As she followed Hro to his quarters, Shayera's thoughts were on another man. John. 'He must hate me now.'
She was distracted as they entered the room, so she almost missed what Hro was saying.
"Not exactly Thanagar's finest, but I tried to make it feel like home." He turned and looked at her. "Hungry?"
Touching the tray on the table, Shayera saw that her favorite Thanagarian foods were there.
"Alungst kidneys, coshian oysters." She said flatly. They were her favorite. 5 years ago. Now she preferred eel heads.
"Don't you like them?" Hro asked. "I remembered they were your favorites."
"No. It was very thoughtful." Shayera reached out and took a bite. She closed her eyes as she savored the taste. The taste of home. "Awesome."
Hro smiled and handed her a cup.
"And when was the last time you had this?"
Shayera looked down at the cup. "Plume nectar! I remember we were on leave together on Alorea. How long ago was that?"
"Five years. Five long years." Hro reached for her mask. "My Shayera."
As he began to take her mask off Shayera closed her eyes and appeared calm. But inside she was screaming. 'Stop stop stop! This is wrong. I don't want Hro! I want John!'
Before he could unmask her, the door opened revealing Kragger.
"What is it?"
"Commander Talac."
"Kragger, I left orders not to be interrupted."
Kragger stepped in the room as Shayera fixed her mask.
"I'm sorry sir. We're receiving a transmission from the humans."
Hro went over to the screen in the room. On the screen, Superman appeared.
"Commander Talac, the world leaders have come to a decision. Earth gladly accepts your assistance."
"Very good. We will begin immediately."
Hro shut the screen off and looked at Shayera as she approached him.
"I'm sorry Darling. Duty calls." He put his hands on her arms. "But I want you to come with me and act an official liaison with the natives. Your experience with them may come in handy."
"Of course." She turned away from him and began to walk out the room with Hro following close behind her.
Outside the door, Kragger stopped Hro. "Commander, a word with you?"
Hro stopped and looked towards Shayera. "I'll meet you at the landing bay."
Nodding, Shayera continued walking. As she walked through the mother ship, Shayera made her way to her own quarters. They weren't too far from Hro's. 5 years ago, she would've demanded her quarters be right next to Hro's. Now, she wanted hers to be as far as possible. Even better, to not have them at all. To not have her people here. It sounded terrible, but it was the truth. After 5 years, she found happiness. She found comfort and love. 'And John.' She thought to herself.
Finally arriving to her assigned quarters, Shayera let the frown appear and her shoulders slouch. Her people just got here and it was already too much. She just wanted to be happy. Here, on Earth, with her adopted family, her home, and John. No matter what she was doing or where she was, her thoughts would always go to him.
'He may never look at me the same way ever again.' Shayera thought to herself sadly. She sat heavily on her bed and fiddled with her mace. There were strong memories with this mace. It had saved her life, and taken lives. For 5 years, its only purpose was to protect. When the Joker wreaked havoc on Vegas, it saved John. Without this mace, she wouldn't be here. John wouldn't be here.
Shayera took off her mask and stared at it in her hands. There were more memories here. Moments where Shayera could feel John's gaze. Moments where they lay together, and he'd reached for her mask and slowly, intimately, take it off. After he would take it off, he'd cup her face and just stare. As if he were a blind man seeing the sun for the first time, and she was the sun.
Eventually, it would've gotten to the point to where she could just walk into his apartment and take off her mask. Her people's arrival stopped that. She put her mask on the bed beside her and stood up. Walking over to the closet, she opened it and found her old uniform. It was a bit altered, but what could she expect? Things change. And so do people. She closed her eyes and lightly chuckled as she recalled what she once said to John. We tend to cling to images of people from when we knew them best. It was true. Hro may not notice it yet, but she had changed a lot over these last few years. Earth was good for her. John was good for her.
Grabbing her old uniform, which now felt alien, she made the decision that she needed to talk with John and sort everything out. She felt that she had to explain. 'Hopefully he'll listen.'
Putting on the last of her uniform, she put her new mask on, clipped her mace to her side, and headed out.