Clark sat up groggily. What is it now?
Putting on his glasses, he made his way to the door. Opening it, he found a basket, with a baby tucked inside. Out of the corner of his eye, a note written in cursive was tied on to the basket. Reading it aloud:
Dear Clark,
I know your identity. How do you ask? Well, several years ago we took a strand of "Superman's" dna. While observing it, I found that it matched the same DNA of you, one of my fave reporters. And how did I happen to have a sample of Clark Kent's DNA lying around? Well, that's a tale to tell for another time.
As for the relevance of this to the child, well, let's just say he's a clone of you and me. Half Kryptonian mixed with my human genetics. I decided to leave him on your doorstop in order to see how he'll be like being raised by one of his genetic "fathers". But don't worry, I won't cause life to be hell for Clark, as I know that even Superman himself must have some life outside of the world, you know?
Warm Regards,
Luthor.
I nearly crumpled up the letter. This was his child?
Suddenly, he found himself looking at the baby, the little tyke did look just like him. Tanned skin, dark hair and blue eyes, he could see almost no resemblance to Luthor at all. Aw. He just didn't have the heart to leave him out here. Gently picking him up, he closed the door, making sure to not make too much of a racket.
Propping the basket down, he tried to find something that most earth parents would feed a child, but after using his speed to quickly search, he found nothing that seemed adequate enough for a baby. He looked down at the name tag attached, which read the words "Kon-El", or Connor. Connor looked to be no more than a year old, earth year wise.
Sighing, Clark picked up the phone and called the first number that came to mind. Waiting, he strummed his fingers along the countertop and waited until someone picked up.
"Smallville, is that you?" A tired voice said on the other end.
"Oh hey Lois." Clark replied back sheepishly.
"It's like 3 in the morning. I have an interview with Bruce Wayne tomorrow at 10 am sharp. I've already written my lines and plan on trying to impress him and our boss, so I do not want to look like a zombie in 7 hours." Lois dryly stated.
"Oh well, you see.." Clark rambled on for about a minute explaining his situation, albeit leaving out the Luthor and Half Kryptonian parts and substituting them with a little lie here and there.
"Oh, so you're a "father" now eh?" Lois said and Clark could've sworn he heard snickering coming from her.
"Well, just Google him or something, I don't know. I need my sleep and don't have time to put up with your antics Clark".
"Wait, just wonderi—"
Clark put down the phone. Cut off mid-sentence. Rude, but he understood why. This interview means a lot, it could open a few doors for Lois.
He turned around to find the baby crying. Panicking, he tried to rock Connor in his arms to calm him down. It sorta worked, and after a while continued peacefully sleeping. Clark took his glasses off and massaged his temples. This whole father business was giving him a headache. Wait, could an alien even get a headache? He did not know.
Picking up the phone again, he tried to place a thumb on anybody who would seem sufficient to help him in this situation.
Diana? Nah, if he had a daughter maybe. Arthur? Barry? Hal?
Finally, he found himself dialing the number to the Wayne Manor. Why Bruce? Clark did not know, but he'd figure maybe Bruce would be interested in the fact that he was a clone or something along those lines.
"Hello?" Alfred replied from the other line.
"Hey Alfred, could I talk to Bruce? I have something to say that might be of his interest."
"Certainly. I'll alert Master Bruce right away."
After waiting a few seconds, Bruce's gruff voice filled the line.
"What is this important subject you had to talk about at 3 am that would be of my interest?"
"Well, you see.. Lex made a clone of me, no wait Superman and himself. Somehow he deduced that Superman was Clark Kent and sent the baby off to my apartment so I could raise him. Don't fret though, he promised he won't make my life miserable, er Clark's life, but Superman's life is another thing."
"Wait, wait, slow down. Luthor knows your identity and made a clone of you and him?"
He nodded, but realized that's useless as Bruce can't see him.
"Yes."
"Do you mind stopping by and showing me the kid?"
"I'm not so sure about that" Clark eyed Connor, "he's sleeping right now and I think it might disturb him."
'Then I could come over if you want."
"Don't you have an interview with Lois in about 6 and a half hours?" Clark questioned.
