Shayera kept her eyes closed and meditated while she waited for Commissioner Gordon to return. He was kind enough to have the windows so Shayera didn't worry about suffocating in the car. What really worried her was the fact that she couldn't spread her wings so far apart. Shayera never could handle claustrophobia well like her co-captains. During her training to become an officer, Shayera nearly failed the preliminary tests when she almost bashed her way out of the tunnel she was required to crawl through, but she had held her breath and quickly crawled out of the tunnel. Of course, back on Thanagar it was a tunnel where it seemed to go on forever. Here, she was in a caged tin box. She would personally rather take the tunnel over this, but she wants things to go easy so she continued her meditation and ignored the growing unease.
Time seemed to pass by very slowly and Shayera was tempted to lie back against her seat and fall asleep as she waited for Gordon to contact her. She watched from her seat as people walked by the alley, going about their business and enjoying the bright sun. Shayera wanted to feel the sun for herself since she spent most of her time here on this planet in the dark and gloom. Shayera tried to stretch her legs, but found that she had little legroom and while she's thinking about it, she has no wing room. The bars surrounding her made the room she had feel very small. Claustrophobia reared its ugly head again and Shayera tried to stretch her arms but found her wings blocking her attempt. Shayera began to hyperventilate and moved towards her door. She gripped the handle and attempted to open the door. When it didn't budge against her frantic attempts, Shayera muttered, "Forgive me, Commissioner Gordon."
Shayera folded her wings as tight as she could and with her shoulder, she launched herself against the door and broke free. She fell on the ground and quickly stood up. She flexed her wings and Shayera gave herself five seconds to stretch before focusing back on her mission. It was only when she began to pay attention to her surroundings did she hear murmurs behind her. She turned around to see bystanders gawking at her. She must be quite the sight for these people in her armor and with wings. She stood tall and stared down the bystanders, daring any of them to approach her. It was honestly the most uncomfortable moment for Shayera as people took out a small handheld device and began to press buttons. Based on her information-deposit by the Absorbascon, cell phones were an essential part in a human's life. By the sounds of it, Shayera knew they were taking pictures of her.
She almost reached for her mace in an attempt to scare them off when an explosion rocked the building. The humans screamed and began to run for cover and Shayera ducked behind Gordon's vehicle for cover. She looked around the alley to be sure she was alone and quickly ran the other way of the alley. There were more humans screaming and Shayera could see the large smoke cloud running from the building next to her. Shayera quickly hid behind the corner of the wall to see a well-dressed human approach the building with an eyepiece. Observing the man, Shayera could tell that he was responsible for the blast by the way he approached the burning building and was fingering his eyepiece. His eyepiece is actually a worthy piece of technology in Shayera's mind. As she observed it closely with her vision, she was able to see the almost invisible wires inside the eyepiece that help power it up. She watched as the man spoke to someone inside the building and he fired again inside, Shayera quickly ran back into the alley as the man made another entrance for her to enter in the alley. Shayera looked inside and to her relief, Commissioner Gordon was fine and was wielding his weapon in his hand. A scream distracted Shayera and she saw a female fall from the ceiling and onto the ground. A man next to Gordon screamed for the girl and attempted to reach her, but the eyepiece wearing man attempted to end his life with a blast. Shayera immediately assessed the dangers and launched herself into the building, flying to the girl and shielding her from the blast. Shayera had curled her wings around herself and the girl to protect them from the blast. Shayera almost scoffed at the human's beam. It was nothing compared to a Gordanian's energy blast, so her armor was stable enough to withstand the human's beams. When Shayera was sure they were safe, she slowly stood and turned to the man, taking in immense pleasure at seeing his shock run across his face before it was replaced by fear.
Commissioner Gordon was nervous as he knocked on Emmett's door. It was a real risk having to ask a favor from Emmett knowing that he was jeopardizing his job, but he had faith that Emmett would keep his head to reason and listen to him. The door opened to reveal a young pretty brunette opening the door and exclaiming in surprise, "Oh! Commissioner Gordon! This is a pleasant surprise!"
"Hello Kendra. May I speak with Commissioner Emmett please?" asked Gordon.
