God that thing about Dick being Clark's and Bruce's child, the ANGST that could cause. Bc imagine a 19 year old nightwing who has just been fired from robin, who until now ha labeled Bruce as "partner" even if deep down he wanted him to be his dad, bc partner is such an easier thing to say, so much safer. And now Bruce has fired him, replaced him, and suddenly, he's not even partner anymore, he doesnt know what he means to Bruce.
And then there's Clark, who has filled that role of parent figure so many times, especially if we're in a superbat scenario, and they've never labeled it.
So here come these aliens, looking at him as the child of these two titans, and what the fuck is he supposed to do? Say something? What if Clark denies it, not out of malice or any ill will towards Dick, but bc he's never thought about it before. And that thought obviously hurts, but it's nothing compared to the idea of Bruce denying it, bc Dick knows he's thought about it, and it would be the ultimate rejection, the last straw.
So he just stands there, silent and terrified of Bruce catching on.
I'm obsessed with this
Exactly! The angst comes from Bruce and Clark trying to deny a romantic/physical relationship with each other, not realizing they’re inadvertently denying Dick’s presence. They’re so caught up in “no we didn’t have a baby together” to realize yeah, maybe not, but you raised Nightwing! Nightwing.
And maybe the whole reason they want the child of Batman and Superman is because they need a balanced and objective third party for something back home but they can only take one person. Batman and Superman are famed for their diplomacy and surely a child of theirs would have both of their qualities…