Running in Circles

He wasn't the Flash who could use his speed to search every corner of a city in a handful of minutes. He wasn't Batman who could find the relevant and necessary information he needed to find what he was looking for. He was not the Martian Manhunter who could scan the minds of every person around, though would not do so out of courtesy. He wasn't Green Lantern whose ring could do a scan of an area.

That did not mean Superman didn't have his own method. His took him high up in the sky, getting a bird's eye view of Gotham. His head tilted down, his eyes widened as he used what could only be described as x-ray vision. It allowed him to see through walls along with other things like clothes, steel, and stone. There were exceptions; lead always blocked his vision.

Combine that with farsight, or seeing distances far away from where he was, he could slowly examine Gotham in his search for the missing uranium rod. He understood enough about nuclear technology to understand the stakes of a single rod missing. Why it was removed remained unknown, so finding it would help bring some answers hopefully.

To help with his search, he also was listening. Through his hearing, he could hear the voices of ten million people all at once, and if he focused, he could single out particular voices. He was trying to listen in on either Black Manta himself, or the group of men he had working for him. They would know what had happened to the rod, and if any of them spoke about it…

It would be easier to have Diana question them. The lasso would compel the information. There was another angle to this, specifically building a case against these men. They were going to be charged in the legal system, and how information was obtained mattered. The debate over information obtained through the Lasso of Truth continued to rage in the American judicial system. If they were going to ensure that Black Manta remained behind bars, the situation with Atlantis notwithstanding, how they gathered evidence was important.

It would be easier if they had the rod and brought up those questions later. Police procedures had been an education he needed, not just as Superman but for his day job as an investigative reporter. He did international stories more often than investigative nowadays, but when you stuck close to Lois Lane as often as he did, you didn't forget it so easily.

So far, he hadn't found anything. A missing uranium rod, one used in a fission reactor onboard a nuclear-powered submarine, could only be in so many places. That it was used in fission meant that it would be radioactive, and the radiation it gave off would be harmful to humans. Searching for any place where illness and death had spiked over the last three days were at the top of his list to find. So far, nothing.

Black Manta's men said nothing about it either. They could know and were keeping quiet at their boss' instructions, or they knew nothing and the only one who did know about the rod was Black Manta himself. Outside of his declaration to destroy Atlantis and Wonder Woman's use of her lasso, the international pirate had remained quiet.

The admission that the Atlantean king had murdered Black Manta's father threw a wrench into things. Black Manta had stolen that submarine and the Wayne Tech radar system, yes, and revenge was this man's motivation. It made the Kryptonian wonder why the king would go out of his way to murder another man's father.

Like any story he investigated, there were missing pieces from the get-go. Neither of the parties involved were keen to give up those pieces. If they knew the whole story, maybe this situation could be resolved.

Every hour that passed, it only continued to escalate. A naval blockade of Gotham, fish vanishing from the oceans, and the United States refusing to negotiate. What was Atlantis' response to the latest rejection going to be?

It felt like there was a ticking clock, one counting down to an inevitable disaster. The only true question there was how big was that disaster going to be.

It took a few hours for him to consider a different approach. The signs of something radioactive being introduced to Gotham would have made themselves known to him by now. Counting on Black Manta or his men to speak the right kind of words he needed to hear was a fool's errand. His x-ray vision couldn't find the rod either.

Retrace the steps. The rod had to be in the reactor when Black Manta stole it. When had it been removed? Seizing the sub, the pirate would have wanted to leave that area immediately. That meant the rod could have still been removed between the facility it had been kept at and the arrival in Gotham. That increased the area in which that rod could have been placed.

But why remove the rod while in transit? More likely, doing so would happen when the sub was stationary. Unless there were any pit stops along the way, Black Manta had headed for Gotham to get his hands on the radar as soon as he could. There was a trail that Green Lantern had been able to follow, so Black Manta was relying on any stealth capabilities the sub had.

If the rod was removed in Gotham, it would have to be in Gotham. Where?

As he thought about it, an idea occurred to him. It had the Man of Steel drifting towards the location of the shipyard where the submarine remained. The Navy hadn't been able to evacuate it prior to Atlantis' arrival and the red tape that the GCPD had put up to preserve the crime scene meant that it was still in the shipyard.

A closer examination of that area had the same results as his search in the city proper, but the Kryptonian wasn't about to give up on it just yet. If there were no signs of radioactivity, there was another possibility at hand.

After removing the rod, and not wanting the radiation from it to contaminate the submarine as a whole, wouldn't you secure it in a case that could contain the radiation? One of the go to options for containing radiation happened to be lead. A lead case made with the same dimensions at the rod, length, width, and height, would make it hard for his x-ray vision to find.

But not impossible.

