Shayera raised an eyebrow at the movie that was currently on. While she wasn't the biggest fan of old Westerns, she wasn't about to complain to John. She admittedly was finding this She Wore a Yellow Ribbon to be rather entertaining unlike the others that she found to be utterly boring besides some of the gun slinging scenes.

"Was this John Wayne guy the only actor for Westerns back then?" Shayera asked as she leaned against John as the two were lounging on the couch. "He's like in every single Western movie you watch."

"He wasn't in every movie Shayera," John glanced at her and shrugged. "He was just really popular back then and he played the parts well."

"Or the directors thought he was the only person who existed who could play those parts," Shayera stated with a smirk.

"Smartass," John quipped. "How are you feeling from the other day?"

Shayera shrugged, "A little sore but not too bad. The bandages and stitches are starting to get itchy and that's getting irritating."

John threw his arm over her shoulder and twirled a piece of her hair around his finger, "I know you've had worse."

"Oh definitely," she readily agreed. "I think the most beat up I ever got was after taking on Superman."

John raised an eyebrow and looked at her with a somewhat surprised expression, "When did you fight Superman?"

"Didn't I tell you the story about when I first came to Earth and met Superman?"

"Not entirely, you only mentioned that Superman was the first superhero you ever met. I didn't know you actually fought him."

Shayera lightly chuckled, "Oh well then, get ready for this one. So I apparently broke into a convenience store on my first night on Earth. I had no idea at all, mind you, that I was doing something illegal. I thought it was like some food ration station or something. Anyway, next morning I wake up to the cops banging on the door. I take them down but not before they called for backup. So all of these cops get there and I ended up getting shot in the shoulder and bit by a police dog."

"Jeez Shay you have enough excitement on your first two days on Earth?" John asked in an amused tone. "Seems like you made a lot of friends. That and you were already causing trouble starting on your first day."

Shayera waved him off with a smirk, "That's not half of it John. I never saw a human before then so my first impression were those cops. So you can imagine my surprise when Superman flies in. Needless to say he realized it was all a misunderstanding and broke up the fight between me and those dumbass cops. So a few stitches and two days later, Superman ends up getting mind controlled by Gentleman Ghost. He has him start trashing Midway City and I go to try to stop him. Let me tell you, I got my ass thoroughly handed to me."

John raised an eyebrow, "You never admit when you lose a fight that badly. It had to be pretty bad for you to say that. Though given it's Clark so that's to be expected."

Shayera nodded, "Oh it was pretty bad. He tackled me through a building, threw me into a bus stop, punched me into a parked car, and then slammed me into the ground. I was lucky I had my endurance. I only got a few broken ribs, a concussion, and a dislocated wing from the whole thing. Oh and I did reopen my wounds from the day before that."

"That was it? You got smacked around by Superman and that's all you had to show from it?"

"I told you John, I am very durable, with limitations of course. I would never want to fight Clark or someone as strong as him ever again. He could have easily torn me in half if Gentleman Ghost had told him to. I was lucky Gentleman Ghost was so stupid and arrogant. At least I lived to tell the tale plus Midway City dubbed me Hawkgirl and you know how the rest unfolded from there."

"Yeah I'm pretty sure I remember the rest of your stories from your time in Midway City," John then lightly frowned. "You know I'm still not okay with the fact that you were on active duty, Thanagarian durability or not."

Shayera lightly rolled her eyes, "I know John. Just be thankful I agreed to this whole monitor duty and crowd control bullshit."

"I am relieved, trust me," John said to her. "I'm just more surprised you agreed that easily. Everyone honestly was too. We all expected you to fight tooth and nail against it."

Shayera was silent for moment, "The other day proved a point to me John. I have thirty-two stitches in me and it could have been a hell of a lot worse than that." She then snorted back a laugh, "Hell I thought fighting wars for Thanagar was dangerous. I think I've gotten more injured on Earth than all of the decades I spent in the military."

