This story is brought to you by a TikTok about terrariums and my mom jokingly asking me if Robin meets up with Batman's rogue behind his back. I can't really explain how it turned into this sentimental SuperBat story with bonus Damian and Clark bonding.

Thank you for helping me, to!

Disclaimer: I don't own Batman, Superman, or any other DC characters.

"How did you manage to get that information from Senator Oseman?" Clark asked as he read over Lois' latest investigative report. They were sitting at their desks, side by side, editing each other's articles.

"Are you really surprised?" Lois questioned as she raised her head to look in his direction. "You've seen me in action, Smallville. I'm a damn good reporter."

"I'm not surprised, just continuously impressed by you," he replied as he flashed her a knowing smile.

"Don't get all mushy on me," Lois warned. She pointed her pen menacingly in his direction.

"It's my Midwestern charm; I can't help it, Lo," Clark joked.

"You're only supposed to use that power for good," she said as she bantered with him.

"I made no such—" Clark began to say before he cut himself off. He tilted his head to the side as he strained his ears, listening to the far-away voice that had called out to him.

"Kent," Damian Wayne said from somewhere in Gotham. "My father has informed me that you are visiting the Manor tonight to help him on a case. I request your presence before you meet with him. Once you are done moonlighting as a reporter for the day, you can find me in my room."

Clark was not put off by Damian's request. It was to-the-point and direct, but that was just how Damian spoke. Clark, however, was a bit shocked that Damian wanted to meet with him. They rarely saw each other if Jon and/or Bruce weren't involved.

"Do I need to cover for you?" Lois whispered, grabbing his attention. She was staring at her computer screen, seemingly absorbed by her work, but Clark could tell she was only focused on him.

"No, I'm okay for now, thanks," Clark answered as he looked back at his monitor.

"What kind of crime or natural disaster can wait until later?" Lois asked as she rolled her chair closer to Clark. She was still whispering, not wanting to risk any of their coworkers overhearing them.

"None of the above," Clark said in a hushed tone. "Damian asked to meet with me tonight. I think he wants to talk about something without Bruce knowing."

Lois chuckled harshly. "I do not envy you. Anything done without Bruce's knowledge is never a good idea."

"I think it's nice that he's reaching out to me," Clark countered as he ignored her comment.

"That's just your Midwestern charm blinding you from the reality of the situation," Lois told him. "What if he plans on giving you some sort of shovel talk? You did just start dating his dad."

Clark couldn't help himself from flushing red in embarrassment. "Let's focus on work, Lois."

Lois laughed softly before relenting. "I'm sure it'll be fine. You can handle whatever Damian throws at you," she said in a gentle and comforting tone.

"Thanks, Lo," Clark replied. The pair exchanged a warm smile before he gently pushed her chair back to her desk.

"Okay, okay, I get it! I'll get back to editing," Lois laughed as she repositioned herself in front of her computer.

After leaving the final draft of his article on the editor-in-chief's desk, Clark made his way back to his apartment. He wanted to leave his briefcase there and change into more comfortable clothes before he flew over to Wayne Manor. These days, it was a well-practiced routine that didn't take him long to accomplish. He rarely spent his evenings or nights in his own apartment, but he always returned to it in the morning to keep up appearances.

Bruce and Clark had only been dating for a couple of months now and they were still trying to keep it as quiet as possible. After Clark and Lois had mutually filed for divorce over a year ago, he'd begun spending time at the Manor during the weeks when Jon wasn't staying with him. It had started with Clark visiting to consult on cases to then being invited over to stay for dinner because Alfred had "accidentally" made too much food. Then it transitioned to Clark just showing up every night since it was more pleasant compared to being alone at his apartment.

He'd always enjoyed Bruce's friendship and company. And Clark loved Bruce's family; they were a chaotic, but fun bunch to be around.

The pair hadn't realized it at the time, but eventually, Clark had unofficially moved into Wayne Manor. And finally, one night, while sharing a glass of whiskey in Bruce's study, Clark had an epiphany and realized he was in love with his best friend. He made a strange noise once he'd realized how he was feeling and Bruce had looked over at him, his eyebrows raised in concern and confusion. Feeling panicked, Clark had then unintentionally told Bruce that he thought he was in love with him. Clark had expected anger, confusion, refusal, or even silence from the legendary Batman. Instead, Bruce had replied in the most nonchalant way possible, that he felt the same way.

It had been awkward and difficult at first, but they tried dating. And so far, Clark was loving that decision.

Done reminiscing about the recent past and ready to go, Clark flew out of his building and towards Gotham. He arrived in no time, landing on the front steps. Clark had a key and permission to walk in whenever he wanted.

