Chapter Text
As a general rule, Bruce believed time, space, and dimension were not to be messed with. If he went down that line of thinking, he would never come out. What if he went back and saved his parents? Or went to another universe where they were alive just to have one more conversation with them? It would lead to disaster. Messing with universal constants always did.
However, in this case seeing as an alternate universe’s Batman had come to their universe with the intention of killing him, replacing him, and tearing down their Justice League from the inside so his Justice League could implement their own brand of justice on as many universes as possible, it seemed like a problem best not left to fate.
Staring at his own face through the glass of the holding cell in the Watchtower, Bruce turned over his options in his mind. By all accounts, it wasn’t a bad plan. Alternate Bruce Wayne was his age, no particularly distinctive scarring, or physical differences immediately obvious even after he had been stripped of his Batsuit and given plain sweats to wear. If it hadn’t been for the fact that Clark kept an idle ear on Bruce's heartbeat and suddenly reacted to it being doubled, Alternate Batman would have likely killed Bruce simply for being better prepared for the fight and taken his place.
“I say we take the fight to them,” Hal said. “If they want to go around messing with our dimension, then fucking up theirs is fair game.”
“Play it on their home turf? No way,” Barry said. “They’re bound to realize their plan didn’t work eventually and then they’ll have to bring the fight to us.”
“And who knows how many other unsuspecting civilians that may be caught in the cross fire of their attack,” Clark said.
“I say we find out everything this imposter knows and then face them head on,” Diana said, hand on her whip.
“Oh please, if that doesn’t work on our Batman, no way it works on evil Batman,” Oliver said.
“Bruce?” Clark asked.
“It was a good plan,” Bruce said.
“Might have been better if they picked big blue,” Hal said.
“No, it wouldn’t have. Superman garners far more attention, he has a public persona that would be more difficult to emulate, not to mention dozens of personal relationships he would have to fool. It was a tactically sound decision to send me. I have no family, Bruce Wayne is known for long vacations, and Batman isn’t exactly a sociable hero.”
Oliver opened and closed his mouth like he wanted to protest, but he couldn’t find an argument that actually refuted Bruce’s points.
“I’m the most removed from the League, even if his impersonation wasn’t one hundred percent accurate it would be far less suspicious if Batman acted slightly out of character than if any of you did.”
“Bruce.” Diana put a hand on his arm. “We would notice.”
“You did. Within minutes. Clearly, their universe’s Justice League isn’t as familiar as ours,” Bruce said.
Clark put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.
“Which makes it the perfect plan,” Bruce said.
“What? What plan?” Hal asked.
“His plan,” Bruce said, meeting his own eyes through the glass. “I’ll take his place. Tell them we underestimated this universe’s League, and take them down one by one while they attempt to reformulate their plan of attack.”
“What? No, way. You want to go take down evil us all by yourself?” Barry asked. “That’s insane.”
“No offense, Bats, but I mean, you really think you can do that?” Oliver asked. “You’ll be all by yourself in enemy territory and outnumbered six to one, hell, Superman’s basically a hundred, and the princess ain’t no slouch either, so like, two hundred and four to one.”
“Hey! I’m a meta, I should definitely count for at least two,” Barry argued.
Hal turned on him. “What? You think I only count for one? With the ring? If you’re two. I’m at least five.”
“Point is,” Clark raised his voice slightly to be heard. “You’ll be without back up against multiple assailants and no way to reach us. You would have to take each of us down all by yourself without any of them raising the alarm to the others, which, seems highly unlikely.”
“I’ve accounted for that.” Bruce turned the trans-dimensional gadget over in his hand. “This brought the alter directly to where I was. I imagine if I managed to slap one of these on your alternate selves, it would bring them right to you, where you could subdue them, and then join me in the alternate dimension to keep up the act.”
“And now we’ve surpassed insane to downright cuckoo-bananas,” Hal said, staring at him. “You want to just drop the evil versions of ourselves on us without any warning? What if we’re like taking a shower or something!”
“It will take me at least two weeks to get a proper read on their dynamics and gather enough information for any of you to take one of their places and then each swap should be properly spaced out to avoid suspicion. We’ll decide an order and then you can mark the day on your calendar,” Bruce said mildly.
Hal spluttered. “I— this is still crazy. This is crazy right?”
“It’s ambitious,” Diana said. “But strategic considering the other options both involve all out war with unknown casualty counts no matter which dimension we choose.”
Bruce inclined his head slightly.
Clark frowned. “I don’t like sending you in there without backup for two weeks. Especially not without any way to contact us.”
Bruce gave him an unimpressed look. “I have gone under cover for months before without any back up. At least this time I won’t have to maintain a disguise.”
Clark gave him a long look. “One week.”
“Two weeks. It’s not time I’m taking frivolously. It’s to ensure the best out come.”
Clark sighed. “Two weeks and you swap me first, deal?”
“Isn’t that more risky?” Barry asked. “I mean, don’t you think he should go for uh one of the less heavy hitters first?”
“Hey!” Hal said. “We’re all heavy hitters here! Evil Green Lantern would be a hell of a threat! Maybe Evil Superman’s a total wuss!”
“Why is this whole thing starting to feel like it’s going to end in a pissing contest?” Dinah sighed.
Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Who do you think would be easiest to isolate?” Diana asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t know how many of our dynamics I can rely on over there. Using our relationships as a metric it’s likely Clark would be easiest, but that wasn’t always the case,” Bruce said.
Clark rubbed the back of his neck. “We didn’t get off on the best foot.”
“Then let’s ask our guest a few questions.” Diana pulled her lasso free from her hip, stepping into the interrogation room.
Alternate Bruce Wayne’s eyes flicked over her as she approached, lingering on the lasso. As she pulled it off her hip, he made a subtle biting motion, grinding something between his teeth.
