literature

When Doves Cry Part 1 Chp 3

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"Abuse?" Superman all but whispered, his anger leaving him quicker then air out of a popped balloon.

He slumped back into his seat.

"I know you don't want to hear this, Clark, but that boy was held against his will for a long time. He's used to being controlled by that doppelganger of yours. He'll subconsciously associate you with him and all your attempts to help will be unintentionally controlling him all over again," Batman explained, looming over the taller man.

Even though Superman heard the words he couldn't bring himself to let them into his mind.

"Then what am I supposed to do? I can't leave him here alone with him. Brainy is scared of him and I'd be the only one who could stand a chance against him if something went wrong. And… and your counterpart used to work with him. I doubt Brainy will feel comfortable around him if we're not here."

"The best thing for him is to get him back to his own time, to his friends who can help him without hurting him further," continued Batman, his voice more firm.

"Bruce, his time – at least the one he knew – may not exist anymore. Think about it; the whole reason they ever took me to the future was because they needed help from a hero. I know the Legion better then you, they wouldn't have come for him if they knew he became a Justice Lord. And Brainy definitely never would have had a relationship with him. We might be all he has," Superman tried to explain.

"What makes you think I have any involvement in this?" asked Batman.

If Batman had said anything like that when they had first met, Superman would have been shocked that a hero could be so cold – and angry at his lack of sympathy. However, Superman knew better now. This was Batman trying to stay detached and force him to make a non-emotional decision. It didn't mean he didn't care, it just meant he wanted to do what was best: not what would make them feel good about themselves later.

Still, Superman valued his emotions far too much to push them aside.

"I'm not leaving him."

"What about your Brainiac Five?"

Superman looked up at him, eyes widening, jaw falling open.

"You're in a relationship with the Brainiac Five on our world, aren't you?"

Though Batman phrased it like a question, it wasn't one.

Nodding anyway, Superman closed his mouth.

"You're going to leave this world eventually and that could hurt this Brainiac Five more than any of your help if you allow him to get attached to you." Batman's voice sounded surer of this than the possibility he made it out to be.

Slowly, Superman dropped his head into his hands.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"That's not my decision, now is it?" Batman asked, turning and walking back to what he had been working on earlier.

You are absolutely no help, Superman bit his tongue to keep from yelling at the Bat. He also had to muscle up all his willpower not to grab the sandwich plate and throw it at his teammate's head.

Though he wouldn't put it past Batman to be expecting it and have back up kryptonite and a batarang ready for him.

Trying not to grumble, Superman took out his frustrations by devouring the rest of the sandwich.

"Feel better?" asked Batman after a few moments, almost sounding amused.

Superman didn't care what anyone said. Batman had to have some sort of superpower. There was no other way he could always know the reasons behind his actions, his moods, what he was thinking and be so cocky without getting himself killed by now.

Thankfully, Superman wasn't given the chance to answer – or rather lie – since Lord Batman came back into the room. Behind him walked Brainy, looking clean, though none of his injuries had been treated.

Still, Superman was surprised; Brainy had cut his hair. With it short again, he looked almost exactly the way he did when he had first became human, only older and… with a new, different, aura of vulnerability around him.

Practically ignoring the fact that Superman was there, Lord Batman turned to his counterpart.

"He won't let me treat him and I think it's a bad idea to let him treat himself."

"I've been doing it my entire life," said Brainy, crossing his arms, but he wasn't meeting anyone's gaze.

The two Batmans pretty much ignored this as Superman looked up at Brainy. He wanted to offer to help but Batman's words were still catapulting around in his mind more violently than Bouncing Boy shooting around the room when freaking out during his horror movies.

"I'll treat him," said Batman, taking the medical supplies from Lord Batman that Superman hadn't noticed when they first walked in.

"How is that any different from him doing it?" asked Brainy, turning towards Batman but still not looking up.

"Because I'm not giving you a choice. Sit down."

What happened to not controlling him again? Superman wanted to ask, but felt maybe Batman knew more about what he was doing than he did. Batman was, well, Batman and he… he still felt utterly lost about what to do.

The movement was slow, almost stepping back, but Brainy moved forward and sat down, a seat away from Superman instead of next to him like before.

Not saying anything, Batman attended to all the visible wounds on Brainy's face and arms. When he had finished he turned to Superman.

"Leave."

"What? Why?" asked Superman.

"I'm going to attend his other injuries. Leave," said Batman.

Under the glare of two Batmans, Superman stood to go.

"I'll be right outside; call if you need anything."

No one acknowledged this, so Superman left the room in silence. On the other side of the door, he leaned against the wall and gazed up at the ceiling.

What was he going to do?

Luckily, Superman didn't have to make his decision right away. As it turned out, Batman needed to stay longer to help his counterpart make the prison more secure. He basically had until they were done to make a decision and, since they were night owls – or rather night bats – there was no telling how much time he would have.

When Brainy's injuries were all taken care of, Lord Batman gave him a room far away from where the other Lords were being contained. The Dark Knight of this world even deactivated the lock which, Superman assumed, was for Brainy's peace of mind.

Standing outside the room, Superman watched as Brainy just stood in the middle of the floor, perfectly still and silent long after Lord Batman had left. He almost felt like he should leave but something told him it would be a bad idea.

"Brainy?"

At the sound of his voice, Brainy's entire being seemed to incinerate the air around him with rage. He trashed about the room, breaking furniture, ripping up the bedcovers, throwing things against the walls.

Superman felt like he had been hit with his own ice breath. He couldn't move, couldn't understand what was happening.

