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This was so not how Jon’s Tuesday night was supposed to go.
He’d been determined, for once, to stay in and study for the bio exam he had tomorrow. His professor was a hardass and Jon was already just barely passing the course.
Of course, just when he had started, Damian had come knocking at his window asking if he wanted to do some surveillance with him. Jon should’ve said no, he really should’ve, but when had he ever been able to refuse Damian?
Unfortunately, their ‘quick’ surveillance mission had turned into the two of them getting ambushed. They could have gotten out of it easily, these guys were just your run of the mill traffickers, according to Damian. However, Damian had insisted that they go along with it, that they could find out more information from the inside.
So, now, here Jon was, handcuffed and alone in some damp basement at two in the morning when he should’ve been asleep by now.
He was definitely going to fail that exam.
The only good thing was that the guys who’d grabbed them were either really stupid or just very uninformed of Jon’s powers because they’d locked him up with regular handcuffs. He could break them in a second if he needed to, but Damian had told him to hold off on escaping until he got the information he wanted.
Jon sighed, using his x-ray vision to check on Damian. He was in a dark, windowless room on the opposite side on the building. He was restrained just like Jon, with the same flimsy handcuffs. These idiots hadn’t even bothered attaching the handcuffs to anything. Jon knew that Damian could get out of them in a minute flat if he wanted to, but, of course, the intel he wanted was more important.
Damian was fine, just like he’d been ten minutes ago, and ten minutes before that, and ten minutes before that. Still, Jon liked to be sure. That was just smart, he needed to know that Damian was okay in case something happened. It definitely wasn’t at all fueled by any anxiety he might have over Damian possibly getting hurt.
As Jon continued using his x-ray vision, the door to the room Damian was in opened and a man walked in. He hadn’t been one of the guys that had grabbed them. He was older, and looked more put-together, maybe one of the higher-ups in this operation.
The man knelt down in front of Damian and grabbed his jaw roughly. “My guys were right, you are pretty.”
Jon’s stomach dropped. Every instinct was telling him to break out of his restraints and get himself and Damian out of here right now. Yet, he hesitated. He knew Damian would be pissed if he didn’t get his intel because Jon lost his shit over a little teasing.
Besides, maybe, just maybe, Jon had a bad habit of overreacting in these scenarios. Damian was attractive, like unfairly attractive, and he tended to get hit on a lot because of it. Sometimes by criminals. Sometimes- most of the time- Jon didn’t take it well when that happened. Damian told him to ‘stop being ridiculous, Kent’ every time, that he’d heard worse, but that didn’t stop the anger and jealousy from trying to claw its way up Jon’s throat.
“So,” The man continued. “You gonna tell me what you and your little friend were doing snooping around my things?”
Damian didn’t respond, his face a perfectly blank slate. His heartbeat was steady as well, just like it always was. Jon breathed a little easier listening to it.
“That’s fine.” The man shrugged. “You don’t have to talk. I can think of quite a few of my clients who like ‘em quiet. I bet I’d get a real good price for you.”
Jon broke his restraints. Screw it, Damian could be mad at him. This didn’t sound like teasing anymore.
The man dropped his hand down to squeeze Damian’s thigh. “Actually, maybe I’ll take you for a spin first. Make sure you’re worth it.”
Jon saw red. He crashed through the wall of the room he was in, and then across the building until he reached Damian. He came bursting into the room in a cloud of dust and rubble.
“What the fu-”
Jon didn’t give the man a chance to finish his sentence. He grabbed him by the back of his shirt and hurled him into the opposite wall. A loud crack resonated through the room as the man’s head connected with the wall, and he crumpled into a pile on the floor.
Jon knew that the man was most likely unconscious. He knew that he, logically, should just grab Damian and leave right now.
He also knew that a little head injury wasn’t nearly enough retribution for what this bastard had just tried to do to Damian.
The thing was, Jon had never really thought much about killing, he’d never struggled with it in the way some other heroes had. For him, it had honestly never even really been an option. He was Superboy, son of Superman, he didn’t kill.
But right now, Jon was absolutely going to kill this guy.
He’d tried to hurt Damian. He didn’t deserve to live.
Jon lifted the man by the collar of his shirt and punched him straight across the jaw, purposely using enough force to break it. Afterwards, he aimed for the nose, then the eyes, until the man’s face was nothing but a bloody mess.
He dropped the man back down on to the floor and knelt down next to him. He grabbed the hand that the bastard had put on Damian, easily snapping each of his fingers in two.
