law of attraction

part 1

my work is not based off the Dark Knight movie triology, but I am in love with Christian Bale 🤪

just know that I had him in mind while writing this <3

¯\_ʘ‿ʘ_/¯ ¯\_ʘ‿ʘ_/¯ ¯\_ʘ‿ʘ_/¯ ¯\_ʘ‿ʘ_/¯

"would you please not?" clark sighed into his com link. he poured himself a cup of coffee in the desolate break room of the daily planet. he'd come into the office early this morning on a whim, and now regretted not having the excuse of being asleep to miss this call.

diana somehow communicated a deep frown over the frequency channel, no visibility necessary.

"kal-el, listen to me. I understand your qualms with batman-"

the use of his birth-given name. a low tactic. even amongst the League, where all knew each other's real identities, few new his birth name.

clark snorted. "as if I am the one who has the problem. all he does is fight with me! 'get out of my city, space smurf' - no. I don't think he wants my help."

diana growls frustratedly and snaps something at another one of their fellow League members, no doubt on the watch tower.

"please, kal, alfred called me this morning-"

"you call with alfred?" clark asks, bewildered. the standoffish, isolationist nature of his charge seemed not to bother the english butler.

"yes, I do." short, clipped. "but hardly ever, unless something is terribly wrong."

clark frowns down at his still full mug of coffee.

"please, kal," diana pleaded, a note of desperation entering her voice, "he's been offline for nearly a day. you're the only one close to Gotham right now. and..."

"and..?" clark prompted impatiently.

"bruce..." the use of batman's true identity startled clark beyond belief- this was serious. "he has been getting messages... from the joker."

clark felt the blood rush from his face. the face-painted psychopath was probably going to do something unthinkable to wayne, if that was indeed who'd captured him.

"messages?"

diana takes a shaky breath. "yes. nothing that hasn't happened before. threats, the usual. but alfred-" she cuts herself off.

superwoman is not one to stutter, to falter in her speech. her proud amazonian accent grows thicker with the extent of her distress.

"alfred watched all of them, after bruce didn't pick up his com link for a few hours. he- he said he saw... in the background... some sort of-" her breath hitched. "some sort of torture chamber. and was threatening to do very... he threatened to- he said he was-"

diana choked and cursed in her native tongue. "kal, alfred claimed it looked like some sort of mutilation chamber. and the joker was saying things- threatening to do things... bruce is going to die."

"I'll find him."

clark left the office, and flew into the dark of an early metropolis morning.

~~~

it only took superman minutes to arrive at the lip of the bat cave, beneath the waterfall-sheltered cliff of wayne manor. alfred sat at the monitor, a deep frown etched on his features.

"mister kent," he greeted cordially, nodding at the superhero. "I am... grateful for your arrival. I understand my master's feelings towards you... nonetheless, I have been unable to track or communicate with master wayne for 24 hours."