A/N: Yes. I know. But we're getting them out of our systems sooner rather than later. Also, I was going to go for funny and then XFfan blew funny out of the water. So instead, we get angsty. Oh well.

Song by Sarah McLachlan.

***

Hold on...
Hold on to yourself
for this is gonna hurt like hell.

So much had changed.

When they’d first become lovers, that night three years ago, they had taken it slow, learning one another in what was truly an exploration of alien territory. There had barely been time for more, not before Hro had come to Earth to claim her, and after that it had taken over a year to regain even part of the ground they’d lost. The trust he’d lost in her. Their second first night together had tasted of desperation and loneliness as much as it had of passion.

Passion had emerged victorious, over time.

Shayera brushed her fingers across his sleeping face.

Hold on...
Hold on to yourself
You know that only time can tell
what is it in me that refuses to believe
this isn't easier than the real thing.

Morning had yet to come to Detroit. She wished it never would, wished she could spend the rest of her life snuggled here with him, wished he wouldn’t ...

Her breath caught. Angrily, she put the tears aside. If he woke to find her crying, he’d do something stupid, say something stupid.

Instead she kissed his forehead, light enough not to disturb his rest.

My love you know that you're my best friend..
You know that I'd do anything for you
and my love let nothing come between us
my love for you is strong and true.

Hours earlier, desperation had returned to them, left them clinging to each other like two drowning souls at sea. Love wasn’t supposed to be about fear, but fear was all she could give him now, and in too many ways, it was all he could offer her in return.

Am I in heaven here
or am I...
At the crossroads I am standing.
So now you're sleeping peaceful
I lie awake and pray
that you'll be strong tomorrow
and will see another day
and we will praise it
and love the light that
brings a smile across your face.

Lightly, she traced the curve of his mouth. His kisses always burned her, shocking like hot wax and just as delicious against her skin. Lips, teeth, tongue, he loved her with these and with his strong hands and with his entire being.

And now he was leaving her.

Oh god if you're out there won't you hear me...
I know we're never talked before
and oh god the man I love is leaving...
won't you take him when he comes to your door.

The Guardians were implacable. Kyle Rayner was to be, had been since the death of Abin Sur, the official Lantern for Sector 2814. John had only ever been his alternate, serving until Rayner finished his own training under Katma’s careful tutelage. Rayner had brought the orders with him: forty-eight hours until John had to return to Oa for reassignment.

Tears splashed down anyway, despite her intentions, and she wiped at them quickly. Diana would pray to her gods now. Most members of the League had at least one deity to call upon for strength in their hour of need. Shayera had no such comfort. She’d killed her god.

Maybe one of the others would have a god to spare her, just for a while. She sent out a thought to the universe at large, addressed simply “To Occupant”: Please keep him safe.

She neither heard nor sensed a reply, even as the light grew in the room indicated a fast-approaching daybreak.

Am I in heaven here or am I in hell...
at the crossroads I am standing.
So now you're sleeping peaceful...
I lie awake and pray
that you'll be strong tomorrow...
and we will see another day
and we will praise it...
and love the light that
brings a smile across your face

“Hey,” he said, eyes slipping open.

“Hey. Go back to sleep,” she said, and he smiled in return as he responded, as she knew he would.

“Not sleepy.”

Instead of talking, she kissed him, hard, trying to impress her body and soul onto his, marking him both with possession and protection. He responded to her touch, moving from barely awake to fully aroused in a few brief minutes.

Desperation guided her, and too the ache in her heart which beat so fast she almost didn’t hear him as they merged. He whispered in her ear over and over: “I love you more than anything.”

And passion won.

Hold on hold on to yourself
for this is gonna hurt like hell.

***