It took another two days for him to convince the Kents he was fine. They were adamant that being poisoned meant he was to be pampered for a month at least which was something he couldn't allow to happen. For one he had to get back to work, not seeing Talia had him nervous. For another he didn't know how long he could last without jumping Clark again.
Feeling like his old self once the fatigue of his dead blood being purged was gone meant he was volunteering to help with anything and everything the Kents could think of. It put him in their good books since he wasn't a stranger to hard work like some rich boys but it also meant he was working alongside Clark. Knowing his secret meant that when the boys weren't around Clark would show off slightly in front of him. Lifting things an impossible weight and setting them down again like they weighed nothing. That, coupled with the fact he was such a country boy it was irresistible, had him near drooling.
"Are you sure you don't need help?" He called. Clark shook his head and chopped another log into splinters. Why the Kents needed firewood when it was so hot was a mystery but he wasn't complaining. With each stroke Clark's muscles flexed under his loose shirt and even rose up when he tired of the axe and just smashed the log with his bare hands.
"Can I have a go?" Dick asked. He was already tottering over to Clark to remove the axe from the hesitant teens hands despite what Bruce would have said.
Damian appeared not long after and squirmed his way onto Bruce's lap to watch Clark give Dick his first wood chopping lesson. "I saw mother yesterday," He confessed.
Bruce saw Clark falter slightly in his teachings before resuming. He was listening to them then. "Did she approach you?" If she was allowing Damian to see her then she must want something.
"No. I don't think she will, not while you say no," Clark was cocking his head slightly to the side. Bruce was going to have to teach him to be more subtle in his eavesdropping.
"If you want to-"
"No," Bruce nodded. He understood better than anyone why he didn't want to see Talia. "I think she was looking for you. Have you been talking?"
"Kind of," he backtracked to the last thing he'd actually told Damian about his mother. It seemed he'd left quite a bit out. Switching to German he informed Damian of the meetings in the Talon and Talia's befriending of Lana. Damian didn't seem surprised. Nor was he angry that Bruce had kept this from him.
"Anything that's not a threat is boring," He informed Bruce.
"Well you're going to have to be bored. The way things are going I think your mother might be open to a treaty. If that works then we won't have to worry about moving before settling in Gotham," Damian pulled a face at the lack of action and left Bruce on the porch to get Clark to let him have a go.
He managed to sneak off after dinner that night, feigning an illness he holed himself up in Clark's room before he made his escape out of the window. Talia was surprisingly easy to find. Hiding in a tree not far from the Kent's farm he only had to hop up until they were both in each other's space.
He didn't know what he expected from her. When he was in the league he'd been poisoned on a near daily basis to build up an immunity to some of the more exotic toxins out there. Once again Talia shocked him by pulling him in for a hug and a not quite chaste kiss.
"I didn't know what to expect," She breathed pulling back from him "To think that some common man has the audacity to poison you beloved."
"Well I'm fine," He assured. "Which is more than I can say for Lionel, who you can't threaten again. You almost blew everything Talia. If he realizes who I am it doesn't put me back into your hands. It means that I'm back in the public eye, under his command because I've been living off his son's generosity for these past couple months. If I'm revealed there's no going back to what we were," He insisted. She turned her head to stare off into the Kent's farm. Eyes hard as his words correlated to what she already knew.
"It was a moment of weakness."
"Once which can't happen again. If any one of your father's teachings should have stuck it should have been to show no weakness Talia," He could see what caught her attention as Damian climbed to higher ground. He must have known Bruce wasn't at the farm.
"I know," they both watched as Damian caught sight of them. Bruce waved to show he was fine. "How is he?"
"He doesn't want to see you," He answered. That was what she was really asking and it was then that he realised what else could have happened in the result of his death. Alone, Damian would have been forced to go back with Talia. The fact he still refused to even see her left Bruce questioning what would have happened had that situation come about. There was no telling what would have happened to Dick.
"And your paramour?" He detected slight jealousy.
