(FIC) Promised Skies
This is for jen_in_japan’s LJ birthday (perhaps a bit late!) Happy LJ birthday, kitten! This is based on her wonderful Earth And Sky series, set in the Absolute Power universe, where the boys are evil and were raised as brothers. Erm. I failed at the evil part, I think. I hope you enjoy my broody teenage Bruce, Jen! Thanks for Everything with capital E, you rock :)
Not betaed, so point out and I'll correct :)
Fandom: DCU
Pairing: Superman/Batman
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 3100+
Summary: Clark has just discovered flight, and Bruce is afraid he'll become an earthbound misfit, tongue tied, twisted and all.
Promised Skies
Can’t keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue tied and twisted, just an earthbound misfit,
I.
----Learning to fly, Pink Floyd
The rain poured hard over the street, heavy drops smashing against awnings and windows, disintegrating against asphalt and concrete, drumming against trash containers in the alley. It was a cacophony of city and nature entwining and fighting against each other, both yielding to each other’s strengths. A small murky stream ran along the sidewalk, taking the excess of rainwater through the city and dragging with it everything found in its path. Trash, forgotten memories, lost hopes. A rodent carcass at one point.
Batman was miserable.
Perched in a third level emergency stairs, he was drenched and cold. He tugged at his cape to close it tighter around his slender frame, and did his best to not pout.
So, this was his city. Beloved Gotham, fabric of legend, she was his Mistress, he was her Knight. What the hell were his parents thinking when they sent him patrolling in the monsoon out there, he didn’t know. Either this was punishment for being such a broody bastard to Clark lately or this was one of those things that were supposed to build character.
In Bruce’s opinion, he had enough character as it was, he didn’t need to freeze to death in the flood of the century, waiting for some poor soul to attempt a crime in his city under this weather. Bruce was sorry for whoever was desperate enough to try anything under such circumstances. It spoke of true need and desperation.
The citizens of his city knew better, though. It was a very slow night. A very, very slow night.
A very wet, cold, slow night.
Batman was very miserable.
Now, if this was punishment, -and Laevar had assured him it wasn’t, but Bruce hadn’t really believed him- it was very unjust punishment. If his parents expected him to be super nice to Fly Boy right now, well, they had another thing coming. Dear beloved Clark was too busy for him anyway, it wasn’t like he had noticed that Bruce had been giving him the cold shoulder until the horny lummox had tried to get in his pants and Bruce had decided to spend the night at the Belfry. He was having so much fun on his own the rest of the day, he could very well take care of that by himself too.
And to think it had been their first kiss that had prompted the flying. Stupid kiss. Stupid flying. Stupid Clark, too busy patrolling and training with Mekt and leaving Bruce aside, like some… some discarded toy. It had been Clark telling him he wanted him, it had been Clark pushing their boundaries, bringing them together. And now the stupid ass was cruising blue skies and laughing and having fun while Bruce was soaking wet waiting for a crime that wouldn’t happen tonight.
Stupid, stupid Clark.
The wind picked up and his cape flapped around him, a curtain of rain hitting him on the face. He sighed and managed himself to the alley’s ground. That was it, he was going to do a quick patrol and he was going to the Belfry, to hell with his parents and with Clark and with the stupid flying.
As he stepped out of the alley, a soaked figure stopped dead on its tracks when it saw him. Batman cocked his head, looking at the poster image for misery with a calculating eye. Pure breed, previously well fed but starting to feel the pangs of hunger, sad eyes, tail between his legs. Batman crouched, opening his arms to beckon the dog. The dog’s blue eyes lit up a little and he walked into the circle of his arms, nuzzling the young vigilante’s chin. Batman couldn’t help a chuckle, grateful that the street was empty; otherwise he would make for a very unthreatening sight.
“Are you lost, boy? Are you having a bad day? I know about bad days,” he said softly, not caring to mask his voice. “Would you like a dry place and some food, hmm? We can look for your home later. I’m finding myself with a lot of free time these days.”
