CRYSTAL CLARITY by BILLA1

Disclaimer: The Characters Batman, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Superman & Flash are all owned by DC Comics. This story is intended for my own pleasure and is not for profit. It has been posted to this site for others to read. Places and characters not own by DC Comics are my own creation.

A/N: An enormous shout out of thanks to one of the best of the best, Merlin Missy, for her beta on this story. Every email exchange was a literary education for me and I am sincerely grateful.

Crystal Clarity

Rating: (PG-13 for language)

Synopsis: Hawkgirl agrees to help the Green Lantern with a security assignment in the Omega quadrant and meets an old friend. This story occurs after "Hearts and Minds" and before "Wild Cards."

How the faces of love have changed turning the pages
And I have changed oh, but you...you remain ageless
I turned around
And the water was closing all around
Like a glove;
Like the love that had finally, finally found me.
Then I knew
In the crystalline knowledge of you -Stevie Nicks (Crystal)

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Chapter One -"Scissors Cut Paper"

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Yesterday seven years ago on Valada Prime

(Two years before Shayera Hol started her Earth mission)

"Damn it, damn it all, give me that radio NOW," Lieutenant Shayera Hol screamed at her wounded radio operator.

Lying on the ground next to her, the radio operator was mortally wounded; his blood and life force leaving his body rapidly.

The nighttime was supposed to give them cover and hide their movements. But she and her squad of ten intelligence operatives had been discovered and were now trapped just at the edge of the woods just outside of a clearing. Their military mission had gone well until this point, but extraction was always the most uneasy part of any mission of this type. Every agent knew that no mission was ever considered complete until you were back in friendly territory; and intel agents made their living in hostile lands.

Screams of "I'm hit!!" and "Get down" broke out among the men who now scattered and hugged the forest floor.

There was chaos. There were men screaming. There were dying men calling for their mothers. This was a classic ambush.

The air was charged with the feel and sting of static electricity as laser fire blazed from the opposite side of the clearing. Multiple positions had opened fire on the group of ten.

Her squad had made it to the pick up point but they were now pinned down by hostile Gordanian fire coming from across the clearing. The incoming fire was accurate and deadly. Three of her squad already lay wounded and two were dead.

The evacuation vehicle was late. She knew that the evacuation vehicle would not land until the landing zone was secure and right now it was anything but.

Her unit was lightly armed as was typical for reconnaissance units and was no match for the reinforced Gordanian infantry platoon throwing death in her direction from the other side of the clearing.

She also knew she was racing against the clock because her position had been compromised. This meant she had to get fatal fire on the enemy position before the enemy commander brought fatal fire to her.

Keeping down to avoid the incoming rounds, her sergeant crawled along the forest floor and made his way to her position.

"Open up on them! Don't let them flank us! Don't let them flank us!!!" the sergeant hollered out to the remaining soldiers in the squad as he made his way to Hol's position.

When he reached her, Sergeant Matuia Ta pushed her head and shoulders down in the dirt with his tentacles and screamed at her.

"Damn it, Lieutenant, keep your head and butt down. They'll take my stripes if you lose your rear end out here." Sergeant Ta was a Jennian, not a Thanagarian, and at the top rank someone without wings could hope to attain.

Lieutenant Hol looked at him angrily and then softened seeing the obvious concern in his eyes.

"Sergeant, how do you think they knew we were here?"

He shot back, "Damn it, Lieutenant, you can figure that part out later. This is bad...real bad. Deep down, you know what you've got to do - now damn it -DO IT, and get us the freak out of here."

He suddenly smiled at her, slapped her on her butt and whispered, "Come on, Shayera. Do what you got to do."

She smiled back and whispered so no one else could hear, "Got it, Matuia. Tend to the wounded scribe back there. And thanks...for everything."

Under political pressure, the Thanagarian Military Authority allowed scribes or writers to accompany Thanagarian soldiers on certain missions. The scribes recorded what they saw, then reported appropriate war stories to their news media for public consumption. The scribe attached to Hol's unit, Raib Tufb, had been shot. Sergeant Ta made his way to Tufb's position.

Grabbing the radio from her wounded operator, Lieutenant Hol keyed the handset and spoke.

"Nest two, Nest two, this is red wing, over."

A voice on the radio answered, "Red wing, this is nest two, send your traffic."

"Nest two, where is my ride, over."

"Red wing, your ride is delayed, the ground is too warm. Over."

"Nest two, transmission for Fire Control Center, over."

Hol thought to herself, If you think the ground is warm now, you just wait three minutes.

"Red wing, we're standing by for transmission, over."

"Affirm. Nest two... My position 760726, Grid to suppress 761726, thirty enemy near clearing in the forest, my position danger close, I say again, danger close. Fire for effect. Over. "

As she waited for a radio response, Hol could overhear the wounded scribe ask Sergeant Ta, "Sarge, what in the blazes is she doing?"

She smiled to herself as she heard the sergeant's gruff answer, "Son, she's either going to save your butt or fry it! She calling fire on their position but we're going to catch it, too."

"Affirm, red wing... thirty enemy in the open, grid to suppress 761726, five rounds, danger close, fire for effect. Time on target eleven fifty-eight. My mark eleven fifty-six, over."

"Affirm, Tee Oh Tee eleven fifty-eight. Your mark eleven fifty-six, over."

"Affirm, five...four...three...two...mark. Over."

"Affirm, mark, out."

She put the handset down and looked at her wounded men. Every eye in the squad was looking to her for confidence in this now desperate situation. They all knew what was about to happen and none took comfort in the prospect of being killed by friendly fire.

Lieutenant Hol stared at the eight survivors and said, "Men, we're going to get out of here ok... I promise you that. Everybody still with me?"

From her wounded squad, penned down from relentless incoming laser fire, came a chorus of either "Yes, ma'am." or "You bet, Lieutenant."

The radio crackled back to life, "Red wing, Nest two, shot suppression, over."

Hol picked up the handset and said "Affirm, shot suppression, out."

She got on all fours and turned around to face her squad and smiled broadly. She shouted and didn't care if those on the other side of the clearing heard her.

"Gentlemen, I couldn't have had a better bunch of goof-offs than you. Thanks for taking this young warrior under your wing and showing her what real soldiers do. Now, brace yourself, protect your wings and keep your back to the clearing. See you at the evac vehicle or at death's door."

