It Takes Two

It takes one person to forgive, it takes two people to be reunited.

~Lewis B. Smedes

A/N: Set after Small Talk. Also I found out it's Third Moon of Goltos not Galtos. I'm so ashamed!

It had been just little over two weeks since they got back together and things were not pleasant between them. After their initial talk John thought they had taken ten steps forward but by the next day things seemed to have gone twenty steps back. Being on the Third Moon of Goltos was like the old days again. That seemed to be the problem. Anytime they got too close to being like the old days again, Shayera would essentially shut down and close herself off to him. They could barely talk without an awkwardness and stiffness between them. That was if awkward was even a strong enough of a word to describe it.

That was why John was so surprised when she had insisted on going to his apartment, rather than the Metro or Watchtower, for her injuries to be treated. John figured she was just being her regular stubborn self. She hated the Medbay with a passion and normally wouldn't get herself patched up after missions.

She had gotten a few good cuts and bruises, along with a dislocated left shoulder. Things like that tended to happen whenever a hero waited to throw the second punch and Shayera tended to throw the second punch a lot more nowadays.

John frowned; he knew how to fix her shoulder. He had done before...twice. He even witnessed her fixing that shoulder herself once. He was thankful it wasn't one of her wings. He had to fix a dislocated wing once and he never wanted to do so again. That was the first time John had seen Shayera cry from pain.

She hadn't been to his apartment in the past three years. Well technically his newer one, considering how the old one had been destroyed during the Thanagarian Invasion. He could tell there was a tenseness in her as they walked up the stairs. Maybe this was a bad idea after all.

Shayera held her shoulder as they walked into the apartment. "I swear, if I could, I'd go out there right now and kick their asses," she growled.

John eyed her injured shoulder. He hated it whenever she got hurt because it meant that he wasn't doing his job. He wasn't taking care of her like he should have been. Apparently Shayera had noticed him staring at her.

"It could have been a lot worse, John," Shayera muttered as she winced when she accidentally moved her shoulder. "A lot worse."

"Yeah...I know," John's voice trailed off as he wanted to say more but decided to let it slide. He opened the door for his girlfriend, turn on the lights, and helped her over to the kitchen counter. At first, Shayera was tempted to comment that she wasn't handicapped; that she could walk by herself but she decided not to try and start a fight.

Now she sat on his kitchen counter, as she had done many times in the past, with her lip and shoulder still bleeding.

"Wish I could've protected you. This shouldn't of happened," John muttered in an apologetic tone.

"It's okay," Shayera winced a bit, her muscles tight. "I've had worse," she paused before daring to continue, "and I'm sure you have too."

John stiffened at the last remark.

"You need to take off your shirt."

He noticed her slight discomfort at his statement. Everything was supposed to be okay between them. It wasn't like he had never seen her without a shirt on before but that had been then and this was now.

Then he saw a small smirk appear on her face. "You just want to see me without a shirt on."

John paused. He recognized that tone. It was her playful, teasing tone. But just as quick as the old, playful Shayera surfaced she vanished. She cleared her throat as she looked downward. John sighed in defeat.

Heat was rising around her shoulder as Shayera used her good arm to obey. John helped her take the shirt off. Carefully, they managed to remove the yellow t-shirt and placed it beside her, revealing a black sports bra. Along with the cuts on her shoulder and one on her lip, the Thanagarian had a bruise forming on her torso and across her entire left shoulder.

And then John took full notice of just how beat up her shoulder looked.

"This looks really bad Shayera," he stated as he looked up at her. "I wish you would just go to the Medbay for once."

"Yeah, like I'd willingly go," Shayera said sarcastically. "This isn't the first time this has happened nor will it be the last."

"I know, I know," John sighed. "I'd just feel better if a professional was doing this."

"It's okay," Shayera said, her voice more gentle. "I trust you."

John looked at her. When was the last time he heard her say that to him?

"Thanks," he said back as he started to gentle massage her shoulder. "Ready?"

"Ready," she grimaced, bracing herself for the pain that was certain to occur.

"On a count of three, one...two-" John quickly popped the shoulder back in place, causing Shayera to shout in pain, more out of surprise than anything else.

John gave her an apologetic grin. "Sorry but it really is better if you don't expect it to happen."

"Tell that to my shoulder," Shayera muttered. John opened the cabinet, grabbed some ice packs, and put them into the freezer.

"When they're frozen, we'll put them on your shoulder," he said. "For now, I guess you'll just have to tough it out."

She placed her hand on her rather tender shoulder as she tried to flex the muscles. She groaned at the sharp pain she felt.

"Don't do that," he scolded her. "It's still pretty swollen. Just keep it still for now. Tomorrow you're going to the Medbay and getting a sling."

"Yeah, sure, sorry," she muttered. "I already have one from before back in the Watchtower in my room."

"Good," he stated. "Now let's get these cuts cleaned up."

John placed his simple first aid kit next to her and opened it, revealing the alcohol and gauze that she hated so much. He gave her an ice cube to hold against her lip and analyzed the wound on her shoulder. Her shirt had covered half of it and, judging by the stains, he could see it had soaked up some of the blood.

