Chapter Text
Bruce
“Not going to debrief?” Hal’s voice called after Bruce as the man made to move towards his quarters after emerging from the Javelin.
Bruce pulled his cape tighter around himself and struggled to keep his tone level as he breathed through the pain, “I thought we could all freshen up first…?”
“What, the rules are different for you or something because you’re the only human in the group?” Green Lantern snarled, eyebrow raised mockingly, “I thought you were not weaker than us enhanced folk?”
Bruce did not think he had ever forced someone to attend a debrief while they were injured, enhanced or not, and he glanced at Superman askance.
The Man of Steel shrugged uncomfortably, apparently unable to meet his eye as he mumbled, “You do insist on debriefing as quickly as possible after missions to ensure the memories are fresh, unless someone is injured.”
Ah, so they did not know about his injuries… Bruce deduced, that would make it so much easier to ignore that- that had happened in the first place. On the downside, it meant that he would have to sit through this debrief before he could take care of his …injuries. Well, he had endured worse, he would simply have to grit his teeth and see this through, and then he could possibly escape to the manor directly. While the watchtower was well equipped, the manor’s facilities were home in a way that the sterile watchtower was just not.
He hummed and moved to their conference room, sliding into his seat with a muted hiss that he hoped no one picked up on.
Despite his worry, Bruce was nevertheless surprised when Clark settled into his place with barely a word- usually the Kryptonian was the first to sense any of the member’s injuries given his enhanced senses. He wondered if J’onn was still shielding everyone’s senses and shot a questioning look at the Martian who shook his head, the tiniest tilt of his head masked as regular movement as he settled into his place, leaving the others none the wiser.
“Shall we begin?” Diana asked, voice measured and soothing as always although Bruce detected a hint of a tremor underneath, skilfully hidden.
There was a chorus of agreements and Bruce found himself slightly surprised by how eager everyone seemed to be to finish this debrief when he usually had to threaten and cajole them into compliance. The discussions were brief, each member’s actions carefully evaluated to determine if there was any breach in protocol that had aided their capture, but there was not much to dissect when it was a clear case of ambush- the Hochinian’s had known about their involvement and about the team specifically and successfully managed to capture them. The information leak was from Oa and the Lanterns had swiftly identified its source and ‘plugged’ it. But by then, the damage had already occurred and the JL captured. Glad that it was finally over, Bruce prepared himself to keep his expression clear as he forced himself to rise to a standing position and then walk to the Zeta exit.
“I would like to propose a vote, before we conclude this discussion.” Green Lantern’s voice interrupted before he could move or Diana could call the meeting to a close.
“A vote?” Flash asked, discomfort clear in his voice.
Bruce had noted that the speedster was having difficulty holding anyone’s gaze today and assumed it to be because the metahuman was low on energy. He didn’t want the man- boy, really given how young he still was compared to the rest of them, to starve himself out of some mistaken adherence to protocol and decided to intervene.
“You can grab some snacks from the canteen, if you want, Flash. We can wait,” He added with a teasing smile.
Flash curled in even further at his words if possible.
“Stop pretending to be magnanimous and make allowances for us non-humans, Batman.” Green Lantern snarled.
Bruce found himself raising an eyebrow in surprise even knowing the cowl would hide his reaction. “I’m …not. – We all know his metabolism is higher than the rest of ours.”
“And you think you need to make allowances for that?”
He furrowed his brows, taken aback by the hostility in GL’s tone. None of the other League members said anything either, making him automatically evaluate everything that had just been discussed. Used to tracking behaviours and actions to anticipate events so that he could keep up with his Rogues and enhanced teammates, his mind turned over the words and noted the repeated use of the word ‘allowances’, but that didn’t explain the hostility. He thought back a little further and picked up on the Lantern’s focus on ‘human’ since they had arrived back at the watchtower as well. The two words together indicated some rather troubling things, and his mind quickly reviewed the mission to determine if he had failed to hold up his end at any instance- as the only ‘pure’ human on the active League roster, Bruce was acutely aware of his shortcomings and his steadily advancing age.
“Look, if none of you are willing to speak up, allow me- I refuse to work alongside someone who has made his disdain for me- and the rest of the so-called ‘team’ so clear. I cannot be worrying whether he will have my back during a crisis and dealing with it simultaneously. You all heard Spoo- Batman's thoughts earlier. Tell me, are you comfortable working with him on this team now that we know what he thinks of us? Supes?”
