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Something was off.
He couldn't quite put his finger on it but something was off about Batman. The weekly Justice League meeting was in full swing around him, but Clark kept staring at Batman while he should have been listening to Diana. Then it was Batman's turn, and he stood up to take over speaking, he felt a little less bad about staring at the other hero now at least.
It took Clark the rest of the meeting but he finally managed to put his finger on it.
His heartbeat. Batman's heartbeat was off and not because of stress, or for any other physiological reason. Batman had the most consistent and even heartbeat he had ever heard. Slow and steady in even the most high stress, high adrenaline situations. The heartbeat was still slow and steady, but the rhythm was not quite right.
Over the years Clark had ended up committing the other man's heartbeat to memory. He didn't want to seem like a huge creep, but he cared about B's well being and wanted to be able to at least keep an ear on him. Rao knows Batman wouldn't actually let Clark keep an eye on him.
Whoever this was he was doing a great job of impersonating Batman. Every mannerism was spot on, even the little unconscious habits. Hell even the cup of coffee was exactly the way Batman always had his. This person had clearly made a study of Batman. That in and of itself was worrying. If someone managed to learn all the mannerisms of Mr. Paranoia himself without being caught, that meant they were a threat. Honestly, if it weren't for his heightened senses he probably would have been fooled too.
Whoever was impersonating Batman also seemed to know enough about the goings on of the Justice League to be able to basically run this meeting and make it seem like nothing was amiss. This could be dangerous, he needed to play it cool so that he didn't let on that he knew. And where was Bats in all of this? Clark tried to stop himself from running through every worst case scenario his mind could come up with.
He needed to do something.
Once the meeting ended, Clark busied himself tidying up, pushing chairs back in, picking up the notes that Flash had left on the table after he sped away. He watched as the others trailed out of the meeting room, oddly hoping that the fraud continued his spot on Batman impersonation and be one of the last one out the door. Clark lingered long enough that he was the last person in there and to see the Batman impersonator take off down the hall towards the zeta tubes. Now was his chance.
Using his super speed Clark caught up to the fake Batman and slammed him against the wall. Still only using a fraction of his full power, because he didn't want to hurt the man, yet. As far as he could tell this person was just a normal human, and his full power was a lot even for an enhanced person.
“Who are you and what have you done with Batman?” Clark gritted out, eyes turning red barely retraining himself from heat visioning him into oblivion right now.
“Whoa, whoa Big Blue!” the nickname sounded odd with the modulated voice coming from the Batsuit.
“Where is he!?” Clark all but growled.
“He's fine... well mostly. Assuming he actually learns to listen for once in his damn life.” The man said nonchalantly, shrugging as much as he could while still being shoved against the wall by Superman.
“He's sick, but don't you worry about it, the momma birds are on it and he'll be back before you know it,” somehow sounding sunny with a voice modulated to sound deep and gruff.
Clark's grip loosens a little. Still not sure if he should believe this imposter, but if it was a lie it was such an odd one to go with. He then hears the tell tale chirp of Batman's comm coming from his cowl.
“Do you mind? I should probably get this.” the not-Batman says as he raises his hand slowly, clearly telegraphing his movement, to answer the comm.
Clark listens in, and because he's still skeptical he doesn't feel bad about eavesdropping.
“Damnit Dickhead are you almost done? I can only stall him from barreling off to the Watchtower for so long.” Clark overhears, and fainter in the background he hears someone shout “Father sit down you are ill!”
“Sorry Hood, I got a little caught up dealing with something. Tell B to cool it, no one suspected a thing. I'll be home soon.” The man lies to whoever is on the other side of the comm, and then closes the channel.
“I assume you heard that?” Clearly whoever this is knows the extent his abilities. Clark nods, still staring at the cowl. Wishing, not for the first time he could see behind the cowl. Not that he would actually look, under normal circumstances. He wouldn't betray Batman's trust like that, but in his weaker moments he could admit, even if only to himself, that he wanted to. He wanted to know who was behind the mask.
“So like I said, B is sick, and also stubborn but I think you know that. He asked me to fill in for him, and by asked, I mean we basically had to tie him down to make him accept the fact that he was too sick to go,” the man in front of him explained.
Clark paid special attention to what his senses were telling him. Even pressed up against a wall by the Man of Steel, his heartbeat hadn't changed at all. There were no signs of stress or lies coming from man in his grip. He was willing to admit this guy was way too calm about having been caught impersonating Batman.
