Chapter 6

Crime, punishment, ...pain

It took some serious time to finally find the damned junior Kent and the longer it took the more annoyed Jason got. Once he did find him though it was thankfully easy to keep up with him. Jason quickly ditched his bike and climbed up onto the roof silently following the smaller Super. Now Jason didn't have a lead lined pocket on his utility belt so when Connor froze on a larger rooftop, Jason smirked behind his hood. He landed on the same rooftop, staying a few yards back, as Connor turned on him with a murderous glare.

"Damn man are you in the wrong city. What did your bus take a wrong turn?" Jason joked as he aimed his gun at the black shirt wearing super. Connor only growled but didn't move as he tried to find just where this bat family member was keeping the Kryptonite.

"You're Jason, aren't you?"

"That's right, let me guess Tim told ya." Jason laughed at Connor's nod and stepped that much closer. When Superboy jerked back, he couldn't help but smirk wider.

"Ah what's wrong, oh is it this?" Jay took the green rock out of his pocket showing it off before clutching it in his hand.

"It's simply amazing that this little baby can make even the mightily alien scum sniffling cowards." Jay was laughing but then cursed as Connor had charged at him. Red Hood opened fire yet Superboy was faster and rammed right into the taller ex boy wonder. The two tumbled and rolled upon the roof yelling and punching at one another but Jason gained the upper hand. He slammed Connor to the roof on his stomach before holding the rock inches from the clone's eyes.

"Motherfucker…damn.." Jay tried to threaten but he could barely as he spat out the blood that filled his mouth. Even with the poisonous rock this guy still packed a hella punch. He was sure he had already lost a rib. How the hell was he supposed to keep this guy occupied until Damian and Tim caught up to them.

"Screw this, it's-" Jason went flying all the way over to the building next door as a body had slammed into him at an unhuman speed. Landing and rolling to a stop on the new roof was all Jason got as a break before the weight was back now actually on his own back and it literally felt like the weight was trying to flatten him into a pancake. A hand grabbed at his one that held the kryptonite so he growled and tightened his grip on the rock.

"Let it go or I'll break your hand!" Jay recognized that voice and he felt stupid for being this slow to realizing that Superman was the one who had rammed into him.

He was about to say something rude as a response but Damian's feral battle yell beat him to it as the smallest robin had jumped onto Superman's back and stuck a plastic bomb right on his neck before jumping off. The bomb was just enough of a force to make Supes stumble off of Red Hood before turning on Damian.

"This has nothing to do with-"

"Stop!" Batman yelled as he landed between the two, Tim and Connor landing next to the bat seconds later. Jason crawled over to the edge before leaning against it. Batman turned his glare on him and stormed over before ripping the Krypotnite out of his hand and sealing it in one of his many lead lined compartments.

"What is going on!" Bruce roared as he looked between each robin.

"The alien attacked Jason!" Damian yelled out, pointing an accusing finger at the tallest person on the roof.

"Your brother was attacking my son with Kryptonite! I was protecting him!" Superman explained as his glare never left Jason.

"He started it." Jay growled as he lightly glared back.

"He insulted Superman!"

"That doesn't give you reason to attack my brother!" Tim added as he shoved Connor's shoulder.

"He was the one who had the Kryptonite! He could have killed me!"

"We both know that's not true!"

"Why are you taking his side!"

"Do you really have to ask?"

"ENOUGH!" Batman barked as his glared silenced the two teammates.

"All of you go home."

"But Father-"

"NOW!" Tim went over to Jason and helped him up before leading him off the roof while Damian glared one last time at Superman before following them. Batman growled out once more before turning back to his partner.

"I'll talk to them."

"That's not good enough!" Clark growled back after stepping closer.

"They attacked my son!"

"I am well aware of that! I am going to find out the full story, because that was obliviously not it and then, and only then, will they be dealt with accordingly. I apologize to you, Connor, but at the same time I want to know why you are in Gotham and attacking my son as well."

