Chapter 1 - Fly
Clark began typing the last paragraph to his article, careful not to hit the keys too fast or his coworkers would suspect his secret. At home, he could type at 400 hundred words a minute and would keep it up until his keyboard started smoking. He went through more keyboards with his super-typing, usually about two a month.
Glancing over his fake glasses, Clark looked at the clock on the wall. He had a clock on his computer screen, but Perry White insisted they use the clock on the wall for work though it always ran three minutes slow. Ten 'til six.
"Hey, Smallville," Lois Lane smiled over the top of Clark's computer. "Big plans for this weekend?"
"Not really," Clark straightened his glasses.
Lois leaned forward. "Gonna go see rich boy in the city?"
"Shh," Clark hushed her. "I don't want anyone around here to know."
"Know what?" Lois teased. "That you're dating one of the richest people in America or that you prefer your dates tall, dark, and masculine?"
"You get right to the point, Lois," Clark shook his head.
"It's a long drive to Gotham," Lois kept teasing. "Or does Mr. Strong and Silent send his private jet for you?"
"Are you done, Lois?"
"I bet he can make you blush like a schoolgirl," she whispered.
"And you're done," Clark typed the last word and hit the Save button.
"Lucky you," Lois sighed. "A romantic weekend, just the two of you. Meanwhile I'll be here alone, hoping Superman might swing by for a visit."
Clark pressed his lips together, concerned. He had told Lois about dating Bruce, but he had never told Lois that he was Superman. He would tell her one day, but for now –
"Hope you have fun," he smiled at her.
"People," Perry White appeared at the door of the large workroom, "time's up. I need your articles for tomorrow's paper, especially yours, Lois. It takes the copy editor forever to find all your typos and spelling mistakes."
"But you love me anyway, Perry," she smirked at him. "Besides, now I know that rapist has two P's."
"One!" White retorted.
"Are you sure?" Lois frowned. "Jimmy, go get me a dictionary. Jimmy? Jimmy Olsen? Where is that worthless boy when you need him?"
An hour later, Clark stood in his apartment, trying to decide what to take with him to Wayne Manor. He didn't know why he bothered – he usually just wore Bruce's clothes when he was there though he was careful to wash and iron the clothes he wore so Alfred would not have extra work.
But this weekend, Tim would be staying at the Manor because Alfred was going out of town to see family, and Dick was coming to visit, so Clark wanted to look nice. Both boys seemed to accept him being there, but life at the Manor was vastly different than life at the Kent farm and Clark had to constantly remind himself that he was dating a man with class, money, and prestige.
Maybe he could sneak into Bruce' closet, find something to wear, and then rush out to come in the front door, all at super-speed so no one would see him.
A tap sounded at the window. Though he was up on the fifteenth floor, Clark went to the window and opened it. "Hello, Diana."
Wonder Woman flew in and landed on the floor in her high boots. "Hey, Clark. Just stopped by to say I would watch over Gotham this weekend. I might run by Bludhaven, too, since Dick is going to be hanging out with you guys."
"How did you know about that?" Clark frowned. Bruce wasn't one for talking a lot, not even to Wonder Woman, his closest friend after Clark.
"Stopped by the Manor," Diana told him, tossing back her mane of black hair. "I wanted to say hi to Tim – that sweet boy always is so glad to see me, but Dick was already there, and they were fighting. You better get over there before Bats blows his top."
"I don't know," Clark rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, I feel very strongly about Bruce and his well-being and all that, but the boys – I don't have any right to interfere with them. I'm just their guardian's boyfriend, nothing more."
"Oh, can it," Diana ordered. "You've done more for Bruce than anyone else has ever done. He actually smiled the other week, and he's starting to growl less. You're a good influence on him and you'll do the same for the boys. Goddess knows that they could use a father figure who's a little less . . . grim."
"But I –"
"Clark," she grabbed him by the arm and turned him towards the window, "go."
She slapped him lightly on the rear to get him going and then grinned. "Oops, sorry – forgot that's Bruce's property now."
