Chapter 6

Michael looked left and right, assessing his situation. To his right was Batman, Gotham's protector, who would surely fight first then ask questions.

To his left was four of Gotham's finest. They would do the same.

Michael knew that he could take them on, but he didn't want his first meeting with Batman to be a bad one. And there was no doubt that the police, and also Batman, would have not forgotten about the other beheadings that he has done while he was here last time.

Since Gotham is under the watchful eyes of Batman, Immortals that live here rarely fight, for fear of drawing attention to Batman. But there were times, like tonight, where there is one Immortal who doesn't give a damn and decided to fight anyway.

'Talk about bad luck' Michael thought. He was wondering what to do when the light bulb in his head clicked on. He looked up. He knew his destination. He stepped away from the building. Then, using the powers of the Gemini, he ran up the side of the building.

Batman stopped dead in his tracks. For a moment he didn't believe what he was seeing. He would think it was impossible if he wasn't friends with Superman. The man that killed the person in the alley was now running up the wall at great speed.

The police on the street didn't seem to notice.

He took out his grapple and fired. There was no way he was letting this man get away.

When Michael reached the edge of the roof, he grabbed it. He then vaulted himself onto the roof. When his feet landed he continued his run.

A few seconds after he started his run he heard someone land on the roof behind him. He took a quick look over his shoulder to see who it was.

'Great. The Batman,' he thought. 'I so do not need this.'

He turned his attention back to what was in front of him. When he reached the edge of the roof, he leapt off of the edge. He landed on the next building and continued running. He heard someone land behind him, and he didn't need to look behind him to know who it was. He decided that he needed to end this. He took a sharp right and headed to the edge.

The next building was a good thirty feet away, across the street. He built up his speed and, with the Bracelet's power, leapt off the building.

A Few seconds later he landed and continued to run. He heard a grapple fire behind him.

'Damn.'

He needed to lose him and soon. He couldn't go back to his place. He needed somewhere to go. Suddenly, he knew where he could hide. He took out his cell phone and made a call.

Batman landed and ran after the man. He wasn't expecting the man to jump across the street. He was afraid he'd lose him, but he was able to keep him in sight. He decided that it was time to bring in back-up before he lost him.

He activated his communicator just as the man jumped off the side of the building.

Michael landed smoothly on the street. He took off into a dead run down the alley. He could cut through these alleys and be at his destination within seven minutes at his current speed.

Suddenly, his sixth sense kicked in. He ducked his head just as an arm came out of an alley. The arm passed harmlessly over his head. After it passed, he continued his run. He guessed that it was probably Robin. He didn't really need this. He stopped fully at the next alley, for a person that was dressed like Batman, but was fully covered, stepped out.

Batgirl. He really, really didn't need this.

He turned his head to see Robin running at him. He looked back at Batgirl to see her coming at him.

He made a quick decision.

He started running full speed at Batgirl. When he was about to reach her, Batgirl leapt into a jump kick. Before her foot made contact, Michael grabbed her ankle with one hand and the upper part of the leg with the other.

He spun on his heel to go with Batgirl's momentum. Using his strength, he threw her at Robin. Completing his spin, he continued running.

As he ran he heard a loud grunt coming from two people and then a loud crash, as if someone collided with some trashcans. He smiled and continued running.

He was about to reach the end of the alley, when Batman stepped out. Michael grinded his teeth. He needed to end this quickly.

When he was a few yards from Batman, Michael turned to his right. Batman followed his movement to intercept him.

Suddenly, Michael quickly spun to his left, toward Batman. Batman was fast, but he wasn't fast enough to switch directions. As Michael closed in, he flattened his hand and stuck out the palm of his hand. He slipped his hand past Batman's defense and slammed it into his diaphragm. With the powers of the Gemini, he put a little more power into the punch. Just in case he was wearing armor.

It was a risk, considering he could kill him if he wasn't. But as Michael's palm made contact, he felt the armor. The breath expelled from Batman in one breath.

Michael kept on running.

He reached the alley's end and turned left. Across the street a couple blocks away, he saw his destination. He took out the key and headed for the building.

He darted across the street, nearly getting hit by a car.

He jumped the stairs and slid the key into the lock. He opened the door and slammed it shut behind him.

Batman was on his knees, catching his breath. He couldn't believe that the guy was able to hit him hard enough to get past the armor. He lifted his hand and felt the armor. It was dented.

He didn't know what this guy was, but he had to find out.

He heard footsteps and saw Robin and Batgirl coming towards him.

He waved his hand at them. "Don't worry about me. Follow him."

They nodded and ran right past him. Almost a minute later, he felt like he could stand.

He stood and headed toward the street. Robin and Batgirl were there.

"He's gone Batman."

"He's not gone. Just hiding."

"You think that his home is around here?"

"That or-"

'What's wrong?' Batman just stopped in mid sentence. Robin decided that he must have figured something out, but what.

"Batman, what is it?"

"This is Leslie's neighborhood." He pointed across the street. "That's her building."

Robin looked across the street, and then back to Batman. "What does that have to do with this?"

"Earlier when I was visiting Leslie, she received a call. Se said that an old friend came by and visited her."

"Yeah?"

"She cut the meeting short. She was going to go out with her friend."

"Again, what does this have to do with the guy we're chasing?"

"Nothing or maybe everything." He started walking towards the building. "Keep searching the area. I'm going to check out the building."

