Chapter Text
Clark breathed in a sigh, looking up at the large Luthorcorp building stretching into the sky above him. It wasn’t the height or the unnecessary grandeur that bothered him, but the evil exuding from its sleek exterior. Pushing up his glasses and moving with just the right amount of clumsiness, Clark entered the building, only slightly dreading his new job.
When he had learned that Wayne Enterprises and Luthorcorp were entering a partnership, Clark had been determined to discover what they were scheming. He finally decided to take advantage of Luthorcorp’s strange interest in him and go undercover. He wished Lois or even Jimmy could have done the job, but that would be too selfish of him. Putting them in danger just because he had trouble acting? Still, he wouldn’t be surprised if his little operation got exposed within a few hours.
A few hours later, he was called up from his initiation straight to the cult leader’s office.
‘Shit’
Feeling more nervous than he would be being burned alive, Clark stood in the elevator, the Ding announcing his entry into hell. In the brightly lit office were two people: Luthor behind his desk and across from him a dark-clothed figure standing tall and alert.
The other man turned to look at Clark, his dark hair falling straight over his harsh gaze. With a start, Clark realized that the man was Bruce Wayne. The mysterious billionaire from Gotham, Clark, had always heard conflicting things about the man. He felt his curiosity sparking being in the same room as the much-talked about star. Clark hurried forwards, smiling at the two billionaires in front of him, thinking ‘scum’, a thought that was unfair to Bruce, the man was only probably scum, unlike the entirely evil, awful, good-for-nothing, rich loser Lex Luthor.
“I didn’t expect to encounter two of the wealthiest people in the world on my first day! My lucky day.” Clark said honestly.
Luthor grinned back at him, his work smile was something Clark had never seen as Superman. He had only been graced with gloating smirks and infuriated rage.
‘Hmm he looks unnatural like this.’
“Well, I wanted to show you off.”
Clark blinked, pointed at himself, and tilted his head slightly. “Me?”
Gesturing towards Bruce Wayne, Luthor's stupid grin remained plastered to his face. “You’re proof that we can win against Superman…that Thing, even his favorite reporter has seen the light.”
Inwardly prickling Clark felt his expression faltering, ‘so this is the real reason they hired me.’
Bruce Wayne’s cold gaze met Clark’s. The man had a raspy voice and talked slowly as if each word was a gift to an undeserving audience. “You’re the reporter who was always interviewing Superman? Why switch sides now?”
“Oh! Well, Superman, he um he’s a great guy but you know it’s scary how much power the guy has, I just felt scared, I suppose.” The words came out awkwardly, as Clark was simply saying the kinds of things people liked to believe about him. He felt bad, since he understood why people would be afraid of him, but it was so silly to think of himself that way…totally self-defeating to give in like that. Even if you had a thought like that, the best thing to do was to push it away and focus on doing the right thing!
Wayne’s gaze sharpened, while Luthor clapped excitedly. “Exactly! That evil alien, I knew he must have been pressuring you or something. Well, he wouldn’t do that, but he’d get under your skin completely, controlling and manipulating you before you even knew and–” Luthor stopped for a moment, his glee turning into rage the longer he thought about Superman. “That, that monster, how vile, ugh, how depraved, oh I just–” he continued, but Clark ignored him, focusing on the other billionaire in the room. One who apparently shared Luthor’s sentiments about Superman. So he was just another evil maniac with too much money, what a waste of a pretty face.
Bruce Wayne was a man surrounded by rumors, but Clark had always been perplexed by their range. There were, of course, a variety of debauched stories about the man, but just as many that implied the opposite. Most of the rumours said that Wayne was a cold man without morals, but a distinct amount described him as an awkward person without the tact for high society. Even after meeting him Clark wasn’t sure which was true. At the very least, he was more pleasant company than Luthor.
Though, he supposed that Wayne was just another man who abused his power. He wondered if Batman and him had a similar rivalry to him and Luthor. Thinking of that Clark felt a real smile twist his lips. ‘I should write that down, it could be a good icebreaker,’ he thought wistfully as Luthor's rant grew violent.
Hearing all the things he wanted to do to Superman, Wayne held up a hand and frowned, “That’s enough, Luthor. I don’t have time for your fantasies.” He turned his attention back to Clark, “Mr. Kent, as an insider into Superman, we’ll be relying on your expertise. I trust that you won’t let your past career interfere with the project?”
