Fic: Claim #103 (4 of 4)
Title: A Year Without Batman (4 of 4)
Author: taro_twist
Claim No.: 103 for samibee
Prompt: Brucie gets kidnapped, Batman is not amused, Bruce has to balance the act. Meanwhile Clark Kent investigates the high profile kidnapping and Superman saves the day. Even though Batman could have totally handled it himself...
Word Count: 12,383
:-:
Continued...
Part Four
“By Jove, have we been killed, sir?” Alfred exclaimed. “Sir? Are you there?”
“Oh! Sorry about that. I … forgot,” Clark turned on his heat vision just enough to cast a soft pink glow about their surroundings. He could see in the dark, but of course Alfred couldn’t. He felt bad for not considering that.
“I don‘t think it worked. Your hocus-pocus, I mean,” Alfred commented as he gazed around them. They seemed to be standing in a small, underground passage.
“Actually, I think it worked a little too well,” Clark said as he scanned the area with his super-hearing. The sound was muffled, but he thought he could hear the clamoring of bats. “Instead of showing us where Bruce is, I … I think the spell took us there!”
“Oh, jolly good. I’ve always wanted to visit the lair of an evil wizard,” Alfred said. “Well, what is your plan, then?”
“Um … find Bruce and get out of here?” Clark tried to get a look at the rest of the cave system with his X-ray vision, but it didn’t work. Whether that was because of magic or lead in the walls, he didn’t know, but it was damn annoying.
“You call that a plan?” Alfred sounded appalled.
“It’s … when dealing with magic, there’s only so much I can plan for,” Clark sighed. “My powers are almost useless, and magic is so unpredictable. I … just trust me. I’ll get us all out of here.”
“Don’t tell me to trust you,” Alfred grumbled. “I already do.”
Clark smiled.
“Well, I think you’d better come with me,” the Man of Steel said after another moment. “I don’t want to leave you alone.”
“Lead the way, then, Superman.”
:-:
“You know, sir, if you ever tire of this superhero thing, you could go into the business of providing mood lighting,” Alfred mused as they rounded another corner, Clark’s heat vision coloring the rocky walls crimson.
Clark snorted, embarrassed. He involuntarily switched off his heat vision, the passageway going dark.
“Well, don’t take it personally,” Alfred said. “It was only a suggestion.”
:-:
“I believe we’ve passed this spot three times already,” Alfred observed, gesturing towards some stalactites that had grown in the shape of a goat.
“I know,” Clark sighed.
“Just checking, sir.”
:-:
“Ouch,” Clark rubbed at his hand after (unsuccessfully) trying to break through a collapsed passage.
“That’s never a good sign,” Alfred commented.
“They must have reinforced the rock here with some kind of spell after the first time I broke in,” Clark said, looking around for another way to circumvent the blockade.
“Is it just me, or do you feel like we’re rats in a maze going after a bit of cheese?” Alfred asked.
“Yeah. Sort of,” Clark agreed. He tried moving the boulders that blocked their path aside one by one, but they wouldn’t budge. “Bruce is better than cheese, though.” A pause. “I mean … he’s more important than cheese. Obviously.”
“I won’t tell him you said that.”
“Thanks.”
:-:
“Alfred, look at that,” Clark whispered. He turned his heat vision down so that the butler could see the faint golden light that glimmered in the distance. “The main cavern must be right up there.”
When Clark didn’t get a response, he turned around and saw-nothing. Nothing but empty passageway lay behind him.
“Alfred?” Clark called out, his voice echoing through the cave. “Alfred!”
Clark tried to retrace his steps at super-speed, but he could barely get up to a normal run. His super-hearing was just as useless. He couldn’t believe that he had lost Alfred. The man had been right behind him. Right behind him. How had-
Clark leaned against the cave wall and rubbed his hands over his face. He took a few deep breaths, trying to ease the tightness in his chest. He should never have involved Alfred. Never. These realizations wouldn’t do him any good now, though. He had no choice but to press forward.
:-:
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Von Rothbart picked up his full-length mirror and repositioned it so that Bruce could see into it from his cage. It was the mirror that had broken all those months ago when he had escaped, but it had since been repaired. “I did not expect to see the alien. My protection spells detected your lover-not this creature.”
