Shayera stared at Bruce, green eyes round and wide, lips slightly parted in surprise. She had to have misheard him. "What?" she managed to ask in confusion, fighting the urge to close her eyes and lean into his hand. When was the last time someone had treated her with such…tenderness? It was strange…and weird. "Bruce," Shayera shook her head once.
"You need some rest," Bruce said, abruptly pulling away from her, the moment now broken. "We both do," he added, clearing his throat as he did so. Shayera nodded in agreement, the hardened mask of indifference returning to her face. She backed up further into the bed as Bruce turned off the light. He paused in the doorway before leaving the room. Shayera was able to see him perfectly. "You okay?" Bruce asked gruffly.
"Yes," Shayera answered, burrowing beneath the covers. "Thank you." Bruce nodded once and left the room, closing the door behind him.
The two heroes rode the lift in silence, both lost their own thoughts. Well…Shayera assumed Batman was lost in his own thought. They'd barely spoken at breakfast. She didn't see him at lunch. Dinner was morbid with Shayera treating it as if it was her last meal. She then sat alone in the hotel room until he returned.
Now, she was here. This was the last place she thought she'd ever return to. But she could sort of see the irony. The ones she was supposed to betray were handing her over to the ones she did betray. Everything really was coming full circle.
The lift finally came to a stop. This was it. Shayera shuffled nervously from one foot to the other. She was going to see her ex-teammates for the first time in two years. Oh joy, she thought to herself sarcastically as she stood behind Batman, handcuffed.
The doors finally opened. She followed Batman off the lift, and into the main hall where not only her teammates were waiting, but also four weaponless Thanagarians. She immediately recognized two of them. There was her ex-fiancée, Katar. And the stern one with hateful frown was her younger sister, Issi. The other two very tall and very muscular Thanagarians she did not recognize, though, she didn't have to guess what their purpose was.
Although all four wore masks, nothing could hide the disgust and sneers from their faces. The hate in their eyes were almost as bad as Diana's and John's. Almost. Shayera took a quick glance at the other ex-teammates of hers. Flash looked torn. Superman looked a little regretful; and J'ohnn, well, no one ever knew what J'ohnn was thinking. But for the first time ever, Shayera let the walls in her mind down giving J'ohnn full access to her thoughts. The twitch of his lip was the only reaction he gave showing his surprise at such a gesture. Batman stood to the side as Shayera walked to stand in front of Issi. "Issi. Katar."
"Well, if it isn't the traitorous bitch herself," Issi spoke in the Thanagar tongue. "We lost a lot of good soldiers because of you."
"We lost a lot of good soldiers because of this stupid war with the Gordanians. It's gone on long enough," Shayera replied in kind.
"We?" Issi spoke, this time in English. "There is no 'we'." She motioned to the two huge Thanagarians who immediately stepped forward, each holding one of her arms in a painful grip, forcing Shayera all the way to the floor. What were they doing? She then felt Issi take a fistful of hair and slam her head against the floor, hard. A wave of panic overtook Shayera. She knew exactly what was going on. But…they were going to do it here – in front of her ex-teammates? Oh, the humiliation. "What are you doing?" she heard Flash ask as she felt Katar's hands on her wings. "I'm sorry," she heard Katar whisper softly.
"Do it," she heard Issi give the command. Shayera clenched her teeth, bracing herself for the pain. A sickening crack filled the room, and Shayera released a bloodcurdling scream. "What are you doing!" she heard the panic in Flash's voice. She tried to break away from the hands holding her down, but she couldn't. Another crack followed by another heart wrenching scream. Tears poured down her face. She couldn't take the pain anymore.
In the back of her mind, Shayera was barely able to register yelling and screaming coming from the leaguers. Suddenly, the pressure on her back, arms, and legs disappeared. She lay on her stomach, her body convulsing, blood coming from her mouth and nose. Her vision was blurry. But from what she could make out, Superman had Katar pinned against a wall. Wonder Woman and Issi were engaged in hand-to-hand combat. She didn't know where the other two Thanagarian guards were, but she could only assume they were engaging Flash and Green Lantern in a fight of their own.
