It took another fifteen minutes for Bruce to finally start signing again, explaining the restless rubbing he'd been doing at his left ear. Bruce was annoyed to say the least. He preferred being able to hear, not being able to hear could be dealt with. But now it was plain torture. His left ear had started ringing and he hadn't been able to get it to stop or tune it out yet. It was aggravating and very infuriating. The constant sound of monotonous ringing had him trying to claw his ear off even during his drug-induced stupor. Its incessant sound was driving him up the wall. Now he was trying to meditate. Clear his head and let go of every thought and sound that plagued his anguished soul. He knew Clark was wandering through the cave, he could feel his presence walking around, moving from one place to the next. Alfred was working on the batcomputer, Bruce could sense the computer working. He felt one with the cave, the bats were whispering to him. They reached through to his unhearing ears, telling him stories of dark nights filled with adventures. For a moment, he felt at peace. It was an awfully short moment, Bruce noted with dismay. A very unwelcome tap on his shoulder broke his concentration, causing him to crash down into reality where felt everything overwhelm him once more. The ringing returned full force, making him claw at his ear, wincing at the sudden velocity of the sound. Oh, he definitely preferred the silence. He shot Superman an angry glaring.

'I'm sorry.' He signed sincerely, taking his left hand in his for the third time that day. Batman would have none of it though. He pulled his hand away, letting it rest next to him on the bed he was still sitting on. A new record. He noted to himself bitterly. 'I was actually just wondering if I could contact the watchtower from here.' Superman said, obviously intending on over-staying his welcome. At any rate, Batman thought to himself, make yourself at home.

'Use your commlink, or the batcomputer.' Batman signed back. He finally got up and stretched his aching legs. The room spun, but he fought it off as if it was just any other Gotham villain. He walked up behind Alfred, purposefully making more sound than he usually would. He didn't want to sneak up on him, it didn't feel right. Alfred turned to face him with a small smile.

'Good to see you up, sir. Would you like a cup of tea?' Alfred signed. He got up from Batman's usual chair and gestured towards it. Bruce shook his head, not ready to sit down yet. He needed to stretch his legs a bit more.

'No thank you, but coffee would do wonders about now.' He said truthfully.

'Very good, sir. Would you like a bite to eat as well perhaps?' He asked. Whether Bruce agreed or not, Alfred would prepare something anyway and force it down his throat if he had to, so he just nodded.

"Clark." Bruce called out as he turned back towards the computer. He set up the call for the watchtower for Clark as the Kryptonian approached him. 'Can you give me Luthor's blocking device?' He asked, busying himself on another monitor. Superman laid the green device on the desk in front of him. Batman knew the league could see him from where he sat and he was again glad he couldn't hear. He needn't be involved in conversations he wasn't interested in. Of course he didn't know the nature of Clark's call, but it didn't matter. He would find out anyway given time. And time was what it didn't take. A familiar tap on his shoulder made him turn around to face their team mates on the screen. Diana stepped forward and started signing,

'We checked the entire tower, there's no sign of a breach.' Diana looked well rested while the others looked like they could really use a bed. Flash was fast asleep at the table in the back and no one seemed to even consider waking the speedster up. Had Batman been there, he would have woken him up in a less than friendly manner, indifferent of the long hours they'd been spending on fixing the watchtower.

'Not surprising.' He noted. He swivelled his chair back towards the desk he'd been working on and grabbed Luthor's device. Or not Luthor's. He held it out towards the camera so the league could see what he was holding before putting it down next to him on the table. 'This is too advanced technology, even for Luthor.' He signed, making sure Superman could see it too.

'You don't suspect aliens, do you?' J'onn signed from behind Diana. She saw the movement and made some space for the Martian. Cyborg and Green Lantern were sitting in the back, fighting to stay awake while gaping at the conversation they couldn't follow.

