Justice League Unlimited The Serpent

Realizations

Using his density-shifting phantasmal form, J'onn slid through the locked doors of Test Lab 7 before resuming his physical form, his red eyes taking in the room before him. Seconds later, Question, Hawk and Dove entered through the now-open doors that Question had once again hacked.

J'onn couldn't believe his eyes.

In the center of the room, held up by metal restraints and looking very sickly, was a woman. Her head was bowed, and she was quiet. Even her breathing, however shallow, was hardly audible. The Martian stepped forward and gently touched her head, mentally reaching out to her.

"J'onn?" The woman's soft thought was followed by her slowly raised head and her opened eyes. She saw his face for the first time, but she seemed to be too tired to be scared or surprised. J'onn, however, frowned at the sight of the horrible metal mask that obscured the lower half of her face, latched on and locked in place.

The Martian looked over his shoulder when Question said, "J'onn, I need you in the corridor to watch for guards. Hawk, Dove, help get her down. I'll work on the controls."

The orders were carried out smoothly, although it left the others a little confused. Question rarely gave orders, and they had never heard him sound so anxious. The brothers gently caught the woman when she fell, after Question had found the correct levers. They knelt down and Dove carefully rolled her onto her back, laying her head on his lap.

"Easy, easy. You'll be okay." Dove shushed her gently, his fingers tracing the edges of the mask, trying to find the release latches. He found the four latches and unlocked them, gently lifting the metal object from her face.

The woman's face, once the mask was gone, was strangely familiar to Dove, but he couldn't place where he'd seen her before. She had short, ragged brown hair that was messily cut, very pale skin that had seen little to no sunlight in a long time, and her eyes, when they were open, were the color of dark chocolate.

She gently worked her jaw to see that it was still movable, which was when Hawk noticed the gag piece inside the mask. His sudden inhale caused the other to look at him, so Dove saw what had distressed his brother.

The younger brother's face (what was visible) paled, though his attention was on the woman on his lap when she lifted her hand to touch his neck. But it wasn't his neck she touched. It was a slight bulge that could have been mistaken for a vein or muscle, but she seemed to know what it really was.

She had worked the bulge out of his costume before Dove knew what she was doing. "No, don't!" Too late.

The woman delicately held the charm of the strange necklace in her fingertips, seeming to be in a trance just by looking at it. The pendant was made from snakewood, giving it a beautiful pattern in browns, golds and dark reds, and it was shaped like a snake. Dove always wore it, he'd never taken it off.

The woman let her gaze leave the snake-shaped pendant and look up at Dove.

"Don?" she rasped softly, Dove's violet eyes widened

"H-how do you know..." he trailed off when, using her other hand, the woman pulled something from around her neck.

What it was left him speechless.

It was another pendant, this one made from amaranth wood (purpleheart wood), and in the shape of a dove. Dove felt his heart catch in his throat.

Only one person in the world had that pendant, and that was the person who had made his own pendant, a long time ago.

[_-_]

Two young children were playing under a great beech tree in their shared backyard, giggling as they climbed up the trunk, only to slide back down again. It didn't hurt, since the bark was smooth, and the two had fun.

They slid back down again and laid side-by-side in the grass, watching the clouds go by. The first child, a blonde-haired, violet-eyed boy of nine, rolled over onto his stomach and gently prodded his friend. The other child, a brunette girl who was also nine, rolled over to look him in the eye.

"What's up?" she asked him, he fiddled with something in the pocket of his faded blue jeans as he sat up.

"I-I... I have something to give you." he stammered softly, pulling out a black rope necklace from his pocket. The girl's chocolate-colored eyes widened when he slipped it over her head.

"I spent the last month making it. Hank helped me with the carving and the sanding, but I picked out the wood. It's purpleheart wood. I think it came out nice."

He stole a look at her face when he shyly added, "Don't you think so?"

She was shocked as she gently traced the edges of the pendant in the shape of a dove, his favorite animal. Then, to the boy's surprise, his friend pulled out something from the pocket of her yellow dress.

"I made something for you, too." She slipped the necklace in her hands over his head and waited. The boy felt around his neck till he found the pendant, this one made from snakewood and shaped like a snake, which was her favorite animal.

The girl suddenly snickered, making her friend look at her in surprise.

"What's so funny?" "It looks like we both had the same idea." she giggled, the boy's lips twitched the more he thought about it, and before long, both were laughing.

Once they calmed, they gave each other a hug, and the girl kissed her friend's cheek.

"Thanks, Don."

[_-_]

The flashback ended, bringing tears to Dove's eyes. The necklace she wore was unmistakable.

"Nate?"

CLIFFHANGER! Keep reading to find out who our mystery guest is!