There was shame inside him, Bruce knew that much. Shame over not acting sooner, of not being there, of not seeing what he should have seen. He had acted a fool and been taken for a ride. The team had been formed, people who wanted to keep things in check, who didn't want the League to be turned into something it wasn't. Yet whilst he'd been doing that, he'd been played. He could not believe someone such as Duvall would use the Joker, but he could not think of anyone else who would use such a beast. Not for the first time, Bruce wondered if he should have dealt with The Joker in the proper manner, long ago. Then the gun shots would go off in his head and he'd decided against that. That was not who he was.

Bruce took a breath and looked at the computer again. There were dots all over the place. Dick came and stood behind him. "He's trying to confuse the system. He knows you've got trackers on him and he's trying to confuse you."

Bruce nodded. "It would appear so. I think he's got some of his Joker clan out there working for him with some of the trackers."

"Why do you think he's hiding now? Before he wasn't so careful. And yes, he took Jonathan, but you'd think he'd want to draw Superman out into the open." Dick said.

Bruce sighed. "He's trying to force a confrontation between myself and Clark. He knows that if he stays out in the open Clark will do something terrible. Therefore, he's trying to get me to find him first, in the hopes Clark will find me and then try something there and then. No doubt he will have several cameras all linked up and recording such an encounter."

"What are you going to do?" Dick asked. There were times when Bruce wondered when his son had become so wise and grown, and there were times when he deeply missed the boy Dick had been.

"I'm going to have to find him before Clark does." Bruce said.

"Why?" Damian asked, coming to stand on his other side. "Surely it would be better for everyone if Superman killed the Joker and rid the world of such a dangerous threat. You said it yourself Dad, you wished you'd killed the Joker before he'd gotten to Jason. How many more people does he have to kill before you accept he needs to die?"

On some level, Bruce knew his son was right, still, the thought of actually killing someone terrified him. "I cannot let Clark continue down this path. It is easy to say he's doing the right thing now, and people will agree with him. But the thing about Clark is, he will have a very hard time stopping himself once he starts. He will use it as a tool to justify killing anyone he deems a threat to his family. And with Diana at his side, he will keep doing this."

"Surely removing those he deems a threat to his family is a good thing? His wife was murdered by someone he had once considered a friend; his son was kidnapped and tortured by someone you have been fighting for years. Surely killing the Joker and then any other bad guy is the right thing to do?" Damian asked.

"There is the rule of law here, Damian, we cannot just kill whoever we want. We have a duty to uphold the law. Otherwise the people will become nothing more than rabid animals and that will not bring anything good from it." Bruce said. "The Joker is a danger, but he would be better served being brought in, put on trial and facing the full face of the law."

"Yes because that served the world so well the last time you brought him in for prison. He went to Arkham and he broke out within a week, he got his slut out as well." Damian replied.

Bruce held back from backhanding his son, he knew Harley, he'd known her before she'd become The Joker's plaything, and he still held out hope for her. he took a deep breath. "I've made up my mind, Damian, we will find The Joker before Clark does and we will bring him in peacefully. And allow the law to handle him."

The computer screen binged. "Got a location." Dick said. Looking over his shoulder. "Somewhere in the UK. Why would he be there?"

Bruce thought about it, if the Joker knew that Jonathan was Clark's son then it wouldn't be too much of stretch to think that he knew about the other connection. So, the Prince had been right, and that this was meant to happen. "Tell Alfred to prepare the plane, we've got a flight to make." He said.

Dick nodded and started dialling in the number, before he could connect the call though, the phone rang. "Hello? Yes, I'll pass it to him." Dick handed him the phone.

"Yes?" Bruce said.

"Batman, I've got something I need your help with."

"What do you need?" Bruce asked.

"He knows, he knows about my daughter. I need you to protect her."

"Okay." Bruce said. "Don't worry I will." He closed his eyes briefly, he hated himself for doing that, for leaking that information, but it was necessary.

"Thanks Bats." The phone went dead.

Dick didn't ask, nor did Damian, they didn't need to, he'd told them about this plan beforehand, it had been a gamble but it seemed to have paid off. just as he was about to stand, something came up on the television that made him stop. Linda Parks was on the television.

"And we're live from the United Nations Headquarters, where in a few moments, Superman is due to give a speech."

"What are you doing, Clark?" Bruce whispered to himself, if this was what he thought it was, things were about to get a whole lot messier.

