Chapter Text
Let it be known that Bruce never intended for it to end up like this. Truly, had he known then how it would end, he might just have been honest with the Justice League when they formed, but instead paranoia had overtaken him and now it has spiraled into this.
Okay, let’s back up a little. It starts like this: Bruce doesn’t want to join the Justice League that these others are forming for bigger threats. In his mind, they are the possible bigger threat, seen in how effective they are against other big threats. The fact that they can’t see that makes him only more wary.
However, the others seem determined to see this done, so if Bruce wants to keep a close eye on them, it’s better to be involved. With his tech being used, he’ll know all the back doors. With him in the meetings, he’ll know the protocols will be good. With him in the training, he’ll be able to study their weaknesses and plan for contingencies.
So, he joins to soothe his own worries and doom scenarios. He joins so he can monitor them all and step in should it go awry.
But being able to observe them, means that in turn he’ll be observed too.
He is very careful about his identity thus far, because he knows what’s at stake. His own voice is that of Batman, so if he’s taken by surprise out in the field it won’t be different. He wears lifts in his Batman boots to make him taller, more intimidating, less human. He stays in the shadow, never lets anyone observe him better.
Because if he’s ever found out, a lot of things will come crumbling down. The police is only half convinced that there is an actual person under there and there is a big factor ready to arrest him, should they catch him. Though luckily also a faction moving to working together with him.
Should he be arrested, Alfred will likely go down as accomplice and spend his retirement in a prison with Wayne Enterprises falling into the hands of a semi-corrupt board that will weasel out the non-corrupt like he is trying to weasel out the corrupt now.
Hundreds of thousands will loose their jobs, programs that keep the less fortunate from going under will disappear, the public transport system will decay and the name his parents made for themselves will forever be tainted by him. And that’s not even mentioning the crime that will run rampant without Batman, all the people that could go through what he did.
No, he can’t be found out.
So, he has to be careful when working with this newly formed Justice League. Throw them off his scent so they’ll never connect the dots. But it has to be subtle, something he can keep up, something not everyone would note.
The person he’s most worried about getting on his trail is Clark Kent, or Superman, as he is known, an investigative journalist. The others are less like him or Clark, people who go out and look for things that irk their brains, but Clark has been assigned their leader. He’ll want to know and he’ll want to dig.
He is also a person who might be able to find Bruce. His secret identity is as solid as it can be, but he’s only human and there are cracks. As a reporter, Clark interacts with both Bruce and Batman and he has extra abilities to help him.
He must be stopped.
So, before his first meeting with the Justice League, Bruce sinks into a pit of what-ifs, until his paranoia forces him to action. And he sows a sound system into his suit, that plays an extra heartbeat, making it seem like there are two hearts beating in his chest.
Bruce’s logic is, that if the supers in the League would hear his two heartbeats as Batman, they would look for that if they wanted to find him and since he doesn’t have two heartbeats as Bruce, they never would unless he was being Batman, thus open to being found.
It’s a solid plan in his mind. The League consists of all sorts of people, both human and non-human, no one would ask too many invasive questions about his supposed biology. It’s perfect.
Thus, it comes to be that Batman enters the Justice League as a cryptid non-human entity. Not something he planned for exactly, but the Batman is already more than a man, said to be a demon or a vampire. It helps with intimidation and it helps with his cover. The others already think him to be more than human, why not play into it? It’s not like he trusts them. He’s here to monitor, not befriend.
It’s a solution that soothes his anxieties and enables him to actually work. It’s also easy and low profile, as well as something that can grow organically as the moment calls.
The first times it happens, is when they’re making a protocol about when it is alright to step in on another hero’s turf. Bruce is the one, who insisted on making protocols, wanting to have written guides he could force the others to follow, rules they are held accountable by.
“No metas in Gotham,” he first lays down the law for his own city. “We can make protocols for other cities to suit the heroes wishes and what is reasonable. But there will not be anyone but me in Gotham, I don’t care how severe you think it is. Unless you have an explicit invitation from me, you aren’t welcome.”
“What the hell, man!” Hal exclaims and others are also frowning.
Clark, as always, steps in to mediate: “Batman, we’re willing to follow your lead in your city and I agree that a heroes wishes should be considered, but there no reason not to be civil. You’re a meta, you know life can be hard enough as is.”
Bruce does feel a little guilty then, because despite his wariness, everyone here has been nothing but nice – overly nice in that peppy hero way, but still – and he doesn’t mean to be rude. He just knows that the type of crime fighting they do, doesn’t mesh with Gotham and he can’t have them ruin his city.
So, he crosses his arms and tries to project sternness instead of guilt as he says: “And I am stating my wishes clearly. No metas in Gotham is a neutral statement. You made it loaded.”
