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They got the call early in the morning on a sunday. Bruce was just getting ready to call it a night, or morning, whatever you want to call it, when his phone started to go off. A warning he hadn’t heard in months but the sound would always be haunting. It meant nothing but trouble.
He was out of his seat immediately, already making his way back to the cave to put his suit back on and see what they were dealing with. He gave a nod towards Dick and Tim as they joined him just as quickly, Dick rubbing sleep from his eyes while Tim had a thermos of coffee in his hands, offering it towards Bruce.
The rest of his kids had been out of the manor for the night, they would likely be seeing each other soon enough anyways.
The alarms went off again. They wouldn’t stop for another 30 minutes, just to be sure every hero had heard and responded to it. Bruce wanted to tell his kids to go to bed, stay the hell away from this, but he knew it would be useless. Knew that he could fight tooth and nail but at the end of the day this was an all hands on deck situation and his kids were adults.
They separated when they got to the cave, Dick and Tim heading over to the locker rooms to change as Bruce bee lined it to the Bat computer. It wasn’t hard to find out what was happening, it was all over the news already.
Apparently something large had suddenly hit earth, landing in the deserts. Civilians who lived nearby were the first ones on site, reporting the accident and ignoring the police who recommended they stayed away. They went poking where they shouldn’t have, and were reported dead a few minutes ago. Reports of strange things flooded in soon after.
“I have Wally on comms,” Dick was talking as he entered the room. “Him, Flash, and Impulse are already on scene and investigating. Everyone else who got the alert has responded and is on the way. If we leave now we may even beat Arrow this time.”
“Hn. I’ll be back in five minutes.” Bruce pulled himself away from the computer. “Prepare yourselves for the worst today. We don’t know what we will be walking into here.” Bruce was walking away before Dick could answer. They had no time to waste.
Dick pulled Tim with him towards the zeta tubes. “Turn your comms on and talk with Babs. I want her to link up everyone's comms, we need to keep all channels open and everyone needs to keep all of us updated on anything new.” He talked as he walked, too busy with setting the coordinates for the zeta tube to talk with Barbara himself, there was no time to try and do both.
Bruce was back just as Tim finished talking with Barbara, voices filtering into their ears. It was mainly Barry and Wally keeping everyone updated, but some others confirmed when they were on site.
“Ready?” He looked at both Dick and Tim. When they both nodded they turned to leave.
They appeared in the desert in seconds. Clark standing next to where they showed up, obviously having been waiting. The sky was covered in large grey clouds, blocking the sunlight. They looked artificial, out of place in the once clear blue sky. They stood on a small hill, looking down at a large object and the other heroes. There were small fights going around so Dick and Tim left to go help.
“Care to give me a run down on what we are looking at?” Bruce asked, joining beside his coworker.
“So far the entire Justice League and our kids have made it. A few others have also shown up to help. We have run into some aliens but nothing that is too much trouble yet. I can confidently say this isn’t the worst of it.”
“Well what are we waiting for?” Bruce started towards the others.
“Be careful out there!” Clark called after him watching as Bruce left before taking off towards the sky.
-
They were three hours into the worst battle any of them have fought in a long time. Several more spaceships crashed close by, each carrying more and more aliens. They were all getting tired and injuries were getting worse as the battle continued, thankfully everyone was still capable of fighting.
-
Another hour and what they assumed to be the leader touched down. All the speedsters were now running around to offer support and medical attention to those who needed it so they could continue fighting.
-
“Superman is down! Does anyone see him?!”
“There is too much sand being kicked up to see much and no sunlight!”
“I saw him fall through the sky to the west of me! I think he was clear of any battles, so he should be fine.”
Bruce's heart pounded in his ears. His hair was plastered to his forehead from the sweat and he could hardly stop long enough to get a breath. It wasn’t everyday that someone was able to shoot Clark out of the sky. Worry squeezed at his chest, making it even harder for him to breathe but he couldn’t just abandon everyone right now.
-
The fight finished ten minutes after Clark was reported to have gone down.
Everything seemed to freeze, no one moving. The adrenaline was enough to keep them all standing still.
Bruce was the first one to move. He turned towards where Clark fell, running despite his lack of energy. He was next to Clark's body in seconds, falling to his knees in the bloody sand. God there was so much blood, too much. There shouldn't be this much.
Everyone crowded around, some of them getting into Bruce's space to try and help.
Clark should be healing already. So why was he unconscious? Where was the sun? He needed the sun. Maybe they could get him back to the cave and under artificial sunlight. Would I be wise to move him? What was Bruce supposed to do? He was still bleeding! Stop it. He needed to stop the bleeding.
Bruce grabbed out what little bandage he had left and pressed it up to the large wound on Clarks side. It didn’t do much but it was better than nothing. He couldn’t even think right now, emotions clouding his judgment and his thoughts moving so quickly his head was spinning.
Everyone froze when they noticed how Clark's chest was no longer moving up and down. No one dared to move, or even breath. It was like the world had stopped, shrinking down to the moment, nothing else seemed to matter.
It was a scream that pulled them all back to reality. The scream ripped itself from Bruce's throat, raw with pain. No one had ever heard the man make a sound like that. It was so animal-like, dragged up from the depths of his soul and leaving a wreck in its wake.
He was pleading. Begging for Clark to wake up, for him to be okay. Quiet broken sobs fell from his lips with the occasional gut wrenching scream. Bruce desperately pushed against Clarks chest, trying to start his heart again. Eyes wide open and frantic and so hopelessly useless. His words got choked up on sobs as he ignored everything but his dead, dying, friend.