"I didn…He was insulting us and I just wanted to get the Krypotnite from him. I…I lost my temper.." Connor admitted as he looked down at his shoes. He knew he had over reacted and really should have just walked away but he was now upset that Tim didn't take his side, didn't Tim care about him?

"Connor is not at fault here, Batman! It's your sons that are in the wrong!"

"No, it's both. And if you excuse me, I will now go and deal with mine, I suggest you do the same." Bruce sighed after he jumped away and landed with in the batmobile. He knew this was going to cause a bigger fight between him and Clark but for now he had to find out what the hell had his robins been thinking.

Thankfully he didn't have to call them back down to the cave. He saw all of them and Alfred in the medical bay and each one turned as the batmobile came to a stop. He climbed out pushing off his cowl as he walked over before halting just before Jason. Jay was on the medical bed with Alfred beside him wrapping the bandage along his torso.

"Tell me exactly what happened."

"I was just going to invest-"

"Silence Todd. Father, this was my idea. It would have gone fine if that stupid-"

"You finish that sentence, Damian, and I'll send you back to your mother." Bruce stated clearly with his sharp non-joking glare. Damian paled at that before looking away to hide his growing fear filled pupils.

"I do NOT care what you think of Clark, Damian, but when I am around you will respect him, especially when speaking about him in any sense. I will not tolerate it any other way, and not just to you but that goes for all of you, do I make myself clear?" Bruce didn't get a verbal response just a silent nod from everyone excluding Alfred.

After that he got the story out of his sidekicks and dealt out the punishments accordingly. Damian was taken off of patrol for a month and Jason was to do clean up duty in the house with Alfred as supervisor for three weeks. Once he was done he excused himself for the night and dreaded when Clark would confront him about this incident in their private time together.

"Mr. Wayne, a Mister Kent has arrived asking for you."

"Send him to my office, thank you Mary." Bruce stated before turning back to the board members.

"I'll leave Mr. Fox to do what he does best, thank you for your time gentlemen." Wayne gave his thousand watt fake Brucey smile before leaving the room and heading to the small space that was still his within his own building. After giving the Ceo position to Fox he didn't have the right to the big plushy office but Fox still insisted he had at least an office for whenever he did show up and do some work in the building. When he arrived Clark was standing by the floor to ceiling windows gazing out at the view.

"I don't even think Perry's office is a quarter as nice as this."

"I told Fox it wasn't necessary but I guess it was his way as a thank you for putting him at the top." Bruce shrugged while walking closer to stand beside his guest. Clark only nodded as a response though otherwise said nothing nor even looked at Bruce. Wayne bit the inside of his cheek but looked down at his feet trying to remain silent.

He knew Clark wanted him to apologize, to say that he punished his kids badly, but those were things he didn't know how to say. There were two things Batman let alone Bruce was never good at saying; thank you and apologizing.

It wasn't like Connor was not in the wrong either, but he knew Clark would never apologize for what Superboy did. Then again Connor didn't attack his boys with poisonous radiation and to some extent was just defending himself. He still shouldn't have been in Gotham in the first place.

"Bruce…" Clark sighed and startled Wayne enough to get out of his train of thought.

"I know you won't say an apology for the other day. I get that. Just tell me that you locked the Kryptonite away from them, I'll forgive the rest if tell me that at least."

"Yes, I made a new vault and the security calls for DNA, eye scans, over 20 key codes, metal keys and voice recognition, so unless they drug me to their control then it's very unlikely they'll touch it again."

"Or you could do the smart thing and give it back to me." Bruce ignored the low growl from Clark as he straightened up and looked dead on at the other.

"How about you do the 'smart' thing and don't fight me on this. Or how about once every villain out there who can take control of you is gone and you don't pose a threat any longer then you can have it back."

"Bruce, don't! I'm already mad, don't make it worse."

