In the Clutches of the Hawk

All characters belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros

I own nothing.

He became a sweaty hot mess in the obscure folds of darkness. His broad muscles gleamed and body reeked with exhaustion while he fought against the tantalizing pain scourging through his heated veins. Everything was unfamiliar to the cold logic flowing inside the dark crevices of his disciplined mind, but he knew that he wasn't on earth-he knew that there had been a disruption of time that him sent him into a drift after the League of Shadow's firebomb exploded over the icy waters of Gotham Bay.

He bared his teeth, trying to break the chains that shackled him against a wall, he winced slight, feeling the tension engulf over his bruised and tarnished muscles as a numbness rippled inside of his body. He snapped his eyes open, allowing dingy crescents of light to become entrapped in the hooded chasms of molten hazel-green as wetness streaked down his broad and well-defined jaw. He slid his tongue over the corner of his mouth, gathering the taste of copper as he felt a line of blood slope down his chin and he allowed the sourness of churning acid of his unsettling stomach to rise slowly up the raw walls of his scorched throat. His body surged with defiance and fierce determination but failed to focus on his escape as he allowed the slight fever to weaken his thoughts and methods of escaping the unknown confinement.

"Come on, Bruce," he chided in a hoarse whisper, feeling the controlled fury brim to the surface, he pulled his arms from the chain, straining the muscles as he clenched his jaw and gritted -the links of the chains buried deep into the skin of his forearms. He hissed against his clamp teeth and tightened up his face as he struggled to break free out of the restraints. He parted his chapped lips, growling and seething out his aggression. "Come on..." He snarled his lips into a firm scowl, the bellowing noise of unbreakable will power rumbled against his throbbing, graven chest and his eyes became orbs of fire in the darkness. He squeezed a hand into a fist and felt the blood pulse into his knuckles.

"You can try with of your strength, human. But our chains are unbreakable."

Bruce reared his head up, furrowing his eyebrows and allowed his firm, glistening hazel eyes to drift at the cell door. His bared his teeth at the looming figure, glowering at her with a savage look. His muscles coiled in anticipation while he studied the woman standing stoically in front of the cell bars. She was medium build, her arms toned with an amber glow to highlight over her flawless skin; scarlet-copper locks cascaded over her plated shoulders and reached her center of her back.

Behind the ebony slate hawk mask, menacing, sharp emerald green eyes mirrored his gaze. Half of her slender frame was covered with a golden armor; a maroon emblem of a hawk was engraved in black sat at the center of her breastplate emphasizing her warrior semblance. The most striking feature of her curvy frame was the silver feathered wings that jutted out from the smooth planes of her back. She looked unearthly and angelic as he kept his intense, cold glare of shadowy hazel-green embers locked on her masked face.

"Why did you invade the strong hold of the Thanagarian army?" she asked, gripping her fingers tightly over the handle of her mace. She stepped closer, gritting her teeth and rattling the bars with her weapon. «What information do you withhold in that human mind of yours?"

Bruce fastened his lips into a firm line, he remained deathly silent and glared darkly up at her, the young and unmoving soldier clenched her expose the jaw tightly, and parting her beautifully shaped lips and exhaled out an irritable sigh of annoyance.

She cracked her knuckles and removed a dagger from a sheath attached to her hip, latched her darkened orbs on him and threw the knife on inch from his head, purposely making the tip of the blade stick into a groove on the stone wall, Bruce never flinched and he continued to glower at her with ravenous and steady hazel eyes.

"I find your resilience exceptional for human." She affirmed with an edge in a fierce voice, withdrawing a step back from the. «It will not save you from Thanagarian justice. You are seen as a threat to us and will face the trails according the elders who will decide your sentence for the crimes you've committed." She clasped her lips into a rigid line, keeping her green eyes focused on him. "What is the name of criminal who I am speaking with?»

"Why do you need to know my name?" Bruce asked his voice cracked, hoarse and bespoke with dryness. He curved the sharp edge of his thin-straight lips into a faint, defiant smirk. «What importance does it have to change my sentence?"