Suddenly the ground shook with an incredible series of loud explosions and a sear of massive heat and debris flew in the direction of her squad. Hol had knelt over her wounded radio man trying to protect him with her body. The blast shockwaves picked them both up and threw them five meters. Hol screamed. Her scream was among many others at that moment.

When the explosions had subsided, Hol tried to get to her feet. Her right thigh hurt. She stood but unsteadily. Sergeant Ta was yelling something at her but she couldn't hear him. She was bleeding from her right ear. He grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around so that she was facing the clearing again. She let out an audible gasp when she saw what had once been the edge of the forest on the other side of the clearing.

There was nothing there except a massive crater. The remaining trees that stood on the far side of the forest were on fire. The air was thick with black smoke and ash. She turned around to look at her sergeant who now was looking at her with horror in his eyes. He was looking at her leg -her right leg.

She looked down at her leg for the first time. Sticking out of her right thigh was a splintered branch with blood gushing around the wound. Five inches of the branch stuck out of the back of her leg and three inches out of the front.

The darkness overwhelmed her as she collapsed into Sergeant Ta's tentacles.

"Lieutenant, Lieutenant, can you hear me?"

It was Sergeant Ta's voice.

Hol was groggy. It was easier to keep her eyes closed than it was to open them. She said softly, "I hear you...I hear you. Is this the evac ship?"

"No Lieutenant. It's the hospital ship. You made it! We made it!"

"Oh...good... I thought... I thought I was at death's door for a minute and you were there to greet me." Her mouth was dry and she had difficulty swallowing. She opened her eyes and looked into the smiling purple face of Sergeant Ta.

She creased her lips into a small smile. She was very pleased to see him. Her relationship with Ta was more than that of an officer and a senior enlisted advisor. He had been like a father to her during her time with the unit offering her counsel. He had been like a brother to her listening to her ideas as a sounding board. And he had become her lover prior to the start of her Valada Prime mission.

She groaned and whispered, "Matuia, my leg hurts."

"I know it does, Shayera, but they told me they were able to save it."

"Save it?" She paused, closed her eyes again and let that thought sink in. She had never considered that she might lose it.

She opened her eyes and look at Sergeant Ta who was now seated in a chair by her bed.

"How many did we lose?" Her tone was somber.

"Ma'am, we lost four." Her face looked grim. The loss of personnel was just as painful to her as her leg.

He continued, now trying to cheer her up. "Ma'am, you did good. You did real good out there. Shayera, there's talk that Commander Talak will personally give you a medal."

Hol managed a small smile. After all, not many got to meet the commander personally. She was looking forward to this first meeting if the rumor of the medal was true.

She stopped smiling and turned back toward the sergeant.

"Matuia, help me understand something. How did they know where we were? That was a perfect ambush yet they didn't execute it right."

"I know." Ta answered. He hesitated as if he was about to say something he didn't want to say.

"They knew exactly where we were going to be before we got there. They were waiting on us."

He stood up and leaned over her and said softly, "Think about this for a minute. You have a tactical advantage, why waste it? Why shoot at us with small arms? In other words, why didn't they call fire on us first and just blow us away?"

Hol had to admit she had pondered that same question when she was calling in her fire mission.

"Because they didn't want to kill us?" she ventured.

Ta sat back down in the chair and rubbed his left tentacle down his long purple face. "No, my young Lieutenant, they wanted to kill us alright - they just didn't want to kill ALL of us."

She pondered that thought for a moment and then said, "They wanted a captive, didn't they?"

Ta leaned back in the chair and said, "Or their informant back! And I think I know who..."

At that moment the doctor walked in and Ta stopped talking. The doctor grabbed Hol's medical chart from the foot of her bed and without looking up at her said, "How are we doing today, Lieutenant?"

Hol turned to look at Sergeant Ta and smiled weakly and then turned back to look at the doctor who was now watching her.

"Well doc, 'our' leg hurts like blazes and 'we' are thirsty. Other than that 'we' have had a good day."

The doctor smiled back and said, "I want to wait another hour before you have anything to drink. As far as 'our' leg goes, you are a very lucky woman. We were able to save it because that wood fragment missed bone but I'm afraid that 'our' pretty little leg is going to have a real large ugly scar and you will probably have a limp."

Hol smiled at him and said, "It's okay, Doc. Only the people I really care about will ever see the scar anyway and as far as the limp goes, I'm sure someone someday will think that my limping walk is sexy."

And with that she grabbed Sergeant Ta's right tentacle and smiled.

(Three Days Ago)

As outdoor noontime rallies went, the crowd was a small one. For the last six months, candidates, both for and against secession, had tried to rally the small population of the second moon of Galtos, known as Jennia, to support their position in the upcoming referendum.

There had been violence on both sides. Galtos had declared martial law as the violence increased and all residents had to be off the streets by midnight. This curfew had a crushing effect on the chief drivers of the economy of this small dirt and cobblestone planetoid: legalized gambling and prostitution. Revenues were down and wages of the supporting industries were depressed as the tourist trade declined. The financial impact of the curfew was one of the chief rallying points for proponents of secession.

Loria Mond was a native born Jennian and was one of leading voices for taking back the direction of Jennia's financial future. Flanked by her security guards, Mond slowly climbed the three steps of the stage and strode to the speaker's podium, waving her tentacles enthusiastically at the cheering crowd. Smiling, she pointed to her husband in the crowd, Pulgas, who held a small baby, and blew him a kiss. She turned and waved to the three Jennians seated on the stage behind her and then touched tentacles with the Jennian who had just introduced her to the crowd. She stepped back and said something to her aide, Subia Oxios. Oxios set the briefcase he had been carrying down next to the podium and left the stage and made his way through the crowd to stand next to Mond's husband.

She put her tentacles up signaling the crowd for silence so that she could speak. The crowd ignored her request and continued to cheer. Mond mouthed the words "thank you" several times and put her tentacles up again and again requesting silence. Reluctantly, the crowd complied with her request.

Smiling and gesturing with her tentacles, Mond spoke.

"My fellow Jennians, thank you for coming out today," she yelled at the crowd. "The referendum is only seven days away and every vote counts. I can feel the momentum shifting to our side. Can you feel it?"

