10 : There Are No Secrets

*Valkyrie opens her eyes. She is in Jason’s arms, he is carrying her from the ship. She quickly closes her eyes. There was no way she’d be awake to hear what everyone has to say. Jason whispers.*

[Jason] I’m almost there.

*Valkyrie blushes. She hears the doors close and Raven call Miss Martian to her room. She is put down on a bed and tucked under covers.*

[Jason] You can stop pretending to be asleep now.

*Valkyrie sat up. She saw Jason standing by the edge of the bed.*

[Valkyrie] You knew.

*He smiled.*

[Jason] Your face turned red all of a sudden. You were either awake or in a medical emergency.

[Valkyrie] Oh.

*He walked over and sat down.*

[Jason] You forgave me.

[Valkyrie] No. I understood you.

[Jason] Same thing.

[Valkyrie] Jason. Why did you bring me to your room?

[Jason] It was easier for me.

[Valkyrie] Easier… you do like easy.

*He leaned forward, close to her face.*

[Jason] I also like you.

*Valkyrie blushed.*

[Valkyrie] I don’t.

*Jason reached over putting his hand on her cheek.*

[Jason] I think that’s a lie.

*Valkyrie placed her hands on his chest.*

[Valkyrie] Maybe once I did. But it was just a bullied kid looking for a bad boy. (sick stereotype really)

*Jason leaned even closer.*

[Jason] Are you saying I’m no longer a bad boy?

*Valkyrie smiles.*

[Valkyrie] I’m saying I no longer want one.

*She turns to get up and he pulls her forward into a kiss. He holds her tightly so she can’t pull away and she bites his lip. He holds her arm but pulls back, touching his lip.*

[Jason] You bit me.

[Valkyrie] Yea. You deserved it.

[Jason] Laeila. I need to make things up to you.

*Valkyrie sighs.*

[Valkyrie] How does doing this make it up to me. You can’t fix the past Jason.

*Jason leans forward, he’s know on all fours above her on the bed, pinning her with the head board.*

[Jason] I know I can’t, but I can give you a better future.

[Valkyrie] Jason…

*Jason leans forward and kisses her again. Dropping one hand to run through her hair.*

[Jason]  Laeila…

*Her arms run down his chest and he smiles. He reaches down to remove her ring. She looks like the normal Laeile. Jason smiles.*

[Jason] I need you to be able to see properly for this.

The scene fades to her in his shirt, sitting and reading in his bed. Jason is sitting shirtless in boxers at his desk. The door opens and Arsenal is there in his Pjs. He looks surprised.

[Arsenal] Valkyrie you are still here.

*Jason turns around and smiles.*

[Jason] Of course she is.

*Arsenal winks at Valkyrie who pulls the covers over her.*

[Arsenal] Everyone is in the living room. I made a bet with Talon and….

*Valkyrie peeks over the covers.*

[Valkyrie] And?

*Arsenal looked away in the corner.*

[Arsenal] And he is telling everyone what happened between you and Jason.

*Jason stood up.*

[Jason] How the fuck does he know?

*Arsenal scratched the back of his head.*

[Arsenal] Apparently the Court of Owls had records of Gotham High students.

*Valkyrie’s ring zooms on her finger. Her hair turns white and her eyes go blind. Arsenal shifts looking uncomfortable. Her staff comes off the floor and she stands up. Arsenal sees she’s in an oversized shirt that belongs to Jason and a pair of boxers.*

[Arsenal] Do I need to turn around?

[Valkyrie] I’d rather just go and straighten this mess.

*She walks out the room, leaving Arsenal looking at Jason.*

[Jason] This is going be a shit show.

*Arsenal nods.*

[Arsenal] You will be raking up after the horses for months.

*Jason grabs another shirt and follows Arsenal out the door. Raven is holding Talon back with shadows. Starfire’s hands and eyes are glowing green. Miss Martian is watching. Valkyrie is calming them down.*

[Valkyrie] Starfire. It’s fine.

[Stafire] He shouldn’t go spreading other people’s business. Especially his teammates.

*Talon snarled.*

[Talon] Arsenal was the one who bit the bait. Yell at your boyfriend.

[Miss Martian] He has a point—-

*Talon and Starfire both yell shut up. Raven smiles sympathetically at Miss Martian.*

[Valkyrie] It doesn’t matter. You guys would of found out what happened eventually.

*Starfire turned to Valkyrie.*

[Starfire] This isn’t just about you. It’s about all of us. Are any of our secrets safe! How can we be a team if we can’t even trust each other.

[Talon] We aren’t a real team. Don’t you get it. We are just leftovers that the League or Titans can’t work with.

*Starfire’s power fades.*

[Talon] You are an alien princess that has slept her way into the shit list of most people we know. Raven can summon the world’s most fucked up Demon any time she wants. On top of that she can’t even control her own emotions. Arsenal is a junkie who can’t handle the pressures of a superhero life. Red Hood is a street kid with a taste of afterlife bloodlust. Valkyrie is a kid who happened to come into powers. Only for it to be the overwhelming might of Compassion. And the newest member is an insecure alien who can’t even come to turns with the fact she’s a crazy monster. That is not a team.

