The Memoirs

Bruce loved his mansion. He didn't know how else to explain it, but his families ancestral home was alive with magic. The Waynes of old had been very happy, festive people...he could remember when he had been a very little boy how his parents would throw grand parties, with bands and dancing, with presents and games and a hundred different things. He always used to wonder how people didn't break things all the time, but he was always overjoyed when Alfred would let him help clean up.

He'd find all kinds of cool things.

And it struck Bruce, right as he was standing there looking at CK in full armor, that the same curious feeling was filling his gut. Clark was the cool thing he'd found, and he beamed in a very, very quiet pride as he watched CK move. The rubber, midnight blue and deep red, moved like water as CK did, molding and strong against his skin. The slender belt latched around his hips, half hidden under his cape, which in itself was innovative. It was bullet proof, fire proof, and protective like his own cape. Instead of being winged at the bottom, like his, this one was straight like Robins, in the same dark red as his suit and boots. The enormous, intricate S sat on his chest, and the high neck protected the delicate skin of his throat, leading up to the simple mask over his eyes.

Oh, yes. Bruce was proud, and he was almost vibrating with energy as he stood back to admire his handiwork.

"You didn't do too bad, Bruce," Dick said, walking around and examining the handiwork. Here and there he lifted and tucked, twitched Clark's cape out behind him, stroked over the armored breastplate to wipe off dust, and slapped CK's hands away from his mask. "And if you tickled my feet and made me, I'd say you did damned good."

CK whined when Dick slapped his hands away, and tried not to fidget out of the headgear. "Do I have to wear this stupid mask?" But everything else he loved, and he couldn't stop playing with the symbol on his chest as he stood there, flexing his muscles and testing the pliability of the rubber.

Yeah. Sure. Like Bruce wasn't catching the flexing as something less than innocent. He rolled his eyes anyway and shifted his weight to the other hip, his fingertip tapping his chin quietly as the other arm crossed across his chest in contemplation. "There are a few errors here and there, which we can get fixed after this, CK. A few length issues... your belt's a little snug, isn't it? I'll add another piece to the belt." He kept thinking as he watched, humming quietly.

Alfred was very, very impressed. He didn't say a word, but he couldn't help being impressed nonetheless. He was very pleased with the way Clarks suit had come out, and standing here, he realized very quietly that he was witnessing a little bit of history he hadn't gotten with Master Bruce. Clark was a super hero, in every way possible. "Sir... the tests?" Alfred gently reminded.

"Oh, yes. Clark… I want you to run in the suit. At high speed. I want to see if anything's… going to melt." Bruce nodded, and pointed out the door to the other end of the cave. "Back and forth will do."

CK shrugged. "Okay. Running I can do." He blinked. "Anything that's not bolted down? You should bolt it. I tend to have a backwash."

Dick boosted himself up on the table, where most of the printouts from the computer were sitting, and used himself as a paperweight. "Go for it, bud."

"Kay." CK zoomed to the door on the other side of the room, and then back to stand in front of Bruce. He wiggled his toes in warm boots, but they weren't smoking or melting. "This is hot. If I wear much of this rubber shit, I'm going to die sweating. How do you wear it? Where's the ventilation?"

"Good. I don't see any differences in the suit… I added in solid steel heels to add for better traction, as well. Fantastic." Bruce muttered to himself, then looked up… blinked... and pointed. "Your belt. The left side of your belt is for that sort of thing... push it once and you're in communication with us. Push it twice, and your suits coolants will cool you off. You can have both going at the same time."

CK nodded, and pressed the belt.

And jumped sky high as one of the coolant jets got a little too personal with his anatomy. "Oh! Hello! Dinner and movie, here!!"

Bruce's lips twitched, despite himself. "Yes. Your crotch, your chest, and your neck are the area's the coolants react on first, because they are homes to your major arteries. Your arms and legs should have kicked in now. Believe me, you'll be glad for it when you're in the heat of battle."

"You could have warned!" CK did a little dance as he shut the coolants off, and glared at the one in his crotch.

"And not see the penis dance?" Bruce asked softly, even as he turned to Alfred. The older man, bless his dear old heart, had already taken their suits off, and Bruce began to strip quickly, signaling that Dick do the same thing. He pulled his shirt over his head, realizing full well he had a hickey the size of Mt. Rainer on his neck, but ignored it as he unbuttoned his pants as well and shucked them downwards.

Alfred, all too used to this, laid out each of his masters things, carefully adding belts and boots, as well as Robin's mask.

Dick followed suit, slightly amused by the fact that CK turned his back and screwed his eyes shut as they started undressing. He paused, watching Bruce undress quickly and professionally, and he ran his fingertips over his lover's toned stomach, then up over his shoulders and his arms. He stroked over Bruce's jaw, and then dropped his hand quickly, tugging off clothes and pushing them away until he was standing naked and ready to don the suit. "Good luck, Batman," he said softly.

Alfred had averted his eyes as well by simply leaving the room, and on his way grasped CK's elbow and gently led him along.

"Don't need luck." Bruce said gruffly as he slid his arms around Dick's waist and pulled him in to his chest. He carefully cradled him against the length of his body, kissing each cheek softly, then down his jaw to finally hug him as tightly as he possibly could. "Now do I?"

Dick wrapped his arms tightly around his lover. "No, you don't. But it doesn't hurt to have it on your side anyway."

"True. Be careful." And just as quickly as he'd held his lover like a shield against his body he let go, and turned to his suit. As he did so, methodically getting dressed, he let the other persona, Batman, completely overtake him. He shut off emotions, he shut off anything that wasn't the mission, and as he strapped each piece of leather and rubber to his body he forgot what it was to be Bruce Wayne, and let himself be encompassed by Batman.

As he slid the cowl on, let the long cape flutter down past his hips and to the floor, he turned, and looked at his lover. At Robin. Dick was the only thing he couldn't let go when he was Batman, and though it was disconcerting, he didn't think about it again as he snapped on the belt around his waist.

Dick knew what his lover was doing, how he prepared, how he locked Bruce Wayne away in a vault inside his head so that the Batman could take over.

Dick could never do that. Just as much as he was himself, he was Robin too. With every bit of boot, gauntlet, codpiece and armor he slid on, he couldn't help but remember what brought him here.

The death of his parents, of Kit, of how he couldn't save his brother or his father or his mother this time. Of the bomb rolling down the convention hall roof and into the bay. Of Two-Face, of Riddler, of jagged rocks and never once thinking that Batman wouldn't save him from the watery grave.

He couldn't help being Dick when he was Robin, and the last thing that he put on was his mask, using the special skin adhesive Bruce had created for the very purpose, darkening his eyes as he wore the mask so that his identity remained hidden, and Robin's eyes met Batman's.

