Shayera fell asleep around an hour ago, but John still held her close to him. Her wings often twitched as she slept and John often stroked them, happy to see that her wings had healed fully. He wondered whether she would be able to use them, memories of her panic stricken movements six weeks ago when she had attempted to fly. She was uncoordinated and . The doors slid open and Batman walked in with a doctor and he carefully laid Shayera back into her bed and followed Batman outside as a nurse walked in with a clipboard for the doctor to read over. As John left the room, the peace and serenity he felt while holding Shayera left him and he was feeling horror and anxiety creep up on him. It didn't take long for Batman to see the expression on John's face and gestured for him to go into the Conference room. Superman, Diana, J'onn, and Wally were also in the room, needing time to try and compose themselves.

Shayera's forgiveness had greatly relieved many of the guilty consciousness that they had all experienced over the last eleven weeks. It was as if a great burden had been lifted from them and they were enjoying the peace that surrounded them for now. John was not feeling those emotions at all. His horror and guilt was rising at a whole new level and Shayera's confirmation of being the last of the Thanagarians had multiplied them greatly. John almost couldn't handle it until J'onn read the distress in his mind.

"Talk to us." said J'onn, grabbing the attention from the others as they finally noticed John's pale face.

"John?" asked Diana, "What's wrong?"

"She's… she's the last one of her kind," said John quietly, making the others blink in shock at his words while J'onn remained stoic to the side, "because of me."

"You? John, what-" said Wally before he was cut off by John, "-There was a distress call from a refugee ship. It was filled with Thanagarians. I was on call when the message was sent out. I… I didn't think it was genuine. I thought it was a trap. I… it never occurred to me until now that… they were just innocent people trying to get away from war."

Silence filled the room as they all digested what John had revealed. It was a serious and tragic truth that can potentially ruin Shayera's mindset and little trust that she has for them. John was rubbing his head in his hands as he debated on whether or not he should tell Shayera. They have just reached a stable ground in their attempt to restabilize their relationship, and this might be the one to have Shayera forget about him all together.

J'onn was also thinking of how this might affect Shayera and her recovery. She was suffering from not only her trauma at the Gordanian Prison but she still retained her survivor's guilt from choosing Earth over her own people. J'onn immediately phased out of the room to check on her progress while the others tried to offer words of comfort to John. 'Try' being the operative word.

"It… John, there was a lot of stuff going on. I mean… there was no way you could have… shit." muttered Wally quietly. Diana could only pat John on his shoulder and say, "We were in a different position John. We just had an invasion from the Thanagarians and we were cautious and wary. We thought Shayera had betrayed us again and we were not in the right mindset."

Superman only stared out the window, looking down at Earth. It was so fragile and so easily open to any invaders. At the same time though, the Earth is a cruel planet. Superman had been to many planets were the inhabitants lived in harmony. There was no wars, no intolerance and they lived in harmony while Earth was filled with hate and corruption. Invasions of homes and countries to exploit resources or to show power was all war was ever really needed for. It was cruel to think that Thanagar deserved what it got because in the end, the Earth honestly is no better in terms of innocence. If it had been Earth that was doing the invasion, Superman will never say that Earth would have been kinder to any other lifeforms that wasn't human when they can't even get along with each other.

"Do we tell her though?" asked Flash, wondering how Shayera might feel about it. J'onn phased back into the room, informing Bruce that Shayera was placed in another sedated sleep so the doctors may examine her without Shayera having to go through another panic attack.

"Do we want to tell her?" asked Superman. In his mind, Shayera doesn't deserve anymore heartbreak and this news might shatter her again.

"Either way, she needs to know. Sooner rather than later." said Bruce.
"She is extremely cautious around us," said J'onn, "she believes that any wrong move on her part will be reason enough for us to send her back."

"That's crazy though," said Flash, "we just got her out of that hellhole. She knows that we're sorry."

"It is not enough," said J'onn, "She spent five years fending for herself, believing that her punishment was justified because we never did anything to her after the Invasion. She believes it is destiny that she suffers for her actions, for the loss of her people, her home, her own identity even. Shayera is currently in a delicate state of mind and I'd rather that she stays in a stable condition before you all decide to reveal this information to her."

"Agreed." said Bruce. They all left the room to resume their duties but they still had many conflicted thoughts running through their heads. Flash quickly sped to Shayera's room just in time to see them wheel her away in order to get a proper examination. He sighed and was about to run towards the Monitor Room and leave for Central City when he almost ran into Mari.
"Whoa there tiger," teased Mari.

"Hey Mari," said Wally, "How have you been?"

