Thanagarian

Chapter 13

The next morning I woke up to Hawkgirl poking me. "Abi..." She said, drawing out my name. "Happy birthday!"

"Wha?"

"It's your birthday, kid!"

"Excuse me?"

"You know what I said."

"How'd you find out the date? I even forgot about that."

"Let's just say Batman isn't a detective for nothing."

"That's not... creepy."

"Just eat your cake."

I sat up and looked at it. "Chocolate, my favorite. I'm assuming Batman found that out too?"

"Assumptions are dangerous. You mentioned you liked it before."

"Thanks." I said, scraping my hand along the icing. I got out of bed and looked around. "Where's Jet?"

"Don't know, he was gone this morning, he'll come back,  he loves his food too much."

"I feel so loved." I said and carried the plate to the table, sitting down and grabbing a fork. "Good cake." I said, shoving as much of it in my mouth as possible. "Breathe Kid, breathe." Hawkgirl laughed. I finished my cake and leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms. "So what else do we have planned today, Hawkgirl?" She smiled and turned on the radio.

"Robbery on 1st street, NYC Bank. Hostage situation." I grabbed my axe and ran to the bathroom to put on my armor. I secured my mask on my head and held my axe with both hands. "Let's kick some butt." I smiled.

Hawkgirl grabbed her mask and hovered a few inches off the floor. "Hawk Kid, you read my mind." We flew out the window, the air tossing my red hair. I banked left and flew upside down, holding my axe across my chest as I flew. Soon I heard the bank alarms and banked down with Hawkgirl by my side. We landed and the police backed off, recognizing Hawkgirl. She strutted into the building, holding out her wings and holding her mace in front of her.

She looked at the robbers standing their ground and I walked up next to her, holding my axe. The men jumped forward and two of them took Hawkgirl, one of them took me. He punched me in the face and shoved my head toward his knee but I whacked him in the jaw with my wings. He stumble back and caught his balance in a few steps. He ran back up to me and took a wing, finsing its mark in the middle of my chest. I stumbled back, the breath knocked out of and he shook out his hand from the pain of hitting the armor. I took that moment to grab him by the arms and fly up to the bank ceiling. Hawkgirl had both her attackers unconscious and was flying up to help me when the man started talking. "Stop!" He cried. "Stop! Put me down!"

"You sure about that?" I asked. He looked down at the ground below and seemed to reconsider. "On second thought, just fly me to jail." I tucked my wings close and dove to the ground, pulling up a few inches from the polished tile floor. The man was running beneath me  after hitting the ground and was holding desperately onto my arms. I glided out the door and dropped him unceremoniously on the concrete. Hawkgirl came out with the hostages clinging to her arms and let the hostages walk away, most ran to crying family members or to police to share their stories.

Hawkgirl found me in the chaos and we flew up to a rooftop to watch from above. She looked at me and smiled. "Good birthday?"

"Fantastic."

A few days later Jet and I were alone in the warehouse. I was reading a magazine I 'borrowed' from a neighboring establishment and leaning back in my chair while Jet chewed furiously on a rawhide on the rug. I heard a thud and looked up, the sudden movement causing me and my chair to topple to the ground. When I got up a woman with black hair and a green dress was holding Jet by the scruff of his neck with a sword held up to his throat. He struggled and yelped, every strangled cry stabbing me in the chest with pain. "Let him go!" I screamed. "Let him go! I don't care if you kill me just let him go!"

"I'm not here for you little girl. Where's Hawkgirl?"

"Away, if you let the dog go I'll tell you where she is."

"Deal." Said the woman, her mouth curling into a sneer. She dropped him and using her belt tied him to the bed. He struggled and growled as she approached me, barking warnings he couldn't enforce. She laughed and looked at me, holding out her hand. "Chesire." She said. I looked at her arm, lining it were blades and knives and vials of God only knows what. "You're an assassin." I whispered. She took her hand back, peering at me from behind her white, smiling mask. "Well aren't you intelligent. Now where's Hawkgirl?"

"Pennsylvania." I lied, there was no way I would sell her out.

"You're lying!" She yelled, pulling out a crossbow with one hand while her other held me in a vice like grip. I struggled, and broke free, but she grabbed my wings by the roots and I heard soething crack. I cried out and fell to the ground, pain lancing through my shoulders. She grabbed me again an I struggled but I couldn't get away. "The arrow is laced with poison. You'll die a long, slow, and painful death if I hit you with this. And believe me, I never miss. You have five seconds to tell me where Hawkgirl really is or I'll poison your blood stream." She let me go and I stepped back until I felt my back touch the wall. Chesire held the bow aimed at my heart. "Now, we'll try this one more time. Where is Hawkgirl?"

"I don't know!" I said, breathless with fear.

"Liar!" She yelled, and I heard the string snap as she released it.

 I shut my eyes so I wouldn't have to watch my own death, but I was still here, my broken wings still hurt like hell, and I still felt the blood on my face. I cautiously opened my eyes and saw a bundle of black fur laying at my feet. "Jet!" I screamed in terror. I fell to my knees and gathered the black dog into my arms, crying into his fur. Through the haze of my tears I saw Chesire reloading her bow and walking towards us. Then I saw Hawkgirl come flying through the window and hit Chesire with her mace, sending the assassin crashing to the ground. She ran over to me and I felt her hand on my shaking shoulders. Then I felt her sit down behind me and pull us close. "He would protect me." I whispered through my tears. "I was so wrong about you, Jet, and now it's too late." I felt something wet on my shoulder, Hawkgirl's tears. "Ooh, Jettie Bettie of mine, everything about you is especially fine. I love what you are, I love what you do, ooh, I love you." I sang gently. I opened my eyes and to my relief saw no blood, just a feathered dart. A poison dart. I gently worked it out with my fingers and tossed it aside. He looked up at me with his amber eyes and gently licked my hand. I stroked his head and held him close that whole long night. I don't know exactly when he died, but I knew he went cold and stiff and his brave, loving heart, stopped beating when my fingers failed to find his pulse through his thick black hair. "Oh Jet." I whispered. "I love you."