Von Rothbart adjusted the mirror further, then stepped aside so that Bruce could look at it. Instead of seeing a bat in a cage staring back at him, though, Bruce found himself gazing into a small chamber that was not much bigger than Von Rothbart’s bedroom.
The room on the other side of the mirror was suffused with a soft golden light. Translucent stalactites hung from the ceiling, slender as a woman’s fingers and glittering like crystal. Superman stood in the entrance to the room, his face glistening with sweat, his uniform streaked with dirt.
Clark. Bruce wanted to call out. He forced himself to sit still, though. Forced himself to not show any reaction at the sight of his friend. As he continued to gaze into the mirror, though, he couldn’t help but jump. At the other end of the chamber, there was-
“Or could it be that your lover is this alien?” Von Rothbart asked, raising his bushy eyebrows. “I cannot see why else he would fall into my Odile’s trap.”
Bruce barely registered Von Rothbart’s words. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He was at the other end of the chamber. Him. Bruce Wayne. Shackled to the wall and in the tuxedo he’d been wearing when he was taken last year. He was looking at himself.
“Ahh. A man who is not deterred by the boundaries between species,” Von Rothbart was saying now-purring, really. “There are so many things to love about you, my pet.” He tapped on the mirror, and Bruce heard Clark’s voice rise out of it.
“Bruce, are you all right?” Clark gasped, rushing forward to unchain the doppelganger. “God, I thought I’d never find you.” Clark’s voice was shaking as he undid the other man’s restraints. “I-I’m so sorry. That I couldn’t stop him. And I-I lost Alfred. And-”
“It’s okay,” Bruce heard his double say. The other Bruce reached out and took Clark‘s hand. “I’m fine. Everything‘s fine.”
“Good,” Clark breathed. He was staring at the hand in his. “Good.” He shook his head. “We have to find Alfred, now. I don’t know if Von Rothbart took him, or if we just got separated because of all the spells we had to walk through or-”
“Shh,” the other Bruce hushed him, resting a finger against Clark’s lips. “There’s something I have to do first.”
If Bruce had been in human form, he would have laughed upon seeing his double lean forward and press its lips to Clark’s.
That’s ridiculous, he thought to himself. If he’s trying to pretend to be me, he’s definitely failing. I would never do that. I would never-
And then Clark kissed the other man back. Suddenly, Bruce felt a strange mix of desire and nausea wash over him. He felt longing. He felt … betrayed.
“I think that is enough for one day,” Von Rothbart smirked, and swept a hand across the mirror’s surface. The golden room on the other side vanished, and Bruce found himself faced with his own reflection. He could barely see what lay in front of him, though.
“I am sorry for you,” Von Rothbart continued. “I truly am. It must be sad to find that you are so … replaceable. But I promise that I will love you better than he ever did.”
Bruce didn’t hear what the magician said next. He threw himself against the bars of his cage, nearly hard enough to break a wing. Over and over and over again, until blood trickled into his eyes and Von Rothbart had to freeze him with an incantation.
:-:
“No. No.”
Clark shoved Bruce away from him with so much force that the other man went flying. He crashed into the stalactites, and they shattered with a silvery tinkling as he skidded to a stop on the far side of the room. Clark wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand, ashamed that he had given in to the temptation to kiss this mockery of his friend.
“No,” he repeated. It seemed to be the only he could say.
“What’s wrong?” the man who looked like Bruce gazed up at him from the floor, eyes wide and watering. Those weren’t Bruce’s eyes. “I thought … don’t you want this?”
Yes.
“No. No. No,“ Clark chanted. “This-this isn’t real. You aren’t Bruce. He would …” As much as he hated to say it, he had to. To remind himself of reality. “He would never want this.”
The Bruce imposter touched his fingers to the back of his head. When he pulled them away, they were wet with blood. He then raised his eyes to the ceiling as if searching for something. When the imposter lowered his eyes again, Clark realized that he wasn’t looking at Bruce anymore, but at Odile.
