Shayera shifted on her feet as she and Batman rode the lift to the top floor. She'd been a bundle of nerves since this morning for several reasons. First, there was her relationship with Bruce. It was causing her stress, and she didn't know why. Secondly, she was about to meet with her ex-teammates. She wasn't sure what to expect from them. Barry, she knew, would welcome her with open arms. The others…Shayera wasn't holding her breath. Wonder Woman was probably sharpening a sword with Shayera's name on it.
The Thanagarian sighed heavily. "Relax," the command came from Batman.
"I am relaxed," Shayera argued. Batman grunted. "Let's just get this over with," Shayera said as the lift doors opened. "The sooner, the better."
"I'll meet you in there," Batman said, not leaving the lift. "J'ohnn and I are going to retrieve the prisoner."
Standing in front of the cell, J'ohnn paused for a brief moment. His eyes flashed, and the door to Chey-Ara's cell opened. "What are you doing?" Chey-Ara backed away nervously.
"We are attending a meeting," J'ohnn replied.
"A meeting?" Chey-Ara stood in the doorway. "Aren't you going to tie my hands or bind my arms?"
"That depends on you," a voice that didn't belong to the Martian came from the darkness. Chey-Ara squinted her eyes, staring into the shadows. She could barely see the outline of a figure. "Do we need to restrain you?" the figure asked again, this time stepping into the light.
Chey-Ara's jaw dropped. This was the Batman she'd heard so much about. When she'd first been brought to the Watchtower, Batman hadn't been there – or she didn't see him. She didn't cross paths with him in Gotham. Chey-Ara continued to stare. Is he really a human? He was clad in black armor. A black cape draped gracefully over one side of his body, and he wore a black mask with horns. He was tall and muscular. The room's temperature had dropped at least 5 degrees. The shadows of the room seemed to naturally gravitate towards him. No way he's human, Chey-Ara thought as tried to hold the hero's gaze. She eventually looked away when a tingle began to race up her spine. "I won't be a problem," she said.
The Batman only hmphed before turning to the Martian. "Are you sure about this?" he asked.
The Martian replied, "Trust me."
Shayera had been explaining how the Thanagarian army operated when the door opened. She stopped talking as Batman, J'ohnn, and the other Thanagarian entered the room. Watching Batman stride to his chair, Shayera felt her face heat. She looked down at her hands.
"Shayera," Superman said, "you can continue."
"Um…" she began, "as I was explaining before," Shayera continued, "there's a hierarchy to Thanagar's army. The ones we should focus on the most, are the ones commanding the ships that will stay in the air. The Thanagarians who fly close to the ground, the first wave of the attack, are pawns. They're expendable. The higher-ranked officers will stay in the airships. They'll watch from above and only appear if the battle seems lost."
"So it's like chess," Flash stated. "We take out the ones in charge, the battle is over."
"Not quite," Shayera said slowly. "If this is a mors voluntaria mission, the soldiers may have orders to not stop fighting no matter what. They'll fight to the death. Almost like kamikazes."
"We won't kill anyone, Shayera," Superman reassured her.
"Even though they will be trying to kill us," Wonder Woman muttered.
"Diana," Superman growled.
"Any weaknesses we can exploit?" Batman asked. A small snort came from the back of the room. Chey-Ara.
Shayera rolled her eyes before answering. "As skilled as we are at ground combat, we do our best fighting in the sky."
"What are you doing?" Chey-Ara shouted in Thanagarian.
Shayera continued. "You need to approach us from behind or above. Those are our blindspots."
"You are a traitor!" Chey-Ara shouted as she sprang from her seat, but J'ohnn immediately grabbed her and forced her to sit down.
"If she's going to be privy to this, could you please shut her up?" Green Lantern asked in annoyance.
"Maybe this wasn't a good idea," Superman said. J'ohnn muttered something into Chey-Ara's ear. She set her mouth into a thin line and crossed her arms.
"The helmets we wear are made to protect our heads," Shayera said. "No metal can pierce it, however, it takes away our peripheral. That's another blindspot."
"In what way?" Batman asked. He had studied her helmet in depth after the invasion. He found no imperfections.