"Actually, 6 hours and 28 minutes to be precise." Clark could tell that he was saying that with a smug smile on his face. "-an wait. Hell, I might cancel it. I want to see this "clone" now."
Clark frowned. Bruce seemed to have an obsession with seeing his kid. But he shrugged it off, know that Bruce only wanted to see to analyze it. Possibly to make a clone of himself (Bruce) and me. Wait, why was he suddenly thinking about a lovechild with Bruce? Clark quickly dismissed that thought.
"Wait, before you leave, could you bring some stuff a child would need? Like that formula stuff and maybe some toys? I don't have time to go to the store and get them."
A lengthy silence passed by until he replied "Sure. But your reasons are bull considering you can run and fly faster than light." Bruce hung up shortly after. He did have a point.
Roughly half an hour later, Bruce Wayne showed up at his door, sporting a plain white t-shirt, black jogging pants and a blue duffel back slung around his right shoulder. Clark hated how dashing he looked even in casual clothing. From his crystal clear blue eyes to the tight shirt showing off faint lines of his muscular figure underneath, ugh why was he thinking about him?
"Hey. The kid?" Bruce said starkly.
He quietly mumbled "Right" and led him inside.
"I take it the stuff is in the duffel bag?"
"Indeed. Now the child?" Bruce said with a demanding tone.
"Over there." Clark pointed to the basket where Connor was quietly dozing away.
Bruce walked over and sat down on the couch. He looked, no glared attentively at Connor. Then read the note. Silence followed until Clark cleared his throat.
"So, any particular reason you wanted to see the child?" questioned Clark.
"Not really, but when you mentioned "clone" well.." Bruce replied back as he moistened his lips. Clark found himself trying to refrain from drooling as he did this.
"Could I take him home?" This abrupt question snapped Clark back to reality. What?
"I want to take him home to test him. Don't worry, I won't hurt him, I just want to sample his blood, for scientific reasons."
"Oh no. If you plan on making another clone, there's no way in hell I'm letting you do that."
"Relax. Don't get so uptight about it. Besides Alfred could look after him and from the looks of it, you don't that thing do you?"
Clark clenched his fists. He wasn't so sure why Bruce calling Connor a thing made him mad, but on the other hand, he was right. He was not ready to be a father.. yet.
"Okay, yes, but tomorrow, maybe after you're done with the interview I could come and see him?"
"Of course."
And with that, Bruce picked the basket up and left. Clark couldn't tell why, but he felt lonely immediately after. Stop that. You're not ready to have a child yet and he's not really your son..
Trudging over to his bed, he removed his glasses and layed down. Feeling hot, he took off his shirt and stared blankly at the ceiling. Why couldn't he sleep? Wait, a Kryptonian wouldn't need sleep or any kind of rest for a few days, given their physiology. But he didn't want people to ask why he looked like a mess tomorrow. After what seemed like hours he closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.
Clark woke up with a jolt. Shit what time was it? Glancing over at the clock, he read the numbers "10:45 am" out loud. Dammit. I'm late. Using his superspeed he, quickly got dressed, showered and ate in less than 15 seconds. Rushing out the door, he ran (hopefully unseen) to the Daily Planet.
Scrambling through for the elevator, he just got out when he stopped in his tracks. Bruce Wayne was just exiting out of Lois' office, laughing when Bruce spotted him. Waving a hand, he jogged to the elevator and shoved Clark through the entrance, gave a look which said "Don't get out".
As the elevator doors closed, Clark quietly asked "So, how was Connor?"
"Not that much trouble, well for Alfred that is. And I took a sample of his DNA. Pretty interesting stuff I found." Bruce said while looking at the floor.
"Like what?"
Elaborating, Bruce explained that the science behind cloning must've cost a fortune of research and help in order to make it happen. But coming from Lex, that obviously wasn't a problem. He also explained that the child will still possess powers like his, but will lack some due to the human dna.
"Essentially speaking" he continued as they got out the elevator "He's an imperfect alien/human clone. Although he ended up perfectly fine, nothing abnormal about him, normally cloning is a trial and error type of thing you know?" Bruce finished his sentence while the driver opened the door. While Bruce slipped in, Clark was walking away to get back to work.
