Chapter Text
Today
“We won’t make it!” Clark screamed, clinging to Batman.
“Of course we will!” Batman yelled back, flooring the Batcycle’s pedal. Behind them, Gotham PD in its entirety seemed to be out for their blood, chasing them on a road blocked by even more police cars. Batman’s cape flapped behind him, hitting Clark in the face every turn they took. The blockade came closer and closer with no way to drive around it - but there was some road construction stuff, which Batman seemed determined to use as a ramp to jump over the blockade. Clark knew that Batman knew that it couldn’t possibly work without breaking the laws of physics, but well. It wasn’t like they had any other choice, now, did they? Short of getting arrested, they were pretty much out of options at this point - so breaking physics it was.
And breaking physics they did. Sort of. Batman went over the ramp and Clark let go of the Dark Knight in order to get a hold on the Batcycle, flying them as low-key as possible over the blockade. He let go right after, so the Batcycle made for a pretty convincingly hard landing before driving off, leaving the horde of Police Cars behind.
“...huh,” said Clark. “Look at that, we did make it.”
Batman scoffed. “I told you so, Kent,” he said, trying to hide his obvious confusion and disbelieve. Clark could hear it clear as day, though.
“Sooo… now what?” he asked, putting his arms around the Bat again.
Batman grunted. “We find a spot to lie low for a while,” he replied after a while. Clark only nodded. Everything had started so well. How could it have come to this?
One week earlier
Clark yelped in surprise when his window opened and Gotham’s very own Batman climbed in. “Uh, can I help you..?” he asked the Dark Knight standing in his bedroom, acutely aware of the Batman pyjamas he was wearing - thanks, Lois - but the Batman didn’t seem to notice.
“Yes,” Batman said, fixing his intense stare at Clark, who tried not to squirm. It wasn’t rational, he knew that. Superman didn’t squirm - but on the other hand, it was hard not to when Batman looked at him like this. He waited, but the Bat didn’t elaborate.
“...okay?” Clark prompted and got glared at for his troubles. Finally, Batman nodded. “I’ve monitored your actions these last few months. You’re an investigative reporter with a conscience - a good one at that - and your skills might be useful,” he growled, reaching into his belt and producing a piece of paper. He held it in front of Clark. “These are informations on a secret facility LexCorp seems to be working on. There is Kryptonite involved and that can’t be good for anyone, especially Superman,” Batman glared and Clark’s heart jumped into his throat. The Bat knew?
“Why should I care about Superman?” Clark asked carefully anyway and Batman scoffed.
“Please,” he said, “everyone knows you’re friends with the big blue boy scout. And even if you weren’t, you’re making money off him, so I doubt you want anything happening to him, now, do you?”
Clark shook his head. “Alright, you got me there.” He squinted at Batman. “...but why do you care? Far as I know, you two are not on speaking terms,” he said with suspicion.
Batman’s face seemed to get even grumpier. “None of your concern,” he growled, not leaving any room for questions. Clark deemed it wise not to demand them, for the moment.
They stood there, staring each other down, Batman in his full gear, Clark in his pyjamas. Finally Batman grunted. “Read those instructions and do your own research. You have five days. On the sixth day you’ll be able to get up close to the facility.”
Clark furrowed his brows. “How?” he asked, causing Batman to nod again. “Luthor will host an event on top of the facility. You’ll go there and collect information. Sneak off, if possible and safe,” he said, handing Clark a burner and walking closer to the window. “Wait for further instructions.”
Clark laughed. “I don’t think I’m invited to this event, Batman,” he said, and Batman smirked sharply. “You’re not,” he said matter of factly. “You’re a plus-one.”
“Oh?” Clark blinked. “Who’s plus-one am I?”
“Bruce Wayne’s,” Batman said, flinging himself out of the window and disappearing into the night.
Six days later
The information Batman had handed him had checked out and Clark was… concerned. There was a decent amount of Kryptonite involved that Lex seemed to have his hands on, which really wasn’t a good thing. He tried to straighten his bow tie, but Lois batted his hands away. “Hands off, Smallville, you’ll just ruin it again,” she grumbled, fixing his clothes and grabbing his hands in time to stop him from running them through his hair.
