Two Years Later, Gotham City
It wasn't often that Gotham city had a perfectly clear day, where the sun was able to break through the smog and rain that were almost endemic to the city. Unfortunately, the one day of the week it had decided to happen just so happened to be the one day that Vic Sage had wanted to sleep in.
The sun peaks through the curtains and its beam lands right in his eyes, only getting worse as the ball of flame that gave life to their little universe rose higher and higher in the sky. "Huuurrrmm" he moans in his sleep, turning around and slowly being roused from his comfortable slumber. "Why am I so unlucky?" he asks aloud, staring up at the plaster ceiling. He feels a slender arm slowly snake it's way across his stomach and pat his side, gripping him tightly and pulling him closer. "Saying things like that can hurt a gir'ls feelings" a sleepy voice warns before the voice's owner raises her head and places her cheek against his chest.
Vixen squirms slightly and opens her eyes, having herself been subjected to the sun's glare. "I take it back. In anything aside from having me, you're very unlucky" she teases, ensuring that he knows she is joking by kissing him on the lips. He eagerly returns the motion and wraps an arm about her waist, gently rubbing the woman's lower back through her silk nightie.
It was amazing. Only seconds awake and yet she was still so perfectly kept, her nightdress wasn't even crumpled. He had no idea how she did it but assumed it had to do with all the work she did with modelling. She knew all the tricks to look her best at all times and it was effortless. He really was a rather lucky man.
He doesn't move from his position, continuing to lay on the bed and smile, watching as she sits up and stretches, putting her arms over her head and stretching out her back by arching it. Vixen was a fitting name for her with how fellinesque . 'No wonder she and Selina Kyle don't get alone' he thinks, reaching up to rub her bare expanse of back, enjoying how their contrasting skin colors look in the morning. He begins to trace his finger right down the middle, pressing ever so lightly against her spine and pushing upwards again just as he is about to move into her nightie. He loved teasing her, and he especially loved doing it in the morning when she was, in his opinion, at her most naturally gorgeous.
"Hmmm, what are you doing Vic?" she asks happily while turning her head over her shoulder. "Nothing" he says innocently, as always a little embarrassed about how quickly she calls him out. She turns and moves onto his body, straddling his waist and placing her hands on his shoulders. "It doesn't feel like nothing. It felt very good. If you wanted some nooky all you needed to do was ask" she says seductively, leaning down to capture his lips with her own. His hands clamp down on her waist and rear, groping and caressing while giving as much pleasure as he could. It didn't go unappreciated as Mari mews and gently presses her tongue into his mouth.
He releases her lips and suckles her neck, causing the woman to hiss in pleasure as he got to multiple spots at the same time. "You have that modelling thing in an hour" he reminds her, having an almost perfect memory when it came to her scheduling. After all, with their date nights and just normal scheduling conflicts he had to know when the best time to get to her was.
"Hmm, I'm not going" she teases, pouting like a child before nuzzling into him, pressing a hand under his shirt and caressing his muscled torso, letting out sounds of appreciation as she does. "But it's for Vreeland" he says half questioning as he leans in and kisses her shoulder and enjoys the goosebumps he raises by doing so. "Let me miss it. I've been working enough, and don't lie and say I haven't been neglecting you" she teases, pecking his cheek.
He can't help the smile that breaks out on his face at her words. "Maybe a little" he teases, giving her rear a swat. "Hmmm, so, how about we spend all day, or at least most of the day in bed? We went shopping yesterday so we're good on food. The way I see it, we can stay here all week if we wanted" she teases, the straps of her nightie being moved to the side and showing just enough teasing flesh to make Vic give into his girlfriends suggestion.
Seven Months Earlier, Justice League Watchtower
"Hey, you're the Question right?"
"Umm, yes. I'm sorry but have we met?"
She just smiled and cocked out her hip, a hand on each one. "Nope. Not yet anyway. I'm Vixen, a new up and coming member of the League. I've heard alot about you" she says before extending her hand. He takes her hand and shakes it, respectfully. "Welcome to the League. Not to be rude, but I do have to get goin…."
"Wait, I wanted to ask you something" she said, a slightly nervous expression on her face. "I heard that you knew something about Baxter's modelling agency. That they had some sort of ties to the Serbian government? You see, I've been working for them and I've noticed some strange thi…"
"Tell me what you've seen" he said excitedly, moving closer and almost salivating at the thought of yet another breakthrough with the conspiracy. He had thought the modelling agency thing would be a nothing burger, but if Vixen knew something that could break open the case then he had to know.
She smiled and with a nod laced her arm through his, leading him towards the cafeteria. "Of course, but over coffee" she said. "I'm rather tired and need the caffeine" she says causing the Question to stop. "Isn't caffeine bad for the skin? I would've thought that a model wouldn't touch the stuff" he says curiously to which the black woman just shrugs with a smile.
"We all have our weaknesses. Mine happens to be coffee. Yours is being too cute for your own good. Now, you want me to spill the beans, you have to spill some yourself. Into a coffee cup. Specifically Columbian beans" she teased
Back In Gotham, Present
"Hmmm, we're almost getting it down to a science" she teases from his side, now naked, sweaty and satisfied. They both were, and he knew that given a little bit more time they'd do it all again. He leans in and kisses her forehead, enjoying her scent.