On the T.V. Linda kept talking. "In the past few months, Superman and the Justice League have taken a far more interventionist approach to world affairs. They removed a government in Israel, they removed a government in Al Hudda, and they destroyed Isis. Since then they have also helped improve the sanitation works in many African nations, and have also helped with stabilising certain currency standards. Many have reacted positively to this, but the governments of the world have been quite outspoken in their criticism. Especially the government of the United States." Linda turned around. "And now we go live to the speech."

Bruce watched as the cameras panned to Clark, dressed in the red, yellow and blue of his costume. He looked nervous, though Bruce knew that to the rest of the world he would seem confident. "I thank you all, respected sirs and madams for allowing me to speak at this prestigious hall. The United Nations has always strived for fairness and equality in the world, to stop the fighting that brought about the horrors of World War 2 to the world and the Cold War. In some instances, I believe that it has been successful. However, during my time, I have seen countless cases of people going hungry, of people not being heard, or having their rights respected. I have member states of the UN abuse their power and their privilege, none more so than the United States, which has supported dictatorial regimes, corrupt regimes and regimes which have a veneer of democracy but have destroyed the meaning of the word." Bruce exhaled, Clark sounded good, he sounded like the leader Bruce had always known his friend was.

Clark continued. "The Justice League was formed to help keep peace in the world and to help ensure that the people of this world benefitted from the laws and order that the governments were supposed to uphold. We intervened in Syria, and removed a terrorist threat, which it has been revealed several governments were trying to keep going for their own selfish gains." There was a pause, and Bruce knew that several of the press corps would be looking into the recently leaked Disraeli Files, which detailed just how involved the Matthews administration had been in funding and creating Isis. "In Israel, we removed a regime that had stopped caring about human rights, and was encouraging civil strife between its citizens. Since his coronation, King Victor has done more to bring peace to the region, and within the country of Israel than any peace process or negotiation has since Israel was founded."

Clark was approaching the end of his statement now, and Bruce suspected that something big was coming. "There is one thing that I think has been lost throughout all of this. I am Superman, but I am also a father, and a husband. My wife was murdered by a madman, who was brought to justice. I have in time my worked on an oil rig, I have worked as a bar tender, and I currently work at the Daily Planet. My name is Clark Kent, and I was raised in Smallville, Kansas. I was married to Lois Lane, before her death. This world has given me so much; I believe it is only right that I give back to it. Thank you." With that Clark turned and walked away as the press went mad.

Bruce slumped in his chair, as Damian whistled. "Well that just happened. He's either incredibly brave, or incredibly stupid."

"He's made himself appear more human, more relatable. Now the people are going to be more willing to see things from his perspective." Dick said. "That was quite smart, I wouldn't have thought Clark would do something like that."

"You think he was just going to sit there and let nothing else happen? He's a journalist as well Dick, surely he would've had an inkling how some god like figure making all these interventions would look from a press point of view." Damian shot back.

Dick grinned. "I know, Damian, I was merely saying that in all the time I've known him, Clark has never struck me as the sort of person who would want his private and personal life invaded like that. And now he's gone and done it, and you can guarantee that people will know about the royal connection within moments."

That was when it hit him. "We need to get to the UK right now." He dialled in a number, and after the first ring Alfred picked up. "Alfred, tell Dinah to get herself and half of the team to London. And tell J'onn to get himself down to Arkham."

"Right away Master Wayne."

Damian looked confused. "Why are you dividing up the team?"

"I know where Clark's going to next, and I need people there who are capable of stopping him from making a terrible mistake. Damian, Dick you're coming with me to London."

"Why London?" Damian asked as they got up and made their way towards the plane.

Bruce didn't answer, he just got in, as did his sons, once they were up in the air, and he'd had time to think, he answered. "The Joker's going to be making a big statement soon. And he intends to force Jonathan into the spotlight. The British have a strange relationship with their monarchy and once Jonathan is there, he will have a much harder time aiding his father. We need to get there before he does something stupid."

"What's he going to do? Blow up Buckingham Palace?" Damian joked.

Bruce remembered the images he'd had of Metropolis going up in flames, of what Madam Xanadu had showed him, and he knew exactly what the Joker was going to do. And not for the first time that day he kicked himself. He'd been blind, and he'd been misled. "Dad?" Damian asked.

Bruce sighed. "I think that's exactly what the Joker is planning on doing." With that they all fell silent and waited for time to disappear.