#ALSO LOIS TELLING CLARK TO TRY AND KEEP UP WHILE SHE'S POWER WALKING TO WORK ON HER WAY TO GET THAT PROMOTION SHE'S THE CUTEST PLEASE | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ive-tumbled-down-a-rabbit-hole · 3 years

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BBQ at the Kent's

Clark invites his friends over for a quiet BBQ at Ma's farm. It just doesn't go quite how he expected.

Masterlist

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Clark had invited his closest friends and their underlings to a BBQ at Kent farm. So what if his closest friends, all happened to be from the Justice League. Kent Farm was a perfect location. It was out the way so if power mishaps it was unlikely to be observed by anyone passing by. It was a large space so could hold lots of people. Especially as his friends seemed to have a habit of collecting underlings like Pokémon, in particular Bruce. AND it wasn't Wayne manor which despite what Bruce says isn't always a relaxing place to be.

Ma was catching up with Alfred and Lois which was good, Alfred deserved a medal as well as the chance to relax. The teens and kids were mucking about/chilling in the house, and he could catch up with his colleague slash friends and relax.

What he may have miscalculated though was his little sister returning home to see Ma. She knew about him and his 'side job'. She had also, very early on, figured out his friends ‘side jobs’ too. Working it out was a breeze according to her, they weren’t particularly discrete in the beginning (according to her at least). She had covered for him and saved his bacon more times than he would willingly admit. Hell, she's covered for him to them and covered for them without them knowing. She’d provided so many alibis and removed evidence that they hadn’t thought about. The issue though, with his sister turning up, was more that THEY a) didn't know about her and b) didn't know that she knew and finally c) she could quite easily give them all a run for their money.

___________________________________

Walking into her family home she found a swarm of teens lounging around the living room. They were all chatting and talking over each other that they didn't notice her enter. Raising an eyebrow, she spotted Conner, who was currently wrapped around another boy with dark hair.

"Hey Mini Bale! Nice look you got going. Bet it's driving the old men mad and completely beats the plaid shirts and starched suits. Is Haybale out in the yard?"

Conner jumped, causing the others in the room to stop chatting, and looks to see his sort of aunt smirking at him across the room.

"Hey M, didn't know you were coming too? Yeah Clarks out back. Ummm….. why are you here?"

"This is my home too Mini Bale.” She deadpans him, “I was planning to surprise to see Ma as not visited in person for a while. I don’t need to tell Haybale every time I visit, he isn’t the boss of me.” Conner’s aunt pouted before gaining a glint in her eye, “What I wasn't expecting to see was Haybale having a "small gathering” here and not invite moi! But alas it is what it is."

The glint turning into a smug look with a dangerous edge as she took in the room.

"Auntie M!!!", the call distracted her from the room suddenly as Jon ran in from the kitchen and launched himself into a flying jump to hug with the women standing in the room. "Straw stack!! How are you doing sweetie? Made any new friends?"

While Jon dissolved into conversation with his Auntie, Tim took the opportunity to quickly assess the newly dubbed Em. She was well dressed, the sort you don't often see on farms and would be better placed in the city. Her clothes were expensive, the type he often could see board members wearing when relaxing. Even with Jon holding her attention she seemed to have clocked him studying her and nearly everyone else who was watching her interactions. Leaning into his boyfriend he queried.

"Em? Does she? Is she? Who???"

Conner chuckled at Tim's confusion, as well as the mystified faces of the others there.

"Tim, guys, I'd like to introduce you to Clark's sister, and my sorta aunt and Jon’s definite Auntie, Marinette. M for short. And before you ask Tim, no she isn’t like him. She *does* works with Max Kante in developing high tech material and gadgets since well she grew up with Clark and wanted to help him cope with his powers… She and Max created MiracuTech as a result. It’s her brainchild though really, M doesn’t really need Max."

"Mini Bale stop!! You’re dramatizing it. I need Max just as much as he needs me, our skill set complement each other. We couldn’t make half the stuff MiracuTech does without his input.” Marinette blushed, “Max says hi by the way and to tell you to pop by the office. He wants to test his new “creation” with you. Not that that offer will remain if you keep speaking of him like that. But it does remind me, how are you finding the glasses?"

It was Conner’s turn to smirk at his friends, and they could suddenly see the family resemblance in the pair.

"They're are awesome M. Like the play back function is brilliant. I've recorded so much blackmail."

His friends paused and a shiver went down their spines recalling all the incidents that have happened since Conner got his latest sunglasses.

"Fab feedback. I'll let Max know.” Taking as glance around the room, “I'm gonna take a wild guess as say Battle Barbie, Fishtails, Greedy Gonzales and Moody & Broody are out back with Haybale and Ma, Mini Bale?"

That again caused the room to freeze, being siblings with Clark kinda made sense that she would have known his identity, but for Clark to tell her about other identities was worrying. Conner tilted his head and looked at his sorta aunt as if trying to work out what she was planning.

"Yeeeeah, what are you up to M? I'm pretty sure you promised Clark you'd not cause mischief when you met everyone."

"I deny ever making that promise. I have evidence to back up that claim too. Plus, the amount of shit Haybale has caused me cos of his moral compass and lack of impulse control makes it fair game. Though I do support his altruism.” She paused debating what she would say next, “To set the record straight what I *actually* promised was that I would *consider* not causing *too much* mischief. And I have considered it and think that I'll survive this course of action. You’re not the only one with playback ability. Thanks for the info Mini Bale. Let's catch up more later!"

With that she ruffled his hair as she walked past him out to see her dear older brother.

"You've spent too much time as a cat M!" Conner called as he tried to sort out his hair. The room erupted as she left the room. Confusion, mild panic as to whether their identities were at risk and answers were demanded from Conner and Jon. Tim whined at Conner’s comment, "Cat?! We've got to keep B away from her!"

___________________________________

Out in the yard, Clark was relaxed surround by what he supposed was the founding JL members. He'd heard his sister turn up and cause subtle chaos amongst the teens in the house slowly dreading her announcing her arrival out here. Ma would be thrilled to see her. He was too, sort of. Just not in front of everyone. Kon-El was right with her spending too much time as a cat. And Tim was right as well. He'd have to keep Bruce away from her, she'd be just his latest type.

"HAY BALE! You're holding a party for little ol' me?! How delightful of you."

Clark cringed. He still hated her nickname for him.

"Lois! Ma! You both look lovely as ever! Oh, it’s been too long since I've seen you in person."

Marinette swooped past Clark to the ladies and gave them huge hugs before quickly falling into conversation to catching up with them, thankfully ignoring Clark allowing him some time to deal with his friends.

"Why is Marinette K from MiracuTech at your farm Clark?"

Barry quickly asked, staring at his sister with stars in his eyes. Ok maybe it wasn't just Bruce Clark had to worry about.

"Yes, why is the Guardian, Lady Fortune, at your home?" queried Arthur looking at Clark with confusion and slight apprehension.

"MiracuTech… Guardian," Diana quickly put together gasping, looking at Arthur who had cottoned on to her implications as well, then back at Marinette.

"Guys! Please! Cool it, M I hope," Clark quickly glared at his sister, who was grinning manically knowing the trouble she was causing for him, "can answer your questions and Barry, M, Marinette, is my sister. Why wouldn't she come here? Though this wasn't planned visit that I was aware of."

"You have a sister."

Bruce stated, as Diana and Arthur wondered off talking in hushed tones. Clark could hear that they had figured out one of her 'other' identities but was content that they wouldn't add drama for the moment he redirected his attention back to Bruce.

Clark sighed tiredly, "yes, I have a sister, Bruce. Who likes to keep her personal life private. Which is why you guys have just found out about her and not before."

"Is she Kryptonian?"

"Bruce!! you can't ask Clark that!!" Barry exclaimed, not really surprised by his bluntness but still Alfred was about, and he was ‘Bruce’ currently so social etiquettes, and all should be observed.

"What can't Moody & Broody ask Haybale, Greedy Gonzales?" Marinette enquired, a picture of planned innocence, as she snuck up on them. She gave Clark a side hug and a ‘knowing’ sibling smile.

"M… please… stop with that nickname. Bruce was just asking if you were adopted as well."

"Fine!" She rolled her eyes, "Boy Scout it is then. Moody & Broody I'm not adopted. Ma and Pa had me as a 'Surprise! you're pregnant’ a few years after they'd adopted Boy Scout here"

Bruce frowned at the names she'd been given them. While she just gave a facade of innocence, she held a glint in her eye that destroyed the illusion along with the names she was giving everyone.

Ignoring Clark and Bruce, Marinette turned to Barry to discuss his work at S.T.A.R labs and potential collaboration with MiracuTech. Clark internally groaned as he watched his sister get animated about some sort of tech project she wanted to discuss.

Bruce observed the interaction. It was clear that she knew more than she was letting on. Though he had done research on his peers to know their weaknesses and strengths, Clark having a younger sister never came up. How he had hidden her was impressive, unless it was herself who had hidden her existence from him… That was worrying causing Bruce to deepen his frown as he watched Barry and Marinette chat.

Clark joined in frowning at the pair, but because of how was Barry flirting with his BABY sister before he started to groan as it seemed to go completely over her head. She still seemed to be oblivious to those around her liking her slightly more than friendship.

"M! Ma's told you before no business talk at home."

Laughing back at him his sister nodded "We’ll have to continue this discussion another day maybe Greedy Gonzalez, when Boy Scout isn't being all boy scout-y and acting like a golden child."

Seeing an opportunity Diana butted in and 'subtly' tried to guide Marinette to where she was sitting with Arthur. "Lady Fortune, it's an honour to meet you in person. My mother has told many a tale of our mutual friends’ legacy"

"M is fine. Lady is much too formal for my liking right Ms Prince? Our friends have told me much about your mother as well Battle Barbie. But I must say I'd be more interested to hear about your curator work at the Louvre" Allowing herself to be led away.

___________________________________

Bruce gave Clark a patented batglare, "She knows." Clark rubbed his neck before back at Bruce.

"Yes. She knows. She's my sister. It's kinda hard to hide learning how to manage superpowers from family you know. It was her and Pa that helped find solutions to manage the powers. Lead glasses… her idea."

Growling at Clarks response. "She knows ours. You told her"

Taking a deep breath, "No Bruce.” Clark sighed out, praying to the god’s his sister cared for, for the patience to deal with his paranoid friend, “I didn't. She's smart. Ridiculously and stupidly smart but that's aside. She *knows* who I am. She follows my career, like I do hers. She knows who I work with, like I know who she works with. And who my friends are. The info is all there to work it out. She's also got me out of tight spots as an alibi way too often. I'm pretty sure this is opportunistic revenge for it. Especially for all she did before Lois *knew*"

"Oh god it was her calling you at the watch tower that made you pale. Not Ma Kent!!" Barry cackled, "She's the one you're scared of!!"

"Ssshhhhh Barry! Yes! She terrifies me. Much more than little sisters should. You do realise she has covered all your butts more than you think too. Remember she is a tech genius, she works *with other* tech genius’s and we, sometimes in a rush in the early days, forgot about cameras and visuals lining up."

Barry paled at that. Bruce on the other hand looked intrigued. Of course, her problem solving, and detective skills would attract him. "How long has she known?"

"Mine, since forever and never told anyone. Yours, as she has never said anything directly, I’m going to guess since we worked together the first times. I don’t really know for how long, but it’s been since the early days. You don’t need to worry though; she understands the need for secrets and how to keep them. This,” Clark says waving his hand around, “is her way to letting you know she knows without stating it. It’s definitely her subtle form of revenge on me for having to hack large corporations and delete footage or claiming that I was with her visiting so couldn’t get caught out.”

Clark turned to Bruce all serious, “Don’t antagonise or integrate her. Please Bruce! She can and will break into the Batcomputer and cause it to run slow and force your phones and alarms to only play baby shark.”

“So, she’s the one who helped you hack LexCorp to get the evidence required for your latest article”

“That’s what you got from that?! That my genius *baby* sister sometimes, might, maybe, help gather evidence to take down corrupt businessmen and politicians?! Not the fact that you shouldn’t wind her up!!”

“Well I know your tech skills aren’t up to scratch and though there was potential for Lois, it doesn’t really fit her MO so its nice to know how you truly do it. Do you think she would tell us how she hacked into JL main computer and the bat computer? Or be willing to assist in building better protection.”

Clark stared at Bruce, and was about to respond, but before he could Diana caught his eye as she knelt before M holding her hand. Stars in Diana’s eyes while Arthur looked like he was going to faint.

He groaned. Now, Diana!

His baby sister was really trying to stress him out with all the potential shovel talks he would need to make. The shimmer in her eyes when she briefly caught him looking at her suggested that she may be more aware that she was letting on. With the headache she was causing him, he would need a drink after all this.

Thankfully, before Marinette could cause more chaos with the Atlantean and Amazonian, her phone went off resulting in her slinking off to deal with what sounded like guardian issues from his eaves dropping giving what he thought was breathing room.

“Are you ok Arthur? Do I need to talk to M?” Clark enquired to his friend, hoping his sister hadn’t caused too much trauma for his friend.

“She can hold both sides of the balance and not succumb to the pressure or temptation. A true soul and so young. You let this all happen to your younger sister?”

Ok so she had caused some trauma for the Atlantean after all. He was certain it was related to the cat as well as the bug.

“Let is a strong word, Arthur. Forced is more appropriate. M is more stubborn than Bruce at times. And at 14... yeah hormonal teenage younger sister in Paris. My hand was forced.”

Diana and Arthur choked looking at Clark in horror, “14!?!?!”

Both Bruce and Barry raised an eye at him in judgement. Like they’re ones to talk with how young they let their mentees join the field.

“It is decided. She will be traveling with me to Themyscira and to Atlantis when Arthur puts on his ‘big boy pants’. She requires extra support in this matter.”

“14? Extra support? Diana, what are you talking about? She is in her 20’s not 14. You can’t kidnap Clark’s sister, Can she?”

Barry looked perplexed by the situation. Unsure on what they are talking about. She seemed to be fine and had survived years without assistance and knowing about their identities. Going to Themyscira and Atlantis would not help with that.

Staring at Clark with an unnerving intensity, Bruce answered Barry’s questions.

“She was one of the Parisian heroes. Their leader from what Diana and Arthur are suggesting. She started her extracurricular activities before even we officially did, much younger than we were and Clark didn’t stop her.”

“Oh.... Wait?! You didn’t stop her!!”

Clark was really regretting this BBQ. It was starting to feel more like an interrogation on his big brother skills, a judgement on his mentoring capability NOT a relaxing escape with friends.

“It would explain why Clark was so insistent of a some of the support protocols now,” Bruce mused. “She didn’t let you help and forced you stay away, didn’t she? Your powers, if you got akumatised, had the potential to cause a global disaster and the magic could have hurt you out of costume.”

“If you knew this, why are you giving me grief! And Diana, you can’t kidnap M. She has a support network already.”

“I didn’t. You just confirmed it. And more support can never hurt.”

Damn bat with his detective trickery and throwing his own arguments back in his face. Groaning in response Clark looked at his friends,

“Fine. You can ask but it’s HER choice no forcing it ok.”

After some grumbled agreements they all agreed.

___________________________________

“I hate you,”

“I love you too, Hay Bale.”

Marinette grinned at her brother with a cup of tea in hand. His friends had finally departed more than one had managed to get him to convince her to exchange numbers. She’d agreed to visit Diana when back in Paris to arrange a visit to Themyscira. It scared him how quickly after the initial interrogation and worry they all accepted her. She was bound to provide them so much blackmail on him. Clark was dreading his next JL meeting.

“You did this on purpose.”

“Not really. Ma knew I was visiting her this month. The fact you were here with everyone was just a perfect opportunity which I took up.”

Clark stared at his sister. None of her nervous tells were showing so wasn’t lying to him, not that she would. She hated secrets, and she carried so many with so many implications if they were revealed. As a result, she hated liars if there was not true reason for them.

“Fine. You do realise I have so many shovel talks now to dish out?”

“What?”

“Did you not see the heart eye’s Barry was giving? Or how Diana was constantly trying to get close? And once Bruce had assessed that you weren’t a threat, kept trying to engage you in conversation about detective stuff?”

“Oh, So, errr, they aren’t like that normally to friends?” A faint blush was making its way across Marinette’s cheeks. “I like wasn’t aware. Can I blame miraculous side effects?”

Clark laughed at his baby sister, yeah as clever as she was, she remained her wonderful blissfully ignorant self on flirting which he adored.

“Nah, they aren’t normally that friendly. Didn’t think you noticed and sure let’s blame the kwami, they caused some of this drama any way. I vote for Plagg and Trixx for being at fault.”

#maribat #maribat au #ml x dc #mlb x dc #dc x ml #dc x mlb #marinette x clark #siblings #platonic #marinette x superfam

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creatureofmystry · 3 years

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MLB x DC Universe Headcannons

I just love the idea of MLB and DC (expecially Batfam cuz Mari is such a Wayne) being in the same universe and crossing over. So one night, I just had an idea overload of different ways the Marinette would know the batfam/be a part of the DC universe. And if any of my shitty ideas somehow inspire or prompt you, then please be my guest. 😊 _

1) “Ladybugs of Past and Present”

Hippolyta, Wonder Woman’s mother, was once a previous holder of the ladybug miraculous. When Fu activated the miraculous and put them in circulation, Hippolyta could feel its magic waking back up. Knowing there must a reason for it to be out, she sent a message to her daughter. Diana searched, finding Marinette and Adrien as the present holders of the ladybug and cat miraculous. She vouched and brought them into the Young Justice program while they also made their own team, Project: Zodiac (or something like that).

[Sometime when Diana takes Marinette to meet Hippolyta]

“Great Hera, Tikki, you have not aged a day” -Hippolyta, cause she does know how to make joke.

“And I would say the same to you” -Tikki

“Mother, you can make a laugh?” -Wonder Woman, honestly a bit confused cause her mom have never not been serious before.

And Marinette is just speechless cause she’s starstruck meeting Wonder Woman’s mom AND a previous Ladybug holder.

2) “Rockstar Niece”

Jagged Stone is Marinette’s Sweet Uncle J. During the summers, Jagged Stone would take Mari with him on tour. HIs summer tours are throughout America, so Mari gets to sightsee the country. Jagged’s first tour that he gets to take Mari on (5-ish), he’s also booked for the annual (for whatever reason) Wayne Summer Gala. When Marinette meets the Waynes, they are so enamoured (Dick and Tim couldn’t help it) that they tell Jagged he’s always invited as a guest, Mari of course being added to the permanent guest list too. About 6 years later, Mari is practically adopted, spending the first half of her summers with Jagged, going to the Wayne Gala, then spending the rest of her summer with the Waynes. Overtime, she figured out the secrets of the family and was there to welcome Jason back from the dead (when that happens). Anyways, now 11(-ish?) Mari meets Damian and the two become good friends… after an… impressionable first meeting.

“Tch, let me guess, you’re another one of father’s adopted strays” -Dami

“YOU MUST BE DAMIAN!!! DICK TOLD ME ABOUT YOU!!” -Marinette, who just ignores what he said for a hug.

“hiiiiiiiiissssssss” -Dami, touchy with touch

“...” sprays water in his face since he decided to act like a cat.

“I say, Master Bruce, the children are getting along quite well” -Alfred

3) “Pen Pals”

Jon Kent and Marinette Dupain-Cheng are part of an international pen-pal program, starting when they were very young (maybe like 4 or 5-ish, super super young) where they told each other everything (Jon can’t just say that his older bro is a clone made from Superman and Lex Luthor’s DNA, or that his dad is Superman, or that his best friend is Robin, but yea. Lois and Clark probably proofread his stuff until he’s like 9) with pictures and everything. When they’re old enough to get phones & stuff, they call, text and vid-chat along with their letters (love without blood). When Mari is maybe 9-11 (somewhere around there) she starts flying over during the summers to hangout with Jon (and his friends and big brother). While there, she meets Kon, Bat fam, and Clark (some who she already knew, some who she didn’t) & lightly hints that she knows who all they are once she figures it out (it didn’t take her long to do so).

Now whenever she visits and is at Wayne Manor (Jon likes to have sleepovers practically every weekend) while they’re on patrol, Mari subtly messes with their minds (super subtle, they’re the world’s best detectives after all) until they finally look through the cams and see Mari giving them one of those smiles (those shit-grinning cause it’s just so hilarious how it’s gone on for so long) & and a playful wink.

[5 seconds later]

“Mari!” “Pixie-pop!” “Angel!” “Teacup!”

“Seriously, am I the only one with a normal nickname for her?” -Tim

“Ms. Marinette would like to inform you that ‘it took you long enough’” -Alfred (who so knows that the girl has been playing them since the third night she stayed at the Wayne’s)

“Where are my adoption papers?” -Bruce (who is seriously adopting any talented black-haired child)

4) “Mari and Mar’i”

When Mar’i is young, Dick and Kori take her with them to see Paris (btw, this would be during the winter). They’re strolling along through a park and lose track of Mar’i who finds Marinette (9-10 ish). Marinette comforts and distracts Mar’i while noticing the young(er) girl is Tameranian (her hair is very warm and she’s wearing significantly less layers than should be worn for a human of that age during the winter, plus that sun-kissed skin tone. She’s seen Kori in her fashion magazines (and, from time to time, on the news as an ambassador) so she easily make the connections). Dick and Kori finally spot Mar’i with Mari who introduces herself to them. Mar’i asks if she can see her “Auntinette” again and Marinette just goes “if your parents are okay with it.” Dick and Kori are totally cool with it (not many are willing to watch her and have the time to do it) so they ask Marinette if she can babysit Mar’i whenever (with good pay of course) if she’s up to it (cause she’s still pretty young). Marinette can’t say no to Mar’i’s babydoll eyes (and she’s so much easier compared to Manon, who’s only 2 rn), so of course, she says yes.

Now Marinette is Mar’is official babysitter and sees Mar’i often whenever her parents drop her off (using zeta tubes to quickly get to Paris and back). Marinette gets treated like an honorary Wayne (cause she’s the most responsible) and gets invited to their family stuff (w/ travel pay taken care of, of course). It doesn’t take her long to realize the fact that she babysits Bruce Wayne’s & BATMAN’S granddaughter, but of course, being the responsible one she is, keeps the secret… while also playing with them via Mar’i.

[One Day]

After Marinette leaves for her plane…

“Uncle Dami!”

“Yes, Spawn?”

“Auntinette said to tell you after she left that Robin’s sut needs a major upgrade & that you look like a traffic light… whatever that’s supposed to mean.”

[Another Day]

“Uncle Jay!”

“What’s up kid?’

“Auntinette said that to let you know that Red Hood doesn’t make any sense ‘cause Red Hood wears a helmet. Not a hood.”

[The next time]

“Uncle Tim!”

Yawn. “yea?”

“Auntie told me to give you this” (pulls out super caffeinated coffee) “and that Red Robin’s cowl is a menace to all things fashion”

[Again…]

“Daddy!”

“Yes, Starshine?”

“Auntienette said she’s proud of Nightwing’s costume ‘cause it’s one of the only in the batfam that isn’t an astro-city to the fashion society.”

5) “Marinette, the one who’s always getting chosen”

Before Mari became (becomes(?)) LB, she comes across a different powerful piece of jewelry, from a different order of guardians where her will of mind is not only her shield from being akumatized, but it is also what drives her powers. That’s right, Mari walks past a flea market and activates a GL ring. The guardians pick up on this activity and send Hal (it is his sector) to check it out. Hal finds the ring with Mari but it still needs the light of a GL to charge and fully work.

[During the explanation]

“Look, kid-”

“Marinette.”

“Look, kid, I just need to know why you have that ring.”

“You think I know? I was just walking through the market and all of a sudden, this possessed ring, if that’s even what this is, started following me, then zipped in front of my face til i held my hand up so it can put itself on my finger.”

“Kid-”

“It’s MARINETTE. Get it wrong one more time and you’ll see why I don’t need a possessed piece of alien jewelry.” -Marinette, making sure you get her name right. “Besides, if I stole it, I would remember. I’m a klepto” -Marinette, probably holding his ring too at this point.

Hal obviously doesn’t want the wrath of the Dupain-Chengs (just the kid Marinette scares him enough), so he tells the guardians that JL will take care of most of Mari’s training (once they get her a lamp for her ring, of course) & has her take part in training at Mt. Justice with the Young Justice team and special training with the Bats. Mari does all this under the guise of an international student exchange program for Mari to stay with the Waynes (not yet knowing that it’s the bat fam) and attends G.A. Mari doesn’t do much, but it takes her 24-36 hours to know who EVERYONE is.

[the next week after settling in]

“Hey, Mars,” -Dick, in his Nightwing gear

“Hey, Di-is the GREATEST SHOW!” -Mari, changing the subject(… not really)

“How long did it take you?”

“Not as long as the Kryptonians…” -Mari, going off into a tangent (still trying to change the subject”

[When Marinette meets Tikki]

Back in Paris:

“Sooo… I’m getting powerful jewelry that gives me powers and a suit, needs to be recharged, and comes from some Order of the Guardians? What’s the difference between you and my ring?” -Marinette, who at this point is very confused as to why she keeps getting picked on for this kind of stuff.

“One’s alien, one’s magic” -Tikki, hoping Mari will end it there & lowkey hates that the GL Corp. got to her first.

“They’re both non-human made energy sources” -Mari, cause once you’ve seen it once, you’ve seen it all before.

“You can’t heal the Akuma without the miraculous, and there are more than just rings. Yours are earrings, there are hair clips, bracelets, necklaces and more” -Tikki, after having a minute to think

“Fine, only because you said they’re the only way to heal the, what was it again, akuma?”

6) “Their Unofficial Official Barista”

Part of Tim’s job as Co-CEO, is to make sure all the branches are running smoothly, sometimes that means he has to fly abroad to manually check in. Tim goes to Paris to check on the W.E. Paris branch. He goes to a nearby Patisserie (Tom and Sabine’s) to see a young Marinette (somewhere from 8-11) drawing in her sketchbook at the counter. She explains that her parents are at a catering event, but she’s there to man the little bakery. Tim asks for a super caffeinated coffee and Marinette makes it with ease, claiming it was on the house with how bad he looks (and how much sleep the man clearly needs). Tim begs for her knowledge and asks if she can teach his butler. Mari’s willing to show him the next time he comes, so he gets the whole fam to go (viz tubes so they don’t waste time) maybe a week later. Everyone gets their own drink (plus a free pastries) and Marinette teaches Alfred her coffee, but it’s just not the same so Tim, using the tubes, goes to get coffee from the girl whenever he can.

