Batman found himself gliding through the halls of the practically unused prison corridors of the League base on the moon. He paused before the cell door, watching its lone occupant silently. He'd never expected her to play God twice in one lifetime. She'd seemed so sincere in reformation after the last time, so why had she sided with the Qwardians?
Jade was slouched against a wall, sitting on the floor with her knees drawn up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them, her forehead resting on one knee. There was a slight tremble in her hands, as her body was now feeling the nicotine-withdrawal that had shattered mind. Strangefate's wards had been utterly destroyed by Volthoon's presence. It was only looming horror that was staving off her temper now. Much in the same manner that had caused Nova's mind to collapse, causing the cosmic woman to end up as an exotic dancer in a 'gentleman's club' after being "fired" by Galactus, Jade's mind had gone numb. She didn't move as she heard the scuffle of feet outside her cell.
Batman The package of cigarettes, a small lighter attached, arced through the bars, landing with a soft pat onto the floor beside Jade. Bruce didn't approve of chain smoking, but he knew that the withdrawal had to be a killer for Jade. He'd heard the same story that everyone else had, that Jade had led the army with Volthoon, and had devastated so much. He wanted to hear anything she might have to say.
She didn't move for a good solid minute after hearing the object hit the floor. First, only her eyes moved. Them somewhat hesitantly, her hand moved to pick up the pack. She stared at it vaguely. It was rather tempting to let herself suffer. Especially in the face of that shaming act of kindness. She deserved far worse. "Fool," she muttered, attempting to maintain the tone of voice she had held in her final moments of battle. "You're fecking soft." Temptation won out, and she pulled a cigarette from the pack, placing it between her lips and lighting it.
Batman snorted, amused. "Like anyone would believe you." He watched her a few moments more, the smoke drifting about the small cell. Kal would hate it. "What happened to the Qwardian you were with? And for that matter, what happened to the Lantern who stopped him?" The Lantern's identity hadn't been widely circulated yet, and no one had even heard Volthoon's name. Where the two had gone was a total mystery.
That actually got a reaction. Her blue eyes shot to him, the concern in them unmasked for a moment. "The feck do you mean 'what happened'?" she growled. "Newboy killed Volthoon. I felt it before the ring evaporated." She narrowed her eyes on Batman, and then looked sharply away, her head moving to lean back against the wall of the cell. The rabbit's foot was dangling against the outside of her shirt for once. Her fingers moved to curl around it as she exhaled a cloud of smoke, concentrating. He was probably dead. Once again, her fault... "Space. Deep space... He's got my ring, he'll be fi-" she stopped, her eyes opening. "He can't have slept in days. If he passes out... Feck. You have to go after him."
Batman narrowed his eyes briefly. "Under that sort of circumstance, yes, we do." Reaching a gauntleted hand to the door control panel, he opened the door, entering the room and nearing her. "And you're coming with me." He'd seen her sense at finding things when she concentrated enough at work, and he doubted he would find a single Green Lantern anywhere on his own. But neither was he taking chances, securing her in a pair of handcuffs. Five minutes later, they were en route. "Which way?" He wasn't rather talkative, but when was he? But after he'd trusted Jade, only to see her do almost the same thing again....
"Fine," had been her only response. The handcuffs were a bit much, but she didn't blame him. However, once they got into the shuttle, she was inclined to argue the point. It'd make far much more sense to just let her pilot. She didn't say anything until asked, though, sitting with her head bowed, longish bangs falling over her closed eyes. "A little bit that way," she muttered with a nod slightly left. Then sighed, "Or something like that. I think..." she muttered under her breath.
"Then think harder." He seemed downright icy, even for him. "I don't suppose there's a reason for trying to conquer the world less than a year after the Parallax incident?" Jade wasn't the villainous sort. Somewhat shady, perhaps, definitely fringe material, but not evil in the megalomaniacal sense. If she wasn't guilty, despite the overwhelming appearance that she was, she didn't need to be punished.
Jade opened her eyes, a rather malevolent glower in them being fixed on him. "It doesn't fecking work this way. Just let me fly the god damned ship," she growled, and then looked sharply away, almost flinching. After a moment's silence, she said lowly, "The Qwardians seemed like a good shot at getting rid of the fecking Corps once and for all. Revenge. That's all it was. Fecking revenge." She knew it didn't add up with anything she'd said in their little chat in the Batmobile, or with her slip in showing concern for Dave, but she didn't care. Anything was better than admitting to being a pawn. Again.
Batman smirked lightly, finally removing her restraints. She was trying to hard to just let the guilt fall on her, that all she had wanted was vengeance. If that's what she wanted to say, that suited him. He would just sit there and watch while she flew to the rescue of the Lantern Corps' rookie. It would be amusing, if things weren't in their present state.
She grunted crossly, moving to seize the controls. Laying her fingers lightly over them, she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and a moment to concentrate before her fingers moved to steer the ship. It made no sense, but she could vaguely feel the ring resonating with temporal energy, and was fairly sure what had happened. And it was her own fault for telling him about the ring's abilities and the Enforcer. She altered the course twice, just slightly, and then dropped her hands away from the controls. "There... If he's not already dead when we get there, I'm gonna kill him."
Dave (hours later) was drifting forward, thankfully maintaining a fair speed due to his momentum, but all of his efforts had gone into keeping himself awake. He'd been up for almost four days. The ring was helpful, but he couldn't hold out much longer. But the appearance of the League craft was nothing short of the happiest thing he'd seen in a long time. In a last, desperate effort, he willed himself into the airlock opening for him. He leaned heavily against the bulkhead once inside, his fatigue coming back all over again.