“And who exactly are you to step into his shoes?” Clark asked skeptically.
“I'm family, don't worry about it,” the man waves it off as if it were nothing. The comm in his mask chirped again. “Okay, I really should be going now. I promise B will be back for the next meeting.”
Somehow Clark's grip must have loosened because the man then slipped out of his hold and disappeared through the zeta tube. Clark wasn't really sure how he had managed that. It was slick enough that it did kind of make him think that, whoever he was, he did actually work with the Bat.
~
The week between official Justice League meetings seemed to drag on forever. Clark kept second guessing himself, thinking that maybe he should have detained the sham Batman, or announced it during the meeting itself, or done something other than let him slip away.
He hadn't heard a word from Batman the entire week, not that that was unusual. Batman didn't seem to communicate anything unless he absolutely had to. Clark could also imagine that if he was actually sick the other man would play it very close to the chest, refusing to admit any kind of weakness even to his allies. Hell Clark could remember a couple of occasions where Batman had attempted to drastically downplay his own injuries.
But all of that didn't change the fact that Clark was worried. He cared about the man, more than the other would probably ever let him express.
Finally their next Justice League meeting rolled around, and Batman was, well, Batman. It was him, it was the heartbeat that Clark recognized. The Batman imposter hadn't lied, it was just like had said, Batman was back. Clark was staring again, but this time because he was confused.
Batman was steadfastly ignoring his staring, as if nothing was wrong. As if nothing had been amiss and he had actually been here himself last week.
After the meeting when it was just the two of them left, Batman looked at Clark, “Kal, can we talk?”
“Of course,” Clark answered, wondering if he was finally going to get his answers.
“Not here,” Batman said as he left. He clearly expected Clark to follow along without question, which he did.
Not really sure where Batman had in mind for this conversation, Clark trailed after him through the halls of their base like a puppy. He only realized where they were going just before they got there. The zeta tubes. Batman keyed in his private code that lead directly to the Batcave.
Clark opened his mouth to protest, knowing how private the man was. But also desperately wanting what he was apparently being offered.
“Please Kal. I've been debating doing this for a while, and after last week you deserve a real explanation. I know you caught on to our ploy,” Batman stepped aside gesturing for Superman to go ahead.
Clark was pretty sure he was dreaming, never in his life did he think he would get an invite into Batman's sanctuary like this. He wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth and took a hesitant step towards the zeta tube. He looked back a Batman before taking the last step that would lead him to the cave. Batman followed right after.
The two of them stepped through to the Batcave, Clark stopping to look around. It was a lot bigger than he had expected it to be, it was bigger than his parent's house, and he had a feeling there was more he wasn't seeing. He was also somehow both surprised and not that it was an actual cave. Full of high tech gear, vehicles and more.
Batman walked past him to sit in front of his massive bank of computers.
“I'm sorry about last week. As you were informed, even though you weren't supposed to be, I was ill,” Batman said stiffly. “How did you figure it out?”
He was glaring at Clark. He may not have been able to see through the cowl but Clark could tell. Afterall he had a lot of experience being on the receiving end of a Bat-glare. Batman was a perfectionist, and if he had a hand in this whole act, he was definitely frustrated that someone had seen through it. In fact he was probably already work-shopping ideas on how to make it flawless for next time.
Clark nervously ran his hand through his hair and looked down at his feet. He was a little embarrassed that he was going to have to admit it out loud, but he'd been caught.
“Your heartbeat,” he said quietly, still looking down. “It wasn't your heartbeat that I heard.”
Before either of them got a chance to say anything else they were interrupted.
“INTRUDER! Intruder in the cave! B raise the alarms!” a younger man in a red helmet shouted as he entered calmly from over by the parked cars.
There were, in fact, several more people entering the cave. Taking another quick look around Clark realized that there were subtle traces of others littered throughout the cave. A broken bo staff, something he had never seen Batman use. Boots that were far too small for the other man. Coffee that smelled far sweeter than the brooding man would ever drink, and so much more. He would wonder how he hadn't noticed, but Clark was pretty sure it was because this whole situation was just so surreal.
“Hood, cut it out. You knew Big Blue was coming by at some point,” said another one, dressed in a fitted black suit with a stylized blue bird on it, all while smacking the other man over the helmet.
The nickname caught Clark's attention, the fake Batman had called him that. He was about to say something, but Batman beat him to the punch.
