Chapter Text
Never get to heaven
I’ll hold your hand,
Kiss me to sleep,
Please catch the wind, if I can’t breathe in,
And send it when I leave.
But if I, never get to heaven.
Will you find a way to me?
And if I never get to heaven.
Say you’ll come and rescue me.
Please catch my tears.
Will you carry me?
Or do I deserve to walk alone.
The only Father that I’ve ever known.
Don’t leave me here on my own.
And if I never get to heaven.
Do you think I’ll still be free?
And if I never get to heaven.
Say you’ll come, and be with me,
Be with me.
So let the ground crumble underneath my feet,
No six feet’s never going to be enough to bury me,
As long as I am on your shoulders,
We’ll be standing when the world is over.
And if I never get to heaven,
Do you think I’ll still be free.
And if I never get to heaven,
Say you’ll come and be with me.
Be with me.
By Sarah Blaine
Chapter One
Ironically it had all gone to plan. Resurrecting Clark had gone pretty much without a hitch, okay, he’d been pretty out of it at first, had attacked the newly formed league, Iron Man, War Machine, and Spiderman, and he had nearly fried Bruce, had it not been for Lex shouting his name and tearing off his Dragonfly face mask so that Clark could see him, then they may not have been able to stop Clark’s rampage. However, Lex calling out to him had triggered Clark’s humanity and he had ceased his attack on Bruce and taken off with Lex to the family farm in Smallville where his memories had come back to him.
The two of them, after reuniting him with Martha, had joined the rest of the league, defeating Steppenwolf, and preventing the worse beings from crossing through the portal that the Motherboxes had opened up. Just one look into that dimension/world had convinced everyone present that there was far worse than Steppenwolf and likely they would end up having to deal with it at some point.
With the fall of the Avengers and the death of Superman, the world had been in a very vulnerable position, the newly formed Justice League as they had been christened was sorely needed.
Tony, Rhodey worked on sorting out deals with the Sokovia accords, so that their identities could remain secret so long as two members knew of them and did not have secret identities themselves, ie. Tony and Rhodey, but also Victor as he could not really hide what he now was. If any one of them went rogue for any reason, then their anonymity would be forfeit and they would face criminal prosecution.
Sadly, this deal caught the attention of the rogue Avengers, and T’Challa acted as mediator for them between the UN, the Accords Council, and the Rogues, managing to get them deals so they could return to America.
They were all to be confined to the Avenger’s compound for a period of Two-years with electronic tags being placed on them. The only times they were allowed off site was to complete the community service they had been ordered to do, Five Hundred Hours each, and for Superhero missions.
Tony was seething. But with the King of Wakanda backing them, and both the Accords council and UN paving the way, there was not much he could do about it.
He also had other worries on his mind, as did Lex, Bruce, and Clark.
Since his creation of Doomsday Lionel had been languishing in a cell in Arkham Asylum, apparently completely brain fried from whatever he’d seen in the data core of the Kryptonian ship, but then one night as Guards had been moving the inmates out he had been found to be missing and a decoy had been in his cell.
So far there had been no sign of him, there was a police search as he was a dangerous criminal, but Clark, Lex, Tony, and Bruce were worried for more personal reasons.
Lionel knew about their superhero identities, he knew of Bruce’s boys, he probably knew of Peter Parker, and if he didn’t yet then he would likely learn it soon, the man had already put Martha Kent in danger to get what he wanted, so there was no reason to think that he wouldn’t do the same to Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian, and Peter.
Clark and Lex should have been planning their wedding, should have been looking forward to their future together after all they had been through, instead they were having to look over their shoulders and comb the world for Lex’s deranged Father.
“I should have killed him when I had the chance.” Bruce grunted.
“Yeah, you should.” Jason unhelpfully said as he lounged over one of the computer cages in the cave, he spun one of his guns around his index finger, dicing with death since the safety was off and the gun was loaded. “Killing the fucker would have solved all this shit.”
“You think murder solves everything.” Dick chided around a mouthful of dry cereal which he was eating out of the box, something Alfred would scold him for when he found out.
“Like it doesn’t?” Jason asked with a grin.
“There’s still been no sign of him?” Tim asked Bruce, coming to stand behind him, a can of some disgustingly sugary, highly caffeinated drink in his hand which he was slurping from. Really, Bruce needed to do something about Tim’s caffeine addiction.
“No.” He grumbled, “He escaped the asylum and has simply slithered off into the darkness.”
“He might not have.” Damian said, looking up from where he’d been scowling down at a history text book he was studying for schoolwork, Bruce would worry about Damian’s eyesight with all the scowling he did, but it was the boy’s normal expression. Something he’d inherited from Bruce if Dick was to be believed.
“Maybe someone he pissed off abducted him from the asylum and disembowelled him.”
Bruce rose his eyebrows. That was a possibility. Lionel had pissed off a lot of people, it wasn’t completely ridiculous to think that maybe a past enemy had seen an opportunity and taken it to get revenge. But then, if they had wanted to kill him, why go to all the trouble of getting him out of Arkham, why not just kill him there?
With all the screaming that went on in the place Lionel screaming in terror or pain would hardly rouse suspicion or concern.
He made a mental note to mention this to Lex the next time they spoke. Compiling a list of Lionel’s enemies would take some effort, there were so many of them and a lot of those had criminal if not murderous histories.
“So are we hitting the streets tonight or what?” Dick asked after a few minutes.
“We are.” Bruce agreed then pointed a finger at Tim and Damian, “It’s a school night, the two of you are staying here.”
“Buzz kill.” Tim grumbled.
“Asshole.” Damian spat.
Bruce grinned, “Love you both too. Get to bed by eleven and don’t sass Alfred.” He said getting to his feet and stretching, feeling his hips ache in protest having become stiff from sitting too long.
“When’s Tony coming by again?” Tim asked, “He’s always more agreeable when he’s getting laid.”
“Not soon enough.” Jason grumbled. “So he’ll be a grumpy bastard until he get’s his end away.”
“He’s always a grumpy bastard.” Dick said sagely.
Bruce ignored them, he was resigned to having no privacy or respect by now, fighting it just gave him a headache. Besides, they did have a point, he was always in a far more mellow mood or as mellow as his moods ever got, when he and Tony were having sex.
Unfortunately, Tony had to be in upstate New York at the compound to welcome home the rogues, otherwise he’d be at the manor. Bruce didn’t envy him this task, and he was forcing himself to stay away because if he did otherwise then he would undoubtedly end up punching Captain America.
Putting on his cowl and cape he made his way over to the batmobile and climbed in, he’d barely revved the engine when two motorbikes roared into life, smiling grimly he set off into the night, flanked by Dick and Jason.
*****
Metropolis.
Clark watched Lex type on his laptop. He’d always loved watching Lex work, seeing those long elegant hands tapping computer keys, stroking tablet screens, holding pens.
Were hands a normal sex object? If not then whoever thought so had obviously not seen Lex’s hands.
They were pure sex, all smooth and flawless, slender, graceful, with perfectly shaped and buffed nails that promised to dig just deep enough into the skin, and fingers that had enough strength to hold just tight enough.
Yeah, Lex’s hands were sexy, but then all of him was sexy. His long slender limbs, his washboard abdomen, rounded buttocks, smooth and perfectly shaped head.
Few people could really pull off being bald, but somehow Lex managed it, made having a hairless body incredibly sensual. Maybe it was because his skin was pure alabaster with few scars to mar it’s surface thanks to his accelerated healing. Maybe it was because he was one of the rare people in the world to have perfect symmetry in his features, or maybe it was his confidence, his swagger and unerring charm.
He had a silver tongue to go with his exceptional looks, he could use it to charm the pants of a nun, or to cut glass depending on his mood. He could sweet talk, flatter, intrigue, assure, and seduce just about anyone, but he could also cut people to the quick, verbally flay and eviscerate those who angered him.
Clark really wasn’t sure which he liked better, Lex seducing with honeyed words and coy smiles that suggested so much pleasure and so much more than he was saying aloud, or bared teeth and cruel insults and barely veiled threats being spat out with vitriol.
Really everything about Lex was delicious and sinful. Clark had felt like such a pervert back when he was a kid and he and Lex were at the beginning of their friendship. 2001 Kansas had not really been LGBTQA friendly, especially not a small town in the middle of nowhere, where even divorce and living with somebody or having a baby outside of marriage was frowned upon.
Clark had still been discovering his sexuality, he’d clung to his crush on Lana, obsessing over it to convince himself that he didn’t like boys, and with other boys it was pretty much true, then came Lex.
All slim sleek lines, fitted suits, designer clothing, smooth talking, big city grown, and cultured in ways that no one else in Clark’s life was.
He'd flushed crimson when he’d overheard his Mother saying to his Father that he had an understandable crush on Lex. That it was just a case of Lex being an older attractive man who was very different to everyone else in Clark’s life and that he’d get over it soon enough.
That had been when he’d still been denying the truth to himself, but after his disastrous Summer on Red Kryptonite in Metropolis, and after Lex’s deadly second marriage and near death had Helen’s hands, Clark had stopped pretending. His summer in metropolis had taught him a lot, had shown him a great deal of diversity when it came to sexuality and gender and he was no longer going to try and bury his true feelings and conform to small minded town’s ideals.
Jonathon had been horrified and Martha confused and worried, when he’d come out and admitted that he was bi-sexual if not outright gay. Sure he liked women, but his time in metropolis had taught him that he really liked men, and Lex’s return to the living and Smallville was such that he was not going to risk losing him again.
So, blind and deaf to Martha and Jonathon’s protests he had gone to the mansion, seized Lex by the waist, lifting him up with effortless ease and bent him back over the pool table, kissing him until Lex had desperately needed to breathe.
He could remember it perfectly, how Lex had given a startled cry that had become a gasp and then moan, his body arching into Clark’s powerful embrace, his hands running over the expanse of Clark’s muscled back and gripping onto him as he’d reciprocated the kiss, fighting Clark for dominance, refusing to just lay back and take it, even though his body was spread out and willing.
When they had finally come up for air Lex had looked dazed and aroused as he’d panted, “Clark, what’s…”
“I want you.” Clark had said, “I want you and I know you want me, and I’m tired of pretending otherwise. I’m tired of pretending to only like girls, tired of seeing you being screwed over by sluts and bitches, tired of pretending…” He’d paused, sucking in a breath and summoning all of his courage before he’d ploughed on, “Pretending to be human.”
Lex had stared at him then, stunned briefly into silence, then he’d smiled and wrapped his hand about the back of Clark’s neck, “And here I had thought you were just another mutant. But you are really not, are you? You are something so much greater.”
Clark had confessed then, the two of them had gone to take seats on Lex’s ridiculously comfortable sofa and Clark had confessed to all of it, his heritage, the lies, the manipulation from Jor-el, how he’d come into his powers, how and why he’d run to Metropolis during the summer.
Lex had listened without comment, just letting Clark get it all out, then he’d taken Clark’s hand and made confessions of his own, how he’d never let go of his obsession with the car accident, how he’d been collecting memorabilia of all the weird events that had happened while he’d been in Smallville, trying to figure everything out.
He’d even shown Clark the room where he’d gotten it all stored away. It should have been unnerving, to discover how much Lex had already worked out on his own, but instead Clark had found it arousing, the fact his lover was so smart. He’d even told Lex that and to this very day Lex denied blushing.
Sadly though they had not become lover for another two ball and dick repressing years, because alien heritage aside, Clark was still under the legal age of sexual consent, and Lex wasn’t going to break that law no matter how hard Clark tried to get him to. He did manage to get Lex to show some leniency in regard to hand jobs, if he hadn’t then Clark was pretty sure they would both have gone completely insane by the time he turned eighteen.
His parents hadn’t been happy, Jonathon had been firmly against the relationship and threatened to go to the police, but Clark had told him that if he did so then he and Martha would never see him again. Martha had been worried that Clark was too young, too naïve, was confusing love with his hormones, that it would all inevitably end in heartache. But over a decade later the two of them were still going strong and were now engaged.
Unfortunately, Clark’s coming out had ended his friendship with Pete. But said relationship had been fragile for a while by then so Clark had seen it coming. He and Chloe had drifted apart too, by the time Clark was eighteen the two of them hardly spoke anymore. Clark had simply grown up, he wanted different things to her, he wanted his life with Lex.
They had moved to metropolis together, Clark had gone to college while Lex had been working on his company, then once Clark’s degree was complete he’d begun to travel, actively begun to rescue people and learn more about himself and his abilities. Meanwhile Lex had been setting himself up as his own superhero in Metropolis, aided and abetted by the Dark Knight of Gotham, who’d trained him. Clark had planned to make his debut as a superhero with Lex at his side, but it hadn’t worked out that way, what with Zod arriving and then the attack on Metropolis. Clark would always carry guilt over the destruction of the city, no matter how many times Lex told him it wasn’t his fault, he would still blame himself for all the lost lives and maimed bodies.
His guilt had been one of the strings Lionel had been pulling when he’d been turning the world against Superman, the manipulative bastard pushing all the right buttons to make Clark feel like he was a monster, and have the world agree.
Really if anyone had deserved to die in black zero it had been Lionel Luthor, but just like a cockroach the bastard had survived unscathed; and the bastard was still out there now, still causing them worry even after all they had been through.
“Deep thoughts?”
Clark blinked and smiled as he met Lex’s grey/blue eyes, “Thinking about us.” He said, “About how we first got together.”
Lex snorted, “How I was body snatched and molested by an alien you mean.”
“I don’t remember hearing any complaints.”
“How could I complain when I had your tongue down my throat and body flush against mine?” Lex demanded, “I’m not a saint and you could drive one to cardinal sin.”
“Oh I don’t know, you were pretty restrained.” Clark said, “No matter what I did to get you into bed.”
“I nearly died of sexual frustration.” Lex grumbled, “I should have made whoever wrote the law about age of consent be in a room with you in tight jeans and a too small t-shirt. They would have quickly changed the law then.”
Clark laughed and rose to his feet, going over to Lex and placed his hands on Lex’s shoulders, massaging them gently, “Worth the wait in the end though.”
“Completely.” Lex agreed. Relaxing under Clark’s touch.
That first night together in Lex’s penthouse had been the best night of Clark’s life, the first night of the rest of their lives, and no matter what the world or universe had to throw at them next, they would have a long and happy life together.
*****
International Waters.
Slade Wilson AKA Deathstroke climbed onboard the yacht and made his way to where Lionel Luthor and Secretary Ross were sitting before the onboard swimming pool drinking champagne.
“Care for a glass?” Lionel offered, “We should drink to our union, celebrate in fact.”
“I didn’t come here to drink.” Wilson grunted stripping off his face mask.
“Oh I know.” Lionel said, “You came because you want revenge on Batman, a bit of eye for an eye.” A pointed comment at Wilson’s missing right eye courtecy of Batman. “Well, our interests are on common ground. You want to destroy Batman, Mr Secretary here wants to bring down Iron Man, and I want to make my Son pay and destroy that Alien abomination. So, as we have common goals, we should work together, yes?”
“Indeed.” Ross agreed sipping his champagne, “With Stark out of the picture I can get the accord back on track, get the SHRA pushed through and bring these freaks to heal.”
“And without Superman and Dragonfly I can bring my plans to fruition, and without the batman, Gotham will be anyone’s for the taking.” Lionel said, “And you will get your revenge.” He nodded to Wilson, “And as a show of good will I shall tell you the Bat’s name.” He paused and leaned forward, “Bruce Wayne.”
Wilson stared at Lionel and then laughed, “Perfect.” He said and picked up the third glass, “And I think I’ll have that drink.”
Smiling Lionel filled the glass and raised his own, “To the future.” He said.
Chapter Text
Avengers Compound.
Tony was not happy, he was not happy in the least. He was not over what had happened in Siberia, with Steve’s lies and betrayal.
How that man had the stomach to lie to his face after he’d seen Maria and Howard murdered was beyond Tony.
Steve had called Howard a friend, had reprimanded Tony when he’d spoken of his troubled relationship with his Father, telling Tony he should have had more respect for Howard and not try and sully his good name.
He had never accepted that Howard was an abusive drunkard, that the optimistic young man he’d met in 1942 had changed so dramatically by the time Tony had been born. Multiple wars, the loss of friends, the loss of several children before Maria had successfully carried Tony, and his obsession with trying to find Steve had all chipped away at Howard, grinding him down and slowly but surely pushed him deeper into his own darkness.
Howard hadn’t had an easy life, he had not come from money. His parents had been dirt poor, his Father had been a German immigrant who’d come to America looking to make his fortune, but instead all he’d found was a whiskey bottle. His Mother had been the illegitimate daughter of a prostitute her Father unknown. She had worked her fingers to the bone to try and keep a roof over their heads and put food on the table, she’d worked herself into an early grave while Howard’s Father had spent everything he earned on drink. It should have been alcohol that had killed him but he’d had a mean temper, one he’d taken out on Howard and his Mother regularly, he had also started fights in bars when he was drunk and had eventually picked the wrong fight, getting a knife through the eye and bleeding out in the gutter.
With both of his parents, dead by the time he was sixteen Howard had been forced to fend for himself. He had fought for everything tooth and nail, had to prove himself over and over, until people began to believe that a boy from a poor background and a mediocre education could be that intelligent and talented.
Earning himself a fortune had made Howard proud, as he should have been, but the way people had treated him and the way that high society had continued to look down on him had left him with a hell of a chip on his shoulder and an obsessive need for respect and control and when he felt both of those being denied him or slipping from his grasp he would turn to his Father’s way of self comfort and drink.
By time Howard had married Maria he’d already been a functioning alcoholic, he had a problem, he drank far more than was healthy but he could still continue appear collected in public. Whether or not he had truly loved Maria, or if he had simply married her because she was a Society child and could open doors to him that not even his self-made millions could would remain unknown.
Maria had been too young for Howard, but had been dazzled by the older mans wit and charm, both of which Howard could exude in abundance when he put his mind to it. Maria had certainly been in love with Howard, or at least she had at the start, but then the rose tint had faded as she had come to see how obsessive Howard was with work, how much he drank, and how volatile his temper was.
Maybe it would have been different if having children had been easy for her and she had done so when she had still be filled with optimism, but four miscarriage, one still birth, and one cot death had all robbed her of that optimism. By the time Tony had been born Maria herself had been ground down by years of loss and neglect, she’d began to drink herself and to self-medicate with the tranquilizers that doctors had handed out like sweets back in the seventies.
While Tony had been a healthy child he hadn’t been easy to deal with. He’d been too precocious and hyper-active for her to deal with, he’d gone through his milestones at abnormal speed, been reading and writing by the age of two and had needed constant stimulation which Maria just couldn’t provide. She had loved him in her way, but she had struggled to bond with him and understand him.
The one who could have understood Tony would have been Howard but by then he was so lost in megalomania that he had only seen Tony as a threat to his own brilliance.
Tony had been taking the lime light from him at the age of four and was rapidly leaving Howard in the dust with his formidable intelligence.
Seeing his hard won respect and power slipping away and all at his own Son’s hands had turned Howard against Tony, had made him cruel and spiteful. He’d constantly belittled and bullied Tony, treating him as a nuisance on a good day and something abhorrent on a bad one. It was those days that he became physical, Tony had more than once felt the back of Howard’s hand splitting his lips, blackening his eye and bloodying his nose.
He only ever broached the subject the once with Steve, and the Captain’s vehement denial over Howard ever being anything but a saint in his eyes had Tony giving up.
Yet, despite Steve’s apparent adoration for his friend, he had shed not one tear nor even batted an eye when he saw Howard getting his head smashed in against his car by the Winter Soldier.
Steve had stood there and watched the whole thing without a flicker of remorse or even a hint of guilt over not telling Tony the truth over two years before when he and Romanoff had first learned of the Murders.
Natasha’s betrayal stung less than Steve’s. Natasha was a sociopath. She could not be trusted to do anything that did not first benefit herself and honestly Tony hadn’t been surprised when she’d screwed him over again and switched sides.
It was Steve that really galled him, because he could remember Steve ripping into him about keeping secrets when the whole time he’d been lying to Tony’s face.
The bullshit “Apology” letter Steve had sent had made Tony’s blood boil with rage, calling the Avengers his family, ha! If that were true why were they all with Rogers then? Tony had truly never wanted to see any of them again, Clint especially for the shit he’d said about Rhodey, that bastard had been lucky Tony hadn’t been able to get a hold of him or Barton would have been minus his tongue for what he’d said.
Wilson had never been anything but Steve’s mouth piece, his yes man, jumping the second Steve asked and refusing to think for himself.
Maximoff was a deranged psychopath who Tony wanted nothing to do with, she refused to accept evidence that it had been one of Howard’s old bombs from desert storm that had been illegally sold on the black market, which had been used in the Sokovian civil war. She was still convinced that Tony was the one who murdered her family and would not be told otherwise.
Scott Lang, Tony hadn’t much of a clue who the idiot was, or at least he hadn’t until a cursing and thoroughly infuriated Hank Pym had called him to discuss the theft of the Ant Man suit and wanted to straighten things out before they got to court. The fact he had to speak to Tony, the son of the man he hated was enough to have the old man frothing at the mouth, he’d also been pushed into calling by his daughter who was equally as pissed off with Scott.
It seemed the idiot had only been out of prison on parole and he had violated said parole by leaving the city let alone the country. He had been facing another three years in prison for breaking his parole, but thanks to T’Challa’s political manoeuvring he was on house arrest at the compound with the rest of the Avengers.
It must be nice to have a King looking out for you. Well, Tony had the Prince of Gotham looking out for him by day and the Bat of Gotham looking out for him by night, so Wakandan monarch or not, Tony was not alone facing his former team, he had friends and family watching his back now and the second one the assholes stepped out of line they would pay for it.
“Tones.”
Tony looked up from his tablet and saw Rhodey standing behind him in the lab. Getting Rhodey walking again had been his first priority after Siberia. He couldn’t bear the thought of Rhodey spending the rest of his life in a chair, he’d had to fix that, to get Rhodey walking.
The braces he was using now were the mark ten and were the slimmest and lightest design to date, so thin that Rhodey could wear them beneath his trousers provided they weren’t skinny jeans or yoga pants.
“Hey platypus, how’s it hangin’?” Tony asked with a smile.
“They’re here.” Rhodey said flatly and Tony sighed, knowing exactly who Rhodey meant.
*****
Two years. It had been two years since they had been in the USA and all of the rogues were champing at the bit to get back.
Sadly it had taken T’Challa’s political weight to get their charges dropped and clear the way for them to get home as Tony had not been able to see past his own bruised ego, but the main thing was they were going home.
Steve grinned and looked over his shoulder to the rest of the team as they began to descend down into the compound.
“So what do you think?” He asked Bucky, having Bucky back by his side was a God Send, something that Steve had almost been giving up hope of ever having again, but thanks to some kind of technology he had been freed from the trigger words and was safe to be out of cryostasis. He had also been cleared of any charges on the grounds of diminished responsibility. He should have also received one hell of a lot of backpay from the army since he was the longest ever serving soldier in history, but it seemed that the surviving families of the Winter Soldier’s victims had launched a joint civil suit against him and had won the case for wrongful death, this had seen every penny of Bucky’s money being divided up and going to them before Bucky ever got a chance to see it.
It was completely unfair or at least Steve believed so, the courts had proven Bucky innocent so why he should have to pay for the Winter Soldier’s victims Steve didn’t know. Bucky had told him to leave it, he did care about the money, was too focused on his future. That was just like Bucky, not being materialistic, being more interested in important things like family. Steve had become more thankful for his family over the last two years, the Avengers, they had bonded during their exile relying on each-other to get through the hardship of being away from home. Clint and Scott had it worst being separated from their children, but thankfully now that would all change.
Before Bucky could reply to Steve’s question T’Challa appeared from the cockpit where he’d been speaking with the pilot.
“Mr Stark and Colonel Rhodes are here to greet us.” He said, “I advise that you put away any hostilities you may still hold and behave in a civil manner.”
“Civil, after what he’s done?” Clint snapped, “I’m wearing this stupid tag because of him, and haven’t seen my kids in two years.”
“Nor me.” Scott added.
“Stark is a murderer.” Wanda growled, her eyes flashing red, “He murdered my parents, he has taken my home from me twice now.”
T'Challa sighed, “You all agreed to the terms of your return to America, you know that means staying in the compound and being in Mr Stark’s presence. These pardons were not easily won and are still precarious, I urge you all to be careful in your actions or you could very easily find yourselves facing imprisonment again.”
Wanda opened her mouth to argue but Steve cut her off, “We understand, your Majesty, and we appreciate all that you have done for us.” He looked back at Wanda giving her a reassuring smile; thankfully Vision had his arm around her and was comforting her. Vision had joined then several months after the civil war following a confrontation with one of Tony’s unsavoury friends.
Lex Luthor, who had told the android that Jarvis had been wasted on him and that he paled in comparison to the AI.
Steve had only met Luthor a handful of times and knew him to be cold, spiteful, and smug. What Tony saw in him Steve couldn’t imagine, yet he’d apparently been friends with the younger Billionaire since Luthor’s adolescence.
Likewise Steve had no idea what Tony saw in his boyfriend. While both Tony and Lex had formidable intellects, Bruce Wayne was a pretty boy airhead with an insipid voice and irritating demeaner. He was exactly the kind of person that Steve hated, spoiled, rich, and careless.
While Tony did work for SI, was Iron Man, and the Avengers tech guy, and Luthor ran his own company, Bruce Wayne did nothing but pose for the cameras that followed him around and got drunk at parties.
Both of them were bad influences on Tony, he didn’t know why Potts and Rhodes allowed them to be in Tony’s life.
Thankfully however neither of the obnoxious Billionaires were present at the compound as the team left the Wakandan jet, led by T’Challa to where Tony and Rhodes were standing at the front entrance.
“Your Majesty.” Tony greeted formally.
“Mr Stark, Colonel.” T’Challa said, “Thank you for being here to greet us.”
“Like we had a choice.” Rhodey icily said.
“Tony.” Steve said taking a step forward to break the ice, but Tony ignored him completely and in fact stepped right past him and offered his hand to Bucky.
“Sergeant, I apologise for my actions in Siberia, I know that you were not cognitively responsible for what happened to my parents; had I been given enough time to process what I saw then I would not have reacted as badly as I did, and I am sorry for causing you harm.”
Everyone froze and stared at the scene, Bucky stared at Tony in shock having clearly not expected this from the man, which Steve couldn’t blame him for, not after Tony had nearly killed him in Siberia.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Clint scoffed.
“Shut it Barton.” Rhodey growled, “Or you’ll need to watch your back, because it might just get broken.”
Clint blanched at the words, the archer had shown remorse over what he’d said in the heat of the moment, Sam had been disgusted with him for saying such a thing about a life changing injury, clearly Tony had told Rhodes about the comment for him to throwing it back in the archers face like this.
Steve moved to intervene but before he could Bucky startled everyone by taking Tony’s hand and shaking it.
“Thank you Mr Stark, and I am sorry. I know it doesn’t change anything, I wish it could, and I am sorry not only for your parents but also for any injuries I caused you in Siberia.”
“It was self-defence Buck.” Steve said needing Bucky to understand this, he hated seeing the man so racked with guilt.
“Is anyone talking to you?” Tony snapped looking at Steve with what could only be described as pure hatred, it was so intense that Steve actually took a step back.
“You don’t tell him what to do Stark.” Wanda hissed, her eyes glowing red and her power crackling around her hands. Normally when this happened Tony would blanch in fear, but this time he just smirked at her.
“Go ahead and try your parlour tricks, it’ll be funny.”
“Wanda don’t.” Natasha said but Wanda wasn’t listening and launched a scarlet beam at Tony only for it bounce off him and dissipate into the air.
“What?” She whispered in shock.
Tony’s smirk grew, “Did you really think I’d let you walk back in here without having an ace up my sleeve?” He looked over to Rhodes who had an equally smug grin on his face, “A little gift from Wonder Woman, anti-magic charms if you will, the deflect powers like yours.” Tony informed Wanda, “She gave them to me and everyone I care about so that you can’t use your mind raping shit on us.”
“Tony.” Steve said seeing the distress growing on Wanda’s face, “She’s just a kid, she…”
“Actually Captain, Miss Maximoff is in her late twenties, she is far from a kid.” T’Challa said, “And Miss Maximoff, if you dislike people using such “Charms” around you, I suggest that you do not use your powers as you just tried to. Another violation of the terms of your pardon will not be tolerated.”
“I didn’t do anything.” Wanda snarled from between clenched teeth.
“You literally just tried to use your powers on Stark.” Scott said, “I saw you, everyone saw you!”
“He made me!” Wanda cried,
“How, you’re the one with mind control bullshit not him!”
“He was goading her.” Sam said diplomatically, “But still Wanda you shouldn’t have risen to the bait, don’t do it again.”
“He’s right Wanda,” Steve said urging her to understand, “If you do this then you play into the hands of people like Ross, you give them ammunition against you.” Wanda scowled at him her jaw tight and eyes shining with anger, but she did nod her head.
“Well, this is going swimmingly, you’ve only been back on US soil for two minutes and already Maximoff has risked her pardon.” Tony sneered with false cheer, “Maybe I should have taken Lex up on that bet, he said you morons wouldn’t last a week before you’d fucked up.”
“Tony!” Steve reprimanded,
“Stark that isn’t helpful.” Natasha sighed,
“Mr Stark, please, we need to keep this civil.” T’Challa said.
“Whatever.” Tony said, “Let’s get this shit over with, then we can go our separate ways.”
Steve sighed heavily as he and the others followed Tony into the compound, this was not going how he'd wanted it to.
Chapter Text
Rhodey had been through a lot with Tony.
He had known Tony for more than thirty years, having met him a college when Tony had been a pre-pubescent five feet nothing, hundred pound sack of genius intelligence, insecurity, social anxiety, and nervous energy.
Sadly not that much had changed in regards to Tony’s personality over the past thirty odd years, he was still scarily intelligent of course, but he still had crippling insecurities and anxiety that he tried to conceal with sharp wit, sarcasm, humour, and a bad attitude.
That was the mask that most people saw when they first met him, the Tony Fucking Stark persona that he had made and branded for the world at large to cover up the frightened, lonely, and neglected little boy he had been when Rhodey had first met him.
Many people, the Rogues especially never saw past that mask, believed that larger than life character that Tony paraded before the media was the real him, that he went no deeper than skin level.
Natasha had immediately bought into it, labelling Tony despite the fact that he had been dangerously ill during her observation and that she had been goading him into self-destructive behaviour. Iron Man yes, Tony Stark no.
Rhodey would never forgive her for that, he’d never forgive himself for not spotting the signs of Tony’s illness. Christ, it had been right in front of him, Road Rash indeed, He’d seen how sick Tony was and he had let the genius bullshit him instead of forcing the truth out of him and helping him as a friend should.
Unfortunately, Rhodey couldn’t say that was the only time he had let Tony down over the long years of their friendship either.
The first time had been when they had first met in college.
Rhodey had not been impressed with being assigned a thirteen year old room mate, and even less a spoilt brat rich white boy who he was sure was just going to be a pain in his ass and ruin what should be the best years of his life.
The eighteen-year-old Rhodey had already had a belly full of spoiled rich white boys when he’d been growing up, had been shoved around, had racial terms said to him, been spat on and generally treated like shit because he wasn’t white and he wasn’t rich. His family wasn’t poor as such, they had enough money to get by, could afford medical insurance, a few luxuries at Birthdays and Christmas, and a holiday every year. But they were not driving sports cars, or wearing designer brands of clothing, Rhodey had also done parttime jobs, a paper round at first, then stacking shelves in the local supermarket, and finally doing shifts in the local cinema.
The money had supplemented his allowance, it had allowed him to buy a second hand car so he wasn’t reliant on his pushbike or on his Mother driving him everywhere. Earning his own money like that had given him a sense of pride at achieving something for himself and taking responsibility for his own finances.
Tony had of course never had a parttime job, had no idea what responsibility was, had never had to save up for weeks to buy a pair of jeans or put up with being told no by his parents when he asked for an expensive toy.
Just the sight of the skinny kid in his designer clothes had set Rhodey’s teeth on edge and he’d decided to have very little to do with Tony Stark, after all why should he? The kid was too young to even try to get into the clubs that Rhodey would be going to with his own fake ID, and it wasn’t like they would be moving in the same social circles anyway, Rhodey thoroughly expected Tony to be swallowed up by the rich kids on campus and soon move into a Frat house and that would be that.
However that did not happen, the rich kids didn’t want a thirteen-year-old who was far smarter than them hanging around them, it was bad enough he showed everyone up in class when he opened his mouth and showed how smart he was, but to have the kid around them when they were trying to chill out was rubbing salt in the wound.
So unless Tony was in the library or the lab, he was in their dorm room and naturally he met the “Friends” Rhodey had made, he now put quotation marks around the term friends because that group he’d started hanging around with hadn’t been that good of friends, but eager to fit in and not be isolated as he was one the few African American students at MIT, Rhodey had turned a blind eye to their nastier side, at least at first. It had been later that he’d opened his eyes, or rather his Mother had opened them for him with a dressing down that Rhodey could remember thirty years on and still cringed over.
His so called friends had decided to make Tony a part of their group, but not because they felt sorry for an underage boy being so isolated, but because Tony was rich so he could pay for their pizza, burgers, Chinese, and booze. His wealth and name opened doors for them which they took full advantage of.
Rhodey was ashamed to say he had taken advantage of it too, letting Tony pay for everything during that first term, had treated the kid like a walking bank account and lived the high life with his “Friends” while scorning Tony behind his back.
It had been when he’d gone home for the holidays and he’d spoken to his Mother about what he’d been getting up to at college that things had changed.
Roberta Rhodes had become suspicious about the number of nights out, take-aways, and other luxuries that Rhodey and his “Friends” had been enjoying, had known that even with a scholarship paying for some of the cost of his tuition that he should not be able to afford all of this, and certainly not the designer brand clothing he had started to wear. She had sat him down and spoken to him about this, had probably been afraid that Rhodey was doing as some college kids ended up doing and was selling drugs to make up for their lack of money or something equally as dangerous and illegal, but she had never expected for him to be using a boy like his own personal credit card and had been furious with Rhodey when he’d admitted to what was going on.
Rhodey’s half-hearted explanation of how Tony was rich, how he was a privileged white boy who knew nothing of discrimination and poverty had been weak even to his own ears and it had done nothing to curb Roberta’s ire.
“So he deserves to be treated like this because he is white, because he has money, does he?” She’d asked, “How is this any different to those racist bullies saying you deserved to be beaten up because you are black?”
It wasn’t any different, not really, Rhodey was allowing himself to become the very thing he despised, a discriminatory bully.
“You listen to me James Rupert Rhodes. If you are really going to be this Tony’s friend, then you be a friend to him, you treat him like you treated your friends in school. You share the cost of pizza, of cinema trips, you don’t demand he buy you things, and certainly don’t have him buying you beer, you are both too young to be drinking anyway! And if you are not his friend, then you stop leading him on, stop manipulating him. I did not raise you to be cruel and I am ashamed that you are behaving like this and worse, thinking you have some sort of right to be doing so.”
Rhodey had never felt so small, so utterly ashamed in his life as he had then. It hadn’t been so much the anger in his mother’s eyes which had hurt, she’d been mad at him plenty of times in the past for some transgression or other, it was that disappointment which had truly cut him to the quick. He never wanted her to look at him like that again and had vowed to do everything in his power to ensure that she never did.
When he got back to college after the holiday’s he had been all set to make things right, to make a clean break from Tony, after a profuse apology of course, he owed the kid that much. However when he’d gotten back to the dorm it had been to find Tony sporting one of the worst blackeyes he’d ever seen, a dislocated shoulder, and several cracked ribs.
“Fell down the stairs.” Had been Tony’s excuse, but Rhodey had seen a boot print on Tony’s ribs as he had been changing his T-Shirt when he’d come in.
“My Dad….he gets mad sometimes.” Tony had eventually admitted after Rhodey had taken him out for ice-cream. He hadn’t been sure of what else to do and his sister’s loved ice-cream when they were upset about something, so something sugary and sweet seemed like a good plan.
Howard it seemed got mad a lot, and when he wasn’t mad he was thoroughly neglectful of his only child, as Rhodey discovered as he spent more time with Tony and the boy slowly opened up to him.
For all that Tony had been born into wealth and privilege, he had been completely neglected by both parents, abused by Howard both verbally and physically, had been socially isolated in his boarding schools because he was put in classes several years older than he was so he never made friends and didn’t really know what it was to have friends, except for the family butler and his wife, both of whom Tony spoke of with adoration.
Rhodey would have thought that Jarvis and Ana were Tony’s parents the way he spoke of them and loved them, but sadly they were not, they were the employees of Tony’s drunken, drugged, and abusive parents.
From that first day back at college Rhodey had been Tony’s protector and friend. He’d stopped his other “friends” from taking advantage of Tony, which had led to them ditching him as a friend since he’d cut them off from their meal ticket. Well too bad, they’d have to go and fend for themselves, and Rhodey didn’t need people like that in his life, he had plans for his future and it wasn’t to become a user of other people.
Over the next few years Rhodey grew close to Tony, had learned that once you got past the façade of sarcasm and sneers that Tony was painfully insecure about himself, had really no concept of what amounted to a healthy relationship, hence why he’d allowed himself to be used by Rhodey and the three asswipes he had previously called friends, he also had a deep desire to be liked and loved, to have what other people had, friends, a loving family, everything he’d been denied thus far in his life.
It was hard to think that someone from such a wealthy background could have been denied anything, but Tony had, not materialistically, but of much more important things, the things that helped a child to grow up emotionally stable and healthy, he’d also suffered merciless bullying at school because he was so much younger and smaller than his classmates, something he still faced in college, although Rhodey made it his mission to protect Tony as much as he possibly could.
He’d continued to try to protect Tony as they had left college and grown into adulthood, but he hadn’t always been successful.
Tony’s drinking and drug abuse.
Afghanistan.
Obadiah Stane.
Justin Hammer.
Ivan Vanko.
Palladium Poison.
A deranged Demi God with an alien Army. (But that really couldn’t be counted as negligence on Rhodey’s part, who the hell could predict such things happening?)
Aldrich Killian.
Wanda Maximoff.
The Avengers.
It was the last that really made Rhodey’s blood boil, because they had pretended to be Tony’s friends, had wormed their way into his life, lived in his property, ate the food and wore the clothes that he paid for, only for them all to betray him. None of them had cared that he was suffering from PTSD, Rogers had kept the truth about Barnes murdering Tony’s parents from him, while using Tony’s money to run around the world looking for his long lost friend, then he’d beaten Tony nearly to death and left him in Siberia after the truth had come to light.
Natasha Romanoff had been a manipulative bitch right from the start, Rhodey had never fully trusted her after she’d been revealed to be a spy, that she had known about Tony’s parents too was not surprising, neither was her switching sides during the civil war. Natasha always thought about herself first and everyone else second.
Clint’s treatment of Tony and his comment at the raft disgusted Rhodey, he knew of plenty Veterans who’d returned home paralyzed, or minus a limb or two, who’d have had something to say about Clints comment regarding Rhodey’s spinal injury.
Sam Wilson Rhodey could have liked more if the idiot would pull his head out of Rogers arse and think for himself. That was likely one of the reasons Sam had never made officer, he was not a leader, he didn’t have command ability. He was a damn good airman, but he was not someone to whom taking command came naturally.
Rhodey didn’t include Scott Lang in his thoughts on the Avengers, he didn’t know the man and wasn’t really keen to change that.
Wanda Maximoff he despised. He would sympathise for the loss of her parents, had he not done tours of war torn countries where thousands of kids had been left orphaned in similar ways and none of them had gone on to join a Nazi organisation, or volunteered to be experimented on, nor did they get their rocks off raping people’s minds.
Rape was sadly something else Rhodey had previously dealt with during his friendship with Tony.
Back in their second year of college they had been at a party at Princeton, while Rhodey had not allowed Tony to buy him everything anymore, he hadn’t denied the two of them the chance to get into parties, he was only nineteen himself and he liked to party as much as the next teenager in college.
While at the party Tony had attracted the attention of one Ty Stone, a rich kid with a bad reputation and perverse proclivities, such as attempting to rape a young boy while he was passed out from beer and pot.
Rhodey had been looking for Tony when he’d heard the sounds of a fight and screaming from one of the bedrooms upstairs in the frat house. Running up their he had found Tony unconscious on the bed, stripped from the waist down and a young man beating the shit out of Ty Stone, who’d had his own pants around his knees. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what Ty had been planning on doing, but thankfully the young man who’d broken one of Ty’s legs, his nose, and wrist, had walked in on the pervert before he’d had the chance to rape Tony.
The young man had been a sixteen-year-old Bruce Wayne, who was in college early like Tony, although it was his first year.
Rhodey had of course known the name and the sad story that went with it. Everyone knew of Bruce Wayne, how he’d seen his parents murdered in an alley as a child.
Bruce’s timely intervention had saved Tony from being raped by Ty, and he had helped Rhodey get Tony back to their dorm room in MIT without Rhodey even having to ask for help.
From then on Bruce Wayne had become a part of their lives. When he’d sobered up and been told of what had happened, and been questioned by the police as Ty had tried to press charges of assault on Bruce only to drop them since Tony threatened to have him charged with attempted rape if he didn’t do so and there were plenty of witness to corroborate that Ty had carried an unconscious Tony to the bedroom. Tony had made contact with Bruce to thank him and the two of them had hit it off and become friends.
A friendship which had quickly blossomed into something more, the two of them becoming boyfriends, and eventually lovers, although Rhodey didn’t know the exact time frame that had occurred.
He could honestly say that he was thankful that Bruce in Tony’s life again now, just as he had been thankful that Tony had someone other than himself to care about him back in college. However it hadn’t always been the case over the years.
Both Tony and Bruce had troubled pasts and many issues they refused to deal with, when Tony’s parents died, he had quickly begun to spiral into drink and drugs, Bruce had aggression issues and with Tony’s mood swings thanks to his addictions the pair of them became violent to each-other on more than one occasion.
Then, when his parents killer had been released from prison just because he was willing to open his mouth about another criminal, Bruce had some kind of nervous breakdown/psychotic episode, and had disappeared for nearly ten years.
Rhodey now knew he had been learning about poverty, crime, abuse, and training to become Batman. But he had not known that then, neither had Tony, who had been devastated and had just buried himself in his work, coke, booze, and one night stands.
That had continued up to Afghanistan, not even Bruce’s return to America in 2005 had pulled Tony out of his self-destructive spiral, that was being aided and abetted by Stane. Rhodey also didn’t learn that Bruce was the Bat until just recently, when Tony had told him, having been keeping it secret since he himself had learned of it during what was known as Gotham’s Night of Terror, when Crane had unleashed a fear toxin on the citizens of Gotham.
Rhodey had been hurt by Tony keeping it secret, but, Tony had said it wasn’t his secret to tell and Rhodey hadn’t been close to Bruce since the other billionaire had left Tony back in the nineties.
That said, he was very pleased that Bruce was a part of Tony’s life again and could support him now that he was facing his former team mates, all of whom had betrayed and/or abused him.
He was also happy that Lex was offering his added support to Tony. That Kid had come into Rhodey’s life when he was just a troubled thirteen-year-old. The similarities between Tony’s own upbringing and Lex’s were too much for them not to have developed a kinship, although for all his abuse of Tony, Howard had never gone so far as to attempt to brain damage Tony the way that Lionel had with Lex.
Thankfully Tony, along with Clark had gotten him out of the nut house before Lionel could have Lex electro-shocked and Tony had hidden Lex in his malibu mansion until they had found proof of Lionel having murdered his parents for the insurance money.
Rhodey couldn’t imagine ever doing anything so vile. He would never dream of hurting his Mother, especially not for money. Lionel was everything that was wrong with the world in one repugnant package, and really, his recent escape from Arkham should have been what Rhodey and Tony were focussing on, but sadly they were having deal with the Avengers return.
With a heavy sigh and clenching of his jaw Rhodey pulled himself out of his musings and set about paying attention to the meeting.
*****
International Waters.
Lionel looked over the body of the man that was laying on the deck of his yacht. They were similarly built in height and musculature, also close in age, the rest was easily taken care of. A shaving of the scalp to match Lionel’s shaven head, courtesy of Arkham as it stopped lice. The face would be smashed in to the point it was unrecognizable, the fingers cut off so finger printing couldn’t be performed, the teeth all broken and several knocked out. Everything done so the only way to ID the body was via DNA, and General Ross was taking care of those records with the Metropolis crime lab.
“Excellent work, Mr Wilson.” He said to Death stroke. “Now we just need to add the finishing touches and leave this to be found by the local police.” He paused, “Dressed in my Arkham striped pyjamas of course.”
Chapter Text
Debris was burning, hot smoke, dust, and ash were in the air, the only light was from the fires and the distant shore beyond the battle ground.
The battle itself had been deafening but now another sound surpassed the roars of the monster born from General Zod’s corpse. The sound of Superman’s final scream.
On the ground, bleeding, hurting in what felt like every part of his body, Lex watched with horror as Doomsday impaled Clark upon the giant bones that protruded from its massive arm.
As Clark thrust the kryptonite spear through doomsday he tipped his head back and let out an almighty bellow of pain, his death cry which echoed about the battle ground reverberated across the globe.
Lex might have been screaming himself, he wasn’t sure, but he was silent when he scrambled his way over the debris and reached Clark’s body.
Aside from the hole in his chest and the streak of blood on his cheek, Clark looked as beautiful and perfect as he always had. Peaceful as he stared blankly at the sky, his eyes no longer focusing, no longer filled with life.
Tears had blinded Lex, he’d been blind to everything but Clark, deaf to what was being said around him, numb to everything but the feel of Clark’s body, slowly cooling even as he clung to it, willing for him to come back to life and not leave him alone.
*****
Lex startled awake with a sharp gasp and clutched at his chest. Nightmares about Clark’s death had haunted him since the battle. They no longer came to him every night, but they came often enough that he was no longer surprised by them.
“Hey, you okay?”
Lex jumped at the unexpected voice from behind him, unexpected because his brain, still slightly sleep fogged hadn’t caught up with the fact that Clark was back by his side.
“Baby, you’re shaking.”
Lex let himself relax as Clark wrapped his larger body around him and pulled him down so he was laying against Clark’s chest.
“Bad dream?” Clark asked kissing his head.
Clark was the first person that Lex didn’t mind kissing his scalp. Of course his other sexual partners had been money hungry assholes and bitches, so it probably shouldn’t surprise him that he was never comfortable with them touching his bare skull.
“I guess they’re gonna take a while to stop completely.” Lex murmured, tracing his fingers over Clark’s chest. There was no scar, not a single sign that he had ever been injured let alone killed. But Lex knew he had, could easily remember seeing Clark’s beautiful chest with a hole right through his heart.
“Wanna talk about it?” Clark asked his fingers stroking Lex’s bicep,
“No,” Lex kissed Clark’s chest and then moved to straddle him, “I wanna fuck until we’re at the point of breaking the bed, then I wanna go and get one of the ridiculously huge sugar, carb, and fat loaded breakfasts, and then come back here and fuck until the bed is completely broken!”
Clark laughed and gripped Lex’s buttocks, “We can’t spend all day in bed.” He protested, but didn’t put much effort into his protest as Lex rolled his hips, bucking their crotches together.
“And we won’t, we’ll get up for breakfast, or brunch as it will probably be.”
“Brunch?” Clark asked with a risen eyebrow, Lex grinned back at him,
“Depends how well your stamina holds up, Farm boy.”
*****
Avengers Compound.
Tony was literally counting the hours until he could go to Gotham.
The downside of the Rogues being confined to the compound when not serving their community service hours or on a missing, (Aside from them being there at all) was that there was no reprieve from their presence.
Tony had made his lab and his and Rhodey’s personal quarters off limits, but the rest of facility was fair game, which meant when Tony wanted to have something other than a smoothie made from questionable items in his lab, possibly toxic items since the bots were still unclear on what was safe for human consumption, he ran into the rogues when he went to the kitchen.
Having not slept and worked far too many hours in the lab with only coffee to fuel him, Tony was in need of a decent breakfast, however, when he saw the congregation of rogue Avengers, plus King of Wakanda in the kitchen, Tony seriously considered just going back to the lab and powering through on whatever energy bars he had laying around.
“Nuh uh, no you don’t.” Tony’s elbow was caught and he found himself being shoved along to the kitchen by Rhodey. “You need to eat, I am under strict instructions by your grumpier half, and Pepper to ensure you eat three squares a day.” The colonel said.
“I’m telling Rue you called him my grumpier half.” Tony said pouting at Rhodey tugged him along like a reluctant dog and deposited him on the stool furthest from the rogues, “If you are insisting on this then I want French Toast, with blueberries and maple syrup.”
“You get what I give you, Stank, you don’t like it, learn to cook without poisoning yourself.” Rhodey shot back, but began to gather the items needed for French Toast anyway.
“But honeybear, if you don’t have an excuse for being around me all the time, people will learn about our torrid affair!”
“In your dreams. I want nothing to do with your pale ass.” Rhodey shot back, slapping Tony’s fingers as he tried to swipe blueberries.
“No one in their right mind would.” Clint sneered. “Which explains his brain challenged boyfriend. If Wayne had any functioning brain cells he’d have ditched you decades ago.”
“Like your wife did you?” Tony shot back with a cruel smirk. Clint was on his feet in a second, his fists balled and eyes blazing with anger,
“You dare….” The archer began to snarl as Sam put an arm out to restrain him,
“I dare a lot of things.” Tony goaded, “Come on Barton, gimme an excuse to beat your worthless ass.”
“Tony stop.” Natasha said, “This isn’t helping.”
“Who asked you?” Tony said meeting the Black Widow’s eyes with his coldest glare.
Natasha’s expression became one of insulting disappointment, as if she had the right to be disappointed in him.
“I know you are angry Tony, but you need to put that behind you if we are ever going to fix this family.”
Tony stared at her and let out a snort of disbelieving laughter, “Family, really?” Rhodey snorted.
“Colonel, please.” Steve said, “We have to try and fix this….”
“There is nothing to fix, Rogers.” Tony snapped, rising from his stool and glaring at all of the rogues, “Haven’t you lot got it through your thick skulls yet? I don’t want anything to do with any of you. You all disgust me.” He glanced at Bucky who was hunched over the counter staring down into a cereal bowl looking as if he was trying to disappear into it. “That doesn’t include you Sergeant.” Tony added, making the man look up in surprise. “You are exempt from that statement.”
“Uh thanks?” Bucky stammered looking rather bewildered.
“Mr Stark, such hostilities are not helpful.” T’Challa said in an irritatingly calm voice, “You need….”
“I don’t need to do anything, your Majesty.” Tony snapped at the young King, “Maybe you’ve forgotten, but this isn’t Wakanda, you are not King here. This is my property and if you don’t like how I behave in my own home then feel free to go back to your own.”
“At least Wakanda is one place you haven’t destroyed.” Wanda sneered, she was shaking with anger at being unable to use her powers, the anti magic charms being worn by Tony and Rhodey deflecting any attempts she might make, subtle or otherwise.
“And the rabid mutt with a bone starts barking once again.” Tony drawled, rolling his eyes, “Platypus, while I appreciate you cooking, being surrounded by stupidity makes me loose my appetite, what do you say to us ditching this place and going out to a dinner?”
“Happy to.” Rhodey said leaving the half finished makings of French toast on the counter. “Idiocy doesn’t do my appetite much good either,” He added, “Nor my digestion.”
Together the two of them headed out of the kitchen, leaving the rogues behind them to deal with the mess from the French Toast.
Bucky silently got up and made his way to the counter, he quietly got a frying pan out of the cupboard and set it on the oven, put butter in it to melt and set about making French toast.
“Buck?” Steve asked,
“M’hungry.” Bucky said without turning around, “That sugary crap didn’t even take the edge off.”
“Hey!” Scott protested, “Don’t dis fruit loops!”
“We have got to do something about Stark’s attitude problem.” Clint said, “Asshole is just asking to get punched.”
“Violence will not aid the situation.” Vision said, “And perhaps we should give Mr Stark some space, the compound is big enough that we do not have to be in each others pockets.”
“No,” Steve said with stubborn finality, “We need to get past all of this, put this family back together.”
The peal laughter that broke out was startling, since it came from Bucky, the last person anyone would have expected to laugh, “Are you suddenly going deaf Punk?” The super soldier asked, “Stark just said he wants nothing to do with you. Leave him the hell alone and respect that decision.”
Steve’s face softened, “I know you don’t know Buck, but we were a family at one time, and we have to put it back together.”
“You may not be able to.” T’Challa said, “Too much has happened, too many broken trusts, you may have to accept the consequences for your actions.” He held up a hand to silence any arguments. “You all made choices and have decided to stand by them regardless of whatever hurt they may cause others. The consequence of that may be those loss of those you once had as a friend.”
“Stark is no ones friend.” Wanda spat petulantly.
“He was ours Wanda.” Steve sighed, “And I do regret how things played out, if he would just meet us halfway….”
“Tony Stark is not a man who does halfway, Captain.” Vision said, “From what I can extrapolate from the memories of JARVIS, he has always been an “All or nothing” he too passionate an individual to settle for a middle ground.”
“He has to.” Steve gritted out.
“Maybe you should give him a reason to reconsider making his decision not to make amends.” Bucky suggested, plating up his French toast, “After all, so far all you lot have done is shout at and insult him,” He took a bite of one of the toasts and swallowed before speaking again, “If I were him, I’d cut ties with you too.”
Leaving the stunned team in his wake, Bucky headed for the TV room to enjoy his breakfast in peace.
“What the hell does that mean?” Clint barked,
“It means we apologise, dumbass.” Sam said.
“I have nothing to apologise for.” Wanda snarled,
“Nor me!” Clint agreed and Sam glared at him,
“Oh no, so you didn’t shit talk about broken spines hours after Rhodey broke his?”
Clint’s cheeks coloured and his head dropped, “You had no right to say that shit, man, none at all.”
“I know, okay?” Clint said, “I feel like shit for saying it, I was just angry and shooting my mouth off, when I get pissed I don’t think clearly and I say stupid crap.”
“You say stupid crap all the time.” Natasha said, “But Sam is right, apologising, really apologising not just trying justify our actions would be a big step forward.” She looked hard at Steve as she said this and the Super soldier flinched.
“No!” Wanda cried, “I will not apologise to that Monster. Stark is a murderer!”
“As are you, Miss Maximoff.” T’Challa said in an ice cool tone, “And you should listen to your team and think long and hard about making a serious attitude adjustment or I doubt that your future here will last very long.”
Chapter Text
Metropolis Docks.
The body had been found by local fishermen after it had become tangled in a net and they had hauled it on board, the coastguard and police had been called and the body was taken to shore where the Coroner pronounced death, (Something that had to be done even when it was clearly obvious that the body was deceased)
“Any idea on time of death?” Detective Bradshaw asked the Doctor.
“Rigour has come and gone so more than two days I would say at a guess.” The Doctor said, “But as the body has been in the water that will make things harder to determine.”
“C.O.D wasn’t drowning was it?” Bradshaw’s partner, Detective O’Malley asked, “The lungs are empty.”
“People can dry drown.” The Doctor said, “But, judging by the injuries, it is likely he was dumped in the water post-mortem.” He opened the corpse’s mouth and clucked his tongue, “Between the missing fingers and the teeth making an ID won’t be that easy.”
“As soon as you can, Doc.” Bradshaw said, “It’ll be hard to come up with a suspect list without knowing the victim’s name.”
“I’ll run the DNA through the database and get back to you.” The Doctor said, he nodded to his assistants who bagged the body and loaded it into the back of the van. “What I can tell you even before I do the PM, is that whoever did this wanted him to hurt before he died.”
“Oh?” Bradshaw rose an eyebrow,
“He was alive when his fingers were cut off, so it is likely that he was alive when the rest of the injuries were inflicted.”
“He was tortured to death.” Both O’Malley and Bradshaw were too long serving to be shocked by this, they had seen too much of peoples brutality to be surprised by anything anymore.
“Some with a personal grudge then.” Bradshaw said looking to the van, “You poor bastard, what did you do to deserve that?”
*****
The Coroner carried out the autopsy as he carried out all autopsies, recording and collecting evidence as he went, he determined that the man had been 1.85m in height and 85 Kg in weight.
He had been held prisoner for some time prior to his death, there were deep ligature marks on his wrists. He’d also gone an extended period without adequate nutrition, he had lost a substantial amount of weight which had caused muscle loss as well as a decrease in his fat stores.
As well as the broken and missing teeth, severed fingers, and restraint marks, the man had suffered a brutal beating prior to death. Most of the bones in his face had been shattered to the point that the face was just a sagging mass of bloated and discoloured tissue, both hamstrings had been severed in the legs most likely to prevent any escape attempts. Practically all of his ribs had been cracked or broken, both collar bones, one shoulder was dislocated and both knees were completely shattered, (An act of complete cruelty considering the severed hamstrings would have rendered the legs useless.) He had also been subjected to whipping, his back, buttocks, and the back of his thighs were torn up with lash marks, he’d been burned too with a variety of tools, cigarettes, matches, heated instruments, even what looked to be a blow torch.
The cause of death in the end had been a single well placed stab wound to the abdomen which had been made deep enough to eventually cause death, but kept shallow enough to avoid puncturing any of the organs and major arteries, so that the victim would suffer a long and painful death of bleeding out rather than the swifter bleed that would have come from a ruptured organ.
The Coroner estimate the time of death to be three days prior to the discovery by the fishermen, and that he was certainly dead before going into the water. He sent swabs collected from the inside of the victims cheek off to be run through the database to try and get an ID along with other samples collected from the body.
It was not long before a match was found.
Lionel Luthor.
“You’re sure it’s him?” Bradshaw asked looking at the unrecognisable corpse on the slab.
“DNA doesn’t lie.” The Doctor said, “It’s him alright, and he suffered before he died.”
“The man deserved to after what he did.” O’Malley said sneering at the remains of Lionel Luthor.
“He had no short list of enemies either.” Bradshaw said, “Which means we’re looking for a needle in a haystack.”
“I may be able to help you there, Detective.” The Doctor said, “We pulled some tissues from the body that don’t match the deceased, fibres from a silk shirt were found in some of the burns, and epithelial tissues were caught in the remains of the teeth and in the lash wounds.”
“No ID on them yet?” O’Malley asked.
“None yet.”
“Well, if we can put together a suspect list we can at least narrow it down with that.” Bradshaw said and grimaced, “Now we need to face his Son and break the….well I’m not sure it will be bad news.”
“Good luck.” The Doctor said pulling the sheet back over Lionel Luthor’s body, “Dealing with the Luthor’s, you’ll need it.”
******
Breaking into Lex’s penthouse had not been an easy task even for a man with Death Stroke’s skill set, he’d had to wait until the bald freak and his farm hand lug of a lover had gone out before he’d scaled the building, entering via the balcony. An EMP had knocked out the security system temporarily and had bought Death Stroke several minutes to collect DNA from Lex’s wardrobe. As the man was completely bald there was no hair that could be taken, but a few fibres from one of his extensive collection of silk shirts was easy enough to take, along with scrapings from the inside of a pair of gloves that were clearly Lex’s. If the monogram on the cuff hadn’t been enough to prove that, the fact they were several sizes too small for the farm boy’s hands was evidence enough. For a good measure Death Stroke also scraped the most well worn down tooth brush. Since Clark/Superman had been dead it was pretty obvious that the fresh tooth brush would be his, and finally scrapings from the inside of Lex’s shoes provided enough DNA to plant on the body.
Days later Slade Wilson watched as the police drew up outside of the Lexcorp tower, two detectives approaching the doormen and being admitted once their ID was established.
Smiling humourlessly he pulled out his cell phone called Lionel, “The bodies been ID’d, the cops are going to see your Son now.”
“Excellent.” Lionel purred, “And I trust that when My Son gives his DNA it will be positively ID’d.”
“Of course.” Wilson replied, “The Doctor needs his gambolling debts cleared, he won’t let us down.”
“Well then, let this stage play out while we plan for act two.”
*****
Of course lazy days spent in bed, lavish brunches, and time spent doing nothing but lounging around the penthouse or strolling about the City couldn’t last forever, but Lex and Clark could not have expected for their little bit of luxury to be ended with a visit from the police.
Fortunately the two of them were dressed, (under dressed) in Lex’s case, he was for once in casual clothing, or what he considered casual and what Clark considered top end fashion. In Amiri stack distressed slim leg jeans and a Gucci cotton blend polo shirt. How some one could consider an outfit that cost nearly a thousand dollars casual Clark had no idea but to Lex this was as casual as it got.
His own outfit of a well worn pair of jeans that were fraying at the ankles and a faded white t-shirt were real casual, and it was always funny to buy stuff from Walmart and watch Lex groan and act as if he were personally wounded by having such low end clothing near his silks and designer suits.
Of course he’d also added to Clark’s wardrobe, buying him the same brands that he loved, but Clark often felt afraid to wear something that was close to the price of a car for fear that he’d damage it, and besides, there was something to be said for the comfort factor of old clothes, and even if he wouldn’t admit it even under torture, Lex had old favourites too, and had stolen a number of Clark’s shirts to wear in bed or around the penthouse.
The two of them had been playfully bickering over what to watch on the TV and Clark had been holding the remote too high for Lex to grab even though he’d climbing Clark like a tree, when the intercom had buzzed and the doormen had told them that the Police were there to see them.
Clark let the Detectives into the penthouse, taking them to the corner suit sofa where Lex was standing stiffly waiting for them.
The Detectives introduced themselves, showing their ID’s and took seats, refusing tea or coffee when offered.
“We’ll come straight to the point, Mr Luthor.” Dt Bradshaw said, “Your Father, Lionel Luthor is dead.”
