Doing Time
A/N: This story is for Trista_Zevkia (on AO3) who gave me the prompt. She actually wanted identity porn and I totally misinterpreted the prompt and didn't realize that so... expect another story with Clark/Bruce that goes with this prompt sometime soonish.
This is my first time writing for this fandom and this pairing so I'm sorry if not everything is perfect or if anyone is ooc. I hope you like it anyway. Enjoy. :)
Prompt: Bruce Wayne is accused of beating up some rich jerk. He can't give an alibi, as his alibi is Superman, but he was Batman at the time. So why is this Clark Kent guy trying so hard to get Bruce out of jail?
"In other news, Gotham's billionaire Bruce Wayne goes on trial later today after being arrested for the assault on Fredrick Olman, another well known Gotham billionaire. He will be possibly charged with first degree assault and, according to some people, he could even be denied bail. The judge is known for his dislike of the rich and famous and often times will conduct unfair trials." Clark watches the television set that is hooked to the wall in the Daily Planet, his chin resting delicately in his hand. "Bruce Wayne is the son of late Thomas and Martha Wayne and is best known for his company Wayne Enterprises and even more so for the Wayne Foundation, which is dedicated to helping various charities. At the time of his arrest, the Wayne Foundation was to hold a charity ball for underprivileged children and their families. According to the director of the ball, it will still be held at its assigned date and time despite what has recently happened. He encourages everyone who was planning on going to please, do so still. Now moving on, according to the WDC..." Clark stops listening at this point, huffing a sigh and trying to stay focused on what he is working on. He's currently trying to find any way he can to clear Bruce's name but it's hard when there is evidence of the billionaire doing the crime he's being accused of.
He feels a rolled up newspaper hit him in the back of the head. "Why didn't you tell me what was going on with Bruce?" He looks up at Lois and watches her sit on the edge of his desk. She has a steaming mug of coffee in one hand and the rolled up paper in the other.
"I just haven't gotten around to it. I've been kind of busy," Clark responds.
Lois smirks. "Trying to get him out of it aren't you? Wasn't there evidence against him though?" Clark nods minutely.
"Yeah but you see, Lois," he stands so he can get a little closer, this way he won't have to be so loud. "It wasn't Bruce Wayne who beat the guy up, it was Batman."
She nods in thought. "Then why can't he just say he was with you?"
Clark sits back down with a heavy sigh. "That's the other thing, Superman was with Batman."
"Oh." Lois pulls her bottom lip into her mouth and chews on it. She then says, "That certainly makes giving an alibi hard."
"Someone planted that evidence Lois, I just know it. Batman wouldn't bring something of Bruce's with him and if he had, he's way too careful to let something that could identify him be left behind for someone to find." Clark turns back to the computer screen. "I'm sure Mr. Olman planted it but I can't figure out how he or his men got their hands on it."
Lois gets off the edge of the desk and leans down, hovering over Clark's shoulder with her hand on the back of the chair to look at his computer screen. "What about asking the Justice League to help?"
"I can't, Flash, Wonder Woman, and Hawkgirl are on the other side of the world dealing with a tsunami and Green Lantern and J'onn are off in some other galaxy to help with some kind of intergalactic war," Clark answers.
Lois looks at him. "I'm surprised you didn't go with them, Green Lantern and J'onn I mean."
Clark shrugs. "I couldn't, Bruce wanted me to help him with Mr. Olman and when Batman asks someone for help then you help just because it's such a rare occurrence for him to ask and you also know it's serious."
Lois chuckles silently from beside him. "Okay, what about the rest of the Bat-family?"
"Nightwing is too busy with Gotham with Bruce being gone, so is Robin, and Red Hood, I have no idea where he is. Alfred is working on it though, at least to the best of his ability." He looks over at his co-worker and former girlfriend and sees her nodding.
She straightens herself back up. "Okay, one more question." Clark raises one of his eyebrows knowing there's never just one more question with her but she brushes it off. "What did billionaire Fredrick Olman ever do to deserve the wrath of Batman and Superman?"
"He was smuggling drugs but he was also smuggling people into the states and into Gotham. He would then sell them to the highest bidder. What the buyer does with the people is up to them. They can do anything to them afterward. It's quite sickening," Clark says.
"Tell me about it." Lois balls up her hands and places them on her hip, a stance Clark mostly sees from Diana. "Okay, so you need more help figuring out this mess so I guess I have no choice but to help you."
"What?" Clark stands. "No Lois, it's too dangerous, you could get hurt."
"Then it's a good thing I'll have Superman with me." She hits his arm playfully and then begins to walk away, calling over her shoulder. "Come on Smallville, we're not going to be able to get your boyfriend out of jail by just standing here doing nothing."
Clark feels his cheeks heat up. "He's not my... oh never mind," he finishes with a sigh when he realizes she's not listening and follows her to the elevator.
Clark follows Lois as she walks briskly down the sidewalk, struggling to keep his Clark Kent persona up while also keeping up with her at the same time. She already e-mailed Perry on her phone, telling him that she and Clark are chasing a lead and that is why they are absent. "So, first things first, we go to the source which, in this case, consists of three things: the crime scene, Mr. Olman, and Bruce Wayne himself." She stops abruptly, almost causing Clark to bump into her which could have been bad, and turns to face him. "Which do you think we should hit first?"
Clark thinks she looks a little too excited to be doing this. "Probably the crime scene. Mr. Olman most likely won't like us coming to him asking questions and Bruce... well he's Bruce so he won't like it either."