"What is wrong with women today?" Clark grumbled as he spun into his Superman suit and flew out the window. "They used to be ladylike and proper."
"Hey, we accept you and your boyfriend," Diana called after him. "You can accept us modern women, you arrogant Boy Scout."
Clark made it to Wayne Manor in less than a minute, but he took time to change into his work clothes behind a tree before going inside. He paused to knock at the door, but thought better of it and opened the door and peeked in.
He could hear arguing from the entrance hall.
Clark walked towards the voices, going into the big hallway with the marble stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, Tim was sitting on the lowest steps, hugging his thin knees to his chest and looking very forlorn.
"Hey, buddy," Clark said, stepping into the hallway.
"Hey, Clark," Tim smiled and jumped up. He approached Clark with his hands stuck awkwardly in his pockets. "It's good to have you here. Did you have a good week at work?"
Clark gave a sad smile at such a formal greeting and reached out to draw the kid into a hug. Tim started in surprise, but then he returned the hug so warmly and eagerly it almost broke Clark's heart. The kid was starved for affection.
"Is that Bruce and Dick?" Clark nodded towards the family room where the arguing came from.
"Yeah," Tim stepped back, a troubled look on his young face. "Dick just got here, like ten minutes ago, and Bruce started in on him. And Dick wouldn't let it go, because he's just like Bruce when it comes to arguing. I tried to distract them, but Bruce yelled at me to go sit on the stairs because I was being such a bother. And I had some good points, too – like saying that we should get along because you were coming, but Bruce told me to shut up. And then Dick said 'Don't talk to him like that!' And then Bruce yelled 'It's my house and I'll talk to him however I want.' I tried to say something, but Bruce pushed me out the door and slammed it."
"That's sounds rough," Clark said, trying to mask his feeling. It would do no good to start venting his frustration towards Bruce in front of his adopted son. Clark knew how to show respect for others, unlike some people in the Manor.
"Yeah, it's not fair," Tim sighed. "They fight and then they're mad all weekend and no one wants to talk or do anything fun, and Dick will make up a reason to leave tomorrow though Bruce promised that we could all go to the movies."
"Okay, you stay here, and I'll go see what's going on."
Tim nodded woefully and sank back down on the stairs.
Determined, Clark started for the family room, his super hearing picking up on the fight right away.
"I can't believe you would do that," Dick accused. "I'm not eight years old anymore. I make money and I can pay for things. You're trying to control things like you always do."
"If I didn't control things, this city would be in shambles and you boys would be living on the street," Bruce yelled back.
"We would not," Dick retorted. "I would take care of Tim if anything happened to you, which it probably will, considering the way you run yourself into the ground, chasing evil."
"Don't start that again," Bruce ordered. "We aren't having this fight again."
"You can't see the good in anybody, Bruce!" Dick shouted. "It's all darkness and bats and fear with you."
Clark opened the door and saw the two males standing in front of each other, Bruce snarling and Dick looking just as enraged. Dick was younger and shorter, but his stance matched Bruce's perfectly in anger and aggression. Clark coughed.
"Get out of here, Tim," Bruce yelled, without look away from Dick.
"Tim's in the hall," Clark said quietly.
Bruce and Dick glanced at him, startled. Dick took a step back, almost embarrassed at being caught in the middle of a fight, but Bruce snapped,
"Hey, Clark. I'm just finishing up a little discussion with Mr. Ungrateful Grayson here."
"It's nothing," Dick protested.
"Nothing?" Bruce challenged. "So you come in here and starting accusing me for nothing?"
"Okay, it is something. I rent an apartment, Clark, in Bludhaven."
"Yeah, I visited you there once," Clark reminded him.
"That's right – you've seen it," Dick remembered. "It's a nice apartment, right? Well, I'm supposed to pay seven-hundred in rent every month. I can afford it – the Police Department pays me very well for my services. Well, I go to pay my rent this month and my ladylady tells me that I only owe a hundred dollars for rent. I ask why, and she gets all nervous and flustered and makes up some lame excuse about police officers getting a break on rent."
