Monolith

Chapter 5: Damian

The largest monitor in the Watchtower blared the news from Gotham, spelling disaster for all the League to see. The lurid colours of the headline that screamed "Gotham Zoo bombing" were quite at odds with the frozen atmosphere of the room.

Moments earlier, as the news had come in, the members of the Justice League present had turned with grim expressions to Batman to ask if he wanted help (deciding as one - yet without communicating at all - that they would ignore him if he refused their offer) only to find what was visible of his face had turned white. He was frozen, the arms of his chair in danger of being broken in the strength of his grip.

He had been presenting some information on a situation that the League had been asked to intervene in, only to be interrupted by the news of the bombing. Now, he abandoned his post, leaving case files scattered in his wake, running for the zeta tubes.

For one long moment, no one stopped him. The situation was undeniably urgent, but something was wrong.

Clark and Diana sped after him, the only ones brave enough to do so. Before either of them could ask, Batman slowed slightly.

'My children are there.' He said. There was little trace of his usual growl, voice hoarse and faint. His tone was laced with something horrifyingly like despair.

He moved the final few metres to the zeta tubes so quickly he was almost difficult to see, and disappeared, presumably to Gotham.

'Jesus fuck.' Hal said quietly, and ran to the zeta tubes to follow him, Clark and Diana either side of him.

'Fucking shit goddamn'. Ollie agreed, and the rest of the League crowded together to accompany them.

*

They caught Batman swinging himself into the Batmobile before it had even screeched to a halt from wherever he'd called it from. He must have thought they'd come to stop him because he whipped his head around with an expression so full of unadulterated fury every single member of the Justice League present took a step back.

'I'll fly you - it's faster.' Clark said, looking to Diana to back him up. As much as they all wanted to help, no one was particularly eager to face him. He wasn't Batman at the moment, but rather an extremely worried father. He was all the scarier for it.

Batman must have seen the merit in this, nodding mutely. Clark hauled him up into the air by his hands, flying as fast as was safe for his human passenger towards the plume of smoke in the distance scarring the overcast sky. Those who could fly or were fast enough on foot followed, the rest stepping onto Hal's construct.

No one spoke. There was nothing to say. What if..?

No one wanted to say it. These were Batman's children, not helpless civilians. They'd be fine.

They had to be.

*

One of the bombs had gone off at the centre of the zoo, where there was a cluster of restaurants, gift shops and cafes, and therefore the most people gathered together. The motive of the attack was becoming clearer.

Batman let go of Clark's hands while still fairly high off the ground, Clark too surprised to catch him. Batman didn't seem to care - he merely rolled to absorb the impact and sprang to his feet again, head swinging wildly as he scanned the area for signs of his children. When he found none, he pressed something on the side of his cowl, probably some kind of thermal vision, simultaneously keying something into his wrist computer.

The rest of the League arrived, some hefting rubble aside to release trapped civilians and working with the paramedics who were already on scene. Clark, Diana and Hal remained close enough to Batman to see faint traces of indecision - it seemed as if he was torn between staying to help with the civilians and finding his children.