Ghost!Bruce SuperBat: Chapter two, heat.
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Ghost!Bruce SuperBat: Chapter one, heart.
Bruce rushed to join the fight, dodging a flying piece of rubble and jumping onto a car. He had to be more careful then normal. Not because he could die- nope! Way past that train. But because getting hurt and not feeling it would mean he was basically instantly outed to everyone. Because Barry would panic and blurt it out.
Clark saw Bruce and noted him being more careful, but the other saw it as a good thing. That Bruce was finally taking his insistence on caring for himself to heart and being careful during the fights.
By the time, the battle was over everyone was tired, some taking a seat and others just straight away leaving. Clark went over to Barry and Bruce, Barry speeding away when he saw Clark, a nervous expression on his face. Clark saw Bruce looked fine actually, not tired at all. He was confused about that.
“Bruce?”
Bruce looked over to Clark, blinking through the new lenses in his suit and nodding. “Yes, Clark?”
“Why do you look less tired than everyone else?” Clark asked. “You look fine.”
Bruce cursed internally. He had not thought of that, he had slipped up. And he swore at himself for it. “Uh- you know.” Bruce said, fiddling with a clasp on his belt. “I’ve been taking it easy, like you said. Guess I’m really just taking things you say to heart today, huh?”
Clark, being himself, was just ecstatic his boyfriend was looking after himself. He pulled Bruce closer in for a hug, chin bumping against Bruce’s before he yanked back, staring at the other.
Hr was so cold.
“Bruce? Your freezing, are you ok?”
“What?” Bruce asked, going ridged. He hadn’t planned about this. Hadn’t thought this through enough yet. “Oh, it’s nothing, I’ve just been out for a while Clark,”
“I’ll take you home and warm you up, God knows you need it. And when you take off your suit, I can hear your heartbeat, and it will all be good again, ok?”
Bruce winced, cursing himself internally for what he was about to do. He loved Clark all too much, and knew Clark loved him too. But his perfectly sculpted lie was crumbling down around him, and he needed an excuse to not let Clark near him. Not until he figured out how to tell him at least.
“Actually Clark! Uh- Barry and I needed to do something really fast, he was going to take me home after we did something at his, isn’t that right Barry?” Bruce asked, turning and gesturing silently at Clark to Barry with his eyes.
Barry seemed to get the message, as he hurried over and nodded. “Yep, sorry Clark. Just got to steal your man for a bit. Sorry! But the case calls.”
“Mhm, I’ll call you when I get home, love you, bye.” Bruce said quickly as Barry grabbed him and sped off.
Bruce didn’t get to see Clark’s expression.
As the two ran off Clark stood there, a ‘bye’ on his lips and a thump in his stomach at being shot down. He sighed, rubbing his head and watching the other two wistfully. He didn’t want to pry into his boyfriend’s life, but he hadn’t seen Bruce in a long while. And he has just spoken to him again! And now he wasn’t. it sucked. But Clark sucked it up and took off back to his apartment. He’d get to call Bruce later. He guessed.
As soon as Barry knew him and Bruce were out of earshot, he set the other down with a frown, looking like Bruce plopped himself down onto the floor. Barry sat himself next to the other, giving his back a small pat as he thought.
“You know you’re going to have to tell him soon, right?” he asked Bruce, who seemed to be extremely interested in blades of grass right now. “I guess.” Bruce mutter, lifting his head to meet the others gaze. “But how am I supposed to tell him that? He’d be heartbroken. I can’t live with that Barry, I love him too much. He’s the nicest person you ever meet, what would you do?”
“Tell him the truth?” Barry tried, a wince forming at how that sounded coming out. Much worse than he intended, Bruce shot him a scathing glare.
“You, would you? You have no idea what this is like?”
“I mean,” Barry started, not wanting to provoke Bruce bur not wanting to be wrong. “I have died before-“
“But you were revived! I’m constantly half dead and mostly dying and you can revive me because then the magic would tear me apart and my atoms would lose their bonds with one another. Id cease to exist! God fucking dammit Barry.”
