Chapter Twenty-Two – Justice League Universe
A/N: I'm lazy and didn't feel like writing two in depth fight scenes in a row. So this chapter is in Clark's point of view and you get Bruce and Lord Superman's fight through Clark's super hearing and x-ray vision. I'm sorry if that's not what you wanted or is disappointing.
Also, the other day, I figured out everyone's ages so I'm going to put it here (and I'll edit the Prologue to put it there as well.)
Bruce: 35years old
Clark: 34 years old
Dick: 21 years old
Jason: 19 years old
Tim: 13 years old
Ko: 3 1/2 months old (at this point in the story)
Clark carries Tim secularly in his arms and bundled up in the cape of the Superman suit in order to protect him from not only the harsh winds of flying, but to also protect him from the cold chill of the arctic. Bruce is hanging onto Clark's neck from behind, his arms tight in order to not fall off. Bruce, too, is bundled in his own cape in order to protect him. Their flight is mostly silent, the both of them only thinking about getting to Ko and bringing him home safe. Clark is worried that Lord Superman might have hurt him. He hurt Lord Batman and even did so when he was pregnant. What's there to stop him from hurting Ko as well?
Bruce clears his throat as they get nearer to the Fortress and yells over the noise of the wind. "Tim, once we get there, your task is to find Ko. Clark will be going with you while I handle Lord Superman. I do not want you engaging him, understand?"
Tim nods and that's the extent of their conversation for the flight. Soon, they are landing outside of the Fortress. "Okay, once we are inside, I will listen to where Lord Superman is and then Ko. I'll tell you, Bruce, where Lord Superman is and hopefully the Fortress' AI isn't smart enough to know we are intruders. Keep on the com-links. If you have trouble getting into any rooms, let me know and I'll see if I can gain you access," Clark informs. Bruce nods once.
"Got it," Tim says.
They enter the Fortress easily and Clark feels hopeful that the AI won't notice that they are intruders. Clark turns to Bruce. "Ready?"
Bruce seems nervous and Clark can hear his heart beating rapidly in his chest. "Just remember, I have the Kryptonite ring and that's why you're going with Tim. You need to stay away from this fight Clark."
"I know." He pecks Bruce on the mouth quickly. "Good luck and be careful, Bruce." He then quickly listens to where Lord Superman is and tells Bruce. Bruce, once he has the directions, scurries off stealthily. Clark turns to Tim. "You ready to get your baby brother back?"
"Let's go."
Clark leads the way, listening to Bruce as they head towards Ko. There's no one else around the Fortress, not even any of the AI bots that Clark has at his own Fortress. He wonders if Lord Superman just never made any or if he destroyed them all. Tim and Clark are halfway to Ko when Clark hears the first interactions between Bruce and Lord Superman.
"Well it's about time you showed up." Lord Superman says, sounding annoyed and angry. There's a quick pause before Lord Superman continues. "Where's Superman?"
"He didn't come with me," Bruce says.
Clark hears Lord Superman scoff. "I highly doubt that." One of the doors that Clark and Tim come up to is locked. "There's no way you came alone. Plus, did you forget that I have super hearing?" Clark puts his index finger up to his mouth in order to indicate to Tim to stay quiet. "I can hear… two heartbeats? Who else is with you? That's the sound of a child's heartbeat. What child did you bring with you? Robin? Tim?"
"He knows we're here," Clark tells Tim.
"That's bad isn't it?" Tim asks.
Clark nods and then commands the locked door to open. The Fortress AI thankfully listens to him, not being able to tell the difference between him and Lord Superman. Ko is in one of the rooms ahead of them. Clark listens as Lord Superman attacks Bruce and Clark gets anxious. Bruce hasn't taken out the Kryptonite ring yet if the sounds that Clark is hearing are anything to go by. He quickly pauses in their journey to get Ko in order to look through the Fortress walls and watch. He sees Bruce dodge and attack and Clark is thankful that Lord Superman isn't using his super speed yet.
He watches for a few more seconds of Bruce and his fight with Lord Superman until there is a tug on his cape. He looks over to Tim. "Shouldn't we get going?"
"Yeah," he says and then continues. He also continues to listen to the fight and hears Lord Superman grunt from pain. Bruce must have finally put on the Kryptonite ring. Clark stops in front of a door. "Here, he's in this one." He orders for the door to open as this one is locked as well. It opens and as soon as he enters the room he sees Ko there, floating above his crib. The baby turns his head and as soon as he sees Clark, he squeals loudly and floats over to him with a wide grin on his face. "Hey, Ko." Clark catches him, hears another grunt from Lord Superman, a gasp from Bruce, and pulls his son close to his chest. "Papa's missed you." Clark holds the baby out in order to inspect him. "He doesn't look like he's hurt, with normal vision or x-ray vision."
