FIC: The Jewel in the Lotus (8/8)
Title: The Jewel in the Lotus 8/8
Pairing/Characters: Clark/Bruce, Alfred Pennyworth, Lois Lane, Richard White, Jason Lane-White, Jim Gordon
Notes: "Music of the Spheres" is a series set in the combined universes of "Batman Begins" and "Superman Returns." Other stories and notes on the series here.
Rating: PG
Summary: Bruce Wayne throws a Fourth of July party for his friends and family.
Word Count: 1400
"I expected you to do something a little more...you know...extravagant for the Fourth of July," Lois Lane said to Bruce Wayne as she scooped two hamburgers off the grill.
Bruce looked around the small gathering on the Manor's wide and grassy front lawn. Perry White and Jason Lane-White were tossing a football while Richard and Clark talked shop despite a strict prohibition against "newspaper stuff." Leslie Thompkins and Mike and Janet Sugiyama were also deep in conversation. Lucius Fox appeared to have fallen asleep in his lawn chair, and Jimmy Olsen was trying to impress Jim Gordon with how worldly and cynical he was. Even Alfred--dressed in an incongruous set of Bermuda shorts and Hawaiian shirt--was sipping a margarita and looking as relaxed as it was possible for Alfred to look, apparently resigned to being forced off-duty. Bruce smiled.
"I just wanted something for friends and family. I think it might become a tradition."
"It's too bad Constance couldn't come," Lois said, knowing her smile was somewhat arch. "I suppose being under police investigation as an accessory to attempted murder will keep one busy." She put some ketchup on her bun, eyeing Bruce to see if the topic was making him uncomfortable, but he seemed fine. "How involved do you think she was?"
Bruce flipped over a couple of burgers. "I suspect she was just being used by Isley, fed information and ran with it. I doubt she had any idea Isley meant to kill me."
Lois looked slantwise at the billionaire. "Is it true that you agreed to pay her legal fees?" Bruce shrugged and smiled slightly, and Lois shook her head and laughed. "She isn't going to like you more for it, you know. Some people don't change."
"I didn't do it to make her like me," Bruce said. "I did it because it was the right thing to do." An enigmatic glint in those deep blue eyes. "And off the record, of course--" Lois held up her hands and laughed, and he continued, "Her opinions don't matter. I can't change minds like hers. I'd rather focus on the approval of the people who are important to me, whose opinions I care about. My real family." He looked over her shoulder and his face lit up in a smile that told Lois that Clark must be drawing near. She turned to see Clark and her husband approaching them.
"Here for a hamburger?" she called to Richard, who grinned and grabbed one from her plate.
"--so then he was like, 'I'll do it if it'll make you happy, Dad,' and he just looked so wretched I couldn't stand it," Richard said to Clark, clearly continuing a conversation they'd been having.
"Oh, are you still feeling bad about the piano lessons?" Lois said. "Richard's a little upset that Jason wants to join Cub Scouts instead of continuing his piano lessons," she explained to Bruce.
"I don't care that much," Richard said sheepishly, "But we did spend a lot of money on piano lessons and then he just stopped playing. But when I mentioned that to him he gave me this tragic look and I felt like the worst dad in the world." He sighed gustily around a mouthful of hamburger.
Clark looked sympathetic. "It's natural. Sons hate to disappoint their fathers. I've had...reason to remember lately that my father might not exactly have approved of my life."
Bruce smiled slightly. "You know, a very wise man told me once that no matter what we do, we can't always please our parents. That all we can do is live our lives as fully as we can." Clark smiled slightly and Bruce reached out and reeled him closer, putting an arm around him.
"Indeed, sir. Such a wise man surely deserves a paid vacation, I think. Or at least a fresh margarita." Alfred lifted his empty glass to Bruce, one eyebrow raised meaningfully, and Bruce barked a laugh and took it from him, returning soon with a perfectly-made drink.
Jason was running circles around an out-of-breath Perry; he whooped as the first fireflies began to appear, glowing and fading in the grass of the lawn. He took off across the grass full-tilt, charging after first one light and then the next. The stars were coming out in the sky above, a mirror for the dancing lights near the earth.
"I'm sorry the rest of your family was out of town, Lieutenant," Bruce said to Jim Gordon as he drew nearer. "I thought your daughter might get along with Jason. She's only a couple of years older than he is."
Jim snorted. "Junior? She'll have nothing to do with boys. She loves her computer much more." His grin was slightly sheepish. "This isn't exactly a tragic development for my wife and me."
Lois laughed. "I hear you. I'm dreading the day Jason discovers girls." Her son came pelting up with his hands cupped into a fist in front of him; light leaked between his fingers and then faded.
"Dad, Mom, look!" He opened his hand and the little beetle rested in his palm for a moment, then glowed brightly and lifted from his hand into the sky again. "Isn't that awesome?"
Lois watched the little light drifting away, waxing and waning, a tiny star. "It's awesome, honey," she said.
She turned to Bruce to thank him again for having them, but neither Bruce nor Clark were anywhere to be found.
