#Clark and Lois are not supposed to be in the gala

[kryptonian-bat-thing]

Batman investigates Clark Kent's love life

a fic i wrote when I was bored

Superman lands on the tip of his toes, feeling a chill as he walks further into the Batcave. He shakes it off and plays confident, puffing out the S on his chest.

The Dark Knight had been up to some investigations, he was aware, but he had not expected to see Bruce Wayne showing up to his work place like he did earlier on the day. Well, it had happened before... But not without a warning or something. He usually came to him and Lois, or even Cat, whom he knew from interviews at galas and balls, to look further into evidence that might help Batman out in a case. However, this time, Bruce didn't seem to be up to corporate work, he just did some chit chat around and left as though his job was to listen to reporter gossip all day, even though he wasn't even in his city.

Clark wouldn't admit it, but he had a curious nature. So when he stopped his steps a few feet away from the figure standing in front of the many monitors showing the stats of Gotham City, he made it clear that he wanted answers.

He didn't even call out for his friend, Bruce somehow always knew when he was around. He couldn't listen to heartbeats nor notice subtle changes in the temperature or in the light like Clark did, but the man was no less impressive than himself.

"I suppose you're here to know about my visit." Gloved fingers keep typing on the keyboard as the hoarse voice says neutrally. Most likely a report, due to the late hour, it was practically dawn when Batman finished his patrol on average days. Clark tried to hold an awkward smile and failed.

"You didn't even stop by my desk this time. Or Lois's." The Man of Steel lifts a hand to his hip, as the cowled man sighs, annoyed. Taking a step back from the blue lights on the screen, Batman's hand reaches for the mask on his face, pulling it upwards and leaving it hanging under his nape like a hood. His hair was clearly messy for being under it for so long, and the sweat droplets were very noticeable, but Clark couldn't help but find the image appealing.

This was the man who protected the innocent, who fought the corrupt, who got beaten down several times but still got up with strength to try again. The man who turned his own tragedy into his greatest weapon, his pain into hope. The amount of respect he had for him was unmeasurable, and he knew that the feeling was reciprocal.

Bruce looked at Superman's eyes, ever so shiny and blue like a sapphire, and... Was that a blush? Clark wouldn't say so, Batman knew better than to let his emotions come up like that. Bruce's cheeks moved as he avoided his best friend's eyes, before finally finding the words to say so:

"I wanted to know your sexuality." The answer comes out like a whisper. The image of the Man of Steel tumbled to the ground and the shy Kansas boy rose along with a red flush all over his face.

"Yawantedtoknowmahwhatnow?!" He mutters loudly, spilling words. Bruce frowns and sighs louder than the last time. He was not about to repeat himself to the man with super hearing.

"I had my reasons, Kent. The file I have on the Justice League and the many Earth metahumans has a vast collection of information in which--" Bruce trailed off, his Bat mode activated to explain the situation, but Clark let out a silly scoff.

"You could've just asked me, B."

Bruce feels his head fall out of his shoulders. Of course he had thought of that, he wasn't so stupid, but the idea of coming up to the best man he knew to ask such a trivial question, for reasons he still tried to convince himself were purely professional... He hid it with his emotionless face, but the quick twitch of his eyes alerted Clark of the feeling anyway. Years of friendship got them knowing almost everything that went through each other.

And so, that and many other questions were answered that night, as the morning sun came up and a new perspective of these two individuals rose as well.

[rubydubydoo122]

In every universe Jason Peter Todd dies young. It’s a fate sealed across the multiverse. Maybe he could hope that there’s one universe where he doesn’t. aka, Jason, Dick, and Bruce go multiverse hopping, and are not having a fun time. (Ps, when I started writing this fic I hced Jason as Latino, but I don't really believe in that hc anymore, so just a heads up if you don't like that hc)

TRIGGER WARNING -> Child Death (it's Jason)

They spent the next couple of realities kind of… drifting. 

They spent the first couple universes mainly in hotel rooms or abandoned apartments, because Jason was tired . Using his All-Blades to almost his limit twice in one week, along with being pinballed around the multiverse was exhausting. 

Though eventually they went back to watching different Jasons die.

There were different Robins killed by different rogues– Scarecrow's goons giving him multiple doses of fear toxin. Ivy’s plants throwing him into a building too hard. Another Jacicle, this time a courtesy of Mr. Freeze.  

Then there was the reality where Jason got killed by the Joker in that one warehouse alone. Then the Jason , who got killed by the Joker at Amusement Mile. And the Jason who was captured in Arkham Asylum and apparently brainwashed and then he died. And then– there were a lot of Jasons killed by the Joker. 

They couldn’t do anything about the Jason who dropped dead on the streets. He couldn’t find clean water for a week, because of a rogue attack on the plumbing. (When that had happened to him there had been a convenience store owner who was kind enough to spot him and give him a spare water bottle. The owner stuck with him and made sure he sipped slowly.)

There was also the Jason who died caught up in a gang war. And the one who got shot by a cop. Gotta love the GCPD, (Commissioner Gordon is the exception.) 

What really sucks is that they’ve learned that no matter how hard they try, Jason is still going to die. They’ve tried keeping Jason at the manor. They’ve tried keeping him out of the way from rogues, they’ve tried tying up the Joker before he could get to Jay, but he keeps on dying .

Honestly it’s starting to get annoying. Is Jason following the three Ds– Disassociation, Derealization, and Death-Jokes– to stay sane? Obviously. You can only watch yourself die so many times until the voice of the Anti Monitor that says, “Incongruities must be purged” gets too loud and you start thinking, Huh, maybe being purged isn’t such a bad idea .

But honestly, the worst part about this is that none of the Jasons have been older than 15. At least they could bump it up a number. 

They also were never in a place long enough to actually start on the beacon prototype. So that sucked even more.

Until they landed in the Universe they were currently in. They landed just outside of the Manor’s Ballroom which was currently filled with people dressed in black tie attire.

On the stage, there was a banner that read: 30th Annual Wayne Foundation Charity Gala. There were three large tables closest to the stage, on the left seated Bruce, Talia, Damian, Baby Jon in a highchair, Lois Lane, Clark Kent, Diana Prince, and Alfred 

On the right, seated Leslie Thompkins, Commissioner Gordon, Elaine and Doug Thomas, Crystal Brown, Oliver Queen, Dinah Lance, and a man Jason has never seen in his life.

And the middle table held the rest of them. Barbra, Roy, Dick, Cass, Jason, Stephanie, Tim, and Duke.

Yet, despite the supposedly very magical presence of One Wonder Woman, and Talia (and Superman and Duke he supposes) it didn’t feel like there was any magic at all. Zero, zilch, nada.

Jason turned to Bruce, “I don’t think Uncle Clark and Aunt Diana are superheroes here.”

“I don’t think any of us are.” Dick was analyzing each of them closely, until his eyes blew wide, and he started  smacking both Bruce and Jason’s shoulder, “The Man sitting next to Oliver is Béla Károlyi. As in the Olympic level gymnastics coach.” Just as he said that, alternate reality Dick leaned back, seemingly saying something to Mr. Károlyi which made the man laugh, causing his brother’s jaw to drop.

Jason looked back to all of the tables, realizing that everyone looked so much… happier. So much lighter. He felt a smile creep onto his face, “Ya know, in all of the other Universes, I died either on the streets or because I was Robin. I have a pretty good feeling about this one.” 

Bruce looked like he was about to say something when the lights started to dim, and a projector was rolled out.

The screen opened up to an eight year old Dickie in a booster seat, holding Zitka in his arms. The camera quality showed it was from the early 2000s, which, yeah, considering if Dick was eight, it was probably 2002? There was a symphony of awws that went around the room as Alternate Reality Dick rolled his eyes, but sent a smile towards his Bruce.

The video continued to show clips of Bruce taking Dickie to visit Haly’s circus, probably for the first time since Bruce took him in.

Bruce turned to Dick with a raised eyebrow, “Remember how I had to practically pry you from Zitka when it was time to leave?”

Dick snorted, “I remember her smacking you with her trunk. Haly was really concerned, but I knew you were fine.”

“Because I’m Batman?”

“Because you’re Batman.” 

Then there was a video of Dickie and Bruce at a playground, where Bruce is struggling to squeeze down a tube slide. Alfred and Dickie dusting the chandeliers together– except Alfred was on a ladder, and Dick was hanging off of something. There were more pictures– a couple with Dick in a leotard and sweats with several gold medals around his neck, while he and Bruce ate ice cream– but mostly they were just of Dickie being a kid. In front of the school building, rolling out cookie dough with Alfred, up in a tree, that sorta thing. 

There was also a video of Dickie watching the Olympics, and watching the male Olympians do the Vault. He looked into the camera “Please, I can do better than that.”

The audience erupted into cheers, as Mr. Károlyi reached over and patted Dick’s shoulder.

Until there was a video of a maybe four year old Cass hiding behind Talia’s leg. 

“Hi, my name’s Dick.”

Talia gave Dickie a soft smile, “This is Cass. She can be a little shy sometimes.”

“ That’s ok. Bruce was a little shy at first too. Look at him now.” Dickie peered around Talia to get a better look, “Hi Cass, I can’t wait to get to know you.”

Alternate reality Cass was covering her face with her hands as another round of awws circled the room, but Dick leaned in to whisper something into her ear which made her look up and smile at him.

There were a lot more pictures of Talia, Cass, and Dickie doing things together. Like Cass painting Dickie’s nails, Dickie teaching Cass how to tumble, and a picture of Cass and Dickie standing side by side, backpacks on, holding signs that said KTG and 5th on it. There was also a really cute video of Dickie and Cass setting up a date night for Bruce and Talia. 

Then there was a video of maybe a six year old Cass holding hands with a toddler in the middle of a Gala. 

“Whatcha got there Cass?” It was a young voice, so he assumed it was Dickie behind the camera.

“A baby brother.” 

“I’m Tim! Where do you live?”

The room erupted into howls as alternate reality Tim lowered his head so he could no longer see the screen. 

Dick turned to Jason, “Guess the stalker tendencies started young.”

From then on, there were a lot of photos and videos that included Tim and Cass in the middle of shenanigans together. Cass putting lotion in Tim’s hair, Cass putting makeup on Tim, both of them racing those little electric cars down the giant manor driveway. Bruce teaching Cass how to ride a bike, with Talia and Dickie cheering her on in the background. Videos of Cass dancing balletT

There was also a picture that looked like it was from Thanksgiving, with Alfred, Bruce, Talia, Dickie, Cass, Tim, Jack and Janet Drake, Uncle Clark, Ma and Pa Kent and Aunt Diana. So Bruce and Dick probably just babysat Tim a lot. 

Then there was a video of a very large backyard wedding– It looked like a fusion wedding. Yeah, the closeups of Talia showed henna decorating her arms.

“You know your name’s hidden in the design.” 

“I already found it.” Bruce grinned at Talia, and placed a finger right below her ring knuckle, “Right here.”

“You know they say it is a sign of good luck if the groom finds his name faster.”

Bruce kissed Talia’s forehead, “We don’t need luck, but I’ll take it. Now where are my shoes?”

Talia laughed, “Well, Beloved, Dick is going to have to find them. If not, you have to pay Cass to get them back.”

“Dick can’t even find his own shoes half the time.”

“Well, you’re a billionaire for a reason.”

There was also a video of Ra’s and Bruce dancing bhangra together, which honestly wasn’t bad at all.

The next picture was of a 14 year old Dickie, and an eight year old Cass, with Talia, Bruce and Alfred in the courthouse holding up adoption papers.

There were a couple of photos of the five of them at Disney World. Then some more Thanksgiving photos, this time, Janet Drake wasn’t there, but Jack was. Except he was in a wheelchair. There were more photos and videos from throughout the year. Like Cass and Dick’s Birthdays, Mothers and Fathers day, and then Tim’s 6th birthday.

It looked like a really small thing, and Jack wasn’t there. Then Bruce handed him a gift wrapped rectangle. “Happy Birthday, Tim. I know it hasn’t been the best year, but hopefully the next one is better.”

Tim took the gift with a tiny smile, and unwrapped it. “A camera!! I love it! I love it! I love it! I’m going to take a picture of all of us right now!” Tim frowned at the buttons, “How do I take the picture?”

There were giggles that went around the room as the slideshow continued, now with a lot more photos of Bruce and Alfred compared to before. There was a video of Dickie holding both of Tim’s hands while Tim balanced on a skateboard. A video of Cass teaching Tim and Dickie her Ballet routine, and a really nice picture of Dickie in the middle of a corkscrew flip. 

Then it cut to a video of Cass and Dickie teasing Tim in the living room.

“I’m not scared. It’s just a movie.” That being said, Tim was currently hiding in Bruce’s arms, so he definitely was scared.

“We can turn it off if you would like us to, Tim.”

“I’m not scared! I am six years old. I’m not a baby. I hate being the youngest.”

The camera panned to Talia, “Well…you don’t have to be the youngest anymore. I’m going to have a baby.”  

Tim’s eyes widened, and then he rolled his eyes. “Finally.”

The next couple of videos and photos were of Dick, Cass, and Tim painting the nursery– Jason totally forgot the manor had a nursery– yellow and green while Alfred and Bruce assembled a crib. There was a video from the Baby Shower where everyone was putting bangles on Talia’s arms, along with feeding her sweets. 

The next video was of all six of them in the nursery with a giant whiteboard, where Bruce  tapped it with a dry erase marker, “Alright, what should we name this kid?”  

Tim jumped up and down, “ I got one! Peanut!”

Talia laughed from the rocking chair she was in, as Bruce furrowed his eyebrows, “Like…the butter?”

“Yup.”

“Write it down, Beloved. I like it.”

There were squeaks on the whiteboard, that felt a little long for just Cat, but oh well.

Dickie was doing a headstand against the crib, “Do we know if it’s going to be a boy or a girl?”

“We want it to be a surprise.”

“Hmm.” Dickie maneuvered so he was sitting properly on the floor, “What about Robin? My mom used to call me that. Maybe it could be the baby’s middle name? It’s gender neutral.” 

Jason turned to his brother Dick, “Your mom used to call you Robin?”

Dick nodded, but didn’t take his eyes off the screen

Screen Bruce looked to Dickie, “Are you sure, Chum? You don’t want to use it if you have any kids of your own?”

Dickie smiled, “I think I’d use my parents' names for my own kids. I’d like my sibling to share Robin with me. I’d give it to Cass and Tim if I could.”

The pride was practically bleeding through the screen, as Bruce erased the middle line separating Boy and Girl, to make a column for middle name. 

Talia ran her fingers through Cass’s hair as she started to braid it, “ What about your parents names, Beloved?”

Bruce shook his head, “They wouldn’t appreciate that.”

Alfred cleared his throat, “Might I suggest Athanasia? It was one of the names your parents picked out if you were to be a girl.”

“That’s a beautiful name. Write it down.”

Dickie snorted, “Yet they decided to name Bruce, Bruce. What are you, a mechanic?”

Tim moved to sit on the ottoman of the rocking chair, “Your name’s Dick .”

Dickie opened his mouth like he was about to make a counterpoint, but ultimately decided against it.

“Cass, do you have any ideas?”

Cass leaned back and pressed her ear to Talia’s stomach like she was listening to the baby, “Damian. Damian Al Ghul-Wayne. But we should call him Cat.”

The next couple photos were of Talia in a hospital bed holding a newborn Damian. Then a video of a tousled Bruce taking Damian from Talia, “This is weird. Usually they’re bigger when I first hold them.”

Tim was running around the hospital room taking pictures of Bruce and the baby from different angles, “If he’s too small for you, can I hold him? My arms are the perfect size to hold a baby.”

There was a hand that reached out to ruffle Tim’s hair, “I thought you said you wanted to take pictures first.”

“I do! But I also wanna hold him.”

“Why don’t you take pictures of Damian with everyone else, and then you can hold him. Save the best for last, ya know.”

Tim nodded and continued taking pictures.

Bruce, smiled down at Damian, “He has your nose and lips, Talia.”

“He has your ears, Beloved.”

There was a gag from behind the camera as Bruce kissed Talia’s forehead. Then they both looked to Alfred, “Do you want to hold him?” 

“I wouldn’t want to intrude–”

“Alfred, he’s your grandson. Just like Dick, Cass, and Tim.”

Alfred seemed to reboot at the statement, but it didn’t phase him for long, as Bruce placed Damian in his arms. “Why hello there, little lad.” Bruce came closer to the camera as it stayed trained on Alfred and Damian, “I can film for a bit.” The camera shifted a bit and a very ruffled looking Dickie appeared on screen, in a leotard and sweats. “What time is your first event at?”

“10:30, but Bruce–”

“Alright, that gives us about thirty more minutes here…”

“Bruce–”

“if I speed a bit, we’ll be able to make it back with time for you to warm–”

“Dad!” That seemed to immediately shut Bruce up. Jason kinda wished the camera was on his face, “I’d rather stay here with Talia, and you, and Damian.”

“What about the scouts?”

“I’ve still got, like, three years until I can go to the Olympics. I’ve got time. Besides, I fly for my family. Not for scouts.” Dick tapped his chest twice with his fist, before there was the sound of shuffling off camera, which Jason assumed was a hug.

Then Alfred walked over to Dick, and handed Damian to him. Dick made a face like ‘why are you handing me a child’ but then looked down at Damian and smiled, “Besides, he’s already stolen my heart. Good luck trying to get your child back.” Bruce and Talia both laughed, but Dick looked to Cass, “Do you want to hold him?”

Cass’s eyes widened as she shook her head, “No.”

“Alright then, Tim, go wash your hands and sit down.”

Tim did a little Mario jump, before running to the nearest hand sanitizer dispenser and running back to one of the waiting room seats, and making grabby motions at Dick.

Dick made a panicked expression before Damian went back to Alfred so that Alfred could give him to Tim.

“Make sure to support his head, ok?”

Tim nodded, as Alfred placed Damian in his arms, “Oh! Oh! He’s waking up!” Tim grinned, showing off his missing tooth, “Hi Peanut, I’m your big brother Tim.” Damian blinked up at Tim, once, twice.

Then he started to cry.

Tim’s eyes widened as he looked a little past the camera, “Take him back. Take him back!”

The next couple photos and videos were of Damian and the rest of the family at different milestones. And a little tiny baby Damian napping on Bruce’s shoulder, while Bruce is also asleep.

The Next video was from slightly outside the playroom– Jason didn’t even know they had one of those– of Talia and Bruce crouching in front of Damian in his walker.

“Say Ummmi. Habibi say Ummmi.”

“Don’t listen to your Mother, say Baba, Baba, Bababababa.”

The camera came closer, and Damian immediately looked at him, and gave the camera a two toothed smile that made the entire audience coo, “ Dee!”

Bruce frowned back at Damian, “I can work with that, Dada, say Dada, Damian.”

Damian reached to whoever was holding the camera, “ Dee!”

Dick laughed from behind the camera, “I think he’s trying to say…Dickie!”

“Diggie!”

“I win! I was his first words.” The camera shuffled around until it was in Bruce’s hands. Dick picked Damian out of the walker, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, Cass owes me five dollars.”

His brother Dick turned to Bruce, “Ha!”

