Disclaimer: I like Justice League Unlimited. Own it? No.

A Different Type

Her wings fluttered in the breeze. Her body wanted to shiver from the cold, but her force of will wouldn't allow it. Instead, she gritted her teeth and leapt from the rooftop, spreading her arms and her wings as she glided away. It didn't take much for her to stay aloft; just the occasional beat of her wings would keep her going. Despite the cold, part of her was glad that it was snowing so. The people of Metropolis were less tempted to look up whilst it was snowing, and the likelihood of someone spotting her and making a fuss was considerably decreased. Of course, the occasional person spotted her and pointed (usually children), but they were either ignored or dismissed.

She stopped on a nearby rooftop, and crouched down to conserve her body heat. She was stood at the entrance to Metropolis Park, where carol singers had gathered around the large Christmas tree that stood proudly in the center of the Park. Shayera had always liked Earth music, especially the more peaceful variety. Wally was surprised when he had first learned this, expecting her to like rock and roll, or heavy metal. She smiled at how shocked his face had appeared under his scarlet mask.

She had a special appreciation for Christmas carols. It reminded her of last Christmas, just before her people had invaded. She and John had remained on the alien planet after the rest of the League had left, and had had a particularly enjoyable snowball fight. Of course, Shayera preferred the bar brawl, but each to their own. Upon their return to Earth, they had stopped at a Church in John's old neighbourhood, and listened to the songs being sung there. And Shayera had never felt so at peace. Not on Thanagar, not with Hro… certainly not with Hro.

She shook her head free of such thoughts, and sent a flurry of snow from her hair. With a quiet grumble, Shayera pushed herself to her feet, observing that she needed a shower and a cup of coffee. Or hot chocolate. Whichever one she could get to first, as far as she was concerned. With a strong beat of her wings, she was airborne and heading back to the Metro Tower.

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As she walked down the corridor to the refectory, Shayera was amazed by the human capacity to forgive and forget. Every person she had come across on her walk through the corridors, be it Atom Smasher or Wildcat, had a nod or a wave for her. Some people even said 'Merry Christmas' to her, although all of those people were wearing Santa Claus related paraphernalia. Even Batman was wearing a Santa Claus hat, though Shayera didn't think that he knew he had it on.

The doors to the refectory opened obligingly with a quiet hiss, and Shayera was surprised by the lack of noise from the room.

Looks like everyone's out enjoying Christmas.

The Christmas spirit hit her, and she decided on hot chocolate. Coffee was such a business like drink. Hot chocolate was the drink for sitting alone and relaxing. Well, either that or Blurb, but she hadn't been able to find anything on Earth that even came close to approximating a good mug of Blurb. She sat down and sipped at her sweet tasting drink, and smiled at the warm feeling it gave her.

"Hello Birdnose!"

Shayera looked up to see the grinning form of the yellow skinned Creeper. She frowned.

"My name's Shayera. Don't call me that."

"Is Birdnose gonna get mad?" he said sarcastically, though his grinning demeanour cancelled out the effect somewhat.

Shayera sighed. Had she become that synonymous with random violence? "No, it's just that my name is Shayera, not Birdnose."

"Well I'm gonna call you Birdnose!"

"Why?" she asked, her eyes thinning.

"Because you've got wings like a bird, right?"

"Right…"

"And you've got a nose, right?"

Shayera sighed. "Right."

"So… bird plus nose equals Birdnose! Okay?"

"Fine. But if you call me that, I'm going to call you Crazyface."

Creeper seemed shocked by the suggestion. "But why, Birdnose?"

"You're crazy, right?"

He giggled slightly. "Yeeessss…"

"And you have a face, right?"

"So long as no-one's stolen it!" Creeper yelled, looking around as though checking that no-one could have taken his face.

"Okay then. Crazy plus face equals Crazyface. Okay?"

The yellow skinned vigilante grinned and cast his eyes upwards, as though contemplating the matter. "Okay!" he said, nodding vigorously. He remained silent for a moment as he watched Shayera sip at her drink.

"What'cha drinkin', Birdnose?"

Shayera looked down at the mug in her hands. "Hot chocolate. Want some?"

