They discussed plans for a couple hours that night. But Damian was tired after that day's events, so Tim left his room. Jon stayed behind to say good-night.

He helped Damian into bed, even though Damian really was not in that bad shape. He just had several cuts and bruises and his muscles felt like they were going to tear. Mostly, it was just sore.

"You're okay?" Jon asked, pulling the covers up to Damian's chin.

Damian rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes," he said. "You're such a mom, Jon. I'm not Isabella. I can go to bed myself."

Jon quirked a small smile. "Sure? I'm not opposed to reading you a bedtime story."

Damian snorted, but it ended weakly when it morphed into a yawn. Jon laughed. His hand was resting on Damian's chest, and Damian could nearly feel them through the covers.

"Go to sleep," Jon said softly. He smoothed Damian's hair back like he did often with his sister. He was quiet for a moment, letting his fingers fall from Damian's hair and lightly trailing down the side of his cheek. "Tomorrow," he said. "I'm going to go get Dick."

Damian nearly sat up in alarm. "But you just returned yesterday!"

"I know," Jon said quietly. "And I'm sorry."

"Why didn't you mention this earlier?" Damian asked. "We would have to push our plans back now."

Jon shook his head. "But Tim was so excited. I- I didn't want to ruin it."

Damian shook his head, leaning back into the pillows. "You're too nice, Jon."

Jon gave him a small smile. "Sleep, Dami."

He turned to go, but Damian reached out and grabbed his wrist. Jon stopped and turned back around.

"Stay," Damian said sleepily.

"I- What?"

"Stay," he repeated. "With me, tonight."

Jon hesitated. But he looked at the way Damian watched him from half-lidded eyes, lashes long and the small smile making him look rather coy.

"Okay," Jon said. He went around the side of the bed, and Damian turned to his body to face him. Jon lifted the covers and climbed in slowly, watching Damian the entire time.

Damian reached out and almost immediately pulled Jon into his arms. He hissed quietly. "Your feet are fucking cold, Kent," he whispered, but still held Jon tightly.

Jon could not stop the rapid beating of his heart and the sudden alertness. His cheeks were definitely heating up though. "Damian…"

"Sleep, Jon," Damian said.

"But-"

"Then, shut up and let me sleep," Damian growled, nipping at Jon's earlobe. Then, he licked it once, soothing the sharp sting. "Sorry."

Jon found himself smiling. "It's okay," he said. He turned around in Damian's arms. Their faces were just a couple inches apart. "This is okay… right?"

Damian smiled, his eyes closed. "Yeah," he said quietly. Then, he leaned in and kissed Jon, holding it for a few seconds. "Absolutely okay."

Then, he drifted off the sleep.

Jon woke up early the next morning, jostling Damian awake in the process. They both sat in the bed, covers pooling around their waists.

"You're leaving?" Damian asked.

Jon nodded. "Yeah, sorry."

Damian was silent for a moment. "Jon, I have an idea."

"Hm?"

"Magnus basically trusts you, right?"

"As much as he can trust anyone."

"I'm going to ask you to betray his trust."

"What?!" Jon asked. "Dami, you know-"

"Hear me out, Jon," Damian interrupted. "Tim and I will keep him distracted while you're on Earth. And I need you find Dick, and have him send a message to my father. Get them both to the portal, in three days' time. Meanwhile, Tim and I will get your parents and your sister ready. We'll overpower Magnus, because there's no way he can take all of us. It can work, Jon. You just have to trust me."

"I trust you," Jon said. "But… it's my parents' lives, Dami. And my sister. I can't have her get hurt."

"She won't," Damian said. "I swear, on my life. We'll get them all out safely. Just bring Dick and my father, please."

Jon stared at Damian for a long time, green and blue pinning each other, having silent conversations. Jon finally let out the breath he was holding. "Okay," he said, his voice cracking. "I'll trust you."

Damian broke out into a smile. "Thank you, Jon. I swear your family won't get hurt. I'll ensure it myself. I would go as far as dying to protect them."

Jon took a sharp breath. His eyes became alarmed. "Don't- Don't risk your own life, Dami," he pleaded. Damian was surprised by the urgency in his voice. "Please, don't. Just protect them, but don't… don't die doing it." Jon closed his eyes for a moment, leaning his head against Damian's shoulder. "When Magnus first took us, I was so scared he was going to go after you next. I was terrified that you might die too. That I wasn't there to protect you and you would die. So please, please don't…"

Damian's eyes widened. "Okay, okay," he said quickly. "I won't," he promised. "I'll protect them with everything I can." Then he paused. "I can promise that much for your parents at least."

"What does that mean?"

"Isabella. I'm not going to stand aside and watch a little girl die, Jon," Damian said fiercely. "If it comes to it, I will give my life for her."

Jon opened his mouth, then he shut it, looking torn. He obviously loved his sister very much. But he loved Damian too.

"Fair," he finally choked out. "But… try not to die?"

Damian smiled, pulling Jon in for a brief kiss. "I promise."

Jon nodded. "Okay," he said. "I'm going to go say goodbye to Bella, and then I'll be off."

Damian watched him climb out of the bed. "Be safe, Jon," he called after him. "See you in a few days."

That night, after Magnus was asleep, Tim and Damian snuck into the throne room. It was pitch black inside, save for the red and blue glowing lights of the capsules that entrapped Clark and Lois.

"Okay, what do we do?" Damian asked, keeping his voice quiet, despite the lack of people around to hear them.

Tim eyed the capsules. "I'll need a boost."

Damian let Tim climb onto his still sore shoulders, standing on top of him. Tim worked with some sort of mechanism at the back of the capsules.