Mari is horrible at getting up on time (the life of an insomniac, never getting to sleep even if you want and then barely waking up on time) that she is up super early, makes Tim his coffee (plus a croissant) and tries to go back to sleep (making her inevitably late). Tim would walk up to the pick-up counter where his cup and to-go bag is while Marinette runs out of the house to get to school. Eventually, the rest of the Batfam (as well as the Laegue, TT, and YJ) frequent the place, slowly becoming (Dami too) Mari hides it, but she knew all the batfam the first day they came and she showed Alfred how to make the coffee. When the others start making more regular appearances, she learns the identities of YJ team, WW, GLs, and others. Obviously when LB and CN appear as heroes with HM as their villain, they immediately reach out to help. Because 1. Batfam clearly notices that it’s Mari and they sure as heck won’t let her deal with that by herself, and 2. The JL is worrying too much about their favorite barista (even though she’s not really one), especially with the Gigantitan scare. So, of course LB & CN (can’t make him bad everytime) get inducted into YJ.

[After Ladybug finishes defeating Gigantitan and detransforms]

“Bean! Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?” -Tim, being an even more protective older brother than Dick, which shouldn’t be possible

“Yes, I promise. I’m fine” -Marinette, who just accepts the fact that she’s adopted an older brother (and his famliy)

“Tube over, we’ll have Alfred make sure” -Dick, already pulling out the medical supplies for Alfred.

“I-”

“You shouldn’t worry your brothers like that, Marinette. Now come over so Alfred can clear you,” -Bruce, who just happens to overhear the conversation

“I’m sorry, Miss Marinette, they are very adamant that you’re in pitch perfect health before going out again,” -Alfred, who’s not actually sorry

“Fine” -Marinette, accepting her fate of her adopted, protective family.

7) “Thicker Than the Blood We’ve Shed”

Why is Marinette so freakishly strong? Because she was trained to be. Before she could even talk, Mari was taught to be an assassin. She and Damian were frenemies, both competing for top spot as best in the League (of Assassins). They often spared together and became rivals who pushed each other (which sounds great in that context if you forget about the fact that they’re killing people and turning it into a competition). When Damian’s care is turned over to Batsy, Mari also comes along for the ride. She implements herself into Dami’s classes at G.A. & watches him from afar. (Damian, not being an idiot, of course knows all this and knows that it’s probably for Mari to give a report to Talia.) When he becomes Robin, Mari obviously knows, but waits to see if anything drastic would happen (his care was given to the Batfam, they had already expected this to happen.) She then heard word of the bounty Talia put on Damian’s head. Marinette knew there wouldn’t be much she could do to help, but she ave Dami a warning about the upcoming situation before fleeing the country.

From there she got to France, changed her name (it wasn’t originally Marinette, it was Shénqí, chinese for miraculous/magical (or something else if you want)), was adopted by Tom & Sabine, and left her time in the League in the past. When she received Tikki, she didn’t want to be a hero because she didn’t think she deserved it after her up-bringing. Eventually, she did become LB (being a trained assassin does help with lucky charms, considering she was taught how to kill with basically every and anything), and life was good for her. Then Rossi came.

[Gotham field trip]

While at Wayne Tower…

“How idiotic are they?” -Damian, who after reuniting with his long-lost sister-from-a-different-mister (yes, Marinette was able to convince him to say it once), can’t understand the stupidity she has to deal with.

“Are you Robin?” -Mari, who is too tired, so just goes straight into the analogy

“Yes.” -Obvious and simply is.

“Exactly” -Mari, who can’t even put a limit to the amount of thought the one brain cell the class shares doesn’t use. I mean please, the so-called “reporter” believed that the first cosplayer she saw was the actual LB when they don’t even have the same hair! And let’s not forget the origins arc, where LB’s first citizen save was Chloe.

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maxwell-grant · 3 years

Note

Ok, but how would the Shadow get along with Superman?

I'm gonna try something a little different with this ask, because I couldn't really find the right words to answer it the way I usually do. So instead I took the more complicated route and ended up writing a fanfic of sorts, about potential interactions between these two I could think of.

I don't think I'll make a habit out of answering replies through fanfic but, I don't know, something about this question kinda demanded from me a different type of answer. I never wrote Superman before but I do need to get back to writing.

So here you go, the Shadow - Superman fanfic I wrote to answer this. Hope you enjoy.

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They were not friends. They were not enemies. They had their separate worlds to watch over, and rarely did they cross each other. Rarely did they meet under desirable circumstances.

The Shadow, as Superman knew him, was not a part of Superman's world. In more ways than one.

Clark knew that he was a man who was mainly active during the 1930s and 40s, that he had been a crimefighter active in the United States during that time, that he has some connection to Bruce and other heroes he knew, and that he has an associate related to Lois named Margo, but somehow, Clark could never find him on his own accord.

Even when he time traveled to said period, he could never find him. Lois and Margo share a bloodline, but Lois does not recall what exactly of what sort, not even under Clark's machines. When he asked some of The Shadow's associates, they could not recall him, and Clark knew for a fact they could not have been lying. Some of them existed in this world but with "ordinary" lives, and others didn't.

Although he seemed to come from an alternate world,there were times when The Shadow appeared to have history in this world as well. Real, tangible history, that seems to be willed out of thin air and to dissappear when Clark goes looking for it. Even Bruce seems to not remember him, and Bruce's the one who seemed to have spent the most time in his presence.

He couldn't quite say he looked fondly on his meetings with The Shadow, if he could be honest with himself. He was cold, remote, harsh and manipulative. He murdered criminals without remorse, something that even he admitted had soured his relationship with Bruce, and terrorized those he fought to a much greater extent than even Batman, who Clark already thought was going too far at times.

Clark knew he was not an evil man, he was certain of the compassion within him that thundered to protect the innocent, but Clark could hardly be certain of how much he knew about him in the first place. Clark, who could see through crowds and make a shopping list out of what each person had eaten for breakfest that morning, could not identify The Shadow's face through his mask, could not see what was behind his eyes.

Clark is extremely aware of the standards he must adhere to in order to operate as Superman, the ways in which he must be held accountable as someone operating above and within society. He understands the importance of his friends and allies that can stop and defeat him, the family he must look after, the reputation he must uphold, the control over his powers and a lifetime of experience in holding himself back. At times he was even grateful for the existence of Kryptonite as a desperate measure. He knows that Bruce goes through a lot of measures to keep himself in check as well.

But he knows little about The Shadow, who works for him, why they do so, who can hold him accountable, who is going to help him when he can't help himself. He worries about what his world must look like, to create a man like him, brainwashing people and gunning down criminals in the streets while laughing. How much good can such a man do if this is what his approach to justice looks like? What is the toil that such a grim approach to life has taken on this man's life?

He knows that overthinking is one of his worse flaws, but Superman can't help but dwell sometimes on the worlds he cannot save, on those that must take on such realities. He only wishes he knew how to find The Shadow of his own accord and try to bring peace to the man, even if he knows better than to assume peace is what he's looking for.

It is the nature of Superman to never stop trying to bring everyone to a world beyond death, darkness and sorrow, and to blame himself for those he cannot save even from themselves.

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It was a well-known fact that The Shadow always worked alone. And like most known facts about him, it was not entirely accurate.

The Shadow strives to cultivate the image that he's alone, untouchable, that all who work for him do so because he forces them to. That he always tells those he saves that their lives belong to him, that they are trembling slaves to a monster sniffing blood in gutters.

Distractions, lies, smokescreens he must create, to allow his agents to operate as spies, and spare them from the wrath of the police and the criminal underworld alike, too busy hunting a legend to notice the flesh and blood people working under their noses, people they would otherwise be all too happy to neglect or stomp on.

Misdirection, the secret of any magic trick. The true secret of The Shadow's invisibility.

There are days where the only positive thought in his mind is that his agents cannot join him wherever he goes.

The success of The Shadow depended heavily on the vast networks of agents and allies he'd gathered over the years, people from all walks of life who trusted him and had chosen to join him. Every courageous move, sacrifice and pivotal role they played was carefully recorded in his files, and never forgotten. They had skills and capabilities The Shadow did not, and The Shadow was proud to see the ways in which they would cultivate those into the betterment of the world around him.

And though the bridge between them was unassailable, though his ways and actions were secret and mysterious to them and they could never know more than he allowed, they received constant signs of The Shadow’s appreciation of their reliable cooperation, and at many points The Shadow had made said bridge less unassailable for their sake.

But they were not his friends. His allies were distant and occupied with fights The Shadow could assist, but not fight for them. His agents were subordinates rather than equals, expected to play the necessary parts and leave the scene for their own safety just as quickly. His friends were few, and often dead. And when it was the moment of danger, The Shadow fought alone. The protection of others came above all else, and on field, although they were expected to think and strategize for themselves and work together, The Shadow's word was final.

There could be no distractions, no hesitations. Those had cost him more than enough on the battlefields of the Great War, mistakes he would never repeat again. The sacrifice of companionship, his own personhood and self-preservation is an acceptable loss for the sake of those he must protect.

There are occasions when The Shadow is forced into circumstances beyond what logic and physics should allow, and in some of those occasions, Superman had been involved in them. There are occasions also where he has to work side by side with other vigilantes, and sometimes, they also include Superman.

He couldn't quite say he looked forward to working with Superman. His arrival almost inevitably carried chaos into the inner workings of reality. The existence of an omnipotent being able to crack planets with a footstep and liquefy crowds with a gaze, held back only by his human personality, was a danger that thankfully did not exist in The Shadow's own world, but was a worrying prospect regardless.

Few of his experiences with aliens and superpowered warriors could be said to be positive ones, and a lifetime of knowing the evil in the hearts of men had taught The Shadow how easily even the best of intentions and the most solid of morals could be corroded and destroyed. It didn't help matters that this being was also a public crusader and celebrity passing judgement on criminals, even while secretly holding a private dimensional prison to throw them into should they be sufficiently dangerous. Someone completely unstoppable and unaccountable, even to death itself.

The Shadow understood Superman to be a good man, a moral man who had been raised well to be the best he could. The Shadow respected and treasured the existence of those like him, men and women and everything in between that could breathe in the sun and uphold mankind, while he dwelled in the underworld to make sure those more like him would not rise to attack them.

But whatever the rewards of these partnerships, he was glad when they were over. His work requires full control. He cannot tolerate the loss of it.

Others can dream of better tomorrows and work to make them happen, his is the task of clearing the darkest paths so others need not tread them.

Hope, light and comfort are noble gifts, but they are not his to give.

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The first time they met had been the result of Vandal Savage's Hypertime Collider, a trap designed to keep Superman running circles through the timestreams, cycling through alternate versions of himself. He had landed in the 1930s, somewhat depowered, in a world where some allies of his existed, but superheroes were nowhere to be found (although some people reacted in terror at him, shouting "IT'S DANNER! HE'S COME BACK TO KILL US!", the significance of which was lost on Clark).

He had met a woman named Margo Lane when looking for this world's Lois, telling her he was a farmboy from Kansas lost in the big city looking for a friend with the same last name. Margo didn't recognize anyone named Lois, and Clark could tell she was only pretending to believe his story (even though it was true, in a sense), but through her, he met a tall, gaunt and hawk-like millionaire by the name of Lamont Cranston, a name Clark recognized from an old radio show Jonathan used to listen.

He had an idea of who The Shadow was. An old detective from a radio show or pulp magazines, sure, Superman's been to worlds he used to think were fictional before, some people still think he's as real as Santa Claus (who was going to join him and the Easter Bunny for checkers next Sunday).

Their conversation of platitudes was cut short, as it wasn't long before the Hypertime Collider was soon transporting him to a different time period, but before he was ejected, he remembered the moment their conversation ended.

Shortly before he could feel the Collider breaking and warping time and space in a chokehold around him, he remembered an eerie silence fall on the room. Though his hearing senses in this world were diminished, he could still pick up minute sounds from miles away, and it was a strange sensation to hear the sound of nothing. A sound that did not exist but silenced everything around it with deafening precision, a sound that Clark had not heard even in the deepest recesses of space, when he could still hear his body's metabolism at work. For a moment, though he did not need it to survive, Clark worried his heart had stopped working, for he could not hear it.

It surely was the Collider's effect at work, he reasoned.

But in that brief moment, whatever surprise he expected to find on Cranston's expression was nowhere to be found. Instead, scattered shadows slashed across his face as the air around him changed and he closed his eyes. He was still wearing Cranston's face when he opened them, and once again, they did not match his face.

The last thing he remembered before his ejection was a voice that cut through the air and the meters separating them, that sounded like a python hissing in Clark's ear, from everywhere and nowhere at once.

"This is not your world."

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The second time was in another dimensional sojourn, this time of his volition.

Having borrowed a portal from Cyberwear Enterprises, Clark was rehearsing a speech intended for the Reginellian people of the Bohren System, one he was expected to give through blinking in reverse morse code, and in order to ensure the atmosphere of their planet would allow them to hear him, Clark intended to pay them a visit. But instead, he was transported somewhere else.

Before he could properly register the time period and location he had landed, he had encountered The Shadow in the middle of rescuing a steamship on fire from sinking.

He was clinging to the side of it unseen from the panicking passangers, drilling bullet holes to the bottom of the ship so it would fall to the side and steer clear from a passing fireworks yacht. He was holding a rope attached to a nearby tugboat with one hand, and with the other he was clinging to the boat's window. The tugboat was moving outside of the steamship's range, and as it moved, it would drag The Shadow and tilt the steamship as he gripped it, just enough to prevent the steamship from colliding head-on with the coming barge.

The tugboat had three men within it, one piloting it and two holding on to the rope that The Shadow had attached, working along with The Shadow to try and pull the steamship. One of these men had a missing eye and was dressed in aviator gear, presumably the pilot of the autogyro atop the tugboat. The other was a tall, muscular black man in suspenders, who dwarfed the pilot in both size and strength.

The strain of their pull could dislocate The Shadow's arms at the very minimum, if not outright kill him, his plunge would carry him 20 feet into the water and potentially under the sinking steamship. Still, they pulled with grim determination, although the boat driver had his eyes closed, and Clark recognized the Yiddish mutterings coming from his mouth as a desperate prayer.

Though they did not see him, these men were extremely thankful when Superman had blown out the inferno with a single breath, and pushed the boat all the way necessary for it's passangers to land on the barge safely, and rescued The Shadow.

Of course they knew the Chief was gonna pull through, he always does.

If The Shadow was thankful for Superman's interference, he didn't show it. In the second he had regained enough strength to talk, he rattled off dozens of names, of passangers in the steamship that had been bruised, by either the flames, the panicking crowd, or the criminals that The Shadow had stopped. People that needed to be taken to medical assistance faster than the ambulances could carry them, of family members that had to be contacted.

He did so without looking at his rescuer, for he remembered Superman, who expected his presence in this timeline to have been erased after he'd destroyed the Hypertime Collider.

Nothing indicated it hadn't been.

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Their most recent encounter was the outcome of an accident where Vandal Savage had trapped Superman in the Arctic and rebuilt his Hypertime Collider, in the hopes of contacting alternate versions of himself so they could all gain Superman's powers and conquer their worlds.

One of said versions was hunted by The Shadow through the portals. The adventure ended rather quickly as the Savages all turned on each other in their tried-and-true method of solving problems with large rocks, but amidst the chaos, a final burst of energy had granted The Shadow a temporary access to Superman's powers.

Thoughts passed through Clark's head of the last time Bruce had accidentally gained access to Superman's abilities, and how despite his best intentions, Bruce couldn't help but overestimate his own ability to wield said powers responsibly. Of how many times he's come across iterations of Bruce who've gained superpowers and used them poorly or tyranically.

He thought of how often he needed to reign himself back, and of the man in black who stood before him, with eyes like thunderstorms ready to break.

The ways in which he is like Bruce, and the ways in which he is decidedly not.

But before Superman could take any sort of action or even ask how he was feeling, The Shadow turned around silently and started walking, straight in the direction of the Fortress of Solitude.

Upon reaching it, he took the million-ton key from beneath the rug that spelled Welcome in a million languages, opened the door, and walked straight into a high security anti-Superman cell within it, designed specifically as a desperate measure against rogue Kryptonians, only stating Superman was going to have to watch him so he couldn't escape.

Clark had never even told him about the Fortress.

He stayed there for the next 12 hours, as Superman ran tests on him to ensure his body wouldn't be negatively affected by the transformation. Clark chose not to remark that some of the bone-deep injuries he had spotted on The Shadow's body previously had healed, as he knew it wouldn't take long for him to acquire new ones after this was over.

They talked briefly at points, and for much of it, The Shadow assumed the façade of Cranston. Sometimes he remembered to breathe and blink, things he forgot to do with startling ease once he no longer needed them.

Clark understood it to be a diplomatic gesture, a façade over the untameable and fearsome Shadow who was frankly unnerving to be around. Even a kind gesture, an effort to address Superman as a man asking for help. Not different than how Superman would prefer to be Clark Kent in order to approach people and ask questions and say things that Superman could never say.

There was a discomfort, of course. There would always be one between the two.

Still, Superman took it as a victory when, after the 12 hours were over, he heard that familiar hiss, with equal intensity but no aggression or even contempt, spell out a "Thank you", as he turned around and was unsurprised to find The Shadow no longer there.

They were not friends, they were not enemies, they belonged to different worlds. They were opposites in their battles for truth and justice.

But truths are often opposite. It is a truth that not all opposites are opposed.

Truth is often as chilling as it can be comforting.

#replies tag #superman #the shadow #clark kent #lamont cranston #my writing #i gotta start putting more of my writing out there and idk i just felt like i had to answer this question this way #i don't question what my brain tells me to do anymore

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flashflashhundredyarddash · 3 years

Text

okay my idea for a batman v superman movie rewrite i just spent a shower’s worth of time thinking about, indirectly inspired by @asilentguardian posts about his rewatch. also note i havent seen bvs probably since it came out and barely remember ANYTHING about it let’s go

so idc about plot someone else can worry about it lets focus on the THEMES. the big, overall message we explore in this movie is the parent/child relationship and how that affects people, particularly superheroes. the specific theme we want the movie to convey is that the reason superheroes fight and can provide hope for people is because of the loved ones in their life.

so we start with that scene of batfleck in metropolis as its being destroyed. he’s driving through downtown and we see that he keeps trying to call someone but it keeps going to voicemail. “this is dick grayson, i can’t answer the phone right now-” bruce hangs up, tries again, gets voicemail again, etc. finally he’s forced to abandon his car and trek through the wreckage on foot. so he’s running towards the center of the destruction, a big plume cloud engulfs him, he’s looking around, BAM rans smack into a preteen. it’s jason. jason tells him dick told him to find bruce, but dick stayed back to help. when they reach where dick is (a library or museum??) bruce and jason get there just in time to watch dick drop off a kid, run back into the building, and watch the building fall on top of dick. boom, end scene.

now we’re back in the present, bruce has clearly lost it. very aggressive/willing to torture people, but hasn’t killed. alfred tells him off about it, says he’s going too far, tells bruce he still has another son, in case bruce has forgotten. as soon as alfred leaves we get a scene of bruce destroying some shit.

idk wtf clark was doing in this movie so let’s give him more or keep his scenes with his mom where he bonds with his mom and talks about his dad or whatever idk. clark’s whole thing with his parents ties in nicely with the theme so we don’t really need to change anything apart from just digging into those more. maybe dealing with his decision to kill zod to juxtapose with bruce’s struggle to keep himself from killing? clark is able to kill zod to protect his family bcus zod was a threat that would not be able to be contained with clark’s resources, but clark is not the type of man who would keep killing for the sake of killing. it was a stressful moment in his life but clark knows not to go over the edge. bruce’s struggle is that he knows if he kill a criminal, he won’t be able to stop.

lex luthor. i kind of liked that they made an Artistic Choice for lex luthor bcus i get it. the general version of lex luthor is like. evil billionaire which doesn’t give him a lot of depth so we’ve got to do something with him for this movie. so what we do with lex’s backstory is that we keep the abusive father angle, so what lex would do, at night, is that he would pray for god/anyone to save him or grant him powers so he can save himself. i THINK there are some continuities where lex and clark went to high school together so we do that. as an adult, lex figures out who clark is and he gets upset specifically at clark because since clark has super awesome hearing, he would have been able to hear lex begging for help as a kid, but clark never did anything. personal grudge there.

so we’re ramping up to the actual fight. i don’t remember what lex’s plan was so we can keep it or rewrite however we wish. bruce is ramping up to kill supes bcus supes killed his kid, supes is ramping up to try and stop batman bcus batman is acting fucking nuts. lex is drinking champagne on a yacht, i guess.

bruce is going back and forth on whether to kill superman, alfred gives him another talk. bruce stares at his little batch of kryptonite. he’s about to lock it up, turn away from his quest when boom, flashback.

this was from right before the metropolis fight. bruce is about to enter the room for his board meeting, but dick stops to talk. jason is chilling nearby playing minecraft on his phone you’ve seen kids. dick and bruce scene where we get the pure essence of bruce and dick’s relationship. they’ve clearly been fighting for a while and their relationship is tense but they both want to work on it and they both clearly love each other a lot. dick says he’s gonna take jason to go bond with him, then beat, dick clearly thinking of something, then dick gives bruce a hug and calls him dad.

closeup on bruce’s reaction, clearly shocked and overwhelmed. choked up but trying to hide it, he says bye to dick, gives jason a hair ruffle. goes into his meeting.

present time. can see in bruce’s eyes he’s fucking IN IT now. LET’S GO KILL SUPERMAN MOTHERFUCKERS.

we’ll keep the martha scene i like it its fine it works. maybe for the villain we have lex, like, merge with zod or something?? something fucked up. redesign the appearance too make him actually look cool idc. wonder woman comes in and kicks ass like always.

okay so bvs ends and clark is dead AWW. i don’t remember the end of bvs so here we go. quick scene, bruce gets home, clearly exhausted, and we see jason in his room reading or working on smthng. bruce walks in and sits down with him and they start talking, jason is clearly happy about it. shot of a picture of bruce, dick, jason, and alfred on jason’s desk.

clark’s funeral scene. martha and lois grieve together. martha expresses how wrong it is to bury a child. maybe lois and bruce have a convo? maybe lois is pregnant fuck it let’s go all in. she makes a joke about setting up playdates and bruce is like i am Incapable of providing any emotion support you need in this moment because i am So Bad at human emotions and lois is like oh i know i just enjoy watching you squirm. then the scene with bruce and diana where they set up the justice league movie. bruce is like yeah killing people is wrong bcus kids are the future, i guess. diana is like yeah rock on, man. shot of the dirt rising off of clark’s grave. boom end movie.

#batman #batman vs superman #superman #bruce wayne #clark kent #the burd squawks

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angelinasway · 3 years

Text

Regaining Hope

Pairing: Clark Kent/Buffy Summers

Warnings/Triggers:Torture, Violence, Mention's of Major Character Death, Bad Language, Sexual Tension, Eventual Smut

Summary: Takes place during Man of Steel. When Buffy discovers the U.S Military trying to keep quiet about an object buried in a twenty thousand year old glacier, she immediately thinks the worst. However, when a surprise visit to the Canadian Arctic puts her in the path of a mysterious stranger her whole world is changed forever.

[TTH] [AO3] [FFN]

Authors Notes: I should first say that this takes place about eight and a half years after the first arc of the Season 8 Buffy Comics, however I’m only using aspects of cannon. The back story will not follow the comics as you will be able to see pretty quickly in this chapter. Secondly, I actually really do love Lois so please don’t bash me for being self-indulgent by wanting to see my two favorite Superheroes get together. I can promise you all that there will be no Lois bashing in this fic. Thirdly, as far as Clark’s story goes it follows Man Of Steel so if you’ve seen the movie you know his story. Thanks for giving this a chance I hope you all enjoy reading. Also thank you to my wonderful beta Hipkarma for giving this chapter a look for me. Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. Chapter One

Buffy lurched as the helicopter made touchdown onto the ice. She closed her eyes briefly, mentally preparing herself for what was sure to be a battle of wills between her and one Colonel Hardy. She hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting him yet, but just by his photo she could tell he was going to be a pain in the ass. There wasn’t much love lost between the Watchers Council and the U.S military. Not since Maggie Walsh and the Initiative, and certainly not since General Voll. The Governments of the world as a whole always seemed to have a really bad habit of sticking their noses in things they just didn't understand, hence why she was here in the freezing Canadian Arctic in the first place. Willow had created a program that had been monitoring all military chatter since Voll decided to commandeer Amy and a skinlessly resurrected Warren to attack the W.C. Headquarters in Scotland. That had been almost ten years ago, and since then Buffy had been dealing with countless other countries attempting to harness power or create weapons out of a force that they just didn’t seem to understand could never be controlled. The U.S however, had managed to keep their noses pretty clean since General Voll, even going as far as to work with her and ask for her help when needed. That’s why it was such a surprise to find out that they had found something buried in the snow that predated civilization and were trying to keep it under wraps. Especially from the W.C. And to make matters worse, she was just coming off a week-long mission from hell. Just last week she caught Russia restarting their subspecies research facility and when the shit had finally hit the fan, she had been forced to send in a team resulting in the deaths of two of her girls. After that, she and Wesley had spent the next day getting a hold of the girl’s families, which of course left her holding a big-ol-bag of guilt and the nightmares and sleepless nights to go along with it. So, to say she was cranky and pissed to hear about the U.S. keeping stuff from her would have been an understatement. She was furious! However, she was also willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that maybe this actually wasn’t her jurisdiction. The Helicopter door slid open pulling her from her mental preparation. She blinked when her eyes met a pair of startlingly brilliant blues, surrounded by a handsomely rugged face, and scruffy beard. A green baseball cap adorned his head, hiding what she assumed from the few strands that were messily poking out of the brim was hair so brown it was almost black. He was probably somewhere in his mid-twenties, though on second inspection his eyes held the maturity of someone closer to her age. “Here let me help you.” He said loudly, so his voice could be heard over the whirling of the propeller and the grind of the engine. He held out a large gloved hand as she undid her seat belt and stood on unsteady legs. Her own gloved hand reaching for the strangers. As soon as her hand touched his however, she gasped, almost recoiling in fear, her inner Slayer rearing her head at the sudden sensation of power. And wow, was it powerful. She had never sensed anything like what was behind this man’s strong grip in all her years of slaying. It didn’t feel mystical in nature and it certainly wasn’t demonic. It was almost foreign, as if it didn’t belong here. Strength knew strength however, no matter where it originated from and her Slayer sensed him with a voraciousness that she had never experienced before. She felt a bit light headed and weak kneed by the sensation, and she had to shake her head to clear it of the roaring in her ears. Her eyes shot to his, widening in bewilderment and for a split second he had the look of a dear caught in the headlights. It was gone the next instant though, and a mask of a charmingly shy and unassuming guy replaced it. ‘Quick reflexes then, and someone who’s used to hiding in plain sight.’ The look worked well on him and she admired the quick cover. Only someone who had been living a double life could pull off a cover like that. Regardless of her admiration though, she needed to know if this guy was a threat or not. Especially with the way her Slayer was chomping at the bit and her heart pounding in her ears. So, she squeezed his hand slightly harder than she’d ever dare on someone human, just to let him know he wasn’t the only one standing there that was something other. It had the desired effect, though the fact that he didn’t wince was a little unnerving. His eyes shot to hers as she passed him, an innocent mixture of awe, curiosity, and fear burning in his irises. She knew then. He was no threat to her. The eyes were the windows to the soul and there was no doubt this man or whatever he was, had one. Plus, there was no way anyone could pull off a look that full of innocence if they had nefarious intentions. She removed her hand, breaking the overstimulation to her senses. She tried her best to cover what she had just felt by giving him a brilliant smile and winking conspiratorially. “Normally I would be worried about anyone carrying my bags considering how heavy they are, but something tells me it’s not gonna be a problem with you.” “Buffy Summers?” A new voice asked, distracting her from her assessment of Mr. Tall, Dark, and Muscular. She turned to meet the kind eyes of another man not much older than herself. "Hi." She said in greeting, reaching her hand out to shake. "Jed Eubanks, Arctic Cargo, nice to finally meet you, Miss Summers." Buffy raised an eyebrow in surprise, side eyeing Mr. Powerful for any reaction. "You heard of me?" She asked, watching the stranger’s reaction. When all she got was a look of curiosity and befuddlement her hackles finally lowered enough to completely believe that whatever or whoever he was didn’t have to do with her being here. Eubanks grinned, commanding her full attention as he said, “Little more than that, I was stationed in Afghanistan about five years ago. My chopper went down near Baghaln.” Buffy winced. “I remember that, a terrorist organization had commissioned hellhounds and were feeding their hostages to them.” “Saw you fighting that day.” He nodded. “Never seen anything like it in my life.” He paused, almost as if he was gathering up the courage to continue. “I was next in line you know, if it wasn’t for you and yours, I’d have been dog chow. I never got the chance to thank you for saving my life Miss Summers.” Buffy smiled softly at the man. It had been a while since she’d been thanked so sincerely. She linked her arm with his. “Call me Buffy, I’m sure I’m gonna have Miss Summers shouted at me enough today to give me flashbacks of high school.” Eubanks laughed. “Well, least you know you got one person rooting for you.” Buffy’s eyes traveled back to the mysterious stranger, who had been watching them with rapt attention. Questions, fear, and confusion still simmering in his eyes. She imagined it was very much similar to the look she was giving him, curiosity brimming over like an over flowing stream. She gave him a small nod of acknowledgment, hoping he understood it was her way of saying they would speak later, before she turned back to Jed and plastered on a huge smile. “Now show me where this camp is. The sooner I get this over with, the happier I’ll be.”