"Acceptable." Batman murmured, and with a whoosh of his cape he left the room, passing Alfred and taking the keys for the Batmobile, plane, and boat up from the tray they had been set in for this very thing. "What do you gentlemen say?" he asked without preamble, motioning towards the darkened alcove where the Batmobile sat. "Car? Plane?"

Alfred didn't say a word, just watching CK's reaction of the two imposing men in rubber before them as he stayed quiet.

CK sized them both up, refusing to be intimidated. Batman and Robin, up close, were imposing figures, but no more so than he himself was, and he pulled himself up a little straighter and a little taller. "Plane? So we can get there faster?" He kept his eyes on Bruce's--Batman's--the whole time, daring him to look down first.

Bruce didn't back down. Batman did not back down. With his stare he had turned men's spine to wet noodles, and though his pride was screaming, he took a step up to Clark... Superman, and carefully touched his shoulder. He kept his voice low, just for the two of them. "The cost is Dick. For his sake, for my lovers sake, don't play this pride game with me. I have to keep him alive. I have to pay attention to everything around us. Alright?"

"Then understand I feel the same way about Kenep, and when you threaten me, I feel this way." But he nodded, and stepped back, straightening up and fidgeting the mask and headpiece again. "Stupid thing."

Bruce didn't step back… he took a step forward, still watching him. "How would you feel, CK? If your dearest friend, the one friend you had in all the world, a person you had loved once as a lover and then loved him as a friend. Tell me how you would feel if this thing you didn't understand, if this person you didn't understand, loved him and changed him?" It was as close as he could say that he was terrified for his friend, but his eyes hardened as he nodded. "It'll hold. Don't fidget with it." Then he turned and took the keys up again. "Lets go."

"I would trust my friend to know what he wanted." But CK didn't push it. "I can fly, but I don't know the way. You will have to lead it in your plane, and I will follow."

"Your belt has a tracking device, and the plane, as well as Robin and myself, have tracking devices. You will be able to follow us wherever you want--your mask is one of Robins. Touch the corner of your mask and you will be able to flip through windows." it was all Bruce said as he led the way down the stone archway, noticing Alfred grinning out of the corner of his eye but he ignored it as he stepped around the cave to the huge hollow where the plane hung, upside down, like a bat with its wings folded in.

"I can keep up," CK said. "Clark can't control it yet, but I can. I can fly me. I know how."

"I thought you might." Bruce answered, even as he took pride in his toy. "I want you to fly fast, and fly hard, and if at any time you lose track of us, contact us. Are we clear?"

CK's eyes narrowed. "I'm not a child. Don't talk to me like one. I can keep up."

"No. You are not a child. However, you are not a superhero, yet, and you are going to listen to everything I say, CK." Bruce said calmly, evenly. "I promised to return you in one piece."

The calmed a little at that, and rubbed his hand across the symbol on his chest. "This is the crest of my family; when I wear it, I carry their name and their honor. I won't fail."

"I know you won't. You just might get bloody on the way. So play attention to me." Bruce said, quietly but firmly. "Listen and do everything I tell you, because I'll be doing it for a reason. Just until you learn, CK, because I know what your honor means to you. Dick, get the plane ready." He handed the keys over, because yes, they needed to get going, but he also needed to talk to Clark.

CK nodded. "Kenep told me to trust you, and I believe in him."

"Roger." Robin took the ignition key and pressed the button on the end of it, bringing the Batplane to life. Its wings unfurled like a bat's, the cockpit sliding open to reveal the two seats, for pilot and co-pilot. Robin vaulted into the cockpit, belting himself into the co-pilot seat as he started the ignition sequence.

"Kenep isn't here." Bruce said. "You, me, and Robin are. I want you to understand something, CK. You're the new guy on the block. All of us are going to take care of you, but you have to take care of us, as well. The League cares for its members, but you have to trust in them, trust in who they are. I know this isn't the right time to bring you into the fold but we need you, Clark. Trust our decisions and trust in what we're going to do."

CK nodded. "I know he isn't here. But he said that you could be trusted. I will take his word for that. I just want to help people, just like Clark. Clark likes Wally, even though he's there to spy for you, but he is a good man. You are all good people, and I know that. I believe it. I will do what I can to help."

"You're a good person, Clark Kent. You remember I said that." Bruce turned, without another word, and strode to the plane. With a foot up on the side of the plane and a leap he was buckling himself into the drivers seat, letting the glass overhang come up and lock.

"Show off." Alfred said mildly from behind CK, and gave him the barest of winks. "Be careful, Master Clark."

"He's always a show off," CK muttered, but he waited for the plane to take off before he did.

Robin was already in the co-pilot seat, buckled in and ready to go. "Atomic batteries to power. Turbines to speed. Ready to move out."

The Batplane shifted and turned, backing down from the ceiling and straightening up. He shifted in his seat as they moved down, locked, and he glanced in the side computer screen at Robin in the background. "You're stunningly sexy in skin tight leather, Robin." He murmured, loud enough for Dick to hear, and with a snicker rising in his heart took off down the long cave.

- = - = -

Diana was mad. Not that she wasn't always, but for all that was dear and good on this earth, she was going to kill Walter West with the nearest toothpick if he didn't stop. She entertained herself for a moment contemplating all the terrible uses a toothpick could inflict as Wally did whatever it was that he was doing that barely kept him more alert than a puddle of goo. No matter. She looked at her nails, which of course would be in rags by the end of this little expedition, and contemplated the mornings activities.

Then he had to zoom past her. Again. "Wally, if you do not find a seat very near in the future I will find one for you. You don't want me to find one for you."

"As long as it's your lap or over it? I'm there for you, Highness." He was pacing back and forth, and of course he didn't stick out in New York, not dressed in a bright red bodysuit with yellow lighting bolts sticking out of his ears.

"If you come near my lap I may have to show you what Amazons do to men who come to close. We have special instruments for those few rare times, you understand, but I sincerely doubt any of us are reluctant to use them." Diana said primly, daring him to speak again as she crossed her killer legs and adjusted her head dress.

"Hey, you're the one offering, your Highness. I was just lettin' you know, if you wanted to? I wouldn't be against a little action here while we're waitin' on Points and Birdboy to show up." Wally flashed a bright grin at her as he paced, and sighed again.

"They will be here. Batman is never late. Ever. Even with a companion, they will be here." Diana simply said. "It just may be flashier than is usual for our dear eccentric friend."

"Of course they'll be here, and Broodboy will be cranky as ever, Robin will be wisecracking, God only KNOWS how CK's going to react to this, and then we've got... us! The only two sane peas in the lunatic pod."

She rose a brow at him. Just...rose a brow. "I cannot believe you are grouping yourself with the sane, Mr. West. Your mind left you at the last station house. Now do be quiet, I am trying to center myself for our mission." And check her nails.

