Chapter 32
The javelin was pulling into the Watchtower landing bay to dock when Shayera turned to Wonder Woman.
"Bats and I want to tell John privately that we're engaged," she said, looking more than a little guilty as she brought up a reminder of her and Bruce's previous spectacular failure at informing their exes that they had started dating.
"Would you not say anything about it to anyone until we've had a chance…?"
"Of course," Diana said promptly.
"Thanks," Shayera said gratefully and Batman grunted out his assent.
The trio disembarked from the shuttle and began heading to the medbay to check on the Green Lantern, who had still been unconscious when they had each departed for their respective homes the previous night.
"Oh, Batman. Shayera. Diana," J'onn said as they rounded a corner and came upon the Martian Manhunter in the hallway.
"John is in his quarters," J'onn said. "He came to in the middle of the night."
Diana's posture became more relaxed as she smiled to hear the news.
"Oh, good," Shayera breathed out with relief at the same time, squeezing the Bat's hand in hers.
"Did he give you any information as to what happened?" the detective asked J'onn.
J'onn stroked his chin and gave Batman an assessing look.
"Perhaps we should talk privately," he said. "No offense intended towards you, Diana," J'onn said regretfully, "but… I believe it would be best to keep certain details from you so that your integrity is not called into question."
"I understand," Diana said immediately. "I'll go on ahead to visit John."
"Thank you," J'onn said, giving her a warm smile. "Whatever information Vixen is already privy to is fine for you to know as well," he added and Diana nodded her understanding.
"You coming?" she asked Shayera, but the Thanagarian hesitated, looking at Batman.
"I'm not going to keep anything from Shy," Batman said point blank to J'onn. "So she might as well stay."
"Very well," J'onn said, raising an eyebrow slightly in surprise.
He would have liked to catch Diana's eye in amusement, because when had Batman ever trusted anyone? But the Martian knew that Diana, unfortunately, would most likely not find the Bat's newfound closeness with Shayera humorous, but painful.
"We'll join you shortly," Batman said to Diana, who nodded and continued down the hallway alone.
"Let's step inside a conference room," J'onn said, leading the way.
"What has you so disturbed?" Shayera asked him with concern once they were safe from listening ears and unwanted interruptions, because J'onn's face was looking exceptionally grave.
"John had no recollection of the events leading to the state that Wally found him in last night," J'onn said, remaining standing as Shayera fluttered up to sit on edge of the sleek white table, while Batman allowed himself to lean back against it next to her.
Which enabled Shayera to drape an arm around his shoulders, J'onn noted with a smile. It was good to see Bruce loosening up a little bit, he thought. And opening up. Clark had often bemoaned his best friend's stubborn insistence on solitude and a general mistrust of the world.
To see Batman leaning against something? Instead of standing ramrod straight and imposing? And to see him so comfortable with being touched? It reminded J'onn of how a certain stiff and formal Martian had once, long ago, let love transform him into something less repressed. Less aloof.
Less alone.
Not that J'onn had the time or even the desire to be remembering such things. Especially not when there was a mystery afoot.
"When I entered John's mind," J'onn continued, disciplining his thoughts back to the puzzle of the Green Lantern's battle with Sinestro, "I was able to slip into the repressed memory of the events leading to his unconsciousness."
"It appeared that Sinestro downed a tree in front of the Green Lantern," J'onn said slowly, "causing him to recoil into Sinestro's energy bonds, at which point Sinestro administered a dose of sodium pentothal into John's neck, presumably aiming for the artery to strike a lethal blow."
Batman tilted his head to the side in surprise as Shayera gasped quietly in horror.
"That's not Sinestro's M.O.," the Bat frowned.
"Indeed," J'onn said significantly. "There is something else…" he said. "For a brief moment when I was inside John's mind I felt… something."
"What?" Shayera asked him, feeling a knot form in her stomach at the implications of that statement.
J'onn shook his head.
"I am not certain," he said. "A whisper. Or an echo, perhaps."
"Of another presence?" Batman said, frowning hard.
"Perhaps," J'onn said cautiously. "But there was no evidence of the mental trauma that a forced invasion of the mind normally produces. However…"
The Martian paused.
"The speed at which the oddity retreated as soon as I noticed it was what drew my attention in the first place."
"Like a roach scrabbling for the shadows as soon as the light comes on," Batman murmured.
"What's a roach?" Shayera asked him.
The corner of Bruce's mouth quirked up.
"An insect that would never dare show its antennae in Alfred's home; day or night," he chuckled, making Shayera and J'onn smile, too.
"But more to the point," Batman said, "an intelligent being with enough sense to run when it's been discovered."