******

Clark watched the young blonde woman walk away with Jed, his heart galloping in his chest. She knew. Somehow, she was able to sense he was different. Part of him was horrified at the prospect of her walking into the basecamp below and announcing to the entire camp what and who he was. It was an old fear, one that had guided him and comforted him on cold lonely nights. If he just kept disappearing, no one would ever know the truth. Another part of him however, was beyond curious about her. How could she sense him like that, was she an alien too? When she squeezed his hand earlier it hadn’t hurt, but had he been a normal man it very well may have fractured a bone or two, and he doubted she just went around breaking people’s bones for the fun of it. No, she had definitely been testing his strength, which begged the question, how did she get hers? The military seemed to know her pretty well however, and even Jed himself had encountered her five years ago in Afghanistan. Which almost seemed impossible, because she really didn’t look much older than twenty-two. God, she was beautiful though, with those bright green eyes that looked older and far more tired than someone her age should be allowed to be. She was just the kind of girl he would have only dreamed of asking out when he was younger. He shook his head, finally forcing his eyes away from her retreating form, but keeping his hearing locked on her until he was sure he wouldn’t have to make a sudden and quick exit. He reached for the two duffle bags she brought with her, the first one pretty light and obviously full of clothes and toiletries. The second one however, was quite heavy and when he heard the sound of metal clanging against metal, he did a quick scan of the items in her bag and almost recoiled in shock. It was like a medieval arsenal in there, three sharp looking swords, a wicked looking red and silver axe, six daggers, four sharp looking wooden stakes, two flasks filled with some type of fluid, a cross, two pistols, a shotgun, and a pair of night vision goggles. ‘Who is this girl!’

******

“Colonel Hardy I presume.” Buffy said with a saccharine smile, holding out her hand to shake. Not at all surprised when he didn’t return the greeting. She then turned to the elderly gentlemen to his right. Her smile softening in recognition. “Dr. Hamilton, how many times do we have to run into each other before I can convince you to ditch these macho elitists and come work for me.” “Miss Summers, always a pleasure.” He said with an amused smile, side eyeing Hardy’s annoyed frown. “I wasn’t aware that you had clearance for this project?” Colonel Hardy said a little too arrogantly. Buffy’s smile grew, oh she was going to love putting this man in his place. “Oh, you wouldn’t, orders went through about,” She looked at her watch. “thirty minutes ago. You should probably be getting a call from General Swanwick any minute now.” Just as predicted, a young soldier came through the door the next second and Buffy couldn’t help the smug smile that crossed her lips. "Sir, General Swanwick is on SATCOM." It was immediate. The look of self-assurance morphed into pure annoyance within the span of mere seconds, and it was worth every bit of discomfort she was sure to receive in the next few days of her stay. Sure enough, Hardy did not disappoint. He excused himself and as he passed the officer he said, "Please ready Miss Summers accommodations and make sure they're as sparse as possible." Buffy chuckled in amusement, looking at Dr. Hamilton with a conspiratorial twinkle. "If he thinks making me crap in a bucket is gonna offend my delicate sensibility, he's mistaken." The Doctor chuckled, "I wasn't aware you had a delicate bone in your body Miss Summers." She snorted, "I hide it well." Her eyes then traveled to the scientific equipment obviously used for monitoring the anomaly. "So why don't you bring me up to speed on this find of yours, before Hardy comes back and attempts to make my life a living hell." Dr. Hamilton shook his head, leading her over to a computer screen with what looked to be a satellite image. "You do seem to enjoy ruffling their feathers." “Well, what can I say, never been much of a fan of authoritarianism. Also, not exactly easy to trust an entity that’s tried to have you killed more than once.” Buffy said, as she leaned over to get a better look at the dark blob like shape covered by layers of snow and ice. “So, what am I looking at? An Old Ones sarcophagus?” “We don’t believe its demonic in origin.” Dr. Hamilton stated. Buffy frowned in confusion, “But weren’t the samples of ice taken around the object more than twenty thousand years old? If it’s not demonic, what the hell do you think it is?” “A vessel Miss Summers,” Colonel Hardy said, walking back in the room. “A vessel not of this world.” Buffy blinked and turned around. “When you say not of this world, I’m assuming you mean…” Hardy’s smirk was patronizing. “That’s right Miss Summers, extraterrestrials. A spaceship. A topic I might add, that you know absolutely nothing about.” Buffy rolled her eyes, “Oh, as if you do.” “I know more than you Miss Summers.” Hardy responded indignantly. Buffy snorted in derision, her lip curling at this man’s stupidity. “So, what happens if you dig this thing up and you’ve got a violent alien that’s been sleeping in stasis for the last twenty thousand years?” Buffy shook her head. “Furthermore, I’ve seen Alien. What if the aliens inside crash landed on earth because a giant fucking Xenomorph is inside?” “I can assure you Miss Summers we’re taking every…” Buffy threw her arms in the air. Finally losing her patience. It looked like she was the one who was actually going to be doing the yelling today. This was just so typical, as if she didn’t have enough on her plate with Russia and Sudan creating their own Initiative-like secret facilities. “The fuck you are!” She shouted. “See this is the problem with you guys,” she pointed. “This is what happens, this is always what happens!” She started to pace, her fists clenched at her sides, uncaring of the sudden wary looks she was receiving by both Dr. and Colonel, as well as the few other scientists and soldiers in the room. “You discover something…for instance that demons and monsters exist, and instead of just killing it or leaving it the hell alone, you gotta study it, dissect it, see how it works, until eventually you’re trying to harness its power for yourselves!” She shook her head in disgust, “And do you wanna know who always has to clean up the mess? Me,” She pressed her fist against her chest, “It’s always me.” Her voice softened then, a sigh whistling between her teeth as her eyes locked on both a flabbergasted Dr. Hamilton and Colonel Hardy. Okay, maybe she went a little to far there. It wasn’t exactly fair to blame them for the previous week. “It’s not…If I was only dealing with this kinda stuff once in a while I wouldn’t be so cranky. I apologise for insinuating anything about anyone in this room.” She shook her head. “It’s just every single country on earth has their fingers in the demonic cesspool one way or another and I’m getting really sick of doing damage control on top of all my other Slayer duties, not to mention the lovely annual apocalypse that never really takes a vacation. Throw aliens in the mix now and the fact that I haven’t slept very well in a week and yeah, Buffy’s stress level just hit a new high.” Colonel Hardy’s disposition seemed to soften slightly at her words and he stepped forward, “I heard about Russia and am very sorry for your loss.” He sighed, “But we aren’t them, Miss Summers. I’m willing to play ball. Please let me be the first to promise, if we find anything that could be deemed even slightly dangerous as far as alien lifeforms go, we will hand it over to you immediately, without question.” She chewed on his words for a moment, figuring this was the best she was going to get as far as cordial cooperation went, and figured she throw out an olive branch so he knew she really wasn’t trying to step on his toes. “Yeah,” Buffy agreed, sighing with a nod. “Yeah, okay. And if it’s really just a ship I have no problem with giving you free rein on any alien technology you find. Just…just do me a favor, don’t make me regret this by killing us all with it.” Hardy cracked a smile then, “Alright Miss Summers, I think I can agree to that.” And surprisingly enough, he held out his hand to make it official.

****

Clark was more than impressed with the young woman who had pretty much wormed her way into his heart without her even knowing it. She was feisty as all hell; he'd heard her entire conversation and had been caught chuckling to himself a few times. Considering how quiet and reserved he normally was, the other guys on the crew were probably thinking he'd gone insane. There were a few things that were talked about that confused him however. Like her speaking about demons and monsters like they exist. Though, considering the fact that he existed, he wasn't all that surprised there could be something out there that was possibly a greater threat than even himself. He was just surprised he'd never run into anything of the sort before, especially considering how long he'd been traveling. Then again, he never really actively sought out situations where he was a savior, those situations usually just kind of found him. Buffy however, spoke as if she had been doing these types of things regularly for years. So much so, that not only was the military aware of her, but they had deemed her a threat on more than one occasion. He could certainly relate to that, for he knew if they had any idea of what he could do, they would do everything in their power to either try and kill him or use him as a weapon. And that was something Clark absolutely refused to have happen. It not only would disgrace his father’s memory, but it would spit on the very sacrifice John Kent made for him. When he was younger, he always thought that the fear his father sometimes wore on his face was because his father was afraid of him. It was one of the things that had led to the words he used the day his dad died. He remembered how frustrated he was that day; his father was being so stubborn about letting him go to college. He remembered thinking it was because his dad wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on him anymore. That he was so afraid of his son hurting someone…that he would never let him leave Smallville. Then that tornado hit, tearing Clark’s entire world to shreds and he was never able to tell his dad he didn’t mean what he said. It was his father’s sacrifice that finally made him realize that all that fear and distrust he saw etched in his dad’s eyes was never directed at Clark at all. His father had always trusted him, it was mankind that he was so afraid of. So, revealing himself to the world was absolutely out of the question. However, for the first time in Clark’s entire life, he felt he might have someone else he could trust enough to confide in. The simple fact that she hadn’t told anyone what she suspected about him was almost enough to make him trust her. The fact that she didn’t want the military to get their hands on an alien, for fear of what they would use it for and the harm it could cause to the human race also helped greatly in making him want to trust her. She was incredibly cautious about how they should go about unearthing the vessel and spoke of bringing in a witch friend of hers to put a ward around it in case there was something dangerous inside. It truly was a sound plan; it would let them be able to open the ship without accidentally releasing some deadly creature or virus by mistake. It’s also the reason he was now changing his plans of waiting a few days before he went in search of the ship. He hadn’t known magic existed until a few minutes ago and he had no idea if he was vulnerable to it or not. He didn’t think so, but he sure as hell wasn’t willing to stick around and find out. As much as he agreed with Buffy’s plan and admired her caution, he knew in his gut that this might be his only opportunity to find out where he came from. Something deep inside of him told him that the answers he sought were on that ship. He dropped the bags off at her trailer after Jed had informed him which belonged to her, noticing how sparse the accommodations were. Just like Colonel Hardy had ordered. There was only a cot, blanket, pillow, space heater, and sure enough in the corner was a bucket and a roll of toilet paper. He shook his head in amusement, apparently this was not the first time she was forced to rough it. He could hear her and Colonel Hardy heading this way, discussing the ship and what other precautions might be taken to ensure that no one would get hurt. On an absolutely and unexpected whim, Clark pulled out the notepad he’d been keeping in the inside pocket of his jacket and wrote down the first thing that popped in his head. He didn’t know what made him do it, and he hoped she didn’t take it the wrong way. The poem was called “I am” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, and he didn’t really remember the entire thing, but the first verse had stuck with him. He quickly ripped the sheet of paper off the spiral, folding it, and tucking the sheet under her bag where just the edge could be seen. He stuffed the notepad and pen in his back pocket, getting to the door just as they were walking up. Their eyes found each other’s immediately, the intensity of her gaze sending an electric shock up his spine, his heart speeding up. God, those eyes of hers were like the color of the fields around the farm in spring. She raised an eyebrow in question at him but he just smiled politely and held the door open for her and the Colonel to pass as he slid by and down the steps. She followed his gaze and he found himself completely turning and walking backwards a few steps, before forcing himself to break contact and walk away. He was going to go talk to Jed, see if he could learn more about her. Plus, his shift was almost up and twilight was approaching. Soon it would be time.

******

When his gaze broke from hers it was like having a bucket of ice water doused on an over heated system. She stood there watching him walk away, her heart pounding in her chest, a loud rush of air she hadn’t even realized she was holding breaking from her lungs. Her nerves still tingled from the heat she felt in his gaze, and she was startled to realize she hadn’t had a reaction like that to the opposite sex in a very long time. Hell, she wasn’t quite sure she ever had a reaction like that, at least not one she remembered. She shook her head, turning back to the Colonel, only to notice he hadn’t missed the staring contest either. She thought he looked amused, but wasn’t quite sure. “Something I need to know about?” Buffy rolled her eyes, “I’m a red-blooded female. I’m allowed to notice a good-looking man when I see one.” The Colonel hummed, his green eyes accusatorily sizing her up. “Seems like he noticed you too.” Buffy’s eyebrows shot up and she frowned. “What exactly are you implying, Hardy?” “Just making sure you didn’t send a spy in close to gather information.” He answered seriously, eyeing her warily, as if she would do something like that so unnecessarily. She rolled her eyes, laughing at the absurdity of that statement. “Colonel, if I were to do something like that it would only be if I felt I was in danger, and I can guarantee it would be another Slayer and not some well-built, redneck, with puppy eyes. No one but the W.C. and the General knew I was coming, why would I risk the little bit of leeway I knew I would gain by showing up unexpectedly, and ruin it by having a spy already in your midst’s. Please do give me some credit.” Hardy shrugged unapologetically, leaning against the wall, “I still don’t understand how your people figured out about the find when we’ve only known about it for a week.” “Oh, so that’s what this is.” She said, raising an eyebrow and looked around the almost empty trailer. He smirked, “That’s what this is.” She shrugged, it didn’t really matter to her if he knew or not. She wouldn’t be sharing the technology no matter how much he tried to intimidate her. Not that she would actually be able to explain it anyway. “A friend of mine created a program that relies heavily on magic to monitor, decode, translate, and record when certain phrases or words are used in any and all military or government communication around the globe.” The Colonel’s eyes sharpened and she watched as his jaw clenched, a vein popping out on his forehead. “And I don’t suppose you’d be willing to share that little piece of technology would you.” Buffy shook her head, “Absolutely not. I’m not helping you war with other countries.” “And you call yourself some sort of hero.” He said snidely, heavy condemnation in his voice. “Do you have any idea how much something like that could help us?” Buffy froze, her back stiffening at his implications. She turned to him, her lips pursed and eyes as sharp as daggers. “It’s my job Colonel, to protect humanity. All of it.” She said, voice trembling just above a whisper in pure rage. “It is not my job to get involved with petty wars that mean very little when every year there’s some demon who gets the idea in his head to destroy every single one of us.” She pointed to the door, “I think its time for you to go now. Sun’s setting anyway, I hear it can get forty degrees below zero some nights.” Hardy frowned and opened his mouth as if to say more, but decided against it. Instead, he said, “Good night Miss Summers, will speak more about this tomorrow.” She stopped him with a hand on his arm, “No we really won’t. Despite what you may think, I’m not trying to hoard technology so I can be some kinda all-knowing God and rain judgment down on everyone. It’s the whole reason its only designed to pick out key words and phrases. I don’t want to know everything, but magic in the wrong hands is the most dangerous thing on this planet. It’s more dangerous than any demon I’ve ever faced or any God.” She sighed, removing her hand. “Trust me when I say, science will get there, you don’t need magic to move it along.” His frown deepened, before he seemed to sigh in defeat. He nodded once, then left her trailer without a word. Buffy sighed, hoping that was the end of that. She really didn’t want to have to keep explaining herself. She walked over and sunk down on the cot, reaching for the lighter of her bags and pulling out her satellite phone. She called Wesley first, knowing he would be waiting up for her to check in. She gave him a brief description of what had happened so far, leaving out the mystery man for fear of making him worry when he already had so much on his plate. Wesley agreed that Willow should be the one performing the warding spell around the ship, and agreed to make the necessary travel arrangements. Her next phone call was to Willow herself, and she smiled at the cheery voice that picked up. “Is the Arctic as cold as they say?” Buffy chuckled, “Yeah Wills, its pretty cold.” Then added, “But don’t worry, you’ll be experiencing it soon enough.” She could hear the frown on the other end of the phone, before an irritated whine escaped her friend’s lips. “But I don’t wanna go to the Arctic, you know how much I hate the cold.” Buffy chuckled, “Yes, but apparently they think they found a spaceship and we need you and your magical-witchy-talents to make sure no hibernating Xenomorphs escape and wreak havoc amongst the populous.” There was a long still silence, before the expected giddy meltdown on the other side of the phone. She heard a squeal of delight, before several vowels that sounded suspiciously like they should have been words. Buffy chuckled, “Breathe Willow, oxygen is of the good.” There were several panting breaths before, “Gods, Buffy do you know what a find like this could mean for us? The technology alone could help…” “Hold your horses there, Wills.” Buffy interrupted. “I already promised the U.S. that they could have the ship.” “Wait, what?” Willow protested. “Buffy if it hadn’t been for Voll joining up with Amy and Warren, those two would have never gotten powerful enough to join up with…” “I know Willow,” Buffy said, cutting her off before that train of thought could even be realized. “I’m just saying, why should we trust them when they’ve put us through so much?” Willow said, the pain and resentment clear in her voice. Buffy, sighed. “I don’t know Wills; guess I’m just getting more forgiving in my old age.” She paused, hearing Willow sigh sadly and knowing exactly where Willow’s thoughts were taking her. They had all suffered the consequences of General Voll raising Amy and Warren up from annoying nuisances, to actual threat. When they inevitably betrayed him, because that’s what happens when you align yourself with crazy, Amy and Warren had managed to gain enough clout to join up with a recently desouled Angelus, and together they had amassed an army of witches and demons alike. By the time anyone caught wind of what was going on it was already too late. Giles had been the first casualty in the chaos. Buffy freezing up when it happened, unable to even react to what her eyes were processing. Spike had been the one to pull her out, and for months he had been the one to push her to keep going. He had been her rock in that time, an unwavering support system without any expectations of what could possibly be if they made it out alive. Wesley and Illyria had joined the fold shortly after Spike's miraculous return, followed by a severely wounded Charles Gunn and an empath demon named Lorne. Buffy had offered Wesley the Head Watcher position, being too far gone in her grief of losing the man who was more like a father to her than her real dad ever was. However, it was losing Spike three months later that had fully pushed her over the edge. It was the only time in her life that she went completely dark, and it was Angelus who paid and then some. She had never thought herself capable of torture before that moment. Figuring she wouldn't have the stomach for it, but she'd been so very wrong. She had given her Slayer full control, and by the time she was finished with him there had been very little to stake. She remembered hating not just him in that moment, but Angel too. Years of pent-up emotional trauma caused by him leeching out of her as she bled him dry. Hatred and rage boiling inside of her at the fairytale romance they'd so naively convinced each other they had. It was never a fairytale; it had been a nightmare from the start. Even soulless Spike on his worse day would have never tried to break her so thoroughly. Angelus, in essence had succeeded in what he started so many years before. Except, instead of the broken pile of tears he expected would be the outcome of his mental torment, he got the broken primal force of the Slayer in full. He must have realized his mistake somewhere between her cutting out his tongue to shut him up and flaying his skin off the muscle and sinew because when she got to his eyes, they were full of the most potent fear she'd ever seen on a creature such as him. She remembered her Slayer purring in delight at the heady look of horror that was etched on his face, so unlike the arrogant knowingness he'd been giving her for hours. She remembered the feel of his sticky, coagulated blood as it spurted onto her face when she slowly pushed the blade into the brown pupil. The same eyes she had once thought so beautiful. She remembered how it felt to twist the knife until there was nothing left. The only sound Angelus able to make was a gargling, choking, scream. Buffy shook her head, banishing the gruesome memories to the back of her mind. She had disappeared for two years after that, running every few days to make sure no one could find her, too ashamed to face anyone. Wesley had finally found her in that broken-down, abandoned hovel, too weak to keep running. He hadn't asked what happened, he'd simply taken her in his arms and held her. When she had eventually shattered completely, sobbing dry tears, because she was to dehydrated to produce any, Wesley had stroked her back, hushing her. He never once asked what happened, but she suspected he already knew. There was a haunted look in his eyes that told her he had danced that fine line once himself. “Buffy? Buffy are you there?” Willow asked, forcing Buffy out of her memories completely. “Yeah,” Buffy said, shaking her head and blinking several times. “Sorry, what?” “I said, is there anything else I should know?” Willow huffed, a worried edge to her voice. Buffy chewed on her lip for a minute, thinking of her handsome stranger. “Yeah,” She said again. “There’s definitely something else.” She was quiet for a long moment, before finally saying. “Look, I didn’t say anything to Wesley, because he’s dealing with a lot right now, but there’s this guy here and he's...well..." she paused, shivering slightly at the memory of his hand in hers. "He's like uber-powerful." "You mean like Glory and Illyria powerful?" Willow asked, the worry in her voice unmistakable now. "I mean, like take Glory and Illyria, put them in a pot, add a few other Old Ones, stir, and you got this guy." Now Willow sounded downright frightened. "You're kidding? And he's working for the military?" Buffy shook her head even though Willow couldn't see it. "No, he's actually working for the cargo company the military contracted." "Huh?" Willow said in confusion. "Yeah, and here's the thing, he doesn't feel like a demon, or even mystical. It’s almost like..." and that’s when it all began to click into place. Spaceship, uber-powerful guy working as a civilian near said recently discovered spaceship. Power that felt foreign to her, not other worldly, but out of this world. She froze, her eyes landing on a piece of paper tucked under her weapons bag. With a shaky hand she reached down and unfolded it, her eyes scanned the quickly scribbled words on the page. "Willow, I... I gotta go." Buffy said, hanging up before she could hear her friend’s protest. She reached for her weapons bag, unzipped it and pulled out her Scythe. The words of the poem repeating in her head. She thought about changing into her suit, but decided against it. She wasn't sure how much time she had, but the sun had set a while ago and she had a feeling if she didn't leave now, she'd never see her handsome stranger again. She donned her jacket and her beanie, throwing on a backpack already prepacked with survival supplies. She opened the door and ran full speed out into the night. The forgotten poem falling into the snow, the words bleeding out as the slush soaked the paper. 'I know not whence I came, I know not whither I go But the fact stands clear that I am here In this world of pleasure and woe. And out of the mist and murk, Another truth shines plain. It is in my power each day and hour To add to its joy or its pain.'

[Chapter Two]

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nitannichionne · 3 years

Text

Superman- The Rise of Isis, Chapter 6: The New Player (Henry Cavill Superman Fanfic)

KAL-EL POV

"I don't have all the footage."

I could see Bruce was really trying to figure it out. I was there and I was trying to figure it out myself.

"From what I can see, this mystery woman has heat vision, can blow wind indoors, is capable of flight, and maybe has telekinesis." Bruce shakes his head. "Like nothing I've ever seen before." He looks up at me. "I'd think she was Kryptonian except for the telekinesis." He frowned. "Are Kryptonians capable of telekinesis?"

"Telepathy," I shrugged.

"A Kryptonian ship was discovered in Canada. According to sources, after Zod, it...disappeared?" Bruce quirked an eyebrow.

Bruce and I are friends, but that didn't mean I wanted him poking about a Kryptonian ship--Well, not just yet. "Yes." I replied slowly. "I took it and placed it elsewhere."

"History is in the ship," he pressed. "Files, records of who has come to earth before?"

I swallowed hard. "I don't think they survived."

"Who didn't survive?" Barry arrived in his Flash suit and was out and changed in mere seconds. He looked around sniffing and found pizza. "Somebody loves me."

"Somebody told you to come," Bruce muttered. "Need your energy up."

"Okay." He started eating with two hands. "Hey, Cy."

Cyborg quirked an eyebrow at him as he worked on the computer. "Barry." He gave Bruce a look, and Bruce gave him a look that basically said, Let it go. I smiled at that. Barry wanted friends, wanted to fit in, and a bit badly. But how can you relax when you are on a totally different speed? I understood the boy, I had my time of adjustments too.

"How can you be so sure?" Bruce asked. "And did you even check the records? Did you have time to?"

I tensed. "No--"

"I can access the computer--"

"What?" I felt violated, looking at Cyborg.

"Remember my tech is pretty high," Cyborg blinked. "But this requires a Kryptonian."

"In what way?" Bruce asked.

"There seems to be a panel that requires a Kryptonian DNA scan."

"Then we need to go have a look."

"I don't think she's Kryptonian--"

"Wouldn't your ship's records have more than just your people's?" Bruce asked me. "What if it also has records of other life-other beings?" He turned in his chair when I did not answer. "Knowledge is power. We need to know what we're dealing with."

Though Bruce and I are friends, I can't seem to get past his way of thinking. He tried to kill me because he thought there was a chance I could turn. He decided to chance digging me up and bringing me back from the brink of death and then had the forethought to bring Lois in case I was disoriented. His mind works in a way that unsettles me from time to time. I'm glad we are on the same side, but his "what if" ideas are troublesome.

"What if we all go to the ship," Diana suggested as she walked in. "That way we don't have to stay long and we can search--" She frowned at the screen. "Who...?"

"A new player," Bruce said.

"She looks beautiful." Diana said softly.

"Clark has met her...and chased her--" He put up two fingers. "Twice."

My jaw clenched at that.

"Tell me about her." Diana pressed gently, looking at me.

"She...has powers like mine." I said slowly.

