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Broken Mirror (2/5)
A Justice League Unlimited Story
by BillA1
Copyright August 2007
Rating: (PG-13)
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CHAPTER TWO
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When I left my home and my family, I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of the railway station, running scared
Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters, where the ragged people go
Looking for the places only they would know.
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(Five years after the Thanagarian Invasion)
It had been a hot and muggy afternoon in Metropolis. Catherine Grant, the gossip reporter for the Daily Planet, stood in line with six other people in the bank grateful that the bank's air conditioning was working. She was depositing a check her mother had sent her for her birthday. Catherine was in her mid-thirties and easily made more money in one year than her elderly mother had made in five years when she still worked. More than once Catherine would gently, but firmly, remind her mother that she didn't need her money. And every year a check would arrive on her birthday anyway.
Catherine smiled to herself as it was now her turn at the teller window. She'd just presented the teller, Doris, with her check when she thought she heard a commotion behind her. She turned in time to see Hawkgirl walking into the bank and approach her.
Hawkgirl held her mace out in front of her and she was in her old costume with the yellow top and green pants with red trim. She also wore the feathered mask she used to wear before the invasion four or five years ago.
Catherine would later tell the police that she at first thought it was a Hawkgirl impersonator going to a geek convention or some sort of a movie publicity stunt until the woman suddenly spread the wings coming out of her back and flew over the teller's counter.
"Excuse me," Hawkgirl said as she flew behind the teller's cage and pushed the surprised Doris aside. "I'll take this," the Thanagarian said as she reached into the cash drawer. She removed the dye pack from it magnetic 'safe' position and tossed it to Doris on the floor.
"That's a no-no," Hawkgirl said as she grabbed two $100 bills. "That's all I need for today," she said as she seemed to smile into the security cameras capturing this robbery on video.
Just as she'd had before, Hawkgirl flew over the bank counter and landed at the bank entrance. She hit the front door with her mace, shattering the glass door insert and then leaped in the air and flew away.
Within seconds, Catherine could hear shots being fired outside and she figured one of the other tellers must have tripped a silent alarm. Police rushed inside the bank within minutes as Doris lay on the floor sobbing while a couple of other tellers tried to comfort her.
Catherine wondered why in the world would Hawkgirl wear a mask and her old costume to rob a bank. With all the video cameras in the place, the fact that she's the only one of her kind on the planet and was so well-known, it wasn't like anyone wouldn't know it was her.
"All of those costumed types are criminals," Catherine heard someone say behind her. She reflected that, at the moment that statement was probably going to be hard to argue against.
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(12 hours later)
Wally listened as Batman, pressing his finger to his ear, made the call on the private channel for the seven. "Shayera. Stand by for transport to the Watchtower."
Wally's stomach hurt. It was an ache he got when he had to do something he didn't want to do. Occupying a seat in this special room in the Watchtower was one of those things.
"Standing by," Shayera answered as Batman pushed the button on his armrest that transported her to the designated spot.
This room, isolated in a corner of the Watchtower and requiring special codes and voice print identification to enter, had six chairs placed on a raised platform arranged in a semi-circle with Superman and Batman sitting in the center of the grouping. There were thirteen steps leading to this stage (Wally had counted them) and their significance was not lost on him. This is where the founding six sat in judgment of those who came before them.
And now, there was this moment. A moment he'd dreaded for some time, one he'd thought would have occurred earlier than today.
He had not been too keen of the idea behind this place, this special room, from the beginning. It was unspoken, but understood that anyone who betrayed the League or presented a direct threat to the future of the League would stand in front of them and face summary justice. Because she had betrayed them, Shayera would never have a seat on this council and Wally wasn't sure that she even knew it existed. More than once, Wally had thought the primary purpose of the room and her subsequent exclusion was to continue punishing her, regardless what GL had said to the contrary.
With GL already known to be on a deep space mission, she now stood in front of the five of them, looking up with a mixture of emotions on her face. She was clearly surprised to have been transported to this room, facing what was undeniably a tribunal. The look of nervousness slowly etched itself on her face as she gradually saw the gravity of the situation and the frowning faces in front of her.
She had her mace clipped to her belt and her arms folded across her chest. "What's this about?" she snapped. Wally shook his head. Shayera was going be defiant to the end, Wally thought, and that might not serve her well under these circumstances.