"Hmm, well, I'd do this kind of scientific experimentation all day with you then" he says, wincing at his own internal awkwardness. He was nowhere next to as good at flirting as she was. Then again, she practically did it for a living. What was modelling if not equal parts flirting for the camera and looking amazing?
She quirks a perfectly manicured eyebrow and smiles even wider, noticing that his "game" wasn't exactly top notch and not caring one bit. She found him cute, just as he was. Her mouth opens, ready to say something. Three words she'd been wanting to say for two full months but having found herself stopped by fear at each moment. "Everything ok?" he asks, rubbing her side lovingly as he moves onto his own, trying to get a better view of the woman.
"Yes" she says, inwardly thinking 'No'. She wants to tell him, but she can't. Not right now. 'Why can't you make this easy for me and say it first you bastard?' she thinks before dismissing such a thought. She'd be waiting forever if she was waiting on Vic, and despite the air of superiority she wrapped about herself she was getting tired of the life of a model, with its vapidness and shallow nature. She wanted more, and she wanted it with him. 'Then why can't I just tell him?' she asks herself, already knowing the answer.
She was afraid that he wasn't fully over her.
The Republic of Nirobia, Southern Africa
The rebels were offloading the shipment of guns, making sure to camouflage them with black mesh netting that would hide the fact that they were indeed rifles and machine guns. It was supposedly humanitarian aid, destined for local villages that had been hard hit by the flooding of the Bashir valley.
Apparently, the local warlords intended to make better use of the natural disaster than to help the people. After all, power was on the line.
'Pfft, some power' she thinks, laying on a rock and scanning the clearing where the trucks were being offloaded by half emaciated guerillas. 'The presidency of some small impoverished nation with nothing more than a few rocks to offer'. She hates the pessimistic thoughts that plague her mind nowadays, but she can't help them. It all seemed so pointless.
Just two months ago a new general had seized power, one that had been quietly aided by foreign agents. It wasn't a day in until hundreds had been killed as "terrorists" or "counter revolutionaries". The lingo used didn't matter. Nor did the faces behind it. Yesterday's freedom fighter was today's tyrant, and the last band of rapists and murderers was replaced with another band of rapists and murderers with an even more flowery sounding name than the last.
'What's this group calling themselves? Democratic People's Front or Nirobia? Nation Unitary Party?' she asks with a morbid smirk. Whatever they called themselves she was happy to fight them. Those guns weren't going to go anywhere other than into the river. She slowly backs up from the rocks and places her binoculars back into the pocket of her pack, grabbing her mace and deciding on a course of action.
The trees were out as it was still a good twenty yard rush to get to the truck. She needed to hit that first and scatter the rebels who were mostly just scared kids. She looks up, enjoying how the warm African sun feels on her face before nodding. "As usual, air assault" she says to herself, placing her mace into the makeshift sling at her back and taking a pineapple grenade. "So nice of the last group to leave their hardware behind for you" she says, pulling the pin and holding the lever, waiting to trigger the explosive until the right moment.
She soars up into the air, instantly frightening a flock of colorful birds which also take off into the air, further frightening the men on the ground. She can already hear their shouts of alarm as they desperately scan the sky, fearful of the legends that had surfaced about the pale demon who flies through the air, protecting villages all across Nirobia. Ask peasants in Kaznia, Borath and on the small island of Mumbajoa in the Pacific and they'd all tell a similar story.
Bullets rip through the air as the more experienced soldiers move out of their stupor and begin to shoot at the winged woman, the rest scattering as soon as she appears. No matter how experienced they were, they were still poorly trained. Shayera almost felt bad at how unfair this was. Almost. Her most prominent feeling was that of joy. She was going to enjoy this.
She releases her thumb from the lever, priming the grenade and giving her a few seconds until it went off. She swoops over the open backed truck and throws it in, watching with a chuckle as it lands amongst a few others like it. She flaps her wings harshly and careens upward, wanting to avoid the explosion itself or being caught in the backdraft. She had done that before and wasn't eager to experience it again. She still had a few singed feathers to show for it.
The grenade goes off, triggering a series of explosions from the others which ignite the ammo crates as well, sending shells everywhere. It was as if someone has began to fire a machine gun in every conceivable direction and it was soon too much for the guerillas who run screaming into the bushes, escaping the deadly inferno that once was a truck but was now no more than a hunk of twisted steel. It would remain here for a few years, maybe decades until someone came along and scrapped it. That was just how it was in Nirobia. Really across all of Africa. The detritus of colonialism and wars left behind to set the background for the next one.
She brings herself to the ground, slowly flapping her wings to control the descent even more. She smiles and imagines what the Flash might've said about the whole thing. He probably would've have chased them all down to put them under arrest but first he would've shouted "Hey, come back. We were just having fun". She can't help the smile that erupts onto her face, leading to the deep ache in her heart. She wondered what Vic would say or do in this situation.