The crowd cheered. "Can you feel it," she asked again louder. She pounded the podium as she continued. "We're going to win. The days of Galtos crushing our economy are near an end because help is on the way. The days of high unemployment are near an end because help is on the way. The days of high crime are near an end because help is on the way. The end is near for the brutal suppressive hand of Galtos because we are the help that is on the way and WE ARE GOING TO WIN!!!"

The crowd cheered loud and long. Smiling, she put up her tentacles to quiet the crowd again and continued. "We're going to win, but the question is - Will Galtos honor the results of the vote? And what will we do if they don't?"

The crowd booed.

"No, my friends," Mond continued pointing into the crowd. "We Jennians value honor, family honor, above all. While we must be ready for Galtos to be dishonorable, let's approach them in an honorable manner first. We must be prepared to set up a government whether or not Galtos honors the election results and I offer myself as a candidate to help lead the new government."

The crowd cheered again and started chanting "Mond! Mond! Mond!"

Mond waved to the crowd and blew another kiss to her clapping husband in the crowd. He smiled and blew a kiss back to Mond at the same moment that the entire stage disappeared in an explosion of enormous orange heat, flames and noise. Spectators in the front rows near the stage were killed instantly and many of those deep in the crowd were seriously injured. The rising black smoke and flames had signaled that another voice for secession had been silenced.

(Today)

John Stewart, the Green Lantern of sector 2814, walked around the Watchtower searching for her, but really hoping not to find her too soon. He knew if he really wanted to, he could have located her quickly using the commlink locator. Not using the locator was indicative of his hesitation about asking for her help. Finally, he sighed and walked to the dining room and there she was.

He stood in the doorway and observed her for moment. She was seated at a table near the plexiglass window. There was a glass of water on the table. She looked out the window toward the stars and took a drink from the glass. She suddenly put down the glass, groaned loudly and grabbed her right thigh and bent over as if she was in severe pain. She pounded the table twice with her fist, then massaged her thigh the way someone with a leg cramp would. She looked back into the plexiglass window and then suddenly stopped rubbing her thigh and sat back. She cleared her throat.

"Are you coming in or staying out," she snapped, apparently catching Stewart's reflection in the glass. She did not turn toward the door but continued to look straight ahead. She balled her hand into a fist and tapped the table once slowly with her fist, exhaling sharply. She then took a deep breath and took another sip of water.

"Hmmm," he said from the doorway and smiled. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she growled, exhaling sharply again as she turned around to face him. "What do you want?"

He walked to her table and stood across from her.

"Look," he said, rubbing the back of his neck with his right hand. "I've just been given an assignment on the second moon of Galtos to provide security for about three days for an election and J'onn is unable to go. So would you like to go?"

She stood up knocking her chair over. "Oh, so I'm your second choice, huh? What? Is Superman busy?"

"Actually he is," the Lantern said almost apologetically as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Oh," she said softly.

The Lantern thought for a moment that her feelings might be hurt, but her feathered helmet made it impossible for him to be sure.

"So I was your third choice?" she shrugged. Then suddenly she huffed, "Or maybe I was your fourth." She turned and walked away.

The Lantern walked up behind her quickly and placed his hand on her shoulder. He heard her growl and he quickly removed his hand.

"Look, I know that came out wrong," he said as she continued walking away. "I was looking for someone to watch my back and I know that you and I don't always see eye to eye on everything related to Green Lantern missions and I thought you wouldn't want to go."

She stopped and turned around to face him.

"But I thought," he continued, "we've worked well together recently, all things considered."

She folded her arms across her chest and shifted her weight to her left leg. "All things considered, huh? And when no one else would go with you, you come to me?"

She shook her head, sighed and threw her arms up in exasperation. "You know, maybe it isn't a good idea. My attitude might get you in hot water on your mission. The Guardians might not like my approach to problem solving."

He smiled at her. "Actually, you were my first choice because of your attitude. I just didn't want to ask you because if you said no, I would have to ask the Flash and he might say yes."

She smiled. He almost thought she was going to laugh.

"Don't you Lanterns have sectors or something?" she asked. "Can't the Lantern assigned to that sector help you? Wait - Katma Tui isn't that sector's Lantern, is she?"

He thought he detected a hint of jealousy in her voice. He lowered his head. "No. It's not Katma. The Lantern assigned to that sector was killed last month. His replacement has just started training and is not ready yet. The Lantern temporarily assigned to that sector is currently on another mission and I'm the closest available."

His tone sharpened and his eyes glowed. "Look - if you're busy, just say so. I was working solo before I joined the League and have no problems doing it again."

"I'll be ready in thirty minutes," she said as she turned and walked toward the doorway. She stopped, turned around and said with a small smile, "So I was your first choice, huh?"

"Yeah. Who would have thunk it?"

As he watched her walk away he suddenly thought to himself that he had never noticed how sexy her walk was before.

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Chapter Two -"Paper Wraps Stone"
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Green Lanterns didn't like waiting for anything and Hawkgirl liked waiting less than a Lantern did. The Green Lantern and Hawkgirl had been seated outside the reception area of the high city Administrator's office of Jennia for ten minutes and to Hawkgirl, it was nine minutes too long.

She stood up and walked over to the receptionist and said angrily, "Tell the high city Administrator that he has one minute or we are leaving and you and this ant-hill of a planet can take its chances with our wrath."

"Sit down! I'll handle this," Stewart snapped at Hol as he levitated in front of the receptionist.

Stewart looked at the receptionist with a cold steel glare and pointed to Hawkgirl. "What she said minus thirty seconds."

The receptionist gave Stewart a confused look and then buzzed the intercom. A few seconds later, the intercom buzzed again and the receptionist smiled at the Lantern and said, "Go in."

Hol and Stewart entered the room behind the receptionist.

The city Administrator stood up from behind his large, polished wooden desk as the two heroes entered his office. Hol assumed a position by the door as the Stewart approached the city Administrator.

The Lantern spoke, "Administrator, I am the Green Lantern of sector 2814 and this is Hawkgirl. I have been sent by the Guardians to ensure that the upcoming election process is peaceful. We wish to review your security procedures and see how we may assist your security specialists."