“Oh.” Lex reaction was not one of shock nor distress, merely an exclamation over a newly learned fact. “When did he die?” He asked, sounding more like he was discussing a stranger than his own Father. Clark couldn’t blame him though, after what Lionel had put Lex through the man didn’t deserve distress, he didn’t deserve anything.
“The Coroner has put the date of death to be sometime between the hours of ten pm Friday the 11th of April and four AM Saturday the 12th of April.” Bradshaw replied, he glanced at his colleague and set his jaw before continuing, “I’m afraid this was not a natural death, your Father was murdered and brutally tortured before his death, his body was then disposed of in the harbour where it became entangled with a fishing net.”
“He suffered then?” Lex casually asked, again unmoved by the information.
“He did.” Bradshaw confirmed. Lex shrugged.
“He had no shortage of people who would have wanted to see that.”
“Yourself included.” O’Malley said watching Lex with a disturbing amount of intensity.
“What do you mean by that?” Clark snapped, moving himself to sit at Lex’s side and slipped his hand into Lex’s, “You can’t possibly think he had anything to do with this.”
“Of course they do Clark.” Lex said quite calmly, “Family members are always suspects, especially estranged family with known grudges.” He squeezed Clark’s hand reassuringly and looked back to the Detectives, “In answer to your question, yes, I would have liked to see Lionel suffer, after all the things he’d done he deserved to pay. However, I did not take part in his torture nor did I arrange for it to be done by another party.”
“But you do have resources to have had him taken from Arkham and murdered.” O’Malley said.
Lex smiled coldly, “Is being rich a crime?” he asked, then held up a hand to prevent their answering him, “Yes I have the resources, both financial and contacts enough to pull something like this off. However, if I had done this, I can assure you that there would have been no body left to find. I’m not stupid enough to leave such evidence laying around.”
“Lex.” Clark hissed in protest.
“It’s fine Clark, I’m merely pointing out the fact that if I were to commit murder I would be smart enough to destroy all evidence of said crime, the body included.” Lex said, “Do I need to formally ID the body?”
“No, as DNA has been established you don’t need to.” Bradshaw said, “You will have to come in and give a statement as to your movements on the 11th and 12 of April, and also for the days prior, and the date of Lionel’s disappearance from Arkham.”
“Of course.” Lex said, “I’ll come to the station and do so now.” He rose to his feet, the Detectives doing the same,
“Would you also be willing to provide fingerprints and DNA samples for elimination?” Bradshaw asked.
“Don’t you need a warrant?” Clark demanded, he wasn’t normally rude to police but he was protective of Lex.
“Not if its voluntary.” O’Malley said, “And if Mr Luthor has nothing to hide….”
“Certainly.” Lex said, “Just let me get some shoes and a jacket and I’ll be right with you.”
As Lex went to the bedroom to go into the closet Clark followed him and caught his wrist, “Are you okay?” he asked worriedly, “I know he was a bastard but he was your Father.”
Lex smiled and pulled Clark in for a hug, “I’m fine. Relieved if anything, the bastard can’t hurt us anymore.”
“That’s true.” Clark agreed, that was the silver lining to this. “Who killed him though?”
“God knows, he had a list of enemies the size of a continent.” Lex sighed, “It would be easier to ask who didn’t have a motive to want him dead.”
Although he didn’t want to think it Clark couldn’t help but to ask a difficult question, “What about Tony and Bruce?”
“What about them?”
“Well do you think either or both of them…..,”
“No.” Lex said, “Like me they would be too smart to leave evidence, and while Bruce has been brutal at times he’s never gone so far as to kill, not even when Joker killed Jason, and Tony only ever kills in defence when he has no other option.” He paused took his phone from his pocket, “They should hear this from us rather than on the news though. Especially if there is a chance that some new player is looking to take Lionel’s place.”
Clark groaned, “Don’t jinx us. We’ve just got rid of him, another enemy we don’t need.”
Chuckling Lex slipped on a leather jacket and a pair of shoes frowning when he had to push the insoles down with his toes, they weren’t that old, they shouldn’t be peeling yet.
“Can you call Tony and Bruce while I’m at the station?” he asked Clark.
“Sure, you don’t you want me with you?”
“I can handle it.” Lex said, “Call your Mother too and let her know to brace herself, once the press get hold of this its going to cause one hell of a shit storm.”
Chapter Text
Tony was both suspicious and surprised when Steve poured him a cup of coffee and set it down on the counter in front of him rather than try and force it into his hand. He was equally surprised when Sam made a timid request for him to join them for a movie marathon of Jurassic Park and World.
“We’re gonna order pizza, have popcorn, Clint’s going to make his famous Nutella brownie ice cream sundae’s, and we’ve got six packs of the worst sugar filled soda’s known to mankind.” The Falcon pilot offered, “It’ll be fun.”
Clint’s brownie ice cream sundaes were to die for, Tony had tasted them once and asked Clint to marry him. The archer had laughed and demanded half of Tony’s fortune as a dowery and lifetimes supply of comics.
“I’ll see if I can make it.” Tony said uncertainly. Their behaviour was a complete 180 from their last interactions, no snide comments, no pressure, no insults. Maximoff wasn’t around so that was a relief, but Tony wasn’t quite sure what to make of this.
“It’d be good to spend time together.” Steve said actually shuffling his feet like a kid, it was pathetic, a man of 6ft 2inches and built like brick shit house acting like a tongue-tied pre-pubescent.
“No pressure though.” Sam hurriedly added, “If you’ve got plans…”
Tony opened his mouth to reply but his phone rang, Lex’s dial tone, so he didn’t hesitate to answer.
“Hey brat, what’s up?”
“Tony, it’s Clark.”
“Hey, where’s your less hirsute half?”
“The police station. Tony, Lionel’s dead, they found his body at the docks.”
Tony’s eyes widened, “Holy fuck, who killed him?”
Sam immediately looked concerned as did Steve at the mention of someone being killed.
“We don’t know, the cops need a statement from Lex, and they want his fingerprints and DNA.”
“Well that’s standard procedure isn’t it?” Tony said, “Do the cops have any leads? It’s not like the asshole was short of enemies.”
“I don’t think so, at least they didn’t mention anyone.” Clark replied, “But it must have been someone pretty powerfully connected to break him out of Arkham.”
“Or someone with enough money to bribe the guards to turn a blind eye.” Tony said, “Either way I may just have to thank whoever did it, for saving me the trouble of having put the asshole in the ground.”
“You and me both.” Clark agreed, “Listen, the cops might want to question you and Bruce about this.”
“I expect they will.” Tony said, “The whole world knew we hated him, it’s obvious we’ll be considered suspects. When did he die, do they have a date?”
“Some time between the 11th and 12th of April.”
Tony thought back to what he’d been doing then and recalled he’d been in Japan, or rather flying back from Japan with Pepper after an overseas conference with a Japanese conglomerate that wanted to do business with SI.
“I have an alibi, cast iron in fact, I wasn’t in the same continent at that time and Bruce was at a Gala for Gotham’s Orphans I believe.”
“Okay cool, so it couldn’t possibly have been either of you.”
Tony barked out a laugh, “Does that mean you thought it might be? I’m insulted.”
“Sorry.” Clark moaned, “Lex already said it wouldn’t be, but I know how protective you two are so I thought maybe…”
“Clark, honey, if Bruce and I had killed the fucker we’d have made sure there was no body left to find, we wouldn’t have dumped his corpse in the docks.”
“Sorry again.” Clark said sounding sheepish, “So I’ve got to call Bruce and let him know about all of this and speak to my Ma…”
“You call her, I’ll call his grumpiness, he’ll probably want to shake the guys hand too.”
“That seems to be a popular sentiment.” Clark chuckled, he said his goodbyes and hung up.
Tony let out a breath and lifted his coffee, gulping it back and set the mug down before he came to realize he had gained an audience. All of the team apart of Wanda and Vision were present and staring at him.
“Who’s been murdered?” Natasha asked bluntly.
“Subtle as ever Romanoff.” Tony said with a smirk, “Lionel Luthor is dead, someone has done the world a favour and killed him.”
“Oh.” Looks of mild surprise but a general lack of remorse ran through the group, only Scott asked for clarification.
“The billionaire that went crazy and killed Superman?”
“Yes, and he didn’t kill Superman, Doomsday did.” Tony said to Scott, he shuddered remembering the sight of the bone skewer through Clark’s chest, the deafening scream that had erupted from the Kryptonian’s mouth. Worse had been the guttural almost animalistic cry of agony that had wrung from Lex as he’d clung to Clark’s body. But in the long silence that had followed Tony had found himself wishing that Lex would scream, would make any noise at all as he’d fallen into a terrifying state of catatonia.
He’d been the one to take Lex to Bruce’s manor, to strip him down, help him to shower and treat all the wounds he’d collected in the fight, while Diana and Bruce had carefully stripped down Clark’s body in the cave, washing him clean and laying him under a sheet.
As Tony had put Lex into a pair of Dick’s pyjamas and got him into bed, Bruce had gone to Lex and Clark’s penthouse to get clothing for Clark’s body and essentials for Lex.
Together the two of them had called Martha, had her come to the manor to see her son’s body. Martha had immediately broken down, going to her knees and weeping for her Son, she had cried loudly and without shame, while Lex was eerily silent.
For nearly a week he had stared blankly at walls, saying nothing, doing nothing. Had it not been for Tony and Bruce forcing liquids down his throat he’d have become dangerously dehydrated.
Oddly enough it had been Martha who’d snapped Lex out of it, ordering him to stop this because Clark would never have wanted it for him.
That seemed to trigger something in Lex and he had slowly started to come back to them. He didn’t speak, not at first, but he got up, showered, brushed his teeth, made the effort to get dressed and ate about a quarter of what was put in front of him.
By the time the funeral came around Lex was managing a few words but was still mostly silent, he’d looked terrible too, dark circled about his eyes, his cheeks sunken; already very slim he couldn’t afford to loose weight and with his not eating it had fallen off him, leaving him gaunt and sick looking, something he was only just overcoming.
Whoever had killed Lionel, however wrong they might be for breaking the law, had done the world and Lex a favour. Lionel was trash, an utter parasite on the face of the earth which it could well do without. No one was going to mourn him, nor even really care who had killed him, except perhaps to thank them and hope that he’d suffered before the end.
“I need to call Bruce.” Tony said after a few moments, “Let him know what’s happened, and FYI, the cops will probably show up here to see me about Lionel’s death.”
“But you’ve got an alibi.” Steve said.
“Yes, which I can prove.” Tony agreed, “But they’ll likely want to check it out.” Tapping his phone against his fingers he gave them a tight smile and slipped away to go and call Bruce.
*****
Gotham.
Bruce set the phone down after speaking with Tony and turned to his boys and Alfred, “Lionel’s dead, he was murdered.” He said.
“Hey awesome!” Jason declared,
“Can we throw a party?” Dick asked equally as pleased with the news.
“Idiots.” Damian scoffed, and turned back to Bruce, “Who killed him?”
“No one knows, yet.” Bruce said, “But the cops will likely come to question me, I do however have an alibi, several in fact for the time in question.
“I take it the freak and the alien didn’t do it?”
“That is Lex and Clark, Damian, show some respect.”
“Screw respect, if they did it I want to know!” The recalcitrant pre-teen stated with a dark scowl.
“I doubt there would have been corpse left to find if they did.” Tim put in, “Clark has the whole, laser eye thing and Lex has access to powerful, flesh dissolving chemicals.”
“Acid doesn’t get rid of all of the body.” Damian said, “I read about it, this serial killer tried to dispose of his victims in acid because at the time the law stated there had to be a body to prove murder or something, and they finally convicted him because they found bone fragments left behind.”
“What delightful subjects you read up on, master Damian.” Alfred said, “So nice to know how healthy your extra curricula interests are.”
Dick snorted while Damian glared and muttered under his breath in Arabic.
“I have a question.” Jason piped, a wicked gleam in his eye that Bruce knew meant trouble.
“Go on.” He asked knowing he’d regret it.
“Does Murder baby have an alibi? Because if anyone should be a suspect it should be hell spawn here!”
“Fuck you, Todd, at least if I killed someone I’d do it properly and not get caught.” Damian shouted, his chest puffing up and cheeks reddening in anger at his older brother, who grinned in amusement at riling Damian up.
“See?” He declared pointing at Damian, “Totally guilty, a budding psychopath if ever there was one. I mean I know it’s obvious with the triple six marking on his scalp but….” Jason was cut off as Damian tackled him, knocking him back off the couch and onto the floor where he tried to pin him, shouting his head off and swinging his fists as Jason easily caught them and laughed at his murderous little brother’s rage.
The whole scene made Bruce feel tired and his head ache, he looked hopefully to Alfred but the Butler had already made an escape not wanting to have to deal with yet another brawl between the brothers.
Sighing he got to his feet and went to separate the boys lifting Damian off Jason by his waist which was rather like trying to hold a squirming angry cat, “Damian stop trying to kill your brother, he’d only winding you up.” He said to the enraged child, “Jason, stop tormenting Damian, go and find something to do.”
“Yeah, okay.” Jason said, at little too quickly for Bruce’s liking, “I’ll go and look up Priests for exorcisms!”
“Asshole!” Damian roared trying to lunge for Jason again and didn’t care that his kicking feet were hitting Bruce as he struggled against him.
“Hey, if you wanna skip murdering Jaybird, we could go and spar?” Dick offered Damian, coming to Bruce’s aid for once, he shot Jason a dirty look that the younger grinned at.
“Yeah we could all train.” Tim suggested, “Take turns in the ring?”
Damian’s struggles lessened and he scowled at his brothers, “No going soft?” he asked hating it when they went easy on him because of his age.
“Perish the thought!” Dick mock gasped.
“Very well.” Damian formally said and stopped struggling against Bruce, he threw a hateful look Jason’s way and stalked off towards the cave entrance. Dick patted Bruce’s shoulder and Tim threw him a smile as they followed after him.
“No rest for the wicked, eh?” Jason said to Bruce, “Wanna have a dance in the ring or as wrestling the hellhound exhausted your decrepit bones?”
Bruce’s eye twitched, “Get your ass down there or you’ll find out what my bones are capable of.” He growled.
Jason let out a hoot of laughter, “No thanks, I’ll leave the boning to Stark, you ain’t my type!” Grinning obnoxiously he made his way after his brothers leaving Bruce rubbing his forehead and wondering if there was ever a time parenthood wasn’t a headache.
*****
Lionel Luthor Dead
Disgraced Billionaire found murdered
Who killed Lionel Luthor
Justice or Injustice? Lionel Luthor killed.
Every newspaper headline was about Lionel’s death and speculations on who had killed him and why.
Naturally the press had gathered outside of Lexcorp tower desperate to speak with Lex and get his opinion on his Father’s demise.
“You don’t have to talk to them.” Clark said sitting on the bed and watching as Lex did up his silk tie and tucked it into the waist coat of his tailored three-piece Armani.
“I do babe, you know I do.” Lex said, his eyes met Clark’s in the mirror, “Lois is down there isn’t she?”
Clark nodded, Lois had at least had the decency to let him know that Perry had sent her to cover the case.
“It’s a few questions and a statement.” Lex said slipping on his jacket and checked his complexion in the mirror. A touch of concealer, foundation, a light touch up of eyebrow pencil to define his brows and just a hint of mascara and Lex was camera ready. Turning he held out his hands to Clark which the Kryptonion happily took, “I’ll be fine, you can come and stand behind me and it’ll be over before you know it.”
Clark nodded and offered a smile, hoping that Lex was right and that there was not going to be any backlash from Lionel’s death.
As soon as Lex stepped in front of the cameras the reporters began shouting questions at him, but he remained silent until they had quietened down.
“As you all know, My Father, Lionel is dead, the police believed he was murdered, probably by those who took him from Arkham asylum. As of yet they haven’t said if they have an suspects but I have already given a statement to them. I won’t pretend that I am grieving for Lionel, he and I have not had a relationship in years, for reasons you all well know, and I cannot pretend that I am sorry that he is dead. What I hope is that his death will bring an end to the misery his presence and actions have caused throughout the years. And I will now take a few questions, MS Lane?”
Lois smiled as Lex selected her first, “You say the police don’t have any confirmed suspects, do you have any suspects yourself?”
Lex smiled back at her, “Lionel had a long list of enemies, anyone of them might have done this. So in answer to your question, no, I do not.”
“Alice Vaughn National Inquirer, did the Police consider you a suspect?”
“Of course, next of kin are always considered suspects.” Lex replied,
“Peter Sutton Daily Herald, Do you think this was an act of revenge for the murder of Superman? Could Superman even be involved?”
“That’s ridiculous.” Lois sneered, “This was an act of human evil, not the work of Superman.”
“But Lionel did bring about Superman’s murder, maybe he wanted revenge.” Sutton argued.
Clark found himself shrinking back into the shadows while tapped his fingers on the microphone to get everyone’s attention.
“The police do not suspect any superhuman involvement in Lionel’s death.” He said, “It was an act of human brutality, not superhuman. So lets stop these speculations right here. Superman was not involved at all.”
“Mr Luthor, would you condemn or thank the killers?” Another reporter asked, “Everyone knows you hated Lionel.”
“As he did me in the end.” Lex said, “And I don’t condone Murder under any circumstances.”
“Will you be arranging a funeral?” another asked.
“Not yet, the police won’t release the body for some time with the investigation on going.” Lex replied, ad pointed to another reporter, the questions continuing about how he felt over this, if he thought Lionel had been killed because of this or that, until finally Lex called an end to the conference and went back inside the tower with Clark.
“See?” he said as the rode the lift back up to the penthouse, “Nothing to it.”
“Right.” Clark said, hoping that the knot in his stomach would soon ease.
Chapter Text
Gotham.
“So what’s it like?” Bruce asked as he cut into his steak.
“What’s what like?” Tony replied around a mouthful of tortellini, he almost laughed when he looked at the polar opposites that were their food choices.
Bruce, ever health conscious and keen to maintain his muscle mass and strength had gone for a rare 4oz steak with steamed broccoli, baked sweet potatoes, and a rainbow salad.
Tony on the other hand had opted for four cheese tortellini with grated parmesan cheese over the top and crusty garlic bread. No doubt his doctor’s would bitch at him about cholesterol and saturated fats blah blah boring blah, but the Italian in him could never refuse a good pasta, especially a cheese or meat based pasta dish.
“Living with the Avengers again.” Bruce said taking a sip of his merlot, again another contrast to Tony’s soda, but that was more because of Tony’s issues with alcohol than anything else.
“Its been weird.” Tony said, “I was expecting more arguments and fighting but they’ve been….oddly nice.”
“How is that odd?” Bruce asked picking up his cutlery again, he threw a glare over Tony’s shoulder and the smaller man didn’t have to turn to know that there was something trying to get a picture of him them behind him.
“They invited me to a movie night.” Tony said, “Barton specifically left four of this Nutella brownies wrapped up for me so they wouldn’t go stale. Both Cap and Sam have made coffee for me, Natasha actually smiled at me, a real smile, not a distraction while she sticks a knife in my back.”
“Hmm.”
Tony rolled his eyes, “Hmm, that’s all I get, hmm?” he cried, “You’re supposed to be the great detective, what do you think is going on, Sherlock?”
“Don’t call me that.” Bruce sighed,
“Okay, you don’t look anything like Benedict Cumberbatch, or Robert Downey Jr.”
Tony grinned as Bruce narrowed his eyes at him, “You’re as bad as Jason for winding me up.”
“Well, he’s the love child I never had.”
“Please don’t say that in front of him, he’ll be even more of a little shit if you do.” Bruce said, “And as for the Avengers behaviour, it could mean two things.
One, they feel contrite over their past treatment of you and want to make amends, or two, they are looking to manipulate you into a false sense of security so they can get something out of you or hurt you.”
The Tortellini suddenly didn’t seem so tasty anymore and Tony slumped in his chair, “I don’t suppose you could figure out which one it was?” He asked without much hope. Was it fucked up that after everything he’d been through with them, he wanted to rebuild the friendships he’d once had?
It was easy to hate someone when they weren’t around, or when they were being constantly horrid to you, it was less easy to do so if they were making an effort to be better and there had been a time when Tony had been friends with all of them bar Lang, he still remembered that comradery, still missed it even as he tried to forget and push the team away.
“From what I know of them, aside from Natasha none of them are particularly adept at manipulation.” Bruce said, “Failing to provide relevant information yes, making hurtful remarks, taking advantage of situations, certainly, but full manipulation? No. Of course unless I witnessed their behaviour in person I couldn’t be sure of their sincerity.”
“Yeah.” Tony frowned, playing with his fork and rude rested his elbow on the table and propped his head on his hand as he thought about it. They had seemed sincere, at least to his observations, but he wasn’t as keen an observer as Bruce was.
“What does your gut tell you?” Bruce asked,
“My gut says…..it wants this pasta!” Bruce grinned fondly at Tony, “As for the avengers, I guess, cautious optimism. I’ll hope for the best but not let my guard down until I am sure.”
“A wise precaution.” Bruce agreed,
“Well I try. And now, changing the subject entirely, the brats slumber party/movie night/teenage junk food trash the house fest. Who is hosting it and are we really allowing five super brats to be left unsupervised for twelve or more hours?”
He was of course referring to Dick’s suggestion for himself, his brother’s and Peter to have a collective sleep over/movie night.
“I’d say that we let them do it at the manor, leave Alfred in charge and emigrate to Switzerland for a few months.” Bruce replied, “That should be enough time for the house to be rebuilt and Alfred to forgive us.”
*****
Metropolis PD.
Bradshaw looked at the DNA results and checked to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.
“You’re sure these are correct?” He asked O’Malley.
“We can run them again if you want.” His partner said with a shrug, “But DNA doesn’t lie.”
“No, but people do, the Luthors especially.” Bradshaw said, “But still….doesn’t this seem too….convenient somehow, too easy?” He asked his partner, “Luthor is a genius isn’t he, how could he make such a sloppy mistake as to leave his DNA behind?”
“Anger makes people do stupid things, so does being cocky, and that rich mother-fucker is cocky with a capitol C.”
Bradshaw couldn’t argue with that, he couldn’t argue with the DNA results either, however he wasn’t going to rush off to arrest Lex Luthor without the Captain supporting him, he wasn’t really looking to loose his badge and pension if he could help it.
“Let’s run this by the Captain first.” He said,
“What?”
“This is Lex Luthor we are talking about, a man with a seventy-five billion dollar fortune at his disposal.” Bradshaw explained, “With the kind of legal representation he’ll have we need to have to have the Captain watching our backs.”
O’Malley shrugged and gestured for Bradshaw to lead the way to the Captain’s office.
******
Lexcorp Penthouse.
“Babe we need to lock down wedding plans.” Lex called from where he was sprawled on his belly on the floor with wedding brochures spread out in front of him, “What do you think about a beach wedding, the Maldives, Seychelles, Mauritius?”
“You mean one of those places with white sand, palm trees, crystal clear sea, and blue skies all year round?” Clark replied, “They sound fabulous but very pricey.”
Lex turned with a grace of a cat and looked over his shoulder, “You do remember who you are talking to, right, I’m the twelfth richest man in the world babe, we can afford to get married on the moon if we want to,” He cocked his head to the side, “Now that might be an idea, I’ll be Tony could make some kind of dome to keep in oxygen, we could use magnetic boots….”
“I don’t think my Mother will want to go into space.” Clark said before Lex got it into his head to call up Tony and start suggesting he create them a moon base for the wedding. “As for a beach wedding, what about something a little closer to home. Hawaii maybe?”
“And with my luck we’d have a volcanic eruption.” Lex dead panned, “The Caribbean though… Barbados, St Kitts, the Bahamas.”
“I’ve always wanted to go to the Bahamas.” Clark said, “We could have a honeymoon there too.”
In his mind he could picture them taking their vows down on the beach, bare foot in the sand, light weight suits on, or maybe just smart trousers and open collar shirts depending how dressed up Lex wanted to go considering the heat. The bright sunshine beaming down on them, clear blue skies for miles, and the sea gently rolling against the sand…. Then intercom buzzing ruined everything.
“I’ll see who it is.” Lex said getting to his feet, he went into the hall and answered the door buzzer telling the doorman to let whoever it was up.
“Who is it?” Clark called.
“Police.” Lex said putting the front door on the latch for the cops, “I guess they have news.”
Clark rose from the couch and went to stand beside Lex offering all the support he could.
The same two officers from before came in, along with the Captain of the precinct, a late middle aged, over weight man with a perpetual scowl on his face and a nose that was reddened with spider veins that also flushed his cheeks.
“You have news on My Father’s murder.” It wasn’t a question, it was clear they were here about that.
“We do.” Bradshaw said glancing at the Captain, “And we want to give you the opportunity to change your previous statement, Mr Luthor.”
Lex frowned, “Why would I do that?”
O’Malley snorted, “You can drop the act.” He scoffed,
“O’Malley!” The Captain snapped at him, shooting him a harsh glare. “Show some respect.”
O’Malley scowled and folded his arms over his chest, not apologising but also not continuing to be sarcastic.
“What’s going on?” Clark asked, “What have you found out?” He could hear their heartbeats, the Captain and Bradshaw were nervous, O’Malley just seemed contemptable, something was wrong, very wrong.
“Are you sure you don’t want to make any changes to your statement, Mr Luthor?” The Captain asked, “About the last time you saw your Father, where you were on the night he died?”
Lex’s gaze was like a glacier, “I haven’t seen the bastard in months and I was here with my fiancé the night Lionel died.”
“And that’s your final word on the subject?” The Captain looked like he was pleading with Lex, begging him to change his statement, but why, why?
“It is.” Lex growled, his short fuse wearing down.
“Very well.” The Captain sighed and nodded to Bradshaw.
“Mr Alexander Luthor I am arresting you for the murder of Lionel Luthor, you do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you fail to mention something which you later rely on in court, anything you do say may be used in evidence….”
“Wait, what, No!” Clark cried over the cop giving Lex his miranda rights.
“On what possible grounds are you arresting me?” Lex demanded, he caught Clark’s wrist in his hand and squeezed gently, silently urging Clark to keep his cool and not to reveal who he was no matter what happened.
Bradshaw gave Lex an almost pitying look which Clark hated even more than O’Malley’s sneering, “Your DNA matched the samples that were taken from Lionel Luthor’s body.” He said, “The only way they could be there is if you had contact with his body just before or after his death.”
It took a lot to make Lex Luthor sway, he could generally take just about anything and remain upright, but this hit him like a blow to the gut. His hand tightened about Clark’s wrist and shook just slightly, “That’s not possible.” He whispered.
“As I was saying, you have the right to a…”
“Call Tony, call Bruce.” Lex said to Clark ignoring Bradshaw and he finished reading him his rights, “Call them, call my lawyers.”
His hand slipped away from Clark’s wrist and to the Kryptonian’s horror Bradshaw stepped forward with handcuffs, “NO!” Clark protested moving forward to get between Lex and the police,
“Clark don’t!” Lex said grabbing hold of him, “You can’t interfere!” His grey/blue eyes pleaded with Clark to understand that he couldn’t risk exposure, that Superman could not be involved here and that if Clark tried to fight the police, if Lex tried to fight it would make matters worse.
A tightness gripped the back of Clark’s throat and he had to struggle to get words out, “This is wrong.”
“I know.” Lex whispered cupping his face, “But you need to be strong now. Call my lawyer, get Tony and Bruce here they’ll get this sorted out.”
“Gonna need more than a couple of billionaires to get you off this one.” O’Malley sneered,
“That’s enough!” The Captain snapped at him.
Lex look to Bradshaw, “I’m gonna say goodbye to my Fiance first, alright?”
Bradshaw nodded taking a step back to give the couple a modicum of privacy.
Clark wrapped his arms about Lex and held him tight, “We could run.” He whispered, “I could fly us out of here right now, they’d never catch us, I’d keep us safe.”
“I know.” Lex whispered into his ear, “But if you do you will never be Superman again, and your Mother will be in danger, they’ll go after her to get at you.” He tightened his hug and kissed Clark fiercely, “Be strong.” He said, “I’ll be alright.”
Clark wanted to believe him, believe his firm smile and stoic gaze, but he felt like something was being ripped from him as Lex stepped back from the embrace and let Bradshaw put the cuffs on him.
“Lex.” He breathed taking a half a step forward.
“Do what I asked Clark.” Lex said, “Do that and it’ll be fine.”
But it wouldn’t, nothing would be fine, because Lex was being put in jail!
Clark waited half a second after the police escorted Lex from the penthouse and then grabbed the nearest phone.
Chapter Text
This was not the first time that Lex had been arrested but it was no less humiliating than it had been the first time, in fact it was more so, because this time it was in full view of the public. Camera crews and journalists had been camped outside of his tower since Lionel’s body had been discovered and they all got full view of him being led out in handcuffs and put in the back of a police car.
They shouted questions at the cops, demanding to know what was going on but the Captain refused to comment and shot stern looks to his subordinates cautioning them against speaking too. While this would probably work on the detectives Lex already knew that the uniformed officers at the precinct he would be taken to would be more than happy to make some quick cash selling stories of his incarceration.
He was led into the precinct and taken through process, his DNA was taken again with a swab from his cheek, lint and other tiny particles were collected from under his nails, his clothes were taken from him and he was made subjected to the humiliation of being checked for carrying substances or weapons internally.
His fingerprints were taken again and of course he had to hand over all the possessions he currently carried on him, his engagement ring included, (Well, that he could keep, but if he was denied bail which he knew was a possibility, the last thing he wanted to be wearing in remand was a diamond ring, he would be a big enough target without having expensive jewellery upon his person.)
He was then given a coverall to wear and made to stand holding a placard with his name, date of birth, height, weight, and booking ID upon it for future reference.
After this he was taken to a cell in holding where he would wait to be interviewed again, and to speak to his lawyers before going before a judge who would decided whether or not the state would pursue this case any further.
As he sat on the bunk in the six by six barren cell with his nose stinging from the stench of disinfectant Lex tried to rack his brains on how in the hell his DNA had gotten on Lionel’s corpse.
He hadn’t seen the bastard in months, not since the night he’d created Doomsday.
It was impossible that his DNA was there, but it was extremely damning evidence. People believed DNA evidence, it was something you couldn’t argue with, either it was your DNA or it wasn’t there was no in between.
Lex already knew his defence was going to have to be the done to death “I was framed” plea. That was the only explanation. But how did they get his DNA to frame him?
Lex supposed the cops could be framing him, he had given his DNA to them, they could have placed it on Lionel’s body, or reopened the sample bags and taken DNA from them and sent it off instead of the DNA pulled from Lionel’s body, that would guarantee a match to Lex.
But why would they do that? Yes it would ensure a swift closure of the case but it was hardly worth the risk they were taking if they had been caught. They could have been bribed by whoever it was who had killed Lionel, so that would mean an enemy of Lex’s and Lionel’s.
Unfortunately that was not a short list, but there were few individuals would have had the resources to get Lionel out of Arkham, have the brutality to torture him to death, and the gall to frame Lex for the crime.
The heavy bared doors slammed outside of his cell and Lex shuddered, this place was reminding him of Belle Reve. He still had nightmares about that place, about being locked up in an asylum, and Clark and Tony not getting to him in time. Sometimes he would dream that he had never left Belle Reve, that he would wake up there bound by his ankles and wrists to a bed and learn that he’d only imagined the last ten years of his life, that in reality he’d been in Belle Reve all that time, lost in the madness of his own mind and the drugs that the staff were forcing on him.
Those were nights that had him waking in a cold sweat, nights where he needed Clark to ground him, to convince him that it was just a nightmare, that he had escaped the asylum and he wasn’t still a prisoner of Lionel being doped up on hallucinogens and driven out of his mind.
If he didn’t know better he would think this was all a clever scheme by his Father. No doubt the old bastard was cackling away in hell at Lex’s situation.
Some shouting came from outside of his cell and the sound of feet hitting against the wall followed by swearing and more shouting. Considering how slurred some of the shouting was it was likely coming from a drunk that was violent and being put in a cell to sleep it off.
Even after the latest inmate was shoved into his cell he continued to shout and beat at the door, cursing up a storm and making a racket which had other inmates in holding yelling at him to shut up.
Lex lay down on the bunk and put his hands over his ears to shut the noise out. He prayed to any God that might be listening that he would be granted bail, he wasn’t sure if he could stand to be kept in remand.
******
Clark wasn’t alone at the precinct very long, Tony and Bruce arrived just moments after him, Tony touching down outside of the precinct in his suit with Bruce being carried like a bride and not looking overly pleased about the position he was in.
Were circumstances better Clark would have laughed at the sight of the Bat being carried like a bride but right now he couldn’t even muster a smile, it was all he could do not to burst into tears.
“Where is Lex Luthor?” Tony demanded stomped into the precinct in full armour and looking ready to start shooting anyone who was stupid enough to get in his way.
“Uh…what?” The desk sergeant stupidly asked, a cup of coffee and a half eaten donut in his hands, mouth smeared in glaze and crumbs and hanging open, completing the look of total incompetence.
Tony glared at him, “Alexander Jerome Luthor,” He repeated stalking up to the desk and glowering at the sergeant, “Five-Ten, completely bald, brought into this shithole within the last hour; get him now or I start putting holes in the ceiling.” He lifted a repulsor to demonstrate his threat but Bruce grabbed his wrist.
“Maybe don’t start vandalizing police property?” He suggested, “We don’t need you in a cell too.” He looked to the desk sergeant, “I suggest that you get who ever is in charge of Lex’s case down here, or he probably will start putting holes in the building, and maybe people too.”
Tony bared his teeth at the sergeant who pale and dropped his donut and began to fumble with the phone, summoning the detectives down to the front desk.
“Alright,” Bruce said drawing Tony away from the sergeant before he gave him a heart attack. “Let me do the talking.”
“Why would I let you do the talking, since when are you the mouth piece of this relationship?” Tony barked at him, “I’m the one that’s better with my tongue.”
Clark honestly didn’t know if that was a sexual reference or not and really didn’t want to know either.
“Because with the temper you are in, you will definitely be joining Lex in a cell and that we do not need.” Bruce placated him, “So cool off and let me speak with the detectives.”
Tony made an inarticulate noise of displeasure, much like the sound a goat makes when it is dying, and somehow made the armour appear to slouch as if in a strop.
Bruce turned his attention to Clark, “Have you called his lawyers?” He asked him,
“They are on their way.” Clark replied, “This is ridiculous, Lex was with me when Lionel was killed. He couldn’t have done it.”
“Yeah, we know.” Bruce soothed,
“And if he had he wouldn’t have been stupid enough to get caught.” Tony grumbled.
“Not helpful.” Bruce said, “Really, just don’t talk right now.”
“You are so not getting any tonight.” Tony threw back at him just to be spiteful.
“What evidence do the cops have exactly?” Bruce asked Clark.
“His DNA.” Clark said, “Somehow they found it on Lionel’s body, which is impossible, but it was there.”
“A set up.” Tony said, “Someone in the crime lab, one of the cops, the coroner, someone framed him.”
“That won’t exactly be easy to prove.” Bruce said, “But his defence can order full re-examination of all the physical evidence, DNA samples, everything, and have it done by an independent crime lab.”
“We need to make ready to post his bail.” Tony said, “Considering who he is it won’t be cheap, and we’re going to have to shore up Lexcorp, once this hits the news share holders will start panic selling.”
Bruce nodded and took his phone from his pocket, “I’ll start liquidating some assets and get together some capitol.”
Clark hadn’t even thought about the impact this would have on Lexcorp. He’d only thought about himself and Lex, not about the company, the thousands of jobs that would be at risk. The childish urge to call his Mother and start crying was nagging at him, he wanted to turn to her, to have her take charge and make everything okay again just like she’d done when he’d been a kid; but he wasn’t a kid now, he was a man and he had to solve his own problems.
“Mr Wayne, Mr Stark…?”
Clark turned as the detectives came into the reception area getting the attention of both billionaires, although Tony in his armour was attracting a lot of attention, many of the admin staff and police officers were snapping photos of him to post on social media.
“I’m detective Brad…”
“I don’t give a fuck who you are, take me to Lex right now.” Tony barked, stopping Bradshaw from introducing himself.
“What part of let me do the talking did you not understand?” Bruce asked placing a restraining hand on Tony’s armour, “Sorry, he’s under a lot of stress.” He said to the detective and held out his right hand for the man to shake, “We would like to see Lex as soon as possible.”
“Of course,” Bradshaw said, “But you must understand he is a suspect for the murder of his Father. We have substantial evidence against him.”
“It better be more than substantial.” Tony growled despite Bruce’s warning.
“We’ve got DNA evidence Stark.” O’Malley sneered at the billionaire.
“I don’t care if you’ve got a gold plated bog brush!” Tony shot back, “Lex Luthor is not stupid enough to murder his Father and leave evidence laying around for every Tom, dickhead, and halfwit to find.”
O’Malley looked taken aback by Tony’s quick retort, but quickly recovered, “People get sloppy, especially when they’re arrogant.”
“Is that an observational insight or life experience you are sharing?” Bruce icily asked the second detective, “Because you had better pray that sloppy police work is not something at work here.”
Bradshaw straightened up, “I can assure you both that everything was done by the book.”
“What book, policing for dummies?” Tony sneered at him, “Forensics how too manual?”
Bruce shot him a speaking look and the other Billionaire rolled his eyes, looking away just as Lex’s lawyer along with a full legal team arrived and started demanding to see their client.
*****
Salvatore Bianci had been Lex lawyer for over seven years now, he was the head of the legal firm and had five junior lawyers with him to help run Lex’s case.
He spoke with Lex for an hour before Lex was taken in to be interviewed again, Lex confirmed with Bianci that was innocent, that he had no idea how his DNA got onto Lionel’s body, and while it was a cliché explanation he could only assume that he was being framed.
This was the case they presented to the detectives as they again went through Lex’s movements on the time in question, and the night Lionel had been abducted from the asylum. When the last time he had contact with his Father was.
“I’m being set up.” That’s really the explanation you are going with?” O’Malley asked incredulously, “I’ve heard everyone saying how smart you are, but that has got to be the dumbest defence ever.”
Lex glared across the table at O’Malley, “I don’t expect you to believe me, but it is in fact the truth. I did not kill my Father. There have been plenty of times when I have wated to, but I never did it.”
“You do admit to having an antagonistic relationship with him though?” Bradshaw said and Lex rolled his eyes,
“The entire world knows that.”
“Can you or your colleague give a good motive that my client would have for killing Lionel Luthor?” Bianci asked.
“Revenge.” O’Malley said, “If someone had tried to fry my brain I’d want to kill them.”
“That was over ten years ago, that revenge dish would not just be cold, it would be frozen.” Bianci said, “And Lionel was publicly disgraced and incarcerated in an asylum for the criminally insane. That was justice enough.”
“Maybe not for Mr Luthor.” O’Malley said.
“Speculation, not proof.” Bianci argued.
“DNA is proof.” Bradshaw said, “And it is damning evidence.” He gave Lex an almost pleading look, “If this was revenge for all that Lionel had done, it would be better if you came clean. If you are convicted of first degree murder you’ll get the death penalty, if you confess you could strike a deal.”
Lex snorted, “And what, be out in twenty years? Serve two decades for a crime I didn’t commit? No fucking way.” He looked to Bianci and shook his head.
“My Client has nothing more to say.” Bianci said, “No either charge him or release him.”
With a defeated look Bradshaw sat back in his chair and read out Lex’s formal charges, informing him he’d be held over night and then taken to court in the morning where he’d go before a judge and it would be decided whether or not he’d be allowed bail.
“I want to see my Fiance and friends.” Lex said, “I am allowed that at least right?”
O’Malley opened his mouth but Bradshaw put a hand on his shoulder, “We’ll have you taken to a visitors room.”
As the officers left Lex sat back in his chair and ran a hand over his face, “What do you think my chances are?” He asked Bianci.
“With an innocence plea based on your being framed? Not great.” The lawyer said, “I would advise you to make a plea bargain….”
“No.” Lex shook his head, “I swear I did not do this, I did not pay for it to be done by someone else. I am being set up.” He looked hard at Bianci, “I really need for you to believe me.”
Bianci sighed, “I wouldn’t matter even if I didn’t. I’d defend you anyway. But for what its worth, I do believe you. I just don’t know how we’re going to convince a judge.”
******
Lex was given ten minutes with Clark, Bruce and Tony. They were all reprimanded for hugging, not that it stopped them and Clark refused to let go of Lex’s hand even as they sat across the table from each other.
“We’re going to take care of Lexcorp so don’t worry about that.” Tony said to him, “We’ll also bring in independent investigators to re-examine all the evidence.”
“Is there anything you can tell us?” Bruce asked, “Anything unusual that happened in the days leading up to the body being found?”
“Nothing.” Lex replied, He gritted his teeth and shook his head, fighting back the urge to cry, “This makes no sense.”
“It must have been the cops.” Clark said, “The rude one…he’s got a problem with Lex.”
“He’s got a problem with all rich people.” Tony said, “But he’s a possibility.”
“Do you know what time you are being taken before the judge?” Bruce asked,
“No, just that it’s tomorrow morning.” Lex looked to Clark, “Can you bring me in a suit?”
“You know I will.” Clark said squeezing Lex’s hands, “Do you want anything else?”
“Like a cake with files baked in?” It was a poor joke and nobody laughed, “Let’s hope for a merciful judge.” Lex said without much conviction in his voice, he very much doubted he’d be given bail.
Chapter Text
Avengers Compound.
“….multi-billionaire and CEO Lex Luthor has been arrested for the murder of his Father, Lionel Luthor, the disgraced and deranged billionaire who unleashed Doomsday upon Metropolis several months ago.” The news reader reported, “The police have yet to comment but multiple images were taken of the young billionaire being led out of his tower in handcuffs by police earlier this morning.”
“Fuck me.” Sam murmured staring at the TV.
“Do you think he did it?” Scott asked, “I mean shit, the guy was a psycho, even if he did, he should get a medal or something, not be sent to prison.”
Clint huffed an agreement with Scott’s sentiment, one that would likely be repeated by many around the world considering what Lionel had done.
“The law won’t see it like that.” Natasha said, “And from what has already been reported, Lionel was not just killed, he was tortured to death.” She shrugged, “Lex might have got a lesser sentence, manslaughter instead of murder had it been a simple gun shot or something, but this was brutal, there is no way the law will serve him anything but first degree murder.”
“Good.” Wanda sneered, “Its about time that asshole was brought down.”
“Wanda.” Steve cautioned her as Vision frowned and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
“He’s no better than Stark.” The witch persisted, “I saw it in his mind, he hates all of us, and he’s thought about killing people before, has killed before.”
“What?” Natasha asked,
“When and why would you be looking into his mind?” Clint demanded, a suspicious tone in his voice. When it came to telepathy and mind control he became uncomfortable which was only to be expected considering what he’d been through with Loki.
“He’s a threat.” Wanda said clearly not seeing the point, “And he’s Stark’s friend, I was just being careful.”
“Careful because he’s Tony’s friend?” Clint snapped, “What about Rhodes, did you violate his mind too? How about Potts, or Wayne, how many people have you decided to violate because they are friends with Tony?”
Wanda’s eyes widened at Clint’s anger having clearly not expected him to react this way to her confession.
“Clint, you know she couldn’t control her powers that well before.” Steve said hoping to avoid an argument breaking out between the witch and the archer.
“Yeah,” Clint said, “And I know she’s raped minds before, so I want to know who and how often she’s done it.”
Wanda opened her mouth but Steve placed a hand on her leg silencing her, “I’m sure it was not recent.” He said, “Was it Wanda?” he looked at her with a Fatherly smile on his face, one filled with warmth, reassurance, and expectation.
Wanda gave Steve a tremulous smile in return, “Stark scares me.” She said in a tiny voice, sounding years younger than her actual age, “His friends scare me. Especially that Luthor, his mind is so…..”
“You shouldn’t have been looking in his mind in the first place!” Clint bellowed leaping to his feet and nearly over turned the coffee table as his legs bumped into it, “There is no excuse for violating people’s privacy like that. Its not like going into the wrong room by mistake, you are actively making a choice to start rummaging through people’s minds.”
“I couldn’t get through Luthors mind!” Wanda screamed, also jumping to her feet with her eyes blazing red, “I could only skim the surface, it was too twisted and….,”
“Smart?” Natasha coldly put in as she smoothly rose to join Clint, subtly she pressed her arm through his offering support without revealing it or saying anything out loud. “Alexander Luthor has an IQ that rivels Tony’s, even Tony himself has said that Lex is smarter than him, so it is hardly any wonder his mind his very complex.”
“Its not that he’s smart.” Wanda shrieked, “He’s hiding things, lots of things.”
“Everyone is hiding something.” Sam pointed out, “And in our own minds we have a right to do so without fear of someone stripping us of that right.”
“I didn’t!” Wanda shouted stamping her foot, at which point Vision stood up besides her and put his arm about her shoulders.
“Wanda was not attempting to violate anyone, she is still learning to control her powers, sometimes thoughts come to her without her biding, some minds are more open than others.” He explained.
Clint scoffed and rolled his eyes, “Lex Luthor was right.” He sneered, “You are a pale imitation of Jarvis.” He spat disgustedly.
“Clint!” Steve cried horrified that Clint would say such a thing to Vision.
“What, are you buying this bullshit?” Clint demanded, “First she says that Luthor’s mind is too complex for her to read properly and then Vision says that some minds are more open and project thoughts clearer. That is a contradiction, either Luthor’s mind is like an open book and anyone can flip through it, or it is like a maze with locked doors at every turn, you can’t have it both ways.”
Steve opened his mouth to make some kind of argument but before any words came out, his brain caught up as he registered what Clint was saying. If Lex’s mind was as complex as Wanda had said it was then she couldn’t have just been picking up stray thoughts from it, okay maybe the odd one or two like a desire for pizza or something trivial, but to know that his mind was too closed off would have had to have been a deliberate act on her part, not just her not controlling her powers.
As much as Steve wanted to make allowances for Wanda, had in fact done so in the past, even he had to admit that it was unpleasant to have someone going through his mind, learning his secrets, his private thoughts. There were things people liked to keep private, not even bad things, just stuff they didn’t want shared with the world.
Without even really consciously thinking about it Steve’s mind conjured the image of Tony’s anti-magic charm which prevented Wanda from reading his mind or using her powers.
“Steve how could you?” Wanda cried a look of betrayed hurt on her face.
“What, what’s wrong now?” Scott asked confused.
“You were reading my mind.” Steve said a horrible sick feeling crawling over him as he realised that. Christ, how many times had she done this before?
“You’re no better than Stark!” Wanda yelled, shoving past Steve she ran from the common area presumably to her bedroom.
“Okay.” Scott said after a few moments of silence, “What the fuck?” he looked at his team mates confused over what had just occurred.
Vision frowned at Steve, “You know that when she is distressed it becomes harder for her to control her abilities, Captain.” He said, “I am sure she didn’t mean any harm.”
“You’re the only one that’s sure.” Sam muttered folding his arms over his chest.
“Vison, maybe you don’t understand because you are not human, but for humans our minds are very private places, Wanda going in them the way she has been is…a violation.” Natasha explained to the android.
“Yet you did not have such reservations in Sokovia.” Vision pointed out.
“Uh extreme circumstances.” Clint said,
“And maybe we should have had reservations, maybe we’ve been giving her too much of a free pass for too long.” Natasha said looking to Steve who nodded consideringly. “This cannot go on. I won’t have my privacy violated all the time.”
“And I sure as hell ain’t gonna.” Clint stated, “Been then once I ain’t doing it again.”
Vision frowned at them all, clearly not understanding their change in attitudes towards Wanda and her mind reading.
“I should go to her.” He said seeking a way to retreat so he could ponder this turn of events.
This was the second time that someone had compared him to Jarvis and found him wanting. Initially he had been dismissive of Jarvis, of what remained of the AI. Wanda had scoffed at Lex Luthor’s words telling him not to listen, that Luthor was just being spiteful because of Stark, and they all knew that Stark was not a good person.
It was easy to just take Wanda’s advice when it came to human behaviour, after all it was so complex and difficult to understand, but maybe he was doing himself a disservice by only listening to one source of information, perhaps he should seek advice from others.
He found Wanda laying across their bed playing with the coverlet, “I hate them.” She said as he sat down on the bed beside her. “No one understands, no one but you Viz.”
Vision lay a hand on her back and rubbed gently, a soothing gesture or so he was told.
I wish I could cuddle you Jay, you’re the only one who understands me at times.
Vision frowned, that was a memory from Jarvis, of Stark speaking to Jarvis.
“Luthor is not good.” Wanda said, rolling onto her side and looking at Vision, “He’s killed someone, shot them dead.”
Vision nodded, “I am aware. He did so in the defence of his fiancé’s father. The man he killed was about to murder Jonathon Kent.”
“He still killed him though.” Wanda declared, “Like Stark killed my parents and my Pietro.” Her eyes filled with tears at the thought of Pietro. “He’s involved with that alien too.” She said wiping her eyes and smudging her make-up, “That Krypton.”
“The Superman.” Vision said, “How do you know that?”
Wanda shrugged, “I caught an image in his mind, he was touching him, the alien, they were intimate.” Her nose curled at the thought. “That Wayne is just as bad, his mind is all darkness. He’s impossible to read.”
Vision studied the young witch before him, “From what Natasha has told me, humans do not like having their minds read.” He said to Wanda, not as a reprimand, just pointing it out to her.
Wanda made an unhappy noise and pushed away from him, “I am my powers!” She cried, “For me looking into minds is like looking at faces, I can’t help it.”
“But you could learn not to do so.” Vision offered, again not accusing but also not supporting her actions.
Wanda shook her head, “Why should I change to please others?” She demanded, “They should just accept it, accept me.”
“But if it helps them to feel comfortable….” Vision trailed off as Wanda made an snarl of anger,
“You’re just as bad as the rest of them!” She cried, “Why can’t everyone just leave me alone?”
As always Vision became uncertain as to what to do with an emotional outburst, he rose from the bed and hovered off the floor as Wanda’s anger seemed to increase.
“Just go!” She snarled at him, “Just get out and leave me alone!”
Confused by what was happening and uncertain of what he should do, Vision complied, phasing through the walls and leaving Wanda alone.
Angry at Stark, angry at everyone, Wanda threw herself back down on her bed. It was so unfair, why did she always get blamed for everything?
This was all Stark’s fault, he was the one who murdered her family and yet he was free and happy and being adored by everyone, even the team!
If he didn’t have that charm on him then she’d use her powers, she’s get into his mind and make sure he suffered the worst of horros imaginable. She’d pluck them out of his subconscious, every fear that he had hidden away, every bad memory and experience, she’d make him suffer it all over and over until his mind was completely destroyed.
She’d done that before, back with Hydra, had plucked peoples fears out of their minds and made them experience them over and over until they lost their sanity. Some even killed themselves in their terror, choking on their own tongues; one had ripped his own eyes out and smashed his head on the wall.
She’d like to see Stark suffer like that, see him writhing on the ground, screaming and clawing at himself.
Thumping the mattress with impotent rage she sighed, there had to be something she could do, something that would hurt Stark, something…., she paused and frowned, Luthor.
She had been in his head, she knew his inner most thoughts, or so she could tell a court. The courts asked for character witnesses in this country, she’d seen it on TV. She could do to the police, offer her knowledge of Luthor’s character, condemn him in court.
That would hurt Stark and get rid of Luthor all in one fell swoop.
Smirking Wanda got off the bed and went to find the nearest computer terminal, she needed the name of the detectives who’d arrested Luthor and the number of the precinct they worked at, once she had it, she could exact revenge against Stark.
*****
Gotham
Wayne Manor.
Tony and Bruce were in the study, both had computers before them, tablets, and phones all of which they were working from simultaneously as they scrambled to buy up Lexcorp stocks as investors dumped their stocks with the news of Lex’s arrest reaching them.
“Yeah buy it,” Tony said into his mobile and typed on the keypad of his laptop, “I know how thin that’s stretching me, but I need controlling interest.” He rested the phone against his shoulder, “I’ve got twenty percent, how about you?” He asked Bruce who looked up from his own laptop.
“Ten percent, no….make that twelve.” He said, and then accepted another phone call, “Hi Larry, yeah, I need you to sell my London, Paris, Milan, and Rome properties….”
“Thirty two percent, we need at least fifty.” Tony said shaking his head, picking up his tablet he scrolled through his contacts, “Friday get my realtor on the phone, I need to start liquidating property, I’m going to need a good few million to play with, actually make it a billion.”
“Got it Boss.” Friday said. “Incoming call from Oliver Queen, Mr Queen is offering to buy up five percent of the dumped Lexcorp stocks.”
Tony looked over to Bruce who glanced up from his screen and nodded his head, “Tell him to do it Friday.”
Lex wouldn’t be happy, he had no love for Oliver Queen, their past difficulties and Queen’s bullying of him in school, not to mention Queen’s love for flirting with Clark not endearing him to Lex, but right now Tony and Bruce needed to get as much support as they could if they were going to protect Lex’s company over the next few months.
“Another call Boss, Mr Musk just called to say that he will not be selling and will buy several more stocks to help support Lex.”
“Tell Elon I love him and if he wants an Arc reactor for Mars its his.” Tony declared.
For a few moments the two billionaires had silence from phone calls and took the chance to draw breath.
“I think we might just manage this.” Bruce said, “Its going to be tight, but I think we can do it.”
Tony nodded, “If it comes to it we’ll sell the island, that’ll release a couple of billion.”
The Island was a private retreat for them and Lex. They had bought it years ago between them and used it for get aways when they needed space and privacy. It was not too far from the Caymans and had magnificent beaches, a fair sized jungle, and breath taking views from the cliffs.
Part of the reason they had the island was so if they needed to hide away from the world for whatever reason they could do so without anyone knowing where they were, something Bruce would need if his identity as Batman was revealed.
Selling it would be a shame but if necessary then they would do it.
Both Billionaires drew breath and braced themselves as their phones began to ring again.
Chapter Text
Metropolis
Lex lay on his back on his bunk staring up at the ceiling. There was no point in him trying to sleep, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to settle, his mind was racing too fast, his body was too tense, and the noise of the holding cells were not conducive to a peaceful night.
“Lex.”
Startled Lex turned and saw Clark hovering by the cell window.
“Clark what the hell?” Lex hissed, getting to his feet and crossed over the cell to reach up to the bars, he had to stand on tip toe and grip onto the metal to reach up, but as soon as Clark’s warm fingers stroked over his own he felt a sense of relaxation flow through him.
“You didn’t think I’d leave you here alone, did you?” Clark asked him, his large hands wrapping around Lex’s.
“It’s what you should do.” Lex said, “If anyone sees you…”
“I’m wearing the black suit.” Clark said, “It’s two am, there’s no one around.”
Lex made a humming noise, “I wish I could kiss you.” He said leaning up as high as he could. Usually he didn’t care about being under average height, but right now he wished he was taller so he could reach up to kiss Clark through the bars.
“Hold that thought.” Clark said, he tapped Lex’s hands and urged him to back away, frowning Lex did so, his eyes widening and a scandalised grin spread over his lips as Clark heated the bars and bent them up and out of the way, until the window was wide enough for Lex’s slender form to slide through.
Lex ran at the window, jumping up and braced his arms on Clark’s outstretched arms, Clark lifted him effortlessly and pulled him out of the window and into the night air.
“That’s better.” Clark said, holding Lex bride style, he dipped his head and met Lex’s mouth in a deep kiss.
Lex clung to Clark, not out of fear of falling, Clark had flown with him many times and Lex had gotten past fear after the first time. He was clinging to him out of fear that this might be the last time he’d the chance to do so in a very long time.
“We could go.” Clark breathed when they had to come up for air, “We could leave this place and go somewhere.”
“Clark…”
“I know what you said, but, Lex….” Clark shook his head, “I can’t lose you. I can’t be away from you for months while this gets sorted out, I’d rather go into hiding with you and give up being superman than ever be apart from you.”
It was tempting, deeply tempting to just agree, to give in and let Clark whisk him away, he knew where they could go, the island he, Tony, and Bruce owned. They could stay there and live in peace, just let the world get along by itself.
The weak part of him, the part that was greedy and selfish wanted to do so, to have Clark all to himself, to just be at peace with him for the rest of their lives. But the stronger part of him, the part that he strived to cultivate and use for good resisted. He couldn’t take Superman away from the rest of the world, he couldn’t sacrifice so many people just for his own happiness, and given enough time Clark would resent him for doing so.
Drawing a deep breath Lex offered Clark a tight smile and shook his head, “We can’t do that baby, we have to play by the law here.”
The pained look that crossed Clark’s face physically hurt Lex and he gripped onto Clark tighter, “You need to be strong for me.” He said, “You need to let the law do it’s job, don’t intervene no matter what happens. Work with Tony and Bruce, they’ll find out what really happened, but don’t risk your identity for me. Don’t risk everything for me.”
“Lex.” Clark said looking down at him, a pained and exasperated expression on his face, “After so many years haven’t you realised yet, you are my everything, without you I have nothing. I don’t care about superman, I don’t care about the world, all I care about is you.”
That selfish part of Lex cheered at Clark’s words, celebrated that he was so important to Clark that he was willing to give up everything to be with him, but Lex firmly pushed that part away, “Then do as I ask.” He said, “Don’t give up everything, be strong, and fight for our future, one in which we don’t have to hide away from the rest of the world.”
Clark moaned and held onto Lex tighter, “Why do you have to be so self-sacrificing?” He asked, “Why can’t you be selfish and all the things my Father said you were just for once?”
Lex snorted and rested his head against Clark’s shoulder, “You wouldn’t love me if I was.”
“I’d love you in any shape or form and right now I wish you could be selfish and let me take you away, but if you won’t, then at least let me stay with you until dawn, so you can get some sleep.”
Lex was only human, there was only so much he could resist and Clark holding him while he slept was not one of them. Nodding his head he shut his eyes and let the familiar scent of Clark’s body slowly pull him into sleep while Clark floated up to the roof and sat up there holding him and gently swaying his body to help Lex settle.
When dawn came Clark reluctantly awoke Lex from his slumber and set him back inside the cell, bending the bars back into position.
“Will you be alright?” He asked not wanting to leave Lex but knowing he had to do so.
“I’ll be fine.” Lex insisted giving him a smile, he reached up and traced his fingers over Clark’s in a farewell and resisted the urge to start crying when Clark finally made himself leave.
“Dear God grant me bail.” He whispered sitting down on the cot, doubting that he’d be able to keep Clark from doing something stupid and risking his identity if he was held in remand.
*****
Gotham
Neither Tony or Bruce had really slept the night before. They been on the phone buying and selling all throughout the night well into the early hours so they could ensure that Lexcorp remained stable. By five am they had succeeded in buying up fifty two percent of Lexcorp which gave them controlling interest over the rest of the board and would be able to protect Lex’s interests and those of his employees.
This did sadly mean they were both running low on funds when it came to paying bail, but they were prepared to go for broke if necessary. Lex’s assets were all frozen at present so he wouldn’t be able to pay them back and that would likely remain the same until after he’d been proven innocent.
At five Bruce chose to go out for a run, needing to clear his head and work out some tension before they got ready for court. Tony went and made use of one of the punching bags in the cave and then spent twenty minutes soaking in the shower.
After he’d dried off he lay down on Bruce’s bed but there was no chance of sleep coming, he wouldn’t be able to rest properly until Lex was safely at home with Clark.
Instead he had Friday play music for him on a low setting so he wouldn’t disturb the boys or Alfred.
Bruce came back from his run shortly after six and showered, he then lay down with Tony and the pair rested in a comfortable silence until they heard the boys stirring and Alfred heading down to get breakfast started.
The rose and dressed silently in smart suits then went down and joined the boys, all of whom were dressed equally as smartly in suits.
“You are a little over dressed for school aren’t you?” Bruce pointed out.
“We’re not going to school we’re going to court.” Damian said firmly, he pointing his fork at Bruce, “Don’t argue because we aren’t listening.”
The expression on Damian’s face was one Bruce had seen on his own in the mirror many times in the past and he knew there was no convincing Damian not to go to court with them.
“Peter’s going to meet us there.” Tim said, “He also said to not bother arguing.”
“I wasn’t going to.” Tony said getting himself a coffee and one for Bruce, “But I might just tell aunt Hottie.”
“Won’t matter,” Jason said, “She’s the one driving him.”
Sighing Tony sat down beside Bruce, “Ever feel like your are being conspired against?”
Bruce snorted, “Frequently.”
*****
Avengers Compound.
With Vision not sharing her bed, Wanda was able to rise and dress without anyone knowing. She remained bare foot until she was outside of the compound, then put her shoes on and hurried to the front gate where a limo was waiting for her.
“Miss Maximoff.” General Ross greeted her and handed her a sheet of paper, “Your signed temporary pass from your house arrest.”
“Thank you.” Wanda said, slipping it into her purse. When she had called the police and offered them her information about Lex the detectives had been reluctant to accept her word, however just ten minutes after speaking with them, she was called back by Ross himself, who offered her a pass to go to court and say her peace, a pass that could be made permanent if things went to plan.
Wanda didn’t like Ross, didn’t trust him, but she hated Stark more, and this was a good deal to make. She knew now that she couldn’t rely on her team, they were all slowly but surely turning on her, she had to make her own way in the world, and this was the first step to making it.
Climbing into the car she relaxed against the seats and let her powers flex, skimming through Ross’s mind. Within it she saw Deathstroke, Lionel, and their plans.
Ross glanced her way and smirked, “See something you’re interested in?” He asked her. “You could be useful to us, you could have everything, wealth, power, security, and….” Ross smiled, “Stark dead.”
