Dumping the kids at Lex's he sprinted to the farm. But something stopped him halfway. If he alerted Clark that Lana was with Talia then he might make matters worse. Clark was tough but when it came to matters of the heart something told him that Clark wouldn't hesitate to give up. He needed Clark available and on his side in this war. So, for now, Clark was out.
Turning back to Luther manor he contemplated going after Talia himself. But then she was probably expecting that. So instead Bruce headed inside and put the boys to bed. Talia wanted Lana alive otherwise she would have been dead yesterday. Either today had been a ploy to draw out Clark or something else was at work.
Lex agreed to look after the boys the next day so Bruce was at he Talon early for his afternoon shift. He breathed a sigh of relief when Lana showed up minutes later. Talia trailed after her and took a seat at the counter. Smirk firmly in place they carried on their conversation without acknowledging his existence.
"I'm telling you if there's one thing you need to do its have a plan. Otherwise you'll end up lost and allowing him to have the advantage," Lana guilelessly nodded along to Talia's advice.
"So I break up with Clark and tell Lex about my feelings," she decided.
Talia sent a frustrated look his way briefly but turned back with a supportive smile for Lana "Something more elaborate than that. After all, what if you loose your nerve? What if Clark cries? Or Lex rejects you, these things need to be thought and planned around."
Lana scrubbed her face "You're right. Of course your right. I'll give it some more thought," she took Talia's order and left her sitting prim as she made it.
Bruce sidled over and held his hand out expectantly "Dagger please."
Talia smirked and handed the one up her sleeve over "You're welcome to do a full body search," Bruce rolled his eyes and stowed the knife in his pocket. "I don't suppose you know what a girls night out entails do you? Lana invited me to one tonight and I'm at a loss as to what I've gotten myself into."
"I'm afraid not," Lana came back with her drink.
She turned to Bruce as if surprised he was there "Oh Bruce this is my friend. I told you about her yesterday. Talia this is Bruce, he's the one who suggested meditation as well. Funny how alike you two think," she sent a pointed look his way and Bruce had a vague realisation that Lana was setting him up.
Playing along anyway he held his hand out and let Talia shake it. They shared an amused smile when Lana left them to it to take someone's order a couple of tables away.
"Amusing how a complete stranger can see our connection beloved," He leaned across the counter in a show of interest.
"Indeed. So back to our earlier conversation, girls night did you say? And what exactly do you entail to happen tonight," she caught his meaning and scoffed.
"We both know if I wished her dead she would be. No," she turned and watched Lana move across the tables slowly so as to give them time to talk "Tonight I will dine and party like the rest of her frivolous friends."
"Just a heads up, I may not know what girls do at a girls night but their idea of a party is much different than yours," he would have loved to see Talia try and blend in with a bunch of teenagers.
Lana strolled back over with a pleased look on her face "We all getting along here?"
Talia nodded "Definitely," she leered slightly "Bruce even invited me to dine with him tomorrow."
Sneaky "Like I said, a pretty girl like you shouldn't ever eat alone."
Talia rose and handed her empty cup over to Bruce. Pointedly letting their hands linger as she said her goodbyes "Remember what I said," was her parting comment to both of them.
Lana turned on him with a satisfied look on her face "Am I a genius or what? I knew the moment I met her you two would make a good match."
"You're a genius," he praised while his mind planned their evening tomorrow. "But what did she mean about what she said? Are you really breaking up with Clark?"
She nodded "I did like you said and came to one conclusion no matter what. I have to break up with him. It's not fair if I don't."
She set the date for that night before she went out with Talia. Bruce considered going around to the farm and apologising but he had something else to do when he got back. Namely separating Damian and Dick from each other. Damian was one move away from breaking Dick's leg when he grabbed him. Dick sprang back on his hands and shouted insults from behind Lex. The man had been trying to break them up for ages before Bruce came in.
"What is going on?" he demanded.