"Okay then, Fredrick Olman it is." She turns back around and starts walking again. "Always start with the hardest ones to crack, Clark, makes the job easier."
Clark stares after her in disbelief but he's really not that surprised. Dazedly, Clark follows her. They end up going into a random back alley to have Clark change into Superman and then carry Lois all the way to Gotham. When they arrive, he ducks into another alley in order to put his civilian clothes back on. He keeps an ear out for any thugs that could be around but it's still pretty early in the day so he doubts they'll come across any. They take a cab to Mr. Olman's work and when the secretary informs them that he isn't in today, they head for his mansion. Clark knows stopping by his house will make things ten times worse than if they had just talked to him at his office, but once Lois sets her mind on something, there's really no way of stopping her.
...
She knocks persistently on the door, border lining on annoying, before a butler answers it. "How may I help you?"
"Hi I'm Lois Lane from the Daily Planet, this is Clark Kent, I was wondering if we could ask Mr. Olman some questions?" Lois barges right into the point of why they are there, no funny business.
"I'm sorry Miss, but Mr. Olman will not be taking any questions at this moment." The butler makes to shut the door but Lois stops him with a hand on the door.
She steps a little closer. "It'll only be a minute and trust me; we'll make it worth his wild."
Alfred number duex shakes his head. "Again, I'm sorry but Mr. Olman does not wish to answer any more questions." This time he does shut the door before stealthy Lois can stop him again. Clark decides then that he likes Bruce's Alfred better than this butler.
Lois huffs and takes a step back. "Okay, plan B."
"We had a plan B?" Clark asks.
"Always have a plan B, Smallville." She's looking up so Clark does too. "Fly me up to that window, we're going in."
Clark gapes. "What? But Lois that's breaking and entering."
"Technically," she steps close to him and wraps her arms around his neck. "It's not breaking if we don't have to break the window and we won't know that until we get up there. So, up we go Clark, or do you not want to save your boyfriend?"
Clark feels that heat rise to his cheeks again. "He's not my boy-" He stops himself when he sees the smirk on her face. Sighing, he grabs her around the waist and lifts off the ground. Lois leans in his arms to try and open the window and grins widely when it opens with ease, obviously not being locked. They go inside, Lois crawling in first and then Clark. He's glad Lois decided to wear pants today instead of a skirt. "Should I be Superman?"
His current partner in crime turns to look at him. "Probably better just in case we get into some trouble, but when we come across Mr. Olman, you should hang back. Wouldn't want him to get suspicious of why the Man of Steel is asking him such questions with some reporter." Clark nods and uses his speed to change and hide his clothes in a bush back outside. "Can you see him?"
Clark uses his ex-ray vision and searches the house. It doesn't take him long to locate the billionaire in his office. He's talking to someone on the phone and the conversation looks heated by the way Mr. Olman's eyebrows are scrunched and his face is all red in anger. "He's in his office on the other side of the building, this floor." He picks Lois up bridle style and flies to the closed door of the office. "Here we are."
"Thanks." She straightens out her clothes and waits for Superman to make himself scarce. She then, instead of knocking like Clark thought she was going to do, flings the door open and steps into the room. Clark stays where he is hidden and listens. He can hear the jump of the man's heartbeat as he is startled and then his hasty goodbye to whomever he was talking to on the phone.
The chair rolls on its wheels as Mr. Olman stands. "And who the hell are you?"
"Lois Lane, Daily Planet." Clark must hand it to her, despite her heart rate increasing slightly, her voice never waivers. "I have a few questions to ask."
"How did you get in here?" He hears the click of a button. Must be signaling to the guards.
Ignoring the question, Lois proceeds with her own. "Did Bruce Wayne really beat you up Mr. Olman?" Mr. Olman doesn't say a word and just stands there waiting for his security guards to show up. "Do you realize just how unbelievable your story is? Bruce Wayne beating you up so bad that you needed to have stitches? Mr. Wayne is a bumbling fool who, even if he could throw in a few punches, you would be able to fend him off easily. So now my question to you is, why frame him?"
"You really think I'm going to answer these preposterous questions?" Clark can hear the security coming up the stairs. "You're insane."
"No," Lois continues, "I think someone else beat you up to a bloody pulp because they found out about your smuggling business and it sure wasn't Wayne, but because you're rivals with Wayne when it comes to yours and Bruce's company, you thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get him out of the picture. So you somehow got away from the cops after, I'm guessing one of the Justice League members, turned you in and then you planted evidence against Bruce Wayne in order to make him look guilty and get arrested."
Using his x-ray vision, Clark can see the calculating look on Mr. Olman's face before a grin breaks out. "A lot of money can go far."
"So you paid the cops off," Lois confirms.
Mr. Olman shrugs and walks around his desk. His men are almost to the room. "It's really not that hard to do in Gotham." He hears Mr. Olman take a few steps closer to Lois and Clark gets ready in case he tries to do something. "Now Ms. Lane, I must ask you to leave... unless you want my boys to rough you up." Clark can hear the smug smirk in his voice. Lois huffs and turns around. "And Ms. Lane, if I find any of this in the paper, well, you can guess what will happen to you."
A few seconds later Lois appears where he is hiding. "Let's get out of here before we're found by his men." Clark scoops her up and flies out a nearby window, that one being unlocked as well. He goes and retrieves his clothes and then flies the both of them back to the center of Gotham. He lands on one of the many roofs. "Well that went smoothly. At least we know he paid off the cops. Still don't know how he even got the evidence though."
