Starcrossed
John's been running on anger since their escape. The Thanagarians' mindset is something he despises, thinking they can decide the fate of people they don't even know.
That Hawkgirl turned away when confronted with her people's plan is probably the only reason he doesn't hate her. She made the choice to protect Earth, even over her own people.
He looks at her and is at a loss. He loved her, and she deceived him. It hurt like hell.
It wasn't personal.
The hell it wasn't. She'd made it personal.
John can't think straight when it came to her. He abstains his vote.
Betrayal is the worst sin imaginable to an Amazon. Diana remembers swearing she would never betray her sisters, even as a child.
She votes to expel Hawkgirl. She took advantage of their trust, used their secrets to hold them prisoner. Diana doesn't care that she didn't know that her people were planning to destroy Earth to win their war. She can't work with someone she can't trust.
Diana clings to her anger. Anger is easier to accept than the aches and pains of a difficult battle. Anger is easier to deal with than guilt for her failures. Anger is easier than sorrow.
Trusting people can get you killed. Trusting Hawkgirl nearly got them all killed. Its things like this that remind Bruce why he rarely trusts anyone.
He votes to expel Hawkgirl, though he hesitates on it. Bruce is torn between wanting to keep her from learning other weaknesses that can be exploited and the desire to keep her close to watch her. In the end, though, he decides she can be watched no matter where she is.
It isn't paranoia if they really are out to get you. Maybe now the others will see why Bruce lives by that as much as possible.
Wally likes to think the best of people. With stick-in-the-muds like Bats, he figures someone has to keep a glass-is-half-full attitude.
He votes to keep Hawkgirl. He was angry for what she did, still is, but what choice did she have? She was sent to do a job. Can't John understand that, being a Marine once? Besides, Wally believes her when Hawkgirl swears she didn't know what her people were planning. He knows she'd never condone Earth being the sacrificial lamb.
Hawkgirl's been their friend for two years. She made the right choice when the chips were down. He believes in her.
J'onn has always worried for Hawkgirl. Her mind was always closed – an unusual experience – and her solitary existence on Earth speaks to him. His people were gone, hers were beyond her reach.
He votes to keep Hawkgirl. Though he feels the others' anger, he cannot find fault in her actions. Yes, it does discern him that she and her people were able to dispatch him and the others so easily. They trusted her with their vulnerabilities, and her people used them without hesitation. Still, she made the right choice, followed her conscience.
J'onn knows the dangers of being alone.
Clark doesn't have to be a telepath to feel the emotions running hot. Diana glows with anger, just like Flash vibrates when he defends Hawkgirl. Bruce seems as calm as ever, as does J'onn, but Clark doubts they're disconnected from the discussion.
He's upset himself. He trusted Hawkgirl. How can anyone hope to go back to the way things were before?
That's a question many asked after Darkseid brainwashed him. The people gave him a second chance, can he do less for someone who fought beside him for two whole years?
Clark sighs. Diana and Bruce won't be happy.
He votes to keep Hawkgirl.
"… you'll always be a hero."
Alfred's words mean a lot to Shayera, but they're at the heart of her problems. Earth embraced her, treated her as a hero. She almost believed it, but the real reason she'd come was always there.
Shayera might be a hero in the eyes of people like Alfred, but she isn't a hero in her own. So she walks away. She has to understand herself before she can ask others to understand.
It's the hardest thing she's ever done, leaving John standing alone, but she's comforted that she told the truth.
Maybe she will be a hero, someday.