Another week went by. Then a month. Soon, Scarlet Hall had been an employee of Wayne Enterprises for a little over three months. Her days went by with the same routine. Wake up with the sun, shower and dress, eat a small breakfast, and follow Bruce around. Then she'd come home, fly off the cliff and settle in for the night. On some weekends, she would find herself going to a bar with Katie. The two of them had grown closer together and became best friends. In some ways, Katie reminded her of Flash. Nothing seemed to bring her down. Katie was also very confident with herself. Like Shayera, Katie loved to have a good time. She found out that Katie boxed at her gym but had quit recently because her boxing partner had moved away. Itching for a fight, Shayera filled that role.

They boxed Saturday mornings and drank Saturday nights.

At her new home, Shayera also trained with Batman to stay in shape. Even with her Thanagarian strength, Batman's lifetime of training was no match for her. Most of their sparring matches ended with Shayera pinned and Batman looking proud and quite arrogant.

As Bruce became Batman and Batman went on to patrol for the night, he would send her a questioning glance just as he was about to leave. In response, Shayera would shake her head and turn away. The shriek of the tires would signal that it was okay to look back again.

Most of her time was filled with walks inside and around the mansion, as many movies as she could stand watching, and all the gourmet cooking she could stuff herself with that Alfred would prepare. At her constant insistence that he shouldn't waste so much energy on her he merely laughed and continued to cook telling her that without the joy of cooking, he would surely go mad.

As she lounged around the mansion, she found herself feeling…alone. It wasn't the loneliness she's had since the invasion. This was brought on by the feeling that nothing was truly hers. And that was when she made the decision to move out.

"Move out? But Miss, you can't! Who will bring life into the mansion once you're gone?"

Shayera smiled. "I think Bruce and I know who he wants to be here who could do that job." She was hinting at Bruce's obvious love. Princess Diana.

"If you want to leave, you may."

"I wasn't asking for permission Bruce. I was letting you know."

"Miss Hol, I will miss your company terribly. You must come by and visit."

"I will Alfred, I promise."

Through the power of money and somehow written up papers, Shayera now had a little home that she could call her own. It was two floors with three bedrooms, a spacey kitchen and living room, two bathrooms, and a one car garage. Also through the power of money, Shayera now owned a black Harley Davidson Nightster 1200. She was completely in love with it and became one of those people who were obsessed with babying their rides.

She also changed her style to better suit her. She no longer wore skirts to work. Instead, she wore dress pants. Soon, she found herself to be included by the other people at work with Katie always by her side. There were plenty of people who wanted to be her friend, but she was content with Katie. She actually preferred her. Everyone else seemed to be nasty on the inside. So, Shayera remained friends with Katie. From her co-workers, Shayera received glares from the females and some flirtatious looks from the males. Ignoring Katie, Shayera never went on any dates. The only people she really made time to see were Katie and Alfred. She hardly saw Bruce, except during the work days.

"Okay, it's time we had a talk missy." Katie said one day while the two were on their lunch break.

Shayera had been about to take a bite out of her Subway sandwich but stopped. "About?" She asked.

"You." Katie pointed at her. "Since I've known you, which has been for about four months now, there has been like this presence around you. It reeks of…" She paused as she thought of a word. "Guilt!" She snapped her fingers as the word came to her. "You've sat by me as I've gone on and on about my life and its tragic woes and mishaps. You, on the other hand have shared nothing. I have a hunch about it, but I'd rather you tell me first." With that being said, Katie leaned forward in her seat and planted her elbows firmly on the table, setting her head on her fists. "Well?"

Shayera sipped some of her drink. With a small smile she asked her friend a question instead of giving her a straight answer. "How long have you waited to ask me all this?"

"As soon as we started hanging out. Now tell me. I know I have a short attention span but I won't let anything distract me from this."

Shayera sighed and leaned back in her chair. She crossed her legs and set her arms on the arm rests of her chair. "What are your theories?" At Katie's opening her mouth to object, Shayera raised a hand and cut her off. "If you tell me them first, I'll get right to the truth. I just want to see what you think."

Katie closed her mouth and thought for a moment. Unable to wait and force it out of her best friend, she told Shayera what she thought. "It's about a guy. And not just any guy. This guy was special." Her voice dropped as she became more serious. "So special that when you hurt him, you felt so bad that you couldn't stand seeing the damage you caused."

Shayera was shocked. "How could you tell?"

Katie perked up instantly. "I was right wasn't I? Who is he?"

"No one."

Katie laughed. "If he really was 'no one', you'd probably still be where you were before."

Shayera moved forward in her chair and crouched into herself. "You're right. He wasn't just anyone. He was so much more." Tears began to well up in her eyes as she remembered someone who she hadn't allowed herself to think about. "He loved me, truly loved me, and I hurt him so badly. I had to leave. I don't deserve him. I never did."

"What's his name Sweetie?" Katie had moved next to Shayera and laid a hand to her back.

