What happened

It soon occured to Kyle that he needed a job, because apparently his nice apartment in this dimension wasn't paying for itself. The money he'd initially found in his wallet was beginning to run low and his debit cards didn't work in The City's ATMs. He needed to set up an account with The City Bank, but to do that he needed money.

Which brought him back to needing a job.

Sometimes he really wished the whole superhero gig actually paid. Kyle was all for doing things out of the goodness of his heart, but when it started making it impossible to hold down a steady job it got annoying. His Green Lantern alter-ego was one of the reasons he had to work freelance, being confined to an office didn't really work when you had to go rushing off at a moments notice. And he really needed a job now, preferably something in an office that would pay him well to just sit around and draw. Wishfull thinking, yeah, but a guy could hope.

Kyle was holding the classifieds section of the paper in one hand when he entered the coffee shop down the street from his unpaid for apartment. He considered it a blessing of sorts that at least this world had decent coffee. He couldn't concentrate without it and he needed to find himself a job.

Helena had left the meeting with Barbara feeling surprisingly better, though increasingly nervous at the same time. Her mind again ran through the events of the past few days since her arrival in the Wayne Manor that wasn't quite home, as she'd come to think of it.

Suddenly, she remembered with a sickening thud that she'd had lunch plans for yesterday. Even worse, she realized that if she'd been caught in the bullet-storm, they might also have been. She wasn't sure how thoroughly the heroes who'd rounded up the gun-men had combed the city for survivors, or even how well they might have been able to, given that the streets had the nasty habit of changing when one least expected it.

Pulling on her mask before leaving the building, she used her batarang gun to scale a nearby sky rise, quickly leaping from building to building, eyes scanning the streets and alleys below for any sign of the two boys, whom she still owed lunch to.

She only hoped she'd get the chance to repay that debt.

There were lights and bottles and jars and electric gizmos. Not her thing at all. But they were Lex's. Whenever he came across something ancient, he could give her a call. In the mean time, she'd just take notes on what she saw. Lana opened a door in the lab and moved to turn on a lightswitch. Thank goodness those were normal.

She blinked at the bright glare of the light, wondering what sort of technology was needed to make a bulb burn so brightly. And then there were alarms. And a rough hand caught her upper arm.

"I'm sorry honey, I don't know what I did. I thought it was a light switch."

Surely Lex could fix this. Superboy couldn't have kept something really dangerous attached to a seeming lightswitch, could he ?

"Who are you ? What are you doing here ? This is a protected area ma'am."

Lana Lang blinked. There was a grizzly looking man in a white lab coat holding her to a wall. Beside him, another man was talking into a bright red phone. Still blinking back sudden tears and a strange ringing in her ears, she thought she heard something about security.

"What.. who are you ? What are you doing here ? Does Lex know you're here ?" Because she was certain there wasn't supposed to be anyone else but her, Lex, and maybe Pete Ross investigating the lab.

The hand on her arm eased off a bit. And it was as if the person holding her was looking over her clothes, hair, the ring on her finger.

Lana used that moment to try and clear her eyes and look around. What she saw stopped her cold. She was in a lab. But it wasn't Superboy's laboratory. This was normal earth stuff. A bit more high tech than she was used to, but not by much. There were perks she'd gotten used to as a scientist's wife. Though one or two things really caught her attention.

Like the little handbag typewriters on the table. What were those ? It looked like a television, but so small and portable. And why attach it to keys ? It almost looked like a computer, but so small ? So thin ? Even Lex's private instruments were not that sleek.

In her distraction, she'd been led out of the room to a small coffee area. The grizzly man in the white lab coat still had a firm grip on her arm. It was going to bruise. She could feel it. She tried to tug herself free. "There's no need to act like a goon. I don't know how I got here, but that insignia says Cadmus Labs. Cadmus Labs are LexCorp, and I can go anywhere LexCorp."

"Just who do you think you are..." The grip tightened, almost painfully.

There was a hurried set of footsteps, the snap of patent leather shoes and the click of a baton against the wall. The guard stopped however, and then rushed forward to tug the scientist's hand away from her arm. "Doctor Luthor!"

"Luthor ?" The man asked, wary and with the merest hint of panic in his voice.

"Mrs. Luthor." The security guard said again, though he looked confused. "How ... how did you get down here ?"

While it was nice that someone recognized her, Lana didn't know how to begin to explain that question. "I'm not sure..." She peered to read his name tag. "Brathwaite. I seem to have gotten a little lost, somehow." A couple of states and a couple hundred miles lost.