Robin kept his sight on Batman for a few more seconds. Then he turned around and ran down the street.

Leslie was in the shower when her doorbell rang. 'Great' she thought. She was going to keep showering, but she thought that it could be Michael. She turned of the water and got out.

After she dried off, she put on her robe and headed for the door. Through the peep hole, she saw that it was Michael.

She smiled as she opened the door.

Before she could say anything, he burst inside and shut the door. He locked the locks.

"Michael, what are you-."

"Sorry to bust in on you like that, but I'm in a bind."

"What bind?"

"I got into a fight with another Immortal."

"I thought all of the Immortals agreed not to fight in Gotham?"

"Yes, but there are a few that don't care what the rest of us think."

"Let me guess; the bind is that someone spotted you."

"Not just anybody, Batman."

Her eyes shot open. "Oh, no."

"That's an understatement."

And he was right. This was every Immortals worse nightmare: being discovered.

"I need your help. Just incase he comes to the building searching for me."

"Of course. Come on." She motioned for him to come and sit down on the couch. "I'm going to go change."

"Wait," he said. "Here." He reached into his pockets and took out a twenty. "Can you give this to the Pizza Boy when he arrives?"

Leslie's eyes narrowed. "Pizza Boy?"

"Yeah, I ordered a pizza while I was being chased."

"Why did you do that?"

Michael just shrugged his shoulders. "I worked up an appetite while I was being chased."

Leslie smiled and walked to the bedroom to change. She closed the door and headed to the closet.

"Leslie."

She jumped and turned around. She breathed a little easier when she saw who it was. "Bruce, what are you doing here?"

"There was a murder. I'm chasing the perpetrator."

This is bad, she thought. Bruce had tracked Michael here. She needed to cover for him and fast.

"Oh no. How did it happen?"

"The man was decapitated."

"If you're chasing the perpetrator, then why are you here?"

"I tracked him to this building. I'm searching the place to find him."

Leslie kept her cool. She couldn't let Bruce find Michael.

"Well everything's fine here. Please keep me posted."

Bruce didn't move. "Who's the man in your living room?"

Leslie stiffened. "You saw him?"

Bruce shook his head. "No, I could just see forms through the window. Who is he?"

She put her hands on her hips. "Bruce who I go out with is none of your business."

They just stood there for a few minutes, testing each other. Finally Bruce turned around and headed for the window.

"Take care, Leslie."

He jumped out the window.

She just stood there for a minute. She finally let go of the breath that she was holding. She walked back to the living room. She saw that Michael was on the couch.

She was about to say something but stopped. The person on the couch had blond hair, green eyes, and was a little taller than Michael was. He was also wearing a different set of cloths.

The man looked at her and smiled. "Sorry, Leslie. I didn't hear you come in." Then the man started to change shape. Within seconds Michael was once again sitting in front of her.

"That better?"

She breathed a sigh of relief when she realized what had happened. "I forgot all about that bracelet of yours. Comes in pretty handy, huh?"

"Yes it does."

She paused for a moment. "Why did you use the bracelet?"

"It's not… him. Looks, clothes and…movements are different," Batgirl said.

Batman took a look at the picture and nodded his head. The man in the picture was completely different, including the clothes, but Batgirl is the ultimate lie detector, since she can read people's body language.

"Thanks, Batgirl. Continue your search with Robin." Batgirl nodded and jumped off the building.

When they first got to the building, Batman wanted to check on Leslie first. When he saw that there was someone in her apartment, he called Batgirl for some help. While he talked to Leslie, she would go through the apartment to see if anyone else was inside.

Lucky for them, it was just her date.

But something nagged at Batman's mind. Something was not right about all this.

Batman stood in place for a few more minutes. He decided to search the rest of the building. If he didn't find the suspect, then he would try again the next day.

"Batgirl was here?!" She walked over ton the couch, with the pizza that just arrived.

"Yes, she was."

Leslie stammered for a moment. "But I didn't see or here her."

"No, you didn't and wouldn't. She's very good at what she does."

"How did you see her?"

Michael smiled. "I'm better."

Leslie smiled at that. "That's true." Leslie walked over to the couch and sat down. She reached over to lift the lid on the pizza box. "What did you get?"

Michael reached over and took a hold of her hand. "I'm not hungry for pizza."

Leslie froze the moment those words entered her ears. She turned her head and her eyes met with Michael's. She saw a look. His look. The look he gave her whenever they made love. The memories came back.

"Mike," she paused. "I don't know if we should do this."

His look didn't waver. "You don't love me anymore?"

"No, no, of course I do." She took a deep breath. "It's just that, I'm older now-"

Michael's laugh interrupted her. "You're not that old." He reached up with one hand and stroked her face. "You're still the beautiful person that I knew back then."

She blushed when she heard his words. She knew it was worthless to resist it. "One day, Michael, we won't be able to do this anymore."

He nodded his head in agreement. "I know."

"You will have to move on someday."

"I'm working on it."

She paused when she heard this. "Really?"

"Hey, don't look so surprised. I'm not totally helpless."

"So you found a girl?"

"Met one today."

"You are such a player."

He paused. "Are thinking on having second thoughts about this?"

She shook her head. "No. As I said, we won't be able to have these moments much longer." She reached up and took a hold of his head with both of her hands. "So let's make the most of them." She pulled his head towards her and gave him a passionate kiss.

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