The dog sat next to him, taking cover from the rain by his crouch, and whined unhappy. “Oh, believe me, I know,” Bruce said, picking the dog in his arms. It wasn’t a small dog -50 pounds at least, even looking a bit underfed- and his short silver grey fur felt soft even with the gloves on.
Deciding the weather was bad enough to keep even the recalcitrant criminal element that still roamed his city in their hideouts; Batman took his finding to the Belfry, feeling better than he had in days.
----
Clark hovered in front of one of the base’s windows, his bright colors in direct contrast with the overcast skies of Gotham. Bruce hadn’t gone home the night before, and their mother had told him that his brother was staying in his city for a few days, working on a secret project. Clark hadn’t had a chance to see him much lately, his schedule crammed with training lessons with his fathers and a new patrol route that included pretty much the whole globe now that he could fly. Despite the activities, he didn’t feel all that tired, just restless. Flying from one place to the other left him free to recharge under the sun, but it wasn’t the sun he was missing, but his cool refuge of shadows.
Bruce wasn’t anywhere to be seen, though. Clark waited for a little longer, knowing full well that the sensors of the Belfry had already picked his presence and that Bruce was making him wait on purpose. The minutes passed and Clark started to worry. It wasn’t like Bruce to leave the monitors unattended. He was about to break in when a sleepy figure came into view, glaring at him. Also, was that a dog?
The window opened. “What?” Bruce growled, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Hey, are you okay? I was starting to worry when you wouldn’t show up,” Clark said, climbing in. He stopped and raised an eyebrow to the growling grey dog at his feet.
“I was hoping whatever was tripping the alarms would go away,” Bruce said, his voice dripping acid. “I was asleep.”
The dog started barking angrily, leaving Clark to look from the protective dog to his moody brother. “Uhm… you have a dog,” Clark remarked. “He doesn’t like me,” he said, feeling a bit hurt.
“He’s very protective, probably thinks you’re breaking in or something,” Bruce said, pointing to the window. “Not the conventional way of entry, after all.” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose again. “Down, Ghost. Good boy,” he petted the grey mane and walked towards the womb chair, the dog following him closely and sitting by his feet.
“Where did you find him?” Clark asked, closing the window behind him. There was a storm coming.
“We… we kind of found each other, I guess. He was lost, cold and lonely. I’ve been looking for his owners.” Bruce looked away. “I guess they miss him.”
“This is the secret project mom says you are working on? No way!” Clark laughed and his mirth sparked Bruce’s anger.
“Well, what if it is? I can do whatever I want with my free time.”
Clark raised his hands in surrender, a big smile in his face. “Of course you do! Sorry, sorry. Are you calling him Grey Ghost?”
“He is a Grey Ghost. About two years old, Weimeraner, they are called silver ghosts or grey ghosts. As I said, we kind of found each other,” Bruce said with a small smile. Clark knew Bruce didn’t usually believe in coincidences, but he seemed amused by this one.
“He’s nice,” Clark offered. “Are you coming home tonight? We haven’t had much time together lately.” Clark tried to get closer to his brother, a hand extended to touch the raven hair, but a low growl stopped him from coming closer.
Bruce grinned, like he found his dog’s dislike of Clark convenient. Clark frowned, annoyed. “Well?”
“I can’t leave Ghost alone, his breed is prone to separation anxiety, and I don’t want him to wreck the Belfry.” He lowered an ungloved hand to pet the dog, which quickly quieted. “I don’t think mother would like having a dog at home.”
“So, what? You’re going to stay here forever? Train him and make him your sidekick? You have to go patrolling anyway,” Clark said sulkily.
Bruce smirked. “A bathound! What a great idea. I’m sure I’ll work out something if I can’t find his owners.”
“Why are you angry?” Clark finally blurted, tired of ignoring the pink elephant in the room.
“Me? Not at all, Clark. I was having a perfectly good evening with Ghost to keep me company. Why should I be angry? It’s not like you have been ignoring me all week, right?”
Clark knew the look in his eyes. It was a look that promised hell and little more. Had he been ignoring Bruce? He had been busy, but he hadn’t been ignoring him! “I’ve had a busy week; you can’t blame me for that.”