A sudden thought made her light up like a Christmas tree. Had she stepped into some kind of teleporter ? Lex would be over the moon about it! Once he figured out she was safe. Who knew what it was set to. Maybe that's what had happened to Superboy. Maybe it was how they'd get him back!

"I need to call my husband. I need to call Lex."

Her mind caught up on how to get into contact again; cb radio or some other broadcasting communicator ? Lana didn't pay attention to where she was being led. Which was into an elevator which was going all the way up to the top floor.

Takes place after this.

Beetle watched the familiar yet an alien figure slink back into the night. So this was how the Batman was like about... maybe a decade ago? Ted could barely remember being that young. Okay, he did remember being that young, and having a metabolism that worked wonderfully until just a few years ago. The heart seemed to be ticking fine, usually there would be something wrong right now; normally a rapid increase of his heart beat.

He patted his chest once, shaking is head and spoke hesitantly into the communicator. “So am I talking to a good witch or a bad witch?” The brunet hoped it was the Barbara he was familiar with, or one with enough shared history not to feel so alone. He’d have to ask if Barbara had any idea how they got there. Ted’s hope for getting out of this city was becoming increasingly low, if Barbara and Batman were planting roots.

( Read more... )

Who: Batman and Robin (Jason Todd)
What: The City Arranges A Meeting
Where: Rooftops of the City

( Read more... )

Master Bruce!"

"They lied to me, Alfred." It wasn't Batman's deep rumble. The demon voice of that which haunted Gotham's criminals in the night. But it wasn't exactly Bruce Wayne's either. At least not the public Bruce Wayne.

The cowl was pulled violently off, and then the gloves and Bruce strode back and forth along the open platform where the suits were kept in this new Batcave, shaking with fury.

"They knowingly lied." He paused and looked up. "And maybe you did too."

"Before you accuse me sir, and punish me accordingly." There was the merest hint of parental laughter in Alfred's tone. "You should at least explain the accusation."

"Jason. Jason Peter Todd." He watched Alfred carefully. But the lack of reaction from the other man, the hint of concern for him, it was too obvious that Alfred hadn't known.

"The second Robin. He died. Tim knows. Babara knows. They kept it from me."

"How did you find out, sir ?" Alfred asked, picking up cape and gloves and calmly putting them away.

"I met him tonight."

"Ahh I see..."

Bruce stopped and turned. "We both saw his grave. He's in my family plot."

"I'll get the brandy. sir." He moved swiftly to a corner console, tapped on it, and swiveled out a bar. Bruce would have commented, but he was too tense. And besides, Alfred had been here when he arrived. Whether or not Alfred was from the same dimension as the cave, he likely had time enough to explore it.

"Young Master Todd is not with you. He.. ?"

"He ran."

"Not many of us can face Death the way you do, Master Bruce. And the specter of our own... How young is the lad?"

Bruce looked down at the sniffer being placed into his hands and sank into the nearest seat. He didn't usually drink. It wasn't how he handled things. But a half glass of brandy would have less effect on him than sleeping pills. And the Alfred from his world would have used those in circumstances like these; assuring a night of good rest.

"Sixteen. Seventeen. For a moment I thought he was Richard." Bruce ran a hand through his hair, knuckles white. "The grave was beside my father's, on the side of the sword. He died in costume." It was telling feature only he would understand. It was the reason he'd known instantly that the Joker was responsible. That Jason had died of his injuries.

"How could I have let Tim exist after something like that ?"

Alfred pulled up a chair. "After spending these last few days with Master Tim, I can only conclude that you were given no option. He's hidden his own trauma well. But his concern for you is more than evident." A small smile graced the butler's lips. "I've had to remind him at least twice that you're young enough and in good enough shape to have a little cream sauce with dinner."

Bruce frown, looking puzzled and confused. There was a future where a teenage boy was monitoring his dietary habits ? He sipped from the glass, the liquid burning mildly as it went down. Barbara was only a short call away. But she'd mislead him, shielded him.

And Jason; impetuous, undisciplined, impatient. What he briefly remembered of his moves showed none of Dick's grace. None of Tim's disciplined balance and self aware style. Just, fists and fury.

What had happened ? With Dick ? With Tim ?

"I need to find him, Alfred."

"Going back out tonight would be unwise..."

"No. I need to find him." He tapped the insignia on his chest. "This let him down. I won't."