"Worse? So when I speak the truth I make it worse? Huh, that's funny since your focusing more on how the truths are making you feel instead of the facts behind them. That doesn't sound like a 'smart' thing to do, Kal!" Clark spun from the window to glare at his suppose lover.

"After everything we've-DAMN you, Bruce, you're a real jerk sometimes! I thought after all our time together you would know better than to think I would intentionally hurt anyone on this planet."

"Intentionally is not the problem here."

"No! The problem is that you can't say a simple thing like 'I'm sorry!'" Clark yelled after throwing his hands up and turning away with a sigh. This was stupid but if Bruce had just apologized, even given a simple one, then they would have been past it and maybe kissing right now. Again, Bruce was a real jerk sometimes. Clark finally turned back though still lightly glared at his bed mate.

"Look, Bruce, I-"

"BRUCE!" Fox yelled as he frantically ran into the room, both men turning to face him. Once Bruce took notice of the fear in the Ceo's eyes he came forward.

"Fox, what is-"

"It's Tim! Alfred called! Tim's been shot!"

"What!" Bruce shouted before grabbing his phone which just started ringing once his fingertips brushed the metal of the device.

"Alfred? What happened?" Bruce asked as he was storming down the hallway to the elevators to take him to the garage, Clark following and keeping pace with him.

"Master Bruce it…goodness….I don't know much…the school called and told me there had been a shooter on campus…Master Timothy was one of the victims…I…Master Bruce they didn't tell me much else." Clark had stolen his keys and slide into the driver's side as Bruce tried to decipher the information in the passenger seat.

"Where are they taking him, the ambulance? Where did they-"

"Gotham General, sir, Master Grayson and Todd went once they heard the house call. They…they should be there by now…"

"Okay….okay…Alfred get Damian out of school and find out if the shooter have been already caught. I'm hanging up to call Dick, alright?"

"Yes-Yes, sir, I'll call back when I have Master Damian."

"Alright, it'll be okay, Alfred. I'll call you back." With that Bruce hung up and immediately speed dialed Dick's number who picked up at the first ring.

"Bruce, Tim he-"

"I know, Dick, how bad?"

"His shoulder, clean shot through, we got here just as they were wheeling him in. We didn't see it real well but that was what we heard. They won't let us see him."

"We're almost there, about five more minutes, just stay put."

"Okay…okay, we're in the second floor waiting room…I'll try to keep Jason under control…" Dick tried to joke though Bruce could hear his tears and shuddering breath.

"Good we're pulling in now, I'm on my way up." With that Bruce practically flew out of the car and stormed into the hospital once Clark had parked the car. Clark followed about five steps behind and remained silent. This was definitely not the time for him to say something unless he chose his words with extreme caution.

Bruce passed right between Dick and Jason right up to the reception desk slamming his hands down and demanding where his son was. Clark stood by Dick taking notice of his shaking shoulders before slowly placing his hand gently upon said shoulder closet to him. Dick looked up at him before moving closer and wrapping his arms around the reporter to hide his face within Clark's coat.

"It'll be okay, Dick, you did good. It's okay, we all know how strong he is." Clark whispered as he smiled that Dick was showing him such emotion. It was hard to get any Robin let alone Batman to show emotion so the rare moments they did Kal was thankful he was there to help.

"Dick, come on…" Jason whispered as he led Dick back to the chairs once he say that Bruce was coming back. The two moved over to the uncomfortable chairs slumping into them. Bruce growled as he stood before Clark and shoved his hands within his pockets.

"No matter what I say, they're not letting go back there. This is ridiculous!" Bruce mumbled out angrily as he glared over his shoulder at the reception desk. Clark inwardly smiled at the guts the hospital had on denying Bruce anything especially since he had the power to buy the entire hospitable three times over. He stepped closer and did what he did for Dick expect this time he just took Bruce's hand in his own. He knew Bruce wouldn't have liked it and knew there was a change that the father beside him might pull his hand away

. It was a surprise then when Bruce actually squeezed his hand so tightly that had he been a regular human Wayne would have already broken his hand in two. Clark glanced up and noticed that also the bat was now doing his breathing exercises that he had learned from countless years of training. It was just like when Clark's dad had died. No matter how much power Clark had he couldn't save his father from his own body and now no matter how much money or training, Bruce couldn't make his boy's bullet proof.

