He knows his best friend is dead, but some part of him could never fully accept it. Shayera could read him so well, she could tell that he is thinking about Wally, and to pass the time they tell old stories about him. It made passing the time lighter until they both sought out a drink to lessen the strain that remembering that day brought to them. Wally's death hit upon each of the six differently and for John it is deeply personal as in many ways was always the personality opposite of John. When Rex Mason died, John was the youngest in the squad, but this time around Wally was the youngest of the seven. They had become six with Flash's demise, but they went on pledging to restore peace and security to the world after Luthor's assassination.
His first change after they had become the Justice Lords is reverting to Marine haircut though it starts to clash with the Lantern uniform so he decides it is also time to adopt a new look as the others were already doing it themselves. He kept the green and the black. However upon closer inspection one notices the parts that were green are now black while the parts that were black are now green. Before his uniform was more green than black, but it is the opposite. His efforts to remake law and order as he saw begins in his home city though they did not take kindly to it. He also found that those who used to look up to him were now afraid of him or felt immense disdain towards him.
Virgil Hawkins and Rich Foley hung up their costumes rather than join an attempt to expand the Lords' numbers. The expanded team did not last very long as the misgivings about methods and policies led to rapid departures by all within in less than a year. The ones that left early did not surprise John, but of course Virgil's rejection of him stung pretty badly. Virgil's interpretations of heroes and villains made him unlikely to ever agree with the way the Lords are doing things. The ones that stuck around eventually saw that through what they refer to as only temporary garbage is not fooling us anymore and before long the people will turn on you too. Green Arrow made that implication to John before he left and soon enough the people did start to protest on various grounds including the fact that there had been no elections since Luthor's death.
The people to him had shown a serious lapse in judgment when they put Luthor in charge of the government and he had grown up in a world where nuclear annihilation was a given. His vindication is that someone else has to be the authority in order to prevent someone else like Luthor from gaining power. In the hands of too many regulating peace and security would only lead to more deaths were liable to happen and one death is already one too many for John. He need only remind himself of the day Wally died from a gunshot wound inflicted by Luthor and an afternoon weeks later when they put Wally in the ground.
Shayera is his rock through the weeks, the months, and even as more than a year passed since that day never made doing his job easier yet he had to do it because no one else would and no one else is up to task except the Justice Lords. They had to make the hard decisions and popularity is damned, but still he could tell the looks from people were becoming increasingly discomforting at least to Shayera. Locals in his city duck him for reasons he never quite understood, but then he had long since lost that fear that he had become too alien in his time away from Earth. All the same, the change in people's attitudes after more than a year is gradually unsettling, but still they had to go do their jobs even if it meant being authoritarian to an extreme.
It is the team's responsibility and his duty to keep the world safe from itself at least in his mind.
John makes his regular visit to the park in Central City where they buried Flash. The headstone is in the shape of Flash's costume emblem, a lightning bolt no less, and beneath it are the words from one of Flash's favorite movies. He had to wonder if Wally really was their Jiminy, but then conscience pangs got in the way of the job or as Batman would put it 'the mission'.
"Let your conscience be your guide"
Leave it to Wally to be full of childlike wonder and one of the biggest movie collections John had ever seen in his life including films like Pinocchio and Old Yeller. John grits his teeth at the thought of Old Yeller, it is John's favorite film, but every time it got to the part where Yeller is put down, John could rarely sit still for it. It made him sick to his stomach, but then watching Wally die somehow made him loose the gut wrenching feeling that death or dying usually put him in. He stands there for the longest time and not noticing how the hour is getting late to the point that he starts hearing crickets of all things.
"Glad to see I'm not the only one still doing this."
"He was my best friend; of course he did annoy me, but always got a good laugh from him."
"Yes the ones we love or care about have that tendency, I miss him every day."
"I know we as group did not attend, but some of us were in disguise."
"I guess you weren't all ready to be public in your mourning maybe."
"Something like that I guess."
They stood together silently for awhile until he said he somewhere else. She hugs him and hopes maybe they could have a friendly get-together some other time. He reacts somewhat amicable to the suggestion and she admits she understands some why they have become somewhat more proactive with what happen with Luthor. She also however asks him to consider how long this will go on for and of course he says what all the others keep saying if the press or someone gets close enough to ask them. He flies off ring active and Central City is now just another place on the map for the time being.
Things had gone farther with Hawkgirl, with Shayera than he expected but it felt right, it was time to make some happiness in his life again. His fight with Hro Talak was something he was eager to forget, but getting his arm busted in the fight was less than memorable. She had agreed to play with Talak since they were suspicious about the coincidences surrounding the 'Gordanian's failed attack' in D.C. She found out, but of course Kragger and Paran Dul were suspicious of her all along. She was caught transmitting the bypass schematics to a secured frequency tied into the Bat cave's computer.
