A/N: And... the ayes have it! Apparently this idea doesn't suck - which is great for a bunch of reasons :D

Also, after some planning, I'm happy to report that this story will extend to around 9 to 10 chapters, instead of the 5 I originally intended.

Anyhow, thank you to those who have reviewed or added this story to your favourites!

Disclaimer: DC Comics owns everything you recognize.

Immersion

-TWO-
A Meeting

After he dropped off his story in Perry's office, the very first thing Clark did that morning was make a beeline for his desk and made himself look busy.

Tapping restlessly against his desk as he waited for his near-ancient computer to start up, he thought back on the night before and frowned.

Once he was sure no one was looking, he took out the silver bat-shaped disk he had in his pocket and examined it like he had a dozen times already.

Running his thumb around the perfectly rounded edges, he noticed a subtle indent set in middle. Curious, he nearly dropped the disk in surprise when he pressed down on it and a pair of bladed 'wings' suddenly jerked out.

When the screen finally popped up, he sat up and went on the internet, but paused.

What should he type in?

Rubbing his temple, he looked up 'Scarecrow' first, but when all he got was several pictures of farms and references to a dozen horror movies, Clark narrowed his search and typed in 'fear gas'.

This worked out better, and along with an old employee profile from Arkham Asylum in Gotham City regarding a Dr. Jonathan Crane, he also found a slew of news articles about the clinical psychologist turned supervillain with a kick for scaring people to death with chemical weapons. He grimaced when he read on, and realized this was meant literally more often than not.

He got even luckier when he skimmed one of the articles, and read a line that caught his interest.

'-was brought in through mysterious means, but eye-witnesses confirmed the involvement of the so-called "Bat"-'

Bingo.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when a large stack of files were suddenly slammed down onto his desk.

"Tell me something, Clark," a very red-faced Lois Lane began. "Do I look like I'm meant to sit on my ass behind a desk all day?"

Clark stared at her incomprehensibly for a moment, but before he could open his mouth, Lois waved him down.

"Don't answer that." She said, sinking into the open chair across his desk. "Point is, I wasn't built for paperwork, and it should be against the law to expect me to do my own taxes. Really, I think I should sue... Can I sue anyone?"

"I don't think so." Clark answered, unsure if he should have bothered at all. When Lois started ranting, Lord help that she hear anyone at all.

Lois huffed. "Figures." She grumbled, glaring at the stack in front of her until Clark's computer screen caught her interest. "What's that?"

Clark turned the monitor away. "What's what?" he asked lamely and hid the silver disk in his desk drawer when she wasn't looking.

Unimpressed by his less-than-subtle efforts, Lois gave him look until he pulled his hand back, away from the computer, out of his own free will.

Which he did.

Sensing he was fighting a losing battle, Clark held up his hands in defeat and let her turn the monitor back. He then watched as her eyes skimmed the article and inwardly braced himself when her eyebrow arched.

"Why are you reading the Gazette?" she asked incredulously. "Any reporter worth their salt knows never to take anything that rag prints seriously. You're not cheating on me, are you, Smallville? I should have known that hometown-hero deal you've got going on was all an act."

His cheeks flushed. "It's not like that-" he began before he caught himself and shook his head. "I'm just doing a little research for a story I'm thinking about writing."

This only seemed to pique Lois's interest more. "Stepping up, huh? I like the initiative." She said, nodding in approval. "So spill, rookie - what's this Pulitzer-winning show-stopper of yours?"

Clark turned the screen back and minimized the window. "It's just an idea, Lois. There might not even be a story at all."

"But you are still thinking about writing it anyway." She said matter-of-factly.

"...Maybe." he allowed. "I still don't have a lot to go on."

Lois perked up. "Need any help? If it can get me out of looking at numbers for a while, I'm in... And if you wouldn't mind helping me out later..." she hinted.

He was tempted to refuse her offer when he stopped himself.

"What do you know about the vigilante in Gotham City? The one they're calling the 'Bat'?"

Clearly taken by surprise, he half-expected her to laugh at him, but instead, her eyes lit up and a slow grin spread over her face.

She lead him into the archives, down in the basement - it housed all of the Planet's stories from before the early age of computers, and from the look of the cobwebs and dust, nobody had been there since then either.

Clark looked around as Lois lead him to the back of the room over to a door.

"Lois..."

She pointedly ignored him as she stepped inside. "Can you get the lights?"

He let out an exasperated sigh. "Sure, but are we even supposed to be here?"

Even in the partial shadow, Clark didn't miss the mischievous grin on her face. "Who knows?" she shrugged. "But if we're not... you're not scared of getting caught, are you, Smallville?"