"Um, sure? He's kind of in a mood though, so I'd be careful if I were you." Informed Kendra as she led Gordon inside the office. On the other side of the room was the real office door to Commissioner Emmett's office. Gordon had often wished he had an office similar to it, but knew that he had a pretty good set-up back at Gotham. As he approached the door, he could hear angry shouting at the other side and quickly shook off his ill feelings at a possible argument. Gordon had a very long night and was only able to make it through it by holding conversations with Shayera so he needed to make the introductions quickly and try to establish a common ground between the two. The only thing Gordon has though was that this Shayera Hol and George Emmett are both officers of the law, but would that be enough to actually make Emmett accept Shayera into Midway and help her in her mission?
Gordon knocked on the office door and waited until the shouting stopped. The door opened to reveal a broad-shouldered, white-haired man with a handlebar moustache. Gordon smiled and greeted, "Howdy George."
"Jim? Aren't you a sight for sore eyes? Come in, come in!" greeted Emmett with a smile on his face. He just got off the phone with first the press and then the District Attorney who were harassing him about the mafia's latest trial that will be appearing next week. If Emmett doesn't provide enough evidence at the trial, then Mob Boss Harrison will be released free and the drug trafficking will continue in Midway.
"What's bring you to Midway Jim? Having problems with the Bat?" asked Emmett as he and Gordon sat down in their respective chairs.
"No, I'm good on that end George. I just have a favor to ask is all." Said Gordon. Emmett nodded his head and asked, "Well if it's in my jurisdiction then sure."
"See… I have recently met a Captain that is in need of some help locating several stolen items." Explained Gordon, going for the half-truth.
"And she came to you and now you both need my help?" asked Emmett, wondering where this was going.
"Yes, see we believe that the thief has hidden several of the items in or around Midway but he is currently in a hospital so he's not going to say much." Explained Gordon.
"Alright, then bring her in and we can discuss how we can proceed from here." Said Emmett. As soon as the words left his mouth though, an explosion was heard outside the building. The building shook from the blast and both Commissioners stood up from their seats and ran out the office, guns in hand and ready for anything.
"Kendra! Stay inside! I'll be right back." Ordered Emmett as Kendra hid underneath her desk. Police officers and detectives were running around helping the wounded or getting ready for what might greet them. Emmett and Gordon both crouched behind an upturned desk and looked over to see a man with a monocle walk into the police building.
"JONATHAN!" yelled Emmett, recognizing the man as he calmly walked in and surveyed the damage. Jonathan Cheval was an honest business who had recently lost his fortune to a bad deal with Mob Boss Harrison. He always called the police station demanding that the money be returned to him, but with the tight-knit contract that Cheval signed with Harrison there was no way to return his money. Now here he was blasting the police headquarters.
"Good morning Commissioner Emmett, I see that you have received my call." Greeted Jonathan with a wry tone in his voice.
"WHAT THE FUCK!" yelled Emmett as Jonathan reached for his monocle and it began to charge in power.
"I am here to receive the justice that is owed to me, starting with the lack of police activity in retrieving my fortune back." Said Jonathan as he fired the monocle in a straight line across the building. Fire erupted on the wooden furniture while many of the police officers and detectives dove out of the way to avoid getting cut in half by the beam. Many tried to fire their weapons at Jonathan but he was a step ahead of them. The bullets hit him, but they did nothing on him.
"Bullet-proof materials Emmett, something the Police should think about actually funding for." Mocked Jonathan.
He fired another beam and walls were blasted open while the ceilings cracked open. A familiar scream caught Emmett's attention and he turned to see in horror as Kendra fell through the ceiling and into the middle of Jonathan's sights. "KENDRA!" he yelled as he made a move towards her, only to be pulled back by Gordon as Jonathan attempted to fry Emmett when he tried to leave the safety of his hiding place.
"YOU SIDED WITH THOSE RATS AND DIDN'T EVEN ATTEMPT TO HELP ME, EMMETT! NOW WATCH AS I TAKE EVERYTHING YOU HAVE!" screamed Jonathan as he fired a beam at the girl. For Emmett, things seemed to have slowed down and he watched as the beam was fired at his only niece. He screamed and thrashed against Gordon, who held him back as he tried to run to his niece. Then, in almost out of nowhere, a gold blur rushed into the building from the open walls and encircled around his niece. The beam hit the intended target, but it seemed to bounce off the gold figure. Emmett watched in amazement as the gold figure rose into a standing position and turned to face Jonathan, who was quaking in his shoes. His attention shifted back to his niece who was curled up against the wall, eyes wide as she looked at her guardian. `
"Kendra! Come here!" said Emmett as he gestured to his niece to come towards him. Kendra stared wide-eyed at the angel that saved her life. She wasn't exactly a committed religious person but she still went to church with her Aunt Alice to know an angel when she sees one. The beautiful grey wings were covered from the top by the gold armor and they were spread out to shield Kendra from any other blasts. Kendra heard her uncle whisper to her urgently again and she quickly crawled over to his safe arms. Once safe in her uncle's arms, Kendra turned to see the angel fully and realized that she had a more hawk-like appearance than a holy appearance. She looked fierce and deadly, a combination that made the man with the monocle look at the woman in fear.