Shayera's heart raced when he spoke. "We can't see things right beside us when we wear our helmets," she answered him. One of the reasons Shayera hated that helmet. "Don't aim for the center of the breastplate. It'll do nothing. You have to go under and up. Our joints aren't protected." The room went silent. "Also, the Nth metal in our armor enables us to heal pretty fast."
"Why can't we just go for the wings?" Wonder Woman asked. Chey-Ara snickered. Shayera could sense Batman tense at Wonder Woman's mention of wings from across the table.
"Yes," Shayera said stiffly, "you could go for the wings, but it will not be easy unless they are grounded. Another thing to keep in mind, not all Thanagarians have wings attached to their bodies."
"What do you mean?" Green Lantern asked.
"On Thanagarian body armor, there is this big, red jewel in the middle of the breastplate. If you look closely, some have a very thin silver strip around the jewel. That means their wings are fake. There is a tiny button in the back, if you press it, their wings will disconnect from their bodies. They won't be able to fly."
"Hmm," Superman said in deep thought, "not many weaknesses."
"Superman," Shayera said, "their armor shouldn't be a problem for you. You can fly faster than any Thanagarian. All you have to do is catch one and forcibly tear the armor plating off."
"They won't have kryptonite in or on their weapons?" Superman asked.
"Being able to beat Superman when he's at his weakest would seem like a cop-out," Shayera thought. She then added, "The foot soldiers wouldn't have kryptonite weapons. The lieutenants and generals would."
"You bitch!" Chey-Ara shouted as she stood to her feet. J'ohnn reached for her, but Shayera mentally told him not to do anything. "You bring dishonor to Thanagar! You are weak! And you are a fool!" Shayera, annoyed with this girl, stood from her chair and marched to Chey-Ara to give her a piece of her mind. Chey-Ara had a different idea. She lunged for Shayera, and the two began to grapple.
The league members began to run to Shayera's aid, but J'ohnn held up one hand, causing them to stop in their tracks. "Both need this," was all he said.
Shayera immediately went on the defensive, blocking every kick, punch, and elbow thrown at her. Chey-Ara was good, but nowhere as talented as Shayera. This would be a short fight. Shayera landed a punch in Chey-Ara's gut. She could have punched her in the liver, but Shayera had no desire to hurt Chey-Ara. Chey-Ara doubled over in pain but recovered immediately. "I used to look up to you!" Chey-Ara screamed as she continued her attack on Shayera. "I wanted to be you! But all you did was bring shame and dishonor on Thanagar!"
Shayera dodged another punch before flipping over Chey-Ara, landing directly behind her. Before Chey-Ara could turn to face her, Shayera placed her in a standing rear-naked choke. "Calm down!" Shayera demanded. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will." Chey-Ara continued to fight, but the more she moved, the tighter Shayera's grip became. "Do you really want to pass out? In front of them? You would show them how weak you are?"
"I will not…" Chey-Ara gasped for air, "surrender. Surrender is weakness."
"There is no shame in surrender! There is no shame in compassion! And there is no shame in mercy," Shayera finished softly. "What am I doing?" Shayera asked herself. She immediately released her hold on Chey-Ara and backed away.
Chey-Ara glared at Shayera while rubbing her neck. "What are you doing?" Chey-Ara demanded. "You had me!" Shayera said nothing. She only stared at Chey-Ara with recognition and pity. "Why'd you let me go!" Chey-Ara demanded.
"What good would have come from me knocking you out?" Shayera asked. "What would that accomplish?"
Chey-Ara did not know the answer. "You are weak," she said.
"If caring about others makes me weak, then yes, I am very weak."
"Why would you choose them over us?" Chey-Ara cried.
"Because we were wrong. We were lied to. Why were you told to invade Earth?" The two hawks continued conversing, completely forgetting about their audience.
"We were told that Earth had allied with the Gordanians."
"That was a lie," Shayera said.
"What do you mean?"
"I was sent to Earth to be a spy. I was told to report what I saw. That was it. Then Earth was attacked. That's when I met their heroes. My assignment began to change. I was just too naïve to notice," Shayera stated bitterly. "First it was little things. Defense information, military tactics. And I willingly provided it. I even told them how to break into the Hall of Justice and surpass every alarm. I didn't realize that Earth was just one more world, one more planet for Thanagar to conquer until it was too late," Shayera paused briefly. "I saw the plans they had for Earth. I saw what they were planning to do. Earth was to become just one more military outpost. And I could have obeyed my orders. I could have fallen in line, but I chose not to."
