Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Two steel blue daggers glared holes through Clark’s impenetrable skin piercing him in a way he’d never felt before. Clark tried his hardiest to ignore Damian’s icy gaze as he sat across the table and deliberately stared at the man. This was definitely one of Clark’s most awkward and stressful meals at Wayne manor.

For the majority of their relationship, it had been painfully obvious to Clark that he was not one of Damian’s favorite people. Then again, from what Clark understood, Damian wasn’t the type of person who had people in his life he considered his ‘favorite’. No, he was pretty certain the boy organized folks more in ‘tolerable’ and ‘intolerable’ categories. Now where the Kryptonian fell under, he wasn’t exactly sure. Not when Damian usually seemed to go to great lengths to ignore and avoid the alien all together.

So when Damian suddenly started paying so much attention to Clark, the reporter immediately took notice. He never actually engaged with Clark in conversation, no matter how hard Clark tried. Instead he would just stare at the man as though he was sizing him up, and that was exactly what he was doing.

‘I just don’t get.’ Damian mentally seethed his eyes narrowing in on Clark.

When Damian first found out about Bruce and Clark’s relationship, he wasn’t very supportive. Then again, he also wasn’t really fazed. He did, however, expect that it would just be another one of his father’s passing fancies. Damian was already well aware that Bruce had peculiar taste. From circus boys to feline seductresses, whether it was a romantic or a paternal need, Bruce always found a way to fill it.

Damian had a lot of respect for his father, but he recognized his weakness all too well. On the outside Bruce was a powerful, well trained, nearly unrivaled force, but on the inside there was a dark emptiness. One that sometimes ran so deeply, it started to consume the man from the inside out. So in order to avoid falling prey to his own shadows, Bruce would sometimes try to fill the void. However, it seemed to the boy that it was never truly enough to fulfill the man and in the end these already fragile bonds would justly flee from the darkness or be completely consumed. There had even been some cases where Bruce had firmly pushed people away before they could completely fall victim to an unavoidable fate.

So when Bruce and Clark first started their tryst, Damian decided to do what he always did. He would ignore it and wait it out. It was only a matter of time before the man would disappear from his father’s life. Just like all the others before him, or so Damian had thought.

Now over a year had passed, and his father had even gone as far as revealing their relationship with the entire world. After that, it became painfully clear to the boy that Clark wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. So for the first time ever, Damian was left wondering what exactly made Clark so different? What had the boy missed, and how would this relationship affect his own plans?

As Damian examined Clark, he continued to contemplate this conundrum. Of course, the obvious reasons were quite literally apparent to the boy. As far as physical specimens go, his father couldn’t have chosen a better partner.

If not for his alien origins, Clark would be considered perfect human in Damian’s eyes. There weren’t many beings in the universe that could match Clark’s strength, speed, and resilience and he’d even been titled earth’s most powerful hero.

As far as looks, Damian had concluded that the Kryptonian was far beyond what one would consider attractive. Then again, he never really was that interested in such frivolous standards. He did at least recognize that one’s overall attractiveness did play an important part in how much influence a person could have over weak minded individuals who considered that kind of thing important, and judging from what Damian had witnessed, the empty headed lambs flocked to the caped boyscout by the droves.

In the end, the only downside to their physical arrangement was Bruce and Clark’s inability to reproduce, but at this point that hardly seemed to be a matter of recourse. Bruce already made his contribution in furthering the gene pool and passing along his bloodline by reproducing Damian and even the Kryptonian had managed to find his own unorthodox means through that clone of his.

So all in all, Damian considered his father’s superficial rationale more than adequately justified, nothing but the best for Bruce. However, Damian knew such shallow reasoning was above his father. If it was just a matter of physical looks and strength, his father would’ve been hitched long ago.

No, there had to be something Damian was missing. There had to be some kind of explanation and Damian intended to get to the bottom of it.

As Alfred began to clear the table, Clark decided now would be the best time to make his escape from Damian’s reproachful glare. However, the moment the unsuspecting man started to make his exit, he was cut off by the current Robin.

Clark blinked down at Damian, unsure at what point he had lost track of the boy’s location. One moment he was trying his hardiest to pretend not to notice Damian’s relentless gaze, and the next moment the boy was standing in front of him with his chest puffed out and his head raised so high it gave the illusion that he was much larger than he actually was.

“What are your intentions with my father?” Damian questioned sharply.

Clark’s brow furrowed with a bit of confusion. For some reason the particular situation he was in felt very familiar to the reporter. It almost reminded Clark of his days back in high school when he would go to the house of a girl he was dating to pick her up, and her father would be the first one to answer the door. Surely that was not what was happening right now.

“Wha-what? I don’t think I understand your question,” Clark gauchely replied.

Damian’s chest shrank a bit as he let out a frustrated breath. “Fine. For example my mother’s intentions were to marry father-”

“Ma-Marriage!” Clark blurted as his face turned bright red. “Well, I uh, sure marriage is usually the next step, but the thing about your father is, well you see, sometimes life is a little bit complicated, and…”

Damian watched with mild boredom as Clark became a clumsy sputtering mess before he finally lost his patience and cut in.

“Oh please. Don’t tell me that is your actual end game,” Damian replied with an eye roll. “My point is that my mother planned to marry my father, and in turn he would have taken the mantle as Ra’s al Ghul. Together the two of them would have transformed this corrupt decrepit world into one of true peace and order.”

Somehow Clark’s forehead managed to wrinkle further. “So basically you’re asking if I want to rule the world with Bruce…”

Another impatient sigh escaped Damian. “Not exactly, but if that were your intent, I wouldn’t see any problem with it. I mean, with your power and influence and my father’s wit and resources, you two could easily conqueror this planet.”

Now Clark was giving Damian a more firm look. “Damian, I don’t want to rule the world and neither does your father.”

“Yes, I figured as much,” Damian shrugged somewhat contritely. “So once again, I ask, what are your intentions? What exactly is it that you want from him?”

Damian felt his interest peak as Clark gave the boy a somewhat distressed look.

“Damian, I don’t want anything from your father. I just want…” suddenly Clark’s face softened as he looked past Damian thoughtfully and smiled. “…to be with him.”

Upon catching Clark’s sincere look, Damain felt at a complete loss. It was an expression the younger Wayne was not used to seeing, and suddenly he felt his chest tighten in a way he didn’t like.

“I knew asking you was pointless,” Damian huffed. He then quickly turned away and exited the dining room without another word.

Clark was left staring at the now empty spot in front of him with even more confusion as he did just a few moments before.

“What was that about?” Bruce asked as he suddenly appeared beside the dumbfounded Kryptonian. Prior to their discussion, Bruce had been preoccupied with the paper and admittedly missed their entire conversation, but when he did finally notice the two of them having the most contact he’d ever witnessed them having in the last several months, he couldn’t help but be curious.

Clark still had a blank look on his face before he finally responded. “Bruce, do you get the impression that Damian doesn’t like me?”

Bruce let out a soft chuckle. “Don’t be silly, Clark. I don’t get that impression at all.”

“Really?”

Bruce’s lips curled into a familiar smirk. “Because it’s obvious that he doesn’t.”

“Bruuce,” Clark groaned his eyes clearly conveying his distress and frustration.

Bruce patted the helpless looking man on the shoulder and let out another laugh. “Don’t worry about it Clark. He’ll come around in his own way.”

**************************************************

The boy made a clicking sound with his tongue as he watched the scene before him unfold.

‘Are you kidding me?’

As Damian magnified his binoculars, the first thing his sights inadvertently focused on was Clark’s big smile. He then watched as the man pulled the cat out of the tree and handed it to the obviously grateful elderly woman.

‘Really? The all-powerful Superman debases himself to such menial tasks? What will he do next, help the woman cross the street?’

Damian lowered his googles and rolled his eyes as Clark did exactly that. After several minutes of what Damian translated as doting, Clark was handed some candy from the woman’s purse to which he graciously accepted, waved at her, and took to the skies.

A dull throbbing could be felt in Damian’s head as he began to recall what brought him to such a pedestrian and trivial place. Damian had spent several days researching Clark’s lineage. There was sorts of information about Kryptonians compiled on the cave’s servers. So much so that Damian was certain no one on the planet and possibly the universe had more information about the alien. From weaknesses to family history, the details on Clark were beyond vast.

It was pretty obvious to Damian that his father considered Clark one of the greatest possible threats to the planet, and he’d gathered so much information on the alien as a means to develop measures for dealing with him should he go rogue. However, things like the man’s hobbies, his favorite meals, and information on every woman he ever dated seemed rather pointless and almost fanatically obsessive.

However, despite his many hours of grueling study, Damian never once found the information he was hoping to locate. Nowhere in the scores of records was there ever any mention of Kryptonians having the ability to brain wash or mentally control an individual. They also seemed to be a race that preferred scientific studies over sorcery, and there were no stories about Clark dabbling in magical arts.

In the end, Damian was left just as puzzled as he was when he first started his research and had finally resigned himself to observing the man instead. Of course, watching Clark when he was at the manor was pointless. Clark would never give away his front in the presence of his father, and Damian wasn’t very keen on watching the man’s interactions with Bruce.

Eventually Damian had decided that he would follow Clark to Metropolis. What better way to observe the alien than on his own home turf? After breaking into the man’s apartment, and almost too easily locating the whereabouts of Clark’s uniform, Damian had carefully hidden a tracker that was now woven into the man’s cape. After that, he began to follow the hero.

All in all, the whole venture had been quite boring and disappointing to say the least. The majority of Clark’s day seemed to be spent working his cover job at the Daily Planet where the supposedly all powerful alien spent a good portion of his day being heckled by a stout older man and small raven-haired woman.

Every now and again, Clark would make a not so discreet exit from the building so that he could tackle some heroic task. The fact that the man could disappear so easily without raising any question from his employers showed that Clark was either far from integral to the workings of the company, or printed press truly was outdated and unnecessary to today’s modern society. Whatever the case, this was definitely something Damian decided he would take into consideration after he inherited the Daily Planet.

In the end, the feats of this supposedly mighty hero ranged from rescuing cats from trees to putting out forest fires, leaving Damian to conclude that the man was the very essence of a walking public service announcement. No wonder he was given the nickname “the world’s boy scout.”

So now Damian was more confused than ever. This type of wholesome man was not at all the kind of person he expected to finally win his father over. This man was on the very opposite spectrum of his father’s methods and ways of thinking. So many had come before, but in the end, it was this drudge of a man his father decided on?

From his last few days of observation, everything about Clark seemed contrary to Bruce. He was nothing at all like any of his father’s past flings, and as far as Damian was concerned, he hadn’t exhibited any special qualities outside of his alien abilities. He was just another sympathetic pandering simpleton who flagrantly wasted his powers. There was just no way this type of man could’ve have mentally and emotionally bested his father using any normal methods. There was definitely something Damian was missing, and until he discovered what it was, the boy was determined not to end his investigation of Clark.

Damian narrowed his eyes as he peered out across the rooftops towards a building he had now become very familiar with. It was Clark’s apartment. At about the same time every night, the man returned to his home where he pretended to be just like any normal mundane human being. With the exception of leaving to take care of random distress calls across the city and sometimes the world, the man followed his routine like clockwork. Such a naive man he was. That he would go about his life so unguarded, never expecting that someone might be creeping up behind him or watching him.

Damian’s mouth began to form into the shape of a smug smirk. That is until he suddenly and without warning felt an overwhelming presence. One that was so close, he was completely surprised that he hadn’t noticed it until it was already too late.

Damian’s face dropped as he turned around and looked up just a few feet above him. The first thing to catch his attention was the flip of a red cape dancing carelessly through the bustling night air. The second thing he noticed was Clark’s crossed arms and firm expression before he finally replied. “Is there a reason you’ve been tailing me for the last three days?”

To Be Continued…

Chapter Text

For a moment, Damian just stared up at Clark without a word. He was still trying to determine at what point the Kryptonian had appeared behind him without his knowledge. How had Clark masked such an overwhelming presence until he was already well within Damian’s proximity?

“Is there a reason you’ve been tailing me for the last three days?”

Suddenly Damian was shaken out of his pondering as his mind began to register Clark’s words.

“You knew I was following you this entire time?”

Clark’s firm expression turned to a slight smirk. “Well, you aren’t exactly the first Wayne to hide a tracker on me.”

Damian took a step back and readied himself into a defensive stance as he watched Clark finally touch down on the roof. By the time his landing was complete, Clark’s face and presence had dropped down to something much less intimidating.

“May I ask why?”

Realizing Clark was not emanating anything threatening, Damian finally eased up his posture. “If you must know, I’ve been observing you.”

“Well that part is obvious,” Clark half scoffed. “But what exactly for?”

Damian merely narrowed his eyes and stared at Clark silently.

“Did someone put you up to this?”

Damian was quick to recognize the bit of misdirected annoyance in Clark’s tone and face. Realizing he was about to cause a misunderstanding, the boy finally replied. “No, not exactly. It was, however, suggested to me by Grayson, that if I wanted to learn more about you, the best course of action would be to spend some time with you.”

Clark’s eyes were now a bit wider. It was obvious this was not the response he was expecting. Eventually he laughed out a reply. “Well, yeah, but generally when you do that, the other person knows about it.”

“Yes, I understood what Grayson meant,” Damian sighed with an eye roll. “But that’s only if the two parties want to get to know each other. In this particular case, the point was for me to get to know more about you. You, however, don’t need to know anything about me.”

Clark’s mouth formed into an uneasy smile. “Ah, I see, well in that scenario, I guess what you’re doing makes more sense.”

Damian made note of the disappointed look on Clark’s face before it suddenly and without warning brightened up.

