Superbat Friends to Lovers to Ex to Strangers to Lovers Again (part 2)
@loonstar4477
Part 1
The next time Clark comes to the Manor with an excuse—and he needs one, after all, he hasn't been near the place in years, and things between him and Bruce are still too shaky to introduce himself freely as if the place were his home—he finds only Dick, who greets him with a smile.
The first sign that something's wrong. He should have known, if he really knew Dick Grayson.
Dick: Hello, Uncle Clark. Why are you here?
Clark: I'm at a gala next week to follow Luthor, and I was wondering if Bruce wanted to help me with the investigation.
Dick: I thought you wanted to bring him as your date.
Clark: Oh, no…it's definitely too soon…
Dick: Well, you're right, it's not like you've known each other for almost twenty years and raised a child together…oh, sorry, I forgot. The child in question wasn't yours. That doesn't count, does it?
Dick reveals he knows all about Clark and Bruce's previous breakup, and how it was because Clark didn't feel cut out for the role of a parent.
And that could have been understandable, really. He was quite young at the time, and already had a lot on his plate.
Too bad that within three years, Clark got engaged and then married to Lois, and soon after, Jon was born. A good boy, Jon, a sweet boy. An easy child to handle, unlike Dick (and Jason, Cass, Tim, Damian, Duke...).
And the divorce from Lois... they broke up because of a relationship crisis, right? A crisis that could have been resolved if Clark hadn't simply given up, because it was easier. And isn't this a pattern? Things get tough, and Clark decides that leaving is the best solution.
He did it with Dick, with Bruce, with Lois... does he really think Dick will let him hurt Bruce again?
Clark says it's not his intention, but Dick reminds him that his history doesn't speak in his favor, and that he's been all too happy to make Dick assume the worst about Bruce over the years. He'd seen some of the arguments between Bruce and Dick at the Watchtower, he knew Dick was unaware of the real reasons for their separation, but he'd never come forward to tell the truth.
No, it was much more convenient to make people assume Bruce was the problem, wasn't it? Clark treated Dick like an equal, and for years Dick hadn't noticed how abnormal that behavior was. But now he realizes that Clark was distancing himself from him like that, denying their relationship.
Dick isn't having it anymore. He says that Bruce at least tried with him, something Clark never did. And what, does he expect that just because Dick is now an adult, he no longer needs a parent? Does he think he can come back because the main obstacle is out of the way?
He didn't think Superman was so shameless.
The argument escalates, Clark says things he shouldn't have said about Bruce, and Dick hits him. (Something like the super canon, happiness is foreign to you, Bruce. Seriously, who wrote something like that? )
Before things get too serious, Bruce arrives and stops them. Bruce realizes that Dick is injured, probably with a broken hand, and although he doesn't like it, he recognizes that his son did what he did for him.
Clark tries to talk to him, but Bruce tells him to go away. After all, Clark doesn't have time for him, letting him know that he's heard most of what Clark had said about him.
And Clark has no choice but to leave.
