Bruce was lying on the bed, strapped into it, to be more accurate. He had been placed in a straightjacket and lashed down on the bed for good measure. A small tray was by the bed, holding a cup of pills and a glass of water. He stared at them, his eyes bloodshot and his hair a mess. “Get me out of here, Clark,” he stated, biting off words one at a time.
“Easy there,” Chloe said and went his bedside. She started undoing the lashes on the bed-frame, struggling with the straps. Clark stepped back and folded his arms, watching Bruce.
“Can’t you get out of these by yourself?” Clark asked. “I thought that was your specialty at the show.”
“Not when I’m lashed down to the damn bed,” Bruce yelled, and thrashed around wildly. Chloe backed up as he struggled against the restraints. “Get me out of here,” Bruce repeated, falling back on the bed.
“So now you want my help,” Clark remarked. Bruce’s eyes went wide, then narrowed down to slits. He stared at him and in spite of himself, Clark shivered.
“Richie’s still out there,” Bruce said finally. “You need to realize something about that: the longer he’s on the run, the more desperate he’ll get. Someone has to bring him in. As strong as you are, you couldn’t fight him. I can. I will. But first you need to get me out of here.” Clark clenched his fists and waited, trying to think.
“Uhh, what did he mean about that?” Chloe spoke up from the side. She waited, looking very confused. “Clark, what did he mean about strong? What’s he talking about?”
“Uh, nothing,” Clark said quickly, his mind suddenly racing. Bruce may just have blown his entire secret with a few words! Clark didn’t know how his friends would react if they found out his secret. So many horrible things had happened because of the meteor stones, what would Chloe and Pete think if they knew their best friend was connected to them? What would Lana think? Her parents had been killed in the meteor shower, would it just bring up old ghosts for her, every time she saw him? Clark tried to smile and reassure Chloe, but his face twitched nervously. Chloe’s eyes narrowed as she stared at Clark, and for a second, he thought it was all over, his secret was out, when Bruce suddenly spoke up.
“Farm boy here tried to attack Richie with a wooden post,” Bruce said derisively. “All he got was a handful of splinters and almost Richie’s arm in his side. He tries that again, and he might not be so lucky.”
“Oh, my god! You didn’t tell me you tried to attack him,” Chloe said and turned to slap Clark on the shoulder. “You idiot! You could have gotten yourself killed!”
“It wasn’t that bad,” Clark said. “I’m feeling much better now, honest.” It was the truth, actually. The pain had all but faded from his side, replaced by a small itch.
“You try something like that again, Mr. Kent,” Chloe warned him, “and a walking switchblade’s going to be the least of your worries.” She held his gaze until he nodded, and then she started to work on the straps again, apparently satisfied. Clark breathed an inward sigh of relief. That had been a little too close. Chloe had come near to discovering his secret in the past and each time it had gotten harder and harder to turn her away. She was one of his best friends, but her natural curiosity and stubbornness made him seriously consider avoiding her at times. Clark glanced over at Bruce and caught his eye. Bruce was eyeing him back curiously, and then he looked down to check Chloe’s progress on the straps.
“It was Chloe, right?” Bruce asked her calmly, his voice smooth and controlled. She looked up at him and nodded. “I’m sorry, I’ve been a little rude to you. I haven’t said thanks yet. If it wasn’t for you two, I might’ve been strapped down here for days.” He gave her winning smile and Chloe arched her eyebrows, amused.
“Oh, I get it,” she said, unhooking one of the straps. “Now that we’re going to help you, you’re glad to see us, is that right?”
“Sharp girl,” Bruce smiled at her.
“You have no idea,” Clark remarked. Chloe gave Clark a look and started on the second strap.
“Why don’t you let Clark have a go at that?” Bruce asked her. “What I really need you to do is to get me some clothes.” Chloe and Clark both froze. Bruce was lying in bed with a blanket coming up to his mid-chest. The straps had been added later, over the blanket.
“Do you mean…” Chloe blushed, “that you’re naked under there?”
