FIC: Nine People (Plus a Few More) Who Hugged Batman When He Came Back
Title: Nine People (Plus a Few More) Who Hugged Batman When He Came Back
Pairing/Characters: Clark/Bruce, Dick, Damian, Barbara, Steph, Tim, Alfred, Cass, Kara
Rating: G
Warnings: None needed
Summary: When Bruce Wayne gets back, there's a lot of hugging to catch up on.
Word Count: 1400
Notes: For the birthday of the wonderful starsandsea ! I'm so happy to share another birthday with you, and to keep sharing all the fandom love and squee and good times! Also, apparently, sharing reunion fics! :D (there is no such thing as too much!)
There were hugs when he came back. He had expected there would be.
There were a lot of hugs.
: : :
Dick's hug was notably surreal, because they were both in the Batman costume at the time. Dick threw his arms around him and held on as though he would never let go, and Bruce put his arms around his doppleganger--so familiar, so similar, so totally different--and hugged him back.
Damian--Robin, how strange, this small and sullen Robin, his mystery child--was totally different: tentative and uncertain, a hug initiated only at Dick's urging. The boy hugged as though he had no idea how to do it. It seemed altogether possible no one had ever taught him. Bruce suspected Dick was going to teach the child much of value, he could see it in the boy's eyes, the way he looked at his Batman.
: : :
Alfred met him in the cave, as he got out of the strange new Batmobile, his two sons behind him. He had heard the news, of course, and he was as unruffled as always. "Master Bruce," he said.
Bruce stepped forward, then stopped. "I need to change," he said, then winced at how brusque it sounded. But Alfred understood, as always, and nodded gravely.
Upstairs in his room, clothing was laid out across the bed: his favorite charcoal-gray suit. He touched it lightly, seeing in his mind's eye Alfred's hands carefully arranging the clothing to be just right. Then he stripped out of the costume and put on the suit, feeling the whisper of fine cloth against his skin, letting himself move from Batman to Bruce.
There was a discreet knock at the door as he finished the last button. Alfred was in the door, looking at him.
Bruce went to him and put his arms around him.
It was only when Alfred hugged him back that Bruce felt safe enough, at last, to weep.
: : :
Steph hung back while he let Barbara embrace him fiercely, almost angrily, whispering in his ear not to be too hard on the girl. He frowned when she stayed half in the shadows. "Batgirl shouldn't hesitate," he growled, and she broke into a smile and flung herself forward into his arms.
: : :
Cass dropped down from the shadows of the Batcave without warning and grabbed him from behind in a ninja-hug, trusting him not to instinctively toss her across the room.
: : :
Kara put her arms around him as if he were a delicate piece of china that might shatter. He could feel her hands shaking on his back, tremors that spread to engulf her whole body. She let out one wild, anguished sob and then shook silently, her muscles locked and rigid with grief, holding him like a treasure snatched from the tides of death.
: : :
Tim simply walked into his arms and stood there a long, long time as Bruce held him close, his face buried against Bruce's shoulder while Bruce whispered to him.
: : :
Batman sighed and checked the League monitors: all quiet. The padded monitor chair looked inviting, but Bruce suspected if he sat down he might begin to doze, so he stood instead, pacing back and forth in front of the monitors. The low hum of the electronics was the only sound, and Bruce allowed himself to relax, just a little. He still felt...strange. Not jetlagged but something else, something deeper and more profound. Like his body was here, back in the 21st century where he belonged, but his spirit--for lack of a more scientific term--was still catching up, still lost in the endless maelstrom of time. Surely in time he would re-adjust, but for now he felt unmoored, drifting. It almost seemed like other people could sense that, somehow, and responded by hugging him, trying to bind him to the present, back to this world.
It wasn't that he minded the hugs, he thought, pacing a few steps, then back. Not at all. It's just that everyone was hugging him. J'onn's gentle, warm embrace was a joy and a blessing; Diana's warrior clasp heartened him; Wally's back-thumping enthusiasm almost managed to startle a laugh out of him. But by the time he was hugging Donna Troy and Doctor Light and Congorilla (Congorilla?), he was starting to feel distinctly hugged-out. And after what seemed like days of reunions and catching up, he still hadn't seen--
"I thought I might find you here," said a quiet voice, and his stomach did that strange familiar half-turn.
Three witty, urbane, and profound statements all seemed to jam up somewhere around his larynx and come out as a mangled growling noise: "Mmhh."
"Back on Monitor Duty" was not one of those witty statements, but it was the next thing that came out of his mouth. Bruce found himself oddly distressed at his banality.
"Yep." Clark didn't seem bothered in the least. He moved to stand beside Batman. "Mind if I join you?"
"Go ahead."
