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Green Eyes Killer	By : Isabelle_Jennings Category: DC Verse Comics > Batman Views: 3964 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: this story is non-profit, I don't own Batman or any DC Comics characters

Chapter List
- 14
- 15
- 16
PART 15: SHOW ME
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--- TALIA ---
Earlier, in the back yard, before the rain, Talia and M'gann were going over to a bench by the rose bushes to talk.
When they got there, Talia impulsively hugged M'gann. "I'm glad you're back alright." She spoke fondly, her hands resting on M'gann's shoulders, their eyes meeting. M'gann was the same height as her. Talia brushed a hand through her hair affectionately.
M'gann smiled a little shyly to her. "Thanks." She replied softly, resting her hands on Talia's waist.
Talia slid her hands from M'gann's shoulders and took M'gann's hands in her own and squeezed them. "Sit with me for a while? So we can talk?" She asked.
"Okay." M'gann agreed easily, looking to her with a trusting and open expression. How had she brought those things out in her, Talia wondered? She saw how M'gann was with others. She seemed to have particular ways of behaving towards each person--no two the same. Humans did the same of course, to varying degrees, but with M'gann the differences were more noticeable, and she seemed more comfortable with it too--didn't try to hide it at all--like it was just how a person was supposed to do things; where humans would try to disguise it, afraid they'd be perceived as less than genuine. Maybe it was just a Martian trait. With her, for some reason, she got the distinct feeling M'gann thought of her not unlike an older sister somehow. Which was oddly charming for someone so used to feeling like the younger sister. She would have wondered if it were a deliberate calculation on M'gann's part to endear herself to her for some ends, except she knew M'gann well enough to know her friend simply didn't think like that. Despite how hardened life had made her, she still wore her heart on her sleeve, as the expression went. If she felt something, she expressed it... if she trusted you enough. If not, she would simply withhold herself from you. It was a refreshingly honest way of relating to the world. And Talia had to admit, she found herself enjoying the role of adoptive elder sibling... Even though M'gann was actually about twenty years older than her, but they'd both been alive more than three-hundred years so it wasn't that big of an age difference. Comparatively they were very near the same age; which was also a refreshing thing for her as she hadn't met someone her own age in hundreds of years. She found herself feeling oddly protective of her 'younger sister' in fact.
"How are you feeling... about all of this?" Talia asked her caringly.
M'gann wouldn't look at her. "I'm... I'm doing alright." She replied, finally looking over to meet her eyes. "We'll bring back Artemis soon. As long as that's true... then I'm fine." She told, looking off towards the greenhouse, trying to put on a positive face.
"Why do I get the feeling that's not as true as you'd have me take it as?" Talia asked.
"Probably because it's not." M'gann admitted.
"Tell me." Talia half asked, half instructed her.
"...There are two things, but they relate to each other." M'gann told her, looking over to her friend and meeting her eyes. "After we shared minds, you told me... that I shouldn't be ashamed of the part of me that... that enjoyed the hunt, enjoyed the kill. You said it was just a part of who I was..."
"And that who you are, is beautiful." Talia softly finished, cupping M'gann's cheek and looking into her eyes. "You are." She promised, kissing her cheek. "You are very, very beautiful, M'gann."
M'gann smiled a little shyly to her, looking curiously into her eyes. Talia could feel her brushing against her thoughts too, not intruding, just touching a little, softly, as in a caress. A sign of affection, she recognized. "I wonder, if I showed you what I did today, let you feel everything of it, would you feel the same?" She asked. There was no challenge or reluctance in her voice, just this neutral expectancy. Talia knew, though M'gann had not exactly said as much, that it was M'gann's way of communicating that she was offering a choice and that she would not think any differently of her, whichever way she chose.
"Show me then." Talia chose. "If it will help you, show me."