"Hey, hand me that key, will you?" Tim asked.

"Key?" Damian looked up at him. "What key?"

"The one in the little pouch I set on that throne," Tim said.

Damian reached over, grabbing the pouch. He opened it and pulled out a key. It was more of a horseshoe shaped thing with different shapes cut into and jutting out of the main ring. He handed it up to Tim.

"Perfect," Tim muttered. A moment later, there was a light hissing noise, and the door opened. Damian let Tim down, and they both watched as the light in the capsule flickered and went out.

Tim shined the flashlight up, looking into the now dark capsule. A couple seconds of strained silence, then, a dark heap fell from the inside of the capsule. Tim and Damian both rushed to catch him, but Clark collapsed onto the ground in a rather undignified heap.

Damian scooped up the fallen flashlight, pointing its beam into Clark's face.

"Hello?" Damian asked. "Mr. Kent?"

"Clark!" Tim said forcefully, tapping Clark's chest hard. He still did not respond.

Tim pressed an ear to his chest. "He's alive," Tim said after a moment. "But weak. I think the red light was actually an imitation of the red radiation that sucks up his powers."

Damian made a soft growling noise. "We can't just leave him here!" he whisper-yelled. "And we can't get him back into the capsule either!"

Tim frowned. "Well, I remember that Kon used to regain his powers within an hour or so of them being completely sapped, usually from Kryptonite. But I don't know how long it would take in this case. Clark's been there for eight years after all."

Just as he said that, Clark's eyes snapped open, and he sat up, nearly colliding heads with Damian. His hands found the front of Tim's shirt, pulling him in, eyes glowing red.

"Woah!" Tim exclaimed. "Clark, Clark, it's me!"

Clark's eyes dimmed. They faded to blue and a very confused expression overcame the initial anger. "…Tim?"

"Yes!"

Clark then turned to Damian. His eyes narrowed and he leaned in a bit. "D-Damian?!"

"Mr. Kent," Damian said with a curt nod, frowning at the fact he nearly had his nose broken.

"Wh-What's happening? Where am I? I remember being kidnapped… Lois! Jon!" Clark's eyes widened and he started sitting up. "What year is it? You don't look the same."

"Hey, hey," Tim said, raising his hands. "Look, there's a lot going on, and we're going to try to explain it the best we can, okay? Yes, you were kidnapped. We haven't gotten Lois out of her capsule yet, but we wanted to see if you still had your powers first. Jon is perfectly fine. Isabella is also fine."

Clark made a face. "Isabella? Who's Isabella?"

Tim looked equally confused. "Your… daughter?"

"My daughter?"

Damian groaned. "He wasn't there for the birth," he said. "Fuck, okay," he said, taking a deep breath. "When you guys were kidnapped, Lois was pregnant. You were immediately put into the capsule, but Lois was allowed to carry out her pregnancy. It was a girl, Jon named her Isabella Hope Kent, and she's now eight years old. Which means, you've been unconscious for eight years."

Clark's eyes widened as he tried to process this. "And… And Earth?"

Tim made a face. "She's pretty much the same. But your disappearance did cause a lot of grief within the superhero community. No one could figure out where you all disappeared to. Not even Bruce."

"Then… what are you doing here?" Clark asked.

Damian laughed humorlessly. "Funny thing. See, your son was blackmailed into working for the person that kidnapped you, this vile man named Magnus. Jon was basically his errand boy, but not for running errands. For kidnapping, assassinating, and very rarely running errands. And Tim and I were his first two to be kidnapped."

"Why?"

"That's the question, isn't it?" Tim said. "Magnus wants to take over the universe. And he thinks that killing all the superheroes will prevent anyone from stopping him. So he kidnapped your family, now he's kidnapping ours."

"Um… okay," Clark managed. He was obviously overwhelmed with everything.

Tim looked reluctant to pile more on him. "So… do your powers work?"

Clark flexed his fingers. "Not really," he said. "I can feel them, and I feel like I can use them, but they don't… work."

"Maybe it'll take a while," Tim said.

"We don't have a while," Damian insisted. "Jon's going to be back in a day and a half."

"So what do we do?" Tim asked. "We can't arouse Magnus' suspicions." Then, his eyes lit up. "I can alter the settings on the capsules. Leave the red light on, but turn off the radiation." He then turned to Clark. "You'll have to hang in that capsule for another couple days," he said apologetically. "Regain your powers then, and when Jon gets back with Dick and Bruce, we'll take on Magnus and get you home."

Clark looked up at the capsule. Then, he looked at the other one. "Lois! Is she…?"

"We don't know yet. There's something different keeping her unconscious," Tim said. "But we'll undo that too, and see if she regains consciousness soon."

Tim worked all night, altering the capsules' settings. They took Lois out of her capsule, but she never woke up. Clark sat by her side, holding her hand the entire time that they worked.

As morning approached, Clark had to go back into the capsule and play dead in the false red radiation as his strength slowly seeped back into him. Lois did not have to pretend, though she was no longer being held by her capsule.

The next day, when Magnus tortured the two of them, stringing them up side by side, he did not notice anything awry.

The next night, the night before Jon's return, Damian talked with Isabella. He did his best to explain the basics of what was going to happen without scaring her. She listened attentively, pausing her adventures with her dolls.

Damian helped her gather some of her clothes, her favorite toys, a couple books, and the picture of him and Jon into the large black backpack. He was tucking her into bed, finishing up the bedtime story when the door to her room creaked open.

Damian turned, expecting Tim, but the shape was too small and too fat.

"Well, well," Magnus' voice leered. "Planning an escape, are we?"