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fishbrain-glubglub · 7 months

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Seven months, fifteen days, four hours, and thirty-seven minutes.

It had been that long since Bruce's heart had been violently ripped out of his chest as he watched Superman- his best friend, his partner in-and-out of crime, his sunshine, his husband- crumple lifelessly to the ground, bloodied almost beyond recognition in his tattered uniform worn from his final battle against his home planet's ultimate weapon. It had been that long since the life left the Kryptonian's otherworldly cornflower blue eyes, taking Bruce’s soul along with it. It had been that long since Batman stopped pulling back his punches, beating even common crooks inches within their lives just to feel the pound of flesh against the void that filled his senses. If it was a bad night, the Dark Knight would even allow those same criminals to get the drop on him, allowing these low-level nobodies to beat him senseless just to remember what it was like to feel something, anything other than the bare nothingness where his heart used to reside.

Sometimes, the Batman even allowed the higher level rogues get the drop on him, falling into trap after trap just to feel the thrill of adrenaline at the thought that maybe it was his time, and he would finally be reunited with his zrhomin again in blissful eternity amongst the stars.

This was one of those moments.

"Truly, Batman, I must admit I am perplexed." Edward Nigma circled the captured Caped Crusader twirling his question mark cane lazily in the air. "I have created quite a list of complex contraptions in the past, only for you to masterfully evade and vanquish my plans without so much as a batarang out of place." Nigma stopped right in front of Batman, a menacing sneer warping his pale face. "Yet here you are, battered, bloodied, and barely a threat. I can only conclude that all those seemingly ludicrous rumors are true."

Batman bared his bloodied teeth with a sneer of his own, itching for Riddler to finish his monolog so the fight could commence. The overwhelming inner numbness had already begun to creep within the vigilante's chest, stealing his every breath in its greed to consume.

Nigma only sighed and shook his head slowly, pulling at the question mark end of his cane to reveal a blade. "I had always imagined our final battle to be both a test of brain and brawn, but I guess I must settle for what I am given." He placed the blade against Batman's jaw and leaned in close. "Give my regards to the Man of Steel, will you? At least he still appreciated my riddles in the end."

Behind the white lenses of his cracked cowl, Bruce closed his eyes imagining the golden radiance of his beloved's ethereal form, accepting the final blow and awaited his eternal damnation.

The blow never came.

There was a brief gust of wind, knocking Batman to the ground before his bindings vanished, freeing his aching limbs from their containment. The man's eyes snapped open as he regained his equilibrium, rolling to his feet before he could collapse. He looked around for the Riddler, expecting another ploy to spring any moment.

Instead, a figure clad in a simple black Kryptonian suit hovered just outside the Dark Knight's reach, radiating light like the sun itself despite the sliver of moonlight peaking through Gotham’s cloudy skyline. The man's curly black hair gently brushed against his shoulders, pairing strikingly well with the face of slightly disheveled facial hair that framed the man's face perfectly. His eyes, vibrant and full of warmth, bore right through Bruce’s chest, warming the external chill he had been damned to carry. The sight before him was too good to be true.

It had to be.

"B." The black-clad figure flashed a strikingly familiar smile, sending the Dark Knight's nonexistent heart racing.

Batman took a large step back, crouching into a defensive stance. "I don't know who you are, or who made you, but I will not hesitate to send you back in pieces."

A confused look warped the mysterious figure's face. "B? What are you talking about? It's me."

"You may have his face, automaton," Batman snarled. "But you will never truly capture the essence of the Man of Steel."

Hurt merged with the figure's confusion. "Bruce, please-"

A batarang bounced harmlessly off the black-clad chest, the figure's hand catching the weapon in the blink of an eye. It looked down at the object in both disappointment and slight anguish before raising its gaze back at Batman, its well-crafted eyes pleading.

"Bruce-"

"Stop!" Batman threatened the figure with another batarang. "I don't know how your creator gained that name, but if you say it one more time, I will destroy every trace of your and your creator's existence before the night's end."

