Batman decided to start his patrol at around 11 PM that night. After stopping a few muggings, he figured he might as well do a little spy work while he was out. The first thing he noticed was a small commotion around Falcone. Silently parking his newly minted "Batmobile", he removed his listening device and eavesdropped.

"Good job. Well, now that we know how the little weasel has gotten her information, we can cut off her source, easy as that." Falcone said with a smirk on his face.

"Of course, sir, but they're meeting tonight. What do you wan't me to do?" Anders responded.

"Simple. We know who he is just follow him. Listen to what it is about. If it's innocuous, let them go their separate ways and send a message to the rat tomorrow. If it's concerning Project Wheaties, we can't have some nosy reporter knowing about that. Friday's 3 PM delivery must go as scheduled." Falcone said. True, it was a risky move killing a star reporter but this venture into food industries was going to be one of his biggest stunts ever. Big but risky and if Laura Smith found it, that could be a problem.

Batman realized that this would be his opportunity to both find out what on earth was going on and ensure Laura Smith and the informant weren't hurt in the process. He dutifully followed Anders and another thug until he was about a block away from Laura's apartment. He was about to continue when he heard the cries for help. Wondering why so many people got mugged in a relatively good part of town, he hoped to quickly take care of the mugging before continuing on.

About five minutes later, Bruce had disarmed the mugger and ensured the scrawny boy he had saved got home alright. When he reached Laura's apartment building where he now only assumed the meeting would take place, he looked up just in time to see Falcone's men push Laura and the informant off the roof.

He didn't have much time to think. However, his training prepared him for this. On her trajectory, it would be nearly impossible to save Laura. The tiny man however could be easily saved. He simply needed to grapple a higher level of the fire escape and lasso him before he splattered on the ground.

As he lowered himself and the informant to the ground (the latter of whom was repeating "am I dead?" over and over) he suddenly realized he didn't hear a splat. He looked over to where Laura's dead body should lie and found the spot empty. Bruce took an inventory of his surroundings and then looked up to see a blue and red figure lowering itself down to Laura's rooftop – with Laura en tow.

His first reaction was to blink a lot to ensure he wasn't seeing things. Then he heard the informant go, "who the hell is that?" and he realized he was in fact seeing a man fly. A man in an awfully bright costume but a man nonetheless. He watched in awe as he placed Laura down and she gave him a big hug. A small smirk covered Batman's face – he'd rather be feared than get hugs. Grateful that Laura was saved, he turned around intending to interrogate the informant but realized he was long gone. Sighing, Batman sped home, making a mental note to figure out how a guy could fly.

"Clark!" Laura exclaimed after he lowered her to the ground. She was quickly engulfed in a giant bear hug. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you to Chlo – Laura. More than you know." He said, letting her go. Only them did she notice what he was wearing. A small chuckle escaped from her lips.

"Really Clark, a cape? And you do know that underwear goes on the inside of your clothes and not the outside." Laura informed him, obviously resisting breaking into full out hysterics

"It's called a disguise. I figured I should wear well – the least likely thing that Clark Kent would wear." Clark shrugged.

Now that Laura got a better look at him, she realized how different he looked – well, besides the costume. "Are you sure you've only been gone 3 years? You look like an entirely different man." Laura noted, frowning a little.

Clark sighed. "Well, For the first year I traveled the world. Saved people here and there but I really got a chance to see what Jor-el meant when he said that the world needed a light to guide the way. I met a lot of really amazing people Laura. So many people who just want to help, but they don't have the strength to back them up. And then I met some terrible people, who sought to exploit those who are weaker, and it made me angry. But I realized what I have to do. To save the world, I have to be more than some guy who saves a life here or there. Saving one life doesn't do anything. Showing the world that there is someone there who'll help, that they can fight for themselves – that's what's really important." Clark finished his tangent realizing that he never really answered the question. "Well, after that epiphany I headed to the fortress to start my training. I entered some trance which felt timeless to me but apparently lasted two years. However, apparently the stress of training aged me further. Don't worry though", he added seeing Laura's concerned face, "I'm not going to die soon or anything. I'm sure I'll still outlive everyone." He added a little bitter sweetly.

"Good to know…well, I'm happy for you. I guess you really needed to take that time away." Laura said with a little smirk.

"That reminds me. How have you stayed alive? I mean, I literally flew into Gotham to check on you when I saw you heading straight for the pavement." Clark exclaimed, wondering why he hadn't questioned her about this before.

"Well," Laura began, sitting down and picking up the mug of coffee she was drinking before the death attempt, "I just uncovered some information it seems the mob really don't know anyone to know about. And I understand why."