She got lucky that John and Diana manage to break into Talak's command ship to rescue her. Superman had been on a rampage smashing Thanagarian fighters. Batman meanwhile rigs a binary fusion generator originally intended for the watchtower into a bomb to be dropped on the bypass once the shield is offline. The bomb effectively obliterates it and the Thanagarians depart to find somewhere to resume the war effort yet they would lose though Hawkgirl would join the ranks of alien immigrant patriots such as Superman and J'onn.
Back in the present, John dines with Shayera who has certainly found a way to look more than stunning in Earth attire. Their romance endures as they watch from the sidelines as the kindling that almost brought Batman and Wonder Woman together smolders into dust. There is not hatred exactly, but Batman is drifting further into seclusion and Wonder Woman further into frustration. All his infrequent meetings and encounters with the woman who he used to call a rookie with the tiara prove that she still cares for Batman, for Bruce, but she does not know what make of his feelings if he still has any. She is in a place where she cannot decide to move on or keep trying though of course she resolves to quit trying to get to him because he just does not seem to want anything to do with her in that way.
"You realize you are driving her away. I know the others left you for one reason or another, but she is still willing though she'll give up someday because damn you can be so stubborn when you think you have made up your mind."
"Give it a rest Stewart and do stop almost channeling Wally on this one."
"Why are you bringing West into this, it has nothing to do with him. This is about you."
"Keep telling yourself, we are professionals here, what you do with your personal life is your deal and as for mine stay out of it. If we can all still work together as a team that counts most."
"You really are insane, but of course, I can deal with that, though when put next to Superman these days, you actually look like the sane one for a change."
"Be glad Kent never hears that one though even at this distance I wouldn't be so sure."
"You know as well as I do that he hates being referred to as that now. Of course, they cannot stand him anymore than Alfred or the others could stand me before they left. I even got a few letters and calls from Lois demanding that I knock some sense into Superman. It is more the lack of Clark that bothers her because he is Superman all the time now."
"Well I'm sorry for disturbing you because we both have jobs to do tonight."
"Good night."
The relationships between that once been anchors to either Batman or Superman went away by the turn of year two. It did not surprise John, but then he spent more time focusing on Shayera though she will still talk about her infrequent encounters with Diana. Diana had chosen to redirect her attention to as far away Gotham as she could get and for the lack of a better she too had become a workaholic. As for Lois Lane, she spent most of her days stuck in the 'tower' where Superman put her to keep her safe, John understood concern for her safety because she is a civilian, but Shayera had her objections to confining anyone who had done nothing wrong.
Lois had not done anything wrong, but even an aesthetically attractive apartment that she could rarely leave without escort is like being chained to a boulder.
Superman accedes the handling of the Smallville U riot to him and Shayera. He could tell that Superman was only steps away from punching him when he spoke of Smallville as his hometown, but then he forgot in the moment that Superman quit Clark Kent about the same time as...
It gives him a serious discomfort every time something happens to trigger remembrance of that particular day.
Superman had a date with Lois.
Wonder Woman just leaves the Monitor Hub. J'onn had not set foot on Earth since after Wally's funeral, which spoke volumes about J'onn's loss of faith in humanity or maybe just himself. John could never tell exactly. John enshrouds himself and Shayera in a green bubble construct before descending to Earth. It looks so peaceful from up Earth, but look too closely and one would see the truth that beneath all they had done since taking the reins is starting to unravel with civil unrest like at Smallville University. They had become symbols, but symbols of what?
John sees all what they do as part of their job, their task to maintain order, but then the whole this is only temporary rhetoric is starting to wear thin for many across the world. It they were too simply step back then things would revert back to the way they were, if not worst, if they reining in then eventually the people would turn on them entirely. It is increasingly untenable position, but they had done the impossible before, so they would just have to do so again for the sake of the future of Earth. However he even had doubts about how far doing what is necessary extends from they had done already.
As he and Shayera fly towards Smallville U, Shayera initiates a comlink call to Batman.
"You're sure you don't want to help us out?" asks Shayera.
"Too much to do," answers Batman dryly.
"C'mon, for old time's sake," insists John.
"I hate old times," retorts Batman.
They almost never did anything as a team anymore. The team went from an are to a were though such a subtlety is not lost on John. As each operates wherever they gravitate towards yet only Wonder Woman is active across much of the planet and occasionally Superman. If to prove a point then Superman might take Wonder Woman with him to an intervention zone. It is another thing that they went from filing mission reports to submitting intervention logs and most of those went through J'onn who acts more like a handler than a teammate in the past year and a half. As soon as the pair are within sight of the riot police and the campus protesters, the whole situation dissolves as a majority of the protesters take off with almost supernatural quickness.
The riot police however detain the 'leader' by pinning him to the ground with almost 'excessive' force and they just stand there on the rooftop watching the scene unfold as if almost indifferent observers to a situation that would have once been only on them.