The video was cut off with a photo of Dick, Cass, Tim and Damian all piled on top of Bruce. There were more photos and videos as the years progressed. From Tim doing skateboard tricks, and Cass and Dick belting to “Enchanted”, to holiday photos, Tim getting adopted and Damian somehow covered completely in flour. There was also a video of the whole family going feral of Dick getting on the US Olympic team. 

So that was probably why Mr. Károlyi was sitting at the friends and family table up front. 

The next video had horrible quality, so it had to have been taken on an old iphone or something. “Um, Hi, Tim here, I’m recording for Bruce’s therapist, cus I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. So, it’s June 27th, and– ya know what, I’ll just show you.” The camera flipped around to show a Mercedes GLE that was missing three tires, and a Bruce who was hunched over, clutching his stomach laughing, “Bruce, do you want to tell Leslie what’s going on?”

“There was this–this tiny little kid, and he- and he stole my tires.” Bruce fully squatted and leaned his head against the car door because he was still laughing, “And then– and then–” Bruce apparently could not stop himself from laughing, “ And then he hit me with the tire iron, and called me a big boob!” If Bruce wasn’t on a street he would’ve been rolling around on the floor.

Honestly, Jason doesn’t think there was ever a time Bruce laughed that hard.

“Are you hurt, Beloved?”

Bruce shook his head no, and took a couple of breaths while wiping tears from his eyes, “ Tim, give me back my phone. I’ve got some people to call.”

“Are you gonna call the cops on him?”

Bruce looked at Tim like he was crazy, “No, I need to contact Elaine to see if I can adopt him.”

There was a bit of shuffling, but the camera only cut off after Tim grumbled, “ I could probably steal your tires too.”

Jason spared a glance at Bruce, only to find him with a slight fond smile. “Ain’t no way that was that funny.” Honestly, all Jason could remember was being terrified out of his mind. If he hadn’t been so scared, he would’ve thought of a better insult than ‘ya big boob.’

Bruce huffed out a laugh , a real one that Jason hasn’t seen or heard in years, “Honestly, It was a lot funnier considering I was dressed as a giant bat when you took a swing.”

Jason shook his head in disbelief.

“I’d get hit with that tire iron a million times if it meant you would enter my life.”

Oh. Oh.

No. He probably just means the kid Jason used to be. Jason sucked in a breath through his teeth, “Been there, done that, and let me tell you, Old Man, it was not fun.”

Jason half expected Bruce to yell at him for making a joke about his death, but he just rolled his eyes, “I guess I walked right into that one.” The next photo was a candid of Jay in the manor’s library white streak stark against his black hair, looking like he just rolled into Narnia, “That was the exact expression you made when you first saw the library.” Bruce looked back at Jason with a smile that wrinkled the crows feet around his eyes.

“I guess some things are constants when it comes to us.” 

Bruce fixed his gaze at the younger Jay who was oblivious to the way alternate reality Bruce was smiling fondly at him. “I have a good feeling about this reality too.”

They continued to watch the slideshow. Most of the pictures and videos with Jay in them consisted of him covering his face, unless he was absorbed in a book, or cooking with Alfred.

Then there was a video of Jay in the bathroom with a bowl of black hair dye and a brush, Cass straightening the white streak, so that the hair dye would go on more evenly.

The mirror showed it was Tim behind the camera, “I still think you should paint it red.”

Cass set down the straightener, “I think you should keep it the way it is.”

Jay shook his head, “This is gonna be my first time out in public as Wayne's new foster. They’ll already–” Jay cut himself off and chewed the inside of his cheek, “Maybe in a couple years. I’m just not used to all of this yet, and I don’t want more eyes on me because of a stupid autoimmune disease.” Jay took the brush and started parting the white strip so he could cover it in the hair dye.

“It’s not stupid. It looks really cool.”

“It makes you unique,” Cass shrugged, “ It is your hair, though, and you should be changing it because you want to, and not because everyone else thinks you should.” Cass smiled at herself, “ That’s what Dick would say.”

Jay frowned for a second, until a mischievous grin slowly appeared on his face, “ I’m gonna dye my hair, but not because of anyone else. I just wanna see how long it takes Dick to figure out I have vitiligo.”

Cass grinned and grabbed the bowl of hair dye, “I’ll help.”

Jay lowered the lid of the toilet and sat down facing Cass, “Timbo, you’d better hide that video.”

Dick turned to Jason, and flicked his hair, “I guess the white streak is also a universal constant. Even if the reason isn’t magic in this one.” He turned back to watching the slideshow, as Jason shared a look with Bruce.

Dick may be a great detective, but boy could he be dense sometimes. 

The next picture was of Jay and a three year old Damian looking out of the plane window, followed by a video of Jay reading out loud to Damian, Tim and Cass, as all of them gradually get closer and closer, until they were all cuddling, and then a photo of Damian, Tim and Cass sleeping as Jay seemed to continue reading 

Then there was a video of the seven of them in an empty looking stadium. The camera focused on Jay for a couple seconds before he pushed it away and it focused on Dick hugging his siblings. And then Talia, and then Alfred.

“Bruce, can’t you give it to him? You know him better, and you bought it.”

“You came up with the idea, Jason.”

“Anyone with brain cells would’ve been able to come up with it.” Dick started walking over to the pair, “Here, let me take the camera…” There was a bit of shuffling, “And you can take the bag!”

The camera focused just as Dick engulfed Bruce in a hug.

They pulled apart as Dick glanced at the bag, “Ya know, B, you didn’t have to get me a gift. A new little brother is more than enough.”

Bruce handed the gift bag to Dick, “Actually, the gift was Jason’s idea.”

“Snitch.”

“I am just giving credit where it’s due.”

Dick opened the bag and pulled out a red and yellow leotard with a pair of green shorts and green pants. Dick immediately recognized the colors and put a hand to his mouth.

“I know blue is also the color of the Flying Graysons, but to me these colors have always been more… iconic. I’m sorry if I overstepped, you don’t have to wear it–”

“No, shut up, I’m wearing it.” Dick had a soft smile on his face, “I was debating doing the quadruple flip, but I’m sure this is a sign that I should.”

Bruce clapped a hand on Dick’s shoulder, “ Great, because the rest of us are going to match.”

“Stop, I’m literally going to cry.”

The next photo was of all of the Robins– the whole family, because Alfred, Bruce and Talia were also wearing red, yellow, and green– in their colors. In the Grayson colors

Jason looked over at Dick whose eyes were glossy, but he was still smiling. Though he wasn’t looking at the screen. He was looking at alternate reality Jay, who was being nuggied by alternate reality Dick.

Dick realized Jason was looking at him, “It’s kinda the opposite of our first meeting.”

“Huh. it is, isn’t it?” he thought back to Dick giving him the box with a Robin suit that was too big for him. It was Dick’s official stamp of approval. He never got to grow into that suit.

Vaguely, he wonders if Bruce threw away that suit, along with all the other ones, save the one he died in.

The next video was of Jason in the garage with Bruce staring at a singular tire with a bow around it.

“Is that a tire I stole?”

Bruce grinned, “It is.”

“Huh. I didn’t realize you got them back.”

“I have my ways.”

Jay turned to face Bruce, “You do realize I stole them to make money, right? Currently, this serves no purpose to me.” His face morphed into something dejected “Unless…”

“No. No, not that.” Bruce kneeled in front of him, “ Jay, lad, I know you’ve only been here for a little over a month, but I would like to say, you will always have a home here. No matter what. 

“In fact this is more of a promise. I was thinking of giving you a tire for each of your birthdays, so by the time you turn 16, you’ll have all four. I was thinking we could maybe build a car together.”

There was a flurry of emotions that flashed over Jay’s face, before it settled on disbelief. “You? Bruce Wayne? Build a car?”

 “I am a man of many talents.”

Jay raised an eyebrow, “I better not be the only one putting elbow grease into this thing, otherwise, as soon as it’s finished I’m drivin’ away. With all four tires this time.”

Bruce lifted his arm to flex his bicep, “I’ll put in the muscle.”

Jay rushed in to give Bruce a hug and just as quickly pulled away, “ Thank you, Bruce.” Then Jay turned to face the camera directly, “ Are you seriously filming us, Tim?”

There was a video of the family helping Dick move into a dorm room. A picture of the first day of school with a very happy looking Jay, and just… memories captured that was so normal . No bruises, no broken arms, no hollow eyes from any of them. Just… love.

Obviously Jason knew that this family had to have had its fair share of ups and downs– most of them had seen loss in horrific ways– but the downs didn’t seem to lead to bloodshed, or near murder. Just more understanding.

The slideshow ended with a photo of the entire family cuddling on the couch, sleeping while Dick who was on the outskirts took a selfie.

The crowd erupted into cheers as the lights slowly brightened and alternate reality Bruce took to the stage. 

“Hello everyone, and welcome to the 30th Annual Wayne Foundation Charity Gala.” There was a polite round of applause, “Now, you may be wondering why I decided to start off the night differently than I have in the past years. That is because it has been brought to my attention that my usual speech about philanthropy and giving back to the community is, and I quote ‘ mundane and monotonous, and became stale after the second gala.’ Jason’s words, not mine. So he helped me write this.” There were a couple of chuckles that went around the room, “While I still believe in those values, the real reason this Gala is so important to me, is because it was important to my parents, Martha and Thomas Wayne. To me, this Gala has always been in memory of them.

“My parents loved this city, but they didn’t love it for its old buildings, or the grime on the pavement. No. They loved Gotham for her people. My dad, a doctor, who never turned his back on someone in need, no matter their background. My mom, who knew she was blessed with money and realized she could use that to help other people who need it in this city. Which is why the Wayne Foundation was made. Though, I don’t think there’s a single person in Gotham who didn’t already know that. Yet there was so much more to my parents than just that. Even though they’ve been long gone, I still see them everywhere. 

“I see my mom sitting at the kitchen counter, sipping her tea while Alfred prepares breakfast. I see my dad in the living room whenever baseball plays. I see my parents on the porch swing that overlooks the garden, but most importantly, I see them in my kids.

“The way Dick cares for his siblings sometimes is almost the exact same as how my dad used to care about me. He’ll bring an ice pack over in three seconds flat, even if they say they’re ok. He’ll slap a bandaid on an ouch, even if it isn’t bleeding. He’ll do anything to bring a smile to their faces. Just like my dad always did with me.

“I’d give up everything just to see Cass laugh. Because the way she laughs is just how my mom laughed. The way it starts with soft giggles and gradually gets louder and louder. The way she leans her head back and clutches her stomach. The way if something is truly hilarious, she’ll lean her head on the nearest solid object, trying to gasp for air.

“And Damian, oh Damian. He looks so much like Talia, but sometimes, I catch myself staring at him, picking out which of his features belonged to my mom, and which of his features belonged to my dad. His ears are shaped just like hers, his eyebrows are sculpted just like his. His curly hair is definitely from my mom.

“I can tell that Tim looks at the world in the same way my mom did. He looks at everything, taking in every little detail. He knows even when the subtlest thing is off. And when he looks at you, you know he is not just seeing you, but he’s seeing you . All of you.” 

Bruce pulled out a sheet of paper and placed it on the podium, “And I knew all of these things subconsciously, but Jason, he had to hold my hand through writing this whole speech. I would say some things that I remembered about my parents, and he’d go ‘ like blank does?’ and I'd be like–” Bruce facepalmed, “ duh. But he didn’t help me with this part. Uh oh, I’m going off script.” There was a rumble of laughter at that, but Bruce had a really soft smile on, and was making eye contact with Jay, “But in all seriousness, I think of the way I met Jason often. How he came to me on the reminder of the darkest day of my life, and turned that day into something brighter to remember. And I don’t believe in Fate, or God, but whenever I think of that night in the alley, I can no longer think of a boy who lost his parents. I can only think of my parents guiding their grandson to me. Jason made me realize that my parents guided all of my children to me, and to Talia, and to Alfred. And for that…” Bruce’s eyes were shining as he blinked hard and fast, “I don’t think words can describe how… how glad I am to be blessed with the beautiful family I have today.”

I can only think of my parents guiding their grandson to me.

Jason turned to his Bruce, only to see tears streaming down his face. 

What’s going on? Was he hurt? Why is he crying? He never cries. Batman never cries.

But this wasn’t Batman. This was Bruce.

I can only think of my parents guiding their grandson to me.

“Bruce? Do you…?”

Bruce looked from Jason to Dick and back to Jason, “Every single word and more. And so much more.”

And before he knew it, he was in his Dad’s Bruce’s his Dad’s Bruce’s his Dad’s arms. And then his brother’s arms. He was in his dad’s and his brother’s arms and everything felt–

Whole .

Jason felt whole .

They stayed in each other’s embrace as Alternate Reality Bruce finished up his speech, “There was a poem my mom read to me once, and I had forgotten about it until Jason showed it to me again. The poem actually inspired this entire speech. It’s called ‘ Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep’ by Mary Elizabeth Frye. 

“Do not stand at my grave and weep; I am not there; I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow, I am the diamond glints on snow, I am the sun on ripened grain, I am the gentle autumn rain.

“When you awaken in the morning's hush; I am the swift uplifting rush; Of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry,

“I am not there; I did not die.”

There was a moment of silence as the audience drank in the words. And the silence was pierced. But not by applause or cheers.

It was pierced by twin shots.

Gunshots. 

And screaming. Screaming even though the room seemed to be drowned out by the sound of cicadas.

Because Jay was slumped on the table. 

He wasn’t Robin. He was no longer a street kid.

Still, he was–

Bleeding. 

One Bullet through the heart, one bullet through the head. 

Tablecloth stained red.

[prospectivehero]

I HAVE STRONG FEELINGS ABOUT THE LATEST EPISODE OF MY ADVENTURES WITH SUPERMAN

and I have no one in my immediate vicinity to hear me rant

*spoilers for episode 5*

Clark-"You hated Superman. You said he was a liar, and you were going to find and publish his secrets. My secrets."

Lois-"I would never do that to you. I had no idea it was you until after the gala. How could you think that?"

Clark-"You jumped off a roof! I don't know what to think!"

Clark Kent and Lois Lane have liked each other since the beginning of the series. They become close and trust each other. Aside from Clark thinking Lois is cute, he also respects her ambition and passion for journalism. Even when her hunt for the truth will directly hurt him, Clark doesn't hold that against her. I think Lois loves his kindness and honesty. She can always rely on him to be there for her or anyone he cares about.

But Lois jumped off a building. She knows Clark will always come to save her, and she exploits him and his powers to get the truth.

Lois has to consolidate the honest person she knows Clark is with the liar she's prescribed Superman as. This is not made better now that, in her eyes, Clark has been lying to her. Clark, on the other hand, has been perceived as both an honest man and a liar by the woman he loves in one breath. Lois, who has, in the past, put herself and sometimes Jimmy in danger multiple times, has just proven that she will do anything to get the truth. But as soon as Clark tells her he was afraid to tell her because she is obsessed with finding out who Superman is, she says she would never do something like that. Clark seeing her abandoning her strong convictions about Superman for Clark Kent probably makes him feel conflicted. It's clear that she loves him enough to push aside her fixation, but it disrupts this moral code that was probably one of the things he liked about her most. What is he supposed to think when a piece of information she was willing to jump off a building for is suddenly disregarded?

That's not to mention that Lois feels entitled to the secret identity of Superman because it's her big story. If it wasn't Clark, she'd share this information with the Daily Planet as soon as she found the truth. She never saw Superman as someone who deserved some mercy past her scrutiny until it was Clark. And even after knowing that she doesn't respect that Clark, a person she admires, trusts, and loves, kept this secret from her for a reason. And she doesn't recognize how her actions may be one of those reasons.

I really hope this gets addressed further. There is a lot of nuance in this situation and different perspectives to explore. I know I put a lot of blame on Lois, but she jumped off a building, and I think that needs to be examined. There was so much I wanted to talk about with this scene in particular. I had to ask multiple people how they would feel in this situation because all I felt was conflicted. If you have another read of this moment, or anything related. Please comment or reblog. I know I'm not the only strong opinion and I know there are a lot of takes. This scene has been stuck in my head for several days and I want to talk about it.

[tiredofsatansbullshit]

Superman and Batman are friends (associates?). Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne however are a whole other story

Masterlist of fics

Summary: Bruce Wayne knows that Clark Kent is Superman. Clark Kent knows that Bruce Wayne is Batman. Neither has said anything about knowing and so they are waiting for either the other to say something or for one of them to slip up.

Batman and Superman have been working together occasionally. It’s not that they’ve been actively trying to but there’s been some overlap in cases and they might as well have just done it together.

This doesn’t mean that Bruce trusts Superman, he’d just rather keep the alien close to be able to observe him. When Superman first started operating in Metropolis, Bruce started a file on him. At first it was slow going in gathering information but after working a couple cases together and some slip ups from the Man of Steel, Bruce was able to figure out Superman’s civilian identity. Clark Kent. A journalist for the Daily Planet.

Clark was pretty weary of Batman when he first encountered the man on a case. He originally thought the rumours of the Bat in Gotham was just that, rumours. After their first case together, Batman had added lead lining to the batsuit cowl, but Clark had already seen his face. Bruce Wayne is Batman. Out of respect to Bruce, Clark said nothing and continued to refer to Bruce as Batman when it was just the two of them. He hoped to reach a point where they both trusted each other enough to disclose their civilian identities over time.

The problem came when, after almost two years of working together neither said anything about their civilian identities. They worked well together and got along even better. Clark considered them friends (Bruce considered them work associates) but they sometimes found themselves in awkward-ish situations that could so easily be avoided if they just were honest with each other.

The latest of these above mentioned situations was perhaps one of the worst (or best, depending on your perspective), Clark was attending a charity gala on assignment, he was supposed to report on the speech and attempt for an interview with the host of the event and get comments from others attending. Bruce Wayne attended the same gala for a couple reasons, firstly to keep up appearances and further establish his Brucie Wayne persona as billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, and secondly some weapons traffickers that he’s been following made their way to Metropolis and he needed more information on them before he made his move. He could have asked Superman for help seeing as Metropolis is Superman’s city but Bruce was not feeling like sharing his case.

Lois hadn’t really been in the mood to be at this charity gala, she had so much work she wanted to finish off and couldn’t wait to get home but when Clark asked her to attend the gala with him she couldn’t say no. To her surprise the night wasn’t going as bad as she thought it would. Sure the speeches were boring and the food wasn’t good but the situation she found herself in was pretty enjoyable. Clark sat on her right, looking either nervous of annoyed, Lois couldn’t tell which exactly. Across the table from them was Bruce Wayne, the Prince of Gotham. She’d seen him a few times before at various events she’d reported on but never had the chance to have an actual conversation with him. There was some tension between the two men, Lois doesn’t know why but there’s definitely something there as the two kept sneaking glances at the other. Turning her attention back to the other women at the table who have been talking animatedly for most of the night, she smiled and nodded along with their conversation and when they excused themselves to go to the bathroom Lois felt somewhat relieved, tired of their constant chattering.

Turning her attention back to the men, expecting Clark to ask Bruce Wayne about his thoughts on the gala or at least try and get a quote from the man she found them having what she wants to describe as a staring contest, until Bruce Wayne cleared his throat and broke the eye contact to glance around the room before he shrugged his suit jacket off and speaking up, “It’s been such a hot day and these fans don’t seem to be doing much, i don’t know how you can still sit wearing a jacket and shirt, Mr Kent.”

