Author's Note: Chapter 4 time! I'm starting this immediately after posting Chapter 3, but my next few days are a little busy, so I'm not sure when you'll get this. I can at least guarantee it'll be here before the weekend. This chapter will focus less on Bruce's suspicion about Gohan, although there will be a note of it in the beginning, and more on Shayera's decision about helping the Justice League, with a "small" change that I'll be adding in. This will also briefly show Gohan's curiosity about Batman's past as he looks at the memorabilia in the Batcave. I know, it's a little bit much at once, but I promise I'll make it work later on.

Also, to the two guests who are still arguing over power levels as of Wednesday, STOP. NOW. I don't want reviews like that for my story. This is more towards one than the other, because one of you is actually focusing more on the story itself, but please, this is a fanfiction. No one cares about power level numbers in a fanfiction.

But still, thanks to all of you for making this my most reviewed story yet, clocking in currently at 39!

Update: As I was writing this, some people questioned why I'm having Gohan hold back his full power. Well, there's several reasons. One, even though Gohan's working with the Justice League now, he knows that people can change, and he wants to keep the element of surprise. Two, the Justice League has reason to fear their own power, as demonstrated by fighting the Justice Lords, and later in the series, that plot point becomes more prominent. If Gohan were to reveal his true power, which is miles ahead of Superman's, it would cause distrust within the group, and that can't happen right now. It will happen later, but not now. Three, it's my story, so there, discussion over.

Chapter 4: Love Lost and Decisions Made

Bruce, Diana, and Gohan arrived at the mansion first, Bruce's butler Alfred transporting them by limousine. It had been difficult getting out of the city, and there had been a few close calls, but they were relieved to finally be at a place they knew they'd be safe. Stopping in front of the front door, Alfred got out of the car first and held it open for the three superheroes.

"Thanks, Mr. Alfred." Gohan said as he exited the car last, bowing politely and walking through the door, turning around as Alfred closed it behind him.

"Please, Master Gohan." Alfred replied with a wave of his hand. "The pleasure's all mine."

Gohan grinned, marveling over how calm Alfred seemed about all this. The League was on the verge of tackling a full-blown alien invasion, and this man was barely batting an eye. Not to mention, Bruce had hastily introduced the Saiyan to the loyal butler without much explanation, although to be fair he didn't have much to go off of anyway.

'Alfred must be pretty used to this.' Gohan thought, 'After all, he does look after a man who routinely dresses up like a bat.'

Bruce led the others to a nearby grandfather clock, where he proceeded to pull down on the pendulum, and to Gohan's surprise, it moved to the side to reveal a dark stairway. Walking down it, he noticed several display cases with lights inside, shining on various items. A pop gun, a gleaming sword, a wresting mask with a small tank attached to it, among others.

'Prizes from battles.' He realized, an impressed look on his face, as he continued gazing at the memorabilia. 'I imagine a man who dresses so eccentrically would have just as eccentric villains. Although I wonder, why "Batman"? The others I can kind of understand what their names are about, but what inspires a man to dress up like a bat all the time?'

He stopped at one of the cases, which held a devilish looking clown mask inside. For some reason, Gohan couldn't help but be a little spooked at the sight of it.

'…Guess I should forget about it for now. What we're dealing with now is far more important.'

Reaching the bottom of the staircase, the group of four entered the underground cave, where Gohan was met with the sight of large command center, a giant supercomputer being the centerpiece. To the right, various bat-shaped cars littered a miniature parking lot, and to the left lay even more items from previous fights, the least subtle being a giant penny, and a life-sized replica of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Before he could even comprehend the strangeness of the place, a multitude of bats dropped down from the ceiling and fluttered loudly past the group, causing Gohan to cover his head in alarm.

'Bats?!' He thought, eyes widening before he chuckled quietly. 'Well of course. Bats for the Batman.'

Turning around, he went over to the command center, where Bruce and Diana were already waiting for him, while Alfred stood respectively to the side.

"So…" Gohan said, looking around calmly. "What do we do now?"

Bruce replied, "At the moment, we have no choice to wait for the others to arrive."

"Hera can only hope they make it here as safely as we did, if that." Diana muttered to herself.

The three nodded in silent agreement, wishing their comrades the best of luck.

