Chapter Text
Clark would be lying if he said he wasn’t looking forward to talking to Bruce.
Of course, he was still angry about what Dick’s teacher did—but he also managed to help Dick handle some difficult emotions. That would have to earn him brownie points with Bruce, right? How else could Clark prove that he was ready to take on a bigger role in Dick’s life, to officially be part of the family?
Plus, Clark would never squander an opportunity to tease his boyfriend.
After dinner that night, once they finally managed to wrangle Dick into bed, the couple retired to the master bedroom. Clark sat on the edge of the vast king bed while Bruce changed, silently rehearsing how to start the conversation. He didn’t want to come on too strong, but then again, he—
“Spit it out.”
Clark glanced up at his partner, who he hadn’t noticed was staring at him.
“What?” Clark asked innocently, hands fidgeting in his lap.
Bruce’s stare sharpened into a glare. “You’ve been preoccupied all night. You have something to say. So spit it out.”
It was, admittedly, alluring how straightforward and commanding Bruce could be—but that thought would have to wait.
Clark took a deep breath. “I wanted to talk to you about something that happened with Dick earlier today—Nothing bad,” he quickly corrected, when Bruce raised an eyebrow. “Just… Did you know he’s been having trouble at school?”
“What, trouble with the other kids?” Bruce asked, pulling on a pajama shirt.
“Yeah.”
“Alfred mentioned something. He’s a kid, it happens,” Bruce shrugged. “Are you staying the night?”
“Bruce, I’m serious. Did he ever talk to you about what exactly was happening?”
That was enough to earn a pause. “Is there something more serious going on?”
Clark nodded. “The kids in his class said some homophobic things, and he asked me about it.”
Bruce frowned. “And you told him that this is something serious that he needs to talk to his dad about, right?” he followed up, clearly not expecting the answer to be yes. Which, if Clark was being fair, was the correct instinct.
“That’s the thing, he said he didn’t feel like he could talk to you about it. He—”
“And you didn’t encourage that, right?” Bruce interjected, eyes narrowing.
“He said he thought you were homophobic.”
Clark had never quite seen that specific mixture of shock and horror on Bruce’s face. It was somewhere between incredulous and appalled, with a little touch of “Are you insane?” thrown in.
“What do you mean my son thinks I’m homophobic?”
Clark had to cover his mouth with his hand to hide his amusement; it wasn’t his fault Bruce looked adorable when he actually expressed emotion. “Exactly that,” he continued. “He thinks you hate gay people.”
Bruce shook his head. “What did you do, Clark?”
Clark held his hands up in defense. “Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just relaying what he told me.”
Bruce started pacing around the room, making no effort to hide his displeasure. “What exactly did he say?”
“Well,” Clark paused, remembering his promise to Dick. “He said some kids in his class were using homophobic slurs, and he was upset about it, but he didn’t think he could tell you because you think ‘being gay is wrong’.”
“And you told him that’s not true?”
“Of course, but I’m telling you, the kid was in tears. He said you turned off some show he was watching because there was a gay couple in it and said it was ‘degenerate’ or something.”
“Yeah, sounds like me,” he scoffed.
“He said you specifically said, ‘they shouldn’t glorify things like that on TV’.”
Bruce froze in place. His eyes widened, before he pressed his hands to his face, defeated. “You have got to be kidding me.”
“What?” Clark prodded, doing his best to suppress the smile tugging at his lips.
“He was watching Law and Order. The scene before the gay couple was somebody getting stabbed to death. I thought it was inappropriate for a child.”
Clark couldn’t help but laugh. Now that sounded more like the Bruce he knew. “Well, did you explain that to him?”
“We were already running late. I didn’t think he’d permanently internalize a five-second interaction.”
“I feel like you should know children better than that by now.”
That earned him a rather scary glare.
Bruce collapsed onto the bed with a groan, hands folded over his chest. “Why is being a dad so difficult?”
Clark eased down beside his partner and embraced Bruce in something resembling a cuddle. “Come on, you’re a great dad. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t dating a homophobe.”
Bruce playfully shoved Clark away, a strong arm pushing Clark’s shoulder. “Maybe you will be if you keep it up.”
Undeterred, Clark wrapped his arms around Bruce even harder, tangling his legs around Bruce’s for good measure. “I mean it. You’re a great dad. It’s just a silly miscommunication, nothing you can’t clear up.”
Eventually, Bruce tilted his head and made eye contact with Clark, their faces inches apart. Both heroes couldn’t help but smile.
“Why did all of this even come up, anyway?” Bruce asked.
“I promised him I wouldn’t tell.”
“He’s a child,” Bruce replied, unamused.
“I’m sorry, scout’s honor.” Clark placed a hand over his chest. “I can’t break a promise.”
Of course, Clark immediately saw the detective wheels start turning in Bruce’s head.
Soon enough, Bruce was smiling. “Don’t need to. Already figured it out.”
“Sure you did,” Clark scoffed.
“Really, Clark? Kids in his class were being homophobic and he was upset about it. Who could possibly put that one together?” he asked sarcastically.
“Well, I didn’t tell you, so I still technically kept my promise.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”
Silence settled between them, and Clark couldn’t help but stare into his partner’s eyes. The way they held so much love, even if it was guarded under sarcasm and a monotone voice. How much he wanted to officially be a part of that man’s family.
Clark braced himself. “Anyway, I think you’re missing the bigger picture here,” he continued, carefully.
“Do tell.”
“He trusted me enough to tell me a secret.”
Bruce laughed, a warm, deep laugh that made Clark melt. “You’re Superman, he would’ve told you a secret the minute he met you if he had one.”
“Okay, well I also handled him being upset perfectly. He was crying and everything, and I was able to make him feel better.”