The last was the deal maker, Wanda smiled and held out her hand to Ross, “I think I will enjoy working with you, Sir.”
*****
Metropolis Magistrates Court.
Naturally the press had gathered outside of the court, pickets had to be set up to hold them back as they scrambled and shoved at each other, trying to get through the police lines to get to Lex.
The noise was deafening as the crowd roared at Lex, demanding answers on whether or not he’d done it, praising him, condemning him, just screaming his name as he was led from the police van into the court.
“Fuck me its already a circus.” Tony said as the limo pulled up.
“Say nothing to the press.” Bruce advised the boys, “We just go straight into the court, no stopping.”
Again the crowd roared and photos were snapped as they made their way up the courthouse steps and got inside where they found Peter waiting with May, Clark, and Diana Prince.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you here.” Bruce commented.
“Teams stick together.” Diana said.
“How are you doing big guy?” Tony asked Clark.
Clark nodded and shrugged, “I was with Lex last night.” He said, “I held him while he slept. He’s scared but won’t admit it, won’t let me get him out of here.”
“Because running now will prove to everyone that he’s guilty.” Diana said, “You have to let this play out, Kal, no matter what happens in court.”
“Well they’re going to let him go aren’t they?” Peter asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet with nervous energy, “They can’t hold him, right?” He looked from Tony to Bruce to Diana and to his aunt, “Right?” he asked again in a smaller voice.
“Hopefully honey.” May said putting an arm about his shoulders and hugging him close.
“Let’s hope they don’t decide to put the bail in the ten figure category.” Tony said, already knowing that if it was granted it would extortionate. He heard Clark growl, actually growl and glanced over his shoulder to see the two detectives come in. “Chillax big balls.” He said, “No frying people in public, you can roast their asses later.”
“It might be an idea for us to have a word with them.” Bruce said, but not in his normal tone, he was speaking as the Bat, it would be the Bat that the detectives spoke with not Bruce Wayne.
“I thought heroes weren’t supposed to be getting involved.” Clark said feeling the need to point out the hypocrisy of this.
“I’ve never claimed to be a hero.” Bruce said, “And you have the subtlety of a sledge hammer. No one is going to think twice about the Bat getting involved, but Superman? That will raise too many eyebrows.”
Clark went to protest over his ability to be subtle but the call for Lex’s hearing came and they made their way into court.
******
Sitting in the dock Lex watched as his family came into court and took their seats, all of them meeting his eyes and offering him reassuring smiles. He was surprised to see all the boys were present, as was Alfred, Diana, and May, it brought a warmth to his chest at the reminder that he was no longer alone.
As the judge came in the court rose until he had taken his seat, then the DA presented the State’s case against Lex, citing the DNA evidence, his flimsy alibi, and genuine threat to public safety, insisting that the court proceed with the case against him and deny him bail.
“Mr Luthor is a very resourceful man, he is far too much of a flight risk to be allowed to return to his home.” The DA said, “He has powerful friends with a great deal of wealth and resources themselves, who would no doubt assist him in fleeing from justice.”
“Conjecture your honour.” Bianchi called out.
“I’ll allow it.” The judge said, “The whole world knows of Luthor’s friends and resources, Mr Bianchi, it is not conjecture to point them out.” He looked to the DA, “Proceed.”
The DA continued, stating that the state would be providing statements from the detectives involved, the coroner who had examined Lionel Luthor’s body, the forensic findings, and a character witness that would prove that Lex was a threat to society and could not be allowed to leave prison.
“Bastards.” Lex saw Jason mutter under his breath and glare daggers at the DA. The poor bastard had better hope he never ran into the Red Hood any time soon.
Lex’s defence then proceeded to make a plea for Lex to be granted bail on account of his company suffering and the livelihoods of his employees being in danger, he also pointed out that Lex had not attempted to run or offered any resistance at being arrested and that all the evidence would be examined by his defence to ensure there was no tampering.
From there the detectives were called to give their statements, only offering the basic facts, the DNA was the biggest piece of evidence against Lex, one that he really couldn’t argue with.
Bianchi offered if Clark’s statement that Lex had been with him at the time Lionel was said to have died, but, such a statement was flimsy, Clark could be lying and there was no way to prove he wasn’t not without evidence to back up his word.
The DA offered up the fact that Lex did not have to be the one to have killed Lionel, he could have been involved with the torture and then had someone else finish his Father off.
Bianchi argued that there was no proof of another person’s involvement and the two argued for several minutes before the judge called the coroner to give his testimony.
The coroner reiterated his findings of Lionel’s corpse, the brutality he had endured before his death and the samples of DNA he had collected from the body.
Bianchi questioned him, his procedure, his certainty of the integrity of the chain of evidence etcetera until the judge ended his line of questioning.
Finally the DA called in the character witness who supposedly would prove that Lex was guilty and a danger to society.
Lex sat up straighter and watched as a figure was led in, his eyes widening in shock when he saw Wanda Maximoff.
Chapter Text
Tony stared across the court room in complete shock, his brain wasn’t fully processing what his eyes were seeing. There was some kind of short circuit between his eyes and the registering part of his brain, that part just didn’t seem to be able to accept that his eyes really were showing him Wand fucking Maximoff being sworn in on the witness stand.
“What the actual fuck?” Damian asked in a low and disbelieving voice, not even getting chided by Bruce or Alfred for swearing.
“Is some fucking taking the fucking piss?” Jason snarled,
“This is complete bullshit.” Dick murmured.
It was only as the DA presented his argument for Wanda to be allowed to testify even as Bianchi vehemently argued against it that Tony’s brain actually kicked into gear.
Well, maybe not all the way into gear, standing up in court and shouting might not have been the best move since he could be held in contempt of court, but hey, having Wanda there as a freaking witness was the definition of contempt.
“You cannot believe the damn thing she says!” He bellowed, silencing the DA and Bianchi, “She is a liar, a manipulative, malicious liar.”
The judge banged the gravel, “Order in court!”
Bruce grabbed Tony’s wrist and tugged on it urging him to sit down but Tony wouldn’t be restrained as he desperately tried to get the judge to refuse to accept Wanda’s testimony, or rather her lies.
“She is a proven danger to others!” He shouted, “She willing joined hydra, she tortured people, she raped their minds and drove them insane! Nothing she says can be trusted.”
“Enough!” The judged shouted banging the gravel again, “Sit down and be silent Mr Stark or leave my court room. One more outburst like that and I will hold you in contempt of court.”
Bruce rose and wrapped his arms around Tony forcing him to sit down, “Don’t say anything else.” He hissed, feeling Tony’s chest expand as he drew breath to launch into another tirade, “We don’t need you in jail.”
“please Mr Stark!” Peter earnestly pleaded giving him impossibly big eyes that were impossible to refuse.
With an audible exhale Tony sat back and grit his teeth glaring across the court at the witch or rather the bitch.
Meanwhile Lex and summoned Bianchi to him and the lawyer rose offering a further argument against Wanda.
“The DA has brought this witness in as a character witness, I argue that her testimony will not be factual as she has only been in contact with my client for at the very most a single hour. Therefore she could not possibly know anything of value about him or his person that one could not have read in any tabloid.”
The judge nodded, “A valid argument Mr Bianchi,” He looked to the DA, “And I will agree with Mr Bianchi if you do not offer something more than speculation.”
“Your honour Wanda Maximoff has abilities.” The DA said, “Tony Stark himself confirmed them,” he gestured to the seething Billionaire, “While their time in each-others presence may have been brief, Wanda would have gained far more knowledge of the defendant than a regular human being.”
“Because she violates minds!” Jason snarled making the judge bang the gravel again.
“Your honour is this hearing to be based on facts or the hearsay of a turncoat terrorist who until a short time ago was a wanted fugitive?” Bianchi demanded, not flinching at all as Wanda’s basilisk gaze fell upon him.
“Secretary of State Ross believed that her testimony is valid.” The DA said.
Tony’s heart skipped a beat and he tensed under Bruce’s hands.
“As we all know, the Secretary is no fan of mutants or meta humans, yet he believes Miss Maximoff and signed her release from house arrest himself.”
“Do you think Ross is behind this?” Dick asked quietly, “That he murdered Lionel?”
“No.” Tony said shaking his head while keeping his eye on Wanda, “He wouldn’t do it himself, he’s too high up the food chain to get his hands dirty, but he could have others do it, though I don’t really see the benefit for him in doing so.”
“To hurt you.” Peter suggested.
“So why frame Lex?” Tony asked, “Why not frame me?”
“There is something more going on here.” Bruce said in a low tone, “Ross is linked to it if he is helping Maximoff, whether or not he killed Lionel I don’t know, but the framing of Lex seems personal, not just someone using him to hurt us, they want to hurt him personally.”
“I’ll hurt him personally for this.” Tony growled, “I’ll personally take a repulsor to his ball sack!”
Despite Bianchi’s protests and Tony’s tirade the judge was moved by Secretary Ross vouching for Wanda and so permitted her testimony.
“Tell us in your own words how you met Mr Luthor.” The DA said.
“He came to the compound with Stark one time.” Wanda said in her little girl voice, the one she had used on Steve to get her way and on Clint when trying to act the innocent victim of circumstance.
“Stark was there to do some maintenance or something technical and Mr Luthor was with him.” Wanda shuddered dramatically, “He was frightening to me.”
“Frightening how?”
“His mind, it was so cold and so dark, it was like being plunged into a pit of ice in pitch black. I couldn’t get out of it, I couldn’t see anything but his darkness, I couldn’t feel anything because he doesn’t feel anything.” She shook her head and looked to the judge, her eyes widened and shining with crocodile tears, “I’ve seen the minds of bad people before but even my former masters felt something, Mr Luthor is completely without emotion, without conscience and he…..” She broke and gasped dramatically,
“I’m gonna kill her.” Tony hissed.
“I’ll cut her lying tongue out.” Damian growled.
“Go on Miss Maximoff.”
Wanda took a deep breath and looked as if she were struggling with this, “He imagines terrible things.” She said, “He imagined torturing the Avengers. I saw in his mind him whipping Natasha to death, and stabbing Steve over a hundred times. He imagined shattering all of Sam’s joints and then smashing his skull open, taking apart Vision and….” She shuddered again and gave a choked sob, “He wanted to cut my head open and experiment on my brain!”
“Liar!” Lex erupted from the dock, “I wouldn’t touch you with a nine foot pole you rancid bitch!”
“Silence in the court.” The judge shouted.
“Your honour this testimony is pure conjecture, there is no way to substantiate such claims.” Bianchi argued.
“Miss Maximoff could provide a demonstration of her powers.” The DA offered, both the judge and Bianchi blanched at that and the judge shook his head,
“No, I think that will be sufficient. You may step down miss Maximoff.”
Wanda gave the judge a tremulous smile and sniffed into a tissue as she stepped down.
“You’re a dead bitch Maximoff.” Jason spat at her under his breath.
“Your honour.” Bianchi said, “Even if, and I stress the point IF, what Miss Maximoff is saying is true. Just because someone my imagine acts of violence it does not mean they will act on them, some people have very vivid imaginations, one need only look to Hollywood for that.”
“But Mr Luthor is neither an actor, film director, or artist.” The DA argued, “And he has been violent in the past on numerous occasions. His volatile behaviour has landed him in court more than once and a psychiatric report done on him during his time in Belle Reve states that he is sociopathic with extreme violent tendencies towards himself and others.”
“He was drugged at the time of his admittance.” Bianchi argued, “Such a profile is flawed under such circumstances.”
“Agreed.” The judge said, “However, I cannot in good conscience dismiss the possibility of Mr Luthor posing a threat to the general public, not when there is so much evidence weighing against him, therefore I deny bail on the grounds that he is too much of a risk and order a trial to go ahead in three months time.” He slammed the gravel down, “Take him down.”
“What?” Dick whispered,
“No!” Tony shouted.
“You can’t do this!” Tim yelled, “He’s innocent!”
Clark barely heard them even though he was sat right besides them, it was like the whole world had gone silent to him save for the sound of Lex’s heart beating, the beats that were skipped as he was sentenced to remand until the trial.
Their eyes met from across the court, Lex looked like a doll, a porcelain doll, his eyes having gone glassy with unshed tears and all the colour drained away from his face. His hands were shaking as the guards cuffed them and Clark saw him choke down a sob as he was led away.
A surge of anger, of protectiveness, of fear shot through Clark and he was about to leap up and speed across the court when both Diana and Bruce threw their entire bodyweights on him either side.
“Don’t risk revealing yourself.” Bruce hissed into his ear, “Lex wouldn’t want that, he would want you safe for when he gets out, and I promise you, we will get him out.”
Clark turned and looked at Bruce his eyes shining with tears and tinged slightly red with his anger, “I know.” Bruce said keeping a firm hold on him, “I feel the same as you, but if you act now then things will get worse. Please, for Lex’s sake if not your own, don’t do anything you will regret.”
Clark hadn’t felt so much anger bubbling inside him since the night his mother had been kidnapped, he had come so close to vaporizing Lionel on the roof, part of him wished he had, once again it took every ounce of self restraint he had to keep from burning this court to ash. The act of control physically hurt and he felt drained by it emotionally and mentally.
“I’ll take him home.” Diana said to Bruce as Clark’s muscles relaxed under than, “I will stay with him.”
Bruce nodded, “I’ll call the league, we should all band together.”
“I don’t need babysitting.” Clark said half-heartedly, now his anger was dissipating he didn’t have it in him to really argue. He felt empty, hollowed out, like someone had taken a spoon and dug around inside of him taking away everything that made him good and solid and whole.
Lex was that part of him, the part that made him complete, that made him human, without him Clark felt as alien as his physiology was and as alone on this planet as he’d been since he’d first learned of his heritage.
Listening out he could hear Lex’s heart beating, it was too rapid, Lex was struggling to keep from having a panic attack, he was holding his breath and gritting his teeth, pinching his skin, biting his tongue, hurting himself to make his body focus on something other than the panic.
Everything in Clark yearned to go to him, to hold him in his arms and comfort him until the panic had subsided. He felt a strong hand grip his chin and he looked up into Bruce’s eyes, “We are not baby sitting you.” He said in a very stern voice that brooked no arguments, “We are a team coming together to support each-other. We are facing attack by person or persons that are not yet fully revealed. Everyone needs to be working together to get to the bottom of it, that includes you. We need you to pull it together and give us your best work. Lex needs you to give your best.”
That was a dirty trick using Lex, but it was also a ploy that worked, Clark couldn’t risk letting Lex down because he was off his game, he would do whatever he was told if it meant he could get Lex home sooner.
Not trusting his ability to speak he nodded his head in agreement and allowed Diana to help him stand, her arm sliding through his offering support as they walked from the courtroom.
“Now brace yourself.” Bruce ordered, “The Paps are going to be like ravenous hyenas at feeding time. Remember, answer no comment and just keep walking.”
Everyone did as instructed, straitening up and tensing their muscles as the courthouse doors opened and the deafening roar of the paparazzi assaulted their ears.
*****
Avenger’s Compound.
Tony’s rage was barely contained as he flew back to the compound. He was tempted to go and find some vacant areas so he could blow some shit up and get some of his anger under control, but, wanting to beat Maximoff back to the compound he resisted the temptation and flew straight there landing with more force than necessary, enjoying the loud thump his suit made as he hit the ground.
The problem with having Friday opening the doors for him meant he couldn’t slam them into walls as he went, he did however kick Wanda’s bed with enough force to shatter it and put his gauntleted fist into her TV.
“What shit is hers Friday?” He snarled looking around the room,
“The clothing in the draws, the toiletries in the bathroom, and a couple of trinkets on the vanity.” Friday replied. “Her suitcase is in the closet.” She helpfully added.
“Great.”
Tony marched over to the closet and ripped the door off its hinges throwing it into the wall with a loud thud. He dragged out the suitcase and began to throw the clothing hanging in the closet into it, when he was done there he moved onto the draws, ripping them out of the chest and tossing them on the floor where they broke and tossed the clothing in on top of the rest. Next he went into the bathroom, grabbing shampoo, face wash, perfume, and deodorant which he flung on top of the clothing no caring if it leaked, and finally swept the trinkets from the vanity along with Wanda’s make up into the suit case and zipped it up.
He was on his way out into the hall when the other avengers arrived having heard the noise,
“Whats going on?” Clint asked in confusion and a little alarm.
“Maximoff is never setting foot here again.” Tony snarled, “Lying bitch can starve on the streets for all I care, or go and sell herself to Ross. The fucking whore has fucked me over for the last time!”
“What?” Steve looked to Natasha in confusion, the black widow looking equally as clueless,
“Tony what are you talking about?” She asked, “What about Ross?”
“She made a deal with him!” Tony shouted, “Got herself a get out of jail free card in return for lying about Lex in court, made sure he was kept in instead of getting bail.”
“She what?” Clint erupted his face colouring with rage.
“Why would she do that?” Sam cried,
“Because she’s an evil scheming bitch!” Tony screamed,
“Like you are not Stark?”
A tense silence fell for a moment as everyone turned to see Wanda standing beside Vision, the Android looked uncertain as to what was going on while Wanda looked very pleased with herself.
“Hurts doesn’t it, losing people you love.” She goaded, “Time you knew what it felt like.”
“You bitch!” Tony lunged forward but Steve wrapped his arms about him, Bucky doing the same and both used their strength to restrain him.
“Don’t do something you’ll regret.” Steve urged him,
“The bitch isn’t worth it.” Bucky said, “Don’t give her the satisfaction of doing something stupid.”
“He’s right Tony, she isn’t worth it.” Natasha agreed, she took the suitcase from Tony and threw it at Wanda, “Get out.” She snapped, “And if you want to keep breathing, do not ever come back.”
Wanda snorted and picked up her suitcase, “Like I’d want to.” She sneered, “I have a much better offer than being humoured and babied by you hypocrites.” She looked to Steve and smirked, “You should know, Stark’s worst fear was losing all of you, that’s why he made Ultron, because he wanted to save you all, and then you abandoned him anyway.” Her smile was vicious as she saw the horror on Steve’s face, “To think, all I had to do to crush the mighty Avengers was to shed a few tears and play the part of a wounded child, its pathetic really when you think about it. Especially after all the trouble Hydra went to, to bring you down.”
Clint surged forward with an angry snarl, “You get the hell out of here right now.” He spat at her, “And don’t ever let us see you again.”
Wanda sneered at him, “Whatever you say.” She said, “Doesn’t matter, you’ve already lost this fight,” She looked at them grinning, “And you are going to lose so much more, I can’t wait to see when you are completely brought to your knees.”
With one last smirk she turned and sauntered away leaving the team reeling over what she had told them and worrying about the threat she had just given them.
Chapter Text
“I want her dead, I want that bitch disembowelled, cut up, set on fire, skinned, boiled, and then ground down into little tiny pieces that I can throw to crows, really ugly crows!”
The team looked at Tony as he ranted a little bemused, and a little alarmed at the dramatic death threat.
“Okay then.” Sam said, “Good luck with that.”
“I can’t believe we were so blind.”
This came from Steve who was sat on the sofa, his arms resting on his thighs and his back bowed. He looked terrible, like he’d not slept in days. “How could we not have seen this, seen her for what she was?”
“Mind control.” Clint grunted, he gulped back coffee wishing that he was permitted alcohol but the tag would alert the probation officers and he’d be in violation of the terms of his parole.
“Was it, that seems such a cop out.” Steve said shaking his head, “I didn’t feel…..but she looks…different, older,” he looked at the others desperately, “I swear I thought she was fifteen or sixteen.”
“She must have been projecting that image into your head.” Clint said, “I thought she was younger too, closer to eighteen or nineteen but not late twenties.”
“Appearing to be little more than a child worked to her benefit.” Natasha spat, she was crushing a pillow between her hands looking like she wished it was Wanda’s throat she was squeezing. She looked at the team with hatred simmering in her eyes, her top lip pulled back and bearing her teeth and she spoke. “Making us think of her as a child made her appear vulnerable, innocent, something we had to protect.” She ended her sentence with a snarl of something in Russian which had Bucky nodding in agreement.
“Are you shorter?”
This unexpected question came from Scott as he stared at Tony, looking perplexed, as if he was just seeing the billionaire for the first time.
“Excuse you, are you saying my ass is short?” Tony shot back,
“Your ass is short.” This came from Rhodey who snickered at Tony’s wounded cry and dramatic clasping of his heart.
“I’m serious.” Scott said, “You seem smaller, less….,”
“Threatening.” Natasha said, “It wasn’t just herself that she was stopping us from seeing clearly, she was making us see Tony differently too.”
All of them looked at Tony, really looked at him for the first time in years. Like Scott has said he looked smaller, not just a loss of height but also muscle mass, his face was not exactly younger but it was less dark, less menacing. His eyes were a warm chocolate not pools of black coal, his lips were generous and curved upwards, not a thin sneering line.
“She’s been brain fucking us.” Clint spat, “She’s been doing it for years and we didn’t know, had no idea at all.”
“Well that’s how mind control works isn’t it?” Bucky said, “You can’t tell reality from fantasy.”
An uncomfortable silence followed this, no one had an argument, it wasn’t their fault for being under Wanda’s control but no one felt comfortable with just blaming her, it felt too easy, like they were getting a get out of jail free card.
Finally it was Sam who stood up and cleared his throat, “I think I’d like to offer you an apology, Mr Stark.” He said formally, “I said some seriously rude and unfair shit, accused you of being racist, of being the same as Ross, of being the worst type of scum and I am sorry.” He held out his hand, “I don’t think we’ve ever really met without her manipulation so, Hi, I’m Sam Wilson, pilot of the Falcon suit, Captain America fan boy, and apparently an idiot.”
Tony stared at Sam’s hand, “Definitely an idiot.” Rhodey scoffed with a roll of his eyes,
Tony paused, he wasn’t certain of Sam, of any of the team. He’d been hurt by all of them, treated like dirt, like a criminal. Part of him wanted to reject Sam, to reject all of them, but if he did so then he would be giving into Wanda’s manipulations, letting the bitch win. Maybe he couldn’t fully trust them, not yet at least, but there was a chance here to rebuild, to start over free from Wanda’s magic.
Taking a breath Tony reached out and clasped Sam’s hand, “Nice to meet you idiot, I’m Tony, genius billionaire, philanthropist, and boyfriend of Bruce Wayne.”
There was a pause then Natasha snorted which prompted a chuckle from Clint and a soft snort from Steve.
“You left playboy out of that intro.” Natasha pointed out, Tony shrugged,
“Bit long in the tooth for that, I’m one guy kind of guy now, and speaking of, I need to get back to him.”
Releasing Sam’s hand, Tony made to leave but Steve stood up, “Tony wait,” He said making an abortive move to go to him, but clearly wasn’t certain he had any right to do so. Tony paused and turned back to look at Steve, his expression clearly asking what Steve wanted,
“I…uh…,” Steve stammered looking very wrong footed and uncertain of himself; Rhodey’s mistrustful glare wasn’t helping matters either, he shook his head and clear his throat focusing on Tony, “I know you have no reason to trust us, me especially, but I want to help you, if you’ll let me.”
Tony’s lips parted and for once he looked lost for words. Behind Steve Bucky cleared his throat, “I would like to help too, if I can.”
“And me.” Clint said,
“If you could find a use for me I’ll help.” Scott offered,
Tony glanced at Rhodey, the Colonel looked as uncertain as he himself felt however the two of them turned back to the team as Natasha rose to her feet and sauntered forward stopping just a foot away from Tony.
“You have less reason to trust me than anyone, I have lied to and manipulated you more than once, and now…” she paused, her mouth twisted into a bitter smile, “I guess I finally know how that feels, why you were so hurt when I did it to you, how angry that must have made you feel, how humiliated.”
“Nat…” Clint said rising to his feet,
“No Clint, this wasn’t like the red room, I wasn’t a child this time.” Natasha said, “A child is vulnerable, malleable, susceptible to suggestion and manipulation. I am an adult now, I should have been able to see her for what she was, realised what she was doing to me, Me of all people!” Natasha shook her head looking disgusted, “The great Black Widow, foiled by a maladjusted teenager who never grew the fuck up!” She finished her rant with a brutal kick which tossed the coffee table over sending it’s contents spilling and smashing on the floor.
“Okay, time out, lets not trash the living space.” Scott said making a T sign with his hands.
Natasha ignored him and looked at Tony, “I want to help, I need to help stop this…whatever it is, with Luthor, Maximoff, Ross, its all connected, Wanda wasn’t part of this from the start but she is part of it now, and whatever, whoever is behind Luthor being framed is only just getting started.”
“Started on what?” Sam asked,
“Whatever they are hoping to achieve by ruining Lex Luthor.” Bucky said, “That would destroy his business wouldn’t it?”
“Eventually.” Tony agreed, he and Bruce couldn’t shore the company up indefinitely, if they couldn’t prove Lex’s innocence and get him out of prison then sooner or later Lexcorp would go into liquidation, even if he and Bruce bankrupted themselves they would only be able to buy the company a few years.
“That’s too small, all this to destroy a company? No, Ross wouldn’t care about that.” Natasha said shaking her head, “This is just one part of something bigger.”
Tony glanced at Rhodey, it made sense. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble here, had involved Ross, just destroying a company was too small for this much effort, there had to be something else behind it, some larger reason.
“Well who would benefit from this?” Scott asked, “If Lexcorp goes bust what companies benefit?”
“Dozens.” Tony said shaking his head, “Technically even WE and SI would benefit. Its not about Lexcorp.”
“Who gets hurt by this?” Natasha asked, “You, which means Iron Man is conflicted, maybe out of commission?”
“Not just Iron Man.” Rhodey murmured and his eyes met Tony’s as the realization came to them.
This wasn’t just about hurting Lex, it was about removing threats, real threats. Removing Lex removed the Dragonfly, in so doing Superman, Batman, and Iron Man were conflicted and maybe out of commission as Natasha had said. Four superheroes gone from the playing field.
“Fuck!” Tony breathed, “Damnit fuck, Friday contact Bruce.”
“Right away boss.” Friday replied. As Tony strode away to speak to Bruce in private.
“Um what just happened?” Sam asked,
Rhodey shrugged helplessly, “Not my secrets to tell.” He said, “You’ll have to ask Tony.”
“Then we’ll never know.” Clint said sitting back down with a resigned sigh, “He’s no reason to trust any of us.”
“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.” Steve said, “We can all try to help him, we owe him that much at least.”
*****
Gotham.
Wayne Manor.
Diana and Bruce got Clark back to the manor and took him down to the bat cave where, if he started to lose control they could at least attempt to contain him without doing major damage to the house.
They needn’t have worried about him lashing out in anger though, because after giving the wall a single punch with both fists he fell to his knees sobbing like a child, he let out a single deafening roar of Lex’s name that shook the foundations of the manor, then collapsed in on himself in tears.
Diana’s face creased in sympathy for him, she looked over to Bruce who, ever uncertain what to do in an emotional crisis looked even more out of his depths in this instance.
“What do we do?” Dick asked in a tight voice,
“Kill that Wanda bitch.” Damian said,
“Kill the bitch and break Lex out of prison.” Jason said,
“Get her to confess to murdering Lionel before we kill her so Lex will simply be released?” Tim offered up making all of the boys, Peter included look at him in shock.
“What, like I can’t think up murder plots?” He said sounding offended.
“Well you can, but you don’t.” Dick said,
“Wouldn’t work anyway.” Peter pointed out, “The bitch hasn’t been in the country long enough to have kidnapped and murdered Lionel,” he glanced around making sure May wasn’t around to hear him swearing, thankfully she was making tea with Alfred, the classic British drink of choice for shock, grief, sickness, and any other occasion too.
“She’s also electronically tagged.” Dick said, “She couldn’t leave the compound without the parole board learning about it.”
Damian scoffed and shot him a disgusted look, “She could use her magic to break it off and then put it back on after she was back at the compound.”
Dick tipped his head to the side considering this, “I guess that’s possible.” He considered, he didn’t know how Wanda’s magic worked, not the exact details so it was reasonably possible that she could do that.
“What motive would Maximoff have for killing Lionel though?” Peter asked, “She’d never even met the man.”
“Maybe she had, or we could say she had.” Jason said, “Or hell just say it was because she fucking bat shit insane and hates billionaires.”
“And she choses a man who’d had his wealth and everything stripped from him to murder, risked her life breaking him out of Arkham, when she could have just walked around Fifth Avenue Manhattan and found half a dozen Billionaires ripe for the picking.” Dick shook his head, “As much as I like the frame job it wouldn’t hold up.”
“Then we just annihilate her and take Lex to Mexico or Brazil.” Jason said, “We shoot all of her joints and then give her a gut shot so she bleeds out slowly.” He said this with a blood thirsty grin that would have terrified most people. The Bat kids were not most people, neither was Spiderman.
“No, we flay her.” Damian said, “Slice her skin of a strip at a time, and cauterize the wounds so she doesn’t bleed out too fast.”
“I could use web to bind her by her ankles while you…” Peter made a slicing motion with his hands,
Damian grinned, “I’ll get my knives!”
He was caught by his collar and prevented from leaving the cave by Alfred who didn’t break step or spill any tea as he walked into the cave carrying a tray, May was right behind him carrying another tray that also had a plate of biscuits on it, she moved the tray to one hand and slapped Peter upside the head.
“No assisting murders or you are grounded!”
“Oww May!” Peter protested even though the slap was painless.
“But Alfed…” Tim began in his most whinny voice and widened his eyes hoping to win Alfred over with his boyish innocent charm.
“You can stop making eyes at me Master Tim.” Alfred said setting the tea down and releasing Damian only to instruct him in handing out the tea he began to pour, “I became immune to such things by the time Master Bruce was four.”
“The bitch deserves to die.” Damian grumbled taking tea to his father, who was stood stiffly watching as Diana tried to comfort Clark,
“You think everyone deserves to die.” Dick snorted, “What about Lex, we’re busting him out right? Alfie how are we stocked on dynamite?”
“We have several pounds….I mean we will be doing no such thing!” Alfred said looking flustered all of a sudden, “Will we sir?” He looked hopefully to Bruce, for once the Dark Knight did not look as if he had a plan either.
“Blowing the prison up risks injuring innocents, its better if we break in.” Tim said, “We can snag uniforms and pretend to be guards.” He glared as Jason started laughing,
“You, pretend to be a guard, you look like your are twelve!”
“Well at least twelve isn’t my IQ!” Tim shot back,
“Screw you, you little swat!”
“Enough!” May snapped, silencing the boys before they could start brawling, “We need to start coming up with sensible plans, not out rageous schemes.”
At that moment Bruce’s mobile rang and the billionaire broke out of his trance to answer it, “Tony….. yes I can talk…..what……,” He listened intently for several moments, his expression changing from surprised to shock and finally to uncertainty, “Tony I don’t know……….Well I agree with that but the Avengers, really?”
The boys frowned and Diana looked up from where she was comforting Clark with a questioning look on her face.
“Alright I’ll call a meeting and speak to everyone. I will, love you too.”
Bruce hung up and sighed, “What did he say?” Dick asked stepping forward,
“Maximoff has been manipulating the Avengers for several years.” Bruce said, looking over to Diana and meeting her eyes, “Tony’s been speaking with them, apparently they’ve all changed, drastically since she left the compound, he says it’s like they are different people, they’ve all been seeing her as a teenager not a grown woman, and been seeing him physically different too.”
“Brain washing.” Jason snarled disgustedly,
“There is more.” Bruce said, “Romanoff pointed out that taking out Lex hurts Tony and compromises Iron Man, but that isn’t the only superhero compromised by this,” he looked over to Clark who was still crying and shaking, “Also Dragonfly, adding myself to the list it makes four superheroes down.”
Realization dawned on Diana’s face which became stony with anger, “This is an attack on superheroes, with Lex as the first casualty.”
“Right Bruce said, “Which is why Tony wants me to call in the JL, and consider working with the Avengers.”
Chapter 13
Notes:
Warnings mentions of past sexual abuse.
The song is Everything is lost by Maggie Eckford
Chapter Text
My hope is blood on broken glass
A shattered hole, a scattered past,
And I can’t wake up, cause the darkness won’t let go.
And I can’t wake up, cause the darkness has taken hold.
Everything is lost, and this nightmare is closing in.
Everything is lost, there’s a sorrow beneath my skin,
This is the end of me, this end, of me.
Courtroom
The judge’s decision not to grant bail hit Lex like a punch to the gut; for a moment he couldn’t breathe, he felt like his lungs had stopped working, or he’d been plunged under water and all the air had been stolen away.
He stared blankly at the judge willing the man to change his mind, willing for this to be a horrible nightmare, for this to not be really happening.
A scream rose up in his throat as hands were placed on his shoulders, his wrists being pulled around his back and cuffs locked onto them, tears burned in his eyes as he looked across the courtroom at Clark.
All the colour seemed to have drained away from his fiancé’s face, his skin ashen and his body was trembling as Diana and Bruce held him down, forcing him to stay still and not give away his identity.
Oh God, this was happening, it was really happening.
Lex clenched his jaw tightly holding back the scream and swallowing down on his need to cry, his body shook with the effort it took to reign his emotions in, but he would not humiliate himself by giving into the urge to shed tears in public or risk being thought insane by screaming in terror.
He was led down to the holding cells where he was uncuffed and placed inside one of them to wait until the prison transport came to take him to Strykers Island.
Lex sat on the bench his knuckles turning white as he gripped the bench tightly, the pain of the metal digging into his palms helping him keep focus, helping him keep from giving into the urge to panic or scream.
Three months, he was going to spend three months on Strykers Island.
He’d barely survived twenty-four hours in police custody, now he was going to a maximum security prison where he’d be locked up in a cell for most of the time, listening to the yelling and screaming from the rest of the inmates.
Just like Belle Reve.
Three months of being locked up, caged like an animal.
A sob escaped Lex’s lips before he pushed it down, forcing himself to breathe evenly and keep his expression stoic.
He couldn’t lose it here, he couldn’t risk anything thinking he was having a breakdown or they’d send him to a nut house and there he’d be drugged and strapped to a bed, be completely helpless against the Doctors, the nurses, and the orderlies, some of whom had perverted tendencies.
Lex supressed a shudder, he’d never even told Clark about what a couple of the orderlies did to him and other inmates at Belle Reve when they were too drugged up to cry out for help and couldn’t defend themselves because they were strapped to the bed.
That pair of perverts had been amongst the first criminals that Lex had taken down when he’d established himself as Dragonfly. It had not been surprising that the two of them were involved in other criminal activities as well as their sexual perversions in the mental hospital. Lex had found the evidence to convict the both of them which he’d anonymously given to the police and left the pair for the police to find with multiple broken bones and ruptured testicles.
Getting his personal revenge on the pair and justice for the crimes had brought him some catharsis, but it had never completely eradicated his fear of locked up.
Lex had resigned himself to carrying this fear for the rest of his life, suffering nightmares off and on of the hospital and struggling to control the urge to panic every time he was in a locked room. It was taking ever ounce of control his had to keep from panicking right now, but he had to keep control, he couldn’t give in to his fear or he might end up some where worse than prison and Lex would die before he was committed to a mental hospital again.
*****
There are Angels and Demons at war inside my chest.
The good and the evil are fighting to possess.
And I can’t stand up, cause the ground shakes underneath
And I can’t stand up, cause the earth gives under me.
Everything is lost, and this nightmare is closing in,
Everything is lost, there’s a sorrow beneath skin
This is the end of me, this is the end of me.
As Lex was led out of the court there came a roar from the crowd, photographers and journalists rushing forward to snap shots of him and shout questions as he was led to the prison van.
Through sheer defiance he kept his head up and his face stoic all the way to the van, silently letting himself be placed into the small cubical that kept him separated from the rest of the prisoners going to Strykers Island.
As the door was shut and locked he let out a shuddering breath and lowered his head allowing himself to let out a few sobs and few tears to fall.
Shakily he lifted his hands and wiped his face, drying his eyes and began to count his breaths, making himself take slow steady breaths so he wouldn’t start to hyperventilate. As the van lurched forwards he let out a whimper which he brutally forced back down inside his chest and bit down on the inside of his lips until he’d drawn blood.
Stay calm, he had to stay calm.
But the cubicle was so tight, he had no way out of here, he couldn’t defend himself, he couldn’t…Stop it, stop it, stop it, if you panic then they’ll institutionalize you, they’ll put you back in Belle Reve, or worse, they’ll stick you in Arkham!
A shiver ran down Lex’s spine, he’d bite open his own wrists before he ended up in Arkham, he’d swallow his own tongue before he ended up in any asylum again. Stryker’s Island was going to be bad but at least it wouldn’t be as bad as Arkham was.
Swallowing hard Lex counted his breaths making himself fight the panic and the need to cry.
Three months of this, three months without Clark, he’d only just got him back and now they were being separated again.
Oh God Clark, Lex could barely sleep without him, had been struggling to get more than two hours without nightmares when Clark wasn’t by his side, how was he going to cope with three months imprisonment when it meant he wouldn’t be able to sleep, how was he going to keep from having nightmares every time he closed his eyes, how would he keep from going completely insane?
****
Strykers Island
Lex, along with five other new inmates for Strykers Island were taken into the prison reception where they were made to sit in chairs and wait for their names to be called.
Lex kept his head down until his name was called out, then he rose and went up to the desk, feeling the eyes of the inmates on him.
“Well, well, aren’t we lucky, getting to host a celebrity.” The guard registering his arrival snorted to the other guards, “Guess your money couldn’t buy you out of this one, huh Luthor?”
Lex didn’t deign to reply to that, he simply spread his arms and allowed the second guard to pat him down.
“Should we bother with a strippy?” the guard asked,
“Fucking Puff’ll enjoy it.” One of the new inmates jeered
“Shut it.” The desk guard snapped, “Give him a strip search, a uniform, take his mugshot and get him ready to go on the wing.”
“Yeah, don’t forget to bend the Fag over and give him a good one, Screw!” the mouthy inmate sneered,
“Do Billionaire bitches give good head?” Another taunted, “Bet you’re a good bitch ain’tcha Luthor, bet you put that mouth to good use.”
“I’ll smack the crap out of your mouth if you don’t shut it right now!” The desk guard snarled, as the second guard led Lex to a screen behind which he stripped down to his skin and submitted to the humiliation of having to squat over a mirror to see if he was carrying anything internally.
After the guard was satisfied he was clean of weapons or drugs he was given a white t-shirt, a pair of under pants and an orange jumpsuit, then a plastic tray with a plastic cup, a towel, a pillow case, and a bed sheet. He then stood while his mugshots were taken and retook his seat until it was time to go onto the wing.
He ignored the further jibes and insults from his fellow inmates and silently walked though the prison supressing the urge to shudder as the metal doors were slammed shut and locked behind them as they went down the corridor.
The wing was quiet, something Lex was thankful for as he and the other inmates were led there, two of them were placed on the first floor in the dormitory cells that housed four inmates at a time, another two were put in a cell on the second floor which had two inmates per cell, they were put in one cell together, and finally Lex and the remaining inmate were taken to the third floor where the inmates had a cell on their own.
Lex did allow himself to breathe a sigh of relief at this, at least he wouldn’t be sharing a cell with anyone so if he did have a nightmare he wouldn’t have to face the humiliation of anyone seeing it.
“You’ve got an hour to settle in then its time for tea and evening association.” The guard said to him, “Breakfast is at six thirty, work starts at seven then lunch is at twelve, you get an hour’s yard time from twelve thirty to one thirty, then you are on lockdown until two thirty when you will go back to work until six thirty, you get half an hour to clean up before tea which is at Seven and from seven thirty to nine you get association with the inmates, then its lockdown until wake up at six.”
Lex quickly unstuck his tongue from the roof of his mouth, “What about visitation?” He asked hoarsely.
“Half an hour every second Friday from six thirty to seven.” The guard said
Half an hour every other week?
No, no, no, no. It wasn’t going to be enough, not nearly enough. He needed more time than that with Clark, Christ he needed to be with Clark all the time!
“Get your bed made up be ready for dinner.” The Guard snapped, “No one is going to be waiting on you here.”
Lex shuddered as the cell door was slammed behind him and he slowly made his way to the bunk. The thin mattress sagged as he sat down and he hugged the sheets and pillow case to his chest.
Three months in here?
The cell was barely six by six, it had a narrow bunk, an open toilet and a sink. Already it felt claustrophobic, it felt like his cell in Belle Reve, and Lex knew that if he shut his eyes then he would see that cell, see the leering faces of the orderlies, see the straps that pinned him to the bed, see the syringes full of their drugs ready to be stuck into his skin. He could feel the phantom touch of the orderlies, their filthy hands pinning him down as they put the straps on his wrists and ankles. He could feel the prick of the needles in his arms, he could feel the hot breath against his skin, the weight of their bodies on his, suffocating him, crushing him. He could hear their laughter in his ears, their grunts and groans, he could smell the disinfectant from the halls, the sweat of the inmates, the sweat of the orderlies, the scent of their soap and detergents, cheap and nasty and the same as was being used in this place.
Lex flinched as he heard voices outside of his cell, footsteps on the metal stairs, inmates heading for the cells to clean up before dinner. The noise was cacophonous, it was too loud, too close, too intense. He squeezed the blanket and pillow case tight in his hands biting his bottom lip and fighting the urge to vomit or scream, his breathing was becoming erratic and his heart was beating too fast and too hard in his chest, he had to control it, he had to stay calm, he had to fight….. but it was no good, the panic was too great, the need to cry, to scream was too intense and it was all Lex could do to muffle his screaming into the pillow as he threw himself face down on the bed and tried to smother the sounds erupting from his body as he finally gave in to the fear.
Everything is lost, and this nightmare is closing in,
Everything is lost, there’s a sorrow beneath my skin,
This is the end of me, this is the end of me.
Chapter Text
Wayne Manor
While Diana set about contacting all the members of the Justice League to tell them about Tony’s proposal for a joint team meeting with the Avengers, Bruce took it upon himself to get Clark back on his feet.
The Kryptonian was still a pitiful sight, crumbled in the corner sobbing into his chest and shaking with the force of each sob.
Bruce did sympathise with him, he really did, but damnit, they needed Clark to be concentrating, they needed him to be Superman right now, not Clark Kent. If they were going to fight this person/people, then they needed the Man of Steel, not a snivelling farm boy, so as much as it pained Bruce to be anything other than gentle with Clark at the moment, he set about using tough love on the Krytonian to get him back in the game.
“That’s enough of that.” He said taking one of Clark’s biceps and pulled on it, had Clark not wanted to move then Bruce wouldn’t have been able to budge him an inch, not unless he was using kryptonite to weaken Clark, but the Man of Steel put up no defence, letting Bruce roughly drag him up from the floor and prop him against the wall, where he sniffed and hiccupped.
“God sakes!” Bruce snapped taking a handkerchief from his pocket and shoved it into Clark’s hands, “Get a grip, this isn’t helping anyone, least of all Lex.”
The mention of Lex got Clark’s attention and he flashed Bruce a menacing look that had just a hint of red in his irises. Most people would have backed off then, not wanting to get vaporised by a pissed off Kryptonian. Bruce Wayne was not most people, he had faced off against supervillains, mutants, aliens, and genocidal lunatics; he stood his ground and met Clark’s heated gaze without so much as a flinch.
“Lex is counting on you right now.” He said his tone not wavering at all even as the red grew in Clark’s eyes, “He is at the mercy of the judiciary system, separated from all of us, from you. He is vulnerable and likely terrified, and the last thing he needs is for the man he loves to fall apart when he needs said man the most.”
The red was getting brighter and Bruce felt the heat of the laser vision on his skin, it was like being under the Sahara sun at midday with no protection, still Bruce stayed put, even daring to reach out and place his hand on Clark’s shoulder, fully aware that Clark could shatter every bone in his arm or even rip it off with a single flex of his muscles.
“I know you are worried, frightened, furiously angry and I am too, and I swear that we will make things right, we will get Lex out of that shit hole, find whoever is behind all of this and put them in there in his place, but to do that we need you Clark, we need you to be strong, to be the man that Lex has put his faith in, the man who has never failed him, the man he is no doubt praying will not fail him now.” Taking a step forward, risking getting even closer to Clark, Bruce asked, “Are you going to be yet another disappointment in his life, or are you going to suck it up and do what needs doing so Lex can come home, and you better answer right now because every moment we waste talking about this is another moment that Lex is in a maximum security prison surrounded by rapists, murderers, and terrorists.” Bruce narrowed his eyes at Clark, “How much longer do you want him to be in there?”
Clark continued to glare at Bruce for another few moments then he closed his eyes and the heat left Bruce’s face. The bat released a single breath allowing himself to relax as Clark’s muscles softened beneath his hand.
“I’m sorry.” Clark whispered, “I know he needs me, I just…., I can hear him right now and he’s…..he’s crying Bruce, Lex never cries!” He gaze the bat a stricken look that tore at Bruce’s heart, “He is so scared right now, terrified, I know that being in a cell reminds him of being in Belle Reve and it is scaring him so much.”
Bruce nodded, “And we are going to get him out of there.” He stated in fierce voice, “No matter what it takes, I promise you, we will get him home.”
Clenching his jaw Clark nodded in agreement, “So, what do we do?”
******
New York.
Secretary Ross had gotten Wanda a suite in a good hotel with a view of Central Park. It wasn’t the president suite, but it also wasn’t an economy room so Wanda wasn’t complaining. She had a large double bed all to herself with a good firm but not too firm mattress, soft fluffy pillows, and clean sheets that didn’t smell of cheap soap.
She had a small kitchenette, with a kettle, cups, and mugs, complete with complimentary instant coffee, tea, and hot chocolate sachets along with sugar and sweeteners, and tiny cartons of milk. There was also a mini bar that had single servings of rum, whiskey, vodka, and gin, cans of soft drinks, both diet and regular.
She had access to room service and the restaurant downstairs which served breakfast from six am to eleven am, then lunch from eleven thirty to three thirty, afternoon tea from four to six, and evening meals from six thirty to eleven thirty.
She had a wide variety of choices for her meals, typical American cuisine, and continental, she could also request gluten and dairy free if she required a gluten and or lactose free diet.
There was a cocktail menu available to her with a good selection of drinks to chose from, as well as wines, beers, and spirits.
She had a good sized bathroom with fresh towels and complimentary soap, no bathtub but there was a power shower.
She also had a thirty-six inch flat plasma screen smart TV and a choice of channels available, she could also rent movies if she wanted to and they would be charged to her account.
After putting her belongings away Wanda threw herself down onto the bed enjoying the feel of the mattress bouncing beneath her body, with her powers she turned on the TV and clicked on Netflix, signing in on her account and began to look through the movies for something to watch.
Once she’d chosen her movie she got the menu and placed an order with room service, ordering herself a fettuccine alfredo with cheese garlic bread, and the chocolateiest dessert on the menu, which was the chocolate brownie ice cream sundae. She paused over selecting a drink and opted for a cocktail, an appletini, she’d never tried it but seen plenty of people drinking them and seeming to enjoy them so she decided she’d give it a try herself.
While waiting for her order she took a long hot shower, enjoying the privacy of her own bathroom, she might have had one adjacent to her room in the compound but she never felt completely secure there, not with Stark’s AI spying on her all the time.
No, this was no time to upset herself with thoughts of Stark.
She was free from that prison he called a compound, free from his spying robot, free from those fools who called themselves heroes.
She smiled as she turned off the water and set about drying her hair, wrapping it in a towel and dried herself off before putting on the fluffy hotel dressing gown and slippers, wearing them made her feel rather like she was in a movie because that was what people in movies did, they wore the hotel bath robes and had their hair in towels while they ate room service and sipped champagne and such.
When the door was knocked she answered it with her powers not bothering to get up from the bed. The waitress delivered the tray and swiftly left, letting Wanda levitate her tray over to herself and start up her movie.
The appletini was good, the pasta a little too rich but good enough, the bread was nice, and the ice cream was fantastic, that was definitely the best part of the dinner and Wanda promised herself to get it again soon.
She smiled to herself as she thought about what Luthor would be served for a meal in prison, some tasteless slop like she used to make do with at the orphanage with Pietro before they joined Hydra, not that the food had been much better with them, there had been more of it but it hadn’t been the rich kind of food she’d had available when she’d first started living with the Avengers.
She hoped the spoiled bald freak had a cold baren cell, hoped the guards roughed him up before they shoved him in there, hoped that the inmates attacked him.
She didn’t know exactly what Ross would want her to do next but so long as it involved hurting Stark and the people he loved she was more than happy to do it, especially if she got to live in a place like this, and who knew, if she impressed him, maybe he’d get her the president suite and she could live in the kind of luxury that Stark and those Billionaires enjoyed.
Yes, that would be fair, she could have luxury while they rotted in cells for the rest of their lives.
*****
Strikers Island
Lex skipped dinner, he wasn’t hungry anyway, he felt too sick to eat anything. He just lay on his bunk hugging the pillow and trying to shut out the noise of the prison and the inmates as they talked, yelled, shouted, and screamed.
His panic attack had eventually subsided but it had left him with a headache and a dry mouth that he could only treat by filling his plastic cup with tap water. Gulping down two cups full he returned to the bunk, remaining there as the hours passed and the prisoners were locked up, moments after which the lights went out and he was plunged into darkness that was only broken up by the safety lights shining from outside.
The silence didn’t last long, soon enough the inmates were calling to each other and were lowering ropes made from the bedsheets out of the barred windows, swinging them to each other as they traded items of food, hygiene products, and of course drugs.
Lex wouldn’t have minded some drugs right then, some diazepam would have calmed him down, smack would have guaranteed that he wouldn’t have cared about anything for a little while, and some coke would have made him feel really good.
He hadn’t dabbled in drugs since his adolescence, had gotten clean after meeting Clark, the thought of losing Clark’s friendship had been enough to keep him from giving into temptation and then being in a relationship with Clark had removed practically any desire to blot himself out; in here though, in here the temptation was going to be constant, both from the horrific conditions and the ready availability of the drugs.
Three months, just three months and he’d……..Christ Fuck., what if he wasn’t freed, what if he was found guilty?
Well he’d get the death penalty wouldn’t he?
A lethal injection was preferrable to being in this shit hole.
But Clark, oh God Clark, how was he going to deal with this?
What of Lexcorp, Bruce and Tony couldn’t support his company indefinitely, sooner or later everything he’d built would be destroyed, swallowed up by other corporations, sold off and torn apart.
As his employees lost their jobs they would blame him for it, vilify him from beyond the grave, cursing his name and his memory.
Clark would be scorned, his name was tied to Lex’s, he’d be hounded and spat upon, treated as filth for associating with a Luthor. People wouldn’t care that he was innocent, they didn’t care that Lex was innocent, they had already condemned him.
“Lex.”
The voice came from the barred window and Lex got up off his bunk, his eyes widening and his heart leaping as he saw Clark hovering by the window.
“I can’t stay long baby, but I needed to see you.” Clark said. This prison wasn’t like the one in the metropolis police station, if Clark tried to pry the bars out here alarms would start screeching, but they could at least see each other and link their hands through the bars.
“How are you holding up, has anyone hurt you?” Clark asked looking Lex over,
“I’m okay.” Lex said, which was as much as he was capable of right now, “What about you, what’s happening out there?”
“Bruce and Tony are organizing the teams, they think this is an attack on all of us.” Clark said, “They think that putting you in here is only the first part of something much bigger, that whoever is doing this intends to take us all out.”
That made sense, whoever did this had to be powerful as well as intelligent, if they had enough power to pull this off why stop at Lex when they could destroy Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne? But then Clark didn’t mean their civilian identities, he meant their superhero alter egos.
“Fuck.”
“Quite.” Clark chuckled at Lex’s expletive, the billionaire gave him a tired look and Clark’s expression softened, “Oh honey….”
“I am okay.” Lex promised, a lie, but one he had to get across, “Its not great but no ones done anything other than spew a few unoriginal insults my way, nothing I can’t ignore.” Worse would be coming but Lex would ignore it, he had to ignore it, he couldn’t risk getting into fights and possibly adding to the charges against him.
“I’ll keep my head down in here, spend as much time as I can in here away from the others.” He said, “We get visits every other Friday for thirty minutes….”
“We will visit every night.” Clark promised which made Lex smile, he should have known Clark would stop at nothing to be near him. “Now go and get into bed.” Clark instructed him, “I know you’re tired and you won’t settle easily, so let me try and distract your mind.”
“Distract it how?” Lex asked bemusedly, he giggled as Clark drew Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring from beneath his cape. “You’re gonna read to me?” He asked as something warm light up in his chest at the gesture.
“I am.” Clark said opening the book, he flipped through the pages until he came to The Long Expected Party.
Grinning, Lex got under the bed sheet and settled down, listening as Clark quietly read to him, easing away his fears enough that his body slowly began to relax and drift off into sleep.
Chapter Text
Strikers Island
While Lex would rather remain in his cell and away from the other inmates, he knew he had to go and get something to eat, he also wanted to shower, so when the guards came around slinging open the cell doors and frankly making enough noise to wake the dead, Lex dragged himself from his bunk, got his towel and headed for the washroom.
A line was formed, the top dogs were at the front of the line, the mass murderers and high profile gang bosses who nobody argued with unless they were feeling especially suicidal, those guys always went first for showers and meals, getting the hottest water and the best servings. After them came the single, double, or triple murderers, the middle men for gangs, then the GBH and severe assaults, slowly trickling down to the lowest offenders and the newbies like Lex who were trying to keep their heads down and not catch anyones attention, especially not those at the front of the line.
Unfortunately for Lex, being who he was, he caught everyone’s eye even as he tried not to, short of sticking a bag over his head he had little chance of escaping notice from everyone around.
As he walked into the showers his upper arms were grabbed and he shoved roughly against the damp tiled wall, a forearm being placed beneath his chin and pressure being put on his wind pipe by one of the gang middle men, an ugly bastard with a nasty scar over his left eye that mangled his eyelid into a twisted pucker of raised skin.
Lex had to physically restrain himself from fighting back, he could have easily taken the guys legs out from under him and put him on the ground, but he couldn’t afford to get into a fight on his first day or any fights at all if he could help it.
“Yer keep yer eyes t’yersll fag, understand?” The thug snarled, his morning breath rancid as it assaulted Lex’s nose, the guy clearly hadn’t heard of tooth paste or mouthwash, not with the way his breath stank and how yellow and black his teeth were.
“I don’t like fags.” The thug spat into Lex’s face, the spittle making the billionaire flinch, “I catch yer checkin’ out my dick dick or ass an I’ll rip those eye outa yer head, get it?”
“Fine.” Lex whispered making himself look down at the tiles and hunched his shoulders forward in a show of submission, he hated doing so, hated cowing to such a neanderthal but he had to do it.
“Fuckin’ limp dick pansies all the same.” The thug sneered cuffing Lex’s head and kicking his ankles, sending him to the wet floor, “No fuckin’ guts or balls.” He delivered a kick to Lex’s side which knocked the wind out of the billionaire, then turned away striding off laughing.
Panting Lex struggled to his feet, he kept his eyes down and walked to the nearest stall refusing to meet the gaze of any of the prisoners who’d watched the display and were continuing to watch him.
Silently he reached up and turned on the water which blasted loupe warm over his head and shoulders, reaching for the soap Lex swiftly lathered up and washed himself clean then dried off and dressed, heading back to his cell to brush his teeth before he collected his plastic meal tray and got in line for breakfast.
Being in line earned him a fair few cat calls from the inmates who were sat eating the poor prison fair.
“Yo Luthor, come an sit on my lap, if ya a good bitch I’ll go easy on ya!”
“Hey rich bitch gimme a hundred I can wipe my ass on.”
“Hey Luthor, ya Daddy fucking stole my parents business, so now Imma fuck ya up.”
“Can’t hide behind you’re billions now you murderous cocksucker!”
Lex ignored them, he used to get this kind abuse back in school when he was at Excelsior, he’d learnt to ignore the name callers, people shooting their mouths of rarely had the guts to make good on their threats so it wasn’t worth the effort to retaliate.
As he reached the food he surveyed the fair with disgusted sigh, his normal breakfasts were three types of melon and fine slices of Italian ham, or fresh smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, freshly baked croissants and organic preserves, rich strong coffee and freshly squeeze juice, none of which was on offer here.
He had a choice of thin greyish gruel, stale looking cereal, slices of toast spread with margarine, fatty soggy bacon, powdered eggs scrambled, and blackened sausage.
“Ain’t got no caviar here rich boy.” The inmate of server duty sneered, “Gotta much in with the rest of us now.” He slopped a scoop of the gruel onto Lex’s tray, “Move alone, others want feeding.”
Silently Lex moved to the end of the line and got a cup of instant tasteless coffee to drink and went and found a spare chair to sit in at the end of the table.
He took a single mouthful of the gruel and nearly spat it out, it was cold, too salty, and undercooked. As much as his stomach wanted something inside it, he could bear to eat this. Pushing the tray away he took up his coffee and made it last as long as he could before returning to his cell to make ready for his work day.
“Clark.” He said as soon as he was behind the cell door, “Tonight bring me something to eat please.”
He knew he shouldn’t risk Clark being caught coming to the prison but he couldn’t go on like this, he needed to eat and Clark could bring him some protein bars at least.
As the bell rung Lex left his cell and went back down to the first floor where he was instructed to go to the laundry where he’d be working.
Great a day dealing with shit, piss, spunk, puke, and blood stained linen, this day was just going from bad to worse.
*****
Avengers Compound.
It had been decided that the Justice League would come to the compound, it was easier if they did so because the Avengers wouldn’t have to get permission to leave the grounds, it also meant the League’s identities were better protected as they could arrive in uniform away from their cities or general living areas.
Before the meeting was due to arrive Clark called Tony and asked to start putting together food items that Lex would like which could also easily be hidden in his cell, apparently Lex wasn’t enjoying the food which didn’t surprise Tony, Lex had expensive tastes and was a notoriously fussy eater, turning his nose up at anything that didn’t belong in a five star restaurant; Lex was the only person Tony knew who’d turn his nose up at a cheese burger! Even as a teenager he’d had no taste for fast food, declaring it all too greasy, salty, and sugary.
He did however like chocolate, which could be easily hidden in his cell, Tony gathered several bars along with some protein bars, bananas, a bag of almonds. It wasn’t much but it would be better than nothing.
Tony hadn’t given much thought to how Lex would handle a crappy prison diet but a man who dined on gourmet sushi, bluefin tuna, chateaubriand, artisanal cheeses, and knipschildt chocolate, would struggle to make do with what a prison had to offer.
He was still jittery after Maximoff had finally stripped off her sheeps clothing and shown herself for the wolf bitch she was; he wasn’t sure about trusting the team, he wanted to, but that once bitten twice shy instinct was not going to back down after a few apologies, it would take time and effort to rebuild friendship and trust, this meeting would be a step in the right direction but a step only, Tony was going to keep his cards to his chest for some time to come, he’d let his guard down once already and been burned for it, he was not letting that happen again.
Since it was to be the entirety of the teams, Peter, Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damian were all present in their full suits so their faces were hidden behind masks, hoods, and cowls.
The Bat family were the first to arrive, in the Bat plane that drew the attention of all of the Avengers, Tony didn’t know for sure that Bruce had made his voice modulator gruffer and deeper for the purpose of this meeting but his voice was certainly a deep growl when he spoke a few monosyllables and completely ignored any attempts at a handshake from Steve or Sam and settled for glowering at anything and everything.
A sonic boom signalled Superman’s arrival, the Kyrptonian dropping down in front of the compound and striding in, his shoulders back and head held high, the turmoil he was feeling hidden under a carefully constructed mask.
“Holy shit, he’s even bigger than you!” Sam hissed to Steve.
“His costumes not as stupid as yours, at least he isn’t wearing tights!” Bucky added into Steve’s other ear. Steve swatted at him and glared,
“I haven’t worn tights in a long time.”
“Year like….five years?” Natasha said, “That fight on the helicarrier put some serious ladders in them, I’ll bet you had a hell of a time darning them!”
Clint and Scott were eyeing the bat family, Damian and Tim especially, “How old do you think that kid is, eight, nine?” Scott asked,
“I’m ten asshole!” Damian snarled, “What’s it to you anyway?”
“Robin, hush.” The bat growled earning a glare from the scowling boy.
“You better be careful with hellspawn there,” Red Hood drawled, “He didn’t get his eight hours and he's even more murderous when he’s sleep deprived.”
“Fuck you Hood.”
“Boys, behave.” The Bat scolded just as Flash arrived in a blinding crack of light, followed shortly after by Diana and Victor, then Aquaman and finally Green Arrow.
Tony shot a look to Bruce as Oliver Queen strode into the compound and the Bat shrugged, “I figured we could do with all the help we could get.”
That was fair and Tony wasn’t going to turn the offer of help away, making introductions all around and guided the two teams to the largest conference room in the building where Rhodey was waiting for them.
Once everyone took their seats he opened the meeting, “We are here today to discuss Lex Luthor’s imprisonment which myself and others believe is the first part of an attack on both the Avengers and the Justice League. The fact that General Ross is involved and has used the services of Wanda Maximoff to convince the courts to deny Lex bail strongly suggests there is more going on than a simple frame job by person or persons unknown.”
“How involved is Ross, do we know?” Flash asked,
“No, not yet.” Diana replied, “But he was too quick of the mark to enlist Maximoff’s help to not already be well informed as to what was going on.”
“He is privy to such information as secretary of state.” Victor pointed out, just offering a voice of reason,
“What Secretary of State gives a fuck about a single murder?” Jason asked, “Yeah it made the papers and all but it was the murder of a man who was himself a killer, it was hardly an earth shattering event or an act of extreme terrorism.”
“Its does seem rather under his pay grade.” Green Arrow said, “Plus Luthor would never be so sloppy as to leave evidence if he killed someone, even someone he despised.” That was about as close to a compliment as Lex would ever received from Oliver showing that the Star City tycoon was making an effort.
