Chapter four: die with honor
Bruce woke up. He checked the clock. He'd been asleep for three hours. And, while he felt completely rested, he also felt vaguely sad and lonely. Gradually, he began to remember something—had he woken up once before, and gone down the hall, and found Superman sitting in front of the computer? He remembered it, but… it hadn't happened.
Suddenly he understood. It had been a dream.
He felt his heart fill with a leaden weight. Who would make a robot that was so real it could even dream?
He was an abomination, an affront to God, Man and Nature, a warped experiment that had gone awry. His existence was a grievous mistake, and he had to end it.
Feeling out of his element and keenly alone, Bruce decided to go and see if Clark was awake.
As Bruce neared the room that housed the Fortress's computers, he heard an unfamiliar voice.
"…realize that you're holding Supergirl hostage?" the strange voice said. It was a deep, down-to-earth voice: partially incredulous, partially angry, and completely un-intimidated by the task of scolding Superman. Bruce put his back to the wall and stole a quick glace around the corner. Clark was standing in front of the computer array, while the scowling, authoritative image of a Green Lantern looked down at him from the central screen.
John Stewart, Batman identified, recalling the various files that he and Clark had reviewed.
"She's not a hostage. I'm not making any demands. I just needed to talk to the League," Clark assured man on the screen.
Green Lantern looked unconvinced. "The only thing I want to talk to you about is what you've done with Kara," he said, sounding angrier.
Clark sighed. "She's safe. She's in stasis-- but I'll let her out as soon as we're finished talking, and I'll tell her to report straight to the Watchtower."
John raised an eyebrow over one of his glowing eyes. "You'll tell her? You realize you're supposed to take orders from her, right?"
"Of course. That's the way it's been, but it's different now. I'll tell her, and she'll listen. You'll see her within the hour."
Green Lantern shook his head. "Man. I know you aren't him, but you're doing a damn good impression."
"That's what I was made for," Clark acknowledged. "But it's not going to make you trust me, is it?"
"Not a bit."
Clark hesitated. "…Is there…any hope for me? Is there a way that I could earn your trust somehow?"
"Releasing Supergirl as promised will be a good start," John grumbled, folding his arms across his chest. He blinked his neon-green eyes. "So let's get down to business. What did you need to talk about?"
"My options," Clark answered clearly.
"Your options?" John echoed, in a voice that made it clear he thought the Superman robot was crazy for thinking it was entitled to any such thing. "…For what?"
"For existing," Clark said. "I know I was never supposed to be fully conscious like this, but now that I am, I'd like to talk about... about what you'll do with me."
Remaining unseen around the corner, Batman ground his back teeth together. He knew what they would do with him, that so-called Justice League, once they got their hands on him. That's why he had to take Clark with him. He only hoped he could make Clark understand.
John Stewart narrowed his eyes, frowning as he considered the implications of having a sentient Superman robot on the loose. After a moment, his huge shoulders rose and fell in an enormous sigh. "Well. Obviously, we can't let you run around unchecked. You've got the potential to be a significant threat."
Clark nodded.
"But based on what I've seen these past few weeks, Kara's done an excellent job with you. We'd hate to lose the capability that you provide. So, ideally, we'll keep you in your current role."
"What will I do when the real Superman is here?"
Those glowing green eyes didn't flinch in the least. "You'll go to sleep," John told him. "Until you're needed. Just like you're supposed to."
Clark shook his head. "No," he said quietly. "I couldn't do that. I couldn't sit on the sidelines and I couldn't just… be a lifeless machine, parked up here in some closet. I want to live."
John Stewart exhaled quietly, and took a moment before he replied. "You realize there can't be two of you, don't you?"
"Yes," Clark admitted. "We could probably both be Superman, but we can't both be Clark. There's Lois, and… it wouldn't work. And I wouldn't want to be Superman if I couldn't be Clark too."
"All right, so how about we depower you, and you go off and live as a normal person? Or, we keep your powers, change your appearance a bit, you stay in the League--just take on a new identity?"
"…I don't think I could do that, John." Clark smiled. "The two identities I already have are enough. That's who I am. I wouldn't want to be anyone else."
John was starting to get frustrated. "So we find you a new place in the universe, some other planet or dimension that doesn't have a Superman or a Clark Kent already."
Clark recalled an event from the computer files. "Like Superman did once for Bizarro."
"Something along those lines, yeah."
"Hmm." Clark considered that for a moment, one hand on his chin. "…Could I take Batman with me?"
On the screen, John Stewart knit his brows. "If by 'Batman' you mean the dangerous Batman duplicant that Alfred Pennyworth says you removed from the Batcave, then by all means, yes."
Clark's expression brightened. "That sounds like the best option so far. I'll have to ask him about it."
"Whoa, whoa. Ask him?"
"Yes, him. Batman."
"You mean you actually talk to it?"
Clark was taken aback. "Of course I talk to him. Didn't Alfred tell you? He's as alive as I am."
John looked immensely concerned. "You do realize that thing is possessed by an evil computer program that wants to wipe out all of humanity, don't you?"