“You’re being hypocritical, Batman,” J’onn says not unkindly, probably picking up on some of the guilt, despite his mental barriers and misinterpreting.
“I am not, I am being clear,” Bruce says, as stubborn as ever, while mentally running through all the random knowledge he has acquired in the years of being Batman. Then he adds: “And I am being clear, because you coming will completely ruin the ecosystem.”
“Ruin the ecosystem?” Diana repeats, still learning the new lingo of the world of men.
“Yes,” Bruce says, glad that his acting classes under Alfred are paying off. “When I say that I am the night, I am very serious about that. I am Gotham’s night, come to life. The hearts of the city beat in me. My villains are created by what Gotham is as a city, they won’t respond well to you. You’re an invasive species. Who knows the kinds of irreparable damage you could cause?”
That sounds pretty logical to his own ears and he makes a mental note to get Poison Ivy some perks in Arkham when he gets back. He also makes a not to record what he said later, as to not contradict himself down the line.
“You’re literally the night?” Hal chuckles, a little disbelievingly.
“You’re a space cop,” Barry rightfully points out. “We work together with two aliens, a woman with wings and an Amazonian princess. Is a personification of the night really a stretch?”
“It just seems fantastical that’s all,” Hal shrugs, body language giving away that he feels a little bad about his outburst. But not bad enough to not defend it, because he adds: “Everyone else seems to have at least a bit of a basis in science.”
“Magic is quite real,” Diana says, stunning them all into silence for a second.
Clark clears his throat after a second, then says: “Thank you, we’ll keep that in mind for later meetings. So, uhm, no metas in Gotham,” he gets them on track. “Does that also apply for non-hero meddling? Like if someone has to be there due to secret identity obligations?”
Bruce knows why he’s asking. It might sound like a general question, but unlike the others, he actually knows who they are in their civilian lives. And he’s seen Superman out of uniform at his galas.
However, he doesn’t let it show. Having Clark hear only one heartbeat in his chest at the galas will only strengthen his secret identity. So, he curtly says: “If you don’t interfere with its business, Gotham will let you in.”
“Alright,” Clark says, looking a little disturbed. “I’ll note that down. No metas in Gotham. Now, what about anyone else’s city? Something else we should know about when not trespassing?”
The others gratefully take the reason to move on and Bruce has to hold in a snort, because it’s quite amusing to see these superpowered beings buy into his make belief. To have them be scared of him, who is just a man.
But it is also comforting, because if they are scared, they’ll listen. He needs them to listen to him, to value his opinion as one of their own, because maybe then he can ensure that they will become that line of good they have the potential to be, instead of the force of destruction they can also become. For that, he is glad.
Furthermore, he registers that his ruse is working in his favor. It gets him what he wants while minimizing conflict, thus it is good to maintain.
So, as they build the Justice League together – something that takes a lot more meetings and paper work than some of them were expecting, he observes – he maintains and builds his lie further. He establishes himself as the night of Gotham and expands on his backstory as he goes.
A little while later they’re in a meeting about their fighting abilities. They have already worked in the field together, but during the big emergency, but that doesn’t make for good observation circumstances. Therefore they have this meeting, so that all are on the same page about what they can do.
Bruce has contemplated making himself out to be scarier than he actually is. However, when it is his turn, he doesn’t invent invulnerabilities or abilities for himself, it can be detrimental in the field to have given others unrealistic expectations.
Thus, when it’s his turn to answer, he honestly says: “When it comes to any unnatural abilities, I function as a normal human would. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
“No way,” Barry says, leaning on his hand and observing Bruce closer. “No powers? None?”
“Yeah, I don’t buy it, Spooky. With all the vanishing you do,” Hal agrees.
“Then maybe we should have another stealth day,” Bruce says seriously, because what he does is not that difficult and can be taught. As heroes, they should have a certain amount of skills in every field, though maybe it’s good for them to not be fully competent. Makes it easier to take them out should the day come.
Hal quickly makes a zipping his mouth shut motion, before Bruce can continue on with his threat that he is still contemplating.
Before it can get out of hand, everyone gets distracted by Shiera asking: “Really? You want us to believe that the physical manifestation of Gotham’s night has no power?”
“Yes, that does seem quite miraculous,” Diana agrees open eyed and well intended.
“Yeah, you have no clue what sort of stories come out of there,” Barry adds. “Well, I’m kind of assuming you don’t, since I suppose you don’t leave your city often and maybe you don’t really read our news if you do. But like it’s crazy. There was a while where I wasn’t even sure you existed or if there truly was a vampire out there.”
