Moving this to the Avengers category temporarily since the latest chapter is focused in it. Like always, any comments or criticisms are very much appreciated. Enjoy!

Title: Smoke and Mirrors.

Summary: "Cut the crap, Wayne. I know you're Batman."

Warnings: Light swearing. You can find the sequel in chapter 12.

Disclaimer: I don't owe The Dark Knight trilogy, Iron Man, The Avengers, or any of its characters. Sadly.

OoOoO

Bruce knew something was wrong even before he reached the limousine he arrived in.

The chauffeur that drove him here was nowhere to be seen, and while he could very well be waiting inside, he should have stepped out by now to greet him and open the door for him. He supposed it was possible the man had fallen asleep while waiting for his return, but it wasn't likely.

The agency Alfred contacted to drive him around while he was in Florida was very serious and professional in its services-not to mention expensive-so it was unlikely that one of his drivers would do that. And he was a Wayne. They would have sent the best of the best for him.

Without halting his steps, Bruce scanned his surroundings discreetly. There was nothing out of the ordinary as far as he could see, but still he pulled his smartphone out of his pocket and texted Alfred. He sent a short, simple coded text to put the butler on alert.

If he didn't get back to him in the next ten minutes Alfred would tap into his phone and depending on what he heard would choose which of the measures they had devised previously he would implement.

You could never be too careful with these kinds of things, after all.

The smart thing for him to do would be to return to the party and call security, or perhaps ask for assistance since his driver wasn't around to take him back to his hotel, but he did none of that. He couldn't just turn around when the driver, Sebastian, could be in danger in this very second.

The billionaire tried the handle on the door, his heart rate picking up speed when he found it wasn't locked. He disguised one last look at his surroundings by pretending to trip and grabbing the open door for support before climbing into the vehicle. Once inside, he took a moment to settle down before looking around the confined space out of the corner of his eye.

Bruce relaxed slightly when he identified the person inside the vehicle, even if his brain started working frantically trying to figure out why he was here. He was careful not to let any of that show, however.

Considering he was supposed to be drunk and a dense and flaky playboy, Bruce merely blinked as he lifted his eyes and found himself staring directly at the man sitting in front of him.

"Ooops! Sorry, wrong limousine. I guess I had one glass too many back there," He apologized with a chuckle, adding a small slur to his words to support his statement. "Don't worry. I'll just call my driver and be on my way."

The other man didn't stop him from pulling out his phone, nor reacted when he dialed the number; he merely watched him as the soft sound of a ringtone was heard from somewhere in the front.

Bruce cut the call and lowered his phone, looking back at the man. "I guess it is my car, after all."

The black man stayed still, not even blinking at any moment. Even if he was drunk, it was perfectly in character to show some fear at the unknown situation he was in, so Bruce fidgeted a little with his phone and swallowed hard before speaking.

"Is my driver okay?"

"I did not hurt your driver, Mr. Wayne," The man replied after a moment of tense silence.

He nodded, lips pressed together. The man's abilities and shady past did nothing to make Bruce trust him, but he seemed to be telling the truth. Besides, he didn't believe a man affiliated with a group apparently committed to protecting the Earth and its people would hurt an innocent chauffeur when he was obviously here for him.

"Do you- need something from me?"

"I merely want to talk."

"You could have called my office to set an appointment instead of doing ... this," Bruce replied with a vague hand gesture. Brucie Wayne wasn't known for his caution or intelligent nature- much less drunk, so it wasn't a stretch to think he was too stupid to really grasp the danger of the situation he was in, especially without a threat or weapon apparent yet.

"I don't make appointments, Wayne. And I don't think this is something you'll want to discuss in your office."

Bruce kept his expression relaxed, adding just a light touch of interest. He didn't like where this was going. He didn't like it one bit. Damn Tony from dragging him into this. Though if he was being honest, it was possible he drew the unwanted attention by himself.

Nick Fury stared right back at him. "I know who you are."

Goddamnit!

"I know. You called me by my name already."

Bruce wasn't exactly intimidated by the glare sent his way then, but he had to admit it was impressive. "That's not what I'm talking about. I know what you do with your nights."

"Oh. Are you trying to blackmail me? 'Cause what I do with my nights, as you put it, is pretty much in the public record. All you have to do is read the tabloids or look around the web to find it. And honestly, I don't remember having done anything particularly scandalous lately."

"Cut the crap, Wayne. I know you're Batman."

Bruce laughed. Head threw back, he let the rich sound of his laugh resonate through the silent vehicle as he put years of Alfred's acting lessons to practice. He only hoped that was good enough to make his amusement at the accusation seem honest.

"Sorry. I'm not laughing at you, I swear." Bruce replied once he calmed down, eyes alight with laughter. "I have been accused of many things over the years, but this is definitely the strangest one yet."

Fury's face remained impassive as he glared at him.

He titled his head slightly to the side. "Who are you anyway?"

"You know who I am."

"Uh, is this a joke? Because I ..." Bruce trailed off with an almost comical widening of his eyes. "Did Tony send you?"

"Stark?"

"Of course he did," Bruce muttered to himself. Aloud, he said, "You can tell him I'm not impressed, and the answer is still no."

"What?"