“So, I’m about to head in for the night, though I’m sure you already knew that since you’ve been following me for the last few days and pretty much figured out my routine. You are more than welcome to observe me from the warmer recesses of my place.”

Damian let out a derisive sound. “What point is there in me watching you now that you know I am?”

“I’m not sure how to answer that question since I’m still not exactly certain why you want to get to know me, but I promise you, even though you were watching, I didn’t act any differently than if you weren’t around.”

Damian crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Clark suspiciously. “So you say.”

Clark let out a somewhat reminiscent laugh. “You don’t get to be friends with Bruce as long as I have to start concerning yourself with folks who spy on you.”

Damian was still glaring at Clark with a look of doubt, but this did not cause the reporter’s smile to drop.

“So, did you want to grab something to eat? I bet your research would go by a lot faster if you didn’t observe me from so far away.”

For a brief moment, Damian’s face transformed into an odd unguarded expression before he suddenly pulled out his grappler and snapped. “That’s not necessary.”

Clark didn’t even attempt to stop him as he watched Damian disappear into the tall dark expanse of buildings before them. Instead he just rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.

“Ah, guess I got bit…”

********************************************
A less tenacious individual might have given up after being discovered, but Damian prided himself on his persistence. He was also pretty certain the tracker he used to tail Clark was the culprit that gave his position away. Although it made things a bit more difficult, Damian disabled the tracker as a precaution and was now forced to tail the alien without it. Now there was just no way Clark would find him. Not with his great skill and stealthy prowess.

“Good evening.”

Damian blinked for a moment, his confusion making it take longer than normal for him to recognize the brightly smiling Kryptonian who suddenly landed in front of him.

“What? How did you find me?” Damian blurted while unconsciously jumping backwards.

Clark looked back at Damian guiltily. “I can answer that question several ways.”

Damian felt his eye twitch. “Nevermind.”

“So, I know you aren’t interested in actually eating with me, but I figured you still might be hungry…” Damian’s pupils shrank as he continued to size Clark up. For some reason, the great hero’s body language seemed timid and he was avoiding eye contact with the young Robin as though he were too embarrassed to look directly at him. “So I brought you some burgers.”

Damian tore his attention away from Clark and looked at the bag the man was now holding up.

“You think I would eat that?”

Clark was finally looking at Damian, but his face had a blank questioning look. “Well, I wasn’t sure. I don’t actually know what you like. Why don’t you tell me, and I can bring you that instead?”

“That’s not really any of your business,” Damian bit back. He then suddenly and without warning jumped off the edge of the building and disappeared into the shadows.

Clark was still holding up the bag, but once he realized Damian was out of sight, he lowered it and muttered.

“Bit again…”

**********************************************

Damian peered out across the city and shielded his eyes. Just like Superman, Metropolis was incredibly bright. To a person who spent most his life hiding in the shadows, this place was nearly blinding. However, wherever there is light there is always darkness, and that was where Damian firmly intended to stay.

“Still not done with your observation?”

A low rumble sounded in Damian’s throat. This time he’d kept twice, no three times the distance away from Clark. There was just no way the man should’ve been able to locate him. Damian refused to concede defeat.

As soon as Clark stepped down on the roof, he lifted up a bag and waved it at the seething boy in a coaxing motion.

“Tonight I brought tacos from my favorite truck.”

“Not interested,” Damian growled.

“Heh, I figured you as a picky eater,” Clark shrugged with that same overly familiar smile Damian hated so much. “Bruce is pretty picky too. Then again, I don’t blame you guys considering you have Alfred to cook for you. Someone like him would probably change my eating standards too.”

Since Clark’s entrance, Damian was doing everything in his power to avoid direct eye contact with the man and was just glaring past him. Realizing he wasn’t going to get much more of a response from the boy, Clark let out a sigh of defeat.

“Well, I know you think you might not like this, but I’ll just leave it here for you just in case you change your mind,” Clark replied as he placed the bag down on the ground. He then gave Damian one last hopeful look. Damian was still staring off into the distance making it painfully clear how much he was trying to ignore him. Clark merely gave the boy a weak smile before he took off into the sky.

If not for catching the movement in his peripherals, Clark would’ve never looked back, but just as he was taking off, he caught Damian through the corner of his eye snatching up the bag. He then proceeded to jump off the building. Clark knew Damian could no longer see him so he followed him from afar until Damian suddenly stopped at a nearby park and sat down at a bench overlooking a pond.

Clark smiled to himself. Had he finally gotten through to the boy?

The moment of triumph, however, was soon lost as he watched Damian smash the bag in his hands. He then proceeded to remove the taco shells and tossed them out into the lake attracting several ducks and geese.

“Ouch,” Clark mumbled before flying away.

************************************************

“Hello,” Clark greeted.

Damian made an annoyed sound in response.

“So tonight I thought I might see if you like-”

Damian immediately cut the hero off. “Listen, just so you will stop wasting time and resources, I will let you know I’m a vegetarian.”

“Really?” Clark replied with genuine surprise. “I had no idea. That’s good to know.”

“Well, now that you do, you can stop with this pointless gesture,” Damian sneered as he waved a dismissive hand at Clark.

“Yeah, I guess next time I will just try to find you something with a little less meat,” Clark murmured more to himself.

Damian whirled around so that he was glaring directly at Clark. “I thought those ears of yours were supposed to be super. Did you not hear what I just said?”

“I did,” Clark chuckled ruefully. “But every time I get ready to go home and stop by somewhere to eat, I can’t help but feel guilty knowing you’re out here.”

“Why? You don’t think I can take care of myself?” Damian questioned with obvious offense.

“No, I already know someone like you is more than perfectly capable, but I still couldn’t help but make sure you were fine.”

Damian narrowed his distrustful eyes onto Clark.“Well, I am. So now that you know, you are free to eat with your conscience still intact.”

Clark’s eyes drifted to the ground for a moment. “Well, it wasn’t so much a matter of satisfying my conscience and more about being hospitable. I mean you did come all the way to Metropolis to see me.”

Damian let out a bitter laugh and scowled. “You think this about you?”

“Isn’t it?”

The two heroes started at each other in silence before Damian finally snorted out a response. “What will it take for you to finally leave me alone?”

Damian felt his annoyance rise to about the same height as Clark’s now turned up mouth. “One dinner.”

“What?”

Clark brought up his index finger for further clarification. “Just join me for one dinner. If you do that, I promise I will leave you alone. Then you can be free to observe me all alone. I promise.”

Damian glowered at Clark’s finger and then at his face. “Fine.”

“Great,” Clark all but cheered before pointing down towards a brightly lit up theatre down at the street below. “Well then I’ll meet you down there tomorrow after I get off work.”

**************************************

Clark stared at the menu with a perplexed look, before lowering it and revealing a frowning Damian.

“Honestly, I’ve never eaten here or any place like this before. I just asked a coworker who is a food critic for some suggestions. I guess this place is all the rage with the local vegans.”

Since they met up, Damian hadn’t said more than two words to Clark and was now staring out the window watching people as they walked by.

Clark cleared his throat. He wasn’t exactly sure why he felt so nervous. He hadn’t had a dinner this stressful since the first time he managed talking Bruce into joining him for a meal. It was a time long before he even considered he would one day be in a relationship with him. At the time, Clark was more focused on actually befriending the man.

“If you don’t mind me asking…is Bruce okay with you being here?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Damian shrugged while still looking out at the street. “I merely left father a note stating that I needed to leave for an undetermined amount of time to take care of some personal business.”

“So you didn’t tell him you would be coming to Metropolis…” Clark’s voice trailed as though he was about to say more but decided against it.

Damian finally turned to look at Clark and stared at him challengingly. “No, why? Do you plan to tell him?”

“No, not unless he asks,” Clark quickly explained. “The way I see it, if he was worried about you, he would’ve already found you, but I guess he trust you enough not to question it further.”

A wicked smile played its way on Damian’s lips. “You think father trust me? So naïve, I bet you think he trust you too.”

For the first time that night Clark’s tone came out firm. “I know he does.”

“My father doesn’t trust anyone,” Damian idly laughed back.

“If that’s really the case, why would he let you leave without knowing how long you would be gone or where you were going.”

Now the boy was staring back at Clark with a haughty smirk. “I assure you, my father more than likely knows I’m here, and if I don’t come back when he feels I should, he will retrieve me. Right now I’m just not his priority.”

“You really think Bruce feels that way about you?”

Damian pierced his lips together with irritation upon noticing Clark’s pained expression. It was the same dumb face Grayson would give him whenever they had discussions about his father.

“I know he does,” Damian replied coldly.

Clark exhaled deeply before he finally spoke.

“Trust is not something that is clear and cut, it’s a process. Sure there might have been a time Bruce didn’t trust me at all, but that gradually changed. Trust is not something that can be completely surrendered all at once. It’s not an all or nothing type of thing. The more we learned about each other, the further it grew, and I know when it comes to what is truly important, Bruce trusts me, and the more our relationship develops the further that trust will too.”

As Clark spoke his face slowly transformed from dejected to something light and reminiscent, as though the man had just relived his progression with Bruce in a matter of a few words. He then looked Damian square in the eyes and revealed a warm smile that had formed due to his remembrances.

“Damian, I can’t pretend to know exactly what kind of relationship you have with your father, but I do know there was a time he wouldn’t even let you out of the house. Now you’re here in Metropolis eating dinner with me because of a simple note. Do you honestly believe you and your father haven’t gained some kind of level of trust?”

For some reason Damian’s mind was rendered blank by Clark’s foreign smile. The boy wanted nothing more than to give the reporter a cold reply, but something about the man’s gaze wouldn’t let him, and that thought alone left Damian seriously conflicted. Eventually the only thing he could manage was an honest vague answer.

“I suppose if I consider it the way you put it, then we have.”

Clark’s smile deepened and suddenly Damian felt the pit of his stomach twist. Before he could spend any more time deciphering the cause of his discomfort, the waitress returned with their orders.

“So, how’s the food?”

“Acceptable,” Damian muttered while staring down at the plate he’d barely touched. Right now he wasn’t feeling very hungry but was forcing himself to eat so he could finally leave.

“Well, I have to admit, those vegans sure cracked some kind of a code. This food actually taste pretty good,” Clark praised as he continued to tackle his own meal.

“So, how much longer do you plan to stay here in Metropolis?”

Damian paused on his response. He really wasn’t in the mood to talk anymore, but still managed a reply. “As long as I need to get the answers I am looking for.”

“Those being?”

Damian lowered his fork and scowled at Clark. “You certainly are intrusive.”

“This coming from the person following me?” Clark all but laughed back. “I mean can you really blame me for being curious? In the past, I could hardly get you to say two words to me. Why the sudden interest?”

Damian let out a long sigh of irritation. “If you really must know, then I suppose I can tell you. It has become quite apparent to me that father is more than just smitten with you, so now I feel it is important for me to determine exactly what kind of character you possess.”

“Ah, I see,” Clark nodded with understanding. “So you’re just making sure I’m someone who is right for your father.”

Damian let out a cynical snort. “It’s not about being protective of my father’s well-being. It’s something far bigger than that.”

“Oh?”

“In the past, my father has been one of the few people on this planet who I feel has the ability to take on someone like you. Now that you are in this relationship, I feel his judgment and resolve may have been compromised.”

“I see…” Clark mumbled lowly his face dropping as he spoke. “So you’re trying to determine whether I’m someone who is trustworthy.”

“Exactly,” Damian smiled. For some reason Clark’s wounded expression was lifting his own mood.

“And what if you discover that I’m not?” Clark asked while look straight at Damian.

The boy brought both his hands down to the table and leaned forward before giving Clark his most dangerous look. “Then I will do everything in my power to separate you from my father’s company.”

Clark remained locked under Damian’s threatening gaze before he eventually tore his eyes away from the boy. Once the contact had been broken, Damian sat back in his seat and smiled smugly. It was obvious from Clark’s uncomfortable expression he was still reeling from Damian’s response.

“You know, Damian,” Clark replied after a lengthy silence. “If there is something you want to know about me, you could just ask.”

Damian raised his right brow. He wasn’t sure how he expected Clark to respond but this was definitely not what he would’ve expected at all. After taking a moment to consider his words, Damian folded his hands in his lap and replied. “Actually, Kent.”

“Clark,” the older man corrected.

Damian rolled his eyes. “Kent, there is something I would like to ask.”

“Really?” Clark inadvertently balked. “I mean, go ahead and ask.”

Damian’s smile finally disappeared, and he looked at Clark sharply. “How is it that you keep locating me so easily?”

Now it was Clark’s turn to look surprised. “Oh that, well the first time it was because the tracker you placed on me. After dealing with Bruce so much, I started to recognize the sound frequency of his trackers. Well, his old one’s that is. I’m sure the one you used is not the kind he uses on me anymore.

Admittedly, when I realized it had been placed on me, I thought maybe Bruce was tailing me for some reason. I was a bit confused, but I decided to look for him. Then I was surprised to find you instead.”

“That only partially answers my question,” Damian retorted. “Regardless of you knowing you were being tailed how were you able to locate my position? I already figured my tracker might have been the culprit, so I disabled it after our first meeting, but you were still able to find me each night. I thought I was careful about keeping my presence and steps light enough so that you would be unable to discern them from the rest of the noisy inhabitants of this raucous city.”

“Oh…” Clark now had an apologetic grin. “Well, I hate to say this, but you and Bruce are at a bit of a disadvantage if I’m ever specifically looking for you.”

Damian’s brow furrowed with confusion. “I don’t understand.” His face then turned even more perplexed as Clark suddenly closed his eyes and placed his own hand against his chest.