"Why?" Chey-Ara asked not understanding.
"Because it was wrong," Shayera sighed. Suddenly, she felt free. This wave of peace covered her. All of the self-doubt, the questioning of what she should do, what she shouldn't do, was gone. She knew where she belonged. Here. On Earth. "We've been trained to fight since day one. But when does the fighting stop? Our grandparents fought; our great-grandparents fought. All Thanagar does is fight. There's more to life than just fighting. I did not learn that until I came here. You've been here, looking for me for a little over 6 months, correct?" Chey-Ara nodded. "Was it not nice to finally be able to get more than 2 hours of sleep; to not have to worry about being attacked in your sleep for a stupid drill? Wasn't it nice to just soar?" Shayera reminisced briefly with tears in her eyes. "Not tactical training flying, but flying for pure enjoyment?"
Chey-Ara's body slowly began to relax. It had been nice, flying and not having to avoid a random spear being shot at her to test alertness.
Chey-Ara looked at J'ohnn. If she was honest, she was expecting to be tortured for information when she was first caught. She was interrogated, but she wasn't tortured within an inch of her life. They didn't pour boiling lava on her wings as an incentive to loosen her tongue. Her cell wasn't standing room only. There was a comfortable bed. She was given food…multiple times a day. She didn't have to do anything or fight anyone to earn it. They just gave it to her. Chey-Ara looked down at her arms, more specifically, her skin. There weren't too many dark-skinned Thanagarians. But Earth had a lot of people with her coloring. And people didn't throw rocks at them for no good reason. Instead of being encouraged, that behavior was frowned upon in Gotham. Nobody cared about the color of her skin. They didn't see "a DNA mistake made by the gods." They didn't stare at her at all when she walked among them wingless. Maybe…just maybe this traitor – Shayera was right. "I don't know about you, but I am so tired of fighting – physically, mentally, and emotionally. I am tired of pushing the ones who want to help me away. You see the guy wearing all black?" Shayera motioned to Batman with her head.
"The imposing one with the horns coming out of his head?" Chey-Ara asked. Shayera smiled at that description. "I don't think he's blinked once…or moved a muscle at all. Is he really a human?"
"He is," Shayera reassured her. "He likes me. He kissed me. On the mouth."
Chey-Ara's face scrunched in disgust. "Why?" Chey-Ara asked. "Did someone tell him to? Was he ordered by someone to take care of you?"
"No," Shayera answered with a shake of her head. "He did it because he wanted to."
"Really? Like, he willingly chose to put his mouth on yours? It wasn't arranged?"
"It was not arranged. He gave me a place to stay and recover. He's been very kind. I've been pushing him away because I am ashamed of myself. I don't think I deserve him. Maybe I don't, but I don't want to fight my feelings for him anymore. It's exhausting," Shayera glanced at Batman. "So?" Shayera asked Chey-Ara.
Chey-Ara thought for a few seconds. "It's not like I have anyone waiting for me on Thanagar. My family is dead, and I am not spoken for," she walked closer to Shayera. "If the entire army comes here, Earth may lose."
"Maybe, but won't it be nice to fight just because you want to protect something that's yours? Fight for something that matters to you?" Chey-Ara thought about that, too. It would be nice to fight, not because someone told her to, but because it was something she wanted to do. "So, will you help us?" Shayera asked, holding her hand out.
Chey-Ara looked at Shayera's hand in confusion. "I will help you," she said, "but why are you holding your hand out? Do you want me to hold it?"
"No," Shayera said with a laugh, "it's something they do when they have an agreement. Put your opposite hand in mine." Chey-Ara obeyed. "And then we move our hands up and down."
"How…weird?"
"It is called a handshake."
"I don't like it," Chey-Ara said, releasing Shayera's hand.
"Neither do I. Come on, you should meet everyone, and I think we should start speaking English."
"Wait," Chey-Ara said, causing Shayera to stop abruptly. Shayera looked at her worriedly. "The green guy, the Martian," Chey-Ara paused. Shayera patiently waited for her to continue. "My stomach does weird things every time he talks to me. I get really nervous, and I want to throw up. Am I allergic to him or something?"
"No," Shayera said with a laugh. "But I'll explain later."
