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God, it's beautiful, floated incongruously across Bruce's mind. I didn't know it was beautiful.
He could and did sum up his potential opponent in a fraction of a second: sleek armor of a foreign design, bright colors, air of arrogance and competence, challenge in his bearing, red flashes in eyes blue as sapphires. Batman blinked once. It didn't matter that the alien was striking, it mattered whether it would move to strike him.
“So, what can you do?”
A thousand responses flashed across his mind, but this... okay, super being had just laid low a man of much greater physical power. Later Bruce would think, if Hal had openly challenged him like this, he would feel he had to turn the tables on him, face him down. But he didn’t feel that confrontational instinct, not then.
Instead he spread his hands slightly, and just said, “I'm looking for information.” The alien's eyes narrowed, but he seemed to edge slightly back from the threat of imminent violence.
“Who are you?”
“Batman. I...work in Gotham City. I've heard that you've tried to use your powers to help people here, to stop criminals.”
Another fraction of tension bled away at that. “I... had heard similarly about you, although I had also heard that you were a myth, or that you were a criminal yourself.”
“And I heard you were an uncontrolled force of destruction, that you are a danger to the public.”
There was heavy silence for a moment, and the alien's eyes flicked to where he had flung Green Lantern into a pile of rubble. Bruce had been carefully not looking.
After a moment, Bruce added, “When he wakes up, I'll gladly tell him that he had it coming.”
That won a smirk from the stranger, who stepped, no floated, a bit closer. “I... react poorly to being accosted by strangers.”
“Most people do,” Batman said dryly. The alien... Superman, think of it with a name, at least for now... almost smiled, and those blue eyes measured him as the red faded away entirely. Bruce was suddenly struck by the unwelcome conviction that if this young god were to smile, truly smile at him, he could become as besotted as the populace in Metropolis were reported to be. Maybe there's a pheromone involved, or an alien charisma field... work it out later.
“What I do,” Batman said brusquely, “is information.”
“What sort of information are you looking for?” Superman asked, retreating a bit into his previous standoffishness.
“We – that idiot moaning in the corner is Green Lantern – we surprised an extraterrestrial planting a device in Gotham earlier tonight. He was unable to identify the device, and was hoping you could.”
“What kind of device? Show me!”
Bruce was a bit taken aback by the sudden vehemence, but he tried not to show it. Instead he glanced through the through the debris for the glowing box, and stood carefully still when the alien seemed to realize his aim, glanced down, and found it unerringly.
Special vision of some sort, Batman made a mental note.
Superman turned the box back and forth, and once Bruce braced himself when it looked like the fool was going to try to break the thing open. Then he stared at it for several long moments.
“I don't know what it is.” The alien sounded disappointed. “You should leave Metropolis when your friend wakes up.” Batman moved toward him to take the box back and surprised a look in the alien's eyes. A familiar look.
Superman turned and began to walk away. “Wait,” called Batman.
“I told you, I don't know anything.”
“No, but... The alien tonight was very dangerous. If there are more... you could be helpful...” Bruce trailed off. What on Earth compelled him to say that? He should be glad to get out of this without any broken bones.
“Maybe...” Superman said, “but I really don't know that much about other planets.”
Batman's skepticism must have shown a little, because the man in blue added, “Really, I've spent almost my entire life on Earth.” Then why haven't I heard about you before recently, Bruce thinks, but he doesn't argue further.
Hal was pushing himself up to full consciousness, or what passed for consciousness for him, and Superman shifted his attention off Batman as green sparks started buzzing.
Bruce decided to short-circuit the argument. “Green Lantern, this is Superman. He promises not to pummel you again if you can quit punching people you've just met.”
“Whuh? I...” Hal finally looked up, registering the lack of any further attack. “Uh... sorry?”
Superman glided over and offered him a hand up. “I have... records that say that the Green Lantern Corps is a force for justice and peace. I am glad to meet you.”
Bruce narrowed his eyes briefly at the shining figure, but he seemed, unbelievably, to be speaking without sarcasm.
“Yeah, thanks, uh, nice to meet you, too.” Green Lantern finally spits out, somewhat unbelieving. But he did take the hand up.
Superman tells Hal the same story about not recognizing the box, but says he'd like to run some tests with his own equipment. Batman was extremely reluctant to let the device out of his hands, but GL decides that they're all buddies now, Superman seems eager to help, and Batman reflects that they do need the answers.
It's only much later, when he was returning to Gotham, that he stopped short and cursed himself, because he knows why he trusted Superman. Because he knew that look too well, he'd seen it before. The combination of unconscious physical grace and a deep-in-the-eyes loneliness had triggered old instincts. And tomorrow he was going to have to tell Dick that he'd finally met the flying being from the stars, without explaining why his subconscious had needed to respond to the lonely child, not the angry young man.