She blinked once. This time Batman was kneeling over her, staring at her through his cowl. His lips were moving, but she had no idea what he was saying. She could feel J'ohnn in her mind, trying to sooth her. A cold, gloved hand rested on her head while the word, Sleep, was whispered in her mind repeatedly. The last thing she saw before she let blackness overtake her, was Batman's lips forming her name.
She was unconscious. Good, Batman sighed as he left his hand gently wresting under her head. He wanted to move her, but her wings were hanging on by a thread, barely attached to her body. Also, how much blood did Thanagarians have in their body? He was kneeling in at least two quarts of blood, but the red stuff was still pouring from her body. "I put her to sleep," J'ohnn said from beside him. He sounded as worried as Batman felt. "She was in too much pain," the Martian began to explain.
"No, I get it," Batman interrupted him. "We need to stop the bleeding…and her wings…" Batman released an annoyed breath. He needed to think, but he couldn't get any thinking done with the other founding leaguers yelling and fighting. So, he did the most un-Batman, un-Bruce Wayne thing he could do in the situation. He shouted. "ENOUGH!" Everyone froze as his voice echoed loudly throughout the hall. His teammates stopped their fighting and stared at him in shock. "Did Batman just…yell?" Flash asked, dropping the body of an unconscious guard.
"I think so," Green Lantern answered in a low voice, releasing a Thanagarian guard from the giant, green, birdcage. Superman released Katar, while Wonder Woman and Issi separated. "What is the meaning of this?" the female lieutenant demanded. Batman ignored her. "I'll take her to the infirmary," the Martian Manhunter said, gingerly picking Shayera up before phasing through the floor with her. "I said," the female lieutenant took a menacing step towards Batman, "what is the meaning of this?"
"You tell us," Flash replied angrily.
"We agreed to hand Shayera over to you," Wonder Woman stated shakily, "we did not agree for her to be tortured."
"Exactly what else did you plan to do with her?" Green Lantern demanded.
"Why does it matter to you?" Issi spat at him. "She is viperae. A traitor."
"Yeah, yeah," Flash waved her off. "If she hadn't betrayed you, all humans would most likely still be enslaved or dead."
"Oh please," Katar said while popping his shoulder back into place, "she is a traitor to you, just like she is to us."
"She's our friend!" Flash argued.
Issi scoffed. "You willingly handed her over to us knowing full well she would be punished."
"We didn't think you would do…that," Wonder Woman said.
"Please don't insult our intelligence, Princess," Katar sneered. "You of all people know the punishment for betraying one's people on Thanagar. You're not an idiot! Don't pretend to be one!"
"What else did you have in store for her?" Superman asked, his eyes glowing red. A method of intimidation most affective with 90% of the universe proved massively ineffective with the Thanagarians. "That's none of your concern," Issi said stepping up to the angry Kryptonian.
"You were going to take her wings and then abandon her on a planet," Batman finally spoke.
"How did you know that?" Flash asked. Batman ignored him. "Which planet?" Batman asked. He was met with silence. "She comes with us," Katar said.
"No, she is not," Batman argued calmly, his voice remaining monotone.
"We had a deal."
"One that is now null and void thanks to your antics here today," Superman said.
"We're keeping," Batman said, turning away from them.
"No," Issi replied. "She must come with us."
"Why?" Superman asked as it seemed that Batman was done with…everyone. "It shouldn't matter. You've left her here for two years. Why is she so important now?" Issi and Katar stared at each other communicating silently. Katar gave a slight nod. "She's to be handed over to the Gordanians as part of our peace pact," Issi answered.
"What!" Green Lantern yelled in shock, "are you insane? Do you know what they'll do to her?"
"Not our problem," was Issi's flippant response.
"Handing her over to your enemy," Flash said.
"Shayera made herself the enemy when she disobeyed orders," Katar said. "This is her punishment." Batman continued walking. The rest of the league could figure this out. Right now, there was a Thanagarian who was presumably on her deathbed. He needed to be there. He just hoped they wouldn't have to take her wings.