"What is it?" Clark asked, now with a look of concern.

"You know, as much as I love watching your cape sway in the breeze, why don't we head into my apartment, where you can stop having to constantly check your surroundings." Laura suggested. Clark agreed and the two friends headed down to her apartment where the discussed her current predicament.

"Batman?" Clark looked at Laura skeptically.

"I know, right? I thought it was kind of ridiculous too. But especially after your little monologue earlier, it got me thinking. Yeah, you're a symbol of hope, a bright red a blue guy who flies around and shows people they don't have to submit. But in a place like Gotham, that would get no where. The people wouldn't trust it, or they simply wouldn't care. This place is so dark, they need something dark. To save Gotham, I guess the guy realized he had to be what the city needed." Laura concluded, looking at Clark meaningfully.

"Well you seem to have taken the leap from skeptic to believer with this guy. How about you go find him, ya know, figure out who he is?" Clark suggested.

"For what purpose? I'm not going to expose him, that would make me a hypocrite. And he doesn't exactly seem Justice League material, not yet at least. Why figure out who he is when obviously he doesn't want me to know?" Laura asked.

Clark chuckled, "You really do have honor. What I meant was if this Bat fellow went through the trouble to break into your apartment in the hopes of gathering a few sketchy facts on Falcone, then he wants the same thing as you – to make Gotham better. And while you might not fully trust him, this guy is your best shot at solving this food thing and hopefully knocking Falcone down a notch."

Laura stared at her muted TV pensively. Sure, she had thought of that, but her first thought was that Oliver would never be cool with that. But then again, he himself had all but said that she had jurisdiction over Gotham, and with Lex and his cronies about, it would be best if the Green Arrow and his bandits didn't make any nightly appearances (Victor was recovering from ensuring Laura there were no cameras who caught Laura and Oliver's interaction at work earlier that day). She shrugged, "Alright. Sounds like a plan. Now, since it was your plan, it will be your job to explain it to Oliver." Laura smiled.

Clark rolled his eyes, "It's probably for the best anyways. Hopefully he'll be excited enough that I'm back that he won't think twice about it. Regardless, I will have my eyes and ears open for you. Remember that. I should get going though. Speaking of Oliver, I need his helping figuring out how I'm going to make Clark Kent look different from Superman." He finished looking bored and somewhat horrified by the prospect.

Laura simply laughed, "Good luck, and I really am happy you're back!" Laura gave her best friend of over 12 years a hug and watched in awe as he flew towards Metropolis.

What Laura didn't realize was that else where in Gotham, Falcone was receiving a report that Laura knew his greatest secret and that she was saved by a flying man. After punching a wall, he ordered that he know everything there was to know about Laura Smith. He had to find a way to take care of her before she destroyed his plans.

"Master Bruce, as always it is good to see you return in one piece." Alfred said as Batman removed his cowl and transformed into Bruce Wayne. Only then did Alfred notice the look on his face – a mix of confusion and awe. "What exactly happened tonight?"

"What if I told you I saw a man who could fly?" Bruce asked. Alfred laughed but then noticed the look of utter seriousness on Bruce's face and immediately asked if he was serious, "Honestly, I don't know. I mean, with my cape I can more or less create the illusion of flying but this guy – I mean, he really looked like he was flying."

"What do you intend to do about him?" Alfred asked curiously.

"Honestly, I doubt there's anything I can do. If he sticks around Gotham I'll try and confront him, figure out what his deal is but hopefully this was just a one night thing. Hey, maybe it was just a figment of my imagination, who knows. All I know is Falcone is planning something big, and it's going down in 3 days in broad daylight and I need to figure it out." Bruce sighed.

"Don't be so down on yourself. No one man can save the world." Alfred reminded him cheerfully.

Bruce was again awake earlier than expected the next morning and spent the majority of the day in his study, attempting to piece together the puzzle that lay before him. Sure, he had a date and time but that was useless if he didn't know the location. What on earth could Falcone be doing that he didn't have to hide under the guise of night? Perhaps this piece of information frightened Bruce the most.

After a fruitless day of research, Bruce decided to hit the streets. Tonight, however, his sole concentration would be on Falcone and his men – he needed to figure out what was going on that was worth killing two people over. He had parked and was getting out of his car when he heard her voice, "don't be afraid, I don't have a taser this time. We need to talk."

