A/N: I am SOOOO sorry that it took this long to update. I went away for a week, and then for another week end and I've been really busy. I am going to try to post longer chapters, and post more frequently. Anyways. I'm trying to decided where I want this story to go...if I want to end it in a few chapters and then start a new story, like the next book in a series. Either that or just make this one story with a lot and lot of chapters. And I mean a lot, because I want her to have some stories with the League before I kill her off. I also REALLY want to write a songfic with her, but that I'm going to save until her death. Anways, I'm leaning towards making a new story with her, but it would start where this story leaves off. Don't worry, I wouldn't leave you hanging!

oneredneckgoddess: Lol! I'm so glad you like the story so much, and I'm sorry to keep you waiting for so long. Finally, here's the next chapter!

the. dead. addict.: She's 17. I purposedly did not say what she looks likes yet, although I did say what she looked like in the video tape. In this chapter I finally describe her current appearance.

Trickster91: Superman has major denile problems. I want to convert the Justice League setting into the Justice League Unlimited setting by having Equus leave the JL for a while and then come back when its JLU. I do want to address the fact that there is another pegasus (Winged Victory). Don't worry, you'll see something between Serenity, Equus, Shining Knight, and Victory!

WiccanWitch14: lol, yeah I'd say Equus needs major counseling. Although she would most definitley severly injure you for suggesting it. Hm...that could be interesting to have Flash suggest counseling and have her attack him. I say Flash because I doubt any of the other members are that tactless. Oh, and Equus says thank you for the cookie although she accidentally used the balloon for target practice.

Makai Senki Disgaea: Thanks so much! I know it got kind depressing, but I'm glad you still enjoyed it.

balletangel19: I warned you you might want tissues!



Flash could understand what Equus had meant when she had said that she doubted Luthor would be ale to recognize he even if he saw her, especially is Luthor had last seen Equus as the young girl in the video. The only reason that Flash actually recognized Equus as the girl in the video was that he had seen the video seconds before seeing Equus. If he had seen Equus on the streets a month, even a week later he doubted that he would have made the connection.

It was not as if the girl had grown at all: she had not. She was still the same height: short and petit at around 5 foot. Standing in very little clothing, it was much easier to compare Equus' body to the girl's. Equus' frame had filled out slightly, as she had developed fuller chest; although on the smaller side it fit perfectly with her athlete's body. The rest of her body seemed to remain unchanged; she still had the same skinny arms and legs. On first glance she appeared weak and frail, but a closer look revealed defined muscles that gave her an elegant, graceful appearance and seemed to balance out her otherwise bony frame.

The young girl's face had been captivating to see. It had an innocent quality about it, an endearing cuteness, like that of an angel or a cherub. Equus's face had changed a lot, just in the years since the video. Her face had become much more defined and sharper. It had lost it's angelic appearance and instead took on a colder beauty, more associated with the cold goddess Artemis then with the angelic goddess Aphrodite. Equus had a type of radiance about her that was not at all inviting, but drew you in nonetheless. She possessed the same soft mouth and lush lips but did not have the bee-stung-puffy lips of her mother. Her chin was also the same: entirely stubborn, and jutting out softly. The girl's once delicate nose now sported a small bump, apparently from a broken nose. Her eyes were perfectly slanted and long, luscious eyelashes framed her eyes. On first glance her eyes appeared to be a piercing green, slightly lighter then Hawkgirl's. However, as Flash studied her he realized that he eyes were not actually green. A band of yellow color surrounded her pupil. The yellow then melded with the light blue color that surrounded it, which made her eyes appear green at a glance. Her skin was the exact same pale color and it glowed slightly in the dimness of the Batcave.

The most startling thing about Equus's appearance was her hair. In the video her head had been shaved, and before her hair had been hidden under her hood and scarf. Somehow Flash had assumed that this fiery girl would either have red hair to match her temper, or black hair to fit with her seemingly depressed state of mind. He had most definitely expected her to have short hair shoved under her cloak because from what Flash had seen, he very much doubted that she put much thought into her appearance. What Flash had not been expecting were the waves of pale blonde hair that cascaded down her back. The color was a cross between gold and platinum, almost like a light champagne color. It hung down her body, sweeping past her milky shoulders and down her back, finally ending at the top of her thighs. Flash had never seen real hair so long on a person before, except on that episode of Ripley's Believe it or Not, which he had only watched because the episode after it had been about the fastest man alive, The Flash. Two braids, one on either side of her head, ran from right above her temple to the back of her head where they met. Those two then twisted together and joined the rest of her hair the flowed down her back like a waterfall. Her hair was almost perfectly straight, with a slight, natural wave to it.