“Well, whenever I need to find Bruce, I look for the sound of his heartbeat. His heartbeat is…special, one that I have memorized. I can pick out Bruce’s heart from any one on this entire planet.”

The look on Clark’s face was unlike anything Damian had ever seen before. It was soft and full of warmth and somehow filled with a mix of wistful content. Damian didn’t know so many raw emotions could be presented all at the same time.

When Clark eventually opened his eyes, they had turned a dreamy shade of blue and he was once again throwing an unfamiliar smile Damian’s way. “And it just so happens you and Bruce have a very similar beat.”

“Father and I…” Damian clutched the front of his shirt as the earlier twist in his stomach made its way to his chest. “Our hearts are special?”

“Yes.”

For a moment, the young Robin just stared off in a daze. His mind was once again empty, but his body was filled with a warm sensation he didn’t quite recognize. However, the moment his mind began working again, he was hit with an upsetting thought.

The atmosphere between the two of them immediately turned harsh, as Damian stood up from his seat and glared pure animosity Clark’s way. “You mean father’s heart is.”

“Damian?”

“Well, I have finished my meal,” Damian announced as he threw his napkin over his plate. “So I have adequately fulfilled my end of this bargain.”

“Oh, yeah, I guess you have,” Clark mumbled, the earlier look of hurt back on his face. Typically this would’ve pleased Damian, but instead the feeling in his chest grew tighter.

“I will be taking my leave now.”

“Okay…”Clark absently mouthed while staring at the plate of food Damian hardly touched.

Damian gave Clark one last frown before he started to make his way towards the exit. That is until Clark called out to him.

“Damian, if you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to call me.”

Damian didn’t turn back around, but nodded his head and muttered lowly. “I will keep that in mind.”

**********************************************

As Clark made his way towards the entrance of the Daily Planet, he let out one last heavy sigh. He hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before. He was too busy replaying the conversation he had with Damian over and over in his head, trying his hardiest to figure out where he’d gone wrong.

Sure there were a lot of similarities between Damian and Bruce, but it was becoming more and more apparent to Clark that the two Wayne’s were very different people. He was also pretty certain he still had a long way to go before he could fully understand Damian, but whatever he said the night before more than likely ruined his chances of ever getting the opportunity to learn, or so he thought.

As Clark took one step through the door, he was suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. A very faint yet familiar presence which he hadn’t noticed left the reporter frozen in the middle of the doorway. He then slowly turned around, but there was no one there until he looked downward and met the icy gaze of a smirking boy.

“Damian! What are you doing here?”

To Be Continued…

Chapter Text

“Damian! What are you doing here?” Clark exclaimed a little louder than intended.

Obviously pleased that he was the one to get the slip on Clark for a change, Damian’s smirk deepened. “Well, Kent-”

“Clark.”

Damian raised a brow to Clark.

“Kent, last night was more insightful than I expected and helped me realize you were correct in your assessment that I could learn more about you if I observed you in closer proximity. Considering you spend the majority of your day at the Daily Planet, it only made sense that I come here.”

“You finally decide you want to talk to me and it’s here of all places?” Clark sighed while rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“Is there a problem with that?”

“Well, yeah. If folks found out I brought Bruce’s son here, it would cause an uproar,” Clark explained to the now cross armed boy.

Damian’s previously pleased expression was now replaced with that of very noticeable annoyance. “Oh really, and why is that? Does my father not own this place?”

“Well, he does, but that is not the issue. The problem is that the media buzz about Bruce and myself just finally started to settle, but if people find out I brought Bruce’s son here, they will start focusing on our relationship again.”

For a moment Damian just eyed Clark before giving the desperate looking reporter a shrug of indifference. “I don’t see how that is my problem.”

Clark let out a low exasperated breath, before closing his eyes. Arguing with Damian was about as bad as arguing with Bruce. Meaning he needed to rethink his approach. “Look at it this way. You want to observe me in my normal surroundings so you can get a feel for my character. Do you think you would be able to adequately do that if there are a bunch of nosy reporters crowding up the place?”

Damian’s eyes drifted up and to the side as he titled his head. Now the boy really did look like his father. “I see your point,” Damian finally agreed.

All the tension left Clark’s face and was replaced with relief before the two of them were suddenly interrupted.

“Clark, who is your cute friend?”

“Ah! Oh, hi Becky!” The startled Clark began to sputter. He’d completely forgotten he and Damian were still standing in the front lobby.

Becky didn’t seem fazed by Clark’s nervous stammering as she came from behind her reception desk and approached them. “Did this boy get lost? Are you trying to find him help?”

When Clark just continued to look at Becky in a pale stupor, she eventually decided to ignore him and leaned down over Damian and smiled. “Hi little boy, are you lost?”

“Little…boy?”

Clark eventually came to his senses when he saw the murderous gleam in Damian’s eyes. He then stepped between the two of them and pushed Damian behind his back.

“Oh no, it’s not like that at all. This is Damian. He happens to be the son of a close friend. He said he was interested in getting to learn more about me here at the Daily Planet, so I thought I might show him around.”

Although Clark was technically telling the truth, he sounded completely unconvincing. Becky didn’t seem to care though as she leaned back down to address Damian who was now peeking from behind Clark. “Oh, that’s so cute. You want to be a journalist like Clark?”

Damian let out a snort, and smirked wryly at the woman. “Don’t be ridiculous. Why would anyone want to end up like Kent?”

Becky’s smile did not falter, but her brow was now furrowed. “I…I’m confused.”

“Of course you are,” Damian sneered.

Now Becky was looking up at Clark with confusion before looking back down at the darkly grinning Damian and then back at Clark.

“Uh, we have to get going!” Clark blurted before grabbing Damian and shoving him onto the elevator. “I’m already running late. See you later.”

******************************************************

Damian drummed his fingers impatiently against his upper arms as he waited at the seat in front of Clark’s desk. The reporter said he needed to speak with a coworker about something and told Damian to wait for his return.

Damian began to examine Clark’s desk, or rather, his cubicle. It was hardly big enough for a man of his stature, and there were stacks of papers and folders cluttering his already crowded work space. A lesser person might have felt claustrophobic.

There was also a frame on Clark’s desk with a picture of who Damian assumed were Clark’s parents. Damian rolled his eyes as he immediately recognized the bright smile on the older woman’s face.

‘So that’s where that grinning fool gets it from.’

Eventually Damian’s eyes drifted to Clark’s monitor before he felt his breath hitch in this throat. Set on Clark’s computer as his screen saver was a picture of a man that very much resembled Damian’s father, with one distinctive difference. He had an unfamiliar smile on his face that Damian never seen the man give anyone before. It was very warm and unguarded. So much so that Damian almost thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.

‘Father can smile like this?’

Damian examined the picture for a moment longer before eventually snorting to himself.

‘The alien is contagious…’

“Ah, guess I got caught,” Clark laughed nervously. Damian turned around and eyed the slightly blushing reporter peering over the cubicle. “Don’t tell Bruce. He has no idea I took that picture.”

“I didn’t intend too,” Damian muttered with as much indifference as he could muster.

Clark gave the boy an appreciative smile, causing Damian to shift his eyes reticently away. He wasn’t sure why the realization that he’d done Clark a favor made him suddenly feel so light. He then pretended not to watch as Clark made his way back to his desk before the man was suddenly intercepted by a much shorter raven-haired woman.

“Clark, you sure like to live life on the edge,” she scolded with her hands placed firmly on her hips in a gesture that matched her tone.

“Wha-what do you mean?” Clark stammered uneasily while adjusting his glasses and glancing over at Damian in a not so discreet fashion.

The woman raised a brow to him obviously not buying Clark’s feint at ignorance. “Why on earth would you bring Bruce’s son here?”

“How did you know?”

“Clark, stop underestimating my investigative skills. You don’t think I know Bruce well enough to recognize a miniature version of him?” She huffed back before she turned towards Damian and reached a hand out to him. “Hey, you’re Damian, right? Nice to meet you.”

Damian glanced at her hand before completely snubbing it and giving her a haughty grin.

“You must be Lois Lane.”

Realizing Damian had blatantly ignored her gesture, Lois stood up straighter. “So you heard of me?”

Damian’s lips curled up further. “Of course. How would I not know about the woman who broke up with both my father and Kent?”

Lois threw a quick glance in Clark’s direction. “Oh, so that’s how your dad and Clark like to talk about me.”

Clark’s eyes widened and his face paled. “No, I never-” he started to defend while waving his hands frantically about. However, her attention was soon drawn back towards Damian as the smaller boy let out a low chuckle.

“Hmm, I have to admit, you are exactly as I imagined you to be. Overbearingly assertive, quick mouth, dark features, above average looks, although you are a substantial bit less attractive than mother.”

Clark could just see the vein in Lois’s head snap as she narrowed her eyes on the smirking Damian and snapped back. “Now hold it their kid. You think I’m just going to sit here and let you talk to me like that. You may look like your dad, but your personality isn’t nearly as attractive.”

Damian let out an idle scoff. “Good, it was never my intention to be like him.”

“Wow, the mouth on this kid,” Lois groused before leaning down on Damian and frowning. “Haven’t you ever heard of respecting your elders?”

Damian raised his head up further so that he was more level with her firm gaze. “Yes, but where I come from, you earn respect, and just living on the planet longer than me doesn’t deem you worthy.”

Lois brought her arms across her chest and stared back at Damian shrewdly. “Respect is a two-way street, kid. So it’s not exactly like you did anything to earn mine either.”

“Oh?” Damian smiled proudly. “But my father owns this company.”

“Exactly,” Lois laughed back smugly. “Bruce owns this company, not you. So don’t think throwing around your name is going to get you any kudos from me. The way I see it, you are just some trust fund brat who is waiting for daddy to kill over before anyone starts giving an actual damn about you.”

The moment Clark heard Damian’s jaw snap and his knuckles crack was when he finally decided to step in.

“Whoa now, okay!” Clark exclaimed as he jumped between the two fuming combatants. “I think that’s enough!”

Both Lois and Damian made a move to protest, but by then Clark was already pushing Damian towards the exit. “Damian, we need to get going now.”

“That insufferable woman is as formidable as I imagined!” Damian growled while he distractedly allowed Clark to lead him away. “Exactly the type of person I expected you and father to be interested in. You, however, still remain a puzzle.”

Clark pretended not to hear Damian’s snide remark and merely nodded his head in detached concurrence.

Lois continued to frown in Clark and Damian’s direction before Lisa strolled up beside her and hummed. “Oh my, who is the little cutie with Clark?

“That pain in the butt?” Lois tsked. “He’s…the kid of a friend visiting from out of town.”

“Oh, well then that explains a lot.”

Lois looked back at Lisa with question causing the woman to chuckle and continue with her explanation.

“The reason Clark traded with me. I almost couldn’t believe he would give up such a hot story for my boring one. He must really like that friend of his.”

Lois let out her own light laugh in response. “That is an understatement.”

***************************************************

“The zoo? Why have you brought me here?”

It was hard to deny the look of disenchantment on Damian’s face as they made their way towards the entrance. When Clark first told Damian they were leaving to work a story, the young Wayne had expected something much more exciting or pressing.

“Well, I have a story to cover here,” Clark answered with an uneasy smile. “They started a breeding program for the endangered Sumatran tiger, and this morning the first pair of cubs were born.”

“Really, these are the kinds of things they task you with? As if people actually care to read about this kind of thing?”

Clark took note of Damian’s snit tone but his smile did not falter.

“Well, Damian, journalism isn’t all glamour and scandal. Different people have varying interest, so we feature a wide range of things in our paper.”

“And this is the kind of thing you lower yourself to write?”

“Well, I’m not exactly very high up in the assignments totem pole,” Clark sighed wanly. “So I’m rarely tasked with anything hot unless I go digging for it myself, which is perfectly fine by me. I don’t really care to draw a lot of attention to myself, and I don’t have time for it considering my side work.”

“I see,” Damian mused more to himself. “So your career is secondary to your acts of heroism.”

“Yes, exactly,” Clark agreed.

“Then placing yourself at a news company was rather clever. Considering you don’t have the financial resources like father to have your own super computer, what better way for you to be informed. I suppose I misjudged your career choice a bit…”

Clark held back a small laugh as he noticed the solicitous look on Damian’s face while he thoughtfully rubbed his chin. Sometimes the resemblance between him and Bruce was uncanny, though for some reason when Damian exhibited Bruce’s mannerisms it just came off a tad bit cuter to the reporter.

“Yeah, that was a big determining factor in my employment at the Planet.”

“The other being?”

Clark’s smile widened at Damian’s curious expression. That face was definitely all his own. “Sometimes there are more ways to be heroic then in the obvious means.”

Damian snorted in response.

“So, what do you think of the Metropolis zoo? It’s twice as big as the one in Gotham,” Clark asked once they finally made their way inside. It was obvious to Clark that Damian was more than a little intrigued as his eyes anxiously darted about the park.

Realizing what he’d unconsciously been doing, Damian immediately straightened up and made a play at being aloof. “It is rather large, but it’s not like I can compare it to the one in Gotham considering I have never been there or any other zoo for that matter.”

Clark stopped walking and stared at Damian with his mouth slightly agape. “You’re kidding me. No one has ever taken you to the zoo before?”

Damian nodded at Clark who was now holding a hand to his brow in a vexing manner and growling lowly. “Bruce…”

Damian shrugged with honest indifference. "Well, it’s not like father and I go on very many outings during the day, and when I lived with mother and grandfather, I was in training and didn’t have time for such leisure.”

Clark let out a sigh before his face transformed back to the perpetual smile Damian was growing accustom to seeing. “Well, we still have some time before I have to meet up with the caretakers. If you like, we can look around.”