"He'd probably be inspecting the offloaded boxes" she says to herself, wanting to distract her mind from the path it was going down. "He'd want to see if maybe they had some sort of secret or nefarious markings that would give them away as illuminati related" she jokes to herself, casting a critical eye over the few boxes that had been offloaded and remained undamaged. She stops, the smile freezing and then falling from her face as she realizes that something indeed did seem off about them.
She moves towards the nearest one and kneels down, pushing it upwards against a tree and inspecting it. It was a simple ammo crate, common amongst arms shipments and what not. Usually they were in the hands of national armies but it wasn't unusual for Nirobia. What was unusual was the rather large W that was engraved on the side. "Wayne Enterprises" she says to herself, quickly taking out her camera and snapping a picture. She moves over to the next pile and inspects the boxes there as well, seeing all marked as coming from Queen Industries.
"Queen Industries. These are from that industrialist Oliver Queen" she says, once more to herself. She shakes her head and sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I have to stop doing that" she says. "Talking to myself". She slaps her face and pulls her hand downwards, the midday sun finally catching up with her. "I'm doing it again" she says, snapping a quick picture of the second stack of boxes and standing up to survey the area.
"What do I do?" she asks, only the silence of the plains answering her. She knew what she was going to do, and she knew what she had to do. Part of her even wanted to do it. She was going to bring what she found straight to the source. She didn't know how she'd get to Oliver Queen but she knew how to get to Bruce Wayne.
She can't help the small sad smile that breaks out on her face as she also remembers, or rather lets move to the front of her brain as she has never forgotten, that Vic was there. Or at least she hoped he was. The last time she'd made a secret trip back to Gotham was nearly a year past and Vic had still lived there in their apartment. Nothing was changed. He had left everything that was hers right where she had last left it, as if he was still waiting for her to come back. It took all there was in her to not rush right in and beg to pick up where they left off. She didn't though, she still needed to be on her own. She dreamed about it though. Going back and apologizing, almost begging to be taken back. He'd say yes and they'd pick up where they left off.
She smiled before pulling a few of the boxes toward the fire, wanting to destroy them as well by putting them in harms way. Fire had a way of cleansing everything.
"He didn't move on" she says to herself, watching as the fire spreads to the boxes and ignites them, though it wouldn't move onto the forest surrounding the clearing. She was sure of of it as the grass was wet with rain and the fire was close enough to the center of the clearing to not pose a threat.
It was true. She didn't see him with anyone else, and that thought both saddened and elated her. It saddened her as she didn't want him to be alone and it elated her in remembering that she still had a chance to win him back. It would be easier if he wasn't with someone and she was contented by that.
Shayera stood upon a rock, looking out over the far stretching plains and the sun. She closes her eyes and breaths deeply, feeling something in her very being. She was content. She no longer felt that crushing guilt nor the self loathing that she began feeling ever since she betrayed the League. She felt complete again, like she could look at herself in the mirror.
"It's time to go home" she says to herself, hoping that this is the last time she'd have only herself to speak to.
Justice League Watchtower
"Something wrong Q?" Mari asks, reaching across the table and grasping her boyfriend's hand. She begins to rub his skin with her thumb, trying to further get his attention. He had been rather quiet, which was saying something for the introverted conspiracy theorist.
"Huh?" he asks, looking up from his tray and food, causing the black woman to frown. "I asked if something was wrong" she reiterates, causing the man to nod. "Ahh, no, no. Everything's fine. I guess I'm just tired from monitor duty last night. We've been receiving...strange intelligence briefings and I can't figure out who they're coming from" he says, lying just a bit. The truth was that he wasn't okay. He was "supposed" to be happy, after all he had a loving girlfriend, had finally gotten promoted to a full fledged newscaster at GNN and was getting so much closer to unmasking the conspiracy. 'Why do I feel like something's missing?'
Mari just smiles, buying what he was selling quickly. He felt a slight stab of guilt at just how easy it was for him to lie to her. He hadn't intended for their relationship to get this far. Selfishly, he had just wanted someone to be there and help him get over Shayera. It hadn't turned out that way however, and he found himself slowly caring more and more for her over time until she was a replacement for Shayera and not a substitute. 'Then why am I still thinking about her?' he asks himself, wanting to scream from how the situation involving his love life had spiraled out of control. 'Like a dehydrated man stumbling into an oasis and drowning' he thinks, smiling at his own inner morbid joke.
"I...well..I wanted to talk about something Vic" Mari begins nervously, fiddling with her styrofoam cup. 'Ahh, here we go. Shouldn't of asked for such a quick resolution' he thinks, knowing that Mari was going to break things off between them. It was only a matter of time from the start. A sophisticated model falling for the slob who leaves newspapers everywhere?
"Everything ok?" he asks, feeling his heart pounding in his chest. He didn't want this to happen. Despite all of his mixed feelings about Shayera, he did love Mari. It wasn't as if he loved one more than the other, though that would make things much easier. No, he loved them for such different reasons and in different ways. They were the two most amazing women he had ever met, even if Shayera had betrayed them and then left him nursing a broken heart.
