THE WOES OF A SINGLE FATHER ; BATFAMILY && SUPERBAT

Chapter 08

Anywhere you are

I am near

Anywhere you go

I'll be there

by Chris Medina

★

Clark enjoys listening to Bruce's heart. Hewas typing his report in his hotel room when he unconsciously picked up on the billionaire's calming heartbeat through his super hearing.

If anyone ever knew about this, they might call him as a creep. However, for someone who was born with the ability to hear every sound in the world -- Clark thinks of this as a compliment. He had been listening to various voices and noises as a child, it used to feel uncomfortable for him because he couldn't focus on just one sound.

In his usual routine, the man of steel would lie in his bed and listen to his mother's heartbeat in Smallville after a tiresome day of work and rescuing the world. But tonight, Clark found himself focusing on another's heartbeat.

Clark didn't understand what was so special about Bruce Wayne that allowed him to 'stalk' the man's heart beats. However, he found it relieved his nerves. It was the same experience he usually had when he listened to Martha's heartbeats.

Because he had been listening to Bruce's heart, he instantly knew something was wrong when the man's pulse paced up. In the beginning, he hesitated to rush in aid since he assumed the billionaire could be doing exercise.

However, when he started to pick up the sounds surrounding Bruce and heard crashing along with exclamations from one of the boys -- Clark knew that something was going wrong. He immediately donned his suit as he rushed out the window towards Bruce's location.

When he arrived on the scene to see Bruce and the boys in a safe condition, a relieved sigh escaped through the lump that had stuck in his throat.

"Mister Wayne?" He called out as he slowly landed down before the car. He flashed a friendly smile to assure the family that he meant them no harm before he took a careful step towards them. "Need a hand?"

Superman watched as the kids stared at him with their mouth gaped wide. It took a second for the boys to recover from their shock before they shouted out with excitement twinkling in their eyes.

"IT'S SUPERMAN!"

"Is it really the REAL Superman? What is Superman doing in Gotham?!"

"I can't believe I'm finally meeting Superman !"

The friendly smile spread wide into a grin when the superhero saw how much the boys adored him. He knew he had always been a well-loved figure by kids around their age, but he didn't expect the Wayne boys to love him just as much as other kids did. After all, Gotham had their own vigilante who was well-adored by the children of the city as well.

"Yes, it's the real Superman, boys." As he calmed down the three excited boys, Clark had his attention directed back towards the father who had not spoken a word since the beginning.

"Mister Wayne?"

Bruce who was cradling the baby in his arms tilted his head up upon hearing the call. As their eyes met, Clark swore that it was the second time he felt struck by the man's gentle gaze that would only be directed to his children.

"Are you alright?" Clark reached his arm out. He was about to touch Bruce's shoulder when the man moved away, his eyes drifting from his broken car towards the empty crop fields.