“Of course I don’t, Clark. I’m not angry at all.” He turned his chair towards the monitors, typing at full speed. After a minute of silence, he waved in Clark’s direction. “Please, don’t let me keep you. I know you have important matters to attend.”
Clark wanted to argue with him -and maybe slap some sense into his head, because he was being one hell of an ass- but he did have things to do. He had made time for a quick stop by his brother’s hide, hoping for some quality time. It had been time lost discussing his new dog and not-fighting. Great.
Clark glared at both dog and owner and turned to leave the room the way he had entered. He shot Bruce a last glance before leaving, only to find the dog baring his teeth at him. He hovered outside the Belfry for a second as it started raining.
Stupid Gotham. Stupid Bruce. Stupid dog.
----
“The thing about Clark, Ghost, is that he tends to get carried away,” Bruce said, continuing his conversation with the dog. It was the fourth day he slept in the Belfry, and he had to admit his efforts to find the dog’s owners hadn’t been all that spectacular. He liked Ghost. He wished he didn’t have to let him go. The dog was chewing on a toy by his side as he kept throwing a ball to the ceiling, waiting for one of the computer’s processes to finish. “I mean. I know he really wanted to fly. It’s a really cool power and all. But I also know from very good sources that he likes to have sex. And you really can’t expect your partner to be waiting for you like a forlorn fairytale princess when all you do is babble about how awesome your day without him was.”
The dog looked up to him and started panting happily. Bruce took that as a sign of agreement. “Exactly. So, okay, I miss him. But mother says we need to work like a team, that we have to be together to fulfill our destiny. Leaving with fathers all day so they can go flying and explore? It’s pretty crappy teamwork. I mean,” Bruce turned to look at the dog. “He could have taken me, right? We could have explored together. I could benefit from seeing the entire world up close. And instead he comes home after leaving me behind and expects me to put out. I say no way, no how.”
Bruce remained silent for a couple of minutes. “Am I being an ass about this, Ghost?”
Blue eyes met darker blue, holding without fear the scowling gaze of the teenager. Ghost picked up his toy and left it in Bruce’s lap, waiting for him to throw it. “You think I’m being an ass about this, don’t you? What the hell am I doing brooding here if I miss him, is that what you think?”
Bruce threw the toy to the other end of the room. “It’s not like I’m jealous of his powers. We’re different, and that’s that. I just wish he wouldn’t leave me behind. What if he doesn’t come back, you know?”
Ghost brought the toy and dropped it by his feet, waiting happily, his short tail waving from one side to the other at full speed. “Okay, now I’m just being stupid. I don’t seriously think he loves flying more than he loves me,” he whispered to himself. “That’s it, that’s the epitome of stupidity. I think I need a walk.”
Bruce walked into the apartment that hid the entrance to the Belfry, donned a sweatshirt and a wool cap and walked out of the building like he was just one of the tenants, Ghost walking beside him.
Gotham remained downcast, the grey clouds performing a slow dance in the sky. Bruce walked past the window displays of stores and restaurants, trying not to think about anything. Which of course meant he couldn’t stop thinking about Clark.
Since he had been… adopted… by his parents, Clark had been the real reason making Bruce stay. Bruce had wanted a family with all his heart, had wanted the pain to go away, had wanted… to belong, to do something worth doing. He had found all his answers in Clark. Bright, joyful, caring Clark.
Their relationship had always been special. They were close, and now that it had changed into something else, being apart was unacceptable. Clark was like the positive to his negative, an electric charge running through his veins. Clark was his lifeline, his purpose, his partner. Needing him was terrifying because he had never had to be without him before. Bruce had never felt threatened by Clark’s powers, but now… flying meant leaving. Clark was skies and clouds and stars, far away, almost unreachable. Bruce was earthbound and he had never felt more awkward and graceless, selfishly pleading for the stars not to shine from above, but to bring their light to the ground. You couldn’t ask stars to do that. You shouldn’t, even.
They belonged to the skies.