"That's good," Tim says, reaching up to wiggle one of Ko's feet. Ko laughs at this and drools as he sucks on his hand, watching Tim with big, blue eyes.
Clark smiles at the scene but then suddenly he hears a loud, pain filled yell from Bruce. He snaps his head up and x-rays through the walls, seeing Bruce pinned to the floor and Lord Superman's hands around his neck. The Kryptonite ring isn't on Bruce's finger anymore and Clark can't see where it is. Panic rises in Clark's chest. How did Lord Superman get the ring off? Clark watches as Bruce manages to get the upper hand for a brief second in order to knock Lord Superman back but Lord Superman recovers quickly and brings his fist up in order to punch Bruce.
Clark quickly hands Ko to Tim. "Stay here. Watch him." Then, using his super speed, he flies out of the room and towards the fight. He's not quick enough, however, and he watches as Lord Superman's fist smashes into Bruce's head, knocking him out. "No!" Clark barrels into Lord Superman, knocking him off Bruce. "Don't you hurt him!"
They slam into the wall and Clark punches Lord Superman multiple times in the face before Lord Superman shoves him off. Lord Superman then punches Clark in the head and then the stomach. "Did your Bruce teach you how to fight?" Lord Superman asks. "Because mine did."
Clark staggers up and attacks Lord Superman again. He eyes Lord Superman and sees a little blood on the white of his cape. Clark isn't really sure if the blood is Lord Superman's or if it's Bruce's. He likes to think that it is Lord Superman's. Clark glances over to where Bruce is still unconscious. From where he's standing, he can see that Bruce is still breathing which is a relief. When he looks back to Lord Superman, he's gone. He looks behind himself only to be kicked in the stomach. Lord Superman grabs Clark's head and brings it down against his thigh, making Clark dizzy.
Clark quickly tries to counterattack by throwing his own punches and kicks, landing a few on Lord Superman. He flies to him again and knocks him back and onto the floor. Lord Superman, however, gets the upper hand again and flips them over. Just as Lord Superman is about to hit him, Clark uses his heat vision on him, causing the Kryptonian to yell in pain and back off him. Clark uses this to his advantage and grabs a hold of Lord Superman, flinging him into the opposite wall.
While Lord Superman gets his bearings again, Clark looks around the room with his enhanced vision trying to find the Kryptonite ring. There's no way he's going to defeat his doppelganger when they think alike without the Kryptonite. That's when he sees the burn on Bruce's glove and then the burn mark on the ground. Lord Superman must have used his heat vision to get Bruce to take it off and then continued to use his heat vision to melt the ring. Clark looks back to Lord Superman. He doesn't know how he is going to defeat this mad man.
Lord Superman wipes blood off his chin with the back of his hand. "Why won't you people just leave me and my son alone?" he growls.
"He's not your son," Clark yells, charging him. When they hit the wall this time, they go through it. Clark doesn't stop though, and instead continues to barrel through wall after wall, punching Lord Superman as hard as he dares without killing him. "You don't deserve to be his father!"
Lord Superman grabs a hold of both sides of Clark's face and twists, turning them in the air and landing on the ground hard. They slide across the floor, Lord Superman punching Clark and leaving a trench in their wake. "He's my blood!"
"You wanted him dead!"
"Never," Lord Superman yells. "I never wanted that!"
They finally stop sliding across the floor and Lord Superman squeezes a hand around Clark's neck as he holds Clark's head down with his other hand. He's on top of Clark, pinning him to the ground. "You… you tried to kill Bruce when he was… when he was still pregnant."
Lord Superman lifts Clark's head and smashes it against the floor. "That doesn't mean I wanted him or my child dead."
"Then…" Clark is having a hard time talking with his throat being crushed like this. "Then why did you… why did you… try and kill… kill him?" Lord Superman's eyes narrow dangerously. "You don't love… either of them. You don't care about anyone... but yourself."
With a yell, Lord Superman drags him up and slams him against the wall, one hand still around his neck. He places his other hand on Clark's chest, eyes burning red. "I'm going to reach into your chest and rip your heart out." Lord Superman pulls the hand that was on Clark's chest back in order to shove his hand into Clark's chest and Clark gets ready for the pain.