“Invited by Bruce freaking Wayne while I’m standing on the sidelines,” she seethed, “why didn’t you ever tell me you knew Bruce Wayne ?”
Clark didn’t really have an answer for her. He didn’t know Bruce Wayne, but if ever told Lois that he was just following Batman’s instructions, well. Lois would probably toss him out of the window then and there. He fidgeted. “I don’t really know him,” he tried for as much honesty as possible. “I ran into him a couple of times. Maybe he remembers me from an article I wrote and wants to get to know me better? I might have impressed him?” he said, eyes in full puppy-dog mode. Lois just stared him down and shook her head. “Honestly, Kent, I don’t know how you’re that good of a reporter and that bad of a liar at the same time,” she said, finishing dusting off his clothes. “Just promise me to tell me everything afterwards,” she added before reconsidering. “On the other hand, he’s a known playboy. If he invites you for breakfast, that I do not need to know,” she nodded and Clark sputtered. He didn't have to answer, though, as the doorbell chose that moment to announce Bruce Wayne’s arrival. Clark took one last look in the mirror and nodded to himself. His suit wasn’t the most expensive, but at least it didn’t look too cheap. He turned to Lois, awaiting her approval nervously.
Her features softened as much as possible for Lois, and she smiled at him. “Go get him, tiger,” she said, dragging him bodily out of the door and onto the street, where Bruce Wayne was waiting for him in all his rich glory.
Clark was saved from awkwardly introducing himself by Lois, who had no qualms whatsoever to stab a finger at Wayne’s chest. “I don’t know why you chose my colleague here for this little adventure,” she practically growled, causing Wayne to raise his eyebrows, “but if anything happens to him, I’m holding you responsible!” she finished, taking a step back. Clark was torn between pride and mortification, but Lois just smiled sweetly at Wayne as if she hadn’t just threatened him with her index finger.
Wayne, to his credit, seemed to be undecided between being grudgingly impressed and irritated by Lois, so he just turned to Clark instead, holding a hand out for him to shake.
Clark shook it gratefully and Wayne smiled. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Kent,” he said. “I can’t wait to hear more about your article that won that one prize last month! Shall we?” He took Clark’s elbow and steered him to the car, giving Lois a wide berth. Lois just continued smiling with too much teeth, until Wayne’s chauffeur closed the door behind them.
The smalltalk was… nice, Clark supposed. Batman hadn’t said if Wayne knew about the Dark Knight’s plans or if he was just there to get Clark inside. Clark didn’t dare ask, of course, and Wayne gave no indication either way.
Before long, they made it halfway to Gotham, where Luthor’s event took place. Wayne gallantly helped Clark out of the car and led him inside, a hand on the small of his back. The security arrived to view their invitations, and Wayne showed it to them graciously.
Then they were finally inside and Clark took a careful look around. The elite of both Gotham and Metropolis seemed to be present, making smalltalk, accepting champagne and hors d'oeuvre. Wayne and Clark were no exceptions, with Clark eating his way through canapés and caviar.
When Luthor finally entered the stage under polite applause, Wayne excused himself to talk to an old friend.
Clark saw his chance and grabbed it with both hands, slowly making his way out of the room. If asked, he’d be on his way to the restroom, of course.
Nobody asked. Nobody even was there, and he was able to find a hidden elevator behind some wooden panels. He looked around, but there wasn’t anyone, so he entered the elevator. He didn’t know if Batman had meant “snooping around and breaking into the secret facility” when he’d asked him to collect information, but here he was and Batman didn’t know he’d made Superman his sidekick anyway, so there.
One ride in the elevator later, Clark found himself in the secret lab. Or, not so secret, judging by the sheer number of people working there, with Clark in the middle as he stepped out of the cabin. Time to play it cool.
“Hi,” he smiled. “Any of you seen the restroom?”
So Kent had run off as instructed. That was good. Not good was that Kent wasn’t back yet, though.
Bruce sighed quietly. He’d known the only way to get inside Lex’ party was as Bruce Wayne - and that, once in, he wouldn’t get any chance to snoop around. Grudgingly, he’d gone to the only capable and honest reporter he’d know of. Clark Kent was widely known for his morals and for his connection to Superman. Honestly, Bruce wasn’t too sure how Kent wasn’t getting kidnapped every other day to try and blackmail Superman, but that wasn’t the problem at hand; that being him lacking one reporter.
