BLACK, WHITE, AND IN BETWEEN
Batman nodded at Shayera Hol, who had been watching the monitors, as he entered the Chamber.
"How is he?"
Shayera shrugged. "The same as ever."
"I take it you haven't told him."
"About the President's offer of a pardon? No; I thought I'd leave that up to you." Hawkgirl looked at him through her mask. Like the others, she had gone back to wearing her old uniform. All of them had…except, of course, the man Batman had come to see. "You don't think he can do it, can you? Come around, I mean."
"His case is different."
"Why? Because you think it is? Because J'onn couldn't reach him?"
Batman looked back at her. "No. Because I know him."
Batman left Shayera to think about that for a while as he approached the transparent barrier. It looked like glass, but was really an alloy that Wayne Enterprises had developed in a partnership with Star Labs. Through it he could see Earth's former champion sitting on a bench, flood lamps bathing him in simulated red sunlight. He was still wearing his Justice Lord uniform-he wouldn't even look at his old red and blue one, which Batman kept in the Watchtower for the day when he might be willing to put it on again.
The Chamber had been specifically designed for the former Superman. Before they'd gone rogue and became the Justice Lords, Batman had spent years studying his partners, learning their weaknesses. His problem had been letting the situation get out of hand for as long as he did. Now, however, they'd all gone back to their old uniforms, their old roles, working hard to regain the public's trust and confidence in them…all except for one.
Batman turned on the speaker. "Have you given any more thought to my proposal?"
The former Man of Steel glared up at him. "You're no better than your counterpart," he growled. "When I get out of here, I'll…"
"Brave words, from a man who no longer has his powers." Batman paused and waited for Kal-El to calm down. "The rules are simple. Come to your senses, and you can come out."
"You can't do this. You can't keep me locked away forever. The rest of the world…"
"The rest of the world has seen this side of you for too long." Batman withdrew a piece of paper from his utility belt.
"What's that?" Kal-El sneered. "Another list of holier-than-thou phrases?"
"It's a Presidential pardon." Batman looked thoughtfully at it. "You once told me there were lines we couldn't cross-that the world was more complicated than my black and white views. You one accused me of operating in the shadows-but you're the one who's fallen into the darkness. And the sad part of it is, you still can't see it."
"You spent too much time with our counterparts," Kal-El accused. "They let themselves get complacent, just like we did. I was only trying to show them…"
"What? How to turn the world into your own private dictatorship? How to lead through fear-instead of inspire by example? Why do you think I was looking at other dimensions? It wasn't just for curiosity's sake, you know." Batman looked down at the paper again. "I think I'll hold onto this a little while longer." He folded it up and put it back in his utility belt. "I told my counterpart I had to step into the sunlight. But he reminded me there's a lot more to it than that." Batman turned to leave. "The world isn't black and white. There's always something in between. Think about it."
Kal-El stared at Batman as he left the chamber.
THE END