"That sounds perfectly legitimate," Bruce declared.
"Liar! You paid six hundred dollars of my rent and then you bribed her to lie for you, thinking I wasn't smart enough to figure it out."
"Prove it," Bruce replied.
"I'm not a child," Dick spat. "I'm an adult and I can pay my way."
"Most people would be glad to have someone pay their rent."
"Most people don't have you to ruin their lives!"
"I'm ruining your life? I saved your life."
"You screwed everything up, you deluded old man," Dick snapped.
"No, you screwed everything up when you left. You left, then Jason died, and I'm here trying to keep Tim alive, and you're goofing off in Bludhaven."
Clark's sharp ears caught the sound of the door creaking, and he turned to see Tim peeking around the door, very worried at all the yelling.
"I don't goof off in Bludhaven!" Dick roared. "I do good work there, I help people, and I don't need anything from you."
"Then get out of my house and don't bother coming back," Bruce told him.
With a snarl, Dick turned towards the door, but Clark stepped up, blocking his way.
"Whoa, no one leave just yet. Deep breaths, everybody. Dick, sit down on the sofa for just a second. Tim?"
Tim stepped in the room, hesitating and not quite looking Bruce in the eye.
"I thought I told you to stay out of this," Bruce growled at Tim.
Clark swallowed his frustration as he put his hands on Tim's shoulder and led him to sit on the sofa beside Dick. "Tim, tell Dick about what you learned in school this week while I have a word with your guardian in the hall."
While Tim plopped down, looking ready to talk, Dick sat stiffly on the sofa, brushing a hand back over his dark ponytail.
"You're getting a haircut if it's the last thing you do," Bruce threatened, ignoring the warning look from Clark. "You look like a bum, and I won't have you slouching around here like a –"
Clark grabbed him by the elbow and herded him towards the door. Bruce went along, still griping at Dick the whole way, promising to shave his head at night if Dick did not get a haircut.
Perfect, jut a wonderful way to start the weekend. Clark sighed as he shut the door, enclosing the boys in the family room and finally getting to have a word alone with the man who was acting exceedingly awful that evening.
Glancing over his fake glasses, Clark looked at the clock on the wall. He had a clock on his computer screen, but Perry White insisted they use the clock on the wall for work though it always ran three minutes slow. Ten 'til six.
"Hey, Smallville," Lois Lane smiled over the top of Clark's computer. "Big plans for this weekend?"
"Not really," Clark straightened his glasses.
Lois leaned forward. "Gonna go see rich boy in the city?"
"Shh," Clark hushed her. "I don't want anyone around here to know."
"Know what?" Lois teased. "That you're dating one of the richest people in America or that you prefer your dates tall, dark, and masculine?"
"You get right to the point, Lois," Clark shook his head.
"It's a long drive to Gotham," Lois kept teasing. "Or does Mr. Strong and Silent send his private jet for you?"
"Are you done, Lois?"
"I bet he can make you blush like a schoolgirl," she whispered.
"And you're done," Clark typed the last word and hit the Save button.
"Lucky you," Lois sighed. "A romantic weekend, just the two of you. Meanwhile I'll be here alone, hoping Superman might swing by for a visit."
Clark pressed his lips together, concerned. He had told Lois about dating Bruce, but he had never told Lois that he was Superman. He would tell her one day, but for now –
"Hope you have fun," he smiled at her.
"People," Perry White appeared at the door of the large workroom, "time's up. I need your articles for tomorrow's paper, especially yours, Lois. It takes the copy editor forever to find all your typos and spelling mistakes."
"But you love me anyway, Perry," she smirked at him. "Besides, now I know that rapist has two P's."
"One!" White retorted.
"Are you sure?" Lois frowned. "Jimmy, go get me a dictionary. Jimmy? Jimmy Olsen? Where is that worthless boy when you need him?"
An hour later, Clark stood in his apartment, trying to decide what to take with him to Wayne Manor. He didn't know why he bothered – he usually just wore Bruce's clothes when he was there though he was careful to wash and iron the clothes he wore so Alfred would not have extra work.
