His back ached as the wound opened further. Blood loss made his vision swim and knees weaken. So much so that on the next blow he fell to the floor. Helpless and in pain he could do no more than to watch as Talia stalked closer. A ways away he could hear the shrill call of Damian. The fact he was here meant he had finally crossed that line Bruce had kept him from all these years. Talia had took Damian's innocence once again and for that Bruce knew he could never forgive her.
He tried to get up but the pain flared too much for him to do more than listen as his son cried out. Legs he'd once spent hours worshipping came into his vision along with the dull red glint of her steel blade. He knew he wouldn't get up, he couldn't. So he concentrated on Damian's little voice. He hoped that when he was gone Damian would break free of her. Forgiveness wasn't something she could earn back when his head rolled.
Her arm raised he tried to keep his eyes open, to glimpse once more at everything that had made up his world these years.
"Dad!" Bolting upright he was immediately assaulted by Damian climbing on his chest.
"Could you please tell your son to wake at a more reasonable hour?" He looked to the left where Lex was trying to keep himself awake. A dream then.
He turned to the smirking boy, plastering a smile on his face, as he asked "What say Dami? Think you could wake up later?"
He scrunched his little face up in thought before turning to Lex and proudly stating "No."
Bruce laughed as Lex collapsed into their bed. He'd taught Damian how to say no earlier in the week and had regretted it ever since.
"Aw, I didn't know you were the cuddling type Lexy," He teased as his friend made himself comfortable.
"I'm not. But it's the only way your spawn will leave me be," For the past week Damian had been waking Lex up instead of Bruce on a morning. The lie ins were a blessing for him but a curse for Lex.
"He likes you. You should be honoured," He joked and pushed Damian into the middle.
Lex sighed mournfully as Damian squirmed and kicked to try and get comfortable. Settled he engaged Bruce in a game of eye spy "Anything you want to talk about?" Lex asked quietly as Damian tried to look for something beginning with V.
"Just a bad dream. It's not unusual," Lex nodded understandingly. He had been privy to his own nightmares when his mother had died. Both of them were aware that the other didn't get much sleep in school but it became an unspoken topic between them.
He relaxed back into the pillows as Damian challenged him to find something beginning with A but that was when the door handle turned. Acting quickly he rolled his son off and under the bed as Lex sat up in alarm. Not someone from the household then.
"Lex what on- Oh," Bruce paused on his way to his bag. He knew that annoying voice anywhere. Tuning he was face to face with Lionel Luther. "Oh Lex I thought you were better than this."
"What?" Bruce muttered as Lex blushed.
"It's not like that," Gathering the state of the room Bruce realised that his cover hadn't been blown yet.
"Really? Then tell me what it is like then? Hmm?" Lex quickly got up to try and confront his father about the reality of the situation.
Bruce taking things before Lex could actually do something to damage his new found persona pointed towards his clothes "I think I'd better go Lex. I'll see you soon though?" He tried for embarrassingly flirty as he sent a pointed look Lex's way.
Message received he nodded so Bruce stooped low to gather his shirt. Damian gazed out from under the bed with wide eyes. Bruce pointed towards the roof and pointedly looked towards where Lex and his father were standing. Damian nodded and sank deeper under the bed.
Gathering his clothes Bruce apologised to Lionel and slipped out of the Luther manor. Waiting on the roof for ten minutes he finally saw the tell tale black hair of his little bat.
"They left to go argue in Lex's study," Bruce ruffled his hair and helped them both avoid the security camera's to the back garden of the manor. From there it was just a short walk to the fields of Smallville.
Knowing they couldn't retreat to the manor for a while they played in the grass and trees on the way to the town. After a long game of lions the green turned to grey as roads and buildings grew out of Smallville's land.
With no money and no plan Bruce had to employ the old toilet routine to have an excuse to go into the Talon.
"I don't suppose we could use your bathroom?" He asked the girl. Damian was doing a good act of whining and crossing his legs.