They watched in silence for a while, Bruce contemplating the strange realization that Clark was apparently going to be the only person who didn't drag him into a hug on seeing him again. He wasn't sure how he felt about this. On the one hand, it was something of a relief. On the other hand--
He adjusted one of the monitors, glaring at it.
On the other hand, brutal honesty required him to admit--to himself, if no one else--that the S-shield had been something of a mental anchor in all of his wanderings, that ripples and echoes of Clark's voice had often come to him in dreams. That when he had thought of "home," he had imagined...
You learned a lot of things about yourself at the end of time.
He glanced over at Clark, who was watching the monitors, pale electronic light flickering over his face. His eyes were fixed on one of the monitors, showing the path of various satellites around the earth, watching for meteors and other spaceborne threats. He didn't look well, Bruce thought. The idea was somehow irritating. He hadn't looked well when Bruce had glimpsed him, as if through turbulent water, at the end of time, and he looked wan and drawn now. It was only natural, of course, but it was still...unpleasant to consider. Bruce struggled for words and found none. There was nothing to say that wasn't glib, wasn't meaningless. So he said nothing and merely stood by Clark, watching the world dissolve and reform on the monitors.
It really did seem that Clark was not going to hug him, that he would be perfectly happy to merely stand there with his friend and watch the monitors together. This was good. Because Bruce had been hugged more than enough lately. It was a blessing that someone in the universe didn't require a hug from him, didn't need any confirmation of his existence, didn't need to be touched. It was--
Bruce's thoughts were interrupted when Clark suddenly reached out sideways, blindly, an awkward groping motion, and put a hand on his arm, at the crook of his elbow. Bruce could feel the warmth of his fingers through the cloth, the slight pressure, somehow shockingly intimate.
"I'm glad you're back," Clark said hoarsely.
And somehow Bruce had his arms around Clark in something that most distinctly was not a hug, something much closer to a comradely embrace. Bruce tightened his grip and felt, dizzyingly, as if his spirit were finally catching up to his body, as if he was finally entirely here, truly in this moment once again. He had needed this, he realized. Maybe Clark hadn't but oh, he had.
Clark drew in a long, shuddering breath, his cheek against the black leather of the cowl, and suddenly Bruce needed that barrier gone as well. He pulled off the cowl and Clark buried his face in his hair, breathing deeply, and the embrace was in danger of losing the "comradely" qualifier altogether: too needy, too desperate. "I'm glad you're back," Clark repeated, and this time there was a fierceness to it, and a strange triumph.
Bruce felt time itself swing back into its correct place, felt himself align with the universe once more.
It was good to be back.
Pairing/Characters: Clark/Bruce, Dick, Damian, Barbara, Steph, Tim, Alfred, Cass, Kara
Rating: G
Warnings: None needed
Summary: When Bruce Wayne gets back, there's a lot of hugging to catch up on.
Word Count: 1400
Notes: For the birthday of the wonderful starsandsea ! I'm so happy to share another birthday with you, and to keep sharing all the fandom love and squee and good times! Also, apparently, sharing reunion fics! :D (there is no such thing as too much!)
There were hugs when he came back. He had expected there would be.
There were a lot of hugs.
: : :
Dick's hug was notably surreal, because they were both in the Batman costume at the time. Dick threw his arms around him and held on as though he would never let go, and Bruce put his arms around his doppleganger--so familiar, so similar, so totally different--and hugged him back.
Damian--Robin, how strange, this small and sullen Robin, his mystery child--was totally different: tentative and uncertain, a hug initiated only at Dick's urging. The boy hugged as though he had no idea how to do it. It seemed altogether possible no one had ever taught him. Bruce suspected Dick was going to teach the child much of value, he could see it in the boy's eyes, the way he looked at his Batman.
: : :
Alfred met him in the cave, as he got out of the strange new Batmobile, his two sons behind him. He had heard the news, of course, and he was as unruffled as always. "Master Bruce," he said.
Bruce stepped forward, then stopped. "I need to change," he said, then winced at how brusque it sounded. But Alfred understood, as always, and nodded gravely.
Upstairs in his room, clothing was laid out across the bed: his favorite charcoal-gray suit. He touched it lightly, seeing in his mind's eye Alfred's hands carefully arranging the clothing to be just right. Then he stripped out of the costume and put on the suit, feeling the whisper of fine cloth against his skin, letting himself move from Batman to Bruce.
There was a discreet knock at the door as he finished the last button. Alfred was in the door, looking at him.
Bruce went to him and put his arms around him.
It was only when Alfred hugged him back that Bruce felt safe enough, at last, to weep.
: : :
Steph hung back while he let Barbara embrace him fiercely, almost angrily, whispering in his ear not to be too hard on the girl. He frowned when she stayed half in the shadows. "Batgirl shouldn't hesitate," he growled, and she broke into a smile and flung herself forward into his arms.