"Please!" he said, clapping his hands in celebration. She handed the mug to him slowly, and he snatched it from her small hand, drenching his whole body in the liquid as he attempted to drink it.

"That was fun!" he said, laughing afterwards.

Shayera laughed quietly. "I suppose it was, yes."

Creeper wiped the hot chocolate from his chin and threw the mug over his shoulder. "Why's Birdnose sad?"

Shayera was taken aback by the question. "What are you talking about? I'm fine."

Creeper shook his head vigorously, his grin lessening slightly. "Don't try and trick Crazyface. He knows and sees all!" he said, striking a heroic pose. Just as suddenly, he leapt from the pose into the chair opposite Shayera, leaning towards her from his crouched position on the chair.

"So what's your problem, huh kid?" he said, adopting a Humphrey Bogart voice. "Don't like Christmas? Don't like religion? Lonely? Or just angry at everything? C'mon kid, gimme something."

Shayera rubbed the back of her neck nervously, and Creeper bounded on to the table in front of her, leaning ever closer.

"So, it's lonely, huh?"

"What? I didn't say that."

Creeper laughed. "No, but you twitched. It's the ever present twitch, dahling. It means you're lonely. Why're you lonely, huh? Creeper's here."

Shayera paused, then mentally shrugged. It was the Creeper. Who was he going to tell? Who would believe him even if he did tell them?

"I guess after the invasion, I-"

"Invasion! Where! Don't let them take my brain!" Creeper yelled, leaping off the table and looking frantically around the room.

"No, no… I mean the Thanagarian invasion."

"Oh, right… I get it. Good one!"

He burst out laughing, and Shayera couldn't help but find his grin infectious. "Sorry, Birdnose. You were speaking. I need to learn me some manners, ma."

Shayera laughed and shook her head. "I guess… I just wonder who I have left to… celebrate with."

"What about Green Lantern? I thought you two were… y'know, guv'nor… nudge, nudge, wink wink," he said, winking and nudging her as he did so.

Shayera would have scowled, but she found it difficult to be in a bad mood around someone so happy. "No… uh, no, we're not."

"Oh, all right then. What about Flash? You spend a lot of time with him. I spend a lot of time with him too."

"You do?"

"No," he quickly replied, then burst out laughing. "Though I did eat his popcorn once. Yummy stuff."

"Right… Anyway, no, Flash is busy during the holidays."

"I bet if you asked him, he'd make time…"

"Probably, but I don't want to trouble him."

"Okey-dokey! What about... that Doctor guy?"

Shayera frowned. "What… Dr Fate?"

Creeper bounced up and down on his chair. "That's him!"

Shayera thought for a moment. After the Thanagarian invasion, Dr Fate and Inza had taken her in. They had taken care of her and allowed her to find her purpose in life. And she couldn't think of any other time when she felt more at peace, even during her emotional turmoil. She smiled.

"Thank you, Crazyface," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder, and he nodded maniacally in agreement.

"It's all right, Birdnose! Have a Merry New Year!"

She smiled and turned to leave. "Same to you, Crazyface."

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"Shayera. I was not expecting you."

She looked at the man clad in blue and gold stood before her, considering his tone of voice. It was almost completely neutral, as always, but there was genuine surprise in there somewhere. But nothing negative. She shrugged, hoping she would come across as nonchalant.

"I was just passing, and I thought I'd stop by to see how you're all doing."

Dr Fate paused, as though judging her sincerity. After a few moments, he nodded. "Very well. You are always welcome here, Shayera. Just try to keep your enthusiasm while playing chess to a minimum; Inza and I are in the process of a most complex meditation chant."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

Fate held up a hand to halt her. "We are merely in the preliminary stages at the moment. Arthur and Amazo are already inside. Stay as long as you please."

And with a flash of light, he was gone, and Shayera was inside Fate's tower. She turned to see Aquaman and Amazo in an intense game of chess. Much to Shayera's surprise, Amazo seemed to be losing. Amazo looked up at the source of light, his small red eyes widening slightly at the sight of her. Aquaman glanced over his shoulder.

"I see you had nowhere to go during this strange time of the year."

Shayera approached the King of Atlantis. "Nice to see you too. Amazo," she said, nodding at the golden android.

