Chapter Nine – Justice League Universe:
It's been two weeks since Clark promised to call his mother about Ko, and he still hasn't done it. That's why they are in the lounge, arguing now.
"For crying out loud Clark, just a few days ago, Ko was fucking flying," Bruce yells, his frustration with Clark being made clear.
It was just three days ago that Bruce and Clark had decided to take Ko outside in the garden for the first time so he could get some sun other than from the sun lamps and windows. The baby had looked at all the bloomed flowers with wide, curious eyes while being carried in Bruce's arms, making all sorts of baby sounds. Clark held a picnic basket and a blanket as they decided to eat lunch out there. Ko hadn't had another heat vision incident but ever since, everyone except Clark has been walking on eggshells around the baby. Clark is the only one who can't get hurt by the heat vision so if Clark makes Ko angry then it's no big deal. If someone else does… well that's a different story.
They had walked over to the little stone patio that is in the garden and Clark had set out the blanket. Setting the picnic basket down, both he and Bruce sat down, Bruce laying Ko out on his back. Clark had then reached into the basket and pulled out a sandwich that Clark had made, insisting that he make them instead of Alfred. It was probably a good call on Clark's part as the kitchen is still in repairs and Alfred still isn't happy about it.
Though a bit nervous at first, it felt good to Bruce to have been sitting out there in the sun, with Clark right across from him and Ko in between them. A bumble bee was flying around them and Ko had been making high pitched happy sounds, waving his arms and legs up in the air as he watched the bug fly.
While they ate, Clark had talked to him and Bruce was content to listen to him. He loved hearing Clark's voice and its upbeat tone that it always seemed to have. He listened to Clark tell him about how his coworkers at the Daily Planet were pretty cool with him dating "the boss" and that most of them didn't care. He had said that there were only a few that have started harassing him about it but that it didn't really bother him and that he can handle it on his own. Bruce, of course, still offered his aid but Clark, of course, declined it. Bruce had decided that he will still help in secret though just like he helped with the board of directors. Not that he really had any say in helping Clark with that anyways.
The board had come to him directly with questions as to why he was dating and is now married to one of his employees. They had asked a lot of questions that involved morals and laws and the fact that people will view it as playing favorites. Bruce didn't really care and he did the best he could to put the heat on him and off of Clark, that way Clark wouldn't get into trouble. He feels as if he succeeded but now he's not in good graces with the Daily Planet board of directors. He doesn't mind though as he never really is in good graces with any board. What's one more?
After talking about their civilian work, the conversation went on to their costumed work. Bruce had been vague but Clark, while telling his own Superman adventures tales, had smiled wide and looked wistful. He really does love being Superman Bruce decided and the thought had made him smile in return. Seeing Bruce smile only made Clark's smile bigger which Bruce loved.
That's when everything kind of went to hell. Bruce realized at that point that it was awfully quiet besides nature noises and Clark's soothing voice. Wondering if Ko had fallen asleep, he had looked down and noticed the baby was missing. Springing to his feet, he looked all around him, spinning in a circle frantically. By then Clark was up and looking around as well.
"He doesn't even know how to crawl yet, how could he have gotten away?" Clark had asked and Bruce could tell that he was using his x-ray vision to look in the bushes and flowers.
"I don't know," Bruce said, looking behind the rose bush. "He's been developing faster than a normal baby, preterm or not, so who knows, maybe he does know how to crawl now." Truth be told, Bruce had just been too distracted by Clark to notice that Ko was getting away, no matter how he did it.
"Then where could he-" Clark had cut off and cocked his head.
"You hear him?" Bruce asked.
Clark nodded and looked at Bruce. "Yeah, but it's weird. It sounds like he is…" Clark looked up then and Bruce looked up too.
It felt like his heart had stopped when he spotted Ko, probably thirty feet off the ground, in the air. Bruce took a gasping breath and reached out to Clark to try and move him even though he knew he wouldn't be able to. Instead he gripped Clark's shoulder tightly. "Clark, get him down," he said, sounding to his dismay as if he had been frantic. "Get him down now." Clark then raised into the air swiftly and reached Ko in record time. The baby giggled as Clark scooped him up and brought him back down to Earth as if worrying his parents was the greatest thing in the world.
Bruce reached out to Ko and Clark — probably seeing how worried Bruce was — handed him over immediately. Bruce cradled Ko's small body against him, holding him tight and refused to let him go. "Okay," Clark had started. "Super strength, heat vision, and now flying. What else do you think he is going to get this early on?" Bruce hadn't answered him, deciding to glare his answer as he brought Ko back inside.
