It had taken both her mother and Aidan to convince Olivia to head home for a little while, four days after the surgery had been done. Her father was still in a coma in the ICU, though Roy had been released and told to take things easy for a little while. He had returned to his family, only a few miles away, and Olivia waited in the seemingly empty house. It was probably the most difficult part of the process; her house had too many memories in it, and every time she looked at anything they came to the surface. Her mother had been coming home at night, leaving to go back to the hospital in the morning.

Aidan, however, was acting more jumpy than his usual; he was insisting that she not worry that her JLA communicator had gone silent, and was rather insistent that she not be at the hospital at the same time each day. He was eating constantly, another not-so-subtle hint that he was nervous. He was using his speed more than he was letting on, and she was starting to get worried.

As she was finishing up her thoughts, she felt a gust of air, and Aidan was standing next to her. He had a deadly serious look on his face, a look that was all but alien on him.

"Come on, we have to go," he said quickly. "What do you need?"

"Need for what?" she asked, standing slowly.

"No time!" He disappeared, and appeared a moment later with a duffel bag- a bag she recognized as having come from her closet. "I have your clothes, we have to get you someplace safe."

"Safe?"

Before she had an answer he was lifting her into his arms and speeding off. "Now, we need someplace safe, someplace safe, someplace safe…." He was muttering as he ran, ignoring anything that got in the way, vibrating through it with her. Olivia closed her eyes; as much as she had traveled in the same fashion before, it was still unnerving. He was still muttering, when he brought his head up. "Got it! I know!"

"Aidan…"

"I have a friend. She…uh, she might be able to help." She skidded to a halt in front of an observatory on a mountain. Looking around, Olivia noted signs in some sort of Asian language, possible Chinese or Japanese. He put her down, then went up to the door. "She, uh…..she and I kinda…go way back."

Olivia folded her arms, jealousy welling up inside her. "How far back?" she demanded.

Aidan looked at her a moment, before looking away. "We were….uh…anyway." He knocked on the door hesitantly. It still sounded like a jackhammer.

After a moment, it opened, and Olivia saw a very petite looking Asian woman come out. Her hair was pulled back, held in place with a small white stick, her dark eyes open with curiosity. They narrowed as she saw the man at her door. "Aidan West. I never thought I'd see you again. I was counting on it."

"Eh, hey, Kimmy."

"You're not welcome here."

"Kimmy, wait wait wait!" he said, putting his hand on the door. "Look, I….well, I kinda need your help."

"You've taken advantage of my hospitality enough," she said.

"Look, Kimmy, I'm really sorry about that," he said. "Can't we put the past behind us? Besides, Olivia needs someplace safe to hide, and I was hoping you would be able to help."

Her eyes traveled over to Olivia, looking none too flattering, what with her belly pushing out her shirt slightly, her hair a mess from the high speed trip. "This your new tramp?"

Olivia didn't give the woman the pleasure of a verbal comeback; she reached back and slugged her with all her strength. She stumbled back a few steps, glaring. She brought her hands up, as they glowed with white light. Olivia pulled her bow, aiming it at her. Aidan pushed his way between them, holding his hands up to both of them.

"Ladies, ladies, can't we all just, sit down and have some green tea?" he asked. "We're not here to fight, right?" Reluctantly, Kimmy put her hands down. Olivia put her bow down again as well, though not before she made certain to aim it at Aidan. "Look, Kimmy, Olivia and I are serious."

"Serious?" she echoed, her voice cynical. Her eyes traveled to Olivia's belly. "Ah, I see. Got the two of you into some trouble, huh Aidan? You never could take responsibility."

"He's taking enough of it right now," Olivia put in angrily. "He's trying to protect me. Can you help us or not?"

She glared for a moment, but sighed. "Yes. Come in."

In a few moments, Olivia found herself sitting on a small pillow next to a low table. Kimmy went into the kitchen, and came back a few minutes later with three cups and a pot of tea on a tray. "So, what brings you all the way out here, Aidan? Besides your girlfriend, here." She once again looked at Olivia. "You like them young, don't you?"

