Chapter Two:

The kid doesn't wake and continues to lie on his stomach, out cold. A flash of worry runs through Clark as he eyes the child closely. His skin, unlike adult Bruce's from what he saw of it, is unmarred. There are no scars or black and blues, no new scratches or bleeding cuts, just smooth, pale skin that looks baby soft. Of course, if Clark is correct with his deduction and the child is no older than four or five, then baby soft probably isn't too far off. His black hair is the same length and is trimmed the same as adult Bruce if not a bit more untidy. The hair seems fluffy and soft, reminding Clark how he always wanted to ask Bruce what he uses for shampoo.

Clark needs to get them out there, no matter the size or age of his superhero partner, because there is no way Clark is going to be able to take all the mages out by himself. They had a hard enough time when Batman was able to fight along with him. Now that he is child size and who knows what kind of mind state, it's pretty much an impossibility to fight all the magicians. So escaping, getting back to the Javelin, back to Earth, and then having a magic user, like Zatanna or Dr. Fate, reverse whatever spell was put on Bruce, is the only option. After they fix this, then they can focus on returning and defeating the magic users, this time with help.

Clark takes the pipe that he broke off out from under him and shoves it between two of the bars of the door for the cage. Using his super strength, he pries the bars apart, bending one and then the other, until there is a small gap that is wide enough for him to crawl out. He then tries touching the cage of Bruce's to test for any magic but there's nothing. They must underestimate children more than adults. He melts the lock off with his heat vision and opens the door. Clark then shakes the small boy's shoulder. He wants to wake him to make sure that he is alright. "Bruce?"

The kid finally stirs. Rubbing at his eyes and yawning, Bruce begins to sit up. "Who are you?

"I'm..." Clark had hoped he would at least remember him. "I'm Clark."

More rubbing of his eyes and then the kid's eyes focus on him. They grow impossibly wide, a look Clark has seen on many small children before, and he exclaims excitedly, "You're Superman!" His eyes are a really silvery blue.

Clark smiles at Bruce's enthusiasm. "Yeah, I am."

Bruce looks around the room. "Superman, why am I in a cage and where are my clothes?"

Clark frowns then. "Some really bad people took you but you don't have to worry because I'm here to save you."

Bruce looks around again. "What about the other kids? Are you going to save them too?"

He's not quite sure what to say to that. "I... will be later but first I need to get you out of here." He holds his arms open. "Do you trust me? Will you come with me?"

Bruce's smile is back and he crawls into his arms, snuggling close. "Of course, I trust you Superman."

Clark lifts him, trying to ignore the surreal feeling in his gut, and goes over to retrieve Batman's utility belt. Bruce would be pissed at him if he left it when he could easily take it with him. "Okay, so Bruce listen to me." Bruce leans back to look at him from where he was leaning on him, arms around his neck. "When I leave this room, those bad people are going to try to stop me. Now I'm going to try and sneak out of here but I'm sure I'll be caught either way. I need you to be quiet and if they start attacking, I want you to just shut your eyes okay?"

"Okay," Bruce mumbles, nodding his head and then wrapping his arms around his neck again. This time, however, the kid stays facing forward.

Clark knows getting out is going to be difficult while holding a small child in his arms but he has no choice. "Here, hold this." He hands Bruce the utility belt. "Don't do anything with it; just hold it for me please."

"This looks familiar..." Clark holds his breath, hoping some kind of memory of before his friend was de-aged is forming. "I know," Bruce is whispering in order to not be too loud. "It's Batman's. Is he here too?"

Clark's stomach sinks. "No, no he's not." Clark picks up Batman's cape next and wraps it around the child's naked figure. He then puts a finger to his mouth to indicate that Bruce should be quiet now. He opens the door with his free hand slowly, not recalling if the door squeaks or not. He peers out and looks around. The door opens into a long hallway with multiple doors on each side. It's also empty. Clark finds it strange that they don't have any security for the door but decides to not pay it much attention. He sneaks out going as quickly as he can while still being silent, down the hall. When he reaches the end, which opens into a large hangar room with many aircrafts in it, he stops. It's strange though since it already looks like they are in an aircraft.

