"At War With Gods"
By: Angelic Temptress
Disclaimer: Keep 'em WB. You always seem to mess it up anyway…
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: To Another Shore
Thank you, Ms. Merlin Missy. You are the greatest.
xXx
(1/4)
"We all have our demons."
"Thanks but I already know that, Clark."
Superman offered a smile and sipped his orange juice. "You miss him."
"J'onn is doing what he has to. He needs time away from us so he can find a connection with the people of Earth."
"Like you did?"
Shayera lowered her gaze and shook her head. "No. That was completely different."
It was almost five in the morning, and they were sitting in the Metro Tower's empty cafeteria, the cafeteria restricted to veteran Leaguers.
Both had been stationed there for the night. Superman had monitor duty in twenty minutes, and Shayera couldn't sleep.
"Are you working tomorrow?" he asked.
"First shift. Did you know Flash and I are in charge of the movie tonight? We're showing Kill Bill Vol. 1."
"A little violent, isn't it?"
"But it's full of ass-kicking women. Aren't you going to join?"
"No. I have a date."
"Lucky you."
xXx
"You just seem to get prettier with every decade."
Diana whirled around to face the man whose voice spoke to her. As she expected, Ares stood in her room. He wore a smile.
"Vacate my room and our base," she ordered and crossed her arms over her chest.
He only laughed. "Diana, Diana. You act as if you're impressive." Ares rounded her bed and came to stand before her. His iced eyes glanced over the underwear on her comforter before he looked at her again. "Shouldn't you be glad to see a member of your own family?"
She gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to throw him through her bedroom wall. "Why are you here?"
"Well, I was actually having dinner with a couple of family members, and your sweet name came up. I wanted to pay a visit because, after all, we're cousins."
His eyes lowered for a split second, obviously for the sight of her cleavage, and his smile widened. "That beautiful armor looks great on you, by the way. I wouldn't be surprised if your dear mother knew you were destined to wear it."
Annoyed, she rolled her eyes. Diana picked that up from either Shayera or Wally years ago. "I don't care who your father and mother are. It doesn't make you any greater in my eyes."
"Well, I happen to care that my father's brother is your dear old dad."
She simply gave him her best glare.
"I'm just being an aggravating foe, Diana. You should be used to that by now." He averted his stare to study her open closet. "So, how's that bat fellow?" Before her jaw could drop, he added, "Aphrodite tends to keep me informed of these things."
"Oh yes. I forget that Aphrodite forgets she's married from time to time."
"Oh, you always were a sharp one. Speaking of sharpness, I was wondering how that little Hawkgirl was doing. Since the Thanagarians invaded, I'm sure things haven't been the same around here for her."
Diana crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes. "I have monitor duty in five minutes, so I suggest you leave before I literally throw you out."
"I got the message. Have a good day." He disappeared in a blaze of fire.
Diana let out an aggravated breath and left her quarters for the control room of the Metro Tower. Superman, Wildcat, and Fire were already there.
"Good morning," Superman greeted. Although it was nearly five in the morning, he wore a cheerful grin on his boyish face. His smiles had always been contagious, so Diana mimicked it without thinking. He handed her a cup of coffee and started to pour another.
"Thank you." She sipped it and enjoyed its slightly sweet taste. He knew how she liked her morning coffee. Coffee: one of this world's simple pleasures. "Mmm."
"Glad you like it." He waited for Diana to take her seat before he sat down. "It seems like forever since we've even seen each other."
She shrugged. "Well, you've been busy in Metropolis, and I've been playing the part of a diplomat."
He nodded.
"How's Lois?"
"She's doing well. She got back from covering the press conference in London the other night."
"Oh. How'd that go?"
"The President and the Prime Minister were holding the press conference. How do you think it went?"
They both laughed a little.
"Have you spoken to Batman?" he asked softly. "I know you two were at odds…"
"A lot has happened in Gotham. I couldn't expect him to ignore it all."
A breeze blew Diana's black hair from her face and Superman's cape into the air for a moment.
The Flash stopped in front of Fire with a hand leaning on the computer consol. Fire smiled and bit her lower lip as her cheeks flushed.
"Hey, babe."
"Hello."
"I just came to see you."
"Just to see me?"
His smile grew as well. "Maybe to kiss you good morning, too." Flash gently kissed her lips and giggled like a schoolboy.
