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Clark had tried.
He really did.
So many nights of the kids and Bruce coming back with injuries on their body, needing Alfred's treatment, their outings at night where he wasn't ever invited to.
He was there for them each time, assisting Alfred to treat them. Though they'd always preferred he didn't, pretending they needed him to cook a meal or watch Alfred the cat instead, he was getting fed up.
Clark really wished that they would accept him as part of the family, but he was going to leave if they didn't want him there.
One day, after Bruce left for work he started packing his bags.
He was so engulfed in it, he didn't realise that Alfred had been watching him all along.
“Master Clark?” Alfred called out. “If I may-?”.
Clark put a hand up. “You may not,”.
Alfred sighed. “Master Bruce is going to be very sad that you have decided to take a trip without him”.
“I'm not going on a trip” Clark said as he pictured up a portrait Bruce had taken of them. “I'm leaving,”.
“Yes you are going on a trip, a trip of no return” Alfred said while coming closer to meet him. “Whatever the reasons might be, we can figure it out. Maybe you could talk to me”.
Clark placed the portrait back on the stands. He went to the closet to further gather his clothes, “not sure you will be willing to hear me out”.
“Go ahead, I've been with Master Bruce all these years, heard him out even in his worst depressed moods and tantrums. There's nothing that I cannot hear”.
“That's just the problem Alfred,” Clark insisted. “You hear him, because he tells you but me? He never tells me”.
“Is that why you are running away?” Alfred asked him.
Clark froze. “I'm not running away. I am simply leaving since no one in this house wants to be honest with me, even you Alfred! You don't tell me anything about what's going on at any periods! And the kids also go on these late night excursions and don't bring me along”.
“I know it feels like you are not wanted,” Alfred said. “But maybe they have a reason for how they behave”.
Clark shook his head. “They simply don't want me. I've been part of this family or so I thought-”
“But you are part of this family”.
Clark had tears in his eyes but he blinked it away. “No I'm not, I'm not part of whatever secret you're all carrying. I know it's a family thing and I'm not welcome, so I'm leaving”.
Alfred walks to the door. “If you have any misgivings, I want you to wait just a bit until Bruce gets here. He will explain everything to you, I don't think any of us here will be able to take on his anger once he finds you gone, or…. disappointment”.
“And Clark? I don't want you gone, you're as much a part of this as I am so please consider waiting a bit”.
With that Alfred was gone.
*
Clark really wanted to listen to Alfred, his heart, his legs, everything in him was screaming at him to wait.
But his mind told him that Bruce wasn't open then. Why would he be open now?
‘Because he wouldn't want to lose you’
Clark ignored it regardless.
He was going down the stairs with his luggage when he bumped into Damien.
He really loved that kid. Though he was cold and unfriendly the first time they met, he slowly warmed up to him much later and though he was a bit weird, they didn't have a hard time getting along later.
“Hey, Clark” Damien shouted, “Look at what my school made me draw!”.
He plastered the drawing onto his hands.
Clark paused. “It's a family tree”
“There's you at the top beside father, that's my mom here,” Damien explained. “That's Jason on the lower left cause he refused to lend me his bike yesterday, Dick's in the middle cause he lent me explosives and Alfred's there….”.
Damien went on and on but Clark wasn't listening anymore.
Damien had included him in his family tree…
It was just school work but he liked being there regardless.
“Clark?”
Clark raised up his head. “What's up with the suitcase?”
“....”
“Are you going somewhere?”
“....”
“Are you and father going on a trip?”
Clark opened his mouth but nothing came out.
“I…I'm leaving” He averted his gaze. “But I don't want you to feel bad…”.
“You can't leave!” Damien shouted in panic. “What will I do without you here? Is it something I did? Did we offend you”.
Clark shook his head, placing a hand on his shoulder. “No, you didn't personally do anything wrong. I just don't…don't feel like I'm part of this”.
“But you are,”
He sighed. “I know that you all don't want me here, that's why I'm leaving. Maybe you did initially. But all those late night trips - he says in quotes - were just to get away from me. I probably did something wrong or..”.
Damien hugged him. “You didn't do anything wrong” he cried heavily, “Please, stay”.
Clark wasn't used to seeing him let out any emotions yet alone cry, so he decided to hold onto him till he got better. This resulted in both of them sitting in the dining room, with the kid on his lap, holding him tightly.
*
“Clark!”
Just as soon as Damien had fallen asleep, and he'd put him to bed, he was ready to be out the door when he heard another shout.
He really wanted to listen to Alfred and Damien but rationally, he knew that they were alright without him for years and it didn't erase the fact that they still refused to let him in…
He knew that deep down he might not have been wanted by them…
“What's up with the suitcase?” Dick Grayson questioned.
Clark cleared his throat. “I'm going out”.
“With a suitcase?”
“Yes,”
“Oh,” Dick said from the top of the stairs.
