Summary: The Kents want their son to be normal. Thinking the Super family has the right idea Batman arranges their sons to go to school together in the hopes Jon will teach Damain to be a regular kid. But Damian has other plans & decides he is going to train the world's next Superman. He just has to prevent the world's greatest detective and the world's most powerful hero from finding out.
CHAPTER 1
The Meeting
"What?" Robin snapped when he heard Batman land behind him, he didn't even need to turn around. He knew the look he was being given.
Batman surveyed the scene. It seemed his son had stacked the criminals in a pile in the corner and was already working on downloading the evidence from their computers.
"I took them down, if you wanted to be apart of the fun, you should have come a little quicker," he explained.
"Are they—"
"I didn't kill anyone," he added sharply looking rather annoyed. "They're just unconscious..."
One of the men in the stack Robin had made let out a pained groan as though trying to be on que.
"For the most part," he added.
"Robin, you have to quit going off without me. You're just a kid. I know you think you can handle these things because you're strong, but one of these days you're going to come up against something that you can't take on alone and what are you going to do when there is no one there to help you?"
"I don't need help."
"Everyone needs help at some point Robin."
"Yeah, that's why you joined the Justice League," Robin removed the flash drive from the computer and tossed it to Batman. "Here's the evidence. Did you want to double check my work or can we go home?"
The familiar sirens of approaching police vehicles met their ears and Batman put the drive where the officers would be sure to find it.
Batman sighed, "Come on…"
The batmobile wasn't far from them, so they hurried into it speeding away before the police showed up.
"Damian…" Batman sighed. "When we get home I'm taking your suit away."
Damian sighed. "May I ask why?"
"Because you seem to think you can just run off whenever you feel like it," he snapped. "Without a suit maybe you'll re-think things."
"Unlike you a having a suit isn't going to stop me."
"Then I'll have to find something that will."
"I don't understand what your problem is, I stopped killing because you asked me to. I started just fighting crime instead of annihilating it. Like you wanted. Anyone else in your shoes would say I was doing a good job…"
"What I want Damian is for you to not feel like this is your job. I let you come with me on some missions so you can grow in your skills, but when I'm not there you're not a crime fighter and when I am there, you're just back up," he explained. "Damian, you're just a kid. So just focus on being one."
"Being a kid is a stage that holds no real value or importance. So I skipped it. The moment I could walk on my own Ra's Al Ghul made sure that I was prepared to fight. He told me I had to surpass my adult trainers by the time I was eight. I did it when I was six. So stop treating me like a kid."
"You ARE a kid Damian, it doesn't matter how skilled you are."
"Tsk," he leaned back in his seat and glared out the window watching the light of the buildings and other cars go by.
"You know, Superman's son is likely to have the same powers as his father. But his family has decided to let him just be a kid. They decided that he isn't to participate in crime fighting until he's older. Maybe… that's what I should be doing for you."
"Since when did you start idolizing Superman?"
"I'm not idolizing, I just think he has a point in the way he's raising his son."
"He's raising his son to be weak. Did the kid even inherit any of Superman's powers?"
"He's keeping him out of the way," Batman frowned ignoring Damian's last comment. "Kids are safe when they're staying out of trouble. That's what he wants for his son. He just wants to keep his child safe; you can hardly blame him for that, and keeping him out of the line of danger keeps him safe."
"Shows what you know…" Damian snapped.
They pulled into the Batcave and the second it stopped Damian jumped out.
"Master Damian are—"
Damian, without turning around called snidely back to batman as he made his way upstairs. "Guess I'll just go sit in my room all day like a good child."
"Damian that's not…" Batman was about to retort but Damian had already gone not bothering to look back.
"Another hard day of parenting Master Bruce?" Alfred asked walking over to him.
"..." he sighed. "I don't know what to do… I told him I would take his suit away this time."
"Perhaps that's for the best."
"No, it's not. Yes I want him to be a kid… But at his core, he's a fighter. Pretending like that part of him doesn't exist isn't going to do him any favors," Batman frowned. "But I do need to stop him from running off on his own, he's going to get killed if he keeps doing it."
"Then maybe taking away the suit, would be a good thing," Alfred explained. "If I may be so bold Sir, as to offer some parenting advice."
"Offer away," Bruce answered removing his mask as he took a seat at the computer.
"When children are different from normal kids their own age, it is often best to let them be around children like themselves. Creating a sense of not only familiarity but an environment in which experiences can be shared and growth can be had. And at the moment, I can only think of one other child in the world who bears a number of striking similarities to Damian."
"I know who you're implying and believe me. I met Jon. Superman's kid and Damian are as different as night and day."
"Oh I don't know Sir, they're both preteens, with extraordinary abilities that far surpass that of an average child even if young Jon's is more in the magical sense. They both have Fathers who fight criminals on a daily basis, and they both have to bear the burden of secrets that if revealed it could destroy their worlds as they know it," Alfred let his words sink in.
"…"
"Shall I get Superman on the phone?" Alfred asked.
"No, get Lois on. I'd rather talk to her anyway."
"Right away Sir."
"Dad!" Jon rushed out to meet him when he landed outside their home. A small farmhouse out in the countryside. "You're just in time, dinner's ready."
"What did your Mom cook today?" he asked putting a hand on Jon's head to ruffle his hair lovingly.
"It's Mom, so everything she makes is delicious, but she had a busy day today, so we just ordered pizza, hurry before it gets cold!"
He followed Jon into their little farmhouse and Lois hurried over to him.
"Who did you save today?" she asked looking at the dirt on his suit.
"Everyone I could," he explained. "As always. Jon said you had a busy day."
"Yeah, I had a phone meeting with your colleague. Bruce Wayne."
"Oh," he answered frowning slightly. "What did he want?"
"He wants to have dinner with us. About Jon."
"That mans out of his mind," Clark snapped looking rather upset. "You know what he wants don't you?"
"Clark…" Lois tried to be consoling, but when batman was the subject, Clark always seemed to have a hard time thinking rationally.
"If he thinks my son is going to be fighting crime at his age, he has another thing coming…"
"That's probably not even what he wants. Mr. Wayne was saying he had an opportunity for Jon he wanted to discuss with us."
"Yeah, what's the quickest way I can use your son's powers recklessly and get him killed. We'll discuss it over lunch," Clark's Batman impression was horrific, but it made Lois chuckle regardless.