"Come on, your Highness. Won't you think of the children?" He angled his head down so that he could look her in the face. "Your beauty? My brains? How could we deny the world that combination? We owe it, to ourselves and to the world!"

Diana just...stared at him. The tiny, horny little sludge pile that she would--appallingly--give up her life for. Oh, the humanity. So instead she snatched a handful of his very private privates and squeezed almost to crushing. "I'm sorry. What was that?"

"YYEEEEEEEEOOOOOOWWWWCCCCCHHH!!!" Wally howled. "If you wanted to touch the boys, all you had to do was ask!" he yelled, trying to twitch himself away from her painful grip.

She gave an even harder squeeze. "Let them remember that the next time they seem interested in me." Diana let go, made a face at her hand and wiped it on the front of his suit, before sitting back, crossing her arms, and glaring.

Wally hopped from foot to foot, trying to get himself adjusted in a slightly less painful matter. "Next time, Princess, I'm wearing a jockstrap around you!" He rubbed himself comfortingly once, and glared back at her. "You know, most women would love to get with what I've got."

"Most women are also straight."

Wally gave a little snicker. "All you hadda do was say so. Rumor has it there's this pretty blond thing back in Smallville that'll bounce either way the ball goes, I could bring her along and we could have us a nice little party."

Her glare darkened if at all possible. "How dare you assume I will date any female who is also of my persuasion. You ignorant little toad. Pull your dick back in and try and take a breath." but before she could say more, she rose to her feet, the angry teasing they'd been playing gone as she strode to the window and lifted up from the ground easily, soaring upwards to the ceiling and pressing the hidden black button that opened the warehouse ceiling. "Move, Wally." She called down, and moved herself as the Batplane began to ascend.

"Right." Wally moved to the loading dock doors and pulled them down, darkening the warehouse as the Batplane descended, locking the rolling doors in place as the plane landed and he flipped on the flood lights.

The warehouse was sparsely equipped, but passable for headquarters, and he was kind of proud of it, seeing as how he'd helped the others put it all together.

Right on the wing of the Batplane's ascent, CK dropped altitude along with it, soaring in under the ceiling and then rotating his body around, so that he was standing in mid-air as he slowly dropped the rest of the way, and landed gracefully on booted feet, cape swirling around him as he hit the concrete floor.

Oh. Oh, my. Diana considered, briefly, denouncing all lesbianism as she came soaring down as well, landing with a clap of her feet on the ground even as she took on a no-nonsense attitude. "Kent, is it? I'm Diana Prince, also known as Wonder Woman. I'm pleased to meet you." A firm shake of his hand, the other making sure her lasso was on her hip.

"Hello to you too." Bruce muttered, but he leapt out of the airplane easily, and very badly wanted to help Dick down as well. He knew better, of course, and let him jump down on his own even as he spoke. "Did you both make it here alright?"

"Of course." Diana answered.

CK shook the woman's hand firmly. "I'm Clark Kent... Superman." During the flight, his body had expanded to it's usual oversized proportions, giving him shoulders nearly as broad as Bruce's, and a strong grip. Even his voice had dropped an octave, and he was serious as he shook her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Robin snickered at Batman's reaction to Diana's reaction. "Don't you feel second best, Batman?" He vaulted easily out of the cockpit and let it slide shut as he landed on his feet, and walked over towards the small group.

Wally was very, very offended. "He doesn't do anything, and he gets the handshake and the politeness and the drool? What's up with that, Highness?"

"Because he is a gentleman and you are not, Wally." Diana shot over her shoulder, even as she nodded at Bruce and crossed her arms back across her ample chest. "What's our plan?"

"We're going to split up, two to three. I'm taking Clark with me, and Wally. Diana, you take Dick." He couldn't have Dick close to him right now, and he prayed his lover understood as he shifted his weight to the other foot. "I want to start searching. We have a few leads. Do you all have the print outs?"

Wally gave a little whine. "Aww, man, you're not gonna let me hang with the Princess? Seriously, Bruce, you're gonna need a runner with each group, to ferry messages at the least if one group finds this mean mother fucker. And it's going to need to be someone fast. And that is me and SuperClark here. One of us needs to hang with you, and one of us needs to hang with the Princess and Robin."

FUCK! Fuck fuck fuck! "Fine." He had to explain, now. "I don't want Dick with me. My mind isn't clear when he's around. I panic. But we shall do this your way, because you're right. Wally, go with Diana. Dick, you're with me."

"We can switch at any time." Diana murmured, as she nodded and pulled the print out sheet from her chest plate, looking over it. "Tager Cross. Anderson Pier. The South District. I flew over the Pier on my way to this warehouse, and I saw nothing."

CK raised his hand. "Let Wally and Dick both go with Diana? I am strong enough, and I have the extra abilities to compensate for there only being the two of us. If we do find Bane? You can radio Dick through the headset and he can send Wally ahead to take my place while I come back to carry Diana and Dick."

Yeah, right. Bruce didn't want to be alone with CK, but what other decision was there? They were losing time. "Agreed. Fan out. Keep in constant contact. CK has already been added to our network. I want everyone to log in every ten minutes, no matter what, or I'm coming looking for you." he strode back to the airplane without further talking and leapt into it, gunning it up and letting it raise into the still open sky of the warehouse.

Robin reached out, and caught CK's arm. "Take care of him," he said softly. "Please. He's all I've got."

CK nodded. "You are a good man, Dick Grayson. Do not worry; I will watch out for him." He leapt into the air, hovering for a moment beside the plane as it rose and then soared up and over it, waiting in the clear sky for the plane to rise to full cruising altitude.

- = - = -

His blood burned. Not because of anything else he'd done, but because of the Venom steroid that pumped in through his body. It caused his blood to burn, to flame constantly as it flowed through his veins, and he didn't care. It didn't bother him anymore. He was used to it.

He blamed Batman for this. If not for Batman, he wouldn't have been caught. He wouldn't have been sent to Santa Pristina. He wouldn't have been experimented on and he wouldn't have been turned into this freak of nature that he now was.

But it didn't matter, in the end. He was going to get his revenge. That's why he was here.

Bruce Wayne was a good, good friend of the Bat. They walked in the same circles, they fought the same battles, only Batman used his rubber and Wayne used his money.

He figured that it didn't matter who did what, they were going to pay.

If nothing else, then his hostage would be helping him get the Batman here. Barbara Gordon was one of the most important people to Batman--daughter of his closest friend, the police commissioner, and Batman would come to her.

He looked up, giving a little smirk. Batman was flying overhead as they spoke, the obvious lines of the bat-shaped plane bright against the blue sky. He turned the observation cameras in the building off, and looked at his two hostages. "It won't be long now."