For a second so short, someone other than Clark would’ve missed it, Damian’s eyes lit up before they immediately fell back to their typical apathetic shade of blue. “If that is what you wish. I am here to observe you, not the animals.”

Clark tilted his head up in hopes that Damian couldn’t see his wide grin of amusement. “Well, I guess I’ll observe the animals and you can observe me observing them.”

Of course someone as attentive as Damian did not miss the bemused smile across Clark’s face, which caused the boy’s aggravation to rise. “Do you actually consider yourself amusing?”

Finally, Clark let out the laugh he’d been holding back since they first arrived, and it only grew in intensity when Damian’s face turned an even more flustering shade of red.

“Yes, all the time.”

*******************************************
Clark watched from the corner of his eye at Damian who was staring so intently at the four legged creature in front of him, he mine as well have been pressing his face against the glass. In actuality, this was a pretty good example of how most their day had gone. Clark stealing glances at an excited Damian who seemed so enthralled by the animals he kept letting his normally stoic demeanor slip. Every now and again, Damian would catch himself, to which he would stare timorously back in Clark’s direction only to find the man conveniently looking at something else.

Clark vaguely remembered Bruce mentioning Damian had a fondness for animals, and once Clark realized the boy was a vegetarian it all started to add up. Now for the first time ever, Damian looked like an actual 10-year-old boy to Clark, making the loss of one of the few hot stories he’d been assigned in months well worth the trade.

“You sure do like animals,” Clark finally stated. The man figured the boy was in high enough spirits to get away with the comment considering they just got done talking to the caretakers who actually allowed Damian to hold one of the Sumatran cubs. Clark had been very tempted to sneak a picture of Damian’s lit up face for Bruce, but decided not to push his luck.

The wide look of wonderment immediately dropped from Damian’s eyes as he tore his attention away from the bear that was sniffing in his direction, and turned to frown at Clark. “Yes, the animals I like, the zoo itself I don’t particularly care for.”

Clark’s own smile fell. Had he misread Damian that much? “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that…”

A small puff of frustration sounded from Damian’s nose as he realized Clark had misunderstood his words and needed a bit more clarification. “I admit. I do appreciate the fact that I am able to see so many animals I have only read about in books gathered in one place. The whole functionality of this establishment makes it quite convenient for human beings but the animals themselves don’t seem nearly as pleased by the arrangement.”

Clark’s eyes glossed over as he looked passed Damian and towards the cage. “Ah, so you sensed it too…”

Damian nodded his head as he turned back towards the cage as well. “These creatures are torn from their homes and showcased as mere spectacles for human entertainment.”

Clark closed his eyes and let out a resigned sigh. “I get what you’re saying. It’s the unfortunate nature of the human race. Whenever they encounter something that isn’t like them, their first reaction usually is to fear it. That’s why their immediate response is to either eliminate it or put a wall between it and themselves. It’s the only way they can feel like they are in control, and that need to have the upper hand is what makes them feel safe.”

“Fear is such a strong driving force in this culture. Pathetic,” Damian seethed while balling his fist tightly together.

“Yeah, but once folks start looking past that fear, they are usually intrigued by the creatures they felt so powerless against, because if they feel like they can see it on their own terms, those walls start becoming cages they can finally glimpse through.”

Damian let out dry laugh. “So without any regard to the animals, they throw them into cages and watch them from the safety of a thick pane of glass. I wonder how they would feel if they were the ones put behind these bars instead.”

“Damian...” Clark paused for a moment as though he were having trouble with his words. Eventually reconciling what he wanted to say, he spoke up. “I don’t necessarily feel like these cages are protecting the humans as much as they are the animals. I am not a big fan of confining wildlife either, but in a lot of ways, zoos are a necessary evil.”

Damian felt the mood suddenly shift and wasn’t sure if Clark realized his tone had darkened. Whether Clark realized this or not, the man continued on with his speech.

“Unfortunately, the planet Earth is a place run by the human race, and humans themselves are pretty thoughtless and greedy. Rather than coexist with others, they want to claim ownership of this planet and all its space and the unfortunate repercussions of that way of thinking has led to the extinction and endangerment of many species.

However, the zoo as an establishment gathers all these animals into one place for humans to see, and in turn, people are able to gain a better understanding and appreciation for the things they would’ve normally overlooked.”

Clark brought a hand up to the glass not exactly sure at what point he’d moved so close. Upon seeing the man, the bear seemed startled and took off causing the hero to smile dejectedly in its direction.

“It’s true that these particular captive animals are paying a hefty price by giving up their freedom, but their sacrifice is the reason the rest of their kind is able to thrive and live today. I just hope one day this planet will evolve into a place where creatures beyond human understanding won’t have to be placed behind walls…”

Damian narrowed his eyes which were no longer watching the animal but examining Clark’s face in the reflection of the glass. The sad look Clark was giving the furry creature resembled the look of camaraderie Damian sometimes noticed Dick giving Jason the few times he saw them interact. Damian never much cared for the pathetic look of longing.

“In any case, things aren’t always the way they appear on the outside. I know you don’t always agree with the way our society is run, neither am I to be honest, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to take the time to understand the things you don’t like from all positions. There is always a rhyme or reason for the way people act, and you can’t resolve all the world’s problems by force. If that were the case, I wouldn’t be living my life as Clark Kent…”

Damian’s scowl deepened. As much as Clark’s overly familiar smile annoyed him, Damian realized he much preferred it to the empty one Clark had on his face right now. Was this how the man liked to cover up his feelings? Did he always bear his worries and problems with such a pathetic smile?

Clark’s eyes widened once he realized how visible his expression was in the glass. Luckily Damian had averted his gaze just a few seconds prior. Before Clark had time to fully recover, the two of them were suddenly interrupted by a bright voice.

“Well aren’t you two just the most adorable thing I’ve seen all day.”

“Excuse me?” Clark replied as he and Damian turned around. There before them was a beaming blonde woman dressed in bright pink uniform standing next to a merchandise cart.

“It’s so refreshing to see a single dad spending time with his son,” the woman exclaimed cheerfully.

Clark felt his face go hot. “I, no, we aren’t-” he started to stammer while looking in Damian’s direction for help. The boy merely smirked devilishly back at the nervous Clark.

“Oh don’t be shy,” the woman grinned before lifting up the polaroid camera around her neck. “So would you like me to take your picture?”

“Well, the thing is, we aren’t-” Clark continued to explain, but by then the woman was already readying her hands for the shot.

“Say cheese!”

Clark slightly winced at the bright flash of light. Once his eyes had readjusted the woman was already pulling the picture out.

Clark gave the woman an uneasy smile. He then glanced back at Damian who was still leering proudly back at him. Clark let out a defeated sigh before reaching for his wallet. “Umm, okay…so how much do I owe you?”

“Oh honey, your money is no good here,” the woman giggled while batting at the air and waving his hand away.

“This picture is on the house. Just don’t let my boss know,” she winked.

“Thanks…”

“Well, you two cuties have fun!” The woman shouted before she grabbed her cart and hurriedly rushed away. For a moment, Clark was confused as to why the woman had run off so quickly with such a huge blush across her face. That is until he turned the picture over and saw the words “Call me ~ Cindy” followed by her number and a few doodled x’s and o’s.

Clark’s own face turned just an alarming shade of red. He then looked down at Damian hoping the boy didn’t notice. The bit of white showing from Damian’s haughty grin told him otherwise.

“That woman was rather attractive.” Clark merely nodded inattentively at Damian’s remark. “You know if you wanted to call her, I wouldn’t tell my father. I never planned to share any of my findings with him.”

“Not interested,” Clark frowned.

“So I figured,” Damian shrugged back.

It was at that moment, Clark’s face suddenly transformed from abashed to alert. Damian recognized the look all too well.

“You hear something, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Clark answered back. “Well, then, let’s go.”

Damian’s eyes widened with surprise. “You want me to go with you?”

Clark gave Damian a perplexed smile. “Why not? If you’re a good enough partner for Batman, you’re a good enough partner for me. Besides, you said you wanted to observe me, and this is the other part of my life.”

Damian continued to give Clark a wary eye, before he nodded his head in concurrence. Clark’s smile lifted even further.

“Alright then, if you let me carry you…” Clark unconsciously instructed while reaching his hands towards Damian. His voice then began to trail before he turned and gave Damian a hesitant look. “Oh, well maybe not…”

“Very well,” Damian replied as he took Clark’s hand.

Clark blinked back at Damian furiously. “You don’t have a problem with me carrying you?”

Now Damian was the one who look confused. “Why would I? You can fly, and I cannot. So naturally this is the quickest most efficient way for us to arrive at our destination.”

Clark continued to look at Damian with a shocked expression causing Damian to start feeling self-conscious.

“What?” Damian snapped.

“Nothing, it’s just that…” Clark’s smile deepened. “You are really mature. Some folks I know could learn a thing or two from you.”

Damian’s face loosened and a familiar superior sneer took his face. “Of course they could.”

To Be Continued…

Chapter Text

The door to the stairwell flew open just as the man in the black turtleneck and matching beanie stumbled his way through it, nearly tripping in the process. He grabbed the railing to keep his body steady as his equally frantic companion came tumbling behind him. The men were already breathless as they rushed their way towards rooftop level. Just as the man proceeded to open the door, something whizzed past his head and stuck in the wall only a few inches from his face.

The man’s eyes grew impossibly large as he croaked out. “Oh crap, the bat is here too!?”

Both men stared at the batarang in horror just before Damian jumped from out of the shadows and narrowed his eyes on the men.

“Aww, it’s just some kid,” the second man groused as his face slowly transformed to that of relief. His companion, however, did not seem any less distressed.

“Miguel, that just ain’t some kid. That’s Robin, and if he’s here, the Bat can’t be too far. Let’s book it!”

After yelling out his intent, the first man turned around to flee in the opposite direction of the young vigilante but was soon met with a swift kick to the back of his head which instantly knocked the man unconscious.

His friend stood wide eye with his mouth slightly open, before his mind finally registered what was going on, and his body decided to react. However, by then it was much too late, before the man even knew what was going on his face was to the pavement and Damian was sitting on his back pinning his left arm down with his knee and pulling his right arm in a direction it was not designed to go.

“Shit kid what gives?!” The man wailed in pain.

“You think I’m just going to let you go?” Damian growled, tugging on his arm for added emphasis. “Now, tell me about your gang’s supplier?”

“You’re gonna break my arm!” The thug shrieked.

Damian’s grim smile deepened as he continued to drive his knee further into the man’s forearm. “Sounds like a good idea.”

“No!” The man bellowed with tears in his eyes.

“Don’t make me repeat myself!” Damian snapped. “Those weapon’s crates, where are they shipping in from?”

The man grew silent, before he eventually opened a blurry eye. It was at that moment his face lit up. Just as the man felt the gruesome sensation of muscles ripping, the door to the rooftop flew open and a familiar blue and red figure appeared in front of them.

“It’s Superman! Thank God!” The hoodlum rejoiced. “I surrender! Take me to jail! Just sick your kid off of me!”

Damian glared at Clark who now had a disturbed look on his face as he took in the current situation. He then glanced at Damian before his face turned to a blank expression. “I’m afraid he’s not my kid. Might want to talk to Batman.”

The thug's face dropped as he watched Clark look around the rooftop in an idle manner. “Then again, I don’t think I see him anywhere.”

Clark kneeled beside the man and smiled at him warmly. “You’re probably just better off answering his question.”

Realizing Superman was playing coy, the man turned pale before he closed his eyes tightly and finally shouted out. “Fine! The shipping docks off of Port Authority, bays 69 thru 80. That’s all I know! I swear!”

Damian’s smile turned further before he gave the man one final blow to the head, expertly knocking him out. He then stood to his feet and glared at Clark quizzically. “I expected you to try and stop me.”

Clark tilted his head up and rubbed his cheek with his index finger while looking ruefully off to the side. “Well, I thought about it, but I didn’t think you would go too far. Besides, I’ve seen Bruce do a lot worst before. I still remember the first time I saw him throw someone off of a building…” Clark let out a nervous laugh. “That didn’t go too well, but I guess I’m just desensitized now.”

Damian’s eyes constricted as he questioned sharply. “So you trusted me? Just like that?”

“Well, I don’t expect Batman to partner up with anyone untrustworthy,” Clark smiled assuredly.

Damian let out a mocking laugh. “Oh, I see, so you trusted me based off of what you know about father.”

“I, well, yeah,” the older hero blinked back somewhat tentatively. “But also you and I have been working together for a few nights now, and you never did anything to make me consider you a threat. Besides, after getting to know you a little better, I just didn’t figure you as that kind of person.”

Damian’s smirk dropped once again.

“Kent.”

“Clark,” Superman corrected.

Damian let out a low frustrated sound. “Kent, you really are a bigger fool that I thought. You barely know anything about me.”

“I know enough,” Clark answered back quickly.

Damian sneered. “So you believe.”

“That’s the nature of trust.”

“You truly are a weak minded man,” Damian muttered while scowling at the proud look on the other man’s face.

Now Clark’s expression had transformed to something much more serious. “Damian, trusting someone, relying on someone doesn’t make you weak. It actually takes a lot of courage to depend on someone else. To let go of the control in your life, to know whatever happens next won’t completely be determined by you.”

Clark stared thoughtfully at the ground and let out a soft chuckle as though he were remembering something. “Admittedly, the thought used to scare me very much. Someone like me who is capable of so much on my own, it’s actually very difficult for me to relinquish control to someone who might be considered weaker than me.” Clark looked back at Damian and smiled. “So no, I don’t think trusting in someone is considered a sign of weakness. I actually think it’s a sign of great courage.”

