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“I know I said I could sleep on my own from now on—“ Dick sauntered into Bruce’s room very much like he owned the place. A couple months ago would have been another story, Dick was always forward, but much less comfortable with crossing a boundary. Now it was different.
Dick and Bruce were as much friends as Bruce had taken him in as a son. No one said the dynamic was going to be typical, or even predictable, but both of them were happy with it and nothing beyond that really mattered.
The only reason Dick didn’t continue his intro that he was not in fact sleeping in his room, as he and Bruce had agreed upon a week ago, was because there was someone else already in Bruce’s bed where Dick thought he’d had a spot reserved.
A much taller, generally much larger man was curled up small as he could make his towering form so one arm stayed connected to Bruce’s waist and the rest of him was only a few inches farther away.
Dick recognized him at once, Clark Kent incapable of fooling his trained eyes into thinking he was anyone but Superman, hero of the world, cuddled up on his father’s bed.
Dick’s adoration of Superman was not the only tip off, however. Clark had been a frequent visitor to Wayne Mansion, as Superman became a regular at the Bat Cave. He had more or less ingrained himself in their routine as well, helping Dick with homework, watching him when Bruce had something particularly Bruce to take care of. Visits and what Dick always referred to as “family dinners” took place just about every week now, if not more.
But Clark had never stayed the night, not in Bruce’s bed. Maybe in a guest room, nowhere near his father, or he’d left absurdly late because “flying barely takes time anyway”.
All Dick knew was he could risk having his father have some kind of conniption in the middle of the night, or he could spend the night in his room, overthink every creak of the mansion settling, every gust of wind outside his window.
Dick knew the risks of what he was about to do, and yet he pulled a piece of the covers up off of Clark to slip beneath them.
Clark’s side of the bed made more sense, in theory. He was used to Dick, and he was Superman, so he wouldn’t be frightened by any surprise in the night. If Bruce didn’t notice he was there until morning, maybe Dick could even sneak out before they woke up.
Clark hadn’t seemed to budge until the stuffed toy Dick brought with him grazed the back of Clark’s bare skin.
He moved gently, probably already aware of the situation with his keen senses and basic deduction skills.
“Hey bud.” Clark sounded even more midwestern with sleep in his voice. “Y’alright?” He turned toward Dick, gently swapping the hand he had on Bruce’s waist for his other, probably trying to avoid him waking.
“Scared in my room.” Dick whispered, equally trying to avoid dealing with his father at the moment.
He could barely see Clark smile in the darkness. “Nothin’ scary in here, pal.” He lifted the blanket for him to be able to scooch closer and ruffled his free hand through Dick’s messy hair.
Dick dug his head in Clark’s side. “Mhm, you’re warm.” His words barely made it out of his mouth.
“Sleep tight, bud.” He stayed on his back so he could reach the both of them, easily falling back to sleep.
They had a less pleasant wake up call than anyone probably could have hoped for.
“Dick— what are you doing— how did—?” Bruce shot out of bed while the other two had needed a little more time to realize they were being addressed. “I— we talked about— go to your room.” He said it more like a command than he had meant it. “Just— for now, Dick, please.”
“But I—“
“Listen to me now, please.” Bruce was almost pacing the floor and Clark had still only just sat up as Dick left out the doorway. Bruce grabbed one of the pillows from the bed and threw it at Clark’s chest. “I told you this would happen.”
“Woah—“ Clark was laughing despite the hysterics.
“I told you we would get caught and scar him and somehow end up skewing his view on relationships for his whole life.”
Clark replied with more suaveness than he meant to. “You’re the one that asked me to stay.”
“This whole thing— we shouldn’t have brought it to him so soon, I can’t even imagine what he thought— did you know he was here?”
“Hey, B, breathe a second, okay?”
“You did know.” Bruce’s face warped between disgust and something less decipherable. “You let him crawl into bed with you, knobby knees and elbows and got him to fall back asleep?” His tone was more enamored than he would like to admit.
“It was late Bruce, I was half asleep. I guess I just thought we were at my place and he was over.”