"No, well yes, but also no" she says, smiling nervously in response. "It's that I've been wanting to say something to you" she starts, steadying herself with a deep breath. "You want me to do the dishes?" he suggests jokingly, causing her to blink before laughing aloud. The deadpan way that his voice seemed to naturally be always made it hard to decipher if he was joking or not, but when it was clear it became funnier to everyone who witnessed it. She clears her throat and smiles. "No, no, nothing like that, though you still have garbage duty" she says, causing him to smile and let out the breath he'd been holding.
He could do the math. If he wasn't picking up dish duty, and he was keeping garbage duty, then the status quo was being maintained, which meant she wasn't leaving him. That was a major relief to the man who sighs and visibly slumps down in comfort. She smirks at the motion and moves over to his side, scooting along the bench that was attached to the table. "Were you expecting something else?" she asks curiously, lacing her arm through his.
"Yes. I've always been expecting it" he says seriously, causing her to frown and brush her hand against the side of his face. "Why?" she asks, knowing exactly what it was he had been thinking. She should've approached this more tactically, she thinks. No man ever wanted to hear, "we have to talk" or any variation of those words from any woman. Especially their own. "Because you're too good for me" he says, shrugging his shoulders and stating the facts as he saw him. 'She was too good for you too' a voice whispers in the back of his head, a voice that he works quickly to suppress and silence.
She goes almost wide eyed at the proclamation and blushes. "Vic, why would you say such a stupid thing? And I know you're not stupid, so stop acting like it" she rebuffs a little angrily. The man wraps an arm about her waist subconsciously, something that very quickly calms her down. "We both know it's true Mari. Come on, look at you and then me. You're gorgeous, smart, quick on your feet and with your tongue while I'm just…"
He is stopped by her finger on his lips, or where his lips would generally be if he wasn't wearing his mask. "A great listener, a real gentleman, a genius supersleuth and and amazingly gifted and handsome lover" she says, leaning in and trailing a line of kisses against his cheek and chin. He can't help but look around, watching as the other leaguers carried on with their activities. None paid any attention, the novelty of the strange new relationship between the two having lost its gossip factor a few months back.
"What I wanted to say was…" she began before the blaring of the station intercom system interrupts her. "Will the Question please report to briefing room 234. Will the Question please report to briefing room 234" it repeats before clicking off. He turns to Vixen and brushes the side of her face, pressing his forehead against hers to convey his feelings towards her. After all, it was hard to kiss a girl when your face was covered like his was. She smiles, though there was a distinctive sadness in it. "Duty calls" she teases, trying to put a brave face on for his benefit.
"Hey, we can talk later when we're somewhere more private. I wanted to say something to you as well" he says, resolutely making up his mind to tell Vixen that he loved her that very night. She smirks and brushes her hand up and down his clothed chest. "I'll hold you to that talk. Better get going lover boy, before Bats blows a gasket" she teases.
He stands, smirking himself under his mask and tipping his hat at his girlfriend while he walks away. He felt surprisingly good, knowing that there was finally going to be some closure, not only between him and Vixen but also between him and Shayera.
'You can't keep Mari second guessing' he reminds himself, already nervous about telling the woman those life changing words. 'She needs to know you're serious about her, and you ARE serious about her' he reminds himself, feeling at peace with himself and looking forward to what the future held for them.
Justice League Founder''s Briefing Room
Vic closed the door behind him, listening to it seal behind him. "You called" he says simply, just stating a fact. The others were already present, all seated along the curved table. Something seemed off though. They all had an air of nervousness about them, and they didn't want to be the first to speak.
"Hey Vic, what's up?" Wally asks, being, as usual, the boldest and the fastest. Vic feels genuinely confused as he takes his seat at the table next to the speedster who high fives him. He didn't know how that started either but after years of close friendship with the man he just got used to all the weird things that didn't happen one day and did the next. The others remain quiet until Diana coughs into her hand. "You and Vixen seemed to be sharing an intimate moment. How are things between the two of you?" she asks. For some reason Batman glared at her, shaking his head subtly.
It wasn't odd for the Amazon to be so prying. Ever since the Thanagarian invasion she had become a sort of big sister figure, taking special care to check on her teammates and maintain a closeness. At first Vic found it strange, thinking that the Amazon would become more aloof after the betrayal of a close friend. He figured it out later on, that this was an ancient Greek spying tactic. In the politics of Athens, betrayal was a near constant thing, so one had to be very well informed of the comings and goings of their enemies and friends. It was summed up best by the old maxim, "keep your friends close, but your enemies closer". It was rather sad how rattled she had been by what happened that she had begun to see her friends as threats. Then again she wasn't too far off the mark.
Shayera had been her friend.
"Yes" he responds simply, not wanting to air his relationship out for his friends, no matter how close, to dissect. Diana just smiles wider, and seems to be ready to ask for more information, but is stopped by Batman's hand on her shoulder. "While Question's love life is fascinating, we are here for entirely different reasons" he says, causing the room to go silent. Vic silently thanks the caped crusader.
"You really should tell her you love her though. All this waiting is becoming rather tedious" the Amazon blurts out, being rather invested in the relationship between the two. Vic slumps in his seat a bit, feeling every eye on him as the room, save Batman who just smirks, explodes into laughter at his expense.