*Arsenal storms forward.*

[Arsenal] Shut up, Talon. You aren’t someone who can say anything to her.

*Talon throws his hands up.*

[Talon] Of course I can’t. I’m a psychotic killer just like every other Gotham street kid.

*Raven lets her shadows drop and Talon slumps to lean on the couch*.

[Valkyrie] I think you guys are missing the point.

[Talon] Oh stop being so fucking understanding.

*Valkyrie sighs.*

[Valkyrie] You guys care so much about being rejects or loners. It’s not that big of a deal. For the love of Jesus Christ. That’s what makes a team, being similar.

*Arsenal looks at Jason.*

[Arsenal] Isn’t she Jewish?

*Jason shrugs.*

[Jason] Half I think.

*Valkyrie hits them both on the back of the head with her staff.*

[Talon] You can say that because your ring forces you to believe that.

*Valkyrie takes off her ring.*

[Valkyrie] When an Indigo Lantern removes their ring they turn back to who they were before.

[Starfire] And?

[Valkyrie] And I still think the same. We are a group of really shitty people. As Talon said it’s a group of whores, witches, junkies, killers and damaged freaks but so what. You guys are the toughest people I know. You are fucking vigilante heroes and assassins. Why do you care? Why is being looked down on by the Justice League so important?

*They all look down.*

[Valkyrie] Starfire. You are an amazing warrior. You can fly and shoot beams of energy from your hand. That’s so fucking cool. You can pick up any man you want. Why do you care if others think badly about it. It’s your choice, not theirs.

Raven. You trapped one of the world’s most dangerous demons in a tiny little crystal, not even caring that he was your own father. What does it matter if people say you are similar to him. He gave you the conviction to follow through with what you think is right.

Arsenal. You took drugs. Who cares? Most people have taken drugs sometime in their life. Living is hard. People do shitty things and make you want to forget them. You should be proud that you can overcome what you did.

Talon. Just being you and not the boy wonder himself makes me want to hug you. You took your desire to rip heads off into something useful like getting rid of the Court of Owls, saving a woman and her child’s life. Thats not a bad thing.

Jason. Yea you died and you came back to life. I’m sure it haunts you. But I’m also sure it is something that has helped you get more clarity. You aren’t just anger anymore. You are pain, sadness, humility and hope. You kill for a reason.

And Miss Martian. You may be an outcast on your planet but your not there anymore. No one on Earth cares about the green vs. white martian difference. Especially in this room. They just see an alien who can fry peoples’ brains. You need to learn to like yourself, because these people fought to free you from Simon’s control because they like you.

You guys are acting pathetic. You were the heroes everyone worshipped. All the kids like me who saw you guys grow and change, gave us hope. Being an ordinary citizen wasn’t good until we had people to look up to… And it was you guys. Your successes and failures.

*Talon lifts his head.*

[Talon] Is your rant over?

*Valkyrie glares at him*

[Valkyrie] Yes.

[Starfire] Valkyerie is right. On my planet Tamaranians get along by our belief in ourselves. Even when other planets do not view us favorably.

[Arsenal] Tamaranians also kill each other all the time.

[Talon] Sounds fun.

*Everyone laughs.*

[Miss Martina] What about you? You never said anything about yourself.

[Raven] She makes a point. You can’t make others accept themselves if you can’t either.

*Valkyrie sighs.*

[Valkyrie] What do you want to know?

[Starfire] I believe it is wise to start with your real name.

[Valkyrie] Laeila Spitznogle.

[Talon] That’s just awful.

*Jason glares at him, but Valkyrie laughs.*

[Valkyrie] It is kind of bad isn’t it.

[Talon] To be an overweight, nerd with no friends and on top of it having a name like Spitznogle. The Gods were cruel to you.

[Miss Martian] I do not understand the joke.

[Raven] It’s not a good one. It’s ok.

[Arsenal] What happened with you and Jason?

[Jason] I saw her get raped and helped cover it up.

*Everyone gasped.*

[Starfire] Jason!

[Talon] And…

[Jason] And when she tried to commit suicide I didn’t do anything to stop it.

[Arsenal] What, Jason. How could you?

[Raven] He was scared.

[Miss Martian] It must be shocking for him to see a girl he barley knows swallow a handful of pills.

[Starfire] I don’t know if I can see you the same way.

[Valkyrie] What happened is between Jason and I.. It’s private.

[Arsenal] You are wearing his clothes…

*Everyone kind of looked away like they didn’t want to acknowledge it.*

[Miss Martian] Talon thinks Jason is taking advantage of her mental health.

*Talon face palms.*

[Talon] Telepaths.

[Jason] I’m not..

