Something had changed within Shayera after Wonder Woman's tirade. And you didn't have to be Batman to figure that out. The longer they remained at the Watchtower, the more she withdrew into herself. Bruce feared that she would digress into the Shayera still coping with wing loss. Actually, the loss of her wings still bothered her. But that was a wound that would probably never fully heal. When he and Shayera returned to the mansion, she informed him that she was tired and needed to sleep. He let her go. He would talk to her later. But he soon trudged up the stairs after her. Usually he would take his suit off before leaving the cave, but tonight, he was just too exhausted. He was going to sleep in his Batman uniform – minus the cape, mask, and anything that could possibly impale him while he slept. He fell onto his bed and looked at the time. 6:30. Dang it. And he couldn't stay home. Today was a show-up-to-work day. There were a number of meetings he had to attend. He needed an hour to rest. Unfortunately, he couldn't shut his mind off. He thought about Lobo and the repercussions that had yet to follow. He thought about Shayera and what their next action should be. He thought about what little he knew of the Gordanians. He thought about Shayera. He thought about the business meetings he needed to attend and the topics he needed to bring up. And then he thought about Shayera, again. She was a whirlwind of – he didn't know. All he knew was that he liked her. A lot. And instead of throwing up walls, like he expected, she threw up a maze. A complicated maze that he couldn't figure out. It was…different and unexpected. But he was not perturbed. Bruce never backed down from a problem, and he loved solving intricate puzzles. Alas, he would solve the Shayera Maze later. For now, he had to figure out how to hunt down another bird.
Issi went to her parents for some council. Now that Lobo was out of the picture, they needed to regroup and come up with a new plan. "This is a good plan," Talov said after hearing her idea about getting the Gordanians to help them. "Yes. We should work with the Gordanians to capture the traitor, since they want her so badly."
"But what about the Justice League? We promised to leave Earth alone," Issi stated.
"No," her mother, Che-yara, said. "We promised to leave the Justice League alone. If they had payed attention to our wording at the time, they would know that, too."
"My spy got captured by them a week ago," Issi admitted. "She was my best recruit. Now I have no idea where they are hiding Shayera."
"Well when you rescue this spy of yours, you need to make an example of her. Ignorance and weakness will not be tolerated on Thanagar," her father, Talov, said.
"Should I banish her?"
"Goodness, no," her mother answered. "Kill her in front of everyone. Make it known to your recruits that any and all failures will be dealt with harshly." Issi nodded in agreement. "To answer your question about finding her, maybe activate the homing device chip we have in her arm."
"She had that removed long ago."
"Not the traitor," her mom snapped. "The chip in your recruit's arm."
"Hmm," Issi said thoughtfully, "that may not lead me to Shayera, but that would definitely lead me to Shri."
"Send your best assassin to her. One that is also a torture master. Someone there knows where she is, and we can put your spy's head on the front door. It will serve as a reminder to the recruits."
"The league may see the killing of someone on their territory as an act of war."
"What are they going to do?" Talov asked. "Last time we invaded, they had the advantage. We had a disloyal traitor in our midst, feeding them information. But now, now they won't have the advantage. We will send the entirety of our army. Show them what real soldiers look like." Talov walked over to a window. "I had such high hopes for your older sister," he said looking at the starless sky above Thanagar. "But she was ungrateful and followed her own path. A disgrace to Thanagarians and what we stand for," he balled up his fists.
"We should have seen the signs. You remember that day she saved that pathetic boy?" Che-yara spat.
"Like it was yesterday," Talov replied. "But you are better than her," he turned to face Issi. "You are now the pride of Thanagar, and soon, you will be it's ruler. The gods will smile favorably upon you. Finish this mission, and then we will continue our war with the Gordanians while they believe we are at peace."
"They won't know what hit them," Issi said with a smirk.