I do not own Hawkgirl, or any other DC character. I'm just borrowing them for my own view of alternative tales.
Fallen
By LJ58
Part 2:
"Look out," Green Arrow shouted as Wonder Woman pounded the ten foot steel behemoth that was destroying most of the city streets around them.
Diana spared a glance behind her, but he wasn't shouting at her. The archer was staring helplessly as the young woman standing frozen with fear in the path of the automobile the android had just thrown at Green Arrow, who had ducked out of the way easily enough, but now that airborne missile flew on to endanger the unwary pedestrian caught in its path.
"Goddess, no," Diana cried even as the metal fist slammed into the side of her head, sending her sailing in the opposite direction, unable to aid the woman.
"What the blazes," Oliver exclaimed as a dark streak flashed by, and the woman disappeared just a split second before the big sedan slammed into the ground where she had been standing. "Did the Flash change his colors," he mused as he fired another explosive arrow in spite of the fact he already knew they didn't have the punch necessary to stop the metal monster someone had unleashed on Gotham City's banks.
He knew Batman was laying unconscious a few blocks back, and wasn't sure when he'd rejoin the fight. Now Diana was down, and apparently dazed, and the destructive automaton was heading toward her with deadly intent as she tried to climb out of the pile of rubble left in the wake of her impact with the side of an old brick building. Just before the big fists could land a telling blow, something slammed into the back of the android, and a loud, echoing thud was followed by a shrill whine of electrical discharge as a cry of sheer exultation filled the air as that dark streak appeared behind the behemoth again before it turned and charged at the android yet again.
"Who the hell is that," Oliver demanded as Diana finally regained her feet, though even her legs still trembled briefly before she composed herself for the battle yet before her.
"Who," she demanded as she turned even as she made out the winged figure in black armor that swept down to intercept the stumbling android as it flailed at where Diana had been.
"Yaaaaa," came a familiar cry as a familiar energy mace impacted with the chin of the larger metal monster.
Again, raw energy erupted from the rip in the seemingly invulnerable shell, and it staggered back even as the winged figure flew past them, turned, and again charged headlong at the monster once more.
"Hawkgirl," Diana frowned, knowing the woman was supposed to have lost her wings months ago, and had gone to ground where no one could find her.
The Thanagarian energy mace slammed into the robotic head again, and this time the entire head flew off in one direction as the body fell in another. Energy erupted from the gaping hole in the neck as it fell, but Shayera had already flown past, well away from the danger of being shocked, or even incinerated. The two heroes watched as the android that had fought them off as easily as children, now landed sprawling on the cracked pavement as the energies fueling it slowly faded away even as the cash it had been stealing began to spill out of its cracked carcass.
"Hawkgirl," Diana shouted as the armored figured paused to hover in the air just overhead.
"That's her," Oliver asked as he came over to stand beside the Amazon. "Thought she was out of the biz."
"So did I," Diana frowned as the woman who's features were hidden behind a dark helmet that matched the darker armor she now wore turned and flew away with even more speed than she remembered the woman ever possessing. "So did I."
"What happened," Batman asked as he appeared just then, as if just stepping out of the shadowed alleys rather than having just recovered from a vicious backhand that should have broken every bone in his body.
"Hawkgirl saved our butts," Green Arrow told him bluntly. "Came out of nowhere, and headed right back once that overgrown tinker toy lost its head."
"Hmmm," the detective grunted as he studied the headless android after looking around. "Not unexpected."
"You expected her?"
"Yes," Diana was told curtly as he approached the downed android without even reacting to her shock.
"You knew she was….back?" Batman turned, and looked at her outraged expression.
"She's not back."
"But she's in your city?"
"Yes."
"The League should know about this."
"She isn't the League's business, Diana," he told her. "Shayera is strictly independent, and wants nothing to do with them."
"You mean us, don't you?"
Batman didn't even looked back at her, let alone reply.
"I still don't trust her."
"Your trust isn't required here," he told her as he ran a small device over the gaping wound in the android's chest.
"So, what is it," Green Arrow asked as he watched him work.
"As I thought," he told Oliver as the police began to close in. "Call Superman. It looks like Darkseid's technology, which means Intergang may be trying to make a comeback."
"Terrific," the archer groaned.
"Just call. I have other matters to tend to just now, so I can't stay," he said as he lifted his right hand, and rose into the sky as the grappling hook was fired into the sky to catch a ledge, and just as quickly retracted, carrying him up, and away before either of them could react.
"I hope he knows what he's doing," Diana growled as she looked after him.
"Bad blood with you and the winged woman," Oliver asked knowingly.
"She betrayed us, Arrow. All of us."
"Guess you Amazons aren't big on redemption," he smirked.
"Of course we are. But true redemption is based on action, not mere words," she protested.
"Well, whaddaya call this," the archer asked, gesturing at the fallen android as he reached for his comlink that was tied into the special satellite transmissions used to unite the League.
"Blind luck," Diana snorted as he made the call to alert Superman to the alien android's presence.
"Sore loser," Oliver snickered.
X
"Are you all right, Shaye," Keri Anderson asked her roommate as the winged woman stood on the balcony staring back at the city.
"Yes. The new adjustments to my mace are just as powerful as I had hoped," she told the small blonde whose rooms she now shared. She still wore her formfitting battle armor, but had removed the imposing helmet designed to emulate her old hawk helmet, while providing better protection.
She had met Keri when the young woman came looking for her sister after her brother-in-law had stormed the emergency room where she was being treated, and yet still chased her, and her daughter into the dark city streets. Cassie ended up at Leslie's mission, and was still living there until she could decide what to do about facing her husband. When Keri learned it was Shayera who had driven off the abusive husband, after she had given him a well-deserved beating, she had made it her mission to help her. For by then, everyone at the mission knew who Sheryle Hall had been, as her wings were growing out like feathered flowers from her back despite the fact she had hid them as well as possible before then. Later, she built the holographic imager with Bruce Wayne's help, but not before the people at the mission had a good look at the very real wings that had blossomed quickly once they began growing back. For whatever their reasons, all the women chose to keep her secret. It touched her heart they would do so, even as it did when they had begged her to remain as their self-defense teacher.