M'gann did, and Talia all at once felt herself living through everything that had happened at Luthor's mansion. The attacks that had come against her, how she'd killed everyone who'd attacked her, including the false Kal-El that she'd killed and burned to ash. The hunter in her--she felt it--felt herself smiling and hungry and darkly angry at being hurt. Felt the instinct to tear and rip and kill take root in her. Felt herself hone in on her prey--find him. Saw Mercy Graves attacking her as she came through the wall. There had been no thought--she'd just been on her, tearing her apart--her teeth, so sharp--ripping flesh--killing. Luthor--felt herself kill him--smash him to grime and bone dust against that wall--felt the satisfaction of it. Then saw--heard--Hope beg for her life. And everything after that until now. M'gann held nothing of it back. "...You think she won't love you... If she sees this--feels this... Don't you?" Talia asked, looking over to the greenhouse. M'gann was still in her mind, she could feel it, but didn't mind.
"Your feelings towards me... they haven't changed, have they?" M'gann asked, sounding a little vulnerable, despite that she must already know the answer.
Talia felt her friend leave her mind and she closed her eyes. She smiled softly. "You don't know me as well as I thought you did if you honestly thought they would." She looked over to M'gann and touched her hair. "I can't tell you if your wife, your mate, will still love you, sister. If she will still want to be with you, once she's seen these changes in you. The only way you'll know, of course, is to find that out from her." She moved closer to M'gann who met her eyes trustingly, she touched her hair and cheek in a caress and kissed her forehead gently, then the tip of her nose and smiled to her playfully. "But speaking for me--I see what drives you; what matters to you... I can tell what's in your heart. The joy and hope and love there that wants badly to express itself still, even after all you've been hurt. That you have the conviction and strength to be true to that, is something to be proud of, not ashamed over. If I were your mate, I'd be more attracted to you, not less, because you were willing to do something like that for me--for our future--even though it torments you so."
M'gann hugged her then and Talia hugged her back warmly, protectively. True, what she'd seen in M'gann's mind, it had actually been horrible to experience in a way, but in another... Talia had actually enjoyed it too, she had to admit to herself. The sense of power and ferocity--freedom from thought--just feeling like that... Feeling M'gann as though she -were- her, as though they were the same person; if only for the minutes that it had took for M'gann to share her experiences. It was all... very intimate somehow--very special. She knew something of white Martian culture, from what she'd shared with M'gann, and so she knew--a memory like that was a very private one; not to be shared lightly. It would be even more so for M'gann, who didn't think of herself as other white Martians thought of themselves. To her people, the memory would be a beautiful one. And through Talia couldn't quite bring herself to see it that way, any more than M'gann could either apparently, it actually did have the net affect of endearing M'gann to her that much more somehow.
"Thanks, Talia." M'gann smiled to her. "I think I really needed to hear that."
"You're welcome." Talia answered, smiling softly to her, stroking her hair a little.
M'gann looked into her eyes curiously and then lay her head on her shoulder. "I'm so glad you're my friend." She spoke softly. "...I hope we always will be."
"I want that too, very much." Talia agreed, continuing to stroke M'gann's hair. "Already... you feel like a sister to me."
"...Do I remind you of Nyssa then?" M'gann asked playfully.
"Thankfully no." Talia smiled. "One of her is enough, thank you."
"Can I mind-link with you for a while? Just passively." M'gann asked, brushing up against Talia's thoughts in that caressing way again.
"Of course." Talia accepted, knowing it was usual for friends in green Martian culture to do this when the talked; it was just social intimacy, not romantic or sexual.
"Good." M'gann replied, and Talia felt M'gann in her mind again, then she felt M'gann herself--felt herself able to 'see' inside her just like M'gann could for her. It was oddly comforting somehow. She felt warmth, affection, trust, friendship from M'gann. How M'gann thought of her, how she saw her. And M'gann saw and felt those things from Talia as well. It was a sharing of perspective and perception, mostly. "Is this okay?" She asked her.
"More than okay, it's nice." Talia answered.
"I had a sister once." M'gann told softly. "On Mars; the green Martian family that adopted me--they had a daughter and a son. So I had a brother and a sister. Her name was Z'raya, his name was R'eon."
"Z'raya was an artist... She made paintings; murals. She was very kind." Talia continued, seeing them so clearly in M'gann's mind. "She had so much... peace and calmness to her. You loved to watch her while she painted. R'eon liked to tease you." She smiled fondly. "He liked making people laugh. It was such a happy life, wasn't it?" She asked wistfully.