"Dear…" she put a hand on his arm. "Why are you worried. We are the final decision makers when it comes to our son and his well-being. We won't agree to anything that doesn't have Jon's best interest at heart. Besides, we both agreed. Even if Jon starts showing signs of powers we will teach him to not use them. But this is Bruce Wayne… I at least want to hear him out. So will you hear him out with me?"
"Of course," he answered taking her hand in his before kissing his wife lovingly. They were interrupted shortly after by Jon calling from the next room.
"You guys better hurry the pizza's already getting cold."
"We're on our way," Lois called as they came around the corner and sat down to eat as a family.
The restaurant Bruce suggested meeting at was as fancy as Clark feared. Lois, while she had never complained about their simple little country town life, she had a soft spot for the finer things and absolutely loved ritzy restaurants and getting dolled up. Besides he knew batman, the man didn't spare any expense when he wanted something and after glancing down the menu, he noticed the cheapest thing on it was $70 if you didn't count the free water.
"He's late…" Clark pointed out after the waiter sat them at what he said was "Mr. Wayne's favorite table, on permanent reserve for only his most esteemed guests."
"Of course he is," Lois answered shrugging. "Rich people always are. Ooooh look at this."
She pointed to an expensive lobster dish and wine.
"Darling that's…" Clark began only a voice from behind him interrupted.
"That's all on me. So don't worry about the price," Bruce came around the corner taking a seat across from them smiling.
"Hello Mr. Wayne, thank you for the invitation."
"The pleasure is all mine Mrs. Kent." The waiter hurried over with a menu, and Bruce held up his hand to stop him. "My usual. Mr. and Mrs. Kent probably still need a few minutes to decide so come back in about five minutes."
The waiter nodded silently and hurried away.
"Alright Bruce, let's just get to the point," Clark exclaimed a bit rudely.
"Clark!" Lois snapped throwing a sharp glare in his direction that only wives and mothers seemed capable of.
"Excellent idea, that way we can enjoy our meals in peace after our business has concluded."
Clark folded his arms and leaned back in his chair. He had already practiced his refusal of Bruce's request a hundred different ways in his head and was just trying to finalize which one he wanted to go with.
"So, right to the point… I need your help."
Both Clark and Lois looked taken aback by this statement.
"I admire how you're raising your son. You're giving him as normal of a life as anyone in his situation could hope for. He may not have gotten powers of his own but he's still Superman's son. In that aspect him and Damian are similar. You're going about this right. I need that sort of parenting style for Damian, but… he's never had that. A transition to that sort of life would be quite difficult for him, I almost fear it may be impossible."
Clark and Lois glanced at one another. Not quite sure where he was getting at.
"Damian needs to be around someone not so different from himself. Someone he can take after and learn from. Someone who could show him that not only is it okay for him to let his guard down and just be a kid but show him that that may in fact be the best life for him."
There was a rather long pause upon his finishing that sentence, and Lois broke the silence by softly proposing a question. "What exactly do you want from us Mr. Wayne?"
"What I want is for your son and mine to be friends. I want to send Damian to a boarding school, one of the best in the world, but he won't stay put there without some reason to stay. I want your son to be that reason. I want him to attend the school with Damian, absolutely free of charge on your end of course, and I'll cover everything right up to his graduation day."
Lois and Clark were still looking hesitant, so Bruce continued. "I need someone to tame him. Make him understand what being a kid is like and hopefully he'll choose that existence over crime fighting. At least until he's older."
"That's an amazing opportunity indeed Mr. Wayne. It's no secret that we wouldn't be able to afford a private school like that in a million years, but you can't just force kids to be friends," Lois pointed out. "They might hate each other and what if your plan fails and our son isn't able to keep him at the school."
"If that situation arises, your son will still be more than welcome to continue attending with all expenses paid. His going there is not based on the condition of his ability to keep Damian in check. He will be welcome regardless of Damian's compliance, that is of course, unless you choose to pull him from the school. In that situation, there will be no questions asked and no refunds expected. So don't worry about that."
Bruce took out a pamphlet from his jacket pocket and handed it to Lois. It was a brochure for the school. Incredibly famous all over the world. Only the children from the most elite families would attend.
"What's the hidden agenda?" Clark snapped but in a low voice so as not to draw the attention of the guests around them.
"Hidden agenda?"
"You always have something up your sleeve… so what is it?"
"Clark!" Lois frowned looking slightly embarrassed.
"Nothing. I'm simply trying to do what's best for my son. I'm not the best parent. But I'm trying. He didn't have a normal life growing up, and this kid basically just fell into my lap a little over a year ago and I'm at a loss as to how to approach a lot of the aspects of parenting. I never thought I would ever have to deal with this. But I feel like this move will be the best for him in the long run."
"I don't know much about your son other than his name," Lois said softly, setting the brochure down. "By not having a normal life, what exactly do you mean?"
"I'll be honest I'm a bit hesitant to go into that Mrs. Kent. If I tell you I'm not sure you want to agree to this."
"Then we need to know," Lois explained for the first time during their dinner her voice had an air of firmness to it.
"He was raised by assassins. Some of the best in the world. He was taught to kill his enemies and trust no one from a very young age. Damian never had a childhood, his existence has been his being surrounded by trainers and enemies. His life was lived jumping from one mission to the next. Down time for him is a waste of time. He doesn't exactly open up to me about his past. But the little he does speak of it, it's with a tone of his past being something he's proud of."
A sadden expression came over Lois' face and she glanced back down at the pamphlet.
"We're planning a camping trip this weekend. Clark, me, his parents, Jon… Maybe… Damian could come and we could see how the boys get along. I think it would be best to make this decision after we see how they are together."
She looked towards Clark to see if this idea was alright with him.
Somewhat begrudgingly he nodded.
"That sounds like a plan," Bruce answered clapping his hands together.
Clark didn't like how even when he was supposed to be discussing their children he was keeping this air of being in a business meeting. The smile on his face now was one of someone who had just won their deal.
Right as the waiter was bringing their food around the Bat signal was launched in the sky.
"I guess this dinner will have to be a short one. Please stay, order whatever you wish, have a good time and get some extras to bring home to Jon. Lois, I'll text you for the details on this weekend."
With that he got up and left the restaurant.
"What do you think?" Lois asked softly.
"I think we should have just said no."
"C'mon you don't mean that."
"I do. I don't trust Batman… I trust Bruce Wayne even less," he pointed out in a hushed tone to make sure no one could hear them.