Later, when her wings were fully developed, she went to the capitol, and addressed the governor. She did not excuse herself, but she did present herself ready to face any consequences they felt might be due her for her role in the invasion. Strangely, the governor had sent her away, feeling she had suffered enough, and that she had proven herself worthy of a pardon. Bruce suggested that it was an election year, and no one wanted to be the one to jail a fallen hero who was trying to redeem their name. Cynical as ever, he still helped her create her new uniform, and was actually surprised when she gave him a different design. Using her own scientific knowledge, she created a battle suit of light mesh armor that augmented her own strength and agility, as well as boosting her natural speed. Even her mace was modified to give her better control over its power levels, allowing for a light tap for normal humans, or powerful concussive blasts for such monsters as the android she had just destroyed before it could damage Leslie's mission in its relentless rampage through the city.
"That's not what I asked, Shaye," Keri called her as she came out to stand beside her on the balcony, one hand resting on her shoulder.
"I'm fine, Keri. Really," she told her, putting a hand over hers.
It was still strange to her, but comforting, this human need for intimacy at every turn. Or maybe she really was getting soft living here.
"Was it hard? I mean, seeing them again?"
"I didn't hang around to talk."
"I saw the broadcast. You saved Ginny, and stopped that monster just short of the mission."
"She's the only reason I showed myself."
"You're becoming as nocturnal as that Bat guy," Keri smiled fondly at her.
"I don't want the limelight," she told her. "You know that. And I don't want to get involved in a parade of senseless violence again. Even warriors get tired of endless battle," she sighed.
"I believe you. But it's going to be hard to resist, I think, when there's so much violence out there."
"I shouldered that burden once, Keri," the redhead turned to look down at her before going back into the penthouse suite that was Keri's home. "I don't want to do it again. I'm just….one woman."
"You saved a lot of lives, though. Just like you saved Ginny today."
Shayera only sighed, wondering what was really on Keri's mind now. Sometimes, it was very hard to tell.
"I have to change," she told her, and headed into the bedroom where she kept her civilian clothes, and the special holographic imager belt that would help her hide her wings behind an illusion of normalcy. So long as no one touched her, they would never know she was a winged Thanagarian in hiding. Her friends at the mission might know the truth, but she didn't want to needlessly broadcast her presence there. Especially to the wrong people.
"All right. But you're going to have to face this sooner or later. You're still Hawkgirl, Shayera. That's a part of you that you can't deny any longer. We both know it. We all know it," she added, referring to the women who had all but begged her to stay and keep teaching them when she had considered leaving the mission after her wings had grown back..
"Maybe," Shayera shot back over her shoulder. "But I don't have to do it just now. I have a class to teach this afternoon," she reminded her.
X
"I don't like it," Diana told the assembled heroes in the Watchtower. "She walks away, disappears for over a year, and then just shows up like it's old times?"
"Not quite like that," Flash told her with a tight smile. "I saw the news, Diana. She saved your bacon. Admit it."
"I still don't trust her."
"I'm still not sure how much we can trust her, either," Superman admitted as he cleared his throat for attention. "But we aren't here to condemn anyone. She made a conscious effort to face the consequences of her actions, and she was pardoned. We should respect that."
"I'll respect…."
"Enough," Batman cut into the ongoing argument that had lasted close to twenty minutes, slapping a gloved hand down on the table for emphasis.
All eyes went to the dark clad detective as he rose from his seat.
"By now you all know I've been in touch with Shayera from the start. Out of respect for her wishes, I did not tell you where she was, or what she has been doing. I still won't. That is by her choice."
No one said a word as Batman paused to eye them.
"As to her current actions, she isn't looking to return to the League. She asked me to stress that point herself. She isn't looking for another invitation from any of us. She simply wants to be left alone to live her life as best she can, and to help those she cares for as she can."
"So why did she show up in Gotham like that," Oliver asked, ignoring the glares of the attending heroes as he leaned back in his chair with his feet up on the conference table.
"That's where she's making her home just now. It's not much of a surprise that she would try to protect the people in the neighborhood that she knows."
"She's living in that dump," Flash grimaced. "No offense, Bats, but why would she hang around that ghetto?"
"Good people live everywhere," Batman drawled. "Or had you forgotten, Wally," Batman stressed, reminding the speedster that he knew all about him.
"Okay, okay. You don't have to rub it in. Geez, I'm on your side."
"There are no sides here," Batman told him, his cold glance sweeping all the heroes present. "So long as Shayera decides to abide by the law, and does not do anything illegal, we should have no problem with her. Do we, Diana," he asked her pointedly.
"Not when you put it like that," she grumbled.
"I remember someone else that needed to prove herself once," John Stewart spoke up as they fell silent. "So giving someone else a second chance shouldn't be all that difficult. Should it, Princess?" Diana's jaw lifted stubbornly, but she said nothing. They both knew she had lost her title when she was exiled from her home for breaking the Amazons' most sacred taboo.
"As far as I'm concerned, the matter is settled," Superman spoke again. "We'll leave Hawkgirl alone. Until, or unless she does something that requires our intervention."
"But we're not going to give her a chance to rejoin," Flash asked impishly.
"We don't need her," Diana spat.
"Perhaps she doesn't need us," John suggested, his tone as grim as the Batman's of late. He had been that way ever since he had returned from his last mission on behalf of the Corps with a new attitude, and a new haircut. Not that he had been very easygoing before that. Not since the whole Thanagarian fiasco.
"The matter is settled," Superman nodded firmly. "Now, we have to decide on next week's rotation for watch, and settle the question of Darkseid's possible intervention in Intergang."
"It's possible this is just leftover technology someone found, and reactivated," Captain Atom suggested as he scratched his silver chin.
"Wherever it came from, I don't want it in Gotham," Batman scowled. "I've enough problems there without Intergang's leftovers filtering in."
"Morgan Edge is still in prison, but that doesn't mean anything," Superman admitted. "He wouldn't be the first mastermind pulling strings from inside a prison."
"I'll shake down the usual sources on the streets," Batman told him. "Wherever that thing came from, it didn't just appear in Gotham out of thin air."
"Unless it did come from Apokolips," Supergirl suggested with a too eager grin.
"To rob banks," J'onn spoke up only then. He had been one of the few to abstain from arguing over Hawkgirl's apparent return. "I find that doubtful. Darkseid has more than enough power. While his ambitions are boundless, I feel robbing a handful of local banks would be beneath him."
"Point taken," Superman nodded, ignoring his cousin Kara's pout.. "So we're undoubtedly looking for a criminal connection. So, let's get to work."
X
Shayera exulted in the rush of wind past her wings, and over her exposed skin where her grimly stylized helmet didn't cover her face. Arching upward with the ease of long practice, she began a series of rapid twists and twirls as she crested high over the city, then plunged down into a dizzying dive before she pulled up just short of slamming into the empty streets below. Fighting back the urge to voice a shrill cry of natural exultation at regaining such freedom, she still almost literally glowed with renewed energy as she leveled out her flight path to begin a patrol of her new city.