Suddenly, there's a loud bang that rings and echoes around the room. Lord Superman's eyes grow wide, the red dying down to alien blue. A shudder goes through his entire body and he staggers back, letting go of Clark. Clark slumps to the ground and watches as Lord Superman stumbles back a few more paces before collapsing to his knees and then to his side. He ends up rolling to his front, giving Clark a perfect view of the red that is starting to stain the white of his cape.
Stunned, Clark watches the blood pool out of the bullet wound in Lord Superman's back, the red on the white cape getting bigger and bigger. Then he hears something hitting the ground. Clark looks up and first sees the gun lying on the ground by black boots. When his eyes travel further up, he sees Bruce, hand that once held the gun pointing out and shaking violently. Bruce's mouth is hung open, as if he's shocked at the turn of events himself. Then, to Clark's worry, an agonizing sound comes from deep within Bruce's throat that bubbles up into a horrified whine.
Clark springs to his feet as fast as he can. "Bruce." Bruce is shaking uncontrollably and Clark notices that there are some tears that are escaping past the hem of the cowl. "Bruce." Clark pulls Bruce into him but Bruce struggles, trying to back up out of his embrace with a tortured sound. It only makes Clark hold onto him more, hold onto him tighter. When a sob emanates from Bruce and his shoulders start to shake with the effort of crying, Clark places a hand on the back of his head and makes Bruce bury his face into the crook where neck meets shoulder. "Shh, it's okay. You had to do what needed to do."
"I didn't," Bruce sobs. "I didn't want…" He's gulping in breaths of air, as if he can't get enough oxygen into his lungs.
Clark runs his hand through Bruce's hair, trying to sooth and comfort his husband. "I know. It's okay, Bruce." He's really not sure what to say. Not only did Bruce kill Lord Superman but he also used a gun to do so, the one object Bruce hates the absolute most. Clark twists his body and head around in order to look at Lord Superman but is surprised to see that he isn't there. All that remains is a trail of blood. "Oh, no."
Bruce's breath hitches and he lifts his head. "What?"
"He's gone." Clark pulls away from Bruce but doesn't let go of him completely.
Bruce looks at the spot that Lord Superman was just at. "Where?"
A cold, dreadful feeling overcomes Clark. "Tim." He picks Bruce up before Bruce can say anything and flies to Tim. They find him lying on the ground, knocked out. "Tim!" They both kneel beside the boy and Clark x-rays him. "He's fine, just unconscious."
"He took Ko," Bruce says.
Clark stands but Bruce stays kneeling next to Tim, brushing his hair with his hand. "With that Kryptonite in his back he couldn't have gotten far." Clark looks to the trail of blood and follows it with his eyes, x-raying through the walls. "Found him."
Bruce finally stands. "Lead the way."
Clark does, holding onto Bruce's hand in order to ground him. He knows it irritates Bruce but he refuses to let go of his husband's hand. Clark was right, Lord Superman didn't get far; sitting on the ground, leaning against a wall, and breathing heavily. The Kryptonite is taking affect, poisoning his body. Ko is against his chest, sucking on a few fingers.
Clark and Bruce approach him. "Why was everyone against me having a family?" Lord Superman asks, his voice low and quiet. "Everything…" he drags in a shaky breath, "everything was supposed to turn out so differently."
Bruce squeezes Clark's hand and says, "Maybe you should have thought of that before you started abusing your Bruce."
Lord Superman gives a dry, humorless laugh. "Because you know everything." He leans his cheek against Ko's head and Ko makes a small sound. Ko's ear is pressed right up against where Lord Superman's heart is. "And now I'm going to have my son taken from me again." Blood drips out of his mouth. "No Kryptonians, no Justice Lords, and no family." Lord Superman smiles bitterly. "Guess I'm always going to be alone." He draws in another shaky breath that is let back out in a sigh, his whole body going limp. Ko immediately starts to cry.
Clark x-rays Lord Superman. His heart is no longer beating and his lungs are no longer drawing in any air. "He's gone." Bruce squeezes Clark's hand even tighter. Clark squeezes gently back and that's all it takes for Bruce to get the courage to walk up to Lord Superman and close his eyes.
He then takes a hold of Ko. "Come on." He tries to pick him up but Ko won't budge. He tries once again, but still Ko won't let go of Lord Superman. "I think Ko is using super strength to hold onto him."
Clark's heart breaks. "He must know."
Bruce stands and comes back to Clark. "You're going to have to get him off."
