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The word of the day, Clark decided, was precarious.
The rubble, piled atop of Batman, awkwardly stacked in such a way that all the super speed and super strength in the world couldn’t help Clark shift it without risking the whole lot collapsing in on his teammate was certainly precarious. The whole team was working together to extract the debris piece by piece. Hyperaware of every little shift in the structure and what it could do if any of the larger shards of concrete were to topple down on Batman’s all too human form.
Perhaps even more precarious than the looming threat to Batman’s life was the additional threat to his identity. In a last-ditch attempt to pull her teammate to safety when the building started to crumble above him, Wonder-woman had used her lasso to try to yank him out. Although undoubtedly saving him from being crushed further inside the structure where he had originally been standing, she hadn’t quite gotten him all the way clear, and now he was not only trapped, but trapped with the lasso of truth coiled tightly around his middle.
“If you try not to speak at all, it will simply compel you to begin blurting out every secret you most want to hide,” she explained gently after the angry rant about privacy that followed her asking for his favourite food. Teriyaki chicken apparently, who knew?
“My foot hurts,” Batman muttered sullenly, no doubt proving her point with the admission of weakness he would never have allowed in normal circumstances.
“Are you injured?” Clark asked worriedly.
“Always. I never have time to heal before I get hurt again.”
Clark winced. He could feel the other man’s anger at him for prompting that.
“Sorry.”
“Not your fault.”
And that.
Need to be more specific. Simple questions with no open ends.
“Is the foot that hurts, badly injured? Will you require medical attention when you get out?”
Damn the lead lined walls of this building that prevent Clark from looking through the rubble to check for injuries himself.
“It’s not badly hurt. Just bruised, I think. I have a few small cuts elsewhere that will require dressing and possibly stitches.”
Clark nodded, that was good. Physically Batman seemed to be mostly ok at least.
“What’s your favourite colour?” Flash asked, kneeling down near to Clark and inspecting a chunk of concrete inlaid with rebar near the edge of the pile. There was another piece of concrete resting on top of it which was linked to the section hovering over Batman’s position and he was trying to ascertain if it was load bearing.
“Yellow.” The bats voice grunted from deep within the pile.
“Yellow?” Clark repeated, startled and a little horrified. That was not a colour he would ever have associated with the other man. Yellow was…well it was so…yellow.
Flash looked equally surprised, eyes wide and staring at the rubble as if Batman was going to burst out and yell April Fools any second.
“What’s wrong with yellow?” A defensive grumble from inside the pile.
“Nothing,” Clark backtracked, “I just…really? Yellow? You?”
“Yellow is nice. It’s a happy colour.”
“Exactly,” Aquaman joined the conversation, having circled the building to look for alternative routes to dig through to their teammate and found nothing. “It’s a happy colour and you’re a miserable bastard.”
“I’m not miserable,” Batman grouched. “I’m actually fairly happy most of the time. I just like to stay professional when on the job. I’m more cheerful out of costume.”
Now that was a surprise. Clark shook his head in wonder.
“My mother grew yellow flowers,” Batman confessed quietly when no one had spoken for a while.
It was a little too close to personal so Clark rushed to think of another topic before Batman said something he’d later make them all regret.
“Favourite animal?”
“Gotta be bats.” Flash guessed.
“Dog’s.”
“Dog’s?” Another surprise. Honestly Clark would have assumed Batman was a cat person if anything.
“Or cows.” Batman added, surprising them further. “Cows are basically big dogs.”
“What?” Aquaman scoffed.
Clark could only shrug. He’d grown up near to a dairy farm and honestly…yeah…kind of.
“You like bats too though, right?” Flash urged.
“I’m scared of bats.”
“No freaking way!”
“Flash,” Clark growled warningly, “Drop it.” He couldn’t have been the only one who heard the strain of Batman’s voice as he tried to hold that last confession inside.
“But...”
“Flash!”
“I was swarmed by a flock of them as a child and it really freaked me out. Even now I don’t like it if they get too close to me. That’s part of why I chose bat for my costume motif…”
Oh no, he was caught in a tangent, every word strained as if they were being dragged up his throat.
They needed a new question. Something to steer them away from this. Anything.
Think Clark! Think!
“Tell me everything I did wrong on our last mission.” Green Lantern instructed, coming to land beside the pile. The intergalactic hero had been low on power after the fight and had flown home to recharge his ring, correctly inferring that they would need his constructs to safely remove Batman from his predicament. Clark was doubly relieved by both his return and his question.
From deep inside the rubble, he was certain he heard a quiet sigh of ‘Thank you Lord’, before Batman stopped talking about bats and launched into a detailed report of where the Lantern had made mistakes during the mission and how he could improve his performance next time.
Lantern winked at Superman, looking smug. “That’ll keep him busy for a while.”
Now that Green Lantern was back, they were able to use the ring to asses the stability of the rubble in a way Clarks x-ray vision couldn’t and begin shifting any pieces of material that wouldn’t topple the rest. Once they had removed as much as they could, Lantern could try to project a shield construct around Batman inside the rubble whilst Superman and Wonder-woman used their strength and speed to move the rest away as quickly as possible.
After verbally grading Green Lanterns performance Batman moved onto a similar breakdown for everyone else. Brutally honest didn’t quite cover it. Apparently, he’d been sugar-coating his complaints in the past.
“I’m surprised you didn’t have more to say about me,” Lantern teased during a break when Batman was done slating Superman’s impulsiveness. “That was a surprisingly short critique. I’m almost flattered.” He grunted as he shifted a chunk of brick by hand, saving his power for the upcoming shield.
