Fourteen
"Why would he give them his ring?" Hawkgirl asked as they approached the planet. "It still doesn't make any sense."
"John's a strange one, that's for sure," Superman replied.
"I'm beginning to think all you humans are."
There was an awkward pause inside the Javelin.
"Sorry," said Hawkgirl.
"It's all right," the Man of Steel said. "I take it as a compliment. Initiate landing procedure."
Kate began to ask J'onn, So… Do you think all humans are strange? but only got half the thought out before something slammed into the side of the Javelin.
Someone was shooting at them. Three small blue-and-silver ships flew past the windows on one side. Kate, who was white-knuckling the edges of her seat, squinted at them, trying to get a better look, but they moved too fast and she lost sight of them. She willed her suit to go invisible just in case.
"They're not responding to our signal!" Flash called to the front as the ships came back around again, continuing to shoot at them.
"It's clear what they want," Hawkgirl muttered. "I say we give it to them."
"No," Superman said immediately. "We're not here to start a war."
Kate was taking deep breaths through her nose, trying to keep it together. You're on healing duty. This is another day at the hospital. Keep calm. Vaguely, she was aware of three of them getting up and leaving—felt J'onn's brief shoulder squeeze as he passed her—but she was too busy trying to remember how to breathe to really pay attention. The beginnings of muscles in her arms were taut and corded inside her suit, bracing for more fire. Somehow, she hadn't been this afraid up against the androids, but then, she'd been on the ground.
But there was no more fire; the others had drawn it away. Now it was only Kate and Flash inside the Javelin… and Flash wasn't doing so well.
"Flash, take the controls," he muttered as they wobbled dangerously. "But does anyone ask if I know how?"
"Do you need—" Kate started to ask, and wondered if she should unbuckle herself and move to the front, but then they slammed into the ground and she bit her tongue as she was jostled, tasting blood. She squeezed her eyes shut, teeth gritted together so hard she was sure they'd crack, muscles exhausted from clenching so much. They slid forward several feet, a horrible metal screeching sound emanating from below, then finally shuddered to a halt.
"Jesus Christ!" Kate yelled, panting.
"You okay back there?" Flash asked her, turning in his seat to shoot her a wavering, relieved grin, his eyes roaming the general area where she was sitting because she'd gone invisible.
"I am never getting in this thing again," she swore, and unbuckled herself with shaking fingers.
"Might have a tough time getting home then," he joked, appearing at her side in, well, a flash.
She looked up to see him offering a hand.
"You have no idea how weird it is to see the seatbelt outlining your body when you're not there," he said.
She smiled and took his hand.
"Oh, that's even weirder," he added.
She laughed. "I'm just being cautious. I don't know what we're walking into."
"No, I get it," he said, and pressed the button to lower the back ramp of the Javelin and let them out.
"I think we should both learn how to fly the Javelin when we get back," Kate recommended.
Flash laughed, heading down the ramp. "Well, they say any landing you walk away from is a…"
Kate opened her mouth to finish the quip, taking a step forward to follow him.
There were a dozen armed men at the bottom of the ramp, aiming guns straight at them. Or… at the Flash, because they couldn't see Kate.
She kept perfectly still, hardly breathing, and waited.
They opened fire.
Before she knew what was happening, Flash had picked her up and put her back in her seat, and was now at the front of the Javelin desperately trying to get it off the ground again. She shook her head a little, disoriented from being moved so quickly, and then reached down to start buckling herself back in.
Something loud and heavy slammed into the front of the Javelin and slid down the glass. Kate gasped and looked up. It was one of the men who'd been shooting at them.
J'onn? she thought cautiously, reaching out her telepathic and empathic powers, feeling for him.
We've returned, he told her. Sit tight. It is too dangerous out here for you.
She did as she was told. The thing about guns was that the person wielding one didn't need to be within touching distance to harm you. She was sure the suit Batman had made for her had Kevlar or something similar in it, but she really didn't feel like testing exactly how bullet-proof it was right now.
The whole fight took no more than a minute and no one in the League seemed to get hurt at all. When it was safe, Kate got up from her seat on wobbly legs and made her way down the ramp, nearly falling in her shakiness. She'd been strangely fine the whole day up until now, but things seemed to be catching up to her all of a sudden.