Bruce stared at him. Clark knew he should feel some kind of guilt for something he did, but he really just wanted to know what was so interesting about his face Bruce wouldn’t take his eyes off him. Finally, he shook himself out of it anyway. “We’ve severely fucked him up just now.”
“I don’t—“
“Superman is barely clothed in bed with his father. How could he not be traumatized?”
Clark shrugged. “Don’t look at me, I wanted to tell him.”
“You know why we didn’t.”
“I know what you told me.”
“He needs stability. He’s better now, but he lost a lot and adopting him was a tough process and the last thing he needs is to worry over my dating life when I can’t promise you’ll always be there.”
“You can’t, huh?” Clark had an undeniable good-boy ray of sunshine brand to him that didn’t fade when he took off his super suit. From his Kryptonian warmth, to the way kids flocked to him, with or without the emblem across his chest, Clark rarely showed any side of him that was frustrated, or unevenly keeled. Right now, Bruce braced for the impact of something he’d never really witnessed. Clark was mad.
“It’s no lack of investment in our relationship, but it’s only new Clark. He’s my kid, I can’t just have you in and out.”
Clark raised his voice. “You believe—“ He was fighting to bring himself back down, but it didn’t last long. “You think I would ever be in and out?”
Bruce was taken aback, but stayed cool as he usually could pull off, having stayed cool under pressure in so many situations he wondered if it had made him more monotone overall.
Now was not the greatest evidence of that theory. His cheeks burned red as his volume increased. “It’s the facts, Clark. I don’t want you to ever go, but if you did, I would have a crushed kid left behind. I didn’t want to do that to him. I won’t do that to him!”
Clark tensed up like he was going to strike at the bedframe, but his hand softened. “For the genius you are Bruce, you’re acting plain stupid. I love that boy. I’ve loved him longer than I’ve loved you, Bruce! I would break every bone in my body before a hair on his head got hurt. I would endure every second I had to, even if you no longer cared for me, if it meant I could still be there for him. That has never changed, will never falter.“
Bruce felt like he was being scolded by a school teacher, guilt flooding every bit of him. Like seeing your own parents cry, seeing Clark Kent angry felt like a peek behind a curtain he hadn’t meant to make.
“As far as I’m concerned, I will treat Dick with all the care I have for as long as he’ll let me. When he calls, I will always answer. Love me or hate me Bruce Wayne, you’d have to kill me to take away my relationship with that kid.”
“Clark.”
“And if they cloned my body with some kind of Krytonian duplicator and I lived again, that version of me would still be there for him.”
“Clark!” Bruce had both of his hands grasping for Clark’s upper arms. “I’m sorry.”
Once Clark quieted his mind, he could hear Bruce’s heartbeat speed up.
“I have never doubted that of you. I should have never given you any inclination I did.” He sighed. “It’s just hard for me to fathom anyone loving him as much as I do, getting that gut feeling of near violence at the sheer amount of affection I hold towards him.”
“For all intents and purposes Bruce Wayne,” Clark returned to his gentle farm boy charm, “those same promises extend to you.” He stood up so he rose just above the other. He leaned in the slightest bit. “Even if you never cared for me this way again, I will never leave your life unless you bulldoze me away.” He took Bruce’s hand and laid it across his still bare chest. It was only fair if he could hear Bruce’s quickening heartbeat, he knew Clark felt the same. “As long as this heart beats, a piece of if is always for you.”
Bruce could only stare at the other man, his mouth embarrassingly agape. “Clark fucking Kent.”
He sighed out. “I was wrong to expect anything less.”
Clark leaned in closer, his head angled to one side. “That might be even better than hearing I love you.”
Bruce laughed to himself in the small space between them.
His eyes narrowed. “I love you, you know that.”
“How did I know? That’s the first time I’ve heard it.”
“Well at least I didn’t shout it at you.”
Clark closed the gap between them so his words crossed Bruce’s lips just before he connected them. “I love you, B. In every way possible, every second of every moment of every day.”