“We are all agreed then that Luthor didn’t do this?” Arthur checked, “There is no doubt in anyone’s mind?”
“Damnit Arthur he was with me, alright?” Superman snapped his fist thumping the table hard enough to crack it.
A tense silence followed this as everyone who wasn’t in the know took in the statement, “He was with you?” Natasha asked not even trying to hide the smugness in her voice as she gazed at Superman, “What does his fiancé think of him spending time with you?”
Tony could see her looking Superman over, calculating height, weight, hair colour, jaw shape, accent, posture, and other details that she was mentally comparing to Clark Kent.
“How did you ever hide your identity at all?” Dick asked Clark who glared at him but really Clark’s glares were nothing compared to Bruce’s.
“Oh hell no, are you fucking kidding me?” Clint cried, “Him?” He pointed at Superman, “That bumbling, falling over his own feet, milk bottle lens glasses wearing, corn fed, reporter is Superman?” The archer let out a laugh that was somewhere between incredulous and amused, “And lemme guess that super rich, super pain in the arse, super arrogant asshole Luthor is Dragonfly?”
Clark tried to look stern her really did but the flush on his cheeks gave him away, which wasn’t helped by Damian’s snide sneer of “Idiot.” From across the table.
“Someone who’s hand won’t break, hit him!” Tony said, “Hit Aqua-douche too, this is his fault for riling up Clark.”
“Hey!” Arthur protested and yelped as Diana slapped him upside the head, the came a resounding clang and everyone stared as Bucky regarded his suddenly bent out of shape metal hand which was bent backwards with the fingers pointing to the elbow.
“Did you just….” Steve asked pointing to Superman.
“Well, at least no bones got broken.” Bucky said with a shrug, “You’ve got a damn solid head though.” He said to Clark as he retook his seat.
“Yeah must be nearly as dense as yours.” Sam teased, Bucky narrowed his eyes at the other man,
“How ‘bout I test the density of this table with your head?”
“How about you shut the hell up so we can get on with this meeting?” Batman growled,
“Is he in charge now?” Scott asked, “Not that I’m complaining this is just confusing.”
“Are there going to be snacks soon, I’m hungry.” Flash piped up,
“No, and shut it or you’ll be a whole lot hungrier by the time we’re done.” Batman snapped.
“I think he’s in charge now.” Scott whispered to Sam who nodded in agreement.
“How about the highest ranking officer in the room takes charge.” Tony said grinning at Rhodey, the Colonel glared at him,
“Thanks for that Stank, I’ll remember this kindness.”
Rhodey rose to his feet with a sigh wondering if joining an animal sanctuary and herding cats would be this difficult.
“I think we are all agreed Lex is innocent since he was otherwise engaged at the time of Lionel Luthor’s capture and murder.”
“So someone went to a whole lot of trouble to frame him.” Clint said, “They’d have to be pretty damn well connected to pull shit like that off, it’s no amateurs job, its professional.”
“Lex isn’t short of enemies both as Lex and Dragonfly and I think we can safely assume whomever did this knows his alter ego.” Tony said, “While I think Ross is involved I can’t see him kidnapping and torturing to death Lionel, that isn’t really his style. He is more likely to be working with whoever thought that up.”
“Well who’s got the power, the intelligence, and the connections to pull something like that off?” Natasha asked, “Hydra?”
“Not really their style.” Steve said shaking his head, “Or AIM.”
“Joker’s too reckless, Riddler would want everyone to know it was him, he’d be leaving stupid brain teasers everywhere, and Penguin, while he has the connections, wealth, and intellect hasn’t committed a crime, or at least not a serious one in over five years.” Batman said.
“This is definitely a human crime.” Natasha said, “We can rule out superhuman attacks, or at least nothing obviously superhuman.”
“Could Doom…no he’d just a legion of his dumbass bots to attack.” Spiderman said, “What about that guy who attacked the Expo, Mr Stark?”
“Justin Hammer?” Tony asked snorting, “That moron’s still inside, he’s bankrupt and has neither the skill nor the wit to pull this off.”
“So basically we don’t know shit.” Arthur said as eloquent in his speech as ever.
“We know one thing.” Natasha pointed out, “Maximoff is involved, has involved herself, she might be a way in to finding out more.”
“Right, we find the bitch and torture her until she’d spills her guts!” Damian declared grinning ferally and looking far too eager to start torturing Wanda.
“Why do you always jump straight to torture?” Tim asked him,
“There will not be any torture.” Steve cried getting two unimpressed looks from the youngest Bat boys.
“Not right away at least.” Natasha said, “Firstly I think we should find and monitor her, Ross is bound to make contact with her again sooner or later and when he does we should have ears in their conversation.”
Tony looked to Bruce, “You’re the best at stakeouts and finding things and people that don’t want to be found.”
“Huh, it’ll be a real Witch hunt.” Dick mused, “Any chance we can tie her to the stake after we’re done?”
“I’d rather you didn’t.”
This came from Vision who fazed through the walls startling everyone, “If I am not welcome I can leave.” He offered, “But I…, Wanda has also betrayed me and I wish to see that she causes no more people harm.”
Everyone stared at the Android silently until Arthur scoffed, “And we’re taking this at face value when you’ve been fucking her for months?”
“He has a point Vision.” Natasha said, “How can we trust that you are not still working with her?”
Vision looked impassively at the two teams, “I can offer no proofs only my word and my hope that I will be given the chance to prove myself over time.”
Tony stared at Vision, the Android looked so much like the human Jarvis from his memories, the voice was Jarvis’s voice, just hearing it was a painful reminder of his lost AI, it hurt that Vision had shunned him, chosen Wanda instead of the man who’d created him, but Tony had resigned himself to it, as he had so many things.
“Would the lasso work on him?” Barry asked Diana in a whisper, The Amazonian shook her head doubtfully.
Tony drew a deep breath, “One chance.” He said to Vision, holding up one finger, “You get one chance, if you betray us then half Jarvis or not I’ll destroy you myself, understand?”
Vision held his gaze impassively, “I understand and I appreciate the opportunity, I assure you I shall not fail you again.”
“Tones are you sure?” Rhodey asked, Tony nodded,
“Everyone here is being given a chance at building trust, he should get that chance too, past associations be damned.”
A tense agreement went around the table and Vision was asked to pull up a seat as the meeting progressed and the teams devised tasks and plans for how they would proceed in getting Lex exonerated in bringing the real killer or killers to justice.
Chapter Text
Avengers Compound.
Bucky eyed the bot that was poking him in the side and making beeping noises, it was a curious machine, more like a dog than a robot, it’s two brothers were playing a game of catch with Spiderman who was hanging off the ceiling tossing tennis balls at them.
A kid hanging off a ceiling was freaky anywhere, but in Stark’s lab it made it even more insane.
“Dumm-E stop poking the Sergeant, he is not a piñata, you won’t get any candy out of him, or in your case oil.” Tony scolded as he worked on getting Bucky’s mangled hand back into shape.
The bot turned, knocking over a container of bolts which spilled across the bench and floor, to point his claw at Tony, nearly hitting him in the face and beeped at him.
“Now look what you’ve done.” Tony sighed, “Pick that up, no, not that that!” He groaned as Dum-E picked up a screw driver instead of the bolts.
“Can’t you go play catch with the other brats?” Tony complained, but did reach out to stroke Dum-E touch sensitive pads which made the bot trill in pleasure.
“He’s alright.” Bucky said nearly getting his nose broke by Dum-E’s claw as it whirled back around to face him,
“I can’t handle more than twins when I’m on Bot-sitting duty, Mr Stark.” The spider kid called.
“Don’t underestimate yourself Underoos, you can do anything you put your mind to.” Tony said without looking up, “One day you might even be half as brilliant and perfect as me!”
He then did something to the wrist and Bucky’s hand flopped forwards and a pressure he’d been feeling since he’d smashed the appendage around Superman’s head was released.
“Hey, thanks.” He said,
“Don’t thank me yet, we’ve still got to get the fingers working again, you trashed half of the servos in here not to mention the damage to the connecting joints.”
“Can it be repaired?” Bucky asked looking down at the mess of wires and metal rods that made up the interior of his hand and wrist.
“I should be able to do so.” He pocked his screw driver at Bucky, “Don’t break it on Superman’s head again.” He scolded him, “If you must hit him, use Barton as a battering ram, he is much less valuable and there is nothing in his head to damage!”
Bucky snickered, “I could use Stevie too.” He said, “That Punk’s not got much between his ears at times.”
“True, but I suppose having the America flag up his ass makes up for it!”
Tony did something with one of the wires and Bucky’s little finger jumped and curled up towards his hand. “Fuck, sorry, this tech is seriously sensitive.” Tony apologised,
“S’fine, it doesn’t hurt.” Bucky said,
“You sure, because I can detach the arm and work on it without you having to sit in here playing new toy for Dum-E.”
For some reason Tony’s oldest Bot had taken a shine to Bucky, Tony said it was probably because of the metal arm, it was fascinating the bot and he was trying to figure out if Bucky was like him and his siblings or like their human creator.
“He’s okay, aren’t you boy?” Bucky said patting Dum-E’s side like he would pat a Dog’s back.
“Boss, Captain Dickward is at the door asking for entry.” Friday informed the inventor.
“Friday I thought I said you weren’t to call him that.” Tony said to his AI.
“No Boss, you said I couldn’t call him Captain Fuckface, Asswipe, or Shit-for-brains.”
“Well add Dickwad to the list and let him in.” Tony said, muttering something about children parroting bad words.
Bucky was not blind to the way that Tony stiffened as the glass doors opened and Steve walked into the lab; while they might have called a truce and be working towards rebuilding their friendship Tony wasn’t completely comfortable around the Avengers and would be for some time, which Bucky could understand.
After he’d first been free from Hydra he’d struggled to be around anyone. He’d been cut off from humanity for seventy years, the only people he’d interacted with had been Hydra or his victims, he’d forgotten what it was to be in a crowd, to talk to people, to interact.
At first he’d kept to the shadows, hiding under bridges, in sewers, and alleys throughout the day, disused buildings, and abandoned burnt out vehicles. He’d hidden himself during the day, too afraid to venture out in the daylight when there were people around who might notice him. He’d waited until nightfall, the early hours of the morning when most were asleep before he’d left his hiding place to go in search of food and water.
The dumpsters outside restaurants and café’s always had an abundance of food thrown out, he’d since learned it was just barely past it’s sell by date and the law stated it had to be thrown out, despite the waste. Bucky hadn’t cared what state it was in, the food was still edible and he’d eaten whatever was there, bread, meat, vegetables, fruit, pasta, rice, even pastries. Water he got from public restrooms, drinking from the taps and filling up a tossed out milk carton so he would have a supply on him.
Gradually as his confidence and memories grew, he had began to venture out earlier in the day, very early mornings at first, when businesses were just opening up and people were out walking their dogs or jogging.
Some of the café owners took pity on him and would give him a cup of coffee for free, and a sausage roll or a small cake. They also directed him to soup kitchens and homeless shelters.
Eventually Bucky had started to make use of these places, getting a hot meal and a bed for the night, he’d spoken with some of the other homeless, relearning how to have a conversation that had more than two or three words in it.
He’d still kept mostly to himself though, even when he was travelling across Europe, mostly at night to further avoid detection, and hiding away during the busiest times of day. It was when he got to Bucharest that he’d started to mingle with people a little. He didn’t socialize at such, but he had interacted, working odd jobs labouring, helping out in return for cash in hand. He gradually stopped flinching at every sound, hadn’t wanted to lash out every time someone came within three feet of him, and didn’t view every person in his path as a potential threat.
He’d still been skittish though, on guard, which was how Tony was now around Steve, cautious, watching him out of the corner of his eye, unsure of what Steve’s intentions were.
“How is it going?” Steve asked looking down at Bucky’s hand,
“We’re getting there.” Tony said, “He did a good job on trashing it though.”
“Guess he sure handed superman a hard slap huh?” Spiderman said from the ceiling, “Get it?”
“Leave the jokes to me kid, you suck at them.” Tony replied with a roll of his eyes,
“I was just Handling the situation!” Bucky quipped making Tony groan and Steve snort.
“Well I’ll hand it to you, Buck, you’re still a prize idiot at times.” He said.
“I’ll hand you your punk ass if you keeping talking like that.”
“Enough with the stupid hand jokes!” Tony cried, “How am I supposed to work when I’ve got ancient soldiers and a Spider brat making stupid jokes? I am a genius I need peace and harmony to work.”
Considering the loud music that was playing, if it could even be called music, that was the last thing Tony needed to work.
“What brings you doing here anyway?” Tony asked,
“We’re getting dinner, I wanted to know if you’d be coming up or if we should bring you a tray down here?” Steve asked.
“Finger food?” Spiderman giggled.
“Button it or I’ll confiscate your Anime and Manga.”
“That is cruel and unusual punishment.”
“You’re not cooking are you?” Bucky checked looking alarmed at the thought,
Steve glared at back at him, “I can cook.” He said, “Its been a long time since the soup incident.”
“You still burnt a hole in the saucepan!”
Steve’s cheeks flushed as Spiderman and Tony laughed at him, “We’ll come up when dinner’s ready.” Tony said doing something that got Bucky’s little fingers straight again and returned the feeling to it, “How is that?”
“Better.” Bucky said moving the digit,
“Doesn’t that hurt?” Steve asked watching as Tony poked around in the mechanical hand,
“Not really, it feels weird but no painful.” Bucky replied, “The only time anything on my arm hurts is when it’s at the shoulder docking.”
“That’s because its where the nerves are attached.” Tony said, “They are hyper sensitive from being wired into the limb.”
Both Bucky’s ring and middle finger moved, tapping a rhythm on the bench before falling still and then Bucky was able to move them again.
“One more and then the thumb.” Tony said, “Give is half an hour or so and then we’ll be up.”
Steve nodded, taking the dismissal without complaint and leaving Tony to finish off repairing Bucky’s hand.
“He is sincere you know.” Bucky said to Tony as his index finger began to come back to life, “He is genuinely sorry for how he’s treated you, and I’m not saying that to get you to forgive him, I just want you to know that you can relax around him.”
Tony lifted his head to meet Bucky’s eyes, searching them for signs of a lie. Whatever he saw in Bucky’s face must have convinced him that he was telling the truth as he nodded his head.
“I’ll try.” He said returning to working on the hand,
“And if he does step out of line again I’ll kick his ass for you!” Bucky added,
“And me!” Spiderman threw in jumping down from the ceiling to stand besides to two adults.
“You’re too young to kick ass.” Tony scolded him, “Now go and wash up for dinner.” The warmth in his voice and the light in his eyes showed how touched he was by the sentiments though, a smile and a blush grew on his face as Spiderman hugged him before scampering off to wash up,
“Lively boy.” Bucky commented, “A bit mouthy and sure packs a punch.”
“Amongst other things.” Tony said fixing Bucky’s finger and finally moved onto the thumb, “Alright, hold still and I’ll have you finished up in just a few more minutes.”
Bucky nodded and turned his head to watch the bots interacting while Tony finished working on his hand, they weren’t friends yet, but Bucky was hoping that maybe given time they could be, and perhaps the Avengers could repair their friendships with the billionaire and salvage what had one perhaps had the potential to be something great.
******
Strikers Island.
Lex was exceptionally grateful for the food that Clark brought him, lunch and dinner had been no better than breakfast and he was starving for something that wasn’t dehydrated, powdered, frozen, and reconstituted and thrown onto a plate and called food.
“How have you been getting on?” Clark asked eyeing the bruising on Lex’s head,
“I’ll survive.” Lex replied around a mouthful of dates, “This is nothing.” He said waving to the bruise, “Just some knuckle dragger homophobe letting me know his feelings.” He was thankful that his prison uniform was covering his abdomen and ribs where several more bruises were decorating his skin. They had been caused be elbows, fists, and feet as several prisoners had decided to trip him, slam into him, and kick him.
Some had been homophobic like the knuckle head in the showers, others had just been throwing their weight around and wanted Lex to know who was boss. This wasn’t a personal beating as such, the other newbies were getting the same treatment, a few blackeyes, split lips, bruised ribs, and shins were common for the first few days in prison and Lex had been expecting it.
It was the personal threats he had to worry about, the prisoners who held a grudge against him because of Lionel, the ones who’d never gotten the chance to exact revenge on his father and were now looking to get their pound of flesh from him instead. It was only a matter of time before one or more of them cornered him and he was going to have to be on his guard for when it happened.
“What have they got you doing in here?” Clark asked, changing the subject, “Making licence plates or something?”
“Laundry.” Lex replied with a shudder, he’d spent the whole day sorting through soiled, blood stained, and spunk smeared sheets and clothing, had wanted to scrub himself in bleach after he’d had to handle the filthy garments and had come close to vomiting at the state of a set of underwear that had looked more like the contents of a baby’s nappy.
“Could be worse.” Clark said,
“How?” Lex had never had to take care of his own laundry, housekeeping was not something he’d grown up doing and he was not enjoying it in the least.
“Well, you could be having to clean the toilets.”
Lex shuddered, the toilets should be condemned they were so stained, cleaning them was the last thing he wanted to do.
“How did the meeting go?” He asked Clark.
“Good, the teams have agreed to work together.” Clark carefully chose not to mention Green Arrow being part of the line up, Lex would not be pleased to know that Oliver Queen was involved. He also hoped he could keep his slip up a secret too. His face must have revealed something because Lex’s eyes narrowed,
“What’s happened?” He demanded, Clark tried to look innocent, widening his eyes and spread his arms wide as if to say he had no idea what Lex was talking about. A bullshit move which hadn’t worked on Lex since he’d been a kid in Smallville, not that it had worked much then either.
“I kind of, might of, sort of let slip our identities to the Avengers.” He admitted, suddenly feeling glad that there were bars on the window between him and Lex.
“What?” it was amazing just how much fury Lex could pour into one growled word, that was a skill right there.
“It just happened.” Clark said feeling like his teenage self standing before his exasperated and pissed off parents when they’d gotten home to find the house trashed from his impromptu party.
“Clark…”
“We were arguing, Arthur and I, and I just blurted out that you had been with me at the time of Lionel’s kidnap and his murder. I was in full suit at the time and Natasha asked what I as Clark thought of my Fiancé spending time with Superman, and well…,” Clark ended with a shrug, “They just figured it out from there.”
Lex pinched the bridge of his nose and glared at him, “You are an idiot.” He said with a sigh.
“Yeah but I’m your idiot.”
“The Avengers though, can they be trusted?”
“I don’t know.” Clark admitted, “Wanda was fucking with their minds, so not all of their actions were completely them, Bruce seems willing to give them a chance.”
“I assume his identity is still a secret.”
“Do I look suicidal?” Clark scoffed, “Anyway, he and the boys are going to be tailing Maximoff, finding out what her connection to Ross is and how he is involved in all of this. Tony and Natasha are going to be looking into Lionel’s abduction and working from there.”
A shrill screaming made both of them jump and Clark used his X-ray vision to look through the prison, “A junky is having a bad trip I think.” He said, eyeing person who was screaming at the walls.
“You’d better go.” Lex said, “They will probably do cell checks or something.”
“I’ll come back…”
“Not tonight.” Lex said, “You need to rest too.” He knew he wouldn’t sleep well if at all, but Clark needed to take some time for himself, he couldn’t keep baby sitting Lex all the time.
“I really don’t you know.” Clark said with a grin, as the sound of footsteps reached Lex’s ears Clark reluctantly floated back from the cell, “Try and get some sleep.” He said to Lex, “I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you.”
“I love you too.” Lex said having to bite back the urge to beg Clark to stay. Quickly he got under the bedsheet and hid the food beneath it, laying down and pretended to be asleep as the warden came around, flashing lights into the cells and looking at the prisoners while the junky was being treated. Several inmates shouted abuse at the wardens, unhappy about being disturbed or just wanting to insult them out of spite. Lex remained silent, waiting for the light to leave his face and the wardens foot steps to fade away.
He then got back out of bed and pulled his bunk away from the wall, getting down onto the floor he began to unscrew the air vent cover, carefully placing the screws on the ground took the cover off the wall revealing a hole which he could hide the food in.
His cell had already been searched once by other prisoners looking for things to steal, that would keep happening and he had no intentions of giving up any of his meagre supply of decent food to any of them.
Carefully he placed the food inside the shaft and sealed the vent shut again, pushing the bed back against the wall he got back under the covers and stretched out, closing his eyes and tried to focus his mind on something, anything other than prison or Belle Reve.
Chapter Text
Recon was probably the most boring job that the Bat family had to do. It invariably involved waiting for hours watching someone or some place, taking notes and gathering evidence. It was time consuming and, as Jason put it, “Dull as shit.”
This was why Jason was rarely involved in recon, as he was far too restless and just liked to go in all guns blazing, literally at times.
Watching Wanda Maximoff was just as boring as any previous recon job.
They took up watch on a rooftop of a hotel opposite the one that she had been put up in, using long range lenses to watch her movements and at night inferred to track body heat.
“Anything?” Bruce asked as he came to relieve Dick at midnight, two weeks after they had started their watch.
“She left the hotel and went shopping.” Dick said in a bored tone, “I followed her, she bought a fuck ton of make-up and clothes, had lunch in an expensive restaurant, and then returned to the hotel.”
“She didn’t meet with anyone, speak with anyone?”
“People who recognise her give her a wide birth.” Dick said, “She only exchanged a few words with a few sales assistants. She did have a phone conversation though, before she went out, but her back was to the window so I couldn’t read her lips.”
“Damn.” Bruce cursed, “We need to either hack her phone, or get a bug in that room.”
“Tim could pose as hotel staff, get in, change the sheets and plant a bug.” Dick suggested, it was something they’d done before. No one really paid attention to the hotel staff, especially not in big hotels where people were often so pretentious and stuck up their own asses.
Bruce didn’t look overly comfortable with the suggestion of putting his second youngest anywhere near Maximoff.
“Or we can do it when she’s out.” Dick said, “A couple of us can go in a plant a few bugs.”
“Better.” Bruce agreed and patted Dick’s shoulder, “Head off home, Alfred cooked lasagne.”
“Sweet!”
Bruce grinned at Dick’s whoop, he might be an adult in years but he could still act as much of a kid as the other boys, especially when it came to Alfred’s cooking.
Settling himself down, Bruce stared into the lens of the night goggles, watching as Wanda lay sprawled across her bed reading a magazine. He knew he should be grateful for the fact she wasn’t causing havoc but he frankly found recon as boring as his boys, he would much rather be kicking the crap out of thugs in an alley than perched on a roof watching a young woman flip through glossy mags and sip at some kind of frothy hot drink.
With any luck Wanda would leave the hotel again tomorrow and they’d be able to plant the bugs and then be able to get some useful information from her, however this had been the first time she’d left the room in two weeks, and with Bruce’s luck it’d be another fortnight before she ventured out again.
If that were the case they would have to find a way to lure her out of the hotel at least for half an hour or so, he wouldn’t risk putting his boys in a room with her, not in any circumstances, but they could also not afford to lose a month of time just watching her spend tax payers money on pay per view, hotel food, and spar treatments. Lex’s court date was growing closer, they were now down to ten weeks before it started and were no further on than they had been two weeks before.
To occupy his mind Bruce thought of potential ways of getting Maximoff out of the hotel without arousing her suspicions or anger, the last thing they needed was for her to start terrorizing New York with her damn magic.
A car crash? She’d likely just look out of the window.
A fight? Again she’d probably not be interested.
A superhero fight?
That would get everyone’s attention. If he asked nicely Selina might be willing to put on a show and fight him, but maybe that wouldn’t be enough to draw everyone’s attention, something louder, more dynamic than to unenhanced people beating the crap out of each other.
Maybe a random enhanced could be engaged in a fight with Superman mid air and the two of them could crash into the middle of the road?
He was pretty sure Arthur wouldn’t mind playing the villain, they could disguise him and he and Clark could smack each other around, if not Clark then Diana.
Of course Antman would be perfect to get into her hotel room and plant bugs, she wouldn’t even notice him, but he couldn’t leave the compound unless it was for official Avengers business and was sanctioned by the Accords Panel. Tony could disable his tag but that risked alerting the panel if it set off an alarm and that would bring even more drama they did not need to deal with their way.
Well, he’d wait a day or two, if Maximoff still showed no signs of leaving then he’d put a plan in motion and get her out of the hotel one way or another, even if he had to stage a fake bomb threat.
*****
Avengers Compound.
“Nothing, nada, zip, zilch, and fuck all.”
Vision looked speculatively at Tony and Victor rolled his eye at the exclamation. Like Bruce and the bat family, they’d not found anything helpful in two weeks.
They’d pulled CCTV footage of the docks where Lionel’s body had washed up, trying to find the vehicle that had dropped him off, but they’d found nothing but a couple of drug deals and possibly some illegal merchandise being offloaded, nothing in which a body had been disposed of.
“We’re sure he went into the water on these dates?” Victor asked,
“The coroner set the dates.” Tony said shoving back from the work station and tipped his head back, “Worked out from the state the body was in, how long it’d been in the water, which wasn’t that long and he was dead when he was dropped in.”
“And he couldn’t have been put in the water further up the coast because he wasn’t in the water long enough for the current to have carried him.” Vision said, “So short of him being dropped into the water out of thin air, he had to have been disposed of by some other method. By water perhaps.”
“What?” Tony tilted his head and winced when the position made his neck ache,
“What do you mean?” Victor asked,
“We are assuming that because his lungs were dry he was killed on land.” Vision explained, “What if that is a mistake, what if he were killed on a vessel of some kind and then simply thrown overboard?”
Tony and Victor digested that for a second then Tony cursed and shot back up, getting back to work, “We need the coast guard record of all vessels in the vicinity.” He said, “Lets go right back to when the asshole was taken from Arkham.”
“They’d probably have taken him on board at Gotham Harbour.” Victor said pulling up the Gotham port records, “Of course they might have only used a small boat, manual or engine and taken him out into international waters.”
“Pull up any CCTV of any ships and activity over the past few months.” Tony said, “Everything from cargo to passenger ships, fishing boats, and pleasure cruises, if it floats and carries people I want to know about it.”
“You discounting floaters in the toilet then?”
This voice came from overhead and Tony blew a whistle which prompted Dumm-E to fire his beloved extinguisher at the ceiling vent. Muffled cursing followed and then Clint dropped down from the ceiling coughing and wiping foam off himself.
“Was that necessary?” He demanded,
“When you haunt my vents like a demented creeper, yes.” Tony replied, “What have you and your murder twin discovered?”
Clint’s lips twitched, Tony had often referred to him and Natasha as Murder twins back when they’d been a close team, he was happy to see it happening again, it was a sign that things were going in the right direction.
“So for sweet F A.” He replied hopping up onto a counter and began to juggle with a couple of screws, “There was nothing untoward in the autopsy report or the police investigation that we could find.”
“What investigation, they practically just pointed to Lex and that was it.”
“Well Nat’s running back ground checks on the cops right now, she’d checking to see if they’ve got anything shady in their past, have suddenly come into money, or been the recipients of money for some time.”
“It might behove of you to check their families.” Vision offered as he swiftly skimmed through footage, able to examine it at speed far faster than the human eye, “The police officers may not have been directly involved, but could have been pressured to protect loved ones.”
“Really, no shit, I’d never have thought of that.” Clint sarcastically sneered.
“Clint.” Tony cautioned, they had promised to give Vision a chance and so far he’d done nothing to show that he was anything but loyal.
Clint held up a hand in surrender and mumbled an apology.
“Damn.” Tony cursed, “The cameras only show the docks not any further out, unless the boat came right up to shore to drop of Lionel’s corpse there is no way to see them, and I doubt they’d have done that.”
“Why not run a list of all registered vessels who have either docked or been spotting on the coast that have any links to Mr Luthor’s enemies, either as himself or Dragonfly?” Vision suggested, “Granted, those who murdered the senior Mr Luthor may have only hired the vessel….”
“No, not likely.” Clint said hopping off the counter and stopping his juggling for the moment, “The coroner’s report said Lionel was held captive for a long time, he was also tortured to death. That would leave a lot of evidence to clean up. If you are going out of your way to frame someone for murder and have a body to dispose of, you wouldn’t want to leave a potential loose end like that laying around.”
“They could have cleaned it.” Victor suggested,
“No one is that good at cleaning.” Clint said with far too much knowledge of cleaning up crime scenes for anyone to argue with, “Blood gets everywhere, you can never get rid of it all, stray hairs, flaked skin, there would be some evidence left behind.”
“They’d use their own ship, possibly discard it afterwards.” Tony said in agreement, “Friday, lets pull up insurance claims on boats for the past four months, disregard open deck, they would have to have space to hold him so we’re going to be looking at yachts. Don’t bother with old fishing vessels, whoever did this has money, they’d be on something expensive.”
“Gotcha boss.”
“There has to be something.” Tony said more to himself than the others, “Some evidence somewhere, no one is so good that they don’t slip up somewhere.”
*****
New York.
Dressed in a brand new pair of black jeans with a silk black shirt and a leather jacket, Wanda left her hotel room and all but bounced her way down to the front of the hotel where she got into a tinted windowed sedan in which Ross was waiting for her.
Doing his bidding might not be fantastic but at least it gave her something to do and it had gotten her out of the hotel.
Ross had wanted her to keep a low profile, had only allowed her out shopping the once since he’d put her up in the city.
“You can’t afford to draw too much attention to yourself.” He’d explained, “Soon enough you will be able to do as you please, but for now, stay hidden, be patient, your time will come.”
Patience might be a virtue as Wanda’s mother had said but it was one she struggled with, boredom was quickly settling in. There were only so many TV shows she could binge watch on Netflix and Prime before she was sick of TV, only so much fancy cuisine she could eat without gaining unwanted weight. The hotel gym did not amuse her, she didn’t like swimming, and even treating herself to spar treatments got dull after a while.
So, playing errand girl for Ross might suck but it was better than another night of watching some crap on TV.
“You know what you are to do?” Ross asked her as the car pulled out into the road,
“Make the prisoners in Strikers Island attack Luthor.” Wanda said with a twisted smile, “It’ll be a pleasure.”
Ross looked at her hard, “He isn’t to be killed, he is to live. Broken bones don’t matter, but no permanent damage.”
Wanda rolled her eyes, “Fine.” She sighed,
“I’m serious, Miss Maximoff.” Ross growled, “If I can’t trust you then I can’t protect you and if you don’t have my protection…”
“I can take care of myself.” Wanda sulked and scowled when Ross laughed,
“Really? So far all you have achieved in life is being a puppet for Hydra, played the child for a pack of freaks, had yourself thrown into a straight jacket, and been on the run. I’d hardly call any of that a success.”
Wanda’s magic flared in her hands and she grit her teeth wanting to unleash her power on the insufferable bastard, but she couldn’t afford to do that, not yet, as much as she hated to admit it she did need him, at least for now.
“Good.” Ross said noticing her self restraint, “You are learning, growing wisdom, it is admirable.” He smiled when Wanda glanced his way, “Hate me if you will, I really don’t care, but know that I will be far more inclined to be generous if you continue to behave as you are now and may grant you far more freedoms and fortunes.”
As he saw Wanda’s eyes glitter at the mention of fortune he chuckled, “I thought you’d like that, perhaps you’d enjoy another shopping trip, maybe some jewellery to compliment your pretty clothes?”
“Yes.” Wanda breathed, “I want jewellery, proper jewellery, not cheap tacky stuff, but real gold and diamonds, emeralds, and sapphires.”
Ross chuckled once more, “Do this, and I’ll arrange a shopping trip to the best jeweller in Manhattan.”
Wanda smiled at him, it was not a pretty sight, not with the blood red rings about her eyes, but then Ross’s own smile was shark like, predatory, in a way they matched, both hungry for blood, suffering, and power.
Ross’s driver took them to the docks where Slade Wilson was waiting on a speed boat with a driver, “Go to the island, get her as close to the prison as you can.” Ross ordered Wilson.
“You can swim?” He said to Wanda as she got into the boat.
“I can.” She said, not happy about the prospect but resigned to it none the less.
“Then I can get you on shore.” Wilson said, he picked up a wet suit and flung it at her, “Get changed, the water will be cold, you’ll need all the protection you can get.”
As the speed boat pulled out of the harbour Wanda stripped down and pulled on the wet suit, struggling to get her hair under the cap and her goggles and snorkel fitted right but she was ready once they reached the sight of the island.
“I hope you have some stamina.” Wilson said diving over the side of the boat, bracing herself for the cold Wanda followed him and set about swimming to the island.
Wilson took her to the rear of the island where only steep and sharp rocks ran up from the sea to above the waves. It was a difficult swim and Wanda hit more rocks than she cared to think about. This side of the Island was impossible for boats to approach there were too many rocks, any ship would be torn to pieces upon them and swimmers ran the risk of being smashed against the side of the rocks when waves swept up against them. This was why there was little security on this side of the Island because it was not a way that prisoners could escape or be rescued.
Cold, sore, and bruised Wanda let Wilson help her up the rocks and lay belly down on the thin grass staring up at the high, barbed wire topped wall of the prison before them.
“Luthor’s block is directly ahead of us.” Wilson said, “Do your thing and lets get out of here. We’ve only got fifteen minutes before the next patrol.”
Closing her eyes Wanda concentrated, reaching out with her magic, she flicked through the minds of guards closest to them, using their knowledge of the prisoner to guide her deeper into the depths of Strikers Island, searching through Guards and Inmates until she found the cell block that Luthor was housed in. She paused briefly, considering invading his mind and bringing some fears to the surface but resisted, his mind was hard for her to gain access to, it would take all her concentration and she didn’t have the time.
Pulling away from Lex she focused her attention on the prisoners in the same block, picking out those with the most violent proclivities and the most volatile tempers, easily she planted the thoughts of beating up Lex the following morning, stressing that he not be killed or seriously maimed.
Feeling Wilson’s hand on her shoulder she pulled back from their minds and turned to look at the one eyed assassin, “Done?” he asked.
“Done.” She said with a smile.
“Then lets get out of here and back to shore.” Wilson said, leading the way back down the rocks and into the sea, neither of them seeing the dark shape that flew to one of the narrow windows, as they slipped down into the waves once more.
Chapter Text
New York.
With Tim and Jason dressed in “Borrowed” hotel uniforms, the pair made their way to Wanda’s suite and Jason picked the lock on the door letting them inside the room.
“Christ, can’t she pick up after herself at all?” Tim groused disgustedly, he might be a teenagers and therefore not the tidiest of people but he didn’t leave underwear dumped all over the carpet, wet towels on the floor in the bathroom, or his bed a rumpled mess, neither did he have clothes strewn all over his bedroom the way that Wanda did. Read magazines, crumpled food wrappers, and discarded soda cans just left for someone else to deal with.
“We’re here to bug her room not make comments on her house keeping.” Jason shot back making his way to the bed and placing a bug behind the headboard.
“Yeah but still, this is gross.” Tim said wrinkling his nose. He opened one of the chests of draws that Wanda hadn’t bothered using and placed another bug under the top of the first draw where it wouldn’t be found.
Meanwhile Jason jumped up onto the back of the small corner suite sofas and fixed a bug inside one of the light fixtures.
“Shall we bug the bathroom too?” He asked looking to Tim who hastily shook his head.
“I don’t want to hear her using the bog.”
Jason wrinkled his nose, “Good point.” He leaped off the sofa and went over to the wall opposite the window, fixing a bug behind one of the decorative pictures while Tim bugged the phone.
“Pity we can’t get her mobile.” He said glumly.
“I could distract her while you pick her pocket.” Jason suggested,
Tim shot him a disbelieving look, “Strangely enough I don’t have that much of a death wish.”
“Pussy.”
“Asshole.”
Tim tapped on his Com to Alfred, “How’s the feed from the bugs?” He asked,
“Coming in loud and clear.” Alfred replied, “We’ll have a constant audio on the Witch from now on.”
“Good work boys, now get the hell out of there.” Bruce ordered them his voice distorted by his vocal modulator.
“Oh gee, I was thinking we’d hang out, maybe order pizza and watch a movie or two.” Jason sneered mockingly.
“Not in the mood Jason.”
“When are you?” Jason shot back,
“Lay off.” Tim scolded him, “We’re good to go, see you in the AM.”
The pair finished their work quickly and vacated the suite, shutting and locking the door behind them, then made their way quietly out of the hotel, slipping out of the hotels delivery entrance at the back and tossed their borrowed uniforms in the alley. A hotel worker would find them an assume they’d fallen out of the laundry basket when it was being loaded up.
The pair made their way back to what was now being called the WW nest. Meaning Wanda Watch nest.
“You sure about that pizza, I’m starving.” Jason said clutching his stomach,
“When aren’t you?” Tim said with a grin, “But sure, get me a BBQ chicken.”
“Want a shake too?”
“Double mocha, extra coffee.”
“Caffeine freak.”
“Dipshit.”
“Bat’s bitch.”
“Bell end.”
The brotherly endearments continued until Jason was out of earshot, leaving Tim to watch the room and wait for Wanda to return.
******
Strikers Island.
Late night rendevouz with Clark at his cell window were becoming the high point of Lex’s day. Granted, the rest of it was spent suffering insults, jibes, and threats from the other inmates, loading and unloading dirty laundry, and picking at the terrible food in the canteen, so really, saying a high point didn’t mean much.
But Lex was living for those few stolen moments with his fiancé through the bars. Just hearing Clark’s voice helped to calm his frazzled nerves and ease his anxiety ridden mind.
Sleep was very much an issue for Lex, he couldn’t settle, his sense were all on hyper alert for danger so between the guards making patrols and the noise from the other inmates, be that snoring, talking, crying, or screaming, he was bring woken up at least once an hour if not more.
The constant stress was making his mind run rampant, imagining the worst case scenarios, with being sentence to life in this shit hole, to getting the death penalty, to seeing Clark turn on the world that had taken Lex away from him and become the monster that Jor-el had wanted him to be.
Or worse, having Clark reveal himself and break Lex out of prison, the two of them going on the run until someone fired a kryptonite bullet into Clark, killing him and leaving Lex alone in this world.
It still too soon since Clark’s resurrection for Lex to not recall in excruciating detail all those long months without him. Had it not been for Tony and Bruce practically sitting a suicide watch then Lex would have taken a walk out of his penthouse window.
There was nothing in this world for him but Clark, nothing he wanted but his fiancé, if he lost Clark again then Lex would end it all, but he feared that if he were pushed to the brink as he was already being, then he might end up taking the rest of the world with him through grief induced madness.
After another sleepless night Lex slung his towel over his shoulders and made his way to the shower block, waiting in line. It didn’t take more than a few second for his hackles to rise, since becoming Dragonfly he’d learned to hone his senses and trust them; deciding to exercise the better part of valour he turned, planning to wash in his cell instead of showering, but before he could go anywhere a large fist met his face.
The blow was sloppy, all fist and wrist, no shoulder action to put real force into the blow, but caught off guard Lex took it right on the nose, feeling the delicate bones breaking and crying out as blood steamed down his face.
Dazed, Lex was unable to block the next blows which hit his stomach and ribs, making him double over in pain, an elbow slammed into his back breaking a rib and making Lex roar with pain. He lunged forward, wrapping his arms about the legs of his attacker and threw his whole body weight into him, throwing the other man down, the other inmates were either backing away of standing around to cheer the fight on.
Using his feet to balance and legs to propel him forward, Lex lunged over the inmate that he had pinned under him and delivered two hard blows to the mans face, “I don’t know what your deal is, but you just made a big mistake, asshole.” He spat jabbing his knee into the man’s side and smirked as he felt a couple of ribs break on impact. Wrapping one hand about the bastard’s thick neck Lex raised his fist ready to knock the man’s teeth down his throat, when his arm was caught in a powerful grip and yanked back painfully hard, the bones breaking with a sickening snap, a foot hit his back, hitting his kidney and forced him off the inmate, throwing him down onto his side, jarring his injured arm which he tried to clutch to his chest.
“Fucker!”
“Rich fag.”
Feet and fists began to rain down on Lex then, too many of them for him to block, especially with one arm already wounded, all the could do was curl up in a ball and try to protect his organs as his back and legs were brutally kicked until not a single part of him was left without a bruise upon it.
After what seemed like an eternity the blows stopped coming and Lex was able to grab a few precious gulps of air, but then hands were upon him, forcing him out of his ball like shape, stretching his legs out even as he tried his best to struggle, to keep himself protected, but he was forced up onto his feet and slammed back into the prison wall and was pinned there by two of his attackers while another, a huge, shaven headed, gold toothed, and heavily tattooed man brought his meaty fist to his face.
The first punch fractured Lex’s cheek bone, the second had him falling to the side so sharply his right shoulder dislocated, the third cracked his head against the wall and for a few blissful second Lex was allowed to feel and see nothing, then, white hot pain was shooting through his body as consciousness came flooding back, he opened his mouth with a scream of agony, his eyes flying open to see his left leg raised up against the barred side of the walkway and the heavy set prisoner throwing his whole upper body weight down onto his shin.
The inmate roared with laughter as Lex fell to the ground hyperventilating with the pain and wishing he could pass out.
“Break the other one.”
“Finish the fucker!”
Tears pricked at Lex’s swollen eyes and his hands shook, his body quivering and lips, split and bloody, protesting as he was seized under the arm pits and lifted up, his body thrown against the railing and sliding down so he landed on his knees, jarring his broken leg.
A huge hand grabbed the back of his head and his chin, Lex was forced to look into the scarred, sneering face of one of his attackers, the mans eyes bulging and looking almost red with rage, “You deserve this you fucking freak.” The man spat and without warning wrenched the fist holding Lex’s chin right, breaking his jaw.
Lex made an inarticulate noise and pain and let himself fall boneless to the ground, more kicks and punches followed but he put up no defence, instead he watched as his tears and blood dripped through the metal mesh and splattered down on the tiled floor below, just as darkness began to rise up to claim him he shut his eyes and whispered one word with his broken mouth.
“Clark.” Then everything went black.
******
Clark had been in China, helping free miners after a tunnel had partially collapsed when he had heard Lex’s pained call of his name.
Discarding the huge slab he’d been lifting, he ripped out several more of the biggest chunks of rock forming the start of an escape route for the miners and the rescue team to work with and took off, flying at his absolute top speed back across the world to Strikers Island.
He didn’t bother to go into the prison through the entrance, his slammed his fits through the roof and flew straight down into Lex’s cell block, finding his fiancé crumpled on the landing, a group of inmates gathered around, fists and feet bloody.
Lex’s blood.
“Fuck me that’s Superman!”
“Holy shit!”
The inmates quickly began to back away, their hands raised in a placating gesture, their heads dipping towards their chests as they tried to save themselves from Clark’s anger.
One however, the one covered in the most of Lex’s blood held his ground despite the fact he was shaking with fear.
“I ain’t got no beef wit’you man.” He said, “This is between us, ya know, me n’the freak, we’re cool, you n’me, s’all good, right bro?” The asshole had the audacity to grin at Clark, as if he couldn’t see the rage bubbling up inside of him. Oh it would be easy, so easy to incinerate the bastard, the incinerate the entire prison, to make them all burn for what they had done to Lex; and he wanted to, he really wanted to, it took every ounce of self control that Clark had in him to keep from using his heat vision on them.
Instead he levelled a burning gaze at the thug who’d done the worst of the beating, “We are not cool.” He growled, “And I am not your bro.”
With blinding speed Clark raised his hand and backhanded the inmate, he remembered to check his strength but still hit him hard enough that the bastard broke through the metal railing and fell down the three floors, hitting the stairs on the way, breaking both his legs and landing with a blood curdling scream.
Clark then very gently lifted Lex up into his arms, cradling his fiancé’s body to his chest and rose up into the air, flying down to the ground floor where the prison guards were gathering, their weapons drawn, looking frightened and awed.
“Where’s your medical wing.” He demanded,
“This way.” The smartest amongst them said, gesturing with a shaking hand.
Clark followed after him, caring Lex to the prison hospital wing and lay him carefully down onto the first gurney he came to and remained by Lex’s side while the prison doctor and a nurse came to assess Lex’s injuries.
There was going to be hell to pay for this. Clark knew he’d have repercussions for backhanding and injuring that prisoner but he didn’t care, the bastard had beaten Lex within an inch of his life, had dared to say that it was fine, that it didn’t matter, as far as Clark was concerned he deserved his broken legs and all the other injuries he’d received and if people didn’t agree with him then they could go to hell. No one got to touch Lex and got away with it, not anymore, it had happened to often in the past and Clark wasn’t going to stand for it now.
Chapter Text
Lex was in a bad way, Clark didn’t need his x-ray vision to tell that bones had been broken in the attack, just looking at the displacement of the limbs was enough to tell that the limbs were badly damaged.
Clark didn’t want to look under Lex’s skin, didn’t want to know just how far that damage went, he was thankful Lex wasn’t conscious simply because that meant he wasn’t in pain, but he undoubtedly would be when he regained consciousness.
He remained present while Lex was taken for x-rays to determine where the breaks were and the severity of them. The Doctor kept a discrete distance from him and the Nurses kept giving him glances of surprise and confusion.
Superman standing guard over an inmate in a prison was not exactly the norm.
When the inmate he’d hit was brought into the infirmary while Lex was in x-ray, howling in pain, demanding his civil rights and threatening legal action against Superman for injuring him.
“Put a sock in it Hudson.” One of the guards said, “No jury’s gonna give a fuck what anyone does to you, you’re a rapist murderer.”
“It’s grievous bodily harm!” the Prisoner, Hudson bellowed.
“So’s what you did to Lex Luthor.” Clark said glaring at Hudson, “Which was an unprovoked attack, this.” He gestured to Hudson’s broken legs, “Was justice.”
“Justice.” Hudson spat, “The fucker deserved it, bald headed, bent pervert!”
The guard slammed his hand down on the railing on the side of the gurney Hudson was on, “Unless you want a broken jaw to go with your legs, shut your mouth up now.”
“This should help with that.” The Doctor said sinking a syringe of morphine into Hudson, “That’ll ease the pain and with any luck make him too sleepy to talk.”
“Fuck you.” Hudson spat,
“No chance.” The Doctor sneered, “Now settle in, the X-ray is in use thanks to your attack on Luthor so you’ll have to wait.”
“Can you treat him here?” the guard asked, “Luthor I mean.”
The Doctor shrugged, “It depends on the level of damage done, if the limbs require surgery, if he has internal bleeding or suspected internal bleeding then no, he’ll have to transferred to a hospital on the mainland.”
“I’ll inform the Gov.” The guard said, he looked down at Hudson and grinned, “Not like you’re going anywhere.”
“Go fuck yourself.” Hudson shot back.
The guard scoffed and then looked to Superman, “Are you…staying?” He asked hesitantly.
“Until I know Lex is going to be alright.” Clark replied safe in the knowledge that he was pretty immoveable when he wanted to be. The guard nodded and headed off to report to the prison governor.
“Don’t know why you care.” Hudson said to Superman, “He’s just a fucking freak, a fucking fag.”
Clark grit his teeth and clenched his fists, “Can you knock him out?” He asked the Doctor,
“Don’t tempt me!” the Doctor replied, “But if you want to…”
Clark’s lips twitched, he wasn’t sure he thought much of the doctor, but at least they could share mutual disdain for Hudson.
Once he heard about Superman’s presence in the prison the Governor came down to the infirmary to see for himself, looking as taken aback as the others had been when Clark had first arrived.
“I uh, thank you for your intervention Superman,” he said making to offer his hand but then thinking better of it and aborting the move, “I don’t think you need to continue your vigilance though.” He said cautiously, “Luthor is now in good hands, and prison brawls are an unfortunate way of life among inmates, they are violent people you see.”
Clark met the man’s gaze coldly, “It was not a brawl but an assault.” He said, “Lex was set upon by multiple inmates, he was isolated and brutalized. Something I believe will happen again if precautions are not taken to ensure his safety.”
The Governor glanced to Hudson and then back to the guard who shrugged, “No one will talk, they’ll all have become blind and deaf.”
“Figures.” The Governor snorted, “What did you see?”
“Not enough to corroborate or refute Superman’s claims.” The guard said, “I arrived to see him carrying Luthor, Hudson was already on the ground.” He paused, “There were several inmates on the landing from where Hudson fell, examination of their fists might be revealing.”
“Get to it, and I want every one of them interviewed.” The Governor ordered, “Full lockdown on the wing until the investigation is complete, cancel all visitation, phone and computer privileges.”
The Guard nodded and headed off to carry out and pass on the orders; a short while later Lex was brought back from the X-ray, conscious again and wincing for the pain he was in.
“Is he up to answering a few questions, Doctor?” the Governor asked, as the Doctor administered morphine to Lex and set about reviewing the X-Rays.
“He is concussed.” The Doctor warned,
“Clark?” Lex murmured his gaze shifting to superman.
Clark felt his stomach tighten, wanting so much to go to Lex and offer him comfort but not being able to do so without revealing his identity.
“He’s not here.” He said to Lex gently, “I can fetch him if you would like me to, Mr Luthor.”
A frown flittered over Lex’s bruised and battered face, his sluggish brain needing a few moments to catch up with what was going on and why Clark wasn’t acting like he normally did.
“No.” he said somewhat shakily, “Thank you, for being here.”
It took everything in Clark to restrain himself from marching across the room and going to sweep Lex up into his arms and promise him that everything was going to be alright.
“Can you answer a few questions?” The Governor asked,
“Sure.” Lex replied.
“Good news!” The Doctor said, “The bones can be set without surgery, and you don’t appear to have internal bleeding.”
“Thanks.” Lex murmured,
“He will need to stay in the infirmary for a while, and you’ll have to find him a ground floor cell, he won’t be able to manage stairs until the legs healed.”
“Understood.” The Governor said looking to Lex, “Can you tell me what happened?”
Clark remained silent while Lex recounted what had happened to him, how he’d been set upon and assaulted without provocation, he didn’t know the names of the inmates who attacked him but was able to provide enough of physical descriptions for the Governor to know who he was talking about.
After the Governor took his leave, Clark stayed out of the way so the Doctor could get Lex’s limbs set and his nose pulled back into alignment, he was given more pain relief that made him sleepy and Clark took a few moments to speak to him quietly.
“I’m gonna have to head off.” He whispered to Lex, “I’m going to let Tony and Bruce know what happened, they can contact your lawyer and hopefully we can force the courts to move you some place else.”
“Okay.” Lex whispered back, his eyes swollen and half lidded.
“I’m gonna try and come in to see you as Clark Kent, maybe the lawyers can force a next of kin visit, but if not I’ll find a way to get in to see you.”
“Be careful.” Lex breathed.
“Always.” Clark promised, he had to restrain himself for giving Lex a kiss, clenching his jaw as he straightened up and forced himself to take his leave, leaving Lex alone and vulnerable in the prison hospital.
He made his way out of the prison and took to the air, flying directly to Gotham and Wayne Manor, landing with a sonic boom in gardens and made his way up to the door which was opened right away by Damian who’d apparently seen and heard him.
“Father is in the shower.” The boy said, “He will not be long.”
“Thank you Damien.” Clark said following the boy through to the kitchen where the remains of breakfast were being cleared away by Alfred.
“Good morning Master Kent.” Alfred greeted, “Master Bruce will be with you shortly I’m sure, can I get you something to eat and drink while you wait?”
“No, thank you.” Clark replied pulling one of the kitchen chairs out and took a seat, he didn’t have to wait long before Bruce came into the kitchen, clean shaven, in a silk shirt and three piece suit the probably cost five times as much as everything in Clark’s teenage wardrobe.
“Clark?” he asked in surprise.
“Lex was attacked.” Clark said bluntly, “I had to intervene, if I hadn’t they might have killed him.”
“Bastards.” Damian snarled,
“Language.” Alfred chided.
“How badly was he hurt?” Bruce asked.
“He’s got a concussion, broken nose, and breaks to his cheek bone, three ribs, radius, tibia and fibula.” Clark listed, “He also has severe bruising to his kidney, abdomen, thighs, and back.”
Bruce sucked in a sharp breath and had Damian not been present he might well have sworn, “I’ll contact his lawyer.” He said taking his phone from his pocket, “He needs to be isolated from the main population if he can’t be moved to another prison, which would be preferrable.”
Isolation was not something Clark wanted to inflict on Lex, but if it meant that he would be safe then Clark wouldn’t fight it. At least for the time being he would have to stay in the infirmary so he would be safe, but once the Doctor released him he’d be back out in the prison and with his limbs in casts he’d be even more of a target.
“I would like to get in to see him.” Clark said, “Not as superman but as Clark Kent.”
Bruce nodded, “I’ll have Bianchi press for a compassionate visitation.” He said, “And I’ll let Tony know.” He looked Clark over, “Have you slept at all, eaten?”
“I…,”
“Sit, have something to eat and then make use of one of the guest rooms.” Bruce instructed him, “You’ll be no use to Lex or anyone if you are exhausted.”
It was on the tip of Clark’s tongue to point out that he got all the energy he needed to function from the sun, that eating was more a pleasure than a necessity as was sleep, but he knew better than to argue with Bruce who was quite capable of getting kryptonite and forcing Clark into submission even if it meant tying him down and forcing a meal down his throat.
“Scrambled eggs on toast?” Alfred offered getting the ingredients from the fridge.
“Sure, thank you Alfred.” Clark said making himself comfortable in the kitchen chair. He listened out for Lex, hearing him breathing deeply and rhythmically, he was asleep, the pain medication having knocked him out. At least thanks to his accelerated healing he would be recovered much faster than a normal human would from his injuries, but he would still be suffering in the mean time.
While Bruce spoke on the phone to Lex’s lawyer and presumably to Tony, Clark was presented with coffee, sweetened and milky just the way he liked it. And a huge plate of scrambled eggs and four slices of toast.
Alfred was used to feeding the bottomless pits that were superheroes and teenage boys.
Thanking him once more Clark got stuck into his breakfast, breaking into a smile when he tasted cheese in the eggs and real butter rather than margarine product on the toast.
He was just finishing his last slice of toast when Bruce returned to the kitchen, “Bianchi is lodging a formal appeal against Lex’s continued incarceration,” he said pulling out one of the chairs and taking a seat himself, “That probably won’t be changed, but he also offered a compromise of Lex being moved to a lower security prison away from offenders who are clearly a danger to him.”
Clark nodded eagerly, accepting another coffee from Alfred, who placed a black one in front of Bruce, “He is going to pressure the prisoner Governor to allow a compassionate visit. Wherever you go have a phone with you so he can contact you.”
“I will.” Clark agreed, “What did Tony say?”
“It doesn’t bear repeating!”
Clark snickered and Alfred huffed a laugh too.
“He is going to go through the autopsy report and speak to the Coroner.” Bruce said, “One piece of good news is that Jason and Tim were able to bug Wanda’s suite so we’ll be able to hear her phone calls from now on.”
“At least that’s something.” Clark said, had Lex not suffered such a beating he might have been more enthusiastic about it, but right now he couldn’t have cared less about the witch. All he wanted was for Lex to be alright and for the two of them to have more contact that a few minutes speech through a barred window.
His mind was made up though, even if Bianchi couldn’t get him a compassionate visit he would be going back to the prison to see Lex, even if it meant exposing his identity to the world.
Chapter Text
Lional was stretched out on a sun lounger sipping a martini when his phone rang. He accepted the call with a flick of his thumb.
“Speak.” He said in a soft but commanding tone.
“He’s in the hospital ward, multiple wounds, none of them life threatening but they are immobilizing.”
A smile curved Lionel’s lips, “Perfect,” he took a sip of his martini, “And I assume his bleeding heart lover and lawyer have filed to have him moved from Strikers Island?”
Ross chuckled, “They’ve also filed for a compassionate visit.”
“I trust that both will be granted.” Lionel said, “The Alien should at least be allowed to say goodbye to his whore one last time.”
“I’ve already seen to it, and your men will be ready and waiting to waylay the transport once its enroute.”
“With the appropriate DNA and fingerprints I trust?”
“Of course.” Ross assured him, “May I now make my move on Stark?”
Lionel smiled, he could hear the hunger in Ross’s voice, his need to get his revenge on Tony Stark for humiliating him and challenging him. That emotional response was a weakness. Lionel always told Lex that emotion was a weakness and it was.
Anger made you sloppy, it made you feel entitled to something, made you act without thinking of the consequences of your actions. Lionel had no problem with people committing murder, so long as they were smart about it, that they thought it out, covered their tracks, made sure that they didn’t just bludgeon someone in a blind rage and get caught because blood, hair, skin, and their prints were all over the murder weapon.
Lex had always been too emotional, he let them cloud his judgement, cared what people thought of him. Let words cut him, let loss depress him, craved approval, affection, love.
Such weakness was what had driven him into the aliens arms, had turned him into this pathetic and dependant child who could not stand alone.
Lionel did have to admit that he was not immune to emotion, after all he had felt betrayed by Lex choosing that Alien over him, but he had not let that betrayal destroy him by being sloppy, he’d always made sure to be methodical in his actions, to think ahead and plan for any and all contingencies like his incarceration.
Playing the madness card had guaranteed he’d be put into Arkham and lets face it, that dump leaked inmates like a sieve leaked water, getting out of there had been child’s play.
Ross, unlike himself was not capable of thinking up multiple contingency plans, because he let his ego cloud his reasoning. He never thought that anything could happen to him, that he could fail and may have to plan for that eventuality so he would not be defeated. In the end his ego would be his downfall, he would overplay his hand and would be brought down by his own inability to see weakness and fallibility in himself.
His intense desire to get revenge on Stark was an example of that, he was thinking only of how good it would feel to bring Stark down, he wasn’t thinking of how it should be done, how to make sure he was not considered a suspect, or how he could spin the story to his own benefit beyond revelling in his success.
If it were Lionel, he would make it look like an accident, no ones fault, just one of this random cruelties of fate. He would also publicly express sincere sorrow, admit to his jealousy of Stark and other flaws, bear his soul to the world in a way that spoke to peoples hearts. In other words he would manipulate people into thinking he was not celebrating Starks’ downfall, he would make them think he was being compassionate and empathetic.
He could tell Ross this, but he knew it was pointless, the man wasn’t capable of playing the public. He had no acting skills or charisma, he was all bluster and vitriol, if he tried to sound compassionate then people would see it for the lie it was and hate him all the more.
Better that he at least be honest, people preferred an honest asshole to one that lied and tried to manipulate them into thinking they were like them.
After all, sheep always did hate wolves, because wolves fed on them and Ross was a wolf and wasn’t even bothering to hide in a sheeps clothing.
Lionel wasn’t hiding either, but he was no wolf, he was a lion, he would dine on sheep to stay healthy but he much preferred to sink his teeth into another carnivore. When he was done with all of this, he would take Ross out of the equation, Maximoff too, of course, she was far insane to be of any permanent use, and far too much of a risk.
Taking another sip of his martini and he spoke once more, “Just make sure that it does not look suspicious. An accident if possible, or a random attack.”
“I’m not a fool Luthor, I know how this works.” Ross snarled and disconnected the call.
Lionel chuckled setting his phone down onto his lap, Ross was a fool, he just didn’t know how much of one he was.
*****
Metropolis coroners office.
With Clark having been granted a compassionate visitation to Striker’s Island to see Lex, he had gone there immediately. Bianchi the lawyer was also confident that the motion to have Lex moved to another prison would be granted, they just had to wait for a judge to grant to transfer.
Bruce was continuing surveillance on Maximoff with his sons, Natasha and Clint were looking into the cops who investigated Lionel’s disappearance and Murder. They were also working in conjunction with Bat man to investigate Arkham again to see if anything had been missed during Lionel’s abduction.
It was a long shot considering how much time had passed and how thorough Bruce was when he was investigating but there was still a chance that something might have been missed which a fresh pair of eyes could spot.
Tony, sick of looking through reports and going over Video surveillance footage had taken himself out of the compound and headed to metropolis. He was heading for the coroner’s office to speak with the coroner about Lionel’s body.
Parking his car at the end of the street Tony headed into the building, taking off his sun glasses and announced himself to one of the officers, getting escorted to the coroner who had been on Lionel’s case.
“Mr Stark, a pleasure.” The coroner said, shaking Tony’s hand, his hand was shaking just slightly and he had a nervous manner, his gaze shifting and frequent licking of his bottom lip. “How can I help you?” he asked, “My secretary said this has something to do with the Luthor case?”
“Yes.” Tony said, opening his suitcase and taking out the copy of the coroner report that he’d gotten from Bianchi.
“You examined the body and confirmed that it was Lionel Luthor?”
“Well the DNA confirmed it.” The coroner said, “But yes, I did the autopsy.”
“Okay so, can you take me through it step by step?” Tony asked, “All the wounds, all the detail of the body, everything?”
The Coroner paused but nodded his head, “If you’re sure, I mean its kind of graphic…”
Tony smiled, “I’m not the squeamish type.”
They started at the top, with Lionel’s facial wounds and the removal of his teeth which had slowed down ID since the face had been so damaged and the dental records were useless. They went through the fractures of his collar bone, should dislocation, prior fracture to his radius from childhood which had healed without issue, the severing of his fingers which had again slowed down ID.
The broken ribs, then the damage to his legs, the shattering of his knees the severing of his hamstrings.
“Wait, wait, go back a minute.” Tony said, “The arm fracture from childhood.”
“Yes, simple greenstick fracture, common in childhood, no lasting damage.” The coroner said.
“Yeah…” Tony pulled up a file on his phone and expanded it so he could look through it, “There’s no record of a childhood arm fracture.” He said, “No childhood fractures mentioned actually.”
The Coroner paused, “That…that might be an oversight, failure in record keeping, or his parents may not have gotten him medical attention.”