"Of course, straight through there," She pointed so Bruce shooed Damian off.
"Thank you," He sighed as a thankful parent might then turned his charming smile on the girl "I know this is a bit presumptuous and I'm afraid I don't have any money but could I use your computer?"
She looked torn for only a moment before allowing him to use it. "What are you doing?" Damian asked sitting on his lap.
"Checking Gotham," The stocks were still too high in his company for him to attempt anything just yet. If they didn't drop soon he would have to take those matters personally in his own hands. Pulling up a picture when he was done he pointed "See this man. His name is Alfred, he's a close friend of mine. Since I've been away he's been in charge of our house."
"He's kind of old," Damian remarked.
"Well he's been working for our family since I was a boy. Now Dami listen, when we do go back to Gotham Alfred will be our ally. He'll be family like you and me," He tried to implore.
Damian understood "So I can trust him," Bruce nodded "Then I'll refrain from challenging him," He promised. Bruce sighed in relief. If there was one thing he was worried about for when they went back to Gotham it was that Damian would try and assert his dominance towards Alfred. The league had taught him that challenging people was a show of respect and allowed people to find their place in their hierarchy. Bruce had been trying to train it out of him for years now. He was almost glad he'd labelled Lex as a potential threat. It meant that whilst he was still being watched Damian had to wait to attack him. "Father? If we have a house in Gotham, why are we staying here?"
He thought about how well to phrase it for a seven year old before deciding to be straight with him "People think I'm dead over there. And since my death the board has liquidised our company and sold it to various parties for their own gain. If we were to go back now all we'd have would be the manor and whatever Alfred managed to salvage. But if we wait and remain ghosts then we can procure our company back and secure our lives in the shadows before revealing ourselves. It's just simpler if we stay here for now."
Switching the tab to google images he let Damian show him all the different farm animals Mr Kent had shown him during the week. He hardly noticed the time go by until two chocolate milkshakes were set down in front of them.
"On the house," Lana smiled.
"How was college?" She had been over to the manor quite frequently during the week. Bruce thought she spent more time with Lex than her actual boyfriend.
"Great but my room mate's driving me a little mad. You have no idea how happy I was to have an excuse to come back late," she gave Damian one of the chocolate muffins from the counter.
"Room mate… That would be Chloe?" Many warnings had been issued about her.
"Yeah. She's got some intern-ship at the Daily Planet. All week she's been bugging me about stories. I tell you, half of the things she cooks up are insane," A blonde walked in then "Speak of the devil," Lana smiled and went to greet her friend.
Bruce stole some of Damian's muffin as he watched Chloe gesticulate wildly and point to something she had in her hand. "What do you think that's about?"
"Don't know. I think we'd better go," He picked Damian up and wiped him down from his snack. Pulling his hood up Bruce waved a goodbye to Lana and took to the fields of Smallville again. "What shall we do now then?"
Damian skipped along the dirt road "Can we go to the Kents?"
"I don't think they'll like us dropping by unannounced," Mr Kent had softened slightly for Damian but remained cold towards Bruce.
"But we won't be. Clark said to come by once he was done at college. If Lana's done isn't he?" Bruce narrowed his eyes. Damian had an ulterior motive for going but what, Bruce didn't know.
"Alright," He agreed and took hold of his sons hand.
Despite going every day for an hour since he'd agreed, Bruce hadn't gotten any closer to unravelling the mystery that was Clark. Lex had told him he was slightly obsessed but then Bruce had called him a hypocrite and left it at that.
He'd tried getting hold of Clark's notes to see what it was they were speaking but the language was unknown to him. It seemed to be ancient but ancient languages always had a recognisable symbol. Also the symbols didn't seem ancient they looked to be something from a science fiction film which had Bruce stumped as to what it could be. All he did when he went over now was try and remember what it was Clark was getting him to say and hope the spoken word would allow him an insight into the language's codex.