"And you didn't catch her?" Barry asked.

"No."

"Didn't talk to her?" Bruce frowned at me, then we both noticed Diana had not stopped staring at the screen. "Diana?"

She slowly came out of her trance. "What?"

"Do you know this woman?" Bruce asked.

"I...I don't know."

I watched her. She looked like whatever she was thinking, it was complicated.

"Don't keep us in suspense," Bruce asked.

"Can you make this bigger?"

"No," Bruce growled. "Museum cameras are low tech. Keeps pixelating."

Cyborg exhales. "Ready to let me give it a try?"

Bruce tried not to show annoyance. "Sending."

"Got it." Cyborg nodded, and began working on it right away.

"What is the problem, Clark?" Bruce pressed. "Need you and Cyborg to be on the computers here while we go to the ship. We're going now." He rose from his chair and turned to me. "Unless there's a problem?"

"Let's find out." I answered flatly. Let's find out if she is Kryptonian. Let's find out if she's something else, which means a human being will find out there's more out there than just them and us.

@mistress-of-ward @nuggsmum @messyinsomnimaniac @jencanbeyouryengeralt @sweetdreamsofgelato @mary-ann84 @omgkatinka @the-soot-sprite @viking-raider @keanureevesisbae @henryobsessed @summersong69 @sunshine96love @michelehansel @thelastsock @tumblnewby @tenaciousneckpartypainter @rn7rocks @daydreamin83 @ruthoakenshield @musicartmayheminmyheart @kaatelyynn-blog-blog@forallthebrokenheartedthings @alphacancrii @liquorlaughslove @designerwriterchic @tamychm @nikkilynn303 @circesgirl1 @xoxohannahlee @pixie88@fckdeusername @maan24 @kaatelyyynn @october505 @absentmindr @introvertedmouse @sassy-pelican @griscka75 @kebabgirl67 @its-carlerr

#henry cavill #henry cavill fandom #henry cavill fanfiction #henry cavill fluff #superman #superman fandom #clark kent #superman fanfiction

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sparkly-angell · 4 years

Note

Hi! Could I ask for a Superbat prompt? Fake dating? Thank you!

Hey anon, remember me? When you asked this five months ago? Here it is. (Im sorry it took me so long, I got into univerity (finally) and life became a wreck!)

Hope this is enough apology: superbat, fake date, 3k, pure fluff ;)

Prompt me | Ko-fi | AO3 version 🌻

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“No way.”

“Bruce, no one will recognize you, please–”

“I’m not doing it.”

“You just have to stand by my side and smile every now and again.”

“Why don’t you ask Diana for it?”

Clark’s mouth clamped shut. Because she’s in Themyscira sure as hell wasn’t going to make Bruce suddenly decide that yes, he was giving up his weekend to go with Clark to a school reunion back in Smallville and pretend to be his plus one because Clark accidentally bought two tickets. He knew it was no use to try and convince Bruce, but it wasn’t like he had a choice, not really.

“Please, Bruce, it’s just one night. I’ll even get Ma to make that family recipe pork roast I know you love.”

Bruce’s eyes shifted from the CCTV screens to him, calculating, before they got back to work, and back ignoring Clark.

“Go bother Lois.” and with that, he started tapping on his keyboard as immaculate as always.

“Lois is covering a big story this weekend.” Not a lie, but Clark didn’t want to ask Lois for this.

They’ve broken up over five months now, but no way things wouldn’t turn awkward if she said yes.

Clark sagged his shoulders, feeling resignment wash over him. Guess he ought to look for someone else. He was sure Barry would be excited to go with him. He glanced at Bruce again, his eyes never leaving the screen, deep in concentration as if Clark had never been there to bother him in the first place. He smothered a sign.

“Yeah, ok. Sorry to bother you. I’ll go see if Barry would like to go, then.” he turned and walked hopelessly up the stairs to the mansion. Maybe Alfred would take pity on him and offer a few of his delicious cookies.

The tapping of the keyboard stopped and Clark heard Bruce’s chair swirling around.

“Barry is your second option?” Bruce asked incredulously, “Barry?”

Clark frowned, “Why not?”

Bruce let out a series of unintelligible noises before taking a deep breath and pinching the bridge of his nose. “That kid has a crush on you, Clark.” he got up from the chair and ran a nervous hand over his hair.

Clark’s eyes widened. “He what?”

Bruce scoffed and shook his head. “It’s so obvious even a blind man can see it.”

His face fell to the ground. Well, if it couldn’t be Barry, who would he be taking? No one felt quite as right as Bruce, but he already said he wouldn’t…

Bruce met his eyes but quickly averted it, clicking his tongue. “Stop with the long face. Ok, I’ll go with you. But just this time–and I get to chose your suit.”

Clark smile threatened to split his face in two as the butterflies inside his chest somersaulted cheerfully.

“Thank you, Bruce, you won’t regret it!” he sprinted excitedly the remaining stairs all the while shouting, “I’ll tell Ma to buy some pork!”

Clark was panicking.

He paced from one side of his apartment to the other, trying to quench his nervousness back inside. Not that his apartment was big, no, it wasn’t even 7 meters in length, but he needed to move to distract himself while he waited for Bruce to pick him up.

Clark squeezed his eyes shut and let an exasperated groan.

Why again did he invite Bruce, of all people?

He hadn’t realized how stupid his decision had been until the postman came baring a fancy, expensive looking box for him that morning. Inside had been the deep blue suit he now wore. It had come with a note.

‘Please, wash up before putting it on, don’t mess it up. I’m picking you at 6pm.’

He looked at his watch again. 6:15pm.

Ok, he breathed, only one minute since he last checked time. That’s progress.

Bruce was late, but that’s fine. He’s always fashionably late, isn’t he? Yes, that was it. It’s not like Bruce forgot about it. Right? He even went through the trouble to get Clark a proper suit, which, indeed was the finest cloth his body has ever come in contact with.

He slumped on his bed, ignoring the painful crack it let out. If he was being truthful, he actually appreciated this few minutes Bruce gave him. At least he could get comfortable with the fact that he would have to pretend to be Bruce’s boyfriend for a night.

His face heated up instantly. Clark abruptly let his elbows fall on his thighs as he massaged his temples soothingly. Ma would be calling him dramatic, but this felt necessary.

How was he, Clark Kent, the worst liar on the planet Earth (except when it came to his identity) to pretend not to have a massive crush on Bruce Wayne, so that Bruce doesn’t notice, while pretending to be in love with said man, at the same time?

Clark was considered super by some, but this decision was just plain stupid. Maybe super stupid.

A single, clean knock came from his door. Clark spurted to his feet and straightened his clothes, trying to make it even and stop it from looking like he had just been lying on his bed pitifully. One last look in the mirror told him his glasses were a little off, so he quickly adjusted them.

Ok, he breathed out. He was ready.

…Or so he thought. Clark’s breath wasn’t so much as taken but punched away from his lungs as his eyes skimmed over Bruce. He had knew his friend looked good in suits, Clark even saw it face to face a few times before, but for some reason, Bruce looked especially gorgeous in Clark’s hallway lights.

His suit was a smart grey, that hugged him in all the right places, not that Clark would expect anything less. Black slick shoes that looked just bought and a expensive looking watch finished the look. But what had caught Clark’s eyes was his tie, which matched the exact colors of Clark’s own suit.

Clark hoped to anyone listening that his blush didn’t look as bright as it felt. He looked at Bruce’s eyes, blue, sparkling eyes and felt a pang of love mixed with a small dose of lust washing his body. Clark cleared his throat and gave him a shy, trembling smile.

That seemed to snap Bruce out of his own world too. A light blush spreaded over his cheeks as he averted his face away, schooling his expression before facing Clark again.

“I knew the blue suit would look good on you.”

Clark froze with his heart in his throat, watching Bruce walk back towards the flight of stairs he’d just climbed.

Clark couldn’t say he missed most the people from his high school years. Of course, there were some people he still talked from time to time, who had also moved to Metropolis and who he would go out with and have a coffee.

Whenever in Smallville he met with the ones he was closer and decided to take on family business. But it wasn’t many people, he was never one of the popular ones, never want to have the spotlight in his face, specially with his powers flowering in his teens.

So it didn’t make much sense that they were getting all this attention from everyone in the party.

They’ve traveled to Smallville by one of Bruce’s jets, stopping on the Kent’s farm, and from there, they went to the school with Pa’s old truck, not to call too much unwanted attention. The travelling was mostly quiet, they went over the plan as Clark gave Bruce a quick once over of his classmates and his old school. He told Bruce he was a hundred percent sure no one would recognize him. Smallville wasn’t one to keep up with news, specially in the business department. So he needn’t worry.

What Clark didn’t expect was that, even so, they still stood out a lot.

“Maybe is the suits.” Clark whispered to Bruce once the girl who had been talking with them excused herself to the bathroom. Bruce scoffed.

“But these are really simple.” he shook his head in confusion. Clark bit his lips, holding back a laugh, “What’s so funny?” He scowled at Clark.

Clark only shrugged and shook his head. Bruce wouldn’t get it.

“It’s definitely our clothes Bruce.” he couldn’t help the smile that broke his face. God, they were totally overdressed for this reunion and Clark could barely hold back his laugh.

“Or maybe they are stunned that small and shy Clark Kent became a gorgeous tall man that wears good clothes and has a handsome rich man as partner.” Bruce leaned over him, voice flirtatious as he smirked playfully. Too close.

Clark gulped dryly as a crimson blush crawled over his cheeks. This was all an act, he reminded himself, Bruce was doing it for their flirting façade to continue.

He smiled back and tilted his head to the side.

“Of course, that’s very humble of you, dear.” he winked. He could do that too. Two could flirt. Clark might not have Bruce’s experience, but he could follow a little flirt.

Even if his heart kept drumming desperately.

“Clark? Is that you?” Clark turned around following the source of the woman’s voice. He’d completely forgotten about the other people around them, but smiled once he found himself face to face with Lana.

“Oh, Lana! How are you?” he gave her a quick friendly hug before getting closer to Bruce’s space. Faking it or not, Clark felt a lot more secure near his friend.

“I’m fine! Just got here, actually.” her eyes fell on Bruce. She smiled, “And this is…?”

“Bruce, Clark’s partner.” he held his hand out and shook hers cordially, giving her his best captivating smile, “Nice to meet you, Lana.”

She smiled back, a faint blush covering her beautiful high cheeks. Clark held back the urge to roll his eyes. Of course everyone would be enchanted by Bruce.

“The pleasure is all mine.” she said, voice but a purr. “So? How did you two meet?” She turned back to Clark.

“Work. Bruce is my colleague.”

“Oh? A journalist as well?” Lana took a sip of her drink, eyes never leaving them.

“Not quite.” Bruce winked, knowing full well how mysterious he sounded and sneaked a hand over Clark’s waist. His heart jumped, eighth time that night, but Clark leaned into it casually.

Lana raised an eyebrow.

“That makes a woman wonder.” she taps her chin amusedly a few times before dropping her hand, “Well, it was nice seeing you again, Clark, and you, Bruce. I’ll catch up with the others, maybe we can talk more later, what you think? It’s been quite a while.”

“Sure it has.” Clark smiled as they both watched her dazzle away.

“You didn’t tell me Lana was your ex when you told me about her.” Bruce deadpanned right on his ear. Clark didn’t know how he still had blood to continue blushing like that.

“How did you know?” there was no point denying it, now that Bruce said it out loud.

Bruce scoffed and gave him his signature ‘why do I even need to explain’ expression. “It’s written all over you two.”

Clark groaned miserably and Bruce squeezed his his hand over his hips compassionately. Clark blushed, suddenly reminding himself Bruce still had a possessive arm around him. And if he was truthful to himself, he enjoyed the feeling very much.

“Let’s go for another round and later we can get some air, what do you think?” Bruce suggested leading them towards another couple. He raised his eyebrow and smirked, “This is not so different from my galas, it’s quite fun.”

“I thought you hated the galas.” Clark frowned.

“It’s gratifying to see people taken aback by my presence. Especially when they don’t know who I am.”

Clark rolled his eyes foundly. “You are horrible, Bruce.”

Bruce’s smile only grew. He winked again, now directed at him.

“You know it.”

“I can’t wait to go home.” Clark said with a sigh. He sat down on his school’s front steps, resting his chin on his hands. All the houses from the main street in front of them were already closed and sound asleep, the only thing illuminating the village were the scattered street lamps, that gave the impression of golden auras hovering the houses. Clark loved it.

It was probably somewhere near two in the morning. Most people already left, a few were too drunk to move, and others were enjoying what was left of the reunion. Not Clark and Bruce.

Bruce rested back into his elbows, also observing the lights from afar. He looked astounding. His coat was gone, he left it inside somewhere, and had his dress shirt sleeve rolled up to his elbows, which, in Clark’s opinion, shouldn’t be as sexy as it was. Bruce had a distant look on his face, eyes probably miles away from where they where.

“Thinking of Gotham?” Clark asked, half joking because he knew the Bat always had his city in mind.

Bruce turned those deep eyes to him. Clark’s breath hitched.

“Honestly? No.” Bruce admitted with a faint voice. His eyes traveled over Clark’s face until going back to his eyes. He let out a vague laugh. “I was thinking about that pork Ms. Kent promised for lunch tomorrow.”

Clark’s eyes widened at the confession. The cricketing around them seemed to lower to a whirring as even the crickets chosen that moment to end their day.

“You’re going to love it.” Clark said, recomposing himself and smiling softly at his friend.

“There isn’t one thing Martha Kent’s ever done that I don’t love.” Bruce whispered, and Clark’s heart threatened to jump from his chest. He broke their intense glaring, feeling a pang of regret stabbing him on the chest.

The night was ending, and so was their relationship, even if fake. Tonight had been both a blessing and a curse, because for all Clark had enjoyed dating Bruce, it was all an illusion and soon reality would put him back to his place, now with a small taste of what could be.

Bruce seemed to notice his glooming state and schooched closer, so they were both sharing the same warmth. Clark burned.

“I should have invited Barry.” he blurted out without thinking. Bruce stiffened next to him, yet Clark didn’t dare turn his face to look at him.

“Why?” Bruce’s voice had now an anxious edge that wasn’t there before.

Should he say it? Clark was already in a bad place, maybe confessing his feelings wouldn’t matter now.

“Because this part would hurt much less. Wouldn’t hurt at all.” he whispered into the night.

Bruce fell silent and Clark squeezed his eyes shut. He could almost hear that big brain putting the pieces together. Clark only had a few seconds before Bruce got up and left him for good. Maybe it was a bad idea after all.

Too late to change it now.

Bruce interlaced his fingers together and held tight even as Clark gasped and snapped his face in Bruce’s direction, alarmed. He didn’t dare say anything about it, he didn’t want to break this moment. He even stopped breathing at some point.

“You know why I said yes to come here with you?” Bruce asked breaking the silence softly. Clark waited for an answer, still clammed. “I got jealous of Barry getting the opportunity I’ve been wanting for months now.”

“Bruce…” but Bruce closed his eyes and shook his head lightly, a few locks of his hair falling over his eyes.

“Just– don’t. Let’s just stay here a little while, ok?”

“Ok.” Clark receded. He contemplated the street for a moment before he leaned closer to Bruce, feeling joy bash over him as Bruce embraced it. Their hands a solid connection between them and their hearts, both beating in insane rhythms, yet it easily became Clark’s favorite song.

Bruce rested his head on Clark’s shoulder, the pressure making his heart beat faster, if that was even possible. Clark hummed approvingly and stretched his arm behind Bruce, supporting their weight and successfully getting closer to Bruce.

His smell was intoxicating this close. It was sweet but with a characteristically twinge of something spicy, and if Clark took a deeper breath, he would be able to sense the steel and the kevlar from his uniform.

Oh. Bruce’s face was so close to his, closer than it has ever been. Clark’s cheek was pressed against his forehead, it was just a matter of turning, only a few degrees, and he could– and he would–

“Bruce,” he whispered sounding almost desperately to his own ears, but he was past the point of embarrassment now, “can I?”

Bruce contemplated the question silently and Clark hoped he didn’t have to specify what he wanted, but not long after, Bruce nodded. If Clark didn’t know better, he would say Bruce was shy.

Slowly, afraid of scaring Bruce, Clark turned his face until they were nose to nose. His throat constricted, excitement flew through his veins as they shared one last look, blue eyes unfazed and determined, looking past Clark’s own eyes, looking inside.

He felt raw, exposed. He never wanted this feeling to end.

Clark’s eyes fell, focusing on the one part of Bruce he’d been trying the most to ignore the entire night. His lips were perfectly drawn, soft, Clark could tell only by looking. He leaned forward, only a few inches, and got surprised when Bruce was the one to close the remaining distance.

Yes, soft, was the first thing in Clark’s mind as their lips came together, dancing to the silence music of their heartbeats. Clark’s chest exploded in tiny shatters of relief and love and passion and lust, all mixing into one big emotion that was Bruce.

His hand instinctively found its way to Bruce’s cheek, cupping gently as his thumb caressed him lovingly. They broke apart, forehead against forehead as they breathed hard, not so much from lack of air, but from the intensity of what they just did.

“Why don’t we go home?” Clark rasped out, voice overwhelmed with emotions. Bruce gave him a tiny, intimate smile.

“I’d love to.”

#superbat #superman #clark kent #batman #bruce wayne #fic #fake date #thank you croc for helping me w this #<3 #dc

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aion-rsa · 3 years

Text

Superman & Lois Episode 4 Review: Haywire

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This Superman & Lois review contains spoilers.

Superman and Lois Episode 4

One of the most tired arguments in comics is about whether or not Superman is too powerful to tell good stories with. The plethora of exceptional, meaningful, moving Superman stories out there should put that argument to bed for good, but if they haven’t, feel free to direct anyone making it to “Haywire,” the fourth episode of what’s shaping up to be one of the best Superman arcs ever.

To my mind, the key Superman conflict has nothing to do with his power level and everything to do with the fact that he can’t be everywhere at once. He is a man who wants to help everyone, but has to prioritize where he can be and how much time he can stay there, and those choices all have consequences. That’s basically the thesis statement of this episode: Clark is being pulled in a thousand different directions at once, with his father-in-law climbing on his back about not being seen enough in Metropolis; an Intergang prisoner transfer going down; Morgan Edge about to close the deal on a mine outside of Smallville and Lois trying to run headfirst into Edge; and the boys trying to navigate school and also one of their classmates developing super speed.

But the thing that makes this episode, and the show as a whole, such a good Superman story isn’t necessarily the content of the story. It’s the storytelling, too. Superman & Lois excels at showing and telling. It weaves the three storylines – Clark, Lois and the kids – in and out, contrasting points against each other by bouncing from scene to scene to heighten the point. There are two spots this week where this is really well done.

The first is about midway through the episode. Lois’ big Morgan Edge expose in the Gazette has been spiked by a lawsuit threat – turns out Lois, a star reporter at a major metropolitan newspaper, had a noncompete WHODATHUNK (note: see the mailbag for who indeed thunk). So she pushed it off on Clark, who, as a well known mediocrity, had no such legal conflict, and was planning to bring up the issue in the big town meeting where Smallville was voting on granting Edge’s Intercorp mining rights to the party spot from the first episode.

Meanwhile, the Department of Defense was moving a super-prisoner out of town because Superman’s lack of presence in town was making the authorities skittish about keeping him in town. And at the same time, Sam Lane was giving the kids a hard time about being too needy now that they know their dad was Superman, because the rest of the world needed him more.

Of course, nothing works out right. Superman takes way too long on a wild goose chase, so Edge wins the town vote nearly unanimously, while the stuff with Jordan and Jon takes some time to blow up.

The performances really carry this sequence over. Hoechlin’s Clark agonizes over missing the vote and practically begs Tulloch’s Lois to be mad at him, and their argument is so natural and honest feeling that it’s immediately relatable.

Later, when the family finds out what Sam said to the kids, there’s an argument in the farmhouse that is also immediately recognizable and yet perfectly performed. Clark is pissed at Sam, but Superman’s anger is so often played as some world-ending threat, with glowing red eyes and menacing body language, yet here Hoechlin plays it completely straight – as an angry dad dealing with a shitty in-law. I’m sure we’re going to keep talking about this as the show goes along, but the amount of acting Hoechlin and Tulloch do with only their body language, and the way it conveys exactly who Superman and Lois are both alone and in relation to each other is a HUGE part of the mastery of this show.

The only problem I have with the episode is how it’s all a path to Sam’s radicalization into creating Project 7734. This is pretty BS for a couple of reasons: first, there’s no way the shady-ass government doesn’t already have a similar contingency plan (or 6) for dealing with a rogue Superman; and second, I know the episode is all about what a terrible parent he is, but I really can’t wrap my head around turning on Superman because he’s spending too much time with your grandkids. Maybe that’s what makes Sam a villain, but it’s also what makes this Superman the best he’s been so far in an already great show.

Metropolis Mailbag

Thaddeus Killgrave is a weaselly little shit created in the 1980s as a weapons designer for Intergang. The Killgrave we see on screen bears little resemblance to his comics version, where he was almost childlike in his stature. Instead, this bearded, bedraggled, mouth-noise-making character actually looks a lot like his creator, John Byrne.

Superman’s call sign when he’s working with the Department of Defense is “Bishop 6.” So…uh…does Sam Lane work for Checkmate? Checkmate is one of the various super-clandestine services operating in the DC Universe (along with Task Force X/Suicide Squad, Spyral, Kobra, Argus, the D.E.O., and on and on and on). Checkmate was first seen in Action Comics in the late 1980s and has counted among its members any number of famous DC heroes, from Deathstroke to Alan Scott and Mr. Terrific.

We have confirmation here that Morgan Edge is running a company called “Intercorp.” The Inter- prefix usually has connotations with Intergang (which is also present in the show), a gang of thugs organized by Bruno Mannheim, usually working for Morgan Edge in some capacity, and all functioning as a subsidiary of Apokalips. Intergang was created by Jack Kirby when he first started on Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #133, recently reprinted in a gorgeous absolute edition which is worth every single penny.

Calling the mines “Shuster Mines” is a nice touch, especially when they get bought out by a big company and filled with Superman’s only weakness.

Speaking of callbacks to Grant Morrison’s run, Glenmorgan Square is likely named after Glen Glenmorgan, a minor throwaway villain from the very beginning of Morrison’s Action Comics.

It’s not really an easter egg or anything, but I want it to be known that when Lois walked into the local paper’s office, I texted someone else watching and said “she definitely has a noncompete.” I’m glad the show also remembered this so I could be proven correct.

X-Kryptonite is a deeeeeep cut. Supergirl originally created X-Kryptonite as an antidote for green k. But she made it wrong, and it ended up being able to give anyone powers who was exposed to it. Including her otherwise normal Earth cat, Streaky. Yes this was 1960, why do you ask?

Tag’s emerging powers are a lot of vague references all in one. The super healing and the fast movement are pretty clearly emerging speedster powers, but he doesn’t have any other characteristics of Flashes. Besides getting his powers from a mysterious energy discharge hitting a bunch of weird chemicals. That said, Sam was probably talking out of his ass when he blamed phosphorus for Tag’s powers, considering they were partying on top of a pile of power-giving crystals when it happened.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Sam also says Tag is being sent to a “special school” for kids with powers, which…it’s weirdly early to be introducing Titans Academy to the TV shows, isn’t it? That new feature of the Infinite Frontier DCU is the only school for gifted youngsters I can think of that would fit the bill, but sound off in the comments if you know what he’s talking about! God I hope it’s not HIVE…

The post Superman & Lois Episode 4 Review: Haywire appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/38O74tS

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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singeramg · 4 years

Text

Midnight: Chapter 9

Pairing: Clark Kent- Superman/ Metahuman! Black! OFC

Story Rating: M

Warnings: Overall this is a slow burn story with Angst all throughout. This particular chapter has brief mention of smut, plenty of aforementioned Angst.

A/n: Welcome back everyone! I have loved all the support this has been getting and I swear I am working diligently on the next chapter. Enjoy this one...

CATCH UP HERE!

Midnight: Chapter 9

“You gave him my middle name”

Clark is standing in front of me and his emotions blend together so fluidly I can’t tell them apart to get a grasp on what he is feeling.

“Yes. He could not share your last name, so I gave him something he could share with you.”

“You wanted no one to know he was my son. Not even him.”

His voice is calmer than I ever could have anticipated it would be. Then again I never expected this to happen.

“Nobody could. It was too dangerous, I couldn’t risk it, and to be honest Clark who would believe that he was your child.”

Clark looks away, unable to make eye contact for a moment because he knew I was right.

“Even now you still believe its dangerous don’t you?”

“Clark I just...”

“You weren’t even going to tell me were you?” He asked me, clearly irritated.

“You want the nice version or the rude one?”

I ask heading over to the nearby chair and away from him.

“I just want the truth Gia.” For once Clark Kent sounds exhausted. Honestly I was too, I didn’t expect any of this when I started my day this morning. It seemed like it had been going on forever.

“The truth was and still is that a long time ago the man I thought would never abandon me did.”

“Gia...”

“Wait Clark let me finish. You abandoned me. Then you died Kal-El. You died and left me here by myself. Even though you left me, Kalen was the only part of you I had left. I had to protect that.”

Clark felt extreme amounts of pain and grief.

“You did it alone when you didn’t have to.”

I laughed incredulously, bless his heart but he didn’t understand.

“Clark do you understand the Hell that would have broken loose if I showed up on Mrs. Kent’s doorstep with your baby?”

He gives me a nervous smirk.

“I’d imagine she’d give you hell for calling her Mrs. Kent.”

“Not funny.”

“I’m doing my best not the flip out right now. Less than 20 minutes ago my son that you failed to tell me about ran into the room and you can’t even look me in my eye and admit that you weren’t going to say anything!”

“I WASN’T GOING TO TELL YOU!”

Clark’s face falls and clearly he’s hurt.

“You wanted the truth there it is. The other side of that truth is that I had changed my mind. Forget that you’ve not been awake a full 24 hours yet and this is not just something you shout out. This is why I wanted to talk to you alone when you arrived. My son...”

“Our son.”

I ignored the flutter of my heart at hearing him claim Kalen. The flutters reminded me of a time when all he had to do was be in the same general vicinity for me to feel them. I pushed it back down, I no longer have the time for these feelings.

“Am I to believe you were actually going to tell me? Excuse me if I’m not apt to believe that, considering you have been doing your best to push me away.”

“Believe me or not Kal. You are going to believe whatever you want. At the end of the day I have done everything in my power to keep MY son safe. I’ll be damned if I apologize for keeping the child that I pushed out of my body safe. You Kal-El slash Clark Kent slash asshole can go fuck yourself.”

Surprisingly he starts laughing at me.

“The fuck is so funny?”

“You only break out my Kryptoian name when you are pissed at me.”

If he only knew how pissed I was, he wouldn’t be making fun of me.