Out of habit, Clark had scanned the house on arrival and found that Alfred was busy in the kitchen cooking dinner. Tim was helping him set the table, but the poor teen looked dead on his feet. Damian, as he'd promised, was in his room. Bruce wasn't in the Manor, but Clark managed to easily locate his heartbeat. He had just stepped out of his office and was about to start driving home.

Clark took off his shoes and put them away in the closet so Alfred wouldn't need to clean up after him. Normally, he would have gone to greet Alfred and Tim, but since Damian seemed to want to keep their meeting discreet, he made his way upstairs first.

When he arrived at his destination, Clark knocked on the door to Damian's room. He was sure the boy already knew he was there. But Clark was raised to be polite, and he waited to be invited inside.

The door opened a couple of seconds later. Damian nodded curtly and stepped back to let Clark enter.

"Close the door behind you," Damian stated as he walked over to his desk. Alfred the cat was lounging on the flat work surface, soaking in the last rays of sunlight streaming in from the giant windows. Titus, who'd been lying on Damian's large bed, raised his head when Clark entered the room. He excitedly jumped off the bed and bounded over to Clark. Damian had trained the dog not to jump on anyone (it could be a danger for some given Titus' size). Instead, Titus dramatically laid down in front of Clark, wagging his tail and waiting to be pet.

"Hi, Titus," Clark said as he crouched down to pet the massive dog. "Who's a good boy?" He was genuinely just as excited to see Titus as the dog was to see him, but Clark would be lying if he didn't admit that he'd also decided to pet Titus in order to have something to do. He was a tad nervous about what Damian wanted to discuss with him.

"I am in need of your assistance," Damian said, cutting to the chase as he sat down at his desk. "Jon has refused to help me, which means you're the next best thing."

Clark found that he wasn't insulted by the way Damian phrased his request. He knew Jon was Damian's best friend, even if Damian didn't always admit it out loud, so of course, he'd ask Jon for help before turning to Clark. But what did Damian need from a Kryptonian that even Jon was unwilling to do?

"What do you need my help with?" Clark asked as he stood back up. Titus, content with having been shown some love, returned to lay on Damian's bed.

Clark was a bit wary about Damian's answer, but he was also somewhat eager to help. Since amicably divorcing Lois and getting together with Bruce, Clark had been worried about fitting into the Wayne family. Even if he'd known them for years, and watched several of them grow up, he still couldn't help but feel out of place. Clark didn't want Damian to feel like he was replacing Talia as a parental figure.

"You need to promise not to let my father know," Damian said seriously. He'd expertly dodged Clark's original question.

"I don't like lying to Bruce," Clark told him truthfully. There was a part of him that wanted to remind Damian that Bruce would probably find out anyway, but he didn't want to upset the kid. Whatever Damian was up to, it spelled trouble, so Clark needed to figure out what it was so he could protect Bruce's son.

"It is not lying if he never finds out," Damian insisted. He reached out to pet Alfred, avoiding eye contact with Clark. Interesting. That meant Damian knew that what he was doing was risky.

"Damian," Clark warned, unable to stop himself from using the fatherly tone he used whenever Jon was causing trouble.

"Tt," Damian scoffed at Clark's tone. But he still decided to answer Clark's question. "I need you to be on the lookout for a meeting I am attending tonight. You cannot be seen. I need you to watch from a distance and to only intervene if necessary."

"What kind of meeting is Robin attending without Batman?" Clark asked. He may have been kind-hearted and helpful, but he wasn't an amateur. He could read through the lines. Damian was doing something that Bruce wouldn't approve of. He was still going to go through with it, but for some reason, he'd decided to ask for backup. Most likely he thought it would soften the blow when Bruce eventually found out.

"I am not doing anything Father wouldn't approve of... technically," Damian explained, although he didn't sound sure of himself. He continued to gently and rhythmically pet Alfred the cat, who was still asleep, oblivious to the scheming going on around him.

"I want to help, Damian, and I'm honored you trust me, but I need a little more information," Clark told him honestly.

"Fine," Damian relented, but not before letting out an annoyed sigh.

After going over the details of the evening with Damian, Clark made his way downstairs to wait for Bruce. He assisted Tim and Alfred in the kitchen, much to both of their relief. Tim went to take a quick nap on the couch while Clark finished setting the table.

Bruce eventually returned from work. He apologized for making them all wait, but he'd been held up in an unexpected amount of traffic on the way back from the office.

As usual, the meal Alfred had made for them was delicious and easily could have rivaled Ma's cooking. Before retiring to his office with Clark, Bruce asked if any of them would be joining him during patrol. Tim agreed while Damian declined, stating that he needed to finish a school project as well as improve on some of his training.

Seeing as Bruce was behind schedule, he and Clark wasted no time in getting to work after dinner. Luckily it hadn't been too complicated, and they'd managed to get things sorted out only a couple of minutes after Bruce normally left for patrol.