The figure held up its hands in a placating gesture, still holding the batarand between its pointer finger and thumb. "It’s okay, B. I promise it's really me." When Batman said nothing, it continued. "Will you let me prove it to you?"

Batman growled. "Nothing you do can prove you are nothing more than a fake."

The figure's chuckle sent a tingling warmth through Batman's body. It was so familiar, so realistic, he could almost imagine this automaton was the real Man of Steel. The figure's mouth curled up into an accurate teasing grin. "Try me."

Batman quickly internally rattled off a list of questions, only to just as quickly dismiss them from thought. Many of them contained information accessible to the public. Questions related to Justice League information unknown to the public could still be obtained (though if that were true, Bruce would've been alerted before it could ever be transplanted into a fake). Still, there were so few options for the figure to truly confirm its identity.

Unless...

Batman straightened from his battle stance, storing his batarangs back in his belt and looked the figure directly in its eyes. The automaton slowly lowered its arms to its side, dropping the batarang to the dusty warehouse floor. A hopeful smile danced on its perfectly sculpted features, eyes gleaming similar to Bruce's memory.

The Dark Knight took a moment to brace himself, taking a deep breath before speaking as calmly as the numbness would allow.

"There lies the heat of summer

On your cheek's lovely art;

There lies the cold of winter

Within zhao,tes lonely heart."

Recognition and joy lit up the figure's face as it made an aborted motion forward before forcing itself to stay.

"That will change, Vikhzhao,

The end not as the start!

Winter on your cheek then,

Summer in your heart."

Before Bruce could even register the movement, he was lunging forward into the figure's- into Kal's- strong yet gentle arms, burying his bruised face into the crook of his husband's neck. The comforting warmth of the Kryptonian filled the crushing void that hard tried to consume Bruce for months, restarting his heart and sending a rapid rhythm under his skin. Seven months, fifteen days, four hours, and fifty-two minutes worth of anguish and sorrow bubbled violently to the surface of the Dark Knight's psyche, threatening to escape through his now trembling lips.

A gentle hand began rubbing soothing patterns against Bruce's tattered back while the other held him close, not daring to let go anytime soon.

"Hey now, B. It's okay." Kal's soothing tenor sent another wave of relief amongst Bruce's other overwhelming emotions threatening to consume the man. "I'm here, darling, I promise."

"You idiot!" Anger swelled above everything else, causing Bruce to pull away from Kal's embrace enough to look his husband in his beautiful otherworldly eyes, pounding half-heartedly on his perfect chest. "You fucking moron! You weren't supposed to die! Not until I was long gone, our life full of happy memories and zero regrets!"

"And that can still happen." The Kryptonian's smile didn't waver as he cupped his partner's jaw, lighting up every inch of Bruce's being. "I'm here, aren't I? There's still plenty of time."

"No."

Confusion shrouded Kal's smile. "No?"

Bruce tightened his grip on his love's waist, scowling without any heat behind it. "No. We have seven months, fifteen days, four hours, and fifty-six minutes of catching up to do." He glanced at the distant Gotham skyline before returning his now heated gaze to his partner. "And Bruce Wayne has a mandatory quarterly review meeting in six hours and twenty-seven minutes."

A darker, more mischievous grin spread on Kal's face. "I can get us home before you can list all of the things we have missed."

"That's not fair." Bruce huffed. "That's a very long list."

Kal scooped Bruce into a long familiar (yet still embarrassing) bridal carry before leaning down for the most heart-felt kiss Bruce had ever experienced in a long time. His body was instantly filled to the brim with warmth and love and happiness and Kal, melting away any physical or mental pain from Bruce's mind. Everything was realigned once more, life becoming worth living once more.

After what felt like a millenia and yet only the briefest of a millisecond, Kal pulled away, his brilliant sapphire eyes gleaming with light Bruce never thought he'd see again.

"You better get started then."

He never did finish that list.

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