He pulled out the bottle of alcohol and a pile of gauze pads. Once he moistened the gauze, John gently laid his right hand over her collarbone. He began cleansing the gash that was a lot worse than he had originally thought. She winced beneath his touch and closed her eyes.

"Shayera, I'm not going to sugarcoat this. I think you could really use stitches. Some of the cuts are very deep," he stated.

"I'm not going," she said defiantly. "That's final."

"I know that," he replied as he moved onto the smaller cuts. "I'm just saying."

"Well don't," Shayera retorted.

John scoffed, "You're just as boneheaded as ever."

"Excuse me? Boneheaded?" She glared at him. "You're the one that's boneheaded! I swear you're still so aggravating, even after all of these years."

"Same could be said about you Shayera. You're just as stubborn as ever."

They were surrounded by silence for a few minutes. The only sounds heard were Shayera's held back grunts of pain. Then John got close enough that he could smell her hair. He momentarily smirked; he liked that some things didn't change after all. It was refreshing.

Feeling the need to lighten the mood John calmly stated, "You still use Herbal Essences."

Shayera swallowed as her eyes looked over at him, "So what if I do? I happen to like how it smells."

"I know." What he wanted to say was 'so do I' but he couldn't bring himself to say it. He didn't know how she might react. "You told me your favorite one was Fruit Fusions. Right?"

"It still is," she casually replied.

"You still use the same one?"

"I dunno, you tell me?" He could see the coy smile spreading against her face. "Let's see how good your memory is Lantern."

John stopped what he was doing momentarily as he thought. "It was uh...mango, a kind of berry, and some other thing."

She chuckled, "Close enough, it's mango, blueberry, and avocado. Don't ask me why an avocado is in there, I have no clue. Apparently they're discontinuing it though. Wally got me some other...would it be considered flavors? All I know is that one has lavender in it and the other was violet. I haven't tried them yet."

John opened his mouth but then closed it as he sighed.

"Anything would smell good on me. That's what you were going to say right?" Shayera asked him.

Rolling his eyes the Green Lantern muttered, "Smart ass." And she laughed in response.

But John couldn't really complain. This was the first time the two of them were in a room together, talking, and not being so uncomfortable while doing so. They were actually enjoying each other's company for once.

A few minutes later Shayera was all taped up, her shirt back on, as she hopped off the counter.

"Thanks," Shayera ran a hand through her hair and lowered her eyes. "I guess I should be going now."

"You don't have to," John quickly said but then faltered. "I mean...well you could...crash here for the night if you wanted or just wait for those ice packs to get cold and then go back to the Watchtower. It's all up to you Shay."

Shayera was quiet for awhile as she contemplated her decisions. "I could use a nap. I just need to borrow your couch for a bit. If you don't mind."

"You can sleep in the bedroom if you want Shayera," John said as he motioned towards the hallway. "You don't need to sleep on that couch, especially with your shoulder."

She waved him off. "It's fine John. Once I lay down and fall asleep I won't feel the pain. I have a high pain tolerance anyway."

Shayera made her way over to the couch and gingerly laid down. Ignoring the shooting pains from her protesting shoulder, she closed her eyes and let her mind drift off.

For the next two hours John sat in silence as he watched Shayera sleep. She seemed to have very active dreams. John never recalled her having such vivid dreams like this when they were previously together. And these dreams didn't seem to be too pleasant either. She was constantly fidgeting and talking under her breath.

"I'm sorry John," she murmured in a drowsy voice. "I'm so sorry."

John raised his eyebrows. What was she sorry about? Suddenly John remembered Wally bringing up once that Shayera usually didn't sleep well. Now it made sense to him. She still had, and always would have, a guilty conscious over what happened with the Thanagarian Invasion. Was this how she had spent every night since then? Tormented by her subconscious?

John got up and checked on the ice packs. Thankfully they were now completely frozen and gave him an excuse to wake her up. Taking them out of the freezer, John walked over to Shayera.

"Shayera," he nudged her. "Shayera, wake up."

She jumped slightly and then grimaced. "Yeah, what happened?"

"I know you were sleeping," John said. "I'm sorry for waking you but the ice packs are ready."

Still trying to collect herself, Shayera nodded and took them. "Thanks," she said as she placed them onto her shoulder.

"Were you having a bad dream?" John slowly asked as Shayera frowned.

"Why are you asking?"

John shrugged. "Looked like you were having a bad dream, that's all."

"Yeah um, it's nothing," she sighed. "At least nothing out of the ordinary."

John arched his eyebrows. "You sure? Do you want to talk about it?"

Shayera quickly shook her head and John nodded, knowing that there was no way of getting anything out of her when she didn't want to talk about something.

"John," she said hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks," Shayera mumbled, suddenly looking embarrassed.

He looked rather confused. "For what?"

"For...helping me...and for...not leaving me," Shayera said quietly. "For still being here for me...even though I've been a real pain in the ass for the past two weeks. I know I'm not helping things by being like this."

John looked at her for a few moments without saying anything before he finally smiled.

"No problem and don't worry," he added as he sat down next to her. "I don't have any plans on leaving you anytime soon. You can count on that."

"Thanks," she said again, still holding the ice packs to her shoulder.

Shayera gave him a true smile, the first one he had seen from her in a long time. A smile that was filled with relief and hope.

John returned the smile. Maybe things weren't that bad between them after all.