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The Birthday Present	By : Kip Category: DC Verse Comics > Batman Views: 8479 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Batman series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 17
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"So, Leslie didn’t think that there would be any problems with this?" Bruce asked.
"Not at all," Moira said happily. "Dr Thompkins felt that it might even be good for Sandy. The monitor rig can run on battery power for days if necessary. How long were you thinking of roaming for?"
"No more than a couple of hours max, for today." Bruce assured her. "I just thought it might make a nice change."
"It certainly would provide additional stimulation." Moira agreed. "Okay then! If we're going to do this, then let's get started!"
"Started?" Kal was there, with the uncanny suddenness that normally characterised Wally's costumed appearances. "Sorry…!" He apologised, realising that he had made them jump. Then he grinned. "Wally says that next time I do that to him, he'll wrap something around my head."
"Spare me the details!" Bruce begged. "Your sex life is getting far too active."
"It only looks that way because you're not getting any." The Flash zipped into view. "I thought we agreed that you were going to wait for me?" He cast a mildly disapproving glare at Kal before resuming his civilian identity.
"Just because it takes you four minutes to run over the Rockies, isn't any reason for me to be late." Kal answered blithely. "But would a hug make it better?"

Wally took a few seconds to explain to Kal exactly what his idea of making it better entailed, and Bruce had the satisfaction of watching Kal's face glow bright enough to heat the entire mansion for at least a few hours. Shame it was summer really…
"Now you've both gotten that out of your systems," He said, hiding his own amusement, "Perhaps we can get on with what you were supposed to be here for?" With a gesture he drew their attention to the small attaché case on the nearby table. "That's the new chip for the satellite security updates."
"J'Onn will be relieved to have that." Kal nodded, taking charge of the case. He activated his comm-link. "I'll just transport up with it, and install it, then I'll be right down."
"Yeah, it's a lovely day." Wally was gazing longingly out of the window. "Too nice to spend it stuck in a stuffy satellite."
"Too nice to spend it indoors at all," Bruce agreed, "Which is why we're decanting to the garden."
"We are?" Wally stared at him. "What about Sandy?"
"He's coming too, you idiot! What did you think I meant?" Bruce wondered when people were going to stop making assumptions about him?
Probably never…

"I've disconnected the nutrient tubes," Moira bustled over, "And covered the connections with a dressing."
"Doesn’t Sandy need those?" Wally was puzzled.
"He doesn’t need to eat all the time, any more than the rest of us do." The nurse laughed.
"You're speaking to the wrong person about that." Bruce reminded her. "Wally would have his own set of those fitted if he could figure out how to manage the extra mass."
Wally's reply was anatomically impossible, and quite unrepeatable. Moira giggled and ruffled his hair. "And I thought you were such a nice boy!"
"I am." Wally protested.
"Then prove it, and take these out into the garden to where Alfred has the canopy set up." The nurse smiled at him. Obediently, Wally whizzed away.
"Neatly done." Bruce approved. "Always a good idea to keep him active."
"Yeah, isn't it?" Kal beamed, having returned just in time to see Wally speed out of the room. "Wally does love being told what to do."
"Too much information!" Bruce screwed up his face. "Really, Kal, why you had to share that with me, I will never know."
"You're fascinated." Kal chuckled, a quick blur and he was also in casual clothes. "You just won't admit it." He looked around at the medical equipment. "How can I help?"
"Pick up that monitor block." Bruce gestured at the relevant parts. "I'll carry Sandy, and if the two of us stay close together, we can keep the monitor running continuously as we go."
"Okay." Kal carefully took charge of the monitor and waited.

