He was groggy as all hell. He was half-convinced that he was swimming through a pool of molasses. His arms felt heavy and weak, and it was a chore to as much as wiggle his toes. He tried to open his eyes, but it was as though they were being held down with lead weights. He fell still for a few moments, and chose instead to listen and try and gauge his surroundings that way. He could smell the distinct odor of antiseptics and disinfectant.

A hospital then.

But that wasn't right, was it? There was a strange constricting sensation around his neck and the feel of cool metal around his wrists.

Was he restrained?

He supposed it was possible, though definitely strange. He had most certainly shot and killed the Joker, he remembered that much, but it seemed a stretch to find him to his hospital bed like that.

Feeling was slowly returning to him, and he could feel the weight around his eyes leaving him. Once more, he tried to open his eyes, this time to success. Although he was nearly forced to shut them again as he was nearly blinded by the white-hot light above him. As his eyes adjusted, he noticed that he wasn't in a traditional hospital first and foremost. The steel-gray walls lined with strange machinery told him as much. Maybe he was in a prison? But that didn't make sense. He tried to raise his arms and found that he couldn't. Sure enough, as he looked down, he noted that both of his arms were restrained with strange-looking handcuffs.

Growing more confused and equally anxious, he reached out with his senses and tried to sense where he might have been but he couldn't feel anything.

In fact, he couldn't feel his powers at all. Frowning anxiously, he tried to pull at the restraints, but nothing happened. That wasn't right, he should have been more than strong enough to free himself from a pair of simple shackles.

"We've dampened your powers," a familiar voice said from his right. Turning, he swore in annoyance as he saw an amused looking Canary, mask sitting cheekily on her face, looking down at him.

"Not the first thing a girl wants to hear when a man wakes up, but I suppose I'd be expecting too much from you."

"Fuck off!" Spat Percy bitterly, "What the fuck is going on?"

"You were shot," said Canary simply, "So Batman brought you here for recovery."

"Then why am I 'cuffed and how the fuck did you even suppress my powers,"

"Power dampening collar," said Dinah, pointing to his neck. Looking down, Percy saw that he did, in fact, have a strange-looking collar wrapped around his neck. That explained his difficulty breathing he supposed.

"Oh don't pout," chided Canary, "You could have destabilized the entire facility if you woke up swinging, and trust me that wouldn't have gone well for anyone involved."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Said Percy in agitation,

"You'll see," said Canary ominously, a cheeky smile on her face. Grunting in further agitation, Percy collapsed against the stiff pillows of the bed. Under normal circumstances, he would have fought with her more, but he was exhausted. His sustained use of powers took it's toll after a while, and the damage to his body had been severe. He would just have to bide his time he supposed. That was, unless there was something more going on here.

"So," he said, "You guys bring me here to kill me or something?" He was only half-joking, a reality that was evident given the tone of his voice.

"Please don't say things like that," said Canary, anger creeping into her voice, "We're not going to kill you,"

"You kidnapped me, trapped in the middle of gods only know where, handcuffed me to a bed, and took my powers away. What the hell did you think I was going to think?" Said Percy incredulously.

Canary didn't seem to know how to respond to that, and they fell into an uncomfortable silence. Percy slumped back into his sheets and thought more over his situation. Things weren't looking terrific at the moment. Wherever the hell he was, he would be willing to bet anything that his chances at escape were slim to none. The damn Justice League…almost nothing was known about them beyond what the public was allowed to know. The chances of Percy being able to not only get his collar off, but find a way to get away from some of the most powerful humans to ever exist…

He would just need to bide his time and see if an opportunity presented itself he supposed.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Percy was startled by the sudden question, and jolted out of his thoughts to look over at Canary, looking uncharacteristically uncomfortable.

"You can ask," shrugged Percy, "But I won't promise to answer,"

"Why didn't you just leave the island?" Asked Canary,

"Because someone wanted me dead," said Percy simply, "People were clearly trying to kill me, and so I took that personally and wanted to get to the bottom of it."

"By staying in an active war-zone," said Canary incredulously, "That doesn't make sense to me,"

"You say a war-zone I say tomahto,"

"That doesn't make any sense,"

"You don't make any sense,"

"Could you stop acting like a petulant child for one second answer my question seriously?"

