Bruce stopped at the doorway. Clark Kent stood in the middle of the room, still in his civilian clothes. Joker lay still in one corner, the other thugs were also out cold. And Kent hadn't even ruffled his hair.

Kent turned towards the doorway, his face was pale and he looked angry. But his features relaxed as he saw him.

"Friends of yours?" he asked, indicating the unconscious men.

Bruce shook his head. "Hardly." He paused. "I would have thought you would wait for help, considering you are still in your civilian clothes,"

A rueful smile appeared on Kent's face. "I... lost my temper, it wasn't intentional."

Well, thought Bruce, if this was all Superman did when he lost his temper, it wasn't too bad.

"Did you?" he asked. "And the building is still intact? Astonishing."

Kent crossed his arms across his chest. "What are you implying?"

"I've seen how you fight," Bruce grated out. "You are never bothered by the collateral damage caused by your fights."

"If you are referring to my fight with Zod, I had no choice."

"Yeah, right," scoffed Bruce. "No choice but to kill thousands? To demolish inhabited buildings? To destroy half of Metropolis?"

"I did not seek that fight," said Kent, white-lipped. "I had no choice. He was turning Earth into Krypton. I had to stop him! If I did not, you would not be standing here today to lecture me on my methods!"

Bruce glared at Kent. "He came to earth because of you!" he snarled.

"So, in effect you are blaming me for existing." Kent walked towards him. Bruce stood his ground.

"That is not what I am saying." He said, slightly discomfited.

"That is exactly what you are saying! That I had no right to live, to exist. Because my existence on earth brought Zod here, so it was my fault because I live!"

They were nose to nose now. Bruce struggled to stay in control, to control his fear, his breathing, his heart-rate, because there was no way he was going to allow this alien to sense it. He could not show any weakness to this creature, for all he looked like a man.

Kent stared at him for a moment, blinked and then took a step back. "I take it you have informed the police about them?" he made a gesture towards the unconscious forms.

"Alfred?" Bruce spoke to his comm link.

"On it, sir," came the reply.

A faint smile appeared on Kent's face. No doubt he was listening in.

Damn!

"What made you lose your temper?" asked Bruce now, striving for some kind of normalcy.

Kent's face darkened. And then he said, "I hope you are aware that this madman knows who you are."

Bruce struggled not to let his chagrin show. Obviously Superman had deduced his identity too. "I know," he said, adding. "I take it you do too."

Kent frowned. "I am not your enemy, Batman. I am not the one who has made it his life's mission to get under your skin. I am not the one who's trying to kill everyone around you just to thumb their nose at you."

Bruce said nothing. The alien's words made sense. And he was wondering what it said about him that he was more bothered that Superman knew who he was than about Joker knowing it.

And then he realized that Superman had neatly side stepped his question. Might be his journalist training, but it was a move worthy of Bruce Wayne. For a moment, Bruce felt a twinge of admiration.

"Master Bruce," Alfred's voice came through the comm links. "The police will be there soon."

"Time for you to leave?" Superman queried.

"Time for Batman to make his exit," Bruce nodded. "And for Clark Kent to deal with GCPD."

Kent looked at Bruce and said quietly, "I am going to tell them you rescued me and knocked out these men. You know that, don't you?"

"Be my guest," said Bruce indifferently. "It is how things would have panned out if you had not," he paused, "lost your temper."

Kent looked uncomfortable and vaguely guilty. As if he felt bad about his loss of control. Bruce filed away the information for examining later, as he swung out of the building.

But he was not finished with Kent. Not by a long shot. When Batman asked questions, he was used to getting answers. And he was going to get them, even if he had to abduct Superman later. After all, it was important to know what could have caused the man to lose his temper so much he risked the revelation of his identity.