Damian felt his chest do the weird twist that always seemed to surface whenever Clark threw him one of his foreign yet beaming smiles. However, the young hero expertly covered up his discomfort and grumbled back. “Fine, believe whatever you like. At least knowing you trust me means you won’t get in my way. It will make our temporary partnership much less complicated.”

*************************************

After their initial meeting at the Daily Planet, it had been decided that Damian would avoid meeting up with Clark at his office. In return, Clark made sure anytime he needed to leave to perform a duty as Superman, he would take Damian along with him. So far this arrangement seemed to be the best for everyone. Damian was free to observe Clark without having the man sneak up on him, and Clark didn’t have to worry about Damian’s identity and presence being revealed to the media. This also gave Damian the opportunity to team up with the hero which worked out perfectly in the grand scheme of things. What better way for Damian to figure out how Clark managed to sway his father considering Damian was certain his father had been lured during his heroic encounters with the alien.

In the end, Damian and Clark’s partnership worked out much better than the boy could’ve imagined. With his abilities and presence, Clark was easily able to draw attention to himself, a distraction or bait of sorts. This would give the stealthy Robin the perfect opportunity to lure or trap his victims or give them a surprise attack.

Just like himself, Clark’s tactics were incredibly straightforward the complete opposite of Damian’s indirect approach, but somehow the two methods perfectly contrasted and complimented one another. It was no wonder his father was so willing to work with the alien, despite his overbearing personality.

It also helped that Clark seemed very attune with him. Just like the case with the gang they just apprehended. Clark had taken out the brunt of the members, but when a handful of them began to disperse, he didn’t waste his effort or attention chasing after them as though he knew Damian would cut them off.

Then, when Damian started to question the thug, Clark played along perfectly with a good cop, bad cop routine. He didn’t question Damian’s abilities, but rather recognized and relied on them. Clark didn’t feel the need to control the entire situation but instead knew that they both had a different role to fill, and let it play its course. Perhaps this was the nature of the trust Clark had mentioned?

After Clark would get off of work, the two heroes would go on a patrol of sorts through the city. Unlike with his father, Clark didn’t need to scour the city looking for crime. Thanks to his exceptional hearing, Clark would find a central location, usually somewhere high, such as the top of a building, and he would then focus his attention on the city below listening for anywhere he might be needed.

Due to these less than mobile tactics, Clark and Damian ended up spending a considerable amount of time together alone. To which the boy took the opportunity to drill the hero with various questions. However, no matter what Damian seemed to ask, Clark always appeared to have the perfect answer. It was maddening to say the least. Was Clark really the perfect boy scout everyone thought him to be?

No, Clark already exhibited signs that there was more to him than meets the eye. Perhaps it was time that Damian changed up his tactics. Maybe the boy simply wasn’t asking the right questions.

“So you really believe that line of thinking, that there is good in everyone? That even the most demented criminals can be reformed?” Damian questioned as he stared at Clark with scrutiny. “You think someone like the Joker is still worth saving?”

Clark stared at Damian with wide eyes. It was obvious the man had been caught off guard. One moment, the two of them were talking about a case Clark had worked with Bruce involving the Joker, and the next moment the young Robin was eyeing him severely.

“What if he killed someone close to you? What if he finally managed to take out my father? Then what would you do?”

“I honestly don’t know. If that deranged clown actually managed to take Bruce away from me…” Clark’s voice drifted along with the warmth in his eyes. “I don’t think I could stop myself from.” Clark’s sentence stopped abruptly, and his entire face darkened. He then directed his sights on the ground as though he were about to destroy it with his gaze alone.

Damian let out a low laugh as he examined a look he never thought he’d see on the boyscout’s face. “Ah, so the great Superman isn’t as pure as the masses believe.”

Clark grimaced. “I know my image is important not only to myself but the world. That I was involuntarily selected as some kind of symbol of peace and hope, but I’m still human.”

“No, actually you aren’t.”

“Well, I’m human enough to understand the pain of loss, and the fury that comes along with it,” Clark snapped. “Contrary to what you might think, I’m not as great as Bruce would like me to be.”

Damian’s sneer disappeared, but rather than replace it with a frown, he turned his gaze away from Clark and started solicitously towards the city. “Me neither...”

Clark’s brow furrowed as he watched Damian stand up and pat his cape. He then looked at Clark with an unreadable expression. “Well, if it is any consolation, hearing you say that makes you much more interesting to me than you were before.”

Clark looked at the boy with nervous guilt. “Is that a good or a bad thing?

“I haven’t decided,” Damian smirked.

***************************************

“So, since you’ve been following me all over town, what do you think of Metropolis?” Clark asked the following night.

From time to time, Clark would also ask Damian a few questions, though it was definitely less frequent, and Damian never really was certain where the line of reasoning was when Clark finally did. The man usually asked small unimportant things like Damian’s favorite color, foods, or the names of all his pets. This was the first time Clark asked a more open-ended question. Perhaps the man was getting too familiar.

“It is very different than Gotham,” Damian finally replied after deciding he would actually answer. “It is much more progressive and has potential.”

“Potential?” Clark parroted.

“Yes, exactly as I stated,” Damian huffed. He hated to repeat himself.

Once again, Clark’s head drifted upwards as though he were concealing a bit of his expression from the shorter boy. “So I’m guessing you aren’t as fond of Gotham as Bruce.”

Damian frowned. “No one is as fond of Gotham as my father. His sentimental attachment to that decrepit city eludes me. With his resources and wit, he could have chosen any city to oversee, but instead places like Metropolis are under the care of you and that fiend Luthor. My father’s sentimentality will one day be his undoing.”

Clark took note of the bit of bitterness in Damian’s tone before shrugging back. “There are worst ways for a person to go.”

Damain’s scowl deepened causing Clark to anxiously clear his throat and hurriedly asked his next question. “So then, Damian, if you don’t mid me asking, is there somewhere other than Gotham you would rather be?”

Damian crossed his arms over his chest and sneered. “That question is irrelevant.”

“I’m sorry?” Clark asked with obvious confusion.

Damian let out a tired sigh before putting his hands behind his back and pacing in a reflective manner. “I was given two paths in life. To either side with my mother and take my place as the next Ra’s or inherit the mantle from my father and become Gotham’s next protector,” Damian stopped walking. “Considering my strained relationship with mother, I believe I will choose to take my father’s place.”

“I see…” Clark’s face stitched to something that resembled anxiety. “So that’s what you want?

Damian snorted. “I told you already, what I want is irrelevant.”

“No, it’s not.” Clark countered adamantly.

Damian was rendered speechless for a moment at Clark’s unusual directness. He then hesitated before finally speaking, his brow slightly raised. “Listen, Kent.”

“Clark.”

Damian rolled his eyes.

“I believe a life without purpose isn’t a life worth living at all. When my mother conceived me, my purpose was to one day take my father’s place, however what that meant to the both of them didn’t exactly align. So eventually I was given the choice to side with either my father or my mother’s ideals, and after the time I have spent with the both of them, I truly do believe father’s ways are more just. So I must follow the path that has been laid out for me, otherwise, what purpose is there in me even being born? What meaning would my life have?”

“Isn’t that something for you to decide?” Clark asked, his face even more distressed than before.

“My father’s cause is a just one, and I would be honored to follow in his steps,” Damian snapped back his chest lifting up with pride.

“Yes, that is very true…” Clark murmured his tone still a bit sad. He then continued to look away from Damian in silence.

The young Robin examined Clark’s face, his heart twisting much in the same manner it sometimes did when the man smiled. What was this unpleasant feeling?

“I know there is something you want to say, so just come out with it,” Damian demanded.

Clark let out a long sigh and opened his mouth, before closing it again and finally deciding on his reply. “I definitely agree that Bruce’s cause is just, but it’s Bruce’s cause. I just simply wanted to know what your cause is.”

“Are you brain damaged?” Damian barked back. “I just told you!”

Now Clark was the one with the impatient look. “Yes, you told me all about your mother and father.”

“Talking to you is impossible!” Damian huffed while shaking his head furiously and walking away.

“Damian,” Clark called out in a voice so firm yet tender the boy couldn’t help but stop in his tracks. “Parents have this funny way of thinking they know everything that is best for their children. Then they start projecting their own ideals onto them, but eventually there comes a point when they realize their kids have to live their own lives,” Clark let out a rueful laugh. “I know if Bruce heard me saying this, he’d probably be pissed, but I don’t believe you should listen to what he says all the time. Contrary to what he thinks, your father isn’t always right. It’s true Bruce has a lot of wisdom to share and there’s still so much you can learn from him, and you should definitely take the things he’s taught you into consideration when you do make your own choices. However, when it really comes down to it, you are your own person regardless of what others might feel, and you should follow your own convictions, because…” Clark hesitated again before closing his eyes. “When it comes down to it, you will be the one held accountable for your own actions, not me, not your mother, and definitely not your father. So it’s up to you to determine what kind of man you want to be, and how you want to live your life.”

Damian whirled around fast and stepped right in front of Clark. “So you’re saying that I’m wrong?”

Clark opened his eyes and was surprised to see a frantic Damian instead of an upset one.

“No, of course not,” he quickly reassured. His face then warmed up causing the smaller boy take a step back for some reason. Clark dismissed the strange reaction and kneeled down so the two of them were more level.

“Let me put it this way. I grew up on a farm, and my Pa taught me everything there is to know about farming. So I always assumed one day I would grow up to be a farmer just like him, but as I got older my perspective started to change.

Once I got a better handle on my abilities, I realized I wanted nothing more than to help people with my gift. I know Pa was disappointed at first, but in the end, I can tell he was happier that I decided to live out my own dreams and ideals.

If I had just settled with the things right in front of me, then I never would’ve ventured out. Superman never would’ve came to be, and I would’ve missed out on so many of the wonderful life experiences I’ve had to this day. Not to mention, I never would’ve met Bruce…” Clark’s face softened even further at his last thought.

“What I have gone through has really helped shape me into the person that I am today. Still if I had to be honest, considering everything, one day, when this world no longer needs Superman, I would love to inherit the farm from my Pa. Looking back, those peaceful days were some of the best in my life. If I could live out the rest of my days somewhere quietly with the person I care for, like Pa and Ma, that really would be the best.”

Clark laughed nostalgically as though he’d just come under a realization himself. “It’s funny that after everything that’s happened in my life, this is what I would circle back to...”

Damian’s face was the picture of confusion but his eyes still seemed sharp and hard. “So after all that, you still realize you did just want to follow in your father’s footsteps anyways? Then what was the point in everything?”

“The point is I made my own choices. That I wasn’t left wondering if the decisions I made were my own or someone else’s. That I won’t have to look back on my life and guess if I lived for myself or someone else. That I can truly believe and be proud of myself and the life I lived.”

Clark rested a hand on Damain’s shoulder. When the boy made no move to remove it and continued to stare at Clark intently, the hero continued on with is speech. “It’s true that a life without meaning isn’t a very worthwhile one, but if that life isn’t something that means anything to you, then was it truly worth it?”

Damian turned his eyes away from the man and muttered lowly. “Kent, you are a babbling brook of contradictions.”

Clark let out a hearty laugh and finally stood back up, a small blush forming across his face. “I guess that I am. Sorry to be so confusing.”

“Whatever,” Damian grunted his own face suddenly feeling a few degrees warmer. “But I suppose your words aren’t all pointless foolery. I will take what you said into consideration...”

“Thanks, I’m glad.” Clark grinned.

Damian turned his back to the man and shrugged. He then clutched the front of uniform and internally seethed.

‘Father, this man truly is dangerous…’

To be continued...

Chapter Text

Damian paced across the rooftop, before looking at the clock on his communicator for the tenth time that night.

‘He’s late.’

The boy shook his head furiously. It was already one hour well past their usual meeting time. Had Clark possibly stood him up? No, that was not something Clark would ever do. It just wasn’t his way. So maybe something happened to Superman. Maybe he was actually in trouble.

‘Impossible! He’s Superman!’

The boy peered across the already dusking city, searching intently for that familiar streak of red and blue. He then began to debate on whether to go looking for the other hero.

Suddenly a familiar bleating sound could be heard. Damian felt his blood go cold. This had to be the call he was expecting to eventually get. The one where his father told him it was time for him to come home. It was only a matter of time, but Damian was not ready to go back. He still wanted to learn more about Clark. He still hadn’t discovered exactly how Clark won his father over. The only thing he knew was the man was easy to work with, and much smarter and perhaps wiser than he let on. He also had a large amount of patience, was very opinionated yet open-minded and understanding, and was so approachable and friendly it was easy to say just about anything to the man and not feel shamed or worried.

These all seemed like redeemable qualities, but still, were they really enough to do his father in? No, Damian was still missing something. The ache in his chest was definitely evidence of that fact.

After the third beep, Damian knew he had to respond. Finally he willed the nerve to look at his communicator and was surprised to see it was a transmission from Dick.

He let out a sigh of relief, before he wrinkled his face into its typically stern expression and answered the communicator brusquely. “What.”

“Damian?”

For a moment Damian was surprised that there was no video feed, and the voice on the other end was definitely not Dick.

“Kent?”

“Oh, hey Damian! Wow, I don’t know how Dick did it, but he managed to transfer my cellphone signal over to your communicator.”

Damian snorted his criticism. “It’s a verily simple task considering the Wayne tower here in Metropolis. Even I can manage such a feat easily.”

“Oh, of course,” Clark chuckled. “So, I need to apologize. I don’t think I can make it tonight. Right at the last minute Perry hit me with an assignment that I have to do with another co-worker, making it difficult for me to complete it faster. I’ll spare you the details, but unless there is a really big emergency, I doubt I can meet with the tonight…”

“What?” Damian blurted his voice sounding much more anxious than he wanted.

