Tim felt like he was being pulled in every direction at once and he was folding under the pressure. The Titans had handed over the reins to the Teen Titans while they set out to help Raven so that she could in turn release Kory from whatever spell she'd placed her on. Dick was still currently at Kory's side and Roy needed Tim to take over watching him because Roy was needed in DC. But Tim couldn't do that. Tim had to help coordinate the Teen Titans—a recently formed team of which he was the leader—then head back to Gotham. Bruce had left him a message that he needed him back in the city since he'd been sent on a JL mission off-planet. He didn't think he'd be gone longer than the weekend but he didn't trust Azreal on his own just yet. Azreal needed more training and Tim was supposed to fill in for Bruce. To make matters worse, Tim's parents returned early from a trip and called to find out where he was because they needed him back home. They had news of some sort to relay to him. And in the back of his mind, Tim was worried about Hailey. Luckily Alfred assuaged his fears informing him that she was currently in very good hands. Whatever that meant.
Tim didn't have time to think. He couldn't listen to Roy's grumblings about him practically being Dick's brother and that Dick needed family or Conner's rants about Tim abandoning the Team that he'd formed; he had to channel his inner Batman. He told Roy to call Wally to look after Dick. Wally wasn't great with magic and wasn't needed to help with Raven. Roy grinned, thanked him for the help, and then made the call. That was one down. He turned to Conner next and told him that the Teen Titans were in his hands; informing him that between him and Cassy they could lead the team just fine because he trusted them. Conner was surprised one moment and determined the next. He would step up as a leader in Tim's stead. And with that out of the way, Tim left New York to face his father.
Jack Drake didn't have the best news for his son Tim. Not only were his parents planning an extended archeology dig in Haiti but they wanted him to go with them. That was not happening. He wasn't going to uproot his life. He was not going to give up being Robin because his parents wanted to go to Haiti for two years. And so an argument ensued. Not one in which he sounded like a child but a true conversation between adults. Because no matter the fact that Tim was fourteen years old, he'd been raising himself long enough to make decisions for himself. And maybe it helped his case that he brought up the fact that he'd become closer to Hailey and Bruce over the last few months and that his parents could always make arrangements for Bruce to check in on him for them. Actually, that was the clincher to Tim's utter annoyance.
Tim could take care of himself. He didn't need a nanny. And he obviously didn't need his parents around either. He was the leader of the Teen Titans. Not to mention that Batman was having him train someone for him. Someone who would eventually take the mantle of the bat. Tim didn't think that Azreal was a good fit for the name or the role but Bruce wanted to settle down with his family and Tim couldn't begrudge him that. Especially when his parents had never wanted to do that. Yeah, they invited him to go with them but then they'd probably shove him into the nearest school for boys where he would be out of their hair. Tim wasn't an idiot. He was better off staying in Gotham than in some live-in school where he didn't speak the main language. He knew some French but not enough to get by and he definitely didn't speak Creole.
To celebrate the new excursion they were about to embark, they took Tim out to dinner. Tim didn't want to go with them but he had to further nullify them just in case they changed their minds and uprooted Tim without his consent. But dinner was running longer than he'd hoped. He'd never felt so annoyed at his parents before. He couldn't help thinking that the sooner they left the better. But it was going to be another month for them to prepare for their next trip. An entire month that would feel like the longest of his life right at the start of summer vacation. Tim didn't think he would be able to survive the wait.
"Mom?" Hailey said as she stood in the doorway of Perry's office with her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm bored."
"Uh, Lois, is there something you need to tell me?" Perry said with a raised eyebrow as he stared at the young girl.
"Perry, please," Lois said in annoyance ignoring Clark's nervous chuckle. "You've known me since I graduated from college. I'm sure you would know if I had one of those hidden somewhere." Lois gestured to Hailey. "Are you lost honey?"
"Well, sorry, but you can't ignore the fact that she has your eyes," Perry said looking at the girl askance.
Clark had already stood up and crouched in front of Hailey. They spoke in whispers and Lois turned to look at Perry aghast.
"Maybe it's Clark who was hiding a big secret," Lois said and looked over at the man. "Smallville? What the hell is going on?"
Clark chuckled again and stood up straight. He placed a hand on Hailey's back and ushered her into the office.
"Uh, Perry, Lois, this is my goddaughter Hailey."
"Goddaughter?" Perry said surprised. Did Clark have siblings he didn't know about?
"Who would make you a godfather?" Lois said with a chuckle.
"My dad, obviously," Hailey said a roll of her eyes.
"Why'd she called you mom?" Perry said looking at Clark dubiously.
"Um, well—"
"The word godfather comes with negative connotations," Hailey explained making Clark chuckle and rub the back of his neck. "Fairy godmother is so much better but that's too long to say so it's a mom for short."
Lois burst out laughing. "Oh, I like her."
"I wonder why," Perry said under his breath with a chuckle. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Hailey. In a couple of years make sure to give me a call so I can set you up here in the paper."
"Oh, that's not necessary," Hailey told him. "I'm going to be a medic when I grow up."
"Is that so?" Perry said with a grin.
"Yup," Hailey told him and tugged on Clark's pant leg. "I need money for the vending machine."
"Uh, yeah, let me just…" Clark said as he fumbled in his pocket but Lois beat him to it and handed Hailey a five-dollar bill.
"Get me three musketeers and I promise by then your mom will be free to take you out of this stuffy place," Lois told her with a wry smile.
"Thanks!" Hailey told them and ran off before Clark could tell her anything.