"Not quite there yet, and I'd thank you to keep out of my love life. That picture was most helpful but unnecessary," She smirked slightly.
"Are you sure you don't want to see the video?" Bruce glared at her and she met his challenge. "Very well," She conceded. "I shouldn't complain, you are after all just taking my advice."
He scoffed "Hardly. For one, even if I did get with Clark I'm not coming back with you." As usual the statement didn't register in Talia's mind. "Speaking of," He saw Clark come out of the farm house and call for Damian to come off the barn roof. "I'd best be getting back. I have vengeance to plan after all."
Talia grinned all teeth, a smile he was all too familiar with "If you need help..." he grinned back and jumped from the tree.
Damian hopped off the barn roof as soon as he saw Bruce enter the farm. He didn't speak to him until they were back in the Kent's house and even then was disappointed that it was a truce like Bruce had predicted.
"But she didn't actually say she was leaving us alone," Damian pointed out.
"No. She's not dragging us back either though. For now we just need to focus on cementing our roots and hope that she'll leave when she realises we're not going back with her,"
The next day he left the farm to journey to the Talon. Clark had been in the midst of a water fight with the boys, something that Bruce was all too happy to leave if uncomfortably. Lex was chatting Lana up at the counter and smacked him upside the head when he saw Bruce was out of his little nest.
"You should be resting," He growled as Bruce ordered himself a coffee and asked about the rota. "My father's not left Bruce. If he sees you here he's going to go mental."
"He already is mental. Besides I can't hide forever," No doubt his threat to Lionel had him hanging around Lex none stop to try and see what his son let slip to Bruce. "If I did it would mean he wins."
Lex rolled his eyes, too used to Bruce's philosophy to argue any more. Instead he tried to take his mind off the fact that Bruce was trying to carry on as normal to continue his association with Lana. Bruce used the Talon's phone to ask Alfred about the takeover in Gotham. It turned out that he now owned half of his company. Another quarter and he could go back and take the rest in person. Alfred estimated another two weeks at most before that happened which put things in perspective for Bruce.
He had two weeks left in Smallville. Suddenly there seemed to be hardly any time at all. He needed to do so much before going back. There was only one solution to his problems which was that he needed time to think.
Taking his coffee to go he found one of Smallville's idyllic fields and set into his meditation routine. A plan for Lionel was first. He needed to get back at him but in a way that wouldn't seem ungrateful to Lex. Ideally he would have sabotaged his buisness but Lionel's buisness was Lex's. He'd have to try something else. An idea came to him but it would take some convincing and a lot planning to pull it off.
Lionel finished he turned to other problems. Dick particularly. The boy was just staying with them because he was the best option the boy had. It wasn't fair that when the investigation cooled down Dick would more than likely be taken from him, or worse, want to leave on his own accord. The best option would be to adopt him.
Then there was Clark. Bruce wanted to jump him at least once before he left. It seemed wrong to do it now though. He'd just broken up with Lana not so long ago and even if she had moved on it didn't mean Clark had for all his bravado. Then there was the fact that he didn't even know if Clark liked men. He liked Bruce, that was for certain. Whether that continued into wanting him as much as Bruce wanted him to was another matter. Clark was still in the confused questioning phase of his discovery and Bruce didn't have time to wait it out with him. He was either going to have to do something drastic or leave Clark behind him. It was difficult to decide which so Bruce resolved he would try both. If Clark hadn't come around by his deadline then he was done with him.
By the time he had sorted his thoughts out it was well past noon. The boys were helping Jonathan sow the fields and quickly pulled Bruce into helping when they spotted him.
They were out for a good few hours before Martha called them in and Dick had started itching the back of his neck ten minutes beforehand. Bruce had a bad feeling about the red forming and it only got worse as Dick scratched more and more through dinner. By nine it was an unhealthy shade and was easily diagnosed as sunburn. Rubbing lotion on a fussy nine year old was tough but Bruce had raised Damian and encountered worse things than Dick whining and squirming around.