'No, this is human tech.' Batman signed back. A thought came to mind, he wasn't wearing his mask. Cyborg and Lantern were probably sitting too far back to see him clearly, especially with Diana and J'onn in front of the screen. He saw Lantern squinting in the back so he got up to retrieve one of his spare cowls. Diana had hidden his favourite one. It was comfortable and the first one not to dig into his head in some way or another. He held up a cowl, ignoring the eye roll he felt coming from Clark. The bandages still on his head made it a snug fit, but he managed. It was painful and constricting, even worse was the headache he'd been sporting. It was steadily increasing with the added pressure of his cowl. But he dealt with it. This was one of the cowls that didn't have his cape attached to it, one of the prototypes that had failed a test, but it would suffice to protect his identity. White hair hidden, he returned to see Cyborg had dozed off and Lantern was now up closer. His eyes were flitting across the screen in wordless fascination. No doubt intrigued by the small bit he could see from the cave.

'What did I say about the cowl?' Diana signed almost in a motherly fashion. Bruce just folded his arms over his chest, waiting for her to finally accept the fact that he wasn't going to compromise his identity to no one who he didn't deem adequate to know.

'It's more inspiring than frightening.' Bruce answered. He saw Clark laughing in his peripheral vision, but pointedly ignored it. Diana was massaging the bridge of her nose, Bruce could practically feel the frustration radiating off of her. To say he was pleased with himself was putting it lightly, not that he showed it.

'So, do you have another suggestion on who broke into the watchtower?' Superman signed, bringing their conversation back on its original tracks. Bruce shook his head, looking back down at the device.

"It's hard to tell." He muttered, toying with the small machine. Bruce walked out of sight from the camera lens and pulled the cowl off of his head again. The cold air hit him like a crowbar in the head. The wiring of a useless cowl might come in handy after all. Alfred was descending the stairs, a tray in his hands. Bruce was about to move to another working space in the cave, mainly to avoid having to deal with Alfred's stubborn need to tell him he should drink or eat something despite him having asked for coffee himself. Before he had the chance to move away, Alfred was already at his side, coffee steaming and its congenial scent already wafting up to meet him. In spite of his earlier thoughts, Bruce took the cup gladly, abandoning his cowl for a sip of well-prepared caffeine.

'I will bring you something to eat soon.' Alfred informed him. Bruce nodded absently and walked up to one of the tables where he put down his cup so he could start working on the cowl and the device. Getting the wires inside the cowl was tricky, getting them out without accidentally damaging them was just as complicated. It was like walking in a forest where there were no trees, only thorns. Thorns that threatened to tear you apart if you stood still for too long, meaning you had to get moving and be out of there as soon as possible. Only, getting out meant being torn apart. The cowl's lining was almost flawlessly done, he almost felt his heart shatter as he tore it apart. Or was it Batman's heart? He really couldn't tell. Batman cared just as much for the stuff as Bruce' time spent on making sure it would kill neither of them. Killing Bruce in the sense of, giving away his identity. Regarding Batman, it was more the implication of killing him literally if something he depended on was defective. There were no flaws allowed. Even a never used prototype, initially designed to protect his head instead of weighing it down with the added cape, had been worked on carefully. If only Bruce could remember what was wrong with it.

It was a delicate process, but he got the job done even before Alfred returned with food. Clark had been hovering around him, wanting to know what he was doing. Bruce had continued working without so much as an explanation. What he was doing was for him to know, it didn't matter if he explained anything if he had to simplify everything. Superman wasn't stupid, but neither was he the brightest man out there. Poor choice of words, Bruce thought to himself. He was the brightest of them all, however, he wasn't the brainiest. Now that just made him think about Brainiac. He shook his head in an effort to keep his mind from wandering while he picked up the green device he'd initially thought belonged to Luthor. The colours were just a simple trick to keep them on the wrong track for at least a little while. Whoever they were dealing with, they were clever. That ruled out at least ninety percent of people who could have the brain to pull this off.