Maybe Bruce would have replied something else if he hadn’t been starved for air as they kissed, the man resolving that if he never got another breath in, this would be the only way he’d go out willingly.
Dick sat at his desk with his feet up on the chair, squinting hard at his computer. Bruce appeared in his doorway, leaning against the frame to catch a glimpse of the boy’s scrunched up face. He cleared his throat.
“Hey, kid.”
Dick’s head whipped around like Bruce had just announced he was about to throw something very large at him. “I’m sorry I went in your room.” The words came out of him so fast, Bruce had to go up a gear in his brain. “I know I said I wouldn’t anymore and I really was going to be just fine, but then I was already there, and I knew your secret already and I didn’t know that there was much more harm in me staying with you guys. I thought I was going to be early enough.”
“Dick–”
“And I don’t have to know if you don’t want me to, I can pretend I didn’t see anything or that I did but it didn’t mean something and honestly maybe you looked ill and Clark was only staying there to watch you. Or even that it just made more sense for you guys to stay in the same room, paperwork and missions and all.”
“Dick, it’s okay you’ve seen.” Bruce nodded. He shrugged. “I’ll admit there were probably half a dozen better ways for you to find out, but it’s not like I didn’t want you to know, eventually.”
Bruce thought about what Clark had said “Love me or hate me Bruce Wayne, you’d have to kill me to take away my relationship with that kid.”
Bruce thought about the fact that Clark could hear every single word he said. Even if he wasn’t posted beside Dick’s door in the hallway, he could have heard across the manor. “I only wanted you to know that nothing changes with this development. Clark will always be there for you, in any way you need him, even before you ask for it, probably.”
“But you can’t let what I did ruin everything.”
“Ruin– what exactly do you think you did?” Bruce cocked his head. He wished mindreading was another one of Superman’s powers right now so he could ask Clark to swoop in and fix it all, but he’d told him to wait for him and Dick to resolve things first.
“I heard you yelling.” Dick’s voice was much lower now. “Alfred probably heard you in the Bat Cave.” He added sarcastically.
Bruce chuckled. “Did you hear what we were yelling about?”
“I didn’t mean to ruin your secret, Dad. I didn’t want to screw it all up for you.” Dick was nearly on the verge of tears now.
Finally Bruce forced himself through the doorway and over to the boy. “For god’s sake, Dick. Will you listen to me?” He kneeled down and tugged Dick from his desk chair and up into his arms. “This was all my screw up. I was wrong to not tell you. I got scared of what would happen if you found out about things and Clark and I couldn’t work it out, how much you would love for me and him to be together. If I messed it up, and you missed out on that, I would have lost it.”
“But if I hadn’t snooped it would have been fine.” Dick mumbled into his shoulder.
Damn Clark Kent for being such a kind, respectful guy, listening to Bruce’s wishes. Damn Clark Kent for not intruding on this moment to resolve the miscommunication they were all in. Damn–
Bruce pulled back from Dick’s hold a moment. He smiled. “Do you think– Clark get your ass in here.” His head rolled back in disbelief.
Clark, who had been listening from the hall all this time, rounded the corner in one of Bruce’s oversized sleep shirts that really just fit Clark like normal. His shoulders shrunk down so he was smaller in frame, one arm shyly holding the other like a kid caught misbehaving. “Hey.” He pressed his lips together in an awkward smile.
Dick moved his attention so quickly away from Bruce he would had been offended if he didn’t relate. He pulled from Bruce’s grip and barreled over to Clark, stopping just a foot away to inspect him.
“You didn’t go?”
Clark bent down on one knee to look Dick in the eyes.
“Why would I have?” He raised an eyebrow.
“I heard you fight.” Dick looked back at Bruce like he wanted to blame him, but he wouldn’t let himself. “I thought– you’re not mad at dad?” He returned his eyes to Clark.
Clark smiled. “As a matter of fact, I’m not.”
“But I thought–”
“I think what your dad was trying to say earlier, which was admittedly, a but confusing, is that I will be here for you always, bud. And no development– in this case a good one– would stop me from being your friend, even if something absolutely crazy happens.”