The Kents retired to bed after Dick needed another application of lotion since he rubbed the last one off. They practically ordered Bruce to go to bed when he was done with Dick since he was still on bed rest and kissed Clark goodnight.
"Are actually coming up soon or shall I warm the bed on my own?" Bruce didn't know whether that was double layered and decided to answer the simplest way possible.
"I have to get Dami changed. You go up," The grin didn't leave Clark's face as he said goodbye to the boys so Bruce guessed that Clark hadn't heard the underlying layer in his question. He managed to get Dick safely into bed with the promise not to scratch before he turned to Damian. The boy had already washed up and it was just a matter of putting him in pyjama's. "Please?" he tried to be civil.
"No," It took fifteen minutes and a chase through the barn for Bruce to offer his own shirt instead of Damian's pyjama's. He seemed more inclined to wear that "It's loose," He argued and had the nerve to insist on being carried back to the farm house.
Before they got there Bruce doubled back to the barn and set Damian down in the hayloft. He sat down in front of him, making sure that there was definitely no one listening as he did so. "Dami I have something to ask you and I want you to really consider what you say before you agree or disagree with me," Intrigued Damian gave Bruce his full attention "I want you to ask Dick to stay with us."
"Is he leaving?" It made him smile to think that Dick had wormed his way into Damian's life as well as his won.
"He might be. See, the reason he's still here is because it's not safe for him to stay in Gotham unprotected. But when things cool down they're going to want to put him in an orphanage," Damian made a face.
"He said he doesn't want to go to one. Why would they put him in one if he doesn't want to go?"
"That's the thing. I know I haven't treated you like one a lot but you are a child Damian and so is Dick. As far as the law's concerned you have no say in what's good for you. I want to adopt him. My motives are selfish. I like him being part of our family and I know that if he stays with us he's not going to have a normal life but I don't want him to go. It's not just about me though, you have a say in this too and so does he. I want you to really think about this Damian. Do you want Dick to be your brother?"
It pleased him that Damian didn't answer right away. Impulse wasn't always what someone wanted and Bruce had always taught Damian to evaluate things from every angle.
They were in that barn for fifteen minutes before Damian answered a quiet "Yes." Head up and eyes meeting his own as he relayed what he really wanted.
"I do too. So I need you to ask him to stay. I can't do it, if I did then I would always feel like he was obeying me instead of doing what he wanted. But you-," Damian nodded.
"I'll do it," He agreed.
Pact made he gladly carried Damian back into the farmhouse "Make sure you ask him soon," Bruce whispered "We don't have much time."
He had a shift at the Talon the next day and left the boys in the care of Martha who was running the farm since Jonathan and Clark had journeyed to Metropolis for supplies. Lucky for him Lex had been in and out of the Talon constantly for days in the distraction of Lana. Since the lady herself was counting money next to him Bruce had his hopes up high and wasn't disappointed as his friend strolled through the door.
He still glared at Bruce in a greeting but seemed in a better mood than yesterday. "Father's went to the factory today," He explained. "Thought you might have compromised my office and went for a check." The day to himself was the perfect opportunity to get Lex on board with his idea.
"How superstitious is your father?" He proposed.
They spent the better half of the afternoon mapping out their plans. It would take a couple of months but Bruce was willing to commute to pull this off. Lionel deserved everything they threw at him.
Whilst they schemed Bruce couldn't help but notice the effort Lana was putting in to catch Lex's attention. She gave up after a while of being subtle and went straight for it when they lapsed in their conversation.
"Talia's just came in. Why don't you talk to her?" She asked Bruce. Indeed she had walked in with Lois and Chloe in tow.
"I'd rather not," He waved off. Lana frowned.
"I thought you two liked each other?" Lex arched an eyebrow at the mention of Talia and Bruce just sent him a meaningful look to explain later.
"Turns out that isn't the case," Somehow Lana had slipped herself into Lex's eye line and subtly pushed Bruce away from it.