"Of course not." He said awkward, perhaps a little too quickly, and Lois laughed as the lights above flickered to life.

"Live a little. Besides, you're gonna like what I've got to show you."

Just as she said this, Clark blinked when he realized Lois had turned the small room (a supply closet if the dusty bleach bottles and broken broom in the corner were any indication) into an office. An old desk was pushed against the wall and covered with papers while a stand-up white board with a map of the US that was covered with pictures and smaller notes written in Lois's hasty scrawl.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Lois said proudly. "Sure, it isn't shoreline property, but hey, it's something, right?"

"It's like being on the inside of a shoe box." He agreed.

She stuck out her tongue at him. "Quiet, you. Anyway, you wanted to know about this... Bat vigilante? Well, you definitely came to the right place."

Clark walked up to the white board. "What is this?"

She smacked his hand away from the newspaper clippings before she shooed him to the side. "This is my way of tracking the weird happenings all over the place. Oh! Like here," she said and tapped over Central City on the map.

"There's been sightings of this bright red streak stopping bank robberies and outrunning bullet trains. And over here," she said, tapping over Star City, "there's a rumour about this dude going around with a bow and arrow, acting like he's Robin Hood."

His eyes widened. "How long...?"

"That's the weird thing - from what I could dig up on these guys, most of them have been flying under the radar for a while now. They weren't interested in showing themselves until recently."

"What changed?"

"Can I be honest about what I think?" she asked.

He smiled a little. "You wouldn't be you if you weren't, Lois."

She smirked and jutted her chin out confidently. "I think was Superman."

Clark started. "What?"

"Think about it - one minute there we are living in a world where everything makes complete sense, and bam! The next thing we know Superman shows up out of the blue -flying- saving people in broad daylight and does these amazing... impossible things. So, if I had to give my two cents, I'd say he inspired them to step out into the light."

Despite his best effort, the way she said this made his face heat up. "That... that's a nice sentiment."

"You think so?" she asked. "Maybe I should write that down somewhere and send it to print later - I might just get that interview with him I wanted. 'Man of Steel' has a nice ring to it."

He cleared his throat and nodded. "Yeah... yeah, that's great. But, um... what can you tell me about the Bat? Any powers?"

"Not a lot, and no, not as far as anyone can be sure." She admitted. "I got as far as you did with the internet. But... I did ask one or two of my contacts in Gotham, and nobody's even sure who this guy is, or if it's a guy at all. All they could tell me is that he-she's got a bit of a rep of scaring the ever-living hell out of thugs and then goes on beating it right out of them."

He frowned. "So... a criminal?"

"Not really - it sounds bad if you look at it in a certain way, but our Bat-person's been doing good work. The streets are a little safer, and the everyday criminals think twice before doing something they shouldn't. Crime's been down for the first time in years. And morale, it's been... good."

"And what do the officials say?"

"Depends on which way the wind's blowing, so urban myth or vigilante unaffiliated with the GCPD... which is weird because there's a bat-shaped light on their station's roof that kinda proves otherwise." She said, shaking her head. "It's not exactly subtle, if you ask me."

"But... why?" Clark asked before he could stop himself. "Why would someone do that?"

Lois shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, rookie. So until someone actually manages to track the Bat down and get their take on things, there's no real way to tell what the end game is."

"No..." Clark said absently, already working out how long it would take him to get to Gotham. "I guess not."

What he knew about Gotham City was limited to what he'd heard from Lois or read about in the paper from time to time, and up until that moment, he thought the details were exaggerated.

They weren't.

Truthfully, he didn't know what to expect. He kept to the sky, but even from above, it was hard not to notice the unnatural grit the buildings and the streets had to them. But despite all that, and underneath the neon lights and the superficial glitz, he could see traces of former glory from a different age.

And then, there was the noise...

His head snapped up at once at the sound of a car alarm going off at the other side of the city. He then heard the wail of a police sirens followed by a window shattering not too far from that.

Torn between stepping in and helping out, and letting the police do their jobs, his mind was made up when he heard a distressed cry in the alleyway directly beneath him.

When he looked down, Superman zoomed in on the sight below where he found a large, hulking man loom over a younger man -barely older than a teenager- with a knife in his hands, demanding that he hand over his wallet.

The sudden rush of air made the larger man step back, and he was momentarily caught off guard. He acted instinctively, and quicker than the naked eye could see, Superman disarmed the would-be mugger, crushing the knife in his hands.

"What the hell-?" He was cut off short when he looked up and came face-to-face with the S-shield.