With a nod, Clark approaches Ko. "Hey, it's okay," he says to the crying baby. "Papa's here, I've got you, Ko." Clark rubs a hand down Ko's back, trying to calm him. When Clark tries to lift him, he still won't let go. "Hey," Clark says softly. "It's okay, Ko." He turns Ko's head so he's looking at him and though the baby doesn't stop crying, a look of recognition does pass through his face. Ko lets go and allows Clark to pick him up, cradling him close to his chest. "You hear that? I'm still alive, you don't need to worry, you don't need to be sad." As Ko listens to Clark's heartbeat, he slowly stops crying. Bruce comes up to the two of them and wipes the tears off Ko's face with his hands, landing a kiss on top of his head.
"You better carry him," Bruce tells Clark. "Since hearing your heartbeat is helping." Clark nods in agreement.
"Hey!" They both turn and see Tim standing in one of the doorways.
"Tim," Bruce says, sounding relieved. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine now but I just found Bruce." Clark and Bruce hurriedly follow Tim as he leads them to another room.
When they enter the room, a heaviness lands on all of them. Bruce sighs in disappointment as he and Clark approach Lord Bruce. "Is he… is he dead?" Clark asks. "I can't tell when the Fortress is making him breathe and his heart pump."
Bruce shakes his head. "I don't know. You'll have to turn it off to find out."
"What if turning it off kills him?"
"We can't leave him like this Clark."
Clark closes his eyes, wishing this wasn't happening. Then opening them, he says, "Fortress, stop the life support for Bruce Wayne, keep the monitoring on."
The life support stops and all three of them wait with baited breathes as they watch the heart monitor. The beating of Lord Bruce's heart never stops like they expected, however, and instead just becomes weak. "He's alive," Tim says.
Clark listens to Lord Bruce's heartbeat, hearing how weak it is. He doesn't think he's going to be alive for long. "Is there a way to wake him? He should see Ko," Clark says to Bruce.
Bruce, understanding the hidden message in Clark's statement, that Lord Bruce isn't going to be alive for much longer, says, "The Fortress might be able to."
Clark nods. "Can you wake Bruce?" Clark asks the Fortress.
He's not really sure what the Fortress does, but the next thing he knows is that Lord Bruce is groaning in pain and opening his eyes slowly. Bruce sets the bed up so Lord Bruce is sitting up. "Bruce," Bruce asks, getting into his line of sight. "Bruce, do you know who I am?"
Lord Bruce blinks at him before saying with great difficulty, "Me."
"Yes, yes I'm you. I'm the Bruce you gave your son to. Do you remember that?" Lord Bruce nods. "My Clark's here too. I don't want you to be afraid. Your Clark isn't here. He's not going to hurt you." Lord Bruce nods again. "We have someone here for you to see."
Clark steps into Lord Bruce's eyesight and as soon as Lord Bruce sees Ko, his eyes start to tear up and he sobs. "Clark," he whispers, taking in an unsteady breath.
Clark hands Ko over and Lord Bruce takes him shakily. "We came up with the Kryptonian name Ko-El for him," he says gently. "It means peace, reflection, and calmness."
"My baby boy," Lord Bruce brings Ko up to his chest, closing his eyes and leaning his head against him. Tears fall down his face and Ko snuggles into Lord Bruce, making a small content sound. "He's gotten so big." He takes another shaky breath in and Clark can hear he doesn't have much longer. Lord Bruce opens his eyes and looks to Bruce and Clark. "Is he dead? Is my Clark dead?"
Bruce answers him gently. "He is."
Lord Bruce squeezes his eyes shut, nodding. More tears roll down his cheeks and a small sob leaves him. He then opens his eyes again, looking down at Ko. He places a kiss atop the baby's head and when Ko makes another small sound, Lord Bruce smiles fondly. "I didn't want him." Clark looks at Lord Bruce in confusion. "Did I tell you that?" Lord Bruce looks at them. "That when I found out I was pregnant; I didn't want him. I only kept him because of Clark. Because Clark was so happy." Tears are still falling down his cheeks and he's still breathing shakily. "Then I fell in love with him, with my unborn child, and wanted him and wanted to be a family." Another sob. "I was so stupid to think we could be a family." Lord Superman squeezes his eyes shut again. "So stupid." When he opens them again, he looks directly at Clark. "Clark, don't turn into my Clark."
Clark takes one of his hands, feeling his own eyes stinging with tears. "I would never let that happen."
Lord Bruce smiles bitterly at him. "That's what my Clark use to think too. Look where it got us. Don't give in to your anger. Please Clark, please."
Clark squeezes his hand. "I won't."
"Promise," Lord Bruce whispers.
Clark sees Tim wipe his face from the corner of his eyes and sees Bruce's hands clenched tightly in anger. He smiles warmly down at Lord Bruce. "I promise."