"I've been thinking about that. Someone must have broken into the Wayne Manor without anyone knowing. Maybe Batman was off on patrol at the time and Alfred was in a different room. That place is so big that it wouldn't be hard to sneak in and out with no one noticing," Clark explains.
"Yeah, but doesn't Bruce have security?" Lois walks over to the edge of the building and peers out into the city. By now it's mid-afternoon and the sun is high up in the sky with a slight breeze. Clark's surprised it's not cloudy like it normally is in Gotham.
He shrugs. "Not that I know of but... he is Batman and a paranoid bastard, I'm sure he has some hidden cameras in some of the rooms."
Lois smiles. "Just not his bedroom." A small chuckle is dragged out of her and Clark joins her. "Alright, so we should probably go see Bruce now."
Clark walks up beside her. "And have a repeat of what just happened? Now the guards coming to throw us out but Bruce isn't going to like us snooping around. He'll want to handle it himself."
His sidekick for the day turns to him, hands on her hips. "And how exactly do you suppose he deal with this himself when he's locked behind bars? Besides, you said it yourself, he asked for help to capture Olman, it's only natural you help him get out of this situation."
Clark exhales. "Either way, I want to go to his trial."
"Without any evidence?" He tilts his head in a 'well, yeah' and she looks down at her watch. "We better get going then, it starts in an hour."
...
They just make it in time for the trial, finding seats in the middle of the right side when they walk into the room. It seems a lot of people have come to see the billionaire playboy put on trial, many people looking almost satisfied that a rich boy will finally get what he deserves and not be able to get out of it. If only they knew the truth like Clark and Lois do.
Mr. Olman shows up shortly after they do and takes his place up front. Clark notices a white, square bandage on his forehead. He didn't have the bruise covered earlier today but he does feel some pride in knowing Superman is the one that gave him it. Clark remembers having to hold back quite a bit in order to not hurt him to the point in which he would die, but he's thankful that Bruce asked for his help. Without it, Batman would have been horribly outnumbered and Clark hates to think what might have happened then. Underneath Mr. Olman's shirt, he knows there are deep purple bruises that were the cause of Batman. Then he also has red marks around his wrists where Batman zip tied him after they defeated him and his men. It's a pity, really, that the Gotham police are so buy able, even with Commissioner Gordan doing everything he can to change that. He's done a pretty good job so far but unfortunately there are still some in the force that will gladly accept a thousand dollars or two in order to set someone free.
They bring Bruce out after ten minutes of waiting. He's in a fashionable suit that makes him look just as good as any other time. His hair is slicked back like always and his face is neutral almost to the point of looking bored. A practiced look that took him a long time to master. The only thing that looks out of place is the handcuffs that are tightly secure around his wrists. The man looks around the room and immediately spots him and Lois. If it was anyone else, they wouldn't have noticed the small twitch Bruce's face makes in annoyance when he sees them but Clark does. Clark smiles sheepishly and waves his hand at him in greeting. This time, his eyebrows jerk even more, small scowl on his face. He then turns to face the front and Clark pushes his glasses back up from where they've slipped down his nose slightly, feeling a blush coming on.
When the judge finally comes out, he takes no time at all getting down to business. Besides Bruce stating that he claims he's not guilty, Clark doesn't really follow anything that they are saying. Next to him Lois is frantically writing notes and he hopes no one important sees her doing so since he's not even really sure you're allowed to. She doesn't seem too concerned about it though, so he says nothing. When they get to presenting the evidence after Mr. Olman's pathetic sob story, and Bruce's brilliant defense, Clark becomes increasingly more angry. "Calm down Smallville," Lois whispers in his ear. "We'll get him out, don't worry." It doesn't help as he continues to listen to Mr. Olman's attorney about the evidence.
It's a small family heirloom of Bruce's, something his father gave to him before the murder, whose father gave it to him. The thing is actually very important to Bruce and Clark wants to rip it out of that lawyer's hands, take it out of that stupid evidence bag, and hand it back to his best friend. It's small enough to fit in a pair of sweatpants or slacks pocket but big enough to find easily in a dark alley when you're told where to look. Except Clark is sure the cops didn't even have to search. Mr. Olman or one of his men probably handed it straight to the cops himself and was told what to do, along with their payment.
"That's not true!" Clark finds himself saying to what Mr. Olman said as he stands. It shocks everyone in the room, including himself because he certainly wasn't planning on doing something so stupid. "I can prove it."
"And who are you young man?" The judge, whose last name is Kay, inquires. "And what gives you the right to interrupt this court session?" He sounds angry.
"Um... My name is C-Clark Kent, I'm a... um... reporter from the Daily Planet." He can feel Bruce shooting daggers at him with his glare. "And like I said Sir, Mr. Wayne here is innocent."
Judge Kay stands, trying to be intimidating Clark guesses, despite the man being halfway across the room from him. "Oh yeah? And where's the proof?"
"I actually don't have it right now, Sir." He hears an inaudible to everyone else slap to the forehead and he glances over to Bruce. He had, indeed, slapped himself on the forehead in frustration. "If you just give me a few hours, I can... can come back with proof."
Chuckling, Judge Kay sits back down. "You really think I'm going to hold this court just so you can go scurrying around to find non-existent evidence that Brucie Wayne here is innocent?"
"I just need a few hours," Clark pleads.
