You guys are all great! You've given me a lot of confidence to write this story.
Sorry about the delay, I've started my new job so I've been swamped. This is a good thing especially for MarkMark as I think my error count should go down some (I hope), as I am no longer writing this story in pieces during breaks.
Chapter 8 – Recovery
The next morning the sun rose into a clear sky, although no one in the penthouse hotel room noticed it. The previous long night had taken it's toll and all had stayed in bed till almost noon no one stirred until around noon. Alfred was the first to awake, muttering something under his breath about getting old and that he would never have over slept 5 years ago.
Alfred quickly started the coffee and began to prepare a brunch when Bruce slowly made his way into the kitchen.
"Good to see you up and about sir, if you will make yourself comfortable outside I will bring you some breakfast."
Bruce just nodded and slowly sat down in one of the chairs. He looked over the city and enjoyed the warm breeze. He closed his eyes and just enjoyed the sun and it's warmth.
Clark finally dragged himself out of bed about twenty minutes after Bruce and joined Bruce on the patio. Clark was glad to see some of his color was already starting to return. Alfred had tended to his cuts, burns and bruises, almost covering half his body in gauze.
"Morning Bruce." Clark said with a yawn and poured himself a glass of coffee.
"Clark."
"How you feeling?"
"Better, feel like I haven't had a good meal in years."
Clark noticed some plain crackers and other bland food on the table.
"Wouldn't call that a good meal…Alfred must be slacking off." Clark said with a grin.
"I heard that young sir. You know as well as I do that a malnourished person must be careful with what they eat. They must be worked back up to richer food." The older man said with a look as he brought a steaming plate of food to Clark. Bruce cracked a smile as he returned to looking down at the city. The two men ate in silence, both enjoying not having to worry about anything at the moment.
Clark pushed back his plate and picked up his coffee, "There's no great way to ask so I'm just going to ask...what happened?"
Bruce leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and started at the beginning.
"As you have read in the files by now, I had been checking out Ra's for several years. I knew what he was capable of and I knew he had the money to back any of his ideas. What I didn't know is that he knew that I was looking for him."
"That night we were searching the city, I had pulled over to stop a mugging. It was easy takedown; a couple of quick moves and the men were on the ground. What I didn't expect was the woman to thank me with a canister of gas in my face. When I woke several hours later I was on an airplane for an unknown destination. Ra's was there and started spewing his philosophical ideas. Of course I let him talk and pushed him to continue to so I could plan an escape. Unfortunately he had studied me and my methods and knew what I would try to do and had any attempts I would make blocked. He eventually asked me to join him. I, of course refused. I guess he thought that with time I would break down into submitting to him and his cause."
"Several times I tried getting messages to you but my attempts failed. Ra's was extremely careful with his communication equipment. I figured it would be better to be close to Ra's then escape and not be able to find him again. So I watched and waited for opportunities to sabotage equipment and studied my enemy in hopes of learning his goals."
"A few months ago, things changed, I was no longer considered a guest or pest but I became a true prisoner and they began to torture me. I assumed that the time was near for his plan to go into motion and he was trying to figure out how to get you out of the picture, knowing that you were the only one that could possibly stop him. After one long session, I purposely let it slip about the Jade Cat being made of Kryptonite. Ra's found the Cat and purposefully led you to himself as I knew he would."
"My word!" Was all that Alfred said after listening to the story.
Clark said nothing and stared into his coffee.
"Something wrong?" Bruce asked him.
"I…I should have figured it out. I knew you weren't dead but I didn't know where to start looking."
Bruce looked up to the sky as if to draw strength for this emotional moment, "I taught you well, get this through your head, there were no clues. Ra's laid his plan extremely well and cleaned up anything you could have possibly followed. I doubt that I could have found you if our roles were reversed." Bruce said quietly.
"Think about it, there were no clues at the dock, I must have been taken out by boat to a helicopter in a remote location and then taken to the plane. Yes possibly someone could have seen them take me but that person is probably dead. The cave was lined with lead, probably because of you; maybe it was a bomb shelter in a previous life, who knows."