As for the rest of Clark's life he'd had Damian look in Clark's room for anything incriminating with no results. The barn was clean from what he knew with only some relics that looked to be worth anything. He'd noted them down and spent some nights with Lex brainstorming what they could be.
What he always did though was check Clark over for any damage. He'd seen him below their window some nights and knew that he was disposing of the assassins Talia sent their way. The question of why was still unanswered. As was the fact that Clark held no mark of their attack despite the fact Bruce had heard a definite gun shot one night and could have sworn Clark's shirt was torn from the bullet's impact.
The farmhouse loomed. Mrs Kent, having spotted them from the window, came to greet them warmly and called for her husband to take Damian around the farm. The boy went gladly and chattered away about chickens to a clueless Mr Kent.
"Jonathan said Damian's a big help with the animals," she complimented. "He just wishes that he could understand what he's saying some of the time."
"Whatever it is, tell your husband that Damian loves being here. It's probably just exited comments about what they're doing. He spent all morning showing me the animals you have here," Martha asked about him staying for dinner which he accepted. Not knowing when it was safe to go back to Luther manor meant that he was quite sceptical where his next meal was coming from.
"Clark should be back soon. He said something about going to see Lana at the Talon but it'll only take him a couple of minutes," She fed him some home made treats.
"That's alright." Spotting something in the living room he wondered "Do you think he'd mind if I?" She said it was alright so Bruce went to busy himself in the living room.
Clark found him ten minutes later guiltily shutting down his laptop "Hope I'm not interrupting."
"No, just a prank for Lex," He hurriedly put it away. "So, translating."
Two hours later and Bruce was hearing about the rats in the barn as Damian gave him a dramatic retelling of his and Mr Kent's adventures. Clark was watching with interest as Damian went into the part about the rat running into the fields when Bruce realised that he had an idea what Damian was saying.
"I didn't know you knew some Arabic," Bruce commented.
Clark started guiltily "I don't," His parents watched on with worried eyes "I mean. Damian's been coming by for the past week. It's hard not to pick up a couple of words and Pa's always making those faces when he's talking about the rats. Only they're more murderous."
"Oh, that's what he's talking about," Mr Kent muttered "Yeah, it looks like we'll have to start setting traps again."
Bruce kept his eyes on Clark "We could capture them for you," He offered.
Mr Kent chuckled "I didn't know you two were in the rat buisness."
Turning away from Clark's startled eyes he answered "No, but when we were abroad we lived in some unsavoury places. Catching rats became something of the norm." He remembered one instructor who had them catch them for an exercise. Listening to the rats movements and becoming quick enough to catch one was his way of training agility and patience.
"I would have thought places like that would be beneath you," Mr Kent commented.
"Well, with little money and no place to live it's hard to argue if someone offers to put you up," Damian tugged on his arm and asked if they were really going to catch rats the rest of the night. "It'll pass a couple of hours until it gets dark," He answered.
"You're gonna have to excuse Pa. He seems to think that just because you live with Lex you're as bad as him," Clark smiled kindly trying to get back in Bruce's good books.
"I never said that," Mr Kent protested. Clark just rolled his eyes at his dad.
The barn was home to many rats Bruce found out. Leaving them to it with the reward of pie when they were done Bruce made a game out of catching the rats. Damian took it to heart and tried to best Bruce whenever he got ahead. The end scores were with Damian in the lead.
"But there's probably tonnes more," He protested as Bruce forced him to wash his hands.
"It's too dark. There's machines in here that can kill you if you're not careful so we'll come back when it's light," Pouting, Damian gave in and let Bruce herd him into the Kent's house.
Mr Kent was waiting for them as they handed the full cages of rats over "Well I'll be…"
"That was so sweet of you," Mrs Kent praised handing them their pies.
"We can probably get more tomorrow. It's too dark right now though," Mrs Kent waved away his offer saying they've done enough. "Suppose we'd better get going," He helped Damian into his hoodie.