"Want to explain," Bats said, his hands tightly clenching the armrest. At that moment, Wally had a revelation. Bats didn't like being in this room either.
"Explain what?" Shayera said. Wally noticed the crack in her voice and was sure the others did too.
"This!" Superman said as a video screen rose out of the floor to Shayera's left. On the screen were two surveillance camera photos; one taken from behind and the other a profile, showing her in her old Hawkgirl costume behind a bank counter taking money out of a teller's drawer.
Shayera's jaw dropped as she realized what she was seeing. "That's not me," she stammered. "You know that's not me! Why would I do that?"
Bats frowned. "You tell us."
Shayera inhaled sharply as if she was gathering her courage having realized how grave her situation apparently was. Wally wondered if she knew that Superman's phantom zone projector was just a switch-throw away. She cleared her throat and pointed to the screen. "If you know me, you know I didn't do that. Can't you tell that's not me?"
"Where were you yesterday afternoon at 1:30?" Bats said. His tone was just as curt as it had been when she'd materialized in the room.
"Why are you even asking me that?" she said. "You can't possibly believe I had anything to do with this."
Supes stood. "It doesn't matter what we believe, Shayera, only what we can prove. Batman asked you a question. Where were you yesterday?"
Shayera started fidgeting and Wally suddenly had a thought. She might well be aware of the projector in the floor. After all, she had a proven history of finding out things she wasn't suppose to know. She dropped her arms to her side and Wally thought for a moment she might reach for her mace and prayed that she wouldn't. He knew if she did that she'd never leave that room alive, despite his speed.
Instead, she kept her arms at her side, her hand plainly in sight, and there was almost a plea to her voice as she said softly, "I've been with you for almost ten years and I can't believe you'd do this to me. I tell you again, that's not me. How can you not see that?"
Wally had heard enough. He stood and raced down to Shayera's side and standing next to her said to Superman, "And that should end this discussion right now. We all knew before she came in here that she didn't do it. Now, let's concentrate on finding out who's impersonating Shayera and stop this madness." He turned and smiled at Shayera. She didn't return his smile.
Bats stood. "I want to see your earpiece."
Shayera surprised Wally by flying to Bat's chair and handing him her device. "This better not be it," she said angrily. "Because if it is, I'm not wearing these stupid things again. Ever!"
Wally raced back up the steps and Supes stepped next to Shayera while Bats examined her earpiece. "Shayera, I'm sorry about this," Supes said, "but we have to prove to the authorities you aren't responsible. And we can't assume that we or you will get the benefit of the doubt from anyone. That's what this was all about. We have to be able to prove your innocence, not simply deny your guilt."
Shayera stared at Superman silently for a few seconds. There was no hiding the anger and disgust in her face. She inhaled loudly before saying, "And how do you propose I do that? Turn myself in?"
"No!" Diana snapped as she stood. "We will not turn you over to anyone. Period!"
Wally inwardly smiled. Diana had clearly moved on beyond whatever differences she and Shayera had had before.
"Diana's right," Wally said turning to Bats. "Besides, if you're feeling guilty, clear your own name. Don't stand on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to do it."
Diana grinned first at Wally, then at Shayera and then looked back to Bats. "You forgot the part about it being the single dumbest plan you ever heard of." Shayera smiled.
Bats frowned. "Very funny." He handed Shayera another earpiece. "Here. Take this one."
Shayera examined the device before putting it in her ear. She looked at Superman. "How do we prove it wasn't me?"
"We go to the videotape," J'onn said as he placed his hand on Shayera's shoulder and grinned in his own Martian way.
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Wally liked this room a lot better than the other one. He stood next to Shayera as Bats wound and re-wound the videotape of the bank robbery. He had taken the black and white tape and color enhanced it.
"Friend of yours?" Bats said to Shayera as she looked over his shoulder.
Shayera shook her head as she said, "She's wearing Hro's colors, but she's not Thanagarian. I don't know what she is. Possibly human, but definitely not Thanagarian."
Wally's eyes widened. "How can you tell? I mean that she's not Thanagarian. She's got wings coming out of her back like you."
Shayera tilted her head to one side. "Her wings are too low on her back to be Thanagarian. They're close to being positioned correctly, but it's not right. Also you can tell by watching her fly. She wobbles in flight. Flight is not instinctive. She's had to learn and she learned recently."