“I’m so sorry, I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

The ache in Damian’s chest grew a little more intense. However, he expertly dismissed it and replied flatly. “That is not necessary. I will see you tomorrow.”

Before Clark could even respond, Damian disconnected the line. He then stood in a long silence afterwards staring at the ground.

Of course, what happened wasn’t exactly Clark’s fault. It’s not like the man was purposely trying to impede Damian’s investigation. If anything, he was being more than generous with his time and information. The other hero had actually been quite accommodating. However despite all the rationale, Damian still couldn’t help but feel upset.

Now what was he to do with his night? If he could not speak and work with Clark, then the night was wasted. Sure he could just observe the man, like in the past, but it just wasn’t the same, and Damian had patiently waited all day to meet up with Clark. He even had a fresh new list of questions and things to debate with the man. Didn’t he understand how much this meant to the boy’s investigation?

Damian stopped in mid-thought as he realized the unthinkable.

‘Was I actually looking forward to our meeting?’

Damian let out a disconcerted huff.

‘Impossible! This just means I will have twice the list to go over with him tomorrow. He said he owes me!’

************************************************************************

“So you’ve never been to a public or private school before?” Clark questioned. Currently, the two heroes were sitting atop the roof of one of Metropolis’ oldest schools.

“No, I have always been tutored. Besides,” Damian’s chest began to swell up. “Academically I am already well beyond the level of my peers.”

“Well, that is impressive,” Clark replied with wide eyes that only magnified his admiration. This caused Damian to puff up further. “But I’m not surprised. You are very bright and mature. Still, I think going to school would do you a lot of good.”

“How so?”

“Well, there are some things you learn at school that aren’t taught in books.”

Damian furrowed his brow. “Explain.”

“Take us for example. I’m sure you did your own reading up on me, but that wasn’t enough, so eventually you decided to observe me from afar, and then you decided to interact with me up close. Don’t you think you were able to learn more about me now?”

Damian turned his head and stared contemplatively at the flag pole in front of them before answering. “I see your point. I suppose I was able to gather a substantial bit more information from actual interaction.”

Clark smiled as he watched the wheels in the Robin’s head turn.

“Yeah, and as far as I can tell, part of being Batman is really understanding the way people’s minds work and using that to your advantage. It’s not all head bashing and knuckle cracking. As socially unconventional as Bruce might seem, he actually has this uncanny way of getting inside a person’s head.

In any case, a school is the perfect place to meet various people with different kinds of personalities, upbringings, and ways of thinking.”

“Hmm, I never considered it that way,” Now Damian had his hand to his chin much in a similar manner as Bruce. Clark held back a laugh before absentmindedly saying his next words. “Also, being around kids your own age, you are sure to make some friends, maybe even find a cute girl.”

“Why would I need friends or a cutegirl?” Damian snapped quickly. “How would that assist me?”

“Uh…” Clark’s face paled as he suddenly realized what he said and what had been asked.

Damian smirked at the restless looking Clark, and jeered out. “Stop fretting, Kent. I don’t need some kind of coming of age speech.”

Clark’s face relaxed just before Damian stood up and crossed his arm over his chest.

“Don’t misunderstand, I do intend to one day find a partner of my own, but that is not something that is in my best interest right now. Once I have established my future, I will find the person who can best assist me in accomplishing my goals and passing on my legacy, just as mother originally sought out father.”

Clark continued to stare out in front of himself but his face twisted as though he’d just seen something disturbing. “Well, Damian, there is a little more to it than that…”

“Are you about to get sentimental on me?” Damian groaned.

“I…” Clark started, before he looked up at Damian, his expression still reflecting his distress. “Well, yeah!”

The Robin let out a tired sigh as he waited for what he knew was coming next.

“Damian, relationships are more than just a matter of convenience, it’s actually quite the opposite.”

“Sounds like more trouble than its worth,” the boy muttered lowly.

“I can’t think of any trouble that’s more worthwhile,” Clark countered with a somewhat wistful smile. Damian rolled his eyes.

“If I was just looking for a person who could help me accomplish my goals, then there are countless people I know who fit the criteria, but when you find that one person you are truly meant to be with its something on an entirely different level.”

Now Clark’s eyes looked even more distant and thoughtful.

“That person you are just as comfortable spending countless hours talking to as you are enjoying an easy silence. Someone who doesn’t always see eye to eye with you, but somehow gets you even if neither of you fully understands why. The person who makes you feel like everything is going to be okay in your life, even when it’s not.

Someone you can share your hopes, dreams, doubts, and worries with, that you can entrust the biggest and smallest parts of yourself with them. The person who will tell you when you are being an idiot or making mistakes but won’t make you feel lesser for it.

The way they make your chest ache and your heart race in the most agonizingly wonderful way when all they did was smile at you or walk in the room.

Just someone that fits so perfectly in your life and you wonder how you managed to live so long without them. As though they didn’t exactly complete you as a person, but perfectly complimented who you already are. Someone who isn’t just good for your life, but for your soul as well…”

The entire time Clark spoke, a myriad of different emotions showed clearly on the man’s face. He truly was the living incarnation of wearing one’s feelings on their sleeve. Typically Damian would’ve immediately dismissed the man as foolish, but a part of him was just too wrapped up in some of Clark’s undecipherable and foreign expressions, he almost forgot to reply. Luckily Clark seemed just as lost in thought as Damian that the boy managed to regain his senses before the reporter noticed.

“Kent, you are entirely too emotionally driven,” Damian sneered. “I truly believe you more than anyone I know will be undone by sentimentality.”

Clark smiled at Damian with one of his irritating heart stopping numbers. “I can think of worst ways to go.”

Damian immediately turned his face away. Usually when the man did this his chest would twist, but this time his heart was beating really fast. He then began to remember the part of Clark’s speech concerning chest aches before he suddenly and without warning shot his grappler out and muttered. “Let’s go.”

************************************************************************

Damian dashed across the granite ledge, his target running above him across the rooftops unaware that the Robin was tailing him not but a few feet below. When he reached the end of the building, he turned the corner sharply expecting there to be a similar ledge on the other side, but there was none.

For a moment, Damian was in a daze, as the sudden shock of nothing under of his feet knocked the wind out of him. How stupid of him to make such a rookie mistake, then again, this was the reason his father always said it was important to know the city of Gotham like the back of his own hand. Just to prevent unexpected circumstance such as these.

Oh well, it’s not like Damian had spent enough time in Metropolis to be well versed in its senselessly designed architecture, also, he still wasn’t in any kind of real danger.

Damian reached for his grappler, before he suddenly and without warning felt the warm and tight embrace of someone.

“Got you!” Clark chimed.

Damian blinked with confusion for a moment before he felt an intense amount of heat permeate off his body. Was it because Clark was so unnaturally hot, or was it Damian generating all this heat himself? Whatever the case, Damian was beyond uncomfortable.

“I could have gotten myself!” Damian shouted as he leaped out of Clark’s arms and back onto the nearby building. “I had everything under control.”

“Yup, you sure did,” Clark grinned. For some reason, the man looked entirely too amused.

“Are you condescending me?” Damian snarled.

“No, of course not,” Clark nodded, his hands waving out in an innocent gesture. Although the man really meant what he said, he was having a hard time holding back a laugh. At this point, Damian looked exactly like his father, but a very small and cuter version of him, and the Kryptonian was beyond tickled.

Damian let out another growl of frustration.

For some reason, his face was still burning and his pulse was racing at an unruly speed. Had the adrenaline rush caused by free falling that quickly and uncontrollably affected him so much? No, this wasn’t Damian’s first time falling from such a height at such a speed, and as he mentioned before, he actually had everything under control. He was just a quick flick of a grappler away from catching himself before Clark had intruded with his unneeded assistance.

Damian examined his own flustered appearance in the reflection of the dim window in front of him. He then brought a hand to his waist and shoulder in the areas Clark had caught him. His skin felt incredibly hot. Maybe Damian was starting to get sick?

“Damian, let’s go. The guy is still trying to get away.” Clark pointed out as he turned back towards the boy and smiled.

Damian felt his face heat up and he nearly reeled when their eyes met.

“Y-Yeah,” Damian feebly replied while quickly darting his gaze in hopes that Clark wouldn’t notice his disheveled state.

Yeah, he was definitely coming down with something.

*****************************************************************

“Hey Damian,” Clark greeted as he landed on the roof where they normally met.

“Kent,” Damian nodded, though for some reason he was refusing to make eye contact. Clark didn’t seem to notice as he looked up towards the sky and then back towards the city. “Tonight looks like it will be another fun one. What do you say?”

“Perhaps…” Damian mumbled lowly.

“Alright let’s get going!” Clark smiled as he leaned over and offered the boy his hand. Unlike Bruce, Damian actually seemed to enjoy flying. Even though the boy didn’t say it, Clark could tell from the way the boy’s heart would beat with excitement, not at all the reaction he got with his stubborn boyfriend. It actually really made Clark happy to know Damian enjoyed flying as much as him. It was definitely one of his favorite abilities, and he was glad he could share the experience with someone who appreciated it so much.

Damian’s eyes drifted to the ground and he spoke in a very uncharacteristically passive voice. “I, I think I will just meet you there…”

“Something wrong?”

“N…” Damian started to speak before retracting his statement and shaking his head. “Well, actually I think I’m not feeling entirely like myself tonight.”

“Oh, no,” Clark exclaimed his face overcome with worry. “Maybe you should stay in tonight and rest?”

Damian’s eyes widened and he quickly replied. “No!” Clark looked at Damian with surprise before the boy suddenly caught himself and recovered his demeanor. “It is fine. I am not feeling completely unserviceable, just a bit warm and faint. I have definitely worked under worst conditions before.”

Clark made a disapproving clicking sound with his tongue and muttered something under his breath about not being surprised. He then followed the statement up with a snide remark about Bruce being a slave driver. Damian disregarded the grumblings and continued to speak.

“In any case, sometimes the speed at which you move is a bit quick, so I think I will feel much less dizzy if I just meet you there instead.”

Not two seconds after getting the words out of his mouth, Damian felt his temperature sky rocket as Clark put a hand to the boy’s forehead and hummed. “Wow, you really do feel pretty hot, and rising. Are you sure you shouldn’t stay-”

“What do you think you are doing?!” Damian thundered as he immediately slapped Clark’s arm away.

“Oh, sorry!” Clark apologized with a sheepish expression. “I should’ve asked first before doing that. I guess it’s just a force of habit I picked up from Ma.”

As Clark spoke, Damian didn’t hear a word the man said as he the sound of his rapidly beating heart drowned out everything around him. He then began to work on the breathing exercises his father taught him in order to calm himself before he finally looked up at the babbling Clark and heard him.

The man now had a completely injured smile on his face as he mumbled somewhat sadly. “Umm, well, I guess I’ll get going. See you at our usual spot.”

He then flew away, and for some reason Damian felt like hurling. A fever and a stomach ache, perhaps he had the flu?

****************************************************************

Damian pierced his lips together as he watched the scene unfold from afar.

Superman had just apprehended a thief who robbed a local food stand and was returning the money to the owner. After a small exchange, Clark came back with what appeared to be some kind of pastry item in his hand.

“I see you are often rewarded by the citizens,” Damian muttered dryly as he pretended not to eye what he realized was a crepe.

Clark blinked at Damian before looking at his hand and laughing out guiltily. “I guess you’re right. I never thought about it before.”

“Your reputation with the people is far more positive than ours.”

“Well, Bruce’s tactics are a tad bit more…” Clark wrinkled his nose. “Frightening than mine.”

Damian nodded in response before Clark offered him the crepe. “Well, the lady didn’t exactly see you, so she only gave me one. Did you want it?”

Damian looked as Clark as though he were handing him the plague and muttered. “No.”

Clark merely shrugged before taking a bite, his face lighting up not seconds after. “Wow, this is really good. Are you sure you don’t want to at least try some?”

Damian looked at the crepe being motioned towards him, the shape of a large bite now in it. He then looked over at Clark his eyes drawn to the mouth which had put the mark there

Suddenly Damian’s face went flush as he realized he couldn’t pull his gaze away from Clark’s lips. Eventually he somehow managed to push Clark’s arm away, which thankfully caused the man to lower his head freeing Damian from his entrapment.

“As if I would want to eat something after you!” The boy shouted.

Clark’s mouth was now in the form of a small pout. “I don’t have any weird alien germs.”

“That you know of!” Damian snapped his eyes darting about frantically.

Clark wasn’t exactly sure why Damian was reacting so energetically, but he was starting to realize the boy was full of surprises. Eventually he gave the pastry a sympathetic smile, before taking another bite and replying. “I guess you aren’t much of a fan of sweets either.”

“Are you insinuating that father doesn’t like sweets?” Damian quickly quipped back. He hated when people were wrong about things.

Clark looked at Damian with a perplexed stare. “Well, he’s always going on about how they are unhealthy and just empty calories with little to no nutritional value, so I figured he didn’t care for them.”

“Kent.”

“Clark.”

Damian scowled at Clark before continuing. “Kent, I thought you of all people would know by now that my father doesn’t always agree with the things that he does or says. My father is actually quite fond of sweets, however, he sticks to his strict diet despite his indulgences but there is definitely a reason Pennyworth is so well versed in the art of making pastries.”

Damian nearly fell off the roof as Clark suddenly shouted. “I KNEW IT! I just knew he liked sweets. The way he eyes me whenever I eat them and complains about my unnatural metabolism like he’s jealous. Also, I was pretty certain that stuff in my stash would sometimes go missing.”