"You see, Tony has this weird fetish about the Bat." Bruce waved a hand dismissively, letting out a dramatic sigh. "Don't ask me why because I honestly have no idea why he's attached to a nut job, but he is. And of course, he has some wild ideas about it that I've refused to even listen to."

"It's a great act you have here, Wayne," Fury stated slowly after a moment, voice hard and deep. "But you can't fool me."

Bruce beamed at him in return. "You're really good at this, you know. You almost made me believe that you really believe what you're saying. It's amazing."

He continued smiling even as Colonel Fury glared daggers at him. He grew up with Alfred. Of course a little glaring wasn't going to faze him.

"You can keep playing your little games, Wayne, but you're not going to get rid of me. We will talk without you hiding behind a mask." Fury growled. "It would do you good to remember I'm not a very patient man. And if I get tired of waiting for you to come forward, the outcome wouldn't be good for you."

The billionaire let his smile drop slightly under the man's hard glare. "You're pretty intense."

Fury scowled but didn't reply. He got up from the seat and kept glaring at him until he exited the limousine, leaving the door open.

"Well, that was strange," Bruce muttered to himself, letting his head fall back against the car's cushioned headrest, his eyes only half-closed.

In spite of the loose posture, he was far from being relaxed. He couldn't relax, no yet. It wasn't just the disclosure of his identity what prevented him-which he was trying very hard not to think about right now-but the fact he didn't know if it was safe. The man could have planted microphones or even cameras inside for all he knew.

It didn't seem like a practical move for Bruce considering he probably wouldn't be using this limousine for long. It was very likely that as soon as the agency was contacted they would send another vehicle for him to use (for security reasons), but he couldn't just search right now to make sure of it without breaking character.

Bruce sat in the silence darkness for a moment, before opening his eyes fully and looking up at the ceiling.

"Hello? Is anyone here?"

Silence was his only answer.

With a sigh and a practiced struggle he slipped out of the limousine by the still open door and walked slowly to the passenger side. Remaining in character, he leaned forward to try to peer through the tinted window before reaching for the door's handle.

Through the opened door he could see Sebastian. The man hadn't been wearing his seatbelt so he slumped over the steering wheel in an awkward position. Bruce winced a little. His neck wouldn't be thanking him for that once he woke up.

He climbed in, and even if he was unable to wake him up the fact the man's pulse and breathing were regular and that he didn't see any visible injuries made Bruce relax slightly. Carefully, he pushed the man back to lean against the seat before reaching for his smartphone, pressing speed dial number one.

"Master Bruce."

The corner of Bruce's lips twitched slightly at the relieved note he caught on Alfred's voice. Anyone who didn't know the butler wouldn't have picked on it, but of course he had.

"Hey, Alfred. We kind of have a situation," Bruce informed dutifully. He kept the slur and light tone to let his old friend know he was still in character.

"Are you alright, sir?"

"I'm fine, yeah, but I can't say the same about my driver for the night." Bruce looked back at the man. "He's unconscious right now."

There was a pause at the other end of the line. "Is he injured?"

"I don't think so? He looks fine, but I've tried to wake him up and he didn't even move."

"What happened, sir?"

"I'm not sure. There was someone waiting inside when I came back to the limo. He was weird but funny; had some pretty crazy things to say. I'll tell you about it when I get home. Maybe it was a prank or something?" Bruce asked mostly to himself. "Anyway, can you call someone or something? I'm kind of tired and want to go back to my hotel for some rest."

"Of course, sir. I shall contact the agency to inform them of what happened."

"Thanks, Alfred. You're the best."

Bruce slid his phone back into his pocket and with one last glance over at the chauffeur he settled down to wait.

As much as he hated to ask for help, he would need to call Clark and talk with him about this, Bruce thought morosely as he considered his options; plans to deal with this already forming in his head.

It would be relatively easy to get the Kryptonian to agree to don the cowl and suit for a few nights to at least make Fury and his people doubt their suspicions. Bruce would have expected to be presented with some kind of evidence if they had it, after all. Still, it wasn't going to be easy. Fury must be pretty convinced to confront him like this.

Of course, he would need to take his time as to not make it seem like the obvious ruse it was after this confrontation, but well, he could use that time to train him.

Clark had the Bat's voice down already, as he liked to show much to Bruce's annoyance. His eidetic memory would help him remember some fighting routines or moves, and even if he didn't learn to fight like him, his powers and invulnerability made him the perfect choice.

Bruce would never even consider sending someone out there who could get hurt just to cover his own hide.

As long as Clark looked like he knew what he was doing it wouldn't matter if he used his powers to compensate for his lack of skills, though of course he would need to be discreet about it if he didn't want to raise even more questions. They were also pretty much of the same height and weight, so he wouldn't have to make modifications to any of his suits to fit him, which was a bonus.

With grim determination, Bruce made a mental note to call him once he returned to Gotham. Cut his trip short would only serve to make him more suspicious, and while his phone was secured with the best encryption possible he couldn't take risks now that he knew he was being watched.

And of course, he also needed to call Tony. That should be an interesting call.

a/n: This fic was fully inspired by a couple of gift sets from a scene from the movie Shaft. Seriously. That's all I needed to get my brain working. There may be a second chapter dealing with the eventual talk between Bruce and Tony, but we'll see ;)

This is unbetaed and I'm not a native speaker, so please feel free to point out any mistake you find.

The title was taken from the song of the same name by Freddie Mercury.