"Shame. Well can you take their order anyway?" Bruce could physically feel the hint she was giving him to go elsewhere.
"I would but I think Mr Luther needs a top up," He refused to be pushed out. They were doing important planning here.
She seemed to change tactics and leave them to go over to Chloe. He kept one eye on her as they finalised the details.
After one long conversation she was back with an odd glint in her eye "I was thinking, Chloe's looking after Steve, a friend's son, tomorrow. She's stuck babysitting him and I offered to help but I'm on shift, so I thought maybe you could bring the boys. I'm sure they would love playing with him in the back and it would do us both a huge favour."
"Sure," He agreed.
Which was how he found himself watching the three of them colour for a while before being called back in to the front.
"I'm sure they're fine," Lex reassured. "If you want I can go check on them?"
Bruce shook his head "It's not that. There's something odd about Steve."
That perked Lex's interest "What kind of odd?"
Bruce thought back on the boy "He seems a little pale... and muddy."
Lex walked behind the counter to peer in the back "He seems clean to me."
"Not that kind of muddy. Just, clogged. You know? Like how women look sometimes when they... Oh no," He pushed past Lex and made a grab for Steve. His fears were confirmed when make up peeled off his skin and revealed small spots covering his arm. "Dick! Dami!" He hadn't ran so fast in his life.
It only took hours for the first spots to appear. By midnight Dick had oven mits taped to his hands and the woolliest socks the Kent's had on his feet after he tried to scratch himself with his toes. Damian had taken to meditating the itching away. Bruce got worried when the boy stopped moving altogether and was promptly sick.
His fretting had woke Clark and at the sight of him helping Damian to the sink he took over watching Dick. Bruce was forced to call in sick to the Talon as the sun rose up and in the end quit altogether. He wasn't going to be here much longer and he was going to be paid another weeks wages anyway.
"They need a bath," Martha counselled and had one drawn in minutes. "Clark never got them when he was a boy," She remarked calling for Jonathan "One less thing to worry about when we realised he never got sick."
Jonathan took on Dick while he alternated between holding Damian over the toilet and scrubbing him too. "Make sure to... Oh God," Bruce didn't think anything could get worse until Jonathan revealed spots behind Dick's ears. In his hair and worst of all in his mouth.
"Dickie don't talk," he cooed when the boy started crying from the pain. "I swear I'm going to kill her," he growled as he towelled Damian off.
"It wasn't Lana's fault. She didn't know Steve had the measles," Bruce wondered how Lana had tricked them all into this state of disbelief. He didn't think she was the kind of girl to stoop as low as this but it appears he was wrong.
"She did," Bruce insisted "She didn't like the fact that I was taking up Lex's time so she used germ warfare to get me out of the game."
"Nonsense," She was good.
"There was make up on him Mr Kent. Either she or Chloe knew he was contagious and kept quiet. This is an attack and there is nothing you can say that will convince me otherwise," He didn't even try to put Damian into pyjama's. The boy was too ill to scratch and just lay in Bruce's lap when he brought them both downstairs. Dick had taken to rubbing his butt on the ground once his tears had dried up so Clark had to sit him in his lap.
Day two was even worse than day one. Damian's stomach had recovered but Dick's took a turn for the worst. He spent the better half of that day in the Kent's bathroom rubbing Dick's back as he threw up. It didn't help that the spots had grown in his mouth so Dick was practically screaming after ten minutes.
He stayed with both of them downstairs that night in case anything bad happened. By day three he hadn't slept in two days and was feeling it as Lex dropped by.
"How are they?" His friend had refused to step inside of the 'contaminated' house.
"Ill. You're going to have to start without me if they keep up like this," Bruce warned.
"Eugh," He pulled a face and hesitantly peered around inside of the house "Are you sure you can't load them off to Mr and Mrs Kent? Clark even?"
"They're not their kids," Bruce said.
Lex nodded "I'm sure I can pull if off without you if it comes to it. Make sure you get some sleep. You look just as bad as them," He advised and made a quick exit.