"Shayera," he responded calmly, moving a chess piece forward without looking at the board. He turned his head to look at Aquaman. "Checkmate in twenty one moves. You are improving."

Aquaman growled, and Shayera smiled, sitting down on a footstool. She looked at the long haired King. "You know about Christmas in Atlantis?"

"It's hard not to, isn't it?" he grunted, offering her a quick glance before looking at the android again. "Set up the board."

She turned to the golden demi-god. "And you? Do you know anything about this season?"

Amazo paused for a moment as he telekinetically arranged the pieces on the chequered board. "I know that the reduced temperature results in snowfall, and that the stock market-"

Shayera laughed and waved her hand to stop him from talking. "No, I mean… do you know what it means to humans?"

The android seemed ready to respond, then stopped himself. "No." He mentally pushed a pawn forward. "Your move," he said, nodding at the King of Atlantis.

"Why do you care, anyway?" Aquaman asked absent-mindedly, scratching his beard thoughtfully as he looked at the chess board. Shayera shrugged.

"I don't know. I've just seen such a reaction to it, and I got to wondering what humans find so enthralling about Christmas time."

"It is an opportunity for material gain, for acquisition, for-" Amazo began, holding up a finger as he listed off the reasons.

"No, it's more than that. Humans are happier this time of year. They feel better about themselves and others. They help each other when, any other time of the year, they'd do nothing to help their fellow man."

Aquaman moved one of his pawns forward, and looked over at Shayera. "What you really want to know is what you should be doing this time of year."

"No I'm not," Shayera quickly responded, frowning.

Amazo leant forward slightly, his hulking frame overshadowing both of them. "Actually, Aquaman's assessment seems most accurate. It has been my observation that the people who come here only come for guidance or solitude to discover something about themselves. That is why I am here, it is why you were here before, and it is why Aquaman is here."

"I'm not here for guidance," Aquaman shot back, and Amazo shook his head.

"You are here for guidance on how to defend Atlantis against mystical threats, are you not? Thereby discovering something about yourself."

Aquaman grumbled under his breath and sat back in his chair. "Your move," he muttered.

Shayera looked at the android, trying to hold back her smile. "So you think I'm here to find out about my place in the Christmas season?"

"Or perhaps the nature of Christmas itself, and how it applies to you. I do not honestly know."

Shayera nodded slowly. Silently, she rose from the small stool. "Thank you. And Aquaman?"

He looked up from the game.

"Checkmate."

He frowned and looked down, only to find that Amazo had somehow found a way to checkmate him in two moves.

"Thank you, Shayera," he growled through gritted teeth.

"Tell Dr Fate and Inza I said thank you."

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Shayera lifted her hand to knock on the door, then hesitated. Did she really want to be here? Back at Fate's tower, this had seemed like the right thing to do, but now she wasn't so sure. What if he wasn't there? What if he didn't want to see her? She shook the thoughts from her head, and knocked on the door. Within a few seconds, the door hissed open, and there he stood.

"Birdnose?" Creeper asked, looking confused behind his usual grin.

"Hey, Crazyface. I thought you'd like to get something to eat."

She didn't even want to know what the smell coming from his room was. Whatever it was, it was burning. Well, burning was an exaggeration. It was more like it was smouldering.

Creeper's face lit up with excitement. "Let me grab my coat!" he said, quickly latching onto the red fur coat that was wrapped around his shoulders. "Let's go!" he said, bounding down the hall ahead of her. She sighed. This would probably all end up being good practice for her someday having a kid of her own. She laughed inwardly at the possibility.

He'd probably end up being a superhero.

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(A/N: After using the Creeper last chapter, I wanted to use him again, since crazy guys are always fun to write. And I also got to thinking about what he would do during the holidays, and started to feel sorry for the lonely crazy guy (though he'd probably just put his patch on and become his reporter persona again, but still). And mixing him with Shayera seemed like a fun idea.

Now, I know I said I'd put Green Lantern in this, but he and Shayera are put together too much as it is. I'll let the show and talented authors deal with them. I'll do the relationships you don't see much of (and aren't likely to see at all).

Hey, and I still managed to get the Flash in there. I think I'll count 'em up for the end of the fic.

Anyways, please be reviewing, kind sirs and sirettes.)