The possibilities of those who were specially out to get Batman was still a long list. Joker was somewhere on that list, but he only used half of his brain so he could safely rule him out. That still left him with plenty of other people. The thing was, the tech was just too advanced for anyone he knew. Bruce inspected one of the wires he'd nearly managed to set on fire when he'd caused too much friction with the material of the other pieces of the cowl. Had that been the problem? Too inflammable? Each cowl had a different wiring, each were unique which meant he didn't just have the exact same stuff laying around for other cowls, he could easily buy more, but he preferred taking parts from other cowls or batsuits if it meant saving some of the unused equipment. Lucius had shown him how to wire his cowls and suits in case he had to fix something without feeling guilty for making his old friend work more. It wasn't easy, but he'd gotten the hang of it fairly fast.

Taking the wire that'd nearly electrocuted him, he started attaching it to the device after having taken off a hidden latch. During all this, Superman had started watching the process over his shoulder. Bruce felt inclined to mention that the boy scout was exceptionally quiet, but he wouldn't be fooled. For one, he couldn't hear him anyway. Two, when Bruce looked at him to see what kept him from running in restless circles, the invincible man of steel was enjoying a steaming mug of hot chocolate. With whip cream, Bruce felt the need to add.

He hadn't expected a sudden jolt to course through the wire, making him drop the device altogether while also causing him to bump into Superman who happened to be sipping his hot chocolate. It was a chain reaction that ended up with Bruce having an apologizing Superman on his hands and chocolate on his pants.

'I'm so sorry.' Superman signed yet again. 'What are you trying to do anyway?' He asked after Bruce had dismissed him again. He was savouring the thought of a long shower. Heck, he was yearning it. He felt frustrated and a nice shower would definitely do some good right about now.

"This cowl might be able to connect with the blocker and extract useful information." Bruce told him.

'Couldn't you just scan it with one of your other machines?' Clark signed. Alfred appeared seemingly out of nowhere, startling Superman for the second time. "What is up with you two?" Or was that "too"? Bruce wondered as he read Clark's lips.

"Scan it?" Bruce asked out loud. "With what?" He asked with a mocking smile. "An all-in-one printer?" He joked. He actually joked. Superman was just staring at him in disbelief.

"I taught him that." He could read from Alfred's lips. The butler really looked delighted with himself and it was making Superman smile. Even Bruce couldn't help but smile at that.

It wasn't often that Alfred used the elevator, but when he did, it was to cart down food that he couldn't carry down using the stairs. The smell of food made his mouth water, but he really didn't feel like eating. Bruce took another sip of his coffee before attempting to connect the wire again. Whether Alfred had seen the wire trying to electrocute him or not, it didn't stop him from pushing it out of his hands to replace it with a plate.

"Thanks." He murmured irritated. He set the plate down and rubbed a hand over his head, momentarily forgetting about the hair dye. His hand came back stained in white, irritating him further. Clark was waving a hand at him, trying to get him to look at him.

'I'm going to live here if it means I get to eat heaven itself every day.' Clark signed. He was sitting at the desk of the batcomputer unbothered by the keyboard and the potential danger of spilling anything on top of it.

'Please don't.' Bruce signed back, his face contorted into a withered yearning of peace and, ironically, quiet. Superman just smirked at him. Sadist.

'How's the ringing?' He asked after a moment's hesitation.

'It's better, less present.' He signed ingenuously at which Clark nodded. He was stuffing his mouth full while Bruce hadn't even taken one bite yet. He contemplated just leaving the food for now, but he wouldn't only have a disappointed butler hovering around him, he'd also have to deal with Superman who'd force-feed him if he had to. Not taking any chances, he started eating.

He wouldn't have heard… no, he couldn't have heard the blaring alarms of the watchtower's security breach. He just sat there, eating quietly while thinking about the device in front of him. Superman had gotten up abruptly, alerting Batman of an emergency. He looked at the main monitor screen and saw the emergency code. This wasn't good. He got up, accidentally taking his plate with him, sending it crashing to the ground where it shattered. He didn't even spare it a glance as he took the cowl closest to him. He ran for one of his batsuits, but Clark stopped him just before he reached it.

'You're staying here.' He signed sternly. Batman clenched his jaw in vexation.

