Chapter Twenty-Three – Justice League Universe
A/N: So, I read up a little on adoptions because I figured it's a long process and I wanted to have the adoption of Ko to be finalized in this chapter. However, there's something called a "home study" that is required by law, whether you are going through an agency or an independent adoption with an adoption attorney. Apparently, this can take from 2-6 months from what I gathered. So, in order to make this as accurate as possible (and by that I mean not accurate at all), let's just all pretend that home study happened sometime off page, okay? Okay. ;)
With that said, Bruce obviously went the independent adoption with an adoption attorney route. Of course, he had to jump through some hoops like forging Lord Bruce and Lord Clark's signature of releasing custody of Ko by using different names, and some other loops that I can't currently think of, but he more or less followed the rules. He just… couldn't with all of the rules because Ko is from another universe and that's pretty hard to explain to your lawyer. :P
Anyways, please enjoy. :)
Clark walks into the TV room where Dick, Jason, and Tim are currently watching a movie. It's Saturday night, the day after they got back from the Lords' universe and getting Ko back. Despite having the whole day to relax, everyone is still completely exhausted. Universe hopping really isn't something to laugh at and takes a lot out of someone.
For Clark, he still feels like he got run over by a planet even though he spent the better half of the day and all last night lying on a solar bed by Bruce's order. Clark, though extremely sore, tried to get out of it in order to tend to Bruce but Bruce just ended up handing Ko off to J'onn to get examined and then told Clark he would have Alfred patch him up back at the Manor. He had Clark stay on the Watchtower's solar bed last night until Ko was given a full bill of health and then when Clark brought Ko back to the Manor, Bruce made him lie down on the solar bed down in the cave for half the day.
Clark walks over to the boys where they are eating popcorn and watching some kind of horror movie. It amazes him how much the three of them are into horror movies considering all they have to do is step outside at night in Gotham in order to see some horror. "Do you know where Bruce is?"
Jason shrugs and Tim shoves more popcorn into his mouth by the handful. Dick is the only one who answers verbally. "The nursery."
"Thanks," Clark turns back around and starts heading upstairs. Clark supposes he could have used his super hearing or x-ray vision to find Bruce but right now he has a massive headache and he figures straining probably isn't a good idea. He knocks on the nursery door gently and then walks in. "Bruce?"
"Shh, I just got him to sleep." Bruce is sitting in the wooden rocking chair, rocking slowly back and forth with Ko asleep in his arms.
Clark moves towards the two and lightly kisses Ko on the head, making sure not to wake him. He then briefly pecks Bruce on the lips, kneeling down in front of him. "You should be sleeping too. You didn't get any sleep last night."
"Can't sleep."
"Is it because of what you did?" Clark takes a hold of one of Bruce's hands. "Bruce, you do know you had no choice but to kill Lord Superman, right?"
"It's not just that Clark." Bruce looks to Ko and then to Clark. "I used a gun to do it. I swore to myself that I would never use a gun."
"Where did you even get it?"
"In Lord Bruce's safe. He had it in there. I took it just in case the ring didn't work."
"So then… he might have used it too if he had the chance."
"Yeah," Bruce says quietly. "The difference is that he was used to killing. I've never killed anyone before Clark."
Clark kisses Bruce's hand comfortingly. "Bruce, I'm going to be honest here and tell you that I don't know how to help you get through this but what I do know, is that you had absolutely no choice. If you hadn't done what you did, then I would be dead, you would be dead, and then Lord Superman would have just gone and killed Tim and the rest of the Justice League including Dick and Jason. There was no way out of that fight except for killing him."
"It doesn't feel that way."
"I know." Clark strokes Bruce's cheek right below a black and blue bruise, causing Bruce to look at him. "But you know what? You feeling guilty, you feeling the way you feel right now, is a pretty good indication that you aren't Lord Bruce and you're not going to turn into him. You know what else I know for certain?" Bruce shakes his head. "That I will always be there for you. To be there for you, to support you, to love you. You can always count on me just like I know I can always count on you. I love you and that's not – will never – change."
Bruce smiles at him, small and sincere. "I think you did just manage to help me a little."
"Just a little?"
Bruce's smile widens and he lifts his hand, making a small gap between his thumb and index finger. "Just a little."
Clark chuckles lowly and kisses Bruce on the lips.
…
Clark takes the metal tray that has cookies and milk on it from Alfred. "Thank you, Alfred."
"I've also got some mail here for Master Bruce to go through. I suggest he open this one first." Clark takes the mail and places it beside the cookie plate on the opposite side the milk is on. "I believe he will like the contents of it."
"I'll make sure he opens it right away then." Clark smiles at Alfred and then he floats out of the kitchen. He floats all the way up the stairs and to his and Bruce's bedroom. He can hear Dick already asleep in his room, Jason is playing videogames in his room, and Tim is peacefully reading a book in his bedroom as well. Even Ko is lying silently in his crib, watching the mobile go round and round. Clark enters their bedroom, tray in hand, and sees Bruce looking over some Wayne Tech papers on the bed with the covers pulled over his legs.
"Are those Alfred's famous chocolate chip cookies that I smell?" Bruce asks without looking up.
Clark sets the tray down on the nightstand next to Bruce. "Yep." Clark takes a cookie and eats it in three bites. He then takes a sip of his milk. Bruce follows, still not looking up from his paperwork. "What is that?"
"Just some Wayne tech stuff I need to go over and pass before next week. I thought I'd get a head start on it while we are still on superhero vacation.
Clark takes another cookie. "You do realize that vacation means you don't work during it, right?"
"Hence," Bruce flips a page of the packet he just started reading, "the superhero part of the vacation." He looks up and shrugs. "Think of it as a… half vacation."