Tony glanced up at him raising an eyebrow at the coroner. The man had a point, Lionel’s parents had not been the nurturing type so far as he knew and they had not had much money. If Lionel had suffered a broken arm during his childhood it was completely possible that his parents hadn’t bothered taking him to the hospital to get it set.
“Everything else checks out though, right?” He asked, “His liver damage that miraculously healed, the damage to his eyes…wait, yeah, face damage probably no way to check…” Tony continued to look through the file and paused on something. He looked from the phone to the coroner report and back to the file then back to the report.
“You didn’t mention his hip replacement.”
The Coroner stilled, “What?”
“His hip replacement.” Tony said expanding the file image again and turned the phone so the coroner could see it, “Back in 2002 Lionel was caught in a tornado in Smallville. He was crushed beneath a pillar which fell during the storm. He had to have a hip replacement. Why’s there no mention of that in your report? And those things have serial numbers on them, it could have been used to identify him.”
The coroner’s eyes widened and his mouth worked without a sound coming out.
Tony looked down at the files, his heart pounding in his chest as a thought crossed his mind, a thought that didn’t seem possible but with all the evidence piling up how could he ignore it?
“I need to see the body.” He said, getting to his feet, “You still have it don’t you, it hasn’t been cremated yet?”
“Uh no, not until after the trial, in case a second autopsy in requested.”
Tony grinned, “If I’m right, there will be more than a second autopsy.” He said, “Now take me to that body.”
*****
The coroner took Tony through to the morgue where Lionel’s body was being stored.
“You’d better brace yourself.” He warned, “It isn’t a pretty sight.”
“I can handle it.” Tony said and gestured to the locker.
The coroner pulled it open and pulled out the battered remains of Lionel Luthor, or at least the body identified as Lionel Luthor. But this body had a childhood fracture to the arm which Lionel had never had, and there was no surgical scar from a hip replacement when there should have been.
The childhood fracture not receiving proper medical treatment was one thing, but a surgical scar disappearing, no mention of a hip replacement in the autopsy because there was no hip replacement on the body meant only one thing.
“It’s not him!” Tony breathed, he backed away from the body and slapped a hand over his mouth, letting out a chocked exhale, “Shit! Fucking shit it’s not him!”
A slightly hysterical laugh bubbled up from his throat as he fumbled for his phone turning his back on the coroner as he dialled Bruce.
“Tony?”
“It’s not him, oh my god, fuck me, this explains everything!” Tony cried, “Only he could have done this, there is no one else malicious or twisted enough to do something like this!”
“What? Tony, what are you talking about, who isn’t who, you’re not making any sense.”
“The body.” Tony said, “Babe it’s..”
Tony didn’t get any further as something cracked into the back of his skull knocking him out cold.
*****
The coroner stared as Tony fell to the ground, his phone going down with him, the line was still open and the coroner could hear a man’s voice. Without thinking about it, he smashed the phone and dropped the scales he’d used to knock Tony out.
“Fuck.” He swore looking around the morgue, He needed to think fast, call the man who’d paid him to doctor the DNA report. He also needed to hide Stark, make sure he didn’t get found.
Looking at the lockers and then down to Stark the solution was obvious. Hurriedly he grabbed Stark under the shoulders and dragged him over to the lockers, opening up one of the bottom ones and pulled out the draw, he lay Tony upon it, getting him situated and then paused to go and get zip ties to bind his hands and a spare scrub shirt he wrapped about Tony’s mouth to gag him.
He then shoved Tony into the lock and shut it up.
Turning back to the floor he noticed the phone and grabbed it, going and throwing it into one of the medical waste disposal bags to be incinerated. No one would look through there.
With shaking hands he pulled up the number he had on his phone and bit his nails as he waited for the call to be answered, while trying to calm himself enough to speak clearly and keep from giving in to complete panic.
Chapter Text
When consciousness returned Tony found his head was throbbing and his stomach was churning which either meant he was hung over and had passed out after a bender, or he’d been knocked unconscious and had a concussion.
Since he had no recollection of drinking anything but coffee the latter seemed the most likely. Fuck his whole life.
Blinking his eyes opened he found himself in pitch black darkness, blinking a few times made no difference and when he tried to sit up he slammed his head into something solid. Reaching out with his hands he began to feel around, finding cold hard metal surrounding him on all sides.
“Hey, hey, let me out!” He yelled banging on the sides of whatever he was in, “Let me out!” He began to kick and punch at the walls that contained him trying to weaken the structure of whatever it was that was holding him so he could escape.
Tony was not an especially claustrophobic person but even he had his limits and waking up inside what could only be described as a metal coffin was enough to freak the hell out of anyone.
“Come on you bastards!” He yelled beating his fists against the metal wall, “What the fuck do you want huh?”
Who would have done this? He tried think, was this another kidnapping? It was possible he supposed but it had been a while since anyone had been stupid enough to try that shit.
The villain community had been pretty quiet of late so he supposed it was about time someone started causing problems.
Hydra, Aim, one of Bruce’s rogues gallery?
The fuckers must have snagged him when he left the coroners….wait, he never left the office, he’d been on the phone to Bruce, had just discovered Lionel’s body wasn’t actually Lionel’s body, Lionel fucking Luthor was alive and……he’d had his back to the Doctor……, “Motherfucker!” Tony bellowed kicking even harder, ignoring the protesting of his toes. He was in a fucking body locker, the fucking Doctor had stuffed him in a locker like a corpse!
“Let me out of here right now you sack of shit or I swear to God I am gonna rip your skin off and make sushi rolls with it!” Tony shouted, “Do you hear me you bastard? What did Luthor pay you, I hope it was worth twenty fucking years in prison and the loss of your fucking medical licence you worthless shit stain!”
Ranting at the Coroner and beating against the walls kept the panic at bay, it stopped Tony from worrying about how much oxygen he had, about how cold he was, about if he was being left in there to suffocate or freeze to death, he couldn’t afford to think about those things because if he did he would have a panic attack and then he’d be useless, staying angry was much better, it gave him energy and focus, the focus on what he was going to do to the Doctor when he got his hands on the prick.
Tony didn’t know how long he lay there shouting and fighting to get out, he didn’t know how long he'd been unconscious for, but finally the locker was opened and Tony shot up to get out when a gloved fist covered his mouth and another took hold of his hair.
The face of Slade Wilson appeared before his eyes, then blackness swept over him again.
******
Ross was more than disgusted when he got the call on his pay as you go mobile. He’d never expected to hear from the coroner again, after all there had been no need once he’d verified that the corpse was Lionel’s, however the idiot Doctors number came up on the screen and the man continued to ring even when Ross didn’t answer it.
This went on for over five minutes forcing Ross to finally answer the call. A short conversation followed in which the Doctor was practically hysterical, babbling about Stark finding out everything and knocking him out and then stuffing him into one of the body lockers.
Ross was quite ready to stuff the Doctor into one, the man was irritating him so much, but instead he grit his teeth and got the idiot to calm down so he could call Wilson in and, let Lionel know what had happened.
Lionel was of course as irritating as the Coroner, but in a different way, Lionel was condescending and supercilious, making Ross want to punch him until all of his teeth was scattered about his feet. The Coroner was irritating by being so incompetent and hysterical.
While he did get on Ross’s last nerve, Lionel did send in Slade Wilson to deal with the problem with Stark. They had been planning this of course, it was just accelerating matters.
“A mugging gone wrong will be the best bet.” Lionel said, “Wilson can deliver the necessary injuries and dump Stark’s body in the gutter, with all of his possessions taken from him the police in the infinite stupidity will come to one logical conclusion. That Stark ran afoul of a thief.”
“The security Cameras at the Coroners office will need to be dealt with.” Ross pointed out, “They will show Stark entering the building but not leaving.”
Lionel chuckled, the sound grating on Ross’s nerves and making him wish he could indulge in his scotch, damn his heart.
“Surely you can arrange for technical difficulties to have occurred there, a few days worth of footage to be lost?”
Ross growled under his breath. It would be easy enough to get access to the buildings security, and from there easy enough to corrupt the date recorded so that it was unreadable, he didn’t have the skill himself but he did employ people who did.
“Let’s hope this blunder was the only one we shall have to deal with.” Lionel said, “Especially considering the next part of our plan will be the most tricky.”
“It’ll be handled.” Ross snarled and disconnected the call before he smashed his phone to pieces.
Damn Lionel Luthor and his insufferable arrogance. The man was even more infuriating than Stark, but at least he was a realist not an idealist, he saw that extreme measures had to be taken to safe guard the future of this country, that sacrifices had to be made.
The problem with people like Stark, like Luthor’s Son, like Wayne and that fool Rogers. They were all idealistic. They believed in all that equal opportunities crap, wanted to welcome everyone to the table with open arms, “Just push up down the bench and we can all scrunch in, everyone give a little from your own plate that way everyone will have enough”
Bullshit, no one wanted to give up what they had for the betterment of some bastard with a sob story. So the country they came from was being over run by terrorists, tough luck, why didn’t they just fight back instead of turning tail and running like pathetic cowards.
So a single mother had a deformed child and couldn’t work because said child needed constant care, why didn’t she get rid of the damn thing while it was a glorified collection of cells? Or smother it at birth?
The Victorians had it right when it came to defective offspring, out of sight out of mind, just dump the wretches in facilities and let those with functional minds and bodies get on with real work instead of pandering to those who were drains on society.
When he was running America the first thing he’d do was cut government support for those parasites. It wouldn’t be popular, not with the bleeding heart crowd but that wouldn’t matter, they’d be silenced quickly enough, that was what his private army would be for, shutting up those who wouldn’t be told.
That was the problem with democracy, it gave every halfwit with a big mouth a voice and a chance to express their opinion, democracy and equal rights had crippled the economy, was destroying America slowly but surely, gays in the military and in government, making the military look like a damn pride parade and making the government a laughing stock.
Benefits to pay for medical treatments for the poor, hell if they couldn’t afford the medicine they shouldn’t get it, let them die, one less mouth to feed and back to clothe.
It was time to make America strong, to make it a country where only the fittest and strongest dwelt, a country to be feared and respected, not one that pandered to pathetic ideals and simpering morality.
A country to be run by those who had what it took to make hard decisions and not quake when people started complaining and protesting, a country that he would build once he’d destroyed the Avengers and Justice League once and for all.
******
Slade Wilson was used to getting into buildings without being seen, sewer access, sky lights, windows. The coroners office was no different and he was able to slip in like a ghost, making his way to the morgue where the Coroner was pacing back and forth, worrying his hands and biting at his bottom lip.
“Where is he?” Wilson asked startling the doctor who hadn’t heard him approach.
“In there.” The coroner said pointing to one of the lockers,
Wilson went over to the body storage lockers, he could hear muffled cries coming from within and thumping against the metal door. So, Stark was awake then.
“What are you going to do?” The coroner asked.
Wilson glanced at him, “Take care of it.” He said, turning the handle on the locker and pulling out the draw.
Tony Stark immediately tried to sit up, his arms flailing and fists ready to fight but Wilson was ready for him, a gauntlet covered hand closing about Stark’s mouth to silence his scream, his Kevlar took the blows that Stark dealt him easily and he fisted Stark’s hair in his free hand and slammed Stark’s head down onto the metal draw, once, twice, three times, until Stark became limp.
“A shame.” Wilson said withdrawing his hand,
“Shame?” The Coroner asked,
“That this has to end so fast.” Wilson said, he lifted Stark up into a fireman’s carry and headed for the exit.
“What do I do?” The Coroner asked making him pause,
“Nothing, if asked by the cops, Stark came to see you to discuss the autopsy, you spoke, he left, that’s it.”
Pushing through the double doors Wilson continued on his way, heading back for the sewer system and then back onto the street.
The sewer grate he’d used to access the building came up into an alley, too narrow for cars and used only to store dumpsters and trash cans for the everyday waste that came from the offices, the medical waste had to disposed of via a furnace rather than the city dump.
The alley was also used as a rain shelter for smokers who could no longer smoke in the building or stand in the doorway. And it was used as a short cut to get onto the street.
Wilson lay Stark down on the ground an unsheathed one of his daggers, fisting the blade he stabbed Stark in the right kidney, then, turning him onto his front he stabbed him in the right lung. He rolled Tony onto his back and took hold of his hair once more, banging his head down onto the street so it would appear he’d hit his head there.
“It’s too bad I couldn’t have made this last.” He said to Tony’s unconscious form, then he sank the dagger just below Tony’s sternum and twisted the blade, creating an open wound that immediately began to gush blood along with the two earlier stab wounds.
Knowing these would prove to be fatal, Wilson re-sheathed his dagger and set about removing Tony’s watch and wallet, he then left the body, walking swiftly out onto the street, keeping to the shadows as he moved, his voluminous hooded coat hiding his weaponry and Kevlar beneath the flowing material and allowing him to disappear into the crowds.
Leaving Tony to bleed out on the street.
******
Gotham
Earlier.
“Hello, Tony?” Bruce said frowning as the line went dead, “Tony, are you still there?”
Sighing Bruce disconnected and tried to call Tony back, wherever he’d been calling from had bad service, the line had been crackling like a pan of bacon, it was no wonder the signal had been lost.
Neither was he surprised when he couldn’t get back in touch with Tony.
Giving up on reaching Tony, Bruce tried calling Friday instead, “This is Tony Stark’s answering service please…,”
“Friday its me.” Bruce said knowing she’d recognize his voice, “Where is Tony right now, he tried calling me but lost the connection and it was pretty shit to begin with.”
“The Bossman was headed for the coroners office.” Friday replied, “The building is old and records show it has lead lining, that maybe what was interfering with the signal.”
“The coroners, Metropolis?” Bruce asked,
“Yes, he wanted to go over the autopsy with the coroner.”
“Okay, can you let him know I called and ask him to call me back when he leaves?”
“Absolutely Master Wayne.”
Bruce sighed and slipped his phone back into his pocket, hoping that Tony wouldn’t get too caught up in what he was doing and forget to call.
*****
It was one of the file clerks who found the body. He was a heavy smoker and couldn’t go more than an hour without a cigarette.
Ten minutes after Slade Wilson had left, the young man went into the alley to light up when he found Tony Stark laying in a pool of his own blood.
“Jesus Christ!”, dropping his cigarette the young man ran back to the office shouting for someone to call an ambulance and grabbed the nearest first aid kit he could get his hands on.
“What’s going on?” One of the security officers demanded,
“It’s Tony Stark!” The young man cried, “He’s been attacked, he’s bleeding to death in the alley!”
Not waiting for the security guard to reply the young man ran back to the alley, falling to his knees and opening the first aid kit; he took out dressings, clumsily opening them up and pushed them into the gaping wound in Tony’s front.
“Jesus shit!” blood oozed over the material, swamping it completely. With shaking hands the clerk opened all the dressings and just kept shoving them into the wound to try and stop the bleeding or at least slow it down.
“Christ almighty!” the clerk flinched a he was joined by the security officer and another officer who had a second first aid kit.
“I can’t stop the bleeding!” the Clerk cried,
“The wounds too wide, it needs more material and pressure.” The officer said kneeling down and unbuttoning his shirt, he tossed his radio onto the ground and ripped the shirt out from where it was tucked into his waist band, popping the buttons on his wrists as he tore it off. Balling it up he pushed the shirt into Tony’s stomach and pressed down hard.
“He’s bleeding else where too.” The second security guard said as she joined them, “Can you roll him on his side?”
“I can try.” The first guard said, “You, take his right shoulder and hip.” He ordered the Clerk, “we’re rolling him on his side, understand?” The Clerk nodded and with bloody shaking hands he took hold of Tony, rolling him over so the second guard could see the stab wounds on his back.
“Fuck, whoever did this meant business.” The first guard said, “Kidney, lung, spleen, these are meant to kill not just cripple.”
“A professional hit?” The second guard asked as she took out dressings and began to pad the wounds to slow the bleeding, securing them with tape, so they could lower Tony back down onto his back.
“A professional would have just gone for the heart or slit the throat, I’d say a skilled amateur or, a professional trying to look like this is random.” The first guard said.
“How do you know?” The Clerk asked shakily.
“Three major organs hit with three direct stab wounds.” The first guard said, “A junky looking for a fix would be uncoordinated, shaky, sloppy, they might hit one organ and would likely make a lot of shallow wounds, messy and bloody but not fatal. This was directly targeting the organs, no common thief or junky would manage that.”
“Do you think it’s connected to the Luthor case?” The second guard asked,
“Hell if I know.” The first guard said, “But I ain’t a believer in coincidence and it’d be the Luthor case that brought Stark here today, so what are the odds he gets attacked by random after that?”
“More chance of winning the state lottery?” The Clerk asked,
“And every game in Vegas.” The first guard said. Lifting his head up as the sound of sirens reached his ears, “I’m glad I ain’t the cop in charge of that case, because this shit’s gonna be coming down hard and the fallout ain’t gonna be pretty.”
Chapter Text
There had been many terrible moments in Bruce Wayne’s life.
The first had been the night his parents had been shot in the alley when he was a child. At the time as he’d seen them bleeding out in the gutter, seen their skin turning blue/grey, their eyes glazing over; he’d thought that nothing could be worse.
Over ten years later he’d learned things could get worse, or at least more infuriating, when he’d witnessed Joe Chill being released from prison despite having murdered his parents in cold blood.
The cold fury he’d felt in the pit of his stomach then, that aching weight of impotent frustration and rage at a system that had failed him had felt like the worst thing imaginable.
But that had been topped when nearly ten years later he’d learned what the League of Shadows truly had in store for Gotham and the rest of the world. That betrayal of his trust, his belief in justice had shaken him to the core and felt like a part of his heart and his soul had been torn away.
For many years he’d thought nothing could possibly shake him as much as those events had.
But then Jason had died.
Jason’s murder at the hands of Joker and Harley Quinn had been the worst by far.
He’d thought the pain of losing his parents had been bad, but losing a child, even one that was not his flesh and blood, had made the pain of their deaths pale in comparison.
Jason’s broken and fragile body cradled in his arms, his blood leaking over his suit, dripping down onto the ground, his skin growing cold as Bruce had held him, his limbs becoming rigid and all remanence of life leaving him at just fifteen years old, that had to be the worst thing imaginable.
After that, after coming through the grief of Jason’s death, Bruce had thought that nothing else could possibly touch him, that he could never feel as lost and broken as he did when he’d put Jason into the ground.
Not even when Jason was resurrected by the Lazarus pit and came back to life, enraged, embittered, and disoriented.
Not even when he learned that Talia had impregnated herself by him when he’d been semi-conscious, thus raping him, something he hardly admitted to himself, and they’d had a son.
A traumatized and tormented boy who struggled to find his place in the world.
It wasn’t until he’d been standing of Superman, Clark’s body and had heard Lex’s animalistic and heart wrenching screams of grief that he’d felt that gut wrenching loss once again.
When they had successfully built what had become the Justice League and resurrected Clark, Bruce had thought that the worst moments of his life were a thing of the past, that nothing else could possible shake him anymore.
Not until he received the phone call and a short time later found himself running into Metropolis General hospital asking for information regarding Tony Stark’s condition.
The receptionist had very little news for him, only that Tony had been brought in and was undergoing surgery to save his life.
Bruce was directed to a waiting room, where he was joined by Rhodey, Pepper, Peter, and his Sons.
Rhodey was on his phone updating the Avengers who could not leave the compound except on official business, which Tony being attacked did not give sufficient cause.
“This has to be related doesn’t it?” Peter asked, “Tony getting attacked, it has to be related to Mr Luthor doesn’t it?”
Bruce glanced at the boy but didn’t reply, letting Dick do so instead.
“Not necessarily. It could have been a random attack; a junky looking to get enough money for a fix.”
Jason scoffed, “Right outside of a coroners office? Bullshit.”
“Its possible!”
“The fuck it is.” Jason stood, nearly over turning his chair as he did so and began to pace, looking like a tiger in a cage as he prowled the room, “This is related to Luthor. Stark found out something, something big, something that would free Luthor, so they attacked him to shut him up.”
“They who?” Tim asked, “We don’t know if it’s a he, she, or they, them….whatever! We don’t know jack!”
Jason glared at him, “Stark knows.”
“Yeah, and he’s unconscious, so unless you’ve suddenly become a fucking mind reader, that isn’t much fucking help, dipshit.”
“You shut your fucking mouth Drake or I swear…!”
“Pack it in!” Bruce bellowed, silencing both the boys who looked guiltily at him, “This is neither the time or the place for you to be fighting.” He ran a hand over his face rubbing at his eyes tiredly, he couldn’t remember when he’d last had more than two hours of sleep, or actually relaxed, he was bone tired, aching everywhere, his eyes feeling too big for the sockets and the skin about his forehead too tight from the tension in the muscles.
Pulling his hand away he gazed at his boys feeling the weight of his years in every inch of his body, and the weight of his responsibility to them.
“Tony called me, I think he does know something, what that is, we don’t know for some time. Whether or not his attack was random or related to Lex we also don’t know, we have to wait and speak to him.”
Tim nodded and offered Bruce a small smile by way of apology, Damian stood and moved closer to Bruce, actually slipping his hand into Bruce’s and glared at his brothers, as if expecting them to say something about it.
Jason went and sat back down staring down at his shoes which tapped a nervous rhythm on the floor.
“What did he say?” Dick asked quietly,
“Hm?”
“When Tony called, what did he say?”
Bruce shook his head, “I could barely hear him, the signal was so bad, something about “Not him” whatever that meant.”
“Not him, not him who?” Tim asked,
“Or what?” Peter said, he shook his head, “Its useless without context.”
A brief silence followed that was broken when Rhodey’s phone rang and he answered it, “No Nat, no news yet, he’s still in surgery.
The cops aren’t here yet, but I guess they will come by. Not that there is anything I can tell them other than that they are useless fuckwits and arrested Lex wrongly. Yeah, I’ll let you know when there is news.”
He disconnected and sighed heavily.
“The cops been to the compound?” Pepper asked him, shifting her weight and changing position so her left leg crossed over her right,
“Yeah, talking to the team. What had Tony been doing, where was he going, who was he seeing, blah blah, not a fucking clue, couldn’t find a hooker in a whore house, blah.”
Rhodey looked up at the Bat family and Peter, “While there is a slim chance this is random, the likelihood is that the attack is connected to Lex, given where Tony was at the time and what he was doing. He had discovered something, something relevant, I think we can take an educated guess on that and summarize that that killer of Lionel didn’t want him to tell anyone else.”
“Yeah, but how does that help us. Without any details to go on, where do we even start looking?” Tim asked, “The Coroners?”
“As good a place as any.” Damian said,
“Okay, we’ll go and stake the place out, turn it inside out if we have to.” Jason said, “We’ll find whatever it was Tony found, and the fucker who stabbed him.”
“Has anyone let Clark know whats happened?” Pepper suddenly asked, everyone looked around with blank faces and she nodded, getting to her feet and taking her phone from inside her handbag. With her heels clicking on the tiles she walked out of the waiting room to go and phone Clark.
“Fuck,” Dick breathed, “If the poor guy didn’t have enough to deal with, now he’ll have to break this news to Lex.”
*****
Strikers Island
Lex was still in the hospital wing. He was in a leg cast and an arm cast, shirtless, his ribs bound, and his body mottled in bruises that were turning his normally pale skin a rainbow of purples, blues, reds, greens, and yellows.
With swollen, bloodshot eyes he gazed at Clark and lifted his good hand towards him as he approached.
“Hey, how d’you get here?” He asked, his voice thick and words slightly slurred from the pain relief he was on.
“Special dispensation.” Clark said leaning down to kiss Lex’s forehead, “Compassionate licence.”
“Hmm, compassion, that’s a nice thing. Like Empy, emthy….emmathy?”
“Empathy?” Clark suggested with a weak smile,
“Tha’ss it.” Lex agreed groggily, “On good stuff.” He said pointing at the drip stand, “Sss’real good, floaty, like you. You float.” He giggled and hiccuped, “M’y floatin?” He asked with a frown, “Feel floaty, gonna float away?”
“No baby you’re not going to float away.” Clark said, his smile strained, under normal circumstances Lex this disoriented and tipsy would be hilarious, but considering his condition and the news Clark had to brake to him, he could find no humour in the situation.
“Frowny.” Lex said blinking owlishly at Clark, “Whsss song, wong, wrong. Why doesn’t my tongue work? Is it broken?” He stuck it out and tried to look at it, going cross eyed as he did so.
“Your tongue is fine honey, you are just high on morphine right now.”
“Oooooohhhhh, muffin, like muffin, muffins good!”
“And I think its time to lower the dosage.” A nurse said as she came in to check on Lex, making an adjustment to his drip bag and to his nasal canula.
“Pretty hair.” Lex said gazing at her, “Pink, Candy floss!”
The nurse snorted and patted her frosted pink hair, “Have fun.” She said to Clark who nodded at her.
“Can have Candy floss?” Lex asked gazing at Clark hopefully,
“Later sweetie.” Clark said, “And I don’t have long, I don’t know if you’ll even register this considering the state your in but I have to tell you in person.” He sighed and squeezed Lex’s good hand, “Lex, baby, Tony’s been attacked. He’s in hospital, in surgery right now.”
Lex frowned, his drugged brain working sluggishly to process this, “Gotta…gotta go.” He said and promptly tried to sit up, moaning in pain as he did so, forgetting how injured he was, and the fact he was in prison and couldn’t go anywhere.
“Honey you can’t go to him. I know you want to, but you can’t.” Clark said helping Lex to resettle,
“You go.” Lex said, blinking heavily, clearly trying to fight the Morphine that was clouding his mind.
“Go to Tony, make sure he’s okay.”
“Lex, this is the only time we’re gonna get.” Clark said, “They won’t grant me another visit.”
Lex nodded, “Window.” He whispered, “Secret. See you anyway. Tony needs you, give my love.”
Clark sighed and leaned down to kiss Lex’s mouth, “You are too good for this world Lex Luthor.” He said, reluctantly getting to his feet, “I’ll go and see how Tony is doing.”
“Thank you.” Lex whispered, his eyes fluttering as he sunk back into his drugged sleep before Clark was even down the hall.
The flight to the hospital in metropolis took less than a minute, and only a half a minute later Clark was striding into the waiting room to find Bruce and his family, Rhodey, and Pepper all in floods of tears, or comforting each other as a Doctor explained Tony’s condition to them.
“Mr Stark suffered massive blood loss, had he not received treatment right away he wouldn’t have survived at all, as it is his heart stopped twice while in surgery, we were able to resuscitate and continue with surgery but one of his kidneys was damaged beyond repair, one of his lungs collapsed which greatly reduced his oxygen supply, his spleen was destroyed and his diaphragm damaged. If those injuries alone were not bad enough he has also suffered a significant head injury which has resulted a large bleed in the brain.”
Clark felt his heart skip a beat and he held his breath waiting for someone else to ask the dreaded question.
“So…how is he, is he going to be alright?” It was Pepper who asked, clutching Rhodey’s arms so tightly her nails were nearly drawing blood.
The Doctor sighed he met her eyes with a regretful look on his face, “We have done all we can surgically. As of right now he is in ICU and on life support. He will be very closely monitored for signs of improvement, but I am afraid that given the severity of his injuries that even if he recovers to no longer need assisted respiration and circulation, that given the oxygen deprivation and the bleed on his brain he will have suffered significant damage.”
Pepper took a shuddering inhale and clasped a hand over her mouth to muffle a scream. Rhodey pulled her into his chest and cradled her head, letting her sob into him and he clenched his jaw tightly and let his tears fall with stoic silence.
Peter had collapsed into Tim, who struggled to hold him up, Dick wrapped his arms about them both, holding them against him while looking to Jason, who’s expression was flickering between confusion, anger, and pain.
Damian was fighting tears, his mouth trembling and eyes drawn into a deep scowl as he fought against his tears, his small hand slipping into his Father’s
Bruce looked grey. He looked like all the life had been emptied out of his body and just a semi transparent shell had been left in its wake. His eyes had gone glassy, his face devoid of anything, he was too deeply in shock, too devastated to display any emotion at all at present.
Feeling oddly numb himself, Clark fell back against the wall and wondered how he was ever going to be able to brake this news to Lex.
*****
Consciousness was slow coming back to Lex. He gradually grew more aware as his morphine wore off and the pain increased. While the increase in pain wasn’t pleasant he would take it over not being able to form a coherent thought for more then five seconds.
Of course coherence also meant he registered what Clark had said about Tony, which set him to worrying and being unable to ask for updates or do anything but lay immobilized on his bed listening to the ticking of the clock in the ward and the beep of machines.
It was slightly hypnotic and Lex did find himself drifting off to sleep again, only to be woken up as he was disconnected from the IV and lifted from the bed and dumped into a wheelchair.
“The hell?” He protested, the morphine still present enough to make him groggy,
“Lucky day Luthor, you’re getting shipped out.” One of the men, a prison guard, a screw said.
“Guess being rich can buy ya anything.” The other said and they cuffed Lex’s only good hand to the chair.
“What?” Lex looked around bewildered, his head spinning and stomach churning as he was pushed down the corridor and through the prison, out of the building and into the main courtyard, where he was then handed over to a couple more guards who wheeled his chair up into the back of a prison transport and shut him inside one of the cubicle like cells, locking the door behind him and then slamming the main door behind that.
“Where am I going?” Lex asked, his throat too hoarse to speak any louder. His head spun and his nausea grew worse as the van started up and drove down to the dock where the boat was waiting, taking them back over to the mainland.
To his shame, the combination of a concussion, morphine, and being shut into a tight space with inadequate ventilation and observation proved too much for Lex’s stomach and he vomited over himself, bringing up bile and spent several painful minutes coughing as it burned the back of his throat.
He tried desperately to plead with the guards for water, for some air, to just be told where he was going, but there was no response.
He only knew he was back on the mainland when the engine started up again and the van began to drive, shaking him from side to side, making him glad there was nothing left in his stomach.
He'd almost convinced himself that wherever he went it had to be better than Strikers Island, when suddenly there came to sound of something exploding and the van lurched out of control, skidding to the right, throwing Lex forward, pitching him and his chair across the tiny cubicle, misaligning his healing bones and braking his cuffed wrist as he smacked face first in the cubicle wall, leaving a smear of blood as he slithered down, as the van toppled over onto its side and the sound of gunfire broke out.
Chapter Text
Attacking the prison transfer van was child’s play to Death stroke, even without the back up of Lionel’s mercenaries.
They had lain tire traps across the road which had taken out the wheels of the van causing the drivers to lose control and end up in a ditch, the van rolling over onto its side.
Death stroke sent the mercenaries to take care of the drivers, which they practically liquidized with the amount of bullets that they shot into them. It was overkill and a waste of ammunition, Death Stroke would have dealt with the driver and guard with just a few strokes of his sword, he wouldn’t have wasted several clips, but the mercs were trigger happy fuckwits with an extreme amount of bloodlust.
Disregarding them since they were only hired help, Death Stroke took care of the locks on the back of the prison transport and made his way into the vehicle, balancing himself with his feet wedged between the floor of the van and the walls of the cells and clambering through the van, his back and knees bent as he walked so he wasn’t hitting his head on the top of the wall.
Lex was the only prisoner being transferred so there was only the one cell he had to break into and with the van being on its side gravity helped him get the door open.
Looking inside he saw Lex sprawled over the far wall of the van, his wheelchair resting on top of him and his body crumpled beneath it.
The cell smelled of vomit and blood which made Death Stroke’s nose wrinkle as he climbed inside, making his way to Lex, he reached down and felt for a pulse wondering for a moment if they’d fucked up and killed him. Not that Lionel would grieve for his Son, but he did desire to watch him suffer not just see him dead.
Sure enough there was a pulse beneath his fingers, Lex was just unconscious not dead.
Grunting in satisfaction, Death Stroke picked up the wheelchair preparing to toss it to one side, however Lex’s wrist was cuffed to the side and, judging by the amount of swelling was broken.
Death Stroke paused, contemplating going to get the keys from the guards but that seemed like it was more trouble than it was worth.
Taking off his belt he wrapped it about Lex’s forearm pulling it tight to cut off the blood supply; he braced Lex’s hand on the wheelchair arm and lay his boot over the limb to hold it in place.
“You’re lucky you’re unconscious.” He commented to Lex taking out his sword, “But when you wake up, I’ll bet this’ll be sore.”
He raised the sword over his head and brought it down severing Lex’s hand from his arm above the wrist.
Once the limb was free he kicked the chair out of the way and sheathed his sword, he bent and scooped up Lex throwing him over his shoulder, uncaring if he jarred his injuries and carried him out of the van.
The mercenaries were standing waiting for him at the front of the van, “Get the transport.” He snapped at them adjusting Lex’s slight weight, “We don’t need him waking up and calling his boyfriend here.” There wasn’t much that Death Stroke was afraid of, but he wasn’t about to throw down with Superman, he was no fool, he knew he was no match for the man of steel and had no doubts as to what Superman would do to him if he found him with Lex in his current state.
A few moments later one of the Mercs brough the vehicle up and Death Stroke dumped Lex in the back, leaving the merc’s to gag him and secure him, although with a broken leg he wasn’t going anywhere.
As the Mercs did this, Death Stroke took a kit that he was carrying in one of his pouches and a batarang. He left the batarang just under the back wheel making it look like it had fallen there. Out of the kit he took a strip of clear adhesive with fingerprints upon it, one of which he planted on the door he’d busted. Climbing through the van he planted another on the inside of Lex’s cell, and one on the wheelchair.
Satisfied that three prints would be enough along with the batarang which also had a print pressed upon it, Death Stroke climbed out of the van and made his way to the idling vehicle and climbed into the passenger seat, slamming the door and nodding to the driver.
“Lets go.” He said, “I want him secure before he wakes up.”
*****
Lionel’s yacht met them at the harbour, and Lionel ordered his son to be placed in the prepared cell he had in the boats hold.
He'd had part of the cargo hold converted and lined with lead all the way around so that Lex would not be able to call out to Superman and Superman would not be able to hear his heartbeat. It was six foot by six foot with a narrow cot for a bed and single screen and speaker built into the wall opposite the bunk which would allow Lionel to communicate with Lex.
Lex was staring to come too, he was making moaning noises and his swollen bruised face was creasing as he began to register the pain his body was in.
“What happened to his hand?” Lionel asked, eyeing the bleeding stump, “Get that stitched and disinfected, I don’t want him sickening.” He smirked, “Blood poisoning would be too swift a death.”
One of Lionel’s minions hurried to get a first aid kit, sutures and disinfectant.
“He was cuffed to the chair, I had to get him free somehow.” Death Stroke said with a shrug.
“Did you plant the prints and the bats calling card?”
Death Stroke glared at Lionel, “I’m not an amateur.”
“Clark?” Lex mumbled groggily,
“Hurry up, we need to get that door shut before he wakes up.” Lionel barked at his minions, watching as they cleaned the bloody stump and set about stitching the wound as quickly as they could, wrapping clean dressings around it once they were done.
As soon as Lex was no long in danger of bleeding to death the minions hurried out of the cell which allowed Lionel to seal it, securing Lex inside locking him away from the world.
******
Pain. There was pain everywhere, not a single part of Lex’s body didn’t hurt and it wasn’t just a small amount of pain but searing agony. He wanted to cry, he wanted to curl up in a ball and cry, and have Clark comfort him.
Where was Clark?
Where was he?
Lex blinked his eyes open as much as he could, since they were swollen and puffy; he could taste blood in his mouth and vomit, his face felt sticky from where blood had dried on his skin. Wincing he made to push himself up into a sitting position and let out a scream of pain as both his limbs touched the surface he was laying on.
The pain was so intense he couldn’t do anything but screw his eye shuts and bite down on his lip so hard it bled as he waited for the pain to ease.
The pain didn’t leave him but it settle slightly, and after several deep breaths he managed to open his eyes and took a look at himself.
He registered the cast on his arm and his leg, which helped jog his memory. He’d been in the process of being transferred from Strikers Island and there had been a crash or something…., he frowned, was he in another prison, a hospital?
He looked around, the room was dark and barren, it didn’t look like a hospital, but it didn’t look like a prison cell either, there was no window at all, there was nothing but a screen with a red dot above it, which he assumed was a camera.
“Hey, hey, where the fuck am I?” he called out, his voice hoarse and weak.
When no answer came he used his stomach muscles to sit up, squirming around until his back was resting against the wall, he shifted his arms to place them his hands in his lap which revealed an injury he couldn’t recall, one that made a low moan of horror escape his throat.
His hand was missing.
His hand was missing.
He could see a stump that was bandaged and slightly tinged with blood, his blood. It looked like his hand and wrist had been severed and considering the pain it had been very recent.
A laugh suddenly reached his ears, an all too familiar laugh that made Lex’s blood run cold.
“Finally realizing the price for your betrayal, Son?”
Had there been anything in Lex’s stomach he would have vomited; all the pain he was in seemed to slip away and become replaced with an ice cold fury, he lifted his gaze towards the camera, pulled back his lips and spat.
Lionel laughed again as his face appeared on the screen besides Death Stroke.
“Charming as ever Lex, I’m so glad I spent so much money on your education, it has clearly been so well spent.”
“Fuck you.” Lex snarled, “Why couldn’t you just die, why won’t you just fuck off and die and let me live my fucking life?”
“Your life, that perversion you have with that alien?” Lionel threw back, “You disgust me Lex, spreading your legs for that creature, betraying your only blood kin for that abomination.”
“He’s not the abomination, that would you, Father.” Lex shouted, he looked around, “So what is this huh?” he asked, “What’s the play here, you gonna keep me locked up like an animal?”
“As you would have kept me.” Lionel replied, “In Arkham for the rest of my life had you gotten your wish.”
“Its what you deserve you murderous bastard.”
“How can I be a murderer when that Alien is alive.” Lionel replied, “But as always, you misunderstand Lex, your imprisonment is not my end goal, it is only part of my goal; one that I admit is very pleasing to me, but it is not my only goal.”
“What then?” Lex sneered, “You think you can get it all back, your wealth, your power, its gone Lionel. If you reveal yourself you’ll go straight back to prison, you have lost everything and imprisoning me, killing me won’t change that at all.”
Lionel snorted, “I am aware that I can never again be Lionel Luthor, but cosmetic surgery can fix that, as can a new identity. As for my wealth, I had more than enough hidden away to not have to worry, and my power…,” he gestured around, “You are tasting it already, as are your little friends.”
Friends, Tony, the coma.
Lex let out a snarl, longing to lunge at the camera and smash it, but with three limbs wounded he wasn’t going anywhere.
“You did it, you attacked Tony.” He shouted, “You did it all, framed me for your murder. Who was that poor bastard eh? Who did you murder?”
Lionel shrugged, “It hardly matters, the world won’t miss him, and Stark put his nose where it didn’t belong. He forced us to accelerate matters.”
“It was the plan anyway.” Death Stroke said, “Stark being taken out of the picture, and soon Wayne.”
“Oh you think you can take Bruce?” Lex sneered, “He’s kicked the shit out of you a dozen times, Wilson, this won’t be any different and when Clark gets his hands on you…”
“Why would he?” Lionel laughed, “This room is lined with lead, he can’t see you or hear you, he’ll never know where you are.”
Lex swallowed and looked around the room, lead lined. Damn Lionel, he had thought this out, Lex had to admit that.
“And there will be no need for us to fight Wayne, or his alter ego.” Lionel said giving Lex one of his most infuriating smug smirks, “You have helped ensure that.”
Lex’s breath hitched in his throat and his brain began running in overdrive as he tried to figure out what he could have possibly done to endanger Bruce.
“When the prison van is found they will find several finger prints along with the Bats calling card. Not quite as damning as DNA evidence, but still more than enough to get Wayne arrested and his mansion searched, which will reveal his secret lair, at which point the outstanding warrants against the bat will be issued against him…,” Lionel broke off an smiled, “His brats too of course, and that decrepit butler.” He chuckled, “Juvie will welcome those boys of his, Pennyworth will be strung up within a week, and the world will see exactly how degenerate these so called “Superheroes” are and support the new president.”
Lex’s heart was pounding and he could feel a panic attack building, if Bruce was arrested his family would fall apart; Damian would be enraged, attack the police, Tim would try and defend him when they tried to arrest Damian and he’d be arrested too; if they found the bat cave then Jason and Dick would be implicated and they’d be arrested, Alfred too.
The whole family would be torn apart, separated and dumped in god forsaken holes. WE would crumble with the bad publicity, SI would be unlikely to survive with Tony gone. The Avengers, the Justice League? How could they survive without their backers, if the world turned on them all then they’d be forced to go on the run and a new president…
Wait…, “What president?” Lex asked, already dreading the answer,
“Why, President Ross of course.” Lionel said, “An attack on the white house by the super powered freaks will result in the president, and the Vice presidents deaths, which will mean Secretary Ross will be sworn into office, where he will begin a new era for this country, one that ensures that the mutant freaks are never given a chance to roam free again and that America will become the dominant power in this world.”
Lex stared at his father in horror, he could feel the anger building up inside him, a pressure like the lava in caldera, with a roar he threw himself forward towards the screen, the cast he had on his broken arm raised to beat against the screen and break it; but the screen was too far away and he fell to the ground shouting in impotent fury with only the sound of Lionel’s laughter as company.
“Make yourself comfortable Son.” Lionel said, “This is the first day of the rest of your life.”
As the speaker cut out Lex let out a sob, whispering Clark’s name and he allowed himself to cry.
Chapter Text
The authorities were on the scene as soon as the prison transport failed to arrive at the prison. As the original investigating officers Bradshaw and O’Malley were called to help the investigation, arriving at the crash site within the hour.
“What do we know?” Bradshaw asked the officer in charge of the scene,
“It appears the transport was ambushed, the tires were taken out with tire traps, they’ve been completely shredded.” The officer said leading Bradshaw and O’Malley under the tape towards the downed vehicle, “The driver lost control of the vehicle and the van ended up going off the road into the ditch as you can see. Whether or not he survived the crash is unknown, both he and the officer with him were riddled with bullets, an autopsy is pending on whether or not they were still alive when they were shot or not.”
“Professional job?” O’Malley asked,
“That doesn’t sound likely, a professional would have taken head shots not wasted so much ammo.” Bradshaw said looking at the bullet holes in the van and the wasted cartridges.
“The lock was shot off.” The officer said, “I’m sorry but it’s a bit of climb to get to the cell.” He apologised, climbing into the van and leading the way through to Lex’s cell,
“Was he injured?” Bradshaw asked seeing the blood trail.
“That’s rather an understatement.” The officer said climbing into the cell, he turned on and shone a flashlight into the cell revealing the broken wheelchair, and the blood and vomit on the ground.
“Whoever took him didn’t bother to unlock the cuffs, they cut his hand off.”
Bradshaw’s eyebrows reached his hairline while O’Malley looked disgusted, “We’re sure it’s his?” Bradshaw asked,
“DNA pending, but he was the only prisoner being transferred.”
Bradshaw sighed and made his way over the blood pool, crouching down to take a look at the scene. There was a lot of blood, but no arterial spray and not the amount that would come from severing a limb without a tourniquet. “They wanted him alive.” He said, “They tried to stem the blood flow and minimize it.” He shone his own flash light around taking in the scene, “Originally I’d thought we were looking at a jail break, but this…, a friend of Luthor’s would have taken the keys from the guards, they wouldn’t have maimed him.”
“If they were in a hurry…” O’Malley suggested but he didn’t sound convinced himself.
Bradshaw shook his head, “No, I’m not seeing this as a rescue attempt by Luthor’s friends. They would have taken care to see that he was unharmed.” He rose back up to his feet. “He was injured, limbs broken so he was defenceless, whoever did this likely knew that and clearly didn’t care what state he was in when they took him, only that he was alive.” He looked around once more before looking at O’Malley, “This isn’t a prison break, this is a kidnapping.”
The two detectives exited the van followed by the officer, “Get the entire van printed and checked for DNA,” Bradshaw said looking up the road, “No CCTV, no one for miles in either direction, this place was well chosen.”
“Sir.” The officer said beckoned forwards some CSI’s to print the van,
“Think this is connected to his Father’s murder?” O’Malley asked quietly,
Bradshaw glanced at him a troubled look on his face, “I have a horrible feeling that it has everything to do with his Father’s murder and that he might well have been set up from the start.”
O’Malley pressed his lips together in a thin line, wanting to argue with Bradshaw but couldn’t deny the same gut instinct. Whoever had done this was sadistic, they’d butchered the guards and maimed Lex, just as Lionel had been tortured. Both cops were too long in the game to believe in coincidences, this was just too similar to be ignored.
“Any idea’s on where to start looking?” He asked, “The Luthor’s must collectively have a list of enemies a mile long.”
Bradshaw snorted and bent down to take the PPI covering from his boots when he caught sight of something glinting beneath the van.
“Hey, what’s that.” He said straightening a little and made his way over to the van, crouching down and reached for the item with gloves so as not to get prints on it, “Fuck me!” he breathed.
“What is it?” O’Malley asked.
Scoffing in disbelief, Bradshaw lifted the item up and held out for O’Malley to see; the other detective’s eyes widened.
“Holy shit.” He whispered staring in disbelief at the batterang, “The Bat?”
Bradshaw shook his head, “This shit just got a whole lot more complicated.”
O’Malley grit his teeth and looked away, “The Captain’s gonna have our balls.”
“Our balls and our cocks.” Bradshaw agreed rising to his feet, “If he doesn’t just have us taken out back and shot.”
*****
Metropolis police station
Their genitals were still intact but only just, and the Captain was holding off on the firing squad for the moment, but only for the moment; the older man was seething to say the least, and having to call Commissioner Gordon for assistance was not helping his mood in the least.
“At least tell me you assholes have some idea on where to start looking for Luthor.” The Captain snarled, as they waited for the commissioner to answer the internet call.
Bradshaw shifted uncomfortably and O’Malley shrugged, “Does America count?”
The Captain’s glare could have made the arctic melt in fear.
Thankfully the computer pinged and the call with Gordon was connected.
“Captain, how can I help?” Gordon asked,
“Commissioner, thank you for responding so swiftly.” The Captain said, “We have a…almighty fuckup.” He said deciding not to beat about the bush. “Lex Luthor’s been abducted from his prison transport. His hand has been cut off, the guards shot, and a battarang has been found on the scene.”
Gordon’s eyebrows rose, “That is one hell of a fuck up.” He said letting out a low whistle, “The Bat though…he’s never…,” he broke off, he couldn’t exactly deny the Bat’s brutality on occasion. “This doesn’t seem like his style, and he’s never murdered anyone.”
“There’s a first time for everything.” O’Malley said, getting a glare from the Captain and a kick from Bradshaw.
“It’s more likely a Gotham based villain is trying to set him up,” Gordon said, “Battarangs are a dime a dozen here, you can find them all over the city. Hell in the narrows they are used as door stops!”
Bradshaw snorted at that, “Have you any other leads?” Gordon asked and the Captain glared at the detectives,
“No. and believe me I am anticipating the shit storm when his family and friends are informed, let alone the media.”
Gordon winced, “Yeah,” He sighed, “I’ll talk with the Bat tonight, he might at least have an idea of who took Luthor. Evidence notwithstanding, I very much doubt it is him.” He paused and frowned, “Tony Stark is a friend of Luthor. He was recently attacked and put in hospital I believe.”
“Yes.” The Captain said,
“And he was attacked outside the coroner’s office.” Gordon said, “Presumably looking into Lionel Luthor’s murder.”
Bradshaw glanced to O’Malley who was gazing at the ceiling apparently praying for mercy.
“Anyone think that it may be related?”
The Captain’s face was going to be set in a permanent glare.
“We are looking into it.” He grunted unhappily.
“I see.” The commissioner said not sounding convinced, “Well, I’ll be in touch.” He gave the Captain a smile and ended the call.
As the call ended the Captain’s glare turned full force on the two detectives, “Should we….go to the hospital?” Bradshaw asked,
“Oh no, you two are going to be here when we explain to Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, and Lex Luthor’s extortionately expensive lawyer how and why we currently have no idea where the richest man in America is and the fact he is now missing a god damn hand!” The Captain bellowed, “Because when I get hung out to dry for this shit fest I cam going to make sure that the pair of you are hanging beneath me so when I void my bowels I will be shitting all over the two of you!”
Bradshaw winced and nodded while O’Malley raised his hand, “Can I just request the firing squad right now?”
******
Bruce did not want to leave the hospital, did not want to leave Tony’s side. His lover needed him now more than ever and Bruce had let him down enough times in the past he was determined not to do so again, yet here he was, leaving when Tony was at his most vulnerable.
Alright so it wasn’t by choice, both he and Clark was summoned to the Metropolis police precinct, Lex’s lawyer Bianchi telling them they had to attend.
Believing it may have something to do with Lex they both agreed, Clark joining Bruce in his car to get to the station where they were met by Bianchi.
“What’s happening?” Clark asked,
“I don’t know.” Bianchi admitted, “But something’s wrong. No one will tell me anything, they are insistent that you be present.”
A slither of fear wormed its way down Bruce’s spine, there was no good reason for them to be summoned along with Lex’s lawyer and no one to be telling them anything.
Suddenly Clark gripped his arm painfully tight and when Bruce turned to look at him he saw that Clark’s eyes were full of fear.
“I can’t hear him.” He whispered, too low for Bianchi or anyone else to hear him, “I can’t hear Lex at all.”
The fear Bruce was feeling increased, “Could he…could he be unconscious?” he asked quietly,
Clark shook his head, “His heartbeat, I listen out for it. I know its rhythm, it’s unique everyone’s is; and I can always hear it.”
Always except for right now.
Bruce took a breath, they couldn’t afford for Clark to start panicking, if he started to freak out the entire police station would be decimated, if not the whole city.
“Alright, maybe he’s been taken somewhere lined by lead.” He said, “The new prison could have lead lining.”
Clark bit his bottom lip, he wasn’t convinced, not in the least but he did nod his head and slightly loosen his grip, for which Bruce was grateful since his arm was throbbing. He was going to have some impressive bruises, had Clark squeezed any tighter he’d have ended up breaking the limb.
Before they could speak further the Police Captain appeared asking them and Bianchi to join them in one of the interview rooms.
“Thank you for coming.” The Captain sitting down, the two detectives, Bradshaw and O’Malley were with him both looking uncomfortable.
“What’s going on?” Clark asked right away, “Is Lex alright, where is he?”
The Captain wet his lips, “I am afraid we have to report that the prison transport taking Mr Luthor from Strikers Island to the Prison was attacked enroute and Mr Luthor was abducted.”
For a moment there was silence, then both Clark and Bianchi began firing questions/insults, with Clark panicking and Bianchi threatening to sue the entire state, demanding that a search begin immediately, that the FBI be summoned at once.
“What evidence do you have?” Bruce barked silencing the other two.
“It’s still being compiled.” Bradshaw said, “Fingerprints have been found and the guards are being eliminated,” he looked to the Captain, shifting uncomfortably, “We have reason to believe that the Batman maybe involved or someone is trying to make it look like he is.”
Clark’s head snapped around to stare at Bruce in confusion while Bruce scowled, “Why?” he demanded,
“A batarang was found….” Bradshaw trailed off as Bruce scoffed,
“You can pick them up from any junk shop in Gotham.”
“Yes well, Commissioner Gordon is looking into this for us…”
“Hopefully he’ll make a better job of it than you have.” Bianchi sneered at the Captain.
The Captain winced and turned a glare at his detectives before he went on, “We….we believe that this is possibly connected to the murder of his father…”
“No, really?” Clark spat, “You needed to be trained in police work to figure that out?”
The Captain grit his teeth, “We need to know who would want to hurt Mr Luthor and his Father. Any names, any ideas no matter how unlikely you might think it is.”
“Not only hurt them,” Bruce said, “Tony too.”
The police looked at him and he went on, “Tony was investigating Lionel’s murder. He found something out at the coroner’s office, I got a voice message from him, he had learned something very important, and then moments later he was attacked and has been put in a coma.”
The two detectives sagged looking like they wanted to curl up into balls and die, the Captain didn’t look much better himself.
“What um…do the doctors know when we might be able to speak with Mr Stark?” The Captain asked.
Bruce’s hands curled into fists, “They don’t think he will recover.” He ground out.
“Fuck.” O’Malley cursed slumping back in his chair, he gestured to Clark and Bruce, “Any idea’s who’d go to such extremes?” he asked, “Torture, Murder, kidnapping, assault, and…,” he paused and looked to his partner before continuing, “And would amputate Mr Luthor’s hand.”
“WHAT?” Clark bellowed, thank God he didn’t use his super voice, but it was a near thing.
“Mr Luthor’s hand was amputated.” Bradshaw explained, “Whoever did it wanted him alive, they used a tourniquet to prevent as much blood loss as possible. So we can be certain they want him alive.”
Bianchi scoffed, “You needn’t think that will save your job and pension.”
“I don’t know.” Clark said shaking his head looking to Bruce desperately, “I don’t know who’d do this to Lex. The only person sick enough was his Father and that bastard is dead.”
Bruce nodded, “Maybe someone Lionel was in business with, someone he cheated and someone who Lex refused to do business with.” He pushed back his chair, “We’ll be in touch.” He said to the detectives and Captain, “Mr Bianchi, keep us informed.”
He shook the Lawyer’s hand and just about pulled Clark out of the station.
“What are we doing?” Clark hissed as he was pulled along by Bruce.
“Getting out of here so we can speak to the league.” Bruce said, “This is all connected, we need everyone informed and on the ground. The police are out of their league, if we’re going to find Lex we need to investigate ourselves.”
Silently they made their way to the car and climbed in, “Besides.” Bruce added as he started the engine, “If Gordon is investigating he’ll want to see me tonight.”
Clark nodded, “Do you think it’s a Gotham Villain?”
“I don’t know.” Bruce admitted, “Perhaps one has been hired by whoever is behind this, but I don’t think any of them are well enough connected to do all of this themselves.” As he pulled out into the street he gave Clark a sympathetic look, “We’ll find whoever is doing this and get Lex back.” He promised, silently adding that they would make them pay for hurting Tony too.
Chapter Text
A complete air of melancholy settled throughout the compound as the news of Tony’s injuries reached the team.
Rhodey looked like he’d aged twenty years in just a few hours. His skin was ashen, his features haggard and his eyes darkly shadowed.
He'd only left the hospital to come and get a change of clothing, then he was going straight back, to sit at Tony’s bedside and wait for a miracle.
“Isn’t there anything that can be done?” Sam asked quietly, “Alternative treatments, experimental….it’s not like money is an issue right?”
Rhodey shook his head, “I don’t know. They need to let him rest for a while, recover from surgery and then rerun tests.” He ran a shaking hand over his face, “They’re not hopeful.” He said, “The brain bleed….if by some miracle he regains consciousness he’ll have significant brain damage.” Rhodey’s blood shot eyes were wet with tears that he brushed away and he sucked a deep breath in that caught in the back of his throat as he tried to keep control over his emotions.
Brain damage.
Tony. Confident, genius, manic, Tony.
Steve tried not to imagine him confined to a chair, unable to perform simple tasks for himself, unable to speak, to think, to do all the things he had done before.
Had the situation not been so serious, Tony not being able to speak for a while would have been the cause for jokes, all of them would have said they’d be enjoying the peace for a while. But this was no joking matter, this wasn’t a case of laryngitis or something temporary, this was permanent, they may never hear Tony speak again, or not as he had spoken before.
Honestly, Steve thought it might be worse to hear Tony slurring his words or struggling to string a sentence together than it would be to never hear him speak again. It would certainly be worse for Tony, to be aware of his limitations, to know what he’d lost.
The Tony Stark he knew would hate to be dependant on others, to be unable to do what he had loved, to not be able to invent, build, live life to its fullest.
“This is connected to Lex, it has to be.” Clint said, “This assault can’t be a coincidence, it’s too convenient.”
“We’re assuming the same.” Rhodey agreed, “And Tony called Bruce right before…, the line was bad from what Bruce said, he could barely make out what Tony was saying, but he definitely said “It’s not him.”
“Not him?” Scott repeated, “What does that mean?”
“Not him who?” Bucky asked, Rhodey shrugged,
“We don’t know.”
“Tony was at the coroner’s office.” Natasha said, “That’s where we’ll start the investigation, Clint, suit up, stealth gear, coms, lock picks, everything.”
“Gotcha.”
The pair made to head for their rooms to get what they needed, pausing when Rhodey called out to them.
“You two are restricted to the compound, if you go off grounds you’ll be arrested.”
Natasha gave him a disappoint look over her shoulder and Clint smirked, “You think a couple of lame ass tags are really that difficult for us to get out of?”
Rhodey conceded the point but wasn’t finished, “If you get caught…”
“We won’t.” Natasha said, “We’ll be in and out before anyone knows what’s happening.”
“I don’t suppose you could get my tag off so I can go to the hospital?” Steve asked, “I’d like to see Tony.”
Sympathetic looks were a rarity on Natasha’s face and Steve really didn’t like that this one was being aimed at him.
“I’m sorry Cap, but there’ll be too many security cameras.”
“I can sort that.” Scott said, “Hospital security systems suck, I can easily hack them and give Steve a way in and out without anyone knowing.” He looked to Rhodey who shook his head,
“I’m not hearing any of this.” He said, “I know nothing about this. I’, gonna go and shower, get some clean clothes and then head back to Metropolis. If anyone does anything while I’m doing all of that, and making the drive back to Metropolis slowly, then I want to know nothing about it.”
“Your ass is covered Colonel.” Clint said giving him a mock salute, “Hold up here Cap, I’ll go get my lock picks.”
As Clint hurried off to get his lockpicks Bucky made his way up to Steve, moving silently as if he was trying to avoid being noticed. It was left over from being the Winter Soldier, and from when they’d been in the Commandos, when being heard by someone meant you got a bullet.
“You’re really going to the hospital?” he asked quietly,
Steve nodded, “I have to.” He said looking up at his oldest friend, “Tony….,” He had to suck in a breath as his emotions welled up inside of him, “I haven’t made things right, not yet; I don’t even know if I can. But I have to try, I owe him that much at least, and if I have to go to prison so I can see Tony and hold his hand and sit at his bedside, then so be it.”
He jumped when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder, he looked up to see Sam at his side, giving him a warm smile, “You’re a good man Steve.” He said, “You’ve made mistakes, we all have, we all messed up and we all owe Tony a lot of apologies, so I understand why you need to go to him. Give him my best while you’re there.”
“Mine too.” Scott said, he shrugged, “I know he doesn’t know me much, but…., well, I’d like him to know I’m thinking of him and…well I don’t pray, I don’t really believe in it, but good thoughts and such, that’s supposed to be karmic or something.” Scott broke off and looked down at his feet blushing.
“We getcha TicTac.” He said, “Good thoughts, and good wishes, who knows, maybe some higher power will get off their lazy asses and help us out for once.”
“Make a damn change.” Steve said with a deep sigh.
He straightened up as Clint came back in, sans his electronic tag and with Vision on his heels, “I believe I can be of assistance Captain.”
“How, you gonna zap the tag?” Sam asked,
“No I will not be doing that, but I believe I can get the Captain to the hospital swifter than a vehicle can, and with great stealth.”
Steve blinked, “Thank you.” He said surprised by the offer, he was still cautious around Vision, they all were, he still had a lot to prove after Wanda, (damn her) but this was another huge step.
“Alright Cap, pop your foot up here and I’ll get the tag off.” Clint said moving one of the small coffee tables and set it in front of Steve.
Steve dutifully placed his foot up on the table and watched as Clint expertly picked the lock on the tag about his ankle, freeing him from it. “There you go.”
“Thanks.” Steve said reaching down and scratched his ankle, the tag, while not skin tight was still restrictive and uncomfortable.
“I’ll get on hacking the hospital security cameras.” Scott said, “I’ll call you when you’re good to go.”
Steve nodded and looked at Vision, “So umm, how…” his face fell as the android extended his arms, “Bridle style?” from besides him he heard two snorts of laughter, both Bucky and Sam were laughing at his expense.
“I hate both of you.” He sighed submitting himself to the humiliation of being carried like a bride by Vision.
“You are perfectly safe.” Vision said, “I’ll have us to the hospital in just a few minutes.”
A few minutes was an understatement, Steve doubted it took more than five minutes before he was standing on the roof of the hospital with Vision. It was certainly refreshing being outside of the compound. He hadn’t left since he’d gotten back from Wakanda, with no official missions he’d had no cause to leave, well, no legal cause.
“Have you ever been to Metropolis before?” Vision asked, looking about at the city. Where Gotham was all gothic architecture, with dark buildings, arched windows, and spires. Metropolis was the complete opposite, with it’s art deco style, sleek decorative buildings sprawled around them, all with unique styles rather than conforming to one specific type of structure. In some ways it looked like the architects had been trying to out do each other, had been showing off on who could build the highest tower, the most elaborate facades, the widest windows and most ornate garden spaces.
It was pretty, beautiful in a way, but Steve couldn’t help but to think it looked very fake, rather like one of those tiny ornate cities inside of snow globes. They were elaborate and decorative, made to look extra shiny and pretty, but they weren’t real.
That was how Steve felt this City looked, like it was being forced to look so decorative, that all the shiny crome and windows were being used to dazzle the eyes and hide all the cracks and flaws.
“I haven’t.” He said, answering Vision’s question, “Nor Gotham.”
“Will you go there?”
Vision was making polite conversation, that was new.
Steve met Vision’s eyes and smiled at him, “I hadn’t thought to be honest.” He said, “Perhaps one day.”
“It would be pleasant I think to travel and explore this world more.” Vision said, “I would like to see more of what this world has to offer.”
Steve nodded, “Traveling would be good. I did a whole road trip after the battle of New York, saw all of America.”
“I thought of travelling with Wanda. I thought it was something she might like.”
Vision didn’t sound hurt, he sounded…., well his voice was a monotone, but Steve thought he could detect some pain there, some hurt that Vision wasn’t expressing the way a human would, possibly because emotion was so difficult for him to comprehend.