Bruce is shaken out of the memory when Clark says, "I hope you don't swear that much around Ko. It's bad enough you already passed it down to Dick, Jason, and Tim."
"Clark," Bruce growls. He's angry and he doesn't want to play this game with Clark.
"Sorry..."
Bruce snarls, making sure Clark knows exactly how pissed off he is right now. "You promised Clark, so why haven't you called her yet?"
Clark shrugs and the motion makes Bruce angrier. "Because I haven't had time to yet."
"Don't lie to me!" Bruce snaps. "We are living with a super powered baby and we can't handle it. You aren't here all day and neither am I. Alfred is here all day taking care of him. I don't care if I get hurt by Ko but I will be damned if Alfred does! And don't even get me started on Tim who is only thirteen years old Clark! Thirteen! He's just a kid and Robin or not, I'm not going to allow Ko to hurt him either."
"Okay, I'm sorry." He doesn't sound sorry. "It's just, what do you expect me to say to her? 'Hey Ma, guess what, I'm married to Bruce Wayne. Yeah that Bruce Wayne, but don't worry there's no feelings involved. I only did it to adopt a child.' Yeah, Bruce, that'll go over really well with a woman from Smallville, Kanas."
"I don't give a shit where she's from," he yells. "This is my family's well-being we're talking about."
Clark looks angry now too and he narrows his eyes at Bruce as he retorts harshly, "You don't understand but, of course, you don't. You don't understand because you don't have a mother to worry about telling and what she thinks of the whole situation." Clark stops and his eyes widen at the same time the full impact of his words hits Bruce right in the chest. It's painful, what Clark said, and Bruce is actually kind of surprised that such a thing came out of the Kryptonian's mouth. "I didn't mean that." Bruce looks at him silently, furious and wounded. He can feel his face transform into a mixture of anger and hurt, his eyes glazing over as a few tears well up. Bruce turns without a word and leaves the room, ignoring Clark calling after him. "Bruce. Bruce! Shit!"
He heads straight to the cave and sits at his computer, nursing his aching chest and his stinging eyes. The cave is his sanctuary and he feels safe in here, secure. He turns the computer on, hoping for a distraction away from the thoughts rushing through his head. Thoughts like his mother smiling at him and then snapping to how she looked when she was lying cold on the ground, eyes glazed over because there was no more life in her. Bruce brings up a casefile he's been working on about the Mad Hatter. He escaped from Arkham recently and, surprisingly, he's been doing a good job at staying on the down low.
He really can't believe Clark had said such a thing to him. It's not something that Bruce would expect the man to say. Not something that mean and biting at least. It hurts to know that Clark, of all people, are still capable of such things. Of course, maybe his expectations were just too high. Maybe that's because he loves the man and that love made him too blind to see that Clark isn't perfect like the world likes to see him as.
The wedding ring sparkles with the computer light as Bruce types and it catches his eyes. He looks at it and then takes it off, wondering what exactly was he thinking when he asked Clark such a stupid question like marrying him. Of course, Clark wouldn't want to. Of course… but he had said yes in the end and despite wanting a divorce at some point, Clark hasn't really shown any animosity to being married. In fact, he doesn't seem to have a problem with it at all. Bruce reads the engraving that Alfred had picked out and remembers how Clark hadn't been bothered by that either.
He thinks back to their wedding, to how nervous Clark was, how sad he looked, almost like he wanted it to be different, like he didn't want the marriage to be in those circumstances. Bruce thinks back to what the kids told him, especially Jason, about Clark loving him. Does Clark love him? Bruce knows he loves Clark but does Clark love him? He really can't see Clark loving someone like him but it wouldn't be the first time Clark has surprised him, today included. He also doesn't know if Clark really does love him, does that mean they should start a relationship? There's a whole slew of problems that could arise because of that but is it worth a shot? Could they do it or will Bruce just end up hurt like now?
Bruce isn't really sure but he does know what his heart is telling him despite what his brain is telling him. Maybe it's about time he listens to others around him and to also listen to his heart just this once and finally confront Clark about it. He doesn't know how much more pretending he can do and comes to the conclusion that he probably should ask Clark today. But Clark had just hurt him and he's still not over it yet and he doesn't know when he will be. Bruce sighs and goes back to focusing on the casefile.
It doesn't take long for Clark to hesitantly come down to the cave, only waiting about a half hour. It's definitely not long enough for Bruce to have calmed down about what happened earlier and definitely not long enough for Bruce to come up with a solution to his dilemma. "What do you want Clark?" Bruce asks, making sure his voice stings with venom.
"I brought a peace offering."
