v. Anything She Wanted
She was beautiful. Bruce imagined that that was exactly how Chloe Sullivan must have looked as a toddler. Brianna ran around the park wrapped in the clothes they had picked for her. She was glowing under the sun that was almost never present. He gloried in the thought that for once, Gotham was bright because this girl was there.
Brianna crushed the grass beneath her boots. When she ventured to the portion that was supposed to be off limits, Bruce allowed her. He would pay for the replacement of the patches of blue grass that the girl would ruin in her delight about being free to run. Bruce understood how it must have felt for the girl, cooped up inside four thick walls, surrounded by security since birth. This was an experience that Brianna had never had, perhaps would never have had she grown up behind her father's shadow.
She whirled around in circles, laughing and waving at him. He suspected that the girl did it to make sure that she had not been abandoned there. The frequent calls to his attention her way of making certain that she knew exactly the direction where she was going to run should she need Bruce again.
"We have a problem."
Bruce did not need to turn to see who it was. "I realize that."
"Bruce," Clark continued, not at all offended by the coldness in which Bruce held himself apart from him, "I know this woman. I loved this woman before either you or Lex did. She will find out eventually, especially when what she's looking for is right under her nose."
"Maybe that's in my favor. I would be the last man that Chloe would suspect."
Clark sighed deeply and looked in the direction that Bruce was looking. His lips curved in a faint smile. Over the last few years, as Lex drew further away from him, he had missed this child. One look at her, in the hospital, and he knew that he would adore Brianna because of how much of her mother she bore in her face, in her smile. "I want to hold her."
"No," came the quick answer. "She's a smart girl. She will tell her mother that she had seen you."
"She's three, Bruce," Clark reasoned.
"She's got both Chloe's and Lex Luthor's genes."
Because Bruce's point was valid and strong, Clark remained standing behind Bruce, away from anyone's prying eyes. He had loved Lex like a brother despite his retreat into the darkness. Clark could not help but feel a tinge of loathing towards Bruce for what had happened. "You did not need to kill him Bruce." And it all came down to that, feelings he did not really want to voice but had been killing him since it happened.
"You know as well as I do that we had to," came the quiet answer.
Perhaps his bitterness lay on the fact that after everything that had happened, Chloe chose to run to this man whom she knew for six months while she turned away from him. One thing he would never commit the grave mistake in saying, was that often he wondered if Bruce did not do it because of Chloe. There were limits he still followed. Maybe he would always suspect that part of the 'accident' was that Bruce had always wanted her. He would never voice it though. "How do feel holding that girl in your arms knowing you were the one responsible for her father's death?"
A long pause. But then that had always been the case when you spoke to a man as taciturn as Bruce Wayne. "Good. Brianna will not grow up exposed to her father's crimes."
"You killed a man, Bruce," Clark said. It seemed to him that in this case, Bruce Wayne had suddenly forgotten the code that they have been following since they decided to fight crime. Bring the criminals to justice. Save the victims. But you never kill a human bring, no matter how disgusting the record, no matter how evil he was perceived. You never kill.
The blue eyes that turned to him were still cold when they turned to Clark Kent. "I know that, Clark. Every time I see Chloe crying, when she thinks she's alone, I remember. That has not escaped my nightmares. But it was something that had to be done. I am sorry I killed a man, Clark. But at the same time, I'm proud I had the strength to do that."
"We fight for truth and justice," Clark recited, in a way that he realized afterwards could sound irritating to someone who had a burden as heavy as Bruce. Still, he continued, "A real hero does not take justice into his own hands."
"Spare me adages I've already heard. That's why you are the hero and I'm the avenger."
"Just take care, Bruce. No matter how much you've honed yourself avenging the wronged in this city, you will never compare to a woman bent on revenge." Clark's hand closed over Bruce's upper arm, squeezing tightly in a silent show of support. "And I know you would not hurt Chloe, even if she were holding the barrel of a gun to your temple."
The golden little girl bounced up and down as she decided she wanted to pluck one of Gotham's rare flowers from a vine just beyond her reach. Bruce smiled, knowing that within seconds he would there with her, lifting her up just enough to reach the highest and brightest flower of the bunch. "I'll protect them both even from myself," he confirmed. Without saying goodbye, he strode to aid Brianna.
They returned to the mansion with a bright yellow flower tucked into her ear, and another flower woven into the crown of his own hair. He had never appeared sillier before, yet he had never been happier either. Bruce carried the tired girl who was now drooling the shoulder of his immaculate shoulder. He opened the door to the bedroom to check on Chloe, only to find it empty.
He swung the door open to the study and was greeted by brilliant eyes and a relieved smile. "You're not asleep."
"I found something!" she breathed excitedly. Bruce steeled himself for the news. "The commissioner of the city uses a signal to call Batman. I know where it is. And it's the perfect way to lure the bastard into a trap."
"I see."
"Bruce, don't you see!" When her voice rose an octave, she forced it down. "I can finally put this behind me. It's going to be over soon, Bruce." She walked over to the man who held her daughter as if she were his. "Can you look after Brianna for me? One last night, Bruce. And then I can be her mother again."
In her eyes, he saw the triumph and the hope, the relief and the trepidation. It was not as if he could ever deny her anything. His free hand cupped her cheek. At least before that final meeting that she would plan, he could do what he had always dreamed of doing. He leaned down and gently covered her lips with his. "For you, Chloe, anything you want."