"I used to go bed every night afraid that the world was going to blow itself up, but not anymore."
Shayera doesn't look as if she totally believes him. She talks about the looks on everyone's faces, but John still insists they found a better way. Their comlinks chirp again as Batman is calling a team meeting at the Batcave though even they had to wonder why he would be doing this after he unequivocally banned Superman and Wonder Woman from entering Gotham since the Arkhamites' lobotomies.
They take off flying east to Gotham. J'onn comes down from the Watchtower while Wonder Woman comes from elsewhere. The four converge on Superman who is hovering over Wayne Manor waiting for them or rather expecting them. He clearly doesn't want to be here, but he had come anyway. The doors open once Batman knows they are there as all entry points to the Manor as John had found from Shayera were all voice coded to Batman's voice only though that wouldn't necessary stop everyone from going inside. However Shayera also told him that Batman put in countermeasures to deny the five of them easy passage unless he had those countermeasures offline, which he did for now.
Batman even had the Batcave lead lined, which is something that briefly took Superman by surprise as he had not set foot inside the manor in more than two years now. The grandfather clock opens up to reveal the winding stairwell down to the Batcave. They descend and John clenches his jaw to avoid chattering because the Batcave is a lot cooler than even Detroit could be this time of year. He catches Shayera rubbing her upper arms as if she too is cold, but there's no show of chill from the other three.
The five finally reach the interior of the Batcave and Batman taps a control to active the video feed.
The eight people in the feed look awfully familiar until it occurs that it might be an old video of them, but why would Batman call them down here for some dated footage. Batman explains that it is an alternate reality, that those seven are known as the Justice League, that their Luthor is still alive, and more striking at least to him as well as Shayera is that their Flash still lives too. An unofficial vote is made that they would conduct an intervention in the other reality to prevent their Luthor from doing more damage, but of course Batman's warning appears to go unheeded by all.
"Why tell us the obvious? That they would disapprove of our methods? I'm like we are them with the exception of Flash," says John.
"He thinks we are missing the point Stewart. He thinks we are too heavy handed for the mentality and the methodology they still follow," interjects Diana.
"Their reality is still the mess ours used to be," continues John.
"Perhaps only one of us should step through first, best not to shock them, we do need them to believe our genuine interest in helping them," suggests Shayera.
"I nominate J'onn," remarks Batman.
"I agree," says Superman.
"So the only question left is… what to tell them?" comments Diana.
"Not the truth obviously," quips Superman.
"So we are going to feed them a lie?" snorts Batman.
"Now we are back to this again… why bother showing us this if we are going to do nothing!" snaps Superman.
"It is a discover that this machine works, but it doesn't mean we use it," snarls Batman.
The two stand there staring at each like they had finally seen how opposite they had become from the way they were before the Six had become authority symbols. Batman however relents noticing everyone is posturing against him or at least John perceives his backing down to mean that much.
"Tell them whatever it takes to draw them over here, but expect the other Batman to be suspicious, need to be convincing," reminds Diana.
A box lined with electrical nodes is put into place around the portal then J'onn phases through it before stepping into the vortex.
John spots a knowing smile on Diana's face when proven right about her suspicions about the other Batman and the other J'onn is a hard sell too, but five out of seven still think they are coming here to avert a collapse of several realities. J'onn phases out of the box only moments after the crossover then a switch is thrown electrocuting the seven inside while the six appear to do all they can to ignore the howls and the screams of their counterparts. It is seen that the other Shayera is resisting the stun with her mace and is trying to break through the box's outer shell by smashing it with the mace. The outer shell shears clean off and she is about to step out of it ready probably to attack them for 'lying' to them.
John walks over and blasts her with his ring without much though he notices their Flash is still conscious. The other Wally had seen him strike the other Shayera with a ring energy construct blast. His dead best friend's counterpart had seen him intentionally hurt someone, but John tries to ignore by mentally reminding himself that just because that guy there looks like him, doesn't mean it is exactly him. Another part of him however goes on a rant saying it doesn't make a difference... you just hurt someone who looks exactly like your wife.
The other Shayera is put in Arkham's Medical Wing and the other six are put into specialized cells meant to inhibit their powers. The other John Stewart's ring is taken from him. The other Flash is put into locks that he cannot vibrate out of and his restraints also restrict his speed. The other Wonder Woman is held in place by her lasso and restraints made to redirect her physical strength against her. The other Superman is kept in a cell with red solar lamps. Lastly the other Batman is the one everyone expect to lead the escape except Batman had a cell made special for his counterpart, which would give away any attempt to escape because of motion sensors and mercury switches.
"I believe the five of you can handle the situation over there. Somebody has to stay here and keep an eye on them anyway. We wouldn't want history repeating itself, would we?" implies Batman.