"Hey, hey, easy guys" the Flash says after suppressing his laughter first, surprising everyone. Nobody liked a good joke quite like Wally, but the speedster had gone to the bar with Vic enough to know that what had happened between him and Shayera left a big mark on the solitary man. It had taken a while for him to approach a relationship with Vixen with anything resembling romantic confidence.
J'onn also notices the inner turmoil that Vic is feeling and opens a mental communication to everyone in the room but Vic. "Vixen took the time to approach him patiently with his comfort in mind. Can we, as his friends, at least be sensitive to his feelings and let them be?" he asks, causing a look of guilt to cross all of their faces. Diana is the first to recover. With a smile she nods at Vic. "I'm very happy for you two. May Hera bless you with nothing but happiness" she says, Vic responding with a hidden blush. He had no idea why it sounded like they were congratulating him on getting married.
"Thank you. Now, may I finally know why I was called here?"
The air of nervousness returns as Superman stands up and gestures towards a projector. It is switched on by the click of a button. "It's about those intelligence briefings we were being sent" Batman says, standing and pointing out the stack of ammo boxes next to a burnt out military truck. "Last month, th photograph was sent to us by an unknown source. Do you notice anything strange about this picture?" he asks, deferring to the team's second residential detective. Vic looks closer, trying to decipher the markings on the ammo crates.
"Those crates are marked as originating from Wayne Enterprises" Vic says, the open knowledge that Batman was Bruce Wayne being shared by the whole room. "Right, but I know for a fact that Wayne Enterprises doesn't sell rifles, especially not of a Russian make" he says, pointing out that the weapons were Kalashnikov model 1947s. "Why are they being moved in crates marked that way?" the Flash asks quietly as Batman changes the slide to the next one. "The same question could be asked as to why Queen Enterprises also has weapons in circulation" he says, showing another stack of cases that had been photographed as well. "A hippie like him? I doubt it" Vic says in appreciation of the issue, balancing his chin on his hands, mulling over the variables. "Do we know how we got these pictures yet? I've been tracking it myself for the past few days and I have nothing" he says, silence descending on the room.
"Yes, we do know where they came from" J'onn says solemnly, though most things he said seemed to be said solemnly.
"Well, don't keep me in suspense. Who's our mystery friend?" Vic asks, someone taking that moment to enter the room through a side door. A woman enters and instantly her wings give her away for who she was. Gone was the helmet and her usual attire, being replaced by a yellow top and pants. Both seemed new and foreign, but it was clear from her lack of face covering that the woman was no longer hiding who she was. She couldn't if she wanted to. Her wings were a dead give away.
Shayera Hol was standing in their briefing room.
Vic stands up instantly, hands against the table top as he tries to keep it together. He felt a mixture of emotions and sensations, that of being dizzy and angry at the forefront of the tidal wave raging back and forth within him. Angry didn't cover it. He was fuming.
'Just when everything was going right, you waltz back here huh?' he asks mentally, the whole room focused on his reaction. He calms, looking towards Batman and ignoring the Thanagarian woman. "So, Wayne Enterprises and Queen Industries. You take Wayne, I'll investigate Queen. Thanks for the briefing" he says evenly, walking out as fast as he could. The door hisses behind him and Shayera steps forward to follow him. She is stopped by an angry Amazon blocking her path. "I suggest you leave him alone" she says simply, clearly being a holdout against their former friend.
'So she hasn't forgiven me either' Shayera thinks, making to move after him regardless of Wonder Woman. The taller woman moves into her path once more making it clear that she wasn't going to make this easy. "Please Diana. I need to talk with him" she says, hoping that diplomacy could work. The woman is unmoved and makes to say something when Batman walks towards her and places a hand on her shoulder. "Let her go Diana" he says, distracting the woman long enough to allow the smaller, but much more agile woman to get past her.
The door open and closes once more, the room erupting into animated conversation instantly. "It was cruel to allow her here. You should've known he would be upset by her just walking in" Diana says, staring down her secretive lover.
"We have no choice. Weapons are being smuggled into the hands of rebel groups all around the world. Two companies are being used as fronts for it. We don't have time to coddle a jilted lover"
"He was betrayed, in the worst way. We all were. Are you forgetting this?" Diana asks, practically yelling as Superman intervenes. "Enough" he shouts, getting everyone's attention. Everyone settles down, listening as usual to their Kryptonian leader.
"We're all adults here, and as adults we need to let them handle this. With that being said", he says, adding his caveat. "I don't want anyone making this harder. Hawkgirl is going to be readmitted to the League roster on a probationary basis. She was never expelled from the League, so keep that in mind. Play nice" he says, eyeing Diana specifically before seeing the nods of agreement around the room. "Alright. Until Question has more to say on the subject, or Batman finds something" he says, smirking at the inevitable bets that would arise from the two detectives working two seperate leads and who would get a viable lead first. "Dismissed" he finishes, closing out the meeting.