“When we did speak of it she would always talk of staying in expensive hotels, living in luxury, then she would become bitter over us not being able to afford it and Tony having so much money.”
“She really hurt you didn’t she?” Steve said realizing it for the first time that Vision was also a casualty in this war. While Wanda hadn’t been able to manipulate his mind the way that she had theirs, she had still manipulated him. Vision was very young, very innocent, more so than a child in a way because even children understand more of the ways of the world than he did.
Steve felt a huge weight of guilt for not protecting Vision as he should, for not realizing how manipulative Wanda was, for all of his failures that had led to this point.
“Are we ever going to make up for our past?” he wondered aloud,
“Tony asked the same many times.” Vision said, surprising Steve, “Since Wanda and I have separated I have taken the time to look through the residual memories I have of Jarvis. Much of what motivated him to become Iron Man was to make up for his past and the mistakes he had made. He didn’t know if he would ever be able to truly balance the cosmic scales but he was determined to try, even if it cost his life.”
“Sounds like Tony.” Steve said, since he’d known him, Tony had always been pushing himself had been reckless with his safety. It had driven Steve mad at times, he’d thought at times it was because Tony was wanting attention, but now, he could see it differently, see it as one of Tony’s obsessive tendencies, his need to push him and prove to some unknown force that he was trying his hardest.
Why had it taken him so long to figure that out?
Why didn’t he see things clearly in the beginning, was it because he was grieving so much for the past and comparing Tony to Howard so much that he blinded himself?
Or was he just stupid?
Really Steve didn’t have an answer, he didn’t have an excuse either and wouldn’t let himself find one. He would take this like a man, as his Mother had taught him; if you did wrong you owned up to it and faced the repercussions for your actions, you did not make excuses and try to find way’s to excuse your behaviour.
What she would have thought of Steve and how he had acted over the last few years, Steve didn’t dare think. She’d have been disappointed, that much he was sure of and somehow her disappointment was worse than her anger. It triggered guilt which sat heavily in his stomach, and made him feel slightly nauseous.
He was getting really tired of feeling guilty, yet it was something he didn’t seem able to escape right now.
He jumped as his phone rang and he fumbled as he took it out of his pocket and answered the call,
“Hey Cap, you’re good to go.” Scott said, “Don’t stay for more than fifteen minutes though, I’ve got the cameras on a continuous cycle, no one should notice if it doesn’t last for very long but I don’t want to risk it.”
“Thanks Scott.” Steve said, “I’ll text you when I leave.”
Scott had disabled the alarm on the door on the roof that led down into the hospital so Steve was able to head straight down from the roof.
While the cameras were disabled for the time being he made sure that he kept his head down and his shoulder’s up, he didn’t want anyone to recognise him as he made his way through the halls down to the ICU ward where Tony was.
Thankfully no one was really paying attention as he went by, Doctor’s and Nurses were too busy with their jobs, patients were too focused on their illness/injuries, and visitors were to focused on their family/friends. Steve was just another body in the building, a background presence, a piece of the furniture, not worth bothering with.
Within a few minutes he had made it to the ICU ward, where he found two of Bruce Wayne’s adopted Son’s waiting out in the hall while Pepper Potts was at the bedside.
“The hell are you doing here?” the smaller of the two demanded, sounding worryingly vitriolic and on the verge of violence.
“I’m here to see Tony.” Steve said, “I just want to see him, nothing else.”
“And we should believe you why?” the boy asked,
Steve opened his mouth but the larger of the two boys placed a restraining hand on the smaller boy’s shoulder, “Cool off.” He said, “Let’s not cause a scene here.”
“But…,” The boy protested,
“No Damian.” The older boy said, he looked to Steve, “I’m trusting you to behave.” He said, “Don’t break that trust.” There was an edge to his voice that promised retribution if Steve did not do as he said.
“Thank you.” Steve said ducking his head as he went into the side room.
Pepper glanced up from where she was holding Tony’s hand, her eyes were swollen and red, her makeup streaked and smudged from where she’d been crying.
“Should you be here?” She asked, her voice hoarse like she had a sore throat.
“Scott hacked the hospital security.” Steve said, “I’ve got fifteen minutes,” he checked his watch, “Twelve now.”
Pepper nodded and looked back to Tony.
It was not an easy sight, Steve had been to war, had seen men with the back of their skulls emptied out, throats cut, disembowelled, yet somehow none of that was as hard as seeing his friend like this.
Tony looked so small in the bed, smothered by the wires and tubes that seemed to be coming out of everywhere in his body. His faced was bruised and his head was swollen and wrapped in bandages, his upper chest and abdomen were bare save for the wire and bandages that were wrapped around him.
“This was always my nightmare.” Pepper said, “That he’d get himself permanently injured or killed with Iron Man.” She sniffed and wiped a tissue under her reddened nose. “Isn’t ironic, he wasn’t even in the suit when this happened. He was just helping a friend, not being a superhero.”
Bitterly ironic, Steve thought. He looked to Tony and wished he knew what to say, what to do; he wanted to take Tony’s hand but if he did that he feared he might hurt him.
“Will you find who did this to him?” Pepper asked,
Steve glanced at her, “I’m going to try.” He said, “I won’t rest until this is resolved,” he looked back to Tony, “He deserves justice and the least I can do is try and get him that, and get Lex Luthor free from prison.” He leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to Tony’s bruised cheek, “I’m sorry he whispered into Tony’s ear.
“I owe you so much, I need to make things up to you and I don’t know how. But I swear I will see that you get justice and that Lex is freed from prison.”
Very gently he took Tony’s hand, mindful of the IV port and gave his fingers a gentle squeeze, wishing that Tony would move, blink, his nose twitch, anything; but he just lay there, limp and unresponsive, pretty much dead, his body just hadn’t caught up with the fact yet.
Yet.
Would he soon be attending Tony Stark’s funeral?
Seeing Tony like this he somehow didn’t think that it would last for very long, that Tony’s next of kin would leave him to rot on life support, dead but for machines pumping his blood and filling his lungs. Tony wouldn’t want this, hell, no one would want this.
“Yo Rogers.” The older boy stuck his head in the room, “The Consultant’s making his rounds, you might wanna head out now.”
He didn’t want to, he had to.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Steve said to Tony, giving his hand another squeeze. As walked past her, he gave Pepper’s shoulder a gentle squeeze too, for which she whispered a small thank you.
As he stepped out of the room Steve nodded to the two Wayne boys, “Thank you.” He said, “I appreciate it.” He cleared his throat, “Natasha and Clint are going to the coroner’s office to see if they can find any evidence.”
“Doubt they’ll find anything.” The older boy said,
“You never know.” Steve said, “Tony found out something there, whatever it was must be important, so we need to know what it is.”
“No shit.” The smaller boy grumbled,
Rolling his eyes the older boy shook his head, “Don’t pay him any attention, he’s a shit to everyone.”
This managed to startle a small laugh out of Steve, he would have stayed longer but he saw the consultant at the end of the hall and took the chance to get out while he had it, going back up onto the roof and texting Scott to let him know he could reset the cameras.
With a sigh he let Vision lift him up and carry him back to the compound, where he would have to wait with the other’s while Clint and Natasha broke into the coroner’s office.
When he got back the last thing he was expecting was more bad news to great him as he and Vision arrived.
“What’s happened now?” He asked seeing the strained expressions on everyone’s faces. Natasha and Clint weren’t present, they were in Metropolis waiting for nightfall to break into the coroner’s office and wouldn’t be back until the following morning.
“Lex has been abducted.” Sam said,
“What?” Lex was in prison, how could someone be abducted from prison, a high security prison at that.
“They were transferring him to a regular prison.” Scott said, “The transport was attacked, the guards killed and Lex…,” he broke off looking vaguely sick.
“They cut his hand off.” Bucky said baldly, “To get him free from the handcuffs.”
Steve felt his own stomach turn over at the thought. “Do the police know anything?” he asked weakly,
“They don’t know shit.” Sam sneered disgustedly, he shook his head, “Bruce called Rhodey just before he headed out, Clark’s seething and he can’t hear Lex anywhere.”
Steve blinked, “Hear him?”
“Super hearing.” Sam explained, “He can hear Lex’s heartbeat normally, right now he can’t, which means’ either whoever has him is keeping him in a lead lined facility to hide his heartbeat, or…” he didn’t have to say what the alternative to that was, they all knew what it meant.
Straightening up Steve sucked in a deep breath and made himself appear more confident than he felt, “Until we have evidence to the contrary, we will believe that Lex is alive and seek to find him.” He said it as an order and was gratified to see Sam and Bucky straighten up themselves, Scott also stood a little straighter. The three of them ready to do what needed to be done, just as Steve himself was.
He might feel terrible, they might feel terrible, but they were Avengers and they were not going down without a fight.
Chapter Text
Breaking into a building was no difficulty for Natasha and Clint, they had both done this plenty of times during their service to Shield and before they joined, picking locks, disabling cameras, and disabling security guards were all par for the course for them.
This time they were looking more to avoid running into any of the security guards than to knock them unconscious, they didn’t want to draw any attention to themselves, not least because they were breaking their parole, but also because they didn’t want to jeopardise the admissibility of any evidence they may find. If they were found to have broken in then any evidence would become inadmissible because it couldn’t be proven beyond reasonable doubt that they had either tampered with or planted said evidence.
They waited until the earlier hours of the morning to enter the building, when the world was at its quietist, two am, when most people would be asleep, bars and restaurants closed, and the few people who were awake and not simply working a night shift, would be finding their way to bed or somewhere to rest for a while.
Natasha and Clint climbed their way up onto the roof of the coroners office, ascending the wall of the alley back to back rising left and right legs at the same time so that their balance would not be lost.
Once they reached the top, Natasha took hold of the neighbouring building while Clint took hold of the coroner office building pulling himself up onto the roof and moved out of the way for Natasha, who climbed up onto the neighbouring building’s roof and then jumped across, landing like a cat and rising up with easy grace.
There was a rooftop door they used as their access point, the door was used just for maintenance cleaning the guttering and maintaining the rooftop, and as it was thought to not be an easy access point for break ins, it had no alarm attached to it, only an internal lock that Clint’s skills made short work of.
Once the lock was opened they carefully pulled the door open and stepped into the darkened corridor that had the illumination of a safety light glowing dimly green in the otherwise blackness.
“Where’s the morgue?” Clint whispered,
“Basement level, four floors down.” Natasha replied, “You want to go their first?”
“You don’t?”
“I thought we’d pull the records first.”
Clint glanced at Natasha, just about able to make out the red hue of her hair as she moved silently along side him like a shadow.
“Screw that, too much work.” He said and tapped his com, “Hey which techno geek is on duty?”
“Me, and screw you.” Came the response,
“Oh hello Me, think you can get your hacking skills to work, Flick?” Clint asked,
“It’s Antman, asshole, and sure, what do you want me to hack into?” Scott replied, yawning loudly into Clint’s ear making the archer roll his eyes.
“Swallow a cup of coffee and rub the sleep out of your eyes, we need you alert.” He said, “We need you to hack the coroner’s office,” He glanced at Natasha and pressed his fingers over the mouthpiece, “What is he looking for?” He whispered to her,
“Lionel’s autopsy and relevant files.” Natasha replied,
“You are…,”
“I heard her.” Scott said, “On it right now.”
Before they entered the morgue, Natasha and Clint paused and put on scrubs, hair nets, and masks, Scott had already disabled to cameras to show a repeated feed for the next half an hour so they didn’t have to worry about being caught on CCTV, but they needed to avoid running into anyone too or at least, if they did, not being conspicuous enough to raise any suspicion.
As luck would have it the morgue was seemingly deserted, no new bodies having come in for autopsy so Natasha and Clint were able to get inside without difficulty.
“Any idea which fridge he’s in?” Clint asked as he looked over the rows of draws inside which were dead bodies or empty draws.
“No, start looking.” Natasha said, opening doors and pulling out gurneys to take a look at the bodies.
“The face was smashed wasn’t it?” Clint said, “How do we know which is which?” he let out a groan and placed a hand over his mouth as the charred remains of someone who’d burned appeared before him, “Jesus Christ.” Hastily he shut the draw and exhaled slowly.
“Check the toe tags.” Natasha said, shutting a draw on an old woman,
“Assuming they have toes intact.” Scott’s unhelpful comment filtered into their ears.
It seemed to take far too long and required looking at far to many dead bodies, the majority of which appeared to be natural causes of old age if the age of the corpse was anything to go by, before they reached the body they wanted, or, rather, they didn’t.
“That’s every damn body.” Clint hissed, “That’s all of the fridges, where the fuck is he?”
“They don’t have any other storage units?” Natasha asked going through the morgue towards the separate areas to see if there were more refrigeration units. But there was nowhere else that a body might be kept.
Angrily she began to open up the body bags that were laying out on tables to see what was inside, making sure that there was nowhere she and Clint hadn’t looked.
“Could they have transferred him somewhere?” Clint asked, “They do that sometimes don’t they, to redo autopsies at other morgues by other doctors?”
“Yeah, defence lawyers sometimes order it but there would be a record of the transfer.” Scott said, the sound of his fingers rapidly typing echoing in the coms, “There’s nothing, no transfer requests filed from Lex’s defence team, no documents granting it from any judges and it would have to go before a judge in order for the transfer to be granted.” The typing stopped, “There’s nothing, no further documentation beyond the findings of the autopsy and tox screen.”
“Then where the fuck is he?” Clint demanded his voice echoing in the silent morgue, “He didn’t get up and walk away!”
“I don’t know, stranger things than zombies have happened!” Scott said,
“Likelihood of that is slim.” Natasha said, “The most probable explanation is that his body has been removed.”
“Why?” Scott asked,
“To stop anyone from finding what Tony found.” Natasha said, “I doubt that body is even in existence anymore, most likely it has been destroyed.”
Clint let out a sigh then kicked the refrigeration units denting one of them and let out a stream of curses.
“Where do we go from here?” Scott asked,
“The autopsy reports.” Natasha said, “We study them in depth with all of Lionel’s medical records, we look through everything, every detail. There was something wrong with that body, something Tony saw, we don’t have the body to examine but we do have the records.”
“Unless they’ve been doctored.” Clint growled, he shook his head, “I say we find the coroner and make him squeal, motherfucker had to be involved if the body went walkies.”
“Not necessarily, any of the staff here could have been coerced,” Natasha argued, “Scott, get Vision to help you look through all the bank records of all the staff here, all records, offshore accounts, real estate, everything, and family too. If anyone had suddenly got a windfall I want to know about it.”
“On it.” Scott said, “Are you two heading out?”
“No reason to stay here.” Clint grumbled, “We’ll be on our way back.”
Without prompting Natasha joined him and the two of the headed back the way they had come, disposing of their scrubs as they went and making their way back up to the roof.
“This is going to put unwanted suspicion on who ever did this isn’t it?” Clint asked as they headed for the edge to begin their descent, “A body disappearing kind of proves something isn’t right.”
“It makes things suspicious, but without evidence on who did this it could be chalked up to simple incompetence of coroners office staff and the wrong body being sent out for cremation.” Natasha said, “It wont be enough to prove Lex’s innocence, in fact if the DA is smart they could argue that whomever rescued him from prison orchestrated the disposal of the body to help clear his name.”
“Rescued? They chopping the friggin’ hand off, that’s not a rescue that’s a brutal kidnap!”
“I know that, you know that, but proving it in law isn’t so easy.”
“Fuck the law.” Clint grumbled, “This is why I prefer the simplicity of the bow and arrow, takes care of things quickly and quietly.”
“So does a garrot, but the law doesn’t agree with its use.” Natasha said, “Mores the pity, I can think of plenty of problems it would solve.”
“You and me both.”
******
Body retrieval was not exactly Death Strokes usual activity, however the need to get rid of Lionel’s double and prevent any further autopsies being carried out by someone who might also notice that the body didn’t have the hip replacement, meant that he had to go and get the body from the coroner, smuggle it out to the car that Lionel had provided and drive it to the nearest hospital, where he made use of the furnace, disposing of the body once and for all.
******
Jim Gordon flipped up the collar of his rain coat and hugged his arms closer to his chest, rain was almost a constant in Gotham along with humidity and smog, but the air was unusually cool, a wind was blowing in from the harbour making it colder than normal and making him shiver.
He'd lost count of the number of times he’d found himself standing on a roof top shining the light into the sky, summoning Gotham’s constant shadow, he should be getting use to it, yet, every time he would end up jumping, having the Bat arrive on the roof unannounced and silent.
“One of these days you’ll give me a coronary.” He grumbled,
“You have information?” The Bat rasped as he climbed down from the metal ladder, not bothering with niceties.
“Not exactly.” Jim said, “More a question or questions.”
“Go on.” The Bat said.
“You’ve heard of Lex Luthor’s abduction?”
“I thought the police were calling it a prison break.” The voice distortion didn’t disguise the disgust in the Bat’s tone of voice which Jim could appreciate.
“I’ve seen plenty of prison breaks, I’ve yet to see one that resulted in the severing of an inmate’s hand.” Jim shook his head, “This is an abduction, I’d bet my pension on it, and…despite all the evidence, I believe whoever has taken Lex Luthor, is also responsible for the murder of his late father Lionel.”
“Agreed.” The Bat said without hesitation which gave Jim a pause,
“You believe him to be innocent?”
“Completely.”
“Do you have any evidence to back it up?”
“If I did I’d have already presented it to you.”
Jim nodded and pursed his lips, “One of your symbols was found at the scene. One of your….Bat blade things.”
With cowl covering his face it was impossible to tell if there was any reaction from the man, “Where you in any way…,”
“I had nothing to do with this.” The Bat said, “Neither have I been to the scene.”
Jim nodded, “I doubted you would have been, and those bat things are ten a penny in Gotham, you can pick them up from any street vender with the amount you’ve left over the city over the years.” There was a cautionary edge to his voice, slightly chiding, as if telling the bat not to leave things laying around like that since it could be used against him.
“Could someone be trying to frame you?”
“Possibly.”
“Anyone in particular you can think of?”
The Bat paused considering his not small number of enemies, “No.” he said, “But whoever did this is very well connected and has a great deal of wealthy at their disposal. It isn’t an amateur job, but a very professional undertaking.”
“Penguin?”
“He has the wealth certainly, but not the motive and he’s been, for the most part, a legitimate businessman for several years now.”
Jim nodded in agreement, “Joker would slaughter most of the prison if not blow it all to kingdom come, Riddler would be leaving us with ridiculous rhymes and clues. There’s not enough bodies for it to be Banes work.”
“No, this is someone else.”
“A new player?” Jim asked,
“Or an old one.” The Bat said, “One who is content, at present to remain in the shadows. What other evidence did you find at the scene?”
“The only one of any interest is a fingerprint.” Jim said, “Its being run now, hopefully that will give us a lead.”
“Let me know.” The Bat said, firing one of his rapells against the wall of the opposite building, “And you are right, Lex Luthor is innocent, make sure that the officers investigating know that too.”
“I wi…,” Jim broke off as the Bat leaped off the building, “Goodnight to you too.” He said with a shake of his head and began to head back into the building, pausing in the doorway to look at the mobile as a text came though.
His eyes widened when he saw what it said.
FINGERPRINTS BACK, MATCH TO BRUCE WAYNE!.
Chapter Text
Gotham
Wayne Manor.
There were a few moments in Jim Gordan’s career that stood out. The Waynes murder, Meeting Batman for the first time, The disfigurement and death of Harvey Dent. Becoming Commissioner, his daughter being shot by Joker and Paralysed, and now this.
Driving to Wayne Manor to arrest Bruce Wayne on suspicion of assisting Lex Luthor’s jail brake and the murder of the guards.
He'd waited all night to do this, had persuaded Bradshaw and O’Malley to wait too, rather than turning up on the doorstep of a Billionaire in the middle of the night, especially when said Billionaire was already very irate at the police over the arrest and subsequent loss of his friend who was practically his Godson, and the attack on his boyfriend.
“You do realize if this turns out to be faked it’s all our careers in the shitter?” O’Malley said vulgarly,
“Like they aren’t already?” Bradshaw grunted, “What’s one more fuck up at this point?”
“Let’s try and keep this civil if possible, gentlemen.” Jim said leading the way to the door and ringing the bell.
Of course it was the aged butler Alfred who answered, looking rather surprised to see the Police at that time of the morning, but then, no one really expected to find the police in their doorstep.
“Can I help you?” He asked, his British accent crisp and sharp,
“We are here to see Mr Wayne.” Jim said,
“Alfie who is it?” A youthful voice called, and a teenager in pajamas, bare feet, and munching on a slice of toast appeared, his eyes widened when he saw who was on the doorstep, “Guys, the cops are here!” he yelled,
“The fuck?” came an angry shout,
“Language Jason!” Alfred shouted back, he sighed, “You’d better come in.”
Jim offered him an apologetic smiled as the butler stepped aside allowing them inside and closed the door behind them, he then lead them through to the kitchen which was a bit of a mad house with four boys of early twenties and teen years squabbling over breakfast foods and trying to finish homework without getting crumbs or stains on it.
“Can I help you?” Bruce asked rising to his feet, he, like the boys was not dressed, he was in silk pajama pants and a silk dressing gown that probably cost more than half the suits Jim owned. The scene of Bruce at the head of the table before his boys made Jim think of a medieval court with the King at the head overseeing the antics of his courtiers.
“We err, there has been a development.” Bradshaw said nervously,
“You asswipes finally figured out that Lex is innocent?” the youngest boy, Bruce Wayne’s biological Son by some unknown woman said, glaring at them. Jim was reminded of a young Bruce, the resemblance was astonishing, it really was like looking at a clone of the young heir after his parents murder, only this boy, Damian seemed more…, well, Jim didn’t want to say blood thirsty but the way the boy was carving into a croissant was unnerving to sat the least.
“Damian show some respect.” Alfred scolded,
“Dumbasses don’t deserve respect!” came the immediate retort,
“Dami, please.” Bruce said, he gestured with his hand towards the door, “Perhaps the study would be a better location.”
Jim opened his mouth to agree but one of the boy, the second eldest stood up and glared, “Hell no, I don’t trust the pigs with you out of my sight.” He growled,
“Excuse you.” Dick, the eldest complained, he was after all an officer himself in Bludhaven.
“You don’t count.”
“Anything you lot have to say you can say here where there are witnesses.” Tim said,
“And weapons.” Damian added with a terrifying smile. That boy really was frightening.
“Perhaps it would be best if you just tell us why you are here.” Alfred said,
Both Bradshaw and O’Malley looked to Jim uncertainly, clearly not wanting to be the ones to do this and Jim couldn’t really blame them, he didn’t want to do it himself.
Sighing heavily he cleared his throat, “Evidence has come to light that incriminates yourself in the abduction of Lex Luthor.” He said, “A fingerprint, your fingerprint has been found on the exterior of the prison transport that had been carrying Mr Luthor prior to his abduction….,” the came a loud thump and suddenly Damian was throwing himself across the kitchen counter, knife in hand and a murderous gleam in his eyes!
Plates, glasses, cups, and food were scattered to the floor, Dick and Jason jumping back from the counter and Bruce lunged for his Son grabbing him about the waist and lifted him up just second before he was able to slash the knife blade across O’Malley’s throat!
“They aren’t taking you!” the boy yelled, kicking and punching at his father, “I won’t let them!”
“How is you getting arrested for their murder going to help?” Tim cried,
“They can’t arrest me if their dead!”
“Other cops can.”
“Then I’ll kill them too!”
“Damian enough!” Bruce shouted keeping firm hold of the boy who was squirming like a snake and wasn’t being at all gentle with the kicks he was giving his Father’s back or the thumps with his fists let alone the rather vicious bite he gave Bruce’s wrist as he attempted to restrain him.
Dick moved in to assist, getting hold of the boy’s legs so he couldn’t kick anymore and together he and Bruce pinned Damian down, “Now calm down.” Bruce said, “I know you’re scared…”
“I’m not scared!” Damian bellowed,
“Angry then.” Bruce corrected, “But this won’t help.” Without letting Damian go he looked to Alfred, “Call my lawyer.” He said, Alfred nodded and made to move but aborted the effort, his eyes widening as there came the unmistakable click of a gun.
Jim turned his head and found himself face to face with a magnum behind held by Jason. It seemed in all the mayhem no one had noticed Jason slip out and fetch a gun, which he was now holding at Jim’s head.
Besides him O’Malley and Bradshaw fumbled for their guns but Jim quickly stopped them, “Son, you don’t want to do this.” He said in a very calm voice,
“I ain’t your son and don’t tell me what I want to do.” Jason spat, “You lot ain’t taking our father anywhere.”
“Jason.” Bruce said, letting go of Damian who was promptly swept into a bear hug by Dick to prevent him from joining Jason or possibly stabbing the police from behind. “Jason, put the gun down.”
“No way.” Jason said, “They don’t take you, they’ve fucked up enough. We’ve tried to rely on the law and it always fucking fails. Thanks to these pricks Lex is missing probably dead, Tony might as well be dead, well the ain’t getting you too.”
“Jason, they are just doing their jobs.” Bruce said, “They have to follow the evidence.”
“The evidence is wrong, you didn’t do this!”
“I know and I can prove it.” Bruce said, “I can prove where I was when Lex was abducted, I can go to the station, give a statement and my lawyers will have me out in a few hours.”
“You’ve got hard evidence of where you were during the abduction?” Bradshaw asked, his eyes nervously shifting from Jason to Bruce and then back,
“I was at the hospital.” Bruce said, “There will be CCTV. This was a bad attempt at a frame.”
“Why frame you?” Bradshaw asked,
“Why frame Lex for his father’s murder?” Bruce asked back, “Find that out and you’ll solve the case.”
“Yes.” Jim said lifting his hands up in a placatory gesture towards Jason, “This was a mistake by the perpetrator, one that will no doubt lead to others, because when they realize that they have made an error here they will immediately rush to try and correct it, and a rushed job is always shoddy.”
“They will give themselves away.” Alfred said, “And then they can be caught. You just need to let the police catch them Jason, you have to let justice take its course. As your Father said, he has irrefutable evidence of his location during Lex’s abduction, he isn’t going to go to prison, not for more than a few hours in holding.”
“Just while we confirm his alibi.” Jim said, “We’ll pull the CCTV as soon as we leave.”
“Hospital CCTV could take a while.” O’Malley murmured, “We’ll need a court order,”
“My Lawyers can pull strings.” Bruce said calmly, “Its no problem, and I have witnesses at the hospital who can confirm where I was, Pepper Potts and Colonel Rhodes.”
“We will contact them.” Jim said, he offered Jason a small smile, “Put it down son, don’t do something you will regret for the rest of your life.”
Jason’s jaw tightened, he glared at Jim, his eyes moving to look at his father who nodded his head encouraging him. Growling audibly Jason lowered the gun down and clicked the safety back on.
“That did not happen.” Bruce said, addressing the officers, “Neither did Damian make any threats, agreed?”
“Agreed.” Jim said, he should arrest Jason for threatening them with a gun, but given the circumstances it would be more trouble than it was worth.
“May I get dressed before we leave?” Bruce asked,
“Please.” Jim said, “Although I’ll need to escort you.”
Bruce smirked, “After all the half naked pictures of me in the papers I doubt I’ve got anything that any of you haven’t seen before.”
Bradshaw gave a snort while O’Malley cringed, Jim just rolled his eyes and followed after Bruce to the Billionaire’s bedroom. He kept his back turned while Bruce got changed allowing him his dignity,
“Do you have any idea of who could be doing this?” he asked Bruce, “It has to be someone connected to all of you.”
“I wish I did.” Bruce said, “Were he not the victim I would say Lionel himself. This is just the kind of scheme he’d pull.”
“Yes.” Jim said, “But he is dead.”
“Hmm.”
Jim frowned and risked looking over his shoulder, Bruce was buttoning his shirt, but was otherwise dressed so the commissioner turned completely, “What?” He asked,
“Oh just a thought.” Bruce said, “Probably ridiculous, but…what if he faked his own death, what if the body wasn’t actually him and it is him staging all of this.”
Jim chuckled but the laughter died in his throat, “He couldn’t…” he said trailing off, “The DNA….,”
“My Fingerprint has been planted.” Bruce said, “And Tony found something out about the body, something that someone wanted to keep quiet.”
“FUCK!” Bruce looked taken aback by the expletive, with good reason, Jim Gordon did not often swear, “Wait here.” He said to Bruce hurrying out of the bedroom and along the landing to the staircase, “Bradshaw.” He shouted,
“Commissioner?” Bradshaw appeared a few moments later,
“Lets get another autopsy done on Luthor’s body, get it transferred to Gotham PD, let it be done here.”
“Sir?”
“Mr Wayne has just pointed out something very worrying.” Jim explained, “His fingerprint has been planted, DNA could have been planted on Lex Luthor to frame him.”
“For his Father’s murder?”
“Or by his father who staged his own death.”
Bradshaw’s face paled, “I’m on it sir.”
******
Compound.
Blown up copies of the autopsy report were scattered all over the common area as Natasha, Clint, Steve, Bucky, and Sam went through every detail of them, checking them with the evidence collected by the police. The copies of the reports had been hacked and downloaded by Scott and Vision, who were systematically going through the records of each and every employee of the coroners office and the police department that had been investigating Lionel’s murder.
To date the had at least a dozen officers guilty of taking back handers from drug lords, madams, and pimps, a handful with investigations over their conduct pending, but nothing that suggested involvement with anything of this scale.
“Bradshaw and O’Malley might as well be bleach they are so clean.” Scott complained, “O’Malley had a disciplinary for being a bit rough arresting a rapist early on in his career, other than that nothing.”
“Hardly a crime.” Clint said, “Fucker deserved broken balls.”
“Any of those on the take?” Steve asked,
“Not enough cash.” Natasha said, “You wouldn’t do something like this for a few hundred dollars.”
“Hey, medical records, this body had a broken arm in his youth but no medical records back it up.” Bucky said, “That’s weird isn’t it?”
“Not if he never got it attended to buy a doctor.” Natasha said, “His parents weren’t rich, he got his money by killing them, claiming their life insurance that’s how he founded Luthorcorp.”
“Excuse me everyone, but I have a call from Gotham manor.” Friday interrupted,
“Put it through Friday.” Steve said,
“Captain?”
“Uh yes, Mr Pennyworth?” Steve said having to think quickly to remember the butlers name,
“I have urgent news.” The butler said, “The police have been here, Mr Wayne’s fingerprint has been planted on the Prison transport….,”
“What?”
“Are you shitting me!”
“The police don’t believe he is involved.” Alfred said speaking over the exclamations, “In fact they are ordering a second autopsy to be done in Gotham. While they were here they realized that if evidence like that could be planted then so could the DNA evidence against Lex, and perhaps, while it is not likely, that the body that is thought to be Lionel, could in fact be someone else and Lionel Luthor could be alive and be behind all of this.”
A stunned silence followed, “That would fit that assholes MO.” Sam said, “He has the intellect and the maliciousness to do this.”
“The body was very badly disfigured preventing most forms of ID, and if the coroner had been paid off to identify it as Lionel…,” Steve said,
“Well a second autopsy…,”
“Is impossible.” Natasha cut in, “The body has been taken. Clint and I were at the coroners office last night. It’s been stolen and probably destroyed by now.”
“Bugger!”
“But that’s good right?” Scott said, “All of this could prove that Lionel’s involved or that its an elaborate frame job.”
“No.” Vision said sounding glum, “Arguments could be made that Bruce Wayne was behind the abduction of Lex, that he got rid of the body to make it seem like there was an elaborate framing going on, and he deliberately left his fingerprint knowing that he could prove himself to be elsewhere.”
Scott stared at him, “That’s really twisted.”
“But possible, and the courts would make that argument and without evidence to support the claim that the body was not Lionel no of this would be anything but speculation.”
“Well there has to be something in the medical records and the autopsy.” Clint said, “Tony found something. He isn’t a medical doctor, it can’t be anything complicated, it has to be something pretty obvious.”
“What though?” Scott cried, “The teeth were smashed so no dental can be proven, the fingers were gone, the face was totally destroyed….,”
“What about other injuries, did Lionel have any injuries that aren’t reported?” Bucky asked, “Did he…I don’t know brake a limb in his youth or adulthood?”
“Yes!” Alfred exclaimed startling everyone, “In 2002 he was caught in a tornado in Smallville, part of the castle he had there was destroyed and he was crushed under a pillar. His hip was broken and had to be replaced.”
“Hip replacement.” Natasha said grabbing the autopsy reports, “Hip replacement…hip replacement…,”
“They have serial numbers on them.” Scott said, “All replacement joints do.”
“It should be in the report, the scarring would be there, obvious scarring from the surgery.” Natasha said flipping through the pages, her frown deepening, “Its not here, there’s no mention of it at all.”
The others scrambled over and began to look through the autopsy reports and photos, looking at the body trying to see the scarring that should have been on the hip.
“It’s not him.” Natasha said after several minutes, “The broken arm that Lionel’s medical records don’t support and now the hip replacement that’s magically disappeared. It isn’t the same person, this body is someone else.” She threw down the report, “The bastard’s still alive and he is doing all of this.”
Chapter Text
Lex lay on the bunk staring at the ceiling morosely. He couldn’t get up and move around the cell with his leg broken, even with his enhanced healing it was going to take a few weeks for the bones to knit back together and be strong enough to bear his weight. He refused to acknowledge his missing hand.
He knew it was gone, his wrist ached mercilessly, fighting with his other injuries over which body part hurt the most, but even though he knew his hand was gone, he couldn’t let his mind think upon it, because he knew if he did then he would lose the last shred of sanity he was holding onto.
Already his time in prison had done a number on his mind, which, as much as he hated to admit it, was fragile at times. He was prone to extremes when it came to emotion, intense highs when he was happy or enthused about something. Violent rage when he was angered, and absolute despair was he was hurting.
Despair was what was gripping him now, latching onto his mind and sinking its claws in as his PTSD, which he always tried to ignore, raged at his captivity.
Belle Reve had left him traumatized in more ways than one, fearful of being locked up again and this time Clark never rescuing him.
The nightmares of being back in Belle Reve had been bad enough when he was in prison and was being visited by Clark every night, Clark’s presence outside his cell, even when all they could do was talk, had helped keep the worst of them at bay, but now, when he was in cell lined with lead, so Clark couldn’t see or hear him, there was nothing to stop the nightmares getting a hold of him and doing their worst.
Lionel was of course enjoying the opportunity of mocking him, sneering contemptuously at how Lex would cry out for Clark in his sleep, how he would scream and thrash on the bunk, trying to fight off the attackers in his mind.
“You’re weak Lex.” His father would mock via the intercom, “Look at you now, pitiful. A crippled ruin of what you might have been.”
What would he have been had Lionel had his way? Lex could easily imagine the creature Lionel would have cheerfully shaped him into. An unfeeling uncaring monster, megalomaniacal, driven by nothing but greed, treating the world and everyone around him with contempt.
Had it not been for the meeting between himself, Tony, and Bruce when he’d been grieving for his Mother, had it not been for his meeting of Clark, then Lex doubted he would have been able to fight against Lionel’s ambitions for him. Oh he would have for a while, but sooner or later he would have been worn down, let Lionel break his will and then be shaped into the mould that Lionel had created for him, becoming his perfect replacement at the helm of Luthorcorp.
One thing that always made Lex laugh, albeit with bitter irony, was how Lionel failed to remember that many of those ancient Kings and Emperors he loved to liken himself to, were overthrown by the sons they groomed to inherit the kingdom.
Had Lionel had his way and created his “Perfect” Lex, then he would have died by Lex’s hand, because the kind of Son Lionel would have created would not have waited decades for Lionel to die of old age or illness, he would have wanted power right there and then and would have simply removed any obstacle in his path, even if said obstacle was his father.
Imagining various ways of how he might have killed Lionel had his life played out differently at least gave Lex something to do, something other than fight the urge to scream in pain or succumb to sleep only to wake up drenched in sweat and screaming from nightmares.
The forced imagination also helped focus his mind away from darker thoughts, well, more depressive thoughts, considering imagining murder was pretty dark.
The thoughts he didn’t want were the thoughts of suicide. Those were all to present in his mind right now, just waiting at the edge to slip in whenever he let his guard down, reminding him of how hopeless his situation was and how easy it would be to rip open the stitches in his severed wrist and bleed out. How he could push his tongue down the back of his throat and choke to death.
Lex had to actively force those thoughts away, refuse to acknowledge them, because if he did then he would act on them and then Clark would be left alone in the world and Lionel would have won.
Not wanting to abandon Clark was another motivation for staying alive, but as the hours past, Lex wasn’t sure just how long his resolve would hold and he would be able to keep himself from giving in to temptation.
****
In his study, Lionel watched Lex listlessly turn on the bunk and smirked, it was pathetic really, how easy it was to break the boy, he hardly had to try and Lex was an emotional wreck, utterly dependant on that alien of his for his source of strength.
It was a wonder how he hadn’t slit his wrists during the Alien’s demise, although Lionel supposed that Stark and Wayne had kept him on a suicide watch, acting as nurse maids instead of telling him get over it and pull himself together.
Weak.
How had he created such a weak child?
Lex had to have taken after his mother, it was the only explanation. Lionel DNA tested Lex as soon as DNA became available, there was sadly no doubting his parentage, Lionel was his father, it was just a sad twist of fate that Lillian’s genes had won out over Lionels and decided Lex’s personality.
His phone rang just as he was considering going down to the cell and engaging Lex in another round of torment, something that was becoming a favourite activity of his. Grimacing when he saw that Ross was the caller, Lionel accepted the call.
“I trust this is important.”
“We have a new problem.” Ross said, “Something we failed to consider when putting Stark in the hospital before framing Wayne.”
“What?”
“Wayne kept a bedside vigil, he has a cast iron alibi for the time of Lex’s abduction.”
Lionel closed his eyes and let out a slow breath, “Fuck.”
******
Non of the Avengers could present the evidence of Lionel being alive without exposing the fact they’d broken the terms of their return to America, however, there was nothing stopping Superman from doing so, and since he was associated with Tony Stark, who was in turn associated with Lex Luthor, there was nothing suspicious in Superman investigating the murder himself, especially after Tony’s assault.
They had called Clark to the compound and presented him with the evidence they had, explaining their reasoning for having him be the one to present the evidence to the police rather than themselves.
Not wanting to waste time, Clark had flown to Metropolis and gone to the station that Bruce was being questioned in. Moving at super speed meant no one had a chance at stopping him until he reached interrogation, literally appearing in the interrogation room and scarring the shit out of the two detectives and Commissioner Gordan who curse as it caused him to spill coffee on his suit.
“As the Bat doesn’t give me enough heart attacks.” He groused,
“Umm, interview terminated?” Bradshaw asked looking uncertain,
Gordan waived him in as he rose from his seat and stood up before Superman. Give the man his due, most people when confronted with Superman cowed a little, it took a lot to look someone who could vaporise you with single glance in the eye, and Gordan did so, shoulders back and head held high, standing his ground proudly.
“Can we help you?” he asked
“I believe I can help you.” Superman replied, out of the corner of his eye he could see Bruce glaring at him and knew he’d be in for an earful later. Damn, Bruce’s lectures could go on for hours and somehow make him feel like he was that dorky kid back in the corn fields in Smallville. It must be a parent thing, being able to make grown men feel like children, his Mother was damn good at it too.
He handed over the file the Avengers had put together with all the evidence and cleared his throat, “I am not sure if you aware, but Lionel Luthor suffered a significant injury in 2002 at his castle in Smallville. A tornado swept through the community and part of said castle fell. Lionel Luthor was crushed by a falling column which broke his hip resulting in his needing a hip replacement.”
“I think I remember hearing about it on the news at the time.” Gordon said, frowning as he went through the file, coming across the autopsy report, “How did…,”
“If you look at the autopsy report you find that there is no mention of the body suspected of being Lionel Luthor as having had a hip replacement. Something that is odd since I believe identifying the body took a great deal of effort, and replacement joints have serial numbers upon them which could have been used to identify the body.”
“You what?” O’Malley demanded as he got to his feet,
“What are you saying?” Bradshaw asked, “That the body of Lionel Luthor…,”
“Is not in fact Lionel Luthor.” Superman said, “That the body was disfigured enough but of a similar height and build to be a believable body with which to frame Lex Luthor.”
“No, wait…we…, the DNA…,” O’Malley stammered,
“Is only as good as the person running the test.” Gordon said, looking over his shoulder at the two detectives, “If that person had been paid to doctor evidence then the test was worthless.”
“The coroner, the hell would have against Luthor?” O’Malley demanded,
“Money’s a powerful motivator for people regardless of what their feelings might me.” Bruce offered up,
“Yeah but…,”
“Can you think of any good reason that the coroner would fail to report that the body had a hip replacement, or fail to use the serial number as a means of identification?” Gordon asked looking at the detectives again, “Also, in this report, there is a mention of the body having had a childhood arm fracture, something Lionel Luthor’s medical records do not contain. That’s two inconsistencies.”
“If you would like a third,” Superman said, “The body is gone.”
Silence filled the room and didn’t clear until Bruce cleared his throat, “What?”
“The body had gone.” Superman repeated, “When I went to the coroner’s office to look into this myself I decided to examine the body myself,” he paused and offered a smile, “I have x-ray vision as you may all know.” A series of nodded head was his answer to that statement so he went on, “Well, I searched the morgue for the body but there was no sign of it at all, nor were there any reports to say it had been transferred elsewhere.”
“Which it shouldn’t have been.” Bradshaw exclaimed, “It was supposed to stay put until after the conclusion of the trial, in case a second autopsy was ordered.” He pulled out his mobile and called one of their fellow officers, “I need a team to go over the coroner’s office and go through it with a fine toothcomb. Yes our Coroner’s office, every inch of the building searched. I want every copy of the coroner’s report on Luthor’s body collected and examined, and I want the coroner himself found and brought in for questioning. What charge? Conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, tampering with evidence, aiding an abetting, and being a sack of shit!”
“I’m no sure the last can actually be prosecuted.” Gordon said as Bradshaw ended the call,
“Watch me!” Bradshaw growled, “Luthor’s lawyers will feed me my own balls for this, my career will most likely be over, so if I’m going to go down, I’m going to make sure that bastard comes down with me.”
“Likewise.” O’Malley grunted, “Supposing the Captain doesn’t flay our asses first.”
“If I might offer a word of encouragement.” Bruce said, “Assuming I am free to go?”
Gordon shrugged, “The CCTV proves you were at the hospital, and there is no evidence to show you were at the prison car park so you couldn’t have had access to the transport prior to the abduction.”
“Well then.” Bruce said as he got to his feet, “If you manage to prove Lex innocent and help to find him, I believe that will go a long way in your favour and maybe restrain him from letting his lawyers feed you your testicles.”
“You’ve had dealings with Lionel Luthor.” Bradshaw said looking to Bruce now, “Is this something he’d do, fake his own death and frame his son?”
Bruce held the man’s gaze, “In a heartbeat.” He shook hands with his lawyer and gave Clark the side eye that promised further conversation later, then made his way out of interrogation, O’Malley and Bradshaw showing him the way out.
“Any ideas on what to do?” Gordon asked Superman, “The Autopsy report and a missing corpse is suspicious but not cast iron evidence, we’ll need more to go on.”
Superman appeared to consider this then smiled slightly, “Why not go public with Mr Wayne’s arrest and reason for release. It was an obvious set up, let Luthor know that at least one part of his plan has failed. That will knock his confidence and may make him slip up again.”
“Involve the media.” Gordon didn’t look overly happy about this,
“Not all reporters are bad.” Superman said, “And you can use this for you own benefit.”
Gordon shrugged, “I’ve nothing to lose.” He said, “Neither have Bradshaw and O’Malley, we need more evidence so we might as well give it a try.” He paused and then offered his hand to Superman, “Thank you.”
Superman took his hand and smiled, “Sorry about the heart attack.”
“Ah, well, after twenty years of the Bat jumping out at me I’ve kind of gotten use to it!”
*****
Gordon hadn’t wasted time in going to the media, if fact he’d gone straight to Bruce, catching him before he left the precinct and convinced him to do a statement together, explaining why he’d been arrested and why he’d been quickly proven innocent.
“Who would want to frame you, Bruce?” one of the reporters demanded, shoving a microphone into Bruce’s face,
“The same person who framed Lex and put Tony in the hospital.” Bruce replied,
“You think they are all connected?” another reporter asked which led to a flurry of typing, camera flashes, and murmuring,
“Considering the connections between the crimes, and the people involved, it is too much of a coincidence to simply write it off as being only that.” Gordon said, “We now have reason to suspect that Mr Alexander Luthor has been framed for the murder of Lionel Luthor, but due to on going investigations we cannot say more at this time.”
*****
“FUCK!” Lionel threw his martini glass at the TV he was watching the news report on, having switched on the channel at Ross’ encouragement.
The hospital CCTV. Of all the stupid bastard things to forget, and of course they should have expected Wayne to sit beside his boyfriend’s bedside and hold his hand like the bleeding heart he was. Anyone with half a brain would have pulled the plug on Stark and been done with it.
Damnit all to hell, now he was going to have to owe Ross a favour, something he really hated, but the bastard had an idea on how to draw some attention away from their camp and back over to Wayne, or at least how to make Wayne suffer.
It involved using the Maximoff freak again, and putting pressure on one of the judges that Ross owned to get a search warrant, but if successful, the mask of the Bat would be removed once and for all, and not only his mask, but his brats too.
Chapter Text
After the events of the previous day, Jim Gordon was half expecting to be called back into the precinct at an ungodly hour, what he had not been expecting was a warrant to be waiting for him, already signed by a judge and both uniformed officers, detectives, even an armed response team ready to move out.
“Someone want to tell me what the hell is going on?” He asked with a risen eyebrow,
“We’ve got a warrant to search Wayne Manner.” The detective said, Jim rolled his eyes,
“The man has a cast iron alibi, he couldn’t have been the one to abduct Luthor, it simply isn’t possible.”
“This isn’t about that,” the detective said, “This about Batman. There was an anonymous tip off that was compelling enough that the judge signed a warrant for us to search every inch of the manner, specifically beneath the manner.”
Jim snatched the warrant and read through it, sure enough it was legitimate, granting them access to the whole of Wayne Manner and its estates, the cave system, everything.
“Why?” he asked, although he had a sinking feeling he already knew the answer.
“He’s suspected of being Batman.”
******
In a tinted windowed town car, Wanda watched with Ross as the police filed out of the precinct, getting into vans.
Lionel had called and had demanded that Wayne be exposed as Batman, getting Ross to pull the strings of one of the many judges he had in his pocket to sign a warrant allowing the police an all access search of the manner.
Wanda had been called in to work her magic on the police in the station, planting the thought in their minds that there had been an anonymous tip off with enough credible information for the police to go to the judge and get the warrant, the desk sergeant would have no memory of her being the one to deliver said warrant and none of the police in the station would remember that she had ever been there, she had wiped her presence from their minds while planting the thought of search beneath the manner.
“I still don’t see why we don’t just kill them.” She said to Ross, adding a second bout of magic to the police leaving in the vans and cars.
“Death is too easy.” Ross said, “To truly destroy a man, you need to take away everything he cares about.” As she turned to him he gave her an ice cold smile that would not have been out of place on the face of a polar bear that has seen a seal. “When you strip a man of everything he has ever worked for, everything he lives for, all that is dear to him. When you leave him with nothing, when you lay him bare and vulnerable, naked to everyone, friend and enemy alike. When he is beyond the point of begging for mercy, when death is the only release for his suffering, then you know that you have truly defeated him.”
Wanda’s lips twisted, “He’ll go to prison.” She said, “He’ll lose his children, his fortune.”
“He’ll lose everything.” Ross confirmed, “His children, the ones not yet of age will be placed in juvie for their crimes, the adult two will also go to prison, as will that butler of his. He will be unable to protect them, will be locked in a cell with the knowledge that his family has been destroyed and that there is nothing he can do about it.”
Wanda’s lips curved slightly at the thought, “It’ll hurt Stark too.” She said, “If he ever recovers from his coma, he’ll have lost his boyfriend.”
“Exactly.” Ross agreed, “And with all their major benefactors gone, these superheroes will finally be called to heel and dealt with.”
“What will you do with them?” Wanda asked, “Imprison them in a Supermax?”
“It’ll depend if they come quietly or not.” Ross said, “With them out of the way I can enforce my own task force to deal with threats and make way for a vote of no confidence on Ellis, the VP will be easily persuaded to step aside which will naturally make me the next in line for the presidency, until the next election...”
“Which you will win.” Wanda said, “With my help of course.” He looked at her sharply and she smiled, “I can easily sway the voters in your favour.” She didn’t say it but it was easy to tell from her expression and mannerism that the words unspoken were the threat of her doing the exact opposite if Ross didn’t make this worth her while.
Ross bared his teeth in a feral semblance of a grin, “I believe we have something of a great partnership Miss Maximoff.” He said, “Keep up the good work and I will make you my personal assistant, and after that, if you continue to impress me, chief of staff.” His smile broadened, “Think of it Wanda, full access to the West Wing in the White House, a six figure salary, chauffer driven cars, expense accounts, plenty of occasions to dress up in glamourous gowns when dignitaries are visiting.”
The gleam of greed was shining in Wanda’s eyes as she thought of the wealth and the power she would wield with such a position.
“Remember, all you have to do is continue to be a good girl and do everything I say.” Ross said, “Then, you will have everything you could desire.”
“Everything.” Wanda breathed, her eyes glowing red, “I want everything.”
******
The intruder alarm began shrieking second after the front door of the manner were caved in. Bruce shot out of bed and ran out of his room bare foot and bare chested, he ran along the landing and down a flight of stairs, nearly running into Damian who was in silk pyjamas, had a serious explosion of bed head and was carrying a katana unsheathed.
“The hell is going on?” A half asleep Tim asked, stumbling from his room,
“We’re under attack, arm yourself!” Damian hissed at him,
Bruce opened his mouth to say something but he heard Alfred shouting downstairs followed by the shouting of voices he didn’t recognise.
“Stay here.” He ordered the boys and continued down the stairs taking them two at a time and ran out into the foyer, finding Alfred, face down on the ground, an armed officer in armour aiming a rifle at his head while another officer cuffed his hands behind his back.
“The hell is this?” he bellowed making his way to Alfred, “Get off of him, he’s done nothing.”
“Bruce..,” Alfred rasped and to Bruce’s horror when Alfred lifted his head his nose was bleeding, having been hit most likely or had impacted the floor when he’d been thrown to the ground. “Bruce run.” The butler said,
Bruce paused midstride, all his muscles tensing, ready to moved, but suddenly there was an explosion that had him ducking for cover.
“They’ve got access to the cave system.” One of the officers said holding an ear com against his head.
Bruce felt his stomach flip over and his agile mind swiftly began running over details and drawing conclusions. The explosion was a controlled explosive to gain entry to the caves, they’d be going down there and find his base of operations, find everything that proved beyond any doubt that he was Batman.
“Bruce.” Alfred whispered from the ground just as the sound of booted footsteps on floor began to echo.
“Father!” came Damian’s cry as he and Tim, drawn by the sound of the explosion appeared at the foot of the stairs. Damian was still carrying the katana and Tim had armed himself with a hocky stick.
“Freeze!” one of the armed officers shouted aiming a rifle there way, instinct had Bruce launching into action, he swiftly dove forward driving his arm up under the barrel of the gun, pointing it at the ceiling, he kicked the knee of the officer forcing it backward, knocking the officer from his feet; as the man fell he ripped the gun from his hand and used the gun like a staff, holding it lengthways and getting it under the gun of the next officer, again shoving the weapon up at the ceiling, he twisted his leg around one of the officers and pulled, bringing the officer to his knees and then used the butt of the guns across the back of the man’s shoulders and neck to knock him out.
“Boys run!” he shouted at Damian and Tim, “Operation Liberty.” He moved through a rolling thunder, both knocking the gun from the officer who’d been aiming at Alfred and knocked them to the ground, he glanced back at the stairs, satisfied to see that both boys had, albeit reluctantly done as he said.
Taking one of the rifles, aimed at the cuffs and shot through them, freeing Alfred’s wrists then helped him to his feet, “Go after them.” He said pushing the butler away towards the door.
“Master Bruce I will not leave you when you need me the most.” Alfred state sounding hurt that Bruce would ever think he could do so.
Bruce gave him a sad smile, “The boys need you more than I do.” He said, “You’re going to have to be a father again in my absence.” As Alfred opened his mouth to argue, Bruce went on, “Jason and Dick need to be warned, whoever gave this tip off will be coming for them too. You remember the plan for Operation Liberty?”
Alfred swallowed hard then lifted his chin and set his shoulders back forming a soldier’s stance, “Every detail.”
Bruce nodded once, “Then go, keep them safe.”
Alfred reached out and clasped Bruce’s shoulder in a tight grip, while his face was stoic his eyes were glimmering with tears, he paused only a moment, then he was gone, running back up the stairs to the first floor bathroom, hidden behind the wooden panel beneath the bath was an emergency escape ladder which Damian and Tim would have used to climb down from the window. The escape route gave them a direct run into the woods, where they would follow the trail all the way through to the edge of the property to the cave entrance. Hidden there, between the rocks, covered over with tarpaulin, leaves, moss, and branches were motor bikes fully fuelled with extra fuel beneath the seats, a thousand dollars in cash in small bills, energy gel packs, passports and photos with different names.
When Bruce had first started out as Batman he hadn’t cared if he was caught and imprisoned, he’d been fully prepared to do his time inside if necessary, he had always deemed the potential consequences of his vigilantism an acceptable risk. When Dick had come into his life things had changed, while Bruce was prepared to do time, he was not prepared for his son to do so, or the further sons who had come along since then, hence Operation Liberty.
Bruce had made an escape plan for the boys, complete with the motorbikes, money, passports, fuel, and energy gels which would give them enough of a head start to get to the safe house in Connecticut. There they could get wigs, contact lenses, more money, and either refuel the bikes or take the range rover that was stored there and drive for the Mexican Border.
Bruce had another safe house in Mexico City where the boys could stay and recuperate, the main plan followed them getting to Mexico was for them to then fly to Switzerland and take up residence in his family chalet there. The bank accounts he had set up for them there would see that they were all taken care of, and they could rebuild their lives away from America and free from prosecution.
Bruce had always hoped that he would never have to put operation Liberty into effect, that he’d never have to send his boys fleeing across the world, but now, as he sank to his knees and put his hands behind his head as the police coming up behind him shouted at him to do so, he was thankful he had put the effort into securing their escape, because while it might be over for him, those he loved would still be safe.
Chapter Text
Alfred thanked any and every deity that he wasn’t too slowed by age and was able to make the run without too much difficulty, he had expected to find the boys already gone, but instead when he reached the bikes he found Damian and Tim in a heated argument, Damian wanted to go back to the house and save Bruce even if saving actually meant killing several police officers, his plan involved getting into the cave through the tunnel system, taking explosives and blowing up the Gotham police department!
“Are you insane? We could end up killing dozens of people, Bruce included.”
“Father is strong, he’d survive, he’d know how to protect himself.”
“Not if half a building fell on his skull!”
“Fine, no explosives. We go in with smoke bombs and attack while the pigs are blinded, kill whoever is in our path and..,”
“No killing Damian.” Alfred panted, stopping and bracing his hands on his knees,
“Alfred!” Tim ran to him at once and took his arm, looking him over for injuries and winced at the drying blood on his face and the swelling bruising from his nose.”
“I’m fine.” Alfred said patting his shoulder, “Now, we need to do as your father said, get to the safe house, contact Jason and Dick and them to join us. Then, once we are all situated we can strategize a plan to free your father.”
Damian lifted his chin and smiled, if Alfred had said they were just going to leave the country and spend the rest of their lives in hiding he would never have agreed to leave the estate, and would have gone back to try and save Bruce right away, but Alfred planning to find a way to save Bruce once the whole family were together was a plan he could get behind.
Quickly they took the bikes, cash and passports, and set off from the estate, putting a good amount of distance between them and the estate before stopping at the roadside and making use of one of the burner phones to call Jason and Dick, telling them to get to the Connecticut safe house. Dick had ended the call and was moving before Alfred had finished speaking, Jason swore colourfully and vulgarly before he too was moving.
“Have we got enough fuel to reach Connecticut without having to stop again?” Tim asked,
“Should have.” Alfred said, “Both of you take an energy gel, we won’t be stopping again unless absolutely necessary.”
Neither boy argued which was a testament to the severity of the situation, Damian usually didn’t do anything without arguing first, mostly just to be defiant. In other circumstances it would be gratifying to have Damian do as he was told without question, under these circumstances it just added to the depressive mood that Alfred was feeling.
He'd promised Thomas and Martha that if anything ever happened to them that he would protect Bruce and keep him safe, something he had failed at multiple times over the years. Bruce would argue that point, but it did not erase his guilt for all the suffering Bruce had endured over the years, and for what he was suffering now. The police would not be gentle with him, while some were like Commissioner Gordon and were thankful to have Batman fighting villains and protecting the city, too many of them thought he was no better than the villains he fought and deserved to be treated as such, once they got their hands on him Bruce would be in for one hell of a beating.
Alfred vowed to return in kind just as many injuries to those who inflicted them on Bruce and more besides.
*****
Bruce held his head high and kept his face stoic as he was led from his home and placed in a patrol car, his hands tightly cuffed, too tightly for him to be able to dislocate his thumb and free himself from the cuffs. He ignored the officers in the front of the car, letting their jibes wash over him and focused his mind of a plan to escape once he was placed in the cells.
He would be stripped of course, undergo a full body search, no doubt with several punches and kicks and unnecessary groping just so the cops could be assholes, then he’d be put in holding until his interview began, which he suspected would be conducted by Commissioner Gordon. He wasn’t going to ask for a lawyer, there was no point, he wasn’t going to deny that he was Batman or offer any defence against the charged against him, he would make a lengthy confession in fact, as lengthy as he could make it, so he could give his boys and Alfred more time to escape.
His chance for escape would either come when he was being taken to the courthouse for arraignment or directly after when he’d be placed in prison on remand; until then he would have to bide his time, conserve his strength, observe and list any and all weakness and when the time came exploit all of them.
Naturally word of his arrest had spread at the speed of light and by the time they arrived at the station half of the worlds media was already camped out around the station, blocking the entrances, filling the street and even spilling out into the road as they pushed and shoved against each-other, trying to get closer to the car holding Bruce so they could get a picture of him and a comment or two.
“Looks like your popular today, Mr Wayne.” One of the officers said, “Or should that be Mr Batman?”
“Did you requisition Gucci to make your suit?”
Bruce smiled thinly, “Tom Ford’s not much for Kevlar.” He said quietly, thank god his boys were not here and having to suffer through this.
“So, why do it? Not able to get your rocks off enough throwing parties on yachts that you had to start playing vigilante?”
“Who’s playing?” Bruce replied watching as Jim Gordon ordered officers to clear path for them to get into the station without getting trampled to death by the press clamouring for a chance to get to Bruce.
“Your boyfriend know about this shit?” one of the cops ask, “Shit, he’s a fucking Vigilante too isn’t he?”
“Can’t compare Iron Man to this.” The other cop said, he nodded his head as Jim Gordon reached the car and got out followed by the other officer.
“Lets do this quick, get him into an interview room.” Jim said, “Move fast through the crowd, no comments to the press.”
The police did as ordered, getting Bruce out of the car and, since there were far too many cameras on them for them to get away with any rough stuff only held Bruce loosely as they walked to the station.
Questions were shouted at Bruce, demands for his comments, demands to know if he truly was Batman, questioning him as to where the boys were, why he’d done this, etcetera; Bruce held his head high and kept his mouth shut letting himself be taken into the station.
“Process him and then he’s to go into an interview room.” Jim ordered, “And if there is a single mark on him I’ll have your badges and your balls, understand?” he looked hard at the officers, not just the ones flanking Bruce but every officer who had gathered to see the infamous Batman brought to justice at last. When he was sure that he’d gotten his message across Jim turned back to Bruce,
“Do you want us to contact a lawyer?” he asked, Bruce had been read his rights of course but had said nothing other than that he’d understood them.
“No.” Bruce said quite calmly.
“I’d advise you to do so, Mr Wayne.” Jim said his eyes pleading with Bruce to do so.
“I don’t need legal council.” Bruce said, “I’ll answer any questions that you have and do not plan to offer any defence, I’ll admit to everything.”
Jim groaned silently yet visibly, clearly wanting Bruce to offer some form of defence, to do something to save himself.
“Interview room one once he’s processed.” He said to the officers, “And someone get me an entire pot of coffee, I’m going to need it.”
*****
Jim’s threats to their continued career kept the officers from doing anything to Bruce that could be considered abusive, he was stripped, checked for any weapons, fingerprinted, DNA swabbed, and his mug shots were taken, he was then put into a paper jumpsuit and taken to the interview room where he was cuffed to the table, Jim and another officer joining him a few minutes later.
“Do you want a drink or anything?” Jim asked,
“I’m fine.” Bruce said,
“Alright then, lets get started.” Jim sat down and started the camera to record the interview introducing himself, the officer with him, and Bruce.
“Mr Wayne, do you understand the charges against you, that you are accused of being the Vigilante Batman, that you are facing multiple charges of assault and battery, actual bodily harm, grievous bodily harm, vandalism, destruction to private property, attempting to pervert the course of justice, and possibly terrorism charges?”
“I understand.” Bruce said, “Although I do not agree with the last; I have never intended to terrorize any but those who inflict terror on others.”
“That is a defence.” Jim said, “Again I urge you to seek legal council.”
