That woman was a hawk. A Thanagarian. An undercover Thanagarian. But a Thanagarian no less. Carter took a sip from his coffee mug, his blue eyes never leaving the hawk who had just turned left into a shady alley. She was short for a Thanagarian. And young. Probably a teen. But what was she doing here? The last time Thanagar sent a spy, they invaded Earth two years later. This wasn't good. Carter stood up from the small table in the coffee shop and slapped down a few bills on the table. He would continue observing from a distance.

Nope. She refused. Shayera sat on the side of the bed with her arms crossed, eyeing the walking stick leaning against the nightstand. "No," she said to herself. "I'm not going to do it."

"Shayera!" she heard Bruce call from the other side of her closed door. "Are you decent?" Shayera looked down at what she was wearing. Yoga pants and a sweatshirt. "You can come in," Shayera replied. Bruce opened her bedroom door looking immaculate in his suit and tie. "We've been waiting for you. I thought you wanted to join us this morning."

"I refuse to use a walking stick," Shayera said, sticking her lip out in an adorable pout.

"You have to practice walking, and since you can only take two steps before collapsing, ergo the walking stick."

"No. I am not an elderly citizen."

"Old people aren't the only ones who use canes, Shayera," Bruce said looking down at her with humor. "Besides, no one is going to see you. Just me, Alfred, Jason, and Tim. It's not like you'll be out in public."

"No."

"You're being difficult and stubborn."

"Go," Shayera said pointing to the door.

"Shayera – "

"I refuse to use that cane in front of you." Bruce rolled his eyes. "I will be downstairs to see you off to work, honey," Shayera said mockingly. Bruce studied her momentarily before turning on his heel and walking out the room. Shayera inhaled and exhaled deeply. "I hate my life," she muttered before reaching for the cane.

Shayera slowly but surely made her way to the dining room. And it only took her 20 whole minutes. Bruce said nothing as she approached the table. He looked at her. He looked at the cane. He then looked down at his breakfast attempting to hid his face. "Lose the smirk," Shayera uttered in annoyance.

"How do you feel?" Bruce asked looking up at her, no trace of a smirk on her face.

"Well, my back no longer feels like it's on fire every time I move. My legs feel weak, but the numbness and shooting pain is gone," she said as she sat.

"A physical therapist will be here late morning."

"What? Why?" Shayera asked as Alfred set a plate down in front of her. "Thank you, Alfred."

"It is my pleasure, Miss Shayera," the kind butler replied, "and may I say, it is good to see you up and about." Shayera gave the butler a small smile before turning her attention back to Bruce. "You have a random therapist coming here to work on me?"

"She isn't a random therapist," Bruce stated. Shayera narrowed her eyes at him before asking, "Did you sleep with her?" While she'd been on bedrest, Jason had provided her with numerous reading materials – all tabloids.

"No, I did not sleep with her. But I do trust her. It seems like your body's healing ability is finally kicking in. I anticipate you to be walking around by yourself by the end of this week."

"You are way too optimistic," Shayera said sticking a forkful of food in her mouth.

"I'm always optimistic when it comes to you."

Lobo tapped his foot impatiently, in the empty hall, eyeing the two stoic Thanagarian female guards in their gold armor. As much as Thanagarians annoyed him, these two were kind of hot. He'd been trying to get a rise from them for half-an-hour, but they acted like he didn't exist. "Screw this," he was tired of waiting. "Tell her highness that I'm gone," he said, about to leave. Suddenly, the biggest door he had ever seen opened, out came two female Thanagarians and one male. Lobo guessed by the shininess of their armor and the flowing capes, these were the ones calling the shots on this ostentatious planet. He couldn't see any of their faces. Damned masks, Lobo thought. "Lobo, I presume," the female walking in front of the two others.

"That's me, darling. Why do y'all have gold wings surrounding your planet? Do you know how hard it is to navigate through those?" They all ignored him, their gazes steady. This is why he hated these hawk people, they thought themselves above every other being in the universe. "I am Lieutenant Issi Hol. I've been told you are the best bounty hunter in the universe. Is this true?"

"Uh…yeah," the audacity of these bird-nosed –

"We have a job for you." A picture of a starling attractive woman appeared on the Thanagarian's wrist hologram.

"Who's this beauty?" he asked. His day was finally getting interesting.

"A disgraced Thanagarian taking refuge on Earth. We need her brought to us alive." Lobo scoffed. Him…take on a Thanagarian by himself? The last time he did that, he couldn't leave his bed for a week. "Don't worry. It shouldn't be too hard," the female said as if she was reading his thoughts. "She no longer has wings."

"No wings? How'd that happen?"

"She needed to pay for her crimes, so we tore them from her back," the Thanagarian stated nonchalantly. That's messed up, Lobo thought. "That's…brutal," Lobo said. "How'd she manage to escape you all if she doesn't have wings?" Judging by the downturn of the lieutenant's lips, she did not appreciate his question. "Why does it matter?" she asked.

"Just curious."

"Can you do it?" the lieutenant asked.

"I ain't cheap darling," Lobo said with a smirk.

"Can. You. Do. It," she punctuated each word.

"Yes."

"Name your price," she said.

"I don't want much. Just a sword made from that fancy metal y'all are so protective of." As soon as he said it, the female behind the lieutenant started speaking very fast in a language he did not understand. The lieutenant simply held up her hand, stopping the female mid-sentence. She then said one sentence to the female, not taking her eyes off Lobo for one second. The female turned away begrudgingly and disappeared behind the huge doors; leaving Lobo, the Lieutenant, the lieutenant's male friend, and the two guards in an uncomfortable silence. "You know, I've always wondered something," Lobo said, "do y'all females give birth to live children, or do you squat and lay eggs like a bird?" he teased. Lobo laughed out loud while the Thanagarians said nothing. They didn't even flinch. Thankfully, the doors opened, and the female who had left came back with a long rectangle briefcase. She handed it to her lieutenant, who held it open for Lobo to see. In it was lying the most beautifully crafted, silver sword he had ever laid eyes on it. He slowly and reverently lifted it out of the case. He tested the balance; he swung it around. It was surprisingly really light. Lobo thought it would be heavier. "Satisfied?" the lieutenant asked.

"Immensely," he said, giving her a 100-watt smile. The lieutenant visibly grimaced. So she wasn't made of marble. "When do you need her delivered?"

"A month. Alive."

"Done. See you in a month, bird people." Lobo couldn't wait to get off of this stupid planet and be done with these damn creatures.