Bruce gave him a small smile. “I feel like you’re trying to say something.”
Clark felt himself start to blush, but he pushed past it. “He really likes me, and I think I’m doing a good job at this parental figure thing.”
“Congrats. Do you want a reward?”
“I’m just saying, maybe he’s ready. Y’know…” Clark trailed off, feeling his mouth start to go dry. “To know about us.”
Bruce paused. Clark held his breath.
“I’ll think about it,” Bruce finally said.
Clark felt his resolve falter. “And if you’re still not ready that’s totally fine, of course,” he rambled, “I would never—”
Bruce cut Clark off with a gentle kiss. “I’m ready. We’ll think about it. How to do it,” he corrected.
Clark felt his face flush. He responded with a slightly less gentle kiss.
The Wayne family—or more accurately, Bruce, his adopted orphan son, and his alien boyfriend—were gathered in the living room. A family meeting was needed, as Bruce had announced.
“Why is it a family meeting?” Dick questioned as he somersaulted over the back of the couch. “Superman isn’t family.”
Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. “Because we’re having a serious conversation. Now sit down,” he commanded.
Clark was sitting beside Bruce on the expansive leather couch, watching with amusement as Dick reappeared and flopped back down next to them, arms folded over his chest. Both heroes were in civilian clothes for the occasion, and Clark almost felt odd after months of only wearing his Superman gear in the manor.
It certainly wasn’t helping his nerves. He could feel both his and Bruce’s hearts racing, even though they already knew Dick was going to handle the news well. Or, at least that was what they were telling themselves.
“Now, I need you to listen,” Bruce started. “Superman and I have something important we need to tell you.”
Dick finally stilled, looked between the two with questioning eyes.
Bruce took a deep breath and grabbed Clark’s hand. “We’re dating. Superman is my boyfriend.”
Dick’s eyes immediately lit up, confusion transforming into joy. He opened his mouth, but no sounds came out.
Clark interjected. “So from now on, you can call me Clark. But, just like how you can’t tell anyone Bruce is Batman, you can’t tell anybody that I’m Clark. Does that make sense?”
Dick nodded his head so hard that Clark half-thought he might give himself a concussion.
“And you can’t tell anybody we’re dating either,“ Bruce added. “Now, do you have any questions?”
The words tumbled out of Dick’s mouth, rushed with the kind of excitement only a child gets. “Does that mean Superman is my second dad now?”
“No, bud. We’re still only dating,” Bruce replied. Thankfully, Clark had anticipated that question when he and Bruce were thinking of how to approach the conversation.
“Who is Clark?” Dick followed up with, legs starting to kick with excitement.
Clark took that one. “I’m Clark,” he explained, pointing to himself. “Just like how your dad is Bruce when he’s not Batman, I’m Clark when I’m not Superman.”
“No, but who is Clark? What does he do?” Dick asked, clearly annoyed that they weren’t telepathically understanding his question.
“Oh, I’m a journalist in Metropolis. Just a normal guy from a small town, not nearly as famous as your dad.”
Dick nodded along, as if thoroughly contemplating the explanation. “I wanna see Metropolis,” he added.
Clark chuckled. “Maybe one day.”
Once it was clear Dick had no further questions, Clark spoke up again.
“Now, Dick, is there anything you might want to tell Bruce?”
“Thank you?” Dick asked more than said, tilting his head in confusion.
“What? You—No, something else? Something that happened at school?”
“Oh, uh… no?”
Clark sighed. “Something about a boy?”
Dick looked down at his hands, legs coming to a stop. “So Bruce doesn’t hate gay people then?”
Bruce leaned forward and placed a gentle hand on Dick’s shoulder. “Absolutely not. And I hope you know I would never hate you.”
Dick smiled up at his dad.
“Do you have something to tell me then?” Bruce asked.
“There’s this boy at school I like. Like, like-like—but he’s not as cool as Superman,” he quickly added.
“Well, there’s nothing wrong with that, Dick. I’m glad you told me,” Bruce said, a genuine smile on his face that warmed Clark’s heart.
“I know…”
“Is there anything else you wanted to tell Bruce?” Clark interjected.
Dick sighed, suddenly looking smaller as he sank into the couch. His blue eyes lost a bit of their sparkle as he started to ramble. “One of my friends said that she couldn’t be my friend anymore because that makes me a faggot. And when I told my teacher she said it was my fault for saying I liked a boy.”
Bruce kept his expression as soft as possible, but Clark could feel his blood pressure rising. He gently rubbed Bruce’s back.
“I hope you know your teacher is very wrong for saying that,” Bruce said. “Please, always tell me right away if a teacher ever gives you trouble again.”
“M’sorry,” Dick muttered.
“No, you have nothing to be sorry for. I just want to make sure you know you can always talk to me. No matter what.”
Dick nodded, legs starting to idly kick again.
“I will talk to your teacher and make sure this is dealt with,” Bruce continued. “Is there anything else going on that you’re upset about?”
“How could I be upset when Superman is your boyfriend?” Dick asked, a smile already back on his face. “Does that mean we can hang out more? Can we go to the zoo together?”
Clark chuckled. “Maybe one day, but you know how hard things can get with your dad and the press.”
“Anyway,” Bruce interjected, “we can talk about it more after dinner. Why don’t you go wash up?”
After a huff, and a hug for both Bruce and Clark, Dick scampered off, leaving the room back to the adults. Clark all but collapsed into Bruce’s side, both heroes smiling as wide as they did when they kissed for the first time.
“That went well,” Clark said, feeling all of the stress start to leave his body.
“Yeah.” Bruce paused. “That teacher is fucking dead.”
Clark couldn’t help but laugh.