Damian writhed and kicked in his arms but still defended his actions "That thing said I was inadequate! He refused to let me lead a move despite the fact I did it better than him and then he called me stupid!"
"Dick?"
"I said we had to do it together and he didn't like it," Dick panted "Then he called me a.. Well I don't know what it means but I knew it wasn't nice. You're never nice to me!"
Both of them were tearing up as Bruce pulled them in close "This is easily solved. Damian, apologise for calling him whatever," the boy tried to pull away "Damian!" he mumbled an apology "Dick do the same," he didn't seem too happy about that either. "Now both of you tell me what move this is and we can sort this out."
It took a while for the sniffles to die down enough for them to tell him "Damian, Dick's right it'll look better if you do it together. And I'm not just saying that, come on" thinking quickly he pulled both boys to Lex's study.
The man tensed as they entered having retreated as soon as he could and let Bruce take the chair to pour himself a drink. Searching he pulled up three videos of the move they were attempting and showed them why it was better to do it together.
"Told you," he sent a pointed look Dicks way to not rub it in.
"What Dick's trying to say is that he knows about these things because he grew up having to make routines. I taught you to do things solo but in performing it's the best aesthetics and not the moves itself that puts the show on," Damian climbed on his knee to search other things they had no doubt been doing that day "You're going to have to trust Dick on this."
"Fine," he mumbled and practically dismissed Bruce in favour of youtube.
He joined Lex on the couch, keeping one eye on the new made allies. "I am never having kids," Lex moaned into his drink.
"They're not that bad," Lex just shook his head and turned to drowning his mental scarring.
Lana was still alive the next day if a bit hungover. The rest of her friends were in much the same state as they trailed in for a hangover cure. Chloe and a mouthy girl named Lois clutched their drinks for dear life as they tried to remember the night before. Bruce paid them no mind until Talia walked in with sunglasses firmly in place, looking like they weren't coming off any time soon. Bruce had to excuse himself for a laugh in the store room before he went back out.
He kept an eye on her for the rest of his shift until it was time to take her to eat. She actually wobbled and held onto him as he led her to her car.
"Not one word," she warned.
"You can handle wine more potent than American yet here you are. I'm sorry if I need a couple of minutes to get my head around it," he laughed.
Taking her to one of Smallville's only restaurants he behaved as the perfect gentleman throughout their meal. So did she he reflected as she asked after their son. He forgot how much he missed her as they talked about little things and caught up on the parts they missed as she chased after him all these years.
The desert came with Talia relinquishing control "Ask what you want. I can see your mind dissecting me so you may as well put it at ease."
"Why did you tell Lana to break up with Clark?" she gave nothing away and composed herself before answering.
"I thought I would try something new. My old tactics have taught me that violence will only push you away from me. So, I saw an opportunity when you started hanging around with that farm boy. Don't deny it beloved, your eyes wander when he's near. And you know my stance on him. My plan had been to seduce her with a hired man but when I watched... it seemed to me she only needed a friend. One who was able to persuade her in the direction of another man."
"So you free Clark up. Now what?" She eyed him expectantly.
"You make your move. I knew you wouldn't whilst he was still attached. One thing I realised when you had no idea Rahim was married was that you went for those that were free. Well, now Clark is," She let out as if it was her great gift to him.
"You're actually going to let me take someone, who's not you, to bed?" The idea seemed ludicrous.
"Like I said, you want him. And if you getting him, and both of you agreeing to come home, then I don't see why I should be so upset," He sighed in frustration.
"You don't get it Talia. You've never gotten it. You crossed a line all those years ago and because of that I am never going to come back to you. I love you, I always will but we can't be together. If you can't grasp that then at least think of what this is doing to Damian. You need to let us go," He knew none of his words were sinking in.
"You know I can't do that. As long as you still say you love me I can't," She paid her half of the meal "Make your move on Clark soon or I'll make it for you," She walked out without a goodbye.