He didn't even realize Brainy had been screaming until it stopped and the Coluan fell to his knees, changing from fire to water as quickly as steam evaporated.

Seeing Brainy's tears and hearing his sobs made Superman want to rip out his own heart so he didn't have to feel any of the overlapping storms tearing him up from the inside but he couldn't.

He just couldn't.

His feet felt as though they were covered in kryptonite as Superman made his way forward. It was like he was on autopilot as he knelt down beside Brainy and reached out to wrap his arms around him.

"No!" Brainy screamed, shrinking into himself just as the other man's arms were nearly touching him.

Eyes widening, Superman knew he really should have been expecting it but that didn't make it hurt any less. He brought his arms back around himself and moved to further the distance between them.

Choking back a sob, Brainy reached out and held onto Superman's arm closest to him and leaned against the attached shoulder. His cries become softer.

Resting back in his original spot, Superman realized there was nothing he could do or say. All he could do was sit and let Brainy use him for what little support he had to offer: a shoulder to cry on.

When the crying faded, Brainy remained where he was and became silent again.

Superman didn't try to touch him any further than what Brainy had initiated himself, or offer any words. He could wait as long as he needed to.

There was no telling how much time had passed, for the clock had been broken and the room didn't have a window, but when Brainy's hold around his arm loosened, Superman knew Brainy had fallen asleep.

Carefully maneuvering their positions so he could pick Brainy up, Superman laid the younger man on the seemingly undamaged bed. He then retrieved the thrown pillow and got another blanket to replace the torn one, wrapping it loosely around the still form.

It took a while longer but Superman found where Brainy had thrown Batman's belt compartment with the kryptonite in it. He placed it on the bed near Brainy's head, just in case the boy woke up and needed a sign that he was safe.

Leaving the room, Superman found Batman waiting for him.

"You're letting him get attached to you."

At Batman's words, Superman managed to smile softly.

"We're already attached to each other. Even if we are in different worlds he's still Brainy and I love him. I can't stand by and do nothing and let him suffer."

Narrowing his eyes, Batman contemplated these words, Superman's body language and his expression. He turned and began to walk away.

"Do whatever you want."

When Superman woke up in the middle of the night, he wasn't sure what caused it. Laying still, he let his instincts take over, allowing his super hearing to activate. His ears immediately picked up the sound of weeping.

Rushing out his bed and from the room, Superman forgot to put his boots back on. He flew to the source of the crying, back to Brainy's room.

He opened the door to walk in but immediately jumped back.

Sitting up on the bed, knees against his chest, face on top of his knees and arms wrapped around his head with his fingers pulling at his own hair was Brainy, crying softly – with the kryptonite compartment open at his feet.

"Brainy," Superman called softly, wincing when Brainy jumped. "It's alright, close the compartment."

"No…" Brainy whimpered, not looking up, not moving except for his body's tremors and his hands clutching tighter onto his scalp.

Superman looked down the hall as he tried to think. He could get Batman to close off the kryptonite radiation, but then what? Batman would probably take the kryptonite away from Brainy and the Coluan needed it to feel safe, and that wouldn't help him in his attempt to comfort Brainy at all.

Looking back into the room Superman stared at the green light shining onto pale covers, green skin – slowly poisoning Brainy as waking nightmares plagued his mind. He sighed and took in a deep breath.

"Then I'm coming in anyway."

Glancing up in alarm, Brainy's tear-filled eyes widened as Superman walked forward, almost instantly falling to the ground. His mouth then fell open as Superman actually tried to crawl towards him.

He sobbed. "Stop it, stop it, stop it!"

"I can't leave," Superman panted, managing to smile weakly up at Brainy. "Not with you crying."

Practically catapulting his arms downward, Brainy hit the compartment closed and threw himself from the bed, kneeling in front of Superman, unaware that tears were beginning to fall from his face onto Superman's.

"Idiot… I'm not worth it."

Slowly reaching up, Superman touched Brainy's face.

"You're always worth it."

Instead of calming Brainy it made him cry harder, holding onto Superman's hand with a certain level of desperation.

Regaining some of his strength, Superman sat up, slowly moving to wrap his arms around Brainy so he could pull back if he wanted.

Allowing the embrace, Brainy leaned against Superman, calming as the older man began to stroke his back.

"Would you like to tell me why you had the kryptonite open?" asked Superman, not stopping his caresses of Brainy's back, even after the sobs had mostly diminished.

"It seemed like such a good idea at the time," Brainy sniffled softly, not looking up at Superman as he spoke. "Just to leave it open and keep him away."

"It's alright; he's on the far side of the building, powerless. He doesn't even know that you're here," Superman tried to reassure him.

"No," said Brainy firmly. "He knows I'm here. I know he knows."

Realizing that this was very possible, Superman didn't know what to say. Continuing to stroke Brainy's back, he was finding it very hard to resist his urge to kiss him like he would his Brainy.

"You're safe… I'm here."

"Yes, but for how long?" Brainy's voice was incredibly soft.

"What?" asked Superman, unsure of what to think of the question.

Brainy finally looked up at Superman, his eyes red and swollen from crying.

"You don't belong to this world. You don't belong… to me. You have to leave eventually. You can't protect me forever. I just want to know how long I'll have you."

Very slowly, Superman reached up and cupped Brainy's face with his hand.

"As long as you need me."

Brainy's smile looked pained.

"You might want to rephrase that, because that would be forever."

Even after Brainy had fallen asleep, Superman sat on the floor holding him, gently stroking his back.
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44NTW44's avatar
This hard to read and hard not to read. I guess it's harder not to read.