Another chuckle erupts from the judge. "Why does Mr. Wayne mean so much to you, a random reporter from Metropolis?" Clark doesn't answer. "You're crazy kid but since you're so amusing, I'll give you what you want." People stare at the judge in shocked silence. This probably doesn't happen very often, if ever, and Clark is pretty positive it's not exactly something courts do at all just because their asked. "But you better make it quick, Mr. Kent. You've only got three hours." At that, the judge walks off. Clark hears someone yelling out their disapproval at the three hour wait and another person whispers that Judge Kay is probably going off to eat lunch and then to go have his way with some woman. The person they say this too adds that it could be a man he's meeting. Both shrug and walk out, following everyone else.
"Nice one Smallville." Lois nudges him in the side with her elbow and he smiles at her. He hurries up to Bruce before they can drag him away and stopping his lawyer with a hand on his shoulder. The lawyer turns around and looks from Clark to Bruce, sees Bruce's displeased look, and allows them a minute to talk. Lois saunters up beside him, finally making it through the crowd herself.
"Are you insane Kent?" is the first thing Bruce growls out. Clark knew this would be his reaction so he just keeps smiling at his friend. "What in the world do you think you're doing?"
"Helping you." Clark nods once, feeling slightly proud.
Bruce narrows his eyes at him but he knows his intimidation has never really worked on him and it especially doesn't work on Lois. "I was handling it."
"Yeah," Lois drawls. "It certainly looked like you were winning."
Bruce shifts his angry gaze onto her. "Bruce, look, you're not going to be able to do much when you're in here. We need you to tell us what to do, what to look for. We already know Mr. Olman paid the cops off to frame you but we don't have any evidence," Clark explains.
"I don't suppose you have a recording of him confessing to that," Bruce says absently, not really expecting a reply. Clark looks down at the handcuffs and notices they're a little too tight, causing prominent red marks on his wrists. Clark doesn't like it. "You should be able to get the recording of the night that someone broke into the Manor. Find that, and make sure it's the correct one, and use that."
"So you do have cameras." Clark turns to Lois with a smile. "See, I told you he would have some hidden."
When he turns back to Bruce, he's in mid-eye roll. "The file is encrypted. I can't tell you how to decrypt it, not here, too many ears." His eyes dart around the room, scanning every little crevice carefully. "You'll have to figure that part out on your own."
"Wouldn't Alfred know how to get into it?" Lois questions and Bruce shakes his head. "I would have thought he would know everything."
Bruce shrugs. "I try to keep him out of it as much as possible. If worse comes to shove, he knows how to do an emergency decryption on all my files but that's only if you can't figure it out. It's a last resort." He looks pointedly at both of them, as if he knows they would just jump into the emergency decryption, which is actually probably true. "As soon as the emergency decryption is activated all my files are open to anyone who used it, then, after fifteen minutes, they get transferred to another hard drive I have set up in Gotham, and begin to delete themselves on the hard drive they were accessed from."
"Why?" Clark asks, curious of why Bruce would set up such a thing.
"For security reasons." Bruce explains. "If someone manages to find out who I am and get to Alfred, because I don't expect him to let himself get tortured for information and I wouldn't want that for him anyways, he knows to give them the emergency decryption code. That way he doesn't have to get hurt and whomever is trying to get information gets what they want. They then will go into the cave, use the code, and probably only be able to get halfway through one document before the hundreds that I do have, which are very important documents mind you, will be transferred then deleted permanently from that hard drive. The fifteen minute window should also give Alfred enough time to get away from the Manor and go to one of our rendezvous spots."
"Cool." Lois comments and Clark smiles.
"Exactly what I would expect from you, Bruce." Bruce rolls his eyes again. "Hey Bruce, are you okay?"
He avoids the question. "Don't you have a time limit to beat?"
Clark presses. "Are they treating you okay? Those handcuffs are awfully tight."
Bruce looks down at his wrists as if he forgot they were even bound. "Well I am rich. Some people don't like that."
"But if they're hurting you Bruce-" He's cut off by a smirk on the billionaire's face.
"Are you worrying about me?" He looks like he went straight into Brucie mode.
Clark flusters. "I... uh..." He turns red and hears Bruce's quiet snort.
"You better get going or else you're not going to have enough time to break my encryption. It's a hard one." Bruce turns to his lawyer but stops to say over his shoulder, "Thanks for trying to help me Mr. Kent and Ms. Lane." Then he's off to wherever his lawyer is taking him.
...
He and Lois are currently in front of Batman's computer in the cave, Clark in the chair and Lois sitting in his lap. They've been sitting here for at least a half hour already, running a decryption device Batman normally takes with him on missions. It's the best decryption device there is around and can get into anything within seconds, minutes at most. The problem is, however, is that Batman's encryptions are also the best around and hardest to crack. It's basically a lose lose situation.
Lois sighs. She's leaning forward in Clark's lap, elbows resting on the desk and her head being propped up by her hands. He, himself, is leaning back into the high back of the chair and trying to stay awake. They've done nothing but stare at a screen working some kind of magic that only Batman would understand for the last half hour and it's pretty tiring. He wonders if the Bat Computer is actually trying to fight off the decryption device. After all, he wouldn't be surprised if Batman installed such a contingency plan.
"When we get the file," Lois begins. "It's still not going to be enough to prove Bruce's innocence." She sits up and stretches then gets off his lap so she can stretch her legs. "Just because we have proof someone broke into the manor and stole that heirloom, doesn't mean Bruce Wayne didn't beat Fredrick Olman up."
She sounds tired and Clark really doesn't blame her. "I know but I'm not sure what else we can do. Bruce only told us to use this."
"Yeah but," She turns from looking at the giant coin to stare at him. "He must have known that it wouldn't be enough and that we knew that too."
Clark tsks and rests his head on his hand, elbow on the arm rest of the chair. "Maybe he knows we won't crack the encryption in time and this is his way of keeping us out of this whole situation?"
