Fic: New Partnerships

[starsandsea]

Title: New Partnerships
Rating: PGish
Characters: Clark, Bruce
Word Count: 1521
Warning: Vampires!
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Author's Note: Betaed by the awesome mithen! *glomps*



Superman carefully knocked the last thug out, glancing around to make sure the dark-clad figure, also fighting them, had everything under control. Of course he did, he didn't know why he had even thought so. Granted, he hadn't known his fellow crime fighter all that long, but he had quickly come to realize that there was no one else he would want at his back in a fight.

Superman quickly gathered up the unconscious thugs and flew them to the police station, before flying back to where his friend was slipping into an alley. "Thanks for coming up here to help out. I know you don't like Metropolis all that much." No shadows, too bright, too clean... those were just some of the complaints he had heard from Batman.

He could say the opposite things about Gotham, of course - so many shadows, too dark, too dirty - but they were reflections of their cities. And he had learned not to say anything derogatory about Gotham in front of Batman.

Batman just grunted, trying to move further into shadows that just weren't there. He was holding himself stiffly, and Superman frowned.

"Hey, are you okay?" He reached out to place a hand on the black armored shoulder, but the other man flinched away. "B?" He was getting really worried now.

"I should get back to Gotham." His voice was terse, sounding more rough than usual. He tried to move deeper into the alley, but Superman didn't let him, moving quickly, so he was standing in front of Batman, making him stop before he walked into him. Batman scowled at him, but Superman barely registered it.

"B! You're hurt!" Blood was oozing slowly from a cut across his abdomen, staining the dark grey cloth of his costume.

"It's nothing." Batman started to move around him, but Superman didn't let him.

"No! You can't leave like that - you're bleeding!" It was all his horrified eyes could see, the ugly wound, blood seeping from it.

"It's fine, I'll bandage it later."

Superman didn't budge.

"Let go of me." Batman's eyes narrowed, and a hand started to drift down to his belt where Superman knew a certain green mineral was stored. If it was bad enough that Batman was willing to go to those lengths... His own eyes narrowed.

Faster than Batman could process, he had him wrapped in his cape, holding him in his arms as he flew north to the Fortress.

*****

Batman was glaring at him, yelling at him, calling him names that no one had dared utter in front in Superman before. Superman ignored him, instead focusing on flying them through the Fortress to the medical bays. They were for Kryptonians, but he knew they could treat humans too.

He finally reached them and set Batman down carefully. The vigilante quickly moved away from him, starting to head back out to the main part of the Fortress, still cursing him.

"B, please! I just want to help. There's no where for you to go, anyway."

Batman swung around, scowling, but then... wobbled. Superman was immediately at his side, supporting him, leading him to one of the crystal plinths, before he could protest any further. He carefully removed his cape, revealing the dark costume, but red remained where the blood was still oozing.

"The Fortress can help, it'll heal you."

"It didn't occur to you that I could perfectly adequately deal with this on my own?" The words were sharp and pointed, but he could hear the pain underlying them, and he hadn't moved.

Superman bit his lip. "I know you could. But you got this," he gestured, "helping me. Let me... make it up to you."

Batman had gone still, so before he could protest further, he quickly instructed the Fortress to run a scan and heal the wound. Batman was still not moving, barely even breathing. Superman wanted to touch him, make sure he was okay, but he couldn't. He would disrupt the scan if he did. So he just bit his lip again, watching.

Batman was looking at him, not quite a glare, but close enough. "You shouldn't have brought me here. Done this."

Before Superman could respond, the crystals chimed, and he flew over to a console, where he could read the scan results. He frowned deeply. "What? Try again." He ordered in Kryptonian . The crystals chimed in almost annoyance, but did as he told them. He heard Batman slip off the crystal plinth. "Don't. You'll only hurt yourself more. Please."

Batman moved up behind him. "Let me guess. It says it can't heal me?" His voice was... darker than normal.

"How did you...?" He turned to see Batman standing right in front of him.

"Kal. Oh, Kal. I've tried to resist it, but I can't. I know I shouldn't, but I don't care."

"Batman?"

There was a almost cruel smile on his friend's lips, he was looking at him like he was a piece of prize meat. "Kal. Do you really want to heal me?"

The smell of blood was heavy in the air; Kal's heartbeat was racing in his ears. "Yes. Of course."

A satisfied, pleased smile was now on Batman's lips, and Superman shivered. "Then, forgive me, Kal. For not being strong enough to resist you."

Before he could make sense of what that meant, Batman had grabbed hold of him, once gloved hand fisting in his hair, his tongue caressing his neck, before he... bit him. Kal's eyes went wide, and he knew no more.

*****

He opened his eyes to discover that he was in his bed at the Fortress. He felt strangely light-headed. He tried to sit up, and suddenly became aware of a pain at his neck, two points of fire. A shadow moved and Kal blinked.

"I'm sorry."

He blinked at Batman again.

"Here. This will make you feel better." A black gloved hand held a glass of clear liquid to him, thicker than water, and Kal recoiled away from him in sudden fear as he remembered what had happened.

"What... what did you do? What are you?"

Batman sighed, and looked resigned for a moment, before his face returned to its normal stoic mask. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that, but the bloodlust came over me, and you were the only one around... You smelt so good." Kal stared at him, and Batman shifted. "I'm a vampire."

Kal stared at him still, able to see the pointed teeth now. His hand was unconsciously cradling his neck where Batman had... bitten him. "Oh. Well, that, um, explains some things." He looked at Batman again, after glancing away for a moment.

Batman was looking at him in surprise. "That's it? That's all you have to say?"

Kal moved slowly closer to him, looking at him in a whole new light. "Well, I'm a alien. I guess the fact that you're a vampire shouldn't be that surprising..." he trailed off, looking down, spotting dried blood still on Batman's uniform. "Your wound, is it-?"

"It's fine. When I drank your blood it healed."

"Oh. Good. I'm glad."

There was silence for several moments, both of them trying to process what was happening. Batman was still tense, clearly expecting an attack at any moment. He knew just how he felt, and he wondered what it had been like for him, hiding what he was, compared to his own life.

"You really should drink this," Batman broke the silence at last, offering him the drink again.

"What is it?" Kal asked, taking it carefully.

Batman frowned. "I'm not sure. It appeared after you passed out. From what I was able to translate it's meant to help you get over your blood loss and shock."

"Oh," he sipped it carefully, and immediately felt better. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Um, everything." Batman looked at him again, shaking his head after a while, sitting carefully on the edge of the bed. "I won't tell anyone. That you're a..."

"I'd appreciate that. And I am truly sorry I couldn't restrain myself."

Kal looked at him, startled, then finally registered the numerous apologies Batman had given him. "Hey, I was the one who told you I wanted to make it up to you."

A tiny smile quirked Batman's lips, and Kal carefully shifted forwards, until he was sitting next to the other man, and placed a arm about his shoulders, feeling the tense muscles slowly relaxing.

"You won't turn into a vampire yourself. Your Kryptonian blood seems to prevent that possibility."

"Well, that's good." He smiled, feeling a whole new world of possibilities, of entirely new levels of his relationship with his friend opening up. His smile widened, as he saw the same thoughts etched on Batman's face.

Whole new levels, indeed.