But this weekend, Tim would be staying at the Manor because Alfred was going out of town to see family, and Dick was coming to visit, so Clark wanted to look nice. Both boys seemed to accept him being there, but life at the Manor was vastly different than life at the Kent farm and Clark had to constantly remind himself that he was dating a man with class, money, and prestige.
Maybe he could sneak into Bruce' closet, find something to wear, and then rush out to come in the front door, all at super-speed so no one would see him.
A tap sounded at the window. Though he was up on the fifteenth floor, Clark went to the window and opened it. "Hello, Diana."
Wonder Woman flew in and landed on the floor in her high boots. "Hey, Clark. Just stopped by to say I would watch over Gotham this weekend. I might run by Bludhaven, too, since Dick is going to be hanging out with you guys."
"How did you know about that?" Clark frowned. Bruce wasn't one for talking a lot, not even to Wonder Woman, his closest friend after Clark.
"Stopped by the Manor," Diana told him, tossing back her mane of black hair. "I wanted to say hi to Tim – that sweet boy always is so glad to see me, but Dick was already there, and they were fighting. You better get over there before Bats blows his top."
"I don't know," Clark rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, I feel very strongly about Bruce and his well-being and all that, but the boys – I don't have any right to interfere with them. I'm just their guardian's boyfriend, nothing more."
"Oh, can it," Diana ordered. "You've done more for Bruce than anyone else has ever done. He actually smiled the other week, and he's starting to growl less. You're a good influence on him and you'll do the same for the boys. Goddess knows that they could use a father figure who's a little less . . . grim."
"But I –"
"Clark," she grabbed him by the arm and turned him towards the window, "go."
She slapped him lightly on the rear to get him going and then grinned. "Oops, sorry – forgot that's Bruce's property now."
"What is wrong with women today?" Clark grumbled as he spun into his Superman suit and flew out the window. "They used to be ladylike and proper."
"Hey, we accept you and your boyfriend," Diana called after him. "You can accept us modern women, you arrogant Boy Scout."
Clark made it to Wayne Manor in less than a minute, but he took time to change into his work clothes behind a tree before going inside. He paused to knock at the door, but thought better of it and opened the door and peeked in.
He could hear arguing from the entrance hall.
Clark walked towards the voices, going into the big hallway with the marble stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, Tim was sitting on the lowest steps, hugging his thin knees to his chest and looking very forlorn.
"Hey, buddy," Clark said, stepping into the hallway.
"Hey, Clark," Tim smiled and jumped up. He approached Clark with his hands stuck awkwardly in his pockets. "It's good to have you here. Did you have a good week at work?"
Clark gave a sad smile at such a formal greeting and reached out to draw the kid into a hug. Tim started in surprise, but then he returned the hug so warmly and eagerly it almost broke Clark's heart. The kid was starved for affection.
"Is that Bruce and Dick?" Clark nodded towards the family room where the arguing came from.
"Yeah," Tim stepped back, a troubled look on his young face. "Dick just got here, like ten minutes ago, and Bruce started in on him. And Dick wouldn't let it go, because he's just like Bruce when it comes to arguing. I tried to distract them, but Bruce yelled at me to go sit on the stairs because I was being such a bother. And I had some good points, too – like saying that we should get along because you were coming, but Bruce told me to shut up. And then Dick said 'Don't talk to him like that!' And then Bruce yelled 'It's my house and I'll talk to him however I want.' I tried to say something, but Bruce pushed me out the door and slammed it."
"That's sounds rough," Clark said, trying to mask his feeling. It would do no good to start venting his frustration towards Bruce in front of his adopted son. Clark knew how to show respect for others, unlike some people in the Manor.
"Yeah, it's not fair," Tim sighed. "They fight and then they're mad all weekend and no one wants to talk or do anything fun, and Dick will make up a reason to leave tomorrow though Bruce promised that we could all go to the movies."