Bruce frowned and coughed. “Of course not, they left me my boxers,” he said. Chloe bit her lip, trying to hold back laughter with little success. Her shoulders shook from the effort. Clark smiled and looked away, shaking his head. “Hey, when they were stitching my leg up they had to cut my jeans off,” Bruce said indignantly. “I didn’t have much say in the matter.”
“Right,” Chloe said, still laughing. “I guess I’ll steal something from a room or storage. Any preferences or size?” she asked, heading towards the door.
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“Extra large shirt and a 32 pants,” he said, fuming at her. “And nothing stupid looking!” he yelled as she opened the door. She waved her hand dismissively and disappeared. “She’s going to come back here with something awful, isn’t she?” Bruce asked Clark.
“Moderately awful,” Clark agreed and took hold of the straps. He snapped it easily and moved down the side of the bed, breaking them all. Bruce sat up slowly, moving his shoulders around in the straightjacket as he tried to free himself. “Here,” Clark said and reached for the jacket. Bruce leaned away from him and shook his head.
“No, I’ve got it,” he said. Clark shrugged and stepped back. Now free to move around, Bruce dipped his shoulders and moved his arms around in the suit.
“Why’d they put you in that?” Clark asked him as he watched.
“After you ran away at the circus-” Bruce started, when Clark spoke up.
“I didn’t run away,” he said with force, “I just couldn’t stick around and let them take me here.”
“Whatever you say,” Bruce said lightly. “Anyway, I tried to follow Richie, but didn’t manage to get far. I passed out and the paramedics found me. I woke up here in the hospital while they were stitching me up. As soon as the doctors’ backs were turned, I tried to make a break for it, but someone spotted me. After I broke an orderly’s nose, they stuck me in this and strapped me down.” He managed to free one arm, and moved it around, massaging his shoulder carefully. “Do you think you could open one of those windows?” Bruce asked him casually. Clark shrugged and pulled the closest one open for him. “Thanks,” he muttered, still rubbing his shoulder. Then undoing the straps on his waist, he managed to slide the jacket over his head and off. Bruce threw the jacket towards the corner of the room and moved his neck around, making a series of popping noises. He sighed gratefully and rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand.
Without the straightjacket, Clark could see how much damaged Richie had done to Bruce the night before. Both of his shoulders were heavily bandaged where Riche had grabbed him. There were numerous small patches of gauze taped to his chest and stomach, many of which were more than six inches long. All of Bruce’s fingers were taped up as well, like he was some kind of boxer. Clark remembered Bruce punching Richie repeatedly and rubbed his own knuckles. He wondered how much that must have hurt. Bruce noticed him staring and shrugged. “It’ll heal,” he said unconcerned.
Clark searched for something to say and finally offered, lamely, “I didn’t know you could fight like that. It was… impressive.”
“After more than fifteen years training, it had better be more than that,” Bruce remarked. “I’ve studied under masters of every fighting style there is, and he still managed to beat me.” He looked at Clark, his eyes narrowing. “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to you?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, someone drove a car into you, and you barely flinched. What happened when you fought Richie? It seemed like you were down before it even started.”
“Did you see the three stones embedded in his chest?” Bruce nodded slowly. “Well those are the meteor rocks that crashed here the day I arrived,” Clark explained. “For some reason they weaken me, take away all my powers. I can’t even stand to be near them. It feels like radiation or something. Lead’s about the only thing that can block them.”
“Wait a minute,” Bruce said, his brow furrowing. “Arrived? I thought you said you had your powers since birth?”
“Yeah,” Clark nodded, “I think I did anyway. My parents guessed that I was around three when I crashed here, and I was already strong then. I didn’t have all my powers though, back then. I was just really strong. Other just started emerging recently.”
“Crashed?” Bruce asked, looking thoroughly puzzled now. “What do you mean, ‘crashed’? Where do you come from?” Clark shrugged and extended one finger upwards. “I hope you mean outer space,” Bruce commented.
“Yeah, the ship’s hidden on the farm,” Clark smiled at him. Bruce didn’t return it. He stared at Clark, frowning.