"In the meantime, kid." Bruce continued, "We're secure within my house, you can drop the camouflage."

"Huh?" Gohan said, looking up at his hair.

It was still golden.

"Oh, right." Taking a deep breath, Gohan allowed himself to drop out of Super Saiyan, his hair falling down slightly and returning to its normal black color.

"How exactly do you pull off a trick like that?" Diana inquired, putting a hand to her chin.

Thinking fast, Gohan said, "Well, it's sort of comes as a result of my training. My dad learned how to do it first, and after a while, he taught me how to do it as well."

"So besides training you in combat, your father trains you in deception?"

"Pretty much, yeah." Gohan smiled. As a whole, at least it wasn't a total lie, and Diana seemed satisfied enough.

"It seems like it would be pretty useful, actually." Bruce responded. "Even if it is just your hair and eye color."

Bruce had not missed the subtle changes in Gohan's face when Diana had asked him those questions. He could tell, the boy was not telling the complete truth.

'Once this whole ordeal is over, I expect him to start talking.' Bruce thought, 'Diana let him off easy. I won't be as benevolent.'

Back on the Thanagarian mothership, Shayera stared out into the inky black sky, a calm expression plastered upon her face. But inside, she was troubled. Ever since realizing Talak's true plans, she had begun questioning everything she had been taught regarding war. Before, her mentality was that the strongest survived and the weakest deserved to perish. Shoot or be shot. But as she thought of the world below, she thought about all of the human beings she would be killing because of her race's desire to stay strong. These humans were indeed weak, but they had not done anything wrong to her people, and deserved none of the treatment they were currently receiving. Somehow, being on Earth the past five years had given her a new appreciation for life, and how precious it really was. She knew she couldn't take that away from so many, but at the same time, could she really let the same thing happen to her own kind? Her mind was a churning mess of emotions as she tried to determine the right answer.

'Do I betray my entire race in order to save another, or do I protect my own people and let billions of innocents die?'

'Do I continue fighting with my fellow soldiers, or do I try and protect the six people that had become better friends than I could ever have hoped for?'

And somehow, amongst those thoughts, appeared an image of Talak, standing stoically alongside a dark-skinned man with warm, glowing green eyes.

'Do I stay with the man I think I love, or do I go back to man I thought I could've loved?'

"What are you looking at?" The real Talak said, walking up from behind.

Shayera barely even turned her head to signify his presence. "Nothing."

"I have never seen anyone look at nothing so intently." Talak countered, smiling flirtatiously.

No response was given.

Talak's smile faded, and he put his hands on Shayera's shoulder. "I know this must be difficult for you."

"…Do you?"

"What is obligation, can sometimes feel like betrayal. But our only true obligation is to Thanagar."

"There must be another way." Shayera entreated, turning to face her betrothed. "Can't you re-route the bypass through some uninhabited planet or moon?"

"Any alteration would set us back more than five years, and every moment we delay is equal to the blood of our people."

"That still doesn't give us the right!" Shayera said, gesturing to the world below her. "There are billions of lives down there!"

Becoming increasingly livid, Talak reminded the former Hawkgirl, "We are at war. Have you forgotten why we fight? Or what horrors the Gordanians are capable of? Have you forgotten my long years rotting in their stinking prison camps?!"

He removed his helmet to reveal a long, jagged scar that ran over his right eye and down his cheek, his cat-like eyes blazing with a tortured fury.

"I haven't!

And that's when Shayera realized the truth, as she stared into the ruthless face of the man standing before her. This wasn't the man she had loved once upon a time. He had been kinder, less blood-hungry, more willing to sacrifice himself for the good of others. This…creature standing in front of her was no more than an empty husk, a mechanical being that annihilated any poor being that stopped it from reaching its objective. Her love would have found another way to save their race, her love wouldn't be sacrificing these humans. But Shayera wasn't looking at her betrothed anymore, she was looking at a monster.

"I have forgotten nothing." She said calmly, coming to a decision. "But this war is no excuse to…"

"I am your commander!" Talak snarled, grabbing her harshly by the shoulders. "You will not question me!"

Not even flinching, Shayera scowled and said in the most threatening whisper,

"…I don't even know you anymore."

