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bradygirl_12 .
Title: Trust
Rating: PG
Fandom: DC
Continuity: Very early on, not long after Dick becomes Robin. Maybe shades of New Frontier.
Characters/Pairings: Clark, Bruce, wee!Dick
Summary: After the Batplane gets shot down, Clark learns a little something about the bond between Bruce and Dick
Wordcount: 752
Disclaimer: Not mine
He pulled up above the wreckage, smeared over half a kilometer, flames already dying in the chill, dry wind. He scanned automatically, x-ray and heat, but he knew they wouldn't be there. Bruce would have got them out as soon as the plane started to go down, by any means necessary. What he needed to look for was ... there! Drifting, barely hooked on the low-lying scrub of the tundra. A parachute. And leading away from it, footprints. Two sets. Both alive. Both alive, thank god.
He flew rapidly along the trail, just slow enough to keep an eye on it, not wanting to waste time. It had been eight hours already, thanks to slow relay of information -Bruce's damned paranoia- and the boy at least wasn't well protected from the cold. Despite the fact that he should be, even in Gotham, where winters were not exactly balmy ... when this was over, Clark decided he was going to have a good long talk with Bruce. Dick deserved better care than this!
There! He spotted the entrance to the small cave, sheltered from the wind in the lee of a small hillock. Trust Bruce to find the only damn cave inside forty miles on the first go. Clark felt himself smile a little, for the first time in hours. At least that much, Batman could be counted on to get right.
The cave was deeper than he would have thought. Pausing in the entrance, settling on the ground to survey the area, Clark squinted into the darkness, letting his advanced senses do their job ... two heartbeats, one pulse of heat. He frowned. Huddled together, somewhere in the back of the cave. The thought hurt something in him, pulled at his heart in sympathy. At least they were alive.
He was careful going in. Bruce would have laid ... Ouch! Yes. Bruce would have laid traps, ones he knew rescuers would know to avoid or not be affected by. Clark smiled, looking down at the harmless blade in his hand. Harmless to him. Because Bruce knew if he came he would mean no harm. He tucked the thing away, wanting for some reason to keep it. A little token of trust.
And then, a few steps further in, he found them. Or one of them. Bruce, hunched down in a small alcove so that his body heat could be more effective in the smaller area, his cape wrapped close around him, his head bowed. Clark frowned, searching for Dick, not seeing him, and reached out cautiously to touch the man's shoulder.
Before he made contact, Bruce looked up, his eyes slamming straight into Clark's with the force of a sledgehammer. Clark froze, then watched, stunned, as Bruce opened the cape to reveal the missing child, huddled close to his chest, one arm wrapped around behind his back, the other curled into a fist at his chest, the small hand resting quietly over the bat emblazoned over Bruce's heart. Dick looked up at him, eyes sparkling and tired, humour and complete, utter confidence in his face.
"Dick?" Clark whispered, unsure why. "Are you ... alright?"
The boy grinned, easy and without hesitation. "Yeah," he whispered back, soft and laughing. "Of course I am. Bruce's been taking care of me." As if there could never have been any doubt. Clark looked up, met Bruce's eyes above the boy's head, and saw the knowing look, the wry understanding, and suddenly he felt ashamed that he could ever have doubted Bruce's care for this boy. For Dick.
The bond they had, that kind of trust ... it couldn't come unless they both deserved it.
"Hey," he said, holding out a hand to them both, smiling suddenly, his heart lighter than it had been in days. "Let's get you both home, hmm?" He met Bruce's eyes as Dick uncurled himself gratefully, seeing the smile there as the boy bounced up and out like he'd never been cold in his life, and nodded to the other man.
He understood.
bradygirl_12 .Title: Trust
Rating: PG
Fandom: DC
Continuity: Very early on, not long after Dick becomes Robin. Maybe shades of New Frontier.
Characters/Pairings: Clark, Bruce, wee!Dick
Summary: After the Batplane gets shot down, Clark learns a little something about the bond between Bruce and Dick
Wordcount: 752
Disclaimer: Not mine
Trust
Clark flew north, into the chill of the tundra, unable even now to believe what he'd heard. That the Batplane had gone down, that wasn't hard. That the Batplane had been shot down, on government orders, even knowing there was a child on-board, even knowing Robin was there ... He flew faster, spurred on by raw fury. Even if it was Bruce's fault, even if the man should never have let a boy take up the cape in the first place, this ... this was more than could be borne.He pulled up above the wreckage, smeared over half a kilometer, flames already dying in the chill, dry wind. He scanned automatically, x-ray and heat, but he knew they wouldn't be there. Bruce would have got them out as soon as the plane started to go down, by any means necessary. What he needed to look for was ... there! Drifting, barely hooked on the low-lying scrub of the tundra. A parachute. And leading away from it, footprints. Two sets. Both alive. Both alive, thank god.
He flew rapidly along the trail, just slow enough to keep an eye on it, not wanting to waste time. It had been eight hours already, thanks to slow relay of information -Bruce's damned paranoia- and the boy at least wasn't well protected from the cold. Despite the fact that he should be, even in Gotham, where winters were not exactly balmy ... when this was over, Clark decided he was going to have a good long talk with Bruce. Dick deserved better care than this!
There! He spotted the entrance to the small cave, sheltered from the wind in the lee of a small hillock. Trust Bruce to find the only damn cave inside forty miles on the first go. Clark felt himself smile a little, for the first time in hours. At least that much, Batman could be counted on to get right.
The cave was deeper than he would have thought. Pausing in the entrance, settling on the ground to survey the area, Clark squinted into the darkness, letting his advanced senses do their job ... two heartbeats, one pulse of heat. He frowned. Huddled together, somewhere in the back of the cave. The thought hurt something in him, pulled at his heart in sympathy. At least they were alive.
He was careful going in. Bruce would have laid ... Ouch! Yes. Bruce would have laid traps, ones he knew rescuers would know to avoid or not be affected by. Clark smiled, looking down at the harmless blade in his hand. Harmless to him. Because Bruce knew if he came he would mean no harm. He tucked the thing away, wanting for some reason to keep it. A little token of trust.
And then, a few steps further in, he found them. Or one of them. Bruce, hunched down in a small alcove so that his body heat could be more effective in the smaller area, his cape wrapped close around him, his head bowed. Clark frowned, searching for Dick, not seeing him, and reached out cautiously to touch the man's shoulder.
Before he made contact, Bruce looked up, his eyes slamming straight into Clark's with the force of a sledgehammer. Clark froze, then watched, stunned, as Bruce opened the cape to reveal the missing child, huddled close to his chest, one arm wrapped around behind his back, the other curled into a fist at his chest, the small hand resting quietly over the bat emblazoned over Bruce's heart. Dick looked up at him, eyes sparkling and tired, humour and complete, utter confidence in his face.
"Dick?" Clark whispered, unsure why. "Are you ... alright?"
The boy grinned, easy and without hesitation. "Yeah," he whispered back, soft and laughing. "Of course I am. Bruce's been taking care of me." As if there could never have been any doubt. Clark looked up, met Bruce's eyes above the boy's head, and saw the knowing look, the wry understanding, and suddenly he felt ashamed that he could ever have doubted Bruce's care for this boy. For Dick.
The bond they had, that kind of trust ... it couldn't come unless they both deserved it.
"Hey," he said, holding out a hand to them both, smiling suddenly, his heart lighter than it had been in days. "Let's get you both home, hmm?" He met Bruce's eyes as Dick uncurled himself gratefully, seeing the smile there as the boy bounced up and out like he'd never been cold in his life, and nodded to the other man.
He understood.