As he hovered over the shipyard, Superman eyed the building where the sub was kept, and peered through it. So far, nothing; nothing outside of the sub and nothing in the sub, so it seemed like a bust.

That is until he found a dead spot. Typically, a dead spot was just something he couldn't see through, as mentioned before lead would count. This spot was thin, small compared to many of the things he had been staring at, but the dimensions might be right.

Again, he wasn't as fast as the Flash, but he had speed all the same. He moved fast enough to get into the building and onto the sub before anyone knew he had done so. The second he was safely in the sub, he could already pick out some of the details that gave away that LexCorp had been involved at some point.

You spend enough time in various LexCorp facilities, you start to catch on to their choice in design.

Needing to shake his head to get rid of those thoughts, Superman headed deeper into the sub, keeping his eyes trained on that dead spot. Eventually, he found himself at the captain's cabin, the door unlocked, and once in there, he found the tube-like container tucked away in a corner. He couldn't see into it, but the hazard symbol, a yellow circle with black outline, a small black circle in its center, and three rounded trapezoids, signified what was in it.

The rod was found and it was stashed in the captain's cabin. Any feelings of triumph led to even more questions. Why put it here? It was as if it was put there as an afterthought, stashing it for the sake of stashing. Many more questions were forming in his head.

What was Black Manta's plan? What other pieces were there that they were missing?

He had all of these powers, and yet none of them were bringing them closer to a resolution. It was frustrating.

The longer this continued, the more questions they had to ask, the closer that disaster he feared was coming would become reality.

His arms were at shoulder height, his elbows bent so that they formed a ninety degree angle. Large restraints engulfed his hands, keeping them locked to the wall. A device had been placed on the back of his head, wrapping around each side and on top of his head. Bolts of electricity would crackle every so often.

The cell was larger than one person needed, but considering there were a number of restraints on the wall, each one opened unlike his own, that meant this room was built for multiple prisoners.

Batman just took the time to rest. Escape was high on his priorities, but it could wait. He was still in enemy territory and showing his hand to his captors early wasn't in his best interest. Let them think they had him captured.

He replayed the short interaction he had seen between the King of Atlantis and the woman who captured him. The words said weren't ones that were meant to be taken lightly. Aquaman was on the verge of some sort of decision, no doubt one that would have huge ramifications. He needed to learn just what those ramifications were and how the Atlantean king planned on pulling it off.

There was also the woman's powers. She clearly had control of water, which made for a big problem were he to escape. Did other Atlanteans have such power? If so, getting out of here would be incredibly difficult. The moment he was in the waters surrounding the city, he would effectively be placing himself into some water meta's grasp. He had to find a way to neutralize this threat first.

A hissing sound caught his attention, causing the vigilante to look towards a large door, one that split right down the middle, its halves sliding to the left and right. They didn't open far, just wide enough for a lone figure to pass through them.

The muscular chest, the cape that billowed behind him, the crown that perched on top of long blond locks, this was Aquaman. He was just the way he looked in the future.

The king came to a stop a few steps away from the dark-clad man, staring at him with stern eyes. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you are the Batman of the Justice League, are you not?" his deep voice rumbled.

Part time, were the first words that popped into his head. He didn't say them, only nodding his confirmation.

"Why have you come to my city, surface dweller?"

Batman continued not saying anything. There wasn't much point. This was only the start of the interrogation and Aquaman would be trying to feel him out before asking the questions more important to him.

"Speak, or I will force you to speak," the blond man threatened.

Again, he didn't respond.

"No doubt you're a spy," Aquaman then said, apparently figuring out he wasn't going to get an answer, not that way anyways. "Espionage, I find, doesn't work out well with spies that are captured. They are usually given up, tossed aside like refuge. No doubt that is what will happen to you once your masters learn of your capture."

Again, silence.

"You are an American citizen, are you not? Then it would be safe to say you are spying for them. Or is it the Justice League? Did they send you to spy?"

Again, nothing.

Aquaman took a heavy step towards him. "Your life is forfeit whether you speak or not. I will grant you a quick death if you cooperate."

"As opposed to a long, painful death," Batman finally countered. "Death is death, no matter what pretty ribbon you put on it."

The king stared at him. "You don't fear death, do you?"

"I accept it as a natural course of life. The method I tend to disagree with."

"And what method would that be?"

"A justification for murder."

The blond man's eyes narrowed. "I do not like your implications."

"And I don't like being locked in a cell."

"You are a trespasser in my kingdom. Such violations warrant the arrest and incarceration of the offender."

"But that isn't what you're charging me with," he countered.

"No, I am not."

"Even if I was a spy, there is no incentive you have that would encourage me to cooperate. As you yourself said, I'm effectively a dead man. So either finish me off, or leave me to rot in here."