Now Clark was laughing so hard tears were beginning to form in his eyes. “This is great information. Thanks Damian!”

Damian’s heart did a flip at the words of appreciation and Clark’s big grin. This was by far the most enthused one Damian had ever seen. He didn’t even know it was possible for someone to look this happy.

“So, do you have any other interesting tidbits you think you might be inclined to share?” Clark chuckled as he finally turned his bright blue eyes back towards the boy.

Damian quickly turned his face away and forced himself to feign aggravation. “I don’t know exactly what someone with taste like you would find interesting, because I still don’t understand how father liking sweets is so fascinating.”

Clark was still laughing lightly as he replied. “It’s not the fact that he likes them, it’s the fact that he doesn’t want to admit he does.”

Although his head was still cocked to the side Damian looked at Clark through the corner of his eye and smirked. The older man had a dopey smile on his face and for some reason Damian’s entire body felt warm, and not the kind of panicky heat the boy felt lately due to his recent illness. It was more like a feeling of satisfaction. As though he was actually pleased he was the reason Clark was smiling in such a manner, and then it hit him.

Damian lowered his face so that Clark could no longer see the boy’s features before he finally spoke out. “Listen, Kent.”

“Clark.”

Clark was slightly taken aback as Damian suddenly slammed his fist down on the pavement. “Why are you so insistent on me calling you by your first name?! Even Grayson wasn’t this persistent!”

For a moment, Clark just looked shocked as the entire atmosphere changed.

“Well, it’s just kind of an unfamiliar way of addressing me...” Clark trailed.

“Yes, that is exactly the point. I don’t want you to feel like you are familiar with me,” Damian snapped crassly.

Clark’s mouth turned to one of his pathetic smiles that pissed Damian off to no end as he replied. “That’s too bad because I was really hoping you and I could one day be friends.”

“What benefit is there in that?” The boy questioned sharply. Damian was now standing up with his hands on his hips glaring at Clark. The reporter hadn’t seen Damian this upset since the first day he arrived in Metropolis.

Despite his confusion, Clark regained his bearings and replied. “I, well, there are a lot of benefits to having friends.”

“Such as?”

“Well, for instance, a friend is someone you can come to whenever you are in trouble or need help.”

Damian snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. “Isn’t that the whole point of your Justice League?”

“Yeah...” Clark hesitated. He recognized when a Wayne was being full on defensive, and now he knew he had to be very cautious with his next words.

Damian let out a caustic sound, already fed up with Clark’s lost expression as he continued to drive his point further. “Well, I am pretty certain you are not friends with all of the League and yet they all still come running when you call. So I am perfectly fine with considering you and them my allies. Beyond that I don’t need anything else.”

Clark’s brow stitched and his voice became firm. “Well there are other things besides assisting with heroic acts that you can rely on friends for….”

“Look, Kent,” Damian interrupted making sure he didn’t give Clark a chance to start another one of his annoying speeches. “There isn’t anything else I need from you. I am not such a weak individual that I need someone like you to lick my wounds. Contrary to what you believe, I am not my father, so you can keep your friendship to yourself!”

Clark’s smile was definitely far from gone, and he almost looked upset. This expression caused Damian’s own smirk to widen. Was he finally getting to the impenetrable man of steel? Damian let out a snarky laugh at the thought.

“I think I understand completely how someone like you operates now. You have this subtle way of digging under a person’s skin, filling their head with frivolous thoughts and needs they never would’ve considered on their own. Then you make them believe you’re the one that can help them fulfill those wishes.

You seem to have this agreeable attitude of sympathy and understanding making them feel like they are in control of all your interactions, but the reality of the matter is that you are slowly bending their will to your own. Making them believe you both share common ground.

Then, just when you have weakened their minds enough, you offer up your friendship as a means to back alley your way into their hearts. As if in some small way my heart could possibly align with yours.”

At some point, Clark’s face had darkened, but he silently and patiently took in Damian’s words.

Damian felt his frustration rise to new heights, as Clark closed his eyes, rubbed the back of head, and gave Damian a guilty yet light laugh. “I…that’s the most harsh description of friendship I have ever heard, but I guess to an extent you are right.”

Damian’s nostrils flared as he felt his chest twist at the sight.

“You are so infuriating,” he growled. “I just trampled all over your ideals, and you are still agreeing with me?”

Clark looked off the side ruefully as he answered. “Well, not completely… It’s true it’s hard to make friends with another person. That’s why I made an effort to get to know you better, and the only way I could do that is if I kept an open-mind and tried to understand you better. I don’t necessarily agree with all your ways of thinking, but I certainly do understand you a lot better now.”

As Clark spoke, his face began to soften, and Damian somehow felt his on wrath dispel along with it. That is until Clark said his next words.

“Being friends doesn’t mean I have to agree with you all the time. I definitely don’t agree with Bruce on a lot of things, but-”

“Ah, there we go again,” Damian seethed. “It’s always about my father, isn’t it?”

“What?”

Damian threw a finger at Clark’s chest pleased the man was still sitting because now their eyes could be level.

“Don’t think you fooled me,” Damian spat as he narrowed his icy blue sapphires into the most dangerous shape he could form. “Now I understand how you tricked my father, and I understand now why you suddenly feel the need to fool me as well.”

Damian backed off, a proud haughty smile meeting Clark’s dazed face.

“Don’t worry. You already more than thoroughly have my father under your thumb with the clever tactics you used to seduce him, so you needn’t worry yourself over me. My father doesn’t care about my opinion on the matter at all, so whether you befriend me or not, it won’t make any difference on your standing with him.”

For a moment, something within the Robin faltered as he suddenly processed his own words. He then slowly closed his eyes, before opening them back up and scowling at Clark.

“So with that being said, I would prefer you to keep your distance from me. My investigation of you is more than complete now, and I have concluded that I want nothing further to do with you!”

To Be Continued…

Chapter Text

As soon as Damian made his declaration, he promptly shot out his grappler and left. He half expected Clark to go after him, but the man sat frozen in place. The last thing Damian could remember seeing was a very firm frown and a pair of wounded blue eyes staring at him dejectedly.

Once he was certain he put enough distance between the two of them, Damian landed on the rooftop of an abandoned building. Originally, he’ planned to just head straight home, but right now he had to catch his breath. The tight swelling in his chest was making it hard for the boy to breath, and his body was now completely drained and cold. He was also having trouble seeing due to a slight sting in his eyes. Whatever this sickness was that had overtaken him, the boy was definitely not in the right shape to be swinging through the rooftops.

Damian crouched towards the ground and inhaled deeply. He then closed his eyes before deciding to lean on the wall behind him and sinking to the ground. Once his body started to calm, his thoughts began to clear and run rampant.

‘Why did I get so upset with Kent? He didn’t do or say anything more absurd than usual.’

The boy continued to replay their conversation in his mind, trying to pinpoint exactly what had gone wrong. One moment, the reporter was laughing and they seemed to be having a nice moment, and the next instant the boy was sitting slumped against a dark building, alone and feeling more sick than he’d felt in all week.

Then again, despite their less than pleasant departure, Damian could attest to one thing, his investigation was complete. As harsh as his words were, what he said was true. Even though Superman possessed unimaginable strength, his most dangerous tactic was his psychological prowess.

At what point had Damian gotten so caught up? When did he start hanging off the man’s every word and considering his advice? Why did he feel so comfortable talking to the man, telling him his most hidden thoughts and secrets? At what point did they start working so well together? When did he start looking forward to their meetings? How did Clark’s smile become so familiar to him, and when did it start becoming Damian’s desire to put one on the man’s face.

Damian clasped the front of his uniform tightly at the thought, the ache almost unbearable now.

‘Oh yeah, that was what it was…’

Now Damian remembered why he’d gotten so upset. It wasn’t that he was mad at Clark. It was actually more that he was angry with himself. Damian had done it again. He’d actually fooled himself into believing that Clark actually liked him. The moment he saw Clark laughing, Damian had actually been pretty happy, though he’d never admit it.

Much like Dick, Clark had revealed to the boy there were so many different forms and shapes a smile could take. There were some his previous partner had shown him he’d never seen before, and just when he thought he’d seen it all, Clark proved there were even more that had been unknown to him.

However, one thing Damian started to realize as he interacted with everyone was one common expression. The way everyone would look when they talked about his father.

Dick, Tim, Alfred, sometimes Jason, and now Clark, they all held so much admiration and adoration for his father. The way their eyes would light up or gloss over, the sound of longing in their voices, the way their faces would be overcome with such powerful emotions and breathtaking smiles. Even his own mother, though she rarely smiled, would show a level of tenderness the boy never even imagined possible from the woman.

Damian had to admit, he was proud to have such an influential father. He himself could understand their feelings. There wasn’t anyone on this planet like him. Even despite so many of his flaws and useless ideals, Damian knew perfectly well why so many people were drawn to the man.

When Clark had asked Damian what he wanted to do with his life, the boy had not been entirely straightforward. Yes, it was true that he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps because that was what everyone expected of him, but he just wasn’t doing it for them. He was doing it for himself as well.

Being the best was something that was instilled in Damian since he was a child, and honestly, was there anyone better in the world to aspire to be like?

Never mind his daunting skills and genius, or the fact that the man commanded so much respect and influence over many remarkable heroes and super powered beings. That the streets of Gotham both feared and revered him; that the entire world awed at the name of Batman.

If the boy had to be completely honest, one of the things that really impressed Damian the most about his father, was the kind of people the man surrounded himself with. As annoying and tiresome as they often could be, all the members of the batfamily were extraordinary individuals that Damian was proud to be on a team with. Some were hand-picked but the majority of them had sought his father’s mentorship and company all on their own. Even Clark, the most powerful person on the planet had fallen madly in love with the man.

So when Damian had decided what to do with his life, when the choice was finally his own and not one forced upon him, he realized he couldn’t think of anything more he wanted in his life. Because the fact of the matter is, although those people were now a part of his life as well, it had nothing to do with Damian, and everything to do with his father.

Would someone like Grayson actually ever given him, Damian, the “Son of the Demon” the time of day if not for his father? Would Pennyworth even bother taking care of another lost child if it weren’t for his obligations? Even Drake, the person he gave the most grief too loved his father so much he swallowed his pride on countless occasions and worked with the boy.

And the list just went on. No matter how crass or rude the boy got. Despite how difficult he knew he was to work with, and how much he upset them, none of them would ever abandon or mistreat him. They all just accepted him without question because that was what would make his father happy. It wasn’t about whether they liked him or not, because these amazing individuals would sacrifice life and limb for his father.

So of course Damian’s whole life was dedicated to the pursuit of becoming like him. It was the whole reason he was even put on this Earth in the first place. No one wanted to put their neck out for a ten year old brat. They didn’t care about someone who was still so small and weak.
No, the only way he could get people like Clark to look at him with such eyes, to give him such endearing smiles, is if he became someone just like his father. So that was the reason he had to, no, wanted to inherit his father’s mantle. So that one day they could look past his father and finally see him.

So until he finally reached that point, until he was finally worthy, no one would be smiling at Damian Wayne in such a manner, and that thought alone, angered and hurt the boy to no end.

Now Damian felt dizzy as he held his head as though such an action would actually alleviate the spinning. However, his moment of contemplation was soon cut short as he realized that the hazy feeling overtaking him wasn’t just because the influx of thoughts and sickness in his stomach.

There was actually a substantial amount of smoke blowing his way.

*****************************************************************

When Damian arrived, the fire department was already present and working hard to subdue the blazing fire overtaking the building.

The boy sighed and turned to leave before anyone noticed him. There was no point in him helping out. The proper authorities could handle this.

“But Mommy, we have to go back. We have to save him!” The little girl cried out as she tried to wriggle free from her mother’s grasp.

“No Angelina, stay put!” Her mother warned as she held the girl’s hand tighter. She then looked up at the police officer who was working on directing bystanders away as the rest of his team built a perimeter behind him.

“Sir, my daughter’s cat is still inside. Is there really nothing you can do?”

“We’re sorry mam,” the officer replied with an apologetic look “It’s too dangerous, and the building can come down at any moment. We can’t risk men’s lives just for a cat.”

“He’s not just a cat! He’s my best friend!” The girl shouted her cheeks stained with tears and eyes overflowing. She then whipped her wrist out of her mother’s grip and took off towards the building.

“ANGELINA!”

The girl’s eyes were tightly closed as she ran blindly into the flames. That is until she suddenly ran into someone.

“I suggest you listen to your mother.”

Angelina finally looked up and blinked at the boy with confusion. “Robin?”

By then, the girl’s mother and the officer had reached the two of them, both adults looking just as surprised as Angelina.

The girl’s mother embraced her daughter tightly making sure she could not escape and shook her head at Damian appreciatively.

Eventually Angelina pulled her face out her mother’s arms and shouted back at Damian. “I have to save him! Rollo is counting on me!”

Damian raised an eye to the girl. “You would risk your life so haphazardly for your friend?”

“Of course!” The girl answered, her eyes filled with liquid determination.

Damian snorted and muttered under his breath. “As usual, friendship is more trouble than its worth.”

Angelina looked at Damian with puzzlement, not fully hearing what he said. Damian merely shrugged his shoulders before turning his back to the girl and muttering. “Very well, if you promise to stay put, I will retrieve your friend. Now where do you live?”

“Apartment 12B,” the girl sniffed.

Damian nodded his head and shot out his grappler towards the designated floor.

“Hey kid, what do you think you are doing? Wait!” the officer shouted, but by then it was already too late.

*****************************************************************

Damian now had his filter mask on as he made his way through the apartment. Luckily the fire hadn’t reached the floor yet, but the smoke was still overwhelming, and the lenses in his face mask were not equipped to see very well in it.

