Disclaimer – You recognise it, I don't own it.
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"Clark!" Ma Kent smiled as she opened the door, "And Lois! How nice to see you. Are you joining us for lunch?"
"If we're not intruding, Mrs Kent." Lois replied easily.
"How many times do I have to tell you, it's Martha. And no, you're not intruding. You could never intrude. Come on through. We have quite a full house for lunch today. I hope you enjoy roast beef."
Clark was preparing to act surprised when he saw Tim. But then he didn't need to act. He wasn't expecting Conner to be there too.
Although, in retrospect he probably should have. After all, if it was Bruce, Clark knew that he wouldn't have missed a meal with his parents and time with his friend for anything.
What was truly shocking was Tim's appearance.
Oh, he was trying to hide it. Clark could spot traces of make-up, not properly blended into the skin, that no doubt were hiding deep bags under the eyes, given the location of the smudges. Puffy eyes were visible with a keen eye, albeit enhanced by SuperHuman abilities. Red eyes were being controlled by eye drops.
Tim wasn't sleeping… Or if he was, he wasn't sleeping enough or well.
Then there was the almost imperceptible trembling of his hands. He was controlling it well, but the tension in his arms betrayed him.
The flicking of his eyes between various people could easily be taken for a Bats caution or curiosity… But it lingered too long over the various exits, potential threats and things that could become weapons.
He sat too stiffly in the chair. As if his back hurt. Tiny creases in the corners of his eyes. Far too relaxed face… He was trying to hide the grimace his body wanted to do in response to the pain he was in.
Clark focused his hearing and easily made out a slightly raised heartrate from the former Robin. No doubt the careful breathing, Clark could also make out, was an indicator that Tim was maintaining a meditative state in order to control his heartrate and breathing as well as he was. Clark had heard a rumour that Tim had the ability to slow his heartrate down to a level where it was virtually imperceptible, and he could be believed to be dead. Merely a story he had thought.
He was starting to believe.
There were a thousand and one little signs of Tim's pain and exhaustion and insomnia. And possible PTSD.
Clark wasn't sure. The eyes that flickered around the room, almost constantly could simply be a sign of Bat-Paranoia. Of checking in with everyone. Of checking possible escape routes and weapons, should anything happen.
But there's a furtiveness in those eyes, beyond what he's used to seeing in Bruce's. As well as a touch of fear.
A leg, in it's plaster cast, was displayed almost defiantly on a footstool. The once white cast already festooned with signatures and pictures. Clark could make out most of the current Titans' marks.
And all of this Clark spotted in the first few moments. Including the narrowing of the eyes as Tim took him in. One hand retreated automatically behind his body, before Tim made a conscious decision to relax and it remerged empty.
Conner's actions were just as betraying. A narrowing of his eyes. A tension in his body. A shift of his posture, moving forward on the sofa that he shared with Tim. Sliding forward, so that less of Tim could be discerned. A twisting of his torso to angle slightly towards Clark, but also presenting his back to Tim.
If Clark didn't already know about the protective nature Conner had towards Tim, he would have been blind to miss it now.
More worryingly there was tension in the air. And it seemed like it had been there for a while. Conner was shooting furtive glares at Ma and Pa; alongside looks of betrayal.
In return there were more than a few sad gazes and silent entreaties for forgiveness from the adults.
Right then, Clark was wishing that he'd agreed to bug the house. Because if this is what he saw in the first minute? Then there was a lot more going on behind the scenes.
"Mr Kent," Tim nodded in welcome, "I was not expecting you to bring Miss Lane to dine with us today. Miss Lane, it is good to see you again."
"I've told you before, Tim," Lois smiled, "Call me Lois. You've been through the wars."
"In recovery now." Tim returned simply, "Mr and Mrs Kent have been kind enough to agree to host me, during this portion of my recovery."
That veneer of politeness… So polite so as to be positively insulting… Clark knew that meant Tim wasn't happy. However, how far it would go, he didn't know.
"Your disappearance has been making front pages." Lois remarked, "I hadn't seen anything about your rescue."
"I haven't spoken to any other members of the Fourth Estate." Tim replied easily, "It is possible that the GCPD believe that keeping my safe return under wraps beneficial to their investigations."
"That is likely." Lois shrugged, "However, given that fate has thrown us together, would it be possible for an interview? Release dependant upon the whims of the GCPD, of course."
"Fate?" Tim quirked an eyebrow, "Nothing so ethereal as that, Miss Lane."
"I assure you, Mister Drake," Lois returned, "I had no knowledge of your presence here."
"Perhaps." Tim conceded, "However I doubt your escort was."
"That's on his conscious, not mine. I came to enjoy some spectacular home cooking and friendly conversation. If that is all I get out of this, then fair enough. But I wouldn't turn down anything extra… If you can't talk about the kidnapping, then maybe a puff piece? There's a rather amusing video going viral at the moment, featuring your little brother…"
"That got out?"
