widow satellites that we have outside the system…hold up. I'm picking up an incoming transmission…it matches the COM frequencies on the communication units you issued to the others. That must mean that we're about t find out what is going on."

Sure enough the communications system on the Watch Tower told Bruce that an incoming call was here, checking it out and seeing that it was Superman's communication frequency, he patched it in. The monitor came online before the assembled heroes and there was indeed Superman, the Kryptonian then spoke to the others in a relieved tone.

"Nice to see you guys made it, sorry for not being there on the Tower when you came in, but something came up. A band of machines going by the name of Man Hunters came here for Lantern; we had no idea why so we got into a battle with them. Stewart appeared and told us to stop and let them take him."

That made Diana and Bruce look at Superman in surprise and the same was there in Cortana's face. Why would Stewart not resist these Man Hunters at all? What reason did he have and who would send the Man Hunters after Stewart in the first place?

John was confused and spoke to Superman to try and find out just what was going on and how did Lantern fit into the whole mess itself. He had no idea what these Man Hunters were but from what he was able to guess they were similar to trackers and hunters and judging by how they had restrained Lantern, they were bounty hunters at that.

"These Man Hunters took Lantern and he didn't resist them? Did you find out why?"

"Yes, believe it or not, Stewart's being accused of causing the destruction of a planet named Ajuris 4, and killing all of it's people. He's currently on trial here in Ajuris 5 and it is nasty here. If the court does find him guilty of the crime, they are going to execute him."

That surprised everyone in the room, even Cortana as she appeared from John's hand and took her human form as she was not pleased with this.

"That can't possibly be right, Stewart's supposed to be a Green Lantern and they are peace keepers first and foremost, and his record in the Marine Corps speaks highly of his integrity as well."

"I know Cortana, but John admits that he is guilty."

Diana was surprised even more, while she was not on good terms with the Green Lantern, she was not in bad enough terms with him either.

"Why would he say that he is guilty?"

Superman quickly filled them in on what was going on and the facts thus far, Cortana ran some calculations and once she was done with what she had been given, she spoke to the Kryptonian.

"That makes even less sense, the data says that while the Power Rings used by Green Lanterns can indeed destroy things that are within the imagination and will of their user, the act of destruction does not fit the MO of both the Green Lantern Corps and that of Stewart as well. The best way to prove that Stewart did not do this is to go to the planet itself, there as to be ruins and debris that can provide clues. Not to mention checking out if the detonation had any effect on nearby celestial bodies."

Superman nodded at the information handed to him.

"Will do Cortana, J'onn and I will go to the planet's supposedly empty location and do what you've suggested, if we find anything that proves otherwise, we'll exonerate John even if he believes deeply that he is responsible."

"What about Hawkgirl and Flash?"

"Hawkgirl's trying to find others from the Corps to try and defend their comrade, but it might not be easy for her to convince them with words. They seem pretty much against John for now, though there might be a few among them who can rise to John's defense, though who that might be is still unknown to us. As for Flash…we had him stall the trial any possible way he can without resorting to outright interference."

Batman raised an eyebrow and spoke.

"You didn't ask him to be John's defense lawyer did you?"

Superman looked sheepishly for a moment and replied.

"We didn't have much in terms of options. There's more to this than it seems, I can feel it in my gut, though I could be wrong about that as well."

John replied.

"Chief Mendez always said to us to go with your gut, you'd be surprised how it can turn out to be right."

Superman smiled a bit at the statement and nodded.

"Will do, but you guys will have to hold the fort until we get back. We'll make it back as soon as we can find out just who is framing Lantern for something he did not do and why, even if he does say that he did the crime."

As soon as that communication link was over, the Spartan turned to look at the two other heroes who he was with right now and spoke to them.

"Looks like we're holding the fort for sure on our own here, Cortana, can you handle any monitoring duties here on the Watch Tower?"

