The Memoirs

Which Clark was realizing he shouldn’t have done. The screams… the screams for help were coming from every which way, every angle, and he was terrified for the poor people of Smallville. The moans of dying animals, the cries for help... the sobbing. So he did what he was good at... he pinpointed a single voice and ran. Closer... closer...Ms. Rubenstein’s house. He flew through the front door of what was left of her home, and saw her, the old dear, underneath a blanket with her husband on the floor. Oh, God.

 

Robin clicked on the night vision just as Batman instructed, athleticism keeping him on Batman's trail, not two steps behind his billowing cape.  "Right behind you, Batman."

 

Mr. Rubenstein was still barely alive, the fire having gone out in the house hours ago.  Mrs. Rubenstein had given herself up for dead, shivering as she tried to stay close to Branson and share what little warmth remained in their slowly-freezing bodies.

 

"Ms. Rubenstein... Mr. Rubenstein. I’m here, hey...can you hear me?" And he did something he shouldn’t have, and didn’t give a flying fuck over. He lifted her, and her husband, both in his arms. One over each shoulder...no, oh God, they'd freeze if he took them out like this. "Okay, hold on...Ms. Rubenstein, hold on." He wrapped one of the blankets they'd been covered in around her, very tightly, did the same for her husband as if she weighed little to nothing, and lifted their frail, elderly bodies back over his shoulders. "Hold tight, okay?"

 

And he sped. He shouldn’t have. But he did. He raced, past two dark figures he could barely see, right back to the mansion. Slammed the door open, caught sight of his lover and Lionel and Dominic... Ms. Bird, too, and gently deposited both of the elderly people, covered in snow, onto the carpet.

 

Met his lovers eyes once, and raced back out into the abyss.

 

"Holy shit, Batman... what was that?"  Robin had barely had time to get his eyes on the blurring figure, and even with his augmented night vision that was all he'd been able to see; a blur.

 

Ms. Bird did the only sensible thing she could do at the moment--poured coffee.  She pretended that she hadn't just seen Clark coming in, carrying two fully-grown elderly adults.

 

Lex's eyes slammed into Clark's for a brief instant.  "Dominic, Dad, get down here and help me, now.  Go make sure the fire's lit in the main hall.  Go."  He shoved his father out to check on the fire as he knelt down and carefully unwrapped the snowy blankets.  He didn't recognize the people, but he did know they were in very, very bad shape.  "Ms. Bird, call the hospital, see if they can spare a doctor out this way.  I'll go out in the Porsche if I have to and bring one here." 

 

Batman followed the blur...all the way back to the mansion, zooming in as it went. Standing there, in the blizzard, he watched the same blur escape and run back out into the snow, and slowly blinked at Dick. "That would be Lex's boyfriend." And then he turned, and began to run again. "He had people with him!" He called it back. "Theyre in trouble, come on!"

 

Dominic’s eyes widened into saucers. Oh, good God. His knees hit the ground... Christ, when had the storm gotten this bad? The wind was screaming outside of the open door, snow falling like crazy, and he slowly began to unwrap the blankets... pausing to drop his head to the elderly mans chest. "Very... very weak pulse, they need to be warmed up… Christ, ENRIQUE!" He jumped, when he realized the man was right next to him. "Go get blankets in the dryers, get them as hot as you can and bring them out here. Lionel! Baby, go get the electric blankets out of our closet.  There should be three of them." And with a slight oomph... and a gentle lift, Dominic picked the old man up into his arms and carried his frail body into the parlor. The fire in the enormous hearth was roaring, as Lex had instructed, and several blankets and mats had been set on the cleared floor. Food and coffee was already starting to get set up, and Dominic leaned down, gently setting the old man close to the fire. "Fuck. Fuck. FUCK."

 

"What’s going on?" Megan’s eyes widened at the elderly people, and she gasped. "Oh, my god!"

 

More screams. More cries. More, more, more. Heartbeats all around him, and he raced as far as he could go...all the way to Elm street, where an enormous tree had broken...fallen, and had broken the bridge. Snow was everywhere, as far as he could see, and the people were trapped in there homes...in old homes that were buckling with snow.

 

Alright. He was Clark fucking Kent here, people. HE COULD MAKE A BRIDGE.

 

His eyes roved all down the snowy bank… over... around... elm trees, all around him. Hard, huge ones. Elm trees.

 

Elm trees, Clark.

 

In a matter of moments he had eight of them cut... and was melting scrap metal from the horrifyingly smashed Elms Bridge. He wrapped the softened steel around each of the trunks… holding them tightly together, and built as he went across the tightly packed snow. Something hard, strong enough to hold cars as they went. And he hoped that this… this would work.

 

He melted more metal, tying it hard around the posts that had once held the bridge, and looked at his handiwork.

 

Yeah, people. Cause he was just that good.

 

"That was Clark?"  And then Robin didn't waste time with any further queries or absurd questions, instead moving fast, grinding his heel twice and turning on the propulsion in his boots just as Batman had done. 

 

Lex already had the elderly woman wrapped in another fleecy blanket, and he grabbed Megan's wrist and jerked.  "Get her feet, Megan.  Help me move her in front of the fire."

 

Lionel moved purposefully towards the stairs, walking stick dropped to the wayside as he moved as quickly as he was able, coming back down moments later with his arms burdened with the electric blankets that Dominic had requested.  He dropped them at the foot of the stairs and then ascended again, coming back with a second armful of down quilts and fleece comforters that had been stored in cedar and oaken chests in the linen closets.  The pile of blankets grew as Lionel made trip after trip.

 

Ms. Bird was moving calmly and rapidly in the kitchen, tending the multiple pots of coffee, tea, and hot soup that boiled, steamed, and simmered on the stoves, in the urns, and even in the microwave.  Alfred appeared silently out of nowhere, capable hands finding all the clean cups and serving trays unerringly as he loaded them up to be filled and distributed. 

 

Rosalyn was in the pantry, pulling out can after can of soup, box after box of tea bags and brick after brick of coffee, handing them to Hilde without a word.

 

Clark raced across his tightly built bridge, fast as he could, and began to knock on doors. Led people to their cars, so they could get out of there, get to the high school or Lex's mansion for shelter. Just leave, because the dam was going to crack under all the frozen water it held, and it was going to smash the Elms Creek housing complex with thousands of pounds of ice.

 

Fuck.

 

The people who needed help he piled into Gabe Sullivan’s enormous van, at his request, and sent them to Lex's mansion. The road to the hospital was completely wiped out... he didn’t know how the hospital staff was going to get to and from it, and there was nothing he could do at the moment.

 

More pressing matters.

 

 

A huge home… large, wood and stone, broken in on one side by the snow.

 

A family of six, five children and a single mother, and Batman stopped to look at them... and close his eyes. Christ.

 

They were all dead.

 

He grabbed Dick before he could see to much, pulling him out of the house and running to the next.

 

Robin had already seen too much.  Two of the children huddled together and partially crushed under the snow, and he was more than grateful to follow Batman to the next home.  The next family. 

 

This was the one moment he knew that he would be tested, more than anything else that could ever be thrown at him.  To be able to work through the misery, mourn it and yet be able to function in spite of it. 

 

It was a joy when Batman pulled him away, and Robin breathed in the cold air deeply, praying that the next home they came to wasn't like the first.

 

Bruce knew. He knew, in his heart, but he could do nothing for him. Nothing. Just run, through the wind and screaming snow... through the blizzard that could claim his lover’s life before the night was over.

 

And all he could do was run... and wonder. Clark. Lex's, HIS Lex's, lover. What could the boy do? Was he like Wally? Was there something to that stunning young man with green eyes and legs like bean stalks?

 

And all he could do was wonder, as they ran.

 

"'ello, in there!"

 

Gabe Sullivan, short, portly, and not at all like his lovely daughter but for their personalities, hung onto the door siding, his van parked out behind him where the wounded, the elderly, and the half dead awaited. "Need some help here!"

 

"Aye, there." Dominic raced after Gabe, and the first punch of cold as he stepped out was mortifying. It was so cold… so bitterly cold, much more then when he and Meggie had gone to the grocery store. It had to be at least 10 below, and he found himself, as he stood in it wearing only his sweater and jeans, that the cold was a unfaithful bitch of a thing, tempting him to lie down and let it take his life. He found himself light headed and trembling in a moment, but his leaden feet ran down to the van, opened it...

 

Children. There were women, and children, and men who were so close to dead.

 

Oh, dear sweet Jesus.

 

"Misser? Misser?"

 

Dominic glanced down at a tiny, angelic little boy with dark hair and startling blue eyes. "Aye, lad, we're to help you, hold on a moment."

 

"Misser?" The little boy had his fingers around a woman with blue lips, and shallow breath. "Misser, my mama?"

 

Dominic’s eyes were wide as he turned and bellowed back into the house. "NEED SOME 'ELP HERE! Graham!!!!"

 

Clark had never felt more terrified, or more exhilarated, in his entire life. He'd built a bridge, just from his good sense and brains. And now... now. He X-Rayed and found most homes without fires... but most homes deserted. The High School gym was full to brimming with people, and Clark took it upon himself to find the stragglers... the ones unable to escape the storm, and bring them to safety.