Behind the two of them, General Kragger cleared his throat, capturing their attention. Talak quickly put back on his helmet.

"What is it?!" He growled.

"We've lost track of the Justice League and their new comrade." Kragger said, walking up to the pair. "They've blended with the populace. It will be difficult to find them. Unless of course…"

Grinning wickedly, Kragger turned his head to Shayera.

"…You know where they are?"

He failed to notice Shayera's eyes narrow dangerously, and before he could blink, she grabbed him by the throat and thrust him roughly against a nearby control panel.

"You're a long way from home." Shayera said, her left fist tightening in anger. "If you ever want to see it again then I suggest you tread lightly."

She let go of his throat, and he collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily. Looking up, he saw her give him one last look of disdain before leaving the room without making a sound.

Kragger stood up, still rubbing his neck, turning to Talak with a smirk on his face.

"She never did answer the question, did she?"

Talak's only response was to stare at the empty hallway his beloved Shayera no longer occupied.

Wally West and John Stewart walked up to the front door of Bruce Wayne's mansion, Wally still in awe about the fact that the billionaire playboy was the infamous Dark Knight of Gotham, and both thanking whatever deity existed that Clark and J'onn had happened to be at the same train station they were at, and had cleverly helped them avoid a very public skirmish. Wally was still smiling over what Clark had said at the end of his "interview," after the hawk-people had rudely ordered him to leave.

"Can I quote you?"

'Clever Boy Scout.' Wally thought, chuckling to himself.

John proceeded to ring the doorbell, and Alfred opened the door to greet them, his face neutral.

"Uh, we're looking for Bruce Wayne." Wally said. "We're friends."

"…Of course. Master Bruce is expecting you."

Alfred moved aside to let the two superheroes in, and the three walked down the front hallway. It would have been a silent walk, had Wally not decided to crack a joke.

"So Jeeves," He asked, "do you come with the place, or does Master Bruce rent you just for parties?"

Not even batting an eye, Alfred led the two to the grandfather clock, responding, "I've been in service here since the master was in diapers."

"Now there's a picture." Wally said, turning to smirk at John, who merely glared back at him.

Needless to say, the younger men were surprised when Alfred pulled the pendulum to the clock and it moved to the side, revealing the cave underneath. He led Wally and John through the entrance, where the other four members of the League and the half-Saiyan were waiting for them, Clark and J'onn having arrived about half an hour ago.

"You guests have arrived, sir." Alfred said to Bruce, as the undisguised Flash and Green Lantern walked down to the others.

The frowning playboy sat by his chair with his fingers clasped together firmly, the other Leaguers flanked by his side.

"You're late."

"Nice to see you too." John muttered grumpily.

Suddenly distracted, Flash gazed at the Tyrannosaurus Rex statue, a dopey smile on his face. "Hey, that's a giant dinosaur!"

"And I thought Batman was the detective." Alfred said sarcastically. Wally pretended not to hear that and walked back to the others, his smile quickly becoming a frown.

"We were just speculating why the Thanagarians are really here." J'onn stated.

Clark added, "Obviously not to protect us."

Pacing from Clark to Diana in thought, Gohan recounted, "When I saw the broadcast Commander Talak made about instituting martial law, I could tell that something was wrong. After all, if only they could protect us, wouldn't there be a more peaceful way to make your case?"

The others nodded, contemplating Gohan's words.

Diana spoke up, "But if the Gordanians aren't actually anywhere near Earth, then why do they need to build that force field?"

"If it is a force field." Bruce said.

"Then what is it?" John asked.

"I can tell you."

The seven turned sharply at the sound of another voice in the darkness, Gohan berating himself again for not sensing the energy ahead of time. Looking at the others, he could see that their shoulders were tensed, as if they knew the voice personally. He was about to ask them if they did when the voice moved from out of the shadows, revealing yet another one of the hawk-soldiers Gohan had become so familiar with recently.

But somehow, he could tell this one was different. Usually, when he sensed energy, he could pick out the differences between the good energy and the bad. The bad energy often hit him hard, leaving him with goosebumps on his arms and a cold sweat on his forehead. But with this soldier, Gohan felt none of that. The energy he sensed was pure of heart, flowing through the body fluently like a stream. Somehow even though he had no idea who she was, he could tell she wasn't going to try to hurt them.