"Oh," Wally said as he watched the woman on the tape fly once more after Batman re-cued the tape. Suddenly his jaw dropped as he realized what Shayera had said. "Wait!" he exclaimed. "You were wearing Talak's colors? So whose colors do you wear now?"
Shayera lowered her head, turned and started walking out the door. "I wear the colors of a nobody."
Wally said nothing after Shayera left, focusing his attention on Bats. "This bites," he finally said. "And honestly, I'm not sure I'm proud of a group that would drag her in front of us, scare her to death and maybe threaten to send her to the phantom zone. We all know she didn't do this. We knew it from the beginning and yet -"
"I wouldn't have permitted that projector to come out of the floor or let anyone in that room harm her," Bats said without turning around.
Wally's eyes widened. At least he had confirmation that he hadn't been alone in his discomfort. "Yeah, I guess you wouldn't have," he said after a moment of reflection.
"However, she still didn't answer where she was," Bats pointed out as he kept his attention on the video screen in front of him. "Hmmm. It could still be a Thanagarian. Or a human with a wing harness like Carter Hall."
"Or a Martian who changed to look like Shayera," Wally said. Bats turned around in his chair to face him and frowned. "Look," Wally continued, "All I'm saying is that I don't think it's us, any of us, and I don't believe you think it was either. And if Shayera says it's not a Thanagarian, then it's not a Thanagarian. Isn't there some bad guy, somewhere in this vast library of ours, who has made bird people or something?"
Bats steepled his hands together almost as if in prayer and was silent. He suddenly dropped his hands in his lap and said, "Not bird people. Cat people!"
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Amanda Waller's secretary had just closed the door to her office taking with her the reports Waller had just signed. They'd called it a lateral transfer, but Waller knew better. It had been punishment, not for her role in Project Cadmus, but for ordering the attack on the Watchtower without Presidential consent. Most people were stunned that she still had a job. Waller, on the other hand, hated the title "liaison," and sometimes wished she'd been fired outright. She no longer made decisions; she just passed information along.
She was about to pick up the phone to cancel a luncheon date with Agent Faraday when he stepped out from behind a window drape.
"We have to talk," Batman said. Waller's eyes narrowed as she wondered how in the hell he got into her office undetected unless...he was being transported from the Watchtower.
Waller stood. "Make an appointment with my secretary," she snapped back.
"Now!" Batman snarled.
Waller walked up to him. "You don't scare me." She paused, staring him in the eyes. "I'll give you five minutes. The clock's running."
"That bank robbery in Metropolis the other day, Shayera didn't do it. But maybe you know who did."
Waller frowned. "It looked like Hawkgirl to me in the papers. You have four minutes and I'll save you thirty seconds. Any imposter you're looking for was not part of the Ultimen Project. And I'm going to save you another ten seconds. There was an attempt to clone Thanagarians, but it failed."
Batman's eyes widened in surprise and Waller secretly smiled. Yes, there had been a project to clone Thanagarians using the genetic materials of some of the killed invaders, but that project was halted when Galatea proved so successful.
"Maybe someone else took over the project," Batman said. His tone softened.
Waller shook her head. "Guess again. That fool, Milo, was in charge of the Thanagarian project. He's dead - killed by Doomsday. All of his notes were recovered and sealed. And by happenstance there was a fire in his lab the day after he died."
She could tell Batman was trying to hide his surprise by staring harder. "Save your stares for some one else. It was a different world then. It was business. You have two minutes."
"Tell me where I can find Doctor Emile Dorian. He was released early from prison and seems to have disappeared."
Waller prided herself on hiding her emotions, but the mention of Dorian's name had caught her off guard. She hadn't seen Dorian since she conducted his final inbound interview years ago. She frowned at the prospect that Batman had probably seen the look of recognition at the mention of Dorian's name. "Let's get something straight," she snarled in her most pointed voice. "I'm a liaison; not your step and fetch it service. You're looking for someone? You find them yourself!"
Batman stood over Waller. "Shayera didn't do this and we're not turning her over to any one. And if something happens to her or someone tries to take her by force, I assure you it will make your job as a liaison very difficult. Think about it."
Waller turned and walked back to desk to press her security button. "And I think your time is up." She turned around to face Batman and he was gone. She slowly shook her head. "I hate this job."
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To Be Continued
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