Clark smiled somewhat sarcastically at Bruce Wayne before responding, “I’m doing alright, thank you Mr Wayne. If you’d like to unbutton your shirt though we’d understand”

“Oh, you don’t feel the heat do you? How strange. With how hot it is you’d have to be used to extreme conditions to be able to sit with a jacket on right now, maybe even a whole other type of climate.”

“Actually, I’m from Kansas so I don’t get easily bothered by this kind of mild heat”

“You don’t have much of an accent to be from Kansas, were you not born there?”

Letting out a soft, unamused chuckle, Clark leaned forward, “Sounding a bit like a detective right now Mr Wayne, I feel like i’m under investigation right now.”

Glancing between the two, Lois decided to change the subject, “Mr Wayne, what are your thoughts on the speech from earlier?”

Turning to smile at her, Bruce responded, “It is a noble cause and I am glad to do my part to help. I know to some the course of action being taken might be seen as foreign, or even alien,” he added some emphasis at the word, shooting a glance at Clark before continuing, “but I will be supporting the cause as I’m not one to jump to judgement based off a surface level look at circumstances. It was a pleasure to meet you Ms Lane but if you’ll excuse me please.” With that Bruce got up from the table and made his way across the room, disappearing from her line of sight.

Turning to Clark she slapped his arm, “Why didn’t you tell me there’s something going on between you and Bruce Wayne?”

“What”

“Come on Clark, after sitting through all of that you can’t tell me that was the first time you’ve met him, I won’t judge you if you’re in some sort of relationship with him but maybe it’s not the best idea for you to be getting quotes or any sort of interview from him as it won’t be unbiased.” Clark stared at her in shock, opening and closing his mouth a couple times, being unsure as to what to say.

This is the first fic I ever posted on AO3 so it is definitely not my best. I enjoy the storyline though and one day I'll probably retype it but for now this is what you get.

[ggomos-maribat]

[68/?]

original prompt | complete masterlist

The gala is in a full swing—already too lively for Marinette's taste. She's grown too tired from sipping on her refreshments and staring at the rich people singing faux praises and other people of the press trying to curry favor with them. Her cheeks ache from forcefully polite smiles, and her feet throb from her heels. 

A man approaches her: a reporter, no doubt. Neatly groomed and airing out confidence. 

"Miss Wayne." He grins. "Or shall I say MDC? Jamison Bowen, Gotham Gazette." 

Marinette raises her eyebrows. "Pleased to make your acquaintance." 

"No, it is all my pleasure." He shakes his head. "I never imagined meeting the famous fashion designer who rocked the entire world. It must be a busy life for you." 

"It is." She keeps her tone lively but words brief. Anything she says might end up in headline print after all. 

"But it must be easy, you know, being a Wayne and all that." He laughs, looking towards Bruce Wayne in his 'Brucie' element while entertaining some of the guests. "You are truly lucky, Miss." 

Marinette lowers her glass. "I'm sorry? What is that supposed to mean?" 

"Oh, I just thought that you are fortunate enough to be bear one of the most important names in the business world and have that help you in nurturing your talent—" 

"I have been designing and taking commissions since I was thirteen, Monsieur. Even before I came to live with my father. Before I knew he was my father. I can list off a few names who can vouch for me." Marinette clenches her jaw.

Jamison pales and visibly backtracks. "Right, right, I'm aware of that, yes. I only meant that—that—your father must be really proud of you. Among all his children . . ."

"His children?"

"Yes." He wears a tight smile. "With his first ward always absent, his second having strange rumors about him, and the third! The third can't quite act like a proper CEO with his childish antics. And that quiet girl, and violent boy, and is it true that Bruce was just forced to adopt that last one?" 

Marinette is a hair's breadth away from breaking her glass with her bare hands. She's used to the rumors surrounding her, but hearing the insults about her family makes her want to strangle this man. 

He laughs again. "Oh well, but what to expect? That's Bruce Wayne after all. Eccentric billionaire with eccentric children. Except you, of course." 

Her hands clench and shake as she averts her eyes. Don't cause a scene. Not here, Mari. It'll only bring trouble.

"It's astounding that you ever qualified as a journalist," a new voice chimes in. 

"Mi—Miss Lane." The reporter does a double take. "It's an honor—" 

"You dared to criticize the Wayne family in front of Marinette herself. You're a dead man walking, Bowen," Lois says icily.

"But—but I was just—" he sputters. 

"I suggest you leave before I have you fired myself." 

That does the trick. He scurries away pitifully, in search of another socialite to prey on. 

The tension leaves from Marinette's shoulders. "Thank you, auntie," she sighs in relief. "I'm sorry, I—I don't normally get riled up by these things and—and I know my siblings couldn't care less about what others think of them but . . ." 

"It's okay, sweetie." Lois puts a hand on her shoulder. "If it were me, I would've socked him straight on the face already." 

A familiar bespectacled man joins them, bringing drinks for himself and Lois. "And if it were me, I would've launched him straight to space. You handled that well, Marinette."

"Dad's better at . . . Pretending," Marinette mumbles. 

Clark snorts. "Not all of us can be Brucie." 

"It's okay to get angry, especially from that," Lois reassures, "Your siblings and father would've felt the same." 

Marinette tucks a hair behind her ear. "Do you guys have work tonight or . . .?" 

"We can join you for the rest of the night," Lois offers, smiling softly.

Taglist: @tinybrie @sinoffalsejudgement @its-maemain @kamarallil @toughluna @golden-promises @whatamoodhoney @trippingovermyfeet @m4ster0fnone @alexizlazy @plz-excuse-my-inner-gay @maybeanalien0-0 @imchaotic-dontmindme @ev-cupcake @flowers-n-fandoms @crusherccme @ji-nk-ies @depressed-bitchy-demon @duskyashe @multplelifes @authorpendragging@iloontjeboontje@thatonecroc@user00000003@paradoxaloccurance@kking13@laydeekrayzee@chaos-inperson@astol07@the-coffee-fandom@nerd-nowandforever@nightmarewasteland@certainmuffinbagelcalzone@the-hospitality-of-knives@stainedglassm@talia-scar123@trying414@starling218@buginetye@ascetic-orange@myazael@child-of-the-clouds@ladythugs@adrestar@therealkotlc@blueneko9314@kinda-craz-fan@kitsun3699 @talia-scar123 @ghostdoodlen@maribat01

[duckingwriting]

What's this? Another NEW fic in less than 24 hours? Why yes. Yes it is.

In a FB group, someone made a comment about these two dating when Clark doesn't know Batman's secret identity. And I love fake relationships sooo...

Rating: Explicit Category: M/M Fandom: Batman - All Media Types, Superman All Media Types(not really based in any one verse) Relationship: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne Characters: Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Martha Kent, Alfred Pennyworth, other's mentioned Additional Tags: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Secret Identity, finding out about secret identity, Secret Identity Revealed, Pining, friends(kinda) to lovers Words: 4,691

For those that like reading on AO3, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I appreciate the hits and here is your link.

For those that don't the story is bellow the cut!

It was supposed to be simple. Just publicity. Playboy Bruce Wayne and the man of steel Superman. And Wayne had agreed to it. He had smiled and laughed when it was proposed to him. It rubbed Clark wrong to be used that way. To be nothing more than another notch in the pile of Wayne flings was not something the boy from Kansas had ever planned for himself. But Clark had agreed. When he had brought it up to the League he had expected the dark knight of Gotham to list logical reasons not to...but when Clark had turned his blue eyes to him the bat was surprised. 

"Why would I say no?" Batman had growled in the voice that always sent a shiver down Clark's spine. Clark had always hoped for a closer relationship with the secretive man, they worked well together. Clark had grown to look forward to his dry wit. He knew it was one sided. Knew the other man would never actually see him the way he wanted to be seen. But it had still hurt so damn much to be told that he should date, even fake date, someone else.

With Batman in agreement to the plan the rest of the league agreed easily enough so the whirlwind affair between the man of steel of Metropolis and the most eligible bachelor playboy of Gotham City. 

According to the tabloids it started like all affairs between a superhero and civilian always did. A rescue with some extra chemistry. So when Bruce Wayne got himself being held up for ransom, instead of Batman saving the day, Superman swooped in. Clark made sure Lois and Jimmy were in position to capture the picture of him swooping in and holding Bruce in his arms. He was surprised by how well the other man fit, almost as surprised by the muscle he could feel beneath the suit. He supposed given the active sex life the other man had it made sense that he would be developed.

They both pretended not to know about the cameras pointed at them when Superman landed and placed the billionaire on his own feet. Bruce Wayne's hands had trailed over Clark's shoulders and chest as he thanked him for the save. 

Clark swore he would not be an actual notch in the man’s bed post. Just one in the tabloids. 

He silently swore to write a lengthy apology letter to Ma and Pa.

=-=

Clark held the billionaire close, as he stared down at him. The noise of the gala disappearing into the back of his mind. The only thing he could focus on was pressing his mouth against the other man's again. So Clark did it again. The first kiss had been instigated by Bruce. Really it had been such a soft gentle touch. Barely even though in reality. Just enough to give the tabloids more to talk about with superman attending Bruce Wayne's party of the year. But the smooth touch had lit something deep in Clark's soul. 

Clark tangled his fingers into Bruce's dark locks and held him close. Lights flashed and Clark knew they would make the front page. That was the goal after all. But he wanted more. Spending time with Bruce, Clark was starting to wonder if being a notch in his bed post would be such a horrible idea. 

"Well well well," Bruce grinned up at him with a too bright smile. "Here I thought you weren't going to give into me."

"I still haven’t." Clark countered. But he let his hands slide down and groped the Billionaire. Bruce rocked his hips forward against Clark and Clark had to close his eyes to remind himself that he was in his super suit and it did not hide much. 

Then there was a scream. Clark's head jerked away as he focused in on the sound. "I have to go."

"Go save the innocent. Maybe there will be a reward for you tonight." Bruce gave him a last kiss for the reporters before Clark left with only a light breeze and the paparazzi pictures as the only proof he had ever been there. 

=-=

"Are you okay, Batman?" Clark hovered near the other man's side where they say in the infirmary.

"I'll be fine." Batman answered watching as Oliver Queen finished getting patched up.

"If you take off the armor I could take a look?" Clark offered looking at Gotham knight. If he didn't know better Clark would swear that the other man had some kind of heat vision from the glare directed at him.

"I don't need your help." Batman stated firmly and Clark sighed but let it drop. He was not sure what he was expecting, it wasn't like Batman ever really gave him the time of day. Instead he turned xray vision on the other members of the team without lead lined suits to check and make sure all broken bones were being attended to. He had been hoping to talk to the man enough to convince him to help Clark get out of his fake relationship with Bruce Wayne but he figured now was probably not the time for it to happen. He rolled his shoulders instead. 

"Don't you have a date tonight?" Hal grinned from where he stood against the counter tossing a glass of some liquid back and forth. "How is the little rich brat?"

Clark rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. "It was the Gala. I left him there. There were photographs."

Diana narrowed her eyes on him and Clark was forced to look away from her. He knew it would not end well for him if she got suspicious. She always seemed to know him better than he knew himself. It was not that he did not want to face the feelings he was developing for the other man. He just did not want to face the heartbreak that he knew would be coming.

"Are you gonna take him home to the farm?" Hal laughed as Barry came up and snatched the jar from him, setting it aside before he could do something stupid like drop it.

Clark blinked at the other man. It was completely ridiculous.  The image of billionaire Bruce Wayne in Smallville Kansas. Sipping coffee and talking to Ma and Pa at their worn kitchen table. Clark grinned, it was perfect. He did not have to be the one to break it off with Bruce before his heart got too tangled up with the man. He could get the other man to do it. "Maybe I will."

Rendering Hal speechless was glorious. Clark turned to Batman, hoping to see his lips twitch slightly as he often did when he was impressed with something Clark did. But the bat was gone. Clark's shoulders slumped slightly. Saying goodbye to the rest of the team Clark left the watch tower. He wondered if it would be easier if he gave up on men. He couldn't ever seem to develop feelings for any that were within his reach. Batman and his distrust and secrets. And Bruce Wayne with his mile long list of broken hearts littering his red carpet. He chose to go home instead of the Gala. He needed to get his emotions under control so he could enact his plan to save his heart.

=-=

Introducing Bruce Wayne to his ma and pa was a disaster. 

Not that it went badly, the opposite in fact. Bruce was polite and kind. And he did not seem out of place sitting at their kitchen table. Initially Ma and Pa had been a bit tense but had eventually relaxed around the man who had more smile than brains. Clark had hoped Bruce would baulk at meeting the parents. That seemed far too much of a relationship for the man's past. But he had only nodded his head and agreed to go. He joked that Clark had already met Alfred, the closest thing he had to a father. Alfred and sighed and made a comment about having too many children. Clark had laughed. 

Bruce shared stories about his children with the Kents who in turn shared stories about Clark. He almost forgot that this was not supposed to be a real relationship when Pa offered to show Bruce a few tricks handling cows that may help the Billionaire who admitted his son had gotten a pet cow. 

"Clark, dear, will you help me in the kitchen?" Ma asked. Clark watched Bruce and Pa for a moment before joining his ma in the kitchen rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Yes, Ma?" He knew that at some point his ma would ask why he had brought his fake boyfriend home, after all he had told them the truth so they wouldn't be swept up in the media flurry and think he had hidden something from them.

"Are you sure this relationship is what you claimed?" Ma was elbow deep in soap water and Clark reached for a towel to start drying the dishes as she put them in the rack.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about." Clark could not meet her gaze. He could lie to Diana better than Ma. While touching her lasso.

"Clark Joseph Kent."

Clark sighed and stared down at the plate in his hand. "I'm sure that's all it's supposed to be, Ma. Bruce...I'm sure you've read about him. It's just publicity for Wayne Enterprises and the League."

"Mmm..." Ma hummed and handed the next plate to Clark. "Perhaps. But there are no papers here. Why would he agree to meet your parents if it's just a show? Not many know Clark Kent and Superman are the same."

Clark had not thought about that and his head jerked up and he looked at Ma with wide eyes. Why had Bruce agreed to this? Could he be as immune to Clark as Clark thought? Or was he sliding just as much as Clark was?

"Your father and I love and support you no matter what." Ma squeezed his arm once before the door opened and Bruce and Pa came in.

"You can bring your boys over some time." Pa was nodding his head. 

"Thank you. I'll talk to them and Clark about it some time." Bruce glanced towards Clark and Clark felt his heart beat picking up as he stared back at the too blue eyes. Before he could stop the image he saw an image of Bruce and his boys, even the angry one who seemed to hate Bruce as much as he loved the family, here on the farm with Ma and Pa. It was chaos and crazy. Damien would be demanding his father let him bring some of the animals home in the entitled way he had. He could see Dick rolling his eyes as Damien snuck a chicken away. Probably with Jason's help because it would annoy Bruce. Bruce would try to pay for the bird. Ma and Pa would deny the money but Bruce would be just as stubborn as his son and be paying far more than stupid bird was worth. They'd have to keep Tim away from the equipment because he would try to make something run better. Dick would be walking beams in the barn. Alfred would be sharing stories with Ma. Pa would be with Tim. And Clark could kiss Bruce. 

It would be perfect.

"I'll let you know when I figure it out Ma." Clark smiled at his mother, giving her cheek a light kiss before going to hug his father then turning to Bruce. "Shall we?"

=-=

Bruce let out a soft moan as Clark's mouth moved along his neck while he backed the other man towards his massive bed. Bruce had his fingers threaded into Clark's hair and held him close. 

"You know, you could have dropped me at the front door?" Bruce sounded breathless and Clark decided he could get lost in the breathless moans. He gave a small grunt of acknowledgement and glanced up to the other's hooded blue eyes. 

"I can go if you want?" Clark offered. He did not consider that the other man might not want him. He thought for sure since the trip to his parents that he was seeing the signs and encouragement for more the other was sending him, but maybe Clark had been wrong.

"No." Bruce said firmly moving his hands to Clark's face with a soft smile. "No I want you right here. I just want you to be sure too. You didn't seem eager to be in my bed when this started."

"Things change." Clark leaned forward and captured the other man's mouth while carefully lowering their bodies to the bed.  Bruce put no resistance to the soft pressure Clark used to push his thighs apart. Clark pulled back and stared down at Bruce, his hand resting on his stomach. Slowly Clark closed his fist around the other man's button down shirt and started pulling it from his pants. Bruce slid his hands down to the red stylized S belt buckle. After clicking the belt open Bruce slid his hands up under Clark’s shirt and started pushing it up to take it off. Clark swallowed when their shirts were off. Clark had assumed Bruce was well built but had not thought about how built he actually was. If Clark did not know better he would think the billionaire did more than sit in an office most days. His own pants were becoming uncomfortably tight.

"Yes, they do." Bruce agreed leaning forward and flicking his tongue at the other man's nipple. Clark groaned at the feel of the other man slowly letting his lips close around his nipple. Clark dropped his gaze to stare back at Bruce while Bruce sucked on his skin. Clark couldn't bruise from such an action but it was obvious that Bruce was going to be putting in an effort to make it appear as if he was going to be bruised. Clark would walk away with his skin unmarked but it would not be for lack of trying. So instead of worrying about it and letting his mind run away with his own thoughts Clark pulled Bruce’s head back and moved his mouth to the other man's neck and began to lightly suck on his neck and bring a darkened bruise to the neck without any effort.

"Fuck." Bruce gasped lifting his hips to meet Clark's as Clark laid him down on the bed. Bruce spread his legs to let Clark begin to slowly grind against him. Bruce knew that he would not leave any marks in his skin but he still slid his nails down Clark’s back as if he could actually leave a mark. Clark moaned in appreciation as his hands moved to open Bruce’s pants and start moving them off the other man before moving to remove his own pants, their shoes thumping to the ground together.

Clark thought it was ridiculous to find the sound comforting, but something about it sounded so domestic to him. Their shoes living together on the ground. Clark moved his mouth back to Bruce's and moaned when he pushed his hips forward again and his cock rubbed against the other man's cock. 

"In the drawer." Bruce gasped as Clark gripped his hips and ground himself against him in turn. "There's lube, in the drawer."

Clark hesitated, there was lube in the side table. Bruce kept lube by his bed. He knew the man could be pleasuring himself, but then he thought of his reputation and that seemed unlikely. Did he really want to become just another notch on Bruce Wayne's bed post.

"Clark?" Bruce's hands lightly touched Clark's cheeks as he lifted his head to meet his eyes. Bruce's blue eyes searched his face and Clark did not know if he found what he was looking for or not. "You can change your mind. It's okay."

Clark considered Bruce's words, this was never part of the plan. He could easily pull away and end this. But that was definitely something he did not want to do. So instead Clark leaned forward, caught Bruce's mouth in another bruising kiss and reached for the lube. Clark was unwilling to release Bruce's mouth as he fumbled with the lube and slowly spread it on his fingers. He slowly pushed his finger into the human. Bruce hissed and arched slightly as the finger entered him Clark froze for a moment before moving his mouth back.

"Alright?" Clark's voice shook.