"Okay, you stay here, and I'll go see what's going on."
Tim nodded woefully and sank back down on the stairs.
Determined, Clark started for the family room, his super hearing picking up on the fight right away.
"I can't believe you would do that," Dick accused. "I'm not eight years old anymore. I make money and I can pay for things. You're trying to control things like you always do."
"If I didn't control things, this city would be in shambles and you boys would be living on the street," Bruce yelled back.
"We would not," Dick retorted. "I would take care of Tim if anything happened to you, which it probably will, considering the way you run yourself into the ground, chasing evil."
"Don't start that again," Bruce ordered. "We aren't having this fight again."
"You can't see the good in anybody, Bruce!" Dick shouted. "It's all darkness and bats and fear with you."
Clark opened the door and saw the two males standing in front of each other, Bruce snarling and Dick looking just as enraged. Dick was younger and shorter, but his stance matched Bruce's perfectly in anger and aggression. Clark coughed.
"Get out of here, Tim," Bruce yelled, without look away from Dick.
"Tim's in the hall," Clark said quietly.
Bruce and Dick glanced at him, startled. Dick took a step back, almost embarrassed at being caught in the middle of a fight, but Bruce snapped,
"Hey, Clark. I'm just finishing up a little discussion with Mr. Ungrateful Grayson here."
"It's nothing," Dick protested.
"Nothing?" Bruce challenged. "So you come in here and starting accusing me for nothing?"
"Okay, it is something. I rent an apartment, Clark, in Bludhaven."
"Yeah, I visited you there once," Clark reminded him.
"That's right – you've seen it," Dick remembered. "It's a nice apartment, right? Well, I'm supposed to pay seven-hundred in rent every month. I can afford it – the Police Department pays me very well for my services. Well, I go to pay my rent this month and my ladylady tells me that I only owe a hundred dollars for rent. I ask why, and she gets all nervous and flustered and makes up some lame excuse about police officers getting a break on rent."
"That sounds perfectly legitimate," Bruce declared.
"Liar! You paid six hundred dollars of my rent and then you bribed her to lie for you, thinking I wasn't smart enough to figure it out."
"Prove it," Bruce replied.
"I'm not a child," Dick spat. "I'm an adult and I can pay my way."
"Most people would be glad to have someone pay their rent."
"Most people don't have you to ruin their lives!"
"I'm ruining your life? I saved your life."
"You screwed everything up, you deluded old man," Dick snapped.
"No, you screwed everything up when you left. You left, then Jason died, and I'm here trying to keep Tim alive, and you're goofing off in Bludhaven."
Clark's sharp ears caught the sound of the door creaking, and he turned to see Tim peeking around the door, very worried at all the yelling.
"I don't goof off in Bludhaven!" Dick roared. "I do good work there, I help people, and I don't need anything from you."
"Then get out of my house and don't bother coming back," Bruce told him.
With a snarl, Dick turned towards the door, but Clark stepped up, blocking his way.
"Whoa, no one leave just yet. Deep breaths, everybody. Dick, sit down on the sofa for just a second. Tim?"
Tim stepped in the room, hesitating and not quite looking Bruce in the eye.
"I thought I told you to stay out of this," Bruce growled at Tim.
Clark swallowed his frustration as he put his hands on Tim's shoulder and led him to sit on the sofa beside Dick. "Tim, tell Dick about what you learned in school this week while I have a word with your guardian in the hall."
While Tim plopped down, looking ready to talk, Dick sat stiffly on the sofa, brushing a hand back over his dark ponytail.
"You're getting a haircut if it's the last thing you do," Bruce threatened, ignoring the warning look from Clark. "You look like a bum, and I won't have you slouching around here like a –"
Clark grabbed him by the elbow and herded him towards the door. Bruce went along, still griping at Dick the whole way, promising to shave his head at night if Dick did not get a haircut.
Perfect, jut a wonderful way to start the weekend. Clark sighed as he shut the door, enclosing the boys in the family room and finally getting to have a word alone with the man who was acting exceedingly awful that evening.