Justice League Watchtower, Level 3
"Vic! Just...wait will you?" she says, finally catching up to the faceless man and placing her hand on his shoulder, wanting to stop him. He violently shrugs it off, and if she didn't know Vic to be a more peaceful and chivalrous man she would've thought he was getting ready to hit her. "What?" he asks, the rage clearly audible in his voice this time.
She can't hide the hurt that breaks out onto her face. 'What did you expect? A scene out of a movie where he runs at you and kisses you? He's pissed, and you know he has a right to be' she thinks, trying to find the right things to say. "Sorry for the last two years that i've been gone, wanna go out?" didn't seem like it would be something Vic would respond positively to.
"I...I want to talk to you" she says, feeling stupid for her meekness. "Ohh? Really? Now?" he shouts, startling Booster Gold who just happened to be walking by. "Ohh hey, new Leaguer" he says, moving close to Shayera. He leans his hand against the wall, thinking himself quite suave as he leans there. "I'm Booster Gold. Kind of a big deal around here" he says, introducing himself. Shayera just frowns, wanting to talk to Vic alone without any distractions. And this "Booster Gold" was an unwelcome distraction.
"I doubt that's true. Go away" she says warningly, her hand going to her mace's hilt. The blonde man gets the message and begins to back up, hands held palm outwards. "Ok, ok, no problem. A guy knows when he's not wanted" he says, beating a quick retreat down the hall.
She smiles to herself, replacing her mace in it's makeshift sling around her belt. She turns, wanting to continue her conversation with her former boyfriend only to see his back moving down the hall. She huffs and chases after him again, tired of this little game already.
"Dammit Q, wait!" she says, causing the man to finally stop. "Why?" he asks, crossing his arms over one another and looking down at her. She hated this, the anger and fighting. She really hadn't wanted this to be what their first interaction together again would be. She'd have to eat humble pie and eat it quickly. "Are we going to do this all over again? I already answered that. I need to talk with you" she says. "I don't have time for this. I have to track a lead" he says, making to leave once again. Shayera doesn't allow it and grabs his arm, turning him and grasping his other before pushing him against the wall. "I need to talk to you" she repeats.
"Say whatever it is quickly. I have to go" he replies, almost disinterestedly. It made her want to scream. Didn't he miss her at all? Didn't he care what she had to say? He couldn't be that cold. 'A friendly reminder that he's pissed at you and that you deserve this' her mind says before she turns to another thought. 'There's a surefire way to get him to listen' she thinks, smiling for the first time in this whole confrontation. She reaches up and brushes her hand over his cheek and up to his hat, pushing it back and running her fingers through the short hair. He grabs her wrist and suddenly pushes her back, breathing heavily.
"Please don't do that" he says nervously, looking from left to right to ensure that nobody was looking. She is confused by his actions. They seemed to come from a place that wasn't based on his anger with her. It almost seemed like he didn't want anyone to know she touched him romantically, which, mathematically, had to mean something. 'Nervousness plus me touching him equals…..what?'
"Why? You love when I do that" she teases, shaking her trepidation away and moving in once more. If she could get Vic to lighten up, which was usually always done through flirting and teasing him, things would go back to normal. They'd go out, talk, grab dinner and kiss and make up. 'Hopefully more than kiss' she thinks, blushing at the thoughts that enter her mind. She missed his touch, and in more ways than one. She was happy to see that she still had an effect on him, as he seemed to relax under her touch. She leans in, kissing his chin and working her way up his cheek while she feels his arm wrap about her waist. 'Yes, yes, God I missed you' she thinks, ready to kiss his lips through the mask.
She's pushed back suddenly and feels the weight of all her illusions fall out from under her. "Vic dammit, stop. Just let me back in. I know, I messed up and I hurt you but I still love you, and I know you must still lo…."
"I'm with someone" he says quickly, delivering an almost physical blow to the winged woman. "What?" she asks disbelievingly. Vic moves forward and straightens his tie, which had been undone during her petting session. "I'm with someone" he repeats, fixing his hat and settling it over his brow. "I...well, I love her very much. I'm sorry for being rude Hawkgirl. There is nothing more between us though. I will work with you to the best of my abilities, but there is nothing more between us. I hope you can understand and respect these new boundaries" he says monotonously, which was classic Q.
Be cold, be precise and be quick. She'd seen this act multiple times, but she'd never been on the receiving end of it. Even from their first meeting on that mountainside where they'd first fought the parasites as a team, there was this friction and attraction between the two. When they weren't arguing they were flirting, and after they admitted how they felt they only flirted and whispered sweet nothings to one another. Now? He viewed her as just another woman in the League. The full weight of it hit her right in the heart.
"Who...who is she?" Shayera asks, feeling a bit dizzy. She hadn't expected that he'd find someone else. He'd always been so shy and reserved. It had been enough effort just to get him to date her. 'What? You thought you were the only girl who'd ever love him? Pathetic' she thinks, wallowing in self loathing for a second.