Cortana nodded with a smile, this kind of duty was well suited to her various abilities and she could easily monitor every corner of the globe and determine the severity of each major emergency that may crop up. She knew that with only John, Diana, and Bruce to keep Earth safe, they were very short handed, even with Batman's family of batgirl, Night wing, and Robin. Still, she was going to do her best to make sure that any and all help that could be sent was on hand for the people of Earth.

"I can handle that easily enough Chief; I'll help monitor Earth and outer space from either the Watch Tower or the Dawn. This should free you all to do what you can and if you decide to bring anyone else into the fold, I can coordinate with them as well."

Batman had to agree that this was a better option; Cortana may not have revealed all of her abilities as a Smart A.I as she called herself to him, but the abilities she had already revealed to him were impressive and not to be wasted. Her abilities to communicate to the Chief regardless of distance would be invaluable, along with others armed with communications gear that she could easily use would be indeed helpful in giving them a chance to operate more effectively considering how shorthanded they were. He did however have backup in mind as well as know a few heroes who could come and help them out.

"I can have Night Wing, Batgirl, and Robin to handle things in Gotham and be ready to move if I need to get back here to the Watch Tower or to the Dawn and help out in the mission. I also know of some other heroes around the world who might be able to help us out."

Diana raised an eyebrow at that.

"Who exactly do you mean?"

Batman remained silent for a moment but replied to that.

"They happen to be well known heroes but are not that famous yet, I've worked with them before and I know that they are good people. It might be a bit much to ask them away from their turf, but they will be willing to help."

Cortana smiled at that.

"Nice to know we're not going to be the only ones keeping house, so John, I guess we should get down to the business of holding for fort until the other Leaguers get back here after freeing Lantern."

"I know. First things first though, a change of weapons is in order, plus a need to pick up some supplies for this sort of thing."

To be continued…

….

Author's Notes:

Now then, at least this one has been added and squared away and as such I hope that this will be a good parting gift before I take my leave.

It's not much, I will admit but I decided that I can try taking advantage of the fact that in some episodes of the Justice League, some of the members are missing in them. I figured that I can use that to my advantage when it comes to making the Master Chief's back-story as well as some original chapters apart from some personal ones. Besides, with time being short I figured a less word intensive story was in order before I am going to leave for my temporary home until the demolition is over and I can have my new house again and I can finally relax and get back to cranking out more chapters to boot.

I always wondered just what was Diana doing after the whole incident with the Imperium and the formation of the Justice League and why was it she was not present in the episode 'In Blackest Night'. So I figured I make a chapter dedicated to her finding a civilian identity so she could be in a better chance of knowing all of Man's world. Naturally the Master Chief and Cortana will be helping her out in setting herself up in the world of men and this will allow Diana to get a bit closer to John.

As you have read, John has not only provided her a place to stay with Cortana's help, as well as some clothes to help her, but also provide her with a custom built ride of her own and a bank account to use if she needs to do so. I plan to expand that a bit more to make sure that while she is there, Diana will be able to find an occupation that could give her a source of income so she can be able to sustain herself, I'll look for a workable one on my time in the dark okay?

I decided that Diana will use the very same spinning technique I've seen in the old cartoons and some movies as well as the series that I saw as a kid as her way to transform from civilian garb to full uniform. She did the same thing in Unlimited in the episode 'Another Shore' so I decided to have it brought in early to help her with the whole time of being among men instead of her armor.

Naturally she will not always agree to it and will at times wander the world in her uniform which like anything else can attract less than gentle attention from the men, though one can guess the outcome of that. This will also be present in the episode we know as Fury though after her time with John and Cortana in New York, you can bet that she will have a much different view of men much earlier than she did in the original story. Will John by taken out by the virus? Maybe he might. And if he does get infected how will that affect his friendship with Diana?

We'll see soon enough won't we?

Just so you all know, I will strive to do better work in my time in the dark so when I do come back, I might surprise you.

Thank you for your long time patronage of my work, giving your honest opinions, suggestions, reviews, and more.

Make no mistake, this is not the end…

As quoted by one of my people's foreign heroes Douglas MacArthur:

'I Shall Return!'