"Very nice...very nice and thank you for the gesture," the Administrator said brusquely. "But the Green Lanterns are not needed here. Galtos is providing security for the referendum vote. Now please leave - I am a busy man." He waved his tentacles toward the door and suddenly stopped. He stared at Hawkgirl for a moment.

His tone softened suddenly. "You! By the door. The one called Hawkgirl. You are a Thanagarian."

Hol's response was curt and sharp. "Obviously!"

A smile came across the Administrator's face. "Thanagarians are proud and turn on you when you're ready to take a relationship to the next level. And that is among their smaller problems."

Hol leaped in front of Stewart. "Do you wish to feel the wrath of a proud Thanagarian who is not afraid to turn on a Jennian?" she snapped as she unclipped her mace and energized the weapon.

The Administrator turned to Stewart and smiled broadly, "Oh, my. Green Lantern, you and your young friend here have 'frightened' me into giving you my security plans. But let me suggest that you go to Galtos and view their plans as well to ensure they are appropriate to the threat as you see it. I will set up an appointment for you with the Galtos officials for tomorrow. Meanwhile I will have my plans ready for your friend here tomorrow morning."

Hol looked at Stewart. "You go to Galtos in the morning while I'll get the plans from this Jennian at eleven o'clock tomorrow and then we can compare notes, okay?"

Then she turned to the Jennian, frowned, pointed her energized weapon at the Jennian's head and said in a soft voice that Stewart couldn't recall hearing before, "There are things we have to do even when we would rather not do them. If anything happens to my friend on Galtos tomorrow; if he so much as loses an eyelash, nothing in nature will stop me from coming back here and killing you. I want you to understand that -nothing will stop me!"

She then turned and walked out the door.

Stewart and the Administrator looked at each in stunned silence for moment and then the Lantern said, "Contact Galtos and setup the appointment. But know this; if anything happens to Hawkgirl, your prospects for a long life are severely diminished."

Stewart turned and departed.

Once outside the building, Stewart spotted Hol on top of a single story building across the street from the city Administrator's office. He joined her on the rooftop. She never took her eyes off the front door of the Administrator's office.

"What was that all about?" Stewart asked. "Do you know him?"

"His name is Matuia Ta," she said looking up at Stewart. As she looked back at the front door of the Administrator's office below, she said softly, "I met him some years ago on the third moon of Galtos while I was searching for a way back to Thanagar. I'm not sure I know him now. When I did know him he was among the most honorable of all beings I've ever known."

She looked at Stewart and smiled. "If he hasn't changed, he'll be very helpful. If he has changed, he'll be our worst nightmare."

"Look I don't want to pry but did you -did you have a history together?" Stewart asked, uncertain that he wanted to hear the answer.

She turned back to look at the street below. "I had a life before the Justice League and I am not ashamed of anything I've done." She paused and then added, "Or who I've done it with."

She looked toward the sky. And away from him, he noticed. So that's a yes, he thought.

She looked back down into the street; he noted sadness in her voice. "At one point in my life, he and I were as close as two people could be."

She looked back at Stewart and with the same softness in her voice that he thought she used when she spoke to the Jennian in his office, she said, "But, if something happens to you -I will kill him. Justice League code or not."

Stewart shook his head and looked Hol in the eyes. "Don't kill because of some misplaced desire for vengeance. You're better than that. Much better than that."

She looked back out over the street. "John, let me be clear about this. In my life, in my travels, I have taken lives when necessary and people have tried to take mine. I have watched friends die. I make you no promises except one. If he causes harm to you tomorrow, history or not, he will not live to see the sunset and he knows that."

She then looked at Stewart and smiled. "So where are we camping tonight?"

Stewart left for Galtos early the next morning. The trip wouldn't take long but it would give him time to think about what he really knew about Hawkgirl. Prior to their meeting with the Administrator, he had thought of her as a friend and as a teammate. Now, traveling in space, alone with his thoughts, he was concerned about her death threat to the Jennian official. There was no doubt in his mind that she could carry out that threat without hesitation if she so chose. This new revelation helped him realize how little he knew about her despite their years together in the Justice League. Maybe he didn't know her at all. Maybe being a detective on Thanagar was such a dangerous occupation that it made one cavalier about the value of life and taking a life.

And was he a little jealous that she and the Administrator had a "history?" He hoped not, but he wasn't sure. She certainly had a life before the Justice League. They all did. Just because they now formed a League didn't mean that their pasts ceased to exist. Yes, it wasn't what they did in the past that was important but rather what they did today that mattered. In her own words, she wasn't ashamed of her past and now that he thought about it, her past shouldn't concern him.

It was none of his business.

The capital of Galtos was highly industrialized and urban. While the streets of Jennia were dirt and cobblestone, the streets of Galtos were paved with asphalt or concrete. It was readily apparent that the economy of Galtos was much more robust than that of Jennia.

Stewart had no difficulty in finding the Administrator's building. Instinctively, he circled the building, looking for ground exits in case he needed to make a hasty retreat. He entered the building and made his way to the outer office of the Administrator's office.

He stood over the receptionist desk and said, "I am here to see the city Administrator. The Administrator on Jennia arranged an appointment." The receptionist looked up at Stewart and then went back to working on her papers without acknowledging his presence.

Stewart stepped back from the desk and created a giant hand that tapped on the desk lightly. Then he pointed the hand at the receptionist. The Lantern said in a calm voice, "Excuse me, I am the Green Lantern of sector 2814 here to see the city Administrator. Please let the Administrator know I wish to see him now. Thank you."

The receptionist stood up with terror showing on her face and ran into the other room. Immediately, Stewart shook his head. What he just did was exactly what Hawkgirl would have done, he thought. He scared a civilian without reason. He knew better and was upset with himself for pulling such a rookie act trying to show how powerful he was. The receptionist stuck her head out of the door and waved for the Lantern to enter the room she was in.

He walked into the room and saw an old, frail looking man standing behind a desk. Stewart smiled briefly at the Administrator who looked nervous and terrified. He didn't want them fearful. All he wanted was compliance and cooperation. He sat down in one of the two chairs in front of the Administrator's desk.

"Administrator, thank you for seeing me," Stewart said. "I had hoped that the Administrator on Jennia would have notified you of my arrival. I apologize for my method of getting to see you, but it is important that I see you now."

The Lantern gestured with his hand. "Please sit down."