“You don’t need much critique,” Batman told him, almost causing the Lantern to drop the chunk in surprise. Superman rushed forward to snatch it away so it didn’t drop back onto the pile and disrupt it.
“Come again?” It was a shame Batman couldn’t see the rather comical shock he had put on the Lanterns face.
“You’re a good fighter. Intelligent, resourceful, brave, you have good instincts and work well with the team. Although you can be flashy, you rarely showboat and only when it’s safe to do so, never when it will cause unnecessary risk. I sometimes find you difficult to work with due to our conflicting styles but you’re undeniably good at what you do.”
“We’ve got to get him out of there.” Lantern choked out, “Much more of this and the whole world might implode.”
“Yeah, next he’ll be saying he thinks I’m awesome,” Flash joked.
“You’re my favourite member of the team.”
It was Superman’s turn to almost drop what he was holding.
Flash. Favourite. What?
He wasn’t jealous. Not at all. Totally, absolutely not jealous. No jealously here. So, what if he’d thought they were best team buddies. No problem. He could deal.
This was fine. It was cool. Cool, cool, cool, cool.
“Me?” Flash screeched, wide eyed. “Why me?”
Yeah! Why him?!
“You remind me of my son.”
You could hear a pin drop in the moments that followed, all of them frozen as if afraid to even breathe.
Son. He has a son.
That was definitely not something they were meant to know.
The angry cursing coming form under the pile made it clear that Batman was not happy with that slip. Superman was pretty sure the other man was attempting to literally shove his fist in his mouth to block any further words.
“We need to get him out of there,” Aquaman repeated the Lanterns earlier sentiment.
Clark could only nod, mouth still agape.
Despite their best efforts the progress was slow going. There were so many pieces. All of them interlinked so that moving one could cause a collapse of heaven knows how many others.
It was humbling in a way. To feel this helpless, with all their powers. If ever proof was needed that they were not omnipotent this desperate race to save their friend, was it. What Clark wouldn’t give to be able to just reach though the mess and pull Batman free.
“I think that’s everything we can move without disrupting it.” Lantern declared at last. The others all nodded in agreement. Most of the smaller piece’s had been shifted. There were now just six larger sections of concrete slab, stacked over top of the pocket where Batman was trapped. Moving just one would cause the rest to fall so Superman and Wonder Woman were each going to shift three in quick succession. Superman suspected that they could get the first four away before they collapsed in, but there wouldn’t be time to stop the final two. They were going to fall on Batman. It would be up to Lantern to maintain a construct between Batman and the slabs; holding the weight off of him until Clark and Diana came back to move them too.
“Ready. Set. Go.” Flash declared.
Superman and Wonder-woman each grabbed their assigned piece and hefted. Clark flung his behind him, watched as Wonder woman did the same with hers and was already reaching for the next section as gravity made its presence known and the newly disrupted bottom layers began to collapse inwards. Beneath the rubble Batman lay cocooned in green energy, trusting in nothing but Green Lantern’s willpower to protect him from the several tons of weight attempting to crush him.
“Doing ok?” Lantern called down to him. “I know you’re fearless and all that...”
“I’m not.” Pulling the next layer away Clark saw Batman wince as the debris around him shifted and pressed down on the green barrier, inches from his face. “I’m very afraid right now. I don’t want to die.”
Clark suspected that confession was the hardest one so far.
“You’re not going to. We’ve got you.”
“I know. I trust you.”
The glow of gold around his waist as the lasso worked its magic gave Clark a rush of warmth. It was that rush that drove him to move even faster. Keen to free his friend sooner rather than later.
They were down to the last slab. Its full weight pressing down on the green construct which Green Lantern was maintaining with unwavering focus.
Wonder-woman tossed the chunk of wall she had just moved aside and together Superman and her took hold of the last one.
Although none of the weight had ever been allowed to touch Batman, he still sucked in a deep relieved breath as it was lifted away.
It was with a feeling of immense satisfaction that Superman set the final piece of concrete down safely to one side. They had done it. Batman was free. Superman scanned the area to confirm there were no other dangers then rushed over to his friend who was being helped to his feet by Flash.
Wasting no time, Batman tugged the lasso off of himself and tossed it aside with a growl then turned on Wonder-woman, eyes blazing with all the frustration and embarrassment he had just endured. “Thank you for saving my life, but if you ever bring that thing near me again, I’m going to burn it.”
“You cannot burn it,” She laughed indulgently, unaffected by his anger. “It is made by the God’s”
“I’ll find a way.”
“I’ll bury it in the arctic for you,” Superman promised, earning himself a smile.
“Oh,” Flash teased. “Look at Supes, putting in his fresh bid for favourite team member. Just face it Blue, I’ve got an edge.”
Despite his bravado the speedster still ducked in fright when Batman raised a hand towards him, then looked even more frightened when instead of the expected smack to the head the bat instead rubbed his scalp gently in what would have been a hair ruffle if not for the mask.
“You’re funny kid.”
“I’m scared.”
They all laughed as Flash pretended to be afraid of the affectionate treatment he was receiving. Or maybe he was just actually afraid. Clark couldn’t be sure.
“I think I recall you mentioning some wounds that need tending,” he reminded Batman in a faux stern manner, not letting the other hero duck out of receiving medical care this time. Batman let out a put-upon groan but eventually conceded to Superman carrying him back to base for first aid.
“So,” Clark heard Aquaman murmur to the others as they flew away. “Are we just never going to mention that Batman has a kid?”