Bruce felt really lonely.
“Apollo! Apollo, you came back!”
Bruce saw Ghost run towards a little red-haired girl. She couldn’t be more than seven, and she had tears on her big green eyes. Bruce sighed, walking towards her.
“Hey, dear. Is this your dog?” He asked, crouching to be eye level with her, feeling a spark in his head. He knew her, in another world.
“Yes! Did you find him? He got lost in the rain,” she said, a pleading look in her eyes. ‘Did you take care of my baby? Can I have him back?’
“I saw the flyers you put up. I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner.” ‘I didn’t want to be alone’, he didn’t say.
A man in his late thirties ran out of the police station trying to catch up with the little girl. “Barbara! There you are. Don’t run like that, dear! It’s dangerous!”
“He found Apollo, daddy!” She said, hugging the dog’s neck. Ghost -no, Apollo- was sitting beside her, his tail waving happily.
The other man finally seemed to notice Bruce, and he extended his hand. Bruce pulled his hands out of the sweatshirt’s pockets and took it. “Thanks for bringing him here, eh-“
“Matt,” Bruce said, coming with a name on the fly and feeling a spark in the back of his brain. “Matt Malone.”
“Thank you, Matt. I’m Jim Gordon, and this is my daughter Barbara. She’s missed Apollo terribly.”
“He’s a great dog,” Bruce said, feeling the beginnings of a headache. He knew Jim, too. Another life. “I’m almost sorry to give him back, but I thought his owners would miss him.”
“Thank you, sir,” the little girl said, remembering her manners.
“We’re bound to have him breed soon, son, if you want a puppy, we can arrange that,” Jim offered.
Bruce smiled, pulling his hands back into the sweatshirt. It was getting colder.
“Thank you, Mr. Gordon. I think I would like that.”
They exchanged contact information -Bruce’s was false, but he thought it was only polite to offer it anyway, and he refused the reward, parting ways with them before they could offer to make up for returning Apollo in some other way. Bruce just wanted to go home.
He walked aimlessly through the streets of Gotham for about an hour, finally returning to the Belfry. It wasn’t home, but it was familiar, and in a way -a way that made his head hurt and caused flashes of light to spark in the back of his eyes- all of Gotham was home. He walked into the Belfry only to find Clark perched in the womb chair.
“Hey,” Bruce said, taking off the cap and feeling terribly tired.
“Hey yourself.”
“What are you doing here?” Bruce saw Clark’s eyebrow rise, and reworded himself. “Not that you’re not welcome. Just… don’t you have patrol scheduled?”
“I thought you were having a bad day,” Clark said, standing. “Thought that maybe you could use some company.”
Bruce smiled ruefully. “Ah. You were listening.”
“I’m always listening these days. It’s either that or having withdrawal symptoms.”
“Not fair, I had to deal with mine.”
“So you got a dog to replace me? Should I be… flattered?”
Bruce shrugged. “He kept me company. But he didn’t belong to me; I had to let him go.”
Clark pulled him in a tight embrace, his hot lips grazing the shell of Bruce’s ear. “I love you more than anything else,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”
“I was being a moody idiot. It’s fine,” Bruce said against the slick red fabric of the cape. “I can’t keep you down.”
“You fool,” Clark said, pushing back. “You brooding, crazy fool. You’re the only reason I can fly.”
Bruce chuckled. “I thought you could fly because of the anti-gravitons,” he joked feebly.
“Whatever. Flying I can do on my own, but you and I,” Clark paused, running a hand through disheveled hair, his eyes full of affection. “We soar.”
Bruce captured Clark’s lips, closing his eyes against the world, letting himself drown in Clark, tasting and probing, being explored and tasted in return. He let love and lust entwine, pairing their strengths with their weaknesses, knowing they were ever stronger together than apart.
“Will you come home tonight?” Clark asked, his lips touching Bruce’s as he spoke.
Bruce smiled.
Clark grinned, walking to the window to let himself out. “I’ll wait for you, then.”
“I’ll find you,” Bruce promised.