"Where are you going?" he said, unrolling his window.
"Um" Clark looked down and fidgeted his fingers "to work?"
"You wanted an interview right? Come in, I'll do it." Bruce winked.
Clark found himself blushing. He didn't want an interview. Was Bruce hitting on him? Clark brushed aside this thought, yes he found him dreamy and wanted to spend some personal time with him, but Clark was willing to bet that he already had a special somebody. Then again, he did promise to let Clark see Connor again that, no this morning.
Nonetheless, he took his offer and got in the car. As they reached the outskirts of Metropolis, Bruce decided to break the silence. "Why, out of all people that you could've asked, why? Why me? Arthur's already a dad, Barry's great with kids, but then theirs me."
"I.. I.. didn't think they wanted to be bothered.. after all, they have their own lives and all that. And.. and I don't think they would've been pleased knowing that my "son" was a clone. You probably would've been fascinated by this, so I called you." Clark stammered.
Chuckling, Bruce flashed a smile. God, his near perfect white teeth lit the entire vehicle. Oh wait, what? Too mushy. Hold on, what made me think about this? Not knowing what to say, he quickly changed the subject. "So how's Gotham? Got your eyes on someone special?"
"Same old, same old. And no. I am currently not dating anyone at the moment, Bruce Wayne or otherwise."
Clark knew instinctively that the "otherwise" meant Batman. His superhero identity that he presumed in order to bring justice around the streets of Gotham. Oh boy, picturing Bruce in his costume, stop that. Come on, even if he's single, he obviously wouldn't be caught in a relationship with a) a man and b) a lowly, stuttering reporter like me.
The rest of the trip was spent looking outside, talking and interaction seemed to cease between the two. And Clark slowly counted the minutes until they reached the Wayne Manor.
(Note: Sorry if you've noticed a change of perspectives/pov dialogue. I did this because I realized that the pov originally planned wouldn't work for me in some scenes, but I don't have time to rewrite the first half so if you're wondering why.. then yeah).
I woke up to the sound of Bruce's voice. Wait, that sounded wrong. Okay Bruce was asking him to wake up, but it wasn't for any reason.. kinky. It was just because he fell asleep while they arrived at the mansion.
"Wake up Clarkie Warkie. We're here." Bruce purred.
Oh damn. Why did he have to tease me.
Rubbing my eyes, I catch a quick glance of Bruce laughing..?
"What you smiling at?" I question.
"Oh nothing. But it's kinda cute how you drool when you sleep."
Cute. Wow. Wasn't expecting that..
The awkward silence that follows after is unbearable. Oh god what I wouldn't do to get those lips on mine. The next thing I do is so out of the blue that even I question my motives for doing it. I run my hands slowly along Bruce's face, savoring the feeling of his rough skin along my fingers. I laugh with glee as Bruce's expression progresses to a smile. Taking the opportunity, I clasp my hands around his and I feel sparks literally course through my bones.
I stare in Bruce's cold, calculating blue eyes intently, but quickly let go. I stutter. "S-S-sorry.. I-I.. know you obviously don't like boys. NO! Guys, no you're, you're straight aren't you?"
Bruce's response takes me back a bit. "I could tell you liked me. It was amusing to say the least. You struggling to find words, God you should've seen your face when you fell head over heels for me when I was at your apartment this morning. I'm not surprised though. I'm Bruce Wayne. Only natural you'd go gay for me."
Pfft. Typical playboy Bruce.
I pull him close to me so that our foreheads are almost touching. I whisper in his ear "Way to ruin the moment."
With strength God knows where he mustered it from, he pushes me back. "I'd kiss you right now, but our banter took too long. Maybe next time get straight to the point if you get my rift." Bruce pecks me on the cheek and exits the car.
Moaning, I open the door. Slamming it shut, I stop to think for a minute, Bruce could tell that I liked him, but he didn't get mad. I grin. Maybe there is hope for us after all..
*Stay tuned, and please leave a review. I thrive on motivation.* =]