His eyes widened in disbelief, but before he could say anything else, Superman picked him up and, again faster than anyone could blink, deposited him in a dumpster across the street.

When he went by to check on the would-be victim, Superman found the young man staring up at him, open-mouthed and speechless. Other than his rumpled clothing, he seemed to be fine, physically. "Are you okay?" he asked, regardless.

It took a minute, but when the man found his voice again, he nodded enthusiastically. "Y-yeah! Little roughed up, but, I'm good."

"That's a relief. Do you need any help getting back home...?"

He blinked, still awestruck. "Oh, the name's Shane, and nah, nah, it's cool - I live around the corner. But, uh... really, thanks for offering... Superman, right?" When he got a nod and wholesome, purely All-American smile, the young man let out a low whistle and couldn't help grinning back toothily. "Damn... and here I thought they just made you up."

"Well, I'm here right now, and I'm happy to help."

"Lucky for me too." He agreed. "But, wait... you're supposed to be way over in Metropolis, ain't ya? What are you doing in Gotham?"

The Kryptonian debated with himself for a minute until he made up his mind. "I'm... looking for someone." He admitted. "Do you have any idea where I might find the masked vigilante I've been hearing so much about?"

Shane's eyebrows nearly touched his hairline. "You mean the Bat?" he asked. "Uh... Can't help you there. I mean, don't get me wrong, I totally would, but no one knows what you're asking."

Superman's brows knitted together. "No one?"

He nodded. "He just shows up the next minute, and... disappears. I know a guy who knows a guy who's seen it - and from what I've heard, the Bat's like a friggin' ninja." He said until he saw the look on the superhero's face. "But, h-hey, hold up a minute. Stick around for a while, maybe you'll get lucky and they shine the Bat-Signal. They usually do it most nights, anyway."

"The Bat-signal?"

"Yeah, big lightshow in the clouds, shaped just like a... well, y'know. It's real hard to miss, trust me. Word is, that new Commissioner, Jack or Jim Gordo, or something, uses it if he wants to get a hold of him when something big happens."

Superman considered this - now that he thought about it, Lois did mention a signal on top of the GCPD's roof. It seemed as good a lead as any, at least to start with.

Looking back at Shane, he nodded gratefully at the younger man. "Thanks. I appreciate the tip."

"I owe you one, man. Oh, but hey, Supes? Before you go, do you mind if I ask you something?" he said. "No one's gonna believe me if I tell them about this later... so, would it be cool if I got a few pics of you and me together? My girl would freak if I show her that something like that."

Admittedly, he was both surprised and flattered. "Well, alright. If that's what you want."

At the younger man's enthusiastic nod, Superman touched down on the ground and stood next to him as he took out his phone.

"Awesome..." Shane said, wonderstruck but smiling broadly as the flash went off.

He'd taken Shane's advice and kept an eye to the clouds while he continued with his search around the city. He didn't get very far, however, as every now and then he'd be sidetracked with something else - during the course of the night, he'd dealt with several robberies, a dozen near-assaults, and, memorably, rescuing a cat from a tree for a old lady who was half blind but very grateful nonetheless.

At some point, as he lingered high above the clouds, he considered giving up all together when Lois called.

"Smallville!" she announced as soon as he answered. "Drop whatever you're doing and listen up for a minute. I got a offer you can't refuse."

He smiled to himself, exasperated but amused. "Hello to you too, Lois."

"Yeah, yeah. Anyhow - Perry's sending me to cover that press conference in Gotham, and since Jimmy's still sick, I'm in need of a photo monkey."

"And... you're asking me?"

"Well, we're talking about this right now, aren't we? I thought it was right up your alley since they're gonna talk about a politician or legislation or... something important, maybe. You're into that sort of stuff, right?" she asked but didn't wait for him to answer. "But, more to the point, I've been thinking about what we talked about today. And, if you're serious about that story you're looking to write, this could be a good opportunity to stretch your investigative journalism wings a little."

"That's nice of you to offer."

"What can I say? I'm a nice person. So, are you interested?"

He thought about it for a moment and despite himself, he sighed softly. "I don't know, Lois... Now that I think about it, there might not be much to this story after all."

"What?" she said sharply, caught off-guard. "Now don't give me that, rookie. You were all fired up for it this morning. What happened?"

Before he could answer, however, there was a odd glow out of the corner of his eye, and when he looked, he was alarmed to see a building near the river on fire.

"Hello? Clark? You still there? You know, ignoring me won't make me go away." She said stubbornly.

"I have to go." He said abruptly, turning towards the fire.