"You will not harm anyone else, ever." Commanded the woman in such an authoritive voice that Kendra found it difficult to believe that the monocle man didn't follow through. "Oh? You think that getting lucky once grants you the right to command me? I don't think so." Snarled the monocle man. He powered up the monocle and blaster at her with full power. Light engulfed the angel and Kendra had to shield her eyes from the powerful light. When everything was dimmed down, Kendra smiled in relief, as the woman remained standing with a mace in hand.
"Wh-What are you?" said the monocle man in fear as he backed away.
"None of your concerns." Said the angel and faster than anyone can react, she flew at the monocle man and with her talon-hand she crushed the monocle and with her mace knocked the man out of the building and on top of a parked car. The monocle man groaned in pain but didn't make an attempt to stand up. The angel made a move as though to continue the fight but Kendra watched as Commissioner Gordon got up and yelled, "CAPTAIN! HE'S DOWN! STAND DOWN!"
Shayera heard Commissioner Gordon yell an order and decided to heed his command… for now. If the weak man decided to get up from the vehicle, Shayera was going to make sure he became a permanent part of the car. He was only lucky that Shayera had put it in a mild swing in her mace. She walked to Commissioner Gordon and said, "Now that the pleasantries are over with, perhaps we can get back into business."
"PUT YOUR HANDS UP!" yelled the voice of Commissioner Emmett. Shayera and Commissioner Gordon both turned to see Emmett, along with most of the Midway City Police Department pointing their guns at Shayera.
"WAIT! EMMETT!" yelled Gordon, trying to get his friend's attention.
"JIM! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" yelled Emmett, his sights trained on the woman. He ignored Kendra's cries for him to stop and slowly approached the woman.
"Put your hands up where I can see them." He said. The woman only stared at him and he found it difficult to read her face with her mask on. The woman continued to stare at him, refusing to obey his orders.
"I said, put your hands up." Ordered Emmett again.
"George, listen to me." tried Gordon again. He moved in front of Shayera and said, "George listen to me. Remember the captain that I was telling you about? Well, this is she."
George gave Jim a look but slowly relaxed and signaled to the rest of the officers to do so as well. Gordon took a deep breathe at successfully avoiding a potential disaster and said, "Commissioner George Emmett of the Midway City Police Department, I'd like to introduce to you Captain Shayera Hol of the Thanagarian Law Enforcements."
Murmurs passed by the crowd of witnesses and officers as they watched the woman slowly approach the Commissioner. She reached for her mace, causing everybody to stiffen in response, but gave the handle of the mace for the Commissioner to hold. Emmett eyed the offering and cautiously grabbed the handle, grunting when the woman released her hold to reveal the actual weight of the weapon. Emmett glanced at the woman and saw her remove her weaponized arm brace. She too handed it over for him to hold. Emmett looked at the woman in suspicion but said, "Alright then, what is it that you want."
Shayera looked at the man with new respect and said, "I need your help in locating artifacts that had been hidden in your city."
"Artifacts? What artifacts?" asked Emmett.
"I don't know exactly what it is which is why I require your help." said Shayera.
Emmett looked at the woman in surprise but said, "Alright. I'll help, but if you're going to be in my city then you are going to be doing things my way then. And after we find them, I want you out." With that, he handed back the weapons and turned to walk back into the police headquarters, wrapping his arms around his niece as he led her back inside.
"Well, I'll be honest. I expected a lot worse," said Gordon as he took out his pipe and began to smoke. Shayera just looked at him and offered a weak smile.
"Why did you try to arrest her?" asked Kendra as she followed her uncle back in the police headquarters.
"Kendra, if you want to join the police force then you must know that it is the duty of the policeman to serve and protect the community. I will not have some superhero decide to call the shots in my city." said Emmett, already feeling the earlier frustrations of the morning coming back to him.
