"Emerald Reflections"
By: Angelic Temptress
Disclaimer: I own nothing. I'm just having fun.
Rating: PG-13 (You all should know this by now.)
Spoilers: Through "Initiation"
)V(
Gasping for air, Shayera stumbled into the cold cave, limping. A bullet that had been shot by a Canadian moose hunter had grazed her right calf.
She slipped to the floor and tore off some of the fabric from her white shirt, for it was needed to wrap the gash that was a lot deeper than she had believed. The Thanagarian clenched her teeth as she pressed the rag against the wound and closed her eyes as she resisted crying out.
It was funny how much life could change in an instant. One minute, Lieutenant Shayera Hol was at the top of her game. She was the most successful, bravest, and most trusted soldier on Thanagar. She had been promised to one of the most passionate and powerful men and had complete confidence in herself.
The next second, she was scouting on Earth as Hawkgirl, manipulating heroes that depended on her, caring for those who she needed to betray, falling for a man she was forbidden to love…
Now she was in hiding, trying to lay low. The planet she had given everything to protect despised her and anyone of her race.
Shayera couldn't go home either; Thanagar wanted nothing to do with a traitor.
Tears began to well behind her jade eyes as she held her knees close to her chest. She missed being held and tried to imagine John's arms around her. If she shut her eyes and focused, she could sometimes remember his sweet scent and the way it would mix with the smell of teriyaki sauce.
At night, she could hear him muttering incoherent messages in his sleep or breathing behind her. And occasionally, she could even hear his heart beating, as if he were asleep beside her.
Shayera closed her eyes, forcing herself to take a brief rest. She knew that with sleep, she welcomed dreams, nightmares, and memories to invade her subconscious.
But with unspoken permission, the dreams flooded her mind as she slept in the empty cave.
(v)
Their lips finally parted, and they both gasped for air. She opened her eyes to find John looking back at her.
He was now one of the very few people to see her face, to really see her. With his hand still resting upon her cheek, he studied her features carefully; she could tell by the way his brown eyes slowly moved to and fro.
But he was staring intently. Did he not like what he saw? Was she not what he wanted?
"You're beautiful."
No one had ever looked at her like that before, and he made her believe that any other man who had said those words to her before really hadn't meant them. She realized that his gaze was one of true lust and adoration.
John leaned in and ran his lips from her earlobe to her chin. Before he could take a moment to pause, Shy pressed her mouth to his and parted his lips with her tongue, allowing the Thanagarian to explore.
He tasted so good, so… delightfully foreign. She wanted him to do was he wished with her, for nothing would have made her happier.
Shayera wanted him to guide her, to tell her what to do, how to lie, and when to move. She didn't know what human men liked or what they needed, but she wanted to.
His lips left hers and landed softly at the base of her neck, and she smiled. After slightly pushing him away, she gave him a slanted grin and forced him to lie on his back. Shy then settled her hips on top of his, tucked her wings close to herself, and kissed his brow.
With his strong hands resting on the small of her back, John smiled at her, and, for what felt like the first time, she felt nervous.
"What if you're not strong enough?" she found herself asking. "I don't want to –"
"Hurt me?" John sat up, with her still in his lap, to make eye contact. "You won't."
"But, John –"
"Shh…" He smoothed her hair and said her name, letting the syllables roll over his tongue.
"Yeah?"
"If for any reason you do hurt me, it would be a hell of a way to go." Before she could respond, his mouth had covered hers, and his hands started to navigate her suit, searching for the way to take it off.
(v)
"You requested my presence, Commander?" Lieutenant Shayera Hol spoke as she took a step through the open door.
Commander Hro Talak nodded. "Close the door behind you, Lieutenant." When she did, he added, "Lock it."
Hol did as she was told and watched Talak shut the blinds, keeping Thanagar out of his military office. This way, he knew they would be completely alone.
"I have something to ask of you. Actually, it's an order."
"Well, then go ahead."
Hro came to her and cupped her face in his strong hands. "My Shayera. My sweet Shayera."
The redhead offered a small smile and took hold of his wrists. "Is there something wrong?"
He sighed heavily and pulled off his helmet, revealing the handsome face many would love to see. After all, Hro Talak was quite a catch.
"I spoke with The Elders today, and they unanimously agreed to send a soldier to the planet Earth. She would study its inhabitants and their ways and then report back to us."
"Let me guess." Hol pursed her lips into a thin line as she took in a deep breath. "They chose me."
"Of course. You are the best we have, the only one that I trust and know will survive on an unfamiliar planet."
She nodded. "When do I leave?"
"Tomorrow."
After swallowing hard, she looked to the floor. "Oh."
Hro sighed again and removed the ugly helmet that covered her striking features. Once he set it aside, he kissed his promised one and ran his fingers over the earrings she wore.
Soon enough, Hro had Shayera leaning on his desk and taking him from behind. They both knew no one could hear their cries or would dare disturb them, so they did not inhibit anything.
It was their last night together, and they would not waste it.
Only the stars knew how long they would be apart.
(v)
John wiped the sweat from her brow and kissed Shy before crawling off of her. When he got himself comfortable, he pulled Shayera to his chest and began playing with her auburn hair.
Almost reluctantly, she laid her cheek on his upper body.
Five years.
It had been five years since a man had truly made her feel like a woman.
When she had given into John, she had betrayed her past, Hro, her honor… She had been unfaithful in mind and in body, a combination that would prove fatal for any relationship, especially one that was cursed with distance.
She had almost lost John that day. He had been dead just hours ago. The heart she could unquestionably hear now had been a silent memory of what had been.
Her tears gave way, and her shoulders shook with every sob, waking the Lantern, her lover, from the first stage of sleep.