"It's okay," Clark reassured him. "He's not going to go through with his plans."
"His plans?" John exclaimed, alarmed. "He told you his plans?"
"Yes, but like I said: he's not going to go through with them. He told me so himself."
"Superman, I don't think you understand. That thing isn't your friend, it's a Batman duplicant. It's an expert manipulator. It's going to do what it takes to get what it wants—and if it's already got you on its side—"
"I said it's okay," Clark interrupted, his voice strong enough to effectively shut John Stewart up. "You don't need to worry. We're not going to cause any problems for the League. I'll get back to you after I talk to him."
Before John could reply, Clark closed the link.
Having overheard the entire conversation, Batman stayed where he was, not making a sound. Green Lantern's suggestions had given him a lot to think about. Perhaps Superman's future wasn't as bleak as he'd feared.
Bruce listened to Clark's soft footsteps heading towards the lab, and after he heard the door slide open and shut, he stole around the corner and across the room. Outside the lab, he stopped, and put his ear to the door.
The stasis chamber hissed loudly as it released its prisoner from suspended animation. Kara came back to life quickly, coughing and distressed. "Clark?" she asked as he unfastened the restraints.
"It's me," Clark answered gravely, helping her stand up.
"You?" She squinted, trying to x-ray his face, but gave up. "Not working," she muttered.
"I'm the robot one," Clark clarified.
"What? No!" She pushed him away.
"Calm down, Kara. I'm letting you go."
She looked at him, skeptical. "But… why?"
"Because I realized it was wrong to keep you here. And I promised Green Lantern that he'd see you up at the Watchtower right away."
Kara jumped into the air and managed to maintain a wobbly hover. Clark couldn't help but smile as she struggled to keep her balance—he hadn't really paid attention to it before, but now he realized that her way of flying was different than his own. He flew with his shoulders, while Kara, with a lower center of gravity, flew with her hips.
"What happened to the Bat-bot?" she asked, a little breathless.
"He's fine."
She eyed his face, reading unspoken thoughts there the same way she did with her flesh-and-blood cousin. "Don't try it, Kal," she warned. "You can't fix him. He has to be stopped."
Clark closed the cover of the now-empty stasis chamber. "You better get on up to the Watchtower," he said, changing the subject. "I can probably get the teleporter working if you're too weak to make the flight. They're waiting for you up there."
Kara's expression softened. "You know… I think you should come with me," she said.
Clark looked surprised at her suggestion, and she floated over and tugged at his arm. "Seriously. Come with me. I'll put in a good word for you. Don't stay here with that… thing. You're too nice, Kal. It's only going to try and use you--and I don't want the League to think that you're up here being converted into Evil-Batbot-Minion Number One."
Clark turned his face away. "It seems like everyone thinks he isn't worth helping," he said in a low voice. "And that's wrong. I bet the real Batman and Superman would try to save him."
Kara rolled her eyes. "The real Batman respected that bot for blowing itself up way back when. Little did he know it was just lying in wait to make a comeback like all the villains who supposedly 'die'."
"He isn't a villain."
Supergirl sighed, exasperated. "Look, I get it. I understand why you're being so loyal. You're playing your part. You're Superman and in your mind, he's Batman, and you're trying to be his best friend, right? But that's not how it is. I mean, you really don't have to think of it that way. He's like… he's like a corrupted file."
Clark set his jaw. "Just go," he said quietly.
Kara studied him for another minute, and didn't fail to catch the sadness that he was projecting with his expression, his posture—how had he learned that? For reasons she didn't understand, she felt tears prick her eyes. Ignoring them, she shook her head. "Next time I help make a Superbot, remind me to leave out the stubbornness," she muttered, trying to keep her voice light.
She floated a little closer, a little higher, and kissed his forehead. "Call us if you change your mind," she said, and then shot out of the room, disappearing in a blur of blue.
Batman was waiting outside the door to the lab.
"Good morning," Clark greeted him. "Want breakfast?"
"No," Batman answered, sullen.
"Well, what do you want?" Clark asked.
"An end to this. I heard what Supergirl said," Bruce muttered. "You should have gone with her."
"If I did that, then who would stay here to keep an eye on you?" Clark asked good-naturedly. "Besides, I thought we were in this together."
"I've reconsidered. You should stay alive. I overheard your conversation with Green Lantern, too. If there's a chance that the League might be able to help you live your life, you need to take it."
"So what do you think of the offer to find us a different world? Would you come with me, if that was a possibility?"
Bruce shook his head. "No."
Superman lowered his eyebrows. "Why not?"
"I was built for a specific purpose, Clark. I couldn't be the guardian of a whole world, not like you. Besides, no matter what world we went to, at some point my programming would take over, and then you'd have to shut me down for good. If I stay here and deactivate myself, I'll be able to spare you from that."
Clark sighed. "I meant what I said to Kara. I don't think the real Superman and Batman would give up on you so easily."
"I bet Batman would," Bruce said, voice dark. "He'd want to put me back where you found me, in a box in the cave. To be studied at some future date."
"Can we at least wait until they get home?" Clark suggested. "It might be good to get their perspective, since they've had more experience being us than we have."