"If Jon went to this school, he could go and do practically anything he wishes. We could never give him this sort of opportunity on our own. I think we should at least give this idea a chance, and if it doesn't work out then… As Mr. Wayne said. He's still able to attend even if he can't help Damian."
"Well, like you said. We'll see how this weekend goes."
"I know you're not happy Master Damian, but try to have a good time. This will be good for you," Alfred said as they pulled up to the farmhouse.
"I have better things to be doing."
Alfred let out a sigh, "I'm sure you do, still there is no rule that says you can't turn this trip into something worthwhile."
He stepped out and opened the door for him. Damian grabbed his bag and climbed out find Superman in his plain everyday clothes ready to greet him.
"We meet again Damian," he said holding out his hand.
He shook it while at the same time glancing around.
"I would have thought your home would be a little more…" he paused unable to come up with a word that didn't reek of vulgarity. So he changed the subject. "You work this farm by yourself?"
"Mostly," he answered. "Jon helps me sometimes. I'll introduce you in a moment."
Clark made his way to Alfred to speak with him so Damian decided to wander around the farm. He found it strange that a man with such incredible powers would choose to live such a… There he went again unable to find an adjective that would describe this place in a positive light.
What Ra's al Ghul would have given to have the sheer power and near invulnerability that Superman had. He wouldn't have had a need for a lazarus pit that's for sure. Still all that power and he choose to live on a small country farm. A man without vision, is what his grandfather would have called him. He had called his father that more than once.
"Hi!"
Without realizing it he had wandered into the barn where Jon had apparently been playing.
"You must be Damian. My Dad said you were coming with us. Have you ever been camping before?" he jumped down from the loft. He must have been napping because he had a few pieces of hay in his hair stuck in various parts of his clothes.
"…yes."
"Really? I didn't think city kids went camping."
"Boys where are you?" Lois called.
"We're in here Mom!" Jon headed back towards the house. They walked out just in time to see Alfred saying goodbye to Clark.
"Is that your Dad? I didn't realize Batman was so old."
"That's not my Father."
"Who is it?"
"Our servant," Damian stated simply as Lois walked over to them.
"Hello young man," she said smiling at Damian. "I hope you're ready for a weekend of fun and adventure."
"Sure."
"We already got the camper loaded," Clark explained. "Is… Is that all you brought?"
Damian had a small bag that did not look like it was big enough to hold a weekend's worth of camping stuff.
"Yeah, it's all I need."
"If you say so," Lois grinned. Go ahead and get in the camper. Clark and I will get a few last-minute items."
"Let me show you the bunk bed in our camper. It sits right overtop the driver seat!" Jon grabbed Damian's arm and hurried off with him.
"I have a bad feeling about this weekend," Clark sighed.
"Oh c'mon. He'll warm up to us. Boys love camping! Once they get in the great outdoors I'm sure he'll start having fun," she explained as she headed out to the barn to grab a few extra blankets.
Clark wasn't about to pretend to know everything about Damian. But he knew the boy better than Lois did from the few times he had seen him working with Batman. He already knew how this weekend would go. Damian would be grumpy and bored the whole trip. Jon's happy nature wasn't going to mesh with that, and then they could forget about the boys going to school together.
He absolutely did not want them going to school together. He wanted his son to be happy and an academic driven upscale school would not make him happy. Jon deserved a world class education, but their was more to life and being a kid than just books and knowledge. He was afraid Jon going to this school would make him forget to be a kid, have fun, and work with his hands.
It'll be fine. It had to be.
The campground was a few hours away so Damian spent the drive reading a book and his son was bouncing around the camper. With a few of his justice league action figures. Pretending to make them fly around. He even asked Damian to play with one of them and was promptly shot down.
Jon walked up to his mother who was in the passenger seat.
"I'm not sure what else to try Mom," Jon whispered frowning slightly.
Clark got the feeling that she had asked Jon to do his best to be friends with Damian. So he ruffled his hair. "Don't try too hard Jon, Damian's not the easiest person to get along with."
"This is a small camper you know. I don't need super hearing to know what you're saying," Damian responded without looking up from his book.
"Ugh," Lois looked like she was trying to think quickly. The passenger seat was able to swivel completely around in this camper so she spun it to face Damian. "So Damian tell us about yourself. What do you like to do?"
"Read," he answered before returning to his book.
"Well, are their any camping games you like to play?"
"Not really."
"…" she frowned. "Oh I know."
She undid her seat belt and walked over to one of the benches that would fold out into a bed. She reached into the drawer beneath it and pulled out a Chess board. "I'm sure a kid like you must love Chess."
He closed his book. "Do you play Mrs. Kent?"
"A little, but I think it would be nice for you and Jon to play."
The little interest that Damian showed seemed to melt away at that point and with an audible sigh he sat his book to the side. "Fine."
"Mom I don't know how to play…"
"I'm sure Damian will teach you," she pointed out and had Jon sit across from him at the table.
Damian began taking the chess pieces out and explaining the names of them and what moves they were allowed to do. Lois sat back down in the passenger seat with a confident, ah ha! I did it, sort of expression.
"Good job," Clark said. Though he looked in the rear view mirror at them. Damian was clearly frustrated and Jon looked bored out of his mind. He was pretty sure all Lois managed to do was make two unhappy children rather than one.
By the time they pulled into the campground tensions in the back had escalated.
"No, you idiot. The bishop can't move like that!" Damian snapped.
"Well mine can fly!" Jon explained.
"No, you can't just make up rules. Chess pieces don't fly."
"Humans don't fly, but my Dad can!"
"Your Dad's not human," Damian tried to explain.
"I mean, he pretty much is."
"No he's not!"
"Okay boys, we're here."
"Great," Damian jumped up immediately and headed outside.
Lois walked over to Jon to help him put the pieces away.
"I don't think he likes Chess."
"I think you should listen to the rules instead of making up your own," Lois scolded lightly, but she wasn't too upset because she was smiling.
"My rules are better."
"Helllooooo" called a cheery voice from outside and Jon peeked around looking out the window.
"It's Grandma!" he rushed out to her running to give her a hug. "I didn't know you were coming!"
"Wouldn't miss it for the world, your Dad called us yesterday to see if we wanted to come."
"Grandma are you going to make your famous smores?"
"What else would we make?" she asked squishing his face affectionately.
Clark was speaking with his father who was kneeling down setting up the camp fire.
"Let me get that Dad," Clark knelt down helping him.