Clark looked uncomfortable being called out the way he had been, but Bruce watched as he slowly- painfully- straightened his shoulders to meet Bruce’s lensed gaze head-on, “You’ve never hidden your worry regarding what would happen if I was ever mind-controlled or just … snapped one day. And with reason, I admit. I have never taken offense to your stock of Kryptonite. I-… I trust you, B. Unfortunately, it looks like that trust was…is one-sided. You once told me that I was human in the way it counts, but apparently that was just a platitude to keep me on the team. To keep me from ‘turning evil’, maybe, given how your mind works.”
“I never realized you put so much stock in my clay origins either,” Diana added softly.
“I thought you believed me when I said I had not meant to bond with the Mother-Box the way I did.” Cyborg whispered, head lowered and staring at the table.
“I thought you valued the fact that J’onn and I had chosen to adopt Earth as our home,” Shayera said from across Arthur.
The Atlantian King stayed silent till everyone looked at him and he shrugged, “He called me Fish-boy the first time we met and a few times after. I always thought it was a joke.”
Bruce swallowed, realizing that playing Brucie Wayne over the years had taught him to lie a bit too well if his team thought the lies that he had spouted to keep the Hochinian’s from his teammates had cut so deep. He had operated under the assumption that they would know that he was simply trying to distract the tentacled Hochinians and nothing more. His words had been pointed, he would admit. And they would have been devastating for somebody who did not know that he was lying, he forced himself to acknowledge. His heart twinged with guilt as he realized that in his effort to protect them, he had actually ended up hurting them in a worse- if non-corporal way.
“I’m sorry.” He forced himself to say.
“Of course you are,” Hal countered hotly, “We know you, Batman. You’re not sorry that you think those things or that you said those things. … you are sorry because you just realized that without us non-humans, the Justice League does not exist. And since we’ve already caught the attention of a few Star Systems since we became operational, it would be impossible to save your precious planet without us on the team. As good as you are, you are a human. And as such you cannot do anything the next time a Doomsday or a Steppenwolf arrive. So now you’re scrambling to keep us here. But here’s the thing- I. Refuse. To. Work. On. The. Same. Team. As. You.”
Bruce swallowed his pride and nodded his acceptance, “Do the rest of you concur?”
He glanced up when he did not hear immediate agreements from the rest. His gaze caught on Clark’s miserable expression, and he realized that if he forced them to vote, he would only hurt them. He did not want to hurt his friends any more than he already, so foolishly, had.
He exhaled softly and made sure his voice was even when he spoke, “If there are no objections, I would like to tender my resignation effective immediately. I shall send a written request to the League’s official email for documentation purposes within twenty-four hours.”
“Batman,” Martian Manhunter’s voice called out, “The team needs you,”
“How can you still speak in his favour despite what he said about you?!” Hal exclaimed loudly, glaring at the Martian.
“I… hurt them.” Bruce made himself say, ignoring the Lantern’s interruption. J’onn, being a telepath was the only one privy to his thoughts when he had said those hurtful things while in the Hochinians’ captivity. And he was always grateful to the alien’s tact and capacity to keep secrets. He swallowed, guilt clawing at his throat like acid, “And like Green Lantern already said, no one can work alongside a teammate they cannot trust when handling the kind of situations that the JL regularly deals with. … He also pointed out correctly that the team does not actually need me to function. So, let me just say that it was an honour to work alongside you all. Goodbye.”
He forced his way to his feet without crumbling, suddenly glad that the chairs were black and hid any blood that might had seeped through his suit and cape.
“Batman, please leave your League comms before you depart,” Superman reminded softly, voice carefully modulated to be even and commanding. And if he had not known the man so well, Bruce would have thought the Kryptonian was completely unaffected, as it stood though, Bruce could hear the sorrow threading his best friend's (even if he had refused to verbally acknowledge it) voice clearly. It made him wonder if the grief was borne out of the hateful things Bruce had said back in Hochinian captivity or if it was because Bruce was leaving the League. If his suspicions were correct and it was the former and not the latter, he had far more to apologise for than he had imagined.
Bruce schooled his expression at the revelation and closed his eyes, breathing through the pain- both emotional and physical. He had designed those comms. Made each piece unique to cater to its users’ specific power set and consequential requirements. And now he was being asked to relinquish it. For a brief, insane moment he thought about refusing. But then he remembered that he was no longer a part of the League and carefully plucked them out and left them on the polished table as he made his way to the zeta, careful to hide his limp as he walked as quickly as his struggling body would allow and punched in the code to take him back to the Manor.