Chapter 6

A/N: Ok it's been a while, Christmas period took up all my time work/family and obviously New Year. I don't get much spare time at the moment and I've hit a bit of a block, my mind keeps wandering to other parts of the story I've yet to write. Anyway late Happy new year and finally got a chapter for you all.

Revelations

Watchtower Med Centre

It's a small universe after all.

( bit of physics thrown in here, Thanagar and earth are obviously two different planets very unlikely to both have the same year and month patterns, I've decided Thanagar has a larger star, Thanagar is further from that sun than the earth is from ours, it's going to be three earth years to one thanagarian year, ill try to distinguish the two as much as possible)

Uncomfortable awkward silence permeated the air outside the theatre were J'onn was currently working calmly on Shayera, outside the room John and Rhian had given up there attempts at a stare down and now both attempted badly to ignore the fact that either existed. They both locked eyes again but quickly looked away, John shifted uncomfortably and almost at the same time Rhian shook himself quickly and rolled his shoulders. John knew that this Rhian claimed to be Shayeras brother, as such John was using the glimpses to see resemblances between them, he was taller than Shayera by almost a foot, well built but due to his height it make him look thinner, the wings were seemingly identical, but what sold it was the brilliant green eyes and the mass of fire red hair falling from under the white helmet. John hated these situations, it was like been at a dinner party, when somebody who no one really approves of is there and in attempt to be nice you force conversation and mock politeness, only John couldn't even attempt to think of where to begin, this Rhian was obviously protective of Shayera he'd immediately took point right beside the theatre door and barley budged since.
Why does he keep staring? Am I supposed to say something? Do I stare back? Were the questions that raced through Rhians mind, he had no idea who this John was, whoever it was seemed as protective of Shayera as he was, he'd practically had to run to get the place by the door and now he'd been on the receiving end of continuous stares ad glances, Hate these stupid situations, it's like attempting negotiations with people you'd rather just get rid of thought Rhian as he desperately thought of something to say to at least get some for of reaction. Looking to the right of John he could just make out his own reflection in the window, he started chuckling when he saw he was wearing the same facial expression as John was with his forehead crease up in desperate thought.
"Something….funny" mumbled John unsure of Rhians intentions.
"Yeah, were both in the same boat right, you don't know me or trust me, I don't know or trust you, we both want to know each others intentions and desperately waiting for J'onn to get out here and tell us some news, so we can quit the staring games" answered Rhian.
"Yeah that's sounds about right, sorry im not exactly trusting of Thanagarians since….the incident, I just wanna make sure Shays okay"
"Why?" asked Rhian. The question completely stunned John, how can I answer that, im checking because Shays…my…friend, colleague, someone I come to care for, someone I was stupid enough to let go of, someone I am stupid enough not to let go of?
"You've got your deep thought face on again" laughed Rhian
"Oh, well, it's complicated" answered John grinning despite himself

Before the conversation could go any further J'onn phased through the doors.
"How is she" the pair asked in unison
"From the actual injury, extremely lucky, missed all the vital organs, there was damage to the diaphragm and luckily the blade didn't pass dead centre, it took of a rib but missed severing her spine by seventeen millimetres"
"So she's going to be okay?"
"That depends on her reaction when she wakes; we already know she was never good at accepting help when she was part of the league, now she doesn't even help herself"
"How so?" they both asked
"She is severely dehydrated and she hasn't been getting anywhere near the levels of food into her that she needs, looks like she's been living off alcohol since she left"
"Is she going to be okay J'onn?" asked John, Rhian was now stood there moth hanging agape obviously shocked at the news
"If she will rest and stop beating herself up, her rib will cause a fair amount of pain, they are always painful injuries, but within a fortnight, with her ability to recover she'll be fine, she's lost close to three stone, and she wasn't exactly heavy to begin with" finished J'onn solemnly
"Then we need to get in there and fill her in with all the details, we can't have her running of and still believing that everything is her fault" added John
"I'm not exactly sure which of you she'd be more likely to freak out about in all honesty" said J'onn with a small smile creeping onto his face "I'll go see how she feels then I'll let you in, best one at a time though"
Before J'onn or Rhian could reply J'onn phased back through the doors, J'onn been taking lessons from batman? Thought John as he disappeared.
They have there uses came the voice of J'onn in his mind
Get out of my head J'onn
Sorry, it's hard to block out sometimes came the generally apologetic reply