"Is that one of Jon's school friends?" he was glancing at Damain who seemed to be inspecting the camper.
"Ugh… sort of. That's Batman's son."
"Well it's nice that Batman's son and your can be friends."
"They're not yet. We're… hoping," he frowned a bit knowing deep down he wasn't hoping too hard. "Damian's a difficult kid."
"Well let's see how difficult," his Father said walking over to Damian.
"Damian was it?" he asked loudly.
Damian who was inspecting the Camper's wheel got to his feet. "Yes."
"I'm Jon's grandfather," he held out his hand. "Nice to meet you son."
Damian shook it politely.
"Do you like cars?"
"Not really, the alignment felt off on the way up here so I was just checking it out."
"Have you ever been camping before Damian?"
"Yes."
"Why don't you show me how you start a fire," he held out some matches.
"I got it," Damian walked over to the fire pit and reached in an inside pocket pulling out two stones. He knelt beside it and stuck the rocks together twice and the sparks that flew off it started a small blaze. He shuffled the sticks around until it gained momentum and a decent sized fire had started.
"Look at that you do know a thing or two about camping," Clark's grandfather looked impressed. "How about you help me set up the tents."
"Already done!" Jon cheered happily showing his grandfather the very shabby tent he had set up.
"Um… nice job Jon. But let's try again."
"I got it," Damian responded dully before he headed over to fix Jon's work.
"I don't think it's that bad," Jon frowned.
"My grandfather used to tell me, everything you do requires everything you have. If this is everything you have Jon it's no wonder you can't do much..."
"Hey that's not bad advice Damian," laughing off the insult, Jon's Grandpa placed a hand on Jon's shoulder as if to tell him not worry about it, before he went over to assist Damian. "What field of work was your Grandfather in?"
Damian paused a moment thinking quickly, "Networking."
Jon sulked over to Clark a slight frown on his face. "I can do things…"
"Of course you can," Clark smiled and grabbed a fishing pole. "How about you show them your fishing skills and catch us dinner."
"Yeah!" he grabbed a pole. "I'll be back!"
"Oh wonderful," Lois interrupted when she saw him heading off by himself. "Damian, go with Jon and catch some fish would you?"
"Ugh maybe that's…" Clark tried to interject. He had given Jon that task to get him away from Damian.
"C'mon it'll be fun!" Lois explained. Handing another pole to Damian and lightly pushing him in Damian's direction. Neither of the boys looked happy about it but off they went.
"Want to see who can catch the most fish?"
"Sure."
"Here looks good," he Jon pointed out a small clear patch by the river.
"Theirs too much noise from the campsite. We should head down further," he explained without waiting for Jon to agree.
"Fine…"
They walked for about ten minutes before Damian found a good spot he liked.
"Fly up a little bit and tell me where you see the most fish."
"Fly?"
"Yeah."
"I can't fly."
Damian paused upon hearing that. "Excuse me."
"I can't fly."
"Okay… jump up then."
"I can't jump that far."
"…" he was looking rather annoyed at that point. "Jon, what powers do you have?"
"Ugh… I don't think I have any. But Mom caught me trying to use heat vision once and scolded me. I was never able to do it in the end. But my Mom and Dad said I shouldn't try because they don't want me to be a super hero."
"So you have no powers. None."
"No, I think I got more of my Mom's genes than my Dad's."
"That doesn't make any sense…" Damian took out a small computer.
"What are you doing?"
"Kryptonian genes would be a dominant trait," Damian explained typing away. "So the likelihood of you having no powers at all would be next to none. Are you sure you have no powers? Maybe you can do something but you've never considered it to be a power. Can you hear you family talking from where we're standing right now?"
"Ugh, sure. I hear them just fine."
"I guess you got the hearing at least. But how about a city over, can you hear stuff that far away?"
"I don't know… I never really tried."
"Try now. Let's see…"
"I'm not supposed to."
"Look, if a human sat in a chair for 95% of their day for months on end, eventually their muscles would quit working and they would be unable to walk. It's possible powers could work the same way, if you don't try and practice you might lose your ability to use whatever powers you would have had."
"You think so?"
"Not sure. I haven't studied kryptonian dna much since until you their was only one source known on the planet. Father doesn't have a lot of information on Superman, but he had some. Anyway, it's possible. You should be using these abilities even if it's not something you can lose through lack of use. You don't want the first time you use your powers to be in the middle of a battle when someone is trying to kill you."
"My parents don't want me to fight though. They said I should do something else with my life instead of being a hero."
"Why?"
"I don't know…"
"Overlooking being a hero, you should at least have these skills to defend yourself. What if something happens and you're the only one with your Mother, or your Grandparents? How are you planning to protect them?"
"Ugh… I'd just call Dad."
"And what if he's busy. What if he's on another planet? Your Dad's fast Jon, but even he couldn't get to your Mother faster than a bullet could if he's out in space somewhere."
"Uh…"
"You should ask your Dad to train you."
"I did! Once… Dad said not to worry about it and this world is fine with just one Superman. That I should focus on being a kid and not worry about…" Jon paused. "Mom's talking to Dad about when they're going to start dinner. We should hurry up on catching fish. I'll go find some worms for bait."
"No need," Damian said reaching into one of his pouches. He pulled out a net and glanced around the river. When he decided on the best spot he threw a net into the water. There were splashes, and he started pulling the cords attached and dragged about 12 fish to shore.
"That's cheating. This is what we brought the poles for."
"My way is more efficient."
Jon frowned. He had wanted to fish…
"C'mon," Damian started walking back.
"That was fast," Clark commented when the boys returned far sooner than he had expected them.
"Damian cheated. He used a net."
"Well… We needed a number of them anyway," Lois pointed out taking the net from Damian.
"Found out your son has super hearing," Damian pointed out after handing it over. "While we wait for the fish to be cooked, we could try and see what else he can do."
The silence that met that statement mad Jon want to hide. He hadn't expected Damian to come around and be so blunt.
"That won't be necessary," Lois answered after a socially inappropriate amount of time.
"If he has super hearing, he can probably do other things," Damian pressed on. "Now is the perfect time to try this. We're miles from the nearest civilization."
"Damian," Clark had walked up behind him. "We don't want Jon learning those skills. He's going to be a normal kid. Just like you should be this weekend. How about you help cook the fish."
Jon frowned.
"Why are you ignoring this? Worried you'll be outshined by your kid?" he asked.