"Precisely my concern," J'onn intoned with worry. "I have not alerted anyone else to my observations or suspicions," he said. "Not even John. He was aware of his memory of the battle with Sinestro, once I was able to access it, but that was all."
"Could the memory have been faked?" Shayera wondered, furrowing her brows in thought.
"Possibly," J'onn said. "By a powerful enough telepath, it would be conceivable. However," he said, "no telepaths belong to the Legion of Doom."
Batman let out a dry chuckle.
"Leave it to Lex to keep himself free from mind control," he smirked.
"He told us he originally wanted Grodd to join him, though," Shayera pointed out. "But he wouldn't."
"That is true," J'onn said, "although I suspect we can attribute that to the Earth phrase, 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer,'" he smiled.
"However, Grodd is in prison at the moment," J'onn said. "Dr. Psycho is at large, but we swept the perimeter thoroughly before commencing our assault and found no one."
"Besides, that doesn't add up," Batman said thoughtfully. "Say Psycho had been there, skulking around undetected on the outskirts of the swamp. Sinestro breaking free and making it outside of the headquarters was random luck. He couldn't have known that he'd have a chance to lure John away from the main battle."
"And Sinestro is more than strong enough to handle John on his own," Shayera added, frowning. "Not to mention arrogant as fuck," she quipped. "He wouldn't welcome Psycho or anyone else's interference during a fight, and especially not when he was going up against a member of the Lantern Corps."
"Not to mention that John's internal mental defenses were quite strong when I entered his mind," J'onn said. "A side effect of his years of military service, I have no doubt. Had a telepath forced their way in against his will, there would have been obvious scars. And there were not."
"So, what's the plan?" Shayera said, looking to Batman, who thought for a minute.
"Let's go back to the swamp this afternoon with the Flash," he said. "Have him show us the place where he found GL. Look for clues."
"Such as a downed tree?" Shayera said, a slow smile spreading across her face as Bruce nodded.
"It would be helpful if I shared John's memory of the events with one of you telepathically so you can compare the evidence," J'onn said, hesitating as he looked between the two Founders.
Because while Batman would undoubtedly prefer to see the memory for himself, J'onn knew very well that the Bat was not about to let anyone into his mind. Indeed, Shayera was already speaking.
"You can share it with me," she said. "And maybe share it with Wally as well," she added.
"No," J'onn countered. "I do not wish to contaminate his own memory of finding the Green Lantern. But you will be sufficient," he smiled at Shayera.
"Of course she will," Batman growled.
And even to J'onn's ears, the Bat sounded almost affectionate.
"Diana, thank you for coming," Vixen said warmly when the door to John's quarters opened on the Amazon.
She stood up to give Wonder Woman a hug as Diana smiled at her and then looked to John in questioning concern.
"No need to worry about me, Princess," John said with a lazy smile from where he was still reclining in bed. "I'm just fine."
"What happened?" Diana said, moving to sit down in the room's empty chair as Vixen reseated herself cross-legged next to John in bed.
"Eh, Sinestro tried a new trick," John said, rubbing a hand over his bald head. "Shot me with an injection of pentothal. Bad aim, though," he grinned. "Missed my artery so all it did was knock me out for awhile."
"Hera!" Diana said, her eyes widening. "That could have killed you, John!" she exclaimed as Mari shuddered again at the thought.
"Pretty sure that was the plan," John said with a twinkle in his glowing green eyes, "but it'll take more than Sinestro to take the Green Lantern out."
"Well, I'm glad you're all right," Diana said with feeling.
"That makes two of us," Vixen agreed fervently.
"Three of us," John laughed. "How's Lex?" he asked Diana. "He got through the battle ok?"
Diana's eyes almost overflowed as much as her heart was in that moment, because for John to be asking after Lex despite how he felt about him, and how he felt about Diana's relationship with him, meant the world to Diana.
It gave her hope for the recovery of their friendship.
"He's fine," Diana smiled. "He actually saved Superman's life," she said.
"No," John said in wonder, staring at her.
"Yes," Diana beamed happily.
Vixen and John looked at each other.
"Well, I'm glad to hear it," John said, even though his words sounded a little forced.
"I'm sure that took courage," Mari offered as graciously as she could, even though her face was a mask of some indeterminate emotion.
"Lois doesn't know what to do with the moral dilemma that's been thrust upon her," Diana offered with a giggle, hoping to add some levity to the mood while empathizing with her friends' conflicting feelings.
"I can imagine," John said, coughing on some deeply understood amusement.
Which maybe shaded slightly towards sardonic humor, but who was counting? At least she and John were making conversation and able to smile at each other again.