Bruce threw the door open. “Get his mouth open, he just took something.”
Diana startled, reaching out, but his alternate was already crumpling to the floor. Cursing, Bruce dropped down beside him, prying his mouth open to find an empty spot in his mouth where one of his bottom molars should have been. There was no foaming to indicate cyanide and though slow, the alternate’s pulse remained steady.
“Poison?” Clark asked.
“Sedative,” Bruce said, swabbing the inside of his mouth. “We’ll run a trace analysis along with a blood sample. Find out how long lasting it is.”
“We should get him to the infirmary,” Diana said.
Clark picked him up and Bruce had a flicker of embarrassment as the alternate’s head lolled, practically painting a picture of a damsel in distress in Clark’s arms. There were plenty of occasions where Clark had carried his broken and battered body from a battlefield and Bruce could only hope there had been a shred more dignity in it than what he was witnessing. Setting the alter up in the infirmary, Bruce checked all the restraints himself while the others ran medical scans, though there was an odd sense of betrayal as he made absolutely certain that someone with his capabilities couldn’t get free. Years of training to prepare for every situation and he was meticulously stripping away every possible loophole that he would use if the situation were reversed. In front of an audience no less.
“Is that all necessary?” Hal asked.
“If the situations were reversed, yes.”
Hal opened and closed his mouth.
“Freaky,” Barry said, looking back and forth between his face and his doppelgänger.
Bruce ground his teeth. “The sedative?”
“Oh, super duper strong, I think he’ll be out for weeks, he basically comatose himself. A shot of adrenaline won’t even touch it, he could have a heart attack without waking up,” Barry said.
“And there goes our intel,” Oliver said.
“We should wait,” Clark said.
“No. We don’t know what timetable they were operating on, the longer we wait, the less likely they will believe their plan was unsuccessful,” Bruce said. “It would have to be an immediate un-calculated variable for him to return without completing the mission objective.”
Clark’s jaw tensed. “You want to go in with no intel, no back up, and no communication?”
Bruce met his gaze. “I have yet to hear a better plan.”
“Oh, besides suicide?” Clark snapped.
“I’m perfectly capable—“
“It’s not about capable—“
“And now the pissing contest begins,” Dinah sighed.
Oliver snorted.
“Enough,” Diana said. “I agree that the situation is undesirable, but Batman is right, we must move quickly or risk losing the upper hand.”
Clark’s jaw worked.
“Do you really think you can do this?” Dinah asked.
“I think my odds are higher than you do,” Bruce said mildly.
“Yeah, well, the odds right now seem like negative two so…” Hal clicked his tongue.
Barry smacked the back of his head.
“Ow! It’s true!”
“I have been planning contingencies for various circumstances of mind control or cloning to handle each and every one of you. I’m more prepared than any of you are for these circumstances.”
“That’s more unsettling than reassuring,” Oliver said.
“It’s the Bat,” Hal said.
Clark pinched the bridge of his nose. “Let’s just… let’s iron out the details.”
With multiple variables at play, they decided rather than picking a specific swap order, they would all have to be prepared on the right days. To keep a pattern from building they would vary the days of the week which would lead to more time between swaps, but it also led to better protection for secret identities. Someone calling in sick every Friday was bound to be noticed. Once someone was swapped, they would subdue their alternate, enact whatever civilian excuses they needed, and join Bruce in the alternate dimension where he would quickly brief them on the mission and the need-to-know details of their life to keep their cover.
Shedding his own costume, Bruce examined the alternate Batsuit piece by piece, looking for any irregularities. Most of it appeared identical though he could tell by the weight of the lead component on the utility belt it wasn’t just an idle storage space but actively holding a decent chunk of kryptonite. There were a few cracks and singes along the costume from where Superman had helped him subdue the imposter.
“What are you doing?” Clark asked.
“We’ll have to make it look believable.” Bruce stepped up before him, crooking two fingers. “I certainly wouldn’t go down without a fight.”
Clark grimaced, but pulled his fist back, hitting each crack in the armor to replicate the bruises underneath, and one to the jaw when Bruce indicated though it was certainly far lighter than he had hit the imposter.
“Be careful,” Diana said, holding out the device they had taken from his alternate.
“I’ll see you in two weeks,” Bruce said. “Or one of you at least.”
“Bruce.” Clark caught his arm before he could step through the zeta.
“I’ll pick whoever is easiest to swap.”
“I know, just…” Clark sighed, then tried for a smile. “Just don’t knock my undercover skills ’til you’ve seen them, okay?”
Bruce’s lips twitched. “Mm.”
Clark’s smile turned more genuine. “I’ll see you soon, okay?”
Bruce inclined his head slightly, stepping through the zeta tubes, and returning to the cave. The device had two buttons, one with the purpose of locating a 100% genetic match which was what brought the alternate directly to him, and another that had a keyed in return point for the home journey. It would bring Bruce right to the cave of his alternate self.
“Sir?” Alfred asked, standing at the top of the stairs. “Care to explain why we are enacting your extended leave of absence protocols?”
“I’m going to an another dimension to take down an evil version of the Justice League.”
Alfred blinked slowly. “…of course. I’ll tell Mr. Fox you’ve absconded to the Andes with a flock of parka models then.”
“A tad ridiculous don’t you think?”
“Less so than swimsuit models would be.”
“Hn.”
Alfred stepped away. “And Master Bruce? Do be careful.”
“Thank you, Alfred.”
Alfred inclined his head, ascending the stairs. Bruce watched him disappear before moving around the cave to make final preparations, triple checking his weapons, and packing emergency measures. Settling in the middle of a wide open stretch of space, he took a deep breath, and pressed the button.