"Damian, you're crossing a line," Clark's voice was stern, commanding, ever so slightly threatening. "This is his Mother and my decision. And we have already decided. Now go help Lois cook."
Damian glared but in the end didn't argue the point again.
Jon walked over to his Father intending to ask him what he should do next, only Clark had appeared to turn his attention away. He was looking in the direction of the city
"Duty calls Lois, I'll be back."
"Be safe," Lois called.
"Jon help your mother and grandparents," and with that he took off into the air flying away.
Jon closed his eyes attempting to hear what his father had heard.
It took a minute but eventually he started catching sounds from town. Voices, car noises, other various city noises and… screaming. A woman was screaming. There were fire crackling sounds and not the same sounds as their campfire. She was in a burning building. Her voice was terrifying. He hadn't ever tried to hear things this far away before.
"You can hear it right?" Damian muttered as he walked over to him. "What's the problem?"
"A fire," he whispered back.
"Ah, well. Your Dad should be able to handle that," Damian said this as though if it had been something, he had deemed serious he would have gone to help.
With that Damian went to help Lois with the fish, but Jon was still listening. Alarm clocks. Screeching tires. Screaming. Keys hitting a sidewalk. A jackhammer. Closing windows. Dogs barking. Yells. Laughter. Sirens. Keyboards. Phones Ringing. Sizzling. Heels on marble. His Father speaking to the woman who had been screaming earlier. Jon closed his eyes. He had never heard so many sounds all at once, and he wasn't sure how he could turn it off.
Quite a ways away a woman was sitting in a tree looking through the scope of her gun. Though she had no intention to shoot anyone, and was using the scope more like a pair of binoculars. She had tailed them from the small farm in the countryside to this camp ground. She had assumed... but her assumptions weren't confirmed until the man took off into the air.
"Just as I thought. He's Superman... and it seems Superman has a little brat of his own."
"Shall I retrieve your son?" asked a man in assassin garb kneeling on a branch beside her.
"Don't call him that. He lost the privilege of being my son the last time he disobeyed me. But retrieving my weapon can wait. Superman having a child though... That opens up a whole world of possibilities..."
"Shall I retrieve the other boy then?"
Talia rolled her eyes. "Think for two minutes you fool. You would have to fight not only my weapon, but Superman himself and he could be back any second. I'll come up with a plan don't worry. One that will allow me to retrieve my son and his new little friend at the same time. A time when Superman won't be looking for him. Let's go. I have research to do."
With that she jumped down along with her subordinate and the two of them hurried off into the forest.
Superman didn't return until the sun was starting to fall.
"There you are," Lois said smiling. "We saved you a fish."
"Thanks," he took the plate from his wife and upon one scan across the campground he realized someone was missing. "Where is Jon?"
"He's in the camper. He said he had a headache. So he just wanted to lay down for awhile."
Superman frowned. He had never had a headache in his whole life. Well not a natural one that wasn't caused by a battle anyway. Perhaps his human half could get head aches.
"I think I'm going to check on him," he handed the plate back to Lois and then went to the camper walking inside. "Jon?"
His son was seated as far back in the camper as he could get and had two pillows pressed on either side of his head. "Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away."
"Jon?"
"Go away. Go away. Go away."
"Jon? What's wrong?"
He wouldn't stop repeating it and didn't seem able to hear him.
Clark walked over to him and physically moved the pillows from beside his face. "Jon what?"
"Dad? Dad, I hear everything!" he gasped looking scared.
Superman instantly knew what he meant. "Okay. Listen, just pull back. Change where you're focusing. The furthest thing away that you hear. Focus on something closer. Then focus on the next thing that's closer. Keep doing that until my voice is the only thing you hear."
"I can't everything's so loud," he brought his hands up to cover his ears again.
Clark reached up and pulled his hands away. "Just try."
He could tell the distance in the sounds. Not in the sense of he could pin point an exact measurement. But he knew what sounds were closer than others, so as his father had instructed he focused on the furthest sound to the ones before it. And before that. His father kept encouraging him to focus on his voice. Jon wasn't sure how long it took, but eventually all he was listening to where the sounds in his immediate vicinity. He opened his eyes.
"All better?" Clark asked.
"Yeah... Thanks."
"This is part of the reason why we don't want you using your powers, Jon. It's dangerous. When you don't know what you're doing you can cause problems, you could hurt yourself or others. Promise me, that you won't use your powers anymore."
"... I promise. Sorry."
"If it happens again just walk it back like I said," he walked back to the entrance and was about to leave when Jon stopped him.
"Dad... did you save that Lady? She sounded really scared."
"Yes son, she's fine."
"I'm glad," he jumped up running over to him. "I'm ready for Grandma's smores now!"
"So am I squirt."
Jon hurried outside running happily over to his grandmother. She had already started a nice stack of smores for people to grab as they wanted them. Clark glanced at Damian who was having a conversation with his Father. He was getting a bad feeling. But his son had promised and he had faith that Jon would keep his promise.
The remainder of the weekend passed rather quickly. Superman kept an ear out whenever Damian and Jon were speaking alone, but Damian didn't bring up Jon's powers or lack thereof again. He mostly just complained and criticized. His Father liked Damian because Damian was able to talk about similar interests. The boy seemed to know at least a little something on basically every topic.
"You are welcome to come along on our family trips anytime," Jon's grandmother said forcing Damian into a hug before they were about to board the camper they had arrived in.
"I second that," the elder Kent exclaimed ruffling Damian's hair after the suffocating hug was finished.
Damian clearly hadn't liked that and immediately attempted to fix his hair after it got messed up.
With that Jon's grandparents left in their camper and Damian and the others finished packing the last of the campsite.
"Damian do you think you'll want to come along on our next outing?" Lois asked him as they put the last of their stuff inside.
"If I'm not busy, I suppose so," Damian answered.
She smiled supposing that Damian would still have to keep face. But she was pretty sure Damian had had at least a little fun this weekend.
They drove back to the farm house and when they arrived Alfred was waiting.
So Jon said his goodbyes and Damian responded with the smallest of waves. Just enough to show he had heard him.
When Alfred shut the door after Damian had climbed inside he turned to Clark and Lois. "He is awaiting your answer. Please let him know by tonight so he can start the necessary paperwork tomorrow morning."
"Ugh... Sure," Lois answered. With a bow Alfred got into the driver's seat and drove off.
"What answer Mom? What was he talking about?" Jon was tugging on her sleeve to get her attention.