While Bruce spent the day running in circles, Laura actually made some substantial progress. Although if she admitted it to herself, it was really just dumb luck. One of her interns had just finished a bio on Bruce Wayne they were hoping would get published and begged Laura to read it. That is when she saw the picture of the boy Bruce Wayne had been. And she recognized him, not as the man she met at the gala who practically bathed in womanizer but as a boy in rage. He looked just like Clark the day he lost his parents.

Simply by opening herself up to the idea that Bruce Wayne could be similar to Clark Kent, Laura saw all of the pieces fit together. A man returns from a journey to find himself and has nothing to really say about it? And this Batman shows up almost concurrently?

Even though it made sense, she was still not sold on the idea until she read about his latest exploits. It turned out he now patrolled the streets in what is being referred to as "the coolest car ever" as Brad put it. From what she read about the Batman, either he himself was incredibly wealthy or he had a seriously awesome benefactor.

These pieces in addition to her knowledge of people like Oliver Queen made her feel stupid for not seeing it before. Sure, she thought there was something funny about Bruce Wayne but the front he put up for everyone was good enough to distract her from seeking the truth. Now the only question was, now that she figured it out what to do with that information?

At first, she figured knowing who Batman was would allow her to more easily find him. However, an attempted stealth trip to Wayne Manor yielded no results. She couldn't find a Batmobile or any Batman paraphernalia to bug. In addition, she knew going up to him and simply saying "I know who you are" would be stupid on a number of levels, the least of which being she didn't necessarily want him to figure out who she was.

In the end, while it was cool to know that Batman was Bruce Wayne, the information itself wasn't that vital. In the end she went with plan B – which was to simply go where he was most likely to go.

At around 10 at night, she got on her bicycle and quietly rode down to the narrows. She was wearing black pants, a black shirt and even a black wig. Laura did indeed feel absolutely ridiculous. She arrived and quietly walked around, and found a secluded spot with a decent view of where Falcone was known to conduct business. She looked around and stood about 10 ft. away in a shadow, hoping the Batman would make an appearance and she could talk to him.

At about 11:30, her senses picked up a soft hum and the slight turn off of an engine. Moving as little as possible, she turned her head and confirmed it was the Batman. He appeared to be heading to the little nook she had established as a look out earlier. She pondered for a moment if maybe he actually created this spot for just this activity.

Unsure of what to say, Laura decided to go for ice breaker, "Don't be afraid, I don't have a taser this time. We need to talk." She told him.

Batman whipped his head around in surprise. Obviously, he didn't enjoy being taken by surprise by anyone, let alone a young reporter. "What are you doing here?" He asked her in a gruff voice.

Laura had to make a serious effort to stop the smirk that was forming on her face. "I came here to find you. I think we might be able to help each other." Batman didn't say anything but just stared at her impatiently. "Look, we both know Falcone's involved in something that could destroy this entire, I know what it is I just don't know how to stop it." That got the Batman's attention.

"What is it?" He asked.

Laura relaxed. This was the moment she was hoping for, when he gave her at least a dimes worth of trust. She handed him a few papers. "My informant told me that Falcone is planning on drugging the food supply of a chain of Gotham grocery stores called Food Stuffs. Food Stuffs sells primarily their own generic brand and so when people eat this drugged food, they will suddenly find themselves both physically and mentally addicted." She explained.

Bruce was stunned into silence. Sure, he imagine something terrible both this? It was utterly insane. Sure, it would give Falcone a monopoly over food in Gotham and inevitably make him rich, but the potential damage was astronomical. It could destroy the whole city.

Everything fit now. The delivery was most likely taking place at the Food Stuffs main plant and could be either an ingoing or outgoing delivery. No wonder the man he was working with seemed so scared. He was selling his soul to the devil – getting in bed with Falcone with the belief that his chain would prosper.

"So, what have you go?" Laura asked.

"Nothing. You should stay from this." Bruce told her. He was then surprised to hear her laugh and walk away. Although he could have sworn he heard her mutter 'why are they always like this?'.

"Wait" he shouted. This caused her to pause and turn around. "That guy who saved you, could he really fly?"

Laura's face turned into a smug smile, "I don't know, do you know many guys who can fly?" And she continued chuckling. Bruce couldn't help but laugh a little until she spoke again. "I'm sure you'll see him around again. Don't worry, he won't be in Gotham much." And she disappeared into the shadow.

That last statement shocked Bruce. How long did Laura talk to this flying man? And did she know him? There was something about this girl that just didn't click.

Laura was slightly shocked at how much she had told him. Then again, she figured it was guilt. She knew his secret she figured he deserved something. She hummed a little under her breath and hopped on her bike to ride home, hoping the Batman could stop Falcone.