Clark was gone with a strong breeze. Bruce looked around the computers, gazing out to the skyline of Gotham, his city. And far away he could still see a streak of blue and red in the sky, his heart. Perhaps he didn’t feel so alone anymore.
Not betaed, so point out and I'll correct :)
Fandom: DCU
Pairing: Superman/Batman
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 3100+
Summary: Clark has just discovered flight, and Bruce is afraid he'll become an earthbound misfit, tongue tied, twisted and all.
Promised Skies
Can’t keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue tied and twisted, just an earthbound misfit,
I.
----Learning to fly, Pink Floyd
The rain poured hard over the street, heavy drops smashing against awnings and windows, disintegrating against asphalt and concrete, drumming against trash containers in the alley. It was a cacophony of city and nature entwining and fighting against each other, both yielding to each other’s strengths. A small murky stream ran along the sidewalk, taking the excess of rainwater through the city and dragging with it everything found in its path. Trash, forgotten memories, lost hopes. A rodent carcass at one point.
Batman was miserable.
Perched in a third level emergency stairs, he was drenched and cold. He tugged at his cape to close it tighter around his slender frame, and did his best to not pout.
So, this was his city. Beloved Gotham, fabric of legend, she was his Mistress, he was her Knight. What the hell were his parents thinking when they sent him patrolling in the monsoon out there, he didn’t know. Either this was punishment for being such a broody bastard to Clark lately or this was one of those things that were supposed to build character.
In Bruce’s opinion, he had enough character as it was, he didn’t need to freeze to death in the flood of the century, waiting for some poor soul to attempt a crime in his city under this weather. Bruce was sorry for whoever was desperate enough to try anything under such circumstances. It spoke of true need and desperation.
The citizens of his city knew better, though. It was a very slow night. A very, very slow night.
A very wet, cold, slow night.
Batman was very miserable.
Now, if this was punishment, -and Laevar had assured him it wasn’t, but Bruce hadn’t really believed him- it was very unjust punishment. If his parents expected him to be super nice to Fly Boy right now, well, they had another thing coming. Dear beloved Clark was too busy for him anyway, it wasn’t like he had noticed that Bruce had been giving him the cold shoulder until the horny lummox had tried to get in his pants and Bruce had decided to spend the night at the Belfry. He was having so much fun on his own the rest of the day, he could very well take care of that by himself too.
And to think it had been their first kiss that had prompted the flying. Stupid kiss. Stupid flying. Stupid Clark, too busy patrolling and training with Mekt and leaving Bruce aside, like some… some discarded toy. It had been Clark telling him he wanted him, it had been Clark pushing their boundaries, bringing them together. And now the stupid ass was cruising blue skies and laughing and having fun while Bruce was soaking wet waiting for a crime that wouldn’t happen tonight.
Stupid, stupid Clark.
The wind picked up and his cape flapped around him, a curtain of rain hitting him on the face. He sighed and managed himself to the alley’s ground. That was it, he was going to do a quick patrol and he was going to the Belfry, to hell with his parents and with Clark and with the stupid flying.
As he stepped out of the alley, a soaked figure stopped dead on its tracks when it saw him. Batman cocked his head, looking at the poster image for misery with a calculating eye. Pure breed, previously well fed but starting to feel the pangs of hunger, sad eyes, tail between his legs. Batman crouched, opening his arms to beckon the dog. The dog’s blue eyes lit up a little and he walked into the circle of his arms, nuzzling the young vigilante’s chin. Batman couldn’t help a chuckle, grateful that the street was empty; otherwise he would make for a very unthreatening sight.
“Are you lost, boy? Are you having a bad day? I know about bad days,” he said softly, not caring to mask his voice. “Would you like a dry place and some food, hmm? We can look for your home later. I’m finding myself with a lot of free time these days.”
The dog sat next to him, taking cover from the rain by his crouch, and whined unhappy. “Oh, believe me, I know,” Bruce said, picking the dog in his arms. It wasn’t a small dog -50 pounds at least, even looking a bit underfed- and his short silver grey fur felt soft even with the gloves on.