Lord Bruce is struggling to breathe now, his breath being dragged in by painful gasps. He reaches up and cups Clark's cheek, loving smile on his face. "I miss you so much."
Clark reaches up and holds Lord Bruce's hand to his face. He leans over him and kisses his forehead. "It's okay Bruce. It's going to be okay." Clark feels it when Lord Batman goes limp, hears when he exhales his last breath, knows when he dies. Clark squeezes his eyes shut, lips still pressed to Lord Batman's forehead and allowing his own tears to fall. He only pulls back when Ko makes a small whine, getting ready to cry. Clark lets go of Lord Bruce's hand, placing it beside his body. He closes Lord Bruce's eyes and then picks up Ko. "It's okay, little one." He sniffles, wiping his own tears away, and looks to Bruce. "You know; I think he loved his Clark even up to the end."
Bruce is looking at Lord Bruce, the anger and grief he is feeling being obvious. "Love is a mysterious thing." He turns to Clark. "Come on, we need to get back to the rest of the League."
"Are we just going to leave him here?" Tim asks, sniffling.
"We'll track down this universe's Alfred, Dick, and Tim and inform them of where Bruce is. It's probably best that they think Ko is dead as well." He hesitates, looking to the ground. "Unless you want him to stay here with them," he says, obviously addressing Clark.
It surprises Clark. He never thought that since Lord Superman is dead Ko can live in this universe now. There's no more danger for him. He can go live with this Alfred, Dick, and Tim. He looks to Lord Bruce and then to Ko who is in his arms. "I… I don't know. I-"
"It's okay if you do, Clark," Bruce interrupts. "I'll understand."
"Do you want to?" Clark asks him.
Bruce continues to look at the ground, not meeting anyone's eyes. "No, but it might be best."
"Why?" Everyone's eyes snap to Tim. "Bruce gave him to you two, that means he wants Ko to come with us."
"Only because of Lord Superman," Clark explains.
"It doesn't matter, he's ours now."
"He's not an object, Tim," Bruce says. "He's got real family here."
"And we're not his real family?" Tim asks. "Because I certainly consider him my baby brother and I know Dick and Jason do too. I don't want him to stay here. I want him to come back with us."
Bruce sighs. "Tim-"
"No," Tim snaps. "We're the ones who spent three months with him. These guys didn't. We took care of him, we love him, he's our family and I'm not giving that up."
Clark looks to Ko and into his deep blue eyes. He then looks to Bruce, making his mind up. "I agree with Tim. I'm not leaving him here."
Bruce's whole body seems to sag. He looks to Clark, a small relieved smile playing at his lips. "I'm glad." Bruce looks around the room. "This universe's Dick and Tim will find Lord Superman and Bruce here. When they see Ko isn't with them, they'll assume he's dead."
They all take one last look at Lord Bruce and then Clark hands Ko to Tim and picks Tim up. Bruce wraps his arms around Clark's neck from behind again and Clark lifts off, flying them back to the Manor. He can't help but feel guilty for Lord Bruce. He wishes they could have done something to help him.
When they arrive back at the Manor, the rest of the League is already there. "You found him!" Dick runs up to Tim and takes Ko from him, hugging him tight. Jason walks up a little slower and rubs a hand along Ko's head and back.
"We were just about to contact you," Diana says, stepping up to Clark and Bruce. "The Watchtower is completely destroyed. We found the remains of the Justice Lords inside the wreckage."
"We're guessing Lord Superman killed them," John says. "There were scorch marks on some of the debris that could only be made by heat vision."
"So then it's really over?" Tim asks.
Clark looks to Bruce who is standing off to the side slightly. He's frowning. "It seems it," Clark says. "Except Bruce and I have one more thing to do."
Bruce walks over to the Bat-computer and a half hour later, locates where Alfred, Dick, and Tim are. He gets a hold of Dick's cellphone number and writes a text to Dick with the location of Lord Bruce that will be automatically sent in twenty minutes. It's also untraceable. Once done, he turns to the rest of the group, Jason now holding onto Ko. "It's time to go home."
Bruce starts up the portal and he and Clark watch as everyone goes through it, Jason going last with Ko. Clark takes a hold of Bruce's hand and kisses his temple even though it's covered with the cowl. "It's okay, Bruce." Bruce only silently nods his head, his lips still turned slightly down. Clark squeezes his hand, Bruce squeezes back, and then they walk through the portal together, going home.
A/N: Is it weird that I actually started crying when I wrote Lord Bruce dying?
I really hope this wasn't anti-climactic. :/
This is not the end, don't worry. :)
Thank you!