"Jon, let's talk sweetie," she held out her hand and led Jon back into the house.
She and Clark had already agreed to let Jon make this decision on his own but Clark was secretly hoping he would say no.
So they sat Jon down and explained to him how Damian needed his assistance. How he had had a hard life and needed to be a kid and that Jon could help by keeping Damian's mind on the things that children should be focusing on, instead of crime fighting and training.
"Basically, we want you two to attend school together. Damian aside, it's a great opportunity," Lois pointed out. She had handed him the pamphlet earlier in their conversation and Jon had skimmed it.
"But it's a boarding school. Doesn't that mean that I would only come home on holidays and vacations most of the time?"
"Yes... Yes it would," Lois explained.
"Jon you are under no obligation to go," Clark explained reassuringly.
"You would be helping Damian out," Lois added she had leaned forward placing an encouraging hand on his shoulder.
"Why are you trying to sway him?" Clark frowned.
"I am not trying to sway him. It's just... He'll never have an opportunity like this again. He needs to take it seriously."
Jon frowned. "You want me to go Mom?"
"I want you to do whatever you want," she assured him. But he could see the hopefulness in her eyes.
"Dad doesn't want me to go."
Their was a moment's pause before Clark put his arm around Lois. "I'm with your Mother. I want you to do whatever you want."
He looked back down at the pamphlet. "This is a school for rich kids... I won't fit in."
"Nonsense Jon, everyone will like you. You'll see."
"Can I leave, if I... If I change my mind?"
"Mr. Wayne assured us he would take care of everything," Lois had a small spark of excitement in her eyes.
"I guess it... It might not be so bad."
"Great! I'll let Mr. Wayne know. This is going to be great! You'll see!"
With that she hurried off to the other room to message Bruce.
"You're only saying yes because of your Mother aren't you?"
"Well not just her," Jon looked down at the pamphlet again. "I think Damian seemed kind of lonely and if I could help him be a regular kid and make some friends, then that would be a good thing right? I can be a hero without fighting crime, like you and Mom want."
His Dad looked a bit sad at that last sentence but he shook it off quickly and added, "Yeah. Anything you can do to make the world a better place without using your powers will be a good thing."
"Will you miss me?"
"Everyday," he answered giving his son a hug.
Meanwhile things were not going as well at the Wayne manor.
"I thought we agreed I wasn't going to boarding school!" Damian snapped. "I went on that stupid weekend with the Stepford Family like you asked. What the hell else do you want from me?"
"I want you to just be a kid. Stop worrying about crime fighting and just... Starting now. You're just Damian. No Robin. No crime fighting. Your Bruce Wayne's son. That's all."
"..." he folded his arms. "Fine."
He turned away and started heading upstairs.
"Where are you going?"
"To pack, what else?" he snapped. But as he rounded the corner and disappeared from their site. The smallest of smiles crossed his lips.
"Mom..." Jon sighed. "You've taken enough pictures."
"Oh come on, you're so adorable in that uniform."
"Dad make her stop."
"Alright, Jon's right," Clark said grabbing her phone from her. "I'll fly you to the school."
"Actually, Mr. Wayne said he was bringing a helicopter to pick Jon up for the school year."
"I could fly him..."
"But I think it would be cool to fly in a helicopter," Jon explained.
"Well it sound like it's on it's way," Clark pointed out. "You better make sure you've packed everything."
"Okay," Jon hurried up stairs.
Lois crossed her arms looking up the stairs after him. Clark could see her eyes getting a little glossy so he wrapped his arms around her. "You're the one who wanted him to go."
"I know. I know..." she signed. "It's just... It'll be a few months before we see him again."
"Nonsense, I can fly you there any time you start to miss him too much."
Jon grabbed the last of his things and his Father took come of his bags at the bottom landing. They walked outside when the helicopter landed and as soon as the propellers stopped and it was quiet enough Lois could hear Damian arguing with Alfred. "Look we'll get there quicker if you'd let me drive."
"Not a chance Master Damian," and with that he stepped out and bowed to Lois and Clark. "Apologies for..."
"Hurry up and get in," Damian interrupted frowning. He had thrown open the side door for Jon to climb up. He put all his stuff into the back and Damian latched it down so it wouldn't shift about during the flight. After putting one foot up to climb in he stopped.
"Wait I forgot something."
"What did you-" Lois began but stopped immediately. He ran up to hug her.
"I'll miss you."
Her eye immediately filled up as she hugged him back. "I'll miss you too."
"Hey what about me?" Clark asked teasingly.
"I'll miss you too Dad," Jon hugged him next before climbing up to sit beside Damian. He pulled the seat belt around him.
"Can we leave now or did you forget to hug your Teddy bear too?"
"Don't be mean, didn't you hug your Mom goodbye before you left?" Jon asked.
"Sure did, then she gave me a handmade blankie and told me to stay warm at night."
"Really? I have one my Grandma gave me."
Damian rolled his eyes, "Jesus fuck, grow up Jon I was kidding..."
"Oh..." he frowned.
By that point Alfred was done speaking with his parents and had climbed back up into the pilot's seat. So Jon waved goodbye until they were too small to see. He didn't forget the real reason he was going here. To help Damian be a normal kid. That was the goal. Which it shouldn't be too hard. He had lots of normal kid things with him. Video games, comic books, etc.
He was absolutely ready to teach Damian how to be a normal kid.
Though he was also there to study, as his Mother had reminded him several times. While he liked school it wasn't the school part he enjoyed. It was the playing, the games, the being with friends part that he liked. So he hoped this school had lots of sports and fun games to play.
The helicopter ride had started off really fun and exciting. He had only ever flown with his Father or that one time when his mother and he took a plane. Though this trip was longer than he thought and he was starting to get bored.
"Mr. Alfred Sir... Are we there yet?"
"Almost Master Jon."
"You can just call me Jon, it sounds weird when you talk like that. I'm not anyone special."
"Nonsense you're Master Damian's friend and the son of Master Wayne's colleague."
"That don't make me anyone special," he pointed out again.
Shortly after the school came into view. It was a large building out in the mountains. It looked very fancy.
"Alright Jon, just follow my lead. These kids are the children of some of the wealthiest families around the world. So just keep your mouth shut and let me do all the talking."
"I can't talk to them?"
"Nope."
"How am I supposed to make friends if I can't talk to anyone?"
"You don't want to make friends here," Damian pointed out.
