A/N: Set about two months after Chapter 60 Loss. Just as a warning this chapter is pure diabetes and a little angst.
Shayera placed the furry, wet bundle onto the bathroom floor after she had hurried into her room in the Metro Tower. The kitten mewled as soon as it was set down. It was wet and dirty from where she found the feline following a League mission. Its small squeaks had drawn her attention to it and she had found it huddled against the rubble of a building. Shayera had carefully picked it up and held the small kitten close against her chest, trying to shield it from the downpour. Now it was laying dazed on the bathroom floor and she didn't know what to do.
Carefully placing the kitten onto its feet, she rubbed its wet head, causing her fingers to become slightly muddy. It was clear the kitten needed to be cleaned up before she did anything else with it.
Plugging the sink and filling it with warm water, Shayera gently lifted the kitten from the floor and into the small pool of water. She gently began to clean it with a washcloth; much to the kitten's obvious displeasure.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Shayera quietly said to kitten as she momentarily stopped cleaning it and scratched behind one of its ears. "You're filthy. You need a bath if you're going to stay here." The kitten meowed back at her, as though it was protesting, causing Shayera to chuckle. "Uh uh, I don't want to hear any of that."
The washcloth was tinged brown when she was done. She didn't want to use a hairdryer and scare the poor kitten even further. So instead she wrapped the kitten in a towel before sitting on the edge of her bed, holding the bundled animal on her lap. The kitten perked up its ears and let out a soft meow at her, sniffing the air curiously. The kitten had black fur, with some white markings on it's chest, paws, and face.
Shayera scratched under the kitten's chin, "You're adorable."
Now that the kitten seemed to be content, judging by the fact it was purring, Shayera left it sitting on her lap as she placed a finger to her ear. If she was going to keep the kitten, she at least needed someone to get some cat supplies for her.
"Hey Rex," Shayera started. "You weren't sleeping were you?"
"Well I was asleep considering I was on two back-to-back League missions," he groggily answered. "Why?"
"Do you feel like doing your mother a quick favor?"
He yawned, "What kind of favor?"
Shayera lightly chuckled, "You know that kitten I found?"
"Yeah the one you and Mareena were fawning over. Why?" He then let out a slight groan before speaking up again, "Don't tell me you're actually thinking about keeping it."
Shayera rolled her eyes, "Of course I'm going to keep it Rex. What kind of question is that?"
"I thought you didn't like pets."
"I never said I didn't like pets," she immediately countered.
"Then why weren't we allowed to have one when we were kids?" He asked in an accusing tone.
"Simple," Shayera started. "I love cats and hate dogs. John loved dogs and hated cats. He said if I ever got a cat than he was allowed to get a dog. I was not willing to accept that compromise. There was no way in hell I was going to allow a dog in that apartment."
Rex sighed, "Let me guess you need someone to get some pet supplies for you?"
"Please Rex?"
Rex sighed once again, "Like I'd ever be able to say no to you Mom."
Shayera had fallen asleep early that night, a rare but not unheard of occurrence. There were times where she still found it very difficult to fall asleep at night. She still had that inkling in the back of her mind that, by some miracle, John would be there. Especially during the moments when she was groggy and was just drifting to sleep or waking up. She would consciously have to remind herself that she was now what humans called a widow. Shayera loathed the term and refused to call herself as such. Though there were still some nights where she found the loneliness to be unbearable. Some nights she still cried herself to sleep; they tended to happen more often than she would like to admit.
Sometime in the middle of the night she felt something press up against her jawline. Waking up with a start, she sat up and immediately scanned the room before she noticed the small ball of black fur clutching the side of the bed; its green eyes staring into her emerald ones. Her sudden movement had knocked the kitten off of her and almost off the bed after it had clambered on top of her. Shayera forced her racing heartbeat to calm down as she gently grabbed the kitten.
Shayera lightly smirked as she laid back down and placed the kitten on the bed next to her, "Sorry about that. I'm sorta getting used to being alone. You actually managed to startle me." The kitten meowed curiously and reached a paw out, lightly tapping against her cheek. "I assume that means apology accepted?"
