Chapter Text
The cave was empty when Dick arrived. He had left the bike in the garage, had tidied up, and then had gone upstairs, feeling like one of the many ghosts that haunted Wayne's mansion.
Silence was his only companion, a heavy and oppressive cloak that did nothing to calm his nervousness.
Dick shouldn't be so nervous about being at the Manor. He shouldn't. It was his home, too (once). It was his dad...well, Bruce's home.
He was always welcome, Bruce had told him so, in his own way, and even if it wasn't always clear, he'd always made sure Dick was comfortable when he came to visit.
There was always room for him.
So, he shouldn't be nervous about a visit, right?
Well, the principle sounded good, till he finally arrived in the kitchen and was faced with Clark's cold, unimpressed look.
Needless to say, all his good intentions went out the window, and he felt like he was twelve again.
"Hi, Clark," he swallowed, smiling, even though he was aware that his heartbeat was betraying his anxiety. There was no worse person he could meet first. It would have been better to find Bruce in the cave, perhaps while he was still working on a case, irritated and tired. Even Alfred would have been better. Alfred might have understood.
But Clark - and God, how strange to think that he was practically living in Gotham now, now that things between him and Bruce were official - was not the type to offer him any loopholes.
“Uhm…so…have you received my message? You know, the one in which..."
“The one where you announced your return without specifying whether you would come to Gotham or talk about Bruce?" Clark ended up for him, with the tone carefully neutral, as well as his face, a mask of neutrality that didn't help him understand what was going through his mind,"Yes, Richard. We received it."
No, it's good to see you, Dick, or are you hungry? Alfred just made pancakes.
Clark was pissed.
"Oh…good, good…I…well…I just wanted to check on everyone... You know, I haven't been here in a while and..."
He was digressing, damn it. He was in front of his childhood idol, and he was babbling like an idiot. Nice way to come home, really. At least there was no one else to attend. He couldn't stand to see the videos for the next few months.
"For a while? You could say so…You haven't been here in a year, Richard," Clark lowered his cup of coffee to the table, trying not to break it, but Dick noticed the cracks in the cup. "I wouldn't call that just not coming for a while. You actively ignored Bruce's calls while answering the others', and left for a mission to Tamaran without even telling the League. Months without any information, not even the Lanterns could tell us what you were doing. And now you come here, as if nothing happened?"
"Look, I know how it looks..."
"No, you don't seem to," the Kryptonian said icily. "And that's kind of your problem, isn't it? You act without thinking about the consequences, and often you don't even have to face them, luckily for you. But you think I'm going to let you just pretend nothing happened, show up and act like nothing is different? Pretending you care about Bruce?"
"I care about Bruce," the young man interjected, stopping smiling, "He's...he's important to me, okay? Except that sometimes he is infuriating and..."
"Now it’s his fault?”
“Well, if you were here last time…”
Dick was interrupted by a punch Clark gave to the kitchen counter. A punch that produced no effect because Bruce had taken care to reinforce all the furniture in the house, and certainly not for this reason.
In fact, he didn't want to think about the real reasons why he thought it was a good idea to have indestructible material for the house; he knew that those two were total freaks, but... No, he was digressing now.
It was easier to ramble than to face the absolute horror of a pissed Superman who punched an object because he was extremely tempted to hit you in the face.
“I wasn’t here during your last argument,” Clark began, anger in his voice barely contained, "But I know what the consequences were, Richard. You ignored Bruce’s calls for months. When he finally saw you at the Watchtower, you mocked him and undermined everything he said. You got to the point of saying in front of the Titans that you felt sorry for me because, between the two of us, the real alien was him. Oh, and let's not forget that you went on a mission without any authorisation or means of communication to let Bruce and the League know what you were doing and if you were still alive.”
Dick felt the tension rise in the room. Put that way, he didn't make a good impression, "Clark, listen... the mission was important, the planet of Starfire..."
"Yes, the planet of Starfire was in danger. Again. But usually, you contact the Lanterns and other members of the League for a mission that requires the violation of intergalactic laws. Do you realise the problems you could have caused to the Earth for this stunt of yours?"
"It was the right thing to do, we couldn't stand without doing anything!"
"I'm not saying that, Richard. I'm saying you could have waited, organised a joint mission, and made things easier for everyone. But no, you wanted to stay away from Bruce as much as possible; it was a way like any other to show that you didn't need him in any way and that he was just a paranoid bastard!"
"That's because he is! The mission went well! The Earth is safe! We didn't need him or..."
"Except Earth is safe because Batman and Hal Jordan spent weeks at OA's board to prevent any consequences for you!" Clark blurted out, his eyes glowing red, "If you were able to come back, it's because of him! To the paranoid bastard you treated like he's the worst monster you've ever known, and you still haven't said a kind word about him!"
All the bellicosity left Dick suddenly, "He... Did he do it? Why?"
Clark mocked him, "You really don't know? Even if he has shown it to you hundreds of times? You're smarter than that, Richard."
"How do I know what he means if he doesn't communicate?"