As they all talk, Bruce is silent, quickly thinking. Is he going to have to lie? Make up some powers that are minor enough that they won’t accidentally risk his life when he doesn’t want it to be risked? No, Alfred will kill him.
Fuck, he never thought they wouldn’t believe him if he told them he operated with no powers. He should have planned for this. Stupid. Note to self: plan more contingencies.
In the end, something comes to him right before it becomes weird that he isn’t answering. So, he answers: “I am the manifestation of Gotham’s night. Gotham is wholly human and remains so, that which powers me is human.”
“Wouldn’t it be beneficial then to have more metas in Gotham? So that you can get powers?” Barry asks, the curiosity of the scientist shining through.
It’s a good question too, and Bruce quickly bullshits: “No, because my villains are created in reaction to me. If I am stronger, so will their challenge be and Gotham will face more destruction.”
“Would that mean your villains disappear when you do?” Hal asks.
“No,” Bruce says again, cursing himself for not planning better. “The city creates them, but not like it creates me. It’s the shadow that hangs over Gotham that brings out the worst in people. They are not like me. They are humans. But if my shadow grows bigger, so will that of the city.”
“Man, that’s confusing,” Hal complains and Bruce is glad his own twists threw them off.
He is even more glad when Clark steps in: “And it’s not our place to question Batman or poke holes. Let’s all be civil. Batman, I’ll note down no powers.”
“Thank you,” Bruce replies, because Alfred raised him better than to not thank someone.
And so he goes on establishing himself as Gotham’s night. He has a writing frenzy wherein he fleshes out his lie to the League as to never be caught unawares again like that, before carefully and calculatedly dropping things into conversation as time goes on.
“Batman, you’re seriously injured, I saw that bot hit your head! You really should let us take a look at that,” Clark says after one of their earlier battles.
“No, I need to go to Gotham, my city strengthens me,” he lies, as to slip out so that Alfred can take a look at it. Hopefully the man won’t scold him too bad for traveling via Zeta-Beam while having a concussion.
Or during a boring meeting, when he suddenly gets up. Diana asks: “Batman, what is wrong? I did not hear an emergency call.”
“Gotham needs me,” he lies again, deciding that he sits through enough boring meetings as Brucie not to want to do it as Batman too. At least, not right now. He has a case he’d rather be working on, more important too. “It calls to me.”
As he leaves, he hears Barry whisper to Hal: “That sounds useful, I always just cross my fingers that I’ll catch it when it happens.”
However, over time it peters out. He has let all the relevant pieces drop and he feels that it doesn’t fit to share more. They know what he wants them to know and no one has caught on to the fact that he even has a civilian identity – something he’s loathe to admit, he stole from Clark. So, he stops and settles in with what he has.
And time continues to pass like that. Bruce gets to know his fellow League members better, learns how they think and where their morals lie. He starts to respect them, then tentatively trust them.
Most of them reveal their identities – never pressuring Bruce, since they don’t think he has one, despite Clark revealing his own – and become friends rather than colleagues. Bruce even thinks of them as friends.
However, he doesn’t say a word to them, never feels the need to reveal himself. To them he is the night, like he is Brucie to the board, and that suits him just fine. He is their friend, but he never forgets the power they hold and he never forgets his own responsibility in monitoring them.
The Justice League is set up to counter threats and one of the threats is the Justice League itself. He has just positioned himself to counter that threat, should it ever come to pass. And being non-human is a part of that. It’s as simple as that.
Besides, he befriended all of them based on a lie. To reveal now how much he distrusted them, how much he kept from them and how much he lied can only end in disaster. They’ll hate him for lying and they’ll never trust him again. He can’t risk that.
So, when the sound system in his suit breaks without him noticing and Clark exclaims: “Batman, are you okay? I can only hear one of your hearts beating,” Batman doesn’t hesitate to commit further to his lie.
He has made many contingencies for it breaking while on missions or during a meeting, but with how careful he is with his equipment, it never occurred to him that he would show up for an average meeting without it working.
“It’s okay,” he says, trying to think as fast as he can about what will make sense as explanation.
“That sounds more like you are ill, my friend,” J’onn speaks up, picking up on the anxiety wave that had crashed through him.
“No, no, I am fine, I assure you,” Bruce insists, landing on a solution. “My second heart has formed enough and I have split into two. It needs time to reform, but then I will be fine.”
For a moment, it is silent.
Then the whole room explodes with noise as the others demand what the hell that means and who he has split up into and how that even happens. It’s not something Bruce planned to do, but he’s in too deep now. This was his last chance to come clean and turn back and he didn’t take it. This is going to be his life forever now.
Guess, Dick is getting his wish and meeting the Justice League, instead of being stashed as far away from them as possible to keep him safe. This can be an exercise in obfuscation and keeping cover, he thinks.