Chapter 7

                                    

                                          
Batman flew the plane on autopilot and it delivered him safely home. He landed in the Batcave and opened the shell of the plane. Alfred stood there waiting for him when he noticed Bruce groaning as he got out. 
"Master Bruce!" Alfred cried and rushed to his side. 
"I'm fine," Bruce said with a groan and tried walking on his own.
"Please, sir. Let me patch you up before-"
"I need to contact my employees at Wayne Enterprises, the chemical engineering department. There has been a fire and it was the Joker and Lex Luthor's fault."
"But sir, please let met check you for injuries," Alfred asked concerned. 
Bruce took off his mask and threw it to Alfred.
"It needs cleaning. So does this suit. It reeks of smoke," Bruce said and started unzipping the suit after taking off his untility belt. He stepped into a sealed off shower and got dressed in casual clothes. He handed his suit to Alfred and walked over to his computer. 
Alfred stood behind him looking at the screen. 
"Good Heavens!" Alfred said shocked when the news came up. It looked bad but luckily authorities had been contacted. Bruce sat with 12 unread emails. Two were from Metropolis PD, one from Clark and the rest from his colleagues. He opened up them all up, ignoring those who was actually work related. He then found one that had been send from a scientist in the biochemical engineering department. It was sent not long before the fire had broke out. The email was about how the guy who send it knew something was wrong and had heard the Joker and Lex Luthor break into the building. He had his laptop with him and tried being as quiet as possible to send the email. He knew it was risky but he wanted to let Bruce know about the events. Bruce sighed and stood up but Alfred blocked his path. He held out a silver tray with bandages and some antibacterial solution. 
"You're not going anywhere without a proper patch up," Alfred said. 
"Fine, just make it quick," Bruce said and walked over to the operating table. He used it for when he had been shot and needed a bullet to be removed or for stitches. He pulled his T-Shirt upward and sat down on the table. Alfred inspect his torso, seeing new marks and felt gently around his ribs. 
"Good news, Master Bruce. Your ribs seem to be alright, maybe just a bit sore but otherwise nothing too serious."
"Like I said, I'm fine," Bruce said and hoped off walking to the staircase. 
"You shouldn't stress your body so much, sir," Alfred said following him. 
Bruce ignored him and headed towards his room to change into something more semi formal. 
Alfred drove him to Wayne Enterprises' building and Bruce got out. Firetrucks stood outside and the sirens echoed between the building. He shut the door behind him and walked towards the Commissioner. The Commissioner was talking to Detective Bullet, a overweight man who smoked cigars. 
"I don't know, Commissioner, that clown is a lunatic," He said as Bruce approached the two. 
"Evening Commissioner," Bruce greeted them, pulling his coat closer to his body, feeling the cold breeze in the air. 
"Good Evening Mr Wayne. We're sorry to inform you about your building," Commissioner Gordon said. 
"Its very unfortunate. Such a waste of resources, eh?" Bullet said sticking his hands in his pockets. 
"Yes, not only that but who knows how long it will take to repair the damages. My colleagues are loyal to the company, having this casted upon them would certainly be devastating," Bruce said and looked at the building. The walls were a slight blackish colour and most of the windows had broken. He didn't even want to see the inside. 
"Mr Wayne, we have reason to believe that the Joker and Lex Luthor was involved. We got a call from Superman saying he and Batman ran into them. Strange that Batman didn't contact us himself," Commissioner Gordon said. 
"Beacuse he's one of those bad guys, Commissioner. He want to see them rich people suffer," Bullet said. 
"Shut up, Bullet. Batman would never stoop so low as to burn down a building with people inside it. I'm telling you it's not like him!" Commissioner Gordon said pointing a finger at Bullet. 
Bruce smiled and started walking away. Why did Superman contact Gotham PD? Most important, who is Superman? Bruce needed to find out who he really was. As much as he hates to admit it, Superman did safe his life twice. And he only repaid the favour once. 
Superman flew into his window and closed it behind him. 
"Thought you might show up eventually," a female voice said.
"What are you doing here Lois?" Clark asked walking towards his bedroom. 
Lois turned on a light and saw Clark in his Superman outfit. She had known for quite a while now every since they started dating, but Clark broke off the relationship. He needed more time and didn't want to risk losing her beacuse of some bad guys. He sighed and closed his bedroom door. 
"Did you hear about the fire at Wayne Enterprises chemical engineering department? Apparently the Joker and Lex Luthor was involved," Lois said. 
"I was there with Batman," Clark yelled from his room. Lois put her feet on the coffee table. 
"Really? What's he like?" Lois asked curiously." 
"He likes to brood. Keeps to himself and tries to hide his injuries. Although he did safe me from Clayface," Clark said and came out of his room with a white T-shirt and sweatpants. He walked straight to the kitchen to put the kettle on and checked the time. It was 2 in the morning. He then turned off the kettle. He can't drink this late at night. He needed to sleep. 
"How did you get in so late?" Clark asked and sat down across Lois.
"I still have that key you gave me," Lois said.
"On your way out, don't forget to leave it on the table," Clark said and got up to go sleep. Lois sighed and walked out, leaving the key on the table as promised. She had one last glance of the apartment and closed the door.