"Just moments ago, President Luthor claims self-defense after shooting Flash, Central City hero, who as Luthor was sent here to kill him. He is also expecting a reprisal from Flash's failure to kill him, and here comes Superman now!"
Superman descends and most stay out of his way, but not the anchor on the scene.
"Superman do you have any comments on the shooting?"
"Just stay out of my way. Flash is no assassin and Luthor is twisting things to his advantage again. I can't believe the people elected him to this office of all places. You have no idea what his schemes could to this planet while he is in there!"
Superman tears off the front gates and tosses them in opposite directions towards gun emplacements on the lawn. The guns can't hold up so they crack apart yet the internal security detachment are already on the move within the entrance hall.
Batman and Wonder Woman drop in to join Superman as he punches way through the front doors to the entrance hall.
The camera pans towards a blood pool on the front lawn and there lies the Flash bleeding to death.
The man watching from the apartment gasps though it is quickly caught off by the woman's screams though the screams choke under the flow of her tears.
"We have to hurry John," implores Shayera.
"I know, let's get going," replies John.
Together they take flight whilst John utilizes his ring to speed them across the country to D.C. The amount of blood loss decreases the odds of saving him as they have little idea how much he has lost or how long ago that he was shot by Luthor. Her mace crackles in reaction to her anger towards Luthor for shooting Flash, he might have made strange gestures, odd jokes, maybe even got her nerves from time to time, but he did not deserve this fate, he is like a brother to her, they are her family. The only exception among the team is John, she loves John, and she had come to admit that to herself in light of what they went through together in the past few months in relation to her years already spent on Earth.
Her tears brought a whole new meaning to the tears of an angel at least to John who had to focus on accelerating them yet it breaks his heart ever so slowly to listen to her cries while his other best friend lies dying in a pool of his own blood. They would just have to get there in time yet like Shayera he kept a fear that they were already too late. He pushes it back into the recesses of his mind and rockets them further.
Shayera had thoughts of how Despero had turned John's mentor Katma Tui and almost turned her if not for John finding a new meaning, a renewal of confidence to drive him in the use of the power ring. The meaning as she had come to slowly see it is her, his feelings for her, but for her it had been a step towards the events that would come soon after that brush with becoming a concubine of a religious fanatic. She had seen the insanity of a man who was driven to do what he did because he thought he was within his rights to do so, she had to wonder then would her people do the same, only time would tell.
[+]
The next critical experience that brought them truly closer was what happened in Vegas as bombs were all over the place. It was a long night into early morning search to locate then disarm the bombs. They had been arguing on and off earlier that day, which carried over into the mission. He kept telling her stop it, his demanding tone only made her more insistent, but she heard the noise a split second after he did though by that time he blasts her with the ring to clear her of the ground floor of the casino.
She remembers screaming his name aloud for the first time and then she bolts towards the smoldering debris to dig him out. Somehow he made it thanks to his ring yet his heart rate is slowing rapidly, he had taken too much of a hit despite the ring. The mace crackles to life after her repeated attempts at CPR fail and his entire body reacts to the jolt from the mace. He coughs, and then starts breathing again, and she sighs with relief. They spent the rest of the weekend at the Watchtower as John due to the explosion would need to be laid up for a few days yet with he appears to not mind it much with her around.
[+]
The reprieve after Vegas ends with the appearance of a Gordanian Battle Cruiser that conveniently decloaks directly over D.C. in the middle of an international summit being held there that evening. The seven of them are not enough to stand up against something with that kind of firepower though only she would not dare to say such things to them. The hull plating of Gordanian warships is particularly reactive to physical contact once in battle mode, which is why both Superman and J'onn are instantly sent hurdling towards the reflecting pool below. If not for Flash's quick thinking they would hit the ground a lot harder.
She, Lantern, Wonder Woman, and Batman race to join Flash. The others are still recovering from shock by the pool then from above a beam tears right through the battle cruiser, which sends it towards the nearby park. The security perimeter for the summit is why there was no one in the park that night, which put them at ease because it would not do to have people die in a situation like this one. The next thing she saw is an even larger vessel, which she already knows is Talak's command ship as well as the flagship for the Thanagarian Armada. Talak's expeditionary task-force is at the front lines of the war with the Gordanians, which bore uneasy implications if the Gordanians have somehow redrawn the battle lines to include Earth.
Something about the behavior among her old comrades as well as impressions she got from Talak made her suspicious of how they just happen to arrive immediately after the Gordanian warship. Batman likewise found it odd and taken a Gordanian corpse from the wreckage then through an autopsy discovers the battle cruiser crew had died weeks before ship made its appearance in low Earth orbit. It was a masterful ruse that could only be the handiwork of Kragger as deception and manipulation are his tools of warfare. They share this with the others and in turn share it with the World Assembly who shortly thereafter revokes their previous acceptance of the Thanagarians' help.