“You,” Clark hissed. “What have you done? What have you done with him?” He rushed towards her, but was stopped by some kind of invisible barrier. She slowly climbed to her feet, hands raised in a position of surrender.
“I’m sorry,” she gasped, out of breath. “I’m so sorry. I just thought … I thought … I know you won’t understand. But I’ve never been allowed to experience love. Not in my entire life. It weakens Papa’s magic, you see. But you-you love him so much. I just wanted to make that love mine. Is that so selfish?”
“Yes,” Clark spat. “Now tell me where he is, or so help me god I’ll bring this place crashing to the ground.”
Odile laughed weakly. “No you won‘t.” She laughed harder. “You couldn’t if you tried.”
In response, Clark hurled himself at her, only to strike her barrier again. He crumpled in a heap at her feet.
“You’re wrong, you know,” Odile said, taking off the jacket she was wearing and folding it over one arm. Bruce’s jacket. “He loves you, too. If he didn‘t, Papa would have destroyed you by now. It’s only Bruce‘s love that has protected you.”
“Don’t you dare say his name,” Clark growled. He picked himself back up off the ground. He could barely stand. He reached out for the invisible barrier that Odile had erected. Leaned against it. It was cool against his forehead, like glass. “Please take me to him,” he begged. “Please.”
Odile shifted from foot to foot. For a long while, she stared at the ground. Then, she raised her chin, lips set in a determined line. “If I do this for you, will you find me someone?”
“Find you … someone?” Clark frowned.
“To love,” Odile clarified.
“I can’t promise you that,” Clark told her. “Finding love isn’t easy. Some people spend their entire lives searching for it.”
Odile ground her teeth. “Promise, or you’ll never see your love again.” She waved a hand, and Clark found himself pinned to the ground again.
“Okay. Okay,” Clark gasped, realizing that it would be silly to refuse. It wasn’t as if she was asking for a blood sacrifice. “If you help me rescue Bruce, then I’ll … set you up on a date. And you have to send Alfred home, too. Is that a deal?”
Odile screwed her mouth up as she considered Clark’s offer. Then, she smiled, a spark in her dark eyes. “That’s two favors I’d be doing. Wouldn’t it only be fair for you to set me up on two dates, then?”
Clark groaned. “If the first guy doesn’t work out, then I’ll set you up with another one. Is that fair?”
“Who says I like guys?” Odile asked.
“But you … but you kissed … never mind,“ Clark sighed, and buried his face in the dirt.
:-:
“Pamela Isley?” Clark raised his eyebrows at Bruce.
“What?” Bruce looked up from the mound of paperwork on his desk. Returning to work after a year’s absence had left him with a lot of catching up to do.
“You got Odile a room in Arkham with Pamela Isley?”
“She said she wanted someone to love,” Bruce shrugged. “And who doesn’t love Poison Ivy?”
“What happens if she breaks out?” Clark asked, not wanting to dwell on the subject of Odile and Poison Ivy anymore. “She’s a magician-that place can’t hold her.”
“No worries, Clark,” Bruce signed one paper with a flourish and pushed it aside before grabbing another. “I found some djinn in Morocco to help me out with that-Arkham is officially magic proof. It‘ll even hold Von Rothbart, if and when we find where he‘s disappeared to.”
“Nice,” Clark nodded, impressed.
“Clark, is there something you want?” Bruce snapped, irritation flashing in his eyes. “Or were you just planning on hovering around me like a gnat for the rest of the day?”
Clark took a deep breath. “There’s something you need to know.”
“I’m waiting,” Bruce rumbled. He was filling out a form with such vigor that his pen tore through the paper. Cursing, he trashed the form and grabbed a packet from a stack of files. Clark tried not to smile. It was nice to have his friend back.
“When I ran into Odile in Von Rothbart’s cavern-at first, she … didn’t look like herself,” he finally said.
Bruce froze, pen poised above this newest piece of paper.
“She looked like you,” Clark went on. “She was … impersonating you, because … well, it doesn’t matter why. I knew it wasn’t you. I don’t know how. I just … I knew. But then she kissed me. And I knew it wasn’t you, but I still kissed her back because … because I knew that was the closest I would ever get to the real thing.”
