Bruce had never been a fan of aliens. They were an unknown. An unpredictable threat. He saw his friendship with the Kryptonian Kal-El as an exception to these rules, and the only one that he was willing to accept. So, when an alien vessel crashes in...
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The rest of the week consisted mainly of failed attempts at decoding the alien language. Bruce had only managed to translate two more letters by the time Hal returned to Earth. They weren't of any use in learning new words, and honestly Bruce was becoming highly irritated with the entire project. As a distraction, he had started redesigning a few of his gadgets and vehicles... Even this didn't help him forget the fact that he was failing.
"You saw the alien?" Hal asked eagerly when he arrived in the Batcave. "What did you learn?"
Bruce walked right passed the Green Lantern as if he wasn't there at all. He stopped in front of the Batmobile and popped the hood, starting to tinker with the engine. "Not enough."
Hal inhaled sharply, twisting the ring on his finger with a frown. "You mean to tell me that you met an entirely new alien species and you learnt nothing?! Dude, I've gotta put them into the database, I can't do that with no information."
Bruce didn't reply this time. Instead, he grabbed a wrench from the nearby table and continued altering the inside of his car. He didn't feel like he needed to explain himself, especially not to someone like Hal who was the most reckless person in the League.
Hal, on the other hand, seemed persistent. He marched closer to the man and shut the hood of the Batmobile, almost crushing Bruce's hands in the process. Thankfully, he managed to move them just in time but this did grant Hal a particularly angry glare.
"You scared them off, didn't you?" Hal asked, this time hoping that he had Bruce's full attention. "I told you not to approach them without me or Clark! The last thing anyone wants to see on a new planet is some grumpy old man growling at them like a rabid dog."
The man's expression darkened but Hal didn't seem to notice. He had grown so use to Bruce's brooding that it was now a regular part of visiting him.
"Look, is there anything you can tell me... Anything at all?" He tried again, this time a little calmer than before.
"I can tell you that it's dangerous." Bruce answered lowly. "It learnt our language, almost fluently, in two weeks."
"Biologically advanced..." Hal stated, amused by Bruce's scepticism. "That's not unheard of. I know a race just a few galaxies over called the 'Sarkor', and they could memorise a language within hours... They do have shorter life spans though. Think they die within a month of their birth."
"Don't suppose we'll be fortunate enough for this visitor to die before it appears again..." Bruce said darkly.
"What is wrong with you?" Hal sighed in disbelief. Just when he thought Bruce couldn't get anymore cynical, he proved him wrong. "This alien hasn't done anything to warrant your hatred."