He doesn't even look at her, opting instead to look down the hall. "I wont share her name but she's a new member of the League. We've been together for seven months now" he says simply, not hiding much information from her. 'Seven months' she thinks, remembering how she had been so convinced that he was still waiting for her a year ago. She realized quickly that she had, naively, expected him to wait for her. She had told him not to, that it would be cruel, to ask him, but she still wanted him too. "She makes me happy and we're good together" he says, wanting to fill the air with something other than silence, and also wanting to speak up in defense of Mari.
"And I didn't?" she asks accusingly, knowing that the anger she now has towards the man is unjustified but feeling it anyway. "You did. The happiest, but you left remember? And told me not to wait. After a year I gave up on you coming back. I'm sorry Shayera but I'm not going to apologize for trying to be happy" he says, standing up and asserting himself more than he would have in the past. He was much more open about how he felt, and he could only thank Mari for that, who's outgoing personality forced him to come out of hiding so to speak.
"I know, and I'm sorry. I wish I could take it back, or have taken you with me, but I couldn't Vic. I couldn't. I needed time but now I just need you" she says, advancing on him again. "Take me back. I'll fix it all I promise. You'll be the happiest man to ever live Q. I promise" she says, leaning on his shoulder and whispering into his ear, tilting her head to the right to try and kiss him once again.
"I already am. I'm sorry" he says, firmly rebuffing her and moving away. She feels his absence keenly and almost falls into the wall as he had moved very quickly. She needs to lean on it for support and despite the fact that she regains her balance she doesn't move. She doesn't try and stop him as he leaves, only focused on preventing the tears from falling from her eyes. 'I have to make this right' she thinks, knowing, deep in her heart that she'd never be the same if she didn't have his love. She'd do whatever it took. She'd win him back. Right now though, she needed to fully move into her room.
Before she'd left the League she had shared a room with Vic, and obviously that wasn't possible now. She vowed that it would be temporary, and kept consoling herself with that belief as she moved down the hall.
Justice League Recreation Room
Vixen was lounging on a couch, watching as Black Canary and Huntress played pool. Naturally, the two bombshells had the attention of the entire male presence in the room, especially when they bent down to line up a perfect shot. The two don't seem to notice however, each too focused on trash talking the other.
Mari can't help but roll her eyes at how the two interact. It was clear that they were best friends, no matter how they tried to hide it. To spend all that time competing with each other? It was so obvious. She turns her attention back to the television, some program about dolphins on the discovery channel. Normally she'd be very interested in anything about animals, but she just couldn't focus. She was too preoccupied with her situation regarding Vic. Little did she know that someone was watching her.
"Hey Vixen" someone interrupts from behind her, bringing her out of her thoughts. She turns and tilts her head back, suppressing the groan she wants to let lose at seeing John Stewart, a.k.a the Green Lantern. The former marine was rather attractive, but in the end was too pushy, aloof and clueless. He'd been trying to secure a date with Mari since he'd joined the League two months after her, despite the fact that she had a boyfriend. It was always just low level, so Vixen always politely rebuffed the advances, but it was quickly becoming tiresome. She was happy with Vic and wanted the flirting to stop.
"What are you up to?" he asks, sitting on the couch next to her, moving a bit too close for her taste. "Ohh nothing, I was actually just going to leave" she says, making to stand before she feels his hand on her arm. "Already? You only got here a little while ago?" he says, a smirk that he must think is rather suave.
She's about to retort when someone manages to intervene on her behalf. "Lantern, mind telling me what your hand is doing on my girlfriend?" the voice asks, and Vixen turns to see Vic standing alongside her, his arm going about her waist. Stewart looks away, obviously not enjoying being caught in the act and definitely not liking that the woman's boyfriend, who happened to have seniority over him, took this moment to show up. "No reason Question, just being friendly" he says with a teasing smirk, recovering from his embarrassment quickly. Vic is silent for a moment, his mask giving nothing away as he stares the man down. "Just be sure it stays friendly" he warns, a possessive edge to his voice that sent the animalistic instincts in her through the roof. Stewart just frowns, stands up and leaves without another word.
"I don't like him" he says simply, causing Mari to turn and wrap her arms around the man's shoulders. "Me neither, but I do like you. Especially when you go all alpha male" she teases, nuzzling her nose against his.
Vic smiles under the mask and reaches up to rub her bare arm. He remembers why he came here and it falls away. "Can we go somewhere private Mari? I need to talk with you" he says, the urgency in his voice somewhat frightening her. Something had rattled him and he needed it off his chest. "Sure, sure. Lets go to our room" she says, taking his hand and leading them out of the rec room, ignoring the wolf whistles that follow them down the hall, their leaving being misconstrued as something it wasn't.
Fortunately the living quarters weren't far from the rec room, and within a few minutes of walking they are in their room. "What's wrong?" she asks, letting her worry manifest instantly. She moves forwards and places her hands on his shoulders, trying to soothe her own worry as much as his.
"Shayera's back" he says simply, the words not registering with her for a moment. "Who...ohh" she says, her face falling. A moment of silence passes and her hands fall away from the man's shoulders. She turns and walks toward her dresser, which was small and compact as it was just for a quick change in case they needed it between missions. But Mari was never one to leave something unpersonalized and atop her dresser was a solitary picture. It was a selfie she had taken on her cellphone, just a quick snapshot really. She was pressed against Vic, cheek to cheek and smiling wide. It had been right after their first team up when they took down Copperhead at the Metropolis Bank. She'd been so happy when he congratulated her on a job well done, putting his hand on her should and telling her that he'd be lobbying for her to become a full fledged member of the Justice League instead of a "Apprentice Leaguer" that all new applicants were given.
