Interrogation

As the bell rang, students at Excelsior quickly left their classes, slowly making their way towards the cafeteria for lunch.  But Bruce's mind was on anything but food at the moment.  While the hundreds of other students went about their business as normal, worrying about nothing more than finals and prom dates, Bruce alone understood the true danger the city was in.

  Bruce lifted his eyes to the hallway in front of him, and saw another student exiting class a few doors down.  Bruce had a sudden realization: he was not the only person in the school who knew what was happening.  He hunched his shoulders slightly forward—imperceptibly to anyone not paying attention to him—and took slow, deliberate steps down the hall.  He weaved through the crowd like a predator stalking a kill.  He timed his steps so that when he reached his target, none of the other students were facing his direction.

   He grabbed the other student by the arm, twisting him around and literally throwing him into a nearby science lab, now empty during the lunch hour.   The other student, too surprised to react in time, hit a counter and slipped to the floor.

   Bruce shut the door behind them, and the other boy felt fear crawl up his spine.  The look in Bruce's eyes—it wasn't hatred, or insanity, but a determined wrath.  Lex Luthor cowered slightly, crawling back a couple of feet.  Bruce saw Lex's face and knew something was wrong with him—more wrong than usual.  Lex's usual mocking grin—the one he often used to hide his fear of inadequacy—was gone.  His bald head was covered in sweat, and his eyes seemed weary.  Something was definitely weighing heavily on him.

   Bruce lifted Lex up by the collar and shoved him into the counter.

   "You know what your father's doing, don't you?" Bruce said. His voice was quiet, yet rumbled with a forceful, almost snarling undertone.

   Lex tried to play it cool. "Y-you tell me."

   Bruce unconsciously let a short growl rumble from his throat, and Lex responded.

   "What do you want me to do?!?"

   Bruce leaned back, and his anger faded.  Lex's voice wasn't angry, or defiant; it was desperate.

   "I don't have a ch-choice!" Lex said, his voice slightly trembling. "He's my father!"

   "He's destroying the city," Bruce said firmly. "Is that what you want? Do you want Metropolis to become another Gotham?"

   "Of... of course not. But my—"

   "You can stop him!"

   Lex stood in silence for a moment, as if stunned by Bruce's statement.

   "...No, I can't—"

   "YES, you can.  No one's closer to him than you are. You can gather evidence, give it to the police; anything."

   "...No. I'll stand with my father. He's a thousand times the man you or anyone else in this city will ever be."

   Lex gathered himself and walked to the door.

   Bruce's anger boiled.  "You're a stupid kid, and your inane loyalty to a madman is destroying lives!"

   Lex spun around and shot Bruce a look of anger through tear-filled eyes.

   "You don't know a thing about me, Wayne."