Terror was a new constant in Barbara's life. She was throat deep in it, choking on it. She knew her father had always warned that someday this might have, and despite all of the precautions he had taught her, she was still utterly, and totally, terrified. She'd been in third period, learning about molecular structures when this... this man thing had torn a hole in the side of the building and snatched her. Her arm was broken, too, she was pretty sure, and her hair hung in limp lines around the cut in her scalp.

She was so scared. So. So scared.

This man thing had tied her to a pillar in the middle of the expensive board room, and her back ached from leaning against the corner of the pillar for so long. She couldn't get comfortable... she couldn't fix her skirt, which had hiked too high, and she couldn't move. Couldn't even talk, with the rag stuffed in her mouth and the tape across her lips.

She'd figured out that it made crying really hard, and after almost suffocating on her own mucus she'd fought not to cry again, even if she wanted to, badly.

Hal was sitting beside the woman, similarly bound, panicking, but trying not to. He was rubbing his wrists together, the sweat caused by the friction of his skin making the tape that bound his hands together slick as he was trying to roll it off. His mouth had been covered by just tape, because he hadn't been bearing the brunt of the man's rage like the woman had.

She was young; had to still be at Columbia University and couldn't have been older than twenty five, but then again, neither was he, yet. In a few days, yes. But not right now.

He'd gotten the tape worked free from his mouth enough to talk, and he took a chance. "Hey! It's not going to do anybody any good if you suffocate us. I can barely breathe, and she's not much better."

Bane looked calmly over at his two prisoners, feeling the steroid sliding through his body and keeping his muscles pumped. "I don't care if you live or die, as long as you're effective bait," he said.

"We won't be if we're dead," Hal protested. "They'll just kill you because we're gone and they've got nothing else to lose."

Bane considered. It was a bunch of bullshit, to be sure, because he knew he wouldn't be dealing with the police. But it wouldn't hurt; nobody could hear them screaming. He walked over to Hal and ripped the tape off his mouth first, and then he stood in front of the woman. "If you scream again, this goes back."

Barbara knew she looked terrified, and she was going to start crying as soon as the tape came off, but she nodded frantically. She didn't struggle, doing exactly as he wanted because doing what he wanted meant she got to live another day. She was silent, as silent as could be, and swallowed tightly as she nodded. Yes. She wouldn't scream. She wouldn't scream at all.

Bane ripped the tape off her mouth and dropped it in a wad at her feet. "Good girl."

Hal gulped in deep breaths as his mouth was freed. "Hey. What's your name? Stay calm; it's all going to be okay." He looked over at the girl. "Don't worry. Just be calm, and we'll get through this."

Barb swallowed a breath and a squeal when the tape ripped from her skin and she panted, laying her head back against the pillar and trying like hell to keep some of her modesty. Damn her. She was never going to wear a short skirt ever again. she kept her thighs closed, turning a little on her side despite their tied arms, and looked at the man beside her. Handsome, strong looking, average guy who had probably been in the wrong place at the wrong time, unlike her. "Barbara Gordon." She whispered, closing her eyes tightly. "My arm is broken."

"Hi, Barbara. I'm Hal Jordan." He looked up again. "She's hurt; she's going to need attention!" he yelled.

Bane just looked back, his expression concealed by his mask, but his eyes were glowing red. "Don't push your luck."

Hal gritted his teeth, but kept trying to free his hands. "Don't worry, Barbara. We're going to be okay. I've got a feeling about this. It's going to be ugly, but we're going to be okay."

"Don't try anything." She whispered, hoarsely. "My dad always told me not to, if this ever happened. Do what he wants and we'll get out of this alive." Her blond curls bounced as she nodded frantically. "I'll be okay, Mr. Jordan. Are you okay? your face is cut up. God, I'm scared." Rambling? Maybe a little. "I heard him talking to himself... why does he want Bruce Wayne? He and my dad are friends, but he's not going to pay ransom on me!"

Hal just shook his head. "I'm fine. A little beat up but don't worry; a few stitches after this is all done will fix me up good as new." He sighed. "I don't know why he wants Bruce Wayne, but he's got a reason, I'm sure."

Bane just looked at his two prisoners. "I do indeed have a reason, and it has nothing to do with Bruce Wayne, and everything... and I mean everything to do with Batman."

She looked up at the man and cowered. Just a little. If her arm wasn't so busted up she'd be trying to escape, but now... God, she disgusted herself with the tears that swamped her eyes. She kept herself quiet, sniffling softly and rubbing her face on her shoulder as best as she could. Dammit.

Hal looked up. "Untie me, and let me at least look at her arm. I've had EMT training, I can tell you how bad it is. I give you my word, I won't try anything. I'm not stupid; I want to live through this."

"No." Bane looked back out the window, and back up at the sky. "He's coming now. Soon, it's not going to matter."

Oh, God. her chin trembled worse and she began to cry softly, her sobs swallowed down. She wasn't ever going to see her dad again, or her boyfriend, or her cat, ever again. Who was going to take care of them? Her chin trembled all the worse, eyes filled as she let her chin set down on her chest.

Hal grunted at the young girl's upset, and started trying to tear his wrists apart even faster.

Bane heard the sobbing, heard the grunting and the grating of flesh and the rasping of tape against metal.

Music to his ears.

He didn't take his eyes off the skies, and waited.

Diana had been aware of this. All villains, no matter how intelligent, let arrogance be their downfall.

She, Dick, and Wally, despite her disgust of being paired with him, had scanned and searched all of this overcast, raining day. She had flown ahead of them, her sharper eyes taking in what the other two couldn't, and finally, after forty five minutes, her senses had peaked and she'd flown closer to Wayne Enterprises, the New York office of course. Something was wrong. The door on the roof had been ripped off its hinges, and a girls shoe sat on the cement right in front of it.

She turned and flew back down as fast as she could before Robin or the Flash let their presence be known, and met them just as they were about to turn the corner onto the busy street facing Wayne Enterprises. "I found him."

Robin nodded. "For some reason, I'm not at all surprised." His stomach clenched. "We're three minutes away from the next check in. I say we scope out what we can, and give Batman all the information we get at the next check in. Then we're going to engage him and get him kicked down before Bruce gets here."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!!" Wally jerked his head up. "You serious with that shit, Rob? He's Superfreak pumped up on steroids, and you think the three of us are gonna take him on?"

"No, but we may be able to keep him away from his hostage, or hostages, until our reinforcement comes. We need to investigate, get in, see what's happening, however, before we make a move. Robin, I want you and Flash to go in through the southern entrance. I'll take the roof."

Robin shook his head. "No. I know how to get into the building without anyone else knowing. There's an unsurveilled tunnel under the parking deck, and it comes out in the fifth floor men's restroom, in the last stall on the left. I'm sure the building's been cleared out by now, but even if it's not, we can clear it floor by floor as we go up."

She tipped her head. "Agreed. Lets go."