“Boys please.” Batman almost sighed. Then he turned to Clark and said, “You've met Nightwing already. That's Red Hood. My two oldest.”
“Wait. Oldest-” Clark was interrupted by the appearance of two more young men dressed in costume, entering behind Nightwing.
“Father, Red Robin is impeding my-”
“We have a guest, can we please shelve the arguments for the moment,” Batman interrupted his son, apparently.
“A guest to whom you have not yet offered a refreshment. Did I teach you no manners?” a posh British accent came from the other side of the cave.
Clark turned to see an older man, dressed in a smart looking suit, coming down a staircase carrying a tray of tea.
“Could I offer you some tea Master Kal? I'm afraid we don't have any biscuits at the moment. It appears the pantry was raided last night,” the British man offered. Placing the tray on a nearby workbench, pushing aside some miscellaneous electronic components.
All of this was a little overwhelming. Batman has kids, a lot of them, and a butler or something, apparently. All in all Clark wasn't really sure what to make of this evening. He would have ever guessed any of this. He had learned so much in such a short span of time and not a single part of it made a lick of sense yet.
Clark turned to look at Batman, if only for some clarification, and – Batman was pulling off his cowl!
The cowl fell around Batman's shoulders to reveal messy, jet black hair and the bluest eyes he had ever seen in person. Because he had seen those eyes before, usually staring back at him from a glossy photo spread.
Bruce Wayne. Batman was Bruce Wayne.
Clark would have never guessed, and yet at the same time it made so much sense. Both were heavily invested in improving Gotham, although, admittedly their methods differed greatly. Batman had so many toys and gadgets, all the other members of the League had figured he was either very rich or had a rich benefactor. And everyone knew that Bruce Wayne had taken in more than a few kids over the years.
“Oh thank god we are doing this, this shit's so uncomfortable for too long.” Clark's amazement was interrupted by Red Hood groaning and taking off his helmet. And the domino mask under his helmet.
“Don't be rude Jay,” Nightwing said, taking off his own domino mask. “I'm Dick, that's Jason and Tim and Damian,” Dick said pointing at each in turn.
“Oh – Uh, n-nice to meet you all” Clark sputtered.
“Hah, look at those nice mid-western manners, you don't get that shit in Gotham!” Jason laughed as he started walking towards the showers at the back of the cave. Jostling his brothers along the way.
“I would like to think that we might, as you said 'get that shit' in this house however Master Jason,” the butler, who must have been Alfred, Bruce Wayne's trusted butler, replied to Jason as he was taking the tray back upstairs.
Clark was stunned silent. It kind of seemed like they knew who he was.
“I'm sorry Kal – Clark. I meant to tell you, honestly. And I meant to do it without the audience,” Batman said, looking only the teeniest bit guilty, while shooting a quick glare at the boys' backs.
“I mean honestly,” Clark sighed. “I can't really say I'm surprised that the world's greatest detective figured me out. When did you figure it out?”
“The last gala you covered at the Gotham Natural History Museum.” Bruce stated as if the answer he had given required no further explanation.
Clark was confused. He remembered the gala, he had been coerced into filling in for Cat Grant for the night. Bruce Wayne was there, obviously, after all it had been filled to the brim with the Gotham elite. But he was clearly missing something, he didn't remember anything out of the ordinary happening. Though to be fair it was probably something only Batman would have actually noticed.
Bruce looked back at Clark and chuckled, honest to Rao chuckled.
“I said something that you quoted in your article about the event that wasn't in the press packet or in my speech, and you were no where near me all evening. I tend to keep tabs on the press at those parties. It wasn't anything much, it wasn't even something any of the people I said it to would have given a second thought to. Honestly most of them likely forgot it the moment it came out of my mouth, which means they probably didn't mention it to anyone else. What can I say, when I saw your article it made me suspicious. So I did some digging,” Bruce explained.
“And you are nothing if not thorough with your digging,” Clark chuckled a little to himself at the whole situation.
“You know, if you hadn't become a detective, you would have made a pretty good investigative journalist,” Clark added on as an afterthought, looking up at Bruce through his lashes. The other man had a shockingly relaxed look on his face, it made him look so much more approachable.
Clark allowed himself to look a little more. The man he was looking at now, not quite the Bat of Gotham but not quite the Brucie Wayne that the tabloids loved so much either. He may have only known his friend's secret identity for a little while, but with every moment that passed he felt like he figured out a little bit more about the man behind the masks.