Without waiting for the Administrator to sit, he continued. "I am here to ensure the upcoming referendum election is peaceful and to aid your security specialist. If you will tell me where I can find your specialist, I will start providing assistance."

The Administrator sat down in his chair and smiled nervously at the Lantern. "Green Lantern, the Administrator on Jennia notified me that you would be here today. I for one am happy that you are here. But most of us are surprised by and do not appreciate the... intervention... of the Green Lanterns in what is clearly an internal Galtos matter. Please wait here and my security specialist will be here shortly to provide you with what assistance we can."

The Administrator seemed to emphasize the word "intervention" Stewart noticed.

"Great, I look forward to your cooperation," Stewart said flashing a brief smile.

Matuia Ta, the Jennian Administrator, was at his desk working on the last administrative details of the upcoming election when he heard his secretary, Futi, in the outer office holler at someone. "Stop! You can't go in there."

Matuia looked up in time to see Hol barged through the door and into his office with his secretary, visibly frustrated, standing behind her.

"It's okay, Futi," Matuia said to his secretary as he stood up. "She's an old friend. Why don't you take your lunch now and lock the outer office door on your way out."

"Are you sure, boss?" Futi replied openly wary of this winged woman standing just inside the doorway.

"I'm sure. I'll be fine. Enjoy your lunch," he replied smiling as he waved his tentacle at her. Futi sighed and closed the door behind her.

Matuia sat down at his desk, waved for Hol to come closer and smiled. "Just a minute," he said.

He signed some papers on his desk and put his pen down. He then stood up and pointed to one of the plush chairs in front of his desk. "How are you doing, Shayera? Won't you have a seat?"

She sat down on the armrest of one of the chairs. "I'm doing well, Matuia. Looks like you're doing very well. A high government official, I see." She paused and then asked, "So, how did you know it was me?"

Matuia sat down in his chair and laughed. "Shayera, you have a small birthmark on your right shoulder and a matching one on your left..."

She cut him off. "I know where my birthmarks are. How did you know it was me?" Her tone was surprisingly sharp and decidedly unfriendly he thought.

He smiled and leaned forward on his desk. "Shayera, I was joking. I've seen you in that helmet before when we took leave together, remember? But I really wasn't sure until you spoke. How's the leg?"

She stretched her right leg, flexed it and sighed. "Hurts most of the time now."

He ran his right tentacle down the side of his long face and grinned broadly. "'Hawkgirl,' huh? I thought I made a woman out of you. I guess it didn't take."

She tilted her head slightly and arched an eyebrow. She gave him a brief smile that disappeared quickly. "Wipe the smirk off your face. What we had, we had a long time ago. It's gone, whatever it was, like yesterday's sunset."

Her tone was emotionless as she continued. "Plans. I came here to get your security plans."

Matuia reached into his desk drawer and pulled out several sheets of paper and handed them to Hol. As he handed her the papers he now thought that she didn't seem as happy to see him as he was to see her.

"Here they are, as promised," he said. "I called and arranged the appointment for your friend as I said I would. You know that was a very impressive speech you gave yesterday about killing me. I almost believed it. But we both know that speech was for his benefit."

He cocked his head toward her and leaned forward. "So, is that Green Lantern the new man in your life? I see you're wearing earrings. Are you promised to him?"

She smiled again, this time a little longer, stood up and took the plans from him. She gave them a cursory look, put the papers away and sat back down on the chair armrest.

"Matuia, I meant what I said. If something happens to him I will kill you where you stand. The Green Lantern is very important to me but I am not promised to him."

Matuia shook his head and then suddenly pounded his tentacles on his desk. "It's Hro Talak, isn't it? You're promised to that Korschian slug."

"Don't say that," she said as she looked away from him and down at the floor. "He's a good man. He's strong and brave and his family has a lot of influence back home. I thought you could be happy for me." She looked back at Matuia.

"You know that I loved you. And I know at one point I thought you loved me." And I bet you don't notice you never said you loved Talak. "But Talak went out of his way to drive us apart."

"Matuia, please," she said as she walked to his inner office door and locked it. She kept her back to him as she unclipped her mace, slipped her wrist through the handle strap and held the mace in her right hand. He could hear her take a deep breath and exhale slowly. She turned around and faced Matuia.

"This is not about Hro. Hro did nothing to you. Once I was assigned to his guard detachment, you and I just grew apart. That's what happens in the military. You know that. You promise to stay in touch. Promise you'll write. Then it becomes a promise to write in a week, then a month, and then you don't write at all because it's been so long."

She walked back to the chair, but didn't sit down. She stood behind the chair holding her mace with both hands.

He stood up and walked around his massive desk and leaned against the desk so he was facing her. Mask. I hate those stupid masks. Why can't I read her face?

"You underestimate Talak, Shayera. He assigned you to his unit to break us up. He had me kicked out of the military thirty days before I could draw a retirement pension."

She said nothing but her eyes appeared to widen in disbelief as he continued.

"He is a vengeful man who believes in the purity of the Thanagarian race above all. He wasn't about to let me or you contaminate it. If you were still in the military today, he would have assigned you to some outpost as far away from Thanagar as he could as punishment for associating with an outsider."

Hol was silent. She looked down into the chair briefly and then back at Matuia. "It's not punishment. He told me it is an important assignment."

"You're still in, aren't you?" He shook his head. "Please tell me you're not on an intel mission now."

She looked away from him.

"Aww, good grief -you are. That's how you met the Green Lantern. That's why you're calling yourself Hawkgirl, so they won't use your real name. Does the Green Lantern know that you're a spy?"

He shook head and answered his own question. "No, of course he doesn't. Even if you and he were lovers I taught you better than that. You wouldn't tell him."

His eyes suddenly widened as a realization hit him like a punch to the stomach. "Oh damn. That speech really was for me, wasn't it? Especially that part about doing things when you'd rather not do them. That explains why you locked my inner office door."

She nodded and tapped her mace in her left hand. She went to the office window behind his desk and closed the blinds so that the only light in the room was the artificial light coming from his desk lamp. She then stood behind his desk chair.

He sighed and sat down in the chair next to the one she had been standing behind before she closed the blinds. Nice going, Ta. You trained her too well. She cut you off from your desk where you had a weapon. She cut off your escape locking the inner office door after you told Futi to lock the outer office door. She followed the checklist perfectly and you never saw this coming. Nice work, Shayera, but maybe I can buy a little more time.

