DC/Justice League Oneshots

Television

A/N Written by @Bekkoni. Plot minorly changed.

Clark saw it on the television.

He had taken the day off from active duty, intending to have a nice dinner with Lois, casually ignore his super-hearing, and just have a nice night.

It was the worst possible way to find out.

"Clark!" he was cooking dinner, and thought she was calling him to try some line out from her latest article.

"Be right there," he said, and stirred the peas.

"Clark! For God's sake! Clark!"

He was in the living room in seconds, but there was nothing he could have done. Lois was sitting on the couch, gripping the armrest, the research for her article forgotten on the floor.

On the TV was the news, and it was playing one thing over and over.

There was the Justice League, combating a troop of metahuman suicide bombers. One of them, standing on top of an apartment building, was obviously the true threat, the others simply decoys.

Diana dove for him, and Clark expected to see her easily disarm him.

The bomber picked a weapon from his belt (Clark cursed the camera angle), and shot her. Diana tried to deflect it with her bracelets, and instead just fell hard to the ground.

The bomber activated his explosives, brilliant red lights flashing all over his vest. Clark lurched forward. Had they failed? Was that what-

Bruce, in his costume of swirling leapt from the right side of the screen and tackled the bomber, wrestling with him. Clark saw him glance at the explosives; register how much time the League had.

Then, Bruce pulled a grappling hook form his belt and he and the bomber flew out of view. The camera panned right, just in time to catch an explosion over a construction site.

When the dust cleared, there was the remains of the bomber's clothes, and an empty, torn black cowl.

                              ○●○

There was no funeral.

Bruce hadn't wanted one, and the only way Dick could have taken over the costume was if it was kept as quiet as possible.

Zatanna volunteered to play the part of Bruce Wayne for a few months, until they killed him off quietly.

The Justice League had their own service, up in the Watchtower. Diana just looked into her glass of wine, silent and tear-eyed. Wally tried to crack a couple of half-hearted jokes, but eventually just sniffled and gave up.

"What are we going to do without Bats?" he asked.

Clark just shook his head. This was almost pathetic—someone (he couldn't even muster something to say) ought to give a eulogy, but how do you sum up Batman? "Carry on. It's what he would have said."

Diana slammed her hand on the table, stood up, and left. After a minute, Clark followed her and found her in the observation bay with tears on her face.