"Good, I just… Is she… I heard that she is awake. Is it true?" asked Mari. Wally hesitated, unsure how to answer. He agreed with the others that Shayera was to be reintegrated back into the fold slowly so as not to cause any unforeseen reactions out of her.

"She's awake," said Wally, "But we're not allowed to have other people other than ourselves see her. She's still… scared."

"Scared? Of what?" asked Mari.

"That we'll send her back," said Wally, feeling the familiar sting of guilt stab at his heart, "she's… traumatized a lot and Batman says that she needs her space first to get used to being safe again."

Mari felt the pain of guilt first before feeling sorrow for Shayera. It was just as she feared and yet even greater. Mari had been hoping for Shayera to be alright and that perhaps they may be able to bury the hatchet but that seemed very unlikely now that Mari knows the extent of Shayera's trauma. To have lost five years of your life in prison is one thing, but to be tortured daily and to have no hope whatsoever must have been agony. Mari sighed in sadness and walked away, needing Greg's comfort to help ease her guilt for a while.

When she arrived at Greg's room, he was polishing his colt revolver in deep thought. Hearing the door open he turned around to see that Mari was back. Seeing the distressed look on her face, he put his weapons down and opened his arms for her to walk on in. Feeling tears wet his shirt he looked at Mari and asked, "What's wrong Pretty Lady?"

"Oh Greg," sighed Mari, "we messed up big time."

"On what?" asked Greg.

"Shayera," said Mari, feeling Greg stiffen at the name, "I tried to see her but… she's so broken because we didn't believe her. When she needed us to actually believe her and to help her, I was only too happy to send her away. What kind of a person does that make me?"

"Someone who feels sorry for her actions and wants to make things right again," offered Greg.
"Right," scoffed Mari, "how can I make things right again when she doesn't even feel safe with us?"

"We just have to keep trying," said Greg, "Lord knows we all have our share of apologies to hand out."

Mari calmed down after a while and the couple fell asleep, hoping that there was still time for redemption.

Medical Bay

Shayera was still asleep in her sedation, unaware of the unauthorized guest in her room. The figure moved around the room, lightly guiding his hands over the medical instruments as he walked around. He stopped next to Shayera's bed and gently cupped her face with one hand before sitting right next to her on the bed and placed both hands on her face. He shivered as he felt her breath on his hands and gently swiped away the stray hairs from her face. She is just as beautiful as she was five years ago, regardless of the scars that now decorated her face and body. He didn't mind. In his mind, they were trophies to show that she was a fighter. He gazed longfully at her lips and was tempted to steal a kiss from her. Holding himself back, he recalled the reunion she had with the Lantern and he felt his hands clench into fists, grabbing handfuls of her hair. Anger and jealousy burned within him and he was tempted to strangle her as punishment for wanting to return with that unworthy clout. She gave a small moan in her sleep and just like that, his anger was gone. He can never really stay mad at her for too long anyways, not even when she had brought upon the Thanagarian Invasion because she still chose them, chose him, in the end.

He lightly brushed her hair with his hands before getting up and checking on his surveillance cameras and the sensors to help him keep an eye on her. Soon, he'll be able to take her away from here, away from the heartbreak and misery these 'heroes' have inflicted upon her. It was only by luck and a miracle that Luthor is helping him along the way to achieving his dream. He looked back at Shayera longfully before walking out of the room, needing to keep his cover up.

Metrotower

Batman was currently on the main computer hub and was investigating where Luthor and Brainiac might have hidden. Having Adam Strange help design the firewall for the Metrotower proved to be a great asset as Brainiac doesn't have the knowledge of Raan tech to hack into the systems. With Luthor and Brainiac mixed in again, Bruce was worried that something was going down that will prove to be dangerous for them. Luthor and Brainiac were smart after all and they would have been more careful with what they did with their surveillance footage. It was no coincidence that the release of the footage came just in time for them to quickly rescue Shayera before she could have died from her injuries.

It unnerved Bruce at how likely it was that they were walking into a trap or helping Luthor and Brainiac. It was a huge possibility that Bruce couldn't ignore.

Working until the night sky turned bright, Bruce yawned and decided it would be better to work when he was less tired. Getting up, Bruce made his way towards the zeta-tubes where he will be dropped off at Gotham. On his way, he noticed Diana just staring at a picture on the wall. Quietly walking over to her, he looked at the picture to see that it was a picture of the original seven. It was all of them after Luthor and Brainiac first team up. They were so relieved and so happy that everybody was safe that when Wally suggested to them to have a group picture, they all agreed yes with no hesitation.