Shayera relaxed her tense muscles as she let out a sigh. The kitten rubbed against her shoulder and purred, hitting her face lightly with its tail as it turned around. She laid still as the kitten rubbed its face against the bottom of her chin before settling down and curling into a tight ball against her chest. Sure maybe this whole idea of hers was stupid and idiotically desperate on her part but nothing was going to dissuade her at this point from keeping the kitten.
In that moment, when her heart was racing and she saw the kitten's eyes staring back at her, something had clicked in her head. A strange familiarity seemed to wrap itself around the kitten and she knew she was going to call herself crazy later. Maybe it was her lack of sleep or maybe it was leftover grief. Whatever it was, the idea that flashed through her mind at that moment just seemed to fit.
"Night GL," Shayera softly whispered to the kitten.
Shayera was not used to having someone, or well something, else in her room. For the longest time the only other occupant had been John. Otherwise the other infrequent inhabitants had been Emma or Rex when they were kids and managed to worm their way into the room. Currently, the only infrequent visitor she ever had now would be Jaye. Though Shayera quickly learned that having children and a grandchild was different from having a pet.
This kitten was another world entirely.
Shayera never had a pet once in her life, either on Thanagar or Earth. It wasn't long after getting the kitten before she began to research how to take care of kittens instead of paying attention on monitor duty. Thankfully Rex had agreed to take the kitten for her to the vet to make sure it got all of its shots. The kitten had been given a clean bill of health. They had also found out the kitten was male though to her that didn't really matter one way or another. Shayera had already decided she was going to keep calling the kitten GL whether it was male or female.
GL had also seemed to notice that he was the only other occupant of Shayera's room. It didn't take him long to take over the room for himself. He padded about the room, rolling, stretching, shedding, clawing, and occasionally biting things. He also seemed to fall into a perpetually perky state without much provocation and all of that energy fell straight to exploration and terrifying the hell out of his new owner whenever he got himself lost in the Metro Tower.
During the night he prowled about, knocking things over or otherwise making a tiny ruckus that would wake Shayera from her sleep. The first thing to come to her mind was never that she had a rampaging kitten in her room. She was more so inclined to believe that some type of alien invasion was occurring and the Metro Tower was under attack. More than once she had been startled awake and tried to find her mace in the darkness. Almost always GL would meow curiously at her, causing her to sigh, pat him on the head if he was close enough, and then try to go back to bed.
After two weeks Shayera began to wonder whether or not her impulsive decision had been a good idea. Sure, the kitten had adjusted well to life in the Metro Tower and was otherwise a relatively quiet pet but the cat had turned her life upside down. As she walked through the Metro Tower GL would leap from out of nowhere and pounce on her. Almost always she would lightly gasp out in surprise whenever his tiny claws managed to poke through her skin.
At least once she had almost kicked the kitten to the ceiling on accidental reflex, catching herself with her leg a few inches off the floor, GL hanging by claws and teeth and meowing in a confused and startled manner.
Shayera needed a break and it didn't seem like it was coming anytime soon.
Unfortunately for Shayera, the supervillains were in full-swing recently, causing her work to momentarily skyrocket. Though, the more fighting she did, the more she slept through GL's nighttime rumbles. The more she moved around the Metro Tower, the more she easily danced around his ambushes. Becoming quite agile around the kitten, she soon found herself avoiding him in the morning yet too exhausted to play with him in the evening, much to the kitten's dismay.
That was why Shayera had become concerned one morning when she realized GL hadn't tried bothering her at all. She hadn't heard any meows, she didn't feel his small body rub against her legs, and she sure as hell wasn't feeling his small claws poke into her anywhere. She was sitting in the cafeteria eating breakfast when she made this observation. Normally the kitten followed her all the way to the cafeteria and wouldn't leave her alone until she fed him.
"GL?" she called out, her mouth full of cereal, but she didn't receive any type of response.
Leaving the half-eaten bowl of cereal behind for someone else to clean up, Shayera briskly walked out of the cafeteria and into the hallway.
"GL!" She loudly called down the hallway. "GL, where are you?"
