Chapter 10: The early bird catches the worm

Clark awoke as he felt a familiar warm sensation on his face. The first rays of sunlight tickled his skin and the Kryptonian could feel new energy flowing through his body. Still half asleep, he sat up and scratched the back of his neck lightly before opening his eyes and being startled. This was not his bed and not his home. Now wide awake from the surprise, the Kryptonian looked around in confusion.

He was sitting in a large king size bed made of wood with heavy green curtains tied together at the posts of the furniture. The tall window, which made up a huge part of the wall to his right, illuminated the entire room, allowing a closer look at things further away.

Nobly worked chests of drawers, heavy Persian carpets and expensive-looking objects. So that cleared up the initial confusion, as only one person maintained this style.

So he was at Bruces place. But why?

Slowly, the events of last night found their way back into his head and cleared up this confusion right away.

Clark forced himself to calm down as he realized again that both Damian and Jonathan had been present at that incident. Although the Kryptonian still remembered that he had told both boys to take care of the scientists and to stay away from the actual fighting, he did not know what happen after his blackout.

And that worried Superman. Despite that it was clear to him that Bruce must had taken care of the rest.

The large precious wood bed creaked a little as Clark's feet hit the dark laminate floor and the man stood up. Clad only in a pair of boxers, he looked around searching for a moment and finally found a pair of pants provided by Bruce as well as a T-shirt on a chair in the opposite corner of the spacious room.

In a hurry he closed the distance between himself and the small piece of furniture and also immediately put on the blue shirt, when suddenly a bright grumbling sounded behind him. Clark's heart sank at the sight of his son sleeping on a mattress on the floor next to the big bed. The blanket tangled between his legs, drooling all over pillow and seemingly without injury.

The burly man chuckled at this sight. It was just typical Jonathan and everything his restless mind just had needed.

Quietly and with a warm smile on his face, Clark took the few steps to his son and without waking Jon, freed the boy's legs from the soft sheet.

Carefully, the father covered his child and lovingly stroked his black hair once more before the Kryptonian pulled on the pants and tiptoed out of the room to seek out Bruce.

A few corridors further, down the stairs and a secret door behind a large clock later, Clark also arrived at the Batcave, where Bruce was already busy typing on his computer.

The Kryptonian knew this workaholic would be hanging around here. He simply could not let the work rest.

But something surprised him.

A woman with short black hair, coffee in hand, was leaning against the large computer next to the bat and seemed to be having a casual conversation with him. She looked somehow familiar to Clark, but he could not place her. Still, he was surprised that the oh-so aloof Bruce Wayne would confide his secret to someone on the outside. He must have had his reasons.

The Kryptonian was descending the last steps of the metal staircase when Bruce noticed his presence. The billionaire rose from his heavy chair to greet his longtime friend with a slight smirk:

"I see you are well again. And just in time for sunrise."

Clark returned the gesture: "I guess I have to thank you for that then, huh?"

The corners of Bruce's mouth found their way down again at the Kryptonian's words. However, he said nothing more about it. Instead, the strange woman joined them and greeted her guest politely with an offered hand:

"Clark Kent, I presume? Hi, my name is Selina Kyle."

Clark responded to the offered hand, paying particular attention to his grip when he saw the graceful fingers:

"Nice to meet you."

Bruce explained:

"Selina knows about our identities. She helps me with work here in Gotham and is also currently staying at the Manor. She shouldn't be unfamiliar to you. Her alias is Catwoman."

Clark raised his eyebrows in surprise: "Catwoman? I thought she was one of your enemies?!"

Playfully hurt, Cat returned the word:

"Oh enemies is such a harsh word. I just occasionally like to claw things that others don't appreciate as much as I do. And Bat happens to be one of these things."

Now the Kryptonian's eyes widened even more and met Bat's as the penny slowly dropped for him:

"Wait, you two...are together?"

As if in confirmation, Selina snuggled up to Bruce and smiled at the stunned man before her.

"Wow, that's...well...congratulations?"

Clark wasn't sure what to say to that. On the one hand, he was happy for Bruce, as he had finally found a woman who was not just an easy match for him, but of high importance. It took quite a lot for Bruce to reveal his true identity.

On the other hand, however, that was exactly where the danger laid. It was not just any woman, but Catwoman, and she was one of Batman's oldest adversaries, as far as the Kryptonian could tell.

But if Clark knew one thing, it was that he could trust Bruce. He thought through all his actions and so also the decision to let a cat with not quite clean paws into his life. So Clark would also be kind to this woman and put on his most charming smile.

But before the burly man could add anything else, Bruce interrupted:

"Enough with the greetings. Clark, do you remember what happened yesterday?"

Seriously, the Kryptonian replied:

"Yes, but only up to the point where that thing got me. Can you explain what happened after that?"