"Master Damian, let's not encourage that," Alfred scolded as he made the landing on the roof of the school. Their were a number of adults standing up on the roof prepared to greet them.
"Ugh," Damian rolled his eyes. The propellers slowed down and the door opened. Damian stepped out and man in a suit immediately rushed to shake his on.
"Ah, young Mr. Wayne. It's a pleasure. I am Gregory Ingram the Head Master of this School. This is Evelyn Duke, she oversees your history, and language, courses. This is Olivia Atherton she'll oversee your science, Math courses. Then their is Isaac Beckett our head chef please feel free to set up all your meal in advance if you wish. I will-"
Jon was standing back when he felt Alfred place a hand on his shoulder. "Don't listen to Master Damian. I encourage you to make as many friends as possible."
"I will, don't worry."
With that Alfred let out a small cough to alert the attention of the adults away from Damian. "This is Jon Kent, he will be attending this school as well. You may want to include him in your introductions."
"Well yes I suppose so, you caught all that didn't you?" Mr. Ingram asked a little rudely.
"I guess so-" Jon was interrupted almost immediately.
"My Father is paying for him to attend this school with me, and my staying here is basically contingent on how much he enjoys it. I didn't really want to come in the first place," Damian pointed out before turning away from them and heading through the doors into the school. The adults were taking a much greater interest in him after that and they hurried to catch up with Damian to give the boys a tour. Jon made sure to wave goodbye to Alfred before the escorted through the doors and was shuffled with Damian down corridor after corridor. Not only did they go on and on about the world class education being offered but they spoke about the building as though it itself was on display. they talked about statues and pillars, and the moldings and the years they were brought about to the school.
Jon was about ready to fall asleep by the end of it. It was all rather boring.
"The other students are attending classes already, but your first day will be tomorrow. In the meantime we've had your bags taken to your room and unpacked for you as well. Feel free to call our Chef when it's time for dinner. Please enjoy your night," Mr. Ingram the other adults departed with a slight bow. All except for Mrs. Atherton who showed them to their room. The door closed, and finally! No more tour. Jon immediately ran over to one of the two large beds and jumped on it.
"I call this one!"
"Check the drawers dummy, they already unpacked for us," Damian explained.
Jon knelt down by the drawers that were built into their beds and realized the one he jumped on had Damian's stuff on it.
"Aw... that one's yours."
"I know it is. I told them I preferred the bed closest to the balcony."
"Why?"
"In case someone tries to break in," he explained simply undoing his tie he let it rest on the back of the chair of one of the desks.
"Why would someone break in here?" Jon asked.
"Oh I don't know. Probably because Superman and Batman's sons are attending school here."
"Why would that mean someone wants to break in? And no one knows I'm Superman's son anyway. My Mom said that's our family's secret."
"You'd be surprised what villains can find out about if they try hard enough," Damian took out a laptop. "So, from this moment on you can consider this room our version of the Batcave. No one comes in here, so if you do happen to make some friends, don't bring them in our room."
"Ugh... What do we need a Batcave for?"
"Research."
"Research on what?"
Without looking up from the computer Damian pointed at him.
"Me?"
"We need to figure out the limits of your power, and exactly how much of Superman's power's you've inherited. Plus how much of a hindrance your human genes are on said powers," he spun in the chair to face Jon. "I've actually been looking forward to coming here, but I couldn't let my Father know that because he would think something was up. It's been a few years since I've trained someone. I rather enjoy the challenge of learning a person's limits and helping them exceed it. I once fancied being a teacher one day if the whole, taking over the world thing with my Grandfather didn't work out. Spoiler alert, it didn't work out. So I'll be spending this time training you."
"Wait a minute, that's not why I'm here."
"I'm sorry do you have something better to do?" he asked in a cocky tone and Jon felt a little taken aback.
"Yeah, we're supposed to be going to school!" Jon explained.
"I see no reason why we can't do both."
"My Mom also... I mean... I'm supposed to be helping you learn to be a normal kid..."
Damian's eyes widened a little at that and then he let out a soft laugh, before turning back to his computer. "Was that Father's reasoning? That's very cute, now he decides to try to be a parent. Well then I will play the part of a normal kid so he won't suspect anything, and train you in the meantime."
"I don't want training, Dad said learning to use my powers could be dangerous..."
"Did you ever stop to think Jon, that not learning to use your powers could be just as dangerous?"
"..." he frowned. No he hadn't thought of that...
"Mom and Dad don't want me using my powers and I want to respect that."
By this point Damian was staring up at him with a bored expression on his face. "Fine. But tell me what you're going to do when your sitting down for your family dinner one night, you sneeze, your heat vision goes off and next thing you know you've melted your Mother's face all over the turkey dinner?"
"Uh..."
"Or lets say you're on a taxi in town and well big surprise one of the Justice League's villains just took out the bridge in front of you. Your cab driver gets his face smashed in from the force of hitting the water, and you see a family in the car next to you with a small child whose drowning banging on the window, and you were the only one close enough to stop any of that. But no... you didn't want to learn to control your powers so all that death is now on your head."
"ah..." Jon was wide eyed and already looking rather scared. These sorts of thoughts had evidently never crossed his mind.
"Or were you just banking on your Daddy always being there to save the day?" he asked in an overly mocking tone.
"..."
"News flash Jon," he spun his computer screen around and hit play on a video. Which was a compilation of security footage featuring times Superman had failed or needed help. "Your Father doesn't always save the day."
Jon walked over to the computer screen and pulled it close.
"Sorry, but you needed the wake up call."
"Why is he so hurt... He's injured. I... I didn't think my Dad could get injured..." Jon was looking horrified.
"He probably didn't want you to worry so he waited until his injuries healed before he went home. He heals faster than humans do. So it wouldn't have taken too long for most injuries," Damian explained.
"What's that? It's hurting him?"
Damian took the computer back to look at what Jon was talking about. The enemy that Superman was facing there had kryptonite in his arms. How on earth did Jon not know about that?
"Seriously?" Damian frowned. "That's kryptonite, it's one of your Dad's weaknesses. Did you really not know that?"
"I've never heard of it..."
"Christ Clark," Damian sighed leaning back in his chair looking genuinely disappointed in Jon's lack of education about his own family, "And I thought my Dad kept shit from me..."
"What other weaknesses does he have?"
"What?"
"You said kryptonite was one of Dad's weaknesses?" Jon pointed out. "What else? I should know..."