With no threat of Talia attacking in the middle of the night Lex gave them their old room back. Another bed put in meant that Damian and Dick didn't need to share anymore but as three dawned he felt someone small slide into bed next to him. As morning came he was kicked awake by Damian jumping out of bed and elbowed as Dick followed suit. No lie in for him that morning he took them both down to Lex's gym and let them run wild until breakfast.
He slid into a handstand as the boys ran around the room and tried to use his exercise as a guise for being awake. Slipping into meditation was the closest thing he could get to sleep as he listened to little footsteps and hands slapping on tiled floors. He didn't know how long he was out and only woke as a little finger poked his chest.
One eye open he gazed into Dick's face level with his own. "You can hold a handstand for a long time," he commented.
"What's wrong?" Dick pointed behind him.
"Clark's here. He wants a word," He righted himself as Bruce did and followed him over to where Clark was standing in the doorway.
Eyes bloodshot but otherwise he looked fine as he greeted Bruce "I was wondering if you wanted me to take them off your hands today," Dick squealed and went to get Damian.
"That's nice of you. Are you sure though?" He couldn't tell how bad Clark was taking his breakup.
"Yeah, I have the day off and Pa's been missing Damian around," Bruce sent him a unconvinced look "He has. He complains but he's missed having kids running around the farm. I promise you'll get them back exactly as they are now."
"Doubtful," He muttered "Alright." There was no point in saying no anyway. Damian and Dick had scampered off to get changed as soon as Dick went off. "They've been fighting so separate them if things get too heated."
"I know how to look after kids," Bruce rolled his eyes.
"You know how to look after normal kids. Damian's been polite when he goes to yours. Dick added to the mix you might see why he has so many bruises," Damian panted next to Bruce and practically vibrated next to him. "Be good," He warned. Damian beamed and took hold of Clark's hand to pull him out. Dick turned up and took his other hand to drag him off.
He went to get changed and passed Lex dragging himself out of his bedroom "I'm off to Metropolis for a meeting," He informed "Want me to get you anything?"
Bruce stopped "Actually yeah. Do you know any shops that sell gymnastic gear? Leotards and the like?" Lex nodded "Could you get two in Dick and Damian's size. Preferably matching?"
"Don't say I never do anything for you," Lex muttered but agreed.
Naturally Lana wanted to know what had happened on his date with Talia. He told her some half lie while trying to forget it had ever happened in the first place. Right now, his mind was back on Clark. Talia wanted him to go for him, the extraordinary being that he is, and have him join them. Like before Bruce was tempted, extremely tempted. He knew he couldn't though, even to seduce Clark would be admitting to Talia that he was on-board with her scheme.
"I'm thinking of coming round tonight," Lana interrupted his thoughts.
"Huh?" She repeated her sentence. "Lex is out of town. I don't know when he'll be back," her face fell and she said she would come around the next day instead.
His shift ended he made his way to the Kent farm. The boys were running wildly around while Mr Kent watched fondly from the porch, Clark seemed to be right about him missing having kids on the farm. Mrs Kent was standing talking to Clark a ways off and waved at him as he was tackled by his kids.
"Mr Kent let us ride the tractor!" Damian gushed.
"Bruce! Mr Kent let us drive the tractor!" Dick repeated.
"Run anything over?" Damian nodded as Dick shook his head aghast. "Good. So do you want to stay here for a while or go back? Lex is out of town so it'll just be us."
"Can we stay here?" Damian asked already looking eagerly at the barn.
"I'd rather stay," Dick admitted.
"Wait here then," He walked up to Mr Kent and asked if they could stay a while longer. He griped slightly but agreed that they could stay since they'd been so good.
"They've been angels," Mrs Kent agreed walking up to them. He heard Damian call Dick a mean name and couldn't help but wonder what they would think if there wasn't a language barrier.
Clark was the only other one who had some inkling as to what Damian was saying yet still he laughed instead of reprimanding him for his behaviour.
Damian swore and cursed as bad as Bruce had ever heard him and rushed over to where he was clutching onto his hand. Thinking the worst he had to pry Damian's hand open only to discover nothing there.