Barry paused, unused to the hostile outbreak of the normally cool and collected bat. He, very sacredly, pat Bruce shoulder. Like you would a stray cat.
Bruce just slumped back and lay against the wet grass, staring at the sun that used to burn his eyes. Barry watched him and made a face. “You’re lying in wet grass and staring at the sun.”
“And?”
“Well wet grass is unpleasant. And doesn’t staring at the sun hurt?”
“Barley anything hurts now.”
“well- ok, but could you stop?”
“Oh, I am so sorry, am I, the dead person, making you uncomfortable? Please.”
Bruce noticed Barry’s uncomfortable look and sighed, pushing himself up. “sorry, that was uncalled for. I’m just a little pissy- who wouldn’t be? I died less than a month ago. And now I have a family I have to tell, a boyfriend who’s going to have to have his heart broken, and I’m still figuring this out. Dick was using Constentine’s help with a case, he saw me, and we both just stared at each other for about two minutes. He didn’t say anything, but that’s one more person who knows, who doesn’t need to know. And none who do need to know are any closer to knowing. This really sucks!”
“Yeah.” Barry sighed, pulling Bruce into a side hug as he looked over Gotham. He almost snickered when a thought came to mind, looking down at Bruce.
“Ok, before I take you home can I ask you something?”
“Uh- I mean sure I guess.” Bruce shrugged. “if Clark’s dating you, and your dead, does that mean he a necro-“
“Die. Just die Barry.”
(Hello! Its me and I’m back with another chapter! Two in two days, wow, crazy right! Ok, just saying I edit grammar and spelling and try really hard on it, and whenever I post any fic, I make sure its atlas above 1,000 words just to make sure it’s a good read. Thank you for reading! If you want to be added to the tag list above just say in comments, id really appreciate if you told me things you like in comments, constructive criticism is always appreciated, and I hope you enjoy this instalment! Bow, the first one is linked at the top!)
Ghost!Bruce SuperBat: Chapter one, heart.
@cheffebear
@kittensniker-meh
@animatedmess
@hngryazn
@thequeenluffy
Now, Clark didn’t obsessively keep an ear on Bruce’s heartbeat, even if it was in his nature. But when he knew Bruce was in the area, he’d check it every time, without fail. What could he say? He loved that man. so, when he called for the league in a battle, and he didn’t hear Bruce’s heartbeat when he turned up, he almost had a full-on heart attack.
When he turned to look at Bruce and didn’t see him instantly, he panicked. Doing a 360, he saw no Bruce, before he homed in on a figure. It definitely had the same stature as Bruce, just… in a new suit? Huh. Bruce barely ever changed his suit- especially not to something like… like it looked there, less heavy, almost like he didn’t have to worry about being injured now. It didn’t have Kevlar or body armour; it was superhero clothes with awesome branding. Sure, he was Batman, and it was probably something, but it didn’t feel like that. It felt stupidly vulnerable.
He landed next to Bruce, who was conversing with barry, and pulled him aside, ignoring the explosion in the background.
“Are you ok?” Clark asked him, looking at his boyfriend with obvious concern.
“Of Couse I am, why?” Bruce responded, no hesitation at all. That was good, right?
Clark put his hand over Bruce’s chest, eyebrows furrowing and looking at the other with genuine concern.
“I can’t hear your heartbeat. Why can’t I hear your heartbeat Br- batman?” Clark caught himself with the name before it spilled. He expected Bruce to lecture him on that but that wasn’t nearly Bruce’s biggest concern at the moment.
Bruce stiffened, bitting his cheek and cursing internally. Flash had a similar reaction, but it went unnoticed as Bruce went to think of something on the spot. “new suit.” He settled on finally. “Made of a new material. You can’t hear through it.”
Clark would’ve thought it impossible, but he knew to trust Bruce on these things. Instead, he nodded and flew back up, grabbing a piece of shrapnel thrown and throwing it right back.
Barry looked at Bruce, with a wince seeing the expression on the others face. Barry knew. He had been there at the accident when it took place, having had called Bruce to help him with a villain. He could’ve called anyone else, but Bruce was like the league guy. Whenever there was a problem, he was called. Barry really wished he called Clark now.