"Oh, no, no, no - you're not getting rid of me that easily. Like what the actual hell?"

"I promise we'll talk tomorrow, but I really have to go now." He said more abruptly than he intended.

There was a short, albeit clearly surprised pause at the other end, and after a while, Lois just huffed. "Fine. But don't think you're off the hook with this, Kent! I know where you get your coffee!"

With another rushed apology, Superman grimaced when she finally hung up. He was going to need to come up with an explanation when morning came, but for now, as he turned towards the burning building, he had bigger things to think about.

[Meanwhile...]

Her boots were an audible, wet slap against the gravel as she crossed from rooftop to rooftop, the black cape behind her a mere whisper and flutter in the wind. Ignoring the sound of the city around her, she focused on the bright red glow between the neon lights and the skyscrapers.

She could hear the anxious chatter that rose up from the streets, and when she reached the edge of the final roof, the sight in front of her was enough to make her stop in her tracks.

The entire building was engulfed in flames and she heard the panic and the screams from the higher floors, and the noise from the ambulances and the fire engines. She noticed a shape moving in the window at the top floor and looks up to see a little girl there, however, her hand was over her grapnel gun when she felt it.

There was a sudden rush of air and her cape rippled behind her violently, and for a moment she mistook the sound for a jet engine, only-

She looked again and froze when saw that the window was empty, until she heard a gasp of shock and awe some the onlooker and felt her head snap up.

There, just slightly above the building, was a man in blue and red, larger than life and weightless against the night sky. He smiled at the little girl in his arms reassuringly before drifting down, the people parting like the sea as he touched the ground.

A frantic woman pushed to the front, nearly in tears as she reached for the child calling out for her. The man in the red cape set the girl down and waited until her mother picked her up again before rising up again and turned towards the blaze.

He took off with another powerful gust of air and a streak of blue, and in a matter of minutes, the only sign that the fire was ever there was the blackened walls and the linger scent of ash and smoulder.

There was a moment of silent astonishment before an outburst of applause and cheering erupted from the streets, followed by the telltale flashes of cameras going off.

She watched the man in the sky as he raise his hand in acknowledgement, white teeth visible even from where she was standing as he flashed them in smile. With a final nod and a salute, however, he vanished into the clouds as abruptly as he arrived.

For some reason, her jaw tightened before she reached up to the earpiece in her cowl.

"I need eyes in the air." She said gruffly, white lenses narrowing into slits as they focused at the spot between the buildings. "I need to find something."

The rest of the night passed much as it did, and by the time the sky was starting to brighten in the east, Superman had lost count of the smaller crimes he'd stopped - minor break-ins, larger break-ins, several more attempts of car high-jacking, at least another dozen attempts of assault and a bank robbery.

By the end of it all, he touched down on the roof of a warehouse overlooking the harbour, and despite not physically needing to, he wanted a minute to sit down and catch his breath.

Letting his legs dangle over the edge, sitting in the shadow of an old water tower, he ran his hand through his wet hair and felt his mouth twitch as he looked up at the rainclouds hanging overhead.

He definitely wasn't in Kansas anymore...

He closed his eyes and turned his face to feel the rain - now a feather light drizzle - against his skin. While he doubted a city like Gotham could ever be considered quiet, it was oddly peaceful now, and he was surprised how much he liked it that way.

He sat like this for a long minute until something seemed to brush against his senses - feather light, almost like an afterthought or a whisper from the dark, but for a moment, he thought he caught something moving out of the corner of his eye. His shoulders stiffened, but when he turned his head, he found nothing on the roof behind him until a soft creak from above made him look up.

He was startled when he looked up and caught a glimpse of something black and fluttering disappear over the edge of the water tower.

He rose up into the air slowly, and when he came face-to-face with the same grim mask from the night before, he couldn't keep himself from staring.

She stood as a shadow against the semi-dark, the jagged cape around her shoulders draped like a pair of bat wings while the white lenses of her cowl narrowed.

Something like a growl built up in the back of her throat and a something like a shudder went down his spine.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded in that same raspy voice.

He faltered for a minute before smiling sheepishly. "Actually, I was looking for you." He admitted before extending his hand. "I'm Superman."

She stared at him impassively, clearly unimpressed. "Of course you are."

When she didn't move to shake his hand, he coughed awkwardly and withdrew it. "Um, yeah, it's... look, I think we got off on the wrong foot last night, and after what happened at that lab, I wanted to see if I could help."

She snorted in disdain. "Your help cost me, Scarecrow."