"Don't talk like I'm not here," Olivia growled, though she was trying to keep her tongue in check. This woman, however caustic, was going to help. If she was in danger (and thus her baby as well by default), then she really had no choice but to accept help wherever it came from. "And I'm old enough to realize that if things go as planned, they're gonna get real bad."

"How bad?" Kimmy asked.

"Apokolips bad."

Olivia had the satisfaction of seeing the somewhat surprised look on Kimmy's face. "Oh," she said, then looked at Aidan. "Don't count on this one," she said, the cynicism returning. "You think you can count on him, and one day, he'll run off."

"Not this time," Olivia said. "Like he said, we're serious."

"I've heard that before. From me."

"Is there something you two should be telling me?" Olivia looked at both of them; neither was offering any information. "All right, fine. But you and I are having a nice, long talk when this is done, Aidan."

"Oh. Uh, okay." He swallowed hard and looked away. "So, you said you could help?"

"Yes. I have a place at the base of Mount Fuji. It's pretty isolated, but it's small." She shrugged. "Everything's small in Japan."

"We don't mind," Aidan said. "Mount Fuji?"

"Yeah. You remember the place, right?"

His face turned red. "Yeah. I remember. Thanks for the tea!" Olivia didn't realize she was in motion again until a few seconds after he had taken off, and by then, he was skidding to a stop. There was a small Japanese house sitting at the base of a mountain, the view pristine.

"You were here before?" Olivia asked, as she got down and went into the house. There was modest furniture, and some non-perishables around. Aidan dropped her duffel bag inside the door.

"Yeah."

Olivia folded her arms. "With Kimmy."

"Uh. Yeah. Look, the past's the past, right?"

Olivia sighed. "I suppose," she admitted. "But you're going to tell me one day."

"Hey, I don't ask about your prior relationships," he countered, holding his hands up in front of him.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't call any of them 'relationships'," she replied. "But fine, fine. I get the point." Another thought crossed her mind. "You…you won't be staying here, will you?"

There was almost a tender look on his face for a moment, and she caught his glance at her belly. "I have to keep up appearances at the Satellite," he said. "Besides, they're going to need me. Bye!"

"Aidan!" Before she got the word out, he was gone. She sighed; he had never been one for long anythings, let alone good-byes. She sat down on one of the pillows, sinking into it as she looked out the window at the mountain. With Aidan gone, her brother recovering from surgery, her surrogate father in ICU, and her mother still guilty about the truth she had learned, Olivia felt more alone than she could remember being. Even worse, she had been hoping that her actions to protect her child had been overreacting. Now, it seemed as though they were barely going to be enough. Looking around, she got familiar with the place that was going to be her new home for a while.

A few days passed, thankfully uneventful. Aidan came by at least two dozen times a day to check on her, to see if she needed anything. She never left the house; Aidan took care of any errands she would have needed, even laundry. He was still his usual, cheerful self, and that picked up her spirits somewhat, though there was still an undercurrent of fear.

"Aidan, can you hold on a sec?"

"Sure," he said, though he blinked out for just a moment; he had already begun to sprint off, and returned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said. "I…I want you to stop by the house. I want to know how Pop's doing, and how Roy is."

"Ollie's still in ICU," he said. "I didn't want to tell you anything until I had good news."

Olivia cringed. "Is he still in the coma?" Reluctantly, Aidan nodded. "Oh."

"Your Mom's holding up pretty well, though. Oh, I almost forgot. I'm going to go see Kamal today. I think we better keep you moving; no telling when something's gonna happen, and I know the advantage of not staying in one place for too long."

Olivia grinned somewhat. "For you, too long is more than ten minutes."

"Well…." He shrugged. "I gotta get going, Kamal's squeezing me in between appointments." He kissed her cheek slowly enough for her to see the movement. "I'll be back soon."

"Be careful, Aidan."

