Cap sensed a presence there with him in the alley. It was up on the rooftops. It had watched him take down the punks. It had not intervened however. Cap had seen images of a bat garbed defender in his angelic visions. This was that defender. The rain intensified. Cap kept his shield on his arm and stayed vigilant.
The form dropped down behind him then. Cap slowly turned to face him in the rain. There Batman stood; but did not engage. Neither did cap. "I saw the portal" Batman said simply to begin. Cap nodded. "Yeah. I'm definitely not from around here." "That much can be said. I was stalking these punks on patrol when I observed what you did." "Objections?" "No. Only that you got to them first. I wanted them for myself." Cap nodded a little. "I get the impression that's typical for you." "You could say that." "Steve Rogers." "Batman." Cap smiled a little at the double identity bit. He knew many superheroes that needed double identities. This universe seemed little different in that regard.
"Bad penny do you copy?" "I do sir." Cap could detect the radio talk with his angelic senses. "Scans?" "Conclusive sir. No deception indicated. Also, his power levels are off the charts; even more than Superman…" "I saw that in the prelims." There was a silence between all there. Then "I think we can trust him Alfred." "As do I sir."
Cap sensed that Batman was making a rare move here. The dark Knight then touched a few buttons on his gauntlet and the bat mobile came roaring into that same alley. The sliding top came open. "Get in." Cap didn't hesitate. They did and drove off for the bat cave.
Xxx
Not much was said on the way there. Cap checked out everything as he did so. Batman was definitely a man of means. "I'm really Bruce Wayne" he said on the way there. The Tony of this town cap reasoned. Makes sense.
They returned to stately Wayne manor via the bat cave method of entry. Soon they were in Batman's underground operations center. Cap was nothing short of impressed. He got the further impression he'd done all this himself.
The car stopped and they got out. There manservant Alfred pennyworth waited for them. Greetings were exchanged. "I can have accommodations prepared for mister Rogers sir." Wayne pulled back his cowl and nodded. As pennyworth went to comply with Bruce's request Bruce said to cap "what brings you to this reality Rogers?" "An… angelic patrol." Cap couldn't put it a better way. He was a wandering do gooder. That was his mission in life. His vocation. "I see." "I get how it sounds…" "although a skeptic by nature I've seen a good deal in my service as Batman to not readily dismiss anything." Cap nodded. He looked around the cave. "This is all pretty impressive." "It's taken twenty years for Alfred and me to perfect it. We're still perfecting it." Cap nodded.
Bruce walked up to the main bat computer console and took a seat. He then looked over refreshed Gotham security scans. "I noticed the laconian symbol on your shield." "Yes. The Spartan symbol." "Are you a Spartan?" Cap smiled a little at that. "Not really. Not in the ancient sense. I'm a soldier that follows the Spartan way." "The Spartans were great warriors." "Indeed they were."
Spartan training as exemplified in the agoge was brutal and unforgiving. And cap realized that if he'd been a Spartan boy he likely would have been left to die given his frail nature pre serum. An irony perhaps given that cap had taken on the mantle of such a famously hard lifestyle; but cap had also seen the true strength of the Spartans as being mental rather than physical in nature. Cap didn't have to agree with all Spartan training methods to ultimately appreciate what they'd achieved as a culture. Their warrior idealism appealed to him; especially as nomad.
"I get the feeling you don't reveal yourself openly to others often." "You're right. I don't." "Mister Wayne…" "Bruce." "Bruce. I'm here to help in any way that I can." "I understand that. Gotham is my town though." "Of course. I wasn't trying to step on your toes."
Bruce turned to face him. "Rogers. You're easily one of the most power beings I've ever encountered. And I've encountered quite a few. That says something. There isn't much I could do to stop you. That's just being realistic." Cap nodded. "I understand. I'm not trying to intrude." "You're not. But, I also have reservations against other powerful beings." "Because power corrupts." "Precisely."
Cap looked down and nodded. "I can understand that. I was a super soldier in my reality's world war 2. I saw firsthand what evil does."
"All the more reason why carefulness has to be maintained. I belong to a group of fellow super beings called the justice league. Most have powers. It is a… cautious arrangement." Like our avengers. "I led a similar group. You're right. It can be very challenging."
"I welcome whatever help you can bring to the table Rogers; but as I said: this is my town. I call the shots." "I'm good with that." "Good." Pause. "I'd also like to keep our… alliance discreet for now. I have a network of allies called the bat family I deal with. I'd like to keep it confined to them for now." "Understood."
Batman and nomad had a crime fighting deal it seemed.