However, the others felt differently.

"You've got a lot of nerve, showing up here." Clark rumbled, taking off his glasses.

Diana in turn clenched her fists. "We should thank you. It saves us having to hunt you down."

'So they do know this person.' Gohan observed.

The rest of the Leaguers advanced on the hawk woman, preparing to pound her face into the ground, when her calm voice interrupted.

"I didn't come to fight." She said, stopping them in their tracks.

"I came to help."

"Hawk people all over the planet." Wally countered, showing anger around the others for the first time in a long while. "Martial law, us getting chased like dogs. I don't think we can take much more of your help."

Shayera seemed to almost flinch at that comment, knowing full well that she was responsible for a lot of what had happened. "The situation is worse than you think." She walked slowly towards Bruce.

"They're building a hyperspace bypass. When's it's activated, it'll destroy the planet and everything on it." Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out what looked like an alien disk drive and held it out to Bruce. "Here, this has all the information on the project."

She gazed into Bruce's cold eyes for a moment, as he made no movement to take the drive.

"Believe me," She said desperately, "I didn't know the magnitude of Talak's plans."

The two stared at each other for a few more seconds, before Bruce finally relented and grabbed the hardware out of her hands.

"We'll check it out." He said impassively, turning away. "There's the door."

Standing still, Shayera watched as every other member of the League walked by her without giving her one word, until only John and Gohan were left behind her.

Speaking to John, she said, "Aren't you going to turn your back on me too?"

John frowned, crossing his arms. "Last time I let my guard down you sucker-punched me."

"It wasn't personal."

"Keep telling yourself that."

Walking up to him, Shayera said, "I did what I thought was right then. And that's what I'm doing now."

Without another word, she opened her hand, revealing his lost Green Lantern ring. He gaped at it for a minute, then searched Shayera's eyes for any sort of trickery. To his surprise, he found none. He took the ring in his right hand and took one last look at the woman he thought he loved, before finally walking away.

Shayera opened her wings, preparing to fly back to the Thanagarian mothership, when she noticed the young boy still standing in front of her. He hadn't said a word throughout the entire exchange between the two former lovers, and rather than looking at her with scorn, he was regarding her curiously, his large eyes framing his youthful face.

Smiling, she leaned down slightly to his level. "You must be the boy that freed the Justice League from their prison, am I right?"

"Yes."

She sighed in relief, stretching back to her full height. "In that case, I wish you the best of luck. You and the others are going to need it." She was about to take off, when the boy continued talking.

"You're not like the others, are you?"

Frowning, Shayera let her wings fall to her side. "What do you mean by that?"

"Not like the other Thanagarian soldiers. Your energy isn't dark like theirs."

She wondered what he meant by that, but she understood the compliment. "For a brief moment, kid, I probably was like that. But I saw what Talak planned to do to this planet, and the safety of my people was not worth the destruction of an entire race."

"You and I are alike in that regard."

Shayera's eyes widened at how mature this boy seemed. From the looks of it, he wasn't much more than ten or eleven, and yet here he was, speaking like a seasoned adult.

"You know the Justice League personally, don't you?"

Shayera stepped back, startled at this boy's quick mind, before dropping her head in shame.

"I do. In fact, not too long ago, I was a member of the team. I fought with them, side-by-side, and they became some of the greatest companions I'd ever had in my life."

"Before all this, I was Hawkgirl. I was somebody people here admired, somebody little girls looked up to. I was…somebody."

She sniffed as a small tear rolled down her cheek.

"But now, I'm just Shayera. The alien that betrayed her most trusted allies and the entire Earth. And even if you and the rest manage to stop the invasion, I'll never be trusted by anyone again. My people will despise me, people here will shun me. I'll just be a nobody."

She continued to sob quietly for a few more seconds, until a hand rested upon her shoulder. Looking up, she saw the boy staring at her sympathetically with eyes far older than she saw fit on such a young person. Eyes that spoke of intelligence, bravery, and a kind heart.

But most importantly, eyes that showed the understanding of pain.

"I know things may seem tough for you now," Gohan said, "but time is a great healer for all wounds. No matter what, people will trust you again. Little girls will eventually look up to you, and your team will accept you. You just need to give it time."