"I thought it was obvious Jon," Damian was eyeing him. Almost like he couldn't believe that Jon could be that stupid.
"Tell me," It wasn't a question. He had to know.
"It's you. It's your Mother. Do you honestly think your Father wouldn't put down arms and give himself up if your or your Mother's life was ever threatened?"
"..."
"If I needed to take down Superman tomorrow. I would put you somewhere he couldn't get to and threaten to kill you if he didn't do exactly as I demanded," Damian explained. "I guarantee your Father would do whatever I asked. No question."
"..."
"Which is one more reason why you should learn to control your powers. If someone ever did try something. You have a much better chance of stopping a situation like that when you can use your powers than being the helpless brat you are now," he pointed out.
"Their is a reason why most of the Justice League don't have children. They're a liability. They're a weakness. I was mistake on my Father's part. Not so much on my Mother's. If given a choice I guarantee my Father would have opted that I not be born. Because he knows that in his line of work children don't help. On the flip side you were planned, you were raised, you are loved. Which makes you a bigger weakness for Superman than even kryptonite."
"So, you can not learn to use your powers. Live in your happy little, perfect life, fantasy bubble and quite possibly one day be the cause of your Father or Mother's demise. Or you can learn, you can fight, and one day quite possibly be the reason one of them survives."
"Look," Damian closed his computer. "I'm not going to make you do anything. It's your choice. Own it. Don't regret it, their will be no changing it. If you tell me tomorrow you don't want to do this, I will leave this school and move on. But if you do decide to train with me, then you work hard and give me everything you have."
"..." Jon couldn't look Damian in the eyes. The idea that he might actually be the reason his Mother or Father were lost one day... Just the thought of that was painful...
"We'll talk in the morning. I'm getting a shower, then I'm going to bed. Goodnight."
With that said, he went to the bathroom and Jon walked over falling onto his bed.
Their is a point in every child's life when they come to the realization that their parent's cant do everything, that they're not heroes. Jon's Father was a hero. One of the most powerful heroes to ever exist, and he had to come to the realization that even heroes fall sometimes. But he couldn't stand the thought of being the reason for his Father's decent. Was he really a liability? Was he really his Father's weakness...
When Damian got out of the shower, he paused noticing Jon hadn't moved once from the spot he had sat on when he went in.
He smiled. "So you already made a decision huh?"
"..." Jon looked at him. He didn't say a word. He didn't have to.
"We'll start tomorrow then," Damian sat down on his bed.
"No," Jon took off his glasses (which he didn't need anyway) and put them on the bedside table. "We'll start tonight."
Their wasn't enough room for any physical training in their dorm. So Damian decided to teach Jon about weapons. What they were for and how to use them. He had brought a wide array of weapons with him and told Jon he was going to show him how to build a fake drawer so that they could hide these in such a way that even if someone opened their drawers they wouldn't find anything.
"So why do I need to know this?"
"What do you mean why?"
"I mean, We're going to teach me to use my Dad's powers so... I don't really need to know how to use swords or guns..."
"First off," Damian picked up one of his knives that was looking a little dull and examined the blade. "We don't know what powers from your Dad you've inherited. We can reasonably assume you got them all but we won't know for sure without further testing. Their is also a chance that kryptonian powers are numerous but people might only inherit certain ones. So their is a chance that you might have powers your Father doesn't have. Like when children are born with an eye color that matches one of their grandparent's rather than one of their parents. Their is a chance you might have little to none of his powers and you take more after your human side. In which case knowing how to use a weapon or two certainly won't hurt."
He put the knife back muttering to himself that he would have to sharpen that one later.
"Secondly, their are a number of villains who have been looking into ways of nullifying the powers of Superman, Wonder woman, Flash, etc. Let's pretend that this technology was finalized. I guarantee your Dad would be next to useless if he lost his powers tomorrow. He doesn't fight outside of, punch something really hard, and he's not aware of a lot of ways of using technology to his advantage. The fight would be over in seconds, and someday if you were ever stripped of your powers you would at least still be able to fight. It's never a bad thing to have more skills than necessary."
"Isn't that what that Kryptonite does?"
"Not exactly. It seems to cause muscle weakness and pain. It doesn't exactly remove the powers though."
"So does that technology actually exist, or are you assuming?"
"The tech's a few years out. But I've seen plans for such things floating around the internet. It think my Dad is the closest one to perfecting it."
"Why would your Dad be making something like that?"
"Cause he plans for everything, and if given the choice I'm sure he would rather nullify your Father's powers in the case that he goes rogue or gets controlled by some evil entity, than have to do something that causes him severe pain. We don't know what if any long term effects results from being exposed to kryptonite. For all we know it could kill him. And if a situation ever arose where we needed to subdue Superman for a few days... It would be better to have something like that."
"Right..."
"Besides that, it's rare. Not a lot of people have kryptonite. So it shouldn't be something you or your father should have to worry about too much in battle."
"Sure."
"But we will be testing kryptonite on you at some point. So be prepared for that."
"Wait you have some, I thought you said that stuff was rare."
"It is, but I too plan for everything, and I wasn't about to share a dorm with the grandson of krypton without having some."
Jon grinned. "You really see me as that much of a threat?"
"Don't flatter yourself," Damian scolded. "It's so when I'm training you if your powers get out of control I can stop you."
Jon looked a little worried at that. "Do... Do you think that's likely?"
"Not a chance, it's just a precaution, I'd rather be over prepared than under," Damian explained. But that wasn't completely the truth. It was very likely, but he didn't want to discourage Jon before they had even started.
"Well, I introduced you to all the weapons, and what they're for. I'll test you on it tomorrow. Goodnight."
"Wait, I didn't write anything down!" Jon pointed out. "Let's go over it again."
"You have to learn to memorize things, you're not always going to have a pen and paper on you."
With that Damian crawled into bed, and Jon followed suit climbing into his own bed desperately trying to run through all the weapons he had been shown and realizing he forgot the names of most of them. They turned off the light and the Moon coming in off the balcony window was enough to illuminate the furniture around them.
"Hey Damian. I have a question."
Half stifling a yawn he answered, "Ask away, their are no stupid questions."
"If I ate a really really small amount of kryptonite each day would I eventually get immune."
"... I take it back that's a very stupid question. Just go to sleep," he rolled over fully intending to ignore him the rest of the night.
Author's Note: This is an AU that doesn't fall into any particular time frame of the Batman/Superman Universe.