"I'll see you later tonight," Clark told Bruce as he kissed him on the cheek. Bruce mumbled a word of agreement in reply before disappearing behind the grandfather clock and into the Cave.

Damian and Clark had agreed to meet at the rendezvous location later that evening. It would be suspicious for Robin and Superman to leave the Cave together. So, to kill time, Clark suited up and patrolled Metropolis for a bit. To his endless surprise, there always seemed to be cats to save from trees.

Finally, at a quarter past midnight, Clark discreetly flew back to Gotham.

Damian had instructed him to stay a good distance away from the abandoned building where he was meeting Poison Ivy. After all, it wasn't hard for Superman to spy on others from a distance, and he could come to Damian's assistance in the blink of an eye. So Clark sat on a rooftop a couple of blocks away, out of sight. He watched, and listened, as Robin tensely greeted Poison Ivy.

As Damian had explained it to him, he'd arranged an exchange with Pamela behind Bruce's back because he was in need of a rare and hard-to-come-by plant. Ivy, distrustful of the Bats, had wanted no involvement from Batman and wanted something in return for the plant.

When Clark had inquired about what Poison Ivy had asked Robin to give her, Damian had simply told him to mind his own business. He doubted Damian was giving Pamela a weapon of mass destruction; he trusted Robin not to make that kind of exchange. But it was probably something Damian had stolen from Bruce. Maybe something Batman had confiscated from Poison Ivy?

Clark thought he was therefore justified in using his x-ray vision to see what was in the large duffel bag Robin had just handed to Poison Ivy in exchange for a small potted plant. It wasn't a breach of trust per se, just another way Clark was trying to protect Bruce's son.

However, Clark couldn't imagine what Ivy would want with the baseball bat that was inside the duffel bag. The only logical explanation he could come up with was that it was Harley Quinn's and Poison Ivy was retrieving it for her. He'd heard tidbits of information about Pamela and Harley over the years; he assumed they were still dating.

Not much was said during the exchange. It was short and to the point. Pamela briefly but expertly explained to Damian how to care for the plant and how to look out for signs that it was decaying.

In less than five minutes, they'd gone their separate ways. It was as if nothing had happened between one of Gotham's vigilantes and one of its rogues.

Clark, again from a distance, kept an eye on Damian as he returned to the Manor. He then continued patrolling, making sure to leave Gotham so Batman wouldn't notice him.

Clark had returned to the Manor after going back to Metropolis to help stop a robbery and then flying to South Korea to put out a giant fire. He'd decided to check in on Damian once he'd changed out of his uniform. Damian, in what Clark assumed was the boy's way of saying thank you, gave Clark a quick tour of his collection. The plant he'd gotten from Pamela was set up in a small terrarium. The room – an old, abandoned study on the first floor of the Manor – contained a bunch of shelves, each covered with different kinds of terrariums and other potted plants.

Afterward, Clark had gone and chatted with Alfred before getting ready for bed as he waited for Bruce and Tim to return from patrol.

He was in bed, his back propped against the headboard, reading a newspaper when he heard the Batmobile pull into the Cave. Bruce, freshly showered, finally walked into the master bedroom thirty minutes later.

"How was patrol?" Clark asked when Bruce entered the room and closed the door behind him.

"Quiet," Bruce replied as he removed his shirt, pants, and socks. He then put on a pair of silk pajama pants. "Nothing out of the norm."

It was a simple answer, but Clark had known Bruce for too many years to ignore the subtext. Gotham had no baseline of normality, which meant he specifically used that word to guide the conversation in the direction he wanted. Bruce was trying to figure out if Clark had done anything out of the norm tonight.

Clark sighed. "You know, don't you," he said, deciding to get it over with.

"I had my doubts, but you've just confirmed it," Bruce replied as he climbed into bed and tried to find a comfortable position.

"Don't pretend to be modest; you absolutely knew what was going on. You didn't need me to confirm it," Clark stated as he put the newspaper he'd been reading on the nearby bedside table. He wasn't mad, but he also wasn't afraid to call out Bruce.

"It's possible," Bruce replied. Clark rolled his eyes in fake annoyance.

"Well, Damian seems to think he's managed to pull the wool over your eyes. If you say anything, he'll immediately think I was the one that told you," Clark admitted. He had never been under the impression that Damian would be able to keep his meeting a secret from Bruce, at least not forever, but he didn't want to lose Damian's newfound trust so quickly.

"If need be, I'll tell Damian the truth. Jon sold him out," Bruce told him casually.

Clark hadn't been expecting that answer. "What?"

"Jon came to see me just before I left the office today. He warned me Damian might be doing something dangerous. He was worried," Bruce said as he pulled the sheets over him. Doing so encouraged Clark to also lie down.