She walked over to J'onn, trembling, the invisibility falling from her suit, and just sort of leaned against him. Not a hug exactly, more like she sagged against his chest and allowed him to hold her weight. It was uncomfortable, her head pressed awkwardly against the inside of her helmet. I'm okay, she said, though it was a lie.
You're not, he replied. I know. But you must be, for now. You must become strong again, put this behind you until we are home. If you fall apart now, you will die. If we have to turn around and return you to Earth, we risk Green Lantern's life.
I know. I said I'm fine.
He breathed quietly, a big deep breath. She felt the rise and fall of his chest, for in this form, he had lungs, and his heart was not in his abdomen. She wished she could lean against him like this forever, let his breath rock her up and down until she fell asleep with it in her ears, like a boat at sea.
J'onn heard her wish and touched her mind softly, wonderingly.
She stood up straight and put it all behind her, locked it away and made herself forget, until she could pull it out again later and cry at home.
"Green Lantern is close by," J'onn said, stepping away from her and pointing with his gaze. "That way."
###
Kate didn't get to see much of the city as they flew over it, headed for Lantern. She tried to look out and down, but it went by in a blur, and all she could really see were the lights in all the buildings, bright streaks as they flew past. Then they broke into the courtroom—although none of them knew that it was a courtroom yet, and Kate stood beside J'onn, deciding to let go of her invisibility again. Some gut instinct told her she didn't want to stay hidden here only to pop up later—that the the big floating faces on the screen wouldn't like that.
A murmur ran through the stands, growing louder by the second as the League looked around. Kate zeroed in on Lantern as the giant heads called for order. She sent out empathetic tendrils toward him, trying to get a sense of his emotional state. His biggest feeling right then: annoyance… at their presence. Feeling mildly offended, she pulled away from him, frowning.
"What is this?" Flash asked. "Some kind of trial?"
"Apparently," Superman murmured.
"Remove the intruders!" one of the heads demanded. "Immediately!"
Kate stepped back—far back—and fought the urge to go invisible again as Superman fought off the guards. Several of those big red androids that had taken Lantern stepped forward when the first pair of guards failed their jobs.
"Wait!" Superman called, putting a halting hand out. His voice carried across the courtroom. "We apologize for disrupting these proceedings, but John Stewart is our friend."
Everyone in the room seemed to hold their breath for a moment.
One of the heads spoke up, a female voice this time. "This is a public trial."
"Very well," one of the males said. "You may take seats in the gallery."
The one in the middle spoke now in a warning tone. "But this tribunal will not tolerate any further outbursts."
"Thank you, Your Honor," Superman said, speaking for all of them.
Kate gave a little nod of her head, as did the others, and went to stand beside J'onn on the platform, which rose up into the air and brought them to the gallery seating. Kate sat quietly beside the Martian and stared down at Lantern intently, wondering what could possibly be going on and why he was so annoyed that they were even there.
"Are you ready to call your first witness?" one of the judges asked.
"I am, My Lord," said the accuser. "I call Kanjar-Ro."
A little man in a blue outfit and helmet came forward. The helmet had a white fin across the top of it; it reminded Kate of the fauxhawk bike helmets she'd seen boys wear.
"Kanjar-Ro," said a guard, projecting his voice for the whole room to hear, "do you agree to let us probe and display any and all memories you have?"
Whatever Kanjar-Ro said in return was too quiet for Kate to hear with her human ears, but she assumed he'd assented, since he was allowed forward. He stepped up onto one of those circular platforms and was lifted into the air to be questioned by the accuser.
"State your name and profession," said the accuser.
"Kanjar-Ro," said the little man, his voice louder now. "I'm a… pirate." He held his hands respectfully clasped behind his back.
"A criminal? Yet you come here to bear witness to another crime. Why?"
"I may steal things, but it's nothing compared to what he did." Kanjar-Ro pointed straight at Lantern.
Kate narrowed her eyes, studying John Stewart as best she could given how far away he was. The room broke into mutters, a low uncomfortable hum. John did not seem to react in any way to what the man had said, or to the murmurs of the room at large. He simply stood there, his head bowed. Kate wanted to reach out to him, to ask him what the hell was going on, but she assumed such a thing would be noticed by the three judges and she didn't want to break any rules.
A beam of light shot down from somewhere overhead and surrounded Kanjar-Ro, trapping him in a cylinder. He flinched at first, then relaxed. Kate wondered if the light hurt.