“There is no need, I can speak for myself.” Bruce said and offered a smile, “But I do appreciate the advice and your concern for my welfare; as I appreciated your support and kindness the night my parents were murdered.”
Jim sighed heavily, “Is that where this began?” he asked, “The desire to punish criminals?”
“I suppose.” Bruce said, “It certainly haunted me, but the turning point really came when Chill was released from prison for offering testimony against Falcone. I was going to kill him, I had a gun, I was going to shoot him as he walked out of the courthouse.” Bruce smiled without mirth, “I was beaten to it of course, Falcone already had a contract on him and had him executed before I could act. Tony was furious with me when he found out what I’d intended to do, told me that if I’d wanted the bastard dead that bad then we could have at least come up with a decent way of doing it without getting ourselves caught!” he chuckled at the look on Jim’s face, “I know, your legal morals are against such a thing, but remember, he did murder my parents, my hatred for him overrode any thoughts of morality at the time.”
Jim nodded, “I can understand that.” He said, “But you didn’t shoot him, Falcone’s hitman did.”
“Yes, and after my argument with Tony, one of many arguments we’ve had over the years, I went to see Falcone. Why exactly I don’t know, I certainly didn’t have a plan, I think I just wanted to prove to myself that I wasn’t afraid of him that I could face him.” Bruce snorted, “I was an arrogant, ignorant fool, Falcone was not impressed and had his boys beat the shit out of me in an alley, proving that I knew nothing of the world he lived in.”
“And then?” Jim asked when Bruce fell silent, recalling laying in the alley, bleeding, feeling sorry for himself and his situation.
“Then I decided that I would learn about that world and that I would do something about people like him.” Bruce said, “I got myself passage on a cargo ship as a worker and headed for Europe, I worked my way through Europe, odd jobs, spending time amongst criminal gangs, learning about how they worked, how they maintained power. Over the course of several years I made my way to China, where I was arrested for attempting to steal Wayne tech.” he grinned at the look on Jim’s face, “The authorities didn’t know who I was and I was put in prison, where I was attacked by several men at once and defeated all of them, at which point I was approached by a man who offered me the chance of becoming a warrior.”
Bruce went on to explain about his time with the league of shadows, how he had come to learn that they were genocidal murderers and how he had escaped, and come home to prepare to save the city, thus beginning his duel existence as Batman.
“Alright, lets leave it here.” Jim said, the whole telling for how Bruce had become Batman had taken several hours already, “We’ll pick this up again later.”
After he terminated the interview Jim accompanied Bruce to his cell speaking quietly with him, “Are your boys safe?” he asked, “I assume you had some kind of plan for this?”
“They’re safe.” Bruce said, “Alfred too, you won’t find them.”
“Good.” Jim smiled as Bruce rose an eyebrow at him, “I’ve worked with you for many years, I may not have always agreed with your methods, but I have appreciated the results and I know how much you care for those boys, I would not want to be the one locking them up, or your pseudo father.” He sighed heavily, “I’m sure this has something to do with everything that is going on with Lex Luthor and Tony Stark, I promise I will continue to work to find Lex Luthor and bring him home, I will also find whomever is responsible for the attack on Tony Stark and bring them to justice. You though…,”
“The charges against me will stick despite of that.” Bruce said, Jim nodded and bowed his head, “Its alright.” Bruce assured him, “I always knew this was a risk, I was always prepared for it.” He offered Jim a reassuring smile, “Don’t drown yourself in guilt, you have done nothing to reproach yourself for.”
“Oh I have.” Jim said, “I’ve arrested a good man for doing what needed to be done, and while the law may say that it is just, my opinion does not agree, and I think that many will say the same.” He met Bruce’s eyes, “You may have waived your right to council, but I implore you, when you brought before a judge, demand to be tried by a jury, public opinion will count for a lot in this case and could mean the difference between a short stint and a life sentence.”
Bruce had no intentions of serving any time if he could help it, but he nodded at Jim and walked calmly into his cell, sitting down on the bunk and closed his eyes hoping that his boys were now all together in Connecticut and planning their next move to get out of the country.
Chapter Text
Avengers Compound.
“Shit, fuck, shit, fuck, we are so fucked!”
Clint rose an eyebrow and Natasha pursed her lips as Scott let out the repeated expletives,
“Either he has developed Tourette’s or somethings up.” Sam said,
“We’re fucked, this is, oh this bad, really bad, like Hiroshima bad, like the Borg attacking bad!”
“Hey, big boy, shill the Eff out and tell us what’s going on.” Clint yelled grabbing Scott by the shoulders and turning him to face them.
“It’s, he’s been arrested, he’s, its all over every news feed, the Internet is exploding like its been hit by nuke!” Scott babbled,
“Who’s been arrested?” Sam asked,
“Bruce Wayne.” This came from Vision was glided through the walls making everyone jump, “His identity as Batman has been discovered and he had been arrested and detained at the GCPD.”
“Oh fuck.” Clint murmured,
“What’s going on?” Steve asked as he joined them along with Bucky,
“Bruce Wayne’s been arrested.” Natasha said, “Someone must have tipped off the police.” She grimaced, “I can take a good guess as to who did so.”
Vision looked pained, “You believe Wanda was involved.”
“If the muzzle fits.” Clint snarled,
“I believe the expression is, if the shoe fits.” Vision corrected,
“Not when you are talking about rabid bitches.” Clint said, “Shit,” he ran a hand through his hair, “What do we do?”
“He must have had a contingency plan in place.” Steve said, “He’s maintained anonymity for twenty years, you can’t do that without having plans set up to protect your identity and have several plans set up in case everything goes to hell.”
“It appears he did.” Vision said, “At least to save his family if not himself.”
“Elaborate.” Natasha instructed,
“The police raided Wayne Manor this morning, discovering the cave system beneath the mansion and the Batman equipment prompting them to arrest Mr Wayne; they also discovered the suits and equipment used by Red Robin, and Robin, and several items of equipment used by Nightwing and Red Hood.”
“The whole family.” Clint growled,
“Indeed,” Vision said, “However, while Mr Wayne was arrested, both younger boys, Damian and Tim escaped along with the butler Alfred and all three are still at large, as are Richard Greyson and Jason Todd.”
“They’ll go to ground and work out a way to get Bruce free.” Natasha said, “Probably involve the Justice League too.”
“Well Superman can just rip the roof off the jail, reach in and scoop Bruce out.” Scott said,
“But will he? He didn’t act when Lex was in jail.” Sam pointed out,
“Probably because Lex advised him not to.” Natasha said, “He, like Tony, Bruce, and all of us assumed this was human malice at work, we none of us realised that while it is human malice, they are using inhuman abilities to assist them.”
Scott frowned and looked to Clint, “Does that mean she thinks Supes will save Bruce or not?”
Clint shrugged, then flinched as the perimeter alarm went off, “What now?” he demanded, actually feeling keen to get into a fight, he’d love the excuse to hit something.
“A militarized force is heading for the compound.” Vision said as he connected with Friday,
“Militarized?” Bucky said his muscles tensing,
“An official task force, they have authorization from the Accords committee,” Vision said turning as straightening up, “I believe they wish to search the premises.”
“Looking for what, our secret porn stash, Banner’s left over illegal pot plants?” Clint snarled,
“I believe we shall discover their purpose momentarily.” Vision said.
All of the team stood ready to fight as the task force, in full body armour, wielding MP5’s and P90’s entered the compound.
“Search every inch of this rats nest.” The commander barked at them and sneered at the Avengers. He was a tall heavy set man that immediately reminded Steve of Rumlow, only instead of being brunet, this man had almost platinum blond hair and pale grey/blue eyes that were too small for his large rectangular face. His nose was bulbous and crooked having been broken multiple times, his eyebrows were heavily scarred and there was an ugly scar running from his right temple down to his jaw, most likely from a knife blade.
“Freaks are all here I see.” He sneered, sauntering over to them, and pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket, he held it between his middle and index finger disinterestedly, “Warrant granting me access to search every inch of this freaks Disneyland and to take any action I see fit should any of you oppose my orders, try to prevent this search, or just annoy me.”
If he thought he was being intimidating then he was sorely mistaken as the team glared at him with utter contempt.
“And just what do you think you could do to us if we oppose this violation of our privacy?” Natasha asked icily,
The commander smirked showing gold crowned teeth that were yellowing, he patted his P90, “Our boss knows conventional weapons might not be enough so we’ve been loaded up with enough shit to take you asshole down. Kryptonite laced bullets, just in case the biggest freak of them all shows his face, and power dampening tags.” He said with a look to Steve and Bucky, “They are also loaded with enough tranqs to knock out an elephant, so they’ll definitely bring you fuckwits down.”
“Kitchens clear sir.” One of the men reported,
“Go help sweep their shitholes.” The commander ordered, “Don’t be delicate, turn the place inside out.”
His distraction enable Clint to get his lighter from his pocket and set fire to the edge of the warrant; smelling smoke, the commander turned back and yelped, dropping the burning paper and took a step back aiming his gun at a smirking Clint.
“You fuck!” he snarled,
“I do, regularly,” Clint leered, “Don’t have to pay for it either, unlike yourself.”
“Clint, stop.” Steve said, “Let the idiots do their search and piss off, don’t waste your energy on them.” ‘we have better things to be doing and bigger things to worry about’ was unsaid but clear to read in his expression.
“I’ve just got to ask.” Scott said, holding up a hand, he stepped forward coming within a foot of the commander and gazed up at him with a deceptively innocent expression on his face, “Commander, just what kind of fuck up did you do that was so bad that you ended up as Ross’s bitch?”
The commander snarled and cold clocked Scott in the jaw with the butt of his gun; with a cry Scott went down, another blow hitting his shoulder, another would have followed and hit his ribs, but Steve’s stronger grip caught hold of the gun and wrenched it from the commander’s hands, tossing it to Bucky who casually held the but in his flesh hand and crushed the barrel with his metal hand. Grinning toothily, the former Winter Soldier handed the gun back to the commander while Steve helped Scott to his feet, passing him over to Natasha who cupped his chin and turned his face to the light to look at his jaw.
“You fucking freaks.” The commander snarled,
“Come up with a new insult, will ya?” Sam said, “That ones so tired it’s fallen asleep!”
******
Gotham GCPD
The doors to the Police department burst open and a dozen black uniformed, body armoured, and heavily armed men burst in and began to sweep through the station.
“The hell is this?” Jim Gordon demanded, “The hell are you clowns?”
“My new task force.”
Jim Gordon’s jaw clenched, his hand tightened about the mug of coffee he was holding and it took every ounce of his self-restraint not to turn around and punch the man standing behind him.
Slow he turned and glared as Ross’s smug face came into view, “I wanted to be the first to congratulate you, Commissioner, on finally bringing the masked freak this city has suffered from, to justice.” The Secretary said,
“I’d hardly call the arrest of Gotham’s very own crown prince, largely unsung protector, and bona fide hero something to celebrate, Mr Secretary.” Jim said, “I’d call it something to feel sick to your stomach about, something to tell your confessor, should you have a priest with a strong enough stomach to hear your confessions, Sir.” The Sir was added as an after thought and said with more than a slight sneer.
Ross chuckled, “I thought you and some other misguided individuals might feel that way, and considering the Bat’s allies and their unnatural abilities, I took the liberty to utilize my new task force to guard this prisoner.”
“Meaning?” Jim ground out,
“My men are armed with Kryptonite enhanced bullets and power dampening pellets.” Ross said, “So if any freak or alien decides to show up here and liberate their fellow from his cell, they can be dealt with swiftly and easily.”
There were several gasps from police officers and admin staff who overheard this, while some of the police felt Batman deserved to be in prison, Superman was another matter and they were not happy to hear him being threatened.
“My God,” Jim said, “You are truly setting yourself up to be the next Hitler aren’t you?”
Ross snorted, “It has ever been the burden of visionaries to be surrounded by those with limited perception.”
“Visionary?” Jim said, “There’s another word for them, lunatics, you can go and spend time with some like minded individuals at the Asylum if you’d like, I’m sure they’d welcome you with open arms.”
Ross chuckled and stepped closer to the commissioner, “There is only so much insolence that I am willing to take, Commissioner, carry on and the loss of your livelihood will be the least of your concerns.”
Jim glared back at him, “I’ve had worse threats from far more dangerous men, Mr Secretary, you don’t frighten me.”
Ross grinned, “Maybe not yet, but give it time, commissioner, give it time.” He looked down at his watch, “Well now, I have a press conference, it’s a brand new day out there, a brave new world, in which the freaks can no longer hide in the shadows and gutters. Not now I’m bringing them into the light.”
Turning he stepped light down the stairs and whistling obnoxiously made his way out of the station.
Jim took a breath, turned on his heel and headed for the cells, he got the duty sergeant to open up Bruce’s cell and stepped inside, having the Sergeant shut the door just behind him.
“This is off the record, there are no cameras in here.” He said to Bruce, who had risen to sit on the edge of the cot.
“Ross has deployed a task force here, one armed with Kryptonite bullets and some kind of power dampening pellets so he can take down Superman and others like him.”
Bruce exhaled harshly, “He won’t just have them deployed to guard me.” He said, “He’ll have them deployed wherever superheroes are known to frequent.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Jim said, “And I doubt this is the endgame, the bastard is building up for something worse and this is just the start, his own personal task force, next his personal army, then regular police are disbanded and replaced by this trigger happy yahoos, then key military personnel, and then he has the country in a choke hold and we are all fucked!”
“Right.” Bruce said not denying this, “And what do you think I can do about that?” he asked,
Jim glanced over his shoulder on reflex despite the fact that all that was behind him was a door, he then stepped forward so he could whisper to Bruce, “We have to get you out of here, if anyone can stop this madness it is you and your allies.”
Bruce smiled, “I appreciate the faith you place in me and my allies as you call them, but with Ross’s task force so armed, I fail to see how I can be extracted from this place.”
Lowering his voice even more Jim whispered, “How do I contact Superman?”
A frown flittered over Bruce’s face at that, so Jim went on, “If you were in interrogation and Superman knew exactly where that was and what time you’d be in there, he could get you out before Ross’s task force even had time to blink let alone fire their guns.”
Bruce paused for a moment, weighing the situation up, Jim Gordon had never lied to him or tried to deceive him and he had no reason to think he would now, “Just call out to him and explain why you need to see him.” He said, “He’ll hear you.”
Jim nodded and he patted Bruce’s shoulder, “Hang tough, we’ll get you out of here.”
“Be careful.” Bruce warned him, “Ross does take prisoners and he isn’t kind to them.”
Jim nodded, “Just worry about yourself and start putting that tactical mind of yours to work on a plan to defeat him, leave the rest of this to me.”
******
That night as he headed home Jim pulled into and alley once he’d checked his car wasn’t being tailed and there was no one about, parking up he got out of the car spoke in clear voice.
“Superman, I need to speak to you, it’s about Bruce Wayne, and Ross’s plans.” He waited for less than five seconds, then there was a sonic boom and Superman appeared before him.
“He said you’d come.” Jim said, “Ross has unleashed some new task force armed with Kryptonite weapons and power dampening weapons, they are guarding the GCPD and are patrolling every city that has a Superhero.”
“I am aware.” Superman said,
“Right, well, Bruce can’t stay in the GCPD, you need to get him out, get all your allies together and…,” he broke off, “Stop this madness before the whole country is giving Ross the Nazi salute!”
“And how do you propose I do that?” Superman asked,
“Tomorrow morning at precisely nine am I will have him in interrogation. The interrogation room is on the west side of the station, one corridor over from the bullpen and reception.” Jim said, “if you are quick, you can get him and get out before Ross’s thugs have a chance to react.”
Superman inclined his head, “What does Bruce think to this plan?”
“Well, I doubt he’ll enjoy being the damsel in distress, but he is aware of the plan and will comply.” This earned him a small smile from the hero,
“Very well, nine am.” Superman said, and before Jim could say anything he had launched back into the air and disappeared,
“No wonder they’re friends.” Jim muttered shaking his head, he got back in his car and headed for home, hoping that they managed to pull this off.
Chapter Text
Connecticut
Safe House
Dick swept both Damian and Tim into hugs the second they were through the door. Tim fell into the embrace, clinging to his older brother so tight that his knuckles had turned white as he gripped Dick’s t-shirt.
Damian, by contrast squirmed and complained volubly, breaking free as fast as he could and gave Dick a scowl and Jason a dirty look before skulking over to the couch and threw himself down with an exaggerated huff.
“Are you two alright?” Alfred asked looking Dick and Jason over,
“Better than you, by the looks of it.” Jason said eyeing Alfred’s swollen nose and blackening eyes.
Alfred smirked, “I’ve had worse.” He said, placing a hand on Tim’s shoulder when the boy finally broke away from Dick.
“So, we got a plan?” Jason asked,
“Plan?” Alfred repeated,
“To spring Bruce.” Jason said, “We ain’t just leaving him there.”
“I wanted to blow the station up but Alfred wouldn’t let me.” Damian said,
“I wonder why.” Dick chuckled, he reached over the back of the couch the ruffle Damian’s hair, having to snatch his fingers away when the boy turned and snarled at him, much like an angry puppy baring it’s teeth.
“Jesus, you’re more feral than a damn wolf.” Jason commented, grinning at the snarl Damian sent his way,
“Maybe we should all take a few minutes to catch our breath before we start to plan anything.” Alfred said tiredly, while he had managed to run across the Wayne estate and drive all this way on a motor bike, his age was now catching up with him, fatigue was rapidly setting in, he ached in every part of his body, especially his knees and hips where arthritis had sunk its teeth in ten years ago.
“I’ll make some tea.” Dick said, “Tim, can you give me hand?”
“Sure.” Tim agreed giving Alfred a warm smile, then wrapped his arms about his waist and hugged him, “I’m so glad you came with us, it would be so much worse if you weren’t here.”
Alfred smiled down at Tim, he felt a prickle in his eyes, nostalgic tears threatening as he recalled a young Bruce doing the same to him. After his parents and had died Bruce had gradually become less and less tactile, learning to lock his emotions behind a mask of stoicism that was completely unlike the little boy he’d been before his parent’s murder. Back then he’d loved being cuddled, getting kisses from his parents, expressing himself freely and vivaciously.
Alfred had become accustomed to the more reserved and stoic Bruce, but there times, like this, when one of Bruce’s son’s expressed emotion and sort out physical comfort, that he missed the expressive Bruce.
“We’ll get through this.” Alfred said giving Tim a squeeze, “Remember, keep your chin up, hold your head high…,”
“And kick the living shit out ‘em!” Jason finished making Dick snort with laughter, Damian snickered but tried to hide it under roll of his eyes.
“Not quite what I was going to say but it’ll do.” Alfred said, he patted Tim’s shoulder and the teenager headed to the kitchen with Dick to get tea prepared.
Alfred made his way to a comfortable arm chair and sat down with a sigh of relief, he would really like to take a hot bath but the safe house only had showers so he would have to make do with a long hot spray then stretch out in bed.
He, Jason, and Damian sat in silence until Tim and Dick came back in with a tray of drinks and a couple of packets of biscuits.
“We’re well stocked for food.” Dick said, “We’ve got tinned stuff, long life milk, tea, coffee, packets of biscuits, crisps, chocolate and stuff, we probably wouldn’t need to go for groceries for a month or more.”
Alfred nodded, “Bruce made sure all the safe houses were well stocked, he had this eventuality well planned out.”
Jason scoffed, “So well that he’s sat in a fucking cell right now.”
“Shut the fuck up, Todd!” Damian snarled, “He sacrificed himself for us, so we could get away, show some fucking respect!”
For once Alfred didn’t reprimand Damian for his language and that in itself was enough to silence Jason and have him ducking his head on contrition.
“Okay, no, we’re not doing this.” Dick said, “We are not going to fight amongst ourselves, if we start that then we lose everything. Right now we need each-other more than ever and we are going to stick together and support each-other.” He looked around the room making eye contact with all of his family making sure they understood what he was saying.
Alfred opened his mouth to say something supportive, but a sonic boom stole the words from his mouth and a second later Superman was hovering outside of the window.
“I thought this place was secret.” Jason said as Tim got up and went over to the window, opening it so Superman could step inside.
“Thanks.” Clark said, “And I followed the sound of your voices.” He said to Jason, he looked around at everyone, pausing over Alfred, scanning his face for broken bones before looking away in relief.
“What brings you here?” Dick asked,
“To let you know that I will be extracting your father from the police station tomorrow morning.”
This had all the boys shooting forwarded immediately becoming more alert and brightening at the good news.
“You’ll be putting yourself at risk if you that.” Alfred said,
“I’m at risk already, we all are.” Clark said, “Ross had unleashed a task force armed with kryptonite bullets and power dampening pellets.”
“Mother fu…,”
“Language!”
Jason sneered at the reprimand, Dick frowned, “If they have kryptonite bullets they could kill you.” He said to Clark,
Clark gave him a smile, “Commissioner Gordon has arranged this, he’s told me exactly where Bruce will be and when so I can be in and out too fast for them to fire.”
“And you’ll bring him here.” Damian said,
“Actually.” Clark said, “I’m going to take him to the fortress. No one will be able to find him there.”
“Then you’ll take us there too!” it was not a request but a demand, one with an underlaying threat of physical injury if Clark didn’t comply.
“I don’t really have a whole lot there.” Clark said,
“We’ve got supplies here, we’ll pack it up right now.” Damian said jumping to his feet,
“Alright, wait!” Alfred said holding a hand up, “Superman isn’t a pack mule, we can’t expect him to act as one.”
“We could use the bat jet.” Jason said,
“It’s under lock down, dumbass.” Damian said,
“I can get it out.” Clark said, “I’ll get Victor to help.”
“You don’t mind us all descending on your private space?” Alfred asked, he knew how rambunctious the boys could be especially when confined, and out in the arctic they wouldn’t be able to leave the fortress which would make them all antsy after a day or so.
“Honestly I’ll appreciate the company.” Clark said, “It helps…., if I’m alone then all I can think about is Lex.”
“We’re gonna find him.” Dick said with complete certainty, “We’ll get Bruce, and we’ll work out a plan.”
Clark nodded and managed to give Dick a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes, reminding everyone just how much he was suffering too.
“Right then.” Alfred said, “Early nights for all of us, we rise at dawn, pack everything up and head out.” He looked to Clark, “Where will you land the jet?”
“I won’t.” Clark said, “Victor can circle the city and I’ll take you up one at a time, Victor can fly you out to the fortress and then I’ll meet you there with Bruce.”
*****
After taking his leave from Alfred and the boys, Clark headed to Gotham and went to see Victor, the Cyborg of course already knew everything that was happening having a constant connection to the internet and the global news.
“I assume there’s a plan in the works?” he said the second Clark came up besides him,
“There is, we are going to go and take the Bat jet from Gotham Manner, then, if you don’t mind, I’m hoping you can fly Alfred and the boys to the Fortress.”
“No problem.” Victor said, he glanced to Clark, “Diana’s called, so’s Barry, Arthur’s the only one who hasn’t contacted me yet, but if he’s in Atlantis he probably doesn’t know what’s happening yet.”
“Once Bruce and his family are in the Fortress I’ll head for Atlantis and let him know what’s going on.”
Victor gave a single head nod, “So, have you got a plan on how to get the jet?”
Clark shrugged, “I was hoping you could distract the police guarding the manor while I go and get it.”
“Can you fly it?”
“I can carry it.”
“Show off.”
Clark managed slight chuckle then sobered, “Listen, this task force of Ross’s..,”
“They’re armed with Kryptonite and power dampening weapons, I know.” Victor said, “I’ll be careful, I told Barry to lay low until we’ve got an actual plan of attack, Diana already knows how to hide in plain sight, and Arthur…, well, he only surfaces when he wants whiskey!” he shared a grin with Clark at Arthur’s expense, before Victor sobered, “The Avengers have been hit too, Ross had a task force rip apart the compound in search of Bruce’s family. They’re all fine, sitting tight for the minute but Vision has made it clear they are all ready to break the terms of their parole and join us.”
Clark nodded, “One step at a time.” He said, he wouldn’t deny the Avenger’s the chance to fight back, this affected them as much the League and frankly they could use all the help they could get.
“So, what are you going to do?” Clark asked Victor, “To distract the police?”
Victor grinned, “Wait and see.”
******
Gotham Manor.
There were regular police guarding the manor, the cave entrance, exit, and some of Ross’s task force patrolling the grounds.
“We’ve got ten hostiles, six of which have weapons that can kill or harm us.” Victor said, “Thankfully their walkie talkies and earwigs are easy to hack into.”
He grinned as he connected with the police walkie talkies, sending messages to them ordering them to gate at the front of the estate. Next he sent the same orders to Ross’s task force via their earwigs.
“And now to add some urgency.” He said, accessing Bruce’s security system and set off the alarms at the gate, prompting the police and the task force to run for the gate at the double, their speed increasing when he sent more messages saying that the gate was under attack from hostiles.
“Coast is clear for you.” He said to Clark, “I’ll keep them distracted.” As Clark took off he fired a low yield missile at the gate along with some flash grenades to make the hostiles on the ground think that the attack was genuine.
Deciding to add to the confusion, he set off the alarms in the manor too and sent a couple of messages to earwigs and walkie talkies, ordering a couple of them to turn back and head back for the manor, which he took aim at, “Sorry Bruce, but you can afford to replace a window or two.” He then fired another missile that blew up in front of the foyer at the manor, shattering several windows.
“Bruce will kill you.” Clark said, suddenly appearing, the jet held over his head with irritating ease.
“Such a show off.” Victor sighed, “And Bruce’ll get over it.” Firing his repulsers he headed up to the jet and got into the cockpit, connecting with the systems and fired up the engines, taking her up into the air with Clark at his side, heading directly for the safe house.
*****
Dawn was just breaking when Clark appeared back at the safe house. It was only sheer exhaustion that had allowed any of the family to get a few hours sleep, they were all too wired and too anxious to sleep for very long, all rising well before dawn and making sure that all the food was packed up, along with passports and money in case they needed it.
“Everything go smoothly?” Dick asked,
“Piece of cake, though Bruce needs to replace some windows.” Clark said, he looked them over, “Who wants to go first?”
Damian stepped forward, “Do not carry me like a bride.” He growled,
Clark grinned, “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
One by one the bat family were taken up onto the jet and Victor headed off to take them to the fortress leaving Clark to head for Gotham and wait for Bruce to be taken to interrogation.
Chapter Text
Bruce hadn’t slept, lock up wasn’t exactly quiet even when he had a cell of his own. The noise from other prisoners kept him awake, as rowdy drunks were brought in yelling and kicking at the walls, other ill tempered prisoners shouted insults and threats at the cops, promising retributions, or proclaiming their innocence, sometimes both.
The police thankfully left Bruce alone, besides checking that he was still breathing every once in a while, Jim Gordon had put them under the threat of losing their job and pension if they did dare lay a finger on him, so that kept them from coming into his cell for some “Fun”
Sadly that didn’t mean that his fellow inmates left him alone, well physically they couldn’t touch him while he was in a separate cell, but they certainly let him know that they knew he was in there and promised to “Teach him a lesson”
Bruce wasn’t scared, he knew he could handle himself and kick the shit out of the average dumbass that was in the GCPD lock up, but the constant noise did not make for a restful night, neither did the worry over his boys and Alfred.
He tried to reassure himself that they would have made it to Connecticut and would be safe, assure himself that Alfred would take care of them, just as he had taken care of Bruce. It didn’t ease the guilt over having to abandon them though, leaving Tim and Damian without him when they still needed an active father in their lives. Alfred would give all the love, support, and care they would need but there was no denying that he was an old man, he wasn’t going to be able to maintain the level of activity that he currently forced himself to, his body was slowing down, age catching up with him, and soon he wouldn’t be able to fight it anymore.
Putting so much stress and responsibility on Alfred at his age was unfair but there was no other option. With Tony and Lex indisposed/missing, they could not step in as they otherwise would and that meant Alfred was the only one who could act as the boys Father, even with Superman getting him out of here did not mean he would be reunited with the boys anytime soon, and even if he was, their lives as they knew them were over.
If Bruce wanted to stay out of prison he would have to go to the country with no extradition order, or he’d have to go by an alias and hide for the rest of his life, neither option was going to be especially good for his sons, who’d either be having to rebuild their lives in a country with no extradition, or using aliases themselves.
Breakfast was brought to him at 7am, soggy toast and tasteless cereal, neither of which Bruce touched and having overheard one of the officers laughing with another over having spat into the coffee he brought to Bruce, the former vigilante left it untouched as well. Having not eaten now in over twenty-four hours, Bruce was very hungry, but his stomach was perversely tied in knots, turned hunger to nausea every time he so much as contemplated eating the food brought by the officers.
He was back to pacing his cell by the time the officers came and collected him to go to the interview room at 9am, where Jim was already waiting with another officer.
“Coffee?” Jim asked Bruce,
“Depends,” Bruce said, more than keen for one right now, “Will it be with or without spit?”
Jim rolled his eyes, “Get ME, two cups of coffee.” He ordered one of the officers, who wouldn’t dare add spit to his boss’s coffee, a few minutes later the officer brought in two steaming cups of coffee, setting them down on the table and retreating outside so Jim could start the recording.
“Continuing interview with Bruce Wayne, the date is…,”
Jim Gordon got no further as suddenly the external wall of the interrogation room had a ten foot hole punched through it, showering the room in brick and dust, before any of the three men at the table could stand or say anything, a blur was across the room and less than a second later Bruce was gone, a sonic boom being left in his wake.
Jim coughed to clear his throat from dust and blinked to clear his vision, he stared at the hole in the wall in shock, while he’d said to Superman to be quick he hadn’t quite meant this.
“Prisoner escape!” his fellow officer bellowed, running to the door to spread the alarm, which of course brought Ross’ thugs running, even though it was far too late to do anything.
“What happened?” one of them asked staring out at the street,
“The wall got smashed and then Bruce Wayne was gone.” Jim said honestly, ‘and here I thought the Bat was destructive’ he thought to himself,
“Shit!” the commander of Ross’ team swore, “After last nights fuck up, Boss’ll hit the roof!”
Jim didn’t bother to enquire over what particular fuck up the man meant, instead he made he way out of the room and towards the Bullpen intent on getting a coffee that wasn’t currently half full of brick dust.
******
While Clark could move at astonishing speed, Bruce was still half frozen to death by the time they reached the Fortress, and to his chagrin, staggered and would have fallen on his face had Clark not supported him when he set him down on his feet.
“Alright?” Clark asked,
“Fine.” Bruce hissed, his teeth chattered,
“FATHER!”
“Bruce!” the two cries came from Damian and Tim, both of whom ran to him and threw their arms about his waist and chest, hugging all the air out of him.
“Made it alright then?” Dick asked looking Bruce over, Jason standing by his side, the pair of them looking for injuries on Bruce.
“What…?” Bruce began,
“Change of plans, Master Wayne.” Alfred said, coming out of somewhere in the fortress with the tray bearing tea, and breakfast. Somehow, he looked completely at home in a structure made out of crystals and ice, carrying on as normal, making tea and food!
“We decided that we’d be better off sticking together.” Dick said,
“Hell spawn ordered Supes to bring him here, and pussy that he is, Supes caved.” Jason scoffed,
Damian launched himself off Bruce, whirling on Jason, looking very much like an angered feline, all claws, teeth, and puffed up fur.
“Fuck you, Todd!” he roared,
“Aww look at mini Satan, isn’t he cute with those budding horns?” Jason goaded, dancing back as Damian tried to grapple him,
Bruce sighed and looked to Clark, “You really want this pack of undomesticated hyenas here?” he asked,
Clark shrugged, “Well you and Alfred have survived…,” he broke off with a wince as Jason hit the floor with a painful sounding thump, Damian on top of him trying to punch hi face in, “Are they always…,”
“Yes.” Came the response from Alfred, Bruce, Dick, and Tim.
A vaguely terrified look came over Clark’s face that made Bruce’s lips twitch with amusement and some perverse pride at having raised such frightening offspring.
Alfred clapped his hands, “Boys, no fighting before breakfast, sit down and eat like the civilized people you are supposed to be.”
At the promise of food Damian and Jason sprang apart and rushed to the tray to grab their share, closely followed by Dick and Tim.
“I assume you’ve got a plan then?” Bruce said to Clark, letting the feral beasts that resembled his children, stuff their faces before getting his own food,
“Ah, I was hoping you could help with that.” Clark admitted, scratching the back of his head and looking for all the world like the bumbling cornfed reporter that the world thought he was.
“Others are coming too.” Tim said with his mouth full of baked beans and powder made scrambled eggs.
“Swallow first.” Alfred chided, and slapped Jason around the back of the head before he could voice the filthy comment he would be coming up with about oral sex.
“Others?” Bruce asked,
“The whole league.” Clark said, “Which reminds me, I need to go and get Arthur and let him know what’s happening. Victor has gone to pick up Barry, Diana, and Oliver.”
“We’re going to be doing a video call with the Avengers.” Dick said, “This affects them too.”
“Alright.” Bruce agreed, finally warm enough to let his shoulders relax, “Is there coffee?” he asked looking hopeful,
“The pots in the kitchen.” Alfred said, “I brought the coffee machine from the safe house, and your stash of Columbian roast.”
“Thank God for small mercies.” Bruce breathed, after a few cups he might feel human again.
*****
Within a few hours the whole League was present at the fortress and Victor had connected them to the Avengers, all of whom were gathered around the conference table, Spiderman included.
“So far every major city and every location of Superheroes or Meteor Mutants has a task force authorized by Ross on the ground, patrolling the streets and armed with weapons to take us out.” Natasha said, “There have already been several attacks by supervillains, The Wrecking Crew have decided to decimate several stores on Fifth Avenue, Firefly has started a blaze in Gotham that fire fighters are struggling to control, Black Adam has been kicking off in Metropolis, and Doctor Doom has made public threats against America and is likely to launch an attack if Ross doesn’t disband his task force.”
“Which he won’t.” Oliver said, “No matter what threats are made, he’ll carry on.”
“And this is just the beginning.” Bruce said, “Without any of us protecting the streets every villain is going to be acting like its Christmas morning. Some might choose to lay low and avoid Ross’ task force, but most will take advantage of the situation.” He was dreading what Joker would do, he’d been the only deterrent to the clown and even that hadn’t deterred the freak much, without any Heroes to stop him, he’d burn Gotham to the ground.
“So what do we do, hold out until something bad enough happens that the president orders Ross to fuck off?” Barry asked,
“We can’t!” Peter exclaimed, “If we do that hundreds if not thousands could die.”
“Not could, will.” Vision said, while his expression and voice were neutral there was an undertone of unhappiness in his voice, “I am afraid it has just come on the news, Riddler has abducted several people and left his brain teasers as clues to where they are being held, with a time limit on their life expectancy.”
Bruce groaned covered his eyes with his hands, rubbing the sockets, “We need to get proof of what Ross and Lionel have done, unequivocable evidence.”
“The bastard alive would be proof enough.” Jason grunted,
“What about Maximoff, we could attempt to capture her, force her to talk.” Oliver suggested, he looked to Diana, “I bet that lasso of yours will work on the bitch.”
Diana cocked her head to the side, “Possibly.” She agreed, “However, she is a formidable opponent, her power should not be trifled with.”
“We take her by surprise,” Clint growled, “Multiple attacks from various sides, she can’t react to all of us at once.” It was clear by the dark anger in his eyes that this was personal for him and he would not be showing her any mercy.
“Would Ross have told her where Lionel is though, would he share that much information? He is an asshole but he’s not an idiot.” Rhodey said, “She’s not a friend of his, she’s a tool, he’ll dispose of her as soon as he is done with her.”
“Its worth a try, and we’ll be depriving Ross of one of his foot soldiers.” Steve said,
“But its still not enough.” Natasha said, “There is only one person who a wrangled with Ross and walked away unscathed.”
Bruce caught her eye, “Tony.” He said, “We need Tony.”
“Yeah, but that’s…,” Scott broke off with a deep sigh, “We can’t help him.”
“Actually, we can.” Natasha said, she glanced to Rhodey, “Extreamis.”
Rhodey’s eyes widened, “No.” he said shaking his head, “Tony swore he would never use it.”
“He stabilized it,” Natasha said, “It is the only thing that could heal him, bring him out of that coma.”
“Extreamis, that’s, that thing that turned people into bombs right?” Bucky asked,
“It was.” Natasha said, “But Tony stabilized it, made it…, well I wouldn’t say safe, but stopped it from causing combustion.”
“And this could save him, bring him back?” Peter asked, his eyes lighting up with excited hope,
“There is a very good chance, yes.” Natasha said, “However, it wouldn’t be without risk.”
“And Tony said he never wanted to become enhanced.” Rhodey said, “He was afraid that becoming enhanced would enhance everything negative in his personality, that he would become another villain.”
“He wouldn’t.” Peter protested,
“You don’t know that, Peter.” Rhodey said gently, “He didn’t know that, not with complete certainty, and it’s the lack of certainty that had him unwilling to take the chance.”
“But we can’t just do nothing, we can’t just leave him like that!” Peter cried, “Not if there is a chance he could be saved.”
“Peter, I know how you feel…,” Rhodey began only to fall silent and turn to the computer, staring at Bruce in shock, “What did you say?”
“I said I agree with Peter.” Bruce said in a tired and resigned tone, “Tony was against using Extreamis in normal circumstances, these are not normal circumstances, he did not become sick through cancer or any natural means, and the world is at risk from adversaries. I know Tony, better than anyone else here, including you, Rhodey. I know him better than I know myself, and I know that under these circumstances, when we need him so much, he would agree to the use of Extreamis.”
Rhodey held his gaze for several moments then ducked his head with a loud exhale, “Alright.” He agreed,
“So we’re doing this?” Scott asked,
“If you guys get involved, if you leave the compound then you lose your parole.” Victor pointed out,
“We’re aware of that.” Steve said, “But given the current crisis, we believe it is necessary to break those terms and conditions.”
“You should all come here.” Clark said, “Bring Tony here too.”
“I’ll send coordinates.” Victor said,
“We’ll get ready and see you in a few hours.” Steve said, “And we’ll have Tony with us.”
Chapter Text
Lex was not a patient man; he had always wanted things done fast so he could move onto something else, part of what made him difficult to be with was his irritation when people couldn’t think as fast as him, his brain ran so fast, he learned and comprehended information so swiftly that people often struggled to keep up with him.
As he had grown into adulthood he’d learned to bite his tongue and not to show this irritation, during his childhood and especially his adolescence he had not been so adept at hiding his frustrations, school had been a nightmare to him, not just because of bullies who tormented him mercilessly, well, at least until he’d learned to fight back and they had been too busy picking their teeth off the ground and snivelling for their mother’s.
Boredom had been one of the biggest issues Lex had at school, he learned too fast and quickly grew bored, the teachers not providing him with enough stimulation to keep him engaged, one thing Lex knew was that he bored quickly and he needed to keep his mind active or he would start down a destructive path.
In adolescence it had been drugs, casual sex, and manipulating people for his own amusement, he wasn’t proud of that, using people to amuse himself, seeing them get hurt, hurting each-other, and in the case of Jude and Amanda, resulting in death.
Lex had stopped his manipulations then, at least for the most part, and meeting Clark three years later had helped him eventually shut off that side of himself, the side that Lionel was grooming to become his perfect heir.
A heartless, cold blooded, sociopath, quite possibly with psychopathic tendencies.
Lex was under no illusions as to what he would have become had it not been for the fateful meeting between himself and Clark, not even the friendship and support of Tony and Bruce would have kept him from eventually falling into the darkness of his own mind, aided and abetted by Lionel’s twisted manipulations and outright abuse.
It was Clark who saved him from himself, from losing his soul, should such a thing actually exist, anchoring him, showing him that there was good in the world and that he, Lex Luthor, son of a demon in Armani, deserved to be a part of that good.
Lex was never bored with Clark, anymore than he was with Bruce or Tony, all of them could keep up with him, stimulate him, although Clark stimulated him more than just mentally. Since he and Clark had gotten together Lex had not felt bored or constrained, he’d felt more alive and at peace than ever before in his life, even when they were facing adversaries just having Clark at his side had kept Lex strong, kept him sane.
It was his sanity slipping that he feared the most, the boredom and the inevitable temptation were bad enough but he could fight them, it was what lay beyond them, that gaping maw of damnation and insanity that always seemed to be just at the back of his mind, just waiting to reach out and swallow him whole.
Being in prison had been bad enough but he’d still had conversation with Clark to get him through, he'd been able to numb his mind with physical activity, could let himself imagine dozens of colourful insults and injuries for his fellow inmates while appearing to ignore their jibes and threats.
Here now, in this hell, he had nothing.
Laying on a bed with his leg unable to bear his weight, his hand missing, with nothing but four blank walls to stare at he was slowly but surely slipping away into the black pit of his mind.
“It’s easy here, there’s no pain here, you can let go and Lionel can never hurt you again,” he knew the voice in his head was not a separate entity from himself, knew it was his own internal monologue whispering at him, tempting him.
“It’ll be just like when you got high, you felt nothing but pleasure, nothing mattered anymore, not Lionel, not your dead mother, not the world, you had everything and felt infinite.”
“But it wasn’t real.” Lex whispered to himself, “It was chemical suggestion, fake and worthless, and I don’t need that, I don’t need nothingness.” I need Clark.
A mocking laugh caught Lex’s attention and he grit his teeth so hard his jaw ached under the pressure,
“Talking to yourself, Son? We really should have had you given the ECT at Belle Reve. Such a shame your freak snatched you away before we had the chance to cure you of this mental instability.”
Lex snorted and rolled his eyes, “If anyone here is mentally unstable, it’s you.” He said giving his father a glare.
Lionel’s image showed on the screen looking more tired and stressed than the last time Lex had seen him. It was subtle, most people wouldn’t have noticed but Lex knew Lionel, knew his tells, knew the deeper ingraining of the lines on his forehead and the tightness at the corner of his eyes for the signs they were.
A small smile tugged at Lex’s lips, “Awww, aren’t things going very well?” he asked in a mocking concerned tone, “Is the world not falling into place as you planned, how frustrating for you, to find out that even the great Lionel Luthor has feet of clay, and that the world and all the people in it are not game pieces upon a board for him to play with.”
Lionel’s scowl lines deepened, “Trusting matters to others always risks incompetence,” he arrogantly proclaimed, “It matters little, we have contingencies in place, your pathetic friends might think that they are close to success but they are fooling themselves,” he smiled and chuckled, a tinny sound that Lex knew was only being given to try and mask Lionel’s fear.
The show of Lionel’s stress and worry, the fact he had come here after days of ignoring his son was just another sign that Lionel was worried; whenever things hadn’t been going in Lionel’s favour he’d made himself feel better by tormenting Lex, by exerting dominance over him. When he’d been a child Lex hadn’t known this, had been desperate by Lionel’s love, had believed there was something wrong with him, some failing that made him unworthy of Lionel’s love.
Now as an adult Lex knew better, he knew the failing was Lionel’s, that he took sadistic pleasure in the manipulations and exploitations of others, even his own son, maybe even especially of his own son.
Despite his pain Lex let a smile spread over his lips, and he sat himself up, supporting himself on his elbows, “You should haven’t have come to see me, Lionel.” He said conversationally, “I know you too well, I know that you didn’t come here to tell me how well everything is going, how close you are to your victory lap. You did this every time a deal turned to shit, every time an experiment failed, you’d come to me and do this, exploit any worries I had or fears, try and crush my self-esteem beneath your boot, and as I child I thought it must be something I was doing wrong, that I deserved to be abused by you, but,” Lex paused and his smile grew, “I’m not a child anymore Lionel, I’m a grown man, a man who has known much love, who has loved and been loved, a man who no longer fears you or desires your acceptance.”
Had he been able to stand Lex would have risen to his feet and thrown himself against the screen to shout at Lionel, to show just how strong he was now, to show Lionel that he did not fear him at all, instead he leaned forward as much as he could and made eye contact with his father.
“Give me your threats if you will, make your petty comments, try to insult and hurt me, but know this, Lionel Luthor, your words mean nothing, your actions against me mean nothing, because no matter what you do to me, I have Clark, he loves me and will always love me no matter what and our love is more powerful than your hate, the strength of our love has built a family between us, your attacks upon us will not weaken us, but strengthen us, and sooner or later that strength will destroy you.”
Lionel held his gaze for a moment, Lex could see the anger boiling inside him, see the nerve twitches on his face, the increased flow of blood in the visible veins on his temple, he was close to exploding with rage; his lips pulled back in a wordless snarl and Lionel turned off the view screen so Lex wouldn’t him lose his self control so completely.
Snickering Lex lay back down, if his father was losing control like this then that meant his plans were falling apart and that was good news for Lex, it meant his family, it meant Clark was still free and they were rallying to defeat Lionel for good.
*****
“We’ll have to move fast.” Natasha said as the team carried the absolute necessities to the jet, “Tony’s on complete life support, his body can’t function without it, that means he won’t get air supply or circulation unless we’re providing it.”
“How are we going to do that?” Scott asked her, “We don’t have a life support on the jet do we?”
“No, but we can ventilate him, use a manual ventilator, and provide chest compressions to keep his circulation going.” Natasha said, “We’re going to have to transfer him from the bed to the gurney as fast as possible and provide CPR while on the move, then continuously to the arctic.”
“We can’t afford anyone getting in our way then.” Bucky said, shouldering an MP5, “No more hiding in the shadows, we go into that hospital and push our way through, deal with anyone who gets in our way.”
Steve’s eyebrows rose, “Umm, well…,”
“I didn’t mean shoot ‘em punk,” Bucky said and grinned, “Well, at least not a lethal shot.”
“Who’s going to do CPR?” Steve asked,
“I will.” Natasha said, “Doing it on the move, I’ll need to be straddling Tony’s body to provide it, it’ll be easier for you guys to move the gurney if it’s me on it with him.”
“Agreed,” Sam said, “And I think we’re ready to go.”
“Yeah.” This came from Rhodey who had the syringe of Extreamis in his hand,
Steve exchanged a look with Natasha, “Colonel…,” he began,
“I hate that we’re doing this.” Rhodey said, “I hate that I am violating Tony’s body with this, I hate that I am being forced to do this to him, that bastards like Lionel Luthor and Ross force us to make choices like this.” He looked up and met Steve’s eyes, “You know what he said, one of the problems about enhancements was?”
Steve shook his head, “That you can’t pick and choose what is being enhanced, that everything in a person is enhanced, the good and the bad, and if you enhance something positive in someone you’ll enhance the negative aspect too, so if you enhance physical strength you’ll also enhance aggression, if you enhance intellect you’ll enhance ego. You can’t have one without the other.”
Steve bit the inside of his bottom lip, Doctor Erskine had said similar words to him the night before he'd undergone the experiment that had made him Captain America. Looking back now he wondered what that meant for him, if his own negativity had also been enhanced.
Tony had once speculated that the reason enhancement had worked with him and Bucky and not turned into psychopaths was because they had both been him poor states of health when they had received it, that more of the enhancement had gone into repairing the damage to their bodies than in making them superhuman.
“Tony feared that enhancement would make him into a villain.” Rhodey said, “What if we do this and he is proven right?”
It was an uncomfortable thought, Tony Stark a villain. Tony was a bad enemy to make, anyone who had stood against him knew that and a majority of his enemies had not lived to tell the tail, hell, even tortured, starved, and relying on a car battery to keep him alive, he’d managed to defeat a terrorist cell using a box of scrapes in a cave in the desert! If that didn’t prove that Tony Stark was a formidable man then Steve didn’t know what was, he knew that he had struggled when he and Tony had been at odds, that if their enmity had continued and grown in scale then he was not certain he’d have been able to defeat him, nor did he want to imagine the possibility of having to do so.
Those few seconds when he’d been straddling Tony, the shield over his head ready to slam down onto Tony’s head, or his neck, they still haunted his dreams, reminded him of how close he’d been to killing the other man. What if they did this and Tony was turned, didn’t they say absolute power corrupted absolutely?
“We don’t have a choice.” Natasha said finally, “Tony’s a vegetable, he’ll stay like that until pneumonia kills him, at least this gives him a fighting chance, and I for one do not believe that he will succumb to becoming a villain.”
“Neither do I.” Peter said, “So lets do this, lets bring him back to us.”
Letting out a choked exhale Rhodey fisted the syringe and nodded his head, “God forgive us.” He murmured, “May Tony forgive us.”
*****
They didn’t waste time at the hospital, Clint set her down upon the roof and before the bay doors were fully opened Steve, Natasha, Bucky, Rhodey, and Sam were on the move. Steve and Bucky were to clear the way, shouting out orders at the hospital staff and patients to simply stand back and let them through, neither wanted to hurt anyone but they didn’t have to time for diplomacy.
Vision meanwhile along with Scott was jamming the hospital communications, they allowed emergency calls to go through but made sure the staff couldn’t call the police or worse Ross’ task force until they were gone.
Wheel the gurney behind Bucky and Steve, Natasha, Rhodey and Sam followed the super soldiers, leaving Peter to guard their escape and to web up anyone who tried to cut them off.
For the most part the nurses and Doctors backed away, the patients doing the same with little protest, allowing the team to get to the ICU swiftly and into Tony’s room, it was only once they were there that the protests began.
“You can’t take him from here.” One of the nurses cried, “He’ll die!”
“He’s as good as dead anyway.” Natasha said as they began to disconnect Tony’s body from the various pieces of hospital equipment that he was hooked up to, Rhodey winced as he pulled the catheter out of Tony’s penis and the similar tube that connected Tony’s anus to a bag, Natasha tried to be as gentle as she could removing the cannulas from Tony’s veins and the monitor tabs that were stuck to his chest.
“You got the bag ready?” She said to Sam as she paused over the ventilator,
“Ready.” Sam said, he glanced up as the sounds of scuffle came from the door and they saw Bucky putting a security guard into a headlock while Steve had another shoved against the wall, his right arm twisted behind his back.
“We good?” Rhodey asked,
“Hurry up.” Bucky grunted,
“Bite me.” Sam shot back irritably, he looked to Natasha, “On a count of three, one, two, three..,”
Natasha disconnected the ventilators and Sam swiftly replaced it with the manual bag squeezing it to pump air into Tony’s lungs.
“Scoop him.” Natasha ordered Rhodey who wasted no time in shifting Tony from the hospital bed to the gurney which Natasha climbed onto, straddling Tony’s pelvis while applying chest compressions in time to Sam’s squeezing of the bag.
“Lets roll.” Sam ordered, using on hand on the bag while pushing the gurney with the other, Rhodey took the other end of the gurney and between them they hurriedly moved the gurney out of the hospital room and into the corridor where now half a dozen security guards lay on the floor nursing bruised jaws, sprained wrists, and black eyes.
“Clint get ready we’re on our way.” Rhodey said into the coms,
“This babies revved up and ready to go.” Clint replied, “How’s our boy doing?”
Rhodey glanced down at his friend and winced, Tony looked pitiful, weak, shrunken, pale, a shadow of the larger than life man he was, Natasha was right, Tony was as good as dead like this, in fact death would be preferable, at least then he’d have peace instead of vegetating in this purgatory for god knows how long.
“This is abduction!” one of the ICU doctors called out,
“We’ll see how Tony feels about that.” Rhodey called back, “You can’t do anything for him, maybe we can.”
“You’ll kill him, he can’t live without dialysis, heart bypass, a ventilator…,”
“If this works he won’t need them.” Steve said glancing over his shoulder at the doctor, “And if it doesn’t…., we’re all fucked anyway.”
As they continued to make their way back up to the rooftop they found several webbed orderlies and security guards courtesy of Peter who was waiting for them by the doors that led onto the roof, the teen turned pale at the sight of Tony and swallowed hard.
“This is gonna work he said,” Sounding like he was convincing himself, “It has to.”
“Lets get him secured.” Rhodey said, their speed increasing as Steve and Bucky helped get the gurney up onto the jet, once on board the carried it to the medical bay and locked it in place securing it for take off.
Natasha remained where she was along with Sam providing air and circulation for Tony’s body until they reached the fortress.
“Let us know when you need to switch out.” Sam said to her, “Even with the speed the jet can go it’s a long way.”
“I’m good.” Natasha said ignoring the pain in her shoulders as she kept rhythm, counting the compressions in her head and made sure she was providing enough force for the heart massage without using too much so she wouldn’t break Tony’s ribs.
“You fight for us Stark.” She said under her breath, “We’re giving you a chance so you fight for us, we need you damn it, so you fight and come back to us.”
Chapter Text
Bruce couldn’t settle, he was pacing the fortress, going outside into the painfully cold weather and walking around for as long as he could stand it, before going back inside to continue pacing back and forth.
He knew the extraction from the hospital had gone well, Victor was in touch with Vision and gave them a constant update, it was the waiting for the avengers to arrive with Tony that was making this unbearable.
All of the league were in the arctic now, Clark had gone to Atlantis and brought Arthur back with him, Diana had arrived on her own and Oliver had brought Barry.
Both Barry and Diana had hugged him upon seeing him, making Bruce feel awkward and uncomfortable, he wasn’t great with physical displays of emotion, certainly not public displays and Barry’s hug was awkward, embarrassed, and accompanied by fast speed babbling that Bruce only understood every fifth word of.
Diana’s embrace was more like that of a warrior clasping the shoulder of a fellow warrior, a reassurance that one was not alone, that the battle was not yet over, and that he needed to remain strong.
Bruce was doing his best to stay strong, having his family present helped to ground him, to keep him from falling apart which was what he wanted to do, he couldn’t remember the last time things had seemed so completely hopeless, not even when they’d lost Clark had he felt that there wasn’t a light at the end of the tunnel.
Was this how Lex had felt during the weeks of Clark’s death? So cold inside, like he’d eaten a glut of ice cream and was left chilled right down to the bone, and so crushed with an unrelenting weight of misery and worry?
If Lex had felt even half of what he did right now during that time then Bruce felt he owed him an apology, because he hadn’t been as patient or as understanding of what Lex had been going through as he should have been, and likewise with Clark, he should have shown him more support and kindness, the alien must be as devastated and frightened as he was feeling, and for Clark it was worse, Bruce knew where Tony was, Clark had no idea where Lex was or what was happening to him.
Some people might say ignorance was bliss but in this case it really wasn’t, bliss was the last thing anyone was feeling as they waited and worried over what was happening to Lex, and if they would get him back alive and sane.
“They’re five minutes out.” Victor said as Bruce made another circuit of the command room/common room, well none of the rooms here were anything like human dwellings, it was only the oddly shaped furniture or what passed for furniture that gave the humans there ideas on what function the rooms might have.
“Do we have a medical bay or something?” Barry asked looking to Clark,
“Not exactly.” Clark admitted,
“There’s nothing we could do for him anyway.” Diana said, “Conventional medicine has done what it can, and his physiology is too different to risk using alien technology upon him.”
Barry’s lips twisted, “So if this extremely doesn’t work…,”
“Extremis.” Bruce corrected, “And if it doesn’t work then Tony dies.”
A heavy silence followed that statement; they all already knew this, Bruce hadn’t said anything they didn’t already know, it was more the verbal confirmation of this that hung heavy in the air, like an axe in the hands of a headsman right over the back of the neck of a prisoner.
If this didn’t work then Tony would die, right here, they wouldn’t be able to keep him alive long enough to get him to a hospital, Natasha and the others had given him CPR to keep his blood circulating and oxygen getting into his system, but he needed more than that, dialysis among other things they couldn’t provide.
Bruce didn’t want to think of what Tony dying would mean, but his imagination kept conjuring the images of Tony expiring on the floor of the fortress, his body turning cold and still, his eyes never opening again. He could imagine himself holding Tony’s limp form, cradling him in his arms while everyone stood around and watching and unable to do anything.
Bruce feared that if that happened he would lose his mind completely, and a part of him, a dark part didn’t care, would welcome the numbness of insanity just so he wouldn’t have to face the pain.
The sound of the jet touching down brought him out of his thoughts and Bruce found himself moving forward before he even realised what was happening, but he was headed outside into the cold arctic weather, heading for the jet as the bay doors opened and the avengers came out.
Steve and Bucky were moving the gurney carrying Tony, an exhausted and sweating Natasha was straddling Tony giving him chest compressions while Sam squeezed the ventilator bag that was attached to the tube down Tony’s throat.
Bruce hurried up to join them, taking hold of the gurney to help bring Tony inside the fortress, “How is he?” Oliver asked hovering in the entrance as they brought Tony inside,
“Fading fast.” Sam said, “We’ve done the best we can but…,” he didn’t finish the sentence, didn’t need to, CPR wasn’t enough in this situation and they knew it, Extremis was all that was left now and they had to hope for the best.
*****
Tony was taken into the control area/common area, they set him in the middle of the room, no one really knowing what else to do for him or where best to place him.
“Should we leave him on the gurney or…,” Peter broke off with a shrug, leaning into Tim’s embrace as he put his arm around his shoulders,
“We leave him on the gurney.” Rhodey said, “Remove the intubation tube, and inject the compound.”
“But if his heart’s not beating how will it circulate?” Tim asked,
“I..,” clearly Rhodey hadn’t considered this, none of them had in fact,
“We continue CPR.” Natasha said panting heavily, “Although I need to switch out, I can’t keep this going anymore.”
“I’ve got it.” Bruce was moving right away getting his hands into place and taking over the chest compressions allowing Natasha to get down from the gurney, she rubbed her aching shoulders made her way over to a seat bowing her head as she rested herself.
Steve moved to take over from Sam, squeezing the bag to keep air going into Tony’s lungs, his eyes met Bruce’s and silently the two of them resolved to keep this going as long as possible.
With trembling hands Rhodey approached the gurney and took hold of Tony’s forearm, his weight loss from being in the coma had made his veins visible to the point that he didn’t need to use something tight around Tony’s arm to bring the vein to the surface.
“I hope you can forgive me, Tones.” He said to the still body on the gurney, “We need you, please come back to us.”
Gritting his teeth Rhodey inserted the needle into the vein and paused with his thumb over the depressor, he glanced up and met Bruce’s eyes, silently asking him one last time if he was sure. Bruce gave a single cursory nod, and watched as Rhodey closed his eyes and pressed down on the depressor, emptying the syringe into Tony’s veins.
Once it was done Rhodey pulled the syringe out and stumbled back, bumping into Clark’s solid form and didn’t shrug out of the supportive embrace the alien gave him.
“How fast does this work?” Dick whispered, his voice over loud in the unnaturally silent space,
“I don’t know.” Someone, Sam maybe? Replied to the question,
Come on Tony, come on, Bruce found himself silently chanting in rhythm with the compressions, he watched transfixed on Tony’s face watching for any sign of change, how much time had passed since the injection, was it a minute yet? Time seemed to stretch out becoming beyond measure, all that existed were the compressions and Tony’s still face.
Come on, come on Tony, come on!
Had five minutes gone by? Why was nothing happening? Why wasn’t this working?
Come on Tony, please, come one, give us a sign, don’t give up now, just fight, one more time, fight!
Bruce’s hands were beginning to shake, not with fatigue, but with fear, that all this had been for nothing, that he really was going to lose Tony this time, and there was nothing he could do.
“Wait!” The cry from Clark made everyone jump and the Alien set Rhodey steady on his feet, moving past him and approaching the gurney, “I can see it,” he said staring down at Tony, “I can see extremis in his veins, in his organs, I think its working.”
“Are you sure?” Diana asked walking the short distance to join Clark,
“I’m certain.” Clark said, “Its there, his body…, it…,” he looked at Barry, “He needs a shock, something jolt his heart.”
Barry’s eyes widened and he looked like he was being asked to face a firing squad, his normal expression when being given a lot of attention.
“Just like you did on the ship.” Bruce said, “Get a good run up, one tap on his chest and that’ll do it.”
Barry nodded his head looking like a dog in the back of a car, “Right, yes, okay, I can do that, but you need to not be touching him because if you are then it’ll be bad, like you’ll get fried too and I don’t want to fry my friends, and are we sure that this extreme thing will be compatible with my brand of weird, that it won’t like spontaneously combust or something because I was reading online about this blowing people up and I don’t want to blow anyone up because it would be really gross and…,”
“Barry!” Arthur shouted clamping a large hand over Barry’s mouth, “Stop talking and start running because I rip your damn tongue out!” he let go of Barry and shoved him forward making the kid stumble a little before he pulled his shoulders back and nodded his head, unsurprisingly he began to give himself a pep talk at rapid speed as he went to get his run up looking somewhere between a nervous breakdown and hyperactivity.
“Yell when you’re ready.” Clark called to him, planting himself ready to catch Barry when it came time for him to stop.
A few minutes later Barry was in position and yelled out to Clark, who nodded to Steve and Bruce, the pair of them letting go of Tony and stepping out of the way.
Less then two seconds went by before a streak of lightning flashed before everyone’s eyes, hitting Tony’s chest, and then a blur hit Clark sending them both tumbling to the ground.
Bruce watched as Tony’s upper body arched off the bed with the force of the jolt, he went rigid like that for a few seconds, then fell back down, Bruce’s heart was in his mouth as he waited and waited, he heard Clark and Barry getting to their feet, heart Clark whisper that Tony’s heart was stuttering. He felt his lips moving silently, urging Tony to fight, for this to work, then suddenly Tony’s back arched again, his arms and legs flailing like he was having a fit, his chest moved up and down on the gurney rattling the metal as some kind of convulsions raked his body, his head tossed from side to side and a hideous choking sound escaped from his throat.
“Fuck the tube!” Clint cried moving forward along with Sam to get the tube out of Tony’s throat, but they didn’t make it all the way as suddenly Tony’s body arched up off the gurney completely and seemed to throw itself forward, expelling the tube from his throat with violent force.
Horrible ragged coughing followed and a glow seemed to be spreading through Tony’s body, a glow from under his skin.