"Right, Sandy. I'm going to pick you up, and we're going to go for a little walk in the garden, just like I was telling you yesterday." Bruce advised the sleeping man. Slipping his hands under the unresisting body, he raised Sandy from the bed, and cradled him tenderly.
"Ready for a little excursion?" He hoped so. It wasn’t a terribly long walk to the front door; but Bruce was tense nevertheless, and by the time they were halfway along the hall he was beginning to wonder if perhaps this hadn't been a bit ambitious for a first time?
"You okay?" Kal asked.
"Fine."
"Your heart's racing." The Kryptonian said softly.
"Bit nervous." Bruce admitted. After all, Kal could hear his pulse rate, there wasn’t much point trying to hide it.
"I could carry him, if you like?" Kal suggested. "Are you worried that you might drop him?"
"I don’t know what I'm worried about." Bruce told him honestly. "But thanks, Kal, it's nice to,"
"What an interesting little group." The voice was so unexpected that it stopped both of them in their tracks. "I do hope I'm not interrupting anything personal?"
"Ms. Waller!" Bruce growled. "What are you doing here?"

"I came over hoping to talk to you, Mr Wayne." Amanda Waller stepped back and let them out of the door. "There are a few things I feel that you need to know…" Her attention was drawn to Sandy. "Your friend, Mr Smith, I presume?"
"How do you know his name?" Bruce was instantly suspicious.
"Oh, I know a great deal more about Mr Smith than his name." Waller was smooth and mysterious as ever. "May we speak?" She glanced at Kal. "Privately?"
"I don’t have any particular secrets from my friends." Bruce told her.
Waller's eyes roved over Kal. "I feel as if I should know you?" She murmured.
"We know you." Wally was back, and not any happier to find their uninvited guest than the rest of them were. "And that's more than enough, thanks."
"You're a very… quick… young man." Waller's eyes turned to Wally. "Wallace West, isn't it?"
"Yeah." Wally gave her a look that suggested that she try to make something of it.
"How pleasant to meet you away from work." Came the cool reply.
She knows who he is ... but what’s her angle?
"Does that mean that you're off-duty, Ms Waller?" Bruce asked, beginning to wonder exactly what had brought their usual nemesis to his doorstep? Wasn’t it odd that Waller appeared to have instantly recognised Wally as the Flash; but at the same time the woman seemed to be struggling over identifying Kal; who hadn’t really done more than take his glasses off?
The mysterious ‘spectacles’ effect strikes again ... For some time Bruce had been very interested in the way Kal was able to exploit that simple ploy to hide his secret identity, mainly because Bruce was always looking for that sort of camouflage for professional reasons; but also because he was incurably nosy.
Probably turn out to be yet another of Kal’s damned abilities! The guy has them coming out of his ears... How unfair was that?

"Oh," Waller shrugged. "Like you, I'm never really off duty, however this is, shall we say, an informal call?"
"Shall we?" Bruce shifted Sandy slightly. The blond wasn’t exactly lightweight, and there was absolutely no way that Bruce was going to risk his grip slipping. Having Waller watching him was only added incentive.
"Oh," The woman's face softened. "The photo's don’t really do him justice." She breathed. "He is."
"Getting heavy." Bruce gritted his teeth.
"Bruce, you want some help there?" Kal noticed his efforts. “I could pass Wally the monitor and spell you for a bit?"
"It'll be okay." Bruce assured him. "So long as we keep moving." He gave Waller a pointed look. "You can talk and walk at the same time, can't you?"
"Never had a problem with it before." Waller was being amazingly pleasant.
Bruce really didn’t like the woman; but even so, he could see that she was making a real effort not to antagonise him today.
Why? He didn’t see Waller doing the whole sympathy thing; it wasn’t her style.

"Here we are." Arriving at the canopy, Bruce altered his grip on Sandy. "I'm just going to set you down now." He told him, manoeuvring the long body carefully onto the sun lounger. "Nice and easy… There!" Slumping back onto the grass, he heaved a sigh of relief. "Phew! I wouldn’t want to make a career of that!"
"Back ache?" Wally guessed.
Bruce nodded, grimacing as the spasms bit along his shoulders and neck.
"You were too tense." Wally chided, stepping up and starting to lightly massage Bruce's shoulders. "You should have relaxed a bit more."
Bruce gave him a look. "Like you would have?"
"Nah." Wally was honest. "I'd have been so worried about dropping him that I'd either have belted it down here, or stopped a few times to change position."
Stopped a few times? Why hadn't he thought of that? And how come Wally was so damned good at giving a back rub? And a neck rub?
"That - is marvellous." Bruce sighed, leaning back into the expert hands.
"Yes, you do seem to have some unexpected talents." Waller complimented. "But then again, you are a rather unusual person, aren't you, Mr West?"
"Wally is a very sweet boy." Arms full of medical equipment, Moira had caught up with them. "Now, how's my patient?"