"Tell us about your encounter with John Stewart," the accuser said.
"It all started with these blasters I… found," said the little man. "I was on my way to sell 'em to some rebels on Ajuris-4. That's when he showed up. I figured he was gonna try to stop me, so… I shot first. He retaliated and… I dunno exactly what happened, but his ring tore out my engine. I crashed on a nearby moon, but he still wasn't done with me. He wanted to know if I was working with anyone. I told him to turn around, see for himself.
"My friends had come to rescue me, you see. They attacked him. He tried to shoot them down, but his beam bounced off their deflector shield and shot toward Ajuris-4. There, it hit a volcanic fault line, starting a devastating chain reaction. The planet was… destroyed."
Kate shifted in her seat, as did the others. The muttering in the room was picking up again. People were agitated now. She didn't blame them, but tried to keep her empathetic powers close to herself so she didn't have to feel their righteous anger. She didn't know what to think. It was awful… if it was true.
"Three billion," Kanjar-Ro said, his voice heavy. "That's how many were on that planet."
The ring of light around the pirate dissipated. "I have no more questions," said the accuser.
"This account is most disturbing," said one of the male judges. "We will recess. Twenty petacycles."
Kate stood slowly, lost in thought, and silently followed J'onn and the others to go see Lantern.
"Now I get it," said Flash to John. "You wanted to clear your name. That's why you didn't put up a fight back on Earth."
Kate cringed, knowing from Lantern's emotional state that that wasn't true at all.
"I told you to stay out of this," the man said.
"That scum's an obvious liar," Hawkgirl muttered, glancing at Kanjar-Ro who was being led away nearby. She raised her mace. "Give me five minutes alone with him. I'll get the truth—"
"Hawkgirl, Flash, all of you!" Lantern said, raising his voice. "Listen to me. Nobody's lying." He turned his head and looked out the window. "Do you see that?"
They all looked at the belt of rocks hovering in the sky. The remains of Ajuris-4.
"I did it," said John Stewart. "I'm guilty."
###
"Three billion gone," Flash murmured when John had left. "I cant believe it."
"Neither can I," Superman said, his hand cupping his chin in thought. "I want to take a closer look at what happened."
"Why?" Hawkgirl asked. "John admits he's guilty. No one's disputing the facts."
Kate turned away, feeling uncomfortable.
"Maybe I am," Superman said. "J'onn, I need you to come with me." He put his hand on the Martian's shoulder.
J'onn nodded silently.
"Flash, Hawkgirl, Kate, can you buy us some time in court?"
"You're asking the world's fastest man to slow things down?" Flash said skeptically. "Won't be easy."
Kate touched J'onn's chest and he squeezed her hand. Be safe, she told him.
You too, he said.
Wherever Superman is taking you is probably going to be more dangerous than a courtroom.
You never know. Keep your eyes and ears open. Pay attention, but be silent unless necessary. Do not draw attention to yourself.
Kate tried not to chafe under his directions, knew he was only saying it because it needed to be said. She was not all-powerful like Superman and this was a strange planet.
If you need me, he said, my mind will stay open to you. You need only call out to me. I will hear you.
I know, she said, and smiled, though she wasn't sure her smile was obvious with the helmet on.
And then J'onn and Superman turned and left, and Kate watched the Martian walk farther and farther away from her, and felt a tightening in her chest with each step he took.
I'm right here, he told her in his mind.
She jumped a little, then laughed at herself and said, Yes. You're right here. The reminder of his constant mental presence gave her the courage to turn and go with Flash and Hawkgirl, though she really wasn't sure what on earth they could do to stall Lantern's trial…
###
"John Stewart," the voice of one of the judges rang out loud and clear, "you may now question your accuser."
"No questions," Lantern said.
Kate was not surprised, though Hawkgirl and Flash stared at one another for a moment. That was probably more from worry than surprise, though. Already, it was proving difficult to prolong John's trial.
"None?" asked the female judge. "Don't you intend to defend yourself?"
"No, I don't."
Kanjar-Ro's platform was lowered to the floor. He stared at Lantern as he passed.
"I object!" Flash yelled suddenly. "You call this a trial? I say it's a joke!"
"Are you out of your mind?" Hawkgirl hissed, pulling on his arm. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Prepare to be dazzled," Flash said lowly, grinning at the woman.
Kate rolled her eyes to the ceiling and considered praying.