"Sorry, Clark, I'll catch up to her," Jimmy said as he ran past the office after Hailey. He was supposed to be watching her while Clark had his impromptu meeting with Perry and Lois.
Clark wasn't supposed to work that weekend but when a story comes up they have to move fast before the competition publishes first.
"Sorry about that, Perry," Clark said sheepishly. "It was a last-minute arrangement and I didn't think you would call me this weekend."
"As long as it doesn't get in the way of your work," Perry told him and continued on with the meeting.
"So that was her, huh?" Hailey said as she put money in the vending machine.
Jimmy was catching his breath behind her. He'd told her that Clark had an awfully big crush on Lois and that he thought they were secretly dating only because he was running out of things to talk to her about. He had never thought she would be bold enough to interrupt the meeting just to meet Lois. As shy as Clark was, he assumed she was a little like him. She hadn't been any trouble at all but then she distracted him and disappeared.
"Yeah, but you can't tell Clark I told you! Promise!"
"Hey, I can keep a secret!" Hailey told him and grinned as she took a bite of her chocolate bar.
"Yeah, how am I supposed to believe you when you lied about seeing Superman fly past the window," Jimmy said in annoyance and accepted a packet of m&m's she handed him as an apology.
"It was the only thing I could think of," Hailey said with a shrug. "But it was funny."
"Yeah, sure, funny," Jimmy told her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, let's head back. I want to make sure they include me in this big story they're planning in secret. Did you hear anything?"
"Of course, I did," Hailey said and then didn't say anything else.
"Well, what did you hear?"
"I can't tell you," Hailey said with a staring Jimmy down. "I'm not a blabbermouth."
Jimmy huffed in annoyance. "Alright, fine. You made your point."
Hailey grinned victoriously and made her way back to Perry's office.
"Hey, where are you going?" Jimmy said trying to hold her back.
"I have to give Lois the candy bar she asked for," Hailey said and winked at him. "And maybe you'll hear something too."
"Oh my god, you're a genius!"
"I know," Hailey said and smiled. "Come on, hurry before they stop talking."
"Right, right," Jimmy said and walked a little faster.
In the end, Jimmy was taken aside by Lois and informed that she needed him at her side the entire weekend while she interviewed a whistleblower. Perry assigned Clark to dig into this person's background to make certain that he was a credible source. Lois had already her part and gave Clark all the information she had. All Clark had to do was make certain she hadn't missed anything and to double-check that nothing was left uncovered. Perry wanted to make sure all their I's were dotted and their T's were crossed. Lois was notorious for being terrible at spelling. But she was one hell of a reporter and come Monday morning the world would wake up to one hell of a story courtesy of one Lois Lane. Perry White knocked his knuckles on his desk as he whispered, "Fall, Lex Luthor. For the love of God, just fall."
As soon as they made it back to Clark's apartment, Clark got to work on his background check using the laptop Bruce had given him for Christmas. It was linked to the Watchtower and it made his work a hell of a lot easier.
"Why's Lex Luthor on your computer?" Hailey said as she peered around Clark's large arm.
"He's a horrible man and we've found information that will hopefully uncover his unethical business dealings for good," Clark said with a note of anger in his voice.
"They teach us at school that he's a humanitarian," Hailey said now looking at Clark as she leaned against the desk. "Is that not true?"
Clark sighed heavily ad turned to look at Hailey. "Sometimes men do very nice things to cover up the unspeakable horrors they commit."
"And Lex Luthor is one of those people?"
"Undoubtedly."
"Do you know why I want to become a medic?" Hailey asked Clark who tilted his head to the side at the nonsequitur. He shook his head. "I want to be able to help people right at the heart of the disaster. Because sometimes by the time people get to the hospital, it's already too late."
Clark frowned at her not understanding what she was saying and what it had to do with his work.
"I think journalism is the same. If you're not at the heart of the story when you're exposing it, by the time the story is ready for the press, it might be too late."
Clark nodded in agreement.
"That's true. But it might be enough to make a lot of people stop trusting him so easily even if he finds a way to defend himself. This expose Lois is working on will make a difference," Clark said determinedly.
"Yeah?"
"Yes, I believe so."
"Alright," Hailey said with a shrug. "I'm going to take Krypto out for a walk so that you can finish your work."
"Krypto," Clark told the dog who had ran towards Hailey when he heard what she said. "Don't fly off to Kansas with her. You need to stay within a two-block radius, understand?"
Krypto barked happily then ran to the door as Hailey readied his leash. He didn't need it but the neighbors didn't know he was a Superdog on loan from Superboy while Clark watched over Hailey.
It didn't take long after her arrival before Hailey told Clark that she knew he was Superman. Clark tried to laugh off the remark but he could tell that it didn't work. She explained how she figured it out and that Conner didn't even try to hide his powers in front of her. She told him how she didn't understand how he could hide his identity when he didn't even wear a mask like Batman who practically hid his entire face. Clark sighed and told her that people didn't focus on his face so much when he was Clark and it made it easy to get by with just a pair of glasses. Though, Clark realized that she didn't know about Bruce so he told her about Krypto to change the subject. Krypto was happy that he didn't have to hide the fact that he wasn't a regular dog in front of the girl. And Clark was happy to steer clear of further talks about Batman. He made a mental note to let Bruce know that Hailey knew he was Superman as soon as possible. And even though it wasn't Bruce who'd outed him, he was happy that the girl in his care for the time being knew about his alter ego. It made things like using his super-speed so much easier around her. The trip back to Gotham would be that much shorter as well.
