Chapter Text
February 23rd
Clarks POV
The carnival was last week, and Clark still couldn’t get that boy out of his head, he also hadn’t been able to track his heart rate or voice or anything, which might have been on purpose since he was hanging around the bats.
Jason, Bruce’s second son had reacted the second Tim said his name, and pulled the raven haired boy to his chest, the low growl and muffled snarls, heavy breathing even though his heart rate had been low.
Both of Bruce’s boys insisted he leave even as he heard the snap of bone.
He really only left when Tim started to look angry and upset. Clark may be nearly indestructible, but Tim scared him far more than Batman ever did.
So he had and did his best to ignore the pavilion for a while, but when he’d checked back in, he couldn’t hear anything, so they'd probably left.
Diana was there to relieve him from his shift at the Watchtower. It was noonish, and there were several people there. She smiled as she arrived.
“Anything to report?” She asked.
He stood from the chair, stretching his limbs. “No, it was a routine Thursday. There were a few maintenance reminders that came up on the calendar. These ones will probably fall to Hal, since they’re on the outside and that’s his domain.”
Diana nodded. “Have a good day then, sklirós ánthropos.”
“What?”
She waved him off, mentioning some reports she needed to file.
-Weird-
He passed Flash and Green Arrow in the halls, they smiled.
“Hey, Duvizago, heading back to Metropolis?”
“What duvis…?”
“Hey,” Oliver smiled, slapping a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, and say hi to your boys.”
He tried to hide the sneer. “Kon is not my son,” he said as gently as he could manage. He’d been reprimanded before, and he didn’t feel like it right now. How could none of them grasp, his existence was a violation to his very being.
Berry’s face pulled a knowing but harsh grin. “We know.”
-At least they’re finally acknowledging it.-
“Anyways,” Oliver said. “Have a good day, Crudelis.”
-Why are they all calling me these strange names?-
He shook his head and left. Figuring they would be over it sooner or later.
Except they weren't, it kept happening with everyone in the league. More and more strange names. Some he recognized as their native languages, but he wasn’t able to look them up. He’d have to ask Bruce, he’d know what was going on.
And even if he didn’t, he’d find out for him.
-
Tuesday, February 28th, midday.
He was at the Daily Planet, Lois was being weird and standoffish, all morning
She got up for lunch and he moved to follow her when Bruce of all people found him in the hallway.
“Clark! How have you been?”
“Bruce! What are you doing here?” He asked. More than glad for a familiar face, calling him by his name.
“Ah, nothing much. I was in the area for a meeting, thought I’d stop by in person. It seems Jason and his fiance have gotten rather close to Tim and his partners. Kon more than the rest. They were all hoping you, Jon and Lois would join us for dinner tomorrow.”
“Jason’s engaged?”
Clark’s mind wandered back to the raven that had been with him at the carnival.
“As of around midnight today.” Bruce smiled proudly, and not just for show.
“And it seems this person has gotten your approval?” He asked.
He gave a firm nod, leading them into a private room. “Yes, he has a lot more than just my approval too. He’s been on Gotham's streets with us officially since October.”
Clark had to remember the dates, but it clicked pretty quickly. “The wolf that killed The Joker?”
Bruce gave an approving nod. “He rescued Jason from him, they had been dating over 6 months at that point. Not having realized who Jason was prior. Things have been better for everyone since.”
“I kinda saw him at the carnival, is he okay? I heard his arm break,” he noted.
“He got some news about someone he cared about just as you were walking up, they weren’t quite ready to tell more people about him being Lycan. So Jason was trying to hide him. I was unaware that he’d hurt himself,” Bruce frowned.
“Got it,” Clark nodded. At least that much made sense. “As for dinner, I’d love to come, and I know Jon will love to see Damian. But Lois seems upset with me, I haven’t been able to talk with her about it.”
“I’ll talk to her,” Bruce smiled, leaving the privacy of the room.
-
February 29th Evening
Lois had an interview in Gotham to set up that morning, so she was already at Wayne Manor with Kon.
Him and Jon arrived through the zeta tube into the batcave, where Cass was waiting.