Clark huffs a laugh. "Well, your half vacation will have to turn into a full vacation for just a minute." Clark picks up the envelope from the tray and hands it to Bruce who was watching him with a raised eyebrow. "Alfred told me to make sure you get this and to open it first."
Bruce takes the envelope and opens it without tearing the paper. Clark will someday ask him how he does it but his anticipation of what is so important is too great at the moment to ask. Bruce reads the paper that is stapled to other papers with a neutral face, taking a deliberate slowness in order for Bruce's magnificent mind to not miss anything. When he flips the page to the next and starts reading, his face gradually lights up and morphs into a brilliant smile that Clark doesn't see very often. "It's official."
"What is?"
Bruce looks up at him, smile wide and open. "Ko's adoption. We're officially his parents."
"What!" Clark takes the papers from Bruce when it's handed to him. He reads it over, willing himself to not use his super speed in his excitement. He can feel his own smile forming on his face the farther he reads. "I can't believe it. It finally went through. Bruce, we're parents. We're Ko's parents." Clark feels like he can't stop smiling and the warmth in his chest grows to an unimaginable strength. "This is fantastic!" Clark leans down and kisses Bruce hard on the lips. When he pulls back, he continues reading, smile plastered to his face. He freezes, however, at one particular part in the document. "Fif-fifty thousand dollars?"
"Yeah, that's the adoption fee, the home study fee, and the attorney fee."
"But… but fifty thousand dollars?"
Bruce is looking at him strangely. "Yeah, what's wrong with it?"
Clark looks at Bruce incredulously. He huffs another laugh. "It's cute that you think that's not a lot of money."
"That's because it's not. It's pocket change."
"Pocket change?" Clark chuckles and wipes a hand down his face. "Bruce, it might be pocket change to you but for me and every other regular person, it's not. Not a lot of people even make that much in a year. Most people don't make that in a year. I don't even make that much in a year."
"Your point?"
"Why didn't you tell me how much it was?"
"I didn't see the big deal of it, Clark. It's just fifty thousand dollars… that I now know is a bigger deal for most people than I thought." Bruce shrugs. "Besides, it shouldn't even be a big deal for you either anymore."
"And why is that?"
"Because we share a bank account."
Clark gapes. "Since when?"
Bruce is now avoiding eye contact with Clark, instead looking down at his Wayne Tech paperwork. He says as innocently as the person who is Batman can get, "Since I signed you over to a joint account."
"And when was that?"
"A couple months ago."
Clark gapes some more. "You need me to sign for all that. Bruce, did you have my signature forged."
"Of course, not." Bruce glances at him and then looks away again. "I did it myself."
"Bruce." Clark sits down on the edge of the bed, setting the adoption finalization papers aside. "You're sweet and very, very, very adorable," Bruce scowls at Clark calling him adorable, "but you need to learn to talk to me about these things instead of just doing them. You could have come to me about Ko's adoption being so much money. You could have asked me to sign for a joint bank account."
Bruce is picking at the comforter, avoiding eye contact still. "I didn't think you would want to share one."
"Why?" Clark asks. "I'm your husband, Bruce, I don't have any problems with sharing an account with you."
Bruce shrugs, picking a long string off the comforter. Alfred won't like that. "Every time I tried to give you money in the past, you refused it."
Clark sighs and catches Bruce's wary glance. "Bruce, that's because you were trying to give me money when you knew that I was struggling a bit with bills, which by the way I didn't exactly like you hacking into my bank account to see how much money I had in there. And don't think I didn't know about you depositing checks into my checking account either. All that money that was deposited by you went to charity." He sighs again. "Look, Bruce, the reason why I refused before is because I didn't like feeling like a charity case to my billionaire best friend."
"That wasn't why I was giving you money. You were never a charity case to me."
"And I know that but it didn't stop it feeling like it." Clark takes a hold of Bruce's hand and kisses his knuckles. "But Bruce, this isn't that. We're married. Married people, at least most of the time, share bank accounts." He sighs again. "I'm not trying to make this about the money and me now being a billionaire, I don't care about all that. I just find it sweet that you even want me to have a joint account with you. It kind of makes this whole marriage thing more… real. I just wish you'd have talked to me. We need to be able to talk to each other Bruce or else this relationship isn't going to last no matter how much we love each other."
"I know," Bruce mumbles, picking another string off. "I'm trying."
Clark cups the side of Bruce's face and makes him look at him. He leans forward and kisses Bruce on the lips softly. When he pulls away, he says, "I know you are and I know how hard communication can be with you. I'm not trying to rush you Bruce, I'm not, and as long as you continue to at least try and communicate with me then we're good. I just don't want you to close off on me and keep things from me, especially important things like this."
"I'm sorry."
"You don't need to be sorry." Clark kisses him again. "You did eventually tell me." Another kiss. "You know what though?" Clark asks with a mischievous smile.
"What?"
Clark pulls back and looks Bruce in the eyes, making sure to look playful. "It would have been nice to have known sooner about our joint bank account that way I could have transferred all the money in my checking and savings account into our account, changed my direct deposit of my paycheck to our account, and the best part," Clark leans in and whispers against Bruce's lips, "I would get to see all those zeros in my bank account."
Bruce chuckles. "I thought you weren't in it for the money."
Clark, chuckling as well, says playfully while holding up his hand and showing a small space between his index finger and thumb, "Just a little."
They both laugh, kissing each other lovingly.
A/N: So, I actually did look up to see how much adoption costs and for the independent, it can cost between $35,000 and $50,000. Both are a lot of money. Going through an agency is a lot of money too but the ranges vary more.
Again, this is still not quite the end. ;)
Thank you!