J'onn was disappointed but not surprised as he phased through the doors to see that Shayera had managed to prop herself up into as sitting position
"Your suppose to be resting" informed J'onn as he approached Shayera
"I've had plenty of rest, haven't exactly been doing much the past few months" mumbled Shayera not even looking at J'onn.
"Drinking yourself to sleep doesn't really cut it Shayera"
Shayera didn't reply for a few moments before muttering "why save me?"
"….Were like family, the seven of us, did you hurt us, yes, and it made us angry too, Superman disappeared to the fortress for a week after you left, Wally doesn't smile or Joke as much, he really misses you, GL has barley uttered a word, she might not show it but even Diana missed you in a small way, Batman was obviously indifferent although he does seem rather defensive about your actions, he admires the fact you managed to fool him and I always believed me and you to be the most alike, unlike Superman, we both knew the worlds we lost, not one of us could simply let you die and even now Superman and Batman are currently "interviewing" the man claiming to be your father, not out of hate, but concern and obviously they want to figure out what is going on"
Looking away again before adding "it's him, I don't know how but it is"
"Shayera, I've never been able to read your mind, I'd really like to know the reason you really ended up here on earth, if the invasion was false it would make sense that your story is"
Closing her eyes and finally speaking with clarity "I was joint second in command of a mission, the last mission before I winded up on earth, it was meant to be simple, it went wrong, horribly wrong only me and ironically Hro survived, Hro somehow put the ordeal behind him and got straight back to serving, but I was broken, the high council deciding I may never be fit to serve in the Gordanian war, so they sent me here to earth "a rehab mission, I guess you could call it" something supposedly easy, something to break me back in, so that I wouldn't be useless"
"That's disgusting, how could they do that" added J'onn
"Thanagar isn't….wasn't a terrible place, in fact it was beautiful, but you had to be strong or it'd tear you apart, It might sound harsh, but I found new purpose and drive here on earth, I'd be dead by now, had I remained on Thanagar"
"…can we trust them Shayera"
"Im not answering that J'onn, the last time we were in this situation, I told you all you could trust them, this time you can decide"
"But they are actually them…this time"
"I got fooled by them last time J'onn, whoever "them" are, nothing to suggest their any different this time"
"But Thanagar really is gone, correct"
"…correct" whispered Shayera as a single tear slid down her cheek
"…Im sorry… I didn't mean to"
"Don't worry about it J'onn"
After a few moment of silence J'onn decided to add "there are a couple of people waiting to see you Shayera" a few more moments of silence before Shayera asked who they were "John and a Thanagarian called Rhian claiming to be your brother"
Shayera responded by sighing exhaustively and sinking back down into the bed.
"I can ask them to come back if you require rest"
"I do, but I can't put it off forever send Rhian in first hopefully that'll be less stressful than John
"Ok….and Shayera I wouldn't normally do this, but John still has feelings for you" added J'onn with a small smile
"That's what I feared" she whispered as J'onn phased back though the door.

Both Rhian and John jumped up at the same time in a complete deja-vu of earlier on "she's not exactly thrilled but she has agreed to see the pair of you, she requested you first Rhian, she needs rest I understand it may be difficult but try to keep it short for now" by the time J'onn had finished the sentence Rhian had already made it through the door. J'onn sighed to himself before looking to John "I'd imagine there are a million things you want to say…..just be careful John"

