Thanks for all the reviews last chapter!
Also, if you haven't seen "A Better World," let me summarize really quickly, if possible. The Justice Lords are from an alternate universe and they have instilled martial law over their Earth – no freedoms of any kind – speech, press, anything. They aren't afraid to kill, to lobotomize, or to silence all objections to their order. The Lords have the same group members, but their Flash died. The Lords' Batman discovers the Justice League that exists on this Earth and they decide to come to the League's Earth in order to indoctrinate their order there as well, capturing the Justice League and taking over. Does that make any sense? For anyone that wants to see it – just ask and I'll tell you how.
One Spark, Chapter 4, Wanted Dead or Alive, by Bon Jovi
Still Bruce's perspective…
The plans that I usually concocted to escape were utterly fruitless in this situation. I preferred to not waste the effort or the energy, pinning all my hopes on the idea that one of the others would possibly be able to escape. I knew that the hope was a slim one – I myself had studied the weaknesses of each of my teammates and I knew how to take each one of them down, including Diana, if it ever became necessary. And if I could think of these types of plans, so could he. So, instead, I caught Flash's attention – he was still the key to this situation and maybe, just maybe, he was the one entity of us all that couldn't be anticipated to the same degree. Once the door closed, I couldn't help but try to catch Flash's attention with a dry, sarcastic remark, the lilt of humor in my voice that often stayed suppressed. But right now, humor was the only saving grace I had.
"I think he likes you," I stated, lacing my words with the dry, banal tone that my butler had perfected.
I could hear the irritated tone in his voice when he answered me and I could almost picture the scowl on his face deepening with his words, "Must be my magnetic personality."
Obviously, the Flash had not yet come to the same conclusions that I had – that this world, this group of heroes, had lost their Flash, the humor and the youth behind the team. He alone had been the only member of the team that the other Batman had truly focused on. Speaking to me had simply been a warning, and a form of insight, to see if I possessed the same formidable intelligence and skills that he did. But the Flash had stopped the other Batman in his tracks, and he had responded to Flash, even trying to get the speedster to see the other point of view in this sordid situation. But Flash had yet to understand that he was the strongest link in our chain of teammates because he was the missing link of these Justice…Lords, the element that they had yet to understand or control because he was no longer a part of their world.
"More likely, it has to do with what happened to this world's Flash."
The silence from the cell next to me lasted but a moment and immediately, when he spoke, I could hear the change in the youth's voice, hear the disbelief and the sadness when the puzzle finally solved itself in his head. And his next words confirmed that he understood my statement.
"You mean he's…"
"All this had to have been set off by something," I told him logically. I wanted Flash to realize that he was an important part of this mission, but I didn't want him to focus on the circumstances behind the death of the other team, or even to swell his ego with thinking that he was the conscience of our group. I played out my words with cold logic, not letting any emotion sap the strength or change the tenor of my voice. The thought of losing a teammate, especially now, a particular teammate, did things to my brain that I was unable and unready to face. Instead, I focused on Flash's voice, quiet now in thought.
"But to go this far…even over me…"
The disbelief in Flash voice, the despondent note that told me he was thinking of this other Flash, made me realize that I had to reel him in, had to make him understand that right now, he was the one who could save us, the one who mattered to this mission in a way that the rest of us could not, and to force him to accept the logical, practical side of this situation.
"It isn't that far from what we do, if you think about it."
And it was a true statement, our work was not much different in nature from this team, simply in different in attitude and acceptance. We still tried to believe in justice, in the idea that someone could reform, in acceptance of our legal and penal system, and most of all, we followed the ideals of democracy, of choice. We were different simply in the means by which we strove to bring peace and amity to the world, letting people choose their own paths rather than dictating to them. We were simply a force that was there to restrain those who had escaped from the right side of the path, shepherds leading the flock and chasing down the stray sheep. These versions of us instead used force in order to bring their form of peace to the world, albeit a peace with choices, without decisions, without any leniency. It was an autocratic society, and now, I had determined that they had taken us prisoner in order to instill their system of rule onto our Earth, occupying our positions but taking on greater power in every meaning of the word.
"I'd rather not," Flash told me, voice echoing quietly in the stillness. I had yet to really stop and consider the condition of the rest of the team; I was choosing to focus myself on getting Flash to realize that he was our only escape. I knew that telling him that wouldn't do any good, so instead, I preferred to let me come by the knowledge in his own way.
"You figure a way out of here?" he asked me.
"No," I told him flatly.
"Don't you mean not yet?" he questioned, not making the connection between the Bat that had watched him through the glass and the man he was currently making conversation with, the connection that we two were of the same mind, the same training.
"No. I mean not going to." The statement was odd coming from my lips, but I knew it was the truth and I didn't want to waste my time with lies and pointless hope that I could somehow find any escape that my counterpart wouldn't have thought of.
Silence struck the room once again.
Then, groans again filled the idea and I could picture Flash again trying to make an escape, trying to push himself to find the answers to our freedom. A small smile lit my face – he was headed in the right direction, exactly where I had pushed him. If anyone could find a way out of his cell, right now, it was Flash.
The other Batman had overplayed his hand, talking to Flash and letting out more information than I would have suspected. Normally, I was close-mouthed to a fault and I couldn't imagine this version of me being any different. But still, he had let on key facts about the situation, about what had changed this league.