The 'Shield Generator' (aka Hyperspace Bypass) was nearly complete by the time the team made their ultimatum to Commander Hro Talak. He admits to the deception and then orders his ground forces to return to their ships. The Bypass is set to self-destruct and leaves a smoldering yet temporary crater in the Sahara Desert. Shayera stood by her principles at the cost of her commission, her home world, and the man she had loved before she had fallen in love with John. If not for John and the others then she would not have made it through siding with Earth over Thanagar.
Flash told her she had a no-win scenario with Earth and Thanagar, with John and Hro, but he always said when it comes down to it you made the right call. It would alleviate the sorrow though before long they heard through the intergalactic grapevine that Thanagar had fallen to the Gordanians. There were further rumors that Hro used his flagship in a kamikaze tactic against the Gordanian flagship before it could fire to destroy the remnants of the Thanagarian Fleet. Her race is now divided throughout the universe as some chose to remain to fight to the bitter end while others left with the intent of leaving centuries of warfare behind them.
Shayera heard that most though not all of the survivors consider her a traitor while a scarce few believe she made a stand for a reason for what good is victory in battle if it must be at the cost of billions of lives that have no stake in their war. No matter what news would come or did not come, she still felt pangs of guilt and responsibility for the near extinction of her species. J'onn in that respect becomes a great comfort as he would remind her of his status as quite possibly the last Martian in the universe because of his people's conflict with the Invaders, the same race that almost remade Earth. It took all seven of them together to foil that outcome and ultimately their personal lives would always intersect the professional lives. The cross-purpose of the two spheres is inevitable.
[+]
It is not long after the Thanagarian Deception that Lex Luthor enters as a candidate for president, which she knows Superman greatly disliked at the time. The worst of it is that his statements on planetary security garner much acclaim as he cites incidents still fresh in the minds of millions whether it happen in Metropolis or with the world at large. Superman, Hawkgirl, and J'onn J'onzz found them selves at the center of debate about how much could Earth really trust those who were not born on Earth. Further Superman's record is still under scrutiny because all the incidents involving Darkseid and particular when he fought against Earth on the side of Apokolips.
His talks of plans to step up planetary security, implement further funding to monitor as well as counterbalance the costumes whether they alien, human, or even metahuman. This agency's agenda definitely did not go over well with Batman either as Shayera could tell plainly, but then knowing Batman he probably is working contingency plans on them too. She and Batman had kept files on ways to disable and lock-up their teammates, but Shayera never would have had to use them unless things had gone differently with her people's short lived presence on Earth.
Luthor fed on the fears of the public in regards to their so-called heroes, but then the consequences of mistakes made by costumes as Batman put it to her are equal to their profession so that meant when any of them 'screw up' they pay for it dearly. However she did not know how dear the cost would be until Wally's disappearance and then when he turns up on the front lawn of the White House months after the election then she got undeniable proof of Batman's conviction about costume consequences.
As for what follows, she could hear the echo of the shotgun ejecting the shell and then her own screams. She begins to realize what drives Batman so much to prevent deaths on his watch, but then just knowing his past did not make up for having a taste of similar things in her own life. She sniffles as she holds Flash's hand and pulls back his mask. He was the youngest of all them and he did deserve to die like this. He had not done anything wrong despite Luthor's accusations.
"It is so beautiful today Hawkgirl. The smell of the grass, the stiff breeze, and this is the best garden I have ever seen save for the ones back in Central City. I have the feeling Batman already knows who I am though you chicks dig the secret identity thing," chuckles Flash weakly.
"Yes it is a lovely day and I thought I was only sort of redhead on the team. You always made me laugh even though I kept holding back on it most of the time. I grew up on a world where everyone was usually quite serious and that humor to us is just another shield, not something to lighten the mood."
"You should laugh more, you'll feel better believe me, heck I couldn't keep doing all this if I didn't laugh or tell jokes as much as I do, takes the tension or the edge off. I take being Flash seriously, but without humor I be too serious to enjoy life outside this red suit," continues Flash.
"You are right… are you… in pain?" asks Shayera softly.
"It hurts like you wouldn't believe. You get it out yet J'onn?"
J'onn had already taken out the bullet while Shayera sat with him. The bullet however already done its work so removing it only stems the possibility of infection yet he had already bled so much that he would die very soon. Shayera and J'onn exchange looks though she had long ago known how to read when a doctor would say with his eyes that the patient won't make it.
"I couldn't ask for a better friend then you, Flash."
"You can call me Wally, that's my secret identity, and yours sounds rather exotic."
"Yes it would to you, but such things are rather common back on Thanagar."
"All the same, I'll tell you something… we Earth men dig exotic women."
