Bruce laughed animatedly with the rest of the table as he listened to his friend regale their companions with the story of their climbing misadventure. "Bruce," Bruce turned to the gorgeous female, Sienna, sitting next to him. "Weren't you scared?" her blue eyes dancing with mirth.
"Of course not," Bruce said giving her his usual cocky, playboy smile. "Harvey was there to protect me." The beautiful Gotham socialite rolled her eyes. "Actually," Harvey interrupted, "one of those hawk people saved our billionaire friend. A female hawk person," he emphasized. Sienna gasped with a hand to her chest, drawing attention to her cleavage. "Is that right, Bruce?" she asked in a soft voice. "I thought they were all gone."
"Apparently not all of them," Harvey said.
"What did she look like?" another member of their small dinner party, Charles, asked.
"She looked…" Bruce's voice trailed off as he tried searching for the right word. "Haggard," he said as he recalled Shayera's appearance. There had been dirt smudges on her face. Her hair, once short and wavy, was now long and stringy and in desperate need of a wash. Her wings, once fluffy and white, looked thin and dirty and weak. Instead of her usual Hawkgirl attire, she had been dressed in loose sweatpants and tank top. She looked thin, extremely thin. Her cheeks were hollowed in. Her eyes were empty and hopeless. Despite all that, Bruce still thought her beautiful. "Haggard, yes," Harvey echoed. "But bang-able."
"Harvey!" Sienna screeched.
"Harvey," a blonde-haired woman named Samantha chastised, "have some respect."
"For those vultures?" Charles scoffed raising his wine glass to his lips. "Please."
"She saved Bruce," Sienna said.
"So?" Charles answered. "You may have forgotten what those…things did to our planet, but I haven't."
"We don't know her story," Samantha said.
"I don't need to know it," Charles said. "She's no good. We should report her."
"To whom?"
"I don't know…the UN?" Charlie answered. Bruce let his mind wander as the two started bickering back and forth. He had a million questions and zero answers. Why was she still on Earth? How was she still on Earth? Where was she staying? What was she doing in the mountains? He needed to investigate. He stood up. "Well, I'm beat after my near-death experience," he smiled. "I'm going to bed."
"Would you like some company?" Sienna asked with a knowing smile. Bruce wasn't an idiot; she had been giving him signs all night. Any other night, he would have taken her up on her offer, but tonight he had work to do. He opened his mouth to politely decline when his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID. The bat signal appeared. "I'm sorry," Bruce apologized, his tone no longer playful. "This is important. I have to go." He barely registered her crestfallen face when he turned and walked away. "I wouldn't mind some company," he heard Harvey say, followed by a loud slap.
"Talk," Bruce answered gruffly once he was in the safety of his hotel room.
"Well hello to you too," he heard Clark on the other end.
"You wanted something."
"We need you at the Watchtower. Now."
"This can't wait?"
"I wouldn't contact you like this if it weren't an emergency."
"Fine. I'll send J'ohnn my coordinates." Bruce hung up.
Five minutes later Bruce found himself in full Batman gear, standing in the main hall of the Watchtower. Superman and Wonder Woman stood across from Flash, Green Lantern, the Martian Manhunter, and Batman. "Thank you for coming on short notice," Superman began. "Hopefully this will be quick. We are about to meet with someone," he finished uneasily.
"Who?" Green Lantern asked.
"J'ohnn," Superman said to the green shapeshifter. The Martian Manhunter went to a console, punched a few buttons, and then said, "All right, Lieutenant, we're all here." Suddenly, a holographic image of a female wearing the same attire Shayera once wore appeared. She even held a mace. "What the hell is this?" Green Lantern demanded indignantly.
"Shay?" Flash asked.
"Don't compare me to that viperae!" the figure growled in rage, causing Flash to take a step back.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" Batman asked in his classic batman voice.
"My name is Issi Hol. I am a lieutenant in the Thanagar army."
"Is this your way of giving us a heads up about another invasion?" Flash asked.
"No," she said. "We have no quarrel with Earth."
"Then why are you bothering us?" Batman asked.
"You have something we want."
"Why would we help you?" Wonder Woman asked. Lieutenant Issi ignored her. "We have reason to believe the one you call 'Hawkgirl' is hiding out on Earth still. Thanagar wants her back."
"What makes you think she's still on Earth?" Wonder Woman asked.
"Because we left her there. And we left her with no way to get back home."
"Really?" Flash asked, hope creeping into his voice.
"Of course, you did," Green Lantern muttered with an eye roll.
"Why should we help you?" Batman asked.
"Do you really want us to come there and look for her ourselves?" Issi asked with a smirk.