Thankfully this bullet didn't take away Bruce's family, even Clark didn't think the bat would be able to take that, not again.

"Mr. Wayne." A voice called and Bruce removed his hand from Clark's as he turned and walked up to what appeared to be the doctor but not before handing over his phone to Clark. Supes moved closer to Jason and Dick though kept a trained ear on the conversation.

"Everything went fine, the only problem was the blood loss. He's resting now and I'd like to keep him overnight so that we can make sure his arm is in full function."

"I want to see him."

"Of course, but may I ask it just be you for now." Bruce looked over his shoulder right at Clark, who only nodded to say that was fine and that he would stay. Bruce walked through the doors following the doc and Kal inwardly chuckled for he still didn't understand how Bruce knew when he was using his super hearing, though that was just the batman he supposed.

Alfred called saying he was on his way with Damian so now all there to do was wait.

"I'll leave you two, though I believe he is still waking from the surgery." The doctor let him into the room and Bruce thanked him before the door closed behind himself. Tim wasn't hooked up to too many machines and it was obvious that the nurses went to extreme lengths to make it so Tim was comfortable and taken care of so that his overly rich father wouldn't sue them for not doing their jobs rights.

He rolled his eyes before striding forward and easing himself on the bed then leaning over his sleeping son. The gown covered Tim's upper body so he couldn't see the bandage nor wound so he made note to look at that first when Tim was ready.

He sighed as he thought that if he could he would banned all guns in Gotham but he knew it wouldn't matter. No matter what he did it didn't matter, it didn't change anything! Gotham was still trying to take his family from…after all these bloody horrific years the damned spirit of Gotham was still out for his family's blood.

She couldn't just let his family be!

"Bruce..." The eldest Wayne's eyes opened, he didn't know he had closed them, and gazed down at his son, whose cheeks were sprinkled with tears.

"Tim…" His voice shuddered before he closed his eyes once more to calm himself.

"Do you know where you are?"

"In retrospect to the white ceiling over your shoulder and the heart rate monitor I can hear on my left I'm guessing hospital."

"Correct, do you remember how you got here, tell me what happened?"

"I was…at school…in history class…I wa…I wasn't really paying attention since I was tired from patrol…and the teacher was basically monologuing…there was…this guy…"

"Take your time, don't rush."

"It happened so fast…nothing was happening then in the blink of an eye everything was happening. Everyone was yelling and running , this guy was at the front of the room pointing a gun at a girl that I guess had tripped or …something… then I…it was stupid of me but I dove in front of her like I do all the time in uniform.

" …I didn't even realize I had until I was trying to reach for a batarang from the belt that of course wasn't there. I didn't even have time to scold myself for being an idiot before there was pain…just so much pain…so much that I barely heard the girl I was protecting scream even though she was close to me as you are now…I…I really don't know what happened after…it's fuzzy beyond that." Tim sighed as he wished he knew if the guy was caught or what happened to the girl.

His eyes though widened as Bruce was now stroking his hair and gently resting his forehead against his.

"Alright…well you're safe here so get some rest and I'll come back with everyone in the morning."

"You're…You're mad at me aren't you?"

"No. Get some rest, alright?" Tim sighed but otherwise nodded before closing his eyes obliviously trying to get as comfortable as his body would allow. Bruce stroked his hair one last time before his weight left the bed completely and left the room.

It was true that he wasn't mad at the boy, maybe a little disappointed, but that was only because he had been reckless though that hadn't truly been Tim's fault. He had done as he was taught but had just done it at the wrong place and time. He sucked in several deep breaths to calm himself and walked back out into the waiting room.

"Father!"

~TBC

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