Chapter Text
The snowstorm swirled outside, several figures battling their way across the courtyard. Usually green and full of life, winter turned the beautiful Metropolis University Campus into something of a winter wonderland. Lights were draped from the eaves, promising that Christmas wasn’t far off. For these students, it was only two weeks away. All they had to do was survive their semester finals before they could be pulled into the safety of Winter Break.
Two students trudged through the blowing wind, snow coming up to just a few inches below their knees. They both looked large and burly, wrapped up in coats, hats, and even scarves. “Doesn’t snow like this back in Kansas, does it, Smallville?”
Clark smiled at Jimmy, the only indicator being his eyes, as his mouth was mostly covered by a red and blue knitted scarf. “Depends on where you’re at. Up in the north, they get plenty of snow– blankets of it really. Not much hits in the south. But no, in Smallville, we never really got that much. At least, certainly not as much as Metropolis.”
James Olsen, known as Jimmy, grinned. “Y’know, I never quite get used to how pretty it is. Even though I’ve lived in this city for nearly my entire life…every year it still amazes me. That’s actually how I got my start in photography– I took a landscape of the city park in winter.”
Clark smiled at the story, slightly wistfully. He had always wished he’d known Jimmy before the University, as it would have made High School all that less miserable if he would have had a friend like him. Nerdy and unpopular– funny how all of that seemed to disappear the moment he stepped into the real world. “I’m glad you did. I don’t know what I’d do without you here…plus, I think you’re going to be an incredible photojournalist.”
They approached the doors to the Siegal-Shuster building– one of the older ones, made of towering bricks, with glass and metal doors. “Well, you probably would have had to make another friend– daunting, I know. As for being a photojournalist– I can’t argue with you there. Here’s to hoping we both get hired at the Daily Planet. I don’t know what I’d do without you either, Clark.”
The pair shared a grin, before they pulled open the doors of the building, and stepped inside to the warm rush of air. Just up the stairs, which were made of some warm-colored stone, they arrived at room 215, which even at eight in the morning, was bustling with activity.
“Remind me again why we took an eight-A.M…” Jimmy grumbled as they approached their unofficially assigned seats.
“It was the only time they offered Feature, Editorial, and Opinion Writing.”
“Pfft. So why did we take this class? I’m tired, Clark.”
“It’s only on Mondays and Wednesdays.”
“Right, so I’m tired on Mondays and Wednesdays. That’s two more days a week than it ever should be. Jimmy needs his beauty sleep.”
“What was that? Did you just refer to yourself in the third person?”
“No. Soundbite.”
The two shared a laugh as they dropped their bags beside their chairs, as well as shedding their coats, and drooping them across the backs of their seats. Jimmy was the first to sit down, with a slightly dramatic groan.
“And here I was thinking that James Olsen was 22, but here he is acting like he’s 87.”
Both the men turned their heads as Cat Grant came waltzing towards them, Steve following behind her. “How’d the snow treat you two?” She asked, sitting in her own unofficial assigned seat, which was right next to Clark, with Steve on her other hand.
“It was alright.” Clark said with a shrug, sitting down, and then bending over to pull out his belongings. A notebook, a pen, and a laptop that had seen better days. “Did both of you get here safely?” He asked, pushing open the top. The computer began to whir to life, sounding much like a jet getting ready to take off.
“Sure did. We had to carpool this morning though– Steve’s car wouldn’t start… Did you two hear about Lex Luthor?” This clearly was the main topic she wanted to discuss, Clark supposed, judging by the way her eyes brightened, and her heart beat sped up. “Apparemtly–”
“Supposedly, he’s been supplying Batman with all of his weapons, all along.” Lois Lane stood in front of them, on the row just below theirs. Her dark hair cascaded down her purple blazer, and Clark suddenly felt hot in his soft gray turtleneck. He pushed his glasses up a little higher on his nose. You see, Lois Lane was a very pretty woman.
And also, she was rather intimidating. To everybody. It was hard to not be intimidated. She was brilliant, quick, undoubtedly more informed on any given topic than the average person– and she wasn’t afraid to ask the hard-hitting questions. And gorgeous. Had he mentioned that?