It had become a habit of hers to play a little each evening after she first went out. A means of ridding herself of the day's stress before she got down to the more serious business of seeing no one did anyone any unnecessary harm on the streets of her adopted city. Especially those streets that she now considered home. She still wished she could do more, but as Leslie had told her, you couldn't help people who weren't ready to be helped. Some of them had to come to an awareness that they needed assistance first. It was just that simple, and just that complicated.
She thought of Cassie Collins, Keri's sister, when that paradox came to mind. She feared her husband, feared his abuse, and yet kept excusing him. Kept going back to him. It didn't matter that she was as rich as her sister. Or that she was educated, pretty, and had a darling little girl that looked to her. She just couldn't seem to give up on the man that had some kind of spell on her. Shayera truly didn't understand that one bit. If any man had tried beating her, he would have needed admission into an emergency room the same instant. She supposed there was still a lot about humanity she yet had to learn. To think of all the years she had been on this world, and never truly understood how desperate some people's lives were all along.
She turned east, heading for the docks, and the usual trouble spots where the bad people congregated. She had not set out to patrol such a wide area. She had first begun by just ensuring that part of the neighborhood she now called home was safe, and quite each night. Then when she moved in with Keri, she found herself spying more trouble beyond those original boundaries when she flew back to the old neighborhood from Keri's penthouse apartment. The blonde never said anything about her outings, but she noticed her roommate always seemed to be up when she returned. As if she actually worried over her. The other afternoon she had made an exception to her no daytime appearances rule when it became apparent the android was about to destroy Leslie's mission.
She focused her mind on the terrain below as she neared the docks, her sensitive hearing having picked up the sound of voices where there should be none. She flew lower, using her new helmet's infrared lenses to scan the shadows as she tracked the sounds to their source.
Yes, there.
Five men around a truck that was being loaded well after hours. Flying lower, she stopped just short of the rooftops, and landed on the edge of the warehouse's overhang covering the loading docks that were being burgled.
"You boys shouldn't be here," she intoned grimly as she slipped her mace from its catch at her side.
All eyes went to her, and one screamed, "It's the Bat," as her wings flared out to allow her to glide down toward them.
"No, it's that freaking bird-bitch from the east side," another corrected his partner.
"What is it about this city, and its freaking, flying menageries," another complained as he lifted a semi-automatic weapon to aim at her.
He never had the chance to pull the trigger. A soft hissing of rushing air, and the man yelped as a small, sharp batarang was embedded in the back of his hand. Shayera smirked knowingly even as she ignored the wounded man who had dropped his weapon, and slammed the head of her mace into the gut of the biggest of the four men left to face her. She had turned the energy level low to avoid killing the man, but with her strength behind the blow, it was still enough to send him smashing into the side of the warehouse, where he fell unconscious even as he slid down the bowed metal siding.
"Who's next," she spat as the three men tried to face her, and the hovering shadow of the true Batman who had by then landed on the docks to crouch just beside her.
"We give up," one of the wiser shrieked as that macabre shadow straightened, throwing down his gun even as another turned and raced for the shadows, hoping to lose himself in the darkness.
The fleeing felon didn't make it five feet from the docks. Batman's right hand flashed, and a boa sailed unerringly to tangle around the man's feet, dropping him on his chin on the unforgiving pavement. He was out cold even as Shayera turned to face the last man.
"How about you," she asked coldly as she walked right up to the man who's hands shook violently, but had yet to release the gun he held.
The gun clattered to the ground even as a suspicious puddle formed at his feet. She tried very hard not to laugh as she made short work of tying up the thugs as Batman summoned the law on his radio transmitter. She stood back, watching as the swiftly arriving officers efficiently gathered up the five men, and stuffed them into two different squad cars. A burly man in worn, rumbled clothing stepped forward to confront the detective as Batman started to leave himself.
"Hey, Bats, what's with Wings over there," the man demanded as he pointed at her with his blunt chin, spraying crumbs from a sandwich he was devouring as rapidly as he could stuff it into his mouth despite trying to talk. "Thought you had a thing for boys."
"Cute, Bullock," the Dark Knight growled. "And Shayera isn't my responsibility. She's just a concerned citizen doing her part."
"Yeah? Well, tell her to stay home and knit socks, or something. This town don't need any more fruitcakes; vigilante, or otherwise," the cop sneered as he crammed the last of his food into his still stuffed mouth.
"I don't knit," she scowled at the unkempt detective before her wings flared out and lifted her from the ground with a powerful flapping that blew the man's equally disreputable hat off his balding head.
"Hey," he yelled after her. It was about as intelligible as he could get as he tried in vain to shout at her while choking down his half chewed food.
She smirked as she looked back, and saw the Batman had vanished in the same moment, too. Obviously taking his cue to use her departure as a distraction for one of his trademark disappearing acts. He was good at them, too. Even her keen senses couldn't always detect the man's coming and going. Putting him from her mind, she banked left over the docks, and headed uptown where her friend would be waiting for her. It was late, and she knew Keri would be up worrying again. Perhaps an early night, and a late move would help relax her. She knew it would relax her.
X
"She handled those punks like a real pro."
"She is a pro," the dark figure scowled at the crimson and yellow garbed teen beside him atop one of the rooftops overlooking the warehouse district. "She just forgot that for a while."
"Looks like she remembers it now," Robin grinned. "But I almost cracked up when they thought it was you dropping in on them back there."
"What was in those crates wasn't funny," he told his young partner, and newest protégé. "The markings were banal, but the box they dropped broke open, and I saw Apokolips weaponry inside. Someone is definitely shipping in some heavy-duty firepower."
"Too bad we couldn't find out who was operating that android," Robin suggested. "That would have been a good lead."
"It had an operating radius of over five hundred square miles," Batman scowled. "Still, I'd wager the programmer wasn't that far off. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, several of those hoods down there have worked almost exclusively for Cobblepot in the past."
"The Penguin? I thought he went legit after…you know, that whole political scandal thing."
"He never went legit," the Batman scowled. "He just likes to pretend he has, and the public, as gullible as ever, chose to believe him."
"Uh-huh," Robin grunted, knowing you didn't argue with the man who was scanning the warehouse after the police had departed.
"So, the bad guys are gone. The cops closed up shop. Want to tell me why we're still here?"