"Remove him!" yelled one of the judges.
But Flash was already standing before them. "Listen to me. With something this important, you gotta hear both sides."
Lantern lowered his platform down to say something to Flash, but spoke too quietly for Kate to hear. Then the guards came to drag Flash away.
"Hey!" Flash yelled, struggling with one of the guards.
Kate made to stand up—and do what, she didn't know—but Hawkgirl put a heavy hand on her shoulder and squeezed. "Not you," she murmured. "You keep a low profile, remember?"
Kate said nothing, but did not attempt to get up again.
"Wait," the female judge called out.
Everyone stopped.
"This being may have a point. We don't want any lingering doubts about our final judgment, do we?"
"Of course not," said one of the males. "But who would speak for John Stewart?"
"Don't you have any lawyers here?" Flash asked, brushing off the guard's hold on him.
"We solved our lawyer problem a long time ago."
Kate squinted at those words, uneasy.
"However," said the female voice, "you could speak for him if you wish."
"But be aware," the male jumped back in, "if you lose, you'll share the same penalty as the accused."
"The same penalty?" Flash repeated, sounding worried. "You mean… That's crazy!"
Kate agreed silently, gritting her teeth.
"No, that's how we solved our lawyer problem. What's your answer?"
Green Lantern muttered something unintelligible again.
Flash spread his arms wide and murmured something in return. Then, in a louder voice, he said, "I'll defend him."
"Very well," said one of the male judges. "Proceed."
Flash cleared his throat and stepped up onto the platform with an uncomfortable, "Right, sure."
Then… the incomprehensible lawyer-jargon babbling began, and Kate was internally dying of second-hand embarrassment within the first three seconds. She sank down into her seat, arms folded, and wished she could disappear. Sure, she could go invisible, but that wasn't enough. She wanted to cease existing, or maybe stab out her own eardrums so she didn't have to continue listening to Flash making a complete fool of himself in front of the entire courtroom. She knew why he was doing it: he was stalling for time, which was all that mattered. But it still made her whole body want to twist into a pretzel of cringe the more he spoke.
Beside her, Hawkgirl had buried her face into one hand and was slowly shaking her head. Then she started to get up.
"Where are you going?" Kate hissed, not wanting to incur the wrath of the judges, who had demanded no more interruptions.
"I'm gonna check on something," Hawkgirl replied. "Stay here."
"No way," Kate whispered, and rose to follow the woman, judges be damned. "If I have to listen to Flash say one more word, I'm gonna die."
Hawkgirl opened her mouth as if to argue, then turned her head to look at Flash, still babbling away, and sighed heavily. "Fine. But go invisible and stay invisible, no matter what happens. I don't know what I'm doing exactly, but it might be dangerous, and I don't want J'onn on my ass later because you were an idiot and got yourself killed."
Some part of Kate wanted to be offended at her words, but honestly, she wasn't. She only nodded and willed the suit to disappear from view, then followed Hawkgirl on silent feet—well, as silent as she could make them.
###
"Stay here and don't move," Hawkgirl told her a little while later as they entered a bar. "Just stay against the back wall and, no matter what happens, don't become visible and don't try to help."
Kate eyed her suspiciously, though she knew the woman couldn't see her. "Why? What are you gonna do?"
"I don't know yet," Hawkgirl said, and walked away.
Sighing, Kate leaned against the wall and crossed her arms, watching the winged woman march across the room. She hated that she couldn't hear whatever Hawkgirl might say to whoever she might speak to, but not hearing her was better than hearing Flash. She drummed her fingers against her arm and waited.
It took about one minute for Hawkgirl to start a bar brawl. With… a bunch of other Green Lanterns?
Kate's eyes widened as she watched the brawl, and she pressed her back to the wall hard, praying that no one would be thrown into her. What was the point of this fight? If Hawkgirl had been hoping to get the other Lanterns to help John, she was doing a poor job of asking for it.
The barkeep hopped over his counter not far into the fight and shouted loudly enough for Kate to hear, begging the group of them not to brawl in here, not to use their weapons.
"You think I need this mace to take you down?" Hawkgirl asked, and threw her mace away. It landed with a crash into a pillar and stayed there, embedded.
The barkeep scuttled quickly away, a dismayed look on his face.