 

No one would die on his watch, dammit.

 

That’s when he came upon a man. Mr. Anderson... the Gym Teacher. Struggling to get his car started, and his wife and child were sitting beside him. Just a tiny baby, in that woman’s arms, and Clark knocked on the window.

 

Robin followed Batman closely, prayers said for those they couldn't help, and another prayer said that they could reach as many people as they could in time to help them.

 

Jonathan had been drafted as a waiter, carrying the huge trays of hot drinks and such to the front room, feeding the fire, distributing blankets.  As soon as he heard Dominic's bellow for help, he didn't stop to think who was asking for it.  Instead, he dropped the tray in his hands, liquid spilling as crockery broke and cracked and grabbed blankets instead.  A handful of them, three or four, and he charged out to the kitchen.  "I'm here--holy shit."  He dropped all the blankets but one, and wrapped it around the boy's shoulders.  "Come on.  We're going to take care of your mother, don't worry."  He shooed the boy inside, where Lindy was waiting for him, and she escorted him quickly into the main room to get warm.  Jonathan picked up another blanket, quickly as he could, and carried it over to the van.  "We gotta get her inside, front of the fire."

 

Mr. Anderson nearly jumped out of his skin as someone rapped on his window, and he fought the crank to get it down.  Squinting--"Clark?  What are you doing out in this?  Boy, get in the car.  Come on, we'll get you to the high school with us, call your folks."  He was shivering in the cold, worried to death about his daughter and his wife, but there was always room for one more who needed help.  "Come on."

 

"Fourteen people in all, there, come now," He took one of the blankets, not thinking who was by his side, but he crawled into the van, crouching in front of the unconscious woman as he sat her up. Bitterly, bitterly cold, and he nearly bent himself backward reaching the front of the car. He turned the heat all the way blasting, keeping the van’s sliding door partially closed, and reached behind the woman, where a trembling man was holding an infant. "'ere, gimme the babe, let’s go, there’s coffee and blankets waitin'." He handed Jonathan the tiny infant, who was wrapped in three thick quilts, and wrapped the one in his hands around the woman. He squirmed out of the van and lifted her, tightly into his arms, following right behind.

 

Gabe was doing the same. He had two children, one no older then his Chloe and another ten year old, by the hands, leading them in. He passed them off to one of the women waiting...Gina, the supermodel? Think about it later, save now, Gabe. He handed them off and raced back outside, where the wind had begun to pick up. A few of the men were struggling out of the van, and he gave them a hand as they moved, shakily and slowly, to the mansion. "Heat’s waiting, go on!"

 

"Fourteen people, so far. Enrique got their cars parked on the other side of the garage, in the field, Lex. There's more coming, I can see headlights. The bridge must have collapsed, that’s why they couldn’t get to the school." Megan said it swiftly, as she warmed the angel faced little boys mother, rubbing her palms lightly quick against her arms and legs, pouring tea down her throat.

 

Clark just smiled, tightly...and in his smile, there was courage. "No, sir, it's alright. Your tire is stuck. Is the car starting?" He ever so gently, and out of the mans eyes, lifted the tire from the indent it had been stuck in, pushed it back a foot, and set it down again. "It's alright, ma'am. Gave Sullivan has a van… he's helping everyone unload at Luthor mansion, just keep the baby warm."

 

Jonathan cradled the baby gently in his arms.  "Here now, little man, come on.  Let's get you in where it's nice and warm."  He looked up and around.  "We need warm milk, for the baby here, and any others that might come through.  Warm as you think they can stand it."  He tightened the blanket around the child just enough to keep it warm and held it to his chest, sharing his own body heat with the little body in his arms. 

 

Graham came down the steps, bundled up like an Eskimo.  "I got off the phone with Toni; she and a bunch of the other doctors are trapped in the hospital.  I'm going to take that four by four in the garage and see if I can get through.  If not I'll come back, but we need a doctor.  Toni's willing to come, if we can get there safely to get her.  Come daylight, if the wind and snow lets up, the Medivac chopper can start getting them in and out."

 

Lindy took the baby from Jonathan.  "Here, Jonathan... let me have the baby.  You go help my brother."  She settled the baby against her shoulder, startled at how cold the boy was.  "I'll get him warm, don't worry."

 

Jonathan moved back to Dominic's side, and started helping again, guiding people in, showing them where to go.  "Let's go, come on in... got heat and fires, blankets and hot soup waitin'."

 

Lex had picked up the phone as soon as Graham had gotten off of it, and he was arguing with the manager of KROW.  "I don't give a good goddamn if we're on the list or not!  I'm opening my home as a temporary shelter, and I want that information on the radio now!  Either you put it on the air, or I'll buy the goddamned station out from under you with my pocket money and you will NOT have a job, do you understand me?  How many people are going to die?  Now fucking AIR IT!"  He put his hand over the receiver.  "Graham, listen.  Don't take Clark's truck.  There's now way it'll make it.  Dominic, give him the keys to the Porsche.  That's the only thing that's got a chance... I should have bought that fucking Humvee when I had the chance."  He uncovered the phone again.  "Oh you will?  Thank you ever so much!"  He slammed the phone down.  "Fucking asshole."

 

Rosalyn was boiling milk up as fast as she could for the young ones.  "Lindy, Lindy, sweetie, take the kids up to Lex's theater.  There's heat up there, we can put on the TV for them, get them calmed down a little."

 

Ms. Bird was ladling out soup as fast as she could.

 

Mr. Anderson cranked the car again, and to his immense surprise--and weary delight--the car started.  "Thank you, Clark!  Come on, son, you can't be out in this.  At least go in our house, find you something warm to put on!"  He nodded his head towards their front door.  "Go on, and thank you, so much."  He couldn't wait much longer, not with the baby, and he slowly pulled out into the slick roads.

 

"F-Fucking hell, god dammit," Dominic set the second child he'd recovered from the van... four women, five men, and four children. Christ, Jesus and God. He needed a coat, as there were more cars coming down the long main road leading to the house. "Be back in a shake--Jonathan, where is your coat? I'll fetch it."

 

Pete's eyes were... huge. Okay, wow. Yeah, Shayla had come bellowing from the kitchen about helping, and he'd bundled up... but he didn’t expect the freezing cold, or Lex giving orders each way, or people who looked half dead getting set up in front of an enormous fire in the front room. "Oh, wow." And he knew, God bless him, he knew, and he swallowed his pride and looked at Lex firmly. "You gotta get the room warmer… got any floor heaters? Portable heaters? C'mon, you gotta, in this castle."

 

"Graham, there’s people coming in!" Megan, in her fur and suede coat, matching boots and hat. Sure, it cost most people’s yearly paychecks... but it was warm. Her other coats weren’t going to cut it, here. She was just finishing tugging on her gloves as she raced out the door again, to the cars rolling in with freezing people. "Christ, God!"

 

Dominic returned with his own coat a moment later, giving his lover a hard, freezing kiss on his way, before he pulled on his own gloves and a hat and scarf. He thrust a coat Jonathans way, as Martha had retrieved it for him, and went into his jeans pocket for the Sporsche keys. "Here, and be careful! Graham, take the cell, here," He handed his brother his cell phone. "Call, in exactly thirty minutes. Push the red button, and you'll get a list of numbers. Push one... that’s Lionel’s cell. Call, thirty minutes." And he rushed after his sister.

 

Martha had never seen so many cold people in her life. They were trickling in, slowly but surely, and in her heart...she felt an unfathomable pride for her son, for Lex, and for her husband.

 

Enrique was out there, showing people the way to the enormous field were cars were beginning to park, and people were struggling to the mansion in the bitter cold. "Dat vay!"

 

Clark smiled, nodded, and as soon as the man turned away in his car, he was gone. His skin was icing over, but he fixed it by simply brushing the snow and ice off. And he ran. As fast as he could, against the bitter cold, back across his makeshift, sturdy bridge to switch to X-Ray vision. The houses, through the complex, were deserted but for the cars slowly making it over the bridge. He directed them to the mansion without words, as Cantura Loop was the only road that led to the mansion. People were following one another, and he raced, running as a human...then as himself, until he made sure no one was left in the living complex. Animals had been taken, but one stray newborn puppy, which he did the only thing he could think of. He tucked his sweater into his jeans, and dropped the tiny pup into his three shirts, so he lay cozy against his belly. Oh, yeah, he was good.

 

No one left in Elms housing complex, so he ran in the other direction, to main street.

 

The last thing on his mind, Clark supposed, was running into Batman.

 

And that would be literally.

 

He hit going 20 miles an hour around a curve… slammed into him, gasped, and fell flat on his ass.

 

He'd been hit by a car. Sure of it, Bruce closed his eyes and let the suit take care of him. The impact immediately tensed and strengthened the armor, and the case around his head filled with a spongy foam as he flew. He must have flown...fifteen feet, before falling back first into the snow with a hard, echoing mmph.

 

Graham caught the keys in his gloved hands, and then shoved the cell phone in his pocket.  "Half an hour.  Got it.  If I can't get through, then I'll call you and let you know."  He rubbed his hands together inside the gloves, getting them warm in the cold kitchen before walking out to the garage, stamping his boots clean of snow, and swung himself into the massive SUV.  The inside of the car looked like a fighter jet cockpit, and Graham sighed as he cranked it and let the heater start warming up the car.  Thank God Enrique hadn't blocked the garage with the other cars. 

