FIC: Looking Outward Together [DC/Pacific Rim Fusion]

[mithen]

Title: Looking Outward Together
Pairing/Characters: Clark/Bruce, Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon, Maggie Sawyer
Rating: PG-13
Warnings/Spoilers: None
Fandom: DC Animated Universe/Pacific Rim
Summary: Jaeger pilots are the only hope for the Earth--but Superman and Batman can't seem to enter the Drift together despite all their efforts.
Word Count:

Comments

[starsandsea]

"Well I would." But Batman was stripping off his outer jumpsuit with sharp, economical motions; only someone who knew him very well would have noticed that his hands were trembling--with fury and perhaps with something else.

Superman noticed.

*pets them both* I love the little detail of him missing their capes, too!

"There is no one else." Batman whirled at the door to his quarters. "I'm not letting anyone else into my head."

*pets Bruce gently*

The wave had washed over him and dragged him into a darkness from which he had never truly emerged.

Oh, Clark! *hugs him gently*

"You and Kate are doing great."

Eeee, Maggie/Kate! :D

when a headstrong Robin had tried to pilot a jaeger to defend Vancouver and was joined by an equally headstrong hacker from Gotham to become the first jaeger team to Drift together, the final pieces fell into place.

Ahhh, Dick and Babs! *hearts them*

Batman is going to be furious, Superman thought as he felt the jaws close like a vise around him, and then the thought was crushed into blackness.

Meep!

And they fell into the Drift together as if falling into each other's arms, as natural and as easy and inevitable.

Eeee! I love that they can enter the drift as Bruce and Clark, but not as Batman and Superman, that's just so perfect! :)

The memory collapses and they are face-to-face in the Drift, and Bruce's expression is as closed and wary as always, yet Clark can see everything there: the pain and the protectiveness and the love. You would not give up. Bruce's mouth doesn't move, his voice is in Clark's blood and his bones and it sings there. I couldn't let you keep fighting, but I couldn't bear to let you see...this.

And I didn't trust you, Clark thinks. I couldn't accept that I was only half of a whole, that I couldn't fight alone, that I needed someone to be complete.

The Drift around them darkens, swirling with shadows of some strong emotion as Bruce looks at him. And now you accept that you need someone.

I don't need someone, Clark thinks. I need you.

They look at each other for what seems an eternity, and the shadows around them turn dappled, shot through with light. They don't need to speak, they don't need to touch.

They need nothing at all but that moment.

And then the corner of Bruce's mouth twitches, and Clark's mind registers that as a laugh of sheer and untrammeled joy. Let's show them what we can do together, then.

They turn as one to look forward, and Apogee Shadow leaps to life in response. Her hands come together in a sharp clap of delight that shakes the Shatterdome, and Clark is surprised to see that it has only been a few seconds since they entered the Drift, since the world changed and he became whole.

Barbara opens the blast doors and they stride out into the morning sun, sure and true together.

Okay, that is a SUPER long quote, but it was all so perfect and ahhhhhhh! *flails*

This was awesome! I haven't seen PR yet, so I admit that I'm probably missing stuff, but I so love this idea... Thank you for sharing this story! :D

[mithen]

*pets them both* I love the little detail of him missing their capes, too!

I love the Pacific Rim suits, but they definitely don't have capes, and I know Clark would miss his!

It was a lot of fun to think about which couples might be able to Drift together in this world--technically Kate shouldn't be here, as it's animated, but...she insisted. *grin*

I love that they can enter the drift as Bruce and Clark, but not as Batman and Superman

I could definitely see how they'd try to keep their identities secret because it's all so public, and how that might hinder their ability to be really authentic together...

You're probably not missing too much, to be honest! Sadly for PR, I kind of stripped anything distinctive from it--it was a weird challenge just because it was SO CLOSE to something that might actually happen in the DCU, which made it oddly hard to write! But it was fun, too, and I SO wanted to write them in the Drift together...