“You can stop laughing Clark. This shit ain’t funny. Do you understand what people will think given his age? What those on this team have already thought? Let me give you a hint. They think I’m a dirty hoe or did you forget about the fact that nobody knows the timeline about how this happened? How I could call myself Lois’ friend? How do you think she will respond once she finds out you have a child with someone that’s not her?”

“But Gia we did not cheat together.”

“I know that, you know that. Nobody else does! To the world you were and still are Clark Kent and Lois Lane the Daily Planet power couple and me I was the lowly barista who slept with you. A dirty whore.”

“Don’t CALL YOURSELF THAT!”

I scoffed at his anger.

“Why not Clark? That exactly what you reduced me to. Me. I can live with you walking out my life. I made peace with losing you. It’s always been her over me, and that’s the card I have been dealt. What I won’t do however is watch you come into his life and then leave again to save face after she and the world tells you it’s wrong.”

“What makes you think I would leave our son behind? I care less of what the world thinks of me.”

“It’s not the world I worry for anymore Kal. It’s the people that you love I worry about. I won’t let you break his heart.”

Clark looks at me, his anger radiating from him, as his chest puffs out and walks closer to me.

“WHY DO YOU BELIEVE I WOULD ABANDON MY SON?!”

“BECAUSE YOU ABANDONED ME! You are capable of breaking hearts because YOU BROKE MINE!”

Realization dawns on him and he tries to move closer to me. I toss up the strongest shield I am capable of. Clark can’t get through, and just holds his hand against the invisible barrier. His forehead drops against it.

“Let me in Gia. Please.”

I hadn’t even realized the tears had come back. I shook my head no.

“I can’t Clark. Besides this is no longer about us. It’s about Kalen. Now your son is waiting for you to read him a bedtime story. I am going to bed, goodnight.”

“Gia...please just talk to me...”

“We can discuss telling Kalen about you in the morning. Goodnight Clark.”

I walked away, the shield still holding strong. Thankfully he didn’t follow as I locked myself in my room.

Once inside memories I had long sense suppressed came to the surface.

*Flashback* Nearly four years ago

I woke up slightly disoriented. The only thing that I knew for certain was the soreness in between my legs. As I adjusted to the light streaming in my newly acquired solo apartment, I rolled on my back, my nudity covered by my beige sheets, the comforter sprawled across my floor. The night's events came rushing back to me all at once. The memories of feeling Clark’s hands on me, roaming the expanse of my body, the feeling of his strong, hard body in between my legs, the cries of my multiple climaxes as my nails ran down his muscled back.

I spent the night with Clark.

I was still trying to wrap my head around what had happened, but I still also wanted to live in this moment. Reminiscing on how wonderful it had been to lay with him.

Thinking of him made me wonder where the man himself had gone? My bed was cold enough to indicate he had been gone for a while, at least not in bed with me.

“Clark?”

I called out softly, knowing if he was nearby he would hear me. I heard no response nor did he appear. I looked around the bedroom, taking note that my clothes were still scattered while his were gone.

‘No big deal, he was Superman he couldn’t exactly wait until I woke up to go save the world.’

With that in mind I got up to take a hot shower once out I spent the day floating in a cloud until it got later and later in the day and he hadn’t reappeared. Then the next day when he wouldn’t call or text me back letting one week went by as I became steadily more depressed. I wasn’t sure what was wrong? Had I been that trash in bed that he had to ghost me? I mean even if it wasn’t as good for him as it had been for me, I mean we could work on that, what was burning me up was that at the bottom of it all was that we were better than this. I thought he was better than this. It was almost a week to the hour since Clark and I had fallen into bed, and I had just finished watching Love and Basketball, wiping stray tears away. I had blown through my snacks and I needed more before I started watching Love Jones. I decided to make a run to the store.

Donned in yoga pants, an old t-shirt and a men’s hoodie that I fell in love with from the Goodwill , I walked to the store. My apartment wasn’t far from the coffee shop where I worked along with a bunch of other cute little shops. I found my convenience store. Settling for the chocolate brownie Ben and Jerry’s along with Gummy Bears and chips. I headed back to my apartment, looking down at my phone, scrolling Instagram, when a shop door opens in front of me. The guys coming out of the bike shop apologize but I don’t care because upon looking up I see Clark spinning Lois in his arms, her head tipped back in a laugh as her red delicately curled hair swung around.

My breath catches in my chest as he leans down and kisses her soundly on the lips.

I almost dropped my bag. I literally feel my heart break, I think Clark must hear it break because he looks up spotting my face from the under the hoodie. His guilt hits me full force furthermore confirming what I am seeing, but it gets buried under my emotions.

I back away from where they are coming toward me, finding an alleyway. He can’t follow me without looking suspicious to Lois. I jump from building to building, sliding down the fire escape and into my hallway, where I let myself into my apartment and tried to block out the rage and pain I felt, cutting on my movie as I intended before I left. Shutting down was the only thing I knew how to do properly.

*3 hours later*

I fell asleep on the couch, my package of Lorna Doone cookies sitting open on the coffee table, I almost screamed upon seeing a darkened figure standing in the corner of my room. It was only the familiar scent that calmed me, then pissed me off.

“What in the fuck are you doing here?”

Clark came out of the corner of my living room and I waved my hand, the lights coming on in the apartment. Dressed in the same blue plaid shirt and Henley, with jeans I saw him in earlier with...her.

“Well I’ve been trying to call you for two hours and when you didn’t answer I got nervous. So I came over.”

I glared at him.

“So let me get this straight. You, Kal-El have sex with me over, how many days ago...what is it now, like 7 days and then ghost me. No explanation or anything, and in the middle of your ghosting, you run into me. Then let me guess, you decide you need a booty call from the side chick, call me and when I don’t jump when you say jump , NOW you get nervous. “

I scoff and say

“Pfft, Clark I think you should go.”

“Gia. I owe you an apology. I never meant to hurt you. It wasn’t supposed to go that far.”

“Good to know you didn’t plan to break my back and then leave.” I scoff with an eye roll.

“I’m serious Gia. I am sorry. I got so caught up and then Lois came back into town the next day wanting to work it out. She and I have been through too much to leave it on the table.”

“But you will sacrifice my feelings though.”

“It’s not like that. I care about you Gia, so so much. I haven’t called because to be honest, I look at you and see how this will hurt you and Lois. I came to tell you that I think it’s best if we don’t see each other. At least for right now, just until Lois and I can get settled.”

I was crushed, the man I loved was the one breaking my heart.

“You will never be settled if you lie to her.”

“I will tell her eventually, Gia it’s just temporary.”

I glared at him, and walked into my kitchen. Clark watched as I drank a glass of water. I gave myself a minute to compose, then said some of the hardest words to come out of my mouth.

“No it’s not temporary.” I sigh

“Yes, yes it is Gia. Besides you deserve to have a chance to live your life. You have been wrapped up in my Superhero business since I rescued you. You deserve to enjoy the life you clawed your way to without me around. Just let me handle the bad people out there for now. Maybe you can find someone to love you just as you without the baggage I bring.”

The ‘ because I don’t love you ‘ hung in the air like smoke and the fact that he couldn’t even say it out loud pissed me off. He even thought he could tell me to give up Midnight. She being an extension of me, it told me he didn’t care at all. He couldn’t have asked that of me if he did.

“I said it’s not temporary Clark. You see, I thought you would be different because you aren’t from Earth. Turns out your biological parents’ goal was accomplished because you are just like the rest of the men in the world Clark Kent. You get what you want and you leave. As women we give and give until we are depleted. I gave to you until I was almost lost in the shadow of you. I’m done giving to you Kal. I’m done waiting for you to realize I am not some fragile flower in need of your protection anymore. If cutting me out your life was so easy now, then who am I to think you won’t do it again when it’s convenient? Bold of me to assume you give two fucks about me at all. So when I say it’s not temporary, it’s because it’s not. This week without you proved one thing to me and that is that I don’t need or want you in my life anymore.”

“But Gia I care I just...I mean just a few short weeks ago I was going to propose to Lois. I can’t just walk away from her. Why can’t you of all people understand that?”

I laugh again which only makes him nervous. I knew about the ring. He had shown me a while ago and while I ignored the flicker of pain, I had congratulated him and given him a proud hug. I had finally begun to make peace with Clark only being my friend. I was almost over the crush, then this had happened.

Now he was not about to lay his guilt on me like all of this was my doing. I loved him more than I thought was possible, but I loved myself more, at least as of this moment I did.

“Kal I understand perfectly. I never asked you to choose between she and I. All I ever asked was that you be my friend. You can’t even manage that. Come on let’s face it, you’ve been pulling away from me for a while. I am tired of digging my heels in the dirt, begging you to return my friendship as you had in the past. So I agree it’s best we do not see each other, but this time Kal-El make it permanent. Get out of my life and don’t EVER come back.”

His face fell, I imagined the tears in his eyes, probably to make myself feel better about all of this.

“Gia. I don’t mean forever.”

“It’s not up for discussion because I do. I mean forever. Enjoy building your perfect life with Lois. I hope she is all the friend you will ever need, maybe you will make more, better than how you’ve treated me, but to be honest I don’t care if she is or not. Please leave my apartment and don’t come back.”

“Gia.” He says his voice almost pleading.

“GET OUT NOW KAL- EL!”

I said finally frustrated with him. I was on the verge of tears. I can't break down with him here. I needed him to go.

“I’ll go Gia because it’s what you’ve asked of me, but I can’t not see you as in forever. I am...not... that strong.”

I imagined I could feel his disappointment and heartbreak. I knew I was trying to make myself feel better.

“You are going to have to be. Besides Don’t be so dramatic, I am only giving you what you wanted from the beginning when you asked me if I had anywhere to go. I’m setting you free of me for good just like you would have the night you rescued me. Goodbye Kal-El.”

I couldn’t even look at him, I shut off all incoming emotions as he stood there looking at me for another minute or so. Finally he opens the front door.

“Goodbye Gia.”

As soon as the front door closes I slid to the kitchen floor. Face in my hands, knees almost touching my chest as I cried, the position reminding me of the night he found me and asked me to trust him. I did and look where it got me.

How did I lose my best friend and the man I loved in one night?

I was stupid to even let them become the same person. The worst part was that subconsciously I knew this would be the outcome. Okay maybe not the whole sex thing but even still I ignored my gut, and latched onto the idea that he loved me the way I loved him and I gave him a part of me that I could not get back.

I could never fully forget Clark Kent because he had been my first. I knew I would always love him, he could just never know that...

*End Flashback*

We had no clue about the life we created the same night I lost my virginity to him. He wore protection and I was on birth control, so I still don’t know how Kalen came to be, but every time my son looks at me I am grateful. I would go through heartbreak again and again if it meant he didn’t feel an ounce of pain. Seeing Clark again after all these years had only proved I had buried the hurt, not gotten over it.

I had to keep Clark at a distance at least from me. I had to stick to my decision that was made a long time ago and that was to not give a damn about this situation.

My son had to be the priority. I couldn’t handle it if he wasn’t...

A/n: So what do you think? I hope it was enjoyable despite the heavy angst....

Love you all!! And remember the taglist is open just let me know -Singeramg

TAGLIST:

@bloodyinspiredfuck @romyr4

#Henry Cavill #henry cavill x black ofc #Clark Kent xOFC #Clark Kent #fanfiction #SUPERMAN X OFC #superman

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controloffandoms · 5 years

Text

Numb (D.W.)

Prompt: Just something that came to mind. Reader is part of the Super Fam. Older Damian Wayne.

Pairing: Older!Damian Wayne x Super!Reader, Dick Grayson x platonic!reader

Words: 5870

Warnings: Cursing, violence (lots of violence for a little bit), Deaf reader at one point, emotionally vacant reader

Notes: This just kind of happened. There may be another part, but this is where I felt this part ended.

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

You slowly rose from your bed. You had gotten in around four that morning and had to be at work by seven...unless there was a crisis that you needed to stop that involved you getting snapshots of Krypton as she fought against whomever decided to become the villain of the morning. Then, you could tell your boss you were late because you were getting some action shots of Bludhaven’s favorite hero-though Dick Grayson would challenge you on that fact.

You would think a Super as yourself would be in Metropolis or another city close to it, but you would be wrong. You wanted to be independent of your father’s influence and your other siblings. You needed to make your own name. So, your father, Clark Kent, had reached out to Bludhaven Global Journal and had allowed you to further your career as a journalist without having to live up to the expectations of the Daily Planet since your parents were Clark and Lois, two famed journalists. After much debate, you decided to take the out and transfer to Bludhaven. That had been the best decision to make.

Last night you and Dick, as Krypton and Nightwing, had taken on Bane and Blockbuster who were teaming up to take Bludhaven before moving onto Gotham. Bane had been working on the Gotham end while Blockbuster had worked on Bludhaven. Last minute, Bane had joined the fight and your found yourself between a rock and a hard place. Why, you ask, does that put you in a pickle? While you are part Kryptonian, you didn’t get all of the powers your dad had...or Jon had...you didn’t even have the best attributes like Connor did. Sure, you can fly, you have heat vision, super hearing and strength. You do not have cold breath, X-Ray vision, or superspeed. The worst part was that you didn’t even have the invulnerability. You get bruised and cut like Dick does after a rough battle. While it takes more force to break bones, that’s also a possibility-especially when fighting Blockbuster and Bane.

You and Dick had stood back to back, taking in the new scene and information. Needless to say, your ached all over and were grateful that Dick was able to find the information you both needed to stop their operation in its tracks. While he had been off on a search of information, you had taken on the two powerhouses. Let’s just say that by the time Dick had the information, you were overpowered and running out of energy.

You stumbled into the bathroom and started your morning routine. A short, but relaxing shower followed by applying makeup to your bruises and cuts so no one at work could ask about your after-shift activities. You checked everything in the mirror before exiting your room and walking to the kitchen where Dick was just setting out a warm breakfast with coffee while taking a face-time from Bruce.

Dick’s eleven years older than you (as you were Damian’s age) and had taken it upon himself to watch out for you in Bludhaven. After you had accepted your position at BGJ, you had been called by Grayson telling you that he had lots of extra space in his penthouse that he would be willing to rent out to you. He knew the only way that you would accept the offer is if you worked for the space. He had been right, and you couldn’t thank him enough. It was nice not being all alone in a new city at the beginning. As the months went on, it was just nice to come home to someone who knew your nightly activities and understood both the mundane and super things.

Dick sat next to your at the bar, leaning the phone on the popsocket to get both of you in the picture and freeing his hands so he could eat. “Morning Bruce,” you mumble, not yet completely awake.

“Morning. Tell me what you experienced last night,” the frame shifted as Damian joined the picture.

“TT, they did a number on your face, (Y/N),” Damian sighed.

“Thanks for the update,” you rolled your eyes. “I had my suspicions after having overheard a conversation Blockbuster was having with someone on the phone before Dick showed up last night. No names were mentioned but they were talking about a ‘shipment’ that would cripple both Gotham and Bludhaven. They wanted to take out the vigilanties and take over the cities and make them in their own image. After the call ended, Blockbuster met with Tarantula. Tarantula was in charge of the shipment and was given coded directions that I still haven’t been able to decode. Whatever this ‘shipment’ is, I believe we better get ahead of it before they have a chance to use it against us. I’ll keep on trying to decode the message after I get to work today.”

“The information I downloaded and deleted from their computers seemed to cripple the operation for the time being. I think that they have something to do with the shipment that (Y/N) was talking about. She gave me a copy of the coded directions and I’m going to see if I can get anything from looking at that and the files. I’ll make it my primary case today. From the information I got several warehouses in Gotham, I’ve sent the information over to you for you both to look into. Be careful, in case the Gotham end is more prepared than ours,” Dick took a gulp of coffee.

“I will grab Drake, Todd, and Brown. We’ll go look into the warehouses. I will let you know of our findings,” Damien nodded.

“I did my own recon last night while Bane was still in Gotham. He was meeting with Joker, Harley, Penguin, Two-Face, and Riddler. I wasn’t able to get much information out of the conversation, but they were talking of the operation taking place in the next two weeks. Depending on if all of the information you gathered transfers over to the Gotham operation, you could have set them back as well. I want us all to be on our toes. I also believe that if Bane was meeting with five other villains that your operation is bigger than just Blockbuster and Tarantula,” Bruce sighed, looking up as a knock sounded on his door. “I don’t want either of you patrolling on your own, that goes for you as well Damian. We’ll talk more later. Be safe.”

The video ended and you stretched as you stood to take your dirty dishes to the sink. “Damian was right, Bane and Blockbuster did a number on your last night. Maybe you should call out today.”

You turned sharply, ignoring the pull of multiple cuts on your stomach. “I am a powerful Kryptonian, I do not need to take ‘sick days’. I will apply more makeup and be on my way. Stay safe on the job today, Dick. I’d hate to have to take an early break to save your ass because you can’t reveal to your partner that you’re Nightwing,” you stalked off to finish getting ready for work.

Don’t misunderstand, you love Dick Grayson. He’s like a big brother to you, a big brother that you never got, being the oldest in the Kent clan. At twenty-three, you’re still headstrong and willing to push every ache behind in order to get the job done and seem normal. You had been the first one that Clark had to teach to control your super strength, dial down your hearing, control your heat vision when you were angry. You had been the trial run. Hell, you were the reason that they slowly tested Jon’s abilities just in case he was like you, with penetrable skin. After realizing you weren’t bullet proof, it took your father almost a whole year to let you patrol again.

You stepped into the living room of the penthouse, seeing Dick grabbing his keys. You sighed quietly and walked over to him. “Thank you for being concerned, but I know my limits. I’ll leave work early if I’m not feeling well. Don’t do anything stupid today, Detective Grayson,” you hugged him. He wrapped you in gentle but firm arms.

“I know you do, but you’re my little sister (Y/N/N). I worry. I promise no stupidity today as long as you do the same,” he released you, giving you a look.

“Scouts honor,” you smirked and grabbed your own set of keys. You both parted once you got to the car garage.

_____________

You looked up as a shadow cast over your workspace. “Kent, we need to talk.” You rose an eyebrow at Damian and stood.

“I need to tell my boss that I’m not feeling too well and will be taking the rest of the day off,” you state as you grab your things. After he was informed, you and Damian began the walk to the parking garage. “What’s this about, Mr. Wayne,” you asked. Since you were in public, you were treating him as if he was in on your next story. An informant or professional expert on what your next article was going to be.

He opened the passenger door of his car and closed it behind you before joining you in the car. “We have time sensitive information on Blockbuster and Bane’s operation. It’s even bigger than we thought. We’re meeting everyone back at Grayson’s penthouse.”

You nodded and stared out the window before turning to look at Damian as he drove. His chiseled cheeks, his broad shoulders, the muscles rippling beneath the tailored suit he wore. His eyes turned to you briefly, but you didn’t turn away. “It’s been a while,” you casually stated.

“I know. Next time I’ll come for a social visit. Or you could come to Gotham, either way. We haven’t spent time together since you got your job eight months ago,” A small smile was present on his face.

“You still see Jon almost every week,” you asked.

“Oh most definitely. He asks me when I’m going to come see you,” you rolled your eyes. Jon and Damian were best friends, much like you and Damian were. Jon just seemed to think that there was more to your relationship than just being best friends. He was right on your end. You realized four years ago that you were in love with your best friend. You knew he couldn’t feel the same, so you kept it to yourself and used your feelings for him to better your friendship and protect him when your worked on missions together.

“The little brat thinks he’s so slick,” you joked.

“You might want to tone down the judgement on your brother. When I said this operation was even bigger than we thought, that meant that it spread to Metropolis. Jon and Conner are already with Grayson in the penthouse. Your father is off world but is trying to wrap up the mission to get back here to help deal with the situation. Father, Todd, and Drake have arrived at the penthouse. Pennyworth and Brown are monitoring things in Gotham.”

You nodded and stretched your hearing to the penthouse. Everyone Damian had mentioned was, in fact, at the penthouse. Another sound caught your attention. You zoned in on it and tensed. “-eady in two hours. We’ll take those idiot do-gooder’s out in no time,” that was Tarantula.

“Good. I want to be rid of them as soon as possible.” Blockbuster.

You zoned back into the car as it parked. You both exited the car, but you paused as a scream reached your ears. It was coming from the same direction as Blockbuster and Tarantula. “-(Y/N)? KENT,” Damian shouted as he shook your shoulder.

“What?”

“Are you coming?”

“I’ve got to check something out,” you muttered, mind still on the information you’d gotten on the way...and thinking of the scream. Was it just a trap to see if their plan would work on you? Was someone really in danger and needed assistance? As the scream returned, you rushed into the penthouse, ignoring the people already in it. You changed into your suit and was out your bedroom window before Damian even reached your room.

“TT, damn it Kent,” you heard Damian exclaim and you tuned out the penthouse.

Landing quietly on the roof of the building you tracked the scream to, you carefully looked around. You weren’t going in blindly. This could very well be a trap. You wished that you’d gotten the genetics for X-Ray vision at this point, but you could deal with this. You could help the person in danger and get back to the penthouse to talk about the operation with everyone else.

You entered through a vent, using the many lessons Bruce and Dick had taught you about hiding in the shadows and using the element of surprise. Finally you found the room where the screaming originated from. Good news was that there was cause for you to investigate. Bad news, someone did need rescuing and it was most likely a trap.

You reached your hearing to the penthouse, before whispering out, “Jon, Conner, your listening ears on?” You heard them quiet down the others in the penthouse as they responded.

“Good news, I know where Blockbuster’s master plan resides currently. Bad news, they’re going to go through with the plan in two hours.”

“Why the hell did you go off without anyone else,” Conner hissed.

“Other bad news, they have hostages.”

It was silent for a minute before Jon sighed. You could imagine him running a hand down his face, “and they know you have enhanced hearing meaning they were planning on drawing you into a trap...which you blindly did.”

“Not exactly. They still don’t know I’m here. I spent too much time with bats to be that stupid,” you paused as you saw movement as the door in the room opened. “Hold on, movement.”

“Don’t engage, Kent,” Damian growled, “we’re coming to you. You don’t move until we get there.”

Your heart stopped momentarily as you realized that you didn’t have a choice in that. Seconds after seeing the man come through the door, you put up your mental shields as you had been taught. Manchester Black, renowned telepath and enemy of Superman and all of his children. You didn’t know he was back on Earth. “Black,” you whispered, hearing Jon tell the others of the telepath.

Apparently you hadn’t put your shields up fast enough to block Black. “Come now, Kryptonian.”

Before you could move, the vent was torn from the ceiling and you were left staring at Monolith and General Zod. A quiet curse left your lips as you made a head count. Manchester Black, General Zod, Monolith, Blockbuster, Tarantula, Bane, Joker, and Harley Quinn. “And I thought your little plan wouldn’t work,” Bane chuckled as he looked at Zod.

“All of Kal-El’s children are too righteous to ignore helping the innocent. Even his clone can’t ignore the need to help others. It’s pathetic really,” he responded. You could feel Black trying to break your shields.

“Can we hit this one now? I want to see her turn black and blue,” Harley leaned on her bat as she waited on an answer.

“I need her disabled in order to test our plan out, go ahead,” Blockbuster grinned.

It was like you were an all you can eat buffet and the villains were starved people as they all rushed at you. You growled under your breath and fought them off. You stayed as far away from Monolith as possible. As far as you and Dick knew, he was invulnerable-not to mention the superstrength he possessed rivaled your own. You kept Zod at a distance as well. He was a full blooded Kryptonian, he possessed all of your dad’s abilities and other than kryptonite, he had no vulnerabilities.

You focused on Tarantula. Get her out and you’ll have one less villain to deal with. It wasn’t hard to knock the young woman out. With her out of commission, you worked on Joker and Harley while still dodging attacked from the others. You had knocked Harley out just as you felt yourself being picked up and thrown through the air, complete with the feeling that your skin was being melted. A huge fist pushed your farther into the concrete you rested against.

You met the next fist and threw off Monolith. You didn’t get far before it felt like your head was exploding. With your concentration gone, you crashed to the ground, hands going up to your head as the rest of your shields fell. You felt the blood starting to leak from your nose and you couldn’t fight the scream that left your lips as the pain in your head intensified along with the physical abuse by the other villains in the room. Just as you began to pass out, you felt your left leg shatter, causing a broken gasp to leave your mouth as everything went black.

___________

You don’t know how long it had been since you lost consciousness when you woke next. A quiet groan left your mouth and you bit your lip as you pushed yourself up. You hissed as you put weight on your leg. You floated slightly to keep weight off of it. Several fearful eyes stared back at you once you began to look around. As you took stock of the situation, you extended your hearing, hoping to find the heartbeat of your brothers or the bats. You couldn’t find any sign of them and that worried you. As you looked around again, you realized that this wasn’t the location you scoped out earlier. They had moved you.

Your heart beat began to quicken and did your breathing before you quelshed the fear. Damian Wayne would find you. You trusted him with your life. He would find you and he wouldn’t stop until he did. You took one more look at the hostages in the cage with you, your face hardening slightly. “It’s going to be okay. I’m going to try and get the bars open enough for everyone to crawl out,” you whispered. You didn’t know where any of the villains were, but you didn’t want them to overhear you.

As soon as your hands clasped the bars, it felt like your energy was being drained from you. As you pulled at the bars, they moved barely and inch apart. As you went to pull at them again, a very familiar chuckle reached your ears. “I made them especially for you Supers. The cages are infused with Kryptonite. I have to say, Krypton, I’m surprised that the other idiots’ plan worked. I didn’t think you were dumb enough to fall into the trap.”

You backed away from the bars and glared at the man coming from the shadows. “Lex Luthor, why am I not surprised. I thought you were still off world.”

He smirked, coming closer to the cage. “I came back just for this. You didn’t think that Bane, Zod, and Blockbuster came up with this whole operation by themselves, did you? By being off world, no one would suspect my involvement. Once we take Gotham, Bludhaven, and Metropolis, the other heroes and cities will fall into our control.”

“How do you plan to make the cities fall? How do you plan to get rid of the other heroes?”

“That’s the easy part. You’ll be helping us out. We’ll see if it works on you. If it does, we can implement it on the others. If it doesn’t, we’ll fix it until it does...and even if it doesn’t work, you’ll be out of the picture,” Lex smirked. He crossed his arms in amusement as you pried at the bars again. “How does it feel to know that you’ll either be under our control or dead in less than thirty minutes?”

“That’s not going to happen,” you growled. Monolith, Zod, and Blockbuster emerged from the shadows and Lex smirked.

The cage door opened and you took the chance to attack, pushing the Monolith back into Zod. You used your heat vision to blind Blockbuster temporarily. You had to admit that you were panicking on the inside. You were a cornered animal and they all knew it. It would only be a matter of time before one of them restrained you.

You screamed and fought as Zod held onto you, dragging you through darkened hallways as the others followed. “When we get in there, make sure to inject her with the compound before we hook her to the machine,” Lex turned to smirk at you. “The show is about to begin.”

