An Unfound Family
Shayera worried for Diana when she noticed the Amazon Princess get dangerously distracted during missions. Today for example, Shayera had cried out to Diana to quickly block the cave entrance in order to stop the alien beast from escaping. The beast looked like a hybrid of a giant rat and a crocodile and it had been sent to Earth by one of Superman's many enemies from across the galaxy in order to terminate him. The sender had left a threatening message to Superman but the pod landed in the Gotham Swamps instead of Metropolis like the sender had wanted to. With Superman fighting against Parasite in Metropolis and Batman actually spending the day as Bruce Wayne in order to run his company, Shayera, Diana, and J'onn were the only ones capable at the time to take care of the problem. They arrived to the Gotham Swamps were they at first had trouble with locating it, but it made its appearance known when it attempted to bite J'onn's head off. J'onn was quick to phase through the ground and allow the beast to face plant itself. The beast attempted to attack Shayera but a quick swing of her charged mace made it retreat further into the swamp.
They managed to corner it into a cave, but they had to capture it in order to send it in an uninhibited planet J'onn had managed to find. Shayera and J'onn agreed to enter the cave in order to flush it out while Diana stood guard at the entrance. Using her mace for light, they had found the beast attempting to dig its way out and it turned once it had been spotted. The creature let loose a chilling screech before climbing up on the ceiling and going around Shayera and J'onn. It had begun to race outside when Shayera cried out to Diana to block the entrance.
Diana though was either too slow or distracted to react and had given the beast enough time to plow its way past her and into the woods. Thankfully, J'onn had been with them and had quickly trapped the beast in a makeshift pen made of trees, before the transportation pod landed in their location and they had quickly tranquilized the beast and placed it inside the pod and sent it off into space. Diana spent the rest of the morning apologizing to Shayera and J'onn, not accepting to forgive herself even when Shayera and J'onn had already forgiven her. It got to the point where Shayera needed to distract Diana from the almost failed mission and suggested to J'onn that she take over his Monitor Duties in order to help Diana work out whatever problems that seem to be bothering her.
Shayera stretched her arms above her head as she monitored the Earth below her. It was getting easier by the day calling Earth her home now. There were less nights spent dreaming of Thanagar and more nights dreaming of Midway, her friends, and Bruce. The dreams about Bruce would often cause her to wake up blushing in the morning, but she often didn't mind at all. With five years—soon to be six—passing by, Shayera was content enough to admit that she was happy to have been stranded on Earth.
The real issue at hand though was to find out what is causing Diana's distraction. Much of the world has already come to call her as Wonder Woman and Diana took the name in stride, acting very much like the diplomat that she was raised to be. Shayera looked over at Diana to see her looking at Earth in the same manner Shayera used to look at the stars. Homesickness was a recurring theme among the three members of the Justice League. Where Superman, Bruce, Lantern, and Flash have their own homes on Earth, J'onn and Shayera come from different worlds while Diana's home was a magical island to which she is terrified of returning to.
Shayera understood how Diana must be feeling. How many times has she gotten in trouble during her youth years that she would be terrified to return home? Way too many times, Shayera knows, but her mother and father have always been firm but never cruel in their punishments. Shayera was sure that Diana's mother is the same way; Diana just needed to confront her mother and admit her wrongs… even if those wrongs helped save the planet. Just when Shayera was going to turn and try to talk with Diana, a red alert flashed through the screens. Shayera quickly punched in the coordinates to see a surprise Hurricane warning in the city of Metropolis. Diana quickly called in Superman and said, "Superman! Is everything alright in Metropolis? Do you need help?"
"A helping hand would be nice," said Superman, "I'm keeping the reactor core in the Labs stable, but the rescue units might need an extra hand."
"I'll go." said Diana. She flew to the transportation pod and signaled to Shayera to send her to Metropolis. Shayera waited until she saw Diana in the newscast before calling in to Superman, "Superman?"
"Hawkgirl? What's the problem?" asked Superman.
"Superman, when you have the time could you please keep an eye on Diana? She seemed pretty distracted this morning and she wouldn't really open up to me or J'onn. If you have the time, please try to get her to open up." Said Shayera. Superman finished stabilizing the core and said, "Alright, Hawkgirl. I'll see what's going on."
Shayera monitored the news alert and didn't hear someone walk in. She jumped when a hand landed on her shoulder and flared her wings to push the intruder back. A familiar grunt made her turn around and she quickly helped Bruce up, setting him down on the chair next to her.
"I'm sorry," she apologized, "I was a little distracted."
"Seems like you're not the only one." said Bruce, pointing at the screen. Shayera turned to the newscast and watch Superman quickly push a distracted Diana out of harm's way.
"She's been like this since this morning." said Shayera, exasperated at Diana's obvious lack of focus.