"So, Shayera, tell me how you're doing, really doing?" There was a quiver in his voice.

She let out an audible sigh and smiled weakly at him. "It's hard, Matuia. It's harder than anything I've done before. And I'm so lonely. I've been away from Thanagar for so long and now my leg hurts all the time." She paused. "I ran out of pain medication three years ago and no Earth medicine seems to work. I am always in pain."

He was stunned. "Three years ago!" he blurted out.

He quickly tried to change his facial expression but he knew she saw the look of shock on his face. He cleared his throat. "How long have you been on this mission?"

"Four and a half years," she shrugged.

"My poor Shayera," he replied shaking his head. He paused and then smiled. "Remember the mission where you got wounded and I said the Gordanians didn't kill us because they wanted their informant back?"

She nodded. He thought he saw sadness in her face but it had been such a long time since he had to "read" a masked Thanagarian, he couldn't be sure.

"Well," he continued. "The informer was Tufb."

"The scribe?" The feathers in her wings bristled as she spat out the words. He didn't need to be able to read her mask to tell she was angry.

"He was transmitting information about what we were doing back to his media outlet and he was also transmitting on an open frequency back to the Gordanian Homeworld."

She put her hands together, interlaced her fingers and pressed her hands against her lips, letting her mace dangle from her wrist.

Matuia continued, a little more nervous now about being unable to read any emotion in her face.

"I know this won't help you and can't make up for the pain you still suffer, but I wanted you to know that last year, Tufb met with a most unfortunate accident here on Jennia. Seems someone drove about ten wooden spikes into his body before they finally killed him."

"So, why are you telling me this?" she asked, removing her hands from her chin and stepping from behind the chair. She energized her mace.

He didn't change his position in the chair, but his eyes locked on her face. His expression was stern.

"I wanted you to know that you have been avenged." He took a deep breath and let it out very slowly. He then cracked a small smile.

"You see, we both know that you can't leave any possible loose end that might compromise your mission later and that now includes me. Our personal history aside, I just realized I became a threat to your mission because I know you're in the military and on assignment and your friend doesn't know what you're doing and you can't risk I might say something that might give you away."

She stared at him hard for a moment and then turn her weapon off - but didn't put it away.

"We both know the checklist," he sighed, now fidgeting in his chair. "Damn, I taught you the checklist. And the checklist says I am a threat to your mission and must be removed."

She kicked the chair away from her that she had been standing next to. The chair crashed into a corner of the room. Only the desk was between them now. "Matuia, it doesn't have to end like this. I...I don't have to do this if I can trust you not to compromise me."

He started to stand up.

"Sit down!" she snapped, raising, energizing and pointing her weapon at him in one fluid motion.

He smiled to himself and sat back down. Very good, Shayera, very good.

He rubbed his left tentacle across his brow. "Look, I'm not trying to be brave here. If I had suspected that you intended to kill me when you came back here, you wouldn't have made back into this room before I got you first. Remember the hospital ship, when we talked about the perfect ambush."

"I remember," she replied lowering the weapon and looking down.

He tried harder to read her expression. She remembers more than that talk I bet. I bet she remembers we made plans for a life together that day.

"Shayera, right now you're in a position to execute the perfect ambush. You better do it now because I swear to you, you won't get another chance."

She shook her head and raised the energized weapon again. "I don't have to do this at all if you simply promise me on your Jennian family honor to take my mission as your mission and not to compromise me."

"Shayera, this doesn't sound like you." He wiped his brow again. He cleared his throat trying to get the nervousness out.

"You're breaking protocol and we both know it. The Shayera Hol I knew, the one I taught, would have killed me as soon as she got the plans and made up some excuse so the Green Lantern wouldn't be suspicious and maybe even protect you."

"Matuia, I don't want to do this, but I will do it." Her gaze was piercing. Her voice was firm as she repeated: "I won't do it if you promise on your Jennian family honor."

He didn't answer her immediately. Talak let you mix with people who don't share the Thanagarian moral code. And then he left you out there too long. I bet on the planet you're on, they don't kill and now you don't either.

Suddenly he smiled at her. No...No, that's not it. They kill, but they try to avoid killing when they can. That's it. The Green Lantern avoids killing and he's your model for the local moral code, isn't he? Shayera, sweetheart, you've gone native.

"Okay, Shayera, I promise you on my Jennian family honor, and you obviously know what that means to me, I will protect you and make your mission my own so that you don't have to make that moral decision to kill me. On three conditions."

"You're not in a position to state conditions," she snapped at him. The smile left his face as he stared at the mace still pointed at him. She glared at him suspiciously for a moment, lowered the mace and then asked, "What are the conditions?"

He smiled. You did go native and it serves Talak right if this comes back to haunt him. "One, in your report, you do not mention me or that you were ever on this planet. Two, you never come back here again. If you do come back I will have to assume it is to finish this business, in which case I will feel free to kill you at the first opportunity presented. And unlike you, my dear Shayera, my moral code has not changed. I do still kill."

She cleared her throat. "That's two. What's the third condition?"

He smiled and settled back into the chair. "You take off that damn helmet so I can see your face one more time."

She hesitated for a moment. She then turned her mace off, removed her helmet and moved her hair off her face. She smiled briefly at him and said, "I promise not to mention you and this planet in my report. I don't plan to come back here, but if I do, I will be prepared to accept the consequences of all that might happen."

She then frowned and added, "And so should you."

She put her helmet back on.

"Agreed," he said.

She walked to the door and unlocked it. "I told the Green Lantern we met on the third moon of Galtos while I was searching for a way back to Thanagar. Remember that."

"I'll remember that." He paused and added softly. "Shayera, be careful with Talak. People change. You remember him the way he was when you last saw him. He may not now be same person you remember."

As she left she said, "Some people are exactly like I remember them."

The return to Jennia for the Green Lantern was a quick one. His meeting with the security officials on Galtos had gone very well and he felt pleased with the results. The Galtos city Administrator and his security team had been most helpful. Stewart had inspected the plans and was satisfied that the security plans in place were appropriate -at least as far as Galtos was concerned.