: : :
In the shade of the huge beech on the south side of the house, Bruce drew Clark into his arms. "Almost time for the grand finale," he said.
Clark nuzzled his lover's hair. "I haven't gotten the chance to talk to you alone all day. You heard the news from Indonesia?"
"Mm," Bruce said indistinctly, his head flung back. "Yes. Interesting." Lavender Lee and the driver had vanished from the jail cell they'd been held in, leaving behind nothing but an extremely furious Pamela Isley.
"If we can extradite Isley, she might be able to tell us who she was working for, who gave her the funds and hired her."
Bruce's shrug wasn't brusque enough to risk breaking Clark's hold. "I doubt she knows, or they never would have left her behind. But I have my suspicions. Al-Ghul may be dead, but the League of Shadows lives on. It's the kind of cause they might well have championed. And they almost succeeded." He kissed Clark lightly. "Thank you."
Clark laughed, a laugh touched just slightly with bitterness. "You said that before, back in Sumatra. I didn't do anything worth being thanked for. I was useless. I just stood there."
Another kiss, light as a breeze. "You were there. That's all I ever really need, Clark. For you to be there for me, believing in me, loving me."
"I can do that." Clark's eyes were almost violet-blue in the dusk. "For as long as you need me."
"How about forever?"
He had meant the words flippantly, but Clark seemed to consider them seriously. "If you want," he said.
Bruce's pager beeped once. "That's the sign," he said.
"Sign?"
"The fireworks are about to begin."
"Our own private fireworks show?" Clark's voice was amused as he settled his back against the bark of the beech tree, keeping his arms wrapped about Bruce, both of them looking together out over the lawn.
"I felt like celebrating," Bruce said.
Clark made a small noise that Bruce could hear rumbling in his chest. "I wish you could have brought back one of the lotuses with you."
"I didn't need to," Bruce said as whistle pierced the air, followed by a bang. A spray of pure white light bloomed open in the sky, followed by another to match. A fusillade of tiny explosions heralded a silvery cascade of radiance, punctuated by bursts of incandescent light. Arcs of brilliance against the stars, yearning upward into the night, illuminating the shadows with splendor.
Across the lawn Bruce could hear the exclamations of his friends and family as the fireworks continued, silver and pearl and ivory. "Beautiful," Clark murmured at his ear.
Bruce watched another blossom of luminescence unfold its brilliant petals, felt the light painting his face with glory. "It was always right here," he whispered, knowing Clark could hear him over the crackle of fireworks. "Always. The jewel in the lotus."
Pairing/Characters: Clark/Bruce, Alfred Pennyworth, Lois Lane, Richard White, Jason Lane-White, Jim Gordon
Notes: "Music of the Spheres" is a series set in the combined universes of "Batman Begins" and "Superman Returns." Other stories and notes on the series here.
Rating: PG
Summary: Bruce Wayne throws a Fourth of July party for his friends and family.
Word Count: 1400
"I expected you to do something a little more...you know...extravagant for the Fourth of July," Lois Lane said to Bruce Wayne as she scooped two hamburgers off the grill.
Bruce looked around the small gathering on the Manor's wide and grassy front lawn. Perry White and Jason Lane-White were tossing a football while Richard and Clark talked shop despite a strict prohibition against "newspaper stuff." Leslie Thompkins and Mike and Janet Sugiyama were also deep in conversation. Lucius Fox appeared to have fallen asleep in his lawn chair, and Jimmy Olsen was trying to impress Jim Gordon with how worldly and cynical he was. Even Alfred--dressed in an incongruous set of Bermuda shorts and Hawaiian shirt--was sipping a margarita and looking as relaxed as it was possible for Alfred to look, apparently resigned to being forced off-duty. Bruce smiled.
"I just wanted something for friends and family. I think it might become a tradition."
"It's too bad Constance couldn't come," Lois said, knowing her smile was somewhat arch. "I suppose being under police investigation as an accessory to attempted murder will keep one busy." She put some ketchup on her bun, eyeing Bruce to see if the topic was making him uncomfortable, but he seemed fine. "How involved do you think she was?"
Bruce flipped over a couple of burgers. "I suspect she was just being used by Isley, fed information and ran with it. I doubt she had any idea Isley meant to kill me."
Lois looked slantwise at the billionaire. "Is it true that you agreed to pay her legal fees?" Bruce shrugged and smiled slightly, and Lois shook her head and laughed. "She isn't going to like you more for it, you know. Some people don't change."
"I didn't do it to make her like me," Bruce said. "I did it because it was the right thing to do." An enigmatic glint in those deep blue eyes. "And off the record, of course--" Lois held up her hands and laughed, and he continued, "Her opinions don't matter. I can't change minds like hers. I'd rather focus on the approval of the people who are important to me, whose opinions I care about. My real family." He looked over her shoulder and his face lit up in a smile that told Lois that Clark must be drawing near. She turned to see Clark and her husband approaching them.