Flash was not only taken a back by her obvious beauty, but also by the way that she carried herself. She moved with the grace of an athlete, but that came as no surprise after watching her fight. She stood tall and proud, making herself appear taller and older then she actually was. But what struck Flash most about her stance was that she seemed completely un aware of how beautiful she was, or did not seem to care. Flash was a sucker for a gorgeous girl, and he knew it. One thing he loved about beautiful girls, more so then their appearance, was the confidence they had. They know that they are beautiful, and know that everyone else knows it too. They wear their beauty like a badge, and their confidence tended to borderline on arrogance. Flash did not mind this, his general opinion was that if you have it, be proud and know that you have it. That was how he dealt with his amazing super speed, his super hero status, and most of all his amazing looks.

Equus did not step with the tentative air that most girls who did not think they were beautiful did. Instead, she acted like she thought she was ugly and was daring someone to say something about it. Everything about Equus seemed to dare anyone to challenge her: the way her left hand kept stroking the blade of her sword, the way her right hand kept sheathing and unsheathing a small knife, the way he left leg was cocked, ready to strike. Flash did not need to have Batman's powers of observation to see how tense she was, or to see that she was on the verge of either striking of fleeing.

Flash, Superman, GL, J'onn and Wonder Woman all regarded Equus carefully. Batman started to pace, walking around the cave in a circle, thinking. Equus stood there, looking around them and studying their reaction. Out of nowhere, Batman stepped towards Equus and ran a single finger down her back. Equus noticeably flinched at the unexpected contact, and whirled around quickly to face him, her sword unsheathed. She took up a fighting stance and stood there glaring at him. Batman raised the single finger to nose and inhaled. The rest of the Leaguers looked at him with varying degrees of confusion, suspicion, and dread. Batman seemed somehow satisfied with something and brought his hand back down to his side. Looking Equus straight in the eye, he spoke to the Leaguers.

"I believe her." Batman said in a commanding tone. Superman's widened in shock at his statement, and he opened his mouth to protest. Unfortunately, Flash beat him to it and spoke first.

"Quick Superman, right that down! That's a front page story right there, I can see it now: 'Batman trusts someone. Get the inside scoop on his shocking exclamation! Only with the Dailey Planet'" Despite the seriousness of the situation, the side of Wonder Woman's mouth quirked up slightly in and effort to fight down her smile. Flash noticed, and seemed delighted that someone, especially an Amazon Princess, had found him funny. Equus looked, if possible, even more disgusted and glared at Flash so harshly that Flash was convinced her glare would melt his boots where the super speed friction had not.

Superman finally found his voice. "I'm sorry Bruce, but I just don't see how its possible." He turned to Equus and said, "I would like to believe you, I really would, but its just not possible that this could happen under our watch."

The harsh, scathing bark of laughter that escaped Equus's mouth at that statement burned Superman's ears.

"Look at her back. The scar, do you recognize it?" Batman pointed to the scar he was talking about. The scar was actually made up of two parallel lines, about a half-inch thick and located a few inches apart. They were raised, like a burn wound. They ran diagonally from the top of her left shoulder, all the way down her back finally stopping just below her right hip. The Leaguer's all moved and looked at the scar. Wonder Woman, GL, and J'onn all stared at her back grimly while Flash still seemed just as confused. Superman craned his head to see why they were looking so upset, and blanched at the scar. His whole face drained of all color and abruptly he turned away, still looking sick.

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm missing something here?" Flash asked, with a slight feeling of dread.

"Look at the scar. The pattern of it is quite distinctive and easily recognizable. " Batman stated in an irritated tone of voice, stressing the "easily" bit. Seeing Flash's annoyed, yet still confused look, Superman jumped in.

"Me. I did it. My laser vision left those marks. My clone did that...that's why Batman believes her. I'm assuming you made sure it wasn't make-up or faked." At Batman's curt nod, Superman felt even sicker then he had as he had said the words. He recognized the scars as soon as he saw them. He saw them after almost every fight, the haunting double scorch marks that reminded him of his power to destroy. And here they were: on a young girl, an innocent girl, standing right in front of him.

"Not you...the clone. Never you." Wonder Woman said comfortingly. Superman barley glanced at her, instead trying and failing to look Equus straight in the eye.

"It doesn't matter. Its my fault, I should have killed Lex when I had the chance." Superman said with a passion, spitting venom with every word.

"You would not have been able to." Superman jerked his head up and stared at Equus in shock. He was startled to hear her speak, as well as by what she said. Before he could open his mouth to argue his point, she continued.