Alfred arrived with refreshments, and although there was plenty of action and sound, the tension among the small group remained palpable.
"Everything's fine with Sandy!" Moira approved. "I'll be in the house, Bruce, if you need me for anything?"
"Thanks, Moira." Bruce smiled at her. "I'll yell if I do."
"I don’t think I've ever seen you smile." Amanda Waller delicately sipped at a small coffee and watched him.
"I don’t usually have much to smile about." Bruce reminded her. “Especially given the sort of circumstances under which we usually meet up.”
"Then perhaps I can give you some good news?" She suggested.
"Good news?" Good for who though? As usual, something about the woman was setting Bruce’s teeth on edge.
"Having Mr Smith as a friend seems to agree with you." The comment was neutral.
"Why would that concern you?"
"Mr Wayne, I realise that we haven't gotten on well in the past, and that has been my fault as much as anyone else's; but I was wrong."
"You were?" Bruce certainly hadn't expected to hear her, of all people, say that.
"I was so busy worrying about what people with superhuman powers could do to bring down our society,” The dark eyes flickered over him, “that I forgot that people without powers can be just as dangerous. If not more so."
"Meaning me?" As an insult, it was unusually subtle… today really was turning out to be full of surprises.
"Meaning me…" Waller assured him.
He stared at her. "Assuming that I believe you actually meant that, why now?"
"Because there are forces at work in the world, so-called normal people, who have the determination and the resources to mount a counter attack on those whom they fear or despise."
"Such as?" Bruce met her eyes. "I presume you have some names?"
"Lex Luthor."
No surprises there. It didn’t come as any sort of shock to Bruce. He had always suspected that Lex Luthor would turn out to be capable of just about anything, given the incentive and opportunity.
"Why would Lex Luthor want to bring down metahumans?" Wally asked. "Apart from the fact that he hates just about Everyone…"
"I believe that it is because the metahumans are the only group who could offer a significant threat to his schemes for world domination." Waller replied.
"Lex was always out to rule the world," Kal mused absently, "Sorry… do continue."
Waller's eyes widened. "Superman?"
"Kal El." Kal nodded. "No suit… no title." He explained with his usual polite patience. "But you were saying about Lex?"
"Yes," Waller swallowed. "I was stupid enough to believe him, to think that he only wanted the Presidency, and that if I allied with him he would find me a place in his organisation. By the time I came to my senses, it was nearly too late."
"Which is a lot sooner than some people manage," Wally sighed. "Don’t be too hard on yourself, lady, the man's a complete creep. He does it to everyone. I bet he even lies to himself." He frowned. "Would he believe it though?"
Kal laughed and wrapped a lazy arm around the slim man, pulling him over for an affectionate kiss.
"Hey!" Not content to settle for only one kiss when there were obviously more where that came from, Wally settled himself onto his lover's lap and smooched him with complete enthusiasm. "Mmmm, better."

Watching the pair, Waller blinked. "So that's the way it is?"
"Yes." Bruce had observed her reactions. She certainly didn’t look bothered; but with the redoubtable Ms Waller it was often hard to tell. "Why?"
"Oh, nothing. Just thinking of all those disappointed female groupies across the world hopelessly lusting after those two. Well, my Mama always said it takes all sorts."
"You don’t seem all that surprised." Bruce noted.
Waller shrugged lazily. "All that running about in tight fitting skimpies, did make me wonder."
If she says anything about black rubber, I swear I am going to... Bruce’s train of thought was derailed by Wally.
"What made you wonder?" The speedster had finally paused for breath and his curiosity was kicking in.
Kal blushed, leaving Bruce smiling as he noticed that Kal's grip on Wally didn’t loosen in the slightest.