A nervous sweat starting to trouble him, Clark shook his head frantically, “Of course not, Mr. Wayne! I just want to help the project.” His project being the destruction of Luthor…
Wayne stared at him for half a second before a small smile appeared on his face in return. It was honestly barely a smile, but it contained more warmth than Clark had expected.
“A smile like that could save the world, Mr. Wayne,” Clark said absentmindedly, wondering how such a somber person could possess such an expression. He supposed that was human nature; the sun would always follow the rain after all.
Maybe even Lex had a pure smile within him, deep down, like really far.
Luthor regained some of his composure, readjusting his collar and staring down at Clark with his usual self-satisfaction, “Never mind smiles, we should discuss our next step. Clark, you should publicly denounce Superman and declare how you’ve switched to my side.”
‘Your side?’ feeling a rush of annoyance, Clark forced himself to stay in character. “Ah, of course, Mr. Luthor, but…I would rather help the project from behind the scenes first. I, of course, fully believe in what you’re doing here, but for my story to be convincing, don’t you um think I should spend some more time learning about exactly what’s going on here?”
Luthor looked dissatisfied but shrugged, “Very well, as long as you give us all the information you have about Superman. I want to know every single detail, every single word, every single moment the two of you shared.”
Clark wanted to laugh, but instead, anxiously nodded, trying to appear as if pleasing the two men in front of him was all that mattered to him.
*
Later that night, after Superman stopped a mugging, he noticed a dark figure on the roof of a building, someone was observing him. Getting closer, Clark realized it was Batman who had been observing him. A rush of emotions flooded him, primarily excitement. It had been a few weeks since the last time he had seen the Vigilante, but Clark had been thinking about the other man nonstop.
He desperately wanted to get closer to Batman, the hero of Gotham, a strange and special individual who Clark had been instantly drawn towards. Everything about the hero was so strange, so contradictory, and so enchanting. Landing on the roof as gently as he could, Superman brightly called out to the masked man. “Batman! Are you here to visit me?”
The dark figure shook his head, saying flatly, “no.”
“Oh gee, well, a man can hope, can’t he? Then what brings you to Metropolis this fine evening?”
“That’s my business.”
“Right…sorry to pry, but I am the defender of the city, so it’s sorta my job. You always question me when I’m in Gotham so I just thought…not that I’m saying you can’t visit Metropolis!”
Batman said nothing.
Even through his cold demeanor, Clark knew how big of a heart the man had. He felt his cheeks heating as he stared at the other man’s perfect physique. He felt tempted to pat Batman on the shoulder, but he felt like Batman would react the same way as a stray cat. Noticing the way Superman was looking at him, Batman flinched.
“Scared of big old Superman, mister Bat? I won’t bite, even if you’re in my city now.”
Batman took a step back. “Don’t be so proud of yourself. Underestimate me and you’ll regret it.”
Beaming in response, Superman matched Batman’s step backward with his own movement forward, bending his head down to be eye-level with Batman, even though he couldn’t really make out his eyes. “You should focus more on looking out for yourself,” he warned, making Superman hope that maybe, just maybe, the other man was concerned for him? He wasn’t sure what to say, but Clark knew he couldn’t miss a chance to get closer.
“Would you like a tour of the city?” Clark asked, hoping desperately that the man would say yes, even though he knew he would never in a million years say such a thing.
“Would you…give me a tour of the city, Mr Kent?” The question cut through Clark’s gnawing thoughts from last night’s interaction with his crush. Clark looked down into the cold blue eyes of Bruce Wayne, who was lightly holding onto the edge of his sleeve.
He had come into Luthorcorp once again, writing out an extensive list for Lex containing all kinds of seemingly useless information about Superman that Clark had lied about anyway. At his lunch break, he had decided to leave the dreadful building only to run into Wayne.
“Ah, sure, but I don’t know how great of a guide I’ll be, well I know a good sandwich place, I suppose.” Clark trailed off, unsure how to read the expression on Wayne’s face. He could have been offended or overjoyed, he really couldn’t tell. Though it was probably just another part of his plan to use Clark to find out Superman’s weaknesses.
Wayne nodded, that small smile appearing again. Clark wouldn’t realize for a long time how rare that smile was.