Diana had a look of regret and longing in her face, as though she were wishing things could have been different. Bruce knows how she is feeling, often wishing that on some nights after Shayera's rescue. He stood next to Diana and waited for her to speak, wanting her to not feel pressured or anything.

"I know she'll never be the same, and yet I always feel that nothing has changed and yet everything has." said Diana.
"I know the feeling," said Bruce, thinking back to all his previous obstacles that had happened to him throughout his life. The feelings of Jason's return, Talia's death, and even having his new son Damian live with him was mixed in with new and old feelings. Diana though had been a constant rock in his life and he was forever grateful for it.

"I feel that if maybe I had forgiven her faster, or if I had kept a clearer head then none of this would have happened." said Diana. Bruce kept silent as he allowed Diana to continue, "I missed Shayera deep down. This is even before the whole fiasco with Luthor and Brainiac, mind you. I missed having a sister and Shayera had always been my adopted sister, you can say. When she betrayed us, I felt so much pain that my own sister could do such a thing. When she chose us, I was still feeling the anger and the hurt so I never forgave Shayera, even when it was clear that she was working hard to regain it. I honestly felt horrible whenever I was so blunt and cold towards her, but I couldn't forget the hurt and anger. When it looked like we had a stable ground to rebuild that trust, when I had to finally let go of all the resentment I had towards her, Luthor and Brainiac tricked us. I was so happy to have that excuse not forgive her, to know that my feelings were justified."

Bruce could see tears run down Diana's face as she stared at the picture without really looking at it. He wrapped an arm around her and said, "We all felt that our actions were justified at the time, Diana. I was feeling a surge of pride for always being suspicious of her and to never fully trust her, to be proven correct in my suspicions. I stopped myself from investigating further because I felt that I didn't need anymore information to be proven right."

Diana just looked at the photo and said, "So what do we do know?"

"We help her rebuild herself. It might not be the same Shayera, but she'll be better than how we left her." said Bruce. He walked away, Diana holding his hand and following him to Gotham, both deciding that they needed each other's company for the day.

Watchtower

John walked in with his head feeling like it was going to implode. His guilt and sorrow made it another difficult night to sleep and he had to see J'onn later that day for another therapy session. John walked to Shayera's room to see J'onn and Superman helping her walk. She stood on shaky legs and every so often would buckle under her weight and had to be supported by Superman. John watched as Superman helped her stand upright and stayed behind her just in case she fell again. Shayera wobbled, trying to keep her small grunts of pain to herself, as she took another step. It felt as though knives were driven into the soles of her feet and she gritted her teeth. When John had entered the room, she almost wanted to run to him but with each step feeling close to agony, she couldn't do anything except try to not fall on the first step.

"Good, Shayera," praised J'onn as he watched Shayera take another step without falling, "how are you feeling?"

"Good," said Shayera, hoping that her hidden pain wasn't so obvious. She can't be weak, she needs to be strong, she has to be. Thoughts of how she almost died in prison haunted her and Shayera knew that she only lasted so long because she was at full strength. If they ever send her back, she needs to be strong again. Unknownst to Shayera, her mind still wasn't as protected as it once was and J'onn was still able to read her mind. He sighed as he heard the obvious fear in her mind, her desire to be at full strength in case they send her back. She was still afraid of them and J'onn didn't know what to do to help.

Superman quickly cradled her when she fell back at her third step and could hear her heartbeats pumping erratically, a sign of too much strain. He looked at J'onn and they both quickly agreed that Shayera was done with her physical therapy for today. As Superman carried her to the bed, Shayera was fearful, wondering what she did wrong.

"You've done well today Shayera," said J'onn, hearing her fears, "you have managed to remain upright and walked. Tomorrow we will repeat the same exercises so as not to put extra strain on yourself."

Shayera calmed down and watched as Superman and J'onn left while John walked over to sit beside her.

"Long day?" asked John, wrapping his arm around her.

"Almost," said Shayera, quickly glancing at his eyes before looking away submissively. John sighed and only held her tighter against him as he asked, "I was afraid that you might not have wanted to see me today."

Shocked at his words, she looked up and asked, "Why would you think that?"

"I don't know," said John rubbing the back of his neck, "you never look at me for a long time. I often think that maybe you don't want me here."

Shayera shook her head and said, "I'm… I'm happy you're here. I feel like I can tell you anything."

Kissing her on the head, John asked, "So what are your plans for the day?"

As Shayera gave him the rundown of her schedule, the content pair just relaxed for the short time they had before they each had to go their own individual schedules.

Hey readers, guess who has summer school? This writer [pointing at herself]! Dudes and Dudettes, I am back and hopefully I can update more frequently now that I only have one class for the whole summer. I shall hope to update soon and tell me what you liked :)