She smiled brightly and waved them to the elevator, because you had to have specific access. And the only one with kryptonian biology that did, was Kon. Clark still didn’t understand why Batman wouldn’t add him.
They left Bruce’s office and followed Cass whose steps were impossibly silent in the hall to the larger sitting room.
There was laughing and good energy coming from inside, a large black wolf sat in the space where furniture had been moved back. Jason was sitting in the crook of the wolf’s side, with its large head sat gently on his shoulder.
Kon was laughing with his partners. Both Bernard and Tim cuddled against the wolf, while Kon sat running a brush through the longer than normal tail. Probably twice as long as he might’ve expected, as it draped across his lap.
Everyone else was smiling around the room. The moment they saw him though, things shifted slightly.
Kon didn’t even look at him, and while everyone greeted him, he felt like everyone was glaring behind the offered smiles. Like he was at one of Bruce’s galas, but worse.
The wolf gave a low warble and the boys who had been snuggled with him shifted forward. The wolf got up, moving to Kon and pressing his nose to his head, placing a cowlick in his hair as he licked him.
“Dude! I actually did it for once,” he complained. The resulting sound from the wolf was somehow laughter.
The wolf's height standing, was shoulder to shoulder with Clark’s as he trotted out of the room.
Jon was already settled in conversation with Damian, the boy was glaring at him more than usual.
Why did all of this feel like a trap?
He settled next to Lois, who let him, but he didn’t dare push his luck with how upset she was at… something. Something he’d done, obviously.
He looked around, counting heads.
Jason, Tim, Kon, Bernard, Damian, and it seemed Cass had left, Bruce wasn’t there yet.
The click-clack of claws on the wooden floor had him looking back toward the doorway.
It was definitely the boy he’d seen at the pavilion, just… wolfier.
Digitigrade legs and covered in midnight fur. Shorts and a button up shirt in place as he made graceful steps back into the room. He rounded to the sofa Clark was on, smiling and extending a hand with claws to Lois.
“Miss Lane, I’m so glad you could make it. I’m happy to meet you, Kon has told me a lot. My name is Danny.”
She smiled, a genuine but somehow worried one, as she took his hand without hesitating about the sharp nails. “Well, he hasn’t been around much since the carnival, so I haven’t really gotten the chance to hear much about you, I’m afraid. All good things from what I have though. Something about healing the pit rage?”
Pit rage, Clarked remembered that was what Jason came back with after he was resurrected. It had made him volatile and angry for years. If he was somehow able to heal it…
“Not quite,” he gave a sharp toothy smile. Shaking himself like a dog, allowing his wolfish features to fall away. “As a supernatural creature myself I was able to recognize Jason as a revenant.”
“A revenant?” Clark asked. He could see the boy bristle when he spoke.
“It means I brought myself back,” Jason grinned from behind Danny. “Purely out of spite.”
“Yeah,” Tim added, laughing. “Because his stubbornness knows no bounds!”
With a smile, Jason threw a pillow at Tim and they continued laughing. Which… felt impossible. The history between them, the violence of it all. He’d seen some of their brawls during mission briefings.
“Revenants can’t kill their killers and find peace, they have to be avenged. I killed the Joker for Jason, he is my everything, after all. And that in turn, got rid of the ‘pit rage’.”
Clark gave a serious nod, he wanted to protest, reprimand, say killing was wrong and out of the question. But he somehow felt he wouldn’t be able to stand on equal footing with Danny. Which was absurd, because he was just a werewolf. Clark was an alien with godlike powers. There was no way he would be a match against him.
“Anyways,” Danny turned and sat next to Jason, who had moved up onto a chayse. “I waited to shift because I knew everyone was going to want to see my forms, and now that’s out of the way.”
“How does your mass shift like that, it’s not scientifically possible,” Jon asked softly.
Danny gave him a gentle, still sharp smile. “Some things, science can’t explain. Me being a wolf makes me a creature of magic, and magic really is just that. It has some rules and consistencies, but there’s not really a way to explain it like science does with most things.”
“You should’ve seen him trying to get this potion right last week,” Jason snickered.