Clark ran his fingertips along the edge of Bruce’s desk, unable to look his friend in the eye. “I’m sorry, Bruce. I’m sorry for feeling this way, but I can’t help it.” Clark sighed. “I’ll let you do your work now.”
Before Bruce could respond, Clark turned to leave. He couldn’t bear it if Bruce told him that he didn’t feel the same way.
He was at the door when he heard Bruce start to stand up. In spite of himself, he paused.
“Clark. You idiot-”
Clark winced.
“Don’t be sorry.”
Clark looked back at Bruce, who was gazing at him with an unreadable expression in his eyes.
“Don’t break my door knob, either,” Bruce said, gesturing towards Clark‘s hand.
“Oh. Oops,” Clark released the door knob to Bruce’s office, but it was too late. It had already been soundly mangled. “Sorry about that.” Clark apologized in dismay as he tried to squeeze the knob back into a vaguely spherical shape. “I’ll pay for a ... new ... one ...”
Clark trailed off as he felt Bruce’s hand on his arm, turning him so that he was now face to face with the Dark Knight.
“Clark, have you ever made a wish on a falling star?” Bruce asked.
“Um ... sure,” Clark frowned, confused. “Why?”
“I never did,” Bruce said. “Not until last year.”
“Oh. Okay. Did it come true?”
“Yes,” Bruce smiled. Clark found this to be rather suspicious. When Bruce kissed him a second later, he found it to be even more suspicious, although quite enjoyable as well.
“You’re not going to turn into a girl now, are you?” Clark asked after several breathless minutes had passed.
“Would you like that?” Bruce waggled his eyebrows.
“Nah,” Clark shook his head. He couldn’t seem to stop smiling.
“You could ask Odile for another favor,” Bruce suggested.
“Shut up,” Clark said. Then, to ensure that Bruce was effectively silenced, Clark pinned him to the door, and kissed him again.
Outside of the door, Alfred Pennyworth raised a hand to the door knob, ready to enter the office with his employer’s afternoon coffee. When he heard the commotion inside, though, he decided that maybe it was safest to bring the coffee later. As in, the next day, perhaps.
Author: taro_twist
Claim No.: 103 for samibee
Prompt: Brucie gets kidnapped, Batman is not amused, Bruce has to balance the act. Meanwhile Clark Kent investigates the high profile kidnapping and Superman saves the day. Even though Batman could have totally handled it himself...
Word Count: 12,383
:-:
Continued...
Part Four
“By Jove, have we been killed, sir?” Alfred exclaimed. “Sir? Are you there?”
“Oh! Sorry about that. I … forgot,” Clark turned on his heat vision just enough to cast a soft pink glow about their surroundings. He could see in the dark, but of course Alfred couldn’t. He felt bad for not considering that.
“I don‘t think it worked. Your hocus-pocus, I mean,” Alfred commented as he gazed around them. They seemed to be standing in a small, underground passage.
“Actually, I think it worked a little too well,” Clark said as he scanned the area with his super-hearing. The sound was muffled, but he thought he could hear the clamoring of bats. “Instead of showing us where Bruce is, I … I think the spell took us there!”
“Oh, jolly good. I’ve always wanted to visit the lair of an evil wizard,” Alfred said. “Well, what is your plan, then?”
“Um … find Bruce and get out of here?” Clark tried to get a look at the rest of the cave system with his X-ray vision, but it didn’t work. Whether that was because of magic or lead in the walls, he didn’t know, but it was damn annoying.
“You call that a plan?” Alfred sounded appalled.
“It’s … when dealing with magic, there’s only so much I can plan for,” Clark sighed. “My powers are almost useless, and magic is so unpredictable. I … just trust me. I’ll get us all out of here.”
“Don’t tell me to trust you,” Alfred grumbled. “I already do.”
Clark smiled.
“Well, I think you’d better come with me,” the Man of Steel said after another moment. “I don’t want to leave you alone.”
“Lead the way, then, Superman.”
:-:
“You know, sir, if you ever tire of this superhero thing, you could go into the business of providing mood lighting,” Alfred mused as they rounded another corner, Clark’s heat vision coloring the rocky walls crimson.