Barbara's sobs were harsher, as Hal tried to jerk and twist out of the bonds clasping his arms. He was strong but this man thing was stronger, she knew, and she whispered even as the tears tracked her face, "Stop it! You're going to make him kill you, please, Mr. Jordan you can't leave me alone with him. Please, stop. Please."

Robin nodded, and squared his shoulders. "Come on. We'll have to circle the west side, and get in behind the cameras, because they're starting to pour in and we don't want to give our positions away." His fingers hovered over the controls on his belt, torn between calling Batman or not. "Once we're in the tunnel, hold on, because it moves fast."

"If he's right," Hal said, "and saying that it doesn't matter, then he's going to kill us anyway," he said softly. "I'm going to try and get free, and get you out of here, Barbara."

Her chin was trembling, hard, but she nodded, tucking her legs up closer to her side as she turned to face him, sniffling softly. "I'm not usually such a girl." Yeah. Sobbing? Jesus, the horror.

"We'll follow you, Robin." Diana nodded tightly, and gave Wally the death glare of all death glares. "You had better listen to him, Flash, or its your ass." She adjusted one arm band and left the ground, flying over them as she followed Dick. "Don't call him, Robin. Wait. Do like he's told you."

Wally felt his abused testicles shriveling at the death glare he got from his co-worker. "Hey, it's me. You're worried?"

Robin nodded. "I know, your Highness. I just don't want to call him at all." He pulled his hand away from the belt, and went up to the wall. He tapped one of the stones and it rolled aside, revealing a retinal scanner. He leaned forward, and a red bat-shaped light blinked as it scanned his eye, and the tunnel door opened. "Okay. Come on in."

Hal gave her a little smile. "I wouldn't worry about it. The situation definitely calls for it."

Diana followed Dick as he went through the scanner, and couldn't help looking over her shoulder twice before entering. "This feels like a trap." She murmured, very quietly, her boots barely making a sound as the three of them walked through the tunnel. She had to stoop a little, as she was a head taller than the other two men, and her hand pressed against the tunnel wall as they began through it.

"It's not; nobody but Batman and I know that this tunnel even exists, or where it comes out at." He picked up his pace as he slid his hand along the slick wall.

"You do realize that means nothing to me." Diana muttered. "Bane wouldn't come here if it wasn't a trap, Robin, you know better than that." Something blinged very quietly. "Contact Batman and Superman, now. Three minutes is up."

Dick shook his head. "Not until we know what's going on. We need something to report before we report in."

"Um, I hate to be the party pooper, but are we forgetting that Tall Dark and oh so Broody said we check in on the dot, or he comes looking for us?"

"Contact him, Robin, don't be thick. Team effort, remember?"

Barbara sniffled again, and rubbed her cheek against her shoulder again, as Hal started to struggle again. "My dad's the Commissioner. He'd be horrified to find me a sobbing mess."

Robin gritted his teeth, and brought his hand up to his mask. "Batman, this is Robin, checking in. Situation under control, come in."

Bruce lifted his head up from talking to Clark through the comms. "Robin, coming in loud and clear. Have you located Bane?"

"We may have," Robin temporized. "We're checking it out now, and will advise with details."

Wally coughed loudly in the background.

"Keep me posted. Where are you? Superman and myself are on our way." Bruce answered, turning the plane and heading for Dick's signal. "Don't do anything rash, Robin."

Robin seriously considered lying about his position. "We're in the WayneTech tunnel," he said quietly. "We have reason to believe he's camped out near the top of the tower, and we're taking the tunnel in to avoid detection while we survey."

CK turned and made a quick, wheeling turn to pull back up alongside the plane on the new trajectory, keeping up beside it without a hitch.

"Good. He wants Batman." Just as Bruce had predicted. "Are there any people in danger, from what you can gather?"

"Tell him there might be one or more hostages." Diana answered. "There's evidence of a scuffle, and a woman's shoe was left on the roof."

"There's the possibility of hostages," Robin relayed. "the Princess saw a woman's shoe on the roof, and the roof access door was ripped straight off the hinges. There were definite signs of a struggle there."

His lover had told him the truth. Something in Bruce's heart finally relaxed. "Good. be careful." Bruce switched to the frequency they were all carrying. "Flash, I want you to get the hostages out. Whatever the cost. That's your job, and I expect you to do it well. We're going to create the diversion."

"Always," Robin said, and then listened to the common frequency switch over.

Wally nodded. "I can do that. I can get him/her/them out, no problem."

CK fumbled with his belt a moment before joining in. "Do you need me to advance? I can get there before Batman; give you five minutes or so of backup. I've got Robin's signal on my mask, and I can follow it in."

"Yes." Bruce answered. "Do so, Superman. Be fast. Follow the signal but stay out of site. Bane might be watching the street through the windows. Lets go people."

Diana nodded, even as Dick was talking to Bruce, she was pushing the door they'd come up to open very, very carefully. She pressed it open, quietly, silently, and listened for at least a half a minute.

There were voices down in the building, a woman crying, and another voice. Three... possibly four people. She carefully opened the door and stepped through into the men's bathroom, silent and stealthy as she could possibly be.

CK nodded, and he put his speed to the flight, shooting in a blur towards the building, keeping an eye on Robin's signal as he approached.

Robin changed back over to the personal signal. "We're doing great, Batman, don't worry. I'll scout up, find the best place to bring Superman down on the back side."

"Please do. I'll speak with you in a moment and tell you when I'm going to make the diversion."

Diana motioned Wally and Dick close to her and started out of the men's bathroom. Her feet were silent, her eyes sharp and wide to take in any movement, anything at all. She let her gaze travel down the long hall, peaking both ways.

Barbara was crying softly, again, quietly, even as she talked to Hal. "The situation calls for being a nervous, terrible wreck?"

"No, the situation calls for being upset." He tried to give her a reassuring smile. "There's just the two of us, you're not going to tell, I'm certainly not, and I don't think less of you for panicking. In fact, I'm panicking myself, and I'm trying really hard to be nice and calm so that I can help us both out."

Wally put his hand on Diana's shoulder. "You want me to zip in there and take a look?"

Robin flicked his mask until it landed on Superman's frequency. "CK, you still with me? Come in to the back side of the building, circle out, and come up to the roof from the rear. once you've landed, give me a call."

"Give me thirty seconds, and I'll be to the roof," Superman said, making the wide loop that Robin had just asked for, so that he gave the building a wide berth, and came up on the blind side.

"Okay. Hey, but," She lowered her voice. "My house key is in my back pocket. I've got a pen knife attached to it. If you can grope my butt, you can get it out."

"No. The chance of him seeing you is too risky." Diana murmured, quietly. "Robin, go to Superman. Wally, you're with me." She started down the hall in direction of the voices, silent and stealthy as she could, listening as she went to the voices. Only two. A man and a woman.

