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AFTERMATH: THE BEADS ON THE STRING
A Justice League Unlimited - R 'Verse Story
by BillA1
Copyright April 2006
Rating: (PG)
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Disclaimer: The characters Batman, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Superman & Flash and their respective secret identities are all owned by DC Comics. Static is owned by Milestone. This story is intended for my own pleasure and is not for profit. It has been posted to this site for others to read. Places and characters not own by DC Comics are my own creation. This story is based on characters from the animated Justice League series episode: "Destroyer" written Dwayne McDuffie. The AFTERMATH stories are a collection of R 'Verse tales set after "Destroyer" and before the Batman Beyond time period. "The R 'Verse" is copyright 2006. A huge shout out of thanks to Merlin Missy for her beta on this story. For the FoBs for keeping the dream alive.
Series Complete. Synopsis: John and Shayera must make decisions about their future in their new world. A John /Shayera /Rex futurefic. Spoilers up through "Destroyer." A sequel to: AFTERMATH: Return of the Queen. A prequel to: Bookends.
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Chapter One
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I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time. – Ian Fleming
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(The Metro Tower - John's room)
(Two hours ago)
"And just when were you going to tell me you could go back?" Shayera demanded. "Or were you planning to go back by yourself?"
"I said we could go back to our own time," he corrected her. He returned her glare with one of his own. He hadn't even intended to bring it up, had just casually referred to the possibility in passing while they reminisced. They'd been in his room since dinner last night; just chatting about everything and anything they could think of, talking about themselves, their past, their future, their hopes and their dreams. Stewart would later tell Rex that he learned more about his mother in this one night than he'd learned in the preceding seven years. And then he'd mentioned going back. "You knew everything else about this ring," he said pointedly holding up his ring finger. "I figured you knew it could do time travel."
Her expression changed from anger to hurt and back to anger in the space of three seconds. Low blow, Stewart. He sat down on his bed. "Sit down," he said softly, patting his bed.
She glared at him and remained standing. "Please," he said again. "I want to share something with you. I need to share something with you."
She stood for another moment and then sat on the opposite side of the bed. She kept her back to him, but turned her head so she could see him. "I'm sitting," she said, her eyes narrowing. "What?"
Stewart sighed. "Remember when …." He paused. He hated this memory. "When you revealed the truth about your intelligence mission? You said you thought I would understand because I was a soldier once."
She nodded. Her expression immediately softened as he said, "Well, I need to explain something to you. One soldier to another."
She got up and walked around the bed and sat next to him. "I'm listening," she said quietly.
"While I was on Oa, I researched the archives to see what I'd missed. Within months of our disappearance, there was a civil war on Oa. There were some Guardians and Green Lanterns who felt the Lanterns should rule their sectors, not just be responsible for them. These Guardians and Lanterns broke away from the Corps."
He paused. "The war went on for almost five years."
"Five years?" Shayera asked. "How many Lanterns are you talking about?"
Stewart sighed loudly. "A third of the Corps. Twelve hundred Lanterns broke away." He glanced away from her. "The fratricide was enormous. Lantern killed Lantern to take control of sectors. Katma, Kilowog and a lot of others I knew died defending Oa from the rebels."
He looked at her as she put her hand on top of his and whispered, "I'm sorry about your friends. They were good people."
Stewart nodded and got to his feet. "Eventually, the renegades were defeated. More than twenty-five years later, the Corps still hasn't recovered. And that's my dilemma. The Guardians and a lot of Lanterns think I fled the fight and now that I'm back they think I came voluntarily to the future because I was a coward. They're not saying it out loud, but they think it."
Shayera stood, walked up to him and poked her finger in his chest. "You're many things, John Stewart, but you are not a coward. Don't let me hear you say that again. You would have been there, if you could."
Stewart looked down at her and flashed a quick smile before frowning. "And that's just it. I can be there if I want to. Maybe if I go back, I can prevent the war or make it end sooner or …."
Shayera shook her head, "Or cause your side to lose."
"What?"
"Maybe your side won because you weren't there," she said. "Did you consider that?"
"That's ridiculous," he answered. "My ring could have helped. I could have helped."
She was quiet for a moment, then looked into his eyes. "You were a soldier, a Marine, so I'll tell you what you already know. Your side won without you. And if you want to go back, I'll go back with you. But I want you to answer this for me before we go: To what point in time do you go back and what do you do different? Do you prevent Metamorpho from saving us both? Maybe you leave me to die in the building alone or maybe you save yourself instead of me in Las Vegas, thwarting the invasion, or maybe you kill Hro when you first meet him. Or maybe you have jelly instead of cream cheese on a bagel. How will you know the right thing to do and know that your side will still win if you do it?"
Stewart frowned. He turned his back on her and lowered his head. "You know that I don't know the answer to any of that, but I do know I wouldn't leave you and I wouldn't change anything different about Las Vegas."
"Well that's good to hear," she said with just a hint of a smile in her voice. He turned to face her and she frowned. "John, I don't want to get into your Lantern business and I'm even prepared to give up my stake in this future, but you need to decide which one is more important to you: The fact that they won without you or that they won, period."
"Stop!" His eyes narrowed into a steely stare. Shayera stepped back, surprised.
"I know which one is most important," he answered.
