Kal's always tried to do too much. It's noted and it's often unnecessary. Today is not the day to change, though.
It's Law. No matter how controlled the situation, things will always change and...
It's expected.
The child out of danger. The streets mean around them, his body slipping through the dangers like water pouring through a trap. It's hard and he's harder. Fingers clench in his cowl where it drapes along his shoulder. Eyes peer up because, despite the flight and the weapons, the blood and the terror...
Kal's always a wonder, and the girl has expectations now.
They're no different than Bruce's own.
The Law here, in Gotham. The Law, greater than all others.
Her parents...
She's relaxing because if Superman is present, things will be alright. Despite the dark shadow that had snatched her free, she can stop being afraid.
Not guilty. Not guilty yet...
And the scene changes. A crowd, debris. For a split second, attention diverted. Kal's so predictable, looking to protect everyone within a planet's radius.
Bruce feels his heart tighten, breath catching automatically. Kal will hear it. A second is all it takes and...he's too far away to make a difference. The best Bruce can do is shift until he's the only thing standing between the child and the disaster.
"Superman," she's whispering, with a faith that belies what Batman knows. What Kal himself knows. The limitation.
A second, and the Law is broken.
The man will go into a rage because his wife is bleeding. Superman imploring the damned citizens he's just saved to leave, unable to stay long here.
It's a lucrative hesitation now, where Bruce wonders if one death is worth two, or ten. Or if he'll ever forgive Kal after tonight.
The feeling melts into the shadows, for Gotham has a habit of her own.
Kal makes a decision. The stupid ones get minor injuries. The man is pulled from a second death, yelling after his wife. The daughter is stiff and confused in Bruce's care.
Betrayed, since she knows something bad has come and it won't ever go away. She doesn't know what, yet. But she is aware that it could have been prevented.
Perhaps this is the part where she stops seeing miracles. Or perhaps she's stronger than that.
She's passed off to Gordon and Batman doesn't stay, aware that by now the problem will dissolve by itself.
"You--" starts the Commissioner, smart enough to make the connections. The girl attaches herself to his coat, looking numb. Her father may live, but needs a hospital.
Her mother...
It had been the first time Bruce had understood the concept of a morgue.
Batman hasn't turned back to regard the scene. "Tell him that when this is cleaned up, to leave," he says. It's likely that Gordon won't have to pass along the words.
"We all make mistakes," murmurs the older man, watching the dark shape slip away. "You've made your own."
A fact Bruce knows. But still, Kal should be better.
Just as Kal knows better of what happens when Bruce's Law is broken.