She was beautiful. Bruce imagined that that was exactly how Chloe Sullivan must have looked as a toddler. Brianna ran around the park wrapped in the clothes they had picked for her. She was glowing under the sun that was almost never present. He gloried in the thought that for once, Gotham was bright because this girl was there.
Brianna crushed the grass beneath her boots. When she ventured to the portion that was supposed to be off limits, Bruce allowed her. He would pay for the replacement of the patches of blue grass that the girl would ruin in her delight about being free to run. Bruce understood how it must have felt for the girl, cooped up inside four thick walls, surrounded by security since birth. This was an experience that Brianna had never had, perhaps would never have had she grown up behind her father's shadow.
She whirled around in circles, laughing and waving at him. He suspected that the girl did it to make sure that she had not been abandoned there. The frequent calls to his attention her way of making certain that she knew exactly the direction where she was going to run should she need Bruce again.
"We have a problem."
Bruce did not need to turn to see who it was. "I realize that."
"Bruce," Clark continued, not at all offended by the coldness in which Bruce held himself apart from him, "I know this woman. I loved this woman before either you or Lex did. She will find out eventually, especially when what she's looking for is right under her nose."
"Maybe that's in my favor. I would be the last man that Chloe would suspect."
Clark sighed deeply and looked in the direction that Bruce was looking. His lips curved in a faint smile. Over the last few years, as Lex drew further away from him, he had missed this child. One look at her, in the hospital, and he knew that he would adore Brianna because of how much of her mother she bore in her face, in her smile. "I want to hold her."
"No," came the quick answer. "She's a smart girl. She will tell her mother that she had seen you."
"She's three, Bruce," Clark reasoned.
"She's got both Chloe's and Lex Luthor's genes."
Because Bruce's point was valid and strong, Clark remained standing behind Bruce, away from anyone's prying eyes. He had loved Lex like a brother despite his retreat into the darkness. Clark could not help but feel a tinge of loathing towards Bruce for what had happened. "You did not need to kill him Bruce." And it all came down to that, feelings he did not really want to voice but had been killing him since it happened.
"You know as well as I do that we had to," came the quiet answer.
Perhaps his bitterness lay on the fact that after everything that had happened, Chloe chose to run to this man whom she knew for six months while she turned away from him. One thing he would never commit the grave mistake in saying, was that often he wondered if Bruce did not do it because of Chloe. There were limits he still followed. Maybe he would always suspect that part of the 'accident' was that Bruce had always wanted her. He would never voice it though. "How do feel holding that girl in your arms knowing you were the one responsible for her father's death?"
A long pause. But then that had always been the case when you spoke to a man as taciturn as Bruce Wayne. "Good. Brianna will not grow up exposed to her father's crimes."
"You killed a man, Bruce," Clark said. It seemed to him that in this case, Bruce Wayne had suddenly forgotten the code that they have been following since they decided to fight crime. Bring the criminals to justice. Save the victims. But you never kill a human bring, no matter how disgusting the record, no matter how evil he was perceived. You never kill.
The blue eyes that turned to him were still cold when they turned to Clark Kent. "I know that, Clark. Every time I see Chloe crying, when she thinks she's alone, I remember. That has not escaped my nightmares. But it was something that had to be done. I am sorry I killed a man, Clark. But at the same time, I'm proud I had the strength to do that."
"We fight for truth and justice," Clark recited, in a way that he realized afterwards could sound irritating to someone who had a burden as heavy as Bruce. Still, he continued, "A real hero does not take justice into his own hands."
"Spare me adages I've already heard. That's why you are the hero and I'm the avenger."
"Just take care, Bruce. No matter how much you've honed yourself avenging the wronged in this city, you will never compare to a woman bent on revenge." Clark's hand closed over Bruce's upper arm, squeezing tightly in a silent show of support. "And I know you would not hurt Chloe, even if she were holding the barrel of a gun to your temple."
The golden little girl bounced up and down as she decided she wanted to pluck one of Gotham's rare flowers from a vine just beyond her reach. Bruce smiled, knowing that within seconds he would there with her, lifting her up just enough to reach the highest and brightest flower of the bunch. "I'll protect them both even from myself," he confirmed. Without saying goodbye, he strode to aid Brianna.
They returned to the mansion with a bright yellow flower tucked into her ear, and another flower woven into the crown of his own hair. He had never appeared sillier before, yet he had never been happier either. Bruce carried the tired girl who was now drooling the shoulder of his immaculate shoulder. He opened the door to the bedroom to check on Chloe, only to find it empty.
He swung the door open to the study and was greeted by brilliant eyes and a relieved smile. "You're not asleep."
"I found something!" she breathed excitedly. Bruce steeled himself for the news. "The commissioner of the city uses a signal to call Batman. I know where it is. And it's the perfect way to lure the bastard into a trap."
"I see."
"Bruce, don't you see!" When her voice rose an octave, she forced it down. "I can finally put this behind me. It's going to be over soon, Bruce." She walked over to the man who held her daughter as if she were his. "Can you look after Brianna for me? One last night, Bruce. And then I can be her mother again."
In her eyes, he saw the triumph and the hope, the relief and the trepidation. It was not as if he could ever deny her anything. His free hand cupped her cheek. At least before that final meeting that she would plan, he could do what he had always dreamed of doing. He leaned down and gently covered her lips with his. "For you, Chloe, anything you want."