"I did answer it seriously," Percy shot back, "People wanted me dead, and I was just supposed to take that lying down? And why do you even care? Aren't I just an 'assignment?' You don't actually care so can you please stop acting like you do."

Canary was silent, and her head drooped down to her chest, her hands fidgeting uncomfortably in her lap.

"You're not just an assignment," she said softly,

"I'm sorry?" Said Percy, uncertain he had heard correctly,

"I said you aren't just another assignment, alright?" Said Canary hotly, before growing a little subdued, "Please don't say that."

Confused by the strange sentimentality, Percy dropped the subject.

"Do you regret it?" Canary asked after a moment, "Killing the Joker?"

"I only regret that somebody didn't do it sooner," said Percy callously, "Man was a monster. God knows how many cemeteries could be filled because of him. He doesn't deserve sympathy, he deserves to rot in the pits of Tartarus."

He shrugged, "Besides, you know what my life was like. I've been a soldier since I was five. I don't feel sympathy for killing twisted, degenerate filth. You want someone to cry over him? You can go to the Bat, but if you expect me to regret dropping that son of a bitch like a bad habit then you've come to the wrong person."

He fell silent after his little tirade, panting heavily. He wasn't about to be made to feel guilty about killing someone like the Joker. He was all for the League's personal code against killing, but when it came to him using deadly force within the scope of his job, he wasn't about to get dragged for an objectively correct choice made in the heat of combat.

"I wasn't accusing you of anything," said Canary softly, "I was just asking. Given your upbringing, it's not beyond the realm of impossibility that you could easily lose sight of your humanity."

"For the love of-" groaned Percy, "Not you too. I already have one woman in my life acting like my shrink, I don't need two."

Sighing and closing his eyes, he missed the way that Canary flinched painfully at the remark.

A thought occurred to him,

"So what about my job?" He asked, "If I'm here, I'm assuming that means that the GCPD doesn't know that I'm alive?"

Canary perked up at the change of topic, and shook her head,

"Actually no. We contacted Commissioner Gordon shortly after your arrival. Your superiors were told that due to the injuries you sustained when the boiler room exploded, you were recovering here with us."

"And they fucking bought that?" Percy said incredulously, "How often does the Justice League take nondescript detectives, regardless of their injury status,"

"We have more leeway than most," shrugged Canary, and Canary rolled his eyes in response,

"Which brings up back to the important question of the day," said Percy, "Why the fuck am I here,"

"The League has questions for you," said Canary,

"Of course they do," sighed Percy, "Then can we get this over with already? I want to go home."

"In due time," said Canary, "We've been trying to settle things for the last couple of hours. After Batman told us that Joker was dead, we scrambled the rest of the League to scour Gotham to track down the bombs Joker supposedly scattered around the city…though most of them were full of cats and marzipan."

"Of course they were," said Percy, and then paused as Canary raised a hand to ear,

"Got it," she said into the device, "We're on our way,"

"That works out I suppose," Percy muttered as Canary pressed a button on the side of the restraints, which fell free from the bed.

"Can I trust you to behave yourself?" Asked Canary,

"Only if they do," grunted Percy as he rubbed at his wrists and followed Canary out of the room.

"So I don't suppose that you're going to tell me where we-" Percy stopped abruptly, they had walked into a large and spacious hallway, and the bulk of his attention was the enormous window spanning the length of the hallway. Slowly, Percy walked over to the window and gazed down at the earth below.

"Holy shit," he muttered, "We're in space,"

"Understand why we didn't want you waking up guns blazing?" Canary asked, as she pressed something on the side of his collar, which fell to the floor in a clatter.

"Y'all don't do things by half, do you?" He asked, not expecting an answer,

"Come on," said Canary, walking back down the hall, "Best not to keep the others waiting."

Numbly, Percy stepped away from the window and slowly followed after his handler. Still reeling over the revelation that apparently the Justice League's secret headquarters was actually in space of all places, he barely even registered that he'd walked into a large conference room until the door closed behind him. He became painfully aware that he was suddenly in the midst of the most powerful beings on the planet, bar perhaps the gods themselves.

Some of them he recognized rather well, while others he had to dig through his memory banks to remember their names. Funny, he didn't remember Earth having two Green Lanterns, and he idly wondered when that had happened.