"Cold." Bruce admitted before rolling his hips back to take the finger deeper. Clark pressed his face into the man's neck before kissing it in apology. He began slowly moving his finger and out of the other. Slowly he carefully added a second finger and Bruce moaned something that sounded far more like pleasure than the sounds he had been making. Clark slowly scissored his fingers in his lover as his own cock twitched in anticipation. 

"For fucks sake, Clark just fuck me already." Bruce gasped as he lifted his hips before thrusting back hard onto the fingers. Clark kissed him again while slowly working his fingers into the billionaire. Clark's own cock throbbed in anticipation but he refrained from thrusting into the other man without preparation. He knew doing so risked harming the human and that was as far from something Clark wanted as he could think of. He wanted this to last. He was reluctant to admit it but he wanted more than the fake relationship they had been grown. His heart beat faster every time he heard the other man talk. He was sure that he was not the only one who felt that the fake relationship was not all that they had. Bruce had agreed to take his children to meet Clark's parents after all.

Clark slowly pulled his fingers out of Bruce and hesitated only a moment before thrusting into the man beneath him with a deep groan.

=-=

"BATMAN!" Clark strained his hearing listening for the dark knight. It had been a simple enough mission for the league, none of them thinking too much on it. Clark had told the league he was planning to end the fake relationship with Bruce and ask the other man if he wanted a real relationship with him. Clark had never been more confident in his decision despite the League not understanding his choice.

Then the call came in.

It was simple extraction.

But then there had been an explosion near Batman's position. The man was not responding to anyone's call. Clark was making his way through the rubble, doing his best to not think the worst. He just wanted to find his team mate and get out. Spotting a dark shape laying unmoving on the ground in a puddle of red, Clark was sure he was going to find a corpse. But then he heard the sound of Batman breathing, saw his chest rising and falling. He landed slowly and carefully rolled the man to his back. Batman moaned in pain and Clark hesitated, the cowl was torn and blood seeped out from beneath the edges. Clark was did not want to invade the other man's privacy. But he had to examine the injury to determine the best course of action. Clark's fingers were gentle as he slowly peeled the cowl off the face.

Clark had super hearing.

Normally he could hear a scream from miles away. But at the moment all he could hear was the sound of his blood pounding in his ears. His entire body was cold and he could not make sense of what he was seeing. He had spent so long studying the face he was cradling in his hands. He swallowed heavily and slowly blinked trying to force his mind to tell him what to do. Clark felt like static filled his head.

Bruce's face crumpled for a moment then a moan of pain left his mouth. His bright blue eyes slowly blinked open and he stared up at Clark's shell shocked face. His blue gaze caught the cowl still dangling in Clark's hand. Clark watched as fear then understanding followed by resignation floated across those eyes Clark had been watching. Eyes he had slowly fallen in love with over the months of their relationship building.

The static in Clark's mind started to clear and became replaced by anger. Batman had pushed him into a relationship with Bruce Wayne. Batman had thought it was a good idea. Because it was his damned idea from the start. Clark had been so sure they had been building a relationship that would rival what their parents had but here he was being shown to be the small town fool played by the big city billionaire. 

"Superman-" Bruce grunted as his head dropped to the ground and a streak of red and blue disappeared into the sky. He closed his eyes and tried to even his breathing. It was inconvenient but he would be fine. Like any other emotions he would just push these ones down. Opening his eyes back up he struggled to bring his wrist up and summon the batmobile to his location. Once inside he set the course for home, struggling to keep his eyes open, knowing Alfred would be furious if he passed out with another concussion. He could only stand letting down one person he cared about a day.

=-=

It was over a week later when Clark made his way to the Wayne manor. Bruce Wayne had not been making any appearances recently, Clark could guess why, and he himself had avoided all Justice League summons. Listening in, because he would not abandon any innocents, but he could not bring himself to face Bruce. He knocked on the door and saw a flash of surprise through Alfred's aged eyes.

"May I assist you?" Alfred tipped his head and stepped aside letting Clark enter the manor.

Clark wanted to run his fingers through his hair, push up glasses he wasn't wearing, but he was in a bright blue suit. And Superman did not fidget. "Is Bruce home?"

Alfred's face flickered through emotions Clark struggled to locate before he finally nodded his head and walked down the hall. "Someone needs to talk some sense into that boy."

Clark tightened his fist around the cowl in his hand. He knew he should just hand it over and leave but he was dying to know why? What had Bruce gained from jerking him around the way he had?

Clark shook his head with a half chuckle when Alfred opened a led lined hidden door to reveal a hidden staircase going down with more led lined walls. Clark offered Alfred a smile and a nod, his mother would never forgive him if he was not polite.

"I didn't think I'd see you."  Bruce did not look away from the computer as he typed. His back was too the stairs and Clark wondered how he even knew he was there.

"I came to return your cowl." Clark stood next to Bruce, glancing down at the human from the corner of his eye while holding out the cowl in his hand. There was another on his desk already. Clark examined the bruised face though he was not quite sure why he was doing it. He reminded himself he was not supposed to care. He should not feel relief at seeing the other man healing.

Bruce nodded his head and stopped typing. "I was going to send this to your email. Let you review it before publishing in the Daily Planet."

Clark hesitated a moment when Bruce scooted away and gestured at the screen. Clark sat the cowl he had been holding down, noting that Bruce still hadn't looked at him and began reading the article. It was clear Bruce did not write articles like this often, Clark found himself re-writing it in his mind as he read through it. He took a deep breath when he reached the end of the article, describing a falling out between Superman and Bruce Wayne. It painted Bruce in a spoiled brat light. Unable to handle dating someone that would go out to save the world when Bruce wanted all  his attention. Ending with a speculation on the billion being with some socialite. 

"So that's it? It's over?" Clark rocked back on his heels. He felt a coil of frustration curling in his stomach as Bruce continued avoiding eye contact.

"I assumed so after nearly two weeks of no contact." Bruce reached up and ran a hand through his hair, flinching when his fingers brushed a still tender bruise. "You've even been avoiding league meetings. I don't know what to make of it Clark."

"Tell me what it was?" Clark wanted to hear from Bruce's own mouth how little he mattered. It hurt when it was his own mind saying it, he knew having Bruce say it would be worse. But Clark was not sure he could move on as quickly if he did not find some kind of closure.

"What it was?" Bruce frowned in confusion, leaning forward and saving the file before setting up an email to send to Clark's work email.

"Yes. Meeting my parents. Introducing me to your kids. The things when the cameras were off." Clark wanted to shake the man who was still not looking at him.

"It was a relationship."

"Why?"

Bruce finally looked at Clark, a confused frown wrinkling his brow. "What?"

"Why was there any relationship beyond," Clark gestured at the computer screen. "What the public got to see?"

Bruce looked away again, his arms folding across his chest defensively. "Because I enjoy your company. Because I thought it was more than an assignment."

Clark would not have heard the words if he had not had super hearing. As it was, he almost missed it anyways. He stared at Bruce, trying to convince his blue eyes to turn back to him through will alone. But the man was not willing to give him even a half glance. He just stared at the wall as if there were answers there that he could not get anywhere else.

So Clark analyzed what he knew.

Playboy Bruce Wayne was confident. Secure in his existence smooth as silk while luring people into his bed. At least according to the papers. That's what the public saw. Batman was confident and one of the best strategists Clark had ever seen. Even Diana was impressed and she had fought the god of war more than once. But in private, Clark had seen a caring father. A man who knew each of his children's individual needs and desires. He thought about the phone call his dad had told him he got after their visit. When Damien and Bruce had talked to Pa about the care of the cow Damien had gotten as a pet.

And then there was this man. Who had written an expose all for him that took the blame for their failed relationship, and was currently waiting for Clark to do something.

'Leave', thought Clark, 'he's waiting for you to leave. Or...'

"Bruce," Clark moved to kneel in front of the human after pushing his chair away. "I'm going to change the article."

Bruce nodded his head, "you're the journalist."

"You didn't leave Superman for some socialite tart." Clark watched the corner of Bruce's lips twitch up when Clark spat the word. "You left him for a little country bumpkin who writes articles for the Daily Planet."

Clark got the pleasure of watching Bruce's eyes widen in surprise. He stood up and leaned over the other man, carefully reaching up to cup his face. He could feel the other's heartbeat pounding beneath his finger tips.

"And is Clark Kent going to expose who it was?"

"Nah, Loise Lane is." Clark's lips hovered over Bruce's lips as they shared breath. "Promise me no more secrets, Bruce."

Bruce was silent for a moment and Clark wondered if he had misread the room. "I should tell you about my Robins then."

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

The Bat and The Man.

by Murmeloni

Bruce and Clark meet at a charity gala while Bruce is running away from a nosy reporter. Since Clark isn't on duty that night (not yet at least) and they immediately hit it off Bruce seeks refuge with him for the night.

Unfortunately, Bruce has to leave for patrol at some point but before he can ask Clark out, he realizes that Clark is actually in a relationship with Lois Lane.

Of Course things are made worse by the fact that Clark is actually supposed to write a story about the Batman, not knowing that he isn't quite as human as he seems to be.

*written for days 4 and 5 of the BruClark Week 2022*

Words: 6625, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Superman - All Media Types

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: M/M

Characters: Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Lois Lane, James "Jimmy" Olsen, Vicki Vale

Relationships: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne

Additional Tags: Eldritch Creature Bruce, Getting Together, Supernatural - Freeform, Fluff, Misunderstandings, Bruce Wayne is Battinson, Clark is actually into monsters

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/42515235

[ragingbookdragon]

The Daughter Of Superman, The Adopted Son Of Batman...What Could Go Wrong? PT. 1

Jason Todd x Kryptonian!Reader One-Shot

Word Count: 3.8K Warnings: Explicit Language

Author's Note: I totally forgot about this one! If you like how cute and fluffy it is, just wait for PT. 2! It gets angsty >:) -Thorne

**********************************************************************

They were pretty lazy teenagers when they weren’t busy saving the world with super speed, strength, and smarts. Even if their textbooks were spread all over his bed they were still too lazy to actually do their homework, instead scrolling through social media apps and trolling all the citizens of San Francisco about the identities of the Young Justice Team.

She glanced up from the advanced calculus textbook and stared at the boy laying across her thighs. “Tim, isn’t your dad hosting a gala this weekend?” he hummed in response, and she asked, “Are we allowed to come?”

He didn’t bother looking up from the tablet he was tapping at and nodded. “Yeah. Bruce already added your names to the list, (Y/N).” a flicker of a smile came over his lips and he added, “Of course I had to wear him down in order to get Bart on the list.”

She looked over at their speedster and grinned. “I’m kinda surprised Bruce actually let you on the list Bart.”

A shocked expression etched across his face and he questioned, “Why do you say that?”

(Y/N) shifted Tim’s head, smiling as he grunted from being moved, and rose from the bed, walking over to the minifridge. She pulled out a soda before jumping back on the bed. “Because between you, Tim, Conner, and me, you’re the one who gets us into the most trouble.” She shifted Tim’s head back into her lap, petting his hair until he smiled.

“I do not!”

“Oh really? Do you remember prom night? It’s been almost two years and they stillcall us and talk about the absolute mess we—well, you caused.”

“That cake wasn’t there when I started running, I swear!” he pointed at Tim. “Tim it wasn’t! You know that!”

The others cackled at his protest, and (Y/N) glanced at Conner. “You gonna bring M’Gann?”

A faint pink tinged his cheeks, and he shifted his gaze down at his physics textbook. “Uh…maybe.”

(Y/N) leaned forward, poking his cheek. “Your heart’s beating pretty fast, little brother.”

He swatted her hand and glared at her. “Shove off.”

She snorted and glanced at Tim. “What about you, Timbers? You going to go with Stephanie?”

“Steph and I aren’t dating anymore, (Y/N).”

“For now. But you two like each other.” She smiled and singsonged, “She’s your first love~”

“What about you?” Tim scowled. “Who’s your date?”

She grunted at him and laid flat in the bed, Bart’s legs under her back. “Are you kidding me? You know my dad won’t let me get a boyfriend, let alone a date to a gala for a night.”

“You’re nineteen, (Y/N). I think you’re allowed to start dating.”

“And my parents help pay for part of my utilities. Does it look like I’m going to do anything to tip that delicate balance of not having to pay for all that?” she sighed. “Dad’s always been that way when it comes to me.”

“Daddy’s little girl.” Conner grinned.

(Y/N) grunted and reached over, shoving Conner off the bed. “Don’t call me that. I am not a daddy’s girl.”

The others laughed at her and Tim quipped, “Yes, you are. You two go on father-daughter dates every month and take pictures to show everyone.” She glared at him and he smiled, continuing, “Maybe we can find a date for you at the gala.”

“You can try. But mom and dad are going to be there. If dad sees me with a boy, he’s liable to lose his mind.” The others laughed again, and (Y/N) rested her head down on Bart’s lap. “I need a dress, Timmy.”

He glanced over at her and tapped a few buttons before showing her the screen. “How does this look?”

(Y/N) took the tablet from him and looked over it, taking in the image of the navy-blue dress. “I like the color, but this is a Cinderella dress. Give me something not as…poofy.” He nodded and took the tablet back, tapped on it, then handed it back to her. “Hmm…too booby.” The other two boys giggled at her answer and Tim sighed, taking the tablet again.

He handed it back to her once more and she looked at the dress. “Mermaid silhouette…sheer side…strappy back…” She glanced up at Tim and nodded. “Got a pair of shoes to match?” He hummed and she grinned. “Then I’ll take it. Thanks Timbers.” He nodded once more, and she nudged Bart. “Oi Allen.”

“What?”

“Don’t run into the cake at the gala, okay? It’ll probably cost more than you.”

“It was an accident! Stop bringing it up!” The others simply laughed at him.

***At The Kent Farm***

“Mom! Dad! Jon! I’m home!” She shut the door behind her and turned, catching Jon who’d launched himself at her. “Kid you’re getting too big to do that.” He laughed at her and she let him down, ruffling his hair. “Where’s mom and dad?”

“Out back with Krypto.” He tugged on her sweatshirt. “Did you bring me anything from the tower, sissy? Did ya? Did ya?”

(Y/N) snorted and rummaged in her pocket, pulling out one of Tim’s crimson shurikens. “Tim gave this to me to give to you.” She handed it to him but held it when he reached for it, “Do not,” she warned firmly, “cut yourself with this or mom and dad will make you give it back after they finish tearing me a new one for giving it to you.”

“I won’t!” he promised and she watched his eyes light up in wonder when he took it. She ruffled his hair once more before walking towards the backdoor.

She stepped outside and saw her dad throwing a ball with Krypto, her mom watching from the back porch; she walked over and leaned down, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “Hey, mom.”

Lois glanced up at her and smiled. “Hey, sweetheart. You’re home early.”

(Y/N) nodded, sitting down beside her. “School let out for the week, and we didn’t have any missions from the Justice League, so I figured I’d spend a few days here instead of cooped up in the tower.”

“I’m glad you decided to come home, hon. It’s always nice when you come back.”

She looked up and saw Clark walking towards her. “Hey, dad.”

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Hey sweetheart, how were the boys?”

“They’re good. We did our usual thing.”

Clark sat on her other side. “Collapse on Tim’s bed and lay around like lethargic teenagers?”

(Y/N) snorted and shoved his shoulder lightly. “We were productive young adults. We finished over-break assignments and reports. Well…mostly. Still got that thirty page physics paper I have to write but…I’ll let that stew awhile.”

He chuckled. “Anything else happen today?”

“Talked about the gala this weekend.” She paused. “You guys are coming too, right?” They nodded and (Y/N) laid back on the porch, pulling out her phone. “Ugh…I remember how badly the Wi-Fi sucked out here. I don’t have any service at all.” She looked at her mom. “I don’t how a journalist like you manages to live in the middle of nowhere like this and still stay sane.”

Lois snorted and thumped her leg. “It’s called satellite service. Now c’mon, let’s go inside. Dinner should be done by now.” (Y/N) rose from the porch and they all began walking in when the sound and feel of rushing air came over them. She and Clark immediately spun, ready to defend themselves when they saw Conner hovering in the sky.

His eyebrows were drawn in slight concern. “(Y/N)! We need you!”

She nodded, shucking off her sweatshirt and pants, revealing the blue suit underneath. The crimson cape billowed around her and she glanced up at him. “What’s the situation?”

“We’ve got simultaneous bank robberies all over SF. Bart and Tim are already on the first few. I came to get you.”

(Y/N) turned to her parents. “Rain check on dinner guys.” She turned in the direction of San Fransisco, eyes darting wildly as she viewed her teammates positions. After a second, she nodded. “I’ve got em, Bart’s on the east, Tim’s on south. You take north and I’ll take west.”

He nodded and she shot up from the ground. They were almost in San Francisco when her father’s voice reached her. “Be careful, (Y/N).”

She curled her fists when the bank doors came into view and responded, “Always am, dad.”

***

“The dress looks fine, (Y/N).”

She glanced up at Tim who was smiling at her; she let out a sigh, letting go of the side strap she’d been tugging, still semi-uncomfortable with how it fit. “I know it does. But I feel like it’s still a little…grown up for me. I’ve never had a dress this open in the back or the sides since…ever.” The boys laughed and she smiled at Bart and Conner. “I forgot how well you two cleaned up.”

Bart pulled at both sides of the bowtie and winked at her, while Conner merely grunted, “I still hate tuxedos.”

“You’re definitely going to hate the long hours of your wedding then.” They laughed once more, and the car pulled around the venue.

Tim looked at them and grinned. “Show time, lady and gents.” They followed him out of the limo, grinning at the cameras as they walked inside.

Immediately, the view made her eyes go wide and she gaped. “Damn…this place is…really big.”

Tim shrugged nonchalantly, “I dunno, the ballroom in Wayne manor is bigger, but definitely more expensive.”

Bart shook his head. “Tim, my dude…we live on minimum wage not a billionaire’s salary.” (Y/N) and Conner simply nodded, still dumbfounded at the sheer size.

Tim rolled his eyes and looked around. “There’s Bruce and the others.”

She glanced in the direction he was looking and she saw her parents with Bruce. “Looks like mom and dad are busy chatting.” The others nodded and she turned to Tim. “What exactly are we supposed to do at a gala?”

“Have fun?” (Y/N) heaved a sigh and stared at him until he said, “You dance and drink and eat. That’s all you do.” He waved his hands. “Go knock yourselves out.”

They started to fan out when (Y/N) called out to them. “Wait!” They paused, turning back around. “We should go talk to Bruce and tell him thanks for inviting us.” They nodded and followed Tim over to Bruce.

He saw them coming and turned, holding out his hand to her. “Good to see you, (Y/N). You look wonderful this evening.”

Her cheeks warmed at the compliment and she smiled, giving his hand a firm shake. “It’s good to see you too, Mister Wayne, you don’t look too bad yourself. Thank you for inviting us to the gala.” The others shook his hand, and she turned to her parents. “Hey mom, dad.”

Lois walked around her and squealed, “You look so beautiful!”

(Y/N) cleared her throat, feeling her cheeks warm as the others smiled in her direction. “Mom…chill out, you’re embarrassing me.” She merely laughed but stepped back over to Clark’s side and (Y/N) looked around. “Bart have you—and he’s already at the buffet table.” Snickers sounded behind her and she sighed. “I’m going to make sure that the bottomless pit doesn’t devour all your food before your guests can eat, Mister Wayne.”