"We beat you once," Flash argued, "we could beat you again." Batman resisted the urge to deck the young speedster.
"You only one because that perfuga helped you," she bit back. "Nevertheless, Earth no longer has anything we want."
"Except this," Superman spoke up.
"Yes. Shayera is on your planet. We know this for a fact. A Thanagarian ship will be in your orbit within the next 24 hours. Have her ready for transport."
"Is that an order?" Green Lantern demanded.
"Take it how you want."
"What if we don't give her to you?" Flash asked.
"It's been two years since our invasion. We have updated our weapons and strengthened our military since then. Have you?" And with that, Issi broke the connection and disappeared.
"I don't believe her," the Green Lantern said after a moment of silence. "I don't trust any hawk person. They're just looking for another reason to invade us. Screw them."
"But what if Shayera is on Earth?" Flash asked. "Do we really want to give her up? Who knows what they'll do to her?"
"Why should we care?" Wonder Woman asked. "She's a traitor. She deserves whatever they have planned for her."
"She chose us in the end," Flash argued. Wonder Woman crossed her arms and looked away. "Anything to add?" Wonder Woman asked, glaring at Batman. Batman turned to Superman and asked, "Is there any proof that Shayera is, in fact, on Earth?"
"J'ohnn," Superman turned to the Manhunter. J'ohnn brought up an image. "This is Piccola Citta. A small town located in the green hills of Italy. A few months ago, there was a cave in. Three little boys were stuck. But a mysterious winged woman appeared from seemingly nowhere and saved them. Since then, this winged woman has been seen periodically throughout small villages in the region."
"How do you know all of this?" Flash asked.
"At least 10 people in this village have social media accounts, with less than 20 followers. I've been keeping myself…informed."
"And we're just now hearing of this?" Wonder Woman glared. J'ohnn just shrugged her off before continuing, "She wasn't harming anybody, and it wasn't necessary for any of you to know. I monitored the situation. I felt it prudent to leave her alone. Most of these villages needed help."
"I say we hunt her down and hand her over," Wonder Woman said.
"Which is why you should not be the one to go after her," Batman said. "You'll kill her."
"And?"
"We don't kill, Diana," Superman said.
"She deserves to die."
"That's a bit harsh," Flash said. "She didn't have much of a choice."
"There's always a choice."
"And she chose us in the end."
"She shouldn't have betrayed us in the first place."
"I think we should leave her alone."
"Of course, you do," Green Lantern said, "you always acted like a lovesick puppy around her."
"How long was it before you ran into Vixen's arms?" Flash faced the lantern head on. "A month as I recall."
"Listen you little- "
"Enough," Superman's boisterous voice wrang out in the nearly empty hall. "This arguing is getting us nowhere." Batman simply turned to leave. "Where are you going?" Superman asked.
"To talk to Shayera."
"You know where she is?"
"I saw her three hours ago. J'ohnn," Batman said the Martian's name, preparing to be teleported. He ignored the looks of shock and anger. He had better things to do than nurse his teammates' hurt feelings.
Shayera lay huddled in her cocoon, listening to the rain fall outside of her cave. This was her life now. Staring into nothingness. Helping a village here and there. Existing but not living. She didn't deserve to live, but death was too easy. Living without having anything to live for was a more suitable punishment for her, anyway. "You're a hard person to find," a deep, gruff voice interrupted her solitude. She didn't budge. She had been expecting him. "Took you long enough," she said unfurling herself.
"You were expecting me," he stated rather than asked.
"I heard your batwing fly overhead 15 minutes ago." She turned to look at Batman. "How did you find me?"
"You made a mistake," Batman replied. "You saved my life today."
"I saved your…" then it dawned on her. "You were the rock climber." He gave a short nod. "What do you want?" she asked. "This obviously isn't a social visit."
"I'm here to bring you in."
"You're going to bring me in?" she repeated incredulously.
"But hopefully you'll come willingly."
"What?" she asked. Bruce hit a few buttons on his wrist. An image of a female Thanagarian lit up the dark cave, allowing Bruce to see her face better. "This woman named Lieutenant Issi contacted the league. Thanagar wants you back; they're threatening to invade if we don't hand you over." He didn't miss the intake of breath she gave when she heard the name Issi. "Does the name Issi mean something to you?" he demanded. Shayera opened her mouth to lie but thought better of it. She was tired of lying and tired of running. She had nothing more to lose. "She is my younger sister," she stated nonchalantly. It wasn't like the two of them had ever been close. "What do you want to do?" Batman asked. Shayera stood to her feet and said, "Take me to them."