"She needs a little push in the right direction." said Bruce, typing into the computer and downloading mission reports of the last month.
"I already asked Superman to speak with her."
"Maybe, but Superman still has his family that he can visit anytime he wants. J'onn had already tried to speak with her and has informed me that Diana isn't considering his words."
"You think she'll listen to me?"
"Of us all, you two are more alike than we can every try to have." said Bruce as he left the room. Shayera had to smirk at his brisk exit. Even when it is just the two of them, he's still dramatic with his exits. Shayera sighed and leaned back on her seat. She waited until Superman and Diana requested to be teleported back up that she finally knew how to approach Diana. As Superman left to fill in a mission report, Shayera waved at Diana and said, "Come on. Flash and Lantern are going to take over right now and I need a sparring partner."
Diana followed Shayera to the training room and Shayera removed her armor and placed her mace to the side. When all she had on was her tracksuit and mask she gestured to Diana to remove her arm braces and tiara. Once both women were unarmed, the timer started and Shayera immediately went on the offense. She had to hand it to Diana, whatever they taught her in Themysciria they taught her well. Shayera used her wings as natural cover and was able to at least absorb Diana's kicks. Shayera relied much on her light-weight to move around Diana quickly, often at times coming behind the Amazon and surprising her with brief hold. Of course, when up against an Amazon one has to consider the strength and Shayera often had to quickly somersault off Diana in order to avoid getting pinned. The match felt like forever in Shayera's mind, but when Diana finally had the winged woman pinned the timer read five minutes.
"One… of these days," gasped Shayera, regaining her breath, "I'll… last till ten minutes." Diana chuckled and helped Shayera sit up before responding, "Perhaps if you removed your mask, then your senses will be more attuned to your surroundings."
"My mask is an extension of myself, princess." explained Shayera, "Earth has so many different cultures that it is almost impossible for me to try and keep up with one, on Thanagar there is one rule when going outside and it is to always wear your mask until you are in the presence of family or close friends… it's a social rule."
"You are amongst friends though, are you not?" asked Diana. This gave Shayera pause. For the last months, she had gotten closer to the League than she had ever anticipated. She went to bars with Flash and Lantern, earning herself a reputation in Central City, Midway, and Detroit as a heavy drinker without the drunk. She often played chess with J'onn after he revealed that she gave him a better competition than the others because he cannot read her mind and they often spent long nights in Monitor duties eating Oreos after Shayera had introduced him to the cookies. With Superman she was able to at least let go of her fear behind the Kryptonian legends, finally seeing Superman more as an overpowered human than the dictators she has always heard the Kryptonians to be. With Bruce… Bruce was a very complicated matter altogether and she still needed to figure out how to approach it. At least with Diana, Shayera had the peace of mind to know that the older woman could be regarded as a sister.
"I'll… have to think on that. Speaking of being amongst friends, I know what's bugging you." said Shayera as she sat up. Diana looked at her in surprise and said, "I know. Superman has already talked to me about it."
"So then what are you going to do about it?" asked Shayera.
"I was thinking about visiting my mother and accept whatever punishment that will be handed to me." said Diana.
"Good," said Shayera, "It's not good to keep a barrier in a relationship nor to try and avoid the problem."
"You speak from experience then?" asked Diana.
"Don't you know it" laughed Shayera, "I was a bit of a trouble maker in my younger years and my mother has often told me that she hopes I will have a child that caused as much trouble as I did. Every time though, I was always terrified of the punishment that was going to be handed out to me. Every time, my parents were calm and forgiving. I was punished sure, but they always made sure that I still felt loved."
"I worry my mother might be too angry."
"I always worried about that, but my mother was never one to be angry and hold a grudge. Is yours the same way?"
"No."
"See? Now, get on a Javelin and go speak with you mother. The Seven Heavens already know that I would have taken that chance if it had been presented to me." said Shayera. Diana looked at Shayera and asked, "Do you no longer wish to return to your home planet?"
Shayera was quiet as she thought over her answer and said, "If you had asked me that last year, I would have said yes with no hesitation. Now? I feel that I have lived my entire life here on Earth. My family by now thinks I'm dead, lit my funeral pyre, and have moved on. I have done the same and while I miss home, Earth isn't such a bad place to live in. You humans are truly an extraordinary race."
Diana smiled and gently patted Shayera's shoulder and said, "You'll always have a home with us." Shayera smiled at her comment and said, "Hurry up and get out. It's better to pull the band aide out now than later."
When Diana left, Shayera tiredly put her armor back on and made her way back to the teleportation pad, where she asked Lantern to transport her back to Midway City. She was transported outside the museum and she made her way inside to see movers moving Greek artifacts inside the Museum. Shayera walked inside the museum and searched for Mavis and found her directing the movers as to where to put the artifacts.
"Mavis! New exhibit?" asked Shayera.