Stewart met her at their campsite at the agreed upon time that evening. She appeared to be relieved to see him and she listened as he told her what he had learned from the Galtos security people. She gave him the plans she got from Matuia Ta and together they discussed what they would do in light of the provided plans.

There was silence during their evening meal broken only by the crackling sounds of burning wood. Stewart was just thinking about getting his battery to recharge his ring when she broke the silence.

"John?" she said softly gazing into the fire.

"Yes?"

"Why do you do this? I mean why are you a Green Lantern?"

A small smile creased his lips as he answered her. "Probably for the same reason you became Hawkgirl. I mean you weren't born as Hawkgirl. It's a name you've taken up to become a crime fighter, right?"

She didn't look up from the campsite fire as she parroted softly, "Yeah, a crime fighter."

He looked at her almost hypnotized by the way the flames reflected off her helmet.

He continued, "Anyway, I do it because it gives me a chance to make a difference. To fight for the little guy on a big scale. Like this election. People will get a chance to decide their own fate because I will be responsible for ensuring their safety. It's a chance to make a difference. What about you?"

She turned toward him and he was suddenly embarrassed that he had been staring so intently at her the entire time. She looked up toward the stars apparently ignoring him. "I became Hawkgirl because it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. And now, at this moment, I'm glad I did."

She turned back toward him and smiled. "I have learned so much about Earth and its people. Being Hawkgirl has allowed me to meet people like J'onn and Batman and you who I otherwise would have never met. And I'm really glad I got to meet you."

He smiled back at her. A gorgeous smile and a sexy walk - wow. "Well, I'm glad I got to meet you too."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter Three -"Stone Blunts Scissors"

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

This noontime crowd of several hundred was much larger than previous crowds. This was the last rally before the election tomorrow. A hastily built stage had been assembled complete with pictures of the late Loria Mond plastered everywhere. Speaker after speaker took to the podium to declare that secession was what Loria Mond had wanted and died for and what the voters of Jennia should demand.

Pulgas Mond, husband to the late politician, addressed the cheering crowd offering himself as a replacement candidate. He punched the air with his tentacles as he spoke. "Whether or not we win the election," he said, "we will secede from Galtos because it is the right thing to do. Loria Mond must not have died in vain."

He then turned to the Jennians behind him on the stage, "I want to have Subia Oxios stand. He was Loria's aide and will help me lead our independent world if YOU the voters decide that I am worthy of leading. Subia has asked me if he could address you to talk about Loria and I will give him a chance to do that a little later on."

Oxios stood up and waved to the crowd. He sat back down as Pulgas Mond continued to speak.

The Green Lantern and Hawkgirl were on the rooftop across the street from the rally.

As he looked out over the crowd, Stewart spoke. "Keep your eyes open. You're looking for something that doesn't belong. Something that's out of place. Something that doesn't fit. Something that's just wrong."

Hol nodded. She unclipped her mace, energized it and stood ready.

Stewart continued, "We've already inspected the stage so we know that's clean. I'll watch the crowd. You watch the roofs."

"I'm on it," she said as she leaped in the air and hovered for a moment in front of him. She then rose a few meters, did a barrel roll and positioned herself directly over the top of the crowd.

"Showoff," Stewart called out after her.

"Yup!" she answered back smiling. "And a darn good one, too."

On the stage below, Mond asked Oxios to come to the podium and say a few words about Loria Mond. Oxios set the briefcase he had been holding on his chair and walked to the podium. He waved to the cheering crowd as he made his way slowly to the front of the stage. Mond sat down with the other speakers.

He spoke slowly, seemingly choking with emotion. "Loria was a good woman...who cared about Jennia and died seeking justice for our ...our..." He stopped and looked at Pulgas Mond and then put his tentacles to his face.

"I'm sorry, but I can't go on," he cried out as he suddenly bolted from the stage and into the crowd. Mond stood up as Oxios ran from the stage. He turned around to look at the Jennians seated next him in puzzlement.

Stewart observed the commotion on the stage below and seemed to focus on the briefcase. Suddenly, Stewart shouted to Hol: "Stop that guy!" He pointed to the fleeing Jennian, then leaped off the roof toward the stage.

From her position high above the crowd, Hol plunged into the crowd, screaming "Hiiiya" as she struck the fleeing Jennian with her mace. The impact of the blow knocked Oxios backward and he tumbled and collapsed on the ground.

The crowd separated around the fallen Jennian. Hol rose in the air, circled back and plucked the stunned Oxios off the ground, like an eagle plucking a fish out of a stream.

Stewart flew to the stage at top speed. He formed a bubble over the briefcase, yelling to Mond, "Get off the stage!" Mond's security detail hustled him off the stage just as the case exploded.

Hol landed on the roof with Oxios as she heard the explosion on the stage. She grabbed the still groggy Oxios by his shirt and hit him with her mace handle, knocking him unconscious. She then let him go and his limp form crumpled onto the slates of the rooftop. She then flew down to the stage at high speed.

The effects of the blast were contained inside the energy bubble that Stewart created. Nevertheless, the crowd nearest the stage saw the explosion and Mond being rushed off the stage. People started to panic, fleeing the stage area. As the crowd pushed back, some Jennians fell and were trampled. The cries raised the panic level further.

As Stewart slowly released the energy of the explosion from the bubble, Hol landed on the stage next to him.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He nodded. "What about the bomber?"

"Out like a light," she answered tapping her mace in her left hand.

He cocked his head back for moment. "Hmmmm." He then looked around at the fleeing crowd. "We better do something about this crowd before they hurt themselves."

"Well, they're like cattle -herd them into a pen," Hol said with some exasperation in her voice as she gestured at the crowd.

She grabbed the microphone at the speaker's podium and speaking in native Jennian tried to calm the crowd.

"Stop running," she yelled into the microphone. "Everything is alright. Mond is okay. Everything is alright." She repeated this over and over in Jennian.

As she spoke, Stewart flew off the stage and created a ringed force field to stop the crowd from running. As Hol continued speaking, he reduced the size of the field until the crowd was held tightly in its confines, barely able to move.

Hol flew off and grabbed Mond away from his security people and returned him to the stage. She thrust the microphone at him and snapped, "You! Start talking to your people - NOW!"