"Think, Clark. If something happens, you won't be able to contact me." He countered. Bruce considered his next words carefully. "You need me." He spoke with steadfast determination. Superman gave him a curt nod and moved out of the way. Time wasted on arguing was valuable time lost. They had to get moving fast. Superman was already getting the teleportation tube ready while he got into the suit.

Teleporting in itself was a complicated matter. The time in between being at one place and at another one in a matter of earthly seconds was an eternity spend in oblivion. It felt like having entered a void where one floated in limbo. There where there was no time, no reality to cling to. Only a black box with no lid. A hand reached out to him, trying to grasp onto him. He felt his own hand extend away from him towards the other hand. A bright blue sleeve was attached to the bodiless phantom his mind had created. A soft flutter. It sounded magical. There was sound in the void of nothingness. Bruce had concluded this before, but to hear it after being deaf for two days straight had him almost in tears of unexplained joy. Before he could truly grasp a conscious thought of what happened during teleporting, he found himself in the teleportation tube where he took on a fighting stance, ready for battle. Superman took flight, trusting Batman to defend himself if he were to be attacked.

Batman's eyes flickered from wall to corner and back again as he left the room. He had to be careful. He'd once been surprised by a sneak attack he hadn't heard, he couldn't allow himself to make the same mistake twice. So he was cautious as he ventured further into the watchtower. The halls were eerily empty, the added silence and the faint whistle of one of his ears ringing only augmented the sense of foreboding tranquillity that had situated itself into the air around him. It was heavy and it was frighteningly menacing. For all he knew, there could be a battle raging on inside one of the rooms and he would never know. So he checked every room. Without warning, a red blur passed him by. Too occupied by checking one of the rooms, he didn't have time to register the blur until it hit him, pushing him away from the doorway and onto the ground. He looked to his right to see Flash lying beside him, slightly dazed from the impact as well.

"You okay?" Batman asked in his usual growl. Flash started talking rapidly, but Batman was too focused on watching their surroundings to make out anything the speedster was saying. Another blur approached them and this time he was prepared. He stood up and stretched out his arm to catch whatever came zipping by. He braced himself to be thrown down again. This was like trying to stop a train, he knew, but whoever this was. It had to stop. Flashed moved in time with him, albeit much faster. His arm never connected with anything as Flash pushed away the blue blur. Superman seemed to appear out of nowhere, hitting a wall next to him as Flash reappeared as well. This was confusing, Bruce noted to himself.

'Sorry.' Superman signed quickly before flying off again.

"Explain." Batman demanded, turning towards Flash.

"Guy with bandages and trench coat." Flash was carefully mouthing the words, not only succeeding in making himself look ridiculous, he was also making it harder for Bruce to understand. He was also making wild gestures with his hands as if it would make it any easier. He was deaf, not stupid.

"Speak normal. I can understand just fine." Batman's growl had taken on a dangerous tone as he processed the bits of information he'd received. He could already guess who they were dealing with. "How'd he look like?" He asked, just to be sure.

"His head is all covered in bandages and he-…" Flash was cut off by Batman's stern glare and hand.

"Hush." He said, a low animalistic snarl caught in his throat. His lips curled downwards in a frown at the memory of the feeling of his head connecting with Gotham's unforgiving streets. A particular street filled with the lowlife creatures that crawled through the alleys, planning out his death. His skull cracking, his awareness still there, unable to move. His rescuer, Huntress. His life's saviour, Alfred. His clandestine oppressor and childhood friend, Thomas Elliot.

"O…okay." Flash seemed to stammer, looking incredulously at him.

"No, Hush. Not h-…" He gave up with a frown. He pointed in the direction where Superman had flown to only moments ago.

"The conference room." Flash told him before speeding off in that direction as well. Batman followed him, not as fast but he came pretty close to inhuman speed.