"I can drive you back if you like," Clark nodded towards his truck.
"Thank you but no. We can walk it," If Lionel was still there and saw them getting out of Clark's truck then more questions would be asked.
"Are you coming back tomorrow?" Damian set his most pleading expression on his face.
Chuckling Bruce said "Yes," and waved goodbye to the Kents.
They walked the familiar road back to the Luther Mansion. "Clark seems nice. Are you sure he wants to hurt us?"
"No," Bruce crouched down so Damian could hop on his back "That's why we need to figure it out. Left in uncertainty we could place our trust in the wrong person."
"Like mother?" Bruce sighed not deigning Damian with a reply. "Will she give up when we get back to Gotham?"
"Hopefully. If not, then at least we'll have the resources to fight her properly," He could hear rustling in the bushes not far from where they were walking. Not needing to look he knew that Clark was watching them.
The Luther Manor loomed in front of them as Bruce took the window route into the prestigious hallways that made up Lex's home. Dropping Damian down, he pushed the boy in front and checked the usual places Lex haunted on an evening. Finding him in his study wasn't the biggest surprise of the day.
"Hi Lex," Damian chirped hopping on his desk.
"Hello," He handed Damian his chair and came over to Bruce "You," He greeted.
"You got my email," Bruce noted. The scowl deepened on Lex's face. Rolling his eyes Bruce defended "Your father checks your phone and email. I thought it best to make it believable."
"You realise I've been shouted at most of the day," Lex commented his frown softening a little.
"I'm sorry for that. What else could I have done. Truthfully Lex, isn't it better to lead on your father than to invent something else. At least this way his imagination will be making up most of the details," He paused "Speaking of details what did you tell your father."
Rubbing his face tiredly he poured himself a drink "I told him that you were a employee of mine. One at the Talon, speaking of you're starting tomorrow. Our dalliance was part of a lapse in judgement, one that has been going on for the past couple of weeks. I thought it best to as you put it, lead my father on, since he knew that someone had been lurking in the manor."
Out of all of Lex's explanation Bruce couldn't wrap his head around one thing "You want me to work for you?"
This time Lex smirked triumphantly "You want a cover Bruce, well here it is. I've given you the best one you could hope for. Not only will you be actually earning money but Clark frequents the Talon on a daily basis along with the rest of the town. Imagine the gossip you'll hear."
He knew Lex was just getting back at him for the dirty picture he'd sent but still the idea was ingenious. "What about Dami?"
"He can come with you. Or better yet, leave him with the Kents. They seem to like him from what you've said," Damian seemed to agree with this plan.
"Hang on, I'm not leaving my son with them for however long I'm going to be here. Either you take him or I'll send you more pictures. Hourly," He threatened "And don't forget I can hack into your computer. Some of your work presentations might go down more pleasantly if my charming face was there to help along."
Lex scowled but agreed "Fine. But what do you expect me to do with him?"
Damian was looking put out at the idea of not spending the whole day at the farm "Dami," He called "I think you've been let off your training long enough. While I'm at work I want you to help Lex with his fencing then spend a couple of hours practising your moves.
"Yes dad," He beamed.
"Problem solved," Bruce concluded.
The next day had the girl who'd let him use the computer training him behind the counter. Having worked similar jobs in other countries there wasn't much to teach him. At least with Damian out of the way his job was easier than when he had the boy strapped to his back to stop him from running off as he served some old woman coffee.
Lex had promised him alternative shifts so one day he was working the morning and the next the afternoon. It turned out the morning shift was boring. All the kids were at school and the customers that were there came few and far between.
As two o clock neared he had bunched his apron up already to leave. Sighing delightedly as fresh air hit his senses he started back to Lex's manor to pick Damian up. At least he was until a flash of blue caught his eye.
Following the sirens he came to an old house that was being quarantined off from the doubling crowd. Pushing his way to the front he felt his blood run cold as a mutilated body came on show.