Waller gave them a knowing smirk. "Ah, now, that would be telling, wouldn’t it?"
There was a faint sigh, and Sandy shifted.
"Hey!" Wally was instantly alert. "He's surfacing again."
"Sandy?" Bruce bent in close. "Sandy? Come on babe, you there?"
For a second he caught a flash of pale blue, and then it was gone again as the heavy eyelids slipped closed. "Not this time, huh?" Bruce whispered. Completely forgetting about their unwanted guest, he kissed Sandy lightly on the end of the nose. "But you keep working at it. I'll be here. I can wait."
"You too? So the ice man finally melted, huh?" Waller remarked.
"What?" Reminded of her presence, Bruce stared at the plump woman.
"Nothing," She said firmly. "At least maybe now I can count on not finding a bat in my bathroom while I'm taking a shower?" There might have been just the faintest hint of a twinkle in her eyes as she said it though.
"It was only the once!" Bruce protested.
"For some things, once is more than enough." She told him mildly.
"Yes, well, I'm sorry for intruding on you." He admitted, feeling the tiniest bit self‑conscious.

For a second Waller just looked at Bruce, as if deciding whether or not he meant the apology.
"Nothing to forgive." She waved it off. "After the way we treated all of you… it was a very small thing really. We overstepped far too many lines."
"There were mistakes made on both sides." Bruce admitted.
"Yes, there were." Waller gave a deep sigh. "Perhaps it's not too late for us to start again?" She held out a manicured hand. "Amanda Waller; but do feel free to call me Amanda, at least while we're both in civvies."
He grasped it lightly. "Nice to meet you, Amanda, Bruce Wayne at your service."
"Wasp." Kal announced suddenly, breaking from the clinch with Wally and sending out a flare of red light from his eyes. There was a small puff of smoke, and a tiny cloud of carbonised insect drifted down through the suddenly still air.
"Goodness." Amanda stared at the patch of ashes on her sleeve. "You could have just as easily have done that to me, couldn’t you?"
"No." Kal looked at her with total seriousness. "I wasn’t aiming at you." He explained, as if that should say it all.
"You're more ethical than most of us then."
"Not really." The Kryptonian powerhouse gave a mountainous shrug. "It would have made one heck of a mess on the cushions."
"Moral, sensitive, and a sense of humour..." Waller smiled. "With that combination no wonder you're not straight."
Delighted, Kal grinned at her. "Most people wouldn’t realise it was a joke."
"Thank you." Waller told him. "For everything."
"No problem; only one of his many talents." Wally reappropriated his lover, and the pair resumed their previous activity.

Bruce and Amanda sat for a while, keeping a running watch on Sandy and politely not making mention of Kal and Wally only a few feet away, sucking face and practically humping each other on Bruce's stone bench, or more accurately a few inches above it: since Kal was always exquisitely careful with other people's furniture; particularly when the owner was around and watching.
"Now that," Amanda tore herself away from the entwined couple, "Is the main difference between metahumans and politicians."
"It is?"
"Yes, politicians don’t mind flaming someone in public; however, they generally prefer to screw them without any witnesses present."
"Those two are a bit blatant." Bruce agreed, suppressing a grin. "I suppose I ought to try and find a bucket of water to throw over them."
"Oh leave them be." Amanda actually laughed. "Who cares what people do in their own home?"
"It's not their home, it's mine," Bruce reminded her.
Not that anyone would know it, at times…
"Ah, well that explains the added attraction. Presumably here they don’t have to clean up after themselves?" Amanda suggested.
"No." Bruce nodded. "But they would have to explain any mess to Alfred."
And so would I…