Tears were running down Steph and Dicks faces, Damian and Duke looked close to crying themselves. Tim, Jason, and Cass seemed to be the only ones holding themselves together, but their shaking forms were enough to tell they were holding back their emotions. None of them have seen their father like this, so broken, ruined, desperate.
Bruce never panicked, or acted like this. It was enough to shake the Justice league to their cores. If Bruce was this wrecked then that meant this was over. The one person who they all looked to when nothing else worked no longer had the answers they were searching for.
Dick reached out to grab Damian and Jason, the two closest, offering and taking comfort. Both boys grab their older brother back in bone crushing grips. Kon was holding onto Tim, arms wrapped around even if it seemed like he didn’t need it, Kon knew he was going to break sooner or later and wanted to comfort himself as he looked at his mentor lying lifeless on the ground. Roy had his hand placed on Jason's shoulder, squeezing it and whispering something to him. Wally was standing next to Dick, ready to comfort him should he need more than his brothers. Jon had one of Damians hands squeezed in his own, looking at his dad with tear filled eyes, disbelief hidden under the pain.
Cass, Steph, and Duke all stood frozen. None of them felt like they could move, everything was suffocating at the moment. The rest of the justice league just as frozen.
Bruce continued to wail at Clarks said as he continued to do CPR. His throat felt dry and each scream only made it hurt more, voice growing horse.
“Come on Clark! Please! Please don’t leave me, you can’t leave me. I still need you! Please! I can’t do this without you. I can’t- I can’t- Please, no, no no no, please, I don’t- I can’t deal with another death! Not yours! Please not you!” Bruce cried.
For what felt like hours, days even everyone just watched, no one wanting to tell Bruce it was probably useless and not knowing how to help. What they failed to notice was how the clouds had begun to part, leaving a few rays of sunlight to poke through.
Clark slowly started to shift. The bleeding had completely stopped and the skin even started to stitch itself back together. His heart was beating again. Bruce's pleas died on his tongue when he heard Clark take in a sharp breath. He threw himself against Clarks chest, strong arms wrapping around the kryptonian. Bruce had his ear pressed against the other's chest wanting to hear his heart beating, slowly calming himself down.
Bruce only lifted his head when he felt Clarks fingers rake through his dirty and damp hair. Fingers itching at his scalpe in a soothing way. Clark is already staring at him when their eyes meet, a small, if not pained, smile on his face. Of course he was trying to comfort Bruce when he was the one who was dead a few seconds ago.
Bruce didn’t care if everyone was watching, if they were going to see what he was about to do next. All he knew was that he loved Clark and almost lost him today. He leaned in closers, chapped lips meeting equally chapped lips. The kiss was soft, saying everything that Bruce couldn’t form the words for.
When they pulled away Bruce didn’t look away from clark. It was like if he looked away it would no longer be real, that Clark would be back to dying in his arms. “Never again.” He pleaded, a raging storm of emotions in his eyes.
“Never again.” Clark promised as he pulled his gaze away from Bruces to look around.
Everyone was looking at them. Some with amused grins and knowing smirks, others were still dealing with the emotions from what happened to find any mirth in the situation in front of them. When things calmed down farther and they all went home Barry and Oliver would slide some money over to Hal when they met up for drinks, and Jason would slip a 20 over to Tim when they were back in the cave.
“Mind helping me up?” Clark asked Bruce when the man didn’t move at all, just clinging to him.
Bruce nodded, standing up and pulling Clark with him, making sure to grab his discarded cowl, not knowing when he had even removed it. Clark was still a bit weak and needed support to stand, but he should be completely fine. Despite that Bruce still wanted to check over him-
“I am taking Clark to the med bey. I trust you all can clean up here.”
There were a few injuries that warranted an immediate visit to med bay too, however, most of the superheroes present only had a few minor cuts and scrapes and were just tired. He knew anyone needing to head back would be mindful enough to at least give the two privacy. So he left without saying anything else.
No one moved after the two had gone. Everyone shared equally confused looks and silently asked if anyone knew about the two obviously dating. Some had suspected it, but it wasn’t until now that it was confirmed.
-
Clark had found himself in one of Bruce's many living rooms, laying on a couch. The man in question had refused to let him out of his sight, and Clark would admit to also not wanting to leave Bruce’s side. Both of them had experienced something they never thought they would.
He had heard the others returning a few hours after he got there, his kids along with Bruces taking care of injuries, showers, and eating. Some of them had poked their heads into the room but upon seeing the sleeping Bruce on his chest they left quietly.
Gently he ran his hands through Bruce's now clean hair. The man shifted under him before his eyes opened, relief flooding them at seeing Clark. Bruce had always been a light sleeper, even the slowest of movements woke him.
“Hi,” Clark mumbled. “The kids all made it back safely.”
At the confirmation that his family was safe Bruce melted farther into Clark.
“How are you?” Bruce asked after some silence passed between them.
“I am doing fine now. I think I’m completely healed, and have all my energy back.”
“Good- I was scared.” Bruce's words shocked Clark, he rarely admitted stuff like that. His arms tightened around his boyfriend, pulling him closer and kissing him.
“I’m not going anywhere.” He promised for what was probably the hundredth time.
Bruce smiled at Clark, nuzzling his face into the man's neck, finding comfort in his warmth and smell. If it was up to him they would never move again, he would keep Clark right un Iderneath him where he would be safe forever.
Too bad it wasn’t up to him, but he could at least have this for a couple hours.