"Yes! Oh, I'm so excited! This will be the first time the Midway City Museum will have a Greek Exhibit. It's only temporary though, much of the artifacts are on loan from the Metropolis Museum and get this! Bruce Wayne has even decided to loan some of his own Greek Artifacts for the museum! Some of his artifacts date back to 375 BC! Do you have any idea how amazing it is to have artifacts survive that long to this day? It's amazing!" said Mavis excitedly. Shayera could have sworn that she did not take a single breath while she explained about the exhibit to Shayera.
"You got to love Bruce Wayne, you know? I would have thought he would loan these artifacts to the Gotham Natural History Museum, but here he is donating it like nothing to another city! I swear, first the donations for the Doom Patrol exhibit, then setting up a branch here in Midway, and now this? Do you think he's in love with someone here and trying to impress her?" asked Mavis. Shayera was absolutely happy that she had her mask on, otherwise the blush would have been extremely noticeable as she thought about it. She cursed her stupid heart for beating erratically at the thought. She chanted to herself that much of Bruce's actions were for an end to a means. Setting up a branch in Midway provided more business to his business empire, he wanted to honor the fallen heroes of the Doom Patrol for saving the Earth, and as for the Greek exhibit… well, maybe he wanted to do something nice outside of Gotham.
All of his actions had nothing to do with me, thought Shayera to herself, ignoring the little pang of hurt that echoed in her heart. After bidding Mavis a good-night, Shayera walked up to her attic and welcomed the serenity that came with it.
With her shift starting again in the early morning, Shayera wanted to squeeze in a few hours before she resumed her duties as a Detective. If she got up early enough, she might bid Mavis a good morning before going to work. Shayera laid down on her hammock and gently rocked herself, leaving the radio on in case of an emergency. She hoped that Diana could work out whatever problems she and her mother have and clear the air. She drifted off to sleep and welcomed the dreams.
Meanwhile in Themysciria
"Just to be sure that you won't rat me out to anyone else, princess," sneered the old man as he placed a medallion around the young woman's neck, "This medallion can only be removed by me. It will make sure that you will not communicate, verbally or otherwise, to anyone in order to help with your mission. I wish you luck princess, otherwise your mother and sisters will never see the light of day again."
Midway
It is three in the morning. Who would attempt a break in at the museum at three in the morning? thought Shayera as she quietly got out of bed and began to put her armor and mask on. The sound of a window smashing woke her up and she was frustrated at having her dream interrupted. Whoever the thieves were, there was going to be hell to pay. Shayera quietly walked down the stairs and surveyed the main lobby. She observed the broken glass and paid attention to the way the window was smashed open. Someone had to fly into the window in order for the break to happen that high.
A slight noise from the closed Greek Exhibit caught her attention and Shayera slowly made her way in. She crouched low and hid behind several draped statues, in order to see who the intruder was. To her shock, she watched as Diana lifted several crates up and shove them to the side. She looked as though she was on a mission and Shayera came out of hiding, wanting to know if she could offer any help.
"Diana?" called out Shayera, noticing the way she stiffened and turned to Shayera in shock.
"Shayera? What are you doing here?" asked Diana, dreading the upcoming trouble. Why of all people did it have to be Shayera? thought Diana.
"I live here," said Shayera, "What are you doing here?" Diana desperately wanted to tell Shayera but she felt the medallion's enchantment and her throat seized up. Any thoughts to try and mime or write to Shayera about her predicament caused a serious headache and her mouth snapped shut. Shayera noticed the unusual behavior and asked, "Are you alright?" Diana nodded and sat down, hoping that the headache will pass.
"Diana, tell me. What's going on?" asked Shayera, finally feeling worried. Diana could hear Felix Faust though in her head, talking to her through the medallion, If you don't stop with the chit chat, then maybe turning one of your stone sisters into dust will be more persuasive? Get the artifacts now.
Diana stood up and resumed her search, hoping to find the artifact and leave without having to harm Shayera. Shayera though did not take being ignored lightly and flew in front of Diana before she said, " HEY! You don't walk into my city and my home and think that you are entitled to do whatever the hell you want! What's wrong with you?"
GET RID OF HER! demanded Faust, and Diana closed her eyes and silently prayed to the Gods and Goddesses that Shayera would forgive her. Diana grabbed Shayera's arm and threw her against the wall before slamming her on the floor, hoping that she would be knocked out. No such luck, in fact, as Shayera recovered quickly and grabbed Diana by her shoulders. She tackled Diana outside the exhibit and rammed her on the Help Booth's desk, crumbling it to pieces. Diana held Shayera by her throat and gave her an uppercut, causing spots to cloud Shayera's vision. Shayera was thrown in the air and slammed against the wall. She stood still and waited for Diana to come into range before flying at her and attempting to grab hold of her and pinning her down. Diana though had a different idea and with her lasso, she managed to trap Shayera and begin flinging her around as though she were a yo-yo.