Shayera's blush is partially hidden by her headdress. John is on the other side of Wally whilst barely managing to smile at how accurate his friend could tell the kind of women that got his interest.
The battle within the White House ends with a bright red glow from the Oval Office. Superman vaporized President Luthor and the world would change once again. Batman is the first to leave the area if only to throw himself back into his work in Gotham. Superman with Wonder Woman goes to deal with the press while J'onn retreats back to the Watchtower leaving her and John to take Wally's body back to Central City. The circumstances surrounding his disappearance eventually would come to light and as it turns out he had been psychologically conditioned to go after Luthor except he fought it every step of the way until he finally broke down from the exertion of fighting it.
It is numbing to consider that someone used Wally of all people in this fashion, but these details are kept between the six of them on purpose.
Central City would continue to honor him as they had always done by remembering all the good he had done for them instead of latching onto the events of his death.
The behind the scenes activities of Luthor's administration becomes proof positive that he was indeed masterminding the conflicts that would drive the world into a global warfare between the costumes and the governments, but he had only gotten so far. As for the agency he put to work on developing weapons to fight the costumes, they went to ground and all leads on them met dead ends for now. It is also however the first time she had come face to face with realizing that species makes little difference between those who are good and those who are evil.
She had to wonder how Batman found out so much about Luthor's shadowy associates when he hardly left Gotham anymore, but often there were rumors about allies of Batman who he did not officially acknowledge yet kept contact with all the same. She decides his discoveries may belong to his unacknowledged allies though all the same things were changing though not quite necessarily for the better.
First it was Superman's costume change, then Batman's, next it is Wonder Woman's, and before long J'onn is looking more withdrawn than ever with his new militaristic look. The costumes that she had daily seen for the past few years are no more and she too begins to wonder if a costume change is in order for her though if she did what kind of change would she be reflecting.
Like Diana she went with a shorter hairstyle that is hidden by her helmet, which replaces her more resplendent headdress. She shifts to a single color body suit that leaves only her shoulders bare for obvious reasons at to maybe her and John.
She goes incognito to attend Wally's funeral in Central City. She thought she was the only one of the six there though she did spot John who hid his glowing eyes behind dark opaque shades and then there was a rather slender looking man who looks at least by stature along comparable to J'onn. The facial features are unmistakable though he is trying to pass himself off as human and it does looking convincing to most people though those here are too drawn to the coffin.
She saw Linda Park standing with Wally's family. Linda looks as if she had been crying as much as Shayera had though Shayera hid her reddened eyes behind dark brown sunglasses. They are all grieving his death though not together, something else died that afternoon besides Wally. Afterward there is random chatter as to why his teammates had not made an appearance at his funeral though they had never known it they were there just not in their costumes.
Shayera did not know on her way towards the very end that Bruce had come alone to pay his respects without the others to pass judgment on him or for the media to take notice of a billionaire visiting the grave of a dead superhero. Shayera never spoke to him about whether he went, but the next time she went to the site, she found a fresh rose that was not there when they all left after the burial. In the wake of Wally's death, she and John had become closer than ever to the point of marrying while Bruce and Diana had gone their separate ways.
The six of them without realizing it had fallen into a fashion of similar looking costumes to the point that the costumes might be called team uniforms, which were only off-set by the wearer's pick of colors.
She did her best to maintain her friendship with Bruce while John kept after Diana though she like John saw the only way those two would ever get close to each other again would be to reconcile whatever broke them apart in the first place. Shayera had a sinking feeling that it had to do with what Superman had done to Batman's rogues and how Diana had put Superman in the know about Joker's abduction of one of Batman's costume partners.
Professionally the Justice Lords had become a symbol of authority and fear, but as the months go by there are signs that their hands-on approach is starting to work against them. The breakup of the Batclan is proof of that because even the sagely butler had left Wayne Manor after the lobotomies had become a given to the Rogues. She understood the older man's misgivings, but Batman and Bruce finally understood why 'family' is important. It took losing it to make the meaning clear to Bruce as well as Batman.
Her chess matches with Batman continue from week to week though one day she had come in to find him sweeping up pieces of a broken mirror though said nothing to him about it. The manor had fallen into a state of vacancy and most of the rooms went unused. It had become a house, not a home, and maybe it really did seem the part of a mausoleum if she got the meaning of that kind of place right. Their abrupt conversations during the chess matches turn philosophical quite often.
"I recall a conversation I had years ago with someone who like countless others can no longer stomach talking to me or being around me for that matter," says Batman.
"What was the conversation about?" asks Shayera.
"I was in doubt whether Batman was really doing any good at all. An ally of mine in the police force had been fatally injured during a bust and his life hung by a thread. The man who shot him realizing that my ally was not dead chose to attempt to make another attempt to seal my ally's fate."
Shayera listens as intently as ever.
