Chapter four


"John....."

At the sound of a woman's voice, John Stewart turned his head slightly towards to the door of his apartment. Katma was standing there, dressed in her Green Lantern uniform, arms folded across her chest. Her eyes looked sad.

He turned back to the television, watching Redd Foxx screaming at poor Aunt Esther. "Still invading upon my hospitality, hunh?"

Katma ignored his rudeness. "What are you watching, John?"

"Sandford and Son."

Katma walked over and sat on the edge of his armchair, ignoring the directly hostile look he shot her. "When are you going back to work?"

"I quit the Justice League."

"I know that. I mean, the Green Lantern Corps." When he didn't answer her, she reached for his hand, lifting it up, turning it over. "You're still wearing your ring."

"Brilliant deduction, Sherlock."

She ignored his sarcasm. "When was the last time you charged it....and what's this?" He had another ring on his pinkie finger. It was crudely made, and had a hawk carved into it, wings spread.

He shrugged and snatched his hand back as if it were on fire. "Look, Kat, could you save the inquisition for the next commercial break?"

Oh! Katma rarely lost her temper, but this was the last straw. Grabbing the remote from his hand, she reached out and turned off the television with a single click.

John's head went up sharply. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Shut up and get up!"

John reached for the remote. "I'll pretend you didn't say that. Give me the remote. Now." He narrowed his eyes.

Katma held it over her head. "No! Not until you talk to me." she looked at him beesechingly, still brandishing the remote. "What has happened to you, John?" she said softly. "You're acting like an entirely different person. Talk to me."

John glared at her for a minute, as if considering whether or not to start a childish game of tug-of-war over the remote, but apparently decided against it. "Fine. Suit yourself." He began to rise from the chair, preparing to leave.

Katma fell purposely into his lap, pinning him down.

John sighed. "Katma, I don't know what sort of game you're playing, but it's ceased to be funny. Let me up or i'll dump you on the floor."

Katma didn't move.

"Fine. You asked for it."

As John slipped his hands under her hip, preparing to roll her off his lap, Katma lost control, sitting up straight and looking him directly in the eye. "John. What is WRONG with you?"

"I think I have more of a right to ask YOU that question."

"John-" and Katma grabbed his chin, forcing him to look into her eyes. "I know you're hurt, but there's no call to be acting this way. Hawkgirl-"

John's eyes changed, a subtle hardning entering them at the mention of Hawkgirl's name. "I don't want to talk about it, Kat." He pushed her aside and stood to his feet, preparing to leave the room.

"What is WRONG with you?" Frustration made Katma's voice rise several octaves."We used to talk about anything, John-"

"When did we use to talk? In what universe? Look, Katma, if you want to help me, all I want to do is be left alone, all right? Go home!"

"Look, John, i'm you're friend, and-"

"If you were my friend, you'd shut the hell UP and leave me alone. And.....since when were YOU so interested in taking up Hawkgirl's cause? Seemed to me that yesterday you couldn't stand her-"

"That was before I talked to her and found out-"

"She probably lied to you, too!" John's voice had increased signifigantly in volume since the beginning of their conversation. Now he was practically screaming at her. "Why don't you take your good advice and put it-"

"She's pregnant, you bastard!" yelled Katma, feeling tears of frustration pricking her eyelids. Whirling around, she ran out the front door, heart pounding with fury. She could hear John's voice faintly in the background, calling her, but she didn't answer. Activating her ring, she took to the sky, flying high and fast. She felt something warm trickling down her face and reached to brush it off, feeling even angrier when she realized it was a tear. She was Katma. Katma never cried.

Landing on the tar roof of a high-rise apartment building beneath her, she lay on the tar, pressing her cheek into the warm brick lining the roof, trying to turn her discomfort into pain.

She'd seen the change in John's expression when she mentioned Hawkgirl's name- even before she'd mentioned the pregnancy. It had changed from disinterest and indifference to an expression of acute........pain.

He had never regarded her with such emotion before, even when they had been.....together.

He still loved this Hawgirl. It was clear.

And it hurt far worse than she could have ever expected it to.


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"Can I order you anything else?" Preston asked politely.

Hawkgirl looked over an empty platter that had once contained spare ribs, fried shrimp, steak, vegetables, and bread, then burped. "Err.........no. Sorry."

Preston didn't even bother surpressing a smile. After J'onn J'onnz had arrived and Hawkgirl had been cleared to leave the hospital, he had guessed that the woman was famished, inviting her and her green-skinned companion to join him for lunch in TGI Friday's, the closest resturant to the hospital. "Hospital food sucks, and you must be famished," he'd said.

They had accepted his offer, and were now sitting in the dining room of the resturant, finishing their late lunches. J'onn was beginning on an Oreo sundae, Preston was munching on the last slab from his rack of ribs, and Katma was pushing her shrimp salad around her plate, eyes on the table. She hadn't said much of anything since arriving from John's place, and he was concerned.

They had ordered food and engared in pleasant small talk, Preston getting to know Hawkgirl a bit better in the process. Her appetite, (legendary in the JL headquarters, according to J'onn) was apparently not impaired by any thoughts of John, and she ate heartily, finishing three lunch specials (poultry-free, of course) and helping J'onn out with his sundae.

Man, what a woman! thought Preston, engrossed with watching her. Beauty, brains......and no aversion to beef! He began planning. His brother deserved a woman like her- and needed to know how good she was. Plus.....there was the issue of the child.

After Hawkgirl had asked Katma, "Does he know?" She she had said, with eyes glued to the floor, "Yes. I told him."

When no other comment was forthcoming, Hawkgirl had shrugged. "Well. I suppose that's that." But her voice had been shaky, and when she had turned away- Katma had seen the beginning of tears, the beginning of a devestated, hurt expression she herself had worn more than once.

"Are you all right, Miss Tui?" J'onn's voice could barely be heard over the din of Preston and Hawkgirl's arguement on whether eating chicken was ethical ("so you're saying, I could be eating a cousin of yours?" Preston was asking in regards to his fried chicken.)

Katma looked up at the Martian in surprise. He hadn't said much since the beginning of the meal, seeming to prefer listening to their banter, but his glowing eyes were now fixed immovably on her face. "I understand that Shayera's behavior might seem a bit........cheery, but I told her to keep a brave face on, for the sake of the child."

Touched by his concern, Katma looked away. "I'm fine. I suppose i'm still a bit concerned over John. We were......we are good friends." She looked up at his eyes again, and froze. She had met the Martian once before, when she had visited John, and had gotten the impression of his being rather......stern. Now, she felt as if he could read her mind.

"May you find peace, Katma," he said quietly. And then she knew. He knew.

Breaking herself away from his comapssionate gaze, she shook her head to clear it. "Well! Shouldn't we be going?" Since Hawkgirl couldn't fly, Katma was taking them all back to the Watchtower in a space pod- and Preston just wanted to go, to meet the famous Justice League. After an initial hesitation, J'onn had agreed that they all could go.

Noticeably, neither he nor Hawkgirl asked to see John before they left. What had he told her?

They all left the resturant in single file, flying to an appropritate spot (The MM carried Hawkgirl, while Preston hung on to Katma) and lifted off, heading for the Watchtower.

They didn't see the identical green pod, not far below them, flying just as fast.