Here is another installment. Hope it meets expectations. Honestly, I'm on the fence about it but since I can't think of anything better... anyway, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own what isn't mine.

Chapter 2

Batman woke up in a rush that had him frozen in panic for a second. He forced the instinctive reaction down and took stock of his situation. He remembered fighting a creature in downtown Central City with the other members of the Justice League when something happened. He strained to remember what but he could only recall a bright light and a feeling of falling. When he landed he was disoriented, mostly blinded with a ringing in his ears that made it hard to think let alone hear anything around him. He stumbled forward, trying to find somewhere to recover when he felt someone grab his arm. He fought back and then more people came to fight. He remembered their fighting styles: a thin fighter with excellent martial arts training, a distance fighter that made him think of that guy in Star City, a big, strong man, someone with energy blasters. There might have been more, but he had been overwhelmed. He fought by feel and instinct. His reflexes and training helped for a time, but fighting blind was difficult. He used a smoke bomb and tried to run. Then something fell out of the sky, knocking his feet out from under him and driving him into unconsciousness.

Batman cracked open one eye to assess his current predicament. It looked like a lab in a hospital. He was strapped to a table but he had enough give he could easily escape, even though they took off his gauntlets, whoever "they" were. He still had most of his costume on though, especially his mask, which made him feel better. His belt was off but he could see it on the table next to the monitor he was hooked up to, displaying his vitals, which were leveling out to normal. The equipment looked new and very high-tech, even beyond what he had in the cave. So he knew he wasn't in a civilian hospital. There was no one in the room but after opening both eyes, he could see at least three cameras, so someone was watching him.

Physically he felt bruised and tired, but that was normal. He could feel the lingering effects of a concussion but it wouldn't be enough to hinder him once he was aware of it. So, he felt fine enough to escape here and find out what the heck had happened. Using tricks that he learned long ago, he was soon free. He slipped on his gauntlets before putting on his belt. He always felt a little naked without his belt, not that he was helpless without it but it was the principle of the thing. Next he turned to the computer. It took no time at all to hack into the system, but there was an AI of some kind that was fighting him. He just blocked it out of the cameras since he couldn't override it and ran a loop of when he was unconscious before turning his attention to finding out where the heck he was.

Avengers:

The Avengers were sitting around a conference table trying to figure out where the masked man came from. According to videos that Tony dug up, the man had literally appeared out of nowhere. There had also been a spike of an unknown energy at the moment he appeared. Tony was analyzing it now, but it was unlike anything they had ever seen.

"So, can you at least tell me it was not the tesseract?" Steve asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Yes, not tessaract energy, not Rainbow Bridge, not anything we've seen before," Tony said, frantically swiping through screens and charts and references. "I can't get a read on it. It seems like magic but not anything from Asgard. I also picked up gamma radiation, and alpha radiation, and other radiations I can't quantify. I'm speechless."

"That's a first," Clint said, tossing a piece of popcorn up to catch it in his mouth. "Though isn't that supposed to mean you stop talking?"

"Back off, Robin Hood. I'm just saying that this is new," Tony snapped. "I have Falcon out there looking for any kind of clue, but until he brings me something, I've hit a wall."

"So we don't know what we're up against," Steve said, taking charge. Tony was starting to talk in circles. "We don't know if that man in our infirmary is a villain or a victim and we won't know until he wakes up."

"Sir, your guest is regaining consciousness," JARVIS announced.

"Prefect timing," Steve said. "Bring up the video, JARVIS."

The video showed the man, sans belt and gloves, strapped to the table, just as they left him. The heroes looked for some sign of movement in vain.

"I see no sense of awakening," Thor pointed out. "Perhaps your computer is mistaken."

"Ha, ha," Hulk teased. He liked making fun of Stark's toys.

"JARVIS, what are we seeing?" Tony asked, abandoning his research for the new problem. He pulled up a panel and started to type. "Wait, this a feedback loop. What, how?" He dissolved into indigent monosyllables.

"Come on, Tony," Steve said, heading for the door. "Let's check it out."

They ran out. Natasha watched with narrowed eyes. She didn't trust any of this. She slipped out the other door to make a call.

Inside the infirmary, Tony stood in disbelief, looking at the empty room. There was no sign of the stranger. He shook it off and hurried to the computer console. It didn't take long for him to fix the program that was keeping JARVIS out of the infirmary, but what he couldn't understand how someone was able to do it in the first place. It rankled that he was bested in his own home, on his computer, at his game. Steve put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down, Tony," the soldier encouraged. "Find out where he is."

"I'm right here," said an ominous voice from a shadowed corner of the room. Tony didn't even remember there being a shadowed corner of the room, which was just freaky.

"Who are you?" Captain America asked, bringing his shield in front of him.

