by CSyphrett
Continued from Justice League of America: Time, See What’s Become of Me?
Continued from The Phantom Stranger: A Helping Hand
Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance rode west in a car rented in Santa Fe, New Mexico. They had used the JLA’s teleporter to reach the city from Star City. It was a long drive to the small town of Dos Rios, but the couple was making good time along the highway.
“Do you want to talk about Moonday now?” Dinah asked. A mile marker said Dos Rios in 20 Miles.
“Not really anything to talk about, Pretty Bird,” said Oliver Queen. “She was just an old girlfriend, and we broke up.”
“You seemed shook up by Connor,” Dinah pointed out.
“I know he was from some kind of future, but he could have been my son,” said Oliver. “I hope our son or daughter will be as good as he seemed to be.”
“Our son or daughter?” Dinah said. Her eyebrow arched slightly.
“Why not?” said Oliver. “We’ve been talking about it for a while.”
“We have also talked about marriage, taxes, death, living wills…” said Dinah. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking about settling down.”
“Maybe not settling down…” said Oliver.
“You said Moonday left you,” said Dinah. “Did she say why?”
“Green Arrow,” said Oliver.
“She knew you were Green Arrow?” asked Dinah.
“No, she didn’t,” said Oliver. He sighed and said, “I guess it would be easier for me to start at the beginning.
“I met Moonday at a business luncheon. We were in competition for a contract, and I underbid her. She was angry at first, but we started a friendly rivalry after a while. She impressed me, even though we were in competition. I started running into her at functions and parties given by people we both knew at the time. Soon, we were going out — though at first only as friends, since at that time I was already seeing someone: Cynthia Horton. (*) We even made the society columns at the time; I suppose that was part of the reason Cindy and I broke up. That and the fact that we had absolutely nothing in common, while Moonday and I always seemed to be in sync with each other. After Cindy and I broke up, I went over to see Moonday one last time before I went on a long-needed vacation cruise, and we left each other with the understanding that we’d be together when I got back.”
[(*) Editor’s note: See “All My Sins Remembered,” Green Arrow #1 (May, 1983).]
He paused, thinking back to that small whirlwind that had been his life at the time. “Everything seemed perfect,” he finally said.
“What happened?” asked Dinah.
“I was marooned on Starfish Island for more than nine months, from late December, 1971, to October, 1972,” said Oliver. “That was how I became an archer, but I still hadn’t decided to use my skills to become a crime-fighter until several days after I got back to Star City. I attended a Halloween masquerade ball dressed as Robin Hood when a few criminals tried to rob the party. I stopped them using trick arrows and was shocked at how alive I felt when I single-handedly defeated all of them, me with my arrows against them with their guns. That was when I really became Green Arrow.
“Batman had debuted a year before I was marooned on Starfish Island, and I took a lot more inspiration from him than I did from Superman or any of the more obscure super-heroes around at the time. Reading about Batman’s Batcave and Batmobile, I kept myself so busy building my own Arrowcave beneath Queen Manor and developing my arsenal and the Arrowcar that I had only a handful of real cases in those first few months. I tried to pick up my relationship with Moonday, but she was different from when I had last seen her. At first, she seemed happy I was alive, but then we started fighting over little things.
“I’d already started patrolling regularly as Green Arrow and answering emergency calls — nickel-and-dime stuff, mostly; the costumed villains only came along a while later. Still, I couldn’t account for my whereabouts. We knew too many of the same people, and I think she called to check if I was at my office, but of course I was really beating some hijackers or bank robbers. I just wasn’t ready to tell her I was leading a double life. On Valentine’s Day, 1973, I went to pick her up for dinner.”
“She had left a letter with her assistant. She said she was leaving me and Star City, and she had sold everything she owned. She asked me not to try to find her, because she never wanted to see me again. I did look for her, though. I learned a lot about how to track people down the months I devoted to the search, but it was like Moonday had vanished into thin air. I haven’t seen her since.”
“Did Roy know?” asked Dinah.
“No. This all happened shortly before I met Roy and before he came on as my partner,” said Oliver. “I guess I was more Arrow than Queen after Moonday left me. I just didn’t have the time for a personal life. And I didn’t really have one again until I met you.”
“Dos Rios,” Dinah announced with a smile.
“Not much to look at,” said Oliver. “Let’s talk to the local sheriff. He’ll be able to give us better directions than a rural route that Bruce found.”
“Nervous?” asked Dinah.
“A little,” he replied.
Oliver and Dinah walked into the sheriff’s station. A woman with braided white hair stood behind the counter separating the working area from the public area. A man with brown hair stood on the public side of the counter.
“–every Friday,” the woman finished saying to the man, handing him some papers to sign on a clipboard.
“I will, Sheriff,” said the man, signing the papers rapidly. They both looked at the arriving couple when the bell on the door rang. Dinah was struck by the look of age both wore in their eyes, even though the man was as young as her or Ollie.
“How can I help you folks?” the Sheriff asked. The star on her plaid shirt gleamed slightly from sunlight through the window.
“We’re looking for someone who lives around here,” said Oliver. “Her name is Moonday Hawke.”
“Moonday Hawke?” said the sheriff. “Moonday doesn’t live around here anymore, mister.”
“Did she leave a forwarding address?” Oliver asked. The Sheriff looked at Oliver.
“Sheriff, I will handle this,” said the man unexpectedly. “If you will follow me, please. I will call next Friday as promised.”
“See that you do,” said the sheriff.
“The Sheriff doesn’t seem to like you,” said Dinah as the couple followed the stranger out of the building.
“She doesn’t,” said the stranger. He threw a leg over an old motorcycle that still seemed in perfect condition. “If you will follow me, I will take you where you need to go.” He pulled on a black helmet with red racing stripes on it.
“What’s your name, buddy?” Oliver asked.
“Lazarus Tremaine,” said the stranger. He kick-started the cycle to life and waited for the couple to get back in the rental car to follow him.
“Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance,” Oliver said before getting behind the wheel of the rental car.
Tremaine led the two out of town to a fenced-in piece of desert with a sign that simply said The Hill.
“This can’t be right,” said Oliver.
Tremaine pulled into the cemetery and cut his bike off. He pointed to a simple tombstone off to one side. He walked to another stone that had recently been erected. He bowed his head, holding his helmet under his arm.
Oliver and Dinah walked over to the tombstone marking Moonday’s grave. The death date was October 10, 1986.
“What happened?” said Oliver, utterly shocked.
“We’ll have to check back at the Sheriff’s office, Ollie,” said Dinah, touching his arm.
“Let’s ask Tremaine,” said Ollie. “He’s a local. He’ll know.”