A door at the end of the hallway had light peeking from the bottom. It blinded you as the door swung open. It took a second for your eyes to adjust. That was enough time for your handlers to be changed out. Monolith was now holding you as Zod approached with a syringe. “No,” you shouted and tried to fight against Monolith’s hold on you. You used your heat vision, superstrength, and flight to try and get away, but nothing you did got you free.

Whatever was in the syringe burned your veins as it moved through. You grit your teeth, refusing to give them the satisfaction of knowing how much pain you were in. “Lock her in,” Lex stated as he moved further in the room.

You fought the whole way there. You weren’t going without a fight. As the last restraint was put on you, you felt tears of frustration building up. “No no no no no,” you mumbled, pulling at the restraints.

“You’ll find that those restraints are made of Kryptonite. While I’ll be displeased if this doesn’t work, at least I have one Super out of my hair,” Lex turned to look at Black behind the console. “Light her up!”

As the machine roared to life, you heard glass breaking all around you and multiple figures entered the room. You didn’t have time to take it all in before the machine sent a steady stream of energy at you. Upon contact, the fire in your veins intensified tenfold and you couldn’t help but scream out. You could feel Black probing your mind and implanting thoughts, but you couldn’t focus enough to block him out. You felt like your body was being torn in two...but then it all stopped.

Black was unconscious, the machine shut down, Conner and Jon fighting Zod and Monolith… Damian in front of you, hands on your cheeks, wiping away your fallen tears. His mouth moving, but you can’t hear what he’s saying. All you hear is whitenoise. “Hurts,” you form the word with your mouth. Whether it’s spoken or not, you don’t know but Damian understands.

Your restraints are undone and you can’t catch yourself, but you don’t need to. Damian has you, he’s lowering you to the ground, crouching with you, still saying something you can’t make out as he turns his head while he talks in order to see how the others are doing. Slowly, your hearing comes back, “-got you. Should have gotten here sooner. How are you feeling,” he turned back to you, picking you up bridal side.

“Hurs, Dee,” your words are blending, but you can’t help it.

He exits the building with you, holding onto you tightly as he sits in the passenger seat of the batmobile. Not long after, the other vigilantes exit the building, some with villains in tow, others talking in low voices. Well, low for them. To you, it was like they were yelling directly in your ears. Your hands come up to cover your ears, letting out a distressed sound.

Damian’s arms tighten around you as you begin to try to get out of his grasp, “loud...too loud. Hurts,” you squeeze your eyes shut.

“Father, get us out of here now,” Damian’s voice is loud as well as he calls to his father.

_________

You’re lucky the penthouse soundproof. Even with that, you can still hear things, but it’s all dull. Everything that happens in the penthouse, though, sounds like an airhorn in your ear. The quiet talking of the other people in the house are like shouts. The flush of the toilet is like a hurricane. The beeping of the coffee pot being done is like being right next to the tsunami siren. Not to mention every time you move, even the smallest bit, everything burns and hurts. You imagine this is how Jason Todd felt after being beaten by Joker then left to a fiery death by bomb.

You hissed slightly as you sat up on the bed. You had to get out of here. You had to get rid of the headache. You had to go somewhere quiet...and you had just the place: your dad’s Fortress of Solitude. You stumbled into the wall as you walked to the window.

Suddenly, Jon is in front of you, arms crossed and worry evident on his face. “Where are you going,” he asked.

Your right hand went up to your ear as you winced. “Quiet,” you whispered. Your left hand, which you had against the wall for support, quivered.

Jon placed both hands on your shoulders to steady you. “Let’s get you back to bed.”

“No,” you shouted. This caused Jon to jump slightly, giving you a moment to back away from him. “I-I can’t think! I can’t-I can’t concentrate! I can’t-I need-I-Hurts! Jon, it hurts! My head-My head, feels like it’s ex-exploding! I don’t care how quiet you and everyone else talks, it’s like you’re each screaming in my ears!!” By now, tears were freely falling and you had drawn a crowd.

You backed away until your back hit a wall. The fire in your veins was back and getting worse with each breath you took. “Make it...STOP!” The temperature in the room dropped and you could only watch as each of your increased breaths cooled the room even more. “What’s happening to me,” your voice cracked, as did the mirror on your wall from the amount of ice piled on it.

Damian was in front of you, placing one hand on your knee and the other on your cheek. “Beloved, you need to calm down. I will help you figure it out, but I need you to calm down...you’re scaring me.” The fact that Damian Wayne admitted that he was scared was enough to get your attention. You stared directly at him, nodding slightly.

“Damian, I’m scared. Everything hurts. I can’t think-I can’t-I can’t focus...Veins on fire.” You shut your eyes, letting out a shaky breath. You let out a scream intentionally and stood abruptly. “Injection. Lex,” you closed your eyes, trying to bring the words to your lips, “injected me with something.” You could tell your body was shaking but you couldn’t focus on it. Get it together, Kent. “Black was-Black-in my head. Changed things. Put things in.”

The different heart beats in the room were going at different speeds. It created an unsteady thrum that you couldn’t help but focus on. “What kind of things did he change,” Conner asked as quietly as he could, at least you thought he was trying for your benefit to be quiet.

You still winced at his voice, slowly sitting on the edge of your bed. “Thoughts. Feelings. All fucked up.” You put your face in your hands, trying to scrub away the tears that had fallen. “My fault. All my fault. Stupid. Idiot,” you mumbled. “Feels like-like mind’s splitting in two.”

“That’s probably an accurate description. You didn’t fully complete Lex’s plan before we interrupted. From what Conner and Jon heard, you were either supposed to be dead or under their control. Black was probably implanting memories and changing your beliefs and didn’t get to finish. Your core beliefs are fighting what he changed making your mind fight itself. As for what he injected you with, I’m running that through my systems to figure out what it was. Alfred and Stephanie are tracking down the exact components of it to see if we can create something to counteract it.” Bruce slowly stepped forward. “You just need to hold on. Clark’s almost back to Earth. We’re going to figure this out.”

___________

You’d finally passed out around five a.m. Looking at the clock, it didn’t seem worth it. Six fifteen a.m. You went through your morning routine on autopilot. You felt numb. You looked at yourself in the mirror, wincing at your battered body. You couldn’t feel it, but it sure as hell look like it hurts. Now that you think about it, you should be more worried that you couldn’t feel anything. You were battered enough that your makeup didn’t even cover the bruising.

You rolled your eyes and walked out of your room and to the kitchen. You were slightly surprised to see almost everyone sitting around the living area/kitchen. You hadn’t heard them moving around. You grabbed a plate and grabbed portions of eggs and grits. You decided to take it back to your room as all of the convenient seats were taken.

Before you could walk back to your room, a hand landed on your shoulder and turned you around. You cocked your head, why didn’t he just call for you? Dick’s mouth was moving, but you couldn’t hear his voice. The confusion must have shown on your face as Damian and your brothers approached. As much as you wanted to figure out what was wrong with your hearing, you couldn’t help but not care about it. You handed Dick your plate and turned around, locking the door behind you.

You finished your morning routine and deciding on a hat for today so that you could hide some of your bruised face. You had to get to work. You had an article due today after all. As you approved your look in the mirror, you walked out the door of your room. You gave the usual parting words to Grayson as you neared the front door, “don’t do anything stupid that I have to save your ass from today, Grayson.”

You had just made it out the door when there was another hand gripping your shoulder. You huffed and jerked out of their hold to come face to face with your father. His mouth moved and you barely made out the words ‘you’re hurt. You need to rest and heal.’ You shook your head and backed away from him.

“Article due today. Gotta finish it. I feel fine,” the truth was you didn’t feel anything at all. His arm moved quickly to grip you again, but you jerked back again, glaring at your father. “Don’t make me do something I’ll regret later, Daddy.”

Jon was on your right side and Conner on your left. Both their mouths were moving, but you couldn’t concentrate on one of them to figure out what they were saying. You started to walk away from them again. You didn’t hesitate to fight against the next hand that grabbed you. You swung the arm over you, disorienting your brother before popping his shoulder out of its socket and shoving him hard enough into the wall to leave a Jon sized print.

You didn’t bother to stop to apologize, just continued to your car. This time no one stopped you.

(Third Person POV)

Damian wasn’t sure what was going on with you. It scared him. The previous day when he couldn’t figure out how to comfort you and make the pain go away, he felt like a complete failure. He’d finally been able to get you to go to sleep around five and had promptly found his father and the others in the living area to figure out what to do to help you.

About an hour later, you walked out of the room like you were back to your old self. Like nothing had happened the previous day. Dick excused himself from the conversation as you reappeared with a plate of food, heading for your room. “(Y/N)! What are you doing up? I would think you’d be resting.” She didn’t respond. “(Y/N)?”

He placed a hand on your shoulder and you turned around, cocking your head in question. “Are you alright? How are you feeling this morning? (Y/N), can you understand me?” Each question was followed with her brow furrowing. Damian, Conner, and Jon approached you while Dick held your attention.

By the time Damian had an idea of what was wrong, you were already back in your room. He tried the door, but it was locked. He thought of picking the lock, but maybe you just needed some time to yourself.

When you came walking through the room again, this time looking like you were going out, Damian was out of his seat quicker than any of the others. “(Y/N), where are you going? You should be resting.” It didn’t seem as if you’d heard him.

“Don’t do anything stupid that I have to save your ass from today, Grayson,” you called as you grabbed your keys and proceeded out the door.

Clark was right behind you, gripping your shoulder. “I think there’s something wrong with your hearing, Sweetheart.” You turned in his grip, shrugging out of it. “You’re hurt. You need to rest and heal.”

Damian watched as your face hardened and you glared at your father. He had never seen you act this way around Clark Kent. You adored him. Sure, there were times when you argued with your father about missions, but he had never seen this pure hatred that crossed across your face. “Article due today. Gotta finish it. I feel fine.” Your voice was a little loud which supports the theory that your hearing could be shot from the previous day.

He watched as you jerked away from your father’s grip again. If you had been an animal, he could imagine your hackles rising and you growling to ward off a predator or unwanted visitor. “Don’t make me do something I’ll regret later, Daddy,” you practically spat the last word. By this time, Jon and Conner had closed in on both sides, making a narrow opening for your to walk through.

“(Y/N), Sis, this isn’t you. I think it’s best that we keep you here for today. Let us help you,” Jon held his hands out complacently.

“(Y/N/N), please. We don’t want to hurt you anymore than you already have been. Let’s go back inside,” Conner tried.

He watched as you walked away from them. “Jon, don’t-” Damian tried to call out as he saw Jon reach for you. Your demeanor suggested that another attempt to stop you would end up with one of your family hurt. You tossed him like a rag doll, dislocating his shoulder and pushing him hard enough in the wall to leave an imprint. Jon called out in pain as you walked away. Something was very wrong...and Damian was going to figure it out.

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@jadedhillon @marvelite1998

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comicbookuniversity · 4 years

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SUPERMAN: UNDER AN EVIL STAR_A PROPOSED DCEU SEQUEL

Technical delays got in the way of this going out sooner, but I am glad something has put Superman back trending at least a little bit. Where Superman goes next on screen is in the air, so I would like to propose how it could go. I know there’s no way that this could be used, but I thought it would be fun to share. And if the producers of the DCEU want to hire me to write something that they could use, then that wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen. I think @davidmann95 was right: the next Superman film doesn’t need to be a grand statement piece. It just needs to be a good time. There’s this weird thought that Superman is boring, so we need a film that shows he’s fun as all Superman fans know. Snyder had his turn and he has his fans, but it is time for a new direction after the,at best, mixed legacy to Snyder’s turn with Superman. This isn’t to be dismissive or disrespectful, but if Aquaman can make a billion dollars while getting well praised for a far more ‘comic book’ take after Snyder, then why not Superman?

The film opens with Superman saving a family from an apartment building, and across town a protest is happening, police are in riot gear ready for action, and at the front of the crowd is a single known metahuman: Hank Heywood. The protests have been going on for hours now over the death of several homeless vets who were being cleared out, because the city did not want the homeless encampment there any more. Between scenes of the protest being covered by the news, we will see Superman performing a variety of rescues with a smile and kind words. Flying from rescuing around the city, Superman stops a tear gas canister from hitting the crowd and a SWAT member from using advanced equipment to attack Heywood. The whole scene is changed by his presence as the police and protesters back up from their positions, but Superman encourages the protesters to keep peacefully as they were and he finds the commanding officer. They have a talk about the police being unfairly positioned to enforce a status quo that has little to do with serving and protecting, but what the officers did to those vets was wrong. It might be easier for Superman to act, but it does not mean that the officers have any less of a responsibility or that they are shielded from accountability. Superman mentions the need to avoid escalation and how he’s been responding to other emergencies across Metropolis while the police were occupied doing this. The protest continues as Superman marches with them. The goal of the scene is to show Superman trying to advocate other ways beyond force, encourage peace, and standing for justice. While I would like to move Superman pretty left politically to match the spirit of his origins, I can definitely understand hesitation for broader market appeal. But that being said, we still need to show Superman openly caring about more than emergencies. He knows he needs to be a shining example of compassion and strength of character.

We cut to Lois Lane sent abroad to continue being the world’s best reporter at finding new metahumans and identifying where they stand. She just got done with a major story on how quickly Asian nations are developing their own metahuman responses. She’s taking a boat out of northern Japan to try to investigate reports of a strange activity around a crash landing in the ocean in international waters. She’s able to identify several warships and accompanying aircraft from Russia, Japan, China, and the USA. Without much warning, the ships are attacked by unknown forces. She is able to get some photos that help her identify one of the forces as being American. She knows where she has to go, so she grabs her phone. The forces fly off.

We cut to a scene in a suburban neighborhood. There’s a celebration at a home, we see a family celebrating, and while the kids are having fun, some of the adults look uneasy. We follow as a woman carries two drinks; one for herself the other for her husband: Captain Atom. His adult nephew asks how he feels about the party- now with everything changed. He says he’s happy to see the family for any reason. A kid walks up to the nephew and pulls him away, so Angela, his wife, talks and asks him if he’s made a decision: will he push to retire as he was supposed to have by this point or will he continue to serve? He’s not sure in the moment, but there’s a yearning to stay. But then the call comes in: Captain Atom is needed. He kisses his wife, and flies off.

Atom arrives on the scene at a military facility under attack. It’s Manchester Black, telekinetic terrorist, and he’s looking to free his friends after being detained while unconscious after fighting Superman. He escaped, but he’s back to save his friends. Atom demands he stand down, and there’s a dialogue exchange to code Atom as a moderately conservative military type and Black as a punk egoist with a poor understanding of liberal politics. They fight, Coldcast is freed, but before the other members of the Elite can be freed, Atom beats both Black and Coldcast. The goal of these two scenes is to establish Atom as a formidable hero, but also a man who is not certain about his place in the future. How much more does he owe his country, how much longer will he have with his family, and is superhero work something he really wants?

Clark is in his apartment, lots of philosophy and ethics books scattered everywhere, and he’s writing in a journal in Kryptonese. We hear the narration of his writing: Clark loves Lois and asked her how she’s so good at everything, but particularly her writing. She said better is the horizon she’s always chasing so she never stops. He’s applied this to his time as Superman and has been reading up to try to learn in order to do better. He feels like he could be doing more, but must walk a fine line in order to be the hero he wants to be and not the monster the world fears he could be. This caused him to push his powers to the limits, and in that he saw beyond anything he had could have seen before and was profoundly moved by what he saw. This moment of clarity changed him. He does not want to repeat his past- no more Zods. Everyone deserves life. He needs to balance out pushing for peaceful action and his awesome might whenever possible. The question isn’t what does his power let him do, but how does he use this power to do the most good?

Clark gets a call from Lois. She needs a ride and he needs to act quickly. He pulls his shirt open and there’s a gust of wind. We cut to Atom in an office with General Lucy Lane, having taken her father’s old post. They talk about how Black must have found the base, but Atom quickly pushes that aside. He wants to know where the Pentagon officially stands on his current situation. Lane tells him that his request has been postponed until further research on his new biology is complete. Atom is not happy with this as he was finally hoping to retire to civilian life. A call comes in, and Atom is needed again. He grumpily accepts the mission, and as Atom leaves the room, Lois enters.

Superman is seen flying around the Earth searching for the individuals Lois pictured, and he’s in luck when he sees them flying towards California. He stops them over the coast and tries to reason with them, but they are unresponsive. He sees something on them all that seems unnatural: starfish-looking creatures. They attack without warning, and at first their unusual powers working together have him at a disadvantage. The battle moves to land, and as Superman struggles against his attackers, the arrival of a peer changes the course of the battle. Captain Atom proves to be a great help, but before the battle can really change tides, the four leave. Atom is about to pursue, but Superman stops him to ask him what he knows. They stare down each, but Atom decides to tell the truth: they’re the Ultramarine Corps, the Pentagon’s best effort in the superhuman arms race and as a last resort against Superman himself. But they appear to have gone rogue, and it’s Atom’s job to stop them no matter what. Superman thinks the starfish creature is responsible for their behavior and he will help stop them, but he’s not happy about them. The two pursue at hypersonic speeds.

Meanwhile, Lois is trying to keep pace with Lucy as Lucy is trying to monitor the situation with the Corps and the crash site. Lois had already been researching the Pentagon’s efforts in metahuman biotech, but she wants to know two important things: what have been the deployments of the Corps and how many others are currently in development. Lucy asks Lois why she thinks Lucy will talk, because it’s been more than a year since their father passed and they haven’t spoken since then, so why would she start now. Lois is taken aback not having realized it had been that long. Lois says she’s sorry. A senior officer tries to make Lois leave as they enter a plane, but Lucy tells him that Lois is fine to travel. She still does not answer Lois and makes her stay behind as she enters a secure command section of the plane. A door closes in Lois’ face as she tries to get through to her little sister; she did not mean for it to be like this. The advanced plane takes off.

Approaching urban areas, Superman and Atom catch up to the Ultramarine Corps and knock them off course to more isolated areas. Atom is paired off with Pulse-8 and 4D, while Superman fights Glob and Warmaker-1. We cut back and forth between the fights as Atom and Superman struggle against their opponents. Superman takes the lead when Glob tries to crush him in his hyper-pressurized body, but Superman takes a deep breath-taking all of Glob inside his lungs- and blows him back out as an ice structure. This kills the starfish, and after a moment, Glob returns to normal stating that being blown out like that was one the grossest things that has happened to him. Warmaker-1 flies off, and Glob tells Superman to chase after him; he’ll be ok. We cut back to Atom who is struggling against 4D until he opens his perception beyond his limits, which allows him to track her atomic movements. He is able to pin her down long enough to destroy the starfish creature. With her down, Pulse-8 proves to be an easier opponent, or so it seems. Superman catches backup to Warmaker-1 in front of the White House. He knows he must be very careful, so he simply takes every blow Warmaker-1 can deliver to keep the collateral damage minimal as he pushes ever closer to his opponent. Superman eventually grabs and rips off the starfish creatures, which struggles to escape his grasp. Warmaker-1falls to the ground, but gets back up and shakes Superman’s hand and thanks him for ending the nightmare. Superman is visibly hurt, but seen healing in the sunlight.

Back on the plane and very near the crash site, General Lane gets word that the Corps has been defeated, but they’ve lost contact with Atom. Lucy calls Lois in. Before Lucy can say her piece, Lois apologizes again. Growing up in a military family wasn’t easy for her, and since Lucy always sided with their dad, it was hard for her to keep up family relationships when their father was so disappointed with Lois. She felt isolated and buried herself in her work. Lucy says she’s sorry too. She never meant for Lois to feel isolated. She wanted to make Dad proud by being the youngest general in history, but she let her career isolate her as well. They hug, but Lucy pulls away because she needs Lois to be Lois Lane. Lucy tells her the world is being invaded by an unknown alien force and that the Corps behavior is a direct result of this, which means a form of mind control is in play. Lucy needs Lois to be the independently trusted voice to the world before paranoia and misinformation spreads too quickly before the world can unite and act swiftly against a threat to the very autonomy of all people everywhere. Lois says she’s not letting her off the hook about the metahumans just because of an alien invasion, and starts a livestream the Daily Planet is trying to spread across the globe with their partners. The plane begins to move unexpectedly. Enemy combatants are on their way.

Superman sees Lois’ broadcast, and flies off to the Pacific Ocean. Flying down from a shortcut in low orbit, Superman is intercepted by possessed Captain Atom. The two struggle as Superman can see from a vast distance that foreign metahumans being controlled by the starfish aliens are after the plane Lois is on. Atom is raging against the control of the alien and telling Superman to get it off him, but Atom is generating K-radiation. Despite the pain, Superman acts quickly to throw Atom off balance to rip the alien away. Before being fully pulled off, the alien makes Atom release a concentrated blast of K-radiation, which knocks him out of the sky. Regaining his senses, Atom dives into the ocean to save a sinking Superman and carries him off above the clouds stating that Superman won’t die on his watch. At the very edges of the atmosphere Superman begins to wake up. He thanks Atom, and Atom says he owed him one after Superman caught him from falling from the moon. He tells Superman to heal up quickly, because his family and every other family on Earth is in danger and Atom can’t do this alone, so he flies off to General Lane. We see Superman push off fully into space to face the Sun.

The plane is rocked as Atom passes by to intercept the pursuing metahumans, and several sonic booms can be heard. On the plane, Lois narrates the battle. At this point we see Atom fighting several identifiable metahumans, but exactly who depends on budget and production limitations. I would personally like to see at least August General in Iron, a Rocket Red squad, and Cosmo Racer. I definitely would like to see more heroes to establish that the DCEU has really expanded when the camera was not looking, but I can understand not being able to have everyone. From the plane's view, we see a giant tentacle rise out of the water and seemingly millions of smaller starfish are flung in the direction of land. Atom is trying to play defensively to protect the plane, but this means taking a beating. Cosmo Racer proves the hardest to keep away, but right when Atom thinks he’s failed a red streak knocks him down.

We see Superman ripping the starfish away and burning it. The Racer, an alien themself, says they know this being. It is a Starro the Conqueror; no known planet has survived contact with a conqueror. Superman thinks it's time to do the impossible then. Another tentacle rises out the seas and sends millions more starros into the upper atmosphere to ride the jetstreams. Superman and the Racer nod and fly off from each other. The Racer joins Atom and the two aim to even the battlefield by removing the starros. Superman flies to the edge of the cloud of starros and begins to fly in circles around creating a wind tunnel he can lead them back to the sea with. Despite his efforts to keep away from him, the cloud of starros uses their psychic power collectively to interfere and they are able to land on him. The tunnel stops, but they fall back into the ocean. Several starros on Superman try to break his will and he has hallucinations. A satellite feed beamed to the plane shows this to Lucy and Lois. Lois starts to talk to Superman knowing he can still hear her. Her words help, and Superman is able to break free control of the starros. Atom and Racer are successful in removing all the starros from the metahumans. Atom’s containment suit looks damaged.

Superman joins the other heroes in the sky. The Conqueror Prime rises from the ocean floor. The heroes are ants in relation to its size, and it is teeming with millions of smaller starros of various sizes and colors. The heroes devise a strategy on how to defeat the Conqueror Prime. Racer stays behind thanks to his speed, while the Rockets and General flank Superman and Atom as they try to get beneath the alien to throw it back into space. Thousands of starros fly up at the group and they fight through this obstacle, but they have to be careful because if even one of them is taken, it could derail the entire plan. They get close, but one of the Rockets is taken and they are forced to retreat for a second pass. But even as they try to make a quick turn around, more and more Starros are being launched into the upper atmosphere and sent into the ocean. August General in Iron says that they must stop the spread or getting rid of the Prime will mean nothing. Even with their awesome powers, it seems to be far too much. Then sonic booms are heard and Superman can hear Warmaker-1 speaking on an ultrasonic frequency; Glob will break off the Corps to help Superman and Atom take care of the Prime while the Corps leads the other heroes in stopping the spread. Aerodynamically pointed, Glob meets Superman and Atom mid air to form an aquatic shell and they dive below the water. Warmaker-1 and the General take to the ocean as Pulse-8 and 4D work with the remaining Rockets to stop the ariel Starros. Cosmo Racer fights the possessed Rocket from reaching the plane with General Lane. We cut back and forth between the three groups as they fight the Starros.

As Superman and Atom push the Prime into space, Atom is struck and his suit breaks containment. Glob wraps around him to help contain him, but in the last bit of atmosphere, Glob can hear Superman say Atom should not be afraid, he will be fine. As Glob falls to Earth with Atom inside him freaking out about dooming the Earth with his suit breaking, Glob tells him to snap the hell out of it and that Superman says he will be fine. Atom cannot understand, but he takes a deep breath and uses his atomic vision. He sees and understands in a moment of clarity, and rips his suit off revealing a blue-hued man. This will transition the more traditional look towards a version of the Pax Americana look. Superman can hear the terrifying psychic words of Prime in his mind as it tells him to give up, but he smiles as he looks down to Earth. Every reason not to is in his sight and he pushes Prime into zero gravity, then circles the Earth at blinding speeds, and uses the gravity sllingshot to knock Prime into space at a velocity that will send it beyond the reach of Sun’s gravity.

The international heroes work to stop the spread of the Starros, but still are not able to stop all of them as they seek hosts. But then, a blue light grabs all the Starros simultaneously, and Atom can be seen manipulating them and sending them out into space. Cheers from across the world as Lois streams this amazing event and the heroes hug. Arriving back from space, Superman stops next to Atom and they shake hands.

Relieved, Lois ends her livestream, but does not turn off her camera. She asks Lucy how many more metahumans the Pentagon has. Lucy frowns, and not giving an exact number states a few. Note: in a post-credits scene, this could easily be used to introduce Wildstorm characters into the DCEU if desired. Lois points out that the world almost ended within several hours, and they’re lucky that there was a clear enemy. She asks her sister where this race ends, because next time the enemy may not be so clear. Lucy takes her point, but she says the world is getting stranger and more dangerous. Large scale response will be needed, but she understands what Lois is saying about escalation. It will not be easy to change course, but Lucy says she’ll do her best to ensure that the world won’t be consumed in this arms race. With that being the last word, Lois turns the camera off and then asks when they’re going out for drinks. It’s been too long.

We see Superman and Atom back at Atom’s place, and Angela is very excited to meet Superman. Superman is flattered, and he’s happy to see Atom have such a loving home. Atom asks Superman how he knew. He says he could see that Atom could see like him, but just had not reached that point yet. He knew as soon as Atom could see like him that everything would be fine. Atom asks if this is how he sees the world all the time, and Superman says not all the time, but he knows the feeling Atom is talking about. Atom cries. His wife and the world has never looked so beautiful before. Angela embraces Atom. After a moment, he says he is retiring no matter what his superiors say. He tells Superman that he won’t be fighting again, but if Superman ever needs help, he always has a friend. Superman says he’s happy to hear that and asks Atom that even if he does not plan on fighting to use his position to push for a better world. He understands why the Corps was made, but he hopes Atom will help push for ensuring they are deployed responsibly, held accountable, and used as a last resort. After all, we’re all we have and we need to trust each other. A scream in the distance can be heard, Atom nods and Superman flies off. The End.