"How's Sandy doing, generally?" Amanda asked, while Bruce checked over the readouts and turned Sandy into a different position.
"Uh, better. He's been rousing like that more and more over the past few days." Bruce realised that he was sitting there with one hand trailing over Sandy's arm. It also occurred to him that he didn’t particularly care if anyone else saw him, not even this woman who had so recently been firmly in the opposing camp.
"You love him, don’t you?" She said quietly.
"It's none of your business." He reminded her. A truce was one thing; but he wasn’t having anyone poking their nose in his private life.
"True. I wasn’t trying to pry."
"Weren't you? That's not like you." He almost regretted the words; but they were said now.
Thankfully, it seemed that Waller hadn't taken offence.
Tolerance is evidently the order of the day…
"I kept tabs on this young man’s progress while he was in the hospital." She admitted.
"Now that doesn’t surprise me." Bruce was mildly irritated; but not surprised.
"It's part of my job to keep tabs on everyone." She reminded him. "There's no such thing as personal privacy when National Security is involved."
"Why?" He glared at her, "Because of me?" So apparently now his being Batman meant that a man couldn’t even lie sick in a hospital bed without coming under government scrutiny for his affiliations. Bruce felt his annoyance start to build.
"No." Amanda's voice was quiet; but firm. "Because of the number of rather… convenient… deaths associated with your friend."
"Sandy was unconscious each time. There was never any suggestion of him being implicated. He was the intended victim in each instance, and no charges were ever brought." Bruce growled the words, even though the little voice in the back of his head was reminding him that he had sat back and considered that exact same point on several occasions, and come to similar conclusions.
Shut up! He told himself. That was totally different…

"Easy, Bruce. I'm not saying that Sandy did anything wrong… I'm only stating facts. You have to admit that the cumulative evidence looks a little… strange."
"Facts?" Kal sat up and listened.
"Yeah, what facts?" Wally wondered.
"Prior to Mr Sandy Smith becoming known as Mr Sandy Smith, which happened a little more than three years ago, Thomas Worral led an apparently quite normal and blameless early life in dear old England."
"I knew." Bruce nodded.
"But did you also know why Mr Worral came to the US? Did he tell you about that?"
Sandy hadn't; but maybe Bruce was about to find out now?
"Sandy didn’t know." Bruce told her, carefully moderating his tone. "The earlier brain injury took care of that long before I met him."
"You checked the amnesia angle out of course." It wasn’t a question: Waller knew him too well.
"Naturally." Bruce thought back to that day…

The day after Bruce had shown Sandy the Batcave, he had decided to call on a friend for a little expert help.
"I would very much like to try to see if I can assist you to retrieve your memories." J'Onn admitted. "Has Batman told you about my telepathic abilities?"
"Uh," Sandy hesitated. He glanced at Batman.
Oh! Of course, he doesn’t know whether they know the daytime me or not…
Tugging off the cowl, Bruce approached his lover. "J'Onn knows all about who I am…" He said quietly. "We can trust him with this."
"Okay." The blond was instantly decided.
"Then sit down beside Bruce, and we will see what can, and what cannot, be done…" The Martian said firmly.
It had not taken long for J'Onn to announce that he had achieved as much as he was capable of.
"I have managed to access Sandy's mind," He told the pair, "however any memories that may have been associated with those moments are no longer available at a conscious level."
"Not even a hint?" Somehow Bruce wasn’t all that surprised.
"No," J'Onn shook his head gravely. "There are some disconnected images, and one or two clear recollections; but the majority of Sandy's memory, of all but the past three years, is so fragmented as to be virtually meaningless. Effectively, the events that one would expect to have been stored in his long term memory - that is to say, Sandy's recollections of his life prior to waking in the hospital, if they even exist - are entirely inaccessible."
"J'Onn, are you suggesting that Sandy will never remember?" That was a dreadful concept. The subtle grip that Sandy was maintaining on Bruce's hand tightened. Bruce squeezed back, offering what comfort he could.
"I cannot be certain," J'Onn was as cautious as ever. "However, it seems unlikely that he will do so."

"Sandy let a friend of ours see if he could loosen any memories." Bruce said curtly, returning his attention to the present. "That visit confirmed it: apart from a couple of things that came back while we were visiting with Sandy's family over in England, Sandy doesn’t… didn’t… remember anything before waking up in the hospital in Bludhaven."
"His whole life was just gone?" Amanda was understandably unsettled to hear that.
"I don’t know what Sandy'll be like when he wakes up this time; but when he and I met he had lost all of it." Bruce said grimly. "Sandy could only recall the past three years: just the new memories that he had built after the accident."
"Did Sandy say whether he'd ever tried to get his past back?" Amanda asked. "Professional help, I mean? Hypnosis or something of that nature?"
"Not to my knowledge," Bruce was confused, and more than a little concerned. "From what we were told, I don’t think it would have mattered even if he had: the damage was too severe." What was it about Sandy's past that Amanda Waller knew, and they didn’t?
"And of course, you searched?"
"Naturally..."
"And found nothing?"
By now Bruce was getting frustrated. "Where exactly is this going?"
"I wanted to know how much you might already know.”
“Not a lot,” He told her with brutal honesty. And I had to look long and hard for even the few scraps that I DID find… So how did SHE get anything – if she actually does have anything that is? She could just be fishing to see what WE have…