"Because I don't think this was the main operation. I think it was a diversion to keep us off guard, and thinking everything is fine."
"When it's not?"
"It's not," the cowled features scowled as a gloved hand pointed past the cracked gargoyle that was their shelter.
"You sure know how to call them," Robin whistled softly as two trucks pulled up now, both of them innocent looking panel vans loaded with men who went right to the warehouse the other men had been trying to rob. "Who would have figured the same place would get robbed twice in one night?" "I did," the detective glowered at Robin as he stood up, his hand sliding forward, and just that easily, pulling out the air-powered grappling hook. "Keep it tight, these men aren't going to be as easy to take down. They're the real thing."
"Gotcha," Robin nodded as his own line shot out alongside Batman's, allowing them to swing down in tandem to surprise the men who were by then loading the first crates with the same innocuous labels from a local shipping concern.
"Holy spit," someone spat. "He's back."
"Shut up, and shoot," another man spat, but this time the men didn't carry ordinary guns. The flash of blinding, plasma beams betrayed the presence of deadlier weaponry in the thug's hands as they tried to take aim at the dodging figures known all too well to Gotham's underworld.
"Hold them off," the driver from the first truck shouted, racing for the vehicle. "I'll get this lot delivered at the least."
"Go," the apparent leader of the ground trying to keep the detective and his partner pinned down shouted back without looking away from his target. "Drake, get that other truck loaded, and out of here. We'll handle the Bat," the gaunt man spat as he fired rapidly after the cartwheeling figure in black that he couldn't seem to pin down.
"Robin, the tires," Batman spat as he ducked another deadly stream of radiant energy, and came up with batarangs flying to put two men out of commission.
"Too late," Robin spat, sounding just as disgusted as he felt as the first truck sped off without being slowed by the dart in its back tire. It figures the panel van had to have duals. Batman spared a half second to shoot a dark scowl his way, but said nothing as he leapt out of his rolling crouch to slam feet first into another of the shooters.
"Make sure the second one doesn't get away," he ordered, conscious the men not involved in the firefight were rapidly loading that second van with heavy crates that could conceivably contain more firepower than he cared to think about just then.
Robin turned immediately, headed for the remaining van where three men were shoving another heavy create into the back that could of contained anything. Just as he was about to attack the trio, a fourth man came out of the shadows to dropkick the Boy Wonder into near unconsciousness before he could react. By the time he shook off his surprise, the van was pulling out, and well beyond his reach.
"Sorry," he grimaced when he looked up to see the Batman kneeling over him with a look of mingled concern, and frustration. "I didn't even see that last guy…..
"Hey, you got him," Robin grimaced as he sat up, seeing the man who had attacked him laying in a heap nearby.
"No, I didn't," Batman denied as he followed his protégé's glance toward the unconscious man with rugged features.
"Well, I sure didn't….?"
The pair looked at one another, and then Batman leapt to his feet. "To the Wing. I need to check a hunch."
X
"That was close back there for a sec, Mitch," one of the men nodded at his companion as the van slowed its speed once it reached Gotham Bridge, melding into the rest of the evening traffic in an attempt to appear legitimate. "Good thing you stopped that damned bird-boy."
Mitch grunted, giving a curt shrug of his shoulders.
"Boss should be happy for once," another the four grinned. "Bats might have figured out the scam, but we still got away clean. He didn't stop either van."
"How long till we get to the rendezvous," another asked, and the driver glanced back around the mesh panel and yelled, "Bout another ten minutes. Just be ready. We don't want to be there long enough to draw attention."
"Uh, guys," the driver suddenly shouted. "Guys," he called when they didn't reply at once.
Before they could respond, the entire van shuddered as it hit what felt like a brick wall. The driver's yelp of fear echoed through the streets as he flew through the windshield before he hit the street, bouncing and sliding as he cried out again as the rough asphalt tore the flesh from his bones as his body tried to compensate for the sudden inertia of a vehicle that had been doing sixty before it just abruptly stopped. He lay where he stopped, groaning in pain as he tried to take stock of his battered body.
"Who's next," the winged shadow standing in front of the van's smashed front end asked as a glowing mace rose before the beaked visage of the night creature that sent the men running for cover as they fled the ruined van.
They didn't get far before they ran right into the police, summoned by the chaos on the bridge. The winged woman watched the police snatch up the men before she once more took to the sky. Even as she ascended, a sleek, winged vehicle cut through the air to settle beside her.
"I appreciate the assist, Shayera," the detective told her over the vehicle's external speakers. "Hopefully, we can find the other van before those weapons get onto the streets."
Shayera nodded, using the transmitter in her helmet to reply.
"Just be glad I saw all that laser fire as I flew away, or they would have both gotten away. Do you need me to help you keep searching for the other van?"
"We'll cover it," the detective replied, giving her a wave of a gloved hand. "I believe you have other appointments to keep."
"Of course. Anytime, my friend," she waved back, and banked right before she headed uptown, and home.
X
"I thought she was out of the hero business," the short, rotund man in the black tux grumbled as he tossed the paper aside. "Annoying alien," he muttered as he scowled at the headline. "You'd think the universe was big enough to keep them busy elsewhere," he went on as he paced his office high in the penthouse over his prestigious night club. "But, no. This wretched world seems to draw them all."
"Yeah, boss," the man in the office with Oswald Cobblepot added. "But since when did she start hanging around Gotham? I though she hung out in Metropolis with the Big S."
"Whatever brought her to our fair city, she cost me three million dollars," the man known as the arch criminal Penguin rasped. "And that three million could have been turned into fifty million. I want her wings, James," he told the thug. "I want her grounded, and I want her wings to mount on my wall," he spat, looking behind his desk where a bizarre impressionist painting hung. "I think they would make remarkably good addition to my décor," he smiled coldly.
"I'll put the word out, boss," James sighed. "But she's pretty tough. Word is, she's almost as tough as Superman."
"Bah. That colorfully clad simpleton gets knocked witless at least once a week. He constantly escapes, but he's so easily thwarted I'm amazed even that madman Luthor hasn't finished him by now."
"Boss," James shook his head. "That's pretty big talk even for…."
James' lips froze as the tip of a thick umbrella was suddenly aimed at him.
"You were saying, James," Oswald asked coolly as he fingered the stud on the handle of the black raingear.
"N-N-Nothing, boss," James grimaced, knowing there was no telling what was hidden in that potentially lethal umbrella. "I'm just saying, we have to be careful. This Hawkgirl has been hanging with the Bat lately, and we know what he's like when you mess with his people."