He blinked, startled. "But, I-"

"You got in my way." She said with another growl, getting into his personal space, almost looming over him. "I've been tracking him for the last two weeks - I was closing in on him when you stuck your nose into something that wasn't any of your own damn business."

He frowned. "Now wait a minute - I saved those people there."

"And what if you spooked Crane's thugs while you were fooling around? Someone could have gotten shot."

"But they didn't!" he said, eyes wide.

"They could have. Do yourself a favour, kid, get out while you still can." Her glower intensified. "And while you're at, get out of my city. You don't belong here."

Superman's mouth twitched. "...Friendly one, aren't you?"

He could have sworn he saw her roll her eyes behind her cowl, but just as she made to leave, he moved around, blocking the way.

"Wait... who are you? Why are you doing this? You're the first person I've met that's... well, like me."

Her nostrils flared as she exhaled through her nose in a quiet rush of air before she bared her teeth in a grimace. "We are not alike."

He didn't have a chance to respond as he then heard a shout for help somewhere in the distance. He turned around, but as he did, he heard Batwoman swear under her breath.

"Do you want to-" he began, but just as he turned back, he found she'd gone.

Again.

Taking that as his answer, Superman rose up higher through the dissipating rain clouds.

He'd be back.

Lois was a woman on a mission when she stepping into the office that morning. She made a beeline for Clark's desk, but when she got there and found it empty, she stopped in her tracks and frowned.

"Hey, Lane." Cat Grant said from the desk over. "Your baby-reporter left you a note."

Lois looked up and over to the blonde reporter. "What'd it say?"

Cat shrugged nonchalantly, preoccupied with the obnoxious pink file in her hands and her nails. "Check your desk."

Shrugging off her jacket, when Lois got to her desk, she saw a small not stuck to the corner of her computer screen. When she flipped it open, she smiled a little at the single word written in a neat scrawl; Downstairs?

When Lois got to the basement, she found the door to her repurposed janitor's closet half open and light spilling out. Clark was standing in front of the white board, a stack of newspaper clippings neatly on the desk and a brand new pin-up board carefully wedged in between the wall and cleaning supplies on the ground.

"Clark?" she began, standing in the door.

He looked over his shoulder. "Oh, hey, Lois." He said and Lois blinked at his dishevelled appearance, his glasses sitting sideways on his nose, and his usually combed back hair falling in strands in his face.

"I, uh, hope you don't mind me using the room?" he said, smiling awkwardly. "I got this really good lead about that archer vigilante in Star City. They call the 'Green Arrow', and apparently he worked together with the Bat a few months ago. It was a big thing in the local papers."

"You don't say." She said slowly.

"Yeah, and if it's all the same to you, I cleared up a little. I found a half-eaten sandwich when I moved some boxes."

Lois played it dumb but had to admit the place looked better than it did before. "Don't know what you're talking about, Smallville, but, nah, it looks great. So... I'm guessing you changed your mind about not doing the story after all, huh?"

He blinked for a minute before nodding. "I thought about what you said, and maybe there's more to it than any of us know. And really, the only way to find that out is seeing the truth for yourself, so... if it's still okay with you, I want to go with you to Gotham."

"Fine by me, just remember this isn't a pleasure cruise - we work on this business trip. Got it?"

He nodded earnestly. "Yes, ma'am."

"Huh... I think I can get used to that. Keep it up, and I might just keep you around, newbie." She said with a nod of approval before stepping up. "Now scoot up. We got ourselves a Bat to catch."

Clark smiled and stepped aside willingly.

-TO BE CONTINUED-

A/N: Two down, seven (maybe eight) to go. I promise there will actually be some interaction between Bats and Supes in the next chapter - this was just how I think an actual face-to-face would go. Still loving Lois's part in this though...

Reviews:

tedpierce18: Thank you for being this story's first reviewer! :) and thanks! Hope you'll enjoy it in chapters to come.

MaxVax: Wait for it, I'm sure you'll love what's to come even more.

Bless You: Right? I have a special soft spot for these two myself 3

Erudik: Thank you - more to come soon... I hope... It'll be out when it's out :)

Cloud Narukami: See Batman V Superman, as well as several of the comics (Hush being the best example here), where Scarecrow's fear toxin does affect Superman even temporarily. But, yeah, he doesn't need to. Oh well!

Moist Clear: Thanks :) More to come!

Buttercup99x: Thank you!

Bab: If you're late to the party, what does it make me? Lol, don't worry. Hope future chapters don't disappoint!

Review, review, review - they're like little shots of rainbow dust and candy to the system.

Until next time,
GoddessofDawn out.