Lois continued. “Which is ridiculous, of course.”
“Well…yeah.” Cat butted back in. “I mean…I wasn’t aware that The Batman was even real. I thought he was some Urban Legend that Gothamites made up.”
“No way! He’s totally real.” Steve added on. “I had a buddy who lived in Gotham– and he said that The Batman personally saved him from the Joker. It’s a shame he had to die a few weeks later…Gotham City is brutal, man.”
“Wouldn’t it make more sense to just call him Batman, rather than The Batman?” Jimmy countered, looking up from his computer.
“No…he’s like a cryptid, hence why he’s called The Batman. You know, like The Mothman, or The Jersey Devil. I’m pretty sure that ‘the’ is part of his title.” Cat argued.
Clark’s attention mostly remained on Lois, who seemed particularly annoyed at the turn the conversation had taken. “Ugh, God! It doesn’t matter if we call him the Batman or Batman, what matters is that Lex Luthor is lying, and he’s clearly trying to take advantage of the people of Gotham City by tying himself to their hero.”
“You think he’s lying?” Clark asked, voice a little lower than usual. Jimmy started laughing at him, and Clark silently smacked his thigh under the desk. He cleared his throat. “What makes you think that, Lois?”
Lois sighed. “Because I don’t think Batman– the Batman, whatever!-- would be partnering up with somebody so…in the public eye. I mean– first of all, if he is real, imagine how much work he’s done to cover up his existence– legends have been circulating about him for the past six years, and still nobody has proven if he’s real. All we have is first hand accounts from people who have usually gone through very traumatic things to see him…there’s not even any photographs. For all we know, this could be some strange mass-hallucination…maybe caused by unknown gasses and such. And another reason is if Batman was partnering up with a billionaire to fund all of those gadgets people claim that he uses– wouldn’t it make more sense that he partners up with the billionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne? I just don’t think it’s likely that he’d partner up with Lex Luthor who essentially specializes in war, over Bruce Wayne, who basically makes it his entire job to fix Gotham up.” She finished her rant in what seemed to be all one breath, exhaling heavily once she was done.
There was silence as everybody else thought it over. Jimmy was the first to speak this time. “And playboy.”
Lois looked at him, raising a brow. “What are you talking about?”
“And playboy. You forgot that part. Every time somebody refers to Bruce Wayne, they say, Billionaire, Philanthropist, and Playboy, Bruce Wayne.”
“Does that actually matter to you?”
“Of course it does. If you say Billionaire and Philanthropist, Bruce Wayne, that paints a totally different picture from: Billionaire, Philanthropist, and Playboy, Bruce Wayne. And if there is one thing we’ve learned here, it’s that titles matter.”
Cat giggled suddenly. “Hence why we call it, The Batman!”
“Alright, you got me there, Cat.” Jimmy admitted with an amused smile.
Lois crossed her arms over her chest, heart rate speeding up, as she prepared for an argument Clark was almost embarrassed at how in tune his senses were with her– he didn’t use his…abilities to keep track of anybody else like this. “Alright, Jimmy, since when did you care so much about Bruce Wayne?”
“Since, like…ever?” Jimmy defended himself quickly. Clark gave a knowing smile at the rant that was about to come. Jimmy sat forward, leaning toward Lois. “Bruce Wayne is single-handedly the coolest person on this planet. He has such a ridiculous amount of money– did you know that he got tired of being a billionaire one day, and he decided he was gonna blow it all? Gave his employees crazy benefits– created a program to help rehabilitate prisoners– started a charity to pay for tuition to Gotham University– began actually funding their police department? And you know what? People were so happy with him, that Wayne Enterprise’s profits went up 400% in the span of a year. He’s even richer than ever– and the more he helps people, the richer he gets.
“Also, I’m pretty sure he’s actually the smartest man alive. Have you seen the things he built? The many degrees he has? The languages he speaks? He might actually know it all! He pulls any chic he wants to…he walks into a room, and everybody goes silent. I don’t think it’s possible to get cooler! I’m not exaggerating when I say that I would literally kill to meet him.”
