The Justice League were gathered around a large table in the Watchtower. They were there to discuss the fate of their newest member, Harper Reid. Known to the public as Hyperion. Cyborg had called for the meeting, but today he seemed a little less certain of his decision. He hadn't spoken to Harper since their journey to one of Raven's many insane pet realms, and honestly he wasn't even sure how to. It was a little difficult to decide on a coarse of action when his every waking thought was consumed by her.
On Harper's side of things, she had decided not to approach Victor due to the likely possibility that he regretted the kiss that they had shared. Instead, she had just waited for him to approach her, either with to discuss the situation or argue about it, but he never did. In fact, he had been actively trying to avoid her. Not that she minded. The extra space that she was receiving now that everyone was ignoring her endured that she got a lot more work done on her mechs.
Harper tapped an undisclosed rhythm against the table's wooden surface and dared to glance upward. Every pair of eyes in the vicinity were staring straight back at her; each with their own silent judgements.
"Let's get this over with." Batman grunted, and in that one sentence Harper could already deduct that he was going to vote her off the Justice League. She didn't blame him. He had always been understandably paranoid towards outsiders. "I assume that everyone's read Victor's report."
There was a universal murmur of 'yes', but one man simply kicked his feet on top of the table and shrugged nonchalantly. "Nah, didn't find the time."
Batman's eyes narrowed at Booster Gold. He wasn't surprised, but that didn't make it any less irritating. He was always slowing these proceedings down. "Victor, give him the abridged version."
The cyborg let his gaze linger towards Harper. There was a buzz at the sight of her. One that he hadn't felt since long before the accident. He swiftly looked away again. He couldn't comply with Bruce's request if all of his attention was on Harper. "I was recharging when Harper came to me. She said that she needed my help with containing a technological super virus. The point of origin was somewhere in Amnesty Bay."
Aquaman, who was sitting two seats away from Victor, shifted in his seat uncomfortably at the reminder. He had grown up in Amnesty Bay, and though he hadn't been there at the time, he felt partly responsible for not keeping a closer eye on the activity there. Arthur's mind had been elsewhere for a while now...he was struggling with his post as King of Atlantis and had seriously considered passing the role down to his brother Orm. With that on his mind he had been fairly oblivious to recent events in that small seaside town.
"She said that she needed my help securing the source sever. I...didn't think to do recon first. I just believed her." Victor continued, evidently embarrassed by his own naivety. "When we got there, A.R.G.U.S captured me using a high-powered electromagnet. It was obvious that it was specifically built to incapacitate a life form similar in composition to myself. The magnetic interference and locomotive hinderance reduced me to twenty-two percent operational capacity, but I was still semi-lucid. I could hear Harper talking to Agent Zirrosinski and everything that came afterwards. She had purposely fabricated this threat and led me into a trap."
There was a certain intensity that hung in the air for a moment. Harper could feel the waves of distrust hitting her from almost every single direction, but yet again, she wasn't bothered by it. She always knew that this was a possibility outcome of her recent decisions.
"It's also important to note that she later released you from the EM device and helped you escape." Superman sternly added. He was always one of the most sympathetic members there, and often attended these meetings with the sole goal of ensuring that everyone there (even the accused) was treated fairly.
"Yeah. That too." Victor confirmed without even glancing in Harper's direction.
"Why are we even here then?" The gravelly voice of Silvia Stone, of no relation to Victor, whined from her spot beside Superman. She had her arms crossed and her gaze narrowed as if she thought this entire proceeding was ridiculous. "She didn't go through with it, so why does it matter? Everyone makes mistakes."
"Some more than others." Bruce hissed at her. It was always like this whenever they were in the same room...that's why Harper actively avoided both of them.
"Bruce." Clark warned in a voice much sterner than Harper had expected. "That's enough."
"Yeah, I'm not the one on trial here." Silvia added with a scowl.
"I agree with Bruce." Oliver Queen huffed. He refused to take his eyes off Harper after the little stunt that she had pulled. "We can't just let people betray us without consequences..."
"No one's suggesting that." Black Canary placed a hand on her husband's hand, a ditch attempt to make him see reason. "But kicking her out of the team's a little extreme, don't you think? She may have betrayed us at first, but she changed her mind. We need to take that into consideration. What kind of message are we sending if we exclude someone that saw the error of their ways?"
"Thank you, Dinah." Superman sighed in relief. "We're always saying that we believe in second chances, but as soon as we have the opportunity to give someone one, we start arguing over it."
"Supes is right." Barry Allen nodded as he tossed a handful of crinkle cut chips into his mouth. "We haven't even heard her side of the story yet."
As if on cue, they all turned their attention towards Harper expectedly. The woman frowned and leaned back in her chair. "It's not much different to Victor's. I helped capture him, found out what A.R.G.U.S was really planning to do, then freed him again."
"There has to be more to it than that..." Barry huffed, and threw the empty chip packet to the ground behind him.
"This wasn't some elaborate scheme? You truly intended on handing him over and keeping him there?" The Atom, who was present in the absence of Green Lantern, asked in slight surprise at her honesty.
"Yes." Harper answered without hesitation. "I only released him when I realised the true extent of their ambitions. If they hadn't told me I would have left him there."
"You really aren't helping yourself here." Silvia grumbled. She, personally, would have at least pretended that it was all part of a secret plan...but Harper was so blunt that even her sincerity was working against her.
"I'm not gonna lie. I'm not ashamed of what I did." Harper answered with a sigh.
Bruce almost seemed smug at my admission. He knew that it made me look bad. I may have even sealed my fate with those few words.