Shayera took it in stride however and with her talon hand, she managed to free herself from Wonder Woman's lasso. Shayera was about as mystified as Diana until she remembered that Nth metal made up her arm brace and talon hand, along with her mace. The lasso must hold magical properties for Shayera to free herself from its bindings and she decided to take advantage of it. Shayera charged her mace up and flew straight towards Diana, wanting to end this quickly. Diana had similar thoughts and flew towards Shayera, praying that she doesn't have to harm Shayera too bad. Shayera only had a brief second to spot the glowing medallion and powered down her mace, finally understanding why Diana couldn't speak to her. It proved to be disastrous though as Diana gave a swift punch across the face, causing Shayera to knock out upon impact and she fell to the floor.
Diana flew down beside her fallen sister and cried. She hated this Faust man with all her might to force her to fight against her friend. She looked back towards the Greek Exhibit and looked back at Shayera. This night was turning from a mess into a nightmare.
Diana carefully dragged Shayera to a bench and set her friend down on it, hoping it will provide some comfort. She went back into the exhibit to search for the artifact. It took about an hour of searching but she managed to find it inside small crate. It was a strange looking device but with it, Diana now only had two more to find. She walked back out of the exhibit to be greeted with the sight of the rest of the League.
"Care to explain yourself?" asked Superman. Diana, recalling the hold Faust had over her, went into battle position much to the shock of the others except for J'onn. He read through Diana's memories and heard the man's voice ordering Diana to fight or it will cost her the life of her sisters. J'onn phased through the floor when he was sure that Diana was not looking at him and phased behind her. With a swift swipe, he was able to grab the medallion and force it to phase with him into the floor. Diana was shocked at how easy it was for J'onn to remove the medallion but she thanked the Gods and Goddesses for his ability.
"What was that?" asked Flash as J'onn phased back in between them.
"I was hoping you might explain." said J'onn as he looked at Diana. After a long tale, it was agreed that the others would help Diana in her quest to save her mother and sisters while Lantern took Shayera to the Watchtower's Medical Bay. Diana didn't think she would ever feel this much relief as she did now, she could only hope that Shayera would forgive her after she explained herself.
Later Morning
Shayera woke up in a rage as she found herself in the Medical Bay of the Watchtower. It took every bit of willpower for the Lantern in order to hold Shayera down in a construct restraint. He had to hand it to her though, if he was beaten to a pulp in his own home he would be mad too.
"I'll kill her! She should tried to find another way to remove that stupid medallion instead of fighting me! I'll kill her! Amazonian strength be damned!" yelled Shayera. John chuckled at her statement and said, "She as in a panic. Don't tell me you wouldn't have reacted the same way?"
"I guess," confessed Shayera, "Still, the next time this happens I hope I don't have to play the defender."
The rest of the team arrived at the Watchtower where Diana immediately asked for forgiveness and Shayera had easily given it to her. She had to admit though, that if it were her family, then she wouldn't have reacted rationally either. The two sat together in the Monitor room when Diana quietly said, "I am exiled from my own home."
Shayera was surprised to hear it and asked, "Why? Surely it didn't have to do with Faust?"
"No, it had to do with bringing men on the island." said Diana.
"That's unfair, though. Without them they'd still be stone." said Shayera.
"I know," said Diana, "My mother knows too, but we have laws to follow and everybody is punished if the law is not upheld even if I am the Queen's daughter."
Shayera sat in shock at the revelation. There was no way that this had to be fair, laws or no laws. Shayera sighed and said, "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," said Diana, "I may have lost my home in Themysciria, but I have a new one with all of you. You are family to me."
Shayera quietly considered her words and removed her mask, much to the shock of Diana. Diana gave her a quizzical look and Shayera said, "What? We're family right?"
Batman had walked quietly into the Monitor Room and observed at the show of trust Shayera was exhibiting to Diana. He felt a sense of pride at Shayera's step to be more open to the others, only because God knows he never will. He walked back out quietly and thought about Shayera on his way to the Javelin Hanger. His thoughts of Shayera had been increasing lately and he was beginning to have dreams of just the two of them somewhere remote. A sense of longing filled in him but he quickly stamped it down. He needed to keep it professional, otherwise the easy-going relationship he has with Shayera will sour just like his relationship with Sellina, Talia, and many others. Still, one could only dream of the things that should never happen.
Hey readers, I had a source of inspiration while writing this and I needed it to be done. So Shayera is accepting the League as her family and will show the others her face as a show of trust in later chapters. I actually had fun writing about Shayera's thoughts on Bruce during her talk with Mavis because I now know where to take this relationship :3 So hopefully you liked the chapter and tell me what you thought of it :) Thank you 3