“Then I may be able to shed a little light for you." Amanda said finally, "Things you might not have found out, because there's no direct link between your Sandy and the events in question."
Well, THAT would explain a lot, wouldn’t it? So how did she link whatever it is to Sandy?
"And how did this information come to be in your possession?" It was something that he really wanted to know. But will she tell me? It would be just like her not to…
"Quite accidentally," Amanda assured him. "I wasn’t investigating anything to do with you at the time, Bruce, I just happened to recognise a few similarities and made the connection. I don’t think anyone else would have."
"Connection?" He looked at her blankly. "To what?"
"People smugglers," Waller said flatly.

“People smugglers?” The phrase wasn’t exactly new to Bruce; even so, he was about to ask for more details when someone beat him to it.
"I don’t understand?" Wally interrupted. "What has that got to do with Sandy?"
"Nothing, and everything." Amanda was as enigmatic as ever.
"Stop trying to be mysterious," Wally complained. "I hate it when people go all mysterious on me!"
"If you are prepared to give me just a few minutes, I'll do my best to explain it all." Amanda promised. "My team have been tasked with working with other government agencies for some time now, other international teams, in an attempt to eradicate a particularly unpleasant abduction ring."
"And this would have what to do with us?" Bruce thought he was beginning to see; but he wanted to be absolutely sure.
"I believe that Sandy, in his previous identity, was one of their intended victims." Amanda said calmly.
"What!" Kal couldn’t quite believe that.
Then again, he does tend to think the best of people… always a disadvantage when you are trying to anticipate the workings of the criminal mind. For his part, Bruce was only relieved that Sandy hadn't been implicated in anything. He wouldn’t have held it against the blond; but Bruce was realistic enough to realise that just because Sandy was a law abiding citizen now, didn’t mean anything…
Sandy could have had quite a different personality prior to the accident… It was a person's memories that helped shape their character; with those missing, their blond friend had needed to relearn far more than just the physical processes…
By now, in any number of ways, Sandy is quite literally a completely different person from Thomas Worral …

"There is, or rather, was," Amanda continued, ignoring the outburst, "A global criminal network formed with the specific intention of capturing persons with unusual genetic profiles; the sort of profiles that tend to be associated with meta-abilities; hence my department's involvement."
"Was?" Wally interrupted.
"Yes. We managed to arrest a significant number of their key players and to disrupt their finances."
"Why were they after Sandy?" Kal asked.
"Are you sure you want to know?" Waller looked pointedly at Bruce.
Meaning – am I sure I want them to know …
"Tell them." Bruce was resolute. These guys had gone through too much with him lately for him to shut them out now.
"It would seem that members of the criminal network believed the gentleman you now know as Mr Smith to possess certain psychic-type abilities. From the files we were able to reconstruct from their database, Thomas Worral was lured here from England with an offer of employment with one of the major corporations who routinely employ psychics in their recruitment processes." Amanda settled more comfortably in the seat.
"We have no reason to suspect that the job offer itself was false; however, on his arrival in the US, a local cell of the criminal network made an attempt to capture Mr Worral. That attempt failed. When all of the individuals involved apparently vanished off the face of the earth, the small team sent to intercept Mr Worral were all presumed dead, as was Mr Worral himself."
"Then what happened to Sandy three years ago was definitely no accident?" Bruce felt the pieces beginning to slip into place, everything Amanda Waller was saying dovetailed neatly with what he had already discovered.
"From the mission briefing, the cell members were tasked with capturing Mr Worral unharmed; however, whatever occurred after that was certainly not part of their plan." Amanda nodded. "With the demise of his previous identity, Mr Smith dropped off the official radar; and as no one thought to look for him, no one found him."
"Until Julius Wociek found a vulnerable stray working in one of his factories and decided to adopt him?" Bruce suggested.
"Indeed. Mr Wociek roamed in very… strange… circles, and although he does not seem to have taken Mr Smith with him most of the time, rumours of a rather beautiful and mysterious companion began to spread; but then, I suppose you knew that?"
"I had picked up a few hints. Wociek and I had some mutual business acquaintances, although I never sought any direct contact with him myself."
"Indeed." Waller nodded. "There were some, shall we say, clouds, over some of Mr Wociek's business practices?"
"His politics and mine did not go together," Bruce said stubbornly.
"Quite." Waller put down her empty cup, "Very diplomatic of you."
"I don’t like to speak ill of the dead." He told her.
"Yes, these days you never know when they're hanging around and listening…" Waller agreed dryly.