"Indeed," the man spat. "But the secret to handling the Bat, is to simply avoid him. Or dangle enough evidence before him that he is led in different directions. Such as the clever borrowing of Dent's trademark double schemes. Right now, he is likely off chasing some false lead to Two-face, never guessing that…."
"You know what they say about assumptions," a cold voice rumbled in the shadows just outside the open balcony doors of the penthouse suite.
Both men turned to see the living shadow detach itself from the darker shadows, and glide stealthily into the office. Even the bright light, the man in the grim black and gray costume was a frightening spectacle. James took an involuntary step back even as the seemingly unflappable Cobblepot paled somewhat.
"You do know that you are trespassing, you caped cretin," he spat, his outrage masking his fear.
"Call the police," the dark knight suggested grimly as he stepped up to tower over the less than normal man whose deformities had helped forge the man he had become.
"What do you want now," he spat, knowing he wasn't going to intimidate this man. And man he was. He had enough history with the grim vigilante that he had seen him bleed, rage, and even weep. He had seen the man behind the mask, so to speak. But always, always there was the grim, unrelenting avenger that now stood before him that even death seemed incapable of stopping.
"The Apokolips weaponry. I want it gone. So start by telling me where are you getting it," Batman drawled.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Oswald snorted, folding his arms over his large chest.
"Don't toy with me, Oswald," the masked hero growled as he stepped forward again, closing the small distance still between them. "I've already got enough evidence to put away most of your men, and implicate you in the shipping end of this weapons ring. But even if I don't arrest you, do you really want it known you're horning in on Harvey's territory? You know how he is," he smiled thinly. "He might just flip his coin, and drop it on your head."
"Resorting to blackmail, you refugee from Halloween?"
"Name calling now? Your choice, Penguin," Batman told him grimly. "I'm watching you. Either cooperate, or you will go down. One way, or another."
"I've retired that particular sobriquet, as you should know," the short, stout man huffed as he brushed imaginary lint from his sleeve. "I'm a legitimate…."
The drapes blew in the slight breeze, but as Oswald looked up, he found he was talking to himself.
"I hate when he does that," he muttered darkly as he turned to his henchman.
"What do we do now," James asked fearfully as he glanced repeatedly toward the open windows.
"First, close the balcony doors. And lock them. Then get me Owen. Someone on his end must be leaking our shipping dates. I intend to plug that leak before I lay out any more money on this so far, less than profitable fiasco."
"Right, boss," James nodded as he inched forward to the balcony doors, and heaved an audible sigh of relief when he found the Batman really was gone.
X
"So, who's Owen, and how do we find him," Robin asked as he and the Batman raced back to the Batcave in the sleek, powerful car dubbed the Batwing a long time ago by the press. The small transmitter he had planted in Cobblepot's office had worked perfectly.
"The name has come up in the past. Owen Baxter," Batman drawled as he studied a readout on the console. "He's a low-rent thug that was fired from Star Labs for pilfering from the warehouses he was supposedly guarding. Last whereabouts were in Metropolis, working for….LexCorp."
"As what," Robin asked. "Hired muscle?" "Security guard. Some people don't learn. Even without Lex at the helm, his company remains less than reputable. I think it's time we called the League. Superman can nose around in Metropolis a little easier than we can just now. And I still have that charity ball tomorrow night that I can't get out of."
"Especially since Wayne Enterprises is throwing that particular shindig? What do you want me to do in the meantime?"
"I believe you, Timothy, still have homework to do."
"Oh, man," the young teen groaned.
X
Keri was predictably waiting for her as she angled her flight path downward, and finished the drop to the balcony in a slow glide after she made sure no one was around to see her descent. "You don't have to wait up every night," she told Keri as she landed lightly on the balls of her feet.
"I can't help it," she told Shayera as the woman removed her helmet, revealing the familiar face beneath. "I worry about you," the blonde told her.
The two hugged briefly, then Keri tensed. "What's this," she gasped, looking at the scorch marks on her left side.
"Plasma fire," the redhead shrugged as she headed toward the open penthouse. "Don't worry, the refractive shields held. This new armor is really tough."
"Still," Keri protested, looking up at her with anxious eyes. "Shaye, I didn't realize that it could be that dangerous out there. What if you had been hurt? Or killed?"
"I've faced far worse in my time," Shayera assured her. "These thugs were little more than glorified gang bangers with souped-up pop guns."
"Even bangers kill," Keri shuddered as she hugged her with a grip born of desperation.
"Hey, Blondie," Shayera teased her, looking down into her bright green eyes. "I'm fine. So why don't you go fire up that tub, and let's have a nice soak while we watch a movie. Your choice," she smiled.
"Even if it's a romance?" Shayera stifled a groan. "Even if it's a romance," she sighed.
Keri gave a weak chortle as she released her friend, and of late, her sometimes lover, and carried her helmet with her as they walked back into the penthouse. "I think you really should be more careful, though," she told her as the redhead rolled her eyes.
"I'll be right out," Shayera promised her as she headed toward her own room, pulling off her gauntlets as she pulled away from her friend.
"You'd better be. You don't want to miss the movie."
"Maybe. Maybe not," she muttered, cringing at the thought of the romantic films Keri occasionally forced her to sit and watch. Not that she didn't mind romance. Or just good, hot sex. But she still favored action films, or a good comedy to most of the so-called 'chick flicks' she had seen lately.
"Oh, turn that off," Keri demanded as the naked blonde looked up from the hot tub in the private gym installed in her penthouse. Nearby, a television was flickering as a familiar film was starting. "You don't need that in here."
"All right," Shayera grinned, liking the look the slender blonde gave her as she pulled the robe off to reveal her naked body beneath. She also pulled off the holographic imager after deactivating the special buckle. "But I'd better keep it close all the same," she said, laying the belt near the tub as she settled carefully into the steaming water as she grinned at her.
"I thought Romancing the Stone might be to your liking. It's an older film, but it's really good. It's about…."
"I know. I like this one," Shayera grinned as they settled close to one another after she had settled her wings comfortably behind her.
"If you've already seen it," Keri was frowning.
"It's been a while," she cut her off. "And I like it just fine. Let's just watch it."
"All right."
"All right," Shayera smiled, and leaned down and kissed her cheek. Then her lips. And then Keri was turning to kiss her back, their mouths meeting as their hands framed one another's unique curves as fingers teased soft, wet flesh with casual familiarity. Even as they began to gasp, breathing their passion into their partner's mouths as they grew more aroused, the movie was forgotten as the two women embraced in earnest.