Hal cracked another little smile. "In any other situation? I just might think you were hitting on me," he tried to flirt, hoping that would help relax her. "But... seeing that circumstances are what they are, let's see if I can get down that far."

"Right on your ass, Highness," he whispered, and then got down to business, following Diana quietly as possible.

Robin nodded. "Superman, I'm on the fifth floor. Land on the south side, and I'll meet you at the mouth of the tunnel. Once you're in, we're coming back up fast as we can, and rendezvous with Diana."

"All right," came CK's voice, quietly than before. "I'm almost there... okay. I see the side of the building, and I'm touching down now."

Barbara gave a little sobbing laugh, a very tiny one, and shifted her hip the other way. Her skirt was short enough that it was loose around the thigh, and it wouldn't be hard to get the key out. Hopefully. Bane didn't seem to be paying them any attention whatsoever across the large room, and they worked, furiously, her eyes never leaving the long, bulky back.

Diana looked around the corner, and spotted what she thought she would, immediately. In the large board room, of who's doors were made of glass, was Bane. A man and a woman--Barbara Gordon!--were tied to the long, beautiful pillar near the door, and the man, Bane, was standing facing the window. Wow. Bruce had said he was intelligent? Uh, no.

"Come in, Wonder Woman," came the deep voice from in front of the window. "You might be quiet, but you still have a reflection. Tell your friend to come in too, he who is so fond of red." Bane didn't move from his spot, still staring out the window. "The more the merrier, though my true prey has yet to show his cowardly face."

Wally choked and gripped Diana's elbow. "You can't walk in there," he hissed, pulling her back. "He knows we're here, let's draw him out of the room, and I'll run in for the hostages!"

FUCK. FUCK! Fuuuck. Diana straightened her shoulders even as Wally hissed in her ear. "Of course I can't. I will draw him out." She turned the corner without further response and rose her voice. "Theirs no one here but me, Bane." She moved to the doors, which were already opened, and stepped through. "Let these people go."

Wally swore silently himself. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. He rubbed his hands together, shaking his head and waiting by the door. Where the fuck was Robin and Superman?

Opening the tunnel. Robin opened the panel at the bottom to find Superman standing there. "Come on; we've got to move. He's seen Diana; he knows we're here."

CK didn't argue, he just picked Dick up and flew through the tunnel, half running and half flying as he burst out of the stall in the men's room, and put Robin back on his feet. "Let me go in next; he can't hurt me, like he can you. That's why you hired me." He touched his belt. "Wonder Woman? It's Superman. I'm coming in."

Bane finally turned around, showing his masked face, reddened eyes, and bulging body. "I don't quite think so, but thank you for the thought." He walked calmly towards her, cracking his knuckles as he did so. "I think you will be a nice addition to my little collection here as we wait for Batman."

Hal stifled the instinctive yip of joy as he got the knife out of Barbara's pocket, thanks to her last little hip shimmy. He flipped the small blade out, and instead of trying to cut his own hands free first, he sawed through hers. "Don't move; pretend like I'm not doing this, and once you're free, take the knife in your good hand, and cut through the tape."

Barbara nodded, tightly, her voice cut short by the appearance of Wonder Woman. Dear God, she never thought she'd ever see her, but there she was and Barbara closed her eyes tight, looking across at Hal in fear.

Diana let her eyes cruise around the room, once. "Nice wreckage, Bane. You did pick a nice big room, too, didn't you?" The table, that lay in smashed pieces along one wall, could have held fifty people, easily. "Let the prisoners go."

Bruce was watching, expertly so, through the heat signature screen on the ship. He saw Diana in front of what had to be Bane, two other figures... one hiding behind a wall, and finally Clark and Dick. Good. Position.

He let the Batplane come down a little louder than usual on the roof.

Bane ignored her as he heard the thump on the roof. "And there is our guest of honor now." He kept moving towards Diana, and then held his hand out, reaching for her throat.

Robin stilled him. "Wait. Don't move." He touched his belt. "Flash... position?"

"Waiting for the Princess to engage," he said shortly. "Hostages in sight, and looks like they're trying to get themselves free. Once she's engaged, I'm going in. Looks like the woman's been injured--it's Barbara Gordon."

Robin dialed into Bruce's patch. "Did you catch that, Batman? One of his hostages is Barbara." He paused. "James' daughter."

Just as Bane reached for her neck Diana snatched his hands and flew upwards as hard as she could, turning at the last moment and dragging Bane through the air with her. She crashed through the glass doors and out, down the hall, away from the hostages. His weight was terrible but she carried him enough to drop him head over heels down the stone steps leading to the first floor of the lovely building, snarling and zooming down after him.

"I heard. Professionalism, Dick. Get them out. I'm coming down. Tell me where Diana is." Bruce had already jumped from the plane and was racing down the stairs from the roof, and spilled out into the helicopter control room.

Robin switched to the communal frequency. "Superman, go. Help Diana; they're in the stairwell heading down. Wally, go and get the prisoners out; I'll help you get them out, and then we both come back and engage, clear? Batman, we're moving in."

"On my way." Wally shot into the boardroom in a blur, and was surprised to find that the girl was already free, and sawing with a crippled arm. "Here, let me have the knife; I'm here to help you. My name's Flash, and I'm here with Batman."

"She's been injured," Hal said instantly. "Get her out and come back for me."

"There's no need for that." Robin burst into the room behind Wally. "Barbara. Come on; we're going to get you downstairs, and Wally's going to get your friend out."

"Get the hostages out. Call the police." Bruce answered, and flew down the steps he was running so fast. He could hear the crashes, hear Diana yelling, and he ran past Wally so fast he was almost a blur. He saw his lover out of the corner of his eye but ignored it, running down the hall and then crouching, right at the top of the long, winding staircase. The huge entrance downstairs was enormous, and echoing with the fight already in progress.

He took one of the special hooks he had made just last month and decided a trial was good now. He reached up and shot it off, watching it hook into the ceiling, and using the rope he swung down, down the steps, and stopped right in front of Diana and Bane.

Diana was bleeding from the lip, her hair a disarray, but she was fighting with all of her might, using her speed and agility to her advantage.

"Hi, Robin." Barb gasped, as she stood up, cradling her broken arm tightly. "Hurry, please, I don't want to be here anymore."

"Don't worry. We're gonna get you out of here, and back to your Dad before you can say submolecular decohesive compounds." He lifted her carefully into his arms, tucking her broken arm gently against her body. "Hold onto me; we're going down the back way."

Bane was none the worse for wear, showing none of the wounds that Diana was inflicted on him, but when Batman landed in front of him, he just shoved Diana out of the way, slamming her head against the wall, and he stalked forward towards him. "I've been waiting for you."