^* _* ^* _* ^*

It was late, and the Batcave was humming with activity.
"So," Kal leaned back in the chair and stretched. "We now have one more piece in the puzzle?"
"Several." Bruce told him. "And don’t bend that any further…"
"Sorry!" Kal stopped just in time.
"If you're going to come down here and hang out in the Batcave," The Bat gave him the full wattage stare. "I am going to install stronger furniture."
"Really?" Kal sounded hopeful.
"No." Because it was impossible to resist teasing Kal, Bruce didn’t, instead he shamelessly exploited every opportunity that came his way.
"He's kidding you!" Dropping onto Kal's lap, Wally slid a finger into the Kryptonian's belly button and pressed lightly. "Hey! Whoa!!!!" The scream echoed around the cave, startling a few returning bats.
"Get down from there, you two. Those stalactites have sentimental value." Bruce ordered absently, watching Kal float the pair of them back down to ground level. "If you’re going to grope each other, do it on your own time."
"This is our own time." Wally pointed out.
"No, this is MY time." Bruce allowed a little more of the Bat to filter into his voice. "And MY cave."
"Bully." The speedster stuck his tongue out.
"Don’t do that, you'll only encourage him." Kal grinned. "Mind you, I can't think of a few things to do with that tongue. C'mere Wal!"
"Uh-uh!" Wally flickered off up the stairs, outrunning the sound of his own footsteps.
Kal looked vaguely disappointed. "Oh well, he was hungry anyway."
Bruce did not want to know how Kal knew that, and so he didn’t ask.

"Alfred's wonderful. He's doing us a late night snack." Kal smiled, staring up at the ceiling.
Or through it… Must be handy to be able to see through solid objects.
"Mmmm." The Kryptonian licked his lips. "Pancakes!"
"If the two of you ever set up house together, you'd better make sure that the larder is the size of a warehouse." Bruce told him fondly. "Otherwise you'll run out of food by the end of the first day."
"I would never let Wal starve." Kal said seriously. "With his metabolism he needs to eat regularly."
Bruce regarded him from under a cynical brow. "But every two minutes?"
Kal only grinned.
What the? For a second, Bruce had the strangest feeling. Like someone was watching me? Glancing around, he could find nothing to account for the sensation. The cave looked just as it always did. Besides, Kal didn’t seem uncomfortable, and the Kryptonian's senses were more acute than those of any human.
Even mine… Perhaps I'm just tired?

"So," Kal said, after a few seconds of silent cogitation. "What else have we added to the list of things we know about Sandy?"
Reclaiming his chair, Bruce prepared to summarise. "That there are big players involved: the job offer was genuine, Kal, so someone was pulling strings in high places."
"And?"
"We also know that not everyone in that organisation was located and neutralised," He told his Kryptonian friend, "Which means that the puppet masters could still be out there, and they could still be after Sandy."
"So Sandy can expect more unwanted company in the future?" Kal supposed.
Bruce frowned. "Yes, I'm very much afraid that it looks that way."
But if they do try again, they'll get a lot more than they bargained for!
As the two heroes prepared to go up into the house proper, neither had any cause to look back toward the highly polished surface of the cabinet that housed the computer console; to where a mottled patch of shadow that still looked uncommonly like a face was already fading out.
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The Birthday Present