Bruce looked at the rock ledge about seven feet from where he was currently hanging. "Don't do it, Bruce!" he heard his friend, Harvey, call from below. "You'll never make it."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Harvs!" he called out.
"I'm serious, Bruce. I don't want to have to call Alfred and let him know the man he considers a son fell to his death over a stupid dare!"
"A fall from this height wouldn't kill me, Harvey," Bruce stated with an eye roll.
"I'm serious, Bruce. Come back down here so we can climb down the rest of this mountain and rejoin your billionaire buddies."
"I knew you only hung out with me for my money," Bruce said with a laugh.
"Well, it's not for your personality," Harvey placed his hands on his hips.
"I'll be down in a sec."
"You're lucky we don't have cell phone service this high up or else I would have already called Alfred."
"Shut up and let me concentrate!" Bruce shouted.
"Unbelievable," Bruce heard Harvey mutter. Bruce ignored him, his gaze on the rocky ledge. He could make that jump easy. He was Batman. He'd done this hundreds of times in the cave. Grant it, he was usually harnessed. But, in his stubbornness to prove a point, he left all of his climbing gear, including his helmet, with Harvey; who was standing on a nice sturdy ledge 25 feet from the bottom. Bruce inhaled and exhaled. He needed to remain calm and clear headed. "If you die," he heard Harvey say, "can I have your Porsche?"
"Harvey!" he exclaimed.
"It's a really nice Porsche."
"I'm not gonna die!"
"Hurry up, or I'm leaving you!"
"Shut up! I'm trying to concentrate!" Harvey exhaled loudly in exasperation. Bruce rocked a couple of times before leaping to the ledge across from him. His hands came in contact with the rocky surface. Yes! He made it. He began to pull himself up, when he started to slide. "Bruce?" he heard the panic in his friend's voice. The ledge looked a lot sturdier than it was. It began to give. He could feel the rocks crumble beneath his fingertips. Crap! He was going to die. "Bruce!" he heard his friend cry louder. And then, Bruce was falling. "Bruce!" he heard his friend scream at the top of his lungs. He was going to die. One second, Bruce was watching his life flash before his eyes; the next he was…soaring? He felt small, strong hands gripping his underarms as he sailed through the air. His brain couldn't register what was happening. He felt his feet touch down on solid ground across from Harvey, whose was a mixture of relief, fear, and horror. Bruce turned to face his savior. "Shayera?" he said, his mouth reacting before his brain could. Bruce immediately snapped his mouth shut. The winged red head looked at him questioningly with her vibrant green eyes. Bruce mentally slapped himself in the face. He had momentarily forgotten that she was the one founding leaguer who didn't know his identity as Batman. Well…ex-leaguer. "Are you okay?" she asked in her beautiful husky voice.
"Yeah," Bruce replied, his blue eyes boring into her green ones.
"Are you sure?" she asked, not put off by his probing stare at all.
"I am. Thank you." She looked at him, his friend, and then at the ground where his climbing equipment lay. "You guys got it from here?" she asked. Bruce turned to look at Harvey who just staring stupidly with his mouth agape. "We'll be fine," he said, looking back at the woman formerly known as Hawkgirl. "Thank you, again." She gave a stiff nod in acknowledgement before taking flight. Bruce followed her with his eyes long after she was out of sight. "Dude," his friend said running to him. "Do you know who that was?" Bruce stared at the place Shayera had been standing seconds ago. "That was one of those bird people. I thought the Justice League kicked all of them off of this planet."
"I guess they didn't get all of them," Bruce said as he began to put his helmet back on.
"Is there someone we should call, to you know, report it or something?"
"Why?" Bruce asked as he readjusted his carabiner. "She's not hurting anyone. And she saved my life. Maybe she's not one of the dangerous ones. Not all of the bird people were evil. And Hawkgirl did end up saving Earth in the end." Harvey seemed to ponder this. "Dude," Harvey said to Bruce, "what if that was Hawkgirl. How cool would that be? Man, I should have asked for a picture." Bruce chuckled at his friend, checking to make sure all of his straps and ropes were secure. "You ready?" he asked Harvey before beginning their descent.
Shayera landed at the entrance of the dark cave she had been calling home for the past three months. It was dark and dreary and moist in some parts. The only thing it had was a fireplace she only lit when it was unbearably cold…which was more often than not. Her wings only did so much. She began to rub her arms. It wasn't the wind chill that was causing her to tremble. It was the blue-eyed man who she saved. The one who knew her name. He may have uttered it quietly so his companion couldn't hear, but her hearing was excellent. She heard him clearly. Shayera. How had he known her name? His voice sounded a little familiar, but she couldn't place his face. Maybe she had betrayed him in the invasion. But no, fear was not evident on his face when he looked at her. Shock? Yes. Recognition? Again, yes. But how? Hardly anyone knew she was still on Earth. The only people who knew were people from the small villages she sometimes visited. But they were so far removed from society…they were the only ones kind to her. Maybe because they didn't feel the full brunt of the Thanagarian invasion. Her people hadn't cared so much for the people high up in the mountains. But other than that, she had no contact with anyone. Ever. She was alone in her solitude. She liked it. She preferred it. Shayera moved further into the cave and sat on the hard, damp floor. She brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her wings around her body, affectively cocooning herself. She was so pathetic and tired. When would it all end?