They sat in comforting silence in front of the fire they made a few minutes ago. Each deep in their own thoughts…about the other. John was first to break the silence.
"How have you been?" She turned and looked at him. He was staring at the fire as if mesmerized.
"Physically?..i'm fine. Emotionally? I'm doing ok i suppose… given that a part of me feels like it has been torn and burnt. I guess that part would be dignity and self-respect" She softly added "…I suppose that's how most traitors feel.
"Don't say that. No one thinks of you as a traitor…at least not anymore. You did what you had to do."
Shayera sighed. "Well I guess we are our harshest critic."
He remained silent.
"Do you forgive me? Did you..on that day?" she asked quietly.
He froze. "I forgave you a long time ago Shayera. Yes…on the day you left."
Silence again.
"Then why didn't you wait for me?" She asked unable to contain her anguish.
He turned slowly and saw the tears flow down her cheeks. He felt a familiar pain…deep in his heart. Something that he had worked hard to bury all this time.
Before he could reply, she stood up and wiped her tears away. "I'm sorry. Forget this conversation ever took place. We have to find a way to get back to Earth."
He knew she was putting on a guard to get rid of her hurt. He let it go. He wasn't ready to address this either.
She turned to him.."We have to scour the area anything that might help us get back..maybe a portal or something that got us here in the first place."
"On it."
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"So you're saying that this equipment opened an inter-dimensional portal and Shayera and John fell into it?" Superman asked.
"That's right," Batman replied as he continued to tinker with the broken equipment. " We have to figure out how to fix it."
" Can't the uranian do it?" Vixen asked impatiently. Batman turned to her. She refused to be let out of the loop in this investigation although the Martian kept telling her that she would be of no help in this. He knew she was eager to get John back because it threatened their relationship. A relationship she established easily when she found out John was broken hearted over Shayera. She had seduced him under the pretense of sympathy. Batman felt disdainful towards her but didn't show it. He didn't like women who exploited a situition in order to gain from it.
Rather he fancied women with honor. Who wore their womanhood with pride and stood eye to eye with men. Of course, it would help greatly if she had dark hair and stunning blue eyes.
He shook off the thought and replied curtly, "The Uranian is a soldier, not an engineer. He has no knowledge of the circuitry of the equipment. Isn't that right J'ohn?"
"Affirmative."
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Hours later, Shayera swooped down and sat on a rock. John followed suit. It was an exhausting search. "That was a whole lot of nothing," Shayera exclaimed.
"Guess we're stuck here for a while longer," John replied.
"Pity for you…you have loved ones waiting for you," she said wistfully.
"Shayera…all of us see you as family."
She looked down.
"No they don't John. They don't. Do you think I don't know what they say about me? I'll always be a traitor to them…just a dirty hawk. You shouldn't have followed me here. It doesn't matter for me. I'll be alone everywhere I go. I don't belong anywhere. But you have someone you love waiting for you."
He was silent for a long moment.
"I have a loved one right next to me…and I'm leaving this place dead or alive with her."
She looked at him..her green eyes liquid with tears that threatened to flow. "You have her now John. You don't need me."
He knew there was no hope for it.. He had to address it now. It was something he dreaded all this time.
"You left me Shayera. You walked away from me. I loved you with all my being. I was willing to forgive you everything but you didn't give me a chance. Do you really believe that I moved on easily? Do you have any idea how many nights I spent staring into the sky…hoping to see you?" He turned away, tears building up in his own eyes.
"Vixen..she was my solace. She gave me hope ..that my wounds will heal. That I would finally move on. That I can start to smile again. And I was healing…then you came back. What do you want me to do Shayera? Tell Vixen that I don't need her anymore? Turn my back on her like you did to me?"
He turned back to her.
"I can't do that Shayera. I can't put her through that. I know what it feels like. I admit…I love you. I always have and I always will…but you're too late. So lets just live with fond memories of each other and move on with our lives."
She cried then…streams of long-contained tears streaming down her beautiful face. Her heart aching with anguish…she let it all out. He cried too.
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IS that really John's decision? Will he have a change of heart? Will they manage to get back home?
Well..you just gotta wait and see :) thanks for reading.