The Thanagarian woman moved to lift Keri into her arms as she settled the woman atop her, rubbing their breasts together as their swollen nipples slid past one another. Both women groaned appreciatively as Shayera's hands moved down to stroke the sides of her own smaller breasts while she continued to kiss her, using her tongue to duel with the blonde's own organ that darted in and out of her hungry mouth. Still somewhat shyer than her partner, Keri was surprised when strong, teasing fingers found her moist channel first, and slid within. She arched her sleek, white belly against her lover's hand, and the redhead only chuckled as she began to lightly stroke her questing digits into her tender sheath with measured deliberateness.
Keri continued to explore Shayera's own, stronger, more muscular body as she groaned helplessly atop her lap, squirming appreciatively as she pressed her lips even harder against the teasing redhead's lips, their tongues dueling furiously now as their desire heated their movements, as it heated their blood. Shayera's wings flared briefly as she now slid one hand down between her lover's strong thighs, teasing that wet core as the woman teased her own. Just as they were ready to move their lovemaking forward to the next step, a distant boom of artificial thunder shook the air.
Shayera looked up, her green eyes dark with concern as she realized the direction that blast had come from. "It came from the east side," she rasped as she looked at her lover.
"Go," Keri sighed. "I know you have to," she said.
"Let's see if there's anything on the news," she suggested, feeling the woman's reluctance to release her, and the worry that still shadowed her usual bright gaze.
They turned back to the television, switching the DVD off as the news returned.
"…..just joined us, there is a major battle near Oak and Rivers, and all residents are warned to remain indoors, or avoid the area entirely if you can."
"What happened," Keri gasped as she saw shattered buildings, and fires everywhere behind the newsman on the screen who was squatted down behind a police cruiser.
"Police don't know yet who is involved," the man went on after an anxious glance around him as the camera man boldly panned the street where dozens of furtive shadows ran back and forth, firing what looked like toy guns at anything around them. Only the deadly energy blasts that brightened the screen were not special effects.
"They have Apokolips weaponry," Shayera gasped, rising out of the water to gape at the screen.
"Shaye," Keri choked, pointing as the camera man aimed his lens at one man moving past the barricade with a cold mask of hate etched into his visage.
"That's Simon. You don't think…?"
"I'm not taking any chances," she spat as she, too, saw Simon Collins, Cassie's abusive husband, skulk past the camera with one of those weapons in his hand.
"I'm going with you," Keri shouted as Shayera left the tub, still dripping, as she headed for her room to dress.
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"Cassie may need me," she shouted. "And you can either carry me, or I'll follow you," she shouted as she raced down the hall to her own room. "But I'm going."
X
"Every banger in the hood has gotten hold of one of those damned pop guns," Bullock complained as the stocky detective leaned against a police van that was smoldering from the blast that had almost taken its roof completely off.
"Cheer up," his longest lasting partner to date grinned at him as she knelt down to peer around the bumper. "Maybe they'll finish each other off, and we can go home early."
"Montoya, you're bent," the man snorted. "They say I'm bad, but you, lady, are bent."
"Head down," she yelled as she fired off three quick rounds, dropping a gangly boy that had stopped to take a shot at them. For once, the kid went down without getting a shot of his own off.
"Guess he didn't splurge on the body armor most of those other boys are wearing," Harvey snickered.
Montoya rolled her eyes, shoved her black hair back from her eyes, and muttered a quick prayer as she scanned the street for another perp. Police, and emergency crews were all over the place, and there were as many of them dead or dying as the kids who had declared open season on one another with their new weaponry. It seemed all the gangs had come out of hiding at once to join this shooting gallery, and things were only getting worse.
"Looks like I gots me a couple of piggies," a fifteen year old thug sneered as they both turned to see the kid that had crept up behind them holding one of the larger weapons they had seen so far. The wicked looking barrel of the chrome rifle was pointed right at them.
"Say, bye-bye, piggies," the kid snickered as he started to pull the trigger.
And squeezed his finger down on empty air.
"Bye, bye," the lean, scarlet clad man holding a dismantled alien weapon in his hand smirked as he dropped the pile of useless metal with a dusting of both hands.
The kid yelped, turned to run, and hit the sidewalk before he could blink, out cold.
"Watch your backs, officers," the speedster warned them as he vanished in a blur of speed.
"Damned showboats," Bullock swore as the man in red seemed to materialize everywhere on the street at once as he set to work disarming the bangers even as a green glow shielded a pair of officers down the street from an energy blast that would have vaporized them.
"Kara," a booming bass voice spoke as crimson beams flashed down to melt the weapons in several kids' hands as Bullock turned to find several of them running his way. "Cut them off on your end," the powerful Kryptonian pointed even as he left the kids standing helpless with scorched palms.
The blonde Kryptonian flashed a smile as she went to work, dodging the energy blasts with superhuman speed as she smacked their owners with backhands that had them landing several yards away, unconscious.
"No biggie, Kal," the girl assured him even as one of the rifle bearers fired at her from almost point blank.
"No biggie," Bullock snickered as the downed heroine landed in a small crater she gouged out near his feet.
The blonde sat up, shaking her head as she looked around. "Ooooh, that's going to cost him," she snarled as she flew off again.
"Go get him," Montoya shouted as the young woman hurled herself at the teen that had downed her.
"Let's corral these lowlifes," Bullock suggested, moving toward the now unarmed teens.
"With pleasure," she agreed as she joined several other officers in rounding up the gang members that had already been disarmed.
Meanwhile, more members of the Justice League had appeared out of the shadows to help bring down the running battle that had already devastated several city blocks. However, one member that had not shown was Gotham's usual champion. He was busy elsewhere at that very moment.
X
"Shame on you, Batsy," the giggling maniac chided him as the grim vigilante towered over the pasty-faced clown known as the Joker he had just hammered into the floor of the local diamond exchange where he had caught the man. "You're missing all the fun."
"I knew my associates could handle those punks," Batman drawled. "Just as I knew you must have turned them loose to cause chaos enough to allow you to be overlooked while you looted uptown."
"Clever little batboy," the madman sneered.
"What I want to know is where you got those weapons," he said in a tone that brooked no argument.
"Now, now," Joker grinned, a trail of blood flowing from his mouth where he had lost yet another tooth. "You know I'm not a snitch. Well, not unless it suits me," he giggled again.