Clark snorted, embarrassed. He involuntarily switched off his heat vision, the passageway going dark.
“Well, don’t take it personally,” Alfred said. “It was only a suggestion.”
:-:
“I believe we’ve passed this spot three times already,” Alfred observed, gesturing towards some stalactites that had grown in the shape of a goat.
“I know,” Clark sighed.
“Just checking, sir.”
:-:
“Ouch,” Clark rubbed at his hand after (unsuccessfully) trying to break through a collapsed passage.
“That’s never a good sign,” Alfred commented.
“They must have reinforced the rock here with some kind of spell after the first time I broke in,” Clark said, looking around for another way to circumvent the blockade.
“Is it just me, or do you feel like we’re rats in a maze going after a bit of cheese?” Alfred asked.
“Yeah. Sort of,” Clark agreed. He tried moving the boulders that blocked their path aside one by one, but they wouldn’t budge. “Bruce is better than cheese, though.” A pause. “I mean … he’s more important than cheese. Obviously.”
“I won’t tell him you said that.”
“Thanks.”
:-:
“Alfred, look at that,” Clark whispered. He turned his heat vision down so that the butler could see the faint golden light that glimmered in the distance. “The main cavern must be right up there.”
When Clark didn’t get a response, he turned around and saw-nothing. Nothing but empty passageway lay behind him.
“Alfred?” Clark called out, his voice echoing through the cave. “Alfred!”
Clark tried to retrace his steps at super-speed, but he could barely get up to a normal run. His super-hearing was just as useless. He couldn’t believe that he had lost Alfred. The man had been right behind him. Right behind him. How had-
Clark leaned against the cave wall and rubbed his hands over his face. He took a few deep breaths, trying to ease the tightness in his chest. He should never have involved Alfred. Never. These realizations wouldn’t do him any good now, though. He had no choice but to press forward.
:-:
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Von Rothbart picked up his full-length mirror and repositioned it so that Bruce could see into it from his cage. It was the mirror that had broken all those months ago when he had escaped, but it had since been repaired. “I did not expect to see the alien. My protection spells detected your lover-not this creature.”
Von Rothbart adjusted the mirror further, then stepped aside so that Bruce could look at it. Instead of seeing a bat in a cage staring back at him, though, Bruce found himself gazing into a small chamber that was not much bigger than Von Rothbart’s bedroom.
The room on the other side of the mirror was suffused with a soft golden light. Translucent stalactites hung from the ceiling, slender as a woman’s fingers and glittering like crystal. Superman stood in the entrance to the room, his face glistening with sweat, his uniform streaked with dirt.
Clark. Bruce wanted to call out. He forced himself to sit still, though. Forced himself to not show any reaction at the sight of his friend. As he continued to gaze into the mirror, though, he couldn’t help but jump. At the other end of the chamber, there was-
“Or could it be that your lover is this alien?” Von Rothbart asked, raising his bushy eyebrows. “I cannot see why else he would fall into my Odile’s trap.”
Bruce barely registered Von Rothbart’s words. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He was at the other end of the chamber. Him. Bruce Wayne. Shackled to the wall and in the tuxedo he’d been wearing when he was taken last year. He was looking at himself.
“Ahh. A man who is not deterred by the boundaries between species,” Von Rothbart was saying now-purring, really. “There are so many things to love about you, my pet.” He tapped on the mirror, and Bruce heard Clark’s voice rise out of it.
“Bruce, are you all right?” Clark gasped, rushing forward to unchain the doppelganger. “God, I thought I’d never find you.” Clark’s voice was shaking as he undid the other man’s restraints. “I-I’m so sorry. That I couldn’t stop him. And I-I lost Alfred. And-”
“It’s okay,” Bruce heard his double say. The other Bruce reached out and took Clark‘s hand. “I’m fine. Everything‘s fine.”
“Good,” Clark breathed. He was staring at the hand in his. “Good.” He shook his head. “We have to find Alfred, now. I don’t know if Von Rothbart took him, or if we just got separated because of all the spells we had to walk through or-”
“Shh,” the other Bruce hushed him, resting a finger against Clark’s lips. “There’s something I have to do first.”
