Title: listen to my happy tune
Fandom: DC Comics
Rating: G
Length: ~1000
Summary: Bruce hears Clark whistle a strange song. Of course, he's intrigued.




There were many reasons why Bruce was always aware of the other people who were with him in any room. With the League the reasons were different than they were at a gala with Gotham's rich and famous, of course, but at the heart of it it was all the same. He had honed his senses to know of threats and opportunities around him; he watched people because observing was what kept him alive and was an endless source of information when he needed it.

Right now, it was only him and Superman at the Watchtower and he was aware of Clark stepping through the corridors and rooms light-footed and at a practiced human pace. Nothing unusual there.

But he was whistling, a low tune, melodic and sometimes strangely dissonant, like at some points he just went off key, but there was a certain order to the off key moments and Bruce was listening intently, trying to figure it out. “What is it?” he finally asked.

“I didn't say anything.”

“The melody,” he clarified and Clark's blue eyes went wide as if he hadn't realized what he was doing.

“Oh. Ohhh. It's a... It's... I recently learned it when I went through the history files at the fortress. It's a Kryptonian love song. It just got stuck in my head.”

“Kryptonian... love song,” he repeated slowly.

Clark blushed a bright read.

He grined, amused. That it was Kryptonian explained the strangeness of the tune, the unfamiliar notes in the melody. That it was a love song of all things was just very Clark in every way. “Is there something you haven't been telling me?” Not that Bruce readily volunteered any information about his private life like that and Clark, despite everything, was a very private person.

He regarded Bruce for a moment, his cheeks still a surprising hue of pink. “About what?”

“You've been in a good mood. You're humming and whistling Kryptonian love songs. I'm a detective. I could draw my own conclusions.”

Clark's mouth raised into one of his slightly sarcastic half-smiles. “It's what you do.” He shrugged. “Draw your conclusions then.”

“Is that a challenge?”

Clark shrugged, but his grin didn't change. In fact he chuckled, looking more like Superman than Clark Kent suddenly.

Bruce recognized a true challenge when it looked him right in the face and he liked to ruffle Superman's feathers when he got like this. “Does it have words?”

“Huh?”

“The love song? Does it have words?”

Clark frowned and nodded. The he cocked his head to the side and considered where this was going. “Do you want me to sing you a Kryptonian love song, Batman? Flash would never let us live this down if he caught us.”

He swiveled around in his chair and knew exactly how he looked, with his cowl and the unreadable expression. He had practiced that look. Not for moments like this, but he wasn't going to throw away the advantage. “I'm always interested in languages. Teach me.”

It was worth the flabbergasted look on Clark's face. “Oh, oookay. I wasn't aware you were into dead alien languages and romantic lyrics.”

“Poetry, Clark,” Bruce said. “There's nothing wrong with it. I do more than just punch criminals in the face, you know? And all knowledge comes in handy at some point. Teach me.”

“When do you think a Kryptonian love song will come in handy?” He looked as incredulous as he sounded.

He allowed himself a grin. “You never know. I might have to romance a Kryptonian to get out of a pinch sometime.”

Clark laughed. “Yeah, likely.”

“Knowledge never hurts. So, come on, teach me.”

The curl on Clark's forehead didn't move even a bit as he shook his head vigorously in exasperation, but then shrugged his shoulders. “Why not? Slow night.”

* * *

The sound of the machines was loud in his ears. He was going to be crushed, before any of the other League members would even know where he was, because communications had failed them more than an hour ago and until he'd managed to dock the Psion ship, he had been drifting through space with no way of contacting anyone. With what was going on down there on planet Earth, what would his lone, far away voice mean to anyone? All their Kryptonian allies or friends with superhearing would not be able to pick out his call for help from the rest of the noise without a communications system to amplifiy it.

The walls were coming closer and there was nothing he could do to stop them.

He'd die, flattened in an intergalactic garbage chute with now way out. Dick and Alfred would never know what had happened... And Clark... God, Clark would blame himself.

Then he remembered something and it was worth a shot anyway to try. He loudly and not very expertly started singing the notes of the Kryptonian song Clark had taught him recently, contemplating wryly how crazy it was for Batman to die stuck in an alien space ship a love song on his lips.

He should have told Clark. He should have forgotten his pride for one goddamn minute and instead of bantering should have told Clark... He should have...

The metal wall was ripped away and with a loud screech the machines that were pushing the walls together stopped. Superman was there, holding the walls apart. “Now you serenade me? I've been waiting for you to make a move ever since I asked you to the fortress to teach you the words to that song and this is the time you choose?”

He stared, but couldn't say he was surprised. Perhaps in the back of his head he'd always known. “I'm not someone who admits his feelings. I needed the push.”

“So? This is you, admitting your feelings?” The metal was groaning and giving in as Superman pushed his arms apart and the walls away, leaving fingerprints in the metal, and then Bruce could freely move again. “I thought this was me being the white knight of this story.”

“Don't get cocky,” he advised as he let himself be pulled free.

“Would never dream of it.” Superman grinned. “I'm glad you're alright. And your Kryptonian is still terrible.”

“Let's end this. You can give me a few more private lessons when the world is safe.”

Banter was always easy and the grin they exchanged came even easier.

“Looking forward to it,” Clark said like a promise and sped them away.