Bruce nodded and held a tablet out to his old friend:

"Well, first I need a report from you as soon as possible about this creature that had done such great damage to you. Strengths, weaknesses and other. I want to know everything. Then you'll find out what happened after you fainted. It is important that you write it down before I tell you. You'll be able to figure out the reason for it yourself later. I checked Damian and Jonathan out of school for today and informed Lois that you two are here. Still, I would advise you not to contact her until you know the whole story."

While Clark was not entirely satisfied with this answer, he complied with this request. Bruce seemed to have had his reasons. So he accepted the tablet and excused himself:

"All right. Do you mind if I do this in your kitchen? I could sure use a cup of coffee."

"Make yourself at home. Alfred should be there, too."

So Clark nodded curtly and made his way to the kitchen.

Selina raised a brow in wonder and addressed the bat: "Why the secrecy?"

"Clark may be physically the strongest of the Justice League members, but he's also a family man and like any normal citizen in his mind. How upset do you think would he be to know that his ten-year-old son had to reanimate him and had been covered all over the body in his father's blood. So it's better if I get his detailed report first. After all, we need to get this highly dangerous monster out of our world as soon as possible before anything worse happens."

Selina chuckled slightly and rubbed her upper arms theatrically:

"Brrrr, so cold here. Must be you."

Amused by this, Bruce pulled the cat against his body and whispered seductively in her ear: "Maybe I should warm you up if you're so cold."

Responding to this, Selina closed the last distance between them and kissed her bat on the mouth in love, much to Bruce's delight. So a few moments passed, during which both of them simply expressed their mutual love without words. Finally, the cat broke off their little game:

"I'd love to get into that."

Playfully, she tapped one of her graceful fingers briefly on her lover's strong chin: "Unfortunately, you have an important case to work on right now. So the caresses will have to be cancelled."

Selina stepped past her stunned Bruce and headed toward the kitchen as she added:

"I'll join Clark. After all, in a normal relationship, it's proper for a girlfriend to get to know her boyfriend's best buddy. Besides, I'm interested to know what kind of person the great Superman is."

With these words, the Cat left the Batcave and set out to learn more about Clark Kent.

Bruce just sighed heavily before sitting back down at his computer to continue working on the case. This woman just loved to tease him.

Damian was sitting in his room, just trying to fix this broken device they had found in the lab. But all the broken wires and rusted metal pieces made it truly not an easy task. However, he had at least been able to find out that it had a memory function. Whether the data on it could be saved was still unclear at this point.

Straining, the boy briefly rubbed his eyes, which were already hurting from all the staring, and then he looked at the small clock on his desk.

Half past seven. That meant he had been sitting at this thing for more than three hours, which just didn't want to reveal its secrets. Although his father had told him to get enough sleep, Damian's plans looked different. Two hours of sleep was also enough, as long as you don't do this for several days in a row. The boy knew that from experience.

So he put down his instruments for the time being and stretched both arms above his head to get his tired limbs going again. In fact, this action made him aware of his own body again. With all the tinkering, Damian hadn't even noticed how hungry he had actually become. A little breakfast break wouldn't hurt now. Besides, Alfred should also be in the kitchen at this hour, and where Alfred was, is a served meal never far away.

A few corridors further on, Damian was about to turn into the kitchen when the door was ripped open right in front of him. Upset, Superman rushed past him with a cell phone to his ear. The tall man nodded briefly greeting the boy before he ran down the hall and turned a corner. From the female voice coming from the small device and Superman's stressed face, Damian assumed it must have been Lois on the other end of the line.

But that didn't interest him much. Instead, Damian stepped into the kitchen and found Alfred behind the counter. However, Alfred wasn't the only one there, because his father and this woman had made themselves comfortable on the chairs at the counter and were drinking coffee together, their eyes fixed on a small tablet.

Damian only gave an annoyed hiss when the boy's presence was also noticed:

"Good morning Master Damian. Shall I make you some breakfast?"

"Yes Alfred. The usual."

Without even making eye contact with those present, the boy went to the last available chair next to this Selina and sat down on it, when he was also already handed a peanut butter sandwich by the old butler. Sourly Damian bit into the soft pastry and felt how this woman gave him an amused look. Irritated by this, the boy only spat back at her threateningly:

"What?"

Still smiling, she propped her chin loosely on one hand and leaned slightly toward the smaller one:

"You seem to really like your bread."

Grumbling, Damian just said:

"Oddly enough, it has a stale taste today. I just wonder why." And took another bite.

But Selina was not deterred by this. Instead of being offended, her smile only widened, and with every millimeter the corners of her mouth went up, Damian's moved in the opposite direction.

Before more gasoline was poured on the fire and his son would take it out on him later, Bruce slid the tablet in the boy's direction with a document open:

"This is Clark's statement about the incident. It also includes a Detailed Combat Report. This will help for a rough analysis of its attack behavior."

Damian furrowed his brows in concentration and took the device. As he cleared the last few bites of his sandwich, the boy briskly skimmed the long flowing text. He didn't really like what he was reading:

"Lightning attacks and a ability to form Kryptonite? As if the tremendous strength and armor weren't enough."