“Tony?” Bruce found himself whispering, making an abortive attempt to go towards his lover, wanting to reach out and touch the shaking, panting form; the glow grew brighter and sweat was beginning to pour out of Tony’s skin which was giving off a heat haze it was becoming so intense,
“Tony?” Rhodey asked in a frightened voice,
A violent convulsion shook Tony’s body, then another, then a third, then..stillness…., Tony’s head was bowed and he sat there for several seconds as everyone waited with baited breath, then suddenly he threw back his head and let out an unnatural scream, his entire body erupting into bright orange flames.
Chapter Text
Pain, everything was pain, everything was fire, he was engulfed in fire, was burning up; his eyes were on fire, his skin was melting, his bones scorching, he couldn’t think of anything but the pain that was suffusing his entire being; he didn’t remember who he was, why he was here, how this had happened, all he knew were the flames that were devouring him.
He thought he was screaming, but his mouth was on fire, his throat was filled with flames, maybe he was breathing fire, maybe his ears had melted; this couldn’t go on forever, this had to end, his body couldn’t burn for very long, sooner or later everything that could burn would be eaten up by the flames, his skin was be completely devoured, his muscles his organs melted, his blood boiled away, nothing left but blackened bone, yet it didn’t seem to be ending, it seemed to be going on and on, his body writhing and burning without it coming close to ending.
He tried to see, tried to see past the flames that were covering his eyes, but all that greeted him was an engulfing darkness, for a moment he thought that maybe it was death finally coming to claim him and for a single second the pain stopped, peace wrapped around him like a comforting embrace, then a new sensation hit him, a searing molten pain that seemed to flow through him, right down into his bones, he’d have screamed but then his brain was overwhelmed with a blinding mass of light and numbers, completely engulfing his mind, driving away the pain as his consciousness tried to make sense of what was flooding his mind.
Numbers, numbers, 1010101010101010101010101010101010, he knew that, he knew it, binary, machine code, the language of machines, unintelligible to humans, the closest they came to comprehending it was low level language like R and C++, yet now Tony knew this language, knew it like he had been born speaking it as his native tongue.
Wait a second…, he knew who he was, he remembered himself, Tony, Anthony Edward Stark, Genius Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist, Iron Man.
He was Iron Man.
He was…, he had…., how did he get here?
There was so much information, an entire universe of numbers flowing through his mind, and as he looked deeper he saw lists, arrays, queues; without even trying he was able see what they contained, and who had coded them. It was like his brain was suddenly inside every database in the entire world, he could see everything, bank accounts, emails, amazon orders, nuclear launch codes!
“Tony!”
Was that something saying his name?
“Is he alive?”
“He’s breathing I think,”
“Where’s the suit, what happened, did it melt?”
“It melted into him!”
“Don’t be stupid, no one can survive metal flowing into them.”
“Apparently he can.”
He needed to answer these voices, it was important that he answer them, but the numbers, the information, there was so much to see, to learn, it was like he was standing in the waves and the current was pulling him deeper and deeper, he could so easily lose himself…, he needed…., he needed…, a human was never supposed to have this in their mind, a human brain…., he needed to block this somehow, shut it off so he could focus on the voices but he didn’t know how, could he reach out, could he let the voices know, maybe send a message?
Focusing his mind he coded out a single word, HELP and sent it out into the vast ocean of code that was swirling through his mind.
*****
This had become something from a horror movie, Tony’s body erupting in flames of such intense heat that they had all been forced back from him or risked being burned, not even Clark had been able to get close, the heat enough to even affect his skin and the ice breath melting into vapour before it could coat Tony’s body.
The screaming was horrendous, the sound echoing around the fortress, searing their ears and making their blood curdle in their veins.
No one wanted to heat this, no one wanted to see this, but they were unable to stop their ears or avert their gazes, were trapped as useless statues watching as Tony was tortured in front of them, an unending torment as his flesh was seared from his bones and regrew a second later only to repeat the process.
“What do we do?” Peter cried, his eyes full of tears, looking twice as large as normal, “We have to do something, we have to help him!”
“We can’t get near him to do anything.” Arthur yelled back, trying and failing to get any closer to Tony, shielding his face with his hand, his flesh turning pink as if he were experiencing sun burn.
“Oh God what have we done?” Rhodey whispered,
Suddenly there was a shattering sound from behind them all and in the second it took for them to turn their gazes away from Tony’s immolating form, the Iron Man suit was flying across the fortress and separating to wrap around Tony’s body.
Time seemed to suspend like the suit hovering less than an inch over Tony, then, all at once, time and motion began again and the metal of the suit became molten and flooded Tony, smothering the flames and Tony into a shell of gold and titanium.
For several moments the body lay dripping metal, then the metal seemed to seep down into the body, flowing into the skin which gave an unnatural ripple. The flames were gone, everything was strangely silent and Tony was completely still, save for his eyes, which were moving rapidly beneath the lids as if he were in REM sleep.
“Tony?” Bruce said,
“Is he alive?”
“He’s breathing I think,”
“Where’s the suit, what happened, did it melt?”
“It melted into him!”
“Don’t be stupid no one can survive metal melting into them!”
“Apparently he can!”
The rapid eye movement continued and a frown formed over the face, Tony’s brows were knitting together, then his fingers began to twitch, tapping on the ground, his muscles spasming and body twitching, then…, stillness…., then….every phone, every computer, everything erupted at once, text messages saying one thing over and over.
HELP
“What the hell?” Natasha asked looking at her phone,
“Some kind of computer bug?” Tim asked,
“No, it’s not a bug, it’s him!” Victor said his head twisting to the side as if he were trying to hear something, “He’s…, shit he’s connected to the internet, to everything,” his face creased in concentration, “It’s overwhelming him, he can’t comprehend this much information, he’s losing himself in it.”
Help, Help, Help.
More messages followed, a desperate cry for assistance the only way Tony was able to reach out.
“Vision!” Victor snapped, “We need to build him shields, like security systems but inside his head, something so he isn’t getting a constant onslaught of information.”
“Agreed.” Vision said, “Can you connect with him?”
Victor let several probes extend from his left hand and more from his right, “I can.” He said, he went to Tony and knelt at his side, his head twitched and he nodded to Vision, the Android apparently having connected with him wirelessly, “I’ve never done this with organic material.” Victor said, his hand pausing over Tony’s head,
“He is no longer entirely organic.” Vision said, “Proceed.”
Victor took a breath and connected the probes to Tony’s head, they brushed over his skin for a moment then dipped down inside his skin, squirming into him like snakes, like Goauld symbiotes.
“Too much, too much, can’t…., it’s too much, I don’t understand, I see everything, hear everything, too much, too much!”
“Tony.”
Victor concentrated, reaching through the endless sea of code, of numbers, of flowing data that was spinning around Tony’s mind, searching for the Billionaire.
“It’s too much, please make it stop, I need it to stop, I need…, Help, please help me, Help, help!”
“Tony.” Victor said again, more firmly this time, he felt the mass of binary swell and surge, felt it flowing around himself, like plasma, he could see Tony, see Tony’s consciousness, a shimmering form in the centre, like a newly formed star with stella debris swirling around it.
“Tony.” He said getting closer to the consciousness, “Vision?”
“I am here.” The Android’s calm voice responded,
“Help me, please help me.”
“I can see his mind,” Vision said, “I will separate his memories from the data flowing through him.”
The odd landscape remained as binary but took on the vague shapes as units were stacked and separated, being moved away into storage.
While Vision worked on this, Victor again reached out to Tony, he was closer now, could extend his hand and place it upon the glowing consciousness, “Tony.”
“Vvvictor?” came the shaky response in a stream of binary,
“Yes.” Victor said, “Vision and I are helping you, we are going to build shields in your mind so you won’t be getting a constant connection with the internet.”
“I know, I can feel it.” Tony said, the consciousness seemed to swell, thicken somehow, taking on a vaguely human shape, “What happened to me?” he asked, “How did I end up here?”
Victor paused, “What’s the last thing you remember?”
The landscape seemed to pulse and flow, the consciousness rippling and synapses sparking before a response came, “The morgue, Deathstroke.” Tony said, “He attacked me, was working with the coroner.”
“He put you in a coma.” Victor said, “You were not expected to ever recover.”
“I see, so…, what, you hook my brain up to a computer?”
Were laughter possible here Victor would laugh, “No, we, all of us, the league and the avengers were desperate.” He said, “We needed you.”
The conscious was waiting, rippling in anticipation, “We took a chance,” Victor said, “On bringing you back, healing you.”
A pause, “Extremis.” Tony said, “That explains the fire.”
“Yes.” Victor admitted, “Somehow one of your suits arrived here and was….consumed in the flames, the molten metal then melted into you and somehow you’ve become technopathic.”
“I injected myself with subcutaneous implants to call the suit to me whenever I needed it.” Tony said, “In my fear it must have been summoned and while trying to connect with me it was consumed by Extremis.”
A wave seemed to flow through the landscape and suddenly Tony was standing in front of Victor, Binary sequences flowing around them, “Thank you.” Tony said,
“You are welcome.” Victor inclined his head, as Vision, or a form of Vision joined them, “Do you have control of the shielding?”
“Yahuh.” Tony said, “I can switch it on and off now,” he looked at the pair of them, “I assume shit is getting real, considering the lengths you guys have gone to here, to bring me back.”
“The excrement is most assuredly genuine.” Vision said,
Tony snickered as did Victor, “We best get back to the real world then.” Tony said, “I trust you two know how to disconnect?”
Neither verbally responded, instead Victor extracted the probes and felt Vision disconnect from him, Tony exhaled and blinked his eyes open, startling Victor, for they were not his chocolate brown eyes, these were an unnatural blue/silver eyes surrounded by thin circles of amber.
The eyes blinked and looked around, “Okay,” Tony said, his voice normal even if his eyes weren’t, “Where in the hell am I and why is it so damn cold?”
Chapter Text
“Okay,” Tony said, his voice normal even if his eyes weren’t, “Where in the hell am I, and why is it so damn cold?”
Everyone remained frozen for a moment, just staring at Tony, at the unnatural blue/silver of his eyes, uncertain of his return, of his recovery, of how to approach this.
Bruce was the first to recover, he cleared his throat and tentatively stepped forward, “Tony?” he asked quietly,
“Yeah,” Tony said, “You gonna answer my question or just stare at me? What the hell, do I have something on my face?”
“No, your face is fine, ugly as ever!” Clint said, wincing at the slap that Natasha dealt him,
“Fuck you,” Tony shot back,
“How do you feel?” Steve asked cautiously,
“Cold.” Tony said, he looked around, “Where the hell are we?”
“Superman’s pad!” Barry said, “Its totally cool, like, its made of ice and crystals and its in the Canadian arctic…,” He broke off and flushed to the roots of his hair at his babbling.
“Canadian arctic,” Tony said, “Right, and you assholes couldn’t have resurrected me somewhere more tropical? I hear that the Bahamas are nice this time of year!”
Bucky snorted, “You done bitching about the weather?”
Tony shot him an acidic look, “Bite me robocop, I’ll bitch as much as I want to, you got a problem with that, take it up with my HR department, in fact I’ll give you their direct line, it’s 0800-kiss-my-ass!”
Bucky flipped him off while everyone slowly but surely relaxed and Bruce took Tony’s hand, getting him up onto his feet.
“So, uh, I know you didn’t want this, Extremis.” Rhodey began but Tony held a hand up,
“I get it, needs must, don’t beat yourself up, Platypus.”
“Do you remember what happened to you?” Natasha asked,
“Yeah,” Tony said, “I was at the morgue, I found out the body there that was identified as Lionel wasn’t actually him, there was not hip replacement…,”
“Yeah, it was another body.” Natasha said, “Even the police are aware that Lionel isn’t dead, not that it's done us much good.”
“The body and the coroner have disappeared.” Bruce said by way of explanation for Tony, “Lionel’s trying to clear his tracks.”
“Yeah, he has help too, Death Stroke.” Tony said, “That’s the fucker that got me, the coroner only knocked me out, it was Death stroke that did the rest.”
“Motherfucker.” Jason growled, “I’m gonna disembowel him!”
“You want to disembowel everyone.” Tim scoffed,
“No I don’t, some I just want to blow up.”
“Or blow.” Dick snickered,
“Boys.” Alfred scolded,
“Idiots.” Damien sneered,
“Murder brat.” Jason shot back,
“So Lex is still in prison?” Tony asked,
“No,” Clark said, he sighed heavily, “Lex has been abducted, they cut his hand off and wherever he is being held it has to lead lined because I can’t hear him.”
Tony raised his chin, “Lionel has him.”
“So we assume.” Diana said, “And as well as working with Death Stroke, who probably conducted the abduction, Lionel is also working with Ross.”
Tony made a disgusted noise in his throat and rolled his eyes, “Yeah the fucker’s gone an unleashed this psycho task force.” Dick said, “They are armed with power dampners and kryptonite; no where is safe for anyone who is enhanced or is a vigilante anymore.”
“Gotham’s going crazy, every supervillain is lashing out, firstly about the bat being exposed, and now this task force…,” Jason said, trailing off at Tony’s look of shock, “Oh yeah, Bruce’s had been unmasked, as have we.”
“Fuck…,” Tony looked to Bruce, “Are you okay, did they hurt you?”
“Not really,” Bruce said, “I surrendered so Tim, Damian, and Alfred could get away. Jim Gordon was there and took charge of my arrest and interviews, he made sure none of the officers got the chance to… exact their own justice.”
Tony moved closer to the older Billionaire and subtly clasped his hand, “Thank God for that at least.”
“Ah shit!” this came from Victor he gave everyone an apologetic expression, “It’s the Joker.” He said, “He’s attacked City hall, taken half of the politicians hostage, the other’s he’s set on fire and thrown off the roof to make a mural on the ground.”
“A mural of what?” Dick asked as Bruce let out a frustrated growl,
Victor hesitated, looking to Bruce uncertainly, “What?” the older man barked,
Victor sighed, “It’s of a bat with the word MINE written beneath.”
“What do we do?” Tim asked faintly,
“Nothing!” Damian snapped, “These fools brought this on themselves, rejecting Father and us, why should we care what happens to them?”
“Because they are innocent.” Bruce said firmly,
“But..,”
“No, the law exacted justice,” Bruce said, “The people Joker has taken captive are not to blame for how that justice works and they do not deserve to become his victims.” He sighed heavily, “I have to go back.”
This declaration was met with a resounding chorus of denials and declarations of his lost sanity, “You’ll be arrested the second you set foot in the city!” Diana cried, “All of your technology has been seized, you’ve no way to get there or to do anything about this.”
Bruce glared at her, “I can still fight.” He growled,
“Bruce it’s suicide.” Tony stated, “A pointless suicide, because it will achieve nothing.” Bruce opened his mouth to argue but Tony held up a hand, “I know you feel responsible, I know that you feel the need to go and face Joker and stop this, but you can’t give into that urge or let misplaced guilt guide your actions.”
“I’m not…,”
“Oh please, you have guilty conscience written across your forehead!” Arthur declared, tactless as ever, “If there were awards being handed out for self-destructive martyrdom you’d be getting gold!”
“Arthur, go suck off a squid!” Oliver said, “Bruce, what Tony’s saying is true, we all want to stop the dipshits that are taking advantage of this situation, but if we try and intervene we’ll either be arrested or killed, probably both, and then there won’t be anyone to stop Ross or Luthor, which is the priority.”
Not being used to having his decisions questioned, or at least not by anyone other than Alfred, the kids, or Tony, it was hard for Bruce to unbend and admit defeat, especially since he already felt defeated by all that had happened.
“We will stop this.” Diana said, “But we need to act decisively not just react to situations, with the fire power Ross has, we will likely only get one shot at this.”
“Finding Lex is the priority.” Tony said,
“Assuming he’s still alive.” Damian muttered, he scowled as everyone shot glares or shocked looks his way, “I wouldn’t keep him alive.”
“Naturally.” Jason snorted, “Murderous brat.”
“Screw you!”
“He’s alive.” Tony said, “Lionel would want him alive; he likes to torment Lex, always has, he can’t torment him if he’s dead.”
“Pathetic power play.” Natasha sneered, “Trying to make himself feel more powerful and omniscient.”
“And his personality can help us find him.” Tony said,
“It can?” Bucky asked,
“Psychological profiling, personality traits.” Natasha explained, “Such things have helped in the capture of mass murderers.” She looked to Tony, “He’s narcissistic.” She said, “Megalomaniacal, driven by greed and jealousy.”
“He’s also a creature of comfort.” Tony said, “He grew up in poverty and depravation, he knows what it is to go hungry, to feel pain and cold, and he fears going back to that, his desire to leave such a life drove him to murder his own parents for the life insurance money.”
“And since then he has lived a life of luxury, has developed luxurious tastes and requirements.” Natasha said, “Such requirements that would prevent him from going to ground anywhere that would not provide his creature comforts.”
Peter, who’d been tracking the conversation back and forth with his eyes piped up, “So we should look at reclusive mansions, luxury apartments with underground parking that would provide him a way in and out without being seen.”
“Mansions outside of cities.” Oliver said, “He’d need to retrofit a room to contain Lex, lots of people have panic rooms fitted but they don’t have them made out of lead. He would also be wary of legitimate contractors, purchases of large amounts of lead would leave a paper trail that could be too easily tracked.”
“Theft of lead, or black market lead sales.” Bruce said, joining the conversation, “And Oliver is right, mansions outside of densely populated areas would be preferable as there would be less chance of him being discovered.”
“He wouldn’t purchase any by name and all his legitimate properties were seized when he was arrested, so either he’d purchase through a pseudonym, or have Ross buy it.” Natasha said, she paused, “What about luxury yachts?” she asked, when everyone looked her way she elaborated, “The corpse was found in the water, we’ve assumed he was killed on a boat, if so, couldn’t it be the same boat that Lionel is on, a luxury yacht, he could anker off the coast, well out of the way, but still close enough to remain directly involved.”
“Yachts and mansions.” Tony said in agreement, “Victor, Viz, let’s start a search. Lets put it just outside the three mile mark of Metropolis, international waters, but still close enough to shore to be involved as Natasha said. Mansions too, outside of Metropolis, he’d want to be close buy if he’s on land, maybe take a look at New York too, I don’t think he’d go as far as Gotham.”
“While you are doing that, we need to consider how we will deal with Wanda and Ross.” Steve said, “Rescuing Lex will expose Lionel, but Wanda and Ross are the biggest threats right now,”
Tony sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “Power dampeners work on her, and thanks to Ross there is an abundance of them on the streets now.”
“Yeah, we get one on her and she’s done.” Clint said, “Hell get me one and I can shoot it onto the bitch.”
“Get in line.” Oliver countered, ready to argue as to who was the best archer.
“She’s powerful but she’s not easily able to adapt to changing situations or think fast on her feet.” Natasha said, “If she is attacked on multiple sides, she’d struggle to control the situation, she’d become distracted and lash out blindly as her fight and flight instinct would trigger her fear.”
“So if she is suitably distracted, then while her attention is turned away, the power dampener could be gotten upon her.” Peter said,
“And then Diana’s magic rope thing could make her spill her guts about Ross and everything!” Barry cried,
“Lasso of truth.” Diana said,
“Right, it makes you spill your guts.” Barry said, “Or would that be better on Ross?”
“Why not two for one?” Rhodey said, he looked at Tony and frowned, “What’s with his eyes?” he asked, shivering at the unnatural sight of numbers, letters, and symbols scrolled up Tony’s eyes at great speed,
“He’s on the internet I think.” Peter said cocking his head at his mentor, “Looks kinda cool.”
“Should we…, leave him to it?” Dick asked,
“I…., guess?” Scott said, “He’s not like…, on fire anymore, and I am going to need therapy for the next two decades to get that image out of my mind.” He wasn’t alone in this, none of them would forget the sight of Tony on fire anytime soon, no matter how much they wished they could,
“Getting Ross and Wanda together would be the best approach.” Natasha said, “Two for one, as Rhodey said,” she shot him a smile, “We’ll need to be well coordinated, prepared not only for her powers but for the task force that Ross has.”
“Less of a two for one and more of a total knock out,” Barry said with a grin, “And hey, if they don’t know I’m there I can take down a lot at speed, they won’t have time to react.”
“Tranqs shot from a distance.” Oliver said,
“Webbing to walls.” Peter added,
“Shoot out their knees!” this came from Jason who grinned unrepentant as always, “Hey, I don’t have any powers to be fucked with, and kryptonite does shit to me.”
“The same can be said for the rest of us.” Dick said in agreement, “But I think we need to be considering regaining control of Gotham, Joker won’t stop with City Hall, and the rest of the fuckwits are just getting warmed up.”
“Indeed.” Bruce agreed,
“And so Lionel isn’t forewarned, Lex’s rescue and his arrest should happen in concurrence with Ross and Wanda being dealt with.” Diana said, she looked to Clark, “I assume you’ll want to be handling that.”
Clark gave her a small smile, it really wasn’t a question that he’d leave Lex’s rescue to anyone else.
“Alright then.” Steve said, “Lets find out where they are, where they are going to be, and coordinate our attacks.”
Chapter Text
As Tony, Victor, and Vision worked on tracking down Lionel the others working out their plans of attack; Bruce, Dick, Tim, Jason, and Damian were going to concentrate their efforts of dealing with Gotham’s sudden surge of supervillain attacks, thankfully emergency spare suits and weapons were already on board the jet so they didn’t have to scramble to find equipment to use.
They would first deal with Joker, who was the biggest issue at present, once he’d been incapacitated they would deal with Firefly, and the Street Demons who had decided to join the mayhem.
Arthur would be going to help free Lex once the yacht was discovered, Clark would of course be a part of that rescue party; not knowing what state Lex would be in but suspecting that he’d have some injuries meant that they needed to prioritise getting him medical attention as fast as possible; if Clark was there he could fly Lex out and get him to a hospital immediately, that did mean he wouldn’t get the chance to put his fist through Lionel’s skull, well, at least night until after Lex was safe, Tony was also going to be a part of this team as was Sam and Victor, with all of them capable of arial assaults it made sense for them to be the ones to take down Lionel and rescue Lex.
Diana or rather her lasso was going to be pivotal in the capture of Wanda, Peter and Barry were going to be the diversions and distractions to draw Wanda’s attention while Oliver and Clint took care of any of Ross’s task force from a distance, and fired tranquiliser darts into Wanda, which would if successful give Scott the chance of getting a power dampening collar upon her.
Natasha, Steve, Bucky, and Vision were going after Ross and possibly, if he were present, Death Stroke; Bucky would be acting as a sharp shooter, taking down Ross’s task force from a distance, Vision would disrupt any communications, while Natasha and Steve extracted and “Arrested” Ross.
Rhodey was being given the hardest task, while he wouldn’t be actively fighting, he was going to be going directly to the white house and having a “Meeting” with the president, get him to grow a pair, call off Ross’s task force, publicly pardon Bruce and the Bat kids, and denounce Ross as soon as he was brought before him with the evidence of his crimes.
“It is best Ross and Lionel are dealt with legally.” Bruce said, “While very tempting to deal with them ourselves, it would only cement everyone’s opinions on vigilantes.”
“You should shoot him in the head and be done with it!” This naturally came from Jason, ever ready to deal with any problem with a bullet.
“You uncultured ignoramus,” Damian sneered at him, “Beheading is more befitting for this crime.”
“And no doubt you want to be the one doing the slicing.” Jason goaded,
“Are we shooting any of the cops?” Dick inquired,
“No.” Bruce said,
“Even if they try and arrest us?”
“Not under any circumstances, and don’t make baby eyes at me Damian, it doesn’t work,”
“Not even if it’s the leg we aim for?” Jason asked, just be extra annoying, he loved seeing Bruce’s eyes twitch and being the one to cause it, he grinned as Bruce exhaled loudly and turned his back, “Hey, spider-brat, be careful you don’t twat yourself into a wall when you’re swinging around.”
“Bite me, little red riding hood!”
“Oohhh, the baby tarantula has grown some teeth!”
Peter pulled a face at him and looked away, “Do you really think we’ll be pardoned?” Tim asked,
“If the uptight asshole causes any issues then fuck’im, just take over instead.” Arthur grunted, “Hey, your boytoy has political ambitions don’t he?” he said to Clark, “Make him president.”
Clark’s eyes widened at this, “I can think of worse outcomes.” Diana mused, “However Alexander would need to run for office first.”
“I’ll give him my vote, so long as I get to be VP.” Oliver drawled,
“Like hell, you’d be VP.” Dick snickered, “Everyone knows he hates you.”
“Which is why it wouldn’t be a conflict of interest.” Oliver said, “He can make Stark secretary for defence and Wayne secretary of state.”
“You know, the worrying thing is, this actually sounds like a good idea.” Natasha said, “They certainly couldn’t do worse than our current administration.”
“We’re not actually considering this, are we?” Steve asked, “I mean we’re technically going to be committing treason as it is.”
“I’m sure Lex will pardon you, Punk.” Bucky teased,
“Thanks Buck, that’s so reassuring.”
“Maybe he’ll make you a general!” Peter teased, “General Rogers!”
“I wouldn’t mind an ambassadorship somewhere sunny.” Clint mused, “Some place with lots of bikini clad women.”
“Get in line.” Rhodey said, “I’m bagging the first tropical ambassadorship!”
“You’re both welcome to be ambassadors to Atlantis!” Arthur offered,
“Yeah, thanks,” Rhodey said, “We’d love to, except for the fact we both need air to breathe.”
Arthur shrugged, “Your problem not mine!”
“Got it!” the triumphant cry came from Tony who turned around with a large smile on his face, “I’ve found the fucker!”
****
Lionel stepped up onto the boat deck and turned his face up to the sky enjoying the feel of the sun upon his skin, in his hand he carried a mimosa which he sipped at slowly, enjoying the luxury of a cocktail after breakfast, and of course he had dined on the finest, wafer thin slices of smoked salmon, free range poached eggs, and hand made, buttery soft fresh muffins coated in a freshly made hollandaise sauce.
He would enjoy telling Lex about his breakfast, his son had a taste for the finer foods too, having been raised on them, and had no love for mass produce, denying him his choice of cuisine was another pleasure that Lionel was enjoying, forcing Lex to dine on unsweetened and poorly made porridge, instant noodles, scrambled powdered egg, and economy bread, not that Lex was eating much, inactivity and a dislike of the food on offer was obviously affecting his appetite, but it did provide Lionel another stick to poke his son with.
He would break Lex eventually, his son was tenacious and defiant, he would give him that, a part of him actually felt a perverse sense of pride at Lex’s resilience, at least he’d managed to install something in him that was worthwhile, resilience might well be the only thing Lex had inherited from him, sadly the rest he got from his weak mother.
Lionel sipped his mimosa and began a slow walk up to the prow of the ship, it was a beautiful morning, the sky was clear, a strong breeze and blown all the smog out of the sky affording him a clear view of the city’s skyline in the distance; he rested his forearms on the railing and planted his right boot upon the first rung, leaning his weight forward to get the best view he could, his focus was so fixed upon the city that he didn’t notice anything moving under the water until it was far too late, by then Arthur was bursting up from the depths and seizing hold of him by his shoulders,
“Time for your morning swim, asshole!” he said and pulled Lionel off the ship, dragging him down into the sea.
Upon deck Lionel’s staff and guards began to go crazy, the guards ran to the prow of the ship, looking down into the water, trying to see where Lionel was and fix their guns upon Arthur, but Aquaman moved too fast, he was churning up the water making it impossible for them to see clearly, Arthur knew he couldn’t keep Lionel down for very long, not unless he intended to kill him, but, this did serve to distract the guards allowing Clark to arrive unobserved and for Tony, Sam, and Victor to land upon the ship,
“Alright, everyone put their hands up and no one gets hurt.” Sam declared to the guards,
“Does that ever work?” Victor asked,
Sam shrugged, “I had to try,” he said, and sprang back up into the air as the guards turned, their weapons raised and began to shoot at them, Tony and Victor both threw up shields, the bullets bouncing off them harmlessly while their own weaponry became trained upon the guards and they both began to fire, easily taking the guards down, however more were on the way, coming from within the ship and from the aft, they turned around, their shields deflecting bullets,
“Go and download his files,” Tony said, “I’ve got this,”
“You sure?” Victor checked,
Tony locked a missile onto the satellite at the top of the ship where two guards were crouching and firing at them, he fired off the missile, forcing them both to jump into the sea or risk being blown limb from limb,
“I’m sure,” Tony said,
Nodding once Victor left Tony to deal with the guards and made his way into the ships decks, staff were hurrying through the narrow corridors, eager to reach the life boats and escape, they wouldn’t be hindered, while they were working for an evil man, they were not the priority and would be allowed to escape, a handful of guards were laying unconscious, their weapons broken into kindling, several of the limbs broken too courtesy of Clark as he made his way through the ship to find Lex; Victor made his way to the mainframe and hooked himself to the console and began to download everything that Lionel stored, sending backup copies to the fortress, the Avengers Compound, and just for good measure, he loaded it up to the cloud too, where it could easily be filtered out onto the public domains allowing anyone and everyone to see what Lionel had been up to.
Certainly this had been a long time in the planning, since Doomsday almost, Ross’ public hatred of mutants and enhanced individuals made him an easy target for Lionel, his political position and power an added incentive to the former billionaire, current millionaire who had managed to hide several offshore accounts, which was how he’d funded a lot of this scheme, accounts that Victor swiftly froze and made visible to the IRS, with some generous donations to various charities for good measure; while he was in the mainframe he deactivated the defences the ship had, he knew that Arthur was going to disable if not sink the ship once they were done, but he figured it’d be better safe than sorry.
Meanwhile on deck, Tony had grown tired of deflecting bullets and had moved into actual combat with the guards, snatching the guns from them and melting them to scrap with the potent heat that now flowed through him, he used the butt of one of the guns, the molten barrel still clutched in his hand to beat another guard around the head, he brought his gauntleted arm up and deflected two bullets, which ricochet back at the guards, one taking it in his shoulder, the other less fortunate as it hit him in the face and blew out the back of his skull.
A cry from behind him alerted Tony to Lionel being thrown up from the sea by Arthur, he flew through the air, coughing, spluttering, and flailing until he was caught by Sam,
“Hardly catch of the day!” Tony yelled out, he metal fist smashing into the face of another guard and a repulsor blast decimating part of the deck and the ship sending a couple more into the sea, putting them at threat from Arthur, who was happily tearing apart the ships propellers, and harassing the swimming guards, preventing them from climbing onto the life boats as the staff made their get aways.
“I know it’s not much.” Sam said tossing Lionel down onto the deck, “But I don’t think I’ll toss it back, after all, it might be worth something to someone.” He took back to the sky and body slammed into a couple more guards carrying them up into the air and them deposited them into the sea, “Hey Arthur, leave the ship afloat there might be evidence on it.”
Arthur surfaced a few moments later and tossed one of the propeller blades aside, “No problem.”
On the deck Lionel coughed and weakly pushed with his forearms to lift himself, “How you doing Lionel?” Tony asked, “Having a good morning?”
Lionel lifted his head all the way and glared at Tony, clearing his throat he hawked and spat on him, “Mutant freak!” he rasped, his voice hoarse from the sea water, he flinched as Arthur suddenly landed on the deck behind him and began to flail like an angry kitten being lifted by its mother, as Arthur seized hold of the back of his neck and lifted him up, just in time to see Clark bursting through the ship and rising up into the sky with Lex in his arms,
“And once again you lose.” Tony said, “Think you and Ross will get an ajoining cell in Saint Quentin?”
“Honeymoon suite on death row.” Arthur chuckled, “While Sabrina the teenage psycho rots away in a supermax.”
Sam grabbed and tossed the last guard off the ship to join some of his compatriots in the sea, and then landed besides them, “Are we done here?” he asked,
“Lets round the assholes up and restrain them, then we can tow the ship back into port, let the cops start work on it.” Tony said, he looked up at Victor came out, “Got everything?”
“Oh yeah, the IRS are enjoying going through his offshore, or what were offshore accounts right now, and several charities are enjoying large donations.” The Cyborg said with a grin to an indignant Lionel,
“Well then, lets gets the trash out of the sea before it adds to global pollution and we can be on our way!” Tony said.
*****
Clark didn’t both to be quiet when arrived on the ship, he slammed down onto the deck grabbing the barrel of a gun from the closest guard and crushing it to dust and bodily threw the guard backwards through the ships interior, his x-ray vision gave him a full view of the ships interior, showing him all the cabins, especially the one in the hull of the ship where there was a six ft by six ft blank space.
He moved at super speed, disabled guards and destroying their weapons as he went, not bothering to use corridors or stairwells, he simply smashed his way through the bulk heads, making his way down to the hull and the prison cell that was built there.
There was a biometric lock on the door, but Clark didn’t need to open it conventionally, he activated his heat vision at the top of the door and cut his way along the top then down the right side, along the bottom, and back up the left side, the lead door fell inwards with a loud thud revealing the cramped cell and Lex laying upon a bunk inside.
“Clark!” he cried upon seeing him, trying to rise from the cot, balancing on his good leg, his wounded arm stump clutched up to his chest, Clark was before him in half a second, wrapping Lex into his arms, breathing in his scent.
“God baby, I thought I’d really lost you this time,” he could feel Lex shaking, feel hot tears against his neck as Lex clung to him as best he could, “It’s okay now,” He assured him, carefully and gently lifting Lex into his arms,
“Tony…,” Lex whispered, “Lionel said…,”
“We used extremis,” Clark said, looking down at the too pale and shadowed but beautiful face of his fiancé, “He’s alive, stronger than ever, he’s here now in fact, helping secure the ship and deal with Lionel.”
“And Bruce, the kids?”
“All fine,” Clark assured him, “All of this nightmare will be over very soon, I promise.” He lifted up off the ground and cradled Lex closer to him, shielding him with his body, “Close your eyes baby, I’m getting us out of here.”
A burst of super speed and strength had them shooting up through the decks and out into the sky, where Clark whispered to Lex to open his eyes, so he could see Lionel being dangled like a kitten by Arthur, his guards decimated and his staff all fled,
“Ross and Maximoff?” Lex asked,
“Being dealt with,” Clark said, “Now, lets get you to a hospital, then, we can celebrate our victory and go back to planning our wedding.”
Chapter Text
White House.
Rhodey travelled at super sonic to evade the security that was always present around the White House, he waiting until the last possible second to slow down on his descent and put down on the balcony outside the Oval Office, the President was at his desk and his hand jerked, leaving a long ink line on the document he was signing as he jumped at the sudden noise.
Rhodey didn’t wait to be invited in, his repulsor made short work of the lock on the balcony door and he walked straight inside retracting his face plate to speak with the president, “I know this is a shock, but you don’t need to worry, I am not here to harm you or anyone else.”
“Really?” the president asked shakily, “Because with the whole..,” he gestured to the balcony door,
“Needs must,” Rhodey said, “I need to speak with you and show you something,”
“Show me what?”
Pounding on the door and cries of “Mr President!” interrupted them and the CIA burst into the office, guns drawn at the ready to fire on the intruder,
“Pretty slow off the mark boys.” Rhodey said, “If I’d wanted to harm him he’d have been dead for several minutes by now.”
Ellis scoffed, “Figures,” he waved the CIA off, “Go on, its not like your bullets would do any good against that armour.”
“Secretary Ross Sir…, we could umm,”
“I don’t want his task force marching through my office.” Ellis said, “No go and shut off that god awful alarm and let Colonel Rhodes and I speak.”
Had he been Tony Stark then Rhodey would have likely made some smart ass comment and given the agents a finger wave as they departed the office, however he was military, an Air Force colonel and he did not stoop to such things, well, not beyond giving them an eat shit grin and a wink for good measure.
“Now despite that, this entire building and the whole of the damn estate is going to be crawling with snipers within the next five minutes, Rhodes, so what the hell do you have to tell me?” Ellis said,
“Tell you and show you.” Rhodey said, he gestured to the computer on Ellis’ desk, “May I?” he asked, Ellis gestured for him to do as he pleased, Rhodey got online and typed in the sequence he’d been given by Vision, “Hey big guy, you ready?”
“I am connected.” Vision said, his voice filtering through the computer speakers, “Mr President, if you could turn your attention to the screen I will show you several satellite images, live images, I believe they will help you form an opinion and make a decision when the time comes.”
Ellis rose an eyebrow but returned to his seat and waited, his eyes widening when the screen changed and showed Metropolis harbour.
“Is that…?”
“Lionel Luthor,” Rhodey confirmed, “Alive and well, and guess who he was working with.”
*****
New York
Since Ross had more or less taken power Wanda had the freedom to do pretty much as she pleased, she could leave the hotel when she wanted, go shopping, have a meal out, spend time in clubs and bars; she’d been given an expense account by Ross with a limit of $250000, that meant she could live as she’d always dreamed of living, in luxury; going around boutiques and high end fashion stores, getting waited on by the staff, going into jewellers and trying on item after item and buying them without a care in the world, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, pearls, gold and platinum, thousands of dollars worth of jewellery in earring, necklaces, rings, and bracelets, no longer would she have a single pair of shoes to wear, she’d have a different pair for each outfit, and they would not be coming from cheap stores but from Jimmy Choo, Louboutin, and Monolo Blahnik, she was learning how to accessorize, teaming up handbags and scarves with her outfit, complimenting her choices so she would always look at her best.
She was even buying evening wear, sooner or later she’d have to attend events which were black tie, so she would need elegant gowns to wear, and it would give her a chance to really show off her jewellery.
She was just exiting a store, bags on her elbow when something whizzed past her at such high speed she was nearly knocked over, it reminded her of Pietro, when he’d played games with her, teasing her.
Shaking her head she adjusted her handbag and turned to continue down the street when the thing whipped past her again, this time knocking her on her backside.
“Damn you!” She cried, her eyes flashing red in anger,
“Temper, temper.” Came a mocking reply from behind her, she turned only to have something blurred move away too fast for her to react,
“Ma’am?” the call came from down the street and Wanda saw a couple of Ross’ task force break away from their assigned patrol to run towards her, however before they got ten paces they were both shot with arrows that pierced through their body armour and dropped them to the ground,
“Clint.” She whispered looking up to the roof tops, trying to spot the archer, she thought she caught sight of something, but then something wet and sticky landed in her face blinding her, she screamed in frustration and brought her hands up to her face, getting them stuck as she tried to pull whatever it was off her skin.
“Now I bet that sucks,” Someone said from above her and Wanda tried to lash out with her magic, but only succeeded in turning the substance on her face hot and molten, she scream as it burned her skin, leaving her feeling raw as she pulled her hands away and lashed out, flipping over several cars and shattering the windows of nearby buildings; the speedster whipped past her again, grabbing hold of her and throwing her to the ground, Wanda grunted as she struck the ground and then curled up in a ball as arrows hit the ground around her and exploded, several more firing on the task force who had come to try and aid her and their fallen friends, blinking through tear filled eyes she saw a task force van get its tires shot out and go off the road, smashing into a lamp post, then seconds later something moving unnaturally and with great speed, spun around the van leaving it covered in some kind of webbing, trapping the task force inside.
“Spider freak.” Wanda whispered trying to get to her feet, but she was knocked off them and suddenly webbing was wrapping about her ankles and she was being lifted up and suspended from the buildings awning!
She let out an enraged cry, her magic building up, but then something glowing and gold wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her side and forced her magic to calm.
“I think you can lower her down now, Peter.” This came from an accented voice, and Wanda jerked her head to see Wonder Woman standing in the street, “It seems the lasso is acting to quell her power.”
“Yeah, lets get a collar on her though.” This came from the speedster who suddenly appeared, as the spider freak, leaning over the roof of the building lowered Wanda down,
“Where did you get that?” the freak asked,
“One of the task force douches.” The speedster said, he clamped the collar around Wanda’s neck and she felt her magic drain away to nothing.
“No!” She screamed, kicking her legs and let out an ooff, as she landed on the ground,
“Do stop struggling, you will only hurt yourself.” Wonder Woman said,
“Go to hell!” Wanda roared at her, “Get your damn weapon off me, get this collar off me!”
“I think not,” Wonder Woman said, she cocked her head and Wanda saw arrows being fired from different directions, “Green Arrow, Hawkeye, is everything under control?” she asked touching a com at her ear, the reply must have been in the affirmative as Wonder Woman smiled,
“Excellent,” She said and reached down, lifting Wanda by her shoulders with unnatural ease, “We’ll make sure Miss Maximoff is suitably contained ready for transport.”
“Transport where?” Wanda snarled,
“Oh, first, to give evidence against Ross and Luthor.” Came the Spider Freak’s response, “Then, a supermax I should think, for the rest of your worthless life.”
Wanda snarled at him, “I won’t say anything.”
“You will,” Wonder Woman said, “The lasso compels you to tell the truth, you will have no choice.”
Frustrated and supressed all Wanda could do was let out a strangled scream of rage.
*****
Gotham
The Bat jet circled over City Hall and the crowd gathered behind the police lines pointed and cheered as the hanger bay door opened and familiar heros rapelled down onto the roof, taking skylights as a point of entry, or went lower and chose to enter via one of the windows.
“Commissioner?” one of the police office asked uncertainly as they, along with the reporters and general populous watched the bat family’s arrival,
“Keep Ross’ pack of clowns out,” Jim Gordon said with a half smile,
“Sir?”
“Wayne was free!” he said to another officer, “He and his kids could have left and stayed gone, they chose to come back and save this city from the lunatics that have been running amok, don’t you think we owe them the chance to do that without a bunch of trigger happy steroid junkies taking potshots at them?” he ran a hand through his greying hair, “Besides, do you want to deal with Joker and his freaks, let alone Firefly and the Street Demons?”
The unsurprising and general consensus was a resounding no, “Alright, listen up people.” Jim called out to the crowds, “The Bat is back with back up, they are going to be taking our city back and saving our collective asses again, what we are going to do is not get in their way, but we will get right in the way of Secretary Ross’s task force.”
“Hell yeah!” shouted one man,
“This is Gotham, we solve things the Gotham way!” a teenager yelled,
“Let’s show those political ass kissers how Gothamites roll!” another cried,
As the crowd cheered and began to group up to form packs to deal with any task force that were stupid enough to try and get past them, one of the officers looked to Jim, “You sure about this Sir?”
“I am.” Jim said,
“It could mean the end of your career.”
“Yeah, well, I’d rather my career went down in flames then spend the rest of it giving a nazi salute to Ross.” He paused as there came a screeching of brakes and suddenly Penguin’s limo screeched to a halt, the man himself rising up from the sun roof a machine gun in his hands, and a couple of similarly armed thugs getting out of the car to flank him,
“Shoot anyone that tries to stop the bat and his kids,” Oswald ordered, “This is our city and no politician or Metropolitan is taking it from us!”
Jim stared at the man, his face breaking into a grin, he shook his head, “Go Gotham!”
Meanwhile, in city hall, Bruce and Dick entered via windows on the front side, Jason going in the rear of the building, he had both his guns drawn and shot down the three Joker clowns that came running, out of respect for Bruce he didn’t kill them, but he did kneecap them, “That’s what you call a compromise!” he declared sauntering down the hall,
“I doubt your father will see it that way, Master Jason.” Alfred chided as he remote piloted the jet,
“Don’t see why not,” Jason said, shooting another clown as he turned the corner, “Quick and easy and they keep breathing, what’s not to like?”
Bruce landing in a crouch and flung out a batarang knocking out one clown, then forward rolled as another tried to shoot him, he swept his legs out and kicked the clowns legs from under him, punching him out cold as he hit the ground, from down the hall Dick dodged fire, getting a gun off a clown and used the but to smash his face in, then wrapped around the back of the second clown’s head.
He gave Bruce a wave jogging down the hall to join him as Bruce tapped his com, “Jason, you in,”
“I’m good,” Jason replied,
“Tim, Damian?”
“We’re in.” Tim replied,
“I’m going to slice Joker’s head off!”
“No, Damian you are not.” Bruce said, he pulled out a flash bang and sent it down the next corridor, blinding the clowns that had been waiting to take them out, he and Dick made short work of binding them and continued on their way, down to the reception hall where Joker was holding court.
Jason shot down several clowns on the balcony opposite the one Bruce and Dick came out on, disabling the ones on their side too.
Joker looked up and leered, “Batsy, Batsy Bruce has come home!” he cried laughing, “Brucey, baby, did you like my home coming gift?” he gestured around at his numerous hostages, who were standing precariously on chairs that had two legs propped up on books making them unstable, ropes had been fitted about their throats with cheese wire garrots threaded through them,
“Eny meny miny mo, which is these pigs is the first go?” Joker sing songed, “Which one do you think, Brucey? And boy wonder one and two? Hey…, are you the one I killed?” he looked at Jason and laughed, “I remember how sweet your head sounded when it smashed.”
Jason trained his gun on him, “How sweet will yours sound when I blow it apart?”
Joker laughed, “C’mon then pretty boy,” he spread his arms out wide, “Gimme your best shot!”
Jason took aim and the air seemed to thicken as his finger tensed about the trigger, Joker’s eyes widened and he cackled aloud as Jason pulled the trigger, but lifted the gun, firing the bullet into the fixtures holding the chandelier in place above them, the crystal chandelier fell shattered, distracting the clowns who tried to shoot and Jason, Bruce, and Dick, who ducked and dodged, shooting rapells into the walls and descending down from the balcony’s, above them, from higher up, two more rapell lines appeared and Damian and Tim slid down, they swung out in arcs, Damian’s katana drawn and blade was affixed to Tim’s staff, they sliced through the ropes holding the hostages in place, getting down on the ground and immediately ran to secure the hostages while their father and older brothers dealt with the clowns and Joker.
Bruce left the clowns to Jason and Dick, the pair working in tandem to deal with them, focusing his attention on the Joker who shot wildly at him not caring where he hit, even if it was one of his own men, “C’mon Brucey, don’t tell me you don’t want this!” he jeered tossing aside an empty gun and pulled out a second, one of Bruce’s batarangs hit his wrist forcing him to drop it and Bruce ran to restrain Joker, having to bring his arm up to deflect the flick knife Joker tried to stab into his side, the clown laughed uproariously as Bruce’s fist struck his solar plexus, and made a swipe for his throat with the knife, Bruce got hold of his wrist and mercilessly brought it down over his knee, snapping Joker’s wrist.
“Oh, don’t tell me you don’t love me, Brucey.” Joker purred, his grease painted face leering at Bruce, “After all, I’m the one who brought you home!”
Bruce let go of Joker’s wrist and punched him in the face, more laughter, another punch, more laughter, another punch, then Bruce jumped up in the air and delivered a rolling thunder, hitting Joker’s head and knocking him out.
“Dramatic much?” Damian sneered, Bruce rolled his eyes, there was just no pleasing some people.
He turned around, “Is that everyone?”
“We’ll sweep the building, but yeah, I think so.” Dick said,
“You guys are okay now, just go out side with your hands up and the cops will help you.” Tim said to one of the politicians.”
“Thank you.” A secretary said, then after a beat, “Mr Wayne.” There was a paused, a few uncomfortable coughs, then all the freed hostages were saying the same, making Bruce very glad for the cowl which hid his blushing face.
“Street Demons next?” Jason asked looking entirely too thrilled about taking on a bunch of high speed trigger happy lunatics,
“Street Demons next.” Bruce agreed, he tapped his com, “Alfred, are you ready.”
“I am sir, and I think you’ll get a surprise when you leave the building.”
Surprise was an understatement, as Bruce and the kids got back up on the roof to get back into the jet they saw Ross’ task force being beaten back by Gotham’s populous, the police, and Oswald Cobblepot’s thugs, with the gangster himself cheering them on from his limo!
A collective cheer went up from them as the family ascended the jet, Oswald and his thugs firing at the sky in a salute to them.
“Penguin giving us a salute.” Dick said, “Never thought I’d see that.”
“Or the cops being on our side.” Jason agreed, “Its weird.”
“But its good.” Bruce said, a small smile on his face, “Its really good.”
Chapter Text
Ross was in the back of his Limo being driven under escort of his task force, while the superhero freaks had gone to ground, supervillains had decided to start causing trouble everywhere and he was a prime target with having launched his task force, he didn’t think the problem would continue for very long, sooner or later the task force would have all of them under control and he had expected some backlash during the early days; however, he did feel safer having his task force act as escorts for him and Death Stroke riding amongst them, the man might technically be a supervillain but he was damn useful and Ross was going to keep him on staff, just as he was Maximoff.
While Maximoff’s abilities were… troubling when it came to the fact she could read his mind, he knew well enough how to control her, she was a greedy child, always wanting more of everything, so to keep her on his side and working to help his achieve his ends all he had to do was keep bank rolling her; honestly, it was rather pathetic, how easily bought she was, if he had powers like that he would have been running the entire world, not just exacting petty revenge on one annoying Billionaire and trying to live at other people’s expense.
His car was just pulling up at traffic lights when there came series of popping sounds and the task force who had been on the motor bikes around the convoy fell from the saddles to sprawl in the road.
“The hell is going on?” Ross demanded, he pressed himself back against his seat as a series of gunshots burst into the air and the car in front and the car behind his limo both had their tires and windscreens blown out.
“We’re under attack,” Death Stroke snarled, he thumped the partition, “Get moving!” he yelled at the driver,
“Sir, the motorcyclists…,” The driver protested, not wanting drive over men sprawled in the road unable to help themselves, they weren’t dead, they had been shot with darts that had knocked them unconscious, so driving over them would likely kill them.
“Fuck sakes!” Death Stroke grunted, he took out a gun, not a weapon he normally used and fired through the partition, putting the round through the back of the drivers head, spraying the windscreen in blood and brain matter.
“The hell are you doing?” Ross screamed,
“Getting us out of here.” Death Stroke said, he kicked the rest of the glass out of the partition and climbed into the front, reaching over the driver’s slumped body he opened the door and pushed the body out of the car and onto the road, he then slid into the drivers seat and slammed the door shut, “Hold on!” he growled at Ross and reversed hard, smashing into the car behind them, sending task force members scattering to get out of the way, Ross heard the cries of protestation as he turned the vehicle and drove forwards running over the bodies of the two men, crushing them beneath the car wheels and nearly ran into three more from the car in front of them.
As Death Stroke rapidly accelerated Ross looked behind them at the flattened bodies of two of the task force, one might live though without his legs, the other one hadn’t a hope in hell, his neck and chest had been crushed.
More popping noises followed and the task force that were left standing all ended up falling to the ground just as the sound of a motorcycle driving at very high speed reached Ross’ ears, he pushed himself up to look further behind and let out a noise of frustration as he saw Captain America weaving through the traffic a passenger behind him in a black body suit that could only be the Black Widow, which likely meant that either Barton or Barnes was the Marx man taking shots.
“Drive faster!” He yelled at Death Stroke, “We’ve got company.”
Ross was thrown back in his seat as Death Stroke floored it, pushing the limo as fast as it could possibly go; horns blared around them, other drivers having to swerve to get out of the way, very often their car being caught by the limo as they sped along, not that Death Stroke cared, for that matter neither did Ross, he kept looking over his shoulder, Captain America and the Black Widow were closing in, the motorbike had been supped up, it was capable of much higher speeds than a normal bike and Roger’s was pushing it for all it was worth.
As the Bike pulled along parallel with them Death Stroke swerved, forcing Roger’s to do the same, trying to drive him off the road and when Roger’s pulled back, Death Stroke slammed on the brakes hard nearly giving Ross a whip lash, Roger’s was forced to swerve lest he ram into the back of the limo, he impressively avoided doing so and spun the bike around, Death Stroke started the engine and began to pull away, flooring the accelerator again and aimed the car at Roger’s who aimed the bike at the limo; Black Widow rose up from the passenger seat, standing on the bike and holding onto Roger’s shoulders as they rode towards Ross and Death Stroke, the assassin letting out a yell as Roger’s swerved at the last second, narrowly avoiding a collision and again turned the bike, and began following after them; Black Widow however had leaped up onto the roof of the car.
Snarling, Ross opened one of the compartments beneath his seat and drew out a gun which he cocked and began to shoot at the roof, once, twice, three times, he saw something black hanging over the left window and fired at it shattering the window, the black shape blew off revealing itself to be Natasha’s jacket.
Natasha herself was in a handstand which she neatly lowered down from kicking her legs forward and let the momentum carry her through the broken window and into the back of the limo, her right foot connected with Ross’ wrist forcing him to drop the gun he was holding her left hit his face breaking his cheek bone, Ross attempted to punch at her but the Black Window was too fast and too skilled, even in his youth he’d have been hard pressed to fight her and he was far from his youth.
Natasha got her legs about his neck, locking her thighs in place and squeezed, not hard enough to break his neck, but enough to make it difficult to breath and for him to feel the restriction of blood to and from his brain, Death Stroke was leaning out of the window firing the gun again as he drove, the sound of Roger’s motorcycle being drowned out by the pressure of Natasha’ thighs.
Her calculating gaze didn’t change for a second, she was emotionless as she held him in place, her eyebrow rising only slightly before she suddenly bent her knees and dragged him down on top of her, a second later there was a god almighty bang the car skidded out of control, spinning around then it slammed into something, the impact rocking Ross and Natasha hard, before it finally came to a stop.
Ross only had a second to draw breath before Natasha was shoving him down onto the floor, grabbing onto his wrists and cuffing them behind his back, she then opened the door and flung him out into the street where a panting Steve Roger’s was waiting.
After dropping Natasha off Steve had circled back around and accelerated hard, going past the limo and got himself a fair distance ahead before spinning back around and driving back, he drove back towards the limo, avoiding the bullets that were fired at him, and cautioned Natasha to take cover, when he was within ten feet of the limo he climbed up and flipped over the handlebars of the bike, landed down in a crouch and hurled the bike over his head going straight for the limo. Death Stroke had no time to react, the limo was going to fast and he was distracted by firing the gun, the bike smashed through the windscreen, crushing Death Stroke, sending the car spinning around out of control, Steve got clear and waited until the car had come to a stop before approaching the vehicle, arriving just as Natasha tossed Ross out onto the road.
“I’ll have your hides for this.” He spat,
“You really won’t.” Steve said, “And I think the president wants a word.”
*****
White House.
President Ellis had removed his jacket, his tie, and undone the top two collar buttons of his shirt, he’d also opened the scotch he kept in the office and poured a large drink, as he watched in disbelief as the Bat Family took down Joker, Fire Fly, the Street Demons, and were given back up by Penguin, the GCPD, and Gothamites, all of whom showed no mercy to Ross’ task force.
He saw Tony Stark, a full conscious Tony Stark, dragging a very much alive Lionel Luthor to the Metropolis police department and dropping into their custody, while Aquaman and Falcon kept a luxury yacht which had apparently been Luthor’s hide out, under control, until the coast guard could take it into port and give it over to the authorities for processing.
If that were not enough, he was shown Wanda Maximoff being tackled, webbed up, restrained with some kind of glowing rope, and a power dampener being placed around her back by Wonder Woman, Spider Man, Flash, and Ant Man, while Green Arrow, and Hawkeye acted as snipers taking down Ross’ task force.
Then to top everything off, he was shown Ross’ limo in Metropolis, his task force being shot with tranquiliser darts, the two convoy cars disabled, then the driver of his limo being shoved out the limo with a very obvious bullet wound to his head and a new driver driving over two of the downed task force men as they lay spawled in the road!
He was on the edge of his seat as he watched the chase between Roger’s Romanoff and Ross, was enthralled by the black widow’s acrobatics and her impressive way of getting Ross to shoot out his own window providing her with an entry to the car, and finally Roger’s taking out the driver by flipping over and throwing his motorbike through the windscreen!
“Death Stroke was the driver.” Rhodey put in, “A notorious assassin.” Clearly he’d been informed by Vision of this,
The image on the computer changed and Eliss saw Gothamites cheering in the street and holding up flags in the shape of bats!
“I think you can see what’s happening now and can guess what it going to happen.” Rhodey said, as Eliss took up his scotch and downed it in a single swallow,
“Ross was not going to stop with the subjugation of the enhanced, Mr President,” came Vision’s voice, “He was in fact planning to launch an attack on the White house that would be made to look like an enhanced group had attacked and kill off yourself and several key members of the government, leaving himself as next in line to become president.”
Eliss’ knuckles turned white around his tumbler, “Then when the election came, he would have Miss Maximoff influence the voters into voting for him, thus securing his place as president.”
“Mother-fucker!” Eliss swore, he tossed he tumbler across his office, shattering it on the opposite wall, “You have proof?”
“It is being sent to your server right now sir.” Vision said, “I have taken the liberty of sending it to various law enforcements including the CIA.”
“Oh fuck the CIA, I want that bastard brought here, and that sack of shit Luthor, not to mention the Witch, I want them brought before me!”
“I think that can be arranged.” Rhodey said with a smile, “However, before that happens, you need to make a few decisions.”
Eliss waved at him, “The task force will be disbanded effected immediately, the subjugation of enhanced will be abolished, your teams actions will not be held against you, even though some of them broke their parole.”
“And Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Richard Grayson, Jason Todd, Timothy Drake, and Damian Wayne are all to be given full pardons, for any and all crimes.”
Eliss ran a hand through his hair, “Like there is a choice at this point, Gotham’ already throwing them a god damn parade!” he sighed, “Fine, agreed, I’ll go on air and announce it, right after I deal with the now former secretary of state.”
******
Clark cradled Lex as gently as a newborn, flying him directly to Metropolis general and used super speed to rush him through into one of the emergency bays, laying him down onto a gurney, startling several nurses and doctors.
“He needs immediate medical attention.” He said to them, taking him position at the head of the gurney, holding Lex’s left hand tightly,
“Uh…right, yes.” One of the Doctor’s said, he cleared his throat and visibly pulled himself together, “Mr Luthor, I’m Doctor Patterson, we’re going to start by taking your vitals and assessing you for injury.”
“Fine.” Lex said, reluctantly letting go of Clark’s hand so his blood pressure could be taken along with his pulse, he breathed deeply as the doctor listened to his heart and didn’t put up a fuss as his prison shirt was cut open to expose his chest; his rapid healing had already dealt with all but his most serious injuries, there were now only the faint bruises left over from his prison beating and being tossed around in the transport, the rest had all healed up.
“Lets get the cast off and x-ray the leg.” Patterson ordered, “And get an Orthopaedic surgeon to assess the limb,” He looked at the bandaged stump of Lex’s right arm, “I need to see the wound.” He said, Lex moved the limb hearing Clark growl as he did so,
“I’m fine baby, its okay now.” He said, although he had to avert his eyes as the bandages were cut away to expose fresh scar tissue over the wound,
“We’ll x-ray this, and have an orthopaedic surgeon examine it, but I think that you’ll be ready for a prosthetic very soon.” Patterson said, “Have you experienced any sickness, any burning sensations in the area, shooting pains, pins and needles?”
“Pain,” Lex said, “But nothing else.”
“Its unlikely there is any infection but will run a blood screen just to be sure, in fact, Marcy, lets do a full blood panel.” He ordered one of the nurses, as she got a kit ready, he continued with his examination, making sure Lex didn’t have any other broken bones or any signs of internal bleeds, he very gently asked if there had been any sexual trauma, tensing when Clark’s growls became audible, Lex however assured everyone that there had not.
Then he was taken to X-Ray so his leg could be checked along with his ribs just for Patterson’s peace of mind, and his arm to be certain it was healing.
While he waited for Lex to return, Clark listened to what was happening elsewhere, Lionel being arrested, Joker being taken down, Maximoff being restrained, and Ross being captured, he smiled in satisfaction and readily shared the news with Lex when he was brought back.
“I knew he was losing.” Lex said, “Lionel I mean, he would also start mocking me and trying to destroy by self-worth when things weren’t going right for him; I wasn’t something I realised at the time, but in the years since, I’ve come to see the patten, and when he started doing it while I was his prisoner, I knew things were falling apart for him.” He leaned in Clark’s touch as the Kryptonian stroked his face, “Is it safe for you here?” he asked,
“It is.” Clark assured him, “The others are dealing with Lionel’s compatriots as we speak, Maximoff, Ross, Death Stroke, the task force, they are all being taken down.”
“So that’s it then.” Lex said exhaling, his eyelids fluttering, “Seems almost anti-climatic, after everything,” He looked to Clark, “It got to me,” He said, “Prison, reminded me of Belle Reve.” Clark’s face creased in concern and he enveloped Lex in his embrace as best he could,
“You will never go back there, you will never go to prison again either, I won’t allow it, if anyone tries to take you from me again I’ll incinerate them on the spot, morality be damned!”
Lex chuckled wetly, he hated crying, it made him feel weak and pathetic, all the things Lionel accused him of being, but damnit, after these weeks of misery he needed to let out his emotions, needed cry for relief, of it finally being over, finally being back with Clark; just as he knew Clark would, he found himself lifted from the gurney and placed onto Clark’s lap, his head lain to rest over Clark’s heart as impossibly strong arms encased him in an embrace.
“No one will ever hurt you again, baby.” Clark swore, “I won’t let them, I swear.”
Lex buried his face into Clark’s chest, hiding the fact he was crying from the view of the nurses, patients, and Doctor’s who all gawped at the sight of superman cuddling him and kissing his head, so much for secret identities, this was going to bring a media storm down on them, one that might even eclipse Lionel’ apparent resurrection and Ross’ arrest; he mentally groaned imagining Lois Lane screeching at them for an all exclusive, and how many socialites would “Discreetly” ask if fucking an alien was different to a human, still, all that was a tomorrow problem, for right now he was safe and he was warm, and he was back with Clark and that was all that mattered.
Chapter Text
Hi guys, I am really sorry to be doing this, but I am having a rough time with anxiety and my mental health right now and I am trying to get both under control, so I am going to have to put fic writing on hold for the time being. Hopefully it won’t be for very long and then I’ll get back to regular updates.
Elenduen (AKA Fiona.)
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