Bruce turns around and blinks at seeing Clark standing there, holding Ko out in front of him in an offering. Ko, once he sees Bruce's face, starts bouncing his arms and legs while making a high pitched squeal of happiness. "You brought our son as a peace offering?"
Clark peaks out from behind Ko. "Does it work?"
Bruce rolls his eyes and holds out his hands. "Give me the baby." Clark hands Ko over and then stands there awkwardly. "Talk," Bruce prompts as he settles Ko in his lap.
Clark looks to the floor in shame. "Look, Bruce, I really, really didn't mean what I said. I… honestly don't even know why I said it. I mean I care about you Bruce, a lot, and I never want to hurt you. It's just… I don't know… I'm scared of what my mom is going to think. I mean…," he sighs dejectedly. "She doesn't even know that I like guys Bruce and now I'm married to one. One in which there's no romantic feelings between us and to top it all off, we have a baby together. That's pretty wild even for the mother of Superman." He looks up and his eyes, such blue eyes, look sad and regretful, guilty. "I don't know what to say to her Bruce but I didn't… I didn't want to hurt you because of a problem I'm having."
"I can help you Clark. No one said you had to talk to her alone."
"I know," he says, sounding frustrated but not with Bruce and instead at himself. "I know, but… it's still hard. My mom's the only family I've got Bruce and I don't… I don't want to lose her."
"I really don't think you're going to lose her over this. She might be from Smallville, Kansas but from what I've seen, she's a pretty accepting person."
"I think fake marriages goes I little beyond pretty accepting." No one speaks for a second but then Clark whispers, "I'm so, so sorry Bruce, for what I said."
Bruce sighs, closes his eyes, and shakes his head. God, he loves this man and he knows he can't stay mad at him. He never could in the past anyways. "It's okay Clark, I forgive you."
Clark looks up slowly, surprised. "You do?"
"I do."
"Thank you, Bruce," he says quietly. "I guess I'm going to suck it up and call my mom now. I don't want to hurt you again because of my cowardice." Clark flashes him a small, sad smile before turning around to head back upstairs.
A panicky feeling races through Bruce's chest at seeing Clark leaving, especially with such a sad look on his face, and so Bruce stops him. He knows, just by that feeling, that if he doesn't say something now, he never will and he'll regret it for the rest of his life. "Clark." Clark stops and turns around to look at him. "You care about me a lot?"
This time, when Clark smiles, it's fond even though it doesn't reach his eyes. "Of course, I do. You're my best friend."
"So you caring about me… it's just as friends?"
Clark stares at him, trying to analyze what exactly Bruce could be getting at. It must be something on Bruce's face, desperation maybe, but Clark comes to a decision quickly and says, "It depends; do you want me to care about you more than just friends?"
Bruce hesitates, his heart pounding in his chest hard. Swallowing and licking his lips, he finally whispers, "I do."
No one does anything for a while, both of them silent and staring. Finally, a slow smile forms on Clark's face. "You do. I-I do. I mean – want – I want you to care about me more than just friends too, Bruce."
"I do Clark."
Clark's smile grows and Bruce has to swallow the nervous lump in his throat. "You do." He sounds relieved and Clark takes a step towards him until he's only a few feet away. "I thought…"
He doesn't finish that thought so Bruce does it for him. "I thought you didn't feel the same way because you didn't want to marry me and then you wanted to get a divorce."
Clark is shaking his head. "No." He kneels in front of Bruce and reaches up with a hand. Clark cups Bruce's cheek lovingly and looks at him as if he's the most precious person in the world. It astonishes Bruce. "No, that's not it at all. I didn't want to marry you and I wanted the divorce because I thought you didn't love me back." Clark's thumb is rubbing at his cheek and Bruce finds himself leaning into the touch. "But you do, don't you?"
Bruce nods and says so low that he can barely hear himself say it, "Yes."
The most loving smile cracks across Clark's face and it makes Bruce want to kiss him and feel that smile against his own lips. "You love me." Clark leans closer, hand still cupping his face. "I love you." They're nose to nose now, mouths almost touching. "I love you so much." All they have to do is lean forward and then they will be kissing and it will feel so good and long awaited and–
Ko floats up and pushes his way in between Clark and Bruce's face, blocking them from kissing each other. Ko gurgles with laughter and Bruce sighs as Clark laughs right along with Ko. "You want kisses too, huh?" Clark says in his baby voice. He leans closer and playfully starts to pepper loud kisses all over Ko's face, causing the baby to start laughing wildly. The sight makes Bruce smile and eventually he's laughing right along with them.
A/N: Thanks for reading. :)