"Shay-Shayera? It's you...it really is you" mumbled a stunned Rhian as he made his way towards Shayera.
Shayera replied by dropping her jaw a little with her eyes widened in obvious shock, she clamped her jaw shut and looked him up and down desperately trying to find anything out of place with the brother she hadn't seen in almost a decade.
Then she finally looked into his eyes "Rhian? It's really you"
"Heh, long time no see Shay" added Rhian as he dropped himself to his knees so he was level with Shayera
"I don't- How, how can you be alive and Katar to, it can't be"
"I don't know what you were told Shay, but me and Katar have been led to believe you have been dead for the last two years Shay"
"Two? They told me you died six years- oh you mean our years don't you"
"Obviously shay, Why?"
"Its three earth years to one thanagarian year, so that means I was told you had died at around the same time you were told I had died, were you by any chance informed of my death by the council"
"yeah, it was really bizarre usually it's just automated by the military, we knew you were part of the force capture on Rasalos, when we eventually took that base apparently Hro was the only survivor, what was really strange though was no trace of you existed, your mace, your armour, nothing everyone else got something back except us…..What the hell happened out there Shay"
"That's not something you would want to know, and I beg you never to try to find out Rhian, me and Hro were the only survivors, Hro got over it by concentrating on nothing but his career and blocking out everything else, me…..I was, damaged, it took me almost a year to get over what happened, a few weeks in to my isolation they informed me of your deaths, then eventually I was assigned….."
"Shay?"
"There is no mention of me on the military records then, for any active missions?"
"No, Shay you were classed as dead"
"So it wasn't as mission, I was exiled to this planet simply so I wouldn't be in the way" Summarized Shayera as she bowed her head and closed her eyes.
"Shay" began Rhian taking Shayeras hand "Your alive, were alive regardless of what happened were alive Shay, not many people on our planet get their families back Shay, we might not have a lot now, but we still have each other, those silly promises we made all those years ago, when we were children, we promised to always protect each other and never give up, I never gave up on you Shay until I received any real evidence that you had died, I refused to say you were dead.
Shayera tightened her grip on Rhians hand "thanks Rhian, you always manage to say the right thing don't you" she added as a small smile crossed her face
"You should try that more often Shay, it suits you" added Rhian grinning as Shayera allowed a small chuckle to escape "So Shay, as your older and overly protective brother, who is this John"
"Your older by a couple of minutes quit rubbing it in" she added much less emotionally, Rhian noticed the small smile had faded again, it was replaced with an expression he knew to well, Katar had the expression once the report saying Shayera had been killed came through, Regret. "John, where do I start with him, I was a fool Rhian, I was so unwilling to let go of my past life, Hro and Thanagar, I hid my past from them all, I knew me and Hro could never work, especially after Rasalos. For two earth years I was a small time Hero, before I became part of the justice league, this planet gave me new life and a second chance, I fell in love Rhian, real love, all consuming, terrible, keep you awake all night, tormenting, love. When the Invasion came all the lies were revealed in one go to all there faces and I just stood there and accepted it, they found out about me been a spy who definitely was not here by accident, but worse Hro trumpeted me as his promised, right in front of John" she finished tears rolling down her face.
"Oh Shay" taking his other hand and lifting Shayera face up by here chin "he's out there right now, as desperate to see you as I was, I mean that, he cares for you Shay….I can feel J'onn prodding my mind, ill come see you as soon as I can Shay, take this" as Rhian pulled out a small faintly glowing pill "One last thing Shay, I know you well enough not to attempt to make up your mind for you, just for your sake Shay, don't leave yourself with similar regrets as those of our father. You can salvage this Shay, it won't be easy, but the rewards are so worth it Shay, you only have to look to when we had both parents Shay" finished Rhian as he began to leave.
"Rhian?"
"Shay?"
"Thanks Rhian, I love you, you know that"
"Don't turn sappy on me sis…. I love you too" he added just loud enough for Shay to hear "and don't forget you medicine"
"Ugh, damn you"
"Or you can sit there and mope, up to you" laughed Rhian as he left

A/N Wow this took me ages, just a severe lack of time, any time I got on I wrote maybe four sentences, Chapter 7 is already under way though, I've basically cut Chapter 6 into two. So up next John gets to see Shay and how are Superman and Katar going to get on?

See you on the other side.

random-jack