Superman stalked down the hallway, scooping Diana up from her slump and setting her back on her feet as he came up behind Bane, waiting for Batman's cue.

Wally finished ripping Hal's arms free of the tape, and then ripped his feet free too. "Okay, here we go."

Hal shook his head. "No, let me help. I can hold my own, I've got a black belt and I've had National Guard combat training."

"Hello, Bane." Bruce nodded, very slightly, at CK even as his eyes kept locked on the horrible monsters face. "I'm sure you have. However, I've been waiting for you much longer, don't you see?"

Diana was half slumped against the wall, eyes wide as she fought to get herself coherent again, and she shook her head, rubbing her head frantically in an attempt to wake up. "Christ."

Barbara was crying softly but she nodded, grasping Robin's shoulders tightly and keeping herself locked close to his strong body.

Bane kept advancing on Batman, watching so that his opponent's eyes didn't flicker. "You did this to me, Batman, and I'm going to make you pay for it." He shoved a table out of the way and it splintered against the wall in it's force. His arms flexed, grew even larger as he slapped flesh-colored dermal patches that adhered to his skin and it delivered a double dose of Venom to his system. He grew a few inches taller, a few wider, and a few broader.

CK made sure Diana was standing before he zipped around to stand between the creature and Bruce. "You want him? You're going to have to get through me."

"You say that like you think you're a match for me, little boy. I'm going to break you apart like a twig." He charged, intending to sweep CK aside with his forearm and continue his push towards Bruce.

Robin kept her cradled carefully. "Come on, you don't have to cry. It's over; Batman and the others are going to take care of Bane, and as soon as you're safe, and the other guy is too, I'm going back in there to help my partner."

Flash was getting impatient. "Look, I don't give a flying ratfuck if you've got a black belt in KickYerAss and FuckYouUp too. You're NOT gettin' involved in this! Go with Barbara, and make sure she's all right before you both get yourselves killed!"

"Okay." Barb whispered softly, even as Robin held her just like that. They ran through a cave looking thing, she was so fuzzy she couldn't really recall much of anything, and the cops were already outside when they stepped out into the sun.

Diana, with all of her power and strength, flew up from the floor and grasped the biggest slab of stone from the crumbled ceiling that she could find. He'd hit it when she'd chunked him down the stairs, and she yanked off a large piece before unceremoniously dropping it on his head, going for another piece of metal.

"Superman, Bane. Bane, the guy who's going to kick your damn ass." Bruce said quietly, carefully, before he leapt, and with CK by his side, attacked.

CK launched at the same time Bruce did, both sets of hard booted feet slamming into Bane's chest. It drove the man-thing back into the steel girder that Wonder Woman had just pulled out of the ceiling and was swinging around. It connected with a hard thunk to the back of his head, and CK got back to his feet first, and jerked Bruce up with him.

A snorted bellow told them that it hadn't fazed Bane in the least, and the creature charged again, like a bull, to where the two of them stood together, waiting for the next charge.

"She's been hurt," Robin told the nearest police officer. "Her father is James Gordon, the police commissioner in Gotham City. Call him and let him know she's okay. There's another hostage inside, a man, but he doesn't want to come out. He wants to stay and fight." He kissed Barbara on the forehead. "Don't worry, Barb. You're going to be okay. They're going to take care of you." He pulled away from the clamor of cops and press, and ran back through the tunnel as fast as he could, comm open as he ran. "Batman, it's Robin. The girl is out, the man is fighting Wally tooth and nail; he wants to help. Do you let him come in or do I knock him out and let Wally take him out?"

"Get him out." Bruce snarled as he backed up, panting, and ducked a punch, leaping over the swung arm and kicking Bane as hard as he could in the small of the back. He wanted, badly, to tell Dick to leave himself but didn't dare, ducking in time for Wonder woman to swoop down and slam the man thing back with the steel supporter.

"Roger that." Robin switched courses as he came up, and nodded to Wally. "Hal, I'm really sorry about this," Robin said, and without a hesitation cold-cocked the blond man and watched him crumple. "Go, back up Batman and the others. I'll get this one out, but they need someone fast. Go. Now." Robin used the light hydraulics in the suit to boost the man over his shoulder, the dead weight too much for him to carry without the mechanical assistance.

"Right, I'm there. Hurry back, Rob." Flash disappeared in a second, and just barely missed having his head taken off by Diana's girder. "Holy shit, Highness, watch where you're swingin' that thing!" He darted in front of Bane, and did a little dance from foot to foot. "You can't catch me! I bet you couldn't catch your ass with both hands!" He kept dancing back and forth, and looked up at Wonder Woman. "Ready to swing, your ladyship?"

CK didn't duck the punch; he caught it and shoved it back down, planting his own in the middle of Bane's face. "Flash!" he yelled. "Go right; his peripheral vision is shot in that mask, he can't see! Cut right and up!"

Bane snarled at the little imp dancing back and forth, and slapped his patches again for another boost of Venom. "You can't stop me, you little fools!"

Epiphany.

Bruce didn't have them often. As things went he was cunning, devious, and incredibly cold hearted. But smart enough, epiphany smart enough? No. never.

Except now.

He leapt in, grasping the little pouch Bane was getting the slap patches out of.

Unfortunately?

He ended up taking a back hand and flying ten feet into a wall, where he crumbled and fell silent.

"Batman!" Diana cried, even as she turned, furious, and snarled, "You hurt my friend!" Oh yeah. Here it was. She hefted the metal bar back and swung, as hard and fast as she could, hitting Bane in the middle of the face so fast and so hard she heard something snap, before she tugged the metal bar back and swung again.

CK doubled Diana's cry, and after a quick scan of his... okay, maybe he could call Bruce a friend in the middle of this battle, and he saw that nothing important had been broken, he turned back around.

And scanned Bane. Then looked at the pouch Bruce had taken from Bane. Thought hard, because it made his head hurt, but he did it anyway. And something sort of made sense. "Wonder Woman! Flash! Get him to turn around!!" CK added his own efforts to that, adding hard, battering punches that drove every bit of strength he had into damaging whatever organs the creature had inside.

Flash had no idea what the hell CK wanted. He didn't even have a clue in hell if he trusted CK. "What the fuck for?" he bellowed back.

"Trust me, okay? I think I got an idea!!" CK didn't pause driving his punches in.

The first thing that Robin saw, when he came back upstairs, was Bruce crumpled senselessly against the wall. "BATMAN!" he bellowed. "BATMAN!!"

Bane was snarling, beating Superman with punch after punch as he tried to force the caped hero out of the way, because at the moment, Superman was the only thing between him, and ending Batman's life for good.

Diana didn't have time to move Bruce, so she doubled her efforts into what CK was screaming. She punched, using her piece of metal to prod and push, yank and shove him around to where Ck needed him. The bleeding mother fucking bastard.