"So, while I was conspiring with Damian, Jon snuck out and flew to Wayne Enterprises to chat with you?" Clark groaned, feeling tired. He shouldn't have been surprised, but he was. Jon knew he wasn't allowed to go out before finishing his homework and he knew he shouldn't go flying around Gotham alone. He was sure Lois had noticed Jon's disappearance and would handle it. "Wait. There wasn't any traffic on your way home, was there? You lied to Damian so he wouldn't get suspicious. You wanted to see if he'd go through with his plan."

Bruce grunted in reply. Clark interpreted it as Bruce questioning why he even had to confirm that.

"I was surprised Damian asked you to supervise instead of going alone," Bruce said, resuming the conversation.

"You're not mad?"

"No."

Bruce was silent for a while. Since he knew him so well, Clark could practically hear Bruce's thoughts. He could tell Bruce was proud of Damian's progression, that he was maturing, and could admit that he sometimes needed help. Knowing Bruce wouldn't want to share his personal thoughts out loud, Clark simply nodded in response to Bruce. It was a habit he'd picked up from him.

"I'm surprised you didn't crack and tell me when we were alone in my office after dinner. I know you hate lying." Bruce was smirking now.

"Lying to you doesn't scare me," Clark lied. "But I admit, I chose Damian over you in this situation. It made me really happy that he asked me for help. I was honored and I didn't want to ruin our progress."

"You know Damian factored that into his decision to get your help, right? Everyone in this family knows you're the easiest to manipulate."

Clark sighed. "Your kids scare me sometimes."

Bruce hummed in agreement. "What plant did Pamela give Damian?"

"This minuscule plant Ivy called a Calceolaria uniflora," Clark explained.

"For his terrarium collection then?" Bruce asked, but it sounded more like a confirmation.

"It's a really impressive collection," Clark admitted.

"It was Alfred's idea for him to start working on the terrariums. He thought it would be a good outlet for Damian when he got stressed and frustrated," Bruce explained, methodical as always. "Damian's siblings have all given him different species of plants to add to his collection."

"What did you give him?" Clark asked. He was certain Bruce had given Damian something at some point.

"A rare black flower," Bruce replied, this time not elaborating as much.

"How fitting," Clark replied teasingly. But he found it sweet, and he was sure that specific flower had a meaning behind it. "Maybe I should get him something for his collection? I'm sure I could find something," Clark mused.

Bruce was quietly staring at him. He looked like he was trying to find his words, so Clark patiently waited. But instead, Bruce gently leaned forward, dragging Clark's head towards his and pulling him into a kiss. The simple gesture was enough for Clark to know what Bruce meant. Thank you for watching out for my son. Thank you for spending time with him and treating him as your own. I love you.

Clark enthusiastically kissed Bruce back, deepening the kiss to reciprocate the same feelings.

"Did Pamela decide to give him the Calceolaria uniflora or was it at Damian's request?" Bruce suddenly asked, putting an abrupt end to their impromptu makeout session.

"What?" Clark mumbled, his brain taking a moment to process Bruce's question; his only focus had been on kissing Bruce. Why did Bruce want to know? The plant wasn't toxic; Clark had obviously checked that to make sure Damian wasn't bringing something dangerous into the home. "Uh, Damian said Pamela was the only person who could easily supply him with it. Why?" Clark asked once he realized Bruce was lost in concentration.

"The plant is sometimes called Darwin's Slipper. But do you know the other nickname for the Calceolaria uniflora?" Bruce questioned. It was a rhetorical question; Clark could tell Bruce already knew and was about to enlighten him.

Clark shook his head in response.

"Some people call it the Happy Alien Flower," Bruce told him.

"The Happy Alien Flower?" Clark repeated as if not quite sure he understood Bruce despite having perfect hearing. "Are you suggesting Damian got this plant... in honor of me?"

"I'm not suggesting; you told me not to be modest," Bruce replied. He was trying to be funny.

Clark would have taken the bait normally, but he was too busy wondering if Bruce was right. Was this Damian's unique way of saying he accepted Clark as part of the Wayne family?

"Wait. Was Damian asking me to go with him even real or did he plan all of this?" Clark asked, abruptly sitting up in bed.

"Goodnight, Kal," Bruce said, ignoring Clark's existential crisis. He turned around and got comfortable, dragging half the sheets with him.

Clark sighed softly. He knew he wasn't going to get any more information out of Bruce. He laid back down and also turned onto his side. He found himself unable to stop thinking about Bruce's theory. Whether Damian had orchestrated all of this or not, or even if Bruce had played a part in the scheme as well, Clark didn't care. He was just glad he got to spend the time bonding with their son.

The Happy Alien Plant looks more like a snail than an alien to me, but I could not pass up the chance to use it in this story! Also, the plant Bruce got Damian is called a Tacca chantrieriand, also known as a Black bat flower. Damian receiving this flower from his father is what gave him the idea to get a plant that reminded him of Clark. That's also why Bruce knew what Damian was up to.