“Why are you telling me this?” he asked him quietly. “I haven’t told you anything about myself that would make you trust me.”
“I don’t know,” Clark admitted. “I guess I could say that we both have secrets, and you’re not going to tell mine, cause then I’d tell yours, but it’s more than that. I don’t think I like you very much,” Clark said truthfully, “but somehow I know I can trust you.” Bruce stared at him, his face unreadable, and then opened his mouth to say something when Clark suddenly spoke up. “Chloe’s coming back,” he announced abruptly.
“How can you tell?” Bruce asked, looking towards the door.
“X-ray vision,” Clark remarked. Bruce blinked and then shook his head. Just as he had predicted, the door opened and Chloe snuck into the room, quickly closing it behind her. She was holding a small bundle of clothes to her chest tightly.
“What do you have for me?” Bruce asked impatiently. Chloe laughed and threw the pile of clothes on the bed.
“A little courtesy, please, Mr. Wayne,” she told him. “Would it kill you to say, ‘thank you, Chloe’? I had to sneak into someone’s room to steal half of this stuff for you. You owe me big time.”
“I owe them,” he corrected her. “You’ll have to give me the room number you went in, I’ll leave them a few hundred for their trouble.”
Chloe blinked and said, “Forget what I said before, a few hundred bucks would help me too.”
“Thank you, Chloe,” Bruce said quietly, hiding a smile.
“I’d hold back on that yet,” Clark said, picking up a shirt from the pile. It was a gray baseball jersey with a black bat shape on the front. Chloe smiled and looked away, chuckling.
“What is that supposed to be?” Bruce asked slowly. He took it and turned it around to stare at the bat insignia. It had its wings outstretched beside it, looking like it was ready to swoop down to attack. The bat’s face had a pair of gleaming fangs and an expression that was about as frightening as Count Chocula.
“It’s a jersey for the Lowell Vampires,” Clark explained. “They’re a minor league baseball team in the next county. They’ve got the worst record in the league.”
“I think it’s their mascot’s fault,” Bruce said dryly. “Still…” he said staring at the bat image. “Oh, whatever,” he said finally and tugged the jersey on. He dug through the pile for a pair of jeans and then looked up at the two of them. Clark and Chloe turned around and Bruce started to dress.
“I think my wallet’s in the cabinet over there,” he said to them while he was tugging on the jeans. “Could you toss it on the bed?” Clark opened the cabinet and found the wallet lying on the top shelf. He picked it up and opened it to glance inside. The driver’s license said, ‘Tom Malone’ and gave an address in Gotham.
“Do you always have this fake id in here?” Clark asked, tossing the wallet behind him.
“Wouldn’t make much sense not too,” Bruce said from behind him. “I have a wallet that holds all of Tom Malone’s information, and then I have a wallet for when I need to be Bruce Wayne.”
“But aren’t you always Bruce Wayne?” Chloe pointed out.
“That’s just a matter of perspective,” he remarked.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Chloe said suddenly, “when I was looking around, I found out that your friend, Gail, is awake. Do you want to see her before we leave?” There was a long pause in which Bruce didn’t say anything. “Hello?” Chloe asked impatiently, but still there was no answer. Clark glanced around to check on him, but the room was empty.
“Where’d he go now?” he asked staring around the room. Chloe turned around and stared in amazement.
“What? He barely says thank you for rescuing him from here and then he goes and disappears into thin air?” she asked, kicking the side of the bed in frustration.
“Not thin air,” Clark said, looking at the open window. He stuck his head out and glanced around, but he couldn’t see anything, even using his X-ray vision.
“But we’re three floors up,” Chloe said in disbelief.
“Tell him that.”
Chloe snarled and kicked the bed again. “Alright,” she decided, fuming, “let’s go talk to Gail and then we’ll call Pete and see if he’s found anything yet. I want to sit down and find out just what makes our friend, Mr. Wayne, tick.” Clark nodded quietly, that was something he was very anxious to find out as well.