Superman and Diana exchanged smiles.
Fire's face brightened. "This morning has gotten much better."
Wildcat interrupted the couple. "Get a room, lovebirds. You're making me sick."
xXx
"Shayera…" his little annoying voice whispered behind her ear.
Though she wanted to send her young friend a scowl, she didn't. "What?"
"You look bored." Flash jumped onto the rec. room couch and placed an arm around her. This time, she did scowl. He immediately removed his arm.
"I am not bored. I'm watching Will & Grace on Lifetime."
His eyes widened. "Oh God. You're watching Lifetime? What has that loon done to you?"
Shayera glared. "Don't call Carter a loon, Wally."
He huffed. "Just because you're dating him doesn't mean I have to like him."
"I'm not dating him."
"I forgot. You're 'seeing' each other." Wally slumped to the opposite side of the couch and propped his head in his hand.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked and muted the television.
"I don't know. Nothing, I guess."
"Something happen with Beatriz?"
"No. She's perfect." The Flash lay down and kicked his yellow boots into Shayera's lap. Because he was so solemn, she decided to allow his actions to pass. "It's like… things are so weird right now. J'onn left. Batman's never here. You don't really talk to anyone but the loon. John hides himself in his room with Vixen. Superman is always with his girlfriend. Diana has meetings to go to –"
"Stop referring to Carter as the loon. But you have Beatriz now. Things change…."
"I don't know if I like it. I mean, I've made a lot of new friends, but I miss the seven of us, you know? I miss hanging out, cracking jokes, staring at you, picking on Bats, staring at Diana –"
"We still do that."
"No, we don't. When was the last time you and Bats played chess?" Wally challenged and lifted his head from the armrest.
Shayera sighed. "We all have things going on in our lives right now, Wally. We're all searching for something –"
"Extraordinary," he finished for her and sat up extremely quickly. "Well, what the seven of us had was extraordinary. I mean, don't you miss it?"
"Of course I do, but it's not fair to me or to any of you to wish for it. It was a complicated masquerade. Things are better now that our secrets are out in the open."
"Are they? Because I could bet my bottom dollar that you're not happy."
Both their comm. links buzzed.
"Shayera. Flash," Superman's voice said. "We need you in the monitor womb."
xXx
"What's the problem?" Shayera asked as she and the Flash walked in.
Superman gave a serious look. "Killer Frost and Poison Ivy are robbing a yacht in a bay near Gotham. Someone on the yacht dialed the police but never got the chance to speak."
"Where's Batman?"
"Working or ignoring us. He's not answering our calls." Superman set the coordinates for the transporting machine.
"Don't bother, Big Blue. Gotham's not that far from here. I can get us there in a couple of seconds." Flash lifted Shayera into his arms without her permission.
Diana gave Clark a look. "That's going to go over real well."
Shayera jumped from his arms. "Do you want to rip my wings off?" She started for the transport machine with Flash trailing behind.
Diana then pressed a button on the consol. "Mr. Terrific, we dispatched Shayera and Flash to take care of the Ivy and Frost situation."
"Good. I've got Vixen, Green Arrow, and Black Canary in Los Angeles keeping an eye out for Deadshot at the request of both Batman and Nightwing." Terrific paused for a second as he typed on the keyboard. "The Question is done in Hub City and will be returning to the Metro Tower soon."
Diana nodded, "Stargirl and Supergirl are stationed in Tokyo. The Prime Minister wanted the girls there for crowd control."
"I also have Steel and Caption Atom in Russia taking care of an illegal trade route the mafia has been using." Terrific then added, "Are there any other missions I should be aware of at the moment?"
"No. Wonder Woman out." Diana cut the connection. "Today's kind of slow, isn't it?"
Superman shrugged. "Let's not try and jinx ourselves just yet."
xXx
When they arrived on the edge of the docks, Flash ignored Shayera's powerful glare and raised a hand to shield his eyes from the bright sun. When he squinted, he could make out the ship.
"What's the plan?" he asked and gave a sideward glance. "You want me to distract, or will you start the attack?"
"You take frostbite. I got the plant." Shayera took to the air and started for the yacht.
"I'm glad we discussed this," Flash mumbled and raced over the water. His feet barely touched the surface of the bay as he ran. He then ran up the side of the yacht and landed on its deck with as little sound as possible.
Stealth: a word GL and Bats would swear by.