"Even if he was standing in front of you right now, you would not be able to kill him. Knowing what he did to me...to the other children, even then you would not be able to kill him." Seeing Superman bow his head in shame, she added, "Don't be ashamed of that, its one of the things that defines you. You don't kill and to that's acceptable to you. Fine. But for me it is not. I use death as my own tool because fighting death, fighting something that is unavoidable, is even dumber then embracing it. Yes, I have killed people before and yes, I will kill more people. I will kill anyone that stands in my way, but always, I will try other methods first. Except Luthor. Luthor's death will be by my hand, and only my own death will prevent that from occurring. Oh, and please do not try and lecture me on the evils of death and killing, its too late for me to have a standard of morals."

Superman looked at her closely, studying her. Her felt responsible not only for what had happened to her, but also for what she had become: a murderer. He knew that on some level he needed to address her killing, needed to confront her, teach her, show her, repair her. She was damaged and it was his first instinct to fix her. He had tried and failed miserably to do the same thing with Bruce. He had pushed him to be Batman less and Bruce more and it had taken Superman a while to realize that Bruce had become the mask and that Batman was the man. Superman had finally come to terms with the fact that Bruce Wayne had died with his parents, and it was only Batman that kept him alive at all. Maybe if had known Bruce earlier, her could have helped him more but now it was too late.

Equus however...she was young. She could still be shown how to live a normal life. Maybe, in time, Equus could die and Gaia could live. He had felt the same way about Kara at first, but ultimately he had been forced to accept that being a superhero was in her blood. Equus...no, Gaia on the other hand had become a sort of vigilante through circumstances and the need to fight. But Superman had seen the intense look of focus on her face as she had bandaged her ribs, when he had peered through the walls to make sure she was occupied. She looked just as engaged as when she had been fighting and Superman was sure that practicing medicine could replace her need to fight. She was already on the track to a normal life: she was going to an Ivy League college, she was studying medicine, and she must have some friends at college. If they could just find Lex, find him with or without her and put him behind bars, maybe then she could lead a normal life. Superman was sure that once Lex had been brought to justice Gaia would let go of her insane need to kill Lex. That was how he could make it up to her: by ensuring that she led a life similar to one she would have led had Superman never allowed any of this to happen.

"We'll find Lex. We'll find him and bring him to justice. I promise." Superman meant this with all his heart.

"You don't understand, do you? How could you be so naive? Lex Luthor can be brought to justice by no one other then himself. He has enough money, power, and connections to escape any jail sentence. His death will be the only thing to stop him from hurting anyone else." Equus was furious now. The thickheaded Boy Scout did not only not understand her, but he was also underestimating her. Equus knew that Luthor would die by her hands as surely as she knew the sun would rise.

Surprisingly, it was J'onn that best understood her situation. Living on Mars with his wife and children, war and murder had been concepts to which little thought were given. When the invaders came, J'onn had been shocked at how easily war had come to even a peaceful race like his. Although technically the nerve gas did not kill, he and his kind would have been willing to kill every last invader to save their world. J'onn had read the thoughts of hundreds of humans, and he knew endless battle between good and evil that the human race faced. He had met many other species that could do as much good as the human race, and even more species that could do as much evil. But never before had he encountered a race that had such large capabilities for both. Every fight they had could tip the balance. If they started to lose, evil could overrule goodness and the human race could be turned bad permanently. Or if they kept winning, if the world saw that good really could conquer evil, the human race could take a permanent turn for the better. Equus was symbolic of the human race's constant struggle. He felt that her essence was good, that she had a good heart and could tell right from wrong. He felt that she would rescue, create, save, nurture and heal. Yet he knew for a fact that she had killed, and not just humans that were bad. Innocent people, who could have had families waiting for them at home, like the guards; their lives had been ended by her rage. She had killed, destroyed, hurt, harmed; yet he considered her to be good. The same could be said for his race. They had done whatever was necessary to survive, and she had done the same thing. J'onn could forgive her for taking lives, but he could not forget. Superman was the opposite: he could never forgive her, but sometimes he could forget.

A murderer was not someone that the Justice League would willingly accept into their midst, but Superman had a feeling that the general consensus would be that they would rather invite her into the League. This way, they could keep an eye on her while she fought and make sure she did not take things too far. She was also a potentially valuable source of information that could help them find Luthor. Plus, taking her into the League might help to show her how much good she could do as well as show her the consequences of murder.

Superman caught J'onn's attention telepathically and asked him to ask the other members if they agreed. Superman was surprised at the quick responses from the rest of League members, not only had they felt that taking in Equus would benefit her, but it might also help to have another person to shoulder the extra burden that Shayera's absence had caused. Get the go-ahead from J'onn; Superman took a deep breath and look Equus square in the eyes.

"Equus, I would like to extend an invitation from all of us for you to join the Justice League. It would start out on a provisional basis headed by a testing phase, but once we feel assured you would not be a liability we would gladly have you as a regular member of the League."