If Bruce had been in human form, he would have laughed upon seeing his double lean forward and press its lips to Clark’s.
That’s ridiculous, he thought to himself. If he’s trying to pretend to be me, he’s definitely failing. I would never do that. I would never-
And then Clark kissed the other man back. Suddenly, Bruce felt a strange mix of desire and nausea wash over him. He felt longing. He felt … betrayed.
“I think that is enough for one day,” Von Rothbart smirked, and swept a hand across the mirror’s surface. The golden room on the other side vanished, and Bruce found himself faced with his own reflection. He could barely see what lay in front of him, though.
“I am sorry for you,” Von Rothbart continued. “I truly am. It must be sad to find that you are so … replaceable. But I promise that I will love you better than he ever did.”
Bruce didn’t hear what the magician said next. He threw himself against the bars of his cage, nearly hard enough to break a wing. Over and over and over again, until blood trickled into his eyes and Von Rothbart had to freeze him with an incantation.
:-:
“No. No.”
Clark shoved Bruce away from him with so much force that the other man went flying. He crashed into the stalactites, and they shattered with a silvery tinkling as he skidded to a stop on the far side of the room. Clark wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand, ashamed that he had given in to the temptation to kiss this mockery of his friend.
“No,” he repeated. It seemed to be the only he could say.
“What’s wrong?” the man who looked like Bruce gazed up at him from the floor, eyes wide and watering. Those weren’t Bruce’s eyes. “I thought … don’t you want this?”
Yes.
“No. No. No,“ Clark chanted. “This-this isn’t real. You aren’t Bruce. He would …” As much as he hated to say it, he had to. To remind himself of reality. “He would never want this.”
The Bruce imposter touched his fingers to the back of his head. When he pulled them away, they were wet with blood. He then raised his eyes to the ceiling as if searching for something. When the imposter lowered his eyes again, Clark realized that he wasn’t looking at Bruce anymore, but at Odile.
“You,” Clark hissed. “What have you done? What have you done with him?” He rushed towards her, but was stopped by some kind of invisible barrier. She slowly climbed to her feet, hands raised in a position of surrender.
“I’m sorry,” she gasped, out of breath. “I’m so sorry. I just thought … I thought … I know you won’t understand. But I’ve never been allowed to experience love. Not in my entire life. It weakens Papa’s magic, you see. But you-you love him so much. I just wanted to make that love mine. Is that so selfish?”
“Yes,” Clark spat. “Now tell me where he is, or so help me god I’ll bring this place crashing to the ground.”
Odile laughed weakly. “No you won‘t.” She laughed harder. “You couldn’t if you tried.”
In response, Clark hurled himself at her, only to strike her barrier again. He crumpled in a heap at her feet.
“You’re wrong, you know,” Odile said, taking off the jacket she was wearing and folding it over one arm. Bruce’s jacket. “He loves you, too. If he didn‘t, Papa would have destroyed you by now. It’s only Bruce‘s love that has protected you.”
“Don’t you dare say his name,” Clark growled. He picked himself back up off the ground. He could barely stand. He reached out for the invisible barrier that Odile had erected. Leaned against it. It was cool against his forehead, like glass. “Please take me to him,” he begged. “Please.”
Odile shifted from foot to foot. For a long while, she stared at the ground. Then, she raised her chin, lips set in a determined line. “If I do this for you, will you find me someone?”
“Find you … someone?” Clark frowned.
“To love,” Odile clarified.
“I can’t promise you that,” Clark told her. “Finding love isn’t easy. Some people spend their entire lives searching for it.”
Odile ground her teeth. “Promise, or you’ll never see your love again.” She waved a hand, and Clark found himself pinned to the ground again.
“Okay. Okay,” Clark gasped, realizing that it would be silly to refuse. It wasn’t as if she was asking for a blood sacrifice. “If you help me rescue Bruce, then I’ll … set you up on a date. And you have to send Alfred home, too. Is that a deal?”
Odile screwed her mouth up as she considered Clark’s offer. Then, she smiled, a spark in her dark eyes. “That’s two favors I’d be doing. Wouldn’t it only be fair for you to set me up on two dates, then?”