"Hey," he whispered against her hair. "It's okay."
"No. No it's not. You could have –"
"But I didn't."
Shy raised her head to look down on him. "There's so much that I want… need to tell you."
"It's fine. We're both fine. There's nothing to regret."
"But I –"
"Shh." The dark-eyed man kissed her lips and brushed the hair from her face. "Sleep."
The Thanagarian returned to her designated position and touched her lips to his collarbone before closing her emerald eyes.
How had she denied their attraction for so long? In the lives they led, any second could be their last. Why not live life to its fullest potential? Why not love those she loved?
Five years.
What were the odds of ever returning to Thanagar? What were the odds of finding a man like John, and what were the odds of falling for him?
Maybe fate or the gods really did play a part in their existence, like Diana believed. Maybe there were no coincidences. Maybe her values, her obligations, were all bullshit.
Perhaps Thanagar had been a nightmare, or Earth was a tender dream. Either way, she didn't want to wake because for the first time in years, Shayera was truly happy.
(V)
Shayera's tired eyes opened, and she noticed that nightfall had crept up on her. Without thought, her dreams swallowed her again.
(V)
Wrapped in a single sheet, Shayera watched Hro extend his wings. She gazed at him, memorizing every sculpted muscle. He was the embodiment of perfection, according to Thanagar.
And he was supposed to be hers…
Once she returned from Earth, of course.
"Maybe you should put on a pair of pants before one of your men comes waltzing in here."
Hro sent her a slanted smile. "Well, I doubt he'd be staring at me." The powerful commander got down on his knees and kissed her. "You are the most beautiful woman to have ever –"
"Slept with you?" she mocked and playfully tousled her red strands. "I already knew that."
"Well, aren't you smug?"
"I could name someone else."
He chuckled and sat down beside his lover, covering himself at the same time and questioned, "What am I going to do without you?"
Her smile grew. "You'll probably find some other young trainee to screw between our transmissions."
Hro laughed again. "You're probably right," he replied sarcastically. "You do know that I love you, correct?"
Without a word, the lieutenant pressed her lips to his, beginning a chain reaction that would eventually lead to the couple's final "exchange."
During the entire act, Shayera couldn't get the thought, the absurd horror, of being Talak's childbearing wife.
She didn't want to leave the military, but her planet expected her to. After all, they were Thanagar's finest and would most likely create strong future leaders.
But something nagged at the pit of her stomach. She didn't really want to obey Thanagar. She wanted to make her own decisions, but, at the same time, she'd be a fool not to take what had been given to her. Her life was secure. She'd have everything a female could ever need.
(v)
John took Hawkgirl's hand in his own and closed his door behind him. It was GL's turn for the late shift, and she had decided to accompany him. The next evening, he'd be making a trip to Oa to help the other Lanterns wage a military strike against a vicious group of aliens that had journeyed from a different sector.
They had left sector 2876 in complete chaos.
After taking a seat in the swivel chair, Lantern pulled Hawkgirl into his lap and watched as she curled up into the standard fetal position.
When she laid her head on his shoulder, John asked, "Hey, since when do you cuddle?"
She didn't answer, but after a few moments, she spoke.
"Let me come with you. I'd feel better knowing I were the one covering you."
He smirked and kissed the top of her helmet. "Don't worry. Kilowag and Rainer will be there."
"Don't forget about Katma. I bet she can't wait to see you."
"Is that jealously I hear, laced into your rugged tone?"
Hawkgirl raised her head to glare at him. "I don't get jealous. I get even. If she so much as –"
"I'm so glad that I have you to protect me from horny women."
"You did not just use that word."
His smile widened. "Oh, but I did."
"You know, you are so fortunate that you're good in bed."
"Why is that?"
"Because it gives me a reason not to make you a handicap."
John raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"You know it."
He watched her grin mimic his. "What would I do without you?" he questioned and ran his gloved fingers over her bare shoulder.
"You'd have Flash to keep you in line, tough guy."
"Maybe, but who would keep me warm at night?"
She then provided what looked like a sad smile and said, "I don't think I want to know." Hawkgirl tucked her head below his strong chin and relaxed against him.
They sat like that, in silence, until morning came.
(V)
Shayera awoke with tears slipping down her pale cheeks. The sun was rising, so she knew she had to stay put. She couldn't move during the day. That's how she almost got shot.
The Thanagarian stood to stretch her wings but was caught off guard by a strong man shoving her against the cave's wall. She couldn't make out his face in the darkness of the cave, but she could smell him.
"Hro?"
Suddenly, something terribly sharp was driven into her stomach, and she gasped. It instantly became harder for Shayera to breath, and she couldn't help holding on to her ex-lover for balance.
"You didn't think I'd let you live after you humiliated me, did you?" He then twisted the dagger, and Shayera gasped again. The commander then ripped it out of her and watched her fall to her knees, dark blood filling her mouth.
Her body collided with the freezing ground, and she whispered the name of the only man she had ever loved.
"John…"
)V(
"Shayera!" the Lantern screamed as he woke in the bed of the Javelin. He had caught the attention of the three who had tended to his wounds.
He knew he had to get them on track because they'd only argue otherwise.
Captain Atom acted as if he were still in the military. John remembered when he thought everything had to follow Marine protocol.
The Green Arrow was a rouge vigilante that needed guidance; the League wouldn't turn its back on him, even if he did turn his back on it.
And Kara, Supergirl, reminded GL of Shayera in so many ways. She was stubborn and didn't think things through. Maybe that was why he didn't want her to leave the Watchtower; he didn't want her to get herself killed.
"You need a plan," the Lantern stated. "You need to find its weakness."
)The End(