Danny threw his head back with a groan, cuddling closer to his partner. “It doesn't make any sense, one of those mixes should’ve worked! Two full vials of unicorn saliva wasted! Do you know how difficult it was to get the Victoria Loch Pack to make a trade for that stuff?!”
“Difficult enough you don’t just collect it yourself?” Tim asked, a questioning brow raised.
“Not without getting on their bad side,” Jason grumbled.
Danny nodded. “And they have the only territory where that breed exists. Other unicorns don’t have the right qualities or traits, and their saliva doesn’t have the needed empathetic properties for what I was attempting.”
Tim looked like he was recategorizing things in his brain, Bernard right there with him. The three of them were sitting on the edge of the rug, piled on each other, like a sandwich.
“Elliana said you might take me to see the goliath’s! Would you?” Kon asked, face bright as he tried to crane his neck from his position between his partners.
Clark looked away, he was his own person now, sure, he just wished he wasn’t wearing his face.
“Oh! Sure, but they don’t migrate till summer, and that’s when they’re not going to be territorial of their land, or young. Did she tell you she got to ride one when I took her? I shifted and we raced for hours.”
“Goliaths?” Clark tried again.
Danny didn’t bristle as bad this time, but still looked off kilter when he spoke. “They’re a strong breed, they look like Clydesdale horses with curved horns and predatory teeth. Some of the most dangerous of their kind, but the most loyal if one chooses you. Kinda like wolves,” the boy’s sharp teeth flash in his mouth. It felt like an unspoken threat.
Bruce came in and sat in the only empty seat, at the foot of the lounge Jason and Danny were cuddled on. He handed Danny a bottle with clear minty colored liquid inside.
Danny took it, drinking most of it while extending his sock-covered foot out and placed it against Bruce's leg. Bruce rested his hand on Danny’s ankle.
Okay, so… Bruce actually likes Danny. And he didn’t just have his approval.
Clark was impressed. With how much Bruce avoided physical affection, seeing him not only allow it but also return it was startling.
Maybe it made sense, if Danny had gotten rid of the pit rage, and protected the rest of his family on Gotham's streets. He seemed intelligent enough to garner Bruces’ respect, but this… this was on another level.
“Sorry to keep you all waiting,” Bruce said. “Alfred is just finishing the placements, but we’re waiting for two guests,” he said. Glancing at Danny.
“Ooo!” Steph scrambled into the room, the rest of the brood after her. “I get to meet Danny’s siblings officially? After the run around last night I thought he might kick them out of Gotham!” She was wearing a wide grin as she pushed into Danny’s space.
Though he didn’t seem to mind and gave her a gentle head butt, she moved back on her own.
“Ellie and Dante will be late but they will be here. They were… looking forward to meeting Superman,” Danny gave him a neutral glance as he stood. “Otherwise, we can head to the dining room and let the night begin.”
There was an inflection to it that Clark didn’t understand. But they shuffled out and Bruce stopped him before he entered the dining area. He spoke low, in a no nonsense Batman tone.
“You’re a shkaran achzari, Clark, and you’re getting what you deserve.”
Shkaran achzari, that was one of the recurring things he’d been called the past week, that only registered when Bruce shoved past him.
Frowning he took his seat and they dug in. The food was delicious, but he could barely focus on it because throughout the whole time they spoke, more of the things he had heard from other leaguers. And more he hadn’t heard yet.
The doors of the room opened, and two figures came and occupied the empty seats next to Kon.
“Hey, template,” the girl chimed.
“O.G.,” the man smirked, he’d mussed Danny’s hair on his way in. Danny smiled at them both.
Clark looked back at Danny, who turned expectant eyes on him.
He looked between the three, who could not even be passed off as siblings. That was Danny’s face on both of them. Female, yes. Older, yes, but still his.
Clones…
He glanced at Kon, who looked at him for the first time that night. Cold indifference was all he found.
Damian spoke up. “Seeing as the kadhib dhu wajhin, is finally realizing why he’s here. Jon, would you like to come see some new tech down in the cave?”
His son looked reluctant, but they left.
He turned to Lois, who looked furious.