"Dami what's wrong?" The boy wailed and clutched his hand to his chest.
"He has a splinter," Clark told him and tried to get Damian to open his hand again.
"Ew!" He heard Dick mutter.
He carried Damian into the house as Mrs Kent went to fetch the tweezers "You can break your legs, fingers, toes and hands more times than I can count but as soon as you get so much as a paper cut..."
"It's alright Damian. I used to get tonnes at the circus. All you need to do is yank it out," Dick made a horrific show of pulling a giant splinter out which had Damian crying harder.
As soon as the tweezers came the cries turned to threats and curses "Fuck off," He spat and turned away from Bruce.
He turned to Clark "I swear I didn't teach him those words," He handed the tweezers over and took to pinning Damian down long enough to get it out.
Mrs Kent comforted the traumatized boy with ice cream and fed Dick mountains of sweets as well as Bruce nursed his new bruise on the porch.
"Splinters hurt," Clark opened with and handed him his own bowl of ice cream.
"So does Damian. Little drama queen," He hissed and pressed the cool spoon to his arm. He looked Clark over again. The circles under his eyes were just visible "How are you holding up?" At Clark's confused look he explained "Lana told me."
"Right you two work together," He sighed "I honestly thought we were going to be forever."
"Things don't always turn out like you think," He knew from experience.
"Don't suppose you have any advice?" As the best friend of the person Lana was in love with and the reason why she decided to break up with Clark in the first place he could only think of Clark getting as far away from Bruce as possible.
"Not really. When I broke up with Talia I was already past being upset. What was more important was manning up and being a father. But I guess if Lana doesn't see what a great guy you are then maybe you two just weren't meant to be," Clark nodded.
"You sound a bit like Ma. She said something similar when I told her," Mrs Kent was a wise woman. She probably had tonnes of advice similar to that to say.
"Well she's right. Right now, I think you probably need something to distract you. So instead of moping why don't you focus on becoming the best babysitter possible," It was half a joke and half serious. He really did need someone to watch them sometimes.
Clark laughed "They are seriously good kids. You are so lucky to have them. Just so you know, Damian actually asked Dick for help today. They teamed up to tackle the beams in the barn, nearly gave my dad another heart attack but it was so cute seeing them getting along. You shouldn't worry about them so much."
"I don't," He smiled at the image "I know he doesn't think much of Dick right now but if something happened I know he'd do his best to look after Dick. He's family now."
A shout and Dick came sprinting out with Damian hot on his heels. They vaulted over Clark's fences in some kind of game "I think Ma overfed them."
"They're not gonna sleep tonight," Bruce agreed.
They stayed at the farm until it got dark. The humid air tiring the boys out to letting Clark teach them astronomy. It wasn't long after that when Damian's hand went lax and Dick curled into a ball next to Clark. Accepting the offer of a ride back the boys snored the whole way there and to their room. Clark helped get them changed and into bed and Bruce made Lex say hello despite his insistence that he needed to talk with Bruce.
Delaying Lex's talk he walked Clark out. "I'll take them off your hands again soon," He promised.
"It's fine. Like your Pa, Lex complains but he secretly loves them," Deep, deep down. Clark hopped into his truck and let Bruce lean on the door. He knew he shouldn't but something in him couldn't resist leaning forward and planting a chaste kiss on Clark. His lips were soft and slack from probably shock and Bruce only ran over them shortly before pulling away. "Just so you know what's available to you," He murmured "After all, you're fair game now."
Instead of Clark running like last time he leaned back with a chuckle and unless Bruce was more tired than he thought Clark actually ran his eyes over Bruce's form. "I'll see you," He waved and rolled down the drive.
Lex was pacing when he got in and shoved a newspaper into his hands. The headlines were about a part of Wayne Enterprises Bankruptcy and how they'd been bought out. "I take it this is your work?"
"Depends," He checked Lex's computer and found three emails from Alfred about his new building "Yep, this is my work."