It had been a terrible accident. They were infiltrating a new lab Barrys villain set up, before realising this was much bigger. This particular lab was being used to combine magic with science, not by letting it coexist. But by merging those partials with literal magic they drained from an artefact. Dark magic actually. And it was dangerously unstable.
Bruce had told barry to hold a button down, and barry did! Bur god he wished he could’ve held it for longer. Bruce had gone out and grappled to the top of the ceiling to get to the main access Pannel above the super collider, but barry had seen the villain. And barry had had to doge for his own safety, but that button was keeping it from dissolving everything. And when barry dodged he let go of the button. A particular stray beam hit the grapple, and Bruce fell into the midst of the beam, dead on impact.
But that magic had needed a host.
So, the science aspect created a new body.
Well, not a new body. Just this one. Bruces body atoms regenerated every few seconds, just making themselves new. It didn’t need to pump its own blood anymore, or breath. Because it just created the atoms he had rushing when he died back, even if he breathed on instinct. If Bruce’s body wasn’t peak physical condition before, it was now. But it wasn’t a body Bruce wanted.
When barry had checked Bruce’s pulse and found none, he assumed he killed the batman, panicking and ripping off the mask, desperate to see if he could save his friend. When Bruce’s eyes immediately went wide open, he nearly had a heart attack, eyes still over the pulse but getting none. He was wondering if it was muscle spasms before Bruce rubbed his head sitting up and asking what happened.
It did not take long for the two to figure out what happened, and it was an awful realisation. Everything felt so much duller to Bruce, not in the mental sense of course. But when he touched things, it was like they were muffled, everything tasted like nothing and he was never really warm unless someone else or something was providing him warmth, his body not really doing that itself anymore.
It of course made Bruce a better batman, but he didn’t want It at the cost of his humanity. He didn’t wear body armour because he couldn’t get hurt. He changed his suit because without wearing the perforce for the core, a small gem barry had helped him poke a hole through and put on a chain, the power he was given from the fusion would go haywire, and he didn’t want that power. He was batman. Not someone who relied on their powers.
A piece of shrapnel came towards the two and barry stepped out of the way and it cut Bruce’s arm off. Who sighed and counted to ten as a black Smokey, shadowy substance engulfed the place where his arm used to be, and pulled away to show a new, exact copy of his limb. Bruce sighed, barry made a face.
“Still disgusting that happens man.” Barry said, holding his arms up.
Bruce crossed his over his chest and glared at the other.
“Thanks, I’m so sorry my death has disgusted you. Maybe you should have a go at it sometime? Because now I have to slowly break the news, I’m dead to the best person I know and somehow keep it from my family, so they don’t either freak out, or morn. I’m still here! Just different. Ok?”
“Your much more emotional than you used to be.”
“of course I am! I’m dead! Your dead lucky Clark doesn’t use his hearing during fights.”
“Heh. Dead lucky.”
“Grow up.”
As barry ran off to go help the fight, Bruce paused before looking at the team. He was more like them now then before, weirdly powerful. But he didn’t want it.
He never asked to die, and he really didn’t want to tell the person he loved he was like this. But hey if there was one part Bruce liked? He travelled between the dead and the living. He got to see people he long lost, no one that far back yet, but they were further away then those who recently passed. And this way? Being basically immortal? Him and Clark could live forever.
(Authors note, I like to think that since the Kryptonian planet is so far away from the sun in this universe, that people just live longer. One Kryptonian year is fifteen human ones, because they revolve less around the sun, and their life span equates to 150 years so time that by fifteen. I know it’s ridiculous, but I want my babies to live forever. And it's my story, screw people who don’t accept the immersion. And since Bruce can travel in between Plaines he’ll still be seeing Clark when he passed, and his great-great-great grandchildren.)
(Also, this is just part one. I'll be tagging the same people in part two, if you want to be tagged for the next part tell me, and i hope you enjoyed!)
(One more time, will add link for second when its written.)