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“Batman!” The whole world seemed to fall apart as Clark could do nothing but watch his best friend fall from the sky, bleeding and unconscious. “Diana! Your two o’clock!” It was all he could do as the kryptonite chains tightened around him. Clark let loose a scream to the heavens as the chains cut through his skin and he watched Bruce’s limp body jerk painfully, falling uncomfortably into Diana's grip.
Clark exhaled as a great wave of relief washed over his whole being.
Batman was going to be ok.
Bruce was ok.
The sharp pain coursing throughout his body brought his mind back to the situation at hand, the chains currently constricting him to death.
“Flash! Diana!” he yelled, trying to gain back control of the situation. “I want you to tie up the big alien! And make sure he doesn’t make it to the city!” The sand and ocean waves bore scars of their battle and more aliens made their way from the ocean tides. They, themselves, were like a tsunami of death. “Aquaman! Green Lantern! Stop the armies progressing! No lethal unless necessary!”
Goodness, Clark hoped they could wrap this up quickly. Whatever had hit Batman must have packed a punch if it was enough to knock the caped crusader out.
Clark struggled, only forcing the chains to dig deeper. He winced through his teeth, more skin giving way.
“Stop struggling, idiot.” A gruff voice sounded behind Clark, startling him.
“B?!”
“This is not a ‘guess who’ game, Kal.” Bruce grunted, pulling out a laser cutter and starting on the chain links. “Let’s just end this quickly.”
“But you’re hurt!” Clark exclaimed, straining his neck to try to get a glance at the man behind him.
A small amused grunt sounded behind him, “not nearly as bad as you. Plus, I’ve been through worse.”
Clark’s face darkened. “Okay, first of all, that is not any reassurance, and secondly, I will heal pretty much the moment I get out of these chains. You will not.” He could feel the chains slowly getting looser.
They fell into an awkward but soft silence. Well, silent except for the raging battle with explosions and yelling happening behind them.
Finally, a breath of fresh air flowed through Clark as the chains slipped free. He staggered forwards before swiveling onto Bruce in a clumsy manner.
“B! Are you ok!?” Clark exclaimed, grasping onto the man before him as if he was too good to be real. The typical Batman grunt was given in response. Clark prided himself in being fairly Bat-grunt fluent and that one was one of pain, but an attempt to cover it up.
Clark's face softened before turning his gaze back to the fray.
“Superman! Are you free yet?! We could really use your help here!” Green Lantern's voice boomed towards them as he worked to fend off the ever growing hoard of aliens rising from the sea. They had almost been pushed back to the city streets but were holding on just barely.
“Be right there!” He yelled back. “Right, almost forgot. The whole alien invasion.” Clark chuckled before turning back to a pained Bruce gripping the side of his waist. “Let me take a quick look at that, make sure you aren't bleeding out or anything.”
“Kal…” Bruce growled, his name poisonous on his tongue.
“Please, let me B.” Clark pleaded, eyes shining with concern and fear. He would never invade Bruce's privacy like that without his permission. Bruce knew that, so he relucted, glancing away after giving a slight nod. And if Clark didn’t know better, he could have sworn there was a tint of blossoming pink under that dark cowl.
Now with permission, Clark was quick to use his X-ray vision, checking each level for any alarming damage. No broken bones, damaged muscle, and burnt flesh. A laser than. It didn’t get deep luckily and Clark sighed in relief. His vision scanned just under the armored suit for any other injuries. None that he could see, good, they should heal within due tim– Clark’s train of thought was cut abruptly as his gaze traveled a bit too low, glancing a bit of unexpected color.
Blue and red.
Bright blue and red.
With gold…
Clark’s eyes widened as Bruce’s face darkened in red.
“SO YOU ARE A FAN!”
“Kal,” He warned in a deep glare, bringing the flabbergasted alien back to the present. “Alien invasion. Focus.”
Clark was quick to look away, hoping the red creeping on his face could be chalked up to an effect from the kryptonite.
“Right,” he cleared his throat, “be back, don't irritate your wound." and Clark sped off, leaving behind a deep red faced Bruce behind.
***
“LOIS! YOU”LL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT I JUST DISCOVERED!” Clark exclaimed as he burst through the door, still ragged from the battle.
“Let me guess,” she started calmly, used to the super’s ‘enthusiasm’, “that you’re hopelessly in love with a billionaire who cosplays as a bat at night?”
Clark skidded to a stop, stuttering before speaking, “W-what!? No! I-it’s not– we don’t see each other that– we’re just friends–” He stammered. All he received in return was a skeptical, “uh-huh.”
“I found out that Batman really does like Superman!” He exclaimed, elated to the news.
“Oh? And how did you find this out? Aside from all his obvious pinning and ‘this man is the most perfect man ever created’ looks?” Lois asked, not even sparing a glance to the Kryptonian as she took a sip of her coffee and read the news article he had just finished earlier that morning.
“Get this! He was wearing Superman underwear!”
Coffee soaked her paper as it flew out of her mouth in sudden surprise. She coughed, trying to recompose herself before turning to finally meet Clark's gaze.
“Well congrats Clark, I didn’t know you made it past clothing with him yet.” She said, mildly surprised but also proud.
Clark’s face went scarlet. “W-what!? NO I WAS JUST CHECKING FOR INJURIES! NOTHING LIKE THAT LOIS!” He exclaimed, hiding his burning face in his hands.
“Not yet at least.” She muttered into her mostly empty cup.
Clark opened his mouth to further explain but was cut short as his son, Jon flew through the window and skidded to a stop in front of the two.
“GUYS! YOU’LL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT I JUST FOUND OUT!” Jon exclaimed, his face beaming.
They both looked at Jon with expressions of confusion and surprise.
“I’M ON DAMIAN’S BOXERS! HE’S A SUPERBOY FAN!”
There was a thick beat of silence.
Then Lois burst out laughing as Clark exclaimed, “WHAT!?”
“Like father, like son!” Lois cackled, clutching her stomach.
And as the chaos finally started to settle, Conner rounded the corner into the kitchen.
“What’s going on here?” He asked, taking in the scene before him.
“How about you Conner? Does your Bat also have you on his underpants?” Lois inquired, having way too much fun with this new development.
Conner grinned, “Nah, I’m not on Tim’s underpants, I’m in his underpants.”
“...”
“...”
“...”
“CONNER!”
“I KNEW IT!”
“TMI!!”
Clark turned towards Jon, “We need to be taking notes.” Jon nodded furiously, leaning in beside him as Clark scribbled on his notepad.