“Alright, Jimmy, we get it, you masturbate to interviews of Bruce Wayne.” Steve snapped, causing Cat to laugh, and Lois to give a brief smile.
“That’s not nice, Steve, come on. Everybody has heroes.” Clark defended his best friend.
“Thank you, Clark!”
“Some of us are just more attracted to our heroes than others.” Cat added on quickly, causing another ripple of laughter.
“Come on, knock it off. I don’t–”
“That is enough, Olsen!” The booming voice caught everybody off guard, and they all fell silent. Lois scuttled off to her seat quickly as Professor Perry White shouted at them. “Class is beginning, and you were still talking for some reason!” Clark thought that this was unfair, seeing as how everybody else had been talking too– but Professor White had always had it out for Jimmy.
The man began blabbering, talking about how they would have their final essay– A mock feature, opinion, or editorial article due this upcoming wednesday. Clark, who was usually an excellent student, would have loved to get all of the details on that, but Cat and Steve were having a conversation that no doubt they thought was entirely private. Sometimes Clark would feel bad for all of the eavesdropping he did on a daily basis…but most of the time, it was a little too helpful to cut out.
“I just feel bad for her, y’know?”
“Who are we talking about again, Cat?”
“Lois, Steve. We’re talking about Lois.”
“Oh. Why would you feel bad for her?”
“Because she doesn’t have any friends! I mean, she comes over here every morning, and she tries to talk with us, but the truth is, she’s just a little too mean and abrasive at times.”
“Oh yeah. Well, I mean, you know you’ve screwed up when not even Clark will talk to you for very long,”
“That’s different. Clark still thinks everybody’s amazing, even if they are a little abrasive. He won’t talk to her because he’s into her. Like super into her.”
“He is?”
This was Clark’s signal to try and pay attention to class once again. Luckily, it seemed that Professor White was still not done talking about their article. He allowed his eyes to drift toward Lois, scanning through the stone column that happened to block her perfectly. No friends? How could that possibly be true? How could somebody not want to be friends with somebody so brilliant? So…well, she was a lot of wonderful things in his eyes.
His attention was brought back to Perry White as he suddenly clapped his hands together. “But I do have news that’ll be very exciting to two of you, and will surely leave the rest of you thoroughly disappointed. As I’m sure you know, this evening, there was to be a team of scientists sent up from Gotham City– a team who works at Wayne Enterprises, and they were to host a gala. This would be for select students in certain STEM majors. An event that none of you would have been invited to as you all have chosen the much superior course of Journalism.
“But this morning, I was made aware of the fact that a certain Billionaire, Philanthropist, and Playboy will also be attending the gala this evening. That is correct– Mr. Bruce Wayne. So I managed to secure two tickets to the gala this evening, for two very lucky Journalism majors. I have also been in contact with Mr. Wayne himself, and he has given me his word that he will give them a private interview.”
Clark felt Jimmy stiffen up next to him, his entire heart gone haywire. The blondish-ginger clasped his hand onto Clark’s arm, and began whispering, ‘Oh my God’ under his breath, over and over and over again.
“I went ahead, and I picked the best performing students in this entire major.” Clark smiled at White’s words– that was easily Jimmy! He worked ridiculously hard on all of his articles. Perhaps Lois as well! That would be terribly fun for them, and mentally he was already congratulating the pair on their recognition. “So, naturally, that led me to pick….”
“Lois Lane and Clark Kent.”
—--------- –
“I’m going to go turn it down, right now, Jimmy! And then he’ll for sure give it to you!” Clark was stammering out his words, as his guilt had been overtaking him for the entire remainder of that class. It wasn’t his fault that Professor White had picked him over Jimmy– but he couldn’t help but feel like it was. Jimmy was more deserving– not to mention, meeting Bruce Wayne was the opportunity of a lifetime for him. He couldn’t take that away from him, and still call himself a good friend.
As Clark began to stand up, Jimmy attached himself to his arm, trying to pull him back down. But Clark, who was much larger than Jimmy (and also endowed with some certain secret abilities) stood up as if there hadn’t been a 150 pound weight attached to his arm. Thankfully, Jimmy didn’t seem to notice. “Clark, you can’t! You know that Professor White hates me! If you won’t take it, he’ll probably give it to some nobody! And I would much rather have you go than a nobody! At least you can get his signature for me! And I can live vicariously through you, Clark. Please. You have to go.”
