serendipity. [superbat]

promises.

a/n: hopefully changes are saved. xo.

The switch from the warm, crisp air of the farm to the stiff, putrid atmosphere of Gotham is palpable. The air is cold and harsh against Bruce's skin, the smell of pollution thick in the air. He rummages through the to-go bag he reserved for emergencies, ignoring Clark's quirked eyebrow as he slips into a sweater.

Even through the thick fabric, Bruce could see the slight swell. It was becoming more and more obvious by the day and, despite how discreet Clark tried to be, Bruce could feel his eyes taking in Bruce's body.

Clark was adamant about driving Bruce home before he made any arrangements in Metropolis. He was serious about moving to Gotham, helping Bruce, and something about that seemed to wake Bruce up.

He hadn't been thinking about the baby as an actual tangible human. He'd been thinking about them in the abstract. Thinking about what it was doing to his body, what he needed to do to make sure the process of the pregnancy was as easy and inconspicuous as possible, and worrying about Clark. Clark becoming too attached, Clark not realizing what he was getting into, Clark being disappointed. He hadn't stopped to wonder about things simply regarding an actual baby.

Did he want to raise them in Gotham?

"So, you're not planning on building a family in this hell hole?"

He'd seen the underbelly of this already vile place. No amount of money and privilege was going to stop the depths of this city from wriggling out and snatching his child under. He couldn't allow that to happen to them. Not knowing what he knew.

Though, he couldn't just disappear. He had a public image to keep up before he had to stop being seen by the public altogether. Batman had already made an abrupt exit, making Bruce Wayne's quiet exit a couple of months later less suspicious. That, and Gotham is currently the safest place for him to be. He had safe fails in place and a system that could tap into the ship at any time if the issue wasn't human.

So, for now, he saunters into the house.

Bruce manages to get one foot in the cave before he's bombarded with questions from an irritated-looking Diana.

"Where have you been?"

Dick, who's tinkering away at something on the work bench, gives Bruce an apologetic smile that slowly morphs into a grin.

Bruce is sure he looks perplexed by the change of expression until he realizes that Clark's caught up with him. He's hovering behind Bruce with a blanket in his arms. Inside, Bruce can hear the quiet whine of a puppy.

Bruce reaches for the dog, moving the blanket so that she can get a better view of the room, and watches as her little head pops up and her eyes begin to survey the space.

He gently places her on the floor and watches as she slowly inches away to sniff at a table leg. It takes a moment before he finally peels his eyes away from her to see that he's being watched himself.

"A puppy?" Robin asks distractedly, "You're gone for a day and you come back with a puppy?"

The kid lets out a quiet gasp as she finds her way over to his pant leg and begins to investigate.

"I was gone for a day and I came back with you." Bruce quips shuffling over to busy himself with the data his computer has managed to collect while he was gone.

Anything to distract from the way he can feel Diana analyzing him. Or, even worse, the pride he can feel radiating off of Clark.

He can hear Robin babbling nonsense to the dog before he can hear her little feet make their way over to where Bruce is seated. She settles herself down next to him.