They watched her walk off and when she got over to the table Bart was standing in front of, she saw him shoving food in his mouth. “Oh my god…Bart, what are you doing?”

He turned to her, and swallowed, a sheepish smile crossing his face. “I haven’t eaten anything today,” he licked his thumb clean. “I’m hungry.”

(Y/N) rolled her eyes and sighed. “Just try not to eat your fingers, would you?”

He snorted and pointed to an appetizer. “You should try the pigs-in-a-blanket. They’ve got this sauce on top that’s just—.”

A low voice cut him off. “They have pigs-in-a-blanket! What!” They turned to see a young man a couple years older than them reaching over. “The old man’s never had something this plain at a gala.” He popped one in his mouth, then turned to them. “You’re Timberly’s friends, right?”

They nodded and (Y/N) gazed, something about him tugging at her mind. “I know you from somewhere.” She stared into his teal eyes and suddenly she remembered where she knew him from; she’d never forget those teal eyes and how angry they’d been. “You’re Jason Todd, aren’t you? Bruce’s second son.”

He grinned. “That’s me. Have you and I met before? I have to agree with you, because you look really familiar.”

(Y/N) glared at him and crossed her arms, spitting. “We met in the Hall of Fallen Titans three years ago.”

Jason’s eyes briefly widened, before they narrowed in amusement. “You’re the one who threw me out the third story window after I kicked Timber’s ass.” He chuckled. “You don’t have to worry about all that, doll. Timmy and I are good now. You can ask the speedster about it.”

She continued to glower at him until Bart leaned over, propping his chin on her shoulder. “He’s telling the truth, (Y/N). Tim told me a while back that he and Jason are brothers now.”

Jason nodded and she finally stopped glaring at him. “Just so you know Jason, I can still throw people out windows.”

He smiled and held out a hand, watching her place hers in it; he brought her hand up to his lips and pressed a kiss to the back of it. “I wouldn’t have it any other way, doll.”

Bart poked her side and grinned. “I’m gonna go see Tim and Conner. I’ll leave you two alone.”

He wandered off and (Y/N) pulled her hand back. “So, why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be dead?”

Jason chuckled. “Oh, I was. I got better. We just made up a story about me getting lost, yadda yadda yadda, I’m not important.” He propped his elbow on the wall above her and grinned. “But what is important, is how pretty you look in your dress.”

(Y/N) cocked a brow. “Is that supposed to flatter me?”

“Is it not?”

“It could be a little better.”

He laughed and she found herself smiling along with him. He nodded towards the balcony. “Wanna get some air?”

She nodded, and they walked out into the night. (Y/N) gazed up at the stars and sighed in wonder. “There’s billions of them out there…I’ve never tried to leave earth and go search for them on my own.”

Jason leaned on the railing and gazed at her. “How come?”

(Y/N) shrugged, leaning against the railing too. “Dad’s full Kryptonian…me and Jon are, to use a less than favorable term, half-breeds.” She paused. “I’m not sure if I would survive like dad does out in space.”

“Won’t know ‘til you try.”

She huffed a laugh and looked at him. “If I’m wrong, I might die.”

“And if you try and you’re right, you won’t be dead.”

She shook her head at him, a smile playing at her lips. “You’ve got answers to everything, don’t you, Jason?”

He grinned at her. “I find that being sharp and witty helps with the crowds, doll.” The music sounded from inside the ballroom, and he stepped back, offering her a hand. “May I have this dance?”

(Y/N) rested her hand in his, feeling him pull her close, his other hand resting on her lower back; it was warm against her open skin and she cleared her throat. “I should warn you, I can’t dance to save my life.”

A cocky smirk crossed his lips and he leaned down, his lips brushing her ear. “I can take the lead, doll…all you have to do is give it to me.”

“Your flirtations need work too.”

Jason chuckled in her ear, making her shiver as he pulled back. “I don’t think they do.”

“Arrogance isn’t attractive, Jason.”

“Mhm.”

“It isn’t.”

“I heard you the first time, doll.” As they swayed to the music, he asked, “So, how’d you and Nerd-bird become friends?”

“We met through Conner.”

“The clone?”

“My brother.”

“Sorry.”

“He introduced the two of us, and we’ve been friends ever since.”

“Only friends? Nothing more?”

It was (Y/N)’s turn to smirk and she looked at him. “Are you asking because you want to know if there’s competition?”

He stopped moving and they stood still, her in his arms. “Just want to know if there’s anyone between me and first place.”

She huffed a laugh. “God, you’re something else.” Her eyes found his and she asked, “Do you want to get out of here?”

Jason nodded and stepped back, holding out his hand. “Where do you want to go?”

(Y/N) smirked and stepped forward, closing the distance he’d created, and wrapped an arm around his waist. His teal eyes widened, and she looked back at the party; no one noticed them, and she turned back to face him, “Up, up, and away.” They flew upwards, and she felt him latch onto her. “Why are you acting like I’m going to drop you, Jason?”

He made a waring noise in his throat. “I have a friend who’s an Amazon, and she is…very fond of throwing and dropping me.”

(Y/N) giggled. “Sounds like we’d get along spectacularly. She likes dropping you…I like throwing you out of windows…”

“That was one time. And you caught me when I was off-guard.”

“Uh huh, sure. You got your ass kicked by a sixteen-year-old and I think you’re just bitter.”

He grumbled at her. “Rub it in, why don’t you, doll.” She laughed and lowered them down; their feet hit the roof and he looked at it. “Wayne Enterprises? Why?”

She shrugged. “Cool tower…nice view.” She took a seat on the ledge, listening to him sit beside her.

He leaned over. “Almost romantic…don’t you think?”

(Y/N) eyed him, seeing a goofy smile on his face; she snorted, shoving him lightly. “You’re cheesy.”

“So I’ve been told.”

She glanced back at the water. “You know if this goes anywhere, my dad and your dad aren’t going to be happy.”

Jason snorted, nonchalantly replying, “Doll, there’s a few things I’m afraid of in life. Superman and Batman…are not those things.”

“Is that arrogance or confidence I hear coming through?”

He shrugged. “Probably a bit of both.”

(Y/N) smiled, then she felt his hand rest on hers, letting him link their fingers; she turned her face to him. “Is this the part where you tell me I’m beautiful and ask to kiss me?”

Jason grinned. “No, this is actually the part where I tell you you’re drop dead gorgeous…can I kiss you?”

She giggled, leaning in, and just before his lips brushed hers, she whispered, “You know I can kick your ass, right?”

He groaned. “Should I mention that strong women really do wonders to me?”

(Y/N) huffed a laugh and brought her free hand up, curling in his shirt. “Shut up and kiss me, Jason.”

“With pleasure.” His lips met hers, and she felt him bring his hand up, cupping her cheek. She pulled back ever-so-slightly, but he chased her, pressing his lips to hers again. He let go of her hand and brought his other hand up. He lowered her down until (Y/N)’s back was flat against the ledge; the chill from the stone made her arch her back off it, and press into his chest.

Jason pulled away slightly and smirked at her. “Cold?”

She rolled her eyes at him. “If you want to keep making out, jokes aren’t going to do the job.” He snorted at her and leaned forward again, intent on kissing her senseless when someone cleared their throat, startling them.

They sat up quick as lightning, turning in the direction of the sound. “I wondered where my daughter had flown off to.”

“Oh my god,” she hissed and covered her face with her hands. “Dad. C’mon…seriously?” Clark stepped onto the ledge and walked towards them.

Jason leaned down, whispering, “Is he going to throw me off the ledge?”

This made her giggle despite trying not to and she shoved him. “Shut up, Jason.”

He grinned at her and rose from his position, standing in front of her father. “Mister Kent.”

“That’s my daughter.”

“Oh, I know it is. I still remember how she threw me out of a building a few years ago. I get teary thinking about it.”

The corner of Clarks mouth rose, but then dipped back down, and (Y/N) stood up. “Dad, I’m nineteen. This whole, ‘daddy’s little girl can’t date’ bit, is getting old.” A hurt look crossed his face and she stepped forward, taking his hand. “To you, I’ll always be your little girl, dad. But sooner or later you’ve gotta come to grips with me dating and having…mature relationships.”

Clark held her gaze, then glanced at Jason who grinned and gave a thumbs up. “Does it have to be one of his kids? I mean if it’s going to be, I like Tim.”

“Ew, gross. Tim’s my best friend.”

“What about Dick?”

“Nice butt, but he and Kori are dating.” She paused and smiled at him. “The only one left is Jason, dad.”

Clark eyed Jason once more, then Jason offered, “If it makes you feel any better, I’m slightly afraid of your daughter.”

He sighed. “Thank you, Jason. I can tell.” Turning to her, he cupped her cheek. “It feels like yesterday I was bringing you home for the first time.”

“Dad…stop…we don’t need sentimentality right now.”

Clark hummed and smiled at her, pressing a kiss to her forehead; he turned to Jason and leveled him with a hard look. “I don’t think I need to warn you about what happens if you make her sad.”

Jason gave him a mock salute. “Chances are I’ll be in ICU after I was thrown out a building.”

“Oh my god. Let that go.”

They laughed, and Clark rose from the rooftop. “I’ll need to get back to the party. Don’t do anything crazy.”

They waved him off and (Y/N) turned to Jason. “Do you want to get something to eat?”

He nodded. “There’s a pizza shop down the block from here.”

“Sounds great.” (Y/N) rose a few feet off the roof when she heard a cough behind her.

She spun around and looked down at Jason. “Doll…I don’t know if you know this…but I can’t fly.”

“Whoops. My bad.” She lowered back onto the rooftop and held out her arm.

He walked into it and wrapped an arm around her waist, then tipped his head to her. “Up, up, and away.”

(Y/N) snorted as she rose. “You’re still cheesy, Jason.”

The grip on her waist tightened as he murmured, “I know.”

[creatureofmystry]

MLB x DC Universe Headcannons

I just love the idea of MLB and DC (expecially Batfam cuz Mari is such a Wayne) being in the same universe and crossing over. So one night, I just had an idea overload of different ways the Marinette would know the batfam/be a part of the DC universe. And if any of my shitty ideas somehow inspire or prompt you, then please be my guest. 😊 _

1) “Ladybugs of Past and Present”

Hippolyta, Wonder Woman’s mother, was once a previous holder of the ladybug miraculous. When Fu activated the miraculous and put them in circulation, Hippolyta could feel its magic waking back up. Knowing there must a reason for it to be out, she sent a message to her daughter. Diana searched, finding Marinette and Adrien as the present holders of the ladybug and cat miraculous. She vouched and brought them into the Young Justice program while they also made their own team, Project: Zodiac (or something like that).

[Sometime when Diana takes Marinette to meet Hippolyta]

“Great Hera, Tikki, you have not aged a day” -Hippolyta, cause she does know how to make joke. 

“And I would say the same to you” -Tikki

“Mother, you can make a laugh?” -Wonder Woman, honestly a bit confused cause her mom have never not been serious before.

And Marinette is just speechless cause she’s starstruck meeting Wonder Woman’s mom AND a previous Ladybug holder.

_

2) “Rockstar Niece”

Jagged Stone is Marinette’s Sweet Uncle J. During the summers, Jagged Stone would take Mari with him on tour. HIs summer tours are throughout America, so Mari gets to sightsee the country. Jagged’s first tour that he gets to take Mari on (5-ish), he’s also booked for the annual (for whatever reason) Wayne Summer Gala. When Marinette meets the Waynes, they are so enamoured (Dick and Tim couldn’t help it) that they tell Jagged he’s always invited as a guest, Mari of course being added to the permanent guest list too. About 6 years later, Mari is practically adopted, spending the first half of her summers with Jagged, going to the Wayne Gala, then spending the rest of her summer with the Waynes. Overtime, she figured out the secrets of the family and was there to welcome Jason back from the dead (when that happens). Anyways, now 11(-ish?) Mari meets Damian and the two become good friends… after an… impressionable first meeting.

“Tch, let me guess, you’re another one of father’s adopted strays” -Dami

“YOU MUST BE DAMIAN!!! DICK TOLD ME ABOUT YOU!!” -Marinette, who just ignores what he said for a hug.

“hiiiiiiiiissssssss” -Dami, touchy with touch

“...” sprays water in his face since he decided to act like a cat.

“I say, Master Bruce, the children are getting along quite well” -Alfred

_

3) “Pen Pals” 

Jon Kent and Marinette Dupain-Cheng are part of an international pen-pal program, starting when they were very young (maybe like 4 or 5-ish, super super young) where they told each other everything (Jon can’t just say that his older bro is a clone made from Superman and Lex Luthor’s DNA, or that his dad is Superman, or that his best friend is Robin, but yea. Lois and Clark probably proofread his stuff until he’s like 9) with pictures and everything. When they’re old enough to get phones & stuff, they call, text and vid-chat along with their letters (love without blood). When Mari is maybe 9-11 (somewhere around there) she starts flying over during the summers to hangout with Jon (and his friends and big brother). While there, she meets Kon, Bat fam, and Clark (some who she already knew, some who she didn’t) & lightly hints that she knows who all they are once she figures it out (it didn’t take her long to do so). 

Now whenever she visits and is at Wayne Manor (Jon likes to have sleepovers practically every weekend) while they’re on patrol, Mari subtly messes with their minds (super subtle, they’re the world’s best detectives after all) until they finally look through the cams and see Mari giving them one of those smiles (those shit-grinning cause it’s just so hilarious how it’s gone on for so long) & and a playful wink. 

[5 seconds later]

“Mari!” “Pixie-pop!” “Angel!” “Teacup!”

“Seriously, am I the only one with a normal nickname for her?” -Tim

“Ms. Marinette would like to inform you that ‘it took you long enough’” -Alfred (who so knows that the girl has been playing them since the third night she stayed at the Wayne’s)

“Where are my adoption papers?” -Bruce (who is seriously adopting any talented black-haired child)

_

4) “Mari and Mar’i” 

When Mar’i is young, Dick and Kori take her with them to see Paris (btw, this would be during the winter). They’re strolling along through a park and lose track of Mar’i who finds Marinette (9-10 ish). Marinette comforts and distracts Mar’i while noticing the young(er) girl is Tameranian (her hair is very warm and she’s wearing significantly less layers than should be worn for a human of that age during the winter, plus that sun-kissed skin tone. She’s seen Kori in her fashion magazines (and, from time to time, on the news as an ambassador) so she easily make the connections). Dick and Kori finally spot Mar’i with Mari who introduces herself to them. Mar’i asks if she can see her “Auntinette” again and Marinette just goes “if your parents are okay with it.” Dick and Kori are totally cool with it (not many are willing to watch her and have the time to do it) so they ask Marinette if she can babysit Mar’i whenever (with good pay of course) if she’s up to it (cause she’s still pretty young). Marinette can’t say no to Mar’i’s babydoll eyes (and she’s so much easier compared to Manon, who’s only 2 rn), so of course, she says yes. 

Now Marinette is Mar’is official babysitter and sees Mar’i often whenever her parents drop her off (using zeta tubes to quickly get to Paris and back). Marinette gets treated like an honorary Wayne (cause she’s the most responsible) and gets invited to their family stuff (w/ travel pay taken care of, of course). It doesn’t take her long to realize the fact that she babysits Bruce Wayne’s & BATMAN’S granddaughter, but of course, being the responsible one she is, keeps the secret… while also playing with them via Mar’i.

[One Day]

After Marinette leaves for her plane…

“Uncle Dami!”

“Yes, Spawn?”

“Auntinette said to tell you after she left that Robin’s sut needs a major upgrade & that you look like a traffic light… whatever that’s supposed to mean.”

[Another Day]

“Uncle Jay!”

“What’s up kid?’

“Auntinette said that to let you know that Red Hood doesn’t make any sense ‘cause Red Hood wears a helmet. Not a hood.”

[The next time]

“Uncle Tim!”

Yawn. “yea?”

“Auntie told me to give you this” (pulls out super caffeinated coffee) “and that Red Robin’s cowl is a menace to all things fashion”

[Again…] 

“Daddy!”

“Yes, Starshine?”

“Auntienette said she’s proud of Nightwing’s costume ‘cause it’s one of the only in the batfam that isn’t an astro-city to the fashion society.”

_

5) “Marinette, the one who’s always getting chosen”

Before Mari became (becomes(?)) LB, she comes across a different powerful piece of jewelry, from a different order of guardians where her will of mind is not only her shield from being akumatized, but it is also what drives her powers. That’s right, Mari walks past a flea market and activates a GL ring. The guardians pick up on this activity and send Hal (it is his sector) to check it out. Hal finds the ring with Mari but it still needs the light of a GL to charge and fully work. 

[During the explanation]

“Look, kid-”

“Marinette.” 

“Look, kid, I just need to know why you have that ring.”

“You think I know? I was just walking through the market and all of a sudden, this possessed ring, if that’s even what this is, started following me, then zipped in front of my face til i held my hand up so it can put itself on my finger.” 

“Kid-”

“It’s MARINETTE. Get it wrong one more time and you’ll see why I don’t need a possessed piece of alien jewelry.” -Marinette, making sure you get her name right. “Besides, if I stole it, I would remember. I’m a klepto” -Marinette, probably holding his ring too at this point.

Hal obviously doesn’t want the wrath of the Dupain-Chengs (just the kid Marinette scares him enough), so he tells the guardians that JL will take care of most of Mari’s training (once they get her a lamp for her ring, of course) & has her take part in training at Mt. Justice with the Young Justice team and special training with the Bats. Mari does all this under the guise of an international student exchange program for Mari to stay with the Waynes (not yet knowing that it’s the bat fam) and attends G.A. Mari doesn’t do much, but it takes her 24-36 hours to know who EVERYONE is.

[the next week after settling in]

“Hey, Mars,” -Dick, in his Nightwing gear

“Hey, Di-is the GREATEST SHOW!” -Mari, changing the subject(… not really)

“How long did it take you?”

“Not as long as the Kryptonians…” -Mari, going off into a tangent (still trying to change the subject”

[When Marinette meets Tikki]

Back in Paris:

“Sooo… I’m getting powerful jewelry that gives me powers and a suit, needs to be recharged, and comes from some Order of the Guardians? What’s the difference between you and my ring?” -Marinette, who at this point is very confused as to why she keeps getting picked on for this kind of stuff. 

“One’s alien, one’s magic” -Tikki, hoping Mari will end it there & lowkey hates that the GL Corp. got to her first.

“They’re both non-human made energy sources” -Mari, cause once you’ve seen it once, you’ve seen it all before. 

“You can’t heal the Akuma without the miraculous, and there are more than just rings. Yours are earrings, there are hair clips, bracelets, necklaces and more” -Tikki, after having a minute to think

“Fine, only because you said they’re the only way to heal the, what was it again, akuma?”