"Decades?" John raised an eyebrow before smirking. "You know you never did tell me when your birthday was or how old you are."

"Oh um well that's uh," Shayera looked away. "That doesn't really matter John, now does it? I look young so that should be all that matters."

John smirked, "Let me guess, Thanagarians age slower than humans right? So you're probably a lot older than you look. Don't forget Shay, I've been around plenty of aliens throughout my life."

"Why don't you guess then?" Shayera gave him a small, mischievous smile. "And just a warning, you better not laugh."

John playfully rolled his eyes, "I promise I won't. Let's see, forty-five?"

Shayera shook her head with an amused smile, "Not even close."

John paused at that. He knew not all aliens aged at the same rate as a human. Katma was a lot older than she looked as well but Korugarans aged at an extremely slow rate compared to humans. Thanagarians seemed very similar to humans in most regards so John had previously assumed that Shayera was no older than her late twenties or early thirties by just appearances alone when they had first met.

John then swallowed, "I'm going to regret this one. Seventy-five?"

Shayera softly chuckled, "Closer, you have to go up a little bit."

"Eighty-two?"

"Getting there."

"Shay," he began. "I really don't think I want to know now."

"If it makes you feel any better I'm physically not even thirty yet."

John lightly sighed in relief, "That's a small consolation."

"My birthday is September 19. I was born during the Earth year of 1920. For every hundred years human age, Thanagarians age thirty years."

John's eyes widened as he slowly looked over at her, "That means you're going to be eighty-nine in about a month. How long were you in the military for?"

Shayera thought for a moment, "I was about sixteen or seventeen when I joined so over sixty years."

"And you fought in wars since that age?"

Shayera shrugged, "Yeah pretty much. I mean the last twenty-five to thirty years was also spent being a military instructor for espionage so I wasn't in battle as much but I still fought in wars during that time as well."

John paused for moment and glanced over at her, looking rather unsure if he wanted to ask the question that had just popped into his mind, "You don't have to answer this if you don't want to or if it makes you feel too uncomfortable. What do you think was the worst order you were ever given?"

Shayera leaned forward and bit her bottom lip, "Probably when I was told to execute my own soldier for treason."

John felt his stomach twist into a knot at that, "And you did it?"

Shayera shook her head, "I couldn't. I ordered her older sister, Paran Dul, to do it instead."

"Wasn't that the same Thanagarian from that ambush?"

"Yeah, she had a grudge against me for a while for a good number of things. I couldn't and I still can't take the life of a Thanagarian. Now that I look back it's rather ironic. We went to Aza to get their intel on Hyperspace Bypass Generators," Shayera lightly rolled her eyes. "They had sent Corla Dul, one of my best espionage students, to infiltrate. She instead ended up warning the Aznians that we were coming. Corla tried to plead with me that the Thanagarians already had the blueprints and had lied about the entire mission." Shayera then sighed as she looked down, "I didn't believe her. I couldn't kill her myself but at the same time I couldn't disobey Hro's order."

"So you ordered her sister to execute her instead. You were pretty high up in the military at that point I assume?"

Shayera lightly nodded, "Yes but only because Hro had used his authority to make me his second-in-command. Technically, as his advisor, it should have been Kragger which was why Kragger hated me. I had his rightful position only due to Hro's interest in me."

John swallowed lightly before he continued, "And was your interest in Hro the same?"

"He was my career stepping ladder. I was his trophy. He didn't care about my wellbeing all too much normally. Things were different on Thanagar. We didn't really get a say in who we were promised to. Hro was considered the peak of Thanagarian strength and I was considered the peak of Thanagarian intelligence. So you can guess why we were paired."

"His brawn and your brains put together..." John said before his voice trailed off.

Shayera curtly nodded, "They wanted us to produce a super soldier. A soldier possessing Hro's strength and my mind." Shayera then let out a small, amused snort, "It's funny how back then I wouldn't have cared one way or another. Female Thanagarians typically don't care much about what happens to any kids they have. That's if you're allowed to have any to begin with."