"Percy," said a blessedly familiar voice, and Percy turned and smiled as Zatara walked up and embraced his arm tightly in a friendly grip,

"So good to be seeing you again, my friend," said Zatara meaningfully, until his expression dropped, "You owe Zatanna an apology, I don't think I've seen her that worried in years,"

Percy nodded, and broke off the handshake, "I'll swing by when I have a free minute, been meaning to see here anyways. I'm guessing this whole ordeal hasn't been easy for her,"

"Nor you, dare I say," said Zatara, scrutinizing him closely, "You were not in the best shape when Batman brought you in."

"Having a building dropped on you will do that to a guy,"

"I seem to remember a rather similar scenario in Bangladesh that you handled far better," chuckled Zatara, much to Percy's concternation,

"You and John are never going to let me live that down, are you," he said bitterly,

"Not on your life," chuckled Zatara, and then flushed slightly when someone cleared their throat behind them,

"If you two are done catching up," said Superman, looking more than a little agitated,

"You've been watching me for months, invading my privacy, assigned me a personal babysitter, and kidnapped me against my will," said Percy over Zatara's shoulder, "So you can sit there and wait until I'm good and ready to talk to you Clark,"

The air in the room dipped, as Superman stiffened, and Zatara sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Tactful as ever, Percy," he sighed,

"I don't-" Superman started to say but Percy cut him off with a scoff,

"Whatever you wanna say to help you sleep at night Kent," he maneuvered around Zatara who whispered as he passed,

"Please, just hear them out, for my benefit,"

Not acknowledging his friend, Percy walked over to an empty chair at the end of the large conference table, beside an open chair and Martian Manhunter.

"Bit of advice for you though," said Percy, idly picking at some dirt under his fingernail, "Make sure you button up your suit all the way next time you fly off. You've got a bad habit of forgetting a couple buttons."

"All right," said Diana passively, though it appeared to Percy as though she were barely refraining from smiling, "We need not waste any more of your time, cousin."

Percy grunted, and leaned back in his chair as Zatara took the seat immediately to Percy's right and Canary sat down across the room. Scanning the occupants of the room quickly, Percy realized that Batman was nowhere to be seen.

"No Bat?" He asked,

"His injuries were not so easily healed as yours," said Diana breezily, "Now, we had some questions we were hoping you would be able to answer,"

"Assuming a lot about my willingness to cooperate," said Percy,

"I think you'll be convinced soon enough," said Diana dismissively, "What can you tell us about Klarion,"

It was certainly not the question that Percy had been anticipating. He had expected that, if anything, the League would have wanted to hear as much about what happened on the island as possible. His curiosity piqued, he shrugged,

"Nothing Zatara probably hasn't already told you," said Percy, shooting a look at the man out of the corner his eye and taking a savage pleasure in watching the way he twitched.

"Be that as it may," said Diana patiently, "But we would like to hear the words from the horses mouth so to speak. Did you have many encounters with the Witch-Boy?"

"Only two," said Percy slowly, "First time was a couple years ago. He was terrorizing a small town in Massachusetts, Klarion wasn't a creature of logic but pure chaos. He liked to play games with his food so to speak. Zatara, Constantine, Blood, Kent, and myself went out to try and take him off the board. Had the opportunity to banish the bastard but Kent talked me out of it…" He trailed off, as a thought occurred to him and his conversation with Nabu came back to him. Had the helm told Kent that Klarion needed to live?

"And you never had any contact with him again until the incident in October?" Asked Diana, snapping Percy put of his thoughts,

"That's right," he nodded, "Look, what the fuck does it even matter? Klarion was a prick, but he's trapped in the cage right now. What's really going on?"

"The gem he was using," said Diana, ignoring his question, "Do you know how he came into contact with it? Why he would enlist the help of other sorcerers to make use of its power,"

"The fuck makes you think I know?" Snapped Percy, feeling very over the entire conversation. He'd made a token effort for Zatara's benefit, but he was sick of being a plaything for the League. Standing up, he made to leave the room and try and find some way off the space station when Superman called out to him,

"Klarion was working with partners."

Percy stopped, "I assume you mean beyond those schmucks he brought with him a few months ago?"

"Bigger," said Diana, "Much bigger. As in he's working with equal partners, a group comparable to the Justice League in terms of power and influence."