"Go ahead be a warden to these guys, we'll finish faster without you," rebukes Superman.
John like the others would not learn until later that Batman had set himself up to be duped by the other Flash and probably the other Batman too. It didn't take a detective to work out how the League got back, but the other Shayera thanks to him was not in that fight though the other John Stewart had shown great reluctance to shoot his Shayera yet eventually he did so. The hesitation is something John had thought himself rid of long ago, but to see it in action again had given him pause yet when he did shoot Shayera, John had given into rage to avenge an offense against his love, against his Shayera.
The fight between League and Lords went on for a time until the other Luthor appears then blasts the five of them including John with a power disruptor apparently. John fell hard and soon found himself facing the other John who still had an active power ring.
"Why did you do this? Why did you shoot Hawkgirl?"
"You still call her that? You don't know her real name?"
"She's still very secretive, but she acts so strange around me."
"She has feelings for you, but clearly you two haven't reciprocated yet like mine and I did."
"You are saying me and Hawkgirl together?"
"Just because it happen with us, doesn't mean it'll happen with you two, but who knows if you share my taste in exotic women… then perhaps it is store for you."
"Your tactics certainly make me wonder why the Guardians let you keep the ring or stay a Lantern for that matter."
"I told them what happen. They agreed that we were in a precarious and untenable situation at the time yet since that meeting they and I have rarely spoken at all though I suspect perhaps they would seek me out, but all the same it still has not happen even to this day."
"How did the six of you get like this?"
"To me its old news, to you it probably is not, but the fact is a lot went wrong and we made hard calls to weather the bad times though there are some things you can never weather starting with what happen to Flash. Luthor took office and killed him then Superman killed Luthor."
"It sounds a bit drastic."
"He shot Flash with a bloody shotgun on the front lawn of the White House… that ain't drastic enough for you?"
"It is upsetting, but doesn't mean you abandon your Lantern Oath."
"When it has not happen to you, you are open to speculate, but when it happens to you, you'll get where I am coming from though some part of me prays you never have to find out what a death in the 'family' does to a team of superheroes who have a bond that's thicker than blood and water."
"I hope I never do either, but life and this profession ain't often that fair."
"True… don't wait too long to figure out if things could get serious with you and her though. I never regret what happen with us, so don't regret what does or does not happen with her, this job is too damn demanding… I didn't realize how much I needed her until the job almost got to me."
The other John Stewart left presumably to check on his Hawkgirl and as for John he looks to find his wife, his Shayera because now all he felt like he had left of his old life is her. He, she, and the others were taken to a secret facility to be kept hidden because obviously someone in the government wanted their visit kept secret. They also took the Lords' gadgets including John's ring and Shayera's mace.
He finds Shayera spread out on a mattress in a cell across from his.
They did not forbid contact between the Lords, but likewise they were not completely free to do as they might like, but then unlike Ajuris 4, this time he is guilty by association and by his own actions. He felt he did not deserve to be a Lantern anymore so if he ever made it back to his reality he would have to face the music as Virgil would put it and the music would be the judgment of the Guardians. Of course they might send Rayner back to Earth though he would likely have a hard time given that John's actions have pretty much made Lanterns persona non grata no doubt, but then almost anybody wearing a costume is likely to go underground.
He could only imagine what Batman or rather Bruce would do without them around, but then even Bruce had demons of his own to face from those who undoubtedly seek to punish him they were after all not above the law. It would be too easily to say he had lost his way because he went into with both eyes open and now he sees his own eyes for what they have become as the green is gone leaving only the traces of bloodshot in them. His rock again is Shayera, but then she too had come to depend on him.
He traces the outline of her face with his fingers as she lies beneath him with her wings spread against the mattress. The only thing he could think of doing right now was to get lost inside her and apparently she felt the same.
The cells were the only places they were given privacy aside from the bathrooms, which were utilitarian like the cells.
He could feel her almost clawing into his skin with her nails and he tries to focus more on red orange hair then on her green eyes. The first time he saw them he could not take his eyes off them, but now he didn't want to look as if he were avoiding them. He just did not want to gaze into them because then they would both remember abruptly what happen to them instead of staying here in this moment where they had given into their desire to embrace on every level while pushing reality away from them. It is an affirmation of life even when everything else felt dead to him.
A/N 1: This is the rewrite of the Lorder Green Lantern chapter. Like the previous rewrites it expands on the initial take though I make more mentions of characters affected by his modus operandi shift including Virgil Hawkins aka Static Shock.
A/N 2: Lords' attempt to expand the roster fails though this only foreshadows civilian unrest that follows such as the protest at Smallville U.
A/N 3: John clearly remains affected by Wally's death though even with that death he still has a light in his life from Shayera, but even he can't ignore her misgivings about what's happening to the six of them after all this time. Their relationship holds while the other couples drift apart.