“Clark,” Dick sighed. “Have you thought about how all the kids will feel with you leaving? Bruce? Me?”.
Clark sighed. “I already spoke to Damien”.
“Where is he?”
“Asleep”
Dick sighed as he descended the stairs. “Where are you going to go?”.
Clark hadn't thought about that. “I don't know”.
Dick sighed. “Okay,” then he continued, “Do you know how this place, as huge as it is , is going to be when you leave?”.
“Dick-”
“Quiet. Really quiet, "he said. “Bruce is going to be up in his feelings again and push us away, Jason isn't probably going to speak to him again, since you're the one holding the glue to their relationship, Damien is going to probably turn cold again, and me?”
“Dick I'm sorry…but-”
“Me? I'd be left alone once again to clean up the mess”.
Clark paused, tears filling his eyes. “You might need me here but you don't want me”.
“We both know that's not true. We want and need you here”.
“If you did-”
“We do,”
“If Bruce did, he'd tell me the truth about everything” Clark sniffed. “He won't leave in the evenings and come back in the dead of the night”.
“Bruce has his reasons!”
“But he doesn't tell me does he?” Clark cleaned his eyes. “I'm sorry but I can't stay where I'm not needed”.
At that moment, the mansion door opened.
“Sorry to disturb whatever this is, but Bruce needs backup” Jason appeared his eyes shocked to see the suitcase. “What's going on?”.
“Clark needs to know” Dick stated.
“No, we can't” Jason insisted.
“If he doesn't, he's going to leave us”.
*
Clark wasn't sure of what he was doing sitting down in a van with Damien, Dick, Jason and even Alfred the cat. Human Alfred was on the comms, but it was all so confusing.
“Why did you bring the cat?” Jason asked puzzled.
“Because Dick refused, I bring my cow!” Damien shouted furious.
“How would you bring the cow? How would it fit?” Jason chuckled.
“Are you being fat phobic to my cow?”
“There's no such thing!”
Now Jason and Damien were engaged in a fight.
Clark sighed, petting the cat. “You two should stop fighting”.
And immediately they went quiet. Jason said. “Only if you decide to stay”.
The whole bus went quiet.
“Clark,” Dick asked. “Are you really sure you want to see this?”.
“I do”.
*
What he didn't expect was seeing Batman jumping buildings.
Shortly after he spotted Jason wearing the infamous red hood costume.
Dick also put on the Nightwing costume.
Clark's mouth was open throughout.
Then Dick turned to Damien. “Take care of Clark”.
Damien nodded as they left to handle whatever criminal Batman was fighting.
“Bruce knows Batman. And his kids were Robins” Clark said.
Damien put a hand on his shoulder, “Bruce is Batman”.
Clark was stunned.
“That's why the late night trips-”
“Yes,”
“Unexplained injuries”
“Hmmm”
“Why didn't he tell me?” Clark said in shock. “I could have helped”.
“Father wanted to protect you,” Damien shrugged. “He didn't want you to see him badly, nor did we. You treated us like we were normal, not as Wayne's kids or batkids but like a family, and as children. We didn't want it to change”.
Clark held both his hands. “And that would never change. I love you guys, you're my family and this…I was so wrong for trying to leave you guys”.
“I never wanted you gone, none of us did”.
“I know now” Clark said before putting him into a hug.
*
“Clark?! You brought him here!”
“Whose genius idea was this?!”
“Bruce,” Clark placed a hand as soon as they were in the van. “I did”.
“No it was me, if not you would have ruined everything like you normally do!” Jason shouted.
“Oh forgive me for worrying about Clark's safety and bring the only sane person in here!!”.
Clark frowned. “Jason apologize to your dad. You didn't mean that. Bruce tell him you're sorry”.
“Sorry Bruce, I didn't mean it” Jason apologized. “I just didn't want Clark gone, he's part of us, he deserves to be part of this”.
“youre forgiven” Bruce said.
“Bruce!” Clark shouted.
“Fine,” Bruce said. “I'm sorry. You're all sane and very smart kids, I adore you all. I should have been open with you too Clark, I'm sorry”.
“It's alright,” Clark said. “I know you were doing it for my own good. But we're family…right? And families should not hide things from each other. I don't want to be kept in the dark”.
“We are family. And I wouldn't wish to ever do something like that again”.
Clark sighed in relief. “Good. Because your excuses were horrible”.
Jason nodded. “They actually kind of were”.
“Once you told me that you got injured when you tripped down the stairs” Clark said. “I've never seen you trip in your life”.
They all laughed.
“Then you said the knife wounds were from when you tripped in the shower, I got so scared you were harming yourself”
Bruce cleared the tears from his eyes while laughing. “Fine, they were bad. But I wasn't hurting myself, is that why you kept asking we go see a therapist?”
“Yes! I was worried out of my mind”.
“Glad to see everything back to normal” Alfred's voice came in the comms.
“I think we all are, let's say relieved” Dick breathed a sigh out.