She reaches out and picks up the photo, running her finger over his cheek. She can't help the tear that leaks out but she wipes them away quickly, refusing to allow Vic to see her break. She was proud, and strong. This wasn't going to end her.
"I'll pack my things then" she says coldly, and placing the picture back down, this time face down on the dresser top. "Why?" he asks, moving forward and preventing her from leaving, obviously confused by her reaction. She growls up at him, her eyes taking on a yellowish glow, but she doesn't move from his grip. "Let me think, why would I be moving out of the apartment and rooms of my ex boyfriend who is running off with his ex?" she says before slapping his arm away and moving back toward the dresser, leaning down to open a drawer.
"Wait a minute Mari" he says, placing his gloved hand on her shoulder. She turns and moves out of his grasp, continuing to gather up a few different articles of clothing. She ignores him, only for him to gently start rubbing her arms, pressing his chest to her back. "I'm not leaving you. She tried to...resume our relationship but I told her no" he confesses, deciding that the best course of action was to tell her everything. She stops, stiffening in his arms but slowly relaxing at the ministrations and his words. "You're not?" she asks, having been so certain that that's what he was trying to say.
"No. In fact, I told Shayera that I was with someone...and that I was the happiest man alive" he says, continuing to rub her bare arms. "You are?" she asks, feeling a bit like a child with how stupid her own questions sounded. "Yes. In fact I wanted to tell you something" he starts, moving closer to her. Even with his mask she could tell that he was looking into her eyes, and of its own volition comes up to caress his cheek. Her heart is beating in his chest, threatening to pound out of it.
"I, well I should've told you a while ago. I guess I was just scared. I realize how selfish it was to keep this from you, but I need to tell you now" he starts, obviously stalling for time. "What is it?" she asks, her impatience breaking through in her voice. "I love you Mari" he says quickly, knowing not to keep it in any longer. She feels the ground drop out from under her, but is perfectly fine with it. After all, Vic was there to keep her steady.
"I love you too Vic" she says, the smile splitting her face while she leans in and kisses him as best as she could, through the mask. "I'm glad you told me first. I was going to break and tell you myself" she says, laying her head on his chest. He just rubs her back, knowing that despite how small this all seemed to him, that it had been emotionally taxing on her. "How about we go out for dinner tonight?" he suggests, knowing a specific restaurant that she liked. "Terrific can beam us down" he says in addition.
She just chuckles and traces her finger over his lapel. "Maybe tomorrow. Right now, I want us to go home and spend some time together, without the mask" she teases, kissing his cheek. "Hmm, sounds good" he retorts.
Shayera's Room
She sat in her chair, feeling numb. She hadn't expected to be spending the night alone. She didn't know what she expected, but she had expected to be near Vic, either making up or making out. The idea that Vic was with someone else was another thorn she had to try and pull out.
It had taken a little sleuthing on her part, Wally having been surprisingly mum on the subject of who was Vic's current lover, but she found out by asking another new member of the League, a naive Norwegian named Ice. That had been a positive. The bubbly girl had offered the outcast her unequivocal friendship during dinner. Most others avoided her like the plague, except for Fire and Ice, though she suspected that Fire was more interested in staying close to her friend.
"Vixen" she says to herself, knowing next to nothing about the superhero. She'd pulled up her file, but that gave precious little information that was open to public eyes. She had seen the woman and was annoyed by her beauty. She'd hear her described as an "exotic model"
'Exotic? Pfft. If Vic likes exotic than a woman with wings has to take the cake' she thinks, having spent the last few hours mentally comparing herself to the woman. She was an honest tactician at heart however and realized a few key points. While Vixen had her beat in seductiveness and in novelty, she had her beat in her history with Vic and in her experience. She would win him back, and the way she'd do that would be by showing him what he had and was undoubtedly going to miss.
She smiled to herself at all the avenues she could take to win him back. She knew what he liked seeing her in, and exactly what to say to him to get his mind working. She'd win him back, but she had to play this slowly. First she'd need to win his trust and friendship again, and she'd have to work at convincing him that that was all she wanted.
There was also the issue of the ammo crates. What was the story behind them, and who was playing two of the largest companies in the world for fools? If anyone would find out, it was Batman and Vic, and she was going to help him do it.
As she snuggled into her bed later that night she couldn't help the smile that breaks out over her face. "Another thing little miss gorgeous can't compete with me on. I've become as paranoid as Vic" she adds, knowing it was true.
(This story might wind up being longer than I thought, but I still know where I want to go with it so that's a good thing haha. Let me know what you guys think. Is Vixen going to go quietly into the night when it comes to Vic? Or will Shayera face more resistance than she anticipates? What will Vic choose to do? And who is behind the illicit arm trade at Wayne Enterprises and Queen Industries?)