By the time that J'onn, Batman, Shayera, and the Flash showed up at John's bedroom door, the trio inside was chatting amiably, Vixen regaling them with stories over a photo shoot gone wrong that had John chuckling and Diana shaking her head over the ways of the fashion world, which she would never understand.
Not that she was going to mind having a beautiful wedding gown to wear, though.
"John!" Shayera said warmly as soon as she entered the room. "How are you?" she asked, not able to keep all of the worry from her voice.
"Ok," John said honestly, giving her a small smile. "Just tired."
"Good," Batman said, scanning him with sharp eyes as Shayera nodded her agreement, letting out the breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
Batman's hand snuck up behind her to rub her back above her wings and Shayera glanced at him in appreciation, leaning into the steady pressure of his hand a little bit and relishing the comfort that it brought her.
"No more scaring us like that, buddy," Wally said, plopping down to sit on the foot of John's bed without asking permission.
"I'll do my best," John laughed.
"Princess," Wally said, regarding the Amazon next with animated interest. "Have you ever seen The Sound of Music?" he asked her. "It's a movie," he added, in case she didn't know.
"Here we go," Vixen murmured, pinching her eyebrows together with her thumb and fingers and starting to laugh under her breath.
"No, I haven't seen it," Diana said with a slightly confused smile. "Why?"
"We were talking about it last night," Wally said cheerfully. "And J'onn has never seen it either. I thought maybe we could watch it together with you and Lex at your penthouse," he said, shamelessly inviting himself over.
"Since Lex can't come up here," Wally added with a huge grin to GL, who groaned and rolled his eyes. "And since my apartment is really tiny," the Flash added. "It's not fit to host a Princess and a billionaire," he said with over-exaggerated self-pity.
"It's more than fit enough for Lex," Bruce argued with a playful smirk. "It's better than a cell in Blackgate, isn't it?"
"All right, all right," Diana sighed, giving him an exasperated half-smile. "We know what you think of Lex, Bruce," she said dryly.
"But it's so much fun to hear him say it out loud," John teased, smiling good-naturedly this time at Diana, who didn't take offense to the heroes' light-hearted jesting, which was, after all, a stark contrast to their initial rudeness and downright antagonism towards her relationship.
"Children, please," J'onn said with dramatic despair. "Your other father is recuperating on Earth. I am a single parent today. Do not try my patience," he said, making Vixen snort with laughter.
"There, there, Papa," Wally said, jumping off of the bed to give the Martian a tender hug. "Your favorite son is here for you," he said, nuzzling his head against J'onn's shoulder.
"Shame on the rest of you for making Papa cry!" he scolded the team, turning around to glare at them ferociously, making Diana shake her head with laughter.
"We'd be happy to have you and J'onn over to watch the movie," Diana said to the Flash, trying to steer the conversation back on track. "Tomorrow might work," she said. "I'll have to check with Lex."
"Hooray!" Wally yelled, spinning around before flopping back down onto the bed. "Can Lex order us takeout, too?" he asked her.
"Wally," J'onn chided his son with a tiny chuckle.
"What?" Wally said, grinning. "He's rich!"
"Yes, we can get dinner too," Diana smiled, her eyes laughing along with her ridiculous, good-natured friend.
"But speaking of Lex, and invitations, I wanted to ask you all something," the princess said, suddenly feeling a little nervous.
"What is it, Diana?" J'onn said kindly, sensing her unease even without his telepathic powers.
"Well… Lex and I decided to move the wedding up now that the Legion of Doom operation is over. So, we're going to get married on Friday," Diana said, curling her toes inside her boots to keep her feet steady on the floor as Vixen's eyes popped out of her head and John's eyebrow rose to where his hairline would have been, had he not been keeping his head shaved of late.
"We'd like you all to come," Diana finished bravely. "It will be in the evening at the Feather and Quill Club in Gotham. We're going to keep it small, but I'm going to invite Dinah and Ollie and Kara, too."
There was a moment of silence in the room before Wally literally squealed with excitement.
"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" he said, bouncing off the bed in a blur to hug Diana tight. "How are you going to get the wedding planned that fast? What are we going to eat? Who's making the cake? What are you going to wear? Can I be the DJ?"
"No," Bruce growled in answer to the last question. "I've heard your music blasting out of your quarters," he glared when Wally gave him a shocked "O" face.
"Lex's secretary Tess is helping us get all the details worked out," Diana said, gently peeling Wally off of her. "But we still have a lot of decisions to make."
"Can I help?" Wally begged her. "CanIcanIcanI? Please? Pretty please? Pretty please with a cherry on top?"