Jon wrapped his hands around the man’s throat and squeezed as hard as he could. Images played behind behind Jon’s eyes of this asshole leering at Damian, of him threatening him. The man’s neck burst beneath Jon’s hands, spraying him with blood.
It should’ve been discomforting, but the only thing Jon felt was relief. This man could never hurt Damian again.
Slowly, Jon stood back up. He could hear Damian’s heartbeat pounding in his chest a few feet away.
Jon turned to face him and found Damian staring at him wide-eyed. He’d never seen Jon like this, hell, Jon had never seen himself like this. He realized with a sinking heart that he probably seemed terrifying in this moment. He hadn’t meant to scare Damian, he just wanted to keep him safe.
Jon stumbled over and fell to his knees in front of Damian. He wrapped his arms around the other boy’s waist and buried his face in Damian’s chest.
“I’m sorry, Dami.” Hot tears slid down Jon’s cheeks. “I’m- I’m so so sorry.”
“Superboy.”
“I know that was a lot, I didn’t- I never meant to scare you.”
“Superboy.”
“But I heard the things he was saying to you and saw how he was touching you and I just- I couldn’t-”
“Jon!”
The use of his name snapped Jon back to reality. He forced himself to let go of Damian and back up a bit. Damian wouldn’t want Jon near him after what he’d just done.
Damian was staring at him, not saying a word, which was somehow worse than if he’d just started yelling at Jon. The look in his eyes was one that Jon couldn’t quite describe, but it made his heart race nonetheless. Then again, looking at Damian usually had that effect on him.
Without warning, Damian surged forward and- and kissed him? Damian was kissing him. Damian Wayne was actually kissing him!
Jon wasted no time kissing back. He grabbed Damian’s face and pulled the other boy closer, until they were practically in each other’s laps. He could feel Damian smiling against his lips.
They stayed like that for a few more amazing moments, until Damian finally pulled away. Jon tried to follow him, but Damian turned his head to the side.
“Not all of us can hold our breaths for an hour, Hayseed, give me a minute.”
“Sorry.”
“And I would appreciate you getting these handcuffs off of me.”
Jon winced, he’d totally forgotten about that. He leaned around Damian and grabbed the handcuffs, easily snapping them in half.
Damian rubbed his wrists, which were still a little red from the cuffs. He was breathing heavily, his face was flushed, and his lips were slightly bruised. Jon had also managed to get blood all over him- on his uniform, his cheeks, his neck.
He looked so beautiful.
“So,” Jon knew it was stupid, but he had to ask. “You’re not mad at me?”
Damian raised an eyebrow at him. “Why would I be?”
“Well I- I killed someone.”
Damian just shrugged. “I’ve killed people, you’ve never once judged me for it, how could I judge you?”
Okay, yeah, Jon knew that. Of course, he did. That was in Damian’s past though, he’d worked so hard to overcome it. He didn’t kill anymore, how could he just not care that Jon had?
“That’s it? It’s fine? It doesn’t matter?”
Damian sighed. “Jon, you’re not a murderer. You killed one man in order to protect me. It was… sweet.”
Jon blushed. “Really?”
“Yes, really.” Jon could tell that Damian was trying very hard not to roll his eyes. “Besides, I would’ve gladly broken my oath to my father and done the same thing for you if our positions had been reversed.”
Jon should’ve been thrilled at the sentiment, and, don’t get him wrong, part of him was. Unfortunately, most of him was too preoccupied with something else Damian had just brought up.
“Oh Rao!” Jon buried his face in his hands. “Our dads are going to be so mad!”
“Not if they don’t find out.”
Jon peeked at Damian through his fingers. “What do you mean?”
“You and I are the only people who know what actually happened.” Damian stated. “There are no cameras in this room, no other people around. All anyone will know is that you and I got kidnapped and then escaped long before this man died.”
Oh. Jon understood where Damian was going with this. Plausible deniability. He wasn’t a very good liar, but he was sure he could figure it out for something this serious.
“You’d really cover for me like that?”
Damian rolled his eyes. “I’ve been covering for you for over a decade now.”
Jon pulled Damian into a tight hug, resting his head against Damian’s shoulder. Damian’s arms encircled Jon’s waist, holding him just as tightly. He could feel Damian’s chest rising and falling against his own.
Jon let out a sigh of relief. Damian was safe, he was fine, and he was going to stay that way.
Jon would do anything to make sure of it.