"And then some. There's memes."
"I knew I should have kept a closer eye on that. Okay, this is not going to be fun when Damian finds out… Assuming he hasn't already…"
"Well I haven't heard any screaming or death threats from Gotham's direction." Lois shrugged, "Nor have I heard of anyone being cut up into small pieces by a katana, so either he's taking it very well, or he doesn't yet know."
"You are a very dangerous woman, Miss Lane."
"No more than you, Mister Drake. Although I believe any further discussion on this topic would be detrimental to the digestive process. Shall we eat before we retire to discuss the world in which we both move?"
"It would be discourteous to allow the food to grow cold. May I escort you?"
"As best you can, I won't let you take my arm though. You use your crutches."
"Your consideration is appreciated."
It seemed strange to Clark, that the two people in the room who weren't related were getting on the most civilized. There was increasing tension amongst everyone else. He wasn't even sure why Conner had issues with him, but it was clear that he did. In fact Conner seemed to have lumped him in with his parents.
It would be nice to know what crime he had committed if he was going to be punished for it.
Ma and Pa clearly knew what they had done, and they were slightly ashamed of it.
The tension didn't abate during the whole meal. Lois and Tim carried the bulk of the conversation, discussing the food, politics, celebrities and even discovered a mutual love of Australian MasterChef, as well as Ninja Warrior. The others managed to provide polite remarks, but it was clear that their attention and heart wasn't in it.
"So, how far along the course of Ninja Warriors do you think the Bats would get?" Lois challenged at one point.
"Depends on which one." Tim pondered for a moment, "Both Batman and the Red Hood would have difficulty with some parts of Stage One, seeing as it is the stage most focused on agility. Both of them favour strength over agility and so would be at a disadvantage. However, they would do better on the Second Stage where strength is more of a primary focus. Nightwing, on the other hand, would find both the First and Third Stage relatively easy, but lacks a lot of the force that the previous two have. So he might find the Second Stage more challenging, but I believe he would manage to power through… It would be interesting to see a Superhero Ninja Warrior competition."
"There would have to be allowances of course. Otherwise Superman could just fly over everything."
"It might be interesting to do an unpowered course. See how the superpowered heroes cope without their powers against their unpowered colleagues."
"Oh I would pay to report on that!"
"Charity event?"
"Certainly would work."
The meal was over, Lois and Tim still going strong. Now comparing the differences in attitudes of the contestants in MasterChef USA to MasterChef Australia; and how the shows set up contributed to the differences.
Clark caught Conner's eyes and tilted his head. The pair of them quickly extracted themselves from the conversation and headed outside.
"Conner," Clark started the discussion, "What have we done? You're angry. And I don't know what we've done to upset you."
"They told the Bats." Conner declared.
"What?"
"I asked them… I begged them to keep Tim's presence here secret. And they promised. But they didn't keep it. They chose you over me. Just as they've always done. You're the true son. I'm just the clone. The failed copy."
"No. Not that. Never that. You're their son. Just like I am."
"No. Else they would have kept their word."
"Did they both promise?"
"Ma promised."
"Then maybe Pa told."
"No. It was Ma. I know it was. Besides they're like that old couple in the joke."
"What joke?"
"An old couple had been married sixty years," Conner started to recite, "A young couple asked them how they had managed it. The husband replied: "When we were first married, we agreed that I would make all the major decisions, and she would make all the minor decisions." Then the wife continued: "And in sixty years of marriage there has never been a need for a major decision."."
"Ah." Clark blinked, it sounded about right actually.
"Ma promised for both of them. And then Ma broke that promise."
"How do you know that? Did Tim tell you?"
"No. He didn't need to. Dick asked Wally to run some cookies over. Wally let it slip to Bart, who told me."
"They could have figured it out."
"Not that quickly… I mean, I never expected to keep it secret forever. I knew that as soon as you came for a visit, you'd probably tell Bruce. But they promised and they broke that promise."
"But if you ever expected it to stay secret…"
"That's not the point! I trusted them. And they betrayed that trust. And now I can't trust them. I hadn't asked for much. If they'd invited you over and released it that way… I wouldn't have objected… But they didn't. They deliberately broke their promise. They didn't just betray me…"
"What?"
"I gave my word to the Titans… My word that Tim would be safe here. That the Bats wouldn't find out from me or from Ma and Pa. I never put such a burden on you. I knew you're a good friend to Bruce. I knew you'd most likely tell him. I'd certainly do that for Tim, so I could hardly expect you to put Tim before Bruce. But Ma and Pa? I trusted them. They broke that trust. And they broke the trust the Titans have in me."
"I'm sure you're wrong. They still trust you."
"They trust me. But not my word. They trust me to have their backs. They won't trust someone I say to trust."
"I'm sure they…"
"Ma and Pa are the two people in the world I should know the best. But they picked you and your friends over me."
