Chapter 19: A Last Look

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We came in low and fast, following the course of the Potomac. I carried Batman and Lois Lane; Superboy carried the two congressmen. Our black costumes hid us from radar and unfriendly eyes. We veered sharply to the left, leaving the Potomac for the streets of Washington. There was no traffic at 4:00 AM, but there were plenty of HDC roadblocks to dodge. Finally, we set down in a wooded park three-quarters of a mile from the White House.

I surveyed the area. "I don't see anyone."

Batman was busy stripping out of the black over garment. He didn't look up, but said, "She'll be here. There's an emergency escape tunnel from the White House that lets out a couple of hundred yards from here. It may take her a little time to negotiate the distance in the dark, but she'll be here."

I looked around again. Lois and the two congressmen were removing their black suits. Superboy stood, arms crossed, on guard. The pinched look that had been on his face since he learned of Empress's condition remained. He kept looking around, as if hoping to find a target for his anger and worry.

I turned and could just make out three figures in the gloom ahead of us. "Someone's coming."

Batman nodded and straightened up. He looked entirely different from 'General Peabody' or – for that matter – Bruce Wayne. He seemed shorter, somehow, and there was a slight Latin cast to his features. His thick black hair was closely cropped, he wore a mustache, and a gold crown shone prominently whenever he opened his mouth. He was dressed in suit and tie and was attaching an identification badge to his coat.

"You and Superboy hang back," he instructed. "I don't want to have to explain who you are."

I nodded and we stepped back. I could see the three figures more clearly. Two were young men dressed in suits, with unmistakable bulges under their armpits. One wore a headset; the other had a hand inside his coat, ready to pull out his gun at the slightest excuse. They were tense and the way their eyes scanned the area said clearly that they were bodyguards. Secret Service, no doubt.

The third figure was a lovely blonde woman with a look of stubborn determination on her face. I had no trouble recognizing Lana Lang Ross, the wife of the former Vice-President and now Acting President, Pete Ross.

The two men stopped. Lana walked up to Batman and looked him over.

"Different outfit, this time," she stated. Then, "It is you, isn't it?"

"Rancid rutabaga."

Lana relaxed slightly. "Stupid password." She sighed.

"You know, when you first contacted me," she told him conversationally, "I never really thought it would come to this. I knew Luthor was a sleazebag and capable of just about anything, but I thought he was smoother than this. But the fact that I don't trust Luthor doesn't mean I trust you."

"You know he framed the JLA," Batman replied.

"I know he framed Superman. I'm not so sure about the rest of you."

Lois stepped up next to Batman. "Lana, I've seen the fake JLA in action. These congressmen," she waved her hand at Connelly and Zabrowski, who stepped forward also, "have seen the facility where the Luthor clones were grown. That's a clone lying in Luthor's bed."

Both congressmen nodded in agreement. Lois continued, "As soon as Congress passes the Emergency Powers Act, the clone will vanish and the real Luthor will reappear, miraculously healed, to take over as a completely legal dictator. What do you think the lives of your husband and congress will be worth then?"

Lana thought about that. Finally, she asked, "What do you want?"

"We need to see your husband," Batman told her. "He needs to hear this first hand, so that he can act before Luthor does."

"You're cutting things awfully close," Lana replied sardonically. "Congress reconvenes in two hours."

"So we need to get moving." When Lana continued to hesitate, he added, "Lana, you've seen how your husband has changed, month by month, ceasing to be the man you married."

Lana looked sharply at Batman. "How do you know that?" she demanded suspiciously.

"Because I know how Luthor is brainwashing him. It can be undone, it will be undone, but we're running out of time. We either act now or Luthor wins."

Lana nodded once, decisively. She turned to her escorts, who stepped forward. "Paul, George, this is…" She turned and looked at Batman, obviously unsure what name to use.

"Agent Raul Ramirez, FBI Special Investigations." He removed his ID badge, slowly, and handed it to the man with the headset.

George inspected it carefully without ever taking his attention off the Batman. He passed it on to Paul.

"We have evidence," Batman explained, "of a plot within the government to overthrow the constitution. We must get that evidence to the President."

"We have to get them to the President," Lana broke in. "And no one else can know they're here."

"We have reason to believe," Batman added, "that the conspiracy reaches into the White House."

"What is this evidence?" demanded George.

Batman waved an arm, slowly, to indicate the congressmen and Lois Lane. "Senator Harold Connelly, Congressman Piotr Zabrowski and Lois Lane, a reporter." George lifted an eyebrow in recognition of the names. "They are eyewitnesses. We also have video recordings." He patted a coat pocket.

The two Secret Service men looked uncertain.

"Please, George," Lana said. "My husband has to know. I'll take full responsibility."

She had, of course, no legal authority and so could not take responsibility. But I suspected Pete Ross leaned heavily on his sensible and strong-minded spouse. That would give her a real authority not easily ignored.

George sighed. "I know I'm going to regret this. Mrs. Ross, I can't keep this from the other Secret Service people."

"But no one else must know," Lana insisted, "not even the HDC or FBI or any of the other people 'protecting' my husband. Just the Secret Service."

"OK. Those three can come but he stays." George looked suspiciously at Batman. Even through the disguise he evidently discerned the aura of dangerousness the Batman exuded.

"The safety of these people is my responsibility," Batman told him.

"We'll take care of that from here on out."

"You know it doesn't work that way."

George grimaced, stumped. The Secret Service agents knew, none better, that the ultimate responsibility for their charges could not be delegated. He pulled out his automatic and pointed it at Batman.

"Paul, search him."

Staying carefully out of the line of fire, Paul searched him. He pocketed the two DVD cases he found and raised an eyebrow at the empty shoulder holster.

"No gun?"

"I knew you wouldn't let me keep it."

Finding nothing else of interest, Paul moved on to search the other three, with similar results.

Paul moved back to join George, who nodded his head at Superboy and me. "What about them?"

"They helped us get this far, but they're not coming with us," Batman said.

"OK, this is the drill. You four will walk ahead of us. No funny moves. Everybody is real trigger-happy right now. We wouldn't want any unfortunate incidents."

Batman nodded and then turned and looked at me.

I stepped forward and kissed him lightly. "May the Gods be with you."

Bruce scowled. "I don't believe in gods," he growled as he turned away.

I was surprised at how much that hurt and then I wondered why I had expected any different.

I had, I realized, hoped for a glimpse of the Bruce Wayne I knew beneath the Batman's mask before we parted. Yet now, I thought, Bruce Wayne would only be a liability. We needed Batman – cold, unemotional Batman, who could snatch out of a tangle of chaos the one thread that led to victory. The man I had first been attracted to. I laughed softly at myself.

Batman stopped and turned back to me, puzzled by my laughter.

"May they be with you, anyway," I told him.

He looked taken aback. He turned and, together with the others, walked into the darkness. Lana and her escorts stepped behind, blocking my last look at the man I loved.

I heard George speak into his microphone. "This is Johansen. We're coming in and we have guests." Pause, then, "Take that up with the First Lady."

I am not a prophet like Menalippe but suddenly I was filled with a chilling certainty that my next glimpse of Bruce would be of his dying body.

Author's Notes: Lana Lang (as she was then) was kidnapped, drugged and tortured at Luthor's orders in Superman #1 (2nd series). It could never be proven but she has born an understandable grudge against him ever since. In the trade paperback "President Lex" she expresses the hope that Luthor will get caught at something and her husband will become President. Menalippe is the Amazon's priestess and oracle and appears frequently in Wonder Woman from #1 (2nd series) on.