Shayera was slowly beginning to feel panicked as she couldn't find the kitten anywhere. There were so many places for a small kitten to get into. It had been decades since she had felt this type of fear. The last time was when Emma and Rex were little and either one or both of them would go missing from her sight and protection in either the Watchtower or Metro Tower.
The Thanagarian began to tear through the tower. She was on her hands and knees searching under every piece of furniture and computer console, calling his name and, in undignified fashion, was making kissing noises constantly in the hopes of enticing the kitten to come out.
The kitten was nowhere to be found.
Slamming her fist against a wall, Shayera felt her breaths quicken and her heart race. Panic blurred the edge of her vision. Desperately trying to keep it at bay, she rubbed the bridge of her nose fiercely, gnawing on her lower lip.
Then came the soft sound of a meow behind the door leading to the simulation room. Shayera's eyes flew open and she immediately opened the door. "GL!"
He stumbled out of the room and shook out his body. The kitten looked up at her and tilted his head slightly as he meowed up at her.
"How did you get in there?" Shayera rhetorically asked, picking the kitten up and carefully hugging him against her. "We should get you a collar with a bell," she muttered, brushing back his velvety ears as she pet the top of his head and watching them spring back instantly. She lightly chuckled before a small frown planted itself on her face, "You need to be more careful GL. I can't lose you too."
Taking in a deep breath, Shayera slowly forced herself to breathe normally again. She tried not to think about what could've happened to him had she not heard him. She tried even more not to think about the reason of how GL had managed to even get into the simulation room to begin with.
Shayera tossed her mace onto her bed in frustration the second she entered her room. She sat on the end of her bed with a sigh as she ran her hand through her hair.
Shayera narrowed her eyes and frowned. She shouldn't have gotten injured; even if it was minor. She wouldn't have gotten injured if John had been the one there fighting with her instead of Kai-Ro. The younger Green Lantern didn't know all of the combinations she and John had perfected over the years of fighting together. Kai-Ro had lifted his shield on her too soon and she had taken the brunt of the impact; resulting in multiple bruises across her body.
The Thanagarian lightly growled. Shayera knew she was fighting much more aggressively than ever before. Both Clark and Diana voiced their concerns with her. She had halfheartedly assured them that everything was alright. Even Shayera couldn't believe her own lie. She knew she was angry and she was taking out her frustrations on the unsuspecting supervillains they fought. On several separate recent occasions, Shayera had to be physically held back by other members of the League before she went too far.
Clark had warned her a few days ago that he would remove her from active duty if her behavior continued, citing his concerns over her own mental wellbeing, and today he had made good on his threat. He used his position as the de facto leader to have her taken off of active duty until she was mentally sound to return once more. He even spoke to her privately when he explained this to her and had said he knew from personal experience that she still needed more time to grieve. Shayera, however, had vehemently argued with him the entire time that there was no reason for her not to be on active duty.
Shayera scowled as she grabbed her mace and hurled it across the room; creating the second hole that week in her wall as the mace remained impaled in the concrete.
"Asshole," Shayera muttered through her gritted teeth as she clenched her fists. Right now Shayera was in the right frame of mind to beat Clark over the head with her mace. She let out a shaky breath as she reached up and wiped the back of her hand against her cheek, only to be met by tears. Why couldn't she just bring herself to get past this? Nothing was ever going to bring John back to her; no matter how hard she wished for it. Realistically she knew this but she still couldn't stop her heart from yearning for him.
A light nudge against her hand abruptly snapped Shayera out of her thoughts. She looked down to see GL's green eyes staring back at her. The kitten meowed at her again and nudged her hand with his head once more. Shayera took a deep breath as her vision became blurred with tears. She then released an unsteady breath as she moved and burrowed her face into her pillow. Maybe Clark did have a point. Perhaps even Rex had a point when he had told her that a month wasn't enough time for her to take off.
A soft paw tapped against her cheek. Shayera took a deep breath and turned her head to see GL sniffing at her curiously. She gingerly reached out and scratched behind his ear. GL nudged her hand with his head and simply looked at her before meowing. Shayera took a deep breath and wiped her eyes as she silently looked at the kitten. The kitten sniffed at her again causing his little nose to softly touch hers.
This time Shayera didn't try to stop herself when she broke down in tears.