"If not for the words of Robin… of Dick… my 'son' and partner… I would not have perhaps gotten there in time to stop the shooter from finishing what he had set out to do the night before."
"So you got him before your ally was killed, that's what matters."
"The point in all that was I got delayed stopping a scuffle between street criminals while my ally and his SWAT team tried to handle the shooter's cronies as well as the shooter without my backup."
"You can't be every where at once… we all make mistakes."
"Mine almost cost Gordon his life."
"Do all your mistakes drag back to that alley?"
Batman glares at her, she had struck a nerve, though perhaps he had to admit she was right in some way.
"I have to wonder if the measures we have taken have made us lose sight of what we do in the world. Crime is down, criminals are fewer, but now we are starting to turn on civilians. I only went to the extreme to keep Superman out of my city, but now there is almost nothing for me to keep going on for."
"What we do to maintain peace and security is the price of vigilance."
"You really believe that?"
"I have to believe something otherwise how else can I keep going out there?"
"I would think John would be expecting you back by now."
"Right, he wants to celebrate our anniversary with takeout from that place near his apartment."
"I would almost say I envy you and him, but then this is what I get for giving my all to this."
"If giving it up would get you and her back together… then maybe you should give it up."
"This is all I have left… but maybe you are right..."
The following year whether she had known it or not they would all be on the path to a place with no exits, but maybe that is the point. Batman's inter-dimensional gate had shown her another version of herself who is not as close to her John as she is to her and her dead friend is still alive to keep that her laughing no doubt. She had seen her husband blast that version of her without remorse and yet the other John could not immediately bring himself to blast her, she wonders where had the hesitation in her John gone?
However she had been around the others for so long that she forgotten what they all had been like before they were the Justice Lords. She fell hard not once, but twice that night, the second time was when the other Luthor's power disruptor took away her ability to use her mace. The impact with the concrete ground felt sharp though perhaps that is the meaning, they all had to fall hard to realize what they had become then maybe turn away from it before it could destroy the realization.
The other Shayera is not present for the fight because she is still under the effects of the sedation that she was left in at Arkham so she found a rather disheartening reminder of what was lost to her when getting up with the familiar red sleeve holding her hand. It is the other Flash yet in all the ways that count he could just as easily be the Wally she knew back from the dead. The same almost carefree smile, the same red hair probably, and if she could remember what it meant to laugh, she might have found a way to ease the tension thought it would never come.
"You look just like him," whispers Shayera.
"You are almost like her," murmurs Flash.
"I miss him almost every day," continues Shayera.
"I'd hate to see her torn up by mistakes," remarks Flash.
"We all make them then we have to live with them," comments Shayera.
"Guess you would know that one," says Flash coldly.
"You have every right to be outraged by us," responds Shayera sadly.
"I'd do anything to keep them from turning you guys."
"Just don't go…"
"Dying on them? I sure as heck don't plan on doing that!"
"Good for you little brother."
"What did you call me?"
"I think of the Wally I knew as a little brother… she is probably coming into the same view of you."
"So what does that make her to me? A big sister only y'know short?"
Shayera cracks up laughing before she starts crying between giggles. After the handover, she never saw the other Flash again though she never forgot his joke and she would hope nothing bad ever happens to him though she had the feeling that the others would make sure of that because of them. Both teams had seen what they are, what they were, and what had become of both versions of relatively the same person except for the decisions of the past few years.
At least they let her spend time with her John, but somehow they were bound to disagree about how the others had gotten back. The general consensus is that Batman had let them and that he to pay for it though on that they did not agree, which had shown to her that they were no longer a family, let alone a team, but again maybe that's the point of being stuck in a place with no exits. She decides to let her hair grow back and Diana reluctantly did the same since those who left to watch over them had put restrictions on them even in their depowered state.
She had finally fallen asleep with ease after the first few days and all that matters is she is with John. She thinks if she leaves this bed now, the world would turn upside down again, and she had enough of that to last a lifetime so she would stay here with him. It is world enough for her in his arms.
A/N 1: This is a rewrite of the original No Exits, which usually like most of my rewrites tends to read better and deeper to me. Of course when I put the original writes of the chapters from Just Like You to my more recent stories, it seems lacking to me.
A/N 2: Certain familiar events from the series main reality happen earlier in the Lords' reality at least in my take so that it might account for Shayera and John being closer in the Lords' reality whereas in the main reality they won't come together until after the events of Wild Cards.
A/N 3: Shayera is the only one besides Batman to express misgivings about their modus operandi though hers deals more with their reality instead of relating it to the other reality or more precisely their League counterparts.
A/N 4: The dialogue between Lorder Hawkgirl and League Flash is new. It is a fanfic type of foreshadowing to how Flash reacts towards what happens during the events of Starcrossed.