 

Shayla squeezed Pete's hand in hers briefly.  "I'm proud of you," she whispered on her way past, gathering the four and five year old children to her as she led them upstairs.  "Come on, we're going to go watch Babe.  Do you guys know who Babe is?"

 

One little girl sniffled.  " 'es a piggie.  I wants my mommy."

 

She picked the little girl up and hugged her.  "That's right.  He's a talking, singing little pig.  I know you're all cold, but so are your mommies and daddies.  Let's go watch Babe, get you guys warm, and... we'll bring up hot chocolate and marshmallows, and then once your moms and dads are warm too, they'll come up here and get you, okay?"

 

Lex's face was still twisted in a snarl at the radio station manager, and he was surprised to hear Pete talking to him.  "Yes, we do.  There's about ten of them in the basement level.  Come on, I'll show you the way.  Put your jacket on, it's cold down there."  Lex pulled on a pair of black leather gloves, and flexed his fingers in them.  The kitchen was damned cold.  "Come on, this way."

 

Jonathan shrugged into the warm sheepskin jacket, zipping it warmly over his chest and sliding his hands into the rawhide gloves tucked in the pocket.  "Let 'im go, Megan.  I'll help Dominic."  He resolutely followed out to the kitchen, out the side door, making sure the lights in the driveway and on the small porch were on and lighting the way for the people to come.  "Dominic... ask 'em if they've seen Clark.  Make sure he's okay.  Please?"

 

"We don't have bottles!" Lindy cried out, after having searched the whole place over. 

 

"Ve don need bottles," Ms. Bird said firmly.  "All ve need is cups, and rubber gloves."  She pointed Lindy to the cabinet.  "Bring de plastic vuns.  I vill get de gloves."

 

"Shoo, Hilde.  Sit down for just a moment, you've been working too hard.  I know what you're doing, let me take care of this."  Rosalyn steered Ms. Bird to one of the chairs at the table, and set coffee in her hands.  When Lindy brought the cups over, Rosalyn filled each one halfway with the hot milk, and then took a glove, tying knots in three of the fingers and the thumb, and then taking a hairpin and punching a small hole in the end of the last finger.  "There you are, darling.  Bottles all around.  If the children can drink from the cups, just pull the glove off."

 

Alfred held his hands out for the chocolate tray.  "Let me take this up to Miss Shayla, ma'am.  I believe that's how I can be most useful."

 

"Batman!"  Robin watched in shock and not a little horror as Batman was thrown backwards into the snow bank.  "Clark!"  He swiveled his head from lover to friend as he went to Batman's side, crouching beside him.  "Batman... are you all right?"  He looked back at Clark.  "Clark!  What are you doing out in this!?"

 

Pete gently kissed the beautiful faced girl on his way to the basement, shrugging into the jacket he'd been holding as he followed Lex. Didn’t like it, didn’t like TRUSTING the bald fucker, but he'd do it for the poor people stuck out there in the icy hell. Christ, had he mentioned he hated snow?

 

"Clark?" A girl... she looked like she could have been a classmate, with wide eyes and soft long brown hair. "Clark Kent? God, he saved us, mister!" She nodded it, helping her mother up the steps. "He led us out of there...we would have all died, but somehow he got someone to fix the bridge, temporarily anyway, and get us out of there! We'd all be dead without him!" She led her mother into the huge room the older women were scurrying her towards.

 

"Of course we do." Martha said it gently, calming Lindy down as she squeezed her hands. "Shane. Shane's bottles. You all brought at least ten, and we won’t need more then that, if we wash them. Calm, sweetie… this must be your first emergency." She sighed. "I’m an old pro."

 

"M-m-miss?" A little girl with dark hair was sobbing, holding onto Shayla’s hand with a death grip as she pulled her younger sister and brother along, too. "M-my mom!"

 

And Shane... Shane was currently bawling in his crib. His dad had put him in there, HOW DARE HE, with his bottles and toys, but still! NO FAIR!

 

Batman… just... blinked. Holy crap. ...He had to have a concussion, he never even thought words like that. He blinked, up into the snow… once... twice... before slowly sitting up. Bruised rib? Bruised something... hurt to breathe a bit. But, he considered himself lucky, blinking at Clark... and blinking again. "I’m fine, Robin." He whisked back to his feet and walked to where Clark Kent was digging into his shirt. "Mr. Kent?"

 

"Bruce, what the hell are you doing out here in this?!" Clark snarled it, reaching the little squirming puppy... oh! He was okay! He bit his finger! Thank god. He cuddled it back into his numerous shirts and climbed to his feet, glaring once more. "You need to get out of this, you're going to fucking freeze to death. Go, go back to the house, I’m fine. I’m going to look through the stores... I can still hear people on main street. The Talon." He turned on his heel, but before he could speed off, a hand clamped on his shoulder.

 

"What did you say, young man?"

 

"Let go, sir." Clark shrugged the palm away. "I need to get to the Talon. Go home, tell Lex I’m fine!"

 

Batman watched the young man run off...speed off, throwing up walls of snow as he went, and blinked at Robin. "Did he call me Bruce?"

 

Lex led the way down the stairs, turning on lights as they descended into the murky depths of the house.  The staircase emerged into a short hallway with two doors on one side, and a blank wall on the other.  He opened the second door, and flicked on the light.  A soft whirring as warm air started to circulate in the small room.  "Here... are these what you're talking about?"  Fifteen portable heaters were stacked against the walls.  "They're a few years old, left here by the construction team, but they should work."

 

Jonathan looked around and caught his wife's eyes.  He was so damned proud of Clark he could have burst, even though he was worried sick about the boy.  "Thanks," Jonathan said, turning to help the next people in. 

 

Lindy felt like an idiot.  "Of course.  Yes, it is.  I'm just no good in a crisis, Martha... I get completely twitterpated.  I know where Shane's bottles are; I'll be right back with them.  I'll check Marie's room too, see if she left any of the kids' bottles here."

 

Shayla pulled the little girl against her leg.  "What about your mom, sweetie?  Is she downstairs?"  She slipped her hand through her hair, trying to calm her down as she herded the other kids into the room.  "You want me to go and get her for you?"

 

Lionel heard Shane bawling in the crib and scowled darkly.  The crib was alone in the bedroom, the idiot man had left the baby there where it was warm, but alone.  Lionel strode into the room, and gathered Shane up into his arms with one hand.  "Come on, little man.  Let's get you with the rest of the children, all right?"  Eleanor, he thought belatedly.  "ELEANOR!" he bellowed.  "ELEANOR ROSALYN SENATORI!!"  He stepped out in the hallway, picking up the diaper bag without thinking as he looked up and down the hallway, listening for the sound of taps. "ELLIE!"

 

Robin nodded.  "He called you Bruce."  He held his gauntleted hand up.  "But how?  He called you Bruce but me Robin."  Weird.  "Do you want to follow him?" 

 

"Yes!" Pete let out a loud whoop, and started grabbing… three, that he could carry. "C'mon, grab um. They heat the floor, blow hot air, they'll be perfect, get the people nicen' toasty." He bent down and used his leg to arrange the heaters better in his arms, before moving past Lex and back up the steps.

 

Martha… just... smiled, from the doorway in the kitchen, eyes looking into her husbands with pride… joy, and worry. "I know, sweetie," Back to Lindy. "I know, honey. Don’t worry--just remember, keep a clear, level head, and don’t let worry get you too...well, worried. Things will happen, and its important to do them swiftly and correctly rather then be nervous." She gave the woman, only a few years younger then her, a tight hug, and led her off to the steps.

 

"M-m-mama, sh-she downstairs." The little girl was crying, hard now.

 

That was... okay. Shane could calm down… but just a little. He was still screaming, atop his lungs, into his best friends shoulder. PEOPLE LEFT HIM ALONE! He could hear mama's crying! And little kids! THAT WAS NOT COOL PEOPLE!

 

Heeee! Ellie be hidin! Hidin be Ellie! She squealed a giggle into her hand, safely tucked into Mr. Weirdy Lionel’s closet… where she'd been hiding for over an hour. She was a fairy princess!

 

"Yes." Batman straightened, and started to run, following the snow covering tracks as fast as he could. "Come on!"

 

Dominic was exhausted. All the sleepless nights were catching up with him, in a hurry. He kept pushing, bringing the people in as fast as he could.... thirty... then forty, all piled into that parlor. Young Mr. Ross was setting up floor heaters, and he could see Lex bringing in more from down the hall as he carried a woman in. Her leg had been broken, or so her deliriously terrified husband was telling him, and he walked into the parlor... looking out over the eyes that met him as he gently set her on the couch. "Its alright, sir, we've doctors coming, if my brother can get'um from out by the hospital. Stay calm… sit with her. We'll have help in a moment."

 

Christ, he was cold. He stood up and walked back out, passing his sister in the hall and running back out into the snow at her hissed words. A family of five, in Gabe Sullivan’s van… three young children and a wife and husband.

 

Judge Ross and her family.