Smiling, Gohan gave the hawk woman a little space.

"I'll be the first to say that I trust you."

Returning his smile, Shayera playfully ruffled the boy's unruly hair, causing him to blush.

"You know what, kid. You're alright."

Gohan responded by rubbing the back of his neck embarrassedly.

"Please, call me Gohan. Everyone else does. Well, except Batman."

"Okay, Gohan." Shayera said, spreading her wings. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I need to get back to the mothership before I start to arouse suspicion."

Gohan respectfully stepped back, allowing Shayera room to fly away, and was about to walk back to the others, when a small sound caught his attention. Straining his ears, Gohan was alarmed to hear a small beeping sound coming from somewhere near the former Hawkgirl. It was so miniscule that no normal person or even Thanagarian would detect it, but unfortunately it wasn't counting on Gohan's hyper-advanced hearing

"Shayera, wait!"

Stopping midflight, the hawk woman looked down curiously at the half-Saiyan. "What is it?"

"I think I can hear a small beeping sound coming from something near you."

Eyes widening, Shayera touched back down to the ground. "Can you detect where it is?"

"I think so." Gohan said, leaning close to the hawk woman. Listening closely to the vibrations from the sound, he moved his head left and right, noting as the sound got louder and softer, before finally stopping in the middle, facing the center of her breastplate.

"Well?" Shayera asked.

"Uh…" Gohan responded. "Call me crazy, but I think it's coming from that hawk symbol on your armor."

Looking at him in confusion, Shayera touched the symbol with both hands, feeling the outer ridges of it, before her nimble fingers came across a clasp on the sides. Mouth opening in horror, she came to a realization.

"No." She gasped, pulling the clasps and taking the centerpiece off to rest in her hands. Turning it over, she blanched as she saw a series of wires and gears…and a small camera in the center. All of which pointed to one thing…

"What?" Gohan questioned, growing nervous at the look on her face. "What is it?"

"It's…it's a tracking device."

The two stared at each other, utterly petrified, before Shayera's face ultimately turned sour, and she crushed the object in her hand with a growl.

"Those bastards."

"EVERYONE!" Gohan shouted, catching the attention of the rest of the Leaguers and Alfred. "WE HAVE A PROBLEM!"

Back on the Thanagarian mothership, General Kragger stood beside several officers, surrounded by computers that projected everything happening through Shayera's tracking device in a series of wire frames above their heads.

"The triangulating proposition from the tracking device you planted on her." One soldier said. "I have a fix on the location."

As he spoke, the blinking red dot on the map was fixated on, and the large map of Gotham City faded to reveal a smaller map that centered on Wayne Manor.

"Ready the strike squad!" Kragger demanded to another officer, looking triumphantly at the map, a superior smirk on his face. "This time, they will not…"

Suddenly, as he spoke, the red dot vanished from the screen, leaving the map completely blank.

"General Kragger! We've lost the signal! It seems the tracking device you implanted was damaged!"

Kragger growled deeply, frowning up at the screen.

"It appears Lieutenant Hol has become aware of our plans." He paused for a second, composing himself.

"No matter." Kragger continued. "We already have confirmation of the location. Continue as planned. And be aware," He warned to the soldiers preparing to call the strike squad, "The Justice League is now aware that you'll be coming for them, and we know little about this new recruit they picked up. No matter what, BE ON GUARD."

The soldiers nodded, and went their separate ways, all preparing for what they hoped would be a quick and effortless takedown. After all, they had defeated the Justice League before. Even with the supposed help of Shayera and this mysterious boy, they saw no reason why they couldn't win again.

…What fools they were…

Author's Note: Here we go! Finished even earlier than expected! For some reason, I just felt like I wanted to end with some humor in this chapter. We all know the Justice League is going to win the battle anyway. Now, we're going to start getting into the juicy stuff. Next chapter will cover most of Starcrossed: Part 3, and will most likely be much longer than the previous chapters. So please understand if it takes a little while longer to finish. Also, I'll be having to describe a lot of action which I feel is never as strong as my dialogue, so it'll require some extra work. Also, college! Busy busy busy! Please read and review, I'll see you next chapter!