There are people out in the hangar, working on different aircrafts and consoles, some even working on making spells and casting them. There are a lot more than the five Superman and Batman fought earlier. He feels Bruce wiggle in his arms nervously and he presses a little closer to Clark. Clark listens to his heartbeat and hears it thumping fast in his chest. He presses his lips to his ear and whispers, "Don't worry, it's going to be okay." The kid only buries his head in Clark's neck but still looks forward. His heart doesn't slow down.

Clark slips behind some boxes and stays on the outskirts of the hangar, watching the men work to make sure they don't spot them. The last thing he needs or wants is for them to start shooting magic at them when he's got kid Bruce in his arms. "Get Aircraft 7394 ready for deployment." One of the mages commands over the ruckus that is going on in the room. Clark looks over to where the hangar doors open. He needs to get over there and then he can slip out when they open it to allow the aircraft out. He starts to make his way there, the hangar doors already opening and the aircraft already turning on in order to fly out, when he bumps into something and a loud clang echoes throughout the whole room. Twenty eyes turn to him and stare for a split second before one of them yells out, "Escapee!"

Shit! Clark dodges a beam of magic, holding Bruce in a tight grip. Bruce has closed his eyes like he was instructed and is shaking violently in his grasp. Clark has no choice but to make a run for it. He takes one step and feels a hot flash of pain in his back. He yells, falling to the ground and dropping Bruce, who also yells with the sudden drop. Clark groans in pain, eyes tightly shut. Everything around him is in chaos. He groans again with the effort to open his eyes and get up off the floor. There's someone on top of him and he can hear Bruce screaming. His scream, that terrified, ear piercing scream, is what gives him the energy to get up and push whoever is on top of him off. Clark looks over to where Bruce is currently kicking and screaming at the two magicians that have a hold of him. Clark charges, allowing the rage to take over enough to push through the pain he is in and rip those filthy hands off his best friend.

Clark scoops up the scared and crying child into his arms and glares at the mages to the intensity that it almost feels like he's going to use his heat vision. "Don't you ever. Touch. Him. Again!" The magicians go to shoot some more magic at him but he flies out of the hangar doors before they get the chance.

He was right; they are already flying in an aircraft. Bruce gasps, flinging his arms around Clark's neck once again, and promptly dropping Batman's utility belt. Clark quickly retrieves it. He really doesn't feel like having Batman try to kill him with Kryptonite because he let it plummet back to the planet and the belt becomes irretrievable. Clark looks behind him just in time to dodge a bullet that would have struck Bruce in the head. It would seem the magicians decided to follow him out. They're flying in the aircrafts that he saw in the hangar. "Bruce," the boy is still shaking and his face is buried in his neck, his tears causing his skin to be wet. "Listen to me; I need to take out those aircrafts." He dodges another string of bullets. If he wasn't holding a vulnerable Bruce, he would just have them hit him, but Bruce can die and he's not about to let that happen. "I need my hands in order to do that." He starts to fly a little faster, as fast as he safely can with a human in his arms, due to the aircrafts starting to catch up to him. Damn, they're fast. "I need you to hold onto my neck as tightly as you can, don't let go, you understand?"

"No!" The voice is a shriek of panic and the boy in his arms starts to hyperventilate. "Don't let go!"

"I have to." He squeezes. "I won't let you fall, I promise."

"Don't let go," the boy cries.

"Listen Bruce, I'm sorry but I don't have a choice." He presses a kiss to the side of Bruce's head, just above his temple, in a comforting gesture. "I promise on my life I will not let you fall. Do you trust me?" Bruce takes a moment but after a little while nods. "Good, now I need you to hold the belt again." Bruce takes it blindly, flailing to get his arm around his neck again, face still buried in his neck. "Now hold on tightly."

