Clark watched him fall from the sky like a raindrop hitting the ocean.
He could do nothing but watch, hands strong enough to move mountains forced to be held still as he supported the building from collapse. The last few stragglers were still making their way through the dust and rubble, and Clark tracked the fleeing civilians by their racing heartbeats.
Down below, the water lurched as a dark shape struck its surface, like a bullet finding its mark. The explosion had rendered Bruce unconscious; Clark had seen the way his body had gone slack, the force of it launching him clear across the dock. Unable to reach for his grapnel, there was nothing to prevent him from tumbling into the cold, unforgiving depths of the bay.
Clark didn't launch himself from the ground until he was sure everyone was out and safe.
Clark didn't stop until the water swallowed him too, salt on his tongue and ice on his skin. His hands found the familiar sensation of kevlar and carbon fiber armor, and he hauled the limp weight out of the water as fast as was physically possible without further injury.
Bruce's lungs were saturated with pungent Gotham seawater, bronchial branches flooded and unable to purge the vile liquid on their own. Clark laid him down as gently as he could on the concrete, pinched Bruce's nose, and leaned down until their lips met.
Cold. The salted, chemical tang of the water clung to the roof of Clark's mouth, and he focused on that taste rather than the pale, frozen lips beneath him as he breathed fresh air and life into Bruce's body.
They trained for this. Often, extensively, because they were constantly in situations where that training would be put into practice.
God, it was another thing entirely to have to use it on Bruce.
He needed to use more strength than he was comfortable with to get enough depth on his chest compressions through the armor of Bruce's suit. Clark counted from one to thirty, trying not to hear the way Bruce's sternum creaked in protest. When he heard the first rib break, Clark started counting out loud to distract himself.
Clark coaxed more air into Bruce's lungs, forcing oxygen into his bloodstream, hands that could shatter steel holding Bruce's chin like he was made of glass. The air shuddered in Clark's chest when he inhaled for the next breath to give to Bruce, and he wondered if he would ever breathe again if Bruce didn't.
A cough broke through the stillness that had settled around them, launching Clark back into vivid awareness of the world around them, the chaos from the battle settling down in the background. Clark thought he would have broken apart right then and there from the sheer relief coursing through his veins, but Bruce's hand came up to clutch at his wrist, a grounding touch.
Clark might've said his name, or maybe it was just a gasp of sound shaken free from his chest now that they were both breathing again. He helped Bruce onto his side so he could purge the rest of the water from his lungs.
They were used to this. Facing death, or the prospect of it, fighting tooth and nail in a relentless, constant battle where tomorrow could be the day where they finally lose. Living every day knowing that that day will come, a crystal clear inevitability.
Maybe not for Clark. He'd been dead once, and it didn't stick. But for Bruce, with his undeniable human mortality--
Clark couldn't linger on the thought. If he did, he wouldn't be sure if he could keep fighting.
Instead, he looked at Bruce. Who was here now, present and breathing and alive. Warmth returning to his skin, eyes struggling to open beneath the lenses of his cowl. Clark cradled his face and touched his cheek, more tenderly than he should out in the open like this.
Bruce cleared his throat once more, drawing in air so he could speak.
"If you wanted a kiss," he croaked, "you could've just asked."
A startled laugh bubbled up in Clark's chest as he gave Bruce an incredulous look. Bruce opened his mouth to say something else, but Clark dipped down to kiss him before he could, and again, their breaths weaving together in the space between their mouths.