"You don't know me, but I've been learning about you. Captain America, also known as Steve Rogers, a super soldier from WWII," the man recited dryly. He turned to Tony, "Tony Stark, billionaire who made a suit to become a hero known as Ironman. I have been reading up on your team of heroes, the Avengers."

"So what?" Tony pouted. He didn't appreciate being upstaged. "You read our bios and what we're supposed to trust you?"

"No, but I am prepared to trust you. Let me talk to your whole team." He delivered the demand with a straight face, which just made Tony want to punch him in that chiseled jaw.

Steve however agreed and led the stranger to the conference room where the rest of the Avengers were still waiting. It was a tense elevator ride but the stranger didn't make a sound. Tony didn't either but his was more of a childish silence.

"Aw, guys, are we friends now?" Clint asked as the three men exited the elevator.

"No, Hawkeye, we are not friends," Captain America said as he led the way to the table. He and Tony sat down. The stranger did not. "We need some answers. Who are you and where did you come from?"

The masked man looked around the table, his gaze piercing. He stared each Avenger in the eye, assessing them. Tony looked away, uncomfortable but not cowed. Clint met his eyes and looked away, not particularly challenged. Natasha stared until the intruder looked away, assessing in her own way. Steve and Thor met his eyes and didn't back down but didn't challenge him either. Hulk growled. Falcon walked in to the room in the middle of this staring contest and quietly took a chair, hoping the others wouldn't notice.

Finally the stranger spoke. "Where I'm from, I'm known as the Batman, hero or vigilante depending on who you talk to. I am part of a team of heroes similar to the Avengers. We call ourselves the Justice League."

"Batman?" Tony choked. "Come on! That has to the lamest name, am I right?"

"Tony," Steve chided. Turning back to Batman, he asked, "Where are you from? How did you get here?"

"Best I can figure from initial research, I am from an alternate Earth. My team was defending Central City when there was a flash of light and next think I remember was getting into a fight with you."

"Wasn't much of a fight," Hulk grumped. "You hit your head."

Batman narrowed his eyes at the Gamma giant but didn't respond to the jibe. "Something transported me here, and possibly the rest of my team." He crossed his arms and waited for the heroes to process what he told them.

"Just because you claim to be a hero doesn't mean we can trust you," Natasha said. She stood up and approached Batman. She got in his face, looking for a weakness or a lie, but he just regarded her with wary respect. He wasn't intimidated or turned on by her, which was unusual. She was starting to like him and it was obvious he was used to working with powerful women.

"I know, but as I said before I am willing to trust you because I will need your help to find the rest of my team. The League has 6 other members. They could be anywhere and where I almost took out the Avengers half blind, you can imagine the damage they could do if they wake up confused or hurt."

"So, we find the lost heroes than figure out how you got here and sling-shot you all home," Tony said. "Sound pretty easy. Where do we start?"

"SHIELD," Clint said. Natasha shot him a disgusted look. "What? I heard your call earlier. It sounds like Fury has one of your buddies on the hellicarrier."

"Which one?" Batman asked, his eyes narrowing.

"We don't know," Natasha admitted. "I called to see if Fury had any intel on our guest and he said had a guest of his own. That's all."

"Give me a minute," Tony said, pulling up a holographic screen. "I'm always looking for an excuse to hack into SHEILD." He tapped at the air for a few minutes. "Annnnd, ta-da. SHIELD security cameras are at my disposal. JARVIS, run through and see if you can find a lost hero."

"I think I have something sir," JARVIS announced immediately, pulling it up so they all could see it. The camera feed showed an unconscious man strapped to a table inside a Hulk Containment Unit. He was wearing a blue and red suit with a red cape and a big S symbol on his chest. Batman groaned.

"Do you know him?" Steve asked.

"Yes, that is Superman. He's a big boy-scout with super-strength and invulnerability. If he wakes up strapped to a table, he will not react well. And if he is as dazed as I was, then he could destroy whatever compound they are holding him in," Batman explained, not taking his eyes off his friend. "I have to get there now. I'm they only one who can reason with him or stop him if I need to."

"You have super-strength?" Hulk asked innocently.

"No, I have his weakness," Batman said coldly. "We have to leave now."

"Fine, don't get your cape in a twist. Come on team, you heard the scary man in the bat-suit," Tony snarked, ignoring Batman's glare. "Let's go steal Fury's bug in a jar."

"Not funny, Stark," Hulk said carefully. He knew that particular jar.

Tony tried to back-track but Sam put his hand over the inventor's mouth. "Come on, Tony. Let's not anger the Hulk or the Batman. Save it for Fury, okay?" he mediated.

Batman ignored the by-play and just strode dramatically out the door, heading to the hanger bay. That made the Avengers wonder how the man knew where it was. Maybe they were underestimating the man, which led to the question: what were his teammates capable of?