"You're quite loyal to your masters."

"You mean the U.S. government or the Justice League. Sorry to tell you, but I answer to neither one."

"Then who do you answer to?"

"Do I look like someone that answers to another?"

Aquaman stared at him before the corner of his mouth twitched up. "I have heard of you, Batman. It seems the stories about you have an element of truth to them."

Meaning he had been keeping up with the matters of the "surface dwellers." That wasn't too surprising. "Then you must have figured out that I came to get answers."

"That was a forgone conclusion. It is the person you are obtaining these answers for that I want to know."

"Clearly because it can't be myself."

"I wouldn't believe that—ever."

It was Batman's turn to stare. "You have an armada positioned outside of the city I protect with weaponry no one has seen before. You want to take into custody a man I personally captured for a kangaroo court, no doubt. The reason for your naval barricade is because of that man. I want to know why."

Aquaman narrowed his eyes. "You're in no position to be asking questions."

"And we've established that I have no incentive to answer any of yours. Quite the stalemate, don't you think?"

Again, the king took another step towards him, which left perhaps a foot between them. He was slightly taller than the vigilante as he had to tilt his head back to maintain eye contact. "You will be answering my questions, sooner rather than later. And when I'm done with you, I'll use your body for chum."

Batman chose not to respond to that. He just stared, which the king returned the look. Eventually, Aquaman turned away and walked towards the open door.

"I have no doubt that you're contemplating escape," he said over his shoulder. "I suggest that you don't. The moment you leave this city, I'll have every whale, every shark on you so fast that you'll only know their sharp teeth tearing you apart. You can try to reach out for help, but you'll find every communication method unusable. And for added measure, your mind reading friend in the Justice League won't be able to reach you no matter how hard either of you try."

As if to confirm that, electricity crackled from the device on his head. It must have been a telepathy inhibitor. No doubt the Atlantean king was telling him all of this so that he would feel despair at being cut off from the rest of the world.

All those words did was confirm to the vigilante that Atlantis had been playing close attention to the surface world. Well, clearly not close enough if the king thought Batman would be reaching out for help any time soon. He still didn't have enough answers, so he wasn't going to be leaving the city any time soon.

It was often said that the best deals were ones neither party was happy about. To gain something, something must be given up, usually something that one party didn't really want to but had no choice.

The "negotiations" between the United States and Atlantis had ended just as abruptly as they began, with the U.S. saying absolutely not to Atlantis' demands.

But then Atlantis just…gave up?

There was something else going on here than met the eye.

Shayera knew there was something fishy about this. The way that Corum Rath guy acted, it was as if he expected, and even anticipated the U.S.'s refusal. It was just another step in a long game.

The redhead was having a hard time getting a feel for him. He followed his orders to a T, holding onto decorum unlike a couple U.S. generals she could name. Yet, he wasn't so beholden that he was insulted when he received the refusal. It was almost as if he expected as much.

Perhaps that shouldn't be too surprising. Corum Rath had indicated Atlantis had been keeping an eye on what was happening on land. It wasn't that much of a stretch that they had observed the various world governments and had gotten a good idea on how each one would react should a force equal, if not greater than it appeared.

Was it just her or…or had Corum Rath wanted to hear a refusal?

It was most likely just her. It had to be just her. No one wanted a war, not unless your entire culture centered around it like her former home had.

Shayera paused. It had been some time since she had thought of Thanagar. After it had tried to destroy Earth, it had recalled its forces home, at least the ones in Earth's sector. She had been left behind because she had turned traitor, refusing to let the Black Hole Generator consume the planet, and siding with the Justice League. For that, for wanting to save billions of people, she was cast aside, exiled, and not allowed to return on penalty of death.

Not that she wanted to go back to Thanagar, but being cut off from home was…it hurt more than she expected it to.

Was this how Diana felt after being exiled from Themyscira?

She had never gotten the full story from the Amazon, only that she had broken a rule held so sacred on the island that there was little choice in avoiding its consequences. Shayera had her guesses, but she never pried.

So now that she was homeless save for the sanctuary offered by John, she had to wonder why she should keep up her disguise. What was the point of wearing her hawk helmet? Keeping up with the colors of her home world? She had no right, though neither did she desire to.

No right, and no desire. So where did that leave her? The helmet, a necessity in the Thanagarian military, offered little more than a disguise on Earth. It hid her face from the people of the planet, not that her wings didn't give away her identity. If she removed her helmet, and showed the world her face, would that change anything?

It didn't feel like it, did it?

Perhaps it was time for a change. With the world moving onto the next crisis that was already changing how it viewed itself and its history, it was time that she moved on as well. No more hanging onto her past; no more hiding herself from people that didn't like her due to the actions of her own kind. She needed to stand up, stand right in front of everyone, and declare that she, Shayera Hol, was not beholden to her people. She may be a traitor on her home world, but she was a savior of this world.