As soon as the airlock shut, letting him in, a seething Jade shot to greet him. "You little -idiot-!" He looked like hell. Jade had only enough pity to keep from throttling him. Well. And she was admittedly glad he was alive. "Gimme the fecking ring, kid." She was intent on draining off the time travel abilities yet again. She would have made him do it, but she doubted at the moment he could. And she wanted it done now. Getting used to the prospect of tampering with time every time something went wrong wasn't an idea she was going to let stay in his head.
Dave The hand wearing the ring closed into a fist. He wasn't giving it up. "No." He knew what she wanted to do, and he wouldn't let her. "I did what I had to. You and your pal evaded patrols and started a war that killed thousands. Like it or not, you told me what this ring can do. I will make use of it, but only if there is no other way. There was an Enforcer waiting for us, and if the Qwardian hadn't been with me, I would have been erased. I've seen the danger first hand, and I am not using it again unless there is no other way." She called him 'kid'. He likely was, in more ways than he would care to imagine, but he'd stand on his own decisions, good or bad. He'd learned a lot about sacrifices and duty - both from his Lantern mentors, and from her.
She narrowed her eyes on him, for a few moments looking as if she'd was perfectly willing to fight him over it. Then she backed down with a very non-Jade-like sigh. "Don't fecking forget that, like everyone else who's gained the power has." Growling softly, she turned, moving back towards the cockpit. She hesitated after a step. "You did good, kid. Dave. Hal... He woulda said the ring's in good hands." Stiffly, she stalked back to the cockpit, sinking into a seat.
Dave finally smiled, despite himself. It had probably been the nicest thing he'd heard in his life. Especially coming from someone who'd known the Lantern Corps' greatest hero like she had. He shuffled into the cockpit as well, exchanging a nod with the Batman. He'd never met him before, but it seemed about as much as he'd ever get in greeting, if any at all. He eased himself into a chair towards the rear of the ship, falling into a blissfully deep sleep.
Tucking her heels on the edge of the seat, she pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them, her forehead resting once more on one knee. She could feel the ring's proximity. It was almost maddening. Somehow, despite everything, some part of that green energy still burned within her. She rather suspected that somehow she'd exchanged a part of her soul with the ring. Jade, however, wasn't willing to bet that that would be enough to cheat Mephisatanus. After a long silence, she raised her head a little. "Bats...?" she was keeping her voice low, not wanting to disturb the poor sleeping Dave.
Batman simply quirked an eyebrow, indicating he was paying attention, despite not turning away from the controls to look at her. He'd heard the exchange in the hallway, and had been listening carefully to the new Lantern. He sounded as though he'd be like most of the other additions to the gallery of heroes on Earth. Naturally, Batman would have no use for him.
She wasn't looking at him either, but she knew he'd listen, so she spoke after a short hesitation. "You know I'll die before I make any kind of excuse for my actions. So... Just... consider this a warning." She paused, licking her lips. "If I live, this kind of thing's just... gonna keep happenin'... If I die... After this last stunt... I fecking undid everything Spectre did to free my soul from Meph-" she cut herself off before competing the name, abruptly correcting herself, "From hell. Worked for'im before, see... No reason to believe I won't be sent back to work again... Since I'd be... all his..." She wasn't trying to make an argument for sparing her life. Her tone carried equal loathing for both prospects. "Guess I'm... askin' for another favor. I know it can be done. I know you carry a lot of weight with the League, and the League could probably sway the Corps' decision... I know it can be done. Don't know if you guys have the equipment for it. But tell'em to put me in stasis. For everyone's sake. I don't want to do this again."
Batman seemed to ponder that a moment. "The League can't mandate sentencing for crimes such as this. We are not a sovereign body. We can, however, propose putting you in stasis indefinitely. Given the League's own stature among the world governments, especially that of the United States, where the attacks took place, we can convince them that putting you in stasis would be the best course." Kal would likely lap up the stasis idea. He was so pure he made Ivory soap look dirty.
"As long as it gets done," she said, her head lowering back to her knee. She was forcing herself not to think about anything, really. It was a tough battle. Her thoughts seemed to want to gather at the moment around Dave. Finally, she raised her head a few inches once more. "I know you've got better things to do with your time, but... Keep an eye out for Dave. My ring... No. His ring. It's got everything stored in it. My memories, basically, since the moment I put it on. Could be a bad influence on the kid..." She paused, and then added humorlessly, "Rayner influence. Coming from both sides. Maybe it's best to just kill him now before he goes mad..."
Batman snorted audibly, hiding his amusement. After another moment, regaining his more cold poise, he noted "I keep an eye on everyone, Frankie." And he did, too. That piece of kryptonite he had in secret storage was not there for looking pretty. "Why don't we just hope that what he sees will discourage him from doing anything similar." It would be a noble sentiment had that come from anyone but the King of all Pessimism. He'd be watching the new Lantern regardless.
She flinched slightly at being called Frankie. "I know you do, Bats. Pointy-eared guardian angel that you are..." Was it possible that the truth was going to come out about who she was? She hoped not, for Kyle's sake. Kyle hadn't handled it well the last time around. Her head lowered to her knee again. "Thanks, Bats. For everything. Both times around..." Her muffled, quiet voice expressed that one last thought before she fell into the silence that she would end up not breaking throughout the entirety of whatever trails she was forced to sit through until a verdict was reached. Jade remained behind her murderous glower, letting people think her as evil as they pleased, knowing the only two people that suspected her intentions were any different would keep their mouths shut.
Batman never responded to her thanks. He suspected there was more to her just happening to meet some Qwardian and offer to lead his army just for 'revenge'. A vengeance so thorough she'd just saved the man who'd destroyed the Qwardian war effort. Right. From what she was saying, the Lantern behind him, 'Dave', knew something more. Perhaps he'd have to ask in a nonchalant way.