 

"Ms. Ross! Lord, Christ, I’m glad you're here, come in, hurry now."

 

Cocoa shaded eyes flickered up, and she smiled, tightly, gathering her younger children close. "We were on our way out to Metropolis just a bit ago... Pete's here, isn’t he? My baby is safe?" And Dominic’s nod she blew out a soft, long breath. "We were going to try and hide at my sisters until it was over, but the dam cracked, and we had to get back over here."

 

Ten miles away, Clark heard it.

 

The dam cracked.

 

He turned, mid run, and raced as fast and hard as he could. If that dam broke... if the ice and water fell, it would kill hundreds of people. Hundreds. He all but flew, feet barely touching the ground as he ran, pumping his taxed muscles as hard as he could. The puppy was holding tight, anchored to his skin, and he was thankful for it. If the little guy made it through this, he was going to call him Samson. "You're brave, Samson." He whispered into the night.

 

And he stopped, very suddenly...staring. Across the reservoir, the enormous dam was cracked. Right down the middle. The steel poles had split, the concrete crumbling along it...and through the crack, Clark could see the frozen fish, like a nightmare. Oh, God.

 

What was he? So young, so small.

 

Courageous, and damned if he didn’t have a plan.

 

Jonathan pulled Dominic back in the house and pushed him towards the stairs.  "You're done for, Dominic.  You're about to drop, and you're freezin'.  Get yourself some coffee, then go upstairs and help your sister with the kids.  You're 'bout the only one of us left that's good with kids, go on and help her corral 'em all up."  He was helping carry children in as he yelled, the arms of one youngster wrapped around his neck as the parents followed in behind him, limping slightly.

 

Graham had spent the better part of the last twenty minutes swearing.  He'd finally gotten through, gotten over the blown transformer that had all but incapacitated traffic on Main street, and was laying on the horn as he pulled into the round front circle at the hospital.  "Toni!!"  He opened the door and slid ass first on a patch of ice until he thudded to a halt in front of the steps.  Pride injured and ass sore, he went carefully up the stairs and burst into the nearly-deserted emergency room.  "Dr. Braxton!"

 

Fuck, and he fished out the cell phone.  It had been thirty five minutes, and he dialed Lionel's cell phone desperately.

 

Lex carried three himself, and then grabbed Enrique at the top of the stairs.  "Bring up the rest of the heaters in the room; Mr. Ross and I will help you.  Bring them up to the top of the stairs, we'll take them from there into the kitchen and the hallways and get them set up.  When you're done here, make sure the fires are set in the other rooms, open the ballroom partition, and make sure the room is ready.  We'll start putting people into the ballroom and the armory next, because it's too crowded in the front rooms."

 

Lindy hugged Martha back.  "I wish I'd had a big sister like you, Martha.  Mama's got the level head in the family, but I never got it from her."  She wrapped her arms around Martha's waist as they started going up the stairs, and then her face whitened as she heard Lionel calling for Ellie.  "Oh, my God, Eleanor!"  She broke away from Martha and pounded up the steps.  "Lionel?  Lionel, what's wrong?"

 

Lionel was cradling Shane against his shoulder.  "I heard Shane crying, and I realized we'd left our children alone.  I can't find Ellie; I've bellowed for her and she won't come.  I'm about to go looking for her, and I don't want to leave Shane alone again.  Don't worry.  She can't have slipped outside."

 

 

Lindy's breath caught in her throat.  Ellie, her sweet angel.  "ELEANOR!"  Lindy screamed at the top of her lungs, voice slightly shrill with panic.  "Eleanor, if you can hear me, GET YOUR PIGTAILED FANNY HERE RIGHT NOW!"  She gripped Lionel's arm tightly.

 

"Lindy... it's all right.  She's in the house somewhere; we'll find her."  Lionel tried to soothe the worried mother.

 

Shayla pulled the little girl into the room with her, and lifted her up.  "Hey, come on... don't cry.  We'll go find your mom."  She looked out into the hallway, and nearly bumped into Alfred.  "Look... Alfie's brought us hot chocolate!"  She looked over at Alfred.  "This one's lost her Mama--can you start the movie for them, for like, five minutes?"

 

"Of course, young Miss.  We'll be quite fine here."  Alfred held up the tray with the twenty mugs of chocolate on them.  "All right, who wants marshmallows and who wants plain?"

 

"Thanks, Alfie.  You're a gem."  She hugged the crying little girl again, and then put her down, taking her hand.  "Come on, let's go find your mama."

 

Robin took off after Batman, following the tracks in the snow.  His thoughts were whirring; what in the hell was Clark, anyway?  He didn't take his eyes off the black-clad figure of his partner, billowing cape the main thing visible in the snow.

 

Clark rung his hands, rubbing them together quickly for a moment. "Alright, Samson. Hold on, kay? It might get a little hairy." He pet the tiny puppy’s head through his shirt, making sure he had a little hole, one of his usual many, to breathe through, and concentrated, eyes closing.

 

When he opened them, lasers were shooting out of his eyes.

 

Whoa! Crap! Okay! So, he started a small forest fire before he got it under control. Eeep? The snow took care of it, falling as hard as it was, but he shut his eyes...X-Rayed through his eyelids, as gross as that was, and got his target.

 

His eyes flew open, and the dark, tinted red lasers shot from him. He'd finessed it...found control the past summer, and there were different levels he could push out. Small spurts, yes. Longer streams… yes. But what he was going to attempt here... God, he hoped it would work.

 

His eyes were concentrated on the tall steel post, that he thanked God for stood right above the enormous crack. It began to melt under his eyes... like water, rolling down the side of the concrete damn.

 

Not far enough! COME ON!

 

He pushed it, harder, his energy seeping out of him as he kept his eyes trained on the steel. It began to melt faster, harder, rolling... rolling over the crack. Oh, well thank you God, finally. It rolled, and before it could dry and freeze, he raced a mile back, put his hands out, and raced back. The air current he pushed, hard, into the steel made it flatten... flatten and cover the crack, completely.

 

He gasped, panted, hands on his knees... and looked up.

 

Samson crawled up to peek too, and he blinked down at the little pug puppy, rubbing his head gently. "Man, we r--" Pant. "Rock."

 

"Hands off me, Kent." He snarled it, brushing snow off his shoulders. "There's still four cars left, out there. I'll be helpin' them first, 'scuse me very much." And he did. Exhausted, freezing, yes. But not without his pride, and he loped to a blue car… where a man, his wife, and baby were inside. "Ello, come on, now!" He opened the door, gently pulling out the woman and infant, and led them to the house.

 

She heard the cry...saw him, through the half doors of the ER, fall back and disappear. Oh, God, he fell?! She gasped, pulling her coat tighter around her, and she and the four doctors she'd gathered raced to the front doors. And my God, didn’t he look amazing? Even now, in the midst of disaster, his snow covered head, the fierce eyes, and the hard, tight body were just… yes. Cough. "I’m here! I’m here, Graham, come on! They just said on the radio that its to get worse!" She pointed and the supplies they were already gathering in their arms. "What we'll need!"

 

"Yessir!" Enrique cried, already racing off to follow his masters instructions.

 

As did Martha, taking her free arm and leading her through the house. "Maybe she’s playing hide and go seek, Lindy? Darling, its--" She stopped as the taptatptapping of shoes gave the little girl away. She watched the tiny blond child race down the hall, and throw her arms around her mother’s knees. Oh, dear Lord.

 

"MAMAMAMA! I was SCEEEEERED!" Ellie sobbed.

 

The little girl was still sobbing, her toddler brother and sister crying too, as the eight children slowly sat down in the toasty, warm room in front of the TV and got hot chocolate. "Mama? I wanna find mama!"

 

And in Batman... Bruce's heart, he felt wonder, even as he ran and searched. The boy… he was the real deal. Sure, Bruce Wayne could put on a costume and go fight crime in the night, but he didn’t have any super hero powers that he knew of. Superior intellect, sure. Great abs? Of course. But as for... speed, and such... no.

 

And Clark did. Fascinating.

 

Back to the people on Main street. Hurry, come on, hurry Clark, move your tall alien buns. He grasped Samson tight to his tummy, made sure the little guy was safe, and ran like his life depended on it. Not that his did...but other peoples did, and he was going to save them even if it killed him first. He raced past Bruce and whoever the kid--Dick!--was in the suits, blowing up snow as he raced through main street and switched to X-Ray vision. Stores were empty...all but for the Talon. The emergency generator was going, but he knew it wouldn’t last long, and he burst through the front door and raced into the main room.

 

It was full of people. Teenagers, older women and men, singles...Ms. Nell! "Nell! I’m going to help, do you still have the huge truck in back?"

 

Jesus goddamned Christ, what a stubborn fucking man! Jonathan seethed to himself, not aware of how much that trait was reflected in himself.  "Your sister needs help with those kids, Dom!"

 

"Be careful, there's ice outside," Graham said, phone still ringing in his ear.  "I should know, I slid across it on my ass," he muttered.  Cradling the phone between his ear and his shoulder, Graham grabbed one of the push carts that laundry usually went into and started piling the things into the cart, taking them from Toni as she pointed out the things they need.  "C'mon, somebody, answer the goddamned phone already!" he growled.