That was one thing the Atlanteans were doing right. They were standing up for themselves on the world stage. They were loudly declaring that they were here, had always been here, and the world needed to take notice.

Well, now it was her turn to people everyone on notice.

Trying to get in touch with the admiral hadn't been easy. Though the action was in Gotham, the decisions made were going to be in D.C. The Pentagon was all hands on deck, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff wanted a plan for how they were going to handle things five days ago. It meant that Strom didn't have the kind of availability he normally had, but on a normal day, availability was rare.

Green Lantern was still able to get him down for five minutes in private.

"I thought that we were trying to keep this from becoming something big," Admiral Strom remarked wryly.

"That's how I wanted to do things too, but we found ourselves in something bigger than the both of us," the Lantern told the admiral. "I know you're busy, but I need to ask some questions. Things are already out of control as is, and they might get worse really quickly."

The admiral frowned at him. It brought Green Lantern back to his boot camp days; you did not want an officer frowning at you.

They were just outside of the Pentagon itself, keeping to any shadows they could find. Security was tight here on a normal day. A situation that promised to become an emergency only heightened it, if that were possible. Strom couldn't get too far away, and the parking lot was out of the question from how visible they might be, even with all the cars there.

"How was someone like Black Manta able to get his hands on that submarine in the first place? I'm learning that the man has a reputation and is wanted by too many countries to count. How'd he get through all the security to steal a highly classified, experimental sub?"

Strom did not sigh, to his credit. "We're still trying to figure that out. There might be a breach. Money changed hands somewhere, lips were loosened. We're still getting to the bottom of that."

Figured. No matter what kind of security measures you put in place, the right amount of cash would make an opening. It still didn't explain how someone like Black Manta was able to get onto a military base. Maybe that didn't matter.

"Black Manta tried to steal a new state-of-the-art radar system from Wayne Enterprises. He was in the middle of installing it when I caught up to him," he told the admiral. Sometimes you had to give a little in order to get something in return. It was a…tough lesson for him to learn.

"A radar system from Wayne Enterprises?" Strom repeated. He was frowning again, but this time it wasn't directed at him. The admiral looked troubled. When the older officer made eye contact with him, "We commissioned a new radar system from Wayne Enterprises. If it's the same one that I'm thinking of, that system is suppose to be in the submarine. We were waiting for it to be delivered next week."

He had to fight the surprise that was threatening to show on his face. That radar system had been made for the submarine? Why hadn't Batman known about that?

A little more prodding, and, "We commissioned multiple companies to build this ship. We deliberately had them work on pieces of it, and we handled the assembly. They just had to build their parts to our specifications and we would handle the rest. It was suppose to remain top secret, even from the people working on it."

So the most Batman would have known was that his company was making a radar system sophisticated enough to help map out the ocean floor. Other commercial uses could have been found for it to justify the company making it in the first place, so the military buying one would not raise too many flags.

"Can you answer me this, then. What could happen if someone were to remove one of the uranium rods from the nuclear reactor?" he asked.

Strom gave him a disturbed look. "Why would anyone do that?"

"Humor me," Green Lantern prodded.

Strom shrugged his shoulders. "The sub could continue working with a missing rod, or one that decided not to work anymore. It would just decrease energy output, and the submarine was designed to be as energy efficient as possible. Why are you asking this?"

Give and take. "Black Manta removed one of the rods before he was captured. We're trying to find it or find out what he planned to do with it."

"He steals a top secret submarine, the radar that was meant to be put into it, and takes out one of the rods? That doesn't make sense," Strom said.

When you put it like that, yeah, it didn't. When he had been asked, all that man was willing to say was that he wanted to destroy Atlantis, but Green Lantern figured that it was going to take more than a uranium rod to do that. What were they missing?

"I'll try to see what else we can find out," the dark-skinned man told the admiral. "If something comes up, I'll try to keep you in the loop."

"You'll try," Strom said dryly.

Giving the older man a nod, Green Lantern lifted off into the sky, heading back to Gotham. Even though he came all this way for answers, he was leaving with more questions than he had come with. He was hoping that the others had had better luck than him, but what were the odds that they too had only found more questions?

Hopefully Batman would return, and maybe there would be some answers. If there was one thing he had come to respect from the vigilante, it was that the man knew how to find what they were looking for and pull the wool off their eyes. If there was any time for the Dark Knight to return, that time was now.

They were still waiting for Atlantis' response, and that could be coming any minute now. Like so much involved with this, there were too many unknowns, and Green Lantern disliked the lack of information they were working with.

The only certainty was that something was going to give. The only question about that was when.