A nervous Mond took the microphone from Hol and starting speaking again asking the crowd for calm. As he spoke, Stewart slowly dropped the energy bubble around the crowd that now started to move closer to the stage again.

Hol swooped out and picked up two of Mond's security detail and deposited the surprised Jennians beside Mond, then returned to the rooftop to check on the still unconscious Oxios.

The emergency medical staff arrived but couldn't get through the crowd. With his ring, Stewart picked up three of the medical vehicles and gently placed them near the stage. This allowed the doctors to set up a triage area on the stage floor. Matuia Ta arrived on scene with his staff and his own security force.

He made his way through the crowd and walked on stage to a chorus of boos. He touched tentacles with Mond and then whispered in Mond's ear. Mond nodded, smiled and spoke to the crowd.

"My fellow Jennians, our Administrator has asked that this rally disband..."

The crowd booed.

Mond waved at the crowd for silence. "No, my friends he has asked for us disband so that the injured among us can be treated properly and he is right. He has also encourages us to have another rally tonight and he has promised to assume full responsibility for providing security."

He paused and then added, "He has promised on his family honor."

There were murmurs in the crowd. Then suddenly applause broke out from the gathering.

"Please go home and we will meet back here tonight," Mond continued. Slowly, the crowd dispersed enabling the medical personnel to treat the scores of injured lying in the street.

Stewart rejoined a smiling Hawkgirl on the rooftop as she watched Matuia Ta on the stage. She thought to herself that if secession was successful Ta would probably be out of a job. But he was smart. She was sure he would land on his feet whatever happened.

"So you speak Jennian?" Stewart asked with a small smile. "Is there no end to what I don't know about you?

"There's no end, John," she said returning the smile.

Stewart shook his head. "I'll hold this guy," he said pointing to the still unconscious Oxios. "You find the local authorities and tell them we believe we have in custody the person responsible for the death of Loria Mond."

Hol flew to the stage and landed next to Matuia Ta as he was barking out directives to his staff.

"Excuse me, Administrator," she said tapping him on the shoulder. "But my partner and I have apprehended the person we believe to be responsible for the death of Loria Mond."

Ta looked at her. She thought she caught a brief smile before he frowned and said sharply, "You're Hawkgirl, right? Talk to that man over there in the green uniform. That's my chief of police. He'll help you. Now, excuse me. I'm trying to help my people, here." Ta gestured toward a green uniformed Jennian surrounded by similarly clothed officers.

With that, Ta led his staff away from her and continued to bark directives at them to manage the situation. Hawkgirl thought to herself, He'll be just fine.

The next day the voting proceeded relatively smoothly. At the previous night's rally, Mond had made a point of singling out Matuia Ta for recognition. Matuia stood and received a long ovation. Mond had then offered Matuia a position in the new Government, which Matuia had accepted.

There were a handful of fights at the polling places with the participants being separated by either Hawkgirl or the Green Lantern. Those separated by Stewart didn't require as much medical attention afterwards as those separated by Hol.

As the polls closed, Stewart and Hol were preparing to assist Matuia's security people with the vote count. Just as they arrived at the registrar's office, Stewart looked up to see approaching at high speed a green streak of fur. Hol flashed a huge grin as this furry Green Lantern, who bore a remarkable resemblance to an Earth chipmunk, landed next to Stewart. She quickly wiped the smile off her face.

Stewart indicated the two foot high Green Lantern and said, "This is Ch'p. He is the Green Lantern of sector 1014." Hol nodded at the little Lantern as Stewart said, "Ch'p, this is Hawkgirl."

Ch'p nodded at Hol, turned to Stewart and said, "I have been temporarily re-assigned to this area to ensure the election results are carried out. I relieve you, Green Lantern of sector 2814."

Stewart answered back, "Green Lantern of sector 1014, I stand relieved." He turned to Hol and said, "We're through here. Let's get ready to go."

She folded her arms across her chest and asked, "Don't you want to know the results of the vote?"

Stewart smiled. "Does it make a difference? We were here to ensure they could vote. We did that. Ch'p is here to ensure the results are honored -and he'll do that."

Matuia Ta came out of the registrar's office. He looked at Stewart. "Thank you for your assistance. Subia Oxios confessed last night. He hoped by disrupting the elections, he could keep martial law in place here and his business interest on the third moon would continue to show profits. He was tried this morning and executed shortly before lunch."

Stewart closed his eyes, sighed and cleared his throat. Hol sensed he was very uncomfortable with this type of summary justice. She knew he wouldn't say anything but this news would certainly increase his desire to leave as soon as possible.

Turning to Hol, Matuia continued with a wry smile, "You have my personal guarantee on my family's honor that whatever the vote results are, the transition will be peaceful. After all, I don't want you to have to ever come back here."

"And I don't want to come back here either," she answered. Then turning to the Lanterns she said. "Excuse us a moment."

She and Matuia Ta walked a short distance away from the Lanterns. She grabbed his tentacle and smiled. "Farewell, Matuia. On my family honor, you will always be my friend."

He smiled, "Farewell, Shayera. On my family honor, you will always be my friend. May you find the love you deserve, my young Lieutenant, and always keep the love you need. May we never see each other again so that we may always remember this moment."

He turned and walked back into registrar's office and closed the door.

She stood there silently for a moment looking at the closed door then rejoined the Lanterns.

"I'm ready. Let's get off this piece of dirt," she said flatly. They took their leave of Ch'p.

Stewart formed an energy bubble around them and they started to rise. As the bubble rose, he hesitantly asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'll be okay, John," she sighed. "I was just thinking that people change. I've changed since I joined the Justice League. My views on life have changed."

She looked down at the planet disappearing below her and added, "There are things I should do and would have done that I can't do anymore. I know how to do them. I know I should do them... I just can't bring myself to do them. And I fear eventually that I will change into something I won't recognize as me anymore."

The Lantern was puzzled and offered, "We all change. That's part of life. We can only hope that each time we change, the change will make us better and stronger than before. If it's any consolation to you, I don't know who you were before the Justice League, but I like who you are now."

She grinned broadly at him and then said softly, "Thanks."

She was silent for a moment and then suddenly offered, "You know, if we don't have to get right back, I happen to know a bar on the third moon of Galtos that serves the best..."

She stopped and smiled, "Never mind. Let's go home."

End