Kate grimaced, wanting to go over and knock sense into Hawkgirl, but she did nothing, praying that the woman had a reason for inciting violence here. Maybe she thought the other Lanterns had set John up? God, Kate hoped that wasn't what had happened.
Hawkgirl sent one of the Lanterns crashing through a window.
Destroying property now, Kate thought. Great.
The other patrons in here had scattered at the beginning of the brawl, either moving to the far corners of the room like herself or flat-out leaving, and the ones who hadn't left yet now seemed eager to head for the door.
All of the Lanterns semed down for the count now, scattered across the room in various stages of disarray. All except one, who was now facing off against Hawkgirl like a bull about to charge. They each approached each other, eager to throw more punches, but a green wall sprang up between them.
Kate, surprised, realized that one of the Lanterns had recovered from being thrown across the bar and was now shielding these two from each other. "No more," he said.
Hawkgirl and the Lantern turned and glared at him.
"Hawkgirl's right," he said in his deep voice. "John Stewart's one of us. And I'm gonna help him." The big green barrier wall was sucked back into his ring and he walked past the others and towards the door.
Hawkgirl followed, calling over her shoulder, "Kate, come on."
Kate hurried to follow.
"Where are you?" Hawkgirl asked, though her eyes were following the Green Lantern who'd taken off into the sky.
Kate removed the invisibility from her suit with a thought.
"I need to carry you," the winged woman told her.
"Right," she said, taking a breath. "Go ahead."
Hawkgirl hovered in the air behind Kate, then picked her up by her armpits. It was a much less intimate, and much less comfortable way to be carried than what J'onn did, and it made Kate wonder why J'onn did carry her bridal style when he didn't need to. She shook off her brain's warning signals about tentacles burrowing inside her armpits, down her arms, up her shoulders into her neck. It wasn't easy. Half of her wanted to squirm and scream in Hawkgirl's grip, but she was already so far off the ground that if she did that and was dropped, she'd die. She realized with a sudden bout of vertigo that her legs—that all of her—was dangling precariously in this position. She didn't feel secure at all.
"I don't think I like being carried this way," she yelled over the wind.
"I'm not carrying you the other way," Hawkgirl shouted back.
Kate grimaced, though she understood, and closed her eyes so that she couldn't look down.
###
Hawkgirl set Kate down back inside the courthouse. Kate, who didn't want to be annoying or draw attention to herself, took a seat in the far back row where no one else was sitting. She tried to stretch, her muscles tight from the anxiety of being dangled over the city for so long. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hawkgirl begin to sneak away again.
"Where are you going?" she hissed, as the Green Lantern who had agreed to help John spoke up in his defense.
"I need to check something," Hawkgirl told her, "and this time it's too dangerous for you to come."
Kate sighed. "Fine, but be careful. If I'm not going with you, that means I can't heal you if something goes wrong."
Hawkgirl snorted, as if offended at the warning, and left.
Kate slumped forward in her seat and tried to listen to the trial. Without realizing she was doing it, she reached out for J'onn in her mind, tendrils of her consciousness spreading far and wide, crossing large swaths of distance in the blink of an eye. But she could not sense him anywhere.
Panic gripped her heart, squeezing painfully. Though she remained still and silent in her seat, inside her mind whirled was a hurricane of fear. J'onn? J'ONN?
Kate! he said, immediately, reaching across the distance easily. What is it? Is something wrong?
Kate put a hand to her chest, sighing in relief and feeling like a fool. Nothing. Sorry. I realized I couldn't feel you, couldn't reach you. I thought…
All is well, he assured her. Superman and I are off-planet, on Ajuris-4's moon. Nearby, relatively speaking, but still too far for you to reach. You should add that to your training, stretching your telepathic and empathic muscles. Every day, reach out as far as you can for a few minutes. With time, you will be able to reach farther and farther.
What happens if you're too far and you have a wall up and you don't hear me when I call you? Kate asked, anxiety taking over her brain.
Fear not, he said. I am always listening for those who call out to me. Even with a wall up, I will hear you. Now, please let me focus.
Right, she said, a little embarrassed. Sorry.
Never apologize to me, he told her, and then the connection faded and he was gone from her mind.
It felt strangely empty inside her head after that, hollow. She felt smaller without him there. Shaking her head, she focused once more on John Stewart's trial, which was, of course, the reason they were all here at all. Feeling a little ashamed of herself for forgetting him even for a minute, she leaned forward and focused all of her attention onto him.