 

Lindy wrapped her arms around Ellie and lifted her up.  "Baby, you scared me!  Don't ever scare Mama like that again!!"  She hugged Ellie tightly to her chest.  "Mama thought you'd wandered out into the snow!"  Or that somehow your bastard father had found you... but she kept that thought silent to herself.  "Come on, let's get you and Shane with the rest of the children... you can be a big girl and help Shayla and Uncle Lionel, okay?  You can help play with them and help keep the other ones calm, okay?  Can you do that?"

 

"Come on, then, let's go find your Mama."  Shayla tugged the little girl out of the room.  She grinned to herself as she saw Pete crossing in front of the stairs, and she picked the crying little girl up.  "Come on.  We'll find her."  She rubbed the little girls back as she walked down the stairs.

 

The first three heaters that Pete had brought up, Lex had plugged in around the kitchen and the entryway.  The three he'd brought up were on the back side of the kitchen, augmenting the heat coming from the stove, and as Enrique brought the others up, he lined them up in the hallway and turned them on as high as he could.  Immediately heat started pouring out of them, and he dusted his hands off, pushing back to his feet as Pete brought more heaters from the stairs.

 

Mr. Anderson leaned against Dominic as he watched his wife and child make it inside.  "Come on, we have to go.  That Kent boy, he's still out in this.  He helped push my car out of the bank it was stuck in, but he wouldn't let us give him a ride here or to the high school.  We've got to go and make sure he's all right."

 

Robin stayed close behind Batman, wondering but not quite surprised at the grip of his boots on the snow.  The tracks were getting more and more covered by the snow, but they were also becoming deeper imprinted, easier to follow as their night vision goggles allowed them to see the variances in the snow terrain.  "Batman!  Doesn't this lead towards the dam?"

 

Stubborn Dominic was, and he was NOT going to sit down until these poor people were taken care of! If he hadn’t been sitting down in the first place, they wouldn’t be hurt now! FUCKing HELL! He got into the last car himself, driving it to the field and parking it. He trudged through the snow already building in the grass...knees in the snow, and climbed back to his feet, and to the door where the people were just beginning to warm up.

 

He slammed it behind himself, hard, and gasped, panting.

 

Toni reminded herself, in the back of her head, to give him a great big kiss for this. But now she was loading the basket down... medications, a hundred of them they might need. Bandages, suture kits... a box from Alexa that shed brought down with a kit for plaster incase there were broken bones. And as she worked... she watched him, out of the corner of her eyes.

 

"I-I a big girl!" Eleanor's chin was trembling as she grabbed her uncles hand, leading him to where the other children were already huddled. "In here! In here, Unca!"

 

The last four, which Pete had barely managed to carry, were immediately set up in the parlor itself. The heat, mixed with the fire, was slowly bringing the temperature up, and words of thanks were slipping from the half frozen, shaking people.

 

"It... does." He gasped. What else could he do? Bruce had never, ever, seen anything like this. In his life.

 

Iron and steel had been melted over an enormous crack, just barely peeking from the edges of the steel. He blinked... twice... and glanced at Dick, eyes glittering.

 

"Let’s go! Everyone!"  Clark, being the enigmatic but persistent young man he was, had managed to get Nell's truck out from behind the warehouse. It wasn’t very big...no bigger then a medium sized U-Haul, but it was perfect for what he needed. He was slowly loading everyone into the back, having them sit on crates and such, as Samson squirmed around his shirt, barking in his tiny, tiny voice as he worked.

 

"CLARK!" Nell cried over the wind, body shadowed in the coffee house door as she closed and locked it. "Are you sure??"

 

"Yes!" He cried over the wind, helping the last girl, Annie who sat next to him in Chemistry, into the back, before shutting the rolling door shut. He locked it, then grasped the keys from the woman’s hands and slid into the drivers seat. "Come on, I came this way, its safe taking this path, but not for much longer! Hurry!"

 

A cell was ringing. Small... ah! Meester Lutor's. Enrique lifted it up to his ear after pushing a green button with  a little phone symbol on it. "Alow? Meester Graym?"

 

Jonathan didn't say a word as his hand closed around Dominic's bicep.  Without a word, glaring and daring Dominic to make a scene, Jonathan manhandled the other man over to the kitchen table, shoved him down in the nearest chair, and shoved a cup of steaming coffee in his hands.  He leaned his hip on the table, and glowered down at Dominic.  "Drink.  Now."

 

Graham was loading the cart with one hand, balancing the phone with the other, and then jumped as Enrique's voice answered.  Good God, this was not his day, he was going to have a fucking heart attack and a stroke before this was over, he was just sure of it.  "Where's... Dominic?" he gritted out.  There'd been an empty backpack in the seat of the Sporsche, he hadn't known why, but he'd thrown it over his shoulder and handed it to Toni.  "Put anything breakable in there," he said.  "Never mind.  Just---shut up and listen.  Tell Dominic I'm at the hospital with Toni, we're getting the supplies and things together, and we'll be back in about forty minutes.  And stay away from my mother!!!!!!!"  He hung up before the Spaniard had a chance to say another word, and then growled at the phone. 

 

Lionel cringed slightly as he allowed Ellie to pull him along, into the room with the other children.  This was definitely not the job for him, but he couldn't leave poor Alfred alone with the children.  He surrendered the diaper bag to Lindy, who immediately went through it for bottles, and Lionel went to sit on one of the couches in the room.

 

One of the little boys in the room crawled over to him, wrapping an arm around Lionel's leg.  Others, seeing how he held Shane and how Ellie was clinging to him, came over, and soon, Lionel was swarming with children, sitting in his lap, curled up beside him, clinging to his arms and his legs.

 

St. Jude, give me the patience to deal with these children, Lionel prayed silently, and petted the back of one of the girls clinging to his arm.

 

Lex brought a cup of hot coffee over, offering it to Pete.  "Thank you, Pete.  I don't know that I'd have thought of those heaters downstairs.  I'm glad you did."

 

"Batman... do you... do you think that Clark did that?"  It didn't seem at all humanly possible.  And really... Robin knew that it wasn't.  Not even he and Batman could have worked something like that.  "Batman?"

 

Shayla wrapped her arm around Pete's waist once, kissing the back of his neck as she breezed through.  "I love you," she whispered, and then ran to catch up with the little girl.  "Come on, your mama's through there, in that room.  Let's find her, okay?"

 

Dominic snarled right back, glaring deeply over the cup, but he was too cold not to accept it. He drank it... half of it before he set it down, and gave in to a full body shudder, gasping softly before breathing. "We're just waiting for Clark, now, and whoever he's bringing with him. Christ. What a mess."

 

"I--" Dial tone. Rude beech. He sighed, heavily, setting the phone down as well and he went to the kitchen, poking his head between the two men glaring at one another. "Master Graym make it to the hospeeteel. He will be back in un hour." And he was gone.

 

"You heard, him, Annie, get the glass containers in there... the defibrillators, we can’t let them get wet. Unsnap them... there you go." Toni took the lone paddles, wrapped them in a spare pillow case she grabbed off a nearby shelf, and wrapped it around them before slipping them in as well. They had everything... and she looked up at the man, fear in her eyes, and saw courage in his. She drew from it and, yanking him down by the beard, gave him a kiss he soon wouldn’t forget.

 

She let go with a flourish, grabbed the cart, and with the other doctors, shocked and grinning at one another, pushed out into the storm.

 

Martha... well, she blinked, grinned, pet him on the arm, and she was gone, to help the other victims with Ms. Bird and Rosalyn.

 

HEY! No sharing people! Shane kicked a kid in the head with a tiny foot, pushing him off, making a defensive MINE noise, and curled deeper into Lionel’s arms.

 

Martha met them halfway down the downstairs hall, grabbing Rosalyn’s hand... then Ms birds, and led them into the parlor, where the victims crowded for warmth… thawing and speaking. Some of them ate a little... some cried, and she, well, she was a trusted figure in the community. So when she spoke... the townspeople listened. "Everyone, I don’t want you to worry. The children are being taken care of... with bottles, food, and hot chocolate. They’re watching a video. I want all of you to warm up, right this instant. If you have any injuries, please stay still, help is coming."

 

Pete shrugged a little at Lex.... the man was, and Pete hated to think it... alright. Dammit. But he nodded, smiled a bit, and took the coffee, drinking it... before his girl came and wrapped around him. He smiled at her words, and when he looked back at Lex, he looked a lot more googly and dorky, not that he knew he was in love.

 

Bruce couldn’t stop looking at it... couldn’t rip his eyes away. The steel… his eyes followed the melted, destroyed beam, followed the path it had taken as it... it had melted. How it had flattened, and covered, he would never, ever know, but he swallowed once, and turned. "Clark did that." He was positive of it. Nothing, and no one, else could have. Not even a freak accident by nature could have done that. "We need to get back to the mansion, Robin." And he knew it. The cold was starting to infiltrate even the suits, and he was beginning to shake with the first onset of hypothermia. "Heat scan shows exactly three red spots. One has to be the school. The other, the mansion. A third... its moving. A truck, car, van. Something. And I'd be willing to bet its Clark. We can do nothing else, lets get going."