Deciding the weather was bad enough to keep even the recalcitrant criminal element that still roamed his city in their hideouts; Batman took his finding to the Belfry, feeling better than he had in days.
----
Clark hovered in front of one of the base’s windows, his bright colors in direct contrast with the overcast skies of Gotham. Bruce hadn’t gone home the night before, and their mother had told him that his brother was staying in his city for a few days, working on a secret project. Clark hadn’t had a chance to see him much lately, his schedule crammed with training lessons with his fathers and a new patrol route that included pretty much the whole globe now that he could fly. Despite the activities, he didn’t feel all that tired, just restless. Flying from one place to the other left him free to recharge under the sun, but it wasn’t the sun he was missing, but his cool refuge of shadows.
Bruce wasn’t anywhere to be seen, though. Clark waited for a little longer, knowing full well that the sensors of the Belfry had already picked his presence and that Bruce was making him wait on purpose. The minutes passed and Clark started to worry. It wasn’t like Bruce to leave the monitors unattended. He was about to break in when a sleepy figure came into view, glaring at him. Also, was that a dog?
The window opened. “What?” Bruce growled, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Hey, are you okay? I was starting to worry when you wouldn’t show up,” Clark said, climbing in. He stopped and raised an eyebrow to the growling grey dog at his feet.
“I was hoping whatever was tripping the alarms would go away,” Bruce said, his voice dripping acid. “I was asleep.”
The dog started barking angrily, leaving Clark to look from the protective dog to his moody brother. “Uhm… you have a dog,” Clark remarked. “He doesn’t like me,” he said, feeling a bit hurt.
“He’s very protective, probably thinks you’re breaking in or something,” Bruce said, pointing to the window. “Not the conventional way of entry, after all.” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose again. “Down, Ghost. Good boy,” he petted the grey mane and walked towards the womb chair, the dog following him closely and sitting by his feet.
“Where did you find him?” Clark asked, closing the window behind him. There was a storm coming.
“We… we kind of found each other, I guess. He was lost, cold and lonely. I’ve been looking for his owners.” Bruce looked away. “I guess they miss him.”
“This is the secret project mom says you are working on? No way!” Clark laughed and his mirth sparked Bruce’s anger.
“Well, what if it is? I can do whatever I want with my free time.”
Clark raised his hands in surrender, a big smile in his face. “Of course you do! Sorry, sorry. Are you calling him Grey Ghost?”
“He is a Grey Ghost. About two years old, Weimeraner, they are called silver ghosts or grey ghosts. As I said, we kind of found each other,” Bruce said with a small smile. Clark knew Bruce didn’t usually believe in coincidences, but he seemed amused by this one.
“He’s nice,” Clark offered. “Are you coming home tonight? We haven’t had much time together lately.” Clark tried to get closer to his brother, a hand extended to touch the raven hair, but a low growl stopped him from coming closer.
Bruce grinned, like he found his dog’s dislike of Clark convenient. Clark frowned, annoyed. “Well?”
“I can’t leave Ghost alone, his breed is prone to separation anxiety, and I don’t want him to wreck the Belfry.” He lowered an ungloved hand to pet the dog, which quickly quieted. “I don’t think mother would like having a dog at home.”
“So, what? You’re going to stay here forever? Train him and make him your sidekick? You have to go patrolling anyway,” Clark said sulkily.
Bruce smirked. “A bathound! What a great idea. I’m sure I’ll work out something if I can’t find his owners.”
“Why are you angry?” Clark finally blurted, tired of ignoring the pink elephant in the room.
“Me? Not at all, Clark. I was having a perfectly good evening with Ghost to keep me company. Why should I be angry? It’s not like you have been ignoring me all week, right?”
Clark knew the look in his eyes. It was a look that promised hell and little more. Had he been ignoring Bruce? He had been busy, but he hadn’t been ignoring him! “I’ve had a busy week; you can’t blame me for that.”
“Of course I don’t, Clark. I’m not angry at all.” He turned his chair towards the monitors, typing at full speed. After a minute of silence, he waved in Clark’s direction. “Please, don’t let me keep you. I know you have important matters to attend.”
