Fic: Till Sunbeams Find You

[jij]

Title: Till Sunbeams Find You
Characters/Pairings: Clark/Bruce
Rating: PG-13
Continuity:  DCAU
Summary: Reporter Clark Kent is plagued by a dream that's he's Superman--but that's impossible. 
Word count: 4500

Clark jerked awake, his heart pounding a vicious trip hammer against his ribs, his strangled cry still echoing in his ears.  He stared wildly

Comments

[twinsarein]

Oh wow! That was amazing. You had me guessing right up to the reveal. Wondering if it was a dream, real, or something else. Very poignant and heartfelt. The poor heroes, so many burdens. Hopefully they can make life a little easier for each other now.

[jij]

You had me guessing right up to the reveal. Wondering if it was a dream, real, or something else.

*grin* Thank you! I wasn't sure how many people would know the episode it was taken from (one of my favorites, it's basically this story from Bruce's POV, without Clark) but I decided to play it safe and put it in the note at the end rather than the beginning.

The poor heroes, so many burdens.

*sniffles* I don't usually like to dwell on it a lot, because it makes me too sad, but sometimes you can't help but think they wish they could just chuck it all...it's part of the reason I love writing romances about them, because it's good to imagine they could find someone to share the burden with a bit.

[anthraciteowl]

This was wonderful. Just wonderful. It takes a lot of will, to break out of a perfect dream.

As always, I admire your characterization. Clark seemed particularly real to me, here.

[jij]

It takes a lot of will, to break out of a perfect dream.

That was always one of the things that impressed me the most about the original episode from B:TAS, that he insisted on getting out when it would have been so tempting to stay in. He was really pissed off to even be given the option, lol...

I'm glad you liked my Clark! I don't often dwell on the pressures and difficulties he'd feel as Superman, but that's usually because I think he doesn't often let himself dwell on them, so it was interesting (if painful) to imagine a world where he could be free of them.

Thanks so much for the comment!

[evo_spider]

The beginning was like flying into a blue sky because you think you're a bird. The way Clark easily accepts his perfect reality and just exists with Bruce, the description of what it could be like to be with him, the ardent first meeting where they finally saw each other, it was all wonderful to imagine. As a reader I purposely let myself pretend with the characters that they were just Clark and Bruce, all the while knowing that somehow the truth of who they are would reveal itself

[jij]

As a reader I purposely let myself pretend with the characters that they were just Clark and Bruce, all the while knowing that somehow the truth of who they are would reveal itself.

I'm rally glad that worked! I enjoyed writing that giddy feeling of finally having what you want very much, so I'm glad it came through. :)

I like that you didn't make the revelation some overly dramatic affair, but into a quiet walk to the inevitable. The fact that both realize the world they're in isn't real and fight to make it right was an interesting touch. I'm glad it wasn't drawn out.

I have to give a lot of credit on the pacing to the original television show, actually! It's a nearly perfect episode and moves along with a nice sense of inevitability. It just...lacked Clark. *grin* And was a heck of a lot sadder and bleaker than this story because of it...

I find myself enjoying a Luthor and Tetch villain pair up because it would be psychologically abrasive on the two.The ultimate pragmatist and the hopeless dreamer! Ack, they'd want to

[jij]

From the slowly building realisation of love, to the suspicion that crept up slowly, to the knowledge that it was all dream.

Yay! The timing was based a lot on the episode, but it was a challenge to make it move forward smoothly with both of them in the story, so I'm glad it worked!

The confrontation between them and Superman and Batman was scary, and slightly creepy, with exactly the right tone.

It creeped me out too, actually. Clark and Bruce would be at such a disadvantage, and a menacingly-polite Batman and Superman is just...*shudders*

Thanks so much for the comment!

[ladyivy]

That was a really cool story.

I haven't seen much of the animated series so I am not familiar with ep you base it off of, but I liked what you did with it regardless.

Thanks for sharing!

[jij]

The animated series version is pretty much exactly what happens to Bruce that we didn't see--he wakes up to find no Batcave, his parents alive, and Batman patrolling the streets without him. Just when he finally accepts it, he sits down to read a newspaper...and can't. He confronts Batman and throws himself from a cathedral tower to wake up. The ending is really sad, though, because he doesn't have a Clark to comfort him...so I wanted to fix that, lol. It was fun to write that way!