I own nothing.
----
The Watchtower medical facilities were full to capacity immediately after the battle with the Ultimen clones. Everyone was injured - there was no one with less than a scrape, and most of them needed overnight observation for a clean bill of health. As a result, the staff felt it prudent to move their two most critically injured inpatients into the same room, so that any medical staff on call could more easily keep an eye on them. As far as Huntress was concerned, it was the stupidest idea ever. The two most injured inpatients were the Question, who was currently recuperating from a week of brutal torture in a Cadmus facility, and Captain Atom, who had been beaten down by Superman because he was interfering in the Question's rescue.
Captain Atom was getting used to Huntress' glares, but he still squirmed whenever Question looked directly at him. Even though mostly everyone on the Watchtower knew what Question looked like - or at least the basics, meaning that he actually did have a face, and that his hair was actually red - he had put the mask back on as soon as he was told he didn't need the oxygen mask anymore. Because of this, Captain Atom had no idea what the Question thought of him. Sure, he'd blasted some of the Ultimen clones away from him and Huntress during the attack, but before that... he'd stood by and done nothing for a week, while Cadmus personnel tortured Question, and then stood in the way when Huntress and Superman had come to bring him home. He had only been following orders...
I vos chust followink orders, Herr Cheneral, muttered a treacherous thought in the back of his head.
"Well, I was," he muttered back.
"Talking to yourself, Captain?" said the Question, quietly, so as to not wake his girlfriend. "It's a sign of insanity, they say."
Had he just made a joke? Did he used to make jokes before Cadmus? Captain Atom decided to forego the obvious response, considering. "Couldn't sleep, either?"
"I'm choosing not to, for the moment." Why? Captain Atom wondered. Was it because of nightmares? The guilt flared up again. "Thank you, by the way, for blasting those Ultimen for us. Huntress couldn't get them, and I was little help."
"You knocked one of them out with a bedpan."
"Yes," allowed Question. "Due to an adrenaline rush. And then I collapsed a moment later. Which is why I said 'little help' instead of 'no help'."
"He bugging you, Q?" asked Huntress, groggily. "I can shoot him for you."
"Not at all," said Question.
"Can I shoot him anyway?"
"It's probably better if you don't. Sweet dreams, Huntress." He waited a minute. "She'll probably never forgive you, you know."
Another moment, and then Captain Atom said, "I know."
"I probably will, though," said Question, musingly. "After all, you were always a soldier - used to following orders. It didn't really occur to you to... question them."
"I did question them, though," said Captain Atom. "After I-"
"After you found out the methods of interrogation, yes, I know. And again, after you learned that it was a Justice Leaguer, one of your former teammates, who was being interrogated. I may have been only half-conscious when you got into an argument with your superiors in front of me, but I was still there. I was also there when you agreed to submit to their lies: that their techniques were necessary; that I was a traitor. Incidentally, they were telling the truth about me, in that I... appropriated... several classified files, but consider how close to Armageddon we came."
"Are you telling me you think the end justifies the means?"
"In this case? Yes, although there are some means that are never justified. Do try to keep that in mind if you ever decide to betray us again." Question sighed and let his head rest on his pillow. "But this is heavy talk for a time when we should be sleeping."
"I thought you were choosing not to sleep."
"I was. I've said all that I needed to say tonight."
Question fell asleep not long after that, and Captain Atom was left alone to deal with his demons and listen to them whisper, traitor, traitor.
----
He hadn't been able to catch a wink of sleep by the time Huntress woke up. "Good morning," he said.
"I suppose it is, somewhere," she replied. "Has anybody been in to visit?"
"No," he replied, surprised. "Were you expecting-"
The door hummed and admitted the Green Lantern. "Hey," he said to Huntress. "Is he awake yet?"
"Not yet. I think he," Huntress said, nodding towards Captain Atom, "kept him up late, talking."
"He actually chose to stay up later," said Captain Atom. "He had something to say to me."
"Would you please inform Captain Atom that I am ignoring everything he has to say except in situations of dire necessity?" Huntress said stiffly.
"Duly noted," John said. "I came here to let you know that his room is ready - we sanitized it and installed a call button and everything. All it needs is for the Question to give it his seal of approval."
"John," said Huntress. "I... appreciate what you're doing for him. You and all the League. But I have to know... I'm not really welcome here..."
"As long as Question needs you, we're keeping you, Huntress. After that, as long as somebody invites you, nobody will kick you off the station. We owe him at least that much."
"Thanks," said Huntress quietly.
"And Captain?" said John. "Shayera would like to speak with you in private, as soon as possible."
As soon as possible turned out to be later that day (relatively speaking, as they were on a space station). Shayera Hol sat down on the bed recently vacated by the Question and waited for the doctor to leave. As soon as she did, Shayera said, "Welcome to the club, captain."
"What club?"
"The traitor's club. You betrayed the Justice League by keeping it a secret from us that the government of the United States had taken Question into custody, and what they were doing to him." Shayera's expression gave nothing away. "You then betrayed the government and the military by fighting on our side during the attack by the Ultimen and Galatea. Do you deny it?"
Captain Atom wearily said, "No."
"No," Shayera said. Just as wearily, she sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "Has no one learned anything from my life?" Captain Atom looked at her curiously. "You and I did nearly the same thing, captain. We both joined the Justice League; we both built a family here; we both destroyed any foundation of trust we had hoped of establishing without a second thought because of orders from our governments. Did it not occur to you to let us know that you had received orders - that they had reactivated your commission?" She didn't wait for an answer, but went on. "And you know - you must know - that even if you are forgiven, your act of treachery will never be forgotten. People will always be second guessing you - wondering why you did it - wondering if you'll do it again. Why on earth would you do that to yourself?"
"Orders," he said.
"Orders," she said. "Of course. Let me tell you something about orders, captain. They are far less forgiving than the people who wrote them. If I had stopped to question my orders... Look. J'onn tells me you've got a chance at forgiveness."
"From Question, not Huntress. Or anybody else."
"It doesn't matter. My advice is to go for it. You've got nothing left to lose." She turned and started walking out. "The doctor says you should be fine in a couple of days," she said. "Oh, and if Fate offers you use of his tower, make sure you don't agree to chess with Aquaman. He's a sore winner and a sore loser."
----
Question watched Huntress' eyes narrow as the door hummed to admit another resident of the Watchtower into the cafeteria. "Captain Atom, right? Stop glaring at him," he told her. "I might get jealous, all that attention you're giving him."
"Yeah, well, somebody's got to watch your back, Q," she told him. "You're no good at it."
"Technically," he mused, "it was my face that needed watching-"
"Hey," she said, looking straight at him. "Don't joke right now, okay? It's only been a few days since I got you back."
"I understand," he said. "You're in a fragile state."
"Dang straight," she said. "And I'll break anyone who says otherwise." She and Question shared a smile, his all but hidden to her by his mask.
"You're sweet," Huntress said. "But you know you haven't made me forget he's here. I don't get it."
"What?"
"Why you don't want him dead and gone, where he can never do that to anyone again."
He didn't remind her that it was that kind of thinking that had gotten her kicked off the Watchtower the first time. He also refrained from telling her that forgiveness was never her strong suit. He said instead, "It's useful when people owe you."
"Well I understand that," she said. "But are you sure you don't want me to shoot him, even a little?"
"Despite being curious as to how you could shoot someone 'a little', no. I believe we have more interesting things planned for the day, don't we?"
"What's this? Q's taking charge?"
"Oh, absolutely. With something as important as the conspiracy board..."
"That had better be innuendo," Huntress said.
Question hesitated. "It can be," he said.