There, in the midst of it all stood Hush. Two guns loaded and pointed towards him. His teammates lay scattered through the room. How? Flash stood next to him at a safe distance. A green hue cast the room in a disconcerting manner, alerting Bruce of the presence of Kryptonite. How Hush even knew of its existence was beyond him. Unless he'd worked together with Luthor after all. He decided to voice his suspicions against his better judgement. He really didn't like assuming things without solid proof.

"Are you working with Luthor?" Batman asked. Hush' mouth was barely visible, but from what he could see, it didn't look like he'd guessed right. Wonder Woman started stirring, but Hush took no notice of this so Batman decided to keep the conversation going for as long as it took her to get to her feet.

"No." Hush replied, a wicked smile on his lips. Flash held a calculating expression, Batman noted.

"Then who?" Batman asked. "You didn't do this by yourself. It's not your style, too noisy." He growled out. Wonder Woman was getting to her feet now, quietly observing her surroundings.

"Noisy?" Hush started laughing until his shoulders shook from the sheer force of it. "I know what happened. I don't believe you hear a single thing, Batman." He said too confident for Batman's likening.

"Who are you working with?" He repeated through grit teeth. Hush' shoulders sagged while he lowered his head in an attempt to appear imposing. It was failing.

"Someone who might be as close to you as I am." He told him. It was hard to read his lips while concealed by the shadows of his lowered head. "Owlman." He said, lifting his head up once more, making sure he could read his lips as he spoke. He should have known. His anti-matter brother who was a part of the anti-matter Justice League called the Crime Syndicate. He had both the intelligence and material to create a device that could go undetected.

"He's my opposite." Batman said. Wonder Woman and Flash were just listening now. GL and Cyborg were slowly stirring back to consciousness as well.

"Exactly." Hush said. He took a step forward, pointing a gun towards Flash. "I know your secret, Batman." He spat his name as if it was poison. "Defeating you once and for all will rid me of Bruce Wayne as well. Your precious buddy." He said with a sinister smile. Batman just glared, standing motionless while Hush advanced on him, his pace a slow threatening momentum of time wasted.

He refused to be the first one to attack, he was waiting. No. He was having faith, not in a faceless entity, but rather his teammates. His friends. Hush seemed to be stalling as well, but it didn't matter. Even if Owlman joined him, they were still outnumbered. Everyone had come to by now, only Superman remained unmoving, the Kryptonite doing nothing to help. He was glad to see Cyborg moving towards the source of the green hue, it meant he could end this senseless banter soon.

"Do they know?" Hush asked. Unable to hear made Batman only able to guess what he sounded like. Judging from the posture he'd taken on and the widening of Hush' eyes, he could only assume he'd used an over dramatic voice, raising it in question to mock him. "Your precious secret. The one hidden in plain sight." His head had lowered again, giving Batman the impression of bitterness. It was taking most of his concentration, trying to read the man's lips by looking at the movement of the bandages surrounding his mouth.

"It doesn't matter." Bruce said. Batman jumped back suddenly, allowing Wonder Woman to throw her lasso while Cyborg threw the Kryptonite towards him. He caught it and put it in a lead-lined compartment on his belt. It would still take Superman too long to be able to actually help, but they could handle it. In fact, Batman still had a trick up his sleeve.

Wonder Woman's lasso started glowing as she talked to him while tugging at the magic-enhanced weapon. Green Lantern copied her by creating a green lasso of his own. He hovered above them, keeping a tight grip.

'He used a teleportation tube similar to ours to get here.' Diana signed with the lasso still in her hand. 'He knew about earth 2 and reached out to Owlman, first to figure out your identity, later to get him to help him.' She continued. She turned back to Hush who was attempting to free his hands, but the lassos weren't giving him any slack. His hands were pressed against his sides, making his guns useless. He saw Diana ask something, but couldn't quite make it out. Her eyes grew in surprise at Hush' answer, as did the rest of the league who were listening along. Cyborg was looking at him in fascination, making him wonder what Hush had said. 'Do you have that green device?' Diana asked, her eyes holding hope and joy. The moment he nodded, her face lit up.

Superman was getting up slowly, his eyes fixed on Hush' form.