Clark wanted to argue with him -and maybe slap some sense into his head, because he was being one hell of an ass- but he did have things to do. He had made time for a quick stop by his brother’s hide, hoping for some quality time. It had been time lost discussing his new dog and not-fighting. Great.
Clark glared at both dog and owner and turned to leave the room the way he had entered. He shot Bruce a last glance before leaving, only to find the dog baring his teeth at him. He hovered outside the Belfry for a second as it started raining.
Stupid Gotham. Stupid Bruce. Stupid dog.
----
“The thing about Clark, Ghost, is that he tends to get carried away,” Bruce said, continuing his conversation with the dog. It was the fourth day he slept in the Belfry, and he had to admit his efforts to find the dog’s owners hadn’t been all that spectacular. He liked Ghost. He wished he didn’t have to let him go. The dog was chewing on a toy by his side as he kept throwing a ball to the ceiling, waiting for one of the computer’s processes to finish. “I mean. I know he really wanted to fly. It’s a really cool power and all. But I also know from very good sources that he likes to have sex. And you really can’t expect your partner to be waiting for you like a forlorn fairytale princess when all you do is babble about how awesome your day without him was.”
The dog looked up to him and started panting happily. Bruce took that as a sign of agreement. “Exactly. So, okay, I miss him. But mother says we need to work like a team, that we have to be together to fulfill our destiny. Leaving with fathers all day so they can go flying and explore? It’s pretty crappy teamwork. I mean,” Bruce turned to look at the dog. “He could have taken me, right? We could have explored together. I could benefit from seeing the entire world up close. And instead he comes home after leaving me behind and expects me to put out. I say no way, no how.”
Bruce remained silent for a couple of minutes. “Am I being an ass about this, Ghost?”
Blue eyes met darker blue, holding without fear the scowling gaze of the teenager. Ghost picked up his toy and left it in Bruce’s lap, waiting for him to throw it. “You think I’m being an ass about this, don’t you? What the hell am I doing brooding here if I miss him, is that what you think?”
Bruce threw the toy to the other end of the room. “It’s not like I’m jealous of his powers. We’re different, and that’s that. I just wish he wouldn’t leave me behind. What if he doesn’t come back, you know?”
Ghost brought the toy and dropped it by his feet, waiting happily, his short tail waving from one side to the other at full speed. “Okay, now I’m just being stupid. I don’t seriously think he loves flying more than he loves me,” he whispered to himself. “That’s it, that’s the epitome of stupidity. I think I need a walk.”
Bruce walked into the apartment that hid the entrance to the Belfry, donned a sweatshirt and a wool cap and walked out of the building like he was just one of the tenants, Ghost walking beside him.
Gotham remained downcast, the grey clouds performing a slow dance in the sky. Bruce walked past the window displays of stores and restaurants, trying not to think about anything. Which of course meant he couldn’t stop thinking about Clark.
Since he had been… adopted… by his parents, Clark had been the real reason making Bruce stay. Bruce had wanted a family with all his heart, had wanted the pain to go away, had wanted… to belong, to do something worth doing. He had found all his answers in Clark. Bright, joyful, caring Clark.
Their relationship had always been special. They were close, and now that it had changed into something else, being apart was unacceptable. Clark was like the positive to his negative, an electric charge running through his veins. Clark was his lifeline, his purpose, his partner. Needing him was terrifying because he had never had to be without him before. Bruce had never felt threatened by Clark’s powers, but now… flying meant leaving. Clark was skies and clouds and stars, far away, almost unreachable. Bruce was earthbound and he had never felt more awkward and graceless, selfishly pleading for the stars not to shine from above, but to bring their light to the ground. You couldn’t ask stars to do that. You shouldn’t, even.
They belonged to the skies.
Bruce felt really lonely.
“Apollo! Apollo, you came back!”
Bruce saw Ghost run towards a little red-haired girl. She couldn’t be more than seven, and she had tears on her big green eyes. Bruce sighed, walking towards her.