_

6) “Their Unofficial Official Barista”

Part of Tim’s job as Co-CEO, is to make sure all the branches are running smoothly, sometimes that means he has to fly abroad to manually check in. Tim goes to Paris to check on the W.E. Paris branch. He goes to a nearby Patisserie (Tom and Sabine’s) to see a young Marinette (somewhere from 8-11) drawing in her sketchbook at the counter. She explains that her parents are at a catering event, but she’s there to man the little bakery. Tim asks for a super caffeinated coffee and Marinette makes it with ease, claiming it was on the house with how bad he looks (and how much sleep the man clearly needs). Tim begs for her knowledge and asks if she can teach his butler. Mari’s willing to show him the next time he comes, so he gets the whole fam to go (viz tubes so they don’t waste time) maybe a week later. Everyone gets their own drink (plus a free pastries) and Marinette teaches Alfred her coffee, but it’s just not the same so Tim, using the tubes, goes to get coffee from the girl whenever he can. 

Mari is horrible at getting up on time (the life of an insomniac, never getting to sleep even if you want and then barely waking up on time) that she is up super early, makes Tim his coffee (plus a croissant) and tries to go back to sleep (making her inevitably late). Tim would walk up to the pick-up counter where his cup and to-go bag is while Marinette runs out of the house to get to school. Eventually, the rest of the Batfam (as well as the Laegue, TT, and YJ) frequent the place, slowly becoming (Dami too) Mari hides it, but she knew all the batfam the first day they came and she showed Alfred how to make the coffee. When the others start making more regular appearances, she learns the identities of YJ team, WW, GLs, and others. Obviously when LB and CN appear as heroes with HM as their villain, they immediately reach out to help. Because 1. Batfam clearly notices that it’s Mari and they sure as heck won’t let her deal with that by herself, and 2. The JL is worrying too much about their favorite barista (even though she’s not really one), especially with the Gigantitan scare. So, of course LB & CN (can’t make him bad everytime) get inducted into YJ.

[After Ladybug finishes defeating Gigantitan and detransforms] 

“Bean! Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?” -Tim, being an even more protective older brother than Dick, which shouldn’t be possible

“Yes, I promise. I’m fine” -Marinette, who just accepts the fact that she’s adopted an older brother (and his famliy)

“Tube over, we’ll have Alfred make sure” -Dick, already pulling out the medical supplies for Alfred.

“I-” 

“You shouldn’t worry your brothers like that, Marinette. Now come over so Alfred can clear you,” -Bruce, who just happens to overhear the conversation

“I’m sorry, Miss Marinette, they are very adamant that you’re in pitch perfect health before going out again,” -Alfred, who’s not actually sorry

“Fine” -Marinette, accepting her fate of her adopted, protective family. 

_

7) “Thicker Than the Blood We’ve Shed”

Why is Marinette so freakishly strong? Because she was trained to be. Before she could even talk, Mari was taught to be an assassin. She and Damian were frenemies, both competing for top spot as best in the League (of Assassins). They often spared together and became rivals who pushed each other (which sounds great in that context if you forget about the fact that they’re killing people and turning it into a competition). When Damian’s care is turned over to Batsy, Mari also comes along for the ride. She implements herself into Dami’s classes at G.A. & watches him from afar. (Damian, not being an idiot, of course knows all this and knows that it’s probably for Mari to give a report to Talia.) When he becomes Robin, Mari obviously knows, but waits to see if anything drastic would happen (his care was given to the Batfam, they had already expected this to happen.) She then heard word of the bounty Talia put on Damian’s head. Marinette knew there wouldn’t be much she could do to help, but she ave Dami a warning about the upcoming situation before fleeing the country. 

From there she got to France, changed her name (it wasn’t originally Marinette, it was Shénqí, chinese for miraculous/magical (or something else if you want)), was adopted by Tom & Sabine, and left her time in the League in the past. When she received Tikki, she didn’t want to be a hero because she didn’t think she deserved it after her up-bringing. Eventually, she did become LB (being a trained assassin does help with lucky charms, considering she was taught how to kill with basically every and anything), and life was good for her. Then Rossi came.

[Gotham field trip]

While at Wayne Tower…

“How idiotic are they?” -Damian, who after reuniting with his long-lost sister-from-a-different-mister (yes, Marinette was able to convince him to say it once), can’t understand the stupidity she has to deal with.

“Are you Robin?” -Mari, who is too tired, so just goes straight into the analogy

“Yes.” -Obvious and simply is.

“Exactly” -Mari, who can’t even put a limit to the amount of thought the one brain cell the class shares doesn’t use. I mean please, the so-called “reporter” believed that the first cosplayer she saw was the actual LB when they don’t even have the same hair! And let’s not forget the origins arc, where LB’s first citizen save was Chloe.

[riley1cannon]

So, about five years ago I stumbled into this DCEU Superbat series that went canon divergent right about the Metropolis Library Gala point in BvS: Dawn of Justice. There were a couple of short stories, “Boats Against the Current” & “Nomal as Blueberry Pie,” and then the longer “Night and Day,” and story number four was begun...and then went dormant in November of 2017. Attempts at reviving it and other WiPs have not gone well, however--fingers crossed and all that--that particular tide may at last be turning, because the long-awaited (well, long-awaited by me anyway) second chapter is in progress, and things look to be going well. Knock wood, it was always going to be short, sort of filler chapter, so that makes it a smidge easier to feel a buzz of confidence. Whether it will go on as planned after that? We shall see.

Anyway, a preview:

Previously on Sitting in the Middle of 42nd Street…

 Well that was new, Lois thought as she eyed the car parked outside Clark’s building.

She got out of the cab, paid the driver, and took a close-up inventory of the car. The General had never had the time of day for flashy cars--“Who needs a Ferrari when you’ve got a Humvee.” She and Lucy had not shared his opinion. Where other teenage girls had pinups of boy bands and hot, hunky actors on their walls, the two of them had put up pictures of the dream cars they would own one day. Well, with a few boy bands and hunks interspersed.

Now Lucy was a suburban mom and drove a Honda CR-V, while Lois tooled around in a ten-year-old Ford Focus. Also known as: real life happens.

Still, it was a free world, and she could pause and lust in her heart for a moment if she wanted to. A car like this warranted that.

Metallic blue, with a convertible top--sensibly left up--it was a Porsche 911 Carrerra Cabriolet: 370 hp at 6500 rpm; 0 to 60 in 4.6 seconds; top track speed 180 miles per hour; with a six-figure starting price to pop the fantasy balloon. Not that she spent a lot of time window shopping online or anything.

So what was a car like that doing in a neighborhood like this? It was a good neighborhood, exactly the kind of place Clark had been looking for when she had helped him with his apartment hunting. It wasn’t a Porsche 911 kind of place, though, and she really didn’t think Clark would have traded his bike in on a razzle-dazzle sports car, even if he could cough up that kind of money. This was the kind of car an A-list celebrity cruised around in, or that a 45-year-old executive having a midlife crisis went out and bought. She thought about some more as she noted the Gotham City plates.

She thought about it all the way up to Clark’s apartment and therefore couldn’t claim to be entirely taken by surprise when the door opened and Bruce Wayne stood there. 

Wearing the vapid smile of a thousand tabloid photos, Gotham City’s playboy prince said, “I’m Bruce Wayne, but you probably know that.” Before Lois could think of how to reply to that or introduce herself, he pointed a finger at her. “Wait, don’t tell me, I’ve got this. You’re Superman’s girlfriend, Lois Lane! Am I right?”

Why, oh why, Lois thought, couldn’t she be the one who shot laser beams from her eyes?

II.

This could have been theirs. Unbidden, the thought flashed through her mind as Lois glanced around the apartment. The record player must be a new addition. Clark had been looking for one, to go with the crate of albums a previous tenant had left behind. The super hadn’t known who or when, sharing his sage insight with Clark: “If they hadda wanted ‘em, they woulda took ‘em when they left.” 

If Clark hadn’t endorsed that logic, he had confided it would have been helpful if they had left a record player as well. The last Lois had heard, he had still been looking for one he liked. That must have changed, she thought, and cast a suspicious look over at Bruce Wayne. 

She didn’t entertain the thought for long. Even supposing Bruce Wayne was in sugar daddy mode, he would go in for expensive flash and dazzle--like that sports car--not a record player, even if it did have a snazzy, retro look to it. Not to mention the whole idea of Clark having a sugar daddy was off the charts wacky.

She could dismiss that in an instant. Far harder to shake off was the pang at not having been there when Clark found a thrift store bargain he couldn’t resist, or when he put the first record on to try it out. She hoped he’d chosen The Drifter’s Greatest Hits. Jonathan and Martha danced to that every year on their anniversary. Martha had told her that once. Even years later, the memory had been so vivid for her that Lois could picture every moment.

And no way was she dwelling on that. No thinking about how she and Clark could have made memories like that. She had made the right decision, for herself, for Clark. She believed that with rock solid certainty. At least on days with no ‘r’ in them.

Today was Thursday.

Her lips quirked with a rueful smile, accompanied by a shake of her head as her gaze landed on a framed photograph. Of course Clark would choose that one to put on display. Only happy memories, she thought as she looked at the photo of her and Clark, Jenny, Steve, and even Perry, all of them sporting red clown noses for last year’s event.

God, she missed that, the serious devotion Clark brought to having fun.

All too aware of being under observation, Lois blinked her eyes clear, nodded to herself, and knew she had bought all the time she could to deal with the elephant in the room.

Bruce Wayne. The Prince of Gotham. Playboy philanthropist with a thousand harebrained escapades to his name. And he was just there, standing in Clark’s living room with a debonair smile on his GQ face. What was up with that? How did Clark even know him?

Ask the obvious questions, she told herself, and work from there. “So where’s Clark?”

“In the shower.”

Huh. All right then. “And what brings you to Metropolis, Mr. Wayne? It’s not your usual stomping grounds.” To the best of her recollection, his attendance at the library gala was the first time he’d been over here in years. Now she thought about it, Clark had run into him at that shindig. The way he told it, they hadn’t exactly hit it off and become best buds, though.

Gotham’s favorite son looked excessively pleased with himself as he smirked and said, “I’m picking Clark up for a date. We’re making it official. You can quote me.”

Something crashed in the bathroom.

[anjuschiffer]

Maribat Prompts/Au/Ideas That Live Rent Free in my Head

A while ago, I said I would share a few things that I’ve been wanting to write...

Damigami (platonic)- Damian decides to make a fencing team at Gotham Academy (because he’s bored) but couldn’t make a team with the minimum amount of members to apply to competitions. Damian decides to venture into competitions on his own, going as far as entering the Cadet World Championships (or juniors...I don’t know much about fencing pls bare with me). While waiting for his match, he decides to check the women’s division and sees Kagami utterly defeat her opponent. He wants to approach her to ask if they could have a match of their own, but is called for his own. After winning his own, he sees Kagami and asks for a match. She tells him that she will be up for a match after winning her next and final match. BOth end up winning their final matches and Damian asks her for that match. She agrees. They become good sparring partners and friends.

Jasonette - Jason and Marinette are neighbors, but have never actually met each other. Mari often works during the day at her boutique while Jason is a stay at home dad with two adopted kids nicknamed Xol and Matt. At night, Mari sometimes checks on the kids because she knows that their father works at night. (The kids like Mari a lot, especially her cooking and baking.) One day, while with the kids, their father comes home early and Mari forgets to breathe. Jason wants to scream at the kids for letting someone in but after getting to know her, he’s okay with Mari looking after the kids while he isn’t there. A week later, Jason is asking Mari for help. To pretend to be the kids’ mother for a home-visit from their school (a nosy parent told the school she often saw the kids by themselves). Mari agrees and chaos ensues (because these kids want their favorite people to stop beating around the bush and get together already).

Luka and Cass (platonic) - Luka (as Viperion) finds Cass during patrol one night and discovers she’s in Paris as an undercover agent for Batman and Co™ for the Hawkmoth situation. (They got their distress signal a week late.) Cass is surprised that he got it correct, Luka explaining that her song told him as much. While Cass remains in Paris, the two share each other’s interests with each other

Adrijon - Clark is wandering around the house, cleaning up the place while Lois is off out of the state to get the scoop on the latest national incident. While picking things around, he starts to notice how pricey and how nice these items look, wondering if they were Kon’s. After all, Kon was dating Tim and Tim always paid for whatever caught Kon’s eye. However, Kon doesn’t recognize any of the sweaters, coats, scarves nor trinkets as his own, leaving Jon as Clark’s only answer. As he enters Jon’s room, he’s met with Jon wearing the latest Gabriel piece from that week’s fashion show in Paris. Clark only then finds out that Jon’s boyfriend was yet again another rich boy. What was it with his sons dating millionaires/billionaires?

Wally x Mari x Jinx - The JL is still young, still getting used to getting requests, especially international ones. So when they get an SOS from Paris, the JL want to send the Teen Titans but can’t so they send Wally and Jinx who meet Chat on one of his solo patrols. They get along well but when they meet Ladybug, the couple immediately click with her. The trio often spend time together, Wally and Jinx always there for Ladybug/Mari (Chat always complaining that Wally and Jinx stole his bff from him). Even after the defeat of HM, Wally and Jinx continue to be there for Mari. 

Corpse Bride inspired Au, Damigami - The Tsuguri’s have an arranged marriage with the Agreste's, but Kagami isn’t exactly on board with the idea (sees how uncomfortable Adrien is to marry her) and wanders through the woods to clear her head. While saying her vows (in hopes of trying to find a way to clear her head), she ‘weds’  Corpsebride!Mari. Mari is shocked at first but whole-heartedly accepts Kagami as her groom. Kagami tries to tell Mari it was a mistake, but Mari doesn’t listen. Kagami finds a way to return to the land of the living for help, only to find out her mother is now marrying her to the Wayne heir Damian. Kagami is then found by Mari and Mari confronts her on ‘cheating’ on her. MIsunderstandings and drama later, Kagami is about to marry Mari when Adrien crashes the wedding. Mari confronts Adrien (they were supposed to get married/had eloped) and ends up clearing the misunderstanding (someone had murdered her on her way to the wedding). Adrien drinks the poison to be able to be with Mari, leaving Kagami by herself. Or at least she thinks so. Damian had called off the wedding, and instead told her if it would be okay to just be friends and get to know each other. She agrees. 

No Miraculous Au, BFF Adrijon- Adrien is on a fashion tour and ends up in Metropolis. He meets Jon but as Jon gets to know Adrien, he finds out about his situation. One thing leads to another and with the help of Bruce, the Kents have a new family member. 

Juleka x Rose x Cass (platonic or romantic) - Juleka and Rose meet Cass on one of Prince Ali’s charities in Paris, a charity where Bruce and Oliver are at. Bruce brought Cass while Oliver brought Artemis. Rose quickly tries to befriend the two but Juleka reminds her to tone it a bit when she notices that the two are having trouble trying to handle Rose’s energeticness. But the girls find themselves getting along, especially Cass. Cass is intrigued by Juleka and Rose’s dynamic, how Rose is able to understand both her and Juleka with little to no words. She finds herself accepted by the two, keeping in touch with them and visiting them (with the help of zeta tubes)

Roynette - While visiting Titan Tower, Speedy meets Red Scara, a new teen who recently wanted a change of pace after defeating her villain in her hometown. While at first he didn’t pay much mind to her, he started to like her after being paired up with her on missions. He couldn’t help but enjoy their missions where they would have to go undercover. He gets to see Red Sacara in so many pretty outfits. He always compliments her, but Scara never fully accepts it. When Roy asks why, Scara says it's because she’s nothing like this. Roy calls bs and when Scara reveals her face, reveals her eyes, Roy couldn’t help but fall in love with her even further. “Who doesn’t love eyes as bright as sapphires and stars freckled across such a loving face?”

Big Sister Mari - Flash brings in a child who he found lost in Central City to the JL. Robin (Dick) watches Barry get scolded by Bruce, only for Barry to tell Mari to tell everyone why she was there. Mari shows off the ring she was wearing, that allowed her to transform into Noir. That it was the last magical item from her Earth, as she had used said magical item to destroy the others (after freeing the Kwami). How she used the knowledge as Guardian to move to another Earth to hide the last miraculous and was looking for a place to live. Bruce takes her in, earning Dick an older sister.

Cassette (I blame Phi for making me have a new fav ship) - Cass was looking through Marinette’s scrapped designs, designs that Marinette loved but others didn’t. Seeing her upset, Cass commissions her to make them for her and she adores wearing them. (Cass always shows them off to her brothers and family)

Cassette - Cass teaching Mari ballet just so that she can always catch Mari.

Cassette - Cass wants to bring a date to the gala. She chooses Mari and practically goes around the Gala to show off her very cute date. 

[highonchocolate]

MariBat PlatNov Day 2: Timeline/Clock

First   Previous   Next   Ao3

FYI: TimKon is a thing

Marinette had been staying with the Kent’s as part of the exchange program she was participating in. Every other Saturday, they would leave Metropolis and go to Gotham so they could spend the weekend with the Waynes. She had grown close to them all, and enjoyed spending time with the chaotic bunch. They were all equally as fond of her, except for Damian. He only tolerated her presence because they had a mutual love for animals. But that was okay! So far, her time in the States had been wonderful, but she couldn’t help but think that with how smoothly her life was going, there was bound to be something drastic and totally awful occurring in the near future. It was on one Saturday morning at the Manor that the wonderful catastrophe she was dreading appeared in the form of a girl in white and blue with spiky pink hair and an umbrella. 

As she sat at the table eating her pancakes, Marinette silently observed the room around her. To her right, Jason and Damian were arguing over their favorite member of the Justice League as Dick observed and occasionally added his own input between mouthfuls of cereal. To her left, Tim was half-dead and gulping coffee as though his life depended on it, while his boyfriend watched worriedly and tried to grab it from him. Alfred was walking towards the kitchen, with the rest of the coffee as Tim looked on sadly. Nearby, Clark, Bruce and Lois were talking over their own meals while Jon chattered excitedly to Damian in between his yelling. Any time he spoke, the older boy would pause his arguing, and turn towards his friend to listen. Smiling to herself, she felt her inner shipper squeal in joy at their adorable antics. 

The peaceful moment was shattered by the appearance of a blue-ringed portal opening up beside the table. The minute it opened, everyone had immediately leapt out of their chairs and grabbed the nearest object available to use as a weapon. Bruce, Clark, Conner and Jason leapt into fighting stances, Dick grabbed his fork as he vaulted over the table, Tim emptied his coffee mug onto the floor and brandished it threateningly, Damian grabbed a katana (when did he have that?!)  and Lois held the neck of a large glass vase in her hands. Marinette simply let her head drop to the table with an audible thunk, and let out a long, loud sigh. “I knew it. I can’t have one normal trip, can I?” She groaned before lifting her head. She felt more than saw the shocked stared of everyone else as she walked over to the newcomer. The stranger was wearing a super suit in white and blue, with a pocket watch and an umbrella in her grasp. Bunny ears poked out of short, violently pink hair to match the tail on the back. “Bunnyx!” She exclaimed. “How are you here?!” The girl grinned at her furious glare. “Hey guys. I need to borrow Mari for a sec, okay? Thanks, bye!” She grabbed the designer by the arm and dragged her into the portal before anyone could say a thing. As the glowing vortex shut behind her, the Manor descended into panicked chaos. They were all freaking out. They had lost Marinette to an unknown person in a portal! They didn’t even know if the stranger was a superhero or supervillain! Immediately, they were racing to the BatCave in hopes of tracking her and figuring out what that person wanted with her.