"John." Shayera whispered. So quietly that Katie had almost missed it.

"I haven't seen him in almost six months. I hadn't thought of him because of all this pain."

"Oh honey, I'm sorry. I didn't think I'd get it right. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Shayera looked up. "No. I- I want to"

Katie smiled sadly. "Alright. But not now. We, unlike rich folk, have to get to our jobs. We can continue this later, if you still feel like talking."

Shayera quickly wiped the lone tear that had managed to make its way out of her eye. "Okay, let's go."

Work went by quickly and Shayera invited Katie over after work. At her house, the two went through their usual routines. Katie grabbed the beers from Shayera's fridge and Shayera laid out some snacks. Settling into their spots in the living room, Katie immediately jumped on Shayera.

"Scarlet? Are you okay with talking about this?"

Shayera nodded and took a swing of beer. "I've kept it locked up for so long. It needs to come out."

For the next hour, Shayera gave Katie a censored version of her life before Gotham. Instead of the League, it was a company. Instead of heroes, they were all co-workers. Instead of betraying the world, she became the one who sold company secrets for a living and made the company lose everything even though she tried to fix it.

As Shayera let her small tears slowly run down her cheek, Katie held her. "Is that all you did?"

At the look Shayera gave her, she quickly went on. "You had a job to do and you couldn't tell them. That's understandable. You had a duty, and you carried it out. They shouldn't have judged you so harshly."

Shayera looked away. "I deserved every judgment they passed on me."

"About this guy?"

"John." Shayera filled in.

"About John, what was his reaction?"

Shayera sighed. "He was so hurt. He couldn't trust me and I can't blame him. What I did was wrong. We had become lovers. And it shouldn't have happened."

"Why not?"

"I was engaged to another man." Shayera whispered.

"Oh." Was the only thing Katie had to say.

Shayera chugged down the last of her 8th beer. "'Oh' is right. I became a traitor and a whore. John should hate me, Hro hates me, and so does the rest of the fucking planet!"

"Hro? The planet?" Katie sighed and got up after Shayera. She walked over to her and took her empty beer bottle. "I appreciate you opening up to me, but I don't appreciate the lying."

Shayera closed her eyes. "I can't tell you the truth. I can't." She said frustrated. More tears made their way down her face.

"You don't have to. I'm really good at puzzles Scarlet. Once I get all the pieces, I can put them together pretty quickly."

She put her hands on Shayera's shoulders, forcing her to look at her friend. "Your name isn't Scarlet is it?"

Slowly, Shayera shook her head. Katie smiled sadly. "I'd bet my whole retirement that you're really Hawkgirl."

Neither of them said anything.

Out of nowhere, Katie opened her mouth in shock and stepped back. "Holy shit! You're really her! Where are your wings?" She sat down in one of the stools in the kitchen. "Oh my God. And your John, he's the Green Lantern!" She sat there in shock. "Oh my God!" She repeated.

Shayera simply leaned against the kitchen counter as she waited for Katie to get her shock out of her system. As Katie voiced her suspicions, she nodded. "I'm Hawkgirl! Whoop de frickin doo! Or at least was. I'm not that person anymore. I never really was her."

"Wait, what I said earlier still holds. They judged you too harshly. You were played. By your own planet! You had no idea what they were going to do, no one did. You did your duty, or what you thought it was and went native. It happens to a lot of people, so I've heard in many movies and tv shows."

"I betrayed my own people."

"To save Earth."

"I hurt the man I loved." Shayera said with the pain nearly tangible in the room.

"Did you actually talk to him after all of this?"

Shayera opened her eyes and looked at Katie. "I did. Right after they decided whether or not I would be allowed to remain a member of the League. Right after I resigned without hearing their choice. I went outside and he followed me. He asked me where I would go. Then he asked me if it was all a lie. That killed me. It was as if he thought my affection for him were nothing but lies. I told him that I love him. Not loved. Does he say it back? Of course not! So I left. I couldn't stand in that silence." During her little speech, Shayera had walked around her house, eventually landing on her couch. Katie joined her and put her arm around Shayera.

"What's done is done. There's no going back. Only forward. And what you've done for yourself, it's amazing. You are a strong woman and there's nowhere to but up once you hit rock bottom. Your secret is safe with me. You are still my friend and whenever you want to talk about this again, let me know. Maybe we'll do it without the beer. You sure are lucky we don't work tomorrow. You'd have one hell of a hangover."

They both chuckled and Katie sat up. "Well, it's getting late and this chick has to go home." She hugged Shayera. "What I said is true. No going back. Only forward." She grabbed her jacket and left.

Laying on her couch, Shayera thought back to her conversation with Katie. She had spilled her guts out and Katie was still her friend. She turned over and threw her arm over her face. Why hadn't she had the courage to tell John everything before they happened? Feeling the effects of her many drinks of alcohol, Shayera began to close her eyes and drift off to sleep. The thoughts she had of regret and nostalgia began to fade away as her consciousness faded away as well.