Title: Privacy

Rating: PG 13

Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be.

Summary: Hawkgirl and Batman have an encounter.

A/N: The plot thickens.

~JL~

Darkness.

A faint click sounded and soon the room was being illuminated by the soft, red glow of the Watchtower emergency lights. This was concerning.

Bruce looked at the young boy across the table. His face seemed even paler in the red light, making his freckles stand out in sharp contrast.

"Stay here. Don't move."

Bruce swept over to the door in the corner of the room and half-heartily tried the door switch. Nothing.

It looked like the backup generators were supplying enough power to run emergency lights and life support and not much else.

Bruce heard a slight grown and saw the door slide slightly to the right. A faint, green light was streaming through the newly created gap. The light became more intense until it formed what seemed to be a solid block of light. The block suddenly moved to the right, sliding the door open as it moved.

Standing on the other side of the door were two figures Bruce knew well, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl.

"What in Sam Hill is happening here?"

Bruce could see how tense John looked even in the dim lighting. Hawkgirl was standing to his right, mace casually slung across one shoulder.

"I'm going to find out. It looks like something's gone wrong with the power. Hawkgirl, come with me. Lantern, stay with West."

Bruce gestured over to where Wally was now standing, looking unsure at what to do.

"If things look like they're going south. Get him back to earth."

John grunted in acknowledgment, then walked over to Wally where he clapped a hand hard against the teen's back.

Bruce could see Wally start to open his mouth to protest but held up a hand to stop him. Bruce couldn't care less about the kid's grips at being babysat, if he was completely honest right now.

Bruce turned and existed to the narrow hall way, Hawkgirl bringing up the rear.

They were going to get to the bottom of this.

`~JL~

Shayera watched Batman as he flitted through another one of the dark shadows that dotted the hall, filling the space between the illumination of the emergency lights.

They walked in silence.

She worked with Batman, would trust him with her life, but she wasn't really friends with him like she was with Lantern and Flash.

This made for a boring journey.

Batman slunk into another shadow but this time failed to reappear in the next ring of red light.

Shayera stopped. This wasn't good.

She took out her mace, taking on a fighting stance.

"Batman?"

No response.

Shayera heard a creek that drew her attention back down the hall way. There was something standing a distance away, just barely visible. It was steadily moving down the hall, advancing on her location.

"Identify yourself."

Her tone was commanding. There was no response other then the soft thud of the figure's feat as it continued to move down the hall.

Shayera raised her mace slightly higher, brandishing it threateningly.

"Stop where you are. Do not come closer."

Still no response.

Well, this didn't leave her much choice. Shayera started to jog steadily down the hall way, mace raised. If she was going to fight she wanted to meet her enemy on her terms.

Before she could get too far, however, there was a soft thud, a swoosh of a cape, and suddenly the mysterious figure was lying sprawled on the ground.

She could see Batman standing silently near the now motionless shape.

Shayera felt a slight shiver run down her spine. She was glad Batman was on her side.

She walked over and crouched down. Batman had already started examining the intruder.

The figure was lying on it's stomach, unconscious. The back of it's head looked… wrong.

It was obviously human but it was misshapen, lumpy.

She watched as Batman flipped the figure around. She exhaled sharply.

It's face looked melted. Like it had been made of wax that had been left too close to a fire.

"What could do this?" she said quietly.

"I plan to find out."

~JL~

Post Note: You can thank StarCrossedButcher for this chapter. They have successfully shamed me into updating again. Also thanks for all the people who comment, that has really helped re-motivate me to finish the story.