"Of course," Diana said, surprised. "That would be very sweet of you, Wally. Thank you," she said, feeling pleased and touched.
"Me and Lois are throwing the bachelorette rampage," Shayera announced with a grin.
"Rampage?" John asked, his eyebrow going right back up. "Do I want to know?" he said, looking at Batman.
"No," Bruce said with an actual grin.
Wally gasped.
"Can I come to the bachelorette party too?" he asked Shayera.
"You're not a girl," Shayera pointed out.
"So what?" Wally said. "Gender equality, baby!" he boasted before promptly choking as Shayera's hand shot out and grabbed his throat.
"Do not. call. me. baby," she growled at him.
Wally held his hands up in surrender and Shayera let him go with a fierce look.
"Sheesh, Bats," he rasped out. "Your girl sure is touchy. Eek!" he screamed, dashing out of the room as Shayera lunged for him again.
"I'll go too, and let you get some more rest, John," Diana said, laughing a little bit as she stood to follow Wally at a much more leisurely pace.
She hesitated and looked between the Green Lantern and Vixen before walking out of the room.
"You'll come on Friday…?" she asked them, and Batman hated the way that his heart lurched at the slight vulnerability in Diana's voice.
"We'll come," John said, though.
"J'onn?" Diana asked her best friend, already sure of his answer.
"I would not miss it," J'onn smiled at her. "Let us go catch up to the Flash to discuss this movie of his," he suggested, offering Diana his arm. "I believe it involves singing deities," he said.
"Oh!" Diana said with interest as they walked out the door.
"Nuns!" Vixen called after them.
"I wonder if they lure people to their death like the Sirens," Diana could be heard musing to J'onn as the two friends departed the Green Lantern's quarters.
Vixen gave Bruce and Shayera a questioning look when they didn't immediately follow the rest of the Founders out of the room.
"We have some news," Shayera said, reaching out to grip Bruce's hand tightly in hers for courage.
Mari internally tensed. This could not be good. John appeared to have the same thought, as he seemed to be gritting his teeth next to her in dread.
"We're getting married, too," Shayera said, wanting to keep eye contact with John as she said it but not able to help glancing up at her Bat's eyes as she announced their engagement, or the way that her eyes lit up and the little smile that appeared on her face as Bruce's mouth softened in fondness for her.
Mari heard John's quick intake of breath but pretended that she hadn't.
"On Friday?" John asked after a beat. "That's a mite competitive, don'tcha think?" he said, trying really damn hard to be cool and funny and not bothered.
"Not Friday," Batman said, his mouth twitching. "We haven't decided when yet. It'll be up here whenever it is, though," he said, "since Bruce Wayne and Shayera Hol can't be associated together on Earth."
"Ok," John said in a deceptively easy voice. "Well, let us know when it is and we'll come."
"Thank you," Shayera said softly, finally holding his gaze as they exchanged a silent look of mutual regret and sadness.
"Congratulations," said Vixen with a quiet smile, not wanting to be overly enthusiastic for John's sake, but she meant it.
She hopped off of the bed and came over to warmly hug Batman first, surprising him, although he tolerated it remarkably well, before she gave Shayera a sweet hug, too.
"I hope you'll be very happy," she whispered in Shayera's ear, rubbing her back.
"Thank you," Shy said in a low voice.
Mari smiled at her, her smile getting a smidgen wider when she looked at the Bat, but she didn't say anything else. John was there, after all, and the last thing that Mari wanted to do was cause him more pain.
"We'll get out of your hair now," Batman said, taking Shayera's hand as he turned to leave.
"Feel better, John," Shayera added and he gave her a little nod.
Mari's eyes were full of sympathy when she turned to John as soon as the door slid shut behind the newly engaged couple.
"It's ok," John said, looking at her. "I'm fine," he said. "Really," he insisted.
"Uh huh," Mari said, stretching her legs out and rolling sideways to wrap an arm around his chest.
"And I was born yesterday," she said.
John sighed, tightening the arm that was draped over her shoulders.
"It was my decision to end things with her," he said. "And to stay with you," he added, looking down at his girlfriend.
"You're allowed to be sad," Mari said to him. "You're human."
"So are you," John pointed out. "And it can't be easy to have your boyfriend tied up in knots over his ex getting married."
"Getting married to his best friend," Vixen pointed out. "And I'm a big girl, John," she said. "I keep telling you, I started dating you knowing all about your situation with Shayera. I don't expect you to not have feelings over it."
"I don't think I deserve you," John said, reaching his other hand up to stroke her cheek.
"Beg to differ," Mari said with a twinkle in her eye.