"Mm... Yes... Some of my favorite memories... You can have them all if you want them?" M'gann offered.
"You're sure?" Talia asked. "I'd love that."
Then Talia felt the memories just sort of drift into her, and she couldn't help but smile, and cry a little, because she knew the people in them were now long sense dead.
"I'm glad someone else misses them besides me." She spoke softly.
"...Doesn't Catalina? And Nina for that matter?" Talia asked.
"...I suppose. But... that wasn't on purpose. And, well... I guess I'm trying not to think about that, actually." She admitted.
"Why?" Talia asked.
"...Because Lina's in love with me now." She answered softly. "Since it happened." She explained.
"Oh... That's unfortunate then, isn't it?" She observed, understanding why this would be so difficult a subject for M'gann.
"It really is." She agreed, saying no more.
"Especially because you return her feelings..." Talia observed further. Mind linked as they were, M'gann would have had to intentionally block that from her; and M'gann, though she might have wished to, would never do that. She would consider it a betrayal of Talia's friendship to do so.
"...Especially because of that; yes." She admitted.
"Lina doesn't know, does she? That you love her back?" Talia asked, though she was fairly sure she knew the answer.
"I doubt it." M'gann told her honestly. "...But it would hurt us both more if I told her."
"Because you wouldn't chose her." Talia supplied.
"Artemis is my mate. There is no choice for me. I wouldn't want one if there was... I belong to her. I thought that wasn't true anymore; because she died. Like G'yal, my first mate died, and I... I had to move on, eventually. But now that I know I can bring her back; that I -will- bring her back, no matter what..."
"There's no choice." Talia echoed M'gann's conclusion. "You just want Artemis; no one else will do for you." She didn't mention the unspoken reason that she could sense in M'gann's mind as to why there was no conflict between G'yal her first mate and Artemis her second; because G'yal was now just dust on the Martian wind, and not even a Lazarus pit could bring her back. Which, while Talia would never call that anything of a blessing, she knew M'gann would be intensely conflicted if that were not so. She would bring them both back of course; if she could. There would be no question in that for her--but for her to have to chose--it would be torturous for her friend. She had no idea how M'gann would manage to deal with it. Her people (white Martians) mated for life much more often than not, and had never had to deal with Lazarus pits.
"Exactly so." M'gann answered. "And she knows that too; she has to. But she keeps looking at me like she doesn't. Like there could be something between us. I don't know why."
"...If Artemis were suddenly someone else's mate, not yours somehow, wouldn't you look at her that way?" Talia asked.
She felt an intense surge of anger, almost fury go through M'gann at just the thought of that--but M'gann stubbornly clamped down on the feeling--Talia could feel her struggling with it. "Don't say things like that..." M'gann told her softly. "Please; just don't. Okay?"
"...Sorry." Talia answered. White Martians mated for life. In their society; if Artemis had been with another without M'gann's consent (consent which would not be normally given by a typical white Martian, especially a female), M'gann's response would have to be to fight her challenger to the death--perhaps even to fight her mate to the death afterwards--if the betrayal could not be reconciled any other way between them. M'gann was anything but a typical white Martian of course--had adopted much of the more liberal green Martian culture in fact--but her instincts and attitudes about her mate were still very strong and personal and tended towards white rather than green in this instance. To her, suggesting that Artemis would not be faithful to her, would go so far as to take another as a mate over her, was... an intensely maddening thought to suggest. One M'gann very much would not want to even consider--especially now, Talia realized with regret.
"...It's alright." M'gann told her.
"If you were a typical white Martian, you'd have killed me for that, wouldn't you? Even... even if we were friends." Talia realized this with a little incredulity.
"...Probably, yes." M'gann told her. "At least there would be a fight."
Talia shook her head a little. "No wonder you ran away."
"It's not a nice thing, but my people aren't known for their kindness... Still, for them, that's romance. That's passion... and love." She explained softly.
"Maybe we should talk about something else then?" Talia offered.