Meanwhile, in the Burrow, Marinette was panicking. “Bunnyx, what happened?! Is this another Chat Blanc thing? Tikki’s in my bag on my chair! How am I supposed to transform?!” The superheroine in question watched her pace frantically for ten minutes before finally answering her questions. “Chill out, Bug. Max’s suit for the Wayne Gala got ruined next week, so I volunteered to get you so you could fix it!” As she responded, Bunnyx opened a portal into Max’s house and stepped through before dropping her transformation.

“Alix.” Marinette spoke; voice dangerously low. “You portaled to me in front of civilians, because you wanted me to FIX A POPPED STITCH? Not to mention that I live with the Kents and they’re close friends with the Waynes! AND I am MDC, which means I’m invited to the Gala, so you could have come and seen me when you came to Gotham!” At least Max had the decency to look slightly ashamed. Alix merely shrugged nonchalantly, and said “Eh, I’ll send you back immediately if that makes you feel any better.” Marinette set her hands on her hips and began an angry rant. “Alix! You know that you only use your miraculous when you actually need it! Now you’ve exposed yourself to at least ten civilians, and possibly planted a target on my back and yours! The level of irres- ” she was cut off by the girl in question transforming, and opening a portal before shoving her through. As she fell backwards into the living room at the Manor, she continued reprimanding the super heroine even after the portal closed.“-sibility! Next time only call me when the world is ending again!” Marinette yelled towards the couch.

The shocked silence is broken by Jason’s exclamation. “What the actual fuck just happened?!” 

Her head snapped towards him, and upon making eye contact with the rest of the people in the room, she flushed a brilliant shade of red before dropping her face into her palms. “Kwami help me!” She groaned. “How am I supposed to explain this?!”

---

Taglist: @maribat-platonic-november

---

[jasontoddiefor]

Happy Batfam Fanfic Halloween!

As a special, I tracked down some stories dealing with the Halloween classics: ghosts, vampires and zombies! Today you get 24 spooky stories under the cut!

We’ll return to our regular schedule on Sunday with Billionaire Batfam & Galas fanfic recs.

Have fun and don‘t forget to leave these scary authors a comment!

Title: 106 Summary: Clark receives a letter from a mysterious sender every February 29th. Though figuring out the identity of the sender (and the purpose of the letters) gets put on the back burner when Clark Kent meets Bruce Wayne and his world drastically changes. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6139063

Title: A Victorian Farmhouse in Kansas, a Portrait Painted in 1903, a 1920s Reporter, and a Couple Vampires Summary: Lois Lane finds herself in the midst of a mystery with photographs from Clark Kent's desk in the middle. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7195901

Title: All the Living are Dead, and the Dead are All Living Summary: Bruce Wayne first sees the ghosts that fateful night when he watches his parents die. Martha and Thomas Wayne aren't among them. Years later, Homicide Detective Bruce Wayne witnesses the death of the acrobatic Flying Graysons: John, Mary, and their young son Dick. He works to get them justice with the assistance of the youngest Grayson's ghost, but how will he say goodbye when Dick no longer has unfinished business and leaves the mortal plane once and for all? Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1014699

Title: And Lost Boys Fly Summary: Bruce’s children are different; his children will never leave. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1922742

Title: because the night (belongs to lovers) Summary: "Mister Kent," Alfred says, his voice so soft that Clark barely hears him over the noise of the street. "I'm afraid I have some unfortunate news, and I wanted to tell you before the papers do." Clark hesitates, a frown creasing his brow. "What's wrong?" Alfred sighs, the sound rattling through the phone. "I won't mince words, Mister Kent. Master Bruce..." He falters. "Master Bruce passed away this morning." Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11907906

Title: bela lugosi’s dead Summary: Small towns seem even smaller when you’re trying to hide. When the entire family can’t keep a secret, Bruce Wayne--struggling vampire dad--finds out that they’re basically microscopic. “So, since there aren’t as many deer near the town this year, the state’s giving out individual buck tickets.” Jim said. “The seasonal hunters spoke with me, and we were hoping you could, uh,” he looked away, clearly uncomfortable with the subject matter. “...stick to the does until November.” “Stick to the does.” Bruce repeated, raising his eyebrows. “Yeah, uh.” he drew up short, struggling to form a response. “Uh huh, I think we could definitely, uh...do that.” Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15836742

Title: City Limits Summary: Gotham's urban legends aren't always toothless stories. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/691809

Title: Count Bat-cula Summary: Batman is totally not a vampire. No really, he's not. It's not his fault rumors spread. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15470145

Title: Eternal Soliloquy Summary: “Just because I’m not here, doesn’t mean I’m not here,” Jason insists. Not that it makes a difference; no one ever hears him. The one where Jason isn't resurrected, but that's not going to stop him from being a part of the family. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13790433

Title: Flutter, Flutter Little Bat Summary: Jason goes to the Manor on Halloween to hang out with Alfred while everyone else is out. In costume. The problem is, Bruce isn't out. Bruce is home. Jason ends up not hating that as much as he thought he would. Also, Bruce wears a costume to make his son happy. It works. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16449962

Title: I’ll Be Good Summary: Whatever happened to Tim Drake? Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1035662

Title: jason the friendly ghost Summary: Jason isn’t gone. He lives in the memorial case and takes his job of haunting the cave only a little seriously. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1555727

Title: Misadventures in the Mythical Summary: Tim Drake was upset when his parents died. Not distraught, just upset. He was more concerned about what would happen to him now. When Tim's parents die, Bruce Wayne adopts him to make sure that he stays out of the foster system. It isn't long, though, before Tim starts noticing that not everything about the enigmatic Mr Wayne and his two sons, Dick and Jason, is what it appears to be. So, in typical Tim fashion, he begins to investigate. And it all goes downhill from there. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/129933

Title: Shadows Walking Summary: Many have tried to prove once and for all that Batman is a man. They’re tired of listening to all the speculation that he isn’t - that he’s a vampire, and instead of just blood he takes your soul, too. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21205718

Title: Sufficient Unto The Day (The Evil Thereof Remix) Summary: Robin wasn’t supposed to be the scary one. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/386331

Title: The Blood of the Covenant Summary: Bruce was twelve, —but with a birthday only a few days away he insisted everyone call him thirteen— and like most nearly thirteen year olds, Bruce went to school, hated homework, and loved nothing more than a root-beer float from the retro looking corner-store a block from school, or Alfred’s freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. With two eyes, two arms, and two knees he got scratched up from falling down in the grass a few too many times, he looked like most kids his age too. In fact, nothing about Bruce stood out at all among his wealthy classmates, except that he lived in a haunted mansion. Oh and also, his parents should be dead. I.e.: the Waynes Live But Get Turned Into Vampires™ fic literally no one asked for - but I made it angsty (and sweet) anyway. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18593824

Title: The Grave Answered Summary: Exactly six months after Jason's death, Bruce returns to the cemetery to talk to his son. He is almost used to it by now. He talks. The grave never answers. But tonight is different... Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12155388

Title: The Robin Effect Summary: Dick Grayson died on June 27 but his spirit remained lively. The fortune teller foretold it so. Predicted what must always remain true. Dick Grayson will always find a way to live on. To prevail. [AU were Dick never truly meets his end] Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19148227

Title: This is all all all that is real Summary: Bruce keeps seeing Jason after his death. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/889530

Title: Two Forms, One Soul Summary: When Dick Grayson asks Clark Kent for help, Clark finds his teammate and friend Bruce Wayne oddly changed. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/436292

Title: Under The Bed Summary: “He’s not going to eat you, you know.” Batman and Nightwing are vampires. Jason has some concerns. Dick does his best. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1187669

Title: What we leave behind Summary: "Who's Damian?" "My Friend. He lives here too!" - Bruce never managed to resurrect Damian. Now, years after the Waynes have passed on, the new inhabitants of Wayne Manor meet their daughter's imaginary friend. Ghost!Damian fic Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8208338

Title: When the Dead call Summary: Jason returns from the grave with the uncanny ability to see ghosts everywhere he goes, and unfortunately for him, the dead don't care about his carefully laid plans for Bruce and Gotham. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18705049

Title: When the Lightning walks about Summary: After losing their house in Star City, ex-billionaire Oliver Queen and his ward Roy Harper relocate to Gotham in an old abandoned manor. After a strange run-in with a boy, however, the abandoned house doesn't feel quite so abandoned. In fact, there are quite a few faces in the empty halls. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/967477

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

The Bat and The Man.

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/T7pofuL

by Murmeloni

Bruce and Clark meet at a charity gala while Bruce is running away from a nosy reporter. Since Clark isn't on duty that night (not yet at least) and they immediately hit it off Bruce seeks refuge with him for the night.

Unfortunately, Bruce has to leave for patrol at some point but before he can ask Clark out, he realizes that Clark is actually in a relationship with Lois Lane.

Of Course things are made worse by the fact that Clark is actually supposed to write a story about the Batman, not knowing that he isn't quite as human as he seems to be.

*written for days 4 and 5 of the BruClark Week 2022*

Words: 6625, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Superman - All Media Types

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: M/M

Characters: Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Lois Lane, James "Jimmy" Olsen, Vicki Vale

Relationships: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne

Additional Tags: Eldritch Creature Bruce, Getting Together, Supernatural - Freeform, Fluff, Misunderstandings, Bruce Wayne is Battinson, Clark is actually into monsters

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/T7pofuL

[thedcdunce]

Lex Luthor

“Metropolis and her people are mine -- and they'll live or die as I see fit!” - Lex Luthor

Real Name: Alexander Joseph Luthor

Aliases:

Mockingbird

Gender: Male

Height: 6′ 2″

Weight: 210 lbs (95 kg)

Eyes: Green

Hair: Bald

Abilities:

Genius Level Intellect

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic)

Weaknesses:

Arrogance

Equipment:

Kryptonite

Sunstone

Lex Luthor's Warsuit

Universe: New Earth

Base of Operations: Metropolis

Citizenship: American

Parents: 

Lionel Luthor; father

Letitia Luthor; mother

Marital Status: 

Divorced (Elizabeth Perske; wife)

Widowed (Contessa Erica Alexandra del Portenza; wife)

Occupation:

Businessman

Scientist

President of the United States

First Appearance: Swamp Thing Vol 2 #52 (September, 1986)

Last Appearance: Convergence #6 (July, 2015)

Abilities

Genius Level Intellect: Luthor's intelligence is nearly unrivaled, making one of the smartest minds on Earth. Luthor has solved complicated equations in a few minutes and holds a myriad of masters and degrees. He's found cures for diseases in deep thought and found ways to better mankind while still profiting from its destruction.

Business Management: Lex Luthor is one of the most shrewd businessmen in the world, a trait that has earned him an immense fortune. Luthor is not above using cutthroat tactics, unethical practices and illegal operations to maintain the success of his business empire. Lex Luthor virtually owned every business enterprise in the city of Metropolis.

Political Science: Lex Luthor's corporate skills applied just as sharply in the political arena as they did in the boardroom. As President of the United States, he groomed the best candidates to serve as his cabinet members and knew the intricacies of bureaucratic politicking as well as any other former Chief Executive.

Leadership: Although Luthor's tenure as president ended in scandal, he successfully guided the nation during the massive alien invasion. He's led a large amount of supervillain teams and done so quite effectively.

Science: Lex has solved complicated chemical equations in seconds. He understands the variety of powers associated with the human metagene and manipulated it for his own purposes. He claims he found a cure for cancer as well as AIDS but holds them in his personal notes to better bank on it's research.

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic): Lex Luthor is also trained in hand-to-hand combat, though his personal Amazon fighting instructors consider him a sub-par combatant with poor form.

Weaknesses

Arrogance

Equipment

Kryptonite

Sunstone

Lex Luthor's Warsuit

Personality

Luthor is commonly seen as a power-hungry and sadistic villain of pure evil. His sole ambition in life is to destroy Superman so that he can become humanity's rightful champion.

Luthor was already antisocial and bitter during his childhood. Having endured continuous abuse from his father and mother, Luthor murdered them and made their deaths look like an accident. Since then, Luthor has become more and more ruthless, seeing people as tools to be manipulated or as enemies to be destroyed. His hatred grew even more when Superman first appeared, as Luthor believed the people of Metropolis had replaced him for Superman as the city's savior. Swearing vengeance on Superman, Luthor has tried to destroy the Man of Steel for an eternity.

For all his attempts to destroy Superman, Luthor sees himself as a hero and Superman as a villain. He believes Superman's heroic acts are an obstacle for human progress. Luthor has stated on many occasions that after he destroys Superman, he will work towards the betterment of mankind. However, Superman has proven that Luthor will not keep this supposed promise, noting that Luthor did nothing during Superman's year-long absence after his fight with Superboy-Prime but find an old Kryptonian warship to break things.

Luthor's primary handicap in facing Superman and other heroes has always been his arrogance. As he fundamentally defines himself by his opposition to Superman, he believes that the reverse is also true, convinced that most of Superman's actions are simply to prove that he is 'better' than Luthor, incapable of recognizing how Superman and other heroes would do good for the sake of it.

Despite his crimes, Luthor has established an image as a wealthy philanthropist and manages to maintain a notable political popularity.

Early Life

Lex Luthor was born and raised in the poverty stricken area of Metropolis known as Suicide Slum, the child of abusive parents, with a fierce desire to better himself. Cunning, vengeful and ambitious even at a young age, Lex was every bit the charismatic and malicious manipulator he is in his adulthood. Such that he could enlist the ne'er-do-well's of the ghetto to dispatch bullies for him, was a habitual misogynist who was cruel to the girls of his classroom, his own teachers were even frightened by him. And as a teenager, young Lex engineered the deaths of his parents by paying off or threatening their auto-mechanic to sabotage their automobile in order to profit from a large life insurance policy he had taken out in their names, and went on to found his own company LexCorp.

Luthor the Businessman

Lex turned the company into a multi-national corporation that would ultimately come to dominate the city of Metropolis. With it he owns every media corporation in the city and uses them to reinforce his public image as a wealthy benefactor. The one paper outlet that had always stood free was the Daily Planet. One such critic was the young reporter, and Editor In Chief, Perry White. Luthor detested White, due to his outspoken attitudes and a release by the Planet condemning his actions with an outrageous editorial signed by White himself. As a result, when Clark Kent is first inducted into the Planet, the newspaper is almost bankrupt, dilapidated, and unable to afford new reporters. Luthor made many criminal connections and industries, anything to help him rise to be the unchallenged master of Metropolis. His legitimate businesses attached to LexCorp cover a variety of enterprises ranging from telephone companies to personal gaming devices. As part of his image, Lex created the illusion of being a caring philanthropist. He became the most powerful man in Metropolis, both financially and in the world of organized crime. Lex would create havoc on the streets by selling weapons to the gangs of Metropolis and using his primarily female staff of underlings to keep blackmail files on all of the major organized crime groups in the city. Lex could use them to further any schemes he had planned. However, this all ended with the arrival of Superman.

Superman Arrives

Several months after Superman first arrived in Metropolis, terrorists attacked a society gala aboard Luthor's yacht. Lois Lane, whom Luthor had tried to romance as a ninth trophy wife some time before, was present during the attack which was stopped by Superman. Luthor tried unsuccessfully to hire Superman as a bodyguard. But when he admitted that he had known the attack was to occur and had allowed it to proceed in order to see Superman in action first hand, Mayor Berkowitz deputized Superman on the spot to arrest Luthor for reckless endangerment. He avoided prison thanks to a legal technicality, but still had to endure the humiliation of being publicly led away under arrest.

Luthor vowed to destroy Superman for this humiliation, and he has since devoted much time and energy to that goal. An early attempt led to the creation of an imperfect clone of Superman meant to destroy him, but was unsuccessful because Superman's alien DNA made the clone unstable. Luthor continued his vendetta. He was a man driven to be the best, having fought his way up from lowly beginnings by his own efforts, and was resentful of how Superman was given his powers by random fate of birth. Superman survived subsequent attempts Luthor made on his life, but he had never been able to prove Luthor's role in the attacks. Aside from Lex's immense wealth and connections, he was able to weasel his way out of trouble due to the fact that Superman, being liable as a witness, would have to reveal his true identity in court to testify against him.

Kryptonite Power

Luthor soon acquired the only known sample of Kryptonite on Earth from the kryptonite-powered cyborg Metallo, whom LexCorp abducted just before Metallo succeeded in killing Superman. Fashioning a signet ring from the alien ore deadly to Superman, Luthor began wearing it constantly to ward off his enemy. Unfortunately, Luthor suffered from severe cancer in the 1990s, caused by long-term radiation exposure to his Kryptonite ring. Later, he would find a way to protect himself from its side effects. He also discovered more than one kind of Kryptonite, which he would later use in his battles against Superman.

Faking his Own Death

Luthor's hand soon had to be amputated and replaced by a prosthetic version to prevent the cancer's spread, but unfortunately by then it had already metastasized. It was eventually determined that the disease was terminal. Luthor faked his own death shortly afterward by taking his personally designed jet, the Lexwing, on a proposed trip around the world. He crashed it in the Andes of Peru as a cover for the transplant of his brain into a healthy clone of himself which he passed off as his hitherto unknown son and heir by Dr. Gretchen Kelley, Lex Luthor II. The young Luthor had apparently been secretly raised by foster parents in Australia to protect him from his father's enemies. This deception was bolstered by his new body having a full head of red hair and a beard, as well as the appropriate Australian accent created through use of audio teaching tapes.

Send in the Clone

Luthor used his new identity as his own son to seduce Supergirl and continue to torment Superman from the shadows. However, everything quickly fell apart when Luthor's new clone body began to deteriorate and age at a rapid rate. This caused Luthor to begin to slip. Lois Lane discovered proof that Lex Luthor had murdered a female LexCorp employee and framed an innocent man for the murder years earlier. This led to Lois finding the truth about Lex faking his death and being his own son. This caused Luthor to systematically destroy Lois's life and have her fired from the Daily Planet. Lois fought back, and with help from Superman, exposed the truth about Lex Luthor, his faked death, and his evil criminal activities to the public. Luthor, right before his body became so old that he couldn't move or communicate, activated a "Doomsday Plan" to destroy Metropolis. The city was burned to the ground and thousands killed as Luthor became a permanent prisoner in his cloned body. However, aid would come in the form of the demon Neron. Luthor sold his soul in exchange for Neron restoring his body to perfect health. Returning to a rebuilt Metropolis, Luthor turned himself over to the police and was put on trial. He was acquitted of all crimes when Luthor claimed to have been kidnapped by renegade scientists who replaced him with a clone responsible for all the crimes he was charged with.

Luthor the Philanthropist

Lex Luthor had cultivated a popular image as a great philanthropist. He had been instrumental in reverse-engineering alien technology for use in general consumer goods, upgrading Metropolis into a true "City of Tomorrow." When Gotham City was destroyed by an earthquake and abandoned by the American government, it was LexCorp that took up the massive task of rebuilding the city. Later, Luthor also played an instrumental role in assisting the Justice League in recharging the sun during the Final Night storyline.