Clark let's go and feels Bruce tighten his grip around him and jabbing his feet into his side in order to get some leverage. Once Clark is sure he won't fall he turns around and starts to fly back toward the aircrafts that are after him. He takes the first one out easily, watching as the mage parachutes down to the ground. When he faces the second one, he's bombarded with a ray of bullets. He tries to dodge all of them but one hits his shoulder and Clark has to take a quick second to make sure none had hit Bruce. The magician keeps shooting at him until he's out of bullets and then decides to ram the aircraft into Clark, which is actually pretty stupid. When he's close enough, Clark punches the machinery with all the pent up anger he feels behind it and the machine crumples, falling in a heap of smoke, while the pilot also parachuted down.

Clark smiles in triumph and then focuses his attention on Bruce. "I don't-" The poor kid is hyperventilating badly. "I don't... I don't... want to... do this... anymore."

His tears are still falling, Clark can feel them against his neck, and he cups the back of Bruce's head, wrapping his arms around him. Bruce's grasp loosens slightly but it's still tight with fear. Clark looks behind him and sees more magicians coming in the distance. "Don't worry Bruce, we're done." He flies a little away before deciding to touch down and comfort the kid in his arms. He hasn't calmed down yet and Clark is beginning to worry about his breathing. He lands and let's go of the child who then refuses to let go of his neck, eyes shut so tightly that it almost looks like it hurts. "Bruce," Clark tries to pry his arms from around him. "Bruce, it's okay, you're safe now." Bruce shakes his head against his neck. Not seeing this changing anytime soon, he sits down, gathering the child into his lap and setting him down there. He holds Bruce close, petting his hair and trying to calm him. "Shh, it's okay. Nothing is going to happen to you. Everything's alright. I'm here, I'll protect you." He kisses the top of his head. "I won't ever let anything happen to you, I promise." It takes another ten minutes before the kid stops crying and relax in Clark's hold. Bruce's arms fall to his side. "You okay?" Bruce nods. "I'm sorry I scared you."

Bruce rubs his face against the 'S' on his uniform. His eyes are all red and puffy and so are his cheeks. His hair is all windswept and Clark is glad he decided to wrap him in Batman's cape as that protected his body from the debris and wind. "You didn't scare me," he whispers and Clark smiles.

"And you know what?" Bruce looks up at him. "You were such a good boy and brave, you even managed to hold onto the belt."

Bruce looks down at it then, puzzling over it. The look on his face reminds Clark of adult Bruce. "But I dropped it."

Clark shrugs. "That's okay. You managed to hold right onto it throughout everything else. Even when I needed you to be extra brave and hold onto me without my help."

A small smile plays on his face and again Clark is reminded of adult Bruce. "Will I meet Batman?"

Clark's own smile softens. "I... I don't know. He's a really busy guy so he might not have time." Bruce frowns. "I'm sure he would love to meet you but you see he has to make sure to protect other people and be a hero."

"Like you protected me?" Bruce finally perks up.

"Yep, just like I protected you." Clark loves that happy look this kid Bruce does. It's not something he sees very often when it comes to adult Bruce.

Bruce shrugs. "I wouldn't want to distract him from saving people." Clark beams. "I got to meet you though." Bruce's arms are back around him except this time as a hug.

Clark hugs him back, glancing up at the sky and seeing more magicians flying overhead. "We better get going. Let's walk for a bit though. Do you want to walk or do you want me to carry you?"

Bruce tightens his hug and says enthusiastically, "Carry!"

…

"Are you sure those kids are going to be okay?" Bruce asks after they've been walking for at least an hour. Bruce is being held securely against Clark's hip, one arm under him to support him and Bruce's arm around Clark's shoulders. Bruce's other arm is against his small chest, still holding onto the utility belt.