"I thought they got dealt with during that whole plant-attack bullshit," said Percy,

"So did we," said Canary, drawing Percy's attention her way, "But I discovered some…distressing information during the Joker's attack."

"There's compelling evidence to suggest that the villain's plant-attack was little more than a deception." said Diana, "To distract us from the real threat."

"And that would be?" Said Percy,

"We don't know for certain," said Superman, "And we don't know anything for certain, but as I said, there is evidence to suggest that Klarion was working with the likes of the League of Shadows and potentially others."

"There has been an uptick in highly organized villain attacks over the last year. More calculated, more tactical. Far beyond than anything we've ever seen before." Added Diana,

"Good for you guys," said Percy in agitation, "But I missed the part of this discussion where any of this concerns me."

"It concerns you," sighed Superman rubbing at his temple in mounting agitation, "Because you sit at the center of this. You killed Klarion and all of a sudden the League of Shadows wants you dead, you don't see the connection?"

"I do, but I'm failing to see why I should give a single damn about your little shadow war." said Percy,

"You're being pretty snarky for someone wanted dead by one of the most influential organizations on the planet," said one of the Green Lanterns, brow arched over his face-mask.

"I've been fighting literal monsters, gods, and titans since I was a literal child," said Percy dryly, "Forgive me if I'm not feeling overly threatened by a couple of mortals with steel."

"Awful arrogant of you," observed Hawkwoman,

"Maybe," said Percy, " But I don't really care. They want me dead? They can try and kill me themselves. They can see for themselves how well that will go for them."

"Cousin," said Diana carefully, taking a hesitant step in his direction, "Please do not underestimate the threat the League of Shadows pose. They might not be the kinds of monsters that you fought as a youth, but they are no less dangerous."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take," said Percy stubbornly, "Now if we're done here-"

"We're not," said Diana crossly. Percy sighed, and sat back down in the chair, it wasn't worth the fight, not when he was quite literally stranded in low orbit. He gestured for her to continue,

"Given the connection between yourself, Klarion, and the League of Shadows," continued Diana "We've begun a cross-reference of any and all other interactions you've had with other super-villains,"

Percy felt a pit form in his stomach. He didn't like the direction this was heading.

"Five years ago you had a run-in with the super-villain by the alias of Queen Bee."

A picture appeared behind Diana, and it took every ounce of self-controlled maintain his composure at the sight of the woman.

"We would like to know what happened," said Diana,

"That's classified," said Percy evenly,

"Perseus-" sighed Diana,

"That information is classified intelligence regarding ongoing military operations in the Middle East," repeated Percy, "If you wish to know more, please file a memorandum with the United States, States Department under the Freedom of Information Act,"

"This is a joke right," said the Flash skeptically,

"We've been through the files of the encounter already," said Superman, "At least what wasn't covered in black ink, which wasn't much mind you. We just wanted you to fill in the details,"

"That information is classified," said Percy again, almost robotically. Superman looked like he was going to press the issue further, but was stopped when both of the Green Lanterns stood up together,

"That's enough, Superman," said the maskless Lantern, "Man legally can't tell us anything about what happened."

"John-" Superman started to say, when the other Lantern cut him off,

"Drop it, Clark," said the other Lantern, "Trust me, he's not going to talk. Besides, I don't think there's anything he can really tell us that we don't already know. We know he ran into another super-villain, that's enough for me. John?"

"Enough for me Hal," said John,

Confused and curious, Percy spared a glance at the two. The maskless Lantern, John, noticed and nodded at him. Percy didn't quite understand the gesture, but he wasn't about to look a gift-horse in the mouth.

Sighing, Diana nodded, then looked over at Canary. Understanding the unspoken message, Canary stood up and walked over to Percy. With a passing nod at the pair of Lanterns, Percy followed Canary out of the small room.

The trip out into the bowels of the space station, or whatever the hell this place was, ended up a silent one. He didn't mind. He didn't have much he wanted to say. He just wanted to get back to his apartment and get to bed. He stopped briefly, however, as they walked back into another long corridor with a window peering over the Earth below. He took a moment to bask in the beauty of the world.

It was strange, from all the way up there, the planet looked so small. So peaceful. It was almost impossible to imagine the unspeakable horrors that lived down on the surface. That poverty, discrimination, violence, and all the evils of mankind were staining the picturesque vision before him.