Danny took a deep breath before standing and speaking. “Had I only been a mortal, only a werewolf as we’ve stated, this would be a much different setting and conversation. However-”
A powerful aura filled the room as white rings bled over Danny, leaving his colors inverted, with a crown over his head.
-ohhh I screwed up-
“Seeing as I rule over the dead, I speak languages of civilizations past. Kryptonian is easy to scent, and I know what you saddled him with for the past year.”
He glanced at the other members of the table, they were all in on this. He glanced at his wife… she was as well.
“We all know now,” Lois said. But she didn’t look at him.
-really screwed up, bad-
“This past week, you have no clue what everyone has been calling you. So let me enlighten you, Val-El.”
Clark flinched, the name that means liar thrown at him in his own native tongue.
“In some form of language that I knew you wouldn’t have access to, you have been called a liar, a cruel man, pretender, a fake, two face, and a dozen other variations that I hope the league got creative with.
“Now sit with what it feels like to have someone you don’t know tell you that people you care about have been calling you such awful names. Because that’s what happened to Kon at the carnival. The only difference is these are true, and you deserve it.”
Clark wanted to rebuttal, saying he couldn’t understand. But glancing at the clones… he didn’t have an argument.
Danny held his hand out to the others wearing his face. “My mirroborns.”
The girl stood, glaring just as fiercely as everyone else. “Elliana Mori Nightingale,” her colors shifted like Danny’s had. “Hero name Vega. Cloned when Danny was 14 by his mortal enemy. He accepted me immediately.”
The older version stood. “Dante Custos Nightingale,” his colors shifted as well. “Timeline variant split from age 15.”
Danny gestured to himself. “Danny Rex Nightengale. My title, High King Phantom of the Infinite Realms,” Clark paled. “Ancient of Space.” He paled further.
Constantine’s lectures echoed in his mind, mocking him. Superman was a god among humans… Phantom, was a god to… well, gods.
Kon stood, glaring down at him. “Kon Mors Nightingale,” he said, Danny’s head twitched toward the boy.
Elliana pulled a small stack of papers out of the air like nothing, then passed it with a pen to Kon. Who offered them to Danny.
“Bruce helped,” he smiled.
Danny’s glow brightened as he easily signed the papers and handed them to Jason.
“Kon Mors Nightingale, a fitting blend of names,” Danny said. “He sings at night, the abomination of death.”
“I-I…” Clark didn’t even know if he wanted to say anything. He had no room to defend himself. At age 14, Danny had been cloned by his worst enemy, and behaved far better. A timeline variant who ran around with his face, accepted.
“You have no excuse,” Lois grit through her teeth.
“That being said,” the King spoke. “I’ve made a trip to the Kryptonian afterlife, spoken with Jor-El and Lara Lor Van, notifying them of what you’ve done. You will not be allowed to meet them when you die, at least till after the punishment I have waiting for you is done. And it will not be pleasant either.”
His… his parents. A temporary banishment from his ancestral afterlife following his death. A god of gods planning punishment as soon as he fell under his rule. There was no way this could get worse.
Dante spoke up, addressing him. “Being the once evil version of Phantom, who brought an end to the world in my timeline. I watched you let me kill your family, to save a half empty passenger bus. The king of the dead is far more generous to let you die before he has his way, I wouldn’t have been so kind.”
Bruce finally spoke. “The league knows what you did, and will continue to work with you. But this will not be something quickly forgotten.”
-It got worse.-
“I’ve spared your son the information for now, I’ll let his mother choose when to tell him. That is the only mercy I will grant you, other than sparing your life.”
Jason was standing to the right of the king. A flare of green in his eyes as a red and silver diadem glowed on his head. “Seeing as we have an adoption to celebrate, you are no longer welcome. Get out.”
And he did. He went to the fortress of solitude, and he guessed… he guessed he deserved that.
He had no excuse. A child reacted better than he did, even though he had every resource. There wasn’t a good chance that Lois would let him near Jon for a while.
He… he should start self reflecting now. Like they’d been telling him to do since Kon was made known.
Too little, too late, but better late than never.