Gods Amongst Us

Power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely. That was what his father had told him when he'd asked why the old man hadn't run for President all those years ago. Bruce had kept that thought in his head for years since. It was why he had a contingency plan for every member of the League, especially Superman. It was why he kept a tab on every single President to have been in office since he'd donned the suit. He didn't trust politicians but he didn't trust anyone, he'd freely admit that. But this, this was different. This was a line you couldn't cross, regardless of what side you were on.

"So, you couldn't control him, so you decided to kidnap his parents." Bruce said, using the voice modulation to distort his voice.

"They said it wouldn't get back to me." The man opposite him said.

Bruce wanted to laugh, instead he said. "It didn't."

"But then how did you figure it out?"

"I'm a detective, Mr President, it's what I do. But I wasn't sure until just now." Bruce replied. "Why did you do it?"

"To bring control to the situation." The President said. "He was getting out of control. He was interfering in places that don't need interfering and he was destroying our reputation."

"You mean your reputation. The United States' reputation has been ruined for years. He was simply making the public aware of all the bad things that are done in the shadows." Bruce said.

The President turned around, and Bruce remembered just why he'd never trusted this President. Yes, the man was impressive, as the first black man to hold the highest office in the land. But he was arrogant, and his smile didn't reach his eyes, and furthermore, he talked a good game, but the litany of dead bodies and orphaned children in the Middle East belied the lie at his heart. "You sound as if you are agreeing with him."

"I am neither agreeing nor disagreeing. I am simply stating a fact." Bruce said calmly.

"So, what are you going to do?" The President asked. "Are you going to tell him? If you tell him, then everything falls apart. He's removed one government, how do we know he won't remove another government?"

"Because Superman does not do such things." Bruce said. At least he hoped he didn't. The way Clark had dealt with the government in Palestine was perhaps fitting for the barbaric region it was in, but he also knew that that was more Diana's style than anything else. Ever since Steve Trevor had broken her heart she'd thought nothing of taking direct action.

"You know what will happen if he goes unchecked. That sort of power will do things to a man, I should know." The President said.

"So, you decided to kidnap his parents and hold them hostage. You clearly didn't think that through, Mr President. I'm not going to tell him, but I will tell you this. Next time you want to do something this bad, remember something." Bruce said.

"Remember what?" The President asked.

"I know the truth." Bruce replied before turning and walking away.

He got into the hallway, waited a moment and then tapped a tile and waited, then when the portal opened he walked through it. A few moments later he found himself in the Bat Cave, where Alfred stood waiting.

"How did it go, Master Wayne?" Alfred asked.

Bruce took off his cowl and walked to the monitors. "About as well as can be expected. I should have known that a man Lex Luthor helped get elected would end up pulling a stunt like this."

He got to the monitors and started typing. "You can't know everything, Sir. You are not God."

Bruce turned and smirked at his old friend and mentor. "I know I'm not you, Alfred, but I have a reputation to uphold."

The monitors beeped and a feed came up. It showed the Justice League in the Watchtower, all of them including Shazam talking about needing to sort out the mess of the world. About learning the lessons from Metropolis. Bruce listened intently, and then when he'd learned everything he needed to, he switched it off and turned to Alfred. "What did you make of that?"

Alfred didn't say anything for a moment, and then in true Alfred fashion, he said. "I think that Lady Diana has forgotten the purpose of the Amazons, and that she will lead Master Kent down a dangerous path."

Bruce nodded, he'd thought as much. "I…I just I don't know what to say to him. I feel responsible for what happened in Metropolis. I should have killed the Joker a long time ago, but I couldn't. I knew if I did, I'd be nothing more than what he said I was that first time we fought." A scared little child who murdered a clown. That was what the Joker had taunted him with all those years ago, when he'd come back from the League and confronted the man known as Arthur Fleck.

"You are not responsible for a mad clown, Master Bruce. But you are responsible for what happens next. You know what Lady Diana is and what she is capable of. You know what Master Kent is, and what he is capable of. You are the only one who can prevent the world falling into chaos. So, the question you need to ask yourself is this, when the hour of judgement comes, what are you going to tell the Angel Gabriel? That you stood by and allowed a woman to corrupt man, or that you stood with your fellow man and stood for what is right and what is just." Alfred said.

Bruce thought on what his mentor said, he knew the man was right, but there was still a small part of him that doubted it. The image of Clark putting his hand through the Joker's chest was ingrained in his mind now. There was nothing that would remove that from him. He cleared his throat and replied. "I know that you're speaking the truth Alfred, but there's a small part of me that can't get over Clark killing the Joker. I know it's foolish and I know it's wrong, but, I don't know maybe something inside me is broken and I can't fix it. And I'm terrified of where everything is going."

Alfred put his hands on Bruce's shoulders then, just like when Bruce was a child who'd had a nightmare, and Alfred looked into his eyes and said. "Bruce, you are not broken. You are the bravest man I know, you are also the most stubborn man I know. You also have a moral code that has made you the greatest man I know. Clark is hurting, he is grieving and there are people around him who want to manipulate him. You must be there for him. Be there for him so that he never becomes another Joker. Be there for him and you can fulfil your mission."

"And what if I fail?" Bruce asked, hating how small his voice was. "What if I try this but I can't fix what's broken?"

"Then at least you can say you tried. Better to have tried and failed than to have never tried at all. Don't let the Joker win, Master Wayne." Alfred said.

Bruce looked at Alfred, the man he considered a father, the man who had raised him from the time he was a child, and the man who had brought him back from the brink, the man who had risked it all for him. If Alfred Pennyworth was telling him this, then he should listen. He would listen and he would act. He would save Clark and he would save the world. His decision made, he took a deep breath and then said. "I'm going to be gone for a little while Alfred, take some time off if you need to."

Alfred laughed. "Time off, never."

Bruce smiled. "I thought not."