Universe. How many times have I heard it said that there are other timelines, other worlds beyond our reach? Clark makes no effort to keep such information from me, and isn't in the habit of keeping secrets in general. I've probably kept more than twice as much from him as he ever has from me, but there are times when the thread of trust still holds strong, for all that's left in the dark. He knows, too, that being able to keep some of my life away from his eyes is what holds me there in friendship, as well as it's developed between us. But for all that he's told me about other worlds, I find that it isn't in my place to dwell on the matter. I don't have the power to cross time, to leap from one existence to another; my hands are tied with Gotham, and that doesn't change even now.

Does this explain the change in Jason's behavior? Am I the only one who's been brought to where I stand?

I consider asking him for any other names. He would know, if this has been his town, whether or not anyone else has stepped in these buildings. That much, I know I've taught him well— and he has made no small effort to learn even more wherever the knowledge is offered him.

Then again, I have no reason to trust that he would take me to them. And to believe that no lie would go unnoticed is just asking for a first.

I turn, figuring that there's nothing to be done while he hides in the shadows. "A dead city is no place to stay," I point out, before deciding to try, heading out to find a bathysphere that may, supposedly, take me to the surface.