 

Jonathan didn't move.  "And when my son gets here, there's enough of us capable people to take charge of the situation while you sit down warm up.  You ain't gonna out-stubborn a Kent, so don't even try it."  His head snapped around to acknowledge Enrique.  "Hear that?  Brother'll be back in a bit with the doctor, so until he gets here, I want you on your ass, Mister."

 

Ho...ly...hell.  Graham's toes curled inside his logging boots as Toni kissed him.  His skin pinkened to a dark, ruddy color that contrasted greatly with his muted earth-tone shirt and jacket, his hands rested on her waist and all he could do was close his eyes and be kissed.  His mouth tingled, his tongue tingled, everything he owned woke up at that, including a slight stirring from Little Graham.  Lay back down before I shove you in a snow bank, he growled to himself as he shook himself out of the daze Toni's kiss had left him in, and sprinted to catch up.  "Watch the ice!"

 

"Now now, Shane, you're still my best young man, but we have to make room for other people here," Lionel chastised softly, rubbing the foot that had kicked.  The pet on his arm had made him growl softly and one of the children had shied away in fear, then came back when Lionel didn't do anything else. 

 

If he had to watch the pig sing one more time, he would gladly behead himself.

 

Shayla led the little girl into the room to stand beside Martha.  "Excuse me," she said quietly, "But this little girl and her brother and sister are looking for their Mama, and they're still upstairs with hot chocolate and Babe," she explained.

 

Lex saw the look on Pete's face, and when Pete turned back around, Lex was smiling softly.  Not a derogatory smirk, but a for-once genuine smile.  "Good luck, Mr. Ross... that one's going to be a handful."  He recognized the look on Pete's face immediately; it was the same look he got when he was around Clark.

 

Thanks to the suit warming circuitry, Robin was warm inside his suit.  But he caught Batman's shivers.  "Batman?  Bruce?"  Worriedly, he raised his hand to his mask and flipped through the computer screens until he found the one that showed his vital signs--and Bruce's.  "Holy shit.  Come on, we've got to get you warm too."  The first thing that Robin did was pull his cape off, and wrapped that around his partner's shoulders.  "We'll get you home, come on."  He switched his mask back to night vision, and scanned the area, looking for something--anything--and then his eyes fell on a sporting goods store.

 

There was a display of snowmobiles and ATVs in the window.  "We'll borrow one of the mobiles, and return it when the storm's over."

 

Dominic was too tired to argue. Too tired to bash the mans teeth in, though the thought, on whole, was superb. So Dominic nodded, kept drinking the coffee that somehow kept getting refilled, and fought to warm his belly and body. ....Just for a minute. And then he was stripping out of his coat, setting it, his scarf, gloves and hat on the stool, and taking a tray of cocoa from Ms. Bird, walked back into the parlor to pass it out.

 

Oh, yeah. Ice. Which she was currently sliding across. Toni let out a shrill cry...slipped across it, and gracefully stayed on her feet. Cart too! Alright, so maybe she plopped ass first in a snow bank once she passed the slick ice, but she laughed, climbed back up, and quickly pushed the cart with their supplies to the SUV that had to be part spy plane.

 

Shane sniffed, loudly at that, pouted, and lay his head on his best friend’s shoulder. His. People were touching what was HIS. Ohhhh, he didn’t like that.

 

A little girl, tiny as a dream, snuggled up, quite suddenly, under Lionel’s arm. Her blond piglets were matted with wet snow and dirt from where she'd fallen, but she just snuffled and curled up tighter.

 

Martha's eyes suddenly roved to the little girl... and she heard an answering cry across the room. The little girl let go of Shayla and literally leapt across the room and into her mothers arms. She sighed, softly, from her crouch next to Mr. Rubenstein, and gently pet his arm softly, smiling at him as she helped him drink another mug of cocoa.

 

Pete shrugged absently, once, pat Lex's arm, and turned back to the room to help the victims.

 

"I’m fine." Gruffly, but he let Dick help him. He was proud, but he wasn’t a fool, and he knew when he needed help. Now was one of those times. He thought the rubber, and the running… sweat, would keep him warm. Well, now all he did was shiver, but the smile on his face was priceless, as he elbowed out the window. The sound was hollow, like a gunshot underground, and he stepped in, pulling his lover in as well. "That one, Robin. Get that one. I’m sure the good man who runs the store won’t mind Batman and Robin taking it for help."

 

And very suddenly, amidst the hubbub, skin and lips quite an attractive shade of pale pink... Clark blinked. Flurries fell from his eyelashes to trail his face and hit his sweater... and under his shirt, his belly squirmed, where the puppy was trembling against him. He blinked… again...opened his mouth as the swift, enveloping warmth of the house fell on him. And he blinked again. The door had swung open, loudly, and outside the van of people were already unloading. "Hi?"

 

Jonathan glared at the stubborn ass man as he handed out cocoa in the parlor and the now-opened ballroom, and then jumped from his slouch at the table as he heard Clark come in.

 

"Toni!"  Graham skidded across the ice himself, boots giving him slightly better traction this time than they had before, and he ended up behind her, steadying her and the cart as she kept walking.  Maybe a little too close behind her, but it was better than seeing her pretty head cracked open on the pavement, and that thought stabbed him.  "Here, give me the cart.  The heater's still on, you get in and get warmed up and I'll load this up in the back."  He handed her the backpack as he opened the door for her.  "It's a little gadgety inside."

 

Lionel looked down to see the child's dirty hair and face, and he quietly pulled the girl closer.  "What's your name, precious?" he asked softly.  He rubbed his cheek against Shane's as he talked to her, arm protective around her waist as she curled up against him.  "Hush now... there's no reason to be sad.  You're all right."

 

Shayla grinned at Mrs. Kent, and snagged Pete around the waist as he went back into the room.  "Nuht uh," she said softly.  "You're on kiddie detail with me.  And hey, your parents are here, I heard my brother talking to your mom earlier, so you don't have to worry about them, okay?"

 

"I'm sure he won't either."  Robin looked it over, and grinned.  It was similar to one that Bruce had bought for him several years ago.  "Oh, this is a dream.  This is like the Galtney 500 you gave me couple years back.  I can drive this baby no problem."  He ran his hand over the sleek line of the control panel.  "C'mon... let's find you a jacket first.  And I need a helmet."  Helmets were relatively easy to find; they were stacked on a rack beside the snowmobile display, and ski jackets were at the back of the store.  "We'll leave a list of everything we take for the store owner, and tell him to call the Wayne Foundation in Gotham to pay for it."  He kissed his lover suddenly, deeply, and then pointed to the snowmobile.  "Get comfortable, I'll get the jacket for you."

 

"Clark!"  Lex was halfway to the door when he noticed Clark's shirt squirming but he didn't say a word about it.  "Come on, get inside, you're freezing!"  He put his hand on Clark's skin and jerked it back.  It was like touching dry ice.  "Shit!  Come on, Jonathan.  Move your ass.  Help me get these people in, and put them directly into the ballroom."

 

"I'm on it, Lex."  Jonathan already had his jacket and gloves on and was outside in the snow before Lex had finished speaking, herding people inside.

 

Toni peered inside, and nearly shrilled, "A little?!" Alright. So maybe having him so close kind of... well, turned her on. Cough. Now was not the time to be having those thoughts, and she helped her fellow doctors in, sliding into the front seat after she made sure the medications and glass bottles were carefully stored at her feet.

 

The little girl sniffled under Lionel’s arm...and gazed up, sniffling more. "M-M-Meyissa."

 

His eyes widened, immediately. His parents. His parents?! "Shayla, wait. Ma! Mama!" He called it... then when he spotted his mother, Pete raced over wounded and hurt people, freezing and crying, and wrapped his arms around her and his father. "Guys! I thought... oh, God! Mom, dad, are you guys alright?!"

 

"Oh, yes, Peter, baby we're fine." Ms Ross gently pet his shoulders and back, hugging him tightly and sighing. "No thanks to your father." Said glare at her husband.

 

"The Bat doesn’t wear helmets, or jackets, Robin. However you, do." Bruce said strictly... but oh, the kiss outdid him and he kissed back... stroking over the rubber at the back of his lovers back before he sat on the snowmobile he moved to the hole they'd broken through. "Get on. Hurry."

 

"I’m...uh." Clark blinked again, staring at his lover for a moment. He felt...he felt like...he was a different man then when he'd left here, almost three hours ago. He...in the course of three hours, he'd changed, dramatically, and he sort of...gaped at Lex, eyes wide as his belly barked. "Samson! Hold on, buddy, almost done." he glanced back at Jonathan...and Dominic, getting the people in, and looked at his lover again with another blink. "Wow."

 

"I’m...uh." Another blink from the hapless Mr. Kent to his trustworthy, sweet lover. "I’m a little cold."

 

"A lot?" Graham asked innocently, letting her brace against his bigger body as she helped the other doctors in, and then helped her in too.  He was definitely glad he'd left the engine running, keeping the interior warm, and he learned his lesson from last time.  He held onto the car side as he moved around, only losing his footing twice, and ended back up safely in the driver's seat.  "Okay.  Here we go, and this is going to be fun.  Be patient, it's slow going, and rest if you can.  I'll give you a smooth ride."  He flashed a grin at Toni.