"You don't really think he would do that, do you?" She walks back up to him but doesn't sit back down.
He shrugs. "I wouldn't put anything past him, no matter which persona he decides to use."
"I don't know Clark," Lois steps over to the various costumes in their cases, Robin's being the only one missing as he is out on patrol with Nightwing. "I think you're making him out to be a bigger jerk than he really is."
"You haven't been around him enough then," Clark says from his place. "He is a jerk. He's an arrogant, self-righteous, know it all, paranoid jerk, who likes to control things and get his way."
"Clark Kent," Lois' hands are on her hips and she's facing him again. "You cannot tell me that that is all he is. Do you think I'm stupid and can't see the way you look at him and he looks at you, how Superman looks at Batman and vice versa?"
He stands, feeling his defenses rise. "What are you talking about?"
"Get your head out of the corn fields, Clark, why do you think I always call him your boyfriend?" Her voice is rising slightly in frustration.
Clark wonders how they even got onto this subject and shakes his head. They must be getting testy with each other because of the stifling heat in the cave. Or is that just him? Is the bat-cave even heated? "Because you like to tease me."
Lois makes an exasperated motion with her arms, throwing them up in the air and voicing her frustration with a groan. "For someone who is supposed to be super and have alien intelligence, you can be quite dense, Smallville."
"Look, it's not like he's not my friend and I don't care about him but that doesn't change the fact that he can be-" At that time, the computer decides to interrupt their little spat with a loud beep. "Finally." Clark turns back to the computer and tries to will his flush away. So it is just him. Lois is by his side in no time but he can still feel the tension floating between them. "Now we just have to find the right video and figure out how to use that as evidence." He doesn't dare look at his companion, knowing full well she's looking at him angrily for not finishing their conversation. They can finish later, though, right now they need to focus on helping Bruce.
It's not that hard to find the correct video. Batman, being as organized as he is, has all the security videos filed under a year folder and then a sub folder of months. In the month folders there are folders for weeks and then there are folders for days. The videos themselves are marked by the hour, military style. Clark believes it's a little excessive to have such a complex organization system but there's nothing he can do about it except maybe piss Batman off if it were to be brought up. Maybe he'll do it anyway just to have some fun.
They quickly watch the ones filed under the day Bruce supposedly beat up Mr. Olman then cut down the correct hour video, making sure it's time stamped correctly. They don't really suspect tampering, as it would be nearly impossible to do with such an encrypted file, but it doesn't hurt to check. It takes all of what twenty minutes to do. It takes them another minute or two to copy it onto a disk. They've already wasted an hour and they still need to figure out how to get this recording to be evidence enough to clear Bruce's name.
He stands and notices Lois is leaning back on the desk, starring off into the distance towards the directions of the costumes. "What is it?"
"What size is Bruce?" Lois asks.
"Why do you-" Clark breaks off. "No, no way."
She pushes off the desk using her hip. "Why not? It's not like you can go and question him as Superman. It'll be too suspicious."
"When did we decide I was even going to question Mr. Olman?" Clark asks, disquieted. "I could have just done that earlier."
"Right now we did." Clark's eyebrows shoot to his hairline. "And I didn't think it would come to this." She goes to the case holding the Batman costume and opens it. "Now, get dressed Smallville." Clark just gapes at her as he grabs the suit and puts it on, grumbling softly to himself.
...
Clark, dressed like Batman, hops off the roof of the courthouse and into an alley that Mr. Olman has decided to use for his smoke place and conversation with his lawyer whom, with what Clark saw on the security tape, isn't actually a lawyer and is in fact one of Mr. Olman's henchmen. Their backs are to Clark as he floats the rest of the way down and doesn't land, deciding to stay about an inch off the ground in order to not make any noise and alert them to him being there. He already feels weird being dressed up as the Cape Crusader as it is and in total daylight too. Though Batman often works during the day when on missions with other Justice League members, he can tell Bruce still prefers to work in the dark and that is when he is most comfortable as Batman. Plus, when he's working solo in Gotham, it's normally at night because that's when all of Gotham's criminals come out, very unlike Metropolis.
Clark digs the recorder out of one of Batman's utility belt pockets and presses record. Earlier, he had to x-ray the belt to make sure he didn't accidentally open the lead lined pocket that held the Kyptonite Batman always carries around with him. That would have made for a bad situation, especially right before he's getting ready to confront the smuggler. He finally lands, making sure to make a little noise and the two men whirl around in surprise, Mr. Olman's henchmen pulling out a gun and pointing it at him. He dashes forward, trying to be as graceful as Batman but has a sneaking suspicion he fails miserably, and knocks the gun out of his hand. He then punches him, trying to hit him as gently as possible but also hard enough to knock the man out. It's a balance that isn't as easy as it sounds and takes a lot of concentration to manage. The man stumbles backwards and collapses to the ground, nose bleeding and jaw hanging at an awkward angle. A quick x-ray shows that he hit the fake lawyer a little too hard for human strength and now the man has not only a broken nose but also a broken jaw. A regular human, if they had punched the guy where Clark had hit him, probably would have only managed to break his nose. Clark wonders if the rumors of Batman being superhuman will start back up now and whether or not Bruce will like the extra fear factor being back.