"And if they had kept quiet? They would have been picking you over me."
"No. They wouldn't have been picking either of us. There were ways around the promise. Inviting you over for a meal… I could have lived with that… But they deliberately broke their promise not to tell a Wayne by telling Alfred."
"He's not a Wayne. It was still working around the promise."
"It was breaking the Spirit of the promise. While keeping the Letter."
"And inviting me wouldn't have been breaking the Spirit?"
"No! That would be putting the burden onto you. I left the loophole… I left the loophole hoping that you wouldn't tell. That you'd understand that Tim needed space… They took… They took so much from him, he needed control back… I hoped that you'd feel guilty enough not to tell, because I asked you for help finding Tim and you did nothing! You said you would help. But you didn't do anything."
"I didn't think he was really missing."
"You thought I was lying?"
"No. But you know what Tim's like. He's always going off to investigate this and that."
"And how many times have I asked you for help in finding him?"
"Only the once." Clark admitted slowly.
"And you didn't think that if I was asking that I hadn't checked everywhere? I asked you for help… Two weeks ago… Tim underwent torture for an extra week because you didn't believe me."
"I…"
"You dismissed me. You ignored me. I hoped that I could use your guilt to keep quiet about Tim's location… But that's pointless now… If I had any other option, I'd take him away right now. But we don't. Because if we leave Tim anywhere without people to look out for him, he'd be back at work in an instant. And we don't have anywhere else to go. Cassie can't take him in, her mother doesn't have the space or the time to take care of him. It's too frantic at the Flashes; he'd never get a moment's rest, what with the twins and the rest of them going at a thousand miles an hour on a slow day. Gar and Raven don't really have a place, he'd end up at the tower and he'd go right back to work. Bunk doesn't have the space either, so this was the best option… Until Ma and Pa told… I thought this was the safest and best place ever… Now it isn't. It's just the best option available."
"Bruce and the others just want to fix this."
"Fix it? Fix it?" Conner laughed, "Trust is like a vase. Once it's broken, you can fix it. But it'll never hold water again."
"Kintsugi." Clark countered.
"What?"
"Kintsugi. It's a Japanese art. They repair something that is broken with gold or silver or platinum. Honouring the break, acknowledging its existence. But making it better and more valuable than before."
"That's pretty and all. But that's got nothing to do with this. They can't fix it. Because Tim isn't broken. There's nothing to fix. Their relationship with him? It isn't broken. Because it never existed."
"Conner…"
"Don't." He shook his head, "I always had you held up to me as this perfect person. This true Super Hero. You're human. You have flaws… I always knew they had to exist. I just didn't think they would be this big."
"I never…"
"Don't. Just don't. We'll wait until Tim is better… Not healed, just better enough… Then we're moving him. And this time, we'll make sure you can't find him. He doesn't deserve this."
"Deserve what?"
"This scrutiny. This putting of his life under a microscope. This analysis. This checking to see if he's still a hero… He will always be a hero. No matter what. You have no idea how strong he is."
"I know Bruce."
"And I know Tim. If you trust me about anything, trust me about this… Tim is not Bruce. He's a lot stronger than you realize. He doesn't deserve this. He doesn't deserve any of this! You know he wasn't even surprised that Ma and Pa broke their promise? He knew it was coming… Because he has never had an adult in his life he could count on. Not his parents. Not his housekeeper. Not Bruce. Not Dick. Not Barbara. Not Red Tornado. Not Cyborg. Not you. Not anyone. The only real family he's got is me and Bart."
"Bart and I." Clark automatically corrected.
"Doesn't matter. It's us three. Always has been. Brothers. Friends… God I don't know what we really are. But we're what he's got. And we'll be there for him. Until our last breath and beyond if we can manage it. We won't betray him. Not like everyone else… Go away Clark. And take your meaningless platitudes with you…"
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Please Review.
I write stories because I can't draw. I have all these images in my head that I cannot reproduce. So I try and describe them with words. If anyone else would like to try to translate what I have written into what they think I saw in my head, they have my permission. I only ask that I be notified of it, so that I may look and go "OOoooh!".
Many thanks to my reviewers:
Red-Hot Habanero – If it works, it works. *Grins*
Loftcat27 – Horse Trader is a negotiating tactic. First Rule: You pick the best horse in the barn and you work the deal until it bursts. That way when you go for the second best nag you get her for a song.
BatWingteenavenger – DaddyBats for the Win!
Inthenightguest – Clark's hard to write. I find that in a lot of the comics/cartoons/movies he's a little too… Good for me. A little too perfect. I had to give him some flaws. But then again, Simple doesn't mean Stupid. And Caring does leave him open to being manipulated.
Rehabilitated Sith – I think that Clark is a little blind to this method of manipulation. He wants to help people so much that he is a little oblivious to the fact that he agrees to the next thing so quickly. He thinks he's negotiating and coming to a compromise.