John raised an eyebrow, "They choose who can have kids? Is it some kind of gene pool thing?"

"Somewhat it is. Just they rather have more elite soldiers bearing children than simple frontline soldiers. Not that all frontline soldiers don't have any. I was the product of mere frontline soldiers. Had I not got my act together I would have been a simple frontline soldier as well."

John chuckled, "Were you some kind of juvenile delinquent in the military academy?"

Shayera lightly laughed, "Not at all Lantern, more like I was the exact opposite of what Thanagar wanted in their soldiers."

"No offense but wouldn't they want someone overly aggressive?"

"I was hardly aggressive as a child. I refused to fight and didn't like violence of any kind."

"You were a pacifist?" John asked her with a shocked expression. "Shayera are you being serious right now?"

Shayera nodded, "I was extremely timid. I had highly undesirable traits for a Thanagarian soldier. Hence why neither of my parents had children after me. Thanagar deemed them as unsuitable for breeding due to how I turned out as a child. The other example is Paran and Corla, as siblings are rare on Thanagar. Paran was a well-bred soldier so her parents ended up having Corla as well. I mean I eventually did become highly aggressive over the years but it had to be worked into me rather than being a natural born trait. Thanagar has rather effective means of conditioning. They can make anyone grow a backbone."

"Now it makes sense," John quietly said to himself.

Shayera tilted her head in curiosity, "What makes sense?"

"I never understood how someone as loving, gentle, and compassionate as you could be as aggressive and battle-hungry as you are. Now I know how it's possible. Deep-down you're still a pacifist."

Shayera raised an eyebrow at that, "I don't see how honestly."

"You threw yourself in-between Amazo and Grundy. I always thought it was solely due to Grundy being your friend. You didn't want to see the fighting anymore, did you?"

Shayera was silent for a moment before lightly shaking her head, "I didn't want to see any of you fighting each other. I also didn't want to see what Amazo could have done to Grundy. I was hoping I could have talked down Grundy and ended everything peacefully. I didn't want it to end with violence."

John lightly smirked, "See Shay? That pacifist nature is still in you. You just buried it really deep under that tough-girl attitude you like to portray."

"I guess it sort of is. I do like to see my fair share of violence though. I prefer tasteful violence I guess. I'm not all for beating the shit out of someone for no reason," Shayera then shrugged. "It's funny how it took over a decade on Thanagar to make me into a trained killer yet it only took a few years on Earth to make me a guilt-ridden pile of mush."

"That's because you weren't a born killer Shayera. Those traits were trained into you."

"Born killer or trained killer, it doesn't matter. I still killed people and I killed a lot of people over my military career. I'll never be able to take any of it back."

"But you're atoning for it now by what you're doing with the Justice League. You save people now Shayera."

"Nothing could ever make right what I've done. I participated in genocides John. We destroyed entire cultures solely in the name of Thanagar. I even-" Shayera was cutoff as John held up a hand.

"Shayera you do understand I would have a moral obligation as a Green Lantern to turn you in to the Guardians right?"

Shayera swallowed, "I understand that but there is one thing I do need to tell you about."

John took a deep breath and sighed, "What is it?"

"It's about the Green Lantern from Earth."

John gave her a confused look, "Kyle?"

Shayera shook her head, "His name was Hal Jordan."

John frowned, "What about him? Hal died about ten years ago." His eyes then widened, "Wait a minute, you've been on Earth for about ten years now. Shayera please tell me you weren't somehow involved in his death."

"He was passing through the Polaris system. He ended up getting captured by a Thanagarian fleet. They used an Absorbacron on him to extract whatever information they could about Earth. How do you think that I or the Thanagarian armada knew English when we came to Earth?"

"What did the Thanagarians do after all that?" John asked her. "His ring returned to Oa all the way from the Vega system. How did he end up there?"