Batman's eyes narrowed, the harsh line of his thin lips turning down as he reached for the Joker again. "I already know who is bringing them in, Joker," he growled. "I want to know how you got your hands on them. And where."
"Get in line, Batsy," Joker sneered as he was jerked to his feet even as the police began to arrive. "I had a real fire sale going tonight.
"Get it? Fire. Sale. I made a fortune off those party favors."
"Then why risk getting caught robbing the exchange," Robin blurted out.
"Oh, so, Bird boy wants a turn? What is this, good hero, bad hero?"
"One last time, Joker," he growled as the police rushed in only to stop, seeing who stood before them. "Where?"
"All right, all right. Just because it's all in fun. I found this wonderful stash down at Sady's Bar. You know the place. Lots of atmosphere, cobwebs, and assorted lowlifes. The kind of place you'd enjoy. Anywho, I decided to visit the basement, having heard they had some real fun toys for sale, and what did I find, but boxes and boxes of high-tech disaster just waiting to be unleashed by little old moi," Joker grinned ear-to-ear.
"And no one cared that you took them," Robin frowned.
Joker's trademark grin hardened as even his mad gaze turned cold and harsh for a moment. "Let's just say they were in no condition to argue," he snickered.
"Take him," Batman spat as he turned to shove the colorfully clad criminal at the police.
"How about you take this," Joker howled, and reached into his bright purple jacket.
His expression fell as his hand came out empty, and he looked over at Batman who held up one gloved hand, with four, small yellow spheres in his palm.
"Looking for these?"
"Sometimes," Joker swore as he was cuffed. "You are no fun. No fun at all," he protested as he was dragged away for yet another session at Arkham.
"Don't you get tired of arresting that fruitcake? I mean, they never take him seriously, and he gets right back out, and starts all over," Robin swore as they left the exchange to the officers to secure as they headed outside to the alley where the Batmobile was parked.
"What do you suggest," he asked his young partner.
"I don't know. I guess I'm just venting."
"I do understand. And I've faced the same decision for years. But if we cross the line you're hinting at, then we become no better than the scum we're fighting. Remember that, if you remember nothing else."
"I know," Robin sighed, and listened to the scanner.
"Are we going to help the League mop up the rest of the bangers," he asked.
"No. You still have to get back to your homework. This was just a necessary diversion."
"Man," the young hero groaned as the car pulled out of the alley, racing back to the side streets that led to their underground cavern.
Just short of the city limits, Batman suddenly hit the breaks, spun the car around in a wide, squealing turn, and floored the throttle as he raced back the way they had come. "What's up," Robin asked, having heard nothing unusual over the scanner.
"Shayera's in trouble."
"How do you…..?"
Batman's even glance stopped him.
"Right. You always know," the young man nodded.
X
"This time, there's no place to run," Simon smirked as he held Cassie prisoner in the mission as another seven young women huddled beside her as the man held one of those futuristic weapons on them.
"Put it down, Simon," Cassie begged him, holding her three year old daughter tightly in her arms. "You don't have to do this," she told him.
"And you didn't have to cut me off, you bitch," he spat. "Credit cards. Bank accounts. You even locked me out of our townhouse, and you're not even staying there," he shouted at her, his gun hand shaking violently as he moved the barrel from one woman to the other.
"I told you, I'm divorcing you. And you don't have any right…."
"Right," he shrieked, firing a blast in front of her that dug a smoldering hole into the hardwood floor. "You want to talk about rights," he hissed.
"Put it down, Simon," another voice ordered, and he turned to see two women standing behind him.
"Oh, goody, I was hoping you would show," he sneered, his eyes locking on Shayera. "I was hoping to even the score with you, bitch."
While she had arrived in full armor, she had also brought her holographic imager to make her look like normal Sheryle Hall to better catch him off guard. Shayera held up her hands as the man aimed his weapon directly at her.
"Don't do anything you're going to regret," she told him as Keri, who had refused to wait outside, looked to her sister.
"Regret? I'm not going to regret this. I going to enjoy it immensely," he sneered, and pulled the trigger.
"Shaye," Keri screamed as Shayera took the blast full in the chest, slamming her back through the wall near the door she had just entered.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up," Simon screamed, and fired at her, too.
Cassie's screams were drowned out in the cries as she watched Shayera slammed through the wall just before Keri was almost cut in half by a second bolt of deadly energy. "Simon, no," she screamed.
"Don't worry," the sadistic man sneered as he turned back to her. "I have plenty left for you. All of you," he spat at the women. "But, first, you're going to sign this," he screamed at her, pulling out a thick envelope from his dirty jeans pocket.
"Wh-What is that," Cassie asked, looking at the papers he had thrown at her feet.
"A power of attorney," he smirked as he gestured for her to pick it up with the barrel of the gun he held. "It's going to give me complete control over everything. And full custody of my daughter. Then I'll raise her the way girls should be raised," he leered as Cassie hesitantly reached for the papers while holding her weeping daughter in her other arm.
"You….You can't think you'll get away with this," she stammered as she hesitantly picked up the thick packet of papers in the envelope, glancing back to where Keri lay in a bloody heap where she had been thrown against the wall. There was no sign of Shayera, who had been blasted through the wall, and into the darkness outside.
"Actually, I can. Because this little baby has a few more settings," he snickered, waving the deadly weapon in his hand. "It can cut through, blast apart, and even vaporize anything I aim it at. By the time I'm done, there won't be a single trace of a single witness. No bodies. No crime. And I'm left holding the winning hand," Simon crowed.
"I wouldn't count on it," a low, furious voice hissed as Simon tensed, and spun around to face a harpy out of hell.
"I…I don't believe it," he gaped as he stared at the furious redhead who now stood before him in a black bodysuit of some kind with wings spread out behind her. "What the fuck are you?"
"Shaye, he killed Keri," Cassie screamed even as Shayera glanced down to where the slain blonde's crumpled body lay.
"K-Keri," she choked, staring at the horrified expression on the woman's face. An expression that was etched into her pretty face for all time.
She looked back at Simon who was fumbling with the settings on his weapon.
"A higher level will get rid of….whatever you are," he spat as the weapon whined with energy as he leveled it at her.
He never had the chance to pull the trigger. Shayera leapt at him, slamming her entire body into him, and sending the weapon spinning from his hands even as he landed on the floor beneath her greater weight.
"You bastard," she hissed, raising a gloved fist that now held her energy mace. "I'm going to…."
"Shayera, no," a voice cried out.
She looked up at Cassie.
"He's not worth it," the blonde woman told her, still hugging her crying child to her as Simon stared at that deadly instrument just a few feet from his face. "Believe me. He's not worth it."