It put things in perspective for him. Reminded him of just how small his life and his problems were, in the grand scheme of everything that went on. He wanted to appreciate this moment. To lock this realization in the back of his mind for forever. He needed the memory, for whenever things seemed hopeless. Wanted to be able to look back at this moment and remember that when things got terrible, his problems were minuscule in the grand scheme of things.

"Puts things in perspective, doesn't it," said Canary softly, as she walked up and rested against the window beside him, gazing out over the world.

"Hell of a view you guys got," said Percy,

"Percy…" said Canary, the odd softness of her voice undercut by the pitch modulator on her throat, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" He asked, and Canary shifted uncomfortably,

"For everything." Canary said lamely, "For dragging you into this, for invading your privacy, for…for everything I guess."

Percy didn't say anything, but a flare of annoyance did disturb his otherwise inner peace,

"Don't do that," he said bitterly,

"What?"

"That half-baked apology crap," said Percy, doing his best not to look at her, "Look, I get why the Bat is paranoid as hell about me, all right? I get it. I'm sure he got Diana or Zatara or someone to spill the beans. To tell him about just what I can do, and I won't even say that he doesn't have a valid concern. If I was in his position, and a rogue demigod who could literally sink an entire city into the ocean if he lost control wandered into my town, I'd want him followed too."

He turned and looked at her.

"But just because I can empathize with his position, does not excuse the fact that you've dragged me into your messes. That you've been doing your damndest to keep from having a normal life. I've done my time with dealing with gods thinking they're above mortals, I don't need to deal with it from you people either."

"That hardly seems fair," said Canary, frowning, "We've been following you yes, and I won't contend that we've dug far more into your life than we've had any more right to. But I don't think it's at all fair to say that we've dragged you into our lives. It was you, not us, who joined the team to confront Klarion. Your own actions that dragged you into the light of the Shadows and everything else. You can be mad at us for a lot, but don't project more than we deserve."

Percy didn't have a response to that. They fell into silence for a few minutes, before Canary walked away, leading Percy away from the window. Casting one last look at the Earth, he slowly followed suit.

BREAK

He sighed contentedly as he collapsed into his chair in the living room. He did not like Zeta travel, it was wildly disorienting, even worse than vapor travel. He was sore, and exhausted. His body was still not fully recovered from his ordeal, and he was not looking forward to going back into work the following day. He hadn't taken the time to call Gordon or even Montoya to let him know about his status. He thought that he had earned a night to himself to relax and recover. He could deal with all of the potential fallout in the morning.

He was just nodding off to sleep in his chair when he was jolted awake by a knock on the door. He paused for a moment, looking at the door in bewilderment. He was fairly sure that the knock had been on his door for sure, but that didn't make sense, anyone who knew him personally knew that he had been recovering. There was another, heavier, knock on the door and Percy's decision was made for him. Groaning, Percy stood up and walked stiffly to the door.

"Yes, how can I-"

Percy stopped, his heart falling to the pit of his stomach as he took in the appearance of the woman on his doorstep. She was a beautiful young woman, just about his age, but perhaps a year or so younger. She had long raven hair that was tied into a messy ponytail which stuck out the back of a faded New York Yankees baseball cap. She had an angular and symmetrical face, with piercing sea-green eyes, the exact same shade as his own.

However most notable, was the considerable bulge of her stomach, indicating that her rather heavy pregnancy.

"Hey Perce," grinned his half-sister, Helen, "Long time no see."

AN: Big news, we're in the last arc of the story. And I know what you're thinking, this doesn't feel like it should be the end, there's so many questions left unanswered! And you'd be right, which is why I'm officially going to confirm something I might have said before but there will be a second book. There won't be a monumental time-skip or anything and I think y'all will like what we have planned. As always shoutout to Double0Sxvxn for being an awesome Beta and dealing with my bullshit and as always if you enjoyed this but haven't checked out my other work, give them a try you never know you might find something else you like. I'm also on discord now, where I and a bunch of other writers hang out, chat and brainstorm ideas, you just have to copy the link that's in my profile bio if you want to come and hang out with us. Stay safe, stay healthy and have an awesome week.

All My Love and see you next week,

LilDB