He turns to look at Olman, who at this point is only starring wildly at him, most likely thinking back to his last encounter with Batman. It satisfies something in Clark to see such fear in his eyes and he finally understands why it appeals so much to Bruce. Not that he would want everyone to be afraid of him all the time but he does see how it can make getting information out of people a lot easier. He takes advantage of that now and it's something he knows Batman would do. He stalks up to him, trying to look just as intimidating as Bruce always seems to be able do so smoothly and naturally. He always looks so fascinating when he's working his magic to get information out of people and it always amazes Clark how quickly he can get it done. He likes leaving any interrogations that they have to do to Batman, knowing he'll get all the info they need and it'll be the correct info instead of some half truth and half lie criminals like to try pulling over them.
He gets up and close to the man's face, snarling as if he's Batman and not Superman dressed like Batman, and pushes the man up against the wall. Clark's arm is up against his neck and he has to consciously make sure he doesn't press too hard in fear he might crush his neck. Mr. Olman's cigarette drops out of his mouth and he gapes with wide eyes. "W-what do you want?"
"Why are you framing Bruce Wayne?" Clark is glad he can mimic other people's voices perfectly. He doesn't think he would be able to deepen his voice to the point of being mysterious, dark, and threatening like Bruce does when in costume.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Mr. Olman tries to shrug but it only causes Clark to add a tiny bit more pressure on his throat.
Clark growls in Batman's voice. "Don't play games with me Olman. Why are you framing him?" A little more pressure.
Clark doesn't dare push any farther than he already is as he can see Mr. Olman now struggling to breathe a little bit. He loosens his grip ever so slightly, just enough to let more air through but not enough for the man to realize the pressure change. "Why..."A struggled cough. "Why would I tell you?"
Clark leans in and narrows his eyes. He knows the man can't see his eyes past the white lenses of the cowl but Clark likes getting into character and, he has to admit, he's having fun pretending to be Batman for a little while. "Because, I don't think you want a repeat of what happened the last time you and I crossed paths."
"So what? Superman was with you before. Where is he now?" If only he knew and Clark has to stifle a chuckle. "I'm not scared of you."
Clark wonders if all villains think this way when Batman is fighting with him or even the other Justice League members. He's obviously the one who doesn't have any powers within the group and because of that he can see where villains would think Batman to be weak, at least villains that aren't based in Gotham. What they don't realize is that Batman is far from weak. Clark has seen him hold his own in many fights and he's brilliant when it comes to other things like figuring out how to defeat an enemy by outsmarting them or tricking them. Plus, he can get out of most situations on his own, though there are times when he does have to rely on his teammates to get him out of something. Like jail for example. But overall, Batman isn't weak no matter who he fights beside. Clark suppresses a smile.
He pulls Mr. Olman away from the wall and then gently, at least for him, slams him back against it. He hears the man grunt. "I want an answer." He's not really sure what Batman says to people to get them to talk as he's only listened in a few times and each one is different depending on who he is questioning and how dangerous they are. He hopes just being scary is enough.
Mr. Olman laughs. "You still won't get an answer from me, Bat-boy."
Clark's had enough. He takes out the grapple and grapples up to the roof of the building beside the courthouse. He takes the guy by the ankle and dangles him from the roof. Some of his pocket change, which consists of a few hundred dollar bills and Clark can't believe he thought of that kind of money as pocket change, falls out his suit jacket pockets and to the ground below. He's seen Batman do this all the time and remembers when he first did it, he hadn't realized Batman had tied a grapple around the guy's ankle and that he wouldn't actually hit the ground and die when Batman let go. He was furious with Bruce before he saw the guy dangling there with a dark wet spot on the front of his jeans from when he peed himself on the way down. Clark decides to do the same thing when he asks for an answer again and only receives silence in turn. He's running out of time.
Clark watches as Mr. Olman soars to the ground, getting ready to speed to him just in case something goes wrong and the line snaps, Mr. Olman screaming for dear life all the way down. He slows to a stop a yard away from the pavement and Clark pulls him back up. Mr. Olman didn't wet himself like that other guy Clark saw Batman do this too, but the way that wild look is back in his eyes is enough to know that Clark got through to him. He confesses everything and Clark lets him go, leaving him on the roof to figure out his own way back down. He knows for a fact that the door to the roof is locked and chuckles to himself in amusement. Maybe Batman is rubbing off on him when Clark is wearing the suit.
He goes into the shadows and makes his way back to the bat-cave in record time, speeding to make sure no one actually sees Batman flying around. Though he bets Bruce would have gotten a kick out of the news reporting a new mystery about the Bat being found out and that Batman can, indeed, fly.
...
Lois is sitting at the computer in the cave talking to Alfred when Clark returns. She's eating something that looks a lot like a turkey sandwich that Alfred has brought down. "Ah, Mister Kent, would you like me to make you a sandwich or maybe something else?"
Clark pulls the cowl down and smiles at Bruce's father figure. "No thank you Alfred."
"Have you got the recording?" Lois asks in between bites. Clark pulls the recording out of the belt and hands it to her. "Now we just have to cut it down to his confession and hand it in."
"If I may ask, why do you need the security tape if Mr. Olman confessed to everything?" Alfred questions as he takes the recording from Lois in order to help her cut it down to what they need.
Clark answers. "He didn't confess to stealing the heirloom, only to Bruce not actually beating him up. The tape shows one of his henchmen, the one that is posing as his lawyer, stealing the heirloom though, so that is hopefully enough to not only show that Bruce is innocent, but that the two men that are trying to put him away are guilty."
"It's too bad it doesn't have anything about the smuggling of people and drugs," Lois comments dejectedly.
"That's where you're wrong, Lois." She looks at him with narrowed eyes. "I got him to confess to that too."