And now, I was using that information in order to secure our freedom.
Quiet once again, I left Flash to his own devices, taking stock of the situation instead and trying to figure out how to get us back through that portal.
Several minutes later, the piercing sound of a heart rate flat-lining caught my attention and the noise was coming from the direction of Flash's cell. I tried, for once in my life, not to think of the worst, calmly telling myself repeatedly that Flash had discovered some means to help us escape.
A cowled figure dived over the staircase located in front my cell. The glass served not only to let anyone see in, but I could see the distress and the concern written on the face of the other Batman as he raced to Flash's cell, shouting his name repeatedly in increasing volume, the anxious tone escalating with each call. Listening closely over the heart-rate monitor, I could hear the sound of numbers being rapidly punched in, closely followed by the door being slammed open. The next thing I heard was the solid connection of fist to body and I allowed myself a small sigh of relief, knowing that Flash had indeed managed to find a way to fool my counterpart into allowing his breakout.
Hearing Flash's voice echo once again through the hall, I couldn't even concentrate on the words. The rush of contentment and blood rushing through my veins overwhelmed my senses and all I could think of was the fact that I was glad that I had trusted my instincts, that we had avoided permanent capture. I also made a mental note to myself to never trust look-alikes again, and to find a way to stop myself if something like this ever occurred again.
And, in seconds, Flash was standing in front of me, just beyond the glass, working furiously at the number pad in front of my door.
"What are you doing?" I quizzed him.
"Trying every possible combination," he replied with stopping, fingers racing in a blur of red over the numbers.
"9-1-9-3-9," I said to him, without giving him the explanation behind the numbers. Only I knew that Alfred's birthday had in large part provided me with the combination, using the month and year of his birth, a sort of small tribute to the man who had raised me for so many years.
He, for once at normal speed, punched in the numbers in the order that I had provided to him, and with the last press of the button, the door slid open, allowing Flash to enter my cell.
"How'd you know?" he asked me in a curious tone. Still, he had yet to see the link, the connection between we two Batmans.
"They're the numbers I use," I told him, hoping that he wouldn't ask for an explanation and knowing that I wouldn't give him one anyway. But I myself had a question for the speedster – "How'd you get out?"
I turned my head to look at him as he gave me his answer.
"I sped up my heart rate until it looked like I flat-lined." The smirk on his face told me that he was particularly proud of that accomplishment, and of his role in this jailbreak.
I looked at him with a hint of suspicion in my eye. "I didn't know you could do that." And I had never particularly enjoyed being unaware of a teammate's talents and skills. I would have to add this to the list of the Scarlet Speedster.
"Neither did I," he remarked with a hint of chagrin, "But I had to come up with something if you weren't going to."
"I couldn't," I told him, rubbing my wrists where he had unlocked the bonds. The rush of blood back into my extremities was slightly painful, but the numbing sensation was almost erased. "Not with him anticipating everything I could ever think of."
I loosened the metal band around my waist, releasing both my legs at the same time and taking a small step forward, trying to determine if my legs were prepared to handle the weight. And I strode forward, giving him aloud the same conclusion that I had reached earlier – "But who could anticipate you?"
Immediately a blur of scarlet rushed by me, heading towards the other cells while I stood in the corridor trying to determine a course of action. The two most important things were to find where Hawkgirl was currently being held and to find the portal that could return us to Earth so that we could stop whatever plan these Justice Lords had concocted.
As Diana walked out of her cell, I could see the concern in her eyes as she sent a fleeting look in my direction, relaxing when she saw that I was upright, in good condition and intent on solving this mystery. I met her eyes for a split second, just enough to establish contact between us, to allow that spear of intimacy to flare before Superman strode out of his cell, flushed with rage and looking prepared to do some serious damage to anyone fool enough to stand in his way. Turning his way, I heard his words, not exactly surprised by them.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm ready to kick some serious…"
Flash cut him off, stopping for a time just in front of the giant 'S' and crossing his arms over his chest. He looked as serious as I had ever seen him, ready to risk Superman's ire to get his point across.
"You're going to have to wait on that. They're got Hawkgirl in a hospital somewhere."
The big blue boy scout immediately leaned forward, his expression increasing in wrath and his lip curling in disgust, not only at the situation, I was sure, but of being duped into this mess in the first place.
I decided to put my input into the conversation. "You need to find which one she's in and get there before they hear about this." Turning away, I took one step, ready to go in search of the portal, when Superman's voice stopped me.
"This is your city. You know the hospitals better than we do."
I turned back to him, staring him down as I stated harshly, "I've got a portal to find."
"I'll go with you," J'onn said, obviously ready and willing to lend his expertise and his help in whatever form he could.
"Sorry," I said, the words sounding strange as they left my lips, rarely spoken as they were. "But I have to do this alone." I spared Diana, standing behind J'onn, a speaking glance before I unleashed a batarang and raced off, knowing that time was of the essence.
And again, not much Diana – Bats is too important right now to the episode! He really saves the day…as is often the case…I love that guy!
And I'm pretty sure I know why he uses those numbers – but it has more to do with the comics than with anything in his life. So, again, skimmed over that one and came up with something I thought was plausible. Again, want to know? Ask me. Or tell me what you think!