"She saved my life from something that looked like it couldn't be stopped. Doesn't that count?" asked Kendra, wondering why her uncle held such opposition against the woman.
"It does, Kendra. Which is why I agreed to help. I want her out though. People like her? They always attract the wrong crowd Kendra. Wh-Why do you think Metropolis is in a constant state of destruction? Superman, he has his heart in the right place, but where do you think all these 'villains' come from? Some sick man always wants to be the one to take down the superhero and they begin to cause trouble just to get attention for the man to come in and try to save the day. Kendra, Superheroes have good intentions yes. But they go about it the wrong way. They completely disregard police investigations and evidence; they have no respect for the law by going about things their own way, and they answer to no one. This is why I don't like superheroes." said Emmett.
"If I may speak on my behalf, Commissioner?" said a voice behind Emmett. He turned to see the woman back and said, "You may."
"I am not from this planet, so please don't assume that I am familiar with the hostilities between those that you call superheroes and yourself. I name is Captain Shayera Hol and I serve under the Thanagarian Law Enforcement. I am… a police officer from the planet Thanagar."
"You… You're alien?" asked Emmett, not believing that there in front of him was an actual alien from outer-space.
"Yes? To be fair, I can say that in both our perspectives we are all alien. I came here to Earth by accident chasing down a criminal from my home world. I managed to stop him, but it seems he may have hidden some of the stolen artifacts and have scattered them across you city." explained Shayera,
"You said though that you have no idea what they are." said Emmett.
"I don't, but if anything seems to appear non-human or if anything seems to be out of the ordinary, I would like for you to contact me. It is dangerous to have these artifacts out where anyone might find them." explained Shayera.
"So you want to stay in Midway?" asked Kendra, speaking up for the first time. She ignored the look her uncle sent her and continued to look at the woman.
"Yes, I have no way to communicate with you other than staying in the city and dropping in the police station to ask." said Shayera.
"You can stay at our house." offered Kendra, once again ignoring the furious look her uncle sent her.
"Thank you but I must decline your offer. I too need to be searching for the artifacts, so I must be on my way." said Shayera as she turned to leave.
"Hold on! Where will you be exactly?" demanded Emmett, not liking how this was turning. Shayera seemed surprised by his demands but responded respectfully, "I will be by the national park: Byth crash-landed there so I must trace his steps in order to know exactly where he might have hidden the artifacts."
"Alright, if we're going to be doing this 'partnership' then you need to report to the police headquarters every day so I know that you won't be doing anything other than search for your artifacts." said Emmett, wanting to establish rules if he was going to allow an alien cop fly around his city.
"Agreed." said Shayera.
"And another, I want you to have someone from the police station with you at all times."
"That will slow down my progress." argued Shayera.
"Maybe, but I want to feel more secure to know that one of my men will be with you."
"Alright then, who do you have in mind?"
"I'll do it." volunteered Kendra. Emmett threw her a furious look and said, "That's enough out of you young lady."
"Uncle, I'm old enough to look after myself. Trust me!" argued Kendra, feeling a bit embarrassed at being treated like a child in front of the alien cop.
"We'll discuss this later. Do you agree to my terms?" asked Emmett. Shayera nodded her head and left the building, feeling a slight bit of tension between the young girl and her uncle. Shayera could recall the many times she has often sided with her uncles back home. Home. Shayera held back her feelings of despair and hoped that whatever Byth hid might help her find her way home. She was outside and met with Gordon, who was getting ready to leave for Gotham.
"So how'd it go?" asked Gordon.
"About as well as I could hope for. He's strict but he has his people's interest in his mind." said Shayera.
"You'll be ok here by yourself?"
"Yes, I am confident that I can perhaps win over Commissioner Emmett's favor with time. We just finished establishing an understanding between us."
"That's good. Now listen, if you ever want someone to talk with, I'll be in Gotham. I'm sure though you have a way to communicate with our mutual friend."
"Yes, he-"
"Wait! The less I know, the better. Trust me. Keep in touch ok?" said Gordon.
"I will. Thank you for everything Commissioner Gordon."
"Call me Jim, Shayera. I feel that we are at that point where I can call you my friend." said Gordon as he gave a final wave and left in his car back to Gotham. Shayera smiled at his offer of friendship and hoped that she could win over the people of Midway City during her (hopefully) brief stay here on Earth.