 

"Well now, Melissa.  You look like you've had a bit of a tumble.  How about I drag Miss Shayla back up here, and we get you cleaned up a little?"  He rested his hand on the back of her head, rubbing it gently and checking to make sure she was okay.  "Wash your face in some warm water, get the dirt out of your hair, would you like that?"

 

Shayla stopped and watched as Pete ran to his parents, wrapping her arms around her midsection and grinning like a moron.  Okay.  So him happy made her happy, and she rocked on her feet, just watching.

 

Mr. Ross had his arms crossed over his chest, and huffed quietly in response.

 

"You do if I say you do, Mister."  Robin pulled down a black, fleece-lined ski jacket and added it to the list, and then put the list safely on the cash register.  Without another word, he tossed the jacket at Bruce, and then got on, cranking the snowmobile, revving the throttle with his hand, and then fastened the helmet in place.  "Hold on tight, Batman."

 

"Samson?" Lex asked.  "Jonathan... I'm taking Clark upstairs to get warm.  We'll be back down later."  Without another word, he put on his gloves and grabbed Clark and started dragging him upstairs.  "Don't tell me; that's either a dog in your shirt, or you're very happy to see me," Lex said dryly.  "Come on, there's a fire in the bedroom and we'll get you thawed out." 

 

Toni was sure that for the first time in her long, lucrative career of flirtations, she'd never heard as good a one as he passed her way. She felt her cheeks light up pink and her neck flamed, as she looked down and coughed softly. Ohhh buddy. Yes. Well. She might have to seduce this big hunk a little sooner then she thought. Not because she wanted to go fast… but because her body... and her heart… weren’t giving her another choice. "I trust you to do that. Just don’t hit anything, alright? Don’t want to go sliding into any ditches before its time." Blink. Blink. Smile.

 

"NO!" She suddenly shrieked, and covered her head under Lionel’s hand. "I hated waterded! NO!" And oh, she was crying again. "Don' make me geet clean!"

 

"This is so degrading." Batman muttered, grabbing on just as he pulled the jacket on, and they sped out into the night. And he couldn’t help leaning in, and taking a bite out of his lovers ear, and his fingers slipped low on Robin's hips. "Love you."

 

"I’m… yeah. A little cold." Clark looked dazed… overjoyed, but dazed. And cold. And the dog was starting to whimper and bark against his cold skin. "Lex... Lex, he's just a baby." He leaned over--he didn’t dare touch the little guy with his fingers. "Get him out, will you? He's laying against my belly button. Biting it, trying to get out, actually."

 

Graham chuckled softly at the flush that crept up Toni's neck.  Finally.  At least he wasn't the only one.  "Excuse me, I don't intend to be--"  And then it hit him, like a bloody Mack truck.  And it was his turn to flame about five shades deeper at her smile.  "You win, Doc... for now."

 

"It's okay, I won't, I won't," Lionel said quietly, stroking her head slowly.  "I won't make you get clean.  I didn't know you didn't like water... I just thought you might want everyone to see how pretty you are, that's all."  He smiled down at her teary face.  "It's quite all right, you don't have to get clean if you don't want to." 

 

Robin chuckled low in his throat.  "I love you, Bruce.  You're just lucky you're wearing the cowl, or your throat'd be mine and you'd be driving," he threatened.  Between the helmet and the mask, his face was fairly protected, though he knew his cheeks would be windburnt by the time they got home.  "No distracting the driver," he said firmly, and scooted back just a little into Bruce's space.  "Stay close to me; my suit's heating just fine and you should be able to feel some of the body heat."

 

"Biting your bellybutton?  I'm jealous, Clark... I thought that was my job."  But Lex slipped his gloved hand inside Clark's shirt, gently tweaking a nipple as he quested down and found--"ow!  Little bastard tried to bite me!"  He jerked his hand back, glad he was wearing gloves, and instead, slipped his hands under the bottom of Clark's shirt, and came out a moment later with a tiny, tiny handful of puppy.  "Is this what I'm looking for?" he asked, cradling it against his own body as the dog whined pitifully.  "I think he misses you."  His free hand stayed on Clark's wrist, and then dragged him into the bedroom.  "Strip out of those clothes; let me turn on the shower and run it hot."

 

"I plan to, Mr. Senatori." Was her softly spoken reply, and she smiled coyly before trailing her eyes, very, very obviously down his neck... chest... those powerful thighs that led to the darkness where he was pressing the pedals as they drove. "Yes...I plan to."

 

"Mommy say I always shtink." Melissa sniffled again and looked up at the kind man, her deep blue eyes filled to brimming, as the other children watched the video… drinking cocoa and laughing and talking to one another. Children were so resilient. "I like dirtiness! ME!"

 

"I am." Bruce muttered, quite pitifully. But he was cold, down to the marrow, and this had cost him. Damn Metropolis. Every time he came here he left with something cut, broken, or frostbitten. And he planned on telling Lex so, as he lay his rubber covered cheek against Robin’s back and sighed. He was toasty as a blanket and he held on tighter, heat permeating through his crotch, where it was snuggled to a round, gorgeous ass, his chest, and his shoulders and arms. "I’m close. Close as I’m getting, unless you'd like me to crawl in with you. Christ." He murmured it into an ear, instead of bellowing under the blizzard and his cape flapping in the wind, he whispered under it.

 

Nipple pinching would have been nice. Really nice.  If Clark could feel his nipples. He wasn’t in pain, but he was distinctly aware of his very, very cold state, unable to warm even with Lex's hands all over him. Oh... and then his buddy, his pal, his Samson came to view, tiny as anything and barking in his itty bitty voice. Oh, man. He was so, so cute. "That’s what you're looking for. He's gotta be cold as hell." But he didn’t dare touching the little guy... all he did was follow Lex into the bathroom, waiting for him to turn the hot water on... and he stepped in underneath it, clothes and all.

 

A loud, reverberating hissing rang out in the shower stall, echoing across the walls as smoke started to slip from his frozen body. "Oooooh. Yeah." A groan, heavy and hard, and Clark ducked his head under the spray... water sliding off the thin sheet of ice over his skin that he was doing his best to melt. "So... that was interesting.”

 

Graham blushed again as she checked him out in the growing darkness of the car.  "Yeah... I can see that you do."  His own eyes wandered lightly, but no less obviously, over her, lingering at her eyes, her delicate, capable hands, and her slender, trim waist.  "But... I don't think you'll have a problem."

 

"Well, dirtiness is all well and good, my young lady, but look at yourself."  He pointed to the mirror that hung on the back wall.  "I bet, that if you cleaned yourself up real nice, you could be prettier than all the girls in this house."  He reached into his pocket, and pulled out his wallet, thumbing through it until he found a picture of his wife and showed it to her.  "See that lady?  She was clean all the time, and see how pretty she was?  There was nobody else prettier than her either.  And if you clean up, I bet... I just bet... that you'd be just as pretty as she was."

 

"Mmm... crawling in with me.  Yeah.  I could dig that." Robin needed both hands on the throttle, or else he'd have slid one down to hold Batman's arm around his waist.  "Lose the cape if you need to--mine, I mean, get close."

 

"Well... I'll keep him warm until you get out of the shower," Lex called into the stall.  He blinked at the steam and smoke rising from Clark's body.  "What was interesting, Clark?  Tell me... tell me everything."

 

Toni's eyes sparked bright, and sweet, lovely dark eyes met his for a moment before she looked back into her lap and let him drive.

 

"Yy-y-yeah?" Melissa sniffled again, hard, chin trembling as she looked at the pretty lady. "Is herm chor wife?" She looked up at her new friend, chin still trembling as she blinked up at him, several times, sweetness on her face and in her eyes.

 

"I am." God, he was cold. Bruce couldn’t remember having been colder in his life...or, okay, that one time against Mr. Freeze, but that didn’t really count. "Your cape's warmer then you are. I made it with thermal properties, should ever you get into a position where you needed to keep warm." He muttered it, as they flew over a bank, and landed with a thud.

 

There was nothing on this earth better then standing, right here, in this shower, right now, Clark was sure of it. Oh, he felt good. Ice was falling in chunks to the floor, and now that he was starting to warm up, he could look at his lover as steam began to fill the bathroom. "You should have told me Bruce and Dick were going to go out in this crazy weather, Lex. Shame on you."

 

And Dominic... once he was sure everyone was cared for, warming up, the hurt fed and bandaged, and there was nothing at all he could do... he calmly walked to the bedroom he shared with Lionel, kicked off his shoes, curled under the covers and fell into a deep, almost unconscious sleep.

 

Graham turned his eyes back to the roadway, driving carefully and making sure that he didn't slide off the road.  He couldn't help it as his glance wandered back over towards Toni several times as they drove, and thankfully, they were nearly the only vehicles on the road. 

 

Lionel's thumb caressed the picture delicately.  "She was, before she--before she became an angel," he answered her quietly.  "She was my wife, and I loved her very, very much." 

 

"Then wrap up tighter in the damn thing," Robin scolded.  "And keep talking to me.  We'll be back at Lex's soon.  It's not quite the Batcave, but it'll do."  He wished like hell his mask could run two screens at the same time, and he reminded himself to ask Bruce about it later.