#superman #dc comics #henry cavill #captain atom #dceu #lois lane #fan fic

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loverofoptimus · 5 years

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The Less Eventful Of Days: DCAU Superman X Reader

Figured I’d make a fic to go along with the relationship headcanons I typed out https://loverofoptimus.tumblr.com/post/183845680514/dcau-superman-x-reader-headcanons

Your sleep came to an abrupt end at the feeling of lips on your neck but just about any annoyance at the sudden interruption was gone at the wonderful sensation especially when your mind finally had time to process of the one person it could possibly be.

Turning around you saw Clark giving you just the grin you were expecting which you returned with one as well. He leaned in closer and pressed your foreheads to each other.

“Good morning, beautiful”. he said.

“Good morning, Superman”. you answered.

The two of you brought your faces level to level and kissed deeply. He worked his great wonders on your lips with his own and pulled you tight against his chest while your hand made it’s way onto his head and started playing with the S curl of his hair.

His hands rubbed and massaged along your back and his tongue traced your lips asking for entrance which you took very little time to oblige. Your own tongue slid against his as it explored your mouth.

Breaking from the kiss, he looked you over and said. “Even with that bedhead, you’re still more alluring in life than you are in my dreams”

“Why, thank you.” That comment though made you react by trying to fix your hair as best as your hands could manage.

He chuckled and gave your lips a peck. Then he uncovered himself from the sheets and threw his legs over the side of the bed you two shared.

“Well, time to start another day”

“Do we have to?” You moaned. “Can’t we just stay like this all day?”

Clark just gave you a smirk and shook his head. You sighed knowing he was right, as much as you didn’t want to leave the bed. He then wrapped his arm around your torso.

“If it helps, I’ll go make breakfast.” He said.

That did sound really good right now. With that motivation, you managed to pry yourself from the bed while he made his way to the kitchen.

After the mundane task of preparation, you headed to the kitchen taking in the lovely aroma of pancakes. Clark had just set up your spots at the table and beckoned you over. You obliged and once comfortably seated, began to eat

There was that satisfied smile he loved so much no matter how many times he’s seen it.

“I’ve never known a man who could whip this up so fast and efficiently before you.” You complimented.

“Well, Wally can do it quicker but he tends to leave a big mess behind.” He answered then took a sip of his coffee.

“At least he can clean it up just as quickly.”

“But not the most efficiently.” He then chuckled. “Bruce almost busted an artery in his head when he found signs that Wally had been going through his equipment.”

You giggled at the thought of what Batman must have said to Flash after that. You sure didn’t envy that poor kid.

Clark stopped eating and got out of his seat then gave you a hint of what his next move was going to be.

“I don’t think Perry would like me walking around the office like this.”

He then went upstairs to dress and tidy up. You were almost finished with your breakfast when he came back down fully dressed. His hair combed down and is face now sporting the glasses that he had no need for other than helping his facade as just an ordinary citizen.

It was strange at first how the similarities between Superman and Clark Kent didn’t click immediately to your mind. But then again, very few people knew that Superman even had a secret identity, let alone who it was.

Honestly the more you thought about it, the more surprisingly brilliant it was.

Clark took his seat and finished up his pancakes while you did the same. He took the dishes to the sink then turned to you.

“We have a little time before we need to leave.” He walked over to you and planted a sweet kiss to your forehead.

“What do you have in mind, Clark?” You asked with a smile. Of course, you already had an idea of what it was.

You arrived at the new Italian restaurant that you and Clark had been planning on trying for lunch that day. Standing by the entrance, you decided to pass the time with your thoughts while you waited for him and your mind started with the city around you.

Although Metropolis was always a nice place to look at, many people agree that it looks it’s best from above rather than at your current street level. But where most people would think of that from a view from one of the skyscrapers, you have something even better.

Your boyfriend.

No building or plane could ever give you the spectacle that Superman could. You love it when he takes you on his one woman flight. Any fear of falling was completely gone in the comfort of his strength and speed should anything go wrong.

The air also felt crisper than it did down on street level with fewer people to distribute between and fewer machines giving off smog. It was all just a grand experience.

You were suddenly pulled out of your trance when a pair of familiar arms wrapped around your torso followed by a pair of lips pressing against your cheek.

“Need an escort?”

You giggled and replied “I don’t know. Maybe I’d like going solo.”

Clark released you from his embrace and led you into the restaurant.

The two of you spent time talking about the new ideas Clark had in mind for the Daily Planet and if Bruce and Diana were ever going to finally become a couple until your meals arrived.

“Now to satisfy my belly”. Clark said in anticipation.

“If it tastes as good as it smells, we should come here more often.” You added

A bit way through the meal Clark decided to start up the conversation again.

“Anything exciting happened at work so far?” He asked before taking a bite of his pasta.

“About as much excitement as calculus.” You answered honestly. There was a good reason why you’d have rather spent the day in bed. “How about you?”

“Well, Lois went on quite the rant and she was so furious about it I didn’t even catch what it started with.” He chuckled. “It’s usually best to just keep to the sideline until she can think straight again.”

“Doesn’t it feel uncomfortable working in the same place as your Ex?” You asked quieter knowing this was a public place.

“I told you before, Y/N. There were no hard feelings or maliciousness. We agreed it just didn’t work out.” He then took a good look around, checking for any prying eyes or eavesdroppers before he continued in a whisper.

“Besides, as far as she still knows, Clark and Superman are two different people.”

While you and Lois weren’t enemies by any means or even had any true personal distaste for each other, you always couldn’t help but feel that she had a habit of either getting herself into a great deal of trouble all for a shot at a story or else just bring trouble to any situation.

Granted she was a reporter but she really could stand to use more caution.

Still, she kept Clark happy for a good while till he started dating you and if he’s still on good terms with her, she couldn’t be all bad.

“Did I ever tell you about the time she almost married Bruce?” Clark asked.

“No, but I’m sure it’s a story I’d like to hear.”

You arrived home first which meant Clark was either held back a bit by the press or somewhere, something was amiss that needed the help of Superman.

Even though you went over in your mind time and time again that there was very little that can actually threaten his life, there was always that tiny hint of worry anyway.

After all, despite his great power, Clark held most of it back in the fear of hurting innocent lives, even when his own well being was at stake. He’s such a selfless soul.

You knew that this was going to be something you’d have to accept when you became his girlfriend.

All the same though, you also settled in your mind that you’d rather take that chance than just spend your life dreaming of what could have been and you’ve never regretted it.

You found ways to keep yourself preoccupied until it lead to checking the TV guide for a good movie.

It was then when you heard the front door open. You made your way to the entrance of your home and standing there was indeed your one true love.

He was wearing his suit. The blue and red one with the trunks and cape. The one that just about everybody in Metropolis and most of the world would instantly recognize him in.

“What happened?” You asked concerned.

“Nothing too serious. Just a few burglars I caught trying to ransack a jewelry shop.”

“You’d think the non-super villains would have learned by now.”

Clark laughed and pulled you into a hug. You nuzzled your face into his chest and embraced him back. He gave you a sweet peck on the head

After he released you, you took the opportunity to check his spandex figure. You may have seen it countless times before but it didn’t look any less dull than it had the first time.

“I can keep it on for a while.” He said, fully knowing you loved the way it felt. Not to mention how good he looked in it.

“What can I say? I love a man in uniform.” You replied with a shrug.

He chuckled then followed you into the living room. He sat down on the sofa and pulled you into his lap. You reacted by snaking an arm around his torso.

“Beauty and the Beast is coming on in about 10 minutes.” You said. His face lit up at that information

“I haven’t seen that movie in ages.”

After reliving what might be the greatest animated movie of all time, your stomach (as well as the growls from Clark’s) reminded you of what it was time for.

You got off your boyfriend letting him get up as well then you both made your way to the kitchen.

“Feel like having those chicken breasts?” He asked while fishing through the refrigerator.

“The way you can cook and season meat, I’d be fine with spam.”

“Thank you, sweetheart. I’ll throw in mashed potatoes and dessert for that.” He started gathering the cooking tools and ingredients.

“That’s too much work for you alone, big guy. Let me give you a hand.”

“Too much work? Have you forgotten who I am?”

“You mean besides the man of my dreams?”

He chuckled as he placed the chicken on the oiled pan he set up. Rather than turn on the stove top itself, he let his heat vision do the work and added spices to the sizzling meat.

All the while he was whistling to the tune “Be Our Guest”

You meanwhile set the table as that was just about all you were going to accomplish before Clark would insist he’d take over from there.

“I’m just glad that the man of my dreams was both of the men I fell in love with. I already spent too many sleepless nights trying to decide which one I was going to pick.”

“It sounds like a good foundation for an upbeat musical. Maybe we should send it to Disney.”

You laughed as he brought the cooked chicken to the table.

With dinner finished up, you were now in the bathroom stripping down and about to take a shower.

The door opened and in he stepped unclothing as well. It was almost funny how the big boy scout wasn’t even remotely bothered by the naked figure of the woman in the room with him or that he was exposed in front of other eyes too.

Of course, it’s certainly wasn’t like you two haven’t seen each other like this before.

Clark stepped into the shower and you followed suit as he turned the head on and adjusted the water’s temperature. You took the soap off its holder and started lathering up your body.

Halfway through your cleansing, he placed his hands on your waist.

He had a cocky smirk plastered on his face and you knew exactly where his mind was.

“Feeling amorous?”

“Very, yeah.”

“Good. So am I.”

It went on for a very long while even long after you both were done washing.

As always, you were completely worn out but couldn’t be any more satisfied. With the little energy you had left along with some help from Clark, you dressed into your nightwear and crawled into bed.

He came around the other side and did the same. You then cuddled against his body warmly while he pulled you into an embrace. Now relaxed, you let out a sigh.

This had honestly been among the less eventful of days since you two started dating and it was still more pleasant than just about every day you had spent alone.

Clark made everything that much nicer. He always had. Thinking over it, you thought it was rather unfair how much effort he put into this relationship when you felt you’ve haven’t contributed the same.

“Clark?”

“Yes?”

“I really can’t say enough how much I appreciate everything.” You said. “You’ve given me so much and I just can’t help wondering how I can ever return the favor.”

His hand caressed your cheek and he gently turned your face towards his own. He gave you a warm smile and leaned in closer.

“Y/N, just being with me is enough to return the favor. You really think you don’t do enough for me? You lift my spirit. You reinforce my hope. You gave me love in my life when I needed it the most. You’re everything about humanity that I love.”

He pulled you closer and gently but passionately kissed you.

“The only thing I could ever ask you for is the promise that you’ll stay with me and one day, we’ll start a family. Help me rebuild the life that my kind lost.”

“There’s nothing more I want than that.” You said, returning his warm smile.

“I’ll give you much more than that anyway. Just wait until you see what I have planned for us on the weekend.”

You laid your head on his chest as his heartbeat soothed you to the core. His body was so comfortably warm that you wouldn’t mind if the sheets were suddenly removed.

He ran his hands along your back and held you against his body as tight as he could without making it uncomfortable. He took a deep inhale of your scent and kissed your forehead. God, this felt so wonderful.

“I love you, Y/N.” He muttered

“I love you too, Superman” You answered before drifting off into sleep.

You know in your heart, you couldn’t leave him if you tried.

Thanks for Reading! If you enjoyed, please like and reblog!

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ruffiorocks · 5 years

Text

Lena Finding Out Scene

L Corp

Kara 'Miss Luthor you wanted to see me?'

Lena 'yes, why don't you come in Kara'

Kara 'than....wait! You said Kara! I'm errr. . I'm not Kara Danvers'.

Lena 'really Kara? You're still going to stand there and lie to my face?'

Kara 'I'm NOT Kara Danvers!'

Lena 'Save it Kara, I know how little you respect me but do stop trying to further insult my intelligence, the game is up'.

Kara *sigh* 'I'm sorry I didn't tell you Lena, but it was for your own protection, I have so many enemies'.

Lena 'you don't think I can protect myself?! You don't think I have enemies?! You're only standing there alive because of me!'

Kara 'Very few people know my secret Lena! It's a handful at the most!'

Lena 'oh really? Just a handful?'

Kara 'yes!'

Lena 'Jess send them in'

*in stroll Alex, James, Winn and Jonn and Eliza, Clark and Lois*

Lena 'Only a few Kara?'

Kara 'Well...they are my family and best friends who also work at the DEO Lena!'

Lena 'Am I not your best friend Kara? Are we not supposed to be Sisters? Have I never been in the DEO helping YOU save the world?'

Alex *cough* 'she's has you there Kara'

Kara 'shut up Alex!'

Lena 'thank you Alex, still on for drinks later?'

Alex 'you bet!'

Kara 'you two get drinks without me? Anyway it's still to dangerous Lena! See how few people know?'

Lena 'oh really? Jess! Send in the second group!'

*in walks Brainy, Nia, Maggie, Lucy, Mon El and Imra*

Kara 'Well err... they are from the future! They are super heroes! And Maggie found out on her own!'

Lena 'I'm not a hero to you Kara? I don't get to be a Superfriend? You've known Nia for 5 minutes!'

Brainy 'Logically speaking Lena is always right, and by my calculations she has helped to save the world and your life approximate....'

Kara 'shut up Brainy!'

Maggie 'Damn Little Danvers you still haven't told Lena?! After all the help she has given you? That's cold'.

Lena 'Thank you Detective, did you get the new tech I sent to help keep you and your fellow offices safe from unknown tech and alien powers?'

Maggie 'Yes! Thanks again Lena! Me and my fellow offices are well protected now!'

Lena 'im glad to hear it, so Kara, anything you would like to say?'

Kara 'I err.... I.. I didn't TELL all of them! Some found out on their own! Plus there aren't any more!'

Lena 'oh really? JESS! send in group three!'

*in walks Maxwell Lord, Lillian Luthor, Rhea's ghost and Covilles ghost*

Lillian 'ahh Lena dear, finally figured it out? Good for you, took you long enough!'

Lena 'Not now mother! Kara, anything else you would like to say?'

Kara *actually sweating even though she shouldn't physically be able to do that* 'I ... err. .. well they figured it out all on their own!'

Lillian 'didn't I tell you Lena would eventually find out on her own?'

Lena *seething by this point* 'You knew my mother knew and you still didn't tell me? You were what? Just waiting for me to find out and hate you? You could have told me then!'

Lillian *looking smug* 'told you!'

Kara 'Shut up Lillian! Lena you don't understand it was for your own safety! If to many people know...'

Lena 'JESS! Send in group four!'

Kara 'oh God.....'

*in walks Cat Grant and all of the DEO*

Lena 'Miss Grant*

Cat 'Miss Luthor'

Kara 'erm.. hey Miss Grant'

Cat 'Kiera! You didn't tell this amazing woman, your best friend, the woman who has helped save the world, your life and save CatCo from that parasite Edge? shall I go on?! '

Kara 'No please for the love of Rao don't! Lena I. ...'

Lena 'JESS! Send in group number 5!'

Jess 'do you have any room left in there?'

*in walks Oliver, Barry, Sara, Caitlin, Cisco, Iris, Ray, Mick, Felicity, Fire Storm, Diggle, Thea, Wally, Harrison Wells, Joe West*

Mick 'Skirt'

Kara 'erm.. hi Mick'

Lena 'Still want to tell me how very few people know Kara? Does the rest of the Multiverse know?!'

Kara *incomprehensible mumbles*

Sarah 'Damn Kara! If I had a Lena Luthor on my Earth I'd. ....'

Kara 'Shut up Sarah!'

Mick 'Any food around here?'

Lena 'Yes Mr Rory, I put out hor d'oeuvres, help yourself. Oh and there's beer to'.

Alex and Sarah 'Yes!'

Kara 'Alex?!'

Alex 'Sorry sis, you got yourself into this one. I'm not standing in the way of a pissed off Lena'.

Kara 'Jonn?'

*Jonn melts out via the wall*

Kara 'Mon El? Imra?'

Mon El 'Sorry Kara, but Lena is truly a hero. There are statues dedicated to her in the future. She's the reason I can still come and visit here and survive in Earth in the future'.

Kara 'Winn?!'

Winn 'oh what's that? The future needs us? Sorry Kara gotta go! Good luck! Bye Lena! Thanks for all those blue prints for the tech to help save lives in the future! We owe you one!'

Lena 'Lovely to see you again Winn and my pleasure, I should have that transmitter sorted soon so we can communicate through time, Sarah has offered a helping hand'.

Sarah 'Damn right I have! 😎

Kara 'You're doing what now?'

Lena 'oh I'm sorry, did I fail to mention all the important things in my life to you?'

Kara 'No, I just ... I. .. I didn't know.... er... Jam...'

Lena 'I swear to God Kara if you ask my backstabbing ex boyfriend for help! Oh and Olsen you can leave now, your purpose here is done. You will find your pink slip on MY desk at CatCo and details of why and how I will be suing you'.

Cat Grant *nodding in approval* 👏👏

Lena 'Cat while you're here feel free to mooch around CatCo, God knows someone needs to fix the mess Olsen has left it in'.

Cat 'what was I thinking?!'

James *looking longingly around the room at all these heroes* 'But I'm a hero to! I'm the Guar....'

Everyone 'Get out!'

Lena 'So Kara, ready to tell me no one else knows?'

Kara 'you.....you....there's another group isn't there?'

Lena 'I'm glad you asked, JESS! send in group six!'

*in walks Kate Kane, Mgann and the guy who kidnapped Alex*

Lena 'Well Kara?'

*suddenly Lex appears in a new Lexo Suit*

'Ahh finally figured it out little sister? Oh hey Mom!'

Lillian 'darling!!'

Lena 'm***r f***ker!'

*Suddenly theres a thud and Kara is passed out on Lena's floor through shock*

Alex *checks her over* 'She'll be fine, I didn't even know Kryptonians could pass out from shock and embarrassment*

Clark 'if you'll excuse me Miss Luthor'

Lena 'of course Mr Kent'

Clark 'than...wait....you know?!'

Lena 'really?!!!'

Lois 'just go honey, go now! Quickly!'

Lena 'Attention! My psychotic brother is on the loose, shall we postpone this and save the world again? All are welcome to join!'

Everyone 'Team up!'

*everyone is outside fighting Lex and taking direction from Lena, who will later be inducted into Team Superfriends (Kara was over ruled) Team Arrow Team Flash, Team Legends and will swap numbers with Kate Kane. Kara meanwhile will still be in a state of catatonic shock on Lena's office floor. While Jess tidies up around her*.

The End.

#lena luthor #supergirl #kara danvers #anti james olsen #supercorp #alex danvers #jonn jonzz #agentcorp #anti guardiancorp #lilian luthor #kate kane #winn shott #mon el #imra #barry allen #sarah lance #mick rory #brainac 5 #nia nal

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drawingsanddrabbles · 5 years