M'gann moved up and kissed Talia's cheek before resting her head on her shoulder and snuggling up to her again. "...Things are going well between you and your mate?" M'gann asked kindly.
Talia smiled softly to herself, a memory of her and Lilhy kissing just recently coming to her mind unbidden.
She could almost feel M'gann smile. "That's a yes then. I'm... I'm very happy for you."
Talia looked over at her wife to be. Lilhy was over talking with Silver again, the two of them having become great friends apparently, much to Talia's delight. She was happy Lilhy had made a friend. Her lover didn't do that easily, Talia knew. Besides her and Jean Paul, Silver was the only other person Lilhy had warmed to so much in her whole life, to Talia's knowledge. She felt so lucky to have her; to be in love with her. She wondered why it had taken M'gann to give her the courage to be true to that. She looked down at her hands. "It's only because of you, I think." She admitted, reaching over and taking one of M'gann's hands in hers.
"...Sometimes, everyone needs help... I think... I think I was slowly going mad before I found my way here. To you and Ivy and everyone. I was losing myself; little bits at a time. So lonely... So lost..." She explained softly. "Any debt you owe me--I owe you at least as much for what you've given me."
"...Well, that makes me feel a little better, I suppose." She admitted.
"...Tell me about your family... Your father, your sister... Is your mother still alive?" M'gann asked.
"...No, she's not." Talia answered, feeling herself retract and close her emotions off, though it frustrated her that it was still her reaction.
"...You can tell me. Let me in... We're friends; it's safe with me--you know that, don't you?" M'gann asked, moving up and touching Talia's cheek, gently moving her head over towards her until they were looking into one another's eyes.
Talia smiled to her and touched her face, feeling that trust--that bond between them--become stronger. Her trust in M'gann started to override her fear. She'd never spoken to anyone but Nyssa of this; not even Lilhy, yet. "I know that." Talia answered softly.
M'gann smiled more, her expression encouraging and comforting. Talia brushed her thoughts over M'gann's in an imitation of the mental caress M'gann had given her before. She could do that now because they were linked and M'gann had opened that bridge between them and was maintaining it. M'gann closed her eyes and smiled fondly. "It's been a long time since I've felt that..." M'gann admitted. "Here, you lean on me for a while?" She offered.
"...Alright..." Talia agreed, finding it a novel but welcome idea. She lay her head on M'gann's shoulders and closed her eyes, snuggling up to her as M'gann held her close and rested her head on hers. "I... I don't actually know what happened to my mother, honestly..." She admitted softly.
"When... When I was little..." She started to say, but the words were hard in coming.
"When you were little, one day, she was just gone." M'gann finished for her. "Father never told you... You never knew..."
"He could have simply cast her out; grown tired of her." Talia spoke softly.
"...But you suspect he might have killed her, don't you?" M'gann realized, abject disgust and revulsion flaring up in her.
Talia was quiet.
"Before I kill him, I will rip his mind apart--I will find you your answer. I promise I will." M'gann pledged bitterly.
Talia smiled softly. "See? Humans can surprise you, can't they? How very awful we can be when we put our minds to it." She replied softly.
"...Compared to Martian societies, there's a lot more variation in that way, yes." M'gann answered with quiet surety in her voice. "...Do you remember much about her? Your mother?"
Talia smiled softly. "Only some things. Like, she used to make tea for us; just me and her... And she'd touch my hair, and tell me how much I meant to her; how pretty I was..."
"...I can help you remember if you want? Everything. Every moment with her, I can give you those back...?" She offered.
Talia was quiet for moments. "...Please; yes... I would; that would mean a great deal." She accepted softly, trying not to cry at the thought of it.
M'gann touched her cheek, then cupped it in her hand and looked into her eyes and suddenly Talia felt like she wasn't there anymore; like she was in a strange woman's arms, just after being born. "The gods have given you a little girl." The woman spoke as she handed her to her mother and she was wrapped in her arms; her mother's kind, loving eyes looking down into hers.
"She is beautiful..." Her mother answered softly. And from there, it was as though she lived through everything--every moment of her childhood, seen through adult eyes.
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(to be continued)
- 14
- 15
- 16
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Green Eyes Killer