"Listen to her, Hawkgirl," another woman spoke from behind her.
She turned to see Diana in full costume standing behind her. The Amazon paused to look down at Keri, then came over to stand by her side. "Is this really what you want to teach these people?"
Shayera slowly lowered her mace, switching off its power build-up as she did. She rose slowly, tears brimming in her eyes as her lower lip trembled.
"He….just killed her," she rasped, looking back at Keri. "He can't be allowed to….to get away with that."
"And he won't. He'll pay for it. The law will see to that. Not you. The law."
"That….sounds funny. Coming from you," she sniffed as the other women began to finally calm down as Cassie rose to pick up the gun, and carry it over to Diana.
"Uhm, Wonder Woman? Maybe you should take this," she suggested as she held out the weapon with two fingers as Simon just lay where he had fallen, neither willing, nor able to move. They would soon learn he had broken several bones when Shayera had slammed into him.
"Thank you," Diana nodded as she took the pistol between her hands, and simply squeezed. While not as powerful as Superman, she was close, and the alien metal just collapsed with a tiny groan as she reduced it to a twisted mass that would no longer endanger anyone.
Shayera, meanwhile, had gone to Keri's side, kneeling beside her as she stared helplessly at the blonde's face.
"I am sorry," Diana told her.
Shayera said nothing.
"Hawkgirl?"
"She….was my friend," she murmured, and began weeping as she bowed her head.
Diana stared uncomfortably as the women in the room all moved to stand around her, several of them placing comforting hands on her back as she wept over Keri's body. Outside, sirens sounded as police freed from the earlier chaos began to seek out other hotspots to patrol. With them came an ambulance, that was summoned by Kara who had zipped in, and left just as quick as she stared in horror at the scene.
X
"So, why didn't we go help," Robin asked as Batman watched the ambulance pull away.
"Now isn't the time. I'm just glad Diana was there."
"I still don't understand…."
Batman glanced at him. "You don't understand history, either, judging from your recent grades," he said as he turned the powerful car back around yet again after he saw Diana walk out of the damaged mission with Shayera, and several other women in tow.
"I get it. This is one of those adult things you don't like talking about. Right?"
Batman said nothing as they drove away into the night, grateful that his city was finally calming down once more. Still, he now had a lead. Sady's Bar was a front for some of Cobblepot's less than legal business dealings on the street. If the alien weaponry had been stashed there, then he knew about it. Likely, it had come from the van that had gotten away from them. Nor would the power-hungry bird be too forgiving to anyone that had let their whereabouts slip. Especially to someone like the Joker. He had already gotten word that the patrons in the bar had all been gassed by the Joker. A dozen or so had died, with another two dozen in Gotham General at the moment.
As Owen Baxter had yet to turn up, and Superman, and Clark Kent had been too busy elsewhere to hunt him down, it looked like he was still on his own. No problem, there. He was used to it. He glanced at Tim who was sulking in his seat, but remained silent. The young man didn't need to know that Keri Anderson had been Shayera's lover, or that he had added his own special transmitter to her battle armor. Just in case.
He had known the moment she had been hit, and while he guessed she could handle it, he also knew that Darkseid's technology could be pretty nasty.
As bad as things were, he knew they could have been much worse. He had to find the source for these weapons, and close that pipeline for good. That meant finding Owen Baxter just now. Meanwhile, he would clue the police into The Penguin's other lesser known hidey holes, and make sure the man wasn't still hiding other dangerous arms in his city.
After he saw Tim home so he could get on his homework.
X
Diana sighed as she stood on the edge of the roof that looked down on the mission that was still lit up as people came to Dr. Tompkins' aid in helping her start the cleanup despite the hour. Shayera stood beside her, still in costume, sans helmet, staring down at them, too. She held her mace in both hands, her gloved hands occasionally clenching ever tighter around the weapon as if to vent her emotions through simply holding her favored armament.
"I am sorry," Diana told her.
Shayera said nothing.
"Hawkgirl," the Amazon sighed, looking uncomfortable as she hesitated to reach out to her even as her hand rose as if she might.
"Just….go. Please."
"You know how I felt about….what you did? But…."
Shayera didn't even look at her. She just stepped off the building, and used her wings to glide down to the street. She turned into an alley, and vanished a moment later. Still, she didn't miss the tall, voluptuous redhead that reappeared a moment later, walking toward the mission with a determined step. She watched as the redhead was met by several women, and they all embraced, and headed inside the building to join the others.
"I guess she really has found a place of her own," Kara said as she gently descended from the sky to land beside Diana.
"She's lucky," Diana said quietly, still staring after her former comrade, thinking of her own home lost to her these past few years. She had come to man's world out of a sense of responsibility, as well as a secret longing for adventure. She had found both, but in the end, it cost her more than she had first realized when she led her heroic companions to Themyscira to help stop Felix Faust from releasing true hell upon the world in the form of Hades.
"Yeah," Kara nodded, unaware of her grim thoughts. "She is."
Diana shook her head. "You sound envious."
"Well, maybe I am," the blonde heroine admitted. "I mean, you only got kicked out of your home. It didn't get destroyed, along with the only family and friends you ever had."
"But isn't Kal_El family?"
"Kal's okay. But he's a bit of a prude at times, if you know what I mean," Kara sighed, rolling her eyes in the same way every teenager ever born had. "He's so uptight that I don't even think he knows how to relax. It's all duty, and responsibility with him. I don't think he even knows how to have fun."
"It's the way he was raised. You know how his parents are. They still subscribe to a work ethic most of the world has forgotten."
"I know. And I love those guys, but….there's more to life than just work. A girl's just got to have fun," the blonde grinned before she rose to hover in the air, giving a tiny wave before she accelerated so fast it seemed she vanished before even Diana's eyes.
The Amazon was left standing alone as she watched the streets below as the police slowly restored order. Her fellow heroes were gone now, using the League's new transporters, or their own power to return to whatever lives they had. Diana sighed as she studied the battered, but still strong structure of the old mission below, and considered Shayera's role in the lives of those within. Maybe Bruce was right. Maybe she had been projecting her own problems and losses upon the Thanagarian. She'd have to think on this. She, unlike many of the other heroes, did not yet have a true civilian identity. She was….Diana. Wonder Woman. It was all she had ever known, or had ever yet to know. Yes, she decided. She would have to think about these things, she decided as she reached for her Justice League transponder, and triggered the teleporter control.
To Be Continued…