Shayera swallowed as she averted her gaze, "All that Hro told me was that he was dumped in a Gordanian cruiser and sent to Karna with dead Gordanians onboard. I'm assuming the Gordanians killed him, thinking he was responsible, once he landed on their planet. I don't know anything else."

John let out a deep sigh, "Shayera, no one knows how Hal wound up in the Vega system. The Guardians still have an active bounty for those responsible for his death. Right now if I went to Oa and repeated any of this, you would be sitting in a Sciencell either for the rest of you life or awaiting execution."

"This is only the tip of the iceberg John. Now do you understand why I never brought up anything about my life on Thanagar?"

"I get it now and I want you to know that I'll never say anything to the Guardians," John lightly gripped her hand. "No matter what you've done in your life Shayera, I will still always love you. Nothing can ever change that. If you still ever want to talk about anything else about Thanagar we can. Just try not to mention anymore war crimes."

"I'm not so sure I can promise that. I guess we could talk about my military training and that kind of stuff maybe."

"Hell we can talk about Thanagarian culture even, just anything that isn't war crime related."

"We'll see Lantern," she simply stated as she got off of the couch.

"Where are you going? If you need something I can get it for you."

"I'm just getting something to drink relax," Shayera waved him off as she entered the kitchen. "I can take care of myself you know. Being pregnant doesn't make me an invalid."

John sighed, "I know that. I just rather you take it easy when at all possible."

Shayera rolled her eyes as she walked back into the living room as she twisted the cap off of the soda bottle she was carrying, "Don't patronize me John. You know I hate that."

"Are you sure you should be drinking that stuff?" John asked with a raised eyebrow and light frown. "It's full of caffeine and high fructose corn syrup. In your condition you-"

Shayera sighed in exasperation as she tucked a strand of her red hair behind her ear, "Oh would you just shut up and stop fussing already? I'm pregnant not dying John." She rolled her eyes as she frowned into the depths of the soda bottle as if it too were warning her not to drink it. "It's only a little bit of soda. I haven't had anything to eat or drink since this morning."

"Are you feeling nauseous at all? Because that'll make you feel worse," John then noticed that Shayera did not look amused in the slightest. "What?"

"You're fussing again. It's annoying so stop it," she retorted but then sighed. "Look John, I appreciate the concern but you're going a little overboard with this. In a mere twenty-four hours you did a complete 360-"

"You mean 180," he corrected her. "Doing a complete 360 means I started and ended at the same point."

Shayera gave him a light glare, "You know what I meant. Anyway, it was really sweet at first but now it's just down right annoying."

"I didn't mean for it to be annoying," John scratched the back of his head. "I just wanted to make you comfortable."

"John, like I said before, it was sweet and well intentioned at first. I get that and appreciate it. You just have to learn how to um...how do I want to put this? Um I guess learn some self-control while doting on me."

"You mean cut it out with being a bit too overbearing?" He asked.

"Yes that's the word I couldn't think of, overbearing, that's it," she gave him a sympathetic smile. "Listen just give it like six months and I promise you can be as overbearing as you like."

"Six months? You'll be near the end of your pregnancy by then wouldn't you?"

Shayera tilted her head, "No, I'd be little over halfway through."

John shook his head, "Nearly eight months pregnant is more like over three quarters of the way through Shayera."

"How is that three quarters? Pregnancies are twelve months."

"Where are you getting twelve months from?" John asked. "Don't you mean nine months?"

Shayera gave him a confused look, "What are you talking about? Thanagarian pregnancies last twelve months. Are human ones different?"

"Oh no," John muttered to himself as he dropped his head into his hands. If the future Static hadn't been joking and Shayera was in fact 'one cranky pregnant lady' then the remaining time of the pregnancy was definitely not going to be too pleasant for him. Especially if he had to endure a cranky Shayera for nearly a year.

Shayera slowly blinked before groaning, "You mean to tell me this is going to last anywhere between nine to twelve months? You have got to be shitting me!"