Maybe Kent had found something? But the lab shouldn’t be working just yet, so he hadn’t expected too much trouble. Maybe Bruce had missed something? As soon as that thought entered his mind, he scoffed and waved it aside. Batman didn’t just miss something.
Maybe Kent had turned tail? Bruce frowned. That didn’t match with the reporter’s history of throwing himself into dangerous situations. No, it had to be something else.
His thoughts got interrupted by an alarm blaring furiously.
...goddamnit Kent.
Clark could hear the alarm many floors above him and knew that he’d blown it. He also couldn’t exactly just fly out of here with all those eyes (and presumably cameras) looking at him. Before long, some grumpy looking security trained their weapons on him and Clark raised his arms, obeyed their orders, and ended up in a small cell. Why a lab had a cell was anyone’s guess.
He didn’t have to strain his hearing to follow their conversations and thoughts on how to deal with the intruder. Many a suggestion was made and all of them ended with him very dead. If he had been human, anyway, but Clark wasn’t too keen on them finding out that that wasn’t exactly the case here.
He sat there for hours, waiting. Lex Luthor even had shown up, recognizing Clark as a Daily Planet reporter. Finally, one scientist suggested to test the ‘green stuff’ on him, see if it had any affect on a human. Clark wasn’t a fan of that scientist, he decided. Also, he really needed to get the fuck out of here before they actually managed to kill Superman.
As he was preparing himself to just fly out, consequences be damned, the lights went out and the distinctive sounds of a fight in progress could be heard. Ah, well. Seemed like help had arrived. Clark breathed a sigh of relief and settled down to play the damsel in distress.
He didn’t have to wait long - not two minutes later, Batman appeared in all his leathery glory, glowering at Clark. “I told you to collect information,” he growled, “not to get yourself caught.” Clark smiled apologetically while the Dark Knight picked the lock. “To be fair, I hadn’t planned on that either,” he said, stepping out of the cell. “Thanks for saving me.”
Batman harrumphed and silently motioned for Clark to follow him. The elevator was out of order now, but Batman shot a grappling line up and Clark just hung on for the ride.
They were the only ones above the ground, everyone else had left hours ago. As they made their way out side, they ran into Lex Luthor handling something looking suspiciously like a detonator - but Lex wouldn’t. He was an arsehole, but he wouldn’t murder all his scientists, Clark was sure of it.
Luthor smirked at them. “Well, can’t say I hadn’t hoped to bury you here together with those useless idiots,” he said and shrugged. “Can’t have everything in life, though. At least now I have scapegoats,” he laughed.
Then he pulled the trigger before neither Batman nor Superman were able to stop him.
Today
The loud boom still rang in Clark’s ears, one day later. They hadn’t stuck around to set the record straight, nobody would even believe them, Batman had been sure of it.
Clark had tried to call the police to try to explain that it hadn’t been them, but of course his word was nothing against Lex Luthor’s. He hadn’t dared call Lois yet, afraid of her reaction.
Deep in thought, still clinging to Batman, he suddenly stiffened. “Shit,” he said, “Bruce Wayne!” There was moment of silence before Batman’s deep voice asked “what about him?”
Clark shook his head. “I totally forgot, what with all this stuff happening! Is he okay?” he asked, sounding concerned until Batman nodded. “Yes,” the Dark Knight said, “he is. Don’t worry, he made it out in time.”
Tension left Clark’s body and he sighed in relief. “Good, that’s good. I kinda liked him.”
Batman’s answer was interrupted by a quiet beeping noise and the Batcycle came to a stop. Clark tilted his head curiously. “What is it?” he asked, trying to get a look at whatever device was beeping. Instead, he got a good look at Batman’s shoulders dropping slightly. “The bomb,” Batman said. “It left a cavern underground.” He looked at the readings of whatever electronic thing had gotten him that information.
Clark lost his patience. “Okay, and? What does that mean?”
Batman turned his head, and looked at Clark over his shoulder. “It means there might be survivors. We have to go back.”