"What you have got to see is that in the end the world was saved again, I'm alive and I will recover, Lois is safe and will heal."
Clark looked back down at his cup of coffee before looking back into the bruised face of his mentor. "Thanks Bruce, I needed that."
Then he smiled, "Who says you are a shallow guy with no emotions?"
"Ha ha…" Bruce smiled as well as he could with his injuries.
Lois walked in and gingerly sat down in the seat next to Clark.
"Morning Ms. Lane." Alfred appeared with another steaming plate of food and a big mug of coffee.
Clark laughed when Lois replied with something about being sore and tired but it was mostly gibberish.
She glared at him, "Shut up Smallville, I'll kick your ass, you know I'm not a morning person." She said much louder and began to eat slowly and drink her coffee.
Clark and laughed all the harder as Lois gave him her angry face.
They spent the rest of the day sitting around the hotel. Bruce caught up on the latest news in Gotham; he was very pleased with how Clark had taken care of his city. Crime was about average for one man working the city. He checked in on Wayne Enterprises and was saddened to hear the news of Fox's death; he had become pretty close friends with him before his disappearance. Clark had handled the business well, even expanding it in his absence.
Lois and Clark spent the rest of the afternoon just talking and watching movies. Neither felt like leaving the hotel although Lois had already laid out the next day's shopping activities.
Alfred just quietly watched over his family, getting food and drinks for them all. Although he didn't say it, he was overjoyed to have his family back together.
One Month Later…
...And the world was shocked today to learn that billionaire Bruce Wayne has been found. You might remember we reported a few years ago that he had died in an unexplained plane crash that he had chartered to take him to a private island. It seems he survived the water crash and found himself on a nearby island. For the past few years he has lived on fish, water and whatever else he could find. He will be releasing a full press report later this week.
Bruce was recovering quickly now, his bodyweight was up and he was training again. His reflexes were initially sluggish and his coordination was off. But Bruce powered through the pain, driven to becoming what he had once been.
Clark came down the stairs from the house.
"Hey Bruce, how's it going?" He asked, seeing the man in the middle of a series of sit-ups.
Bruce grunted, an I am fine leave me alone grunt.
"The board of directors wants to know when you'll be coming into the office. There's some legal work to do to put the company back into your name."
Bruce stopped his sit ups and stood up. "If I come back…"
The question had a double meaning and Clark caught what Bruce was really after.
"I've been giving that some thought actually. I've been thinking that it might be time for me to find my own city. I've been keeping tabs on a few other cities in the past couple of weeks, Coast city, New York and Metropolis. All three need help but I'm leaning towards Metropolis. And if it's ok with you I would like to run the medical research division that is headquartered in there."
Bruce smiled, he was relived that Clark had no problems with letting the city or the company go. "I think that is an excellent idea, I'll come into the office tomorrow and we'll start the transition."
Clark noted the relief in his mentor's eyes, That's right man, it's your city and your company. He thought to himself.
Bruce moved over to the sparing mat and took up a defensive pose.
"Are you sure you're ready for me, you know I'm going to kick your ass Bruce."
Bruce just smiled and waited; Clark zipped into the vault and pulled on his workout clothes.
"I guess I'll go easy on you old man." Clark teased, throwing a slow punch.
Bruce grinned as he easily sidestepped it and landed a crushing kick to Clark's side causing him to tumble off balance.
Clark laughed as he rolled and jumped back to his feet. He dropped into a defensive style as Bruce launched an attack. Clark stepped into the attack and tossed Bruce on to his face.
Bruce got quickly back to his feet and for the next hour the two men threw each other around the cave. Both of them trying to better the other, but only succeeding in matching blow for blow. They probably would have gone all night if Alfred hadn't made them stop for dinner.
After pushing back their plates Bruce turned to Clark, "Any plans for tonight?"
"Nope, Lois is visiting Chloe and they are working out wedding plans." Clark said.
"Then I think a night on the town sounds good." Bruce said with a smile as the two men stood and made their way to the secret entrance to the Batcave.