"You don't need to worry about them. I'll be able to get them later," Clark answers.

"But, Superman, what if the bad people do something to them?" There's alarm in Bruce's voice and Clark honestly has no idea how to calm the child.

Clark takes a second to come up with an answer but really can't think of a good one. "I don't think they will."

Bruce squirms, pressing himself further into Clark's side. "But they hurt me didn't they?"

"Yes but..." What is he supposed to say? That you used to be an adult who was the greatest detective in the world and a martial arts master but now you're a four or five year old that wouldn't be able to do any detective work or martial arts to save your life? Yeah, he doesn't think so either. "How old are you, Bruce?"

"Four, don't change the subject." Clark really wishes that adult Bruce would stop leaking through to child Bruce. It would make the change and acceptation of the situation a lot easier.

Clark sighs. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet but I'm not going to leave them there forever either." Bruce stays silent then, probably going over what he said in a brain that is too smart for the child's age. Clark continues to carry Bruce all the way back to the Javelin, only taking one break in order to allow the child to go to the bathroom. The rest of the way after that is spent in silence.

When Clark reaches the Javelin, there are three magic users. Two are standing guard around it, and the third is coming out of it, walking slowly down the ramp. "There's nothing in there of use and the two escapees aren't there either."

"We need to find them. We can't let word out about our operation," one of them says.

"What are they doing?" Bruce asks, whispering in his ear.

Clark keeps watching them, crouched in the bushes. "Shh." Clark backs up slowly and crouch walks behind a tree. Setting Bruce down, wrapping the black cape around him a little better, he says, "Stay here and be very quiet, okay?"

Bruce's eyes widen. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to go take care of those guys," Clark answers, peering out from behind the tree to peek at the men.

Bruce clutches the utility belt close to his chest; grip so tight his knuckles are white. "I don't want you to leave me."

"It's going to be okay," Clark reassures. "I won't be gone long. I'll be coming back." Bruce nods and sits down with his legs drawn close to him. "Now be as quiet as you can but if one of them finds you, you scream you understand?" Another nod. "Don't come out for anything, no matter what you hear."

"Okay," Bruce says lowly, resting his head on his knees.

Clark gives Bruce one last once over and then leaves. He goes back to where he was hiding in the bush to assess the situation. The three are talking to each other and trying to come up with a plan on how to recapture the two of them. Clark really doesn't care if they get him again, but he doesn't want them to get Bruce again. Of course, with how young they made Bruce, technically Bruce needs Clark so he really can't afford to be captured again either. Since Clark isn't a strategist and the one that is can't do anything of the sort at the moment, Clark decides to do what he does best: charge in.

He flies to one of them, knocking into him before he even knew what was happening, and punching him hard enough to knock him out. If Clark indulged in breaking his nose purposely in the process, well that would be his little secret. He dodges an attack of magic and flies to another one, knocking him out just as easily as the first. These three aren't as strong as the ones he and Bruce fought earlier. He stumbles a little when a blast of magic hits his side but as he expected, it's not nearly as strong as the others. He wonders if they are just in training or if they just aren't as skilled period. Either way, he has no trouble taking out the last man.

Clark piles the men up to the side and is about to go get Bruce when a thought pops into his head. "Bruce, it's okay to come out now," he calls. He x-rays the spot Bruce is supposed to be hiding and sees the boy make no move to come out. "Bruce, I've taken care of all of them, it's safe, and you can come over." Still the boy doesn't move. Smiling, Clark goes to the child and crouches in front of him. "You didn't come when I called."

Bruce smiles. "You said not to leave no matter what I heard. They could have been making you say all that."

Clark smiles warmly at the kid. "Good." He picks him up and carries him into the Javelin and then settles him down in a seat just behind the pilot's seat, buckling him in. Taking his place in the pilot seat and buckling in himself, he turns around to look at Bruce. "As soon as I get in the sky, they are going to spot me and try to stop me. I don't want you to worry though; I'll make sure we don't get caught."