‘Where is that stupid cat?’

At this point, the boy was crawling on the floor. Part of this was so he could search under the furniture, but the other reason was so he could get under the smoke. It wasn’t till Damian passed a bed, that he saw a pair of eyes glowing at him.

“Come here,” Damian commanded. The furry creature responded by backing up further. “So stubborn….”

Damian reached his hand out, barely able to fit under the bed himself. That cat hissed.

“Stop being so troublesome. I am here to rescue you!”

Now Damian was as far as he could fit as he stretched his fingers and barely caught the cat by the paw. His reward was a fast swipe and a warning growl.

“Why won’t you let me help you?” Damian huffed. He then glared at the cat, the two of them now locked in a pointless staring contest.

Eventually he closed his eyes and for some reason he suddenly thought of Clark and his stupid smile.

At that point, the boy’s face softened up, and he tried to mimic the expression. He then looked at the cat with a desperate smile and called out in a sweet voice. “Here, kitty. Come here Rollo,” a bit of the tension left the cat’s fur.

Damian voice continued to lull the creature further. “Don’t you want to see your friend again? Your Angelina is waiting for you.”

As if the girl’s name triggered something, the cat immediately scurried into Damian’s arms.

“Good,” Damian sighed with relief as he held the ball of fluff closely to his chest. The cat was shivering a bit as he clasped onto Damian tightly.

Damian pulled his cape over the cat in an attempt to shield it from the smoke before he stood up and began to rush towards the nearest window.

“Shit!” He cursed when he ran up and realized it was much too small for him to fit through. He then decided to double back towards the staircase he first entered in through, but by then it was already engulfed in flames.

‘This is not good.’

Damian looked frantically up and down the hall. He then noticed another exit on the opposite side of the floor and raced towards it. He pushed and pulled on the door, but it was shut tight. Finally he kicked the door with all his strength causing it to fly off its hinges.

Damian’s eyes grew large when he realized his mistake too late. A large amount of flames had already reached this exit as well, and his sudden forceful entry allowed just enough oxygen to pour into the area.

The backdraft sent Damian flying, but his hold on the crying cat never loosened as he skillfully did a no hand tumble back towards the ground. He then surveyed what was left of the hall, the walls now crumbling down and the fire pouring in every direction. That was when part of the roof suddenly collapsed onto the boy.

Damian dodged the brunt of wreckage, but was immediately caught under some debris, his mask getting knocked off his face in the process.

Now the Robin was coughing and gasping for clean air as he covered his face with his cape and tried desperately to crawl out of the rubble.

At this point his head was dizzy and going light, and eventually he started to loose strength as he gagged on the smoke.

Is this really how it will end?’

The area started to get darker as more of the roof piled over him, and his eyes steadily began to close.

“I…please…” Damian murmured lowly, before his voice started to fade. “Cla…”

“Robin, are you alright?!”A voice shouted from somewhere far away.

The boy’s eyes fluttered open as he slowly regained a hazy sense of consciousness.

“Wha, what happened?” Damian questioned his voice coming out muffled. He then blinked when he realized it was because he now had an oxygen mask covering his face.

The pair of blue eyes which looked to be on the verge of tears brightened up and Damian felt himself being embraced tightly.

“You’re awake!”

Damian crinkled his nose, and tried to break free from the hug, but eventually gave up and accepted it.

“I heard about the fire, and came to help. I didn’t realize you were already here until I heard you call out to me,” Clark continued to explain. “Thank goodness I made it in time. I was afraid I lost you.”

Damian suddenly snapped out of Clark’s hold and ripped the mask off his face before coughing a bit and growling out. “Wouldn’t that be a good thing?”

“What?”

“If I’m out of the picture, you wouldn’t have to waste your efforts on me in order to please my father!”

Clark looked completely at a loss. “No, it’s not-”

“Don’t lie to me!” Damian quickly snapped. “If you want me to trust you so badly, don’t lie to me.”

Clark closed his mouth and lowered his head as Damian continued to chastise him.

“Admit it, if not for my father you wouldn’t have even given me the time of day.”

“I…” Clark swallowed on his words, before lifting his head and looking back at Damian sincerely. “Yes, that part is true…but-”

Damian threw his hand up in a swift effort to interrupt the desperate looking hero.

“Listen Superman, if you want to know what I determined from my observations, I will share them with you.”

Clark pierced his lips together and waited patiently.

“I have concluded you are a powerful dangerous force to be reckoned with. Despite your simple front, you are much more clever and resourceful than I first thought. However…”

Damian’s voice lowered and all of the venom was gone from his words.

“I do not consider you someone who is a threat to me or anyone else in my family. The feelings you have for my father are too great and much of your life revolves around him.”

Damian’s face now looked a little bit sad.

“You also care very much for this planet, and you have more conviction for your actions then any of the underserving humans you protect.”

The boy sighed lowly, before lifting his face to meet Clark.

“So, with that being said, you no longer have to worry about winning my approval. You have already more than earned everyone’s trust. I will not stand in your way.”

“Damian…” Clark murmured softly, his eyes a bit glossed over.

Damian immediately turned his back to the man, his eyes stinging a bit, though if anyone asked he would most certainly say it was because of the smoke.

“With these conclusions, my observation of you is now complete. So please, do not waste my time any further.”

The moment Damian heard Clark stand up, he took off running, his grappler already in hand. He was then suddenly blindsided as someone grabbed him around the waist and shouted.

“THANK YOU ROBIN!”

Damian was blinking back at the girl wildly, a few tears escaping his eyes, but he was surprised to see the girl had even more covering her own face. What on earth was she crying about now?

“You saved my friend Robin! You’re the BEST!” the girl declared as she squeezed him tighter, the frantically mewing cat in her other arm yowling up at him as well. She then kissed the boy on the cheek before finally releasing him and smiling widely.

“I…” Damian’s face was now hot. “You are welcome…” he muttered lowly. He then turned around to leave, but not before looking over her. The fire from the building was already long since out and covered in ice which was undoubtedly a product of Superman’s Artic breath, but the hero himself was already far from gone.

***********************Two Days Later************************

“Clark, I wasn’t expecting to see you here today.”

The reporter froze in his tracks as the voice of the person he was trying to avoid at the moment was suddenly in his ear.

Clark slowly turned around, an uneasy smile now on his face. “I, well, I need to talk to Damian,” Clark replied tensely. It was pointless to lie.

Bruce raised a brow, the corner of his mouth slightly curving. “Really now?” he cocked his head up and hummed. “How unusual.”

“Well, yeah, you know…” Clark shrugged while avoiding eye contact.

“I do?”

“Don’t you?”

The two men stared at each other in silence, Clark looking completely confused while Bruce stared at him blankly.

Eventually Bruce lowered his gaze and spoke. “So Damian was missing for a few weeks.”

Once again Clark guiltily averted his eyes. “Is that so…I bet you were worried.”

Bruce shook his head before tilting it so he was staring at Clark through the corner of his eye and smirking. “Not particularly. I trusted he was in good hands, and that he’d be back and mostly in one piece.”

Clark’s face paled as he quickly looked back at Bruce in a panic. “Bruce, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for him to get hurt.”

Bruce raised a hand up and nodded reassuringly. “Clark, relax. It’s fine. He’s come back with Dick in far worst shape before. I just hope he wasn’t too much of a handful for you.”

Clark’s face relaxed as his mouth and eyes smiled back. “Well, for the most part, no. He’s actually a really special kid, and I like him. He's a wonderful partner.”

Bruce’s own features softened. “So, do you think Damian still dislikes you?”

Clark’s expression dropped and turned sad. “Probably now more than ever.”

“Does he now?”

“Doesn’t he?”

Once again the room went quiet as Clark stared at Bruce with confusion and the man smiled back at him with an innocent empty look.

Eventually Clark was frowning at Bruce, his patience finally lost. “Bruce, where is Damian?” Clark questioned flatly.

“Actually, I’m not sure,” Bruce answered honestly. He then smiled at Clark strangely while tapping his own chest suggestively a few times. “Though I’m certain someone with your abilities could probably find him quicker than me.”

Clark let out a sound of frustration before walking away and grunting. “Thanks for nothing, Bruce.”

“Anytime,” the man smiled back.

******************************************************

When Clark finally found the boy, he was sitting at the dining room table slouched in his seat with a hood covering his head, earbuds snug in place, a piece of toast hanging out of his mouth, and a book in his face.

“Hey,” Clark smiled weakly as he waved a hand out from over the book.

Damian’s eyes widened before they quickly shrank back to a beady size, and he pulled the book even further up so it was blocking Clark completely.

“What do you want?” Damian grumbled, not even bothering to make further eye contact.

“Mind if I have a seat?”

Damian shrugged in response, internally cursing at himself for doing so. Now it was obvious that despite his earphones, the boy could hear the man.

Rather than sit across from him, Clark sat beside the boy and looked outside the window as he spoke.

“Damian, I want to apologize to you. You were right. When I originally decided I wanted to become your friend, it wasn’t necessarily for your sake. I just…I know you might not think it, but you are very important to Bruce. Sometimes it doesn’t show well, but I can tell that you are. So, I guess I wanted you to like me for my own selfish reasons. I wanted someone so special to Bruce to like me because I thought it would help me get even closer to him.”

Damian burrowed even further into his chair and snorted. Clark smiled faintly and continued to speak.

“However, now that I finally gotten to know you better, the way I look at you is completely different. You are a very special kid, and it’s not just because you are Bruce’s son. In a lot of ways, I think you and I actually have more in common. The way you think isn’t so black and white, and I can respect that on so many levels.”

A soft sound sigh escaped Clark’s lips and his face turned even more impassioned.

“You’re still young, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. That just means you have a lot of room left for growth. You are so much further in life than I ever was at your age. I can already tell you will surpass your father by leaps and bounds, and I know Bruce feels the same way. That is why he is so hard on you. Just like any father, he wants you to be better than him.”

Damian was now looking at Clark through the corner of his eye, trying his best to seem disinterested, which at the moment was a hard thing to do once he realized Clark had a smile on his face he’d never seen before.

“You have so much to offer this world that none of us can even bring to the table. It’s no wonder everyone around here cares and loves you so much. I really look forward to seeing what you will do.”

Damian quickly averted his gaze and buried his face in his book, his cheeks now burning as Clark finally looked directly at him. The man now had a slight blush across his own face and a sheepish look in his eyes.

“In any case, I know this will have no bearing on my relationship with Bruce, and you aren’t interested in my friendship, but I am very much interested in yours. For now, I guess I can just settle with just being allies, but I hope one day we can be more.”

Damian was holding his breath as he continued to watch the nervous looking Clark from his peripherals.

“I know there is a lot I can gain if I can keep in company with you. You are someone I am very proud to call my ally, and I look forward to the day I can eventually call you my friend.”

Clark was now offering the boy his hand. After a moment of silence, and Clark’s patient gesture never faltering, Damian finally set his book down, removed his earphones, and looked calmly at the hand before staring back at Clark. Although his smile seemed a bit anxious and a little shy, his eyes were bright and hopeful.

“I…” Damian trailed, his ears feeling as hot as his face. “fine then,” he mumbled as he took the hand but continued to avert his gaze. “If that is what you desire, then by all means, I won’t get in your way.”
Clark’s face was now lit up as he enthusiastically shook Damian’s hand.

Damian lowered his face further, his chest tightening as he lowly stumbled. “I look forward to working with you further as well…Ke…Claarr…k...”

Damian’s entire body went hot and his heart was beating at an uncontrollable speed when he saw Clark’s unimaginably wide grin and large joyous eyes. It was almost enough to make the boy smile when he realized it was his words alone that had left the man in such an elated state.

“Are my ears playing tricks on me? Did you just call Clark by his first name?” A voice so smug it was basically laughing exclaimed.

Damian’s face paled as he immediately recognized the obnoxious person standing behind him.

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Damian blurted, the blood rushing back to his cheeks. He then glared at Dick who was grinning back at him, and replied in a voice that had absolutely no volume control. “My tongue merely slipped. I must still be tired due to my illness and recovery!”

Damian quickly flicked his hand out of Clark’s hold and frowned. “See you around, Kent!”

Clark’s face crumpled but his smile still remained as he watched Damian storm out of the room.

“Ah, too bad. I thought maybe we finally moved up a level,” Clark silently pouted.

Damian scowled furiously at Dick who was standing in the doorway, causing the older hero to throw his hands in the air and move out of his way.

It was at that moment Bruce and Alfred started to come down the hall towards the commotion, both men looking a bit confused.

“Father,” Damian snapped as he stood right in Bruce’s way, swelled up his chest, and stood as tall as he could get.

“Damian?”

The younger Wayne’s face was beet red, but his eyes were firm and his brow and features were tight. “You have won this round, for now, but rest assure, one day I will bring someone home who is even greater. I will surpass you.”

Bruce looked at Dick who was shrugging his shoulders innocently and then back at his son. “Okay…”

Damian’s mouth formed into a superior smirk before he snorted , whipped around, and blustered off in the opposite direction, Bruce watching his entire departure with an baffled expression.

By then the Wayne butler was approaching Dick who was holding his hand over his mouth and silently laughing into it while he watched the entire scene.

“Geez, Alfred, I don’t know how Clark keeps doing it, that lucky SOB,” Dick finally managed to chuckle out. “I guess they’re going to have to add a new ability to Superman’s trading card set.”

Alfred raised a brow to Dick and replied. “Oh, and what might that new ability be, Master Richard?”

Dick let out one last snicker before wiping a stray tear and smiling. “Wayne charmer.”

The End!

Lol, this fic inspired me again: I had to do it