Speed of Lyght

Time After Time Part 1

Chapter Sixteen: Time after Time

After the ordeal with J’onn’s twin brother, everything seemed to go on as normal to an extent. Tabitha knew that the Martian was now more wary of letting her leave Watchtower, especially if she was going by herself. If Ma’alefa’ak was capable of finding her, there was no telling who else would be able to do her harm (although to be fair, he was an exact copy of J’onn minus telepathic powers). It only made the Martian even more overprotective of his girlfriend, to the point where he debated on stepping down as Monitor and letting her take over; after a few months, she had been trained well enough to do so. He had never thought extensively who would ever replace him as Monitor when the time approached; all he knew was that whoever it was would be someone he trusted with his own life. He slowly realized that in order for him to do that, he would have deep feelings for that person. It was starting to be more complex as being overprotective: J’onn J’onzz loved Tabitha Lyght.

She couldn’t blame him for being overprotective of her; the one time she decided to be completely alone, she was attacked. She had to admit that the experience was quite frightening however, there was something else that was bothering her. She couldn’t help replaying the day over in her head ever so often; Ma’alefa’ak proved to be a force to reckon with. But, she knew that she would’ve at least continued to fight back; she wondered why she couldn’t remember the exact detail that made her stop fighting.

She found herself yet again thinking about it as Shayera took a seat across from her in the cafeteria. Tabitha finally figured out who the seventh founding member was: Shayera Hol, better known as Hawkgirl. She also found out the reason why it had taken her so long to find out; no one wanted to speak about Shayera’s betrayal to the League: she was actually tricked into choosing loyalty to her own people, the Thangarians instead of the Justice League. J’onn had told her all about the invasion as well as how close Shayera and Diana were; the betrayal had hurt her the most. Shayera had resigned from the League on her own before any judgment was passed. A chance battle with the zombie Solomon Grundy brought her back into the League however the damage had been; it was a slow process for everyone to trust her fully again.

“Deep in thought?” the hawk woman asked with a slight smile on her face, her green eyes shining. Tabitha returned the smile and shrugged.

“Kinda; sorry…”

“It’s okay. I can… sit somewhere else…”

“No; you can sit here. Why would I want you to leave?”

“Haven’t you heard what I did…?”

“In the past. It just shows that you’ve got some human in you; we make mistakes all the damn time! Don’t matter if you’re a superhero or not. Only thing that matters is if you learn from ‘em. Figure that you’re not all that bad if they let you come back!” she said. She knew that it was Shayera’s choice to leave and possibly return however she also saw that the founding six almost always voted on major decisions; her returning was more likely voted on.

“I think J’onn’s rubbing off on you…” Shayera said with a slight laugh. It was enough to make Tabitha slightly blush; if there was anything she knew about her boyfriend, it was his mannerisms.

“W-Well… after training me for over…”

“And you may be able to fool everyone else but… you’re not fooling me…” she surprised Tabitha. She was about to argue with her until Shayera leaned towards her, “I’ve seen you two when you thought no one else was watching so there’s no denying it. I’m just wondering why you’re trying to keep it a secret.” she said lowly. Tabitha sighed and looked down at her food.