Despite his hatred for Lois Lane for temporarily bringing down his evil criminal empire, Lex Luthor has an unspoken love for her. On several occasions Luthor has commented that had Superman not arrived in Metropolis, Lex would have used his time and energy to romantically pursue Lois and marry her. He has been married eight times in his life, though the first seven marriages occurred off-panel in Luthor's past sometime before Superman showed up in Metropolis. While his previous seven marriages were hinted to have been based on love, Luthor's eighth marriage to Contessa Erica Alexandra del Portenza was a marriage that was based on mutual manipulation and greed. The Contessa had bought controlling interest in LexCorp after Luthor was exposed as evil, forcing Lex into a marriage with her in order to regain control over the company. The marriage was doomed from the beginning as the two fought constantly and never loved each other. The Contessa became pregnant with Lex's child and began using the unborn child to dominate Lex into doing her bidding. Luthor's response to the Contessa's actions was to use her desire to be unconscious during childbirth to lock her in the basement of his corporate headquarters in a permanently-drugged unconscious state. Luthor took over as a single father to his daughter and vowed never to marry again, stating that he wanted to never have to share his daughter's love with anyone else. It was later implied that Lex killed the Contessa months afterward, although no body was ever found.

President of the United States

Lex became the President of the United States, winning the election on a platform of promoting technological progresses for the common people. His first action as President was to take a proposed moratorium on fossil-based fuels to U.S. Congress in hopes of putting "a flying car in every garage". Despite Luthor's more villainous traits, he was assisted by the extreme unpopularity of the previous administration due to its mishandling of the No Man's Land crisis. Ironically, Batman would ultimately learn that Luthor was involved in the mishandling of the Gotham City rebuilding process, provoking Bruce Wayne to sever all military contract ties between the U.S. government and Wayne Enterprises. Luthor responded by ordering the murder of Batman's lover Vesper Fairchild and framing Bruce Wayne for the murder.

One of the greater successes that came with his emancipation presented itself in the form of the ultimate revelation. A CIA informant presented him with the surveillance footage of an extraterrestrial object landing near Smallville, Kansas. Wishing to keep this information personal, Lex disintegrated his lowly whitsleblower while pretending it was a mess to be cleaned up as he ruminated over the epiphany of "Clark Kent is Superman". He would soon lose this information along with any memory of extra backups of it when Manchester Black, former head of his presidential sanctioned Suicide Squad, erased it from his mind moments before committing suicide.

An early triumph of his political career was his handling of the Imperiex War, in which he coordinated the U.S. Army, Earth's superheroes and a number of untrustworthy alien forces to battle the story's villain, Imperiex. However, as it would later be revealed, Lex knew about the alien invasion in advance and did nothing to alert Earth's heroes to it.

Impeachment

Lex Luthor finally accepted Superman's secret identity as Clark Kent. He had been aware of this from their earliest meetings but refused to accept it for his own personal belief that people of power always crave and reflect themselves as people of power, never as one of the masses. Thus, to Luthor, a being like Superman would never try and pass himself off as Clark Kent who was less than extraordinary. In a story published in 2002, a lowly scientist was able to get a meeting with Lex and reveal top secret government documents showing the rocket containing baby Superman crashing near the farm of Martha and Jonathan Kent. Killing the scientist, Lex surprisingly decided to keep the knowledge a secret. He did so regardless that Clark Kent took the fall for Lois publishing proof that Lex Luthor knew of the alien invasion of "Our Worlds At War," but had opted not to make any defensive plans to save the people of Kansas from attack. Clark was fired from the Daily Planet as a result of Manchester Black using his telepathic powers on an unknowing Lex to allow him to pass an assortment of lie detector tests to prove that Lois and Clark's story was a lie. When Manchester Black tried to kill Superman and his friends and family, Luthor came to Superman's aid. He admitted that he had kept Superman's identity as Clark Kent secret both out of a sense of nostalgia for their past confrontations and the knowledge that revealing the truth about Superman would endanger Lois, nearly the only woman he cared for. In the end, Manchester Black was defeated and as revenge for Lex helping Superman defeat him, Black erased all knowledge that Clark Kent was Superman from Lex's mind before taking his own life.

Later, as his success at framing Bruce Wayne for the murder of Vesper Fairchild caused him to get arrogant, Luthor once again overplayed his hand in an attempt to blame Superman for a kryptonite meteor approaching the Earth. Initially convinced that everyone would listen to his claims against Superman simply because he was President despite his failure to produce any evidence of Superman's 'guilt', he instead raised questions about himself as Superman and Batman uncovered a plot of Luthor's to further torment Batman that involved tricking Batman into thinking that Metallo was the man who killed Batman's parents. In desperation, he used a variant combination of the "super-steroid" Venom, liquid synthetic green kryptonite, and an Apokaliptian battlesuit to battle Superman directly. Unfortunately, the madness that is a side effect of Venom took hold, and he revealed his true colors during the battle. The final straw was the revelation that Talia Head, the acting CEO of LexCorp, had sold all the company assets to the Wayne Foundation. He has since gone underground, leaving the Presidency to his Vice President, Pete Ross.

Infinite Crisis

Lex Luthor had retreated into obscurity before the events of Infinite Crisis, as he prepared to try and activate the mind control programming inside the brain of then current Superboy to help him gain revenge against Earth's mightiest heroes. He was also revealed to have orchestrated, with help from the newly created robotic Brainiac, the murder of Teen Titan member Donna Troy, who is destined to play a critical role in "Infinite Crisis". He's also been carefully surveying the new Supergirl, and has plans for her involving his newly-acquired Black Kryptonite.

With Lex Luthor acting in secret, Alexander Luthor, Jr. returned to New Earth and began his own plot that was interfering with Lex's own plans. Assuming the Post-Crisis Lex Luthor's identity, Alexander began an elaborate scheme, with help from Superboy-Prime and Kal-L, to restore the original Multiverse. His intentions were not just to recreate them as they once were, but as the basis of his ultimate goal, as he told Superboy-Prime that he would help them "whether [he] likes it or not".

As one of the premier reformers of the "Secret Society of Super-Villains", Alexander Luthor, Jr. recruited Black Adam, Doctor Psycho, Calculator, Talia Head, and Deathstroke as his inner circle. The new Society exploited the villain community's fear of mind-wipes at the hands of the Justice League as a means to recruit an army of villains under the premise of creating their own "mind-wipe" device to erase the memories of Earth's heroes as payback. However, this was just another cover for his even darker scheme involving the kidnapping of heroes, each representing alternate Earths, to power the giant tower being used to alter reality. Alexander Luthor, Jr., formerly of Earth-Three, had decided to restore the previously existing multiverse as a base selection to create a so-called "perfect" universe, as the current reality seemed to be failing. It was, in Alexander Luthor, Jr.'s own words, " a world of villains". Abandoned by his allies, Alex Jr. was depowered, due to the villains that Lex assembled under his alias of Mockingbird. Lex tracked down the supposedly depowered Alex Jr. and allowed the Joker to kill him in a fit of revenge.

Lex used Alex's corpse as evidence that he had an impostor who was responsible for all his recent illegal activities. He was cleared of many of the criminal actions he was accused of.

Post Infinite Crisis Origin

The events of Infinite Crisis and Alex Luthor's attempts to rewrite history actually led to alterations in Lex Luthor's personal history. In the newly created time line, the current Luthor family has a long history with the city of Metropolis. Some of Lex's ancestors were among the pilgrims who founded the city, others were amongst the Native Americans who were there to meet them. Over the centuries, the Luthor family became wealthy and influential. Lex's great-grandfather Wallace Luthor being a millionaire industrialist at the beginning of the 20th Century. He lost his fortune though, in the stock market crash of 1929, and went to his grave a pauper after having to declare bankruptcy. The family fortune would not be rebuilt until the arrival of Lex Luthor, the son of abusive alcoholic Lionel Luthor and his wife Letitia. Lex cared little for his parents, though he did love his sister Lena. In his teens, he lived for a time in Smallville with his aunt, also called Lena, and there met the young Clark Kent and his friends Lana Lang and Pete Ross. The stand-offish and superior Lex was friendly with Clark for a time, but eventually left Smallville under a cloud of suspicion after his father died in mysterious circumstances. Leaving his sister in Smallville, Lex went to Metropolis and, as before, founded LexCorp.

Superman Arrives (Again)

In this new timeline, Luthor's first meeting with Superman was also somewhat different. As part of his philanthropic image, Luthor had taken to picking a random person from the supplicants who gathered at LexCorp's gates every morning to bestow the chance of a new life upon them. His choice on this occasion, though, was Rudy Jones who, after eating a doughnut contaminated by an unknown radioactive chemical compound, was transformed into the Parasite. Superman stopped the Parasite's rampage, overshadowing Luthor and infuriating him. Lex contacted General Sam Lane, who was convinced Superman was a threat, and informed him that Superman was an alien. He transformed one of Lane's men, Sgt John Corben, into Metallo and sent him out after Superman. However, Metallo was defeated and Superman, previously an object of suspicion in the city, feted as a hero. When Luthor came to bestow his gifts on a grateful populace the next day, no-one was there. Lex was no longer the most powerful man in Metropolis. This cemented Lex's lifelong hatred of the Man of Steel. Eventually, as before, Luthor went from hero of the people to public enemy number one.

52

Through his still impressive financial resources, Lex has engaged in a public promotion campaign to regain his popularity through the Everyman Project, a scientific process that could grant superhuman powers to non-metahumans. The first several subjects of his process became the latest incarnation of Infinity, Inc. Luthor's own body, however, was not compatible with the process, a fact which pained him greatly.

When newly minted meta-humans began falling out of the sky, the media-dubbed Fall Of The Supermen, Luthor's building was attacked by John Henry Irons and his niece. Steel confronted Luthor and was beaten, Lex having discovered a way to gain meta-powers of his own. Lex was still defeated, however, and arrested. It was later found that the Lex that was imprisoned was, in fact, Everyman. Lex was found in a hidden room still inside the Lexcorp building.

One Year Later and Countdown

One year after the events of Infinite Crisis, Luthor had been cleared of over 120 criminal counts ranging from malfeasance to first-degree murder relating to the New Year's Eve massacre from 52. However, his role in the massacre has permanently ruined his public image and, thanks to the machinations of Doctor Sivana, has lost most of his wealth and all of his control over his newly reformed LexCorp, run by Lana Lang. He blames Clark Kent for writing several articles unraveling his schemes and pledges vengeance on Metropolis after an angry mob jeers him on the courthouse steps. After amassing large quantities of Kryptonite, and kidnapping the supervillains Metallo and Kryptonite Man, Lex uses it to power a Kryptonian battleship controlled through a "sunstone" crystal, using it to lash out at Metropolis for 'forgetting' him. While giant crystal formations began to appear throughout the ground, Superman tried to save as many people as he could and find the source of the attack. He found Lex high above the city in a ship made of the crystal where he was controlling it all from. Lex turned all of the crystal into kryptonite, forcing Superman to stay away from Metropolis and the ship, but he didn't count on Superman charging him. Superman knew Luthor would have some form of personal shielding and was right as they both fell down towards the ground. Luthor had time to say one thing: “I hate you. So much.” Superman was again powerless and Luthor's shield was weak when they struck the ground. They both arose weak and injured, and Lex began to fist-fight with Superman. With each traded punch, Lex spoke of how if Superman hadn't arrived on Earth and came to Metropolis, he would have made so many scientific breakthroughs instead of trying to come up with ways to destroy him, claiming that it was all Superman's fault that Lex wasn't the top of the food chain anymore. Superman countered with the fact that he had been away for an entire year, yet Luthor had accomplished none of these things he claimed he could have done, simply finding a big machine so that he could break things. The fight ended with Superman victorious.

Luthor was subsequently abducted from prison and drafted in Project 7734 under General Lane. He had hopes of using the project to fulfill his goals against Superman, but Lane had been keeping him on topic.

Lex later sends Bizarro after the newly arrived "Superboy" only for the creature to be defeated by Superman. Undaunted, Luthor gathers together a new Revenge Squad to fight against invading Kryptonians led by General Zod, working alongside Superman only so that Superman can see that Luthor was right about the threat he poses to Earth.

In JLA, Luthor gathers together a new "Injustice League" and, outfitted in a new version of his warsuit, sets out to destroy the Justice League with them. On a related note during this section, he was responsible for creating the third Shaggy Man and the third Blockbuster.

Luthor plays a large role in the Countdown to Final Crisis tie-in event, Salvation Run. Having been sent to the prison planet after his Injustice League was defeated, Lex quickly assumes control of the amassed villains. He received competition only from Joker and Gorilla Grodd, who convince half of the villains to join them. He does fight the Joker until the battle was interrupted by an attack by Desaad's Parademons. After the attack, Luthor manages to get the villains off the planet with a makeshift teleporter, secretly powered by Neutron, Heatmonger, Plasmus, Warp, Thunder and Lightning. When called a "monster" by Thunder, Luthor claims it is the ones who sent them there who are the real monsters, and that he is the hero. He later sets the teleporter to self-destruct after he uses it, killing the attacking Parademons, and his living batteries.

Final Crisis

Luthor associated with Libra's Secret Society of Super Villains and placed in its Inner Circle. Lex Luthor wanted Libra to prove himself, so Libra sends Clayface to blow up the Daily Planet building. As Lex Luthor attempts to ambush Libra after learning that he is a prophet of Darkseid, Luthor soon ends up surrounded by Justifiers. Libra tells Lex Luthor to make a final choice... swear an oath to Darkseid or become a mindless slave. Later, Lex Luthor witnessed Libra blaming Calculator for cracking the computer codes that will help the resistance. Luthor was silent on the matter and was picked to lead the rearguard action against the heroes at Blüdhaven. He assumed it as an honor, but he didn't look very pleased. A short time later, Libra figured out that Luthor had been the mole in the Society of Supervillains. Luthor, in league with Doctor Sivana, seemingly destroyed Libra and overturned the Anti-Life Equation being broadcast into the Justifiers' helmets.

New Krypton

Luthor ended up imprisoned for his crimes, but rather than going to jail, General Sam Lane had him serve out his sentence working for the secretive Project 7734. While still forced to wear chains, Luthor was assigned the job of accessing the knowledge stored within the captured Brainiac who had recently been defeated by Superman. Luthor successfully accessed Brainiac's brain and after Metallo and Reactron were taken to Kandor as prisoners of the Kryptonians who had now settled on Earth, he used Brainiac to reactivate the Coluans ship that was also being held in Kandor. Brainiac's robots attacked the Kryptonians, providing a distraction as Metallo and Reactron used their Kryptonite hearts to kill their captors and murder Zor-El.

After his success with Brainiac, Luthor was given the seemingly dead body of Doomsday, who had been defeated by the Kryptonians, to study as it had “potential.”

Luthor later manages to use Brainiac's connection to his ship to kill the soldiers assigned to watch him. Brainiac manages to free himself from Luthor's control, forcing him onboard the ship, and the two make their escape. The two are later shown to have entered into an alliance, with Brainiac promising Luthor the Earth when he is done with it. While reading newspapers to catch up on what happened during his imprisonment, Luthor learns of the resurrection of Superboy.

Blackest Night

During the Blackest Night event, when word gets out that apparently everyone around the world are rising as undead Black Lanterns, Luthor isolates himself in his safehouse in fear of all the people he had murdered over the years seeking revenge on him. In Blackest Night Vol 1 6, it is seen that Luthor is being attacked in his safehouse by Black Lanterns, including his father. An Orange Lantern Ring arrives and attaches itself to Luthor, inducting him into the Orange Lantern Corps as a deputy member, only for him to attack Scarecrow and Mera to claim their Yellow Lantern Corps ring and Red Lantern Ring before his own was taken from him by Larfleeze, the only true member of the Orange Lantern Corps, who subsequently dismissively dropped Luthor in front of the other Lanterns.

Brightest Day

After the conclusion of the New Krypton event, Luthor grew more aggressive for the lust for power after his exposure to a power ring during the Blackest Night. After being infused with the Orange Light of Avarice, Luthor begins a universal quest to locate the energy of the Black Lantern Corps.

During the midst of the Brightest Day, Deathstroke and his new team of Titans are hired to assassinate Luthor while he is visiting Midway City with Nava Mendelssohn, his new personal assistant and bodyguard. When the Titans ambush Lex's convoy and begin killing his hired mercenaries, Nava takes him into the sewers, where she is shot and apparently killed by Deathstroke. It is then revealed that Luthor himself had paid the Titans to fake an attempt on his life, in hopes that it would draw out conspirators within LexCorp. Nava's injuries soon heal, and she reveals herself to be a shapeshifter named Facade, who had murdered and impersonated the real Nava in order to get close enough to Lex to kill him. After a massive battle, Deathstroke and Osiris are able to defeat Facade and turn him over to Lex. In the end, LexCorp scientists are shown performing experiments on the captured Facade. Luthor assembles his staff and reveals that he knows that it was one of his employees who had hired the creature in the first place. Luthor warns them not to try such a tactic again, as he will turn them into his next morbid experiment if they do.

With the aid of a robotic duplicate of Lois Lane created to give him an honest opinion on his actions, Luthor searched for the energy of the Black Lantern in space. In doing so he sent Doomsday 'clones' created from the original to distract Earth's heroes. There Luthor encountered Brainiac in while attempting to alter the last of the Black Lantern energy, acting upon an unspoken theory of his. Brainiac revealed that Loisbot was an unwilling pawn in his bid to hijack Luthor's quest. Luthor then replied that he had anticipated this for some time, he then attacked Brainiac and snapped his neck, temporarily incapacitating him. Loisbot pleaded for Lex's forgivness, and he accepted her apology. After he altered the four remaining black spheres, he opened a Phantom Zone portal which unleashed an extremely powerful, monstrously large being which intended to kill all life in the universe because the negative emotions of sentient creatures hurt it. Luthor promptly impaled Loisbot's head, allowing himself to be infected with Kryptonian technology. He used it to engage the monster on a mental plane of existence. Grappling with the creature, Luthor's body and mental essence suddenly fused with it. Luthor learned that it evolved in the Phantom Zone and now seeks to escape from the grief and anger of the Zone prisoners. Using this new power, Luthor draws Superman to him, attempting to drive Superman mad by forcing him to experience the human emotions that he believes the alien merely fakes to blend in. However, Luthor is outraged when he learns that Superman's defining moment of tragedy is the loss of his father, confirming his true identity as Clark Kent. Being unable to cope with the fact that not only was his greatest enemy an old associate who was raised by humans, but he also had a father he would actually mourn rather than the anguish Luthor endured in his own relationship with his father. As Luthor becomes one with the creature, Superman and Mr. Mind, who had been aiding Luthor's search, realize that the creature allows Luthor to create a feeling of peace and bliss throughout the entire universe at the cost of never allowing him to cause any harm to another being at the same time. Superman attempts to appeal to Luthor about the potential of doing something even he never accomplished, but Luthor is unable to let go of his hate for Superman, his subsequent attack costing him control of the entity, as well as his memory of everything he learned or did while he was merged with it. It departs for another part of the universe. Luthor is ultimately defeated when he falls into one of the Phantom Zone holes created by the creature, seemingly forever.

Fun Facts

In addition to the details of Luthor's early life and upbringing having been changed somewhat by the events of Infinite Crisis, his hair color has also changed. In the former timeline, he had red hair, but the current Luthor's hair was brown. Since his hair eventually receded leaving him bald in both versions of his history, this is largely unimportant.

Lex's birthday is often given as September 28th.

Lex Luthor self-identifies as an atheist.

Luthor wears reading glasses, as shown in "Metropolis - 900 Mi."