"Can I?" he asked, gesturing towards Hush. His articulation was nearly perfect, Bruce had deduced this before. But to see it after Flash' rapid rambling earlier and concentrating on Hush' barely visible mouth, it made Clark look like the master of perfect speech. Diana let go of the glowing rope while Green Lantern's lasso dissipated. As if competing for a title neither Superman nor Flash could win, he was off before anyone realized what had happened.

"What did Hush say?" Batman asked. Superman had covered up his anger behind a bitter smile, but it fooled no one. He was going to beat the living hell out of Hush. Diana walked up to him with a smile.

'I'll show you.' She signed. 'Can you give me the device?' She asked. Bruce had put it in his belt in case he could question its workings. 'Prepare yourself.' She warned when she saw him reach for his belt. He pulled it out cautiously. He was under the impression it was going to blow up, but her smile belied this presumption. He handed it over, only to see it be crushed between her fingers. As if a spell was lifted, his head grew heavier and his ears felt like they were being bombarded. Sound came rushing back to him all at once. The beating of his heart strong in his ears, the low hum of the tower, Diana's breathing. He could hear it all. He resisted the urge to clutch at his ears in pain when he dared to speak again.

"That's-…" He stopped, wincing at the volume of his own voice. He continued much quieter and could only hope Diana would be able to hear him. "That's a neat device." His voice was practically a whisper.

"Its purpose was to cancel sound." Diana spoke softly. "It messed with the commlinks and your hearing." She told him. Bruce' mind started reeling, thinking about the explosion. He had hit his head hard enough to have blacked out before J'onn had arrived. There had been plenty of time to set things up during that period of confusion. But it still didn't make sense.

"That really is an interesting device." He said thoughtfully. He would love to mention it to Lucius when he got the chance, see if he could help him make something similar.

Four minutes later, Superman entered the conference room. He was floating in while dragging Hush by his trench coat.

"Where do you want him?" Superman asked, his voice too loud in Bruce' ears even if he was starting to get used to it again.

"Anywhere is fine." He said, approaching them. Clark was smiling at him as he lowered himself back to the ground. Bruce just nodded, hoping he understood that he could hear just fine again.

"It…doesn't…matter." Hush said quietly in between breaths. Batman glowered at him, his cowl hiding the disgust in his eyes. "You said…it…yourself." He was unwrapping the bandages around his head, revealing his bloodied face. Bruce had already seen the man underneath the bandages, not Thomas Elliot, but the monster Tommy had left behind.

"I did. Yet you still don't know who I am whether you claim to know my secret or not." Batman said, no hesitance in his speech as he listened to his own voice echoing through his ears. The echoes no longer having to be reduced to a quiet hush, the irony of that was just too great.

"Does it matter?" Hush asked with vehemence. Bruce looked up at the rest of the league, they were watching him, studying him.

"No. It doesn't." With that, Bruce pulled his cowl off. The bandages wrapped around his head were pulled off along with the cowl, revealing his dyed hair and the black splotches where there was no dye anymore. He heard Hush snort.

"White doesn't suit you." He said. Superman stepped in and knocked him out with a precise jab on the back of his head. Bruce wanted to look his team in the eye. He shouldn't have waited this long. He should have trusted them with his identity, but now was as good as ever. He looked at the three who weren't already aware of the man underneath the mask. They failed to hold back a collective gasp as they looked him in the eye. Green Lantern suddenly started laughing.

"That's Bruce Wayne! I told you he has black hair!" John laughed, jabbing Cyborg in the arm much like the latter had done the other day.

"I was going for something less obvious." Cyborg muttered sourly. So they did bet on his hair after all. Bruce felt a hand on his shoulder, having felt it often lately, he looked over at Clark who was smiling at their teammates.

"You did good." Superman told him. Bruce nodded, allowing himself to smile as Cyborg tried to draw a tie with the argument that Bruce' hair currently wasn't Black. This bickering kept going for a little while longer, but was ended quickly when he finally washed the dye out.

THE END

A/N: Thank you for telling me this chapter wasn't readable ;)