“Hey, dear. Is this your dog?” He asked, crouching to be eye level with her, feeling a spark in his head. He knew her, in another world.
“Yes! Did you find him? He got lost in the rain,” she said, a pleading look in her eyes. ‘Did you take care of my baby? Can I have him back?’
“I saw the flyers you put up. I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner.” ‘I didn’t want to be alone’, he didn’t say.
A man in his late thirties ran out of the police station trying to catch up with the little girl. “Barbara! There you are. Don’t run like that, dear! It’s dangerous!”
“He found Apollo, daddy!” She said, hugging the dog’s neck. Ghost -no, Apollo- was sitting beside her, his tail waving happily.
The other man finally seemed to notice Bruce, and he extended his hand. Bruce pulled his hands out of the sweatshirt’s pockets and took it. “Thanks for bringing him here, eh-“
“Matt,” Bruce said, coming with a name on the fly and feeling a spark in the back of his brain. “Matt Malone.”
“Thank you, Matt. I’m Jim Gordon, and this is my daughter Barbara. She’s missed Apollo terribly.”
“He’s a great dog,” Bruce said, feeling the beginnings of a headache. He knew Jim, too. Another life. “I’m almost sorry to give him back, but I thought his owners would miss him.”
“Thank you, sir,” the little girl said, remembering her manners.
“We’re bound to have him breed soon, son, if you want a puppy, we can arrange that,” Jim offered.
Bruce smiled, pulling his hands back into the sweatshirt. It was getting colder.
“Thank you, Mr. Gordon. I think I would like that.”
They exchanged contact information -Bruce’s was false, but he thought it was only polite to offer it anyway, and he refused the reward, parting ways with them before they could offer to make up for returning Apollo in some other way. Bruce just wanted to go home.
He walked aimlessly through the streets of Gotham for about an hour, finally returning to the Belfry. It wasn’t home, but it was familiar, and in a way -a way that made his head hurt and caused flashes of light to spark in the back of his eyes- all of Gotham was home. He walked into the Belfry only to find Clark perched in the womb chair.
“Hey,” Bruce said, taking off the cap and feeling terribly tired.
“Hey yourself.”
“What are you doing here?” Bruce saw Clark’s eyebrow rise, and reworded himself. “Not that you’re not welcome. Just… don’t you have patrol scheduled?”
“I thought you were having a bad day,” Clark said, standing. “Thought that maybe you could use some company.”
Bruce smiled ruefully. “Ah. You were listening.”
“I’m always listening these days. It’s either that or having withdrawal symptoms.”
“Not fair, I had to deal with mine.”
“So you got a dog to replace me? Should I be… flattered?”
Bruce shrugged. “He kept me company. But he didn’t belong to me; I had to let him go.”
Clark pulled him in a tight embrace, his hot lips grazing the shell of Bruce’s ear. “I love you more than anything else,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”
“I was being a moody idiot. It’s fine,” Bruce said against the slick red fabric of the cape. “I can’t keep you down.”
“You fool,” Clark said, pushing back. “You brooding, crazy fool. You’re the only reason I can fly.”
Bruce chuckled. “I thought you could fly because of the anti-gravitons,” he joked feebly.
“Whatever. Flying I can do on my own, but you and I,” Clark paused, running a hand through disheveled hair, his eyes full of affection. “We soar.”
Bruce captured Clark’s lips, closing his eyes against the world, letting himself drown in Clark, tasting and probing, being explored and tasted in return. He let love and lust entwine, pairing their strengths with their weaknesses, knowing they were ever stronger together than apart.
“Will you come home tonight?” Clark asked, his lips touching Bruce’s as he spoke.
Bruce smiled.
Clark grinned, walking to the window to let himself out. “I’ll wait for you, then.”
“I’ll find you,” Bruce promised.
Clark was gone with a strong breeze. Bruce looked around the computers, gazing out to the skyline of Gotham, his city. And far away he could still see a streak of blue and red in the sky, his heart. Perhaps he didn’t feel so alone anymore.