He was reading the boys one of Clark's science books to make them fall asleep when the man himself padded into the room "I can look after them. If something happens I'll wake you."
Bruce shook his head "It's fine."
"You haven't slept in days. Just take a break and get some sleep yourself," He still refused.
"You don't understand. Dami wasn't raised like you and me. If he's not feeling well he doesn't tell you. I need to be here," Clark nodded but didn't leave. Instead he took the book out of Bruce's hands and carried on where Bruce had left off.
He must have dozed for a couple of hours. When he woke he was in Clark's lap with fingers carding through his hair. Dick was gone but Damian was still asleep as Clark started on chapter 5 of whatever he was reading.
"He's went to the bathroom," Clark informed him. Bruce let himself relax back into Clark's lap and listened to him drone on as Dick came and settled next to him.
The spots had started going down on the fifth day. Baths twice a day and Bruce had to make sure Dick was securely mitted before letting him roam the Kent farm. Tonight was the night he was meant to put his plan into motion but he didn't think he could leave the boys for even an hour.
"You can go," Damian told him. It was nearing two and they were curled up near the fireplace "Clark can read us that boring book again."
"I'm not leaving you when you're ill," Dick stopped attempting to stand on his hands with oven mittens to come over to them. He poked Damian gently but repeatedly and pointed at the both of them.
"Yes," He said in English. "Not going."
Dick frowned and pointed to Bruce then the door. "I'm not leaving you," He repeated. Dick just scowled deeper and tried dragging Bruce up "Lex can do it without me."
Dick turned to Damian with hands on his hips "Lionel deserves it to come from you father. It's not really your vengeance if Luther puts it into motion."
"If they're telling you to leave then I think you should," Clark piped in. Seeming to appear from nowhere he had already taken Damian off him and settled down with Dick cuddling into his side. "Don't worry, I'll have them asleep before you come back. If you're lucky Lionel might not have had the measles," Clark tried.
It was the idea of Lionel with spots that finally had him leaving. He got to the Luther mansion in at half past which was enough time to group with Lex and do a supply check.
"You drugged his food?" Lex nodded.
"He's out," they set off for his room with Lex telling him that the camera's had been offline since Bruce threatened him "He thinks you might have used them to listen in on our conversations."
"Hmm. Smart," Bruce relented as he picked the lock with ease.
"Too bad it's just causing him more bad luck huh," Lex grinned
He quickly opened the doors as Bruce dragged Lionel out and into the fields of Smallville. They worked quickly to drench his hands and body in cows blood bought from the butchers and Lex set out the dead animals he'd found in the woods around him. Tearing his clothes and adding the finishing touch of mud to his skin they left him to return to their respective apartments.
"You remember what you have to say?" Lex nodded. They had went over the story countless times. Lex was to say he heard growling and howling which would play back to the bite he'd gotten earlier that week. By noon he should suspect lycanthropy.
"I hope to God this works."
"Me too. And if not tonight we'll just use the next three months to convince him otherwise," He waved goodbye to Lex when it came to the fork in the road and went back to his ailing children.
True to his word, Clark had the boys asleep when he got back. Bruce quickly washed up and changed before joining them.
"Did it work?" Bruce shrugged.
"We'll know tomorrow." He brushed a stray lock from Dick's hair "I'm leaving soon. Alfred's almost got everything ready for my return. It shouldn't be more than a week."
"Oh," Clark said after a while. Bruce chanced a look at him and found unearthly blues staring back at him. "Does Lex know?" he nodded "Oh," Clark repeated.
He got up from his nest on the floor to sit next to Clark. The teen seemed to be struggling with words and started one sentence only to cut off in the middle and start another. "I'm still going to visit but Smallville was always just a temporary stop."
"Oh," It seemed that was the most articulate thing Clark could say at the moment. That and "Bruce?"
"Yes?"
Clark opened his mouth again to ask something but like before he couldn't get anything out. Deciding on something he cupped Bruce's cheek and kissed him.