The Kryptonian's gaze hardened, "Communication is a two-way road. He has communication problems. His brain does not work like that of others. But you refuse to listen or to understand him.”
"I tried for years," he spat, angry that Clark could believe he didn’t try at all, “But you saw how he is! He can’t change for Jason or me or anyone else! He is the one who doesn’t even try!”
“You are the one who, for three hundred and sixteen times, told him that you hate him and that he wasn’t your father, Richard. You are the one who, when things get difficult, you leave, you yell at him, you pour the worst on him, you trample on his sanity and provokes him. Rao only knows that Bruce has his problems, but he always tries. I can't say the same about you. Even now, instead of thanking him for what he did, you continue to insult him in his own home.”
Dick felt a lump in his throat, “Look, sometimes Bruce made me angry, but I didn’t mean…"
Clark didn't let him continue," Sometimes, he made you angry, too. It happens. But you... You exaggerate.”
Dick was trembling,” He took Robin away from me; he kicked me out of the house; he never treated me as an equal; to him I'm still a child… how could I be exaggerating? How is this love?"
"You're acting like a child right now," Clark cut short the tirade, "It's true, he took Robin away from you, after Two Face had you on the brink of death. He couldn't bear the thought of losing you. Did you do it in the best way? No, but he did it in the only way he knew how to keep you safe. Which was useless, you didn't listen. He didn't kick you out of the house; you're the one who left because you thought you only had a place in his life as Robin. After all, you didn't think you could simply be his son. And he treats you as an equal, but he also treats you like his family, only you can't stand it. He pampers you too much, doesn't he? He wants to keep you safe. How dare he? He's the worst person ever! No matter what he does for you, all the compromises, all his trying to make amends, even when he shouldn't. It's never enough for you."
Finally, Clark paused, looked at him, his gaze less intense, but his eyes still red, as if he was just waiting for an excuse to incinerate him on the spot, "Bruce is not perfect. I already know. But he tries, Richard. He tries with all of himself. He's not even the worst parent out there. But you treat him as if he were."
The guilt began to creep back up, gnawing at him from the inside. Yes, he knew it. Hell, even Roy had called him an asshole, and Roy was usually the one to bash Batman.
But after meeting Kory's parents, her father's coldness, his refusal to acknowledge his mistakes...needless to say, it helped put a lot of perspective. Bruce wasn't a perfect parent. But he'd die before he'd let one of them be enslaved.
Dick slumped his shoulders. He had nothing else to say in his defence. To what end? He was angry, he was hurt, but he just wanted to come back. He always did, in the end.
"Where's Bruce?" he asked, for that was the only thing that mattered in all the mess. He wanted to see Bruce.
Clark clenched his jaw, "Why, so you can keep yelling at him?"
"So I can see how he is."
"But not to apologise to him," Clark's tone was extremely disappointed as he said it, "And he's the one who's impossible to deal with!"
"Too bad for you that you can't stop me from seeing him. He wouldn't let you."
He was sure of that, at least. Clark, however, did not change his expression," Bold of you to assume he wants to see you. Why do you think I'm the only one here, Richard?"
It was as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water on him.
"No, I know you're lying. Bruce would never do that..."
Clark tilted his head, "You are right, he wouldn't. But I'm the only one here, am I not? Damian and Duke are not here. Alfred is not here. Neither is Bruce. I do not doubt that, knowing that you are really here, your father would give in. He loves you more than you ever have. Luckily, I convinced the others to collaborate."
"What the... What did you do?"
Clark shrugged, "I didn't do anything, Richard. These are the consequences of what you have done, together with me, who talks to each of them to show things from an external point of view. They were all too ready to stand by you, even though you had caused Bruce unspeakable pain and almost put the Earth in a dangerous situation. You're all too used to blaming Bruce for everything. But Bruce did not violate intergalactic laws. Bruce didn't make you leave Earth. Bruce didn't insult you in a room full of other heroes just to feel better. He did his best, but the Titans would tear him apart at your beckon. You know that, don't you?"
"They're good friends," Dick defended them.
"Good friends who never really knew Bruce, except through the things you told," Clark stood up with deliberate slowness, put the cup in the sink, and turned back to Dick, "If you're not here to apologise, go back to Bludheaven, Richard. Bruce deserves at least those."
"He didn't apologise after we argued," but it was a childish reply. Bruce had done more than enough to make up for that. Dick instead... Well, everyone knew by now what he had done, didn't they?
"If preventing you from ending up on OA isn't enough as an excuse, then I don't know what you want," Clark commented, caustically, "Although I'm the most human among us, like you love to say, I don't understand what you want most of the time either, Richard. Maybe you don't even know."
He hated not knowing how to reply. He hated how correct it seemed.
"Clark..."
"Go back to Bludheaven, Richard. And if you're ever ready to apologise to Bruce... Perhaps, at that point, we will be able to talk again. But before then, I won't let you continue to do things as usual. I won't let you blame him for all your problems. Grow up, Richard. You're no longer Robin."