Bruce nods. "Okay."

Clark starts the Javelin up. "Here we go." He lifts the Javelin into the air and begins to fly up and off the planet. As he suspected though, it doesn't take the mages long to spot them. They begin to fire on them and gain on them fast. Luckily, Bruce made the Javelin pretty fast as well and so the magicians have a hard time keeping up. Instead, they opt to try and shoot them out of the sky. Clark doesn't want to risk the Javelin getting hit and going down, not with Bruce on board, so he decides defense is the way to go. He presses a button to put up the shields and just in time too. The Javelin gives a violent jerk as a bullet hits the shield. "You okay?" He sees Bruce nod. Satisfied, he concentrates on getting away from them. He doesn't know if their aircrafts are equipped to go out of an atmosphere. If they aren't, then they'll need to retreat and follow with their bigger aircraft which will give Clark enough time to get away. If they are, then Clark is going to have to start thinking about going on the offense despite having Bruce with him. If worse comes to worse, then Superman will have to protect the boy.

He continues pulling up, praying that they will back off. He keeps one eye on where he is flying and one eye on the screen that is beeping at him that there are three pursuers coming after him. The higher they get, the more he begins to relax. Rao, or whatever other god, must be listening to him because one by one, the dots disappear from the radar. Before testing his luck, Clark produces the wormhole that will carry them halfway across the Universe and back to Earth's sector. When he does, he hears a small "wow" from Bruce and smiles to himself. Who knew Bruce would be such a cute little kid?

Once the Javelin gets through the wormhole and into their sector all that is left is an easy ride. "Superman?" Clark looks to Bruce. "Do you want this back?" Bruce holds the utility belt up.

"You can hold onto it for now if you want," he says and Bruce brings the utility belt back to himself. Clark looks at him and for a minute or two; the two of them have almost like a starring contest. Then Clark looks out the windshield and comes up with something. Looking back at the small kid who is now looking at the utility belt just as intensely as before, he says, "Bruce?" Bruce looks up. "Two things, you can call me Clark." Bruce smiles and tries out his name softly. Seeming satisfied, he waits for Clark to continue. "Second, you want to come see?" Clark watches as an excited smile beams on Bruce's small face and the child nods vigorously.

Clark unbuckles and then goes to retrieve the small child. He unbuckles Bruce, lifts him up, and then brings him to the front to sit on Clark's lap. Bruce looks out the windshield and continues to smile. "There's so many stars!"

"Yeah there are." Clark wraps his arms around his small frame protectively. "Did you know there are multiple color stars? There are yellow ones, like ours, and then there are blue ones and red ones, there are even white and brown ones. All the different colors means the star is in a different lifespan or burning hotter than others. Like blue stars, they are a lot hotter than our yellow sun but eventually our sun will become a red sun because of how old it will be. Then, after it dies, it turns into a white sun or what they really are called, white dwarfs."

"Then what are brown stars?" Bruce looks at him with wonder.

"Well," he begins. "Brown stars are stars that didn't quite have enough energy or heat to create fusion so they couldn't burn." Clark chuckles at Bruce's confused look. "They can't make the fire that most suns have," he simplifies.

"Red suns weaken you don't they?" Clark nods. "So when our sun turns to a red sun, won't it weaken you?"

"Probably, but it won't turn to red for about another five billion years." Clark rubs his fingers through Bruce's now dirty hair.

Bruce rests the side of his face against Clark's 'S', looking tired. "That's a long time."

Clark looks out the windshield, seeing the Watchtower in the distance. He then looks at the yellow ball in the sky and feels a pang of sadness in his chest. "Yeah... yeah it is."

A/N: Thanks for reading. Updates will be every Friday. Next update scheduled for: 11/13/15. To see a full list of dates, please go to my Tumblr, angelcamael, and go to the post under: /post/132217933841/loss-of-time