She jumps out of the chair and hugs him tight. "That's fantastic." She steps away and playfully hits his arm. "You don't make a half bad Batman after all, Smallville."
Clark chuckles. "I still think I'd rather stick to being Superman and Bruce being Batman. He's much better at it than I am."
When Alfred is done with the recording he hands it back to Lois and then takes his leave, saying he wants to be at the courthouse when all this goes down. He looks excited to get his adopted son back and it makes Clark happy to see. "Here." He looks down to where Lois is trying to hand him the recording. "You're going to need to give this to the judge with the tape." Clark grabs it and places it safely in his jacket pocket along with the tape after dressing as Clark Kent again. He's ready to go when he stops.
He lets go of Lois from where he was holding her in order to fly them out of the cave. Stepping back, he looks at her and she looks at him quizzically. "You're right, that isn't all there is too him." She doesn't say anything so he continues. "He's not just a jerk that likes to control things. I mean he can be a jerk and arrogant, and he's definitely paranoid and likes to be in control but..." He trails off, doesn't look at her but he knows Lois is staring at him, willing him to continue. "He cares, a lot, and I admire that he can do so much for just being a human without superpowers. He could die anytime he's out there fighting crime yet he still does it because he cares about other people so much that he doesn't care if something bad happens to him. As long as he saved that one woman from a bunch of thugs in the alley, or a small child who has been kidnapped, or Gotham from one of Joker's schemes, or the world, the world, Lois, from some alien invasion, as long as he succeeds in doing that he would be happy to die for them and I-" He doesn't finish, he can't, and Lois goes up to him to place her hand on his cheek, to make him look at her.
She smiles. "Don't worry, I get it."
"I don't want to lose him," he blurts out, not really meaning to and he can feel the clench of emotion tightening in his chest. "He means so much to me, Lois, and every time we're out there fighting, even though I know he's good at what he does, I still worry about him."
Lois continues to smile knowingly and it's kind of annoying Clark. "You know why that is?"
Clark shrugs. "Because... he's best friend."
He slumps and pries himself away from Lois' hand as she shakes her head. "Still just as dense as ever, Smallville." She walks back up to him and forces him to look at her again. "I would go more along the line that you love him."
Clark stares at her, thinks about what she says, and can feel that clench in his chest again. He can also feel the heat rising to his cheeks. At last, he surrenders and allows his body to relax. "Yeah, I think I do." It comes out no louder than a whisper.
"And you know what?" Lois begins cheerfully. "He loves you too, Clark."
"He does?" He's not sure and honestly doubts it.
Lois is smiling wide and she steps away from him. "Oh yeah, definitely. Every time he looks at you it's like he's stripping you with his eyes."
His whole face turns red. "Lois!"
She chuckles and wraps her arms around his neck. "Come on Superman, let's go free your Batman."
...
Back in the courtroom with only five minutes to spare, everyone waits for Olman and Judge Kay to come back. They already have Bruce out and Clark really doesn't like the way he can see Bruce trying to hide the pain he is in. He x-rays him out of concern and sees two big black and blue bruises where his ribs are. It angers him and when he looks at the handcuffs, he gets even angrier. They are tighter than before, digging into his wrists in a way that looks very painful. He wonders how dirty cops were able to get at Bruce enough to bruise him so badly with his lawyer by his side but he doesn't know if his lawyer stayed with him for the full three hours. Somehow, Clark doubts it.
He and Lois are sitting with Alfred, this time in the third row back from the front. When they had arrived, Alfred was there saving them a seat. Now the three of them sit in silence, just like the rest of the room except for a few stray whispers here and there, waiting anxiously for the whole thing to start. Lois has her notepad out again and is ready to continue where she left off. At one point, Bruce looks back at him, meeting his eyes, and Clark smiles reassuringly back before Bruce has the chance to turn to the front again. After another ten minutes, Judge Kay nonchalantly walks into the room and takes his place behind the bench. Mr. Olman hasn't showed up yet and Clark is sure he won't, not after he confessed everything to Batman. He hopes the judge is dirty enough to go with the trial anyways instead of postponing it more in order to look for the runaway billionaire.
They wait another twenty minutes before Judge Kay stands and yells out to the crowd, "Where is that good for nothing Olman?" No one answers and Kay sits back down with a grumble. "Mr. Lent, do you have that proof that you were talking about or were you unsuccessful?"
Clark stands, slouching and pushing his glasses up more. "I-It's Kent, Sir."
"What?" Judge Kay looks confused. "Ah, never mind. Lent, if you've got it, bring it up."
"Um..." Clark reaches into his coat pocket and ignores Lois's snickering. "Sure." He goes up and hands it to the bailiff and he hands it to Judge Kay. The bailiff then says he'll go get something to play those on. When Clark gets back to his seat, he can see Bruce looking at him suspiciously and he knows he's wondering if Clark and Lois had to use the emergency code to decrypt the file. Clark shakes his head but it only causes Bruce to narrow his eyes more. He sighs and really can't figure out why Lois is so sure the man loves him back.
It doesn't take the bailiff long to find someone who can bring in a television with a DVD player and they set it up where not only can the judge and jury see it, but the audience as well. They also bring in a tape player in order to play the recording of the confession. They play the DVD first and everyone is shocked to see Mr. Olman's lawyer breaking into the Wayne Manor and snatching the heirloom. Clark can see Bruce bristling from where he sits, probably not liking how easily someone was able to break into his home. Clark's sure Bruce will up the security now, most likely to the point in which it'll even be hard for Superman to enter unscathed. Next they play the recording. Mr. Olman clearly sounds frightened and Clark feels the need to announce that he got that from Batman after asking him for a little help. He goes on to elaborate that it wasn't easy to get Batman to help him but his voice dies down when Bruce gives him a pointed look that tells him to shut up. Clark clamps his mouth shut and they have to play the recording again because Clark talked over it. When it finishes playing, Bruce is smirking slightly in amusement, something only Clark can see. It satisfies him to see that on his face and to know he put it there.