Text

Scandals Stick Together

ao3

Prompt: No Capes AU - First Kiss

Woo! I did it! All seven days, hell yeah!

~~~

Tim thinks that if the room was any more glittery he'd probably be having a seizure. He can't help but wonder if the many chandeliers in the room are real diamond. Bruce only uses crystal in his.

Bruce's hand closes on Tim's shoulder and Tim's eyes flutter closed for a moment. He wishes Bruce's hand was his dad's. But his dad is in a coma, he reminds himself. It's not his fault that he can't be here to work Tim through his first professional gala.

"Hey there, Timmy." Bruce says with a smile just as glittery as the rest of the room. "It's good to see you at one of these!"

"Bruce, good to see you too."

"Have you thought any further about my offer?"

"To buy Drake Industries?" Or the other offer? Tim wonders. The one where he offered Tim to move in with him and Alfred. To work at Wayne Enterprises. To become Tim's legal guardian while his father is still in a coma.

Social workers are terrified to touch Tim's case, and as long as Tim keeps paying them to push it to the bottom of the pile they never will. But it's getting expensive. He can't push it off forever, and having Bruce Wayne as his legal guardian wouldn't be so bad. His other strays seemed to have done well--well, Dick anyway.

Tim is losing hold on Drake Industries. Every since the plane crash stock has been going down. It's going to crash soon. News of the buyout could, frankly, make it go either way at this point. If Tim agrees he'll have nothing to lose.

But it's the last thing he has of his parents. Dad.... Dad's probably never going to wake up.

"I told you, I have no interest in selling. I am going to bring Drake Industries out of the ground, you know I can." It's not totally a lie. Bruce does know how competent Tim is. He knows that Tim, if he dropped out of high school, got emancipated, and managed to convince his company that a fifteen year old CEO is a good idea, could do it. If he really tried.

But Tim's tired. He's so tired.

Bruce knows that Lois Lane is watching the two of them too closely for Tim's comfort. One word from her and his stock price plummets, and Tim can lose everything.

Bruce's eyes slide to Clark Kent who sits next to her. He's only focused on Luthor--as always--so even if he did catch something they're saying he wouldn't care, or he'd be nice enough about it that he might actually tick DI up a few points in the stock market.

Bruce lets out a big belly laugh (one that Tim can tell is fake) and slaps Tim on the shoulder. Not hard enough to hurt.

"Well, you know, if you ever need anything, Kid. Come straight to me." He says with an easy smile and he ruffles Tim's (meticulously gelled) hair. But Tim takes that for exactly what he knows Bruce means. They'll talk about this later. Bruce walks backwards away from him with a wave. "Let's do lunch!"

"Yeah," Tim mumbles, a little pink from the way people are now staring at him, "let's."

Bruce goes off to flirt with Lois and (probably, from the way Mr. Kansas City has turned bright red) Clark, which leaves Tim some reprieve from endless questions about his future for the company. Tim's hair is now sticking up in a non-artful way so he narrowly dodges old white rich folks and their perfectly made up children as he weaves his way to the bathroom.

He's not the only one fixing his hair it seems, as two other men are as well. One is a boy a little older than him and (presumably) his father. Both of whom are trying to hide that they are watching Tim out of the corners of their eyes.

As Tim turns his back on them to leave (although he can clearly see them in the reflection on the shiny eco-friendly heat dryer) the father leans over to his son and whispers: "That's Tim Drake. He's acting chair of his company and he's going to lose it to that Wayne idiot in a few weeks. Read it in Forbes."

Tim ignores the way his cheeks turn red and rushes out of there as fast as he can.

Tim hates the way people look at him now. Ives feels sorry for him, but that's because Ives actually cares about him. The fake way these people do, makes him want to snatch a champagne flute from one of the servers and down it. But really the last thing he needs is to get drunk or tipsy, to say the wrong word in a room filled with piranhas who have diamond teeth and lose everything before he ever gets a chance to earn it back.

Mrs. Powers corners him (old Gotham money, he tells himself) and starts with condolences (as they always do) before moving onto the obligatory "How's your father doing?" ("Well! Doctors just want him to stay a little more for observation but he'll be up and about in no time!" He says,) then to "do you need anything, darling?" ("Fuck you too Mrs. Powers," he doesn't say).

Tim doesn't know when exactly he gets surrounded by old rich women, but suddenly they're engulfing him. None of them squeeze his cheeks like they used to, or pat his head, or try to straighten his tie (he hopes that one's because it's still straight but he knows that's probably not the case). Instead they keep distance from him. He's no longer a child of a rival but the rival himself (the floundering rival, perhaps). They're not treating him as an equal so much as something diseased to excise.

He misses the days when he could just blend in next to his father's side or, at least, hang out with the other rich kids. Wow them with his knowledge (and the thrill) of living in Gotham.

Tim passes the drink counter (under which he's positive Winston Price the Third and Jennifer Wallaby are making out, because last gala, when he was one of them, Winston had told him he planned to do just that next time he saw her) and orders a soder despite what he really wants. The waiter laughs at him but cuts it out with a glare from Tim and gets him what he ordered.

He wishes that Luthor would just get on with the dinner part of the night. He was too nervous to eat all day and now he's starving. Also, prearranged seating means people will stop coming up to him to show him they care.

"Tim Drake, I am shocked to see you here," speak of the devil... "shouldn't you be caring for your father?"

Luthor knows. Luthor has always known, just as Tim has. His father isn't waking up, no matter what Tim manages to fool the rest of the world into thinking.

Lex Luthor smirks and Tim turns around. He plasters what he hopes is a Bruce Wayne brand smile on his face. "Mr. Luthor!" He covers his eyes and squints, as if the sun is blinding him. "Good to see you!"

Luthor frowns slightly. "Are... you feeling alright, Mr. Drake?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's just," Tim lowers his voice and leans closer to Luthor as if he is telling a secret, "with all these lights, your head is just blinding me." Luthor's lips turn into a pale line. "Really, I think you might want to see a doctor about your perspiration, it's so.... shiny. I'm sure my father's doctor would love to offer some... discreet suggestions."

The snicker behind Luthor almost makes Tim drop his hand. Luthor whips around. Ah yes, and there is the boy that made Tim's takeover of DI old news.

Conner Luthor. Appeared, as if from nowhere, just after everything from Haiti was settled. The de facto heir to Lex Luthor. Being trained to succeed him, but who's training wasn't even close to succeeding.

Partier, playboy, and very hot. Luthor's polar opposite. Also, the same age as Tim.

"Conner, maybe you should carry this conversation with Tim, after all you two have more in common than I do with him." A dig at his youth, lovely.

But before Tim can bite anything back, Conner says in a flippant way: "Well, beauty before age. Isn't that the saying?"

So the rumors are true, they don't seem to be able to stand each other.

Careful, Tim, he warns himself, cute boys with sparkling smiles might be more than they appear.

"Lex! How wonderful to see you!" A familiar voice hums behind Luthor, snapping the tension building. The singsong voice can only be Bruce.

Tim wonders if Bruce has been watching him. Tim doesn't need his help. He doesn't want his help. He just wants to go home.

Luthor grimaces at Bruce. "Wayne."

"Say, is this your son?" Bruce asks, turning his attention on Conner. He sticks out a hand. "Good to meet you, chum!" Bruce flashes a grin at Lex, "And they call me a playboy. Wow, she must have been a looker, huh, Lex?"

Luthor looks as though he might combust. Conner doesn't take the bait or the hand (he's been famously tight-lipped about his other parent and life before he took on the Luthor name). Conner glares at Bruce. Tim notices that Luthor hasn't convinced him to get rid of the earring for tonight (one more scandal to add to the Conner Luthor package) and wishes he hadn't. He doesn't have time to notice these things. He has to network. To try and dig himself back into a good light for the sake of his company.

But Bruce, in his blundering and self-focused way, has managed to give Tim a way to slip out of this interaction. All eyes are on Bruce.

Tim used to have a theory that Bruce was smarter than he appeared. His father had told him that was stupid. Sometimes, Tim thought he was right, but ever since he'd gotten to know Bruce he'd understood his mistake. So he gratefully takes the exit Bruce offers.

He can't hide, but he wants to. He really wants to.

Thankfully, though it seems that it's time for the dinner part of the gala to begin and everyone and their drinks are ushered into the next room.

Tim is seated at table nineteen with eight other people who only represent five different companies. Tim sits next to the daughter of a mogul on his left and the son of a different one on his right and it's clear to everyone that the artful Mr. Timothy Drake (Drake Industries) on his place card is just a courtesy. Everyone knows where he really belongs.

Luthor stands and begins his speech which Tim tries really hard to listen to but gets bored. He knows the gist of it, new tech, bringing Metropolis into the future, thank you for coming, etc etc etc.

Tim's eyes travel to Conner's seat at table number one, and finds that he's not there. Of course not, probably ditching.

Tim wishes he could ditch. He knows that the teens on either side of him will find one of their go-to excuses after a respectable amount of dinner and go up to one of the balconies or the roof to drink and smoke and play spin the bottle and other things their parents wouldn't approve of, before making their way back down by dessert and leaving completely respectably, none of the parents the wiser. Tim knows this because Tim used to do just that.

Despite that Tim hasn't eaten all day his salad just doesn't look that appetizing anymore.

"So, Timothy, I'm so sorry to hear about your parents. Who are you staying with?" The old lady across from him asks. The speech has ended and everyone has begun their first course. He can feel heat rising to his cheeks. None of his family members wanted him.

"Myself. I have an attorney for general legal issues but I can live on my own until my father can come home."

"What a smart young lad you are!" The father of the girl on his right says.

"And so well organized too! I can't imagine my Peter running my company at his age." The father of the boy on his left says. The kid himself looks like he would give anything not to be there right then, Tim agrees.

"Well, I just worry. It's so difficult to be a deciding factor in a company's decisions and for one so young-why, it must bore you to death!"

Don't tell them anything they can use, Tim reminds himself, lie.

"Really, it's a piece of cake."

"Well then!" The other adults (read: vultures) around the table seem delighted.

"Well he may not be bored," one of the younger people at the table says, he's the head of some start-up or another, "but I'm sure we don't want to bore the other kids with this table talk. How is your dog, Miranda? I heard she was sick?" And from there the conversation, thankfully, is led away from the topic of Tim and Drake Industries. The girl next to Tim begins going on about how her teacup poodle has cancer or something and Tim fazes out again.

Just after the soup course is served Miranda explains to her father that she's having some "lady problems" and might be a while. At the end of it Peter tells his father that he thinks he sees Conner Luthor over by that way, would it be alright if he says hi? (Tim glances over, and Conner isn't there). He's excused as well with a chortling: "Already networking! What an entrepreneurial spirit, that one!"

By the meat course Tim is losing his mind. The Start-Up Guy tries valiantly to steer the conversation away from Tim's parents but eventually even he is overwhelmed by rich old people and Tim has to repeat the same lies he's been saying for days now.

It's only once Miranda's father says that Tim might have been a good match for her, if only he were a little older that Tim decides to excuse himself with a 'phone call' from work. Something these people will understand.

Tim makes it all the way out of the ballroom, and then he decides to push his luck and go looking for some people his own age.

Since breaking down in a bathroom isn't an option (old rich people use bathrooms too), Tim decides that he might be able to find himself a secluded area where the kids are.

It's not hard to find them. They're in a much smaller ballroom on the second floor of the Luthor Concert Hall. There's a balcony, Tim knows, he's been here before.

Rock music blares and can be felt outside the room. Tim used to think that them playing music that loudly was a challenge to their parents: catch us. But now Tim understands it for what it is, just loud music.

Tim opens the door and a son of an African CEO hands him a joint. Tim wants to, but like so many things lately, he can't. He can't risk it.

The kid just shrugs, and lights it himself.

The room smells like smoke: all sorts. Tim spies some beers some of them smuggled in, and some wines from the receiving hall downstairs. His eyes snag on the champagne, but it's the cognac that he really wants.

"Traitor." Someone says to his left. He turns. It's Joseph. His dad is COO for Maxie Zeus. It's good natured, Tim knows, because Joseph is smiling. "I thought we weren't going to turn into our parents."

"Didn't have much of a choice."

"Bullshit." Lucy says from Joseph's side. "Let them go belly up and cash out."

"My Dad's going to pick the company back up in a bit." This is the last thing Tim wants, he came up here to stop talking about DI. People are starting to watch him. He can see Conner eating Miranda's face in the corner of the room.

"How'd you even swing it anyway?" Ha Joon asks.

"Yeah, aren't social services up your ass?"

"Guys, leave him alone." He hears Tam Fox say. She's always had his back.

"What happens in Gotham stays in Gotham." Preston snipes.

"Be nice!" Lucy says.

"What about school?" Peter asks.

There's enough of a lull in the interrogation that Tim answers with a shrug and scuffs his shoe against the tile floor. "I'm dropping out." This causes more of an uproar than anything else.

"No way!"

"God, my Mom would kill me if I dropped out."

"Kill you? My Dad would disown me!"

"Only disown? Wow, your parents are uncreative. There's more than one way to skin a kid that's for fucking sure."

It doesn't occur to any of them that Tim wouldn't have to drop out if his father really was doing okay.

"Seriously?" Tam asks. Clearly Lucius hadn't told her. Because Tim had told Bruce and there was no way that Bruce hadn't told Lucius.

"Yeah, seriously." Tim says.

"What's the big deal? I dropped out." Conner Luthor says with a shrug and all eyes turn towards him.

"Did you really?" Lucy asks.

"I mean, I basically did. I never go anyway."

"Ah, young grasshopper. We all don't go to school. But it takes some special cajones to drop out." Vido says.

"What's the difference?" Conner asks.

"See, don't go to school and your Dad just pays the administration office to keep it quiet. Drop out and he pays the reporters to keep it out of the newspapers." Preston tells him.

Conner cocks a wicked eyebrow. "And if he pays both?"

Everyone listening shakes with laughter. "Then you must have done something really bad," Lucy says, eyes traveling up and down Conner as if only now sizing him up. Conner languishes in the attention from her and Miranda who is staring at him like he's a god. Conner winks at Lucy and Tim feels a little sick. The smoke swirls around Tim's head, making it swim.

“What about that girl of yours? What was her name… Ariana?” Peter asks. “Did you ever get that first kiss?”

“My parents were held hostage and my mom died.” Tim says more harshly than he means to. He needs some fresh air.

Tim heads to the balcony but before he gets there Tam grabs his arm. "Hey, how are you really doing? Really?"

Tim grimaces. "What happens in Gotham stays in Gotham, right?"

Tam looks disappointed but she doesn't push and Tim opens the balcony doors.

The night is cool which is good against his burning cheeks. He wants to rip off the monkey suit. The tie itches and the gel is making his hair feel greasy and his feet hurt and he's still a little hungry. All these little things are coming up and bashing him in the face now.

"You really from Gotham?" Conner Luthor asks from behind him, making Tim jump.

"Yeah." He says.

"Rad." He says which makes Tim laugh even though it shouldn't. Conner grins at him. "So, a kid CEO, huh? Didn't know that was possible."

"It's not. Not really. But I'm trying." (And failing, he doesn't say. Again, it doesn't seem to occur to Conner that it wouldn't matter whether he fails or not, if his father is coming back.)

"No one's given you shit about being bisexual?" Conner asks.

"What? I'm not-"

"Oh. Sorry, I just assumed since they said about that Ariana chick and the way you look at me so-"

"I don't-Not you-!"

Conner snorts. "Please, I'm scandalous, not blind."

Tim shuts his mouth abruptly. "What do you want?" Tim asks in a low voice. Conner must be spying on him, there's no way Lex would give up this information.

"Nothing!" Conner frowns. "Why should I want anything?"

So that was how he wanted to play it. Tim frowns. "I should probably head back down-" He says but when he turns around to go back into the room he finds the balcony door is locked.

Tim tries not to cry. This can't be happening. It can't- He has to be able to get back down to the party, he-!

"Locked out?" Conner asks.

Tim leans his forehead on the door. He wants to die.

Conner leans over him and bangs on the door but the music is loud enough that no one hears him.

Conner scowls. "Well I guess now you're stuck out here with me."

"I'm screwed." Tim says in disbelief. They'll be locked out here forever, and even if they aren't it doesn't matter. Coming up here in the first place was a stupid thing to do. Ten more minutes is enough to ruin whatever reputation he has left downstairs.

Maybe he should just accept Bruce's offer. Whatever he'll get for Drake Industries will be more than whatever it's worth.

Tim feels tears leak from his eyes. He rubs at them angrily. He's going to lose everything. Every part of his parents, of his Dad.... Mom...

"Hey, it's not so bad! I promise! I'm less annoying than I seem at first impression!" Conner says hastily. Tim wipes at his face but he's sobbing now.

"I-It's not you. It's not-It's not- I'm not-" but he can't say anything without the words coming out as a garbled mess.

Conner, confused and worried, tries to comfort him by putting a hand on his back. Tim pushes him away. "Hey, it's okay." Conner says. He pulls Tim into a hug anyway.

"I'm going to lose everything." Tim tells him, words spilling out of his mouth. He'll accept Bruce's offer tonight. The paperwork will be done before they get home to Gotham and it won't matter what Conner tells Luthor because it'll already be done. "My company... everything my parents worked so hard for... it's going to be gone. I'm going to lose the last of them."

"But... I thought your father was getting better..." Conner says. Then he realizes what Tim's been hiding. "He's not getting better, is he?"

Tim shakes his head. His shoulders tremble. Conner holds him tight and he cries into Conner's shirt--soaking it.

Tim tells him everything. From Bruce's offer for the company to his offer of fatherhood. Conner listens silently, rubbing Tim's back and nodding. When Tim finally calms down, Conner presses his lips to the top of Tim's head. The kiss so fleeting Tim wonders if he imagined it. "You're going to be okay. You at least have Bruce Wayne, don't you? And don't lose hope, stranger things have happened. Your father could wake up."

"And if he does, I'll have sold his company away, don't think that he'll be happy about that."

"He'll be happy enough that he's alive and so are you."

You don't know my father, Tim wants to tell him. But he doesn't.

Conner wipes his thumb across Tim's tear-streaked face. "I don't even know why I told you all of that."

"I've got a listener's face." He says.

Tim snorts. "Yes, exactly. That's what everyone says about you. Lex's infamously obedient child."

Conner winks. "Only for cute boys. Lex can screw himself."

Tim raises an eyebrow. "Really?" The mysterious boy, who came from nowhere, heir to a fortune and company whose CEO he looked nothing like. Tim likes mysteries. Always did.

And then there was the cute boy comment. Tim tries not to think about that one too hard.

"Isn't that what the tabloids say?" Conner asks. He spreads his hands out in a half-shrug.

"Guess I never really believed they really knew anything about you. Not that they really know anything about you."

"I'm a man of mystery." Conner shrugs uncomfortably.

"Clearly." Tim raises an eyebrow. "Come on, tell me something about yourself. Anything. I told you my entire life story."

"Uh uh. That's my business to keep." Conner says shaking his head, arms crossed over his chest. Tim sighs, but supposes that is his right.

Of course, without DI on his plate he can go back to his amatur conspiracy theorist detective work. Maybe he'll figure it out on his own.

Tim sizes Conner up. Yeah, he can figure it out. Conner's a teenager, and he exists which means he had to come from somewhere. He wasn't just born fifteen. Made in some lab.

"Yeah," Tim agrees though, "that's fair."

Conner nods. There's a knock on the door and both boys jump as Tam pokes her head out.

"Tim? Dad's says you better get back downstairs, Mr. Lord is saying some pretty nasty things about your father and Bruce is doing what he can but-"

"Thanks, Tam. I'll head down now." Tim tells her.

She looks from him to Conner suspiciously. "Gothamites stick together," is her veiled response, her glare at Conner showing what she really wants to say.

She leans back into the room and Tim just barely catches the door before it locks the two of them out again.

"Wow. Tell us how you really feel." Conner grumbles at her back.

Tim turns back to Conner. "Thanks. For... not being weirded out by me sobbing into your silk shirt." (Which is now ruined by the way, he doesn't say.)

"Hey, scandals stick together, right?" Conner offers with a quick grin.

Tim smiles back and turns to leave when Conner grabs him by the hand. "Hey, wait-!"

Tim turns just as Conner bends down to kiss his lips gently. Tim is too stunned to react as Conner pushes past him into the room. His first kiss and it’s with a Luthor. "Text me next time you want to vent. Listening face." He says, pointing to said face to emphasize his point. "Wayne's got my number. I think." Then he disappears into the party.

Tim watches him go, shocked. He's standing there so long, mouth open, that Luke walks past him at some point and he says: "I thought Tam told you what Dad said? You going back downstairs?"

Which restarts Tim and he rushes downstairs, cheeks pink.

~~~

"Well?" Lex asks as he and Conner sit in the limo back to the penthouse. "Learn anything useful from that Drake boy?"

Conner stares out the black tinted windows, watching as the streetlights zoom past and trying not to think about how Tim's lips had felt pressed against his. "Not a thing. Didn't even show up to the kid party like you said he would."

Lex narrows his eyes at his son. "I see."

Conner just shrugs. "Better luck next time."

#diana writes timkon #timkonweek #timkon week #timkon week 2019 #timkon week: day 7 #diana writes dc

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For the week of 27 May 2019

Quick Bits:

A Walk Through Hell #10 somehow gets even more disturbing as we’re shown some of McGregor’s past as he was abused and set up as a suicide. The horror that Garth Ennis, Goran Sudžuka, Ive Svorcina, and Rob Steen keep exploring in this series keeps getting more personal and seemingly has no limit to its depth.

| Published by AfterShock

Amazing Spider-Man #22 concludes (mostly) the “Hunted” arc as Kraven continues to try to convince Spider-Man that he’s a killer and to finally put Kraven out of his misery. It’s incredibly messed up logic, but Nick Spencer, Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba, Edgar Delgado, Erick Arciniega, and Joe Caramagna make it interesting. You could consider this end anti-climactic, especially after how long this has been, but I get the feeling we’ll be dealing with the ramifications for a while to come.

| Published by Marvel

Amber Blake #3 takes an interesting turn as an undercover operation into a modelling agency reveals that Amber’s childhood friend Amanda is still alive. The level of intrigue and twists in this story just keeps escalating, matching the density of the layouts and art from Butch Guice, Mike Perkins, and Dan Brown.

| Published by IDW

Angel #1 is incredible. Possibly even better than the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series and that has set a ridiculously high bar. Bryan Edward Hill, Gleb Melnikov, Gabriel Cassata, and Ed Dukeshire embrace the darker, moodier feel of Angel consistent with the different atmosphere that was present in the television series, while diving deep into building up his dark past and conflicted future. There’s a lot that is new to this interpretation, which just makes it more intriguing. And the art from Melnikov and Cassata is gorgeous.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Ascender #2 advances the vamps’ plan to eradicate the remaining technology in the universe, as Andy is reunited with Bandit, and the vamps come to threaten him and his family. This remains an interesting new take on the Descender world from Jeff Lemire, Dustin Nguyen, and Steve Wands as we see more of what’s happened since the end of that series.

| Published by Image

Batman: Last Knight on Earth #1 is an interesting debut from Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, FCO Plascencia, and Tom Napolitano. On its surface, it’s an “Old Man Bruce” story, as a previously comatose Bruce awakens in a dark and strange future. But this existence is weird and unreliable. Especially as Bruce awakens in a fiction at first, being told that he’s in Arkham and that all of his villains and time as Batman were fever dreams cooked up by a fractured mind. This may well be the best art ever from Capullo, Glapion, and Plascencia.

| Published by DC Comics / Black Label

Black Science #40 shows that the story still has some surprises in store as it rockets towards the end. Also some ridiculous jokes. Matteo Scalera and Moreno Dinisio continue to inventive as hell with the art.

| Published by Image / Giant Generator

Coda #12 is the explosive, brilliant conclusion to what has been on the best series of this year and last. Si Spurrier, Matías Bergara, Michael Doig, and Jim Campbell have delivered some stunning flights of imagination, tapping into some highly inventive nihilistic fantasy, presenting the final battle battle this issue, and, man, does it stick the landing. Phenomenal storytelling all around.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Daredevil #6 begins “No Devils, Only God” in a New York City without Daredevil. Lalit Kumar Sharma, Jay Leisten, and Java Tartaglia come on for art duties for this arc and it’s an interesting shift. Sharma’s style reminds me a bit of Klaus Janson’s, but without the heavy inks and shadows.

| Published by Marvel

Detective Comics Annual #2 heads into Year Two territory as we get a new Reaper from Peter J. Tomasi, Travis Moore, Max Raynor, Tamra Bonvillain, Nick Filardi, and Rob Leigh. This is a nice use of the annual format, giving us a satisfying single issue story setting up a possible future arc.

| Published by DC Comics

The Forgotten Queen #4 brings an end to this excellent series exploring the history of Vexana, War-Monger, from Tini Howard, Amilcar Pinna, Ulises Arreola, and Jeff Powell. Very interesting depth added to the character and interesting hints as to what more might be coming, hopefully.

| Published by Valiant

Hellboy vs. Lobster Johnson: Ring of Death elaborates further on Hellboy’s time in Mexico making wrestling movies in a pair of tales from Mike Mignola, Chris Roberson, Mike Norton, Paul Grist, Dave Stewart, Bill Crabtree, and Clem Robins. Seeing a presentation of the movie Hellboy starred in is a real treat.

| Published by Dark Horse

Immortal Hulk #18 leans hard into the body horror aspect of the series, debuting both Betty’s full form as this new Harpy and in the Abomination. Joe Bennett, Ruy José, and Paul Mounts just nail this perfectly.

| Published by Marvel

Killer Groove #1 is a great first issue from Ollie Masters, Eoin Marron, Jordie Bellaire, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. It’s a taut crime drama mixing a never-was musician with the potential of life as a hitman, as he lucks into a kill during a chance encounter. Great art from Marron and Bellaire.

| Published by AfterShock

The Magnificent Ms. Marvel #3 advances the alien plot, sending Kamala and her parents off to Saffa to supposedly fulfill the role of their Destined One, saving the planet again. Saladin Ahmed, Minkyu Jung, Juan Vlasco, Ian Herring, and Joe Caramagna are doing some interesting world-building here, and ensuring that nothing is quite what it seems.

| Published by Marvel

Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt #5 is the beautiful conclusion to what has been a brilliant series from Kieron Gillen, Caspar Wijngaard, Mary Safro, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. It’s been a sequel, satire, criticism, and repudiation of Watchmen, but it’s also been an interesting mediation on “being better” while coming to terms with the nature of reality and learning to deal with the human element.

| Published by Dynamite

Queen of Bad Dreams #2 gets more into the grit of IJ Wei’s investigation into the escaped figment, delivering some great police procedural stuff. The artwork from Jordi Pérez and Dearbhla Kelly is wonderful. Reminding me a lot of some of the work from John Watkiss, particularly during a very impressive action sequence.

| Published by Vault

She Said Destroy #1 is an intriguing science fantasy debut from Joe Corallo, Liana Kangas, Rebecca Nalty, and Melanie Ujimori. It taps into Celtic mythology, presenting a war between Brigid and the Morrigan, but also appears to be telling a coming of age story with some members of the Morrigan’s flock as they try to combat Brigid’s oppression.

| Published by Vault

Star Wars #108 is essentially another one-shot in the 80th anniversary of Marvel celebration, with Matthew Rosenberg and a murderers’ row of new and old Star Wars artists delivering a tale set in the old Marvel continuity. While you’ll get more out of it if you’re familiar with the original series, with familiar faces like Valance Hunter, Domina Tagge, and Jaxxon, but it still works well on its own without having any foreknowledge of previous events.

| Published by Marvel

Stranger Things: Six #1 begins another prequel mini-series, this time introducing us to “Six” and looking into the experiments going on at the Hawkins Labs, from Jody Houser, Edgar Salazar, Keith Champagne, Marissa Louise, and Nate Piekos. I quite liked the first one that served as a view into the terror that Will went through during season one, but this one looks like it’ll be breaking some new ground. Very interested to see more of what happened earlier.

| Published by Dark Horse

Superman: Leviathan Rising Special #1 is a tease for Event Leviathan, the next turn in the Superman series, the forthcoming Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen minis, and the upcoming Supergirl arc once she returns to Earth, but it also manages to tell a fairly entertaining story in its own right as Talia al Ghul kidnaps Clark Kent.

| Published by DC Comics

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #94 continues “City at War” as everything gets nastier and dirtier, and we still haven’t had a full-on incendiary spark yet to ignite even larger warfare. Dave Wachter and Ronda Pattison deliver some incredible artwork. Splinter is very chilling in this one.

| Published by IDW

Thor #13 will make you care about Cul Borson. At least, a little bit. Maybe. Jason Aaron, Mike del Mundo, Marco D’Alfonso, and Joe Sabino deliver on another single issue story broadening the bits and pieces of the War of the Realms.

| Published by Marvel

Transformers #6 takes a break from the ongoing narrative and gives us a look into the past friendship between Megatron and Orion Pax, from Brian Ruckley, Beth McGuire-Smith, and Tom B. Long. There are some interesting parallels between Megatron’s observations and the drifting apart of these two old friends.

| Published by IDW

Wolverine: The Long Night #5 concludes this adaptation of the podcast of the same name from Benjamin Percy, Marcio Takara, Matt Milla, and Joe Caramagna. This has been a mature, psychological thriller amidst all of the violence and darkness, with this final chapter delivering more twists even as it brings the answers.

| Published by Marvel

Other Highlights: Age of X-Man: X-Tremists #4, Bad Luck Chuck #3, Black Panther #12, Blossoms 666 #4, Catwoman Annual #1, Dark Red #3, Dead Kings #5, Delver #4, Dick Tracy Forever #2, Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor #8, Dog Days of Summer #1, Fantastic Four #10, Fight Club 3 #5, Four Sisters 2: Hortense, Grand Abyss Hotel, KINO #16, Life on the Moon, Lumberjanes: Somewhere Green #1, Major X #4, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #39, Princeless - Book 8: Princesses #3, Punk Mambo #2, Punks Not Dead: London Calling #4, Rick & Morty #50, Spawn #297, Star Trek: Year Five #2, Star Wars: Vader - Dark Visions #4, Superior Spider-Man #6, TMNT: Urban Legends #13, Thanos #2, Wailing Blade #1, War of the Realms: Giant-Man #2, War of the Realms: Spider-Man & The League of Realms #2, War of the Realms: War Scrolls #2, Wasted Space #10, X-23 #12, X-Men: Grand Design - X-Tinction #1

Recommended Collections: Death Orb - Volume 1, Dept. H Omnibus - Volume 1, The Goon: Bunch of Old Crap, Judge Dredd: Toxic, Punisher - Volume 2: War in Bagalia, Rick & Morty Presents - Volume 1, X-Force - Volume 1: Sins of the Past

For the week of 20 May 2019

Quick Bits:

Action Comics #1011 is the last stop before Event Leviathan starts in earnest and it raises more questions as to what’s going on. Brian Michael Bendis, Steve Epting, Brad Anderson, and Josh Reed have done a great job elevating tension through this lead-up and moving the pieces around the board.

| Published by DC Comics

Assassin Nation #3 is another brutal issue from Kyle Starks, Erica Henderson, and Deron Bennett. The body count remains high and we get more questions about who authorized the hit. There’s some hints that it may all just be misdirection.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Detective Comics #1004 gives us the life history of Astrid Arkham. It’s told largely in full page montages, really allowing Brad Walker, Andrew Hennessy, and Nathan Fairbairn to cut loose on the visuals.

| Published by DC Comics

Faithless #2 sees Faith go to a party, and then it gets weird. This feels like that Griffin Dunne film of him wandering around New York, only with more magic and gorgeous art from Maria Llovet.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Ghost Tree #2 delivers well on the promise of the first issue, going further with Brandt’s conversations with the spirits around the ghost tree, and setting up the possibility of something horrible coming soon. More gorgeous artwork from Simon Gane, Ian Herring, and Becka Kinzie.

| Published by IDW

Incursion #4 is a fitting conclusion to this series bringing Gilad back to a regular status in the world of the living, with some interesting teases as to what might be further down the line, from Andy Diggle, Alex Paknadel, Doug Braithwaite, Diego Rodriguez, Leonardo Paciarotti, and Marshall Dillon.

| Published by Valiant

Justice League Dark #11 continues “Lords of Order” and keeps burning down the magical side of the DC Universe, while diving very deep into the back catalogue to build up the new. James Tynion IV is developing a very interesting structure for what might be coming.

| Published by DC Comics

Middlewest #7 shows the sheer devastation that Abel can unleash as his powers manifest, similar to the rage that his father has shown, and how his newfound “family” can also let him down horribly. Great work from Skottie Young, Jorge Corona, Jean-Francois Beaulieu, and Nate Piekos as the story seems to be headed for more dangerous waters.

| Published by Image

Star Wars: Age of Rebellion - Jabba the Hutt #1 is an entertaining little story of how Jabba manipulates others to accomplish his goals.

| Published by Marvel

Stone Star #3 gives us another surprise as Dail tries to save Kitzo from being eaten in the arena by Most-Maw. It’s very interesting how this series plays with elements of hero shooters and the designs for the characters and creatures by Max Dunbar are incredible.

| Published by Swords & Sassery

Other Highlights: A Shining Beacon, Age of X-Man: Amazing Nightcrawler #4, Animosity #21, Asgardians of the Galaxy #9, Avengers #19, Batgirl #35, Battlestar Galactica: Twilight Command #4, Bone Parish #9, Books of Magic #8, Clue: Candlestick #1, Cyber Force #10, Dial H for Hero #3, Doctor Strange #14, The Flash #71, Freedom Fighters #6, Gasolina #18, GI Joe: A Real American Hero #262, The Goon #2, Highwayman, Invader Zim #43, Invisible Kingdom #3, Martian Manhunter #5, Marvel Comics Presents #5, Mary Shelley: Monster Hunter #2, Miles Morales: Spider-Man #6, Monstress #22, Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur #43, Mr. & Mrs. X #11, Redneck #20, Riverdale Season 3 #3, Road of Bones #1, Rumble #12, Runaways #21, Shuri #8, The Silencer #17, Star Trek: Q Conflict #4, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge #2, Tony Stark: Iron Man #11, The Unstoppable Wasp #8, Venom #14, War of the Realms: Journey into Mystery #3, War of the Realms: New Agents of Atlas #2, War of the Realms: The Punisher #2, War of the Realms: Strikeforce - The Land of Giants #1, War of the Realms: Uncanny X-Men #2, The Warning #7, Welcome to Wanderland #4. Wolverine: Infinity Watch #4, Wonder Woman #71, X-Force #8

Recommended Collections: Black Badge - Volume 1, Black Magick, Cover - Volume 1, Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Volume 1, East of West - Volume 9, Fantastic Four - Volume 2: Mr. & Mrs. Grimm, Friendo - Volume 1, James Bond: Blackbox, Middlewest - Book 1, Planet Terry Complete Collection, Redlands - Volume 2, Summit - Volume 3: Truth & Consequences, Wayward - Book 3

d. emerson eddy thinks there should be more hours in the day.

#This Week in Comics

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