"Here for a hamburger?" she called to Richard, who grinned and grabbed one from her plate.
"--so then he was like, 'I'll do it if it'll make you happy, Dad,' and he just looked so wretched I couldn't stand it," Richard said to Clark, clearly continuing a conversation they'd been having.
"Oh, are you still feeling bad about the piano lessons?" Lois said. "Richard's a little upset that Jason wants to join Cub Scouts instead of continuing his piano lessons," she explained to Bruce.
"I don't care that much," Richard said sheepishly, "But we did spend a lot of money on piano lessons and then he just stopped playing. But when I mentioned that to him he gave me this tragic look and I felt like the worst dad in the world." He sighed gustily around a mouthful of hamburger.
Clark looked sympathetic. "It's natural. Sons hate to disappoint their fathers. I've had...reason to remember lately that my father might not exactly have approved of my life."
Bruce smiled slightly. "You know, a very wise man told me once that no matter what we do, we can't always please our parents. That all we can do is live our lives as fully as we can." Clark smiled slightly and Bruce reached out and reeled him closer, putting an arm around him.
"Indeed, sir. Such a wise man surely deserves a paid vacation, I think. Or at least a fresh margarita." Alfred lifted his empty glass to Bruce, one eyebrow raised meaningfully, and Bruce barked a laugh and took it from him, returning soon with a perfectly-made drink.
Jason was running circles around an out-of-breath Perry; he whooped as the first fireflies began to appear, glowing and fading in the grass of the lawn. He took off across the grass full-tilt, charging after first one light and then the next. The stars were coming out in the sky above, a mirror for the dancing lights near the earth.
"I'm sorry the rest of your family was out of town, Lieutenant," Bruce said to Jim Gordon as he drew nearer. "I thought your daughter might get along with Jason. She's only a couple of years older than he is."
Jim snorted. "Junior? She'll have nothing to do with boys. She loves her computer much more." His grin was slightly sheepish. "This isn't exactly a tragic development for my wife and me."
Lois laughed. "I hear you. I'm dreading the day Jason discovers girls." Her son came pelting up with his hands cupped into a fist in front of him; light leaked between his fingers and then faded.
"Dad, Mom, look!" He opened his hand and the little beetle rested in his palm for a moment, then glowed brightly and lifted from his hand into the sky again. "Isn't that awesome?"
Lois watched the little light drifting away, waxing and waning, a tiny star. "It's awesome, honey," she said.
She turned to Bruce to thank him again for having them, but neither Bruce nor Clark were anywhere to be found.
: : :
In the shade of the huge beech on the south side of the house, Bruce drew Clark into his arms. "Almost time for the grand finale," he said.
Clark nuzzled his lover's hair. "I haven't gotten the chance to talk to you alone all day. You heard the news from Indonesia?"
"Mm," Bruce said indistinctly, his head flung back. "Yes. Interesting." Lavender Lee and the driver had vanished from the jail cell they'd been held in, leaving behind nothing but an extremely furious Pamela Isley.
"If we can extradite Isley, she might be able to tell us who she was working for, who gave her the funds and hired her."
Bruce's shrug wasn't brusque enough to risk breaking Clark's hold. "I doubt she knows, or they never would have left her behind. But I have my suspicions. Al-Ghul may be dead, but the League of Shadows lives on. It's the kind of cause they might well have championed. And they almost succeeded." He kissed Clark lightly. "Thank you."
Clark laughed, a laugh touched just slightly with bitterness. "You said that before, back in Sumatra. I didn't do anything worth being thanked for. I was useless. I just stood there."
Another kiss, light as a breeze. "You were there. That's all I ever really need, Clark. For you to be there for me, believing in me, loving me."
"I can do that." Clark's eyes were almost violet-blue in the dusk. "For as long as you need me."
"How about forever?"
He had meant the words flippantly, but Clark seemed to consider them seriously. "If you want," he said.
Bruce's pager beeped once. "That's the sign," he said.
"Sign?"
"The fireworks are about to begin."
"Our own private fireworks show?" Clark's voice was amused as he settled his back against the bark of the beech tree, keeping his arms wrapped about Bruce, both of them looking together out over the lawn.
"I felt like celebrating," Bruce said.
Clark made a small noise that Bruce could hear rumbling in his chest. "I wish you could have brought back one of the lotuses with you."
"I didn't need to," Bruce said as whistle pierced the air, followed by a bang. A spray of pure white light bloomed open in the sky, followed by another to match. A fusillade of tiny explosions heralded a silvery cascade of radiance, punctuated by bursts of incandescent light. Arcs of brilliance against the stars, yearning upward into the night, illuminating the shadows with splendor.
Across the lawn Bruce could hear the exclamations of his friends and family as the fireworks continued, silver and pearl and ivory. "Beautiful," Clark murmured at his ear.
Bruce watched another blossom of luminescence unfold its brilliant petals, felt the light painting his face with glory. "It was always right here," he whispered, knowing Clark could hear him over the crackle of fireworks. "Always. The jewel in the lotus."