: : :
Cass dropped down from the shadows of the Batcave without warning and grabbed him from behind in a ninja-hug, trusting him not to instinctively toss her across the room.
: : :
Kara put her arms around him as if he were a delicate piece of china that might shatter. He could feel her hands shaking on his back, tremors that spread to engulf her whole body. She let out one wild, anguished sob and then shook silently, her muscles locked and rigid with grief, holding him like a treasure snatched from the tides of death.
: : :
Tim simply walked into his arms and stood there a long, long time as Bruce held him close, his face buried against Bruce's shoulder while Bruce whispered to him.
: : :
Batman sighed and checked the League monitors: all quiet. The padded monitor chair looked inviting, but Bruce suspected if he sat down he might begin to doze, so he stood instead, pacing back and forth in front of the monitors. The low hum of the electronics was the only sound, and Bruce allowed himself to relax, just a little. He still felt...strange. Not jetlagged but something else, something deeper and more profound. Like his body was here, back in the 21st century where he belonged, but his spirit--for lack of a more scientific term--was still catching up, still lost in the endless maelstrom of time. Surely in time he would re-adjust, but for now he felt unmoored, drifting. It almost seemed like other people could sense that, somehow, and responded by hugging him, trying to bind him to the present, back to this world.
It wasn't that he minded the hugs, he thought, pacing a few steps, then back. Not at all. It's just that everyone was hugging him. J'onn's gentle, warm embrace was a joy and a blessing; Diana's warrior clasp heartened him; Wally's back-thumping enthusiasm almost managed to startle a laugh out of him. But by the time he was hugging Donna Troy and Doctor Light and Congorilla (Congorilla?), he was starting to feel distinctly hugged-out. And after what seemed like days of reunions and catching up, he still hadn't seen--
"I thought I might find you here," said a quiet voice, and his stomach did that strange familiar half-turn.
Three witty, urbane, and profound statements all seemed to jam up somewhere around his larynx and come out as a mangled growling noise: "Mmhh."
"Back on Monitor Duty" was not one of those witty statements, but it was the next thing that came out of his mouth. Bruce found himself oddly distressed at his banality.
"Yep." Clark didn't seem bothered in the least. He moved to stand beside Batman. "Mind if I join you?"
"Go ahead."
They watched in silence for a while, Bruce contemplating the strange realization that Clark was apparently going to be the only person who didn't drag him into a hug on seeing him again. He wasn't sure how he felt about this. On the one hand, it was something of a relief. On the other hand--
He adjusted one of the monitors, glaring at it.
On the other hand, brutal honesty required him to admit--to himself, if no one else--that the S-shield had been something of a mental anchor in all of his wanderings, that ripples and echoes of Clark's voice had often come to him in dreams. That when he had thought of "home," he had imagined...
You learned a lot of things about yourself at the end of time.
He glanced over at Clark, who was watching the monitors, pale electronic light flickering over his face. His eyes were fixed on one of the monitors, showing the path of various satellites around the earth, watching for meteors and other spaceborne threats. He didn't look well, Bruce thought. The idea was somehow irritating. He hadn't looked well when Bruce had glimpsed him, as if through turbulent water, at the end of time, and he looked wan and drawn now. It was only natural, of course, but it was still...unpleasant to consider. Bruce struggled for words and found none. There was nothing to say that wasn't glib, wasn't meaningless. So he said nothing and merely stood by Clark, watching the world dissolve and reform on the monitors.
It really did seem that Clark was not going to hug him, that he would be perfectly happy to merely stand there with his friend and watch the monitors together. This was good. Because Bruce had been hugged more than enough lately. It was a blessing that someone in the universe didn't require a hug from him, didn't need any confirmation of his existence, didn't need to be touched. It was--
Bruce's thoughts were interrupted when Clark suddenly reached out sideways, blindly, an awkward groping motion, and put a hand on his arm, at the crook of his elbow. Bruce could feel the warmth of his fingers through the cloth, the slight pressure, somehow shockingly intimate.
"I'm glad you're back," Clark said hoarsely.
And somehow Bruce had his arms around Clark in something that most distinctly was not a hug, something much closer to a comradely embrace. Bruce tightened his grip and felt, dizzyingly, as if his spirit were finally catching up to his body, as if he was finally entirely here, truly in this moment once again. He had needed this, he realized. Maybe Clark hadn't but oh, he had.
Clark drew in a long, shuddering breath, his cheek against the black leather of the cowl, and suddenly Bruce needed that barrier gone as well. He pulled off the cowl and Clark buried his face in his hair, breathing deeply, and the embrace was in danger of losing the "comradely" qualifier altogether: too needy, too desperate. "I'm glad you're back," Clark repeated, and this time there was a fierceness to it, and a strange triumph.
Bruce felt time itself swing back into its correct place, felt himself align with the universe once more.
It was good to be back.