Bruce began to remove more pieces of the bat suit. He had his back to Clark, and was draping the cape over the computer chair. That's when he dropped the bomb, “So you know my heartbeat well enough to tell when it's not me?”
Standing in the Bat Cave, at that moment Clark knew two things with absolutely certainty. One was that his own face was redder than the side of a barn. The other was that Bruce had a smug look on his face. Clark couldn't see Bruce's face, but he knew without a doubt, that there was a smug little smirk on his handsome face. He prayed to whoever was listening that Bruce didn't turn around just yet in the hopes that he could get his flaming blush under control.
When Bruce did finally turn around there was a pile of armour on the chair and he was just in a tight under-suit from the waist up. His blush hadn't gone down at all. Bruce's look was slightly less smug and more inquisitive than anticipated.
“Yeah...” Clark whispered a bit, and before he could stop himself he continued. “I mean your not the only one. I can pick my parents or Lois out from pretty much across the world.”
The second those words were out of his mouth, Clark knew he had revealed more that he had ever intended to. He also knew that Bruce would have caught the slip up.
“Those are people who are very important to you,” Bruce stated simply, not expanding any further than that.
However it seemed like Clark's brain had other ideas. Opening his mouth again and digging his own grave even deeper, “I mean you're my, you're my friend, one of my best even. I've almost got Diana's down too. I'm less close with the others.”
He couldn't stop himself. Why wasn't Bruce putting him out of his misery!
Clark looked up, Bruce had a small, satisfied smile on his face. He was enjoying Clark's misery. But that smile, it was a good look on the other man.
“I- I, I just,” Clark sputtered, paused taking a breath and continued, “I care a lot about you, you're important to me and I'd like to think that maybe I'm important to you? And honestly if you don't stop me soon I might just need to dig myself a hole right to the center of the earth to hide in.”
Clark closed his eyes and hung his head, his blush flaring back up. He heard Bruce take a few steps forward and pause in front of him. Clark looked up and met Bruce's eyes. The two of them paused, eyes locked. The moment both lasted forever and was over in an instant.
He didn't know who stepped forward to close the gap between them first. There was a brief pause when Bruce brought his hand up to caress Clark's cheek with his thumb. Eyes trailing after the movements. Bruce looked up into Clark's eyes again, silently asking for permission. That glance was all it took for Clark to surge forward and seal their lips together in a heated kiss.
It was everything he had dreamed but like nothing he had ever imagined. Bruce kissed with a fierceness that he had never experienced before.
Clark brought his arms up to Bruce's waist pulling him in even closer. Clutching at Bruce's top and leaving no space between them.
“Oh my god! Damian close your eyes!” Dick shouted covering up the youngest's eyes and curling Damian into his stomach almost protectively. Interrupting their moment more effectively than a bucket of cold water over their heads ever could have.
“B there are children present! Think of the children!” Jason just piled on, clutching at his imaginary pearls.
Damian struggled to get out from his older brother's hold. “Grayson, I am not a child!” Damian said while shoving at Dick's hand and side.
“Yes you are. You are in fact, an actual child,” Tim said without even looking up from his phone, heavily invested in typing away at something.
“My baby is all grown up!” Dick fake sobbed dramatically, clutching Damian tighter to him.
“Okay, the peanut gallery can please go excuse themselves. Alfred should have some food ready for you.” Bruce sighed, like only an exasperated father could, resting his forehead on Clark's shoulder and slumping lightly into him.
“Nah, this is way more fun,” Jason cackled. He was ultimately dragged away by Dick, who was still holding on to Damian with the other arm. Tim trailed after his brothers without a comment and without looking up from his phone.
After the boys had exited the cave, Bruce slumped fully into Clark's arms. Bruce was letting Clark support him, it was small but it was yet another show of trust from a man who generally didn't trust anyone.
“So, I have to ask,” Clark said while burying his face in Bruce's thick hair. “What happened to the whole 'I work alone' thing?”
“I had kids...” Bruce's voice was muffled by Clark's suit, but Clark could still hear him perfectly.
“And I swear I love them, but I could do with significantly less sass,” Bruce said while extracting himself from Clark's arms.
“Come on, you can borrow some sweats if you want, but we should get going before the boys eat everything,” Bruce said while taking steps to go towards the locker room. As if it was the most natural thing in the world for Clark to be joining Bruce and his family for a midnight snack after a night of crime fighting.