Clark groaned. “If the first guy doesn’t work out, then I’ll set you up with another one. Is that fair?”
“Who says I like guys?” Odile asked.
“But you … but you kissed … never mind,“ Clark sighed, and buried his face in the dirt.
:-:
“Pamela Isley?” Clark raised his eyebrows at Bruce.
“What?” Bruce looked up from the mound of paperwork on his desk. Returning to work after a year’s absence had left him with a lot of catching up to do.
“You got Odile a room in Arkham with Pamela Isley?”
“She said she wanted someone to love,” Bruce shrugged. “And who doesn’t love Poison Ivy?”
“What happens if she breaks out?” Clark asked, not wanting to dwell on the subject of Odile and Poison Ivy anymore. “She’s a magician-that place can’t hold her.”
“No worries, Clark,” Bruce signed one paper with a flourish and pushed it aside before grabbing another. “I found some djinn in Morocco to help me out with that-Arkham is officially magic proof. It‘ll even hold Von Rothbart, if and when we find where he‘s disappeared to.”
“Nice,” Clark nodded, impressed.
“Clark, is there something you want?” Bruce snapped, irritation flashing in his eyes. “Or were you just planning on hovering around me like a gnat for the rest of the day?”
Clark took a deep breath. “There’s something you need to know.”
“I’m waiting,” Bruce rumbled. He was filling out a form with such vigor that his pen tore through the paper. Cursing, he trashed the form and grabbed a packet from a stack of files. Clark tried not to smile. It was nice to have his friend back.
“When I ran into Odile in Von Rothbart’s cavern-at first, she … didn’t look like herself,” he finally said.
Bruce froze, pen poised above this newest piece of paper.
“She looked like you,” Clark went on. “She was … impersonating you, because … well, it doesn’t matter why. I knew it wasn’t you. I don’t know how. I just … I knew. But then she kissed me. And I knew it wasn’t you, but I still kissed her back because … because I knew that was the closest I would ever get to the real thing.”
Clark ran his fingertips along the edge of Bruce’s desk, unable to look his friend in the eye. “I’m sorry, Bruce. I’m sorry for feeling this way, but I can’t help it.” Clark sighed. “I’ll let you do your work now.”
Before Bruce could respond, Clark turned to leave. He couldn’t bear it if Bruce told him that he didn’t feel the same way.
He was at the door when he heard Bruce start to stand up. In spite of himself, he paused.
“Clark. You idiot-”
Clark winced.
“Don’t be sorry.”
Clark looked back at Bruce, who was gazing at him with an unreadable expression in his eyes.
“Don’t break my door knob, either,” Bruce said, gesturing towards Clark‘s hand.
“Oh. Oops,” Clark released the door knob to Bruce’s office, but it was too late. It had already been soundly mangled. “Sorry about that.” Clark apologized in dismay as he tried to squeeze the knob back into a vaguely spherical shape. “I’ll pay for a ... new ... one ...”
Clark trailed off as he felt Bruce’s hand on his arm, turning him so that he was now face to face with the Dark Knight.
“Clark, have you ever made a wish on a falling star?” Bruce asked.
“Um ... sure,” Clark frowned, confused. “Why?”
“I never did,” Bruce said. “Not until last year.”
“Oh. Okay. Did it come true?”
“Yes,” Bruce smiled. Clark found this to be rather suspicious. When Bruce kissed him a second later, he found it to be even more suspicious, although quite enjoyable as well.
“You’re not going to turn into a girl now, are you?” Clark asked after several breathless minutes had passed.
“Would you like that?” Bruce waggled his eyebrows.
“Nah,” Clark shook his head. He couldn’t seem to stop smiling.
“You could ask Odile for another favor,” Bruce suggested.
“Shut up,” Clark said. Then, to ensure that Bruce was effectively silenced, Clark pinned him to the door, and kissed him again.
Outside of the door, Alfred Pennyworth raised a hand to the door knob, ready to enter the office with his employer’s afternoon coffee. When he heard the commotion inside, though, he decided that maybe it was safest to bring the coffee later. As in, the next day, perhaps.