I finally found you...

X-ray vision, thermal vision, night vision…

I knew he had to there somewhere. It's just that my visions had failed in locating him.

The corny outfits of circus dangling from the ceiling and the glaring spot lights of the stage did not perturb me anymore.

He has to be here!!! I know it!!!! That was the only thought which filled my mind, and probably that was the thing which blurred my vision, and not the Kryptonite I was exposed to a few minutes ago.

Bruce! Where are you????

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Joker was laughing.

His neck was firmly in my grip. That didn't bother him. Why should it? He knew I couldn't kill him! The wouldn't which turned into couldn't after years of usage.

"Where is he, Joker?" I roared. It was deafening, and I knew it. I could feel nerves near my vocal chords pull against each other.

After a momentary fight with nausea which was caused by the stirring of fluids in his cochlea, Joker laughed again, more viciously.

"Where is my cape? Where did you come from, Blue boy?" his shrill voice grew more and more unbearable to my ears. Of course, he was referring to Batman. But where would he come from?

Gordon played a desperate card.

"Tell me where you hid Bruce Wayne! Otherwise," he pointed his blaster at this pathetic excuse for a human being, "there is nothing stopping me from killing you!"

He laughed again!!!! And this time, the poor acoustics of the auditorium lead to a terrible piercing echo. Not that I was affected, by it was becoming more and more difficult for me to keep myself from exerting that one final morsel of pressure, putting an end to it forever.

"Oh! Commisioner Gordon! You have less brains than this Man in Blue does! You kill me, and you'll Never find Wayne" The last expression was a roar in itself.

I lost the little patience I had and hurled him onto the floor. I had expected that the impact would at least be large enough to break his head. It wasn't! A muffled sound of laughter grew in intensity with time, choking intermittently.

Gordon handcuffed him, straining his arms to his back, and then pulled him up.

"I will get the truth out of him, Superman! Don't worry about it! We'll find out where he is, soon!"

Soon! How soon!

I knew I couldn't rely on Gordon's definition of 'soon'. Bruce had to be found, before it was too late


Late! How late

Joker stopped laughing, something which drew my attention back to him. He was looking at me  deviously, and the laugh had actually transformed into a grin.

"Let me give you one word of advice, Boy-scout" he paused, to make sure I was listening. I was.

"You look terribly beaten! I say, go wash your face in the adjoining stream before even showing it to your girlfriend!!! Yuk!!!!" he winced, and then laughed again.

Gordon expedited his exit, before I could crush his skull!!!!

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Bruce!!!! Where are you???

I had searched everywhere! Everywhere!!!! I knew what Bruce would say if I said that to him.
Well obviously you haven't searched everywhere, because you did not find it

Yes, I did not search everywhere, because I did not find you.

I did not!!!

I walked, yes walked outside the auditorium, to the stream.

Wash your face…
Joker's voice rang in my ears, making me even more reluctant to approach it. But I had no choice. I was running out of options, in fact I had run out of options.

Take some time to sharpen the saw - he would say.

I approached the stream, dropped down on my knees and glanced into the undulated water flow. It was almost too perfect, for I could see my reflection, a clear reflection.

For a moment, I forgot everything, everything which drove me to this place. I carefully dipped both my hands into the water. The water washed through my impenetrable skin, changing its color momentarily as it passed over my hands. I could see the grease on my hands, forming a thin film over the water. Water alone was insufficient to wash it off, but could remove a part of it to form an insoluble layer over itself. For a moment, I watched the layer, as it dispersed the light of the evening sun, showing the colours of the rainbow – violet, blue, and tinge of green and a predominant amount of red, blood red.

Blood!

I withdrew my hands and examined them cautiously. No sign of blood whatsoever. I knew that!!! I looked back into the water to find a portion of a thin line of blood, too thin to be noticeable. It was flowing downstream. I looked in the direction of its origin. No doubt! The stream was thicker a few metres away.
" Where is Bruce?

"Wash your face at the adjoining stream"

No!!!!

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Floating on the surface was a pool of blood, to distinct to be missed. And under that pool was a flickering black garment. The water was shallow, and my vision was distinct.

Bruce!!!!

I kneeled down and lifted him against the minor resistance of viscous force. It was Bruce On his chest, dangerously close to the heart, was a wound, a bullet wound. The stream had been washing the blood off the wound all this time, unaware that the blood would constantly ooze out.

His face was pale – Loss of blood

His body was limp, almost lifeless - He's unconscious

I wasn't going to believe that he was dead. Never!!!!

But I had to be sure.

"Bruce!" I whispered in his ears. He did not move.

I held him firmly against my chest, with one of my arms holding up his shoulder part and the other on his waist. I could feel his heartbeat, faint – yes, but positive.

"Bruce!" I whispered again, pressing his back at the same time. The pressure was good enough to instigate expulsion of some water.

He coughed, and simultaneously fell back, away from my embrace. I did not let him fall back into the water. I could see his face, contorted in severe pain, the bullet in the chest.

I let his waist rest on my thigh and with my other hand holding his head, the applied gentle pressure on his abdomen. Water expelled out again, and this time, he coughed more violently.

"It's Ok, Bruce! You'll be all right!" I said, and suddenly became aware of how unsure I was. I could see the bullet, oscillating in flesh, trying to touch his heart to spell doom for him. His cough was making the situation even worse.

"Bruce, you have to relax!" I pleaded.

He opened his eyes, slowly, and his lips trembled.

"Sss…Superman!" he could voice it, a little above a whisper.

I could only nod, as I became aware of the tears that flowed freely through my eyes and my voice was no longer available for expression.

"You…you…" he mumbled, his eyes drooping. A part of his hands still lay inside the water. He dragged out one of them and placed it on my shoulder.

"You…found me!" he pressed my shoulder, but the grip couldn't last long. The hand slipped back into the water with a splash!

"You found me!" his voice trailed off, as he passed out.



"Yes! Yes, I finally found you!!!! And I won't let you go away!"