Bruce heard the screams, heard his lover, and its what brought him back. The suit gave him a shot of adrenaline and suddenly his eyes were wide open, he was jumping to his feet, and though something twinged in his leg he ignored it as he raced forward to help the efforts. He'd heard the tail end of CK's cry and he knew CK had already thought of what he had. "You know what we've got to do, Superman!" he yelled, yanking Robin along with him and punching and kicking the bastard it thing.

Bane screamed in anger as he saw Batman getting up, moving, trying to fight back. "I will kill you, Batman."

"No you won't!" Robin threw himself at the thing, because it could no longer be called a man. Bane had jacked himself up to grotesque proportions, and he pounded the hard rubber of his boots and his gauntlet against the thing's body as hard as he could, in a mad flurry of anger-powered blows.

"What the hell?" Flash yelled. "In for a penny, in for a pound! Come on, Monster Mash! Turn your lard ass around!" He shot round to the side, getting Bane to lash out at him and throwing his center of balance off. "Come on, you gigantor motherfucker!"

CK's eyes went straight to the tubing in the back of Bane's neck. When he'd scanned the thing before, the Venom was a bright green compound that went straight for the tubing mechanism, mixed with blood, and was circulated right back through the creature's system.

He was poised, helping Flash shove the thing off balance, hovering and waiting to get close enough. They needed something to complete the monster's tip over, but what?

Hal, after having fought his way free of the paramedics, had rushed back up the stairs and into the fray. He had no idea what was going on, but could see that there was a concerted group effort to topple the creature off his balance and expose his back. He could do that.

Backing out of the room for a split-second, Hal built up a running start, and then launched himself, adding his weight to Bane and making the creature flip around.

Bruce watched, astonished, as Bane fell over. He gasped, unable to help it as the very ground shook, and he launched himself at Banes arm, holding his down tightly. "GET HIS OTHER ARM!" He bellowed, loudly, holding his own tightly as he looked at CK. Clark knew what to do, and so did CK, so he just held on with all his might, snarling at Hal to "Get the fuck off!" even as he held his own limb down.

Diana soared through the air and clamped down on one leg, holding it down with all of her might as she did so. Hold it down, do what he wanted, Bruce had a plan and she was never one to say no to his plans. He always came out on top, after all.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Flash demanded, throwing himself down on Bane's arm beside Diana, adding his weight to hers as they attempted to hold down the massive, trunk-like appendage.

"You! On his back, get out of the way!" CK tossed Hal gently to the side, so that he landed on the floor, and before Bane could shake off the people holding him down, he ripped out the tubing that connected Bane's brain to his spinal cord.

The creature Bane howled in exquisite agony. The fire was burning inside of his body, out of control as his body shrunk. Not just to the grotesque parody of normal that he usually was, but further down even than that, most of his muscle mass disappearing with the steroid as it flowed out of his body, turning him nearly skeletal.

Fire-red eyes looked at the man and woman on his right arm, and then to Bruce on his other side, then his head fell motionless.

Silence.

Bruce stared into dark, pain filled eyes and sighed, quietly, as he rose up and looked down at the man. Jesus. He was skeletal, tiny, and he just… shook his head, looking at Clark in the next moment, silently. "Lets go home."

Robin went to Bruce's side, stopping at the last moment before holding his lover up and offering support. "Are you all right?" he asked gruffly.

CK just blinked up at Bruce, and plunked down on his ass in the floor. "Yeah. I want to go home. I need to see Kal and Kenep."

Flash had the blond man pinned up against the wall. "What in the name of all you hold holy did you think you were doing in here, Jordan?"

"You're kidding, right? Did you see what he did to that poor Gordon girl in there? He's a bastard, a danger, a menace, and he involved me. I wasn't sitting this round out," Hal said, pushing Flash back and gaining his freedom.

AND THIS IS WHY YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN, HAL JORDAN OF EARTH.

The words weren't verbal, but they reverberated in the thoughts and ears of every single person in the room.

"Alright, that's all I needed." Bruce knew damn well who they were, and he sighed in exhaustion. He didn't say anything else, just yawning softly as Robin held him up. The same thing happened with Alan Scott, Bruce's friend, and he listened, quietly, even as he looked down at Hal. Alright. One villain, two new members of the Justice League. That seemed to match.

Diana's eyes were sharp, wide, as she rubbed a line of blood from her cheek and glanced to either side of her, suspicious, looking down at Bane laying before them in a crumpled heap.

"Okay, what the fuck is this?" Hal's eyes were wide. "Who is talking to me?"

"We are," came a dry, lightly amused and accented voice from behind him. "We are the Guardians; my name is Ganthet. I am the eldest, and I speak for the three of us. We have been watching you for some time, Hal Jordan, and you have this day proven that which we have seen."

Robin shook his lover. "Don't fall asleep," he growled. "Who the fuck are these guardians?"

"That's Guardians. With a capital G. We are from Oa, and you have been selected, Hal Jordan, to join a special elite corps. The bravest, strongest, and most pure of all races of the universe are offered membership, and it is no stain on you if you wish to decline. The Emerald Warriors--what you on Earth have called, the Green Lantern Corps--comprises the best warriors of the universe, and you have shown yourself to be among their numbers, should you choose."

Hal's eyes just... widened. "I... who... now what?"

Ganthet held out a ring, blazoned with a circle, touched topped and bottom by two straight lines, depicting a simple lantern. "By returning to the fray, when you had none of the special gifts bestowed upon these warriors, and proving your worth and bravery against so great an adversary, we knew we had chosen you wisely, and now was the time to indoctrinate you into our Corps."

"Space species. Yadda yadda, Oa, yadda yadda, Guardians, yadda yadda, interstellar corps. All very interesting." Bruce muttered. "Take it, Hal is it? And I'll contact you on Monday. Nice seeing you, Ganthet." Bruce answered, even as he tugged on his lover and hobbled toward the exit. "Lets go, CK, give the man some privacy."

Diana, still shocked, blinked and started after Bruce and Dick, tugging on Wally's arm at the same time.

"Whoa. Wait. Take it? Contact? Space aliens, Green Lantern Corps? The fuck?" But even as Hal spoke, the ring's emblem shone brightly, and as Ganthet released it, the ring hovered in air for a moment, then blinked out of existence before reappearing on Hal's left hand. A soft, green glow suffused him, and the power ring turned Hal's street clothing into the garb of an Emerald Warrior. "Wow."

"You will be our brightest star yet, Hal Jordan," Ganthet replied. "Do not fear; you will be contacted this evening by several of your comrades in arms. Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps." He, along with the other silent Guardians, disappeared as quickly as they'd come, and left Hal standing alone with his new powers.

"I think my life just got a hell of a lot more interesting," he muttered.

 

-fin-

go on to the next part