"You be more careful." With that, he was gone, and Olivia was again alone. She sighed again; she had managed to stave off the loneliness when Aidan was around, but it was getting increasingly isolated at the small house that was not her own. She decided to make herself some of the tea that was in the kitchen. Unfortunately, before the water had come to a boil, there was a knock on the door. She walked into the main room, then paused; Aidan had never knocked. "Who is it?" she called.

"Captain Marvel."

Oh, shit. "Uh, come in, the door should be open."

He opened the door, stepping, looking around as he did so. "So, this is where you've been hiding," he said. "Is Aidan around?"

"No, he just left a minute ago, had an errand to run."

"Do you expect him back?" Marvel asked. "He shouldn't have left you alone."

"He'll be back in a couple hours, I sus-" Olivia never had a chance to finish the sentence. Suddenly Marvel was in front of her, his hand grasped tightly around her throat. She struggled to pry his fingers off, but she knew it was useless; he was the strongest member of the League, and without powers, she had no hope of getting out of his grasp. Her stomach fluttered with fear, as she reached down to her belt, grabbing her communicator. As she was making that movement, Marvel pulled something from his own belt, and behind her she felt a rush of air and heard a loud booming sound. White light was splashed onto the wall.

Olivia activated the communicator quickly. "Aidan!" Marvel pulled back with her in his hand, literally throwing her into the swirling vortex. When she came out on the other side, she fell hard on her right arm, making certain to keep the brunt of the trauma away from her stomach.

The first thing she felt was the oppressive heat. It was almost suffocating, as she got to her knees, then to her feet. Looking up, she found herself in a circular stone room, but she was not alone. Sitting in a large stonework throne was something resembling a man, with what looked like dark leather for skin and a squared, craggy face. He stood, unfurling from the throne that belied his true immense size. A chilling smile came over his face, as he looked at her.

"Finally, now I have the vessel. Excellent work."

Marvel walked out from behind her, passing her and going to the man. "You…you betrayed me," she hissed. "How could you?"

"He can't hear you," the giant man said, his voice making Olivia's skin crawl. She forced herself to look him right in his glowing red eyes. "Granny Goodness has done well with him. I knew he would lead me right to the spark." Olivia put her hands over her belly as he looked down at it, backing up. She was surprised to find that she stopped, and found two guards standing directly behind her.

"You stay the hell away from me!" she shouted, pulling her bow and training it on him. He gave her a slight smile.

"Put it away, Olivia Queen," he said. "You'll only hurt yourself."

"You won't risk it," she growled. "If you hurt me, you run the risk of killing the baby. That is what you're after, isn't it?"

He laughed somewhat. "You know nothing of Apokoliptian technology," he said. "I could tear your child from you right now and raise it." His eyes suddenly glowed brighter, and Olivia suddenly found that her bow was gone, dispersed in her very hands. She pressed her back against the guards again, holding one hand over her stomach. "However, I give you the choice. I think you will need some time to think it over. Kalibak!"

From the side of the throne came a huge, lumbering ape of a man. "Yes?"

"Take Olivia to a holding cell," he said, keeping his gaze locked on her. "She can think about how she wants her child to be raised there."

"As you wish, Lord Darkseid." Olivia felt her heart skip a beat, her skin suddenly turning cold despite the heat. She had heard the name being thrown around since the incident in Chicago; from what everyone had said, no one could match Darkseid, especially not in the current League. Kalibak came up to her and grabbed her by the arms in a bear hug, lifting her easily from the ground.

"NO!" she managed to shout, struggling against him. He ignored her as she struggled to get free, taking her into one of the small hallways and to a door.

"This should do," he said, as the door swung open to an empty box of a room. "You may have weapons hidden on you."

"You already disintegrated my wea- hey!" She was helpless against him as he tore at her clothes, until there was nothing left, and threw her into the room. Now nude, she crawled against the back wall, pressing her back against it. Looking down at herself, she could see where her child was starting to distend her belly, just slightly; just enough to be noticeable. Putting her hands over the bulge, she closed her eyes and forced her fear down. Can't panic now she told herself. I need to protect him. Or her. I can't panic now. I can't give him a reason to take my baby from me.