"There you have it. She has no remorse. Do we really want someone like that on our team?" Ollie offered the question that Bruce had started. He was close the the situation, after all. Perhaps some of his hostility came out of guilt for not stopping Harper despite being almost certain that she was lying about the virus.
"I am surprised we are even discussing this. She deserves much worse than expulsion." Rahn, an alien emissary that had landed in Gotham a few months ago, decided to cut in. It had taken a while but she eventually won the trust of Batman, the most paranoid man in the galaxy, and was allowed on the team. Harper had never trusted her, and didn't understand how Bruce did. Sure, Harper had betrayed them but at least she was honest about it. Rahn gave her the vibe of a professional liar; fooling every one around her.
"Let's not make this a debate about personal codes." Superman interrupted again. "The fact still stands that she changed her mind, whatever her reasons might have been...and I respect her honesty."
Harper almost scoffed at Superman's forgiving nature. It was going to get someone killed one day, she could already tell.
"I am more inclined to agree with Batman." Martian Manhunter, who had been sitting quietly until now, spoke in his usual monotone. "It would be foolish to trust her again."
Flash, tapping his fingers against his arm so fast that it was nothing but a blur, turned his gaze to Red Tornado. He had been observing the entire meeting from a far off corner, but contributed nothing. "What do you think, red?"
"As an artificial construct, I do not possess the necessary moral subroutines to provide a sound conclusion. I am attending simply to observe human reaction to emotional stimuli." He answered rather robotically, and to no one's surprise.
"Well, you'll learn a hell of a lot more if you add to the conversation..."
Red Tornado paused for a moment, then replied. "Were there any phrases in particular you believe I should relay?"
"Anything! Yes, no, maybe...do you think she should stay in the Justice League or not?"
Another halt in the conversation left them all in nothing but silence as he calculated his next reply. "It is rare for members of your species to openly admit involvement in operations that would decrease their perceived moral standing. The act of turning on a friend is considered socially undesirable. However, Harper's actions demonstrate that she does not feel shame despite her dishonest actions. I would like to conduct further observations in order to facilitate a deeper comprehension of this phenomenon."
Harper tensed. "Gross."
"Well if the robot wants her to stay then that's good enough for me." Booster Gold added obnoxiously. "Wouldn't want to upset him and cause a machine uprising."
There was a simultaneous air of irritation towards the time traveller's comment, but none looked as fed up with this proceeding as Arthur.
"This has nothing to do with any of us." He spoke up, and his voice was so clear that it silenced any small chatter from the heroes. "It should be Victor's decision, and his alone."
The hall of superheroes all seemed to contemplate his words. Most of them seemed to agree, but Bruce, Rahn, and even Ollie were still unyielding in their opinions.
"You're right. It's only fair that Victor makes the call." Black Canary sighed, and then in an instant everyone's eyes were focused solely on the Cyborg.
Victor knew what he should have said. Maybe he could have gone through with it too if he hadn't dared to glance upward. His eyes met Harper's and he was suddenly plagued by the pesky memory of their kiss...he hated that he could still recall the entire scene; everything from the smell, to the taste of her lips. Everything. Yet it was one of the happiest moments that he could remember in recent years.
That thought alone had Victor rising to his feet, eager to walk as far away from her as he possibly could. "Keep her in then. I don't care."
"Come on, dude, you're the one that called us here..." Booster Gold whined, but it was all white noise to Victor as he hurried out of the room.
He had expected some of the Justice League to follow after him to judge his decision (primarily Bruce), but instead he only heard one set of footsteps...and immediately recognised the unsteady rhythm. He turned, and the only other person in the empty hallway was Harper. She looked pale but not because of the previous meeting. She just seemed physically unwell.
"Why?" Was all she could ask, and he immediately knew what she meant. It was an obvious decision to kick her out of the team, but he had carelessly decided against it.
"Don't ask me that." Victor hissed back. "You already know the answer."
Harper looked absolutely clueless, and that only made it worse. "I really don't though. Objectively it was a terrible choice to let me stay."
"And how the hell am I suppose to be 'objective' towards you now?"
Harper's expression hardened. Clearly, she now realised how deeply Victor had been effected by the moment they had shared. Her lips tugged into a frown. "I'm sorry. It wasn't my intention to sway your decision."
Victor's jaw tensed. "Then what were you trying to do?"
"To show you how I felt." Harper groaned. "I thought I was being pretty obvious about it."
Though her words tugged at his damaged heart, Victor managed to contain any sign of a reaction. "If you really have any care for me, you do a terrible job of showing it."
"It's just my way." Harper shrugged unapologetically. "I avoid getting close to people because not many would understand that my priorities will always lie elsewhere. It just sorta happened with you. I didn't mean for it to."
"That makes two of us..." Victor grumbled. This was only going to make everything so much more complicated...and yet he wanted her. Harper, despite her questionable methods and ideas, was the only one that truly seemed to accept him the way that he was. She had never treated him like a delicate glass sculpture that would break at the first offensive word thrown at it...she treated him like an equal.
"I don't want this to become a distraction for you." Harper stepped a little closer, and already Victor could feel himself breaking beneath her heady gaze and rough accent. "We can leave it in the past, if that's what you want."
Victor internally cursed himself for being so weak, but still couldn't stop himself from pushing forward and laying a cold, cybernetic hand on her cheek. "That's not what I want."
Harper didn't hesitate. Within an instant she had leaned up to brush her lips against his. It felt just as Victor had remembered it...and he worried that he might never have the strength to stop. He knew that this was likely a mistake, but he would have plenty of time to regret his decision later. For now he wanted to savour this moment; a few suspended seconds where he wasn't a cyborg or a Justice League member. He was just a man.