[Starfire] What problems?

[Raven] Valkyrie is schizophrenic.

*The room got silent.*

[Valkyrie] I have meds…

[Miss Martian] You also have Adhd, and cycle through Insomnia, Anxiety, Depression ,….

*Arsenal turns to Jason.*

[Arsenal] How could you let her enter this world?

[Valkyrie] He didn’t.

[Arsenal] He disappeared for a week and came back with you.

[Valkyrie] I went to the Joker…

[Talon] Now that’s a development.

[Valkyrie] A friend of mine was kidnapped. I offered the Joker a deal that involved Batman. So I hunted Batman down and had him train me.

[Arsenal] You got Batman to train you.

[Jason] Only for a month.

[Valkyrie] Afterwards I led them to the Joker and shot what I thought was the Joker in the head.

[Raven] Madness can’t be killed so easily.

[Valkyrie] No, it can’t.

[Starfire] So the Joker sticker on your car.

[Jason] It was from her.

[Valkyrie] I used Jason as my bargaining tool.

[Arsenal] Did you hate him that much that you would send him straight back into a show with him and Bruce.

[Valkyrie] No. It was just the only tool I had.

[Talon] I’m starting to like her.

*Arsenal punches the couch.*

[Arsenal] Jason you should of told us. We could of been there.

[Jason] That would of ruined the show.

[Starfire] Jason, we are your friends. We were worried.

[Arsenal] And now because of it we have a team full of nut jobs.

*Talon, Miss Martian, Raven and Valkyrie all looked down.*

[Jason] I owed her.

[Arsenal] Not your life.

[Starfire] Maybe he does, but that put our lives in danger well.

[Valkyrie] You guys were safe.

*Arsenal snarled at her.*

[Arsenal] You don’t know anything. You’ve been hero for what, a few months? We’ve been heroes for years. Nothing is safe once the Joker contaminates it.

*Jason looked to the floor.*

[Arsenal] You introduced a girl to a world she can’t handle.

[Starfire] I suppose Wild Card was an appropriate name for her then.

[Talon] It doesn’t really matter now. She has a lantern ring. She has to be part of this world.

*Valkyrie looks away.*

[Valkyrie] You wouldn’t understand.

[Arsenal] I’m sure you can bathe me in the purple light of yours and I’d be forced to understand.

*Starfire gasped.*

[Starfire] Roy. That’s not fair.

[Arsenal] What. You see the chains on her. How many of us are thinking that her sleeping with Jason is due to the rings effect.

[Miss Martian] Most of you are.

[Arsenal] See! We might as well be chained to her compassion as well.

[Raven] I don’t think the level of compassion she can cause on a person is that dangerous.

[Talon] I disagree. Empathy can get you killed.

[Miss Martian] I believe we have strayed from the point of this argument. We are supposed to be building a team.

[Starfire] So you have consented to being on it?

[Arsenal] If it even will exist after this point.

[Jason] Look, I know you and Strarfire created this team with me. And you don’t necessarily approve of my actions lately. But helping Valkyrie was something I had to do for myself. Finding Talon, Raven and Miss Martian was something I had to do for us. We need to make something of ourselves. Not just sulk in the shadows.

[Arsenal] We were making ourselves just fine when it was the three of us.

[Starfire] I have to agree with Roy. You brought in a bunch of unknown factors, Jason.

[Valkyrie] But that’s what makes it interesting. Getting to know new people.

[Aresenal] No one said Laeila. Did they?

[Jason] Be nice to her.

[Arsenal] Or what. Will you shoot me out of some perverse guilt you have for not helping her when she was fat.

*Jason grabbed his collar.*

[Jason] Say that again Harper.

[Arsenal] You abandoned her because she wasn’t pretty enough for you. It wasn’t a damsel in distress it was an ogre. Why else would you climb into bed with the girl who raped her.

*Valkyrie slapped Arsenal.*

[Valkyrie] How could you call me that?

*Starfires eyes lit up again.*

[Starfire] Don’t you dare touch Roy. Even if he is being a jackass.

*Talon pulled out a knife.*

[Talon] I am so ready for a rumble. Gonna display Redneck Red on my new mantle.

[Raven] Stay out of this Talon. I am warning you.

*Her hands lit up. Miss Martian took the chance to take a step back.*

[Valkyrie] Enough!

*She hit the bottom of her staff on the floor and a warm wave of purple light rolled over everyone. Calming everyone down, but Arsenal. But before he could do anything they found themselves a completely new room. Surrounded by people they never met.*

[Stranger #1] Hello Outlaws.

*The Outlaws looked at each other.*

[Arsenal] Goddammit Valkyerie! Where did you take us.

*The man smiled.*

[Stranger #1] She didn’t take you anywhere. I brought you here.

[Jason] Hello…Whatever your called?

*The man reached out his hand.*

[Jonathan] The name’s Jonathan. Welcome to 2026.

Jeanny & Coming Home – Falco