 

Lex stroked Samson quietly, and then his throat locked up when Clark mentioned Bruce and Dick.  "Bruce and Dick?" he asked casually.  "What are you talking about, Clark?  As far I know, they're still in their bedroom."

 

"Funny." Batman muttered quietly, holding on as Robin drove them around a steep curve, nearly falling off. He would have, if he didn’t have such a powerful grasp on Robin's waist. "I’m sure if we looked hard enough, we could find a cave in that castle."

 

Clark rubbed the ice crystals from his hair, slowly beginning to strip. Creamy skin, tensed and hard slowly came into view... his biceps were a little bigger then normal, as was his chest. Broader, almost. His abs were tight and hard as rock, as he dropped the shirt to the floor of the stall with a loud slap. He began to rub his fingers over his body, turning so it hit his back too, and muttered. "Don’t pull that bullshit with me, Lex. I saw them, out there. Even if he is Batman he shouldn’t go off traipsing around the landscape when we've got ten below zero. Stupid." A delicate arch against the hot water, and he sighed softly.

 

"Or at least a dungeon that could double as a Batcave."  Robin righted the mobile as soon as they took the curve, and he pressed back just a bit against Batman.  "Just think... nice warm hot soak in that big tub in the bathroom... little bit of that sandalwood oil Alfred packed... mm.  Candle or two, even."

 

Lex... stared at the changes.  He knew Clark's body by heart; this was not the same boy who'd gone out earlier.  Not by a long shot.  "He--Okay.  You're right."  Lex sighed.  "He's Batman.  I've known for a long time, and Clark... I know you know, but... you cannot tell a soul.  Nobody knows who Batman is but Bruce, Alfred, and Robin."  And if you don't know that Dick Grayson is Robin, then I'll kiss this dog's furry little ass, Lex thought quietly to himself.

 

"Robin, drive." He said it softly, and swallowed as he tightened his numb arms around him. "My suit... its heated as... as well... it short-circuited before I left Gotham. Mr. Freeze, bastard. He's just waiting for me to return." His voice was dark and grating...but at the mention of the tub and oils, he sighed softly and held tighter. "I think I might have to say yes."

 

Clark looked up, fierce pride in his voice. "I wont say anything. He knows I’m not human, I know he's Batman. I say we have a fair trade, there. And you can say Dick, you know, the name wont bite." He stripped out of his jeans, tense thighs thigh with muscles, and his ass… hard and tight, leading down to strong calves and spread feet that squirmed as he got the jeans down. Adrenaline... or what passed for it in his body, had slowly began to relax, and with it, his body was turning was returning to normal. He could feel his muscles crawling, though it was relaxing and comfortable. "You should have seen it, Lex. You would have been so amazed. I...I helped people. Lex, I helped people! Me. Clark Kent, alien extraordinaire." He wasn’t gloating... he was sharing, so happy, beaming.

 

Robin gritted his teeth as a new rush of guilt slid through his veins.  "Mr. Freeze shorted out your suit... and you didn't fix it?  Why not?"  Because, you stupid sonofabitch, he was out looking for you! Dick chastised himself.  "Well... we'll fix it now.  And when we go back... we'll go back together.  He's looking for Batman; he won't be expecting Batman... and Robin."  Robin took one hand off the throttle for just a minute, squeezing his lover's arm around his waist before kicking it back up to the highest speed and taking off again.  "I might even be talked in to giving you a back rub."

 

Lex stopped petting the dog entirely as he watched his lover's body... shrink, he supposed was the word for it, as it regained it's normal contours.  "Yes... Dick is Rob--they what?" Lex growled.  "How--how the fuck did they find out?"  His head was beginning to throb, but he looked at his lover with a smile.  "I'm proud of you too, Clark... you don't know how proud I am."  He swallowed hard.  "Dominic and I were talking just the other night... about the fact that we both knew you were destined for great things... from the look of it, I'd say we just discovered your destiny tonight."

 

His chuckle was soft against a hard shoulder. He was outrageously tired. "I didn’t have much time. It happened... and I was pushed into a corner for time. I had to find Lex before the holidays were over, before the second financial quarter, and I just... didn’t fix it. It worked for a while earlier tonight, with the jerry rig I put in… but yeah." He swallowed and held on, as they revved over another snow bank, landing hard and taking a left. "Can you see alright?"

 

Clark scrubbed a palm down the long line of his belly, and he was just positively beaming. "They found out cause I was speeding. Did I tell you? I melted a beam on Anderson Dam and I covered the crack!" He did a little dance in the stall, talking as fast as he could. "And the bridge, the bridge had fallen so I made another one out of these big oak trees around and those people are okay! They are! LEX!" He did another dance, a bop, shaking his butt happily. "I am so destined for helping people! I want a costume!" He nodded this, and beamed at his lover and his new dog, which, okay, how cute were the two together? "Are ya seeing how cool this is?!"

 

"Yeah, I can see fine.  Bruce... come on, don't you go to sleep on me.  Keep talking to me."  Robin kicked up the throttle into the next gear, taking things a little faster than he should have been but he was dying to get Bruce home and make sure he was all right.  The lights of Luthor Mansion came into view over the next hill, and Robin elbowed his lover.  "Check it out, told you I'd get us home."

 

"Let me guess," Lex said dryly.  "You just happened to run into Bruce while you were going supersonic?"  He scratched Samson behind the ears, and grinned at his euphoric lover.  "A costume?  I think Bruce and Dick are the people to ask about a costume, love."  He laughed.  "I am seeing how... how cool this is."

 

"I’m sleepy." Softly, but he knew better then to sleep. He knew, but his eyes were opening and closing by themselves. "We're close?" He sighed, softly. "Go around the back... There’s a secret door behind a lion statue. We can get to the third floor from there, okay?"

 

"I actually did." At that, Clark blinked. "I thought I broke him for a sec, but he got up and he was alright. By the way?" His eyes twinkled. "If you were to wear rubber, I'd be a very, very happy man." A wicked grin at him, before dancing again. "It was awesome. Awesome. Lex, just awesome. I did, though! I covered that dam, and oh! Okay, after I melted the steel? I pushed the wind and flattened it! I could hear it pop and smush together." Clark’s face was all grin. "No water’s coming out of that ever again. Or, well, until they can fix it, anyway."

 

"I know you're sleepy, Bruce.  But you're not going to sleep until I get you inside where it's warm.  Tell me what you think about my buddy Clark Kent, why don't you?"  That ought to keep him awake!  Dick pulled the snowmobile behind the house, cutting the engine and coasting down the hill to the back of the house.  He parked it in a small dip in the snow.  "Come on... let's get inside."

 

Lex just shook his head in awe.  "Clark... do you remember, the night Dominic and I picked you up at Chloe's house?  After the red meteorites?  You said that you didn't think you had anything to offer me, and I said the time would come when your gifts would be greater than anything I could offer?  I think that just happened, Clark... and I am prouder, happier, and more in awe than I can possibly tell you." 

 

He didn’t move, eyes closed... but he was conscious, and he spoke clearly as they parked. "Clark... Clark is either a mutant, or not of this earth. That, I believe, is our good friend Clark. Did you see that steel? No way could something normal do that. Robin… you and I haunt the night, but we are human beings. Clark... Clark’s the real deal."

 

Well, that just made Clark step from the shower and wrap, very toastedly, around Lex, hugging him tightly...wetting his clothes properly in the process... then wetting his mouth just as much. Hot, wet, with the squirming puppy between them, and Clark finally let go with a laugh, looking down at Samson's scowl. "Lex...can we keep him?"

 

"Yeah," Dick said quietly.  "Always got an itch about that kid, but I didn't think anything about it.  Always disappeared when somethin' was up."  He looked around at his lover.  "Alien, Bruce.  Do you realize how... incredible that is?"  He slid off the snowmobile seat, and slid his arm around Bruce's waist as he pulled Bruce's arm around his neck.

 

Lex growled as his clothes got wet, but returned the hug and the kiss with great relish.  He looked at his lover's face, at the puppy's scowl, and back to his lover's expectant look.  "Of course we can keep him, but you are going to be responsible for housebreaking him!!"

 

"In--" He lost his footing a moment… regained it, and tightened his arm around Lex's... no... Dick? Yes, Dick's neck. "Incredible. Are you sure we can’t sleep? I’m so tired." Softly spoken, as they slipped around the lion statue and pushed in the door after Bruce put in a code into a small black box.

 

Clark's eyes were innocent bats, and he let go with another kiss, before padding back into the bedroom for clothes. "Lex... all those people." He looked back at his damp lover, as he slowly pulled his jeans on. "We have to help them. They're bleeding, and they’re tired... Lex, we've got to. Because..." And his eyes, soft and green but sharp and intelligent, met his lover's. "Because we can."

 

"I'm sure, Bruce... you can't sleep until we're inside and you're warm again."  He kissed Bruce's face as it peeked out under the cowl.  "I'll get you warm, Bruce... I promise."

 

Lex nodded, and he echoed the unfamiliar sentiment.  "Because we can."

 -fin-

go to the next part