She lowered her head slightly down, "My commander as ordered me to find out your identity." She digressed in a low voice, keeping her luminous green orbs fixated on her gleaming weapon; she mashed her teeth into her bottom lip, before drawing out a harsh breath. "It is not a request, human, but a method to regain your existence in the eyes of the elders. You will learn to follow are orders if you desire to survive here."

"Thomas Malone," he answered with a hint of reluctance in his savory baritone. His glinting hazel eyes drifted around the cell, searching for a long moment while he inhaled the unfamiliar fragrance wavering in the air. He blinked, and refocused his steady gaze on her as the unearthly scent cloaked over her rigid frame, lulling his senses fully awakened from the foggy daze masking over his eyes. He felt the distinct corners of his mouth slack up into a grimace while he held her stare. "I told you my name and now it's your turn?"

"Why do you need to know my name?" she questioned, keeping herself distant from his curiosity. "Do you think it will give you assurance to trust me?"

"No, it won't." he echoed back in a nonchalant tone, his voice laced with obscurity and strained from exhaustion. He clenched his well-defined jaw tight, making the chiseled lines and knife-edge cheekbones of his angular face gleam in the flickers of torchlight. His eyes snapped forward as he met the green that glared underneath the darkness of the mask. "I do not trust anyone."

She pursed her lips and removed her hand from the mace, her green eyes scanned quickly over the dingy obscure around her, and then she advanced an inch forward. She parted her lips slowly and released a hesitant breath. "My name is Shayera Hol." she answered with stern reliance in her firm voice. "Lieutenant Shayera Hol."

Bruce nodded sharply as he felt the weight of the bronze shackles dragging his wrists down against the ground; he winced and grunted, "How long are they planning to keep me like this, Shayera?"

"I cannot give you that you want, Thomas." She replied, stepping back from the cell door. "I am not the one that brought in here." She narrowed her eyes and clamped her jaw as the thumping of heavy footsteps echoed in her ears. She whipped her head around fiercely and stared intensely at two armored guards holding torches as her commander paced closer to the prison corridors. "Whatever you do, Thomas," she whispered scarcely, "Speaks when he asks and answer all of his questions. Follow these orders and you will live without his blade lodged in your chest."

"Thanks for the warning, Shayera Hol." Bruce nodded lightly, smoothing his plush and slip lips into a light smile.

Shayera nodded in return and walked down the corridor in systematic strides until she became momentarily frozen by the onslaught of dread creeping over her bones, she breathed out a silent breath and met the icy grayish blue eyes of Hro Talak, Commander of the Thanagarian forces. She kept herself heavily guarded as he approached her with his armored gloved talons shimmering over his large hands; he gripped her shoulders with a firm squeeze, making the muscles coil involuntarily against his touch.

"What is the reason why you have been communicating with the prisoner, Shayera?" he asked, with gruffness in his rich voice. "The human is a danger to our empire. He is a threat to us."

Shayera tried managing to break free from his powerful grip, "The human captive has shown no signs of hostility, Commander." she countered back at him, keeping her concealed green eyes firmly locked on his malice filled stare. "I sense that he is not a threat to us. He carries no weapons. He might be a good asset to use when we focus our missions on his home world."

He loosened his grip from her arm and moved his hand up to her neck, caressing his talons over her pulsing jugular. "Engaging any contact with the enemy is dangerous. You have been conditioned through your training to understand those dangers, Lieutenant."

'Thomas is not a danger. He is not like a Gordanian." She shot back, withdrawing a step back, and positioned her body into a regal and unbreakable stance. "If that is what you think, Hro?"

"What I think, Shayera," he growled, baring his teeth. "Is that you have let your emotions consume the logic that has been planted inside of you." His ominous blue eyes burrowed deep into her skull, he pointed his ax directly at her. "This human is still an outsider from our world and yes, he may not reek of Gordanian scum, but he is still a threat to the Thanagarian Empire. Do you understand?"

Shayera nodded faintly, blanching from his displeased tone, "What if you are wrong, Hro?"

He stepped forward, glowering at her with his icy blue eyes, "I am never wrong." he snarled at her with defiance while he gave her a hard look before he continued down the darkened corridor.

She twisted her full, rose shaded lips into a little coy smirk, whispering under her breath, "We'll see, Commander."