"Well then, I guess with this new evidence coming to light and Mr. Olman not here to defend himself, all that's left is to have the jury decide whether or not Brucie Wayne here is innocent. At least, as innocent as a rich man who doesn't have to do anything to get his way can be." Lois' hand on his shoulder is the only thing that keeps Clark from jumping up and punching the guy.
The jury leaves the room and Clark can see everyone in the room is restless. The only ones who seem to be unaffected is Bruce, who actually looks quite bored but Clark can hear that his heart rate is slightly elevated, and Alfred, who looks on in his composed manner he always has. The jury only takes five minutes to make a decision and come back out. Everyone waits with baited breath and when the jury is finally prompted to state what they believe, they announce that they find Bruce Wayne to be... not guilty.
Clark sighs a breath of relief. He can hear the murmurs, some people happy with Bruce getting off, most not happy that another rich socialite gets to get off scot-free, but Clark doesn't care. He's just glad his best friend is free and won't be going to jail anytime, hopefully, soon.
...
Lois and Clark head back to the Manor where they find Dick, Tim, and Barbra waiting for Bruce's return. Clark assumes Alfred must have called them and told them the good news on his way to get Bruce and bring him home. It doesn't take Alfred long to drive back to the Manor with Bruce in tow and when the billionaire walks through the door, he's bombarded with hugs from his kids. Clark winces when he sees Bruce flinch away a little, knowing he must still be in pain. They all congratulate him and they celebrate with a big meal that Alfred prepares. Later, Dick and Barbra say their goodbyes and leave and Alfred ushers Tim to the study to do his homework.
"Congratulations on getting out." Lois hugs him gently once everyone is gone, seeming to have realized the pain he is in, and Bruce hesitantly wraps his arms around her.
When they separate, he says, "All thanks to you and Clark."
She smiles smugly. "See, you did need our help." Lois then mocks a yawn, which Clark is sure Bruce can tell is not real just like he can, and says, "Well, I better get going. It's late and I need to get back to Metropolis and no, Clark, I think I've had enough flying on Airway Superman for one day." As she walks by Clark, she winks.
Soon it's just the two of them left, sitting, looking at each other in comfortable silence. When Bruce gets up and looks like he's about to dismiss himself, Clark gets up as well to stop him. "Bruce wait." Bruce turns and looks at him. "I'm um... I'm glad you're out." Bruce Smiles at him and that's enough thanks for Clark. Bruce doesn't need to express his thanks for Clark to know he's grateful. "Can I... can I see the bruises?"
Bruce hesitates, looking him straight in the eyes, blue against blue, and then lifts his shirt up and over his head, taking it off to throw it on the back of the dining room chair. "It doesn't hurt as bad as it looks."
"That's because you have a high pain tolerance." Clark walks up to him and brushes his finger tips against the black and blue marks lightly. "They still hurt though."
"Just a dull ache." Bruce is watching him, scrutinizing him, wondering what Clark will do next. If he's not careful, Bruce will put the walls all the way back up that he has allowed to be down the tiniest bit. He'll get tense and pull away, pretend nothing happened, and go back to being defensive, closed off. Clark continues to rub the tips of his fingers along the bruises with one hand and with the other he takes one of Bruce's wrists. He pulls his wrist to his mouth and starts to pepper small, barely there kisses to the irritated red lines that are there which were caused by those awful handcuffs. "What are you doing?"
"Healing you." He jokes and he hears a small laugh come out of Bruce. He smiles against the man's wrist. When he lifts his head to look at Bruce, Bruce is smiling in playful amusement. "Better?"
Bruce leans the slightest little bit in then stops, hesitating, and his smile drops from his face. He's shaking slightly and Clark tries to calm him by rubbing circles on the inside of his wrist with his thumb and continuing his work on the black and blue bruises on his abdomen. He watches as Bruce swallows, fear in his eyes, calculating and running over everything in his head. Clark gives him time, waits patiently, knowing Bruce is smart enough to figure out what message Clark is trying to get across. But he can't rush it, never rush it with Bruce, or else his progress can be lost within seconds to never be retrieved again. With fear still in his eyes, Bruce finally continues to lean in. He captures Clark's mouth with his own. They don't close their eyes, Clark knowing Bruce needs to see his in order to judge the situation, to know whether or not this is what Clark really wants. When Clark doesn't protest and instead participates in the small chaste kiss, Bruce closes his eyes and deepens it. Clark does the same, both of them slowly moving their mouths together. There's no tongue or teeth or viciousness to it. It's just soft and sweet and still a little hesitant from Bruce's side. When they finally do pull away, Bruce looks at him some more, still judging and calculating every move and reaction Clark makes. To ease Bruce's worries, Clark smiles and eventually he gets a small smile out of Bruce too.
Bruce clears his throat with one hand in front of his mouth and the other rubbing the back of his neck in a nervous manner. He looks away all flustered and a red tint covers his cheeks. Clark finds it to be adorable. "Yeah, much better."
...
The next day, Mr. Olman and the henchmen that pretended to be his lawyer, is dropped off at GCPD by Batman along with the security tape and the recording of the confession. This time, Commissioner Gordon makes sure he is put away personally.