Clark finally sat back down. “But it’s not fair to you, Jimmy.” He fought weakly. “All you’ve ever wanted to do is meet Bruce Wayne, and I can’t take that away from you.”
Jimmy placed his hands on the side of his head. “You’re not. I’ll meet him someday. Now don’t be an idiot, and go grab that invitation!”
“Right!”
Clark jumped up from his seat, the force of his extraterrestrial body knocking one of the bolts that held the desk down loose. “Oh, darn, I’m so sorry!” He felt his cheeks flush in embarrassment. “I should probably fix that– where do you think I can get a screwdriver?” Although it pained him to know that it was a job his laser vision would make quick work of– he was forever doomed to doing things the normal way.
“Clark, go!” Jimmy hissed, shoving him down the aisle.
Clark wove through the people, making his way down to the cleared out center, where Professor Perry White stood behind a podium. Lois reached him at the same time, and for a moment, the two stared at one another, before turning their attention back to their professor, who was shuffling through his briefcase. “Ahah! Yes, here we are. Tickets for two– to the Wayne Enterprise Gala tonight, held in the Corenswet building. Seven’O’Clock tonight, and don’t be late. I had to practically beg to get these tickets for the Gala, so you two better make a good impression. It’s part of why I chose you– you always mean business. Can be professional and friendly at the same time– unlike that Olsen kid. A little reckless and loud for my tastes. Well anyway, it’s black tie. Make sure you dress appropriately."
Professor White now made his exit, straightening his tie as he went, leaving behind Clark and Lois. “Uhhh, Lois? I mean if you’d like, I could pick you up. We could go together– just for convenience.”
“Hmm? No thanks. I probably live way out of your way anyway. See you there, Clark.”
—--------- –
The man tumbled down the stairs with a yelp, catching himself on the last step, and coming up for a mostly smooth landing.
“Did you just fall?” The voice floated from upstairs, extremely concerned. Eventually, the woman responsible for the voice came round the corner, standing at the top of the stairs. “And you’re not even fully dressed. Oh, Barry– what am I going to do with you?” Iris asked, as she came after him, two steps at a time. “Put your tie on and fast– you’ll have to run if you want to make it on time.”
“It’s only two minutes away!” Barry reasoned, and he quickly began to do up his tie.
Iris rolled her eyes, as she began to smooth his hair. “Yeah, and it’s 6:59. Now, get out of here.” She gave him a playful shove, as he started for the door, pulling his shoes on.
“Wait,” cried Barry, dashing toward her, and pressing a soft kiss to his Fianceé’s lips. “I love you, Iris! I’ll be back tonight!” And then he was out the door, running down the street, away from his rag-tag apartment, and toward the Corenswet building. They were lucky they lived so close to Campus– with his perpetual lateness, any further, and Barry Allen would have been in some serious trouble. He kept running, watching a man on a bicycle pass him. He groaned, and willed himself to go faster, but there was no escaping it. Barry Allen was simply not that fast.
His heart thudded in his chest, more out of nervousness than exhaustion. He really needed to make a good impression on Bruce Wayne tonight. Being a chemist for the Wayne Corporation? Now that was really something. He felt he owed it to his mother and father— not to mention to Iris, to go out and do something incredible in his life. He felt that guilt weighed heavily in his soul. But no matter– today was different. He was going to do something right today, and it started with him being on time.
Hopefully.
—--------- –
“You are not our first choice for Green Lantern. Do not let this go to your head.” Said the man, who appeared in the beam of green light from his ring.
“I’m well aware.” Muttered Guy, as he pulled on the dark gray suit jacket. “Which by the way, after that little save last week, I think I deserve a little more trust around here. I’m not nearly as incompetent as you and the rest of the Green Lantern Corps think I am.”
The man narrowed his eyes. “You are but a replacement for the incredible and legendary Hal Jordan. You will do well to remember that.”