"And those are just the abilities that were used in the fight against Superman. It's quite possible that this creature possesses others. That's why we need to develop a plan in which we prevent a fight before these powers can be used. To do this, we could use gaseous narcotics and catch it alive that way. Then perhaps new knowledge can be gathered regarding this other world and whether more portals might open. Besides, I don't assume that we could kill this monster at all, even if we wanted to. It would be comparable to try killing Superman without Kryptonite, and believe me, I know what I'm talking about."

Astonished, both Selina and Damian now looked at Bruce, who then sighed heavily and continued speaking:

"Our start just wasn't the best, but that doesn't matter right now. The fact is that it's going to be an exceedingly dangerous mission, and at best it will be accomplished ahead of sunset, before this creature wakes up, reaches a civilization, and attacks people."

Again, Damian looked at the tablet and summarized their day's task once more:

"So create a plan, develop anesthetics, and figure out how to keep it locked up. And all that before night falls."

Purring, Selina chimed in:

"Sounds like I won't get to see you guys today. But if I may comment, I think I would consider including your colleague Wonder Woman. As far as I know, she has this indestructible Hocus Pocus lasso, and in case anesthetics don't work, you could use it to capture it like cowboys do with their bulls."

Somewhat surprised, both Damian and Bruce looked to the slender woman. Selina took this moment to tease the little devil a bit and with a teasing grin leaned slightly towards the stunned boy:

"I'm not just pretty, if that's what you thought of me kid."

Annoyed, Damian grabbed the tablet and stood up:

"You don't have to be a genius for an idea like that. I'll be in the Cave getting started."

With that, the boy left the room, leaving the three adults behind.

"Charming, isn't he Mrs. Kyle?"

The woman just chuckled in amusement when Alfred asked her that and promptly answered as well:

"Very charming."

However, Bruce did not really share this joy. His son's behavior worried him, with regard to their future relationship. While Bruce didn't really show it, it was important to him what his son thought of Selina and also that they both got along well. But Damian's dislike of Cat made him uneasy. Sighing heavily, the billionaire rubbed the bridge of his nose:

"I apologize for Damian's behavior. I'll talk to him about this later."

But instead of accepting this apology, the cat only leaned towards her bat and kissed him briefly on the cheek. Surprised, Bruce looked up into her warm face and the deep wrinkles on his forehead retracted as Selina spoke unflinchingly:

"You don't have to. Actually, just let him be. I like the little guy and find his behavior quite funny. This constant attempt to ignore me and drive me away with scowls. Almost like a certain someone who always wanted me to keep my claws off precious stones and expensive jewelry."

These few words did now put a slight smile on Bruce's lips and Alfred knew what was coming next, so the old butler left with an:

"I excuse myself. There are windows that need to be cleaned."

the room. Bruce went into his cat's game: "Oh really? And was that someone able to trim your claws?"

Selina pretended to think for a moment before answering her friend:

"Hmm, let's put it this way, I don't show them in for him, but that's never a guarantee that it will stay that way. You know cats like to change their moods sometimes, and a woman wants to be conquered every day. So be careful not to scratch yourself."

Bruce now pulled the seductive woman closer to him and replied:

"I'm a man who lives a dangerous life anyway. And the playboy- thing from all the magazines doesn't come from anywhere. I hope I live up to your standards."

Selina's slender arms found their way around the man's neck and added:

"We'll see." to that, before she closed the distance and they both fell into a passionate kiss.

A few moments passed like this before the woman pulled back again and spoke with a hand on her boyfriend's cheek:

"For today you have conquered your wife, but unfortunately you don't get much out of it, since you still have to work. And getting back to Damian, don't worry about him. I can handle this kid on my own. After all, I've already tamed one Wayne and without your help it's much more exciting to gain the trust of the second one as well. It just takes a little time and with my nine lives I have more than enough of that. So keep your head clear for more important things and leave the boy to me. He'll come around to accepting me."

Bruce took the slender hand on his cheek in his and kissed the graceful fingers once gratefully. He loved this woman just the way she was. Even her habit of pilfering even the smallest things, like his morning coffee.

Briefly, the bat looked once again into the green eyes of his cat, telling her everything that was on his mind right now. He then rose and placed his empty cup in the dishwasher behind the counter as he spoke:

"Well, I'm going to go say goodbye to Clark and get to work. Do you have any plans for today?"

Perkily, the kleptomaniac held up a gold credit card that read Bruce Wayne in small letters and smiled at him:

"Shopping. And since I assume you'll be indisposed tonight as well, I'll be clawing Batwoman and patroll Gotham with her. I like her and she seems very capable."

Bruce gave her a quick nod of acknowledgement and said: "Do that. I'll send her a message."

As he was about to leave the room, the amorous man added: "I'll see you later, Cat."

Selina replied to this with a playful:

"Don't let that monster bother you Bat!"

And watched as her lover disappeared behind the door, on his way to another fight.