POSSESSION ; INJUSTICE SUPERBAT

Chapter 14

When he was hauled out of the room, Barry had stayed outside. He paced back and forth in concern, as he couldn't hear any sounds through the thick, metal door.

Suddenly, he heard the child's scream. Bruce never screams like that when he was with Kal, he was never scared when he was with the Kryptonian.

Barry sensed that something had gone wrong. But when he tried to open the door, he realized that it had been locked from the inside.

'...you ungrateful brat.'

While he was trying to get the door unlocked, Barry heard Kal's utters. Kal never called Bruce like that. He never used such a malicious tone at the child.

Barry began to panic. He slammed codes into the keypad, but it wasn't working. Cursing, Barry caught the sight of a soldier who passed by. Without thinking much, the speedster rushed over to grab the man's laser gun and shot it at the metal door.

"Kal!"

Upon seeing the man towering over the child, Barry instantly pulled the Kryptonian away. At the moment, he didn't care if he might anger Kal further for interrupting. Barry picked up Bruce into his arms. The child trembled in fear, his fingers grasped on the stretchy texture of the speedster's suit.

Tears began to fall out of Bruce's eyes as he buried himself in Barry's embrace. All the speedster could do was to hold him close in his embrace, comforting him. The red handprint began to slowly show on Bruce's cheek. The sight of it made Barry winced. He also noticed that there were soft red finger marks on Bruce's neck.

Barry could only imagine how fearful it must be for the child to experience a full-grown Kryptonian's wrath for the first time.

"Bruce, it's okay, I got you..." Barry hushed, cradling the crying child in his arms. "I'm here... Shh... you're safe now, kiddo."

"Bruce..."

Kal got up on his feet and approached the duo. On his first instinct, Barry backed away. He wanted to keep a distance between the Kryptonian and the child. After all, this man, despite looking guilty and apologetic, just lost his temper and physically hurt the child. However, despite his efforts, Kal was in front of them.

The man squatted down. His eyes, now a calm blue, stared at the child in Barry's embrace. Then, he extended a hand, holding Bruce's chin.

The child flinched under the adult's touch. Upon being touched, Bruce pulled away and curled himself in Barry's arms, away from Kal's view.

The child's small gesture broke Kal's heart. It was painful to see how Bruce feared him. Kal admitted that he was wrong in losing his tempers. But still, Bruce shouldn't... no. He can't do this to him! Bruce was supposed to adore him. He was his saviour. His world!

"Little one, I'm sorry." He wanted to check on the child's condition, but Bruce refused to move from Barry's embrace. When Kal's hand touched his shoulder, the boy flinched. He tightened his grip on Barry until his knuckle turned white.

"No!"

"Forgive me," Kal spoke, his tone gentle. However, it was not enough to soothe the child's fear away. "Bruce, you know I didn't mean it-"

"No! No! NO!"

Barry took notice of Kal's expression change. The Kryptonian furrowed his brows with a frown. He was not in a good mood and was growing impatient towards the child.

Barry ran a hand through Bruch's hair, trying to calm the panicking child. "I... I think Bruce should stay with me for a while..." When Kal directed his gaze towards him, Barry shuddered. The superhuman's gaze was not friendly, maybe even jealous...?