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Dating a man like Bruce had given Clark more than a few premature grey hairs.
He had made the mistake of telling Bruce that he’d rescue him at any time, all he had to do was call for Superman, and Bruce seemed to take that as permission to do some frankly ridiculous stunts.
Like jumping out of a helicopter that had caught fire.
Clark didn’t even know Bruce had a helicopter until he was falling to his death, though it shouldn’t have surprised him.
What mattered was that he heard that familiar voice calling for Superman, and seconds later, and he was flying to Gotham. It was lucky he was as fast as he was.
Or maybe he was lucky Bruce had so far to fall before he hit the ground.
Neither thought was comforting.
He managed to catch Bruce mid-air literally at the last instant. As Superman dragged Bruce up into the sky, the helicopter crashed into a warehouse. Thankfully, Superman didn’t hear any voices in the warehouse, so he knew it was empty.
“What on Earth possessed you to do that?” Superman asked, clutching Bruce close as he flew him to the top of a nearby building.
“Helicopter was on fire.”
“… and you had to jump out?”
“... yes?”
“Weren’t there any other options?” Superman exclaimed. Maybe he was being unreasonable, but he was still so shocked by the entire situation.
“The helicopter was on fire,” Bruce repeated. “You could have caught it, but I still would have been inside a blazing box of metal. It was safer to jump out, let the helicopter crash, and trust you to catch me.”
Superman pulled a face. “That helicopter must have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
“It did,” Bruce said calmly. “Even so, you can’t put a price on someone’s life.”
Gotham was practically the capital of trying to, but Superman agreed .
“I can always buy another helicopter,” Bruce added.
“Yeah, and the warehouse it crashed into?”
“Another of the Penguin’s bases. He’ll survive physically, and I’m sure the financial costs will be a drop in his buckets. Maybe this time, he’ll rebuild it to be a little safer for his… employees.”
“... Bruce, did you crash your helicopter into that warehouse deliberately?”
“It was already going down, thanks to an EMP,” Bruce answered. “I simply… directed it to a place where the damage it caused would be minimal. I knew there wouldn’t be anyone in that warehouse. Don’t tell me you’re feeling sympathetic towards the Penguin?”
“I suppose not,” Superman conceded. “If you aren’t hurt, I have to leave. I’ve got things to tend to.”
“Of course,” Bruce said. “I wouldn’t want to take up any more of your precious time, Superman.”
As Clark turned to leave, Bruce put a hand to his shoulder. “Wait, there’s one more thing…”
“What?”
“You make a good parachute, Kal,” Bruce said, a little smile on his face. “Thank you for catching me.”
“I’ll always catch you, Bruce.”
It was a promise that meant a lot to both of them.