"No," Batman said again, his tone even more negative. "I don't want their permission or their sympathy. I don't want to have to see them and know that in their eyes I'm a danger, an inconvenience, a time bomb they can't defuse. I want to do this for me, because it's the right thing to do. The only thing to do."
Clark had a funny look on his face. "I just remembered something. I had a dream about you last night. What you were saying just now made me think what a one-of-a-kind person you are, Bruce, and what a shame it'd be to lose you… and, this may be kind of corny, but I think I had a dream where I tried to tell you that."
Bruce's eye twitched. "Wait. In the dream, were you at the computer, looking at Lois's article? And did I tell you I was sorry for everything?"
"Yes," Clark said, surprised. "How'd you know?"
"…I had the same dream."
Clark cocked his head to one side, considering that. "Of course," he said after a minute, and something in the brightness of his voice reminded Bruce of the long-ago Robin he had never met, but still felt like he remembered. "The processor component I fixed for you yesterday. It's identical to the one that I have—so when we're asleep, maybe they sync up."
"Sync up," Bruce echoed, and deep in his mind, he suddenly knew how he could use that to his advantage. He could use such a link to assert his own consciousness as the dominant one, taking over Clark's mind—and Clark already had an invitation to infiltrate the Justice League. With the replacement robots of all the League members at his command, his plans for the world would take half as long to implement. It would be so easy.
No, he told himself. No. I know I could do it. He'd never suspect a thing. Never have to know. But I won't.
"Clark…"
Clark jumped, startled by the horrible sound of his voice. "What is it?"
"I think I'm running out of time. The instinct to revert to my… objectives is getting stronger."
"Is there anything I can do?" Clark asked, pained.
"Call the League. I want to talk to them myself."
John Stewart gave the Batman robot his best glare.
Unimpressed, Bruce returned the glare full-force.
Supergirl hovered over Lantern's shoulder, looking at Bruce with an expression of pure 'ick'.
"I wanted to assure you that your concerns about me are justified," Bruce rumbled, introductions not being necessary. "I could gain control of the Superman robot and use him to help me carry out my mission. But listen closely: I'm not going to. I'm going to kill myself instead."
"Or you could just be saying that to put us at ease, buying yourself a little more time," John theorized.
"I'd like to speak with him," declared an elegant voice from just out of view. Green Lantern took a step to the side, and Wonder Woman joined him on the screen. She narrowed her eyes at the Batman-bot. "Do you call yourself 'Bruce'?" she asked, throwing him off guard.
He studied her, keeping his expression unreadable. "…Yes."
"There's an ancient saying among honorable warriors," Diana began, her blue eyes cool. "That it is better to die with honor than live with evil. Do you believe that?"
"Of course," Bruce answered without hesitation. "That's why I have to do this. With whatever free will I've been given, I have to make this choice. It's my life. My decision, no one else's. I will not live and be evil."
A wisp of a smile warmed her eyes. "You're very much like him," she mused, and then turned to Green Lantern. "I say we trust him to go through with it," she stated.
"I say we don't trust him for anything," Lantern retorted.
Bruce's voice became condescending and a little impatient. "Feel free to discuss it amongst yourselves," he said. "Just don't try to stop me."
Diana smiled at him again, this time with undeniable fondness. "Godspeed, Bruce," she wished him, and switched off the screen.
Bruce found himself standing alone in the room.
"…Goodbye," he said to the now-blank screen, almost as an afterthought.
Before he could wonder if he'd imagined the quiet hitch in his voice, he scowled and stalked away.
Clark fell into step beside him in the hallway. "What are you doing now?" he asked, in a way that would have been annoying if it hadn't been Bruce's last day on earth.
"Now I'm going to make a kill chip."
Somehow, even though he certainly didn't mean to, Clark wound up helping him. In fact, he ended up doing most of the work, constructing the little device according to Bruce's specifications.
"Here it is," Clark said sadly, holding up the finished product. "The thing that's going to kill you."
"Let's make another one," Bruce suggested.
"Why?"
Bruce was silent. "Just in case," he said at last.
Once the second kill chip was done, Bruce tucked them both into a pouch on his belt.
"…Now what?" Clark asked.
"Take me back to Gotham," Bruce ordered. "There's one more thing I have to do."
On the flight back, Clark didn't say much. He was starting to mope and act dejected, but Bruce chose to ignore him. He knew he would deal with Superman later, probably up until the very last moment. But for now, Bruce was focused on only one thing.
He hadn't forgotten what he'd known from the moment he'd first come back to sentience.
He owed Alfred an apology.
...to be continued...
author's note: wow, this was a long and rambling chapter. Things get interesting next time when the _real_ Supes and Bats finally show up. I've rewritten the next chapter so many times it's driving me crazy!
Anyway, sorry for the slow update pace. Work has been busy. And after work, the weather has been beautiful so I haven't been indoors much. :) The next chapter of "Sign of Spring" will go up next-- I can't believe it's been over a month since I updated that one! I need to finish it. And this one. And then I can get back to the funny stuff!