“Look, man,” Guy raised his hands in defense. “I can’t help it if I’m seeing a future you guys aren’t. Trust me, someday, all of you are going to be calling me the incredible and legendary Guy Gardner. Cool?”
The man huffed. “Do not forget your mission, Green Lantern. You must make sure that everything goes smoothly tonight. Bruce Wayne attending the Gala had caught the attention of many criminals. They may try to strike.”
“Got it. Protect Gotham City’s rich big brother.”
“And don’t forget…you are nothing but a replacement for Hal Jordan. An insufferable nobody who only plays football in his spare time.”
“Woah, woah, woah…that is simply not true. I am also a Psychology and Education major. Thanks dude, but I’ve got it from here.” With a decisive pump of his arms, he left the room, shouting, “Guy Gardner out!”
—--------- –
To put it short, Clark had no idea where Lois was. Here he stood, nearly in the middle of the Gala, looking everywhere for the woman who was meant to be his partner on this little project. “Lois?” He called out. “Oh, what the hay am I doing…” There was a much easier solution than this. He simply closed his eyes, and listened. He knew her heartbeat like the back of his hand– two thudders, three bumps, and a patter. It followed that pattern for the most part. Human beings were interesting like that– their heartbeats were as unique as fingerprints. At least, they were to the trained Kryptonian ear.
It didn’t take long for him to locate her– she was perched upon a set of stairs, overlooking the swarming mass, and for a moment, it was all Clark Kent could do but stare at her. Her hair fell into sweetly sweeping curls, cascading around her shoulders, which her dress left bare. Speaking of the dress, it was tight and mauve– but it wasn’t her body that caught Clark’s attention. Rather, it was the beaming smile that broke across her face as she spoke to a man; somewhat tall, with hair between blond and brown, and a handsome smile that crept across his face.
Clark pushed through the crowd toward her. “Lois! Lois Lane!” She finally looked up, and she quickly waved him over.
“There you are Clark! Where have you been for the past hour? Doesn’t matter. I’d like you to meet a friend of mine! This is Barry Allen. He’s a chemistry major.”
Clark had never felt such a wave of thankfulness wash over him. Cat was wrong! Lois did have friends, and that warmed his heart. All he really wanted was for her to be happy– as well with everybody else, of course. “Hello, Barry. I’m Clark Kent. Journalism.” He shook his hand.
“Wow! Sorry– it’s just,” Barry let out an awkward laugh after retracting his hand. “You have a strong handshake. It’s not a bad thing! I just…wasn’t expecting it.”
“Oh, right.” Clark also let out an equally awkward laugh, causing Lois to shake her head.
“What a night. I’ll be stuck with the two biggest dorks in all of Metropolis.” But she smiled, removing any bite from it at all. Clark rather liked this version of Lois– the one around her friends, that is.
“It’s not going to get any better if Mr. Wayne and his team don’t make an appearance anytime soon. And here I was, thinking I was unforgivably late.” Barry commented.
“Well it seems that Bruce Wayne, like most billionaires, considers us common folk to be beneath them, and they like to play with our time. I can’t wait to interview him after this, I have so many questions and–”
At that moment, the main lights began to dim. A spotlight opened upon a small stage, where usually an orchestra would be playing some soothing song, but tonight, it remained empty. Everybody in the hall went silent. There was a ruffle in the red curtains, and then suddenly? He was there.
The pictures Clark had seen didn’t do him any justice. Sure, in a picture, Bruce Wayne, Billionaire, Philanthropist, and Playboy, was attractive, but in person? He could practically feel the awe strike the room, every set of eyes turned toward him. He was tall, lean, with a sharp jaw, and eyes that shone with a particular intellect, one that Clark had never experienced in a human being before. The man sauntered toward the microphone, and Clark couldn’t help but notice how dark he looked. Pale, unmistakably pale– with dark eyes, and undercircles, and a certain sunken look to him. Dark hair fell perfectly around his face. Despite all of this, Bruce Wayne had the appearance of the most charming man he had ever met.
Clark was mesmerized by his movements, watching as the man curled a hand around the base of the microphone, pulling it a little bit closer to his mouth. And then he spoke. And Clark felt a certain weight and warmth travel to his lower abdomen.