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(Now)
They sat on his bed with the game between. Stewart glanced at the clock and then back to the chess board in front of him. In a moment, she'd announce how many moves he had until she won. They'd resumed chatting after their earlier argument, but he made a note to himself that from this point on in their relationship he would never automatically assume that she knew what he knew.
"I think it was when we thought we were stranded on that garbage dump planet," he said in response to her question. "You remember, when we went looking for Superman and J'onn?"
"So, I see," Shayera said brightly, not looking up from the chess board. "I was suddenly attractive to you when you thought that I was the only woman around, huh?" She looked up, flashed a quick grin and looked back at the board. "I think, for me, it began when we were trapped in that dimension and met the Justice Guild." She paused and then added, "Checkmate in five moves."
Stewart sighed. Well, some things haven't changed. He studied the board and said, "Tell me about your family on Thanagar." He suddenly looked up, realizing what he'd asked, and stared into her emotionless face. "I'm sorry," he quickly said. "I mean, did you have any childhood pets? Stewart, that's not a good question either, idiot.
"It's okay," she said sadly. She took a deep breath and let it out very slowly. "Thanagar is still my home. I did have family there, but I'm sure they're all dead now. What about you? Any brothers or sisters?"
Stewart shook his head and moved his queen. "No. No family left."
She shrugged as she studied his move. "Then tell me about your childhood."
She looks really good with that haircut. "Nothing to tell. It was probably a little tougher than most people had, but I did okay." He reached up, scratched his ear and said more to himself than to her, "They'd be surprised how well CJ did."
Her head suddenly snapped up to look at him. "CJ? Check!"
"Childhood nickname," he answered. He moved another piece on the board. The end was near and they both knew it.
She quickly moved her rook and looked up at him again. She frowned. "So what does CJ stand for? Check!"
"You know how nicknames are," he said glancing at the clock again. "You get one as a kid and it sticks even when it no longer fits. Did you ever have a nickname as a child?" He moved his remaining bishop to protect his king.
She smiled briefly as she took the bishop. "Yes, I had a family name as a very young child. Check!"
Stewart looked at her, waiting for her to tell him. She looked down at the board again. He cocked his head toward her. "Well, go ahead. Share!"
She looked away from the game for a moment, then brought her hands to her face. "When I was a very young child, I was ... somewhat high-strung and easily agitated."
"Nice to know you've outgrown that trait," he smirked and then added, "Sorry, go ahead."
She glared at him, then her expression softened. "No, that's okay," she said quietly. "I don't think I will."
Stewart frowned, narrowing his eyes. "I thought we were going to be honest with each other. Completely open, as you said. Nothing off the table, you said." He paused as she glanced away from him again. "Look. There's only one person on the planet that knows what CJ stands for." Then as an afterthought, he added, "And it's not Mari."
She arched her eyebrows and cocked her head toward him. "Okay. What does CJ stand for?"
He moved his remaining knight to protect his king. She'd take this piece and end the game. "It stands for 'Crybaby John,'" he admitted.
"Oh." Her eyes twinkled. "Somehow, I don't think that fits," she said placing her hand on her queen.
Stewart nodded and sighed. "It did when I was younger. It's a name my cousins gave me. You see, my mother died when I was a young boy. I was raised by my Grandmother until she passed away shortly after. I was bounced from relative to relative until I ended up with Aunt Loretta." He looked at Shayera as she took his knight with her queen. "I ended up doing a lot of crying when I was young. But, I don't think CJ ended up doing too badly."
He paused and stared at her pointedly. "Now, what about your nickname?"
She was quiet for a long moment. "Eko'msu'. My nickname was eko'msu'."
"And what does that mean?"
Shayera shook her head as she said "Checkmate! Maybe I'll tell you later about the name. What time are you supposed to meet Vixen and her husband?"
Stewart got off the bed and stretched. "That's not fair. You were supposed to tell me," he said, engaging the ring's auto translator, "what Eko'msu' meant." He briefly glowed with green energy. His eyes widened, then he started laughing so hard tears rolled down his cheeks.
Shayera got off the bed on the other side. "You cheated. You used your ring to translate, didn't you?" Her eyes flashed with anger.
Stewart slowly stopped laughing and wiped his eyes, but the smile never left his face. "Maybe." He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "I'm supposed to meet Mari at 11:30."
Shayera looked at the clock, looked up at the ceiling as if thinking, then back at him. "Shouldn't you leave now since it's 10:30 A.M. in Paris already?"
"In just a few minutes," he said as he held up his ring. "I can get there in plenty of time. Are you sure you don't want to come with me?"
Shayera shook her head. "No, but I'll be here when you get back." She paused and looked him in the eyes. "John, if you think you want her to be part of your life again, I want you to tell me up front so I can move on with my life." She folded her arms across her chest as she looked away.
When he'd told her that he was going to meet Mari, Shayera seemed to take it better than he thought she would. She agreed that he needed to see Mari, to find out how she was doing, to let her know he --- they --- were alive. Shayera outwardly seemed to take the news with a great deal of understanding. And that means she doesn't understand at all.
Stewart walked around the bed and stood next to her. She looked up at him and he smirked. "Don't worry about me ... or her. That book is closed now. Puddles."
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