“Promise?” Dick took a half a step forward.
“Swear.” Clark rose from on his knee and hoisted Dick up into his arms and spun him around like they were on a teacup ride at the fair. “There is no way your Pops could even try and stop me, I am Superman after all.” Clark pressed their foreheads together like he was trying to divulge top secret intel.
“Not that I have any intention of stopping him– in any way.” Bruce made his way over and scratched his hand in Dick’s hair. “Set the boy down, Clark.” Both Clark and Dick turned stonefaced to him. “Please.” Bruce added with a sigh.
He nudged Clark back so they stood in a sort of triangle with Bruce closer to his son. “We messed this up the first time. Then I double messed it up by freaking out.”
“You can say that again.”
“Shut it.”
“Be nice.” Clark brushed at his shoulder with his knuckles.
“Dick– I’m trying to do this the right way. Clark and I– We’ve been seeing each other. For a few months, officially, I guess. I would have told you sooner, but I didn’t want things to be overly complicated, or have me just spring having Clark stay over, or gross you out or–”
Dick looked up at him like Clark was no longer in the room. “But you like like him.”
Bruce nodded. “I love him, chum.”
Dick tilted his chin. “Good, me too.” He smiled.
“Is now a good time for me to agree or should I just keep waiting back here–” Clark softened quite easily. His voice turned light, hint of twang there just enough to give him his midwest charm.
“You can come here.” Dick nodded, assuming responsibility of the situation. He raised his chin to size Clark up, crossing his arms. “Don’t just go kissing Bruce all the time because that’s just gross. And this means you can finally get on parent pickup for school so Dad stops pulling up in a limo. And– And you can have Krypto over here while you are out since you’ll be coming back here anyway–”
“Slow down Dick–”
“--Anything you want kiddo.”
Bruce and Clark spoke at the same time.
Bruce shot daggers to Clark but couldn’t keep his face serious long enough to be convincing.
He groaned. “We’ll talk about it.”
Clark tuned out whatever was playing on the television, relaxing to the gentle rumble of the noise. Bruce was tending to something with Alfred and had left Clark to decompress before dinner. He came back to reality when something struck at his arm, crashing down on the cushion behind him.
That something now stared up at him with wide eyes and a brilliant little smile.
“Hey, kiddo.”
“This spot taken?” Clark smiled at the gap in Dick’s teeth.
“Reserved only for a sweet boy like you.”
Dick tugged up Clark’s arm with great effort and tucked himself underneath. He hummed into
Clark’s side. Clark’s hand cupped his elbow. They both shrugged harder into the couch. “You sure you’re okay with this, me dating your dad?”
Dick looked straight up at him, catching the majority view at his chin. “You’re joking, right?”
“You’re priority number one, pal. If it’s not good for you–”
“You do remember you’re Superman? What kid doesn’t dream of you being their dad?”
Clark leaned his head over to tap the top of Dick’s hair. “Probably one who already has Batman making him breakfast.”
“If you let me get in bed in the middle of the night and keep be warm–” His eyes lit up. “Or take me flying– I’ll dump old Brucie before he can even notice.”
Clark snorted. “No way. Same as you and him are a package deal, I’d like me and him to be the same.”
Dick tucked into him and grabbed a hold of the same t-shirt he’d put on earlier. “Whatever you say, Pa.”
Clark pretended not to have choked on his own saliva at what he said, but Bruce was in from behind them just in time.
“Hun, have you seen Dick–”
Clark raised a big hand and pointed downward where the back of the sofa obscured the boy. He pulled himself up using the top of the couch, eyes peering over at Bruce.
“Oh the both of you in one room, nothing good can be happening.” He leaned over the edge of
the cushions. “Not plotting against me, right?”
“Nothing of the sort, Brucie.”
“Flattered to hear, Dickie.” He pressed a kiss to the boy’s head. His gaze drifted over to Clark, pausing once more before leaning over to kiss Clark’s hair as well.
“Yuck.”