He pressed his back to a crate and snuck a glance to the front of the large boat. Garden Girl had two arrows loaded on her wrist gadgets, and both were aimed at the family and crew. Flash was waiting for a signal from Shayera before he moved.
xXx
Shayera quietly landed on the roof of the yacht and peered over to see Poison Ivy and Killer Frost stealing from the family.
"Now, pass the bags to the person on the aisle, and Killer Frost will pick them up." Ivy waited as her newest partner collected the bags that were now full of money, credit cards, watches, and jewelry.
Shayera heard a noise from the starboard side of the ship and watched as Ivy motioned Frost to check it out.
"Damn it, Flash," she muttered and decided to take action. "Lower your aim, Ivy," she called out and flew to the deck. Shayera tapped her mace in her opposite hand and smirked at the other woman. "Because I don't think you're going to get out of this one."
"On the contrary my dear bird, I believe we will."
She laughed. "How would Harley feel if she knew she was replaced by some amateur who spews ice from her hands?"
Ivy moved her aim to Shayera and snarled. "Don't you dare speak her name. You have no idea how much she meant to me."
"She's obviously expendable." Two arrows zoomed toward her, but Shayera effortlessly deflected them both with her mace. "You're going to have to do better than that."
With a swift motion, Ivy rolled a seed toward Shayera. It immediately turned into thick vines that wrapped around her legs. Shayera allowed her electric mace to glow and pressed it against the plant. It shriveled and died moments before Shayera took to the sky and shouted her war cry.
Ivy wasn't out of tricks just yet. She tossed a handful of seeds Shayera couldn't evade all at the same time. They sprouted into vines which released a potent and toxic odor, causing her to cough. As the vines bound her, she dropped her mace into the water and found it difficult to both breathe and see.
She, like her weapon, fell into the bay. As she struggled with the vines, they tightened around her wings and upper body. She tried to scream for Wally, but her voice only created bubbles in the murky water.
Shayera became very lightheaded. Images began flashing before her eyes, the eyes of people she'd wronged. Her desperate lungs burned for oxygen as she continued to kick, knowing she couldn't die like this.
Her efforts weakened.
Shayera blacked out.
xXx
Someone cleared her throat, and Flash turned his head to see who stood to his left. Killer Frost smiled as she raised her hand.
"I've found a stowaway," she giggled and then narrowed her bright blue eyes. "Sorry, but the rules say you've got to pay for your ticket."
He slowly raised his hands. "I had no idea." Flash then raced around her.
"Hey. No fair!"
He tapped her shoulder from behind and grinned. "Miss me?"
"No." She didn't turn to look at him but rather did a flip and landed on the crate he had been hiding behind.
Flash knew he'd have to run up and catch her. He started but lost his footing and fell onto his back, landing on a patch of ice. Flash groaned in frustration. I fell for that again?
Killer Frost chuckled. "You are so predictable."
"And you're going to jail."
Her head tilted to one side. "Did you pick up that line from Superman or Batman?"
Flash jumped to his feet and raced to the crate. He punched her and she landed onto the deck. He noted the conveniently spare rope laying on one of the crates. In the blink of an eye, Frost was tied to that same crate.
He averted his eyes just as Shayera fell overboard and into the water. Though he wanted to get her, he instead started toward Poison Ivy. When she blew something in his direction, he waved his arms and created a wind to send the seeds back to her. The seeds erupted into vines that wrapped around her upper body, keeping her immobile.
"That worked pretty well. I guess I should pull weeds more often." He then raced off the edge of the yacht and dived into the water.
xXx
"Are you going to the movie tonight?" Superman asked while he copied a few reports into the computer.
Diana glanced at him, noticed that he wasn't looking at her, and returned to her filing. "I don't think so. Are you planning on attending?"
"No. Lois and I are getting dinner."
The computer buzzed, and Flash's voice filled the monitor room. "Flash to the Metro Tower. Come in! Diana! Superman! Come in!"
Diana pressed a key and answered, "We read you, Flash. What's going on?"
"I can't find Shayera. She fell into the bay, and I've been searching, but I can't find her!"
Diana didn't even have to speak. Superman sped from his chair and flew out of the building.
"Superman's on his way, Flash. He'll aid you. Together, you can cover the entire bay in seconds."
Flash was breathing hard. "He's here."
xXx